Y.Z. Act III [PG-16]

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Enough.

Armon had had enough.

And thus, even though he'd just been slapped twice for two stupid reasons that he normally would've sent Dation arrows at Sanako for, he sat silently, refused to meet anyone's gaze, and let an ugly expression linger on his face for the rest of the meal. He did not apologize to Violette, who looked more concerned about the quickly disintegrating relationship between Armon and Sanako than the jab about her being an outsider. She peered at Christian, her cheeks pink with apologetic embarrassment. She hadn't really helped much at all, though… it was probably good that Sanako had had the motivation to stand up for her. It was a good sign, right? This rift wouldn't make things worse, would it? Violette hung her head for a second. Ahh, how Lazarus wished he'd been transformed into Alicel instead of some random dolled up girl. It would've been so much less awkward, and at least Alicel didn't have a huge… Violette shook the thought out of her head. Now was no time to be thinking about that. What was done was done. Alicel had passed away a good four years ago, and Rosaline, just a few hours ago.

"It's okay Sanako," Violette sweatdropped, feeling an aura of low-tolerance floating around Armon, "It really wasn't that bad…"

'Ahhh, what a stubborn guy. Not attractive.' Orcha hung upside down from one of the tree's, having earlier blended in completely thanks to her hair and dress of maple leaves. She stuck her tongue out at Xaviae and Jeckt, to receive a raised eyebrow and disgusting expression respectively.

'Shove it.' Jeckt barked, his face returning to normal, 'Nobody asked for an opinion from ugly.'

'Aww,' Orcha crooned, a smirk on her black lips, 'Your insults suck too!'

For a split second, Armon's hair turned jet black. But only for a split second, as Jeckt quickly calmed himself. No reason to get worked up over someone else's negafael. At least he had a sense of modesty in terms of clothing. If leaves could even be considered clothing. And that ugly make-up! She looked like a clown. He slid down the tree, the chain's sliding with him as he sighed in content. After putting her down a few times, he felt better already.


"Special, free-of-charge trainers have arriiiiived~!" Dieter called into the courtyard, busting into the mansion without bothering to be on-call for good grace. Strangely enough, this time, Rasch did not scold Dieter for having no manners, instead, merely waltzed right in behind him, peering at the room while he moustache twitched. What a fancy room. He preferred the simplicity of the hotel conference room. Dieter however, had stopped completely in his tracks upon walking in. Unlike Rasch, he was not absorbed in the room's decorations, but instead at the person who had just stepped off the staircase. Dieter smiled like an innocent child, his cheeks turning red as he pointed at the silver haired person staring back at him with curious green eyes.

"Rasch, Rasch look! It's a crossdresser!" Dieter exclaimed, excited beyond all belief.

The vein pop that appeared over the girl's head couldn't have possibly been bigger. Dieter sweatdropped at the killer aura being emitted as the person clad in a tank top and miniskirt practically breathed fire in his face, "I'M A GIRL!!!!"

Rasch suppressed a bemused expression as he turned to watch the scene of Dieter getting chewed out by the curve-less girl. How unattractive. Wait. Rasch sighed and scolded himself mentally. As an old man, it wasn't proper to judge a young woman's worth by her appearance. Had he been perhaps forty years younger, then it would certainly be perfectly fine. He continued to survey the room. Well, it would be pointless to utter the only five words he ever said to just one person. Until everyone of any worth on the premises was gathered, he would hold off on introducing himself.

"al-RIG-ht I GET the POINT!" Dieter cried, his voice fluxuating in volume as he was shaken back and forth by his collar by Gil, who had successfully busted his sunglasses, which lay in shattered pieces on the ground. Wrenching himself out of the monster's grasp, he rolled his eyes and pulled another pair of sunglasses from the cavity where his heart should've been, though from the outside, it looked as if they had merely come from a pocket inside his vest.

"Wait." Gil stood back, annoyance cast across her features at Dieter, "Who are you people?"
 
"Oh, how wonderful, my assistance has arrived~" Stahn sang cheerfully as Dieter first entered the room, setting off Gil in an instant. Gil's reaction was natural, Levi wasn't present during the attack at the castle. However, both Sanako and Christian were quick to prepare themselves. They, however, were weaponless, so that seemed futile. Sanako went to speak, to accuse them of murdering Rosaline, but Stahn stopped him before he could. "They aren't enemies. We're all on the same side here." Same side? Was he stupid or something!? It was these people who attacked them in the first place. She held her tongue, however, realizing there would be no benefit is mistrusting Stahn now, especially if she wanted to avenge Rosaline.

"Hey! Hey! Ashton! This is what you call a 'magical girl', right?" Auricia enthusiastically called back to her Lieutenant. Sanako jumped back a ways as she realized the violet haired girl was talking about her. "I mean, she really does look like one!"

Sanako sweatdropped. "Do I... really look like that?"
"...Yes." Christian sighed in response as he sweatdropped as well, stating it in a way that suggested 'you didn't notice before!?'

Ashton sighed as he stepped out of the shadows of the hallway and into the dining hall, Laeina following behind closely with her hands held together down by here waist. It was easy to tell at first glance that her personality would by striking similar to Violette. That refined personality that would probably leave a bad taste in at least Gil's mouth. "No, Auricia. That's that boy from the castle. Remember? The one with the brown hair?"

"Oh, you mean the one you beat really easy?" Anger marks formed above Sanako's left eye.

"Hey! Shut up! Don't talk like we were on the same level! I was-"

"Weak? I told you that, but you must have been unconscious." Ashton cut Sanako off, arrogantly flaunting his victory over Reid. Sanako was once again about to do something she'd regret after the mental fuse to the bomb that was her self control almost reached the end of it's line, when her hand was suddenly snatched from her own control. A boy, probably somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 now had it in his grasp, and he knelt down and kissed it, which made quick work of the pale colouring of Sanako's face, turning it bright red.

She quickly snatched her own hand away, looking down at the boy in shock. She wasn't left an opening to rebuttle as he stood and bowed, flashing her a smile that almost melted her heart. "I am Tsukasa. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss." He stepped back to Ashton's side, leaving the beet red girl to twiddle her thumbs before moving to hide behind Violette. Christian sweatdropped. She may put on a tough exterior, but she's pretty easy to woo, huh?

Auricia however, was highly amused by the gesture Tsukasa had made, and her face was tinted red with embarrassment as she watched. She, however, broke into uncontrollable laughter as Ashton swallowed a pill he accepted with much distate, transforming him into a red pigtailed, green eyed little girl, most likely around the age of ten, dressed in a small white dress. The girl stared unamused at everyone, but Sanako couldn't resist. "Not so tough now, are ya, little girl? Now that I'm bigger than y- AHHH!" All the girl had to do was flick her hand open to send a stream of fionus at Sanako, engulfing her head and hair. She didn't say anything, but rather blankly watched the result of the attack. Sanako ran around in circles for a moment as she tried to put the fire in her hair out, before finally dumping a glass of water on it. "Violette, can you fix my hair~?" She asked as she ran over to Violette afterwards, struggling to identify had any damage had been done.

"Don't mind Rita, she's just a bit of a prankster. Don't worry, you're hair is still just as beautiful." Sanako's face turned beet red once more as Tsukasa spoke, and once again Sanako retreated to safety behind Violette, not particularly sure how to react. In this respect, Sanako was still a kid.

"Okay, have we all had our fun ye-"

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUN!?"

"Yes, Sanako, I do. It wasn't obvious before? Now, shut up and listen if you want to get stronger." Stahn barked back at the girl in a much more serious tone than his usual one. "Admittedly, I've been hiding some important information from you all. First, and least important, NEAR is an organization of my creation." Christian gritted his teeth. All of the pain he had suffered from the attack, that was his fault!? "Now, before you say anything, that attack yesterday was a test to see if you were worthy. Whether or not I was going to come to you would depend on how you dealt with the threat. You didn't win, but you did display your ability to function as a whole, so I let you pass. I wasn't expecting Ashton and the Skills to interfere that night, though."

He glanced at Rita, who finally decided to speak. "I apologize, sensei. But I had no choice to follow orders at the time." Sanako and Christian were crazy confused. It was safe to assume that those... strange people were called Skills.

"It's fine, it's fine. It helped provide some motivation to come along, I think. Anyways, NEAR is an organization created to protect the Ophelian Core." An even more confused look washed over Sanako's face. A whatti-what? She listened with her total attention provided, however. "You see, when the Goddess Ophelia left this earth, she left behind a fragment of herself. With it, the user could probably mold the world into their own image. It would mean the end of life as we know it. But you see, the goddess wasn't stupid. She scattered the core into an unknown number of pieces and bound them to the human soul. Generation upon generation, these shards have been passed down to new hosts."

"Unfortunately, one man has decided to begin to collect these shards, and I think this is why Rosaline was killed. When the shard is removed from a human's soul, they die. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. They just plain drop dead. I can guarantee you this. Rosaline Dian had a shard in her soul. And, some of you here do as well." Stahn muttered an additional phrase under his breath, but it wasn't modern language.

