AUTHOR'S NOTE- Okay, so that seriously hurt to kill Konatsu off, that adorable boy.

Gah. Sometimes I hate my mind.

Anyway, I need to give you guys a heads up. I cant update as quickly anymore. I might be a few days to a few weeks late on updates because of basket ball. (I MADE THE TEAM! :D)

But seriously? Practice 6 days a week for two hours. They're killing us! :S


***Angel***


I climbed through the air vents with mixed feelings.
We had set out the plans to get to Ouka minutes before. Teito was going to cut the lights and I was going to use my manipulative zaiphon to bring her into the vents. From there we would escape the maintenance room and leave the Hohburg Fortress.

'A simple and easy plan.'

I slowly moved aside the metal panel above the testing site. I watched the beautiful silver haired girl below me. Her eyes closed and her skin flawless. The wires were all embedded into her skin.

'Why did it have to be her?' I thought to myself, 'Why did it have to be here?'

Then the room turned pitch black and I heard the surprised calls of the scientists on the other side of the testing site. I quickly threaded my zaiphon around Ouka's body and pulled her up. I quickly slid the cover back in place and slid back from the opening. I slunk back to the meet up point, carrying Ouka with me.

After a few seconds I felt Teito behind me.

"She okay?"

I nodded.

I saw out of the corner of my eye Ouka shift.

"Ouka!" Teito called out, "Hang in there."

Ouka's eyes opened and tried to focus on us. She held her hand up to her head and she looked disoriented.

"Wasn't I doing maintenance? Why- Teito?" Then she looked at me, "Angel?"

Teito smiled at her and Ouka's eyes widened. "You recovered your memories?!"

"Thank you Ouka. I've made you worry," Teito answered. I frowned at the frail girl as she smiled at Teito.

My head snapped down as I heard one of the scientists yell, "LOCK ALL LABORATORY DOORS!"

I glanced back at Teito, "We should get moving."

He nodded at me.

"What's going on?" Ouka asked.

"He'll explain later. Right now we need to get out," I told Ouka.

Teito grabbed Ouka's hand and said to her, "Don't undergo maintenance anymore. You will only be hurt."

I ignored the overly familiar contact and headed forward. I stopped in mid-crawl as a loud groaning sound echoed through the metal vents. The metal rattled from the sheer intensity of the sound. The agony in the voice made me want to cry without even knowing why.

"It's over there...it's calling us…"Ouka said before she crawled away in the opposite direction.

"WAIT OUKA! The exit is in the opposite direction!" Teito called out. Ouka ran ahead and then she dropped out of the vent. I dropped down after her and Teito fell down after me. I looked around the room shocked. Thousands of glass containers were lining the wall. Each container held a person in different levels of creation. Some were babies and some were teenagers. One thing was the same though. They all looked like Ouka.

I slowly turned around, absorbing the sight in front of me. I cringed as the roaring sound began again. The people inside the containers all opened their mouths, singing their pain for us to hear.

"What…is this?" I asked.

"The dolls which support our Empire's future."

We all whirled around to face the voice. There stood, hand outstretched, the Emperor of the Barsburg Empire.

"Father!" Ouka cried out.

"The Emperor!"

I took a defensive stance and asked him, "Why are you here?"

He looked at me. His eyes filled with light amusement.

"So you're here too, how nice," He said.

"I have no business with you, weren't those your last words to me? So why would you be eager to meet me now?" I countered his lighthearted greeting. Teito and Ouka glanced at me surprised.

"You know my Father?"

"Much more than I want to," I replied to Ouka.

Emperor Wolf chuckled, "I'm not here to burn old wounds, Angel. I'm here to awaken a new doll."

"What do you mean by dolls, dad, and why do they all look like me?" Ouka questioned.

"Welcome to the Replica Project," Wolf said as he opened to his arms. He pointed to all the glass tubes and continued, "These are totally identical life-forms, reconstructed by analyzing Ouka's details."

"These…are…me?" Ouka realized, shocked.

