HOLY MOLY! WHEN WAS THE LAST UPDATE ON THIS STORY?! I HAVE NO IDEA BUT I MADE Y'ALL WAIT DIDN'T I?! HOPE YOU DIDN'T LOSE INTEREST IN THIS STORY! ACK I feel so bad…Jeez…I just wanna punch myself in the face…Anyway, I'm so, so, sooooo sorry for the long wait…but here is the next chapter! Hope it somewhat makes up for the long wait. And I'll TRY really hard to stick to quicker updates. Enjoy and thanks for being good sports :D

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Chapter 12-The Beginning of Bottomless Questions

*Everyone has questions. Questions that are important or questions that are random. But each question has a meaning behind it. What that meaning is, well, it could be bottomless."

Xxx

"So, do you have any questions or complaints?" asked Raffaela as she straightened her black and white kimono. Then she pushed a stray piece of hair aside so it wasn't in her face any longer.

Leonardo rolled his eyes and sighed. "No, I do not. Your plans sound solid enough this time around," he answered as he stood up and fixed his vest. He then patted his fluffed up pants and leaned backwards to stretch his back.

"Was that an accusation?" Raffaela demanded as she glared daggers at him. Leonardo just shrugged.

"Not in the slightest," he answered as he began walking out. "Now, shall we begin? I think our master is becoming quite restless," he added as he looked at her over his shoulder. Raffaela sighed.

"Very well. This time, we shall succeed in capturing the Water Dragon Slayer," she said as she walked out the room with her twin brother behind her.

You will not get away this time, she thought to herself as she stepped outside into the night with a dark shadow over her face and a strong wind blowing around her, making her hair rise and swirl around her.

Xxx

Kaira gave a satisfied sigh after she finished her meal. Who knew food could taste so good? "You know, every time you eat, you give a look that would make anyone wonder if you have eaten before…in your life," Shuuko stated as she leaned on the counter next to Kaira. Her red hair hung at her side and her necklace swished forward and backward. Kaira eyed it and frowned.

"Shuuko," she said just as the said mage said, "Kaira."

They both looked at each other and glared. "You go first," Shuuko said while looking away and giving a small pout, her cheeks puffed out a little in annoyance.

"No, you first," Kaira said as she copied Shuuko's expression.

Shuuko sighed and took a seat. "Fine. This isn't a matter to waste time on. We should go somewhere else though," she answered as she looked around the practically empty room, save four other individuals.

Kaira looked at her glass of water and nodded. "I agree. If it's about what happened, then that's what I would like to talk about as well," she answered. Shuuko nodded and stood up.

"I'm having a sleep over at your place and you can't stop me!" she exclaimed as she began stomping out of the guild with a victorious grin on her face.

"Wait, what?!" demanded Kaira. "Who gave you permission?! Get over Time-machine!" Kaira shouted as she stormed after Shuuko. They disappeared outside, leaving Amon, Spears, Lucas, and Nashi alone.

"What…was that?" asked Nashi with blinking eyes.

"They're at it again," Spears said as he waved them off. "Just let them cool their heads. After laying like the dead for almost six hours, they need to let loose a bit," he added.

"You're right," Nashi said. "Well, let's get going," she added.

"Oh, Shuuko is sleeping over at Kaira's place. Do you think they might do pillow fights? In their-," began Lucas with stars in his eyes. But he didn't finish because Nashi bopped him in the head, hard. When he got up, he was still grinning like an idiot but this time, blood was trickling from his nose.

"Pervert," the present party sighed.

Xxx

"What…happened to you after…you know…our necklaces reacted?" asked Shuuko as she sucked on a popsicle and held her necklace between her fingers.

Kaira had a troubled expression on her face while she played with her necklace. "I saw these weird images. And…" she began when she chocked up. "And…I saw my dad. Times before he disappeared and images from when he looked younger," she whispered.

Shuuko slowly put her ice cream down and looked at Kaira. "It must have been hard to relive those memories. But, what about the images you saw?" she asked.

