-8- Curses

Blood dripped down onto Daichi, the knife meant to pierce into his chest held only just inches above him. Ikuto had stopped the knife with his bare hands, grasping tightly onto the blade which cut into his flesh, spilling his blood.

Unfazed, Ikuto had an intimidating smile on his face as he stared at the two attackers, "There's no need to use any weapons against kids, unless of course, you two are weaker than a mere child."

Angered by Ikuto's remark, the two attackers pushed Daichi out the way and focussed their attacks on Ikuto, swinging their weapons towards him mercilessly. Ikuto dodged with ease and in one swift movement disarmed both men and knocked them to the floor. Daichi simply watched in amazement as Ikuto moved. Strong, Daichi thought, this person is really strong…just like brother… He stared as Ikuto broke the knife by just stepping on the blade and snapping the wooden rod into two with only one hand.

Now pinning the two men to the floor Ikuto held them still; gripping them by their necks. "Gentlemen," Ikuto whispered in a low warning tone, "I believe you'd want to beg for your life by telling me everything."

One of the men hissed, "If you're with the outcast Daichi then you probably already heard everything from him…"

"If you're so tough then you won't need us to tell you anything…"

"Oh," Ikuto mused, "since you two can't talk," he tightened his grip on their necks, suffocating them. "There's no need for you two to continue living…"

Daichi felt a chill run through his body; Ikuto, he was serious about killing the attackers and from his eyes Daichi glimpsed his thrill in doing so. He's scary, Daichi breathed; he's not an ordinary traveller. Who is he?

The two men struggled against Ikuto's grasp, trying hard to breathe but found themselves sensing death more with each passing second until one of them uttered, "I...t…ell…"

Ikuto let loose his grip on one of the attackers who gave in and decided to confess whilst he continued to strangle the other in his other hand. As the man took in deep breaths to recover his eyes widened in fear witnessing his partner choke and struggle before becoming motionless. Ikuto now completely let go of the two men.

"M…murderer…" the survived man gasped and he clutched at his own neck in fear. He couldn't avert his gaze from Ikuto and he knew he had to speak or his fate would be the same as his partners. "W…we…are…"

"You better speak more clearly or I'll lose my patience and you know what I'm capable of," Ikuto warned. He gazed into the man's eyes, "tell me everything."

The man gulped and as though he was in a trance now, he spoke, "we're kidnappers. I and my friend are known thugs in this peaceful town. Because on the surface we don't do anything extremely bad, the villagers had to cope with our presence. No one knows that it is us who kidnap the children of this town. You and your siblings have just entered this town and we decided to target your little brother and sister too. Only moments before we started to tail you, we've kidnapped them both and handed them over to the boss."

"How many of you are involved in this?"

"I don't know. I, my friend only kidnap children according to the boss. We get paid by him afterwards. We're not sure if there are others working for the boss as well or…"

"Who is your boss?"

"Gofer."

"Gofer," Ikuto repeated, "the mayor's assistant?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Listen," Ikuto slowly said, still holding the man's gaze, "take your friend with you and disappear. Do not let anyone find you. Tomorrow afternoon you will go to the execution of the two pirates and then…"

Daichi was too shocked to move or say a thing. He had just silently witnessed the whole ordeal. The man, still in a trance picked up his friends body and began to walk away. The way that man is acting, Daichi slowly processed, it's like he's placed under a spell, but this man isn't a witch is he? Then does he possess…

"Now it's your turn Daichi," Ikuto said turning his attention to the stunned Daichi that hasn't moved or spoken for quite a while now. "You owe me an explanation don't you?"

The door to the dimly lit basement finally closed with a small bang followed by the clicking of the lock as it sealed the door shut. The air was cold on her skin and the stony floor in which she lay upon only chilled her more. She started to stir in her deep slumber, her breathing uneasy as her body began to heat up. The deathly silent room was now filled with her heavy gasps; something within her body was changing again and then the intense she felt faded. Flashing before her mind was the events that happened only moments ago, leaving the witch gathering, a tall building, it was a Tower, a young man being auctioned, a young boy that she became friends with; all these memories seemed to just surge through her brain, reminding her of what had happened, she was now trying to turn away from the burning red that surrounded her, those fierce cursing eyes that glared at her and Cindy Ashmy's rotting face. "NO," Amu inhaled waking up, sweat dropping down her face. She calmed down after a few deep intakes of breath and she looked around her. There were no prison cells, no sounds of mad prisoners clashing with guards either. This wasn't the tower. "Where am I?" Amu wondered but she quickly noticed a tied up Yoru lying next to her. She wriggled her arms and legs and had just noticed she was tied up as well. "What happened?" Using her feet, Amu lightly kicked Yoru's legs, when he didn't respond she kicked harder until he began to stir. "Yoru…hey wake up Yoru."

