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Chaper 1

Valice carried her fluffy, tortuous shell calico kitten Riku in her arms under a huge black umbrella and turned her deep blue-green eyes up at the angry sky as poured down on them.
"Good thing I took you to the vet when I did." Valice said as the kitten hid deeper in her long black trench-coat coat away from the rain. "Otherwise you'd be soaked right now." She said as the tiny kitten mewed.
Valice stroked the kitten as she walked, Riku was her only friend in the world. At the age of eighteen she had successfully driven away every human being that had got within ten feet of her, not that she wanted too however. She had always guessed that it was her uncanny talent to predict the future that drove people away. She shook the dark brown locks of hair from her face and touched her side pocket where her tarot card deck rested. Yes, it was always there but no matter how many times her reassured herself that it was there she always had the nagging feeling that she had forgot to bring it with her. Perhaps it was the insterment of all her powers, and that was the reason she always had to have it near her. Her brother Donovan had always teased her about that, and would often swap her deck with his own. Valice smile at the thought of her older brother, but that smile turned to sadness as she passed the graveyard were he was buried, right next their parents. The graveyard was misty and cold so she couldn't see past the tall iron gates that separated her from her family. Valice got chills running down her spine and started to walk faster, graveyards frightened her to no end. MEW! Riku struggled her way out of the coat and stuck her tiny head over Valice’s shoulder. MEW!
"Riku? What’s the matter?" Valice asked as the kitten began to claw her way over Valice’s shoulder very painfully with her tiny claws. "Ow ow ow!"
Valice let go of the kitten and Riku leapt from her shoulder onto the muddy ground in the pouring rain. With a leap Riku jumped behind some bushes that grew along the iron fence of the graveyard and then squeezed herself thought the bars and sprinted into the mist.
"RIKU!" Valice screamed as she ran to gate.
She wrapped her hands around the thick bars and ground her teeth. She made up her mind quickly and began climbing the locked gate. Valice was a natural climber and was soon up and on the other side safely, only a few more inches sucked into the mud. Valice called her kitten to see if she might come back but she had no such luck. Valice started walking as fast as the sticky mud would let her, shouting Riku's name. Off in the distance in front of her she heard Riku's jingle bell that was attached to her collar. Valice stubbed her toe on something almost the moment she herd the bell and cursing she looked down. It was a canister of black flowers on a new grave that she had overturned.
"Er.. sorry?" She said quickly as she danced around the head stone.
Goose bumps broke out all over her skin as Valice tried walking faster and slipped in the mud. She stumbled and caught herself on anther head stone.
"No! This is a nightmare! RIKU WHERE ARE YOU!" Valice screamed, starting to panic.
There was a soft jingle and a low growl somewhere in the fog and Valice whipped around to try and find where it was coming from. She stumbled blindly in the direction she thought the sound had some from and found herself surrounded my even more headstones.
"RIKU!" She screamed.
The kitten sat on one of the head stones in the circle and growled at Valice. The kitten's tail waged back and forth quickly and her eyes were narrowed. Valice had never seen her cat so upset.
"Come here Riku." Valice said trying to be friendly, but the cat's abrupt attitude change startled her.
Riku leapt off the head stone and began to trot off, her tail and back arched very threateningly. Valice, still spooked, fallowed the orange and black kitten back into the sliver fog once again. It was only a few feet into the fog before Valice nearly stepped on Riku. The kitten stood with her back arched as far as it would go, and every hair on her tiny body stood straight up. Valice looked where her cat was looking and as the fog cleared ever so slightly she found herself at a very far corner of the enormous graveyard, by a small cluster of weeping willow trees. Valice took a few steps towards the trees and Riku hissed at her, almost warning her not to go. Out of the corner of her eye Valice thought she thought she saw something move in the tiny grove of trees. Without so much as a second thought, Valice headed off to the trees, Riku hissing and growling after her.
Valice parted the drooping willow vines with her hands and step into the tiny oval that the trees created. Laying propped up against the base of one of the trees was a man wrapped in white sheets. His long ebony black hair was tangled and tossed all over his handsome face and Valice was struck numb by his beauty. He had high cheek bones and pale lips that were parted slightly. The sheets that covered him left very little to the imagination stretched over his broad chest and shoulders and his left arm seemed to be wrapped in the sheets and hidden from view. He was soaked from head to toe from the rain and shivered slightly as Valice stared at him. She went over to his side and lightly touched his arm to try and wake him, but he didn't move.
"Sir." She tried, but he still wouldn't move an inch.

Then Valice did something that she would have never done, and had often criticized people in the movies for doing. She slung the man's right arm over her shoulders and picked him up, which was quite a feat because he was deceptively heavy. A few moments later Valice stumbled out of the small circle of trees with the unconscious man wrapped around her shoulders, almost piggy back style. Riku, who had not abandoned her post just outside of the trees, jumped and spat as Valice walked past her. Valice headed home, with Riku hissing and growling behind her.
The mystery man on Valice's couch had been sleeping for three days now and he had barely moved at all. The entire first day Valice had sat on the floor next to him, waiting for him to wake up. Fantasying that he was an exotic prince from some far away land that would wake up at any moment and fall madly in love with her. But her hopes had changed by the second day when he still had not moved and if it weren’t for his shallow breathing Valice would had thought he was a corpse. She had pulled up a chair and sat staring at him for a while with the fire in the fireplace crackled warmly, keeping the chills of the rain out of the small apartment. The weather had been incredibly strange ever since she had taken the stranger home with her. It had rained non stop all three days and every hour on the dot there was a giant defending clap of thunder, but no lighting. With no sign of life from the stranger on the third day, Valice finally got fed up with waiting and left to go to the grocery store. Riku sat on Valice's vacated seat, her tail wrapped tightly around her and her yellow eyes fixed on the man. Valice shrugged as she pulled her threnchcoat on and shook her umbrella open as she slipped out the door.
The rain seemed to pour down harder on the umbrella as Valice walked to the store in what looked like the middle of the night. People didn't seem to want to come out of their homes to do anything in the unusual weather, let alone shopping. The grocery store was practically deserted, the only people there were the checkers and bag boys and none of them seemed happy to be there. Valice nervously picked up a hand basket and started down one of the isles with her shopping list. It wasn't too long before she was done and headed for the check out line with the unhappy workers who all stared at her as she walked up. Valice recognized a few girls from her school gathered around the far counter all chatting nervously and glancing up at Valice every once in while and then go back to chatting. She sighed and put the three or four things on the check out counter and waited to be charged.
"Good afternoon Ms. Blackburn." Said the checker in a deep voice.
Valice turned to see just who would be talking to her, no one ever tried to talk to her let alone address her so politely.
"Oh..." She said as she looked up into a pair of dark green eyes. "Hello Mr. Star."
"Please," He said as he began to ring up Valice's purchases. "Call me Vincent."
Valice didn't know what to say. Vincent Star was an even bigger weirdo then she was. At school people would often find him muttering to himself in hallways or in a deserted bathroom. Once, somebody swore that he was kneeling on the ground talking to his shadow, and he had even named it Searria.
"Only if you call me Valice." She said nervously trying to be plight.
"Very well Mr. Blackburn." He said in his deep voice. "Your total is 10.74."
Valice handed his a ten and three quarters that he took and rang in without an emotion at all. Valice squirmed a little bit, even though Vincent was incredibly handsome with his short black hair and stunning green eyes that were extenuated by small frame less glasses, he still made her nervous to be around with his lack of emotion.
"Strange weather lately." She said trying to start a conversation.
"Dismal." He said flatly.
Valice was at a loss for words. She couldn't think of anything that might spark some kind of intelligent conversation, so she did the next best thing and said the first thing that popped into her mind.
"Yes well this weather sure has frightened people, all this rain and wind is pure chaos."
Vincent’s eyes darted back to hers in an instant, their emerald depths searching her face in a frightening way. Valice wanted to back away slowly from him, but his eyes held her rooted to the spot.
"What... makes you say that?" He asked slowly.
Valice couldn't speak. Her throat seem to constrict under Vincent's soul persing gaze and her thoughts began to wander back home to the man in the living room unconscious on her couch. Suddenly Valice tripped, her eyes were torn away from Vincent's as she stumbled to regain her footing. Valice didn’t' remember backing away from him.
"I don't know." She stammered as she grabbed the bag of groceries and bolted for the door.
Vincent stared after her without moving as she disappeared into the rain and wind outside the automatic door.
Riku mewed and tried to run out the door as Valice opened and shut it quickly. She was soaked head to toe and dripping water all over the carpet, and breathing hard. She had ran all the way back never stopping or looking back. Riku hissed as some of the rain dripping off Valice got on to her.
"I'm sorry," Valice said in deep breaths as she took off the coat and hung it in the closet by the door.
Riku began pawing at the door and meowing to get out as Valice headed into the living room to check on her mystery guest. But the Kitten got her attention before she could get there.
"You don't what to go outside right now Ri-ri." She said scooping up the kitten. "The rain has gotten worse."
The kitten mewed louder and began to panic, clawed her way over Valice's shoulder and leapt to the floor. Riku bolted back to the door and tried sticking her paw under the crack near the floor. Valice shook her head at the kitten's erratic behavior and headed to the living room, expecting to see the mystery man still laying on her couch. But the man was gone, Valice was shocked, three days of no movement at all and now he had moved too much and was gone.
"Damn," She said after she had checked the whole apartment for him. "Well he could have at lest could have said thank you!" Valice said facing her kitten at the door.
"WHAT AM I DOING HERE!?" Roared something behind her.

Valice jumped out of her skin and screamed as she turned around to see what had spoken to her. A fully conscious man stood on her couch, the white sheets he was wrapped in slipping from around his right shoulder and looked like a Roman toga. His long, tangled black hair spilled from his shoulders to his waist, the slipping toga reviled a lean body that was well defined and toned.
"Your up!" Valice gasped as she held her heart as it wouldn't jump out of her chest, while her face blushed a light red.
"I don't want to be here!" The half naked man shouted, his ruby eyes narrowing in anger.
Valice suddenly felt afraid of this man which she realized that she should have felt this way all along.
"What... what are you talking about? You want to go home?" She asked confused.
"Out there!" The man yelled waving his hidden left arm towards the window.
Valice gasped and quickly backed away from the man. His entire left arm from his neck to his icy finger tips was a nasty mutated claw. Valice's back hit the wall behind her, she was out of space to run. The man cocked his head of to the right and stared at her with his shallow eyes. His pale skin was broken by thick, icy blue veins that seemed to pop out of his skin on his neck that intertwined and melded with dark blue skin of his upper arm until his elbow where it became a cold blue and gray metal-like substance that seemed to both cover and be the rest of his for-arm and fingers. He curled the razor tipped fingers into a fist as Valice's eyes fell on them.
"What are you?!" She asked terrified as she tried to flatten herself against the wall.
"Why?" Asked the man as his eyes looked her up and down, sizing her up.
"Why what?" Valice asked in a small voice.
The man stepped off the couch as graceful as a panther. His shallow eyes fixed her with a petrifying and yet unfeeling gaze while both his normal and clawed arms hung at his sides unmoving.
"Why did you move me?" He asked slowly in a flat voice as if he knew that he frightened her.
He took step after slow step until only inches separated their faces. He didn't seem to mean any harm and yet he was completely terrifying.
"I-I-I..." Valice stammered.
His eyes staring into hers so unblinkingly gave her the distinct impression that lying to this breathtakingly handsome man was a very bad idea.
"I thought you needed help." She said finally in a low whisper.
The man shook his head and walked away from her, tossing his hands into the air as he did.
"Now I have to start all over!" He said loudly.
"Start what over?!" Valice asked slightly less afraid now that he wasn't staring into her soul.
Thunder boomed louder then ever outside and shook the small apartment like an earthquake. Valice jumped as tiny Riku leapt into her arms puffed up into a large fur ball with every single hair standing on it's end. Valice held the kitten tightly, expecting the stranger to be frightened and then enraged by the sudden deafening noise, but he only cocked his head and stood still as he listened to the last of the thunder roll away. After a minute of silence the white sheet rustled around his feet as he strode to the sliding glass door to he apartments’ tiny balcony. He ripped back the heavy black curtains that Valice had hung to keep the chill out and stared into the dark, angry sky. He looked quite impressive staring out into the rain like a young Greek god, and dark blue gems that Valice had failed to notice on his shoulder and the back of his left hand glowed softly with an eerie light.
"They are angry," He said in a matter of fact voice to himself. "And confused."
In his reflection Valice could see a cold smirk spread across his pale lips.
"Who are you?" She asked when she had finally recovered her voice.
The man casually turned his head in her direction with the smirk still crossing his lips. Riku shivered and curled into a tighter ball in Valice's arms.
"Me?" he asked. "I'm nothing, yet something. Somewhere and nowhere. I'm just me." He said as he looked at her.
Valice inwardly sighed, she had pick up a psychopath, and a dangerous one by the look of his left arm-claw, and yet he didn't seem dangerous at all. He was almost childlike.
"Do... you have a name?" She tired.
Valice watched as the stranger let the curtains go and turned to face her, his red eyes unblinking.
"A... name?" He asked, seemingly confused. "I've never had a ... name."
"No one ever called you by a certain word? At all? Ever?" Valice asked almost pitying him.
"No." He said, "But the one who released me. He called me something different." He said, his gaze turning inward as he tried to remember what he had been called.
"And that was?" Valice inquired, getting tired of this childish game.
"He called me.... Chaos. Yes, Chaos." He said, rolling the word around the word around on his tongue.
"I like it. My... name... is Chaos."
Chaos stepped away from the sliding door and begin exploring the small home as the sheets rustled around him.
"What's this?" He barked as he poked a pillow on the couch with his normal hand and recoiled as in squished inward and then proofed back out when he let it go.
"Its' a pillow, have you been living under a rock or something?" Valice asked still unsure about this man named Chaos.
He turned back and stared at Valice with a funny look on his face.
"You, can still see me?" He asked.
"Uh... yeah." She said as she gave him a weird look back.
His red eyes darted back and forth for a second and then he shrugged. He poked the pillow again harder and took a step back to look at it.
"Pill-low..." He said slowly, as he stared at it.
Valice jumped as he backhanded the pillow with his claw. Feathers flew everywhere as the material ripped and tore sending the soft feathers into the air.
"And these?!" He demanded as he waved his hand in the air and turned, trying to see all of them at once.
"Those are feathers you crazy son of a...!"
"FEE-THER-S!" Chaos said with a laugh.
He swiped his claw through he air and giggled as the feathers fallowed the little breeze he had made. He soon lost interest and walked out of the feather storm and headed to the kitchen. Riku hissed as passed and then hid back in Valice’s' coat as he dubbed back to look at her.
"What is that?" He asked pointed a clawed finger at Riku. "It stares at me."
"Her name is Riku, and she's and animal called a cat." Valice said unsure of what to think of Chaos even more.
"AN-I-MAL," He said, rolling the word around his mouth as if he'd never said it before. "K-AT."
Riku jumped back and hissed as Chaos poked her with a razor sharp claw. Chaos himself jumped back frightened, his eyes wide.
"Don't do that!" Valice yelled, trying to calm Riku down. "That hurts her!"
"Hurts." Chaos said still staring at Riku. "Hurts.... hurt.... I hurt things." He said more to himself then Valice.
"You just have to be careful." She said, taking his normal hand. "See?" She held Riku out a little bit and placed Chaos's hand on her back.
Chaos stared at the kitten who only growled but did not hiss again. Chaos smiled a little bit and then tried to pat Riku's head.
"No no no." Valice said as she caught Chaos's hand before he could do any damage. "Riku's a baby so you can't be rough with her. You have to stoke her nicely. Like this." She said as he moved Chaos's hand along Riku's back slowly.
"Bay-be.... k-at." Chaos said as he pet Riku carefully on his own for a moment. "What's this?" he asked suddenly as he rushed past Valice and Riku.
He poked the kitchen light switch on the wall behind Valice and waited for it to do something. When nothing happened after a moment he turned to Valice and stomped his foot.
"What is this!" He demand of her.
Valice set Riku on the floor and the kitten scampered away to the living room to hide under a chair by the fire place.
"That a light switch. You have to turn it on." She said walking over to the switch and flipped it on.
Chaos jumped back and stared at the ceiling as the light turned on. He looked from Valice to the light, from the light to Valice.
“How did you do that!" He yelled slightly frightened.
"I told you it's a LIGHT-SWITCH. Here try it yourself." She said pointing to switch.
She stepped back as Chaos slowly and carefully came to the switch watching the light as he went. He put his finger on the switch and waited and then slowly flipped the switch down. He jumped when the light went off.
"Amazing!" He shouted as he flipped the switch on with a razor finger.
He flipped the switch on and off on and off, on and off as fast as he could, watching the light with great interest. Valice watched with a weird look on her face as Chaos seemed to be enthralled by the light. There was a spark and the light bulb exploded unexpectedly. Valice covered her face with her arms as a shower of red hot sparks rained down.
"AH HAHAHAHAHA!!" Chaos laughed darkly.
His red eyes glowed with excitement as he watched the sparks glow and die.
"That was great," he said in the dark kitchen. "What's back there?" He asked as he made his way back to the living room.
"What the hell?" Valice asked as she looked up.
Chaos headed toward the back of the small apartment, where Valice's room was and Donovan's as well. Chaos leapt the couch in a effortless leap and headed towards her brother's room.
"Is there another male here? I can smell him." Chaos said as he reached for the door.
"NO!" Shouted Valice as she sprinted for Donovan's door.
Valice sprinted the length of the apartment and practically threw herself in between Chaos and the door to her brother's room.
"You can't go in there!" She shouted, staring up into Chaos's clearly confused face.
"Why?" He asked like a two year old child, the innocent look her gave her enhancing the illusion.
"Because!" Valice started, "That's my brother's room!"
"So?" Chaos asked with a shrug as he tried to reach around Valice with his claw.
"He's dead!" She shouted as she batted his claw away. "Can't you respect that!"
"But I want to!" Chaos said with a childish glare.
Valice searched her mind for something to distract him with.
"I'll tell you want, I'll... I'll read your fortune!" She said in a hurry.
Chaos blinked and stared at her for a moment, his interest in the room lost. He seemed stumped, but intrigued.
"How?" He asked.
"Come here." She said taking his normal hand. "I'll show you."
Valice lead a curious Chaos away from Donovan's room and back to the living room where she sat him down on the couch.
"Wait right there!" She said after Chaos was sitting still.
Valice hoped he would stay still while she left. She rushed back to the coat closet and fished her tarot cards from the pocket of the still soaking trenchcoat. She took them out of their protective box and then hurried back to the living room. She found Chaos right where she had left him, but he was eyeing the couch pillows with his ruby eyes.
"Here we go." She said, not wanting to lose anymore pillows to his twisted claw.
She sat on her knees and put the deck face down on the floor in front of him.
"What are those!?" He demanded as Valice separated the cards into two uneven piles.
"Their called tarot cards." She told him as she shuffled the smaller pile expertly.
"TEAR-IT." Chaos said slowly as he watched her. "What do they do?"
"They tell the past, present, and future." Valice said’ trying and failing to sound mysterious.
"How?" He demeaned again.
"Well, fate decides what cards are drawn and each card means something different."
"So you pick cards from random?" He asked as he leaned over to get a better look at the them.
Valice was stunned at his sharpness. A moment ago he was acting like a spoiled child and now he was making educated guesses.
"More or less..." She said squirming a bit under his scarlet gaze.
"Then how is that telling the future?" He stated with an almost disgusted tone in his voice.
"Just watch!" Valice said as she slammed the smaller stack down in front of him. "Now cut the cards."
Chaos stared at her confused again.
"You want me to tare the cards? How will that show the future?"
"No no no!" Valice said starting to get fed up with him. "You split the cards into two piles and then stack them on top of each other."
Chaos didn’t say anything, but he did what he was told. He reached out with his left clawed hand and separated the little stack into two piles and then put the bottom on top of the other stack and then looked up at Valice to see if he had done it right.
"Perfect," Valice said with a small smile. "I'm pretty accurate so don't get freaked out ok."
Chaos stayed quiet but titled his head as if to say "why would I be?". Thunder rolled outside as Valice took the top three cards and placed them in a neat row in front of her. She looked up at Chaos to ask him if he was ready to look at the cards but she found his shallow eyes were looking elsewhere. She fallowed his gaze but she couldn't see anything were he was looking.
"Ah." He said to himself with a bit of a smirk.
"Are you ready?" Valice asked a bit confused.
His eyes returned to hers and he nodded. Valice shivered a little bit as she reached over and turned over the card farthest to the left. When the card was flipped up the bone face of the Grim reaper met her eyes upside down.
"Death in reverse." She said.
"Is that bad?" Chaos asked her with a clam face.
"Well yes and no. This is your past card and Death's meaning like this means you had some kind of trauma in your past. Something that lead to despair and pain. And since I don't know you that well," Valice squirmed again as the thought that Chaos was some psychotic killer crossed her mind again. "Perhaps the anguish you suffered was caused by a bad habit that you couldn't break? And for what ever you did you had to pay a great, and costly price."
Chaos looked up at the ceiling as if he was thinking about something. Valice thought that it was odd how he could remember a horrible event with that kind of dreamily look on his face.
"Yes. He said after a few moments. "That's right."
Valice already knew she was right. He had to have done something very wrong to be wondering around in the rain wearing nothing but a white sheet.
"Lets move on the present." She said as she flipped over the card to the right of Chaos's past.
A huge black building standing tall in the night was on the card this time right side up.
"The Tower is in your present." She told Chaos.
"What does that mean?" He asked slightly more interested.
"Well it's hard to tell." Valice said, not quite sure what to make of the card. "It's usually a warning of unexpected events... but it can also mean painful changes, instant love or crisis and, well this probably doesn't apply to you, but self doubt and criticism."
Chaos smiled looking very pleased.
"Right right." He said. "Now what’s the future?" He said impatiently.
"Alright alright!" Valice said turning the next card over.
A dark man covered in blood with huge bat wings half opened stood in Chaos's future. He stood on a stone and was surrounded by hoards of small demons. He was also right side up.
"The Devil." Valice said arching an eyebrow.
"Is that supposed to be me?" Chaos asked.
Valice jumped at Chaos’s voice that was much nearer now. He sat on his knees as well right in front of her, his head bent close to the cards. He looked up at her as he picked up the Devil card and looked at it.

