Updaaaate! I also changed the story title to 'Another'. I dunno why, but it sounds better, right? uvu

Reviews

HarmonianTraveller
Um… I don't know? I mean, for the Solins and Eartheins I think it's pretty obvious that I based them off Sun and Earth, but for Kin and Lumiere… I don't know. Or I can't really remember. I think I just thought something up and went along with it. Other than the usual monsters (e.g. Kappa, Succubus, Kitsune etc.) I actually look up names and put them together to form something nice. If I remember correctly, Edurlan was a mix of 'soft' and 'ice' xD

"This is ridiculous. We won't make it out alive."

Gakuko bit her lip. "Maybe so. But we can always hope. And after all, it's worth a shot, isn't it? If even at least half of you manage to get out of here… That'll be a great achievement." She pointed at the map again, finger tracing over the delicate sheet of paper. "Now, if we take this path, however…"

Mikuo sat, watching the two pinkettes and the siren quietly discuss and, every once in a while, have Luka disagree angrily over which path to take and how much trust they'd have to put in each other. From where he was seated, he gave Miku a glance. She was still curled up, leaning against a tree. He realized, suddenly, that the feelings that had been eating at him for weeks now had lowered surprisingly, and they weren't bothering him as much as before. And because of Miku? That couldn't be right. She was the cause of the feelings, so how could she have been the cure? That was impossible.

He frowned, playing with a small pebble in the silt, tracing words into the wet sand. He looked at her again, and this time, she caught him. He jerked, flailing and turning to look away hurriedly, but she had already spotted his curious eyes. No sound came from her. Mikuo cleared his throat uneasily, and he could already sense her twitching, getting nervous as the seconds ticked by. Finally, he was able to slide several stuttered words from his knotted tongue. "Um… Thanks. For, uh, y'know. Saving me. I guess."

Miku nodded. "You're welcome." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, almost tempting, daring him to speak more, like she expected him to. Mikuo remained silent.

And then it got awkward. The two sat there, scratching at the sand with their claws and clearing their throats, nervously twitching their tails and ears. Mikuo took another glance at the girl next to him again, hoping whatever they were discussing about, they'd finish it quickly. His eyes moved back to the random squiggles he had drawn onto the sand. Not too long ago he had despised this girl. And he was pretty sure she hated him with an equal passion. And now... Now they were sitting quietly together, right after she'd just saved his life. Sort of. Miku looked towards him, a full-on glare, and although he forced himself not to, he couldn't help but turn and look back at her. He didn't know why. He couldn't help himself, whenever she looked at him with her sad, misty eyes; he only wanted to look back and-

"Ah-!" Miku fell backwards, clasping her hand over her eyes. Mikuo shifted, but relaxed when he saw she was fine. She still had her hands over her face, but she didn't appear very healthy. Her eyes had grown dark again, he noticed suddenly. His itched, and he suddenly felt a jolt of pain pierce through his eyes, but even as he turned away and rubbed them, pushing in his knuckles until he saw stars, Miku's eyes still haunted a part of his mind. And he really, truly didn't know why. "Don't... Don't look." Miku murmured weakly, breaking his chain of thoughts. He looked back at her anyway, still confused.

"Huh..?"

"Don't look into my eyes." She bowed her head. "It won't do you any good."

Don't look into my eyes. Mikuo took a breath. He had heard that line before. Someone had said to him, a long time ago, and he was remembering it, all of a sudden. Why? Why were all these memories resurfacing? He turned away from Miku, and whoever had said those words, the voice, whoever it had belonged to, fell back again into the tangled pit of memories.

"By the way, I was only doing it to save myself. If I wanted to stay alive, I would've still needed you." She scrunched up her nose. "I mean, not in that kind of way." Mikuo turned away, the memory of him nestling up to Miku still burning a hole into his tired mind, how warm she was, her smooth hair draped around him, as she leant against him... No! His face flushed, and he bent his head, trying to cover it. What was he thinking? It was only because she had wanted to survive. She needed heat. He was just a tool for her. He was okay with that. Just... Not in that way.

Don't look into my eyes. The voice hit him again, and he clasped his hands over his head, trying to shut it down. "Go away".

"Okay! Fine!"