Yoru slowly opened his eyes and when he finally opened them, he turned to look at Amu, relieved she was alright, "you ok? The kidnappers didn't do anything right?"

"Depends what you define as ok?" Amu taunted. Of course she wasn't ok; because she decided to help Yoru she's ended up in so much trouble. First off, she was almost killed by a mad prisoner, then she was chased after by a mad witch who was just going to curse her and now she wakes up to find herself tied up. Can any more bad stuff happen to her right now? She sighed, "So basically we ended up getting caught anyway. Yoru are we still in the tower? Where did that Witch go? What about your brother? Is this a storage room in the tower or something?"

Yoru blinked hard and refocused to look at Amu. He wasn't imagining things at all; he was still looking at the small child girl who he and Ikuto had picked up in the tower, the girl without any memories. "Say that again…" Yoru slowly muttered, unable to believe what he had just heard, his heart already beating faster.

Amu puffed her cheeks, irritated once again by Yoru, "damn brat, you need to listen to people when they're talking to you. Learn so manners. I asked you what happened, we were inside the tower right, trying to save your brother, and then this crazy bitch witch chased after us and started to want to kill us. The last thing I remember is that witch trying to perform a really powerful magic, prisoners fighting in the lower levels, your brother walking up the stairs…"

"You…" Yoru said holding back his tears, "you're Amu right, Amu the witch?"

Amu leaned in towards Yoru, "dumbass, since when did I turn into someone else, of course I'm Amu the witch." She stuck out her tongue seeing Yoru's happy smile and tears falling out his eyes. What was wrong with him? Why did he get so emotional? Amu wondered, already working on untying herself. She let out a scream though as Yoru started to rub against her cheeks much like a cat and pat her head with his chin.

"I'm so glad," Yoru cried, quite emotional that the little girl was Amu after all, and he was so worried about her before. He felt stupid for not noticing but what mattered most now was she was safe; his very first friend beside the crew was alive.

"Cut it out," Amu said head-butting Yoru in the chin, "stop acting so weirdly…now hurry up and stand up, I've already untied the ropes."

"I'm just glad you're ok," Yoru said again, wiping his tears. "You stupid Amu, why did you pretend to lose your memories…what were you playing at? Do you know how worried I was about you? I thought something terrible happened to you."

As Yoru stood up, Amu became petrified, not understanding the situation at all. He is younger than her but he was so much taller. More accurately, what happened to her height, she was just barely half the size of Yoru? She looked down at her feet, she was so close to the ground, her hands and body; she was small, she shrunk. Amu gasped, her eyes widening as she finally remembered, she was cursed by Cindy Ashmy. This can't be, Amu struggled, not wanting to believe this was reality, this is the worst….what am I going to do? Curses can't be broken… "Yoru," Amu began her voice shaky, "what happened to me? Tell me…"

Yoru sensed Amu's sudden tension and shock. He didn't understand watching her body shake and stare into space with such a frightened expression. Something must be wrong, and if Yoru had to guess it was the fact that she's turned into a child that shocked her. At least though, she seemed to know who he was and who she is. But are all her memories intact Yoru couldn't help but question. "How much do you remember?"

"I remember facing that witch; she placed a curse on me…"

"Then you don't remember when you woke up you forgot who you are?" Yoru asked, "That you followed me and my brother out the tower and we travelled to this town. Then just today, you forgot again. You forgot about me and brother and started to think I kidnapped you and then…" Yoru couldn't continue seeing Amu's distraught expression as she clutched her face with one hand and fell to her knees, her other hand banging on the hard ground. He knew in that instant that something was terribly wrong. He slowly approached Amu, not knowing what to do at times like these. He was still young after all, still a kid who couldn't handle anything nor help others. That's why I want to grow up faster, Yoru thought, staying silent.

