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~~Ben~~

I heard whispering all around me as I struggled to wake up. I was so tired that I couldn't even open my eyes. "Do you think you can fix his arm F6?" A feminine voice spoke from above me.

"I can." A deep, masculine voice replied; the tone giving me an image that this guy was probably huge. "The body is my domain but I can't do it without his permission. It should be his choice after all I5."

"Well this one's certainly a cutie, but he always had good taste hasn't he?" A female voice asked, this one sounding very bubbly and cheerful. "Big brawny wolves seem to be his type."

'What is going on? Where the fuck am I?' I thought to myself and grew worried when I couldn't hear or sense Suzaku_._ 'Suzaku? You there?' I asked, panicking that I couldn't hear my Spirit Guardian.

"He wasn't able to follow you here Ben." The female voice inquiring about my broken arm said in an attempt to calm me down. "Don't worry though, he is okay and he'll be there when you are returned to your body. By the way, you can open your eyes now. It's rude to snoop."

My eyes bolted open as I saw a woman covered in some form of metallic armor, hovering only a few inches from my face which caused me to scream and fall off the platform that I was laying on. "Oww..." was all I said as I went to lift myself with my right arm, then caught myself. 'Oh right, I lost that arm. That fucking hurt but at least Dil is okay so I take that as a win. Now where am I?' I thought as I used my left arm to get myself on my feet. Looking around, I saw an all white room with numerous thrones all around me. All of them except for two were filled with other armored figures. Noticing this, I figured the creepy cyborg armor lady must have a permanent spot on one of them. There were thirteen in all from what I could see and I frowned, even more confused.

Suddenly, the armor lady floated down next to me."You okay, Ben? You didn't hurt yourself did you? He'd be upset if you got hurt in our care." She giggled and I just tilted my head in confusion.

'He? Who was this 'he' they kept on mentioning and why would he care if I was hurt?' As if reading my mind, the lady giggled again before brushing my face lightly with her hands which made me jump back a bit.

"He and you are very close. I'm not saying anymore, cause that'd be no fun." She said which made me give her an odd look. Was she reading my mind or something? "Yes I am actually! It's my thing. My name is V10 'The Valiant'. I rule over the aspect of the mind so yes, I can hear all your thoughts and yes, even those thoughts but keep thinking of them, they are pretty hot. I didn't know that cats could bend that way." This made me blush hard and before it could get worse, another voice rang from above.

"Stop messing with the boy, V10! Let us all speak with him. After all, he's the one our dear brother has taken an interest in." The lady V10 pouted, or at least I think she was pouting as her face was basically covered in her armor. How did she breath? I didn't see any vents for her mouth.

"You are no fun D8, but alright I'll bring him up." She said before grabbing me and floating me up in the air.

"Hey!" I cried out, trying to get out of her grip but to no avail and eventually she put me back on the platform I had fell from. The man who spoke -D8 I believe she said his name was?- was really something to behold. He looked more tank than man in all honesty. His thick silver armor was impressively designed and his face like V10(?) was covered by a helmet and on his shoulders were two massive cannons. Immediately upon gazing at him, I felt an intense amount of dislike for this D8. I didn't know why but he just made my blood boil. He seemed to catch my glare as the cold, metallic voice seemed almost amused.

"Pick your battles wolf, you don't want to pick a fight with me." He said, his smugness making me dislike him even more. Another man, covered in countless red belts spoke up next.

"That would be a fun thing to watch! A bunch of explosions hopefully!" He cackled. "My name is H2 ' __The Harbinger of Havoc'. My aspect is chaos itself! And D8 '_ The Derelict'_ here is the ruler of energy. Don't mind him though. he's always been a bit trigger happy. You should have seen his antics in Enria, he made a total ass out of himself." This comment made D8 cast a glance at the man and even without seeing his face I could see he was giving him a hateful glare. "But I wouldn't be so cocky. You already had your ass beaten by a mortal once before, did you forget that? And Benny here has a lot of potential."

"Shut up H2!" D8 snarled, sounding more of a beast than what he already is. Just then, another voice, the same masculine one from earlier spoke.

