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Chapter VI Stray Dogs

-PHENIX-

The city of St. Augustine was enormous, far bigger than any city any of us had ever seen before. Its giant towers put even the largest cities in the Humanitas Republic to shame. We finally reached its gorgeous, sprawling gates at sundown, the fading light making the city even more radiant in my eyes.

"Welcome to St. Augustine, my friends." Vatra said with a delighted smile on her face.

The rest of us simply stood in awestruck silence.

"It's stunning." I weakly blurted out. I freely admit I had something of a soft spot for beautiful things, whether they be natural or man-made, and there were few man-made things I'd seen more beautiful than St. Augustine.

"I'll wait until you're all finished taking it in." Vatra laughed. Apparently our reaction was common to visitors of the Empire's finest city.

"Hey, Vatra." Lilac said, prying her eyes away from the city to look at Vatra. "You must be pretty rich to live in a place like this, right?"

"I suppose." Vatra paused for a moment before smiling sweetly. "What do you need, Lilac?"

"I was wondering if I could get new clothes." Lilac tugged on her shirt and pants, her already cheap outfit had been quite worn down from our travels.

"I will see to it that all of you get properly outfitted before you leave." Vatra nodded. Lilac seemed positively giddy at that prospect.

"Where exactly are we leaving to?" Aiden asked, with a ponderous frown on his face. "And when exactly? I mean, we just got here and you're already talking about leaving? What's that about?"

"That isn't important right now." Vatra shook her head and smiled at us. "What is important is that I will show you to where you'll be staying, and then you are free to roam about the city as you please."

Aiden sighed, accepting the answer but clearly not content with it. And I couldn't really blame him, it seemed like we never got a chance to rest, we always seemed to be on the move. And no, an eighteen hour cart ride does not count as 'rest' even a little.

"Where are you going to be?" North asked.

"I have an errand to run." Vatra replied. "I need to pick up a friend or two from Verla. It shouldn't take longer than maybe a couple hours."

"Ooh, do we get to meet this friend?" Elin hopped forward enthusiastically.

"Yes, you will all get to meet him soon, probably tomorrow." Vatra smiled, seemingly recalling pleasant memories of her friend.

"Then we won't keep you any longer than we have to." I bowed and motioned for Vatra to lead us to our residence.

Vatra smiled and nodded. She looked over the rest of the party to see if anyone else had further questions. No one did and we headed into the city, most of the crew visibly excited or fascinated by the impressive architecture.

Or maybe I was just projecting. Heh.

**** -AUGUST-

St. Augustine. A massive expanse of towering skyscrapers, it was the largest, most expensive, and due to the Emperor's personal presence within its walls, most important city in all of the Lunar Kingdom.

When I was very small I always dreamt of coming to this city but as I grew older I started to turn on that dream. It seemed impossible given my life, my station, my family. I had mixed feelings about finally being here. The fact that I felt like it mocked me with its name did not help at all.

"So what do you two think of the city?" Vatra seemed to be beaming with pride in what I could only guess was her home city.

"It's nice." Kavik said with mild enthusiasm. Vatra was slightly disappointed.

"So why are we here?" I was only barely cared about being in the city and at the time I had more important things on my mind. Vatra didn't seem too pleased with my lack of interest.

"That's it?" Vatra's eye began twitching. Apparently Kavik and my reactions were not what she was expecting. "That's all you two have to say?"

"It's big. It has a nice lake view." Kavik was referring to the large lake that surrounded the city. It appeared that parts of the city had even been built atop the lake for reasons I couldn't even begin to understand or care about.

"We came here for a reason." I said coldly, reaching for a cigarette before remembering I had none left and becoming much more edgy. "And I don't think it was to look at the pretty scenery."

"It is pretty though." Kavik added, grinning.

"That it is." I said flatly.

Vatra sighed, clearly vexed. Geez woman, get over yourself. We are here for a reason, aren't we?

"Calm down, m'lady." Noble walked over to Vatra and put a paw on her... shoulder? I'm still not sure if ferals have shoulders.

"No, it's fine." Vatra growled, giving a bemused look and me and Kavik. "Anyhoo, my crew is already here, I dropped them off last night."

"Excellent!" Noble said cheerfully, looking back at the two of us.

"Indeed." Vatra said, a hint of annoyance still in her voice. "So if you two see any of them, feel free to say hi."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to go up to the first random stranger I see and introduced myself." I said drolly, Kavik laughing at my comment.

"Well, they're all Fionbri like you, I'm sure you'll all get along great." Vatra ignored my dry wit.

"Yeah, cuz all us Fionbri get along equally well regardless of stuff like 'personality traits' or any of that mumbo-jumbo." Kavik's wit was much quicker than mine.

Vatra paused for a moment before looking at Noble.

"Did both of yours have to be such smartasses?" She grumbled.

"Hey, don't blame me." Noble laughed. "Kavik rejected me. I'm still not sure what changed his mind."

Vatra let out an irritated sigh, much to Noble's apparent amusement.

"Why did you change your mind?" I turned to Kavik, who looked back at me and smiled. It occurred to me that I didn't know why he ended up joining us either, or how he managed to show up when he did.

"Eh, it's a long story." Kavik waved his hand dismissively. "Has to do with a shark bitch."

Vatra and Noble looked at each other in confusion for a moment before coming to a joint revelation.

"Garu." They said in unison, both donning pained expressions that were a combination of irritation and abject horror.

"Yeah, that's the one." Kavik nodded.

"Well consider me impressed." Noble said, trying to smile cheerfully but obviously suppressing extreme irritation.

"Yeah, I didn't think she'd manage to even recruit one." Vatra's chuckled mockingly, her tone implied that she didn't think very highly of this person.

"But she dumped him on me, so technically it counts as mine, right?" Noble smiled devilishly at Vatra, who just rolled her eyes.

"So what are we doing, guys?" I interjected. I was beginning to lose what little patience I had left. "Are we just going to stand here all day?"