Sanako wasn't sure exactly what happened next, but she could tell it was triggered by whatever it was Stahn murmured. Her chest just... started to glow a pale green colour. The same thing happened to Gil, Rita, Stahn, and the polite girl who's name had yet to be identified, only the colour coincided with their mahstion. The new girl, however, hers glowed violet for some reason. She stumbled backwards, hitting Violette and smacking her head off of the older girl's chest. The light faded shortly after. "You four will be undergoing intensive training starting tonight. If you don't want to be killed, that is. That's why I had Ashton bring the skills. I'm sure you'll learn faster if your lives are actually on the line. There's also the matter of your alignment. You don't all have to join up with out organization, but we could use all of the help we can get in infiltrating the enemy base at the end of the month. Of course, you'll have to accept the absolute truth when the time comes." Absolute truth?

Rita, naturally, was the first to reply. "You know you have my support, sensei."

"I don't know... I don't have any real combat practice... at all." Laeina replied uncertainly as she bowed apologetically.

Stahn grinned. "But you have that ability, don't you? That newly discovered mahstion?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Show us."

Submittingly, Laeina sighed. She turned to something with little value - a wooden chair - and stared intently at it. After a moment, her pupils began to glow violet, and she raised her hand. The chair followed. The then squeezed her hand to make a fist. The chair shattered. Sanako blinked. Auricia blinked. Christian blinked. Tsukasa blinked. Rita blinked. The hell was that? "I apologize..." She bowed again, before dusting the residue from the smashed chair off her skirt. "I may have gone a little overboard using my Psyion..."

"Then you're training. That power will be invaluable in battle, Laeina." In the end, Stahn decided for her.

Not quite sure what to do herself, Sanako turned the rest of her group worriedly. "Guys... I don't want to be separated from you guys to do different training, but I need to get stronger... What should I do?"

"You'll be training with them most of the time, Sanako, it's just the occassional excersize. Besides, the one who wants to abuse the power of the Ophelian Core, the man who killed Rosaline. His name is Kayle Spar."

"N-no way! He'd never-"

"We have proof. Images from one of the other recent murders. It was him, no doubt about it. Though the fact that he gave you permission to train here must mean that he doesn't see you or may teaching abilities as a threat..." Sanako was surprised she hadn't passed out. This day was just full of surprises.
 
Armon stood off to the side, watching everything with a serious glare. The comedic scene's occurring in front of him couldn't even twitch the corner of his lip. He was still extremely angry, and it didn't seem like he would be getting over it anytime soon. Mostly though, he was watching the skill who wore the bright yellow T-shirt and was currently searching through all his pockets and sticking his hands through his body in various places in search of- The Skill broke out into a grin as he stuck an index finger in the air. Armon couldn't resist sweatdropping when he merely plunged his hand into his back pocket. After sticking his hand through his heart, lungs, and stomach, the last place he looked was his back pocket. Armon frowned at the sight of the pack of cigarettes. He didn't approve of smoking in any form. It was easy to tell what mahstion the skill used though, because upon clamping the death stick between his lips, the skill merely flicked the end and it lit. Unless he'd made his hand into a lighter?

However, when one of the new intruders transformed as well, the skill spat out his (already) half used up cigarette and collapsed in uncontrollable laughter.

"Sure!" Violette was strangely skilled at fixing hair without a brush. Probably an after effect from Hyacinth so that her favorite doll's hair could never be anything less than neat.

"Lieutenant!" The skill that had almost destroyed Adela's left hand cried, pointing at the red haired girl, "-No no, I should call you Rita from now on, shouldn't I? Ahahaha!!!"

"Woah, so," Gil once again peered shamelessly down her shirt, wholly okay with being apart of the conversation in only this way, "I have one of these shard-thingy's too?"

Dieter suddenly stopped laughing at something Rita had said. Displeasure was oozing out of his every pore as his expression suddenly changed from carefree mirth to disgusted fury. "No choice but to follow orders?" He hissed at Rita, sounding nothing like Armon had ever heard before, "Being here…. Is essentially something that they don't want? Are you telling me that….." He took a breath, though spoke in the same trembling voice as before, very much like he was trying his very hardest to stay calm, "You tricked me into going against the people who are more important than you?"

Suddenly he smiled, a serene, calming smile that last only till the end of his question, "Did you forget to tell me some details?"

The skill let out a yell that was something between suffering and fierce rage. Violette slapped a hand of her mouth when Dieter pulled his hand off, a routine motion that was surely a gruesome sight to anyone who'd never seen it before, the hand morphing into a mahstion gun- all this in less than a second. The shot fired clearly, but the results of the fionus bullet were completely nullified by a white orb of Lionus that hovered at the tip of Dieter's gun, his wrist dripping with blood as a tortured expression crossed his face, "I knew it. I knew you weren't on our side. If you were, then you wouldn't care if I killed those people!" He pointed his gun at Christian due to his lack of a free hand, though the orb of Lionus followed the tip, "ARE YOU USING ME?" Dieter laughed, "DO YOU THINK I FALL UNDER YOUR JURISDICTION IF YOUR GOAL ISN'T THE SAME AS GREGAR'S? I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS ABOUT THIS ROSALINE GIRL, OR THIS OPHELIA CRAP. THE BEST THING IS THAT THAT STUPID COUNTRY IS GOING TO DIE WITHOUT THAT PUFFED UP PRINCES-"

"That's enough."

Dieter was instantly silenced. Switch. He peered up over his shoulder at Rasch, who had put his very own hand on top of Dieter's head. His eyes were wide in awe, at the old man who wrenched the mahstion gun out of Dieter's hand and reattached it with Lionus.

"Rasch," Dieter broke out into a genuine smile, "Did-Did you just say something other than 'You may call me Rasch'?!"

The man said nothing in response. Dieter's excitement instantly deflated at the lack of words, though he was satisfied enough to keep from questioning Tappen's plans any further for the time being. He moved back behind Rasch with an innocent smile. He was truly like a child to Rasch, to be so pleased as to have gotten two words that were different from what he always heard. Hearing Rasch's voice was so rare, and it was almost never directed at him! Rasch, however, was not as pleased as Dieter. He had no intentions of disobeying Gregar at the current moment. Sure, he certainly had not been as conscious of his self-being as Dieter when he'd been inches from death, and so he had not chosen the fate to become a living weapon. He felt no inclination to do exactly as Gregar told him. However, he also felt no loyalty towards Tappen, in high contrast with Tsukasa and Auricia. He also was feeling cheated.

This time, Rasch did not even bother to lift his hands. Lionus scrawled across the air, the look of contempt on an aged face being the only way to convey the arrogant way the words would've been spoken.

'Please, Lieutenant Tappen,' The Lionus read, 'if you would kindly explain the differences between your intentions and ours.'

Kayle, huh? Armon ignored the conflict between the skill's and their Lieutenant, trying to think of a moment in time that Kayle might've slipped to give her a clue that he was behind all this… No, if he was good enough to get past Rosaline, then he probably hadn't slipped in her presence. And then there were these Skill people. Judging by what the yellow-clad one had done earlier, they probably could manipulate their bodies. Aertan had cut his hand off, to never get it back, while this man seemed to take it off and put it on like an accessory. The two who were questioning the Lieutenant couldn't be trusted. They didn't seem intent on changing sides. Actually… Armon considered the circumstances for a moment. He didn't really trust the Gregar Lieutenant either. But it was Stahn that irritated him the most. Adela's Lieutenant side took over at once.

"Are you telling me that you've caused me to waste an entire squadron on investigating your stupid organization?" Armon snapped at Stahn, folding his arms, "And then, not only do you waste my soldier's time, you call me out here to waste mine as well? Is there any point in calling those of us who do not possess a shard? And you have-…" Armon grit his teeth, "Whatever! I'm going to bed, I've had enough of you crazy people for one night." He stopped halfway across the hall though and turned around to glare at Dieter.

"Oh?" Dieter lifted his sunglasses away from his eyes before smirking, "… You must be the Lieutenant. I see your hand still works- a shame it is. And I was so sure I'd killed you, too. Got a lucky break, didn't you? Oh speaking of killing, did you like my poison?"

Armon's glare intensified before he finally turned around to finish storming out of the hall, snarling at Stahn, "Don't you dare bother me."

Violette had officially lost all interest in anything but the Psyion. Kayle? Who was that? She didn't particularly care at the moment. Ophelia? She'd already studied Ophelia. Shards? Perhaps another day. Hurrying over to the remnants of the chair, Violette picked up a piece and turned it over in her hand. Was there a pattern to how it was destroyed? Perhaps Psyion was like an extension of one's body? If so, then the chair would've broken as though it had been gripped too tightly in the palm of a hand, the same way Laeina had tightened her hand into a fist. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

Violette- No, Lazarus, had a fascinatingly one-track mind.
 
"While they seek to destroy, I seek to preserve." Rita began. He had to word this delicately. If they got an answer they didn't like, Dieter and Rasch would most likely go back to Gregar, inform them of his treachery, which would destroy any element of surprise. "If all of the shards are found, legend or not, this whole world is in danger. I want to prevent that, so that people like you guys don't end up suffering anymore than you already have."

