The Chronicles of Varus

[Angel Rosiel]

Faye realized that she should have asked Rosiel to help her remove the corpse of the scout before he left. Always seeing it in the corner, no matter where she looked, wasn't helping her calm down. But, in the light, she noticed that he was not a Tethys scout. He wore a dark blue tabard with a silver sword and cross - Io. Io was another castle, almost as large as Varus, and it was actually made up of mostly Angels. The citizens were a mix of humans, Angels, and even some Demons. The Docent Knight wondered if the other Knight had noticed the tabard.

She thought the he likely didn't; Rosiel would have visibly been upset at the thought of his brethren becoming such monsters. It also explained why he was able to overpower the Rose Knight. Wanting to make time go by faster, Faye decided to search the Io scout. He didn't have a satchel with him. Instead, he had several large packs attached to his belt. One held his various instruments, and the other held maps and various notes. The notes were written in some language that the Docent Knight didn't recognize.

She knew the Angels had their own language, and thought that Rosiel would be able to read it once he returned. Folding up the note, and gathering up the maps, Faye sat down next to Ayu's bed and looked at the maps. To her great dismay, she found a very accurate map of the Great Hall and all of it's other areas. The map didn't look like it was inked in recently, so the scout couldn't have made it, and Io wouldn't have a map of the Great Hall just lying around.

"What the Hell is going on?" she whispered to herself.

The other maps included the different sections of the city itself; the marketplace, living quarter, and she even found one which detailed the typical patrol patterns of the watchmen. Faye almost crumpled the maps in anger. This could only mean one thing.

A traitor!  

[Angel Rosiel]

Chapter 2 - Without a Sound

As soon as Rosiel stepped out of the medical ward, the Great Hall's door had caught his attention. He had the sudden desire to see if it was really locked like it was supposed to be... but he was supposed to be finding Chibi. He hesitated... and then went toward the south gate. He was still in a half-panicked state, so he didn't think about the fact that he was running down the middle of the street, in between rows and rows of homes, leaving him very open to an attack.

And that was his mistake. Faye had neglected to warn him that there might be a fourth scout. That was her mistake.

The Rose Knight didn't see a pair of cold blue eyes watching him from the rooftops. This scout was different than the others. For one thing, he was actually breathing; he was alive. He wore a black tabard with a red skull - one of Terilen's soldiers. He was also armed with a bow and plenty of arrows. He didn't have a need to eat the Knight as the other three scouts, so he could care less how the Knight died. As long as he died.

The scout knocked an arrow, and aimed at the Knight's back. The Knight suddenly stopped running. He looked around himself, wildly, just now realizing that he was being so very foolish. He quickly ran from the street into a space between two homes. The scout shot his arrow, on the narrow chance it might actually get him. It didn't. Something else shot it from the sky. Confused, the scout looked around on the rooftops. He couldn't see anyone, and the Knight below couldn't have made that shot, even if he had a bow.

Angrily, he jumped to another rooftop, still trying to find who shot his arrow out of the sky. Not being able to find anyone, he silently dropped down to the ground, looking for the arrow he shot, keeping an eye out for the Rose Knight. The Knight had moved on from in between the buildings, but his arrow lay on the ground, broken in two. Another arrow stuck out from the side of the building. He pulled it out, examining it. It was black with a silver tip.

A sudden noise behind the scout surprised him. He dropped the arrow and quickly drew a dagger as he spun around, thinking that it was the Rose Knight. It wasn't. It was another Angel, a tall one, with silver hair, and silver eyes.

"Nice shot," the scout said before charging at the stranger. The stranger moved to the side, and the scout flew by him, receiving a swift kick to his back that sent him crashing into the back of a building. The stranger knocked an arrow on his own bow, which was easily almost as tall as he was. The scout whirled around, wiping blood from his nose.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves."

The stranger didn't reply.

"Man of few words, eh? Don't worry. I'll make it so that you never have to worry about speaking!"

The scout charged again, but this time he didn't head directly at the Angel. He jumped onto the wall, rebounded, and ended up jumping over the Angel, landing behind him. He took the opportunity to cut the sensitive wings and part of the man's shoulder with his dagger. He was assuming that the pain would put him out of commission.

He was unpleasantly surprised.

The stranger gave a grunt of pain, and then whirled around with his fist out, hitting the scout full in the face. He fell to the ground, cracking his head on the hard rocks that made up the street. His nose was now bleeding much harder than it was before, and he had several little rivers of blood streaming down his face. He couldn't get up. The stranger stood over him. The scout grinned at him, showing blood-stained teeth.