"Noble and I are going to report in to the Emperor." Vatra said. "We've really been gone far too long." Noble nodded in agreement. "You two are free to do as you please within the city, and you can tell people that you are with Noble and they'll give you goods and services for free." Vatra paused for a moment, glaring at Kavik whose internal gears were obviously spinning at that last bit.

"Just don't abuse it. Or else, understand?" Noble said sternly, also looking straight at Kavik.

Kavik nodded vigorously and grinned.

"Then farewell for now." Vatra nodded back at us before teleporting herself and Noble out of sight.

"So..." Kavik elbowed me. "What d'ya wanna do now? You wanna meet those other guys?"

I thought about it for a moment, but I felt no reason to be attached to Vatra's 'recruits'. They didn't mean anything to me, and I hoped that would continue to be the case. Whatever reason I was here in St. Augustine, I was hoping, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary, that it was for something I could do alone.

"Right now..." I sighed, venting my confusion and frustration. "All I want to do is get a fucking drink."

"I'm right behind ya." Kavik beamed and dragged me by the arm into the city.

**** -AUGUST-

Kavik and I were at the bar drinking, having made a quick stop beforehand to grab me some new cigarettes. It was a nice place, well lit and relatively clean, and it didn't smell like shit either, which is always a plus. I was rather used to the shitty bar in Dalo, so this was nice.

It had been far too long since I'd had a decent drink but as soon as I started drinking it was like I'd never stopped. It felt much more soothing and calming than smoking ever did and I hardly ever got _really_drunk, but the times when I did were... unpleasant. No matter how uncommon it was, just the risk of getting drunk made alcohol more trouble than it was worth.

But I'll be damned if drinking again didn't fell so good.

Kavik and I both drank a rather impressive amount of booze, probably more than was healthy, although that may have just been me but fuck it, I hardly ever drank anymore I was going to enjoy myself.

"How ya holdin' up, man?" Kavik lightly punched my arm.

"Alright." I took another drink.

I had a tendency to get absorbed by my drinking, I didn't really notice, or more importantly, care, about anything outside of it when I was doing it. I barely noticed Kavik's presence even though he had been beside me the whole time. It wasn't something I was ever proud of, and the stress that my problem put on my mind caused me to drink more. Which was just fantastic.

I didn't even notice the two Fionbri walk into the bar until Kavik pointed them out to me.

"Hey dude, check those guys out." I turned around and looked mainly to distract myself from my thoughts.

There were two Fionbri, one was male, mostly orange with some white and possibly red, I couldn't quite tell. The other was female, a cat hybrid and entirely green, although in a few different shades.

"Y'think they're a couple?" Kavik chuckled.

"No, they aren't." I replied, taking another drink.

"What makes ya so sure?" Kavik asked, sounding puzzled.

"Body language." I replied coldly. I had an innate sense for reading body language and the like, so much so that I usually forgot that others did not have the same ability. "The way they carry themselves around each other, I'd say they're probably casual acquaintances or maybe new friends."

"Then maybe they're with Vatra?" Kavik posited.

I scowled. That was the most probable scenario, in which case I felt it would behoove me to just leave them alone.

"Let's go talk to 'em!" Kavik clearly did not share my sentiment, much to my bemusement.

I sighed bitterly, not bothering to get into an argument with Kavik I would most likely lose anyway, and rose up from my stool, following Kavik over to the pair's table. I figured I'd have to meet these people anyway whether I wanted to or not, better to get it out of the way now.

"Greetings mortals!" Kavik's introduction was off to a 'great' start. "I am Kavik the Bold, and this here is my retainer! August..." Kavik paused as he realized he didn't know my last name. "Lastnamicus!" Although he improvised rather well, you would never have guessed he didn't know it.

I had to take another drink, although I briefly entertained the idea of smashing the bottle over Kavik's head instead.

"Lastnamicus?" The orange Fionbri sounded less than impressed. "That's seriously your entrance?"

"I liked it!" The cat girl added eagerly, smiling brightly.

"First off..." I groaned, rubbing my temples. "My last name is Bernstein. Also, that introduction was awful and I'm not your goddamned retainer."

"I liked it though!" The cat girl repeated, raising her hand.

"Thank you very much, missy!" Kavik high-fived the girl's raised hand. She giggled in response. Clearly these two would get along just fine.

"Maybe you should be in a play!" The girl said excitedly, staring at Kavik with wide, joyful eyes.

"A great warrior such as myself would be doing the world a disservice by resigning my considerable talents to _fictional_battles, m'lady!" Kavik's hamminess was met with another amused giggle by the cat girl and another groan of frustration by her friend. "Although I appreciate your assessments of my dramatic prowess!"

"You're not too terribly bright, are you?" The orange Fionbri said with bewilderment, echoing my thoughts almost exactly.

"Neither's yer face!" Kavik pointed his finger uncomfortably close to the guy's nose.

"Thank you for proving my point so effectively." He said flatly, moving Kavik's hand away from him.

"So what's your name?" The cat girl jumped up on the table right in front of me and looked directly at me. "I'm Elin!"

She put her hand out to shake but I didn't take it, instead taking a step back which lead to a disappointed look from Elin.

"August." I said, scratching the back of my head and instinctively staring at the ground. Although Kavik already said my name so I wasn't sure why I was repeating it.

"Nice to meet you, August!" Elin jumped off the table and landed a few inches before me, causing me to lurch back.

She stared for a moment, seemingly waiting for me to say something. Although as she was about to find out, there was a reason I tended to stay silent.

"You've got really great hips." I blurted out, immediately closing my eyes and grimacing as I heard myself. And while my statement was accurate, Elin having a very slim waistline and wide, fetishtastic hips, it was a really dumb thing to say.

"Thank... you?" Elin tilted her head.

I couldn't tell if she was just confused, irritated or both, but I realized that it would be in my best interest to walk away at this point.

