Sakuroka fell to her knees, extending her hand in a dive for the stream, cupping her hand. She violently slurped a mouth full of water, and then extended her hand back for more, like a hungry scavenger. Her throat was so dry it felt like sand paper and her own breathing had become coarse and raspy. Seeing the small river as she passed through the woods was like finding a treasure. And now, as the cold liquid caressed itself down her throat, she felt relief. It had been a week since she had started her journey to find Lucy. Or at least…she thought it had been a week; she really didn't know for sure. Either way, she had generally heard that hiking in the wilderness was tough work. Whoever had said that, she thought, didn't know the half of it. With no provisions, she found finding food and water even harder here than in the city she left. And shelter was another matter all together. She used to think back alleys were uncomfortable enough. But now, after sleeping on hard earth and stone, a back alley looked like the luxury room at the Grand Hotel right about now. After quenching her thirst, Sakuroka leaned back on the grassy field, sighing in her satisfaction of the water. The water was even less here than what she was used to. Back home, she usually got water from either a sink or water fountain, which was clean at the very least. Here in the woods, the water tasted dirty. But, she thought, beggars can't be choosy. The irony of that made her laugh slightly.

"I'm not cut out for this," she said to herself. Sakuroka let her body fall back, the soft grass feeling like a cushion. Gazing up at the clouds as the sun shined through, listening to the sounds of the wilderness around her, a sense of relaxing slumber started to creep up on her. Her eyelids started feeling heavy, and she felt them slowly dropping. Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt.

You can't afford to rest right now, called the voice, as if on cue. She was starting to get irritated. The voice always seemed to appear at the most inopportune times. It was always, "you don't have time to rest," or, "you must get to Lucy first." Between it and the hiking, Sakuroka was thinking maybe she'd made a bad decision.

"Come on," Sakuroka pleaded, "I've been walking for days now. Can't I just take it easy and rest here for the day?"

Time is too important. Besides, it's only midday. You can cover a lot of ground by nightfall, the voice retorted. Sakuroka frowned in defeat at first, but then she had an interesting thought.

"Well, seeing as how I have the legs, I think I'm going to stop early for the day." Clasping her hands behind her head and closing her eyes for a small nap, Sakuroka felt triumphant. She felt so proud in her assertion she couldn't stop smiling. Slowly, she could feel herself falling into slumbers embrace. Her body became relaxed, and all sounds began to fade. Surprisingly, the voice made no further protest.

"Well, well, well…what have we here, boys?" another voice asked. Sakuroka shot upright. She was all too familiar with those voices behind her. Quickly spinning around, she found the three boys from the city standing over her like giants, their arms crossed with arrogant smiles painted from cheek to cheek. "Here we go out for a little camping trip and who should we find…none other then our favorite little homeless girl."

"This is an example of a little word we like to call irony," one boy proclaimed.

"I think you mean fate," the one of others added. Sakuroka sat frozen. She couldn't think of anything to do. All instincts told her to run, but her body seemed too slow to process it. She waited in baited anticipation for the voice to offer some words of help. However, it remained ever silent, seeming to have abandoned her when she needed it most. Great! Now you shut up! The tallest and leanest of the boys kneeled down in front of her, staring at her with liquid fire in his eyes.

"You know," he said, "Since we're all out here, why do we get together and have a little fun?" He put a firm hand on her shoulder and ran it down the course of her arm, gripping her wrist and pulling her to her feet. She tried to swat him away, but he just caught her other arm in mid-swing with his free hand, gripping both her wrist now. With one quick and fluid motion, he spun her around and locked both hands behind her back like a police officer arresting a felon.

"Don't be scared. We'll show you a REALLY good time." While she was held in place, another one of the boys slow strutted toward her, an evil and sexual grin on his lips. He brought his hands to her chest and cupped one of her breast in his hands. He squeezed with great strength, forcing her to grunt in pain. "Oh…I think she likes it!" Sakuroka lifted one of her legs in a quick kick to the gut, pushing him back. He held his stomach a moment, grumbling underneath his breath in pain. When he looked back up into Sakuroka's face, his face resembled that of a man extremely disturbed. "BAD MOVE BITCH!"

