The boys holding the rope felt part of the weight at the end of the rope vanish. Oh no. A terrible shriek of pain echoed from the hole. Crystal was screaming. He let go of the rope and ran forward. "We have to get them up. Now!"

Pearl and Emerald followed him towards the edge, pulling a somewhat shocked Ruby behind them.

Crystal was still hanging onto the ledge, grimace of pain plastered on her face. She was holding on with both arms, but for some reason one of her arms was bent at a strange angle. Below her, Green swung unconscious. There was no Red. There was no Blue. There was no Yellow. Only the frayed end of a rope hanging just below Green.

The boys leaned over the edge and struggled to lift the two girl's out of the hole.

While pulling her out of harm's way, Black accidently bumped Crystal's bad arm, making her cry out in pain. He pulled back instinctively. She was choking back tears. Holding herself and Green with an injury like that must have hurt like crazy. It looked like the pain had finally caught up to her.

"You okay," Black asked in earnest.

She nodded. "I.. I'll be okay." She pulled her legs in close and shivered. He believed her, so he turned his attention to the others behind him.

Emerald rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. "Thank Arceus you're okay," he said happily. "I was worried we lost you to!" The older girl opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she saw the other's pull Green out.

Pearl laid Green out on the floor. Blood started to seep through her clothes around the rope. When Black placed his ear close to her nose and mouth, he couldn't feel her breath.

"It's to tight," Pearl cried. He tried to pull the rope around her waist to loosen it, but he couldn't even get his fingers around it.

Emerald looked at Black. "What do we do."

Black's face dropped. "We need something sharp." His eyes raked over the ground, the walls, the others. His eyes landed on Emerald's forehead. Perfect. "Emerald! That's it. Can I borrow your gem?"

The smaller boy's eyes widened. "My what?"

"Oh for Arceus' sake! Give me that!" A gloved hand reached over and snatched the jewel off Emerald's forehead. Ruby's hand. It glinted as Ruby lifted it high above his head.

"W-wait, Ruby," Black stuttered. Too late. Ruby brought it down on Green, slicing through the rope on her side in one neat swipe.

Green gasped as the sudden pressure disappeared. Her eyes flew open and she greedily inhaled large gulps of air. Her side bled a little more, but quickly stopped. There was no new wound where Ruby made the cut. The clothes weren't even torn.

Black stared, dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Ruby hadn't cut Green.

There was a loud clattering as Ruby dropped the jewell. It rolled to a stop in front of Emerald. "And Sapphire thought it was silly I put so much time into sewing for contests," Ruby said with a sad smile. "Takes a steady hand." He lifted one of his hands, palm outward as if to prove his point.

Beside him, Green seemed to have gotten her breath back. She lifted herself up to a sitting position and glanced at everyone. "How bad is the situation."

Crystal stood on shaky legs. Her eyes flitted the the ring of blood soaked clothes around Green's torso. "Um… You and have the worst injuries. Everyone else seems to be okay, but we lost-"

"Red, Blue, and Yellow," Green finished, staring at the gaping hole below.

"Gyaaaah! This is my fault," Pearl fumed. He pounded a foot angrily, making the entire hall shake. "If I hadn't suggested using the rope, Blue and you two wouldn't have been dragged in. Maybe even Red would still be here. You two wouldn't have been hurt so badly."

"Calm down, Pearl." Crystal placed a hand on his shoulder. "It was a good idea to keep us together." He dropped his head, so she continued. "You had now way of knowing this would happen." Pearl lifted his head. Some of the hope had returned to his face.

Green picked up the remnants of her rope. "Don't let this get you down, Pearl." She twirled the end in her fingers, tightening the frayed end enough to lengthen the rope. "We can't tie ourselves together with it chopped to bits like this, but I might be able to use this for something else. We might as well untie ourselves."

"Then what," Emerald muttered.

"Then we go downstairs." Green pointed at the hole in the ground. "That can't be deeper than the ground, so we go to ground level and look for them."

