I just finished Wild Arms and I decided a few days afterward to write a fan fic about it. This story may veer totally away from the Wild Arms original storyline. I'm going to twist up a couple of alliances and add one of my own characters. But, believe me, it's worth the confusion that some of you readers may endure. ^_^ Trust me. Oh! And if you haven't played the game, or, if you have and you haven't found all of the secrets yet, be warned that there are some major spoilers.

Filgaia.

A world torn apart by just one war. This world has started to recuperate, but it will take decades for all of the damage to be erased. The four warriors who fought for Filgaia in this war have continued on their travels. A swordsman, a sorceress, a wind mouse, and an artificial human. They were the key to Filgaia's survival. They believe that the war is finally over. They are wrong...

Dead wrong...

They will soon find out of their enemies' plans to return, and will soon be launched into yet another fight for their planet. However, they will not be alone this time. Five more warriors will aid them. Two of which they will have to learn to trust.

Can these warriors, these...Dream Chasers, accomplish this feat again?

Fire and pain burned throughout the area in which he sat. Every now and then, the fires sweeping another victim into the depths of a cavern to torture him and then spitting him out again.

Hell.

Now covered with burns and scars, he sat, his eyes under the visor that hid his whole face extremely wide and his breathing labored.

Boomerang had already been the victim of the fires five times in the past two hours, and his blue wolf Lucied, the Guardian of Desire, had not been even touched. Lucied whimpered and licked her master's bleeding arm. Even through his orange, black, and gold armor, the fires could still hurt him.

Boomerang had thought that he had gotten used to the torture of the fires of Hell over the past three days, until the fifth time the fires swept him up. Oh, how he longed to return to Filgaia. To have a second chance at his harsh, pain-ridden life. The fires of Hell had already let their guard down once, and because of that, Boomerang had gotten a chance to return to Filgaia and become a fighter in the Ancient Arena.

However, the Dream Chasers that he had already fought three times, showed up and killed him again. Now the fires were punishing him. That was why they focused on him mainly. Boomerang had never known such pain before.

Boomerang looked over the fiery, lava-filled horizon to see his old 'boss' be swept up by the fires. The warrior could not help but grin under his visor as Zeikfried screamed in rage and pain from within the cavern. Boomerang had always thought that Zeikfried was a coward, he could not stand the pain that the fires inflicted. Neither could Boomerang, but he cried on the inside. He never let anyone know of the pain he felt.

"Lucied, if only we could escape again," Boomerang spoke, rubbing behind the blue wolf's ears, "I swear I would start over. I would maybe become a soldier or a knight. Not a killer-" He was cut off as three stone gargoyles screamed and took to the air, their shadows seen perfectly on the fiery red sky. "Someone's trying to escape!" Boomerang leapt to his feet despite the fact that two of his ribs were broken. He knew that someone was trying to escape, for he had had to outrun the gargoyles when he and Lucied had returned to Filgaia the first time.

Lucied barked as if to say, "This is our chance!" Boomerang smiled greatly. He looked around, desperately trying to find whoever was fleeing. Then, he saw him.

It was that idiot Alhazad.

"That bastard'll never outrun the gargoyles!" Boomerang growled. Lucied barked again. Boomerang knelt down, waiting for the fiery red sky to open up when Alhazad got close enough to it. The white-robed demon took to the air, rocketing toward the sky.

The sky started to open up.

"Now!" Boomerang commanded Lucied. Then, they took off running, Boomerang moving incredibly fast despite his broken ribs, but not fast enough. His injuries were slowing him down and Lucied was at least three meters ahead of him. The blue wolf leaped into the air as did the warrior.

They flew past Alhazad. The gargoyles had stopped chasing Alhazad and now simply hovered in midair, wondering who they should catch first, Boomerang and Lucied, or Alhazad. Two of the gargoyles screamed and skyrocketed toward Boomerang and Lucied.

One of the gargoyles was about to grab Boomerang's ankle when Lucied suddenly howled, zapping the gargoyle with her spell the Purple Electric. Boomerang squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the pain that came from crossing deminsions.

Then, as they exploded through Hell's atmosphere, Boomerang let loose a cry, partly from pain, but mostly from joy, a feeling he had never felt before. He was triumphant, again, and nothing, nothing, could stand in his way this time.

Jack yawned. It was almost night and he, Rudy, and Cecilia had been walking for days. They were now full-time, Dream Chasers, and now devoted all of their time to exploring, finding treasure, and visiting old friends. "Ugh!" Cecilia grunted, brushing her now waist-length, blonde hair out of her face, "How much longer till we find a village?"

Rudy answered, "We're almost there. We're headed for Saint Centour." Rudy, the artificial human, sounded and looked just exactly like a true human. He could eat, sleep, cry, bleed, and breathe. He had every human emotion and feeling, including pain, much to his dismay.

Cecilia's face brightened. "Saint Centour?! Alright! I've been wondering how Zed and that blind girl are doing." It was not long before they reached the gates of the abandoned village. Grunts and groans filled their hearing as the Dream Chasers entered the large gate with the blue diamond overhead.

Jack asked as they looked around, "Zed?" Then, they saw him. The former demon was clearing away the remains of what had been the church. "What happened?!" Jack demanded as he and the other two Dream Chasers ran over to him.

Zed, dressed in his usual blue, green, and orange outfit looked at them, as if noticing them for the first time. His blue face was soaked in sweat and his green hair was matted. His red bandanna, which was tied around his forehead, flaped in the breeze. Zed smiled and spoke, "Oh! Hi, guys! Been awhile." He then focused his attention on a large portion of what had been the wall of the church, pressed his shoulder against it, and growled, "Move, you freakin' ROCK!!"

"What happened?" Jack repeated.

Zed stood straight and answered, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "An entire flock of harpies divebombed the place last night. I got rid of most of 'em, but a few wound up being crushed under the rubble. Scared the livin' hell outta Alicia."

"Alicia?" Rudy wanted to know.

"The blind girl." As if on cue, the blind girl appeared from behind the house that she usually stayed in. Alicia donned a pair of sunglasses and a long stick which she used to see if anything was in front of her. She tapped it back and forth on the ground as she walked slowly over to them.

She spoke in her soft voice, "Those voices. Rudy? Jack? Cecilia? It's been a long time since you came here last."