"He isn't lying D8! You did do horrible things to Enria. Your thirst for its destruction caused countless suffering after all of the chaos you wrought." He said and I could only stare at the mountain of a wolf in front of me. He had snowy white fur and like everyone else, his face was covered and he had three sets of wings; the top being white angelic wings, the second were leathery demon-like wings and the last pair were skeletal. He was really huge and I couldn't help but feel a twinge on envy since I felt like a wimp compared to him. The man looked down on me and spoke, his voice soft. "I am called F6 'The Facilitator.'"

"You mean 'The Patriarch'." H2 teased, which made the wolf roll his eyes (or I at least think he did so since I couldn't see his face).

"Yes, and as I've said before, I'm done with that title." F6 huffed, which was strange of me to see, let alone hear. "In any case, It's so good to meet you Ben, we've been watching you for a long time."

"What?" Was all I could manage at that revelation. Who the fuck were these people and why were they stalking me? Just how long were they watching me?

"Since you were five actually. You were such an adorable pup when you were little." V10 answered which made me growl at her in irritation.

'Get out of my head!' I mentally shouted, making her giggle as she continued to speak.

"As for what we are? We're No Ones." She said happily.

"You...are No One?" I asked as I tilted my head in confusion.

"Well...we are Some One but we are called No Ones because we exist outside the bounds of this reality." D8 chimed in, his voice colder than before, obviously sore about the teasing. "We've been keeping an eye on this realm. You could say it's gained our interest. You should be lucky, we were moments away from obliterating your reality but you managed to save it. Be proud." What? These guys can destroy realities!? What were these guys?

"Are you gods?" Was all I could ask in shock, but before anyone could answer, the man in the tallest throne spoke. He was the most majestic and dare I say, godly of the group. His armor was an almost divine white and gold, his horned helmet having a T-shaped visor. Like all of the others, his face was covered completely in darkness and the only thing I could make out was his eyes; a bright sapphire blue but his pupils were weird, like 8-pointed stars. I was almost completely entranced in them before he spoke which made me focus on what he was saying.

"No, we are not gods. We are mortals. We can die just like you can Benedict." The man said as he held a leather bound book he was writing in. "We are just mortals who had our stories completed and we're here to help others so they can complete their own stories and keep the cycle going." I could only nod, not having a clue on what he was talking about since it sounded like gibberish in all honesty but I didn't want to look like an idiot in front of the godlike but not godlike beings. "But I didn't introduce myself! How rude of me, I'm R3 'The Writer of Reality'. I'm the leader of this motley crew you could say." He chuckled. "Or acting leader as even I report to someone but that's beside the point. Like F6 said, we've been watching you. I'd like to thank you for looking after young Dillon, he's quite precious to us and seeing you look after him puts us all at ease." That made me even more confused. What on earth did he have to do with these godlike beings?

"It's a long story. Just know we have a vested interest in his safety and we don't take well to him being hurt so please keep an eye on him." D8 said in a slightly warmer tone. "As R3 said, the boy is someone we care very much about."

Another feminine voice spoke after he did, her being the oddest looking of the group. She must have been the I5 (Why did these people have such weird names?) that F6 was talking to. "Though it is a sad thing that you lost your arm in the process of saving Dillon. If you want, we could have F6 restore your arm. As he mentioned, his aspect is the body itself so he could fix you quite quickly. Would you be willing to do that?"

I stared at her then looked right back to F6. Could he really do that? I unconsciously rubbed at the stump that had been my right arm and sighed. "Is there a catch?" I asked in a skeptical manner, not at all trusting any of these people. They had literally admitted they were inches away from completely obliterating my entire reality because of Dil, which was very extreme, even for me. "No, I don't want my arm healed." I said with conviction which seemed to take I5 off-guard. Even F6 himself seemed surprised.

"You would rather go without your arm for the rest of your life? Why is that?" He asked in an almost fatherly tone.

"Because, for me it's a symbol of how far I will go to protect Dil. I know things would be easier to just have it regrow like magic but doing so would undermine my point. I can't let magic just fix all my problems." I said and let out a sigh. "Thank you for offering but I have to decline. I'll just adapt like I always do so it's no big deal, plus I could get a prosthetic so I won't have to be completely one-armed right?"

