The night breeze blew across the land, rustling the grass gently as it tousled Ramsus's pale hair if to reassure the both of them that they were safe. Deus was destroyed - life would go on for those who survived.

And I survived, Ramsus thought bitterly. The breeze brought with it sounds of merriment from over the hillside where the others were celebrating. Much to my dismay. And him too.

Ramsus could clearly hear Bart bragging loudly, and Margie and Emeralda laughing at him, and nearly everyone else's voices raised in excitement, but there was one voice that seemed to rise above the others, as low as it was.

"I think... Krelian's in a better place now. For him and for us. Wherever he may be, he can't cause us any more trouble... but I feel sorry for him anyway."

"Bleeding heart," Ramsus snarled as he huddled closer to the ground, trying to avoid hearing that voice. "Feeling sorry for that son of a..."

Even if they had come to a truce, he couldn't stop resenting the boy quite so easily as that. He'd spent all fourteen years of his life loathing Fei Fong Wong, and he was not about to stop now. His Elements - his own girls! - had gone over to that boy's side, pleading with him to give up the hatred. Even proud Dominia... He'd thought of all people, she would understand the bitterness in his soul, how the need for vengeance sustained him. She'd felt it herself, once.

He risked a look over the hilltop at the campfires below. Things had completely changed from what they once were. Kelvena was talking calmly with Hyuga, Seraphita was playing with that ridiculous pink Chu-chu thing as Tolone scoffed at her. Ramsus allowed himself to smirk. At least Tolone's attitude hadn't changed a bit. But Dominia... he picked her tall, lean form out of the small crowd in an instant, and the smirk vanished. She was sitting next to the Van Houten girl, and though she didn't look particularly pleased about it, she didn't look particularly displeased either.

Elhaym, on the other hand, barely noticed the Element's presence. Her attention was on the person sitting on the other side of her. Her arm was looped around his, and she smiled up at him sweetly. Ramsus cursed. He knew he shouldn't have looked. Seeing him was painful enough. Seeing the two of them together so happily was like a knife in the heart.

He uncorked the bottle of strong wine he'd managed to sneak away from the table and took another large gulp, wiping his mouth halfheartedly afterwards. Laying back in the waving grass, he stared up at the sky and remembered a day when he too had been happy.

"Miang," he whispered, anguished. "Why did you have to do what you did? Why did you make me kill you?"

He knew the answer, of course. Miang hadn't been simply Miang. The woman he'd known as Miang had once been a normal woman, until the old Miang perished, and a new one had to rise up. The woman he knew as Miang seemed to love him, seemed to care for him, but then she'd turned around and spat in his face on that fateful day.

His biggest question was, who had it been that had driven him over the edge? There had been two women inside that body, and at least one of them had been shrewd and conniving, using him until the very end. At least one of them had loved him, or had both of them been using him?

Through a haze of anguish and wine, he barely made out the figure moving through the night until it was beside him. "Kahr? What in the world are you doing out here by yourself?"

Ramsus snorted derisively. "Since you're here, Hyuga, I'd guess either you already know, or I could ask you the same question."

"You caught me," his old friend said with a sigh, sitting down in the grass next to him. "I know you've been through a great deal in the past months, but is it truly so terrible that you can not stop brooding for a single night?"

"I have plenty more reasons to brood than I have reasons not to brood."

"Perhaps," Hyuga conceded. "But today should be a day of celebration, not misery!" He clapped Ramsus on the shoulder, and Ramsus flinched. "Deus has been destroyed, the world is safe again, thanks to Fei and Elly-" His words broke off abruptly as Ramsus pulled himself upright and staggered away. "Oh. Yes, that."

"Leave me be, Hyuga," Ramsus growled, hearing his friend stand as well. "Go enjoy your little 'day of celebration' to your heart's content, but I had no part in it, and I will not behave as if I did."

"I wasn't planning on asking you to put on airs. I was merely curious as to what was the trouble."

Ramsus glared at the man over his shoulder. "Go away."

Hyuga had the brains to try to cover his amused smile with his hand, but Ramsus wasn't fooled for a second. "What's so funny?"

"Either your vicious stare needs more work, or you've been drinking," Hyuga observed. "And your Elements tell me you've practiced that look on them all too often lately, so I suppose it's the latter."

"What if I have?" Ramsus sank down on the ground again wearily. "So my girls have been talking to you, have they?"

"Yes. Quite pleasant young women, really. They remind me a bit of us when we were younger... for reasons other than the obvious, of course."

"Oh really?" Ramsus remarked sarcastically. "Which one of us does Seraphita remind you of?"

"Why, Jessie, naturally," Hyuga replied with a smile.

Ramsus couldn't help but smirk. "And who do I correspond to?"

"At the moment, you're behaving much like Tolone."

Ramsus frowned. "You were expecting Dominia?" Hyuga continued. "She's determined like you, yes, and focused, but she at least doesn't snap at everyone."

"Tolone's not a bad girl," said Ramsus. "She's had a rough life, Hyuga. Give her a break."

"I didn't come up here to insult Tolone," Hyuga answered pleasantly. "I came to insult you."

"That's supposed to make me feel better, is it?" Ramsus muttered.

"Should I be trying? I thought it was a lost cause."

"That's true." Ramsus took another drink of the wine, and coughed. "Hyuga, you can't do a thing for me now. Just go."

His friend sighed and sat beside him again. "Is there anyone who can, Kahr?"

"Not anymore."

Hyuga considered, tapping his finger against his chin. "Anymore? Are you referring to... Krelian, perhaps? There was little he could do for your emotional state, or he would have done it."

"Not Krelian," Ramsus growled. "You're thinking too logically, as always."

After a moment's pause, comprehension dawned on Hyuga's face. "Oh."