"This place will burn in Hell." he wheezed.

This time the stranger spoke.

"You first."


~*******~


The Baroness was awakened by the sound of someone moving around in her room. Without even thinking, she grabbed her lance and charged at the intruder.

"Ow, Jesus..."

"Huh... Genkio?"

"Oh, good, I found you, Raine. Uh.. you mind?"

Raine felt Genkio tap the blade of her lance. She withdrew it, and lit the lantern on her night table. Genkio, Nicolai's sister, was standing at the foot of her bed, looking rather awkward. The Baroness was very tired, and she didn't appreciate being awakened this way, especially not by a thief.

"All right... you've got about ten seconds to improve my mood."

"Sorry about that... I... uh... need to talk to you."

"What the Hell are you doing here in the middle of the night, in the darkness, in my room?"

"Sorry, but I didn't want to wake up anyone else, and this isn't something that can wait until morning. My brother said he heard some really weird sounds outside, so of course, he went to go check them out.. and... uh... well, Nicolai's not come back yet..."

"Go on," Raine said, sitting on the edge of her bed, setting her lance against the wall, as it had been before.

"He told me he heard them by the southern end of the street, by the gate. Well, I went there, and I didn't see him. I saw... something on the ground. Like some kind of dark puddle. I thought I'd get one of the guards, but I can't find any of them."

"There aren't many guards patrolling right now..."

"Yeah, I noticed. So, I thought I'd get one of the knights."

"Speaking of that, how'd you get in here? Door's locked," Raine asked, raising a brow, expecting a certain answer from the thief.

"Well, now... you're not going to believe me... but... uh... well, door's open."

"What?"

"The door was open. I thought it'd be locked. I was going to pound on it, hoping I'd wake someone up. Figured breaking the law wasn't a good way to get you to listen to me."

"It's open? How? I locked the damned thing myself," the Baroness muttered, getting up off of her bed, and heading towards her clothing. She turned to Genkio.

"Now, do you mind?"

"Huh..? Oh- sorry, I'll wait outside," she mumbled, turning around, leaving her room, and softly closing the door behind her.

While the Baroness was dressing, she thought about the door. The lock was extremely complex. Even the best thief would be given hours of trouble trying to pick that lock, and everyone had gone to bed only two hours ago. If the door was truly open, then someone had to have opened it from the inside. But whom? And why?

She sighed.

Once she was dressed, she grabbed her lance and opened the door. Genkio was waiting for her. Together, they went down to the Great Hall. It was completely dark.

"Did you blow out the damn torches, Genkio?" Raine whispered.

"No... they were lit when I was here," she whispered in reply.

"Well, isn't this just dandy?"


~******~


The Rose Knight heard an odd muffled noise behind the two homes that he had just run past. He pressed himself against the back of one of them and strained to listen. After he waited for a few minutes, he poked his head out and looked down the alleyway. There was someone lying on the ground, but otherwise nothing else. At first, Rosiel thought that someone had slain a watchman, and he cautiously made his way toward the body. Upon reaching the body, he found an odd scout, wearing a tabard that he didn't recognize.

The man actually seemed that he was living just a few minutes ago, not like the other walking meat-sticks he'd encountered. The scout was killed by someone shooting an arrow through his throat. The shot was so powerful that Rosiel was sure the man was pinned to the ground. The tabard he may have not recognized, but he recognized the arrow. He immediately looked all around him, and on the rooftops.

"Why do you keep avoiding me?" he yelled. " I just want to talk to you!"

Nothing answered him.

Rosiel muttered a curse and continued to make his way to the south gate. He didn't feel the need to dart in between the buildings. He still felt like he was being watched, but this time it was a good feeling, like a guardian Angel was watching him.

"A guardian Angel for an Angel," he mumbled, shaking his head. "Of all of the stupid..."

His voice trailed off as he came to the south gate... and found nothing there but a pool of blood. A soft moan scared him. He jumped and ended up running right into the pierced watchman, who grabbed him, but Rosiel was able to pull away rather easily. He stood there, shivering.

"Who's there?" called a voice.

"I'm Rosiel... what the Hell is this?"

"Oh, thank God," said another voice.

"Rosiel! Get your a** down here and help me!" Chibi called, her voice sounding distinctly muffled. "Gatehouse. Now."

