After that, I returned to my little house on the hill to rest. To be alone. Even back then, I was more resilient than I looked, and I would be able to heal pretty quickly on my own, so there was no need to stay at the hospital once I knew Blue was going to be okay. When I woke up in the morning, the wounds on my body would be healed...

...but what about the wounds on my heart?

As I laid there, awake, I could do nothing but lament my mistakes. My sins...

It's ruined. Everything is ruined. Trace... why did you have to find out about me? Why did I have to find out about you? Why did I have to have such a horrible secret? Why would you go on to do a horrible thing, like I did? Not fair... It's not fair! Am I really cursed to never find any real happiness? Am I really not allowed to have even one friend in this world?

“What's the matter?”

A feminine voice spoke into my head. I had a decent idea of what this was.

“Who's there?” That's what I ended up “saying” back.

“So, you can hear me? Good. I was right to think that we share a Birth Star.”

I had heard of that before. That this invisible spirit would come to me, saying that... “You're a Magic Knight Force, aren't you?”

“Yes,” she “said”, “specifically, I'm Flèche, the Blade Archer. Nice to meet you.”

“I assume you want to join up?”

“Right.”

“I don't know...”

“Ah, that's not good... I was going to offer to heal your wounds, but it seems you don't need my help with that. Still, though, you seem to be 'hurt'... Can I help?”

“It's kind of hard to explain. The gist of it is, I lost a friend, today.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Flèche “said”, sincere. “Did you get into a fight?”

“Something like that.”

“I see. Well, if you smooth things out as soon as possible, everything will be fine.”

“But it's not that simple!”

“Er...” For the first time since our conversation started, she seemed confused. “You have to make it simple, then. She's your only friend, isn't she?”

“Well, I--”

“If you don't do something now, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life. You reached out, and she took your hand, right? Why make it any more complicated than that?”

She was right. It really didn't matter if I didn't think I deserved to be Trace's friend anymore. What was important was that I needed her... Was I really going to just let her slip away? “You... You're right. I get it.”

Somehow, I could feel Flèche's spirit lift. “There we go! Come, let's go now. Let's find her.”

And so, without a second thought, I pulled my shoes on to find Trace. However, just as I opened the door to leave...

“Cleo...” She was standing right there.

“Trace...”

“Cleo, can we talk?” She asked me.

“Right now, there's nothing else I'd like more.” I invited her into my house.

We both sat on the floor for a second, saying nothing. We just stared for a moment in complete silence. I think, in that moment, I realized how truly awkward this was.

“...Trace, I'm a vampire.”

I just blurted it out, suddenly.

“It makes sense,” she said, just as unexpectedly.

“You believe me!?” It would have been troublesome to explain if she were more skeptical, but still!

“I've experienced it first hand,” Trace said, pointing to her neck, “remember?” I could still see where I bit her.

“Trace, I'm so sorry I put you through that...” Knowing that there would be nothing wrong with it, with there just being us here, I just let the tears flow. “I'm so sorry you had to experience that... I should have been able to stay in control, I just waited too long to feed, and... and...” By this point I had taken Trace in my arms, hugging her tight, sobbing like a little child... “I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry...”

“I forgive you.” In response, all Trace said was that.

“What?”

“Like you said, you lost control because you weren't drinking enough blood, right? You can't help that,” she said, with a bittersweet smile. “I have to be able to forgive you, otherwise it'd make me a hypocrite.”

"So that girl in the park really was... oh my God... Trace, why?”

“Even I don't know why, now.” She looked away. “I remember, I used to hate that girl. Hated her so much I wanted to kill her, but that night... that night, she seemed like she was trying to apologize to me, Cleo. To fix things. I don't know if she was just messing with me some more, or if she was really trying to be friendly. Even if only so that I could know for sure, I would do anything to take it back...” Trace held her head in her hands. “but I can't turn back time... I can never make what I did better, ever. I killed someone for no reason...” A tear ran down from one of Trace's eyes. “Cleo, what am I supposed to do?”

Again, I embraced her. “Trace, don't cry. Even if no one else forgives you, I will.”

“But...”

“It's twisted, you know?” I said, cutting her off. “I have to forgive you, and you have to forgive me. We're like sisters in sin. It's just another part of the bond that unites us.”

