Note from the author:

Welcome back fellow readers. I know it's been a long time since I've posted something, but with the new Tales of Zestiria game out, I couldn't possibly resist. I LOVE Sorey and Mikleo SO MUCH I replayed the game three times. I obviously ship them like Fed Ex, and I haven't fan-girled this hard since L and Light from Death Note. So obviously, I needed to write them a fan fiction.

That said, understand that this piece is being written in conjunction with my wife (remember that girl I was dating back during the Death Note Trilogy? Yeah, I married her!) so parts of it are in a slightly different style from my own. Also understand that like with all of my works I've taken artistic liberties with it. AKA: Yes, I understand that I screwed with the timeline that the game originally gave us, and also: yes, I totally eliminated Rose, Alisha and Dezel from my story. There were just too many characters to deal with and having to write for ALL of them took the spotlight away from Sorey and Mikleo. And I couldn't have that considering this is their story. (The game didn't do nearly enough with them for me.)

Anyway, I hope all you Zestiria/SorMik fans out there enjoy this. I already have several chapters written, so expect more fairly soon and fairly fast!

~Spotofpaint

Chapter 1

A Frightening Dream

The power of malevolence that rolled off of Heldalf came like a tidal wave. And when it hit them, it was like being struck by a brick wall. The pain was instantaneous, and it overtook Mikleo's body like a virus. He, and the other seraphs with them, immediately collapsed to the ground. Crippled by the sheer, overwhelming power of it, he could barely find it within himself to breathe. The weight was so heavy, so suffocating that inhaling was nearly impossible. One hand clutching at his chest, his body trembled as the other clawed at the dirt ground of Glaivend Basin. Against his own stubbornness, he let out a groan of misery, and for just a second, he was focused on his own wretchedness.

But that was only until he heard Sorey make a retching noise.

With great difficulty, he turned his head, his white cheek still against the ground. His bright purple eyes shifted to the handsome shepherd that he held so dear. And there he found him on his hands and knees, looking as crippled as the rest of them. His body was shaking too, and he gave into his sickness in a way that only a human could: by vomiting up his last meal.

He was weak and trembling, his skin pale from the onslaught of malevolence around them. And he appeared so miserable that Mikleo's heart immediately went out to him, and in turn, he forgot his own anguish.

"Sorey…" he groaned.

Worry overtaking him, Mikleo called up whatever seraphic power he still had within him. Although the malevolence was truly far too thick for him to work any of his artes through, if he could only find the strength to stand, then at the very least, he could go to Sorey's side.

Pushing himself up on trembling arms, he shoved the pain and the fear aside. Sorey needed him, and that was all that mattered.

Mikleo saw the other's out of the corner of his eye trying to stand and rise too, but Lailah fell back down to the earth when she tried. Edna and Zaveid were no better off. But Mikleo's determination, or perhaps it was his devotion, allowed him to call up just enough holy power to stand and fight through the thickened blackness of evil around them.

Still wincing, and still hunched over in pain, he managed to put one foot forward. One hand still clutching at his chest where he struggled to breathe, he stumbled toward his love. Steadily, slowly, he made his way over.

"Sorey…" he groaned. "We need to retreat. Heldalf's too powerful for us. We should get out of here while we still can."

But oddly, Sorey didn't respond and he didn't turn to face Mikleo. Instead, he looked around himself with confusion entering his green eyes. Wiping the mess away from his mouth, he struggled to stand up. Instinctively, Mikleo reached out to help him, but to his complete and utter horror, he watched as his hand passed right through his shoulder. His purple eyes widened with instant and striking alarm.

"What?!"

"Mikleo?" Sorey suddenly asked the air around him, as if he didn't see the seraph who was standing right beside him. "Mikleo? Everyone?"

Mikleo's heart started to pound in his chest as the fear overtook him. It raced through his veins so fast that he hardly could even process what was happening as he instinctively called out to his childhood friend,

"I'm right here!"

"Lailah? Edna? Zaveid?"