Raising his brow, he walked into the gatehouse, keeping a weary eye on the impaled watchman. Inside, he could see the Watch Captain Kioskay and the thief Vechnaya Nicolai. They were both kneeling beside a rather large circular hole that was in the floor of the gatehouse. Nicolai had Chibi's hammer.

"Uh..."

"Explanation? Ok, really fast," said Nicolai. "We got here, hammer was lying in the pool of blood out there, and then that idiot outside tried to take a bite out of Kioskay. Kioskay shishkabobbed him, and then Chibi yelled for us to help her."

The Rose Knight stared at them.

"Are you guys going to help me, or play 20 questions?" Chibi yelled from inside the hole.  

[Angel Rosiel]

Ayu didn't understand what was going on. She remembed that Rosiel had been with her inside of the medical ward, and there was that weird guy trying to choke them and she could have sworn that she heard Faye's voice from somewhere... but now there was no one. The ward was dark and had the feeling of something long abandoned. The smell that filled her head was something that swamps smelled like. Wet and decayed. It was making her feel slightly sick.

She sat up in her bed and looked at herself in the semi-darkness. Although the back of her head ached, and one of her arms burned with pain, there wasn't anything wrong with her. There wasn't a single mark on her arms, and when she felt the back of her head, her hand came away clean. Confused, the Shaman Knight got out of the bed, and tried to make her way to the door, which was half-way open. Bright white light was shining through the crack that the door made. Looking at it made her eyes hurt.

The knight rubbed them and pushed open the door. The light made her cringe and close her eyes. It stung! After a few minutes, she slowly opened her eyes again, trying to get them to adjust to the insanely bright light. Once her eyes were used to the light, she looked around. The Shaman Knight recognized the Varus grounds, but something was different about them. They had a sinister atmosphere to them. She could see people walking around the grounds, as they normally would, but there was something wrong with them...

And she gasped as the body of a man calmly strolled by her, without his head. Ayu could see the stump of his neck, and everything inside of it. The cut was not clean; it appeared to have taken several hacks of something sharp to get the desired effect. She put her hand to her mouth and stared at him, wide-eyed, as he leisurely walked down one of the smaller streets, which led to the Gardens. Filled with a terrible curiousity, Ayu followed him to the Gardens. He didn't make his way into them very far; there was a bench that he sat down at, and was soon joined by a woman and a child. The woman's clothing was bloody and torn, and the child's body was charred and black. The Shaman Knight stared at them.

Unable to look at them, Ayu turned quickly, gagging. The pond that the Damon Knight tended caught her attention instead. The pond was almost dried out, and what was left of the water was dirty. Chibi's fish were scattered all over the sand, some of them half-eaten. And she saw the Damon Knight herself. Chibi had her back to the Shaman Knight. She was crouched by the pond, a little ways away from it. Ayu couldn't tell what she was doing.

"Chibi...? What's going on here?"

Chibi didn't answer her. She slowly stood from her crouch, but still didn't face the Shaman Knight. There was an odd squelch as Chibi moved, and suddenly Ayu realized that she didn't want Chibi to turn around and look at her. The Knight's clothing was also torn and ripped, but most importantly, she noticed that Chibi's clothing was completely soaked. The cloak that she wore was steadily dripping on the floor. Her fingers were lined as if she had spent hours in the water, and they were a pale grey color. She didn't want to see. She didn't want to have that in her head. The Shaman Knight shook her head, and quickly ran from the Gardens.

What was this horrible place? Was it her Varus?

She ran back into the courtyard between the medical ward and the Great Hall. More people were walking around. More living corpses acting like they were still alive. For the most part they seemed to ignore her. A few of them looked at her, and she recognized a merchant that even waved at her. As if nothing was wrong at all. Have I gone insane? she thought. Feeling dizzy, Ayu made her way down the main street, walking toward one of the gates. She noticed oddly shaped pillars in the middle of the street. Confused, she walked up to one to touch one. Upon touching one of them, she realized that it was made of some kind of bone, but what had a bone that big?

The pillars seemed to have several "knuckles". They were wide at the base, and they grew more and more thin as they went up. They looked like elongated fingers. There were bits of leathery skin and muscle on one of them. Wings. They were the remains of something with giant wings. By the very last wing stood the Dragon Knight. Ayu froze where she was, not wanting to go on. But she couldn't leave, either. Her feet felt as if they were filled with heavy metal. Raine seemed to have noticed her; she slowly strolled toward Ayu, occasionally twirling her lance.

"Raine?" Ayu heard herself whisper, barely being able to make out her own words for she was trembling so much.

