The Adventures of the SOL

 "Mommy!"

 There were explosions.  All he could see was fire.

 "Mommy!  Daddy!  Where are you?!"

 He tried to press through the fire, but the heat seared through his skin.  All he could do was shield himself.  He stepped back.  But his Mommy and Daddy were on the other side of that wall.

 "Moommeeee!"

 "Little boy…"  He turned around in fear.  "Where are your parents little boy?"

 "Behind the fire!" he cried to the strange man, tears streaming down his face like ribbons in the wind, "Save my Mommy!"

 "Fine, but I shall remember this in the years to come, son," the man smiled.  The boy followed him with his eyes as the man walked towards the fire.

 The fire fell.  His mommy and daddy stood on the other side.  He laughed and ran towards them, but they disappeared before he could reach them.

 This is really weird Rais.

 "Who’s there?" the little boy asked, turning around.

 So much penned emotion.  I don’t understand.  What happened?  Why can’t you tell me…?

 The little boy sat down and cried, rocking back and forth.  Suddenly there was a shadow cast over him and he stared up.  Any light around him blinked out and he was left in the darkness.  The eyes of the little boy grew large as he stared at his surroundings.

 A spider web slowly filled itself in around him and he screamed.  The scream grew deeper as he began to grow.  He became older and formed into the boy known as Rais.  He continued to scream. There was a sound of a moving cloak.  Then a large black spider began to move down the web towards him.  He found himself stuck on the web.  The spider moved in for the kill.

 Better quit…

 Rais sat up, pouring sweat.  The same dream again.  It hadn’t left for a very long time.  It had stopped for a short while when he first began to stay in the Lizerton castle, but as it always did, it came back.

 But something about it had been different.  There was a voice he didn’t remember from before.  Whose was it?

 He sighed.  His dreams didn’t mean things like Rei’s did.  Or rather they spoke of the past, not the future.  It was probably some long forgotten person he had once spoken to.

 He swung his legs around and hung his head, taking deep breaths.  No matter how many times he had the dream, he would never get used to the feeling.  Sleep wouldn’t be coming that night.  That was fine, because the winter weather had ceased and he sensed spring on its way.  It would be a good night to take a walk around the town.

 He thought Lizerton was at it’s best at night.  The streetlights made everything look soft but dark at the same time.  There was no busy crowding of the nice, but hurried natives.  The magic inside of Lizerton could be seen during the day, but it glowed at night.

 There were a few shops still open.  These were the ones that were in buildings, not the tents.  He headed past all of it and into the forest.  As he went over a hill he looked out over Lizerton.  He could see the whole town from his vantage point.  He looked around himself.  He saw the lights of the year round carnival still moving.  They were open all night.  He wondered how many people could possibly work there so that it could stay open so much.

 He felt the dream seep back into his mind and shoved it back out.

 He sat down and watched the sky for the first light.  Slowly he laid back, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep on the grassy hill which overlooked the kingdom of Lizerton.

 "Ready, set, go!" Hotaru called.

Lita and Amy took off down the hallway.  Amy got ahead of Lita and smiled as she ran a little faster.  She had told Lita she could beat her in a race.

Then Lita’s figure began to sneak up on her.  As she passed Amy, she ran backwards, still faster, and stuck her tongue out, then turned around and shot straight forward.

 "Hey, come back here!" Amy yelled and pumped harder.

 Serena heard Lita go by her door so she opened it and stepped out.  "Whose running around out here?" she asked, annoyed.

 "Serena!" Amy yelled as she tried to stop.

 Lita paused and turned around.  She winced as Amy collided with Serena and the two ended up in a heap on the ground.  Then she smiled.  "I win!"

 "You guys need to keep it down!" Mina said, poking her head out of her own room, having to talk over the sound of Hotaru’s laughter.

 Amy got off of Serena.  "Sorry, Serena… I guess... I just couldn’t... stop in time…" she helped her up, catching her breath.

 "It’s okay I guess," Serena frowned, dusting herself off, "You should have known you couldn't beat Lita in a race."  Lita smirked smugly at Amy who stuck her tongue out.

 "I’m surprised Rei hasn’t yelled at us yet," Mina snapped, folding her arms and glaring at each of the girls.

 "Yeah, where is she?" Hotaru asked, then walked over to her door.  She knocked.  "Rei!  It’s morning now! Hello?"

 No answer.  She rubbed her chin and opened the door.

 "Rei?"

 No one was in the room.  They looked around, but there wasn’t even a trace of her.  "What about Rais?  Shouldn’t he be awake?" Lita asked.

 They all paused.

 "You don’t think…?"

 "…That she might be…?"

 "Rais’s room!" they all said together.  They snuck over to Rais’s door.  They shushed each other and Hotaru looked through the keyhole.

 "What do you see?" Serena asked.

 "I can’t see anything! Shhh!"

 They waited for Hotaru to report her findings.

 "What are you guys doing?"

