Mysteries surround her part 2

I still don't own Rave master, but I'm working on it…..Okay not really.

The years rolled by pretty quickly for Haru and Elie. It seemed like just yesterday Haru was introducing technology to the foreign girl. In a way it was just yesterday….Plus six years, give or take a month.

Both of them were now in the 10th grade and still very good friends. Just like before, many 'single serving friends' came and went into their lives, but the friendship that they shared with each other seemed to be the only one that really stuck.

They currently had one more friend that they enjoyed hanging out with every so often. His name was Let. Let was a tall pale skinned kid with piercing yellow eyes and silver hair a shade or two darker than Haru's. When Let first transferred in to their school, people made fun of his looks the same way they had always done with Haru. This was the reason Haru sympathized with him and immediately wanted to be friends with this new kid.

Let seemed to always dress slightly preppy and often spoke with perfect grammar. The reason for this was because before he came to Haru and Elie's high school, he went to a very nice boarding school. Seven months ago, Let's sick mother took a turn for the worse and he rushed home to be by her. Sadly she died only a few weeks after Let's homecoming. Afterwards Let choose not to go back to the boarding school and decided to finish up his high school career at home in a public school.

Whether it was the fact that he didn't want to leave his father all alone to grieve, or because he himself was not handling his mother's passing to the point where he could not just go back to school like his usual business., He didn't say. Again this was something both Haru and Elie could sympathize with.

Unfortunately Let was 18 years old and a senior, meaning that next year he would leave town to go to collage and probably never be seen by them again. Despite this sad fact, Haru and Elie were happy to just spend the time they had with him. So he was another single serving friend, what else was new?

The three of them were much more focused on the here and now, and right now the three of them were sitting at the counter of the Café Tsubomi restaurant. Well, two of them were sitting, Haru was behind the counter, making cappuccinos for customers; as was his job at his uncle's café. But he was participating in his friend's discussion no less.

"Tee Hee. This is the best grade my public speaking teacher ever gave me!" Elie Exclaimed as she held up a grade sheet with the number 80 on it. The once little girl was now a beautiful 16 year old woman. She no longer had any trouble understanding technology and her accent was nearly gone and could only be heard when she spoke certain words.

While her body had grown much curvier, she was still pretty short for her age and her legs dangled off the stool she was sitting on and kicked back and forth like an excited little kid. She had such a baby face that if it wasn't for the fact that her body was so developed (especially in the chest area) she would have been mistaken for a 13 or 14 year old.

"Um Pardon me Elie, but if you've been working so hard and the very best you can muster is a low 80, than um." Let stammered as he tried to think of a way not to sound rude.

Haru cut in "Why'd you take that class anyway? You'd get just as much credit taking English 102, and the class is so much easier, and we could have taken it together and copied off of each other's homework!"

"Because I want to be a good public speaker that's why! And you'll get much farther in life taking the more challenging road, apron boy!" She pointed at Haru's apron and pouted at him. They were ruining her C-. You think they would be proud that she didn't get the usual D or F Besides, she needed to be a good speaker for her future career.

"Sorry Elie." Haru mulled it over. That whole challenging road thing sounded like something his dad would tell him. "Did Seig tell you that or your parents?"

The sound of the word 'parents' made her tense up a little, but she refused to show it. "Seig told it to me."

"Who is Seig anyway?" Let asked as he sipped some of the coffee Haru poured him. He had heard the name quite a few times in the past, but now his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he decided to ask..

Elie looked down so no one could see her face. "H-he's my guardian. I've been with him since my parents… passed away."

Let suddenly felt a small pang of guilt wash over him. He didn't mean to ask about such a painful subject. He knew how horrible it was to loose his mom, if he lost his dad too…

"I-I'm so sorry-"

"That's okay!" Elie snapped, putting on a happy face for her friends. "You didn't know. Don't worry about it. I'd rather talk about the Semi-formal dance this Saturday night!"

There really was a school dance that coming Saturday. The Semi formal was the biggest dance of the school year. At least for the sophomores. Elie truly was looking forward to it, but it was also true she was just bringing it up as a change of subject.

Haru looked at her sadly. In all the years he had known her, Elie never spoke about her parents, just that they were dead and that she lived with her guardian Seig Hart. Haru had told his best friend about his parent's passing the first day they had met. Although he could clearly see that it caused her great pain, Haru refused to make her talk. Having both his parents dead as well, he knew that this wasn't the type of subject you speak casually about.

