AN: This was kinda inspired by another anime. If you've seen it then well… you'll be able to figure it out. I'd been tossing around the idea of writing this for a while, but figured it wasn't really too farfetched, especially considering some of the other things I've seen done in this fandom.

"Maybe I'd like to become a handmaiden," she began.

Buguese looked confused for a moment, as he tried to absorb the human's statement.

"But you are a handmaiden, my dear."

"I know," she replied. Aqune was nervous enough that she hadn't a clue how to word her thoughts. Obviously, she'd taken the wrong approach. She was just afraid of how Buguese would react to this. She was so uncertain about her future plans. Maybe this path was wrong for her, but regardless, Buguese would certainly think so. He probably wasn't the best person to tell first.

"What I meant was, I know I already have the powers of an Oracle handmaiden. I was considering going off to devote myself to working at a shrine, praying to the Oracle. It was supposed to be my purpose, until…"

Buguese took her sudden pause as an opportunity to jump in. He was shocked, and as Aqune had anticipated, already opposed to this.

"You don't even remember that," he said. "And even if you did, why would you still feel any obligation to what you'd been trying to become as a child?"

"But I feel that it's important," she replied. Buguese's words confused her even more though. How would she know, exactly, if she even wanted to study to be a handmaiden as a child? All she knew was the fact that she had been doing it, mostly due to the little details that Corona had told her. She also knew that she had felt a deep connection to the Oracle for as long as she remembered, but that solved nothing. It could have been only because she was a handmaiden already. As long as the connection existed though, she couldn't abandon it. The Oracle meant everything to her.

"But don't you also want to be a Spider Rider?" Buguese asked. He was still trying to sound relatively unbothered, but probably not doing a good job.

"I do," she said. "But there are people I need to sacrifice to do what's needed of me. All the people of the Inner World are precious, and to help everyone, I think I may have found a way. I can't be selfish and hold onto people, or I may start to favor one person over others.

This was becoming a problem already for Aqune, and was a major motive that even bought her to consider this decision. In the past, she had felt herself attached to Hunter for a long time. However, she was beginning to feel less and less of a pull toward the Earthen boy. It was odd to her, but she hadn't felt at all jealous or uncomfortable seeing his closeness to Corona. She had wondered if maybe she'd seen him as a door to the outside world, as a glimmer of hop more than a romantic interest. Then, there was the fact that at the same time, she'd been slowly realizing her feelings for someone else. It was odd, but the more time she spent around him, the more different it seemed to her. She found herself wanting to be around him more and more, and being able to gradually open up to him. It was ever since he freed her, and she was left with the fear of losing him forever, that she realized where her feelings had always lied. She liked Buguese. That's why she chose to speak with him first about her decisions.

"You're being ridiculous!" Buguese snapped. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with having some selfish feelings. Regardless of what special talents you may possess, you are still only human. I won't allow you to live your life this way."

"How could you say that?" Aqune asked, looking hurt. "I thought you said I could live freely now."

Buguese looked down, sighing to himself.

"You can't control me anymore!" she exclaimed. "I'm going."

"Going where?" Buguese asked, but to no reply. He watched Aqune go out the door.

The Insector decided not to follow. Regardless of what she said, he doubted she'd run off immediately to become a handmaiden, and was glad of that. She was probably just running off to her Spider Riders. Maybe Hunter Steele could comfort her, and give her some ridiculous, meaningless speech about following her dreams. He wondered why she didn't just go to them in the first place.

Buguese was also bothered by Aqune's last comment. He thought she'd forgiven him for that. And anyway, using her back then was only necessary. He didn't take advantage of his influence over her, did he?

Perhaps he was being hard on her though. He was just stressed lately. Ever since he bought it upon himself to rule the Insector lands, there was only trouble. It was probably true that he'd been trying extremely hard lately to keep everything under control. Maybe, this included Aqune as well. He probably should have considered her feelings as well. Just as one shouldn't be too selfless, he knew it was probably worse to be too selfish.

Aqune walked through the streets rather aimlessly. She did plan to return soon, and wasn't exactly angry at Buguese. Only frustrated. Having his approval was important to her, but there were always times when she could never have it. Their ways were just too different. Of course, trying to get him to agree with her on this particular matter, when he was already in a bad mood, was probably near impossible.

The girl had been so worried about her former master lately. Some of the soldiers had been causing him a great deal of trouble. It seemed that not everyone wanted him in power, despite all he'd done for his people. Personally, she thought he'd make a fine leader, and prayed for the best of luck for him, but there was little she could do to support him as a human. Her race still wasn't well liked in the Insector world.

