Hey y'all! Vira had some trouble writing her other fic and with the vacation it was hard to update. But I'm here now! The next update will come sooner, promise! I suppose it doesn't help that I start school in a week, heh. Anyways, I don't own WHR, and here's the next installment:

Too often we loose something dear to us. If our will is exceptionally strong, then hope for a swift return will always remain. And if our determination is unbendable, we may begin the journey for searching it out ourselves. This is the simple truth one must learn to face.

Try though he could, Amon was unable to sleep that night. Obviously one thing was on his mind, and it would be there to stay for awhile. So, instead of even attempting to sleep, Amon opened the window and sat by it to wait for Osuin. His presence would be a poor replacement for Robin, but he could offer a little peacefulness to him nonetheless. Amon knew it wouldn't be long until his cat would return.

By chance, Amon looked down at his palm. He began to study the lines carefully as Robin had once done. Was there really a map of his destiny engraved into him? Was her fortune accurate? Amon scoffed at the idea. His palm was in no more control of his fate than the stars themselves. How could so much be told from so little? And yet, he did not for a moment doubt that Robin had spoken anything but the truth when reading his palm. Amon supposed she had that kind of effect on him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a soft scratching noise from below. Amon looked down at the window and immediately saw that Osuin was coming up the fire escape. He stood away to let him in. The cat meowed happily and shook the tiniest amount of water off of himself—Amon had noted that it had been drizzling very lightly out.

"Hurry up." He grumbled. "This window needs to be closed already. You're fortunate that Robin likes you so much." Amon had never been one to speak to animals before, and he was not quite sure why he was starting now.

Osuin meowed again—this time with a hint of annoyance towards his owner, and walked into the room.

Suddenly, he tensed up, as if seeing something that frightened him. Amon watched curiously from afar. A low hiss from deep within him could be heard. Now it was Amon's turn to be annoyed. "…What?" Osuin was looking distinctly inside his bedroom, so Amon began walking towards it. "There's nothing here…" He started to say. But as he approached closer and closer, he could feel that something was not quite right.

It was then that he noticed a soft, red glow coming from his desk. It was Robin's necklace. Amon was perplexed and could offer no explanation to himself for the cause of it. He quickly strode over and examined the pendant in his hand. "I thought this could only glow while someone holds it during sleep. But I'm awake. Does this mean I should go to sleep right now and see what happens?"

No, that would be an impossibility. Amon had too many things on his mind for sleep. Especially because Robin would be…wait…

"Could it be that this necklace be connected to her somehow? Is she trying to tell me something?" Amon could only wonder. Was it a warning? Was she in danger? Or did it simply not mean anything at all? No, clearly the glow had a purpose. Amon squeezed it gently in the palm of his hand. Surprisingly, when he opened it up again, the glow began to flicker lightly. Finally, the radiance died completely. Amon didn't know what to make of it.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Osuin jump up next to him on the table curiously and look at the necklace. Amon decided he should do his own investigations and wheeled his chair to the computer in order to check his e-mail. There were three from Zaizen concerning certain witch investigations, and one from Kosaka with thanks for attending the graduation banquet. Finding nothing of note, Amon shut it off and moved into the living room to find any tidbit from the news about anything that was peculiar.

It was then that his cell phone rang. Amon glanced at his clock—it was much too late for any sort of normal call, which meant one of two things: a witch had been sighted, or…there was some sort of other emergency.

"This is Amon. What is it?"

"Amon, it's Michael…" He could immediately sense that something was wrong. But he was most certainly not expecting a call from him.

"…Michael? Did you find some new information?"

There was a pause. "Er, no…actually, it's about your graduating class…it's sort of a long story, but…they're in trouble. Really, really bad trouble." Amon's breath froze as Michael proceeded to fill him in with the detail of what happened at the Factory. "…The last thing I heard was 'destroy it,' meaning of course, my communicator they used to talk with me, and then all the signals we had were cut off. They're probably still in there."

'Robin…' He KNEW she shouldn't have gone. But it was too late for regret now. "What time was it then?"

"That was only about ten minutes ago." The same time the necklace was glowing. "You were the first person I called, because, well…you're their trainer. I thought you'd be the best one to talk to."

"…Me?" Robin had filled him in with the basic details, but he didn't know that his entire graduating class had been there.

"Michael, where are you right now?"

"I'm inside the STN-J training building, in my room with all the security equipment."

"Alright. Expect some visitors in an hour, and keep a close eye on the situation in the Factory."

"You got it Amon. See you then." There was a click. Amon sighed, and shut off the phone with a quick slam.

He had not anticipated this. What was Zaizen scheming? From what Michael had told him, he was talking with Sakaki as Amon's training class was fighting each other. Suddenly, a third person had appeared, and, it didn't matter which side you were on as a craft user—all were knocked to the ground to end the fight. Amon suspected that it must've taken an enormous force to defeat all of his students so easily. Whoever it was knew some things about controlling crafts. Almost immediately an idea began to dawn on Amon, but it went away as quickly as it had come.