He had always noticed that whenever he went over Elie's house to visit, her guardian Seig watched them like a hawk. He was truly the most overprotective person he had ever seen. That's why Elie had to do so much begging whenever she wanted to go any where. The only thing Haru could speculate was that whatever happened to her family in the past, must have been so awful to make the guardian act this way.

Still, Haru never pushed her. She would talk when she was ready. In the mean time, all he could do was give her enough support to show her that she could trust him and hope she would tell him her secret on her own accord. He did that as often as he could.

He saw Elie's subject change as a mean of telling them to drop it. Going along with it, he answered "Yeah, I'm totally pumped for it."

"What's this? You two wouldn't happen to be going to this dance as a date now would you?" Let questioned with a smirk on his face.

They both turned red at the question. Haru answered first. "No! No! You've got it all wrong!"

"Y-yeah! Haru and I are just going as friends!" The girl added.

"Yeah, as friends who can tell each other anything. " Haru added.

Elie looked back at the boy. He was smiling at her but his eyes were pleading. He was so terrible at giving hints. This was his subtle way of asking Elie for her secret. This only made her sad, remembering full well why she couldn't tell him.

"Exactly" She said unsteadily as she got off the stool. "Seig will be expecting me home soon, I have to go."

Elie swiftly walked out the door, not looking back at her friends. Haru's expression turned to disappointment. Today was clearly not the day.

He let out a sad sigh and stared at the counter top forlornly until a random voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Hey can I get a refill over here!"

"Coming!" Haru yelled back as he sprung into action to do what his uncle paid him for.

~*~

A man sat cross legged with his hands resting gently on his knees in a dark room, dimly lighted by candles. He breathed deeply and exhaled, letting everything go. In, out, in, out. His eyes were closed in concentration, but his mind was free. He was truly in a peacefully state of mind. Nothing would or could disrupt him at this moment.

"SEIG! I'M BACK!" Unless the Grand Duchess barged in.

After hearing the front door shut, Seig only had to wait a few seconds for Elie to appear in his rooms doorway. "Hi Sieg. Am I interrupting anything? "

"No. of course not. I was only about to attain inner peace, but who wants that?" He answered jokingly.

"Sorry"

"Don't be. What do you need of me my grace?"

Elie stared at her feet bashfully before answering. "Um. I wanted to ask you something kind of important."

"Yes?"

"Well" she fiddled with her fingers behind her back. She looked anywhere but in the eyes of the man she was speaking to. Clearly she was nervous about his answer. "Does our secret have to just stay our secret? I mean, if a person is trustworthy enough-"

"No." He answered quickly. They have had this conversation many times before. Seig already knew what she was trying to say.

"But Haru deserves to know the truth! He's been so patient, and I hate carrying this around with me everywhere, unable to let anyone know how I feel!"

"I'm sorry milady." He truly was. "It is law that we never let the outer worlders know of inner world's existence."

"But what if the day comes when Haru won't put up with the secrets anymore?" She asked, saddened at the very thought of Haru getting so fed up with her that he'd break off their friendship.

"Madame someday the day will come when it is safe to go back home. He will go off to collage, and neither of you will see each other again anyway. If he hasn't broken off your friendship in all the time that he has known you, I'm sure that you two can stick it out for a little while longer. Just enjoy the relationship you have with him now as it is."

Elie was going to say something but she stopped herself when she figured out this conversation will just end up the same as all of the other ones prior to it. She let out a sigh and exited Seig's room to head for her own, making sure that Seig did not see her crestfallen face.

He honestly didn't want it to be this way but he knew it was for the best.

~*~

Elie plopped herself down onto her twin sized bed located next to her bedroom window. This sucked, she thought to herself has she stared out window. Suddenly a new kind of sadness began to edge in on her, one that always came whenever she was alone.

It was such a clear, sunny day, her favorite kind. A few puffy white clouds dotted the very blue sky. That was the problem. The blue sky was always reminding her that she was not home. It was like a popular kid at school that everyone thought was so beautiful, but when you spend some time alone with that kid, you find out they're a jerk, telling you, 'you don't belong.'

Haru had a lot of problems with bullies just like that, from the first day she met him.

"Sigh, Haru…" She spoke as a blissful smile came to her face.

People were always making jokes, calling them lovebirds. Even her other friends hinted at the subject. Elie knew Seig suspected that the reason she wanted to share their secret with him so bad was because she had a crush on him, but she knew from the bottom of her heart that it wasn't a crush.

