Am I doing something wrong? Am I the only one who could see it? Is it just my imagination? No. I'm sure of it. Trace and Cleo are hiding something. I don't know what, but they're hiding something, but what? Why? We're friends, aren't we? It's true that even friends don't tell each other everything, and I myself have my secrets, but what's going on here isn't normal. Whatever it is that they're trying to hide, it's scaring me... I have even more reason to believe it, now...

Trace is the girl I was dreaming about.

I ride the bus home without saying anything else to either Trace or Cleo. For the first time since I befriended them, there is doubt in my heart... I don't feel like I can trust them anymore... If the red eyes I saw have anything to do with the secrets they're hiding, I just feel like I'd been betrayed. So, I'll fight alongside them, and try to at least act friendly, for now. As I walk home, this is all I have on my mind.

“Hi, Azul! How was... school?” I walk past Miko without even looking at her, too lost in my own thoughts to respond. “What's wrong?”

“Azul? Is something the matter?” Gramps says from the kitchen. I start walking to my room. He follows me. “Have you gone deaf, my boy?”

I look at him. “I'm sorry. I... I just need to be alone...” I open the door to my room, go inside, and close it behind me.

“Azul? Azul, can I talk to you?”

Azure? “I don't want to talk.”

“Azul, you can't keep these things bottled up inside you. I'm trying to help.”

“...alright, fine." I just can't help but feel this conversation is going to get really uncomfortable, but I'll just go along with it. After all, Azure's only trying to help.

“Look, there's something I don't really tell you. It's about the contents of my dreams...”

“Yes?”

“Well... It's nighttime, and I'm on the third floor of a school... probably my middle school. When I start to leave, I get stabbed from behind... After I fall to the ground, I look up at who stabbed me. It's a black haired girl with sky blue eyes. Then, her eyes turn red... and she kills me.” There's silence over the link. Azure has not “said” anything for a while, now.

“I know what it is that you're thinking.” Azure dives right into the issue that disturbs me. “You think the girl is Trace.”

“...yes.”

“...and you've been having this nightmare even before you'd met her?”

“Yes.”

“I have heard of people having prophetic dreams, but it doesn't seem like one... you don't seem to have that kind of power.”

“So is it just a dream?”

“I hope so. I say go on living normally unless it comes up again. If you see this happen again, the red eyes... confront her about it. I get the feeling she'll talk to you.” I'm not sure how to feel about that...

“Okay.”

“The telepathic link must be stressful for you. I'm going to cut the link and let you rest.”

With that, it's completely quiet. I can't even hear Azure's voice anymore...

I go through the rest of the day trying not to think about it. I eat dinner, then preoccupy myself with one of Gramps' books. It's about a “Dragon River”, where a weapon blessed by the dragon spirits could be found... The strange thing is that this Dragon River isn't “real”, but it exists only in the “spirit realm”, which can only be accessed with a secret, forbidden technique... Seems like the kind of thing Gramps would be interested in. For what feels like hours I just sort of look through that book... Now I'm feeling sleepy, so I'll go to bed early.

...I hear the ringing of a phone. I'm too tired to get up. Let the answering machine get it...

“Um, hello? Is this the Ryukawa Residence?” Wait a second... That's Primo! “I, uh... I'm one of Azul's friends from school...” I run down the stairs and into the living room, where the phone is. “I just wanted to talk to him about--”

“Yes, what is it?” I pick up the phone and answer.

“Oh, Blue! How are you doing?”

“Primo, it's like 9:30, I was trying to sleep...” For a short while, there's silence over the phone.

“Oh, sorry. Geez, you go to bed pretty early for a teenager.” He's going off topic.

“I was tired today...”

“Well, when do you usually hit the hay? Around ten?”

“What did you call me for?” I say, rubbing my forehead.

“Wh—O-oh, you mean that! Yeah, the interrogation was a partial success. The person we captured called himself the Knight of Shadowhand.”

Shadowhand... “I guess that's the name of the criminal group we're dealing with?”

“I think so. Unfortunately, that's all we can get out of him so far.”

“Oh.” More silence.

“So, I'll see you at school tomorrow.” Primo hangs up.

This makes me feel a lot more comfortable and relived. With Primo and the other Armis helping to fight those guys, the whole Magic Knight thing won't be as hard as I'd thought it would be. Otro handled that guy well enough, not to mention he seems stable and trustworthy. Once the rest of them have finished creation and evaluation, this city will be a whole lot safer. It's a good feeling, knowing you have more people that will help you lift such a weight. I go to sleep...

A great deal of time passes...

It is now the middle of December, but not much has happened. The rest of the Tredecim had been awakened around the beginning of the month. We hadn't found more of Shadowhand during that time, we just spent time training and searching for more clues, only to really find nothing. I kept having that same nightmare, but not once after that day in September did Trace's eyes turn red again. About three months passed without incident...

The dismissal bell rings, and we start heading towards the bus stop.

“I'm headed Downtown.” I look toward the direction I heard the voice from. It's Trace. “The newest volume of MajitsuShiro came out today. I'm gonna buy it.”

“I'll come with you,” I say, immediately. I've been doing this for a while, waiting for the day I'll see it happen... Emerald looks at me, and I notice that it's if she had read my mind. I'm willing to bet we were thinking the same thing.

“I'll come, too. Alright?”

Trace laughs when Emerald says this. “Since when do you feel like hanging with me? Feeling friendly?”

“Oh, shut up.” After all this time, Trace and Emerald's relationship hasn't improved. Maybe it's even gotten a little worse...