"We're here! We're right here!" Mikleo cried again. Once more, out of desperation, he reached out to his human companion. But just like before, his hand passed straight through him when he tried to grip his shoulder.

"Sorey!"

Lailah and the others were finally getting to their feet. And Lailah, seeing Mikleo starting to panic, moved to his side as quickly as the malevolence would allow her too.

"It's ok," she tried to comfort. "It's Heldalf's malevolence. It's so thick that it's blocking out Sorey's resonance with us. He can't see or hear us, but it's only temporary. As soon as we leave this evil domain, things will go back to normal."

Mikleo looked to the fire seraph. He tried to take her words and allow them to calm him down. He struggled to accept what she was saying, that it was ok. But his insides wouldn't listen, even if his brain understood. There had never been a time in all of his life that Sorey couldn't see, hear, or touch him. And being invisible to the one person he cared about most, was more terrifying than anything else they'd ever done on their journey thus far.

It was more terrifying than the hellions they'd faced, more terrifying than the corrupted towns of people they'd traveled through, and even more terrifying than the war they'd just taken part in. It was worse than Heldalf, and worse than all the evil they'd ever faced. Because before, when they faced all of those things, they'd faced them together. And when they were together…they literally walked through skies filled with flying arrows and came out unharmed. Mikleo never truly felt afraid when Sorey was with him. But now…

"Mikleo? Mikleo!" He looked to Sorey. His green eyes were huge with the same fear that Mikleo currently felt. The shepherd was looking all around himself, trying to locate his missing seraphs, and Mikleo could scarcely stand to see him that way.

"We have to do something!" he said to Lailah. "Can't you see how afraid he is? He doesn't know we're still with him!"

Lailah was about to answer. She'd opened her mouth to do so, but that was when everyone there heard a noise off to their side. Sorey's sweet, young, face lit up with hope as he turned.

"Mikleo?" But it wasn't Mikleo. Instead, out of the swirling dust kicked up from the war, were suits of armor. Many of them. An army of them. Or more precisely…two armies of them. More and more shadows appeared, coming out of the sand and dust. And as they neared, it was clear to see that the soldiers of both sides from the war were no longer men. The malevolence around them was so powerful that it had turned them all into hellions. They were monsters: tall, huge, fierce, and terrifying.

"No…"

They lumbered forward, converging toward the abandoned shepherd. Cliff at his back, and an army in front of him, there was little else to do but try and fight to survive. The monsters lunged, and Sorey, already weak from the crushing force of malevolence, struggled to even remain standing as he drew his sword. He only got one good hit in before the beast before him smashed him in his face, sending him sprawling backward.

"SOREY!" Mikleo screamed, but the shepherd could neither see nor hear him. It was clear from his terrified expression that he thought he was alone.

Mikleo, desperation filling him, jumped in front of the fallen shepherd, putting himself between him and the oncoming army of nightmares. Working through the shroud of evil pressure pushing down on him, he lifted his arms, facing out against hoards of demons. Even if he had been at full strength it was clearly impossible, but now, with no holy power to call upon, it was worse than fruitless, it was foolhardy.

He tried to call forth his staff, which usually appeared for him out of thin air when called, but he didn't even have enough power to do this. His weapon didn't manifest, and he was left holding a hand out to the nothingness.

"Mikleo! There's nothing we can do! Get out of the way or you'll be trampled!"

Mikleo didn't care. Staff or none, he faced the oncoming armies and tried to cast an arte without his weapon.

"Twin Flow!" He called. But of course, nothing happened. And that one wasted second was all he'd had. Out of time, the army was upon them, and not knowing of anything else he could do, he suddenly turned and threw himself on top of his fallen love in an attempt to protect him. His arms went right through Soreys' chest as if he were a ghost, as if he didn't exist. His hands felt the dirt beneath him, and as Mikleo looked to Sorey's half-conscious face, and as he felt the wave of darkness rushing toward them, and as he found he couldn't even grab a hold of him, he finally let his panic from earlier take hold of him.

"Sorey! Sorey! I'm right here! I'm right here! I won't leave you! I won't!"