She was in love with the boy.

From the moment she wrapped her arms around him the first day they met she loved him. She was so relieved that The T.V. men had done nothing to hurt him and even more relived that they weren't real at all. Sure she would be worried about anyone with her in that situation, but the way he made her feel afterwards was what really hit her. It was as if she could let go of all her troubles and just feel safe. She hadn't spoken a word to anyone since arriving in Indiana, but something about Haru just brought it out of her.

She was too young back then to understand that it was love that she was feeling for her friend, but after a while when it caught on, that love grew deeper and deeper with each passing day.

Elie hugged her pillow as she laid on her bed thinking about the one she truly adored above all other men. A blush came to her face. Maybe it was his eyes. Those soft orbs of purple reminded her of her own world's sky, making her homesickness vanish, at least for a little while.

Sure she liked outer world, watching movies, playing video games, shopping for Heart Kruez clothes, all the things that she could only do here. But it was nothing like her home and she knew the reason she was really here. In the end that was the true reason why Haru and her could never be together.

Seig was right, they just had different destinies. She was an inner worlder and her was an outer worlder. It could never be.

Besides, If Haru even knew about inner world there would be no telling how he'd react to the shocking news.

No, She couldn't risk losing him. Even though it caused her great pain she had to just leave things the way they were, and that meant keeping the most precious person in her heart in the dark.

She let out one more sigh at that thought, completely unaware of the events that would take the decision of keeping Haru unaware out of her hands.

~*~

The next few days went by quick and the next thing Elie knew, she was dressing up for the semi formal that very night.

She would be going with Haru… as friends. Even though she wouldn't tell him her true feelings for him, she still did what she could to be alone with just him as if they were a couple. She played the 'as friends' card very often.

Do you want to go out, as friends? Let's do something, just the two of us tonight, as friends. Ow! Haru I hurt my foot. Will you carry me home in your arms…You know as a friend?

He actually did that last one for her. She didn't expect him to, but when they were 11 years old and she cut up her left foot pretty bad, he carried her two miles all the way home, fussing over her nonstop the whole way. When they finally got to Elie's house, he handed her off to Seig and with the biggest, saddest, round puppy dog eyes he looked up to her guardian and said "She hurt her foot, will you please help her?"

Her foot healed but it left a little scar at the bottom. Haru said the scar looked like it was shaped like a smiley face so he referred to her foot as smiley foot from that day forward. There was her right foot and her smiley foot. Memories were so much fun!

As she put the last few finishing touches on her hair she took one last look in the mirror before deciding she was ready. She didn't put on any make up. She didn't normally ware make up except for special occasions and this was just a semi formal so she only had to get semi dressed up.

"Seig! I'm leaving for the dance!" She called as she headed for the front door.

Seig took a good look at her outfit. She was wearing a low cut dress with spaghetti straps. A lot of cleavage was showing. In fact, a lot of skin in general could be seen., and how she could even walk in those high heeled sandals was a complete mystery.

"I truly wish you wouldn't dress like that, your grace. It's not befitting to a woman of your stature." He said this to her every time the girl went out.

She chuckled. "This is what girls in this world ware, and you're the one who said we had to fit in."

"Sigh." This was just a fight he couldn't win with her. "Very well. Allow me to escort you milady."

"That's alright, it's only a few blocks away."

"But it's getting dark out, milady."

"Haru is going to meet me half way and it's not dark just yet. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get going or I'll be late."

Seig still seemed uneasy, but is she was sure, he'd let her go.

"Honestly. We've been living here for over six years. There's nothing dangerous in this town and anyone that would want to hurt me is in a completely different world right now, oblivious to our location. You worry to much about these things."

And with that Elie was out the door heading to school where she believed she would enjoy the most fun dance of the school year. If only she knew how wrong she was.

~*~

The streets were empty as she strolled down them. Focusing only on where she was going and sometimes stopping to check out the beautiful sunset that was occurring. Elie didn't have a care in the world at the moment.

Then something broke her train of thought. It sounded like footsteps, but they were so faint and she couldn't see anybody around so she shrugged it off assuming that she must have been mistaken. But the sound only got louder and louder as the seconds ticked by.

She couldn't comprehend why but for some reason a strange uneasiness slowly began to creep over her. and as the sound of foot steps became closer and closer she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

Elie decided to pick up the pace a little but when she did, she found that the footsteps were only getting closer and closer. Finally she broke out into a run, and on the verge of hyperventilating, sweat began to drip from her body.

