WOOOO new chapter, and it has more than 5,000 words, yay!

Ok, first of all check deviant art for my newest deviation! I'm really proud of it!

Ohh and I might start a Assassin´s Creed fict when this story comes to an end, there´s still a long way to go though. It will have LOTS OF MURDER!

Chapter 26: Cynthia

-0-0-0-

Memory Fragment: Fabre Manor Part 2 (age: 10)

The air around me was unsetting, a thick mist that has spread all around the room. The mighty star of day was hiding at the distance and its warm hues were dying around it. It looked as if the cold, dark sky was pushing the sun all the way down, rejecting it as it gave its last breath.

I was wondering if the mighty star was also scared of Duke Fabre. Maybe that's why it went away as the man spat strange words at me, words that were too offensive for me to understand or too refined perhaps.

Van stood behind me, too away from me to feel safe at all, head bowed as the Lord of the manor made accusations, head bowed as Suzanne Fon Fabre held Luke in an envious embrace, head bowed as the boy looked at me with his cocky green eyes.

Liar.

That single word had stuck in my head as if an arrow had stuck in my skull. The taste of injustice and humiliation were already familiar to me at that age, but when Luke said I was the one who started insulting… My blood had been set on fire once again.

I protested, called him liar as his mother looked at me with pitiful eyes, she knew her son too well, she knew what type of king her husband was trying to create. Yet, there was little she could do while Duke Fabre spat fire from his throat.

Van kept his mouth shut all the time, he knew Luke was lying but apparently, defying the kid and his father would be a waste of time. I demanded him to say the truth, tears rolling down my eyes but he kept his head bowed and his mouth shut, he never looked me in the eye.

The reunion came to a close, and I sprinted out of the room, blind with tears and disbelief. I ran and ran, aimlessly through the bright halls of the manor, pushing my way through whenever I bumped on someone's hip. Everything was blurry but still clear enough for me to dash without running into a wall or a decorative ornament.

The dark sky was now sprinkled with tiny, shiny dots and a huge moon hung at one side. The watchers of the night observed me as I opened the door to the garden and kept running, hoping to find a place where to cry freely.

I would have gone to my room if I had the capability to remember in that instant, but it was better that way, I didn't wanted to be found. I had dashed out of Duke Fabre's studio before he could give a verdict, if I could stay or not. Frankly, I couldn't care less, I had barely spent a day in the manor and I already hated it, along with Luke and his father. But Luke… specially Luke. I hated the kid… I hated him more than dresses or the people of Yulia City.

The feeling had bloomed out of my heart so naturally it scared me. So strong it felt as if it was powered by someone else's hatred, true hatred. Hatred only a full grown adult could spawn, and yet, it had all flourished out from a small girl's body. Too weak and naïve to know hate that strong was like poison, a type of poison that could spread through one's body and kill the goodness. The kind of poison Van was made of…

But I didn't know that at that time, I was just scared, and the trees at the other side of the garden were pressing in, it almost looked liked like a real forest. The trees were so closed one to another that the watchers of the night and the moon were covered by the thick body of leaves that hung above. The air was cold and the shadows of the darkness were prominent here.

I began to panic, and ran faster, thinking I would find an exit, though I was probably running in circles for all I knew. I pushed away dry bushes and stupid pine branches that got in my way; the anguish was rising, just as the beating of my heart.

Air was coming out of my lungs in form of desperate gasps; the crunching sound the dry leaves made as I ran by was driving me crazy, thinking someone was following me. My escape came to an end when I bumped into a small shadow; the impact was so hard I knocked off whatever that thing was.

Both, shadow and I landed on a nearby pile of dry autumn leaves, me on top of the other. The leaves cushioned our fall with a loud crunch. The shadow screamed, once… twice, and then I lost count.

He squirmed underneath me and managed to crawl as far as to pin his back to the nearest tree. I pushed my face away from the cushioned ground and shook my head before looking at the young boy, a boy with golden locks and deep bluish-gray eyes.

The panic that had been ruling over me vanished as soon as he came to view, I was glad to know I wasn't alone. However, that wasn't the boy's case -he looked terrified. I pushed my feet underneath my body and dusted off my dress.

