Alright...so i had a dream and this was it. of course in the dream it made less sense...maybe it doesn't make sense...oh well, i think that it's cool.

Reality

Chapter One: Robin: Willing to Believe

In the darkness there was nothing. First came pain, everywhere it spread until it numbed away. Next came sound, rhythmically like the sound of breathing. Was there also the sound of leaves crunching underfoot? The thought stuck as a third arrived. The third thing to come was movement, her body bobbed lightly with the sound. She could feel her arms wrapped around something and her legs hanging limp.

Robin opened her eyes to the hazy result of keeping them closed for days. She knew who was carrying her before they adjusted to this and the light. "Amon?" Her voice croaked from lack of use.

Amon turned his head back towards her. His face was covered with dirt and dried blood, signifying that he was not well off either. "Your awake." His voice came out like a hoarse whisper.

"Your hurt." The two words were laced with worry and concern as she noticed the limp in his step.

Amon kept on silently for a while. His breathing was ragged and abnormal. "You have it worse." he finally spoke. He carried her on his back for what seemed to stretch on like an eternity…

…Even though she could barely move, Robin knew that Amon should let her walk on her own. His limping had grown worse and his breathing became so irregular. When had they last eaten? And finally Amon had staggered over a tree root and fell to the forest floor. Robin had felt herself roll away from him and slam into something, knocking the wind out of her. Her vision blurred as she saw Amon forcing himself to stand, clutching a long bloody gash across his chest…

…Her head spun and the sense of biting numbness told her that she was conscious. There was a retching sound and Robin opened her eyes to see blood splatter down to the ground inches from her face. Amon was crouched next to her, cradling his wound with blood dripping from his mouth. His teeth began to chatter and his body began to shake violently.

Robin brought her stiff body up into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around him. He was cold, so cold. "I'll make a fire." She offered, making a motion to get up. Amon shook his head and wrapped his own arms around her waist. His body shook so violently that Robin cursed as flakes drifted down from the sky, marking the first snowfall of the season…

…Robin laid next to Amon in the hospital bed. Still he shook from a nonexistent cold. The doctors couldn't do anything for him, so they let her lay next to him because it didn't harm. "Robin." Amon strained to sound like his usual self. "I can't take this cold anymore." Robin listened to him in dread. "I'm going to give in, Robin, I'm leaving."

She understood, but that didn't mean she was going to simply let this happen. "I can warm you up, I'll do anything Amon. I can help you." The words were lies. She knew that she was helpless. How ironic that someone with Fire craft couldn't use that power to simply warm a freezing person.

"I promise that I'll see you again."…This time everything went black, instead of fading into the next memory. This time Robin refused to remember…to remember Amon's body finally losing all of it's warmth, To remember the his breathing ending…And to remember the pain, the madness, the blame, the anger that grew inside of her. It became black because she refused to believe in what had happened…

…"-Has left us." Doctors. Running. She ran away. If she didn't hear it all, if she didn't remember it all, then it hadn't happened. It wouldn't be reality. She could hide behind her tampered memories, her dreams, and live. Because how could she live in that reality?

---

Robin wiped the tears from her eyes. She stood up from her seat and hurried out to the open deck of the train's caboose. The wind helped her calm down.

"He's alive, you know that." She told herself. Amon had said that she would see him again, and she never heard the doctor say it, Robin had seen him again.

Robin had been at Solomon HQ in Italy before returning back to the STN-J. She had been wandering along the street when she saw him. Robin had ran to him and they met in an embrace. But she then had blinked and when she opened her eyes again there was no trace of him.

That he could have been an illusion disturbed her. Robin refused to believe this too, even though it was the logical explanation.

When Robin had returned to the STN-J, everyone accepted the thought that Amon was dead. Robin hadn't told them what she saw. She knew what they would say.

They would think that Robin couldn't accept the fact that Amon saved her but she failed to save him.

And they would be right. Robin wouldn't admit it, she had fooled herself so that even she didn't know, but they would be so right.

The others seemed to have forgotten about Amon. Everyday went on like normal and moved as if he had never been there in the first place. Robin hated it. Amon wasn't there, they should notice the difference. She should notice the difference. But nobody did. Even now it felt like her memories of Amon were of a different world or a past life.

It had become her greatest nightmare; that Amon had never existed in the first place.

Nightmares and memories like nightmares were common for hunters. This profession was made of nightmares, and day after day their nightmares became true. Hunters had no clue as to how far they had drifted into that bizarre world.

"Robin!" Robin jumped at the sound of dogma's voice calling down the compartments. "There you are!" She ran up beside her and leaned against the railing. "What are you doing way out here?"

"I like the breeze, it feels nice." Robin answered.

"Yeah, It is nice." Dojima sighed. She had been worried about her friend, lately Robin was out of it or in a daze. They stood there silently taking it all in. "We're almost to the station, Karasuma wants us to meet up at the front of the train."

"Right now?" Dojima nodded in reply. Robin turned away from the view to the bulk of the train and started forward.