"Ayu," Raine replied. Her voice sounded unnatural. It had a forced, tense sound to it, as if her vocal chords were stretched beyond what they could take, and would soon snap. The Dragon Knight was wearing her helmet, so Ayu could not see her face. She hadn't put up her brown hair and tucked it in under the helm. It hung in unkempt clumps down to her breasts. The helm itself had always slightly freaked out Ayu. It was shaped to look like the skull of a dragon, and commonly worn by lancers, since they fought dragons, thereby earning their name as the very creature they were taught to slay. The horns on the helm were actually the horns off the dragon which Faye had slain with the helm of Raine, as were the teeth on the visor.

"W-what's happened?"

Raine stopped. She cocked her head to the side. Ayu could see that she was smiling eerily.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything's changed!"

"Ayu... nothing's changed."

A grin. It was a grin now.

"What...? But..." Ayu sputtered, looking around frantically, then back at the Dragon Knight. She kept her head cocked to one side; the Dragon Knight seemed to be pondering something. Ayu noticed that she wasn't wearing the Varus tabard. Instead, she tabard was black with a red skull, one Ayu had never seen before. The rest of her armor was covered in crimson stains. Her lance was cracked, but the blade looked as sharp as ever.

"I see" the Dragon Knight said, moving forward again. She had begun to twirl her lance rapidly now.

"What do you see?" Ayu asked, almost screaming, quickly backing away. She backed right into one of the wings, vaguely acknowledging them to be what she finally recognized them to be: dragon wings. Raine's two dragons. Hurricaine and Atropos. The Shaman Knight fell over backwards.

The Dragon Knight was still advancing toward her. The grin was gone now. It was replaced by a grimace.

Ayu scrambled backwards, then was able to finally stand. She ran back toward the courtyard.

Raine stopped, but kept twirling her lance. She took careful aim at the Shaman Knight, and threw the lance.


~***********~


Rosiel peered down the hole. He couldn't see Chibi at all. Nicolai and Kioskay were looking at him expectantly.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's an old well. It dried up, and they didn't board it up properly because they were going to build the gatehouse on top of it. One of those things must have unearthed it and threw her down it. I'd go and help her, but I can't fly down there, and the stone's way too slippery. I'd just fall in myself."

"There's probably some water left in the well," Nicolai mused. "Otherwise, she'd be dead. Well... what do you say, Rose? Can you fly down there and help her?"

The Angel spread his wings completely. The tips of his wings touched the walls of the gatehouse, and bent slightly so that they would fit. He didn't say anything, but glared at the the Watch Captain and thief.

"Ok, ok, jeez," Nicolai said, flapping his hand.

"I can try to climb down, but... my leg," Rosiel mumbled.

"Maybe we should see if we can find some rope?" Kioskay suggested.

"Whatever the Hell you're going to do, hurry the ******** up!" Chibi yelled from down below. "There's a passage down here, and I keep hearing really weird noises. I don't want something to eat me while you're all deciding how you're going to get down here."

"A passage?" Rosiel called down to her. "Perhaps we can make our way down it. Are you injured?"

"Just my knee," she called back. "Knocked the joint out. Can't put it back in."

"All right... listen," he said, turning to Kioskay and Nicolai. "Faye's in the medical ward with Ayu. Get there, and tell her
that I'll bring Chibi by as soon as I get her out of this well."

"And just how the Hell are you going to do that? You don't know where that tunnel leads to," Kioskay said. "Even if you did, I doubt there's any kind of light down there. How are you going to see anything?"

"I'll get down, and one of you will drop a torch. I'll catch it and light it."

"Well... all right, I suppose that'll work--"

"-- Hurry up, there's something coming toward me!"

"No time," Rosiel said, quickly lowering himself down into the well. "Just do as I say. Throw the damn thing down there, and get to Faye!" The Rose Knight felt a slight sting of pain as he pressed his legs against the sides of the well to keep from falling. He folded his wings and pressed them tightly against his back, slowly making his way down. He couldn't go very quickly, and the further down he went, the more slippery the walls got. When it was completely dark, he asked Kioskay to throw down the torch. The Watch Captain did, and the unlit torch flew right past the Angel.

A dull thwack echoed through the well.

"Ow! What the Hell? Rosiel, learn to catch."

"Love you, too, baby."

"Don't start with me."

"Is the torch dry at least?" he asked, pausing to catch his breath.

Before Chibi could answer, a loud growl echoed up the well. Not something he was expecting.

"s**t!"