"Mikleo!" Lailah screamed. And then, before anyone could do or say anything more, the army of monsters hit them. But instead of chopping them to bits, they were too mindless and full or rage to even do this. Instead, all four seraphs and one human were pushed over the side of the cliff. They were all falling, the air ripping past their clothes and hair. And here, even now in free fall, when Mikleo reached out his hands to try and grab a hold of Sorey, he found he could not. His frantic fingers glided through him as if he wasn't even real.

Pain and terror like he'd never felt before tore through him and his face contorted with torment as they all fell, probably to their deaths. But even death didn't frighten him nearly as much as being separated from his Sorey, and that much became clear as he suddenly started to cry, his tears falling upward and away from him as their entire party fell like stones into a pond.

Mikleo awoke with a start and a gasp. Sitting up like a bolt of lightning, he kicked at the blankets on his feet. But it was only after several frantic seconds that he even realized where he was. He was safe in bed, at the inn in Pandrago.

Sitting in bed, still gasping for breath, he put a hand to his chest to try and slow his speeding heart. But it was hard. It was beating at what felt like two hundred beats per minute. And each time it pounded it felt like it might burst out of his chest.

"Just a dream," he whispered to himself. "That's all…just a dream…"

But of course that wasn't entirely true, it hadn't been just a dream. It was something that had actually happened. And ever since that moment in Glaivend Basin, he couldn't stop thinking about how he and Sorey had been completely cut off from one another. It had become a very real fear, and he knew perfectly well that it could happen again if they stumbled into a patch of malevolence strong enough.

He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing. Carefully and gradually, he worked on slowing his heart back down.

There's no point in dwelling on all of that now, he told himself. Now that we know what we're up against, we can be more careful in the future. Everything's fine.

But that was just something he told himself. He was a very rational, logical person, and usually logical reasoning calmed him down. But this time it was different. Thinking about that time on the battle field always brought back that fear, no matter how many times he thought through it.

Slowly, he opened his lavender eyes. But when he did, he was surprised to find something wet on his cheeks. Blinking and lifting a hand, he wiped the water away. Looking at his fingers and finding tears, he quickly blushed.

How embarrassing…

Afraid someone may have seen him wake up, he quickly looked around the room. But blessedly, no one else was in the room with him. The other beds were empty, and…so was the spot beside him where Sorey had been resting.

A brief jolt of fear shocked him at seeing the empty spot, but Mikleo quickly quelled it. Obviously he had slept in if everyone was out of the room but himself. Sorey was clearly with them, probably eating breakfast at the inn's lobby.

Mikleo sighed. Edna would probably make fun of him for sleeping so late. After all…he was usually an early riser. And if not the first one up, then he was always up with Sorey. But this time he supposed, his dream had held him hostage.

Might as well get dressed.

Climbing out of bed, he walked over to the small dresser they'd all been sharing and fished out his usual clothes. He didn't want anyone to worry, and so started to get dressed quickly.

A few moments later, Mikleo stepped out and into the front lobby of the inn. He still felt tense and couldn't seem to shake the lingering dread that his dream had instilled in him. But he knew he'd feel normal again once he saw Sorey. And so, anxiously, he lifted his head and scanned the tables in the dining area. Thankfully, and very quickly, he spotted his team members.

Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, and of course, Sorey, were all there. And when he spotted the back of Sorey's full head of spiky chocolate hair, he let out a relieved sigh.

Of course he's ok. It was just a dream after all.

Already feeling much more like himself, Mikleo approached the table. Sorey, his back turned to him, hadn't spotted him as of yet, and the others, wrapped up in conversation (Zaveid was implying something about Lailah's boobs…) didn't call out to him. And so, Mikleo saw a perfect opportunity.

Sorey reached for his glass of orange juice, but as he did, Mikleo only needed a flick of his wrist to control the juice inside of the cup: quickly and with ease, he made the glass slide away from the shepherds reaching hand.

