A/N:

PLEASE READ!

Apparently a couple of weeks equals a whole month, but hear me out:

I have done some MAJOR changes to Chapter 24: The Late Chapter. I've left an explanation of why in that chapter, but the gist is that the original Chapter 25 got appended to Chapter 24, so now it includes new text, and an improved catty argument with Anise and Natalia and some awesomeness from Raine. :D Please go back to read it and then come back to this chapter.

Thank you, my amazing peeps, for all of your patience as I reworked everything.

Chapter 25: The Even Later Chapter! Ugh, this one was a Mess!

Kidnapping….

A potential copy machine….

That man they saw back at… was that the Tartarus or what was that thing? Raine shook her head. It didn't matter. The man they saw, Asch the Bloody, looked just like Luke.

Raine kept to her position at the back as they walked along the rainy beach. This time, though, she welcomed a new distraction to focus on as she stared at the fire color of Luke's hair. She knew something was going on. Obviously, Luke himself didn't catch on, but she wondered who else had. Jade, probably, if she was right about her theory. What about Guy? Anyone else? She really wasn't sure. Either way, she had been wrong about Luke.

Luke wasn't replicated; he was the replica.

Well, she wasn't completely sure it was possible… but it could be. At least, that's what all of the evidence pointed to. Fomicry was the ability to create a replica of something, and while they sounded like they were talking about replicating things, the machine at Choral Castle could have been a copy machine, like she first conjectured. The God-Generals had used that thing on Luke and now they see a God-General with the exact same face? That could hardly be a coincidence!

With the God-Generals' interest in him, it made sense if one of them, Asch, was the original the replica came from.

More than that, some other things began to make sense.

Luke's hair had a lower quality of red compared to Asch's hair whose deep shade of vermilion matched Duke Fabre's hair color perfectly. Although Luke's change in hair color could've been the result of something else Malkuth did to him as Guy had pointed out, there were more clues than that. Luke's lack of memories before his kidnapping and inability to remember any of it, even having to relearn literally everything made sense if he truly was a replica. Even Luke's personality had changed from someone involved in his country's affairs to someone locked up in a manor with too cantankerous a manner to be considered nobility. This child was spoiled, sheltered, and self-centered. They'd only interacted with Asch twice, but that man clearly had a sense of anger about him.

And she would've placed money on a bet that Asch's origins were a complete mystery.

The only thing she didn't understand was the purpose. For some reason, they wanted to take the original and leave a replica behind. But why? Who was behind this? Was this something Asch agreed to? Wanted? Or is this something he just had to live with? Who was the one responsible for this? Was it Dist? Sync? Or perhaps Jade?

She kept glancing over at the back of Jade's head. Jade knew more than he let on, she was sure about that, though she didn't dare ask him about it. For one thing, he met his obligation to her and Elder McGovern when he brought her to Baticul. It was her choice to follow them and abandon going to Belkend. Now that he had no obligation to protect her, he could kill her with the flash of an arte to silence her and there was no sense of duty to worry about it otherwise. He didn't want to talk about the research, which meant it was something he wanted to bury. Because of that, she thought it poor choice to dabble in any potential wounds of a dangerous man, especially when she didn't know how savage he could be when provoked.

For another thing, she wasn't absolutely sure she was right about his involvement. He himself insisted that he knew nothing about the kidnapping, and the prudent part of her believed him, despite her thoughts on how much he knew about the research. For third, it really wasn't that important to find out. Her main goal was to fix up the Rheaird and get the hell off of this planet to Tethe'alla. Completely untangling the truth of what happened with Luke was irrelevant to that mission, as intriguing as the mystery was.

Still, the pondering lingered and since it hurt less than thinking about Genis being in Tethe'alla without her, she ruminated. Apparently, she wasn't the only one.

Anise walked alongside Ion with Natalia just behind her. Guy followed all of them with Tear behind him and Luke way ahead. "Asch the Bloody..." Anise said in a low voice so Luke couldn't hear, "he looked just like Luke."

"A long lost brother, maybe?" Guy suggested. "I've never heard anything like that, but..." his voice tapered off, but then he looked to Natalia. "Natalia, do you know anything about that?"

She shook her head. "No, Duke Fabre only has one son."

From the sounds of it, they didn't suspect replication. Raine didn't say anything. Jade walked just ahead of them, listening in, and she didn't want to offer any thoughts that might put her in trouble with him.

