Author notes: This chapter took specially long to be finished and not only because it's exceptionally long but because I was a little lazy and busy with other stuff and it also took way more than usual to my last beta-reader. (I'm looking for a new one right now, I accept suggestions).

Anonymous reviews:

Guest: I don't know if this nick is the one that gets by default by someone who didn't use any nick so I don't know if all the reviews I got from "Guest" are from the same person. The next time use a more personal nick. Anyway Thx for your reviews in this and my other fanfics. I was broken hearted too when I saw Alice and Decus' death but luckily that was hardly the end from this couple. Since then a lot of official stuff have been released with them including their very own Manga and Novel and they keep making cameos apparitions in Magazines and other games. So don't be sad for their tragic and sad death only made them even more popular and awesome. (I could speak in Spanish but I did it in English so no one felt left out if s/he read the answer.)

With that being said here you all have it. The Chapter 33.

EPISODE 4: Sundown

Chapter 33: Deceived

Aifread's boat

The whole group was on the deck of the ship attending their business, Emil, Marta and Richter were getting themselves caught up with recent events under Tenebrae's watchful eye; Lloyd, Genis, Colette, Zelos and Sheena were talking about their next steps. Off to the side, Raine was doing her best not to get sick; Presea sat cross legged on the deck making decorative prints on the blade of her axe with her crafting tools; and Alice was on the bow, a hand keeping her hat steady as she stared off toward the horizon while Decus held a parasol over her to protect her from the sun.

"Ahoy! We will be on Syback's dock in ten minutes! You better get ready!" Aifread shouted getting everyone's attention, aside from Presea and Alice, who were both too immersed in their own thoughts.

"So what's your plan once we pick up Seles?" Sheena asked curiously.

"Well, I just thought that it would be safer for her to stay with us until we fix this mess."

"That's not a plan. That's a justification," she shook her head in exasperation, "Did you even think this through? At all? Do you really think she'll be safer with us if we're going after that demon?"

"Well, it's better than leaving her in Meltokio with the Pope in charge and Dragonpocalypse fully abusing his unrestricted access to our world. I'd prefer to be close to her," he explained. "If anything happened to her and I wasn't there to keep her safe, I'd never forgive myself. I nearly lost her twice already, and I'm not making the same mistake again. I'm enough of a lousy older brother already."

Sheena scratched the back of her head and let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, we'll stick to your plan, but let me be clear, I'm only going along with this because I can't think of anything better myself…under the circumstances."

"Yeah, well who prepares for demonic invasion?" said Zelos, waiving her criticism.

"She's lucky to have such a caring brother," Colette added, clasping her hands together. "I wish I had a big brother like you to look out for me, Zelos."

Sheena snorted.

"We'll all do our best to keep her safe!" Colette cheered, oblivious to the ninja's derision, though everyone nodded in agreement nevertheless.

"Yeah about that…" Zelos muttered, glancing warily in Alice's direction and making sure that she wasn't paying attention. She seemed to be completely immersed in her own thoughts. At least, he really hoped she was, because she'd have a few choice words for him—among other things—if she overheard what he was about to say.

"I don't want Alice and Decus to be near my sister," he whispered, "So when we get to Meltokio I want them put away."

Lloyd and Genis nodded in agreement. He'd counted on that, but Sheena was already looking at him suspiciously, and his ditzy Sylvaranti counterpart definitely wasn't on board.

"What!?" she exclaimed, then clamped her hands over her mouth as she realized she had raised her voice too much. Fortunately, Alice's only reaction was to make a snide remark about the pitch of Colettie's voice, and Decus just ignored them entirely.

"We can't do that!" she whispered, her voice tight with urgency, "We promised her!"

"I didn't plan on keeping my promise to that scheming little fox in the first place. I wouldn't trust her with my dog, much less my sister."

"Oh! I didn't know you had a dog!" Colette exclaimed, her temperament changing entirely at the mention of cute furry animals.

"I don't…It's just an expression," he paused to collect his thoughts after the brief tangent. "Look, I said what she wanted to hear so she would fix Richter up. I had no intention of keeping my word to her. There's nothing wrong with lying to a monster like her."

He almost sounded offended by Colette's sympathy. "Besides, Lloyd is right, we can't just leave them alone. They're way too dangerous."

"B-But—! But they can change!" Colette argued.

She lowered her voice below a whisper. "How can we not offer her the opportunity to change her ways? Why was Mithos worth giving a second chance if we're not even willing to give someone else the same option?! She hasn't even committed half as many crimes as he did, and we still tried to save him!"

Lloyd looked startled for a moment as he heard this. Then he closed his eyes, lost in a rare moment of contemplation.

Zelos just sighed in exasperation. Colette always meant well, but someone had to save her from her good intentions.

"Look, Colette. I know you want to see the good in everyone, but some people just won't change. It's not about whether they can in this case. That's what Mithos taught us. Even if you have the opportunity to change, it doesn't mean you'll take it. And Alice doesn't want to reform."

"Not true! Anyone can find redemption if you support them," Colette insisted. "If we betray her now, we might lose our only chance to—"

Sheena put up her hand and Colette stopped short.

"Look Colette, for someone to change, they have to want to do it. And as much as it hurts, Alice likes herself the way she is. She hasn't shown us any reason to believe otherwise anyway. She would have let Richter die if we didn't agree to her terms."

It was pretty much a gentler rephrasing of Zelos's statement, but with luck, it would make her come around.

"We'll never know if we don't have any faith in her." Colette said.

Or not.

"And what if we do have faith, give her another chance. What if we give her the benefit of the doubt again, and she does something that costs the lives of even more innocent people?" Sheena asked. "Would you accept that?"

"You're just letting fear speak for you!" was what Colette would have said were she a more assertive person, but the only thing she could bring herself to say was a shy "No."

"I really hate to say it," said Lloyd, "but I think Colette is actually right though. We shouldn't be doing this, but…I don't actually see any other safe options. I mean, if it were just us, then I figure we could keep an eye on her, but I'm not putting anyone else at risk. The two of them have to be put away somewhere safe at the very least. Even so, if we do that, it's still more likely they'll be executed. I'm sorry Colette. I know we should try to help them or at least offer them a choice, but I don't see the options..."

"Lloyd…"

Colette wilted in disappointment, and Lloyd died a little inside.

If he was going to be honest with himself, he actually couldn't wait to give those two what they deserved. When he thought about this, he found that he didn't really like the part of himself that felt this way, but ever since the incidents they caused with Solum's core, he couldn't go anywhere without people looking at him suspiciously. Or worse, quickly looking away and pretending they weren't looking at him for fear of retribution. And even worse than that was when a particularly bold individual started shouting accusations at him. This usually resulted in more people joining in until there was an entire mob of people screaming at him about things he hadn't actually done. It just got to him.

"Just wondering though, how were you planning on getting her to Meltokio?" Lloyd asked. "I'm pretty sure that she won't be very interested in going to a place where everyone wants to hang her for…what was the word that the professor used? Rage-cide?"

"Regicide, Lloyd," Genis corrected chuckling mockingly.

"Just leave the details to me," Zelos announced, with a smirk.

He wasted no time in getting over to Alice and Decus and starting up a conversation with the half-elf girl. The group couldn't hear what they were talking about, leading everyone to try and figure out what was going on by watching their body language.

At first Alice greeted him with a smile, insincere as always, but soon enough, she was scowling at the redhead distrustfully. Decus began loudly protesting almost immediately. For a moment, he looked like he was about to open his iron maiden to retrieve his claymore, but was quickly shut up by Alice and shooed away. Decus appeared to protest this as well, but after a little chat, he left reluctantly, his face a portrait of dejection. Alice and Zelos continued their discussion from there, and they conducted themselves with considerable professionalism, such that none of their onlookers could tell what was going on. A few minutes later, they seemed to agree to something, nodding to one another other as they came to terms. Decus returned to Alice's side as soon as he saw Zelos return to group. He seemed rather unhappy about whatever she had let herself get roped into, but he couldn't say no to his darling Alice. So, with a heavy sigh of resignation, he nodded, and they went back into the cabins.

When the boat reached the coast, Alice came out again, dressed in a black coat, her head covered by a deep hood. Colette recognized it instantly; it was the same one Alice wore the night she and Decus took her to Triet to blackmail her.

"Okay. I'll be docking in this fishing port," Aifead announced as he dropped anchor and lowered the gangplank.

"This isn't Meltokio!" Genis complained.

He was right, though he was still just stating the obvious. They were in a small fishing port that had to be about an hour of travel from Meltokio. The stench of fish guts attracted the seagulls that feasted on the fishes that fell from the networks and barrels. The only building near the docks aside from the fish market and a few houses was a shady looking tavern with a woman on provocative clothes standing near the door, soliciting the attention of most of the passing men.

The primary clientele of this port were clearly sailors.

"Well… Unless you want to pay the extra taxes of Meltokio's port, I'm not going there," Aifread answered raising his voice.

"How much would it be?"

"Well…considering the time of year, and with winter coming up…Around ten thousand gald."

"Wow!" Genis exclaimed. He knew that Meltokio had some heavy taxes, but that one was ridiculous. "Okay, forget I said anything."

Aifread breathed a sigh of relief. The truth was that he just didn't want to go to Meltokio because the port authorities had him on their wanted list for smuggling contraband substances into the city. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to make a stop in one of his favorite hostels.

"He's lying," said Regal. "While ten thousand is in fact the tax for access to Meltokio's port, it's only the rate for cargo steamships. For a boat this small, it should only run you one thousand."

The pirate's heart skipped a beat and in his panic, he momentarily forgot how to breathe. However Regal wasn't done.

