Title: Never Seen Blue
Author: Maxxxer
Pairing: currently unknown
Archive: HMFF, Metallica FanFic Sanctuary... if they want it *shrugs*
Type: AU, 'Fantasy'. Het, with maaaaybe some slash later on.
Summary: A uh, mysterious woman's journey. (Fuck, I don't really know the summary right now. Sorry people.)
Warnings: gore(not Al). blood. not too bad though.
Disclaimers: not mine, don't know em. Wait, the Original Characters are mine. So hands offa them. Metallica guys, however, are not mine. This definitely did NOT happen. No disrespect to anyone mentioned, fictional or nonfictional. Kay?
Notes: unbeta'd. this chapter is sort of the jump-start for the story. it's most likely very confusing. but don't worry, everything will be explained eventually.

Chapter One º It's the beginning of a new age... (don't ask)

She ran faster, her breathing harsh with every movement. Her bare feet hit the freezing snow beneath her, leaving only footprints behind her. She had to find a way back inside. She'd get back to her land, she'd deal with the motherfucker who sent her here.

Hell, she didn't even know where she was. Her vision took in the sights – or lack thereof. She was truly in the middle of nowhere. Left to right, front to back, snow. Just a big mass of land. Above her, a beautiful, clear cornflake-blue sky stared down at her, not a cloud in sight. Only stars and a moon decorated it, scattered across.

She glared down at her feet, stopping her movement. How was she going to find this place? All of the snow was flat. There were no ills, no valleys, not a thing. And she was totally alone, possibly trapped in this world forever.

It was then that the realization came into play. Everything that she had ever known was gone. All of her years, all of her work – her hard, hard work – wasted. All for this shithole with a never-ending season.

She scowled down at the substance. Fuck it, she was going to find a way back. She stood completely still, taking in deep breaths as a light breeze tapped against her cold body. A tingly feeling overcame here when she reopened her eyes, an electric blue glow lighting her eyes. Perfect. At least she still had her powers.

"Grab her!" came a sudden, gruff sounding voice. The woman turned around in time to see three men dive at her. If looks could kill, everyone in her presence would be roasting over a fire.

Her eyes quickly turned to an aqua-white color, shining like diamonds with an intense anger.

She managed to get a glance of the man who had sliced through the silence of the land; a dirty, overweight, ugly man who had an odd, over-powering stench, even from where she was standing.

"She's a perty one, ain't she?" he taunted.

She narrowed her eyes at the man, advancing towards him. The man chuckled loudly as one of the men tackled her to the ground. She let out a yell as her body slammed against the ground, the tall and heavy man pinning her. Her eyes only seemed to intensify as the glow was cast upon the man's face, making him wince and hiss in pain. A smirk danced across her lips as the color started to engulf the man, the hisses turning into screams as his skin started to dissolve. The glow continued to eat at him, the shrills and shrieks of pain coming out of what was left of his mouth. The sound was deafening. She merely grinned when the man dissolved into the thin air.

The woman quickly rose up, wasting no time in charging at one of the other men. Her hand was held high in the air, a light cloud surrounding it and fading away, revealing a sword. Before the man could blink an eye, she dug the sword into his stomach, pushing him to the ground. The snow surrounding him turned totally red. She pushed one foot on the man's chest, yanking the sword out and holding it firmly in her hands.

"Kael! Do something!" the man's voice seemed to be more urgent and less taunting now. She jerked her head at her, glaring evilly at her attacker.

"Ha! Thatta boy!" he shrieked as the third man wrapped a piece of cloth around the woman's eyes. She struggled with him, punching and kicking and screaming. Fuck. That backfired.

"Get her chained. She's a lively one. Now!" he yelled. Hands pinched and squeezed at her body as she was lifted into the air. She yelled curses as her wrists were bound together. They continued like this for what seemed like an hour, the woman never giving up.

By the time they reached their destination – wherever it was – her ankles were tied together and her mouth was gagged. The men chuckled in an evil, haunting way as they threw her onto a harsh surface. It wasn't cold. Or rather, it wasn't snow.

The men talked a few minutes longer, a strange feeling over-coming her.

What the hell were they saying? It was in a different language. Fuck.

She heard what seemed to sound like heavy boots hit the ground as they shuffled out of the room (she guessed it was a room, anyway.) The stench of stale beer and something else assaulted her senses as she tried not to gag.

"We'll talk later, perrty thang," the gruffly man husked into her ear. She jerked around, trying desperately to get out of the restraints and beat the shit out of this poor excuse of a man.

She felt herself picked up and hurled across the room, hitting the wall with a painful hiss. Her arms were quickly raised above her head and chained to the wall.

"You be good, now. Ya understand?"

No response.

The man simply laughed and walked out.

ºººººº

Chapter Two: Strange Little Girl

"Miss?"

The woman groaned when she felt a hand lightly tap her cheek. She quickly regained her senses and jerked her head away.

"Miss, I need to tell you-"

"What the fuck's on me!?" she exclaimed, panic shooting throughout her. She fluttered her eyes open, blinking them furiously, trying desperately to get some kind of vision, color, anything. A sign that she wasn't blind. But only the darkness greeted her.

"Miss, they put some sort of contraption around your eyes. Let me explain. It's like a headband, but-"

"What the fuck did they do that for?" she nearly yelled, struggling against the chains that bound her to the wall. Or, at least, she guessed it was a wall.

"Calm down, miss. I'm here to help you,"

"Help me?" she said coldly. "You'd help me by releasing me."

"I can't do that right now, miss. I'm sorry," the voice said. It sounded young… slightly soft but masculine.

A hiss escaped her mouth as she slumped against her restraints. Defeat was never a word in her vocabulary. But now she wasn't feeling competitive. She didn't feel like fighting this soft sounding little bitch. Well, either way, she'd find a way out, even if it wasn't now.

"I'm Bowen," he said.

"Great to know you, dickwad. Shall we have tea and get to know each other better?" she growled.

There was no response. The woman felt awkward knowing that there was possibly a man staring at her every movement.

"You're bleeding."

She jerked her head in the direction the voice came from. "What?"

"You're bleeding. Let me fix it," he said. Footsteps echoed throughout the room, followed by the sound of water. The next thing she knew, a sopping wet cloth was pressed against her wrists. She growled lowly, trying to move away from the intruder.

"Quit moving," he nearly demanded. "Please," he added in a softer voice.

"Why should I? A little blood won't hurt anybody," she replied.

"Ma'am, a little blood is one thing, but you've nearly cut yourself to the bone struggling against the chains," Bowen said. The woman's mouth parted as she tried to reply.

"You mean you don't feel it?"

Slight fear rose throughout her body. Was he catching onto-

Bowen simply chuckled, pressing firmly onto her wrists. "Strange. I'd give you proper treatment for this, but this is all we have. This ship has a shitty medical department," he muttered. The woman endured the rest of the cleansing before asking questions.

"Ship?"

"Yes. Ship. There are about five ships in Beulind, my native home. Well, pretty much everyone on this ship is from Beulind. Except for those Goddamned pirates," he trailed. "Anyway, there are five ships in Beulind that are as high-tech as these. We can travel through time, we have excellent technology, the best fighters and the best… well…" he trailed. "You name it, the ships probably have it."

"Five ships?"

"Yeah. Each one has a different quality. This one is designed for expeditions, adventures, the like. Our leader… the leader of Beulind, that is… Jason, wishes to know what else is out there in the other worlds, the other planes."

The woman remained silent, soaking in the information. There were other worlds? Well, there was obviously another one than her own. And that damn plane of snow… but more?

"Why did you need me? What the hell were you guys doing in the snow?"

"Snow? We have that everywhere on our world. Hell, we have grass and snow together. We have things blossoming and dying at the same time. No seasons exist there."

"You haven't answered my question," she pointed out.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry. Well, Jason, our leader, wished to know what else was `out there'. As far as we know, we're the only ones `out there' with advanced technology. We wanted to explore. Jazoun allowed this and prepared this ship. It's the fifth one. The newest, the best in my opinion,"

"The best? You've been on the others?"

"Yes. I grew up on ship three. But that's a different story. Those days are gone now. I'm 301 years old, and the past two hundred years have been spent as a slave," he said.

"You're bullshitting me, you sound too young,"

"Nah. Beulind people – if that's what you want to call us – stay nearly immortal. But back to the story. Because this ship was so new, the controls and power were all-too strong for our other captains. They were too intelligent and classy to break a fingernail operating new machinery," he continued.

"So anyway, pirates had somehow stumbled into Beulind. They're intelligent, clever really. Greasy and rude as fuck, but clever. And strong. So, they - of all things living - were chosen to run this," he paused.

"They usually aren't this rough. If Jason his highness ever found out about the way they're treating you, the experiment, he'd go-"

"Experiment? That's fucking appalling. What the hell are you people going to do to me?"

"Nothing! Simply observe you. At least, that's what I'm doing. I'm your slave. I don't belong to you, but for the time being, I take care and look after you."

"This is a pile of shit," she groaned.

"No, not really. This is a big ship – five miles wide. It's a traveling city, really."

"Whatever," she said.

"But back to the original topic… the medical department is shit here. They have houses, apartments, blah, blah, blah, you name it. But they didn't pack enough medical supplies," he grumbled. "We used the last of our stock on those damn warrior men. But don't worry – soon we'll be home."

"Your home. Not mine."

"We'll see," he said calmly. "What's your name?" he asked, hesitant.

The woman sighed. "Syrena,"

"Well, I must say that you are quite the firework, Syrena."

"And I must say you sound like a pain in the ass," Syrena snapped. "How much longer am I stuck with you?" she questioned.

"Five days," he replied eagerly. "We can keep your wounds clean and get someone in to tend to them."

"Great. Fucking loads of joy," she snarled.

"Bowen!" came a third, loud, gnarly voice. Syrena heard crashing and a body thrown against the wall, followed by the sound of fist connecting to face.

"Is this what you've learned after all this time?" the voice demanded.

"Sir, I-"

"Don't speak! You don't speak to anyone unless they ask you to. Understand?" there was silence. "Nod your head, fucker."

"Good. Is this the new bitch-toy? Permission to speak."

"Yes Hetfield. That is her."

"Interesting. What's this thing around her head?"

"She has powers, sir. Her eyes control powers. She can manipulate thin air and turn it into swords. She can melt human flesh."

"Can she?"

"Yes sir. It only stopped when they were covered. She seems harmless without it. As long as restraints are on her."

"Killer body," the third voice – Hetfield, was it? – murmured. Heavy boots hit the floor as they neared Syrena.

"If that puss Jason wasn't so powerful, you'd be mine."

Syrena spat in his face blindly. Apparently it hit.

"You fucking whore!" he yelled. "This will not go unnoticed. Bowen, feed her nothing for three days. Water only twice a day. Do not help her in any way, shape or form. Understand?"

Silence.

"Good. As for you, you little cunt. If Jason does nothing with you, bet on everything your pretty little body's got that your ass will be mine,"

With that, Hetfield's feet pounded on the ground, opening the door and slamming it.

ºººººº

Chapter Three: Spark?

Bowen wasn't lying about the five-day travel. Everyday she was allowed some water, a touch of food and little else. Bowen assisted her with everything, and surprised her with his kindness. He even gave her half of his meals, which he didn't seem to get much of, either.

On the fifth day, Syrena was rudely awakened by strong hands once again grabbing at her. She immediately jolted, unsure of what to do and knowing she couldn't do anything to protect herself anyway. She felt the chains that bound her being carelessly removed, falling to the floor with a loud thud. Every bit of restraint was removed – except for whatever the hell was around her eyes.

The hands picked her up and threw her over the owner's shoulders. She then took the opportunity to try and struggle to get free; but that didn't seem to help.

"Fuckin' drama queen. Stay still!" came the slightly familiar voice of Hetfield. This only made her more determined as she kicked and punched at anything she could.

"Fuckin' hell, quit being a cunt!"

She growled and took a blind shot in the direction she heard the voice coming from. Feeling her fist connect with what felt like a mouth, she smiled in success.

"You fucking little whore!" he exclaimed, throwing her to the ground. She groaned in pain when she hit the floor, but quickly recovered as she tried to get up.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," James mumbled, kicking her in the stomach and knocking her back down. Before she could react, Hetfield pinned her down and waved what felt like a wet washcloth over her nose. She struggled for a minute or so longer until she felt all the energy slowly drain from her body. Falling limp against the floor, she felt herself being lifted up by Hetfield once again. Everything in her body felt numb.

'Well, isn't this just fucking great,' she thought.

-

The next thing she knew, she was thrown down on another floor. But this time, there was no pain. The only thing she felt was coolness sinking into her skin. It was almost deadening the numbness.

"My Lord, we've returned," Hetfield spoke. `My Lord'? Where was she now?

"So I see," came a third voice… apparently the `Lord's'.

"Who is this?" the Lord – Jason, was it? – continued.

"Forgive me for cursing in your presence, but I can find no other word for this creature. She seems to be a bitch from hell… we found her in Spark."

Spark? That must have been the middle of nowhere she was banished to and kidnapped from.

But, Spark? Who the hell named these places?

"Ah, I see," The Lord paused briefly. Syrena couldn't help but feel insecure at that point, a feeling she'd never felt before. She felt like all eyes were focused on her, searching through her for all of the mistakes and weaknesses she carried.

"What is her background?"

"That, sir, I have no clue about. She's a tough one, I can tell you that. I don't like her,"

'Yeah, the feeling's mutual,' she thought dryly.

"She has some kind of power in her eyes. She's possessed or something."

Syrena swore she heard a slight gasp.

"Uh, oh, I see. How long have her eyes been covered?"

"Five days,"

"Okay… well, we-"

The Lord was interrupted by what sounded like a door opening, followed by light tapping of feet against the cool, smooth floor.

"Forgive me for intruding, sir," came a small, petite voice of a woman.

"Yes?" The Lord asked. Syrena was surprised to hear no trace of anger or annoyance in the Lord's voice. Most Lords or kings would have ripped someone's head off if they interrupted anything.

"That elf thing… he's back and he won't quit bothering me… or the other maids," she explained.

Syrena heard the Lord sigh heavily.

"Lars is back, correct?"

"Long brown hair and bright green eyes?"

"That's Lars," the Lord replied. "He's been giving you trouble?"

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "He won't shut up,"

"Do you have him?"

"Yes sir,"

"Well, send him to my chambers. I'll try to get him to quit it…"

"Lars, sir?" Hetfield asked.

"Yes,"

Syrena heard James growl under his breath at the mentioning of `Lars'.

"James, are your men prepared for the next journey?"

"Yes sir. If you'd like, I can take this thing with me," Hetfield responded, kicking slightly at the women.

There was a long pause. "No."

"But, sir… are you sure?"

"Yes. Hetfield, go and make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. Until then, send this woman off to my chambers as well. Dismissed."

She heard James growl louder this time, and felt herself being picked up once again. This time, she didn't struggle.

"You're fucking lucky, bitch," James growled into her ear. "Just wait until Jason's gone… just fucking wait…"

The oh-so-familiar feeling of being thrown onto the floor overcame her again, and the ever-present sound of a door opening and slamming shut was heard.

On the brighter side of this situation, she couldn't wait to meet this Lars guy, and try and send him off to Hetfield to annoy the living fuck out of him.

ºººººº

Chapter four; Time

Soft fabrics rubbed against Syrena's skin as she shifted around- wait, soft fabrics?

She groaned and sat up, feeling something plush beneath her hands. Hadn't she been thrown onto the floor?

"About fucking time," came a new, accented voice.

"What?" she questioned, speaking for the first time to anyone since her last chat with Bowen. She sighed to herself upon thinking of her friend. She wasn't sure of what was to become of him. Hetfield seemed to downright hate the poor guy, and from what she'd seen – well, heard of him - he wasn't exactly a nice guy…

…Prick.

"You've been knocked out for three fucking hours. Do some heavy drinking or somethin'? Jesus," the voice continued.

She annoyed the slightly irritating voice. "Where am I?"

"The `Lord's Chambers'," he continued. If Syrena didn't know any better, a roll of the eyes could've accompanied that comment.

"So, what are you doing here? I sure as hell know why I am. Apparently, I have a big mouth. Okay, big deal, so what? Is it so fucking bad that I happen to be interested in the thoughts, future goals, dreams, deep dark secrets, inner hopes, failures, and the like of others? Is it so bad that I'm interested in everyone's business? Is it so horrible that I love to learn? I mean, for fuck's sake! Oh, by the way, my name's Lars. What's yours? I sure as hell hope it isn't Aminda. Argh, my ex's name was that. Probably still is, the bitch wouldn't die if an elephant sat on her. Anyway, back to the original topic… Is it really that fucking bad-"

"Actually, no," Jason's voice stepped in. Syrena's head snapped in the direction his voice was coming from.

"Lars. It's…. been a while."

Was the Lord a little bitter with… Lars?

"Hey Jase! Ole' buddy ole' pal… how's it been hangin'? Get any lately? Coz you sure as fuck needed to get laid last time. Talk about stressed-out, he was. Anyway, so what's the problem, my man? Something about me being a motor mouth?"

"Yes!" Jason said, exasperated. Syrena heard a small – but dramatic- gasp come from Lars' direction.

"Well, be fucking harsh, direct and honest, ya cunt! I've got feelings too, ya know. I can't help it if I love to talk…"

Jason grunted in what sounded to be a great deal of aggravation. "Do you want me to go and get the duct tape?" he asked impatiently.

Another gasp, followed by silence.

Syrena would have to remember that threat if she and this Lars being had to meet again.

"Good. Now, Lars, since you're being a pest to everyone in this fucking world, I'm going to have to give you a job. You know, something to do to keep everything else on you busy while you run your mouth," Jason patiently explained. Or maybe impatiently.

"Oh. Like, whe-"

"I don't think it's really that good of an idea to speak right now, Lars."

"Good point. Forgive me. Please continue with this incredibly enlightening and entertaining lecture,"

"Uh, excuse me?" Syrena said, making her presence known for perhaps the first time.

"Yes?" Jason asks, his tone much more softer than the stern, sarcastic one he used with Lars.

"Pardon my being rude, but what the fuck do you people want with me?"

There was a brief silence before Jason spoke.

"I never knew you exis-" he stopped. "I never knew they would find something like you. If I had known…" Jason trailed. The next thing Syrena heard were footsteps coming closer to her. She felt two hands – one at each of her temples – slowly remove the restraint surrounding her eyes and face.

Hearing another gasp from `Gabby', both Jason and Syrena grunted and snapped `What?' at the same time.

"Haven't you heard, my Lord!? There's some chick… some lunatic out there with super eyes I heard all the latest from Nancy. She personally thinks it was Darla, but I have my own preferences. Anyway, it may be this girl!"

"Five days… it doesn't matter anymore," Jason murmured, obviously ignoring Lars' cry – er, warning . He finally pulled the restraint of and tossed it to the floor.

Syrena blinked rapidly, thankful to feel fresh air against all of her face. Staring back at her, into her own, were two blue eyes that nearly matched hers. Short brown hair – some of it in choppy, goofy curls – came from his head, a goatee on his chin. He smirked at her before backing away.

"So, it's you," Jason wondered, staring at her meticulously. Syrena blinked. Why would it not be her?

"Lars, you will tend to her every need. Take her to Chiara's, make sure she's given everything she needs and wants and that she gets the respect she deserves. Take this note with you if Chiara doesn't believe you, and try not to talk so much."

With that, he handed the letter to Lars and turned, walking through a little hall and into what must have been his bedroom.

Syrena stared down the hall and sighed. This was really fucked up. `Three months,' she thought. `I've survived worse things than this. I can handle three fucking months,'

Gentle hands on her arm made her snap out of her thoughts. She looked up to see what was probably Jason's guards escorting herself and Lars out of the chambers.

Together, they walked out into a bigger, longer hall, made entirely out of marble. There were no pictures, so special awards or anything placed on them. Just simple, basic marble.

As she took in the plain surroundings, it was only then that she realized she hadn't had a look at her new babysitter.

She was surprised by what she saw. She was surprised the small man could stand up with all of his incredibly long, thick and incredibly beautiful hair. Its color was a warm, almost sunny brown that made his already brilliantly bright green eyes stand out. He also had very pouty lips when he wasn't blabbing them.

Turning her attention back to the hall, she sighed.

This was going to be a long, long adventure.

ºººººº

Chapter Five

"So…." Syrena began. "How long will this `journey' be?"

Lars huffed and groaned as he pulled an over-sized backpack onto his shoulders. "Does it- OUCH! – matter?" he groaned. But all of his effort was wasted as he quickly lost balance and fell backwards. He sighed.

"Why did I have to have the heavy bag!?" he asked, scowling up at the ceiling.