 "We’re trying to see if Rei and Rais are alone in his room!" Lita said, not turning around, "I bet that this is it!"

 "Oh really?"

 "Yeah, come look!" Lita urged, and turned.  She saw Rei frowning at her with her arms crossed.  Lita’s face turned a little red and she tapped Amy on the shoulder.

 "What?" Amy asked, then turned and saw Rei.

 "Busted…" she muttered.

 Serena and Mina turned to see her, leaving Hotaru still trying to glance through the brass keyhole.  "I don't think she's in there guys..."

 "Oh, Rei, how nice to see you…."

 Hotaru jumped and turned.

 "Oh, I bet," Rei snapped, "What’s the big idea of trying to spy on something me and Rais do!  Don’t you have any respect!"

 "What do you and Rais do?" Mina asked.

 "NOTHING!!" Rei yelled.

 Lita fell back into Amy.

 "Ugh, whatever," Rei growled and tossed her hair behind her shoulders, looking away, "Have you seen Rais?"

 They all looked at each other and started laughing.  Rei looked at them in anger.  "That’s not funny!"

 "Do you realize that winter is almost over and you still haven’t gotten rid of that stupid Princess and her friends?" Brashear asked Creton.

 "I am aware, Brashear," Creton growled.  "In time, I will have her.  Patience is a word you should look up."

 The two villains were talking in Brashear’s throne room, where Creton sat in the throne.  The room was darker than usual and the way the crackling torches spoke reflected Creton's frustration.

 "Patience is what I am running out of!" Brashear growled back, "I wanted her gone.  I tipped you off about her father, the least you could do was have her gone by now.  And you sit in my throne, in my castle, living off of me, and controlling my kingdom and you have not even fixed our little problem that we’re having with Princess Rei.  So either get it done or get out."

 Brashear's nagging words echoed off the wall and she stepped back.  She didn't feel so bold when he began to glower at her.

 "If you are sure that you can make me leave, than why don’t you try," Creton said lowly, "I dare you, Brashear, try and move me from this throne."  She shrank back.  "Yes, that is what I thought.  I am not trying to destroy Rei for the purpose to please you.  I have my own goals to reach and one of them is not to make you happy.  If that's the way you see it, then maybe it would have been wise of you to never have told me that Rei was even related to Lawrence the Good."

 Brashear was silent.  She knew what he said was true.  She had no power to back her up besides a few soldiers that didn’t stand a flying chance against Creton.  But she felt an urgency to reclaim her throne.  She realized quite realistically that her kingdom had been taken away from her.  Her people were in constant fear of Creton.  The town needed maintenance that Creton would not allow her to give.

 She silently left the room and sulked outside of the door.  There wasn’t much she could do without getting herself killed.  She had actually begun to wonder why Creton had decided to keep her around in the first place.  He no longer had any use for her.  She was just a pawn in his little game between Rei and himself, and she knew that Rei’s friends were too.

 Rei's friends were her weakness.  They kept her from making sound decisions.  If one of them was in trouble, instead of making the logical decision of saving the others by letting that individual die, she always went forward to save them, risking her own death.  Brashear couldn’t understand why.  Why go to all of the trouble she went through to keep around her friends, her weaknesses?  Why not leave them to the side somewhere where they couldn’t distract her missions?

 She had never understood Rei.  Rei had always gone against everything that was logical.  The logical decision to make back when they had both been children was to abandon her when she was the least liked person in school.  That had been the logical decision, but instead Rei had always tried to convince her to come play on the playground with her.

 Well, Brashear was smarter.  She sensed a trap, and she now knew that that had been logical thinking.  Anyone as popular as Rei surely would have been plotting some sort of trap for the poor little Brashear who had no friends.

 When she had grown older, she had found a place among royalty, and when the owners of Reptopia had passed on the throne on, she was the first to step up and claim her blood to the royal family.  She traced herself back far before her family had ever been in Lizerton.  And why should her loyal subjects know that she had ever been a Lizertonian?  Wasn’t that logical?

 And yet, as logical as Brashear thought she was, Rei was always winning.  Rei was always everything she couldn’t be.  Had a way with people that she herself could not match.  Rei had found a way to persuade a king and queen to give her their throne and actually had the nerve to act like she hadn’t won them over for her own benefit.

 And as little as Brashear understood about Rei, she did understand that Rei was weak because of her need to cling to relationships.  All of the SOL was because of this.

 And she knew it wasn’t logical.

 But she wasn’t so sure it mattered.

 "What's wrong with you?" Valerie's voice pressed her and she looked up to see him standing over her.  His wounds had healed but she could still see a few scratches.

 "Nothing," she muttered.  She studied his face, not quite meaning to.  She liked Valerie, despite what she said to him.  She didn't understand why.

Suddenly, something occurred to her.  What if Valerie was a weakness?  Wasn’t her attachment to Valerie something that could hold her back if there was ever a threat on his life?

