Chapter 20

The girl in front of him shuffled her feet in what he guessed was embarrassment at his question. "I'm not really supposed to be using my aura abilities while Nile has the puzzle, but… back in the library, I caught what you have been concerned with."

"Like I'm concerned with anything besides getting my daily dosage of killing things." He snapped. "Even if I was, I don't need your pity, weirdo."

"We are all strange from one another, its what creates communities. If we were all the same, then that community would die from lacking the abilities that they didn't have."

He sighed, "I regret calling you a weirdo."

She smirked in her victory to annoy him. "Good, and I wasn't pitying you. Not entirely. I actually understand exactly what you're going through."

"Yea, because you're a wise old woman living a life of luxury and reading books. Must make you feel like you know everything." He growled defensively. That type of arrogance pissed him off the most, everyone had it and every day they used it against him. Never seeing beyond themselves and what they knew about him when he was trying his best to see what they saw. Not that it was easy, but since he wasn't a drone, he didn't have the choice but to learn how to understand the people that were constantly surrounding him. Besides, how could they know things that he didn't even know about himself? "Well you don't, Shrimp. You don't know anything."

"I could have told you that." She huffed like it was obvious. "But I do know this scenario. I didn't always live at the Kaiba manor. You think Electra would have known me if I did?"

He went to open his mouth, but his sarcastic remark went out the window as she looked up at him, a look he couldn't quite understand. It was the first time he had seen it.

"My life, to be honest, was quite comfortable. Unrealistically so. Then, my mother and I moved to Domino, Japan from eastern Ontario, Canada. It wasn't long afterwards before everything hit the fan and went sideways. I found out I was stolen away from my real family when I was barely a year old and have been a puppet before I was even born. Every movement I made and probably still making, has been predicted. I didn't know who I was when I found out the truth. My whole world was gone in a few moments and my understanding of who I trusted and who I was, was taken. Even now I still question: is there a point? Everything I do just seems to backfire and the farther I go down the road, making turns, I always end back exactly where someone wants me. I still don't even really understand who I really am after all this time. Even though I'm now surround by people that truly care about me, I still don't know if I'm really the person they care about, or I'm something else still struggling to be free from puppet strings. In a room, surrounded by people, I still feel alone with a void that never seems to fill. Sound familiar?"

"Maybe…" he found himself saying as he continued to think over what she had said. Even when people surrounded him, whether or not they cared, he still felt alone. Nothing that a simple-minded drone would feel. And in the pit of loneliness, there was a void. A void that he tried filling in with violence since it made the feeling go away for a period of time. But there wasn't even a chance of him telling her that.

"Want to know my answer to my questions?" Regan asked taking him out of his forsaken head.

"You're going to say it anyway, so why ask?"

"Because its polite." He huffed at her stupid answer. "The way I get by, day by day no matter what happens, is to try. I don't know what my real nature is, but I'm striving to be someone that others can depend on like the people around me have for me."

"That was a bit cheesy, seriously, are you always like this?"

"No, this was a speech about life, so of course its going to be cheesy." She hissed apparently annoyed at his blunt response. "Ignore everyone and look at yourself as a person and try to be whatever it is you want to be. That's it, that's what my brother told me and so far, it works."

"So, if I want to kill everyone…" he started with a grin. The feelings that his head that he had trouble processing would always go numb after a slaughter.

"Then you'll have to get passed me first." Regan smirked apparently not phased by his ruthless answer. "But that's not what you want. It was programmed into your head to do, but its not you. Heh…"

"What is it?"

"I just realized that we are more similar than I thought. We are two people that shouldn't even exist."

"Speak for yourself." He retorted angrily. He had every right to be alive, regardless of what his intended purpose was supposed to be.

"Oh well, fuck the universe." She shrugged and he took his aggression down a notch at the randomness of her statement. "We've never fit in with its rules anyway, why start?"

He looked down at her in confusion. What was she talking about? Was she like him? "Are you not… whole?"

"Nope," She answered casually like it wasn't the biggest news to land on his lap that day. "But where's the fun in being like the rest of them, eh? Come on, lets go find something to do while you think. That way, you can stop worrying Electra over your health."

That surprised him, he didn't realize he was acting so differently that it worried her. He needed to work on that so she could think straight and not worry about his sorry ass. "Why would she be worried about me?"

"Because you two are partners and even if one of them seems to be strong as an ox and dumb as a bull, they both have something the other needs for support."

He winced at her bluntness. "Did you just call me an idiot?"

"To be truthful, both of you are idiots when you keep trying to go on suicide missions with no execution button."

She started walking passed him as a sly remark came to him. "Didn't Roo say the same thing about you back in the library."