Rosiel lost his balance, and consequently, his grip. He fell, yelling. Fortunately, the well was indeed not completely dry, and he had something else to soften his fall. The Rose Knight fell on something that made a crunch, and felt soft and slimy.

"Chibi," he wheezed. "I hope that isn't you..."

"No," he heard her whisper back in the darkness. "I think you fell on it."

"You both alive down there?" Nicolai called. His voice sounded so distant.

"Yes!" Rosiel shouted. "Go!"

Rosiel lit the torch. He could see Chibi, not too far from him, huddled up against the wall of the well. She was clutching one of her knees and shivering. To the right of her was a small tunnel. The water was about knee-deep. It stank of rotten leaves. The Angel looked at what he had landed on. It was something humanoid, that much he could tell. But that was about it. This thing no longer seemed to have its' skin; muscles and sinew glistened. He didn't feel like staring at it.

He made his way to the other Knight. She gingerly moved her hand away from her injured knee, shut her eyes tightly, and looked away. The Rose Knight softly gripped her knee, then suddenly pushed it back into place. Chibi hissed, sucked in a breath, and bit her lip so hard that she bled. Tears streamed down her face and she began to shiver more violently. Rosiel put his arms around the other Knight, trying to get her to stop shivering. In a few minutes, her shivering lessened, and he let her go.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah... just not to fast."

"All right," he said, taking a deep breath. "Let's go and see where this goes."


~*************~


The lance flew right by Ayu's head, barely missing. She could hear it whistle by her ear. The Shaman Knight looked back to see Raine running toward her, positively livid. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl and her right hand was held up in a fist. Was this real? Or a dream? It certainly didn't feel like a dream, but at the same time it had that nightmare-like quality to it. Ayu felt that she could run faster, knew she could run faster, but her legs didn't seem to want to move. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. She noticed how Raine's hair was flying back as she ran. Even heard the clang of her armor.

And the people.

They had changed, too.

No longer did they ignore her, giver her their strange smiles, or wave. Now, they all stopped and stared at her. Some had blank looks on their faces. Others scowled.

Suddenly, the world went black. Dazed, Ayu opened her eyes. She was lying on the courtyard floor. She could see dozens of pairs of feet gathered all around her. The Shaman Knight looked back to see what had happened, and noticed the lance at her feet; she'd tripped over it. The palms of her hands and her knees stung. The pain was real.

This was not a dream.

Maybe not entirely real, but not a dream, either.

She rolled over on her back and saw all of them looking at her. Some of them were grunting. Others simply staring. She shut her eyes. She didn't want to look at them. She heard a meaty thwack, and felt something fall on the floor next to her. Then a crunch. She opened her eyes.

One of the people was lying next to her, with Raine standing on his head, growling. She was growling now. Ayu was going to grab Raine's leg to trip when something shot through her hand with such a force that it made her roll over. The faint stinging in her hands errupted into a steady, intense throb. She looked at it. It was bleeding rather badly, and she was positive there was a hole. She looked behind Raine.

Faye was standing at the entrance to the Great Hall. Like Raine, her hair was unkempt. Her brown curls hung lankly. Ayu could see Faye's eyes. Even at her distance the change was obvious. Faye's usual beautiful sapphire eyes were now the a pale grey-blue, the film of death. Her lips, like Raine's, were drawn back in a snarl. She was holding her beloved crossbow, where now the wood was chipped and weathered, already knocking another bolt.

Before Ayu, Raine stood over her, grinning again. Not quite sure how, Ayu managed to back away and get to her feet. The crowd of the corpses that had gathered around here before had now dispersed. They had all hidden in the alleyways and the shadows. But she could feel their eyes on her, watching and waiting. The Shaman Knight looked back to see Raine picking up her lance. The Dragon Knight got ready to throw it again, but Ayu dodged behind an alleyway before she could do anything. She ran down it, blindly, until she came out of the other end. She could see the western gate in the distance, but she could also see Whisper-A-Lullaby's orphanage further down the main street.

She had no desire to see Whisper and her children in this hidious state. Instead, she choose to run behind a different alleyway and make her way towards the eastern gate. She heard grunts and moans around her, so she stopped and pressed her back against the wall, listening. They seemed to surround her. Everywhere, there were voices, yet she couldn't see anyone. Panicking, she ran out of the alleyway, and into someone. The Shaman Knight was thrown back, onto the floor. She hit her head against the stone floor and was dazed, again. The light felt too bright again, so she didn't look up. She looked ahead of her.

