She walked alongside him, watching the strange one from the corner of her eye. ~Where are we going?~

Vallum said nothing, not even acknowledging her question. He kept walking, his steps never faltering.

And this served to annoy the girl further. ~Can you even speak?~

A long silence. Finally, something. He stopped and turned to face her, still hidden by the dark brown cloak. //What words do you want? You call yourself a blight of the Nexus. Oh, don't look so surprised... I could hear you speaking to the "Blasphemer"... Janna...//

She froze, whirling to face him. Her midnight blue eyes narrowed. ~She is dead. I killed her.~

//Not well enough. I can still hear her. All of us can... but don't fear, Virus... you're slowly killing her. She's crying, you know, crying for--//

~Stop! You have no idea what you're saying...~

//Ha... how right you are. You don't even know who you're talking to...//

Janna eyed him. ~Vallum,~ she said slowly.

A dry laugh echoed in Janna's mind, and she flinched slightly at the odd feeling. //Vallum... that name is the result of trying to use this pathetic excuse for a being to speak. He's dying. The only reason this body is still alive is because I'm forcing it to stay alive. I think he wants to die... but I really don't know if he's even aware of me, or anything else anymore...//

~Who are you then?~

//Valium... Lithium... some sort of drug,// came the wry reply. //Would you like to talk to us...?//

Janna frowned slightly, mulling this over in her mind.

//Come on... you know you want to...// came the whispered words. Then, the voice changed, //You show me yours, and I'll show you mine. Don't you want to know?//

The blue eyes close for a moment as if in pain, and when they open, that mask of indifference has once more fallen into place. ~Show me. I want to know, I want to talk to whoever is inside this shell...~

A strange smile flashed briefly in Janna's mind before everything vanished in a blinding glare of white light.

* * * *

Beat...

Stop.

As Janna's eyes adjusted to the sudden change, she let out a silent gasp of surprise. A young man of no more than twenty sat with his back against a leafy tree. He was undoubtedly one of the strangest looking people she had ever seen.

He was wearing an army helmet, a pair of camoflauge pants, and a pair of black gloves. Tied to his upper right arm with thin wire was a white, wooden cross. The same type of wire was wound around his left forearm. He also wore a bandolier that held many bullets.

The longish hair that peeked out from under the helmet was an odd dark magenta, and he had eyes that were red.

Red... like blood... Janna thought, feeling strangely disconnected from herself.

The stranger looked up, and a slow smile crossed his face. "Good choice," he said quietly, picking up something that sat on the ground beside him. It was a strangely carved wooden figure. Very small, and human-like in appearance. "You can speak here, you know. In this space, you have your voice..."

Janna took a deep breath, letting those words sink in. Then she spoke. "Who are you...?"

"Lithium is what you can call me."

"What is going on, and where am I?" the girl asked, absently brushing a long lock of red hair out of her face.

Lithium slowly stood up, careful to avoid knocking over any of the tiny figurines. He took Janna by the hand. "First, come with me... you might like what you see here..."

She reluctantly followed, feeling a little pang of nervousness shoot through her.

Lithium led her over to a small pool of what first appeared to be water. Upon closer inspection, however, it looked more like murcury. He leaned foreward to whisper in her ear, "Look... you'll like it, I promise..."

Janna felt a small shiver run down her spine at the low whisper. Carefully, she walked to the edge of the pool, each step making her question the sanity of her decision. When she looked down into the silvery liquid, her midnight blue eyes widened.

"Oh my god..." she whispered, barely believing what it was she saw.

Lithium's smile faded when a familiar preasence made itself known behind him.

"So, she listened to you..."

Janna didn't hear the newcomer, as she was too caught up in what she saw. She saw her face, but there was one thing missing... the thirteen that had been tattooed onto her forehead was gone. She unbuckled the collar of her outfit, revealing her throat to be bare of any scarring.

"Do you like it?" a voice whispered into her ear.

Janna had to drag her gaze away from the reflection. "How...?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

He smiled and the glint in his yellow eyes sharpened. "This is, well, to put it simply, a dream world of sorts..."

Janna shifted, unsure of what to say. She frowned slightly. "Who are you?"

"You don't like my gift...?" he asked, his smile falling.

"I don't trust you," she answered flatly.

"Well... I'm Valium," he said with a smirk, "And you're smart. That's good."

"All right... I've seen you both... seen your little world... so what's the point?"

Lithium took a step closer, nervously fingering a wooden carving he held tightly in his hand. His red eyes shifted quickly between Valium and Janna.

"I can give you a choice, Janna... go back to your life as a Sinner and have things remain unchanged... or you can stay here forever... have anything you want..." the dark-haired young man said, leaning forward slightly.

"What's the catch?" Janna asked in a whisper.

A dark smile. "You exchange places with me. Or us... depends on whether or not Lithium wants out..."

"So in short, I'd be trapped here."

"Would that be so bad?" Valium asked incredulously, "You would have everything you wanted!"

The girl's indigo eyes strayed to the silver pool once more. She forced herself to look away, a flicker of pain touching her features. "No."

Lithium's red eyes widened slightly in surprise. He could tell how much it had taken for her to refuse such an offer. He couldn't help but be a little disappointed. For on brief moment, the prospect of company other than the half-mad Valium had presented itself. And hope had once again been ripped away.

Valium's expression darkened as his yellow eyes narrowed. "You're making a mistake," he hissed in a low voice.

Janna felt her blood run cold as the sky in the strange "dream world" darkened as well. Her eyes flickered to Lithium for a moment, and she saw his lips moving as though he were muttering under his breath. The fact that he had paled in fear did nothing to calm Janna.

"I could just keep you here, blight of the Nexus..."

Before Janna had a chance to respond, she felt a painful jolt. Both of the strangers flinched as well, and Valium let out a low curse.

"Get out," he muttered, waving a hand at Janna, "Someone found us."

The girl was once again blinded by a flash of bright white light, and the next thing she knew, she was staring down the barrel of a gun...