Syrena snickered. "I don't even know what we have these things for," she replied, picking up her backpack. The lord had given the bags for the `journey', full of supplies and what not. At least, from the brief glance Syrena had given the inside contents, that's what it appeared to be.

"I mean, Jason KNOWS I'm not really that strong… well, don't get me wrong, I can defend myself… but hey, you have no clue how far that gets me with the ladies. Heh, apparently I'm all cute and adorable and stuff. And charm, did I mention charm?" Lars grunted as he stared up at Syrena. "Well, are you gonna help me up or what, bitch?"

"Fuck you," Syrena said, glaring down at the man. Or elf. Or whatever he was.

Lars growled and picked himself up, managing to support the backpack at the same time. "Well, let's go, now that we're off to a good start," he mumbled sarcastically.

"Hey, maybe if you didn't have such a big fucking mouth, you wouldn't have been put in this situation," Syrena replied.

"Eh. So," Lars said, his voice turning `perky' again. "We're in the hall right now. It's a long ass hall, huh? Okay, so that guard told us to just keep walking down the hall until we see a door or something. Then we go in that, and we're off. Sounds like fun. You got the map?"

Syrena sighed and pulled the map out of her backpack. Lars quickly swiped it away from her.

"Hey! Oh HELL no, you do NOT get to use the map,"

"Why not? Just because I talk a lot doesn't mean I can't tell direction,"

"Shut up. Give me back the fucking map," she said. Lars rolled his eyes and started to read it. Syrena felt what was left of her two nerves snap.

"NOW!" she nearly yelled, her dull blue eyes turning bright and intensifying in the color. Lars' eyes went wide as he quickly handed the map over. Once Syrena took the map back, her eyes turned dull once again. What the hell was that? Had some of her powers come back? No, it couldn't be…

"Fuck, I'm tired," she grumbled, putting the map back into the bag. "How long is this trip?"

"It'll take us at least a day," he said. "It's like, six A.M. right now. By the time it turns dark, we'll be there,"

"Great. Fuckin' great," she muttered. Well, at least she could see. Maybe along the way she could ditch her new babysitter.

With that plan and inspiration in mind, she dragged Lars down the hall, despite her sudden fatigue, and found the door Lars had mentioned. Pushing the door open, they walked through another hall made out of nothing but marble. Syrena examined it vaguely as she and Lars went down it, taking note of the strange carvings in the peach marble walls.

"The lord… he's a weird guy, isn't he?"

Lars snorted. "No, he's not. The people who ruled here before are," he said in a sulky tone.

"Are you from here?"

"Me? From Beulind? Ha! Hell no. I come from a different world. But um…" Lars trailed, his cheeks blushing. "Let's just say Beulind sort of adopted me as its own. I sort of go from world to world, learning new things and what not. But Beulind, I know practically everything and everyone there is to know here. Except for you. Who the hell are ya, anyway?"

"I'm the `lunatic' with super eyes," Syrena said sarcastically. Lars stopped walking.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," she dismissed. "Now, come on. Let's go."

"No, tell me about this. Did you really burn someone's balls off?"

"Oh for fuck's sake, I've only been here for four hours and there are rumors about me?"

"Yeah, well. I'm not the only gossiper around here. So spill it,"

Syrena stared at him. "For your information, it's none of your – nor anyone else's – business. I'm not even supposed to fucking be here."

Syrena started to walk again, with Lars quickly catching up to her.

"Well, if you won't tell me anything else, an you at least tell me where you come from?"

"That's not important," she said, her tone gloomy.

"Aww, sure it is. I'll tell you all about my past," he offered.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you would."

Before Lars could speak again, the hall had led them outside. Syrena gazed out onto the greenest hills she'd ever seen. There were tons of them, stretching on for miles. It seemed to never end. The still sky was a baby blue with soft puffs of white drawn across it, and it smelled of the sea. It must have been an island.

Just at the tips of the very tallest hills, a very bright, big, and fiery-yellow circle emerged from them. Syrena winced and covered her eyes.

"What the fuck is that?" she gasped out.

"What are you talking about?" Lars asked. She looked up at him.

"That's the sun! You've never seen the sun? No way in hell, you're too tan to have never seen it! Shit, I'd kill for your tan,"

"Tan?" she asked, feeling stupid.

"My god, you're really strange, you know that, right?"

"Ah, fuck you," she growled. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed for the first time that the hall they'd just been in lead to where they were. There was no door at all, just an archway. From there, a stretch of marble about as wide as the hall had been curved around to another hall that had no door. Right in the middle of the railing was a long flight of stairs that led to the ground below them.

"I take it this is where we're supposed to go?" she asked, staring down at the thousands of stairs.

"Uh, yeah. Hope you're athletic," he muttered.

Syrena watched as Lars walked down them. "Why is everything here so complicated?" she asked, following the man down the flight.

"Fuck if I know. I've been trying to figure that out for 24 fucking years," he growled bitterly.

"Do you even like this world?"

"I did until some asshole decided he wanted to fuck with it,"

"Why are you being so vague with all of this?"

"You're one to talk," he retorted.

Syrena glared at him once again. What was with this guy? Although, he did have a point, but fuck…

"Who is Chiara?"

The mentioning of this person seemed to brighten Lars' spirits.

"She's awesome. She's really fucking cool! Her skin is just gorgeous, and her eyes are beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with her eye color… it's a dark brown that's just… I could stare into them all day long. She owns like a motel. She's a kick ass cook, too. One of my favorite people in all of Beulind,"

"Sounds like someone's got a crush," Syrena said, smirking. Lars glared.

"I do not,"

"The guard was raving about her…"

"Everyone does that. She's really nice,"

The rest of the way down the stairs, Lars continued to talk about absolutely nothing for twenty straight minutes. The `elf' just wouldn't shut up. There was no way you could get him to shut his fucking mouth…

Duct tape. She needed to get some duct tape.

What was the deal with Lars and Jason? They seemed to go way back… so many unanswered questions. But with the way Lars was talking, she was sure they'd be answered eventually.

"Come on, get the map. We've got a long way to go,"

"Yeah, no shit," she muttered. As she gazed over the map the lord had given her, the note attached to it, Lars continued to yap. It got to the point where Syrena couldn't hear herself think. She was also questioning her sanity… should've killed the guy hours ago…

"We're going north," she announced, breaking Lars' chit-chat.

"Oh? Cool. I'd forgotten how to get there. Besides, every time I went I was always too busy socializing to really take a look around.," he paused, glancing around a bit, lost in thought. "I got laid a couple of times on that trip," he rambled.

"Uh huh," Syrena said, picking up where they left off and walking towards a little dusty trail going up one of the many hills.

"Great, we're going to be going up and down hills all day," she muttered.

"No, not really. You'd be surprised how far apart these hills are. They look so close together, but they stretch on and on and on… just be glad we aren't going east. Christ, I have some horror stories from the east… Like this one time…"

Syrena grumbled, watching her feet as they carried her up the somewhat steep hill. Lars' babble started to go on forever… like the fucking hill they were on. She'd started to count how many plants she saw on her way up the hill, in hopes of blocking out the hyperactive Elf.

Well, it didn't work for long. Christ, she was afraid she'd hear him talking in his sleep at night. Did he ever shut up?

She eventually grabbed cotton from a cotton plant and stuffed it in her ears.

The answer was no.

"We're here! We're at the top!" Lars announced. Syrena lifted her head up for the first in a long time, and stared down the hill. Laid out before her was a tiny little town, full of tiny little houses with tiny little fences, and from where they were, tiny little people, too.

"Is this where you're from?" Syrena asked, a smirk on her face. Lars glared and grabbed a small rock, hurling it at her.

"Enough with the small jokes, okay?"

"Don't fuckin' do that to me again, dick," Syrena snarled.

"Easy, easy," Lars said, rolling his eyes. "That shit does NOT impress me. What is it with you? Threats all over the place…"

Syrena glared at him again before turning her attention back to the town. Out of the corner of her eye, someone walking down another dusty trail that was even with the town made her look down.

"Lars?" she asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.

"What?" he replied.

"Where did that man come from?" she asked, pointing him out. The figure was dressed in all black, pushing a wheelbarrow, holding something that caught the light.

"Oh, that's a road from the palace," he said casually.

"The palace? Road!?" she exclaimed. "You mean we didn't have to walk up this hill!?"

"Oops."

"'Oops'? OOPS?" she yelled. Lars stared up at her, his cheeks turning bright red again.

"I forgot…" he replied innocently, turning to face her.

She stared coldly into his eyes before she started laughing. With a swift movement, she pressed her hand against his chest, pushing him lightly. The backpack too heavy for him did the rest as he tumbled down the hill.

"AAAAAIIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&qu ot; Lars exclaimed, the inaudible sound making Syrena laugh. She grinned as Lars came to a halt at the bottom of the hill. He carefully stood back up and wiped some of the dust off.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he yelled, waving his fist in the air.

"Am I? You're really going to threaten me, Lars?" Syrena asked, making her way down the hill.

Lars simply scowled.

Once Syrena reached Lars, she slung an arm around him. "You're not too bad once someone's made you shut up for a few seconds," she said.

"Ugh. Shut up," he said sulkily, trying to hide his smile. "What happened to the `got-a-stick-up-my-ass' girl before?"

"Aw, fuck you, Lars,"

"Ooh, when, where, what time, and who's on top?"

Snickering, she released her grip on him and started to walk towards the town. According to the map, they had about four more towns to go through until they hit Chiara's… then, she could just disappear in the middle of the night…

"By the way… what's your name?"

Syrena turned to acknowledge him. Hell, could she trust the guy? He seemed like- no, he was a gossiper who would probably sell you out if it got him further along. But there was also something else inside his eyes… aw, fuck it.

"Syrena," she said.

Lars grinned. "That's a pretty name… Well Syrena, let's get going, shall we? I've got a hell of a lot more to tell you,"

Syrena sighed.

ºººººº

Chapter 6

He stared out into the dark, forbidden clouds outside of his window. Everyday, anytime, any place, you were guaranteed to see the clouds, the lightning, hear the thunder. It never changed. It left people in bad moods. Bad moods that he had to deal with. Nicely. He had to listen all day to the citizens of his world complain and bitch and moan over every little thing. And he couldn't react harshly. No, not when – Aldan was always watching, always sensing.

The little shit – Aldan, that is – was keeping him from the things he wanted most; all of the powers, and all of the worlds. He'd been waiting for this moment for so long. The day he could overthrow that fucking so called `wise wizard' and claim what was his own. At times he was so close to touching it, receiving the power, that he could taste it.

But now he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. For four hundred years, he'd been preparing everything that he could. Getting all of the correct resources, all of the best fighters. Everything he'd ever need for conquering all was quickly trained and prepped for the long – but easy – war ahead. All of his soldiers were in tip-top condition, all of his technology was ready to be used.

There was one problem, though. Just as the old fucker had died, he'd lost the absolute best weapon he'd had.

Three was a magical number in this practice. They were going to win, everything was just perfect.

But alas, it all went wrong. SLIGHTLY wrong, rather.

"Father,"

The man growled and turned around, glaring down at his son.

"Kontar, I've told you repeatedly not to call me that," he snapped, his dark booming voice echoing throughout the spacious room.

"I'm sorry, Vahe. I won't do it again," he said, his green eyes staring into Vahe's own.

"Are all the ships prepared?" he asked.

Kontar nodded, long black hair shifting about. "All three ships are packed and ready, sir. Awaiting commands."

"We'll set sail soon. Are you prepared?" he asked. "Muscles ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. We're going to need them," Vahe said, squeezing one of Kontar's biceps.

"Itan says that it is ready, sir."

Vahe grinned down at his son. "VERY good. Take me to it,"

"I have it with me," Kontar said, turning to the entrance of Vahe's room and clearing his throat. Two woman in black, flowing dresses brought forth a glass case. Kontar quickly took it and shooed them away.

As soon as the sound of two large doors shutting echoed throughout the room, Kontar followed Vahe over to black curtains designed in the shape of a cone. Vahe opened the curtains, pushing them apart, allowing Kontar inside first. He quickly closed them and waved his hand in the air.

Instantly, three torches were lit, supplying light in the dark, enclosed space.

"Open it," he said, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

Kontar did as he was told, slowly lifting the lid of the square case.

Vahe stared down into the ball of black smoke, watching as it moved in time with the fire. He grinned.

"Hello, father," he said, manipulating it to move over to a stand in the middle of the space.

As soon as it did that, a bright gray light surged from it. Kontar hissed and covered his eyes, dropping the glass case. Vahe laughed as it shattered on the ground.

"Can we do this without Syrena's help, sir?" Kontar asked, coughing from all of the smoke.

Vahe turned to look at his son, watching as he hacked and choked. He quickly grabbed the ball, placing it on a chain that hung from his neck. He smiled down at the glowing gray circle that came out from it.

"With this?" he asked. "With this on our side? No."

He quickly blew out the fire on the torches, leading the way out of the cone.

"Come with me. We must leave at once."

º

It had taken a day, but Lars and Syrena made it safely to the town Chiara lived in. It was just dusk as they entered a small little town, full of drunks that continued to hit on the both of them. Syrena sighed and put some more cotton into her ears as Lars continued to blab.

"Jesus Christ! How many times are these people going to hit on me!? Old, smelly men, for that matter! Gods! I mean, I can understand why they would to you, you're fine and all, with your cute features and your pretty eyes and nice ass, but me!? I'm a GUY! Do I look –that feminine? Fuck! I mean, I've had guys hit on me before, but at least they were good looking!"

"Lars, just shut up. We're almost there," she growled.

"Aw, come on. It's not that bed, Syrena. I could be talking about a lot of stuff you have no interest in. Or I could be talking about just one subject that bores you to tears. So, don't complain. All I used to talk about was like, dragons and stuff. Don't forget the stuff. Anyway, You're going to LOVE Chiara. She's awesome. She's like my sister,"

"You've told me that ten times already," Syrena said through clenched teeth.

"So? Sounds like you're jealous! Aw, have a crush on me, Syrena?"

Syrena bit her tongue, trying desperately not to rip Lars' vocal chords out with her teeth.

"Hey! That's it!" he exclaimed, grabbing and tugging at her arm as he hopped around. "This is so cool!"

"Shut up."

"You're one cranky, tired bitch, ya know that, right?"

"Aw, fuck you."

"Heh, just name the place and time and position- OW!" Lars said, rubbing his head as Syrena laughed.

"Did you have to throw a rock?"

"You did it earlier – and twice after I threw you down the hill in the second town."

"Well, psht!"

"Yeah yeah okay this is getting us nowhere. Let's go," she said, grabbing Lars' arm and nearly dragging him up the hill.

ºººººº

Chapter Seven

"CCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAARR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lars exclaimed, hugging the poor, unsuspecting woman tightly from where he was latched onto her back.

"What the fuck!?" she exclaimed., wobbling around from Lars' weight. The backpack full of his things probably didn't help much either.

"OH, I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH, CHIARA! I'VE GOT SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!"

"Whoever… you are… cough… you're choking me, you litt…little hyperactive… hack…. Bastard,"

Syrena stared, blinking dumbly at Lars' sudden show of over- affection.

Lars hugged the woman one last time before he hopped off of her back and walked in front of her. She glared down at him, rubbing her neck as she tried to breathe. He simply gave her a big smile, raising his arms up into the air, as if he expected the woman to fall to her knees and start in with a `Hallelujah' chorus.

"What the fuc- oh fuck, Lars?" she asked, her emotion quickly going from anger to what Syrena considered dread.

"You betcha! What. No hug? No, `wow, how the hell are you Lars?' No? Nothing?"

The anger quickly rushed back to her. "You almost choked me, ya little troll!"

"Hey, easy. And I'm not a troll, damnit. Anyway, we were sent here by Jason," Lars said, rummaging through his backpack.

"We?" she asked gruffly, her glare never leaving her face.

"Ohhh, my bad! We as in Syrena and I,"

The woman stood back, raising an eyebrow. "Syrena?"

"Yeah. This bitchy broad," he said, absently pointing over his shoulder to where a silent Syrena stood, staring at the two.

"I see," she said. A warm smile softened her face as she walked over to her, sticking out her hand.

"Hi, my name's Chiara," she said.

Syrena blinked at the hand.

"Don't you know how to shake, or are you gonna just stand there?" she asked, smirking.

Lars interrupted…but was this really a surprise? "No, you see, Syrena's of the weird type. She has like, freaky possessed powers. She didn't even know what the sun was until I told her!" he said, snickering a bit. Chiara's eyes went wide as she looked Syrena over. She gulped, and then smiled once again, even if it looked a little forced. Syrena, in turn, looked the other woman over suspiciously.

"Well, you've got a lot to learn…" she then turned back to Lars. "Now, why the hell are you here creating chaos and havoc in my motel?"

Syrena grinned as she blocked out the argument between Chiara and Lars. Her eyes wandered blankly around the room they were in... It had been just a little while ago that they'd arrived at Chiara's motel. It was a lot bigger than she'd expected, yet not nearly as big as the palace Jason lived in was. It wasn't nearly as posh, either. But it was certainly nice enough. It looked like it'd been run down a bit in the past, as if it was a family-run business. It almost looked like something stolen from a western… she'd been able to read books on those types of stories. But only to gather information on how they fought.

The walls were painted a slightly dull reddish-orange, it had a lounge with old but comfortable looking couches that went well with the walls. Various Oriental rugs graced the hard concrete floors, with random spill stains on them. There was even an old, upright piano with not-so-white ivories on them. And, if memory served her correctly, the doors had been like the swinging saloon-type ones illustrated in her western books…

"Well, then, where's this note from Lord Jason you keep bragging about? Hmm?" she asked, grinning secretly while Lars fumbled.

"Well, uh, it was in my bag a little while ago…" he mumbled, searching through it.

"A little while ago was this morning, Lars," Syrena said, speaking up for the first time in Chiara's presence. Chiara and Lars looked over at her.

"It's in my bag, Lars, because I didn't trust you with it. You have tendencies to sort of lose tracks of things…" she mumbled, handing the map – with the note attached to it – to Chiara. She took it and snickered softly.

"Like when he's talking…" she murmured under her breath, reading the note.

"Hey, I'm not THAT bad…" Lars mumbled.

"Yes you are," Chiara and Syrena said at the same time. Chiara laughed.

"I think I'm going to like you…" she said, placing the note with the map into a cabinet nearby.

"Well, since I have Lord Jason's approval… and the only way I'm doing this, mind you Lars, is because it' s an official letter from him… let's show you around, hmm?"

Chiara began to lead the way into the other room when a girl walked up to her, curtsying in front of Lars and Syrena.

"Ma'am, forgive me, but dinner is ready,"

"Good, I'm hungry," she dismissed the girl and turned to her new `friends'.

"How about you guys? A long day, long trip. I'm sure Lars has burned his energy by blabbing to you all day," she said, looking directly at Syrena, who was behind Lars. She grinned and nodded her head yes, only to nod `no' when Lars turned and glared at her.

"Well, let's go then,"

"YEAH! Chiara's food is awesome… her recipe's, anyway. I-"

Syrena stopped Lars by grabbing him by wrapping an arm around his stomach, bringing him back to her.

"It's okay, miss. We've come unexpectedly, so you're probably not prepared…" she trailed. Her plans of escaping would never work if Lars got Syrena involved in everything… even if it was just dinner.

"Oh, shit. I have to feed a bunch of retired, horny middle-aged men every night that stay here just to go see the strip-bar across the street. I think I'll have plenty to feed you guys with," she said, grinning and walking back into the kitchen, where the little girl had gone.

Syrena glared down at Lars. His big green eyes narrowed as his smile vanished.

"What?" he asked, grumbling.

"Nothing. I just don't see why you have to be so-"

"KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKKKKK KKKKKKKKKKKKK! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiara's voice exclaimed from inside the kitchen.

Lars and Syrena blinked at each other before they went inside of the kitchen.

They were first greeted by a bunch of steam. They winced and waved their hands around, clearing their vision. The kitchen was as hell of a lot more clean than what the rest of the motel had looked like. The walls had perfectly-placed glossy white tiles, the floor matching them. The sinks were made of steel, beautifully shining. The stoves were occupied by about four cooks each one preparing final touches on various meat.

Right dab in the middle of scurrying maids and chefs was Chiara, hugging a man in a black cloak like there would be no tomorrow.

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon!" she aid tearfully, the other man chuckling softly as he hugged her back.

"Shh, be quiet. Don't draw attention to us," he said,.

"I'm sorry," she said, managing to smile as she wiped away some tears. "I'm so glad you're back! Did they release you?"

The man, who must have been Kirk, glanced back to Syrena and Lars, who were staring and eavesdropping at the two.

"I'll explain later," he mumbled.

Chiara gave him a weird look, until she noticed Lars and Syrena had followed her inside.

