1. "Angel"

Alice's bangs drape over her closed eyes and, after making sure she really is asleep, Yuri dares to play with them. It's a childish impulse, driven by curiosity: he's never seen anyone so young with such white hair. His fingers carefully thread through silver-white strands, which at any rate seem real enough. Her hair shines in the moonlight, the same light which touches her pale cheek, painting an angelic figure before him.

Not that she actually is an angel. Yuri snorts at the thought. She's already caused him a fair bit of mischief, running off like that, and now she's fast asleep like she expects him to do all the work of keeping a look-out. But he's gotta watch out for her, or that damn voice will...

She whispers for "Father" and he ignores it--until the campfire flickers. When Fox Face appears and looks at Alice with something nearing reverence, praising her power for letting him hunt his sorry excuse for a son down, Yuri feels the first stirrings of fear. Maybe Alice really is an angel, the kind sent to punish sinners like him.

2. "Companion"

As night turns to dawn, though, he starts seeing her in a new light. In some ways she's just like him--that quack oracle pegged them both as odd ducks, with abilities that can help or hurt them. Sometimes he can't control his demon; maybe it's the same for her.

Still, she's capable of unleashing his worst nightmare on him. The memory of his father's cold eyes glowering at him through a painted mask sends shivers through his spine, even in the safety of daylight. It's enough to make Yuri want to leave this strange girl sleeping on the bench and put as much distance between him and her as possible. But it's not her fault, and she needs him. So he figures he can at least stay put until she's safe and the voice gets another one of its whims--whenever that is.

3. "Healer"

Well, shit. This girl's not only got a warlock after her, she's got TWO warlocks and the Japanese army on her tail. Plus, she's a magnet for ghosts with an ax to grind. Yuri curses the voice with anything that comes to mind, knowing that he's in for the long haul with Miss Popular. It doesn't help that they're on a boat. There is no doubt in his mind that the voice knew he was going to end up on a boat, and it (she? Sounds like a woman) must be cackling at his misfortune right now.

"It's all right...we'll reach Shanghai soon," Alice soothes, her fingers trailing across his forehead. "You'll feel better as soon as you get off the boat." She's the only one on this little leaky boat who actually gives a rat's ass about him being sea-sick and when he looks up at her blue eyes in the dim light, he remembers how his mother would take care of him when he was sick. He's gotta admit, Alice knows how to make a guy feel good. Before drifting to sleep, Yuri thinks this is probably the worst job in the world, but the fringe benefits help make up for it, a little bit.

4. "Prophet"

Xifa called Alice a prophet, but she sure didn't foresee this mess. Now Dehuai's got Alice and all four talismans and Kawashima says she's safe until the ritual starts which means she's not safe at all, goddamned moron, and Yuri would yell at the lieutenant colonel except it won't help Alice at all.

She's smart, Yuri tries to tell himself. She'll have that twisted old pervert eating out of her hand in no time and then she'll turn the tables on him, and when they get to Kuihai tower she'll be at the doorway with the bastard's head on a pike.

But if he had to admit the truth--and right now Alice's life is riding on it--fifteen years is a long time to nurse a grudge, and Dehuai's thirst for revenge is stronger than any sex drive he might have left. But Yuri will be damned before he lets Dehuai kill Alice, the first truly good person he's met in a long, long time.

5. "Demon"

He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't, so he runs to the demon god of Dehuai's summoning. The rational voice in his head which points out just how big the demon is and just how small he is and oh god, oh god he is well and truly fucked--that little voice is shoved towards the back because he knows if he starts listening he's going to fail before he even gets started. So he ignores Bacon's snappy commentary because the warlock doesn't know shit about him, he's not his father, he's better than his father, and he reaches within himself for his harmonixing ability, ready to take hold--

--and then the demon god swallows him up.

Not that he realizes this immediately. It seems at first as though they are struggling for dominance; there is a lull in the storm around them as the demon god turns its attention inward to this alien presence. But when the demon god makes its first strike, it is swift and powerful as the god's mind floods into his consciousness. Yuri reels with the horrifying realization of how this thing must have come from Alice. It has her demon eyes, her sight, it has only glimpsed him and already it knows him. This creature is the part of her that brought Father back in the flesh, this creature is Alice and Father in one, good and magnificent and terrible because it sees him for what he really is and never wanted to be, the boy who cowered and watched his mother die.