I took another drink and did exactly that.

**** -KAVIK-

"Goodbye!" I waved at August as he walked out the door. I'm not sure what his deal was but I figured it was best to just let him go.

"Sorry 'bout my buddy." I shook Elin's hand as I apologized. "I dunno what got in to the guy."

"It's okay." Elin smiled very politely. "I'm sure I've seen weirder."

"So who are you exactly?" The orange guy said from his chair. I'd completely forgotten he was even sitting there.

"I'm Kavik, like I said." I pounded myself on the chest once for emphasis. "And you guys're with Vatra, right?" I pointed at both of them.

"Yeah we are!" Elin bounced energetically. "You know Vatra?"

"Eh, not well, but we've met." I shrugged.

"Hey Aiden, you haven't introduced yourself yet!" Elin grabbed her buddy by the shoulder and started quickly rocking him back and forth until he grabbed her arm to make her stop.

"My name is Aiden." The guy stood up and I shook his hand.

"Y'know Aiden," I grinned slyly "I get the feeling you don't like me very much."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Aiden smiled back smugly.

"Oh Aiden, you just don't like him cuz he's not a girl." Elin punched Aiden's shoulder and giggled. Aiden just rolled his eyes and didn't respond.

"So you're that kinda guy, huh?" I chuckled. "A real ladykiller type?"

"I wouldn't put it quite like that." The man said with a proud smirk on his face.

"Well of course you wouldn't!" Elin snickered.

"Perhaps, Aiden..." I walked around the table to stand face to face with him, standing just inches away from him and put my hand on the bottom of his muzzle. "We should go back to my room and I can show you what making love to a man feels like." I grinned wickedly at him and licked my lips, clearly making him very uncomfortable.

"Do it." Elin said, staring at us like she was in a trance with her tongue hanging out.

"I um..." Aiden coughed. "Need a drink." He shoved me away and walked over to the bar, putting distance between us as fast as possible.

"That was..." Elin panted. "So. Awesome."

I just smiled at the excitable little gal. I could already tell I was gonna like these two a lot.

**** -AUGUST-

"So you're um... blue. What's that like?" I said flatly, a vexed frown on my face.

The light blue Fionbri standing in front of me obviously recognized what an idiotic question that was and walked away. I knew it was a dumb thing to say when I said it, but I was really tired of my pitiful attempts to socialize by that point, so I really wasn't trying anymore.

Not counting the orange Fionbri in the bar who didn't talk much, I had talked with three Fionbri today. All of my conversations with them went thusly: Fionbri introduces themself, I say something stupid, conversation over.

It irritated me to no end, not that the other Fionbri wouldn't talk to me for more than ten seconds, no, that I completely deserved. It pissed me off that I was such a complete failure at relating with other people. I studied them and everything!

Oh well, it didn't really matter. I was more comfortable alone anyway.

St. Augustine had several 'stories', or levels of elevation to it. I decided I wanted to climb to the top story, and throw myself off! No, I'm kidding. But I did go to one of the higher stories, I'm not sure how high or even how many stories the city had, but it was high enough that it looked over most of the city. And more to my interests, looked over the great lake.

I wanted to get away from all the people, not just the Fionbri but the people of St. Augustine. The city was as crowded as one would expect the largest city in the world to be and it stressed me out. Of course when I finally reached a place where I could relax, I ran into yet another Fionbri. I was not amused.

This one was blue, partly bluish white and partly dark blue, with bright green as his third color.

I sighed in irritation and decided to just walk away, but the man heard me and turned around. He was tall and slightly older than the others I'd seen, but the first thing I noticed about him was that he was exceptionally handsome.

"Are you alright?" He asked, catching me off guard.

"Um, fine." I coughed and turned again to walk away.

"That's a lie and you know it." The man said sternly.

I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him.

"Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" The man said, giving a kind smile. "I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

"No, I'm fine." I almost turned around again.

"Ah, I see." Something in the man's voice caught my attention and I couldn't just let it go.

"What does that mean?" I growled.

"You... ah, I'm sorry." The man looked anxious. "I don't like to make snap judgments."

"What were you going to say?" I glared at him.

"You're the type of person that bottles up all of their pain." He sighed. "I'm familiar with that type of person."

"I see." My voice was cold. His on the nose description unnerved me a little.

"I'm not going to press the issue on you, but know that it's no way to live a real life."

I hated to admit it but he was completely right. And I knew it then too. I'd never shared my 'issues' with people before, they were my problems, and mine alone. I wondered if I should I take up the man's offer and talk to him.

"Thank you." I said as I turned and walked away.

My appreciation for his apparent concern was completely sincere. Even just the notion that someone, anyone at all really, cared about my emotional health was alien, but quite cathartic for me.

But I wasn't about to burden someone else with my problems.

****

-PHENIX-

The inn foyer was large and ornate, people were dancing in the center and there was a live band playing soothing music. Vatra really spared no expense on our lodging.

She had gathered all of us around a lovely round table, the six of us plus her, and two other Fionbri, one black and one blue, and a feral purple one. Only four small, comfy looking arm chairs sat around the table, and Vatra occupied one. The purple Fionbri sat at the foot of the chair and the black one beside it. Tel, Lilac and the blue Fionbri were sitting in the others, with Elin sitting on the blue one's lap and Aiden standing behind Lilac's chair resting his arms on the back, and North stood between Lilac and Tel and I was just off to the side.

Elin was apparently quite comfortable sitting on the blue Fionbri, although she failed to introduce the rest of us to him. I wasn't sure how I felt about the two new Fionbri. The blue one smelled like raspberries and crushed ice and my instincts said good things about him. He seemed like an interesting sort and blue Fionbri were some of the easiest to get along with.