"Using the Eye of Raphael's power our Empire flourished. We won the war, gained a lot of monetary power, and many of our citizen flourished. However the holders of the Eye, with the continuous war, became exhausted and weakened. This is their only flaw. So that's where Project Replica comes in."

Teito's eyes darkened as he came to conclusion of what Wolf-dono had just said.

My realization came seconds after and I growled at him.

"What have you done, you monster?!" I cried out angrily.

"So that's why mother passed away…early…" Ouka sobbed. Her whole body shook and she sank to the floor.

I glanced at her worried.

'To lose the woman closest to her, her family, for something like that…'

I shivered in disgust and pity.

"After conducting numerous experiments for years on all the Eye Holders we finally succeeded," Emperor Wolf smiled sickly, "As long as I have these, I don't need you anymore Ouka."

"You last job is to kill this Raggs decendant," Wolf ordered. He pointed at Teito.

Ouka's eyes clouded and she muttered darkly, "Ra…gg…s…"

I glanced at Teito sharply and looped my zaiphon around him. I pulled him away from Ouka. He stepped next to me.

"So…you're telling me…you messed with your daughters for years? WHAT TYPE OF FATHER ARE YOU?!" I screamed.

But on the inside I knew too well what type he was.

"You've used Ouka like a tool…" Teito was scarily calm next to me.

"How annoying. That gaze. You're a spitting image of that guy. OUKA, that boy is the last descendant of Raggs. A rebel. Kill him!"

All of a sudden Ouka's wings burst out. I automatically threw up a defensive barrier. I winced at the sheer power of her attack.

"Ra…gg..s…must….kill," Ouka muttered. Her eyes were cold and unfeeling.
"She's been brainwashed Teito!"

"I guessed!" Teito yelled back as he dodged Ouka's blow.

"Everything from Ragg's must be killed!" Ouka yelled.

"How about no!" I yelled back. I pinned down Ouka's arms. Ouka turned to face me, her eyes a bright blue. I recognized the sign.

'Raphael has taken over.'

Raphael burst into a flash of light and I flew backwards, my zaiphon bindings coming undone. I felt my head crash into the glass of the container behind me. A loud shattering sound and then cold liquid splashed over me.

"Ouka! Don't harm the dolls!" Wolf yelled out.

I felt weakened. I tried to get up but couldn't keep my balance. I fell backwards and felt the back of my head. Warm liquid leaked out onto my fingers. I put my hand in front of my face and stared at it. It was soaked a dark red.

"Angel!" I heard Teito say. I looked up searching for him but my sight was blurry. I felt his hands touch my head.

"I'm okay, I just need time to heal myself, Teito…"

"Understood," Teito said as he turned back to Ouka.

I slowly went through the process of trying to heal my injury. I slowly felt the blood from the wound crawl back up my back and arms into the wound. I hissed as the skin tightened and tried to repair itself slowly.

"OUKA! STOP! YOU WERE CRYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD LAST TIME SAYING YOU DON'T WANT TO KILL ANYMORE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THAT EXPERIENCE!"

My eyesight began to clear and I saw Teito stop moving in midair. His eyes stared off into the distance as if he was seeing something I couldn't. Raphael turned and shot at Teito and I pulled him out of the way with my zaiphon.

"Mr. Island is gone…" I heard Teito mutter. His eyes were glazed and staring into empty space.

'I need to distract Ouka…'

I stepped forward and nearly dropped to my knees from exhaustion.

'I'm running out of energy….'

I looked back at Ouka who getting up to attack Teito again.

'I can't stop now.'

I ran forward and slid out three lines of zaiphon in front of Ouka. Raphael charged ahead right into the threads and rebounded.

"Look over here!" I yelled.

Rapheal's blue eyes glared at me. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth curled.

"Why do you protect a rebel?"

"…because I love him. Same way you would go through anything to protect your master," I answered, breathing heavily.

"Even if you could die?"

I nodded. Raphael looked at me and I saw respect shine in her eyes.

"Even though you are misguided, I respect your will human," Raphael said, "So in your honor your death will be swift."

"Heh. I don't plan on dying just yet," I said and braced myself for the attack.