And then it occurred to him that he was already insane, and now, even though the voice had agreed to leave him be… It had actually agreed to him. It had responded to his thoughts, and now he was terrified. He looked around, practically mortified. A voice in his memories had responded to him. Memories… No. This voice. He had heard it before. It wasn't responding to him. He was remembering it. Someone had said these exact words to him before, a very long time ago, and now, he was remembering it. But how? He turned towards Miku. It couldn't be.

"Please… Just leave me."

"F-Fine then! Then I guess you won't be seeing me again!"

"Just… Go…"

More words collided into him, forcing him to remember whatever had happened so many years ago, things he wanted to forget, but were piling up again in his mind. Not again. Why am I remembering all of this? Miku seemed to be unconcerned about his sudden headache, or simply wasn't paying attention to him. But whatever it was, all the memories were flooding into his head, hurting him. And then he realized – one of those voices was his.

No.

It couldn't be.

He shot a desperate glance at Miku, who looked even more lonely and depressed, and every story he had ever remembered bounced into his mind, breaking down the picture into a million puzzle pieces, pieces he couldn't hope to catch. The stories. He remembered them, all of them, especially the ones about… Her. But they couldn't have been true. He chewed his knuckles, trying to think. Everything he had heard. It was a myth. A fairy-tale. It wasn't true. It couldn't have been. She wasn't a story. It wasn't real. "Guys?"

Mikuo jerked and looked around, the puzzle pieces in his head falling away again, all the voices and pictures draining out. Miku looked up. "Are you two feeling any better?" Gakuko crouched down in front of them, throwing a few wet sticks into the fire. She looked at their pained, hurt expressions, Mikuo's in particular. "You don't look very well. The cold must have been that harsh, huh?"

"Yeah." Miku said simply.

"Hm." Gakuko's face softened into pity. "Well, as stubborn as she was, we finally got Luka to agree to the plan, and so we should be out of this place soon. Hopefully, anyway. Are you ready to go? We have to head out quick."

Mikuo gave Miku another glance, but she wasn't paying attention. Instead, her eyes seemed to be focused elsewhere, but whatever she was looking at, he couldn't see it. "Yeah. We're ready. Whatever you need."

"Good. Luki is going to distract the guards for a bit, but we won't have much time, so you two need to be quick on your feet. Once we… Miku? Are you listening?"

The female Kin jerked, looking around in surprise before her restless eyes finally settled on Gakuko. "Oh… Uh, sorry, what?"

Gakuko sighed. "Luki is going to open the zone doors, and then he's going to get all the guards to… Get away. We'll have to run. Is that clear?"

The two Kins nodded. "Yes." They both responded.

"Alright. Go get positioned by the door, and once you're given the signal, you run like hell. But stay behind me." Luki moved through the gates and disappeared behind them. Luka ushered the two Kins away, and the four huddled behind the door. "Ready?"

There was a loud thud and the rattle of metal as something hit the floor and a soft sound. Luka looked up. "There. Go!" She pushed them out, and the two Kins burst out running, and Gakuko bolted out after them. As the four ran, they passed more and more guards, but all of them were unconscious on the floor, and following Miku's memory, she led them back to where they had been imprisoned. Luka locked the door in front of them, and they scuttled back. They had made it out. But would they go far enough to escape the castle itself?

"What about the others?" Miku breathed as soon as they were a safe distance from the door.

"Others, if you mean the ones we know, we'll have to give their zone or cell addresses to Luki once we're in the monk's chambers. It shouldn't be long." Gakuko answered. Miku nodded and turned towards the direction of the cell they had been locked in before. Kaito's body… Was it still there? She shuddered, trying not to think about it.

Eventually the gate rattled, and Luki stepped in. "Hurry. I've convinced the other guards to move to the west court. We can make it to the third floor immediately if we move fast. Let's go." He signalled them out, and through the castle walls they crept, keeping their heads low and eyes peeled. They passed several cells, where the beasts inside could smell them, and the moans turned louder.

A large door stood in their way as they finally reached the third floor. Luki pulled a key out from his belt and unlocked the doors, gently pushing it open so they could enter the hall. It was completely empty, silent, and it gave Miku an eerie feeling. When she had first come here she was too tired to complain, but now that she looked around at the stone statues, with their lifeless eyes and gaping mouths, she couldn't help but feel a little scared. Mikuo looked as worried as well, he didn't like the statues, it appeared, and kept his eyes to the ground as they moved. Luki stopped. Several voices came from behind a door. "I'll go in first. I need someone to move behind me, someone fast enough to assassinate the head. He's the one with the black robe. The rest aren't fighters, so once the head is down they should be easy to kill."

