Outai awoke moments later, dazed and confused. For a moment she once again remembered everything, but that didn't last long. Once she realized where she was, it all came back to her, or what there was to come back. She felt a weight on top of her and pushed it aside so she could sit up. She looked around her, but all she could see was the mess left behind from the panicking horde that was trying to leave the castle. Carts that were once attached to animals were tipped over, spilling their contents all over the place. There were countless footprints in the mud, and the holes that she and Mooney had made in the walls were still there, with rocks and mortar strewn about haplessly. However, something was amiss. At first she couldn't put her finger on it, but a moment later she realized what it was. There was no life about them. There were no panicking humans trampling each other to try and escape. There were no guards to kill those who dared to escape. There were no children crying in fear. There were no animals braying and crying in fear. There was nothing, not even blood on the ground where others had been trampled to death. The air was dead still, leaving behind only an eerie silence.

"Mooney, what's going on? Where did everyone go?" Outai asked.

However, Mooney didn't respond.

"Mooney?"

Then it struck her. When she woke up there was a weight on her, and it was too soft to be a rock. Outai looked behind her where she had pushed the weight off of herself so she could stand, and saw Mooney laying on the ground lifelessly. His face was covered in mud where he had been face down on top of her, and mud caked the hairline around his face. He did not move, did not even twitch when she called out his name, and she was afraid he'd been killed. In spite of her still existing distrust for him, she'd grown to call him her friend, especially since he was all she had left now. She didn't want to think of him as being dead as well.

"Mooney, wake up. This is a bad joke."

Again there was no answer. This time she knelt down next to him and began to shake him. Maybe he was just asleep, and needed some jostling to wake him up.

"Come on, this isn't funny! Wake up damnit!"

Again he didn't move. Outai feared the worst now. She didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was had likely killed her only friend. Her heart sank to her stomach once again. She picked the boy up in her arms the best she could, cradling his head. She looked at him for a moment, hoping he would wake up soon, but he did not. She pulled him into a hug, her own mud caked dress smearing mud onto his otherwise clean shirt – clean all but for the spatters of blood spilled by the soldiers he had killed – his head hanging limply over her shoulder.

"Don't leave me alone! Come back!" she cried as she cradled the limp cat boy in her arms.

She didn't want to think of him as dead, but right now she didn't have any other possibilities in her mind. He wouldn't move, not even when she shook him. Various thoughts raced through her head, including suicide. Why not? She'd lost her family, and the only friend she had left was now limp in her arms, as if dead. What was left? She could get revenge on that disgrace of a king, and swore she would, but what would come after that?

"Don't give up." A voice said, very close to her right ear.

This voice surprised Outai. She looked around and saw no one.

"I told you, you're not alone." Came the voice again.

It was Mooney's voice, and she knew it. But he was dead, wasn't he? Outai pulled him away from herself and looked at him. His eyes were about half way open, revealing his baby blue eyes, and he wore a weary grin.

"MOONEY!" she said excitedly as she hugged him again, tightly.

"GAH!" Mooney yelped in pain, "Outai, Mooney can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry about that." Outai said as she loosened her grip, "Are you okay?"

"Apparently so."

"What happened?"

"Well, after you blew a hole in that wall and killed yourself with some of the rock that exploded out—"

"I died again? Then how am I still alive?"

"I have a suspicion, and I want to show you before you go after that king. You will need it. Anyway, after that, I tried to carry you to the castle, but everything began to glow red, and everyone that was here started screaming in pain. Then they all dissolved. It hurt me too, like being burned alive."

"Then how are we still here if everyone else dissolved? And what made them dissolve?"

"I think I know, now that I think about it."

"Well, what is it?"

"On one of my many travels while you were growing up, I came across some people studying a magic that is native to this planet. I didn't learn much about it, except that, unlike our magic, theirs is bound by the laws of this planet's nature. However, there was a rumor going around that this magic could be used to make a stone that could bypass all the laws of nature, without consequence. I think it was that magic that killed everyone."

"But…why would anyone do that?"

"To make the stone. One of the people I talked to was particularly talented with this magic, which they call alchemy. He said that there was a way to make the stone – which he called the Philosopher's Stone – but that it would be very costly. The most costly thing I can think of is human life."

"So the stone that the king was trying to make, and was killing people to do so was….?"

"The Philosopher's Stone. I think he may have been successful. In that case, we are in a very dangerous predicament. If he really does have that stone, he can do whatever he wants, make whatever he wants, without natural consequence. He'll have unlimited power, and considering what he did to make it – assuming he was successful – I doubt he'll have any trouble using it to make people do whatever he wants, either through terrorism or murder."

"Then what do we do?"

"Usually that's my question to you, but this time I already know the answer. There's one way we can beat him, and that's if we get the stone from him."

"How will we do that? He'll use it against us."

"That is true, but we have a secret weapon, something you don't know about yet."

"What is it?"

"Follow me. I'll tell you everything on the way."

A/N: So sorry everyone! I've been busy moving and only got internuts service today. Yes, I said internuts. Anyway, I'm online now, and things should be a bit more steady now.

P.S. I LOVE reviews. Send them!