Her next step wasn't in rhythm to her other steps and a smirked formed on his face as she didn't bother to stop. "Shut up and come or I'm leaving you behind."

It was funny that she thought she could leave him behind.

00000

A sound that a human should never be able to make ripped through his ear drums as she screeched what he thought was supposed to be kittens, but wasn't sure since he covered his ears in pain. Leave it to him to be reborn in the image of the stupid twilight hero, wolf senses on a normal Hylian were just a pain in the ass when it came to screeching teenagers, both at kittens and the STAR game. The only time he'll find girls gushing over him and his ability to beat the game and Link's record. Teenager girls were weird. The girl ran passed him, turning down an alley, chasing after the small fur ball. He walked around the corner to see her knelt in front of a swarm of them, and snuggling one of them.

"Did you really have to try blowing my ear drums out?" He growled in annoyance at her antics. "They're just cats."

"I love them…" She whined as she put the cat down and sat in front of them, petting them. "Actually… I love one very much in particular."

He smirked as he found a way to take a jab at her childish nature from earlier. "I didn't realize you were into that sort of thing."

"That's not what I meant!" She snapped angrily. He raised an eyebrow in response, he wasn't expecting that reaction. "Sorry, I have a cat named Phoenix back home. A guard cat if you will, but he's the best cat ever. I miss him, and home… coming down this alley was a stupid idea."

The cats got off of her in unison without her even doing anything before she stood up. He saw her eyes were watering as she turned to him. He swallowed; what the hell was he supposed to do now? Did he make her cry? "Uh… are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She answered as she wiped her eye. She looked stressed, a lot like Electra looked when he would find her alone with herself for a while. "Just had a ghost feeling of where I was shot. Have you ever been shot?"

"Unfortunately," He replied though he wished she would share why she was actually sad. He stopped that train of thought as it sounded ridiculous, he shouldn't have even cared. "Electra shot me in the leg one of the times we met."

"I haven't been shot there…"

"You say that like you've been shot more than once."

"I've been shot at least four times and once, a shot missed my face scratching my cheek."

"I can see why you're feeling the wound." He muttered though he was finding himself really concerned for her wellbeing. But he wasn't going to say that there was someone else he slightly cared about. "Come on, you have Minish to find."

"Yes, and I hope we find them soon." Regan sighed as they left the alleyway. "I doubt I have much time left before a guard finds us, or I have to go back to the puzzle."

"How much time do you have anyway? You didn't exactly leave as soon as your double left and we've been out here for a while."

"I'm pretty sure I'm overdue soon, but as long as I don't use my aura, I should be okay."

He sighed, that didn't give them a lot of time to look about without having someone breathing down their necks. Suddenly, an idea came to mind, though he was sure it wasn't the best one he could come up with. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's a good one."

"What is it?"

We should head back to the castle and get your item, it would be faster to find the Minish if you could use your ability."

"True, but Nile needs it more."

"Why? She's just training with some wimps."

"That's exactly why." She told him. "I'm not sure how much you know, but she hasn't had a body of her own in like… five thousand years."

"Right…" He had forgotten about that tiny detail. "Gods you people are a complicated bunch."

"I know! But its no fun if its simple."

"No, but it makes things a hell of a lot easier." He replied, she was way too chipper about such a scenario. "Since that idea was sliced, how much time do you have at max?"

"An hour? Maybe?"

That wasn't a lot of time, and if they went over and she collapsed. He was going to have to carry her back and then get an earful… just his luck. He considered the options laid out before him, so he wouldn't get yelled at by an assortment of people. "Then we'll stick to Castle Town, and from there once you're all…" He didn't really know how to describe the action. Was she refueling? Absorbing? Realigning? Stabilizing was the closest word but… even that didn't make sense. "Um."

"Ya, I haven't found a verb for it either, but continue."

"We'll head out of town for a look around in this part of the field. Wouldn't hurt to check."

"Is that a wise choice, I can't exactly fight with my weapons without the puzzle."

"Leaves more for me then." He replied cheekily and she just crossed her arms. "I'm sure the armory wont mind us raiding it for a weapon or two. Maybe we can get Roo and Lightning Bug to come with us."

"You want more people around?"

"Draws in more monsters to kill."

"Oh… well if that's what you want…"

"The more the merrier as you say, right?" He confirmed with a sadistic grin as the thought of killing all the monsters that challenged him came to mind. It was a fantastic feeling of destroying them when they thought they could destroy him.

A nervous laugh was all Regan answered with which only made the thought of taking on more monsters, since it seemed like she didn't want to participate, that was much more appealing.