She saw a pair of armored boots, along with the tip of a great sword, and the tips of a pair of wings.  

[Angel Rosiel]

After a short while, Chibi was able to get to her feet. Rosiel was still sitting on whatever it was that he fell on, and had not moved. Chibi tested out her balance. She was able to stand and walk slowly with no problems, and she could even stand on her injured leg alone, only feeling minor pain. Satisfied, she was ready to leave the old well through the tunnel.

But Rosiel still hadn't moved.

He was holding the torch steadily enough.

"Don't tell me you broke your damn leg."

"No," he said very quietly. "I don't think this is dead."

He lowered the torch closer to the water, closer to the creature's head. A small volley of bubbles was appearing next to it. Rosiel held the torch up to Chibi, and she took it, keeping it close to the creature. The Rose Knight formed a fist with one hand, had his other grab it, then he held them both over his head, and swiftly brought them down on the creature's head. There was a muffled meaty crack, and the well water splashed them both. It also put out the torch.

In the darkness, they could hear a muffled roar. Rosiel felt the creature below him rising, and he was suddenly plunged into the water. A loud growl this time and the splashing of water. Then, an odd hiss; Chibi was trying to light the torch again, but it seemed that it was too wet. Rosiel kicked out at where the creature would be standing. He ended up hitting something, and there was an angry howl in return. Then, suddenly, he was flying into the opposite wall.

He heard a dull thwack, but he couldn't tell if it was him hitting the wall, or something else. A heavy weight fell on him, and then there was another hiss. Finally, the torch was lit. The creature was lying face-down on Rosiel, with its' head caved in in two separate places. One was much deeper than the other. The creature was still twitching. Rosiel pushed it off, and Chibi brought down her war hammer again. There was another sickening crack, and this time the creature's body floated in the water, sans head.

"And you couldn't have told me you had that earlier why?" mumbled Rosiel.

"You seemed to be enjoying being manly too much, so I didn't want to spoil your fun. I can actually use now that I can stand up. Hold the torch - it's easier to use this thing with two hands," Chibi said, handing off the torch, then rubbing her arm.

"Where'd you get it, anyway? I saw Nicolai with it earlier."

"Not mine. You think I'd actually keep a rusty old thing like this lying around? Besides, mine is much bigger than this. No way I'd be able to use it with one hand. I found it down here, actually. There's a small cache of weapons in that tunnel. Rusted and almost useless, too. They're in the corner."

"How did you see them?"

"I tried to crawl out, and I put my hand on a sword, or a dagger, then slipped, and fell flat on my face. That's when this a*****e over here started to howl, so I picked up one of them, which turned out to be this war hammer, and huddled over here, trying to keep quiet, hoping it wouldn't find me."

Rosiel took another look at the creature, then moved toward the tunnel.

"It looks too narrow for you to swing your hammer. Or for me to swing anything I find, likely. Who's going first?"


~********~


Ayu continued to stare at the armored feet. There were a few feathers scattered around them. The Great sword was lifted with a grunt from the one holding it, and Ayu rolled to the side, instinctively. The sword whistled as it was driven into the ground, sparks flying as the metal struck the stone. She looked up and saw the Rose Knight, but he was changed, as were the others. He was in his armor, but he still had the Varus tabard, although it was very torn and dirty. Ayu could barely recognize it.

His long brown hair was also unkept, and it dragged on the floor as he moved. She couldn't see his golden eyes, for there was a piece of white cloth tied in front of them, like a bandage. His injuries were still there, but the pain of them didn't seem to be affecting his movements. Even though he had to have been blind, he appeared to know exactly where she was. He grinned at her, just as Raine had.

"Come," he said in a voice that didn't sound like his at all. "Hear the sweet song my sword sings."

Ayu didn't answer him. She rolled over again, quickly got to her feet, and tried to dash past him. He put out his arm, which she ran into, and threw her back on the ground. Lifting his giant blade over his head, but before he could bring it down, Ayu delivered a swift kick to his stomach. With a grunt, he lowered the sword, but much slowly than if he had done so intentionally, and Ayu was able to avoid it with ease, and it was off of the mark, anyway. Rosiel growled at her, and charged as soon as he regained himself.

Ayu had never seen the Rose Knight actually fighting, and was surprised with his speed at wielding such a heavy weapon. It had completely caught her off guard. She was able to get to her feet again, but only to meet the blade of his sword. She was able to press herself against a wall, but not quickly enough. A sharp pain seared through her back, and she fell to her knees with a cry. This is it, she thought. He's going to kill me.