Now she was really getting scared. She ran as fast as her high heeled sandals would allow her to, but the sound of footsteps did not cease, only get louder. She forgot about where she was going, only that she had to get to somewhere safe. Taking a big leap of courage, the frightened girl decided to turn her head around to see who it could possibly be that was chasseing her, causing her to run right into another person.

Elie nearly squealed in fear as the sudden road block seemed to jump out of nowhere. She whipped her head around only to be greeted with the confused and concerned face of her best friend.

"Jeez Elie, watch where your going. What are you running from anyway?" Haru asked, bewildered at his best friend's out of character display of jumpiness.

"Oh. Huff, huff, Haru. Huff, huff. It's you." The girl panted. "I was afraid it was… someone else." She took one more look behind her to reveal nobody there. Maybe she was imagining it the whole time.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about? Nobody's around. Besides there's no one in this town that would hurt you."

Yeah, Haru was right, and she was just telling Seig the same thing before she left. As she looked into Haru's comforting lavender eyes, a feeling of ease washed over her, much like it always did in his presence. She was being silly. She was safe and-

"HARU,LOOK OUT!"

Elie screamed at the top of her lungs when a mysterious figure seemed to materialize out of nowhere, snuck up behind the one she loved, and bashed him over the head with a blunt object, instantly knocking him out cold.

Elie screamed as she rushed to her unconscious friend's side only to be grabbed and pulled away by another mysterious figure. Who or whatever this person was, he was incredibly strong and incredibly huge. He used one hand to cover the girl's entire face, making her unable to see, scream, or even breathe temporarily. His other arm picked the rest of her up off the ground.

Elie flailed in the stranger's grasp, kicking her legs as they tried to find the earth again. Her arms were roughly pulled behind her back and she could feel ropes tying them together tight enough to dig into her skin.

She heard what seemed like a vehicle coming to a stop and a door slide open. Just when she felt like her lungs would explode from the lack of oxygen, thanks to the stranger's large hand, She was roughly tossed into the vehicle, landing on her stomach.

She whipped her head around trying to take in air as she did so. She was lying in a large, empty moving van, with her hands tied up behind her back. She heard her assailants slam the door behind her and get in the front seats to start the van.

As she felt the vehicle move she noticed someone else lying next to her. Haru was also tied up and taken with her, only he was laying on his side unconscious. She gazed at him fearfully, what if he was hurt badly? She could guess what they wanted with her, but why take him? What's going to happen to him? Elie could feel tears coming to her eyes. He was only here because of her.

"There is no need to fear, Grand Duchess. All we ask for is your cooperation and we promise everything will go beautifully." Said the one riding up front. Apparently They and an intercom built into this place so they could communicate.

Elie's eyes went wide. It was just as she feared. She could recognize this man's accent immediately and there is only one way he would know of her title. He was from inner world.

Elie sat up and attempted to act like the Grand Duchess she truly was and be brave in the face of her adversity, but her voice was betraying her and she sounded so much more intimidated than she wanted to.

"What do you want?"

"My dearest. I have already told you, just do as we ask. Soon it will all be beautifully clear."

She gulped. "And what if I were to refuse?"

"Why do you think we brought along your not-so-beautiful friend? Do as you like. Unless you want to see him suffer. Either way the results will still be the same. I stake my beauty on it."

That threat alone sent shivers done the trapped girl's spine. She couldn't do anything to risk her beloved, but if she couldn't think of something, they'd both be dead anyway. Then again what could she do in this situation at all?

She looked around. It all seemed so hopeless. Then she turned back to Haru. He just lay there, looking so peaceful as if he were just sleeping. At that moment she envied his blissful unawareness of the situation. Maybe he was having a nice dream.

Elie did the only thing she could do, make an attempt to make herself feel better. She laid back down. This time using Haru as a pillow, she lied horizontally as he lied vertically, her head gently landing on her love's torso. She snuggled close and began to cry into the unconscious boy as if just shutting her eyes and being able to feel him could help the situation at all.

She sniffled back a few tears as she thought to herself, What's going to happen?

Oh no cliffhanger! The plot thickens!

Now I know what most of you are thinking. "Haru, Elie and Let? Just the three of them? What an odd combination. The truth is the others will show up, probably not for a few more chapters into the future though. You see everyone has an important role to play in this story and it is important to the plot that they don't show up until just the right time, so just hold on tight.

Reviews are appreciated. See ya next Friday!