"I'm sorry," I began, moving towards him, "It wasn't my-"

"Ahhhh – Ahhhh – G-Get away from me!" The boy stammered, crawling away even more.

"Huh?" I stared blankly at him for a second; the boy was definitely older than me and his reaction was… quite unexpected. He was what? Two years older? But I was almost positive that all those girly screams had came out from his throat, the frighten look he was giving me was all I needed.

"Are you ok? Did you get hurt?" I took another step but he backed away again, I frowned.

"Y-You – You are a girl." He protested.

I rolled my eyes and pressed my fists against my waist, well of course! "Oh really? Did the dress give me away?" I snorted.

The boy pouted and got up to his feet, he looked a bit more calmed after making sure I wasn't going to get any closer to him. "Van said he would bring "Jude" to the manor. He never said anything about you being a girl."

"Huh? You know Van? And, my name…"

"I'm a servant to this manor. Everyone has been talking about the bluehead that attacked Luke. I suppose it's you… because of your hair of course."

"Oh…" I fidgeted with the end of my dress and sat on a nearby rock, the fight seemed like a far off memory in that instant but it still had a weight to it, shame. "Well… he started it. He said mean things to me but no one seems to care, it has always been like that…" The boy took a tiny step towards me. "I want to go home…" I mumbled. "Tear should have come…"

The boy took another step and this time, I looked up at him. It made him back away again, like a scared cat about to take a bath.

I glared at him. "And what the hell is wrong with you? Hadn't seen a girl before?"

"It's not like that…" The boy blushed with embarrassment. "I can't – girls are…scary." I blinked a couple of times. Was he serious?

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Guy." He replied. Then he turned to the pile of autumn leaves and the scattered ones around, heaving a sigh. "I'll have to recollect the leaves again, I was sent here to do that."

"Isn't it too late for that?" I asked, giving a quick glance at the dull sky patches that could be seen through the thick roof of branches. Guy rubbed the back of his head awkwardly before scowling at the scattered mess of leaves on the floor.

"I was really busy today. They needed my help in the kitchen first and Pierre with the new flowers, then Luke made me play with him the whole day. Duke Fabre expects us to do what he says when he says." He concluded with a shrug. "After all, winter is just around the corner."

I winced at him. "Luke is your friend…" It wasn't a question. He blinked a couple of times before answering.

"Yeah…" After that, came an awkward silence and with the brusque end of our conversation, Guy turned to the pile of leaves and started to rearrange it again. I did nothing but stared at him, how could Guy be friend of… that thing? How could he be friends with such an egoistic person? That, I would never know. Actually, I was quite surprised that someone like Guy was living here with the Fabre Family, it was odd.

"I hate him." I spat coldly.

"Huh?"

"I meant… Luke, I hate him."

"Oh…" Guy turned away and kept doing his work. He was mumbling something to himself but I didn't ask him what it was, I was curious but something stopped me from doing it. What stopped me? I don't know, maybe it was the creepy atmosphere around us or the screeching whistle of the wind.

"Here, let me help you." I picked up a handful of leaves and tossed them on the pile. I glared at Guy for an instant when he stepped away but then, I gave it no importance. I had never met a guy who feared girls before, but I thought that maybe I was uninformed about the people of the Outer Lands and that perhaps, stuff like this was normal.

A few minutes passed and I helped the blondie rake up every leaf from the ground and grouped them over other piles that we had recollected while talking about random stuff. Like how Luke and he played with wooden swords whenever both kids were free to do so, how the maids would tease Guy about how cute he was when he was scared, and about how in some places of Auldrant winter would bring white sprinkles called snowflake, they would fall from the sky until they covered the ground and the crown of the trees.

Still, Guy sounded more interested in the hot chocolate and biscuits that were served in the kitchen around that time of the year. From his point of view, things in the manor sounded different, almost amazing.

Once we were done collecting the leaves, Guy took out a sack and stuffed them inside. With his help, we quickly found our way out from the forest-like garden and the moon and stars shone above us once again. We kept talking as we walked to the manor, though I still felt odd about talking to him from two meters away.

"Oh thank goodness!" Guy and I looked up when Cynthia's voice reached our ears. Remember that maid with the pigtails? The one I couldn't remember her name? Well, her name was Cynthia, though I hadn't remembered yet when she found us that day. She sprinted toward us; her facial expression had changed from anguish to relief in a couple of seconds.