F6 just nodded his head lightly and he looked like he was smiling underneath his mask but it could just be an odd guess. "That's quite mature for a boy your age, willing to go through the hard way because you want to stick by your beliefs. I find that admirable honestly." He said, stroking his chin in an almost nostalgic manner. "It's not going to be easy as I am sure you know. There are things that you won't be able to do anymore. Basketball would be one of those things. Are you willing to give up your passion to live as an amputee?"

I actually hadn't thought about basketball, and the thought of not being able to ever play it again did sting since it had been my passion my entire life and no matter how unlikely it would be, I had dreamed of going pro even if that was extremely unlikely. "Thanks..." was all I could say, blushing lightly at the praise, then sighed once again as I rubbed the stump. Was I really going to go through with this? I could easily get my arm back and there would be no questions asked but was I really going to refuse that to prove a point? Of course I was. I'm an idiot but it didn't matter right now because idiot or not, it was the path I chose. "But that's my choice yes. Thank you again for the offer, sir." I said before turning my focus back on R3. "Is there anything else you need of me?"

"No, not really. I'll return you to your body, but if you ever need any help, you can just give us a call. Goodnight Ben, we'll see each other again soon enough." R3 said and with a snap of his fingers, I passed out again and felt myself fade away, all the No Ones giving a wave as I fell back asleep.

~~Casper~~

I sighed as I found myself in the middle of the room with all the other members staring down at me. Their expressions; a mix of curiosity, irritation or in the case of Elwyn, complete and utter fury. Even Regis was there but his covered face made it impossible to read so I could only guess what he was thinking. However, looking at Elwyn, it was clear enough that he was probably angry for the both of them as he seemed to go out of his way to be Regis's attack dog. I don't know why he was so determined to be like that but if I didn't know better, I would say he was in love with our leader but what did I know? Either way, he looked steamed all the same.

"Explain yourself Casper! You had ample chance to grab Benedict and you didn't! Why? You were so close! What stopped you?" Elwyn asked in a frustrated manner.

I just gave a shrug, not getting the point of this. Even though I failed, it wasn't the end of this. We could still get him. They all knew that so why were they freaking out? "I had a powerful Lumiere literally aiming an arrow at my chest. If I had tried to get closer to the wolf I would have gotten blasted and that wouldn't have been fun, now would it? Not only would you still not have gotten Ben, you could have lost one of your own, something I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted, now would you? Besides, even though I didn't get him now, it doesn't mean we can't get him at a later time, even if it means a war with the Reapers." Elwyn just growled at me, not at all liking my flippant reply. It looked like he was ready to say something more but instead, he took a deep breath and shook his head, frustrated with this whole mess.

"He is right you know." Nadia said from her own throne. "Losing Casper would have been a disaster if we went to war with our foes. We are strongest with our full ten." I smiled towards her. Ah Nadia, she always did have my back. Even Thamyris spoke, our Il Consiglio Ombra. Despite being the master of sound, he didn't say much and generally kept to himself so him speaking up made me so proud.

"Yes, plus I don't think any of us want to lose one of our own. Casper was the last of us to be born and I don't see another one coming for a long time. Not even the Reaper managed to make a Rinato, despite being quite powerful so we only have each other, unless you want to recruit one of the lesser Rinato into our ranks." There was a derisive snort of laughter that ran through the others at that comment. The idea of one of the lesser Rinato joining us was a joke. They were far weaker than us Born Rinato and couldn't spawn there own Servo to fight for them or control the elements like we could. "We have to stick together as we are the only thing each other has and I don't want the family we made to be broken apart and I know you don't want that either."

"No, I don't want that but it isn't a good look. So what should be our next move? Do we make our next strike or should we wait?" Elwyn asked, looking towards Regis who still remained relaxed through it all.

"It's far too early so we will wait until he gets stronger." He began in a calm tone. "I had a feeling we would not get him. Even so, there is a war brewing. We will have to face our foes to get the wolf so I want all of you at full strength for this. It's about time we made our move and let ourselves be known."

"Why do you want the boy Regis? What could he offer us? A mere mortal boy can't be that useful for us to employ such tactics to nab him!" Damini shouted as she reclined in her throne, picking at her clothes. The beautiful red panda woman didn't do much else, though she did cause a rumble amongst the group. It was obvious that all of us had been asking this same question to ourselves but hopefully now we could get answers finally.

"I cannot say quite yet my dear Damini, but you will all find out soon enough. Don't worry my children...I promise that Benedict will be the answers to all our wishes. Our time in the Shadows will come to a close and we can finally step into the light."