"Huh?" Sorey, reaching for it a second time, found the glass slide off and to the right. Then, when he tried a third time, it slid off and to the left, still staying out of reach. Mikleo, unable to help himself, chuckled, clearly proud of his little prank. And when Sorey turned to look at him, a sly smirk overcame his face.

The Shepherd had been idly listening to the chatter between Zaveid and Lailah when he'd reached for his glass of juice. Sorey had slept in late that morning, too. He'd barely been up for more than about five minutes. And because of that, and the fog his brain was still in, it took him a couple of moments, and more than a couple failed attempts at grabbing his juice before he figured out what was happening with his chosen breakfast beverage.

Or...maybe he hadn't caught on until he'd heard a very familiar chuckle coming from behind him. With that, Sorey turned around, looking for pale aquamarine hair and violet eyes.

He found Mikleo alright, complete with a smirk plastered on his pretty face.

"Hey!" he protested, mostly just for the show of it. He wasn't truly aggravated. Sorey was never truly upset with Mikleo. He loved the water seraph too much for that. But they'd been playing a game of 'keep-away' since they were little kids. He had to at least pretend like he was offended by the juice-moving, or else it would ruin the fun.

After a sufficient pout to show he was not happy with being denied his juice, Sorey grinned. "Good morning! I see someone's feeling playful already," his green eyes brightening now that Mikleo was around.

I'm glad he's up, Sorey thought. It's rare for him to sleep in so long. I was worried.

And when Sorey turned and smiled at him, focusing his bright green eyes onto him, any lingering fears Mikleo might have had vanished entirely. Sorey didn't just see him: he could see him. And that cute, naïve face of his always put him at ease.

"Of course," Mikleo responded, matter-of-fact. "Someone around here has to keep you on your toes." Stepping over to the table, Mikleo took the empty seat beside Sorey. In Pandrago he didn't need to be careful about pulling out his seat, for if any humans saw the mysterious chair move by itself, they would already know it was a seraphs doing. Sorey had already made a name for himself here and everyone knew he was the shepherd and kept seraphim as company.

"Sorey, would you order me pasta salad with fruit and yogurt on the side?" And of course, since no one else could see or speak with the seraphim, Sorey had to order everyone's food for them. "Iced tea to drink please?"

"Sure thing!" Sorey responded, grinning as he started to look around the room for the waiter. He was always happy to help others with whatever they needed...especially if that other person happened to be Mikleo. The water seraph could've asked him to order ten different things and Sorey would've been happy to do so, if it would make him happy.

Thankfully, everyone at the Inn already knew the company he kept. It had been funny to explain the first couple of times they'd stayed the night in Pendrago, but news spread quickly around town that he was the shepherd.

He spotted their waiter, and waved his hand in the air to signal he needed some help. As he waited for the guy to come over, he responded to the other thing Mikleo had said.

"And you certainly do keep me on my toes. That's Mikleo the Enforcer for you," he teased, looking into the water seraph's violet eyes, and appreciating how pretty the other young man was for what felt like the umpteenth time in the past several days. He didn't voice his opinions on Mikleo's beauty, but he felt like the seraph already knew. That and he really didn't need Zaveid's perverseness at that time...that guy would probably turn it into something...vulgar.

Once the waiter was there and he'd placed the order for Mikleo, Sorey turned his attention back to the seraph.

"I was surprised to see you sleep in so late," he commented. "You even slept later than me this morning." The crinkle in his eyebrows would let the others know he'd been worried about his companion, if they weren't able to discern the tones in his voice.

And of course Mikleo knew Sorey'd been worried. He knew everything about the young shepherd, even more than anyone realized. Mikleo kept a lot of things to himself however, and perhaps wasn't as vocal as the other's in their party. As such, it took a very astute eye to catch on to how close the two really were, especially since Mikleo often times played things off as less than what they were.

He glanced off and to the side nonchalantly, as if he either didn't know Sorey had been worried, or as if it didn't concern him.

"Sleeping later than you is a feat," he said teasingly. "Maybe I used up a little too much energy in our last battle."

He'd offered the explanation as a way to try and ease Sorey's worried mind. But before he had a chance to see how the shepherd would react, an umbrella tip was being jabbed into his ribs.