"That being said, if he's being evasive about going to Meltokio proper, forcing him to take us there will only waste more time, whether it's due to his complaints or the incidents he'll cause by being there."

Aifread finally let out the breath he was holding. He probably wasn't off the hook, but his immediate concerns were put to rest.

"So are we leaving already or what!?" Alice inquired impatiently. "This place smells worse than Dumbo-Decus."

"Speaking of, where is he anyway?" Zelos asked. He knew that the girl and the purple-haired man had a very dysfunctional relationship but they were almost inseparable. He actually expected her to keep him closer knowing where they were going. Not that it bothered him that he wasn't close, if he wasn't near everything would be much easier.

"He isn't coming. Why do you assume that we have to be together all the time?" she asked.

"Well…After what I heard happened in the Ginnungagap I thought that you-"

"What!?" Alice exclaimed her ears burning, hoping she could pass off the blush on her face as rage rather than humiliation. "What did you tell them Mart-Mart!?" she hissed venomously.

"I just told them what happened." Marta shrugged, trying to look as naive as possible. "Why? There's nothing to be ashamed of."

The brunette was enjoying every lasting moment of this altercation. She didn't often get the chance to really strike Alice's nerves, but she could tell just by the look on the half-elf's face that she had hit the right one this time.

"The truth is that I only did that to take you of guard," Alice explained, trying to calm down.

"Is that so?" Marta chuckled. Oh, she was enjoying this moment. "You seemed really convincing."

"I would say that I was dead convinced," Tenebrae added in his usual poor taste, "I'm quite surprised at your confidence. That you anticipated getting up after all the damage Lord Emil and Lady Marta dealt to you and your pet dog is truly remarkable."

"Pet dog, huh?" Alice snarked, "Well it definitely takes one to know one."

"Pardon me. I am not a dog. I—"

"— am a Centurion," Emil sighed, "We know already. Please never say that again, I'm so tired of hearing it. And that was in really poor taste, just saying."

"I could swear that you thought it was your last moment on earth and that all you wanted for it was to—"

If Marta had been alone Alice would have lashed Marta with her crop until she wasn't able to swing her arm anymore, but she knew that she couldn't touch the annoying brunette while she was with the rest of her companions. It was just like when they were in the Vanguard. Marta only defied her when she knew that there were other people that she could put between herself and her enemy. And so Alice had only one option.

"Shut up! She spat. If anyone wants me, I'll be waiting outside. I can't stand this sight anymore."

'Coward little princess…' she thought.

"I know…This place is really gross," Colette noted, growing more and more unnerved by the sight of an old woman that was chopping heads off a catch of fish, dropping them into a separate bucket from the bodies, and throwing the entrails into the sea where the seagulls fought for the fish guts. A typical day at the fish market.

"I wasn't talking about the port," Alice said bitterly, looking Marta out of the corner of her eye. She was still smiling triumphantly, unmoved by her comment.

"Wait until you're alone…" she muttered, "I'll be the one who laughs last."

"Well… We'd better get moving," Emil said packing up his effects.

"Aren't you coming with us Richter?" he asked when he noticed that the redhead had settled down onto a stoop by the side of the dock.

"There's no point in having all of us go there. Do you really need an eleventh person to escort one little girl?" Richter answered. "Besides, someone has to stay here to make sure that nothing happens to our…ethically challenged…friend."

"Hey, I resent that!" said Aifread. He had two very provocatively dressed girls on each arm.

"My apologies. I meant to say our ethically challenged mode of transit."

"You know what, I don't care what you idiots have to say. I don't answer to you," he turned around, his giggling escorts following closely.

Richter didn't move to follow. He just sighed as he saw the alcoholic sailor head over to an appropriately disreputable looking hostel.

"Heh, he certainly doesn't waste any time," Alice said pointedly.

"Yeeeaaah…I see your point."

"Are you coming, Tenebrae?" Emil asked.

"Actually, I would like to stay here as well. There are some things that I need to address in private with our mutual friend."

"I'm not your friend," the former researcher deadpanned.

He didn't bother looking up at the Centurion as he opened a book, removed the bookmark, and started reading.

"Indeed you are not. Nor do I enjoy your company either."

"Uhh…Are you sure, Tenebrae?"

"Oh my, yes. I'll be perfectly fine," the Centurion answered, guiding him out of the boat somewhat forcefully and giving him a few reassuring pats on the shoulder with his hand-shaped tail. At least they had been intended to be reassuring, but Emil only picked up sarcasm.

Despite his misgivings he was already falling behind, Marta having stopped a short distance away to call for him to hurry up.

"O…kay, I guess," he said, hurrying to catch up with the rest of the group.

Richter spared a brief glance as the mirror of his best friend departed. Soon enough, he had caught up with Marta and the both of them made to join their other nine companions.

He looked at the dark lupine form watching him from where it hung in the air, his eyes narrowing warily.

"Before we begin, can we first take the precaution of guarding any wallets or other caches of gald left behind on the boat?" Richter asked Tenebrae dismissively. "I'd expect that if our captain hasn't had to work for it, he's sure to try and spend it."

"Isn't Richter coming?" Marta asked Emil as soon as he reached them.

"No… He's staying in the boat along with Tenebrae," he answered, his tone betraying his worry.

Richter hadn't seemed very happy since he came back. Or at least, he'd been more distant than was already typical of him. It was hard to tell, considering that the man had been a stoic for as long as Emil had known him. This trait might have gone back to the incident that cost Aster his life, or maybe beyond that. He had no way of knowing.

The problem was that he was acting even more distant than usual. He began to wonder if it might have had something to do with Aqua. He knew that Richter didn't have a crush on her, as she had on him, but they had spent a great deal of time together over the past few years. Now that Emil thought about it, Richter's lack of interest in anything was probably a normal response to her loss. It would have more strange if Aqua's loss hadn't affected him in some way. His usual bluntness would have been out of place. Maybe it was better to leave him alone for now. He only hoped that Tenebrae didn't become a nuisance.

"Yes!" Marta celebrated thinking aloud. The girl blushed as soon as she noticed that someone had heard her celebrating aloud. "Damn it!"

Someone she particularly would rather not have heard.

Alice didn't waste a second to throw some tinder into the fire as soon as she saw a chance to humiliate the prissy little brunette.

"Well, well, well… It looks like someone is jealous of a certain redhead."

Marta blushed.

"W-w-what?! No I am not."

"No reason to be ashamed Mart-Mart. Between you and me, I actually think you have a good reason to be worried," she licked her lips, practically able to taste Marta's insecurities. They were delicious. Like caramel coated pineapple gels without any of the calories.

"Don't play dumb Mart-Mart, it shows your immaturity. You can't tell me you haven't noticed. Richter does seem like that kind of man, and your pet here is such a submissive little patsy that he'd just go along with it, if you know what I mean," she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, reveling in the brat's discomfort. "It doesn't help that he practically worships the ground Richter treads upon either."

"That—that's not—! None of that's true at all!" squealed Marta.

"Oooh…But you know it is. After all, denial is the first step toward acceptance."

A weird, unusually drawn out squeal was audible, as though Marta were trying to imitate a kettle. Then, to Alice's bewilderment, Emil interfered.

"I know that you don't get along with her, but I'm not going to be a bystander while you make fun of Marta! If you're going to come with us, and you are, you're going to do it quietly. You're not in charge here!"

His response alone took the blonde half-elf completely off guard. Since when did Mart-Mart's pet have so much confidence in himself? It didn't really matter to her, of course. If he thought he could give her orders without so much as a show of force to back himself up, he must have completely forgotten who he was trifling with.

"Oooh…When did you grow a spine?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear, "So scary! It looks like the puppy is finally showing his teeth. But tell me, aren't those teeth just for show? Nobody taught you how to bite did they? poor little doggy."

Emil had nothing to say to that. He certainly had threatened her to get her to keep her mouth shut, but he never had the intention of fighting her. He thought that Alice would be too intimidated, being surrounded by her enemies as she was, to actually challenge him. How wrong he had been. Despite being in such a disadvantageous position, she remained perfectly defiant.

She sneered ever so knowingly. "Mhm, that's what I thought."

She had barely finished speaking when she felt a prick on the back of the neck, like a bug bite. She tried to reach up to smack it away, but none of her muscles responded to her, an uncomfortable numbness spreading down her body from the base of her neck.

"Wait a…moment…" she managed to rasp out with her suddenly very distant vocal chords. "This…wasn't…what we…ag—"

Before she could finish, her knees buckled, and she fell over onto the grass, completely immobilized right down to her tongue.

"Take her!" Sheena shouted.

Zelos made as if to catch her, but by the time he had reacted, she was already flat on the ground.

"Well that was fast," Zelos protested. "Why didn't you give me heads up before you went and did that? And, err…why did you do it this way?"

"I saw an opening and took it. If I have to listen to the filth pouring out of her mouth all the way to Meltokio, I'll go completely insane. It's not like we need her in perfect condition anyway. Just alive."

"Yeah…I guess you're right," he said scratching the back of his head. But who's going to carry her?"

The two of them stood silently for a moment as the others watched the scene unfold.

"One-two-three-not-it!" she said abruptly.

"What the—! You can't just—"

"I just did. It was your plan anyway. You carry her," Sheena answered simply.

"Well… My plan didn't include jabbing her with a sleepy needle, or whatever you got her with," he grumbled.

"Kunai coated with a non-lethal toxin. Causes complete exhaustion. Get it right."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said, trying to find a way to pick her up without touching her breasts. Not that there was much to touch there.

— Hmm…note to self, use that on her at some point, he thought. She was a horrible person, but she was still a person. She had to have some insecurities. And the frostbite or electrocution that would follow would probably be worth the look on her face.

