Author's Blurb: Thank you for your kind reviews. -Smacks self- I'm a terrible, terrible author for not updating ... for multiple reasons. This was written under request of SelenaWolf from the livejournal community, ficondemand. Glad you like it, Miss Selena!

I'm desperately trying to keep this relatively light-hearted ... or at least keep it from becoming angsty. . Stupid angst bunny. I think part of this required an angst bunny, you'll see what I mean. I -will- keep this mostly happy (Except Erutis Dear) for the next chapter.

-The chapter title is partly stolen from Our Lady Peace; no reason, it just suited this chapter. :)

-Sulfur creates a blue flame when lit, and is a chemical used in firearms.

-Word Count- 3082 (Arg, short chapter for such a wait, I'm sorry)

Roisen Midnight

Evil Twins INC

Elvewin Darkdragon

peridopixi - I'm glad I've made you enjoy this pairing! Mostly, I'm glad you're just enjoying the story!

White Ink

Draculina

Cocochan - -Blushes- Oh wow, I've never recieved that kind of praise ... I'll admit, you made my head swell for a moment. .

And all of you, thank you for your reviews! And thank you people who didn't review (That made my hit counter go up), and thank you everyone on the Alert!List who didn't review, but I know you're watching ...

Green Sleeves

- Happiness is a Fish ... that's Hard to Catch

The first thing I do is find a hotel. Not just any hotel to rest my poor bones, a hotel built to rival the greatest castles in existence. This hotel has curtains made of velvet and silk, floors made of marble hard enough to break my heels, and ceilings so high one would think it was a cathedral. Stone dragons that mock the pillars from Kontreo's front gate are this palace's supports and foundation, and make the place fantastic with its pompous vulgarity.

I am floating ... I'm in heaven ... And the work isn't impressed with my presence until I literally dump my money bag on the floor. So crude, sometimes I have to act brash to get what I want, and what I want is a clean place to sleep.

After establishing that I'm not a beggar and the money is real, I'm treated with the most unexpected politeness. Of course, the first thing the polite hostess suggests is, "Why don't you take advantage of our lavish and extensive bathing facilities?"

"Are there bubbles?" I ask hopefully.

"Yes, of course."

"I'll go bathe fully clothed, just show me the way."

Not ten minutes later, I'm in my room, discovering the bathroom, and sinking into warm, bubbly bliss.

Yessss ...

The heated water sends a thin steam to waft through the air, relaxing my sore muscles, cleaning my pores and fatigue; the gentle but fragrant sent of flower oils fill the bathroom, and sooth my senses. The long mirror opposite of the tub enlarges the bathroom, and the lighting gleams pleasantly, highlighting bottles of shampoo and soap bars, and accenting the rainbow bubbles that crackle in the bathtub.

Ahh ... I could die happy this way ... forget my men! I'm gonna stay in this tub until my fingers are wrinkly from water AND old age. This place is such an improvement from the other hotels I've stayed at. The walls and floors are sparkling white, instead of looking dark from possible mold. The towels are fluffy and large, instead of thin and ratty. Yes, life is good.

I'm in such a drifting state, that I can almost swear the voice is coming from inside my own head. "You realize you're making sex noises?"

"Hmm ..." I'm too relaxed to make coherent words ...

"It's quite strange."

I poke my toes from the bubbles and flex them, "Oh?" and sink lower; Bubbles tickle my nose.

"You must be on the edge of delirious ..."

"Hnn ..." I could care less.

Wait a second.

DAMN MY FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY.

"You're not there, you're not there," I squint my eyes shut and count to ten, "Not there, not there," before turning around, hoping beyond possibility that the voice was a figment ...

Krayon smirks from above me, and waggles his fingers from under his chin.

Tears start to prick at my eyes. "I'm weary ... let me rest ..." I whimper weakly.

Krayon's lip twitches, "You've been pruning for a half an hour, I couldn't let you drown, could I?" He tilts his head to the side, blond curls bouncing against his cheeks, "Besides, it was much too amusing listening to you babble incoherently."