That night, they camped along the narrow shoreline and next to the cliff face where there really wasn't much protection from the weather or monsters. They would definitely need to swap out night watches. Tear set about preparing the evening meal while Jade took a short nap to prepare for first watch (something about the struggles of keeping up with such young kids who nowadays have too much energy, but Raine didn't buy it). Anise and Natalia spent as much time as possible away from each other and Luke sat at the fire with Guy. The rain had slowed to a misty drizzle. Even so, Raine sat on the edges of the fire light with her back to the rock wall.

She closed her eyes to rest. After a while, she heard grass rustling.

"Yo."

"Hello again, Guy." When she opened her eyes, she saw him sitting at his usual comfortable distance.

"I just noticed you're sitting off on your own again. Are you feeling any better?"

She smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about that anymore, okay?" He nodded with a half-smile.

"Sure. But you know, you can talk to me about stuff. When you bottle it up like that… well, you've experienced the consequences. It's easy to explode." He shifted in his spot on the ground. No wonder. Even Raine felt how hard the dirt was and the grass over here was fairly sparse. She just chose to ignore it. It was better than sitting on the wet grass near the fire.

"Like Luke does?"

Guy laughed. "Well, he doesn't bother bottling it up, though, does he?"

"True…." They fell silent. Come to think of it, if Luke did bottle it up, how bad would he be when he couldn't contain it anymore? Raine shuddered. She didn't really want to know.

Now that Guy was here, though….

There had to be more ways to get information about this world, and it would be so simple to just ask him. But she hesitated. Plenty of humans reversed their personalities and attitudes towards her and Genis when they heard the wrong thing. What stopped Guy from being that kind of person, too? There had to be a way to ask questions and get answers without being so suspicious or warning him about her bizarre circumstances.

As she thought back through her journey from the beginning, she realized she had an opportunity to find out what an official was thinking. Elder McGovern had thought she was weird and ignorant, but he didn't think she was threatening. Otherwise, why would he have helped her?

"Actually, you can help me one thing." She watched his face light up with excitement. He genuinely did want to help her. Curious, he turned more towards her and leaned in, listening. "I know you all spoke with Elder McGovern about me. What exactly did he say?"

"What? You're worried about that?"

"Curious is probably a better word."

"Now?"

Ugh, now she knew how Jade felt when she wouldn't answer him either. "Stop answering my questions with questions and just answer me, please."

"Oh, right, well…" Guy rubbed the back of his head, "he didn't say much, just that a woman crashed a flying machine nearby, and he asked us to take you back to Kimlasca."

Well that wasn't much. That could hardly be everything. Raine raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"I think so…."

"But you knew I was a professor…?"

"Oh! That's right, he said you were some kind of professor! He said you were from Sheridan and that you might need protection to get home, but he never explained why. Er, not to us at least. He indicated he wanted to talk to Jade privately and then… he just gave Jade some papers and then you showed up."

Raine considered this. Was that really all Elder McGovern had told them? Guy did have a flighty memory…. But either way, it sounded like the real person she should speak to was the same Malkuth soldier who could cast an arte that would send her to celestial fonstones if she pissed him off. Would it even be safe to approach him about it? If she did, he might ask her more questions, too. Such as—

"So… why now? Or are you invoking our treaty on that question still?"

Yes, she was. She really should give him something, though. "I realized something." Raine paused to think of how to say it. Guy waited but he must have decided she wasn't going to continue. He turned away from her with a frustrated sigh. "I realized something wasn't adding up." Surprised, he turned back to her. Her heart began beating fast. She wanted to tell him, but what would he do? How would he respond? No. You don't know enough about these people yet. You have no idea how seriously this Score is taken by the general populace. She bit her tongue.

But Guy read her well enough. "You realized there's a big problem. I gather that much."

Raine nodded and muttered, "That's an understatement."

"What?"

"Anyway, I am trying to ascertain the severity of my problem by finding out what people believe of me."

"What people believe of you? Why?" Guy laughed and then realized she wasn't amused. With a stiff breath to straighten up, he said, "It doesn't matter whether people like you or not. You're with us now."

One of her eyebrows rose. She wrapped her arms around her knees. "Oh, really? You have that much faith in the group's protective strength, do you?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. But even if you've been persecuted before, why do you have to worry so much now? You've got King Ingobert on your side."

Wow, talk about trust. Somehow, this didn't surprise her about Guy's personality. Even with all of the crap Raine had given him, he still seeks her out to talk with her. "With respect to the king, he might not be so welcoming of me if he knows the truth about me."

