Chapter Thirteen:

Enchanted

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own WHR or the characters. I do own this story, though, but you already knew that.

Tuesday. Four days after he had initially found out that she had disappeared. That she was declared dead. Four days since he had been back to the little basement under the conveaniance store. Four days since he had even set foot out of his apartment.

Amon lay in his room, laying spread-eagle on his bed. He was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, as if he were transfixed by something he had seen up there. He had been doing this for the past four days.

It wasn't that he had gone insane. Oh, no, no, no.

It's just that he had wanted to think for a little while about the predicament that had just presented itself to him and he could not do if he was always surrounded by the others.

So, he had come back to his gloomy apartment and had laid in his bed for four days. And he was still no closer to answering the questions running through his head. He was even farther from coming up with a solution to the situation.

Amon sighed and sat up, but he didn't get out of the bed. He was sore all over from not moving for so long and his stomach churned from hunger.

"Damn." He whispered to himself as his legs cramped in protest at being moved. His back was making ugly, cracking noises and his neck was whining in pain. Everything was in pain; including his heart.

Moaning in self-pity, Amon flopped back on the bedsheets and resumed his business of staring at the ceiling.

"Hey. If there's a God up there, please just give me a sign that she's alive and out there somewhere. Please. Just some kind of sign..." He breathed out to the air that was between him and the ceiling. Of course, no one answered him.

Amon moaned a second time and rolled over on to his side.

"Robin..." He whispered to himself as he closed his eyes.

"Please, tell me your alive."

"I am alive." A soft voice suddenly spoke out, though it sounded a thousand times louder considering how quiet it was in the room.

Amon's eyes shot open. About five steps in front of him stood Robin in a slim, black dress that came down to her ankles. It was sleeveless and showed the creamy, white skin on her arms and shoulders. Her hair was down and was flowing around her face and neck. Beautiful, white angel wings were attached to her shoulder-blades.

Robin smiled sweetly, as if her new appearance was nothing short of the ordinary.

Amon shot up from the bed and placed his feet on the carpeted floor for the first time in four days. His mouth was open almost all the way to the ground and his eyes were wider than dinner plates.

"Robin...you're -- I can't believe this..." He was stuttering a mile a minute; something that was very much out of his character. This fact did not seem to bother the young witch in front of him, however. Instead, she just continued to grin at him gently.

"Amon. You are surprised to see me?" She questioned innocently. Her voice sounded strange. Almost meledolic, like a person that was singing would sound like when they weren't trying to.

Amon just nodded dumbly, his mouth still open in surprise.

"How -- are you... Where are you?" He asked, not really sure if what he was asking made any real sense. Robin chuckled with amusement and she took a step towards him.

"I am here, silly. With you." She said softly, giving him another gentle smile. The wings on her back fluttered senselessly, almost as if they were reacting to her cheerful mood.

Amon frowned and shook his head.

"That wasn't what I meant, Robin, and you know it. Tell me where you are, now. Outside of here." He demanded firmly. His eyes were narrowed in his usual mask, but the glow in them was unmistakeable.

Robin's smile faded at this question. Her green eyes quickly averted his and went to the floor. Her head was lowered slowly, so that now she had a better veiw of the carpet.

"I...I can't tell you that, Amon. But I will tell you that I am not dead. Just please, heed me when tell you to keep safe. Something is after the both of us and I don't want to see you hurt." She explained in her sing-song voice as she raised her head. Her eyes were sad, as if she were expecting him to die right then and there.

Amon stared at her, his expression showing that he was somewhat satisfied with her cryptic explanation. He didn't say so, but he had a sense to know what the 'something' that she was talking about was.

"I'll heed. I'm just thankful to know that the others were wrong, at least." He said as he stepped towards her. Robin watched with weary eyes. Her wings were completely still, as if waiting for her to do something.

Amon stopped just as he was about to step on her barefeet. They were only inches apart now, which right where the dark-haired man wanted to be. He raised a trembling hand to her face, intending to caress her cheek.