"Or maybe lady Meebo just needed his beauty sleep."

"Ow! Ow!" Mikleo hissed. "Edna! Stop that!" As always, he swatted the umbrella away once it was jabbed into his side. "And I told you to stop calling me that!"

Edna's antics made him feel a little bit more relaxed. Just as Mikleo knew Sorey, the shepherd knew Mikleo just as well. He knew the water seraph's tendency to downplay things. All the same, his heart had leapt with the suggestion that the only thing wrong with the other young man had been a lack of energy, and nothing more.

If he'd truly slept in because of using up too much energy, then that was okay. If it was something else, like...being sad, or having a nightmare, then that wouldn't have been okay.

But Sorey chose to believe in his companion's explanation. If there was something important going on, Mikleo would tell him. He trusted that.

"I...don't think 'Lady' quite suits Mikleo though," Sorey piped in, trying to distract Edna from poking poor Mikleo. "He's elegant, but he's also a guy," he expounded, genuinely curious as to why their oftentimes cantankerous friend called the water seraph that.

Yeah, he's pretty, but Mikleo's definitely masculine in his own way, he mused, looking over to his companion as he once again brushed Edna's killer umbrella aside.

Elegant, Mikleo mused. And when Sorey said it, he found himself suddenly fighting off a bought of heat that threatened to wash over his face. Jutting out his chin, he quickly crossed his arms over his chest and looked sourly off and to the side. Luckily for him though, it was Edna that spoke first, making it so that he didn't need to come up with a retort.

"No, he's definitely a lady," she said. And then of course, Mikleo wasn't so thankful.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Elegant is one thing, but the way he acts and carries himself is very lady-like. It's almost like he believes he's from high-society or something like that."

"I-I do not!" Mikleo stuttered, horrified by this concept that Edna had of him.

"Now now you two," Lailah said in a kind voice from her side of the table. "It's a little early for such heavy teasing, isn't it?" She smiled in a bit of a strained manner, almost as if she were a mother watching over two children.

It was obvious he'd embarrassed Mikleo. But the water seraph was so cute when he jutted his chin out like that, it was hard for Sorey to feel guilty about it.

That look on his face was worth it.

He'd have teased Mikleo some more, but from the way Lailah had spoken, Sorey thought maybe she'd had enough. Besides, the waiter was coming back with Mikleo's food.

"Hahah, it is pretty early," Sorey agreed, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner, as was habit for him whenever he felt a little embarrassed himself.

"But hey! It looks like your food is here," Sorey said, eyeing the yogurt and the fruit. Man, it looked good! Maybe I should've ordered that, he thought to himself.

Mikleo, not wanting to feed into any more comments about him being 'lady-like' chose not to fuel the fire by saying anything. Instead, he grabbed up his food and sourly began to eat. Zaveid chuckled at the entire ordeal.

"All of the joking aside," he said. "I believe Sorey suggested yesterday that we head to the town of Lowgrin next. Now that we've restored the blessing to this area, it's time to move on."

"Yes," Lailah agreed. "And we've all heard the troubling news from the merchants about that location. It seems there's a lot of malevolence there for us to quell. Those people clearly need our help."

Mikleo remained silent, and somehow his silence became even thicker still when Lailah mentioned the amount of malevolence in the area they were about to travel to.

"Yeah," Zaveid agreed. "And it's in the desert, which means the women there will be scantily clad due to the heat."

"So that's your real reason for wanting to go," Edna said, her voice sounding like gravel. "You don't care about helping people at all, you just want to see some skin. Pervert."

"Hey! It's not my fault that's what they customarily wear in hot locations! I'm allowed to be excited about it! You gotta find some good in situations like this!"

As usual, Sorey chose to ignore Zaveid's perverted comments. He really had...no interest in what the women of the area would be wearing. He was, however, excited about going to a desert. He and Mikleo had never been to one before, and he was willing to bet there'd be all sorts of ruins in the area. He'd read in a book once that the limestone rocks found in the desert could sometimes form impressive cave systems when the conditions were right; maybe they'd be lucky and find something like that, too, while wandering around in the desert.