"C'mon…don't be such a drama queen," Sheena sighed. "We all know you still have your Cruxis Crystal. If Colette was able to carry Regal in one arm, you can carry someone way less heavy."

Zelos sighed as he effortlessly slung the girl's limp body his shoulder. No fun at all.

"Wait a moment, what's going on?" Emil asked confused.

"We're taking her to get her just desserts," Regal explained shortly.

"I thought we had a deal with her. This isn't right!"

"It might not be the right thing, but it's what has to be done," Zelos answered in an unusually serious tone as he continued on his way to Meltokio.

Marta couldn't stand Alice and she couldn't wait to get rid of her. However she was with Emil on this matter. Something about the whole thing just didn't feel right.

Colette stood back rubbing her forearm uncomfortably and looked back at the boat where they had left Decus, who would be waiting for Alice to come back. It seemed as though if Zelos got his way, he would be waiting for her for a long time. Were they really doing this?

Back inside the boat, Richter and Tenebrae where sharing a moment of uncomfortable silence. Tenebrae felt so anyway. Considering his status, it was a rather foreign sensation for him to be disgruntled by being subject to the silent treatment. Richter on the other hand, didn't seem to mind at all, continuing to study the book he'd brought with him.

"Richter, I understand if losing Aqua has upset you," Tenebrae said after a fair bit of time considering how to begin.

The man sighed, snapping his book shut.

"Spare me, Centurion. It wasn't like it was a secret that there was never any love lost between you and my former partner."

"That might be true but she still was a Centurion. It's not that I disliked her but her choices. Choices that she made because of you. If I have anyone to blame it's you, not her."

"That's… heartwarming I guess. However we both know that Aqua is not the reason why you stood here. So let's go to the main point."

"Very well, I don't mind leaving it there. It is not currently our priority after all."

Richter nodded, determining where the roundabout conversation was meant to go.

"You're looking for me to regenerate Ratatosk's Core."

"Well, if you're offering I'm certainly not one to refuse," Tenebrae said smarmily, his ears sticking up in mock surprise.

"I'm afraid that's not an option."

Tenebrae went rigid in the air.

"Explain."

"I mean that I'm not capable of restoring Ratatosk's Core," Richter stated, almost sounding bored, like it was an obvious question.

Tenebrae's eyes narrowed. The room seemed to grow a little bit darker as the Centurion forced himself to reign in his frustration.

"You mean to tell me that you, the being who most recently formed a pact with Ratatosk are unable to regenerate his Core? Perhaps I merely state the obvious, but the stated conditions make you the only person capable of restoring the Core."

"You misunderstand. In order to regenerate Ratatosk's core, I would need to go to the Origin Seal. This particular seal is in the Torent Forest, and the only way to enter that forest is through Heimdall. And I'm forbidden from so much approaching the gates. See, I've committed the crime of being born a half-elf. No half-elf is allowed inside Heimdall."

The Centurion's lupine mouth twisted into a smirk.

"It seems you've forgotten exactly to whom you're speaking. I am the Centurion of Darkness. With my assistance, you'd not only be able to enter the village, but you could do it wearing tie-dyed clothing," all traces of humor left his voice with startling abruptness. So you have no other excuses. "You'll salvage the Core if I have to drag you to the Origin Seal myself."

Having already done so once already, it was no surprise that Richter wasn't particularly thrilled to be saving the life of his best friend's murderer again.

"And if I resist?"

"Then you already know of my capacity in the way of summoning monsters. I could have an entire flock of hippogryphs on you at a moment's notice. Don't be so naïve as to believe I have such limited powers that I can't bring in enough monsters to overpower even one as dangerous as yourself."

"If I' not mistaken the last time you tried something like that you summoned a being that you couldn't control yourself."

"Oh… Yeah, that incident..." Tenebrae sighed "I guess we were really lucky that it focused on our enemies and ignored us completely. For not being under my control things worked out pretty well for us."

"Don't try to make it sound as if it was all part of the plan. It's too obvious that you are bluffing."

"Of course I am… Of course I am." He repeated with a confident smile.

Richter ground his teeth.

This was going to be a long day.

Meltokio

The group entered in the kingdom city without any problems, strangely enough, considering that they were carrying the seemingly unconscious body of a teenaged girl. One would have expected that they would have gotten some sort of reaction, from the guardsmen at the very least. However that wasn't the case, probably because Zelos was still their Chosen and they were still recognized as the saviors of the world. Even so, they found themselves feeling a little uncomfortable with the thought that they could do something that looked so shifty and get away with it without any overt suspicion being placed upon them.

It was quieter than they were used to in the capital. Fewer people were on the streets going about their business and they couldn't see any of the lower classes anywhere. This probably had something to do with the fact that there were also more royal guards patrolling the streets than they remembered. In addition to these patrols, there were now four knights stationed at the district gates instead of only two.

Eventually, a pair of knights did detain them at the gates to one of the other districts, but as soon as Zelos showed them the face of the unconscious person he was carrying over his shoulder, they let them pass through without any further delay.

"About time one of those half-elves got what was coming to them," said one of the guards as he let them by. It was an offhand comment, as though he were chatting about the weather.

"I'm sorry? What did you say?" Genis challenged, sounding cockier than he would have liked.

The guard seemed to be at a loss about how he was supposed to respond to this, staring at the two siblings uncertainly. Unwilling to explain what he felt was obvious, Genis waited impatiently for the knight to notice his pointed ears and realize his mistake.

After a startled exclamation on guard's part, things got worse.

"Well… You know… You and this woman are two of the few exceptions, but you know how most half-elves are. That's why we keep them away from the rest of the citizens."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. We aren't the exception. She is!" Genis shouted, jabbing a finger towards Alice's limp form. "You can't blame a whole race for the actions of a few individuals! What Alice has done has nothing to do with her being a half-elf!" Genis shouted, considering something before he continued. And when he did, he surprised himself by saying something he never thought he would say. "Well…You know what? It actually might have something to do with her being a half-elf because thanks to people like you! People like her are forced to live a life of misery and oppression until they can't feel anything but hatred for the people who surround them! It's because of people like you that people like her exist!" he bit back the urge to say more. So, who are the ones more at fault here? he thought.

Though the rest of the group agreed with most of what Genis was saying, they were also beginning to pity the guard, who was actually cringing under Genis verbal onslaught.

"I—I—I'm sorry," the man stammered, "Honestly, I didn't mean anything by it, I swear."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but what did you mean when you said that you keep the half-elves away from the rest of the people living here?" Raine asked.

The guard slowly straightened up, though his shoulders remained hunched.

"The princess has ordered that all the city's half-elves must be kept away from humans for safety purposes considering the tragic fate of our king," he explained, still sounding rather nervous. "By her decree, all half-elves in Meltokio are forbidden to enter the first class districts unless they have a permit or a servitude contract. A curfew has also been instated and any half-elf who hasn't returned to the half-elven quarter in the city's lower levels by the designated time will face charges. This also applies to any citizen of poor breeding."

"Meaning we're lucky to have gotten into the knights early," chuckled the knight's partner ruefully.

"That sounds like the establishment of ghettos to me," Raine pointed out harshly.

"And you're saying that Princess Hilda did that?" Zelos asked surprised.

Zelos couldn't agree more with the professor, but he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Meltokio had always been an elitist city divided into districts based on social class: poor, middle class, upper class and nobility. The closer your district was to the palace, the better your social standing. He had always hoped that when Hilda became queen, she would begin to fix some of the problems caused by her father's shortcomings. However, the city seemed to be getting a lot worse. It was now abundantly clear to him that the guards stationed at the gates and the soldiers patrolling the streets were primarily there to prevent half-elves from moving about the city freely, though this seemed to extend to the lower classes as well. The extra guards at the district gates would easily ensure that no undesirables left their designated slum. And if that wasn't enough, someone had gotten the brilliant idea to create a ghetto for half-elves.

"Yes. Well…Hilda didn't actually announce it herself. She is the princess, after all," the guard answered nervously. "But it was a royal decree so…"

"Okay, I'd say we've heard enough to get a clear picture. Keep on doing your job soldier," Zelos said, waving the man off impatiently.

I'll need to see the princess to know what's going on, he thought as he left.

Something didn't smell right, and he was determined to figure out what it was. He still couldn't believe that Hilda would enact such…intolerant policies.

Of course, there was one other person in a perfect position to change the kingdom for the worst. Someone else who was far more likely to be responsible for the new, and blatantly racist, not to mention classist, measures.

The group left followed Zelos in the direction of the palace. Every one of them was disgusted by Meltokio's situation.

They were approaching the front gates when Marta and Emil recognized a face amongst the patrols.

"Eep! Not good!" Emil exclaimed, hiding behind Zelos, making something of a comical sight.

"Huh? What's up kid?"

"Her," Marta answered simply, pointing at a group of knights. Alexia appeared to be lecturing a few of her soldiers about some new policy or another, but the moment she looked in their direction, they were in for serious trouble.

"Well…hmm," Emil stuttered. "When we went after Alice, we managed to capture Decus, who she had abandoned, as you probably remember. Once we started on our way to Thoda dock, we ran into Alexia and a division of her men. She commanded us to give her Decus so that she could execute him. Long story short we disagreed with her methods, she took our differing opinions as a personal attack, and launched a full scale assault on us. If that wasn't bad enough, Tenebrae decided to summon a gigantic snake that he couldn't control, so it went on a rampage. I don't think she'll be very happy to see us," he explained. "And now that I'm thinking about it, I also remember her raving about Marta and I being traitors to Meltokio and all of Tethe'alla. Probably for disobeying her rather than because we delayed a murderer's sentencing."