Imagine his shock when his hand passed right through her.

Amon stared wide-eyed at the young witch in front of him. Sighing disappointedly, he passed his hand back through her face.

Robin stood still the entire time, her green eyes boring into Amon. She then suddenly let out a shuddering gasp as his hand went through her shoulders.

Amon noticed her shiver and smiled knowingly; maybe even a little seductively. Raising his hand up to her cheek, he tried to place it there as best he could. It was almost like trying to grasp air.

Amon frowned.

"It's not fair." He suddenly whispered, catching Robin's attention. The young witch stared up at him with concern in her eyes.

"What's not fair?" She asked him worriedly. Amon sighed, bringing his hand away from her cheek. He then turned his gaze away so that he was looking out of the window that led to his balcony.

"I can't touch you." He breathed out, closing his eyes as the familiar strain of tears came to them.

Robin gazed up at him, her eyes wide with worry. She then raised both of her hands to Amon's face and tried to make him look towards her. Being the stubborn jackass that he was, the dark-haired man refused her actions.

"Amon, look at me."Robin commanded softly yet firmly. Her hold on the man's face had tightened somewhat.

Amon sighed and finally turned back to her; his grey eyes clouded over in sadness. Robin, letting out a breath, stretched up on her tiptoes until she was as close to his height as she could get.

Adjusting herself so that she wouldn't fall over, the young girl then leaned forward and brushed her lips softly over Amon's jaw.

Amon's eyes widened and he let out an unbidden moan. Though the kiss felt like nothing more then a gentle breeze floating past his face, it was enough to make his head spin.

"Robin..." He breathed just as the both of them jumped at the sound of a telephone ringing somewhere in the apartment

Cursing, Amon turned to tell Robin to wait there while he went to find the phone. Only he was the only one there. The young witch had disappeared.

Amon gazed around the room, as if expecting her to jump out at him at any moment. After a couple of minutes, he finally sighed dejectedly and walked out of the room.

Amon finally found the telephone hidden almost expertly under a pile of dirty laundry that he had neglected to attend to. Holding the annoying contraption firmly in his hand, he pressed hard on the talk button and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" He said monotonelessly into the mouthpiece. A cheerful voice answered his bitter one.

"Amon! Brother! Buddy! How things with you?!" Damn it, it was Nagira.

Amon held his mouth away from the phone for a moment as he cursed quietly. He then slowly brought the object back to his ear.

"What the hell do you want, Nii-san?" He asked dryly, his tone giving away how angry he really was. His brother whistled through the phone.

"Wow. Such language, Amon. Tell me, did you ever kiss Robin with that mouth of yours?" The annoying sound of Nagira's laughter soon followed this comment.

Amon grimaced and growled softly. He really wasn't to happy with his older brother at the moment.

"Don't you dare joke about that with me, Nii-san. Don't you even dare..." He snarled into the mouthpiece. His eyes were now nothing more than slits, even though he had no one there with at the moment to bore them into.

"Whoa, steady there, Amon. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I know you've been going through a tough time. But, just to get back on your good side, I may have some information for you regarding that red-haired witch you told Michael to tell me about." Nagira paused her to catch his breath.

Amon gasped quietly into the phone; his eyes widening.

"Tell me." He stated simply, not wanting to let on how anxious he actually was. He heard Nagira chuckling quietly from his side of the phone.

"Heh, heh. Alright. Amon-san. Try to contain your excitement. Now, where did I put that file...?" The was a pause as Amon listened to the sounds of rustling come through the earpiece on the phone.

It was a couple of short minutes before Amon heard Nagira's voice.

"Alright, here it is. Sorry to keep you waiting." He said as he cleared his throat and mumbled a few in cohorent sentences about his facial appointment later on today.

Amon waited patiently.

"Ok, here we go. The witch we're currently speaking of is named Akamu. Which you probably already know, since you were nearly killed by the guy. Now, let's see..." Another pause. Some more rustling. A mutter here and there.

Amon was suddenly startled out of a stupor when Nagira gasped loudly through the phone into his ear.