Cecilia smiled and asked cheerfully, "Where'd you get the sunglasses?"

Alicia replied with a smile, "Zed gave them to me."

"I found them in a barrel at the inn," the former demon explained. (no, there aren't any sunglasses in the barrels. I just made that up.) He then asked, "I thought you were taking a nap."

Alicia's smile faded as she said, "I was. Until I had a dream."

"Uh oh..." Zed muttered. Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia looked at him. "Alicia's dreams seem to have a bad habit about coming true. I only had a split second to prepare for the harpy attack."

Alicia conveyed, "I saw fire, and someone trying to escape. A man and a dog. Then I saw water. An island with a girl. Then you four, plus the man, girl, and the dog. The seven of you were running from something. Behind you I could barely see a large woman. But she wasn't completely human. Her body from the waist down looked like a slug or something. Next there was a scream, but not from any of you. A warrior jumped onto the thing chasing you, and that's when I woke up."

Jack whispered to Rudy, Zed, and Cecilia, "I've got a bad feeling about this...."

He exploded through the water, gasping for air, Lucied appearing just beside him. Boomerang treaded water for a few minutes, trying to see where he was. After he had exitted Hell's atmosphere, Boomerang had found himself spiralling through water. He and Lucied had then swam as fast as they could to the surface, their lungs completely without air.

The warrior cursed as he noticed that they were in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight. Wait. There was land! An island just about a mile and a half from their location. "C'mon, Lucied!" Boomerang encouraged. Lucied barked. Then, they swam toward the island, despite their protesting limbs and muscles.

It was about fifteen minutes later when Boomerang crawled onto the beach. When he and Lucied were a little way away from the tide, Boomerang collapsed, his muscles refusing to move anymore. His sides clawed at him, reminding him of his broken ribs. Damn the fires, he thought as he tried to move up the beach some more, If it weren't for them, I'd have plenty of strength to spare. Boomerang tried to sit up, but he moved a muscle the wrong way, causing pain to shoot up from his ribs and into his back. The warrior barely had time to cry out in pain before his vision clouded over and he passed out.

Sharra sighed and took off her apron. The pub of Milama was getting ready to close and her shift was over. As she lay her apron on the bar, she found herself looking at the green ribbon tied around her right wrist. She touched the satin ribbon, her mind drifting back to the man who had given it to her. He had said that his name was Jack Van Burance. Sharra sighed again. Why had he given this ribbon to her, and why did she have a feeling that she had met him before?

As Sharra exitted the pub and started off toward the house that some of the villagers in Milama had built for her, a voice entered her mind saying, "I can answer your questions."

Sharra whirled around. No one was there. In fact, no one was on the streets at all. When the girl had exitted the pub, there had been dozens of people walking around, now there was nobody. Sharra stood up straight and asked the air, her voice confident, "Who's there? Show yourself."

Suddenly, in front of her, a creature appeared. It had the body of a black cat yet stood on its hind legs and wore a bright red coat and black boots. "I am the Guardian of Time. Dan Dairam."

"What do you want?" Sharra demanded.

"To help you, my dear," Dan Dairam replied, "I can give you back your memories. After all, I am the Guardian of Time."

Sharra gasped, "You will!" Dan Dairam nodded.

"But on one condition. Once I grant you this wish, you must, in turn, do me a favor."

"What?!" Sharra demanded, a new joy flaring within her, "Anything!!"

"You must find Jack Van Burance and join him and his friends. They will need your skills and abilities," Dan Dairam answered. Sharra nodded vigerously, brushing her pink hair out of her face. The Guardian pointed one of his massive, black paws toward her. A glow surrounded Sharra and memories flooded into her mind. A smile crept across her face as she remembered why she had felt that she had met Jack before.

"My...my name isn't Sharra," she said in a whisper. Dan Dairam looked at her. He seemed to smile, but it was hard to tell since he had the face of a cat. "I am Elmina, the Sword Princess of Arctica Castle!"

"What did you find this time, Seph?!" Noble Knight (heehee; and, no, not Sephiroth, just Seph) growled as she followed her friend over the rocks that covered the beach of the island that she lived on. The blue and silver, wolf-sized fox bounded over the rocky shore, his large, tiger-like paws not even making a sound as they hit the stones. Noble Knight gasped when she saw what her pet had found. There was a person collapsed on the sandy beach. He wore blood-soaked, black, gold, and orange armor and a black helmet with a visor that hid his entire face. Strapped to his back were two large boomerangs.

Sitting beside the man was a blue and silver wolf that looked a lot like Seph except for one thing: Seph looked more like a fox than a wolf. When the wolf saw Noble Knight and Seph, she began to growl, leaping between them and her master. "Shh," Noble Knight spoke, soothingly, "It's alright. I won't hurt you or your master." The wolf's growling started to lower as Noble Knight held out a hand toward her. The wolf sniffed her hand and licked it. "Now, let's see." Noble Knight walked over to the man. "Eeeewww! He's in pretty bad shape. Looks like he's been through hell!" (I know, bad pun! But I just couldn't resist!!) She bent down and picked the man up, using her amazing strength. The wolf whimpered as Noble Knight walked away, her master draped over the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry, Wolfie! He'll be okay. C'mon, Seph!" With that, Noble Knight, Seph, and the blue wolf walked up a hill toward a small, wooden cottage.

Cecilia sighed as she pulled down the sheets of her bed at the inn, her mind never drifting from Alicia's dream. The stars were shining bright outside the window. Jack and Rudy were in their rooms and Zed was in his. Alicia was in her house.

Cecilia shuddered as she blew out the candle and pulled up the sheets over her shoulder. The description of the monster chasing her and the others that Alicia had given sounded too much like Mother, the creator of the demons that had nearly destroyed Filgaia three years ago. Cecilia shook her head, trying to forget about Alicia's dream.

Meanwhile, Zed was still wide awake, staring at the cieling of his room. He was lying in his bed with his hands folded behind his head. He muttered, "Please don't let her dream come true. Please, oh, please! Please say that mom's not coming back!!"

Elmina bounded through the forest, Dan Diaram in front of her, guiding her to Jack. Elmina called to the Guardian, "Y'know, I still can't believe that he saved the world three years ago."

