I decided to fly on top of Ace to get to the Marquis' place because I thought it would be a fun experience.

Flying is NOT fun.

Walking is for winners. Flying is for losers.

Imagine sitting on a rollercoaster cart.

Now, imagine that this rollercoaster goes 100,000 miles per hour.

Super fast rollercoasters are around 100 miles per hour.

So...Let's just say that the flight I had on top of Ace was...one of the worst things that I have ever experienced...

Needless to say, we arrived somewhere near the Marquis' estate. Ace landed a little bit away from the estate so we could figure out a way to sneak in quietly.

I'm sure if Ace wanted to, he could fly straight into Mattius' window without getting caught.

The only problem is that I would get caught.

"Let's give Mattius a taste of his own medicine and sneak through his bedroom window when he doesn't expect it..." I muttered to Ace quietly.

"...No," Ace replied after a brief pause.

Thus, both Ace and I began to slowly move toward Marquis Scott's house.

I began to feel shivers the closer I got to the place.

This...area...had a dark feeling...

"Is it just me...or is this place giving me the creeps...?" I asked as I turned my body toward him.

"...No...this place...it's..." Ace murmured.

"...Would you care to elaborate...?" I urged Ace to continue.

"Dark energy."

"What does that mean?"

"Something bad happened."

"Okay..."

I sighed to myself.

Things were getting creepy.

The Marquis' place was pretty big...but it obviously wasn't as big as my place.

I wonder what could have happened here...

We continued to walk while completely erasing our presence until we reached the side of the Marquis' main building.

At this point, the weird aura this place was giving off nearly overwhelmed me.

My knees became weak and I was about to sink to the ground before Ace used his wind magic to pick me up.

"Be careful," Ace said with complete seriousness.

"Y-Yeah..." I muttered.

All we had to do was go into the building, find Mattius, interrogate him a little, and then leave here as soon as possible.

We found the nearest window and used a little strength to force it open. Through the window, we entered and took a look around.

I nodded to Ace and we began to quietly sneak down the halls.

So far, I didn't sense the presence of anyone nearby...which was weird because I should've been able to sense at least one maid or servant by now.

"Why is there no one here???" I asked quietly.

"...I don't know," Ace replied slowly.

This was getting weird. Too weird.

As I was contemplating the numerous different possibilities of what was happening, I heard someone banging on a closed door.

I think I heard...a woman...crying...

Immediately, I ran to the location of the sound and opened the closed door.

I expected the door to be locked...but it wasn't...

When I opened it, I didn't see a single person inside.

The room was completely empty without a single trace of life.

"Who's there," a man's voice said behind me.

I froze at the sound of a new voice and slowly turned my head behind me.

Then, I saw him.

Mattius!

"Uh...Ahem...I knew you'd come here..." I spoke as I tried to sound smart and play it cool.

"C-Cordelia?!" Mattius squeaked when he realized it was me.

"Yes, it is I, Cordelia," I said slowly.

"H-Huh?! W-Why...?!" Mattius yelped as he backed away from me.

"...Explain to me what you were trying to do yesterday. Normally, people don't go through people's windows for just a simple visit," I spoke with suspicion in my voice.

"Oh...Yesterday..."

"What happened?! You never told me."

"Cordelia..."

"What?"

"I need your help, please..."

"Huh?"

"I-I need your help!"

"With what?"

"I need your help to become one with another guy!"

I spat out every bit of saliva in my mouth on reflex.

"What..."

"Please! I can't get to him myself..." Mattius pleaded.

"No...wait...Are you being serious...?"

"Yes! Please! We were meant to be one together...but right now we're not!!"

"Who and what are we talking about...?"

As I was about to question him further, a wall of fire erupted between me and Mattius.

I looked at the door of the room in shock and saw Ace staring daggers at Mattius.

The wall of fire should have made the room hotter...but I swear the room got colder.

"A-Ace...calm down...H-he isn't doing anything right now..." I stuttered.

I shuddered to myself.

If I was getting scared...I can't even imagine how scared Mattius was.

"Y-YOU'RE HERE TOO?!" Mattius yelled as he realized what was happening.