When Yuri screams, the sound tears Shanghai apart. But he does not see, because he is already retreating, fleeing. He runs into the deepest part of his graveyard--anything to hide from that monstrous sight--and only when the gate is locked behind him does he stop and realize what he has done. He rests his forehead, slick with sweat, against the bars of the gate. "Someone help me," he murmurs, and then, louder, "Help me!"

"How about you help me first?"

The voice is a familiar one; Yuri turns to see his father, still wearing that detestable mask, his dark eyes cold and distant. He swings a hoe loosely in his hands, then tosses it to Yuri. "Do your chores," his father orders. "And hurry. Let's not keep your mom waiting."

6. "Mother"

Yuri is cold, and stiff, and tired, and lonely most of all. He can't stop the tears, so he keeps his head bent over the hoe, hoping his father won't notice. Dad said they'd have dinner with Mom as soon as the farm is seeded, but Yuri's dug so deep the plot doesn't look right anymore and Dad won't say he's done yet. Why doesn't Dad understand, Mom's been gone forever and the one thing he wants with all his might is to see her again.

"Stop! Stop it right now!"

The voice is shrill and makes Yuri look up immediately. It's Mom. With one arm he swipes away both the sweat from his forehead and the tears from his eyes before smiling at her. "What is it, Mommy?" She looks at him, her blue eyes wide and frightened--there are rips all through her clothes, and underneath, scarred skin that makes Yuri's stomach somersault before he makes himself look at the farm, forcing out a laugh. "Aren't I a good boy? I've got to help Dad any way I can!"

"This is no garden!" she tells him. "You're digging your own grave, don't you see?"

It does look an awful lot like a grave--like Mom's grave, and now he doesn't know whether it's worse to look at her or his work. "Oh, come on!" he says. "Stop pulling my leg. I've got to seed the farm before winter comes. Now stand aside."

She falls silent and he keeps digging, trying to convince himself with every swing that winter has not yet come, that this is real and Mom is alive and she still loves him. But if she is dead, then it's good that he's making a grave for himself, right? Maybe this will be his new home now.

When he notices his father talking to his mother, Yuri wipes off more sweat and asks plaintively: "Dad, how much do I have to do? Should I keep digging?" Whether alive or dead, Yuri wants to be with Mom soon.

"Deeper, idiot. Dig deeper."

Except Yuri's hardly started again when Mom screams for him to stop. He's a little scared by the anger in her face as she walks up to Dad and starts shouting at him. "You wouldn't understand! You can't believe in anything! What would you know?" she finishes, tears streaming down her face.

Yuri doesn't get what they're arguing about, but his heart stops cold when Dad's fist whips up and strikes Mom full in the face, knocking her to the ground. Doesn't Dad realize? Mom's only shouting 'cause she's hurt, she's upset, he should be calming her down not hurting her more! Yuri flings the hoe aside and kneels by her, smoothing back some of the hair that's fallen out of her braid so he can see the bruise forming on her cheek better. She tries to stand but falls back down, and when Dad starts to take a step Yuri stands between them. "No, Dad. Don't hurt Mom!"

The mask tsks in disgust. "Shut up, you idiot," he growls before decking Yuri. Mom cries out and kneels by him. She's sobbing now and it's all Dad's fault, why is he doing this, he loves Mom! "Keep digging," Fox Face orders, ignoring Anne's distress.

Yuri scowls at the painted mask and in an instant his mind is made up; he shoots up to his feet and knocks the faker off his own. "You...You aren't my dad."

Fox Face stands and laughs as he pops the joints in his neck. "This is too funny," he says. "Let's do it, you weakling," and the punch sends Yuri back to his knees.

"Yuri, listen to me," Mom murmurs, her mouth close to his ears. "Don't be afraid. He's just a part of you. Accept him. Don't give up, don't grieve. You're still alive!"