"Guys! Guys, this is my brother, Kirk," she said, smiling from ear to ear and patting the other man's back. Kirk grinned as he removed the hood of the cloak from his head, revealing beautiful black curls that matched Chiara's. His eyes were darker than his sister's, but they stared right through you with great intensity. He looked by far more serious than his warm-hearted sister.

Syrena couldn't help but gasp at the man's strange beauty. Something about him seemed slightly familiar… the cloak especially…

"Hiya, Kirk! I don't believe I've met ya before, but I'm Lars," Lars introduced, sticking his hand out. Kirk grinned and shook his hand.

"Are you an elf?" he asked.

"Well fuck, that's kind of rude, don'tcha think?" he snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's Syrena, a friend of Lars. I'm to keep her safe here," Chiara explained to Kirk. Kirk nodded, reaching out for Syrena's hand. He gently kissed it and smiled.

"Nice to meet you,"

Syrena raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you too. I guess,"

"Well, come on! It's odd, I had the chefs cook your favorite meal… it's been so long… is spaghetti still your favorite?"

Kirk nodded. Chiara's grin seemed to grow wider, as if that could happen.. She linked her arm with his as she led the way out of the kitchen, talking to him nearly as much as Lars was talking to Syrena.

Kirk's owl-like eyes glanced at Syrena over his shoulder. He half- smiled, and then turned his attention to his sister once more. Syrena glared.

Something wasn't exactly right with him.

ºººººº

Chapter Eight

(This takes place after Syrena and Lars set off to Chiara's. Sorry if this is confusing.)

Jason stared up into his cieling, watching the marble as if it was going to move.

This day had been a difficult one. It'd only been a week since Aldan's death. Jason swallowed the lump in his throat. He missed him greatly. Why he'd given the whole entire kingdom over to Jason was beyond him, especially considering since he was of no blood relation...

Along with his death, some of his powers were sort of 'handed down to him'. The powers could still work, but to a lesser degree. At least he could sense things.

Which reminded him. He felt very troubled. Something was about to happen.

The presence of that woman didn't help either. And Lars. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of him. Annoying, sure, but he did have a special place in his life. It'd been forever since he'd spoken with him. He wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or sorry over it.

But one thing was for sure. He knew who the woman was. He didn't know why she was there. But he knew that she had finally returned.

The problem was, did she realize it?

He sighed, restlessly turning in his bed and digging his head into the pillow. Fuck it. He'd deal with this tomorrow.

---------

(Back at Chiara's...)

Dinner was filled with loads of talking from Lars, Chiara, and a few of the other drunken guests Chiara was partial to. All throughout the meal, Syrena would catch a pair of deep brown eyes staring into her. She would glare, but he wouldn't budge, and his eyes never left her.

Gutsy guy, that Kirk.

Syrena returned her attention back to her plate. Spaghetti. She'd never had this before. Actually, she'd never had much of anything.

"So, are you here in Beulind from business, Syrena?" Chiara asked, knocking Syrena out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, feeling panic spread throughout her.

Okay, hopefully Lars would help her out. After all, he never shut his mouth anyway.

"She's got some kind of business with the Lord. Fuck if I know, she won't tell me anything," Lars provided, as usual.

"That's becausae I don't even know, Lars," Syrena mumbled, casting her eyes downwards to the floor.

"Business with Jason?" Kirk asked. Syrena looked up upon hearing the mysterious man speak.

"I wouldn't consider it business," she said, scowling at the dark- haired man who was staring blankly at her.

"I see," he said politely, dropping the subject and turning to his sister.

"How have you been?"

Syrena glared at him, paying no attention to the conversation. Something was definitely wrong with this guy. He had some kind of secret.

Syrena felt a somewhat small foot stamp her own.

She snapped her head over to Lars, who was seated right next to her at the long table.

"Isn't that guy just screaming 'Fuck me'?" he whispered, wiggling his eyebrows and elbowing her gently.

"I don't like him," Syrena said stubbornly.

"Aw, why not? He's fuckable, he's hot, he's everything you're not… I mean- OW!" Lars exclaimed loudly. Syrena snickered.

Chiara, Kirk, and the others turned to stare at Lars.

"Um, I hurt my finger," Lars said, blushing. Syrena snickered.

"Okay…" Chiara trailed before starting the conversation back up. Lars glared at Syrena.

"Did you HAVE to grab my balls and squeeze?"

Syrena just smiled.

-

The rest of the dinner was busy and bursting with laughter and stories, mainly from Kirk and Chiara. The meal was quite good in Syren's opinion… much better than those from her 'homeland'.

"Well, I think it's past my bedtime…" Chiara said, getting up.

"Chiara, you wuss! It'sh only e… eight!" one of the drunken regulars slurred.

"Mr. Johnson, you especially need to go to bed. And it's 12 A.M.," Chiara corrected, helping the man up and leading him to his motel room.

"Where are we staying?" Syrena asked Lars, waiting for the maid to take away her plate. She then stood up and stretched slightly, glancing at Kirk, who was chatting with some girl. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, staring at Lars.

"I don't know," Lars said, sitting on the table and gently kicking his feet into the air. "Chiara will tell us,"

Syrena felt a chill go down her spine. It felt like someone was staring at the back of her head. And she was probably right. Damn that man.

"Okay, you two. I'm afraid that the motel is surprisingly full, but I have one more room for you. I would've given separate rooms, knowing how Lars is one to be a horndog, but this is all I can give for now…"

"It'll be fine. Two beds, right?"

"I wouldn't call them beds, Syrena. They're cots in a small room in the back that we rarely use. They're nice and padded, though," she said, leading the way through the kitchen and down a hall. She opened a door that led in what looked like a storage room, and pointed up to a wooden ladder that led up to a built-in bedroom.

"We have rails there so no one falls out. I've had a lot of the drunkie's sleep here and end up suing me because they fell. It was their own damn fault!" Chiara said. "Well, I'd better go and check on Kirk," she said, patting each of the guests on the back. "I'll see you two later. If you need anything, just holler,"

"Thank you, Chiara," Lars and Syrena chorused.

They watched as Chiara left, closing the door behind her. It was then that Syrena realized that the room was lit by torches, not electricity. She gazed over the mops and brooms, the rusting old sinks and kitchen supplies, and then up to where she and lars would be stay the night.

"Lars, put the torches out," Syrena said, grabbing one of the torches and pulling it out of its holder. Lars did as he was told and then climbed up the ladder. Syrena handed him the torch before climbing up herself.

"Put it in the holder there," she said, pointing out the little slot attached the to wall.

"Not too bad," Lars said, his eyes glancing over the cots with extra blankets and pillows and comfortable-looking things. Syrena smirked.

"Well, I think I better go to sleep… I'm kind of tir-" Lars' sentence was cut off when he collapsed onto the cot nearest to the wall, face down in the pillow and snoring.

She sighed and put her bags on the ground. The old wood creaked as she walked lightly towards the sleeping elf… or whatever he was. Grabbing the blanket off of her cot, she softly draped it over him.

Her eyes then looked over at the opposite wall. Her cot lay there, welcoming her with open arms.

But if she wanted to escape, she'd have to go now. She waited for about an hour, fighting to keep her eyes open, until she attempted to escape.

She quietly picked up her bag again, slinging it over her shoulder, and ever-so-gingerly crept back down the ladder. She sighed as she looked back up at Lars.

But she had to go and kick some ass back in her home land. If she could find the fucker.

She grabbed some old rusty pick axes, three rusting and broken kitchen knives, some matches and one of the torches.

She figured it was now or never.

"Bye, Lars," she whispered, tip-toeing to the door, quietly opening it, and walking back out.

ºººººº

Chapter Nine

Syrena felt the cool night breeze caress her face as she gently pushed the final door in her way open. She inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh air gratefully. Above her, the dark blue sky was alive with incredibly bright stars, sort of like the ones in – what was it, Spark? – on steroids.

She inhaled deeply, grateful for the fresh, crisp air. It was a nice change from the stuffy, foggy air inside the storage room. Her eyes gazed out over the hills of this particular town in Beulind…. Most were silent and still, only the breeze and trees moving. She then noticed that she was at the side of the building; she had to walk all the way around, past the guard dogs, and head back towards the palace. Joy. Then, from there, she would try and find one of those ships Bowen was talking about… even though she'd never seen one.

That could lead to trouble if she couldn't find one, and if she did, she could have to hide constantly. It was a good thing she packed five days worth of food and supplies in her backpack. She quickly rummaged through her bag to make sure everything was there, and then began to walk ever-so-quietly up to the front of the motel.

Maybe this would work. Maybe she could actually find one of the ships, sneak on, and then sneak off in any of the worlds they traveled to, until she found Spark. She wasn't one hundred percent sure, but she doubted that they would be able to find her homeland… no matter how advanced their `technology' was.

Now, finding her home amidst all of that snow was the real problem…

But she had plenty of time to think about.

"Fuck. I wish I had my powers right about now…" she grumbled quietly to herself. She reached the corner of the building, and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

She peeked her head out to see if the coast was clear. The porch was empty, only a few of the rocking chairs swaying gently from the breeze. They creaked and moved in a unique rhythm that, if not for the circumstances she was under at the moment, would've been comforting to Syrena. The dogs were no where in sight. She sighed in relief, and took a step forward…only to immediately take that step back upon hearing the door softly open.

She backed up against the wall, praying that whoever it was would go back inside, or not come over to her side of the motel.

The gods were on he side that night. She heard delicate footsteps on the old wood, and finally on the ground beneath her. Her breathing became heavier as she heard the footsteps come closer to her side…

"Hammett?" came a gruff-sounding whisper.

The owner of the footsteps walked away.

"You're late," said Kirk's smooth, confident voice.

"Fuck you, I'm late by two minutes,"

"Why didn't you meet me in the lobby?"

"I'm late, you dumbfuck. And I can't stay that long. I've got business," the gruff voice sounded a bit on the bitter side.

"It doesn't matter. Have you got any news?"

"No. None since Aldan. And that fucking twat that Jason's so fucked- up over,"

Wait a second, that voice sounded familiar…

"Yes, I know about her. Listen, if the plans pan out, you know where to meet me. Dock three, was it?"

Syrena bravely poked her head around the corner. Kirk's back was towards her, looking up at a tall man with blonde, spikey hair and an odd beard.

"Yes. I gotta go now," the blonde man said, instantly disappearing into thin air. Syrena furrowed her eyebrows.

Kirk shook his head, his curls bouncing slightly against his back. He wrapped his grey coat around him tightly before turning to walk back onto the porch.

Syrena gasped at the man's beauty. The moonlight hit his face, casting a blueish glaze over it, lighting his eyes up like diamonds. His hair curved around his beautiful face almost perfectly, and his lips… fuck.

Was this guy perfect?

His walking stopped suddenly. Syrena stared, unsure of what to do. He was staring blankly at the ground, arms wrapped around his sides as iit was an effort to keep himself warm.

His head turned slowly in Syrena's direction.

Syrena quickly (and as quietly as she could) moved away from the corner, and ran towards the side door, rushing inside.

The darkness greeted her as she ran blindly down a hall. She knocked into many objects along the way, almost certain she was waking up half of the motel, but not really giving a fuck.

What was with this guy? It was like he was pulling out every emotion in her body and twisting it around.

She'd never been that scared of someone in her life, and for those instances, it was penough to choke her.

She felt a body come into contact with her own, clamping a hand over her mouth. She growled and tried to fight the person, kicking and punching until she connected.

"OW!!!!!!" came a loud, pain-ridden cry.

Syrena blinked. "Lars?"

ºººººº

Chapter Ten

Syrena grabbed the torch from her backpack and lit it, looking around the hall for what seemed to be Lars. Her torch lit the hall up with orange light, allowing her to see some more of the tables and chairs and supplies that couldn't be used anymore that wouldn't fit inside of the storage room.

She sighed as she walked a bit further down the hall, slightly worried that she may be losing her sanity, until she spotted a tiny man curled up in a corner. She kneeled down next to him and pushed away some of his hair.

"Lars?"

The man slowly lifted his head, his green eyes burning with sarcasm and pain.

"No, it's fucking Jason,"

"What the…"

"That's TWICE you've injured my balls," he groaned, clutching his crotch. Syrena held in a laugh that threatened to break lose.

"I'm sorry, Lars," she whispered. "What were you doing out here to begin with?" she asked.

"I was worried about you. I heard the door open from outside and I noticed you weren't here, so I thought maybe…"

"Aw, how sweet," Syrena said, rolling her eyes. "Want me to help you up?"

Lars glared at her. "Nooooo, I want you to chop off my dick with a chainsaw,"

Syrena smirked as she helped him to his feet. "That COULD be arranged, you know,"

Lars gulped. "That's alright, I was being sarcastic,"

"No, you think?"

He grunted in frustration. "Just what the hell were you doing out there, missy? Your pretty auburn hair is all fucked up," he said, furrowing his eyebrows and sticking out his tongue as he ran his hands through it.

"Hands off," she mock-growled.

"Touchy. So, what the hell's going on? Huh?"

"I just wanted some fresh air," she muttered, opening the door that led into the storage room.

"Eh, I can't blame ya for that. Stuffy in here, and what not. Well, come on, let's go back to bed," Lars said, yawning.

Syrena sighed as she watched Lars climb back up the ladder. She once again handed him the torch, and then climbed up herself.

Lars had certainly made himself at home. As she looked down on her cot, she noticed she only had a single sheet-like blanket and an old pillow, where she used to have about five fuzzy blankets and two plump pillows. She sighed and `collapsed' onto her bed.

"Night, Lars," she murmured, wrapping herself up in the blanket.

"Mhmm," he replied.

The next sound Syrena heard was loud snoring from Lars. She grunted and threw a pillow at him.

He shut up.

She smiled and then fell asleep herself.

-

"Syrennnnnaaaaa,"

"Fuck off, ya damn little hyperactive twat," Syrena said, smacking at the air blindly with her hand as she turned over.

"Morning person, are we?"

"Short little annoying fucker, are we?"

"Aw, now that was below the belt, Syrena," Lars mumbled.

Syrena growled and turned to face him. "Do you really want me to reply to that?"

Lars quickly backed away.

"You almost burned the motel down last night," he grumbled.

"Huh?" Syrena asked, rubbing her eyes absently.

"Almost. I saved us," he said, pointing at the torch.

"Uh-huh…"

"Well, come on! Chiara's prepared breakfast for us!" Lars said, bouncing over to the ladder before going down it. Syrena growled and threw curses at the wall as she climbed down after him.

-

Breakfast was a bit like the dinner last night, just with different food and men with hangovers. Syrena wasn't sure if she was relived that Kirk wasn't present or if she was a bit disappointed. It did worry her though. Had he seen her the night before?

Lars and Chiara spent most of the time yacking back and forth, throwing friendly insults to each other while she attempted to nurse some of the men's pain.

"…Now after you do that, go take a nap in your room. Alright?" she said to them. They all nodded, clutching their head as they did so, and walked out of the kitchen.

"Did you sleep well?" Chiara asked, turning her attention to Syrena and Lars.

"I did! Lars said happily.

Syrena simply nodded. Chiara grinned.

"Good! If you don't mind, Syrena, I'm going to take Lars with me into the town today,"

"By all means, go for it,"

"HEY!" Lars exclaimed. Syrena just smiled.

It didn't take long for Chiara to get ready for the little adventure she had ahead of her. She and Lars quickly rushed out of the door, talking the whole way out of it.

Aw, they were cute together. That made Syrena wonder a bit… WERE they `together'?

…Probably not.

Eek. The thought of Lars with anyone was a bit too abstract for Syrena to think of. Who would be able to put up with him?

But he WAS sweet…at times…

Well, when he was trying to manipulate someone.

Syrena walked into the lobby, smiling briefly at the young girl behind the counter before sitting down on the couch. All day alone, in a strange town, a strange world, and with a strange guy everywhere. What the fuck was she going to do?

In a shadowy, dark staircase, she saw a man with intense brown eyes staring at her. He smirked for a split second before disappearing in the shadows.

Syrena growled and rushed to the staircase. Enough of this shit.

ºººººº

Chapter 11

She moved quickly to the staircase the man was on. It had to be Kirk. She was tired of this. It was driving her crazy, and that was the last thing she needed to be right now.

Especially over a guy.

This had to be stopped, and it had to be stopped soon.

She reached the top of the stairs and looked around. More halls. And loads of doors. Fucking perfect.

Once again, the gods were on her side. She noticed a door that was slightly ajar, with light leading out from it.

Barging in, she found Kirk sitting on his bed, staring out a window. He looked slightly stunned as Syrena stormed over to him.

"I'm tired of this shit," she said through clenched teeth.

Kirk raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes, stretching like a cat as he stood up.

"Tired of what? What the hell are you talking about?"

"What am I TALKING about?"

Kirk just sighed, walking sensually over to the window, grabbing the curtains and shutting them. The sun beating onto the red curtains cast an orange glaze over the room, making Kirk's skin even more so beautiful and bronze.

He turned back to her and grinned. Walking back to her, in a slow, seductive way, he sat back on his bed.

"I think you've got a problem, Syrena, my dear."

Syrena glared down at him from where she stood. "Fuck you. You're the one with the problem."

"Things bother you, Syrene."

`Syrene'? No one had called her that since…

…fuck, she couldn't remember.

"They do not!" she exclaimed, feeling her blood boil. "You've got some fucking nerve, ya know that!?"

"Everyone has a weakness."

She snorted, crossing her arms. "Are you saying that I happen to have a weakness, and that it's you?"

Kirk just smirked and lifted an eyebrow up.

Syrena's mouth gaped open. "I have no such fucking thing!" she said, scowling at the man who was sprawling out on the bed, looking more and more appealing every second. No, damnit! NO!

Syrena bit her bottom lip when Kirk growled and stood up, inches away from her face. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried to back away.

"What's the matter, Syrena? Does that bother you in some way?"

"No…" she said, too weakly for her liking. "No, it doesn't."

"How about this, then?" he asked, running a smooth hand down her bare arm. She tried, very, very hard to break free of his loose grasp, try to be stoical, try not to act like it was effecting her in anyway.

But, she failed.

He continued to smirk as he backed her up against the bed. Syrena tried to avoid his lust-filled gaze upon her eyes, looking everywhere and anywhere else she could to try to get away.

"Maybe… maybe you won't mind this then," he said, curving his hands around her neck, pulling her to him and kissing her mouth gently. She opened her eyes wide in shock, bumping against the back of the bed and falling down onto it, Kirk falling on top of her slender body.

She was trapped now. Nothing she could do would be able to tear her away from this guy at this moment. She did the only thing she could do; wrap her arms tightly around him and respond to his full lips.

His lips curved against her own into yet another smile as he pulled away, staring down at her shirt. Without any hesitation, Syrena immediately helped him take it off, moaning softly as his tongue made its way down her long neck, tickling the delicate skin with the tip and nibbling softly on her collarbones. He ventured further down, feeling her breasts with his hands before attacking them with his mouth.

Everything was dazed and confusing for her. She felt her clothes being removed in an almost graceful way by the man hovering above her. She ran her fingers through the soft, dark curls as he continued to kiss his way down to her womanhood.

The next thing she knew, she lay naked before him, moaning one last time before lying limp on the bed. This god-like man with the gorgeous, owl-like brown eyes looked right through her, into her soul, seeing every weakness, every hurt, every desire, every dream and hope…

Her face went red with embarrassment.

"No, my dear Syrena," Kirk said, kissing his way back up her stomach, chest and neck, giving her butterflies. "You DO have a weakness."

Syrena blushed even harder. She DID, in fact, have a weakness. He'd seen it… and now, she had.

Gazing down to his tight pants, which were now even tighter, she glared. A rush of anger surged through her as she kneed him, pushing him down onto the bed, grabbing her clothes and quickly putting them on.

She managed to get dressed and run out of the room before Kirk could recover from the pain.

Why the fuck did her weakness have to be him?

ºººººº

12

Syrena sighed as she ran the soft-bristle brush through her long hair. She stared into the mirror in she and Lars' room. Her eyes were certainly missing…something. They weren't as pale as they usually were. Light – VERY light – colors always held power. With her world, anyway. In this world? She wasn't sure..

And she was TAN. She was usually as white as the snow she'd seen in Spark! Maybe even whiter! Her lips were naturally red now, as if they were drenched in blood. She stopped her brushing to delicately touch her lips with her index finger. Fuck, she could still remember Kirk's lips touching them, her neck, her…

The feeling between her legs was quickly ruined when Lars appeared out of nowhere… a habit that became more and more annoying as the days rolled on.

"Syrena! Hiya!" Lars greeted, jumping into the room from the ladder.

"Oh, hi," she grumbled. She immediately went back to brushing her auburn hair, watching Lars nearly bounce off the walls from the mirror's point of view.

