Prettyinpinkgal: Hello! I'm sorry for the wait! School's a very evil thing indeed. Please enjoy Chapter Eleven!

Disclaimer: I, Alyssa/Prettyinpinkgal, do not own Pretear, except for the characters I've made note of in previous disclaimers. (turns to lawyer) There! Are you happy now, you dream-demolisher?!

Lawyer: "Dream-demolisher"? O.O" Um...

PRETEAR: THE SECOND SNOWFALL

CHAPTER ELEVEN: TWO BETRAYALS?

All was dark in the small corridor. At least, it was until streaks of color and light appeared, soon giving way to eight Leafe Knights.

"Nice job, Kei. Now, can anyone sense Himeno, or at least Fenra?" Sasame asked.

Everyone paused a moment, focusing. "I can't tell!" Mannen grumbled. "It feels like there's something here clouding my vision."

"It must be the evil in this place," Kei replied with a frown. "I can't sense a thing, either."

Natsuki perked up. "Really? I think I can sense something." She pointed straight. "Try going straight, and I'll tell you when to turn, alright?"

"How is it that you can tell where Himeno is?" Hayate asked suspiciously as they flew in the direction Natsuki had pointed. "The rest of us can't sense her."

Natsuki frowned. "How the heck am I supposed to know? All I know is that I sense her presence this way!"

The others continued to follow, although a nagging suspicion gripped each of them. There was something about Natsuki that didn't add up. She acted like she didn't like Himeno, but she was the only one who could sense where she was.

Hayate glared at the back of Natsuki's head. He was never overly fond of her, but now he was sure something was wrong. But if they didn't follow her, they'd never get anywhere in this huge dimension.

They flew and flew in complete silence which was only broken by Mannen, Shin, and Hajime's occasional, "Are we there yet?", to which Natsuki would respond with a, "Shut up! This is a huge place! It's bound to take a while!"

Silence would then resume, with the exception of sound of ruffling clothes and rushing wind.

Finally, the silence ended, but abruptly and with a loud, "STOP!"

The Knights halted, turning to face the speaker. Hayate's eyes widened as they saw the person leaning against the wall, panting.

"Kimoto," Hayate said coldly, his eyes narrowing. It could only mean one thing if Kimoto was in the Dimension of Darkness.

He was Feral.

"Natsuki!" Kimoto yelled, not bothering to pay attention to Hayate. "I'm in control now! So I'm afraid your little plan isn't going to work!"

The Knights whirled around to look at Natsuki, who was throwing such a fierce glare at Kimoto that she seemed more like a murderous carnivore than a person. She quickly regained her composure, however, and gave Kimoto a pleading look. "What are you saying? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Kimoto cried out as if in pain, and gripped the wall. His forehead was dotted with sweat, but his eyes blazed with determination. Turning his attention to the other Leafe Knights for the first time, he told them in a strained voice, "Natsuki is a traitor to the Leafenia. She has been working for Feral. She was planning on leading all of you to Feral, and the two of them were planning on finishing all of you off, with the exception of Hayate."

Hajime and Shin gasped. The others glared, enraged, at Natsuki, who stared at Kimoto.

"Why not Hayate? No offense," Goh said to the Knight of Wind.

"It's fine. But why not me?" Hayate demanded, looking at Kimoto.

"Because she's in love with you," Kimoto said bluntly, nodding towards Natsuki, who seemed frozen in place.

This was not going as Natsuki had planned. As she listened to Kimoto explain her plans to the Knights, about her planning on Hayate being so upset over the loss of Himeno and his companions (of course, he was supposed to have no idea that she had been part of finishing them off) that he would willingly fall for Natsuki.

"That's about the most idiotic plan I've ever heard!" cried Hayate. "No one falls in love like that!"

Kimoto looked at Natsuki. "I'm afraid I have to finish you off now, before you attack anyone else. Besides, this is customary in Leafenia for traitors." Turning towards the still loyal Knights, he told them weakly, "I may need your help. I can stifle her powers to keep her from fighting back, but that's about it. I'm not too powerful right now."

"YOU'RE the traitor!" Natsuki shouted, but was unable to move do to Kimoto's powers. "Bring out Feral! Give it up!"

The Knights looked at each other and nodded. It was customary to eliminate traitors on the spot before the said traitors brought back any information or powers to their new leader. They raised their hands and said, "As a traitor to Leafenia, you must now face your punishment," as was customary in such instances.

Their powers burst forth from their hands, making Natsuki scream, "NO!" As soon as the light faded, she was gone.

Hayate stared at the spot Natsuki had been moments before. It was bound to have happened. He sighed; they had known each other for years. He hadn't liked her as a friend or otherwise, but still...

He shook his head and tried to bring himself back to the present. "Kimoto," he said, turning towards the boy. "What are you doing here?"

Kimoto sighed, looking at the ground and wiping the sweat from his brow. "I don't blame you if you don't believe me, but..." He looked up at the Knights, looking each one straight in the eye. "It's like this: Before Himeno became the Princess of Disaster, and before Fenryl came into being, the Pretear that later became Fenryl--I think her name was Takana? Takaka? Oh, yeah, Takako--anyway, she was fighting a Princess of Disaster--"

"We know that," Hayate snapped. "We were there!"

"Oh, right. Well, that Princess of Disaster...you guys never really defeated her. During the final battle, she vanished right before your combined attack hit her. She got sick of you all--her words, not mine--and decided to just live like a sort of normal person. She married my father. She's my mother.

"She died a while ago, and I can't say I'm terribly sorry for her death," Kimoto said with a humorless laugh. "She was still a cruel person, pretending to be human or not."

"So," Kei interjected. "You have the genes of the Princess of Disaster?"

"He's part-princess!" Mannen laughed. Noticing everyone's glares, he shrunk back, muttering, "You gotta admit, it is pretty funny."

"Anyway," continued Kimoto. "I guess somehow the evil forces are in me. When I turned sixteen, the evil part of me awoke, the part called Feral.

"So yes, I am Feral, physically at least. He keeps trying to battle for control and use of this body. As you can imagine, it can be quite a struggle to keep him at bay. Even now, he's trying--" he paused, taking a sharp intake of breath, in obvious pain. Sweat dripped from his brow as he continued, "--trying hard to break free. I'll keep him at bay for as long as possible, but I can't guarantee that I can keep him away long enough for you to rescue Himeno."

The Knights looked at Hayate for guidance. "He's not lying," Kei told Hayate. "That much is obvious."

The Knight of Wind nodded, then turned to Kimoto. "Do you remember anything from when Feral was in control? Do you know where Himeno, or Fenra, is?"

Kimoto tried to think. "I-I'm not sure. But I think she might still be in the throne room." He gave them directions on how to get there. "And Hayate," he added, looking at the blue knight with resignation. "I give up. You won her. So you better save her or I'll never forgive you." He cried out, then shouted, "Go! Hurry! I can't hold him back much longer!"

"Thank you," Hayate said. To the Knights, he shouted, "Let's go!" And off they flew.

Prettyinpinkgal: Sorry about the wait and shortness! But I couldn't wait to put this chapter up any longer. Please review, even if just to yell at me for taking so long! Merry Christmas and happy New Year!