Auricia smiled warmly. "That's why Tsukasa and I joined. All of us Skills carry a special kind of pain, whether you'll admit it or not. I know this all sounds surreal, I thought so as well, but I have faith in whichever path Ashton chooses, because he understands my pain, and he understands that I wouldn't wish the pain and sorrow I suffered from the day my father pushed me in front of that train." Sanako watched this girl intently. Pushed in front of a train? By her own father? Just what were these people? But still, her story and willingness to prevent the pain of others touched Sanako deeply, and she embraced the girl with a stream of tears. Auricia stared back in shock, before sweatdropping, realizing what she must of done.

"If you really want to know why I asked the rest of you hear, the answer is simple." Stahn called back after Armon. "It's because despite that they have these shards, they still need friends to help protect them. Is there truly nobody here you want to protect? If that's so, you can just go home then. Maybe I was wrong to think you could overcome your weaknesses."

---

Sanako winced as the morning sun reigned over her vision. What had happened last night? Not much after Rita showed up. Stahn explained everything, then Armon stormed off- Right. She remembered now, she had gone back to her room an hour later, after socializing with everyone for a while, she had returned to her room. Since Armon was already asleep when she returned, she had gotten changed into a pink satin nightgown and snuck into the bed beside him.

Her eyes wandered to the side, and saw that Armon was still resting. It would be rude to disturb him, she thought, not realizing what was wrong with how she was thinking. Therefore, she quietly got herself out of bed, being considerate enough to not shake the bed too much at the same time. Her movements felt sluggish compared to the day before. Ah well, maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her. The bathroom, she decided, was her destination. She had to look good for the new day, after all. As she walked past the mirrors on the bedroom walls, she failed to catch a glimpse of her black silk nightdress cut to look like a sundress upon her busty, doll-like body, or her short purple pigtails, or her purple eyes.

No, it wasn't until she was in the bathroom, with the light on, until she actually noticed. Sanako wasn't Sanako. Sanako was Violette! 'Violette' passed out, landing quite loudly on the floor. A loud knock then came from the door, and Christian stormed in, carrying a still sleeping 'Sanako' in his arms. Christian's originaly thought when he woke up beside Sanako was that she had accidentally gone into the wrong room, but then, he remembered what he had overheard Stahn say. "ARMON GET UP DAMMIT. SANAKO AND VIOLETTE SWITCHED FORMS."

Violette, having regained her awareness, rose from the bathroom floor and entered the main portion of the bedroom. But, she hit the floor again when she saw 'Sanako', her body, with Christian.
 
Even after the night before's crazy events that just seemed to be a blur of shock and surprise, Armon had still managed to get a very nice night of sleep. Actually, more like he'd forced himself to. He'd been drenched so much in the rain yesterday, if he'd been awake all night thinking useless thoughts that wouldn't make anything better, he most definitely would've been sick today. As of now, however, he felt perfectly fine, save for the same frustration he felt before he went to bed. He mulled over Stahn's words, closing his eyes to feign sleep when Sanako woke up. Someone he wanted to protect? He was wrong to think that he could overcome his weaknesses? Armon made an effort not to scoff at the man. The only thing Stahn had gotten horribly wrong was Armon's entire mindframe in general. If someone couldn't protect themselves, there was no point in their existence. That man didn't know a thing, and yet he sat there acting high and mighty as if he did….. Armon grit his teeth. So then, why was he still here?

What a pain- Armon sat bolt upright when he heard something crash to the ground in the bathroom. He was this close to calling out Sanako's name, but then decided that after getting slapped by her twice, she didn't deserve his worry. He was halfway through lying back on his bed when he was sent into a sitting position again at the next interruption, rubbing his head in annoyance as a headache rattled his brain.

"SANAKO AND VIOLETTE SWITCHED FORMS." A voice Armon tagged as Christian yelled much too loudly for the early morning hours.

Armon watched Christian's face for a momen before yawning without much care. Armon noticed with a disdainful glance: the sleeping Sanako and then the Violette on the floor.

"But there's no patternnn..." The Sanako in Christian's arms mumbled, turning her face into Christian's torso to block out the sun. Eh? Sanako looked up at Christian, blinking sleep away from her eyes, "Hm, Christian? What's wrong..." She yawned, covering her mouth and nose politely before continuing, "Why are you carrying m-"

Sanako's eyes went wide at the sight of her chest.

"... Am I... missing something?" She stammered, before noticing that she was not Violette, and more importantly, was being touched by Christian. As Violette, she probably wouldn't have cared less, but Sanako was still Sanako and she immediately drove the heel of her palm into Christian's chin and shrieked, scrambling away, "DON'T TOUCH ME!!"

"Wh-What's going on?!" Sanako cried, looking at Violette collapsed on the ground, "Why am I... unconscious?!"

"Shut up already." Armon sighed, rubbing his eyes, "She passed out on her own."

Sanako turned her accusing index finger on Armon, "WH-WHY AREN'T YOU WEARING ANYTHING?!"

Armon raised an eyebrow before looking down at his bare chest. Oh, she must not have gotten the memo that he was wearing loose cotton pants underneath. He smirked. It was a little early for jokes, but, why not? She'd presented the perfect opportunity.

"I couldn't resist. I mean really, a girl right next to me? Completely defenseless?" He shrugged, feeling less aggravated than he did earlier already. Maybe this wasn't so bad a way to start the morning, "But I'm pretty sure that it was that body," Armon pointed at Sanako, "Not that one." He jerked his thumb at Violette. "So you don't have to worry at all. Oh, but wait, you are in Sanako's body right now, so technically…." Sanako turned a bright shade of red, pressing the skirt of her nightdress down.

"PERVERT!" She yelled, grabbing the nearest object. Armon dodged a lamp, then a chair. He noticed that the books sitting on the desk were completely untouched. Yeah, this Sanako was definitely Lazarus. Same weird worshipping tendencies towards books.

"Calm down!" Armon snapped, ducking down, "I didn't do anything to you! Actually, technically even if I did do something to Sanako, it wouldn't really have been you... -Woah!" Armon dodged a vase that shattered to pieces upon impact with the ground, "I told you I didn't do anything!" He pulled the covers off his lower half to reveal his striped pants, "See?! Pants are on! Jeez, like I'd even want to try anything with you. Too violent for my tast- Hey! Stop throwing things already!!"

-----

With no call for manners, Dieter's bare feet were propped up on the counter, slouching as he munched on a piece of toast and jam that hung from his mouth. He didn't bother to use his hands, because both of them were occupied by giant bottles of soda, both of them at least half gone. His bright red pajama pants were too big for his twig-like frame, barely holding onto his hips and revealing at least a third of his black boxers. His sunglasses lay neatly folded next to his emptied plate, along with another glass of soda. He wore no shirt, much like Armon, except that the latter actually had flesh. Dieter looked to be a skeleton in terms of build, and every time he breathed in, one could practically count his ribs. His hair was flying in all directions, a particularly large cowlick on the right side of his head, the crazed hairstyle revealing the dead flesh and burns, scars streaking across the wrinkled skin. This gruesome sight didn't bother Rasch in the least, who was already fully dressed with a cup of black coffee in front of him as he read a leather bound book. His moustache was properly gelled, and he'd even taken the time to don his monocle and black gloves. The contrast between the two was a sight to behold.

"I'm hungry." Dieter commented as he chewed on his breakfast.

Rasch's eyes left his book for a split second, a look of self-pity that was almost as if he were saying, 'Why did I get stuck with this guy?'

But it had been he who had convinced Dieter to stay and refrain from telling Gregar of Lieutenant Tappen's movements. Rasch had been amused enough by Tappen's attempt at consideration towards himself and Dieter to stay for this, at the very least. He knew that he was merely a tool that would be used as a stepping stone for the more important things. He looked back down at his book his expression showing that he was moderately concerned. The old man wasn't quite sure how long he could keep the skill across the table under his control. Even Dieter would have a limit towards how submissive he would be towards Rasch. His loyalty was directed more at Gregar than anything else. Rasch turned the page as he mulled over a way to turn Dieter's steadfast loyalty towards his own goals. It'd be simple if Rasch would just speak more. No, Rasch ruled that out as a solution. He'd rather go back to Gregar than speak regularly.

"Rasch," Dieter sighed, balancing one bottle of soda on his head as he tossed his half eaten toast back on his plate with his free hand, "Do you agree with what Tappen is doing?"

Rasch closed his book and took a sip of his coffee. Dieter made a face; he hated coffee. Lionus wrote Rasch's response, 'I plan on having Lieutenant Tappen show me what he's going to be doing, and then I will decide with whom I side with.'

Dieter read the Lionus with a blank expression, "…Yeah I guess. But I doubt that Tappen really cares about our suffering. More like Auricia or those other weaklings. And besides, how would he know what we've suffered? I hate it when people who don't know anything butt into my business."

Rasch tapped the table and the Lionus wrote faster, 'I don't need pity for my own grievances. However, it would be wise of us to be sure to examine all our choices before jumping on the bandwagon.'