"Cynthia, what's going on?"Guy asked, his voice reduced to girly shriek when she got to close to him.

"You found Jude!" She beamed, then looking at me. "Everyone has been looking for you since you bolted out of Duke Fabre's studio."

"Oh…" I rubbed my forearm, my gaze couldn't meet hers. She probably had been scolded because of me; she was supposed to take care of me after all. Still, Cynthia never mentioned any of that when she took me back to my room, oh and by the way, Guy made sure that the latest news of my reappearance could reach Van´s and Duke Fabre's ears. He also made his nerves a favor by getting away from us as far as possible, that was a great excuse, I'll give him that.

Cynthia and I became really good friends after that day, I still can't point out the real reasons to why we became friends but in the end it was an enduring one, of pure gold. Perhaps… perhaps it was because we both were away from home. She was only fifteen when we met and had come all the way from Belkend looking for work, her family needed the money and a very sick, and merciful Suzanne had grant her the job when there was no one else to ask.

According to what she told me, she had worked in the manor for no more than four months when I arrived. So my company was more than welcomed. I'm glad I met her; she would always have something to talk about, even when the cold winds of winter stroke my face and when Yulia City's memories cut deep through my heart. A city of fools it was, yes, I hated the bubble town, but I was one of them, a fool and fools hardly know what they want.

Van came into my room as soon as the news reached him, but even then, he still had nothing to say. He hugged me, and that was it.

Days passed three or two at most, whenever Luke´s gaze met mine, a battle of glares would start, and if Guy was around, he would always take Luke elsewhere. It was uncomfortable and boring; playing with Guy was impossible either because of his phobia or because Luke was playing with him and "girls" were not allowed in their games.

So I had no other option but to help Cynthia in the kitchen or to spent my time doing errands for her, buying vegetables at the market, spices and other supplies. It was even worst whenever Van had to go to Daath, it would take him weeks to go and even more weeks to come back. It made me feel lonely sometimes and I kept asking me why I had come here in the first place.

But things started to change the day I found Suzanne admiring the selenias we had brought to her from Yulia City. I was minding my own business, walking down the hall when I caught a glimpse of red through the opened door of the manor´s library. I kept walking but a couple of seconds later, I found myself walking backwards to take a better look.

And there she was, staring at the flowers as if they were magical. One of the maids had gladly put them in a vase with cold water. Days and weeks had passed but they look the same, and the rays of sunlight that showered them from the window made them look even better.

I never understood why she never took them to her room if she liked them so much; something about just standing there was obviously mesmerizing to her.

She turned around when she felt my presence. "Oh Jude darling it's you! No, please don't go away, come here, let's talk." I instinctively grabbed a hold from the door frame, cautious and at the same time scared. I thought hard, was trying to remember if I had done something to Luke recently. Seconds went by and I built enough courage to walk past the frame and into the library. She greeted me with nothing else but a smile, a true smile.

Then, she turned and stared at the selenias again. She said nothing for a while, and I played the same game, compared to the selenias, she looked weak and fragile. Her skin was pale, and had dark circles around her eyes; she could barely stand on her own.

"My son says," She began; her voice startled me for a second. "That selenias only grown in the Qliphoth. Is that true?" I could only nod. "I see…"She sighed with a smile. "He also says that even though they are only born in the Qliphoth, they can stay alive for a long time, even when they are cut off the ground, and that some people think they never wither. Is that true?"

I opened my mouth, but I quickly realized that it was the first time I had heard such thing. "What?"

Suzanne covered her mouth and giggled, my reaction caught her off guard apparently and it caught me off guard as well. But sooner than later, I was laughing with her. The mighty star of day was hiding in the distance…

-0-0-0-

I felt the warm rays of the sun hitting me in the face; their heat was warming my skin and blobs of red appeared through my shut eyes. My senses started to come back, one by one and I realized then that I was lying on a bed. I covered my eyes from the sun as I sat up straight, blinking away the weakness from my eyes, the weight on my eyelids almost made me go back to sleep without caring of where I was.

But instead, a strong sound of wood against wood made me jump. When I looked around to see where the sound was coming from, my eyes locked on the nearest window and noticed that a small figure had opened the window from outside.