"I just can't get over how cute your tush looks in those jeans." Dojima smiled, throwing Robin in a headlock. "wasn't it a good idea to buy some new clothes?" Robin rolled her eyes and Dojima let go, running ahead of her. "Come on, Robin, let's go!" Robin smiled and hurried after her friend. Having the freedom of simple things like a new change of clothes made the young girl happy, though her style stayed plain and simple; long sleeve t-shirt, dark wash jeans and of course the red pendant that rarely left her neck.

The two girls quickly met up with the rest of the group and took a seat in their closed compartment. A large man with bushy brown afro hair stood next to Karasuma. "Our guide here, Mr.-" She turned to the man.

"No misters, just call me Joe." The man spoke in a gruff voice, making him sound almost stubborn.

"-Joe, would like to brief us on our mission before we arrive."

"For starters, do you all know about Area 51?" Joe asked.

Everyone nodded except for Robin. " I don't" She piped.

"You don't know Area 51?!" Michael exclaimed. "It's a mysterious U.S. government building that's fabled to be a storehouse for extraterrestrial findings!"

"Aliens aren't real." Robin stated.

"Exactly." Joe said. "But witches are." That caught everyone's attention fast. "My branch of the STN-A started research on Area 51 over two years ago and soon we sent some of our hunters in undercover. What we found was shocking." He reached into his bag, took out a folder and handed it to Karasuma to pass around the compartment. When it had finally been passed to Robin, she saw that it contained photos, charts and records. The record sheets were like any school records save a few markings that Robin hadn't seen before. The charts had names and bars that made little sense. Robin filtered through some of the photographs and froze at the sight of one. It showed a cylindrical glass structure that was connected to the ceiling and the floor by casings, inside the cylinder was a girl submerged in some sort of green liquid with medical cords attached to her body. Robin had only seen this once before, at the STN-J factory.

"Did you ever wonder why Zeizen made the Orbo and refused to explain it's secrets to Solomon?" Joe inquired. "Not only did he fear that Solomon would shut his sick experiment, he didn't want them to know of his form treason, selling it."

"Solomon would have killed him, literally." Michael nodded in understanding. "That's why when you came, with Solomon already suspicious, he was afraid that you were looking for his secrets and sent out to hunt Robin."

"And why we had to take him down, and why we have to do it again." Sakaki concluded.

"Yes, Area-51 as we found out is a military base that, unknowing to the U.S. government, specifically trains witches as soldiers." Joe exclaimed, returning the folder to his bag. "Some of our members had been found out while trying to take it down from within and were subsequently killed. Currently, I am the only one from my team who is undercover and in full trust of the AFO."

"So you want us to go in there, when others have failed- and died- Do you think we're crazy?" Dojima scrutinized.

"I don't want, Solomon wants. The big men on top saw what you did to the factory and assume that you can and will do it again." Joe corrected. "I still have to get you five into the system, it takes a while so you'll be staying in town for a few days." This guy was all business, Robin though that if the majority of his team had been killed that he should at least seem a little sad.

The train arrived at the station and the team was lead through the town. All of the buildings were spread out, giving it a more rural feel. Robin started dazing out, as Joe began telling them about himself, it was something that had started since late. In her mind she imagined Amon there with them, What he would say, what he would think, and what he would do. Robin took a particular interest when Joe told them that he had married one of the hunters in his team, luckily the only one not sent on the fatal mission because she had became pregnant. What would Amon say about that? Would he think that marrying a teammate was okay? She whished that he was there so that she could ask him.

Then all of a sudden they had come to a large Victorian house and Joe was opening the door for them. Robin blinked as the door swung out, something was carved onto it's front. "What is that?" Robin asked more to herself than anyone else, turning back to look at it again. The carving was one like an upside down horse shoe. "Omega?"

"This used to be one of those 'Greek life' houses before the university was turned into a high school." Joe explained, still holding the door open even though by now everybody had entered the house. "I wish I could give you the tour but I have to go." He never once set foot in the house before he turned to leave.

This was all very awkward, they had all of a sudden been rushed onto a plane to America and spent the majority of the day traveling with no explanation. And now that they had finally been told what was going on they were left here with no clue as to what they were supposed to do.

None of that bothered Robin though. A university being turned into a high school, did that actually happen here? Robin never heard anything like it. Omega…Amon, would you find it suspicious? Or am I being paranoid? She shook her head and noticed that they had moved from the hall to a side lounge, Karasuma was holding her head and lying down on the huge l-shaped couch that took up the majority of two walls.

"-Uldn't we at least go find the bedrooms?" Sakaki was saying.

"I would, but that couch looks really comfy, Ms. Karasuma already fell asleep." Michael yawned. "And come to think of it, I'm beat."

One by one the members of the STN-J reluctantly fell into the world of dreams, as if a spell had been cast over them. Robin felt her body weaken under the temptation of sleep, but she couldn't give in, It was her duty to do as Amon would and inspect the place.