Taking a quick glance at Yoru, Amu forced herself to calm down. After hearing what Yoru had said and seeing her own small body, she freaked out to the point of losing her mind. All she could think of was that this was the worst possible thing that could ever happen to her; to be cursed to become a child again, to be defenceless and clueless again in a world where it wasn't safe. It was scary but right now, as an older person Yoru could look to for comfort, in this situation where they are kidnapped, she needed to stay strong and look out for him as she did in the Tower. To be strong and protective of someone to the point of forgetting about myself, Amu thought suddenly remembering Dia, is this how you feel when you're around me? Dia, if only right now you were besides me to soothe my fears...

"Amu, don't worry," Yoru said very weakly, realising the situation for Amu must be bad but he still wanted to cheer her. He took Amu's little hand in his and squeezed it, "you can believe in me…we're friends. I'll help you."

I'm wrong, Amu now understood looking at Yoru; this kid isn't really a kid anymore. He's not like me, he must've been through a lot with his brother…It's alright to tell him my situation…She let out a small chuckle which surprised Yoru, I'm pathetic. Amu you are pathetic, relying on a younger kid to take away some of my worries and negative feelings…however…Yoru is my first friend besides Dia…I want to at least believe he's my friend.

Amu nodded and was very serious now, "listen Yoru…I can't really be certain of what curse, but the state I'm in now, it's clear this is a curse placed with malicious intentions."

"A curse is a curse;" Yoru butted in, "of course curses are malicious."

"Not all curses are malicious," Amu tried to explain, "There are three main types of curses a witch or those who can use magic can place upon their targets. The first type is mischievous curses. They are the ones that are least harmful, mainly cast just at random for fun. These types of curses can be lifted easily if not, they don't usually harm or affect the victim that much." Amu paused for a bit trying hard to recall everything she learnt from Dia. If there was anything Amu could be proud of as a witch, it was her extreme focus on studies. She literally knew all sorts and all the information she had access to. The only sad fact was she only knew the complex and most bizarre information, but when it came to actually casting and using any of the things she knew, it always failed. "The second type of curse," Amu went on, "is malicious curses, which is probably the type that Cindy Ashmy has cast on me. Malicious curses are…"

"How come turning you into a child and messing with your memories malicious?" Yoru retorted, "It's not like your hurt or anything."

"The damage isn't physically on the body but something else," Amu said with quite a bitter tone now, "this is probably one of the worst curses a witch could have. Witches store their magical powers within their bodies. To an extent as you grow, your body gets bigger and will allow you to store more reserve magic. As a child though, in this kind of body, there's barely any magic stored. Not being able to use magic freely, it's like I'm reduced to being a commoner. This is the ultimate punishment for a witch."

"I'm a commoner too," Yoru commented, sitting next to Amu, "I don't feel like it's a punishment. I still live by fine."

"Perhaps," Amu muttered, "but you see, in most cases malicious curses can't be broken. It means, I'll be stuck as a child forever. My body won't age whilst my mind grows old. As a child though, I can't defend or protect myself in this world." Amu clenched a fist just thinking about it, "Don't you see, I'll end up relying on someone to take care of me if I want to continue living, but then forever unless I die, I'll be watching each and every person I'll have ever known die before me. The only choice is for me to live a secluded life. It's a curse to make sure either I suffer living alone or suffer living out all the loss of those I love. The last resort is death."

Yoru had to look away from Amu, to stop his tears from falling out. He didn't understand the seriousness of Amu's situation until she put things in such a context. The thought of what she was to do from now on was already making him feel her pain. "It can be broken right? There must be a way. I'm not witch and I know nothing of magic but…spells can be broken and so can curses."

"Yeah it can," Amu began, "malicious curses can only be broken in a few ways. The first is to get the witch that cast it to lift it. In many cases, that's impossible because a witch must've really hated you to have placed such a curse in the first place. The second as I've already said, is to simply die. The last…is just a myth…." Amu sighed, "To break one malicious curse, a witch needs to be cursed with something much more malicious and terrifying than that."

"What the…that's insane," Yoru commented.

"It's love," Amu said with a small smile on her face, "love is a witch's greatest curse. To have her heart stolen by a man….will break all curses placed upon her."

Yoru pulled a face now, "what the hell? So in the end it's like all those fairy tale stories…a true love's kiss…nah ah ha…."

