Hey everyone! Thanks for waiting so patiently! I'm really glad to have finished this chapter! It was hard but I got through it!

Chapter 7: Blindness

Taruto slowly opened his eyes. He tried to make them adjust to his surroundings, but it only gave him a headache. He turned over to his back and tried again to open his eyes. He refused to look away until he could tell what his surroundings were. He felt drained and exhausted; he desperately wanted to close his eyes and slip back into unconsciousness. The sky, if he could call it that, seemed to continually spin and walls stretched continually towards the top of the dark abyss.

"Taru Taru na no da," a small voice called.

Taruto inhaled, hard. It nearly took him all his strength to turn over. He propped himself on his elbows and planted his knees against the rough surface. He looked up at the blurred image of a small figure running towards him. He shut his eyes. He could not think of why his vision was acting this way. He felt borderline blind. As an alien, his eyes usually took seconds to adjust to any condition, but why not this one?

"Taruto, na no da!" Pudding cried. Taruto could feel her right in front of him now. "Are you okay, na no da?" She placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to help him up.

Taruto opened his eyes and could see Pudding, clear as die. Her eyes had tears in them, but an excited smile was planted on her face.

"Pudding," he whispered, "Are you okay?" He looked her over and could see scratches and bruises down her skin.

"I"m fine, na no da," Pudding insisted, "Though, try not to look directly up, it'll mess with your sight, Taru Taru, na no da."

Taruto nodded. "Where are we?"

Pudding shook her head.

"Then I guess, we should start walking," Taruto suggested. Pudding helped him up, and they both began their vast journey in an unknown dimension.

!&&!

Pai grunted as he sat up. He looked around and was surrounded by darkness. He was able to see a little through the thick fog. He reached up to pat his pounding head. He didn't know how long he had been out or where he was. He looked up and immediately regretted it as his head began to spin making the pain unbearable. It was then he remembered.

"Lettuce?" He called. He remember how that creature had tried to suck them into a dark hole. He remembered passing out after trying to save Lettuce. He must have failed. He balled his fist in anger. He had let Lettuce down. Then his eyes widened. He didn't know where she was. "Lettuce!" He shouted again. He rose to his feet. He had to find her. He didn't know where to start, though.

What kind of dimension could they have been in? And most importantly, why were they brought there? Whoever was behind this, was behind everything: the letter, the mansion, the killings. Who could possibly know both the Mews and the Cyniclons identities and who wants both of them gone?

Pai was about to move forward in search for Lettuce, when something caught his attention. In the corner of his vision he saw a flash of green through the darkness, tinted atmosphere. He ran towards the color. As he approached it, it turned into an outline of Lettuce's body, lifeless on the ground. Pai quickly knelt next to her and gently lifted her body up so he could see her clearly.

Her eyes were closed, and her face had scratches and bruises, most likely from her landing. She wasn't wearing her glasses and her braided pigtails had come undone so her hair fell down in messy, tangled locks. Her pulse was slow. Pai looked down and saw that her shirt was bloodstained. However, she had no stab wounds under her shirt.

"Lettuce," Pai whispered. What had happened after he had lost consciousness? He didn't have time to think because the ground began to rumble. He pulled Lettuce closer to him, when the ground underneath them shifted. He lifted her up in his arms and quickly moved back only to find the land behind him had also shifted. He quickly reclaimed his balance and jumped to the next piece of land he could see. He landed only to have the land underneath him shoot upwards creating a wall. Pai watched from above as other walls formed. He did his best to levitate before anything else could occur. He was surprised to see that his alien powers worked in this dimension. He was tempted to try teleporting, but decided against it since Lettuce was weak and he didn't know the outcome. When the terrain seemed to stop transforming Pai slowly descended to the ground. He had to find a way out of here. He couldn't let Lettuce down again.

He looked down at her in his arms. She had never looked so beautiful to him, then at that moment.

"I'll get you out of this, Lettuce, I promise."

!&&!

Kisshu flew through the pathway with Ichigo laying, unconscious, on his back as he carried her. He had almost slammed into a wall earlier when the dimension's environment had shifted. Kisshu had found that it does that every seven minutes. It had already happened three times. And from his observation it seemed that the dimension was closing in on itself. If Pai was there, he would be able to know for sure. Kisshu was sure everyone else was there. He just had to find them. Kisshu's ear twitched.

"Ugh," Ichigo grunted as she started to wake up, "Kisshu?"

"I'm here Ichigo," Kisshu whispered, slowing down, "How are you feeling?"

"Just really tired," Ichigo yawned, "What happened? Where are we?" Ichigo tried to look around.

"Hey don't look directly up, okay?" Kisshu warned. "It seems like we're in another dimension. I don't know exactly. Right now we're looking for the others."

"It's so dark," Ichigo stated, "How are we going to find the others in here?"

"See if you can use your pendant," Kisshu suggested.

"Kisshu! You're a genius," Ichigo pulled out her pendant, "Ryou put a tracking chip in here and it'll tell us how near we are to another one! Do you think we can get higher, Kisshu?" Ichigo asked.

Kisshu nodded and levitated up. Ichigo held the pendent out and waited for a signal. The pendent starting beeping slowly.

"I think one of them is that way," Ichigo pointed. Kisshu followed Ichigo's direction and flew as fast as he could.

!&&!

"Taruto, I don't think there's a way out," Pudding sighed dropping to the ground. She was tired from aimlessly walking, and when they weren't walking they were running from the sudden shifts of the environment.

Taruto looked back at Pudding and knelt in front of her. "We just have to keep looking," Taruto said soothingly. He was a little surprised by the sudden change of character. Usually Pudding was the cheerful one who kept his spirits up. Tonight just seemed to prove too much for her. Not that he could blame her. He was starting to think he'd never see Pai or Kisshu again.