I rubbed my eyes; I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Oliver? What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer; instead, he rushed towards me and took the air out of my lungs with an embrace. "Oh, Jude, you are alive!" Yeah indeed, I was alive but I wasn't fully aware of where I was.

"Hey, Oliver! Hey, look at me. Tell me what happened, I'm not following!" I frowned. "And weren't you supposed to stay at Yulia City? Wait, are we in Yulia City?" The young boy looked confused; he didn't seem to know what to answer first. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Just tell me, what happened."

"You were following that guy with the mask then, I don't know, you started fighting and people were screaming and then the other one found you ,I wanted to run towards you guys but I wasn't supposed to be there in the first place and I was scared and the people-"

"All right, all right I get it." I growled. Oliver was obviously still overexcited with all of this; the boy had spilled out the beams faster than I had expected. "Ok, so you were there when I saw Jacko walking down the alley. But how did you – where you following us?"

"Well," He fidgeted. "You could say that… I boarded the Tartarus when you guys weren't seeing, I hid in the storage room and when we stopped at Port Belkend, I came after you." Well, that would explain the "paranormal" activity inside the landship, the small shadow and the things that kept disappearing. I mentally facepalmed at the fact that we never noticed his presence.

"Ok…" I growled. What about the fight, where are we and how did we get here?" I was quite worried, I blacked out before I could tell if my arte had been completely effective or not in that last battle.

The pain in my eye was now merely a ghost of what it had been, tolerable. Probably because the attack hadn't been so long ago, wherever the others were, I could still catch up.

"We are in an Inn, I followed them here." Oliver crossed his arm and leaned on one of the bed posts. "They left the port and took you here to the city. I was observing through the window so I couldn't hear what they were talking about. Though I noticed..." He closed his eyes thoughtfully.

I raised a brow. "What? What did you notice?"

"Well," He brought his arms up to the back of his head and made a face, looking unquestionably curious. "The innkeeper looked really worried about you. The others talked with her for a long while." His arms fell limply to his sides again, he added with a cocky smile. "Then again, I might be wrong."

I knit my brows together and slipped out from the bed´s blanket. "You sure are enjoying this journey, huh?"

Oliver moved his brows, up and down several times." You have no idea." I reached for one of his ears and pulled him closer; he almost tripped over his side. "Oww – ah – ah- it hurts!"

"Enjoy it while you can." I said sheepishly. "You had me worried, you know!" Oliver kept whining, but I ignored his pleas completely. If Jacko and Caba didn't mind fighting in peaceful places such as the port, then the risk was greater, and Oliver would certainly get in the way since he obviously needed protection.

My train of thoughts trailed off when the door opened, Oliver jumped with surprise while I glanced back at the woman at the entrance. That must be the Innkeeper, I thought. The woman looked at us with wide eyes, either because there was an unexpected visitor inside her inn or because the guest –that's me– had woke up.

"Jude! Thank goodness!" I was caught off guard when the woman ran towards me and hugged me tightly. "I was so worried about you!"

"Y-You know me?" I tried to pull away but I was trapped between the woman's arms. She gave me a puzzled look.

"Yes…" She pulled away and frowned. "Guy too, and Master Luke…"

I blinked a few times. "Master Luke…" Was she talking about Asch?

"Oh my, so it's true…" She murmured. "You lost your memory… I´m Cynthia…" My eyes widened as I remembered the maid with pigtails in the last memory fragment I had seen. Her brown hair and eyes, features and gentle smile were there, but of course she looked older now, and her hair was now tied in a bun. Of course, she was from Belkend!

"I… I remember you, from the manor." I said. Oliver stared at us with curiosity while a grateful smile appeared across Cynthia´s face. I remembered Jude saying her friendship with Cynthia was strong. Did Cynthia have contact with her before her death?

I bet Guy and Asch must have been taken by surprise with the reencounter, just like me. Poor of her, It was obvious that she didn't know her friend was death, seeing that, both guys must have preferred omitting the "replica Jude" story while telling her that her friend had simply lost her memory. After all, I could pretend to be the original.

"I've been worried about you for almost two years, you stopped coming. Guy told me what happened in the port," She shook her head. "No wonder why the guards of the port came all the way here."