"Well, I'm betting there'll be some great ruins in the area," he said, adrenaline starting to seep into his system the more he thought about it. "Plus it'll be good to help those merchants. They need our assistance, and that's not something I can ignore," Sorey said, perhaps ignorant to how idealistic and excitable he truly sounded.

Sorey then turned to look at Mikleo, having noticed his silence. He didn't necessarily want to point it out in front of the others - Sorey thought maybe Mikleo was done with having the spotlight on him for a minute - but Sorey's intuition told him something was up with the water seraph. Maybe he was upset about all the teasing. He'd ask privately a little later on, to make sure everything was alright. For now, though, he could try to make things seem as normal as possible.

"You excited about the ruins, too, Mikleo?" he asked with a grin. His companion was just as much of a nerd as he was. And competitive to boot. Sorey could bet they'd have some fun in the area.

Mikleo couldn't resist. And he didn't want to. Immediately, as soon as Sorey said the word 'ruins,' a smile spread across his face, dousing the sourness that had been there previously. He stopped eating and faced his childhood friend straight on.

"You know it," he fully admitted. "And didn't the Celestial Record say something about The Zaphgott Desert? There's supposed to be an ice cave somewhere to the west. And the Gangaren Ruins are to the Northeast. The ice cave I find particularly interesting. Despite the overbearing temperatures of the desert that surrounds it, inside it's below freezing all year round. Something about the limestone characteristics of its walls is supposed to keep it cool. I'd love to see it for myself."

"And of course, it being made of ice and you being a water seraph has nothing to do with it," Edna teased. Mikleo, completely ignoring her, and his lilac eyes still aglow from the excitement of exploring some new ruins, never stopped in his excited banter to his equally as nerdy counterpart.

"And of course very little is known about the Gangaren Ruins. We could be the first to discover something really big of historic importance!"

"Oh my God, do you two ever stop being nerds long enough to even think about what I just said earlier about the scantily clad women?" Zaveid groaned. "Come on, you're the only other two dudes in our traveling party. Back me up."

It was Lailah that giggled, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. Clearly, Zaveid being their newest member, hadn't yet put the puzzle pieces together. But everyone else in the group already knew the very obvious truth about Mikleo and Sorey's relationship.

The more Mikleo talked, the more Sorey's own eyes started to glow with excitement. He'd leaned forward in his chair until his butt was practically off the seat, elbows on his knees, as he listened to the water seraph's speculations.

The shepherd opened his mouth, ready to reply to Mikleo, but that's when Zaveid chimed in with more comments about women.

Sorey laughed a little, looking to the side for a moment as he thought of how to reply.

"I don't know Zaveid, I'm much more interested in the ruins than in the, um, scantily clad women," Sorey confessed. "Especially if it means we could do just as Mikleo suggested, and find something no one else has ever discovered before!"

The excitement was too much for him. Sorey was clearly lost in the Nerd Dream World.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Zaveid cried, eyes wide. But Mikleo could only smile. Zaveid looked like he was about to have an aneurism, but before he could open his mouth and say anymore, Lailah grabbed his elbow and stood up.

"Come on Zaveid, leave them alone. Not everyone likes the same things you do." And at that one, it was Edna who let out a snort. But seeing Lailah rise to her feet, Edna followed suit. Mikleo turned back to his food and ate a little more quickly, seeing that the others were ready to go. He didn't want to hold them up.

After Sorey paid the bill, the group headed out of the inn and into the Pendrago city beyond. The sun was bright and already high in the sky, letting Mikleo know that he had indeed slept in far later than he thought.

The group stopped by the local merchant and stocked up on supplies. Leaning over Sorey's shoulder, Mikleo certainly didn't let him forget anything important, such as cool food that wouldn't go bad in a desert and a large water sack for each member of the party. They didn't worry about filling the water pouches, for Mikleo could do that for free. Once loaded up and prepared, the group headed for the exit.