Author's Note: Please excuse the growing number of characters. :D They're all essential to the story, though.

Chapter 8:

~Image Dimension~

A tall dark figure loomed over Shade. Whoever or whatever it was wore a cloak and hood.

"Get up," The figure's voice said sternly.

Shade got up. If he was going to be yelled at, he wasn't going to take it lying down. He realized they were the same height.

The figure pulled down his hood, revealing a very normal-looking boy with honey-coloured hair and sparkling brown eyes.

"Who are you?" Shade asked.

"No one important," he answered curtly, then seemed to reconsider. "Well, if you must know, my name is Kin, Princess Aiko's fiancé.

"Princess Aiko?"

"The royal princess of the Crystal Realm. You're going there, aren't you?"

"How do you know?"

"I've observed your problem for some time, and I'm ready to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" The last thing Shade expected was to be making a deal with someone. Time was crucial! "I'm sorry, I'm not interested."

He tried to push past Kin, but he blocked his way.

"Just listen to me first! If you help me, I'll tell you where the girl is."

Shade looked cautiously at Kin. "You mean Fine?"

He nodded.

Sighing, he said, "Ok, so what do I have to do?"

Kin started stuttering. "Oh, well…it's—it's like this. I'm Aiko's fiancé, but she…her memories of me were erased by a powerful witch. I don't know why. Also…that's also why Fine didn't remember Akihiko when she returned home when she was little, and also why she doesn't recognize Aiko."

"Wait, hold on," Shade replied. "Is this Akihiko the person who took Fine away? And they knew each other from long ago? Why did the witch erase their memories in the first place?"

"I don't know, but people say she loves to cause mischief. And Akihiko is the crown prince. Aiko is his sister."

"But then…how did Fine and that guy meet?" Shade sounded annoyed.

"I don't know everything, ok? Ask her yourself!" Kin snapped. "Anyway, since she doesn't know me now, I've been searching for a way to break the spell, but there's only one. This is where you come in."

Shade just stared.

Kin turned a bright shade (author: haha, that's funny, I actually used both the princes' names here) of red. "Um, you have to kiss her."

Shade rubbed his ear to see if he was turning deaf. When apparently he wasn't, he asked angrily, "Why? How come you can't kiss her?"

"'Cause I just can't! The magic was cast over me and Aiko. Someone else has to break it for us! All I've been doing in this mirror place is waiting for someone to come by 'cause research says the person has to be of different origin!"

A picture of Fine wouldn't leave Shade's head. He did not want to kiss Aiko.

"What about your part of the deal? What are you going to do for me?" Shade asked.

"I'll point you in the right direction. You'll be in the Crystal Realm in no time. So do you agree to our conditions?"

Shade most definitely did not agree to the conditions. Being pointed in the right direction seemed such a flimsy bargain in exchange for a full-on kiss. But if he could know where Fine was and bring her back…maybe, just maybe, it was worth it. Even if he had to kiss some girl he didn't even know.

Then he thought, I could just not tell Fine. No, wait. What's there to be guilty about? She probably doesn't even like me back.

For the first time ever, he hoped that Fine didn't like him back so that he could just do his job and get her back safely without feeling guilty on his part.

"Ok," Shade said. What am I doing? I'm gonna regret this for sure!

Kin smiled a little. "As much as it pains me to ask you to do this, thank you. The mirror's over there." He stretched his finger to a nearby floor-length mirror. The mirror shimmered with a fleeting image of Fine leaning against her bedroom door.

Before Shade even knew what he was doing, he ran toward the mirror and disappeared.

~Fine's POV~

I sighed. Facing all these new people and places sure was exhausting. I leaned back against the door, staring out of the window at the sky across the room. Kingdom beyond a star, huh?

I wonder what Rein and the others are doing…they're probably looking for me.

Without warning, something crashed into me from the side. I fell down onto the floor with an "Oomph". The thing lay on top of me. When I managed to look up, I saw Shade's face!

I gasped. "Shade! What are you doing here?"

He just hugged me. I turned red—very, very red. I hoped he didn't see that.

I tapped his shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

He let go of me and said, "Come on, we have to go home now!"

Shade started to pull me up, but then a strange feeling came over me and I suddenly said, "I can't do that. I have an engagement with Aki."

Shade dropped my hand, letting me fall back onto the floor, at the same time that I thought, Oh no, that came out really wrong. What I meant was that I couldn't just up and leave like that because everyone here would start worrying, plus I had to work things out with the king, queen, and Aki. But it sounded like I actually wanted to get married to him!

I tried to cover it up. "Uh—I mean, I still have to sort things out before I can leave…I think you'll have to stay here awhile. It's probably close to breakfast; I'll introduce you to them in the dining room." I got up from the floor and opened the door, my body tense. After a few seconds, Shade followed me out into the hallway.

I had no idea how I was going to explain Shade to them.

Rounding a corner, I could see Aiko's bedroom door. As we walked past it, it swung open and she marched out, bumping right into Shade.

"Oh, sorry," She apologized. But that wasn't what got my attention. It was the fact that when she looked into Shade's eyes, something about her seemed to change. Aiko's face was slightly redder than usual, and were those hearts in her eyes?

I gaped at her. No way. It couldn't be…could it? Aiko likes Shade! I almost said it out loud. This is bad! If she has a crush on my—

My what? My one-sided love? Nevermind, it's perfectly fine for her to like him. I can deal with that. Besides, I'm already engaged.

Argh! Why'd I think that again?

Aiko was pulling on my arm, eyes sparkling. "Fine, is this your friend? Great! What's his name?"

"Uh…Shade."

Before I could say anything more, she grabbed onto Shade's elbow and raced down the hall toward the dining room, hollering, "Shade, let's go to breakfast! I can't wait for you to meet my parents!"

I just stared after them with my mouth open. What just happened? Calm, princessy Aiko was actually very impulsive when it came to boys?

There had to be something wrong with the world.