Kevin would like to say, "Tenese jolis vojvempi, hisole hikes tes." Long pause…"Te kesin jonli si; kese nilonis rijol." Which translates to "You are a mere mortal, therefore I ignore you. And I didn't abandon her. I was being realistic."

Yes, Kevin is in denial. Don't tell him I said that.

-

The burning sun hadn't cooled into night yet, even though it was well past ten afternoon. Few people were out on the streets, but the ones who were there found it odd to see two men covered in black cloaks coming out of a fairly regular looking house. The men kept glancing over their shoulders, as if they were afraid of being followed.

One lone man stood in a small, dingy room on the top floor, peeking out the window. The black curtains made it possible for him to see without being seen.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man turned. Another man, a smaller, stouter one, trembled as he looked at the mismatched eyes.

"Um, you-you told u-us to tell y-y-y-you when the-the-the g-girl w-w-wakes up…" he stammered. "And-and-and…and I…"

"That's enough," the other interrupted before sweeping out of the room.

The one left behind slumped to the ground, absolutely terrified of his encounter, however brief, of his frightening employer.

-

Amme woke up cold, stiff, and in pain. Frowning, she tested her limbs carefully, and found, to her semi-delight, she could stand without too much agony. That is, it wasn't completely unbearable. Her head throbbed, and her legs shook under her weight, and she wasn't able to breathe very well.

She tried her lungs again, and decided it had something to do with the air; it just didn't seem as clean down here.

Down here? Where was she? It wasn't a place she had ever been before, and she couldn't remember going there.

Was she dead? Amme briefly considered that, but just as briefly discarded it. It hurt too much for her to be dead.

But then where was she? Looking around, she realized there was a door hidden in the stonewalls. Wincing slightly, she went to open it but it was locked.

Wasn't that just typical?

Amme, cussing silently, turned around and limped back to the center, trying to think of the best way to escape. She rotated slowly on the spot; then looked up at the low ceiling only three inches above her head.

Suddenly, the door flew open and hit the wall with a bang. Standing in the entrance was a tall, unearthly pale man. His dark brown hair was cut short enough to see the mismatched eyes: one black with a red pupil, and one red with a black pupil.

Amme swallowed. The man looked familiar; she simply couldn't remember where she had seen him.

He closed the door tightly, and strolled farther into the room. "So, Amme Eledhwen. You're awake, now."

"That's stating the obvious." Amme snapped. "Who are you, and how do you know my name? And how the hell did I get here?!"

He smiled coldly. "You don't remember me, Amme Eledhwen? We've met twice before."

"I don't think so!"

"Well, we have. Trust me."

"That'll be the day!" She snarled. "Who are you?!"

He yawned. "I don't feel like telling you. Now…"

"I don't care what you feel like doing! Tell me your name right now!"

"No," He replied simply.

Amme rarely brought her rank into conversations, but it seemed like a good time. "As princess and the heir to the throne of Ahsela, I…"

"That doesn't mean anything here, Amme Eledhwen." He cut off. "I'm in control now, so you will do what I say. And right now, I want you to stop asking what my name is, because you won't find out anyways. Save your breath while you still have it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amme asked brusquely.

The man tilted his head to the side and back again. "What do you think it means?"

"I've been in more dangerous situations than this." She replied nonchalantly.

"I think not, Amme Eledhwen."

"Why do you keep using my first and last name? Oh, wait, you're not going to tell me, are you, so I'm just wasting my breath. Am I right? Of course I'm right."

He rolled his sinister eyes. "You act the same way as your mother did when she was frightened. She got sarcastic and rude too."

"My mother…I do n…I…how do you know…" Amme's brown eyes widened as something clicked in her mind and her confusion vanished. "You bloody bastard!"

"Figured it out, have we?" He asked pleasantly. "It took you long enough."

"I'll kill you!" She shrieked, on the verge of losing control. "I swear, I will kill you!"

"Now, now, Amme. Your dear, departed mother wouldn't want that, now would she?"

"I think she'd understand," Amme hissed, trembling with rage.