"We had so much fun today, Syrena! You should've tagged along! We went to visit some of Chiara's family. One of her cousins own a hair salon, and she got her hair done. It looks lovely. Anyway, then her dad and mom stopped by. It made me think of my family, it was a lot of fun,"

Syrena blocked out the rest of Lars' blabber as she stared at her image. She'd definitely changed. Maybe Vahe was right… maybe she was worthless now.

"So what about you?"

"Huh?" Syrena asked, turning away from her image and staring at Lars'.

"What'd you do today?"

Syrena's blood turned cold. "Um. Just went around town."

"Oh. Well, I just told you what I did…" Lars trailed, turning to stare at the window.

"What's your family like?" he asked quietly, almost calmly.

She felt a lump form in her throat. She'd never be able to avoid it. But did he really want to know about her past…?

"Tell me. Please, Syrena?" he asked, putting the puppy dog eyes into full effect.

"Uh, well, my dad was a restaurant owner. My mother was a housewife… I had two sisters and one brother who didn't do much of anything…" she trailed uneasily.

"That's it? No details?"

Syrena glared. "I didn't have to fucking tell you anything."

"Okay! Okay! My bad! Relax,"

Syrena continued to glare as she put the brush away and sat on her cot.

"What about your family?" she asked, knowing she'd regret it. He'd probably go on and on and on…

But there was silence. Syrena, whose back was facing him, turned to stare at his blushing cheeks.

She quirked an eyebrow up. "What's a matter? Not a full elf? Got a faerie as a mother?" she asked, smirking.

Lars blushed harder.

Syrena's mouth gaped open for the second time that day.

"You…you're a…" she stuttered, holding in a laugh.

"Not exactly… my dad was the faerie, my mom was the elf…"

Syrena burst out laughing, falling against her cot.

"Aw, fuck you, too, Syrena."

"I'm sorry, but, a FAERIE as a DAD!? Where are your wings!?"

Lars' face went fire-engine red.

Syrena pounced on him, yanking his shirt off despite his objections. She turned him over, staring at his pale back. Right dab in the middle of his muscular shoulders lay two pink, tiny wings.

Syrena started cracking up once again. "You have small wings!!!!!!"

"It's not THAT funny! It's not funny at all!" Lars said, turning over and laying on his back, crossing his arms and glaring.

Syrena grinned. "You're a Faerie-Elf!"

"Oh fuck off," he muttered.

"Aw, bitter? Did the kids at school make fun of you?"

"Hey! They didn't fully develop!"

"Aw, poor thing."

"No, it's the elve in me…"

Lars flipped her off anyway. She laughed once more before staring down at Lars' chest. Three thick green lines were tattooed across his chest, and he had his nipples pierced.

"Is this popular with the ladies?"

"Nah, kind of a thing Faeries have to have, even though I'm uh, not 100 percent faerie…"

Syrena started snickering. Lars finally gave in, and together they had a laugh.

"Hej, I had a long day. I'm gonna cras-"

Light snoring filled the room. Syrena smirked. He was starting to concern her, passing out mid-sentence and what not. But then again, with as much as he ran his mouth throughout the day…

Once again, she stood up, grabbed his blankets, and placed them over him, tucking him in. She kissed his forehead and walked back over to the mirror. Staring into her pools of dark blue, she knew something had to be done. Something needed to be changed. She was feeling depressed, an emotion she'd never felt before. She was feeling a million emotions she'd never felt before, as well.

And Kirk didn't help.

She would get out of here if it killed her.

She grabbed a torch and a hooded coat. She had to get out of here.

ºººººº

13

Syrena felt the cool breeze once again smack against her body. Her neck was bent as she stared down at her feet, and then at the stones she had placed in a a circle… the circle she was standing inside.

She had no idea what she was doing, nor why she was doing it, but something told her to try. Some kind of instinct…

"Never to be told, never to unfold; Never to be heard, never speak the word; They don't know the power which lies in you, and they have also never seen bl-"

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" came a groggy voice. Syrena yelled and kicked one of the stones at her feet.

She quickly turned to glare at Lars. "What the fuck are YOU doing out here?"

Lars' eyes went wide as he backed up against the wall, a look of terror on his face. He quickly ran to the back door, slamming it as he stepped inside.

Syrena stood still. Usually Lars could take her mood swings… what made this so different?

She growled and grabbed the stones, throwing them into the bushes so no one would suspect anything.

Guess she'd better go and talk to Lars.

She approached the wooden door and grabbed the handle, only to be stopped by her reflection in the small window.

Her eyes… they were glowing!

Her eyebrows raised in surprise, making them turn medium blue. She then lowered them, which made them go back to normal, dark blue. Did she have her power back!?

She tried to knock the door down by manipulating it, but to no luck.

Guess not.

She then furrowed her eyebrows. They turned a warm, pretty blue.

…Okay, none of those colors would've scared Lars, no matter how much they glowed. They might have made him ask a million questions, back they wouldn't have knocked him up against the wall and run down the hall, speechless.

She then scowled, and her eyes nearly turned white, the glow temporarily blinding her.

Fuck! They were changing with her emotions!

And Lars, of all people, had to witness it! If she didn't get to him and explain everything, it would be spread all over the building in a matter of minutes.

She grabbed her torch, lit it, and ran inside of the building.

-

She slowly made her way up the ladder. Great, he'd pulled the curtains shut. He must have been really freaked out.

'Think about it, Syrena. If you were a hyperactive and one of your friends had glowing white eyes, scowling down at you, you'd be scared too…' she thought dryly. She pulled the curtains aside and stared at Lars' bare back as he rocked back and forth, hugging his knees together.

"Lars-"

"GET BACK!" he yelled, standing up and holding a dagger. Syrena's eyes went wide.

This seemed to upset Lars furthermore.

"Lars! Listen to m-"

"Fuck off! Get the fuck back or I'll fucking stab you to death!"

"You don't understand!" she said, standing up on the floor. Lars backed away, gripping the dagger firmly in his small hands. He was shaking.

"Lars, please, let me talk," Syrena pleaded softly, walking towards him.

"No! FUCK OFF! LEAVE NOW!" he screamed, raising the dagger above his head.

"LARS, IF YOU WILL EVER FUCKING SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK FOR ONE TIME IN YOUR LIFE, LET IT BE NOW!" Syrena screamed, scowling down at him. Lars screamed back, and Syrena felt the dagger plunge into her arm. She yelled out in pain, only to scream louder when Lars pulled it out and stabbed her again.

"WHATEVER YOU ARE, YOUR KIND FUCKING KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED ALL OF THEM!!!" he screamed, stabbing her once again.. She quickly regained her senses and grabbed Lars' wrist, making the dagger fall to the ground, followed by Lars.

She quickly grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, despite her wounds. He tried to scramble away from her, but she latched on.

"Listen to me," she whispered in his ear as he squirmed about. "I don't know what I am, all I know is that I'm some kind of freak of nature with powers. I… I was captured and thrown here. I don't know what they want with me, I don't know why I'm here, but I am. Please, just calm down. I didn't mean for you to see that," she explained.

Lars fell limp against her, burying his face in the crook of her neck and hugging her back.

She gently stroked his hair as he tried to calm down.

"Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?"

"I didn't need to… I just… I didn't feel like talking about it."

"So you were that `lunatic' with the crazy powers?" he asked quietly, his words muffled against her neck.

Syrnea chuckled. "That was me,"

"You looked just like they did, though…" he said, sounding like a lost little child.

"Like who did?" she asked, rubbing his back.

She felt her neck become slightly wet.

"Some men… or something, I'm not sure… I was five… they have glowing eyes… they… blood was everywhere, they had no weapons or anything… all of my family… I had to… I was sent to Beulind…" he mumbled, wrapping his arms tightly around Syrena.

She sighed as she comforted him the best she could. Could she be related to some kind of horrible species?

"I'm so sorry, Lars…" she trailed.

"Don't worry about it," he sniffled, wiping away a tear as he pulled back. "So, you're a freak of nature, huh? You couldn't be related to them could you?" he asked sadly.

"I have no clue," she said. Lars frowned.

"But you know about your family history-"

"I lied. I don't think I ever had a family."

"What?"

"That's not important right now," she mumbled.

"Bullshit it isn't!"

"Lars, we'll talk some other time," she said, staring down at her bloody arm.

"FUCK!" he exclaimed, his eyes going wide.

Syrena smiled weakly. "We'd better fix this up, or I'll lose too much blood. I underestimated your ability to protect yourself."

"Growing up alone can do this to you," he said quietly and sadly. Syrena looked down at the floor. She never would've thought Lars had had such a rough childhood. The next thing she heard was Lars ripping a blanket in half, and then wrapping it around her arm. "Come on, that will help with the bleeding. Let's find a doctor."

ºººººº

14

"Let's see…" Lars murmured, sticking his tongue out of his mouth as he put some final touches on Syrena's arm.

"Come on, the doctor is upstairs. I'm so sorry, Syrena. I really am," the faerelf babbled. Syrena smiled weakly, giving him some slight reassurance.

"Let's just get to the doctor," Syrena said, staring down at her arm. The cloth was soaked in blood.

"Right."

In a matter of seconds, they went up to the second floor, and to what Lars thought was the `doctor's' bedroom. Apparently he was a former doctor, who now devoted his life to gambling, strippers and alcohol. But Lars assured her that he could still patch things up.

He knocked on the door, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor.

"Oh for fuck's sakes, he's probably passed out…" Lars muttered, pounding louder on the door.

Syrena just quirked an eyebrow up as Lars cursed in a foreign language. He then pulled a small key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

She peered inside as Lars looked around for the doctor. The room looked about the same as Kirk's did; a bit more dirty, though. Scattered clothes everywhere, empty beer bottles, pornographic magazines-

"Is there a problem?" Kirk's voice purred into Syrena's ear, making her jump back, grab her dagger and put it to his throat with only one hand.

"Easy, easy," Kirk said, holding his hands up, grinning as he backed away. Syrena glared at him.

"What the fuck do you want?" she asked, placing her dagger back in place.

"I heard some POUNDING ON THE DOOR," he said loudly, staring at the faerelf rummaging through the room for doctor supplies. "And I thought I'd check it out."

Syrena rolled her eyes.

"You're not needed here," she said, turning her back to him.

"He's not here," Lars said, coming out from the bathroom. "We're going to have to find you a doctor."

Kirk walked over to Lars, lifting an eyebrow. "Doctor? What happened?"

Lars blushed. Kirk turned his vision over to Syrena.

"Nothing. It's not important," she said with a scowl.

"Well, Lars here said you needed a doctor…"

"It's not needed, just like you," she retorted.

"Yes it is, Syrena," Lars mumbled under his breath.

"There aren't any doctors around here. Our doctor is out on a vacation. So, I'm your doctor, baby," he said, a sarcastic twang in his voice as he grinned.

She flipped him off with her good arm and walked down the hall.

"No thanks," she said.

"Oh come on. Your arm looked pretty bad,"

"What part of `no' don't you understand?"

"Syrena, I really think Kirk can help-"

"Shut up, Lars."

"Just let me help."

"Seriously, Syrena. I had a cousin who got really fucked up over something similar-"

"If I let you do it, will you leave me the fuck alone?" she asked Kirk.

Kirk just rolled his eyes and dragged her into his room, along with Lars.

-

The sun rose slowly, its light peeking out from the many great hills of Beulind. The bright orange and golden rays were blinding, but incredibly beautiful against the purple sky. Syrena sighed and looked down at her arm. Kirk had actually done a pretty good job at bandaging it correctly, fixing it up.

Of course, he had to be a dickhead all the way through.

The prick.

Next to her, Lars sat, soaking in the rays and staring blankly at his feet. She could tell he still felt bad… well, obviously he would. It was weird to not hear him constantly talking about something, whether it be deep subjects or absolutely nothing.

The silence was eating at her. She had to keep busy, or else she'd start to think about Kirk.

"What the hell were you reciting earlier?" Lars asked quietly.

This caught Syrena off guard. "What now?"

"That poem thing, right before I walked out and flipped,"

Syrena snickered before repeating it to him.

He blinked dumbly at her before staring out at the hills. "Sounds like bad high school poetry."

She grinned. "Yeah, it does. But it's like a spell."

This seemed to perk Lars' attention. "Spell?"

"Well, yeah. You know the deal with my eyes?"

Lars nodded.

"Um, well, when the pirates stole me from Spark, they placed that thing over my eyes… hell, my whole upper head…"

"Yeah, I remember that. But a spell?"

"Shut up, I'm not done," she said, smiling. "Anyway, it was placed over my head for three days… five days to be exact."

"So?"

"So," she continued. "The spell is that if my eyes are covered for more than three days in complete darkness, I don't get my power back for three months. It sort of has to charge back up."

"But, you had a freaky glow in your eyes last night… you've glared at me many times and that's never happened…"

"It just came to me that night… I remembered a time when someone I didn't know came up to me and told me to memorize it. I'd forgotten it until now…"

There was a pause. "What happens when you get your powers back?"

"I'm going to go back to the palace, ask Jason nicely if I can go back to Spark, and try to find my other land," she said the last part bitterly. "And seek out revenge."

"Revenge? Care to share?"

"I've shared enough for today, thanks," she snapped.

Lars backed off. "Okay."

Syrena sighed again and stared down at the ground. They were out on the balcony, something they'd just discovered only minutes earlier.

The smell of the ocean was intertwined into the breeze that was flowing past them. It kind of reminded her of the day when that `someone' had come up to her, and began to recite that stupid poem.

He was a tall man, middle-aged, with long, thin brown hair and an even longer beard. He had piercing gray eyes that seemed to match his baggy coat.

He looked as if he were on territory he was exiled from, like he was sneaking in from the outside.

But could that have been true?

After he finished, he placed a hand on her shoulder, smiled, and then ran off.

That was her only memory before Vahe.

She rubbed her temples as she tried to remember more, more from her life, more of anything.

But she couldn't. And it pissed her off.

"Syrena?" Lars asked.

"Yes?"

"When… when you gain your powers back, can I come with you?" he asked shyly.

Syrena grinned. "Yeah, if you promise you'll shut up when I tell you to,"

Lars smirked. "Deal." He then furrowed his eyebrows in concern. "What if Jason keeps you here? Didn't he want to test you or something?"

"He said he did… but to my knowledge, there have been no tests…"

"But what if he keeps you here?"

"There's a reason I'm waiting to ask him until I get my powers back."

Lars' eyes went wide for a second, staring at her with disbelief before returning his gaze to the hills. Syrena smirked.

ºººººº

15

Kirk's POV

" Well, I ain't evil, I'm just good lookin'…Start a little fire, and baby start cookin'," Kirk half-hummed, half-sang to himself as he poured himself a large cup of coffee.

"Ahh, God bless my sister, or whoever made this," he said before taking a sip of the nearly scalding hot liquid. As usual, it tasted delicious. Just as it did when he was a teenager, and just as it did with his parents when he was a child.

He shrugged those memories away and leaned against the counter, watching absently as maids and cooks buzzed back and forth, each with something different in their hands, varying from plates of breakfast to utensils to… was that a can of paint?

Taking another sip of his coffee, he turned his vision away from the almost chaotic scene when he heard someone walk into the room.

It was then that he laid eyes upon Syrena, her long, thick auburn hair tied back into a low ponytail, a few loose strands falling down. With her hair pulled back, her face was so much easier to see; her dark blue eyes that seemed to always want to kill him with just a glance, the the large, pretty lips,… the smooth, tan skin…

Kirk ignored the glare he received and began to take yet another sip of the coffee, singing the song again, finishing it off with a shit- eating grin to Syrena.

"You're such a man," she said with disgust.

Kirk grinned. "Why, thank you. I get that compliment all the time,"

"No, I meant that you act like a greasy, `think-with-my-dick-all-the- time', stupid fucker,"

"Aw, that hurt me Syrena," he mumbled lowly, looking unhappy for a few brief seconds. "So, you have your hair pulled back. We can finally see your face without your hair falling on it all the time,"

She rolled her eyes. "You're like Lars; you want… no, HAVE to talk, even if it's about nothing,"

Another sly grin. "Well, what-"

"Kirk, I'm gonna need you to help me move furniture around in the living room today," Chiara yelled from the lobby. Syrena smirked.

"Later, moving-boy," she said, snickering as she walked out. Kirk scowled as he watched her slender body on the way out, boring a hole into her.

"KIRK!" Chiara said. "Get your ass out here NOW!"

"Okay, relax," he said gloomily, putting the coffee down and joining her.

ºººººº

16

Kirk sat on the kitchen counter, dabbing his forehead with his shirt. It'd been three hours since he'd last seen Syrena, but with Chiara constantly telling him to move the couch this way, or no, maybe it'd look better against THIS wall, no maybe… it was pretty obvious he wouldn't have been able to talk to her even if she wanted to.

He sighed gratefully. It was over now, though. Dinner would be served in an hour. Now all he wanted to do was take a long, hot shower, get rid of the sweat and God knows what else on him, and come back down to stuff his face.

Quickly sneaking past Chiara, who was busily chatting with one of the maids, he escaped upstairs to his room, quickly throwing off his clothes and jumping into the shower. Turning on the water, he waited until it was scalding-hot, just right for him. Then, he stepped inside, glad to feel the water on his body. He felt much better now.

He turned the water off, wrapped a towel around himself and walked over to his bed, sitting and slumping on it lazily. Finally, he could rest a bit. No Chiara, no Lars, no maids, no Syrena…

Syrena. The thought of her made his body react.

"Fucking great," he muttered, reaching over to his guitar and placing it on his lap.

Why'd she have to be so attractive? It didn't make things easy…

At all.

-

Syrena's POV

Syrena walked into the kitchen, watching the usual maids and cooks working hurriedly. She could barely see Chiara at the other side of the room, talking lowly to a cook, probably about the night's meal. At the thought of dinner, her stomach began to growl. Managing to gently push her way through the crowd, she went over to Chiara and pulled her into the lobby.

"What's for dinner tonight?" she asked, trying to keep a plain face.

"Steak and potatoes… are you alright?" she asked, looking up into Syrena's face, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"I'm fine," Syrena said. It wasn't convincing, though. If she smiled, or made a happy face, her eyes would glow. If she made any kind of look, made any kind of emotion, if anyone did anything to her… they would see her eyes.

Apparently, she must have looked miserable to Chiara, though.

"Hon, go upstairs to the doctor. I KNOW he's in today. And how is your arm?"

"It's fine. And I just have a headache, that's all,"

"Oh. I see," Chiara said, still not convinced. "Go to the Doc anyway. Please?"

Syrena gulped silently. The Doctor was close to Kirk's room.

But Chiara gave her a pleading, almost pathetic look.

"Just throw me on a guilt trip, eh?"

Chiara smirked and patted her back. "That's a good girl, now go upstairs," she said, walking back in towards the kitchen. Syrena spun on her heel.

"Chiara, do you know anything about Jas-"

The door shut and she sighed.

Guess she'd go back to her room. She began to go towards the kitchen, only to hear music coming from upstairs. Her attention caught, she walked slowly up to the second level, and down the hall, right to Kirk's room.

Fuck. Why'd it have to be him?

She always WAS impressed by guitarists…

Bravely, she knocked, not thinking about the consequences.

"Come in!" Kirk shouted. She rested her hand against the doorknob, unsure if she should twist it and allow herself inside. What if her eyes reacted to what her body was feeling? Or her emotions? What if he fucked with her mind?

She foolishly went inside, unable to tear herself away this time. She quietly and shyly shut the door, leaning against it and watching as Kirk absently played his acoustic guitar.

His back was facing her, his wet curls sloppily thrown into a loose ponytail. She watched as his fingers pressed on the frets, going up and down and up and down and to the middle and back again.

"Are you gonna keep staring at me, or can you walk over here and watch from the front?"

"Smartass," she said, her eyes beginning to glow. Her felt herself blush as she went over to Kirk, sitting next to him and watching him play.

"You're good," she said softly.

He grinned. "Thanks. Do you know how to play anything?"

Syrena crossed her arms, her face never leaving her.

"I always wanted to learn when I was younger…" she said.

Wait. She had no memories of her childhood, how could she have known that?

Then it began to come back to her, a tiny piece of an empty puzzle. She remembered sitting with two boys, laughing and cheering on some man with a guitar… she'd wanted very badly to have her own, to play just like him…

"Want me to teach you some basics?" he asked, offering the guitar to her. She tried desperately to hide a smile.

"Sure," she said, her voice even and surprisingly smooth. He smiled at her and crawled onto the bed, sitting directly behind her, his chest pressed against her back. He gently grabbed her hand and placed it on the neck, maneuvering her fingers on the frets and pressing down. A slight feeling of pain in the tips of her fingers shot through her, but she continued to keep her dull, emotionless face.

