a/n: Hello again XD

I like writing this. I like writing Luka :3

Enjoy!

Elluka the Clockwork Maiden: Luka Megurine

She ran. Her legs carried her across the forested expanse, exhausted to the point of numbness. At some point, a certain Verdigris girl had shared this action, sprinting through the woods for her life. But let's put that thought aside, for a second.

Turning back, she could see her brilliant Castle in flames. Bright, brilliant flames, twisting up and down her only home. Tears streamed down her face, as the uncanny moment hit her. Everything she had known, everyone she loved was gone in a matter of minutes. But she stood up each time she fell, his words still fresh in her mind:

"Promise me you will never give up from finding the solution. When I tried to find the solution to my life, I found you. So remember that I will always love you, wherever you happen to be. Whoever you happen to be with. That's the most important of them all, got it?"

Finally, she collapsed against a stone tower. She didn't even bother questioning it, as she sunk down into the sallow grass. Nothing seems solid, through her wet vision. All she did was think about him, the one she possessed the clothes of, as sleep took her away.

The smell of fire still reached her as she slept, and she could smell the fear in it.

For what seemed like an eternity later, Riliane finally cracked her eyes open. She slept like a rock, cold and dreamless. When she awoke, everything hit her like brick, and she found herself in tears again.

This time, she was on a bed. It was simple little cot, quite different from the queen-sized bed she had lived on. An old blanket had been wrapped around her, and she suddenly wondered where her yellow one was. Or more importantly, where she was.

Her eyes adjusted to the dimness, even though it was morning. Riliane was in a tower...most likely the one she had fallen against, with nothing but a window. She had no idea how she even got here. But there were shelves of strange condiments, a little desk, which possessed a crystal globe. Up above, all sorts of trinkets and plants were hung, ranging from machines to fragrant herbs. "Where the hell am I..?" She thought vaguely. One of the plants dangling above her was a yellow violet. She struggled to recall the name of it.

"Oh, you're finally awake!" A soft, yet excited voice startled her. Riliane twisted around, ready to punch someone. The speaker of the voice wasn't next to her, but rather sitting on the edge of the window. Watching her.

"Who...who are..." The Queen tightened the blanket around her, in defensive mode.

The girl, who had flowing pink hair, grinned. "I'm Elluka. Clockwork maiden. Or sorceress to you folks." She flopped into a chair, suddenly exasperated. "But what do I know?"

Riliane stared. Pink hair, sharp blue eyes... "You're...a Magentian?" Haven't they been extinct for a thousand years?

"Bingo, you lucky duck. But it doesn't matter. I don't even care anymore. I'm just glad someone came."

"W-what do you mean?"

Elluka suddenly jumped up, and looked at the former queen in the eye. She was tall and slim, wearing a white laced dress that made her look younger than she seems. But she was smiling...was there a joke Riliane didn't know about? "Just who do you think you are, Miss? You didn't even introduce yourself. I just want to know who I'm up against. Who is this person I rescued."

"So she was the one who took me in..." Riliane sighed, and then noticed that Allen's clothes were gone. Instead, she wore some brown dress that smelled of herbs.

"Very well. I'm Riliane of the Yellow Kingdom. I was the Queen, until...things changed."

"You are a Queen?" Elluka's eyes sparkled, Riliane's presence suddenly exciting her. "That's amazing! Don't you have a crown?"

She absently touched her head where one used to sit. Tears blinded her vision, as everything came back to her. "About that..."

And so, Riliane found herself telling the stranger what had happened. She left out his name, but told Elluka about Allen, what he had done to save her life. And what had happened before, that had caused it. The walls were so thick and ancient, she trusted it with her secret. Because chances are, these same walls kept many more of them.

Elluka was wide-eyed and fascinated with every little detail, but eventually feeling her sadness as well. Eventually, she was left silent as Riliane's story ended with herself stranded in the woods...right where her tower was.

"Whoa. I didn't know. I thought you were a guy at first..."

