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"You don’t say? Totally transformed?"

"Really! Like a totally different person! She’s as gentle as a lamb!"

Jonothan was finally getting to the point where he could sit up. Quinn handed Jonothan a fish stuck with a stick.

Jonothan groaned, "I swear, when this is over, I will NEVER eat fish again!"

Adonis angrily gnawed at his fish, "Isn’t there anything else to eat in these mountains?"

"Sure, if you’re a killing machine with a sharp object," Hiko unhappily picked at his fish.

The four men glanced over to the bonfire, where Gray was skinning a rabbit he trapped earlier.

"How nauseating…" Quinn muttered, "That he didn’t take up into consideration."

"I know something more nauseating…." Jonothan spun the stick which held his fish.

Ivy cheerfully sat herself in the middle of the men, "Good gravy, I’m starved!" she took a huge bite out of her fish, and made happy grunts as she scarfed it down.

The four men all glared at the girl.

"You’re enjoying this way too much." Adonis flatly retorted.

Ivy’s smiled quickly faded as Jonothan sighed, and Quinn muttered under his breath. "Well, if that’s how you’re going to be…" she stood, and swayed her hair over her shoulder mockingly, "I’ll find company elsewhere!"

"You’re breaking my heart." Adonis replied with less enthusiasm.

Angrily, Ivy stormed away, searching for Arlen. She spotted Arlen, who was re-wrapping Yamatako’s bandage on her shoulder. She walked towards them. Her jaw began to throb from the blow Yamatako gave her hours prior. It’s been ailing her for the five hours she’s been up, but she daren’t have Jonothan know of it.

The two elders glanced up to Ivy. Yamatako’s eyes locked with Ivy’s. Her empty gray eyes now had the warmth of a candle flame, much like the comfortable stare of Arlen’s.

Subconsciously Ivy brought her left hand to her jaw.

Yamatako cracked a soft smile. "I’m really sorry about that, sweetie. I wasn’t myself."

Ivy noticed her hand, and quickly jerked it away, "It’s really nothing!" she spoke, Maybe I should find Randoruun and sit with him…

"Do join us, Ivy," Arlen finished bandaging Yamatako’s shoulder.

Ivy looked to Arlen, who spoke to her for the first time in about a day.

Yamatako scooted away, and patted the empty space next to her.

Ivy stood for a moment, and looked from the empty space to the inviting smile on Yamatako’s face. It overflowed with maternal gracefulness. She fidgeted. They probably wanted to be alone…

"Sit, Ivy." Arlen gently insisted.

Ivy obeyed this time without resistance. She sat between the two, and finished her fish, her eyes moving between Yamatako and Arlen.

Yamatako smiled, and looked to the fire, "The irony is amazing. That we ran into each other again after so many years…"

Arlen sighed in reply, "And you are the Dark Knight."

"…was." The woman corrected.

Arlen nodded, and looked to Ivy, who just tapped him on the shoulder.

Ivy stammered, "I…I wanted to know…" she pointed to the fire, "Fish, anyone?" she giggled foolishly, and stuck out her tongue.

Arlen smiled, "If you don’t mind."

"Not at all!" the teenaged girl stood up, and cheerfully spun around to face them. "Miss…?"

"Please." Yamatako politely requested.

Ivy nodded, and walked over to the fire, where Gray was roasting his rabbit opposite the fish.

Ivy took two of the well-done fish, and blew on them, waiting for a third fish to finish for herself. She crouched in front of them. The fire stung her eyes as she looked through it at the hazy figure of Gray slicing a hole in the legs of the rabbit he trapped, and stabbing a branch through the incisions. Ivy felt her teeth grind with discomfort.

She concentrated on that discomfort, looking at Gray’s face, which seemed to have a permanent scowl on it. She did, anyway, until she came to realize her eyes were fixed on Gray’s for a good amount of time.

Ivy felt her heart jump to her throat, as she felt frozen, unable to break the stare.