"Okay. Keep your fingers like that and then strum the strings with your right hand," he said. Syrena did as she was told, and although it buzzed a bit, the sound wasn't too bad.

"Alright, that was good. That was A. Try this," he said, placing her fingers in a different position. She strummed them again, this time the sound even better.

"Alright, you're getting better. Now for the last one," he said, once again placing her fingers on the fret, resting his chin on her shoulder. Syrena shivered as she played the guitar again, his breath dancing across her neck.

"Great. Play those all together," he said. Syrena let a smile slip, but quickly put the mask back over her face.

"Yeah, right," she said, turning to face him. He lifted his head and stared into her eyes, smiling softly.

She couldn't hold it back this time. She smiled, hand to her surprise, there was no look of horror on Kirk's face, nor the look of disgust or curiosity.

Maybe that was because they weren't glowing? She turned to look at her reflection in the window. They weren't glowing! What the fuck?

Kirk placed a small, tiny kiss on her neck as he moved away from her, standing up and taking the guitar from her.

"You know, in no time you'd get pretty good at playing the guitar. I can teach you some more, if you/d like, sometime," Kirk offered.

Syrena's heart pumped faster.

"Yeah, I'd love that…"

Kirk walked closer to her, leaning down and kissing her on the lips. When she quickly returned it, he sat down next to her gently laying her down on the bed and removing her clothes. He trailed kisses down her neck, on her shoulder, n her stomach, and then back to her breasts. She moaned out softly as he gently licked and nipped at them, and then went up to her mouth. She flicked her tongue at his lips, asking for an entrance. He quickly opened his mouth, and they stayed like that for a short while, just kissing and roaming each other's bodies. He then removed his clothes, and she stared at his bronze, almost golden body. He had such smooth skin, kind of like his charming personality.

If that was what you'd like to call him, anyway.

'He could be a god,' she thought to herself. Then she smirked. `The fucker.'

He slowly entered her, kissing her neck and jaw-line, wrapping her arms around her. Syrena rolled her eyes and nudged up against him, getting a tad impatient. He smiled and kissed her before thrusting into her faster, groaning out her name.

A few seconds later, they were screaming out each other's names, lying limp on the bed, panting softly.

Kirk pulled out of her, and curled against her, tucking her head under his chin.

"See? I'm not the bastard you thought I was,"

She smirked. "Yeah, whatever. Prick,"

He snickered.

"So, um, are we on good terms now?"

Syrena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if you'll quit the mind games," And give me free guitar lessons,"

He chuckled. "It's a deal."

They laid in silence for a long time, both a little awkward with each other, both unsure if what they did was a good thing or not.

The door burst open, though, and their thoughts were destroyed.

"Hey, Kirk? Have you seen Syrena? It's time for- HOLY FUCK!" Lars exclaimed, staring at the two.

Syrena smiled weakly. "Surprise?"

ºººººº

17

"Whoa!" Lars exclaimed, his green eyes bigger than usual. His mouth was almost to the floor, a shocked expression on his face. Syrena groaned and Kirk grunted. So much for THAT…

"Sy-RENA!" Lars said, astonished.

"What Lars, never walked in on anyone before?" Syrena spat, turning back to him and glaring.

Lars chuckled nervously. "Uh, no… well, there was this one time in the palace with an old friend of mine. Oh, dude, let me tell you that story, shall I? Let's see, it started about five years ago-"

"Fuck off, Lars," Syrena said. "You can tell me some other time," she said, looking at him with a stern expression.

"Chill. Well, dinner's ready. Chiara sent me up to get Kirk and then to get you and…" Lars' eyes skimmed over the bed, the messed up covers barely covering the two.

"Hey, all I can say is two birds, one stone."

Syrena growled, leaned over Kirk to the nightstand, and grabbed a wooden bottle full of water. She then hurled it at Lars, and watched with satisfaction as it hit him against his chest roughly.

Lars stood still, an unsure look on his face, as Syrena tried to calm herself. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds, until Lars cleared his throat.

"Thank you for keeping the cap on."

Syrena smiled, chuckling a bit.

"Fucking Faerelf," she muttered.

"Um…" Kirk said, speaking up. "Tell her we'll both be down in a bit…"

"Lars," Syrena said. He blinked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Don't tell her that we… um… were in here, okay?"

Lars saluted. "Yes sir," he said, quickly going out the door and closing it.

She snarled. "Fucker,"

Kirk chuckled.

"I'm gonna take another shower…" he said, standing up and stretching a little. He then stared at Syrena, who was still lying on the bed. "You gonna join me or what?"

Syrena froze.

Too many emotions were running through hr. Firstly, the shit with her eyes, her plan to escape from this place…

Kirk had just defeated her, even though it seemed sort of, um, mutual…

What if he was tricking her? What if he was the test Jason was talking about?

Pretty fucked up test.

Her blood boiled at the thought of Jason doing this to her. She didn't know the guy well, but she could tell he was some kind of sicko…

What kind of test was it, anyway? Break the ice surrounding her and make her some kind of slave, willing to do anything Kirk wanted? Was Kirk working for Jason? Chiara, too?

And then with Lars walking in… of all people, he had to be the one to find out. FUCK!

What happens if the little fuck goes and blabs to everyone?

She pushed those thoughts aside, standing up and walking over to him. She'd have to quit thinking for a while.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. Kirk grinned, and then lead the way inside…

-

Dinner that night was unusually quiet. Awkwardness was lingering in the air, almost drowning out the smell of the delicious food. It could almost choke Syrena…

And everyone at the table kept glancing at her, and at Kirk. Especially at Kirk.

Did the little munchfuck tell everyone?

She focused on her food, avoiding all of the pairs of eyes resting on her from time to time. Oh, Lars would be SO dead if he told anyone…

"Um, Kirk?" Chiara said weakly, looking a little nervous.

Kirk bravely looked up, looking as calm and confident as usual.

"Yes?"

"I have something I need to tell you… all of you," Chiara said.

We all blinked. "Go on…" Kirk said suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Chiara began. "I… I'm going to sell the motel,"

"What!?"

"Oh come on, Kirk. We only have usual customers now. No offense Mr. Smith, Mr. Robbins," she said, smiling graciously at the two men at the table, sitting with their girl of choice for the night.

"Chiara, we grew up here," Kirk said, glaring at her. "And right before grandpa died, his final wish was to make this place a motel, like it was forty years ago with our great-great-grandparen-"

"I understand that, Kirk. But times are changing. You see what's happening in this town; gamblers, drunks, psychos, drug addicts, whores; this town is oozing with crime and strip clubs. No, we're going to sell this place and relocate somewhere else, with decent folk," she said, her eyes downcast at her plate.

Kirk seemed infuriated. "We'll talk about this later," he said, grumbling.

Chiara furrowed her eyebrows, glancing briefly at Syrena.

They then ate in silence.

After they finished, Chiara called a maid in. A woman with red hair and big, sad green eyes walked inside, looking shy and almost nervous.

"Yes, Miss Chiara?" she said, her voice sweet and soft.

Chiara smiled. "Everyone, this is Talula. She used to work for me when Kirk was away, and she was sent back to her parents as her father was dying, and that's why you haven't met her yet. Today she came back to continue working for me,"

A chorus of `Hello's proceeded. She smiled meekly.

"Hello,"

"Okay. Well, thank you for eating with me, I hope you all enjoyed it," Chiara said, standing up. Everyone followed her lead, and then went out of the kitchen. Syrena glanced over her shoulder at the woman, watching as she carefully picked up the dirty dishes, one by one, and went over to wash them.

She lifted an eyebrow and then turned away. At least Lars hadn't told everyone.

Or had he?

ºººººº

18

Syrena watched silently in the shadows as Kirk talked heatedly with Chiara. He wasn't too happy about moving the business… even tearing the building down.

"Chiara, you can't do this! This is bullshit!" he said, struggling to keep his voice down.

"Kirk, please. This town is going downhill. They don't need to rent out motels anymore to fuck their whores; they don't even pay the girls anymore, they just grab them and rape them right where they are. They've scared the fucking police off!" she said, trying to reason with him. "Beulind is going downhill, and fast. If things keep up, they're going to control this land."

That sounded suspicious…

Kirk sighed, glaring down at the floor, avoiding his sister's warm eyes.

"Kirk, please. Nothing lasts forever. They WILL win. Jason doesn't stand a chance."

Syrena stared at the back of Chiara's head until Kirk's eyes met her own. The usual tension, the spark was gone between them at this time; she quickly walked out of the room, unnoticed to Chiara, and into the lobby.

There sat Talula, sitting at the piano. Her fingers pressed against the keys, creating a beautiful song as she played. A haunting melody to go along with the haunting feeling she gave Syrena.

As the song finished, Syrena cleared her throat. The woman gasped and got off of the piano bench, facing Syrena with blushing cheeks.

"Forgive me, ma'am," she said, meekly as usual. Syrena arched an eyebrow.

"Don't apologize for playing the piano. It was beautiful," she said hesitantly. "Where did you learn to play like that?"

Talula blinked. "I… play by ear,"

"Oh," Syrena said, staring down at the floor. "You have an interesting accent. Where are you from?" she asked.

"All I know is that I have Irish Ancestors…" Talula said softly, playing absently with a necklace around her neck.

"I see. Well, if you'll excuse me, Talula, I need to go and speak with Lars," she said, walking past the woman and into the hall that led to the storage room.

"Yes, of course," Talula called after her.

"Weird," Syrena muttered under her breath.

-

Syrena crossed her arms as she stared down at Lars. He mimicked her and stuck his tongue out.

"Lars, I'm being serious. If you want your dick, then you'd better not tell anyone…"

"Alright, alright, I won't," Lars said, rolling his eyes. "How come your eyes didn't go all `freaky-possessed' when you got pissed off with me earlier?"

"I don't know. That's the weird part," She said, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.

"THAT's the weird part?" Lars asked in disbelief. "Where the hell have YOU been? This whole thing has been weird!"

"Yeah, I know," she said with a sigh. "But if plans work out, we'll get out of here and back to my land…"

"Okay… Syrena? Yeah. How are we going to find your land in a big pile of snow?"

Syrena glared at him. "You ask too many questions."

"You never answer them."

Syrena sighed. He had a point. "I don't know. But we will."

ºººººº

19

One Month Later, at the Palace…

Lord Jason stood at one of the many large windows in the library, peering outside at the many hills of Beulind.

He'd just awoken from a terrible nightmare, a nightmare that seemed so real, he could almost hear the towns of Beulind crushing. He could almost feel the ground shake from the explosions… he could almost smell his own death as he failed to protect the Land that was given to him… This was his land now, after all…his land. He hated the sound of that; `His Land'. It wasn't his land. It was never destined to be his land. It was Aldan's, it was to be Aldan's son's….

But Aldan never had a son. Nor did he ever have a daughter. Jason could remember the times when Aldan would tell him his plans of having children, and how they were destroyed the day that death claimed his wife. How he was sorrowful and distraught; almost to the point of taking his own life. How would he be king without a son… or even a queen?

But he'd managed to survive; especially the day that Jason arrived before his throne, thrown in front of him by one of the explorers; a Hetfield.

Jason could remember Aldan telling him his first impression; a young, frightened boy with sad blue eyes and a tired soul. Aldan always talked as if he were writing a book, every sentence with incredible detail. At times, it was hard for Jason to stay on track with him.

Jason had been sent over from his land to serve as a slave, captured by one of the pirates and given to the explorers. Aldan was always interested in what else was out there, in the other worlds.

Jason, however, hated the idea of grabbing something, or someONE, from a different WORLD and bringing it to a foreign place, to be observed and watched, `tested'. He hated it because he'd witnessed some of the affects it had on some of the people. Mind games, verbal abuse, even dissecting… physical torture, you name it, they probably did it.

If Aldan hadn't have taken Jason in as his own, as a nephew, he would've been beaten every day, possibly and probably to death.

But alas, the Gods were on his side, and Aldan liked and enjoyed Jason very much. He would tell him stories of war, stories of relationships, business… everything about Aldan fascinated Jason.

Now he was an adult. Now, Aldan had died of very old age; if he would've lived another week, he would've broken a record for the oldest ruler of Beulind.

Jason felt a stab at his heart upon thinking of his `Uncle's' death. He would never see him again. He was like his only family….

He had had a family before Aldan, though. A nice, decent, simple family with one brother and three sisters. They used to play and run about, dreaming of being in wars like Aldan would soon tell him about.

One day, his youngest sister vanished without a trace, followed by the other and then the other. Only one boy showed up; he remembered walking down in the market, when something in an alley caught his eye; his sister's remains, in a dried pool of blood.

Three weeks later, he was thrown into the army, but he wasn't strong enough. Frustrated, the leader banished him to Spark, along with fifty other boys.

He never saw his family ever again.

The pirates came, grabbed them all, and then they set sail back to Beulind.

Aldan wanted Jason to have the land. His last wish was to continue to do research on the other worlds and their people. He wanted to know EVERYTHING.

Jason clearly didn't understand the logic behind this wish; it was hopeless. No progress had come from it in the past five thousand years. He doubted that any progress would ever come from it.

But he continued with it, sending out the ships to continue to pluck humans, elves, faeries, and all the rest for research.

But this time, there would be no mind games, no abuse, nothing.

Especially not to Syrena.

A soft knock on the door distracted his thoughts. He grunted, awaiting for the person behind the door to enter anyway.

"Sir, Ship number Two has a report for you," said a captain of Ship One, who was currently docked and unloading.

Jason walked closer, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Did one of their engines break again?"

"No, sir. They've spotted about fifty ships sailing into Beulind at full speed,"

He froze. Panic began to rush through him like the blood in his veins.

"What are they armed with?"

"Everything, sir. It looks like they've stolen some of our technology and equipment,"

Jason's blood began to boil. "Someone's been stealing?"

"We have our suspicsions that it's someone who has control over one of our ships, sir,"

Jason took a deep breath to calm down. He turned his back to the man and started to walk back to the window, once again glancing out of it.

"Prepare the men for battle. Get the ships ready."

"Battle, sir?"

Jason rubbed his forehead, glaring down at his feet.

"Yes. Battle."

He heard the light footsteps walk towards the door, and then finally, the door itself shutting.

His eyes scanned over the west side of Beulind; looking at all of the towns on the west side, resting on top of the many, many hills. Staring at his reflection in the glass, his face was almost placed on top of those hills, and those towns… and on those people's lives.

His eyes looked tired and sad.

And terrified.

"I can't do this, Aldan," he said, turning away from his reflection and the town. "Vahe's on his way. Not even all of our army and technology can stop him now; you're gone, your powers have vanished in these lands. No one else is living with your powers… Vahe killed her…"

Jason stopped dead in his tracks.

No, he didn't kill her.

He rushed out to the hall, grabbed the nearest maid and demanded she send James Hetfield up to his chambers immediately.

ºººººº

20

Three weeks later…

His big hand gripped the phone resting inside of it, almost looking like a toothpick. The wind was starting to pick up, the always-sunny sky in Beulind beginning to turn a light shade of gray. He had no doubt in his mind that this was officially happening now. It was for real. And he was a part of it, as he'd always wanted to be way back when he was a boy.

"Are you listening to me!?" the voice on the other end snarled.

"Yes sir. They've already spotted you-"

"Mr. Hetfield?" said a man from behind him. James cursed softly and told the other man to hold on.

"Yeah, I've gotta go, bye," he said, quickly hanging the battered phone back on its hook. He pulled his jacket firmly around him before turning around. "Yes?"

"You've been summoned to the Lord's Chambers."

"Oh, woop-dee-fucking-doo. What's the jackass want this time?"

"Sir, I'll ask you to not speak of the Lord in that tone of voice. You must not have a very wide vocabulary."

"Fuck you," James spat, scowling at the stranger who was almost as tall as he was. "I've got business to do. Besides, he was the one who ordered everything to be ready soon, so why the hell is he inviting me up for a chat-"

"It's urgent, he says."

James sighed, running a hand through his short, choppy hair. "Fine."

-

Inside Jason's Chambers…

"Do you remember the girl from Spark?" the Lord asked, sitting on a throne, similar to the one in the main room of the palace.

"Fuck, what a dumb question. Do you know how many girls we get from Spark a year-"

"This one was different. It was four journeys ago… you didn't like her at all, she was feisty. She was also the only one brought back…"

"Yeah. The little cunt," James said in a sulky tone of voice, crossing his arms and staring the other way.

Like a flash of lightning, James found himself face down on the floor, a cold object pressed against the back of his neck.

"Do not speak of her in that way," he warned, his voice shaking with anger.

"I'm sorry, my Lord. Forgive me for my ways," James said.

The Lord growled and removed the pressure from James' neck, glaring at him before going back to his throne.

"You no longer have control over your ship. You will be sent to Chiara's hotel to retrieve the girl and accompany her back to the palace. It's urgent."

"What? I `no longer have control of my ship'? What the fuck! You can't do this right now, Lord!"

"And why can't I?" he yelled, glaring at him harder. James stepped back in fear.

"Besides, I just did anyway. Now, go and get the girl. Bring her back at once. If there are any bruises, any scratches, any injuries on her body, you will pay the consequences."

James growled under his breath. He'd always thought the Lord was a pushover. He'd always acted like a puss. Something must have gotten into him.

"Sir, I doubt anyone knows how to command my ship like I do…"

"You think you know everything, don't you Hetfield?" Jason said, shaking his head before holding it in his hands.

"There is a LOT you don't know about, James," Jason held James' gaze from across the room, blue meeting blue. "Go. Now."

Without another glance, James reluctantly did just that.

-

She stared down lovingly at his sleeping figure. His chest would rise and fall steadily, assuring her that he was indeed asleep and would most likely not wake up while she was there.

Ever since that night that they both gave in to their little game, everything had been going great.

Well, as great as things could be under the circumstances.

Chiara was almost finished with business concerning the motel. It would only be days before the building was knocked to the ground, wood splintered in a thousand pieces and chunks of brick scattered on the ground.

Kirk still wasn't happy about that. And he never would be.

But he did seem happy with their relationship… Lars was still the only person to know about it. At night, Syrena would just simply sneak into his room. Everything they ever did together as a couple was done at night, or out in the town when no one else from the motel was there.

It was difficult to do, but they managed.

At times he seemed a bit… defensive, like he didn't want her to get too close to him. Not physically… you could hardly slip a piece of paper in between the two.

Emotionally, yes. It was like there was something holding him back…

But then again, there's always something holding everyone back.

She gently stroked his face, remembering the feel of his skin. She'd always done that, never taking for granted a single thing they did together. She always acted as if it was the last time they'd ever be together.

Tonight, she really had to savor it.

She would probably never see him again.

"I'm sorry it had to end up this way, Kirk," she whispered, seeing the colors in her eyes change and glow on Kirk's skin.

"One more week," she reminded herself softly.

She leaned down, brushed her lips against his quickly, and stood up, walking out of the room and shutting the door softly.

She then put on a black cloak, and went down the stairs. Waiting patiently for her at the bottom, Lars grinned weakly up into her face, putting his cloak on as well.

"Do you have everything?" she asked softly, staring down at the Faerelf.

"Yes," he said, nodding and lifting up a satchel.

"Let's go then," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.

She then walked past him, leading the way out of the motel with Lars running to catch up with her. She lit one of the torches, and without even a glance back at the building, they went on their way. After a few minutes of silence, Lars spoke up.

"Well, hey, look on the bright side… if our fire ever goes out, all I need to do is piss you off. Light for everyone,"

Syrena rolled her eyes and smiled, walking down the path she and Lars had been on only a few months before.

They didn't notice the pair of green eyes watching them, though.

ºººººº

21

The next day...

The darkest ships of the land began to sail into the brightest harbor, sparing no mercy for anything that got into its way. They broke through the barrier holding them back from the world; which was not an easy task. The bright light could've blinded them; the pressure could've crunched them. But they'd prepared for this. They knew how to handle it. Now, they were in, sailing almost gracefully through the sky. One would think it was some kind of air show, since the ships could be on land, water and fly through the air. They were almost synchronized.

One by one, they both stooped downwards, getting closer and closer to the water until only inches of air separate the evil ships from entering it.

That didn't stop them, either. Their determination was thick in their hearts by now. They knew what they were going to do; half of the men, all ugly and gnarly and manly, had been training for these moments all of their lives. With many shouts barely even audible over the sounds of the engines, they all dived into the water at once, creating a large wave that would soon wipe out one of the small, unsuspecting towns of Beulind.

They had arrived.

-

In the Palace, all was silent… too silent. Many pins were heard dropping to the floor as maids quickly made extra clothing needs for the Soldiers. Everyone else was preparing for battle.

Except for the towns.

Jason would stop them before they killed anymore of his towns.