He lifted his hand high and slapped her so hard across the face her lips bleed. Before the pain could fully register, her grabbed a scruff of her pink hair and forced her back onto the ground. He quickly pinned her before she could run, his body now over top of hers. As he stared down with malice, he licked his lips hungrily as thoughts of sex ran through his mind. Had she not been pinned, her body would be shaking violently.

"I think I'll go first…if you guys don't mind that is." Neither one of his friends objected. Instead, they just stood from a distance and watched. Pinning her arm with his forearm, he carefully, he started to unbutton Sakuroka's shirt.

You know you can save yourself, the voice finally said.

Great, Sakuroka thought, now you decide to help!

All you have to do is use your vectors to kill them all. However, Sakuroka was at a loss. She didn't know yet how to control her vectors. She had only used them that one time in the city, but she hadn't been able to summon them since. Her mind raced with thoughts as she desperately tried to think of something to do. The boy had finished unbuttoning her shirt, exposing her breast to the afternoon air. Like a serpent sniffing its prey, he extended his tongue and licked her face. She clenched her eyes tight, not sure what she was supposed to do. Using all the mental force she had, she thought hard for her vectors to come out. She was thinking so forcefully she thought her brain might melt within her skull.

Then all time seemed caught in a space in-between. It appeared to freeze all together until it stopped; yet years seemed to pass by in flashes. Suddenly, she heard nothing…only the deadly whistle of the wind in the trees. Slowly, she opened her right eye, seeing the two other boys standing silently, their mouths gapping. Then she opened her other eye, and found herself looking directly through the stomach of the boy on top of her to the opposite end of the clearing. His entire midsection was missing, forced out by some unseen force. He himself seemed unaware of what had happened. He was frozen in mid-action, starring in wordless horror at his wound.

Kill them, the voice commanded with vindication, KILL THEM ALL, SAKUROKA!

Before Sakuroka knew what she was doing, she forced the boy off her with her vectors, sending him flying well over ten feet in the air, until he landed at the edge of the river where he remained motionless. His blood seeped into the river, turning it red. The others turned to run, but their legs were pulled out from under them, and they were quickly suspended upside down. They tried to fight against the invisible enemy, but their attempts were meaningless. Sakuroka quickly swung one of them toward a tree, where a branch impaled his chest. Instantly, his body went limp.

The remaining boy cast horrified glances between his two dead friends. Blood dripped from both their bodies like tears of red. Suddenly, remembering Sakuroka, he faced her. Even from upside down, he knew something was different. She stood hunched over, her heading hanging from her neck. Her shirt was still unbuttoned and fluttering in the wind. She almost looked ghostly, like a spirit who haunted these woods. The unseen force pulled him closer to her until he could feel her heated breath on his face. He could feel it like fire from a dragon. And with every breath, she breathed fear into him. Raising her head to face him, the boy looked into her eyes and saw coldness like no other he'd ever seen nor heard of…a coldness that was colder than the eyes of the devil himself. Her eyes were empty and bottomless, and looking into them felt like having a spear pierce his soul.

"Please," he pleaded. Sakuroka leaned in closer to him, bringing her lips closer to his ears.

"Say hi to Satan for me."

With that, the boy shot like a bullet for the ground headfirst. Only a few feet away, the hard force of which he met the ground with instantly shattered his neck and spine. Sakuroka looked around at the chaos and death surrounding her. As if waking from a dream, she returned to her original state, holding her head that throbbed terribly. Immediately afterwards, Sakuroka felt another strange surge within her, and the forest surrounding was gone, replaced by some gray void. Looking around, Sakuroka found it very hard to put in words what she felt in this place. It was familiar, yet foreign. It was cold, but also warm.

Hello, said the voice. Sakuroka turned of her heels and was shocked to see that this time the voice had taken form. Standing crossed arm in front of her was a young boy, not much older then she. Like her, he too had shoulder length pink hair and a pair of horns protruding from his head. And while he was far more muscular and bigger, the biggest difference between them was in his eyes. There was something behind those eyes, something…dark.

"Who are you?" Sakuroka instinctively asked.

Well, the voice answered, pausing for a moment to think, you can call me Tomo.

"Tomo?"

Yes…and I think it's time you and I had a little chat.