How long was he there? "How long have been hovering over me?" I pointedly scowl at him.

"Why, since you arrived." Krayon's eyebrows raise, as though that should have been obvious, "Duh." He snickers quietly, flipping a hand out to study his nails.

I sink even lower, almost choking on my bubbles. I thought they loved me too ... "You take away any happiness I manage to grunge up ..." Whyohwhyohwhy?

"Oh, don't be so pitiful." Krayon tosses his head, and shifts on the decorative shelf he's sitting on. "I'm here to help this time."

"You're always here to help." I groan.

Krayon snickers, "I want to warn you away from your venture." he says, getting to the point.

I start a bit from that, but can't help raising an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

"You might find something that you really don't want."

"And what makes you think that you know what I want?"

"Haven't we had this conversation before?" He leans forward, placing his chin into his palm, "Besides, in this case, you've already told me that you don't want it."

His lazy posture, slightly quirked lips, and amused but serious eyes tell me that he believes himself. He's not mocking in this, simply attempting to prove his point without taking physical action. I'm sure if he wanted to, he could stop my searching where it is and send me back to my men, if for any reason, for his own amusement; I wouldn't put it past him. He's telling me that I won't like what I find, and as much as I hate it, I can't think of a moment when he's been wrong. It must have something to do with his old age. I glare at him, "You don't know anything about me unless I outright tell you: don't assume things."

Krayon chuckles through his nose, grins, then abruptly gestures downward.

I frown, follow his pointed path but see nothing abnormal, "What?" I ask crossly, looking back at him.

"Erutis dear, your bubble bath is dwindling. I can see your breasts."

The panicked squeak I make could rival mice.

..o.o.o.o.o..

I know that was a ploy just to see me drown myself. Fucking Lord Bastard. At least I have a soft bed tonight, even if I'm sure that the bastard is still lurking in my bedroom ...

The bedroom is fit for a queen. It rivals even the room Raenef had given me, and brings on a bit of nostalgia. Yeah, I miss the runt. I heard he finally took over his first village: I'm not sure how I feel about that. Well, certainly not worried, because I also heard that he announced to the people that they were to pay homage through offerings of strawberry cream cakes. Strawberries are rare, but the previous owner had taxed the people out of owning their businesses, so now the village is thriving ...

Tactical move? Knowing Raenef, probably not. Maybe on Eclipse's part, because he knows Raenef doesn't want to be seen as cruel, as silly as everyone else seems to think that. Man, I miss the kid.

Crawling into the much too large bed, I wiggle under the soft covers, listening to the crisp sound of cloth against cloth. The pillows are a little too fluffy for my neck, so I push them aside and use my arm for a pillow, letting the blankets swallow me. Realizing I have to turn off the light, I move closer to the nightstand nearby and switch it off. Darkness encompasses me, save for the faint beams from the only window in the room.

Hmm ... I can get used to this.

Oh yeah, "Go to hell, Krayon."

There's a moment of complete silence, then a faint chuckle that might have been from another room.

..o.o.o.o.o..

Ah ... that song ...

... this dream ...

... ah ...

..o.o.o.o.o..

HOLY SHIT.

I sit up like a spring has been implanted in my back. My body trembles and a thin sheet of sweat clings to me just enough that I know I'll have to bathe again. (Not that I wasn't planning to) I can't help the horrified look on my face as I whirl my head around, searching for any witnesses to my panick. Oh my ... I can't believed I dreamt that ... WITH HIM. What if he finds --

A familiar chuckle ripples nearby. "Sweet dreams, Erutis dear?"

My hair stands on end as my face turns bright red, almost matching the sunburn that I received yesterday. "Wha ... what are you talking about?" My voice sounds too high to be mine.

From the corner of my eye, I see his trademark smirk spread knowingly across his smug face. I just want to bludgeon him, I want to break every one of his fingers and, and ...