She turned around a corner, deciding it was time to go back. She hadn't expected t be stopped in her tracks by a man who swung a blunt object at her head.

She fell back, holding her head in pain. Looking up, she saw two Insector soldiers.

"Ow…" she moaned, slowly getting to her feet. As she was coming back to her full senses, she realized that her hands felt wet and sticky. Bringing one down, she realized that it was covered in blood.

"What do you want?" she asked, fearfully.

"Well you're a tough one," the man who hit her commented. "A blow like that from my mace would've knocked most people out cold. Oh well. I guess we'll make it two."

As Aqune was still too weak to avoid it, the man swung his weapon once more. Taking the blow, the Spider Rider fell to her knees, before blacking out.

"What makes this human so special anyway," the attacker's companion finally spoke up.

"It's easy," said the first. He was a dark green-skinned Insector, with slender wings. Apparently, she and Buguese are very close. If we capture her, Buguese will have to do whatever we say to ensure her safety." He laughed to himself at the thought.

Buguese traveled down to a hidden room in the fortress, where he had been hard at work on a certain project. He decided it would be best to do something constructive, to keep his mind off of Aqune. He hadn't told anyone of his latest project, not his human, not Stags or Beerain. He hoped he wouldn't even need it, but he had to complete it just in case.

In a tank, similarly to the encasement he'd first seen it in, stood the metallic figure of Dark Opal. The machine, once in ruin, had almost been re-constructed completely. This time, it did not rely on the Oracle to draw its power. Instead, it was designed with high tech weapons and mechanisms.

Much as he didn't like the idea of it, Buguese was convinced that he might have to go to war again. This time, it would not be against the humans, but against a certain group of Insectors.

After the defeat of Mantid, Buguese had gotten to work immediately in taking power, and restoring order. With Beerain and Stags on his side, and even the support of Grasshop, he was certain it would be easy. However, he discovered that some soldiers still held loyalty to Mantid. Despite the evils their former leader had done, they didn't want things any other way. One such man, whom Buguese had mistakenly promoted to general before his loyalties were revealed, due to his talents and power, was Dragon, a fittingly-named dragonfly Insector. People began to side with him, in his attempts to take rule himself.

Buguese had wanted to stop them immediately. The problem was, they hadn't taken any violent or potentially harmful actions yet. It was just simple protesting, and some of Dragon's points were rather convincing. He believed that old order was the best order, and promised to be a righteous successor to Mantid. Buguese himself wasn't going to change much. He was very happy with the Insector ways of life. He just wanted to make what was obviously wrong better. Of course, a better rule would include not executing someone just because they were a political rival. Still, Buguese didn't trust the man and planned to deal with Dragon as soon as the opportunity presented itself. He considered demoting him for the time being, but figured his rank wouldn't matter at the moment. Dragon would still have supporters, and thus power.

While she hadn't quite regained consciousness, Aqune began to feel an acute awareness of what was going on around her. There was movement somewhere. The sound of voices. Slowly, light poured into her eyes, and her vision returned to focus.

"Where am I?" she whispered, taking in her unfamiliar surroundings. She found herself in a small room, furnished only with the bed she was lying on. The door was left open, allowing her to see into a hallway

Suddenly, she was struck with the memories of her attack. She gasped, realizing that she must've been kidnapped. She hadn't gotten a good look at her attacker, as she was taken by surprise, but did recall that he was a green-skinned Inector.

"Dragon?" she thought to herself. She knew that he was Buguese's new enemy, and that he fit the brief look she'd gotten of him. But even if she was right, what did he want with her? Unless, she realized, what if he planned to use her against Buguese?

Worriedly, the girl stepped off the bed and walked toward the door. She couldn't allow Buguese to be in danger because of her. Upon closer inspection, she noticed two Insector guards standing in the hall.

As she was a trained fighter with good reflexes, she didn't really feel threatened. However, she still didn't want to fight them if it were unnecessary, especially since she wasn't yet certain why she was taken in the first place.

As soon as she reached the door, her path was blocked by two swords.

"So you're awake," one of them commented. "We were told to make sure you didn't go anywhere." He then turned to face the other guard, being careful to keep his blade in position. "Send a messenger bug to Dragon-sama," he instructed.

"Excuse me," Aqune interrupted as he began doing this, "But what does Dragon want me here for?"

"How should I know?" the first guard replied. "You can ask him personally when he comes to see you. Just don't cause us any trouble or we will fight back."