Being a parent, it isn't very often that one has time to themselves. There are many responsibilities that they must attend to, and it can, at times, become a little overwhelming. When these rare occasions present themselves, it's best to take full advantage of them. Lucy was no different to this fact. With a family as…"unique" as hers, she didn't often have time to sit down, take a breather, and gather her thoughts. However, today was a nice exception. Mayu was at school, having recently started her second year of high school, while Kohta was at the university. He had been fortunate enough to get a job up on campus working with the special needs group and students with mental or physical handicaps. It was very fulfilling work, and a job he did quite well. It suited him well. Lucy always surmised that his time with Nyu (the first Nyu) had something to do with it. And while he was working, the girls were at a local daycare center. Lucy was, at first, very hesitant to leave the girls in the hands of strangers, especially Nyu, with her pink hair and horns. However, Kohta had insisted on it, wanting the girls to learn good social behavior and to give Lucy some time off. So Lucy gave in, and was happy to see that none of the other children were giving Nyu any trouble…yet anyway.

Therefore, it was just she and Nana at the house. Nana was busy cleaning up in the kitchen while Lucy tended to the garden. She kept the garden well. Weeds were instantly uprooted, the plants always watered, and her favorite sakura tree was ever providing shade. It was a serene setting, full of life and color. It was here where Lucy felt most free…a place where she could think without distraction. And she certainly needed that right now.

Lucy had this odd feeling lately that something was very wrong. But she didn't know what it was. Just something inside her felt different somehow. It was the strangest thing. Lucy didn't even know how to describe the feeling. Any words she conjured up just seemed unfitting. No mattered how hard she tried, she couldn't even explain it to herself. Overall, it was very frustrating…like trying to remember something you know, but just can't seem to bring out. She thought maybe she was just being paranoid; but then she remembered the day they visited Yuka's grave and how she had another strange feeling then. Luckily, she hadn't felt it since, but something else was tugging at her insides now…and that worried her even more.

Taking off her brown leather gloves, Lucy stood up to examine her work, wiping the sweat from her brow. It had been a particularly hot day today, and Lucy couldn't wait to sit under her favorite tree and cool off for a minute. Lucy pressed her back against the bark of the tree, staring into the open door that led into the dining room. Although it did relax her a bit, she still couldn't completely shake the monkey that was currently dancing inside her mind.

Maybe it's just me, she finally proposed to herself. Lucy stroked the end of her chin, deep in thought. Maybe she was just being paranoid about what happened at the graveyard. I mean, after all, it had been two long and peaceful years since Tomoo had been defeated…and nothing out of the ordinary had happened since then.

"LUCY," yelled Nana, coming into view from the hall. Lucy sat upright onto her feet as Nana leaned on the doorframe, breathing hard.

"What is it?" Lucy asked her worriedly. When Lucy looked up into Nana's face, she did not like the expression Nana currently had.

"You have to hear this," Nana answered before running back into the kitchen. Lucy immediately followed, almost tripping over the landing as she ran into the house. Lucy entered into the kitchen to find Nana leaning on the counter, her head pressed close to the radio. Kohta had bought them a radio and placed in the kitchen for them to listen to when they were either cooking or cleaning up. Lucy came in close, while Nana turned up the volume.

"There are still no leads yet in the rash and mysterious disappearance in several girls all over the country," said the announcer, "The police are very unwilling to give us any information surrounding the missing girls. However, several eye witnesses within the areas report that most of these girls where either from local children's homes, or homeless." The announcer paused for a moment to catch their breath before continuing. "Based on what we have been told from the eye witnesses, all these girls seemed to have shared in the recent physical birth defect of growing horn protrusions from the skull."

Nana and Lucy gave each other shocked and uneasy glances. They both knew what that meant.

"We will bring you more on this story as it develops. In other news, three boys were found dead recently in the Japanese wilderness after a local hunter saw them by a stream. The boys were currently on a camping trip when they were attacked. No suspects have been named, and the authorities are baffled by the gruesomeness of the murders," the announcer continued. However, Nana turned the radio off before they could hear more. For a moment, the two of them stood in troubled silence. While the authorities may have been baffled, Lucy and Nana knew better. A bunch of diclonius go missing, and then a group of boys are gruesomely murdered. It was all too convenient to be coincidence.