"Nah, he wouldn't hurt you."

Oh, she wished she had his faith in His Majesty. But Guy clearly noticed she didn't believe him. He hesitated, hardly wanting to say what was on his mind. What was he thinking about? She didn't have to wonder long.

"Are you afraid of persecution from both sides again, even after meeting His Majesty?"

She didn't answer. What did "both sides" mean to him? Was he thinking she meant the two countries? It sounded like it, but she wasn't sure enough to say so. He sighed. "Not talking again. Okay, I get it, I won't ask."

"I'm sorry." Raine truly felt it. Better to redirect him. And she knew just the topic. "So what can you tell me about Class M?"

Yes, that did it. The boyish charm of a fontech fan returned in full force, complete with absolute distraction. Just the trick she hoped for.

"Well, Class I and Class M were students of two instructors at the Kimlasca-Lanvaldear Royal Academy. Class M was Professor Melissa's class and they started a rivalry against Professor Ian's class when some of his students bragged about one of their engineering projects winning a top prize for innovation." For a man of passion, he hadn't used his hands to speak so much until now. Humored, Raine watched him enjoy talking about his favorite topic. "Class M wanted to show them up and ended up winning an award of their own. Anymore the rivalry exists between just a few of the students, but they're still trying to outdo each other."

"Ah, hence the hundredth win."

"Yeah, right now they sit at 99 losses, 99 wins, unless the Rheaird is their tie-breaker."

"Heh, I don't think it would stop at the hundredth win," Raine said.

"Probably not, but hey, even if the Rheaird is their hundredth win, you can't count out Class I's hundredth. What about their research on eckspheres—" Raine shushed him as she clapped a hand over his mouth. For all the good it did. He jumped back and hollered, drawing nearly everyone else's attention.

"Don't talk about that!" She hissed in a very low whisper.

Eyes wide with shock, Guy nodded. When he finally breathed again, he apologized, but Raine's attention was on the others. Jade had apparently woken up and stared at them, the fire reflecting in the lenses of his glasses as he put them on. Natalia looked too, but with a little more concern. Luke, thankfully, turned away, no longer curious, but Anise had that smirk that told Raine she would've loved to buzz over and eavesdrop if she could've found a way to do it stealthily.

But now the conversation was over. Tear stood up to announce dinner. Raine hurried to get away, leaving Guy to wonder what the hell just happened.

Raine

Born in a village in the woods – where?

From Radessia? – I doubt it

Paranoid, highly guarded

Eckspheres ? – studied by Class I? But don't ask about them.

Stole Re-ard – flying machine, Albiore, why different name?

Lied about using fonons? – once she learned the theory, she used them just fine

Guy scratched that line out and replaced it.

Has significant control over fonons – solid understanding of artes and magic – why couldn't she use fonons even though she had such fine skills?

Unicorn horn – not a uniceros horn, possibly from new species?

Sheena – traveling companion and apparent liar, mentioned Imperial Research Academy, assassin possibly after Colette's life – became a highly trusted friend. How?

Genis – lost younger brother

Abandoned by parents – why?

Claims to be an elf – for better treatment

Lloyd – student and traveling companion

Colette – student and traveling companion, someone wanted her dead?

Mercenary – temporary traveling companion

Replica? – caught between Malkuth and Kimlasca?

Makes sense, considering how paranoid she was.

Expected King Ingobert to know Sheena

Something about this seemed essential to the puzzle. If Raine expected Sheena to know the king, but it turned out she didn't, this information was key to something judging by Raine's reaction to it. It was enough that Raine broke down, deeply disturbed by it. But what did it mean? What did she learn from that? He added a note:

Expected King Ingobert to know Sheena – Severe reaction, meant something significant

Asked about Martel (asked all of us) and Tetheallah (just asked me) – people? Places?

Huh. There's some semblance of trust there, he realized. She trusted him enough to ask him something she wouldn't dare let the others know.

Terrified of His Majesty – if he knows her truth, he might kill her? Why believe that?

Not only that, but Guy's reassurances did nothing to ease her mind.

Asked about Class M

Wants to know what others think of her – fears they might hurt her. Why?

"What are you writing about?" Luke asked, finally noticing Guy making notes on his paper.

Guy quickly stuffed the paper into this pocket. "Ah, nothing important."

Luke shook his head. "Whatever."