"Alright," Aqune sighed. Reluctantly, she returned to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"Aqune, what are we going to do?" Portia questioned.

She glanced down at her wrist. Her spider never said much, so she could tell right away that Portia was concerned.

"Don't worry," she assured softly. "I can take care of myself." Admittedly, her own safety wasn't much of a concern to her. It was Buguese whom she was afraid for. She hadn't heard much about Dragon, as she didn't live in the Insector lands all the time anymore, but from what she did know, she was surprised by what he was willing to do for power. A man who would use hostages to ensure victory wasn't one who would make a good leader. Of course, Buguese had done the same in the past, she remembered, but that time, in his own twisted way, he had done it for her.

"Buguese," she said sadly, as she thought of him.

The Insector, meanwhile, had gotten tired of working. Dark Opal would now be usable, even if not perfect. He wondered to himself whether it would be wise to go out looking for Aqune. Maybe if he went and apologized to her, she'd know that he meant it. Despite knowing how forgiving the girl was, he was always afraid that the wrongs he made would never go away, that people would hate him forever. Maybe that was because he was one to hold grudges himself.

He walked back up the stairs, only to see Stags in the hallway. Looking at his comrade and second-in-command in surprise, he nodded his head to acknowledge him.

"Buguese," Stags said. "I thought I might find you here."

"You were looking for me?" he questioned.

"Yes," Stags said. "Earlier, a letter was delivered for you."

"Is it anything important?" Buguese questioned, far from being in the mood to deal with certain people.

"I wouldn't open your private mail without permission," the beetle answered.

"Yes, I understand," said Buguese, holding out his hand to take it.

After receiving the envelope, he tore it open and unfolded the letter. For such a neatly folded sheet of paper, the message itself was very short.

He gasped for a moment, and then his expression turned to fury. Crumbling the letter, he threw it to the floor.

"Dragon!" he snarled, then turned and walked away.

Concerned, Stags picked up the letter and un-crumbled it. He knew immediately why Buguese was upset. It simply read 'Aqune is safe for now,' with the general's name signed below it.

The Insector made no delay in storming to Dragon's chambers within the castle. Without knocking or indicating his presence in any way, he pulled the door open and went inside. The room was vacant, however, except for a messenger bug fluttering near the entrance.

"He must have been expecting me," Buguese thought to himself. "What does your master want?" Buguese shouted at the bug demandingly.

Fearfully, it chirped a reply to him.

"What?!" Buguese exclaimed, fully knowing what the bug meant, but not being able to comprehend how Dragon would dare make such a request. Simply, it said that in one hour, Buguese was to formally announce that he overturned all rule over the Insector land to Dragon. He would also officially retire from the Insector army, and hand over all his weapons. If not, Aqune would be killed.

After angrily hitting the bug, sending it flying across the room, he left, even more infuriated than when he entered. There was no way Dragon would so much as scratch Aqune, nor would he give up his position. He was going to find a way to destroy the man. He just had to proceed cautiously, as Aqune was already in enemy hands. He was certain his plan would involve Dark Opal.

Dragon had entered the room where Aqune was staying. She watched his face turn to a smirk, and immediately recognized him as the person who assaulted her. Though she had been sitting with her legs hanging off the bed, she lifted them up, pulling them towards her chest.

"There's no reason to be afraid…yet" said Dragon. "I'm not going to harm you so long as Buguese goes along with our little plans."

"What plans?" Aqune asked.

"Of course you wouldn't know," Dragon commented, "Since you've been here with no contact to the outside world."

"Tell me," she continued. "Please."

"Alright. I guess it's only fair," replied Dragon. "To ensure your safety, Buguese is going to denounce rule of the Insector lands to me."

"No!" Aqune exclaimed. She was upset by this for more than one reason. She knew how much ruling meant to Buguese. After all, he often spoke about it proudly. She didn't want him to have to give up on something that had such meaning to him. The fact that it was her fault only made things worse. She hated to cause others suffering. She would have rater given her own life than force Buguese to bargain with Dragon.

"Oh yes," he continued. "But you know, when I spoke with him to negotiate things, I could tell he was furious at you. 'How could she allow herself to get caught?' I think he said. 'Is she not a trained warrior? Oh, that's right. It must be because of her useless pacifistic nature. Worthless Spider Riders.' After all that, I wonder why he even bothered to choose you over his power. Maybe he still has some use for you. Either way, he pretty much hates you now. If I were you, I wouldn't go near him once you're free."