"I'll go." Miku and Mikuo said at once, and they both looked at each other, startled.

Mikuo looked at her and frowned. "Let me do it. You're not as fast as me. And I can kill him in one hit."

Miku snorted. "Hah. Says the one who couldn't handle a dead body." She turned to Luki. "I'll go. I'm lighter than him. I can move more quietly."

"Don't be stupid. Obviously I'm the one who should-"

"Okay, stop, stop!" Luka hissed, pushing the two apart. "Mikuo, go with Luki. You'll both get the chance to kill once he's dead."

"Fine." Miku mumbled, glaring at Mikuo's smug grin.

The others scattered as Luki knocked on the door and entered, Mikuo crouched down behind him. "Hello. I wish to speak with the head."

Several monks looked upward, nearly shocked to see him, but appeared calm nonetheless. A man sitting at the far end of the chamber was clothed in black robes, and nodded. "Ah. The East One, correct? Do come in." Luki walked towards him, and Mikuo crept after him, disappearing behind the crates and shelves at the other end of the room. "You wish to speak with me?"

Luki knelt at the monk's side. The head monk. Mikuo pawed towards him, making sure not to crash into anything, or make any sounds that would alert one of the monks. "Yes. I've heard that you use a force to condemn the beasts, or at least and I'm rather interested. If I may, could I inquire of how this ritual takes place? I hear it takes a lot of work, and you must be very skilled to perform this ritual on all these filthy monsters."

Miku slapped a hand over Luka's mouth before she growled at him. "Why, yes, yes, of course. Come here." Luki nodded and continued talking, peppering him with questions as he tried to keep him busy. Mikuo crawled up behind the monk. He hoped he wasn't too annoyed with Luki's questions, but he seemed to be answering them without hesitation, and even relief that someone wanted to hear his answers. Mikuo extracted his claws, ready to bring them down onto the man's neck. He raised himself above him, and Luki started speaking louder. Now all he had to do was to strike and-

"A dark presence!" A monk shouted suddenly. He stood up so quickly and forcefully that his chair was knocked over, and the others in the room went still. Luki looked panicked, and his questions came to a drabbling end. "There is another being in here!"

Monks started chattering and whispering, trying to source out the presence their brother had sense. Mikuo cursed and threw his arm down; almost hungry to see his claws go through the flesh of the man in front of him. "Here he is."

Mikuo froze. A hand gripped his arm with a force so hard, so stable he couldn't move at all, it seemed to completely drain the energy from him. "N-No…" He gasped. "How…"

The head monk fixed him with a steely glare. "I am not as stupid as you think I am, beast."

Luki looked around, unsure of what to do as the other monks started closing in on them. Mikuo took a breath, and a chance. "Well, it seems so." He said as loudly and as boldly as he could, but the monk's grip on his arm was so tight, it was starting to hurt, he wondered how on earth a human's grip could be so strong. He continued. "But… There's some business we plan on finishing, and you're not going to stop us."

"We?" The monk appeared confused for a moment, but by the time he had registered what Mikuo had said and turned, Luki hit him with the edge of his sword, and he fell. Mikuo pounced on him, tearing at his stomach, blood staining his claws. Monks shrieked and turned to flee, but the girls were already in their way, jumping onto their victims. One by one the monks fell, as they weren't very good fighters, each scream cut short as the monsters they had claimed to have control over silenced them.

"Are they all dead?" Miku breathed. She kicked over the body before her.

"NO!" Mikuo cried out suddenly, and jumped off the head monk's chair towards her.

Miku gasped, feeling something seize her by the throat and an arm wrap itself around her waist. A wild-eyed monk pulled her back, holding a knife poised dangerously above her neck. "Don't step closer!" He screeched, backing from the advancing monsters. "Or I'll kill her!"

"You're not killing anybody." Luka hissed, tackling from the side and pinning him down. She brought her hand down and there was a loud cry and a horrible sound of a knife going through flesh. Miku jumped away in shock as blood pooled at her feet. Mikuo watched in awe.

"Holy shit."

There was going to be something witty here but I forgot what it was