I hear a sound.

It is a strange sound, one that I've never heard before. It seems to get higher for a while, then down, then up again. This pattern continues until I hear silence.

This sound pleases me. It is pleasurable to listen to, here in this void without light, where I have no form nor whither to go. If I could choose, I would stay here forever.

But one day, the sound stopped. I heard a new sound, a voice, instead.

You are needed...You will change the world in ways others cannot imagine...

I then felt a violent pull in whatever direction was down. I spiraled downward in this formless void, as the voice repeated itself once more...I lost all sense of direction, then my sense of...hearing...then...my...memories...

My vision is black. I cannot see where I am, but I can most definitely hear what is going on. The dripping of water, the breathing of several people, even the crawling of tiny insects were all within my range of hearing.

"...Are the subjects ready?"

"All seven are ready for inspection, Fon Master. Please judge them to your heart's content."

"Excellent."

I hear new sounds. One is soft, yet monotone, and more frightening than pleasing. The other was gruff, yet somewhat friendly, although I think what these people were talking about was anything but so.

"This one looks monstrous. It will have to be disposed of."

The sound of footsteps started getting louder. I couldn't get away, since I couldn't move or feel anything.

"This one too."

The sound closes in on me. I try to shield myself in fear.

"This one looks human, but it still doesn't look much like me."

"How so?"

"His hair is brushed the wrong way, and it's too long. Not to mention it has scars over his entire body."

"Why not cut his hair? The scars were the result of an experiment to try and make him more powerful than you, Fon Master. Unfortunately, the Synchro Level was a problem. However, you could pass it off as an after-effect of the sickness."

"Hmm...Your argument is reasonable, but I think I should take a good look at the rest of the replicas before I make my decision."

The footsteps got softer as they moved further away. I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.

"This one looks a little better, but that arm..."

"I'm afraid it can't be replicated. We could use fontech, but there is a good chance the replica might reject it."

"We can't take that chance. Dispose of it."

The sound became softer than last time.

"Now you're starting to look...SWEET YULIA! What is up with that face?"

Unfortunately, a scream of disgust began to make me fear for my life.

"I used a bit too many fourth fonons. It caused the deformity."

"GET RID OF IT!"

The sound got softer, but the yelling still hurt my ears. I could hear tiny spiders scatter as the voice echoed across the room. The sound of sweat running down someone's face rang out in my ears. I still had no idea what was going on, but I was pretty sure someone other than me was going to go somewhere bad.

"Now this one is perfect! How are the power levels?"

"Slightly less powerful than the Fon Master."

"That's negligible. I think we have a winner."

"If you may, Fon Master, please examine the last one."

"...Fine."

I heard the sound again as the Fon Master moved further away from me.

"This one looks exactly the same. What are the power levels?"

"Slightly lower than the last one, but it has a greater capacity to learn."

"Hmm...I might consider this one, but there can only be one Fon Master."

"I will order my men to remove the flawed replicas, and we will choose between the three."

I heard many sounds after that, many of which were frightening. I was afraid, annoyed even. What happened to that pleasant sound? Where were all these new sounds coming from? What was going to happen to me? Who was this Fon Master, and why were we being selected to replace him?

The sounds eventually died down, and the monotone sound returned. It was coming close.

"So which will it be, Fon Master?"

"It's a troublesome choice. I want people to be convinced that something happened to me, something that would convince Arietta that I am not dying."

"Fon Master, may I suggest the middle replica?"

"No. He's too perfect, but at the same time..."

"What are you planning to accomplish, Fon Master?"

"What else? The destruction of the Score. You desire that too, don't you, Van?"

Chills went up my spine as the two spoke. My ears had been attuned to every sound in the room, from the slightest trickle of water to the slightest breath of the men in the room. My ears hurt, and my mind split. It was enough to drive anyone insane.

"Guards! One of the replicas has broken loose!"

I still could not see anything, but I could hear the footsteps of people coming in. As they came, I fought back at them, but it was only a matter of time before they managed to restrain me.

"Don't hurt him!"

I could hear the shuffling of one of the two men who was speaking. I could feel the aura of this person as he closed in on my face.

"I like this one's attitude. He shall be the one to replace me."

He put his hand on my forehead, and I began once again to lose my senses, but not before I heard one more voice, this time speaking in a direction away from me.

"Do what you will with the rest, Van..."

Fon Master Sync: a Tales of the Abyss Fanfiction

"Ion, wake up. Master Tritheim demands to see you at once."

I felt so sleepy...

"ION!"

The voice shook my eardrums. I hated that voice more than anything, so why did it have to belong to her?

"Alright, alright."

I slowly slumped out of bed and stood up, drowsy and swerving like a drunkard. The stone floor was cold, and I could hear the crack of Fourth Fonons as my warm feet touched the freezing floor. I stretched my arms, and rubbed my eyes wearily. I hated the morning, and I especially hated it when Tritheim demanded me to go to new places that I've never been to before to do the most mundane of tasks. Last week, I had to go to St. Binah because the rappigs had gone missing. The week before, I had to exorcise spirits in Choral Castle. The week before that, I had to investigate weird sightings in Mt. Zaleho. And anytime I was not outside, I was reading the Score.

That stupid Score...Not only did it tire me to read the thing over and over again, but the people who asked me to read it inquired of the stupidest and most redundant things: what to wear, what to eat for meals...I think I even met one guy who asked me when would be a good time for a Number 2. The people here in Daath disgusted me.

Even though I've been alive fourteen years, with twelve years amnesia from the sickness along with these nasty scars, I was not content with my life as the Fon Master. Still, the only reason I didn't up and quit was because of Mohs. To me, he was the father I never had. He always watched over me and guided me, raising me like a son. I looked up to the Grand Maestro, and hoped that I could be as great as him someday.

I approached my wardrobe and pulled out a cloth robe, baby blue in color with the sleeves and vest colored teal green. It was quite easy to slip on, as was the gold wireframe slippers and teal headdress. Looking in the mirror, I wondered if the Order would ever update the Fon Master's uniform. If they were going to pull in more followers, maybe having a thick dark green jumpsuit with black boots and a red scarf...no, a white scarf, would excite the masses. I could do without the girly tiara, too.

As I was tying up my hair, I inquired the messenger of Mohs' whereabouts.

"He seems to have headed off to Baticul to speak with the king."

I sighed, feeling rather tired of Mohs' constant diplomatic travels. Then again, I travel more often than he does.

"Oh, that."

"But if you're asking if he's fine, I can assure you he is brighter than the noonday sun!"

I was about ready to rip this girl's head apart from her body, but if Mohs were here, he would say that it would be unlike the Fon Master to do so. Whatever, I was about finished with my hair anyway. Time to greet the moron with a curtsey.

"Gooooood morning, Ion! You look fine today."

That childish face, those massive black pigtails, that sugar-coated moe complexion...it made me want to vomit. As much as I wish to respect Mohs' wishes, I hated some of the decisions he makes for me sometimes. This...Anise person...is one of them.

"...Just take me to Tritheim."

"At your command, Fon Master."

At least I had the advantage of being the Fon Master. People were following my every order without question, like a prince to his underlings. I loved it!

Walking on the soft, brown-carpeted floor of the chapel induced creaks and ruffles that were quite audible to my ears. As I shuffled towards Tritheim's chair, I began to think of using thicker earplugs.

"Good morning, Fon Master. I pray that you slept well."

He stood up and we exchanged greetings, as per the custom of the Order. I didn't mind these too much, even if they did seem to get old after a while. What I was really concerned about was what my mission was today.

"Fon Master, there is distress in Engeve."

I had not heard of that place before.

"Engeve?"

"It is a village on the southern end of Malkuth. There have been reports of an outbreak of monsters stealing food from their storehouses in the night. We know your injuries impede your travel..."

In actuality, they didn't. I could move around just fine. I do not know how they managed to think my scars hindered my movement like some sort of cripple, but I did not mind it. I let Tritheim continue.

"...and the government of Malkuth is also worried about the outbreak, so they have provided an escort."

An escort?! What was the big idea? The Fon Master can go wherever he chooses because he is the all-powerful Fon Master, so he doesn't need an escort. I made a desperate attempt to hide my anger as I inquired of Tritheim.