"I daresay, you're right." He shrugged. "Not that it matters. You won't leave here alive, anyways. I'd do it now, but I have an appointment to be somewhere, so you'll die in…well, you'll be poisoned in exactly two hours. How long it'll last depends on you and how strong you are."

Amme launched herself at him, but she had broken one of the most critical rules of fighting her mentor, Sophia, had taught her: never attack in anger.

The man laughed and, using magic, forced her back against the wall. Amme, as usual, fought it, but magic had never been her strongest point.

"Your father sent you here to keep you away from me, didn't he?" The man asked, watching Amme struggle. "It was pointless; I'm excellent at tracking. Of hunting; whichever you prefer. I considered killing him first, but now I'm glad I found you first. This is more entertaining than any of the others."

"Bastard!" She screamed. "You…you…evil…foul…"

"Yes, much more entertaining." He raised his eyebrows, and smiled. "You know, I've been watching you for several weeks now—trying to find the best moment to abduct you, that sort of thing—and I took the liberty of checking the minds of some of the people you know here. Would you like to know a few? Like that brainless blond boy, Joshua Eddison. I don't know how you deluded yourself into thinking he loves you, but…"

"I trust him more than you, bastard!"

"Now, I think you've made your opinion of me quite clear, Amme. But that Christine de Chagny girl…I might have taken her afterwards, but she's human. And humans are never any fun, haven't you noticed?"

Amme struggled against her invisible bonds, glaring daggers at her captor.

"There is one thing I'm curious about, though." He sounded like he was admitting a humiliating weakness. "In the beginning, you used to just…disappear. I couldn't sense you were with anyone, either. But after a while, you started going to some forest at night. But where were you before? You hadn't left the theatre, but…"

She looked at him coldly. "I don't feel like answering that. And there's nothing you can threaten me with. Don't you have an 'appointment' to go to?"

He growled, but left. Once he was gone, the magic binding Amme to the wall disappeared as well. Amme slumped to the ground, trying to think around the low buzzing noise in her mind.

-

"We don't have much time. We need a plan. Now."

Kevin glanced at the Phantom. They had been discussing that for what seemed like forever. Starlight had gotten so discouraged, so went to guard over Fate's body, keep crows from eating it, that sort of thing. "And what, pray tell, do you suggest we do?"

"What did you try before?"

"Why does that matter? They didn't work!"

"Yes!" Erik snapped impatiently. "So we can avoid doing them!"

"We aren't going to find her."

"That doesn't mean we can't try!"

"We can try," Kevin sighed. "But we won't succeed."

"Why must you be so pessimistic?"

"I'm just telling the truth!"

"Fine," Erik said irritably. "You can believe that if you want. But I'm going to find Amme, with or without you."

"And, once again, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, tracking won't work. They bring her onto the streets, and their footprints get confused with others. Can you…smell them out?"

"Like a dog?" Kevin asked, glaring. "Anyways, all the human scents mask hers. I won't be able to tell one from another."

"Well, that's just great," Erik said disgustedly. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, thinking hard. "People would have noticed, though."

"Why don't you ask them?" Kevin snapped.

Erik opened his eyes long enough to glower at the vampire before closing them again. "I'm not exactly the most popular person in France, you know. There is a price on my head, after all."

"There is?" Kevin looked interested. "How much?"

"Never mind!" He sighed and reopened his eyes. "What if…well, while Amme was getting…threatened by Erland…" Kevin hissed at the name, but Erik ignored him. "By Erland, she sent some sort of message, for lack of a better term. Do you think one of us could try something like that? And maybe she could sent one back telling us about where she is."

"First of all, there's no guarantee that she actually knows where she is. Second, we tried something like it before, only there was some sort of…wall blocking Emily's mind from us. And not the normal wall elf's use to shield their minds—it wasn't elf magic."

"What did you try?"

"We," Kevin frowned, thinking. "We sent a sort of…wave signal, I guess. It's rather difficult to explain, but minds are very distinctive. If the wave could pick up on that elf, or vampire, or human, than the person casting it could follow it to the location of that mind."

"Do you think that's how they found Amme?"