But her death blow never came. She had closed her eyes, anticipating it, and when she opened them, she found Faye looking down at her. She screamed and punched Faye in the nose. Faye, not expecting to be hit, fell over backwards, clutching her nose and muttering a stream of curses. Ayu sat up and felt something wet fall onto her lap. It was a piece of cloth. She looked around. She was in her medical ward. In her own bed.

Faye was sitting on the floor, still cursing. Faye. Her Faye. Her beautiful Faye. Faye with her sapphire blue eyes and dark curls. Ayu threw the blankets off, and tried to get out of her bed. She lost her balance, with a sudden dizziness, but she didn't let that stop her. She crawled to the Docent Knight and hugged her, laying her head on Faye's shoulder. Safe. She was safe. This was her Faye, not that horrible thing that was there in her dream... if that was even a dream. Ayu closed her eyes again. She didn't want to think of that place. Not now.

The Docent Knight sniffed, as her nose was bleeding slightly, wiped away her tears, and hugged Ayu in return. She was alarmed to feel the other knight trembling.

"Ayu... Are you all right?"

Ayu opened her mouth to say "yes", but then she burst into tears instead. She hadn't realized how much stress she was under, being in that place, and how nice it felt to feel safe. She was still scared, but she thought that Faye must think she's so stupid right now. Crying for no reason. She tried to stop herself, but wasn't able to. Faye didn't say anything; she simply let the other Knight cry on her should, occasionally patting her on the back.

A knock on the door made them both jump. Ayu moved back from Faye so that she could stand up, wiping away her own tears, still trying to stop crying. Faye let Ayu go, and moved to her feet, making both of her hands into fists. She stared at the door, waiting. There was another knock.

"Who's there?" she asked firmly.

"It's me," said Whisper-A-Lullaby's voice. "May I come in? I need to see Lady Ayu."

Faye looked at Ayu.

"Did you call Whisper over here anytime?" she whispered.

Ayu shook her head.

"One moment," Faye called, looking at the door again. She went over to the area where Ayu kept her medical supplies and took another surgical knife from a cabinet. Knife in hand, she slowly walked over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it slowly, peeking at who was on the other side. It was Whisper. Quickly putting the knife on a table, Faye opened the door, and stood aside to let her in.

Whisper immediately went to Ayu, who was still sitting on the floor, knelt down, and placed both of her hands on Ayu's shoulders.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

Ayu, confused, blinked. Behind Whisper, stood Faye. She had her head cocked to the side, and was watching Whisper suspiciously. She had placed her hand over the knife again. Whisper had the power to See, Faye knew that, so she might have Seen Ayu get hurt... but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Your back," Whisper said. "Does it hurt? He got you."

"I-- no. It doesn't now, no... how did... how did you know?"

"It was I who forced you out."

Ayu was speechless. She tried to reach her back, but a stinging pain on her wrist made her stopped. She pulled her arm back and looked at her wrist. A bandage was wrapped around it. She remembered that she was bitten by the man... and then suddenly remember about him. She looked around for him (or his body, rather) and didn't find either. All she found was a blood stain on her floor, and a small trail that actually led out the door.

Faye noticed that she was following the trail.

"Rosiel killed him," she said. "I took his body outside and left it in the alleyway behind us, and covered it with a blanket. I didn't feel like looking at that thing. And I made sure it was... well, dead."

Whisper looked at Faye, listening.

"Where is Rosiel?" Ayu asked, feeling a lump rise in her throat, as she remembered Rosiel from her "dream". How he had look the most unchanged. Unchanged and yet still changed... but unlike the others, he had seemed the most real.

"Rosiel's out getting Chibi... which is taking longer than it should. I want to go see where he is..." said Faye, looking at the door.

"I didn't see him on my way there," Whisper said.

"I'll go out to look for him in a bit," Faye said shortly, suddenly realizing that she had left all of the maps scattered about as she was looking at them. She hurriedly collected them all and stuffed them in one of Ayu's cabinets. She didn't want anyone to see them; the traitor could be anyone, and while she highly doubted that it was one of the knights, again, it was better to be safe than sorry. Neither Whisper nor Ayu paid attention to her doing so; she could have been putting anything back.

"Whisper," said Ayu softly. "You saw that... place? My... my dream?"

"That..." Whisper looked thoughtful. "... wasn't a dream. Well... not a normal one."

"That wasn't a vision!" Ayu almost yelled, taken aback. "I can't See!"