I frowned. "Guards? What are you talking about?"

Oliver gave me an apologetic smile. "I forgot to say, the guards of the port have been trying to investigate who caused all that mess back there. They got some descriptions from a few of the town folks and they are now searching all over the city with the help of this city's guards. I bet they are looking for Jacko and that woman too."

"This is bad…" I bit my lip with remorse, it was my fault. "And where are the others?"

Cynthia crossed her arms. "They said something about going to the Fontech Laboratories. And that they would come back soon."

"I see…" I looked down at Oliver. "What should we do?" But the boy shrugged.

"This is a friend of yours too?" Cynthia asked looking at him.

"Yeah, we met not so long ago." I said. Cynthia looked thoughtful for a second.

"Is he someone you really trust?" She asked. I nodded, a little confused about her questions. She nodded to herself and pulled me to the bed, making me sit on it; she sat next to me, a serious look on her face.

"You might not remember this but the last time you came here… you asked me a favor. You told me: Cantabile is acting weird, there is a high probability that next time we see each other I won't be able to recognize you. Then you said I would have to give you a message you wrote on a piece of paper, but that I couldn't trust anybody else, that's why I asked you if you trusted this young man."

Oliver got closer and waited for my reaction.

"Wait Jude – I mean, I knew I was going to lose my memory?"I asked. And Cynthia nodded. "But… Cantabile…? Who's that?" Could it be that… could it be that my original knew they would use Oblivion on her? She might have figured that out, but not that they would kill her and transplant her memories to a replica.

"She was your teacher in the Order of Lorelei. You were her apprentice. She was a really serious person, almost scary and one of the Six-God Generals. Still, she would come here with you and eat sometimes. Then you started to come alone… but now that I think about it…"

I leaned forward with curiosity.

"Well," She started. "The last time you came here… you were not alone. There was a man with you, a tall guy; he wouldn't let me see his face though, he was using a hood, it was raining that day and he stood outside while we talked in the entrance."

I frowned. "Do you have the piece of paper here with you? I mean, the message I was suppose to read?" She rummaged through all the pockets of her apron until she took out a small piece of paper.

"I took it out from where I was hiding it when Guy and the others brought you here. Still, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to give it to you with all of them here." She handed me the small piece of paper, it had been folded in half and it had acquired a yellowish tone granted by time.

I unfolded it and read it out loud. "Daath Cathedral, fifth floor. Room #38, don't be late. And don't forget the letters; they might lead you to Lorelei's son." I looked back at Cynthia and she shrugged.

"You told me only you could read it. That's all." She sighed.

I was about to ask more questions, about Cantabile, the reunions they had here. Ask her if she had seen anything else that could be suspicious. But when I was about to do it we heard noises outside, when we looked through the window we saw guards going from place to place, looking for us.

I told Cynthia I need to find the others, warn them before it was too late. I promised her I would come back after that and she promised me she would tell me more about Cantabile and the Order of Lorelei.

Meanwhile, Oliver made me promise I wouldn't tell the others he was here. He said he didn't want to go back to Yulia City. He looked so worried about it that I had no other choice but to say yes. Still, he followed me on my way out…

I shooed Oliver off when the laboratory came to view, if he really wanted to stay undetected by the others, then he had to stay outside. Though I still wasn't sure what was the point of the journey if he would stay the whole time living in the storage room and hiding away from the rest of the party, it sounded uncomfortable but I guess it made him feel good that no one had noticed he was there.

I walked through the echoed halls of the laboratory, wondering if finding Asch and the others would be hard, to be honest I wanted to find them and drag them all the way to the Inn at once, I wanted to know what else the real Jude had told Cynthia. Perhaps my original had found a way to stop Van, from what Cynthia said, she seemed really confident of what she was doing, nonetheless, she was dead now, not a good signal.

I reached another room, an odd one with a flashing light coming from the ceiling, perhaps some type of security mechanism. People were working around me but they never noticed me, or maybe they just ignored me. After that one, I found a door that was clearly labeled "Replica Laboratory"; I was definitely on the right track.

I passed through another room with uninterested scientist before bumping with the party, they were just ahead. I found them in the hall, talking to a bald man, he was really short, almost Ion´s height.