The black one on the other hand was a different story. The first thing that struck me about him was that he had no_scent. I suspected that his scent was greatly weakened by whatever depression caused his gray colors, and I felt sorry for him. Black Fionbri were said to consume the emotions of people around them and bring bad will so that made me uneasy as well, and it didn't help that in place of a natural scent, his body and clothes _reeked of cigarette smoke.

"I'm glad you're all here." Vatra said. "It's time we told you why we reached out for all of you."

"It's about time." Lilac grumbled.

"You're right, Lilac." Vatra bowed her head. "Now once we've enlightened all of you, you may change your mind and decide you wish to return home. If that's the case I will be happy to teleport you back."

"Why would we want to turn back now?" The blue Fionbri scoffed.

"What we would have you do is quite dangerous." Vatra explained.

"Like hand washing your knives dangerous?" Aiden raised his hand. "Or suicidal dangerous?"

"We want the eight of you to put an end to the Demon War." The purple feral said.

We probably all had our own ideas of why we might've been chosen by Vatra, but I don't think any of us saw that coming. Indeed our whole group shared a moment of stunned silence before Tel spoke up.

"I'm sorry?" He whimpered.

"Let me explain." Vatra sighed, trying to relieve herself of some of the heavy tension in the air. "Phenix, August, draw your swords."

The black Fionbri and I drew our swords. His had a blade of many colors that looked like it had been made of stained glass. It was one of the most beautiful weapons I'd ever seen, but of course my own blade was still my favorite.

"These two swords are Testaments." Vatra said.

"Like with a capital T?" Elin asked.

Vatra nodded. "August's is Faith, Phenix's is Love."

There was a small bit of laughter, mainly from Aiden and the blue Fionbri, but I saw Elin and Tel trying to hide their own laughter as well. I just sighed. That reaction was typical after people heard the name of my sword.

"I wouldn't laugh everyone." Vatra said. "Love is a very powerful thing."

"But it's kinda a silly name for a sword though, right?" The blue Fionbri was still laughing a little bit.

"Perhaps, but these are no ordinary swords." Vatra motioned for us to put away the swords and we did so. "You may have noticed in Caldera, that Phenix's sword was more effective at destroying the Nichts than conventional weapons."

Aiden, Lilac and North, who had seen me destroy a Nichts with one swing of my sword, nodded in agreement. The others I guess just took Vatra's word for it.

"The Testaments are weapons formed from spiritual energy." Vatra took in a deep breath. There was some serious expositing about to happen. "Some say they are gifts from God, others that they're just another form of magic."

"Same thing really." North said under his breath.

"Either way, they are the key to ending this horrible war."

"And why did you need the rest of us then?" Aiden interrupted. "If only these two guys have these Testaments?"

"Simple." Vatra continued. "The Testaments are spiritual weapons, Fionbri have a higher connection to spiritual energy than other species. We can train the rest of you to summon your own Testaments."

"But why us specifically?" Tel asked.

"Instinct." Vatra smiled. "I found all of you through instinct."

"So what exactly do you intend for us to do?" Lilac said.

"The Nichts come from a place called the Black Mountain." The purple Fionbri explained. "It is a mountain in the center of the earth. Inside of which lies a black hole that the Nichts crawl through into this realm."

"How exactly do you know that, Noble?" August asked.

"Well..." Noble smiled nervously. "We don't really. We know that the demons come from the Black Mountain, but the mountain is almost impossible to scry on. The black hole theory is simply the most plausible explanation we can come up with."

"Great." August sighed.

"So let me get this straight." Aiden said, barely reigning in his irritation. "You're gonna have us go on what basically amounts to a suicide mission based on evidence that you can't even confirm?"

"Wait a moment." Vatra waved her paw. "Are you thinking that we're just going to send all of you to the Black Mountain?"

"That sounds like what you're saying." Aiden replied.

"That would be completely ridiculous." Noble said.

"What we're going to do," Vatra explained "is we are going to train you. Train you to fight against demons, and to summon and use your Testaments as well as you are possibly able."

"And then you'll send us to 'Suicide Mountain'." Aiden grumbled.

Vatra and Noble were silent for a moment.

"Well yes." Vatra said coyly.

"So..." Aiden said. "You want us to throw our old lives away, possibly die, on the very slim chance that we can end all this demon crap, based on incredibly flimsy evidence?"

"As I said, I'll take any of you who don't want to come back home." Vatra replied.

"Nah, I'm in." Aiden sighed.

"Really?" Vatra looked at Aiden incredulously. The rest of us followed suit. "I'm quite surprised at you Aiden."

"Don't get me wrong, I think this plan is ludicrous. But if you think it'll save lives, than I'm in." Aiden shrugged. "Besides, I don't have much to go back home to."

"Well thank you Aiden." Vatra bowed. "Who else is joining us?"

"I'm in." August stepped forward. "I didn't come all this way to turn back now, and if you think that we can end this war, I'm all for that."

"Me too!" Elin excitedly jumped to her feet. "Like I said before, I'm never gonna turn my back on my friends!"

"If there is a chance that my life can be used to end this war, I give it freely." North bowed.

"I can't just let these people risk their lives while I stand on the sidelines." I took a deep breath. "Count me in."

"Like I said, no point in turnin' back now." The blue Fionbri rose from his chair. Elin gave him a big hug. "And 'sides, I'm really looking forward to killing as many Nichts as possible." Kavik grinned wickedly.

"I wanna join too!" Tel hopped up and down energetically. "I want to be a hero and fight side by side with all these really cool people I've met!" Tel was beaming with excitement.

"How likely is it that we'll actually succeed?" Lilac asked.

"I have complete faith that you will be victorious." Vatra smiled.

"I'm not sure how reassuring that is." Lilac sighed and rose from her chair. "But I'm coming too. Partly because I don't want to be the only asshole who wasn't willing to try and save the world or whatever." She chuckled.

"There's no shame in saying no, Lilac." North put his hand on Lilac's shoulder.

"I guess, but that doesn't change my decision." Lilac smiled, shaking her head. "Somebody has to take care of the rest of you, after all."