"It... it could be. What you saw can happen. Whether or not it does... that is up to us."

"No... I-- that can't happen... no, no..." Ayu whispered, hiding her face in her hands. After a moment, she lowered them. "How did you know... how did you see it?"

"I was unable to sleep. I can feel everyone's uneasiness... but yours... yours is much above the rest. I was curious to see what you were dreaming about, and when I saw that you were having a vision... and what was in it... I immediately hurried to pull you out... before it was too late. He could have killed you, and had I taken a moment sooner, he would have. Your heart would have stopped beating here."

"So, I wouldn't have... seen 'you' there..."

"No," Whisper said, shaking her head. "Had you gone to my orphanage, I would have likely been there, with the rest of them..."

"But... but... I woke up in the medical ward. I did not see myself."

"Because you don't join us..."

"I'm sorry to break into your conversation," Faye said, softly, "but what are you talking about?"

Ayu didn't say anything. She had buried her face in her hands again. She didn't want to think about it. The tears were starting to come again, but she was able to hide them this time. She allowed herself to cry silently. Whisper sighed and stood.

"I cannot speak for her, and she wishes to tell you... she will do so herself. If you would like, I can go and get the Rose Knight. I think it is best that you stay with her." she said.

"No... we'll both stay here for a little while longer. The streets aren't safe, and if, God forbid, Rosiel didn't make it, I don't need another death. There is only an hour until dawn. We will wait."

"As you say..." Whisper replied, yawning.

"If you want, you can go into one of the patient rooms and get some sleep. I'll wake you."

"What about you?"

"Not tired."

"You look tired to me... but, again, as you wish. I will get some rest... I will likely need it for what comes ahead."

Faye didn't know what how to respond for that, so she chose to say nothing. Instead, the Docent Knight knelt down and hugged Ayu again. She could feel Ayu tembling this time. The Docent Knight leaned over and pulled Ayu's blanket from her bed, then wrapped it around the Shaman Knight. Ayu didn't seem to notice. Faye laid her head on the other Knight's shoulder and closed her eyes briefly. She was actually tired, and all they could do now was wait for Rosiel and Chibi.


~*********~


Rosiel found the weapon's cache that Chibi had stumbled upon earlier. There was a large collection of daggers, most of them rusted and broken. Useless. There was one sword, but it was broken down it's middle, the blade broken in half. Also useless. He shook his head.

"Nothing good here," he said. "Let's go... I'll go first, I've got the torch."

"All right, I'll be right behind you, but go slow... my knee still hurts."

Rosiel went first. There were times when he had to squeeze below tree roots, and rip them apart other times. The tunnel that they were crawling down was made a while ago. After crawling through a short bit, they came to a part where both of them could stand. There were many caches of weapons piled up, and there were sconces on the wall, but none held torches.

Eventually, the pair came to a skeleton. The skeleton wore rusted and broken bits of chain-mail armor. The tabard that he wore was faded away, and virtually unidentifiable, but it was gray - not Varus. He was holding a rusted sword, but it wasn't broken. Rosiel took it, and the skeleton's hand fell apart. Rosiel then ripped off part of the skeleton's tabard, and went looking in some barrels that were next to him.

"What are you doing?" Chibi asked, still looking at the skeleton.

"Oil. There's got to be some oil here, used to clean the weapons. It's useless for cleaning, by now, but it might still burn. Ah, here we go..." he said, finding a barrel which still had some of the oil left in it. The Rose Knight dunked the piece of cloth in the oil, and then went back to the skeleton with the dripping cloth. He took the skeleton's femur, and wrapped it around the bigger end of the bone, then lit it with his own torch.

He offered it to Chibi.

"Don't know how long it'll burn, but this is better than nothing."

"Gee, thanks," Chibi said, taking the bone and wrinkling her nose at it. "This feels wrong."

"Trust me, he doesn't mind."

"What is this place?"

"Looks like a weapon's cache, but I doubt it's one that we built. No way Raine would leave something like this unguarded."

"Wonder where Mr. Bones over there is from. Any idea?"

"Absolutely none. Couldn't see any crest on his tabard, and I don't know of a kingdom that has gray tabards."

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, until they finally came to a pair of metal doors.

"s**t," Rosiel said, leaning up against one of them. "If these are rusted shut, we're ********. At least, until Nicolai and Kioskay get someone to help us."

"Maybe not," Chibi said, pointing. "There's another tunnel there and maybe we could--"

A howl.

Then another. Followed by another. Followed by many.