There was even more rumbling in the group before Garret decided to speak up, the lynx looking directly towards our leader. "Are you saying that Benedict could be the one who restores our lost souls? Is that what you mean by stepping into the light? Please Regis, you owe us answers, especially if we are truly going to war."

Regis just chuckled at that before letting out a sigh. Not the first time I wished I could see his face to know what he was really thinking as the mystery had gotten old. "He might or he might not. Just have faith dear Garret, when have I ever led any of you wrong?" There was silence. Even I couldn't point to anything that showed he had misled us. He had given us all a place to belong here. And not just us, but he even let the lesser of our kind stay, even allowing them to grow a city around our palace and through that we brought some form of order to our dark, chaotic world. I was amazed when I first saw the massive white city in the middle of the eternally dark plains that made up the Dark Realm; a beacon of order to any Shadow who managed to awaken their sentience that it was a safe haven. And outside, a few rebels who wanted to overthrow our leadership of the city. It was a shame really, having to slay them like the savages they were since they enjoyed our rule once upon a time.

"But that's enough talk. Casper my child, I will let this slide but don't make this mistake again or you will be punished. You're dismissed." He said, bringing this whole thing to a close as he opened a portal and vanished from the room, causing everyone to start talking amongst themselves.

"So we are going to war...after countless centuries we are finally going to act. This is exciting!" Adomnán, our Numero Quattro said, the gorilla rubbing his paws together, causing our Numero Cinque to let out a sigh.

"Don't get too eager Adomnán. War is a bloody thing and something that shouldn't be taken lightly but yes, it is nice to finally do something." The dragon said as he created flames in his paws and stared into it. "The Reapers will be a daunting enemy to fight head on. They outnumber us greatly and their strongest members are very powerful indeed so this won't be easy. We could very lose some of our own but I guess that cannot be helped. If anyone needs me, I'll be returning to my quarters." He stood up from his seat, quickly creating a portal and vanishing into it.

Adomnan sighed with a roll of his eyes. "You are no fun Branton...but goodbye all of you." He said before leaving us as well.

"I'm going to do some work in my lab." Gavin; a large and imposing croc, our Numero Otto said and gazed at the snow leopard with what appeared to be contempt in his eyes. "Be good Casper, you are on thin ice with Regis so please behave." And with that, he vanished into the shadows.

"I'm so bored! Don't do anything stupid Casper, alright?" Damini smiled, then went away like the others.

Thamyris, Nadia and Garrett also left the room, leaving just me and Elwyn. Before I could leave myself, I heard the man call my name which made me sigh in irritation. I really didn't want to be scolded again but I still stayed because I did respect him and I considered him a father figure almost. "Is there something you need?" I asked him, curious as to what he wanted.

He stayed silent for several more minutes before sighing. "I'm glad you made it back okay. While I am upset you didn't grab the wolf, Thamyris is right in the context of losing one of our own being a bad thing and I know this. We are going to war against the Reapers." Suddenly he looked away. "I was afraid that Regis was going to punish you, boy. You have no idea how lucky you are that Regis decided to be lenient. Anyway, I'm taking you off of watching Benedict."

This caught me by surprise. "What!? Why?"

This made Elwyn sigh and shake his head. "I fear you have grown too attached to the wolf. You have let yourself get too close to the point you have allowed it to cloud your judgement. Instead of watching him at a distance you have shown yourself and interacted with him. I'm going to assign the watch duty to Damini from now on. Don't worry, your services will be needed as well. A few of the Spirit Mafia managed to escape so I want you to track them down and get rid of them. Now, goodnight Casper, have a nice night and I'm glad you weren't destroyed." He said before opening a portal and stepping through, leaving me alone.

"Arrogant bastard," I said with a laugh before shaking my head. "Well, I guess I won't be able to play with you anymore Ben, so be good. We still need you." I said and looked up to the darkened roof. "Just what are you planning, Regis? As much as I want to trust you I just can't fully. Why do you hide your face and just what do you want with that boy? Why can't you tell us? What are you hiding?" I asked to no one in particular and slumped my shoulders. "I'm being an idiot. Regis has done nothing to make me doubt him so much. I'm just being paranoid. Hopefully when this is all over I'll be whole. Whether I'll be Oliver once again or still be me it will make all of this worth it. I miss dreaming." That was one of the worst things about being a Shadow, we couldn't dream so our sleep was always nothingness. Sure, it had its advantages as I didn't have to deal with nightmares but even still, it would be nice to dream once in awhile. I finally opened my own portal and stepped through, waiting for the moment when we would strike.