Forget it. I have better things to think about. I told myself I would do a job in this city, and I must get ready. With this in mind, I swing my legs over the bed and stalk over to my now clean travel bag to fish out my armor. "I don't know what you're so smug about," I say matter-of-factly, "A dream is a dream." I pull out the clothing, and turn my back to him, stripping from the nightgown. If Krayon wants to talk to me, there's no getting out of it with my state of undress ... I learned this several months ago.

Krayon quirks an eyebrow, "Some dreams mean more than others, I would know. It it is my realm after all." Amusement is dripping from his voice. I hear him flutter closer, for whatever reason, but he is still above me a comfortable distance. (As comfortable as it can get that is) "I'll hand it to you though, for a human, your nonchalance is rivaling a demon's. I know a few Lords who would have destroyed a village or two by now ... after having THAT sort of dream." He amost laughs at the thought, I can hear the smothered snickering.

Wait ... if the dream realm is his, then ... I tense, and slowly turn to see the wicked grin plastered to his pretty face. "Di, did you see ...?" The last word fades in my throat, and Krayon's grin, if possible, grows larger, his eyes glittering with a dangerous sort playfulness that promises me some sort of pain or humiliation. The way he looks down at me, and I know he looks down, says that oh yes, he saw all the important bits of last night's dream, and he will never let me forget it.

After clasping the strap to my chest plate, I grab my sword and make a beeline toward the door. "Fuck you Krayon." I mutter, immediately realizing my mistake; I can almost feel his mouth opening to say something smart. "And YOU. QUIET. And don't bother me today, I have a job to do!" I yell over my shoulder, slamming the door shut as if that would intimidate him.

Krayon's smirk fades in the slightest, though the amusement is still there as he stares at the shut door and crosses his arms. "Now if you intend to show me distain," He hums softly, "don't you know you know it all the more enraptures me, Erutis Love ...?"

..o.o.o.o.o..

No, no, he wouldn't leave me alone a day, would he? Granted, he is staying out of my path and allowing me to ask the locals questions, but Krayon still keeps his closeness to an almost maddening effect. All I have to do is look and he's there.

Asking questions hasn't been too difficult though, most people are willing to talk. It's mostly rumour of course but rumours are better than nothing, and most of them follow a pattern.

No one knows what the hell they're talking about.

This is frustrating with the added bonus of having Krayon's face hovering beside me all day, being barraged with an onslaught of sales pitches, children's screams, and one too many men hitting on me who thought I was a MAN.

I might add that Krayon found the last bit hilarious.

Haha. Let's see what happens when someone mistakes him for a prostitute ... poor fool that it would be, they would probably be burnt to a crisp.

Anyway, I'm eventually led to the destruction that seems to make people the most edgy: The Burning of the Town Hall.

This gets capitalized, because several folk referred to this as a major event and with a sort of horrified awe. A few hundred workers had died in the fire, a dramatic difference from the annoying misdemeanors that had been overrunning the city. Most had assumed the childish, playful crimes where by just that, children, but the Burning of the Town Hall changed many minds. Why did the authorities think it was the same person? Because each crime had been 'stamped' by a small blue fire, and the smell of sulfur.

Sulfur had filled Kontreo with its stench for weeks.

The remains of the Town Hall are expectantly depressing, covering the sun with floating ashes, and lumps of concrete and marble scattering the vicinity like a giant dead body. The buildings around the remains are almost unharmed, save for a few fixable burn marks, as though an explosion had been focused on the Town Hall alone. This was clean, this destruction had been done with purpose, and someone knew what they were doing.

I suspect it was one person, for as grungy Kontreo is, it's a business city, and there haven't been great reports of violence outside of petty robberies in years; this mostly elimates gang or guild evolvement.

"You seem quite serious today, Erutis Dear." A cheerful voice says nearby.