"Maybe. It can't cover much distance, though. Usually within a mile or two. Three if the castor is very good, or knows the mind very well."

Erik thought for a moment. "I'm going to try it."

"Don't be ridiculous, human!" Kevin snapped. "If an elf can't break through that shield, there's no way a human could no it!"

"Nevertheless," Erik replied stubbornly, his eyes glowing slightly. "I'm going to try."

-

Time was running out. Amme had exactly one hour and a half before she would be poisoned. If she wanted to survive to see her next birthday, she'd have to think up a plan quick. Not that she had celebrated her birthdays since her fifteenth one, but that was beside the point.

She tested the door again, even though she knew well it was still locked. Leaning down, she ran a slim finger along the keyhole in the handle. She needed a lock pick.

Amme started feeling around for something, anything, long and thin and hard. Something she could use. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing any hairpins, and there was nothing in the cell except cold stone.

That was when Amme realized she was not only close to losing her life, she was also close to losing her control. But then again, with only ninety minutes to live, what difference would it make?

Shrieking like the banshee she had met once before, Amme curled her hand into a fist and punched the door as hard as she could. It hurt like hell, but there was a nice dent in the stone for her pain. Winding up, she hit and kicked the door again and again and again until the dent grew to be twice as large as her head.

That was when a guard burst into the room. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Amme's fist collided with his skull, and he flew to hit the stonewall, out cold.

"If you think I'm going to sit around and wait for you kill me, think again," She muttered as she took all his weapons. The sword was a little lighter than she preferred, but then, beggars can't be choosers.

"What was that noise?" Came a voice outside.

Amme stepped into the doorway and swung the stolen sword into a defensive position. As soon as the new guard reached her, she twirled it around her wrist several times before stabbing him in the heart.

-

"I'm telling you again, human," Kevin snapped. "It's never going to work!"

Erik ignored him. Instead, he concentrated on remembering exactly what Amme's mind was like: the vastness of it, waiting to be filled by memories much sharper than any human's, the wild and untamable feeling it gave, like a beautiful, but wild animal. It actually reminding Erik quite a lot of a tiger, or a panther. He allowed himself to feel every single creatures mind in as far a distance as he could manage. Then, vaguely, he felt something very similar to Amme's mind in a house not too far from their current location.

His dark eyes opened. "I know where she is!"

-

So, Amme was out of the cell, but now she had to find a way out of the house. At least she didn't feel like she was on a time limit anymore; she could take as long as need be, though, of course, sooner was better than later. She had stolen two more swords and dumped the first one—the other two were much better, heavier, more suited to her strength. But even those two were pushing it a little—humans were pretty pathetic.

Sneaking around alone in an unfamiliar house full of people wanting to kill you with two poorly-made weapons was not Amme's ideal choice for how to spend her day, but then again, she never asked to be in that situation. Luckily for her, she knew the man in charge of all this was out, or at least busy.

She dodged two more men coming at her, one with another pathetic sword, the other with a battle-ax of all things. Amme twisted herself around with inhuman speed before stabbing the swordsman in the stomach. The axman bellowed and swung his weapon at Amme furiously. Amme neatly ducked it, bringing one sword around to catch the ax by the handle. The man tried to free it, but she jerked it out of his hands. The man bellowed again, and made a wild attempt to escape. Amme threw one of her blades, which buried itself deep between the man's shoulder blades. The man squealed, and dropped just as three more men came sprinting across the hallway to help.

Amme sighed, and tossed her leftover sword into her left hand. With her free hand, she grabbed the dead man's ax and threw it. Like the sword, it hit its target dead-on. Blood squirted from the man's chest as he fell and got trampled by his companions.

Out of the corner of her eye, Amme say two more pointing guns straight at her head. She let out another sigh, this time mixed with a swear word or two. Would this day never end?

Before she got the chance to deal with the gunmen, she felt a strange prickling feeling in her mind, as if someone was digging in it. She frowned, and stepped behind a swordsman as one of the gunmen shot, trying to block it out. The swordsman went down, but the feeling only intensified, as if the person was getting closer to her.