"Yeah, sounds about her style," Zelos groaned, "She probably felt that since she works for the Pope, her word is law and disobeying it is like disobeying the goddess. And zealots like her tend not to have the best track record when it comes to temper control."

"Sorry about this, we probably should have mentioned this sooner."

Zelos facepalmed and sighed. This was just— Hold on… He could make this work for him. This could actually turn out to be really convenient.

"Well… It wouldn't be the first time we've been treated as traitors here."

Emil arched his eyebrows. The Chosen of Tethe'alla had been branded a traitor? Interesting. He'd definitely have to get the whole story later.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Zelos decided. "We won't need a lot of people for what we need to do at the palace, so Sheena and I bring Alice in on our own. The rest of you are okay with picking up Seles, right?" a collective nod. "Alright then, perfect. Once we're done, we meet back up outside the city. Questions? Comments? No? Good."

"I think I've gotten enough strange looks for one day," Raine said.

"Me too," Genis agreed.

"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Lloyd asked.

"There'd be nothing for you to do, bud. I don't want to waste your skills watching me talk to a bunch of bureaucrats. We're just taking Alice in and leaving."

"Can't we talk about this first?" Colette asked.

Sheena noticed Colette, whose anxiety was pouring off her in waves. The poor empathetic girl couldn't handle much more of this.

"Look Colette, Alice—" she began softly.

But Zelos interrupted.

"— is a criminal and needs to face charges! End of discussion. We've already talked about this anyway."

Colette wanted to reply. However not a single word came from her mouth. She just stood there, looking at the floor, thinking.

"Right…" she nodded.

Zelos began to feel bad when he noticed how sad she looked. Maybe he had been too severe?

"Look Colette, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh with you."

"It's… It's okay. I guess I'll wait for all of you outside. I… I don't think I'm feeling very well right now."

Sheena shot a bitter look at Zelos. He couldn't see it though as he dropped his head into an open hand. This was getting way too frustrating.

"You know, you can be a monumental jerk Zelos," Genis complained. "You should know by now that you shouldn't be so cynical around Colette. It's not okay."

"I think I'll go catch up with her," Lloyd said, not complaining about Zelos behavior, and quickly running after her. He loved Colette with all his heart, but he knew better than anyone else how dramatic she could be when it came to certain sensitive topics. However something had to be done with Alice. If they set her free, only the goddess knew what she might do. After all, her indifference toward the lives of others had already put the world in danger twice.

Upon arriving at the Wilder mansion, the group was politely welcomed by Sebastian, who ushered them inside and put on a cup of tea.

"I confess that I didn't expect Master Zelos and his friends to arrive so soon. I apologize for not having anything prepared for your visit."

"Zelos hasn't come. He is attending some important matters at the palace right now," Presea announced quietly.

The butler twirled his mustache thoughtfully.

"Of course! Is there anything I can do for you in the interim?"

"Yes. We are looking for Seles. He wanted us to bring her along with us."

"What an unusual request… I wouldn't normally agree on this. However, since you are his friends and have done your utmost to assist the Wilder family on several occasions, I see no reason to object as long as Seles herself agrees on this matter. Please follow me."

The butler guided them upstairs to Seles room.

"In fact, this may come as a relief to the lady of the house, considering recent events."

"What do you mean?" Raine asked.

"Well, as you have likely noticed, the city has not taken the death of the king particularly well. A great deal of grossly racist measures against half-elves have been taken. The only reason why Seles hasn't been taken is because of her status as Zelos half-sister. Nevertheless, the neighborhood hasn't been especially kind to her."

The group nodded in understanding.

"All the progress you made in the past few years," Sebastian sighed, "To have all of it dashed in a matter of weeks, at least here in Meltokio. It is a dreadful shame. It pains me that I haven't—"

Suddenly they all heard a scream from down the hall and the butler sprinted ahead in a panic and threw open a door.

"Mistress Seles!"

The group arrived just in time to see a man draped in a white coat carrying Seles over his shoulder as he jumped out the window.

"Mistress Seles!" Sebastian shouted once again.

The group tried to pile into the room all at once, and ended up getting themselves stuck in the doorframe. Time constraints being what they were, Presea felt it necessary to shove them through the door to unclog them. Without hesitating she vaulted through the open window, landing in a roll and following at the kidnapper's heels only for a solid boot to connect with her chest. Not expecting the blow at all, or the surprising strength behind it, she tumbled backward, landing on her back.

Raine and Marta reached the window just in time to see Presea trying to force herself to her feet as the kidnapper turn the corner of the mansion.

"Damn it! I can't believe this," Raine cursed, slamming a fist against the windowsill. "Why do these things always happen to us? What was the probability of this even happening!?"

Marta was about to jump as well, but she thought twice when she saw how high up they were. Judging from Raine's expression, it was clear she had the same thought.

Raine took a deep breath and looked at Regal.

"Can you make the jump?" Raine asked him. He nodded. "Then follow Presea. We'll meet you back on the ground."

"Sis?" Genis asked.

"Is there a problem?" the woman inquired to the president, ignoring her brother.

"Sis, you aren't really—?" Genis stammered.

"N-no." Regal stuttered looking away ashamed, "I'm merely surprised, that's all."

Raine gave him a suspicious gaze but before she could say anything else the man jumped through the window.

"Sis!?" The half-elf shouted aghast.

The woman embraced herself closing her eyes until she felt him reaching the ground. As though as the half-elf woman could seem she was really scared from highs and the sea.

Genis ran towards the window freaked out. The boy sighed in relief when he saw her sister completely safe and running along with Presea after the kidnapper. However there was no way he was making that jump. So he ran towards the stair to the main door, he was just going to do this the long but safe way.

That left only in the room Marta and Emil.

The brunette took Emil's hand and smiled at him.

"Don't worry. Together there is nothing we can't do."

"I don't know… Maybe we should take the stairs like Genis…" Emil answered doubtfully.

"That would take too much time. We can do it, trust me."

Emil nodded at her nervously and thought in the words that so many times had helped him to do everything he thought that were impossible. Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality.

And with a heart filled of new hope the blonde boy nodded.

"OK. Let's do this."

Marta smiled at him and nodded back.

The couple ran towards the window hand by hand ready to jump but when they were about to jump Emil backed off leaving Marta with the most incredulous face as she lost the grip of his hand when she jump. He didn't even have the time to tell her to stop.

The time seemed to stop for a moment as Emil looked at her with an apologetic face as she fell alone to her merciless fate.

"Ow!" The hit seemed to hurt even Emil who looked away as soon as the girl hit the ground. "Are you okay Marta?"

"Gaaaaah! You idiot! I twisted my knee! What were you thinking!?" Marta screamed angrily at him and began to curse.

Emil didn't remember the last time he saw Marta so angry at him.

"I'm sorry. I was about to tell you not to jump but you didn't even wait."

"What the hell are you talking about! We agreed on jumping together."

"Yeah, well…I'm sorry. Don't move OK. I'm going with you now."

"Move? What the crap are you talking about! I twisted my damn ankle! How am I supposed to move?"

"OK…OK…I told you I'm sorry."

Emil ran to help Marta. Not only because he was worried but because he was scared as hell from her.

He found her holding herself against the wall trying to stand up.

"Aren't you happy that I didn't jump with you? Can you imagine how bad things could be if we both had twisted our ankles?" Emil said with a nervous smile trying to humor her.

"I was distracted by you! I wouldn't have twisted my ankle in the first place if you had jump with me!"

"Okay…Okay…I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's been my fault."

"Just come here and help me!"

Marta's rant was cut as soon as Emil took her and hold her over his chest with both arms. He looked so manly.

Emil and Marta followed Raine and Genis as they barreled down the stairs. Emil was almost at the landing when Marta accidentally stepped on his heel and they both tumbled down the last three stairs, landing in a heap.

Outside, Regal had helped Presea to her feet and continued their pursuit of the kidnapper. Raine and Genis threw the doors to the mansion open just in time for a white blur to force its way past them. He shot a volley of fireballs at the man, who dodged all three. He threw his kendama to the cobblestones with a growl of frustration. At least Regal and Presea were still tailing the creep.

Zelos was going to kill him.

Presea was following at a very impressive pace considering her short stature. Regal had taken to the rooftops to try and keep a bird's eye view on their target and called out instructions to Presea whenever she lost sight of him. He led them on a chase around the rich neighborhood before jumping off a wall into a lower district. She followed him to the edge of the wall and prepared to leap over it as well…

And there was nothing between her and the city street below.

Not a roof, or a waterspout, or a gutter, not so much as a clothesline. The man had just jumped! She could see him getting further and further away. She looked around frantically. The nearest object that she might have been able to parkour was a drainpipe off in the wrong direction. So that was it. She'd lost him. Presea heaved her axe off her back and slammed it into the cobblestone with a violent crunch, seething.

"Can you keep running?" asked Regal, dropping down from the roof of a nearby villa.

"Yes, but…"

"He was still making an effort to get us off his trail. He hasn't noticed we're not following him anymore. We can still catch up if we know his destination, and going by the general direction he's led us, I can safely assume he means to hide in the slums. We simply have to get there first."

Presea nodded, taking a deep breath and returning her axe into its sling on her back.

"Okay. I'll continue my pursuit."

She took off again, hurrying to the city's central staircase, and running down the wide stone bannister while Regal leaped down steps four at a time.

Taking the shortest route they arrived at the gates to the slums just as the kidnapper did. Seles seemed to have lost consciousness, likely from the long drop between the upper and lower levels of the city. Noticing the two of them on his heels, the white-coated kidnapper rushed into the slums.