"Thank you all so much." Vatra bowed, Noble followed suit. "It is getting late. Tonight you should get to know each other and then rest. Tomorrow we shall get you all properly outfitted for the journey."

"See? And I get new clothes out of the deal." Lilac smiled and winked at North, who chuckled back at her.

"Can we trust you to take care of yourselves tonight?" Noble asked.

I nodded. Noble and Vatra returned the gesture and left us, most likely finding a place where no one would see Vatra's teleport spell.

"So what now?" The blue Fionbri said, stretching his arms above his head.

"It's eating time!" Elin proudly exclaimed.

"I guess we should all eat together tonight?" Lilac asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." North nodded. "We can eat here in the inn, it's quite a nice place."

"Plus if we tell 'em we're with Noble, they gotta give us shit for free." The blue Fionbri grinned.

"Wait, then we got completely ripped off on drinks earlier." Aiden sarcastically remarked, looking at Elin.

"Don't be such a baby, Aiden." Elin giggled. Aiden stuck his tongue out at her in response.

As we headed off to get our evening meal, I thought about what it was we just agreed to. It was insane, to ask a bunch of random nobodies to put themselves right in the middle of this war. But I knew, for me at least, it was exactly what I needed to do.

After all, the reason I left Gnosis in the first place was to find my destiny. It looks like I just did exactly that.

**** -NORTH-

The eight of us were all seated at one large table, four of us on either side. I sat at the end, with Elin to my left. Next to her was Kavik, who sat between her and August. Across from Elin was Aiden, who sat between Lilac and Tel, with Phenix to Tel's right.

The beginning of our meal was quite awkward, since Phenix, Lilac and Tel hadn't quite decided how they felt about Kavik and August, Aiden didn't seem to like either, and even Elin, who was normally the friendliest person you could meet, seemed distant toward August.

No one said a word all through the first course, and it was ironically August who finally broke the silence.

"Anyone else ever feel like fellating a corndog?"

And really, how could you go wrong with a line like that?

"I'm sorry, what?" Lilac apparently did not appreciate the mental picture.

"Y'know, one of those hotdogs that are wrapped in like, a corn blanket." August replied drolly.

"I know what a corndog is." Lilac's ears drooped and she glared at August. "But what?"

"Has anyone else like, taken the top of the corn part off and just like licked the top of the dog?" August began pantomiming the action, much to Lilac's dismay and the rest of the table's amusement.

"I love that idea!" Elin laughed.

"Thank you." August smiled with his eyes closed and blushed.

"Hell, I'd do it too." Kavik said, grinning.

"That is really gross you guys." Lilac sighed.

"I'd do it." I shrugged.

"Wait, really?" Phenix tiled his head and looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, I'm completely willing to make myself look like a fool for comedy." I smiled cheerfully.

"I'd do it too then." Tel said gleefully.

"Yeah, okay." Phenix shrugged. "Count me in."

Elin, Kavik and August were all laughing as more and more people joined in on the idea, particularly amused by Aiden and Lilac who were abjectly disgusted.

"Yeah I really don't think so." Aiden grumbled. "That's just kinda-."

"I'll do it if you do." Lilac grinned devilishly at Aiden, who leaned away from her for a moment.

"You are on." Aiden smirked back at her, and the two seemed to be quite into the idea all of a sudden.

"Hey ma'am!" Elin shouted at the waitress. "You got any corndogs around 'ere?!"

"Um... no?" The lovely young lady, who was clearly quite busy, responded.

"How about haggis?" Kavik suggested, snickering.

"No, sir." She said, a puzzled look on her face.

"Any large sausages or other phallic foods that we could all share?" August added.

"I... I'm going to leave you to your meals now."

The young woman bowed politely and slinked away, and I felt really bad for a moment for involving her in this. I decided I would leave her what little money I had left as an extra tip to compensate.

"Where the hell did that corndog shit come from, anyway?" Kavik asked, still laughing a little.

"My whole family does it." August shrugged. "Me, my stepmom and my sister anyway."

"Hmm, I think I should meet your sister." Aiden teased, sticking his tongue out at August.

"She is pretty damn hot." Kavik grinned.

"I always wanted a sister." Tel said gloomily. "But I'm an only child."

"Aw, that's too bad." Elin's ears drooped down and she lost her near constant smile.

"It's okay." Tel smiled and shrugged. "I really love the family I have a lot, I wouldn't really want to change it."

"Maybe you can still get a sister sometime?" Kavik said.

"The war took my father." Tel started to slouch into his chair, Phenix rubbing his shoulder to try and make him feel better.

"Now hold on one second!" Elin rose to her feet, pointing directly at Tel who gave her his complete attention. "If you can't get any more sisters, than I'm gonna be your sister! And I won't take no for an answer!"

Tel blinked a few times, trying to take in what just happened.

"Thanks, Elin." He smiled brightly. "You're pretty cool. A little crazy, but cool."

"No problem, brother!" Elin crawled under the table and appeared on the other side in front of Tel, giving him a big hug.

"I'm sorry for being a huge downer you guys." Tel bowed his head, nearly hitting himself on the table.

"Nonsense!" Elin took a seat in Tel's lap, wrapping her arms around him. "If you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have a little brother right now!"

"Aw dude, you've got the coolest sister ever!" Kavik said, smiling. "I'm totally jealous now!"

"You can be my brother too, Kavik!" Elin beamed at him. "In fact, we're all kinda like a family now, right?"

"In a way, I suppose so." I said. "The eight of us by necessity need to stick together from now on and look out for one another. We are something of a family now, for better or for worse."

"Which would make it really awkward if any of us tried to date within our little group." August said, looking directly at Aiden.

"Why are you looking at me when you say that?" Aiden shot back.

"No reason." August shrugged, grinning slyly. "So hey, what're you guys gonna do when we win this war?"

