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Sᴏʀᴀ

As soon as Hibiki left in possession of Haruka, I decided to go greet an 'old friend' of mine. I wouldn't have gone to Roka if I wasn't to look for clues leading to that villain we were after. The halls of the manor were the same as always-- polished floors, and not a speck of dust in sight- but I couldn't help but feel that the house has changed somehow.

With that, I stumbled through the antiquated halls, sauntering up the velvet-covered stairs, until I came around to Roka's room, or as she calls it, bedchamber. It was larger then most, but I hated the way the Von Faecero family bragged about their wealth. They even capitalized the 'von' in their name, which strayed from tradition. Cocky, isn't it?

When I had finally found Roka's room, I gave a long, heartless sigh before pushing the door open, not bothering to knock. Nonetheless, Roka sat there on her bed reading a book, bed-sheets pulled onto her as if she had just woken up, still wearing a nightgown, everything set up as if she expected my arrival. Her room was the same as always- shades of blue, the single window, and a map of the continent we reside on, Aithe.

Roka Von Faecero.. She's something special, I'll tell ya. She's a different tier of person, but you can't blame her for that. Locked up most of her life due to illnesses I don't bother to remember, she's always sickly and bedridden. It was rare for her to get out of bed, and even more rare for her to attend the wedding between Tomoe and I. Despite rarities, she went.
Since she's been away from the rest of the world all her life, she has a horrible attitude, and like her sister, she's too dependent on the servants of the household. Mocha hair, sun-kissed skin, and amber eyes that glistened like stars. If only she was kinder, she could be as popular as Tomoe.

"Hello Sora. Have you come to visit my sister and I?" She said nonchalantly, shutting her book with a tinge of force.

I gave a sarcastic grin. "Oh, you know it. Are you still bothering the poor butler?"

"He's paid, so it doesn't matter. I'm not doing anything to him anyway."

"Oh, quit the innocent act. You always toyed with him."

She copied my grin, shifting her gaze to the only window in the room, where light leaked in to illuminate the area. "That is true. What happened to you after that event at the wedding?"

"Nothing really. We were just the last to evacuate." I dully lied. Normally, I'd tell the truth and I wouldn't feel so bored, but my mood was never positive near Roka. "How's your health then?" I added, closing the door behind me as I stepped further into the room.

"It's just great. When I got back from the wedding, my veins turned bright green. We called in a doctor but it couldn't be identified, so we're getting someone of a higher rank from the city to come in and see what it is."

"Yikes," I shuddered.

"I can't feel any pain either. I've gotten so familiar with diseases, that I bet I'm numb to it." She said, surely covering her worries at the situation she was in. If I were closer to her at the time, I'm sure I would have seen sadness behind those orbs of hers.

Talking to her was a douse of negativity. "Listen, let's cut to the chase. It's sickening talking to you, and we both know we can't last more then thirty minutes without talking. It's boring as heck, so I just need you to answer a single question." I lashed, turning my back to her, pretending to examine the map on the wall.

"I should have Silas cut off your tongue for that remark. You're awful, and if I wasn't stuck here I'd strike you like you did to me when we were younger." she icily spat in response. "How has Tomoe been anyway? Still a playboy?"

"I hit you because you were obviously bothering him. His face was a picture of insufferable pain, the facade of a smile protecting you from the truth. Which was, that he thought you were boring. Could we please get to that que-"

Roka interrupted me, practically bolting out of position to yell. "Hah! Says the idiot who was betrothed to him!"

I sighed, twirled around with a ray of confidence that I didn't know I had in me, and asserted what I came there for. "I understand that I'm stupid, but I never liked Tomoe like that anyway. Now please put your rash feelings aside, and tell me, have you seen anything chaotic lately? Like, something that's out of the ordinary in a corrupt way?"

"Have you seen my veins? Honey, the answer's right in front of you."

I gagged at her sarcastic nickname for me, seeing that she was younger then me and there was no reason to call me such a thing. But then, it hit me. I really was a fool, like Hibiki said. The veins.. Was it really possible that Kaosu had manufactured a disease? Was that a possibility at all? If only I was more cunning at the time, I would have known that that's exactly what it was.

I bit back my pride and apologized. "I suppose you're right, and I'm sorry. Things like this make me wince, but I'll have a look."

And with a slight scowl, she gestured for me to come closer, and I inspected her forearm. Exactly as she said, azure veins were protruding out of her arms, similar to how someone sixty years older would have their skin, if every vein was inked blue. I would have called it fake if I didn't see the abnormality leading to her shoulders, veins clearly drawn all the way to her neck. It was ghastly.

If I cared about her more then, I would have ran to Hibiki/Haruka. I would have told him right there and then about her condition, begging to know if this chaotic imprint was lethal. Perhaps if I did, she would still be alive now.

She noticed me staring, as she bit her lip and said, "What? Do you know something about this?"

"It's fine. I just thought that the tint in your veins was fake for a second, that's all," I had to lie.

"You know damn well that I wouldn't fake a disease. That's lower then low, Sora. I'd never think of something like that." She barked, getting on my nerves again.

"Yeah, whatever."

She scoffed and picked up her book again. "Go back to reading that map if you still need to, then get out of my room."

With a frown on my face, I glimpsed at the map realistically this time. Right, Hibiki thought I was a lost, amnesic vixen, so perhaps I could surprise him with some knowledge of the geography of everything, I thought to myself. These thoughts running through my head were probably even more pathetic then trying to converse with Roka, because I'll give you a heads-up now; My efforts were wasted.

I'll explain the setting of this tale to you anyway, seeing that we've already gotten onto the topic.

Aithe, was the continent all known life resides on. It's basically just a huge landmass, very roughly shaped like a quatrefoil with peninsulas, lagoons, gulfs, atolls, and a couple dozen other geographical terms I don't care to name. The North-East mainly consists of The Shadou Empire's territory, Tekonn's another large region in the south, The West has meadows, the Iligha forest, Evarthil, aka Aithe's main electronic supplier and where Haruka was created, is between Tekonn and The Empire. Next, is New Aragonea which, I honestly know nothing about other then it's in some kind of desert, Akuma, the snowy tundra in the far, far north, Anguru, the pacifist plains where some small tribes have the area split into sections. Lastly, is the 'prized gem of the world,' Anzen City, which is the central city of the lands, since it's where all the diplomatic meetings, large trading sites, and diversity of races are in the world. And in Aithe, that's a big deal, seeing that there's strong segregation wherever you go.

I guess that was a bit of an information dump.. well, hopefully the others will explain things more thoroughly along the way.

There were just so many places in this forsaken world, so how could Hibiki expect me to memorize them all? Well, the answer was, he didn't. I was never able to get the hang of the geography either.

Putting those thoughts aside, I silently scolded myself for getting so lost in my thoughts before zooming out the door, thankful to finally be out of the pressure I felt in Roka's presence.

Little did I know, I wasn't the first, or the last, to find some sign of Kaosu's magic in the Von Faecero mansion. At least I wasn't the one unfortunate enough to have to cooperate with Roka's twin, Maeko.