Chapter 3

“Stay clam!” Mr. Thomson screamed above the alarm. “It’s pry just a drill!”
The moment the words escaped his mouth the PA system boomed over the siren.
“Warning! This is not a drill! All students and faculty fallow safety procedures and please make your way to the field in a clam and orderly fashion.”
Valice looked to Vincent for a moment and found he was just as confused as she was; only a bit calmer as if he’d got though a fire before. As the students stood the sprinklers on the ceiling burst and began pouring down on them. Students groaned and put their hands above their heads to fend of the water as they headed for the door. Suddenly the air was filled with the screaming of another alarm, and then another that whiled out of tune with the others. Then car alarms joined in for no reason at all. Students eyed their surroundings with worried eyes as earsplitting noise began to fill the campus. Suddenly the lights began to flicker erratically all over the school, students began to scream to run for the doors as lights began bursting. They sent red hot sparks flying into the masses that doubled in on it’s self to get away from them.
“What the hell is going on?!” Valice screamed to no one.
Her screams as well as all the others were drowned out as a rumble from the inside of the floor began to turn into a roar. The ground begin to quake and students slipped and fell as the shaking intensified every passing second. Valice stumbled herself and Vincent caught her around the waist and braced himself against the wall out of the way of the stampeding crowd. Valice gasped as she realized how close she had come to being trampled to death. She grabbed a hold on the wall as well and waited for the earthquake to stop, but the shaking only got harder.

Valice clutched the wall until her knuckles turned white while the earth shook violently beneath her feet. Screaming and the Earth's tortured death throws filled her ears and she wished the nightmare would stop. The pipes in the walls began bursting with loud pops and freezing water drenched the students and everything in it's path.
"Hold on!" Vincent screamed to her as water pounded them in the face as a pile near them exploded. Valice's teeth began to chatter as she was soaked by the powerful stream. All of a sudden the earth pitched violently and Valice was thrown off her feet. She watched as Vincent reached out to grab her only to be hit in the side by the powerful bust of another pipe. Vincent was lost in the water as his grasp on the wall slipped and he tumbled into the mass of people and was swept away.
"Vincent!" Valice screamed as she hit the quaking floor.
All the air was cruelly crushed from her lungs and her head was suddenly filled with painful fog as she tasted something warm in her mouth. She didn't remember what happened next. With the water falling all around her and people stampeding and tramping everything she closed her eyes to the nightmare.

"Hey. Hey... HEY!" A persistent voice probed.
Valice could feel her head spin even without moving. The taste of blood in her mouth made her cough and her head split in two as she did.
"Your still here." The child like voice said as something rough patted her shoulder.
Valice rolled onto her side coughing and her eyes flew open and took a few extra seconds to focus. She was lying on some kind of dirty white title that had a thin layer of some kind of gritty gravel on it. Her eyes slowly focused and she could see a peaceful blue sky floating casually above her. She rolled onto her back and drizzly stared at the cotton candy clouds that were sliding by. Suddenly she was staring up in to a pair of ruby eyes. Black hair fell all around her, blocking out the blue of the sky. Chaos stared down at her with a slice of pineapple and green pepper pizza dangling from his mouth; crust down.
"C...Chaos?" She stammered still tiring to pull her thoughts together.
Chaos nodded violently making some pineapple slices drop to her face, and he grinned as Valice groaned and made a face as the greasy pineapple slid down her face. He quickly picked it up with his icy claw and popped it in his mouth still grinning. Valice was relived that she had found Chaos again she had missed him.
"Where'd you go?" She asked him as he nibbled on his pizza still looking over her.
"Why?" He asked with a knowing grin. "Did you miss me?"
"Of course not!" She said loudly as she pushed herself onto her elbows. "I just... didn't know where you where. That's all."
"If you say." He said with a knowing grin.
Valice's world had finally stopped spinning and she turned to face Chaos. She frowned as he continued to smile at her.
"So where did you go?" She said with a sigh, giving up on him.
"To get pis-za." He said though the pizza slice.
"You really like pizza don't you?" She sighed as she looked around herself. "Where are we now?"
"On top." Chaos said nibbling on his pizza again.
"On top? On top of what?" Valice said remembering the nightmare she had fallen asleep on.
Chaos watched her as she stood on shaky legs and made her way over to the edge of where he had taken her. His ears twitched as she screamed and backed away from the edge.
"How did we get up here!?" Valice said breathless.
Chaos popped the last of the pizza into his mouth and shrugged. He strolled pass Valice and hopped up on the ledge of the thirty story building in the middle of the city. A fierce wind whipped his dark hair from his face and it went billowing out behind him like a cape. He smiled as the wind whipped around him ruffling his soft shirt.
"I like it here." He said softly. "That's why we're here."
"But how did we get here?" Valice asked slightly panicked.
"Don't panic." He said turning to her, "You don't have to. It's my power."
Valice turned pink again as Chaos looked down from his ledge. He looked so handsome with the sun haloing his head and his dark hair blowing in the wind; he was simply angelic.
"Your ... powers?" She fumbled, forgetting that he was something not of this world.
Chaos nodded and disappeared. Valice hadn't even blinked and she didn't even have time for a gasps as Chaos appeared behind her.
"Boo." He grinned as she turned around to stare at him wildly.
"Wow!" She breathed. "You can move super fast! I would love to have that kind of power!"
"I can do whatever I want." He said raising his twisted claw.
The earth began to shake again and Valice stumbled forward and caught hold of Chaos’s shirt before she fell. Chaos, however, remained perfectly still as if the shaking building had no effect on him. After a second he put his hand down and the shaking instantly stopped. Valice looked up at him as he looked down at her when a cold thought crossed her mind.
"You were the one that made all that stuff happen!" She said with wide eyes.
"I made lots of things happen." He said with a shrug as she pushed herself away from him. "I had to stretch my power after so long a wait."
"You could have hurt a lot of people!" She said staring at him in disbelief.
"That's what I do." Chaos said quietly. "I try not, but they say I can't not hurt things."
"That's right." A deep voice said from behind Chaos.
Both Valice and Chaos turned to the opposite side of the roof. Vincent Star stood there, his arms folded over his chest. Valice backed away as Chaos turned to face the new comer.
"You can only bring pain and suffering to anything that comes near you." Vincent spat at him.
Chaos narrowed his ruby eyes and clenched his hands into fists. Vincent unfolded his arms and began to walk over as his eyes narrowed; glaring back at Chaos.
"I've been sent to return you to your solitary confinement demon." Vincent said as he took off his glasses and put them in the inside pocket of his uniform.
"Voice!" Chaos screamed at Vincent, his eyes glowing with unchecked hatred.
"Indeed." He said coming to a stop only feet from Chaos. "I am an enchanter, sent by the Order of the Song to put things back to the way they were."
"NEVER!" Chaos screamed again. "I will never go back!"
"Then you leave me no choice." Vincent said as he held his arm out towards Chaos.
Valice watched with absolute confusion as Vincent's shadow moved on it's own and snaked it's way up his body out onto his arm where it gathered and extended toward the ground and up to the sky forming a beautiful black Japanese Katana. The oval shaped hilt of the sword was a shinning sliver and Vincent grasped it with his right hand and drew the blade. It's sliver blade shone in the evening light as he held the point to Chaos's throat. Was he one of the ones that had kept Chaos in the dark room he told her about? Was he the reason that Chaos was afraid of small spaces? Nothing made sense anymore!
"Come back peacefully and I won't hurt you." Vincent said as he pressed the tip of his blade into Chaos's exposed throat.
"Never." Chaos said, his eyes completely taken over by animalistic fury.
Valice didn't see either man move but in an instant they had moved backwards twenty feet. Vincent held the blade at shoulder level and Chaos held the first two inches of the deadly blade in his claw's index and middle fingers. Chaos relaxed and smiled evilly.
"Your young." He said in an almost taunting voice. "You've never done anything outside of your practice ring. I have nothing to fear from you." He said tossing the blade and Vincent along with it.
Vincent recovered quickly and charged Chaos a second time. Chaos only leaned to the side as Vincent's slice missed him by mere inches. Vincent brought the sword around again from behind him and Chaos leaned forward, the blade whistled over the back of his head with out touching him at all. Valice watched dumbfounded as Vincent and Chaos fought relentlessly for a few more breathless heartbeats at an insane pace. Vincent couldn't even touch Chaos, but Chaos let him get close. Vincent slashed straight down to Chaos's head, but Chaos ducked under the blade and came up inside Vincent's arms, a wicked smile on his face. He shoved Vincent's chest and the young swordsmen fell backwards onto the flat of his back. He tried to leap back up but he soon found Chaos was sitting on top of him. Sweat broke out on Vincent's forehead as Chaos planted a black booted foot on each the palms of Vincent's hands. The beautiful sword was dropped and it dissolved back into his shadow once again. Chaos leaned forward and studied Vincent's eyes.
"You are attractive." He said leaning closer till he was rubbing noses with Vincent.
"Get off me demon!" Vincent sputtered as Chaos inched himself closer.
"Your very attractive for a voice." Chaos said with a smile.
Valice watched and blushed a bright red as Chaos leaned down and kissed Vincent. Something about two very cute boys kissing made her blush. Vincent struggled and broke free of Chaos's lips.
"SEARRIA!" He shouted as Chaos held him down.
Chaos was tackled from the side by something black and fast moving. Chaos freed himself and leapt clear of the shadow.
"Guardian!" He said as he glared at the shadow moving on it's own in front of him.
Vincent stood up and held out his hand once again. His shadow returned to him and became the glistening sword once more.
"You will pay dearly for that disgrace!" Vincent snarled as he readied his shadow blade again.
Chaos tilted his head back and looked totally at ease. A look of both boredom and intrigue on his ghostly face.
"Really?" He said darkly. “When I win I’ll kiss you again.”
Vincent griped the hilt of his sword tighter in fury. Chaos eyed him with a smile on his pale lips.
"Your not ready to face me youngling." He said as he ran his claw threw his ebony hair.
"Chaos cut it out!" Valice said from her place to the right of him.
Both Vincent and Chaos turned to look at her with piercing eyes. Valice rang her hands together, she didn't like both of them looking at her at once.
"J...just c-cut it out! Both of you! Don't fight anymore." She said quietly.
"Give her back." Vincent said, totally ignoring her. "Undo what ever brainwashing you've done and return her to the light!"
"I've done nothing." Chaos shot back. "She chose me as her mate and she's taken me in!"
"Chaos I am not your mate!" Valice screamed in her own fury.
"I see she's amply named you as well! The name suits you demon of chaos!" Vincent growled at him.
"She did not name me! He named me!" Chaos shot back at him both completely ignoring Valice again.
"Who is "he"?" Vincent demanded.
"You don't know?" Chaos grinned. "The one who let me out named me Chaos. I liked it so I took the name myself."
"Impossible! No one can open the door!"
"Well they didn't tell you everything youngling. I was set free!" Chaos gloated.
"LIAR!" Vincent shouted as he rushed Chaos in his fury.
Valice was stunned as the boys began fighting again. They hadn't even listened to a word she said! Chaos danced around the sliver blade as Vincent brought it around to take his head from his shoulders. Valice ground her teeth together as the boys continued to duke it out on the roof. Vincent spun on the balls of his feet and trust the blade into Chaos’s heart. Or at least where Chaos's heart would have been if he was still there. Chaos had turned on his side and rammed his right shoulder into Vincent knocking him back. Vincent stumbled and the slashed out again when he recovered his footing. Chaos stepped to the left and caught Vincent's sword hand in his powerful grip, with his icy claw he twisted the sword from Vincent's hand and used his own wrist joint against him to throw him over backwards. Vincent gasped as his back hit he floor and the air escaped his lungs. Chaos held the sword in his claw and backed a little ways.
"Well done guardian." He said as the sword began to change shape.
Valice felt like her legs were going buckle underneath her. Her throat was bone dry and she couldn't do anything but open and close her mouth few times. The sword that was Vincent's shadow twisted in Chaos's grip and began to change once again. It grew in size and took on a solid form that made Valice back up on unsure legs. Chaos held Vincent by the neck, only this Vincent was completely black and gray. He had a black blindfold over his eyes and his ebony hair seemed to flow in a soft wind. The shadow Vincent struggled and clawed against the crushing force on his throat and gasped as Chaos sunk his razor fingers into it's black flesh.
"Leave Sierra alone!" Vincent gasped as he rolled onto his stomach.
Chaos didn't respond as he held the shadow Vincent Sierra up onto the air.
"Why should I? He's the source of your powers. I think I should punish both of you for what you did to her." He said with a lazy glare.
"Did what to who?!" Vincent gasped as he got to his knees breathing hard.
"You made her uneasy." Chaos said jerking his head over indicating Valice.
"Valice? All I did was read her mind." He said glaring.
"Who's VAL- ICE?" He said.
"That's her name!" Vincent spat angrily at him.
"Name...." Chaos said turning to her. "That's the certain word that people call you?"
Valice nodded, her throat still to dry to say anything.
"You don't even know her name? Your despicable!"
Chaos glared down at Vincent still choking Sierra.
"You don't even know me." Chaos growled as Sierra squeaked.
"CUT IT OUT RIGHT NOW!" Valice screamed above both of them.
Both turned to face her as she stood up on the ledge of the building.
"If you two don't shut up and listen to me I'm jumping!" It seemed the only way to get either of those to block heads to listen was to do something drastic.
"Valice don't be a fool!" Vincent gasped finally paying attention to her.
"I thought I told you to shut up!" She screamed. "Chaos! Let that... uh... thing... I mean Sierra... go right now!"
Without a second of hesitation Chaos opened his claw and let Sierra drop to the floor when he turned back into a shadow and quickly returned to Vincent's side.
"You can see him?" Vincent asked confused.
"She's special." Chaos said with a smirk.
"HEY! I didn't say you guys could talk! Now Vincent you go home and leave Chaos alone ok!"
"No, I can’t do that." He told her.
Valice shuffled back until her heels were right on the edge, she wasn't kidding.
"I said leave! I'm not messing around here!" She said pointing over her shoulder to the long drop behind her.
"You wouldn't," He said eyeing her.
"Don't be so sure! I have a crapy life and my brother just died, don't push me. Now get out of here!"
"Ok, ok. Sierra let's go." He said getting to his feet; his shadow paused as if unsure. "Yes I'm sure. I don't want to put anyone in danger."
Vincent glared at Chaos who smiled back as Vincent turned and headed to the stairs heading down. Valice sighed as Vincent was only a few feet away from reaching the stairs. She was about to step off the ledge when a fierce wind hit her in the face pushing her right over the edge with a raging howl. She didn't scream because she really wasn't kidding about jumping she just hadn't expected to do it in the end. She saw Chaos turn before the roof slipped from her view. The wind rushed all around her and she couldn't here anything besides it and her pounding heart. The glass of the building rushed by faster then she could keep up with but she guessed she was still somewhere near the top of the building. Pictures of her brother flashed though her mind as she free fell to the ground. Like when he had taught her how to ride a bike, how to read her tarot cards. When they had picked Riku out of all the kittens at the pound and how he had got all bloody when he thought she would like to be tossed in the air. Tears weld up in her eyes as realized that she's be seeing him soon.
She slammed into something almost soft the next moment. She was stunned, the ground should be hard and death bringing. She looked back out at he building and found she was heading up instead of down.
"Well what do you know." Said a male voice. "I came here to slay a dragon and I end up saving a princess!"
At once Valice was flying above the roof, Chaos and Vincent standing at the edge looked up at her as she felt whoever was holding her touch down on the roof. The man holding her looked no older then herself and Vincent and he was just as handsome as him as well. He was tall and strongly built, which is probably why he could hold her for so long. He had a boyish face and liquid blue eyes full of childish spunk. A mop of untamed autumn brown hair sagged to his ears and a wolfish grin spilt his face as he eyed Chaos.
"Well looks like I found the evil dragon... and another white knight here to save the day." He said seeing Vincent for the first time.
"Another voice." Chaos snarled as he turned his eyes to the other man.
"Here you go princess." He said as he set Valice down on her feet. "You can thank me later."
He walked over to Chaos and Vincent and the three formed a strange lopsided triangle. The blue eyed man cracked his knuckles threateningly as he grinned at Chaos.
"Long time no see Vincent. You haven't been at he academy in forever." He said pulling on a pair of thick black leather gloves.
"I've been busy here. And what are you doing here anyway Ceasar?" Vincent said as Sierra became a sword once again.
"You didn't think that just because your the top student that the Order would just send you to bring him back do you?" Ceasar grinned, "Sides' it looks like you got your a** handed to you anyways!"
Chaos glared at both boys with fiery red eyes. Ceasar jumped first sending a deadly punch at Chaos's face. Chaos backed one step up just out of reach and a left hook came out of nowhere and made him leap to the right. He ducked a sliver slice and then blocked a roundhouse hook with his arm. Valice watched as Chaos didn’t' fight back against the others, he only blocked and dodged. She was biting her nails as Vincent and Ceasar came closer to connecting an attack.
"Looks like we need to turn up the heat!" Ceasar shouted. "Come on Anael!"
Valice gasped as Ceasar disappeared and Chaos stumbled backwards as Ceasar's fist connected with he's cheek. Ceasar disappeared again and Chaos stumbled the other way as his other cheek received a beating. Vincent's foot slammed into his chest sending him backwards in to Ceasar who grasped him around the waist and jumped backwards landing and crushing Chaos underneath him.
"You've improved your bonds." Vincent said as Ceasar stood up.
"And you've gotten cockier bastared." Ceasar said with a grin.
"You both have a lot to learn." Chaos said from behind them.
Both enchanters turned to find Chaos had one arm around each of their shoulders. His clawed razor fingers pressed into Ceasar's throat and his other hand was pressed into Vincent's jugular vain.
"My powers aren’t even a fourth restored and you get excited that you touched me." He said as he dug his fingers into their throats making them hiss and stand on their toes.
"I'm going now," He whispered to them. "Because this is upsetting her. But you still owe me." He said to Vincent.
Chaos closed his lips on Vincent's once again as Ceasar watched with a amused smile on his face as Vincent was forced to endue payment. The strong fingers pressing on his vain made it imposable from him to move let alone resist.
"Wow that's hot." Ceasar said with a smile.
Chaos finally let Vincent' lips go and turned to Ceasar and locked lips with him as well, but Ceasar seemed to enjoy it.
"Your attractive too." He said when he was done kissing him.
"I could say the same." Ceasar shot back with a lusty grin.
Valice was suddenly picked up by strong arms. She was already red from Chaos's little kissing adventure and him picking her up only seem to worsen the red on her face.
"Until next time." Chaos said as he and Valice disappeared.
Vincent spat on the roof and wiped him mouth on the sleeve of his uniform. Ceasar pulled of the black gloves and stuck them in his back pocket.
"Well aren’t you helpful!" Vincent growled as he spat the kiss from his lips. "Even with your speed we couldn't do anything."
"Hey no one said this job was going to be easy. Besides, we didn't walk away empty handed." He said with a smirk.
"Stupid horny bastared." Vincent snarled as he made his way to the stairs. "You enjoyed that didn't you?!"
"Of course I did." Ceasar laughed. "But then I don't have a stick shoved up my a** like you do."
“Going to the Academy with only male has screwed you up.” Vincent said as he headed for the stairs.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Ceasar grinned as he fallowed him.