"Hey, Rasch," Dieter said with a sly grin, changing the subject entirely as his personality switched once again, "Since you're so talkative today, tell me how you nearly died. I know Tsukasa and Auricia's now, they wouldn't stop saying it yesterday. If you tell me, I'll tell you the way I almost died! How about it??"

Rasch raised an eyebrow and opened his book again to signal the end of the conversation.

'No.'
 
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Rita sighed as she was lead into the kitched by Auricia, whom was cheerfully pulling the little redhead along like a mother. Auricia had been with Ashton when he first trained under Stahn years before, so she knew Rita's personality all too well. Indifferent and silent unless provoked. That was the personality the female Ashton possessed, and Auricia knew full well how to take advantage of it. "Ah! Die-chi! Rasch-chi!" Auricia exclaimed as she found the two other skills in the kitchen. Really, not understand why Dieter himself did it with her name, Auricia decided she would tag the -chi onto their names for a while to see how Dieter would react. Rita was being the skill girl, blushing madly. Would those two even listen to her as a commander in this form? Ashton mentally slapped himself. No, that was part of Rita's personality. Too wary of what everyone else thought.

---

Stahn glanced carefully at the televison monitor in his room. Thank god for having an archaeologist for a brother. He always brough him such nice things, like the cameras stationed in everyone's room. He gazed intently upon the havoc unfolding in Armon and Sanako's room. "It should be wearing off in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Now." He watched as 'Sanako' went into a sudden daze, snapping out of it just as the real Violette began to stir once more. "Good, good. Now, how is subject eight doing?" He buzzed through a microphone, and received his reply.

"Fine, sir, vitals are stable."

---

"Eh? What just happened?" Sanako blinked, her arm raised in the air with a fork in it, previously ready to permanently fuse it with Armon's flesh. Her hand dropped, realizing she was in her own body. "I'm me again, I'm me again~!" She hugged Armon out of happiness, but mentally smacked herself after remembering the fight they had the night before. "Sorry, you probably don't want to be hugged by a 'wimp', right?" She puffed up her cheek as she gestured for Christian to take Violette and leave. He did as he was told, and lead the girl back to her room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting changed." She didn't bother making him close his eyes as she stripped her nightdress off, revealing the undergarments she was wearing. She tossed the dirty bed clothes at his face as she went to reach for a plain white, knee length dress with black spaghetti straps. She didn't make it that far, as she suddenly became engaged in a coughing fit, sending her to her knees. She tried covering her mouth, but disengaged the idea when she felt something coming up. Her eyes shot open, it was painful. The sound of fluid hitting the floor was heard as a decent amount of blood exited the girl's mouth, leaving her, sweaty and shaking, trying to wipe away the excess with her arm.

---

"That was unexpected..." Stahn murmured as he watched Sanako with interest. "Could she have... no. Maybe it was just a side effect of my experiment."
 
Dieter took his attention off of reading Rasch's book upside down when he heard Auricia. His eyes noticed Tappen behind her, and his fingers reached for his sunglasses, putting them on before they waltzed up to the side of the table.

"Auri-chi!" Dieter grinned, "You gave me a nickname! That's really cute, don't you think Rasch? I mean, usually you're always giving all your attention to Tappen- is the sudden interest in twisting our names around from the fact that Tappen's like, half of what he was before?" Dieter laughed, and Rasch took note of the lack of 'Lieutenant' when Dieter addressed Ashton. His respect had already dwindled, huh? Rasch sighed and turned the page of his book. "You should pay attention to us more often. Maybe I won't take my hands off as often if you do."

'Rasch only. Please refrain from strange nicknames.' Lionus danced in front of Auricia's face to form Rasch's stern comment, the man in question readjusting his monocle. Besides, Rasch-chi just didn't fit. The rhythm was all wrong, and it was very hard to pronounce. More importantly, it was embarrassing, and a very stupid nickname in the first place. It wasn't even a shortened version of his name; just an extended one. He swallowed a mouthful of coffee, enjoying the bitter taste that Dieter hated.

"Did you have breakfast yet, Auri-chi?" Dieter asked, finishing off half a liter of soda. It was nesseccary for him to have this much caffine in the morning, otherwise, he wouldn't jumpstart at all during the day. He'd just crawl across the floor like a snail, free of any energy and devoid of any thought process, "The food here is pretty good. Well actually it tastes just like every other food I've had, but maybe my tongue is defective."

Rasch looked up suddenly. But it was a silent gesture that Dieter, busy examining his tongue, didn't notice. It hadn't been long, but Rasch could already smell the blood coming from the rooms. It was an unfamiliar scent, so it obviously must've belonged to one of the humans.

------------------



"Sounds about right…" Armon mumbled to himself with an indifferent gaze as he showed no reaction to Christian and Violette's departure. He felt that the joke had been lifted far too fast. He didn't bother changing at all, instead, simply sat where he was and watched Sanako change. Yesterday, she'd made a big deal out of changing in front of him, so he'd ignored her to the fullest. And now, she wasn't making a big deal out of it, so he'd watch her. It was simply the way things balanced out. He supported his head from lolling back into sleep with the palm of his hand, his elbows propped up on his knees. This way, he could annoy her and get vengeance for last… night? Armon took a double take when Sanako began to cough up blood. He had horribly slow reflexes in the morning. It took him awhile to register that now was no time to be holding a grudge against her. He was by her side in a flash after he'd finally processed the information, a hand on her head as if to make sure she didn't suddenly just shrivel away.

"Hey, what's going on?!" He was tired of worrying. He was tired of all this crap that was happening around Sanako that he had to deal with. And yet, he dealt with it anyway, forgetting his frustration for a moment.

"Here," Armon stood and reeled his hand away from Sanako, "I'll be right back."

He retreated into the bathroom and picked up a small towel, running it under the tap before squeezing out the surplus. Folding it as he returned, he held it out to Sanako, "You want me to go get Stahn, or that skill that uses Lionus?"
 
Rita's right eye twitched slightly, indicating her irritation with Dieter's words. Half of what he was. The nerve. "Actually, Die-chi, it's because I feel like I can trust you now~" That was Auricia's justification, and she was sticking with it, even though she didn't really trust him. Then, that smell filled the air. The smell that curdled Auricia's stomach. Damn enhanced Skill noses. She could smell blood, not a lot of it, but blood. Usually, Ashton would rush ahead and help, but right now... "Er... I'll be right back~!" It wasn't a lot, right? She couldn't just not help. Even so, she left Rita behind with the other two accidentally.

After following her nose [XD froot loops], Auricia eventually came across the room of Armon and Sanako, just in time to see Sanako smack Armon's hand away with her own. "IDIOT! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She shouted in a manner that was borderline mad. "YOU COULD CATCH IT TOO!" That was the truth to an extent, but there was an immeasurably small chance of one with faels being able to contract the plague, although it was quite obvious Reid had been unlucky enough to have that incredibly small percentage work against him. "...I ...I worked so hard to hide it all this time... But I guess it doesn't matter anymore." The coughing came again, and she fell to her hands as she regurgitated more of her own bodily fluids, mixed with red blood. She didn't cry, she wasn't going to cry. Crying wasn't going to fix this. "Armon, I've been like this since just before my mom died. This happens from time to time, along with other symptoms. Most people only die within a few weeks of contracting this disease, but Mistral's presence, I think, delays the effects on me. Juices dripped from her lips as she talked, and she suddenly stood shakily once more. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, honest." She smiled sincerely, although it was blatantly obvious she was lying. This had been it, the whole reason she had been acting the way she had the day before. She blamed herself for her mom's death, thinking she gave her the virus...

Auricia would have said something as she continued to spy, but she could only bring her hand to her chest as she watched on.

---

"You sure there's no known cure yet?" Stahn talked into the microphone again. He got the same reply as early. "No? Sorry for wasting your time..." This was bad. Stahn hated bumps in the road that were difficult to flatten, after all.
 
Armon frowned. The plague? The same one that had claimed Alicel?

"Fine!" Armon sighed, though this time, 'fine' meant something different from last night as he squat down in front of Sanako, ignoring her warning that he could catch it as well, "You make me worry about you incessantly and then you tell me that you have the plague now? Now, of all times. Great going, because that's going to make me feel a lot better." He grabbed Sanako's chin between his index finger and thumb without mercy, using the damp towel to wipe blood off her mouth. He refolded the towel without letting go of Sanako, using the clean side to wipe her brow before sitting back, "I don't care about this plague business. It's everywhere in Tealia, if I was going to get it, I would've gotten it by now."

'But excuse me,' Jeckt sighed, playing absentmindedly with the chains around him, 'The vicinity wasn't nearly as close as this before. And she kissed you last night, don't forget. I'm feeling my will weakening! I-I can't fight it anymore! I'm sorry Adela, but you have the plague now!'

'Shut up.' Xaviae barked, fiddling with his necklace apprehensively, huddled in the shade, 'It's not funny Jeckt.'