With the small town of Roseinnz wiped clear out, he knew that they HAD to be stopped. He'd always known that. But now, it was getting personal.

Vahe was craving two things; and he would protect both of them to the death.

"Sir," said one of the maids. "Two people wish to speak with you."

"Tell them to come back tomorrow," he said with a sigh, looking out over his land. "I can't speak right now."

-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'HE CAN'T TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW'!?" Syrena screamed, her voice echoing throughout the main hall of the palace.

"Just what I said, Ma'am," a guard said. "He's unable to speak right no-"

Syrena grabbed the large, muscular man by his throat, lifting him off the ground and shoving him against the wall. "Look fucker, I didn't come here to make chit chat with your ass, now let us the fuck in! This is fucking serious!"

The guard pushed her off of him, sighing and pointing his staff at her.

"Yeah, a staff is going to do a hell of a lot of damage," she growled, rolling her eyes.

"Ma'am, come back tomorrow, he says he can see you then."

"Tomorrow? Oh, yeah, great, TOMORROW! Where the fuck are we going to stay for the night?"

"That's your business," he said, ushering them outside and shutting the door.

"FUCK YOU!" Syrena screamed through the doors, even though it couldn't be heard.

They stood in brief silence before Syrena began kicking the door repeatedly. Lars blinked, tapping her on the shoulder.

"WHAT!?" she snapped.

"Relax," he said, pushing her away from the door. "We can find some place around here to stay for the night. Then, we can get up and first thing I the morning, you can fry that fuck with your eyes. Sound good?"

Syrena sulked, crossing her arms. "Sounds delicious."

Lars smiled up into her face. "Great. Now, let's go search for our little home for the night. Kay?"

"Whatever," she snarled, following Lars down the endless case of stairs.

ºººººº

22

The same day, at Chiara's place...

"Where the hell could she be?" Kirk whispered to himself, staring out of his window, eyebrows furrowed in worry.

The silence was odd for him. Well, it always had been something he'd been used to. But now, now it was so… unwelcome. Especially at night. She'd just left without a reason, without even a word.

He woke up the next morning and she was gone.

Chiara was even panicking. She put off all business matters and went to the towns in search of her.

They later found out Lars was missing, too.

Chiara was unsure of the situation. She went from crying, to determination, to doubting Syrena's motives.

"She may be crazy. Why else would Jason send her off of his domain? He wanted someone to babysit her!"

But Kirk knew that she wasn't crazy. He was one of the few that KNEW her motives… and not just because he'd slept with her or loved her.

"Kirk?" came Chiara's weak voice, along with the creaking of his old door. He sighed.

"Yes?" he asked, never turning his gaze from the window.

"Dinner's ready."

"I'll be right down," he said. "Just give me a few minutes, huh?"

The request was answered with even more silence as Chiara silently shut the door.

Kirk grunted. This ruined everything.

Things were already ruined when he began to fall for her, anyway. But now… now she was out there somewhere. Now more people would die. Now, he would, too, for not keeping her in one spot.

He snarled at the town, turning away from the window and going into the bathroom. He reached under the sink, grabbed his bottle of vodka, and chugged the remains of it down. He growled in disgust at himself. He'd fucked everything up.

Staring down at the bottle in his hands, and finally at his reflection in the mirror, he snarled, throwing it to the ground.

He wasn't depressed. He wasn't crazy.

He just fucked up.

-

That night at dinner, as usual, it was incredibly silent. The doctor and the other drunken men were out with their whores. It was just Chiara, the cooks and maids, and himself.

At this point, Kirk was longing for even one of Lars' drawn-out stories.

"Do you think we'll ever find her?" Chiara asked, her voice full of hope as Talula poured some tea into her glass.

"I hope so."

"Is that what you're upset about? Lars and Syrena going on a trip?"

Kirk glared at her. "What trip?"

"I do not know much, but last night, I was outside. I had had a very bad dream, and I went out for some fresh air. And then I saw them, and they were walking that way," she said, pointing in the direction they had left.

'Fuck!' Kirk thought. `The fucking palace!'

"Fuck, we have no time to lose. Chiara, dinner's over. We're going to the palace."

"But, Kirk, why would she go there?" she asked, bewildered.

"Don't ask questions. Talula, you're going too."

"But, sir,"

"Don't fucking `but' with me right now. There is a LOT of shit that no one knows about. A LOT of bad shit. And it's all about to happen. Grab whatever you need. But make sure it's light. We're leaving now."

He grabbed his cloak and threw it onto his slender body, walking out to the porch to wait on the girls.

'Fucking hell. We'd better make it there in time.'

ºººººº

23

Back at the Palace grounds, later that day…

Syrena and Lars walked around the palace in tense silence. Lars had never seen Syrena so pissed off before… Well, except for maybe that time when her eyes were glowing, but that's a different story altogether…

He looked over at her, her long auburn hair falling over her face, the tips of it rocking gently against the wind. She had her arms crossed firmly over her chest as she glared down at the ground, biting her lip in the process. Now was definitely not the time to talk or ask questions. They were simply going to look for a place to stay for the night.

The breeze felt good to them as they walked; it had been an unusually hot day in Beulind. The town was incredibly awake and full of life. But something wasn't quite right… Lars could feel it in his stomach. He was more nervous than usual…

Syrena would probably feel it, too, if she'd focus on something besides her anger. But that was highly unlikely at this point.

They walked down a pathway with footprints and wheel tracks that lead down to the docks, something they'd never seen before.

Lars stopped dead in his tracks as he caught a glimpse of one of the biggest ships he'd seen in his entire life.

"That's Ship One!" he exclaimed happily, pointing at it as Syrena continued to walk. She grunted and turned around in frustration. "What's `Ship one'?"

"The thing in front of you! I`ve always wanted to see one!" he squealed.

"Great. Now you've seen one. But this isn't life-long dream time. We need to find a place to stay," she said, her eyes once again glowing.

Lars ignored her, though, and starting reciting things he knew about the boat.

"Half a mile wide, thirty-three doctors, scientists, and pirates on the ship, Captain Janth Grey, Fifty-five crewme-"

"Shut up Lars. No one gives a fuck about the ship."

"But I used to study this all the time!" he said. "When I was younger, I wanted to be a captain of one of the ships … but I didn't exactly have the strength or the height… But I had plenty of experience!"

"Oh. Gee, that warms my heart. Now shut the fuck up, we need to find a place to fucking SLEEP!" she yelled.

He quickly did as he was told.

He gazed underneath the dock for Ship One; it was a shore that the waves gently splashed against, stretching on for at least thirty feet… Syrena went over to it, exploring around. She looked at the land above her, staring up at where the dock connected to land.

Lars blinked. "Syrena, look, there's a small little cave… thing…"

Syrena glared at him before going over to it.

"It's big enough for the both of us…" she said, taking her backpack off.

"Did you pack any blankets?"

"Only one, but it's big enough for us both,"

"Good. We can use our packs as our pillows," she murmured, lighting a torch and peering into the `cave'.

"Only a few snakes and bugs. They're harmless though," she said, shoving the torch into the dirt as she pulled herself into the cave.

"Only a few?" Lars asked. "Are you crazy?"

Syrena paid no attention to him as she focused on the snakes. Her eyes began to glow, turning blue, purple, and finally to green.

All at once, all of the snakes and bugs and other animals slithered and crawled their way out of the cage, past Lars, and to another dock.

"How the hell did you do that?" Lars said.

"Only a few more days before I get my powers back, you know," she said casually, waving for Lars to come over.

"Oh… I see…" he said, hesitantly going over to her. He watched as she went to the very back, propping her back-pack behind her.

"Well? Come on. And put the torch out."

Lars whimpered. "But I need a nightlight…"

Syrena growled. "Lars, if I continue to stay pissed, you don't have to worry abnout that problem, now do you?"

Lars gulped.

"If you want, I'll stay awake until you fall asleep," she sighed.

"Yeah!" Lars said, grinning as he put the torch out and quickly crawled next to Syrena, He blindly grabbed for the blanket and draped it over the two of them.

A few minutes went by before the sound of men on the dock disturbed both of them.

"-Yeah," one said. "I can't find James anywhere,"

"Hetfield? Oh, you didn't hear? Jason sent him after the girl who kicked him in the balls,"

"That psycho-freak from Spark?" another asked.

"Yep. That's her,"

"What does Jason want with THAT?"

Lars looked over at Syrena, her eyes a dark grey.

"Probably fuck her and then dump her somewhere, or be his whore,"

"Jason isn't like that," Lars whispered to himself.

Syrena growled as she got out of the cave. Lars quickly chased after her and grabbed hold of her arm.

"Syrena, don't. They have technology-"

"Fuck technology! I'm going to fry them to a fucking crisp and then go and slit that fucking Lord's throat! Right fucking now!" she said, struggling to get away from his grasp.

"No, Syrena. Jason would never do that to anyone," Lars reasoned. "He's fucking kind, okay?"

"Fuck you, Lars. How the hell would you know?" she growled, breaking away from him.

"I just do," he whispered to himself, amazed at how sad his voice sounded.

He glared as he ran after her, tackling her to the ground and pinning her there.

"SYRENA, FUCKING WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW!" Lars yelled at her. Syrena's eyes went wide, clearly amazed at his sudden strength.

"Don't fucking fuck around with Jason. Those pirates, you can turn them into kangaroos for all I fucking care, but don't fucking do anything to Jason. He hasn't done a fucking thing to you,"

"How the hell do you know?"

"I don't! But all I know is that when I was younger, his Uncle took me in, and Jason took care of me. I was raped, beaten, abused mentally and physically… why do you think I'm so small? Those fuckers who killed my family wouldn't let me grow, in more ways than one. I'm twenty-fucking-three now and I look like I did ten years ago. They still have a hold over me, Syrena. But you know what? Jason took care of me, and he fucking acted like he gave a damn, and he protected me from a lot of things. A LOT of things, okay? And I'll be fucking damned to hell if I'm going to let someone merely touch him," he growled, a tear running down his cheek and fell onto hers.

"Then what the hell was Kirk?" Syrena yelled, kicking him off of her. He landed on the ground with a soft thud.

Getting back on her feet, she went over to him, towering above. "What the hell was Kirk?" she muttered.

Lars held her gaze for what seemed like forever. He stared down at the grass to his sides and sighed deeply.

"I don't know."

She sighed and offered a hand to him, in which he accepted.

"I'm sorry this has happened to you, Syrena."

They both crawled back into the cave, Syrena collapsing onto the hard ground. "Yeah. Me too," she said.

The rest of the night was silent, except for the random laughter of the men above them.

ºººººº

24

"The Lord will see you now," a different guard said. Syrena flashed a fake, sarcastic smile as he allowed her and an unusually quiet Lars inside of the tall, proud building. They were led down various halls that stretched on into eternity, turning rarely.

When they finally arrived at the final door, two other big guards opened it.

Syrena had never seen a room so big in her life. She looked up to see that the ceiling was hundreds of feet above her, reaching towards the sky. This must have been the place James had thrown her to the ground months before…

Apparently, though, it wasn't quite their turn to speak with Jason. A tall man with blonde hair was speaking with him instead.

"What do you mean `You couldn't find her', James?" Jason asked, sitting on his tall, narrow throne made out of gold and marble.

"Just what I said, your majesty," James said through clenched teeth. "Chiara wasn't even there,"

"Unbelievable," Jason sighed, running his hand through his hair.

James smirked. "What? Life of the Lords catching up to ya?"

Jason grabbed his staff and pointed it at James, making him crash to the floor.

"You've got a lot of courage, I'll tell you that," Jason growled, glaring down at him. James grabbed at his throat, obviously trying to relieve some kind of pain. Jason put his staff back down and James fell flat on the ground.

"Now go, I have other-"

Syrena walked towards Jason and James, snarling madly. Lars followed quickly behind.

Syrena got right into James' face.

"Fuck. You."

"Anytime," James retorted, grinning maniacally towards her. Syrena grabbed him by the throat and threw him down. She then turned and stared at Jason.

"As for you…" she said, walking closer to Jason, who sat still, unaffected.

"We were searching for you…" Jason said, his voice softer.

They held each other's gaze for a split second before a loud, deafening noise filled their ears. They all felt the ground beneath them shake… then the pictures on the wall began to vibrate, and finally, the wall nearest to the ocean collapsed. They all ran back over to the other side, coughing from the dust that was swirling around them.

Five minutes later, the dust settled, and two shadowy figures appeared, standing in front of a large ship.

As the dust finally cleared, everyone caught sight of two mean- looking men.

"Vahe," Syrena growled, feeling Lars' hands tighten around her arm.

"Vahe…" Jason repeated.

Vahe said nothing. He just walked towards them, slowly, like a lion hunting its prey.

"Syrena…" He finally said.

-

Kirk, Chiara and Talula finally made it over the biggest hill protecting the inner parts of Beulind, also known as the Palace grounds.

"Gods!" Chiara said. "Kirk, can we please take a rest? We've been walking all night and half the morning!"

Kirk grunted, turning to look at Chiara, who sat on a rock fanning herself, and Talula, who stood, patiently waiting for what would be said next.

"No. Just let me go over here and see where the palace is- oh my Gods," Kirk said, laying eyes on the ocean to the east, where the docks were. "Oh my fucking Gods,"

"What?" Chiara said, standing up and walking over to him.

"Holy shit! Is that thing gonna crash into the palace!?" she asked, covering her mouth with her hand. They watched as about fifty ships emerged from the water, the largest sailing full speed towards the palace.

"They're going to hit ship two!" Chiara exclaimed.

But it didn't. It flew from the water, a mere hundred feet from the palace, before finally unleashing a shield to protect the front and crashing into the palace.

"Oh fuck," Kirk moaned. "I'm too late…"

"Do you think Syrena and Lars could be in there?" Talula asked.

"SYRENA!" Kirk yelled, everything snapping into place as he and the others ran as fast as they could down the hill.

-

Syrena narrowed her eyes. "Vahe."

"I knew I would find you someday…it's only been a few months. We've missed you greatly. In Randilyn…"

"Really? I didn't miss you."

"As would be expected. Rebellions like you deserve to be exiled," Vahe came dangerously close to Syrena's face.

"But you still have your chance to join us…"

"Why the fuck would I want to do that? I never will."

Vahe growled and backhanded Syrena, his force so strong that it kicked her to the ground.

James grinned and walked over to him, standing next to Kontar, who was behind his father.

"James… I should've known," Jason said, his eyes wide.

"Now you do, pussy. Now you get to follow my orders…" James said, grinning.

Vahe snapped his fingers, and from the ship came about one hundred men, running over to Jason.

"Jason!" Lars yelled as they pounced on him all at once.

"Syrena, please!" Lars yelped, his eyes wide and full of tears.

Syrena growled in disgust as her eyes began to glow …but they sputtered out. Vahe began laughing wildly.

"Fool!" he yelled, his voice pinning all but his own and Jason against the wall.

"I have Aldan's power now. I have his technology, I have his strength, and now I have his SON and his kingdom!"

The men dragged an unconscious Jason into the ship, cackling the whole way.

"Son?" Lars whispered.

"You. Syrena, are a fool for believing anything I said,"

"Yes, I figured that out a long time ago, fucker," she spat.

"No. Because, you see, that whole three months thing? That was a lie. You've had your powers the whole time."

"WHAT!? FUCK YOU!!!!" she screamed, trying to break free from his hold.

He simply laughed, James and Kontar grinning.

"You have no power here anymore... or anywhere else, for that matter… The evil is too thick now. Yours is merely drowned out, like the people of Beulind will soon be."

Kirk ran into the room, panting harshly with wounds all over his boy.

"Kirk!" Vahe and Syrena exclaimed at once.

"Syrena!" Kirk said, running over to her and attempting to hug her. The second they made contact, Kirk was shocked and thrown back onto the ground. Vahe laughed once again.

"You're so stupid, Kirk. You of all people should have known better than to go and do that. You've known about these plans all of your life!" Vahe exclaimed.

Syrena's glare faltered.

"Kirk…?"

"Oh, you didn't know that Kirk was on my side the whole time, my dear?" Vahe taunted. "Have you decided to come home, Kirk?"

"Kirk, you fucking son of a bitch!" Syrena yelled, once again trying to break free as Lars tried to contain his emotions, staring worriedly at the ship where they had taken Jason.

"Syrena, I didn't mean to-"

"Fucking shove it!" she yelled.

"Kirk," Vahe began. "We have her now. You can quit pretending,"

"I'm not fucking pretending!" Kirk screamed. "I…love her, okay? It was a fucking accident, but accidents happen!"

"So you wish to be thrown to the ocean with the rest of them, then?" Vahe asked.

"Yes."

Very WELL!" Vahe growled. Six other men went over to Lars, Kirk and Syrena, tying them up.

"Don't forget those two lovelies," Kontar said, pointing at Talula and Chiara.

Syrena watched as Lars, Chiara, Kirk and Talula were dragged into the ship.

Vahe and Kontar came closer, James watching with that grin still pasted on his face.

"Maybe I should explain a few things to you, my dear child," Vahe said, running his hands through her hair.

"You know what your true story is?" he asked in a baby voice. "You weren't some freak of nature. We didn't create you in a lab. I stole you from your family. One day, Kontar here was out playing with his friends. You were being abused by some of your buddies, and you unleashed that glorious power of yours and turned them into fried chicken. Kontar ran home and told me all about it… I had to have you in my army. I simply molded a body and face like yours, slaughtered it, and placed it outside of your families' small, shitty house."

"You're a sick fuck-"

"I'm not finished, dear. Oh, and then I lied and told you that I was training you to help save the world…actually, I trained you to help destroy the world. Ever notice how your powers only hurt? Kill? Nothing good comes from it. Everything I did was somehow corrupting you to become evil… but I couldn't get through to your soul, nor to your mind. You weren't evil enough in there, and that's where it counts the most. So, when you found my plans for you, you know, how I was going to kill you once I had control of all of the worlds, you got pissed. I understand that. So I exiled you to Spark. The Beulind Pirates found you, and then James, one of my many spies creeping here in Beulind, got a hold of you. I found out that you were sent to Chiara's, and Kirk happens to be Chiara's brother. Oh, I stole him from his family, too, and corrupted his mind. Chiara was lucky I never got a hold of her… but now, I guess I will, huh?"

"You're despising…"

"Shush, shush. Now, I can either throw you to your death like the rest aboard that ship, or I can marry you and Kontar right here, right now, and the three of us can dominate with our evil ways."

Syrena spat in his face.

"Death, then. Well, with Aldan dead, I have no more worries. The other ones like you are weaker than I am now. When you're dead, I'll simply suck the power you hold right out of you until I have them all… you know, a sort of `Collect-all-seven' type of deal. God, it used to be eight, but one of Aldan's sons went missing… I would kill to have him, too… oh well. Guards! Throw her in with the rest of them!" Vahe yelled. Syrena growled and kicked and screamed and punched and bit at them, but it didn't work. Her powers were disabled, and she had no choice but to let them throw her inside the ship with the rest of her friends…

This was all her fault.

Jason hadn't done a thing to her at all… there were no tests. He simply sent her to Chiara's to be taken care of for a while… why?

And now, Lars has failed him because of her…

What the hell was she going to do now?

ºººººº

25

The sound of handcuffs and chains being wrapped around her slender body were the only ones inside the tiny little ship that carried Vahe and his little followers into Beulind, and ruined half of the palace. She glared at the guard, trying desperately to try and burn his organs, burn his eyes, burn something.

But it was no use. Vahe didn't lie about her power being useless now. Kontar and Vahe's own powers overruled them.

With her arms stretched above her head, just like the remainder of her friends, she slumped against the wall, waiting for the guard to close the door before letting out a sigh of stress.

She could feel all eyes on her. Her heart beat faster as she realized that she could be trapped in this room for a long time with these people… going down in whatever sick way Vahe planned to kill her.

And kill them, too.

He'd probably make her watch them die, let the guilt really settle inside her soul, create more devastation and depression and anger in her mind.

But then again, it was Vahe. He would see to it that Syrena was tortured in every way, physical and mental. He'd probably kill her first, so her loved ones would have to watch HER die. Then he'd probably push them around, work them to the brink of their death; then let them rest, regain some strength, and do it all over again.

The possibilities of Vahe's psychotic mind were endless. And frankly, she couldn't bare to think another second of what the outcome would end up being.

It was only then that she noticed no one had said a word. Not even Lars. Lifting her head up, she saw that all of them were somehow bound to the walls, just like she. Chiara, Talula, and Kirk were on her right, Lars on her left…. And some other strange man, bleeding half to death on the floor. He looked strikingly familiar to Jason, who was not in the dark room.