Valice was pretty shocked when she ended up at her house a blink of an eye later. Chaos set her down on the couch where she stayed for a long while trying to collect her thoughts. Chaos, who couldn't seem to stand still, roamed around the house and ended up cashing Riku around. The kitten puffed herself up and arched her back as Chaos tried to pick her up.
"CAT." He called to Riku as he got on his knees looking at her. "BABY."
Riku backed away from him hissing and spiting as Chaos reached out to grab her. She leapt and twisted away from him and bolted under the couch where Chaos couldn't get her. He crawled over to the couch as well and stuck his hand under to try and get her, but she was just out of reach.
"What were those things!" Valice asked as Chaos sat up in front of her.
"What was what things?" He asked with a yawn.
"That black thing that looked like Vincent!" She said wondering how he could forget.
"That was his guardian." He said looking under the couch once again for Riku.
"That doesn't explain much! Who exactly was that?! Why does it look like an identical copy of him?! How could it turn into a sword?!" Valice panted.
"You have one too." He said not looking up from under the couch.
"What?" Valice gasped.
"She's powerful too. Haven't you noticed?" He said somersaulting backwards and landed upside-down in front of the little TV.
"What are you taking about?" She sighed lost and worn out.
Chaos pointed an upside-down claw at the shadow Valice cast on the floor.
"Her." He said completely nonchalant.
Valice looked at her shadow but all it did was turn it's head just as she did. Her shoulders sagged as she sighed; there wasn't anything special about her or her shadow.
"Chaos," She said softly. "Your crazy."
"You don't believe do you?" He asked looking in her face upside-down.
Valice squeaked and jumped as Chaos surprised her by his sudden appearing in her face. As her heartbeat slowly returned to normal her waved his hand in her face.
"Still there?" He asked as he sprang over the couch to land on the floor like a cat. "She just hasn't been able to cross over. I'll help." He said looking at her shadow.
Chaos reached with his claw for the shadow and touched the floor. Valice looked at him with an even funnier look then usual. Then Chaos reached though the floor into the shadow and his claw disappeared up to his shoulder. Valice gasped and backed away. How could he do that!? Chaos squinted as if he was looking for something and then smiled and stared pulling on something. Valice watched with wide, terrified eyes as Chaos pulled a black and gray replica of her from the floor. The shadow her fell to her knees on the floor when Chaos let go of the back on her neck and she seemed to be cloaking, but she didn’t make any noise at all. Her short hair seemed to flow in a breaze that wasn't there, just like Vincent's shadow.
"Meet your guardian." He said as the shadow Valice looked up at her.
A thick black blindfold covered her eyes, but she could still apparently see because the moment she saw Valice she looked down and rang her hands together as if embarrassed. Valice couldn't stop herself from staring. The shadow her turned and looked at Chaos, but he only shrugged.
"I don't know." He said.
"Did she say something? I didn't hear anything." Valice said coming down from the couch to look at her shadow.
"She can't talk." Chaos said simply. "And you can tell the future because of her. That's her power."
"What?" Valice asked, she wasn't listening to him.
The shadow her finally looked up and her and pointed to the coat closet and Valise arched an eyebrow.
"Your funny cards." Chaos with a yawn as he lied down between the two of them. "She pulls them out and you read them. That's way your always right."
"Well that makes me feel better. I'm not a complete freak... well I still am but lets not get technical. So what's your name?"
Her shadow opened and closed her mouth and then pointed to her throat and shrugged.
"Oh I'm sorry. I forgot you can't talk." She looked down at Chaos needing help. "What's her name?"
"Ask her!" He said as he flipped onto his stomach and looked under the couch at Riku.
"That doesn't help much!" Valice growled at the unhelpful Chaos as he crawled over to the couch.
Both her and her shadow sighed in unison.
"Well, we can play charades or something till I guess your name." Valice offered.
The shadow shook her head and pointed to Valice and then to herself. Valice arched a confused eyebrow as the shadow pointed to herself and then back to Valice.
"We have the same name?" She tired.
The shadow shook her head back and forth rapidity and repeated the pointing. Fifteen minutes of the same dead end guessing got them nowhere. Valice finally got feed up and tossed her hands in the air. Everything that had to do with Chaos was always ten times more difficult and aggravating then it had to be! Chaos in the mean time crawled around on the floor like and inch worm after Riku. The kitten puffed herself up and arched her back as Chaos inched after her. Shadow Valice seemed just as frustrated as the real one and put her head in her hands.
"Any help from you would be nice Chaos!" Valice yelled at him.
"You name her!" He giggled as he quickly rolled onto his back and scooped up Riku, holding her in the air.
"Well that would have been helpful at the start of all this!" Valice growled though ground teeth as her shadow nodding in agreement. "So, I get to name you?"
The shadow nodded up and down quickly.
"Ok, well I want it to be something cool, but something you'd like." Valice stared.
She racked her brain for names that fit that description.
"Sasha?" The shadow shook her head no. "Zara? Melissa? Karen? Rose?... Gabriella?"
The shadow stuck her tongue out and looked like she was gagging.
"Ok, I didn't like that name either."

Chapter 5

A simple “no” was Vincent’s answer. Ceasar flopped down on the couch with a disgusted sigh. A stupid motel would be better then rooming with his guy! He thought to himself as he looked around the small home. It was pretty spacey for just one person, the whole house was just a little bigger then an good sized apartment. But it seemed much bigger then that. He’d already seen the bare kitchen and the barely livable “living” room where he was suppose to be sleeping. The house was as plain as could be! No posters or decorations of any kind anywhere as far as he could see. But maybe his room… He thought as he pushed himself off the couch to go investigate. Ceasar shoved his hands in his pants pockets and carefully made his way around the living room to a hall that led more then likely to stick-up-the-a** boy’s room. He sauntered past a coat closet and bathroom and some other door that was closed until he came to the end of the hall. The door was open a crack and it had an aura about it that screamed “jackass”, at lest in Ceasar’s opinion. Just as he reached for the door knob Sierra took form in front of him, blocking the entrance. A shadow replica of Ceasar appeared at Ceasar’s side nearly the same second.
“Cool it Anael.” He said taking a step back from the shadow guardian.
“Don’t go in my room!” Vincent shouted from the kitchen.
“God! Your roommate can’t even see your room!” Ceasar scoffed as he stuck his hands back in his pockets and went back down the hall. Anael fallowed him keeping a blindfolded eye on Sierra would was still blocking the door to Vincent’s room.
“And don’t even think about the guest room!” Vincent yelled as Ceasar stopped at the closed door.
“YOU HAVE A GUEST ROOOM AND YOUR MAKING ME SLEEP ON THE COUCH?!” Ceasar screamed.
"I can ask anything?" Valice asked, unsure if she had herd the statement right.
"Anything." Darien repeated as he watched her closely.
Valice didn't know what to do, all those questions that had been whiling inside her head only a moment had all abandoned her. She slumped against the door as she stared at the two men.
"I...I don't know." She said completely at a loss.
"Perhaps you are wondering what we are?" Darien offered with a shrug.
"Yes. I was wondering that." Valice said, unsure if that was indeed one of her turncoat questions.
"Very well," Darien started. "I'm not important. All you have to know is that I am the last of a people that died out long ago. Master, is far more interesting, you may want to sit down." Darien said as he looked at her pale face.
Chaos sat on the floor beside her without Valice ever noticing. He smiled up at her with another piece of pizza halfway gone as he tugged on her pant leg for her to sit. She could already tell that this was going to be bad.
"Miss Valice, do you believe in god?" Darien asked from the table.
Valice slumped to the floor beside Chaos with a thump.
"Miss Valice? Do you?" Darien pushed.
"I-I- guess," She started.
"And how do you picture your god?" He asked.
"I guess… I… never thought of god as a human... I've... just... always kind of assumed that god was some powerful universal force beyond us."
It had been a long time since Valice had thought about who or what god was, and she found it increasingly strange that Darien would ask about her views.
"Very well," He said nodding his head with what might have been a small smile. "Another question for you, are you familiar with what your people call the chaos theory?"
Valice blinked and stared at Darien for a long time. The chaos theory was something out of math class, or was it science class? And it had to do with the creation of the universe... or something along those lines.
"I guess..." Valice said again.
"That doesn't sound very definite." Darien said.
"It's been awhile since I've had science class." She said.
"Anyways, the chaos theory is the theory that the universe was created by random events and things develop under complete chaos. Who’s only pattern is no pattern at all. "
"O...k, what does that have to do with Chaos?... Besides the name." Valice asked confused.
"It has everything to do with him. He is chaos." Darien said.
"Yeah I know he's Chaos." Valice said looking at him as if he were crazy.
Chaos laid his head on her shoulder as Darien watched the both of them.
"I don't think you understand." He started. "Chaos isn't just his new name. He's the random and unpredictable force that created the universe. He's your god."
Valice was glade she was sitting. The bottom of her stomach disappeared and her heart fell out of her ribcage. Darien and Chaos must have noticed by the sudden disappearing of all the color in her face.
"Are you ok?" Chaos asked. "Do you need some Pis-za?" He offered her the last third of the pizza he was eating.
Valice felt as cold as ice, but couldn't take her eyes off Darien.
"W-w-w- what?" She asked, praying that he was making fun of her.
"The "person" sitting next to you is the corporpriale form of chaos." Darien said slowly.
He gave her plenty of time to digest the information. Chaos was a bit more unforgiving.
"What you think what you think what you think!" Chaos whined as he pulled on her shirt sleeve.
Darien saw that it was a little bit too much information for the poor girl at once, but she had wanted to know. Besides, he thought to himself, she didn't seem to be disillusioned with a "God" religion. She just needed some time.
"Your," She started slowly turning to Chaos. "Your... your..."
"Me." Chaos finished. "I'm me."
"If he's chaos... how is he here?!" Valice finally got out.
"Because I can." Chaos said happily.
"That's a bit complicated." Darien started. "Do you really want to know?"
"Kinda hard to stop now." Valice said halfheartedly, the color slowly returning to her cheeks.
"Let me think, ... how do I put this?" Darien thought out loud. "Well as you know chaos is everywhere right? I'd have to be, it created the universe and still is. It's almost what you would call alive. This force can take different forms, like the one you see here." He said pointing to Chaos. "It's a sort of a... a... " He said turning his eyes upwards in thought. "A kind of convergence of power to create a pure form of that power that is part of and yet separate from itself. More or less anyways, it's very complicated."
Chaos nodded quickly, the pizza crust flapping up and down in his teeth.
"But how did you end up here?" Valice asked. "You could have gone anywhere else, why come here?"
Chaos yawned and shook his head, he wasn't answering.
"I'm not sure." Darien interrupted. "Perhaps he zeroed in on my energy when he escaped the Order and ended up here with me."
"Wait, back up!" Valice said waving her hands in the air. "He escaped the "Order"? What the hell is that?! How'd he get caught?!"
"Would you like me to finish answering your first question?" Darien asked politely from the table.
Valice blushed she was getting ahead of herself again.
"Sorry." Valice said with a sigh.
"When master was captured, naturally I tried to free him, but I couldn't. So I fled to a world were there were very few enchanters of the Order and somewhere that the inhabitants had forgotten and lost all the powers they had so I could wait for him."
"World?" Valice questioned without thinking.
"You didn't honestly think that you where the only ones in the universe did you?" Darien said as he raised a handsome eyebrow.
"Sorry." She said as she lowered her eyes.
"As for the Order, I'd rather not talk about them, but you asked." He said with a bitter tone in his voice.
"Voices!" Chaos spat, the hatred in his voice unhidden.
"So, who are they?" Valice asked, growing more interested by the moment.
"More like who aren’t they." Darien sighed annoyed. "It's a universal group of enchanters that are self designated "keepers of order and peace". More like buricratic, calice, power hungry maniacs."
"Voices. Dark and small." Chaos said folding his arms while glaring at nothing.
Valice thought about Vincent and then that guy Ceasar that had saved her life. Valice had known Vincent since elementary school, and he wasn't buricratic or power hungry. And that Ceasar didn't seem any of those things.
"They are recruit all those with powerful guardians and send them through the universe to "keep peace", and whoever doesn't agree with them are called threats to peace and are terminated."
"So... they don't like Chaos and .. well chaos?" Valice asked.
"Exactly. He's more or less a threat to their strangle hold on the peoples of the universe. They claim that they protect and prevent, but if you have rampant chaos everywhere your claim comes into question. So they had to take care of it."
"Dark room." Chaos growled his red eyes narrowed.
"They put you in a dark room Chaos?" Valice asked.
Chaos breathed heavily but didn't speak.
"I don't know exactly how master was taken, or what they did to him but they found a way to contain him."
"I thought Chaos had powers!"
Darien arched an eyebrow at her.
"He told me." Valice said pointing to Chaos.
Chaos nodded up and down to Darien who shrugged.
"I'm don't know why master couldn't get out. I've been asking myself that question along time. Perhaps Master can answer that."
"What?" Chaos asked as he chewed on the lid of box the pizza had come in.
"Maybe not." Valice said.
"Anything else you’d like to know?"
"What kind of powers does he have?" Valice asked as Chaos swallowed the chunk cardboard box and tore off another piece.
"All the powers in the universe. The powers of chaos of course." Darien said.
"Anything more specific?" Valice asked as Chaos scraped the cheese of the bottom of the box and ate that.
"You can never be specific with Master." Darien said with a smile.
"So I guess he flew here?" Valice said with a smile.
"Not exactly. He more then likely teleported himself." Darien shrugged.
"Teleported? You'd think I would expect that after all this... I guess that's how he gets around so fast."
"Piz-za? Chaos said as he looked up, the bottom of the box in his mouth.
"He's not exactly helpful is he?" Valice said with a sigh.
"Your preaching to the choir." Darien shrugged.
"So how come you seem to know a lot Earth Darien?"
"I've been here quite a while." He said.
"How long?" Valice asked.
Very long was all the answer she got. Her clock tickled loudly and she glanced up to look at it.
"ELEVEN AT NIGHT!!" She yelled scrambling to stand up.
Darien flinched and Chaos looked up as Valice rushed to her backpack.
"CRAP!! I HAVE A TON OF HOMEWORK TO DO!" She said grabbing her books and papers.
She rushed to her room and slammed the four huge books on the desk by the window, she dug around looking for her calculator and ruler but couldn’t find them. She rushed back to her backpack by the door but they weren't there.
"Chaos have you seen my...." Valice looked up and saw her calculator in pieces. "never mind." she said finding her ruler.
Darien eyed her with confusion as she went back to her room in a hurry.
"Well at least she's not worried." Darien said with a half smile.
"Val is funny!" Chaos said as he tossed the half eaten bottom of the pizza box away behind him.
"She certainly is different." Darien said as Valice came running back.
"Sorry about that. I know you've told me a lot of important things... but I guess this how I deal with pressure. So you guys can stay here as long as you want, just don't get me thrown out ok?" She said bolting back to her room.
"Different indeed." Darien said with a sigh.
Chaos giggled and smiled at Darien.
"You should see the place she has to go to every day! That's even more funny!" He said as he wrapped his arms around Darien's broad shoulders. "Are you tired?" He asked.
"Not exactly." Darien sighed as Chaos nibbled on his ear.

Valice woke up the next morning with a stiff neck. When she finally got her eyes to open with her alarm going off she found she had fallen asleep on her desk, the books still piled high with papers everywhere. There was a heavy blanket draped around her shoulders, and a half eaten slice of pizza on top of one of her books. She yawned and tossed the pizza in the trash can and let the blanket fall to the floor as she stretched and yawned again. After a few minutes she was dressed in her uniform and ready to go to class. She wasn't sure if there would be any class today, let alone if there would still be a school to go back to. When she got to the door she found a note taped at her eye level in clear perfect hand writing.