It was then he felt a presence near. It came from behind him. He heard feet touching the ground as if someone had landed. Then he heard another set. He slowly pulled out his clackers ready to attack. He jerked back his arm and spun around. Pudding immediately looked up and they both gasped at the pair that stood in front of them.

"Onee-chan! Na no da!" Pudding screamed running into Ichigo's arm. Ichigo embraced the small Mew as tears came to her eyes.

"Ha, miss me?" Kisshu asked with a smirk on his face. Taruto eyed him.

"A little I guess," he answered, looking away, "I knew you would be okay," he lied. Kisshu grinned.

"I missed you too, Taruto." He stated. Taruto looked up at him and let a smile slip. "C'mon we have to find Pai and Lettuce."

"Are they here too, na no da?" Pudding asked hopefully.

Ichigo nodded, "Kisshu's right, we have to hurry."

The group of four ran off to find the last of their remaining team.

!&&!

It felt like it had been forever. Every moment Lettuce was asleep seemed to go on slowly to Pai. His head was still throbbing from the gash he had discovered earlier. He wanted to stop but refused, he had to go on for Lettuce's sake. If there was any hope of finding a way out he was going to find it.

Lettuce began to stir and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up. Her vision was still blurred and she seemed to be surrounded be darkness. However, she could make out a serious face looking forward.

"Pai," she whispered, softly. Her lips were dry and she felt extreme exhaustion.

Pai immediately stopped and looked down at her. "Lettuce," his voice was relieved. He knelt down, "How are you feeling?"

"Me?" Lettuce asked, she wished she could see his face clearly, "What about you? You were unconscious for such a long time and there was so much blood." Tears streamed down her face, "I thought I was going to lose you." She reached up and hugged him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder.

Pai was surprised at her sudden movement. He slowly wrapped his arms around her.

He wanted that moment to last forever. To forever hold her in his arms and to feel her heartbeat against his, would have been nothing less than amazing.

However, the moment ended. The ground beneath them began to shake. The couple immediately pulled away.

"Pai, what's happening," Lettuce shrieked. She still couldn't see very well, but she could fell the ground beneath her collapsing. "Pai!"

Pai pulled Lettuce forward and to her feet. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction he wanted her to run. A wall rose up in front of them. Pai pulled Lettuce the other way.

"Just stay with me!" He yelled to her.

Another wall jutted from the ground. He turned around but had to jerk Lettuce back as another wall appeared. Lettuce shrieked as she fell back from the force. They were backed into another wall as a final wall ascended forcing Pai to push into Lettuce who was facing him.

They were trapped. There was barely any space between the four walls. When suddenly the walls closed in more.

"Pai, what's going on?" Lettuce asked worried.

"These walls are going to close in on us," Pai whispered. His face was stoic, yet he was frantically trying to find a way out of this. He wanted to fly them both out, but there was honestly no room for both of them to move upward. He looked at Lettuce. There were tears in her eyes.

"Lettuce," Pai started. The walls moved closer together again. Lettuce whimpered as she was squeezed against Pai's chest.

"Pai," Lettuce started, he could hear the fear in her voice, "If I had to die..."

"Lettuce, don't talk like that!" Pai said sternly.

"If I had to die," Lettuce continued, she was crying now, "I'm glad that I got to see you one last time."

Pai swallowed hard. "I am too."

"Lettuce!" A voice called from above.

Lettuce would've looked up if she could, but she recognized the voice immediately.

"Hold on Lettuce and Pai, we'll get you out of there!" Ichigo called down again.

"Hurry," Pai called up, "The walls are closing in."

Just then the walls moved closer again. It hurt Lettuce to breath. Her chest was being crushed.

"Taruto give me your clackers!" Kisshu yelled. Taruto handed them over. Kisshu pulled them to stretch them out and began to lower it down as a rope.

"Grab on and we'll pull you up!" Kisshu called down.

When the end of the clackers reached Pai he grabbed it and took Lettuce's hand and put them on the clackers.

"Here, Lettuce," Pai whispered, "They can't pull us both up."

"No!" Lettuce refused, "I won't leave you!"

Pai pressed his lips against hers. He had wanted to do that for awhile, and he felt this was going to be his last chance. He didn't want to pull away but he had to. Time was running out.

"Lettuce, please," Pai pleaded, "For me."

Lettuce nodded and reluctantly took the rope. Ichigo and Kisshu pulled as another shift came and pushed the walls closer together. Lettuce was no longer in front of Pai and could fit between the crack that was left between the wall. Pai tried to levitate behind Lettuce but it was a tighter squeeze for him. Ichigo and Kisshu pulled Lettuce to the top. Ichigo helped her onto the flat surface at the top of the wall.

Lettuce quickly turned around. She could see the blurred image of Pai inching up the small crack.

"Pai," Lettuce called reaching her hand down, "You can make it! Please, Pai."

Pai reached up and their fingertips brushed together. The ground shook one last time and the walls closed in. Ichigo pulled Lettuce back as the walls collided. Lettuce heard the most sickening crack as the walls crashed together.

"Pai," she whispered and immediately burst into tears. Ichigo hugged her from behind while Kisshu punched the ground and cursed under his breath at the loss of his best friend. Taruto knelt to the ground and began to sob. Pudding placed her arms around him to comfort him, but he pulled away. The one person he looked up to as a father, was now gone.

This was the saddest thing I had to write! I mean just picturing it breaks my heart! I had to kill one of my favorite characters! That was just cruel fanfic voters! JUST CRUEL! LOL

Alive: Ichigo, Lettuce, Pudding, Kisshu, Taruto

Dead: Masaya, Ryou, Mint, Zakuro, Kieichiro, Pai