"Hah, so the traitor to Kimlasca still lives here in the city. What a joke." Asch mocked; Kogamaru was resting gingerly on one of his shoulders. I was facing the others´ back, they were not aware of my presence, and of course I didn't wanted to interrupt the discussion.

"What do you mean "traitor"? Natalia asked worriedly, while the others glanced at him, waiting for his answer as well.

"This guy was involved in my kidnapping." I watched as Natalia's body tensed with shock. I immediately knew that the conversation would leave us all a sour taste in the mouth. The label I read before "Replica Laboratory" was enough to figure out what was coming next.

Jade was catching up as well. "Don't tell me you are the one who broke the ban on fomicry!"

"It's just as you imagine, Jade." Asch replied while the old man stared at us ashamed.

"Jade! The Necromancer!"

"Applying fomicry to living creatures is forbidden." Jade greeted him, I was expecting that.

"Every fomicry researcher longs to try it at least once!" The man protested."You are no different, Jade Curtiss! Or should I say, Dr. Jade Balfour! You are the father of fomicry! You made dozens of replicas!" Ooookay… that… I wasn't expecting.

"Jade…?" I was trembling. Asch and the rest turned around, they were surprised to see me there. "What is he talking about?"

"You too?" The old man hissed in exasperation.

"I won't deny it." Jade said fixing his glasses before looking back at the scientist. "I am the one who proposed the principles of fomicry."

"Then you have no right to criticize me!" He spat back.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm not interested in mutual wound-licking." Jade replied calmly. "I have no intention of covering for someone, just because they have committed the same sin as I. I'm aware of what I have done. That's why I forbade it. The replication of living organisms presented both technical and ethical problems. You, a fomicry researcher, should know well the fate of the first replicas of living creatures."

"I-I only… All I did was help with Van´s preservation project!" The scientist whined. "I figured, if all we were doing was recording the replica information…"

"Preservation project?" Asch looked back at me before frowning. "What are you talking about?" Simply hearing those words made me shiver.

"You didn't know?" The scientist asked with a mix of both, fear and exasperation.

"Tell us!" Asch hissed impatiently.

"…I can't. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all." The scientist brought a hand to his face before pushing his way through us to find the exit.

"Hey! Wait!" I was about to run after him but a heavy weighed limb shackled me in place. I turned around and found Asch´s hand on my shoulder.

"I think that's enough for today." His words were heavy as his grip, a sensation of unease in them. I looked at him for a second, then back to Jade, then to Guy and the others. Natalia was frowning and I brushed off Asch´s hand. "Fine." I barked. "We should go back to Inn; the guards of the city are looking for us..."

"Let's get going then." Asch raised a brow, but I decided to ignore the gesture. I knew I would have to talk with Jade later, making a scene there wouldn't have helped at all; at least I had learned a few things about common sense in our journey.

We walked towards the exit in silence; everyone was caught in their own train of thoughts. I had no doubt that everyone had at least one or two things to reflex about. Asch and Guy were the ones that looked even more thoughtful than anyone else. It was hard to believe they had once been friend when they didn't seem to be able to see each other's faces now days.

"This is no good. We are out of fonimin." We all turned around as one of the scientists in the hall shared his preoccupation with one of his mates. "We can't make replicas without it."

"Already?" The other one scratched his beard. "The next trip to Ortion Cavern to collect more is still ways off."

"That cavern itself is convenient, but having to go all the way to Radessia to get to it sure isn't…" The scientist stopped as he watched us eavesdropping, we hurried to the exit as fast as we could and closed the door behind us, hoping this wouldn't cause some sort of problem to us.

"Why is Van collecting replica data?" Natalia asked. "What does he plan to do with it?"

"Well," Anise looked at us cursorily. "I would assume he is going to make replicas."

"Then we have to stop it." I said. Asch nodded.

"…We are going to the Ortion Cavern."

"The cave on the western continent of Radessia?" Natalia crossed her arms uneasily." But why?"

"I presume he intends to investigate the replica issue." Jade commented. "Fonimin can be gathered there. And…"

"And?"

"Well, you know. Radessia is Kimlascan territory. Malkuth can't interfere. Dist was originally a researcher from Malkuth. It's a logical place for him to go after stealing fomicry technology."