"Whatever," Armon sighed in response to Jeckt, standing up and bringing Sanako to her feet. Upon pulling her to her feet he realized she was still in nothing but her undergarments and he flushed, directing her back onto the bed and handing her the towel. His expression was serious as he spoke, "I don't care if I get the plague. I don't care if you care whether I get the plague or not. What I care about is that by hiding this you put everyone else in-..." Armon blushed, unable to finish his sentence. Ugh, what a sappy sentence. He hadn't even realized he was about to say something that might betray his ideals. Sighing, he sat down beside Sanako, giving her an aggravated side glance, "Well if you want to hide it from everyone, then I won't go get someone. But I don't know why you want to hide it. I'm sure everyone else feels the same way I do about your disease."

Armon swallowed all his pride to give Sanako a half-smile and a sarcastic jab, "You're so lucky you have an understanding partner like me."

------------------------

Rasch peered after Auricia silently. The girl had gone to the source of the blood, he could tell that her smell was mingling with it somewhat. Dieter finally noticed the smell, and his tongue immediately reeled back into his mouth. Silence overcame the two skill, broken when Rasch stood to bring his empty cup of coffee to the sink. It wasn't his business what Auricia or those other people were doing.

"Oh." Dieter looked down at his bony torso, "I guess I should go change, huh? I'll be back later." He stood as well, staring at Rita for a moment before smirking and leaving. Definitely a bad sign.

Rasch sat back down and raised an eyebrow at Rita.

'Lieutenant Tappen, I assume that each of us skill will be assigned to train with someone with a shard. Have you any idea how the pairings stand at the moment? There are four skill and four humans, are there not?' Rasch asked through Lionus, refusing to speak to what he considered a simpleton; a human.
 
"I haven't put a lot of thought into it, really." Rita spoke for the first time this morning as she brought her finger to her chin and glanced upwards, lost in thought. "I thought that I'd probably give Auricia to Sanako, Dieter to that Gil girl... Umm..." She paused with childlike innocence as she struggled to think of who was left. "Oh! Right!" She brought her right fist down into her left palm. "Tsukasa can help with my training, and I thought you could help that Laeina girl, if it wouldn't be too much trouble?" She rubbed the back of her head casually, before wandering over to the cupboard... which she couldn't reach. She struggled, struggled so very hard in pursuit of the peanut butter, but she just didn't have the height for it! "Um... Rasch? Could you help me out here?" She sweatdropped.

---

"Armon... I don't think you're fully comprehending it." Sanako said quietly as she slid the dress on over her head, and slipped her feet into a pair of pink flip flops. "It's sweet of you to try and make me feel better, but I decided I'd accept it when I found out." She moved to the doorway, her back turned to the boy. She wouldn't show her face to him, not now. He didn't deserve to see the look of pain and sadness on her face. No, not after trying to help. She wouldn't wish that on anyone. That's why she kept it a secret all of this time, after all. "Armon... I probably won't live until my next birthday. That's why..." She froze for a moment to recollect her thoughts. "That's why I need to do what I can now, while I'm still here. Rosaline's death helped me realize that." She managed to look back and flash him another smile of sorts. "I'll be okay, so just don't worry~"

---

"So, Violette, why are you still here?" Christian said bluntly as they arrived back in their room. He didn't want to bring it back up, but really, he was concerned. "You of all people shouldn't be mixed up in our mess, especially with this whole new NEAR - Ophelian Core thing." He sat the girl down on the bed as he picked out an outfit for the day. In the end, he decided on blue jeans and a white blouse which was unbuttoned near the top to show a black shirt underneath. He tied his long hair into a ponytail before continuing. "Even I want to run away at this point. But I won't. I have a debt to pay back to Reid after all, for taking care of me all of this time. You, however, have no such debt to pay..." He truly did want her to leave. He was developing feelings for her, and he didn't want to see her hurt. Not now, not ever...
 
Armon's smile slid off his face. He sat where he was for a moment his mind blanking out before he took the few strides from the bed to the door in a new world record speed. Grabbing Sanako's wrist for what felt like the millionth time though it was really only the second, he spun her around and trapped her where she was by embracing her. He didn't care about catching the plague. It wasn't like there was much Adela was looking forward to going back to anyway. "I know!" He insisted desperately, sounding angry at something, but certainly not Sanako, "I comprehend, I do! I realize that…" He hung his head, glaring holes in the ground, "That you must've already had the disease for a long time. That you've already had more time to live than other people." Armon tightened his hold on Sanako after he'd blinked away some of the tears that stung in his eyes, feeling like the same helpless little girl he'd been a long time ago, "I just… I can't just not worry! I can do something to help you with Flazure. I can do something to help you with this training. But I can't do anything against the plague! All I can do is worry. So don't tell me not to. It's not fair that you can be considerate of me and I can't think of you at all. I've stood by like a stranger for what feels like forever. I'm going to make it up to you. I'll hold all my grudges when this is over. I can't turn my eyes the other way if it's you."

He didn't want to be a guy anymore. Armon wanted to be Adela. He wanted to disappear the way Adela did and break his promise to himself that he would never cry again. What a stupid promise.

------------------

Rasch sighed, his fingers stretching as he picked up the jar and set it in Rita's hands, not willing to use Lionus on such a tedious chore. So he would be faced with that strange girl with Psyion, eh? He'd have to keep his heart on the move at all times then… just to be safe. This old body wouldn't be able to keep up if the organs were shifting around all the time. Rasch granted himself a moment of annoyance before standing, leaving his book where it was with the words 'I suppose I should change then. I'm in my room, I will inquire as to the location of the training when I am through.' floating over the cover. As he walked back to his room, Rasch took a deep breath. He smelled no one in the vicinity. It had been a long time since he'd been in his real form. Not even he knew what he looked like now. Nobody he still knew and spoke with had seen him under the age of 50, except for a number of the scientists who had worked on turning him into this monster.

The effort of keeping his entire body configured to something different from the usual had become so routine to him that letting it go was an effort in itself. White hair darkened and turned ashy gray. Burnt orange eyes closed and opened to reveal crimson red eyes. Wrinkled skin smoothed out. The irregularly tall and spindly build of an aging man evened out to give way for a young man's body, lean muscle revealing that he relied on flexibility and speed, rather than brute strength.

The real Rasch Von Foma, age 19. He peered into the mirror, examining himself before making a face. It was like seeing someone else, he was so accustomed to being old. (He'd found that more people were able to ignore an old man than a young man whose eyes were red.) He changed his outfit, from the proper suit to the clothes sitting in his suitcase that he received every other month from scientists who wondered whether Rasch would go back to normal or not. The indifferent expression on Rasch's face was exactly the same look that the older Rasch constantly wore. He ran a hand through his gray hair, before closing his eyes. This would either cause Dieter to stay for the rest of his life, or cause Dieter to leave at once. Rasch wondered to himself, whether Dieter's excitement at seeing that Rasch was actually not much older than him would prevail over his fury at being lied to. As far as Rasch had seen, Dieter hated lies.

Zipping up his jacket and pulling on his gloves, Rasch sat down on his bed, considering changing back. He wasn't used to this form. But perhaps, if he truly followed through with Lieutenant Tappen, this form would be more handy in fights than the older one. He would have to get used to the sudden mobility he'd gained from younger limbs.


--------------

Violette rubbed the back of her head, trying to forget the sudden surprise of being Sanako instead of herself.

"Ah, well… if you really don't want me to stay," Violette replied in a light voice, "I'll go back to Gregar, but, I was just going to stay for the duration of this training. It'll be easier for Stahn, and I'm not in any immediate danger here. Don't worry about me, I'm sure, even in this ridiculous form, I can hold my own in a battle. I might come with you though. I don't want to go back to Gregar, knowing that they're- Ella!"

Violette suddenly blurted the name, remembering that they were indeed in Alta, and that Ella was all by herself in that house.

"I have to visit her… no, but I can't visit her like this…" Violette mused to herself, suddenly forgetting about everything else.
 
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"Stop being an idiot, Adela." Sanako bluntly stated, trying her best not to cry out in pain from being embraced so tightly. She... had made Armon, which was actually Adela, shed actual tears. She felt ashamed now, she shouldn't have come out and said it like that. It would have been better if she had just dismissed the blood as coming from another cause and let the topic die. Her eyes were wide and watery, and her face was red as she embraced back, but... "This isn't like you. I haven't told anyone because I just wanted to live on normally, without everyone always worrying about me and treating me differently. I'd rather you hate me now instead of bottling it all up until I die, anyways..." Even though she was significantly shorter than Armon, she still reached up and locked lips with him for the second time. When she was finished after a moment, she drew her face away again. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what it was like one more time. A kiss..." She broke free of Armon's grasp, and backed off a little. "Shall we go then? To breakfast?" Sanako spoke cheerfully, like she was trying to disguise what was wrong with her once again.

---

"Ella?" Christian repeated, surprised by the sudden change in topic. Come to think of it... "An Ella in Alta? Could it be the one who cared for Alicel before she died?" Yeah, that had to be it. Reid always spoke fondly of how he rescued Rosaline, and Ellianne had heard the stories a million times. He always spoke so fondly of his companions, as well. "If you're going to visit Ella at some point, you should take Reid. Ella helped him hide Rosaline after he rescued her, after all." Maybe that would give Sanako and Violette some common ground for conversation at some point... "You never know, Stahn might give you guys your proper forms for a day so you can go see her or something. Just ask."