~~Ben~~

' __Now where am I?' I thought as I looked around to see myself in a massive library. '_ I thought I was supposed to wake up in my body, not in some random library so what's going on here?'_ This place was truly massive and there were countless books on even more countless shelves. Dil would love it here. I sighed once again and started to walk around, finding even more shelves and books. "Just how big is this place?"

"This is R3's place. Naught, an infinite library." A voice spoke out of nowhere, making me jump and try to summon my sword before remembering I was separated from Suzaku so I couldn't use my powers and even if I was able to use them, my blade was shattered by Donnie so it would be useless in a fight. Turning around, I saw a lean, male tiger around my age. He was, in all honesty, stunning with bright emerald eyes and brown hair in a style that vaguely reminded me of how DIl styled his. "It's good to see you face to face Ben! How've things been?" The tiger asked cheerfully which made me glare at him.

"An Infinite Library eh? Whatever you say dude, but if I may ask, who the fuck are you and give me one reason why I shouldn't beat you into a pulp. Are you the one who brought me here? R3 said I would return back to my body so how did I get here?" The tiger just let out a gentle laugh. I was a good bit taller than him but the fact he seemed completely unconcerned with my threatening actions bothered me. It was clear there was much more to this kid than met the eye.

"Call me Connor, and you were going back to your body but I decided to intercept so I can have my own chat with you." He said before walking away, beckoning me with a finger. Given I didn't really have a choice, I let out a frustrated sigh and followed him, looking around in amazement as I saw the library was indeed expansive. Could it truly be infinite? Because it surely looked like it. Soon enough he lead me to what looked like a nice sitting area. He sat down on one of the comfy looking couches and I noticed on the table there was a pot of coffee and two cups. The tiger grabbed the pot and gently poured both cups full to the brim. After doing so did he grab his own cup and took a sip, his eyes looking towards me and smiling. "I won't harm you Ben so please, have a seat."

I did so reluctantly and stared at him, not even bothering with coffee at the moment. It was weird, his body language really did remind me of Dil but slightly different at the same time. "So why did you bring me here?" I asked in honest curiosity. I really wanted to get back to my body but I knew I wouldn't be able to do that until this cat got what he wanted.

"I just wanted to see you. I want to thank you for saving Dil." Connor answered in an earnest tone.

"I didn't do it for you, I would save him no matter what." I said as I clumsily picked up my cup with my left paw. This was going to be tough to adapt to. I was somewhat ambidextrous but even then, I heavily favored my right so I would have to basically relearn everything. I took a sip and scowled at how bitter it tasted. I was never a fan of coffee anyway but I didn't see any creamer so I just had to grin and bear it.

"Yes, you promised you would protect him no matter what but he never thought you meant that in a literal sense." Connor let out a heavy sigh. "He's in a bad spot right now. The mafia traumatized him and I wouldn't be surprised if he developed some form of PTSD down the line. He blames himself for you losing your arm."

"That's stupid!" I shouted out in anger, ignoring the fact I just spilt some scalding hot coffee on myself. "He wasn't the one who tore my arm off! It wasn't his fault that he got kidnapped! If anything, it was my fault." I growled as tears began to well up in my eyes. 'God, I so don't want to cry right now...' I shook my head in order to compose myself and let out a defeated sigh as I slumped deeper into the chair. "They used him to get to me. They knew he was my biggest weakness. He was hurt because Casper and his group want me for some unknown reason. All the trauma they put him through is my fault and I have no idea how to fix it! " I was shaken from my bitter thoughts as I felt Connor's paws land on my shoulders and I was forced to look into those eyes which made me blush. 'Damn, he really had some pretty eyes...' I blinked for a second as it seemed like he briefly took the form of Dil before turning back to himself.

"Don't blame yourself either Ben. It's not your fault and he knows it isn't." Connor said in a firm tone before smiling. "He loves you, but I'm sure you know that. Besides, "he'' need you more now than ever and you will need him too."

