Karneval/カーニヴァル 1. Darkness

**Hello and welcome! I had started watching this lovely show Karneval recently and decided to write story behind it. I love the characters and the plot, so it seemed like the perfect idea. I hope you enjoy it and review after! It helps the writing process more than you know.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Darkness**

I was so tired of this. I had been a part of this life for a while now and working with Circus for a long time. There was a show being put on for a city and I was called in to assist since I belonged on the Second Ship. I was told by Yogi to stop taking so many breaks in my job and to come back where I belonged. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but when the order comes straight from the Captain you have to listen. The moment I arrived on scene, I received a lecture of epic proportions about my latest break and told to go get ready for my act.

This was not what I wanted to do with my life. I only came to Circus to learn how to become stronger and to dissuade the ones pursuing me. I needed to learn how to better protect the one I cared about most, my darling little brother. Once I had decided that I was able to watch out for him, I went back to our home to find him, only to discover that he was gone. I didn't know if he had been captured by my pursuers or if he had left on his own free will, but I knew that I just had to find him. He was naïve and so dependent on others that it frightened me to no end to have to leave him, but I had no choice if I wanted to protect him. I had hoped that the one I told to watch over him would do a better job, but I supposed that it wasn't the case.

I moved into a tent that belonged to me and changed into my outfit for my act. It was a black strapless dress that was covered in painted on scales that were tinged with blue, bright orange and red flames sparkled along the ends of the dress. On the back of it near my shoulder blades were two sparkly pieces of fabric that were fashioned to look like the wings of a dragon. My act was that of a fire breather, one I was extremely good at with my condition. Only two people knew about it and it would continue to remain a secret for as long as possible.

I looked into the mirror and saw the dark circles under my crimson eyes, showing how tired I really was. My long white hair was wild and all over the place, even the two tufts of blue hair on my head, the ones that people said resembled ears, had drooped down and I grabbed the brush. I worked on getting my hair to look a little less messy, even though that was a task I could never quite accomplish. Finally, after about ten minutes, it looked back to its normal messiness and the blue tufts were once more looking the way they had been before. Not only that, but you could now see the streaks of blue that were mixed intermittently throughout my snowy white hair. I grabbed my makeup and made the dark circles disappear, then added dark eyeliner around my eyes to make my red irises stand out and blood red lipstick to my lips to make them a little darker.

I sighed and walked out of the tent to see Yogi waiting for me, giving me a bright grin that was supposed to make me feel better. "I see our little fire breather is ready for the show!"

"What do you want, Yogi?" I sighed as I walked right past him without giving him a second look.

"I just wanted to tell you about something important," he said as he ran to catch up to me, walking by my side once he had. "Not that long ago, Hirato told me to rescue these two kids that had been chased by a couple of bad guys. They chased the poor kids into an alley and that's when I stopped them. Tsukumo thought it would be a good idea to let you know that they will be staying with us in the Airship."

"I don't really see why this concerns me," I told him as I kept walking until I saw the stadium appear from past the buildings. "I don't plan on staying long enough to see them. I'm going to finish my act and then leave right after."

"That's the thing…" he said hesitantly, ruffling his hair awkwardly. "Hirato knew you'd say that and he said that you have to stay for a week before you decide to leave right away." This had me stopping in my tracks and I turned to look at him with a glare, making him shrink back from me a little. "Aw, c'mon, Cleo! Don't give me that look! It's not my fault, so you shouldn't give me such grief! I think you should stay long enough to meet the newbies before leaving, too!"

"It doesn't matter if I see them or not," I told him fiercely. "This is absolutely ridiculous and the Captain knows it. He's keeping me here so it gives him a reason to stop my extensive isolation."

"Well, you have to admit that you are going a bit overboard with your breaks. We all miss you here and we never know where you disappear to from one day to the next." I shook my head at his words and continued on with walking towards the stadium where my act would be preceded by Tsukumo's acrobatic one. Yogi sighed and ran to catch up with me once more. "Listen, Cleo, I want you to promise me that you will meet them. I really think it's a good idea that you do before you leave. If you want to go early before the week is up, I won't stop you and I won't tell Hirato that you left. I'll take the fall for it, so long as you just say you'll meet them first."

I knew for a fact that he wouldn't let this go unless I agreed to his terms, so I decided to just give up. I nodded that I would do as he asked and he gave me a happy grin before running off somewhere. I pushed my bangs out of my eyes as I began to pick up the pace, keeping my eyes set on the stadium as I let my thoughts wander back to my last nightmare. Usually, this wasn't something I would do regularly but this was always a topic that bothered me deeply. Anything that had to do with my brother worried me more than I could bear and that was why I was so determined to find him by any means necessary.

It was soon after I had become a full-fledged member of Circus and assigned to work under Hirato that I had decided to track my brother down. I had left him with a caretaker, a friend of ours that looked to be around my age at the time, so I knew that he should stay safe while I was gone. I always felt deeply upset for having to leave my little brother at all, but staying meant that he would eventually be found by the people that were incessantly trying to capture me and I couldn't let that happen. I had no other choice and it hurt me down to my soul. As I had reached the area where we had lived, a place not far from the ocean, I realized that it was too quiet. I knew then that something was wrong and I ran towards the beach where we would sometimes play, only to find a trail of blood leading to the water and making my own blood run cold. I searched all over the place in hopes that I could find either him or his caretaker, but there was no trace of them. The image of the blood trail was permanently etched into my mind as I was sick with worry.

I didn't realize it until I had almost reached the stadium that I was panting in fear as my stomach turned painfully, that worry escalating to extreme heights. It was for this reason that I never allowed my emotions to be seen lest the people I worked with saw me in this condition. I didn't want their pity, nor did I need it. I fought to push my raging emotions down to the furthest corners of my mind as I walked into the back entrance of the stadium, making my way throughout the corridors and past throngs of people that were working to get to a specific door that would lead out to the ring. I could hear screams and shouts of joy as Tsukumo went about her acrobatic act. Before long, the shouts turned to applause and I knew that it was almost my turn. The door opened as she could be seen bowing one more time to them, then she turned around to walk towards me.

"Did Yogi tell you about our newest additions?" she asked as she shook the sparkles from her hair before giving me her normal serious look. She was in varying shades of pink and her platinum blonde hair was up in her customary two long semi curly ponytails. She brushed her bangs to the side as her violet eyes settled on me, not once straying from mine as she assessed me.

"Yes, he ambushed me outside of my tent," I sighed. "Then he proceeded to spin this long tale about his heroics of saving both of them. Seriously, he should learn how to get straight to the point instead of dragging things along so unnecessarily."

"You know he does that for a reason," she told me. "He knows that you will just run away again so he does what he can to keep you with us for as long as possible. I'm assuming that he told you that we all miss you, yes?"

"That also was mentioned, along with informing me that it was imperative that I meet these newbies."

"He was right," she said softly, a weird look of warmth crossing her face for a brief second and making me feel like I had just imagined it. "We believe that if you meet them, you might just stay with us a while longer instead of leaving. This could be your real break."

With those words, she walked past me and refused to say anything more. I waited patiently alone for a few minutes until a man peeked his head out of the door to give me a thumbs up. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, which I always seemed to get even though I was never scared of performing in front of a crowd, then walked out through the doors and into the darkness waiting for me. I could see perfectly in the dark even though no one else could, except for the monsters of the night that were the enemies of Circus. I moved along until I reached the very center of the ring, seeing torches line the entire perimeter that would be part of my act.

Letting out another breath that I didn't know I was holding, I snapped my fingers and the torches seemed to light themselves, casting such a bright white glow for a few seconds that it revealed the entire crowd sitting in the stands. Little did they know that it was I that made the flames roar into existence. There were gasps from them as the light began to die down and settle to an orange glow that left dancing shadows all about the ring. Raising a hand slowly above my head, the flames from the torches rose up and began to form an arc that reached a certain point above me. They banded together and formed a dome of fire, then what looked to be a droplet of fire slowly came down to rest on the palm of my hand just as the dome sputtered out entirely.

I brought down the droplet of fire level to my face and then lightly blew on it until it took the shape of a bubble. With a grin, one of the few times I would let one be seen, I forced the bubble to split until a large mass of fire bubbles danced above my head and made the children scream with joy. One of the bubbles drifted over to a group of kids and one of them hesitantly poked it with a finger, colorful sparks raining down on their heads that would feel cool rather than hot. They screamed happily and gave me a big smile that begged for me to do something else.

I let the rest of the bubbles drift about as I caught one on my hand, blowing on it lightly again as it stretched itself into a larger form. I jumped into it and let it float upwards with me inside, flipping and twirling with a laugh as I remembered how fun this used to be to me back before the hurt. That was when I remembered that I couldn't afford my own happiness right now and shoved my emotions back down as hard as I could, letting the bubble drift down to the floor and stepping back out of it. I raised the palm of my hand to touch it against the large bubble and let it grow even bigger before it popped, sending fireworks buzzing about everywhere at different speeds before fizzling out altogether.

A few of the boys began to chant the same thing over and over, and the mantra was "Dragon's Breath." The process involved literally breathing fire for as long as possible, just like that of a dragon. I wasn't sure if anyone else could do this or even if there were other fire breathers out in the world like me, but I could breathe fire for a long time and it had earned me the nickname Dragon Lady. I forced all of the little bubbles made from fire closer and inhaled them, feeling the flames burning within me as the darkness rolled over us all. Letting the flames build up strongly until I felt like I couldn't hold it in any longer, I forced the flames from my mouth in a constant stream, a huge plume of fire extending several feet away as it all rose up from my throat. Everyone cheered for me as I kept it going until I began to tire, closing my mouth and letting the fire in the air morph its shape into that of a huge lion. It roared loudly before I made it change into that of a tiger. This animal loped about the ring until I shifted its form one last time.

The fire stretched until it was as large as it could possibly be in the confines of the stadium, wings ripping free as a huge dragon formed. It roared fiercely as the children gaze up at it in awe, wide grins at the sight of it making me feel happy again. The dragon flew about above our heads, diving and dipping low enough to brush its scales close enough for the children to think they could reach up to touch it. The dragon roared again victoriously, landing on the ground behind me and rearing up onto its hind legs as I threw my hands into the air with my head tilted back. I was breathing heavily from all the magic I had used, looking up as the people running the show turned on the lights and I finally let the dragon disappear into thin air. I felt sweat running down my back and realized that I had tired myself out quite thoroughly since I hadn't done something like this in a long time. As the crowd cheered and the sounds of their applause rang out around the stadium, I bowed low to the ground a few times in every direction to show them my appreciation. I saw a few bouquets of flowers thrown out onto the ground as close to me as they could and a few younger gentlemen who worked with us ran over to collect them all, handing me a few of them as I waved at the crowd.

As I walked out of the doors after all the people who were carrying my flowers, I looked down at the ones in my arms and sighed. "What am I going to do with all of these?" I asked myself before carrying on with walking, making my way in the direction of my tent.

"You could always put them in vases throughout the Airship," a voice said behind me, which prompted me to turn around to see that it was Hirato. He took of his hat, flaunting it with a grand wave, and bowed to me, keeping his eyes locked on mine the entire time. "I would be happy to allow them to decorate the place a little more. It adds a certain flair that we sorely need up there."

"What do you want, Captain?" I asked before turning my back on him.

"I see that you are frustrated with me, so that means that Yogi did his job in telling you about our guests," he said as he calmly walked over to me, taking the flowers in my arms and carrying them from me as we both walked out of the stadium. "You know I always have a good reason behind everything that I do. I wouldn't needlessly force you to stay here when I know that you are searching for something that is important to you. That's why I have allowed you so much time on your own and away from us."

"I know all of this, but it still irritates me," I said quietly. "I feel that I am running out of time now more than ever. I need to find him."

My words seemed to make a glimmer of recognition appear from his eyes before he nodded slightly, then told me that I should head up to the ship as soon as possible. I sighed but told him that I would just as soon as I packed up my tent. He told me that I needn't worry about it and that I should just fly up to the ship now. I jumped into the air and flew along as the ship came into view, making my way inside to be greeted by tiny black sheep that were waiting for me.

"Welcome back, welcome back!" they yelled, seeming almost happy to see me as their clothes bounced because of their hopping.

"Good to be back," I told them calmly, giving them a small nod as they recognized my voice.

Soon enough, they all walked away in different directions as I did the same. I walked down a bunch of different hallways until I found my room, pulling out a key and unlocking the door for me to walk inside. I could only sigh again as I looked around at the practically barren room. Everything was covered in white, which I thought was the perfect fit for a girl who was so cold. I went into the bathroom and stripped down so I could get clean in the shower, not taking very long since I didn't want to see all the scars I had acquired over the years. Once I was clean, I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around my body so I could walk out into my room again. I delved into my dresser for some clothes that were comfortable for now. I pulled out a blue v neck t-shirt, white shorts, and a white hoodie that zipped up. I quickly put on my clothes and adjusted the sleeves on my hoodie before walking outside of my room entirely. I saw Yogi waiting for me once more and I groaned in frustration.

"I decided to see what was taking you so long since I knew for a fact that you were on the ship," he said with a grin. "I suppose it is a good thing that you changed though and took a shower. You really can't meet new people while being stinky. But you should probably dry your hair first."

I rolled my eyes and allowed the fire within me to make my hands warm up, then ran my fingers through my hair. I could hear a hiss as steam rose, forcing my hair to dry quickly. I made the two blue tufts of hair stick up like ears once more since they refused to do anything no matter what I did and only then did Yogi let me move along. He looping my arm through his and tried to get me to skip with him, but I would only growl and attempt to drag my feet each time. Before long, he managed to get me out into an area that was like an indoors observing deck. It was a large space with an entire wall that was a large window, one that looked out onto the scenery before the ship.

I could see the full moon ahead of us outside the window, one that seemed to be trying to slowly sink towards the horizon. It was then that I happened to look down a little to see a figure sitting on one of the couches. It was a young man who could be 15 or so and he had dark black hair. He wore a pair of goggles on his head slanted to the side, had a long blue zip up hoodie on him, dark pants and shoes, and I could even see black gloves peeking out from his pockets as he had his hands in them to keep up his bored façade. He must have noticed the fact that I was watching him and turned his head in my direction, fixing his blue gray eyes on me as he looked at me with disinterest. I could just tell that he didn't want to be here anymore than I did, but I refused to say a word about it.

"The one in blue with a rotten attitude is Gareki," Yogi told me, giving me a smile when the one named Gareki lost his disinterest long enough to replace it with suspicion.

"Who's she?" he asked simply.

I was about to answer him when I caught sight of another figure that was smaller than him, one that was hiding behind him as he watched us. I saw a single red eye as he peered around Gareki and I felt my breath instantly catch, making me tense up and stand straight as a board. My thoughts stopped and my mind went blank as we stared at each other. There was a glimmer of detection in that one red eye I could see and he moved out a little further behind Gareki. I could see his white hair and two lavender tufts just below his ears, making me stop breathing as I realized who it was.

"Cleo!" the boy yelled, running over to me faster than Gareki could stop him. I sank to my knees just in time for the boy to collide into me and we wrapped our arms around each other in a tight embrace. He buried his face in my shoulder and laughed happily while I felt my eyes sting with unshed tears. I couldn't believe my luck.

"Well, he seems to know you, Cleo," Yogi said in astonishment. "This little guy is called Nai and he came in with Gareki."

"I know who this one is," I said softly as I let out a tiny laugh. "He is the one I have been looking for and now all of my searching has come to an end."

"Who is he to you?" the young man named Gareki asked as he narrowed his eyes at me.

I leveled my eyes and our gazes locked as I said, "Nai is my little brother."

"We figured he might be when we saw the resemblance the two of you had," Yogi said with a happy smile.

"You mean the white hair and red eyes?" I said flatly, giving him a blank look that voiced my disapproval.

With a hesitant laugh, he ruffled his hair awkwardly and said, "Well, it's not exactly a common trait that you see all that often. I'd hoped that even if you weren't related that you two might bond and you'll still stay with us for a while longer."

"Wait, what do you mean, Yogi?" Nai asked, looking up at the blonde man standing nearby. I had a feeling he had only caught on to the last part and he focused his red eyes on me next, saying, "Are you going to leave soon?"

"I had planned on it," I said and was going to explain further when Nai looked panicked.

"No, you can't!" he yelled before hugging me even tighter, trying to keep me there with him. "You can't leave me again! Stay and make friends with Gareki! He needs it!"

"Not cool, man," Gareki said with a sigh. "I don't need friends."

"Listen, Nai, I'm not going to leave," I told him, pulling away so I could look him in the eyes. "When I said that I had planned on it, I meant that I had planned on going out to search for you some more since I didn't know you were already here. I've been looking for you for so long and I didn't intend to stop until I found you."

"But I'm right here."

"I know that now," I said, giving him a smile and reaching up to tousle his hair that only made him laugh. "I didn't know that before walking in the room. Now I'm glad that I was told to meet the newbies before I left."

"See? I told you that you should meet them!" Yogi said.

I shook off his words and Nai pulled me to my feet so that he could drag me over to the couch that Gareki was still sitting on. He sat down next to the young man and I took the opposite couch across from them with Yogi. Gareki seemed angry about something and I had a feeling that it involved me since he refused to so much as look in my direction. He didn't say a word and I knew that I would have to step up if I wanted to get some information.

"You don't seem very happy with me, Gareki," I said as I turned my gaze on him, waiting until I got the response I wanted.

He didn't say anything for a while until he finally glared at me, those gray blue eyes blazing angrily. "If Nai is so important to you, why did you leave him in the first place?"

"That's easy!" Nai piped up, tapping Gareki on the arm. "She told me that day that she had to leave to protect me!"

"But why? Why did you think that abandoning him would mean protecting him?" Gareki asked as he stood up quickly, his body language suggesting that he was more than angry now.

"I was being hunted," I said simply, shocking him just enough that his anger bled away. "I won't go into the details behind it, but the only way for Nai to remain safe was for me to disappear. They knew of my existence but they didn't know about his and that was how it was going to stay."

"Cleo, you never told me this," Yogi said sadly, looking down at the floor.

"Only Hirato knows my whole story," I told him with a bitter laugh. "He wouldn't let me on this ship until he knew everything. It's a requirement of the Second Ship. Now, I would like to know how you came across my brother, Gareki."

"It was while I was doing a job," he said as he sat down on the couch. I could hear something off about this, but the rest of his story seemed true as he carried on. "This lady was keeping Nai captive and had him handcuffed in this room. He asked me if he could escape with me so I took him along. What I wasn't expecting was the fact that the lady wasn't really a lady. She was some kind of… monster. She killed some servant working under her and she was hell bent on trying to kill us, too. We managed to get out by some stroke of luck and then happened upon two people from Circus on the train we were on. It's been a long two days."

"The monster you spoke of isn't an ordinary monster," the voice of Hirato said as he walked into the room. "They are called Varuga and they are an 'evolution' that an organization created that Circus is after. However, we need the two of you to be examined by our doctors."

"Why should we?" Gareki asked suspiciously.

"We just want to make sure that the Varuga's blood didn't get into your bodies," Hirato told him. "If that happens, their tainted blood will change you into one of them and I don't think that is something either of you would want."

He was about to turn around and leave once more when Nai hopped up from the couch. "Wait a second!" he said loudly, making Hirato turn around. Nai lifted his arm up and showed a strange looking bracelet to him, one I hadn't noticed until now. "Is Karoku here? This bracelet belonged to him."

Hirato examined the bracelet closely for a second and then answered his question. "Unfortunately, no one by the name of Karoku is a part of Circus. This bracelet looks quite old though and it should have been destroyed long ago… However, if you give us your full cooperation, both you and your friend, I'm sure we can find a few clues for you about this Karoku's whereabouts."

When I had heard Karoku's name, my blood froze with shock. Karoku had been the one I had entrusted with Nai's safety. Now that I thought back the relief of finding Nai safe, I realized that the blood trail I had found back at our home must have belonged to Karoku. Something was very wrong and Nai looked upset about the whole situation, so I knew I had more searching to do on his behalf to find his friend.


	2. Revelations

**Hello again! In the last chapter, you are introduced to the lovely Cleo and find out a bit of what she is like. She finally finds her dear brother and just that fact changes things for her. In this chapter, quite a few discoveries are made, especially an important one that shocks everyone beyond belief. I think you will all like it. Enjoy the chapter and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Revelations**

Nai and Gareki had been taken to an exam room where they could be looked at, just to make sure that the Varuga hadn't infected them. There was a window that looked into the room and that was where I stayed so that Nai could see that I hadn't left. He seemed comfortable around Gareki and looked at him as if he was a surrogate brother. Little Nai was the type to attach himself to people like that and I found it adorable. He turned to see me outside the window and waved at me energetically, so I waved back and he settled back down once more.

I heard footsteps approaching and then a voice said, "Aren't you glad that I stopped you from leaving?"

"I wasn't at the time, Captain, but I am now," I said softly. "I had thought you had forgotten about my predicament. I suppose it's a good thing you didn't."

"I remember all of my subordinates' problems," he told me as he stood beside me to look in the window. "That's why I ask for your history before you get on the ship. How are the patients?"

"Nai is his cheerful self, even though his was a little frightened at all the poking and prodding the doctors put him through. Gareki, on the other hand, is bored and irritated, so I'm sure he wants out of that room as fast as possible."

"I have a special task for you," he said, turning to look at me and making me do the same.

I rolled my eyes and said, "You have to be kidding me. I just found my brother and this is what you're going to do?"

"Don't get hostile, Cleiona," Hirato said sternly, opting out of using my nickname to show that he was serious. "This task is one that you will approve of. I want you to be both Gareki's and Nai's bodyguard. Yogi and Tsukumo can help when they aren't busy."

"Gareki won't like this one bit," I said with a tiny laugh. "I am quite certain he will try to give me the slip and Nai won't know what to do because of him."

Before he could speak again, the doctor came out and gave me a smile. "They are both in perfect health. There is no sign of Varuga blood whatsoever and they are free to roam about the ship."

The doctor left and headed down the hallway, nearly bumping into Yogi and Tsukumo, who were turning to walk closer to us. The doctor nearly fell so Yogi grabbed him to steady him as the doctor thanked him profusely. He walked away quickly and I could see his face burning red. I looked back at the window and saw Nai gazing at Gareki curiously, who looked bored again and was lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

"I want you to help Cleo watch out for Gareki and Nai," Hirato said to Yogi and Tsukumo. "I'm going out to talk with a friend in need a few towns over."

"Are you making us do this instead of going with you because you look down on us?" Tsukumo asked seriously.

Hirato shook his head and began to walk away, pausing for a few seconds once he was standing next to them to say, "Actually, I'm asking you to do this because I trust you. I don't want Cleo to be alone if Varugas decide to attack." The Captain then left entirely and disappeared from sight.

Yogi sighed and turned to look at me. "So what should we do now? Maybe we could play a game for a while and keep those two busy."

"That sounds like a good idea," Tsukumo said. "Cleo, keep an eye on them until we have everything set up. It shouldn't take very long."

I nodded and watched them go for a few seconds before turning towards the door. Just as I was about to open it, it was flung open and I was face to face with Gareki. I didn't realize that he was a few inches taller than me until then and we both stared at each other. Lazily, he leaned against the door frame as he looked down at me, crossing his arms and seeming to wait for me to get out of his way. There wasn't a chance in hell that I was going to do what he wanted and lifted my chin defiantly.

"What do you think you are doing?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes to show that I was being serious.

"I'm leaving," he said simply, his very voice exuding that boredom he used as a barrier. "I want to get out of here now while I have the chance."

"Well, too bad for you," I told him with a derisive smile, watching a spark of amusement flash in his eyes for a second before he suppressed it. "You get to stay in the lap of luxury for as long as the Captain decides you are welcome. So I suggest you get back in that room now before I force you to."

"Oh, I'd love to see you try," he said with a grin of his own, one that was just as mocking as mine. "You're a tiny little thing and I think I might break you in two before you're able to make me do anything."

As my smile got wider and I showed off my dainty elongated canines that didn't once surprise him, I reached my hand up to press it against his chest and allowed the fire within me to focus on my hand. The temperature there rose until he had to hop back, looking shocked as a light smoke rose up from where my hand had just been. I snapped my fingers and a tiny flame appeared just above them, which I doused by closing my fist around it. Nai began to clap so I knew he was entertained with my trick but Gareki could only stare.

"I'm sorry, but what was that about me not being able to force you back into the room?" I asked sarcastically, looking at my fingernails with disinterest and then up into Gareki's eyes.

Ignoring my previous words on purpose, he asked, "So you can control fire? Is that pyrokinesis?"

"I suppose you could say that," I told him. "I am Circus' fire breather. I am one of a kind."

Before Gareki could ask anything else, Yogi and Tsukumo appeared behind me. "We've got everything set up now!" Yogi said with a laugh. "We're going to play hide and seek and Tsukumo here is going to be the seeker!"

Gareki shouldered his way past me and turned down a few corridors to get out of sight. Nai ran up to me, gave me a quick hug, then ran off to hide somewhere else. I walked away from everyone else as Tsukumo began to count. I found a room with high ceilings and rafters, flew up to one of them, and waited patiently to be found. Ten minutes later, Tsukumo came into the room with Yogi and Gareki trailing after her, Gareki looking rather angry.

"You were told not to leave," Yogi said with a shrug. "You really shouldn't be so angry that they were doing their job."

"They picked me up and carried me away from the exit," Gareki grumbled.

"Found you, Cleo," Tsukumo called out, pointing a finger in my direction. I jumped down as she asked, "Have you seen Nai?"

I was about to answer when I felt a bad feeling deep in my gut, one that alerted me that something was wrong. I only ever had this feeling when the Varuga were near and I looked out the window to see a large one. It was rather grotesque looking and I wasn't all that concerned until I saw a figure cowering in front of it, one with white hair that stood out from afar. I gasped and flew to the window, opening it as quick as I could and flying down to Nai to keep him from the Varuga.

"Get away from him," I growled at the monster, watching its grin get even wider as it assessed me.

"Oh, more red seeds for me to take," the Varuga cackled. "I have been looking for so long and now I have finally found them."

"I said get away," I told it as my entire body went up in crimson flames. It took a step back and hissed, afraid of what I could do with my magic. I could hear running and I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Yogi, Tsukumo, and Gareki coming towards us, but the Varuga didn't like that.

"Can't have you interfere with me getting my red seeds!" the Varuga yelled and spit out what looked like eyes at Yogi and Gareki. They were wrapped up and struggling fiercely while Tsukumo ran past them, only for another Varuga to step from the shadows to wrap her up in its hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a distressed Nai try to pick up a large rock and throw it at the Varuga keeping Tsukumo still, but it didn't go very far and the Varuga formed a twisted grin on its face. The large Varuga turned back to me and tried to spit those eyes at me this time, but I extended my arm and sent a huge plume of fire outwards to burn them to a crisp. "This little girl is stubborn. Too bad I have to take her in with the boy."

Just as I had begun to suspect, now they knew of Nai's existence and wanted to capture him as well. I had tried to keep him safe from them and I had failed, which only served to make me even angrier. The flames around me burned out of control now and I bared my fangs at the monster before me. It looked a little confused at my behavior and I began to concentrate the flames in me until I felt it burning in my veins, then let it out like a Dragon breathing fire. The Varuga burned instantly and screamed in agony until it eventually turned to a pile of ash. My chest heaved as I tried to steady my breathing and I turned around to face the other Varuga when I heard a noise behind me.

"Time is up!" a little black Sheep from the ship said as it stood in front of Nai. "Nai was the last to be found so he is the winner! Game over!"

Thankfully, the Sheep picked him up and flew off with him, heading for the ship to keep him safe. I let out a sigh of relief as I turned back to the other Varuga, who had already let go of Tsukumo and was leaving the scene. Tsukumo cut Yogi and Gareki free from their binds as I did my best to force the flames back beneath my skin. It was a struggle in of itself and it took a few seconds to accomplish, leaving me hunched over and panting heavily. I felt exhausted as the lack of sleep finally caught up with me and my legs gave out entirely. I managed to catch myself and was on my hands and knees when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me to pull me up on my feet. I turned my head to see that it was Gareki and I could sense that he was worried even though he didn't let me see it.

"When was the last time you slept?" he asked softly.

"It's been a while," I told him with a bitter laugh. "I can sleep when I'm dead."

"If you're not careful, that might happen sooner than you think."

He kept a hand on me to steady me as we walked closer the ship and later Yogi grabbed him so that we could all fly back to the ship. I made it inside easily but walking around was a little difficult when my legs attempted to give out again. This time, Yogi and Gareki threw my arms over their shoulders to balance me and helped me walk along as dark spots began to pop up in my vision. Ten minutes of walking and my body shut down, forcing me to slump into them as I passed out.

* * *

The dreams were the reason behind why I never wanted to sleep. All I kept seeing whenever I closed my eyes were monsters of different sizes and shapes chasing after me. Soon after that, I would see Nai there in the darkness, calling out my name and looking for me even though I was right there, only the monsters heard him and chased after him instead. I tried my best to stop them, even going so far as to kill as many as I possibly could, but they caught him. I heard him screaming for me and it tore my heart to shreds. This was my biggest fear, my strongest nightmare. I didn't want to see harm come to Nai and I would die before anything happened to him.

I woke up with a gasp, sitting up quickly and scanning my surroundings like that of a wild animal. The first thing I noticed was the fact that I was in my room. I cursed my weakness that led to me passing out while in the presence of others as I caught sight of something that surprised me. Sitting in a chair near my bed was Gareki, looking as livid as ever. I pushed my bangs out of my eyes and forced my body over to the edge of the bed closest to him.

"Why do you look so grumpy?" I asked him, tiredly rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The only response I received was a grunt and he turned his face away from me to look towards the door. "It would be much simpler if you just told me what's going on. Don't force me to burn the answers from you. You know I'd do it."

"Something happened with Nai and I was sent here to wait for you to wake up so I would be out of the way," he grumbled.

I felt my blood run cold at his words and quickly asked, "What happened? Is he all right? Was it because of the Varugas?"

Before I could throw out any more questions, he waved his hand noncommittally and said, "He's not hurt or anything if that's what you are worried about. Not long after you passed out and we dropped you off here in your room, Nai heard something with his exceptional hearing. It was loud enough to make him scream in pain and later pass out just like you. He's been unconscious ever since."

"I'm going to see him then!"

I was up and running in seconds, Gareki yelling something after me that I didn't quite catch since I was already at the door. I heard him curse under his breath as he took off after me, but I was much faster than he was. I headed in the direction of the infirmary areas, loping along as a quick pace and hoping that he would be awake by the time I got there. I turned a corner to see Yogi and Tsukumo waiting outside of a doorway to the infirmary and I slid to a halt a few feet away just as Gareki caught up with me. He glared at me as he panted, hunching over to try to catch his breath.

"Good, you're awake," Yogi said to me. "At least one of you is finally conscious. Now we're just waiting on Nai."

I was about to say something when the doctor came out of the room to see us all. "Cleo, dear, you look like a mess! Go back to your room and get some more rest. I can't have you passing out a second time under my watch."

"I'll sleep later after Nai wakes up," I told him. "Is he going to be ok?"

"Physically, there is nothing wrong with him," the doctor said to us all. "The only thing is that there is a strong disturbance in his brain waves. Nothing serious but it is something I informed Hirato about. He said that he would go to the Research Tower to find out more. Honestly, he should be waking any time now."

"How soon are we talking about?" Gareki asked.

"Soon enough," the doctor said with a sigh, obviously displeased with the fact that he had to explain things twice. "Listen, young man, I want you to sit with Nai for a while. I need to go get some supper now while things are looking optimistic."

"Now wait a minute," I protested, taking a step closer to him. "I want to sit with Nai as well!"

"Sorry, Cleo, one person at a time until he wakes up. Besides, I thought I told you that you needed to get some rest."

With those words, the doctor walked away from us without so much as a second look. Gareki went into the infirmary and all I could do was stubbornly sit out in the hallway to wait it out. No matter what Yogi or Tsukumo said, I wouldn't move from that spot or speak up about it. Tsukumo finally gave up and left while Yogi said he would be back with food for me since I hadn't eaten. I didn't know when it happened, but I had managed to drift off to sleep with my head resting against the wall.

When I woke up again, there was a slamming noise that made me jump. I looked up and saw Gareki leaving the room, seeming so infuriated that he went expressionless so that no one would notice. His eyes seemed just as blank when our gazes met but I could sense the storm brewing in his mind as he walked down the hallway away from me. I was about to chase after him when I heard a sudden wailing noise that sounded sorrowful and absolutely wretched. I scrambled to my feet and burst into the room to see Nai weeping inconsolably, his cries loud and echoing through the hallways.

I moved closer to him and he screamed, "No, stay away!"

His tears slid down his cheeks faster than ever and he looked like he was under a lot of emotional distress. I felt my heart ache for him and I moved closer slowly, making him scream again. This time, he got up from the bed and made a move to run away from me, but I was much faster than he was. I ran forward and grabbed him, wrapping my arms around him tightly as he thrashed in my hold. He wailed again and I felt his tears drip down onto my arms, his body shaking as I pulled him even closer.

"You've got to leave me alone!" he whined. "I don't want you or Gareki to break! I don't want you both to be hurt!"

"Little Nai, what are you talking about?" I asked him softly, leaning my chin on the top of his head. "You should know that I am not so easily broken. I am much stronger than I was before I had to leave to protect you."

"Karoku has been coming in my dreams," he whispered shakily. "He said that I had to make you and Gareki leave or you would both break. Bad things happen around me, Cleo. I don't want that to happen to either of you."

He had finally stopped his struggles now that he had told me what he was so worried about, still he was shaking as if he was freezing. I let go of him long enough to turn him around to face me. I placed my hands on either side of his face and tilted his head back just enough so that he was looking me in the eyes. In those crimson pools, I could see worry and fear still swirling there, his tears still streaming down his cheeks. I could even see myself in those eyes and I realized I could understand why he worried so. I looked exhausted now more than ever and he was afraid of what might happen.

"I swear to you that nothing bad will befall us," I whispered back, giving him a comforting smile that took the edge off of his anxiety. "I will protect us all, even Gareki. You won't have to see another friend break or worse."

Even though he was still afraid for us, he seemed happier as he cried out what was left of his apprehension, hugging me tightly again to cry on my shoulder as I knelt in front of him with my arms around him. He was sniffling lightly as I heard footsteps approaching and I turned my head to see Yogi with a tray of food for the both of us. He saw that Nai was awake and gave us a bright smile until he noticed the situation that he had just walked in. Yogi tilted his head to the side and then walked in the room to set the tray down.

"Gareki found me and said that Nai was finally awake," Yogi said as he put the two plates of food out on the table for us to eat. "However, he didn't say anything about this. It makes me wonder."

It made me wonder what was going on as well. Gareki had stormed out of the room faster than an alley cat and I had a hunch that he might have been another reason why Nai had been bawling his eyes out. If that boy had done something to my little brother, there would be hell to pay. I would chase him around the ship and throw fireballs at him.

I gently pushed Nai away from me so I could hold him at an arm's length, making sure to keep a grip on his shoulders in case he tried to bolt from me a second time. "Nai, do you know why Gareki left here so fast?"

He refused to look me in the eyes as he said, "I don't know."

"You're going to have to tell me," I explained to him. "I want to know if there is something wrong with him so we can help."

While avoiding looking at me the entire time, he finally told me what happened. "After I woke up from the dream, I saw Gareki sitting on the bed next to me. I remembered what Karoku said in the dream and I told him to leave. He didn't look very happy but still got up to go and that was when I remembered the bracelet. I was supposed to give it to him as payment for helping me escape. So I got up to give it to him and handed it over when he got angry with me. He said that… what I was doing was just low and that I was treating what we had been through together as nothing. Then he left just like that."

He instantly started crying again and I reached over to wipe his tears away with my sleeve. "It's ok, little Nai. He didn't understand that you were only trying to protect him. I'll go find him and talk to him if you want."

Nai nodded hesitantly and I stood up, feeling the fires of rage burning in the pit of my stomach. I gritted my teeth to stop the hiss of rage and that was when Yogi saw my expressions. I walked out of the room slowly so that Nai wouldn't be able to see me fuming over the whole situation. I heard Yogi walk behind me and he grabbed me by the wrist to stop me long enough so we could talk. He shut the door behind us and gave me a hardened stare.

"Nai knows you're angry with Gareki," he explained. "He's an observant person. If you are going to confront Gareki, then don't you dare hurt him. You can try to scare him if you think you can, but don't let any harm come to him or your brother will be even more upset."

"I didn't intend on hurting Gareki," I assured him. "I was just going to give him the worst tongue lashing in his life. Please keep my food set out for me because I'll eat it when I get back."

I turned around and walked down the hallway without once looking back. I didn't tell anyone this, but my senses were extremely sensitive and I could pick up on things that normal humans couldn't. I tracked Gareki's scent as I moved down the hallways, walking soundlessly as I looked for him. Before long, his scent was getting stronger and that meant that he was close by. There was a noise that startled me and I saw a huge mob of Sheep carrying Gareki towards me. I stepped out of the shadows to intercept them and they set him down quickly.

"He went out of bounds!" they told me before dispersing quickly.

I turned my gaze to Gareki and he looked away, trying to hide his anger as I lost control of mine. Crimson sparks jumped from the skin of my arms until I had tiny red flames burning at the tips of my fingers. That caught his attention and he took a step back, now knowing how dangerous a situation he was in. His goggles slipped down a little and he pushed them back quickly before putting his hands up in a nonthreatening manner.

"I don't know what you are so angry about," he said hesitantly, his eyes finally meeting mine but showing no fear, "but you really shouldn't take it out on me."

"I disagree," I said curtly as I took a step closer. "You hurt Nai and now you're going to pay."

"Now listen, Cleo, I didn't do anything wrong. He used me to get away from that lady, the one that could have killed me while I was dragging him through her mansion."

"Is that what you think he did?" I laughed incredulously as the fire darkened a shade. "You think Nai is the type of person to use people to get what he wants? He is too sweet to ever do something like that, especially if it means hurting someone that he considers as his friend. Me, on the other hand, I'm not so nice."

"Take another step closer and you'll force me to fight you," he told me as he glared fiercely at me, but it only made me laugh once more.

"I could beat you at a fight. I'm much too fast for you to see any of my attacks. Now stop changing the subject on me. Do you really think Nai would use you to get what he wants?"

He paused for a few seconds as he watched me and I began to wonder if I would ever get an answer when he finally spoke up. "No, I don't. That's why this whole situation is confusing to me. Why did he push me away like that? It wasn't like him at all."

I could see that he was actually worried about Nai and that was why he was so furious about what had happened. His guilt for what had happened between the two of them was the only reason why my flames slowly burned out, turning blue just before they disappeared entirely. I shook my head and took a step back, only surprising him more than ever.

"He did it because he had a dream that Karoku told him to get rid of us both. He said that Nai had to push us away now before we break. Nai tried to push me away as well and I wouldn't let him."

"Is that why he tried to give me the bracelet?" Gareki asked curiously.

"He knew that you wanted it as payment before and he figured that you still might so he gave it to you to make you happy. Now that we are speaking about that bracelet, did you really demand payment to help him?" I asked, feeling a little angry again.

"I may have meant it then but I don't now," he told me with a sigh. "I won't ask for anything like that from him again." I saw a surprising softness in his eyes and I knew he cared. I was about to ask him about why he would demand payment for things like that when he quickly stopped me. "Don't waste your breath asking me about why I did what I did at the mansion. I don't know you and you don't know me, so why bother. We would need to have a mutual trust before I tell you anything about my life."

"The one thing we seem to agree upon," I told him as I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him along behind me. "You're coming with me right now and you are going to apologize to Nai."

He sighed but didn't protest it, so I took it as a good sign. It didn't take very long until we finally reached the infirmary, only to see Yogi and Tsukumo standing outside of the door again. The door was cracked open just enough so that they could eavesdrop on the conversation at hand. Yogi beckoned for us to come closer and explained that another doctor by the name of Akari had arrived with Nai's test results over why he had fallen unconscious. He even said that Hirato was with them and also Nai, so we moved closer to listen in on what was going to be said. Gareki had his shoulder pressed against mine as we leaned in closer to the crack in the door.

"I have been going over the results for hours now and I finally came to a conclusion," Dr. Akari said before pausing.

"Well?" Hirato asked when the silence became overwhelming. "What did you find out about our little friend here?"

"First of all… Nai is physically fine and the epitome of good health," the doctor said seriously. "That's what matters the most about what I have to say. Second, I made an important discovery. Nai is not a human. He is actually an animal."

"What?!" Yogi yelled, so surprised that he lost his balance and stumbled forward, which forced the door open to reveal us all. Knowing that we had been caught, we moved inside the room and that was when Yogi and Gareki turned to glare at me. "Is this true? Did you know about this?"

Before I could speak, Akari stopped the flood of questions with another statement. "Of course she knew about this. The reason I could figure out that Nai was an animal is because she is one as well."

A collective gasp could be heard from the few people who had been in the dark about my secret and I cringed. I had been hoping to keep this hidden and take it to the grave with me, but it just wasn't the case. Now my friends knew what I had been hiding from them for so long and it wasn't a good feeling.


	3. Trip Back Home

**Hello, all! Welcome back to the next installment of Darkness Rising! Last time, Gareki and Cleo clash, a Varuga appears to try and take Nai, and a secret is discovered. In this chapter, you find out more of the secret. Not only that, but another fight ensues between two of our beloved characters. Find out more about what happens when you read it! Enjoy and review!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Trip Back Home**

"She is the reason why we know anything about this subject," Dr. Akari said and I could see a gleam in his eyes that I knew had something to do with that scientific mind of his. "We've been doing tests and experiments on her since she first came to us."