“Oh, calm down, you two,” Cleo says, interrupting.

Primo says, “Come on, let's all go.”

The mood got a little less heavy and all of us got on the bus Downtown. However, the entire time I didn't really let myself relax. It was nice to hang out and all that, but I was there to watch Trace. I tried to keep my eyes on her, but without letting on that I was trying to see if her eyes would change again.

Right now, we head towards Page's, I feel a burst of mana, and I swear I heard an explosion right after.

“Everyone! It came from this direction! Let's go!”

I shout, then run. I ran as fast as my feet can carry me, neglecting to call on Azure to give me some kind of boost. When I arrive on the scene in the alley... I'm not happy with what I see... Two of the Armis are fighting.

“What's going on!?” I scream, in my shock. Upon closer inspection, I see a woman.

This person, dressed similarly to the person Primo called the Knight... is lying on the ground... the walls of the building are splattered with blood, and she has wounds all over her body... Her chest doesn't rise and fall, and I sense nothing from her.

The woman I'm looking at is dead...

I fall to my knees and start to panic... “What's going on!?!?” The smell of blood is in the air... I feel sick... “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?!?!?” I think I'm going to throw up...

“Blue! A-are you alright!?” Cleo comes over to me, I can hear her worry in her voice... “Blue, stay with us! Blue!” I try to regain myself... I've never seen a dead body before... but I can't freak out. I've got to pull it together...

“I'll tell you what happened,” says the sixth, Sesto, who I think is supposed to be a woman. “Septimo killed the person I was chasing!”

Septimo, who also appears to be female, now says: “Don't get mad at me! What was I supposed to do!?”

“You killed the only lead we had!” Large amounts of mana is in the air... I don't like where this was going...

“Both of you stop!” Primo shouts, stepping in front of the rest of us. “Septimo, you're in the wrong. We need to gather information from these people and now we're stuck back where we were.” I can see Septimo was getting angrier...

Primo scratches his head, saying, “It's...it's okay, everyone calm down.”

“But--”

Primo raises his hand in Sesto's direction, and she is silent. “Septimo, return home. I don't trust you to act on your own anymore.”

“...no.”

“What!?”

“NO! I refuse to listen to you! Who are you to order me!?”

“Back down, Septimo. Don't do this...” Primo is holding it in, but he's getting irritated... I can tell.

Suddenly, I hear a loud bang from behind me. Septimo falls backwards, bleeding... Trace then runs forward without saying a word. As she runs past me... I feel the intent to kill.

“Trace, stop!!!”

It's me who shouts that. Those bad feelings I've had are getting worse...

“Don't stop me, Blue. This is what Strife wants,” Trace says, sounding calm, but there's a hidden... disgusting feeling behind her words. It's making me feel even more sick...

“Trace, that's enough!” Emerald comes from behind me, saying this. “Do you really think there's a point in hurting them, anymore!? Or do you just want to!?”

“I'd think someone who's already killed a ton for the church would have less reservations about this...” I don't know what they're talking about at this point, but I can tell Trace is trying to upset Emerald, right now...

...and it seems to have worked.

Bang! I look in the direction of the sound of gunfire... Emerald was carrying a gun, as well?

“Strife asked us to kill the angels if they turn out to be dangerous, but I don't see the problem with doing the same thing with a dangerous Magic Knight.”

I now look at Trace, who is bleeding from being shot in the shoulder. “...heh, so that's what this is all about.” She grins, despite herself. A grin, with hints of malice and bloodlust hidden behind it. “Is it me? Is this all about killing me, for you?” She walks away from the angel, which is still lying there, towards Emerald, who continues to aim her pistol at her. “Then, don't make up excuses. Don't try to justify it with words. If you think I deserve to die, then make it happen!” Trace runs. “That's what you were taught to do, anyway, right!?”

Faster than my eye can follow, Emerald draws a short sword to parry the oncoming attack from Trace's kodachi, which appeared just as quickly. Trace being the superhuman here, clearly has the advantage, though, as she quickly recovers and tries to slash Emerald in the ribs. Emerald almost dodges it completely, but is caught by the edge of the blade, and she starts to bleed.

Hey, hey, this isn't a joke, you know? Why are you two trying to kill each other? We're supposed to be on the same side, right? Why are two fighting each other? I don't understand...

However, these words do not escape my lips. While my mind screams out, my body remains confused and frozen, while they go on trying to kill each other. Stabbing, slashing, fighting...

Stabbing... pain... blood... I feel sick... Trace... is enjoying this... This Trace... this isn't my friend, Trace. It can't be... this Trace's eyes... are red.

No...

I can't believe it...

I feel like it's a dream, but I know it's real.

NO!

It's just a bad dream!

It's just a bad dream... It's just a bad dream... It's just a bad dream... It's just a bad dream... It's just...!

“STOP IIIIIIIIIT!!!” Darkness. I must have finally passed out...

“Blue?” I wake up to Cleo's face hanging over me. She's sitting on a bench, and I'm laying there, my head resting on her lap. I sit up and see Trace, standing there. She's covered in blood...

“Trace... it's okay.”

“Fine...” she sighs. “I'm sorry, Blue. This...” She stood in front of me, arms out, like she was showing me something. “...is the secret I was hiding...”

I remain silent. She walks over and sits on the bench with us. “I might as well tell you everything. Alright, Blue. I'll tell you the whole truth about me...” She looked over at Cleo... “...about us...”