"That rat…" I hissed. "He had to be behind this too."

"Enough talk. Let's get going." Asch commanded, but Anise ignored him and looked back at the Fon Master.

"Boooo. Do you really thing we should go, Ion?" Ion gave me a soft smile, though I could see he was worried.

"Yes, for now, let's do what he says."

"I'm getting off here." Guy said, his statement caught everyone off guard, except Jade and me.

"Why?" Asch asked disconcerted, even though he had been treating Guy as bad as he had.

"I'm worried about Luke." Guy replied. "I have to go back to him." I'm not bragging here but I did notice that the relationship between Asch and Guy was way different in my original's last memory fragment. At that time, Guy took care of him because it was his duty, not because he liked him. Luke must have been… different… a real child and not a grown up trapped in the body of a ten year old boy.

"I don't believe you!" Anise hissed. "Who cares about that idiot!"

"I do…" I looked down at the floor and crossed my arms. "I miss Mieu and Tear too. I shouldn't … I shouldn't have said what I said to her…" That part of the memory where the real Jude misses her too… damn it, it made me feel bad.

"Yeah, and like you said, Luke is an idiot, he needs my help." Guy stated. "I don't know what he would do alone. And… I have faith that he can get past this. If Jude can, he can."

"Don't make me blush." I grinned, he stepped back a bit, as if I was about to hug him or something. I would have if Natalia hadn't got in the way.

"Guy! You are Luke´s attendant, and his friend!" She protested. "The real Luke is right here."

"This might be the real Luke. But my friend is that idiot." Guy confessed.

"It's up to you if you want to go back to him," Jade sighed. "But how do you intend to return to Yulia City?"

"…Aramis Spring. It's a cave northwest of Daath." Asch replied coldly. "If the replica comes back to the Outer Lands, he´ll pass through there." Ouch, someone is trying to hurt me.

"Thanks, Asch."

"…Humph. I knew you would choose him."

"Did Van tell you? Well that's not the only reason." In that instant, something small and hard smacked me on the back of the head.

"Owww…" I rubbed my head and found the projectile near my feet, a small pebble. I looked around and found Oliver hiding between some bushes. He was making me gestures and moving his lips silently… Then, he pointed behind him… oh shit.

"Damn it, we need to get out of here! The guards are coming this way!" I hissed.

"Go back to Tartarus!" Guy snapped, taking out his sword. "I`ll lure them away!"

"N-NO, WAIT! Cynthia has more information about Jude!" I stammered. "We need to go back to the Inn!"

"There is no time for that right now!" Asch grabbed my arm and pulled me as the others ran away as well. "Don't let them take you, Guy!" Guy waved his hand dismissively and grinned. I looked behind us one last time, the guards had already spot Guy, standing in a fighting stance, meanwhile Oliver was running after us…

The City of Fontech, Belkend, that night…

Cynthia was worried, Jude had not returned. Not even Guy, Master Luke and the others, not even the young boy. It was raining outside, a thunder storm lighting the sky now and then, roaring through the wind and whispering grief.

All the guests were sleep now, but her anguish wouldn't let her join them, something terrible had happen, she thought. A thunder illuminated the kitchen for a moment, but the darkness came back seconds after.

Cynthia took a seat in the empty dinner table and heaved a sigh. There was a lot she had to say and she was hoping that she would be able to take off all of it from her shoulders once Jude came back. But no, it was around midnight and no one had come back, the only thing that made her feel better was that the guards were still roaming around, looking for the "criminals" who had destroyed half of the port.

Little did she know that she was the one who was in real danger.

The shadow was swift as a deer, it came behind her and she didn't notice his presence until he clamped a gloved hand on her mouth. Cynthia struggled and whimpered but the masked man showed her a kitchen knife and she stopped, terrified. Even more when he placed it under her chin.

"I hate doing the dirty job, my dear Cynthia…" He whispered to her ear. "It's something I don't normally do, that's Cabaletta´s job…" Cynthia tried to pull away, slowly, but Jacko was strong, even though it seemed he was barely using any strength. "It's really a shame…" He sighed. "You were a beautiful woman."

As he ended the sentence, blood spilled the sink and walls of the kitchen. Her body lying limp over his chest. "A real shame…"

Poor Cynthia.