"Who is this escort?"

"Am I intruding?"

An elegant voice came from behind me. I turned around to see a Malkuth general, quite tall, with dirty blonde hair and red eyes shielded by a pair of glasses. His uniform, mostly blue with brass buttons and white stripes on the outlines, genuinely indicated that he was indeed from Malkuth. And that belt...

"No, you're just in time, Colonel. Come on in."

That belt looked familiar.

"Who is this man?"

"This is Colonel Jade Curtiss, of the Malkuth Armed Forces Intelligence Branch. He is a capable fonist, and he has been selected to escort the Fon Master to Engeve."

Fonists...I had both seen and heard fonic artes before, in the soldier's training ground below the Cathedral. They were loud, and awesome to look at. If this man was a fonist...

"You're not going to kill me, are you?"

"That would defeat the purpose of escorting you, Fon Master. Nonetheless, if you wish me to kill you, I will not hesitate to carry out the Fon Master's orders."

Loyal to a fault, huh? I should watch my words.

"When do we leave?"

Jade stood up straight and adjusted his glasses. I still could not put my finger on that belt...

"When the Fon Master wishes."

At least I am still the Fon Master. I make a smirk in the Colonel's direction.

"Then let us depart."

Before I could leave, Anise grabs my sleeve and hands me my staff.

"Ion, you forgot your staff again."

I shake my head, still smirking.

"I don't need it, Anise. I have this fonist by my side."

"Make sure Anise goes with you, Fon Master."

I turn to Tritheim with a devilish smirk.

"I'd rather she stay behind for this one."

"But, Fon Master..."

"Don't make me raise my voice."

A bit of my contained anger escaped my tongue. In fear, Tritheim obeyed my command.

"Y-yes, of course, Fon Master. Anise, stay here."

"Are you asking me to stop doing my job, Master Tritheim? You know Mohs wouldn't approve of that."

Darn it, that stupid smirk of hers. And why does she have to bring up Mohs? She gets people every time with that argument. I sigh and speak up in a rough voice.

"Fine, you can come. Just don't hover over me."

"Okay~!"

Enthusiastically, Anise skips over to my side as we leave the cathedral. This is going to be a long trip.

"Not another village..."

We eventually make it to Engeve and talk to the Mayor, who looks, oddly enough, like a woman in her mid-30's. I feel utterly disgusted with the loud noises and putrid smells, but choose to keep it to myself for the most part, since Mohs told me to respect people's standards of living.

Jade, noticing my grief, tries comforting me.

"It's for a good cause, Ion. We have to help people in need."

"But why here, when it could be in Grand Chokmah or something?"

"We won't be here very long, Fon Master. We just need to know who the offenders are and then kill them."

If fighting and death are involved, I want in.

"Sounds like a plan."

After a while of Jade droning about military tactics to the mayor, I decide to sneak into the storehouse and solve the problem myself. I tell Anise I need to rest at the inn, which she seems to believe, at least until I hear her shrill voice yelling at me.

"Ion! Open up!"

Dang it. Anise followed me again. I need to find the evidence before someone notices. Looking around hurriedly, I come across a small bit of fluff.

"It's...Cheagle fur?!"

My studies as a Fon Master required extensive knowledge of sacred animals. The Cheagle was the one I studied the most, and I was fascinated by them. I had never met one in person, but maybe this would kill two birds with one stone.

"Ion!"

Now I just need to shut the brat up. I open the door to an accidental fist in the face. I fall backward, catching myself before my head could hit the cold stone floor. Anise apologizes as I rubbed my forehead, where she punched me.

"Oh, sorry, Ion!"

"That's...coming out of your pay..."

Just then, we hear a loud noise coming from outside. I stand up as quickly as I could, which is not very quick given my injuries.

"Anise, I have evidence!"

"Is that what you were doing in there? You should have told me!"

"Keep it down. We need to show this fur to the Mayor."

"Okay."

We walk in just in time for Jade to finish one of his long speeches to a bunch of villagers. Two of them seem to stand out: a redheaded, long-haired weirdo wearing a strange white shirt stumbled on the floor, and a brown-haired woman with equally-brown clothing who seemed to be assisting the weird guy. They must be with the Order or something, because I don't see too many people with Guardians, let alone villagers like him.

"...I can assure you that these two are not with them."

"Hey, Jade! I have evidence!"

I wave in Jade's direction. The Mayor(ess) notices my presence and spake respectfully.

"Fon Master Ion..."

"Forgive my curiosity, but I had to check the scene of the crime. I found this in a corner of the room."

I hand the mayor my evidence. Her eyes widened.

"This is fur from a sacred Cheagle."

"So you know about Cheagles? My best guess is they are your thieves."

The weirdo spoke something, but all I could hear in that direction is gibberish in a super nasally voice. The woman rebuked the weirdo, which I am sincerely grateful for. I liked this woman already. She seems a nice choice for this weirdo's Guardian.

After a bunch of apologies from the village, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing I am finally able to leave the village. Thank Lorelei. Anise walks a short distance away from me. She was never much of a clingy girl, from the moment she became my Guardian. I was told that I had a different Fon Master Guardian before I was stricken with illness, but no one, not even Anise, ever told me anything about her, even when I asked. I guess she is not all that important, anyway.

We make it back to the Tartarus outside. Anise politely and gently escorts me (I must say, she's a heavy lifter) to my quarters. After wiping the sweat off her brow (which was from the ship's heating unit, not from carrying me), she sit down in the bunk above me. I always insist on sleeping in the bottom bunk, since it was closer to the ground. I decide to have a meaningless conversation while I wait to doze off.

"...Hey, Anise."

"...What is it, Ion?"

"Why did you become my Fon Master Guardian?"

"...Mohs put me in the position."

Figures. Mohs pretty much decides everything in the Order, since his job is basically "Vice Fon Master". I started calling the shots around a couple months ago, and I love every minute of it. He will not let me fire Anise, though. I did not know why until now.

"...Why are you always so protective of me?"

"That's my job, isn't it?"

"Isn't there another reason?"

"...No."

"So if I fired you now, you wouldn't object to it?"

She stops speaking for a moment. It seems she believed me when I implied that I could fire her at any time, when I really cannot. The silence was awkward, but it ended with a snore. SHE FELL ASLEEP. Dear Yulia, she is stupid.

Well, I do not feel tired. Maybe I can sneak out without her noticing.

I slowly close the door of my quarters behind me, Anise still sleeping soundly. I crouch and slowly crawl down the hallway.

In the two years since I was healed, I have learned much in the art of sneaking. I had escaped from my room several times by exploiting the weaknesses of others and finding hidden entrances. Needless to say, I am about as close to a ninja as my self-teaching can get me.

I stop near a staircase, where I hear two guards having a conversation.

"...That meeting with the mayor...he was going to use explosives...on the forest..."

Explosives? In the forest? The Cheagle Forest? I cannot let that happen. I still need to meet those precious Cheagles. I decide to sneak out of the Tartarus and save at least one of the Cheagles before they blow the whole thing up.

I sneak over to the escape chute in this hallway and slide down. Unfortunately, the ship was still moving, and the movement tossed me around the chute, causing one of my wounds to open up slightly. I scream in pain all the way down the rest of the drop.

Despite my wounds, I manage to walk over to the Cheagle Forest without much problem. I had never been in a forest before, so it was an odd feeling to be seeing clusters of trees above me as opposed to a few. Daath was surrounded by a forest, but I was told never to enter there. Seeing a forest in person was an amazing feeling.

I can hear sounds. Synchronized sounds. An orchestra of shrilly sounds that sounded rather pleasing. I made a nice stroll down the forest, listening to the sounds as I went.

I feel something get knocked against my feet.

"MIEU!"

I look down and behold a small creature. It boasted fur of a sky blue hue, with white-tipped ears, a white face and lower torso, and expressive blue eyes. It stood there for a second, paralyzed with fear. I look at it with awe, and bend down to get a closer look at it. It moved back as I did so, and ran away.

"Hey, where are you going? Come back!"

Immediately after that, the pleasant sounds disappear, and are replaced by deeper, more threatening sounds. I turn around to find a group of three ligers. They definitely did not look happy to see me.