I looked down at the ground again the moment I saw everyone staring at me, clenching my fists in anger as I remembered all I had gone through at the Research Tower. I had been their lab rat for such a long time and it was why I had developed a bit of a fear of needles. Now, any time they try to stick one beneath my skin, the fire in my veins burns it away entirely. The only tests they can do are different types of scans to check out my anatomy if I let them. I was sick of feeling like a guinea pig for them and I had put an end to it a year ago.

"It explains why she was sent to the Research Tower so often," Tsukumo said, respectfully averting her gaze since she knew how frustrated I was getting. "I thought she was suffering from some sort of illness that required a lot of attention lest she gets worse."

"Let's turn our attention back to Nai for now," Hirato said when he noticed me gritting my teeth. "Akari, you said that he was an animal. What kind of animal is he then?"

"He is a Niji," Akari said simply, shocking everyone except for me. I knew of this already so it didn't surprise me. If anything, I was more surprised that the doctor knew all of this himself. It should have been harder than this to figure out.

"What is a Niji?" Yogi asked.

Akari pulled out a book with a sigh and flipped it to a specific page. On it was one of the most adorable creatures that had Yogi cooing delightedly. It was a tiny white creature with red eyes, a long tail that was fluffy at the end, tiny golden horns, fuzzy little wings, and ears tipped with the color of lavender. If you compared them both, you could see the resemblances and it always put a smile on my face. I smirked a little as I looked at the page and happened to look up for a second to see Gareki standing next to me. He looked a little pale at first, then a faint blush appeared on his face and I realized that it was embarrassment that he was feeling. I figured that he must be feeling a bit awkward as he realized that he had been secretly talking with an animal this whole time.

"This creature depicted here is a Niji," the doctor said. "They are extremely rare and are only found in the wild. If captured and put in captivity, they waste away quickly and die. That is why almost nothing is known about them so this is a wonderful opportunity."

"You will not treat Nai like a lab rat," I growled, making Yogi and Gareki jump a little since I had surprised them. "It's one thing to do it to me, but another thing to do it to my brother and I won't allow it. You've done enough tests to last a lifetime."

"As you wish," Akari said curtly and I could only wonder if that was truly the end of it.

"So what animal is our Cleo?" Yogi asked curiously and I saw Gareki actually look interested as he moved closer.

A few flips of the page and there were gasps heard while Nai moved closer. He knew what I was already but I knew he would want to see the picture regardless. There on the page stood a majestic Dragon, wings outstretched and fire erupting from its maw. I saw them all looking down at the page, looking over at me for a few seconds, and looking down at the book once more. The first one to react was Gareki, who chuckled softly before turning to me with a smirk.

"I can see the resemblances," he said as he crossed his arms. "You act just like a Dragon and you can even breathe fire like one."

"Dragons are even rarer than the Niji," the doctor told everyone. "No one has ever seen one and lived to tell the tale. This is why we jumped at the chance to run tests on the one and only Dragon we could find. It is like a dream come true to a scientist."

Almost as if he was in a trance, I watched as Gareki gently grabbed my arm and turned it over so that the underside of my forearm was visible. Lightly, Gareki dragged his index finger along my skin and watched as the fire underneath glowed a little brighter in response. I stayed stock still as he did all this and made sure not to shiver. An absentminded smile appeared on his face, one that I wasn't sure he knew he was doing right then, and before long he let me go. It took me a while to realize that the others had continued on with the conversation and were now discussing where Nai and I could be from.

"The Niji Forest," I said softly. "It's found on an island with no known name so it is just called Niji Island by the natives."

It was then decided that we would go there to investigate and hopefully find a clue behind Karoku's disappearance. I could also tell that Akari wanted to find something that would tell of our origins. I didn't care so much about that since all I wanted was to help Nai find Karoku. Nai and I ate the dinner that Yogi had brought us and then we all went to bed. Gareki and Nai were placed in the empty room next to mine and they picked which of their bunks would be their own before I finally went to my own room. I changed into a white tank top and shorts then curled up on my bed. As I lay there staring at the ceiling, I could hear them talking in the other room.

"Listen, I'm sorry about reacting the way I did earlier," Gareki said as I heard footsteps moving around. "Cleo told me about your dream with Karoku."

"I don't want either of you to shatter," Nai said sadly. "Bad things happen to the people around me. I don't want another friend to get hurt."

"It's kind of funny," Gareki said with a halfhearted laugh. "All I've been doing ever since we met is protecting you and yet you think you need to protect me. That doesn't make sense. By the way, the bracelet thing was still low, man. You can't just do that." At first, there wasn't any sort of response or noise in the room and I wondered if they were both asleep when I heard a sniffling noise. The footsteps moved quickly and Gareki yelled, "Wait, don't! I didn't mean it! It's not low at all!"

After a few seconds, Nai asked, "So you don't want the bracelet anymore?"

"Nah, I can live without it," he said and I could hear the grin in his voice. "Your sister convinced me of that. She tried to burn me when she heard that I demanded payment for saving you."

"You didn't get hurt, did you?" Nai asked worriedly.

"No, I'm fine," Gareki told him. "Cleo can be intimidating sometimes, but it's just to keep people at a distance. She would never intentionally hurt someone unless they were either an enemy or threatening the people she cared about."

"She's always been like that. She just wasn't able to use her fire so well back then. She only yelled at people and that was how she kept people away."

After a while, I figured it was time to make them go to sleep since I was tired of them talking about me. "Guys, time to go to sleep!" I said loudly and I could hear a few noises that sounded like they jumped in surprise.

"How long have you been listening in?" Gareki grumbled.

"Since the very beginning," I said with a smirk. "Now go to sleep or I will come in there and knock you out."

There was a scrambling noise and then silence, so I knew that they had actually listened to me for once. With an amused smile, I rolled onto my side and stretched out for a few seconds before finally falling asleep. I thankfully didn't have any nightmares that night and woke up refreshed for the first time in a while. As I sprawled out and stretched my muscles, I noticed something that was out of place. Blearily opening my eyes, I saw someone curled up next to me and fast asleep. I rubbed my eyes to clear the blurriness and saw the white hair that stuck out at all angles to realize that it was Nai. He rolled over towards me and buried his face in between my shoulder blades.

"Karoku," he mumbled sleepily, sounding so sad that it almost broke my heart. I rolled over and embraced him, watching as his troubled expressions slowly relaxed.

I stayed like that for at least another hour before I could hear a rustling in the other room that signaled that Gareki was awake. There were more noises and I figured that he was searching for Nai, which was how I knew that he would barge into my room next. Just as I predicted, the door was slowly opened so he could peek inside, then once he saw who he was looking for sleeping next to me, he soundlessly walked inside. I tapped my index finger against my lips to silently tell him to be quiet and he nodded as he walked over to the chair next to my bed.

Fifteen minutes later and I felt Nai stir, opening his red eyes and looking up at me. "Sorry, Cleo," he said sleepily. "I didn't mean to sneak in here."

"It's fine, Nai," I told him with a smile, ruffling his already messy hair. "Did you have a nightmare in the middle of the night?"

"No, I just felt a little homesick and you feel like home," he said as he rolled out of bed. He gave Gareki a smile and said, "You found me."

"You don't have very many places to go," Gareki explained. "I knew that if you weren't in our room, you had to be here."

"Aw, were you worried about him?" I asked teasingly, giving him a mischievous grin.

"No way," Gareki said as he stood up. "I just wanted to make sure that a Varuga hadn't somehow snuck onto the ship to grab him."

"If they had grabbed him, they would have grabbed me, too."

"Which is another reason why I came in here to check."

"Aw, you were worried about me as well!" I laughed and saw his face flush in frustration.

He grumbled something unintelligible and walked out of the room. I shooed Nai out of my room, too, so I could get dressed in normal clothes, looking a bit forlorn but still doing as I said. Grabbing things at random from my dresser, I found a cheetah print tank top, black skinny jeans, and a long sleeveless dark grey cover up with a hood that had a number 2 on one of the shoulders. I got dressed quickly, brushed my hair to make it just a little less messy, and left the room to see Nai and Gareki waiting for me. Nai had a red shirt and white overalls while Gareki had a dark shirt I couldn't really see since it was underneath a dark pink zip up hoodie. I led them both through a few hallways until we were in one of the common areas where Yogi and Akari were waiting for us.

Breakfast was a hurried affair and nothing eventful happened, or so I thought. As I was breathing a small tongue of blue flame over a piece of bacon to warm it, I looked up to see Nai eating a biscuit and Gareki lightly tugging on one of the lavender tufts of hair as if testing to see if they really were ears for a Niji. I rolled by eyes and bit into the bacon as Gareki looked over at me, more specifically the blue tufts at the top of my head. Then he let go of Nai and stood up, walking over in my direction.

Swallowing the bacon, I looked up at him and said, "Unless you want your hand burned to a crisp, I suggest you don't touch my hair."

"His are supposed to be like the Niji's ears, right?" Gareki asked curiously. "So what does that make yours?"

"Oh, they're still ears," Yogi said under his breath, grinning when I threw a fireball in his direction that zipped past his head before making it disappear so it wouldn't burn anything.

"They are not ears," I growled at him. "They're horns. They are just fluffy looking and that's why they supposedly look like ears."

"I see what you mean," Gareki said and before I could smack him away, he lightly tugged on one of the blue tufts. "They do look a bit like horns. They curve upwards and they're a bit longer than Nai's."

"Thank you for being one of the few people that understands," I said stiffly, deciding at the last second not to burn him since he agreed with me.

"Alright, children, time to leave if you're done playing around," Akari said with a sigh.

Grabbing the last of the bacon and blowing flames on it as we walked, we headed down into the lower levels of the ship to where the planes were kept and we all got inside of one. There were a few seats at the back and I took one near the window, Akari and Yogi was at the front driving and Gareki and Nai took the seats behind them. Nai kept looking back at me to check up on me and Gareki didn't bother, just concentrated on the window next to him.

As the plane was switched on, Gareki asked, "Why aren't you flying, too, Cleo?"

"Because I'm no longer allowed to be behind the controls of one unless in an emergency," I said with a laugh. "I tend to be a bit dangerous because I take risks that others won't. That's why if we are being attacked midair, I'll be allowed to fly the plane. It's a Dragon thing."

"Are you sitting back there because you aren't allowed to fly?" Nai asked softly.

"No, she sits back there so she can lie down," Yogi explained with a smile. "She gets really sick unless she is the one flying. We think it's some weird form of motion sickness."

"I'm going to go with it's yet another Dragon thing," I said as I curled up on the back seats.

The plane zoomed out of the hanger and I groaned as my stomach protested the movement, closing my eyes as tightly as possible. I could hear Gareki chuckling softly before I rolled over to press my forehead against the seat, letting its coolness spread through my heated skin. I could hear Nai asking Yogi several questions about my motion sickness problems while the others listened in. I could practically feel how amused Gareki was over the whole thing.

"So our fierce little Dragon is nothing more than a mewling kitten," Gareki said with another laugh.

"Shut the hell up, Gareki," I grumbled.

"Wait, she wasn't sick on the ship!" Nai said.

"That's because the ship doesn't move as deftly as this plane," Akari explained. "The ship moves in extremely balanced way. You wouldn't be able to tell that the ship is moving or even turning unless you are looking out a window."

"So in other words, Yogi flies a plane terribly," I said under my breath.

"I heard that," he said flatly.

"You were meant to."

I heard something being moved and then Akari said, "Take this back and place it on Cleo's forehead. I'm sure she'll like you much better if you did."

I heard Gareki muttering something under his breath as he got up to walk over to me, sitting near my head once I had rolled over again. He lifted me just enough so he could rest my head on his lap to place something that was freezing cold on my forehead. I sighed happily and closed my eyes as the cold pushed away at the heat from my fire, making my stomach settle just enough so I didn't feel so bad. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes to look up at Gareki, who had a gentle look in his eyes for a split second before it was gone again. I could only wonder what he saw when he looked at me, a Dragon, a monster, or a lost girl who was a coward. I didn't think anything more about it as I drifted to sleep until we reached the island.

I could hear low voices speaking as I opened my eyes again, Gareki still keeping the cold pack on my forehead as I tilted my head back to look out the window. I could only see the sky and that was all I needed to tell that we were finally there. Up in the sky was a shifting rainbow of lights that moved like water, one that signaled we were over the island. The lights were frequencies that only a select few could hear and that would be the inhabitants of this island. They messed with technology and it meant that emergency radio calls were not available should something go wrong.

"This is where you used to live?" Gareki asked softly so that only I could hear.

"That's right," I told him. "It's very beautiful here and it killed me to have to leave."

"What happened to you?" he whispered.

"I could ask you the same thing," I told him with a grin and refused to say another word.

The plane finally landed on the beach and we all exited the plane together. Gareki kept giving me concerned looks whenever he thought I wasn't paying attention and Nai knew something was wrong as well since he held my hand tightly. Akari asked us to lead the rest around the island and I nodded as Nai pulled me along, getting excited to be back home and to find anything that would help us track down Karoku. I could feel Gareki's eyes on my back the entire time, even as he talked with Yogi.

"Are you ok?" Nai asked me softly, his eyes looking so worried as we walked from the beach and into the forest.

"I don't really know," I said cynically, allowing a bitter smile to form on my face.

"Please tell me what's wrong," he said, his hand squeezing mine as he looked a bit panicked. "You feel cold and nothing like your normal warm self."

I sighed, secretly wishing he couldn't sense emotions and feelings of the people he was close with. "I just don't feel like I deserve to be back here," I told him quietly. "I left you behind, almost as if I had pushed you onto someone else while I... Just what kind of sister am I? Even if I joined Circus to become stronger to protect you, it was still wrong of me to abandon you."

"You didn't abandon me," he told me, giving me a comforting smile. "I knew you had a good reason or you wouldn't have done it in the first place. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Why did you leave?" I heard a voice say and I turned my head to see that Gareki had snuck up on me. "You had plenty of reasons to stay on this island, but you chose to run from this place."

"You just don't give up, do you?" I said flatly, shooting him a glare before turning my gaze back to the trees around us to make sure that there wasn't anything around that could attack us. "Why should I tell you anything about me?"

"You can trust Gareki, Cleo," Nai told me, gazing at me pleadingly. "He won't betray your trust."

"I'll even make you a deal," Gareki said to me. "You answer my question and you can ask me one about my past. We can keep the deal up for as long as it takes for us to know each other like the back of our hands."

I tilted my head to the side as I thought about what he said and nodded when I realized that it was a good enough deal. "When I was a little younger than Nai, I noticed that I would get this chilling feeling that travelled down my spine whenever I stepped outside on my own. I soon found out what caused that feeling and that was the fact that there were monsters stalking me. About a month later, they finally showed themselves and tried to kidnap me, which I wouldn't allow for them to do because it meant being taken away from Nai. I had little control over the fire that burned in my veins so that wasn't very reliable to me yet and I decided I should leave before the monsters found out about Nai. If they knew of him, they would capture him as well and I would rather die than let that happen. So I told Karoku to protect him with his life and set out on a journey to make myself stronger. The monsters chased after me until one day Circus found me. They trained me to be the person you see today."

"They were trying to catch you back then?" Nai asked sadly.

"I didn't want you to worry, so I didn't tell you," I told him before turning to look at Gareki. "Now you get to answer my question. So how is it that you became a cat burglar?"

"Simple answer," he said to me as his gaze hardened. "I did it for the people I called my family. They needed the money and I was the only one to provide enough for them."

"So you're like a modern day Robin Hood," I said with a smile before turning back to looking where we were going.

"I don't really know what that means."

"It was a story someone once read to me a long time ago about a man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. You are behaving just like him. Although I don't know the costs to yourself for doing this, it is a pleasant surprise to hear that someone is looking out for others instead of just themselves. There are a lot of people out there who are selfish."

Gareki never said a word after that, just watched silently as we lead them through the forest. Within five minutes, I could smell smoke and I knew that something was off. I picked up the pace and bounded ahead of the group to reach a clearing, one that had me gritting my teeth in anger and clenching my fists. Before me stood the ruins of a large building, one I remembered oh so clearly. It held many memories and only a quarter of them were good. Before my mind could travel back to the past, I blinked hard and was brought back to the present, to the burned building that lay before me.

"They burned it to the ground," I said softly the moment I heard the rest of my group stop behind me. "The one place that could have helped you is now completely destroyed."

"Nai, is there some other place?" Akari asked. "Did you stay with Karoku in another location?"

"It's further ahead of us," Nai said, taking the lead and I saw them move around the building.

"Hey, are you all right?" Gareki's voice said next to me and I didn't even realize that he was standing next to me. "You look really angry."

"Angry?" I repeated before turning around to face him, seeing my eyes blazing like my fire from the reflections of his. "I am more than angry, Gareki. I am seething with a rage I cannot contain."

"Was that place important to you?"

"Important in the way that I wanted to burn it to the ground myself and then burn its ashes until there was nothing left!"

I screamed wrathfully as I whipped around, the crimson flames of fury jumping from my skin and surrounding me. Pointing the palm of my hand at the remains, I engulfed the ruins in my fire that sent a pillar of flames erupting up into the sky. Tears of hatred streamed down my cheeks as the flames darkened to an oily black color, shades of dark blue mixing in because of a sadness I didn't realize. The ghosts of my past kept coming back to haunt me and I couldn't stop them, no matter what I did. I could hear Nai's yells as he tried to get close to me, only to have Yogi grab him to keep him still. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Gareki was trying to inch closer to me while somehow withstanding the heat, Dr. Akari yelling to us both something unintelligible from the roaring of the flames.

Before long, even the ashes were gone and all that was left was the scorched ground. I let the fire slowly die down before collapsing on the ground, screaming out the pain as I covered my eyes and let the flames surrounding me flicker out of existence. I heard Yogi ask Nai about the building and he said that he didn't even remember the place much, which I supposed was a good thing. He didn't need to remember all of the horrible things that had happened there, the horrible things that I could recall as if they had happened yesterday. I forced myself into silence just before I felt myself being picked up, turning my gaze to see that it was Gareki. I was confused over why he was always helping me and it bothered me not to know something.

As he carried me along behind the others, I heard him whisper, "The kitten certainly has claws. I guess you can be scary enough that others don't have to worry about you during a fight. Those eyes of yours are what sell it. Now, wipe the tears away because you are a Dragon and you are strong."

His words definitely astonished me but I did as he said, rubbing my eyes roughly then laid my head on his shoulder as he walked us along. Another five or ten minutes passed and we came across a cave, Nai bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement and I knew that this had to be his home for the last couple years that I had been gone. We were about to head inside when there was a shrieking noise, one that signaled more monsters on our trail.

"Possessors," Yogi said before he jumped into the air, his swords blazing from the reflected sunlight as he flew at them.

I struggled in Gareki's arms and he did his best to fight to keep me in his arms, letting me go only when I snapped my teeth close to his jaw. Twisting in midair, I landed on my hands and feet before standing upright, only to have Gareki push me behind him in a sad attempt at protecting me. I gave him a skeptical look and fought to charge towards Nai when I saw a Possessor that Yogi missed heading straight for him. Nai was clutching something in his arms protectively and the Possessor changed course with seconds to spare, heading directly for Gareki next. Before he could stop me, I moved in front of him to send white hot flames at the Possessor and burned it completely in a split second the moment its body touched my fire.

"Going after me is one thing," I told what was left of it with a growl, "but going after my friends is another thing entirely."

"_I'm_ a friend?" Gareki asked and I turned around to see a smirk on his face.

"Oh, shut up, Gareki," I told him as I rolled my eyes. "I didn't mean you."

"That's a lie and you know it," he said as he took a step closer.

"It most definitely is not. You are just delusional."

"I'm pretty sure it's the other way around."

"Enough, you two," Akari told us with a sigh. "I'm done with the bickering. Let's just go inside and look for something that will tell us more about the people on this island."

I stuck my tongue out at Gareki before moving towards the cave after Yogi had landed. Once inside, I sniffed the air and all I could smell was a dank musty aroma that meant that there hadn't been life here for quite some time. Further in, I could smell the coppery scent of old blood and moved faster. I could see rays of sunlight and noticed the room further in, running now until I reached the end of the tunnel. I shook my head as I sniffed the air again, turning my head to see the old blood on the ground.

"He was attacked right there," I said softly, barely recognizing the fact that the others were staring and letting me track down what needed to be found.

I moved closer to the stain on the floor to smell a remnant of Karoku's scent, following it until it reached its strongest point, which was a tiny crack in the wall. Clawing my way through it, I found a rather large book bound in blue. I opened it up to see his handwriting, letting out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. This was what the doctor wanted to find, the research records about Nai and me. A sudden thought in the back of my mind told me to burn the book as fast as possible, but I pushed the feeling back down before walking to the doctor and handing the book to him.

"This will allow you to learn all you need about us," I told him, staring into his stern pink eyes with harsh red ones of my own. "Don't do anything that will make me regret giving this to you."


	4. Old Wounds Reopened

**Hello. I apologize for the latest chapter taking so long. I recently suffered the loss of my beloved pet cat. We had to put her down after she was accidentally hit by a car and it took a few days to even take her to the vet since there aren't any places open on weekends or who have emergency services out where I live. It was a hard hit to me and I hadn't been feeling the best until today. I felt as if I could finally finish up the chapter where I had left off, so I apologize in advance if it isn't all that great or well written. Anyway, this chapter is a bit on the dark side, nothing too terrible though so you won't be turned away by it. I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Old Wounds Reopened**

"You have my word that I won't do anything… regretful," the doctor said, his eyes sweeping the room for any other clues before leaving.

Nai moved forward and to the back of the room near the window, picking up a stuffed animal toy that I didn't remember. He gave it a hug before setting it back down and leaving the room as well. Gareki grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the room, regardless of the threats I threw at him. As we went, he asked me if I had a weapon of choice if my fire wasn't an option.

"I have two choices," I told him with a sigh, rolling my eyes with frustration. "I've got these tiny blades that I throw or use to cut people and a sword with a falchion design to it."

He shook his head as he dragged me along, muttering something under his breath and I could have sworn that he said the word 'useless.' We walked into the sunlight and wound our way back to the plane, Gareki yanking on my arm to force me to keep moving when I stopped to glare at what was left of the ruins I burned. Not long after, we made it back to the beach where our plane was waiting, only to find that yet another plane had landed next to ours. Tsukumo and Eva waved at us as they walked closer, showing us that they had a picnic basket in their arms and pointing at a grassy spot just in front of the beach that they wanted us to sit at. I sat in between Gareki and Nai, contemplating just lying back on the grass to sun myself when I was handed a turkey sandwich. I ate it in record time before finally getting my wish to lie back in the sun.

"There is a place I would like to go to before we leave for the ship," Gareki said, interrupting those who were talking. "It's not far from here, only a few miles out and towards the mainland."

"Where is it exactly that you want to go?" Yogi asked.

"It's this place called Karasuna."

"I doubt Hirato will allow it," I told him, turning my head in Gareki's direction.

"Why not?"

"There's been a lot of Varuga activity in that place, dear," Eva explained, making him flush with embarrassment.

"Don't call me that," he told her before looking down at me. "Do you think you could ask Hirato if we can go? There's something I have to do there."

We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before I nodded, then looked over at Yogi seriously. "Call him. Tell him where we're going, that Nai will be coming with us, and Akari will be going with Tsukumo and Eva. We'll be fine on our own. The two of us can protect them."

Ten minutes later, Yogi had somehow managed to convince the Captain to allow this side trip. I had a bad feeling about why he seemed so agreeable, but pushed that thought to the back of my mind for now. With a wink, Yogi let me get behind the controls of the plane, sitting in the copilot seat while Gareki and Nai took the seats behind us. We buckled up and I flipped a few switches, turned the ignition, and slowly forced the plane into the air. I did my best not to be out of control with my flying as I turned the plane to the west and flew along at an easy pace.

"I thought you said that she wasn't good at flying planes unless she's in an emergency situation," Gareki said curtly.

"No, she's excellent at flying them," Yogi said, turning to give Gareki a grin. "She's the very best pilot I know. It's just that she will take risks that usually shouldn't be taken if there are others in the plane with her. She gets a bit dangerous."

"Hirato says that I have a death wish," I explained as I picked up a little more speed but nothing dangerous.

"Take it easy, Cleo," Yogi told me. "You're letting your bad habits free."

I winced but slowed down a tiny bit, making sure that I was careful about how I was flying. I had my full concentration on making it to Karasuna in one piece and without any tricks. Since I was being cautious, it took about half an hour to get there and we landed safely on the outskirts of town within a forest. We walked into the town by the cover of night, Nai looking around in wonder at all the different shops and stalls that lined the streets. There was one stall in particular near the center of the town that caught everyone's attention, one that had a bunch of different prizes to win if you could knock it off a pedestal with a tiny rubber bullet.

"Oh, look at that purple leather bracelet!" Yogi squealed excitedly, grabbing the gun and attempting to shoot it off of its pedestal, only to miss with every shot he took. "This is so hard! I don't understand how people can get one of the prizes at all!"

"Give that to me," Gareki snapped, snatching the gun from Yogi's hand.

He took a deep breath and went still, his eyes locked on to the purple leather bracelet. Then, as he moved his arm up as if to stop and take aim, he pulled the trigger and the rubber bullet was shot forward to hit the bracelet. It was knocked off the pedestal and a man watching behind the counter handed the bracelet to Yogi, who immediately put it on and tried to hug Gareki. He only made Gareki glare fiercely and smack him on the back of his head. After that, Nai pointed out things for Gareki to shoot and he hit his mark every single time.

As we were about to leave and I had already turned around, I heard him fire off one more shot for one last prize. I felt him grab me by the wrist and stopped me from walking any further. I turned around, feeling extremely surprised as I did so, and while completely avoiding eye contact he pressed something into the palm of my hand before wrapping my fingers around it. I gave him a confused look when he finally let go of my wrist, lifting my hand up and opening it to reveal a necklace. It must have been extremely difficult to shoot this off of its pedestal and I was impressed since it was rather small. The pendant was made from sapphires that seemed to shine with an otherworldly light, one that called to me in more ways than one, and was shaped like a star. I felt a small smile form on my face as I put the necklace on, Gareki looking up at me and watching me as I did so.

"Thank you, Gareki," I said softly.

"Don't mention it," he said indifferently as he walked out in front of us to lead us around.

"Don't worry, Cleo!" Nai said as he grabbed me by the hand so he could drag me along with him and Yogi. "He's taken a liking to you! He just doesn't like showing these sorts of things!"

We walked down a side street where there weren't as many people, Nai holding a bunch of prizes in the crook of his arm the best he could, and we found a stall to get some food. Yogi told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to use my flames here or it might frighten some of the locals. With a sigh, I didn't bathe my food with blue flames to heat it a little more, instead asking that the food be served to me piping hot. Just as I was about to take a bite, I saw everyone staring at me in surprise.

"Now what?" I asked, fixing my own stare on them.

"I thought you would somehow sneak some fire out here for your food," Yogi said.

"Why do you do that?" Gareki asked before taking a bite from his cheeseburger.

"It makes it warmer," I explained. "Not only that, but I like the taste of fire on my food."

"I don't remember you doing that this often," Nai said softly.

"Well, I couldn't use my fire so easily back then. The only times I could use it at all was when my emotions were out of control. I still have difficulties keeping the flames in check whenever I'm extremely emotional, like when I'm super pissed off or sad."

After a while, they finally shrugged their shoulders and talked about something else, mostly about all the things that could be done in Karasuna. When our food was finished, we walked around some more until we reached another side street. Gareki and I were walking next to each other in front of Yogi and Nai when I heard a noise of surprise. We turned to see a girl standing in an alley, blatantly staring at Gareki as if she had just seen a ghost. Although Gareki did his best not to show it, I saw with my exceptional eyesight that his body tensed up infinitesimally, his eyes widened a fraction as he stared back at her. The girl took a step closer as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

"Gareki, you're back…" she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "It's been so long…"

"Hey, Tsubame," Gareki said simply, eyes fixed on her although his body language suggested that he wanted to avoid eye contact altogether.

The girl finally broke down, crying heavily as she ran for him. She threw her arms around him and cried on his shoulder, Gareki awkwardly embracing her in response and patting her back in an attempt to comfort her. I turned my head away from the scene before me since I felt it was a bit too personal for me to watch. Before long, the crying turned into sniffling and I heard her shuffle away from him.

"Sorry, Gareki. I know that you don't like dealing with emotional things like this," she apologized.

"It's fine, Tsubame," he told her. "How are things going for you here?"

"Well…" she started to say, looking down at the ground in frustration. "Not so great since Tsubaki's death. Grandpa had to be hospitalized. He got really sick a few years ago and hasn't been able to leave the hospital since. Yotaka and I have been working the best we could to pay the bills, but this kind benefactor has been paying Grandpa's hospital bill for us."

"I'm sorry for that."

"Anyway, I would love it if you and your friends would stay the night at my place," Tsubame said with a smile. "Yotaka hasn't been home in a few days and it's been a bit lonely lately."

We agreed to stay with her and followed her to her home. On the way there, I couldn't help but notice the ruined and abandoned houses that lined the streets further outside the town itself. It looked as if something terrible had happened here and it left me with a bad feeling, one that I could see Yogi had as well. He looked over at me and we nodded in agreement that it was time to keep on the lookout. We were almost near the edges of the town when Tsubame approached a better looking house than the rest, unlocking the door with her key and beckoning us all inside. We sat down in the kitchen and introduced ourselves to her since she only knew Gareki. She seemed like a pleasant enough person to be around and that eased the bad feeling I had a little. We talked about light hearted topics for an hour or so, making her laugh and clap her hands happily, until she began to gain a haunted look in her eyes.

"Listen, there's something I was hoping to talk to you about, Gareki," she said softly before sliding her gaze across the rest of us as well. "I don't mind if the rest of you listen. Honestly, the more help I can get, the better it will be."

"What's going on, Tsubame?" Gareki asked, worry making his eyes sharper even if he didn't show it any other way.

"I think… I think I've killed someone," she whispered, staring down at the palms of her hands that rested on her lap.

"What makes you say that?" I asked softly, making her look up at me long enough for me to see that she was drowning in sorrow.

"I keep having these black outs, as if moments of time are completely cut out of my life," she explained. "They've been getting more and more frequent and they always happen at night. The last time I had a black out, I realized that I was outside in an abandoned building with no memory as to how I had gotten there. Then I looked down at my hands to see that they were covered in blood. I must have done something, there isn't any other way."

"Actually, there is another way," Yogi told her. "It could all be a big misunderstanding. Maybe you just found the person dying and were trying to save him. It could have been so traumatizing that your brain blocked the memory."

It looked like she was slowly put to ease about the situation, settling down against her chair with a sigh of relief. Yogi and I exchanged a glance again and I knew we were both thinking that we would have to observe her while we were staying that night. I could then hear footsteps outside and saw a man open the door. He froze the moment he stepped foot inside and I got a good look at him. I was surprised to see that he looked almost identical to Tsubame except for his hair and eyes. While Tsubame had long light caramel colored hair and pinkish peach eyes, he had short violet hair and blue eyes. While Tsubame was carefree, this guy was stern and serious. I remember her bringing up someone by the name of Yotaka and I had a feeling that this must be him.

"Yotaka, you're back!" Tsubame said, giving him a smile and confirming my hunch.

He didn't once look at her, instead glaring at all of us before his gaze turned to Gareki and I could see a barely contained rage. "What is he doing here?"

"I asked them to stay," she told him. "He came to check up on us and his friends came along with him."

"I want him gone, Tsubame," he growled, glaring even fiercely at Gareki.

"If you think that he'll be a problem here, don't," I told him, gazing up at him sternly and making him double blink in shock, his previous anger disappearing in an instant. "I'll make sure he doesn't cause you any trouble if that is what you are worried about."

I watched him open his mouth as if he was about to say something, then snap his jaw shut as a blush formed on his cheeks. He nodded quickly before leaving the room entirely, slamming a door shut loudly as I tilted my head in confusion. As I tried to figure out what had just happened, everyone looked just as shocked as I felt. I shook my head to clear it and looked around at everyone else, waiting for someone else to speak up.

"I don't think I've ever seen him act this way before," Tsubame said before giving me an apologetic smile. "He's usually so serious. I think he considers you to be quite pretty. He might even have a crush on you."

I felt my own cheeks burning in a blush I couldn't stop and I looked down quickly, now making sure to avoid any sort of eye contact. No one had ever had a crush on me before and it was a strange concept for me. Even though it was quick, I could have sworn that I saw a strange emotion on Gareki's face that I couldn't identify, one that I didn't see again when I tried to look up at him from behind my bangs. I refused to say another word to anyone until I forced myself to stop the embarrassing blush from existing, which meant that I had accomplished it around the time that Tsubame finally stood up and said that she would lead us to our room.

As we walked down the hallway, I saw Yotaka open a door and beckon me inside. I paused for a second, watching the rest of them move down the hall to a room at the end before walking into the room with Yotaka. He had a slightly flushed face as he watched me shut the door behind me, refusing to say a word right then and making me think that he was definitely embarrassed. After a minute or so, he took a deep breath and gave me a hesitant smile, one that Tsubame would surely say was out of place on him.

"We weren't properly introduced," he said before extending his hand out for me to shake. "Hi, my name is Yotaka. I'm Tsubame's twin and Gareki is our adopted brother."

Even though I was a little shocked to hear this tidbit about Gareki, I pushed it down and took Yotaka's hand to shake. "My name is Cleiona, but everyone calls me Cleo. I work at Circus with the blond guy, whose name is Yogi. The little one with white hair is named Nai and he is my brother. We're watching out for my brother and Gareki."

"What did he get himself into…?" Yotaka said to himself softly before looking me in the eyes. "Sorry, but I don't want to talk about him right now. I would like to know more about you."

"Only if you do the same," I told him with a mock stern voice that made him smile.

We talked about all sorts of things for a while, finally stopping on one point of interest that he seemed to like the most. "You can control fire?" he asked, a certain light of curiosity that I knew so well with everyone appearing in his eyes.

I nodded and snapped my fingers, a small blue ball of flame appearing on the palm of my hand. The blue ones were always the calmest that I used when introducing people to my magic. The color of my fire always indicated the mood I was in, ranging from crimson when I was angry to blue when I was relaxed. That spark of fascination remained the entire time until I allowed the fireball to disappear. He stayed quiet for a bit before asking if I could make things from the fire itself, so I created a miniature Dragon on the palm of my hand as well that flew around the room.

"This is so awesome," he said softly as the Dragon flew around his head lazily before I made it disappear as well. "It is certainly something that is worthy of the word 'gift.'"

"Thank you," I told him as I felt my cheeks begin to burn again.

"If my older sister was alive today, I'm sure she would be just as fascinated by you and your gift as I am."

Instantly, the blushing became worse and I stood up quickly, completely embarrassed enough that I was going to leave when he stopped me. He walked closer, looking like he was about to say something but seeming as if he was lost for words again. As his face turned bright red, he walked over to me quickly and just as fast he pressed his lips to mine. I froze in surprise since it was so unexpected and then it was over just as swiftly as it started. Yotaka had a nervous expression on his face before he speedily left the room, his blushing much worse than my own. It had been my first kiss and I was still reeling over what had happened. Feeling self-conscious and off balance, I stumbled into the room we would be staying at, only to see that Gareki was the only one left awake.

"What took you so long?" he asked grumpily and I could tell that there was some emotion beneath the surface that he was trying to hide from me.

"Yotaka and I were talking," I said simply, knowing that if I said anything more my blushing would be a dead giveaway. For some reason I didn't know or understand, I didn't want Gareki to find out what had just happened. "I told him about my magic and let him see a few of the things I could do with it. He seemed rather impressed."

"Are you sure that's all that happened?" he asked stiffly and I began to wonder if he could read minds somehow or if he was just that perceptive. "I saw the way he looked at you."

"If this is jealousy, which is something that I don't and never have understood very well, then I don't really know why you are acting that way," I told him before walking closer to the bed where Yogi and Nai were already asleep on either side of him.

"No reason," he said a little too quickly. He stayed silent for a little while before sighing, then crawling out of the spot between the two who were sleeping. "You can take that spot on the bed if you want. I can sleep on the floor."

It was then that I noticed he had taken off one of the hoodies I was so used to seeing on him. He had on a black one sleeved t-shirt, the one sleeve on his right arm was long and he had a black arm band around his left bicep. We just stood there in front of the bed, looking at each other the entire time as if we were assessing the situation between us. Finally, he raised an eyebrow and pointed at the bed. I shook my head instead and walked over to the closet.

"No, that was your spot," I told him softly. "You can take it. I'll be the one who can sleep on the floor. I've slept on a lot worse and at least there is carpet."

I grabbed two pillows for me and a few blankets as Gareki came over to stand next to me, grabbing some pillows for himself as well. "I'll sleep next to you on the floor. It will give the others a bit more room without me there."

I shrugged my shoulders before setting up the pillows, crawling under the blankets as Gareki turned off the light. I lit a tiny white ball of flame to light the way for Gareki to walk over to me and it made it a little easier for him. Once he crawled under the blankets beside me, I let the flame die out and turned over onto my side away from him. I curled up under the blankets and felt myself drifting to sleep when I heard him whisper to me.

"There's something I think you should know about me," he said and I turned over to see him staring straight up at the ceiling. "I don't expect you to tell me anything in return right now, but I think it's about time that I got this off my chest with someone now and I trust you enough to know that you'll keep my secrets."

"What is it you want to tell me?" I asked after a five second pause.

"Everything," he told me with a quiet bitter laugh. "I'll tell you all about my past and how I came to be here." When I told him that it was all right, he started to talk again. "When I was very young, only about eight years old in fact, my parents sold me and I became a slave. Well, they were like my parents. After what they did, I really don't consider them to be anything to me whatsoever. I was placed on a slave trading ship soon after and things only got harder. Because I was the smallest one there, I was tortured mercilessly by the other kids on the ship, who insisted that they needed to pick on me all the time. After a while, they figured out that the abuse didn't affect me since I didn't make a single noise no matter what, so they tied me up to a pole and left me there. I wasn't able to get any of the two meals provided for us, which I soon discovered that the food was being drugged because it slowly made the other kids go insane. Not long after that, there was a big storm and the ship sank, somehow leaving me alive and drifting along out at sea until I found myself on the beach in Karasuna.

"All I wanted was to find food and water, so I walked inland before finally collapsing in exhaustion. After I slept it off for a little while, I woke up to find this lady looking down at me with a worried expression. She took me home with her to her little village and said that she was doing this because she had a younger brother and sister about my age. She told me that her name was Tsubaki and gave me my name since I didn't have one at the time. I spent my time with her, the twins, and their grandfather, tinkering with scraps of metal whenever I could on my free time.

"Not long after I had begun to live with them, Tsubaki fell in love with this man who gave her different kinds of these nutritional supplements and vitamins to mix into the twins' food. I knew that she was only trying to do the best for us, but I still knew that man she loved was trouble. Every time I heard about him, it sent chills up and down my spine. I told her that he was no good for her and that she should just leave him, but she kept saying that if she was alone she wouldn't be able to protect her family. I didn't trust the guy or his supplements and no matter how much convincing I tried, even telling her that I would go get a job to help her out, Tsubaki insisted on staying with him so her family would be safe. Not long after that, we found her dead outside of the house and everything changed. I knew that man had something to do with her death and I will find him one day to make him pay for what he has done. After Tsubaki's death, I left the village and stayed in Karasuna to become a thief."

I listened to his story without saying a word, just watching the sorrow force his eyes to glaze over as he spoke. I didn't feel as if words could be spoken for this situation and instead did something that I figured he wouldn't approve of. Since I could see in the dark, I moved closer to him and hugged him tightly. He made a noise of surprise and then did something I hadn't expected. He hugged me back, wrapping his arms around me even tighter to keep my body pressed against his. I could feel him shaking almost imperceptibly as he buried his face in my neck. I could only wonder if it was from the fact that he was saddened by everything he had said or from the fact that he had been holding this in for so long that it was a relief to finally get it out in the open to somebody.

"Thank you for telling me about your past," I whispered. "I know it must have been hard for you to do."

"It wasn't easy," he told me in a muffled voice, "but I'm glad I did. It feels good to get it out."

Both of us were really tired after that and we fell asleep still holding each other, which was yet another thing I was surprised about. Gareki wasn't a touchy-feely type of person so for him to hold me as we slept was a big deal. I once again didn't understand what was going on but didn't think about it much as I drifted to sleep. It had only been a few hours when I felt that something was off. I heard someone on the bed stir and saw Yogi getting up, looking alert as he scanned the room and rested his gaze on me. He put on a jacket as I slowly unwrapped Gareki's arms from around me, crawling out from under the blankets carefully so I wouldn't wake him. I pressed my index finger to my lips so signify that we should be quiet and Yogi nodded before we walked out of the room entirely. We checked every room as we walked down the hall but there was no sign of either Tsubame or Yotaka.

"So… you and Gareki, huh?" Yogi said, trying to keep things light hearted as we decided to walk out of the house to search for them and also to find the source of the bad feeling we had.

"Whatever you are thinking, you are dead wrong," I told him, forcing myself not to blush. "Besides, we need to be looking for the twins. They can't be out here right now."

"We can still have a friendly chat, Cleo," he told me, a slight smile on his face as he checked a few alleys. "So you two slept under the same blanket?"

"I told him he could sleep on the bed with you and Nai, but he said that it would give the two of you more room."

