Butter: It turns out there was a reason for Tsuki's crumminess. That was reason how come this was slowly updated.
Tsuki: My boyfriend cheated on me, but we knew it was over before he did that.
Butter: Lucky, for him, that they're still friends. It's better than to hate forever.
Tsuki: Plus, I gave him that black eye, so we're even.
Butter: ... Yeah... Note to self: Don't stab Tsuki in the back.
Tsuki: I hope you enjoy this chapter.
The roots thrashed against the blade of Pastel's scythe. "Who the heck send this creature here?" She couldn't think of anyone who had this power over plants.
The root finally sensed an opening in Pastel's stance and threw Pastel across the field.
Pastel felt a burn across her waist. "Tch, the roots were covered with poison ivy." She noticed that Yoru was a good distance away, so that gave her some relief.
Aoi was having little difficulty with the plant. She barely had to use both of her hands to block the roots' attacks on her. She noticed that the roots were growing thicker and longer. "Who sent this?"
Ikuto noticed that the big plant was growing larger. As his eyes looked around, he realized that the plants started wilt. He felt pity for them, since they didn't the fighting. Who knew a guy could feel something for flowers?
Aoi noticed that the plant stopped growing, and that there was a shake in the ground. It finally clicked in her mind. "Azalea, go to Yoru! It's coming!"
Pastel understood what she meant, but before she could get to Yoru, she thrown across the field by the roots. She felt like her body was about to crack. Luckily, she was near Yoru. She quickly crawled to Yoru and took him under her arm.
Aoi was also thrown across the field, but she landed on her feet near Ikuto. Maybe, she was not in much shape as she thought. She went and covered Ikuto with her body as soon as the earthquke she predicted, reacted.
Out from the roots, came out the head of the Venus flytrap. Well, there were a couple of heads. The poor weeping willow was wilting.
Aoi lifted her head, as she released her grip on Ikuto. "It's safe, for now."
Yoru opened his eyes. He felt her weight over him. "Pastel-san?"
Pastel grunted. She realized that she couldn't move. "Yoru, try pushing me onto my back."
Yoru gently pushed her, only for her to wince in pain, but she was finally on her back.
Pastel noticed that the lotus in Yoru's hands started to bloom. "Yoru, put that in the water."
Luckily, there were several ponds and lakes around. He placed the lotus in the pond. As he let go, it began to bloom.
"Awaken my lotus, let my mistress through." Pastel whispered. The lotus grew bigger, and it opened up. In it was Amu, standing there.
Amu opened her eyes. She saw her world in ruins and her guardian in pain. "Azalea!" She ran to her.
"Amulet, go to the weeping willow. It's dying." Pastel slowly said as she got up.
Amu turned around and saw her tree wilting. No wonder she was weaker than usual. "Tch."
Pastel saw her mistress go past her and onto the tree. She felt sad, but this let Amu open up.
As Amu got close, she almost got hit by the biting Venus flytraps. She swiftly chopped off the roots, but they grew back. "Of course, roots will grow again… What to do if I want to kill a plant?" She looked at the trunk of her tree. "Of course, the I need to take down head." By that she meant the huge, main head of the plant. But that was a challenge.
Aoi stood by and saw what her mistress was doing. She could tell by her movements what she was thinking. "What is she doing circling the plant?" To her surprise, Amu ran and jumped on the moving roots, toward the head. "I get it…"
Ikuto noticed that Amu was quick on her feet, but had difficulty getting to the top. He felt the ground shuffle near him.
"I'll be going now. I'm her guardian, after all." Aoi gave him a smile, and took off toward the plant. She actually sprinted her way there. In no time, she made it at the base of the plant. "Amulet…"
Amu sensed that one of her guardians were near, which got her distracted.
The plant realized this and swung at her, throwing her off into the lake below.
Amu felt a rush of water drag her down. She immediately swam toward the shore. When she came up, she coughed up the water, she realized that she was not human. Her insides were filled with water.
Aoi realized what happened. This was bad. She couldn't use all her power on this easy beast. "Amulet, go to Ikuto! Contract with him!"
Amu's eyes widened, because at that moment, the iris in her pocket glowed, making her disappear. When she opened her eyes, she was on top of Ikuto.