"What do you mean?" Aqune questioned. "Buguese… he wouldn't say those things. He couldn't hate me… I'm sure."

"Think about it," responded Dragon. "If it wasn't for you, he wouldn't be giving up something so important to him."

Aqune was at al loss for words. She could remember the tension between them the last time she saw him. She was angering him then, and knew this only could've added to the fire. Still, he chose her. There had to be some reason, she thought. But because of that, Buguese was going to lose his power. Everything was her fault.

"You are to follow me," Dragon said, before getting up to leave.

He signaled to the guards to grab her by the wrists as soon as Aqune reached the door. He then led her down the halls, into another room. Inside stood a huge machine, even greater in scale than Dark Opal.

"Knowing Buguese," Dragon thought to himself "An hour is plenty of time to pull something sneaky. Of course, I have my own tricks, and his human's life is probably in more danger than he realizes."

Aqune considered fighting, but wasn't in the state of mind for it. She still couldn't escape her feelings of what Dragon had said about Buguese. She had to make sense out of them.

Suddenly, she was forcefully released, thrown to the feet of the robot. As she looked up at it, she saw that it resembled the Machine-sectors that the Big Four often commanded. However, she got an eerie chill upon seeing this one. There was something different about it.

"Meet Black Diamond," Dragon announced. "It's my creation, to ensure dominance over the Insector lands. But it can't be done without you."

"Hmm?" Aqune responded, shifting her gaze to him, only further frightened and confused. Suddenly, the machine opened up, and wires shot from it, wrapping tightly around her.

She cried out in pain from the sudden shock, as she was lifted from the ground. Though she fought to break free, it seemed the more she struggled, the tighter the hold on her became. She was soon pulled inside the machine itself.

There, it was dark and cold. She felt the grip loosen as soon as she stopped moving, but she was still bound.

"Buguese," she said again, worriedly. "Please, if you can forgive me, help me." Not that she thought he could any time soon. Dragon's plan made further sense to her now. If she was trapped inside his weapon, then Buguese would be forced to destroy her or surrender. It was all her fault, she thought to herself again. The person she cared about most wouldn't be able to have happiness. Tears began to roll down her face, and hit the metal floor below her.

Suddenly, she saw a light, and heard trembling. The robot must have been activated. Then a strange sensation came over her. She felt a numbness in her body, and then all thoughts seemed to fade from her mind. All but the guilt.

"Just as planned," said Dragon. "Now fueled by the strong feelings of my little battery's guilt and fear, Black Diamond will have achieved its ultimate power. It's over for you, Buguese."

It wasn't long until Dark Opal smashed into the walls of Dragon's hideout. Having his sources, Buguese had located it without difficulty. Perhaps his plan was rash, but he had convinced himself that Dragon wouldn't have expected an attack by a robot that everyone thought was nothing more than scrap metal. Therefore, he hoped, that meant Aqune would still be safe.

"Dragon, where are you?!" he shouted.

"So you've arrived already," Dragon commented. "Actually, it took a little longer than I expected." He appeared before the enraged Insector inside of his own mechanical monster. "Allow me to introduce you to Black Diamond."

"What?!" Buguese exclaimed. "Well, no matter. I'll defeat your machine if necessary, but I will not give up to you. Now tell me where you're hiding Aqune."

"I don't think that's the point," Dragon responded. "This is a fight between you and me."

"And you drew her into it by kidnapping her!" Buguese shouted, flying at him in a fury.

Dragon laughed, happy that he'd succeeded in provoking the man. Quickly hitting a switch, a section of Black Diamond opened, revealing Aqune, bound in wires.

Buguese stopped in shock, before his attack could make contact.

"Aqune!" he called. However, he noticed that while her eyes were opened, they appeared zoned out, as if she was in some kind of trance.

"What have you done to her?" questioned Buguese.

"Have you already forgotten?" Dragon replied. "Unless you hand over rule to me, Aqune will suffer. If you choose to fight me instead, you will do combat against Black Diamond, and risk injuring the human."

The open section closed once more, and Dragon laughed mockingly.

"Aqune, can you hear me?!" he asked, ignoring Dragon's comments.

"I doubt she'll reply," responded Dragon. "Right now, her heart is filled deep with guilt, and this creation of mine helped close it up to outsiders, and put it to better use. Her negative feelings have become the ideal power source for Black Diamond, and you're to blame."

"It's my fault?!" he questioned, struggling to control the rage that was building up inside him.

"Yes," said Dragon, proudly. "Because she believes that you hate her, that you couldn't forgive her for making you give up on you dreams, all to keep her alive."