Dear Miss Valice,
I hope Master and I didn't keep you up last night, I tried to keep the noise down so you could sleep. The news said your school was reopened but attendance is voluntary. Master and I will be out today so don't worry, we'll be home later. Also, I hope the pizza wasn't on any of your important papers, but Master insisted that you would find it there. Have a nice day.
`Darien & Master
Valice had to read the beautiful writing three or four times before she could make out all the words. When she could finally read the first line she blushed a deep red again. She was so asleep she hadn't heard anything, but some of the possibilities that went though her head were quite embarrassing.
"They were probably just ... uh... chatting and catching up..." Valice said in a desperate attempt to convince herself.
Riku was on the kitchen table licking the rest of the half eaten bottom of the pizza box Chaos had left out when Valice entered the room. She was shocked, besides the pizza box, everything else was neat in the whole house! Valice went room to room and found everything that Chaos had toppled over or displaced was put back right where it belonged. Even against her better judgment, peeked into Donovan’s room; nothing was even touched! Everything was exactly where she remembered finding it and the bed was neatly made. Valice had a suspicion that Chaos wasn't the one cleaning up after himself. A second alarm sounded in her room and Valice quickly checked her watch. It was almost eight! She was going to be late! Without a second thought Valice bolted back to her room and snatched all the papers and books and stuffed them into her backpack. Crumpling and squishing most of them beyond repair as she sprinted out the front door banging it closed and locking it in a rush.
She reached the front of the school just as the first bell rang. Valice couldn't believe that the school looked in such good condition. When everything had happened she thought that the building would have been torn in two pieces, but it still stood. The inside looked far more as she expected, there were plumbers and electricians everywhere trying to get the internal part of the school operational. Everywhere broken glass had been poorly swept up and dark trash bags were duck taped over the broken windows.
Her class room didn't look to be in too bad of shape as she opened the door. No one looked up to see who it was, all the students that had shown up where crowed around a desk near the front. And good portion of the class had shown up, so it was difficult for Valice to try and push her way to her desk. She only thanked god (Chaos) that Angelica, Mandy, and Iona had taken the day to go shopping and tell each other how pretty they were then to show up and pester her when she all ready had so much on her mind. She was so busy thinking that she didn't notice what everyone was staring at, she didn't even notice Vincent looking for once something other straight faced and serious.
"Well if it isn't the princess!" Someone said right behind her.
Valice frowned and turned around confused.
"It's your knight in shinning armor babe." Said the boy behind her.
Short, untamed brown hair covered his head and sapphire blue eyes watched her with great interest. Valice couldn't believe it! Ceasar, the man who had saved her life, was now in her class. He grinned as she recognized who he was. He crossed his big black army style boots that were on the top of his desk as she struggled to finds words. He had no backpack or school supplies to speak of, but the most stunning and out of place thing about him was how he wore is uniform. The pants had no belt and rested low on his hips; his jacket was completely open just one button in the middle kept it closed, and he had no undershirt. Just the skin he was born with.
"What are you doing here?!" She asked confused.
Ceasar winked at her and gave her a smile.
"Here to broaden my mind of course babe." He said.
"As if he had a mind to began with." Vincent grumbled under his breath.
For the next ten minutes that a teacher didn't show up Valice was being questioned by all the others in the class. How did she know Ceasar? Was it true he saved her life? Was she dating him? Valice was at a loss, she wasn't used to people and everything from last night just sent her into a tail spin. Ceasar on the other hand seem to revel in all the attention, and he was trying to pick up on everyone around him, even the boys.
"So what's your name sweet thing?" He'd ask some cute boy.
"What the hell man?! Are you hitting on me or something!?" The boy would fire back.
"Just asking your name, no need to get you panties in a twist." Ceasar would comeback undeterred.
Without even doing anything he already had a fan fallowing of girls hanging all over him, Valice was pretty sure that they were even going to start a club to worship him as well. And when the b***h trio got back they'd pry be president, vice president and treasurer or something. He didn't seem to interested in the girls. In fact, he looked like he was having more fun trying to pick up the guys in the class, to the delight of the girls.
"So Vinny, when are you just going to admit you like me?" He said with a lecherous grin as the girls took off into fantasy land, hearts in their eyes.
Vincent didn't say anything, but Valice could see an vain on his forehead. Ceasar could see it too, so he decided to push him a bit farther. Just to try and make it explode for fun.
"What? Are you scared that I'll be too much for you?" He teased.
Vincent whipped around and his fiery emerald eyes bored into Ceasar's. Valice jumped at the fury pouring from Vincent, wondering why such a stupid preteen joke would set off his anger. Everything in the room seemed to slow down and lose some of it's color. Even people blinking seemed to take forever as Valice watched nervously as the two enchanters stared each other down.
"If you ever do anything like that again, I'll burn whatever you have in the big head out of your skull."
"What? Aren’t you going to have me make a fool of myself first with your little powers first?" Ceasar taunted. "Besides, your don't have the guts to something against your precious rules."
Ceasar's mouth snapped closed and his own hands flew to his throat, slowly squeezing themselves closed. Valice slid back slowly in her seat to keep out of the way. Almost a second later Ceasar's shadow guardian was at his side, holding Ceasar's hands off his throat so he could breath. Vincent glared a moment longer as Ceasar smirked back. As if someone had hit the play button on a movie, the color came back into the world and things returned to a normal. Valice was thoroughly confused when the shadow disappeared and Ceasar was laughing normally, as if he didn't just try to choke himself.
"What crawled up your a** and died?" Ceasar laughed as the fan club around him looked stunned, as if they missed something.
Valice just sat blinking at the two men, wondering if she would ever know what the hell was going on.
"What was that?!" She asked Vincent who was turned back to his book.
"What was what?" He asked, looking board but still angry.
Valice turned around and faced the front of the room, her eyes wide and her brain racing. It was too bad she was too young for alcohol; it might have made things easier.
"Class!" Said someone from the door way.
The whole class turned around to look at the door way and the man standing there. He had semi long blonde hair that had a light brown tone to it and he had it pulled back into a small lose ponytail. His bight brown eyes were framed by a pair of small glasses that looked like Vincent's in a way. He had a very handsome face and looked no older then twenty five.
"This is the senior class 13-J right?" He asked the now silent room.
"It is." Vincent answered from the font as the new teacher made his way to the desk.
Ceasar looked the new teacher up and down, sizing him up, as did Vincent. The new teacher wore a light blue long sleeve shirt with kaki pants and Valice thought that he didn’t really look like a teacher at all, more like a college student or something. He set down his bag and stood nervously in front of the class who was completely silent, including Ceasar who was still eyeing him suspiciously.
"Good morning star shine..." He started as Valice swore she heard crickets chirping. "Well anyways, I'm your new teacher. I'm sorry I was unable to be here the other day, my plane was delayed. But I guess that was a good thing seeing as what happened here...." He trailed off as no one spoke... at all. "Anyways... my name is Consentine Delanon*. Or Professor Delanon to you. I've been transferred to your class... as you can see, but I'd like to find out what you've been studying so I can effectively teach you."
(*author’s note: pronounced Del-ah-non)
After Vincent filled him in on what the were working on last, (no one else knew what they were studying in the first place) Professor Delanon began teaching the next chapter of math that Valice hopped they wouldn't have to work on. She hated math the most because it was so dull and repetitive. Over and over and over the same thing that never seem to make any sense to her even when she did pay attention and try. So math time turned into doodling time for her, with the occasional note taking here and there to make the teacher think that she was at least half assing and attempt to do something math related. Today, she found herself drawing Chaos. She was always finding herself in art class one way or the other, even if she didn't what to be there. Even though she didn't like paint, charcoal, ink, color, and most any other medium or style they made her try, she loved pencil sketches. And after quite a few years she thought she was doing pretty good. There was something about Chaos made her very interested in drawing again. Her pencil scratched across his face to make his ebony bangs come across his face in that mysterious and child like way. She took great care with his eyes because if they were open too much he looked much too innocent, but too squinted and he looked far too sinister. Three long steps of a particularly hard algebra problem later and she had his eyes perfect. She set down the pencil to look at it and make sure that she had got him right.
His long dark hair trailed behind his head and shoulders as if blown in a light wind, in the picture he didn't have any shirt, but the picture only went to his shoulders anyways. His bangs covered the right side of his face eye almost completely, while another lock covered the last corner of his right eyes and most of his nose. The left side was swept back off his face a little so it only covered the front of his pointed ear. But his eyes, his eyes seemed to come alive on the page.
"Wow," Ceasar said over her shoulder. "he's a lot hotter with out a shirt on."
Valice jumped and tried to cover the page with her hands, but when she went for the drawing Ceasar was already holding it. Valice wanted to crawl in a hole and die right there, she never could handle people looking at her drawings.
"He looks good." Ceasar said as he handed the picture back to Valice. "Should have drawn a little lower."
He winked at her as she took the drawing and blushed. She set down the drawing on the desk and dug her binder out of her messy backpack to put it away, but when she turned to pick it up it was gone again.
"What the...?" She asked herself.
"This is me?" Chaos asked as he sat on Professor Delanon desk.
Valice's picture in his blue claw.
Valice broke out in a cold sweat as Chaos sat on the desk swinging his legs back and forth staring at her somewhat risqué drawing of him. No one else seemed to notice him at all as he laid down, his arms above his head still looking at the sketch. If Valice had wanted to die when Ceasar had looked at her drawing, she was ready to drive the pencil through her heart right now. What was worse, Chaos seem to not want to give it back to her.
"So, is it me?" He asked again half sitting up and resting on his clawed arm.
"Yes..." Valice whispered through her teeth.
"What?" Vincent asked as he looked up from his work to the side of her. "Did you say something?"
"Nothing!" She said quickly remembering what happened the last time Chaos and him had met.
"Can I keep it?" Chaos asked crossing his legs and sitting up on the teacher's desk as Professor Delanon turned around.
Valice's face drained of all color again the new Professor reached right through Chaos's chest, grabbed a pen in Chaos's right calf and then turned back to the board. Chaos smiled as Valice squeaked.
"So can I?" He tried again as Valice continued staring.
"Is something wrong?" Vincent asked as Valice squeaked again.
Chaos's grin turned into a frown as Valice shook her head at Vincent.
"He's nosey." He said sliding off the desk, picture still in hand. "He's just like all the others. Sticking his nose were it doesn't belong."
"Really Miss Blackburn," Vincent whispered. "you don't look well. Should I take you to the nurse?"
Valice couldn't speak as her eyes grew wide. Chaos's bladed fingers caressed Vincent's jugular vain and throat, but Vincent didn't seem to notice. Chaos's cherry red eyes were half closed as if he were happily debating if he should slit the boy's throat.
"Nosey nosey little whelp." He chanted as Valice began to sweat.
Vincent was completely unaware of the danger that he was in as Chaos tightened his fist.

Chpater 7

Ceasar stood with his blue eyes smoldering with angry fire. He tried to will Vincent to stand up and fight, or just stand, or do anything but sit there and ignore him like this. He HATED being ignored. Ceasar strained his fingers against the tables making his arm mussels bulge and his knuckles and finger tips turn white, but Vincent didn't do anything. His forest green eyes stayed glued to the page.
"You can't copy my homework." He said halfway down the back side of the paper.
Ceasar slumped back down to his knees and banged his head on the table. There was no winning against him. He'd completely shut him out of his mind.
"God damn it you piss me off." He sighed.
"Your too annoying. I can't get any work done." Vincent huffed flipping the paper back over and putting it back in the stack.
"YOUR too annoying! I can't work!" Ceasar mumbled into the table as Vincent got up.
"Go to bed or something." Vincent said slamming the papers down in a kitchen drawer.
"Who the HELL goes to bed at..." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "NINE AT NIGHT?! Your sick or something Vinny!"
"My name is not VINNY!" He yelled slamming the drawer closed.
Ceasar looked up and arched an eyebrow. Slamming things and yelling wasn't Vincent style. Hell, doing anything wasn't his style.
"What's got your boxers in a bunch?" Ceasar asked sitting back up.
"That doesn't concern you!" He said silently more quite as he turned on his heel and headed for the living room.
"Hey hey hey! Where do you think your going?" Ceasar said grabbing Vincent's wrist. "I'm not don't talking to you yet!"
Vincent jerked he hand away, grabbed Ceasar's throat and squeezed.
"Don't touch me!" He yelled.
Ceasar's face instantly changed to an annoyed frown. In a flash he had Vincent's wrist again and was bending it backwards. Vincent let go and tried to pull his hand free, but Ceasar's grip was like steel. He twisted more and Vincent fell to one knee as he heard his elbow pop.
"And this is just with one hand." Ceasar said standing up towering over Vincent.
Vincent reached up with his other hand to try and pull his arm back to a normal position put Ceasar only pushed harder. Vincent yelped with pain and fell to the floor holding his nearly dislocated arm.
"Look," Ceasar stared kneeling above Vincent's head still holding his arm ready to break it. "I like this about as much as you do. Well... maybe more then you do.. but then I'm the happy-go-lucky, lied back type."
"So glade... you can... categorized yourself!" Vincent snapped in spurts.
Ceasar twisted his wrist a little more and Vincent shut up with a moan as his arm muscles strained.
"It's rude to interrupt." He said with a grin. "Anyways, we both don't want to be here. But we have to. So why don't you just pull that sick out of your a** and loosen up alright? Things would be a lot more bearable if you just pretended to be a nice guy. Cuz' we might be stuck together a while got it?"
Vincent didn't answer, he just groped uselessly at Ceasar's arm with his free hand. Ceasar frowned; he wasn't done just yet.
"But if your prissy attitude has anything to do with "blood" I'll snap your arm like a tooth pick right now."
"WHY WOULD I CARE ABOUT "BLOOD" DAMN IT!" Vincent screamed as his arm got ready to snap.
Ceasar released some of the pressure on Vincent's arm but didn't let him go.
"Because it's been my experience that people that come from families like yours aren’t the most open minded about someone that comes from a family like mine."
"Well I'm not my family am I!" Vincent spat angrily.
"Well good!" Ceasar said happily. "I'm glad we cleared that up. So what's with the bad mood mister stick-up-the-a**?"
"You you kindly let go of my arm Mr. Templar?" Vincent said with a forced smile.
"Oh good! You remembered my name. I'm ecstatic with joy. Now what's with attitude Mister? Where I come from we talk about the things that piss us off."
"Well, where I come from we aren’t forced to talk if we don't feel like it. Now let me go!" Vincent ordered.
"I don't know..." He said cocking his head off to the side. "That look suits you nicely. You know that defenseless, overpowered, flat on your back look. It's very sexy."
"Don't look at me like that or what I think of your blood is going to be the least of you worries!" Vincent snarled.
"Sorry," Ceasar smiled. "let me make it up to you with a blow job."
Ceasar didn't see what hit him. Something slammed into the back of his head and he released Vincent’s arm as he fell forward. He felt himself flipped over and hit the floor and when his blue eyes adjusted there was a shinning sliver blade of a Japanese katana pressed long ways across his throat. This time Vincent was kneeling over him.
"As long as we're setting ground rules here are mine. Stay away from me. Simple enough."
"Well that's not going to happen." Ceasar grinned.
"And why not if I may inquire Mr. Templar?" Vincent said faking another small smile.
"Because your just my type pretty boy." Ceasar smirked licking his lips.
"You make me sick." Vincent snapped his eyes narrowing.
"And you make me horny." Ceasar grinned back. "Here's to breaking the rules."
"I'm going to bed." Vincent sighed standing up as the katana disappeared and he stepped over Ceasar.
"Hey! Aren’t you going to invite me to your bed!?" Ceasar shouted after him.
"Go sleep in your own bed Ceasar." Vincent said in the living room.
"Well I don't have one thanks to you!" He yelled scrambling to his feet.
"Then go sleep on the couch!." Vincent yelled back slamming the door to his room right as Ceasar reached the hallway.
"You better hurry up and pull that stick out of your a**!" Ceasar called down the hall. "Cuz I'm going need the room in there! And let me tell you I need a LOT of room!"
"Stop overestimating yourself." Vincent shouted back.
"Nothing's overestimated here baby!" Ceasar yelled back arching his back and running his fingers through his mess of hair.
Stupid, prideful, horny jerk. Vincent thought to himself in his room.
Why the hell don't I x-ray vision! Ceasar thought as he flopped onto the couch.
He stared at the white ceiling for a while running curses through his head that he'd use in his next argument. He twisted and laid on his side staring at the wall. Vincent didn't even have a T.V in this place, well he'd write a letter to headquarters and change that. He needed something to do around here! And it obviously wasn't going to be the black haired stud in the next room.
"I need a blanket." He said to himself.
Suddenly a blanket was dropped on his head. He pulled it away to find Vincent's guardian standing there giving him a little wave and a smile.
"Didn't think you liked me." He said sitting up.
"He says that he thinks you funny." Anael informed as he appeared sitting on the couch by Ceasar's waist.
"Great." Ceasar huffed opening the blanket.
Sierra and Anael chatted silently as Ceasar made himself comfortable niche on the couch with his new blanket.
"Going to bed early tonight?" Anael asked with his short gray and black hair floating gently in a breeze.
"Nothing better to do." Ceasar grumbled folding his arms as he laid on his side.
"Sierra says that he's sorry for Vincent. He's not used to being so close to other people."
"Why would I care?" Ceasar yawned starting to feel sleepy now that he was lying down.
"I know why you would care." Anael said.
"Shut up stupid!" Ceasar growled back at his guardian.
"I'm not stupid! Your stupid STUPID!" Anael barked back.
"Can I please just go to bed!? I actually happen to be tired!"
"Bullshiting lair!" Anael snapped back.
"I'm not talking to you anymore!" Ceasar huffed. "So there!"
"Oh yea, that's really grown up of you! What would mom think if she heard you say that?"
"Not talking to you!" Ceasar repeated.
Anael sighed heavily and began silently talking with Sierra again. The two shadows conversed for a moment and then Sierra disappeared.
"Shut up I don't need a damn lecture." Ceasar said just as Anael was about to lecture him.
"You didn't have to be so rude. Sierra wants to be your friend you know."
"Alright already I feel bad ok! Mission accomplished! Can I just go to sleep please?" Ceasar snapped sounding angry.
Anael didn't need to be told twice. He shook his head and disappeared, leaving Ceasar alone in the dark house.
"s**t." Ceasar said rolling onto his back. "I'm such a jerk."
He closed his eyes and put his arm over his face in shame.
"Damn it! This would be so much easier if I wasn't in love with that boarding bastared."

