Disclaimer: I do not own Klonoa or any other Klonoa characters, Ocs belong to meh! X3

Chapter 3: Maria, First Encounter with Ikari

Half-moon and half a month later

Guntz carefully spread the blanket over Ikari, who was sleeping peacefully on her bed. She took her usual naps during the middle of the day anyway, so it was the perfect time for him to go out on his own. He ruffled her short hair a bit before taking his jacket hanging on the end of the bed frame. He was a little surprised that Ikari was more of a kid than Anna. When she first woke up a few days after he found her, she looked and acted almost like an innocent kid. As expected, she had spoken in Tsubasanian, but had said she had amnesia and believed that she must have been someone else here. Guntz was a bit stubborn with Leorina, who wanted to tell Ikari that she might be Anna, but he was still suspicious of Ikari's behavior.

She had this unusual habit of looking at the moon a lot from the window during night, or when it was visible during the day. She always looked uneasy and he hated it when she said it was nothing, he suspected that she still didn't trust him. Although she had a sudden love for sweets and meat making her more childish than ever, Lion told him it was normal for someone with the same metabolism like Anna to have a love for food. It was also normal of Ikari to play with anything that was cute to her, like Tat or any plushy toys that Leorina would buy on an impulse when buying groceries for the cabin pantry. Nowadays, since Guntz had spent most of his time on Ikari she treated him more like a big brother than a stranger, heck she even calls him big brother in Tsubasanian.

Since Ikari's knowledge of Lunatean language was a bit off balance, Guntz and the others decided to take it upon themselves to teach Ikari, who seemed to actually get the whole language in two short weeks. Guntz himself knew Ikari would be a fast learner since she began to read lots of books whenever she was left alone in the cabin like she was told to. Unfortunately, no one knew Ikari was hiding in the cabin and she was only allowed to stay within the forest and the cabin. Ikari never understood why so she always listened to Guntz and the others, that Guntz was relieved to hear.

He didn't even tell Klonoa or the others at all and knowing that annoying cat-rabbit he'll come here and check up on Guntz while he was gone. That was what Guntz dreaded as the days past. Hopefully, today Klonoa wouldn't be childish enough to check up on him. Guntz frowned uneasily, putting on his jacket and his belt. He looked back to Ikari one more time to see if she was deep in sleep like always, she was breathing rhythmically curled in a ball on her side. He smirked at her before quietly walking to the door and slowly closing it behind him. The question still lingered in his head if he should let Maria take her or if he should continue watching over her. He wanted her to be safe, but he didn't want to leave her until he could be sure Ikari was Anna. He was sure when he saw the ring on her hand, but what he didn't get was that her memory of anything… was just blank.

How could it be possible? Could it be that she got a head injury or was it something else while she was gone? It could be that weird mark on the back of her neck, when he tried to touch it while Ikari was sleeping. The result was her crying in pain while hugging a steamed Leorina, who gave Guntz a good bonk to the head for his impulsive idiocy. He guessed he deserved it because that was the second time he saw tears on someone's face that looked like Anna's and he always felt guilty that he couldn't make so much as smirk to him when she was still here.

Just as he left his thoughts he found himself already in front of the mirror where he found Ikari. He put his left hand on the cold glass, in turn making the mirror glow brightly along with his ring. He waited a few seconds before Maria appeared on the mirror instead of his own reflection. He could see her playing with two baby twins in what seemed like a playroom in a patio of a mansion, she was smiling brightly as she played a broken game of patty cake with a royal blue haired baby while the child giggled happily.

Guntz smirked at the scene. He remembered doing that to Anna when she was still a baby. It was noticeable that the baby looked just like her big sister and the other who was playing with a plushy cat looked just like Maria. Idly, shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked through the mirror only to have the big sister smile up to him brightly. "Guntz, I see you finally learned how to use the mirror right this time." Maria smiled up to him while the baby with blue hair crawled to him. He sat down on the floor with his legs crossed, letting the small baby crawl to him at her own pace.

"So how are you and the others dealing without Anna?" He asked with a sad smirk. At that moment Maria's smile soon turned into a frown.

