**Hello all, this is the beginning of the time skip. Three years have passed in the story since Eiji and Hiro left.

I found a song that describes Eiji's emotions perfectly. It's called 'Carnivore' by Starset.

Here's the link:

youtube-.-com/?#/watch?v=LAMiX5EEbFU

Thank you to those who have read this far... It's just getting good.

Enjoy Chapter 19! :)**

Chapter 19: Walking on Your Lifeline

It had been three years since the children had left, and two years since we started the siege on the Mazes and Kurayami strongholds. Nina and I had stayed together through all of this, but it has become more and more of a challenge.

Chihiro has tried to talk me out of this several times, and I always thanked her for her concern, but politely refused.

Haruka was hurt by Nina's recent actions at the mazes, and had grown to hate her. She hated me too. I didn't like what Nina was doing all of the time, but I understood it. Not all of the mazes children want to be saved, and we can no longer waste time on saving them. The heavens had shed multiple plagues and attacks on the group. We were all alive, but none of us left unscathed.

The resort as a business was no more, but a house of refugees. The woman with that man that Karo killed had stayed. She had told me the man had been hunting down her and her children. It was a domestic violence that he had ended. Many others stayed as well.

Karo seemed on the fence about me. This was most likely because Shisuta supported me in my decisions, while Haruka didn't.

Shisuta had made it clear however, that she didn't support Nina. She had long since discovered who she was.

Haku? Well, no one knew where he was in his mind. Only Chihiro knew, and she wouldn't say.

Boh and No-Face didn't engage in the group's quarrels, but they were up to something none of us knew about. We all sensed it, but it was so subtle, we said nothing.

Kuhn and Linn despised Nina, but loved me.

They always found ways to separate me from Nina, then attempted to talk me out of this.

Kuhn wouldn't smile as much as he used to. He missed Hiro, and often blamed himself for her disappearance. Linn tried to encourage him, but even she was lost.

The line holding us together was thin, and I was walking on it.

We a total of nine more strongholds before we took siege on the main one. The one that held the dreamstone. The main stronghold was guarded by the nine trials, so those had to be dispatched first. The mazes we had scoured had been, thankfully, stripped of all Leviathan's. This made our job easier.

However, it also made Shinjitsu's job easier.

Shinjitsu and his army had split off long ago. They had formed their own faction, in which Shinjitsu would claim the throne.

The last nine strongholds had horrible trials within them, each one more terrible as the next.

Shinjitsu had held off his attacks, so I take it he wanted us to deal with the trialed strongholds.

Depending on the trials, this could get messy. I was worried, because no one trusted each other. If the trials were psychological, we were in for a ride.

We were sitting at the former dining hall, going over the trials ahead. Just Nina and I. She would go over the plans with me, and I would relay them to the group. She did this, because she knew no one else trusted her.

No one took the time to understand her either.

She looked down at her notes.

"Well, from the information I have gathered, I have the names of the trials within the strongholds. The nine are: Trial of tongue's, Trial of nightmares, Trial of Confusion, Trial of silence, Trial of darkness, Trial of waking, Trial of fear, Trial of change, and the Trial of loss. In that order. Each trial is held in place by a high priestess. Yes, a priestess."

"That IS interesting." I said. "Up until now there have only been priests."

She nodded. "This is true, but what the priests don't know is that only the priestesses rise to the top. It is actually a Matriarchy. When a woman is chosen, or 'Moved' for analyzation, she is actually sent to a higher stronghold to be named a priestess. That's all I know so far..."

She looked down.

I smiled. "That is an excellent amount of knowledge. I'll see what I can do, and let the group in on your plans."

My face fell. "Not that... Not that they know it's your planning."

She gave me a soft kiss.

"Thank you..." She whispered.

"It's really fine, as long as we're moving forward, that's all that matters."

I stood. "Yes, but they... They don't see what I see. They hate you, and I love you... It's just..."

She walked up to me, and pulled me into her embrace.

"Why do you care so much about what they think of me? I love you... And I can see this is tearing you apart..."

She looked sorrowful for a moment.

She smiled. "I don't care that they hate me, your opinion matters more..."

She kissed me more passionately, her fingers sliding up my shirt.

I pulled her closer, breathing in her scent as I bit her neck softly.

We went to our room...

Our bodies pressed against each other, our forms filling with blissful pleasure...

She breathed softly, our bodies still intertwined.

I kissed her lips softly.

"I love you..." I whispered.

"And one day, we won't have to worry about all of this... I promise. We'll make it right."

She gave me a soft kiss. "I... I know."

I let her warmth draw me into sleep.

I heard a voice... It was Nina... She was crying.

"I can't... I can't do it..."

Nina...?

"It's all... It's all so..."

So... What?

"It's his, and if I take it..."

Nina... I already know.

"He'll die..."

What?

"He'll die because of me! No, no, no... No... I won't. When the time comes, I'll..."

You'll what? What!?

NINA! What will you do!?

Keep talking!

TELL ME!

I sat up in a choking gasp, my body covered in sweat.

Nina wasn't here this morning, but she had left a note.

...

Dear Kahn, my love,

I left to scout out the grounds of the first trial. I wanted to make sure we wouldn't have to run into much trouble when we get there.

I know you don't like it when I leave before you wake, but it was still early, and you looked so peaceful...

I'm sorry, and I promise I'll make it up to you.

Love:

-Nina

...

I smiled. She continued to go by Nina. There was a time when I had insisted in private, I could call her Lilith. That was her real name. She had explained that she liked the name Nina, and hated her birth name. I pushed it no further after that. She was Nina.

And she was mine, as much as I was hers.

I shook my head. "What an awful dream..."