Valice finally tore her ear away form her door. Darien and Chaos weren’t in the house anymore, or they where talking so soft that she couldn't hear. She guessed that Chaos didn't have it in him to be quite. Darien had ushered her into her room after Chaos's dark outburst and closed the door, pleading for her to stay there. Well of course the second the door was closed she was trying to eavesdrop which had now backfired. Even Riku had been ushered in the room, and she was now curled up in a corner under Valice's bed. Valice sat on the bed and peeked under looking for her kitten and then gave up and flopped back up onto the bed. Today was so exhausting. She just wanted to sleep, but her brain was too busy buzzing with questions and theories to worry about a little thing like sleep. She grabbed her pillow and tossed it in the air then caught it.
What did Chaos mean by "dead"? Well obviously no longer living but who exactly was dead? She tossed the pillow again. The "order's" army that Darien had talked about? Another toss. Had Chaos killed them? But then he had never said "I killed them." so it was just as logical that someone else had, or they had killed each other. But then Chaos had played with Vincent's life earlier today and seem to think nothing of slitting his throat around kids, so it could have just as easily been him. There was no doubt in her mind that he had the power to kill an entire army on his own, he could do anything he wanted. But at the same time Darien’s reaction to the news. He was surprised and concerned, wouldn't he know that Chaos was capable of murder? Or maybe, she caught the pillow, it was that Chaos wasn't a murderer. Darien asked him how they died. If Chaos would kill shouldn't Darien's first assumption be that Chaos himself was responsible? It would make sense that Chaos would want revenge after being held against his will. She stopped tossing the pillow and hugged it. There where so many things she wanted to figure out, so many things. She felt something warm touch her hand and she looked up. Ishizu stared back at her through the thick blindfold and smiled.
"Hey you!" Valice said sitting up slowly hoping she didn't scare her away. "Where'd you go last time?"
Ishizu didn't say anything and held up Valice's tarot cards.
"Hey! Those were in my backpack!" She said as Ishizu handed her the deck.
Valice looked up at her with a funny look as Ishizu cut the cards and produced and facedown card and then flipped it over for Valice to see. A pair of jet back horses with wild looking eyes where pulling a something like a cart behind them.
"The Chariot?" She asked wondering why she had pulled a card from random.
Ishizu pointed to the horse's wildly flowing manes and then to the coach's curtains that were blowing in the breeze.
"What about them?" She asked thinking both herself and her shadow crazy.
Ishizu rolled her eyes under the blindfold as she pointed again. Valice took the card form her and stared at it, she felt she was missing something. She ran the card's possible meanings through her head, luck, glory, free will, control of forces around one's self, adventure. The reverse she ignored because the card had be given to her side up.
"A lucky adventure?" Valice guessed.
Ishizu shook her head no wildly and pointed harder, making a tapping noise on the card's surface.
"I'll control my own will?" Valice tried again racking her brain.
She was wrong again; Valice felt foolish not being able to figure out her own card's meaning. She tried to hand the card back to Ishizu.
"I'm sorry I'm not in the mood to do this now."
The guardian however wouldn't take it back. She put her finger on one of the horse’s manes and traced it to it's end. Then she traced the flying curtain then the other horse’s mane.
"I don't..." Valice started.
Ishizu pointed to the wheel this time and traced it around and around.
"Wheels. Eternity, time flowing by, beginnings and endings, turning, moving, changing..." Valice rambled out loud.
The shadow guardian snapped and pointed at Valice who looked up from the card surprised.
"Changing?" She asked startled.
Ishizu snapped her fingers and started making a circle backwards with her hand.
"Moving?" Said stammered as Ishizu nodded. "I'm going to be moving?" Valice asked confused.
The shadow jumped off the bed and looked through the books on Valice's shelf and brought back a thesaurus. She sat down on the bed a flipped the pages to the "m" section for movement. Her finger flew down the page until she found what she was looking for and then showed Valice.
"Travel!" Valice said sounding surprised.
She forgot one of the biggest meanings of the card. After all it was a form of transportation used to travel! She blushed red as Ishizu took the card back. That was careless of her missing something so big. Ishizu wasn't done with her just yet. She shuffled the deck, cut it and flipped the top card with out even looking at it. A timid looking person held a cup filled with a red liquid and huddled it close to him, the page of cups.
"I'm sopost to take a trip with a boy with a cup of fruit punch?" Valice laughed embarrassed by her last blunder.
Ishizu shook her head and was rolling her hidden eyes. She pointed to the chariot card the she had kept separate.
"I'm going to travel." Valice guessed and she was right this time.
Then her guardian pointed to the new page of cups card. Valice had to search a while to remember the meaning of that particular card.
"Uh... love, no young love, good news.. um... a shy person?" She guessed as Ishizu pointed at the page. "So I'm going to be traveling with a shy person." Nobody she knew besides herself was shy.
Ishizu placed her finger on the first card then slowly dragged her fingers over the bed sheets to the second card.
"I'll be traveling, and... I'll find a shy person?"
Ishizu flipped a third card. The tower that had appeared for Chaos.
"I'll travel unexpectedly? Or meet the shy person unexpectedly?" Valice asked confused.
Ishizu nodded excitedly and put he cards away.
"Wait! You didn't answer my..." Valice started.
Ishizu grabbed her arm before she could finish her thought and pulled her off the bed to her feet. Valice stumbled as her guardian dragged her out of the door into the hall as if Valice leaving was the most important thing in the world at this very moment.
"But Darien said to stay there!" She protested as she was dragged through the living room and kitchen to the front door.
Ishizu shook her head quickly and pointed to the clock on the far wall and shook her head again. She picked up Valice's shoes out of the closet and handed them to her while pointing at the door. A sense of utmost urgency radiating from her.
"But it's eleven at night! I can't go out now!"
Ishizu ignored her and tossed the big black trench coat on Valice's head as she ran back to the room. Valice quickly put on her shoes and fumbled with the laces with shaky fingers. Just as she was pulling on the trench coat Ishizu reappeared carrying something small in her hands that she was staring intently at. As she got closer Valice could see what it was.
"That's Donovan's cell phone!" Valice gasped. "He lost that phone forever ago!"
The guardian shoved the phone into Valice's face and pointed at the clock again as if time was running out. Valice took the phone and stared at the screen with four words typed in a text message. The words scared her almost as much as Chaos's dark laughter. You have no time! It read as Valice felt herself being roughly pushed to the door.
"I don't have time for what?" She asked frightened as Ishizu pushed her out.
Valice whipped around as the door closed, but Ishizu wasn't there anymore. Valice stood alone and frightened in the dark hallway of her apartment building clutching her brother's phone tight in her shaking hands. Valice was about to go back inside when the phone beeped making her yelp and jump away from the door. Valice stared at the screen that was still flipped open, it said that phone had one unread text message. Without her brain giving the ok her fingers opened the electronic message and Valice felt her body go cold. Don't stand there don't go back inside you have no time go NOW! It was dated an hour ago. Valice couldn't let the phone go when she wanted to throw it as far away as possible. This couldn't be real. Donovan had lost this phone a very long time ago and had left it turned on. The battery couldn't have lasted this long! And even if it had no one had Donny’s old number anymore. Valice was about to panic, how did the sender know that she was still standing outside and thinking about going back into the apartment?! GO NOW! The text order rang in her mind. Go where?! The lead in her feet began to slowly leek out as she headed for the stairs. Where would she go what would she do? Why did she have to go? Her heart hammered behind the rib cadge in her chest as she broke into a run. She leapt flights of stairs altogether and fell to the floor as she reached the bottom level. Scraped and bruised Valice somehow got to her feet and ran out into the night.
The quite streets made her even more jumpy as she raced through the night; chased by unnerving text message sent from the recent past on the phone in her pocket that shouldn't exist. She didn't notices where she was running. Had Ishizu set this all up? She had the phone, but how could she have know what Valice would do or even think an hour before hand? You can tell the future because of her, Chaos's voice rang in her head. Valice slid to an uneven stop as she suddenly remembered what Chaos had said the day she learned of Ishizu’s existence. Her heart raced harder as she tried to remember. You can tell the future... did that mean Ishizu could see the future? That would make sense, she could have sent the text massage from that very phone for Valice to get in the future. Valice's breathing quickened as she saw Ishizu standing a ways in front of her near an ally way.
"Ishizu!" Valice called as she sprinted towards the building.
The guardian waited for Valice to get closer and then sprinted down the dark alleyway disappearing into the depths of the dark.
"Wait!" Valice yelled running after her.
The cell phone beeped loudly in her pocket. You have no time; it shouted in Valice’s mind. No time! NO TIME! Valice ran without being able to see in the dark alleyway; spurred on by the demons of unanswered questions. Finally she could see the lights of the street on the other side and Ishizu standing like a situate waiting for her. Less then a foot before Valice would had run into her Ishizu inclined her head and disappeared. Gravel flew out from under her feet as Valice tried to stop. It wasn't any use, she slid right through where Ishizu had been and stumbled into the sidewalk outside the ally. She wheeled around looking for the shadow guardian, but she was nowhere to be found. She was just about to run back in when something rammed into her, sending her into the ground.
"Ouch!" She groaned as she lay on the dirty sidewalk
"Sumemasen!" A high voice answered. "Gomennasai!"
Valice blinked, that sounded like Japanese, or some other Asian language.
"What?" She asked getting to her hands and knees.
"Nani? Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry maim!" The same high voice answered in English.
Valice sat back on her legs and stared at the most girly looking boy she had ever seen. He looked maybe only a year younger then her with a scrawny body of a boy that hadn't hit puberty. He didn't look like he could be able to knock a preschooler to the ground. He sat flat on his butt with his long hair tossed all over his face making him look comical and Valice almost laughed.
"Are you ok?" He asked combing his fingers through his hair.
"Yes I'm fine." Valice said dusting herself off before she stood up. "Are you ok?"
One of the broken street lights that Valice had failed to notices before flickered to life as the boy spoke.
"Yes I'm fine." He said timidly with a shy smile.
Valice was intently in love with his eyes when she saw them in the light. They where a deep dark purple that was almost black. Which contrasted his bright candy apple red hair in a strange way, it was even stranger that he had candy apple red hair.
"I love your eyes!" Valice blurted out.
"Oh," The boy said quietly as he blushed. "Thank you very much."
"The page of cups!" Valice said out loud as she looked at the boy.
The boy looked startled by her sudden outburst. It all made sense now, the unexpected travel and the unexpected meeting of the shy page of cups, she was meant to meet this person.
"Sorry," She said embarrassed. "I don't always think inside my head. Don't mind my talking to myself."
"Ok..." He said nervously.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. Hi, my name's Valice Blackburn. It's very nice to meet you." She said extending her hand to the boy.
"I'm... Toya... Toya Sanada." He said with a smile as he shook her hand. "And I'm sorry about running into you."
"Don't worry about it." Valice said getting to her feet. "I've fallen worse then this."
She offered him a hand.
"Need a hand?" She asked shyly.
"Thank you." Toya said as he was helped to his feet.
"So where are you heading?" Valice asked as she dusted herself.
"Well I don't really know..." Toya stared. "I guess I'm a little lost. It's my first time in this city." He finished sheepishly.
"A tourist? Well I live..." She turned back around and realized that she had no idea which way home was. "Uh... around here." She trailed off. "So I can help if you want."
"Thank you but I... uh..."
Toya's stomach began to growl and it cut him off in mid sentence. He blushed as bad as Valice had when she had seen Chaos without a shirt.
"But I guess I could use some dinner first." He tried to laugh.
"Well come on, lets find something!" Valice said taking his hand.
They both wandered the street for a moment or two until Valice found a familiar pizza place. The same one that Duke worked at part time.
"Oh pizza!" Toya said overjoyed. "Can we eat there please?!"
"Sure, I have a friend that works there." She said not looking forward to anymore pizza.
Duke's bright blonde head was the first thing Valice saw as she walked in the door. He spotted her just as fast and leapt over the counter and wrapped her a giant bear hug.
"I thought you hated me!" He whiled as Valice squealed as he stared spinning her around on his shoulder.
"PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled beating the top of his head with her palms. "CUT IT OUT!"
"I thought you didn't think I was family anymore! I was so sad! How could you be so mean!" He said spinning her the other way.
"ARIN'T YOU WORKING?!" Valice yelled.
"Fine fine!" Duke said as he plopped her in a small booth. "But your staying until I get off! What are you doing out this late at night!?"
"It's a long story," Valice huffed as the world still spun. "that I'll tell you later."
"Or right now!" He said putting his hands on his hips.
Valice nearly snorted with laughter. Duke had his hair pulled back in a hair net with grease stains on his white shirt and a faded pink half apron tied around his waist. He looked anything but threatening. Valice covered her mouth with both her hands as she felt her eyes whel up with tears of laughter. Before she could bust a gut laughing at Duke's brotherly protection she pointed to Toya who still stood frozen by the door.
"This is Toya, Duke! And he's starving!" She tried hard not to crack up as Duke rounded on Toya.
"Well don't just stand there! If your hungry get in here and sit down!"
He snatched Toya's elbow and drug him to the table to sit with Valice. Toya looked totally confused and taken a back as Duke sat him down opposite of Valice.
"So what do you want?" Duke probed hurriedly.
Valice glanced around the tiny pizza parlor, there was no one here as usual. Valice was sad that this place was always empty and small. This was her favorite childhood hangout where her, her, brother and Duke and played and joked about working there for al the pizza they could eat for life. She resolved to came here more often, and maybe even bring Chaos if he promised to behave himself.
"Hello! Earth to Valice!" Duke interrupted her thoughts of Chaos having a heart attack at all the pizza.
"Oh sorry. Cheese and pepperoni."
"Where were you feather brain? Toya already ordered while you where in the clouds."
"I hope just plain cheese is ok with you..." Toya whispered.
"Don't worry about it, she'll eat almost anything if she's hungry enough. So tell me... how long have you too been going out without telling me?"
Toya blushed even deeper red then before and Valice punched Duke in the arm.
"It's not like that stupid!" She said loudly. "Just go get the pizza before I give you black eye!"
"Fine fine, leave me out of the loop on this too, I'll just be back in the back crying that's all. No no! Don't mind me at all!"
"Just go!" Valice snarled as Duke make his way back into the kitchen. "Sorry about him. He's a drama major in college and a drama queen in life."