I didn't say anything, just absorbed the tiger's words. He was right of course. I did know Dil loved me, I've known for ages. I was just too much a coward to pursue anything because I didn't want to risk messing up what we had. "What do I do? If he is as damaged as you say, he won't be ready for any relationship anytime soon. I wasted YEARS to tell him how I felt because I was so afraid of ruining everything." I said, finally letting the tears flow. "What if he is never ready for me? I could have just lost my one chance to make him my own. I have literally had dreams of us getting married, having a family and living a happy, normal life."

"That's quite romantic Ben, you should tell him how you feel. Even if he isn't ready yet, he will be eventually." I just shook my head and rubbed my stump. Would he still have me? I was a disfigured, broken mutt and Dil could quite honestly have any man he wanted. Hell, that coyote dude was pretty attractive. Why would Dil ever want someone like me? As if reading my mind, Connor rolled his eyes and laughed. "Are you worrying that Dil won't love you back because you lost an arm? Do you really think he's that shallow? He wouldn't think twice about having you, disfigurement or not silly, and you know that. If you even doubted it, you would have had Dan fix your arm."

"Who?" I cocked my head to the side.

A crimson shade of red touched the tiger's cheeks. "Ah sorry, I mean F6. Dan Wolfe was the name I knew him back on Enria, my homeworld. I was really close to him and his son." He said with a wistful look in his eyes.

"Wait, F6 was a mortal once? The big snowy wolf in the armor? And he had a son? I mean R3 said they're mortals but they actually lived mundane lives?" I asked, firing off one question after another. All this stuff was so confusing and it was starting to give me a headache.

Noticing my interest and slight distress, Connor laughed once more. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it? And yes, at one point he took the form of the man I told you about and he had a wife and a child. The Dan I knew wasn't the original version of F6, he was just an incarnation. You see, when a No One wishes to be part of a reality they must be born into that reality and take on a mortal form. It's why we-" He paused and shook his head. "I mean they stress so hard that they are mortal. They take mortal form and can die just like anyone else, only when they die they will just reform in their personal dimension. Like if R3 were to perish in mortal form he would reform back here in Naught." He said waving a paw around to show the vast library. I raised an eyebrow at the little 'we' slip but didn't say anything.

"But Dan had parents, a childhood and he grew up and married a beautiful wolf woman named Serena. All the while she was aware of who he was. He let Serena know the truth and they made love while he was in his F6 form, which resulted in the birth of their son Jason." He said before his face became sad and his eyes dark.

"Was that a bad thing? For him to have a child in his god form?" I asked, not seeing the big deal really. So what if he sired a child in his god form? Why would that matter?

"Yes, it is...it is against R3's rules, though to be fair he didn't care. D8, however..." Connor trailed off, his mood seeming to drop.

I growled at the mention of 'The Derelict'. I had no idea why but I just felt an instant and immediate hatred of the man. He just rubbed me the wrong way and the comments the others made on his actions on this Enria (Was that one of those different realities?) solidified that dislike. "What did he do Connor?" I asked firmly. I was surprised when I saw tears form in his eyes before he wiped them away.

"He created a race of abominations called Malefactors, entities embodying the worst of mortal emotion onto Enria and sent one by the name of Pride to destroy Jason. But his mother... " He shuddered before taking a deep breath. "She defended her child. Her pure heart was in such contrast to Pride's darkness that they basically cancelled each other out and his mom vanished. She still hasn't been found yet."

I growled at that, letting my hatred for the man grow. "F6 did seem mildly hostile towards the man. Now I know why...so you say you knew him? What was Enria like? I kept hearing that name being bandied about a lot but nobody explained what it was. Is it one of those different realities?"

"Yes, Enria wouldn't exist in this reality. Or if it did, it wouldn't be the same Enria I hail from. It's not that different than your Earth actually. Only big difference is our kind. We have the Animarian who coexisted with humans like how the Reaper's do. And as I already mentioned, I was very close to Jason." He said in a fond tone before becoming serious. "But I'm not here to regale you on my life. I don't have much time left to talk to you before you wake up. Watch over Dil. Be honest with him and when you feel he is ready, confess and make him yours. But before I send you back, do you have any questions?"