"He was acting rather strange since Yotaka ran out of the room when he first caught a glimpse of you," Yogi informed me as he stopped walking, a devious gleam in his eyes. "It is hard to catch if you weren't around the guy so much, but after a while you can slowly see the emotions he gives off or if there is something wrong with him. I'm pretty sure he was jealous."

"Jealous?" I repeated as I thought back. Now that he mentioned it, it would explain the foreign emotion I saw on his face, one I didn't recognize at all. "But why would he be jealous in the first place?"

"I'm not going to explain that to you. I think it's up to you to find that out yourself," he said with a laugh before moving along once more. "Besides, it got even worse when you went with Yotaka alone."

Another laugh but not another word from him again, which was perfectly fine with me because I felt a strange emotion churning in my stomach painfully. I sighed and walked along while looking for the twins. As we headed to the edge of the village closer to Karasuna, I had another sick feeling and realized that we were closer to the source. Just then, revealed in the light of the full moon, I could see a figure waiting for us. As we walked further, I could see the person waiting for us and noticed that it was Yotaka.

"Yotaka, what are you doing here?" I asked him. "You should get back to the house now. I don't think it's safe out here for you."

"Of course it isn't," he said emotionlessly as I spotted the fact that he was covered in blood, his eyes devoid of any signs of life. "It's because I am here."

A chill travelled down my spine as my gaze wandered down to a prone form by his feet. It took me a few seconds to place it, but I realized that it was a dead body. It was also completely covered in blood and the bad feeling I had earlier intensified. The only time it did this was if a Varuga was nearby and even though I didn't want to believe it, I knew deep down that Yotaka had to be one of them.


	5. Hollow

**Hello, all! I am back with another installment. This one is exciting, so I'm sure you'll all love it. There are fights and all sorts of fun stuff that will happen in this chapter. I don't want to spoil it for you all, so I'll keep this description short and sweet. Enjoy the latest chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Hollow**

"This doesn't look good," Yogi said seriously. "I don't want to hurt him, but I think we're going to have to fight him."

"I agree," I said softly as I kept my gaze locked onto Yotaka, who had placed a finger in his mouth to lick it clean of the blood coating his skin. "I suppose it's a good thing that we didn't wake the other two. I think Gareki wouldn't want to see this."

"Well, I'm here now," I heard a voice say behind me, turning my head to see Gareki out of the corner of my eye with Nai standing next to him. "And I can already see the body next to him. What's worse is that I can see the marks on it and they are the same as the ones that were on Tsubaki's body."

"Gareki," I heard Yotaka say as I turned back to him, his eyes looking even emptier as he began to be surrounded by a sky blue light. A huge ball of it was formed before it was launched directly at Gareki. With a hiss, I launched a white hot ball of fire at the light, destroying it instantly as sparks flew everywhere. There was a ripping noise and I saw two tiny wings pulling free from Yotaka's back, dark blue feathers adorning them as they curled up to his shoulders.

"Cleo, I think you should take Nai and Gareki away from here," Yogi said quietly as his swords appeared in his hands out of thin air. "Take them to the house now and wait for me there."

"I want to stay and fight," I told him with a growl, my falchion forming in my hand and blazing with fire. It was like a regular sword except for the edges of the blade. One edge of the blade was straight like a short sword while the other side extended out a little to an edge that curved down to the tip of the blade. Both sides were lethally sharp as I kept the point turned to the ground, fire burning brightly as it slowly turned from white to crimson.

"One of us needs to protect them and I trust your judgment more than mine," Yogi told me. "You know better than I do what should be done. You know deep down that I'm right with this."

I wanted to argue, but he was definitely right. I let out a hiss of anger before turning to Nai and Gareki. "Time to leave, kiddos. We need to get out of here so Yogi won't have to worry about us while he is fighting."

"There is no way I am leaving here," Gareki said. "This is my fault and I—"

He was about to say something else when I cut him off by touching the curved part of the sword lightly against his throat. The sharp point at the side of the blade pressed into his neck but didn't draw blood as I glared at him, letting him see my eyes glowing vehemently. "It is not your fault," I told him, sounding calmer than I felt. "None of this is to be blamed on you. Right now, we need to go back to the house. Then you can look after Nai while I find Tsubame and bring her back."

He paused for a while until nodding hesitantly, making sure that the point didn't move further against his skin. I could see that he was angry but he didn't want to push me too far lest I hurt him to make a point. I dropped the point of my sword so it was directed at the ground before forcing to turn and pushing him to make him start running. I grabbed Nai and forced him to do the same, refusing to look back when I heard noises that meant the fighting had just begun. We rounded a corner and then another, making sure that if Yogi failed Yotaka wouldn't be able to find us right away. After passing down a few more alleys, Gareki must have had enough since he skidded to an immediate halt.

"I can't do this," he said, breathing heavily and hunching over as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm not going to sit here and be useless! I won't hide when I know that Tsubaki's killer is definitely here! He's the one that must have turned Yotaka into what he is now!"

"Gareki, it is my job to protect both you and Nai," I told him. "You know I can't allow it. It would be extremely irresponsible of me."

"You know, I can tell exactly when you turn into a member of Circus!" he yelled, glaring at me after he straightened to his full height. "That light in your eyes completely disappears and you're more animal than human! Any humanity that remains in you is completely snuffed out and you begin to think mechanically!"

I felt my shoulders droop, the tip of my sword pressing into the ground as I stared at him, absolutely stunned. I saw a flash of regret in his eyes and he looked as if he was going to try to apologize when I said, "Get going then."

"Cleo, I—"

"I said go."

I refused to look at him, turning my back until he had no choice but to do as I said. I could hear his running feet as he took off in the direction that we had just come in and listened to the pounding of blood in my brain. _I am more animal than human_, I thought to myself bitterly. _It's exactly why I was created. I was supposed to be like this all of the time and yet my humanity was enough to offset it. He just doesn't know how right he is._

"Cleo, are you all right?" Nai asked me. I turned around to look at him and saw that Gareki must have given him his pink zip up hoodie since Nai was now wearing it. "He was just hurting. He didn't mean what he said."

"It doesn't matter because he is still right about what he said," I told him softly.

"Just because you are an animal, doesn't mean that you aren't kind hearted," he explained to me as he moved within my line of sight. "Right now you are in human form, which means you are also human. You only wanted the best for us both and you didn't want him to see anything that might hurt him. I'm sure he understands that."

"Thank you, Nai," I whispered, feeling slightly better.

He was about to say something else when there was a faint noise on the horizon. I looked at him and saw him flinch a little, so I knew he had heard it as well. "What do you think that was?" he asked me.

"I have no idea, but maybe Tsubame is there," I told him as I felt my resolve return.

I grabbed him by the hand and took off running, using my Dragon side to pick up my speed. I had this feeling that I needed to find her right away or something bad would happen. Down a few alleys and I could hear a buzzing noise, along with the feeling in my gut that alerted me to the presence of yet another Varuga. I let the falchion shift into my thin bladed knives that were made of rainbow titanium, making them sit between my fingers to use them like claws if I needed to attack up close. I heard the noise much closer and slid to a stop at the edge of the last road, pushing Nai against a wall as I did the same. I peeked around the corner to see Tsubame backing away from a strange man I didn't recognize. My stomach churned painfully whenever my gaze settled upon him and I knew he must be the Varuga.

"Nai, this is what I want you to do," I explained to him quietly so that only he could hear me. "On the count of three, you and I are going to run into the alley. You will grab Tsubame and run for it while I keep that man distracted. He is a Varuga and I'll keep him busy while you both escape."

Nai nodded quickly and I counted down with my fingers. I held up three fingers, then two, then one, and we both burst out into the alley as fast as we could. I moved toward the man as Nai grabbed Tsubame and I threw my knives at him with as much force as possible. He screeched in pain as I formed more knives to throw at him. I saw him glare angrily, turning his body towards Nai and Tsubame and I blocked his path by slashing at him with my knives. He jumped back as blood splashed on the ground with a hiss before letting out an inhuman scream. I flicked my hand to clean the blood from my knives and bared my fangs at him before allowing my blades to be bathed in fire. I could thankfully hear Nai and Tsubame running away, making me relax for a split second before throwing my knives at the Varuga again. He screeched again before leaping into the air faster than I could stop him and I had a bad feeling that he was going to head after Nai and Tsubame.

He moved faster than I expected and I had to force more of my Dragon side out onto the surface, my fangs lengthening a little and the fire beneath my skin beginning to glow. I felt a growl rumble from my throat as I ran faster than ever until the man disappeared without a trace for the span of five seconds. In another alley, I could see the man zip past with two figures under his arms and the snarl turned into a howl of rage as I tried to keep the Dragon under control. This was why I never let it out often. I jumped up high to land on the roofs, bounding onto each one as I followed him. Before long there was a huge explosion of light further ahead and I knew it belonged to Yotaka so I ran even faster until I stood on the outskirts of a grassy plain where the man had already thrown Nai and Tsubame on the ground. Yogi was passed out on the ground and Gareki was standing behind him staring at Yotaka, who now had long hair and huge blue black wings. He was almost completely a Varuga now and the man below laughed.

I could hear the man speaking to Gareki, who was holding one of Yogi's swords in his hand, just before he rushed at him. Gareki yelled something, swinging the sword at the man as he ran at him, but the man stopped the sword from hitting him with the touch of a single finger. The man laughed as the skin on his arms turned to that of a bug, a few antennae over his right eye, and the eye itself turning black with a red glowing iris. There was a loud bang as Gareki was thrown across the ground to where Yogi was lying and that was when I moved. Leaping down from the roof towards the man and shifting my knives into the falchion, I severed his arm entirely with a snarl. The man screeched loudly as his arm grew back, then tried to hit me. I crouched down on the ground before letting out a huge breath of fire. He shrieked again and tried to run away, but I wouldn't let him leave by slashing the sword at him.

"Yotaka!" the man screamed and I was finally able to decipher words again. "Kill them all! Start with this girl!"

"I won't do it," Yotaka told him. I looked over to see his back facing us and that Tsubame was hugging him tightly. "It's wrong and I won't hurt the people who are my friends."

"You won't defy me!" the man screeched. He snapped his fingers and yelled, "You will obey and completely turn into a Varuga!"

Yotaka looked as if he had been hit, then started screaming in pain. "Gareki! Gareki, you have to kill me!"

I felt a pang in my heart as I saw Gareki's face paled at the thought. "I won't do it. I _can't_ do it. I won't let another person of your family die!"

"Cleo, I don't know if you can hear me but if he won't do it, then you have to!" he yelled, his voice getting shaky as he tried to keep the Varuga from taking over a second time.

He screamed in agony as his body shook violently and the human part of me told me that I had to help him, even though the Dragon wanted nothing more than to burn the man in front of me to ashes. I was just about to run towards Yotaka when something fast dropped down from the sky and stabbed Yotaka through the chest. I looked up to see Hirato flying down slowly with a sad look on his face. The Varuga slashed his insect arm at me and it sliced my shoulder, making me hiss as I fell to the ground. I heard Nai scream something but it was hard to hear over Tsubame's cries, then everything was completely drowned out by the roaring in my mind as the Dragon took over.

I was back on my feet as the Varuga ran off, loping after him faster than humanly possible. I stuck to the shadows so that he couldn't see me, keeping to a safe distance before finally tackling him to the ground. With a roar, I lifted my arm as my nails lengthened and sharpened into claws, about to bring them down upon him to kill him when a group of silent women with long black hair and blue eyes flew around us. A huge blast of light hit us both as blue lightning struck us, making us both screech in pain as we rolled away from each other.

"I'm sorry, Cleo, but you left me with no choice," I could faintly hear Hirato say before the pain became worse enough to make me lose consciousness.

* * *

My whole body hurt as I slowly opened my eyes, my vision blurry for a few seconds until it eventually cleared. I saw that I was in my room and that everything was quiet. I felt someone holding my hand and turned my head to see Nai, who had a concerned look on his face as he watched me. I groaned as my muscles twitched, making the pain even worse as I bit my lip hard. I waited for it to pass before settling down again, closing my eyes once more.

"How are you feeling?" Nai asked me and I could hear the anxiety in his voice.

"I'm feeling a little better," I told him, my voice sounding hoarse to my own ears.

Nai paused for a few seconds and I knew that he was hesitant to say something. "Cleo… Before Yotaka died, he said that he was glad to have met you and that the moment you showed him your magic would always be special to him."

I sighed and opened my eyes again to stare up at the ceiling. I was happy that he wasn't suffering any longer, but it was still sad to think that Yotaka was dead. "How are Gareki and Tsubame taking it?"

"I don't know about Tsubame anymore," Nai said softly. "The Captain of the First Ship took her someplace. When her twin died, she said that she was alone now and wanted to die as well. But I think she was doing a little better before she was taken somewhere. Gareki isn't doing so well though. He's locked himself into his room and won't come out, not even to eat anything. I haven't seen him in a day."

"I've been asleep for a day?" I asked dubiously.

"I'm to blame for that," a voice said from the door. I turned my gaze away from the ceiling and to the source of the noise to see that Hirato had walked into my room. "You were about to kill Meiga, the Varuga you had chased, and we needed to take him alive so we could question him. I had my Banshees set the trap with you in it and I carried you back to the ship after you both fainted."

"How did all this happen?" I asked him seriously. "How did Yotaka become a Varuga?"

"I've heard both stories from Meiga and Gareki and I think I understand now," Hirato said as he approached my bed, sitting on the edge near Nai. "In order to be able to have enough money for the whole family, the older sister Tsubaki was in a relationship with Meiga and he would give these 'nutritional supplements' for her to mix into the food for the twins. He would then give her enough money for them to survive off of. After a while, Yotaka began to notice that their food had something in it and was taking Tsubame's share of it to protect her. Before long, Yotaka had a reaction to the 'supplements' in his food and Tsubaki tried to help him, only to be killed when he transformed and went berserk. After that, he would turn during the night and Tsubame would have a psychosomatic reaction since she was so close to her twin."

"That's terrible…" I whispered, feeling my anger burn at my skin.

"Now I've got a question for you," Hirato said as his eyes were stern. "What happened with you?"

"He was moving faster than I could keep up and I had to protect Nai and Tsubame, so I started letting out the Dragon side of me to run quicker."

"You know that is dangerous for you to do and yet you did it anyway."

"I don't understand," Nai said, looking between us both. "What's going on? Why is that so bad?"

"Nai, it is just how I was designed," I said quietly. "I was created to be a destroyer. I'm supposed to be more Dragon than human, which means I'm not supposed to have an ounce of humanity. I didn't for a long time and was considered to be a success until I began to realize the value of a life. They were going to terminate me since I was a failure, but one of them decided to keep me alive. Now the Dragon tries to take over whenever I try to use its power. The only time it can't escape is when I use my fire, which is why I have become an expert at it."

"You're not a destroyer," he told me as he squeezed my hand tighter. "I remember you to be kind and loving even back then."

"I became that way when you were created," I said to him. "Before then, I had to be locked in a cage or I would try to kill people for getting too close. Then I saw you being led about the building and I calmed down immediately."

His brows drew together in confusion before he said, "I don't remember this."

"It's alright," I told him. I knew he wouldn't since our creators injected us with something to erase our memories of those days but it didn't once work on me.

A doctor on the ship came in to check on me and said I was officially fine. I watched Nai go walking around the ship with a whole herd of Sheep and decided that it was as good a time as any to check on Gareki. I walked to the room next to mine and knocked, announcing my presence before walking inside. The lights were out in the room and I didn't see him at first, so I figured that he must have been lying in his bed. I moved further in the room and saw him lying on the top bunk without moving a muscle. On a whim, I slowly floated up near the ceiling before lying lightly next to him.

"What are you doing?" he asked flatly.

"Checking up on you," I said simply.

"Go away, Cleo," he sighed.

"Nope, not going to," I told him. "The only way I will is if you talk to me about how you're feeling."

"Not happening."

"Then I guess I'm staying for however long it takes."

"Damn it, Cleo! Just leave me alone!" he yelled and I knew if I just pushed him a little further I could get him to talk.

"I'm not going to until you talk," I told him.

He let out a growl as he rolled over onto his side, moving quickly to lie on top of me and pin my arms above my head when I tried to shift away from him. His face was only a couple inches from mine as he glared into my eyes, his blue gray ones meeting my crimson ones. I wouldn't show him any emotion at all as I stayed totally calm. I could feel his body shaking almost imperceptibly as his grip on my arms tightened, making me wince slightly.

"Fine, you want me to talk? I'll talk," he snarled. "Yotaka was family. So were Tsubame, Tsubaki, and their grandfather. I left them when Tsubaki died to steal from the rich so I could provide for them since I knew they wouldn't be able to pay for their grandfather's bill when he was hospitalized. Now, I had to watch yet another person from my family die before my very eyes! Then Tsubame wanted to die so she could follow after her brother because she felt alone, saying that I was never around and that I wasn't truly part of the family after all. Do you know how painful that is? Do you know how terrible a feeling that is to hear one of the people you consider to truly be your family say that to you?!"

"Try finding out that you were created to be the destroyer, something far worse than a Varuga," I told him calmly. He looked a little surprised and I contemplated pushing him off when I said, "I am a monster, an organic ticking time bomb that will one day go off like I did the other night. That is a harsh reality as well and not something to find out when you are young. So if you are a monster, then I definitely am as well."

When he finally could speak again, he whispered, "You and I… we're almost the same. We've both had hard beginnings and not the best of lives since."

I wasn't sure but I felt like his face was slowly moving closer to mine and I felt a small blush burn my cheeks again. "What did you and Yotaka talk about that night?"

"Umm… Nothing, I guess. He just wanted to talk about some things."

Gareki groaned before saying, "I've never once seen you act so suspicious before. He kissed you, didn't he?" I felt my blushing get worse and so I turned my head away, making him sigh before he took both of my wrists in one hand and grasping my chin so he could turn my head to face him. "Cleo, tell me the truth. Did he kiss you? You have to tell me since you made me tell you about how I felt. Now it's your turn."

"I fail to see how it's any of your business," I mumbled.

I could see his small smile as he said, "Just tell me already."

"Fine! He kissed me, alright?" I growled, glaring at him now.

I squirmed in his hold and tried to sit up just as he moved in just the right way. Our faces were too close now, our noses practically touching as he let go of me entirely. We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before I saw his eyes soften a fraction and he lightly pressed his lips to mine. It was nothing like the one I had with Yotaka, not awkward or as swift as a shooting star in the slightest. This time, I felt like I had been set on fire as my skin burned wherever his touched mine. He kissed me again as his fingers slid through my hair at the nape of my neck, keeping me still as he slowly part my lips with his own to slide his tongue against mine. It sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, enough so that I grabbed him by the front of his shirt unconsciously. After a few minutes, he pulled away to give me a content grin as I blushed even fiercer, pushing him off and running out of the room as he called my name.

I couldn't believe what had just happened as I ran through the hallways without noticing where I was even going. My head spun as I ran faster, happening upon the exit and bursting out into the air outside of the ship. I flew up and onto the top of the ship, where I sat down and tried to calm my fluttering heart. I barely even had time to think about it when Yogi appeared and flew over to stand next to me.

"Gareki finally came out of his room, thanks to you," he said with a happy smile. "Just long enough to tell me to find you. This is one of your hiding spots so I had a feeling I would find you here."

"He didn't tell you why he needed you to find me, did he?" I asked, suppressing the groan that threatened to burst free.

"All he said was that he did something that made you run as if your tail was on fire," he laughed. "I told him that he should be used to you being on fire, but he said that this time it was different. Are you going to tell me what he did to make you run away so fast?"

"No, no I am not," I told him quickly, about to make a run for it again when he grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"You don't typically run away from things like this," he said as he puzzled it out, tilting his head to the side as he thought it over. I tried to twist my wrist from his hold until he made a noise of comprehension. "Wait a minute, I know what happened. Gareki and Cleo finally caved and gave in to the feelings they had to each other! That means you kissed!"

"Not true!" I lied as I wrenched my wrist from his grasp. "Nothing like that happened, nor will it ever! We didn't kiss!"

I ran to the edge of the ship and flew into the air, diving down and going back inside where I could hide somewhere else. I stuck to the shadows and made sure that no one could see me as I sneaked along, but knew that someone would eventually catch me. I was quite right to have that feeling when I was grabbed and dragged into a dark room against my will. I was about to throw a fireball at the culprit when I saw Gareki.

"Are you crazy?" I hissed at him as he decided to keep his distance. "You just don't grab a lady like that and yank her into a dark room!"

"I'm sorry but I figured you wouldn't go with me willingly right now and we need to talk," he told me, giving me an apologetic smile that seemed foreign to him.

"And if I don't want to talk?" I asked, feeling my heart begin to flutter quickly once more.

"We have to," he said as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Is it about the kiss? Because you don't have to worry about that."

"Why not?" he asked with an edge of suspicion in his voice.

"I say that because it won't happen again," I said softly, keeping my gaze on the ground in case he looked angry. "We can't do that anymore. It's irresponsible and I shouldn't have let it happen in the first place. I am supposed to be protecting you and Nai, not canoodling with one of my charges. It was wrong of me to... to have led you on in any way, shape, or form."

"That's it?" he said after a lengthy pause that had me squirming uncomfortably. "After everything… you're just going to pretend that nothing happened, like it meant nothing to you?"

"I'm going to try," I told him quietly.

"I can't believe you, Cleo," he said to me and I looked up to see him glaring at me. "I'm not putting up with this. If you want to act like that, fine. See if I care. You have fun pretending."

With those parting words, he pushed past me and slammed the door shut after him. I could see in the dark and I just stared up at the ceiling in frustration. _I was only trying to do the right thing,_ I thought to myself, _and yet I've somehow managed to do something wrong. It feels like my world has just been turned upside down and now I can't figure it out anymore._ With a frustrated growl, I left the room as well and began walking down the halls when my stomach churned in hunger. It was then that I remembered that I hadn't eaten in a day and that it was about time that I found some food. I sighed and headed in the direction of the kitchen, taking my time and thinking up a new trick to play with my fire for the next time Circus holds a show. It was around time for dinner to be served anyway and I figured I could eat early before everyone else showed up so I wouldn't have to see Gareki. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky since everyone had already gathered in the dining room outside of the kitchen, including Gareki. He looked up at me for a split second before turning his head away with a jerk. I took a deep breath and knew that things were going to be difficult from now on.


	6. Festivities

**Hello again! Welcome back to the latest chapter and to those of you who are new, thanks for beginning the story and making it this far! All of the support is greatly appreciated and the fact that people are even reading it at all means a lot to me. Now, for this chapter, it's a fluff piece. From the last chapter, you know that Gareki and Cleo are now at odds with each other and it plays out more in this chapter. Nai tries to intervene and play mediator since he doesn't like conflict when it comes to the people he cares about. Then you find out about an amusing occurrence that I'm sure will be taken well. Anyway, I feel as if I am rambling on terribly, so I will leave it at that! Enjoy and review if you please!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Festivities**

It had been a few days since Gareki had completely stopped talking to me, refusing to even be in the same room if he could help it. It surprised me by how much it hurt me deep down to think that he was avoiding me. Nai knew something was wrong between us, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He spent his time with us equally so that the other wouldn't feel bad, or so he thought that was what he was doing. Mostly what he would do was sleep in the same room as Gareki one night and then sleep next to me the next. He just wanted to make us both happy and this was the only way he could right now without forcing us in the same room. Most of the time, Gareki sat in his room in the dark, looking out the window as the ship flew through the sky. I spent my time in the training room that was made specifically for me, practicing with my fire to hone my control over it.

Nai followed me in that day as I practiced some more, watching me with interest when Hirato walked into the room. I almost didn't even notice him until I happened to turn around. "Sorry, Captain," I told him. "I didn't know you were here."

"It's fine, Cleo," he said with a nod, giving me a small smile. "I had heard you were in here practicing again and I figured that now would be the perfect time to tell you of the news."

"What news?" I asked suspiciously. He always liked to break things to me when I was tiring myself out by training.

"Airship One is holding a festival near Karasuna as an apology for what happened four days ago," he told me. "They asked if we would help them. I'm having a few of us get involved with the festivities. Tsukumo is going to help Jiki with his play and Eva and Yogi will be walking in the parade."

"I don't like the look in your eyes," I told him flatly. "You've got something up your sleeves for me, I just know it."

"Nothing you won't like," he said with a chuckle. "You'll be in the parade as well, so will Nai and Gareki. You will watch out for them and make sure that no one tries to ambush either of them."

"Let Yogi watch out for Gareki," I told him as I turned my back on him. "Gareki refuses to be anywhere near me. I think it will be best for all of us."

"I know what happened between the two of you," Hirato said and I whipped around to face him, shocked at his words. Even though he wasn't smiling, I could see it in his eyes as they sparkled brightly. "I don't approve of what happened, so I just want to make that clear. However, for you to actually show an interest in someone human for once is a relief. You never get close to anyone, except for your brother of course, and it was painful to watch. I think you are the perfect person to watch the both of them. I won't have it any other way."

He walked away quickly and out of the door before I could say another word. Nai ran over and asked, "What happened between you and Gareki?"

"Really? You're going to pounce on the opportunity to ask that now?" I asked wanly.

"I didn't want to hurt you by asking too soon," he told me with a feeble smile.

"Little Nai, you wouldn't understand," I said with a weak laugh. "No offense, but you're a bit too young to know what happened."

He looked a bit dejected so I gave him a quick hug before shooing him away from me so I could go back to training. It was hours later when I collapsed on the floor that I realized that Nai was no longer in the room with me. Wiping the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, I left the room in search of Nai, sticking to the shadows along the way as I followed his scent. Before long, I realized that he must be in his room with Gareki.

"You should have seen her practicing today, Gareki!" I heard Nai's voice yell from down the hallway as I walked closer. "She was working on different attacks to use on the training dummies. One was a huge explosion of white flames that just appeared out of nowhere!"

"That's great, Nai," he said, sounding bored.

"Oh, what happened between you and my sister?" Nai asked curiously. "She wouldn't tell me. She said it was something that I was too young to understand."

"That's probably a good thing," he sighed.

"You sound upset. You feel cold and not your normal warm self."

"If you're going to keep talking, I'm going to kick you out of the room. Go bug your sister."

"She's training!" Nai told him as I unlocked my door and walked inside the room, shutting it quietly so they wouldn't hear. "She didn't even notice me leaving the training room!"

"Then go tell her to play a game with you or something."

I shook my head as I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower then walked out to the dresser. "There, she's back now. Go bother her instead," Gareki's voice said from behind the wall.

I was becoming quite tempted to go over there and yell at him for being mean to Nai when my brother said, "Why don't you go talk to her? You both need to make up and be friends again."

I didn't like where this was going and didn't want to hear anything more. I grabbed a long sleeved black shirt and shorts and set them on the bed before walking into the bathroom a second time. I peeled off my training clothes before getting into the shower. Using my strawberry scented shampoo and soap, I cleaned off the sweat from training as quick as I could. I usually couldn't stay under the water for too long because the fire beneath my skin evaporated the water before it could touch me. Just before the ten minute mark that meant the evaporation would begin, I turned off the water and jumped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around me tightly, grabbing my training clothes, and placed them in my dirty clothes hamper to wash later before leaving the bathroom. I walked over to the bed and happened to look over towards the door to see Gareki standing there, making me jump in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I asked, forcing my jumbled nerves to calm down from the surprise of seeing him there.

"Nai pushed me in here with help from the Sheep and now they're all keeping watch on the door to make sure I stay in here with you," he mumbled, looking down at the carpet.

"Why?" I asked, inwardly groaning at the extremes Nai was putting us through.

"He wants us to be friends again and figured we needed to be locked in the same room until we make up," he sighed before finally looking up and instantly blushing a bright red color. "Umm… Maybe you should get changed…"

That was when I remembered that I was still only wearing a towel. I grinned at him as I blushed, too. "Aww, big bad Gareki is embarrassed by a little skin showing."

Walking over to me while looking at the carpet, he grabbed my clothes, turned me around to face the bathroom, and pushed me inside with his hands flat on my back. "Just get dressed already," he groaned as he threw my clothes to me. "As soon as you're ready, we'll break out of here and hide somewhere they won't be able to find us."

After that, he slammed the door shut as soon as he left the bathroom altogether. I snickered quietly so he couldn't hear me and then dropped the towel so I could get dressed. I put on all of my clothes quickly and brushed my hair as I walked out of the bathroom, the blue streaks standing out more than ever today as they had any other day. I tried to brush the blue tufts down to lay flat against my head, but they fluffed back up to normal. I laughed a little as I ruffled my still wet hair, heating my fingers and drying it instantly. I found a hair tie and pulled my hair up into a ponytail, happening to look down and see a strip of skin on my stomach that was exposed. I shrugged and walked over to the door where Gareki was waiting, giving me a once over look as I pressed my ear against the door. I grinned before yanking the door open, grabbing Gareki by the hand, and bolting out the door faster than Nai or the Sheep could stop us.

Zigzagging down multiple hallways, I made sure not to get caught as we ran along and I remembered a spot I used to hide in where no one could ever find me. I laughed as I went through a few doors and skidded to a halt in a tiny area near the top of the ship. It was pitch black in a closet sized room that was like a crawl space and I pulled Gareki in with me before shutting the door. It was such a tight space that we had to stand with my back against his chest.

"What is this?" he asked curiously.

"It's one of the many hiding spots in case of a Varuga attack. It's like a tiny panic room," I told him. "The walls of this room hide magic well enough so that a Varuga can't find you easily. I used to hide here when I first came to the ship. Everything hurt my ears for the first week, I found this spot one day and it was so quiet that I would sleep in here. Before long, I got used to the noise and never came back to this room as often."

"So you thought, after I kissed you, that bringing me to a tiny enclosed space was a good idea, especially after you pushed me away and said it wasn't going to happen again?" he asked quietly, his breath fanning out on my neck and sending a shiver down my spine. "You are one strange girl, you know that?"

"And yet you still kissed me even though you knew that I was strange in the first place," I reminded him. "Not only that, but I do believe that at one point in time you said that we were alike."

"Oh, Cleo," he said with a laugh. "You don't know how true that is."

I felt his arms go around my waist to pull me closer and I knew a part of me wanted to just relax in his hold, but it would be wrong of me to make him feel like I was leading him on later. I let out a sigh before pulling his arms from around me and moved as close to the wall in front of me as possible, leaning my forehead against as I stared down at my feet. I heard him lean back against the wall behind him and finally there was some distance between us. I just listened to our surroundings so see if I could hear anyone trying to find us.

"I don't understand this," he said softly. "You kissed me back and—"

"Gareki, stop," I whispered hoarsely. "It's not what you think."

"So what is it then?"

"I can't allow myself to develop feelings for you and protect both you and Nai at the same time," I told him. "It's my job to protect the both of you. I can't let feelings get in the way of that."

"So… it's not because you don't like me in that way?" he asked indifferently but I knew it was fake.

"That's not it at all," I said. Quickly changing the subject, I whispered, "I don't hear anyone out there. I'm sure that the Sheep would have found us by now so they must have given up or Nai called off the search." I opened the door and walked out without waiting for Gareki to follow after me.

* * *

The next day was the day of the festival in a big town near Karasuna and I was in a horrible mood. "I'm going to kill him," I grumbled angrily as I wandered around the ship wearing my outfit for the night.

For some reason, Yogi had been given permission to create an outfit for me to wear at the parade. It was the reason why I hadn't seen him in a few days and he knew he was going to have to hide from me lest I attempt to murder him for it. During the day of the festival, he handed me a bundle of white fur and then ran from me. I took it to my room and took a closer look at it, only to growl at it because I was livid at what I saw.

It was a furry white dress that didn't have sleeves and was really short, the front part was royal blue fur that was to like the underbelly of a dragon. There was a hood attached on the back of the dress by a tiny strip of fabric with royal blue spikes travelling down the spine, even wings extending out of the shoulders that were white and blue, before going down to the end of the dress to stop at a long spiked tail. Last but not least were furry white and blue fingerless gloves and also blue fishnet stockings that ended in white furry boots that had blue claws at the tips of them.

I had stormed out of my room and had been tracking down Yogi for about an hour until I had eventually found him talking to Gareki and Nai in a common room, all of them dressed up for the festival. They all stood up as I stomped into the room, varying degrees of awe upon their faces. As I focused my rage on Yogi, he made a yipping noise before hiding behind Gareki, who seemed to be frozen in place as he stared at me in amazement. Yogi was wearing his Nyanperowna costume but was holding the head under his arms as he hid; Gareki was wearing a black suit with a blue dress shirt underneath, a red tie, and sharp horns curling down along his face; and Nai had a fancy red jacket, white dress shirt, and a small top hat with red ribbons dangling down the sides, sitting on his head at an angle. I charged past Gareki and Nai to get to Yogi when they grabbed me by the arms in a wild attempt to stop me.

"Let me go!" I growled at them. "I'm going to kill Yogi and I won't let anyone stop me!"

"N-now wait a minute, Cleo!" he stammered, taking another step back as he held up his furry arms to seem nonthreatening. "Let's not be hasty! Hirato told me to make you a costume for the parade since you never had one! You don't have to wear it for anything else except the parades, I swear! You can wear your regular costume for your performances!"

"This thing is skimpy!" I yelled. "You know I don't like overly revealing things! You're usually good with this!"

"It's made of fur! I had no choice but to make it that way or you would burn it when you used your fire!"

"Did you really have to use fishnet stockings?!"

"Well… now that you mention it, no I didn't," he said as he scratched his head in embarrassment. "I ran out of material for the stockings and that was all that was left. No need to get all fired up."

"Well, she is hot," Gareki said under his breath as the other two looked up at him in surprise. "Her temperature, I mean. It runs higher than a normal human because of the fire in her veins."

They made noises of agreement as I turned to look at Gareki, who had a satisfied grin on his face for getting away with such a bold lie. I rolled my eyes at him and calmed down enough for both he and Nai to let go of me. After that, Yogi grabbed them both and we flew down from the plane towards the town where the parade was set to start. I was still angry about my costume that I was being forced to wear for parades, but it was better than looking like a weirdo in a costume as huge as Nyanperowna. I decided to stop my grumbling and just deal with it as the parade began.

I walked between Gareki and Nai as we passed out candy to the children, occasionally moving out in front of them to perform some act of magic with my fire when a child begged me to. They loved watching the Dragon's Breath, making me let out a huge plume of fire into the night sky that awed everyone. Or, like a clown creates balloon animals, the children would beg for fire animals that were miniature. At one point, Nai asked for a fire Niji and as I laughed I created one for him. He chased it in circles around Gareki, who immediately looked like he was about to yell at Nai angrily when he grabbed my brother by the back of the collar.

I saw a girl appear before Yogi and I remembered that her name was Kiichi. "Hey, we have a problem. One of our high performance Rabbits that was under maintenance managed to escape our ship. We need some help catching it before it does something drastic."

"That's great, but I can't do it!" Yogi hissed at her quietly so that the children wouldn't hear.

"Too bad! It's an order from the Captains!" Kiichi said as she glared at him.

Yogi looked a little panicked before setting his sights on Gareki, immediately grabbing him and dragging him down an alley with him. I saw Kiichi laugh before running down the alley after them and didn't think much of it as Nai ran over to catch up with me. He looked so happy and it was nice to see that he wasn't worrying about Karoku. Before long, the children squealed as Nyanperowna appeared, then flinched away him when the cat somehow managed to glare at them furiously. It took me a couple seconds to realize that Yogi had pulled the old "switcheroo" trick so he could chase after the malfunctioning Rabbit with Kiichi and that Gareki was the one being forced to play Nyanperowna.

Nai ran over to him and said, "Oh, there you are, Yogi! Where did you take Gareki?"

I could practically see steam coming out of the cat's ears as Gareki fumed in rage, so with a laugh I ran over to him. "Nyanperowna is back!" I yelled to the kids before jumping at him and hugging him, knowing that he would wrap his arms around me in an embrace to keep me steady. Standing on my toes, I leaned up to place my lips near the cat's ears and whispered, "I know you hate this with a passion, but keep up appearances for the kids. Nyanperowna is one of their favorite characters and it would break their hearts if you behaved irrationally. Just be good until Yogi gets back and I'll find a way to make it up to you, I promise."

I heard him sigh but he nodded in agreement before handing candy to the kids. Seeing all of the children's happy faces made me smile more than I had in a while, even making Nai seem so joyous lightened my heart. To make the kids happy, sometimes I would fight Nyanperowna and let him beat me so that they would see their hero defeat a bad guy, making them scream with joy and hug the cat costume tightly. I knew Gareki was feeling awkward about the whole thing, but he did as I asked and was pleasant enough to play the part.

Eventually, Nai began to get worried about Gareki, still thinking that it was Yogi beneath the costume. "Really, Yogi!" he exclaimed anxiously. "Where did Gareki go?"

"You hadn't noticed, Nai?" a voice said ahead of us and we saw Eva appear from the crowd with a smile. "The reason Nyanperowna is acting not so very nice as he usually does is because that _is_ Gareki beneath the costume!"

The parade rounded a corner that was the very end and Gareki pulled off Nyanperowna's head with a tired gasp of breath. Nai looked surprised and then ran at Gareki to give him a quick hug, ignoring Gareki's protests the entire time. All I could do was smile at the scene before me, looking away quickly when I was caught staring by Gareki. Eva noticed it too and chuckled softly before moving over to a café that was set up for us to have something to eat. At the thought of food, Nai followed Eva and after watching Gareki struggle to get out of the Nyanperowna costume for a few seconds, I decided to help him out while trying not to laugh.

"So glad you find this amusing," Gareki said flatly as I forced him to stay still long enough for me to pull the zipper down on the back of the costume.

"Can you really blame me?" I asked him.

"Actually, yes I can," he told me as we pulled down the costume so he could step out of it. As I adjusted the suit he had been wearing underneath, he said, "Now you owe me one. You said that you'd make it up to me if I kept up appearances."

"And you surprised me in that regard," I told him with a smile. "I didn't know you possessed a single pleasant bone in your body."

"I can be nice when I want to," he said, grabbing me by the hand and walking over to the café.

I theatrically threw my arm over my eyes like a damsel in distress while trying to pull away and loudly said, "Unhand me, scoundrel, for I am just an innocent maiden! My purity must remain unsullied lest dreadful circumstances befall us both!"

"Cleo, shut the hell up!" he hissed just as a bunch of people from the parade appeared, including Eva.

With an amused grin, she called out, "You heard the lady! Surrender her to us and any sorts of violence will not transpire!"

"Alas, he says that cooperation is no longer a choice that he can accept!" I yelled to them as they took a step closer, only making Gareki look both angry and embarrassed. "He says that if violence must ensue, he will surely depart this world with me in tow!"

"Quickly, fair guardians!" Eva cried out. "We must not allow the enchanting maiden to be seized in such a manner! She is as pure as the driven snow and the last virtuous person on this planet! We must not endure the death of such a lady and shall capture this knave without loss of life!"

They moved faster than Gareki could even flinch, pulling him away from me before he could react. Eva scooped him up in her arms to keep him still and he covered his eyes in mortification. "Kill me now," he said to himself flatly. "Seriously, just kill me."

I motioned for her to put him down and she swiftly did as I asked before I pulled his hands away from his eyes. "I can't permit that," I told him with a grin. "You make things interesting. What would I do without you and your sarcasm?"

"Get a life," he grumbled and I laughed.

While this had all happened, Nai looked on in confusion before clapping his hands to his ears as if he was in pain. He ran over to me quickly and yelled, "Tsukumo is in trouble! I can hear her screaming for help!"

Turning to Eva, I asked, "Wasn't she supposed to be in the theater and performing in Jiki's play?"

She nodded and grabbed Gareki while I took hold of Nai, both of us flying into the air with our charges as we took off in the direction of the theater as fast as we could. Nai was shaking and begging me to hurry, which I complied by speeding up even more. I happened to look over to my right and see Yogi and Kiichi flying to the theater, so I had a bad feeling that the malfunctioning Rabbit was behind something. I yelled to Yogi what Nai had told us and a looked of determination crossed his face as we flew on. We dived down near the theater and ran through the back doors where we moved through endless hallways to reach the backstage.

"Alright, here's the deal," Eva told us. "We're all going to have to improvise and pretend that this is all part of the play. Kiichi, wait up near the rafters and swoop down once the Rabbit makes an appearance. Yogi, Gareki, and Nai, find the Rabbit and force it into the air for Kiichi and also pretend like you are Tsukumo's guardians. Cleo, you and I will act like past girlfriends of Jiki since he is trying to steal Tsukumo the mermaid all for himself."

As Kiichi flew off to do her part and wait, the rest of us ran out onto the stage. "How dare you?!" Eva shrieked at Jiki, who looked rather bewildered at what was going on. "After all that we had been through, now you are trying force a mermaid to marry you against your will?"

"Don't forget about me!" I yelled as I walked beside her, watching out of the corner of my eye as the others were walking over to the tank that held Tsukumo underwater. "That man promised me the world and a shiny diamond ring upon my finger, but then left me in the dust as soon as another woman walked too close!"

"Such a scoundrel!" Eva exclaimed just as the Rabbit jumped from its hiding spot, forcing Kiichi to swoop down. "And he uses poor innocent animals to do his bidding with the dark forces!"

"I have stopped his lackeys!" Kiichi called out. "Now to free the mermaid so that he may never harm her again!"

She blasted the tank open and with a spray of water, the three waiting below grabbed Tsukumo and carried her backstage. Eva kicked Jiki's legs out from under him and slammed him onto the bed with a devious grin as the curtain came down. He thanked us for saving both the play and Tsukumo before we all left for the backstage as well. Just as we were about to round the corner, I could hear some screaming.