"Wow, that's certainly some epic level confidence you've got there." Lilac chuckled.

"Vatra and Noble wouldn't have chosen us if they didn't think we could win." August explained. "The way I see it, if we can win, then we will win."

"I'm not sure that's how logic works." Aiden scoffed.

"Well fine then, you doubt yourself at every turn and let me know how that works for you." August scowled at Aiden.

"I see your point." Aiden conceded.

"Well, what're you going to do, August?" Lilac asked.

"I'd really like to write books." August said. "Maybe if this war thing is really interesting, I'll write a book about this."

"I'd read it!" Elin chirped. "Cuz I'd be in it!"

"How about you, Elin?" August asked.

"I dunno. I always take things one day at a time. " Elin shrugged. "How 'bout Phenix?"

"Um, me?" Phenix pointed at himself, starting to blush. Elin nodded and hopped out of Tel's lap, sitting right beside Phenix's chair and staring up at him. "I guess I'd like to be a bard."

"Ooh, you can sing?" Elin's tail started to wag.

"Uh, a little I guess." Phenix's fur was looking very bright red. "Um, Kavik, how about you?"

"I wanna be a musician." Kavik grinned. "Maybe we should start a band."

"Holy hell, that would so hot!" Elin hopped up and down excitedly, causing Phenix to blush even harder, much to the amusement of Elin and Kavik.

"How 'bout you, North?" Kavik pointed at me.

"I would like to travel to as many places as possible, teaching people about God." I smiled. It was my dream since I was very small.

"Ooh! That sounds like so much fun!" Elin put her hands on the table, shaking it for a moment. "I wanna go with you!"

"I'll go too!" Tel raised his hand.

"I would be honored to have either or both of you at my side." This time it was me who was blushing. Just a little though.

"Well shit guys," Kavik chuckled "you could do that now."

"I think people would be more accepting of the good news without the Nichts around mucking everything up." I said dryly. I didn't like to admit it, but most people have very defensible reasons not to believe in Her.

"Point taken." Kavik said.

"How 'bout you, Aiden?" Elin directed her attention toward our orange friend.

"I'm not really sure." Aiden sighed. "Right now I'm just interested in surviving the war."

"We'll be fine." August said.

"How do you know?" Aiden asked, slightly irritated.

"Call it 'instinct'." August smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"It's getting late everyone." I said. "We should finish our meal and get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow."

The group agreed, Elin sitting back down in her own chair. We continued our meal mostly in silence, with a stray comment or joke every now and again.

It was clear that we had a good family with us, and I was proud to be a part of it.

**** -AUGUST-

Vatra and Noble rented four rooms for the eight of us, so we had to draw straws to determine who would bunk with who since no one had any specific preferences. Except that almost everyone wanted to be with Elin.

I ended up sharing a room with North, which admittedly is who I would have chosen anyway. The rooms themselves were a good size, with one bed on either side of the room. I laid down on my bed immediately, still being exhausted by the previous three days. God, has it only been three? I slid Faith under the bed and hoped that sleeping in an actual bed would grant me the best sleep I'd had in days.

"I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you alone, August." North said, sitting on the edge of his own bed.

"Are you hitting on me?" I said groggily, opening one eye barely and tilting my head just enough to see him. And I have to admit, I might not have said no if he was.

"N-no, I'm not trying to hit on you." North said bashfully, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not sure why people keep getting that impression. I just wanted to get to know you a little."

"Alright." I groaned as I rose to sit upright, half asleep already and my eyes just barely open.

"You've been alone for a long time, haven't you?" He said, and with that my eyes opened wide to look at him. Well, directly to the side of him, but still.

"Why do you say that?" I asked drearily.

"I can see the pain that loneliness has caused you in your eyes." He said solemnly, shaking his head with his eyes closed. "And the gray colors all over your body are a dead giveaway that something's wrong inside."

"I prefer to be alone." I waved my hand dismissively. I considered for a moment lighting a cigarette but I ultimately decided against it.

"I don't believe that for one second." North scoffed, staring at me with his bright green eyes. I was kind of intimidated but also oddly comforted. There was a great deal of wisdom and kindness in his eyes, and I'll be goddamned if they weren't sexy as all hell to boot.

"What about you then? A lot of friends where you come from?" I chuckled nervously. Even though I wanted to talk about this, to get over my crappy issues, I felt the instinctive urge to move the conversation away from me.

"I was quite popular in Gnosis, but I didn't have any really close friends." North smiled and shrugged.

I had trouble reading North. He seemed very genuine, but _everyone_I knew had some sort of game they were playing behind the scenes or some ulterior motive and the fact that it didn't seem that North had one just made me more wary of him, whether I had good reason to be or not.

"I can tell you don't want to talk about this anymore." North sighed sadly. I opted to stay silent. I honestly wasn't sure if that was true or not, but I didn't want to direct the conversation either way. "You seem very confident in our victory." North smiled as he changed the subject. I was slightly mystified that he still wanted to talk to me at all but I wasn't complaining.

"I guess." I shrugged, scratching anxiously at the bed post. "Honestly, I'm not sure how confident I really am. But if I consider the alternative, I won't be able to put my best forward."

"Well I'm glad that we have you in our group." North smiled sweetly, causing me to nearly throw up in my mouth from a combination of anxiety and 'oh my god you are too cute'. I am rather embarrassed to admit that last one.

"Thanks." I gave a nervous, half-hearted smile and laid back down on my bed, facing away from North. "I need to get some sleep now."

"Good night, my friend." He said before laying down in his bed himself.

That word sparked something in my brain. I suddenly started questioning everything he just said, trying to figure out his motive, or when he might betray me or what stupid thing I would say to make him turn on me.

I took in a deep breath and shut all those thoughts down.

"Good night..." I said.

... my friend.

**** -LILAC-

"Man, these beds are so comfy!" Elin wasted no time hopping into one of the beds and snuzzling up with her pillow, squirming around under the blankets and just generally making a mess of the whole thing.