"Wow! Damn, Amon listen to this. It says in Akamu's file that he was wanted for murdering fifty people in only ten minutes. The strange thing is, all fifty men were criminals and it was discovered later that they were planning to rob the local bank." Nagira paused once again. Amon figured that he was probably reading the information to himself to see if he had gotten it right.

"It says here that Akamu was killed by burning at the stake...during the Salem Wtch Trials?! Damn, this guy was already supposed to be dead!" Nagira shouted through the phone in surprise.

Amon's eyes widened. Akamu was... No, it couldn't be. Could it?"

"You've got to be shitting me, Nii-san. How could a 200-year-old witch come back from the dead?" The ex-hunter questioned in his deep voice.

"I'm not shitting you, Amon. It's right here in his file." Nagira answered, though by the sound of his tone, he didn't really seem to want to believe it either.

Amon's eyes narrowed into slits again. He wasn't sure if this all added up in his head, but he tried to keep his cool as he spoke.

"Alright, Nii-san. Let's just say that this Akamu is actually a dead witch back from the grave. Why in God's name would he be after me and Robin?" The dark-haired man asked. His eyes widened in surprise when Nagira chuckled through the phoneline.

"Ah, so Robin is envolved. From the way Michael told me, I figured this guy was only after you. I can see now that I was wrong." He said, his voice tinged with amusement. Amon snarled under his breath.

There he goes with the wise-cracks, again The dark-haired man thought to himself.

"You never answered my question, Nii-san." Amon said slowly, clearly getting annoyed with his older brother. Nagira ceased his chuckles immdieately.

"Be patient, dear brother. I'm getting there." There was a pause as Amon listened to some more rustling come through the phone.

"Alright, I'm ready and serious, now." Nagira said, his voice now sounding muffled, as if he had something in his mouth.

Probably one of those foul cigars Amon said to himself as he listened to Nagira fill him in on the basic information. Most of it was stuff he had already heard or had found out himself, but some bits were rather interesting.

"All and all, Amon. I can't really tell you anything about why I think this guy is after you and Robin. It's all rather complex and confusing, if you ask me." Nagira said, his voice sounding exasperated from all of his talking.

Amon thought about all his brother had just told him, but not even his intellegent mind was able to decipher what all of this might mean.

"That puts us in quite the dead end, doesn't it?" He said quietly. He heard Nagira agree with him by giving out a grunt.

"Your right about that, little bro. Listen, why don't I just ask around and see if I can find someone who might give us some answers. If we find out what this Akamu guy really want, maybe he can tell us who murdered Robin. That is, if she's even dead." Another obnoxious chuckle.

Amon furrowed his eyebrows and his mouth became a extreamly thin line.

"I can asure you, Nii-san. Robin isn't dead. She wouldn't do that to us. Trust me." The ex-hunter said, his voice sounding almost robotic. It was as if he had pre-programned himself to say it whenever the time came.

An uncomfortable pause followed Amon's comment.

"How can you be sure, Amon? I mean, you never know. She could be laying dead in a ditch somewhere, for all we know." Nagira said uncertainly, feeling pretty sure he struck a nerve with that little piece of common sense.

Amon's eye flashed. Thankfully, there was no one around to catch it.

"What do you mean by that, Nagira?" Amon almost snapped. It was the first time he had spoken his brother's name since he had picked out the phone.

"Hey, don't get your undies all in a twist. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't get your hopes high. I mean, I know you were enchanted by her, but that doesn't mean you should hold on to false hopes." Nagira tried his best to explain, though he had a feeling Amon wasn't really listening.

And in fact, he wasn't.

Amon had taken to staring off into outer space. His eyes were narrowed again; a clear indication that he was deep in thought.

"Amon? Amon, are you there?" He could still hear Nagira's voice calling him through the telephone. But it somehow sounded far away, as if Amon's brother shouting to him from between to mountain ranges.

Amon's eyebrow furrowed.

Was I enchanted with her? He thought to himself. Seconds ticked by as he went over the answer in his head.