"Well, crap. I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this."

I rip off my robe to reveal a dark green jumpsuit. I move myself in an offensive stance and raised my fists.

"Whenever you're ready."

The liger closest to me attacks first. It leaps directly for me. I move forward, grab its chest, and toss it ahead, into the trees. The next one pounces at me almost immediately after. I dodge the lunge, moving my feet in a particular pattern. When both of the remaining ligers charge at me at once, I activate the glyph on the ground.

"Turbulence!"

The air around the ligers swirls around, carrying the ligers up into the air and down onto the ground. They squirm around until they stop moving.

My ears are ringing from the intensity of the action. I limp over to my robe and put it back on. The fonic arte sapped my strength a bit, so I have to walk in a limp. I walk a little further until I hear a voice nearby.

"Look out!"

I turn around to see another pack of ligers charging toward me.

"You stupid monsters..."

I slam my hand on the ground. Every ounce of my body strained as several beams of light shot out of the ground, destroying the ligers. I fall unconscious amidst the action.

I remember...the sound of ringing.

I was in the training ground. I heard the sound of blades clashing and artes being cast. I wanted to see what was happening, so I inched closer and closer without anyone seeing.

I beheld a man, a tall man, with a large spiky gray ponytail and an equally gray coat with white stripes. He looked so cool with his sword and his fonic artes. I would watch him for hours on end until he would leave to do something. But I would always come back to watch him train.

Then he found me.

"What are you doing here, Fon Master?"

I had no words for him. I shook in fear. I regretted coming down here immediately. But then...he reached his hand out to me.

"The Fon Master shouldn't be afraid, even if what he did was naughty."

I stopped shaking, but I still feared for my life.

"What are you here for?"

"..."

"Don't you know it's dangerous for someone as defenseless as you to be here? You could get hurt."

"Master Van!"

The guards come running down the stairs.

"We were told the Fon Master might be here."

"You were correct. I found him right here."

"Sir, we will take him back to his room at once."

"See to it he doesn't get hurt."

"Yes, sir!"

As I am dragged up the stairs, I continue to watch him as he returns to his practice.

I awake in what looks to be a shelter made of the hollow inside of a tree. I see myself surrounded by Cheagles and someone tending to my wounds. When I fully regain my senses, I perceive that that weirdo's Guardian from the village is here.

"Wh...where am I?"

The woman spoke in a soft, yet monotone voice.

"You're in a safe place."

"Who...are you?"

"My name is Tear. We found you unconscious by the path, with blood all over your robe. Whatever attacked you left deep scars."

"Those...weren't from the attack..."

"What do you mean?"

"They told me...it was from the sickness..."

"Sickness? I don't know any sickness that does this kind of damage."

"Where...is that cheagle...I saw?"

"You're surrounded by them."

"I guessed that, lady. Where is that blue one?"

I heard a raspy voice come from somewhere else.

"Is the boy alright?"

A ragged-looking purple cheagle came up onto my crotch. It was holding a ring of a dull gold tint and a black stripe slanting around part of it.

"You must be their leader."

"I am the Cheagle Elder."

"Tear, are you done yet? These things are creeping me out."

Tear moved her head a little to one side to answer the obnoxious squawking of the weirdo.

"Just a little longer, Luke."

She turned back to me and continued to heal my wounds.

"These wounds are pretty serious. How do you manage to live with these?"

"I don't know...OW! Where on Auldrant are you touching?"

"Sorry."

"Be careful next time."

I turned to the cheagle elder.

"So, do you know any light blue cheagles?"

"Yes. There are quite a few here."

"Have any of them stolen in their life?"

A long silence fell. The weirdo broke the silence soon after.

"That's what I wanted to ask!"

The cheagle elder explained what happened. Apparently one of the Cheagles set fire to the forest, which caused the ligers to go on a rampage and demand a tribute of food as payback. So they stole from the people of Engeve to meet their demands.

"Who is this cheagle?"

"I will bring him to you."

The elder began to speak in Cheagle, summoning a cheagle of the same light blue fur that I encountered in the forest.

"This is him."

What a magnificient specimen, I thought to myself. The soft texture of the fur, its bright color, those expressive eyes...What a find! There must be some way that I could take this beautiful creature with me. I finally came up with one of the cleverest ideas I've had in six months.

"I demand that he accompany me to the liger's nest, so that I may try to calm them."

Tear objected quickly.

"Fon Master, you're still wounded."

"I'll be fine, Tear. You can leave this to me. Just get out of here before they explode."

The weirdo spoke up.

"What are you talking about?"

"Colonel Curtiss is placing explosives around the Forest to quickly and efficiently eliminate the Cheagles. I came here to spare at least one. If you don't leave now, you will be caught in the explosion."

"What about you?"

I made a smirk of confidence on my face.

"I can protect myself. I am the Fon Master, after all."

Like Tritheim, Tear did not believe me in the slightest.

"I don't believe that for a second. I'm coming with you."

The weirdo squawked a rebuttal of cowardice.

"Are you insane? We'll die!"

"We have to help Ion first. Didn't you say you wanted to figure out what was going on with the Cheagles? Now we have to help them!"

The weirdo went into a hissy fit about his own well-being, but to me it sounded like an angry duck.

"Regardless of whether you want to help me or not, I'm going now."

The Cheagle Elder's raspy voice begged me to stop.

"Wait."

"What, do you want to stop me now?"

"No. But you might need this. Give it to the young one."

The Cheagle Elder tossed me the ring he was wearing, and I gave it to the blue Cheagle. Immediately it began to speak.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Now let's go fix the mess you made."

I left the stumphouse and headed for the liger's den, the weirdo and his Guardian still arguing about their well-being.

As we walked, we took the time to introduce ourselves to each other in the cheeriest way possible.

"My name is Mieu! Pleased to meet you!"

"And my name is Ion, little cheagle."

"Master Ion, why are we going to the liger's den?"

"I have to save these Cheagles. You see, I love Cheagles so much. I've read about them in books, but I've never seen one before. You are probably the first Cheagle I've ever encountered in my life."

"Really? Why do you admire Cheagles?"

"...I suppose they remind me so much of myself. Small, weak, and seemingly helpless. But inside them is a hidden power that no one else knows about or appreciates."

"So Master is like a Cheagle?"

"I suppose, yes."

"That's awesome! I hope we can be good friends!"

"I hope so, too."

We finally arrived at the liger's den, where a large mother liger appeared before us. It roared at us ferociously. The sound was one of annoyance.

"What does it say?"

"She says to go away. The eggs haven't hatched yet."

"Tell it that we will go away if it will stop terrorizing the Cheagles."

Mieu promptly mieued at the liger what I had said. It responded with a hostile growl.

"She says she will tear us apart and feed us to our children."

"I guess I have no choice. Prepare for battle, Mieu!"

The Cheagle gave me a worried look.

"Mieu? But I can't fight!"

"Don't worry. I'll help you. Just do as I say."

"Okay!"

I tore off my robe and assumed my battle stance. The liger queen charged at me and I dodged. I clung onto her fur and climbed to her back in an attempt to wrangle the beast. I moved close to the head and pulled out Mieu.

"Fire!"

"MIEU~!"

A stream of flame erupted from Mieu's mouth and onto the liger queen's head. She made a shrilling screech, which obviously signified pain. She threw us off, but I managed to catch Mieu before landing.

"Safe!"

"Get ready, Mieu!"

I dashed forward and began to spin Mieu around wildly.

"Now, Mieu!"

Despite his dizzyness, Mieu blew flames that spun around me. I dashed faster towards the liger queen.

"Ignite, vicious gale! Cyclone Blaze!"

I sent the liger queen flying into the sky. Where she went, I hope she would never be able to come back.

Unfortunately for me, my strength was almost gone, and my wound was opening up again. It hurt a little less than the first time, but that wasn't saying much. I struggled to get my robe back on.

"Gah..."

"Master, is something wrong?"

"Heh heh...I'm losing blood..."

My vision began to blur...

I...I can hear...the ringing again.

I always found a way to come and watch him. He was so amazing to watch. I could only imagine how exhilarating it must have been for someone to fight this guy.

Nevertheless, he caught me again.