 But surely it couldn't be the same.

 Creton sat in the darkness of the throne room.  Each member of SOL had a given Creton a reason to want to kill them.  He would have liked to take them all out at once.  His thoughts turned through each member, thinking of the reasons why he should like to kill each one of them.

 The one that kept entering his mind was Rais.  The boy owed him a debt, and when asked to repay it, he betrayed Creton at first chance.

 "No matter," he told himself, smiling, "We shall see who will get the better of who in the end.  Then I'll make all of the SOL pay."

 "Let me go after them, Lord Creton," a voice said in the darkness.

 "And who are you?" Creton asked.  A man materialized into view.  He was very tall with very black hair that went past his shoulders.  He wore a long cloak that was black on the outside and red on the inside.  His eyes were two black holes.

 "My name is Salus the Illusionist," he bowed.

"And what use is an illusionist to me?" Creton asked.

The room around them grew dark and they were suddenly outside.  Dark clouds swirled around them in a night, making lightning snap across the sky.  Creton frowned at the man.

 "I know what you can do," Creton said, "Now turn off this illusion.  No demonstrations are needed."

 "Thank you, Lord," he said and they were suddenly back in the throne room.  "I ask a chance to try a fight with these SOL people.  They will not withstand my powers."

 "Others have thought so before," Creton considered, "But nevertheless, you may try.  Go and show them your power.  I want the Princess alive!"

 "Yes, My Lord," he said, then disappeared.

  Rei, Serena, and Lita all walked down the street.  Serena was holding an ice cream cone, and Lita had a shopping bag over her arm.  Rei walked with her hand in the pockets of her jacket.

 "Well, had it been any of us, you would have done the same," Lita said, trying to sound sensible.

 "Why do you think there is something going on between me and Rais anyway?" Rei asked. Serena had been keeping time and Rei had been blushing for forty-five minutes straight. "I like him, but I don’t like like him."

 "How could you not?" Lita asked, "I mean, I’ve never seen two people have private talks like you two.  Well, except…"  She stopped.

 "Charlie and I?" Rei asked.

 "Yeah," Lita sighed.

 "Charlie and I have our private talks because there are some things that we understand that you guys don’t," Rei pushed her hair behind her ear, "Charlie and I have been friends for a very long time, and he knew my father almost as well as I did."
 

 "Was Charlie like a brother or something?" Serena asked.
 "Yes, kinda," Rei sighed, "I don’t remember how he came about, but it wasn’t as a stable boy.  I don’t know why he says that.  He was a stable boy for awhile at the castle, but that’s not how we met.  But I can’t remember how we did meet.  Everything underneath age nine is a blur."

 "Why?" Serena asked before Lita could stop her.

 Rei was silent.  She looked like she didn't want to say, she continued anyway.  "That was the year my dad died," Rei practically whispered, "And ever since I couldn’t stand to look back into the past.  The past hurt too much.  I repressed most of my memories."

 "But you can’t bring them back up?" Serena asked.

 "You have to really want to to do that and I’m not sure I do," Rei shrugged.  It was a big step for her to tell anything of this nature to anyone but it actually felt kind of relieving. "Quite honestly, Charlie could tell you more than I could."

 There was silence.  Serena ate the last of her ice-cream without a sound.  Lita heaved a sigh, and they marched through Lizerton.  Rei was glad to be out.  She almost never left the castle anymore thanks to Mina.

 "What do you think happened to Charlie?" Lita asked.

 They were silent.

 "I wish I knew," Rei admitted, "I can’t believe he would just leave like that.  I don’t know why he would either.  There was quite of bit for him to stay for around here, but I guess…"

 She trailed off.

 "I miss him," Serena said, sounding pathetic, but sincere, "I miss that expression he gets when you tell him he’s too uptight."

 "I miss the way he always knows you’re there when you’re trying to be a secret," Lita heaved a big sigh and adjusted her bag.

 "I miss the way he would laugh when you said something completely clueless," Rei chuckled, "Or how he tried so hard to keep up that 'Better-Than-Everyone' attitude."

Lita smiled half-heartedly and looked up.

 "Huh?"

 "What’s up?" Rei asked.

 "Take a look for yourself," Lita pointed.  Rei and Serena looked up and didn’t see anything.  "There."

 There was a small black speck in the sky flying through the air.  It was blurry and it moved back and forth as though it was vibrating.

 "What’s that?" Serena asked.  The dot had started to grow.  As it grew larger it became a transparent black.  It spread over their heads, blotting out the sky.  Rei gave a gasp and ran forward.

"Wait Rei!" Lita cried and went after her.

 "What’s wrong!" Serena yelled chasing after her.

 "It’s Rais!!" Rei called, "He’s outside the town!"

 "What?"

 Rei ignored them and ran forward.  She stopped as the bubble flew forward faster than she could ever have.  It spread until it hit the ground in front of her.  She skidded to a stop.