"Well," Dan Diaram said, "He did. Along with the help of Rudy Roughnight and Cecilia Adlehyde. Right now, they are in the village of Saint Centour. We are to get to them and warn them of the force arriving on Filgaia."

"Force?" Elmina wanted to know.

"Yes. Remember the demons I told you about?" Elmina nodded. "Well, they are the force that is threatening Filgaia...again..." Elmina did not say anything else after that

"YEEEEEOOOOW!!!!!!!"

"Oh, my god! I'm so sorry!!"

"OW! OW! DAMN IT, THAT HURT!!"

Cecilia groaned. It was fairly early in the morning, around seven o'clock by her guess, and Rudy and Jack were helping Zed move the rest of the rubble out of the way. However, Jack had resently wound up being more of a burden than a help to the demon.

Rudy pushed the boulder off of Zed's foot and the demon immediately began jumping around on his right foot, holding his left foot in his hand, saying everything that came to his mind. Cecilia had never even known that Zed knew such curse words.

Jack appologized for the fifth time, "I'm so sorry! It slipped out of my hands! I don't have demonic strength like you and Rudy!!" Zed just sat down and muttered something under his breath as he rubbed his still throbbing foot.

Even though she could not see what had happened, Alicia had a very good idea of what Zed was complaining about. She giggled, making sure that no one heard her. Alicia then asked, "Zed, why don't you just leave the boulders where they are?"

Zed replied, "�Cuz you might run into them and hurt yourself." Alicia blushed at the thought of Zed going to all that trouble just to make sure she did not hurt herself.

Zed pressed all of his weight onto his left foot and then turned around to pick up another boulder. Jack, deciding that he should not help with the big rocks anymore, scooped three smaller ones into his arms and threw them outside the gates to Saint Centour. Zed and Rudy, not bothering to go outside the gates to be rid of the rubble, merely threw the boulders over the walls.

"ACK!" came a woman's voice shortly after Zed had thrown a large rock over the wall.

"Huh?!" Cecilia gasped.

Just then, a green beam of light flew through the gates and was absorbed within the Chrono Rune. "What the hell?!" Rudy spoke.

Jack was about to say something when the same voice suddenly shouted behind him, "JACK!" He whirled around and gasped when he saw Elmina rushing toward him. "Jack! I can't believe it!! I thought I'd never see you again!!"

"E-Elmina?" Jack stuttered.

"Lady Harken?" Zed whispered, for he had only known Elmina by her given name. He had never learned her true name.

Elmina wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and said, "I knew you were all right after Alhazad attacked me in the castle! I knew you were safe, even though I was cooped up in their dungeon."

Jack interrupted, "Wait a minute! Y-You can remember what happened?!" Elmina nodded.

"I told you to escape, and you did. I fought Alhazad, but he won. They held me in a dungeon for a long time but I managed to escape. But I must have hit my head or something because I lost my memories."

Dan Diaram spoke in Jack's mind only, "Do not worry. I may have given her back her memories, but I altered a few of them. She no longer has any recollection of her being Lady Harken."
Jack smiled and said as he gazed into Elmina's eyes, "Thank you..."

He groaned and opened his eyes. He was lying in a soft bed, one like he had never slept in before. Boomerang slowly sat up and looked at his surroundings. He was not at an inn, but he was in a building of some sort. Someone's house, maybe? He looked down at himself to see that his wounds had been cleaned and dressed, even though he was still wearing his armor.

Who had taken care of him?

Who in their right mind would take care of him if they knew who he was?

Boomerang stiffly climbed out of the bed and walked to the door. He opened the door and looked outside. He was still on the island, around the center of it. The house rested on a slight hill. On one side of the island was a rocky shore while the rest of the island was surrounded by sandy beaches. Lucied was barking like a puppy as she chased another blue and silver wolf across the sandy beach of the island. The other wolf was as big, if not bigger, than Lucied and looked a lot like her except for three facts: the other wolf looked more like a fox than a wolf; it had extremely large paws and retractable claws; and it had cobra-like eyes.

The third being on the beach was what really caught the demon's attention. She basically looked like a teenage girl, at least a foot shorter than Boomerang. However, a few parts of her did not look exactly human. Her hair came down to her knees and was actually silver! Instead of normal, human ears, she had black, cat-like ears on the top of her head. Lashing behind her was a silver, wolf-like tail with a golden tip. When the creature smiled, Boomerang could see her cat-like fangs. She had beautiful, jade green eyes and tan skin.

What the hell is she?! Boomerang could not help but wonder.

The girl looked up and spoke when she saw Boomerang, "Oh! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

Boomerang walked down the slight hill and replied, "Surprisingly good." The girl smiled.

"I'm Noble Knight," she said. She motioned toward the blue fox/wolf. "That's Seph. We found you and your wolf collapsed on the beach."

Boomerang struggled in vain to find the correct words to thank Noble Knight for her troubles, but she cut him off, "Don't worry about thanking me. I guess it's sorta my job. You have no idea how many people wash up here from shipwrecks and stuff like that."

"Uh...yeah," Boomerang lied, "Yeah, my ship was wrecked by a group of Sirens a few days ago." He winced under the visor that hid his face. He knew that was not what had happened. He had never been on a ship in his life! However, he had promised himself and Lucied that he would start his life over if he ever returned to Filgaia, and now was his chance.

Noble Knight asked, "Where were you headed?"

Boomerang thought, thinking about all the towns that he knew of. "Adlehyde," he blurted out.

Noble Knight laughed, "What a coincedence! I was gonna head out there today. Do you want to come with me?"

Boomerang answered without even thinking, "Sure. It beats travelling alone." Suddenly, he felt like slapping himself. You idiot! he mentally scolded himself, What the hell are you thinking?! You've travelled alone almost all your life and now you suddenly don't want to go to a stupid town without company?!?!

Noble Knight conveyed, "Well...are you sure you're up to it? I mean, you were in pretty bad shape a few minutes ago."

Boomerang nodded and said, "Yeah. I'm a fast healer." Well, at least this time he was telling the truth. "Oh, by the way, this is Lucied. I'm Boomerang."