Gray blinked, and Ivy finally was able to look away to her fish, which she surprisingly didn’t drop. She felt her face burn so hot, the fire seemed to cool her off. She quickly grabbed another fish, and sped back to Arlen and Yamatako.

Adonis sneezed for the millionth time, his fish dropped in the dirt.

"Dammit!" Adonis growled, "There’s no way I’ll get better out here! We should give up and go home!"

"Are you forgetting? You have no home to go to." Jonothan impatiently nibbled on his fish, "I can’t believe I was so stupid as to not anticipate this cold weather!"

"Maybe we should go back into town and get rooms and medical care," Quinn suggested.

Hiko jumped to his feet, "We can’t do that! What about Ivy?!"

Adonis, Quinn, and Jonothan all looked to Hiko, their faces blank. Gray looked up from his rabbit roasting, and shortly after went back to his lunch.

"We all made a commitment! We all made the decision in our hearts to get to the bottom of this! She might be loud, and bossy, and violent…but…but…" Hiko’s eyes welled with tears, "When I was alone, she took care of me…and…" he burst into tears, "She didn’t even know me!" he muffled his cries in a sleeve, and stood crying for a moment.

Adonis was about to get to his feet to comfort the poor little guy, but Hiko held out an arm and took a step back, notioning Adonis to cease.

Hiko took a deep breath, and dried his tears. He looked up to the men again, and continued, his voice quivering.

"I know each of you have your own reasons for being here…" he swallowed, "But I can think of a reason better than any: She needs us, and helping her is the right thing to do.

"I know my small body doesn’t serve as much protection, but I think I will use every last breath in my body to protect this young lady who days ago swore to protect me. And if you won’t help, then…" he looked straight into the eyes of the three men he spoke to, "It was a pleasure to have known you. I wish you well."

Hiko solemnly turned around to sit with Ivy, wherever she was. He rammed face-first into the soft stomach of the girl, and looked up to look into Ivy’s blissful hazel eyes, gleaming with happy tears.

Ivy’s knees hit the ground in front of the kinder. Her tears straying from her eyes, she threw her arms around the tiny frame of Hiko, quietly, weakly crying out his name. She kept apologizing, telling him how she would never be angry with him again, and how she would protect him always.

Hiko sobbed as she spoke, and she folded him against her bosom as he wept bitterly in her breast.

"DAMN IT!"

Nicodemus winced as he saw a vase get thrown off a nearby table.

"Will judgement ever be inflicted on the guilty?!" the grief of the voice which spoke was filled with torturing anxiety, "Pilot!!"

Nursing his wound, the horrendous elf’s eyes shot up.

"She will be coming near this place soon. The first moment she is alone, you grab the girl."

Pilot nodded. His breathing was heavy, "Yes, lord…"

Nicodemus looked away from the crouched elf, "I shall take my leave, Master Matheson. My loyalties were with Yamatako, and she no longer needs me."

"And neither do I. Go."

The old man’s eyes lowered, and he departed silently.

Pilot’s master choked another disappointed sigh. She must die! They all must suffer! Every last one!

The sun had not even gotten close to setting yet when Hiko had fallen asleep from crying so hard.

Ivy planted a soft kiss on his tiny forehead, and whispered softly to him, "I’ll never leave you. I’d die first." She gazed lovingly at the peaceful face of the kinder, and stood, looking around the camp.

She felt nervous. Maybe anxious. She tried to pinpoint the reason. Could it be the fear that one of the men would desert her? Arlen and Yamatako might want to settle down. They probably aren’t willing to risk their lives now. After all, they have each other to live for. Ivy was happy for them, but at the same time, couldn’t help but envy them.

She looked over to Gray. Who knows how long he would stay. He never said why he was hanging around anyway. Her eyes went to Adonis, Jono, and Quinn. None of them were in the condition to fight. Her hope, bit by bit, was falling apart. She was beginning to feel doom creep up on her. She then looked across the camp to the solitary Randoruun. Certainly he would have an encouraging word. Nothing could faze him, after all!

She took a breath, and pranced her way over to the boulder the handsome elf sat on.

Randoruun continued to gaze into the thick forest in front of him.