There was now a see through black shield blocking off any exit of Lizerton.  She carefully put a hand forward.  Her finger brushed the surface of the bubble and she flew backwards, almost hitting Lita and Serena.

 "Rei!"

 Serena was looking down from above her and Rei stood up. "I think we have a problem," Rei told them.

 Lita turned around.  Lizerton was completely surrounded by the bubble.  "Now what?" she asked.

 "I guess we’ll find out," Rei said, "But Rais…"

 Rais woke up to something cold brushed against his face.  He opened his eyes and blinked when he saw a rabbit.  It gave a startled squeak and ran off.  He rubbed his head and yawned.  He must have dozed off.

He stopped mid-yawn.

 Where he had seen the entire town before, he now saw the same, only now there was some kind of black bubble surrounding it from border to border.

 He got on his feet and ran down the hill.  He came to the shield and put a hand out.  Before he actually touched it, he retreated.  The energy it gave off suggested that wouldn't be a good idea.

 "What is this?" he asked no one.

 "What do you think of Father’s latest minion?"

 Rais whirled around and pulled out his sword.  Valerie was leaning against a tree with a smiled on his face, unperturbed.

 "What have you done?" Rais growled.

 "Me?" Valerie asked, pointing to himself, "I’m flattered you think that it’s within my abilities to do something like this, but this is beyond my powers."

 "What exactly are your powers, Valerie?" Rais spat, "I've known you for a long time and your greatest ability has been failing miserably in everything you do."

 "Now really, how rude," Valerie smirked, "If you must know, only an illusionist has this kind of power."

 "So what are you doing here?" Rais asked, never lowering the blade.  Valerie looked at him, considering and smiled.

 "I was asked to make sure that he does his job," Valerie replied, "After all, Illusionists aren’t very trustworthy.  They have a natural instinct to deceive."

 "And so do you," Rais said, "You and your father."

 "Don’t push my patience Mercenary," Valerie sighed.  He pushed himself to his feet and began to walk away. "I see that Salus has done a satisfactory job here and I should report this to my father."

 "Wait!" Rais ran forward and stopped in front of Valerie.  Valerie halted and stared. "I’m not finished with you."

 "Not finished?" Valerie asked, "I believe I am quite done, unless you are challenging me to a battle.  It would do me well to serve my father by destroying the traitor."

 "The only person I betrayed was myself for joining up with the Evilopolis forces in the first place," Rais growled.

 "There is nothing wrong with choosing the winning team Rais," Valerie told him.

 "Don’t be so sure," Rais said, "Apparently you haven’t been keeping up with recent developments.  Rei’s team is—"

 "It’s Rei’s team is it?" Valerie asked, circling him, "Am I right to assume that you don’t consider yourself part of this team?"

 Rais stopped and looked at the ground.  "What I consider myself to be isn’t your business," he said finally, but quieter than before. "I am challenging you Valerie, Son of Creton."

 "Then how could I resist?" Valerie asked.

 They locked eyes for a split second.

 Valerie jumped forward and tossed a black energy ball to the ground.  It tore through the dirt at Rais.  Rais did a back flip and fired  a red blast from the tip of his sword.  Valerie held up a hand and the attack faded.

 Valerie spread his arms.  "Wind Blast!"

 A clear force spit up dirt as it went straight for Rais.  Valerie tried to see through the dust to see the effects of his attack.  He couldn’t see anything until Rais’s form pulled through.  He had his sword over his shoulder and was aiming for Valerie.  Valerie jumped back and held up a sword made of light.

 Rais swung back at him and Valerie blocked.  Rais jumped backwards as Valerie sword went past his stomach.

 Valerie swept his sword over his head and vertically onto Rais.  Rais lifted his own blade and blacked.  Valerie tried to over power him, but Rais held on to his own sword.  Finally Valerie kicked forward and hit Rais in the stomach.  He sent out a black orb and it struck Rais under the chin.

 Rais skidded across the ground but managed to stand back up.

 Rais wasted no time in charging Valerie.  He swung hard but Valerie swung too, knocking Rais's sword back.  Momentarily unready, Valerie attacked again.

 "You can’t win!" Valerie cried and swung upwards at Rais.  At the last second Rais blocked but Valerie's blow had been much stronger and with too much force.  Rais managed to hold on to it, but he fell backwards.

 Valerie swung down upon Rais, who managed to blast Valerie before he could damage him.

 Rais ran forward and turned around, swinging his sword with him.  Valerie took an alarmed step back just as the blade flew past his face, close to the bridge of his nose.  Valerie stepped back and Rais readied himself, panting.  Valerie held his hand up to his nose and pulled it away.  He stared at the blood tipping his fingers.  There was a shallow scratch across the bridge.

 "Brilliant," Valerie told him, "I must congratulate you.  You only seem to get better.  I suppose that's why Father employed you.  He could tell you were a great swordsman from the start.  But it won't save you now."  Valerie began to build an attack.