Noble Knight bent down and pat Lucied on her furry head. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I've got a boat at the rocky part of the island. All four of us will be able to fit pretty comfortably. Come on." With that, she grabbed Boomerang's right hand and led him to the boat at the back of the island.

With a strange feeling rising inside of him, all Boomerang could think at the time was, Oh boy...

"That fool. He doesn't even have the slightest idea that we followed him out of the portal!" Mother laughed.

"I told you that he would turn against us again one day," Zeikfried growled, "Look at him! He's already started to reform!!"

"Don't worry, Ziek. I already have a plan," Mother assured him. "Come, my children." Two figures emerged from the shadows of the structure in which the two demons sat.

"What?! They-"

"Yes. They are identical. Perfectly identical. There is no way we can loose this time, my child."

"Don't worry, Mother," the first figure spoke, "We'll take care of the Dream Chasers for you." With that, the demons burst into laughter.

"WHAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!" the Dream Chasers and Zed screamed after they had heard Dan Diaram's story.

"I am sorry," the Guardian said, "But the demons are returning. In fact, one returned last night. However, he is reforming just a Zed has." Zed scratched his head, trying to make sense of all of this.

He looked at Alicia, who was sitting right beside him, and asked, jokingly, "Why do your dreams always have to come true?"

Alicia just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She responded, "I don't know. Maybe I should start dreaming about getting my eyesight. Maybe that one will come true, too."

Cecilia ignored the two and asked Dan Diaram, "Which demon is reforming? Which one came back last night?"

"That, I cannot say," the Guardian of Time replied, "But I will say this, however. There are two new demons that you must fight. And you will also gain two new allies, not counting the reforming demon. Be careful when fighting the new demons."

Jack wanted to know, "How do you know about the two new demons and our two allies?"

"Hey, I'm the Guardian of Time! It's my job to see into the future!" Dan Diaram laughed, "Too bad I'm not allowed to spoil it for you..."

Zed muttered with a smile, "You can say that, again."

Jack groaned, "Well, it's obvious that we're gonna have to fight the demons again. But I'll tell you right now, I don't want to."

Cecilia laughed, "None of us do. Believe me!"

Elminia laughed evilly, "I do! I can't wait to get my hands on that bastard, Alhazad!! Lock me up in a dungeon for a few years? He's gonna pay!" Jack just grinned.

Zed stood up and said, "Well, we might as well get going. Let's get Emma's help at Adlehyde." The others nodded, except for Alicia, who took Zed's hand in hers.

She then asked, "Zed, please take me with you. I don't want to be here alone with those demons roaming around."

Zed struggled to come up with an answer. He replied, "Of course. You can stay at Adlehyde Castle."

It was a fairly large sailboat, one that would be able to hold seven to nine people comfortably. Lucied seemed to like listening to the waves crash upon the bow of the boat. Boomerang, however, felt like he was going to be sick. "Ugh," he groaned, "Ow...oh man....." Noble Knight looked at him and smiled.

"You're one of those few sailors who gets seasick, huh?" she asked. Boomerang would have replied, but he was afraid that he would in turn wind up throwing up. So, instead, he nodded, but even that made him a little queasier.

Was that what was wrong with him? Was he seasick? Of course Boomerang could not be sure, for he had never before been on a boat or a ship. Only that one time when the Photosphere had been destroyed, but that had only been for a few minutes.

Noble Knight reassured him, "Don't worry, we're almost there. Only about ten more minutes." Once again, Boomerang could not respond. His stomach felt like it was twisting into three dozen knots, and he was also beginning to feel light-headed.

Noble Knight just shook her head in pity. She did not know how he felt. She had never been seasick before. As Boomerang looked at her and Seph, his eyes widened as Seph suddenly spoke, "You might want to avoid ships from now on."

Boomerangs eyes managed to choke, "Y-You can talk?!" Lucied was the Guardian of Desire and even she could not talk! Was Seph a Guardian as well?

Noble Knight giggled, "How come every time something non- human speaks, the first words that come out somebody's mouth are, �You can talk?!'?" Boomerang just shook his head to try and clear it of the cobwebs that were forming.

Seph looked out over the ocean and said, "You can see Adlehyde now. Not much longer." Boomerang was so relieved that he could have jumped up and danced...that is...if he weren't leaning over the side of the boat.....

The trip to Adlehyde had been a short one for the Dream Chasers, Elmina, Alicia, and Zed, for they had used Captain Bartholomew's ship, the Sweet Candy, to get there. Jack yawned as they entered the city. He then asked as they walked through the castle gates, "Can we find somethin' to eat first? I'm starving!"

Elmina laughed, "You're ALWAYS starving!!"

"So sue me."

Zed was about to say something when his stomach began to growl. Cecilia smiled at them and said, "Well, I guess we can grab something at the castle's kitchen--" She cut herself off when she thought she saw a familiar figure through an open doorway. Was that? she thought, No, it couldn't be. We killed him at the Ancient Arena...

Boomerang looked over the application form several times before answering the questions. He, Lucied, Noble Knight, and Seph had all gotten to Adlehyde castle about ten minutes ago, and Boomerang had decided to quickly live up to his promise before he made a huge mistake and was sent back down to where he had just escaped from. The demon had decided to enroll in the Adlehyde guard as a soldier or a knight, but he had to fill out a questionnaire first.
Boomerang had absolutely no idea where Noble Knight was. She had left him shortly after he entered the castle along with Seph.

Finally, Boomerang took a pencil and filled in the answers to the questions:

Name: Boomerang

Age: I stopped counting at 30

Sex: Plenty

Education: None but I know curse words in eleven planets' languages

Skill: Lots, why else would I be here?

Relatives: Yes, they're all in hell where they belong

Partner(s): Open your eyes. Does the wolf give you any clue?

Why do you want to become a soldier?: Because I like to dismember and disembowel

Comments: None that you would like

As Boomerang walked away, he asked Lucied, "What was his problem? I answered the quesitons." Lucied seemed to shrug.

"Hey Boomerang!" came Noble Knight's voice. Boomerang groaned. He had thought that she would have left him alone after he had gotten to Adlehyde. He thought that that was why she had left him while he was filling out the question sheet.

Noble Knight ran into the hallway in which the demon stood, closely followed behind by Seph. "Hey, Boomerang," she said, "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Boomerang had to ask.