"It can't be helped. And I…I'm not sure. It went by so fast so it was hard to really focus on anything. But…it looked like some sort of city that was once at its prime but then destroyed," she answered. Then she looked up at Shuuko and asked, "What about you? Did you see anything?"

Shuuko nodded slowly. "First, it was me and my parents. Then, their…their deaths," she began as tears glossed over her eyes. However, she blinked them back and took a deep breath then continued. "After that, it looked like a beautiful and thriving city with a dragon that looked just like Aquamarine except in its prime years. But then, it was destroyed in a body of water," she finished.

Kaira leaned forward while shaking a little. "What do you think it means? How is it possible that we saw the same city destroyed in the same way when our necklaces connected?" she asked as she held her hands together.

Shuuko looked at Neveah who was fast asleep in her own bed across the room. A thing that Shuuko found both good and bad about Neveah was that she was a heavy sleeper. Nothing could wake her up. Unless it came to Kaira. If Kaira gave of a cry of alert, Neveah would be up and about in a matter of seconds.

"I was wondering the same thing. Say," Shuuko began as she picked up her necklace. "Do you…want to test it out?" she asked.

Kaira looked at her then at her necklace. "Let's do it," she answered as she stood up off her bed. Shuuko followed. "Let's remove our necklaces though. I don't want to be burnt again," Kaira added.

Shuuko nodded and they both took off their necklaces. "Okay, here we go," Shuuko said as she brought her necklace forward. Kaira did the same. Their necklaces clinked and tangled up with they met. Both girls braced for the reaction they felt before but…nothing happened.

"Wha-what?" asked Shuuko as she looked at the necklaces.

"Maybe we need to wear them?" asked Kaira as she untangled her necklace.

"Maybe…" Shuuko mumbled as she put her necklace on. Kaira did the same.

"Well, let's do it," Kaira said. Shuuko nodded and they hugged. Their necklaces touched but again, nothing happened.

"It has to be your fault," Shuuko complained with a frown.

"Excuse me? How is it my fault? It might be yours!" Kaira argued as she glared at Shuuko.

"How is it mine Goldfish?" demanded Shuuko.

"The answer is the same for your accusation about it being my fault Tick Bomb," Kaira shot back.

"Why you," Shuuko said just as she was about to lunge.

"Hang on. I'm sorry," Kaira quickly said as she held her hands up.

"Huh? What for?" asked Shuuko quite surprised. Never before had Kaira apologized before they started a fight…unless it was something serious.

"Look, now's not the time to fight. This is serious. We have no idea what we saw and why it happened the way it did. It must have to do with our necklaces. It's happened before but the first time was only a pulse. This time, we actually saw something. We have to get to the bottom of this," Kaira answered.

"You're right, but how when we only have bottomless questions?" asked Shuuko as she sat back on Kaira's bed. Kaira began pacing her room.

"I don't know. But, each question has an answer right? So, if we dig deeper, we may find an answer," Kaira replied.

"True. But… should we tell master if this topic comes up?" Shuuko asked again.

"No. We tell her nothing. Until we ourselves have more answers, we can't drag anyone into it. Only when we have some lead we can, okay?" Kaira answered. Shuuko sighed and nodded.

"Alright. I understand," she said. Kaira smiled.

"Well, we should go to sleep now. We've had quite the eventful day. You can take my bed. I'll take the couch," she offered as she began walking away.

"Kaira. You can sleep on your bed. I'll take the couch," Shuuko said.

"Nah. You're the guest. Take it," Kaira said with a smile of complete sincerity which was certainly rare for Kaira. Shuuko's eyes widened and she gave a soft smile back.

"Thank you…Kaira," she whispered as she then tucked herself in. Kaira titled her head to the side with a smile and nodded.

"Of course, Shuuko," she whispered as she went to a spare closet and got out a blanket. Then she walked to the couch and placed her head down. "And hey Shuuko?" she asked from across the room, unable to fall asleep just yet.

"Yeah?" Shuuko answered.

"What…what would you…um…do if a guy…um questioned a male from your past?" asked the blue head.

"Why?" asked Shuuko as she sat up in the bed suddenly full of energy. Kaira blushed which thankfully, Shuuko couldn't see in the dark and so far away.