 While he had been talking Rais was preparing his trump card.

 "Inferno!" Valerie yelled and a huge shapeless mass came towards Rais.

 "Reverse!" Rais called back.  The spell he had chosen to use was one that took many years to master.  It was used to turn most spells back to the caster.  Rais was one of the few people who could cast it in a short amount of time.

 The attack hit Rais's hand, at which point it was suppose to turn, but instead it grew and surrounded Rais.  Suddenly Rais felt a searing pain from all sides flow through his body.  He spasmed and clutched for some kind of support but felt none.  His vision blacked out for a moment.  It was gone quickly but to Rais it seemed much longer.

 Finally the attack was gone and Rais fell to the ground, doubled over in pain.  He saw Valerie’s face above his.  "How…?"

 "Do you think I would fall for that twice?" Valerie asked, looking down on him, "You’ve pulled that trick.  That attack would have been harmless if you hadn’t cast the reverse spell."

 Rais started to sit up but Valerie shot out another attack and Rais was back on the ground.  Valerie watched as a drop of blood seeped out of the corner of Rais's mouth.

 "I never liked you anyway," Valerie sounded monotone, "It’s time to get rid of a problem that should have disappeared the day my father met you."  He raised his sword over his head.

 "Transport!" Rais called, sounding choked, and in a little wink of light, he disappeared.  Valerie's sword sank deep into the dirt, but nothing else.

 Rais reappeared in the middle of the forest, unconscious.

 "What are we going to do?"

 "There’s nothing we can do," Serena told them matter of factly.

 They looked at her.  What would Serena know about such matters?  "Scout school?" Amy asked and Serena nodded.

"The power is meant to contain people, so it can’t be destroyed from the inside, period," Serena explained, "But since there's no such thing as the perfect spell, it's weakness lies on the outside, if only one can find it."

 "Rais is on the outside!" Lita said excitedly.

 They were all in the castle, discussing this unexpected turn of events.  They sat in the lounge each feeling helpless to stop whatever evil plan of Creton that was coming into play.

 "Yeah that’s right!" Mina nodded, looking right at Rei, "Isn’t Rais outside of the shield?"

 "Yes," Rei replied slowly, "But I’m not sure what chance he has to attack the bubble, and he needs direction anyway.  His sword fighting abilities are stronger than his magic, though his magic is strong."

 "You’re the psychic, can’t you talk to him?" Amy asked.

 "It’s probably anti-psychic," Hotaru told her knowingly.

"Nothing is completely anti-psychic," Rei smirked, "There’s always something a psychic can do even if it’s the most insignificant.  In this case, like many others, I can still relay messages to anyone outside the bubble, but it takes quite a bit of energy to go through the shield."

 "Energy you’ll have to use," Mina told her firmly and Rei glared at her.  Mina raised her eyebrows and Rei rolled her eyes.

 "Okay," Rei told them, "I’ll need to concentrate, so you guys, shh."

 She folded her legs and placed her hands on her knees.  She took a deep breath and concentrated hard on Rais’s aura.  Her face was completely blank for a moment and the girls watched silently.  Suddenly Rei's eyebrow twitched.

 "But…"

 "What’s wrong?" Amy asked.

 Rei opened her eyes.  "I’m not getting a signal.  He’s either asleep or…"

 They all looked at each other nervously.  "But, he can’t be," Hotaru looked at everyone, "He’s an excellent swordsman, and…"

 "I’m hoping that’s not the case," Rei shook her head, "but if it is, then we need to find our own way out of this."

 "But there’s no way," Serena insisted, "Only the strongest magicians could break open a barrier like this from the inside.  To do that you have to create a raw attack with more energy than that whole shield and that shield was created by natural magic, which is a hundred times more powerful than our magic."

 "That or its maker has to be destroyed, am I right?" Rei asked and Serena nodded, "Hopefully we’ll get a chance to fight whoever made it."

 "Yes, you will get that chance," they heard and each of them stood up.

 "Who are you?"

 Salus stood before them, very dark and pale.  "I am the creator of this shield," he bowed very politely, "Creton has sent me to take care of you."

 "Take care of us?" Hotaru smiled, "You have another thing coming."

 "Oh," Salus grinned but didn't look very intimidated, "I’m so scared.  But it’s known that your teamwork isn’t too great."

 "Teamwork?" Amy asked, looking at the others, "What’s wrong with our teamwork?  I say we do pretty well."

 "It is a little off," Mina said.

 "Our teamwork is fine!" Amy yelled back.

 "It certainly could use work!" Mina growled.

 "Girls," Rei snapped, "Can this wait?  We have a crazy vampire wannabe trying to take over my kingdom, hello?"

 "Yeah, let’s show him our teamwork!" Amy cried.

 "You have already underestimated me as a group," Salus smiled and put a hand forward.  Suddenly their surroundings changed.

 "Where are we?" Mina cried.