"Fine… I guess…"

"You guess?" Guntz questioned looking at her concerned.

"Mother and Father are still sad about her. They even put up a memorial for her here in Tsubasa and in Death City. I'm happy that everyone cares, but… I wish she didn't have to suffer before dying." She said solemnly. The baby with the blonde hair sat up and looked up to her big sister only to start crying sensing her big sister's sadness. Maria was about to reach towards her, but Guntz got to the baby first and rest her head against his chest stroking the back of her head.

"It's okay to be sad. Your other big sister should be here to watch over you too." He reassured. The baby looked up to him with a sniffle before giving him a bright smile. Maria smiled softly at the scene while Guntz looked back at her questioningly.

"It's almost like you know what to do with little Mary, did something happen in your world?" Maria asked picking up the other baby who was teething on a teddy bear.

"Yeah, I rescued someone half a month ago, I think she's from your world." He frowned as Mary began to pat his mane entertainingly.

"Oh really? Well, there haven't been any reported disappearances this year and all of the missing people for the past decade or two have already been returned or adopted to their rightful families. I even checked the Akumanian files while I was working in the organization department this month." She replied truthfully. "And there haven't been any missing people there or in Death City besides Anna's?" Guntz added poking Mary's tummy which received a happy giggle from her. Maria nodded as the baby with blue hair crawled over to the wolf-dog.

"Well, if you have any free time can you come back to Phantomile with me to take care of my house guest at home? She's been a good kid, but I was thinking if you could check up on her condition. When found her she had a very bad fever and she partially has amnesia, she has her own name but she can't remember who she really was and she won't tell me what she had been doing before this." He explained picking up the youngest of the twins. He twitched an ear when he locked eyes with the child. She was noticeably the complete copy of Anna when she was around this age.

"Sure, I'm already done with my duties for this month, so I'll come with you. Mother and Father have been pestering me to take a decent vacation for the past months, but I was so busy taking care of the twins for me and Anna. It would be easy here with Anna, maybe more relaxing, but it has been a while since I visited her shrine." Maria smiled sadly as she took out the golden locket Anna had given her.

"Yeah, I was planning on coming here maybe around Christmas with the others. She was a really good friend to me and she was very strong and brave. But inside… you could tell she was just a scared little kid trying to keep her best by standing tall. Sometimes I thought she was just a kid who was trying to do everything by herself. Someone like her always had limits." He grinned trying to stop one of the twins from tugging his big ear.

"She always did, during the war she worked so hard on fixing as many machines as she could or heal and fix as many men we could need. Then she disappeared… I was so scared when I heard that she was reported missing in the hospital I prayed every night that she would be safe. I was very happy that she was fine when I saw her at the ball, she was even the same person like she was in Germany." She grinned opening the locket. The serene music began to fill the air as she looked down to the picture of Anna as a baby with their previous parents and another of them with their grandfather in Germany. Maria found a note in the locket which said to replace the pictures of their families because Anna hated her baby picture and Seed's, a princess she had rescued in the war, who had died the month Anna was killed by Kira Suishou. It turned out she had the same heart condition as Lion and couldn't get a transplant or a transfusion in time, although in Seed's will she said that her little sister, Cosmo, would be waiting for Anna in her place.

"Did you really mean it? You know, what you said to Anna when you guys were still in Germany?" Guntz asked blankly cocking his head to her.

"Kind of, back then Anna was a unique kid. She was more of a hybrid than me, because she bore father's eyes and mother's hair. As for me I got my features from my mother while I bore father's hair and eyes. Since she was such a prodigy as school during the age of six she was allowed to skip to higher grades in school, but the moment she stuck her nose into higher lever books like alchemy and astrology she dropped out of school with the president of the school board's permission. Then the war began a few years later, Anna became more serious with her knowledge and read longer than she was supposed to. Our grandfather who was an Alchemist too had found a way to stop the war and return our parents to us, but then…" Maria frowned, the nostalgia of Anna suffering after that failed transmutation. To be truthful, Maria didn't know how Anna died until she actually saw what really happened. That was also the first time seeing her little sister cry, Anna was a strong kid and tears seemed beyond her.