They followed him as he jumped up onto a low makeshift dwelling. He ducked under a sheet hanging on a clothesline and threw it at them, making some headway while they untangled themselves from it. He leaped between buildings, ran over narrow planks, shimmied down narrow gaps between dwellings.

"Move!" Presea shouted, nearly bowling over a man twice her size as she chased the runner to the opposite side of the street.

He climbed up the side of a building and nearly managed to slip down a trap door, but it slammed shut just as he tried to open it. Someone must not have wanted any unexpected guests. He continued his escape. Running over a plank to the next building over, Presea grabbed a post and used her momentum to swing her body around it and hurl herself onto a building ahead of her quarry. She held her ground. She knew what she was up against this time and didn't drop her guard for a second.

— Splash—

Presea went stiff, her arms hanging straight down at her sides as a bucket's worth of old water smelling of even older laundry crashed down over her, plastering her bangs over her eyes. Pushing her hair away, she looked around wildly, not able to find any sign of the kidnapper in front of her. She turned around. No one there either. She looked up to see a large, middle aged, motherly-looking woman leaning out her window with an empty bucket.

"I'm sorry hon', I didn't see you were down there. Anythin' I can do to help?"

"Regal, can you see him?!" She hollered, ignoring the woman for now, her voice raw with panic.

"No. I saw him push by you as you got soaked, but I couldn't see where he went," he said, catching up.

He had been behind them, not above them?

She shrieked furiously, punching the tiles underneath her with a gloved fist, shattering them with a heavy crack. Her breathing was coming out in short ragged bursts.

"So…we've really…lost them this time?" she groaned.

"I'm afraid so."

She brushed another soaking lock of hair out of her face, eyes dimming in defeat.

"Let's just go," she muttered.

The Wilder Mansion

"E-Emil? Emil, I'm so sorry, are you alright?!" Marta cried hysterically, getting to her feet and then collapsing as one of her legs disagreed with the weight being put on it. "Yowch!"

"Marta, what just—? Oh, right, I tripped."

"I think I twisted my ankle!" winced Marta.

Emil stood up slowly and tested out his extremities to make sure everything was in working order. His chin and elbows hurt, but he was able to stay on his feet.

"A little help?" Marta grabbed onto his belt, climbing halfway up to his shoulders and then nearly fell, but for Emil managing to catch her at the last second.

"There…There's no way I can hold onto you like this. You're far too heavy at this angle," Emil gasped, helping her to her feet and draping her arm over his shoulder to keep her supported. "Yeah, this'll work a lot better."

"Did you…?" Marta's hands began to tremble, and she clenched her fists. "Did you…?" Had she heard him correctly?! "DID YOU JUST CALL ME FAT?!"

Emil lowered her back onto the floor, careful not to set her down on her bad leg, and stepped away to a safe distance.

"First things first, no I did not call you fat. That makes no sense, because you weigh almost nothing, but I'd like to see anyone carry another person at that angle for any length of time. It's just not possible. Second, Marta, I'm trying to help you here, but I can't as long as you keep hearing only what you least want to hear. I don't know why you've been so high strung lately, but you're really scaring me. And not just because you're really scary when you're angry."

"What?! What the crap are you talking about?! I'm sitting here with freaking twisted ankle and you're calling me scary?! When I get over to you I'm going to kill you!" she babbled.

"I just have no idea what I'm supposed to do…" he sighed.

Meanwhile, Genis who had noticed Marta's sudden temper tantrum had been watching the whole incident from the door. Without saying a word, he quietly took a few steps away from the door and then ran off to help his sister and the others find Seles. He'd hoped to be able to help, but there wasn't enough gald in the world for him to get between those two at that moment.

Zelos looked at Sheena. "Are you ready?" he said. The ninja nodded. "Let's go then."

The pair entered the palace without a problem. It seemed to have undergone some renovations since he'd last been inside. The thrones had been removed from the audience hall and been replaced with a statue of Martel. It was solid gold. Zelos didn't need to check. He was actually surprised that the Pope had enough restraint to place a statue of the Goddess in the entry hall instead of an idol in his own likeness. They were met by a pair of knights who escorted them to the throne room, and upon their arrival, they were greeted by the sight of the Pope sitting on the king's throne, furiously lecturing Alexia. Most of the lecture was actually just him finding different ways of saying 'it's all your fault,' for failing her previous mission. He was accompanied by four other men, all of whom Zelos recognized as being from obscenely wealthy families who had often expressed pro-human values, sitting both at his right and his left. It was only when he finally noticed what Zelos was carrying on his shoulder that the he ceased his ranting and commanded the ashamed woman to step aside.

"Is that who we think it is?" the fat man asked.

Using the royal 'we' already? Zelos thought. A little early for that isn't it?

"That depends on who you thinking of. If you think this is Alice then you'd be right." Zelos answered lackadaisically as he lay her body on the ground.

"Good…Good…" the man said smiling. "You should learn from them Alexia!"

The woman grunted, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger in nervous irritation. If it hadn't been for those two twerps and their demonic hound she would have accomplished her task.

"And where is her companion? Did you do away with him too?"

"Yep!" Zelos affirmed.

"No," Sheena denied simultaneously.

The Pope eyed them suspiciously.

"I mean… We wounded him fatally but he managed to escape," Sheena corrected nervously. "By now, he'll be long dead from bleeding out. If infection didn't kill him first."

The Pope smiled, not looking so much grateful as he did pleased with himself, as though he had personally done the deed.

"He died as he lived then; like a mongrel. A fitting ending for someone such as him."

It looked like he actually believed it. Which was only appropriate considering that he did.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Your Eminence. If you don't mind, could you let me know how Hilda's been doing?" Zelos asked.

The Pope sighed in a show of crocodile sympathy, shaking his head.

"We're afraid that her father's death has affected her a great deal more than we anticipated. In her depression, she has fallen ill, and she now refuses to even leave her chambers."

"Though we are quite dismayed at this turn of events, we are performing her duties with the help of the council," he said, gesturing to the men sitting on either side of the throne.

Right. I'm sure she has, and I'm sure you are, the ex-chosen thought, not letting his lazy smile drop for even a second.

"We see no wounds on the vile creature's body," the Pope continued. "Tell us…How did you kill her?"

Zelos resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It didn't suit a man of his station to be asking so eagerly about the morbid details.

"Well, the truth is, she isn't actually dead. We brought her in unconscious."

"What! We believe we gave you explicit orders to execute her on sight!" the man roared.

"We didn't think that it was such a big deal. We thought you would like to execute her publicly for her crimes. Isn't that what his Eminence wanted?" Zelos asked, the malice in his tone unrecognizable to most of the present company.

"Quite right, quite right indeed…" the Pope took a handkerchief and dabbed away the sweat beading on his forehead. "Tell us, has she tried to speak to you or any of your companions?"

"Speak to us?" Zelos asked.

Noticing that the former chosen didn't seem to know what he was talking about decided to drop the matter. No sense in drawing suspicion by asking too many questions.

"Nothing to be concerned about. We were merely curious," he said, mopping his brow again. "Guards! Take her to the dungeons and prepare her for execution."

One of the knights nodded and headed to Alice's body.

"Oh, wait! Hold on!" Zelos shouted, stopping the man in his tracks. "Now that you mention it, I do remember her telling me something," he said, tapping his chin with his index finger as if trying to remember an elusive memory. "What was it again…? Oh, right, you'll never believe the tripe she tried to feed me," he chuckled, "She actually told me some garbage about Your Eminence having set her free himself. And better yet, she even said that you did so in exchange for murdering the king! Totally outrageous, huh?"

The Pope gulped, looking strangely agitated. "Well, we're glad to hear you didn't believe the witch's lies."

"Of course not, don't be silly Your Eminence," Zelos reassured with a wide smile. "I even told her right then and there, 'our great Pope would never do something so ignoble as, say, having the king assassinated because he thought that the culprit would be dead long before she could provide evidence against her employer'," the ex-chosen's grin suddenly looked terrifyingly like that of a wolf cornering a rabbit. "You know what else I know you wouldn't do; I know you'd never keep the princess locked in her room and send her poisoned meals, so that when she died over an extended period of time, it'd look like she had succumbed to her so-called illness, and leaving the throne empty for you and your little puppet council here. That's just ridiculous, isn't it?" Zelos looked the Pope directly in the eyes. "Isn't it?" he asked a second time, deadly serious.

The Pope leaped to his feet, "Are you accusing us, your Pope, of plotting the King's murder?!" he demanded. "Because such an accusation could be considered an act of treason. Do not be so foolish as to base an argument without any proof other than the testimony of a filthy half-elf!"

"What? I would never suggest such a thing," Zelos answered, almost sounding offended.

"That's what we thought," the fat man said defiantly, settling back into his seat. Zelos decided that the satisfied grin on his face only managed to make him uglier. "However I think we've changed our mind. We believe we'll have her executed here and now. There's no need to delay her sentencing any further. Cut off her head and leave it in the slums as a warning to the rest of the filth crawling around in that disgusting cesspit!" he commanded to the guard. "I'm sure you have no objections?" he glared at the ex-Chosen.

"Of course not," Zelos replied as he moved away from her body. "She's your prisoner now. I have nothing to say."

The guard went towards Alice's body and raised his halberd, ready to decapitate her when suddenly, the apparently unconscious body welcomed the knight with a lightning bolt that sent him flying backward to the opposite end of the hall, emitting a noxious smoke cloud.

"But I do," Alice replied standing up with a smile.

"Gasp! I'm shocked and appalled!" Zelos squawked, somehow managing to sound convincing, considering he actually said the word 'gasp.'

"What is the meaning of this!?" the Pope shouted, his hands clenching in agitation.

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to kill anyone!" Sheena snarled at the blonde half-elf.