"..." Ace didn't reply to Mattius.

His silence was unsettling.

"Ace...I'm planning on asking Mattius a few questions...preferably without killing him...Get rid of your fire..." I commanded softly.

Ace stared at me straight in the eye for a long moment before he got rid of his magic.

"G-Good. Mattius...Repeat what you were saying earlier..." I asked as I moved to Mattius.

"S-So...I...I need y-your h-help t-to r-reconnect m-me with m-my other h-half..." Mattius stuttered uncontrollably in the presence of Ace.

"...What...does that mean?"

"W-Well there's a long s-story and..."

"Just tell me."

"O-Okay...S-So...there's another half of me and he's like my clone but he technically isn't my clone because he's the other half of me and I need your help to get him back because only you know where he is and I don't so if you could please help I would appreciate it a lot because I want to reconnect with my other self before it is too late," Mattius rushed through his words.

"Huh? I thought you were asking me to help you get marrie-"

"My parents may or may not have a huge death wish on you too because you're the crown princess and the Duke's daughter and you have a lot of powerful magic and you seem super strong and you're favored by the king and they have this huge grudge on your father and they were asked by somebody to kill you and they accepted and so they've been plotting your death for the past few years but you survived all of them."

"Wait. Slow down. You're telling me...that there are two of you?! And also that your parents tried to kill me a few times?!"

"Y-YES!"

"I'm still confused..."

"My s-soul was split apart i-into two pieces due to an a-accident...The other h-half of my soul c-contains half of my personality...h-half of m-my magic...a-and half of......"

"Half of what?"

"My...memories...I can't remember anything that has happened between when I was five years old to ten years old. Five years of my memories are missing," Mattius said without stuttering.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean...?"

"When I split, each half of my soul took on a human body. I'm one of those halves. The other half of me has gone missing...I need to find him..."

"What???"

"He has the other half of my magic too! The 'complete' me would have air and beast taming magic...but since I am only half of me...I only have beast taming magic...and half of my MP..."

"Why the heck would you believe that I would know where your other-half-thingy is?! Sorry, but I don't think I can help you...Also, you're terrible at explanations. I'm still confused."

"N-NO! Y-You definitely k-know where or who he is! You m-met him at the l-last Royal Festival!" Mattius yelled.

"Huh?"

"...B-Back then...my parents wanted y-you to d-die on the prince's tenth b-birthday to make some s-sort of statement..."

"...Why..."

"They f-forced me to separate you f-from your group...so I d-did..."

"And...?"

"My parents p-planned on killing y-you themselves...b-but something went w-wrong and y-you were lost and when you were f-found..."

"What."

"Y-You w-were found w-with the b-bodies of t-two assassins..."

"Yeah? And?"

"They were t-the same assassins my p-parents sent after my other half and..."

"Excuse me?! They sent assassins after their own son's other half?!"

"Y-Yeah..."

"I'm still very confused..."

"B-Basically...My body has split in two. The other half of me has half of everything about me. I want to find him and reconnect our bodies. You know where he is. Please help!"

"Okay...But I don't even know who your other half is!"

"D-Didn't y-you m-meet a boy around my age that l-looked like me at the festival???"

"Pfft. What are you talking about? Of course, I didn't meet a boy your age that looks like you because that would be crazy-"

Wait.

Now that I think about it...

No way.

Deux?!?!

I met Deux after saving him from two assassins but...

...I mean, both Mattius and Deux are the same height and they both share blue eyes...but their auras(?) are so different that I would never consider them to be the same person.

Besides, Deux's face is always covered, so I don't even know for a fact if he's telling the truth or not.

"How do I know you're not lying?!" I accused Mattius.

"I'M NOT! I-I PROMISE!!!!" Mattius yelled.

"I know who you're talking about...I saved him at the festival and I'm currently hiding him somewhere...but how do I know yo-"

I was about to doubt Mattius even more but I was interrupted.

"Cordelia. What are you...saying...?" Ace said slowly as his words coated my body in a sheet of cold air.

Shoot.

"Yeah...I forgot to tell you..." I murmured as I immediately looked to the floor.