I pondered this for a second before my question became clear. "You are one of them aren't you? A No One?" I asked which caught him off-guard for several seconds before he burst out laughing, once again sounding so much like Dil. Why did he remind me so much of him and why does he care so much for him?

"I'm not telling!" He said, still laughing before giving Ben a flirty wink which made the wolf blush. The tiger was really cute but I only really had eyes for Dil. "For all you know, I could just be a simple Advocate."

"What's an Advocate?" I asked him, annoyed that I was thrown even more terminology I didn't understand which made Connor laugh even more.

"Forgive me, I just keep on confusing you don't I? An Advocate is basically chosen servants of the No Ones, paw-picked attendants that the No Ones chooses to serve them." He answered with a smile. "Here, take this." Connor placed a silver bracelet onto my arm. "A memento of our meeting, and so you'll know this wasn't just a dream." He said with a wry grin before sighing. "Honestly I really have kept you here for long enough. I hope we get to talk again but for now, just watch over Dil okay Ben? Now, it's time to wake up." I wanted to ask more but my body instantly felt heavy, as did my eyes and I fell asleep, hearing Connor's chuckle and before I fell fully asleep I heard him say one more thing. "If you see R3 again, tell him N9 said hi. He's gotten really interested in you so it shouldn't take so long. Just look for the star shaped eyes."

...

"It's time to wake up Ben. Please wake up dear." A soft, gentle voice rang in my ears as I groaned and then abruptly sat up in a panic, letting out a gasp as I heard Suzaku's voice holler in alarm.

'Easy, you idiot! You're going to tear out your IV's! You lost a lot of blood during the fight and you've been out for three days!' I gave a sigh of relief when I heard the bird's voice. It was good to hear him. 'You okay Ben? Did something happen while you were out? Also where'd you get that bracelet?' I gave a confused look before looking at my arm and saw the same shiny silver trinket, the same one Connor gave me.

'Huh, so it really wasn't a dream.' I thought to myself, shaking my head. 'So all that was real with Connor and the No Ones...'

"You are awake!" I heard a female voice cry out and grab onto me, snapping me from my musing.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I asked as I looked down to see the pretty red-headed wolf woman cling onto me. She let out a strained laugh as if my question was the most obvious thing in the world and it really was. I mean why wouldn't they be here? Their son literally lost his arm.

"Why did we...? Do you really have to ask?" My mom said as she got up and brought me closer to rest my head on her chest as she stroked my hair lovingly. "We came as soon as we heard what happened." She said, her voice getting rougher and I could feel tears drip onto my head. "You lost your arm... " She said choking up. "My baby lost an arm...you were so heroic. I'm very proud of you baby but you lost your arm." She said as she started bawling clinging to me closer.

"Moooom!" I whined out, embarrassed by her antics and I heard a gruff voice ring out from behind her.

"Let the boy go, Britney." I growled as I heard that voice and when my mother backed away, behind her was an older male wolf. We looked a lot alike but it made sense, he was my dad and my namesake.

"Dad." I said coldly but he didn't say anything as he slapped me, nearly knocking me off my bed and ignoring my mother's protesting cry. I didn't say anything, merely giving my dad a spiteful glare as he regarded me coldly.

"You idiot! You had to play hero, didn't you?" My dad shouted. I noticed movement from behind him and I saw Alexander grab his shoulder tightly.

"Enough Benedict! How dare you strike your own son after what he has been through." My father merely snarled and slapped his paw away from him and glared at the panther with great fury.

"Don't tell me what to do Alex! My son LOST AN ARM trying to save your freakshow of a son! What's he going to do now? Any dreams of going pro in basketball is gone for good! All that money spent on basketball camp wasted! All because Ben's obsession with that boy of yours! I let him hang out with the boy because I felt it was harmless. I should have put a stop to it before it got this far!" My father shouted at the pastor who just kept a blank face but I could see some sparks coming from him as he fought to keep in control.

"You can't blame Dil for what happened to Ben. You know this Benedict." Alexander said, his voice calm but I could hear the hidden fury underneath it. "That's not fair. Instead of blaming Dil, you should praise your son for his actions. He is a hero and he saved my son. I will never be able to repay him for his actions." Alexander said, moving closer to me before my dad slapped his paw away.