chapter 9

"Are you alright Miss. Valice?" Darien asked softly.
Valice shook her head no in Chaos’s neck as she tried to hold her breath. Chaos rested his hand on Valice's head and slowly began to twirl his index finger .
"Give her more time Darien. It looks like she's had a very... very bad dream."
"Yes master." Darien said giving Valice's shoulder a light, but awkward pat.
Valice didn't bother to worry about that all knowing tone in Chaos voice as she twisted and twirled her fingers in his long, silky black hair. It was somehow reassuring to have Chaos let her hang on him like this. She hadn't had such a bad dream since her bother had died.
Valice finally began to get her breath back. She twisted her hands in Chaos's hair as she tried to settle her nerves. The clock on the wall behind Chaos told her it was three in the morning.
"You ok now?" Chaos asked stroking her head. "You've been crying for an hour."
Valice sniffed as closed her eyes, no matter what she did thoughts of those horrible visions wouldn't leave her head.
"I-I-I...." She stammered.
"Shhh." Chaos said stroking her hair and twirling his fingers in the short brown mass. "It's ok."
Valice took a few more minutes to catch her breath as Chaos stroked her head. She loosened her grip on his hair as she took a few deep breaths to claim down, she didn't mean to make a scene. She rested her head on Chaos's shoulder, he smelled faintly of pizza and Valice couldn't help the little smirk that played across her lips for a moment.
"I'm ok now." She said weakly as she let go of Chaos's hair. "Thank you."
"Your all that matters." He said smiling handsomely.
Valice couldn't help blushing, Chaos still didn't always get his wording right. He probably meant your "feelings where" all that matters. It was still cute of him though.
"Sorry to wake you guys up. I didn't mean to disturb you.” She said rubbing her eyes with her sleeve.
"We where still awake." Chaos chimed.
"Yes don't worry about us." Darien added. "We where concerned about you. Are you sure your alright?"
Valice smiled feebly as visions of a bloodstained wall flashed through her mind.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Just a little shaken up is all." She tried to laugh.
"Only a little?" Darien asked seeing right through her lie.
"Darien," Chaos said wagging a finger at him. "this isn't time for one of you interrogations."
"I wasn't interrogating miss Valice!" Darien said looking slightly uncomfortable. "I was merely asking."
Valice giggled as Chaos reached up and poked Darien’s cheek.
"Cute." Chaos said as Darien’s face turned the slightest shade of pink.
Valice smiled as Chaos continued to pester Darien.
"Sit!" He commanded as he pulled on Darien’s arm to sit beside him.
Even though Darien was clearly bigger then Chaos, the smaller man dragged him down to sit on Valice's bed with him with a hidden force that made the bed jump.
Valice giggled as Darien flushed and looked away. Chaos’s small fangs showed as he smirked at Valice with an intriguing glint in his dark, wine colored eyes.
"Darien is embarrassed by his weight!" He said without mercy.
Giggling burst out of Valice before she could stop herself, Chaos even joined her with his childlike laughing as Valice put her hands over her mouth and tried to stop. When she thought about it, it shouldn't have been that funny, but somehow the thought of Darien thinking himself imperfect was laughable.
"Darien!" She gasped between laughs. "Darien your perfect!"
"She's right," Chaos said laying his head on Darien’s shoulder. "you are."
The tall man didn't answer and he didn't met either of the two's eyes. Valice couldn't help smiling at him as she twisted her hands together in her lap. Chaos leaned over close to her still smirking.
"He thinks he's fat." He whispered in a giggle, as if it was Darien’s most precious secrect he was giving away.
"Your not!" Valice said loudly. "How could you even think that?"
"I'm afraid," Chaos started dramatically as he clawed over to Valice. "that he won’t believe just how good he is."
Over the next few hours Valice stayed up talking with Chaos and Darien. Chaos seemed curious about her and asked her many questions. As did Darien. Valice didn't mind talking about herself for some reason, and Chaos proved to be an attentive listener for once. Before long Valice was too caught up relieving her old stories about her and her brother to spare a thought for her nightmare. She had just finished telling them about how she had rescued Riku from an animal shelter when Chaos laid his head on her pillow.
"Your very interesting." He said with his face half buried.
Valice was suddenly very self conscious. She had been talking for a long time and none of the stories had to be interesting to men like these.
"I-I'm sorry!" Valice said looking down. "I'm boring!"
"Your not." Chaos giggled as he laid next to Valice. "I like your stories."
"I like them too." Darien said. "They have heart."
"I still... feel silly," Valice blushed. "talking about myself."
"Why don't you tell her about you Darien." Chaos said with a wave of his hand.
"Oh y-you don't have to do that!" Valice stuttered putting up her hands as if to stop Darien.
"No it's alright," Darien smiled softly. "but I don't think you'd like my stories."
Valice wasn't sure how to respond to that. She also couldn't shake the feeling that Darien wasn't interested in talking about his past, at all. It was like he wanted to simply pretend that it did not exist at all.
"I was born a long time ago, very far away from here..." He started.
Valice listened without interrupting, she was afraid that if she did the story would stop. Like a child enthralled Valice listened as Darien spoke about his life.
“In a little town in the mountains…”
He had been abandoned by his birth parents and had grown up in an orphanage. Then he'd been recruited into the equivalent to the army and had spent years of his life carrying out orders. It wasn't much, but Valice was hooked.
"Darien," She asked holding her knees. "What's your home like?"
"It was very beautiful," Darien said. "a paradise with snow covered mountains, grassy plains, and vast crystal clear lakes."
"Sounds like heaven..." Valice sighed as her eyes started to close with sleep at Darien’s soft tone. "What happened to it?"
"Maybe some other time." Darien said as Valice nodded off and feel asleep.
Darien stood up and carefully laid Valice back onto her pillow and pulled the covers up to her chin.
"You left out most of your stories." Chaos mumbled into the pillow.
"I would like to leave the past in the past." Darien said quietly. "I'm not that man anymore."
"You are who you are." Chaos said snuggling down next to Valice with a yawn. "You can't change that."
"But you can." Darien replayed as he sat on the floor with his back to the bed.
“Your still good at your old tricks.” Chaos pointed out.
Darien stiffened as Chaos yawned and wrapped an arm around Valice, who was sleeping peacefully under the blankets.
Valice slowly opened her eyes and yawned; she'd slept like a baby. Her alarm on the night stand next to her bed told her it was six in the morning, earlier then she'd ever woken up. She rubbed her eyes thinking they where just foggy and the alarm was really reading eight. When she opened her eyes the clock still read six. Was all of last night a dream? She reached out and tapped the alarm thinking that it was stuck on six. The next moment the clock changed to six-o-one. So it was the right time. Valice yawned as she rubbed her eyes again, she felt like she had been asleep for days. Riku mewed in her face as Valice fumbled to turn the alarm off. She mewed again as Valice gave her a funny look, Riku always slept along her back and didn't wake up until Valice's alarm went off. Riku mewed yet again and huffed at Valice as if she'd done some thing wrong.
"What's a matter?" She asked as she started to get out of bed.
"Sleeping!" Chaos whined as he tightened his grip around her middle.
"CHAOS!" Valice yelled as she trashed out of the covers. "What are you doing here!?"
"Sleeping." Chaos said as she got out of bed red faced.
He sleepily grabbed at the pillow and buried his face in it with a grown. Valice's heart was hammering against her rib cage painfully fast and her face was burning up as she stood in her faded pajama pants and shirt watching the little imp snuggle with her pillow still seemingly half asleep.
"Don't be loud..." Chaos mumbled into the pillow the second before Valice was going to open her mouth again. "Darien didn't get any sleep last night."
He half heartedly waved a clawed hand at Darien; who was curled up at the foot of her bed. His knees where pulled under his broad chest with his legs out in front of him. One arm was tucked under his chest and the other stretched out in front of his face with his hand flopping off the far side of the bed. His slivery gray hair was fanned out over his face and back as pieces blew out as Darien calmly breathed into his elbow.
"He worries too much." Chaos mumbled as Valice stayed quiet. "He won't sleep unless I'm awake."
"Well then shouldn't you be awake then?" Valice asked quietly as she inched towards her closet.
"Sleepy." He answered hugging the pillow closer.
Valice quickly snatched her uniform out of her closet and headed for the bathroom. She didn't like the fact that guys where in her room! Even if they didn't do anything or mean anything by it, it was just plain weird! Not to mention uncomfortable. She got herself ready in the bathroom wondering why the boys had fallen asleep in her room in the first place. She was buttoning up her jacket when she noticed that the school pin on the collar was missing. She checked the floor and the counter but it wasn't there. Suddenly Riku was meowing and Chaos whined. She headed back to the room to find the kitten standing with two paws on Chaos's shoulder meowing at him.
"She wants her bed back Chaos." Valice smirked as Chaos tried to push the noisy kitten away to no avail.
"Mine!" He whined rolling over.
"Your in her spot," Valice said starting the search for the missing pin. "so she wants it back."
"Why do you have to get up so early?" He sleepily inquired as he cracked a ruby eye open.
"I thought I told you about school." She said checking by her bed, wishing Chaos would get out of it.
"But why?" He whined again.
"Well because..." Valice began. "well.... so that I can learn things I didn't know before."
"Why?"
"Do you really like that word Chaos?"
"Why."
"It's getting a little old, could you find some other word to repeat?" Valice asked tired of that five year’s word.
"How come?"
"Fine you win." Valice sighed as she found the pin in the nightstand's drawer. "Say “why” all you want."
"Can I go to school?" Chaos asked Valice as she buttoned the pin to her collar.
Valice giggled as she picked up her school bag from beside the door.
"Trust me, you wouldn't like it. It's dull and long. You'd get bored really fast." She laughed scratching Riku behind the ears as the kitten sat next to Chaos wagging her fluffy tail back and forth angrily.
"Ok." Chaos said almost sounding disappointed.
"Behave yourself today alright? No more disappearing acts or killer earthquakes ok?"
"Yes." He answered as Riku crawled up onto his hip and laid down.
Valice snorted with laugher as she made her way out the door.
"I'll see you soon Chaos. Bye."
"Bye." Chaos yawned.
Valice wasn't quite sure what to do with herself as she locked the apartment and headed towards school. She'd never been early in all her years as a student. She wandered down the street on the short walk to school thinking of how she could past the time. She checked the cell phone in her pocket to see if anymore mystery messages had found their way to the phone. All that was there was the clock telling her she still had about an hour and a half to kill and Donovan’s name. She suddenly felt tired remembering the whole ordeal the night before and the nightmares that fallowed. She was starving too. It had been ages sense she'd had time for breakfast and she was so used to not eating in the morning that it had completely slipped her mind. The school had the lunch lines open and served breakfast at cheep prices, then she'd already be at school. But at the same time after Chaos's earthquake and all the repairs going on at the school that might have changed. She decided to chance it and head to school anyhow, she'd survive if they weren’t open.
The school's repairs where coming along quickly. Workmen had already replaced most of the widows with new glass, the wires had all been tucked back into the wall and most of the puddles from the water mains that had burst where mopped up. Valice couldn't help but wonder if the only reason that repairs where moving along so quick was because it was a privet school. She had been to a pubic school before and it never looked as good as this one. The piles of broken glass where no longer littering the halls as Valice made her way to the cafeteria which was going through just as many repairs. Valice's heart sank as she come up to the line to get something to eat, it was nearly out the door! She halfway thought about just skipping breakfast when she caught the sent of hash browns. Obediently she fallowed her nose to the end of the line to wait.
Forty-five minutes later Valice had herself two golden hash browns. She nibbled one as she headed towards her class. She peeked through the side window of the class and quickly turned back around. The b***h trio, Angelica, Mandy and Iona where inside the class already. Valice didn't want to deal with them any earlier then possible, she'd had enough nightmares for a lifetime. She decided to take a walk and see how the rest of the school was coming along for the next hour or so. She ended up strolling along halls she'd never been in and meandering around outside for a while. She had finished the first hash brown as she headed back inside by the front entrance.
"Yo princess, your here early."
Only one person called her princess. Valice had just started to eat her hash brown! She didn't what to have to talk to Ceasar right now! Her stomach growled letting her know that Ceasar's timing couldn't have been worse. She barely swallowed her first bite when she had to answer him.
"What Ceasar? I'm eating!" She snapped as she wiped her mouth.
"Nothing..." He mumbled.
Ceasar stood with a black messenger bag slung over one shoulder. His uniform was still unbuttoned from top to bottom, but today he had a white shirt on under it. His azure eyes seemed cloudy as he yawned and shook his head. He looked tired and hungry as well. Plus his normally sloppy hair looked flatter and messy, as if he didn't style it.
"Yeah," He sighed unenthusiastically as he ran his fingers through the tangled mop. "no time to brush it today."
"You know, your hair is always sloppy." Valice told him less sternly then before as he yawned again and walked over.
"But I always brush it. I can't help it if my hair doesn't stay neat..." He defended. "damn Vin made me get up early."
It looked like he was going to fall asleep on her shoulder as he leaned forward onto his toes and then back onto his heels. He blinked a few times but it didn't seem to make a difference in his condition.
"Why so early? I know he's a morning person, but your obviously not."
"He had to come early to show a new guy around, and I'm not allowed in the house by myself. Bastered knew I was going to go in his room."
"Well he likes his space..." Valice mumbled awkwardly. "why aren’t you with him anyways?"
"Because mister "top of the class" can't be bothered with a "C" student like me!" He huffed, seeming to wake up a little. "You know, he'd do anything as long as it pissed me off! He didn't show me around when I came here! But this guy comes into the picture and he gets the royal treatment!"
"So this guy... is... is one of you?" Valice asked quietly so no one nearby could here.
Ceasar yawned and stretched out his arms.
"One of us? What are you talking about?"
Valice glanced around to make sure no one else was within ear shot.
"An ... Enchanter." She whispered.
Ceasar was suddenly wide awake. He looked straight into Valice's nervous eyes as he waited a moment before he spoke.
"How do you know about that?" Ceasar said slowly.
"Why wouldn't I know!" She said quickly not likening the way Ceasar was glaring at her. "I know about... "The Order" too. So... is this new guy one of you?" She whispered.
Ceasar looked pretty serious, and Valice began to question her judgment.
"You..." He started stepping closer. "are... SO CUTE!" He yelled hugging Valice. "Now I don't have to explain anything!"
Valice wriggled out of Ceasar's bear hug that felt like he was crushing her lungs as he ginned at her.
"What was that for?" Valice snapped, her hash brown was all shushed now!
"I don't think I've ever met anyone from the outside that knew about us!" Ceasar said excitedly, sneaking a piece of Valice's hash brown when she wasn't looking. "So how much do you know?" He asked with his mouthful.
"Hey that's mine!" Valice yelled.
"Your not one of us are you?!"
"NO I'M NOT!" She roared, attracting attention from the people nearby.
"Easy easy!" Ceasar said putting his hands up in defeat. "No need to get loud."
"I am not one of you!" She hissed pointing a finger at Ceasar. "And I'm not telling you ANYTHING!"
She turned to leave when Ceasar grabbed her elbow and pulled her back. She tried to jerk her arm away, but his grip was like solid steal.
"Let me go!" She demanded yanking her arm again.
"You have to at least tell me how you know!" He said squeezing her arm a little.
"Your starting to hurt me!" She said narrowing her eyes.
"Your going to have to tell me or Vincent. I think I'd be more understanding." He said quietly.
"Chaos told me!" She barked as he let her arm go.
"See that wasn't so hard." Ceasar smiled. "Now how much do you know?"
Valice frowned and glared at Ceasar was she weighed her options. It was true that she'd have to answer to Vincent if she didn't say anything to Ceasar, but Ceasar might not say anything to him. Valice knew that the boys didn't get along, but at the same time they were working together. Ceasar wouldn't keep something big like this to himself, whether he was on good terms with Vincent or not.
"I don't have to tell either of you anything!" She snapped, trying to sound confident like Chaos and Darien.
"I don't know..." Ceasar mocked. "Vin can be very persuasive."
"Why don't you tell me what I want to know," Valice said calmly. "and I'll tell you want you want to know."
Valice didn't have to guess that Ceasar wasn't the brightest, her mind had kicked into overdrive. Maybe she could talk some information out of Ceasar. She could find out who this "Order" was, what they wanted with Chaos, and maybe get all the pieces of the story to figure out how everything fit together. Valice waited as Ceasar mockingly put a finger to his temple as if he where concentrating.
"Nope." He said finally. "I don't feel it's an even trade."
"WHAT?!" Valice blurted out.
Ceasar grinned and winked a mischievous blue eye at her.
"I've got street smarts, not book smarts baby. I'm calling your bluff."
Valice grimaced and glared at him. It hadn't been a complete bluff, she knew a few things.
"It's not a bluff!" She snapped irritated that her plan didn't work.
"If you have to say it isn't a bluff, it's a bluff."
"Your loss!" She growled turning to leave.
"Hey now," He said dancing in front of her. "I didn't say I wouldn’t take you up on an offer!"
"But you just said..." Valice started.
"I said I called your bluff, I didn't say we couldn't make a bargain." He smiled.
"What are you talking about?" Valice said still glaring.
"I happen to have a big mouth," He started putting his hand on his hip. "And if you hang around me long enough I might even let some things slip from higher up."
"Who's higher up?" Valice demanded.
"Ah, now that... I can't tell you." Ceasar grinned pulling his other hand on his hip and smiled sweetly. "And there are some things I'd like to know that I'm sure you wouldn't tell me..."
"What are you getting at!"
"I had a brilliant idea, you're now my girlfriend!" He said happily flashing a grin.
Valice was absolutely shocked at Ceasar's direct, and frankly unwanted, offer. Valice felt like a call girl bargaining herself away. She was absolutely livid. She couldn't even speak or think. All she could do was stare at him and sputter out beginnings of words. Ceasar took her "silence" as enthusiasm for his idea.
"I know! It's a great idea isn't it?"
"WHAT?! How could you even THINK that I would agree to some stupid, idiotic, dim-witted plan like this?!" She stuttered squishing the hash brown in her fist.
"Well it's too late to back out now." Ceasar huffed losing the smile and putting on a pout. "Do you know how many women would kill to be in your place right now? And a handful of guys too!"
"That's to stupidest idea I've ever..." Valice shouted.
"Well that's too bad!" Ceasar said over Valice folding his arms. "I've made up my mind! I want you to be my girlfriend."
"No!" Valice hissed as people began to look their way at their raised voices. "Not if you where the last man on Earth!"
"Think of it this way," Ceasar taunted waving a finger in her face. "I have a load of information that would be very, very useful to you. I like to go out a have a good time and I don't think when I'm having fun..."
Valice gulped. Ceasar was making a lot of sense, if she did date him, she could be a lot closer to the enemy and find out whatever she needed. She'd be able to help Chaos and Darien and get "The Order" off their backs. Then… she'd also put them in danger if SHE let something slip. Or they might take her hostage. Too many things could go wrong. And it would be three against two, she wanted to even the odds. Not handicap them.
"NO!" She said finally, she wasn’t' going to put the boys in any danger. "Go get some other girl!"
"It's too late." He said. "Once my minds made up, it's end of story. We just have to make it official now."
"What do you mean by tha..."
Valice got her answer a moment later. Ceasar put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. Valice's eyes flew wide open as she felt his lips on hers, they tasted like hash brown. She didn't know what to do, it was her first kiss and she didn't know how to handle it. She didn't even notice the crowd of people that had began to clap. The half eaten hash brown fell to the floor in it's wrapper, completely unnoticed.
"Now we're a couple!" Ceasar said happily as he finally pulled his lips away. "Oh look at the time, we better be heading to class."
Ceasar waved the crowd of people away as Valice stood without speaking. When every one was ushered back to class Ceasar picked up the hash brown off the floor and peeled away the paper.
"Thanks for the food, I was starving." He said taking bite as he headed off to class.
A bell five minutes later woke Valice out of her shock. A handful of people still pointed at her and talked amongst themselves. That b*****d! Valice curled her hands into fists as she turned on her heel. She'd had something to say to that egotistical, overconfident, self-important, condescending, narcissistic, selfish, arrogant, conceited, pompous, self-absorbed p***k! She stormed through the hallways with her backpack bouncing on her back as she stalked through the halfway restored school to her class room. When she opened the door she suddenly didn't feel so strong. The b***h trio had pounced upon Ceasar already, along with half the class. The female half. Ceasar didn't seem to mind either, he just sat back in his chair with his elbows on the table behind him as girls stood around him with Angelica, Mandy and Iona sitting on Valice's desk and chair in front of him. Anywhere else in the world sounded better then going to class right now Valice thought as she opened the door.
"So where yeah' from?" Mandy asked smacking her gum.
"Here and there," Ceasar said with a smile. "I move around a lot."
"Any where cool?" Iona chimed twirling her short hair in her fingers.
"Depends what you call "cool." Ceasar fired back. "Cool as in temperature below zero?"
Everyone including Ceasar laughed at the childish joke and Valice suddenly knew why Vincent disliked being around Ceasar.
"How about Cancun?" Angelica pressed as she batted her eyelashes at him. "I heard it's the best vacation spot in Mexico."
Valice felt vomit come up the back of her throat. The three where flirting so much it was sickening. Not that it was unusual for them to be that way, they flirted with any good looking man. And Ceasar was a very good looking man.
"So, do you have a girlfriend here and there?" Angelica pressed.
"Well not there," Ceasar stared with a smirk.
Valice was ready to smack Ceasar in the face again as she made her way to her seat. Was he always this vague and irritating? If so it was a miracle Vincent hadn't killed him yet. She was almost too her own seat when Ceasar unexpectedly grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his lap.
"But Valice is my girlfriend here. We just made it official."
Valice's heart was pounding so hard she couldn't hear what Ceasar was saying. When he'd pulled her down out of the blue she'd felt like she'd had a heart attack. Now everyone around them was staring at her with a look of the most pure and unadulterated hatred she'd ever seen. None more so then Angelica would looked ready to tare Valice's eyes out with her freshly manicured nails.
"Aw she's so cute when she's speechless." Ceasar said nuzzling her cheek with his nose.
Valice had never been liked by other people her entire life, but she'd never been hated before! It was like the girls of the class had turned into flesh eating zombies and Valice was the only one with a pulse. Valice was afraid what would happen after school as she walked home.
"Oh!" Angelica snapped. "I didn't know you dated scanks!"
"I don't," Ceasar said. "and it's impossible for Valice to be a scank, she's too adorable."
"I guess you didn't know," Iona started with a wicked hate in her eyes. "She and Vincent already hooked up. Apparently she owes him money."
"I did not and I do not!" Valice roared sitting up in Ceasar's lap.
"Oh yes you did!" Mandy hissed back.
"NO I DIDN'T!" Valice yelled back.
"Ladies ladies!" Ceasar said putting an arm around Valice's shoulder. "I've known Vin a long time, trust me he's not the type. And anyways I've been the one with Valice all week, she's been showing me around town sense I moved in. If she'd been with Vincent, I would have been there too."
"Well... well..." The three shuddered as they looked at each other.
It was hard to deny an eyewitness account, and with Ceasar's phenomenal amount of self-confidence, it was difficult to hold an argument.
"But, but she said!" Angelica started.
"I didn't say anything!" Valice snapped at the black haired girl.
"That's right!" Ceasar added, "I asked her not to tell anyone I was here so I could see her more often without interruption!"
Valice turned to look at Ceasar who only looked self assured, even though everything he was saying wasn't true. This man had to be the best liar ever! He had everyone hanging their heads in shame with no way to disagree with him, and he was so convincing that no one had the slightest idea he was making this up as he went along!
"Now I think it's time we all got in our seats and learned!" He as shaking his head as if he were ashamed of them.
Right on the mark the bell to start class rang making everyone wonder back to their assigned seats.
"You too princess." Ceasar said taking Valice's waist and propping her up on her feet. "It's time to learn."
Valice took one unsure and hazy step and sat down in her own desk in front of him, would the surprises never end? Not but a moment later Professor Delanon rushed into the classroom stuffing some papers into his tan messenger bag. Valice didn’t think that he should be a teacher so soon. He was just a kid himself and he looked as if he was in over his head. He wore the same kaki pants from the day before, but to day his shirt was a three quarter length black dress shirt that button down the front. His sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with quite a few strands flying lose into his light brown eyes. He looked exceptionally good looking, in an “older then you” sort of way.