"Wait, Gareki!" Yogi's voice yelped. "I already apologized for forcing you into the Nyanperowna costume! Isn't that enough for you?! Wait a minute! No, stop, stop, _stop!_"

There was a smacking noise and a yelp as Gareki must have hit him, which only forced me to bite my lip hard to stifle the laughter. Later that night, we ate dinner in amiable silence, just looking out of the window to watch the clouds move past us slowly. Hirato told us that we would be having a vacation the next day, which we were all excited about since it was in a place that we had never been before. After the food had been eaten, we stayed up talking for a few hours before dawn until Nai rested his head on the table and fell asleep peacefully. Gareki picked him up and carried him to their room as I followed after him. As we made it to their room and Gareki placed him on the bottom bunk while I changed clothes into a tank top with shorts before returning, he turned around to face me while I watched my little brother sleep for a few seconds before looking up at him.

We just stared at each other for a few seconds before he asked, "What's your deal? The staring is kinda creeping me out."

With a smirk, I said, "Just follow me. I promised I would make it up to you for continuing to play the part of Nyanperowna until Yogi came back and I intend to make good on that promise. It's only fair."

We took every set of stairs I could find that led us up to the top of the ship and then led him through a few hallways until I reached a large spacious room that was barren of almost everything except for a single red couch. That couch faced a window so large that it covered an entire wall and then most of the ceiling, making it the perfect observation deck. He looked around as he followed behind me slowly and I sat down on the couch to watch, amused with the fact that he tried to look as bored as possible. I patted the couch cushion next to me with the flat of my hand until he moved a little quicker and sat down next to me.

"What is this place?" he asked me as he tried to sound uninterested.

"I don't know if it has a name, but I refer to it as the observation deck," I told him as I faced the window.

"Why are we up here?"

"You'll see."

If there was one thing I loved to do when I couldn't sleep, it was to come up to the observation deck and watch the surroundings. It was at this time that was my favorite time of day. We stayed silent for a few minutes more before the sky lightened and the sun began to rise. At this altitude, we were flying above the clouds as the sun peeked over top of them, turning them into fluffy golden pieces of cottony material. As the light began to shine on the water vapor within the clouds, a rainbow slowly formed that looped over top of the sun that rose from the horizon. The sky itself had taken on a rosy hue as I watched in awe, always completely captivated by the sight each and every time I watched it. Little did I know that Gareki had only been watching the sunrise for a few seconds before switching to observing each and every emotion that passed across my face. When I turned to look at him, he had this soft edge to his eyes that didn't go away and it confused me.

"You're right," he said softly. "This does make up for it."

Before I knew it, he had pulled me closer to his side and brushed my bangs from my eyes. He tilted my head back a little and my heart started fluttering quickly like the flapping of a hummingbird's wings, even though I knew it couldn't happen because it was wrong. I must have let it show in my eyes because he moved his face closer to mine and as I slowly closed my eyes, he pressed his lips to my forehead and we stayed like that for nearly a minute before he pulled away. I sighed internally as my thoughts swirled, confusing me yet again as I thought about all that had happened. I didn't know what to do and I knew my heart was most certainly in trouble if I let this keep going.


	7. Snowy Vacation

**Hello, all! Welcome to all of you who are presently reading this! This chapter will be a mix of light hearted and serious. In the beginning, they mess around in the snow since a few of them had never seen it before. They have some fun before the serious parts begin. Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Snowy Vacation**

I didn't realize entirely that the north, especially where we were located, was completely covered in snow. I felt a little silly after we hopped out of the plane and found out that snow, which I had never seen before, was all over the place. I was the only one of our group not wearing a fur lined coat, or any coat for that matter. I had on all white clothes, a long sleeved shirt with a thin hood and yoga pants, and even white boots to keep my toes warm. Everyone stared at me the first moment I hopped off the plane once they caught sight of my attire and I tilted my head in confusion.

"Why's everyone staring at me?" I asked.

"Do you not see what you are wearing?" Gareki asked dubiously, who was bundled up in a furry blue coat with weird looking blue hat that had furry flaps to keep his ears warm. "That is not appropriate for the weather of this area. There is a blizzard and you are wearing light clothing."

"But if I wore a coat, I would get really hot!" I told him as I stamped my foot, the snow on the ground within a foot radius around me instantly melting. "I'm like my own personal space heater so I don't need to wear coats! Here, I'll show you!"

With that, I moved over to him, promptly unzipping his coat and making him yell at me angrily as I wrapped my arms around him to hug him to me closely. "Jeez, you _are_ really warm!" he exclaimed as he wrapped the coat around us both where it had been unzipped.

Tsukumo was about to say something when Yogi yelled, "HIRATO, WHY?!"

All of us turned our eyes in his direction as he tried to cry in frustration, only to have his tears freeze to his eyes and force him to rub them away. "What's his problem?" Gareki asked softly and I knew he was just as curious about all of this as I was.

"No clue," I said. "I'm sure we'll find out though."

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU AT ALL, CAPTAIN!" Yogi yelled again before sulking a little.

"Anyway, as I was trying to say," Tsukumo said as she pulled something out from beneath her coat, "Cleo isn't the only space heater we have. We were given a gift that was created by the Research Tower. Its name is Yukkin."

"Wow, cool!" Nai screeched before running over to Tsukumo and taking it from her hands. He snuggled up with it and turned around so I could see that it was a tiny snowman. "Yukkin, you are awesome! You're so warm, too!"

"I've been replaced," I said in disbelief while I heard Gareki snicker.

"That's not true and you know it," he said. "He's just cold and it's a new toy."

"I can fix that then," I told him before hopping away from his arms, making him protest about the cold before zipping his coat up.

Stepping in the middle of the group, I created a dome of almost invisible blue flames that heated the air around us just enough so that the temperature wasn't so biting. The snow didn't melt and the flames wouldn't burn anyone who strayed too close to the dome, but it was a lot warmer for everyone else. Nai ran over and gave me a hug, telling me that I was even warmer than Yukkin. All I could do was smile as both he and Yukkin snuggled up to me since my body temperature was hotter than Hell itself in my mind. Even though there was a dome of fire to warm things up, everyone else moved closer to us as well to keep warm and I made sure not to laugh.

"Cleo, isn't the snow just great?" Nai asked with a huge grin on his face.

"I wouldn't know, little Nai," I told him with a sad smile. "Even if I step out of the dome of fire, my temperature is still too hot for me to even touch it."

"Have you tried forcing the fire into the deepest parts of your mind just for a few seconds?" Tsukumo asked seriously. "We can survive the cold while you try it out."

I nodded and instantly wanted to be able to feel the cold for once. I let the dome dissipate as I closed my eyes and slowly concentrated on my surroundings. I imagined what the snow felt like to normal humans and gradually pushed the fire to the back of my mind. Since it was the only part of the Dragon side of me that I ever let out, it fought back as hard as it could even though I was only going keep it down for a minute. Before long, I could feel something drip onto my skin and then eventually stick there. I opened my eyes and held out my hand as a snowflake landed on the palm of my hand. I watched it in awe as it slowly melted like it would on a human. On a whim I immediately jumped into the air with a shriek, flipped around in midair, and landed on my back in a huge pile of snow. I made what humans call a snow angel, which I had only ever heard about from stories, and giggled hysterically before rolling over on my stomach. That was around the time when I felt the biting cold of both the air and the snow itself and it began to make my teeth chatter.

"C-c-cold!" I screamed joyously before curling up in the snowbank.

"Are you seriously happy about this?" he asked incredulously.

"I've n-n-never felt c-c-cold before!" I yelled at him with the biggest grin ever.

Literally hoisting me to my feet even though I fought him every step of the way, he yelled back, "That's great, but you're going to give yourself frostbite! I don't think you want your limbs to turn black and fall off! It's the first time for me to see snow, too, and you don't see me acting like a total fool!"

Ignoring what he said last, I looked up at him in total shock. "That can happen?!"

"I can't believe we are having this conversation…" he said with a sigh.

I threw the dome of fire back in place once my fire had erupted past my skin for a few seconds and settled back just beneath the surface once more. I made the dome look like waves of heat but would make us invisible if anyone was watching since being sneaky was one of my talents. I was a little sad about not being able to touch the snow anymore and after the stunt I pulled, Gareki wouldn't let me try either. He kept pulling on one of the tufts of blue hair at the top of my head whenever it looked like I might go jump out to play in the snow. After the third time, I threatened to burn him to a crisp, which only made him smirk at me.

We walked through the woods in the blizzard, heading further north in the direction of a mansion that belonged to an associate of Kafka that Tsukumo said had been taken by Airship One. It didn't fill me with thoughts of joy like playing in the snow did, but I wasn't about to complain as of yet. I kept a steady hold over the fire within the dome and made sure to keep the way to the mansion free of snow on the ground. Yogi was talking to Gareki, who looked rather miffed about Yogi talking his ear off, and Tsukumo was keeping Nai and Yukkin company. I began to feel slightly lonely all of a sudden when Gareki pulled me back to put me between him and Yogi.

"Please," he said through gritted teeth. "You've been around him long enough. Please make the chattering stop…"

While Yogi was still yammering on about something, I leaned closer to Gareki and said softly, "I hate to break it to you, but the only way to make it stop is to just let it run its course. I've tried many a time to make him shut up and it requires a miracle or a force of nature."

"Can't you take up the role of force of nature?" he asked me, sounding slightly desperate now.

"I'm not a recognized one unfortunately," I said with a smirk. "He does the same thing with me. In fact, the way he likes breaking news to me is by adding jibber jabber at the beginning so I tune him out and then throwing the news in while I'm distracted."

Gareki chuckled. "That does sound like a good way to do it since you like throwing fire at people."

"Are either of you even listening to me?!" Yogi yelled, making everyone stop walking to turn and face him.

"Do you want the harsh truth or a comforting lie?" I asked him with the most serious expression I could muster.

"The truth!"

"We weren't paying attention," I told him quickly before we all started walking once more. I could hear him making indignant noises as I tried to stifle my laughter.

"I've got a mean Captain and a horrible Dragon," Yogi mumbled under his breath as we kept moving.

After a few more minutes of walking, a mansion appeared between the trees almost out of nowhere. The blizzard kept the place hidden until you were close up and we hurried inside, dropping the barrier quickly so it wouldn't burn anything that could be important. We walked along through each room, searching for something else that could have been missed but not finding a thing. We moved further in and found an office that had already been picked through so we tried to see if there was something new, but there was none to be found.

"I honestly don't think there is anything else here," I said as I sniffed the air to see if there had been anyone in here recently. I thought I could smell someone that had lived in this place, but it was rather old and of no importance since it didn't smell like a Varuga.

"Do you smell anything out of the ordinary?" Tsukumo asked me.

"There was a human living here at one point, but they haven't been here in a long time," I told her. "I think they were just lost and waited out a snow storm before leaving."

"Nai, can you hear anything that shouldn't be here?" Tsukumo asked him, turning to face him.

He tilted his head to the side as he concentrated on the sounds around us then shook his head. "I don't hear anything except for us."

"Why didn't you ask me if I could hear anything?" I grumbled.

"Because you might have great hearing that is better than a human's, but his hearing is even better than yours," she said with a small smile. "I guess you can't sense anything here either or your stomach would have hurt. That's usually how we tell if a Varuga is nearby."

"Cleo gets a stomach ache whenever a Varuga is within 500 feet of us," Yogi explained to Gareki. "Sometimes it doesn't fully register with her because it intensifies depending on how close the Varuga is."

"I guess that means she's not allowed to leave if she's got the flu," Gareki said with a smirk.

"I don't get sick," I told him without even looking. "One of the benefits of being a Dragon."

It was decided that we would head back to the plane and we walked back through another path through the snow when Yukkin squealed in fear. We turned around and saw that it had completely disappeared down a hole in the ground. With barely a thought, I jumped down the hole, which was big enough for a three people to jump through, and found Yukkin shivering on the ground.

"There, there, little guy," I told him comfortingly as I picked it up and wrapped one arm around it, feeling its body shiver against mine. I lit my free hand on fire and looked around, seeing that there was a tunnel that led further in. Moving closer to the light shining down from the hole, I yelled, "Hey, guys! There's a tunnel down here! Let's go take a look!"

A few seconds later, Yogi jumped down the hole with Gareki and Nai under his arms while Tsukumo stayed up top to keep watch. I handed Yukkin to Nai and we walked down the tunnel with me out in front since I was the light source. After a few more minutes, I could see an end to the tunnel, one that rather surprised me. I squinted in an attempt to see what was waiting for us, knowing that I was the only one who could see that far and in the dark itself. It then hit me as we got closer that what I was seeing that puzzled me so much was a door.

When Nai saw it, he ran over to it and placed his hand on the door handle. "Wait a second!" I tried yelling but I was too late. Nai pulled the door open and a wave of black dust rushed through. The moment it got to me, my stomach clenched painfully and I grunted as I fell against the tunnel wall, the light on my hands flickering in and out.

"Cleo!" Nai yelled as both he and Gareki ran over to me while I panted heavily, trying to control the pain in my stomach that meant a Varuga was nearby but I was extremely confused since I couldn't sense one. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," I told him as they pulled me to my feet, leaning against Gareki for a few seconds before standing on my own. I could feel my stomach ache slowly receding and it confused me even more. I looked over at Yogi and saw that he was frozen on the spot, staring at the door with a shocked expression on his face. "Yogi, what's wrong?" I asked him.

As if my voice pulled him from his trance, he gave me a weak smile and said, "Nothing! I am perfectly a-ok!"

I nodded but decided to keep watch over him since he was acting strangely as we walked closer to the door to peek inside. It was a huge room that smelled extremely dusty as if the door hadn't been opened in years. Inside of it was full of creepy looking dolls that made me cringe and I refused to go in the room at all. A scream of anger could be heard behind us as we all turned around and I felt my stomach twinge a little.

"A Varuga," I said softly as I closed my eyes, sniffing the air as I walked a few steps in the direction that we had just come from. "No, make that two. Time to go!"

I took off running back to the hole in the ground, making it back in record time before jumping up as high as I could and flying out of the hole entirely. As Yogi flew up after me with Gareki and Nai under his arms, I looked down to see Tsukumo fighting off two men with crazy eyes. Feeling the fire burn deep in my belly, I let out a huge plume of fire at the Varugas, who jumped back with yelps of shock.

"Look at that girl up there!" one with blue hair screamed joyously. "The boss would love it if we caught her! She's much stronger than this one!"

"You can try," I told them with a devious grin as my thin throwing blades appeared between my fingers.

They grinned back as they both jumped into the air to attack me, not expecting that I was much faster than them. I flew behind them faster than they could blink and I knew it must have looked like I had just disappeared from sight. Whipping around in midair, they turned towards me with shocked expressions as I gave them an evil smile before setting my blades on fire and throwing them. They couldn't dodge my blades and screeched in pain as my attack hit dead on, falling from the air and landing in the snow.

"Ok, maybe we should just stick with the blondie," the one with red hair said to the blue one.

"Probably a good idea," the blue one said. "We don't want to be so injured that we can hardly get back to the boss. That and she might kill us before we can capture her."

"Wow, Varugas can be rather intelligent," I said to myself. "That's a first."

They pulled out the knives sticking out from their chests, wincing each time, and then rushed at Tsukumo. Huge thorny vines appeared from the ground and I looked over to see Yogi with his swords while standing in front of Nai and Gareki, the vines attached to the swords as they lashed out at the Varugas. They tried to dodge the attacks but were hit hard enough to be sent into a tree. They got back onto their feet with evil grins and I knew that something was about to happen.

"Tsukumo, take Nai and Gareki and get out of here!" I yelled to her and she nodded quickly before shepherding them away.

"No, I'm going to stay and fight!" Gareki said and moved away from her. "I can help and I fully intend to! Just get Nai away from here!"

She picked up Nai and flew away as fast as she could while Gareki pulled a gun from his coat pocket. As I landed on the ground, I saw the red haired Varuga pull something free and I realized that it was a handheld video game just before it sent out a huge flash of light. Since my eyes were sensitive, I was blinded and in a lot of pain as I collapsed in the snow. I could hear Yogi's and Gareki's yells and knew that they must have been blinded as well. As I felt two pairs of arms grab me and the pain in my stomach intensified, I knew that the Varugas were trying to take me so I lashed out at them, sinking down to the snow again. I blinked my eyes a few times and I could make out their shapes as they tried to reach for me again, only to see them freeze when a gurgling noise could be heard. It kept going until it was silenced quickly, then a huge mass of vines appeared to smash into the two Varugas. I rubbed my eyes and looked up to see Yogi, who was laughing hysterically with a hand covering his eyes. In shock, I watched as his normally blond hair shifted to silver and I heard the Varugas take a few steps back in fear.

"What the hell is going on here?" the blue one asked the red one.

"I don't know, but I don't want to stay and find out," he said before they both tried to run away.

"Nice try!" Yogi said with another laugh as the vines lashed out to wrap around the Varugas. "I'm not going to let my prey go so easily! I want to hear your screams! They will be so delicious!"

"Yogi, what are you doing?" I asked him. "This isn't like you at all."

"And you," he said, sounding serious for the first time since changing, "you are the worst one of them all. You act so high and mighty because of the fact that you are a Dragon and can play with fire when all you are is a scared little girl! I'm going to rip you limb from limb and watch you beg for mercy!"

His vines whipped at me in a huge mass, which I incinerated without moving a muscle. _This isn't good,_ I thought to myself. _I can't just attack Yogi. He's my friend and I don't want to see him hurt. But this new entity was getting on my last nerve and I could hear the Dragon roaring in my mind to let it out. I might not have any choice._

Looking past the silver haired man that was Yogi and at Gareki, I said, "I think it's time that you leave. Either go find Tsukumo and Nai or hide somewhere because it is about to get very ugly."

"What are you about to do?" he asked suspiciously just before another huge mass of vines was sent my way and was yet again burned before it could come near me.

With a grin, I said, "I'm about to go Dragon."

He looked like he was about to yell something to me when flames erupted from my skin, the crimson fire covering me from head to toe and drowning out Gareki's words and the Varugas' cries of fear. The roaring sounded victorious as I allowed it to take over and it pushed my consciousness down hard, forcing me to watch as my vision darkened completely and I blacked out.

* * *

_It was like a sick dream. Everything had its color leeched away. I was standing between the silver haired Yogi and a figure enshrouded in red fire. I was in a trance as I watched the fire intensify, reaching up like a pillar of flames to touch the sky before slowly coming back down to earth. With a snapping of fingers, a vast majority of the fire disappeared and I could now see the person standing there. I gasped inaudibly as I saw that it was actually me, wondering how this could be when I saw several things about this me had changed._

_Red wings of flame extended out from my back that looked almost intangible and were mirroring my fury. Where two blue tufts of hair had been at the top of my head were now replaced with actual blue horns, ones that gently curled at the top and shone like sapphires. The blue streaks in my hair, which shocked me to no end, were feathers that stood out from my white hair. My arms were covered in diamond scales and extended into talons that were lethally sharp. What stood out to me most were my eyes, which almost looked normal except for the facts that they blazed with an unholy fire and had a pupils that were only slits like that of a cat._

_"You will pay dearly for all that you have said to me," the other me said with a grin, her fangs long and sharp. "Let the Varugas go. I am more than enough of an opponent for you."_

_I turned my head to see Gareki standing a few feet away, regardless of what I had told him. I yelled again for him to move, but he didn't hear me at all. I realized that I must be having an out of body experience while the Dragon used my body to run amok. The silver haired Yogi laughed hysterically once more as he pointed his swords at the other me._

_"Is that you, little Cleoina? Or is that the Dragon beneath the skin?" he asked._

_"Let's just say that I am the better half," the other me said with a laugh. "Now I believe it is time for us to fight. I won't let you live a moment longer."_

_"No, this is wrong," I said to myself. "I can't let the Dragon kill him!"_

_I ran at my body and jumped through until I was settled back in my mind, trying to take over even just a little bit only to hear the deep rumbling laughter belonging to that of a Dragon. __**Do you really think I'm just going to let you take over again after you let me out?**__ the Dragon side of me said. __**I will have as much fun as possible and this is one of those times. I love killing those who deserve it.**__ Without another word, the Dragon mentally pushed me back down and kept me in place so I could watch what it was about to do next._

_I watched as huge thorny vines erupted from the ground before wrapping around me. My talons were then lit with flames before I slashed my way free, using my wings to fly upwards and breathe fire down at Yogi. He just barely dodged it before I dived down after him, catching his blade with one hand as he slashed at me. Making the fires burn hotter, his blade began to melt and he whipped it away from me just as I leapt at him with a snarl. He never even had a chance to move away as I slammed him into the snow. When he tried to hit me with the hilt of his other sword, I made it burn hot enough that he was forced to drop it. I grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head into the hard ground, making him look dazed. Just as I was about to tear his throat out with my talons, I heard a clicking noise and looked up to see Gareki pointing a gun at me._

_"Stop it right now," he said and I registered the conflicted light in his eyes even though the Dragon that had taken over snorted in derision. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't let you kill Yogi either. Look at him. He's back to normal now."_

_Bored, the Dragon did as he asked and looked down to see that Yogi was indeed back to his normal self but unconscious after the blow to the head. As it turned its head back up to gaze at Gareki, the Dragon growled, "If you want to live, I suggest you stop pointing that thing at me. I don't care if the human part of me has feelings for you, I'll rip you limb from limb before you can so much as scream."_

_"Let Yogi go and I'll happily do as you say," he said, his gun never wavering from my shoulder, which I knew was so he wouldn't hurt me badly. Trying to call out to me through my Dragon side, he said, "Cleo, if you are still in there and watching this, I want you to fight. Fight it as hard as you can and break free."_

_Just as the Dragon used my body to move to our feet and to run at Gareki, I fought as hard as I could to take control. The Dragon bared our fangs at him, trying to ready our fire to burn him to ashes, and that was when I wrenched the Dragon back. We froze in place as we struggled internally before I finally wrested control back, shoving the Dragon deep down in my mind as I collapse in a dead faint in the snow._

* * *

"Cleo!" a voice yelled as I slowly came to. "Cleo, wake up! I can't carry both you and Yogi! Please wake up right now!"

With a light whimper, I opened my eyes to slits and saw Gareki's face come into view. I could feel his arms around me as he held me up from the snow while he instead sat in it. I moved my hands up towards my eyesight and saw that the scaly talons were now gone, so I knew that I must be back to normal. Gareki gave me a relieved smile and reached up to ruffle my hair then pull on the blue tufts.

"Knock that off," I grumbled before smacking his hand away. "Let me sleep for a little while longer."

"Nice try," he said before standing up and pulling me to my feet. "I should start carrying Yogi now so we can find Tsukumo and Nai."

"I'll help you."

We walked over to Yogi and hefted him to his feet so that we could throw his arms over our shoulders. I formed another dome of fire to melt the way for us to easily drag him behind and sighed at the thought of all the work we were about to do. We moved slowly as we carried Yogi along, staying silent for most of the time as I tried my best to sense where Tsukumo and Nai were. I was so absorbed in what I was doing that I didn't hear Gareki speaking to me. Shaking my head a little, I asked for him to repeat himself.

"Why do you keep unleashing the Dragon side of you like that?" he asked again. "If you know that it will just take over and do more harm than good then why risk it?"

"Sometimes, the benefits far outweigh the risks," I told him softly. "There will be times where I have no choice but to turn into a monster because I am not strong enough without that side of me."

"Promise me something."

"What is it?"

He looked over at me past the prone form of Yogi and said, "Promise that you won't let the Dragon side of you take over. You have to promise that the only way you will use its powers like you did today is if you have full control over the Dragon first."

"I don't know if I can promise you that."

"I don't care. Promise me this one thing."

I knew he would only demand the same thing over and over, so I finally nodded. "Fine, I promise I won't do it again unless I have total control."

I could tell that he was about to say something else when a shout could be heard close by. I happened to look up and saw Nai running over to us as fast as he could in the snow, Yukkin snuggled up to his chest and shivering uncontrollably. The poor guy slipped on a patch of ice and slid into the dome of fire where we were waiting, looking relieved to have finally found us. He ran over to me and gave me a quick hug before giving me a sad look.

"Nai, what's wrong?" I asked him as I focused on him.

"They took Tsukumo," he said sadly.


	8. Waiting Game

**Hello, dear readers! Welcome back to the latest chapter! I want to thank you all for reading this far and then apologize for how long it has taken me to update. I had the trifecta for distractions in the form of college classes, midterms, and a huge case of writer's block. It was a serious pain! Also to the person who left the review, I promise that I will keep on writing more chapters! I haven't decided yet, but there might even be a sequel at some point! **

**Anyway, this chapter is a funny one. I made a few references to a video game and a movie. I won't say what they are, but if you're really awesome you should be able to figure out what they are. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Waiting Game**

"I can't believe you, Cleiona," Hirato said sternly. He may not have let his anger be shown on his face, but I could definitely see it burning in his eyes. As soon as we made it back to the plane, I explained the situation to him over the phone and he said that I should just return back to the ship. Now, I was sitting before him in his office as he scolded me for my previous actions. "You knew that you weren't supposed to use your Dragon side."

"Captain, I didn't see any other choice," I told him, refusing to look down like a coward. "Yogi turned into… I don't even know what he was then, but he was strong. I had to protect Gareki."

"From what I've heard from him, the Dragon was out of control," Hirato said with a frustrated sigh. "He said that you were about to kill Yogi, even after he turned back. Then when Gareki pointed a gun at you to catch your attention, you threatened him and tried to kill him as well. This is unacceptable. You put everyone at risk, including your own brother had he been any closer. Not only that, but the Varugas got away and took Tsukumo captive. You were the only one who wasn't incapacitated and you made poor decisions."

"Captain, I—"

"No, let me finish," he told me as he cut me off, anger now making its way to his voice. "Until you learn to be responsible like everyone else on this ship, no more trips outside the ship unless you are accompanied by someone from Circus, no more missions on your own, and no more protecting Gareki or Nai. I don't think you are capable of handling that right now."

"I _can_ protect them!" I yelled as I stood up suddenly, the chair I had been sitting on flipping over with a loud bang. "I would give my life for their safety!"

We stared at each other in silence for the longest time before he sighed again. "I know you can protect them, Cleo. The fact of the matter is that I don't know if I can trust you with that job. Take one day off from being their protector and then you will be put on a probationary period where you have to earn that trust from me again. I don't want to ever hear again that you let the Dragon side of you out unless I give you permission. The only time you should disobey that direct order is if your charges are put in dire circumstances and the only way you can protect them is by letting it out. Now that this business is taken care of, I'm sending you, Gareki, and Nai over to Airship One for now. I have some business to attend to and no one will be able to keep an eye on all of you while you are here."

I bowed my head a little and he dismissed me. I walked out with my head held high until the door was shut behind me, then slumped against the wall near the door as I felt my eyes burn with tears of shame. Everything he had said was entirely true. I didn't deserve to protect them anymore and the fact that he was only making me take one day off from that job was a blessing in disguise. He just took mercy upon me and I was grateful for that, but it hurt more than I would ever admit.

"You look upset over something," a voice said. I turned my head to the right to see Gareki standing there.

"How long have you been there?" I asked flatly.

"Actually, I've been here since you first had the meeting with Four Eyes," he said and I felt a jolt of surprise pass through me that made me stand up straight. "I just wanted to make sure that he didn't yell at you too much. I was about to burst in the room as he listed off the punishments, but you stood your ground at the last minute. I was impressed."

"Yeah, that's great," I grumbled as I walked past him. "Stood my ground and only have one thing to show for it."

"You and I both know that it's the most important thing to you," he said as he walked faster to catch up. "You wouldn't have stood up at all if it hadn't been."

"You don't know that," I said with a sigh.

"Yes, actually, I do," Gareki said with a laugh. "You've done everything you can to keep us under your wing and I'm sure you'll keep at it for as long as possible."

I felt myself blushing all of a sudden, so I started walking faster so I was just ahead of him where he couldn't see how red my face had become. Soon after, we all piled onto a red plane that was waiting for us and we saw Jiki sitting in the pilot's seat. Knowing that even if it was a short flight, I was going to be sick so I moved to the back seats and lay down in a heap, hoping that the stomach aches wouldn't be as terrible as they could be. The plane started up and I felt my stomach protest instantly, so my hopes were shredded. I spent the next half hour in silent misery as I curled up as much as I could.

When we finally made it onto Airship One with Jiki, we let their Rabbits register our voices before Jiki led us to a room where Kiichi was waiting. "Oh, good! They're finally here," Kiichi said with a devious smile. "Now they can do some work for us."

I was instantly on guard as my stubborn side showed its true colors as she led us into the room. It was a large room that was completely a mess. There were books scattered all over the place and papers had been thrown in every part of the room. Furniture had been knocked over, even broken with certain pieces, and I knew that it was time to draw the line.

"You three can come in here and straighten this room up for us," she said. "I want it done within two hours."

"Hell no," I told her with a glare, making her look taken aback. "We are not here to clean up after you, we're here as guests. If you made the mess, you get to clean it up on your own. I'm not doing it."

"I agree with Cleo," Gareki said as he grabbed Nai and dragged him after me as I walked out of the room.

I could hear snickering from Jiki as he said, "They have a point, Kiichi. Just because you don't want to clean up the mess you made and you can't force me to do it for you, doesn't mean that you can coerce someone else to do it. Just ask the Rabbits to help you."

We left her screaming angrily as we wandered down the halls aimlessly. "What are we going to do now, Gareki?" Nai asked curiously.

"We'll just find something to do for now," he told him. "I've got an idea for later tonight."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Jiki asked as he walked faster to catch up with us.

"We should watch a scary movie on the biggest TV this ship has," Gareki said and I could feel his excitement even if he didn't show it. "We can make popcorn and a bunch of other snacks, get some drinks, and pile on the couch to watch it. I haven't done that in years and I think it would be fun."

"What's a movie?" Nai asked with a puzzled expression.

"It's a…" Gareki started to say before his gaze locked onto me. "Wait a minute, if he doesn't know about it, then you don't either, especially since you're trying to avoid eye contact with me. You've been out in the world longer than Nai and yet you've never seen a movie before?"

"I've been searching for him and never thought it was worth my time," I said sheepishly.

Gareki turned to Jiki and said, "As soon as night falls, we should watch movies. I don't think we should let them miss this chance."

Jiki smiled and said that he would get things ready for us, running off down a hallway and out of our sight. "Alright, so what is a movie?" I asked Gareki as we wandered down another hallway and into a large common room.

"You'd have to see it to understand," he told both Nai and me. "If I had to put it in words, it would be like a moving picture. …You know what pictures are, right?"

"Yeah, we had pictures in the lab we were created in," I said. "None of them were extremely pleasant, but we at least know what they are. There, are you happy that we know something?"

"It's a start," Gareki said with a laugh.

He kept us busy as he turned on the TV in that room, startling both Nai and me at first as a picture formed on the screen all of a sudden. We both moved closer as we stared at the screen in awe, reaching up to touch our fingers to the glass when Gareki ran over to pull us away. He moved us back to a safe distance so we wouldn't "burn our eyes out" from being too close and we watched it reverently. After a while, we moved over to the couch where Gareki handed us each a controller.

"Now that you two weirdoes are used to the TV," he said in exasperation, "let's see how you do with video games."

"I fail to see how this is useful in any way," I told him, tempted to throw the controller at his head.

"It's useful to get you to shut up and that's what I'm going for."

As soon as I knew which buttons to press and which control stick to move, I found that I was having fun. It was a fighting game that he made us play first and once I had the hang of it, I began to beat him more than he beat me. Nai decided not to bother playing since it was more fun to watch our reactions to every little thing that happened in the game.

"How the hell did you hit me just now?!" Gareki yelled in fury as he began to press the buttons faster.

"Because my character is tiny and speedy!" I yelled back with a devious grin. "Now hold still long enough for me to hit you with a lightning bolt!"

"Not if I hit you with my sword first!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Go, Cleo! Go, Gareki!" Nai cheered equally so that no one would feel left out.

"Pick a side, Nai!" Gareki shouted.

"Pay more attention to the game!" I screeched victoriously as my character jumped above his and called down a huge lightning bolt from the sky, launching his character completely off the screen so that he lost his last life. "I WIN! TAKE THAT, GAREKI!"

"There is no way that you are better than me at video games!" he roared. "I think you are cheating somehow! It's either beginner's luck or you are using those Dragon reflexes of yours to move your fingers faster!"

"That's not even a thing!" I screamed at him as we both moved close enough so that our noses were almost touching. "You're just terrible at games and mad that a newbie like me shouldn't be able to beat you like this, so you're just taking out your grumpiness on me!"

"I challenge you to a rematch!" he yelled.

Before we knew it, we were back playing the game again and I was once more making him beyond angry while I enjoyed every second of it. My tiny yellow mouse creature kept running circles around his elf in weird green clothes that had a powerful sword, blasting his character with lightning at every chance I had. He managed to get a good hit and knock my mouse creature off the screen, making me screech in fury but thankfully I still had more lives. When he had two lives left compared to my one, he began to get annoying with his taunts.

"Look at that, Cleo! Seems that I'm going to win this one!"

"That's a lie!" I shrieked as I pushed the buttons faster than before. "That last attack was a fluke! Get ready for my attack now!"

"Wait, what?! NO! How did you—?"

"It's called skill! Now we are even! So you can—"

"Don't you dare say what I think you're about to say!" he yelled at me as he glared at me for a second while his character was being respawned. "How about it, kitten? Want to make a bet?"

I hit the pause button before turning towards him. "That depends on what the bet entails."

I could see that Nai was worried about if this bet of ours could get nasty but I gave him a comforting smile as Gareki said, "Don't worry, Nai. Our bet won't be anything bad, more like funny for either side." His gaze shifted back to me and I could see the mischievous gleam to them. "Our bet with be this. If you happen to win, although I don't see it happening, then you get bragging rights that you are better at video games than I am and you get to tell me all the time about it."

"Nope, I don't like it," I told him with a devious grin. "I want a complete twenty-four hours where you have to listen to every single command I give to you and you aren't allowed to disobey for a single one of them. What's your end of the bet?"

"I want the same thing only switched," he said with an answering smirk. "I want a day where I get to boss you around and you have to listen to me for once. However, I will concede that if we happen to be in a position where you need to do your job and protect me, I will look the other way and listen to your orders. I know you have our best interests at heart."

"Alright, I'm in then! Nai can keep watch and make sure that none of us cheat."

"You can count on me!" Nai exclaimed happily.

Back into the game we went after the pause button was pressed a second time and we were both too focused on trying to beat the other that we weren't slinging insults at the other. I knew deep down that we would be back at it again as soon as it came down to the wire as to who would win, but right now I needed to make sure that I won. I didn't know how I would handle having Gareki boss me around. Our characters were attacking each other fiercely, sometimes the attacks would hit at the same time and no damage would be caused at all. Those moments were only firing both of us up as our character's damage was only getting higher. One strong move from one of us would send a character flying and now the trash talking began.

"Get ready, Cleo, because it's almost time for me to boss you around," Gareki said and I could see his expectant grin out of the corner of my eyes.

"You're out of your mind!" I growled as I hit his character hard, almost knocking him off the screen if he hadn't caught himself at the last second. "If anything, I'll be the one bossing you around!"

"Not this time! I've been playing this game for a long time so I know just about every trick in the book, one that you seemed to miss!"

Before I knew what was happening, he hit some button that grabbed me and launched me to his character. I tried to get my character to pull free, but I heard Gareki's laugh as his character threw mine as hard as it could, my character flying off the screen before I could stop it. All I could do was gaze at the TV screen in complete disbelief as Gareki yelled victoriously, grabbing me around the waist and twirling me around off my feet. Nai ran out of the room while shouting congratulatory words, ones I could still hear out in the hallway as he ran, and Gareki took the opportunity to tilt my head back a little then kiss me. Before he could do anything else sneaky, I bit his lip hard but not enough to draw blood.

I glared at him and said, "Don't do that again."

"I could order you to if I really wanted and you'd have to listen," he said with a grin.

"But you didn't then so I can get away with it."

_I just know that I'm going to regret this, _I thought to myself in dismay. I happened to look at the window to see that night had finally fallen and knew that it was movie time. We both walked down a few halls until Jiki appeared with Nai in tow. He explained that it would just be us watching the movie since Kiichi wanted nothing to do with us right now. All I could do was snicker under my breath as he led us to the movie screening room.

There was a huge fort like structure made entirely from cushions and blankets formed in the middle of the room, the many theater seats pushed back against the walls to give us more room. Popcorn and a multitude of different snacks were lined in the fort, along with drinks of all different kinds. I was grabbed by Gareki and led over to the fort with the others as we got situated under the fort while Jiki stood by the TV with the remote.

"We have a few choices for our movie tonight," he said with a grin. "We can pick from The Summoning, The Cleanse, or last but not least The Loop."

"The Loop will give them nightmares and make them never want to watch a movie ever again," Gareki laughed. "Don't you have anything better here? I can pick from the other two, but I've got a list of my favorite scary movies."

"These are the only ones we have on the ship," Jiki told him. "The Captain was the one to buy them and he is lending them to us."

"Fine, let's pick The Summoning then," Gareki said with a sigh. "I don't think it will freak them out too badly."

"You seem to think that I will be frightened by a moving picture," I said indignantly. "I fight monsters for a living! There is no way that something that can't hurt me will scare me!"

"No more talking," Jiki said exasperatedly before turning off the lights. "Just watch the movie."

I sat in between Nai and Gareki, Jiki sitting to Gareki's right as he hit the play button while Nai moved closer to me and I could feel him fidgeting nervously. With a smile, I handed him a pillow to hug and a blanket to wrap up in, which he immediately pulled closer to him and pulled the blankets around his shoulders. We watched the opening credits play along with the title as we snacked on the food before us. I felt Gareki's arm wrap around my shoulders and I yelped in surprise, making Jiki and Nai look at me and my cheeks burned in embarrassment.

"Is she scared already? The movie hasn't even started yet!" Jiki exclaimed as he pushed his glasses further up on his nose.

"Why is your face so red, Cleo?" Nai asked me.

"It's nothing!" I yelled as I shrugged off Gareki's arm before anyone noticed. "Let's just watch the movie without any more surprises!"

I picked up a cup of soda and sipped from it as the movie started while Gareki leaned over close to my ear to whisper, "This is my first order. Just let me keep my arm around your shoulders in case you happen to get scared. Not that I am saying you will, but just in case."

I grumbled a little before nodding, not moving as his arm fell back in place and I said out loud, "So what is this movie even about?"

"Demonologists are called in to help this family who just moved into an old farmhouse and are experiencing worse and worse events within its walls," Jiki said, looking engrossed now as the family in question came into view. I sighed, leaning ever so slightly against Gareki's body as the family moved into the house and let myself become just as absorbed with the movie.

* * *

"ARE YOU _KIDDING_ ME?!" I screeched, startling everyone enough that they jumped in surprise. "THEY KILLED OFF THE POOR INNOCENT DOGGIE?!"

"Cleo, shush!" Gareki told me, clapping his free hand over my mouth to shut me up. "You'll freak out Nai and he already looks a bit on edge!"

That was pretty close to the truth. Nai was staring up at the screen with a blank expression on his face, almost as if he couldn't decide if he should be scared or not. The only reason I knew he was feeling anxious was because he had grabbed my hand and had been holding it ever since the movie showed the next day after the family moved in. In his other hand was a handful of popcorn that was hovering just before his mouth, the poor guy completely immersed in the movie that he couldn't remember the food.

"Look at the clocks…" he said absently. "Why are they stuck at 3:07 p.m.?"

"They'll explain that later in the movie," Gareki said simply as we all went silent once more.

* * *

I jumped a little at a loud startling part in the movie as Nai yelped, squeezing my hand tightly and leaning over to shiver against me. "Is this movie almost over with?" Nai asked, his voice wavering slightly.

"I think it's almost done," I told him. "They said that there is something wrong with the mother and that the dead witch possesses the mothers to kill the children. I think we're on the last stretch."

Before long, just like I predicted, the evil witch possessed the mother, tried to kill one of her children, and the demonologists performed an exorcism to stop her. Nai was still shivering and I wondered if he might have nightmares tonight as the ending credits rolled along the screen. Jiki flipped on the lights and we took care of the empty bowls of food but kept the drinks. I decided that I would take it with me to my room so that I could have something to drink throughout the night.

"Cleo, I have a question," Nai said, looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"What is it, little Nai?" I asked worriedly.

"Well… can I stay in your room tonight? I'm afraid that I might have nightmares later."

"Of course you can," I told him with a smile, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

We cleaned up the mess before making our ways to our rooms. Just as I opened the door for Nai to walk inside, Gareki came over to me and said, "I'm staying with you, too. Don't argue either. It's a big room and the bed is huge."

Come to find out, he was exactly right about the bed. Five people could fit on the thing and I was quite amused that we would each have enough space to sleep. However, that wasn't what happened at all. After we all changed into clothes for us to sleep in, I hopped into the bed first since I knew that I would have to take the middle and the other two followed suit. Just as I got comfortable, Nai crawled under the blankets with me, snuggled against my back, and fell asleep almost instantly as his head leaned against the space between my shoulder blades. Gareki took the space in front of me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. He ran his fingers through my hair and it slowly allowed me to drift to sleep.

I noticed immediately that I was in a dream when I opened my eyes to see a snowy wasteland completely surrounding me. It was at the tip of a mountain and the snow fell down from heavy dark clouds. It was nighttime and I could hear a roar echo throughout the mountain from above the clouds. I looked up to see a white blur dive down from above and land before me. Towering above me was a huge white Dragon, flattening its wings against its spine as it glared down at me with its crimson eyes. The horns atop its head were the color of sapphires and blue feathers extended from its horns down to the base of its skull. The blue spikes on its spine went down all the way to its spiked tail, which was now curled around its feet like a cat.