“Cleo...” I did tell her not to cry... I guess it couldn't have been helped.

“Come on, Trace,” I said, wiping her tears away, “I forgive you. I always will. If it's not enough, then I will forgive you more and more... for anything and everything. Always.” I smiled at her, holding her face in my hands. “So, please. Don't cry.”

Without saying anything, she allowed herself to be held by me. We only stayed that way for a moment, but it felt like an eternity, to me...

“Thank you, Cleo.”

“You, too.”

“...and of course, this stays between us.”

“Of course.”

So, we continued sitting in silence for a while.

She's so warm... wait. Wait, what?

“...wait, Trace, why didn't you turn!?” I couldn't believe that that had slipped my mind! It was probably the thing I should have noticed first, but I got caught up in everything else.

“O-oh...” Trace was just as confused as I was, it seemed. “W-well... why didn't the murder victims all turn?”

“I sucked them all completely dry. If there's nothing left, they won't turn into a vampire no matter how much venom there is!” I wondered if I should be telling her this at the time, but at the same time, I felt she had a right to know. “I only bit you and drank some blood, but you were still alive when I left you, and you're still alive, now! Not only should you have died from the venom, you should be a vampire, right now!”

“Wha... wow, that's... hm.” Trace brought her hand to her chin, thinking.

She really doesn't know!?

“Hmm... wait, what? What did you say?” All of the sudden, Trace started to speak, but...

“I didn't say anything.”

“No, not you, Cleo.” I was confused. Who else could she have been talking to? At the time, I had no clue.

“Trace, what are you doing?”

“Grey says that our link is keeping the venom from killing me. As long as we stay in contact, his mana can keep me from dying and turning... right?” She went on listening to a voice I couldn't hear.

“Who's...”

“Wait... she has Grey!?”

“Flèche, what? I don't understand.”

“Cleo, use your senses. I'm sure you can feel it.”

I sent a small amount of mana out around me, far enough to touch Trace's aura. It was very easy with Flèche helping me. I didn't even need to Convert. “I do feel something.”

“Another Magic Knight Force, Cleo!”

“Interesting.”

“Lucky... I know Grey, Cleo! This is great!”

“Oh, wow. That's wonderful. So, are you two, like--”

“Oh, you too, Cleo?” Trace eventually asked me.

“You can tell?”

“Kind of,” she said, laughing. “So you're like Grey and me. This is so cool!”

“Even better,” I said, “if you can use your Magic Knight Force to stave off the effects of the venom, then maybe I can, too! Right?”

“Of course.”

“Yes!” This was probably one of the best things that could have ever happened to me! “I don't have to be a bloodsucker anymore!”

“Awesome!”

And so, the rest of the night was like that. Trace and I were friends again, brought back together as if by a miracle, and everything was good...

...

When I woke up the next morning, Trace was knocking at my door. When I let her in, she seemed to be in a much better mood than yesterday, or ever before.

“Mornin'!” As she walked into the house, I noticed she was carrying two books. One of them looked like some kind of comic.

“What are you reading?”

Trace seemed to have been trying to read both of them at once... “Oh? This is Outsider.”

“Oh...” I'd heard of the book before. It's about time travel. I turned the TV on while we just sat around. I just sort of talked about random things, while she spoke back, looking at her book. After an hour, she put Outsider down.

“Done. This is the best book I've ever read. You should read it, Cleo.”

“I dunno, I'm not much of a reader...”

“Come on, Cleo. I'll let you borrow mine.”

As we started to talk about it, Something on the TV caught my interest... A commercial. Scenes from a movie showed on screen.

“I dreamt about a girl... Who is she...?” “Gacht... I'll protect you...” “I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. We don't have a son...” “Outsider... you do not belong here...” After that fancy advertisement, the screen read: “Now Playing”.

“...I could just go see the movie, right?”

Trace smiled. “Actually, that sounds like a lot of fun! I was gonna go see that, now we can go together. It's gonna be awesome, Cleo! I swear...” She went on and on...

“Okay, okay, Trace... Let's go see it.”

“Let's go right now!” She grabbed the comic she had, then pulled me out of my seat...