I jump a little in surprise, but not much, only because I was so lost in thought I had forgotten to keep an eye out for the insufferable bastard. "This is terrible." I say from attop my chosen peice of concrete. "Why would someone kill so many innocents?" I gaze upon the rubble with my chin resting in my hand and elbow on my knee, legs dangling freely over the chunk of leftover building. Krayon hovers to my left, crossing his arms and following my eyes over the ashes.

"Innocents? The government of this city is anything but innocent." He snorts dryly. His hair bounces off my cheek, and I bat it away. "They deserved every bit of punishment they received."

Some ash blows into my eye, so I rub it absently, "They were human, no one deserves to die."

Krayon's lips curl as he gives me a sideways glance, "Oh really?" and then I felt his hand on the back of my head, turning me to a different direction. He pointed to a particular pile of debris, "Do you see that hand there?"

My stomach churned as I yes indeed, a shadowed human hand was reaching out, barely visible unless one really looked.

"That hand touched a child."

I don't dare look at Krayon's face when he says that with such disgust. Suddenly I'm turned to a different direction, "The pile of rock to the far edge, yes, that one, under there lays a man who beat the women of his family almost every night. When they found out he was dead, they rejoiced."

Another direction, "A woman who had stolen from bank vaults for almost fifteen years, and never got caught because she paid off her bosses in 'services' of many different kinds."

Another direction, "A man and wife who controlled their son to the point that his mind was shutting down, and he only act on what directions they gave him. He would return from school, to their chores, then wait in his room for their next demand because if he left the house his father would beat him senseless."

Another direction, "That man, let his mother die without medicine, without help as an old woman, without a clean bed, even though she had done nothing but care and love him his entire life."

Another direction, "That woman stole household animals and cut them open."

My stomach moved again. "I GET IT." I snarled (something too close to a whimper), and jerked away from his hand. I scrambled off the building remains, suddenly breathing too hard, and needing to leave this place immediately.

"Humans are vile." Krayon sneers behind me, his voice growing smaller as I walk away. "Some do deserve to die."

For a moment I can think of nothing, my mind growing blank and muddled and the only thing I can consider is to get somewhere bright, and active and human. Then, I pause, and I ask, "How does killing them do justice for what they've done?"

Krayon falls silent for a moment, and I can sense him thinking though it doesn't take very long. "Because the abused don't need to suffer any longer, even if it's fucked with their minds in the long run."

Dammit. My lower lip tightens, and I shake my head for no reason, and get out of the damned place.

..o.o.o.o.o..

That night there are no dreams, and I lay quiet in bed, feeling selfish for feeling grateful for comfort.

..o.o.o.o.o..

The next morning I wake slowly to the sun in my face, no Krayon to be my alarm, no room service to insist that it was breakfast time. The emotions from yesterday still linger, but I feel better, like I've had a good cry but not really, because all I did was sleep on it. I feel relaxed, purged, and I'm content for the time to stare at the wall and not think about much.

And then my mind registers something important.

He had known how those people died. He had known their sins, and he had approved of their deaths.

He did it. He did it hedidit hedidit.

That bastard has been the reason of chaos for his own city, he did it.

He practically laid it on a platter for me to figure it out, oh Rased he did it.

My chest swells and my face flushes as rage suddenly brings itself to a peak and my body tenses in the sheets. My teeth grit, my legs fight the urge to kick senselessly but I can't stop my fist from slamming into the pillow next to my head.

"Krayon ..." I grit out, closing my eyes in the fury I've built up, "Krayon you did it ..." Of course he's not here to be smug about it. "Krayon you bastard, I know!" Flying out of the covers I began to dress myself, jerkily handling my cloths in a way that might have torn ordinary cotton.

"Krayon get out here, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME." I whirl around, expecting to see him floating overhead, but no, he's no where in sight.

He decided to make it hard on me, just like everything else. Fantastic.

"KRAYON I'M GOING TO GUT YOU LIKE A FISH WHEN I GET A HOLD OF YOU."

And then I'm going to make a lot of money, because not only would I be getting paid off, I'm going to sell Krayon as barbeque. I've heard demon meat is quite tasty.