The news is so startling he turns his head to look at her tear-streaked face--and for the first time he realizes that the woman at his side isn't Anne, but Alice. She's been at his side all this time.

7. "Savior"

"You went in his soul?" Margarete crows and Alice quickly shushes her; it's two in the morning and they don't need to wake up their neighbors. "Bet you had fun digging through that mess."

Alice frowns at her, but the spy's delight and amusement does not diminish one bit. Margarete has always been intrigued by magic and its complexities, and Yuri would guess that what Alice did for him was a unique event. Hell, might as well call it for what it was: a miracle. Alice saved not only his life but his soul.

But she is modest: "He was and is not a mess, Margarete. He was only confused. I just helped him remember--" She pauses, her eyes lighting on Yuri for a brief second. He waves her on, not really concerned about what she'll say. After all, she's ignoring the fact that he thought she was his mother for several minutes (which he's grateful for, because the devil knows what Miss Spy Genius would say about that tidbit). "Remember where he was and what he needed to do. Yuri took care of the rest."

Alice hasn't said anything about the masks or the sacrifice she made; Yuri figures she probably doesn't have a clue he knows. She probably doesn't want to burden him, but he fully intends to pay her back and save her like she saved him.

"So now you're of sound mind?" Margarete asked Yuri.

"Well, sometimes," he says with a shrug. "Sometimes not. Keith says Lobos tried to bite into him last week, but I don't remember it. Just, y'know, if you gotta fend me off, I'd prefer you aim for my gut and not my brains. Those are damaged enough."

Margarete reacts without even thinking, her fingers lighting on the bulge in her coat to make sure it's there, but Alice only moues in distaste. "You have a horrible sense of humor, Yuri."

The older woman rolls her eyes and shakes her head as Yuri snickers. "How I could've missed you," she murmurs.

8. "Love"

"I don't know how this battle will turn out, but..." Yuri stops for a moment, trying to think of the right way to tell her how he feels. He looks at the barren ground of the ruins, where only some sparse weeds have grown, and he wants most to tell her that they'll always be together. "The day you die, I'll die too."

"What are you saying?"

"The night of the storm...I was just a kid, and I couldn't protect my mother from the monsters," he explains. "But somehow I survived, because of my power. Ever since then, I cursed living constantly. I asked myself, 'why do I have to be alone? What could I have done differently? Why didn't I die...'"

"That night?" Alice asks.

So much time has passed that Yuri can't remember the exact details of that night and he fudges a little: he can remember he was talking to his mom and he maybe they were talking about when Dad would come back. He remembers once he asked his Mom if he could have a little brother or sister (and he notices Alice's delighted smile, how her eyes turn to the side for an instant, and wonders if she'd wanted a younger sibling too).

But he'd forget the taste of salt before he forgot what happened after the monsters shambled into their house. Lihua's father and Maki's uncle were the only ones whose changed faces he knew; the others were disfigured beyond recognition by Dehuai's curse. His mother had tried to push him behind her, but he--damned fool--he'd charged at the monsters after their threats and gotten struck down for it. In the confusion that followed, he saw the monsters' hands reaching down for him with withered skin and yellowed claws, and his mother screamed as she rushed to beat them away, though she was unarmed. She punched twice, pushing Lihua's father back with his jaw out of place, but then she'd been lifted into the air and thrown down like she was nothing but a rag doll and there was a cracking of bone. Blood pooled out on the floor and her blue-gray eyes darkened, the last tears she'd cried still dripping down her face.

"When I looked into her eyes a moment before she died," Yuri says, and he can barely feel Alice's fingers on his sleeve, a plea for him to stay in the present and not lose himself again, "it ignited the dormant blood of my father. My emotions just exploded--like a hurricane. I don't really remember anything after that. The next thing I knew, the room was littered with pieces of those monsters and I was covered in blood. The only living thing in the house."

"I'm sorry, Yuri," Alice murmurs. Her forehead is wrinkled, her lips pressed tight in a frown as she searches for something more adequate to say, but Yuri shakes his head.

