An insistent knocking brought Autor's attention from the book he was reading. He considered pretending that he wasn't home so he could finish the novel, but when he heard Fakir's voice he sighed and opened the door.

"Yes?"

"We need to talk with you." Fakir's voice was tight with barely-restrained irritation. Autor raised an eyebrow but stepped back from the door, gesturing that he and Mytho should come in. Fakir whirled around as soon as the door had shut, his green eyes piercing in his anger.

"What the hell did you do to give Drosselmeyer his power back? Didn't you learn anything?"

Autor blinked, surprised; but he recovered in record time. "I do not have the faintest idea what you are ranting on about Fakir."

"Oh, really? Then can you explain why Drosselmeyer can suddenly write stories and affect those in Gold Crown Town again?"

Autor stood with one hand on his hip, considering whether he should tell Fakir about the resurrection of the machine. Instead he settled with, "do you?"

"If I did, do you think I would be here?" Fakir growled, agitated at Autor's aloofness.

"Autor, can you think of anything that would give Drosselmeyer this power back?" Autor turned his attention to Mytho, who spoke more calmly than his knight. Autor considered keeping the knowledge of the machine to himself, but Mytho continued.

"He's recently hurt Ahiru, and we have reason to believe that he will do so again if we cannot stop him."

Autor was stunned. Why would his idol want to hurt Ahiru? Unless…it was to get revenge against Fakir. In that case, Ahiru would most likely have to suffer unimaginable tragedy. The worse she suffered, the worse Fakir suffered… Autor decided to tell them about the machine.

When he was finished, he found himself suddenly thrown against the wall, Fakir gripping the collar of his shirt.

"You IDIOT! After all we worked for to remove Drosselmeyer's influence! You decide to hand the power back to him! What kind of daft thought would possess you do that?"

"Fakir." Mytho placed his hand on Fakir's arm. "Let him go. He didn't mean any harm. We can still stop Drosselmeyer's influence."

Slowly, Fakir released Autor. But his eyes still smoldered in resentment. "Do you know what you have done?" Fakir spat from between clenched teeth.

For once, Autor had no response, sarcastic or otherwise.

"Don't worry Fakir; we'll just dismantle it again. And this time…we'll make sure that it can't be put back together." Mytho's golden eyes shone with determination.

XXXXXXXXX

"No, no, no…this simply will not do. I cannot have them ruining this tragedy…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Ahiru? Are you alright?" Rue looked worriedly at the younger girl, who had become pale.

"No…no. I'm alright." This wasn't the truth, however. Her head had started to hurt, and her chest was once again throbbing; but she didn't want to worry Rue.

"I don't really believe that…but I suppose that there is no way I can prove you're lying."

Ahiru walked over to the window, concerned that Mytho and Fakir had not returned yet. It was starting to grow dark, the sun just a golden line on the horizon.

"Do you think we should go see if they're still at Autor's house, Rue?"

"I suppose so. "

Together, the two girls stepped out of the house, leaving a note for Charon saying where they were going. The evening breeze teased their hair, blowing the raven and red locks in its liveliness.

Nothing seemed amiss until they were two blocks away from the Academy. Dark clouds swirled around the center clock tower, a dark, angry onyx that seemed to pulse with malevolent energy. A sudden, harsher wind almost knocked the two girls off of their feet.

"Rue, what's…going on?" Ahiru had to shout to be heard over the shrieking wind that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"I don't know. But we need to find Mytho and Fakir…fast! Something is definitely wrong."

The two girls huddled together in an attempt to ward off the wind that threatened to knock them to the ground with every step they took.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Autor, Fakir, and Mytho were also headed towards the clock tower.

The wind was even more severe at Autor's, and the three teenagers had to lean into the gales to even have a chance of moving forward.

XXXXXXXX

"You shall not ruin my beautiful tragedy this time!" The enraged Drosselmeyer growled from his position at his cogs.

XXXXXXX

"Fakir!" Fakir looked up, startled when he heard the faint trace of Ahiru's voice, almost completely drowned out by the howling of the wind.

"Ahiru?" He called in return, unsure if his ears were playing tricks on him. He squinted against the debris that were being thrown at his face.

"I'm over here!" She called in response.

"Stay where you are! We'll come find you!"

"Okay!"

It took a good ten minutes to traverse the few yards that separated the two groups, and the wind fought against them all the way. They found the two girls huddled in a small alleyway niche that offered at least a small amount of protection from the hurricane-force gusts.

"So…this is Drosselmeyer's influence?" Autor was talking to himself, but he got a sharp look of annoyance from a pair of green eyes as well as a pair of red eyes; the resemblance would have been comically similar under any other circumstance.

"The only chance we have of stopping the entire town from being ripped apart is to dismantle the machine…posthaste." A surprised Rue and Ahiru looked at Mytho.

"Didn't we already dismantle that thing once?" At Rue's inquiry, Fakir shot an aggravated look at Autor. Rue got the message.

"What would possess you to put that thing back together?" Really, thought Autor, even the speech pattern between Rue and Fakir when they were angry was similar. He was slightly amused, but quickly snapped back to reality.

"I didn't know that it would give him his power back. Pardon me, but I believe I was excluded from that particular detail." Autor's pride was stinging a bit at this omission.

"The storm will only grow worse. For now, we need to stop this," Fakir said. "Then we'll discuss whose fault it is," he promised menacingly.

After a few minutes of debate, including an inescapable argument between Fakir and Ahiru, it was decided that all five of them would work together to make it to the clock tower. They held hands, Ahiru and Rue spaced between the boys to at least alleviate some awkwardness.

They were only a few feet from the entrance of the clock tower when a sharp gust of wind separated Ahiru's hand from Autor's. She was left holding Fakir's hand. He noticed, for the first time, a tornado was speeding towards them.

"Run for it!" He shouted. They complied, and he dragged Ahiru along with him when she stumbled and fell.

He was only inches from the door where the others waited inside when he felt the pressure from the tornado. With sinking terror, he felt Ahiru's hand slipping from his own as she was tossed from her feet by the strength of the winds. He spun around as her hand came loose from his, intending to grab it again. But he could only watch in frozen horror as the girl he loved was wrenched away, sucked into the funnel and torn from his sight. He was so horrified; he didn't even notice that Drosselmeyer's pleased laughter filled the air, louder even than the roar of the tornado.

Don't worry! This is not the end for our brave characters. They merely must suffer their share of tragedy until the sweet, sweet promise of Forever After can be enjoyed.

oh, gosh…I'm starting to sound like Drosselmeyer! *gulp* O.o