"You're here again? You have a knack for irresponsibility. What do you want?"

"Umm..."

"Speak up. Don't be shy."

"I like...watching you fight..."

"..."

He thought to himself for a minute.

"As creepy as that sounds, I admire your dedication. You could make a great warrior someday...if you weren't the Fon Master."

"Master Van!"

The guards came again.

"We're sorry for our failure to keep him secure."

"It's not me you should be reporting failure to. Nevertheless, Mohs will be highly displeased when I tell him. He may have you removed from your positions."

"...Sorry."

"Take him back to his room."

As I was dragged back up the stairs, I could have sworn he was talking to someone in an unseen corner. I needed to check that the next time I came down here.

I awoke on the Tartarus. I could hear the harmonic shimmer of healing artes. Someone was healing me. Was it Tear?

"...Don't move. You're injured."

It wasn't Tear. Who on earth was it?

"Who...are you?"

The woman I was gazing upon had a uniform similar to Jade's, except tailor-fitted to match her physique. That belt was missing, too. Her hair was down to her neck, and dirty blonde with strands of brown underneath, like she had been dyeing it. She answered my question with a smile.

"I'm one of the medical fonists on this ship. My name is Mira. Colonel Jade Curtiss found you unconscious and bleeding in the forest, along with two other people and a Cheagle we found in your belongings."

"Mieu...Where is he?"

"The Cheagle? Don't worry. He's safe. All the Cheagles are safe. They will be relocated to another forest, since they were forced to blow it up."

Thank Lorelei none of the Cheagles were blown up, but that forest...

"What a...waste. If I may make a suggestion...to Colonel Curtiss..."

"You need your injuries healed first. It will take a few minutes."

As she continued to heal my injuries, I began to think about where I could put the Cheagles. If I wanted to keep seeing them, I should probably put them close to home...

Suddenly, an alarm began to ring. I began to panic, and so did the nurse.

"What's happening?"

"Let me check!"

She ran over to one of the funnels next to the door.

"Medical Staff to Colonel Curtiss, what's going on?"

"I've received word that Griffins and Ligers are attacking the ship. Is Fon Master Ion healed yet?"

"Not quite. He will be shortly."

"Don't take too long. We can only fight them for so long."

Mira hurried back to take care of my injuries. Just then, the door opened and she was struck down by...

"Oracle soldiers? Here?"

"You're coming with us, Fon Master."

I tried to get away, but the pain in my chest was too unbearable.

"...I guess I have no choice."

I was dragged away by the soldiers. Just as we were about to enter the deck, the lights went out and the rumbling of the Tartarus stopped. It stunned the soldiers for a while, but didn't stop them from dragging me out to the deck. Man, being injured sucks.

"What's going on?"

A tall woman with blonde hair tied up into a crazy ponytail came up to see what was going on.

"Major Legretta, the lights went off and the Tartarus stopped moving all of a sudden!"

"It must have been the Necromancer's doing. It doesn't matter. We need to get Ion into the transport."

"Is that the only one of your problems?"

"You're one to talk, Fon Master. We have need of you."

"For your information...Legretta, was it? I was in the middle of healing. If you hadn't knocked out my healer, I would be in a much better condition to listen to your demands. Now I see no reason to even look at you."

"Do what you will. You will give in to our demands soon enough."

Our snark-fest was interrupted by the chirp of one of the soldiers.

"Is Ion here?"

A little girl, about as tall as Anise, with pink hair, a doll-like face and dark clothes, came into view. With all these new faces around, I might just think it's some kind of social gathering.

"We've just captured him. Watch him, Arietta. I'm going to go over to see if the Necromancer still lives."

Legretta ran into the darkened hallway, leaving me with this Arietta person and a bunch of soldiers. Great. Where was Mieu when I needed his company?

"Ion..."

I still felt like spouting snarky remarks after my talk with Legretta.

"Excuse me? Nobody calls me by my first name except Anise."

"Why did you choose her over me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you recognize me, Ion?"

I thought about it for a bit, trying to pinpoint when exactly I saw or knew this girl.

"Hmm...You're one of the maids who tidys up the cathedral every week."

"What happened to you, Ion? You weren't like this before you got sick..."

"Before...I got sick?"

Oh, I get it now. Mohs told me I had a Fon Master Guardian before Anise filled in the position. She must have been that Guardian, but I don't remember a single thing about her...

"Heh...Sucks to have amnesia, doesn't it?"

"Amnesia? What did they do to you?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I tried. But if you're really my old Fon Master Guardian, why did you leave?"

"Leave? I was transferred to the God-Generals! I wasn't able to see you until now."

What a long time to wait for a guy like me. She must've been my girlfriend or something.

"Sorry, but I'm not legal yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing. But if you really are my Fon Master Guardian. What is the creed of the Fon Master Guardian?"

"Umm..."

"If you can't remember, you have no proof. Therefore, you are not my Fon Master Guardian."

"Err..."

This was going to be quite amusing. It was such a simple sentence, something even a child would remember. I died of laughter inside trying to make this girl guess such a basic motto.

"...I can't remember!"

"Then you have no proof, do you? Just what do you plan to do with me? Beat me to death until I tell you?"

"This is...strange. You definitely don't act like Ion."

"I think that might be because of the noggin, young lady. I don't know anything about what happened to me for the first twelve years of my life. If we had any 'moments' together, I don't know about any of them. Once that message sinks into your head, talk to me again."

Suddenly I heard the sound of commotion below us. Someone was fighting a group of people. Arietta grabbed me and jumped down to the ground.

"O twisted door of distortion, open wide. Negative Gate!"

A large purple-black rift appeared in the middle of the commotion. Legretta picked up her guns and jumped back towards us, pointing them at the other group, which consisted of that weirdo, Tear, Jade, and...Mieu?

"Mieu? Mieu! What are you doing over there?"

"I'm sorry, Master..."

"Arietta, I told you to keep watch over Ion!"

"I am. I took him with me when I saw you under distress."

"Whatever. Just restrain them and..."

All of a sudden, a vibrant yellow streak struck Legretta and grabbed my hand, swinging me over.

"Enter the amazing Guy!"

I looked up at my 'rescuer'. He was tall, had blonde hair, an orange vest with a white shirt underneath, and rugged good looks. He seemed like a fitting rescuer for the Fon Master.

"Aah!"

"Arietta!"

In Arietta's case, she wasn't so lucky. Jade had his spear on her neck.

"Now, drop your weapons once more and go back inside the Tartarus."

Without question, Legretta did exactly as she was told. Jade then turned to Arietta.

"You're next. Take your monster inside."

"Fon Master... I...I..."

"The next time we meet, you'd better be able to say the Guardian Code five times fast if you want me to believe you."

She sorrowfully walked back to the Tartarus with her liger. I could hear the sound of trickling water, not from any river, but from someone's face.

"Let's head for Saint Binah. That's our rendezvous point with Anise."

"Why her?"

"She has a letter of peace for the emperor of Malkuth. We need to get that to him as soon as possible."

"Looks like it's going to be a little longer before I get home..."

"Master?"

I turned around to see Mieu behind me.

"There you are! What were you thinking, being away from me?"

"I had no choice. But I managed to make new friends!"

"Is that so..."

I looked at Tear. She seemed to be the kind of person who would befriend a creature as delicate and precious as this Cheagle. Looks like Mieu was in good hands.

"Well then, the sooner we get this done, the closer I am to home. Come on, Mieu."

"But Master, your wound..."

I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I still was not completely healed.

"I'll be fine."

We made for St. Binah, but before we even made it there, I started feeling a sharp pain in my chest. Each step was agony as blood trickled down my chest and stained my robe. If I were to walk any farther, I would only make things worse. Ironically, the weirdo was the first to notice.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Ion...You used Daathic fonic artes aboard the Tartarus, didn't you?"

"I wish...I was in the middle of healing when the soldiers knocked out the medic. They dragged me out, regardless of how injured I was."

"Let's rest here for a while. At this rate, we risk shortening Ion's life."

"Do you mind if I perform the rest of the healing?"

I smiled softly at Tear.

"...Not at all."

While everyone made camp, Tear examined my wounds.

"Whoever was healing you did a faster job than I ever could. It may take several minutes to finish closing up the wounds."