Then Elluka told Riliane about herself. Elluka was the last Magentian. She was a thousand years told, back when they were a small village. Then a plague struck, which affected all the Kingdoms, but wiped out the Pink people due to them living unprotected in the forest. She was a Clockwork maiden, which was someone who looked after the Clocktower and its abilities...to control time. During the plague, she isolated herself in the tower, which prevented her from catching the disease. She stayed there until the plague was over, and several years after that. Then they grew to hundreds, then thousands...

"Since the beginning of time, I was apprenticed to the Clockmaster. I've spent all my days in the tower, never going out. All the machines, flowers, and inventions were gathered or created by him. But he left a few days before the plague, as he had predicted it. I've never saw him again. But he had cast a spell, leaving me and everything here immune to time." Elluka gazed solemnly around the tower.

"I was so afraid of the outside world, you know? Who knew what was out there? So I refrained inside this tower, where I've been for all my life. But I wanted a friend, so badly. Immortality isn't just a blessing, Riliane. It can get so lonely sometimes..."

"Had there been others before me...?" She asked.

"Yes." Elluka gave her a tired smile. "But you're the first one that stayed, and listened. I was so excited for a new friend, one who was a Queen. I mean, is that awesome or what? But you better go save your servant guy, because he's more important to you than I could ever be. I mean, you are going to save him, right?"

"Allen..." Riliane thought, on the verge of tears again. Elluka noticed this, and squeezed both of her hands. Riliane squeezed back.

"I'm going to save him. We've made a promise, after all." She looked up, at the pink-haired girl who looked the same age as her, but was a millennium older. "And I'll make a promise to you. As much as I would love to be your friend, I find that leaving you in the tower alone is not what friends do. So I figured that once this is over, once Allen is safe...I'll come back, and I'll stay. I promise."

Even though Riliane felt bad about just leaving a girl who had been alone for so long, Elluka smiled so warmly that it was like she had saved her life. Which was ironic because it was Riliane who had been saved...twice.

"Thank you...so much.."

Letting go of her hands, Elluka walked over to her crystal globe.

"So...if you are going to save this guy, you'd better know where he is." She smiled at her, moving her hands around the ball until it started glowing amethyst and fuchsia. Ancient language came out of her mouth, and she held Allen's tie in her hands, focussing on it. Just as Riliane was questioning where she got the tie, a scene emerged.

"Don't feel emotion. Just absorb it." He told himself over and over. But he had almost lost that habit completely.

Instead, he turned his head towards the only window in the little stone room, streaks of light providing the only warmth that the cell contained. The bars of iron severed them though, making the same bars across his face. He never looked so vulnerable, huddled in a ragged blanket in the corner where the light shone brightest, in attempt to hide the parts that would give him away. He had taken the bow off from around his neck, since it might raise suspicion, and just held it in the sun. Contemplating it.

"I'm sorry I dirtied it." Was all he said. If he had said anything else, he would've had become close to crying. But he wanted to save his tears for happier times, because crying of joy was better than weeping for your fate.

Every part of him knew he was in danger, but he smiled in spite of himself. He smiled because of Riliane, not knowing that she was miles away from him, surrounded by stone walls and a blanket. Just like him.

"Riliane D'autriche Lucifen!" A stern male voice boomed, followed by the creaking of cell door. He knew every inch of this Azure dungeon, because he had been imprisoned here before. But this time, he didn't even try to escape. Time takes its toll on people.

"Come with us. Any attempt to flee with result in execution on the spot." The Crimson guard's visor covered his eyes. Several more like him appeared, with loaded guns. Allen had never seen a gun before, and eyed it with whatever curiosity he had left. The Azures were always ahead with technology. If a weapon was a technology. The Azures and Crimsons must be working together now, against the Xanthines.

"Why don't you just kill me here?" He questioned, keeping his voice higher than usual, pitched perfectly with Riliane's royal accent. He had practiced it during his time in the cell. "Either way, I'm going to end up dead. Besides, most people would want to die where no one can hear them, rather than before an open crowd where everyone hates her guts."

"Oh, and lose your oh-so-special pride? King's orders. You're to appear for your trial, unlike how you do it in YOUR Kingdom." The guard replied sharply.