 "I’m not sure," Serena called back.

 They were in a large field, but the grass was dead and the sky was dark and stormy.  Clouds overcast the sky and as far as they could tell there was no sun.  How had they gotten there?  "Where is everybody?" Mina called.

 "I’m here!" Amy called back.

 "Right here!" Hotaru’s voice floated through.

 "Don’t forget me!" Lita called.

 They gathered together.  The wind was blowing hard and freezing rain started to pelt down.  They huddled together.

 "Where’s Rei?"

 Salus laughed as he watched the girls huddle together in the lounge room.  His illusion had worked well.  They looked pretty strange huddled from a chill that didn't even exist.

 "What did you do?" Rei yelled.

 "You’re next!" Salus said and put both hands out.  Rei covered her eyes.

 She was little again.  She could see all of the sad faces around her.  Some of these people she knew, and some she didn’t.  She walked forward.  She could see King and Queen Alexibre.  They wore black.  Everyone wore black, including Rei.

 She walked down an isle and people stared at her.  Some with tearful smiles, others with sad lost faces.

 She came to the coffin in the front.  She placed the flowers on top of it and stared at the face in the picture on top of it.  Her father, Lawrence the Good.

 "Rei..."

 Rei gasped and turned around.  Her father stood before her, looking down at her.  She was so small.  But it was her father.

 "Daddy?" Rei choked.

 He bent down on one knee.  She started forward to embrace him but suddenly one of his hands shot out and grabbed her around the neck.

 "Daddy?!"

 Her feet lifted off of the ground and dangled.  His grip tightened around her throat.  She tried to pull away, but couldn't do it.

 "What are you doing Daddy?" she gasped, "Please stop Daddy.  Please stop…"

 What’s going on?  Where am I?  This isn’t real.  This is a dream or an… An illusion?

 That’s it!

 "This isn’t real!" she yelled at her father, "I'm not here, you're not here, these people aren't here!  THIS ISN’T REAL!"

 "What?"

 Rei fell onto the ground gasping for breath.  She was the correct age now and she held her throat.  She was back in her castle.

 "How is that possible!?" Salus cried, "No one is suppose to be able to break away from an illusion that fast, no one!"

 Rei ignored him and ran to her friends.  "Guys!  Wake up guys!  It’s not real!  Wake up, it isn’t real, it’s an illusion!"

 "Rei?"

 "WAKE UP!"

 Suddenly they all snapped out of the illusion, looking dazed.  They looked around themselves inquiringly, then, realizing what had happened, they turned on the illusionist.

 He smiled.  "It is time for me to make my exit," he said and disappeared.

 "Wait!" Rei called, but he was gone, "Great, now how do we get out!?"  She looked at the others who stared where Salus had been standing.

 "He’ll be back," Amy said, "I hope."

 "Ugh, where am I?"

 Rais sat up and rubbed his head, then winced.  He then remembered the fight he had with Valerie.  No wonder he was sore.

 Stupid Valerie.  How could he have lost to Valerie?  Why couldn’t he be stronger?  Why couldn’t he be able to defeat at least one of his opponents?

 He stood up, a little wobbly.  His bad luck had started a long time ago, with his childhood.  Nothing had ever gone right for him.

 "Start small," his father had always said.  At the time his father hadn’t known that starting small wasn’t an option.  The day he had met Creton was the day that he had bitten off more than he could chew.

 And he carried the weight of his debt to Creton on his shoulders.  There was nothing left for him.

 Except Lizerton, a nosy voice said, Except for your new friends.  You still have them don’t you?  You still have Rei.

 That was true.  He had all of them.  He couldn’t call himself SOL as much a he’d like to, but they were still his friends.  And he had to do something about this attack on Lizerton or he'd lose even them.

 And though he had never felt it before, something about the thought made him determined, even encouraged.  He didn't want to lose them.

 He walked through the forest as fast as he could, clutching his shoulder and headed straight for the shield around Lizerton.  He came out and looked up at it.

 He pulled out his sword and closed his eyes.  He cried and slashed at the shield.  It wouldn’t even scratch.  He fired a blast at it and it had no effect.  Nothing he could do would work, he already knew, but he had to.

 He started to slash at it uncontrollably.

 Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Two words: Anger Management.

 Rei?

 Who else?

 What are you doing?  Where are you?

 In the castle, trying to figure out how to get out of here.  I’m so glad you’re okay.  I thought something happened to you... You're hurt.

 I’m okay.

 Look, you’re the only one who can help us.  You can’t destroy the shield unless you use a lot of magic or destroy its creator.

 Who is its creator?

 An illusionist.

 I know, I had a run in with Valerie who explained as much to me.  Do you know where this guy is?

 No idea.

 You aren’t helping.

 Look, just try to find this guy, and be careful!

 Okay.

 She left his mind and Rais took a deep breath.  He sent a blast into the air and it exploded with a starburst of energy as soon as he had let it go high enough.  He wanted someone to find him, and hopefully he would find this illusionist.