"Take as long as you'd like."

It started getting dark outside. The last rays of the sun barely gleamed over the trees, and the pleasant sound of forest insects began to slowly vibrate through the air. The hum of Tear's healing artes blended with the sounds of the forest, making a beautiful symphony of sounds. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly and softly, bending my mouth to a faint smile.

"You're taking this rather well, Fon Master."

"It's the forest. The cicadas are soft and pleasing tonight."

"You have a knack for forest sounds?"

"Not just those, any sound. I can hear many things. Each sound has its own distinct difference in pitch and rhythm, just like how humans are different from other humans. Some sounds can sound similar to others, and very rarely do two things sound exactly the same."

"You speak as if you are an expert in fonons."

"I don't know about that. I've been hearing these sounds ever since I was cured of my sickness."

"Do you know how fonons work?"

"...A little."

"What do you know?"

"Fonons are sound particles that make up everything in the world. There are six types of fonons, each pertaining to a certain element: shadow, earth, wind, water, fire, and light."

"Do you know about the Seventh Fonon?"

"...The fonon of sound, right?"

"Yes, it is sound. You seem to have basic knowledge of fonons."

"I read books in my spare time. That's also how I came to know of Cheagles."

"They are cute, aren't they?"

I stared at Mieu, who was bouncing happily around the campfire the others had made.

"...Yes. Yes, they are."

The sound of healing artes faded away, leaving the cicadas to chirp by themselves.

"Well, that should be it. Try standing."

I sat up, making a mental note of what I was feeling as I got up to my feet. Nothing felt broken, bruised or even remotely aching in pain. I was completely healed, and now I knew who to thank.

"Thank you, Tear."

A small smile of gratitude was drawn on my mouth.

"You're welcome."

She returned the smile. I felt so alive, but I knew that I had to put my energy to rest, since it was nighttime.

"I'll be going to sleep now."

"Why not come sit by the fire?"

"I need my rest. Mohs gave me a curfew and I have to stick to it."

Tear nodded, respecting my wishes.

"Okay. Good night, then."

I lay down on the grass and tried falling asleep. I felt a small blanket laid on me before I dozed off.

There it is again...the sound of ringing.

No matter how many times they caught me, I came back and watched him fight. It was only a matter of time before he became expressly concerned about why I was there to begin with.

"You like watching me fight, Fon Master?"

I nodded softly, still fearing for my life inside.

"Would you like to learn how to fight?"

I stopped shaking, realizing I had an opportunity. I nodded without hesitation.

"Good. You're a decisive one. That will help you a bit in combat. Come over here."

I walked over to the battlefield.

"First, you need a weapon. You can't really fight without one, now, can you?"

He pointed towards an armory with an arsenal of weapons.

"Go ahead and choose."

I went over to the rack and pulled out a sword. I grabbed the hilt and tried lifting it, but it wouldn't come out. I tried every weapon after that, but I could not lift any of them properly. The man shook his head out of disappointment.

Then, at the bottom of the weapon closet, I found a pair of half-rusted, weighted gauntlets. They weren't too heavy, and they slipped on quite nicely.

"You want to fight unarmed?"

I nodded with a weak smile.

"Know that you run a great risk when you fight with your hands. They can only get stronger, but once you lose them, they are gone forever."

I nodded in understanding.

"I see no reason to stop your determination. We'll begin with the basics."

He stood in a defensive stance and raised his sword.

"Now, come at me!"

I ran forward and jumped up, ready to land a punch. There was a flash of white and the sound of metal clanging.

When I woke up, there was blood and corpses everywhere. The smell of blood was putrid and did not make for a good wake-up call.

"Ugh...What happened?"

Tear was the first to notice I was awake.

"Fon Master Ion, are you alright?"

Jade began to notice as well, and filled me in on the situation with a hint of a smile.

"We were ambushed last night. Luke over here killed his first soldier today."

The weirdo was shaking nervously at the sight of all these dead people. I played orgel baby music in my head for laughs, and it was quite effective. I laughed out loud, much to the weirdo's dismay.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just...the picture Jade...put in my head..."

I continued to burst out laughing, which had knocked me to the ground, almost out of breath. Tear looked at me with a bit of a frown.

"Fon Master, we should be going."

I gasped for breath, calmed myself down, and stood up straight.

"Phew...Right. Come with me, Mieu."

"Yes, Master."

When we finally arrived on the outskirts of St. Binah, we stopped for some reason.

"Hey..."

Tear put a finger on my mouth.

"Shh!"

I kept quiet, and looked to where everyone was looking.

"Why are the Oracle Knights here?"

You took the words right out of my mouth, weirdo.

"St. Binah's the closest city to the Tartarus. They probably expected us to stop here."

Jade began to notice Guy's knowledge of the surrounding area.

"For a Kimlascan, you're certainly familiar with Malkuth geography, Guy."

"I like reading about vacation spots."

Oh, really? Is that really the reason?, I thought to myself.

Suddenly, Tear pointed in a direction.

"Colonel, look."

I could hear the sound of cart wheels to our right. The cart pulled up next to the gate.

"We're from Engeve. We're here to fulfill a purchase order for food supplies."

The soldier looked at the cart for a bit, then motioned that the cart was clear.

"You may pass."

"There's one more wagon after this one."

The cart moved on ahead without trouble. I saw Jade smirk a bit.

"How convenient."

Guy chimed in, seeming to know where Jade was going with this.

"We're going to stop the second one and hitch a ride, huh?"

I smirked harder than Jade did at this plan.

"Let's go back and steal it."

Jade sarcastically rebuked me for saying such mean-spirited things.

"Steal is such a harsh word."

I played along.

"Commandeer, then?"

Jade seemed to agree, as did Tear.

"Sure, why not?"

"Yes, let's."

We walked back down the path, and I thought I heard the sound of a screaming duck.

A while later, we were finally in St. Binah. Turns out that lady mayor from Engeve was in that last cart. She recognized us and brought us here. After saying our goodbyes, we set off to find...Anise. This trip is only going to get worse, isn't it?

We went to the Military Headquarters, where we found out that Anise had written a letter to me and that weirdo. I let him open it.

Dearest Colonel Jade, (heart) I had a really scary time, but I managed to make it here. (music note) Don't worry, I'm taking good care of you-know-what! Aren't you proud of me? (music note) It looks like the Oracle Knights are going to close off St. Binah soon, so I'll go ahead to the next location. (heart) Is my beloved Luke safe? (Oh, I'm so embarrassed! (heart) I just confessed my feelings! (heart)) I'm really worried. Luke, I miss you so much. (heart) I can't wait to see you again! (music note) Oh, and give my regards to Ion, too. Bye-bye for now! (music note) Love, Anise.

Both of us uttered the next sentence in unison. It sounded like a terrible harmony with a clarinet and a poorly-played trumpet.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"So where do we go from here?"

"Kaitzur."

"If we make it there, we can rendezvous with Van."

That name...Where have I heard it before? Apparently the weirdo knew him, too, so there must be some sort of connection...

As we started towards the gate, Tear came running at us.

"...Quick, hide! It's the Oracle Knights!"

We ran off towards the backside of one of the buildings. I could hear a conversation going on, but it was rather faint. I closed my eyes and zeroed in on the conversation.

"...Have you found Fon Master Ion?"

That sounded like Legretta. It sounded like she was talking to one of the Oracle Knights in a commanding, yet slightly desperate tone.

"It doesn't appear he's entered St. Binah."

"One of those people with Ion is the one who killed Mommy... My liger friends told me. I'll never forgive him..."

Oh, right. Crap. I've unintentionally made myself an enemy. But that Arietta girl looked scrawny. I doubted she would be much of a challenge.

"What about that Fon Master Guardian they said was hanging around?"

Wait...That voice...It sounded familiar...

"She appears to have made contact with the Malkuth military. But Malkuth is saying it's "classified" and is refusing to provide any useful information."

At least they didn't catch her. Thank Lorelei. As much as I hated to say it, I could not get back home without Anise, or I would have a lot of explaining to do to Mohs.

"Ahh hah hah hah hah! That's why I told you..."