"So when do you want to go? By now my little house guest should be waking up, she tends to take a lot of naps during the day." He grinned, picking up the twins.

"Sure, leave them in the crib I'll go tell mother and father," Maria told him already making her way to the door.

"Maria, I have a question." Guntz called as he nestled Mary in the crib first.

"Yes," she smiled at him.

"What's this one's name?" He asked lifting up the blue haired baby towards her. Maria smiled sadly before leaving the room.

"Anne…"

---
"Hey, Namake, when do you think we're going to kill all those fucked up Tsubasanians?" Ikari asked, limping beside her brother who was also limping with her.

"Don't know, but it better be soon Master and mother have been getting impatient lately since not much of our men are coming back and these torture sessions from them aren't helping us for the upcoming war. Hopefully, my little puncture wound to the Tsubasanian fort four months ago." The boy smirked darkly making Ikari look at him questioningly. Wasn't that the time she regained consciousness in that freaky temple? And what did he mean puncture wound?

"What?" He asked annoyingly at her.

"What the hell are you hiding from me?" She asked suspiciously.

"Like what?"

"Like how you left your fucking journal in my part of the room and it said something about you killing off one of the best battle system of the Tsubasanian Army, ya cheap fucker!" She scowled angrily.

"Yeah, so what?!" He shot back clenching his fists.

"You said that I was that person, what the hell did you do?!" She asked angrily grabbing his arm. Namake looked at his sister angrily before turning his head to the side thinking intently.

"The day you were reborn, I used the last born child of the Mitsukai clan and put your soul into her body. Knowing her, she should have gotten amnesia by now if she ever took over you anyway. You see, Ikari, you are the wound I had made to our enemy so now we're going to destroy that stupid Meister's family." He spoke malevolently, turning to her with a toothy grin.

"You fucker!"

"What?!"

"That's why I heard Mother and Master saying I was just a stupid, idiotic nuisance! Now I know why I hate doing all this shit as much as you do!" She scowled at him angrily.

"Then what the hell do you want to do, huh?! Are you going to try and stop this war, it'll be starting by the beginning of next year and you intend to stand in front of your own men alone?" He asked inquiringly.

"No, I'm going to try and find out more about this battle system. I'm getting fucking tired of all this bloodshed and killing other innocent people, and knowing you, you think the same damn thing whenever we do so to pleasure mother. Now are you in?" Ikari asked nudging her brother shoulder roughly. Namake looked at her surprised at her sudden change of emotion, with a grin and a chuckle he held out his hand towards her.

"Okay, but if you find a way to get through this you find out who I was reborn from and you let me stay with your family, deal?" he grinned coolly. Ikari took his hand and they shook it firmly smiling coolly at one another with soft looks in their eyes. Truthfully, both of them hated killing innocent lives and beating their own siblings for their mother's amusement, mostly Ikari. Since she was the youngest and didn't know better, she was the one mostly getting the damage. Although she was strong and usually took a a day longer to heal than the others. Now her body and Namake's were covered with healing scars everyday with the daily pain to go with it. Currently, the two were just leaving their room to have dinner with their mother. It was on a schedule that she would only eat with two of her kids for each meal of the day. The two were about to continue in the hall of their big castle, but they were stopped by their big sister, Yokuboo.

"What were you two saying earlier?" She asked in a somewhat seductive voice. She was a woman with noticeable curves and breasts. Currently she was wearing a black dress with a long black trench coat that went down to her thighs. She was wearing long gloves and had the mark of the orobourus on the middle of her chest.

"Nothing, Onee," Namake frowned at her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. What he and Ikari hated about eating with their mother was that she always wanted them to dress up like they were going to a funeral or something.

"Oh really," she asked with an evil grin, looking down to Ikari, who was glaring at her menacingly. In a swift move, she grasped Ikari by the face with her right palm. Ikari gasped as her eyes narrowed through Yokuboo's gloved hand.