“W-wait, Trace! Let me get dressed...” It was funny to watch Trace get so psyched over this. She usually seemed a bit more reserved. Anyway, within an hour, we were out the door and on the bus to the closest theater... The whole time, Trace was reading that comic she had...

“You're still reading?”

“Uh... Yeah. This is MajitsuShiro. The first volume came out today, so decided to pick it up. I like it.”

“...what's it about?” I asked, having never heard of this comic before...

“Well, so far, Shiro, the main character has learned magic from his adoptive father, and he wants to become a hero of justice... It's off to a good start.”

“Sounds cool,” I replied. That did sound like something fun to read.

“Mm-hm. A hero of justice...” She mumbled to herself. Trace seemed to be deep in thought all of the sudden, so I decided not to bother her. A few minutes later, we arrived at the theater.

So we watch the movie. Outsider was about a girl from the future who went back in time to protect a man named Gacht, who was part of a mysterious person's master plan. I enjoyed it... or I would have, if Trace wasn't complaining about every. Single. Thing.

“That's not what's supposed to happen! Why would they change that?!” She kept whispering these things the whole time, making it hard for me to enjoy the film as it was... After the movie, we talked about it a little.

“Well... I liked it well enough...”

“That was terrible,” Trace said, frowning.

“Oh, come on, Trace...”

“I'm serious! Characters weren't acting like they should have, plot details were missing, they ruined a perfectly good story!”

I sighed... If we stayed on the subject of this movie much longer, the day would be ruined. “I'm sorry Trace.”

“Ah, what are you apologizing for?”

“I'm the one who suggested we see this.”

“Look, it's just... Oh, forget about it, Cleo. Let's go do something else.”

I was okay with that. “Headed Downtown?”

She nodded. “It's about lunchtime. Let's find somewhere to eat.”

So we got on a bus to Downtown. Trace was still reading MajitsuShiro... Guess she really liked it.

Anyway, when we got off the bus, something odd happened...

“That's my purse!”

“Huh?”

“What was that?”

Someone screaming somewhere nearby... “I don't know you!” Trace ran.

Wait, where is she going? “What are you—”

“Come on! It came from this direction!”

So... was she going to see what's happening?

“Someone's getting robbed! We can help!”

She's going to try and stop the robber!? “Are you sure, Trace? It's dangerous! Wouldn't you rather leave it to the police!?”

She smacked her forehead with her palm... “NO! Goddammit, the cops aren't going to do anything! Where were the cops when all those murders were going on!? Where were the cops when... anything happened!? Forget them, they can't get anything done!”

She was right, but... “I'm still not sure if we should get involved.”

“...fine. If you're not going to help me, I'll deal with it myself.” She ran off...

“Freaking... Trace, wait up!” We ran towards the direction of the scream, and arrived just in time to see the robber get kicked in the groin...

He fell down in pain. “Ugh, you stupid bitch... You asked for it!” He started glowing...

You've gotta be kidding me.

“Mystic Coat!” The robber would be a Magic Knight like us. Of course. He was soon covered in magic armor...

“That's his Mystic Coat.” I heard Flèche speak into my mind.

“What's that?”

“It makes the user stronger and faster, but most of all, more durable. It's the armor the Magic Knights wore long ago.”

As I listened to this explanation, Trace had already shouted, “Mystic Coat!” and begun to fight. The crowd forming around us was shocked and amazed to see all this going on.

“Can I use yours?”

“Of course. Mystic Coat!” I was covered in a beautiful suit of magical armor that gave off an otherworldly glow. A light suit of armor, with a breastplate. There was also suddenly a bow and arrow in my hands.

“I hope you know how to use it.”

I smiled nervously.

“Me, too...” I drew the bow, and an arrow magically manifested in its proper place. I took aim, and let the arrow fly. I got the robber right in the back. His Coat faded and he fell to the ground...

A cop finally showed up much later. Trace was right. There was no way the cops could have dealt with this. He handcuffed the robber and read him his rights.

The robber started shouting something... “What else am I supposed to do!? This is all your fault! Ever since CORE was brought down, I've had nowhere to go!” As he was pulled away, he continued to shout at the officer. “I blame YOU! I blame you, this country, and everyone in it!!!”