"That's not why I'm telling you," he says. "It's just...that night, I clung to my mother's cold corpse, weeping and begging her to forgive me for breaking my promise, for failing to protect her. I could never stand to feel that way again. So the day I fail to protect you...is the day that I too will die!"

Alice is silent for a long moment, just looking up at him with wide eyes and her lips slightly parted before they close again. Yuri can't tell if maybe all the gory details were too much, or maybe she thinks he's being a little too dramatic with his promise. He laughs nervously. "Stop looking at me that way! It's nothing, I just kinda, um, like you, that's all."

"Yuri," and now that she's finally saying anything, she seems almost desperate to push the words past her lips, her hand shaking on his arm, "I, I lo--"

And Zhuzhen chooses that exact moment to show up, babbling about something he's found and Alice seems to just forget what she was going to say. Yuri wants to deck the old man when he realizes all the fuss is over some moldy old book, but he caps his temper long enough to get away.

When Alice finally catches up to his long, quick strides, he slows down enough so she doesn't have to run to keep up with him. And when she slips her arm around his and smiles up at him, he pauses to look at her. He wants to hear her finish those words, but she doesn't need to; he knows from her actions that she loves him.

9. "Lover"

One night, she shows him paradise. Yuri never imagined that Alice would be the one to initiate sex, but she is; she innocently sits on his bed, as if she doesn't realize how much that makes him want to tear her ruffled skirt off, and then as they talk she moves in, breaking down what little resistance he has. A touch on his arm leads to a hand on his chest; a kiss on the cheek to a kiss on the lips. A warm hug, and soon with all the touching and kissing and heat they would be fucking if their clothes came off, and Yuri's fingers fly to accomplish this goal.

"My hero," she calls him as he kisses her all over, followed by other endearments; and after he brings her to orgasm, the first thing she says after catching her breath is "I love you. Love, love, love you." She seems somewhat muddled and tired, so though Yuri wants to taste her all over again, he settles for wrapping his arm over her waist and holding her close.

"You're pale," he notices, and she murmurs agreement.

"It's been rough, these last few days."

Yuri chuckles at the understatement. "Simon was one tough son-of-a-bitch, wasn't he?"

"Yuri," she chides.

"But now we're gonna see your family and tell 'em, tell 'em their family tree's branching out."

Alice giggles, but then falls silent, her finger tracing figure eights on his arm. "And what about the masks?"

"I'll always be right at your side," Yuri promises. "The instant I see those uglies, I'll give 'em a beating they'll never forget."

"And if I die..."

"Alice, Alice, Alice," he murmurs, placing a kiss behind her ear. "Why are you worrying? I won't let it happen. And like I said, if you do die, I'll die--"

"Please, don't. You," and she yawns, nestling her head against his chest, "you have so much you can do. You really are my hero."

0. "Dear"

One day, Yuri wakes to the touch of cold, still skin and he knows the masks were right: Alice has died right next to him, practically in his arms. He should have known it was hopeless. He has never been a hero, never been able to save anyone he holds dear.

1. "Beauty"

Alice's bangs drape over her closed eyes and, after making sure she really is asleep, Yuri dares to play with them. But he only just brushes her silky hair before he stops and looks over the grassy plains. He has the strangest feeling...like he's been here before. Maybe he has--he's trekked all over China--but the feeling that he's been here along with this European beauty is disconcerting.

When she murmurs for "Father", he feels a frisson of fear even before the campfire flickers and his own father shows up. The experience is so surreal that when Yuri enters the Graveyard, he can't tell if he's just entered a dream or awoken from one.

2. "Saint"

He remembers that for a while after Alice died, daylight depressed him. It seemed the sun should darken, the skies thunder, but the world carried on, oblivious.

It finally rained as he dug her grave, and though the downpour pelted him and made his job harder and got him sick afterward, he felt satisfied that the earth had finally recognized the saint he'd come to bury.

3. "Nurse"

He remembers twice they traveled by boat and twice Karin nursed him. She offered to get him anything he needed so he could lie down and scolded him when he tried getting it on his own, and when he was both starved and nauseous she carefully made him the best meal she could out of food too bland to further upset his stomach. Though he whined about being mothered, he did appreciate the help. He just wasn't sure how to tell her, how to say he appreciated her efforts but wished she wouldn't. It made him uncomfortable when she looked at him with concern; her blue-gray eyes reminded him of Alice.