"You and I need to have a little discussion," the Dragon said with a gravelly version of my voice.

"So this is what I look like as a Dragon," I said as I took a step forward. "I have to say that I'm not all that impressed."

"Shut up," it snarled. "I want to get rid of you and destroy everything in my path, but you have chosen to protect the things I hate. Humans are dirty creatures that deserve to be burned, the Varugas even more so."

"So there _is_ something we agree upon after all," I told the Dragon as I walked even closer. "You and I both have an unnatural hatred for the Varugas."

The Dragon snorted in disbelief. "I know what you are trying to do. You want to make a bargain with me."

"You're smart, I suppose. At least you've got that going for you," I said. "Here is my deal that you should agree with. We don't kill any humans unless it's in self-defense, however, we will kill as many Varugas as we can get our claws on. Let me stay in control and we can discuss what problems you might find. We can be the perfect team if you just give it a shot."

The Dragon tilted its head to the side and stared at me, its crimson eyes riveted on my own as it debated on my words. "I will give it a try. Out of curiosity, what if I had said no?"

"Then I would lock you up in the deepest depths of my mind until the day we die," I told it simply.

The Dragon nodded and roared loudly, the dream shuddering until everything went dark. I woke up with a start, making Nai jump awake and hug me tightly. He must have sensed my emotions and was trying to make me feel better. "It's ok, Cleo," he whispered. "Whatever is wrong will pass. I'll be here to help you feel better."

I turned my head to look at him out of the corner of my eye and he gave me a bright smile that calmed my emotions. I nodded a little and put my head back on the pillow with a sigh. Gareki, who was still asleep, scooted closer to me and pressed his forehead against mine. This somehow helped me to fall back asleep easier and this time I didn't have another dream.

When I woke up in the morning, I was warm and comfortable. There was a light growling in my mind and I realized that it was actually the Dragon purring like a cat. Since we were in agreement now, I let her closer to the surface of my mind, which she seemed to like. I opened my eyes and instantly the purring stopped as I saw that Gareki had been watching me as I slept. The Dragon growled in irritation, which I couldn't say that I blamed her because I was rather annoyed as well.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I asked him.

"You're kinda cute when you sleep," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up," I said in exasperation as I tried to sit up, only to have Gareki push me back down. "Hey, where is Nai?"

"He woke up ten minutes ago and left to get breakfast," Gareki said. He slid his fingers through my hair and tilted my head back a little. "I have a request while I still have my twenty four hours to boss you around."

"A request instead of an order? Wow, I'm shocked," I said with a smirk, even though I had a feeling I knew what his request would be.

"I just want to kiss you one more time," he told me softly.

"So why aren't you?" I asked.

He placed his hand on my cheek as he pressed his lips to mine. The Dragon in my mind went silent, bored with what I was doing and going back to sleep. He kissed me again and a pleasant warmth spread throughout my body. Forcing my lips to part, he slid his tongue inside my mouth. Our tongues glided against each other and it sent a shiver down my spine that had my back arching a little. His hand that had been on my cheek slid down to my back so he could pull me closer to his body. After a few minutes, he pulled away and just pressed his forehead against mine.

"I know you only did that because I could have ordered you to," he said with a sigh. "That's why I cut it short. I know that and I'm sorry. I won't kiss you again unless you ask."

He got up without another word and left the room entirely. I pressed my fingers against my lips, which were still warm from his lips being on mine. The feelings I had swirling about in my mind were confusing and exhausting, so I lay back in bed with a sigh. I felt the Dragon stir within my mind and chuckle a little at my predicament. _Maybe I was wrong to try and kill that human,_ she said in my mind. _He is an enigma to you just as you are to him. I think I like him for irritating you._

"Of course you do," I said with a sigh. I decided that I might as well skip breakfast altogether and go to the training room on Airship One instead.


	9. Trip to Vinto

**Hello, dear readers! I have returned with another chapter! It took a little longer than expected since I had a few tests to study for, but I pulled it off if I do say so myself. This has both a serious aspect and a happy aspect. I think it's the perfect mix for once. Now, here's hoping you enjoy it because I put a lot of effort into it. Have fun!**

* * *

**Chapters 9: Trip to Vinto**

Training didn't last as long as I would have liked. My emotions were already a bit on the feral side today and were whipping about in my mind as I practiced my fighting skills, both with weapons and with my fire. The Dragon remained silent, even allowing me to sense its approval as I began to use some of its power in small portions. We would train our minds as well as my body to become the best fighter in Circus. Just as I was about to call it quits for the day, I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Jiki, Nai, and Gareki all coming inside the training room. Gareki pointedly avoided my gaze and I knew that we would be back to that same situation as before when I told him we couldn't ever kiss again.

"Hey, Cleo!" Jiki called to me. "You looked like you worked up a sweat while training today."

"I had some things I had to think about and figured that they would stick if I did this at the same time," I told him as I pushed my sweaty bangs from my eyes.

"You're welcome to stay with us for a bit," Jiki said and I beckoned for him to carry on with whatever he had planned for the two boys as I walked over to a bench. I sat down with a sigh and watched the scene play out before me. "We're going to be heading out on a mission tomorrow and this is just so that I know what all of you are capable of. I've already seen what Cleo can do and she is a force to be reckoned with. Now it's up to you two."

"Nai won't be fighting," I told Jiki seriously. "I won't allow it."

"Even if he needs to defend himself when he's alone?" Jiki asked me and I could see a serious gleam in his eyes.

"Even then," I told him. "He won't be alone because I will always be there, regardless of the situation."

Jiki sighed in frustration but put his smile back in place. "Fine then, we'll accommodate Cleo's wishes. Gareki, let's see what you've got."

I knew that this would be painful to see but what I hadn't been expecting was my own involuntary action. Gareki ran at Jiki, aiming a punch at his head when Jiki moved fast, swifter than a regular human, and flipped Gareki hard onto his stomach where Jiki kneeled on his back. I had already moved the moment Jiki grabbed Gareki and formed my falchion, pressing the tip of my blade against Jiki's throat. He looked rather surprised at how much faster I moved and I was in the same state as Jiki slowly straightened up, keeping his hands up in a nonthreatening manner.

"I guess I didn't realize how serious you were with your orders to protect them," he said with a small laugh. He turned his gaze to Gareki and glared at him. "Do you really think you can protect Nai like that, Gareki? That was rather pitiful, if I do say so myself. Right now, the enemies aren't desperate and, with time, if you continue to be this slow then you will be killed and not even Cleo will be able to save you. This is why you won't be put with Nai whenever he needs protecting. Maybe you should just leave to go back to Karasuna, where you can live a normal life."

As Jiki turned around to walk out of the room, I called out to him. "Maybe you should cut him some slack, Jiki. Everyone who first started fighting with Circus was weak and pitiful once. Hell, _I_ was even an absolute wreck when it came to fighting and I'm very sure that Gareki has done much better than I did at the time. He's rather untrained in how to fight against supernatural beings and that should be enough to stop your derision with him. All he needs is to be taught."

"I'm only telling him the harsh truth, one he needs to hear in case he thinks that the luck he has had so far will never run out," Jiki said before leaving the room with wave and a jovial declaration to have fun tomorrow.

"He's right, you know," Gareki said as he got to his feet. "We've only been lucky the entire time. If I was just taken down in seconds flat by an agent of Circus, what good am I fighting with a Varuga?"

"From what I've seen, you've been doing one hell of a job so far," I told him. "Most people wouldn't have made it this far."

"That's still not what I want. I want to fight the Varuga like you all can, without having to worry about if I'm good enough." With those last words, he completely walked out of the room and Nai and I were left alone in the training room.

"Will he be ok?" Nai asked me hesitantly and I could see that worried look on his face. "He won't break tomorrow, will he?"

"He'll be fine and he'll never break, little Nai," I explained to him. "If it would make you feel any better, just for tomorrow I will go with his team while you stick with Jiki. Does that sound alright to you?"

"Of course!" he yelled before running over to me to give me a relieved hug. "Thank you so much, Cleo!"

"You're very welcome, little brother," I whispered, feeling warm from the happiness rushing through my veins. "Now, I must head back to my room so I can take a shower. You are welcome to hang out in my room until I am done."

We headed back to my room and he took a Rabbit with him so that he wouldn't be lonely while I took my shower, brushing its fur kindly while the thing made noises of joy. I shook my head and went into the bathroom, staying under the water once I had cleaned up for as long as I could until the water began to evaporate before it even touched my skin.

_I don't understand you,_ the Dragon said. _We control fire and yet you seem to love the water?_

"You love the snow," I reminded her. "Snow is just frozen water. I do have a question for you, now that I think about it. If you don't like water, then why pick the top of a mountain for the place to meet with me in my dreams? I figured you take to a volcano or something."

_That question has two answers,_ she said. _The first answer would be for practicality's sake. We are a white Dragon, which means that we stick out in any other environment. Also… it was the first time I ever saw snow that day and it was very beautiful. I prefer that landscape to any other so far._

"I have to agree with you there," I told her. "The top of a mountain is quite a beautiful place. I also love to be wherever there is a thunderstorm. It's as if you can both see and feel the power of nature right before you."

_Also agreed. … I guess you aren't as bad as I first thought. I still don't like you as of yet. We are meant to be destroyers, not protectors._

"Let's try and change that fate," I said softly.

She stayed quiet after that and I turned off the water, hopping out of the shower to dry myself and then wrapping a new towel around my waist so that I could walk out of the bathroom. I ruffled my hair and immediately saw Gareki and Nai talking about something, the Rabbit now gone and they both turned to look at me. I saw Gareki's cheeks flush a little at the sight of me and I rolled my eyes as I walked over to my dresser.

"You're staring," I told Gareki. "It's kind of creepy."

"You're the creepy one, not me!" he insisted, looking like his brain had just been fried from the sight of me in just a towel. "You always keep walking around like that whenever you get out of the shower!"

"Earth to Gareki, this is _my _room for now," I told him with a devious grin. "If you don't like what I do in here, then don't come in at all. Go somewhere else!"

I turned him around and began to force him towards the door when he yelled, "Alright, I get it! Stop pushing me around!"

"Glad we've come to an understanding," I told him before walking over to the dresser to grab some clothes.

As I pulled out a black long sleeved shirt and shorts, I heard Nai ask, "So what are we going to do today?"

"I'm up for anything," I told him as I began walking back to the bathroom so I could get dressed. "You two talk it over and come to an agreement over what we'll do for now. It can honestly be anywhere on this ship or outside of it. I can take the heat for sneaking us out."

I heard silence fall in the room as I shut the door behind me, changing quickly and brushing my hair out to its normal messiness before leaving the bathroom. Both of them had a happy smile on their faces as I came outside yet neither one of them spoke until I sat down on the edge of the bed to wait for their decision. Finally, Gareki and Nai took a step closer to me and gave me a smile.

"What's the verdict?" I asked them suspiciously.

"I didn't want to decide without you, but Gareki and I came up with a solution," Naid said happily. "We decided to let you surprise us by taking us to wherever you want to go."

I nodded and jumped up to fly over to the window, hovering there as I looked down to see where we were. I was surprised to see that the ship had landed and that the area around us looked awfully familiar. I grinned before saying, "I know the perfect place. We'll just have to sneak out by flying out of here."

I opened the window as wide as they could possibly go, which was actually far enough to fit all three of us through, I flew over to grab Gareki and Nai before flying through the window. Nai made a noise of shock before I flew up higher, close enough for him to touch the clouds. He seemed so excited and overjoyed that I giggled before changing my course just enough to head in the direction of a huge forest. I went a little lower our toes almost touched the tips of the trees but kept flying faster until I reached an enormous clearing. I slowed down and began to descend before finally landing in the clearing.

It was a place that I had discovered back when I was searching for Nai. The trees lining and spotting the clearing were cherry blossom trees, littering the grass with their petals. The clearing was covered with dark green grass and colorful flowers everywhere. A bright blue river meandered down a hill into a large pond with a waterfall, fish swimming lazily within the waters with their scales flashing with every color of the rainbow.

"I found this place a while ago," I told them happily. "In fact, back before I joined Circus, this is where I used to live. I created a special barrier around the entire perimeter of this clearing that no Varuga could get past. This place is quite calming and the biggest cherry blossom tree here still has the hammock I set up between a few of its branches."

Sure enough, we walked further in and a huge cherry blossom tree grew from the center of the clearing, one that had almost a treehouse formed in its branches made from different pieces of fabric. I thought back to the day I pulled this off and it brought a smile to my face. I stole the fabric I needed from different clothes lines outside and brought them back to this place before climbing the tree to string them up. It didn't take long at all and I was rather proud of myself for my achievement, especially since it rained that very night so I watched it pour from my hammock with a contented grin. I shook my head, dragging me back to the present, and set both Nai and Gareki down before flying over to the tree. I landed with a plop in my hammock and lay back with a happy sigh.

"I'm going to make a hammock for my room," I told them as I dangled one leg from the side. "I miss this and I'm pretty sure that the rafters in my room would work."

I closed my eyes and just relaxed, inhaling the scent from the cherry blossoms and the flowers in the clearing as I listened to Nai and Gareki moving around below the tree. I heard Gareki make a noise of surprise and before I knew it, something had jumped on me with an ecstatic laugh. I opened my eyes to see a delighted Nai and Gareki was slowly climbing his way up to us. Nai must have climbed really fast up the tree to beat Gareki and I was deeply surprised.

Nai laughed at the expression on my face and said, "I remembered how you used to be an expert at climbing things, so I practiced while you were gone!"

"Little Nai, you didn't have to do that!" I told him with a smile before sitting up to hug him.

"But I wanted to!" he said. "I missed you while you were gone, so I did it to feel a little closer to you!"

And that's what it came down to. I was instantly reminded, albeit accidentally, that I had abandoned him. Even though it was to protect him from the dangers that were chasing after me, I left him behind and that must have hurt. Nai immediately pulled away from me with a horrified look on his face. It was then that I remembered that he could sense the emotions of those he was close to, the closer he was to that person the quicker he could sense emotions.

"Oh, Cleo, I'm sorry!" he told me, tears forming in his eyes. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about that again!"

"It wasn't your fault," I said as I wiped his tears away with my sleeve. "I was just being silly, thinking like that. Don't be upset."

"Yeah, Nai," Gareki said and we both looked up to see him in the branch above us. "You know she's a weirdo. It's not something to be upset over."

"Hey, perhaps you should shut up before I pull you off of that branch," I growled, making Nai laugh a little.

I know he felt better now and I decided to grab Nai and Gareki, flying them over to the huge pool of water that the river drained into. I swooped down to lightly sent them on the grass while kicking off my shoes before flying upwards, then to stop flying altogether as I fell back down and into the water with a splash. I dived down further when I caught sight of a large pretty rock that had been cracked open a little to reveal its gemlike insides and I kicked off to reach the surface of the water. I pushed the bangs from my eyes and grinned at them before swimming in their direction. They ran over to the side of the pool as I pulled myself from the water with my prize in hand.

"Look what I found!" I said giddily.

"A rock?" Gareki said flatly. "I don't know why you're so excited about that."

"But it's not just _any_ rock!" I told him joyously before I cracked it open to reveal the colorful gems made from different shades of amethyst. "It's a geode! This pool has thousands of them, so long as you know what to look for!"

I handed Gareki and Nai a half of the geode before jumping back in the water and diving down to the bottom of the pool. I became a little greedy when I found a rather large one, a geode that I had a feeling would fight to stay in its place. I managed to hoist the thing upwards off the ground and then flew upwards out of the pool because the geode was too heavy to swim with. Gareki shook his head in disbelief as I slowly flew over to them, lightly setting the geode down and pushing my bangs from my eyes again. I landed on top of it and looked down at them with a grin.

"So I see that what they say about Dragons is true," Gareki said as he crossed his arms with a smirk. "Dragons are greedy and like to have a horde of treasures to guard."

"How are we going to get it back?" Nai asked worriedly.

"That's easy," I told him before pointing to the horizon where the sun was beginning to set. "Look there."

They turned their gazes and watched as a plane made its way over to us. They looked astounded that I could see it from so far away, but I only shrugged as I waited for the plane to fly to us and land. I picked up the geode and flew it inside the first second the door opened. I placed it in the back seat before flying out again to stand on the wing of the plane itself. Jiki came over to the door and glared at me.

"Did you really sneak them out of Airship One?" he asked.

"Yes, but I took them to the one place where a Varuga could never touch them," I told him with a delighted smile. "This is my home and I have a barrier around the place."

As Nai and Gareki went inside, Jiki stopped me by saying, "Oh, no you don't. You are soaking wet and you aren't coming inside until you are dry."

I rolled my eyes and instantly erupted into flames for two seconds before I was bone dry again, giving Jiki a sarcastic smile. "Guess I can come inside now." I flew past him before he could say anything, watching him splutter in disbelief at my behavior. "Now let's head back to Airship One before I change my mind about being in here."

"I was even kind enough to bring you an ice pack for your head," Jiki told me, tossing me a blue pack that barely felt cold to the touch to me. "I can see the look on your face. It is actually cold. Your skin is just too warm, remember?"

Gareki grabbed me and dragged me over to his seat, setting me on his lap and buckling us both in as Jiki flew the plane upwards. I groaned and leaned against Gareki as he chuckled, placing the ice pack on my forehead and smiling when I let out a sigh of relief as I forced my flames deeper into my mind for the rest of the trip. Maybe because I comfortable for the first time while in a plane, I actually managed to slip into unconsciousness with my thoughts calm. When I woke up, I blearily opened my eyes to see that I was being carried through a corridor in Gareki's arms.

"Where's my geode?" I asked sleepily.

"Well, Jiki was the only one of us who could carry it, so Nai and he headed to your room to put it away," Gareki explained. "I figured that you'd be more concerned about me carrying you."

"I trust you," I told him before settling back to fall asleep again.

As I drifted again, I thought I could hear him say, "No, you don't."

* * *

The next day, we all headed to the wildlife sanctuary that went by the name of Vinto. I dressed in a white tank top with a Dragon scale pattern and skinny jeans. I had a zebra print belt around my hips that was tilted downwards on my right hip, my shoes with the same exact pattern. I was leaning against Gareki in the plane as he kept the ice pack on my forehead and I noticed his distant expression as he lightly traced his fingers along the skin of my forearm. He seemed entranced with the fire under my skin again and refused to look me in the eyes once, regardless of the fact that I was feeling a lot better this time while on the plane.

With a smirk, I snatched the beanie off of his head that he insisted upon wearing today and put it on mine, the blue tufts of hair on my head actually staying down for once with the hat on. "Give it back, Cleo," he said flatly. He wasn't acting normally and it worried me, but I did as he asked with a questioning look. He handed me his goggles, which I promptly tried on as he put on the hat, and then took them back when he was done. He went back to holding the ice pack to my forehead and tracing his fingers along the skin over the veins in my arm.

When we landed in Vinto, Tsukitachi took Gareki and me while Jiki and Kiichi take Nai to go with two members from the Life Division that looked out for the animals in the wildlife preserve. I hadn't been told why we were here yet, but it soon became revealed to me. Gareki had asked to see the source of Circus' power and Tsukitachi was indulging him as we walked to a cavern like space. It was like an underground lake with a bunch of animals coexisting together. I had only been here once and it was something that had to be done while training to become a member of Circus. It was awe inspiring and made everyone think about the world around us.

"This is where we discovered our power," Tsukitachi said softly so as to not frighten the animals watching us warily. "The animals that live in this wildlife reserve have been evolving into states of high energy production and regenerative capabilities. Through extensive research and cell extraction, we came across the reason behind how this is possible. We discovered the cell we called the Incure and placed it in Circus bracelets to develop a person's magical potential. It allows for a person to develop their own unique abilities."

"Is that how Cleo gained her powers?" Gareki asked.

"From what I have heard, she was a different case. Cleo, would you care to elaborate?"

"When humans join Circus, they are a magical blank slate," I explained to him. "That means that they have no magic within their bodies. I, on the other hand, had trace amounts of magic in my body from the start. Nai does, too. Over time before I joined Circus, I had to keep using it to make it stronger, like you would with muscles. After I trained at the academy and was given a bracelet from Circus, my magic was amplified tenfold and I could easily use it without so much as a thought or without straining myself."

"Nai has magic?" Gareki asked dubiously.

"Of course he does," I said indignantly. "Nai is an Empath. In time, he will only get stronger the more he uses his ability."

"So what would happen if he is given a bracelet with the Incure cell inside it?"

I felt my body stiffen as I stood straighter. "Let's say that this hypothetically occurs. His magic would follow the same path as mine and increase tenfold. He won't just be able to sense emotions, but he'll be able to sense thoughts as well. Thoughts are always tied to emotions, whether the emotions themselves are weak or strong. If it increases any more, he'll be able to influence a person by simulating a specific emotion within their mind. However, unless an increase of abilities happens naturally, there won't be a bracelet on his wrist so soon. I forbid it."

"Why?" Gareki asked. "Wouldn't you want for him to have his abilities stronger?"

"It's not that simple," Tsukitachi said. "The Incure takes a toll on a person both physically and mentally. It will tear you apart from the inside unless you put through vigorous training. It helps your body and soul learn to cope with the stress induced by the cell. If we just gave it to someone off the street, within three days that person would have a psychotic break. Within a week, their bodies would fail and they would die. We can't have our members or trainees dying on us."

"So you had to go through the training?" Gareki asked.

"Of course," I told him with a nod. "The only difference is that my training didn't last as long as a regular human's would. It takes about three years before you can be declared ready to get a bracelet. My training took a year tops."

"If she wanted to," Tsukitachi said, "she could captain her own Airship. However, she refused and decided to stick with the one place that felt as close to home as possible."

Whatever else that was said, I didn't hear a word as I felt my stomach begin to hurt. This could only mean one thing and that was that there had to be a Varuga hiding somewhere in Vinto. I turned my head in the direction that I could sense it from and was about to fly towards it when I froze. I could sense Nai in the same area and I was about to bolt in that direction when I felt Gareki grab me by the wrist to stop me.

"What is it?" he asked me.

"There's a Varuga," I growled before wrapping an arm around his waist tightly, "and you're coming with me so I can protect you."

I was in the air before Tsukitachi could stop me, flying off towards the east to where I could sense the presence of the Varuga. It was faint like it hadn't transformed as of yet but I could still sense it stalking Nai. It only made me fly faster than before, pushing my Dragon side into letting me have the speed I would require to get there in time. The Dragon obeyed and allowed me to have what I needed with a gravelly purr. I heard Gareki make a noise of surprise and I looked down at him to see him openly staring at me.

"Your eyes have changed again. Your pupils are only slits and the red of your eyes is blazing like fire," he said loudly over the sound of the rushing wind. "And you're flying faster than ever before. You're channeling the powers of your Dragon side, aren't you?"

"We've come to an agreement," I explained to him. "So long as I kill enough Varugas to tide her over, the Dragon side of me won't take over or kill the ones I love. The only time it will happen is if I am under extreme duress. Don't worry, Gareki, this time I have a good handle on things."

He stared at me for a few seconds before finally nodding, allowing me to concentrate on flying. I felt the presence of a Varuga increase all of a sudden and I knew that it must have shifted from its normal form. I picked up speed as I felt it get closer and I saw with a gasp that Yogi and Nai were in the air after sending a huge dark purple creature to the ground.

I saw it get to its feet and try flying through the air after them when I intercepted it, stopping in front of it before saying commandingly, "Stop right now." It obeyed within a split second, its red eyes staring into my own and I could see the pain burning there. I knew I had to do something to help the poor creature and I had an idea come to mind to try out, one supplied to me by the Dragon. "Let's land for now," I told it and I slowly floated down to the ground as the creature did the same. Gareki looked at me in disbelief as I landed on the ground, lightly pushing him away to a safe distance as I looked back at my target.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at me.

"Shh," I whispered. "I don't want you to upset him." I turned back to the poor thing and a memory that belonged to the creature flashed through my mind. It was about being hunted by poachers and nearly killed until the man named Morano came to help him. He named this creature Kiri and I smiled a little before I commanded, "Change back to your original form, Kiri. I will help take the pain away as long as you trust me. I swear to you that I won't hurt you."

"Don't kill him!" a man screamed and I recognized his voice to be that of Morano. "Please, he doesn't deserve to die!"

"Stop right there," I heard Gareki say calmly. "She's not going to hurt him. When she says something, she means it. She will save him, so don't worry."

I nodded and looked up at Kiri as he slowly shifted back into his normal form. It was a huge creature that reminded me of a mix between a cow and a horse. It had white fur and an olive colored mane, two ivory horns sticking up from its head. Two rose tinted violet eyes stared back at me as it made a light sniffing noise. It looked a little frightened still, but I could see that it trusted me. I placed my hand on its nose gently and allowed for a white fire that looked like a heat wave to start covering it. The fire wouldn't hurt it but as the flames passed over its body, a black mist began rising over it and disappearing into thin air. Like a blast wave, the fire erupted into the air to form a huge dome that entirely covered all of the wildlife preserve. I could hear a few delighted roars from other animals before the dome disappeared, but I had created an invisible barrier that couldn't be broken after healing Kiri. The animal brushed his nose happily against my head and I laughed.

I turned back to the two Life Division members and said, "I told you that I would save Kiri. Not only that, but I healed the pain from all the other animals that had been attacked by poachers. I burned the memories and pain away. Also, I created a barrier around Vinto that has dual purposes. One purpose is to burn away the painful memories of attacks as animals enter and the other is that no one with evil intentions may enter. That means that you won't have to worry about poachers sneaking in here."

As Kiri nudged me with his nose again, Morano said, "I just don't understand…"

"That doesn't matter," I told him as I became serious. "My question is why did you turn poor Kiri into a Varuga?"


	10. Secret Mission

**Hello, dear readers! Welcome back to the latest chapter. It took me a little while to write this one, not because I had writer's block but rather because I had to fight quite a lot of details and such in here. I went a little overboard but I felt the need to do so with this particular chapter. Last time, our little group went to Vinto to show Gareki the source of Circus' power and Cleo saved the life of Kiri. Now, you find out what happened to turn him into a Varuga and Cleo goes on a mission that is extremely important to Circus. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Secret Mission**

"But… but I didn't!" he yelled after the shock value of my words wore off.

"You were given something, weren't you?" I asked him, deathly serious as I took a step closer. "Something that a mysterious person gave you."

"But… no!" he shouted, looking afraid of something.

"Tell me what you were given for Kiri," I growled.

"Nothing!"

"I can sense a lie and that is unacceptable," I told him. "You know something and you are going to tell me what that something is. Either way, you are going to jail for what you have done to Kiri, so you might as well let your conscious be cleaned by telling me what you did!"

"Cleo, calm down," Gareki said and I whipped around to face him, my eyes blazing angrily. He took a step back and I had a feeling that my pupils still hadn't changed back.

"No, I won't until he tells me what he's hiding!" I shrieked.

"Fine, I'll tell you!" Morano screamed in fear. "Just don't hurt me!"

"Then let's hear it!"

All the others came over to stand nearby me as Morano took a deep breath. "A few months ago, Kiri arrived here on the wildlife preserve with us. He was severely injured and close to death when a man came. He said that he worked under Dr. Akari and that they had just developed a drug that had dual purposes. Not only would it save Kiri's life but it would give him the power to protect himself from poachers. It made him stronger, but he was still finicky around strange people. I didn't even know that it had turned him into a Varuga."

"Now you do," I growled and slowly let the powers that I had drawn upon from the Dragon go, letting myself go back to normal.

A few people from the wildlife preserve took Morano away to be held until someone could pick him up and put him in jail. I didn't particularly care as I watched him walk off, Kiri coming over to me to nudge the back of my head with his nose. I turned around to see Kiri and behind him were a few other animals. There was a huge black feline that should have looked fierce but instead looked happy. It came over to me and rubbed its body against mine like a giant house cat. A huge hawk with blue and green feathers that was as tall as Kiri swooped down from the sky and proceeded to rub its beak against my face and hair affectionately. Then, Kiri walked closer and proceeded to lick my face.

I shrieked with laughter as I tried to back away, but they all chased after me. I took off into the air and all three of them followed me, the huge cat spreading wings like a bat that came from under its skin. Even diving deep into the acrobatic flying style I knew, they eventually caught me and let me know how much they appreciated what I had done for them before they left. I wondered if the feline and the hawk had been given the same drug, which would explain how happy they were, and slowly flew back down to the ground. I was happy for them and landed lightly on the ground between Yogi, Gareki, and Nai. Yogi looked like he was in pain and Gareki looked rather miffed, so I had a feeling that Gareki had punched Yogi again.

"How did you _do_ that, Cleo?" Yogi practically yelled, hurting my ears.

"Good to see you, too, Yogi," I said as I cringed.

"I want to know the answer to that, too," Gareki said to me and I could see Nai nodding excitedly.

As I was about to speak, I heard a voice behind me do so in my stead. "Dragons are considered to be the kings and queens of the animal world," the voice said and we all turned around to see Hirato. "They are loved by other animals everywhere and they obey their every command. The only creatures that don't listen would be another Dragon. They then proceed to fight and destroy everything in their path as they lay claim to their territory."

My inner Dragon purred at the truth in his words and I knew that it was believable. "What do you think would happen if she came across another Dragon?" Gareki asked curiously.

"I'd be dead," I said flatly.

"No, you wouldn't!" Nai yelled before running over to me and grabbing me by the hands. "You are much stronger than you were before! You could handle yourself in a fight and beat the other Dragon, just like the knights in the stories Karoku used to read to me!"

I gave him a comforting smile but even the inner Dragon knew I was right. Dragons were huge, scaled creatures that breathed fire, had razor sharp talons, and were extremely fast. There wasn't any way I could compete with my size compared to them and their defensive capabilities were astounding. I could be much faster than one, but it would be much stronger than me. I didn't let Nai know what my thoughts were but I could see Gareki giving me a look that suggested he was suspicious of me.

"Now, children, it is time for us to get on the plane," Hirato said, turning to show us the plane he had waiting for us to fly in. "Your things have been moved to Airship Two and we should be getting home." He looked over at me and saw my dejected look before saying with a sigh, "And yes, Cleo, I brought the geode back to your room personally, although I have no idea what you plan to do with such a huge thing."

We got on the plane and I sat on Gareki's lap, leaning over the armrest of his seat as Nai giggled and kept the ice pack in place on my forehead. I still couldn't guess why I was slowly getting better with my motion sickness, but I didn't really care as I looked out the window while upside down. I could see that a storm was approaching from the horizon and I smiled a little. I always had the habit of sitting on the top of the ship and watching nature rage upon the earth. It was humbling to know that there were some things out there that were beyond our control and bigger than we were.

The plane ride didn't take as long as I thought it would and before we knew it we were inside the ship. Hirato told us to follow him because he had a surprise for us. We followed him through a bunch of corridors until we reached a common room with the wall of windows that looked out at the scenery in front of us. I was so busy looking at the storm about to overtake the ship when I heard Nai cry out, taking off at a run towards a figure that had just stood up after hearing us approaching. I double blinked and saw that it was Tsukumo, who looked a bit surprised when Nai jumped and hugged her tightly.

"Tsukumo, you're safe!" he yelled happily as she gave a slight smile before hugging him back.

"Of course, I am," she told him. "Hirato found me soon after I tried to escape."

I sensed a bit of dishonesty from her words and was about to question her about it when I heard someone stumble into the room. I turned around and saw Jiki sprawled out on the floor, Gareki trying to look inconspicuous as he looked away from Jiki. It took me a couple seconds before I realized that Jiki had been tripped on purpose and I looked away to cover my mouth with my hand so I wouldn't laugh. I guess Gareki still harbored hard feelings against Jiki after their "fight."

Jiki pulled himself to his feet before doing an embarrassed bow to Hirato. "Sorry about that," he said. "I'm here requesting to stay on your ship. I have orders to look out for Gareki and Nai."

"Absolutely not," I growled and walked closer to him, making him take a step back in surprise. "It's my job to do that. Go back to Airship One where you belong!"

"Cleiona," Hirato said sternly, stopping me in my tracks. "He's here on Tsukitachi's and my orders."

"Captain, this can't still be about you not trusting me anymore!" I yelled, feeling frustrated. "I have proven in more ways than one that this is something I can do!"

"That's not what this is about at all," he said softly. "Come with me. I have something to discuss with you that will clear things up."

I didn't say a word or look back at anyone as I left the room, seething with rage at this injustice. I followed behind Hirato as he led me back towards his office. He didn't speak to me until he opened the door to the office and led me inside, telling me to sit down in one of the chairs. With a sigh, I did as I was told and plopped down in one. I waited for him to say something and thankfully didn't have to wait long.

"You still look rather angry, even though I told you that this isn't a punishment," Hirato said.

"That's because this feels like a punishment," I said simply, turning my gaze to the window where the dark clouds had finally surrounded us.

"Actually, this is a gift," he said and I immediately turned by head back in his direction to give him a look of confusion. "Ah, now I've got your attention back. There is a place I would like for you to investigate. It's up river a few miles north of where I found Tsukumo. She had been poisoned with something dangerous and it's extremely rare. I just want for you to find this mansion Tsukumo described to me and see who runs the place. I want to know about everyone that lives or works there and I don't want a single room left unchecked."

"Why aren't you sending Eva for this task?" I asked curiously. "Isn't she better qualified for a solo mission?"

"Perhaps, but not this one," he explained. "I know of your ability to blend in with the shadows so that no one can see you unless you make your presence known. I want you to sneak around and only you can do this. I trust in your skill as a member of Circus. All I ask is that you don't get captured."

"How long do you want me to investigate?" I asked him.

"For however long it takes," Hirato said seriously.

I nodded and stood up as he pulled a map from a drawer. He showed me the location of a river bend that wasn't far from a small village and I kept it locked in my mind before I left the room. This was going to be a frustrating day tomorrow, so I decided to have a bit of fun. I sneaked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of alcohol before leaving the ship altogether, flying up to the roof and sitting on the flat part. I opened the bottle and took a swig as the rain began to pour down. The rain was actually warm against my skin as I watched the lightning flash across the sky, thunder following after it and making the ship shudder in the air.

About an hour into my drinking, I was halfway through the bottle when I heard voices calling for me from inside the ship. I was a bit tipsy by that point but decided to ignore them, drinking some more before standing up. I wobbled a little and giggled, remembering that I had grabbed one of the biggest bottles I could find or else I wouldn't get drunk at all. I once had a drinking contest with Yogi and Eva and won the whole thing easily. The next morning, they hated me with a passion because I didn't get a hangover at all.

The second hour came along and I had a quarter of a bottle left to drink, but decided that it was time to head inside because the storm had disappeared, leaving the night sky to be seen and stars to burn up above in my line of sight. Rather wobbly, I flew back inside the ship and stayed in the shadows as I walked, avoiding anyone who was looking for me. It wasn't until I saw Gareki that I decided to play a game with him. He must have been helping search for me, so I growled from the shadows like a wild animal. Before he could turn around, I would jump to the next shadow and growl again. I kept doing this repeatedly until finally I pounced on him, tackling him to the ground and making sure not to spill the bottle.

"Jeez, have you really been drinking?" he asked as I straddled his stomach. "I thought Yogi was joking!"

"That I have," I said with a giggle before getting off of him, sitting on the floor beside him and taking another drink from the bottle.

"He also said that they have to keep an eye on you whenever you do or you wander off," he grumbled. "I was forced to help track you down after I took Nai to our room. He passed out in the common room waiting for you to be done talking with Four Eyes."

"Sorry!" I giggled before getting to my feet, swaying a little before leaning against the wall. "Figured I'd have one last hurrah before my mission tomorrow while you guys get a day off!"

"What kind of mission?" he asked disinterestedly, but I knew he was actually curious.

"The fun kind!" I yelled before twirling around once. "I'm gonna be sneaky!"

As I took another drink, he stood up and grabbed me by my free hand, leading me back to my room. "Come on, kitten. I think you need to sleep this off."

"Why do you call me kitten?" I asked, my words beginning to slur as I started to feel sleepy.

"Because you remind me of one," he said simply. "You look cute and innocent during times of normalcy, but when it's time to be serious the claws come out and you fight harder than ever."

I giggled a little before I stopped walking entirely, swaying again and leaning against him. "Aw, you called me cute." I drained the bottle and let it drop from my fingers to the floor, somehow managing not to break as it rolled a little.

He quickly picked me up in his arms before I could protest and carried me off to my room. "And here I thought Yogi said you beat them all at a drinking contest," he said under his breath. "You're going to have the biggest hangover of your life."

"I don't get sick, remember?" I reminded him. "No hangover for Cleo!"

"This is just ridiculous," he said as he carried me along.

When we finally made it to my room, I reached over to open the door for him with a laugh and he brought me over to my bed before setting me down gently. What I did next would continue to shock me for days afterwards. I looked up into his eyes and could see a gentleness there for me that led me to quickly sit up. I brought my lips to his and kissed him, tangling my fingers in his hair to keep him in place. He was too shocked to do anything for the first two seconds before he finally kissed me back, laying me back down on the bed and lying on top of me. He was sure to keep his weight off of me so he wouldn't hurt me and we kissed for a few minutes more. It wasn't until he tried sliding his hand along the skin of my stomach from underneath my tank top that he pulled away, both of us breathing heavily as he gazed down upon me.

"You are drunk," he said flatly. "I have a feeling that you will regret this in the morning and I shouldn't have let it happen in the first place."

He wouldn't look me in the eyes as he got up, walking into the bathroom to get a towel and coming out to dry me off some from the rain. He still avoided eye contact the entire time and then dropped the towel in a hamper in the bathroom before leaving without saying another word. I felt shards of ice piercing my heart and I curled into the fetal position after pulling the blankets over me. Because I was drunk, I didn't understand what I had done wrong and it hurt deep down that he had left. I felt tears sliding down my cheeks and I touched my fingertips to the skin under my eyes, wiping the tears away before slipping into an unsettling sleep.

A few hours later and I woke up to hear voices in Gareki and Nai's room. I was a little more sober than before and could hear them moving around in the room itself. _I thought Nai was asleep already,_ I thought to myself. _Guess he must have woke up when Gareki went in there._ I could hear what sounded like the pages of a book being flipped and then running feet. There was the noise of someone climbing up a ladder, the one attached to their bunks, and excited noises as well.

"Gareki!" Nai's voice came through the wall loud and clear, although I wondered if it was because of my good hearing as a Dragon. "Can I ask you a question? Like… a kinda personal one?"

"What?" Gareki asked, sounding bored.

"Where would you go if you could?" Nai asked. I heard Gareki's breath hitch in surprise and I could picture the expression on his face. "Come on, where? Where, where, where?! I wanna know!"

"Shut up! Damn!" Gareki yelled before the last words even left Nai's mouth. There was a noise that sounded like a book being thrown and Nai yelping before hitting the floor. I was sitting up before I even realized it but forced myself to stay put. I heard the blankets shift and really wished I could see what was going on. It took a few minutes before I heard movement again.

"You know where I'd go, Gareki?" Nai's voice said softly. "Somewhere we could all live together. And if we find Karoku, he can come, too! You'll see. I'm gonna make it happen. It will be awesome!"

"Will you _please_ stop flapping your gums…?" Gareki grumbled.

I could only smile at their antics and I lay back on the bed with a contented sigh. I thought about it for a few seconds and realized that I would want the same thing as Nai. We never really had a home, or even knew what one was, but the sound of it was a comforting thought. Maybe… just maybe… we found the people that others would call family and that was all that really mattered. Anywhere that my friends were would be home for me. I closed my eyes and fell back asleep until later in the morning.

I didn't have any nightmares thankfully, but it was like my body rejected the rest it was being given. I woke up exhausted and groggy, deciding to get up and get some breakfast before my mission. I didn't have to leave for a while because I needed the shadows to lengthen a bit before my powers would be truly effective. I walked down the halls in a white hoodie and red shorts, revealing a strip of skin along my stomach that I didn't notice while walking around. I walked around barefoot and yawned periodically until I finally reached the kitchen. Yogi and Tsukumo were already there, making pancakes and eggs behind the counter then turning to look at me when I walked in. I rubbed my eyes sleepily as I hopped up on a stool in front of the counter.

"Hand me a mug of coffee," I told Yogi sleepily.

"You sound as close to having a hangover as you can get," he said smugly. "And you know that you're not allowed to have coffee."

"Yogi, please," I begged, pouting a little. "I promise I won't get crazy because of it."

"I remember what happened last time," he told me flatly and they both turned around to give me serious looks. "You almost burned the ship down with your flames because you thought it would be fun to create as many animals out of fire as you could."

"I can hold my caffeine now, I swear!" I whined.

"You can maintain a clear head with alcohol, but the first moment you're given caffeine you act like a squirrel hopped up on sugar," he muttered under his breath.

"What does that even mean?!" I yelled in frustration before hopping over the counter to grab the coffee mug from his hand before he could drink from it and bouncing away before he could take it back. "That makes no sense!"

"It makes perfect sense, now give me my coffee mug back!" It was Yogi's turn to whine now and I gave him a devious smirk. "You just gave me an evil look! Don't you dare drink it!"

Someone snatched the mug from my hands and I looked over to my right to see that it was Gareki, Nai standing next to him looking just as sleepy as I felt. I was instantly blushing as I remembered what I did last night and how he reacted, taking a step to the side to put some distance between us. Gareki handed Yogi his mug and I quickly walked over to my stool as Tsukumo placed pancakes on my plate. I scarfed them down quickly before bolting from the kitchen and making it back to my room. I stayed there for hours until I watched the plane with Gareki, Yogi, Nai, and Jiki head out in the direction of the city nearby called Vantam.

