"Alchemy?" Daisuke asked with surprise. "What's that?"

"It was a science, Niwa, in the 1800s," Satoshi explained. "In alchemy, you take something, break it down, and make it into something else. It was proved to have very little scientific backing and is now considered a pseudoscience. Chemistry is the successor of alchemy."

"How do you know about this, Hiwatari?" Daisuke asked.

Satoshi shrugged.

"Sasaya told you, didn't she?" Penelope asked in her barely audible voice.

Satoshi glared at the girl. He didn't trust her or anything she said.

"Would like to hear the story as it is told in my village of Door?" Penelope asked and suddenly started coughing.

"Are you okay?" Daisuke asked.

Penelope nodded. "Now, would you like to hear?"

Daisuke nodded.

"All right. The story starts with two families. Those would be the families you belong to. Now, as you probably already know, the Hikari family was trying to breathe life into the Kokuyoku. The Niwa family wanted to steal it. When they arrived, they disrupted the ceremony. Instead of the Kokuyoku having only one mind, body, and soul it split into two. Realizing what had happened, the families went to seek the help of two other families. These were the Shinchu and the Ryoyu. The Ryoyu, being gifted artists, created this abstract painting and the Shinchu was supposed to bring it to life. Not enough was given and the painting also bore two children. The four families had been cursed for dabbling in such a strange and dangerous art." Penelope held up a fist to cover her mouth and started coughing again. This time, it was much louder and her entire body trembled.

Daisuke patted her back. "Easy, now. Are you sure you're okay?"

Penelope nodded and continued with her story. "The four families got together to hold a conference about how to rid themselves of the curse. They decided to breathe life into another creation. The creation was called 'Solitaria Inoccencia'. It was a small statue featuring four children. This ceremony was done without any sort of interruption, but it produced something very horrible. It created Loathe."

Penelope coughed again. She covered her mouth and continued to cough. Daisuke noticed something red seeping through her fingers. His eyes widened with horror.

"Penelope-san, you're bleeding!" he exclaimed.

Penelope stopped coughing and looked at her hand. It was red with warm, slimy blood.

"I'm fine," she said hoarsely. "That was another of the things I paid."

"'Paid'? What do you mean?"

Penelope shook her head. "I'm not here to tell you about my past. AS I was saying, Loathe was created. The families rejoiced, thinking that this child was meant to help them, but it turned out to be just the opposite. Loathe was a spiteful child full of hate. It turned the four families against each other. Loath was sealed along with Sana, but the families couldn't seal up Dark and Krad. Anas let herself be sealed. Strangely enough, the seal wasn't strong enough to hold the angels and that's why they're here today."

After finishing her last sentence, Penelope started coughing violently. She grabbed her throat and coughed up lots of blood. They stained the front of her clothing.

"Penelope-san!" Daisuke cried.

Penelope was halfway bent and coughing on the stone floor. The redness stood out and continued to grow and grow. Satoshi stared at her and came to a sudden conclusion.

"You dabbled in those arts, didn't you?" he asked.

Breathing hard, Penelope looked up at him and nodded.

"Sasaya told me a lot about alchemy," he continued and squatted down in front of her. "She told me that to receive, one must sacrifice something of equal value. What exactly did you try to do to lose your arm and some of your insides?"

"Human . . . trans . . . muta . . . tion . . ."

Daisuke face paled. "Is that what I think it is? Penelope-san, did you try to create a human being?"

Penelope nodded and coughed some more. She slapped her fingers against her palm and a bright red light filled the room.

"Leave," Penelope said, "and be safe."

The surroundings faded. The last thing both boys saw was Penelope collapsing.

Chie dared to open her eyes. She looked up and saw Sasaya's arm trembling. Her fingers loosened their grip and the stiletto fell to the floor with a loud clatter that echoed in the cave. Sasaya herself dropped to her knees and let go of Chie.

"Ku-chan?" Chie asked, hesitating just a little. Her sister had truly frightened her.

Sasaya looked up and her eyes grew several times larger. She touched the scrapes on Chie's forehead. Chie flinched and Sasaya dropped her arm.

"Who did this to you?" she asked. "Who harmed you?"

Chie's eyes filled with tears and she immediately started bawling. She threw her arms around Sasaya and hugged her close.

"Ku-chan! Ku-chan, you're back to normal!" she cried.

Sasaya rubbed Chie's back and noticed several small cuts. What had happened? Suddenly, she remembered.

"Oh, my God," she said.

Chie felt Sasaya freeze up.

"What's wrong?" Chie asked.

Sasaya untangled herself from Chie's grasp and scuttled backwards. Her face had drained of its color and her eyes were very dark.

"I did this to you, didn't I?" she asked in a trembling voice. She raised her hands to her face and stared at them. "With these hands, I hit you, didn't I?"

Chie gulped. "No," she mumbled.

"Don't lie. I remember. So this is what's meant about the truth of the darkness. Not matter what reasoning you have or how pure your intentions are, they still get polluted by the darkness." Sasaya grabbed her head and ran her fingers through her curls. "I tried to kill you, but why?"

Chie stood up on trembling legs and slowly walked over to her. She knelt in front of her and took Sasaya's hands. "It doesn't matter," she said. "You're you and that's all I care about. You're my sister and I love you with all my heart."

A tear silently rolled down Sasaya's face. "We're not sisters."

Chie looked up. The fact that Sasaya was crying and the statement she had said startled her. "What are you saying? Of course we're sisters."

Sasaya's eyes were now half-blue and half-brown, a sign indicating that she was extremely sad. "No. We're not even related. I'm from the Shinchu clan, the family that Kiku-san always told horror stories about."

At first, Chie looked startled. Slowly, her face crumpled up and she started to cry. "No, no, no!" she shouted and shook her head. "I don't care if you're supposed to be from the Boogeyman's family. You're still my sister. Even if we're not blood-related, we're heart-related. Love comes from the heart, not blood!" She wrapped her arms around Sasaya and started to sing. It was a song of longing and wishing. A song about hope. About soothing away one's fears. About protecting a loved one. The song was "Motherland", the version that supposedly only the Shinchu family knew.

"I want to be the sky for you

So that I can take away your sorrows, too

Whenever I look up, I want to feel that I'm not alone

Even if I'm far away.

Let there be a place I can return to . . ."

Sasaya held Chie closely and wished the same things. She wanted to protect her little "sister". But could she do it? With that horrible curse that had been bestowed on the Shinchu family a long time ago, could she protect anyone?

I actually wrote this chapter while listening to "Motherland". I love that song, but sometimes it sounds really sad. And I don't think I conveyed the sisters' feelings correctly. Agh, did I do anything right?