When Karin told him she loved him, she tried to laugh off his rejection as obliviousness, and he let her. It was easier than explaining that every time he felt good around her she reminded him of Alice, and none of them--not Karin nor him nor Alice--deserved a love that could never grow again.

4. "Soulmate"

He remembers being filled with dread as he approached the still figure on the rattling train. It would have been just his luck if even in the Graveyard, where the dead came back on a regular basis, Alice would only be still and stiff.

But she opened her eyes before he touched her. "I must have fallen asleep, waiting for you," she murmured, and though he was so nervous about he could say to her after so long, his heart leapt with joy to know she'd waited for him. He knew he wouldn't keep her waiting much longer.

5. "Heart's Desire"

He remembers the strange sensation of watching each of his friends float away and only seconds later, knowing there'd been someone there without recalling either a name or a face. He just did what Jeanne told him and kept his mind on his heart's desire, the one thing that'd give him happiness: to be with Alice. If he went back to the start, he was sure he could change things...even though he couldn't recall when things went wrong.

'If there is a god--' and this uncertain prayer was cut short by the stalagmite which pierced his body.

6. "Martyr"

And when he remembers all this, he drops the hoe and stares at the ground. An open grave lies before him; a cold moon hangs over him. The night air burns his throat when he gasps.

"Yuri!" Alice calls out, already running toward him. "What are you doing?" She stops a foot from the edge of the grave and then looks at him, tilting her head a shade. "Yuri?"

"Oh, god," he groans, knowing there is no deity--at least, not a benevolent one. "You're not supposed to be here." He's not supposed to be here. He was supposed to stop Dehuai before the Demon's Gate invocation was completed. He shouldn't have fused with the Seraphic Radiance, or worse, failed...but he couldn't remember...

"But now you do remember?" Fox Face says as he walks out of his hiding place. "Welcome to hell, Yuri."

"I beat you," Yuri bites out. The statement only gets a shrug.

"Not yet. And not permanently. You'll never be rid of me, not 'til the day you die." Though the mask is still, Yuri can feel the presence behind it, the damned smirk. "How 'bout today, does that fit your schedule? You already know you've lost."

"He's lost nothing!" Alice insists, but she couldn't be more wrong. He's changed nothing and she's going to die all over again.

Fox Face chuckles before lunging at Yuri. He reacts too slowly and the punch knocks him to the ground. The depths of the grave are illuminated by a flash of light when Fox Face fuses into Death Emperor. Yuri doesn't want to fight; he knows he can win, but what is the point?

Once again, the grave is filled with light, and Yuri realizes that Alice intends to fight Fox Face. He rises in time to see the Blessed Light spell connect and the fusion bellow with pain.

If Alice is doomed but keeping up the fight, Yuri knows he can't do anything less. "Get back," he tells her, cracking his knuckles, "he's mine."

7. "Fighter"

The more he thinks about it, though, the more he's sure it doesn't matter what he does. The masks will claim Alice and even if he beats Amon and Albert Simon, so what? There'll be Asmodeus and Astaroth and the Japanese military and Kato and even if he knocks 'em all on their asses again, so what? Someone else will just come strolling along with a wish to remake the world in their image. And "Godslayer" is sick to death of fighting and never winning.

He wonders how Alice can keep on fighting when she already knows she's going to end up six feet under. Or is she expecting him to save her? If only he could, he'd do anything to save her.

But he can't change things now.

Then Keith murmurs the words, "Death, drunk...four masks..." and Yuri feels like someone just hit him with lightning. He jerks away from his bowl of soup, one hand shooting out to keep it from tipping, and looks at the vampire, who is frowning at a gold cup. The cup that little punk Joshua gave them, its greatest use yet being something to drink from for a lark.

"What did you just say?"

Keith shrugs, his long blond hair slipping off his shoulders. "It is nothing," he says, "I am only trying to read the writing on this cup."

"You can read it?" Yuri asks. "Old Carl said it was a dead language."