I left the conversation immediately, covering my ears from the disgusting laugh that I just heard. The seven God-Generals were here. They wanted me for something, but I didn't know what. While the weirdo asked about how politics worked, I left the group and snuck out into the inn, attempting to avoid both parties.

"I'm tired of this nonsense."

The inn was your typical lower-class establishment. Everything was made out of rickety, unpainted wood. The walls, the floor, even the beds were made of it, save for the clean, soft-looking sheets and curtains. It was not the worst place I've ever been to find respite, but even my bedroom looked better than this place. Nevertheless, I walked up to the innkeeper.

"How much for a bed?"

By the time the group figured out I was in the inn, I was fast asleep.

The sound of ringing prevailed once again as the teacher kept mocking the student's inability to fight effectively.

"Keep trying! You'll hit me someday..."

"Haaaah!"

My fists aimed directly at his vital points, but they were brushed off with a sword stroke and a kick in the chest. I doubled over in pain.

"You're fast, and you can hear fonons quite nicely. But you just don't have the skill necessary to defeat me, or any Oracle soldier. If you want to fight as good as an Oracle soldier, you need to master your artes! You need to tell when an opponent is going to counter. Most importantly, you need to think quickly and react quickly. Come at me again!"

I was sick of his criticism. I just wanted to knock him down. In blind rage, I attacked him again, only to get knocked over again.

"One thing I can say, though, you're persistent. If you still have the strength, come at me!"

I struggled to stand up. I couldn't let him put me down like this. He was going down, or I was going to die. My ears were ringing like crazy, blotting out the sounds of the fonons. But I needed to beat him, at any cost.

I charged at him again, but instead ran around him, drawing a fonic circle as I went. I stopped behind him, ready to use the circle.

"Guardian Field!"

MOTHER OF YULIA! You used my fonic circle!

"GUAAAAAAAH!"

As the freezing light hit my body, my hearing grew dim...

"GUAAAAAAAH!"

My scream could be heard from as far as the outskirts of town. Everyone awoke at the same time, alert and ready to fight.

"What's going on?"

The weirdo isn't the only one without a clue. But Tear is the first to react.

"Fon Master! You're wounded!"

Indeed, all of my wounds opened up again. ALL OF THEM. Blood trickled like a faucet down my body, staining my robes and the bed in the color of my bodily fluids.

"What's wrong with him?"

Tear quickly stretched out her hand onto my chest and started humming to herself, and the fonons in the room started humming in unison. She was using her healing artes again.

"He has deep cuts all over his torso. The strange thing is, they're all the same cuts I healed last time."

Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Fon Master, can you tell us where you got those scars?"

"I had these for as long as I can remember. Granted, that isn't very long, and I don't know what happened to me during the first twelve years of my life. I don't even remember being sick."

"What did they tell you?"

"They told me I was sick, and the sickness caused my skin to tear apart. They said I would have died if it weren't for Mohs."

Everyone was quite surprised, except for Tear and Jade. The former had not been showing much emotion during the whole conversation. Maybe it was because she was busy healing my wounds, but then she started talking in a rather serious tone.

"...Mohs saved your life?"

"That's what I was told."

Jade returned to the interrogation quickly.

"Do you believe it?"

"I have no evidence against it."

Jade began to think to himself. Everyone was still trying to process what I had said. Tear, however, knew exactly what to say.

"What if we told you that Mohs was trying to start a war?"

I thought about Tear's response. Mohs was trying to start a war? I...didn't think he would be the type to do that.

"I...don't know. Why would Mohs intend to start a war?"

"To uphold the Score."

The Score...? Why was he fighting to uphold the bane of my existence?

Ah, that's right. The Score was how everything was going to play out, according to the Seventh Fonstone. I had read that Fonstone before, but I didn't understand much of what it said. It was also even more physically painful to read than the regular Score, due to the strain it put on my body. My scars reopened every time I read it. But why would Mohs start a war to uphold that stupid thing?

Guy felt the unnecessary need to explain.

"The Score is the basis of the Order's teachings. If no one followed the Score, there would be no need for the Order."

Jade interjected soon after.

"That's what Mohs thinks, anyway. But a war is the last thing we want, even if it goes against the Score."

"Why is that?"

"Ever heard of human self-preservation?"

"That makes sense."

So Mohs is starting a war, huh? Better go confront him about that when I get home.

"How are my wounds, Tear?"

"Pretty bad. They will take a few more minutes to heal. How do you manage to live with these, anyway?"

"I have a bunch of fonic healers on standby back at home."

I immediately thought of Mira. She was most likely killed by the God-Generals during that ambush. If all this was Mohs' doing...

"Who do the God-Generals work for? Some of them sound familiar."

Tear answered one half of the question.

"They work under Van Grants, one of the highest-ranking members of the Oracle Knights."

"You say some of them sound familiar. Like familiar voices? Some of them hang around Daath often. Arietta has connections there. Legretta has some, too. What, have you never met them before?"

"I'm usually stuck in my room. I get out sometimes, but I never really see anyone important except Mohs."

"Hmm..."

"Something the matter, Colonel?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking to myself."

"About what?"

"About how oddly similar this is to Luke."

"Stop making fun of me!"

I almost forgot that weirdo was here. I heard the sound of healing fonons die down. My chest began to feel fine again, although I could still feel the scars on my chest. I had a feeling those would never go away.

"How do you feel, Fon Master?"

"Pooped. Good night."

I turned over and fell into a deep sleep. Tear looked at Jade.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Perhaps, if you know as well as I do."

I don't hear the sound of ringing this time. I hear screaming.

My own screaming.

My leg is in severe pain. I scream and cry, but my calls for help are not answered. I shrink from the pain.

"You thought our master could teach you over us? You thought he could teach you to defeat us, let alone him?"

They both kicked me in the legs. My screams became louder until my voice cracked. A small puddle of tears lay next to my face. My vision was incredibly blurry from the tears. I could only make out the hair and the color of their clothes. They...looked like mine.

"STOP!"

Oracle Knights charged in and detained the two green-haired blurs while my medical staff came to my rescue. They tore off my clothes and placed me on a stretcher. My tears were now streaming down onto the stretcher.

Suddenly, all the noises disappeared.

I awoke in my room. I couldn't move my legs, and my arms were sore from fighting. At least I knew one thing.

Two knocks on the door, and then it opened.

"Fon Master? Are you alive?"

He walked up to me and squeezed my leg just a tad.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"Good."

May I be received into the Fon Belt with honor for withstanding this much pain.

"I'm sorry for what happened. I'll make it up to you."

I barely coughed out two words.

"With...what?"

"I can make you like them. You know about the Seventh Fonon, right? I can give you that."

My eyes widened. All I wanted was to fight like this man. I wanted to be worth something to the world. I didn't want to sit here in my room. I didn't want to feel worthless, to need protecting all the time. I wanted to fight.

"However...It will put great strain on your body, and whenever you use it, it will hurt you."

I didn't care. Without hesitation, I coughed two more words.

"Do...it."

The next morning, we set off for the Fubras River, which led to Kaitzur, the Kimlascan/Malkuth border city. The weirdo kept asking where we were going, what we were doing, and if we were there yet. It got so annoying that I wanted to throw Mieu at him. Jade even had to explain to him how fonons worked in battle.

"Hey, if we're going to stop every two minutes to explain something, I want out of it. Let's get to Kaitzur while there's still day left!"

Jade stopped in the middle of his tutorial.

"If you're so worried about getting home, go on ahead."

Tear, of course, objected to this statement.

"Jade!"

"He's the Fon Master. I'm sure he can make it there by himself."

"But..."

I started walking across the river while they were arguing. I used Mieu to stun any enemies in my path and eventually made it across safely.

"Good job, Mieu."

I fed him an apple gel. He gleefully ate it.

"Thank you, Master!"

"Hey! Wait for us!"

They took their time fighting EVERY SINGLE ENEMY on that river. I walked on ahead without giving a crap.

Suddenly, a liger came out of nowhere and charged at me. I jumped to the side. Everyone was still fighting on the river.

"Stand down!"

That voice...

"You again, huh? Did you memorize it this time?"

"Yes, I did!"

"Good, good. Say it five times fast."

"Umm..."