Ivy sat herself next to him, and leaned forward, trying to get eye contact with him. Failing, she looked into the forest, "Tell you what. When we get home, I’ll cook us up a feast consisting of nothing but red meat!" she giggled, trying to lighten up the mood. Seeing that had no effect, she threw it all out on the table. "I’m worried." She looked at Randoruun through the corner of her eye, but then looked back to the lush pine trees. "The other guys are falling apart. I think they want to give up." She looked to Randoruun, waiting to get an answer, but never anticipated what his reply would be.

The elf looked at Ivy for a moment, in silence. He turned back to the forest, and blinked. Ivy didn’t look away this time, as if to force an answer out of him.

"Under the circumstances….I think we are fulfilling our roles as heroes."

Ivy’s eyes widened a little, and she drew in a small breath. Her eyes began to sting with tears. She stood, and held back her tears, "….I’m going to….take a bath for a while….." she spun on her heel, and headed towards the river in the forest, and million thoughts flooding through head. The first being How dare he! HOW DARE HE!!!! Acting as though it’s nothing at all!!! She aggressively wiped away a stray tear with an open palm. She kept pacing towards the sound of rushing water as she kept going deeper into the woods. Part of her hoped with all of her heart that the men would never find her.

As she kept her downcast eyes on her feet, she began to wallow in self-pity, and missed the stone sticking out of the trail she was blazing. She tripped over it, and hit the ground with a soft thud. That set off the tears. She buried her face in her arms, and let out loud, deafening sobs which shook her entire body. She stopped to take a breath and heard water rushing, stronger than ever before. Her bawling ceased, and her bloodshot eyes took in the sight of the waterfall which flowed into a pond. She slowly crawled over to the pool of water, and saw a small school of yellow minnows swimming in a circle around her reflection.

She shot up to her feet, and took her eyes off of the pool. She spun around, and saw three berry bushes, each of a different color.

Ivy ran over to the bushes, and stared at them in complete disbelief. She ran behind the bushes, her heart sped up. She froze when she found it.

Her heart never beat so fast in her life.

The carved wooden headstone leaned against the roots of a pine tree.

Ivy collapsed on the bed of dried pine needles below her. Her body grew cold. Her stomach felt empty. Her head was about to burst.

It took a moment to react to Pilot grabbing her right arm, and twisting it behind her back.

Pilot’s breathing was weak and raspy, "You’ll come with me." He brought a knife to her neck.

Ivy’s eyes widened, and she remained silent. With the handle of the knife, Pilot gave a quick, sharp blow to the back of Ivy’s head. She fell to the ground, limp but fully conscious. Pilot blindfolded her, and threw the girl over his shoulder.

In a matter of minutes, Ivy heard a voice she heard once before echo in her head.

"Untie her, Pilot, and go. You’ve done your job."

"B…but my lord…" the elf’s voice also echoed in…was it a room? If so, it must have high ceilings.

There was a deadening "thud" not far from Ivy. She was startled, but didn’t cry out, for fear of what awaited her.

Footsteps echoed closer and closer to Ivy. She heard shifting of whatever fell next to her.

"Pilot…?" the voice was close now. Real close. "…how did this happen…?"

Ivy squirmed a bit, regretting it immediately.

Her blindfold came off, and her eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room she was in---it looked like the interior of a mansion….the cracked pillars…faded, torn curtains…she put her hands on the cold stone floors, and looked at the figure whose voice rang familiar.

"You’re….you’re that voice in the general store!" Ivy’s scared voice echoed in the huge building.

"And the one in the dream, don’t forget that." The back of the figure faced her. Short, thick auburn hair brushed the back of his neck. "You’re a little old to be heir to the fortune of Davis. Where’s your husband? Don’t you have a child?"

Ivy daren’t stand, "N…no…I have neither."

"Hmm." The small frame of the figure didn’t turn around. "That will make things easier. Do you know why you’re here?" the figure turned its head just barely to peek over his shoulder.

Ivy looked straight into the deep blue eye which looked straight through her.