Green and Emerald shivered as the group entered the library. "Do w-w-we really have t-t-to come back-ck-ck here?" the small boy asked nervously.

Crystal waved her hand, motioning to the room around them. "This place is the only room directly under that hole."

Emerald sighed. "Okay…"

Green didn't look to happy either. The memory of the last attack was still fresh in their mind. "Let's just hurry up and get out of here, and remember to keep an eye out for traps like Blue showed us," she said.

They peered through the aisles of bookshelves one at a time. Not a one dared to stray far from the group. There didn't seem to be any raised floorboards, but it payed to be careful. Once in awhile, the lights would flicker. The musty books would be cast in shadow for a moment before the yellowed lights would flare back to life. Whenever this happened, the dex-holders would freeze until they could once more see the floorboards. Then they'd move on.

They had cleared half the length of the library when Black saw something that made his blood run cold. "H-hey… guys?"

"What's wrong," Green asked.

He lifted an arm and pointed down the closest aisle. Practically back at the beginning, barely visible in the musty light, a dark splash of crimson stained the floor and books.

How they hadn't seen it before now, Green would never know. Ruby was shaking uncontrollably. It looked like he was about to collapse. "Is that her," he shouted. "Is that Sapphire?"

Green placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, Ruby. There's no way to know that. After everything that's happened, it could be anything." He lurched forward in her grasp. He was going to take off. "Ruby! Don't!"

By now, Black had recovered from his own shock and confusion. When Ruby broke away, he was the first to react. "We can't get separated," he screamed and tackled the other boy to the ground.

"Let me go!" Ruby kicked and struggled, but Black held him firmly. "She might still be here!" A shadow fell over the two. Above them, Crystal watched with stony eyes.

"Are you sure you want to find her if she is," Crystal said, standing over the boys. Ruby froze. She had his attentions. Crystal closed her eyes and bowed her head. "We all know she was left here with those monsters. Do you really think she survived with no way out?" Do you really want to see what they did when they finished with her?" Their eyes locked for a moment. Her voice had been so cold. Cruel even. Her words terrified the others. She terrified herself, but is scaring Ruby is what it took to keep everyone safe, then scare him she would do.

Ruby lowered his head and slammed his fist on the ground. "No," he choked out. Black tightened his grip. Just in case. "No," Ruby said once more. Tears sparkled as they fell from his face and wet the floor. "I don't want to see. I just want this nightmare to be over."

Crystal's stony face cracked at his words. Everyone frowned sadly at his words. Black let Ruby go and backed away until a bookshelf blocked his way. Ruby didn't move, though. He lay on the floor sobbing.

"Oh, Ruby," Emerald said sadly. He couldn't watch this anymore. The smaller boy turned away.

The light went out for a moment, bathing the sad little group in darkness once more. When it flickered back on, someone was standing a few feet in front of Emerald.

The boy leaped back in surprise. His jaw dropped open, but now scream came.

They were turned the other way. It had one of it's arms out to the closest bookshelf. A book in it's hand hung sideways from the shelf. The figure lifted it's head at the sudden light. It shifted, then darted into the nearest aisle of books.

Their clothes had been too dark to recognize. The face, hidden in shadow. Yet something about the figure seemed familiar to Emerald. Emerald found his voice once more. "Wait! Come back," he shouted.

The other's turned in time to see Emerald take off deeper into the library. "Emerald," Green cried. She reached out to grab him, but he was already gone from sight.

"Should we go after him?" Pearl asked as he looked around the shelves. The runaway boy wasn't visible in any of the aisles. It seemed like Emerald had vanished into thin air.

Before anyone could answer, a loud noise echoed through the room.

Creak!

The noise pulled their attention to the bookshelf next to them. A book hanging from one of the shelves lifted itself back into place. The entire shelf seemed to shake for a heartbeat, then swung away from the wall.

Everyone's eyes flew open at the sight before them. They couldn't quite understand what they were seeing. Green brought a hand to her mouth and screamed. "NOOOO!"

They had found Red, Yellow, and Blue.