Chapter 11

"It's... it's... " Toya stammered backing away from Chaos as he held Valice.
Chaos's red eyes darted quickly to Toya as the boy backed away from him, clearly terrified.
"You," Chaos said letting go of Valice.
Sensing danger Valice quickly let go of Chaos and threw herself in between Toya and him.
"Don't hurt him!" She yelled throwing out her arms to protect Toya. "He's not bad!"
Chaos looked at Valice as if she where crazy.
"I know." He said innocently. "I want to see him."
"Your... your not going to hurt him?" Valice asked.
Chaos shook his head and his long hair waved back and forth. Valice slowly put her hands down as Chaos briskly stepped around her and walked up to the still frightened Toya. Chaos's eyes seem to be inspecting every inch of Toya as he tilted his head to each side, watching him. Toya shook as he pressed his back to the wall wishing he could go through it. All the terrible stories of the monster in front of him came flooding back. Not many Enchanters came back after meeting him.
"Don't be afraid." Chaos said almost purring.
He reached out with his normal hand and gently stroked Toya's face. Toya flinched as Chaos's icy fingers brushed against his flesh. Chaos smiled his impish grin as he brushed Toya's red hair from his face and looked deep into his eyes that had turned the faintest lavender.
"He wants to help..." Valice said quietly behind him.
"I know." Chaos said gently as he turned away from the shaking boy. "Darien won't like this at all." He giggled.
"I really do want to!" Toya started barely finding his voice.
"Play your part." Chaos said half turning back to him. "And I'll play mine." He grinned showing his more sinister looking smile.
Valice and Toya both didn't know what he meant by that as he started to giggle.
"Everyone will play their parts!" He laughed.
Toya suddenly turned to look at the door.
"Their coming!" He said breathlessly. "Valice you have to get out of here!"
"Who? Who's coming!?" She asked as Toya looked out the door's tiny window.
"Vincent and Ceasar! Oh!" Toya moaned looking for another way out of the room. "If they see us all here like this their going to know something’s up!" He said becoming panicky. "I'm dead!"
"They can't prove anything!" Valice said coming over to Toya's side. "All you have to tell them was that you where trying to get close to me! It'll all blow over!"
"That's not going to work!" Toya stammered looking a bit wild. "He'll know! He always does, he'll find out and then I'm dead!"
"Who's going to find out?" Valice asked becoming frightened herself.
She took Toya's shoulders and tried to clam him down, panicking wasn't going to help. Chaos watched from a distance with a little grin on his face.
“You have to leave!”
"Who's going to find out?" Valice said again giving Toya a shake.
"Vincent!" He said breathlessly.
"How is he going to find out anything?" Valice said feeling slightly less alarmed. "All you have to do is tell him what I told you."
"That's not going to work! Vincent can read minds!" Toya blurted out.
Valice suddenly went cold. Vincent could read minds?!
"He knows when your lying! He's like a bloodhound!" Toya stammered. "He can look at your memories and read your all your thoughts! It's too late! He knows where we are! He almost here!"
Valice didn't like the sound of that. Vincent was dangerous! How many times had he read her mind!? What had he found out already that she didn't know about?! Darien was right, she was in grave danger. And even worse, she was putting Chaos and Darien in danger! Toya slumped against the wall like he had given up.
"He can make you do things when he's in your mind!" He said sounding like he was going to cry. "I'm so dead!"
"How do you know he's coming here?!" Valice asked starting to panic as well.
If Vincent read her mind he could see that Toya was planning a mutiny! He'd have proof that they were planning to destroy his "Order" and he'd turn them both in... or worse yet kill them himself. Darien's haunting warning of the danger echoed in her ears.
"He can talk to other people through their minds..." Toya said tearing up. "He can get into my mind better because I'm a telepath, we're just about on the same wave length. Oh I'm so dead."
Valice felt as desperate as Toya had been a few moments ago. Her eyes darted all around but the only way out was the one door.
"We can run for it!" Valice said taking Toya's hand. "We still have some time!"
Like an sign of defeat there was a powerful knock on the door. Fallowed by someone trying to open it. But it was locked.
"TOYA!" Vincent's voice shouted. "TOYA OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Valice thought she was going to have a heart attack and Toya nearly fainted in her arms. They were caught conspirering, and by the sound of his voice Vincent didn't sound like he believed in innocent until proven guilty.
"Ceasar! Break it down!" Valice herd him shout.
"Been waiting for you to say that." Ceasar said sounding happy. "It's sexy when you boss me around."
"Just shut up and do your job!"
"Sir yes sir!"
Valice was suddenly grabbed around the middle before she could do anything else. She looked up at Chaos who seemed to be laughing at their little show.
"Now..." He said as he grabbed Toya by the throat with his razor sharp clawed fingers.
Toya's eyes grew wide with fear as Chaos dug his twisted fingers in. Toya groped uselessly at Chaos's claw as he was lifted slightly off his feet and into the air.
"CHAOS NO!" Valice screamed as she tried to lunge for Toya.
"Play your parts." He said as the door burst inwards.
Ceasar burst into the room shoulder first in a flurry of autumn hair and fists. The door banged against the back wall and then clattered to the floor, blown completely off it's hinges. Ceasar slid to a stop, assessed the situation in less then a heartbeat and flung an arm out to stop Vincent from getting close and putting Toya in extra danger. Vincent didn't seem to need Ceasar’s help as he gracefully slid in beside him. His elegant sliver sword half unsheathed at his hip. Chaos had angled himself holding Toya helplessly between them like a shield as he kept Valice safely beside him out of harm’s way. Toya squeaked feebly as his eyes squeezed closed.
"Chaos stop!" Valice yelled holding onto his maroon silk shirt.
"Let him go!" Ceasar bellowed in a harsh voice that startled Valice.
Chaos seemed un amused as he squeezed Valice around the middle. There was no trace of the smirk that had been on his lips only a moment before as he glared down his arm at Toya who’s hands still clutched his claw. Chaos’s red eyes half hidden by black velvet hair turned to look at the other two enchanters with his icy hot glare.
"Keep to yourselves." He said softly.
With the lest amount of effort possible he seemed to merely flick his wrist and Toya went flying. Valice gasped as Toya crashed into Ceasar who caught him in his arms only to be knocked backwards into Vincent as all three boys fell out the door into the hallway. Chaos boldly strode forward dragging Valice beside him and stood in the door frame.
"I won't be so gracious next time." He said coldly.
Vincent freed himself from Toya and Ceasar and stood with the shinning blade drawn and held at the ready.
"Stop using shields!" He barked stepping between the two boys just recovering after receiving the brunt of the blow.
"Who's using shields?" Chaos asked tilting his head back mockingly.
"Let her go so I have a clean shot at you." Vincent growled.
Valice felt Chaos's arm disappear from her waist and she looked up at him.
"If you please..." Chaos said bowing his head and holding out his arm, indicating Valice to step away from him.
"Chaos don't..." Valice said in a trembling voice.
"It'll be alright." He said giving her a nudge with his hand.
It was the spark in his eyes, however, that she didn't trust. Shaking, she took a step away from him and then another. She didn't like this side of Chaos at all.
"Now were where we?" Chaos asked walking forward holding his hands out as if he was going to hug Vincent.
Vincent backed away from him with the shinning sword held firmly. Chaos didn't stop and kept moving forward his arms held out wide.
"I thought we were going to play." Chaos said frowning, slightly lowering his arms.
"This isn't a game!" Vincent hissed trying to hold his ground. "Too many others can see us here."
"So?" Chaos shrugged. "It's of no consequence to me, we'll play where I desire."
"Not here!" Vincent said less strongly in the face of Chaos's blunt opposition.
Chaos frowned deeply and narrowed his crimson eyes. In a heartbeat he flung his clawed arm out of his side, and Vincent and Ceasar both flinched. Valice watched as the windows clouded over with what looked like black fog. A cold breeze whipped through the hall and the almost repaired lights went dark. One by one small pools of what looked like candle light popped up along the hall until there where enough to see by. Eerily throwing shadows on the now completely silent and empty hallway. Toya groaned but didn't move, it looked as if he was knocked out.
"Your worried about people seeing..." Chaos said annoyed. "now no one will."
His burning eyes locked onto Ceasar who was still on the floor with Toya. He seemed nervous as he slowly got to his feet, keeping his eyes firmly on Chaos.
"Valice," Ceasar said reaching into his back pocket. "Stay with Toya. Your friends right? Don't let anything happen to him."
Valice snapped out of her paralyzed state as Ceasar slipped the black gloves on his hands.
"Valice," Chaos said taking his eyes off the two young men. "watch the little nosey one. His guards have a play date."
Valice screamed and covered her mouth as Vincent and Ceasar both lunged for Chaos at once. Chaos simply titled his head as the silver blade and black clad fist flew past each side of his head. His silky hair flew out in the breeze in slow motion as Valice instantly found herself fearing for his life. Chaos was a black blur for a moment, then both Vincent and Ceasar where flung opposite directions. Ceasar crashed back first into a row of metal lockers and left a big dent as he rolled to the titled floor. Vincent was flung against a window, making it shatter when he hit it and slumped to the floor. Chaos took a step forward and put a gentle hand on Valice's cheek and his claw around her waist.
"It's alright," He said softly. "I'm just playing."
He stroked her cheek with his thumb soothingly as she took a deep breath.
"I-I'm starting to get the hang of this being scared out of my mind all the time." She tried to laugh in a shaking voice.
"That's good." Chaos said leaning in, kissing her forehead.
"Your not going to hurt them right?" Valice asked staring up in to his eyes.
"Of coarse not." He said with a innocent smile that forced Valice to believe him. "But..." He said in a whisper as he leaned in closer to her ear. "they don't know that."
He held a finger to his lips with a devilish grin to silence her. He nodded his head towards Toya on the floor. Valice nodded back as he released his grip on her and spun around nimbly on his heel in a whirl of black hair.
"Get up!" He spat at the boys.
Valice quickly scuffled over to Toya's side and knelt down beside him. He looked even more like girl when he was unconscious. Even more delicate as well, with his red bangs tossed across his pale face and the long ponytail spread out beneath him. Valice grinned thinking how handsome he would be when he grew up.
"GET UP!" Chaos bellowed from across the strange candle light hall at the boys.
Valice slid a hand under Toya's head and gave him a tiny slap on the cheek to wake him up.
"Toya... hey Toya!" She whispered.
She got a groan in response, but nothing more. Ceasar moaned from his place on the floor as Chaos stuck a booted toe into his side and flipped him onto his back.
"This would be so much better if you weren’t kicking my a**." Ceasar smiled as Chaos towered over him.
Ceasar put a boot on each side of him and squatted down above him with a evil smirk.
"SO much better if you weren’t kicking my a**." Ceasar said again as Chaos wrapped his fingers around the collar of his shirt.
"Maybe it could be." Chaos said lifting Ceasar's shoulders and head off the floor.
"I like where this is going." Ceasar smiled.
"Don't even think about it!" Vincent snapped getting to his feet across the way.
Ceasar sighed and let his head drop to the floor with a small thud.
"Damn it Vincent." Ceasar sighed annoyed. "Why won't you let me have ANY fun?"
"Your kind of FUN with that monster is sacrilege and perverse!"
"When is "my kind of fun" not sacrilegious and perverse?" He said waving his hand dismissively.
Chaos smirked as he let Ceasar's collar go. Vincent was standing again with cuts and gashes on his face and arms as he stood holding his sword a little more wobbly. Chaos unhooked his boots from Ceasar's sides and stood facing Vincent once again.
"Ceasar get up!" Vincent barked as a bead of sweat made it's way down the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry." Ceasar started still sprawled out on the floor. "My back just had a meeting with a row of what I think might have been solid steel lockers. I'm a bit preoccupied with the pain of that and I need to fish the dial out of my a**. Who’s combination appears to be 69."
"Suck it up! I went through a window!" Vincent barked stepping back.
Both Chaos and Ceasar laughed a bit as Vincent shook his head.
"Shut up the both of you!" He spat. “You know what I meant!”
"Your awfully persistent little one." Chaos said taking a step closer.
Vincent tried to back up more, but found his back to the wall. Chaos advanced on him again and Vincent had no where to go.
"You don't know anything, and yet..." He said as the gasp between them closed completely. "you still stand by and let yourself stay blind. Are you afraid of what you’ll find?"
“NO!” Vincent stammered as he flattered his back to the wall.
Chaos ran a clawed finger up the blade, over Vincent’s hand and grabbed hold of his wrist.
“Are you afraid of me?” Chaos asked quietly, his red eyes staring into emerald green.
“NO!” Vincent said as Chaos squeezed his wrist.
“Yes you are.” Chaos whispered knowingly. “That’s why you what me locked away.”
Vincent didn’t say anything as Chaos’s lips split in to a wicked smile.
“You could do so much more then be a pawn.”
“I’m not a pawn!” Vincent growled loudly.
“Your ALL pawns!” Chaos shouted back. “Your not brave enough to cut your own path! So you blindly believe what your told!”
“Our paths are chosen for us!” Vincent snarled. “And we believe what we chose!”
“Only if you let them be chosen for you.” Chaos answered back.
“Get away from me!” Vincent snapped breaking Chaos’s hold on his wrist.
“You still wish to fight me?” Chaos said as Vincent laid the cold blade across his exposed throat. “when you know you have no chance?”
“It’s my duty.” Vincent said putting pressure on the cutting edge.
“Here’s a grand idea!” Chaos snapped annoyed.
He grasped the blade firmly in his claw and held it away from his neck easily even with Vincent’s strength pushing back.
“Did you ever wonder why they sent you two other fighters? Hmm?”
Chaos twisted the blade back and jammed it into Vincent’s throat. Valice shifted uncomfortably beside Toya as she watched Chaos and Vincent exchange words she couldn’t hear. Chaos had told her he wasn’t going to hurt them, but Vincent’s own sword pressed against his throat made her very nervous.
“Come on Toya!… wake up!” She said tugging on a strand of red hair.
Vincent searched the bloody eyes before him trying to find some sort of clue to what the monster was getting at.
“They where only sent here because you where here! I just happened to live here, that’s all.”
“Oh no,” Chaos said uncomfortably close now. “they sent them to you specifically. Do you know why?”
“Your reading too deep into this,” Vincent snarled hatefully. “besides what would YOU know about their orders or mine for that matter!”
“Your smarter then that,” Chaos whispered darkly. “try again.”
Vincent frowned and glared but didn’t say anything. Chaos finally seemed to be at the limit of his patience as he grabbed Vincent’s collar. The next moment he flung him effortlessly into the same lockers Ceasar had crashed into. Vincent groaned as he slid to the floor by Ceasar, a new trickle of blood flowing form the back of his head.
“Not so easy is it Mr. Big shot?” Ceasar grinned through his pain.
“That makes a window and lockers for me!” Vincent snapped as a trickle of blood leaked form the corner of his mouth.
A second later he was lifted up and off his feet and his back slammed against the lockers once again.
“This isn’t going to be any fun if you don’t do what you know you have to.” Chaos said sounding board as Vincent grabbed at his hands.
“That didn’t make any sense!” Vincent growled.
“They sent you an army and your not using it.” Chaos said tired of Vincent.
“What army?!” Vincent fired back.
“If you truly want to fulfill your duty, your going to have to use every resource available.” Chaos sneered. “You try to do everything yourself and have deemed your peers a waste of time that only interfere with what you have planed. You have no chance on your own.”
“I didn’t know you had such a wide vocabulary.” Vincent said completely ignoring Chaos’s lecture.
“Fine,” Chaos said letting him crash to the floor. “have it your way.”
Ceasar was sure his luck was about to run out as Chaos stepped over to him. Normally being flung into lockers was no big deal but his back had landed just right along the locks so that they dug into his entire spine from his neck down. It hurt to move any part of his back.
“Can’t move?” Chaos said as he stood over him.
“If you give me a minute,” Ceasar said trying to buy time that he knew wouldn’t be enough for him to get his back working again.
“Your Vincent want us all to fight one on one. Because of course your all independently after me. And I believe I’ll fight you to the death first.”
Ceasar went cold as he realized the man wasn’t kidding. Before he could even complain Chaos pressed a boot right in Ceasar’s throat. Ceasar coughed and grabbed hold of Chaos’s ankle and tried to lift him. His face twisted in pain as his back felt like it was being torn apart.
“Go a head and kill him.” Vincent said not careing. “He’s a bothersome.”
“Don’t listen to him!” Ceasar choked. “We’re best friends!”
“Do me a favor and make it quick.”
Chaos pressed down harder and Ceasar struggled for breath.
“I’m sure you have no problem letting him die.” Chaos sighed. “but what about the boy?”
Chaos turned his eyes towards Toya with a smile.
“Or the girl? Or any other child here?” He said as he turned back to Vincent. “could you live with their deaths?”
“Come on… buddy!” Ceasar gasped. “HELP!”
“Stop it!” Vincent said. “Stop it right now!”
“I think it’s about time for the boys to die.” Chaos said putting more pressure on Ceasar’s throat.
He stooped down and took Vincent’s sliver sword and turned towards Valice and Toya. He spun the blade in his hand until the finely honed edge was facing up.
“I said stop!” Vincent yelled.
“Why should you care?” Chaos asked. “They have nothing to do with you.”
Valice groaned as a headache started pounding in her temples. She sighed as the pain got worse. This wasn’t a time for a belated headache. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her temple. I said stop it! She heard Vincent yell.
“I said stop it!” Vincent yelled.
Valice looked up confused. He’d just said that a second ago. “It’s too late.” Chaos rang in her head.
“It’s too late.” Chaos said again.
Valice didn’t know what was going on as her head throbbed again. Why was everyone talking double? She opened her eyes again to find Chaos starting right at her. “Say goodbye to the boy now.” He said as he threw the sword. Valice screamed as the sword flipped end over end and lodged itself in Toya’s heart. Red blood splashed all over her face, still warm. Valice broke in to a cold sweat as she snapped back to reality. Toya was say still laying at her knees, breathing, with no metal sticking out of him.
“Say goodbye to the boy now.” Chaos said turning towards Valice once again.
The sliver sword embedding itself in Toya’s heart and the warmth of sticky blood on her face raced through her mind. She shook her head as Chaos looked at Toya with the sword glittering in his claw. Valice quickly wrapped her arms around Toya’s neck and pulled his upper torso in to her lap.
“Chaos don’t!” She breathed as she held Toya in her arms. “Don’t!”
“Valice?” Toya said sleepily. “W-what’s going on?”
“Toya get the sword!” Vincent yelled.
Toya didn’t even take time to think, he spun in Valice’s arms and locked his eyes on the sword. The blade flew out of Chaos’s claw in an instant and raced back to Vincent’s waiting hand. He was standing the next moment with the sword held at the ready.
“Now get off Ceasar’s throat.” Vincent growled.
“You do care.” Chaos smiled taking his boot away.
Ceasar gasped and rolled over onto his side howling in pain as he did.
“Now lets see if you’ll take your army and be a leader.” Chaos grinned.
“Chaos, Vincent… stop right now!” Valice said standing up. “Someone is going to get hurt!”
“That’s the point!” Vincent growled.
“Someone’s already hurt!” Ceasar snapped getting his breath back.
“You can’t do it on your own..” Chaos said crouching down and resting a hand on Ceasar’s shoulder. “Your going to need everyone in top shape to even have a ghost of a chance.” Chaos grinned.
Vincent’s eyes flicked back and forth from Toya to Ceasar and then back to Chaos. His hand trembled slightly as he thought out his position.
“Why would you just let us all go?” Vincent demanded.
“Because your pathetic.” Chaos said simply standing up. “Your not even worth a moment of my time.”
“Pity then?” Vincent snapped.
“No, entertainment.” Chaos filled in. “Because I want worthy toys to play with.”
Vincent lunged for Chaos who plucked the blade out of the air and grabbed Vincent by the throat.
“Get stronger, become a team and entertain me, or I will kill you all.” Chaos told him seriously. “And I’ve won again.”
“Wha…?” Vincent started.
He was cut off again as Chaos roughly put his lips to his again. Vincent’s struggled and after a moment broke away from him.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Vincent roared struggling to free himself.
Chaos rolled his red eyes and squeezed his hand on Vincent’s throat, cutting off his yelling spree.
“Maybe this will teach you no to take me on foolishly.” Chaos grinned. “Every time you fail I get a kiss.”
“I failed!” Ceasar said from under their feet. “Do I get a kiss?”
Chaos gave Vincent’s a little toss and sent him flying to the floor fifty feet away from him.
“If you can stand up,” Chaos grinned. “you’ll get your kiss.”
“Well you broke my back, I should get a kiss anyways!” Ceasar groaned.
“Your back isn’t broken. Maybe some other failed attempt later.” Chaos said flashing Ceasar a handsome smile.
“How many times am I allowed to fail before you kill me?” Ceasar asked pushing himself onto his elbows.
“Depends on your performance.” Chaos said smirking and he began walking over to Valice.
“Valice what’s going on?” Toya asked completely confused. “Why did he kiss Vincent!?”
“It’s a long story…” Valice said. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Valice stay back.” Toya said standing up to guard Valice.
Chaos just smiled as Toya stood to protect Valice. He passed right by him without incident.
“I’ll be waiting at home.” He told Valice as he smiled at her. “Still meeting out front.”
“Oh...ok.” Valice said not knowing what he meant by that.
Chaos waved his claw behind him as he waked off down the hall, his darkness and strange candle lights flowing him until they all disappeared in a blink.
“Valice are you alright?” Toya asked as he helped her to her feet.
“I’m fine… Toya… when did you wake up?” Valice asked looking down the hall where Chaos had left.
“Well I was out for a while... the first thing I remember is Vincent shouting… why did you ask?”
“Oh it’s… nothing.” Valice said holding one elbow with her other hand.
“Oh man…” Ceasar moaned from the floor. “I’m going to need a whole bottle of Tylenol for this one.”
“Ceasar!” Valice said forgetting Toya. “Are you alright?!”
She raced to his side and got on her knees at his side .
“Yeah yeah I’m fine.” He groaned. “I pride myself on doing the worst damage to myself.”
“You’ve done worse then this?” Valice said smirking finding it easy to believe.
“Oh look, your worried about me.” Ceasar said putting a hand on her cheek. “Your so cute Val!”
A swift kick in the ribs sent Ceasar rolling and howling in pain. Vincent stood over him with the worst looking scowl on his normally handsome face.
“You coast me a clean shot at him!” Vincent snarled.
“OW OW OW! You could have let him kill me! Don’t blame me!”
“I was hoping he’d kill you! I’d be rid of the headaches you cause! I didn’t what him to kill Toya.” He spat as blood dripped to the floor.
“Vincent your bleeding!” Valice said standing up to look at him better.
“It’s nothing.” Vincent said turning away form her.
Valice fished in her bag for a tissue and found one at the bottom.
“Come here.” She said turning Vincent’s face.
Vincent seemed a bit startled when Valice took off his glasses and dabbed at his forehead with the tissue.
“What are you doing?” He asked blinking his poor sighted forest green eyes. “I need my glasses.”
“Hold still!” Valice said as she wiped away the blood form his mouth.
“HEY!” Ceasar said sitting up. “You’re my girlfriend! You should be helping me!”
“You look like your fine!” Valice snapped as she crumpled the now bloody tissue and stuck it in her pocket.
“Glasses…” Vincent said holding out his hand. “and you’re his girlfriend now?”
“No I’m not!” Valice snorted handing the glasses back to Vincent. “He’s forcing me! It’s wasn’t my idea.”
“Valice is dating Ceasar?” Toya said stunned as he came over to stand with everyone.
“Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?” Ceasar grumbled holding onto the lockers for support as he stood up.
“Because Valice is kind and sweat where as you nothing more then a vagabond!” Toya snapped. “She could do a lot better then you!”
“What? Are you training people to hate me now?!” Ceasar growled at Vincent.
“You do that yourself.” Vincent said slightly pinkish as he put his glasses back on his face.
“Guys!” Toya whispered. “Someone’s coming!”
Toya quickly took Valice’s hand and quickly lead her back into the room. Valice’s head throbbed again. “What in heaven’s name happened here?!” professor Delanon shouted in her head as Toya used his powers to put the door back.
“It’s the professor!” Valice whispered to Toya as they made their way to the back of the room and hid.
“How do you know? It could be anyone!” Toya whispered back.
“What in heaven’s name happened here?!” The Professor shouted.
Toya turned and fixed Valice with a stare of a non believer.
“Lucky guess.” He said.
Valice held her head again as the headache throbbed painfully.