He stood up, walking towards them. "What Kingdom? Everyone has turned against me. Courtesy to their beloved Prince-"

"That's enough, you filthy Xathine!" One of them tried to strike him, but the others blocked him. If Allen were some other prisoner, they would've beaten him senseless long ago.

"We were told not to touch the Queen. Kyle's orders." He reasoned.

"IF THAT LITTLE RAT DOESN'T SHUT HER TRAP I'LL-" Many people of Crimson origin have temperamental issues, which gave them their spark.

"Gentlemen." Allen walked out, with the blanket still draped around him. "You've spoken. Now, let's get this over with."

Elluka had been struggling to get the vision going, and now it the burden eventually caused her to shut the scene down. The crystal ball faded back to its original colour, and Elluka collapsed onto the table in fatigue.

"No!" Riliane yelped, as she wanted to know more. The trial will determine whether or not he will live. And for how long, at that.

She sighed, checking to see if Elluka was okay. The Magentian stood up from her chair, demanded what Riliane saw. As she recounted her observations, the pink-haired girl felt slightly guilty.

"Darn it...I'm really sorry." By the way she had said it, Riliane knew that she isn't able to tune back in. Probably her ability takes a long time to recharge, and that extended use drained it.

"No, it's not your fault." She took his tie in her palm, running her thumb across it. "I don't know what's going to happen to him. But I'm not going to just sit here for him to find out." She closed her hand around it. "He's in the Blue Kingdom, with Red guards. Not a good mix. I need to get him before Kyle does."

"So...you're leaving then?" Elluka asked softly. Looking up to meet her sad blue eyes, Riliane suddenly felt bad about leaving her. She nodded, solemnly, slipping a ring off of her finger.

"Here." She pressed the golden object into Elluka's palm, as a look filled with wonder dawned upon her face. "Until we meet again?"

A look of pure hope was her answer. Elluka nodded, the tears forming in her eyes. Her pastel pink hair swooshed around her thighs, as she passed a satchel which Riliane guessed she had prepared beforehand for her. She also handed her Allen's clothes (which had been cleaned), and her yellow blanket.

"My Master had some oranges that he had grown a long time ago. Everything stays young, so they're edible." Elluka placed a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, and remember how you said that you can't remember anything up until you've become Queen? Well, I think it's maybe because of hypnotism. Like, a process in which a watch is used to erase memory. I don't know, it's just a hunch."

Riliane was taken aback. Hypnotism?

"So I've included just the thing..." She continued explaining. "...a reverse pocket watch. That will help you with remembering. But there are reasons why some events are forgotten. You have to be prepared on what you'll recover."

The former Queen thanked her, although the word haunted her mind. Who would hypnotize her, and why? Did the same happen to Allen?

What had happened seven years ago?

Bidding their last farewell, Elluka vanished. The disappearence caused the tower to emit a blinding light, causing her to shield her eyes. When the reddish coloured ghosts left her eyes, she found nobody left. The tower she had been in had seemingly never existed.

It was a room filled with humming gears. Several levers controlled their performance, but there was nothing else. There was no bed, no crystal ball, and no knick-knacks hanging from the ceiling. Instead, the room seemed even more stony and desolate than before, the expanse covered with cobwebs.

An entire section of the wall was replaced with the back of a ticking clock, enormous in size. It was ticking counter-clockwise, the numbers reversed. Riliane concluded that she was behind the clock on the inside, witnessing its inner workings. Each tick sounded like a heartbeat.

However, in the thick cover of dust that slept on the wall, someone had drew a stick figure of a long-haired girl with a finger. Next to it was a tall man in ancient clothes and a monacle, old enough to be her father. They were holding hands.

But beside them, on the other side of the little girl, was another person. She held the girl's hand too, and smiling like the rest of them. Her hair was short, she had a robe and crown.

Riliane immediately smiled.

a/n: First person Riliane had met outside of her castle, I bet. And probably the only one she didn't try to execute XD

I've sworn the finish this to the best of my ability...honestly, I have only a faint sense of how it will end :) You'll see.

In the meantime, stay tuned for my painfully slow chapters. Exams are coming up, but I'll update. For sure. :)