Noble Knight giggled, "To eat. I'm starving!!"

Boomerang thought for a minute and then replied, "I'm not all that hungry, but I'll come with you, anyway." Noble Knight smiled, seeming to be happy that he was coming with her. Why would she be happy about that? Boomerang thought. However, he had no idea what he had gotten himself into as Noble Knight took hold of his wrist again and pulled him with her toward the cafe.

Jack, Cecilia, Elmina, and Rudy burst out laughing at a joke that Zed had told them. Zed smiled. He still had it! Even though he had �reformed'. It was just the five of them in the cafe near the inn of Adlehyde. Professor Emma was taking care of Alicia and escorting her around the castle while the demon and the Dream Chasers got something to eat. They had had to go to the cafe because it was way too busy in the kitchen and the chefs had kicked them out.

Rudy spoke through his laughter, "You know. I can't help but wonder which demon Dan Diaram meant when he said that another one was reforming." Zed just shrugged.

Elmina replied, "Sure as hell can't be Zeikfried." Zed nodded with a smile.

Cecilia suggested, "Belselk, maybe?"

Zed yelled, "HELL NO!!" They all looked at him. Using considerably less force this time, Zed stated, "Look, I know, or rather knew, all four of the demons. And I can tell you right now that I can't imagine any of them reforming."

Jack just shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "But all I can say is that we've gotta be careful. The other demons might now of this...'reformed' one and might use that information to get the drop on us." The others could not agree more.

"What in the world?!" Rudy gasped.

Elmina asked, "What?" Rudy pointed toward the entrance to the cafe. Then, they saw her.

Basicly, she looked like a teenage girl except for four things. Her hair came down to her knees and was silver. When she smiled, they could see her cat-like fangs. Also, instead of normal, human ears, she had black, cat-like ears on the top of her head. Probably the strangest thing about her was the fact that she had a silver, wolf-like tail with a golden tip. Her jade green eyes sparkled in the light of the room.

Beside her stood a large, blue and silver fox which was actually the size of a wolf. It had the large paws and retractable claws of a tiger and the eyes of a cobra.

Rudy looked at Zed and asked, "Um...does she look like one of those other two demons?"

Zed just shrugged and replied, "I don't know. But she doesn't look like somethin' from Mother--"

Cecilia cut him off with a gasp, "Guys! I think we just found a demon!!" The other four followed her gaze and, to their horror, saw one of the strongest demons enter the cafe.

Boomerang.

Fire and rage errupted in Boomerang's cold heart when his eyes locked onto the three Dream Chasers that had killed him in the Ancient Arena. Lucied growled, baring her fangs.

The Dream Chasers and Zed leapt to their feet, accidently knocking their chairs over in the process. Zed, Jack, and Elmina quickly unsheathed their swords. Rudy locked and loaded his Hand Cannon ARM while Cecilia readied her staff.

Jack could not help but say, "I thought you were dead! We killed you in the Ancient Arena!!"

Boomerang retorted, his voice cold as ice like it had been before his second death, "Yes, you did. And don't think for a second that I haven't forgotten it!!" With that, the demon hit Rudy with his Crescent Fang. The Holmcross cried out in both surprise and pain before he flew across the room, slamming into the wall.

The battle began.

The Dream Chasers and Zed all ganged up on Boomerang and Lucied, attacking them with full force. Noble Knight just looked at Seph and grinned. Seph's cobra-like eyes widened and he practically commanded, "Noble Knight! Do not even think about it!!"

Noble Knight protested, "Oh, Sephy! It's just a little skirmish! Besides, Boomerang needs help. He's far too weak to fight all five of them by himself." With that, she screamed, distracting the battling warriors, "Knights....RIDE!!!!" Boomerang whirled around to see what his accomplice was up to as did the Dream Chasers and Zed.

Noble Knight's grin became wider as she was surrounded by a silvery glow. With a bright flash of silver light, she was instantly dressed in black and silver armor with a black and silver helmet. Strapped to her black belt was a sword and connected to her wrists were ten-inch long daggers. Before she had entered the cafe, she had been wearing black, cloth pants and a grey t-shirt. Noble Knight grinned and laughed, "Stand back, Boomerang! I'll handle them!!"

"WHAT?!" Boomerang demanded. He had known Lady Harken before she was killed by the Dream Chaser, Jack, in Arctica Castle, but she had been the only female warrior that Boomerang had ever let fight beside him or for him. Sometimes he thought if he was being sexist.

Noble Knight unsheathed her gold-colored sword and leaped toward Elmina. The females' swords clashed. They thrust and parried for several moments while Boomerang and Lucied fought the other Dream Chasers. Suddenly, Noble Knight chanted, "Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson. Let thy power gather in my hand!" A scarlet light began to form in the palm of her hand. "Fire....BALL!!" She threw the fireball at Elmina, hitting the Sword Princess fully and causing her to fly backwards right into Cecilia and Rudy.

Seph groaned and lept forward, pinning Jack to the ground with his large paws. Rudy fired his Twin Orbs ARM at Seph who dodged, giving Jack just enough time to get off of the floor and run over to the other three Dream Chasers. Cecilia stated, "It's obvious that these two are gonna be more of a problem than Boomerang and Lucied. Let's get rid of them first, then we'll go after Boomerang." Jack and Elmina nodded.

Rudy asked, "Do you think Zed can handle both Boomerang and Lucied alone?"

Jack answered, "Knowing Zed, probably not, but we've gotta get rid of the girl and the other dog first." The other three nodded and charged forward.

Meanwhile, Zed brought his sword down again and again, each time to be blocked by one of Boomerang's namesakes. Suddenly, Zed did something that Boomerang had not expected. Zed brought the Doom Bringer over his head to strike again, but instead of bringing it down, he thrust out his leg and kicked Boomerang in the rib cage.

There was a loud crack. Boomerang gasped and cried out in pain as his already fragile ribs snapped again. He fell to his knees, clutching his right side. Lucied leaped over her master and lunged at Zed with her attack Large Moon. Zed winced and groaned as Lucied's fangs clamped down on his left bicep. The Guardian of Desire used her momentum to knock Zed onto his back, the Doom Bringer sliding across the floor away from him. With this accomplished, she pinned the demon down and brought her fangs just inches away from his face.