I wasn't planning on looking at Ace's face...especially when he sounded so angry...

"Who are you hiding. And where," Ace murmured.

"...I'm hiding Deux in the forest behind our place..." I replied quietly.

"You...Why didn't you tell me...?" Ace questioned softly.

"Ace...I didn't tell you because Duex was trying to keep himself completely hidden. He didn't want anyone to know where he was..." I replied to Ace.

Ace didn't say anything for a long time.

The empty silence made me a little nervous.

".......I understand that...but...couldn't you have trusted me...?"

It was at that moment...I knew I had messed up bad.

At the sound of his words, my own heart seemed to split into two.

"N-No...It's not that...I just thought that...you were already mad at me so...I didn't...It's just..." I struggled to come up with a good reason.

"Why are you still so clueless, Cordelia...? It's been years and you still haven't figured it out...?" Ace said with pain in his voice.

"Figured what out...?"

"..."

"What?"

"...Mattius. Get out now. We'll call you back in when we need you," Ace said with a cold voice that sent shivers down my spine.

Mattius didn't respond as he gladly left the room.

The moment Mattius left, Ace moved toward me and bit my neck hard before I had time to react.

I winced as I felt my blood flow down my neck.

"S-Stop...P-Please..." I choked out weakly as I tried to move away from him.

But Ace didn't budge and drunk multiple gulps of my blood.

He only needed a small sip of my blood to transform into a human...so why...

By the time he finally took his last sip of my blood, he had already turned into a human.

He let me go and took his hand to wipe away a small stream of blood that dripped from his lips.

His shining green eyes looked at me with an emotion that I couldn't describe in words.

"You don't understand...Why don't you understand...?" Ace murmured as he moved forward toward me.

I tried to back away, but Ace cornered me against a wall.

I finally realized how tall Ace had become. In his dragon form, he could barely be considered big in comparison to a human...but when he became a human...he was certainly very tall.

He stared downward straight into my eyes as he used his slightly muscled arms to trap me on both sides.

"Cordelia...What have you done to me...?" Ace asked with a shaky breath.

"Ace..."

"Sometimes, you make me want to lose control...Don't you understand...?" Ace spoke as he took one of his hands to lift up my chin to his face.

"...What do you mean by losing control?"

"This is why I can barely talk to you...You make me feel things I don't want to feel...But I can't. I can't hurt you...I'd rather hurt myself..."

"..."

"You keep toying with my heart...Cordelia...Why won't you say anything...?"

"..."

"It hurts..." Ace said with so much pain in his voice that it messed up my train of thought.

"..."

"I'm scared...I've been scared...You always seem like you're on the verge of leaving me...What happens if I stop caring about how you feel and I lose control of my actions and I jus-"

"A-Ace..." I murmured as I wrapped my arms around Ace's neck and brought him close to my body for a hug.

"..." Ace didn't say anything as he stood limply in my hug.

We stood quietly like this for a while before Ace broke the silence.

"Cordelia...why do you always seem like you're ready to fly away somewhere that I can't follow? I'm scared. I'm scared, Cordelia. I'm so scared..."

"...I'm not going anywhere...I'm not hurt...I won't die..." I murmured quietly into Ace's ears.

All this time...Ace was just worried about me...

...I feel stupid for not realizing it earlier.

I think Ace cried a little, but I couldn't see his face properly in my hug.

Even I...maybe cried a little.

Maybe.

But even if I did cry, I wouldn't let Ace notice it.

"I'm sorry...Ace...I'm so sorry..." I said quietly multiple times to him.

Stupid.

I'm so stupid for not realizing it sooner.

I had five whole years to think about it and I was never able to realize something so simple.

"Cordelia...It's fine...It's my fault for not having more self-control...I should've just treated you the same as before...I don't know why I was so cold to you...It was like I was possessed...I-"

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

"Stop blaming yourself...please..." I choked out.

The thought of him feeling so much guilt over something I did was making me feel even worse about myself.

Maybe this is karma for realizing so late.

I frowned in my tornado of thoughts before I could hear Ace speak.

"I underestimated how satisfying your words would be when you heard how I felt," Ace said with a small sarcastic chuckle.

