A/N: well, well. I got it up! 2 chapters! yeah! go me! I typed reall reallly fast (still am) so sorry if there's like a lot of mistakes. hehe. its just part of me being, well, ME!!! Don't like it? Well, then you really should hide the sugar cubes a little better! ( :

That night, Chiho explained what had happened. She'd gone for a walk in the morning, to make herself tired so she'd finally fall asleep. But before she got back into the cave, someone had gotten her and knocked her out. She'd woken up in another cave, chained to the wall. She'd practically died when she saw shadows moving around, afraid and hungry for three days and four nights before some shadow had come and let her go.

"What did it say?" Kaede asked.

"It said, 'Don't tell the lord.' Then it unlocked me and let me go." Then she looked at Kaede. "How did you know it said anything?"

"Because…well, while you were gone it was discovered Fate made me a magician. So I got this nifty staff"-Kaede pulled out her new staff-"and some new skills."

"OUCH!!!" Ren cried out from across the room. Everyone turned around to see him with his entire fist in his mouth. "It bit me!" he added, pointing at the water purifier with his free hand.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Wow. The water purifier bit you."

"Shut up, Ariana!" Ren shouted. Even with his fist in his mouth, Ren could make us all insane. It was something I didn't understand, and had no desire to.

"Come here," Kaede said. He came over. "Take your fist out of your mouth. Wipe it off."

He obeyed again. She looked at his fist. Her hands hovered over his, and she began to mutter things to herself:

"Kami-sama.
Cure isto,
cura este agora.

Heilen Sie dies,
Heilen.
Sie dieses jetzt."

Ren's red burn began to fade, then normal flesh covered it like nanos covering a building: quickly, consuming it with thin tendrils forging a new path. Fairly soon, Ren's hand was completely normal again.

Kaede dropped her hands. "That was weird," she said simply.

"Whoa." Ren looked at his hand, twisting it around to investigate it from all angles. "That was an advance healing spell!"

"Nani?" Kaede tipped her head to the side. "What?"

"Yeah, that was cool!"

"You're almost ready for a mission, you know." Cloud dropped down next to Kaede. She emitted a little squeal.

"No way! That's so cool!" Kaede's eyes shone. "Are you going to come?"

"Yeah…I guess I am."

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Chiho's POV

The night was silent, and everyone else was asleep. But I was wide awake. I'd gotten new clothes, perfect replicas of my old ones, and I was tucked under my warmest sheets. My friends had even given me their extra blankets. So why was I still shivering?

Footsteps sounded on the cave floor. I shuddered. Stop imagining things, I scolded myself. I was going to be a little paranoid now.

Then something jumped from the shadows. I screamed but nothing came out. Something was forced over my nose and mouth and I held my breath. But eventually I had to breathe. So I did, and the world tilted to the left. I waited a little longer before breathing in again, the shortest of breaths. Even so, I was immediately knocked out.

The last thing I heard was a girl's voice, saying, "I promised I'd get you back, Chiho."

Then the world tilted left even more and I fell off the edge of the world.

"I always keep my promises."