"Yokuboo, what the hell are you doing, you fucking slut?! The rivalry battles take place outside at night!" He scowled at his big sister only to be stabbed in the side by her fingers that had turned into deadly stabbing needles that was now soaked in his black blood. His eyes narrowed in shock before they finally began to grow blank and within seconds he passed out on the floor limply. Ikari, who was now lifted into the air by Yokuboo by her head, was now looking at Namake's body in fear. Another torture session to her, she looked at her big sister in fear as the older sibling grinned evilly lifting her free hand ready to stab her baby sister.

"You fucking slut," Ikari said before she saw her sister already starting to slash at her. NO~!

---

Ikari shot her eyes open and sat up immediatelym gasping for air, tears of fear falling freely down her cheeks. She was noticeably covered in a thin layer of cold sweat. She looked around wildly, while Guntz, who was at the table talking to Maria over a cup of tea, came to her side immediately looking at her worriedly.

"Ikari, what's wrong?" He asked rubbing her hands vigorously. After a few moments of looking around, Ikari sighed in relief, wiping away her tears and some of the sweat of her face with the sleeve of her pajamas.

"It was just a bad dream," she replied sadly. Guntz looked at her blankly, rubbing her back slowly as she put a hand to her bandaged chest. Mari,a who was watching, looked at the girl sadly as well. When she first came here, she knew for sure that was Anna. She even took a blood test and it was positive, but her brain waves from the laptop she brought with here, said that she was completely blank of who she really was. It was true that even though this girl really was Anna, she was unaware of it.

"You wanna sleep some more?" he asked patting her head. She nodded sadly lying down and turning her back to him.

"Get some more rest, my friend and I will be going over to Leorina's, okay?" He asked putting a hand to her arm. She nodded slowly not looking at him before nuzzling her head into her soft pillow as Guntz tucked her in. Afterwards, he stood up from the bed and nodded to Maria to follow him outside.

---

Maria and Guntz were walking through the quietest part of the forest that also led to the village. Guntz had his hands in his jacket pocket as Maria looked down to the top hat ribbon she had repaired and now kept it with her for a lucky charm. The wolf-dog looked at her with his sapphire eyes before sighing looking up towards the sky solemnly.

"That wasn't the first time she's had a bad dream," Guntz explained not looking at her. Quickly, Maria turned her head towards him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" Guntz looked down and reached into his pocket, taking out a small book. He handed it to her before looking back up towards the sky.

"I've been keeping a good bit of notes on her while she's sleeping to see if you can identify them for normal Tsubasanians. As I've said I found Ikari half a month ago, when I found her, I found that mark on her neck plus a good number of bad wounds on her with a deadly fever to go with it. It took her a few days to recuperate and on the day she was completely better she began to have nightmares. It was hell. She was yelling in fear, and then crying her eyes out endlessly throughout the night. I thought she would never calm down. As the days past, the nightmares got worse and came to no end, nowadays she would wake up from a nightmare all the time now. The more nightmares she has the more she doesn't want to sleep and she's needed it after her big ordeal." He told her sadly while she skimmed through his small pocket notebook.

"She has a lot of problems, doesn't she?" Maria asked sadly.

"Yeah, what I don't like the most about keeping her is seeing her yelling while she's sleeping. She won't stop unless I shake her awake or she does herself." He replied in the same tone.

"Multiple wounds to the body, fifteen hours of sleep a day, three meals a day as well, slight immobility, and mark on the back of her neck?" Maria looked in the book questioningly as she spoke. Luckily, Guntz had made a careful sketch of the mark while she slept. Maria was sure she had seen that mark hundreds of times when she was younger, but now that she was older she couldn't remember where it came from. She knew it had something to do that intertwined with her clan and it was something that had killed off most of her people. What was it?

"I tried to touch that mark while she slept," Guntz told her, turning towards her.

"What happened?" Maria asked cocking her head.

"She yelled in pain and began to cry," He replied nonchalantly.

"And Leorina was there at the time, huh? Did she do anything to you?" Maria asked with a smile.

"She hit me hard enough to get amnesia myself,"

Nya: I got bored and I was on the blank again, so I decided to write in this again. I'll maybe put up some more in short time if I'm still blank this week. I'll also put up the novel cover to my book on my devianrt page before christmas. X3