Boomerang slowly climbed to his feet, still clutching his, once again, broken ribs. He spoke, his voice hiding the pain he was feeling, "Lucied. Off." With a disappointed growl, Lucied leapt off of Zed. "Back." Lucied sat beside her master. Zed quickly got to his feet, his hand clamped over his bleeding arm. Boomerang set his namesakes behind him, totally confusing Zed. Why was he discarding his weapons? He had an advantage now. "C'mon, Runt! Let's go!!"

Jack and Elmina looked at each other and abruptly stopped fighting Noble Knight when the clashing of weapons across the room came to a halt. The two Fenril Knights looked at Zed and Boomerang to see that they were now without their weapons. The Doom Bringer was across the room and Boomerang's namesakes were just behind him. Now, instead of fighting blade against throwing weapon, they were in a huge fist fight. A fight that Boomerang soon discovered was more in his league.

The two demons traded blows, neither seeming to do more or less damaged to the other. Suddenly, Boomerang grabbed Zed by the back of his neck and slammed the green-haired demon's face onto a hardwood table several times before releasing him and giving him a pretty mean right cross. Zed, caught off balance, fell to his knees, just to become the victim of a strong kick to the stomach.

Zed quickly got back to his feet, coughing from having the wind knocked out of him. He then caught Boomerang off guard by backhanding him. Boomerang, however, responded with a kick to the groin.

Suddenly, a white sphere surrounded both Boomerang and Noble Knight. They were lifted off of the ground and brought to each other, back to back. As they floated in the spheres of light, no matter how hard they tried, they could not move. It was as if they were locked to each other. As if their backs had been fused together.

Dan Diaram's voice shouted, echoing off of the walls of the now totally wrecked cafe, "Stop it right this instant!!"

Zed, balancing himself on a table, spat out a mouthful of blood and gently rubbed a large bruise on his left cheek. His left eye had attained a purplish-black texture.

Lucied attacked the sphere that held her master with every attack she knew, but nothing worked. It was a sphere made by one of her superior Guardians, the Guardian of Time. If it had been made by Zeldukes, the Castle Guardian, she would have been able to break it with ease.

Rudy protested, "But Dan Diaram, you said that one of the demons has reformed and a few of the others have returned. It's obvious that Boomerang's not the reformed one."

Zed added, "Yeah! And aside from Zeik, Boomer's the one that I'd least expect to change."

The Dream Chasers and Zed looked at Noble Knight as she suddenly spoke, "D-Demon?" She looked at Boomerang. "You're a demon? You told me you were a sailor!" The Dream Chasers looked at her and then at Boomerang.

Boomerang spoke with almost perfect sarcasm, "Okay, so I'm a good liar. So sue me!!" Lucied barked at the Dream Chasers, her ears flat against her head.

Dan Diaram continued, "I SAID you would gain two new allies not counting the reforming demon!"

Rudy protested, "But you also said that there were two more demons. Isn't she one of them?" He pointed toward Noble Knight.

Noble Knight snapped, "SHIT!! I knew it was a bad idea to come here! Now everyone's accusing me of being a demon! Seph, do something!!" Seph stood beside Lucied and sighed.

"Very well," he replied.

Dan Diaram did not say anything. Jack spoke, "Even Lucied can't break that thing. What makes you think you can?"

Seph seemed to smile. With that, he threw his head up and howled. A thick shaft of ice encased the white sphere which held the girl and the demon. With a maniacal laugh, Noble Knight thrust her fist outwards and shattered the ice, taking the sphere with it. She and Boomerang landed on the floor of the cafe and stood up.

"WHAT?!?!?!" Dan Diaram shrieked, "How the hell did you do that?!?!?!?!" Noble Knight just laughed. Lucied growled at the Dream Chasers and Zed, staying between them and her master as Boomerang strapped his namesakes onto his back again. Seph stood up straight, ready to strike if any of the five Dream Chasers tried anything. Noble Knight kept a hand on the hilt of her sword.

Suddenly, everyone's attention was averted as Boomerang groaned and leaned against the wall, clutching his right side. Noble Knight walked over to him and growled, "Great! It took me an hour to set your ribs before!!"

Boomerang retorted, "I'll be fine. Lucied, come." He and the Guardian started to leave the cafe when Cecilia suddenly stopped him.

"Um..." she stuttered, "Can you tell me something?"

Boomerang paused in the doorway. "When did you come back? How did you get here?"

Not bothering to turn around, Boomerang answered simply, "Last night. I came with Noble Knight on a small boat." With that, he left.

Noble Knight looked at Seph and laughed, not paying attention to the others in the cafe, "Do you know who he reminds me of?" Seph nodded, seeming to smile.

Zed asked, "DD? Why'd you stop us from fighting them?"

Elmina added, "Yeah! I mean, sure, he was beating the living shit outta Zed, but..." Zed glared at her.

Dan Diaram replied, "I had hoped that you humans would have figured it out for yourselves..."

Rudy asked, "What? Figure out what?"

The Guardian of Time responded, shocking everyone, "Boomerang is the reformed demon...."

"DAMN IT!!!!" Boomerang cursed, "I sure am getting a good start at this!!" He hit his head against the trunk of a tree several times. "Damn it...why is it so hard for me to not fight?!" Lucied whimpered. "Lucied...maybe I'm not meant to change. Maybe I'm supposed to be a killing machine...." His voice trailed off.

He and Lucied were walking through the dense forest to the northwest of Adlehyde. Where they were going, however, was anyone's guess. Boomerang had finally decided to forget about Adlehyde and was now headed northwest. He wanted to get as far away from the Dream Chasers as demonicly possible.

As they walked through the forest, Boomerang's hand clutched his side again. "ARGH!" he growled, "Damn you, Zed..."

Lucied barked at her master as if to say, "Don't strain yourself."

Boomerang let out a halfhearted laugh and pat Lucied on the head. He then said to the Guaridan, "Okay...so I am a good liar. I'm not as fine as I told her I'd be." He winced and grasped his side again. They walked a little further through the forest, soon coming to a small river.

The demon sat down by the riverside, removed his visored helmet, and gazed at his reflection. Even though Boomerang had been wearing his helmet and armor, Zed had still managed to leave some damage. Boomerang started to put his helmet back on, but stopped to look at his reflection again.