"I….I…." Ivy felt her knees and elbows go numb with fear, as she sunk away from the stare of her abductor.

"Don’t play dumb. It hasn’t been that long since your kin destroyed my life." He turned around, and walked towards her, into the meager ray of evening sunlight leaking through cracks in the walls.

Ivy’s mouth gaped opened when the frame of the figure came into full view. The square face, thin legs, small shoulders…it was an adolescent boy!

The child’s think auburn hair brushed over his ears, and his deep blue, large, exotic eyes beautifully contrasted his dark tan complexion.

Ivy took a faint gasp of air, and her heart sped up. She began to shift away from the boy as her eyes examined the features on the strange-looking boy’s face.

"You’re too good to be true…"

Ivy felt her back hit a wall, and she froze. Her eyes locked with the boy’s.

"Don’t you have anything to say? Isn’t there some reason you have for killing her?" he walked closer to Ivy, and drew a knife from a cloth sheath.

"I…I…I didn’t…!!!"Ivy’s life flashed before her. Nowhere in her life could she imagine killing someone. Tears welled in her eyes.

"I mean, I can’t imagine what you went through. All the people I love are alive…"

Ivy squeezed her eyes shut when she saw the boy slam his fists against the wall behind her, inches from her face. Tears fell out of her eyes, down her cheeks, and they fell on to her necklace. She choked down sobs of fear as she silently cried. She squeezed her eyes tighter shut, as she felt the soft breath of the boy on her face.

"Because of you, I am alone…" the boy’s voice went quiet and low.

"You’ll spend forever with me, right?"

Kei! Ivy’s eyes snapped open, "KEI!"

The boy’s eyes widened, and he drew back from the girl, whose tears flowed freely now, as she looked at the young boy.

"….Kei…." she breathed the name through her hiccuping.

The boy backed away further, "Ivy…?" fear was etched in his voice.

Kei! Of course! The blue eyes! The auburn hair! The features all fit together now….the dark skin, the nose…ears….

"…brown hair…necklace….collar piece…hazel eyes…" his words were barely audible, and quieter than the wind. His eyes looked Ivy over, not believing that…

He backed out of the sunlight partially, and spoke again, more of joy and relief, "Ivy…"

Ivy felt a smile break through her tears. She scrambled to her feet, and wanted to run to him, and embrace him, "Ke--!"

A gleam flickered from the shadows. She froze. Time stopped for a moment. A blade traced across the length of the thin throat of the adolescent Kei.

Kei’s eyes widened as they locked with Ivy’s. His small body fell limp on the ground.

For all Ivy was worth, she could not see. She was frozen in place, though her body still allowed her eyes to well up with tears. Even if the tears she wept vanished, she would still be blinded for she would not allow herself to see what the cruel moment had brought. As the tears fell, she could hear herself breathing, and Kei’s small body appeared. She came to realize the figure before her was still. Finally, unwillingly, she could hear a murmur, a whimper. Soon she understood it came from her own mouth. It rose to an all-out scream, it echoed in the room like taunting laughter. She fell to her knees, reaching desperately for her beloved. Her legs refused to move under her, and she tearfully dragged herself to Kei’s side, crying in his bosom.

She heard two footsteps hitting harshly on the floor. She was unwilling to look up, but something beyond her control led her eyes up to see Gray. She stared at him tearfully as he looked down at her, showing no signs of pity or remorse.

She wanted to scream at Gray with all of her existence, and flood his thoughts with curses and threats that she never before imagined. However, the only noise that escaped her were frantic gasps and whimpers. Her entire body shook, anxiety filling every contacted muscle. Her whimpers grew louder, and her tears flowed more freely than ever.

Gray lowered the bloody knife to his side, and remained silent.

The last thing Ivy remembered was the image of the oni lifting his free hand, and clenching it to a loose fist. That, and a meager drop of blood hitting the stone floor by her eyes.

The cabin was empty now. And colder than it had ever been.