A bright red light caught my attention and we both turned to face the light. Teito's hand shone brilliantly.

Raphael glanced at me then decided Teito was of higher priority. Raphael charged at Teito.

"OUKA! THE EYE'S POWER DOESN'T EXIST FOR WAR!"

I watched as the two winged beings flew towards each other, both shining brightly. A huge blast shot from Ouka's hand and incinerated Teito's wing. Teito speared Ouka with the symbol of the church. They both hung in the air for a second, beautiful and broken. Teito grasping Ouka's hand tightly. I saw in mere seconds images fly past them. I focused in on one image. A laboratory was filled with shocked scientists who were staring at a dead child. The girl's parts were discarded around the room as if they had been blown apart. Then Ouka and Teito both collapsed onto the floor. "How…is it…" Ouka whispered, eyes wide, "I'm a replica? How could it be that I'm a replica?! If not Ouka than what am I?" Ouka grasped her head and she curled down into a ball. Her shoulders shook and tears rolled down her face. Her hands were splayed over her eyes and her wings were dripping black goo. Ouka sobs reached my ears and I stood stock still. I couldn't move; I just watched. Trying to comprehend what was happening.

Teito stepped forward and got down next to her.

"You are Ouka," Teito told her as he grasped her shoulders, "Like hell you are a fake! You, with a body full of scars, have worried and suffered a lot. You have lived earnestly in this world. You have inherited the baton of life from the Princess to free yourself from here."

I stepped forward.

'Ouka…'

"If it's you, you can do it. You have the eyes that show spirit. I know you do, I saw it," I added. Teito looked at me and back at Ouka.

"You are different, Ouka. You have the soul of the princess. I can see it, Ouka's dignified heart, that light can't be fake," Teito said as he touched her chest. As he touched her chest a glow shone out.

"Ahh…" Ouka held the light that burst out from in between her fingers, "I'm being allowed to live…"

The warm golden light spilled out and Ouka smiled. Ouka hugged the glowing sphere to her chest, "The soul is resounding all over my body. Telling me to accept myself as I am. No matter what I am, I am precious."

I smiled.

"That light…Argh…" I turned to Emperor Wolf. He was on his knees clutching his eyes, "My head…."

Teito slowly rose, "Emperor, I'll have to open your eyes too…" Then Teito's eyes shot open and he collapsed with a thud!

"Teito!"

I ran over to Teito. His wing was bleeding and charred black. I touched it lightly.

'His wing needs to have time to repair…'

I covered his wing with my hands and started the repair. I felt the wing, agonizingly slow stitch itself back together.

"This will take too long…" I whispered to myself.

'…and I don't have enough energy to fully heal him by myself…'

I glanced back up at Wolf-dono. He was pulling a switch that was painted bright red.

"DIE!" He yelled.

"SHIT!" I cursed and wrapped Teito in a barrier. I felt myself get blown back by the force of the explosion.

My arm shot out and tried to grasp onto anything. I only felt the warm air. I felt the hard grating of the floor. My fingers scrabbled at the concrete. My head snapped back onto the stone floor and I heard a sharp crack! I bounced off the floor slightly and rolled onto my side. My fingers were cut and bleeding and my side was scratched up. I looked at the floor and saw a thick maroon color spread out on the floor. I worriedly looked for Teito and found him trying to get up. His wing had stopped bleeding and was only charred. I smiled.

'At least he is safe…'

My vision blurred. Then exhaustion slipped in and I collapsed.


***Teito***


"ANGEL!"

I watched in what felt like slow motion, Angel fly backwards. Her body skidded on the floor and rolled. She looked at me and smiled a little half smile at me. Then her eyes fell closed. I struggled to rise and slowly crawled over to Angel, feeling the pain from my wing with each move. I finally reached Angel and brushed her hair out of her face. I lifted her up carefully. Her head rolled backwards as I slowly pulled her up onto my lap.

'Master, Angel's pulse is slowing. She is running out of energy.'

I looked down at Angel.

"No, please don't leave me too," I begged her. I kissed her and held her close. 'Please Angel. I love you, don't leave me too.'