No one had ever seen him without his helmet. Even Lucied had rarely seen the demon's face. Boomerang liked having an air of mystery about him, that was part of the reason why he hid his face behind the visor. The other reason was because he was shamed of what he looked like.

(Author's Note: No one knows what Boomerang really looks like, and that's a fact. So I'm just guessing here and writing down what I think he would look like. If you got a problem with it...LIVE WITH IT!! just kidding =)

Boomerang was shamed because he looked exactly like a human. He gazed into the water, staring at his jet black hair and deep brown eyes. His tan skin further added to his human-like appearance. Even Zed had his blue skin and green hair to differ him from humans, but Boomerang was a perfect replica.

(Another Author's Note: I know...Zed doesn't have blue skin...but for some reason I keep thinking he does. So I'm leaving it that way. =P )

The demon sighed and put his helmet back on, but not before splashing his face with the water to clean some of the cuts that he had received in the battle. "Come on, Lucied," Boomerang said once he had his helmet on again, "Let's go." They walked a little further through the trees before Boomerang stopped again. He groaned, "But where are we going?! Damn...if I hadn't promised myself I'd change, I'd probably go back to Guardian hunting or something...but...something just doesn't feel right about that anymore...." He leaned against a tree and slid down the trunk into a sitting position.

The demon looked at the sky which was growing dark and beginning to fill with stars. "It's too late to think about that now..." He looked at Lucied. "Let's worry about it in the morning." Lucied seemed to nod as she lay down beside her master, wrapping her tail around his waist to keep him warm.

Before going to sleep, Boomerang looked at the blue wolf and asked with a small laugh, "You're the Guardian of Desire. I desire to know what the hell is wrong with me!"

"Okay..." Noble Knight started, becoming more and more confused with each word that the Dream Chasers spoke, "The three of you killed off all the demons except one three years ago, right?" Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia nodded. "But now they're back. And ol' DD here says that me and Seph are supposed to help you kill the demons again?" She, Jack, Cecilia, Seph, and Rudy were all in Cecilia's room in Adlehyde Castle. Dan Diaram and Cecilia had just gotten through explaining everything to Noble Knight and Seph, and were waiting for her decision of whether or not she would help them.
Dan Diaram replied, "Yes...and please...don't call me that."

Noble Knight grinned and retorted, "Whatever you say, DD." Dan Diaram glared at her.

"OW!!" came Zed's voice.

He was followed by Elmina saying, "Sorry, but Lucied cut into your arm pretty deep."

"You don't need to tell me twice!"

Noble Knight sighed, "Well...I guess it couldn't hurt to help." She stood up and extended a hand toward Rudy. "What the hell? Sign me up!"

Rudy shook her hand and spoke, "You're a strong fighter. I bet you'll be a big help."

Noble Knight then said, "But let me tell you guys one thing. I don't do well with authority. And I usually don't follow orders." Cecilia sighed.

Jack started to say something when Elmina and Zed entered the room. Zed's left arm was bandaged up from where Lucied had attacked him and he was holding an ice pack over his left eye to bring down the swelling. Zed spoke as he looked in a mirror to see what shape his eye was in, "What I don't understand is how Boomer can be the demon that's supposed to help us!"

Dan Diaram asked, "But is he not the one demon who has never been either for or against the humans?"

Zed thought for a moment and then replied, "Well...now that you mention it...he always has been kinda in the middle."

"I suggest you find him and talk him into helping you. Try to persuade him," came a soft voice. Everyone whirled around to see Alicia standing in the doorway. "Face it. You're going to need all the help you can get!" she added with a lopsided grin.

Jack laughed, "She's got a point! If there are two new demons-"

"Three." Alicia corrected, cutting him off.

"WHAT?!?!" everyone in the room, including Dan Diaram, screamed.

Alicia looked in the direction in which Zed's voice had come from and said, "Like you said, �Why do my dreams always have to come true?'. It was last night. I saw the shadows of two demons, but then a third showed up. Two were males the third was a female."

Zed almost died right then and there. Another demon?! That made three new ones that he and the Dream Chasers knew nothing about.

Rudy shook his head and asked no one in particular, "How the hell are we gonna do this?"

Alicia thought to herself, I could help you, but...

Dan Diaram was silent for several moments. Finally, he stated, "She is right. There is a third demon. She showed up just this afternoon."

Noble Knight thought for a minute before asking, "Is it like demons to attack someone, run a few tests on him, and leave him alive?"

Zed responded, "If it was Belselk, definatly not. But if it was just Zeik...maybe...why?"

Noble Knight sighed, "Well...after I found Boomerang on the beach...a guy showed up who was dressed in purple armor and red cape. His helmet hid his face and he was carrying a big spear. He attacked me and I fought him for a while. Then he ran a few tests on me and left..."

"ZEIKFRIED?!?!" Zed shouted, "Aw maaaaan!! Now we're in trouble!"

Cecilia groaned, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "We noticed that when Dan Diaram first told us about the demons returning."

Jack said, "After all we're going through, we should be in the history books!"

"SHUT UP, JACK!!!!" Rudy, Cecilia, Elmina, and Zed yelled.

Zeikfried laughed, "Perfect!! All three of them are exactly identical!!"

Mother spoke, "Yes. And they are the perfect warriors! Those pesky humans cannot hurt them without hurting their friends."

One of the male demons laughed, "It's gonna be a piece of cake killing all of them."

The female grinned and said, "Yep! You can count on us!"

The second male just grinned and nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. The five demons then burst into maniacal laughter, determined that Filgaia would be theirs this time around.....

"Can I come in?" Zed asked as he knocked on Alicia's bedroom door.

"Sure!" came the soft reply. The green-haired demon slowly entered the room to see the blind girl leaning against the windowsill of her given room. Alicia was still wearing her sunglasses, but her walking staff was leaning on the wall beside her bed.

Zed walked over to her and stood beside her, looking at her face. He had never seen her eyes before. Whenever he had ever tried to see what color they were, she would either turn her head or close them. The way she kept her eyes closed all the time gave Zed the creeps which was the main reason why he had given her the sunglasses.

Alicia asked, breaking into his thoughts, "Well..." She turned to him. "What do you need?"