"Do you mid getting off?" Ikuto noted.
Amu quickly got off. Her eyes wandered toward the direction of the Venus flytrap. She felt her heart sank, as if she had one. "I can't do anything."
Ikuto looked at her. He did pity her. He saw her put up a rather good fight. He soon whacked her on the head.
Amu glared at him. "What was that for?"
"Stop being gloomy. It's starting to get dark here. You can do something, sine those two are fighting for you." He pointed at Aoi and Pastel.
"Hm, you might even be smart." Amu stated. Even though he said that, it gave her some hope. After awhile, Amu spoke up, since she was bit dry. "We have to do a contract."
"Huh?" This was sudden, but if he has been through this, then he could probably accept anything else. "How do we do that?"
"Do you have anything on you?" Amu questioned.
Ikuto searched through his pockets. Out came out a black X clip. He happened to find one in a store, and he bought it for fun. Who knew it came in handy?
"That'll do." Amu removed one of her earrings and linked it onto a choker. "Shit, we still have to do that…" She soon muttered a few curses. "Bend down." It was barely a whisper.
"What? I didn't hear you." But her next move caught him by surprise.
Amu quickly switched the items they had in their hands. She hesitated, but did it eventually. She pulled Ikuto toward her face, and kissed him on the lips, just a small one. "I'm not doing that again…"
When she let go, the items attached themselves to their rightful owner: the choker went to Ikuto, while the black X clip attached itself to one of Amu's plaits.
Ikuto was shocked, that was his first kiss. He realized that a choker was wrapped around his neck. It's was not tight or too loose. When he laid his eyes on Amu, he noticed that her weapon was bigger.
It was a scythe, but the blade was on both sides, as if it was double-sided. In the middle of the scythe, was a faded heart, with an X going through it.
"I'll be right back." Amu's attitude was different from before. She was more cheery. After she waved to Ikuto, she took off to the beast.
"Was it me or was she more outgoing all of a sudden?" Ikuto pondered on that fact, but the thought drifted onto the kiss. She smelled like flowers, a fresh but soothing fragrance. He shook his head to get out of his trance.
"Now, to destroy that thing." There was determination in her voice and eyes.
Aoi sensed someone familiar, but unknown to her. She soon saw a flash of pink and black go past her. "No way…"
Amu made her way up, like before. But her pace was faster, as if she had a boost of confidence in herself. "Now, to finish this." She continued to jump all the way up, to the head of the plant. When she finally saw the head, she jumped away.
When Pastel and Aoi saw this, they started to think. "What is she doing?!"
Amu did a flip, and landed on one of the moving heads on the Venus flytrap, not the main one. After her feet landed on the head, she jumped forward, curling into a ball, toward the head. As soon as she was within range, she uncurled herself, and held her scythe above her head.
From the eastern gate, a girl watched the event. She wanted to go out and help Amu, but she was not allowed, since this was not her fight. "Amu-chan…" Her waist length hair swayed in the gentle wind. Her crimson eyes showing no emotion, but loneliness.
But her lips turned into a twisted smile. "Hahaha! Wait for me, beloved Amulet! You'll be mine, and no else's!" A flame appeared her hand, and grabbed one of the roots of the Venus flytrap, burning it up, ending its life. And with that, she disappeared with wind.
As Amu brought down her scythe to kill it off, it disappeared all of a sudden. It fell down like ashes. It was ashes. Amu went into shock, but her new strength drained the rest of her consciousness.
Ikuto and Yoru shut their eyes, because of the sudden light.
Pastel held on to Yoru. "That's couldn't be…" Her mind being in shambles ever since she heard that haunting voice once again.
Aoi looked at the eastern gate, as it started to fade away. "So the eldest sister had came to visit her beloved sister. What irony is this…" Soon , they were out of Amu's dimension.
There was one thing that was confirmed: Ikuto realized how his life was going to turn out, a unique turn in events changed his fate. And he was willing to accept all of it, even if he does regret it.
Skittles: Just a reminder, to anyone who actually reads this section. There's going to be an estimated five to six chapters done during our break.
Tsuki: So please don't think we discontinued during December.
Skittles: That a bit for our announcement. Oh, yeah. If you want to answer the question to the question in the next chapter, then go ahead. Reviews actually make us work.