Ivy silently stood at the doorway of Kei’s bedroom. The sheets were perfectly tucked in as though they were never slept in. The candles were new, the wicks were white, never lit. The lanterns were filled with oil, also unused.

Ivy turned around, and walked towards the kitchen. She stopped at the door leading to the workshop. She stared at the handle for a moment, and hesitantly opened the door.

It was still dark. The scent of pine was gone. The shavings and sawdust were nowhere to be found. All that remained on the floor were two stools and a bare table.

Ivy’s eyes remained downcast, and she closed the door, never to open it again.

The dishes were all clean and neatly stacked in their cabinets. The sink and oven were empty. There were no eggs in the basket on the side of the oven. No fruit and vegetables were available in the house.

Ivy sat at the dining room table, and rested her chin against her fists. No tears came to her eyes. She felt a sinking emptiness in her soul. It was as though she spent an entire lifetime in a dream, and she woke up, only to realize it was nothing more than a dream, and she would never experience it again, for as long as she lived.

"How did she ever get here?!"

The men all stood inside of the broken-down estate on the side of the canyon. All of them stood over the corpse of Kei, staring at the slit throat.

"Gray did this, didn’t he?" Hiko kept his eyes on the pool of blood below the body.

Randoruun closed his eyes, and drew in a breath. It was clear he was desperately searching his mind for answers that would redeem the terror-filled representation of humanity that seemed to be perfectly portrayed in the loss of life in front of him. He bit his bottom lip, and quickly released it. His actions portrayed none other than a fierce regret for the situation in which he found himself. He answered with a mere utterance. "Yes. We think so."

The kinder’s voice grew quiet., "That would explain why he’s missing."

The men all turned away, and walked out of the ruins to see to Ivy.

Quinn turned back to Kei, and knelt to its side as something caught his eye.

Ivy lay on her stomach just barely gripping hold of her self-awareness. Her eyes opened a little. None of the men noticed.

"Look at this…" Quinn walked up to Randoruun and Adonis, holding a medallion of some sort, "If my memory serves me correctly, this is the Crest of Matheson."

Jonothan, Arlen, Hiko, and Yamatako walked over to the three to take a closer look at the pendant.

Randoruun stared at the Crest for a moment. His eyes suddenly widened, "Ah--!"

"Hmm?" Adonis looked to his best friend, "What’s wrong?"

"The necklace!" Randoruun hit his fist on his open palm, "Ivy would have been heir to the Davis family fortune!"

"Ivy’s a noble?!" Jonothan gasped.

Ivy’s eyes opened a bit wider at that. She was fully awake now. She went to her satchel, which had its contents spilled out next to her. She overheard the men, who spoke in hushed voices. She put away her money pouch slowly.

"One of the members of the Davis family ruined the Mathesons due to a bitter rivalry." Randoruun muttered, "This entire thing was probably backed by a personal vendetta."

The men looked to Ivy, whose back faced them. She was assumed to be out of earshot, and totally absorbed in picking up her things.

Arlen moved from the group, and over to Ivy. "How are you feeling?"

Ivy didn’t look up from her bag, and quietly dismissed the subject, "Fine."

Arlen nodded, kneeling next to her. Ivy’s nonchalant mood was understandable, and he wasn’t going to fester any wounds. "Are you able to travel?"

"Whatever---" Ivy interrupted her own sentence, "—whenever you’re ready."

Arlen nodded again, and stood up silently, walking back to the group.

Yamatako took Arlen’s arm, and gave him a worried look. Arlen sadly shook his head, and Yamatako looked over to Ivy, remorse on her face.

Ivy remained silent as she slowly stood up. She flung her sack over her shoulder, and didn’t look at the men as she walked past them. Her heart felt non-existent. She never felt so empty in her life. She sighed as her feet heavily fell along the pebbled path. Usually, she felt something! –Anger, sorrow, excitement, anxiety….but now….she felt dead. No tears came to her eyes. She wished they would. That would be normal.

What now? She had found the answer to the question that had led her on this obscure mission. And now she was doing what she had always hoped, but now simply intended to do---

---Return home in Ageis.

End Installment Eight

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