---

"So it's true?"

"Yes sir, we got a hold of the police reports from Beta. That girl was responsible for killing her parents when she was only six years old. She... crushed them with her power, leaving nothing but crushed, unidentifiable corpses. She got off the hook on the terms that she was mentally ill, and they had no real proof it was her since psyion wasn't known of at that time. Nothing has happened since that incident, however."

"What was her reasoning for killing them?" Stahn inquired.

"She just... disliked them."
 
Armon let a small smile reach his lips, feeling rather happy for himself. Strange. Minutes earlier, he'd been completely intent on ignoring Sanako. Why was he suddenly acting as if he cared at all? "Let me change before we go, I won't take long." He said, turning away from Sanako for a moment to pick up his shirt. As soon as his face was away from Sanako, a confused and surprised expression crossed his face. He interrogated himself as he pulled the black long-sleeved shirt over his arms and buttoned it up, leaving the top three buttons open. Did he really just voluntarily embrace someone that he knew was Reid? Was he really okay with the fact that he'd kissed Sanako back? The thought almost made him shiver, but he didn't, busying himself with pulling on the pair of stiff jeans and picking up his belt. What was wrong with him all of a sudden? He ran his fingers through his hair to make it at least somewhat neater than before, before turning around, two rolls of bandages in his hand. He'd put them on later.

"Alright, let's go. I'll play along with you when there are other people around." Armon said, putting the bandages into one of the pockets in his shirt, reaching out to open the door, "And I'm not being nice to you just because you have the plague- I was going to get over hating your guts eventually. Just had to accept it a little earli-…" Armon stared at the girl he recognized as a skill standing at the door. Reflex. He immediately slammed the door shut again, his entire face a violent shade of red as he slapped a hand over his eyes. How long had she been standing there?!?!

No, wait. He shouldn't jump to conclusions. What if she'd only just gotten there? Okay. Better not make any suspicious moves then. Argh, too late!! Armon sighed. Okay. Calm down. Maybe she was really ditzy. Hopefully. No, he couldn't open the door again.

"Did you know she was there?!" Armon whispered to Sanako, jerking his thumb at the door, trying to calm down so that his face wasn't still red by the time they reached the kitchen.

-----------

Violette nodded, smiling fondly, "That's Ell- No! I was also caring for Alicel before she died!" Violette hung her head, "But everytime I tried to make a cure with my plants, the plant would just shrivel up before I could do anything with it. Well, I guess Alicel thought it was really funny, so I did help a little…"

Violette straightened, lightly tapping her fist on her palm as she decided on her plan of action, "Okay, I'll ask Stahn to let me and Reid go back and visit Ella. Of course, in our real forms, otherwise Ella is going to pass out from laughing. This is actually kind of weird, how everything's all connected. I'll think I will ask. I'll ask Stahn today, while everyone else is doing that shard training. The visit should only be for a day or so." Violette was now in a considerably good mood, grabbing Christian's hand and pulling him faster towards the kitchen with a new spring in her step, "You should come too! Ella will love you! She's really nice, and the more the merrier! I mean, it's a huge house that was even too big for three people, and now it's just one! I can't wait to introduce you to her, you really have to come meet her!"
 
"WHAT!? ME!?" Panic button, panic button, panic button. Christian almost went into cardiac arrest as his face lit up like a Christmas light. The Ellianne within was going on a rampage of confusion. That was... she had just been asked out, right? "Well I dunno. I'd feel like I was imposing..." He scratched his nose awkwardly as he spoke, but when he made eye contact with Violette, he knew there would probably be no backing out. She was confident in her decision to bring Christian along. Or rather, Ellianne. "S-sure, I guess. But keep in mind that I won't be able to talk..." Maybe that was part of her plan all along? To take advantage of a girl who couldn't scream for help!? Or maybe, maybe she was planning on using Ellianne as a trophy girlfriend!? Or maybe, just maybe, Christian's imagination was overthinking it. "U-umm... Should we go to breakfast now? Stahn said something about wanting to train early today. Maybe if he's nice, he'll let us leave this afternoon? I'd like to check on Gil when we go past her room, though, I feel bad that she's in there alone by herself..."

---

"I appreciate your cooperation." Sanako chimed as she indifferent leaned herself against the door, crossing her arms as she watched Armon get changed, something she would not have done the day before. "There's a chance I may enter temporary paralysis today, since my symptoms seem to follow a cycle. If that happens, I'll be counting on you again." Her eyes darted to the side. "But if that happens in front of the others, feel free to tell them. I probably shouldn't hide the truth forever." She moved out of the way as Armon reached for the door, but her eyes locked on his lips. He had kissed her back, right? It wasn't just a one way thing? She turned red as she thought about it. However, that shade of red might as well have been white in comparison to the shade she turned after seeing Auricia behind the door.

She extended her hand out in an attempt to stop Armon from slamming the door, but failed miserably. "N-n-no! Would I have done that if I knew she was there!?" Sanako was clumsy with her words, stuttering and shaking as turned her back to him to save herself from showing how red she was.

"Don't worry, Sana-chan, I won't tell anyone~!" Auricia's voice chimed from behind the door as she set off, realizing she had disturbed them. Ah, that was so cute~

"L-L-Let's just go!" She stuttered again as she took Armon's left hand with her right. "I'm pretty hungry." Her eyes darted to the ground, embarrassed. Argh, this was Adela! She was going to kill him later! But... She just felt safe around him. If he was there, she didn't feel like all light was gone...
 
"You better not tell anyone!" Armon barked at Auricia, dragging his hand down his face, feeling foolish for not having noticed a third prescence. Even if it was behind the door, how could he just stupidly let that happen right in front of her? He could still feel the heat in his cheeks. There was no way he could go to the kitchen like this. More accurately, holding hands with Sanako was the thing he couldn't show up doing. Well… whatever, at least until they got to the kitchen. Racking his brain for a subject to talk about. Something, anything. Okay maybe not anything, Armon thought as he rejected the two topics that had come to his mind: Where Flaire was, and what was going to happen to the Archai Squad, what with Kayle and all. Something to talk about… Armon stopped walking for a moment. It only took a split second for him to recover from his mind wipe this time around though. He put a hand to his forehead. It was like his entire train of thought had come to complete crash stop.

"What-… the heck?" Armon raised an eyebrow, bringing his hand away from his face and giving it a quizzical look, as if it would suddenly tell him why he was blanking out so much, "Oh, forget it." He shook his head, pulling Sanako beside him as he walked towards the kitchen faster than before. He didn't notice that all the red from his face had finally disappeared, but upon reaching sight of the kitchen, he gave Sanako's hand a quick squeeze and let go.

Although he stopped in his tracks before reaching the kitchen a second time. This time, his mind wasn't blank, it was racing. Armon's eyes stared at the skill who was walking back to the kitchen with endless hostility.

"Hm?" Dieter looked up from polishing his sunglasses, the hem of his shirt in one hand and his red shades in the other, "Ah, judging by your mahstion signature… you must be the Lieutenant." He broke into his signature grin. "You seem different from yesterday, I almost didn't recognize you." Armon dearly wanted to shoot all his teeth out. He hated that smile. There was nothing different about him. That skill was just trying to pick a fight.

"You didn't answer my question last night." Dieter stretched and put his hands behind his head, "How did you fix your hand?"

"That's none of your business." Armon replied coolly.

Dieter frowned for a second before reverting to his original face, "Hey hey, hold up your end of the conversation will you? You've learned haven't you? The longer you keep me talkin', the longer you have to live." He turned his hand into an umbrella, mocking how he thought that Armon was hiding under the umbrella of protection presented by Stahn and Tappen's presence, "Don't think that little girl in the kitchen'll keep me from finishing the job Lieutenant. But don't let me interrupt you any further. You won't be able to enjoy your breakfast if I'm there as well, so I'll go play with Auricia or something instead of Rita." His hand reverted back to normal, "You shouldn't get so tense when I'm around Lieutenant. I'll be sad if you're scared of me, because killing you won't be any fun that way."

He laughed, turning around to wander around the mansion a little longer.


----------------


"Who else, other than you?" Violette tilted her head before addressing the problem of Christian's speech problem, "Well, you could stay in this form, if you wanted. Knowing Ella, she probably wouldn't mind if you couldn't talk, but if you mind, then I'm sure it'll be no problem if you stay this way. But yeah, let's go to breakfast!"

She paused at the mention of Gil, resisting a frown.

"O-Okay." She choked out, trying to seem pleasant, "I don't mind."

But upon finding Gil's room, Violette insisted on hiding behind Christian. The last thing she wanted to see was that barbaric buffoon's face in the morning. Especially with the death glare that the girl gave her immediately when she wrenched the door open.

"What do you want?" Gil raised an eyebrow, bluntly addressing Violette and ignoring Christian completely. He didn't make much of an impression on her.

"Ch-Christian had the decency to think of you before we went to breakfast! Since Deon's not here and all…" Violette stammered indignantly from behind Christian. Gil raised an eyebrow, before scoffing. It was amusing, how Violette was intent on not seeing the brash girl who had forgotten that as a girl, it would be a good idea to brush her hair.