What I heard was both unintelligible and crazy fast. I don't even know if that was the whole thing, but I could hear similar words to it. When she stopped, she caught her breath from speaking, and I caught my breath from laughing to death.

"Hey, stop laughing at me!"

"...Okay, okay. You convinced me. What do you want?"

"I...I want to help you, Ion."

"Help me with what?"

"You don't remember me, do you? I want to help you remember me."

"Fon Master Ion!"

The group finally finished killing all those monsters and caught up to us. Arietta quickly put on a vengeful face when she caught sight of them.

"...Those people are my enemies. They killed Mommy!"

The weirdo squealed in protest to the animal fanatic.

"What are you talking about? When did we ever do something like that?"

"Mommy's home was burned, so she moved into the Cheagle Woods. She was just trying to protect her children... My brothers and sisters..."

Oops. Looks like I had a lot of explaining to do with this girl.

Suddenly, I heard a rumbling, signifying an earthquake. As the ground shook, purple gas seeped out from cracks in the ground, making an obnoxious hissing noise. Tear shouted a warning to us.

"It's the miasma! Cover your mouths and noses!"

Arietta cried out and then fainted. I did as Tear asked. The weirdo started screaming something.

"What do we do now? We can't run away!"

Tear started chanting something for no reason. Wait...that song...It sounded so...familiar.

A large fonic barrier, shaped much like a hexagonal glass dome, was erected, cutting off the miasma from the surrounding area. After casting it, she turned to us.

"I've applied a vibration identical to the inherent vibration of the miasma. It's a temporary shield. It won't last long."

"Tear...That song..."

Guy interjected.

"Worry about that later. We need to get out of here."

Jade agreed, then proceeded to Arietta with his spear. I didn't need to guess what he was going to do. I ran off to block him.

"Stop! Don't do this!"

"If we let her live, she'll come after us again."

"I need to talk to her. She may know some things about my past. Bring her with us."

After thinking for a bit, Jade put away his spear.

"...Very well. But you must carry her."

I nodded, with a look of determination on my face. I proceeded to pick her up. She actually was not all that heavy, but Mieu still felt like a feather compared to Arietta.

We proceeded to walk further, but Jade made us stop for a moment.

"...Oh, come on. We're almost to Kaitzur. What do you want here?"

Dang it, weirdo! You took the words out of my mouth again!

"It's about Tear's Fonic Hymns. I've wondered about them for a while. Her fonic hymns are different from the ones I know."

I had found good reason to agree with Jade on this one. I seemed to recognize them.

"Yes. They sound...familiar...for some reason..."

"The fonic hymns are those of Yulia."

My eyes widened. I knew that name from the many manuscripts I read.

"Yulia? You mean like THE Yulia?"

Ignoring me, Jade continued with his interrogation.

"How are you able to sing Yulia's hymns, Tear? Who did you learn them from?"

"I was told that it is because my family is descended from Yulia... I don't know whether that's true or not."

"A descendant of Yulia... I see..."

My eyes beamed wide with amazement.

"That's amazing, Tear!"

Tear blushed a bit and smiled.

"...Thank you."

Oh yeah, I'm smooth. But Arietta's body hurt my smoothness a bit. I needed to find a place to set her down.

"Hey, isn't that Anise?"

We finally made it to Kaitzur's Malkuth side, but I finally remembered that we were supposed to meet Anise here. Lorelei help me...

"Oh! It's my darling! My prince!"

She ran right past me and into the weirdo's embrace. It was the first time I had been surprised in a while.

"Luke! I'm so glad you're safe! I was worried about you!"

Well, at least she has someone else to annoy now. Good riddance.

Just then, I heard a duck squeal. Except...it didn't sound like the weirdo. It sounded deeper than that. A black-cloaked man with crimson hair attempted to jump-attack the weirdo, only to be blocked by...

"You..."

Spiky gray ponytail...Gray coat with white-and-black stripes...Van?!

"Stand down, Asch!"

"...Out of the way, Van!"

"What do you think you're doing? I don't recall giving any orders like this. Now stand down!"

The angry weirdo sheathed his sword and left without question. Van had a conversation with the annoying weirdo that I soon interrupted.

"You!"

"What about..."

As he turned around, he instantly recognized me. His mouth curved upwards slyly.

"Ah, Fon Master. How goes your training?"

I was rather reluctant to speak, as he did not look trustworthy at the moment.

"...It's improved greatly, thanks to you. So you're this Van person I've been hearing about?"

"Ah, yes. I never did give you my name, did I?"

The weirdo was now genuinely confused. What else was new?

"You know each other?"

"Yes, Luke. He was...a former student of mine."

"Former...student?"

"I'll explain more later. When you're ready to listen to me, come to the inn."

Van walked over to the inn. I had forgotten how tense my face was, and loosened it. Tear was a little worried.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't want to listen to anything he has to say."

The weirdo was a little pissed off at my statement.

"What have you got against Master Van?"

"Care to explain, Fon Master?"

Jade propped his glasses back up. Everyone, especially the weirdo, was waiting for my response. I did not want to disappoint them, so I gave a very blunt reason.

"He badmouthed Mohs."

I walked over to the inn, carrying Arietta with me. Everyone else just stood there, dumbfounded by my words.

Inside the Inn, I put Arietta in a bed and tried applying some healing tonics and mild healing artes. I could not heal her as fast as Tear could, but she was not going to help me. No one would. This was my responsibility. Van was in the corner, watching me nurse Arietta.

"You've grown stronger since we last met."

I continued working on Arietta, ignoring Van's comment. He continued anyways.

"You know, I hoped we wouldn't have to meet like this...You seem to have gotten yourself involved in our politics."

"It wasn't my choice to make."

"Yes, it was. You could have stayed at home. You could have let Arietta take you. You could have not saved the Cheagles. Everything was your choice to make."

"You seem to have made some bad decisions in your life, like me."

"I don't think teaching you was a bad decision. Truthfully, I think you've become a better warrior in a year-and-a-half than Luke has in seven."

"Flattery doesn't work on me, Van."

"No, of course not. You're smarter than that. But I do want to say that I still stand by what I said. What Mohs stands for is wrong."

"That isn't going to change the fact that I don't believe you, or anyone who says that, for that matter."

The humming of healing artes began to cease. I had done all I could, so only time would help her heal now.

"If Arietta wakes up before I do, tell her I'll consider her offer."

I found a bed for myself and fell asleep almost instantly. Afterwards, the inn door opened and everyone walked in.

"Have you calmed down a bit?"

I hear yelling, but it's not my own.

"You cannot teach him how to fight! He has better things to do than get hurt on the battlefield!"

"Mohs, you're avoiding the situation. You know that the Score no longer matters anymore, right?"

"No, it still does! Those people out there aren't like him! They still need the Score! It's my job to uphold the Score and I will do it by any means necessary!"

"...Then you will do it without me. I'm taking the God-Generals with me."

"You can't do that! They are the property of the Grand Maestro Faction!"

"Not anymore."

"Guards!"

"Out of my way!"

I hear the noise of countless lives being slaughtered by Van's hand. Brilliant lights shone across the room, each flash yielding a scream that soon faded into silence. When all voices were silenced, Van took his leave. Mohs weakly called after him.

"...You..."

"Nice try, Mohs. See you in the Qliphoth!"

I did not know who to trust anymore.

After that day, I never left my room, except on missions and when I was to read the Score. Anise tried to comfort me, but I pushed her away until she gave up. In the meantime, I pushed my body to the limit, becoming stronger and more adept at my preferred weapons of choice. I mastered the art of the fist, as well as the third and seventh fonon. I never looked back...

"Ion..."

Someone was trying to wake me. I wanted to sleep some more.

"Wake up, Ion!"

Ugh...Anise...Why did it have to be her to wake me? Why couldn't Tear do that?

"...What?"

"The others already left for the border."

I struggled to get up. I rubbed my eyes and turned to the empty bed on my left.

"Where's Arietta?"

"Who cares about her?"

"I care."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, Gloomietta is the enemy."

Like me, Anise has a knack for giving people she hates nicknames. The good news for that is that she does not hate my guts...yet.

"You didn't see her leave? Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She was gone when we woke up."

"I need to go after her. She might know something about me."