"That's ridiculous!" Buguese exclaimed. "How could she believe a lie like that?!"

But it hit him, instantly, that she'd have reason to think that way, even though Dragon had obviously been feeding lies to her. She had went off just because he'd been telling her what she could and couldn't do, wanting the girl to only live her life in a manner that would satisfy him. But of course he would always forgive her, no matter what she did. He cared deeply for her, with feelings stronger than he'd ever felt for anyone else. But despite how powerful he was, he'd never had the strength to tell her any of this. All he could ever easily show to her was anger and disapproval. No matter what Dragon said, maybe it was natural that Aqune would hold such beliefs.

"Aqune, listen to me!" he tried again, hoping that this time she'd magically understand how he felt, and what was actually going on.

"You're a fool," Dragon said. "But try all you like. It's amusing to see you suffer. Although, it'd be so much easier if we just got this battle over with before I die of old age. If you won't attack, then I will."

He fired an energy beam at Dark Opal, which grazed the machine-sector as Buguese jumped put of the way. He had to hold back all urges to retaliate.

"Why?!" he exclaimed in frustration. "Why did he have to take Aqune? And why do I have to have a weakness? Why?!"

"Where's the military genius I know?" mocked Dragon, firing again in his distraction, and this time hitting head on. "Who would've thought he'd refuse to fight a battle just to protect a human girl?"

Buguese cringed in pain, but tried to ignore it. He couldn't lose now. He had to rescue Aqune. Staring at Black Diamond, he saw that the section containing Aqune was opened once again.

"Go on," Dragon said. "Fire."

"Aqune!" Buguese yelled. Thinking quickly, he opened Dark Opal, and leapt out of it, landing by the human's side. He only stared at her for a moment, feeling almost hopeless. But he couldn't give up on her.

Gently, he rested his hand on her cheek, surprised by how cold it felt.

"Please, you have to wake up," he said. "If you can hear me, you must know that what Dragon told to you was a lie. You're not at fault for what happened. It's my fault. You have every right to not trust me, because of the way I've treated you. But I just… I want you to know that always… in my heart… it was your feelings and desires that mattered most to me. It's because Aqune… I… I love you." The words were awkward, difficult for him to speak, yet he had no regrets. He needed for her to know.

Aqune's eyes snapped back to normal, and then she collapsed again, as the wires around her loosened. Before she could hit the ground, Buguese scooped her into his arms. For a moment, he stared down at her sleeping face warmly.

"No!" Dragon yelled, furious. "Without her negative feelings, Black Diamond won't be at its full power!"

Buguese leapt back into Dark Opal, Aqune in arms. Now, it was his turn to smile smugly at Dragon.

"It seems the winner of our little war is me, Dragon," he announced. "Now, feel the wrath of Dark Opal." He fired a full strength blast at Black Diamond. When he'd reconstructed it, he'd added more firepower to the machine than ever before. As the smoke cleared, he watched as the pieces of Black Diamond scattered everywhere, burned to a crisp. He saw the pilot lying on the ground, defeated.

"I'll leave the soldiers to clean up this mess later," he decided to himself. "I have more important matters to deal with now…" he glanced at the girl in his arms again "My beautiful."

He flew away, back towards the castle. It was then when the girl finally woke up.

"Buguese," she whispered, half flinching back for a moment."

"It's alright, Aqune," he said.

"Dragon… is he gone?" she questioned.

"Yes," Buguese replied. He paused for a moment, awkwardly, before saying anything else. "Do you remember what I said to you?"

"Yes," she replied. "I could hear what you were saying. I just was unable to reply. I'm still sorry for all the trouble I caused."

"It was not your fault at all," Buguese restated. "And anything Dragon said about me blaming you was false. I hadn't even spoken to him. I only learned of what happened to you from the messages he sent me."

"But about this morning," Aqune started, "Were you angry at me or not?"

"I…" he began. "Yes, I was angry. But it was irrational of me, and I've forgiven you completely. We both know you're free to do whatever you choose, and it shouldn't matter to you how it affects me."

"But it does matter," replied Aqune. "You said to me before that my feelings and desires were important to you. Well, yours matter to me as well. I love you too, Buguese."

She blushed slightly, but looked up at him, glad that she was able to let him know.

The Insector was shocked by these words, as if Hunter had just said he'd given up. Yet this was an even more satisfying thing for him to hear.

"Aqune…" he said, just for the joy of being able to speak her name. He leaned over to kiss her waiting lips.