The party walked further along the beach towards the open plains. While they had slept last night, the clouds broke apart into a clear sunrise, making today's journey a little less wet and more pleasant. Guy stole a glance at Raine who kept to the back, watching the waves instead of where she was headed. She became a bigger mystery every time he spoke to her. Wasn't there some way he could put her mind at ease? Just because she was a replica didn't mean everyone was gunning for her life. But she seemed to believe they were. If she feared she wasn't in the Score, that could explain it, he supposed, but knowing Ion and King Ingobert, they wouldn't kill someone just because they weren't in the Score… right?

And what was the significance of Martel and Tetheallah? He pulled the paper from his pocket again and read it over. Raine was definitely extremely paranoid. In fact—he stopped walking when he realized it—her entire story from what he gathered was all about fear. People chased her, assassins sent after her student, moving from place to place and never settling down. Was it possible the mercenary who traveled with them was sent to protect them? Possibly from Sheena? Raine had said they parted ways at some point. But why? And then Sheena became friends with Raine. Were the two incidents related?

That would explain her guardedness if she realized she couldn't trust the people around her, the people she met. Now that he thought about it, she was scared of Astor, too, even hiding behind Jade until she realized Astor was a trusted friend of Ion's. Man, Mohs must have scared the ever-living crap out of her when he stared at her so much. Maybe that was part of her problem in Baticul?

"You're in danger of ending up at the back," Raine teased as she passed him up.

"Haha, I guess I'd better catch up." He stuffed the paper away again, this time permanently. As he followed her, Guy couldn't help thinking about back in Baticul when she asked about Martel and Tetheallah. He'd never heard of either of those words before and she collapsed when she realized that. He'd puzzled over what they could mean ever since. What significance did it have for her? Was Martel a person who knew Sheena? Jade had asked about her caretaker and Raine said no to that. So who else—or what else—could Martel be?

A/N: What? You didn't think that was all I had updated, did you? ;)

I am so super excited!

So, I have updated every single chapter to match my main file, so all of the little tweaks I have done throughout are now posted. You can read again if you want to, but those changes probably won't stand out to you. However...

I've also done some major changes to other parts of Fight or Flight. Raven Tsurara has been reviewing with such awesome ideas that I'm like, "OMG, Genis is being way more affected by this than I thought!" But my drafts were lifeless and ill-thought out. So, I asked her if she wouldn't mind taking over Genis's side (AKA: Symphonia's Side) of the story. She has agreed, to my absolute DELIGHT!

She pointed out some things that I needed to correct, the biggest of which is my Symphonia/ Abyss timeline. So some scenes have moved (specifically, the Tiga scene from chapter 21) and will appear later, and other scenes have been added, some of which were originally mine and she updated, and others she flat-out wrote from scratch. Her as-of-now posted scenes can be found as follows:

Chapter 7
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 23

If you'd like, you can go back and follow Genis's story and see how the poor kid is faring. If you do, and especially if you enjoy her work, please show her some love if you leave a review! She is working very hard and is doing such an incredible job that I can't thank her enough. You'll definitely see more of her work as we go, so please be on the lookout. She has some fascinating ideas in the works.

Now, as for Chapter 26, it is ready to go, and I WILL post that on Christmas Day come hell or high water because it contains a special treat for you all, and I am leaving post-it stickies, phone alarms, telling family/ friends, and doing pretty much everything I can to ensure that I don't miss it! Feel free to chew me out with a message on Chapter 25 if you don't see it posted by Noon your time (even, or especially, if you're in Australia... That would be awesome! If I have any Aussie readers, let me know, and I'll make sure to post it a day early for everyone else instead of a day late for you!). I want to make sure I can at least keep ONE very important promise.

I also want to add special Thank Yous to an amazing group of readers who I realized I hadn't addressed AT ALL. I apologize for not addressing you personally until now. Those of you who are reading silently in the background, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you, too! Even if you're not commenting, you are still reading and (hopefully) enjoying the story, and that means just as much to me.

I have thanked my commentors before, but I wanted to make sure you all know how much I appreciate your comments! You guys are helping me to shape the story and pay attention to areas of weakness. For example, someone mentioned that Jade isn't feeling Jade-y enough, and I agree! So I have worked harder to focus on bringing Jade's Jadeness out a little more. Thank you so much!

Phew! Is that everything? I hope so. Have a terrific weekend! See you on or before Christmas! ;)

~~Kat =^-^=