"They are quite nice." I sat down in my own bed, fluffing my pillow until I got it _just_right and making sure the sheets were on the bed just so. I wanted everything to be neat before I slid under the covers and seeing the warzone that Elin left in her wake both amused and annoyed me. I had half a mind to scold her for being so messy but she was enjoying herself far too much for me to stick my nose in.

"Hey Lilac, I just noticed something." Elin poked her head out from under the mound of blankets and sheets and stared attentively at me.

"What's that Elin?" I said happily, resting my head on the pillow as I got everything in order.

"You never told us what you were gonna do when the war's over." Elin beamed and looked at me with big, irresistible puppy dog eyes.

"I didn't?" I stammered, trying to dodge the question. "I could've sworn I did." I started curling a strand of hair around my finger.

"Oh, well then I forget." Elin replied drolly. "Tell me again."

"I'm tired Elin. Go to sleep." I turned around to face the wall, away from Elin.

"I'll just keep bouncing on the bed until you tell me!" Elin gleefully retorted.

Elin was a real sweetheart, but she could be a devil when she wanted to be.

"I... don't want to talk about it." I sighed.

"Please?" Elin crawled over to my bed and climbed up, poking me in the side and making me jump.

"Look, I don't really know." I grumbled, pushing her away but not quite off the bed. "I never had a lot of dreams when I was growing up."

"But you did have one?" Elin put her hands on my knees and stared right into my eyes, our faces only a couple inches away from each other.

"Like I said, I don't want to talk about it." I pushed her face away.

"Why not?" Elin brandished her puppy dog eyes again. Which was somewhat ironic, because she is a cat.

"Because it's stupid." I began running my fingers through my hair anxiously.

"Nobody's dreams are stupid, Lilac." Elin growled, sounding rather angry with my statement which was an emotion I'd never heard out of her before. "Will you please tell me? I won't tell anybody else, I promise."

"Fine." I sighed. I had a hard time admitting, even to myself, that deep down I really wanted to talk to someone about it. "When I grew up... I wanted to be a..."

"A what now?" Elin's tail began to excitedly whip back and forth.

"A prncs." I mumbled under my breath, covering my mouth with my hand and turning away from Elin.

"A princess?" She said, tilting her head. Wow, when you hear someone else say it, it really sounds fucking stupid, doesn't it?

"Yeh." I blushed and turned away from her again, furiously ruffling my hair. "When I grew up I wanted to be a princess. Stupid right?"

"Not at all!" Elin hugged me and took hold of my wrists to make me stop messing up my hair. I admit it was kinda sweet of her. Who doesn't like hugs, right? "When I was growing up, I wanted to be a prince!"

"Are you making fun of me?" I pushed her away again, almost forcing her off the bed on accident.

"No, not at all!" Elin waved frantically, seeming shocked by that notion.

"You realize 'prince' is the male version of 'princess', right?" I remarked sarcastically.

"Yeah." Elin nodded heartily. "All the other girls in my class wanted to be princesses, which is really great! But they were taught that that's what they were supposed to be. Pretty and neat and orderly, but don't cause too much trouble for the boys. I wanted to be one of the boys, a knight in shining armor type, defeating villains and rescuing damsels in distress, that sorta thing."

"That's... actually really awesome, Elin." I was a little taken aback. I didn't expect that sort of aspiration out of my cute little friend.

"Thanks!" Elin blushed a little, raising her pinky finger in front of her mouth. "But being a princess is still really great." She smiled and held my hands.

"Thanks, Elin." I started blushing myself. "I just... I always wanted to be the girl who got rescued, swept off her feet and taken care of by someone. But my family and my teachers and the other girls at my school said that was stupid. That women are supposed to take care of themselves and not be dependent on a man. But I didn't want to be dependent, just taken care of. And I'd take care of my mate in return."

"Man, we really should've grown up in opposite towns." Elin laughed.

"I know, right?" I laughed too.

"Does your rescuer have to be male?" Elin grinned slyly at me.

"I hadn't really thought about it. I don't really have a gender preference." I shrugged. In retrospect, I probably should've seen where she was going with that.

"Maybe I could rescue you! We'd both get what we want." Elin smiled brightly.

"Umm... thanks Elin." I inched back a bit. "But I don't want to be with anyone right now. I mean, not like 'that'."

"Like what?" Elin put her finger to her mouth for a moment before her ears spiked up. "Oh no! I wasn't trying to hit on you or anything! I was just..."

I started laughing. Elin blushed but she laughed too.

"Thank you Elin." I gave my friend a big hug. "It felt really great to talk about this with someone."

"No problem." Elin's tail brushed up against my hand. "And hey, I'm sure you'll find someone awesome when you do start looking for someone. And if not, you can have me!" She gave me a playful punch in the arm.

"Thanks, Elin." I lightly pushed her in return. "Now go to sleep, alright?"

"Yes, mom." She stuck her tongue out at me and slithered back into her own bed.

She's such a sweetheart. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we...

...

NAH.

**** -AIDEN-

I think I got the short end of the stick with regards to the rooming situation. I was hoping to get paired with Lilac, or at least Elin but instead I got stuck with Kavik of all people. I decided to make the most of it and just go to sleep as fast as possible.

"So should we stay up late and tell ghost stories or something?" He chuckled.

"We're probably going to have to get up early, so go to sleep." I responded.

"Y'know, I still get the feeling you don't like me very much." He said mockingly.

I thought about that for a moment. It was somewhat true, he seemed rather obnoxious, but I really didn't know him that well and if we were going to be working together it would definitely be best for us to get along. If we couldn't work well together, someone was going to end up getting hurt at a critical moment.

"I suppose there's some truth in that." I sat up in my bed and faced him. I figured I'd start out being honest.

"How come? I haven't really done anything to you, have I?" He asked confusedly. "I mean, if you're still upset about the hitting on you thing, I was just messing with ya."