"Enjoy your day off, boys," I said to myself. "Just stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

_They'll be fine,_ the Dragon growled softly. _They've got Yogi and Jiki with them. They'll be far away from where we're going and out of harm's way._

I nodded and formed a phone in my hand from thin air, informing Hirato that I was leaving for the mission. I let it disappear again before walking to the window, opening it and jumping through before shutting it behind me. I headed in the direction of the northwest as fast as I could, staying above the clouds should anyone see me. After an hour of flying, I dipped down below the clouds and saw the village, diving down into the woods a few miles north of it and walking to the river nearby. When I found it, I began loping along at a fast pace for about fifteen minutes until I could hear noises. I walked soundlessly through the woods until I reached a hill that overlooked a huge mansion. It was made from dark bricks and I could see the occasional person walking in the courtyard on guard. At one point, a girl with pink hair that was in two braids down her front ran outside and behind the mansion, followed by a man with light brown hair in a half ponytail. He almost looked like a butler to me but I had a feeling that wasn't the case. As I took a few more steps closer while staying in the shadows of the trees, I felt my stomach churn with each step.

_Varugas,_ the Dragon snarled and I could feel her eagerness to burn them all to ashes, including the building before us.

_Not yet, _I told her in my mind. _There will be another time to fight them, I swear. Right now, our mission is to investigate the place. At least we know for sure that there are Varugas present._

_I hate waiting. It's a pain I don't want to put up with. But I trust your judgment and will wait for the perfect opportunity as you said._

I sighed in relief but then went back to being serious. I clapped my hands together lightly and allowed my outfit to change into my Circus uniform that had been specially ordered for me by Hirato. A form fitting zip up catsuit that covered me from my shoulders down appeared, made entirely from black scales that looked like they could belong to a Dragon. There weren't any shoes at the feet, just the scales that allowed me to move silently like I was walking in socks. There were scales where my nails would be that were longer and sharper to resemble talons on my hands and feet and I used them to claw my way around when needed. I pulled up the hood over my head to keep my hair from standing out and used my magic to make the scales shiver before shifting colors to blend in with the environment like a chameleon.

I ran along soundlessly before hopping over the large fence blocking the mansion from access with ease. I ran over to a window on the ground floor and opened the window without setting off an alarm, which I was quite happy about since I didn't sense one before opening it. I ran along and checked every room I came across, but so far they were all just bedrooms. Whenever I came across a guard on their rounds, I would crouch in the shadows provided and wait for them to leave before making my way through every room on the ground floor. I couldn't find a doorway that led to any sort of basement, so I headed up to the second floor next.

The feeling in my stomach became stronger and stronger as I went up the stairs. The moment I reached the second floor, I felt my stomach heave in pain and I clapped a hand over my mouth. I took deep breaths through my nose and forced the bile back down my throat again with a gulp. The Dragon growled in my mind and I knew that she thought I was being weak, but this stomach ache I had whenever a Varuga was around was a gift not a curse. It was a good sign if it was extremely strong. It meant that this place had something to hide that I was going to find before they could stop me.

I checked the first few rooms near the staircase but found nothing but bedrooms here as well. I went down the hallway to the right, sniffing around as I went. I caught the scent of something familiar as I walked and followed it as fast as I could, diving into the shadows whenever a guard appeared. They were the most oblivious people in the history of the world and wouldn't notice the shimmery space when I moved into the darkness in the hallway. When they passed, I kept moving until I reach the room where the scent was at its strongest, even though it was faint like the source was no longer there. I opened the door and went inside, only to find yet another bedroom.

I sniffed the air and approached the white bed that was slid up against the wall closest to the window. There were bloodstains on the pillow and on the sheets, but they weren't enough to signify that the person who had been bleeding was dead. I tried to think back to why this scent seemed so memorable to me when I was hit with a memory that practically sent me to my knees with the shock of it.

* * *

The flashback had me back on the beach at the Niji Forest and I was a lot younger. This was back when I couldn't control my fire and the scientists had left the island. It was just Nai, Karoku, and I on the island then and I was having a talk with Karoku. He looked a bit worried about me but at that point in time, I didn't care at all. This was around the time when the Varugas' attacks were getting more and more frequent and I couldn't let Nai be discovered by them.

"You're never back at the house anymore, Cleo," he said softly. "I just don't understand why."

"I have monsters stalking me," I told him in a harsh tone of voice. "It's better if I stay out in the open rather than bring them to your doorstep."

"Is this you protecting us?" he asked dubiously. "You know that I can fight. Why don't we fight back together?"

"Not a chance," I told him as I looked out at the waves, barely noticing out of the corner of my eye that he had a hurt expression on his face. "If I allow them to make it that far, they'll discover the existence of Nai and I can't allow for that to happen."

"You don't have control of your fire, Cleo, and they are very strong," he said. "You will be killed before long and I don't want for that to happen. You and Nai are important to me."

"Because you created us, you mean?" I said softly. "I guess an inventor wouldn't want to see his creations be destroyed either."

"It's not like that," he told me, grasping my chin in his hand and turning my head until our eyes met. I could see a strange emotion burning in his eyes that I didn't understand and it frightened me a little. It wasn't one I saw him using for Nai and I knew that it was something… more. "I need you to live, Cleiona, no matter how hard it gets. You have to survive."

I yanked my chin from his hold and saw hurt in his eyes again, but I didn't know what I was doing wrong. "I intend on surviving," I said. "However, I have also made a hard decision as well. I think I need to leave this island altogether and lead the monsters after me."

"What?" a sad voice whimpered and both Karoku and I turned towards the forest to see a younger Nai staring up at me in horror. "What do you mean you need to leave?"

"Little Nai, I need to protect you," I told him gently. "I have bad things chasing after me and I can't let them come after you next." I looked over at Karoku with a harsh stare and said, "I'm leaving his safety up to you, Karoku. You better not betray my trust and let anything bad befall him. I'll be back as soon as I can control my fire and be able to protect Nai with them."

His eyes blazed in pain at my words and I heard Nai crying. "No, Cleo, you can't leave!" he whimpered loudly before running to me. I knelt down and hugged him when he jumped at me, wrapping my arms around him tightly. "I'll miss you too much! It won't be the same without both you and Karoku!"

"Little Nai, I have to go. I can't let the monsters find you," I said sadly. "If they're out chasing me, they won't know you're here and that's what I want. I'm protecting you the only way I know how. I'll be back very soon, I promise."

With my arms still around him, I stood up and handed him to Karoku while I walked down the beach to find the boat I had hidden. Nai screamed for me to come back, but I couldn't do as he wanted. I felt scalding tears fall down my face as I pushed the boat into the water, jumping inside and starting the motor before making it head in the direction of the mainland. I gave them both a wave as I looked back for the last time and then turned to the task ahead of me.

* * *

I gasped as I came back to the present, feeling like I had just been underwater for a long time and needed another breath. I found myself on my hands and knees, shaking so hard that I might not even be able to do that much for long. I forced myself to calm down and before long I was able to stand. I was still shivering but now I at least knew whose scent and blood this belonged to. My mind didn't want to fully accept it, but this room belonged to Karoku. The only problem was that I could smell another scent that was similar, but not quite the same that had also been in this room just as often. It was a scent that had the hair on the back of my neck rising but I didn't recognize it. It just put me on edge enough that I left the room after checking for guards.

With Karoku gone from that room, I tried the left hallway on the other side of the staircase. The stomachache increased but I kept myself from throwing up as I moved further along. This time, I found rooms that looked like they could belong to a lab. I could see different types of weird liquids that I didn't want to go anywhere near because they gave off a bad vibe and I had a feeling that they were different kinds of Varuga blood. I found one room that had a huge surveillance system and there were people inside. I debated on going in there and mess with their system after knocking them out, but decided on checking on a few other rooms. The last ones were suites for important people that were all centered around a huge room at the very end of the hall. I knew for a fact that this one would contain the secrets I needed to find so I ran over to it, put my ear to the door to make sure that no one was inside, and opened it before walking inside.

This room was a huge office that combined with a library. There were cabinets full of records and files and I went over to one that was first in line in front of a large wall of them and flew up to the top drawer. I opened it and found the file titled "Arumerita, Karoku," shutting the cabinet drawer before flying back down to the floor. This was all the proof I needed to show that Karoku was indeed in this place and I snapped my fingers to let the file disappear for now until I needed it. I let a smile form on my face at the thought of how happy Nai would be when I heard footsteps outside and voices approaching.

I quickly jumped into the corner behind a filing cabinet and hoped that my camouflage would hold up. The door opened and two men came inside, one being an older gentleman and the other the same butler that had been chasing the girl with pink hair. He made my stomach feel like I was being stabbed repeatedly with a blunt knife and I knew he had to be the strongest Varuga I had ever encountered. He stood in front of the desk as the old man took his seat in the chair.

"You wanted to speak with me, Uro?" the old man said listlessly.

"That's correct, sir," the butler named Uro said with a respectful bow. "I wished to tell you about the girl from Circus that had been brought back here a few nights ago by a couple of my subordinates."

"What about her?"

"Palnedo, sir, she managed to get away. Karoku dealt with her when she tried to take him hostage and we sent her body downriver. I'm quite certain that Circus found her body and will probably be sending a spy soon."

"What makes you say that?" Palnedo said as he leaned back in his chair. "What is your evidence?"

"First, this is Circus we are dealing with. We took down one of their own and they'll want to find out as much as they can about their enemies," Uro said calmly before he formed a black sword from out of thin air.

"Uro, what do you think you are doing?" Palnedo asked and I could hear the edge of panic in his voice. I knew things weren't going to end well but I had a dark feeling that he was coming after me.

"Second," Uro said, undeterred by his boss' fear, "the spy is already here and in this room."

I jumped into the air just as Uro moved, slamming his sword into the wall where I had just been a split second ago and I landed on the flat of his blade with ease as I let my magic on my uniform wear off so I could be seen. This only served to make him angry as he hissed at me, but I made no noise in response. He began to pull his sword free and I leapt into the air, forming one of my throwing blades in my hand as I landed on the other side of the old man. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to his feet, pressing the tip of my blade to the skin over his jugular vein. The old man stayed quiet and I could smell his fear while Uro yanked his blade from the wall before pointing it at me.

"Who are you?" Uro asked, only to be received with a wall of silence from me. That irritated him even more before he finally said, "I hope you don't intend on taking him as hostage. He's not as important as you might think."

I grinned before pushing the old man towards Uro and jumped out of his office window. There was a crash of glass as I jumped out and flew off in the direction of the southwest. I knew that no one would follow me, not even any Possessors they might have. I took off as fast as I could and it was nightfall before I finally saw Airship Two. I flew inside as the Sheep ambushed me, so I greeted them and ran along while searching for Nai and Gareki. I soon found them in the infirmary but I didn't go in right away because I could hear them talking.

"Nai, why did you pass out again?" the voice of Yogi asked.

"Karoku spoke with me again," Nai said. "He told me that he was forcefully taken away and that he would soon be killed if I didn't get him back from Smoky Mansion. We need to help him!"

"Nai… we won't be able to get him back right away," Tsukumo said softly.

"But… why not?" he asked her and I could practically feel his heart breaking.

"Smoky Mansion is difficult to infiltrate because it is one of Kafka's main research institutions," the voice of the old doctor said. "Unless there is concrete evidence that your Karoku is being held there, Circus will not be allowed to raid the place."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I was sent there to investigate," I finally spoke up, leaning against the doorframe and everyone turned around to look at me in surprise as I pulled my hood down. I snapped my fingers and allowed the file about Karoku to form between my index and middle fingers as I smirked. "I've got all the evidence that will be needed to raid the Smoky Mansion between this file and what I've just experienced there."

"What all did you find?" Gareki asked and I made sure not to feel embarrassed about what happened between the two of us again. I tossed the file at him quickly so that none of the papers would fly out and he caught it easily.

"First, the file," I said as he opened it up, Yogi, Tsukumo, and Nai all moving closer. Nai gasped in surprise and looked over at me hopefully. "It has a whole lot of information on him and the exact time that he was brought to the Smoky Mansion. Now, I realize that the file might look like he's working there, but I searched the area before finding the file in the first place."

"Did you find Karoku?" Nai asked me.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't find him. I did, however, find the room he had been in. There was blood all over the bed and the scent belonged to him. If he was working there, they wouldn't have let him bleed like that. The only explanation would be that he's there because he's a hostage of sorts."

"This is what I was hoping for when I sent her," Hirato's voice suddenly spoke behind me and I looked back to see him with a faint smile. "I wanted to make sure that Karoku was there before I ordered the raid. However, I don't think there will be enough time to issue a request to the Consulate Tower, so I will take full responsibility for the raid itself when they find out. We'll infiltrate the Smoky Mansion tomorrow." He turned his gaze to me and gave me a nod of approval. "Good job, Cleiona. Without you, we wouldn't have the proof we need."

Nai ran over to me and hugged me tightly before he began to cry tears of joy. I hugged him back just as tight and was feeling quite happy that he would be reunited with Karoku soon. I couldn't believe that it was almost time to get Karoku back for Nai and nothing would stop us.


	11. It Has Begun

**Hello, dear readers! Welcome back to the latest chapter! In the last one, you learn that the long awaited raid will soon begin after Cleo's excursion in the Smoky Mansion. In this chapter, the plan is made and everyone carries out their tasks. I would make the description for the chapter longer, but I finished this chapter at 1 a.m. and I didn't sleep all that well last night, so I'm kind of behind on my sleep. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: It Has Begun**

I waited around as Nai was looked over again by the doctor. They wanted to make sure that he hadn't been injured more by his last fainting spell. Everyone else had been sent about to prepare for the raid on Smoky Mansion and Gareki was having a meeting with Hirato over something. I could only guess that part of it had to do with him wanting to be a part of the raid. Technically, he was only a civilian and it would be irresponsible to drag him through something like this, but I knew he would find a way to get around it. Nai looked at me through the window and gave me an excited wave, one that I returned with a smile. Yogi and Tsukumo walked down the hallway towards me to check up on Nai like I was.

"How's he doing?" Yogi asked with a smile.

"Still his cheerful self," I told him. "He's happy and keeps waving to let me know that he's all right."

"That's our Nai," Tsukumo said. "He's a brave individual. It's hard to imagine a world without him now."

"Have you prepared for the raid?" Yogi questioned me. "You should probably get ready soon."

"I'm always ready for a raid, so I don't need to prepare," I told him as I turned to look towards the window. "What do you think Hirato is discussing with Gareki?"

"Worried, are we?" Tsukumo teased and I forced my body not to react in embarrassment. "Yogi has a hunch about that since we were wondering that ourselves."

"Before he met with Hirato in his office, Gareki asked me about what it was like to be a child of Airship Two," Yogi stated. "He also wondered what it took to become one. I guess Hirato told him that he should join us. Perhaps that's what the meeting is about?"

"I think I'm going to find out," I said and was about to leave when Nai walked out of the room.

"The doctor said that I'm perfectly healthy," Nai told us with a bright smile. "This means I'm allowed to go with you on the raid!"

"What?" I asked in disbelief. I saw Yogi stiffen as I turned my cold gaze to him and he ruffled his hair suspiciously.

"Well… Hirato said that since Nai is the only one who can talk to Karoku telepathically, that means that we need him to even find Karoku's location within the Smoky Mansion," Yogi muttered hesitantly.

I hissed angrily and turned around on my heel, walking off in the direction of Hirato's office. I heard Nai call after me and heard his running feet behind me as he tried to catch up. "Wait, Cleo!" he yelled after me as I made my way down the halls. "Please, wait for me!"

I stopped suddenly and he accidentally ran into me, almost falling backwards if I hadn't grabbed his wrist to stop him. He gave me an apologetic smile and I let him walk along with me as I led him down the corridors. It didn't take long until I saw the closed doors of Hirato's office and froze when I heard voices. Nai was about to ask me something when I clapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him into the shadows of a hallway near the office. I signaled to him to stay quiet by pressing my index finger to my lips and he nodded, so I released him and we both peeked around the corner.

"Dammit, Four Eyes, I want to be a part of this raid!" Gareki yelled. "I can't let Nai and Cleo go out there without me!"

"Imagine that," Hirato said, ignoring Gareki's previous words. "You're worried about them. You're even concerned over Cleo's welfare, even though she is your protector."

"Of course I'm worried about them, Cleo most of all! She takes her job so seriously that I don't want anything bad to happen to her!"

"And why is that? Do you have feelings for her?"

I heard Gareki's slight intake of breath before he quietly said, "That's none of your business and I refuse to answer it either way. Now, you're going to let me join this raid and help or let me become a child of Airship Two and help either way. Those are your only choices."

"An ultimatum," Hirato laughed. "Fine, I will grant your wish. I might be able to use your skills after all. However, Yogi will be watching out for you tomorrow, not Cleo."

"Why not?" I heard Gareki ask and there seemed to be a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "Is she guarding Nai during that time?"

"No, I've got a much more important task for her," Hirato told him. "It will be explained in the morning. Now that we have this settled, I think it's about time for you to leave."

There was noise in the room and I yanked Nai back as Gareki stormed out of the room. I heard him sigh before walking in our direction. I camouflaged us both as he turned into the hallway with us. Unfortunately, Nai wasn't the best to camouflage for he ran from my arms and hugged Gareki, startling him enough for me to drop the magic entirely. He looked up at me before he shoved Nai in my direction.

"So you were both eavesdropping," he accused, glaring at me.

"Don't blame Nai. The only reason he is here in the first place is because he happened to be following me," I told him.

He didn't seem to care about that after a couple seconds and instead suddenly asked, "What's it like to be a child of Airship Two?"

I tilted my head to the side and thought about his question before finally answering him. "Home," I said softly. "It's like being home. Nai and I never really had that before and this is the first time that I can actually describe a place to be like that. It helps that all of the people here are like family and family is like home."

I saw a light of recognition in his eyes before he finally nodded. "Now I understand why Hirato asked me if I wanted to become one of you back in Vantam."

"Maybe you should," I told him gently. "You'll always be around people who care about you and you'll never be alone again. Unless you're like me, of course. Then you'll just have to hide on the ship to avoid people like the plague."

"You don't avoid me, do you, Cleo?" Nai asked me worriedly.

I laughed a little at how earnest he was and said, "Of course not! I would never avoid you, little Nai!" I heard him laugh in response and when I looked up, I could see Gareki walking away from us. I guess he got the answer he needed because he didn't stick around for long. Nai and I ran around on the ship, letting him pick games for us to play and we kept going until dinnertime. After that, I took him to bed early so that he could get the rest he needed.

As I was tucking him in, Gareki walked in the room and climbed up onto his bunk. I turned my attention back to Nai when he asked, "Do you really think we will find Karoku?"

"Of course I do," I told him with a bright smile. "I found enough information to discover that he was there, didn't I? Don't you trust me?"

"Yes, but what if they've moved him someplace else?" he asked me worriedly.

"They don't have enough time to get him far. If they've moved him, I'll track him down like a hunting dog. They won't keep Karoku from us that easily."

As I stood up, he grabbed me by the wrist. "Will you… sleep here tonight?" he begged.

"Of course," I said with a nod. "Give me a few minutes to change and I will be right back."

I quickly pried his hand from me and took off to my room as fast as I could. I changed into a white tank top and shorts before walking back into Gareki and Nai's room. Gareki faced the wall on the top bunk and Nai looked up at me sleepily. He looked like he might pass out at any second but he forced himself to wait for me, the poor dear. He scooted over to the side towards the wall and I pulled the blankets back just enough for me to crawl in. Nai hugged me and lay his head down on my shoulder with a yawn before falling asleep within a couple seconds. He looked so comfortable and peaceful that I couldn't help but smile.

"Is he asleep?" Gareki whispered.

"He's out cold," I whispered back. "He was really tired."

"Talking with Karoku takes a lot out of him. You'd think that he wouldn't be so tired after passing out for a few hours."

"You know, there is something about all of this that doesn't sit right with me," I told him. "I just… I don't remember Karoku ever being able to speak with anyone telepathically. I realize that I haven't seen the man in years, but you'd think I would remember him saying that he was developing the ability. They don't just appear out of nowhere like that."

"Do you think we're walking into a trap?" Gareki asked. "Do you really think that Karoku was at the Smoky Mansion?"

"He was there, all right," I said. "I found a room they had been keeping him in and it definitely had his scent all over. If there is one thing that can't be replicated, it's a person's natural scent. Even if it was possible to do so, an animal like me would be able to discern between the real thing and a synthetic version."

"What else did you find there?" he asked.

"I found out that there was someone else staying in Karoku's room with him quite often," I told him. "Not only that, but there is a man by the name of Uro that works as a butler of some sort and he is one of the strongest Varugas that I have ever encountered. I nearly threw up when I went up to the second floor because the presence of Varugas was so strong."

There was a pause that lasted for a few minutes. I thought for sure that he had fallen asleep when I heard him whisper, "Don't fight him tomorrow. In fact, don't fight anyone at all. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"You really _are_ worried about me and yet you didn't say so to Hirato," I said softly. "However, I will do what I am ordered, so if it means that I have to go toe-to-toe with Uro then so be it. He and I have already clashed once and I'm faster, so it shouldn't be so bad if I have to do it again."

"I know you're just trying to make me feel better," he said even quieter. I heard him shift up above me before I saw him climbing down the ladder and then crawl under the blanket with us. He laid his head on my other shoulder and leaned his forehead against mine with a sigh, his breath fanning across my face slowly. "I still wish I could fight right there with you."

"No, what you'll be doing will most likely be the most important job," I told him. "I have a hunch I might know what you'll be doing and you should be safe."

"I don't want to be safe, I want to watch your back," he said softly.

"Go to sleep, Gareki," I said with a tiny laugh. "We're going to be waking up rather early to go over the plan."

He grumbled but actually listened to what I had said, making a noise before finally closing his eyes. I heard his breathing begin to slow before he was finally asleep. That left me to be the only one awake. I could feel a buzzing in my mind over the situation tomorrow and I closed my eyes. I yawned a little before finally slipping into unconsciousness with Nai and Gareki sleeping next to me.

* * *

We woke up before dawn and grabbed a quick breakfast before changing into the clothes we would wear during the raid. I went back to my room and changed back into my scaly catsuit, placing a Circus I.D. around my wrist that was high tech and tapping on my collarbone to allow the symbol of Circus to appear. I walked over to the dresser and pulled my top hat from one of the drawers. Just like the others, it was completely black but the ribbon around each one is different. Mine was a royal blue ribbon with white flames and I placed it on my head over my blue tufts of hair. I walked along rather quickly until I made it to a conference room where we were all to meet before the raid. Everyone was beginning to arrive just as I made it in the room and we all waited patiently until Hirato began to speak.

"It took a few hours, but I have come up with the perfect plan with Tsukitachi," Hirato said as he brought out digital map of Smoky Mansion. He placed it on the table and tapped it before it rose up in the air so that everyone could see it. He pointed at the gate to Smoky Mansion first. "Yogi and Gareki, you will be here. You will tell the guards that you are here to visit Karoku because he left something with you that he asked for you to return. If they argue and refuse to let you past the gate, run past them and make it into the compound."

"Got it," Gareki said, adjusting the dark hood on his white coat.

"What if they keep chasing after us?" Yogi asked.

"The Rabbits should knock them out before they get too far. This is also where Cleo comes in," Hirato explained, pointing to a spot in the middle of the courtyard. "Once you get past the gate, you will alert Cleo, who will then fly down to the courtyard and cause the biggest distraction that she can so that you can sneak inside the mansion to disable the security system. You will also send in every file they have in their computer systems to Airship Two." Hirato slid his gaze over to me and gave me one of the most serious looks he could muster. "Cleo, you need to bring everyone out to the courtyard, including whatever Varugas are in the area. This means that I am giving you permission to let your Dragon side out."

"What?" Gareki said in disbelief. "No, you can't do that! She'll be—"

"Gareki," I said sternly, never once raising my voice but still effectively cutting him off. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then trust that I will be able to do this without screwing things up," I told him. "My Dragon side and I are in complete agreement. We will remain in sync and she already agreed that she wouldn't take over unless she sensed that my life was in imminent danger that she needed to protect me from quickly. I won't let things get out of control."

Hirato guessed that Gareki might argue about something else and decided to speak again of the plan. "Tsukumo and Eva, you will defeat any Varugas that don't leave the mansion and I want you to find the man that Cleo called Uro. I'll show you a picture of him before your part in the raid. He might go after Cleo right away since they've fought once, so keep him busy until I show up to capture him. Cleo, once they've got Uro's attention and Gareki and Yogi are done with their part, I want you to lead Jiki and Nai to a safe location where Nai can listen for Karoku."

"What do we do once we are done sending the files?" Yogi asked.

"You are then allowed to leave," Hirato told him. "If a Varuga tries to stop you, you are allowed to kill it. Do what you must to escape."

He dismissed us and we went our separate ways until the raid. I took my time walking all the way up to the observation deck, sliding a hand along the walls the entire way. When I finally arrived, I took off my hat and placed it on the back of the couch before sitting down on the cushions. The sun was just beginning to rise and I let out a sigh as I watched it. It wasn't until the sun peeked over the horizon that I heard voices approaching. I turned around to see Gareki and Nai walk inside, Nai looking happy as he ran towards me, jumped over the back of the couch, and landed on top of me with his knee in my stomach. I let out a hiss of breath and reflexively sat up swiftly, only to smack my head into his. He yelped and we both clutched our heads in our hands, our eyes watering from the pain. I could hear Gareki snickering from the doorway and it only frustrated me.

Without looking, I lobbed a fireball at him that forced him to dodge, making the fire disappear before it could burn anything. "Go away, you jerk," I told him with another hiss. "I will throw another fireball at you so fast that you'll never be able to dodge this one."

"What do you think about your part in the raid?" Gareki asked me and I was so certain that he would say something snarky in response but no such luck.

As I pushed Nai over onto the other end of the couch, I looked over at Gareki and said, "I'm rather excited. It means that we are going to get Karoku back. I will do anything I can to help and if being an excellent distraction is what is needed then I will do it to the best of my abilities. Why do you keep acting like I'm going to screw things up?"

"It's not like I don't trust you do things properly, I just don't trust your inner Dragon," he told me. "She threatened to kill me and now you're just going to let her out like that?"

"I'm not," I said gently. "You made me promise to never let the Dragon side of me out unless I've got complete control. I've kept the promise and I've got control. I swear to you that what happened in Rinoll won't happen to you again. She's actually taken a liking to you."

Gareki walked over to me and I reached a hand out to grab his own. "Just promise me you'll live through this and you'll make sure that Nai does as well."

I gave him a roguish smirk that surprised him and said, "That's a silly thing that you want me to do. However, I am in an agreeable mood and so I will. I will make sure that we all live through this, including everyone in our little family here on Airship Two. No one will die on my watch."

Nai looked at us both in confusion and Gareki pulled away quickly, saying something about how he was going to go get something from his room before the raid. I nodded and Nai and I watched the sunset until an alarm blared that signaled the beginning of the raid. We headed down to the control room and I stood next to Yogi and Gareki, adjusting my hat that I hated to wear with a passion. Yogi gave a small chuckle and fixed it for me as Hirato came in the room.

"You three, time for you to go," Hirato said with a smile. "Remember that the timing has to be just right and you'll be fine. Now, Yogi and Cleo, turn on your Circus I.D.s if you would. I don't want to lose either of you and want to know exactly where you are at all times."

We twisted a bar on the bracelets and a red and blue light glowed before it blinked slowly. After high-fiving Yogi, he grabbed Gareki and we both flew off the ship. I stayed up in the air higher as we flew along and watched as they slowly flew downwards until they reached a forest. It took about ten minutes before I could see them reach the gate and I flew over to my position near the courtyard. I could hear a commotion at the gate before I heard Yogi's voice come through the I.D.

"All clear, Cleo!" he said and I could hear one set of running feet. Yogi must have been flying after Gareki. "Go ahead and do your thing!"

"Just stay out of the way and don't let yourselves be caught," I told him with a grin after pressing the red bar on my I.D. with two fingers. "There's only so much that I can do and it would serve you right."

"Over and out!" Yogi yelled and I pulled my fingers away.

"Are you ready?" I asked the Dragon, who had begun to stir in my mind excitedly.

_I'll give you all that I've got and then some if that means we can destroy as many Varugas as we can get our hands on,_ the Dragon said vehemently. _Just make me proud and that is all I can ask._

I nodded and dived down as fast as a bullet, pulling up at the last second so that I was crouched on the ground as a huge plume of dust went up into the air. When I stood up, I let out wave after wave of magic to alert the Varugas or Possessors in the area of my presence. My magic was strong enough that they practically crawled out of the woodwork to surround me in a huge circle, almost as if I was a magnet that drew them in. I didn't see Uro yet but I knew that there would still be time for it.

I pressed the red bar on my I.D. and softly said, "Yogi, count to ten and make a run for the mansion. I'm going to unleash the beast."

_Thanks for calling me a beast,_ the Dragon grumbled.

She wasn't very happy until I latched onto her power and let it out in a huge blast. I felt my veins burn like lava was flowing through them rather than blood and that was when the fire erupted past my skin. Crimson wings of flame shot from my shoulder blades and diamond scales appeared on my forearms. I felt the blue tufts of hair on my head shift into horns and the blue streaks into feathers. I knew my eyes had shifted enough so that all of the Varugas took a hesitant step back before they froze, almost as if they were listening to orders in their minds. Next second they all leapt at me and I bared my elongated fangs in a demented grin before the flames blasted through the air. They were pure white and hotter than any other color of flame I could make, incinerating a vast majority of Varugas and Possessors into ashes that floated away on the wind.

"Who's next?" I asked in a growly tone that only seemed to infuriate them more.

They ran at me again and I had to dodge some of their attacks, blasting anyone who got too close with fire. I was having fun playing with them and before long I knew I had almost every Varugas' attention. I heard the sound of shattering glass and looked up to see Tsukumo and Eva crashing through a window to take down any stragglers. Just as I watched them, I heard a strange noise behind me that made me jump aside just in case. As I whipped around in the air, I saw a sword made from darkness crush the cement where I had been standing a split second ago and let out a hissed breath when I saw that it was Uro. I blasted the other Varugas surrounding us with the fire until we were completely alone in the courtyard, the noises of Rabbits and Sheep fighting Possessors in the sky all around us.

"So you're back again, Circus spy," Uro said emotionlessly. "I had hoped that I would get the opportunity to fight you again, especially after you left so suddenly last time."

"I wouldn't have been here in the first place if you didn't have something we want," I told him as I curled my wings near my body.

"Ah, she speaks," he said. "And here I thought that you were a mute. Now I'll know for sure that I'll be able to hear your delightful screams while I peel the skin from your lovely bones."

"I'd love to see you try," I growled, letting him see my fangs as I grinned deviously.

I formed my falchion in my hand as he rushed at me, blocking his attack easily before pushing him back. He stumbled backwards and I charged in his direction quickly by flapping my fiery wings. I slashed at him with my sword and he hissed a little at the force behind my attacks. As he tried to stab me through with his blade, I dived to the side and smacked him in the back with the flat of my sword. He figured out that I was toying with him to drag out the time until Tsukumo and Eva could keep him busy and that only infuriated him. He began to move even faster and was somehow able to keep up with me easily. If anyone was watching in the nearby area, we had to look like blurs as we launched attack after attack at each other, sparks flying as our blades clashed together. We were about to clash once more when I heard a strange musical noise and a flash of light appeared between us, forcing us jump apart or be blasted to pieces. We both turned our head towards the mansion and saw Tsukumo and Eva standing there.

"We've got things covered from here on out, Cleo!" Eva called to me, giving me a wink. "Go move into your next position!"

"You're not leaving here until I kill you, especially now that I know your name," Uro said with a glare at me, charging at me and the only thing that stopped him was a barrage of huge gemstones that were launched at him by Eva. When he turned his livid gaze at her, I flew into the air and headed directly to Airship Two after suppressing my Dragon side so I wouldn't burn the whole place down.

Flying inside and making my way to the control room, I bowed to Hirato theatrically before I was ambushed by Nai. "We watched your fight with that man," he said in a concerned tone of voice before he hugged me tightly. "You both moved so fast that I couldn't keep up with it! I was a little scared for you."

"Oh, Nai, I would have been fine," I told him, separating myself from him before ruffling his hair.

"I think we should probably go," Jiki said. "If we leave now, we'll be able to find Karoku faster. Cleo, you can help by trying to sense him or trying to find his scent."

I nodded and grabbed Nai before Jiki could since Nai looked a little hesitant to have him close. I knew that he was still thinking back to when Jiki and Gareki fought and I hugged him tightly before we flew through the air. I found the perfect spot on top of the mansion that most people couldn't reach and we landed on the roof. I set Nai down and we moved close to the edge, him holding my hand nervously as he looked out at the fight around us. He looked close to tears as he saw a few Sheep and Rabbits falling from the sky. I pulled my hand from his and turned his face with it so he was looking at me.

"Just concentrate on finding Karoku and nothing else," I told him gently. "Close your eyes and focus on listening for his voice. Don't concern yourself with anything else."

He nodded and immediately closed his eyes tightly. He cupped his hands behind his ears and turned his head occasionally as he searched for any hints for Karoku's location. I stood beside him the entire time, sniffing the air for a scent that would lead us straight to Karoku while Jiki watched us. I couldn't sense him anywhere or pick up his scent either. It was about fifteen minutes later that Nai suddenly gasped as if he was drowning, his eyes flying open and gazing at me in recognition.

"I found him…" he whispered, almost as if he couldn't believe it himself. "I just don't know how to get to him."

"Where is he?" I asked him.

He pointed over at a clearing in the woods with a tranquil pool of water and I could now understand his confusion. From here, I couldn't see a thing that would show that a person could be there. "He's over there and yet he's not," Nai said with confusion. "It's almost like he is in another dimension." He looked up at the sky where more Sheep and Rabbits began to fall and a look of despair crossed his face. "I can't… I can't let this happen! I don't want my friends to be broken! I've played with them and I can't watch this! I won't let them do this anymore!"

There was a huge explosion of golden light that surrounded Nai suddenly, making me hiss in pain as I quickly covered my eyes. My inner Dragon snarled as she felt what I did and I heard a strange lilting music for a few seconds before the light began to fade. I saw as I uncovered my eyes that Nai looked exhausted, wobbling a little before I caught him so he wouldn't hit the ground hard. I turned my gaze over towards the pool of water and saw in disbelief that there was a huge column of rainbow light shooting straight up into the heavens, one that was slowly diminishing back down into an orb of that same light that reflected off of the water.

"There," Nai said faintly and I watched as his strength slowly came back to him. "I can sense Karoku in there. I need to go there right now!"

I turned my gaze down to him and smiled. "Your wish is my command."


	12. Long Lost Friend

**Hello, dearest readers! I hope you have loved all of the previous chapters so far as much as I did writing it. Now, last chapter had Nai's powers activating a secret way to Karoku. In this chapter, it all comes to a close on finding the poor man. Not the end of the story though, so never fear! I've got a lot in store still for our favorite characters. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Long Lost Friend**

I held onto Nai and flew up into the air, waiting for a few seconds for Jiki to fly up after us. He formed his whip and explained that he would cover me in case any Varugas or Possessors try to come after me. I nodded and flew off as fast as I could in the direction of the rainbow. As I flew along, I sensed the presence of Yogi and Gareki, along with a Varuga that was giving them trouble. I couldn't just let them be defeated, especially after promising Gareki that I would protect everyone I cared for, so I dived down after them.

I landed on a branch and saw a huge Varuga trying to squash them like bugs and all that served to do was make me angry. When it got close enough to me, I let out a Dragon's Breath and burned it to ashes. Nai made victorious noises as I jumped down from the tree, Jiki flying down after me, and we both went over to Yogi and Gareki. They looked all right and I looked them over once just to be sure. Gareki wouldn't let me touch him, grumbling about how he was just fine and didn't need to be looked after.

"Are you heading over towards the rainbow light?" Yogi asked me.

"Yes, that was the plan," I told him. "Nai created a gateway straight to Karoku and so we need to hurry. I just stopped to help out a friend in need after making someone a promise I can't break."

"Who asked you to promise that?" Yogi asked curiously.

"That's not important," I said with a knowing smile, making sure not to look over at Gareki or I would alert Yogi. "What is important is that you take Gareki back to the ship. He shouldn't be out here any longer than he needs to be."

"You're right," Yogi said with a sigh before turning to Gareki. "Ready to head back?"

"No," Gareki said vehemently. "I want to go with Nai and Cleo to help them get Karoku."

As Jiki was patrolling the clearing we were standing in just in case a Varuga tried to ambush us, Yogi said, "But Gareki, this might not be something you want to do. It might get really hard and—"

"You don't understand!" Gareki yelled and I was startled when I saw tears forming in his eyes. "I know that I'm weak and useless compared to all of you from Circus, but I want to do this one thing and help out! I can't just keep letting all of you fight my battles for me! Let me do something to protect people for once." He turned to face me and gave me the most determined stare he could muster. "So how about it? Can you please take me with you?"

"That depends," I told him with a mischievous smile as I pointed at the gun in his hand. "Think you have good enough aim to keep the Varugas and Possessors off my back?"

"I've got the best aim in all of Circus," he said arrogantly.

"Then consider yourself going," I said before flying over to him and wrapping my free arm around him, flying upwards a few feet. "Yogi, you can help Jiki in taking down any of our enemies that get too close. I have a feeling that we need to make it to that rainbow before it closes on us. I don't want Nai to miss his chance."

Yogi looked like he was going to protest the fact that I was taking Gareki along, but he only nodded as both he and Jiki took the air after us. As I began to fly as fast as I possibly could between the trees, I heard Gareki quietly say, "Thanks, Cleo."

"No problem," I said cheerily. "Just don't forget your job since I'm being so nice as to bring you along."

I saw Gareki smirk before twisting in my arms a little so that he could watch behind us. Before long, I could hear the sounds of Jiki and Yogi fighting and I looked back to see them lagging behind a little. That was when the gunshots went off as Possessors tried to catch us. Gareki was right about having the best aim because he took down the Possessors before they could even get close to us. But before long, there was a whole swarm of them and Gareki ran out of ammo. He growled something under his breath as he tried to reload and I shook my head before forming a weapon made from fire.

It was a gun that looked just like the one he was holding in his hand. The metal was made from rainbow titanium and the guard was crimson. It floated in front of him and he grabbed it without a second thought. "What is this thing?" he asked me, turning his head to look me in the eyes.

"Consider it a gift from me," I told him with a smile before turning my attention back to flying. "The bullets it fires will make anything burst into flames and they will be turned to ash. The ammo will last for about a month and I can replenish it will just one touch. Have fun!"

He shot it and there was a huge flash of light behind us. Thankfully, Yogi and Jiki were farther behind us or they could have been burned. Gareki kept shooting until there weren't any more Possessors chasing after us and I thought for sure that we were no longer being followed when I felt something whip into my back. I thought for sure that it had been Jiki's fault and was about to yell at him when I saw that it was in fact Uro, who was jumping from branch to branch as he followed us.

"Cleo, your back is bleeding!" Nai told me, his eyes looking fearful for me.

"Don't worry, Nai," I told him as I winced. "I heal really fast. It will close up in a few seconds."

There was a bang as Gareki tried shooting Uro, but he kept dodging each shot he took. "I don't think I can hit him," Gareki said. "He moves way too fast, almost as fast as you do."

"Just do your best," I said. "I trust you. If he hits me, then so be it. I can still fly us to Karoku."

Gareki hit almost every tentacle that Uro slashed me with but a few managed to make their way through, slicing into my skin but never deep enough to cause massive amounts of damage. I flew lower to the ground when I began to see the pool of water that had the orb of rainbow light. It began to glow brighter and expand just enough for all of us to fly through. I began to hope for the best when Uro hit me with something hard enough that we were knocked out of the air. I knew that we would tumble to the ground and to protect Nai and Gareki, I turned at the last second so that I hit the ground instead to take the force of the impact. A large sharp rock sliced into my skin as I slid across the shallow pool and screamed in pain when I felt something in my back snap. Gareki and Nai were thrown from me and we all toppled into the rainbow light.

_This is bad, _I thought to myself. _There is a fractured vertebra in my spine. It will heal, but it will take some time to do so, at least a solid minute or two. I can't protect them like this._

It looked like we were flying through a dark tunnel and I felt Gareki grab hold of me. He made sure to avoid my injuries and I looked over at Nai to see if he was all right, only to see that he had a blank expression on his face. I could only wonder if he was speaking with Karoku but didn't have much time to think about it when the tunnel exploded with light. I closed my eyes with a hiss for a few seconds until it died down and opened them again to see that we were in a grassy meadow. Gareki was holding me up, one arm around my waist and the other to keep one of my arms around his shoulders for balance. I couldn't move my legs yet or pain would shoot through me, so I just lay my head on Gareki and watched as Nai took a step forward towards a figure ahead of him. There was a man with blue hair and eyes, a white bandage around his head that looked bloodied.