"I didn't kill him, he'll be fine." Alice protested pointing at the guard's smoking suit of armor, expecting him to move, or at the very least moan and prove her right. Nothing happened. "Probably…"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" the Pope shouted furiously. "WHAT ARE YOU PLOTTING WITH THIS HALF-ELF VERMIN!"

All the soldiers drew their weapons.

"Well…that's just offensive. I wonder what your daughter would this about that. A half-elf no less." Alice said tauntingly. "I guess that when you swear a vow of chastity, all that pent up frustration has to go somewhere."

"Lies! Blasphemy!" roared the Pope, "Alexia! Lock up this filthy half-elf worm and have the key melted in a furnace!"

"As you command your majesty," Alexia replied, about to advance.

But Alice couldn't be stopped. Her eyes were glowing with excitement. The world seemed to twist around the Pope as he looked on, her eyeteeth looking more and more like fangs as she kept speaking. Alice saw sweat beading on his forehead and she saw blood vessels bursting in his head. That was no surprise. The anxiety of being discovered to be a treasonous wretch had to be pretty bad. It gave Alice a warm and fuzzy feeling.

"Oh, but I'm right aren't I? She was completely unplanned. But of course, you can't expect a lowborn yokel from a town like Ozette to have the mental capacity to think beyond what his next meal is going to be."

That Ozette's population was a fairly educated bunch didn't seem to have registered with the council members who looked like they might die on the spot from the shame of having associated with a creature from a village comprised of… heaven save them all… menial laborers and craftsmen. It seemed they didn't actually know where all of their mantelpiece ornaments were coming from. And of course, every second they remained there was a second in which they came to resemble men in Spiritua's presence.

"And back to the topic at hand, to make sure that nobody ever found out, you hid her in Sybak's basement for most of her life because the woman you took to bed with you… was a half-elf! Oh my gosh!" she swooned, Going to bed with a woman with mixed blood! "That must be filthier than doing it with a horse, I'm sure!"

The look on the Pope's face was positively murderous, and…it…was…fantastic! She had rarely felt so fulfilled in her life. Utterly destroying one of the most powerful and corrupt men in the world! It was better than a fountain of chocolate. That he was the head of the rotten religion of Martel was the adjacent basket of strawberries! It was a thrill she couldn't get anywhere else. She wished she could put this moment in a box and keep it as her own little treasure.

"What are you waiting for?!" he blustered to Sheena and Zelos. "Execute her this instant or be branded traitors to my kingdom!"

"Your kingdom? Didn't you just say you were doing this to help Queen Hilda?" Zelos asked innocently. "Also, you missed the royal 'we' right there." Less innocent.

The pope failed to hear either question or comment. His panic was getting the better of him. These people knew. And that couldn't be allowed.

"So be it! If you choose to side with that murderer you will be treated like her!" the Pope stabbed a trembling finger toward them. "Templars, execute this traitorous filth! Remove them from my sight, and the sight of the Goddess forevermore!"

The soldiers mobilized.

"Traitors? We're the traitors here?!" Zelos glowered. "No, no no no no. You're the criminal mastermind here. Not me. I'll admit that I'd do it better, but I'm blameless."

"Alice told us everything, and you've already as much as told us that you're terror stricken just by the thought of what she might have told us. You didn't expect her to keep quiet. Or did you think that we'd take your word over hers? You really aren't much better."

"Oh, right, since Alice brought it up, how's Kate doing?" he growled, "Still suffering from the urge to pretend she doesn't exist, pining for the love of a father who wants nothing more than to kill her?"

"That name means nothing to me!"

"We've met her. Like, right in front of you. You were there. Demanding she didn't speak to you so that you could pretend she wasn't there as long as you couldn't hear her."

He noticed that Alexia was growing incredibly tense. Her forehead was glistening with sweat. Even with his skill at reading people, Zelos couldn't imagine what was going on with her.

A member of the council, a banker if Zelos recalled correctly, suddenly clutched his left arm, his skin going white, and moments later he fell out of his chair, dead. Well, you didn't see a heart attack every day. But if such paltry and shallow concepts could elicit such a reaction, he wouldn't have survived much longer anyway.

"Hm, such weak constitution in that one. Pitiful. Actually, I'm surprised by the incompetence of your soldiers, by the way," Alice jeered, "Considering the danger I pose to your claim on the throne, I would have expected that you'd have soldiers scouring the continent for me, but I barely saw so much as a hint of your Templars and Papal Kights anywhere I went."

"It's too late now, of course. You have no idea how many people I might have told. It could just be these two. Or maybe I've rallied entire cities against you while you sit here in your pretty little castle pretending the world outside your control doesn't exist."

She really wished she'd thought of doing that sooner. It was a great idea. Sadly, she already gave up her monopoly on the evidence to these do-gooders. Oh well.

"Oh my?" chimed Alice as she watched Zelos and Sheena enter her cabin, "And what brings you here to pay me such a wonderful visit?"

"Cut the sarcasm, Alice. I really don't have time for it right now," Zelos answered in a bored tone.

"My, my…is someone still mad at me for making your little sister play prisoner for me?"

Zelos's glare darkened at the mention of Seles.

"We're actually here to ask you about the Pope," Sheena said before Zelos could fall further down Alice's rabbit hole of provocation. The last thing they needed was another confrontation.

"Say no more! I know exactly where this is going," Alice interrupted, giggling like a little girl. "Hmmm, well I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell you something. Besides this could prove beneficial to me after all."

"Yes! It was the Pope who unlocked my jail cell. His only condition was that I killed the King. And of course I accepted— it was a logical decision. I was not going to die like that!" she explained. "Even you have to agree with me. You know you do."

"Not everyone has your perspective Alice." Sheena answered. "We aren't the same."

"Oh! But we are. The only real difference is that I'm fine with what I see in the mirror every morning—"

"Provided you don't put your hat on backwa— Oof!" Decus fell to the floor clutching his stomach. "Not a morning person. I'm sorry. Really," he groaned. He had sounded adorably affectionate, but she couldn't let him go unpunished for revealing that she had a weakness.

"Now, as I was saying, I don't need to make up justifications or excuses for my actions."

Sheena fixed her with a glare of annoyance. Only a sociopath would think in such a way, but even so, it almost made sense. It didn't make it less disturbing however.

"Don't bother, Sheena. We have what we wanted," Zelos said, jarring Sheena from her thoughts.

"I do have to wonder whether the princess is still alive though," Alice commented with eerie offhandedness. "I wouldn't put it past that fat grease ball to have her killed too. He had very ugly eyes. I admit, I can be a greedy girl, but he lusted for power like a miser lusts after money. It was really just disgusting. I could tell he'd do anything to sit on the throne himself. Maybe he even had another convict do it."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because if I were him, that's what I would have done…And if he's more ambitious than me…"

And judging how things were right now it looked like Alice's predictions had been right.

"So, what's the plan?" the blonde girl asked.

"Well…My plan was to bait the Pope to see if what you said was true."

Alice glared at him.

"What?! It's not as if you had the most trustworthy record either!" Zelos claimed defensively. "In fact, this might be the first time I can remember seeing you being completely honest," he continued, "Anyway, I thought that once it was proven that Pope was the one behind His Majesty's murder, the guards would arrest him, we'd release Princess Hilda from this fat idiot's imprisonment, and we'd all be on our merry way."

The soldiers that surrounded them slowly began to close the circle.

"And if it didn't work?" Alice inquired pointing the rapier at anyone who got too close.

"I…" Zelos scratched his head. "Well, I never thought it wouldn't work."

"How did you guys ever get this far?" Alice sighed. "I guess what they say is true; fools have all the luck."

"Surrender your weapons and give us Alice, and his highness might show clemency to you!" Alexia demanded.

"Are you for real?! Didn't you hear everything we just said?!" Zelos sputtered. He just couldn't even begin to grasp— He knew the woman was a religious fanatic but he honestly thought that even she would have enough common sense to notice that something was wrong.

"Lies! Those fools have let themselves be deceived by the poisonous tongue of that half-elf!" the Pope roared. "End these traitors immediately!"

"Hey! That's very rude!" Alice exclaimed, making a show of being offended.

Alexia kneeled.

"But your highness, the Chosen is with them. Might that not anger the Goddess? Perhaps—"

"Are you doubting my word!? After all I've done for you! Have you forgotten whom I speak for!? MY WORD IS THE WORD OF THE GODDESS! AND THIS MISCREANT HAS FALLEN OUT OF HER FAVOR!"

"Of—of course not, Your Eminence," she stuttered, holding her weapon with her trembling hand.

"Oh, come on! The only way he speaks for the goddess is if Martel was a fat man in expensive clothes and a fancy hat! And just to be clear, I have it from a very reliable source that she's not." Zelos couldn't believe that the knights were still loyal to the Pope. "Alexia! Grunts, whatever your names are, this megalomaniac couldn't possibly be more obvious. This is outrageous! What else do you need him to do? Laugh like a maniac? Twirl his perfectly trimmed moustache?"

"I won't fail the goddess again!" Alexia ensured pointing her weapon at them. "Templars! Prepare to exterminate them!"

"Ma'am! Yes ma'am!"

The claustrophobic Templar whom Alice had zapped was still crying in the corner, immobile, and completely ignored by his companions.

Zelos facepalmed.

"Are you done already?" Alice inquired impatiently, "I'm getting a little tired and if you don't come up with a plan soon I'll put mine into action. And I warn you, mine involves casualties."

Zelos grunted, not because of Alice's comment, not this time. He was angry because of Alexia's and her men's stubbornness. It wouldn't be the first time that he would have to fight against the Imperial Knights (the Templars this time) but it was something he didn't want to repeat. It was just stupid! Some decent men and women were probably going to die because they had been deceived by a power-hungry man with a god complex. And that made him really angry.