"No, it couldn't be…"

Instead, Amon fished Robin's necklace out to look at it one last time. It had the usual gleam that most pendants gave off, but nothing more. "Robin…where are you? What should I do?" It was strange to him for talking to himself like that, but somehow, looking at her necklace, he didn't feel alone. "I know what I may seem like, but I don't always have the answer…I need you here for that extra voice." He almost smiled.

Almost.

But instead, his face remained grim for the situation. His Robin had been taken from him, and it was clear that there was only one path to take. Now, not only did he need to take revenge upon the Factory for his mother, but also for Robin. His expression hardened with cold emotion. After Amon slipped the necklace thoughtfully back into his pocket, he grabbed his coat from its hook and left.

Amon didn't want this to be his first stop, but it was the closest to his apartment. He knew exactly what he needed to do, but he was going to need some help. With a bit of hesitation, Amon knocked on the door.

After a tense moment passed, the door opened. It was Nagira. He had a newspaper in one hand, a wireless phone in the other, and an expression of mixed feelings. "…You know what time it is, Amon?"

He nodded. "I need your help, Nagira."

"I know. I just got off the phone with Michael. How much time do we have with this then?"

Amon smirked. He knew he could count of Nagira. "We don't have much time. I'd like to get there as soon as possible." He paused. "Are you sure Michael explained the situation fully?"

Nagira peeled his coat out of the closet. "Yep. The Factory's got our students down there. I intend to bring 'em back." His voice held iron determination in it. "With any luck…they're not hurt…"

A chill ran down Amon's spine. He didn't want to even consider that. Robin was too strong and knowledgeable for that. The practical side of him said that the Factory would at least make use of her for experiments instead of a simple killing…but again, he would not think about it.

"I'm sure they're fine, Nagira."

His brother sighed as he was finished putting on his shoes. "…And what exactly are we supposed to do, anyways? It's not like we can just break into the damn place—security will be tripled from what it was before."

"Maybe."

Nagira looked at him sharply. "What? You got a plan or something, Amon?"

"We'll see. First though, we need to talk with Karasuma…"

He nodded in agreement. "Okay then, that's where we can go next. Well, I'm ready to leave now…let's go."

As they proceeded to walk quickly down the street, Amon glanced around uneasily several times. Instinct was telling him that someone was watching the two brothers. Hopefully, his instinct had only jumped too fast to conclusions with their present situation.

"Karasuma? You in there?" Nagira pounded on her apartment door. They had opted to take a few shortcuts here and there, some of them slightly below the legal line. But it had saved them some time. And now, Karasuma was taking her time answering the door.

Eventually, a head peered through. It was understandably perplexed. "Nagira? Amon? What're you guys doing here?"

Amon cleared his throat and explained the situation briefly. As each detail of the story passed, her eyes grew wider and wider. "You…you mean that OUR students tried to break into the Factory headquarters!? By themselves!? Didn't they realize getting caught was practically inevitable!?"

Nagira sighed. "They're kids. They think they can do anything. But the world isn't like some action movie. The bad guys win sometimes too."

Amon scoffed. "To the STN-J, they ARE the 'bad guys.' They break into the Factory and try to go where they shouldn't go."

"And you say Michael was in on this too?"

"Yeah. If Kosaka would hear about this, Michael would most likely be fired. He doesn't allow this sort of thing from an STN-J staff member. Michael is in some serious hot water."

Amon grunted in annoyance. "Forget about that, we've got more important things to worry about."

"Of course." Karasuma agreed. "But what can we do?"

"I'm not sure. Michael wants us to meet with him back at the STN-J training facility."

Nagira looked at him. "You don't suppose he has a plan for us to break into the Factory for them…do you?"

"I'm not sure, but if he does, then I agree with him. There's definitely some foul play going on here. From the way Michael told the story, it sounded like Zaizen shot down our own students—the ones that were working for him. The Factory is trying to cover up something, and won't let anyone learn about it. The students must've been onto something. I doubt the Factory would let them just walk away."

Karasuma sighed. "I've been wondering lately about that myself. They keep everything so secretive in there—it's not hard at all to become just a little suspicious of what they really do to the witches."

"Experiments."

They both stared at him. "…What do you mean?" She asked.

"Experiments." Amon repeated simply. "They do experiments on the witches to research data and make Orbo stronger. From what I gather, not all of the tests are…ethical." His tone became a shade graver.

"…The hell are you talking about, Amon?" Nagira asked in disbelief. "You can't be serious…right?"

He nodded. "I am serious, Nagira. That's what they do there."

Karasuma shook her head. "But how can you know that? It just seems like baseless speculation to me."

"It's not." He answered, with no elaboration at all. But he said it in the type of tone that conveyed he was absolutely sure.

Amon could tell that Karasuma was still skeptical, but she chose not to communicate it. "…Well, regardless, I don't think we should go in there and bail them out. They need to accept whatever consequences there might be."

A cold hand began to twist at his heart. Robin was there. If he couldn't manage to convince them for help with it, then he would probably never see her again. "The consequence could be confinement, just like the other witches there. Or even worse…death."

She sighed. "Tell me, who else is planning to help us?"

"There's no time to find anyone else. We need to get over to the STN-J for Michael, and quick."

