Gatti was glad that Folken had dismissed him. He headed straight for his study, unaware of the four who were following him. Slowly, he approached the balcony which was attached to the study and clasped the railing with his gloved hands. Letting out a sigh of frustration, Gatti closed his eyes for a moment, then he opened them again to scan the landscape before him. The beauty of it all didn’t cheer the young soldier at all…not even a bit.

"Gatti?" Viole said after a moment’s hesitation.

Gatti whirled around. "Viole! What are you…" he exclaimed. Noticing the three, he added, "What are they doing here? What are YOU doing here? Where you all following me?!"

Lina nodded slowly. She stepped forth, closer to Gatti and smiled at him. "Mom told me about you, Leiren…"

Gatti’s blue eyes stared at Lina for a moment, then looked away. "Leave me alone. I’m not Leiren. That purple stone has got it all wrong! I’m a Dragonslayer, a Gaean! I’m not…one of your kind, all right?"

Augenta sighed. "Don’t deny the truth, Arunian."

Gatti whirled around, glaring at the princess. "Don’t call me by what I am not!!" he exclaimed, frustration in his voice. "I’m not an Arunian or whatever you call it!! I’m not Leiren! I’m not the so-called warrior who has the fate of three stars!!"

Lina stared sadly at Gatti for a moment. She remembered what her mother had told her about the boy named Leiren…he sounded like a nice person to be with, he sounded like someone a lost soul could go to for comfort and protection…. She slowly approached Gatti, not knowing what caused her to do so, and put her arms around him.

Gatti’s eyes widened for a moment. He looked down at the girl who was embracing him and stared. What is she doing to me…?

"Mom told me a lot about you…she loved you so much…" Lina whispered, burying her face into Gatti’s chest. Hot tears started to fill her eyes. Something inside her which she had inherited from her mother throbbed. She bit her lip at the pain…the immense pain that she felt for some unknown reason.

Gatti closed his eyes, the memories of his old self flooding into his mind. Kara… He shook his head and pushed Lina off him. Half confused and half angry, he turned his back on her and clasped onto the railings. "Go away!"

Viole was utterly confused at what had just happened. "Gatti..what’s going on? What’s gotten into you?!"

"YOU try being Leiren! Just TRY!! See how hard it is!!" Gatti exclaimed. "I just want to jump off the balcony because of it!!"

The other three stared, shocked at what Gatti had just said.

"Gatti…you seriously aren’t going to…!" Viole said.

Gatti looked over his shoulder at Viole and gave an ironic smile. "Aren’t going to what? Jump off? I just might! I have enough responsibility in my hands! I have suffered enough stress! Now look! Lord Folken says that I am the one who holds the fate of three stars in my hands, and he’s telling me to decide which one to destroy! I can’t take it!" Gatti averted his eyes back to the landscape before him. "WHY does it have to be me?! Why not somebody else?! Well?! Answer me!!"

Viole held his hands up disarmingly. "Calm down, Gatti! You’re starting to sound like Lord Dilandau!"

Gatti sighed. "I’m sorry…"

Katomi, who had been watching silently the whole time, chuckled a bit. "Realization often comes as a shock. I found out that I was…one of them when I was held captive…" she said.

Viole stared at her. "You’re one of them? Then…why did you come here?"

"I wanted to come here. Besides, who’d want a soldier who had been fighting against them all this time?" Katomi said, smiling down at her comrade. "Besides, you’re over here. How can I ever desert you, eh?" She shoved Viole’s shoulder playfully with one paw.

Viole chuckled. "Right. Anyway, I bet you can’t last a minute in battle without me."

Katomi gave Viole a playful glare then smirked. "Uh-huh. Right. I think it’s more of the opposite," she said.

Augenta sighed. "Realization does come as a shock often…that’s the bad side of it…"

Lina nodded sadly. She faced Augenta, in the verge of tears. "What’s going to happen now? My visions…are they going to…?"

Augenta looked up at the sky. "Only the Creator and his angels know…" she said.

Gatti turned around to face the rest, his face expressionless. "Lina, the battle is going to take place very soon…in fact…it’s going to take place…tonight."

Everyone’s eyes went wide. "Tonight?!" they exclaimed in unison.

Gatti pointed at the horizon where the sun was beginning to set. "In exactly two hours."

Katomi and Viole were speechless, Augenta also. The three just gaped at Gatti. How does he know? What gave him the knowledge? Lina smiled softly. "Then…I suppose you have made your decision…"

Gatti nodded. "Three stars…I have chosen which one is going to die…"

Lina nodded. "I’m glad you made your decision…I’m glad…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It all happened just as Gatti said it would. During the two hours of waiting, a Hybrid soldier had been sent to tell Zaibach of what they had decided. There was to be a battle on Earth. When the two hours were up, Dilandau and the Dragonslayers found themselves on Earth. Dilandau looked around to see if Van and company were around. Yes. There they were, standing in the distance. The warlord barely managed to suppress the urge to charge and slay Van.

"You have come," came a voice.

Dilandau looked around to see a large android wearing a red cloak. He smirked. "Of course I have! I wouldn’t like to miss a fight such as this!"

The android laughed. "I see you like to fight. If only you were a Hybrid, you would have made an excellent soldier. Pity you aren’t. Catara needs soldiers right now. We have only a few who are able to pilot androids now…"

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Dilandau exclaimed. "Aren’t we going to fight?!"

The android nodded. "Let the battle begin!"

The three forces charged, clashing together in a battle to the death. Dilandau and his Dragonslayers (except Katomi) activated the stealth cloaks and attacked. To Dilandau’s surprise, some of the Hybrids managed to see him, yet he didn’t know how…

Lina was underground with her parents. The moment of happiness had died when the battle began. She watched eagerly, her eyes fixed on the guymelef that was Gatti’s.