"Karoku…" Nai whispered. I could see tears welling up in his eyes before he ran to him. "Karoku!" He hugged him tightly, burying his face in his chest before looking up at him. "You're… you're alive." Nai looked down a little and I saw his expressions go from happy to worried. "Oh no… You're hurt…"

I concentrated on forcing my body to heal faster when I felt Gareki shaking almost imperceptibly. I thought it was weird that he hadn't moved, almost as if he was frozen in place when I caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to the left and noticed that there was a body lying on the ground next to where Nai was standing. When I squinted my eyes and observed it carefully, it almost looked like Karoku, but I knew that it couldn't be true if Karoku was standing in front of Nai. Something didn't sit right with me and I sniffed the air for Karoku's true position. Just as I had begun to suspect, Karoku's scent was coming from the body lying prone on the ground while the unfamiliar scent that I remembered back at the Smoky Mansion was coming from the imposter.

I turned my gaze back to Nai, who still hadn't noticed that there were two Karoku's, and he said, "So, I have a question. Can Gareki have your bracelet? I told him that he could! He helped me when I needed assistance."

I couldn't take it anymore and sent a jolt of magic through Gareki's body that finally allowed him to move. "Nai, snap out of it!" Gareki yelled and I pulled all of what strength I had left into healing me. I knew I wouldn't have enough time, so I did what I could with what meager amount I had left. "Look at the ground!"

"Huh?" Nai whispered, almost as if snapping out of a trance. He turned his head and looked down at the person lying here and made a noise of surprise before running to him, kneeling down next to him to help him. "Karoku! Oh no, he's covered in red…"

"I was trying to let the guy have one last look at you," the imposter said. "I'm afraid that it was me that you were hearing in your head these past few weeks. I was using his voice." I could see Nai shaking and I growled, but only Gareki heard me and he held onto me tighter so I wouldn't launch myself at the fake. "He was overjoyed to know that you were coming, believe me. The thing is, he was meant to end up in a place that was a lot emptier, a lot less… warm… than here. He spoke of his Nai all the time, even his Cleo… although she is more my creation than his. But Nai, I feel happy that I can finally put a face to all of his stories."

_His… creation?_ The thought passed through my mind faster than I could accept it and I shivered before I could stop it, letting out another growl that was ignored.

"I know, it's difficult to accept me as anyone but him," the imposter said. He lifted his hand up so that he was looking at the palm of his hand before saying, "He is a part of me now though. In a way, I'm more him than he is. I just had to find a way to bring you here and this was the only way to do it. Not only that, but you brought along my creation as well, so I really had to thank you for that."

"Shut up!" I screamed, leaping from Gareki's grip and running at the imposter faster than ever before, my back protesting and shooting pain signals through my nerves. "You are not my creator! I refuse to believe it!"

Just before I got to him, he grabbed me by the throat and hoisted me into the air. I thrashed in his hold but his grip was firm, never once attempting to squeeze the breath from my lungs but instead letting me know that he could if he so chose. "I _am_ your creator, Cleiona. Karoku might have been the one to design you, but I twisted that design while no one was paying attention to fit my needs and so my destroyer was born. Karoku thought for sure that you were a failed experiment and was going to get rid of you as such, but the scientists working for him convinced him to keep you alive and under constant supervision. I tried my best to get the Varugas to bring you to me once you had matured to a certain age, but my little destroyer was cunning and powerful. You would kill them before they could take you and after a while you disappeared off the face of the earth, only for me to discover that you had joined Circus." I felt his magic enter my mind and push aside mental barriers that were blocking memories I didn't know existed, ones that proved that he was speaking the truth.

"No…" I whispered to myself in disbelief. "No, this can't be…"

"Oh, but it is," he said before throwing me to the ground a few feet in front of him and then turning back to Nai, who had tears in his eyes once more and was shivering in fear. "I'm so proud of you, Nai, for making it this far. Take my hand, for this is the side you really belong to." When Nai wouldn't say a word in response or even move, he continued on. "It's time to say goodbye to Gareki and Cleo. It's a shame that we can't keep them forever, isn't it."

"No," Nai said softly as he shook his head, his eyes burning in terror, and I wanted nothing more than to move to him but my back was keeping me frozen in place. "It's wrong…"

"Come on, don't be so stubborn," the imposter said, his tone of voice changing to dark and threatening as he lifted his hand to point it at us both. "If it will help you let go, I can always shatter them."

"No, don't!" Nai screamed before running in front of him to protect us, throwing his arms out wide.

"Hey, psycho!" Gareki yelled before there was a gunshot. I saw the imposter fall just as Gareki moved over to me and pulled me up to my feet. I looked down at his hand and saw his regular gun. It must have had one last bullet in the barrel. Nai looked on in horror as the imposter fell to the ground.

"I'm fine," I whispered to Gareki. "Go check on the real Karoku."

Gareki nodded and ran over to him, feeling for a pulse. "It's weak but it's definitely there," he said softly.

Nai walked over to Gareki to help him when the voice of the imposter startled us all. "You leave me with no choice," he said as he stood up again, holding a hand to his cheek where blood began to flow heavily. The bullet must have just grazed him and cut into his cheek. I felt proud of Gareki and his shooting skills while the imposter glared at him. "If you're not quite done having fun, I can always wait. Patience is one of my virtues. Be seeing you." With that, the whole grassy plain began to shudder like water before we were all thrust into darkness and I thought I could hear the voice of the imposter say, "Play as long as you like, Nai. I'll be here."

When I blinked, I could see the pool of water that we had been in previously before going through the rainbow orb and saw everyone who had joined the raid with us. After all of the blood loss, pain, and extreme use of magic, I began to wobble on my feet and my vision began to get spotty just before my legs gave out. I felt myself falling just before I heard running feet and arms wrap around me tightly. I could hear voices talking to each other as I went limp and passed out. The last thing I remembered was the Dragon saying that she was proud of me.

* * *

Waking up was extremely difficult for me this time and it was unlike any other. It almost felt as if I was being kept unconscious and I fought it with everything I had. I clawed through the darkness until I finally opened my eyes blearily, my head turned towards a window that had a huge cherry blossom tree growing outside. Judging from the smell of chemicals, I could safely assume that I was in the Research Tower. My whole body ached and my mind felt sluggish, but there was a gaping hole in my memories that I could now access that I hadn't been able to previously. I decided not to mess with it just yet and forced my body to sit up.

"Take it easy, will you?" the sarcastic voice of Gareki was heard and I turned my head to the left to see both him and Nai. Nai had fallen asleep with his head on Gareki's shoulder and I felt a small smile forming on my face as my heart warmed at the sight. "Your wounds weren't healing properly after you forced your body to move faster than it should have to go after that… imposter. They had to inject you with a sedative to keep you under until your body could fix the damage."

"I made a promise to you," I said softly. "I told you that I would protect everyone and so I fulfilled that promise with every bit of my soul."

"You're crazy, you know that?" he said with a gentle smile that never reached his eyes.

"So I've been told," I said with a smirk that turned into a grimace when I tried to sit up again. "How's Karoku? Is he at least alive?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Gareki said before he pulled the curtain back that was behind him. On the bed in the same room was an unconscious Karoku, who had an oxygen mask on over his face to help him breathe. "He's just in a coma right now. The doctors aren't sure when he'll wake up but they know it will happen soon."

"That's good," I said with a sigh of relief.

"What did the Karoku imposter do to you?" he asked softly, making me turn to look at him in surprise. "Before he threw you to the ground, he paused and it was as if your eyes went lifeless for a few seconds. What did he do?"

"He… unlocked some memories that I didn't know existed in my mind," I whispered. "Memories of my past…"

We fell into silence and I looked down at my hands for some reason. With a gasp, I saw that they were covered in blood and I was about to bolt off of the bed when I blinked, the bloody scene disappearing without a trace. I could only guess that it was a part of the repressed memories that had been locked away in my mind. I felt cold all of a sudden and wrapped my arms around me with a frown, staring down at my feet beneath the blankets.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gareki asked as he looked out the window. "I've heard that it's sometimes best to get it out of your system now before it has a chance to fester."

"I will, but not just yet," I told him. "I don't want to know what memories are hidden in my mind right now, especially not so soon after they were unlocked. Deep down, I know that my so called 'happy existence' is actually drenched in blood."

Pulling off all the sensors and wires that were hooked to me, I pulled out the IV and got out of bed. I noticed that I was wearing a simple white long sleeved shirt and white pants before hopping up onto the window sill. Gareki was about to get up and grab me when I opened the window, jumping out of it to land on one of the branches in the cherry blossom tree. I settled myself down on the branches and saw Gareki standing in the window.

"You're going to get in trouble, you know!" he called to me, shaking his head a little.

"I'll deal with it when the time comes," I told him, still feeling exhausted.

Unfortunately, he was quite correct in what he said. About an hour had passed when I heard footsteps in the hospital room I had been in and two of the voices belonged to Dr. Akari and Hirato. They asked Gareki where I was now and I only heard silence, so I guessed when they appeared in the window that he had simply pointed them in the right direction. Hirato looked rather smug as he flew over to me after jumping out of the window, standing on a branch next to mine that was a bit higher than the one I was on. We didn't say a word for the longest time until he finally spoke up a few minutes later.

"I don't quite understand what you are doing out here alone after waking from a medically induced coma," Hirato said simply, "but I know you have a good reason for it. You never do something unless there is an explanation behind it. I'm sure you don't want to talk about it just yet—"

"And you'd be correct," I interrupted before he carried on with what he had been saying previously.

"And therefore I won't ask you about it just yet," he told me with a gentle smile, one that almost looked foreign on him. "Sometimes, people just need to think things over before they can actually tell people what happened to them after something traumatic. You must be feeling anxious or you wouldn't have decided to come out here alone to get some fresh air."

"Again, you are correct," I said.

"I still think you ought to go inside right now," he said. "Nai is awake and he's rather worried about you. Come inside and alleviate some of his distress if you would be so kind."

The thought of Nai sent my mind into a flashback for a split second, making me shake violently for a bit until I got it under control. I saw Nai when he was very young and even more innocent than he was before. He had a bright smile on his face even though I could sense somewhere deep down that he should have been terrified. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and flew with Hirato back to the room. Nai gave me a smile similar to the one I had seen in the flashback and rushed over to me to hug me tightly. I hesitated for a couple seconds before embracing him in turn.

"I'm so glad that you're awake," he said hoarsely. "I wouldn't be able to take it if you didn't wake up. I'm also glad that you didn't shatter."

"Little Nai, I already told you," I said kindly. "I'm not the type to just shatter like a piece of glass. It will take a lot before that can ever happen to me."

"But you were so hurt!" he told me, tears forming in his eyes. "I saw how bloody you were in that meadow. Gareki had to hold you up or you wouldn't have been able to even stand!"

"But I heal fast and I'm fine now," I told him lightly. "You won't have to see that again now that I'm ok."

I let the doctors check on my health again and Akari finally said that I was fit to leave. I was relieved about this and we all headed to Airship Two, leaving Karoku behind until he woke from his coma. I didn't say a word for the longest time until we made it onto the ship. I told everyone that I needed to be alone for now and went off on my own. I knew that people would eventually look for me sooner or later so I decided to head to one of my secret hiding places. The top of the ship was out because Yogi or Tsukumo could drag me back inside. The observation deck was also out because Nai or Gareki could find me, along with my room on the ship. Instead, I headed for the one place that would provide me with the perfect hiding place, the crawl space near the front end of the ship that was completely dark. It was the panic room I would stay in back when I first arrived here and it always gave me the solitude I needed whenever my nerves were at its end.

Once inside, I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs and letting out a sigh. It reminded me of a sensory deprivation tank, one that flashed before my eyes in another memory that had been blocked before and I began to shiver. It was about time that I just let the memories in and accepted them, so I took a deep breath before giving in to what those memories wanted to show me.

With a gasp, I watched as every terrible thing that happened back then played in my mind, making wonder deep down how I had my memories locked away in the first place. Towards the end of the replay, I saw something that connected the blank spots and I soon understood everything that I had once questioned. I felt tears dripping down my cheeks and I absentmindedly brushed them aside when I saw that my hands were covered in blood again. Double blinking, the image was gone again and my hands were just as pale as before. I leaned my head back against the wall with a sigh as I closed my eyes. I didn't hear the footsteps approaching the panic room until the door was slowly opened, forcing me to close my eyes from the brightness outside. After a minute, I opened my eyes to slits to see Gareki staring down at me.

"You're crying," he said emotionlessly. "I don't understand why."

"You don't _need_ to understand," I told him with a sniff, wiping my eyes the best I could even though the tears refused to stop flowing. I idly noticed that the Dragon side of me was eerily silent but I filed that away for now as I forced my body to stand. "It's not something that needs to be discussed."

I tried to sneak past him so I could go hide somewhere else but Gareki blocked my path, seeming as if he was quite calm but I could see the anger in his eyes. "I can see that you are drowning in this," he said. "I refuse to leave this ship knowing that you're only going to close yourself off to the world. It will only get worse if you don't talk about it. Trust me, I know. That's why I finally opened up to you about my past."

"Wait a minute," I said, narrowing my eyes as I concentrated on thinking back about his words. "You're leaving Airship Two?"

"Yeah, I leave tomorrow morning," he said as he waved off my question. "That's not important right now. What _is_ important is you telling me what you now remember. I can just tell by how pale you are and by how lifeless your eyes look that your hidden memories are back."

"I can't," I said hoarsely, looking down at my feet. "I just… I just can't."

"I know what's going on here," he said gently, comprehending some hint that I didn't realize I had given him. He placed his index finger under my chin and lifted my face up so I was forced to look him in the eyes. I didn't notice it but my body had begun to shake almost indiscernibly as my eyes met his. There was a warm light to his eyes as it seemed like he was staring down to my soul. "You're scared. You think that if you tell someone what happened to you all those years ago that they will eventually betray your trust. Well, I can swear to you on my life that I will protect that trust with everything I've got. Just like how I let you in, it's finally time that you let someone in also. So please, Cleo, trust me."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I snapped my jaw shut just as fast. I was rendered speechless from his words and the tears began to overflow again as I let out a sob before I could stop it. Gareki pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me, stroking my back comfortingly as I cried on his shoulder. The shaking increased as my sobs wracked my body, only making Gareki hold me tighter as he leaned his chin on the top of my head. A part of me noted that he probably would have grumbled something under his breath sarcastically if I was anyone else, but I let that thought go away as I forced myself to slowly calm down. When I was just hiccupping lightly after the tears stopped, he continued to keep me in his embrace until I was completely calm.

"I'll tell you," I whispered before looking up at him, feeling emotionally exhausted. "I'll tell you everything about my past."


	13. Shadowed Past

**Hello, dear readers! I am back with yet another chapter. I apologize for it having taken so long but I had a few tests that needed to be studied for. Not only that, but I alternate between a few stories that I write along with this one. I've got one from Bleach and two from Fairy Tail, although one of those is finally complete. Now, this one is all about Cleo's past and what happened back then. I think you'll all be surprised. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Shadowed Past**

_Where… where am I?_

The thoughts appeared in my head as I opened my eyes to slits. At first, nothing came into focus and it took a few minutes before I could see a murky orange liquid. Quickly, I discovered that I was submerged in that liquid and I could somehow breathe in it. I didn't think much of it as I forced my arms to stretch out until they touched some… solid thing. It felt cool to the touch and I smacked it hard with the palm of my hand to see what it was. I couldn't force it to move and that only served to make me feel something I didn't understand. The… thing… in my body beat faster and faster as I began to see red, baring my teeth at the solid object keeping me in the liquid. My sense of hearing slowly came to me and I could hear bubbling from somewhere in the liquid. I looked down at my body and saw that a strange covering was around my body, specifically covering my chest and waist. How I knew just this much was a mystery to me that I didn't like.

I could see dark shapes almost outside of my field of vision and I opened my eyes completely to distinguish that there were figures approaching me. I could see that there were others that looked like me getting closer and they came near enough so that I was forced to move my body backwards, showing them my fangs and making them step backwards. I could hear their words even though I couldn't understand them and sense as adrenaline shot through them to classify them to me as "prey." After a while, they moved away after pressing something outside the liquid and disappeared from view. I could feel myself becoming sleepy and so I allowed my body to drift off to unconsciousness.

* * *

I could now distinguish between the others in the place called a "lab." I was able to pick up a few words of their language whenever I was conscious and was quickly learning more and more without their knowledge. Being a predator caged away by her prey, I had to observe and learn how to strike against those keeping me here. These "humans" were rather weak, especially since I saw one dripping red after accidentally cutting themselves on a sharp piece of glass. The leader was someone called a "Karoku" while the other two were called his "grandparents."

Whenever the leader would come over to what they called my "tank," I would glare at him the entire time to prove my dominance over him, even in my weakened position at being locked away. He never seemed secrete the usual hormones associated with fear, just watched me with those blue eyes of his. I was knowing more and more instinctively, like colors or emotions and I had a feeling that it was because of the liquid I was submerged in. They must have been pouring something into it whenever I was resting. To startle him, I banged my fists on the surface as hard as I could and he walked away calmly without a second look. The other two scientists hit another button before I felt myself pass out again.

* * *

What the humans referred to as a month had passed and I could now secretly understand every word they said, making certain not to act out of the ordinary in case they suspected. The scientists, as I had learned that they called themselves, had left the room earlier and left me awake. I thought perhaps that they had made a mistake when a man I didn't recognize walked into the room. Just by watching the way he walked, I could tell that he was a predator similar to me but of the human variety. He looked almost exactly like Karoku but there were subtle differences between them that a lesser individual would miss. This person's hair was half a shade darker and so were his eyes. He also moved lithely like a predator while real Karoku had a slight bounce to his step. There was a blue diamond shaped ring on his middle finger that stood out in comparison to the other rings on his hand.

He gave me a smile that was more a baring of teeth like an animal and I did the same, glaring angrily at him to get him to leave only to have him laugh. "I finally get to see you," the man said. "I can tell from your eyes that you are more intelligent than you let the others know. I want you to nod if you understand what I'm saying." Even though I wanted the man to go away, to leave me in peace so I could go back to plotting my escape, I slowly nodded my head and watched as his smile became wilder. "That's what I thought. The others said that you weren't showing any signs of wanting to communicate so they assumed that you couldn't comprehend what they were saying. All the while, you were learning our language and watching them. You are the ultimate predator."

_Let me out of this tank and I'll show you just how much of a predator I am,_ I growled in my mind, glaring even more until my eyes were slits. I smashed a fist into the glass and he didn't once flinch.

"If I was a lesser human, I might have been frightened by that display of aggression," he told me. "The scientists working under Karoku say that you should be terminated for your open hostility to others. I convinced them to keep you alive until you are allowed out of the tank. Of course, I had to pay them a lucrative amount of money to do so. You should be grateful to me."

I smacked the glass again, even harder this time, and growled in my mind. The liquid sloshed back and forth in the tank and I thought I might be able to see the tiniest of cracks forming on the surface. _If I break free of here, I will tear your throat out with my teeth. You won't be so smug with your blood flowing to the ground._

"I can tell that you are attempting to kill me with your eyes," he said simply. "I think it's about time for me to leave." He turned around and began walking towards the door when he paused, stopping just inside the room before he spoke again. "They haven't named you yet, have they? When they told me about you, I began to think of one just for your unique case. I researched names and came up with the perfect one. Your name will be Cleiona, based off of the great goddess in a foreign land who had an affinity for fire. It fits since you are in fact a Dragon, not a human. I have already bribed the scientists to write it down on the charts until Karoku accepts it." He then walked out of the room and left me alone with the sounds of bubbles rising up from the bottom of the tank.

_Cleiona,_ I thought as a demented grin formed on my face. _The great goddess of fire… If I'm a Dragon, which would explain why I feel superior to these lowly humans, then I need a name befitting someone of my caliber. I will accept that name and use it to put fear in these humans' hearts that keep me trapped._

* * *

"What do you mean that you named her?" Karoku asked his grandparents, who were beaming at him excitedly.

"The other scientists here have been thinking that she needed a name and perhaps then her hostility will decrease," one of them said.

_Like that will ever happen, _I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I eavesdropped.

"We aren't going to keep her, so she doesn't need a name," Karoku said sternly. "I'm going to focus more on my second experiment. I want this project scrapped by the end of the week."

_Scrapped…? No, you can't do that, human._

"But Karoku," the older man said gently. "I feel like we can still make some progress with her. We just need to find a way to make her less aggressive. Once we can accomplish that, we can make great strides on the Dragon Project. Don't give up so soon and focus all your attention on the Niji Project just yet."

"She has shown no improvement in understanding our language," Karoku explained. "She acts more animal and shows no signs of rationality. I'm not going to keep such a dangerous creature in this lab." He began to walk out of the room and I knew I was watching my last chance to live walk out with him.

_No! You will not kill me like some dog! I will kill you first!_

With every last ounce of strength I possessed, I slammed my fist into the spot on the glass where the tiny crack was located and the glass shattered. Glass began to fall and I was pulled out of the tank with the rushing liquid, landing on my hands and knees and discovering that I could no longer breathe. I felt my lungs force the liquid from my lungs and I felt my stomach heave as I vomited that orange liquid onto the tiled floor. Once all of it was out of my system and I coughed, I took a deep breath of whatever it was outside of the tank. My body shivered as I noticed a big drop in temperature and I looked up to glare at Karoku as I gritted my teeth to stop the chattering.

"You were angry," he said softly. "That can only mean that you really can understand us. I bet you've been able to comprehend every word we've been saying almost since the beginning, haven't you."

I figured I might as well force my body to speak as well, especially if it would save my own life in the process. "Of course… I have…" I rasped, my voice tiny and hoarse since I had never before used it.

"Karoku, she's bleeding," the older woman said with a concerned voice. "The glass must have cut her when she broke through the tank."

I could feel something dripping down my arm and saw that she was correct. On my bicep was a jagged gash with a piece of glass sticking out and I could suddenly feel what the humans called pain coming from it. I let out a hiss and reached over to gently pull the glass shard from my arm. Once it was out, the blood began to flow a little faster. The older humans walked closer and I hopped away from them with a growl, deterring them from getting even closer.

"Remember what I told you," Karoku said as he grabbed mask to pull over his face, handing one to each of them as well. "She's more animal than human, even if she has the appearance of one. An injured animal is a dangerous one, especially when cornered. It doesn't matter if she has finally spoken with us."

He hit a red button on the wall and a pink gas filtered in through a few vents. All of a sudden, I began to feel my thoughts turn sluggish and my body felt heavy as I collapsed on my side. _Stupid humans. Just because you have drugged me somehow does not mean that I won't kill you before you can kill me._ My thoughts were livid and full of hate as I felt my eyes close.

"We can't scrap the project, Karoku," the voice of the old man said. "Who knows what else she has been hiding from us? My scientific mind tells me that we need to keep her alive to find out more."

Just before I fell unconscious, I heard Karoku say, "Fine, we'll keep the Dragon Project going. If she stops being useful, we'll hand her over to my brother for extermination. He seems to revel in that sort of thing."

* * *

Months later after breaking free of the tank, I was still locked away but now in a cage like room that some of the snide scientists referred to as a jail cell. I wanted nothing more than to kill them all, but so far I was never given the chance. I instead did what I could to prove my worth until I found the chance I needed to break out. I would answer their questions and allow them to run their tests when needed.

They now provided me with real clothes, which I hated for the first week because I was hypersensitive to everything. Now I wore the white long sleeved shirt and white pants they provided for me. At one point, they led me in front of something called a mirror and I could see my reflection for the first time. I could see a skinny figure before me that had long white messy hair that went all the way down to my waist. The hair around my face framed it and some of the longer pieces draped down onto my chest. I could see streaks of blue mixed intermittently throughout my white hair and there were two tufts of blue that stuck up on the top of my head like horns, curling upwards just enough that it would cause damage if it was real. The last thing that caught my attention was my eyes. They were the color of mercury and they shifted like the liquid metal I had heard about. The scientists informed me that it was the one flaw about me since I was supposed to have crimson eyes. If they hadn't moved away quickly, I would have clawed them for their comments.

I was beginning to get frustrated with all of the tests and wanted nothing more to do with them. I was always in a bad mood whenever the younger scientists approached me, especially with their malicious remarks that only served to irritate me more. I didn't think Karoku knew about what they were doing and I wasn't sure that he actually cared since he was always busy on his other project. Finally, he had been told enough of my antics and came to pay me a visit.

"I've heard that you are back to your normal aggressive ways," he said sternly as he approached the bars.

"Whatever I say to you obviously won't matter," I said with disinterest. "All of you have a bias against me. You can go now."

"Don't you dare dismiss me in my own lab," he told me and I could see that I had finally made him angry. "What do you mean that everyone has a bias?"

I stood up and approached the bars slowly, walking as soundlessly as a predator stalking its prey. "You want nothing to do with me, which is exactly why I never see hide nor tail of you until you are told false information about me from the other scientists," I explained. "I have not once said anything to them that wasn't warranted, whether they were asking questions that had to do with their research or their spiteful words to me. I can promise you right now that if they do it again, I will kill them and then escape from here, taking out as many people that stand in my way as I can."

"I'm done with this," he said seriously. "I should have listened to my gut and have you exterminated that day. You're more trouble than you're worth."

"That's right, go ahead and order it," I growled, losing my calm façade. "You're the worst one of them all. You never once gave me a chance and you hated me right from the beginning. Here I thought that scientists were supposed to see things without prejudice and yet you refuse to."

He looked a little shaken by my words and quickly walked away from my cell. I snarled at everyone who came around and slashed my claws at anyone who got to close. It became worse when I saw the man sent to bring me to Karoku's brother. He was the main person who taunted me mercilessly and I decided right then and there that this was my chance. I waited patiently as he opened up the cell, giving me a sarcastic smile as he did so.

"Time to go, girl. Your day to die has finally come."

"No it hasn't," I told him with an evil grin. I rushed at him faster than he could see, sinking my fangs into his throat and blood sprayed all over. He gazed up at me with shocked eyes as I stood up and walked out of the cell. "And my name is Cleiona. Take that to your grave."

I noticed the blood spotting my shirt and shrugged as I walked soundlessly through the halls. I could hear an alarm blaring and hissed a little before running along instead. I avoided the scientists searching throughout the large lab for me and kept running until I made it to a room that was almost barren of everything. I had a feeling that the door to exit was on the other side of the room when I heard a small noise from behind a couch. I rushed over to it and stood on the cushions so I could look over it, jumping back when I saw a small boy there.

As he came out from hiding behind it, he hesitantly walked closer and I got a better look at him. He was a bit smaller than me and seemed soft in comparison. If I had to label him as predator or prey, I would have to go with the latter as he stared up at me with such innocence. He had white messy hair that was rather short and two lavender tufts of hair sticking out like ears behind his own. He also had crimson eyes that burned with curiosity as he walked closer to me.

"I've never seen you around before," the boy said to me. "Are you a scientist, too?" He gave me a bright smile that unnerved me a little and then looked down at my bloodstained clothing. "Oh, no, are you hurt? You're covered in red!"

"I'm fine," I told him flatly, my gaze never once leaving him as I tried to decide what to do with him. "And to answer your question, I am not a scientist."

"If you aren't a scientist, then are you… my sister?" he asked hopefully, his eyes shining and making him beam at me. "I bet you are! You almost look just like me! From now on, I'm going to call you my sister and not even Karoku can stop me!"

He ran over to me and I froze, feeling shocked as he quickly wrapped his arms around me tightly. He made noises of happiness as he did so and I felt… warm all of a sudden. I couldn't figure out what was going on with me. My prey had gotten too close and was embracing me, which I should have decided was bad. However, he looked back up at me and I could see fondness for me there already.

"My name is Nai!" he told me. "What's your name?"

"Cleiona," I said roughly, feeling extremely confused.

"That's pretty," he said. "I'm going to call you Cleo for short. I think that suits you better." I stared at him vacantly, completely blindsided by this kid and his ability to completely overlook the fact that I was a superior entity in comparison to him. Didn't he know that I was a predator that could kill him in the span of a second? He laughed a little before saying, "Wow, you were cold when you first came in, but now I can feel that you're getting warmer. This doesn't just happen so suddenly, so you must have been warm before and became cold."

"That's ridiculous," I growled, glaring at him and moving away before he could touch me again. "I am a predator and you are my prey. You should not be cozying up to someone who will inevitably kill you."

"You won't kill me," he stated with certainty evident in his words. "If you had wanted to do that, you would have done it by now. You must be a kind person in disguise. You just want to sound scary to keep people at a distance."

"Kid, if you had been through the same thing as me, you would be just like me," I told him.

"Nai," he corrected, "and technically I _have_ been through the same thing as you. I'm the creation from the Niji Project."

I stiffened at his words and narrowed my eyes at him as it finally sank in. This was the creation that Karoku was so focused on. I had heard him call the creation his "special child" before and it only made me angry. I could hurt Karoku in more ways than one if I just killed the boy in front of me. I could bring his dead body straight to Karoku and laugh in his face as I showed him what I had done. I took a step closer and now I could see Nai looking at me worriedly, not because I was acting menacing towards him but because he was concerned for me.

"Cleo? Are you all right?" he asked me.

I could snap his scrawny neck or something gruesome to devastate Karoku. I took another stride until I was standing right before the boy, about to take that next step to kill him when I discovered something that confused me. I found that no matter what I told myself, I just couldn't kill him. He was turning into a light at the end of the dark tunnel that was my life. I felt a warmth in my heart spread through me all of a sudden and I soon realized that I was now hugging him to me tightly without remembering how it had happened. The tighter I hugged him, the warmer I became until something strange began leaking from my eyes.

Nai felt it drip down onto him and he reached up to wipe them away from my cheeks. "They're tears," he explained to me quietly. "But why are you crying? There's no reason to be sad."

"I'm not sad," I told him. "I think that for the first time in my life, I might be… happy. Happy because I met you."

He gave me that brilliant smile again before saying, "I'm happy that I met you, too!" He looked up into my eyes and gasped, seeming surprised by something that mystified me. "Your eyes are turning red just like mine. It's like the red is spreading through the silver."

"Nai, what are you doing out here?" the voice of Karoku asked and we both turned to see him with a bunch of guards with guns pointed at us. I pushed Nai behind me and growled threateningly, quite intent on protecting him to the best of my abilities. "How did you get out of your room?"

"Someone opened it a few minutes after you left, but when I went outside to thank them they were gone," he explained. "I wandered around until I came out here and met Cleo."

"Cleo?" one of Karoku's grandparents' asked the other in confusion.

"He shortened down my name to Cleo," I said with a sigh.

"That's wonderful," Karoku said sarcastically to me before looking at Nai. "Come over here, Nai. It's not safe for you to be there."

"But why not?" Nai asked.

"Because Cleiona is dangerous," Karoku told him. "She killed a scientist and escaped from her cell. She might kill you if you don't listen to me."

As I rolled my eyes at Karoku's words, Nai yelled, "No, she isn't! She never once tried to hurt me! Besides, I can feel that her soul is warm. That's why her eyes changed color."

"I swear on my life that I will not let harm come to him," I growled at the blue haired man in front of us. "All of you can back off if you dare point a gun at us."

"The guns are only pointed at you, Cleiona," he told me. "It is time for you to be decommissioned after the stunt you pulled tonight. I won't allow for a something so malevolent to live while under this roof."

I felt rage rise up from the depths of my soul and I turned my head to look at Nai out of the corner of my eyes. "Take a few steps back, little Nai," I told him calmly. "I don't want to accidentally injure you." He nodded and did as I asked just before I felt the rage burst free like that of a volcano. Crimson fire blasted from my skin until I was surrounded by his, growling at the guards who were threatening me. I threw tendrils of it at them that hit the barrels of their guns, heating them up to the point where they were forced to drop them to the floor. They looked a bit worried but it was Karoku that never once flinched as the fire went past him.

"I was lying when I said that you killed that scientist," he told me loud enough to be heard over the fire. "I had been told exactly what he had been doing to you. He has been let go, along with the others that were his accomplices. I discovered that they were being paid by an evil man to torment you to the point where you would kill at a moment's notice. Just now, you exhibited behavior that suggests that you do have a conscience and are not just some animal. You are actually protecting someone and have shown restraint when threatened. I am proud of you."

"I don't understand," I said as I began to calm down, the fire slowly decreasing with my emotions. "You acted like you hated me. I don't get you humans."

"I have been watching you in secret," he told me. "I knew that if I extended you any kindness that you would take it as a sign of weakness. I had to watch over you from a camera and monitor your progress. I never intended on having you or your project scrapped. I knew that in adverse situations, you showed the most advancement."

"So you thought it was ok to put me through hell?" I asked sarcastically.

"I didn't mean for it to go that far, I swear to you. Those scientists that tormented you were not part of the plan. However, I can't just let your actions go unpunished. You were a rather unpleasant individual for so long. I think I'll give you a week in the cell before moving you to a new room and showing you some of the things you've missed out on. Just as long as you're agreeable, of course."

Even though I didn't like the idea of being locked up, I could handle a week of it. I was led back to the cell with by Karoku and the guards, Nai following along behind us and giving me a quick hug before I was locked inside. I motioned for him to go with Karoku and he did as I asked. That week passed by rather quickly, especially since Nai came to visit me whenever he could. He would bring me books for me to read to him, saying that his favorite one was about a lion and a mouse. He told me that it reminded him of the two of us, me being the lion while he was the mouse. It was about a mouse helping to pull out a thorn from the lion's paw in exchange for his life. The mouse then told the lion that he would help the big cat should he ever need saving. When the lion got caught in a hunter's trap, the mouse came to save the day and they became best friends. Even though he brought me story after story for me to read, I didn't once mind since it passed the time.

When the week was finally over, Karoku showed up with Nai and said that he had a surprise for me. When I gave him a skeptical look, he explained that it would be the best one I had ever received. We went down a few familiar hallways until we reached the same room that I had met Nai a week ago. We went past that to the door I had wanted to escape from and Karoku opened the door. Instantly, a bright light flooded the room and I hissed in pain as it blinded me, hiding behind the wall of the room so that the light coming the hallway couldn't hit me.

"Cleo, what are you doing?" Karoku asked me with a laugh, still out in the hallway. I didn't remember when he had begun to call me by Nai's nickname, but I liked the nickname well enough so I didn't mind. "I know you've never seen the light of day before, but I promise that you'll get used to it. It didn't take Nai long the first time I took him outside."

"Outside?" I asked hesitantly before bolting after them and out of the door before I could be stopped.

I was blinded for a few seconds and had to cover my eyes as Nai and Karoku finally walked out. When I observed the environment I was in, I was quite surprised. The colors here were so vibrant and the grass felt cool and fluffy on my feet so I couldn't help scrunching my toes. On a whim, I ran forward in a big circle before jumping into the air, twisting around, and landing on my back in the grass. I giggled lightly as I sprawled out, rolling on my back like a cat would.

"I think she's finally lost it," Karoku whispered to Nai. "Not even you were so crazy the first time I introduced you to the outside world."

Before Nai could say a word, I shouted, "Hey, I can hear you, you know!" I lay back and looked up at the sky, only to see strange rainbow colored ribbons of light moving through it as if they were alive. "Karoku, what's with the light show?"

"The magnetic forces give off energy waves," Karoku tried to explain simply for me to understand. "They block off radio transmissions so that we can't call for help should we find ourselves in an emergency. However, we did discover recently that the animals in this forest use those waves to communicate with each other from opposite sides of the island. It's rather impressive from a scientist's point of view. We aren't done showing you some things though. We've got a bit of a walk to go."

"You'll like what's next, Cleo!" Nai yelled as he ran to me, grabbing me by the arm and trying to pull me to my feet. I chuckled a little and did most of it myself as he said, "You'll love what's at the end!"

I shrugged my shoulders but followed after them as Nai pulled me along by the hand. We walked through a dense forest and I looked at all of the animals that lived there. They all quickly ran when they caught sight of me and I growled a little in frustration. I knew that I was a predator and all, but a part of me wanted to be able to walk up to one of them since this place was new to me. Before long, we began to walk uphill and completely out of the forest until we reached its peak. I gasped when I saw what lay below and grinned before running down there to it.

As far as the eye could see was a dark blue ocean and white sand on the beach that was warm on my feet as I ran towards the water. Once there, I hesitantly dipped a toe in the water that lapped at the beach and gasped at how warm it was. I jumped in the small waves and giggled again as I began to run back and forth, chasing the waves and then turning back when they began to come after me. Karoku yelled that it was the tide and the motion of the water that caused it to crash against the shoreline like that. I didn't really care about the mechanics of it right that second and just ran about in the waves as Nai ran over to do the same. I looked back at Karoku with a big grin on my face and saw him holding something in his hands.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"It's called a camera," he explained. "I figured that it would be a good idea to take a picture of this memory now while it lasts."

"What's a picture?" Nai asked him while at the same time I said, "It's not happening."

"Cleo, don't be so stubborn," he said sternly before answering Nai's question. "A picture is an image in tangible form. So if I take a picture of us, I'll be able to look back at this day as long as the picture lasts."

"Let's take one!" Nai exclaimed happily as he dragged me along.

Karoku walked over and I stood between him and Nai, my arms wrapped around their shoulders as they put an arm around my waist. Karoku held the camera out as far as his arms would allow and told me to actually smile, so I did without once having to fake it. He snapped the picture and then allowed us to run free on the beach for about an hour before he told us it was time to go back to the lab.

After that day, I began to have run ins with the monsters and soon after that, I left to draw them off Nai's scent. The one thing I remembered was that Karoku had managed to sneak a copy of that picture in with a bag of my possessions.

* * *

"So there you have it," I said softly, looking at my feet instead of up at Gareki. "That's all of my past, down to the last dirty detail. I'm a monster. Hell, I considered killing Nai just to hurt Karoku back in the day."

"You didn't kill him though," Gareki said as he placed a hand on my head. "Honestly, I don't think that animalistic side of you would have been able to even if you had tried. Nai just has this aura about him that keeps him safe, even from the hardest of people. I do have one question for you."

"Go for it," I told him with a sigh, finally looking up at him.

"If Karoku's older brother is the one to have created you, why did he want to die like me back when we were at the Smoky Mansion?"

"That's easy," I said. "The creation should never attack the creator, whether it's done directly or indirectly. I was becoming a major problem to him and Kafka, so he finally had to decide whether keeping his little destroyer was worth the risk. He made the choice to wait until Nai brought the both of us to him and then attempted to kill two birds with one stone."

"I bet there's something else that you don't want to tell me about," he said.

"That's because it's vile and I would rather pretend that it never happened instead of telling you all about it," I sighed.

"I won't judge you," he told me as his hand on my head slipped down to cup my cheek. "I mean, you didn't once judge me for my past. If it's a part of yours, then I won't look down on you either."

I hesitated but finally nodded after a few seconds. "Well, sometime after my first day outside and before the Varugas came for me… Karoku's older brother appeared. I didn't know what he wanted since I wasn't going to be decommissioned anymore but I soon figured it out when he locked himself in the room with me. He said that I was his and that he was going to have me one way or another, whether it was because he paid scientists to sabotage me or right then. I knew that I wasn't going to be escaping any time soon so I had to fight back. That was when I couldn't control my fire at all and so I had no way of calling it back for me to use. I was just going to have to fight like a cornered animal and those are the most dangerous, so I moved backwards to the back of the room and waited for him to get closer.

"When he ran for me, I quickly dodged him and ran for the door as fast as I could, only to have him grab me by wrapping an arm around my waist and hoisting me into the air. I snarled and dug my claws deeply into his arm before he threw me to the ground. It knocked my breath from my lungs and most people would have waited until they could breathe again but I still tried to escape. He managed to pin me down for only a second before I clawed his chest, forcing him to leap back and that gave me the chance to get away. I ran out the door and hid for days throughout the lab. It took everyone a week before they finally let Nai track me down, which only took him half an hour. I never told anyone what happened that day, especially now that I understand what that man's intentions were."

"But you fought to the bitter end," he told me before hugging me. I still definitely was not used to this affectionate side of him that he only showed to me. "You didn't let him get away with it and that's all that matters."

I let out a tiny sigh before pulling away. "I'm exhausted from all of this. Thank you for hearing my story, but I need to go to bed and get some sleep."

He nodded and we walked together until we reached my room. I told him that he could spend the rest of his time on Airship Two doing whatever he wanted and he informed me that this was what he wanted, following me into the room as I headed to the bed. I curled up under the blankets with him lying next to me, keeping an arm around me as I fell into a restful sleep.


	14. Kuronomei Academy

**Hey, readers! Hope you all are having a good day! I come bearing gifts in the form of another chapter. I know that it took a while to get one in order and I apologize, but later is better than never. This chapter will be rather interesting because it will be a little sad. We say goodbye to one of our favorite characters for now but don't despair for he'll keep popping up from time to time. In exchange, we get a different character in his stead until the other returns for good. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Kuronomei Academy**

When I woke up, it was still dark outside and so I decided that I would wander about the ship. I walked around as my mind seemed to quiver after all that I had told Gareki. I couldn't believe that I had finally revealed my past to someone while it wasn't against my will. I barely even noticed where I was going until I bumped into something. I nearly fell backwards and looked up to see Hirato looking down at me.

"Captain," I said breathlessly. "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Not a problem, Cleiona," he said with a small smile. "Just be careful next time or you might hurt yourself."

He turned around and was about to walk away when I called out to him. "Wait a minute, Captain," I said. "Is it true that Gareki is leaving the ship?"

"That is correct," he said with a nod.

"Are you sending him away? Is that why he's leaving?"

"You mean he hasn't told you?" Hirato asked. "I figured that you would be the first person he told about this. Gareki has asked to be a child of Airship Two, however I can't allow for this to happen unless he is trained properly. As of tomorrow, Gareki will be joining Kuronomei Academy so that he can become a member of Circus."

"Seriously? He said that he was leaving but I never imagined that this was where he was going," I said, more to myself than to Hirato.