"C'mon, Karasuma…" Nagira pressed. "They're just kids. They could be in serious danger."

Karasuma was silent for a few moments, and then said finally, "…Alright. You guys win—I'll come over to the STN-J. Let me quick get my shoes on. And you BETTER be right about all of this, Amon."

A flash of relief washed over him. There was hope for Robin yet.

"Hurry in here, you guys." Michael motioned them quickly into the STN-J security room. "We don't have much time."

"What happened?" Amon asked immediately.

"Everything that I heard during my communication with Sakaki has been recorded. I'll play it back for you now." Michael wheeled his chair over to a small machine and pressed a green button. It began to sputter out a few blurred noises, and then started playing back coherent messages.

"Everyone! There's ten craft users in all! Pick one to fight—but stay close-" The voice was cut off by attacks.

Nagira raised an eyebrow. "That sounded like my student Sakaki."

"It was." Michael mumbled miserably. "He was the one to develop the plan. For awhile, you can only hear fighting going on. I'll fast forward it." He pressed another button with his finger.

"-Handle it from here." A woman's voice this time. A gunshot was fired. "Don't try anything funny."

There was a pause, and then a younger female cried out "Who ARE you!?"

Again, Nagira looked surprised. "And that sounded like Doujima. Michael, just who the hell was all in this!?"

Before he could reply, the woman spoke again. "I am Dr. Solomon." The recording stopped. Michael punched a button and it rewound.

"I lost my communication with Sakaki there." He frowned unhappily.

The other three were in a stunned silence. "Did…did that woman say…she was Dr. Solomon?" Karasuma asked slowly.

"Interesting…a woman…" Amon rubbed his chin. "So she IS alive." All the anger he had put upon himself for losing Robin was automatically transferred to this new doctor. 'Remain calm, Amon. You've been in tight situations like this before and you can do it again.' He turned to Michael. "Do you have any idea how we might be able to get in?"

Michael swiveled his chair around to his computer and began typing. "Yeah, I think I do. Because they broke in, security will be focused on them, not us. That'll be our chance to slip in. They'll be distracted with trying to get everything organized again." He printed out a map and handed it to him. "I can tap into a lot of the network security, but the rest will be up to you guys. Here's a decent map of the Factory's hallways. It'll help you enough."

Amon studied it. "They should be holding them here." He pointed to one of the rooms. It looked to resemble a row of individual rooms, small enough for one person…like a cell. "…So that's where we'll go." They nodded slowly.

'Robin's in there.' He thought as he looked down at the spot he had noted. His jaw involuntarily tightened. 'Hang on, Robin…I won't lose you so easily. Just wait a little longer, and I'll be there.'

Review Responses:

CrazyFemaleDragon: Hahaha, well two weeks later isn't so bad…right?

Shawn Provoncha: Arigato! I'll see you then!

Beautiful Witch Hunter Robin: Well I did update, the same day that you e-mailed me! Hehehe. And you need to update too, right? =D

Wake-Robin: Thanks! I hope you'll be able to read this next section then.

Cat: Why thank you! I'm always afraid that Amon is OOC. Glad you like everything!

Dreamcatcher89: Well you remember in chapter 15, when Amon and Robin were looking at the book and found Solomon's name? Yeah, that's where it comes from. Anyways yeah I agree, they are SO cute for each other. XD

theUniverseBeyond: Woohoo, I got seashells too! Want some? Lol! Yeah I think everyone was expecting Amon to come in, hehe.

Youkai no Yume: Well it wasn't your fault hon. It was just used your address to make it look like it was coming from a friend. And what the hell? Why was it taken off? Maybe you shouldn't be writing that story on here anymore…I don't know. Hopefully that'll stop, ne?

bravedragon: Hahaha PLEASE don't read my RK story. It's, quite frankly, awful…although it IS better when you read the unedited version.

Gundamwinggirl: Happy birthday (cake). Yeah now that you mention it, he DOES seem like a doberman guy! Oh well, I luff cats. =D

kymjo: Arigato! I'm glad you like it!

Yuna of Paradise: Ah, that's okay, Vira understands! Did you have a fun time? I like that pic of Tidus and Yuna…

Haruya: Yeah, that's certainly true. And do you remember in chapter 15 when Amon and Robin found her name in the book? Yeah, that's where it was first mentioned. Just so you know!

DarkPyroPlanet: Yeah I thought about dedicating a chapter to the banquet but then I realized I should've probably moved on. Sorry! Hehehe. Surgery sucks! Vira is sorry that you had to have it. The laptop thing also sucks. Get well soon!

MidnightBlade07: To say the least! Hehehe. Glad you like it!

Yuna of Paradise (again): Wow, it is? That's okay, there's only going to be one more chappy after all…well here's the update for you!

Yuna of Paradise (again): Sure, I'd love to see it. Send by e-mail please! And yeah, you need a scanner to put it into the computer.

Midnight Walker: Of course! Go to my website and you'll find a link there on how to become a successful fanfic writer. Have fun!

And done! Hold onto your seats, my dear readers—one chapter left! What's going to happen!? Will Amon find Robin? Who knows? I don't! =D For now though, R&R! Arigato, ja ne!