Darkness spread throughout the room like the shadow of someone stepping in front of a light. It seemed to grow in the corners like a monster, growing and growing to consume her. I am not afraid of the dark. She told herself, moving to begin the examination.

"Hmpf, just make sure you get this done." Robin turned at the sound of Amon's voice. There, only a few feet away, he stood.

"Amon!" Robin cried in shock, running towards him.

Thump. Her head hit something cold and hard. "Regardless of your fears." Amon's voice echoed in her mind. Robin looked up to see herself staring back at her in confusion. A mirror. She slid down to her knees feeling empty.

"Now that was sad." Robin heard footsteps coming up from behind. A hand reached and clasped around the back of her neck, fingers pressing in and closing her airway. In a swift movement, Robin set fire to the person's hand, pulled away, and turned to face her attacker.

Before she could get a good look, their body bubbled into a mass less dark form and swooped towards her. Robin somersaulted out of the way and watched as the shadow formed into a familiar figure. "Dojima?!"

"Who else would I be?" Dojima gave Robin a look as if she had said the dumbest thing possible. "Are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost." Her face creased with worry. Robin blinked in confusion, washing away her previous animosity towards her friend. The wariness, though, stayed. "Come on, it's not like I'm gonna hurt you." She teased, even adding in an eye roll.

"Then what was that a second ago!" Robin took a step back and stood up. Could she have been hallucinating earlier?

"What are you talking about?" Dojima now spoke cautiously, sounding confused. Silence followed. Neither knew what was going on, why the other acted the way they did.

Robin's eyes widened and she brought a hand to her mouth. It must have been a hallucination, maybe I'm more tired than I thought. But when she started to apologize for her mistake, Amon stared at her from behind Dojima.

"Are you satisfied with that answer?" He asked in a condescending tone. "A simple hallucination?"

"I can be, I won't believe that a friend would do anything like that." As Robin spoke, Dojima's eyebrows quirked up.

"You can't be that surprised, can you?" He looked irritated.

Robin looked down, thinking hard. "Do you believe that it's more than that?"

"Who are you talking to?" Fear now sounded in her voice. "Robin?"

"Call it a hallucination, it would be the same as saying that I am one too." Dojima took a step forward And reached out for Robin's shoulder.

"No!" Robin screamed wildly, shirking herself away from her friend. She glared at her. "Don't pretend that you can't hear him too!"

Dojima's eyes widened, yet she continued towards Robin to take her in her arms. "Robin." She whispered. "He's dead."

Rage filled Robin as Dojima gave her a consoling hug. Her temples pulsed and her sight grew dim. "Liar."…

…The scenery around the two changed. They stood on opposite ends of a huge empty black space. Dojima was now wearing a fighter's gi and her hair was tied back in a ponytail. She stood in position to strike.

Robin looked down to find herself in samurai's robes, a sword in hand. Rage and anger continually growing in her heart for a reason long forgot. The words she now spoke seemed as if they were coming from another's mouth instead of her own. "Your crimes against us Guardians will not go unpunished, deserter." She did not question it.

"Heh, So what? I found a better way to relive myself of this fear. I won't live in that horrible fear that you 'Guardians' think you can control." A large shadow, darker than the darkness around them, creped up from her back. "With the shadows, I have nothing to fear."

"If you're going full power, then so shall I." Robin whipped a talisman from her pocket. She drew it up against her blade. "I summon the Great Prince Belias Ifret III!" Fire wrapped up around her and formed into a puppy.

"A puppy?" Dojima broke out into laughter. "That's your 'Great Prince'?!"

"Ingshi!" Robin cried. Belias split into five flaming puppies and charged the woman mocking him.

Dojima's eyes widened in surprise and began dodging the constant attacks. Getting into the grove of things, she spoke. "If this is the best you got then there is no way you're going to win!" She clapped her hands together, which started to glow, and pushed them away from her body, causing a shock wave that sent the pups flying back. She smirked and sprinted forward.

"Ingrai!" The spell raised the pups back to fight. They chased after the incoming attacker.

"Too late!" Dojima sent a flying kick at Robin's face. Robin bent backwards and Dojima landed behind her. The shadow stayed in front, surrounding her.

Robin glanced between the too unsure of what to do, for reassurance she clutched her red pendent.

All of a sudden none of this made any sense. Why were they fighting? Dojima in fighter's gi? Around her, the darkness dissolved, bring her back to the living room were everyone else slept.

"I have you surrounded!" Dojima kept on. Everything had returned to normal except her mentality. Robin glanced from her hand holding the pendent to Dojima's crazed look. Her friend charged forward and Robin made her decision, she ripped the pendent from her neck and pressed it into Dojima's attacking fist.

Immediately Dojima froze. "What am I doing?"

"Something was controlling us." Robin answered, putting the pieces together. "My pendent stopped it."

"It was like…a dream." Dojima nodded. "Do you think someone's trying to kill us?"

"Yes, a witch is here." And so is Amon…