"Yes, the perfect tongue for the 'undead'," Keith says, smirking. "But so far as I can tell, the writing seems of no consequence to us. It only mentions an oath and masks."

"Four masks."

Everyone is watching Yuri now, except for Alice, who understands what he means and is paying rapt attention to Keith. The vampire himself quirks an eyebrow. "Four," he agrees. "The number holds significance?"

"Of course the number holds goddamned--read it already!"

Keith lifts the cup in one hand and reads deliberately: "'Death, drunk on souls, told the Overlord how to defeat the Four Masks...'"

Maybe there is a god out there, or maybe this is just a whim of fate. All Yuri knows is that there's finally a chance of winning, and he's going to take it.

8. "Woman"

Fighting the masks isn't the nightmarish task Yuri remembers it being. Before they were nigh invincible and once nearly slaughtered all of them in the depths of Nemeton; now, thanks to the Oath Grail and some clever strategy, they are still challenging foes, but no longer life-threatening. And once defeated, they continue to appear, but now only as ghosts, pale shadows of themselves, no longer frightening. Alice is not typically a violent person, but she has a grin on her face the whole day after she sends Sword Mask packing with only one swing of her holy tome.

Despite the masks' defeat, the white grave in Yuri's graveyard still bothers him. He keeps visiting it, night after night, wondering if it'll fade away eventually or if it'll always be there, a twisted tribute to her.

He realizes the horrible truth when he enters the graveyard one night and hears the masks' laughter. He looks and catches a glimpse of blue walking into the sepulcher, its doors wide open even though there is no Malice.

He calls for Alice, already running down the steps, but she doesn't answer and the doors have swung shut long before he stands in front of the masks, glaring at their laughing faces. "Let me through or I'll pound you into dust."

They make the mistake of laughing again and he fuses into Amon. With the demon's oversized hands he grabs Sword Mask and starts twisting his hands, bending the mask's blade until it forms a circle, ignoring the mask's screeching.

"Open the door or I'll shatter you next," he growls through the fusion.

This time the doors creak open and Yuri drops the fusion. He tosses the mask aside and ignores his hands, now bleeding freely from holding the edges of the sword. He can't see inside the sepulcher, lit only dimly, until he's inside and the doors have slammed behind him. Then his eyes start adjusting to the darkness and he can see the glowing judgment ring, the overgrown mask full of eyes, its white visage cracked and caked with blood, and Alice standing before it. "Hold on!" he shouts, running towards them.

Both Alice and the mask start; she turns back to look at him, while all of the bloodshot eyes swivel to stare unblinkingly at him. As Yuri gets closer to them he sees the paleness of Alice's skin--she looks as white as the mask. "Sorry I'm late," he tells her. "Those masks outside slowed me down a bit."

"Impossible!" the mask bellows. "You dare enter the curse of death yourself?"

"She's my woman. You're not takin' her. Never!" His fists tighten as he looks at the ugly mask, knowing he must be the fifth mask, Drink--the one which takes souls for Death to consume. The one who killed Alice before.

Drink laughs. "You plan to break a contract for a soul? To disrupt an ancient and holy ceremony? You're throwing your own life away!"

"Maybe I am, so you better watch it, dumbass," Yuri says, already getting ready to fight. He glances at Alice and she's opening her book, her fingers trembling as they part the pages.

"Very well," the mask finally says. "If you think you can break the contract, then give it your best effort. The futility will make your soul bittersweet."

Suddenly Yuri feels as though there's millions of those gruesome eyes watching him, seeing into the depths of his soul. He remembers the promises he's made and broken...first that he'd protect his mother, then that he'd die when Alice did...he has never kept a single promise he's made, so why would this be any different, why should he think he's changed a thing when the masks are still here...

When Alice's book slams the mask, Yuri is slammed out of the bleak thoughts. "Don't," she tells him. "Don't think about it..he's despair, that's how he kills."

Yuri knows just from looking at her face that she's already experienced the same assault and with a growl he fuses back into Amon. "I'm going to slice you, potato head."

