I sighed and put down my book, letting my head thump against the back of the chair as I closed my eyes. I opened my eyes a crack and tilted my head, looking up to the stars. I glanced down and caught sight of my reflection, and I glared at the pretty duchess looking back at me. With my pale completion, deep blue eyes, and sharp features I looked the part. The only thing that set me apart from the other duchesses was my long brown wavy hair, with natural red highlights. Gina, my silver with black stripes chain cat, an in her sleep in my lap, and I laughed softly and stroked her. I leaned back against the chair and sighed again, giving into the darkness most people call sleep.

My sleep was filled with memories. It began with my and Oz's coming of age ceremonies. When Oz was pledging, the clock that never moved struck midnight, tolling. People in red cloaks crashed through the windows and one knocked me aside. I stumbled, catching myself before I fell, and looked at them. There were four of them, their faces hidden by the cloaks, watching Oz in a choke hold by Gil. "Gil, what are you doing?" Oz choked out, struggling to pry Gil off of him. "Gil, stop!" Rowan, my friend and servant said, running up to them. She began to pull at Gil, when one of the cloaked people pulled her off and held her dangling in the air. "Let go of her!" I yelled, grabbing the guy around the neck and pulling back. He dropped Rowen, and we stumbled back, when he reached around and swung me off of him. He gripped me around the neck and pinned me against the wall and squeezed. I could not breathe and spots flew into my vision as I fainted and slid to the floor.

When I opened my eyes chains had shot out of the floor and wrapped around oz, and he began to be pulled down into the Abyss. "Oz!" I yelled, beginning to run to my friend, when Rowen said, "No, Lady Amaya, stay back!" she was tugging at oz when suddenly another chain shot out of the floor and wrapped around Rowan's waist. She screamed and there was a black flurry of wings and a bright red light, and everyone except me and Gil were on the floor.

"Oz! Rowan!" I yelled, tears spilling down my cheeks, as I fell to my knees where they were not two seconds before. Murmuring erupted below and I looked over to Gil, lying unmoving on the floor. "Gil," I whispered and crawled over to him and gently turned him over. I gasped at the bleeding red slash on his chest, and frantically felt for a pulse. I let out a breath as I found it then wiped away my tears and yelled, "I need some help up here!"

Uncle Oscar came running up the stairs and took Gil up in his arms. And we left the church in an uproar. A few days later I was sitting by Gil's bed when he groaned, and I kneeled by his head. Gil opened his eyes, then immediately sat up in a panic, and clutched his chest. "Careful! Your wound will open again if you keep moving like that." "I don't care, where are Oz and Rowen?" I looked away, "They…they were sucked down into the abyss." "Why aren't you somewhere looking for them, instead of watching over me?" "The times I wasn't here I was looking for a way to get them back. There is no way for us to go get them."

"There has to be-"he cut off, paling, looking at the door. "Oh, I had to finish my ceremony, and I signed a contract with Gina, my dukedom's chain." I explained, looking at my chain cat in the doorway. "Wait, the Gina who can tear through dimensions? Why haven't you left to go look for them if you have her?" "Gil, it's not that simple. Time passes differently in the Abyss, it's too dangerous." "So what do we do to get Master Oz and Rowan back?" he asked, getting mad. "We wait for them to come back on their own." "I can't wait! What if something happens to them?"

I stayed silent and Gil looked at me full of anger. "Fine." He threw off the cover and walked out the door, and I had to run to catch up with him, "Gil, Gil wait! Where are you going?" I yelled, catching up to him. "You're no help, so I'm going to go find my own way to get them back." That stung, and I stopped for a moment then said, "Gil, I-" He spun and looked me hard in the eye, "You what? 'I want to get them back but it's too dangerous'? I'll do anything to get them back, and it's obvious that you won't." I stood, stunned into silence, my world crumbling around me, holding back the tears burning behind my eyes. He walked out the front door, leaving me in the hall. I fell to the ground, the tears spilling down my cheeks. I screwed my eyes shut and screamed, "Damn it!"

I sat up, breaking out of my dream, to see Gina falling awkwardly onto the floor with her trademark "Mow!" (AN: Instead of a 'meow' like a regular cat, Gina's meow is more of a 'mow') "Sorry, Gina. Just a bad dream." I said, picking her up and putting her back on my lap. She sat and looked up at me with her red eyes, tilted her head to the side, then put her paws on my shoulders and touched her nose to mine. I smiled at my sweet chain cat and cuddled her close, burying my face in her fur. I fell asleep again, this time with no dreams.

I stretched and yawned the next morning, stiff from my sleep in the chair. I took a shower and got dressed in my normal street clothes; a black and red plaid skirt, a red button-up shirt with a black silk vest and my black combat boots. A ruby and obsidian double rose clip pulled half of my hair back, and I was ready to start my day. I walked down into the dining room in the bed and breakfast pub I was staying in (the owner was a good friend of mine and when I was in the area she would invite me to stay), and looked around.

Suddenly the front door burst open, and in walked in a girl who looked like she had a really bad hangover. "Ugh, Autumn, couldn't you pick a place to eat that didn't look so expensive-" the guy behind her stopped talking when his eyes met mine. Anger and resentment bubbled inside me and I yelled, "Gina! Plan beta22!" There was a "Mow," as a response and I stepped to the side as a gigantic Gina in white tiger version. Each step shook the pub, and Gina walked right up to Gil and said in her great, terrifying voice, "MOW." Gil, terrified out of his freaking mind, paled and crumbled to the ground. I laughed, but the laughter died in my voice when I heard, "Lady Amaya? Is that you?"