Zed answered, "I was wondering if you could see what those demons in your dream looked like. So maybe the others and I could identify them whenever we run into them." (IDENTIFY?! That definately doesn't sound like ZED!! =P )

Alicia thought for a minute. She then shook her head and replied, "No...I could only see their shadows." She sighed and then asked, "Are the six of you leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah. We're gonna go see if we can find Boomer and Lucied."

"And you're going with them, right?"

"Sure am! With three new demons runnin' around, they're gonna need all the help they can get!" He grinned and continued. "Um...I want you to stay here. It's the safest place I can think of right now...."

Alicia laughed. "It's okay. I won't leave the castle if that's what you're worried about." Zed blushed slightly.

"Um...well..." he stuttered, heading for the door, "Good night, Alicia..."

"Good night, Zed."

"AAAACK!!!!" Boomerang shrieked as he was rudely awakened by the rising sun. Blinking to try and get his sight back, the demon slowly rose to his feet, clutching his side. He groaned and leaned against the tree. His ribs were hurting five times worse than they had the day before. "Ow...damn...I need a doctor...what the hell's wrong with me?" He winced as he and Lucied started to walk northwest again. "Damn you, Zed...."

Lucied whimpered and nuzzled her master. Boomerang smiled slightly and said to the blue wolf, "It's okay, Lucied. I'll be fine--OW!!" He clutched his side and leaned against a tree. "Damn it...what's wrong with me?!"

Suddenly, screams and roars flooded his hearing. Boomerang looked around, searching for the source of the screams. Then, he saw the origin. A group of four teenage boys and girls were being attacked by a pack of twenty goblins. At first Boomerang did not do anything, for he was trying to understand something.

Something was happening inside him. He used to love hearing the screams of humans as death closed in on them. He used to love watching the fingers of the Grim Reaper close around them. However, he found that he could not just stand there in the trees and watch the humans die.

Before he knew what he was doing, Boomerang whipped out one of his namesakes and threw it at the pack of goblins, killing four of them instantly. The last sixteen goblins immediately whirled around and charged at him. Lucied leapt forward and killed three of the goblins with her spell the Purple Electric Revised. One of the goblins swung its club, hitting Boomerang's right arm. The demon winced and countered with his Crescent Fang. Lucied was mauling goblins left and right, using every attack she knew from Purple Electric to Black Fang. The last three swung their clubs at Boomerang.

Boomerang dodged one, was hit on the left shoulder by a second, and took a hit to his ribs from the third. His eyes widened as he screamed in pain. As Lucied finished off the three goblins with her attack Large Moon, Boomerang stumbled backwards, his back slamming into a large tree.

His arms wrapped around his sides, Boomerang slowly slid down the trunk of the tree and into a sitting position. His vision began to haze over and his breath was starting to come out in gasps. He looked up in time to see the four teenagers run over to him before unconsciousness enveloped him and his vision went completely black.

*knock...knock...knock*

"Go away..." he groaned.

"Zed! Wake up!! Otherwise we'll never find Boomerang!!" came Rudy's response. Zed groaned and slowly climbed out of the bed that Cecilia had assigned to him while he was staying in Adlehyde. He tied on his headband, strapped the Doom Bringer to his belt, and started for the door. However, he stopped just long enough to look in the mirror at his still blackish-purple eye. The swelling was down tremendously, but it still looked pathetic.

"It's about time!" Cecilia teased as Zed slowly entered the throne room of Adlehyde castle.

Zed simply retorted, "I feel like a herd of horses just ran over me, so LAY OFF!!"

(Note: I don't know what people on Filgaia ride. The FF world has chocobos, but Sony never told us what Filgaians ride. So I'm just assuming that they ride horses.)

Jack tried his best not to laugh. Zed asked, rubbing his extremely sore arm, "Where are we gonna look first? Knowing Boomer, he could be miles away by now!"

Noble Knight replied, straping her sword to her belt, "DD said that he'd help us find him."

Dan Diaram spoke, "For the last time: DON'T CALL ME THAT!!"

Noble Knight retorted, "Sure! Whatever, DD."

Seph asked, "But how do you plan to find him? Do you have tracking capabilities or something?"

Dan Diaram retorted with a hint of vanity in his voice, "I'm the Guardian of Time. I can predict where he will be in a certain time!"

Rudy whispered to Elmina, making sure that Dan Diaram did not hear him, "He's starting to remind me of Zed." It took all of Elmina's willpower to prevent herself from bursting into laughter.

Cecilia then spoke, picking up her staff, "Let's go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can find him."

However, just as they started to leave the throne room, Alicia's voice yelled, "WAIT!!" The Dream Chasers, Zed, Noble Knight, and Seph whirled around to see Alicia entering the room. Noble Knight's eyes narrowed as she gazed at the girl. Something was not right about her and it gave the �creature' the creeps.

Alicia was trying her best to hide her exhaustion. She had run all the way to the throne room from her room. A normal, blind person would not have been able to do so without either running into walls or tripping on everything. However, Alicia was the only one who knew she was anything but �normal'.

She said, taking something from her small, leather belt, "Here. Take this with you, Zed." She handed him a small, ocean- blue stone. Carved into the stone was the zodiac symbol of Gemini. "It always gave me luck, now maybe it will help you."

"Um...thanks," Zed replied. He had no idea what to make of the stone. He had never seen anything like it. The blue of the stone was the same color as his eyes, though. That much he could make out.

"Let's go," Cecilia repeated. With that, Zed stuffed the stone into his pocket and followed the Dream Chasers, Noble Knight, and Seph.

As they left, Alicia grinned and said halfway to herself, "I'll be watching you..." Then, she, too, took her leave and went back to her room.

Zed yawned and asked, "Exactly where are we going?" He, the Dream Chasers, Noble Knight, and Seph had already made it out of the sight of Adlehyde and were walking slowly through the forest to the west of the kingdom. Occasionally, Zed's hand would trail up to his throbbing arm. Somehow, touching it helped to ease the pain.

Cecilia answered, "Dan Diaram said that we should try the Curan Abbey first, but I seriously doubt that Boomerang would want to go there." Zed burst out laughing.

"Curan Abbey?!" he said through his laughter, "That would be the LAST place he'd go!!"