"Don't you dare touch him him Alex!" My dad snarled. But he stopped when he felt my mother grab him by his arm with a stern look on her face.

"Enough Benny, Alex is right. Ben is a hero and you should be proud that he is a selfless man who risked his life to save his friend. Dillon is a good boy. You always liked him and considered him a good influence. So please honey, just sit down and talk. Both you and Ben need to work things out." She said before going up to Alexander, giving him a gentle hug. "Don't take anything he says seriously Alex, he doesn't mean it. He just doesn't know how to handle any of this." She said before leading him to a covered area and when it opened, I saw a tired looking Dil sitting there staring at nothing.

"Dil!" I shouted as I tried to get up before my dad stopped me and forced me back onto the bed.

"Stop it dumbass! You just woke up and you're hooked to numerous IV's. You'll only hurt yourself if you try and get up now!" I let out a growl but relented when I saw the look on his face. I really wasn't up to fighting anyone right now, plus I did want to talk to my dad.

"So, mom wants us to talk? What do you want to talk about?" I asked him simply.

"Why didn't you tell us you were involved with something so dangerous as fighting soulless abominations? You could have been killed a hundred times over. Why didn't you say anything? Did you not trust us?" He asked me with a hurt look in his eyes. "I know we haven't been the best parents, your mother and I. But we still deserve to know things like this."

"You know about the Reapers!? Who told you?" I asked in shock.

"Alex and some raccoon girl named Hope. She says you were the one who handled my father's death." Dad said, his voice beginning to break. "I will never forgive myself for not being there honestly. It must have been so hard for you..." My dad said, covering his face with his paw. "I want to be better Ben, I have to be better. You don't even know what today is, do you?" I tilted my head. Suzaku did say I had been out for three days, the raid was on the fifth so today would be the 8th, which meant...oh...I was 18 now...an adult. "Now you seem to get it." My dad said, ruffling my hair like a child before his face became sad once again. "You're a man now, happy birthday son. I am so sorry that I missed out on so much. Now look at you... you lost an arm. Do you have any idea how difficult things are going to be from now on?"

"I do know, but you know something dad? I don't care. Dil is safe and that's all that matters to me. I love you dad, I do want to get closer. Just because I'm 18 doesn't mean we can't not have a relationship, right? I'll adapt to just having one arm, I always do." I said while looking at the pathetic stump where my arm once was. "How is Dil doing though? He didn't look so good when I saw him on the bed."

"He's not well at all. He has several injuries and he hasn't said a word to anyone since he woke up. All he does is stare into space. The doctors said it'd take time for him to recover from what happened to him but poor kid, no child deserves what happened to him. I don't think he will ever be the same." My dad said and hugged me close, crying.

"I'm sorry for hitting you. I just don't know what to do Ben...you are my only child and I'm so scared right now. I almost lost you a few days ago. From what the doctors said, if you had not gotten medical care as soon as you did, you would have died from the bloodloss. More importantly, I'm sorry for saying those things about Dillon. I wasn't being rational. But if you ever need anything, we'll be there for you. Both me and your mother love you with all our hearts, even though we have been crummy on showing it. But that ends now! No more secrets Ben, we are a family and we need to act like one." The elder wolf said in a firm manner before stroking my cheek. "I promise from now on that me and your mother will support you no matter what. We owe you that much but the only thing I ask is that you don't keep secrets from us anymore, is that understood?"

I could only nod, not being able to say anything for that moment before he hugged me close and started to cry which made me cry as well. 'So it took 18 years but I guess I finally got what I wanted. But there are still so many questions. Who are those No One guys? Who was the missing one they talked about? Their 'brother', was he connected to Connor in some way? I mean he knew way too much for him just to be a normal person and if he was the missing No One, what did he have to do with Dil? Why does he remind me so much of him? Are they connected somehow? And just who was N9?' I thought to myself before I put it all aside for later. I had enough going on in my head right now so I just enjoyed being in my dad's arms after so long. I could figure out what to do about all that later. Casting another slight glance at the covered curtain, I felt a strong resolve. 'I promise you Dil, I will never allow this to happen again. I know you might not be ready yet but I love you no matter what.' I said as I basked in my father's arms. The future can wait. Whatever Casper and his group were up to didn't matter. I will stop them in my tracks but right now, I just wanted to enjoy the time I have with my dad.