The mask scoffs before beginning its attack in earnest. It's made out of some impossibly hard surface--Alice's book repels the mask but hardly dents it, and even Amon, god of destruction, has a hard time scratching any more than surface. And the mask is brutal, forcing Alice to constantly heal the two of them.

Their first break comes when Yuri pierces the first eye and is startled to find that the eye is actually organic, not just a painted part of the mask, and spurts out blood. From there he methodically targets the eyes, ignoring the masks' attempts to hurt him. After the third eye goes, the mask starts thrashing, its attacks frenzied but ineffective. When the last eye is gone, Yuri seizes the lips painted on the mask and pushes them apart. At first the mask holds, but then with a tumultuous sound the hole in the mask rips open more, creating a gash that spans the mask's width.

"I can't believe...the contract for the soul...?" Before it can finish its words, the bloody mask sinks down and fades into nothing.

Yuri turns back into himself and leans over with both hands on his knees, breathing hard. Funny; his body's asleep, but he still feels like he needs to take a nap. Alice scans over him, noting all the minor injuries she failed to heal in the heat of battle, and starts to ask him, "Why...?"

He cuts her off with a hasty "No! Don't say anything." He straightens up and smiles at her. "I promised, didn't I? That I'd protect ya." She looks down at the pages of her tome, mouthing the words for a Cure spell. Her cheeks are tinged pink. Yuri chuckles. "C'mon, let's go. I wanna say goodbye to this nasty place."

When Yuri wakes up, his head is foggy and he's not really sure--was it just a dream? Was it real? After breakfast, Alice says she needs a few moments alone with Yuri before they leave for the float, and they both head towards the Nemeton ruins.

Her eyes light on the lone grave on the path and she finally turns to face him. "Thank you for saving me from Atman."

"Is that what that ugly mask was called? I like 'potato head' better." He runs a hand through his hair, trying to think of what to say next. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"That makes two of us," she says with a giggle. Her hands are playing with the ruffles of her skirt, a nervous habit Yuri's noticed before. "Yuri, in case anything happens with Simon, I want to tell you something...I, for a long time now, I've lo--"

"Hey, look at this! Look what I've found!" Zhuzhen shouts and Alice stops mid-word, her eyes wide.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Zhuzhen!" Yuri roars, spinning around. "If it's that tome again I'm gonna--"

His threat gets cut off when Alice grabs the collar of his trench coat and tugs a little, pulling him towards her. She stands slightly on her tip-toes and presses a kiss to his lips, lightning quick, and by the time he realizes she meant to do that she's already running past Zhuzhen, who looks rather awkward trying to clean his monocle as though he didn't notice them at all.

"Again?" Zhuzhen mutters. "I haven't..."

"I'll explain later," Yuri says as he brushes past the adept to find Alice.

9. "Beloved"

And he does explain it, later, after Simon and Metagod have finally been defeated. He explains to everyone how he traveled back in time and they've gone through so much that no one has any trouble believing him; Margarete, who he thought would be the most skeptical, is actually the most supportive, having some knowledge of Sapientes Gladio already. "I don't have another mission yet," the spy says, "so how about I help you with those pests?"

Keith also volunteers his services and Yuri gladly accepts; he'll take any help he can get to make sure things turn out better this time. He doesn't want innocent people to get hurt like last time. They make plans with Roger to fly out to Russia as soon as the Bacon Jet is ready--kill a weed by going to the roots, Margarete says, and it makes perfect sense to Yuri.

But before the Bacon Jet is finished, they have a few months--at the moment, the jet is only a blueprint--and Yuri and Alice have plans for that time. They visit her family, her mother and her uncle and her cousin, who could be a twin of Alice if not for her rosier skin and blonde curls, and there is a lot of hubbub when Alice introduces Yuri as her rescuer and some dubiousness on her mother's part when Yuri mentions he's also her fiance. For the most part, Yuri's just relieved that this time, he doesn't have to explain to Mrs. Elliot why her daughter is dead.

0. "Alice"

For all their planning, though, fate still manages to throw a few curve balls, like the letter from the Vatican Alice receives. She can't come with him.

But he doesn't mind because he knows when everything is done, he can come back to her.