After a couple of minutes, he finally spoke.

"Perhaps I was enchanted with her, Nii-san. In fact, I think I still am. Now, I'm going to tell you this only once, Nagira, so listen good. I'm not giving up on her. She's alive and out there somewhere. You can bet your last cigar on it." And with that, he hung up.

Amon stared at the phone for a few moments before throwing down on the couch. It landed with soft 'fwump' on the cushions next to the still unattended pile of laundry. And it apparently was not going to get done anytime soon.

The dark-haired man stared around his apartment for few moments, as if thinking of what to do next.

Then, with a quiet grunt of stubborness, Amon quickly ran to his room and threw on his clothes.

As he tried to hurriedly put on his kimono-vest, he mapped out what he planned to do as soon as he got out of the apartment.

"I'm going to find out some answers, even if it kills me. If any body can find me some valuble information, Michael can." He said out loud as he finally ran out of his room, through his small kitchen (grabbing his coat on the way), and out of his door.

Michael stared transfixed at his computer with half of a donut sticking partly out of his mouth. His eyes were glazed over as if he were daydreaming, which was probably the case, considering he hadn't even noticed that his glasses had fallen off of his nose and into his lap.

Eri, who sat in a chair next to Michael, had dozed off around an hour ago and had dropped sideways so that her head now rested on the hacker's shoulder. None of them seemed to have noticed.

Shitari, the little girl that Amon and Eri had found in the parking garage, was sitting in the kitchen that accompained the computer in room the basement of the conveanience store. She had been staying with Misha Lui, the stores owner, for the past few days and had come back to visit with Eri, who had taken it upon herself to become the child's surrogent mother.

Eri suddenly mumbled something in her sleep and cuddled closer to Michael's shoulder; gaining the young hacker's attention in the process.

Michael lazily gave a side-glance to the auburn-haired girl dozing and dreaming away on his shoulder. And, for some reason, he could help but think what she dreamed about. Possibly him?

The sudden bang of a door hitting a wall made all three people in the room jump nearly out of their seats. It must of scared the heck out of Eri, for as soon as she heard the sound, she sprang away from Michael and had knocked over her chair.

"I wasn't asleep! Honest, I wasn't!" She shouted at the top of her lungs just as Amon galloped like a horse into the room. The dark-haired man ignored her and quickly addressed Michael.

"Michael, I need you to do some research on this witch. Pronto!" Amon growled as he threw a piece of paper with some hurried scribbled written all it to the young boy.

Michael gazed sleeply at the paper as he gulped down the rest of his donut. Then, picking up his glasses and replacing them on the bridge of his nose, he slowly pulled out the keyboard and began his speedy typing.

Amon watched the screen intently; reading everything that Michael was able to pull up on the topic. His colorless eyes were glazed over in deep thought, as if something was troubling him.

Shitari watched all of this with interest. Her blue eyes were staring at Amon's back with such force, you could almost see daggers coming put of them.

The little girl huffed quietly and silently slipped out of her chair. Then, sneaking behind Eri, she just as silently slipped out of the door and up the stairs.

Me: Alright, strange chapter, but it's good for what it is. I hope all of you enjoy it. So, if you will kind press that little button the the lower left-hand corner that says 'reveiw', I'll be much obliged.

Amon's Angel of the Darkness: That's okay if you didn't reveiw for the last chapter. I don't mind at all. I had that same pop-up filter problem with my computer. It would let all of the real pop-ups through, but it kick me out of websites and stuff like that. Computers are just weird. As for Robin not being able to bring her pets, would you want to lug around a big golden retriever while carrying a black cat with you? I mean, I love animals, but that would get annoying. I'm sorry if what I said offends you. Yeah, I've kind of noticed that I wasn't getting as much reveiws as I have been, but that's ok. I'm on at least two people 'Favorite authors' list (Yours included). :) Sorry the story is kind of slow in the beginning, but than again, a lot of people said the anime was, too. Thank-you so much for reveiwing!!!