Suddenly the doors opened, giving way to the most unexpected guest. Specifically, Colette.

"Zelos, Sheena! You…have to stop…please!" she cried breathlessly, as if she had just finished running a marathon.

The Templars were so confused by the entrance of Sylvarant's Chosen that didn't show any resistance when she went through them with her companions.

"Colette!?" Sheena shouted in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"You can't do this! I don't care what you think, this isn't the right thing and I can't allow it!"

"Look, Colette this really isn't the time—" Sheena tried to explain.

Meanwhile Alice looked around. Everyone seemed just as confused as her by Colette's sudden entrance. Even Alexia and the Pope themselves seemed to be trying to understand what was going on, though in the Pope's case, it was more a case of — who allowed this filthy Sylvaranti mongrel into the castle, than — how did she get here.

Her opportunity having presented itself, the half-elf grabbed Colette by the arm and held her riding crop up against her neck.

"Alice!?" Colette exclaimed surprised.

She couldn't believe that she had come to help her and the first thing Alice did was threaten her. Well…she could…it was just…

"What are you doing, Alice?!" Zelos shouted confused.

"Implementing my exit strategy, of course. The non-suicidal kind," she said as she began to walk backwards towards the door. "If anyone tries anything, I swear I'll roast the Chosen's skull 'till she's unrecognizable."

As long as Colette kept her mouth shut, the Pope had no way of knowing if Colette was with them or not and therefore couldn't give any orders that might risk the Chosen's life. He didn't want the risk of inciting a war between Tethe'alla and Sylvarant while he was consolidating his power on the throne. He couldn't afford to do that yet. He'd want her removed from the picture soon enough though.

"What are you doing?!" Zelos shouted again, this time really angry.

"Huh?"

At first Alice didn't understand Zelos complaint. It took a few moments for her to remember that they weren't used to her ways of solving problems.

"You can drop the act! They've already figured us out!" Alice hissed.

They might not have liked it, but if they wanted to leave, they had to take their chance while they still had it. She was going to escape anyway, it was up to them if they wanted to follow her, or try and argue their way out against the fourteen sycophantic knights and the incoming reinforcements.

Zelos noticed what Alice was trying to do, and while it seemed like an awful idea, it was also the only one they had. Besides, they had already lost all the credibility and the Templars seemed to be too stubborn to believe them so they weren't really losing anything. It's not as if the Pope would forgive them now.

His decision made, the ex-chosen grabbed Sheena's arm and sided with Alice.

"Zelos! What are you doing? Have you completely lost your mind?" Sheena demanded.

Zelos sighed. Despite being a ninja, she wasn't always the cleverest girl when it came to deceiving people.

"Just play along," he whispered.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Colette asked, her voice trembling pitifully.

"Shut your mouth before I cut out your tongue!" Zelos threatened. It killed him to do this to Colette who didn't seem to understand what was going on.

Fortunately for them, the Pope was still buying their ruse.

Suddenly, Alice whipped Zelos' cheek strong enough to make it bleed.

"Ow!"

"I'm the one who makes the threats here! Don't forget your position slave!" the half-elf shouted with satisfaction. She just loved the sound of that word: slave… "Now quit looking at me like a helpless duckling and make yourself useful for a change! Get that door open!"

"Sadistic little bitch…" Zelos whispered to himself.

"What did you say?!" Alice inquired lifting her rapier, grinning like a psychopath.

"Yes mistress."

The girl smiled proudly. It had been a while since she had felt the rush of having absolute power over others and it felt amazing. Decus didn't count because he actually was willing to do anything she demanded, it was nice, but it was hardly exciting. Not that she didn't appreciate it though.

As soon as they were out and the door was closed Sheena summoned Celsius who froze the door and created a wall of ice over the doors. Frost crept up the sides of the palace, and any windows that could be opened were quickly frozen shut.

"Okay. That should keep them for a while. Thank you, Celsius."

The summon spirit bowed and dematerialized.

Alice heaved out a sigh and let go of Colette.

"Finally."

"What? What happened?" Colette asked, hopelessly confused. A moment ago she had been held hostage not only by Alice, but also by her own friends, and now they seemed to have lost all interest. What was going on?

"What was that about?!" Zelos demanded, gingerly rubbing his cheek.

"I had to keep it authentic," Alice answered in her usual childish talk. "Besides I owe you that much for paralyzing me. I never agreed to that!"

Zelos made a point of never hitting a girl (outside of battle at least), but at this rate, Alice would become an exception. He couldn't deny that she had a point though.

"Hmm… Which reminds me," the blonde half-elf muttered, and without any further warning she whipped him across the face with her riding crop. Again.

"Ow!"

Zelos grabbed Alice by the shoulders. "You're really testing your luck here, you crazy witch! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Well, that was for grabbing my ass when you were carrying me here!"

Zelos went red in the face and released the young woman.

"What? I thought you were paralyzed. Wait! No! That didn't come out the way I— Oof!" too little, too late; Sheena had already kicked him to the ground.

"I just immobilized her. Just because she couldn't move or talk didn't mean couldn't hear and feel everything else," the ninja spat.

"Oh, for crying out loud, I didn't grab her butt in that way, it was just to keep her from falling."

"Wait a moment! You planned all of this?" Colette asked, finally catching on.

Alice commenced with her slow clap of sarcasm.

"Give the girl a prize," she sneered.

"Yeah. I schemed up the whole thing with Alice," Zelos admitted.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"Well, if you guys were in on the plan and I screwed up, or things went sideways, you guys would end up in the Papal Knights crosshairs. Alexia and her Templars are probably already mobilizing under orders to tie me to a plank and set me on fire. Also, considering how far off the rails things went, I definitely made the right choice."

"Why did you come, Colette?" Sheena asked.

She was still angry at Zelos. Maybe focusing on something else would make her forget about that idiot long enough for her to cool down.

"Well… You see… I— I couldn't let Alice get killed."

"What an idiot…" Alice muttered, just loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Colette went bright red, shame written across her face.

"How can you say something like that to the one person out of all of us who still thinks you're worth giving another chance?" Sheena protested angrily, "You should be grateful to her."

"What? Don't you agree with me? After all the things I've done to her… Why in hell would she want to help me?! Only a fool would," Alice explained, utterly exasperated.

Sheena was about to protest again, but Alice, as impolite as she had been, did have a point.

"Do you think so?" Colette broke her silence. "For me it doesn't matter what you did to me, you still don't deserve to be killed for it."

"What?!" Alice was completely shocked. Was this girl for real?

"You see… It's okay if you aren't a good person. Wait! That's not it," the girl corrected herself. "What I was trying to say is that it's okay if you are selfish and cold. That doesn't change anything. Everyone has the right to live."

"You can't be serious! Are you telling me that you would be just fine if I killed all your friends and your family?!" Alice protested. "That if I did that, you wouldn't want to kill me?!"

"Well…" Colette looked at her shoes in thought. "But why would you do that?"

"Don't try that on me! I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work on me."

Colette looked at the girl blankly. She didn't understand. What did Alice even mean?

"You probably murdered more people than I did in your so called Journey of Regeneration. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that's a bad thing." Alice explained, "But don't come to me with all your garbage talk about forgiveness when you so mercilessly destroyed so many lives."

Colette stopped and looked at to floor sadly.

"I know," Colette's eyes welled up with tears. "I wish I could have done more! I understand why you want power. I want it too. Maybe we want it for different reasons, but…if I had been stronger back then, I might have been able to save them without killing anyone, because the more powerful you are, the less the people around you need to suffer. I— I don't want anyone to die, but I'm not strong enough to save everyone."

"But even if I'm not strong enough to save everyone, I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't at least try every time I could!" the girl dried her tears on her sleeve. "That's why I decided to help you! I know it might seem strange, but I had to do everything my power to prevent your death. Even if it meant that I'd have to go up against my friends to do what was right!"

Zelos and Sheena looked at the blonde girl. Colette might not believe it but that actually sounded a lot like her.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Alice found herself speechless. Would Colette have fought her friends to help her, after everything she has done to her? She couldn't actually believe that someone like Colette actually existed. And yet, there she was. Everything she had just said about power… Her ideals were naïve, that much was certain; the power to save everyone was a luxury that came at a price no one could pay… However she couldn't help it but respect those ideals.

"Whatever," Alice huffed. Even if she could agree with her, it didn't mean that she would openly do it.

"Guys, I don't mean to be a buzzkill," said Sheena, "but I haven't entirely sealed the castle."

"Wait, what?" Zelos asked.

Sheena pointed in the direction of the coliseum.

"Aw crap, that's right, we've gotta move," he groaned.

They picked up the pace. Though there weren't any soldiers appearing from the arena just yet, it was only a matter of time. They couldn't linger inside the city walls any longer than absolutely necessary.

Alice readjusted her hood to make sure that no one would recognize her. The sooner she was out of Meltokio, the better.

Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Presea, Regal, Marta and Emil were waiting anxiously for Zelos and Sheena to come out from the city.

Lloyd's nerves were out of control after his failure to find Colette, but after running around the city for an hour like a headless chicken without any success, the only option he had left was to wait for her at their rendezvous point and hope she'd show up.

"Damn it! Genis groaned as he looked around. What are we going to tell him when he gets here! He's totally gonna kill us!"

"I'm afraid we'll find out quite shortly," Presea commented sullenly. Genis followed her hand as she pointed toward the city, or more specifically, the group leaving it.

"Here they come," Genis cringed, "On the plus side, at least Colette is with them."