Did he find this situation funny?

Excuse me?!

I'm trying to feel guilty here and he jus-

"Pfft..." I snorted out by accident.

Darn it.

Why can't I stop myself from laughing along when Ace laughs...?

Why is it when Ace is sad, I'm sad too...?

Why is it when Ace is happy, I can't help but be happy too...?

I wonder what this feeling is...

...Friendship?

"WAIT! We forgot about Mattius!!" I yelled in a sudden realization.

Ace and I have been in here for a couple of hours.

What if Mattius ran away?!

"Don't worry, Cordelia," Ace chuckled over how worried I was.

Huh...Ace isn't acting cold...right now...

Unfortunately, I don't have time to think about how Ace is acting right now.

"...I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE WORRIED RIGHT NOW," I screeched loudly in response to Ace.

Ace simply sighed and waited for me to calm down.

He turned back into a dragon while he waited.

"Mattius. Come in," Ace said out loud when he was fully in his dragon form and I stopped yelling.

Immediately, the door opened and Mattius toppled into the room.

".......Were...you eavesdropping on us...?" I asked slowly.

"N-NO! M-MAYBE! Y-yes..." Mattius squeaked.

"Did you know he was eavesdropping, Ace?!" I said as I turned to Ace.

"...I won't respond to that..." Ace said as he turned away from me.

"...You...stupid...brats..." I muttered under my breath.

"S-SO! CORDELIA! WILL YOU HELP ME?!" Mattius pleaded loudly as he did a dogeza.

"Hmm...But I don't even know whether Deux wants to reconnect with yo-" I said out loud before I stopped myself.

Wait.

.

Yesterday

.

I patted down my dress and stretched my tired legs. While I was stretching, Deux spoke.

"Yes. Noon. Two days," Deux said clearly and slowly for me to hear. (A/N: refer to ch. 32)

.

.

Was Deux referring to this when he said those cryptic words...?

Probably not.

Am I going to assume that he did anyway?

Yes.

"Come to my place two days from now at noon...I'll lead you to Deux," I said slowly.

"R-Really?! Thank you...Cordelia..." Mattius enthusiastically thanked me with tears in his eyes.

He began to cry as both Ace and I tried our best to get him to stop.

It warmed my heart.

Everything has changed for the better...and I am so glad that it did...

.

.

Two Days Later

.

.

"Mattius, turn left here. Deux should be in the cave a little bit further away..." I said as Ied both Ace and Mattius toward Deux's hideout.

This time, I brought along cupcakes.

When we reached the location, I hesitated before I tapped my feet twice on the ground.

We waited for a brief moment before we saw Deux appear.

"..." Deux didn't say anything as he stared at Mattius in the face.

"Y-You're...me...right?" Mattius squeaked as he slowly moved forward to Deux.

Duex nodded his head but didn't say anything.

"Soooo...Uh...Are you two ready to recombine into one human or something? I have cupcakes for when we finish the recombining process-thingy..." I awkwardly tried to say.

Mattius turned his back to Deux in order to face me and smiled.

"Y-Yes, I am! All we have to do to recombine is to swallow a strand from each other's hair. From here on, everything will get better...Thank you, Cordelia. Thank you. Thank you so muc-"

That was the last thing Mattius said before a bullet smashed through his brain from behind.

Deux placed his gun back into his pocket.

This was the day Mattius died.

And from this point on, I never got to hear another word from him.

----------------------------------------------------

A/N: Ahem. I would like to say: THANK GOD FINALS ARE OVER! And in case you were wondering, yes, I passed all of my finals~

Right now, I'm on vacation~ Yay!

Basically, I'm on the other side of the world! The time difference for me is around 15 hours or so...Updates might be a little weird from now on, so I'll say sorry beforehand!

The time for updates might stay the same though...I don't know...

Sorry if you thought this chapter was a little confusing! The next chapter will be Deux's "special" so I (hope) everything will make sense then!

Also...Yes...I probably ended the chapter in a way that would make a lot of you guys want to kill me...but um...The next chapter will be out next week like usual~

Anyway, thanks again to all of my readers/voters/commenters!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 3329