Syrena's heart broke as she looked to Lars, who had silent streams of tears running down his cheeks, his eyes cast down to the floor. How could she betray him? And Chiara and Talula, who had absolutely nothing to do with this? She glanced over to them, and they glanced back. Talula just blinked and went back to staring at the floor. Chiara never moved her eyes away from Syrena's.

She felt bad about everything; about Lars, about the girls, even about Jason. But Kirk… she couldn't decide what to feel towards Kirk.

For one, there was the utter and total anger she held towards him for lying to her, and the anger towards herself for believing him and falling into his trap.

Then there was the all-consuming sadness the whole situation had caused her. It was enough to make her cry… something she hadn't done since…

She'd never done it.

The only thing she knew to do was to explain a few last things to them before their fates were chosen.

She cleared her throat, and all at once, everyone in the room whipped their heads up and looked at her with expectant, impatient faces.

"I guess I have some explaining to do," she said, amazingly able to control her emotions and her voice. She took a deep breath before beginning.

"Well, as some of you know, I've never known my past. I've never known my father, my mother, I've never known if I had any siblings… and well, I still don't know much. All I know is that Vahe saw my powers one day while I was defending myself from some local bullies in my native land of Randilyn, and he knew immediately that he needed my power for his plans to overthrow all of the rulers in all of the universe.

"I was young then. I didn't know that the strange man who walked up to me as a bad one. He grabbed me, and in a flash of brilliant light, my past was totally erased from my mind. I knew nothing, only of the lie that I was created in a lab that produced slaves, I had some sort of imbalance that gave me these powers. I never had any friends because I was never allowed outside the walls; that's why I was so pale- well, I guess you guys never saw me before I came to Beulind.

"Anyway, for the rest of my life I was constantly being trained to fight, to use my powers to the fullest, to destroy anything that got in my way. Everything was going great for Vahe until he tried to corrupt my soul and mind. He'd already done a fine job of tuning my powers and my strength, but he could never turn me totally evil. And that's what he wanted, and I would never, ever become what he is.

"Later on, I had the sudden urge to sneak into his room while he was out `on business matters' – probably ruining another world – and I found some papers. These papers were detailed information about my past, my body, my strength, and ultimately how in the end I would be as evil as Kontar and Vahe, join forces with them and rule all. Then, once that was accomplished, they would kill me, take the powers from me for future use, and do as they please for all of eternity.

"Needless to say I was a little on the pissed side. The second he stepped foot back inside the palace I called him every name in the book, and told him to go fuck himself because I would never join with him. Kontar and I were betrothed, unfortunately. But I rebelled, and Vahe got angry, exiling me to Spark. Then James found me, and the rest is history."

More silence filled the room.

She sighed and stared down at the floor. "I just thought I'd clear that up," she mumbled.

"Syrena, I'm so sorry about everything. I truly am."

Syrena turned to face Kirk. "You expect me to believe that, don't you?" she asked, her voice even, lacking any emotion as she meticulously looked into his eyes. An ashamed expression washed over his face as he turned back to the ground.

Before another word could be spoken, the door burst open, revealing Vahe, Kontar, and James, backed up by a few guards. Vahe stepped into the room, walking right to Syrena.

"So, we have all but one member of your little gang gathered in this room, do we?" he asked, grinning slyly as he played with Syrena's hair.

"Why don't you go fuck off?" Lars suggested. Vahe turned and glared at him. Lars glared right back.

"A lot of big talk coming from someone so small…" he muttered. Then, realization came over the evil one's face as he went over to him. "Ahh, I recognize you now, you're Jason's little bitch!"

"Fuck you, I am no-"

"No, no, I got it all wrong," Vahe said, lost in thought for a second before smiling vindictively.

"You're the son of the faerie and elf I killed years ago."

Syrena had to force herself to look away from the pained expression and pale skin on Lars' face. This was too much.

"What?" Lars asked, his voice weak and shaking.

"Yeah. I was conquering your world at the time, what was it… Panquarium? Yes I think that was the name of it. Your king was a pushover," he snorted.

"Just like your parents," he added in a low, growling voice. "I'll let you know that their screams weren't as loud as the rest… but they did shriek quite loudly when the boys plunged those spears into their chests-"

"STOP IT!" Lars screamed, fighting with his restraints.

"You have no choice but to listen! I finally had to shut them up by slicing their throats a few times. Then I burned them and threw the ashes into a dumpster. But don't feel bad, they weeped for you the entire time. A poor, small, lost young lad in a big, corrupted world," Vahe leaned down next to him. "No wonder you're so fucked up. We should have spared you and your family mercy…" he said, his frown turning into a crazy smile as he stood and kicked Lars harshly in his stomach, his force once again so powerful that it cracked the wooden wall.

"But I have no mercy."

The other men laughed hysterically as Vahe walked back over to them. "It's time to go on a little trip, you guys… doesn't that sound nice?" he asked, sending a smirk to Syrena as he left with James and Kontar.

The guards walked over to each person in the room, waving a wet cloth over their face, making them all fall limp against the walls.

-

Syrena opened her eyes to find herself chained to another wall… but it wasn't the same room. It was larger, and nicer. It was cool, not stuffy and hot. The men and women were more spread apart. Her eyes scanned over them all, landing on Jason, who stood with heavy chains wrapped around his body. He glanced over at her and offered a weak smile. Syrena watched as blood dripped over the thick chains holding Jason up on his feet.

'What a fucking sick man,' Syrena thought.

Only seconds later, Lars began to stir, finally opening his tired, sad eyes and blinking dumbly. He saw Syrena, and immediately his face fell.

He must have remembered why he was chained to a wall; for following a girl who was destined to fail.

She watched as he turned to his left, seeing Jason in the condition he was in.

His eyes got wide as a bittersweet smile spread across his face. "Jason!" he managed to squeak out.

"Lars," the Lord said very tiredly.

"What the hell did that ugly bastard do to you?"

"…Wha…?"

Syrena sighed deeply as she looked to Kirk, who was avoiding looking into her eyes, or looking a her at all.

A few seconds later she returned her gaze to Jason and the other, mysterious Jason-look-a-like. With light in the room, she could see that they had different hair color, the unknown man's much lighter and curlier than Jason's. They quickly turned their eyes away from her and looked at each other, silently communicating with their eyes.

Syrena wasn't too sure what to think about them.

Then again, she could barely think at this point.

Everything was catching up with her so fast…

She didn't know if she could take it anyumore. If she had to, she'd sacrafice herself for the people inside the room.

They must have spent an entire hour in complete silence, Lars and Jason staring at each other the entire time, Jason going in and out of consciousness.

The silence was interrupted once again by someone bursting into the door. As usual, it was Vahe, Kontar, and James, with several body guards.

Like they could do anything to them, anyway.

"Ah, so you're all awake," Vahe said, clapping his hands. "I do hope you're enjoying your stay on Ship Five. Lovely ship, isn't it? It's the largest of them all; three miles wide,"

It dawned on Syrena that she would be going out in the ship that she came in on.

"And now the time has drawn near…" Vahe said, his footsteps echoing in the room as he neared Jason, getting right into his face. "As I kill the heir," he growled. He then turned to look at the mysterious man. "And I kill Aldan's seventh son, I will own all of Beulind. Another world for my collection," he whirled around to smile sweetly at the others. "And I get to watch more people die. It's my lucky day," he said, going back to Syrena once more. "Final chance, Syrena. Join us, or die with your friends."

"Fuck you," she growled. "I would rather die than join with you and watch my friends become slaves."

"So be it," he snarled, walking hurriedly out of the room. Everyone but James was left. He grinned evilly as he went to Syrena, feeling her up and grinning at the repulsed looks on her face.

James glanced over his shoulder to see Kirk glaring and moving uncomfortably as he watched James.

"What's the matter Kirk?" James asked. "Does this bother you?" James said, grabbing a dagger and ripping her shirt half-way open.

"Fuck you, James," Kirk said, glaring harder as James smiled.

"No, fuck you. Vahe doesn't like to be fucked over. Especially by one of his own. I mean, being his son and all, he expected you of all people to stick with him-"

"WHAT!?" Syrena yelled, feeling very sick to the stomach. She glared at Kirk before staring at Chiara, who blushed and looked to the ground.

"I assure you Syrena, I knew nothing of this," Chiara said. "But I am the only daughter of Vahe,"

"And I'm the youngest son, the weakest," Kirk said.

"Why didn't I ever see you then?" Syrena demanded.

"To Vahe, I was nothing but thin air. I was the oldest; he wanted a son to claim the throne after he died. All I was good for was cooking, cleaning, and bearing children. He sold me to Beulind to live with relatives of my mother, who died."

"I was always training to be a spy at a different location," Kirk said.

"Oh, well this just fucks everything up furthermore," Syrena spat. James lifted his knee in between her legs and began to rub slowly.

Syrena tried to move away, but it was no use.

"Guess your prince charming is really the runt of the family, eh? No wonder Vahe couldn't trust him to be the next ruler. He would probably go and pick flowers everyday for his love. What a puss. Almost as bad as Jason."

"You're not half the man Kirk is, and neither is Kontar," Syrena growled, kicking James away.

"Kirk's nothing but a fucking pretty boy spy!" James yelled.

Out of nowhere, the sound of metal connecting to the back of James' head filled the room, creating a loud echo. James moaned and fell forwards, landing on Syrena and slowly sliding to the floor in pain, knocking a nearby lit torch over.

Syrena spat on him, glaring. It was only when she heard a familiar voice that she lifted her head.

"I just fucking hate that guy," Bowen said.

Syrena's eyes went wide as she stared at the short man who was releasing her and everyone else in the room.

"Bowen! I, I thought I wouldn't see you-"

"No time for chit-chat, this place is about to fucking burn!" he yelled, glancing at the rapidly-increasing fire, heading straight towards Aldan's seventh son.

Jason seemed to be incredibly worried about this.

"Get him out!" he yelled over the roaring fire as Chiara and Talula ran to safety.

Kirk helped untie Jason and Lars, and went immediately over to Syrena, untying her as fast as he could, stepping all over James in the process.

Kirk held her still after she was totally released. "I'm sorry," he said, his eyes totally sincere. Syrena tried to glare, but she couldn't bring herself to it. She shrugged her away out of his arms and went to the seventh son, watching as Bowen and Jason – who barely had any energy or strength left in him from the blood-lose, tried to untie him as the fire crept over to them.

"Jason, it's too late!" Syrena yelled as the fire began to lap at the now unconscious man's feet.

Jason refused to give up until the fire was almost totally consuming him. He stood there in disbelief as Bowen and Kirk ran out of the room. Syrena grabbed his arm, and helped him limp out of the room, and onto deck, where everyone was (hopefully) waiting for them.

ºººººº

26

They ran onto deck, leaning against each other for support; both of them coughing violently, blood rising in their throats. Kirk rushed over to her side immediately upon seeing her emerge from the smoke, Lars attending to Jason.

She opened her eyes, seeing the out-stretched arms of Kirk, and latched onto them with the rest of her strength. Kirk pulled her as far away from the flames as he could get, over to Chiara, Talula, and now Jason and Lars.

She lazily lifted her head from Kirk's shoulder, gazing out onto the ocean.

'So this is how it ends…' she thought to herself, resting her head back on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

Everything in her body hurt. Her skin felt burnt, like she had danced with the sun and been defeated. Her muscles were sore and torn, as if she had been mauled by a thousand lions. Her organs felt twisted and wrung, like a washcloth.

Her emotional and mental states were entirely no different.

She wanted to think. She had to think. There had to be some way to get out of here, to save everyone from this inevitable death.

But there was none.

"Syrena, hon, wake up!" Chiara yelled, patting her on the head.

Managing to lift her head a second time, she realized she had been thrown into a tiny boat hanging on the side of the ship. Above her, Lars and Kirk were holding the ropes steady, concerned and intense looks on their faces. Around her, Talula sat with Jason, Chiara with Syrena.

"Wha…what's goin' on?" she slurred, looking up into Chiara's face. Before she could answer, there was a sudden jerk in the boat, causing everyone to gasp for a split second.

"They're lowering us into the water," Chiara replied, holding onto Syrena tightly.

Syrena felt some life rush back to her.

"They aren't going to stay up there, are they?" Syrena asked, glaring up at her.

"They may have to sacrifice themselves, yes-"

Syrena ignored the tears streaming down Chiara's cheeks as she looked back up at Lars and Kirk, and at the flames creeping up behind them.

She then returned her direction back to the tiny boat they were in; there was plenty of room for one more…

Two more, actually.

Glancing back up to Kirk, their eyes met, and her strength was instantly restored. She stood up, balancing the ship as it gently hit the water.

"Kirk! Lars! Jump!" she shouted, holding her arms out.

"Are you crazy!?" Lars yelled back, glaring down at her. "We'll sink the ship! Don't worry about us!"

"Syrena! Get fucking moving!" Kirk yelled, pointing at the oars.

Eyes still locked, Syrena narrowed them as her body shook with anger.

"If you don't get the fuck down here right now, I'll fucking-"

Her screams were cut off by a loud, strong breeze, rushing above the water, causing it to rise up in a wave, going straight towards the tiny ship and the huge, blazing one. It was AS IF THE ELEMENTS HAD DECIDED TO JOIN TOGETHER AND CREATE CHOAS. Hundreds of feet away, they could still feel the earth trembling.

Syrena jumped up onto the ship where a rope was hanging. Grasping the flimsy rope, she held on as the enormous wave crashed into the ships, pulling them beneath the water and extinguishing the flames.

Syrena blindly tried to climb up the rope, fighting against the pressure of the ocean surrounding her. It was a daring task, but it had to be done. She had to somehow find Kirk and Lars, she had to find the others, they had to wash up on the land…

If there was any land left. Perhaps Vahe had decided to swallow all land and start fresh.

The mere thought of Vahe caused the pressure upon her to increase to the point that all muscles in her body were numb; she couldn't even open her eyes. She was running out of air quickly, everything inside her collapsing.

With the water swirling around her, denting her in, she felt like her time was up.

-

The large, all-powerful wave collided with the land of Beulind, wiping out everything in sight, except for the palace, for the palace could never be touched nor harmed in any way. It was sacred. Not even the evil of Vahe could kill it down.

Much to the dismay of Vahe, of course.

And he stood, in the Lord's chambers, where so many other Lords had stood before, peering out of the window. But his mind was not troubled with thoughts of how to make the land better. Nor were they full of happiness upon seeing the people live happily. Instead, he laughed as town by town was destroyed, life by life slaughtered or drowned.

It brought him happiness to know that he would soon own the whole universe.

It brought him joy to know that Aldan and all of his descendants were dead.

But what gave him the best feeling of all was knowing that he had beaten Syrena, and had succeeded in driving her crazy, and he had succeeded in torturing the ones she loved.

So what if he lost a few of his own army in the process. They weren't important.

He continued to stand as the wave finally finished the last town of the large land, going on about its way. All that was left now was dirt and shattered pieces of wood, and occasionally body parts with red liquid surrounding them.

He grinned as he turned to Kontar, who was now standing next to him, a frown on his face as he looked out over the remains.

He turned to Vahe, the frown never leaving his face as he stared at his father.

"You're evil."

His grin became wider upon hearing the compliment.

Returning his vision out to the land that he had just stolen, the washed-up ship that kept the bodies of Syrena and her friends chained to its walls lay on the eastern shore, awaiting anyone who dared to walk inside to retrieve them.

"Let's go."

ºººººº

27 (interlude)

The rest of the ocean that wasn't swept into the gigantic wave destined to destroy all remained behind, gently crashing up onto the shore.

A certain sadness which could only be duplicated by losing someone you loved lingered in the air, catching onto the breeze and rushing through the land; the world of Beulind.

She sat, the only movement from her now broken body her barely-there breathing.

With her knees pressed tightly to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs, and her head burried in her knees, she sat, stoical to the rest of the world. The moans and groans of the people around her, slowly dying, some breathing for the last time to join the others already dead, didn't bother her. How could she help people she didn't know if she couldn't help her own friends?

It was too late for them. She couldn't have even had a chance to say sorry, or bye, or anything.

The last thing she had done to Kirk was hate him. She hadn't helped Lars with Jason, someone who meant a lot to the faerelf. She couldn't help him keep his promise. Chiara, whom she considered her sister, one of the daughters of Vahe and the brother of Kirk, brought into a web she didn't need to be involved in. And Talula...

The thought of her sent a chill up her spine. What was the last thing she had said?

When she was pulled under the sea, somehow she had made it back up onto the surface; Talula making it as well. They were surrounded by thousands of dying men, all molded to look like the other; Vahe's 'soldiers'. Talula latched on Syrena's shoulders, and with the last of her strength, whispered:

"You're the chosen one, you know. The one to lead us to victory."

Then they were both pushed underneath the ocean again.

Then, Syrena was pushed onto the shore.

They were all dead. It was all of her fault.

She was numb. There wasn't a thing she could do about anything.

She didn't even fight back when a few of Vahe's men roughly grabbed her arms and legs and other parts of her body as they dragged her back inside the half-destroyed palace.

He had succeeded in driving her crazy.

-

He struggled to pull himself up on the beach; he had been swimming for hours, choking on a mixture of water and tears and air. He doubted he would ever reach the shore, but he had, he felt it under his knees and searchng hands. He almost sighed in relief; but there wasn't any time for that.

Lifting his head with the few surges of strength left, he was shocked to see at least a hundred men washed up on the shore he had been carried onto; a mixture of townspeople and soldiers.

His plan of finding anyone would be more difficult than he imagined.

Standing up on his feet, he started searching desperately, shouting out the names of his lost friends. But there were no responses; only the final whispers and agonizing sounds of the men around him...

Looking at the palace, the only thing that had not been totally destroyed, he was behind the whole building.

He had many, many miles to walk and many, many bodies to search through.

Until, everything on the island went silent. The moans disappeared; the breeze stopped. All he heard was her name, followed by disturbing cat names and a piercing scream from a woman.

"SYRENA!"

ºººººº

28

The feeling of her wrists being forced into shackles and chains was an uncomfortably familiar one. The laughing and callings of the men were all the same to her as she blocked them out like horrible, morbid music playing in the background. All of the hope was drained from her, forced from her, taken from her.

She had nothing left to give, nothing to fight for, nothing to care about.

It was over.

And the worst part about it was that it had to end this way. She couldn't save the day like most heroes in the few stories she was ever told. No one was going to rescue her; hell, no one even acknowledged her existence unless they wanted a piece of ass or they were frustrated and in need of a punching bag.

She slumped against the wall almost as cold and harsh as Vahe's heart, too tired to sigh, and unable to release tears.

The men would stare at her, devious smiles on their faces, eyebrows quirked up, imagining ripping her already tattered clothes apart and having another go.

She hoped to the Gods that if they kept her alive, she wouldn't become pregnant. The very thought of it made her stomach flip, and she mustered up some strength to move over and throw up. This was all too fucking much.

The laughter increased, along with the cat calls, as she slumped back against the wall, arms above her head shaking with pain. It truly was over.

Her world went out of focus, the men becoming blurry and unclear, before going back to normal, and then finally, as if a picture on a screen, the men and the walls slowly fell into complete darkness.

She would wake up randomly, sometimes while being raped, others being beaten in. Rarely did she wake up without being in some sort of pain. How long had she been there? A little over an hour? Or was it a day?

This was what her life was possibly going to be like forever.

Her memories, even the bitter ones with Kirk, came rushing back to her. She had remembered when this felt good, even if the relationship was a lie. She didn't give a fuck if Kirk turned his back against his father, she didn't care if he risked his life to tell him how he really felt about her. It was probably just an act to get her hopes up, only to shatter them like a broken mirror.

She could remember the days she had spent with Lars, thinking the hours were torturous while he told his many stories, most of which she never believed anyway.

But usually, she had enjoyed spending time with Lars...he was like her little brother, a brother she never had...

Or did she?

And Chiara. It might not have ever been shown, but they had some sort of connection. They both understood each other without a word being said. They could see through the others' mask, they could help each other through the difficult tasks and the easy ones. Those days were gone, though, aand they would never come back.

And Kirk; what could she say about him?

Nothing. Because that was the only thing she had left for him.

Bravely lifting her head, shaking from the effort, she barely saw the men crowded around her, and even more so the shadowy figure of a man outside of the window high above the wall.

Her heart skipped a beat as an over-powering feeling came over her; that was NOT just a soldier. That was someone who was going to save her.

Her hope began in her stomach and fluttered throughout her body.

And, for the first time in her life, her eyes lighted up, not in anger, but in a burning desperation to survive. And from her hands, energy poured out, flowing directly to the unsuspecting man in the window, the man who was trying to peer inside, unable to by the thick, protected glass.

With that final thought of being freed from this hell, her world once again went black.