"Would you like to go with him and be the pilot that will fly the plane there?" Hirato asked. "You can even give him a tour of the place since you are our most recent recruit."

With that, he walked away without a second look and not even giving me any time to answer him. I shrugged before going back to walk around the ship until I found the room that held the huge geode that I dragged out from the pool of water near my recent home. I decided on a whim to crack it open in two neat halves and gasped in delight when I saw the colors inside. They were silver gems with sapphire colors mixed about like tiger stripes. The whole thing was gorgeous and I decided to carve out a piece as a parting gift for Gareki. I made it egg sized so that it fit on the palm of my hand before breathing white fire on it until it sparkled brilliantly. By the time I was done, dawn had broken over the land and ran about towards the side of the ship where I could see the plane waiting. I quickly ran back to my room to change into white strapless tank top that zipped up from my ribs to the top of my chest and revealed my stomach while the rest of the material stretched down to my hips, black shorts, and black boots. The others were already outside and I made it just in time to see them giving Gareki his gifts. One was a Nyanperowna stuffed animal and another was a Niji that must have been made by Nai and Tsukumo since it looked a little strange.

"We're going to miss you, Gareki," Tsukumo said with a small smile.

"I can't believe that you're going to be leaving us!" Yogi cried and I just knew that he was bawling his eyes out again.

"Why can't you just stay?" Nai asked earnestly.

"Didn't Four Eyes tell you?" Gareki asked incredulously.

"He's going to attend Kuronomei Academy and become one of us," I said as I walked over to them. "But he's not allowed to leave just yet until I have a chance to give him my farewell presents." I bounded the last few steps to him as he looked me over, trying to make sure not to be obvious so that the others wouldn't notice. I handed him the piece of the geode that I made just for him. "It's just like the colors that my scales would be if I was a real Dragon. You can use it like a worry stone when your classes get a bit on the stressful side."

He looked down at it with a slight smile on his face before his expressions turned confused. "Wait, you said farewell presents," he told me. "That means more than one. Where's the other?"

"Right here," I told him with a grin as I grabbed him by the front of his blue hoodie, pulling him closer so that I could press my lips to his. He straightened a little in surprise before kissing me back. We stayed like that for a few seconds before I pulled away, watching as he seemed to want to speak up about it. "It means exactly what you think it does. I wouldn't have done that unless I meant it for sure."

"Cleo…" he whispered before I turned around to face the others. They all looked shocked beyond belief before I gave them a smile.

"The Captain told me that I am to be his pilot for the trip to Kuronomei," I explained. "I'll be back before sunset."

I grabbed Gareki by the wrist and walked with him to the plane. I bounded up the stairs easily before sitting down in the pilot's seat, starting up the plane while Gareki sat down. I flipped a switch to pull the door back into place on the plane before allowing it to fly into the air. I settled it in towards a course to the east and we flew along to Kuronomei. Gareki was looking out the window and I could see a slight grin on his face, all of his presents settled on his lap. It was about half an hour into the flight, which I was taking quite seriously and making sure to keep it safe, when Gareki spoke up.

"You really meant it when you kissed me?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

"If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have done so in front of our friends," I told him with a tiny laugh. "However, it's best that we don't do that in front of anyone at the academy. I don't want them bugging Hirato about it if they see us. It might cause him a lot of trouble."

"I understand," he said simply and we fell back into silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "What's Kuronomei Academy like?"

"It has its moments of levity and its moments of austerity," I explained. "You make a lot of good friends there that you can rely on, but sometimes you just have to do things alone in order to accomplish your goals. During your stay there, you'll be taught the basics until you can figure out which branch of learning you want to specialize in. After that, it will be a combination of the basics and that specialization."

"What are they?" he asked me.

"You've got the Circus Course, Management Information Course, Technology Creation Course, and last but not least the Life Medicine Course. If you have to ask me which one I picked, I might have to put this plane into autopilot so that I can go back there and punch you."

He let out a laugh that didn't sound as nervous as I'd expect from someone about to take a rather huge step in the next part of their lives. I put it in autopilot anyway and allowed my chair to swivel around so that I was facing Gareki. "I wasn't going to ask," he told me. "I know that you joined the Circus Program."

"And I know that you fully intend on joining it as well," I said with a smile before I turned serious. "Just know one thing, Gareki. You only get one shot at being in the program. If you leave for any reason except for being severely injured or sick, you cannot join it again. It's their most special program for a reason. Not even Hirato or me could get you back in."

"If I have to leave, then it will be my choice and no one else's," he told me. "I don't need your charity to get by. I've been able to do things on my own for a while now and I can still do it again."

"Just promise to make a friend or two while you're there," I said with a sigh, turning my chair back when I heard a beeping noise that alerted me to the fact that we were fast approaching Kuronomei. "It's always better to have someone to be able to talk to when your family isn't with you."

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, his voice sounding a bit hoarse as I began to land the plane.

"You and I both know that the people on Airship Two are like your family, no matter how much you try to deny it," I said kindly as I put the plane down on the ground in the specified area. I flipped a switch to allow the door to fall and form the stairs. I stood up and looked at him with a caring smile. "Just know that we'll be here waiting for when you come back. You've got our complete support. Not only that, but I'll stop by from time to time to check up on you."

He got up and hugged me tightly before he walked down the stairs, me flying slowly after him to be greeted by two adults waiting for us. One was an older gentleman that had to be the principal of the academy and the other was an incredibly familiar man. When he saw me and recognized me to be one from Airship Two, he pressed a finger to his lips to tell me to stay quiet. I gave him a mocking salute as I smirked but didn't say a word to Gareki.

"Welcome to Kuronomei Academy, Gareki," the principal said. "I see that you were escorted here by a familiar face. I should welcome you back, Cleiona."

"There's no need for the formalities," I told him. "Just like all those years ago, please call me Cleo."

The principal nodded and said, "We would give you the tour, but I think Cleiona will suffice as your tour guide. Take him to Room 12 in the boy's dormitories when you are done with showing him around."

They walked off and disappeared without a trace, just like they normally did when I had been in this place. "They didn't even introduce themselves," Gareki said flatly.

"The one who spoke was the principal and the other was a teacher here. He works in the Technology Creation Course on the side while he works in the National Defense Compilation Tower. He's a top rank member, so he has time to come here and teach on his free time."

"So what's his name? He looked really familiar, but I couldn't place how," Gareki said as I began to lead him along, flying beside him a few feet off the ground and keeping pace with him. I breathed a sigh of relief that he couldn't tell who he was related to.

"His name is Tokitatsu," I said with a sigh of exasperation. "Watch out for him. He's a bit on the rowdy side and extremely flamboyant. He likes giving people a good scare whenever they come to his office." What I didn't tell him because Tokitatsu had signaled for me not to reveal it was that Tokitatsu was Hirato's older brother. That definitely would have caused a stir with Gareki and I never would have heard the end of it.

"Has he scared you before?" Gareki asked me with a small smile.

"Absolutely not," I said with a snort. "If anything, I'm the first person to scare _him_. I was a bit too predatory and would 'sneak about' as he liked to put it. I apparently never made a sound when I walked, so I was all the time scaring him even if I didn't try."

I flew around and led him to a bunch of different buildings around the academy, some belonging to the different specialized programs and one to the basic program. I even showed him a few hiding spots that I used to take up residence whenever I was feeling overwhelmed by being around so many people, one of which being a large tree near the outskirts of the academy. He just shook his head with a smile until I showed him the training grounds, which was nearby the tree. There were different targets and training dummies strewn about, even fighting rings that could be used. I figured that he had everything mapped out in his mind and I was about to lead him to his dormitory when he grabbed my hand.

"Do you think I can do this?" he asked me.

"You sounding this hesitant isn't like you at all," I told him gently. "However, I will answer your question if it will assuage your worries. Yes, I believe that you can do this. You're probably one of the few people who could."

He looked as if he was going to say something else when we heard a voice nearby. "Gareki and Cleo? What are you doing here?" We both looked over to see that Tsubame was gaping at us, making all of us quite surprised.

"Gareki is here to join the Circus program," I explained with a smile. "I'm just here to give him a tour since I'm the most recent agent of Airship Two."

"Tsubame, why are you here?" Gareki asked her.

"I've been here for the same reason as you," she said and I watched as a harsh light began to spark in her eyes. "I want to take down Kafka for what they did to Yotaka."

I felt sobered by her words and the smile fell from my face. "Just don't push yourself too hard, Tsubame. Yotaka wouldn't want you to kill yourself in your endeavor."

"Thank you for the concern, Cleo," she told me with a kind smile. "I know you mean well. I should have thanked you a long time ago for all that you've done for Yotaka and me."

"There's no need for it. I only did what any person would do."

"No, you actually cared," she said firmly before changing the subject with a smile. "I can continue his tour for you so that you can go back to Airship Two if you want."

"I need to show her off to my new roommate," Gareki said with a smirk. "I need the intimidation factor on the table just in case I ever need it."

I looked up at the sky and could see that I needed to make it back soon and shook my head. "I can intimidate him some other day or night. Right now, I need to head back. Besides, you and Tsubame have some catching up to do." Flying closer so that our heads were level, I hugged him tightly to me. "You'll be just fine, Gareki. You've already got one friend and I'm sure that you can make more. Don't worry about it and it will be over with before you know it. I'll be back to check up on you in a few days."

His arms went around me and his head rested against mine. "Take care of yourself, Cleo. Don't do anything crazy while I'm gone and can't watch your back for you."

"You two have gotten much closer," Tsubame said cheekily, giving us an amused smile as we pulled away. "It's good to see Gareki acting like an actual human instead of someone cold."

I laughed and hugged Tsubame quickly before waving goodbye to them, flying off in the direction of the plane. Once I made it there and hopped in the pilot's seat, I forced the plane to take off and pointed it in a westerly direction towards Airship Two. I could feel a piece of me deep down break a little, leaving what felt like a hollow space in me. I felt a little cold, which was a bit surprising considering the fire burning through my veins. I chalked it up to the fact that I was going to miss Gareki since he had always been around after he came on the ship with Nai.

Just like I had promised, I had made it back to the ship before sunset, still feeling a bit unsettled. I was leaning back in the chair when I could hear running feet in the hangar before I saw Nai, Yogi, and Tsukumo jump inside, hitting a button that closed the door to the plane. As they panted in an attempt to catch their breath, I looked back at them and said, "Alright, I'm officially confused. Why'd you all rush in here like your tails are on fire?"

"Cleo, take us to the Research Tower!" Nai pleaded, begging me with his eyes in hopes that I would do as he said. "Hirato told us that Karoku just woke up from his coma! He said we couldn't go see him until you got back!"

"Can't exactly argue with that logic," I said with a grin as I started the plane back up. "Your wish is my command, little Nai!"

I flew the plane at top speed to the north, making sure to keep things safe as I sped along towards the Research Tower. It only took a half an hour to get there with me at the controls and I landed outside the Tower quickly before we all dove out of the plane before the stairs had even dropped, Yogi carrying Nai as we flew to the door of the Tower. We flew inside and startled a few nurses inside as we made our way up the stairs to Karoku's room. Once outside, we allowed for Nai to go in alone and Yogi and Tsukumo pressed their ears to the door while I stood beside them, relying on my excellent hearing instead to give them more room.

"Karoku!" Nai called out and I could hear the smile in his voice. "Karoku, you're okay! We were a bit scared when we found out you were in a coma."

"I'm sorry, but… who exactly are you?" I heard Karoku ask politely. I felt a sharp intake of breath that was involuntary and I knew that the others had done the same.

"Is this guy joking?" Yogi whispered, looking up at me.

_His words don't ring falsely,_ my inner Dragon told me. _Something isn't right here, but he isn't telling lies._

I shook my head at Yogi before I heard Nai ask sadly, "What do you mean? Don't you remember me?"

"Unfortunately, I don't believe we've ever met before," Karoku said simply. "I think I would have recognized you from somewhere if I had. You're not exactly a common sight with your appearance."

"But… you were the one to create me!" Nai told him firmly, his voice taking on a whole new determination. "You created the Niji Project and then named me! You called me Nai! You can't say that you don't remember me and all the good times we've had! You're my friend!"

"Listen here," Karoku said sternly and I could hear that his voice sounded strained, almost as if he was in pain of some sort. "I don't know you. We've never met. Get a grip and leave me in peace."

"I won't until you remember me!" Nai yelled, his voice shaking with the force of his emotions.

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" Karoku shouted and I heard a bang before I leapt into action.

I shoved the door open after pushing past Yogi and Tsukumo, bursting into the room and glaring fiercely at Karoku. I could see fear in his eyes for the first time, but I paid more attention to Nai, who was looking rather shaken as he sat on the floor. Karoku must have pushed him away and Nai fell. "I don't care what we've went through together, but you don't get to treat Nai like that," I growled as his eyes widened in shock. "Touch Nai like that again and I will kill you."

"Cleo, don't!" Nai told me, grabbing me by the wrist before I could move closer to Karoku.

"It's you…" Karoku said under his breath as he moved back to the far wall, fear making him shake uncontrollably. "I recognize you… You're the girl from my nightmares, the one who keeps trying to kill me no matter how hard I try to escape! Stay away from me!"

I looked at him in confusion before turning my gaze to Nai. "Be thankful he doesn't remember you," I said flatly. "I'd take that any day in comparison with this."

Nai gave me a wan smile before looking back at the stressed man over in the corner. "Get her away from me," Karoku said to the two people sticking their heads in the door to watch the scene unfolding. "Don't let her hurt me."

"Please," I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes. "If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already. I don't waste time in doing things when I need to. Just take a deep breath and calm down before I make you."

"Cleo, be nice," Nai whispered to me and I nodded faintly.

"Why am I having nightmares about you?" he asked quietly, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Well, I used to have quite the feral predatory side in the beginning," I explained to him. "Perhaps you were secretly afraid of that side of me after all. I changed, however, thanks to Nai. The only time I go anywhere close to that state again is when I need to protect those that I care about."

Karoku seemed hesitant still, but he nodded before sitting down on the bed. "Whenever I look at the two of you, my head feels as if it is splitting open. Maybe I do know you both, but I've repressed the memories somehow."

It was then that it hit me. "Or the memories were taken from you," I whispered. "Your brother did mention that he was even more like you than you are. Maybe that's how he's doing it."

"What did you just say about my brother?" he asked, his expressions darkening.

"I dearly hope that you aren't getting offended," I told him, glaring angrily.

"I wouldn't get offended by anything you say about him," he growled. It was weird to see him angry like this, especially since he never once would let us see him mad. "I can't remember exactly what he did, but he intentionally ruined an experiment of mine. He then tried to convince me to terminate it so that he could have it to himself. I decided that I wanted to try and keep it going, to give it a chance."

I was going to tell him that the experiment he was referring to was mine when Tsukumo came in and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We shouldn't push him too far," she told me. "He only woke from his coma an hour ago. Let the doctors come in and examine him some more. Then we can take him to Airship Two."

I nodded and picked Nai up off the floor, giving him a quick hug when I saw the lost look on his face. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders before leading him out of the room after Yogi and Tsukumo, watching as Dr. Akari walked inside to examine Karoku. I could see that Nai looked close to tears and so I bent down to take me to almost eye level with him. I rubbed his shoulder comfortingly and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Hey, calm down, little Nai," I told him in an attempt to placate him. "Everything will be okay in the end."

"But how do you know?" he whispered shakily.

"Because life always has a way of righting itself," I said. "I mean, I found you in the end. I'd take that as a sign that things turn out better eventually."

He sighed and hugged me tightly, his body still shaking a little but slowly stopping. A half an hour later and we were all situated on the plane, Karoku included. Yogi and Tsukumo were in the pilot's seats and I was sitting in between Nai and Karoku. The blue haired man to my left was clutching something tightly in his hand and I looked over at it curiously. It looked like he was holding it as if it was his last lifeline.

"What do you have there?" I finally asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Apparently it's my wallet," he said tiredly.

"You're holding it awfully tight and yet you refuse to look at it," I said with a smirk.

"That's because there are pictures in there that I can tell are important to me and yet I don't remember taking them," he whispered.

With a shaking hand, he passed it over to me and I felt Nai rest his head on my shoulder so he could see what was there as well. I opened it up and gasped slightly when I saw the pictures. Both were during the time when I was allowed to go outside for the first time in my life. The first picture was just of Nai and me, the sun setting in the background and I was standing in front of Nai with a smile on my face as I stood in the water from the ocean. The other picture was of all of us together, my arms around their shoulders and one of theirs around my waist. I remember that Karoku had to tell me to actually smile but it was unnecessary since I was in an extremely good mood. Nai's smile was bright and happy and even Karoku had a faint smile on his face as he took the picture that day. I slid a finger lightly across the surface of the picture and felt my emotions shiver into a jumbled ball. I looked over at Karoku to see a pained expression on his face and I knew that it was partially because of his headaches.

"It seems familiar to me somehow," he told me softly, "yet I don't remember it. How can that be?"

"I'm sure that your memories will come back to you eventually," I said before closing his wallet and handing it back to him. Once again, he clutched it in his hand tightly like a lifeline. "It may not be right away, but they will return."

It took me a few minutes after our conversation for me to realize completely that we were flying now. I groaned and slumped back against the seat as my stomach protested intensely. "Looks like our Dragon is finally sick," Yogi said with a laugh. "I was wondering when it would happen."

"Nai, would you like to do the honor of keeping the ice pack on her forehead?" Tsukumo asked as she passed one back to him.

"Of course!" Nai said brightly, taking it from her before placing it on my head. "Does that feel any better, Cleo?"

"Much better, thank you," I told him with a sigh.

"Is she always like this?" Karoku asked.

"Only when she isn't the one flying the plane," Yogi explained. "We don't quite know why it happens that way, but we've all learned to work around it."

I kept my eyes closed and concentrated on forcing my stomach to calm down. By the time we made it to the ship, it had settled down enough for me to be able to sit up and push the ice pack from my forehead. We were in the ship itself for a while before Hirato found us in a common room to wait for him. He walked over to Karoku with a smile, Nai hugging me by the arm worriedly the entire time. Hirato looked over at us for a split second before turning his gaze back to Karoku.

"It's nice to finally meet the man who created those two," Hirato said, nodding his head in our direction. "It's definitely been… interesting having them here, especially since our Cleo is a member of Circus."

"Don't sound so upset, Captain," I said flatly. "Last time I checked, I was a delight to be around."

"Whoever said that to you lied," Yogi said under his breath until I threw a fireball at him, forcing him to dodge it before I let the fire fade.

"Let's behave, Cleiona," Hirato told me sternly. "There's no need to be hostile. Now, Karoku, I have been told that you have no recollection of these two."

"It's the truth," he said softly. "Every time I try to remember them somehow, I get a splitting headache. The only reason I know that I do in fact know them is because I have two pictures of them in my wallet, one of just the two of them and one with all three of us."

"I saw those pictures when we found that wallet on you," Hirato said with a kind smile. "It must have been a good day."

"It had been the first day that I was allowed to go outside," I explained. "I had never even seen grass or the sky, so I reacted comically. Then they took me out to the ocean and I chased the waves. That was when he took the first picture after Nai ran over to me. I didn't even know that it existed until today. The second one was because he said that he wanted to capture that moment forever."

"I want to remember them, but I can't and I don't even know why," he told Hirato. "Will you please assist me in getting my memories back?"

"Of course we will," Hirato said. "I'll have the Research Tower look in on some leads. In the meantime, if you need to go anywhere I will assign Cleo as your guard detail."

"I'd prefer if you didn't," Karoku said nervously. "I've had nightmares about her and I don't trust her at all."

"Wow, that didn't hurt at all," I said sarcastically. "Good riddance. This means I can do whatever I want."

Standing up before anyone could stop me, I walked out with my head held high. I made my way to my room and jumped on my bed to land on my back, staring up at the ceiling with disinterest. I still missed Gareki and then realized that I had something to remember him by. I had almost forgotten that I had on a silver necklace with a sapphire pendant. I gripped it tightly in my hand until the edges dug into my skin and let out a sigh. I told myself that I would go check up on him soon enough and planned it to happen next week. After that, I hopped into the shower and later went to sleep under the covers. Nai came in after a few hours and fell asleep next to me, not once stirring throughout the night.


	15. Investigations

**Hey, dear readers! I'm sorry it has taken so long. College has been rather tricky and very time consuming. And to the person who reviewed, I'll try to keep it updated a little more often. Now, I'm sure that you're all waiting to read this, so I'll let you get to it. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Investigations**

Due to the fact that I didn't have two people to watch over anymore, I decided to go out and search for any leads having to do with Karoku's older brother. When I had asked Karoku what his older brother's name was, he said he couldn't remember anything to do with his family. After that, I figured his older brother would be using his little brother's name for everything by now and could track him that way. A week had passed and I hadn't come up with any leads, so I went back to Smoky Mansion to see if I could find any clues in the rubble. Apparently, Kafka had blown up the mansion in an unfounded attempt to keep their secrets hidden. Little did they know that one of Gareki's jobs was to send all the files on their hard drives to our Airship.

I stood among the ruin of the mansion and walked around in search of anything that could have been missed, wearing my Circus uniform in case there were any Varugas hidden around the place that I couldn't see. I slowly flew upwards and looked among the bricks from where I was flying. When half an hour passed and I couldn't find anything, I was about to give up when I happened to see something flash in the light near one of the walls that was somewhat intact. I quickly flew over to it and landed on the ground, bending over to pick it up. It was a ruby adorned ring that began to flash with its own light every few seconds. I walked in different directions until I noticed that the flashing became even more urgent when I headed towards the woods. It was leading me towards something and I was going over the options in my mind about what it could possibly be. I reached a clearing in the forest that caused the ring to glow with a constant light before it flared and an opening in the ground revealed itself.

From what I could see, it was a dark set of stairs that led to an underground tunnel further down. After placing the ring on my index finger, I calmly walked down the flight of stairs without fear of missing one because I could see in the dark. I began to think back to the times I had met the older brother, who I was thinking about giving code name to because I was sick of referring to him as that, and tried to remember if I could picture the ring I found belonging to him. Regardless, I was going to keep it handy in case it led me to any other clues at other locations.

When I reached the bottom, I could see the tunnel stretch out further in the distance to a point where it was too dark for even me to see from where I was standing. I walked through the tunnel, mindful of the ring on my finger in case it unlocked some other secret passageway, and eventually made it to a large room that I could only assume was the basement for the mansion. I was surprised that it managed to hold up under the weight of the ruin above it, but it didn't seem to matter since the whole room was barren except for a table in the middle of the room. I noticed something sitting on the tabletop and walked over to it, noticing as I closed the distance that it was a book of some kind. I picked it up, paying attention to the red binding on it, and saw that it had the word journal etched in gold on the front cover. I was about to open it up so I could read it when I heard an ominous groan from up above, almost as if the beams in the ceiling were having difficulties holding the weight of the rubble above. I didn't want to risk being crushed so I flew back down the tunnel and back to the surface, breathing a sigh of relief when I didn't hear it come crashing down behind me. Now that I was outside, I was curious about who wrote it and so opened the journal to the last entry, which read:

_Entry 147_

_It had been a while since I had spoken with Nai. The other night, I managed to communicate with him through brainwaves. He seems quite happy to be with his new friends, regardless of the fact that I have informed him that they will one day shatter when they find out how troublesome he can be. However, there is one threat that I hadn't counted on._

_It seems that my destroyer has had a change of heart. The last time I saw her, she was feral and predatory, exactly as I had planned when I sabotaged Karoku's experiment. She was going to be the answers to all of my problems, but she somehow grew a conscience and began acting more human than animal. This is not something I can allow. I have tried many times to get the Varugas to bring her to me, yet she always manages to elude them. Now I have developed the perfect plan to bring her back to me._

_I have convinced Nai to come to Smoky Mansion and I know that Cleiona will be with him, along with the boy called Gareki. There is something about the boy that doesn't sit well with me, almost as if I know him from somewhere. After I kill him, I will do some research about him. Hopefully, Nai and Cleiona will understand that he had to be eliminated for the greater good. If not, they'll be locked away until they do._

_I already have a backup plan in place in case Cleiona starts trouble that I can't handle. When I meet with Nai, I will assess if she's a bigger threat to keep her on our side and then I will exterminate her at the same time as the Gareki boy. I will be rather… saddened by this development, but it would be necessary. I can't have my destroyer trying to kill me. It would ruin everything that I have worked so hard for._

_Now, I must get ready for the meeting with Nai. I will get him to understand my point-of-view._

_XxXxX_

"It's his journal," I whispered to myself. "This belongs to Karoku's older brother…"

_Is this the clue you needed?_ the Dragon asked, sounding bored in my mind.

"Well, it's a clue that will help," I told her. "It can be used to figure out why he did all of this and maybe lead me to places that Kafka is hiding. It could be really useful."

_I think that you have forgotten something important,_ she said. _It's almost nightfall and you promised to go visit Gareki after he was settled into life at your academy. It's been a week._

I felt the sensation of my stomach sinking when I realized she was right. I jumped into the air and flew off in a south westerly direction, forcing the journal to disappear like my weapons until I needed it. I flew as fast as I could towards Kuronomei and by the time that the sky was completely dark I made it there, allowing my magic to camouflage me so I wouldn't set off any alarms. I landed on the roof of the boys' dormitory and listened carefully, noticing that it was silent within. It must have been time for quiet hours and the lights were off, so they were all resting inside their rooms.

I sensed Gareki's presence two floors down and I jumped from the roof to his balcony, landing just right to perch on the railing and letting go of my camouflage. I must have made just enough noise because I heard someone stirring in the room before I saw a figure walk to the sliding glass door, opening it and walking out for me to see that it was Gareki. It was good to know that his thief skills allowed him to wake when he heard the slightest sound. He had on a white tank top and black shorts, for once not wearing his goggles since he had been asleep. I knew I had just woke him up because his hair was messier than usual and because he looked very groggy.

"Circus Agent Cleo, here to report my findings," I said quietly, giving him a mock salute.

"Don't you know what time it is?" he asked blearily before rubbing his eyes.

"It's not that late."

"You took the program and yet you seem to have forgotten the fact that we have to go to bed early so we can get up just before dawn for training."

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, looking down a little and kicking my feet gently as they were dangling from me sitting on the railing.

He walked closer and reached over to place a finger under my chin, tilting my head up so I would meet his gaze. "So let's hear what has happened so far while I've been gone."

"Karoku is finally awake," I said and before I could say anything else, Gareki began questioning me.

"How is he? Is he all right? He's not a complete psycho like his brother, is he? If he tried to kill you, I'll—"

"Gareki, stop," I chuckled, placing my hands on his waist and moving him closer to me. "He didn't try to kill me or even harm me in any way. He just seems to have lost his memories."

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"Remember when the imposter said that he was more like Karoku than the original was?" When he nodded, I continued on. "Well, I'm beginning to wonder if the only reason that's possible is because he's been absorbing memories belonging to Karoku. He gets severe headaches whenever he tries to recall anything."

"Does he at least remember you and Nai?"

I felt myself stiffen ever so slightly and my expressions must have darkened because I saw Gareki begin to look concerned. "No, he doesn't," I said softly. "When we heard that he had come out of his coma, we immediately flew to the Research Tower and let Nai go in to talk to him first while the rest of us listened from the door. They were talking and I could tell that something was wrong when Karoku asked who Nai was. Before long, Karoku pushed Nai to the floor and I burst into the room, threatening to kill him if he ever did that again. He immediately freaked out at the sight of me because he said that he had seen me in his nightmares but he didn't know who I was either. The only thing he does know with any certainty is that he should recognize us."

"Wow, that sounds… interesting."

"You can say that again," I said sarcastically. "Oh and he also apparently has zero trust in me. His nightmares have terrified him enough that he can't stand to even be in the same room as me."

"How are you holding up?" he inquired gently. "From what you told me about your past, you became close with Karoku after you realized that he was actually trying his best to watch over you."

"It… hurts," I said after a lengthy pause. "It's almost like everything I went through with him was shattered, completely and totally insignificant to anyone but me. But I'll be fine. I've been doing some research into Karoku's older brother and I found a journal belonging to him in a basement below the rubble of Smoky Mansion."

"Have you found anything in the journal?"

"I only checked the last entry. It talked about how he had convinced Nai to come to him and how we were sure to come along for the ride. He was going to kill you for sure and only kill me should he assess that I was more trouble than I was worth."

"Gareki, who are you talking to out there?" a sleepy voice called out from the room within. "It sounds like a girl. You know the rules about girls anywhere near the boys' dormitory. Ranji will blame me for this and you already know he hates me. Get Tsubame to visit during the day."

Gareki must have noticed that I was about to speak and so covered my mouth with his hand before saying, "Shishi, it's not Tsubame that's here."

"_Another_ girl?" the guy named Shishi said incredulously. "Who knew you were such a player after all."

Deciding that I should have my say in the matter, I bit Gaerki's hand just hard enough for him to let go, suppressing my laughter when I heard him swear under his breath, and said, "Please, Tsubame is his adoptive sister. However, if there are other girls, I would like to know."

There was a creaking noise as Shishi must have shifted his weight to get up and then the sound of footsteps. A few seconds later and a guy who was a few inches taller than Gareki stood in the doorway. He was wearing red shorts and a white T-shirt that had the emblem for the academy emblazoned on the chest in black. He had short, messy light blonde-brown hair with his bangs pushed back. He also had light purple hair that stood out in comparison to his bright orange rectangular glasses, which he pushed further up his nose with his index finger. He tilted his head to the side as he looked me up and down before a slight smirk formed on his face.

"This one is really pretty but I don't remember seeing her on campus," Shishi said.

"That's because she hasn't been on this campus in a few years except for when she dropped me off," Gareki told him. "Shishi, meet Circus Agent Cleiona. Cleo, meet my roommate, Shishi. He's going into the Technology Creation Course here."

"I recognize her. I've seen her acts as a fire breather. She's also known as the Dragon Lady."

"A fan, I see," I said with a small laugh.

"Of course! Any pretty lady that plays with fire is good enough for me! It proves that you have a dangerous side."

"You don't know the half of it," Gareki said under his breath before speaking a little louder. "Anyway, stop hitting on her. Only I'm allowed to do that."

"Be nice or you'll force me to bite you again," I said with a devious grin.

"I like this girl," Shishi said before turning back towards the room. "This one is a keeper. If she's not officially your girlfriend yet, I suggest you do so soon or I might have to steal her from you."

He went back into the room and walked towards his bed, leaving sight as soon as he did so. I heard Gareki sigh before I focused my attention back on him. "Damn him," he said softly. "I don't need him telling me that sort of thing, especially not right now."

"That he'll steal me from you?" I asked with a small laugh. "I have a select few people that I can stand being around. You're one of them."

"Not that. I meant when he said I should make you my girlfriend."

I paused hesitantly, looking away and up at the moon that rose into the sky high enough that I could see it past the building. "And what are your thoughts on that?" I asked, a slight blush warming my cheeks.

"Well, I…" he started to say and I looked out of the corner of my eye to see that he had looked away as well, a blush of his own forming on his face. "I… I would like to… but we just… we live too far apart now."

"I can fly," I said softly, forcing myself to look at him instead of being suddenly so shy. "Distance isn't that big a deal for me."

"That's not what I mean," he sighed before finally turning his gaze to mine. "I'm here and you live there. Not only that but I'm going to be gone for a long time. I can't keep making you fly to me all the time."

"Do you want to or not?" I almost growled, feeling a little frustrated.

"Yes, but—"

"Then it's settled," I decided, his eyes getting wide from shock. "You and I shall date. We'll be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"N-now wait a minute!" he yelled and I was then forced to clap a hand over his mouth for being so loud.

"Way to go, Cleo!" Shishi called from inside the room. "Way to take charge! Whip him into shape!"

Gareki shook off my hand and said, "But we can't date! I don't want you to waste your time on someone that you won't be able to see often!"

"Hush," I said sternly. "You let me worry about that. I'm pretty sure I can handle it." I hopped down from the railing and stretched my back a little. "Well, I think I might have to go."

"Wait," he stopped me, grabbing my wrist. "Stay the night."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"Stay the night with me. I'll let you borrow a T-shirt to sleep in."

"It won't get you in trouble, will it?"

"No one will know," he assured me. "Our alarm will go off in the morning to wake us up, but no one comes into the room to do it. We'll be fine."

I nodded that I would do it and a smirk formed on his face before he leaned closer, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. I was almost stunned by how casual he was over it, barely noticing as he led me into the room. To the left against the wall was a dresser and next to that was the door to the closet. As Gareki rummaged into one of the drawers, I looked around the room. The desks were pushed up against the wall nearest the doors to the balcony and adjacent to one of the beds. I looked over at it and noticed the Nyanperowna and Niji stuffed animals on the shelf on the bedframe. Adjacent to that bed and opposite the desks was Shishi's bed, who gave me an amused wink and a wave. I waved back just as Gareki stood up straight, handing me one of his shirts before leading me over to the bathroom. It was nearby the door leading out to the hallway and he pushed me inside before shutting the door behind me. I sighed before changing my clothes, leaving on my bra and underwear underneath the T-shirt, which was quite long on me. It stretched down to my knees and looked like a dress on me.

When I walked out of the bathroom with my Circus uniform in my arms, Gareki was still waiting for me and led me over to his bed. He took my uniform from me and put it on top of his desk as I crawled into his bed, getting comfortable under the blankets with my back against the wall. A few seconds later, Gareki was climbing under the covers with me, wrapping his arms around my waist and sliding me closer to his body. I laughed a little before leaning my forehead against his chest and I realized how much I had missed this. I yawned and settled down enough so that I fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

_There's my little destroyer…_

I felt a shiver go through my body as my eyes snapped open, soon noticing that I was on a small hill of green grass that was completely surrounded in darkness. I couldn't see anything beyond the edges of the hill, but I could definitely hear a sinister laughter that was moving around. It didn't take very long for me to figure out that it sounded like Karoku's voice, so it could only mean that this was the older brother.

_You've been searching for me. I know that you've found the journal that I left behind at Smoky Mansion. I made it challenging for you, just how you like it._

"You're in my mind and I want you out of it," I called out. "I won't be fooled by any of your tricks."

_You mean like all of the times I've managed to convince Nai to do what I've wanted? I can make you do the same, but it would take a little longer. You're a little worldlier in comparison to the Niji._ I could hear him chuckle softly before I could see a patch of darkness begin to clear. There, hiding in the fading shadows, was the imposter Karoku. He had a smug air about him, one that seemed to morph into annoyance when I grinned at scar on his cheek where Gareki had grazed him with a bullet. _What do you find so funny, Cleiona?_

"Oh, just marveling at Gareki's handiwork," I said with a laugh of my own. "He's a very good shot. It would do you well to remember that next time the two of you cross paths."

_Ah, yes, maybe I should pay him a visit,_ the fake said before he seemed to just disappear. When I blinked, he was right in front of me, his hands around my throat and tightening his grip until I was gasping for air. _I'll poison him first, paralyze him so that he can't get away. Then take a knife and carve him up, just so that you can know you couldn't help him._

"Stay the hell… away from him," I managed to growl as I noticed spots appearing in my vision, clutching at his hand and trying to pull his fingers back so that I could breathe.

**_Cleo! _**I heard a voice ring out from all around, making the darkness shiver and the fake Karoku froze, his hand loosening his grip just enough so I could breathe. I then heard the voice a second time. **_Cleo, come on! You need to wake up right now!_**

**_What's wrong with her?_** another voice asked, soon making me realize that I must be able to hear what was going on outside of the dream.

While the fake Karoku was distracted, I quickly moved my head forward to headbutt him in the nose. There was a crunch as he sharply hissed, falling back on the ground and I leapt at him to straddle his legs._ Interesting development we have here…_ he hissed again.

"I'm going to hunt you down," I growled, "and I will find you, even if it is the last thing I do."

_Then let me make this a little easier, _he said, his eyes lighting up with a rage I had never seen on him before. _You have six hours to make it to the port city of Serany. I'll be waiting on the south pier for you to arrive. If you don't arrive in six hours, I'll be gone and you'll have to start the search yourself._

"I'll be there, don't you worry," I told him seriously. He nodded and disappeared instantly, leaving me totally in the dark to force my way out of the dream.

**_I think she's coming to. Shishi, go wait out in the hallway. I'll come outside when she's calm._**

**_Try to hurry if you can. We don't want to be late for class._**

I pushed my way through the dream as I heard the door snap shut, clawing my way out and sitting up straight on the bed with a loud gasp. I grabbed my throat and hunched over after a few seconds, panting and lightly massaging the skin where I could still feel the fake Karoku choking me. I felt a warm hand placed on my back between my shoulder blades before it stroked along my spine comfortingly. When I had calmed down, I turned my head to see Gareki watching me worriedly, vaguely noticing that he was wearing his uniform. He wasn't wearing the tie that came with and had a couple buttons from the shirt undone.

"No goggles?" I asked hoarsely, feeling tired from the weird dream.

"They barely let me get away with not wearing a tie. They nearly threw a fit when I showed up with my goggles on," he explained before placing a finger under my chin to tilt my head back so he could look into my eyes. "What just happened to you? I thought I would let you sleep in before I headed to class, but you wouldn't wake up. It sounded like you might have been having a nightmare."

"It was the imposter. He infiltrated my dreams in an attempt to freak me out," I told him. I gasped a little when I remembered what I was supposed to be doing next. "I need to leave right now."

I hopped off of the bed and past Gareki, pulling off his shirt and heading towards his desk near the window where my uniform was folded. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" he yelled, running over to me to wrap his arms around my waist and pulling me away from the window. I could see a faint blush appearing on his cheeks and he refused to meet my gaze. "You can't just run over to a window when you're half naked! What if the other guys in this dormitory see you?!"

"It's sweet that you're trying to protect my modesty, but I need to leave!" I hissed. "The imposter told me where he's located and I need to get there before he disappears!"

"Where is he?" Gareki asked, grabbing my uniform from behind on the desk and handing it to me. I quickly pulled away and began to pull the uniform on as fast as I could.

"He's in Serany. It's a port city to the east of here."

"How long does it take to get there?" he asked, looking away as I got dressed.

"Since I don't have a plane with me, it will take a little under six hours."

"How long until he leaves?"

"Six hours."

"You know this has to be a trap, right?"

"I know that," I told him as I zipped up the uniform with a sigh. "I need to catch him. I need to find out some answers about why he did this to Karoku and if his memories can be recovered. I also need to know what his motives are."

"You shouldn't do this," he said, placing his hands on either side of my face so he could tilt my head back a little. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you and I have a feeling that this might end badly."

"How about this," I stated calmly. "I will leave right now to track down the imposter. You let me go and I'll come back later tonight. I might bring Nai along if I'm done soon enough. I know he misses seeing you as much as I did."

He stared at me intently, trying to make up his mind when he finally let out a sigh. "Fine. Just know that I don't like this idea at all. I will give you until nine at night to show up here. If I don't see you or receive word that you are alright, I will contact Airship Two to go track you down. If they don't find you by dawn, I will leave Kuronomei Academy altogether to find you myself."

I leaned forward and captured his lips with my own, feeling him shiver lightly before I pulled away. "I'll be back before nine. If not, I will send a message through the academy. Either way, you'll find out if I'm safe."

He brushed his mouth against my forehead before he took a step back. "Don't do anything too reckless, Cleo. That's all I ask."

"I'll do what I can," I said with a slight bow, giving him a smirk before I ran out the window. I jumped up onto the railing that surrounded the balcony and leaped into the air. Once I was airborne and heading in an easterly direction, I felt the Dragon growl before I hit max speed. She roared in my mind at the feel of the wind rushing past us and I concentrated on keeping my speed so I would make it to Serany in time.

_What if this is a trap that we are walking into?_ the Dragon asked a few minutes later, sounding a bit curious. _What is it that you plan on doing then?_

_Fight my way out, of course, _I thought to her, deciding to speak through my mind instead of trying to yell over the wind to be heard. _I just want answers. If I can't capture the imposter, the answers will tide me over for now until I can actually bring him in for questioning._

_Do you really think we can catch him?_

_Maybe not today, but I'm certain that we can eventually. I'll probably just need the help from Airship Two if I ever want to catch him. I think it's something that we can accomplish if we try hard enough._

_If he tries something, _the Dragon growled, _I'll be waiting to help you out of the trap. He's not going to kill us just because we are his 'little destroyer.' I'm not sure about you, but death is definitely not on my agenda in the near future. I have many things to do one day._

_Things? _I asked with a slight laugh, looking down to notice that there was a large mountain chain approaching, clouds at the very top that seem to curl around the tallest peaks. _What kind of things do you want to do? Hopefully you don't want to kill humans still. I'm not going to allow that. We aren't going to be destroyers anymore, but protectors for those we care about._

_No, killing the Varugas that come before us is my ultimate goal for killing. What I want to do is to find a Dragon colony, or even just one Dragon will do._

_… What?_ I felt a slight cold chill travel down my spine and I nearly stopped flying altogether from surprise at the Dragon's words.

_You heard me,_ the Dragon said. _I want to go be with our kind, even if it only lasts a few days. I think that we could greatly improve our strength and become even more powerful if we train with one._

_Maybe after this. We have to find out more about the imposter first and then we can try to find a Dragon._

_I have one last request, _the Dragon stated softly. _I realize that we are one entity and I am just the Dragon side while you are the human one, but I think that I need a name of my own for now until we can find a way to meld together. I'm tired of being referred to as 'the Dragon' in your mind._

_What name are you thinking of picking?_

_I like the name Saryx. Let's go with that._

I agreed and concentrated on flying even faster to make it to Serany before the imposter Karoku could get away.


End file.

Karneval/カーニヴァル, Adventure, Romance