"I knew something was wrong," Nana finally said after several moments, her head hanging low off her neck.

"Huh," Lucy said, "What do you mean?" Nana's eyes widened nearly to her ears, her mouth hanging open in shock at having heard this. "You mean you can't sense or hear them?"

It was Lucy's turn to be surprised now. How was it that she, the queen, could not sense diclonius when Nana, a silpelit, could? "You can sense and hear them?" she asked.

"Yes," Nana whispered. "It's not very strong, but I've felt something getting closer now for a few days. And I've heard something too. At night, before I fall asleep, I hear a faint voice. It sounds like it's calling for something…drawing something near. Haven't you felt anything?" Lucy gazed down at her feet, unable to wrap her mind around this.

"No…I can't," she said simply. Lucy looked deeply into her palms, wondering if maybe the change might be physical. But her hands looked as normal as they always did. However, even still…now…Lucy knew something was changing inside her. And she knew that something was coming. The only question was…what was it?

Lucy gaped at herself in the reflection of a window, her face suddenly seeming like it belonged to a stranger.

What, she asked herself, what's happening to me?

Sakuroka sat crossed legged in the gray void, listening intently to Tomo's story. On a whole, it didn't make a lot of sense, not to mention she couldn't follow him completely. There were numerous times when he had lost her and would have to back up to tell her again. After he finished, she contemplated what he had said. She made the best sense out of it she could, and even then, she was confused.

"That's a lot to take in," she said after putting her thoughts in order.

Yes, Tomoo said, I'd assume it is.

"I have a few questions though," Sakuroka said. "First off, where are we, and second, how come I didn't know you were a boy to begin with." Tomoo chortled permissively. She didn't like the way that laugh sounded. It reminded her of when someone was laughing that another for being too stupid to yet comprehend what was being told to them. "I understand," she hissed with a frown directed at him, not enjoying being treated like a pestilent child.

To answer your first question, Tomo said after regaining composure, this is the inside of your mind. As for the second, it's obviously because I was a boy when I was living.

"Living?"

I do not fully understand it myself, but trust me when I say that things will become clearer once we reach Kamakura.

"Now wait just a damn minute," Sakuroka burst out. Frustration was starting to reach a fever pitch within her. She was starting to get sick of being sent of this wild goose chase without having any of her questions answered. "You can't honestly tell me that you don't know anything. And why exactly do I need to kill this Lucy? Who or what is she and what's so important about her anyway?" Tomo's face quickly turned deadly serious. His once smug grin was now a deathly, stoic calm. His eyes drilled into her as he kneeled down, putting a hand on her shoulder. His touch was as cold as ice.

Your right, I do understand more, but even if I told you…you wouldn't understand now. But after you've reached Kamakura and come to realize what diclonius really are, and then I will tell you. As to what pertains to Lucy, she is the one who killed me, and I want revenge. After I died, I woke up here. Soon, I learned how to communicate to you, and here we are.

"So you want me to do your dirty work for you, huh?" Sakuroka said indignantly.

Sakuroka, Lucy is very dangerous. She doesn't go toward the normal diclonius standards. Diclonius are only supposed to kill humans, yet she killed me. If we want our species to survive, we need to kill her. Only then can you become the new queen.

That last part was what grabbed Sakuroka with a hard clasp around her throat. Queen? What exactly did that mean? Whatever it meant…she liked the sound of it.

"What do you mean by…the new queen?" she asked me with the first of genuine interest.

All in do time, Tomo said with a smile. Before Sakuroka could say anymore, her eyes bolted open, and she once again found herself surrounded by the carnage of her own making.

"TOMO," she shouted to the woods. She got no response. All she heard was the creaking of crickets and other insects, mingled with an eerie silence of the dead. Sakuroka sat crossed legged, trying to wrap her mind around all this. Nothing made sense about who Tomoo and Lucy were, how Tomoo was now part of her mind, and what diclonius really were. But she knew there was only one way to find out.

Giving up on any more rest today, Sakuroka rose to her feet. She wanted answers…and she wanted them now. And she was going to get them, even if it killed her.