 He waited and fired another one.  He waited awhile longer and was about to fire another when he heard a voice in the forest.

 "That’s not necessary.  You've got me attention."

 "It’s about time," Rais said and drew his sword, turning to the forest behind him.  He saw someone standing in the darkness.

 "Can you beat me with that thing?" the voice asked, and Salus stepped out of the shadows, his cloak swishing around his ankles.

 "I’m not sure," Rais replied, "Let’s find out."

 "Your courage isn’t suiting you right now," Salus said instead of fighting, "You may find you are bargaining with more than you can handle."

 "I’m not afraid of you," Rais lied.

 "Maybe you should be," Salus grinned and revealed sharp teeth, "Tell me boy, what is your worst fear?"

 "You should never tell your worst fear to an illusionist," Rais smirked, "What do you take me for?  Now either fight or be fought."

 "Then I shall fight," he said.

 Rais felt himself pushed from behind and he fell forward.  He was on his feet immediately.  When he stood back up there were several of his opponents all around him.  He jumped and looked around.  Somehow Salus had copied himself.

 "I have a good guess as to what your worst fear is." It was Salus's voice but it came out of none of their mouths.

 "What’s that?"

 "Your former master, Creton."

 Then all of the Salus’s turned into a horde of Cretons.  Rais felt his mouth dry and he backed up.  He almost dropped his sword but managed to hold onto it.

 "No," Rais shook his head, "He isn’t there…"  He squeezed his eyes shut and started to shake his head.

 "Am I not?"

 Rais opened his eyes.  They looked and sounded like Creton.  But which was the real one?  Or was it all Salus?  Could he do all this at once?

 Rais ran forward without thinking and began swinging at the Creton duplicates.  They came apart and disappeared with each hit, but more and more seemed to appear.  He cut away tons of them before they all surrounded him.  One of them grabbed his arm, and someone took his other.  He tried to pull away but it was like trying to pull away a hand swallowed in stone. Their grip was firm.

 Still he couldn't stand to see all of them around him.

 "Blue Blade!" he yelled and the blade of his sword colored a glowing blue.  The blast shot out at everyone surrounding him.  The Cretons disappeared until there was one last one.

 He turned slowly into Salus who laughed.  Rais began to pant, his heart thudding.  He looked at Salus from the tops of his eyes.

 "So far so good, but you're courage will give out soon.  How much longer can you last?  How many more fears will I find?  How long till you give into the fear?"

 "Longer than you think," Rais hissed and ran towards him.  He leaped towards Salus, but Salus just held up a hand and blasted Rais in midair.  Rais flew backwards and hit the shield.  He felt shocks of energy go through his body, then he fell.  He looked like he could barely move.

 He saw Salus stand above him.  Salus leaned over him.

 "Are you prepared for the end?"

 Then suddenly Rais's hand had shot forward.  Rais had thrust his sword into Salus’s stomach and Salus had felt the blade penetrate.

 He looked at Rais and Rais stared back.

 "Clever boy," Salus smirked, "Clever, clever boy."

 He then fell over on the other side of Rais.  His body turned into dust and the wind blew it away.  Rais stood up slowly, with labored breathing.  The shield nearby faded.

 "You!"

 Before Rais knew what was happening he felt hands grab him roughly by the shirt and shove him backwards until his back hit one of the forest trees.  He cried out, his body already suffering from his battle.

 "You are the one who has caused us almost as much trouble as the Princess! I won't suffer through my father because of you!  You must now die!"

 Valerie surged a dangerous amount of energy through his hands and into Rais's body.  Rais screamed out.  He couldn't take it.  The pain was too much.  Slowly he felt himself going numb.  His senses began to fade.

 "This is the end Traitor, this is the end of your misfortunes upon yourself and everyone you meet!"  Valerie enhanced the attack.

"No!"  Suddenly, Valerie felt something hit him from the side, knocking him away from Rais. Rais slipped to the ground.

"Who?!" Valerie asked and turned to the source.  Rei stood, panting, glaring at Valerie.  Her temper had been lost and she had struck out without thinking with more energy than she had meant to.  The other SOL members stood behind her.

 "If it isn’t the Princess?" Valerie's anger turned into a sadistic smile, "You’re probably too late to save your little friend, but he was a traitor anyway."

 "I’ll decide that thank you," Rei growled, "You tried to destroy my kingdom and you must pay for that!"

 "Do you even know why this boy owes Creton this debt of his?" Valerie asked, kneeling next to Rais and grabbing him by the collar.  Rais was awake but too weak to even move. "Did he ever tell you the story?"

 "Valerie!" Rei shouted in warning.

 "When he was young his village caught on fire," Valerie hissed, picking up Rais's chin and looking into his eyes. "When my father found him, he was trying to get through the flames to save his pitiful parents.  My father offered to help him if Rais returned the favor eventually.