-

It hadn't been an easy journey for Kirk in the meantime. His hands shook from fear and anger as he searched through the endless dead and dying bodies around him, piled along the shores. The stench from the dead was a horrible thing to smell; it crawled under your skin and went straight to your stomach. It was all Kirk could do to get away from the bodies in time.

By the time he'd been searching for an hour, he found the body of Bowen, and the still breathing body of Chiara. Her leg was badly cut and twisted, tears streaming down her face. Kirk rushed over to her, hugging her with all of his might as a tear strolled down his cheek. He carefully placed her over his back as she blacked out. He continued to walk down the beach, desperately searching for the remaining ones, if they still remained. He hoped to God that they did; he had to find them and get to Syrena before it was too late; he'd always been taught to never leave anyone behind, even though he taught that lesson to himself.

Before long, he found Lars, who was clutching Jason tightly, his hands and wrists snow white from the strain of holding onto him. Kirk had guessed that Lars hadn't let him go, even underneath the extreme pressure of the ocean. "Fuck," he whispered to himself as he looked over at Jason.

Jason, too, was badly injured; but they continued on, Lars practically dragging Jason on his back. Before long, Talula was found, barely a scratch on her body. Kirk didn't have time to think about how odd that was.

The energy in them all was incredibly low; threateningly low.

But everyone continued on with the determination to save Syrena; or at least say goodbye.

They searched around the palace, lucky to go unseen by the celebrating warriors and soldiers. They searched window after window, knowing it was a hopeless cause; the palace was at LEAST fifteen thousand feet in the air. It was a big ass building.

Kirk bravely climbed into the last window sill humanly possible to climb to; he hoped to the Gods that she was in there.

Leaning against the window, he tried desperately to rub the paint off of the window, even though the glass was so thick that only the people inside could see out of it.

Just as he was giving up, his energy was fully restored.

He jumped back down to the others, telling them of what just happened, knowing that Shyrena had somehow given him the energy. He then touched each of them, and miraculously their energy was restored as well.

Now, it was time to kick ass.

-

Syrena shrieked in pain as the man before her cast a final blow on her bleeding body; she would certainly die within the hour. She had given all of her energy back to Kirk, who she knew would somehow be able to make up a plan and get past the guards. It had to be done. She could then get her revenge on Vahe, and then die happily.

Well, not happy, just satisfied.

The mere thought of him must have brought him inside; the heavy sound of boots connecting to floor filled her ears, and looking up, his ugly image filled her eyesight.

"Syrena, I'm so glad to see you again, my dear," he said sweetly.

Syrena just glared, unable to move her mouth.

"You know, you could've just let the sea do my job for me. But no, you had to survive, you had to keep on truckin'. Well, Syrena. That was the biggest mistake of your life."

He frowned as he got closer to her, and lit up a ciggarette.

"Well," he said, his words muffled by the cigarette in his mouth. "You'll just belong to me. I'm sure you've met the boys by now, yes?"

The ashes fell into her hair. He grinned slyly at both this and the hoots and holler's of approval from the men.

"Yes... well, you'll be seeing them for a long time. And oh, by the way, Syrena," he said, kneeling down to her.

"You know how I was going to torture your friends, let them rest when they're about to die, and do it again? You've taken their place,"

"THAT IS FUCKING ENOUGH!" Kontar's voice echoed throughout the room. The shocked expression on Vahe's face was priceless.

Syrena, too, was shocked as Kontar stormed over to Vahe, and threw him to the ground. The guards stood, speechless and unsure of which master's instructions to follow.

Syrena grinned when Kontar released her. He placed his hand on her bruised shoulder, and with a soft, appauled voice, he spoke.

"I'm very sorry that I stood by and let this happen to you, Syrena."

Syrena, unable to do aything else, leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek...before Vahe's men tackled them both to the ground.

As if on cue, Kirk, backed up by the others, stormed into the room, weapons shining underneath the candlelight. The sounds of agony filled the room as the biggest war began on the lands of Beulind.

"What the fuck!?!?!?!" Vahe screamed, unable to believe they were all still alive. He watched as his men were slaughtered ruthlessly, too shocked to react to the people attacking them.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU ALL!?"

Syrena and Kontar struggled to their feet, Syrena shakily walked over to Kirk.

Kirk was in the middle of slicing someone's throat, when he felt Syrena's hand touch his shoulder, and immediately upon contact, the shaking stopped, the pale hand turning colorful - and not with bruises. Her eyes lit up as she turned from him, frying the person to a crisp next o her. Kirk couldn't help but grin as he continued to slice.

The fighting moved out into the main room of the palace... here, half of the remaining people of Beulind were already fighting the remaining thousands of soldiers.

Apparently, Kirk was spreading the energy and healing the injured an dying.

Syrena ns growled as two men rushed towards her; with ease, fire shot from her eyes, making the men scream and run around, desperately trying to put the flames out. She smirked as she thought up of amusing ways to kill the men who beat and raped her.

One that was particularly rough on her charged, and she laughed as she sent a laser straight to his dick, and to his throat, and to his eyes, and to his arm, and to his heart, and to his legs, and to...

Lars shrieked and jumped, rubbing his ass and glaring at Syrena.

"Fuck!" Syrena said, holding in her laughter as she casually brushed her fingers over Lars' back, ridding of the pain. But that wasn't the only thing that happened.

She furrowed her eyebrows as Lars' size doubled...and doubled again...and kept on going until he was seven feet tall, muscular, and incredibly mean looking...

And hot.

"Holy shit!" Lars exclaimed, admist a war, an unbelieving look on his face. "HOLY SHIT!" he repeated again. "I'M FUCKING TALL!"

Across the room, Kirk shoved a sword through another soldier's stomach,watching as he pulled the sword out and the man fell to the ground. Chiara let out a cry as she slashed another man's throat, turning arond and kneeing a man in the nuts before slashing his as well. Kirk just smirked and shook his head, returning to fighting.

Syrena also let out a yell as she began to melt a soldier from the inside out. She grabbed his sword as two others advanced towards her. Grinning, she made a long slash, from one stomach to another. As they died, someone backed up against her. She glanced over her shoulder, briefly seeing Jason kill two men at once with one sword, just as she had done. He quickly turned and raised his sword above his head, glaring at her before realizing who she was.

Kirk watched from a few feet away, amazed by the way the two were so alike in their fighting skills. But all of this watching caused someone to drive a knife into his arm. He yelled in pain before returning the favor to the man.

As for Lars, he was enjoying his new body form; he easily picked up three or four men at a time, who seemed incredibly short compared to him, and threw them against walls, laughing like a kid as they died. "THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL!" he shouted.

He turned around, watching as the men of Vahe tried to kill the people of Beulind, when he recognized the back of a spikey-haired blonde man. He casually walked towards him, standing only a foot away from his back.

"Hey James," he said, his voice remaining the same, small and odd, despite his body.

James cringed at the familiar voice. He finished killing a random man before retorting with, "Fuck off, you little twat!"

"Fuck you."

"What the fuck did you just say to me? For a little guy, you've got some big balls," he growled, keeping his face towards the man he was killing.

Lars grabbed him, spun him around, and laughed at the shocked, scared shitless look on the man he used to fear.

"HELL YEAH, I'VE GOT BALLS!" he yelled, grinning evilly. "TWO OF THEM, BITCH!"

To add some more fear, hopefully to make James piss his pants, he spread his wings, and flew five feet above the ground.

"I'M AIR-fucking-ULRICH!" Lars shouted, chasing after James, who had run off screaming.

While fighting, Kirk had tried to keep eyes on Syrena, which was not an easy task in the large room now full of angry, blood-hungry people. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her being pulled into a room,the door slamming shut just as quickly as it was opened.

"SYRENA!" he once again yelled, turning away from the men and watching as Kontar made his way towards the room.

He was then tackled to the ground.

ºººººº

29

Syrena screamed in horror as two cigarettes were jammed into her eyes - two LIT cigarettes. Then, two fumbling hands blindfolded her.

Growling, she tried to buck and kick her way from these people. The fuckers were going down! As always, her aim finally connected to someone's stomach.

The man growled in return, and threw her against the wall.

"What, the fuck, is wrong with you?" Vahe whispered, an edge to his voice as he caught his breath. Syrena, despite the pain to her eyes, spoke.

"What do you thik I'm doing?"

"Don't bullshit with me! I could be anywhere in this room, I could be right next to you, a knife," he paused, the sound of a knife being removed from a holder filling the room, "pressed to your pretty throat... You're blind as a bat now. Even without the blindfold, you'll never be able to see again. You're a broken piece of junk."

"Enough," Kontar's voice entered her ears.

"Kontar!" Vahe snarled, the tension beginning to roll into the room.

"I've had enough of your bullshit. For years you've made me into this evil fucker, made in the image of you, just like all of those soldiers out there. I stupidly fell into your trap, but Kirk didn't, and something kept Syrena from it. Tell me why you choose to do all of this?"

There was hesitation, a slight pause. Syrena could see nothing, but she could hear the knife slice through the air and plunge into Kontar's chest. She lot out a sound of horror and disgust as the body slumped to the ground, followed by an intense hiss of pain.

"You just fucking killed your own son," she said through clenched teeth, standing up, only to have Vahe's boot shoved into her stomach, pushing her back to the ground. She lay there, unmoving, as he came close.

"Just as I am about to murder you, my dear. You actually think you would win this? That those piss-poor excuses for people out there would stand a chance?"

"Oh for fuck's sakes," she mumbled.

Syrena simply stood back up, knowing Vahe was shaking in anger by now. Casually lifting her hand, she removed the blindfold, her face lighting up as Vahe's fell.

Her eyes were totally recovered.

"The question is, what will those soldiers do without their power- plant? Their battery?"

Vahe glared. "You kill the battery, you kill yourself. Besides, the battery doesn't exist,"

"Oh, and that's where you're wrong," Syrena said, smiling as she backed Vahe into a corner.

"They were all created in a lab, based on the strongest men in Randilyn; but, I wasn't. I wasn't created in a lab, I wasn't created in the image of you. I was created by some man, some man that actually HAD balls. That man was not you. I don't know who he is, or was, but he was not you. Vahe, you might have fooled me before, but you can't fool me any longer. I've seen the big picture. Vahe, you ARE the battery. And now, without great sorrow, I shall rid the worlds and the universe of your horrid ways," she declared, her eyes lighting up, along with the rest of her body.

The light was so incredibly bright that it forced Vahe to his knees, begging her for mercy. She cast her hand down, palm open above his head, and slowly moved it down, melting him from the inside out, the pain so unbearable that all he could do was scream, and keep on screaming, until all that was left of him was the remaining echoes of those horrible screams inside those walls.

Outside of the room, she could hear, all at once, the thousands of Vahe's men collapsing to the ground, the moans of pain deafening as they experienced the same thing their creator had just gone through.

Those sounds didn't bother her as much as the gut-wrenching sound of Lars shrieking once the men were finally all dead.

ºººººº

30

She rushed out of the room, her eyebrows furrowed in deep concern as an incredibly uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. She pushed through the crowd of the people, finally finding Chiara, Talula, Kirk, and James.

But Lars was lying on the ground, shaking.

"LARS!" she screamed, violently pushing the others away and going to her large friend.

Lars lifted his head, tears pouring from his now shattered and lost eyes, as he cradled Jason. Her eyes scanned over Jason, noting his pale face, his wheezing, and the large sword shoved in his side.

"Holy fuck," Syrena whispered, turning pale at the thought of losing Lars, and now at the thought of what Jason's death could do to him.

Jason coughed up blood as Lars kept muttering to him, carrassing his face.

"Who did this?" She yelled, her voice traveling throughout the dead silent room. "WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?"

"HIM!" Chiara said, glaring in the direction of James.

Syrena began to shake with anger, reaching for Chiara's sword.

"You're a fucking coward!" she hissed, shoving the sword in his throat, and slicing through, beheading him. She turned away in disgust, not disgust from what she had just done, but of everything; everything she had been through, that now eld up to this.

"Syrena..." Jason weakly. Syrena spun around, going over to him. Lars moved over reluctantly, but he did not, however, remove his hand from Jason. Syrena kneeled down next to him, peering into his face with concern.

With his available hand, he grasped one of hers, and began to speak.

"Syrena, I'm so incredibly sorry this had to happen to you... I-" he hissed in pain as he breathed, the sword in his chest visible.

"Calm down," Syrena instructed gently.

"I should've told you this from the start, kept you within these walls and away from Vahe's men. I'm your brother. I'm-" Jason seemed to look over Syrena's shoulder, staring at the ceiling as if something or someone was there. She silently encouraged him on, and he snapped back to attention eventually.

"We're two of the children of Aldan. He told me that he had always wanted children, but he...he never had the chance to have any. He lied, though, to protect me, to protect us. I was stolen from our home years after you were 'killed'; and somehow I escaped and Aldan took me in. I - fuck - I don't have much longer. There's a letter on the desk in my chambers; he's just put it there. Go, read it, and do everything it says."

"No! I can help, just let me-"

He then released her hand, and placed it on Lars' face, pulling him closer and kissing him.

"I'm sorry we never got any time," he whispered, stroking his hair gently. This only seemed to make Lars get even more emotional.

Syrena watched as the life was drained from Jason, his head now resting in Lars' lap. She watched as a different Jason, a once again healthy Jason stepped away from the body, walking to another man with long hair and a tall frame; the man who had told her to chant that stupid poem in times of trouble.

She turned away from it all, from Lars' hysterical crying, , the gasps of the people, Kirk's worried eyes, and ran to the chambers.

ºººººº

31

Syrena stepped inside her brother's now empty room. The sadness was hanging on the air; clutching it, actually. The sadness in her heart, the sadness that had been growing for years, was about to burst.

But it couldn't burst before she read this letter.

Jason hadn't been lying; she found an envelope, addressed to her, and sighed. She went over to the bed, staring at her name, before opening and reading.

'Syrena,

'There's so much to say, I'm afraid it won't be able to fit on any amount of paper. So I shall try my best to tell you this as carefully as I can.

'I guess you might be wondering a little bit about your past. A history lesson is in store. My name is Aldan, a powerful 'man' to the people of Beulind, one of the few chosen by the gods - or the universe - to hold a special power. A power that could never be duplicated, or so I was told. I, my dear, have the same power as you do, but to a higher degree.

'Vahe was a ruler, just like I, of one of the many worlds. He was overlooked by the Universe, though, planting a seed of hate deep inside of him. One by one, he carefully planned to overthrow the leaders, who - not to sound conceited - weren't as trained and powerful as I. And he did kill the leaders, to go on controlling the other lands. But he couldn't touch me, he couldn't have leadership of Beulind. Why? I couldn't tell you, because I don't know.

'He couldn't touch me, but he could certainly touch my wife, and our children. He slaughtered my wife and stole all of you, giving you to a 'foster family'. This naturally devastated me, and believe me, if I could've, I would've rescued you. But I'm only protected in these lands. If I would have gone to Randilyn, I would've been killed by Vahe. So, I watched with sadness as he kept you all hostage, claiming he would give you all to me if I gave him my power, something he craved very much, and obsessed over.

'I would've in a heartbeat. But I didn't know how to give it to him. You can't give the power to anyone else, and you will have it until the day you die.

'You were the only one that recieved this power. I still cannot figure out why.

'Well, I spent my days inside the palace, sadly imagining a life of happiness with my children and wife. But I had to contiue ruling Beulind; it had to go on. I didn't want it to, but there was nothing I could do about it.

'Then, Jason arrived. I was amazed that he had been captured and somehow snuck inside. I lied to protect him, and I claimed he was a nephew. By this time, the other children were not his concern. He'd discovered your talent, and the training began... he didn't care if one or two of the others were missing.

'When I died, though, I gave the land and leadership to Jason. Let me tell you, I was incredibly proud watching him rule his land. I'm proud of each and every one of you. But, sadly, you're the only remaining child.

'You have a choice now: you can rule Beulind, restore it with your newfound healing abilities, and start anew with Kirk, or you can return to Randilyn.

'The subject of Kirk is another matter. He's genuwine, Syrena. He loves you very deeply. He was one of the many sons of Vahe. Vahe was very sickly twisted, as if you haven't already figured out. He kept having children, in hopes that the power the Universe intended for him (which, I may add, they never gave to him because they knew of his foolish ways) would come out in one of them, and he could rule the universe. But they never did. The daughters were shipped off to different lands, to be used by men as they pleased. Chiara was the only one that ended up here. I knew of her background and offered her the motel, which her family before Vahe ran until their deaths.

'Jason, who is standing next to me, right now, seconds after he died, is watching me write this.

'Lars.

'You need to know Lars' background as well, because he will never share it with you. He is a mixed being, literally, and his life was far from easy. Vahe went on a killing spree in the land he lived in, and killed for the fun of it. He did kill his parents.

'As for the 'glowing eyes' he told you about, those were masks with lights to see in the dark. Being only four, he couldn't tell the difference, and naturally assumed it was some sort of possessed being. I hope this explains why he had such a bad reaction to you.

'The reason he never grew up, so to say, is because of the world he lived in. THe phsyical appeareance is based on the inner appearance; whatever was effecting them emotionally, mentally, and spiritually efeccted their outside image. But since he was put in slavery, unable to be free in any way, shape or form, he was like a trapped bird, never fully able to do a thing he pleased. He wasn't allowed to think. He wasn't allowed to do anything but work.

'He's carried that baggage with him for many years, until you helped in healing him.

'You might have noticed the bond between he and Jason. Lars showed up on our shores days after Jason did. Jason protected him from some bullies, and in return, Lars vowed to protect him. Their friendship was blossoming into something more before they were pulled apart, partly due to my death, your arrival, and Beulind issues.

'Jason's worried about Lars' well-being. Take care of him. Jason has planned something for Lars; you will soon know what that is.

'There's no more space left. There are two otions; only one decision. You decide, my dear.

'Aldan, your father'

Syrena wiped a tear from her cheek as she stood up, going over to the window. The dark sky was so uncharacteristic of Beulind, along with the shattered towns and hills.

She heard soft footsteps walk into the room, going towards her.

"Syrena?" Kirk softly whispered.

She slowly turned around, staring Kirk in the eyes before smiling the first real smile in a long time. She offered her hand to him, and he, too, smiled as he grasped it.

They slowly made their way out of the chambers, arm-in-arm, the silence comfortable.

"We've got a lot of work to do, Kirk."

ºººººº

32

The sky was blue, the birds were chirping. The townspeople were waking up, refreshed and eager to start a new day. The hills and the buildings were carefully restored, with a lot of help from Syrena's powers, and the sun was peeking above the palace, declaring a new day.

He stared up at the rock that was sculpted to match his body, his face, his hair. He gave the sculpter credit, it was amazing. But it could never catch his real beauty, inside and out. It would never have his blue eyes, or his whispers, or his beautiful smile. It would never say he loved him.

He softly ran his fingers over the cold stone, blinking as he tried to imagine that he was looking back at him.

He frowned before looking down at the plaque placed in front of the statue; JASON NEWSTED, 44TH LORD OF BEUliND.

Returning his vision to the statue, he smiled, putting on his captain hat.

No words needed to be said.

As he made his way towards the docks, which had also been restored, he felt a sudden surge of confidence he'd never felt in his life. He was ready to forgive. He was ready to forgive himself for accidentally pushing James into Jason, causing him to be pushed right onto a sword that was waiting for him..

But most of all, he was ready to begin his new life, never forgetting Jason for a single second.

He walked onto Ship Five, the one he had idolized and dreamed of running for so long, and went directly to the captain's deck. He watched as the men- the men who now worked for him - scurried across the other decks, untying the ropes that kept them in the harbor. They began to pull away, and excitement and nervousness rushed through his veins. Could he do this?

He was instantly reassured of this upon settling his vision on Syrena, who stood on the dock, fog surrounding her. She smiled proudly at him, looking like a goddess, waving as the ship began to go faster.

"Thank you, Syrena," Lars murmured.

"Captain," a member of the crew said from behind him.

He slowly tore his eyes away from Syrena, looking at the man.

"What did you call me?"

"Captain," he nervously replied. Lars grinned. He liked that.

Left behind on the dock, Syrena watched with great pride as Lars set out to see the other worlds, who were also restored immediately the second Vahe was killed.

She felt Kirk's hand on her shoulder, the new Lord of Beulind, along with her. She grinned, wrapped her arm around his sides, pulling him in for a long, meaningful kiss.

"I love you, Kirk,"

Kirk smiled happily. "I love you too,"

They slowly made their way back to the palace.

Until that day, she had never really lived life. She hadn't seen a thing.

Looking into Kirk's face, the smile he sent her way which had always made her knees go weak, she knew that this was true. And nothing would ever change that.

She looked out over her kingdom, the kingdom that became her own that day four months ago, and smiled. She would continue the tradition of the family she never knew.

For herself, for Kirk, for Lars, but mostly for Jason.

The end.

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