"No, it's not that." I sighed. "I don't usually talk to men that much for one thing, but honestly I think my nerves have just been shot to hell since Caldera, so it really has nothing, or not much at least, to do with you."

"What happened to ya in Caldera?" He asked, narrowing his eyes and scowling. He didn't seem to be mad at me but I presumed Caldera gave him some bad memories.

"I'd rather not talk about it." I groaned, planting my face into my hand.

"Well the way I see it man, is that whatever happened to ya there is done." Kavik shrugged. "Ya need to let it go and move on."

"I suppose you're right." No, he's definitely right. I took in a deep breath.

I wasn't sure I could just release those feelings right away. The pain of being betrayed by Piera hurt, as did almost getting sacrificed to demons. Twice. I thought for sure that bastard Ferro was going to kill me too. Caldera was just a very bad experience for me from beginning to end but I needed to stop letting it drag me down. Those few hours have nothing on me.

"Let's start over, shall we?" I smiled at the man. "I'm Aiden. You're Kavik, correct?"

"Yessir, I am." Kavik grinned and we shook hands. "So Aiden, what kinda ladies are ya into?"

"I'm sorry?" I was taken aback by the abrupt transference in our conversation.

"I'm tryin' to do that 'conversation' thing." Kavik stroked his muzzle. "You like girls, right?"

"Um... yeah." I shook my head, still somewhat bewildered by the sudden shift, but I decided to just roll with it. "I'm not picky when it comes to women, I think it's best not to be too judgmental."

That of course, was something of a lie. And by that I mean it was a complete lie. I was very picky about the women I dated, but I would flirt with anyone to get what I wanted, even men. Like the hideous bar hag from Caldera. She was grade-A fugly, but flirting with her got me and my friends free drinks so I had no problem with it.

"Gotcha." Kavik nodded, grinning as he was wont to do. "I like gals with a bit of fight to 'em. If there's a real chance they could beat the shit out of me, that's a total turn on fer me."

"Interesting." I was beginning to warm up to Kavik already. "I prefer not to be with a woman who can physically intimidate me, but that's just me."

"Why, cuz yer a sissy?" Kavik stuck his tongue out.

"Hahaha, no." I returned the gesture. "I just..." the real answer didn't sound good so I quickly tried to come up with a more respectful justification. "This may seem silly, but I prefer to be the 'man' in the relationship."

That was technically one hundred percent true. But it was a nicer way of saying that I needed to be in complete control of the relationship. If the woman could pound me flat to the ground with one punch then that threatened my control over her.

"Gotcha." Kavik nodded again. I guess that's his way of absorbing information or some such. "I always thought gender and relationship stereotypes are stupid, but I understand I'm a bit of a minority in that issue."

"I suppose." I shrugged. "I mean, I don't expect every woman to conform to my standards of femininity, but I like to be 'on top', so to speak. And not in a sexual way, although that too."

"Heh, gotcha." Kavik chuckled. "So yer into the passive, 'traditionally feminine' types, eh?"

"I am." I smirked. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Nah, not at all." Kavik smiled.

It was actually something I found rather infuriating about Lilac. She seemed so meek and passive, but then out of nowhere she suddenly had claws. She seemed so easy and then she started fighting back, and I really hate to lose, but I also hate to fight for a woman.

"Alright, I think it's time to get some shut-eye." I turned the lights off.

"Night, man."

"Goodnight Kavik."

As I drifted off to sleep, I thought again about Lilac. It appeared that we were going to be together for a while. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do about her. Normally I wouldn't bother with someone that took this much effort, but something about her made me think it was damn well worth it.

Oh well, I'll have plenty of time to think it over later. Now it's time to sleep.

So of course she was in my dreams as well.

**** -PHENIX-

As soon as we entered our room, Tel hopped into bed, although I wasn't sure how much sleep he would get since he seemed so excited for tomorrow. I don't know why he seemed so eager to put his life at risk, but as keeping him, and the others, safe was my responsibility, it made me rather nervous.

"Hey Phenix, what do you think of this whole 'ending the Demon War thing'?" Tel asked cheerfully. "Pretty exciting, right?"

"Why is it exciting to you Tel?" I said flatly, staring vacantly up at the ceiling with my hand outstretched above me.

"We're gonna be heroes and we're gonna save people." Tel shrugged, grinning confidently like he was baffled that I didn't share his enthusiasm. "That's what all this is about, right?"

"Yeah it is." I said coldly. "But it's going to be dangerous. We could get killed, Tel."

"But August said we would be fine." Tel beamed. It almost made me angry that Tel didn't seem to be taking this seriously. His safety was in my hands and I was a nervous wreck thinking what would happen if I couldn't protect him or the others. "And I believe him, the heroes never die."

"Tel." I growled, sitting up and glaring at him. "This isn't some kind of game. We're going to war."

"Phenix, we will be safe." Tel stared right back at me with his bright, spirited orange eyes, completely unflinching. "Of this I have no doubt."

"How? How can you be so sure?!" I barked.

"Because Phenix, family looks after each other." Tel smiled serenely, his calm demeanor taking me by complete surprise. I couldn't believe how relaxed he was, but it honestly started rubbing off on me. "And I feel completely safe putting my life in the hands of the rest of you, my clan."

Clan. That was the word I always used to describe my friends, or my theoretical friends at any rate. That he would use _that_word of all the words he could've chosen made me laugh. I really had a clan now, and that was an incredibly surreal feeling for me, I almost didn't know what to do about it.

But I did know one thing. There was no way in hell I was failing my clan. Before, I felt nervous and incapable of protecting the others, but just that slight mental shift made me feel much more confident and relaxed. I knew that I, that we, could do what we were tasked with.

"Thank you, Tel." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Don't worry about it." He said happily.

Tomorrow marks the first day of the end of the Demon War.

I swear it.