Gil stuck her tongue out at Violette, before opening the door all the way so she could pass through, "Sure, I'll come."
 
Some time later...

"What's this all of a sudden?" Sanako murmured to nobody in particular as she leaned against the wall of the dining room, her arms crossed. She had been enjoying a nice game of checkers with Auricia when they were suddenly beckoned into the dining room. She was pouting at the fact that she had been called away so close to victory. Irr-i-tat-ing. It was safe to say that she had turned back to her usual self, anyways. She had been pretty offended when Armon made her let go of his hand earlier, especially after walking all of that way. But, she'd get over it. She was being too forceful anyways...

"All of you get out. Now." Stahn said coldly and matter-of-factly. His audience sweatdropped. "I need to use the mansion for about twenty-four hours, so you don't need to worry about training until then. Therefore, I'm kicking you all out. Go stay in the next town over if you want, or if you know anyone nearby, you should go there since you probably haven't seen them in a while. As for your appearances..." He raised his left hand into the air, and snapped his fingers. Sanako blanked out for a brief moment, recovering before she actually hit the ground, and standing up straight once more.

Wait a second... was she higher in the air than she was earlier? "Gah! We're us again!" Reid shouted, looking around at the group, and then himselves. His old body, his old clothes, his old- Oh crap, Adela... was going to kill him. He inched over behind Ellianne, who seemed distraught by the sudden change back. She couldn't talk, after all, and she was half blind. The male form of Christian must have been nice for her in that respect...

Ashton had made good use of the confusion, throwing a black, ringlike object over Dieter's head. As it fell around his neck, it tightened. If Dieter misbehaved while they were out, all Ashton would have to do is press a button and dation would shoot horizontally across his neck from every angle, cutting it clear off. Skills were almost invincible, but they did have one big weakness. If their head was to separate from their body, they would, in fact, die. "If you think it's so funny to take stabs at my appearance and rank when I'm Rita, Dieter, I guess I shouldn't treat you any different than I would a dog, huh?" Ashton was obviously pissed off with Dieter about the way he was being treated as Rita. Quite obviously indeed. "We'll stay in town, and pick up supplies while we're there, understood?"

"That's boring~..." Auricia sighed as she hung her head. "But, but, guess what I saw this-" Eep, killing intent radiating from Reid. Auricia shut up.

"Saw what?" Tsukasa asked.

"Nothing! Nothing!"

Ellianne took hold of Reid and dragged him over to Lazarus. She pointed at Lazarus, and then at Reid. "Er... she says you wanted to ask me something?" Reid clarified. Crap, where was Adela? He was a dead man walking, a dead man walking. Well, he was in the literal sense anyways, but still...
 
"Oww…" Adela grumbled, having crumpled onto the ground. She'd been blanking out so much that she hadn't had the chance to recollect herself before she hit the floor. Ah. "My hair!" Adela grabbed a handful and wrenched it into sight. It was teal again! She almost smiled in glee, seeing her dress and boots back in place along with her mahstion gun and everything, but she suddenly remembered something less than pleasant. Her face turned purple as she clamped her hand over her mouth. Good god. She swallowed a shriek, instead throwing a furious glare at Reid and pointing accusingly at him, "YOU- YOU-!!!" She slapped her hands over her face, preventing them from reaching for her gun to blow his lips off, turning bright pink as she yelled something incoherant, half muffled by her hands. What the heck?! No, it wasn't just that she'd been kissed by the person who rejected her- wh-what was the nonsense about caring about him she'd spewed earlier!? She suddenly brought her hands away from her face, revealing the look of shock at the realization she'd come to. Of course. This wasn't her doing. This… This was…

"Xaviae…." She muttered threateningly. Adela received no answer, and she tilted her head to the side, looking irritated, "Jeckt." She addressed her negafael, demanding an answer.

'Sorry, but he's…' Jeckt looked over his shoulder with a small smirk at the unconscious Xaviae chained to the tree, blood soaking through his bandages. Jeckt tapped his crystal ball absentmindedly, 'Taking a nap at the moment, Princess. Did you need something? I can tell him when he wakes up, if you want.'

"Why are you-… forget it. You're so dead." Adela snarled.

'I actually feel quite fine, Princess.' Jeckt replied, 'And have no intentions of dying anytime soon. Well actually, I wouldn't die until you die-'

Adela chose to ignore her fael, who was harmlessly sitting around doing nothing. Perhaps she would've done something, if she'd thought to peek into the forest and seen Xaviae. But Jeckt had already blocked that passage, and she was currently preoccupied with other things. "Reid!" Adela barked, opening her mouth to lecture him, "I'm not your toy-" She remembered another thing. The fact that Reid had the plague caused her to pause in her lecture. But… he'd said earlier that he didn't want to be treated differently. Adela glared him down. That was perfectly fine with her. "I'm not your toy! We'll continue this discussion later." She gave a sweeping glare at everyone else, before moving to storm out of the dining hall. She was perfectly prepared to relish her day back in her normal, lovely female form.

"Wait a moment, Lieutenant." Lazarus reached out and grabbed the back of Adela's collar, "You should come too!"

Adela turned a glare on Lazarus, who sweatdropped. She was definitely not the same Lieutenant he'd met earlier. "Come where?" She asked dangerously.

"To visit Ella!" Lazarus kept his hold on Adela and glanced at Reid, presenting the thing that Ellianne had mentioned earlier in suggestion form, rather than inquiring, "This is perfect! Now that we're back in our regular forms and have a whole day off, let's go visit Ella. We can stay there for the night, it'll be easier, and I'm sure she'd appreciate the company!"

-------------------------------------

Upon being summoned to the dining hall, feeling that something was amiss, Rasch had chosen not to appear as his true self. He stood silently to the side, old as he was the last time anyone had seen him. He watched on when Dieter was leashed like a dog, and sighed, glad that he wasn't as unruly as Dieter. He would hate to have that death trap around his neck. Dieter didn't seem too concerned though. He stared at Tappen through his sunglasses with a half bored, half annoyed glare. This was a bad sign. Rasch rubbed his chin in thought. He would certainly have to find a way to calm Dieter once the collar was off. Otherwise he wouldn't have any time to observe the Lieutenant's plans. Ah, why didn't the Lieutenant think it through? Dieter surely had lost every speck of respect he had left for the boy.

Dieter's lip curled in disgust as he tentatively touched the collar. Even he valued his life. And thus, amazingly, Dieter said nothing in response to Tappen's comment about treating him like a dog. Instead, he ripped his hand off intentionally in Auricia's presence, turning it into a sky board and sitting on it. He sulked, glaring daggers at Tappen and wrenching his wrist away from Rasch's lionus.

"Don't touch me." Dieter spat at Rasch. The old man did a double take letting a light look of surprise sneak past his usually expressionless face. He'd never been spoken to like that from anyone, let alone Dieter.

Someone was really pissed.
 
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Reid was quick to hide behind Ellianne as Adela seemed ready to kill him, a technique he seemed to have inherited from his Sanako persona. Ellianne sweatdropped. Honestly, this is probably the scaredest she had seen him during her entire term with him. "It wasn't my fault! It wasn't my fault! I had no choi-" He shut up. He realized he did have a choice. Sure his personality had been altered, but he still chose to do what he did. Thinking back, he probably shouldn't have encouraged Adela to act herself despite his condition... Or, at least, encouraged her not to kill him over this fiasco.

"You know, you can hurt him as much as you want, just don't kill him since he has that shard in his soul..." Stahn said indifferently as he overlooked the fiasco below. Reid almost fell over. That guy... someday... He felt a mental slap from Mistral at that thought. That's right, he had told her after learning about the plague to snap him out of it whenever he started to think up long terms plans. He had to think short term now, he had no other choice. "By the way, don't think just because I'm letting you out like that, you can just run away. I can change you to and fro from your forms at my mercy. So, if you aren't back her by noon tomorrow, I'll make sure you're stuck in that other form forever~ NOW GET OUT."

---

"Oi, Lazarus, are we there yet?" Reid asked, as they had been walking along for a while now. Forest, plains, forest, plains, mountains. There wasn't a whole lot to see in Alta, was there? For the entire trip, Ellianne had remained at Reid's side, still concerned about his condition from the day before. She looked around from time to time in search of Flaire, hoping that maybe she'd come and right her wrong. Whether he admitted it or not, Reid was depressed by the fact that she wasn't there, often looking to his left where she'd usually be hanging from his arm and sighing. He sweatdropped as he suddenly remembered something important. "Er... where's Levi?" Ellianne followed suit in the sweatdrop chain.

---

The old man stroked his flowing white beard gently as he read over the telegram he had recieved from the Church of Tylonstus. First Juliet, then the King, and then Rosaline. There were one two people left in line for the throne, and they were only children in comparison to those deceased. Two children he held very dear to his heart, as they had been left in his care and told to treat them as his own. Evaline Ria Dian and Piper Dian, two heirs to Carn's throne that had been born in secret and hidden away in case such a thing ever occurred. Not even they were aware that the king was their real father. They had regarded him as their uncle, and Juliet and Rosaline as their cousins the entire time. But if what this telegram said was true, and there was a possibility they could be discovered, they'd be targetted by this killer, no doubt. He had to protect them even if it was with his own life...