Chapter 13

“Ok everyone!” Ceasar said waving everyone away. “Break time! I’ll be back in half an hour.”
The crowd groaned as Ceasar began shooing them away with his hat. Once everyone was gone he let himself out from behind the bar and came to stand in front of Valice.
“What are you doing here princess?” He asked happily.
“You are unbelievable!” Valice said angrily. “Why won’t you guys just leave me alone? I’ve had enough of all of you!”
“Hey easy!” Ceasar said putting up his hands in defeat. “I didn’t know you where going to be here!”
“I work here!” Valice hissed. “Do you three have to butt into every aspect of my life?!”
“Whoa whoa whoa! I swear on my honor that we had no idea you worked here!” Ceasar said in his defense.
Valice folded her arms and glared at Ceasar who only half smiled back.
“Really! We had no idea! I needed a job and I got hired here first!”
“Like I really believe that!” Valice said harshly.
“Ok… I admit we’ve done some shady things, but this time it’s on the up and up. Vin says I have to pay rent and I owe the school money.”
“Why do you owe the school money?”
“Apparently we totaled that row of lockers from earlier.” He huffed putting his hands on his hips with a handsome pout. “So their making the two of us pay for it. Vin already has a job so he has his half paid off already. So I get stuck earning mine.”
“Have you never had a job in your life?” Valice asked still angry.
“Nope.” Ceasar shrugged. “Never had a need too.”
“You look like you’ve been around a bar before.” Valice glared.
Ceasar shrugged and Valice couldn’t tell if he look innocent or guilty when he smiled.
“I’m good with my hands. It was pure luck.”
“Have you told them you’re underage?” Valice asked.
Ceasar grinned his perfect teeth with his blue eyes sparkling.
“Are you sure I’m underage?”
Valice opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. She really didn’t know how old he was; she had just assumed that he was as old as her. Ceasar smirked at her pause and set his hat back on his head.
“You’ll get to know me soon enough.”
“I don’t what to know you!” Valice huffed in a furry now. “I want you to leave me alone!”
“I can’t do that.” Ceasar said pulling his hat down dramatically over his eyes.
“Well you’re not going to have a choice!” Valice barked. “I’ll get a restraining order or something!”
“Oh come on now!” Ceasar said ditching the dramatics with a grin. “Are we really bothering you that much?”
“Yes!” Valice huffed, losing track of time as she argued with Ceasar. “You’re continually annoying me and trying to hurt my friend!”
“You mean the monster?” Ceasar asked.
“Don’t call him that!” Valice snapped quickly. “His name is Chaos.”
“Tell you what,” Ceasar said calmly as he lowered his voice. “You put up with me until our shift ends and I’ll tell you a story about your “friend” princess.”
“Fine!” Valice hissed quietly as she folded her arms. “Now stay away from me!”
Valice walked past him remembering that she’d left the seating chat in the open and the two air heads had probably got their hands on it in her absence.
“Well I’m on my break; can’t I just fallow you around? I don’t get to see you often.” Ceasar asked falling in step behind her.
“You see me at school.” Valice said coldly hoping he would go away.
“That’s not enough.” Ceasar told her with a smile.
“Look you!” Valice said finally getting back to her station. “I don’t have time for you!”
“That’s not very nice princess.” Ceasar said leaning on the hostess station.
Valice didn’t notice all the attention Ceasar was attraction from the people sitting around them waiting. Everyone was eyeballing the two of them together. Valice flashed him an unhappy glare as she called the next party of people to be seated. She hoped to be rid of Ceasar as she lead them to a table but he kept in step behind her and proceeded to tell the newly seated guests the house specials and take their drink orders.
“What do you think your doing?!” Valice whispered angrily as she grabbed Ceasar’s elbow.
“Whoa, that’s a grip you got there.” Ceasar said playfully.
“Stop it!” Valice said. “You’re really getting on my last nerve!”
“Oh don’t be that way I’m just trying to spend more time with you love.”
“Well I don’t want to spend anymore time with you!” Valice growled.
Ceasar pouted a handsome smile as he took Valice’s hand off his elbow and held it in is own.
“That’s not a very girlfriend thing for you to say.” He said.
“I’ve had it with you!” Valice said taking her hand back. “For the last time we are not going out! I want nothing to do with you!”
“Are… are you braking up with me?” Ceasar asked confused.
“I can’t brake up with you since we where never going out to begin with!” Valice said a little too loudly.
The attention of the people seated by where they where walking turned towards them.
“Wow…” Ceasar said sounding dumbfounded. “I’ve never been dumped before.”
“I don’t know why you’re so annoying!” Valice grumbled harshly. “You don’t listen! We where never going out! Now stop saying it!”
“Oh…” Ceasar pouted with a blank look on his face. “Well I’m going to go deal with this shocking news.” He said wondering away from Valice as they both back to the front.
Valice sighed glade to finally be rid of Ceasar and his girlfriend talk. The two girls where back again giggling with one another, and Valice guessed they where staring at Ceasar.
“Star party of two!” One said holding onto the seating chart.
Valice rolled her eyes thinking they where messing up her hard work despite her efforts.
“Valice!” Someone said as she felt her arm pulled on.
She whipped around to find Toya staring up at her happily.
“It was you! Told you Vincent.”
“So it is.”
Vincent stood with his hands in his pockets looking at her through his frameless glasses. Valice broke out in both angry and unnerved goose bumps at the sight of both enchanters at her job.
“Is the dumbass here?” Vincent asked completely at ease.
“He’s asking about Ceasar.” Toya said frowning.
“Is that why you guys are here?” Valice asked trying to keep her cool.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Vincent said. “We didn’t know you would be here as well.”
Valice balked at Vincent’s unkind words as Toya held onto her arm still.
“Can’t blame me.” Valice said getting fed up. “All you three seem to do is fallow me around!”
“We’re not here for you this time.” Vincent said coldly.
Toya curled his hand into a fist and hit Vincent in the shoulder. It didn’t do much but make Vincent look at Toya. The red head looked peeved as he glared at Vincent.
“Just stop you!” He said. “Don’t start anything ok?”
“This way to your table gentlemen.” Valice said coolly.
She grabbed a couple of menus from behind the hostess station and led the way to the left.
“You mean you work here?” Toya asked fallowing closely behind her.
“Have to pay the rent.” Valice said not looking back.
She set them at a booth table that had a good view of the bar where Ceasar would be whenever he got back.
“Here you go, your waiter will be here soon to take your order.” Valice said turning on her heel and leaving.

Toya and Vincent took their seats as Valice walked away quickly.
“Vincent, you’re not being very nice!” Toya said when she was out of earshot.
“This isn’t about being nice.” Vincent said not bothering with the menu.
“This isn’t her fault.” Toya told him. “She hasn’t done anything wrong and you know it.”
“She’s already done plenty wrong. That’s enough for me.” Vincent said turning his piercing eyes to the young boy. “And you know full well that if she was one of us she’d be dead already.”
“That’s not the point. She’s simply in the wrong place at the wrong time! Not only that but you’re going to be in trouble if you keep doing what you’re doing!” Toya scolded.
“It’s not your business what I do.” Vincent said staring him down.
“Why are you so cold?” Toya asked slightly changing the subject. “You don’t have a reason to be.”
“That’s also none of your business.” Vincent said again.
“Ok fine. But listen to me; we’re never going to get through to her if you keep acting like that. Ceasar too. You two are just making her angry and driving her towards him and away from us.”
Vincent stayed quiet this time but didn’t seem to care.
“We where sent to do this with the most tact and grace as possible and do the least amount of damage to everyone involved.” Toya reminded him.
“That’s not going to be possible soon.” Vincent said leaning back in his seat.
“What do you mean?” Toya asked closing his menu.
“I’m positive that weather she knows it or not; Valice is his link to this world. Every moment he spends here with her the more of himself he recovers.”
Toya fiddled with his ponytail as his purple eyes seemed to sigh.
“We just don’t know enough.” He said braiding a few strands of his red hair. “We should ask for a look into the old recorder volumes.”
“They’d never let us.” Vincent said. “The superiors wanted this taken care of quickly while they knew he’d be weak. They’d never foresee him already finding a link.”
“Don’t you think it’s strange?” Toya asked suddenly stopping his braiding.
“Think what’s strange?” Vincent inquired narrowing his green eyes.
“Everything.” Toya said. “Knowing what a calamity this thing can create and the history he left behind… but they only send the three of us? The higher ups have been acting fishy lately.”
“I know.” Vincent said putting his arms on the table. “But we’re just going to have to trust them. It’s not like we could have a full scale invasion to take him back.”
“Nothing seems right.” Toya mumbled again.
“You’re over thinking things.” Vincent said.
“It’s what I’ve been taught to do.” Toya sighed almost sadly.
“You can’t help it if you’re gifted with brains.” Vincent said casually.
“So are you.” Toya huffed. “I don’t see you in my classes.”
Vincent’s face for once cracked into a small smile.
“You know full well that your at lest a hundred times smarter then me. You’re the world’s next Einstein.”
“I have a high I.Q.” Toya said annoyed. “That doesn’t make me smart. I wish people would understand that.”
“We’ll think of a plan when we get back to the house.” Vincent said noticing that Toya’s mood was heading south. “If we can get the girl on our side we can force his hand.”
“Shouldn’t we be including Ceasar in plan making?” Toya asked.
Vincent’s eyes narrowed unpleasantly and one corner of his lip curled back into something like a snarl.
“That buffoon doesn’t know the first thing of strategy. He’d end up either asleep or getting in the way. More then likely he could pull off both at the same time.”
“He’s still part of our team.” Toya argued. “It’s not fair to leave him out of things.”
“He’ll do whatever he’s told to do.” Vincent said callously.
“I don’t know why you don’t like him so much. He’s always nice.”
“Again, that’s none of your business.” Vincent snapped.
“Fine. Be all cold and distant.” Toya griped. “Where is he anyways?”
The high pitched sound of the sound system came on just as Toya finished his question, shortly after it was accompanied by a familiar voice.
“Hello? Check, check one two!”
Both boys turned around to face the stage like everyone else in their half of the restaurant. Ceasar, in his black cowboy outfit, was standing on the stage with a microphone in his hand.
“Oh dear god what is that idiot doing?” Vincent said in disbelief.
“Hello there everyone!” Ceasar started happily. “I know karaoke starts a bit later but seeing as how I’m on my brake now I’d love to treat you all to a song.”
The handsome teen’s request seemed to already be fulfilled seeing as how he coned the teck crew into turning on all the karaoke equipment early just for him. Not an easy task as they where notoriously lazy and uncooperative.
“But just a warning, I was dumped by my girlfriend earlier tonight, so it’s going to be something of a sad song.”
“Valice dumped him?” Toya asked looking over at Vincent.
“It would prove that there’s a first time for everything.” Vincent shrugged.
“This is one of my favorite songs by Mr. Dirkes Bently the famous country singer and I promise to do the song justice, even if I’m a bit rusty.”
“Oh god he’s going to sing.” Vincent snarled angrily.
“Why is he bad or something?” Toya asked.
“No…” Vincent sighed as his temples already began to throb.
Before Vincent could finish his sentence the music began playing loudly over him a twangy upbeat country intro with guitars and violins.
“Hey bartender!” Ceasar sang pointing to the empty bar.
His deep voice surprised everyone listening but one. His blue eyes sparkled with glee as everyone started at him. His voice even had a distinct southern drawl too it that wasn’t in his normal speech but convinced everyone he was a southern gentlemen.
“Can I make one special request? My women left me, so tonight I’ll be drinking your best. I’m not talking bout’ single malt scotch, jagermeister or puarvo gold. I’ll take… anything domestic, light and cold.”
Ceasar didn’t look the type, but he exceptionally capable of doing more then just carrying a tune. He also wasn’t the type to just stand and sing. Being a showman he walked down the stairs to the floor as he sang. Every eye was on him as he wandered to the tables where people where sitting and sang to them.
“Domestic, light and coooold, that’s what I’m having. Sever me up any oooold iced down American classic.” He sang to a booth full of cute young girls.
He winked at them as they giggled and smiled at him as he passed by. Going along the wall he flirted with everyone along the way.
“Pop a top! Crack a can, just don’t make me wait too long! I’ll take anything domestic, light and cold.”
Vincent made a face as Ceasar reached their table.
“No I wasn’t cheatin’.” He sang sliding into the seat next to Vincent. “She just said I was hard to please.”
Now it seemed like the other half of the restaurant had got up and come over to see just what was going on and who that enchanting voice belonged too. People crowed along the back wall moving over to the bar to make room for everyone still pushing their way over to see. No one stood out on the dance floor however. No one wanted to interrupt the singer as he continued seeming to show no interest in his rapidly expanding audience.
“And I’ll admit it.” He smiled as he sang sneaking in a bit of a laugh into the song. “I can be set in my country ways.”
He took off his hat and set it on Toya’s head as he stood up and smiled as it slid down too his ears. Toya lifted the much too big hat up off his eyes in time to watch Ceasar sauntering off, singing to the people standing.
“So go ahead and break out the good stuff... if I can be so bold. I’ll take anything domestic, light and cold.”
Now the waiters and hostesses where franticly asking customers to go back to their seats. They had formed a wall of people so thick that severs carrying food and drinks couldn’t get through. Some people made room or went back to their seats when they where asked, but most where still under Ceasar’s spell.
“Domestic, light and coooold that’s what I’m havin’. Serve me up any oooold iced down American classic.”
He took a little six year old girl dressed in a cow girl hat and twirled her around a couple of times by the hand as he sang. The girl blushed horribly as he smiled at her. She hid behind her mother but peeked out as he winked at her.
“Pop a top! Crack a can just don’t make me wait too long! I’ll take anything domestic, light and cold.” Ceasar repeated the chorus.

Valice didn’t know what had gotten into these people as she asked another customer to go sit down. She had guessed that it was nine and time for karaoke, but this crowd was just ridiculous! At first there was just one person singing that got everyone’s attention, but that happed every night, this mass stampede of people had never happened before. She managed to convince one person to go back to their table and when he moved she was finally able to get to the other side.
“… But tonight I’m in the mood for some of that home grown brew!”
Valice knew she shouldn’t be surprised, but she still was. Ceasar was standing in front of the bar with the microphone in his hand singing his lungs out.
“Pop a top! Crack a can just don’t make me wait too long! I’ll take anything domestic… hey I know what the best is. Anything domestic, light and cold!”
She was almost horrified that he would be drawing attention to himself like this. Valice couldn’t believe the nerve that guy had! And to tell everyone that she had broken up with him when they where never even going out to began with! She watched him sit with his front facing the crowd in a bar stool and tap the counter behind him. Even thought he knew that there wasn’t anyone behind it to take his order.
“Bartender!” He said in the normal voice, but still with the southern accent. “I’ll take anything domestic, light and cold over here!”
Valice felt her blood start to boil as she turned around and once again started asking people to leave. This shift didn’t pay enough for her to deal with Ceasar. Not only that but Vincent and Toya had showed up as well. What else could possibly go wrong tonight?
“Well HELLO over there!” She heard Ceasar say with mock surprise. “That’s something domestic, light and HOT.”
Valice rolled her eyes. Looks like Ceasar found some other girl to hit on. Maybe now he’d get over bothering her with all his stupid dating talk.
“Daddy likey!”
Valice cringed. He was being a total chauvinistic pig about it to boot!
“Please Mrs. We need you to clear the halls so people can get though. This is a fire code violation.”
Before she could convince the guest anymore she felt a tapping on her shoulder. She turned around and found herself staring up into Ceasar’s face.
“Hi there!” He said with a shy grin. “Do you uh… like country music?”
With that the music gave out and it triggered the crowd into wild clapping. Valice was beat red from embarrassment and anger as Ceasar took her hand and then took a bow. He backed up on to the dance floor dragging Valice behind him and continued to take more bows as the cheering continued.
“Alright everyone! That’s it for me! Karaoke starts in twenty-five minutes so get ready! Don’t forget to tip the staff well and I’ll be over here mixing drinks in about fifteen minutes! Thank you, good night!”