What is he talking about... While I thought, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Let's get outta here before they start asking us questions.” Trace, now back to normal, said this and started to walk off, gesturing for me to come with her. As we walked, I asked:

“Trace, what was he talking about...?”

She thought, then answered, “You weren't told about when CORE took over Central City?” I shook my head. “I wouldn't be surprised if you don't remember. We were babies when it happened.” My school hadn't taught this, at the time. Maybe Trace learned about it from her parents...

“So what happened?”

“Hm, where to start... Do you know about a novel called Kingdom of Fear?”

“I've heard of it, but...” I actually didn't know much, back then. It was pretty hard to get any real information on it in The Center back in those days, and I wasn't really all that interested.

“Oh, well,” Trace said, shrugging, “the details aren't all that important. Just know that a popular interpretation of the book was that it was Anti-Central propaganda. In 1985, some time after Kingdom of Fear was published, Charles Freeman, the author of that book, was lynched in the city streets by a paranoid mob, while the enforcement just looked on...

"Tensions between the citizens who were happy to see him gone, the ones angered by his horrible fate, and the officials that sat back and watched it happen rose. The government managed to bring this to a stop, but an organization called CORE took advantage of the flames created by the anger, fanning them, getting disillusioned people to work in the shadows. Eventually, they took over Central City, aiming to control the entire world. In 2000, they were finally brought down by a group of heroes that stood against them...”

“Oh... sounds kinda scary.”

“It probably was. Anyway, CORE was brought down, and pretty much everyone who was a part of this little incident in any way has been treated like a criminal. I guess that guy was one of the people who got suckered in...”

"I see." Knowing this, I kinda felt bad for him.

“Come on, let's not talk about this stuff,” Trace said, grinning at me. “We just did something awesome. Let's celebrate!” I started to smile, myself. We looked around for somewhere to eat...

...

We ended up at Mario's Oven, a pizza joint. Trace told me she rarely eats here and was excited that I chose it.

“So they have different powers...”

“Hm?” Trace spoke, but I couldn't reply because my mouth was full at the moment.

“You used a bow, I've got something called WarMaster that makes me better at using weapons. It's kinda cool, isn't it?” I nodded.

Later, while waiting for the bus, I said, “We make a good team, y'know?”

“...”

“Trace?”

She stared at me, and let me know she was serious. “Hey, Cleo... I've got an idea.”

“I'm listening.”

“I know how I'm gonna make up for my sins... I'm gonna be a hero of justice.”

“What?!”

“I'm serious! Listen... I can't bring back the dead, but with my powers, I can save people from death, right? I'm gonna save people's lives... to make up for the one I've taken.”

I didn't know what to say to this... “Trace, I don't know. Sure, we stopped a robber, but what if something more dangerous appears? Are you afraid of... getting hurt or dying?”

“Of course I am!” Trace shouted. “I know it will be hard and dangerous, and I know I might die... but if I can't be a hero who atones for what I've done, I wouldn't be able to live with myself, anyway...”

“Trace...”

She looked at me again. “Cleo. I need to ask something of you.” I nodded. “Will you help me do this?” I knew she was going to ask me that.

“Of course.” I said it without thinking. Trace is right... I've hurt people, and I hurt her, too... The least I could do is help her. Besides... “We're friends, right?”

That day, we became heroes. From tomorrow onward, Trace would show up at my place, bringing different weapons with her (still don't know how she gets them). We'd hang out in different places in the city, while at the same time patrolling around for any criminal activity.

We did this until summer's end, when I made sure to start attending Lost Angel High along with Trace. We would attend school whenever possible. After school, we would continue to do our usual patrol. We did this for three years, and our effort has payed off... The crime rate in Dreamer's City has decreased dramatically.

I hadn't seen Blue once during those three years... We ended up going to different schools, and I hadn't heard from him once. As time passed, I came to the conclusion that Blue had forgotten about me and I would never see him again. I decided to push him to the back of my mind and give being a Magic Knight everything I had. It seemed like Trace had already started to forget about Blue, and over time, so did I.

At the beginning of this school year, I woke up, got dressed, and went outside. I was expecting everything to go just as it always had. When I got on the bus, however, a huge surprise came my way. He was older, and a little different looking, but I saw him again.

You... Azul Ryukawa...