"Just be-because," she stammered in response not quite ready to share what happened between her and Amon back at the guild. Everything was quiet for a bit but it ended soon when Shuuko popped up in front of her after the light turned on.

"Oh my ticking minutes! Kaira! You're blushing! What happened? Who is it? Amon? Oh my goodness! It's happening! My ship might sail! Ah! What happened?! Did he question you about Spears? What did he say? No, what did you say? I hope you said you aren't still with Spears. That ended a while ago. I hope you told him you're free. If you didn't so help me I'll-," Shuuko began without taking a breather. So Kaira cut in by zipping her mouth shut with some frozen water while blushing like mad.

"Keep it down Clock face. But…um…yeah. It's about him. He confronted me about it while I was looking for some food," Kaira began. Then she proceeded to share with Shuuko about her and Amon's conversation.

After it all, Shuuko let out her squeal with a nearby pillow. "Kyaaa! This is perfect, very perfect. What I say to that is you should get closer to him. Give him little signs of interest because girl, you are interested. Then, maybe play hard to get at some times. You don't want to be that type of girl that is an easy catch," Shuuko told her. Kaira's head began spinning with all this information.

"S-slow down. W-would you do that with Lucas?" she asked.

"Huh?" asked Shuuko as color left her body, not expecting the sudden twist in the conversation.

"Well, it's obvious you two have feelings for each other," Kaira said as she sat up.

"T-that doesn't…that isn't true," Shuuko stammered as beads of sweat fell from her face. Kaira raised a brow while she smirked.

"But isn't it?" she questioned.

"Listen. We're talking about you and Amon. You guys are ready for the next phase. A step up in your guys' relationship," Shuuko said, successfully evading the question. Kaira pouted but then sighed.

"Well, I'm not sure I can follow through with your advice. I think I'll just be myself. I mean, if he really does like me, then he'll like me for me. I won't have to be someone else to gain his attention. It'll already be on me," she answered.

Shuuko blinked then began looking around. "What are you doing?" asked Kaira with a confused expression on her face.

"I'm looking for my dense friend Kaira. She would never say something so…so…so perfectly philosophical!" exclaimed Shuuko. Kaira felt a tick mark appear on her head. She then raised a fist and punched Shuuko in the face.

"I am not that dense baka!" she seethed.

Shuuko rubbed her sore cheek but grinned. "You're right. You're not really dense. But you're also right in the aspect of being yourself. That's the advice I want to have as well when dealing with Lucas. I feel like if I'm not myself, I won't gain his attention. I mean, we are known as the duo who always fights but then can go on a shopping spree the next second and enjoy it," Shuuko said with a smile as she stood up. Kaira grinned at her.

"Atta girl! We'll both be ourselves, ne?" she said. Shuuko chuckled.

"Yup. Let's see how far we can get the guys to fall for us. First one to win the guy over will make the loser her slave for a week," she answered.

"I'm not gonna lose to you, Time Fuse," Kaira answered.

"Same here Urchin," Shuuko added. Then they shook hands and squeezed. Leave it to the two of them to make a competition out of something so small.

"Well," Kaira said just as a yawn slipped from her mouth, "let's get to sleep. We had an eventful day and I have a feeling it's going to be even more eventful tomorrow," she finished as she lay back down.

"Yeah okay. Good night Kaira," Shuuko said as she went to Kaira's bed.

Kaira lay on her side and smiled as she thought about Amon, but the cool feeling her necklace gave her made her mind wonder back to the images that both she and Shuuko had. What are our necklaces exactly? Kaira asked herself as she began drifting to sleep.

Xxx

And there we go with this chapter. We got some more Shuuko and Kaira time yet our girls seem to be at a dead end still. Will they be able to come up with a suitable answer soon or will they be stuck in the same place? Only one way to find out and that is to read on.

Thanks for reading and hopefully, if you enjoyed this chapter, you'll give me feedback on your thoughts on this chapter :D I'll see you all in my next update which will hopefully be soon *crosses fingers* Take care till then! Have a great day/night!

~Emojimojo