The old man was startled when he heard a knock at the door. He struggled to hide the telegram in his old Victorian dresser as he called for the person to enter. The door opened slightly, and the face of a young girl, no older than twelve stuck out from behind it. "Father, do you know where big brother is? I want to show him a picture I drew!" The old man laughed, and then pointed down to the courtyard below his room. There was an old oak tree Piper liked to read under, so he was usually there. "The usual spot? Kay~!" The girl chimed as she left, closing the door behind her. The old man managed a smile, despite the fact that he knew the dangers that girl would be facing. Evaline and Piper. Those two were close, maybe too close for their own good. Though, having lived in a mansion, forbidden to make contact with the outside world, he supposed it was natural. Evaline, for example, was too reliant on Piper. And well, Piper in regards to Evaline... that was just a little weird.

"Big brother! Big brother! Look what I drew!" The twelve year old girl shouted as she ran across the grassy courtyard to her brother. Her hair - blue, wavy and shoulder length - bounced as she ran, her bangs occassionally getting in her eyes so that she had to blow them out of the way. The red plaid ribbon in her hair - which was tied into a bow atop her head, the excess ribbon falling to her chest on both sides - bounced in synch with her hair. Her big blue eyes were full of glee at the thought of her big brother praising her latest creation. Her outfit didn't seem fitting for a girl of high social standards, but it was what she liked to wear so the servants could do nothing about it. Essentially, it was a long sleeved pink dress with a skirt that fell down to just above her feet. The sleeves seemed almost more suited for a sweater. Overtop of the torso portion of her dress, she wore a vest in a reddish-purple colour. It was decorated with ribbons like the one in her hair. There was one in the center of the chest, and one on the bottom left of the vest, both tied into bows. The dress had an insanely large collar that was meant to come up over the vest to create a center focal point where the big ribbon was, and that was accomplished by folding the triangular collar over the vest. On her feet, she wore nothing but black pennyloafers. She wasn't terribly tall either, being the age she was.

Evaline panted cutely as she finally reached Piper, who was reading, before holding up the sketch she had made. "Look! It's of me! I spent six hours in the bathroom in front of the mirror sketching it! You like it, don't you!?" She wasn't a bad artist, really. In fact, she was quite talented, being able to at least get proportions right and draw straight lines and such. This picture, however, was her pride and joy, being her best work yet. "I'm gonna paint it and give it to you, I think!" She gave another smile.

The old man watched from his window. Those two were innocent in their own ways, but he wondered how long that would last...
 
Piper Dian was a boy who not many people remembered, even after the second introduction. He was kind and unassuming, the type who would always give someone the benefit of the doubt. But he simply did not make an impression. His brown hair had a very neat layered cut, but due to the fact that should he have grown his hair out any longer, it would reveal the natural waves in his hair, fly away locks of hair were everywhere, patted down as best as possible. His vivid green eyes had long since grown used to the strands of hair that insisted on hanging between them, the even and kind gaze that contrasted his wild hair reading very slowly so that he could take in every word. Piper loved the spot in the courtyard, shaded by the leaves that blocked out little bits of sunlight. Sitting in the shadow of the tree, Piper had just enough light so that he could see the tiny print clearly, but not so much that the high contrast hurt. The young teen's personality was easily displayed in his choice of clothing, a pair of knee-length khaki cargo shorts, and a sleeveless black cotton turtleneck. Simple and straightforward. Even sitting down, one could see that he had a very slender build, taller than most people his age. Easily embarrassed by the fact that he was far from the definition of masculine, he often wore a simple, pale blue zip-up hoodie. The garment lay discarded however, because nobody ever judged him seriously, in the safety of home. Maybe the servants would tease him, but it was all in good fun, and Piper was always willing to laugh with them.

He turned the page to start the next chapter, only to hear Evaline's voice and calmly close the book at once. He didn't even think of marking his spot- Evaline was more important. He smiled as he sat up straight to get a better look at what his little sister was presenting to him, pulling his lanky legs into a cross-legged position.

"It looks amazing!" Piper easily shared Evaline's excitement, his little sister being the number one element in his life. He examined the drawing, nodding at her question about whether he liked it or not, (but it was drawn by Evaline, so really, how could he not like it?) "I love it Evaline, I already can't wait see the finished version. It really looks just like you!"

Even as he said this, the number one thing that was running through Piper's mind was that, if it had taken Evaline six hours just to sketch it, how much longer would she be shut up in the mansion when she was painting it? He truly loved the idea that Evaline was giving him her masterpiece, but one of the few things he sorely hated was being away from his little sister for long periods of time. He didn't ever say it though, because he wanted Evaline to be able to surprise him with whatever she'd been doing while she was away. And being able to see her again after being apart was the best.

Piper weaved his fingers together in his lap, "Have you shown Father yet, or are you going to finish it first?"

--------------------------------------------

"Who cares?" Lazarus replied, sorely aggravated by the criminal. He was still feeling the after effects of the Gil and Violette conflict. But he was certainly feeling much better, back in his usual form. Being a guy was definitely better than being a girl. Ruffling his hair and enjoying it while it was still short, he turned onto the walkway that led past the garden in front of the Florinen household. The garden was still in the usual, flawless condition, even with one less person working the soil and watering the plants. Ella must've had a lack of things to do, since traveler's rarely stopped by her house now that Reks was gone. The pumpkin patch out back had been replaced by a field of flowers apparently, because the vines that usually stretched around the home had been replaced with brightly colored flowers.

"Ella!" Lazarus called when they were halfway past the gardens. A woman peered through the window of the kitchen, a teapot and mug in her hands. Upon seeing who'd called her name, her jaw dropped wide open and she immediately disappeared. Lazarus sweatdropped at the sound of clattering pots and pans as Ella hastened herself to put the teapot and mug back in place. The door flung open and Ella hurried out onto the porch.

"Lazus!" She waved, but paused, seeing the group of people with him. She tilted her head for a moment. What a strange bunch.

No. Wait. That one on the side was familiar. She tilted her head to the side, tapping her chin in thought. Who was that… Ella blinked.

"Reid!" She snapped her fingers in realization, "You look so different! Why are you with Lazus? Oh my, I'm asking too many questions! I have to prepare some tea! Oh dear, tell me that you're coming next time, I don't even have the tea set out!"

"I-It's…" Lazarus began, but Ella had already rushed into the house, "…really, okay…"

Oh well. Lazarus turned and grinned at Ellianne, "I told you, she's really nice!"

"A little frazzled more like it." Adela folded her arms, stalking past Lazarus, "I can see why Alicel is- was so annoying."

"You really are the sweetest person I've ever met."

"Mind your own business, 'Lazus'."
 
"Really? It really looks like me? You really like it? I'm so glad! To be honest, I made a big mess and one of the maids gave me trouble..." Evaline was truly happy as she sat in the grass before her brother, suddenly falling on her back so that she could stare up at the massive branches of the tree behind them. "Nu-uh. I haven't shown father yet. I promised him I'd try hard, right? I'd try hard to be a good artist like mom was. You too, right? You promised father something after she died, didn't you? What was it?" She sat upright as she peered at her brother with interest.

Yes, those were the peaceful days, but peace doesn't last forever, as history has shown...

---

"My, my, this really is a surprise. A representative from the Underneath attending a NEAR meeting? How bizarre." Stahn thought aloud as he stared at the man on the farthest side of the table from him. "And you're his father, none the less..."

"His? You mean you know Reid?" The man replied anxiously. It was dark in the room, so it was difficult to truly see what he looked like.

Stahn smirked. "Ah, so I was right. I know your daughter too, but they've never mentioned you..."

"Probably not, I might as well be dead to them..."

"Hey, are we here to talk about relationships or the state of the world?" Carn's representative shouted with true anger as he stood from his seat. "Our King and Princess are dead, and the only heirs left would never fare well in the political office, yet we can't risk the chance of them being assassinated. Not to mentio-"

"The Saviour Faction is making it's move. They've created a false heir capable of taking the throne. It's a troublesome situation, isn't it? I'll help you, but I need you to keep those two alive by your own power for a week or two. In the meantime, I'd like you to organize a resistance force. If there truly is someone trying to steal the throne, it's best we have some resistance."

"Fine, we will comply with your outrageous demands, Stahn Evalise."

---

Reid sweatdropped. It seemed Ella hadn't changed. He made a "Tch" noise at Adela's comment, but chose not to say anything about it, now wasn't the time. How could she speak like that of the dead, the day after Rosaline died. How could someone be so heartless... SLAP. Reid stood wide eyed as he tried to figure out what had just happened. It looked as if... Ellianne had slapped Adela for the comment she had made, before grabbing Reid's hand and leading him towards the house. It was cowardly, but how could she defend herself against her actions, really, when she couldn't talk. She just didn't want Adela to say such a thing without being punished. It was cruel to Reid, especially after what had happened the day before, to say something like that.
 
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