I jumped out of bed and ran outside towards the border. The soldier there stopped me.

"Passport."

I quickly handed him the passport Anise gave me.

"May Lorelei be with you, Fon Master."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

I made haste over to the Kimlascan side and showed them my passport. Anise was slowly catching up behind me.

"This way, Fon Master."

"Wait up, Ion!"

Without letting Anise catch up to me, I made it to Kaitzur Naval Port just as the group made it in. I gasped for breath as Guy began to notice my presence.

"Wow. You got here fast."

Everyone else turned around, and Jade began to speak.

"Where's Anise?"

"She'll...be here...in a few...minutes..."

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a liger's cry. Once again, the weirdo was confused.

"...Huh? What's going on?"

"That sounds like a monster..."

The sound of ligers...Could that mean...?

"...! Arietta! I have to find her!"

I ran over to the port area, where one of the ships was burning and...Van had his sword drawn on Arietta?

"Arietta! Who gave you permission to do this?!"

"Arietta!"

Arietta looked up at me. Her eyes widened.

"Ion!"

Van turned his head to see who was behind him.

"You all..."

Tear commented on the scene.

"What happened here?"

Van sheathed his sword and turned to face us.

"Arietta unleashed her monsters on the ship."

"Commandant... I'm sorry... Asch asked me to..."

"Asch?!"

A large flying creature (I think it was called a griffin) swooped down and Arietta grabbed on.

"I have to take away the engineer who can repair the ship. If you want him back, Luke and Ion have to come to Choral Castle. If they don't come... They'll...kill him..."

"Arietta!"

"I'm sorry, Ion..."

She flew away. I tried chasing her, but something hit me and I fell backwards onto the pavement.

"Ow! What is your problem?!"

It was Anise, who completely missed the entire thing. When she recognized me, her expression softened a bit out of respect. Her response, though, was less respectful.

"Oh, it's you, Ion."

"Get out of my way."

I got up and continued to pursue Arietta, by myself. I didn't care about the engineer, I just needed to know who I was and what happened to me. Nothing else. Once I figured that out, I would know who to trust and who needs to die.

"Monsters...I can feel them."

"I can hear them, too. That doesn't mean I fear them."

I stood at the entrance of Choral Castle, with Mieu on standby in the palm of my hand.

"I'm going to need your help on this, Mieu. It's likely she's not going to listen if they show up."

"Don't worry, Master. I will help you to the end."

"Let's go."

We ran inside the castle, and zoomed past the monsters. I ran up the steps of the castle, with a stone door closing behind me. I ignored it and kept going up to the top, following the liger tracks that covered the stairs.

When I reached the top, I saw what I expected. Both Arietta and the engineer were perched on top of ligers. Two griffins hovered above them.

"Arietta!"

"Ion!"

One of the griffins swooped down and tried to capture me. I saw it coming and dodged. It tried to swoop back and pick me up again, but I used Mieu to set it on fire.

"Ion, what are you doing?"

"Call them off now! If you don't, I'll be forced to hurt them!"

"I can't...Dist and Asch told me to..."

"You don't have to listen to those freaks! You are capable of making your own decisions, Arietta. You want me alive, right? Call off your friends!"

"I'm sorry, Ion..."

"Arietta!"

The second griffin swooped down and tried to capture me. I pulled out Mieu and drew a small fonic circle on the ground.

"MIEU!"

"Storm of flames! Flare Tornado!"

Mieu's fire spun like a drill into the griffin's heart. The violent screech it expelled before it died almost shattered my ears. As it burned to ashes on the ground, Arietta's expression became horrified.

"Ion...Why?"

"Ever heard of human self-preservation? A friend once told me about it."

"But...I don't understand...You've never used Fonic Artes to kill before."

"I decided it would be a useful skill to have. I hate Fon Master Guardians, anyway."

"Who...are you?"

"I am the Fon Master Ion. I am fourteen years old, even though I only remember the past two. Even though I am the Fon Master, I hate being so. I prefer the battlefield."

"You're not Ion...Ion never behaved like that. Ion was kind and caring. He never killed people or animals. But...you look like Ion. What are you?"

"Who says people can't change, especially after getting amnesia? I don't remember being any of that. I don't even remember you. You don't sound familiar either."

"What happened to the Ion I knew? Is he still in there, or is he not there at all?"

"I couldn't tell you that even if I tried. Now, if you're going to capture me again, I suggest you pray to whatever god the ligers worship for mercy, because I certainly won't give YOU any."

"..."

Arietta clutched her doll and thought to herself. In the meantime, Mieu and I whispered to each other.

"Master, are you alright?"

"Yeah. That last fonic arte hurt my leg. I can't run, but I can cast one more arte if I hurry."

All we needed to do was wait for her answer. The sound of ringing returned to my ears as silence fell once again. I could hear the breathing of the ligers, Arietta's uneven breathing, Mieu's tiny breathing, even the breathing over the side of the building. Wait a minute...

"You didn't come alone, did you?"

Arietta said nothing. I angrily turned to the source of the breathing.

"Hey, you, below the building! Show yourself!"

A white-haired freak in a floating armchair rose into sight. His lanky excuse for a mouth was bent downwards, and his glasses gleamed white so that I couldn't see his eyes. But his voice was...indescribably awful.

"So you found me...You have keen ears, Fon Master."

I covered my ears and made a face of disgust.

"Sweet Yulia, is that really your voice? Eugh..."

"HEY! Don't insult my beautiful voice!"

He turned to Arietta.

"What are you doing, Arietta? Why haven't you captured him yet?"

Arietta stood still, still anxiously deciding for herself what to do with me.

"She's trying to decide for herself, you freak. Leave her alone and go get throat surgery!"

"You really want to piss me off, little boy? How about I play a little game with you?"

He snapped his fingers and a giant robot was summoned. I whispered something to Mieu.

"Mieu, are there any healing items in my pouch?"

"Only a couple Apple Gels and a Pineapple Gel."

"Give me an Apple Gel."

Mieu tossed me an Apple Gel, which I quickly ate. My leg started feeling better almost instantly.

"Mieu, I want you to hide in the pouch until the others get here. When they do, tell them what happened to me."

"But, Master..."

"I'm sorry, Mieu."

I snapped the pouch shut and tossed it aside, but not off the roof. I did the same with my robe. I faced the robot and assumed an offensive stance.

"I made this decision on my own, Arietta. Now see where it takes me!"

I rushed toward the robot, yelling and priming my fists for punches. The scene flashed a blinding white. I could hear the screams of an angelic chorus, followed by complete silence.

"What...happened here?"

The whole roof was covered in scrap metal and flames. As everyone looked around, there seemed to be no sign of Ion or Arietta. Suddenly, Guy spotted something.

"Look, over there!"

The group ran over to where Guy was pointing. They saw Ion's robe and satchel, now partially burnt in the ravaging flames.

"Something's moving in the satchel! Open it!"

Luke cut it open, and out fell Mieu. Mieu shook off the flames caught in his fur and looked up at everyone.

"Everybody!"

"Mieu, what happened?"

"Master told me to tell you..."

As Mieu explained what happened from his point of view, which relied mostly on his sense of hearing since he couldn't see.

"So...Ion's gone."

Anise was the first to cry.

"Ion..."

Tear, surprisingly, was also quite saddened by this scene.

"To think that Dist and Arietta had finished him off like that...How are we supposed to beg for peace now?"

Jade reassured everyone that there was still hope.

"We still have the letter from the emperor, and it has Fon Master Ion's signature on it. As long as we don't lose this, we still have a chance."

Anise wiped her tears, and looked at the smouldering remains on the rooftop.

"Yes. Let's do that...for Ion."

End of Part 1

Hi, everyone! EisenKoubu here. I hope you enjoyed this first part of my first published fanfic. I have this planned to be the first of three, so expect the second part in the near future! If you had problems with my story, I will take any legible and intelligible criticism, since I need all the advice I can get at this point. See you in the next part~!

Update~1/12/15~ : Small grammatical errors and a few incorrect words that I missed have been fixed. Small bits of dialogue have been added in as well to provide clarification on who is speaking during dialogue. Thanks to all my readers for their patience and feedback. Part 2 will be up soon~!