 "Rais was stupid.  My father did save his parents, but it was too late to save their souls.  They were like empty shells.  They had no real mind.  He would talk to them, if I remember right.  Yes he would sit by their sides and talk to them, trying to make them say something, anything.  He talked so normally, like nothing had happened."  Rais's eyes began to moisture but still he said nothing.

 "A body without a soul doesn’t last very long," Valerie scoffed, letting Rais's chin drop.  He stood up and looked at Rei. "They were gone in about a year.  By then my father had found usefulness in his fighting abilities.  Rais came to live in our kingdom.  Evilopolis.  Want to know how old he was?  Five.

 "And when my father inherited the throne, he found word of you. Princess.  By then Rais was like some miserable puppy, beaten into submission."

Valerie was far enough from Rais that she dared to attack.  Without a word and began to gather energy.

 "Wait!"

 "Rais?"

 Rais was standing up precariously, his head hung to the ground.  "How dare you talk about my deal with Creton!  Your father sold me out on something I was too young to understand!"

 "Too young or too stupid?" Valerie shot back, "What would those parents of yours say if they could see you now?"

 Rais's head snapped up and his eyes glowed red.  Rei watched in surprise.  He began to lift off of the ground and Rei recognized the attack that Hotaru, Lita, and Amy had all done before.  She watched flabbergasted.  She didn’t understand how it was possible for these attacks to happen.  They required so much energy and no one could even remember doing them.

 Each one was slightly different.  Rais gained a bright red aura around himself and held his hands to either side of himself. A clear ball appeared in front of him.  He tightened his hands around it and it turned into a fire ball.  Suddenly, it was like the fire burst apart and several pieces of it shot towards Valerie.

 They all flew at Valerie.  Some curved then hit him from behind, others hit him straight on.  They hit him from every side.  He let out a scream as the attack gave full effect.

 He landed on the ground, then disappeared.

 "Is he…?" Serena asked, stepping forward.

 "No," Rei told her, never turning from the sight of the attack. "That was a transportation spell.  He was taken away."

 She looked at Rais.  He slowly settled back on the ground.  He kept his footing only for a moment before collapsing.

 Rei was the first to run to his side.

 "Rais, can you hear me?" Rei asked, holding up his head, "Rais?  Rais!"  Rais felt himself slipping away.  "Hold on, Rais, just hold on for a little while…"

 "Hold on…"

 "He’s okay?"

 "A little energy drained, that’s all."

 "A little?  I’d say a whole lot."

 "I’m surprised he survived.  Any lesser of a man would have fallen I think."

 Man?  Was he a man or a boy?  Where was he?  Who was talking?  He groaned as he felt a sharp pain tremble up his spine.

 "I think he’s waking up!"

 "Poor baby!  I’ll bet it hurts."

 "Where am I?" he muttered, sounding very much disoriented.  He opened his eyes but all the shapes were blurred.

 "Almost took a trip to the spirit world there buddy."

 He recognized Hotaru’s voice.

 He looked around and his vision slowly came back.  Everyone was sitting around his bed.  Everyone except…

 "Where’s Rei?"

 "Oh, around," Mina smiled secretively at the other girls, "Just rest, you’ve been through a tough time."

 "I’m okay," Rais said, then tried to sit up, "Ow…"  He settled back down again and took a deep breath.

 "No you’re not," Mina muttered.

 "Can I talk to Rei?" Rais asked, deciding bed wasn’t such a bad idea.  They all gave each other another secretive glance.

 "Yeah sure," Lita never even looked at Rais when she said it, "Come on girls."

 They all left and after a moment Rei came in.  She smiled down at Rais and sat on the side of his bed.  "How are you?  Do you feel a little better?"

 "Yeah," Rais nodded.  He was quiet for a moment, then spoke up again, reluctantly. "Hey Rei?  About what Valerie said…"

 "What about it?" Rei asked.

 "I’d understand if you want me to leave after this," Rais looked away, "I mean, I won’t bother you anymore if that’s what you want."

 "Leave?" Rei blinked, "After what you did?  You have got to be kidding!  I owe you my kingdom.  You saved a lot of people Rais."

 "But you saved me," Rais said embarrassed.

 "You saved yourself," Rei replied gently, "No, I don’t want you to leave.  I want you to stay right where you are and never ever go anywhere ever again."

 "I didn’t know you cared," Rais laughed a little half-heartedly.

 "I do," Rei insisted, "And I wish you knew how much I do.  So maybe you could feel like one of us.  We all care about you."

 "Thanks Rei," he said, but his voice was fading.

 "Your welcome," she said, and he went back to sleep.  She watched him a moment and shook her head.  What a strange boy.

 He lived with Creton for ten years.  All the things he's seen.  All the things he's been through and still he's so... so... nice.

 Rei stood up and tuned off the light, letting him sleep.

Rais.. you loveable dog... Chapter 11