Lloyd sighed in relief, a huge weight lifting from his shoulders.

"Yeah, and there's a fourth person with them too," Marta commented as she frowned to get a better view of the fourth person hoping that it actually was Seles. Her hopes stagnated and turned to rot as she identified the girl skipping their way.

"Hello everyone! I'm so happy that you waited for me," the blonde half-elf greeted them.

"Alice? What are you doing here? I thought—"

"Awwww…Mart-Mart isn't happy to see me alive?"

"Well… I… That's not what I meant," and she honestly didn't mean that. "Unlike you, I'm not itching to kill anyone I don't like." Even so, she also couldn't say that she was particularly happy to see her. In fact, she almost felt a little…disappointed.

"Well, I never! I don't want to see you dead Mart-Mart." Alice gasped, as though he very thought was abhorrent to her. "I just want to watch you suffer. Forever. And ever. And I can't do that if I kill you. Of course, if you happen to die in the process, I won't complain either."

Marta shivered at her comment. She was such a psycho…She couldn't believe she actually worried about what could have happened to her. That thought brought her back to her main question.

"I thought that you were taking Alice to a prison, or a court or something to pay for her crimes," Marta said ensuring that Alice heard her clearly.

"Yeah… About that—" Zelos began but was abruptly cut off by Alice.

"Zelos and Sheena tricked you all to assassinate the Pope."

"What?!" Marta and Emil exclaimed in unison.

The rest of the group was smart enough to know that Alice was probably exaggerating things.

"Uh, yeah, no, that is not at all what happened. We'll explain everything later when get back to the boat."

"So, where's Seles?" he asked as he began to look around, noticing that he couldn't see her anywhere. "Seles!" he called out. Then he realized he probably sounded kind of stupid. Something was obviously wrong.

Genis was cringing, Raine looked depressed, Emil and Marta both looked embarrassed, and Regal was even more stonefaced than usual.

And Presea… she was drenched. She was sitting next to Genis and Raine, hugging her knees to her chest. Her waterlogged pigtails were drooping behind her, making her look a bit like a sad bunny rabbit.

"What happened?" he demanded. "Where's my sister?!" he asked again.

"Zelos… We did what we could," Genis began pathetically.

The ex-chosen did not like where this was going at all.

"Tell me what happened. Now!"

Genis wanted to tell him everything, but when he saw his furious gaze he choked.

"When we arrived, some scoundrel broke in and took your sister. We chased him, and I may have gotten too confident in our capacity to outrun him after tracking him to the slums. He proved to be too resourceful and we lost him some time after," Regal explained in Genis place. It wouldn't have been fair for him to allow a child to take the blame.

"What are we doing here then? Let's get back to Meltokio and—"

"Zelos," Sheena interrupted. "I don't know how long Celcius' ice will be able to keep the knights trapped in the palace. For all I know they could already be free. And that's not mentioning the ones who remember they can get out through the coliseum."

"What the hell are you saying?! Am I supposed to just leave my sister there?!"

"I—! We can't—" she stammered for a few moments, before letting her shoulders slump, "Well…no. I can't ask that of you. But we should at least avoid using the main gates. We should get in through the sewers, like we did last time."

"Okay. Have fun boys!" Alice exclaimed, "I'll just head back to the boat then. I can pick up Decus and my luggage, depart, and hopefully never see any of you clods ever again. Tah-tah!"

As soon as she began to walk away, Zelos grabbed her by the collar.

"Ack! What do you think you're doing?!"

"You're coming with us." Sheena answered seriously. "No way are we letting you go off on your own. As far as I know, you might get to the boat and sail off with all our stuff!"

"How dare you even suggest that I might do something so petty? And more importantly, there is no way I'm going into the sewers! That is gross, disgusting, filthy, and not at all befitting of a lady such as myself!"

"I don't see the problem Alice. After spending so much time with Decus, shouldn't you be able to cope with a stench as mild as a sewer?" Marta taunted.

"There is no way I'm going in! Ever!" Alice complained with increasing desperation, shaking her arm trying to escape from Sheena's grasp. "Leave me alone! Let go! Let go of me, I said! I don't want to go to that stinking hellhole!"

"Alice! Stop acting like a child! I don't have time for this!" Zelos complained, already heading toward the broken grate leading into the sewers.

Alice sighed, out of options. "Okay, okay, I'll just tell you. Your sister's fine."

As much as she wanted to continue watching her puppets kick while they were still on their strings, she'd sooner eat a toad than go into the sewers.

"What?"

"I told Decus to grab her before we left."

"I'm giving you three seconds to run," Zelos snarled, "and then I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, give it a rest! Do you actually think I'm stupid enough to take you at your word? I just needed her as, shall we say, insurance. In case something went wrong."

"What?!" Zelos screamed. The sheer effort it took for him not to throttle her on the spot was obscene. "What if something went wrong?!"

"Well, I think you're smart enough to know what would have happened," she answered coldly, the accompanying smile equally chilling.

That was it. No more. He raised his arm ready to punch her in the face only for Sheena to catch his wrist.

"She isn't worth it," the ninja told him calmly.

Zelos snarled but eventually, he unclenched his fist and let his hand fall back to his side. "You're right," he growled, "but as soon as we get back to the boat you're gone. I don't want to see your face ever again."

"Ooooowww…" Alice pouted.

However no one rose to her bait. She was completely ignored by everyone, and that irritated Alice more than anything they could have done to her.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

"Pair of aces and three sixes! Full house!" Seles announced putting her cards on the table. "What do you have?"

"Nothing…" Tenebrae replied. "I was bluffing. Naturally."

"Five of the same color, but one of them's a diamond and the rest are hearts. Decus sighed.

"Then it seems I win again!" Seles exclaimed giddily, taking all the money from the table.

"Marta and Emil are going to be rather put out when they discover that I've lost nearly half of their funds. I must admit I'm astonished by your ability at this game. I cannot remember the last time I lost, though I also admit I've not played in some time."

"Ooooh…poor doggy." Seles pouted. "I don't actually need the money, I'm incredibly wealthy. However if I returned your gald, you wouldn't learn your lesson."

"I am not a dog! I do not pant with my tongue out, nor I wag my tail involuntarily when I'm in a cheerful mood!" the centurion of darkness stated haughtily. And to his credit, he didn't say that he was a Centurion.

Seles nodded indifferently as she stowed her winnings in her big handbag when she saw her brother coming up the gangplank with the rest of his companions.

"Big brother!"

Zelos swept his sister up into a big hug and held her close.

"Seles! You have no idea how relieved I am to see you're okay."

"Yes, well…as you can see, I'm perfectly fine, she said, feeling rather awkward in front of an audience. You can let go now."

He set her down on her feet and gave her a once-over.

"Did that talking baboon do anything to you?" he asked. "Because if he did…" he finished threateningly, one hand clenching into a fist.

"Who? Decus?" Seles asked innocently. "Oh, certainly not! He's actually quite nice. We already met when he kidnapped me a few months ago. I do think his girlfriend was jealous because I'm far cuter than she is," she whispered the last part.

Unfortunately, Alice was close enough to catch the comment.

"He is decidedly not my boyfriend!" Alice snapped, bending her whip almost to the breaking point.

"I see…then I suppose you wouldn't mind if I asked him for a date," Seles asked, a mischievous smile spreading across her face, "I must say, I find him rather cute when he's not using that vile cologne."

"What?!" Alice and Zelos sputtered in unison.

"Of— of course not! You can do whatever you want with him." Alice said, playing with her hair, her attitude changing with startling abruptness. "Just be aware that he is my property and I expect him back here at—" she slapped a hand over her mouth before she dug herself any deeper.

"You like this guy?! Why?!" Zelos shouted.

Seles decided that her big brother wasn't taking this very well.

"I mean, he's even more of an idiot than I am!"

Sheena patted his shoulder comfortingly. "The heart feels what the heart feels. I mean, how do you think I feel?"

Her comment only frustrated Zelos.

"Yeah, you're enjoying this, aren't you?"

The ninja smirked.

"Decus! Grab my luggage! We're leaving!" Alice shouted.

The man stood up instantly and ran into the boat.

"Wait…Are you really going to leave?" Colette asked.

"Yeah, why do you care?" the half-elf asked, her exasperation with the Chosen returning with a rush.

"But the demons…"

"Okay, Colettie. Let me make this clear. There is no way I'm going to risk my life to save people whom I not only don't know, but don't give a damn about me. If you want to get yourself killed for people who won't appreciate your sacrifice, that's up to you. Your problem. However, this isn't my fight."

"Actually it is," Lloyd countered, "You started all this! You should at least take some responsibility!"

"Oh…So, Lloyd the Great finally deigns to speak to me." Alice announced, her voice dripping sarcasm. "No! I'm not taking any responsibility. I don't care in the slightest what happens to this world. It's already shown me the worst it had to offer, so let the demons do their worst. I'll adapt, like I always have. It's not like anyone else can live my life for me, and I'm definitely not going to count on someone else to look out for me," it might have been a simple answer, but to her, it really was just that simple.

When Decus arrived with her belongings, she summoned Aramis and jumped on his back sidesaddle, followed by Decus, who stood at the floating creature's side.

"Before you leave, I want to ask you one last thing, Raine said.

"Okay, fine," Alice sighed. This was taking forever. "But make it quick."

"If something happens, and the time comes, which side will you join? Raine asked, her tone deadly serious.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Alice.

Everyone looked at her angrily. They didn't seem very pleased with her answer. Probably because Marta have been lying about her again, like she did when they were both members of the Vanguard.

"After all," she answered, smiling wickedly, "I always pick the same side."

"My own."

It's been a long reading but if you liked it don't forget to review.