"It's not meant to be romantic," Amu couldn't help but laugh, "I think it's silly too. Well, so far it's more like a myth to me that love can break curses. Love as a curse itself…I wouldn't mind experiencing it if I can break this curse. I don't want to be a child." Amu looked down onto the ground, as a child I can no longer participate in the Magic Duello, my dream and hopes to prove myself as a witch….my promise with Dia will be broken too. I have nothing left to do in this world now do I?

"What's the last type of curse then?" Yoru quickly asked seeing Amu's become depressed again.

"Isn't it obvious," Amu asked back, poking Yoru on the cheeks, "a massacre curse…basically you end up dead, nothing more to it than that."

Yoru gulped; maybe I shouldn't have asked that.

Sensing Yoru's uneasiness Amu decided to move on. "Enough with the lecture on curses, it's not like knowing which type can help me." She stood up, "thank you Yoru, for being here."

"We're friends," Yoru simply said, returning a smile to Amu.

"So since my memories are a mess, what's our situation right now?"

"AHHHH," Yoru sprinted up screaming, "I forgot you stupid witch….we're kidnapped. In short this Barren Town…."

Amu listened to the extreme quick summary of events that happened since she was cursed. Yoru told her how they escaped the Tower, how they travelled to Barren Town, and the strange atmosphere around, Amu's sudden memory loss that got them kidnapped. Strange, Amu thought to herself, keeping quiet about this from Yoru, as I recall, if one is cursed to being a child again they should also permanently lose all their memories. When I woke up in the Tower, according to Yoru, I didn't know who I was, which should be the normal result. Then I somehow remembered a part of my childhood in Melas Village in the inn but not Yoru…meaning my memories were slowly recovered. Then after waking up now I somehow regained all my memories…this shouldn't be happening. I should still be just a clueless child with no past or anything…why did I regain my memories…although I'm glad that I did…

"What are we going to do?" Yoru asked, "Brother is still out there but I wonder if he knows by now we're kidnapped."

Amu smiled, "first off, let's light up this room more."

"There's no torch or anything…."

Amu bit her finger, praying this would work but wasn't certain since she was now a child. She let one drop of blood fall off into the air. Yoru watched in awe as magic unfolded before his eyes. The blood drop began to swirl bigger until it took shape into a red umbrella.

"The umbrella," Yoru uttered, "it's made of blood…disgusting…"

Grasping the extremely big umbrella for a child her size to hold, Amu did her best to whack Yoru on the legs which failed since she dropped the umbrella onto the floor. "It's a magical item that can be stored in blood. It's not necessarily made of blood. Anyhow, you need to be glad I managed to get it out…most of my useable magic is stored in the umbrella anyways."

Yoru stared at Amu with a massive frown on his face, "what the…and you were going on about how tragic it was that you're now a child and can't use magic…you little liar…"

Amu stomped on Yoru's feet hardly but he only flinched a little. Clearly it only didn't work because she was a child now. Consider yourself lucky, Amu thought. "Just pick the umbrella up and point it towards the light over there."

Yoru did as Amu ordered and like in the Tower, the tip of the umbrella shone with a bright flame, acting as their torch. Yoru waved the umbrella around the place, which they can see properly now. It was empty with a few boxes stacked in the far corner but otherwise, it was a small room, with two doors. Amu went to the door closest to them and examined it.

"This one's locked," Amu said already leading the way to the second one which was on the other side of the room.

"Hey little kids shouldn't be leading the way," Yoru said running ahead of Amu, "let big brothers like me take the lead…little Amu."

Amu held in her irritation and anger. This stupid brat, he's enjoying my tragic situation as a child way too much…

Yoru went ahead and tried opening the door, which to both their surprise it opened. They both stepped in and as soon as they did, Yoru dropped the umbrella to the floor from shock. Amu too felt a chill run through her body, unable to process what she was seeing before her. Children…there were a lot of chained children in that room. The horrifying thing was the blood and scars on their bodies. "This is…" Amu gasped, covering her mouth with a hand, "what curse is this?"

Outside, walking alongside one another, Ikuto and Daichi were now headed towards a place slightly out of but still close to Town.

"Did you know," Daichi slowly began to speak, "this town is cursed?"

Ikuto didn't say anything; curses to him were nothing special. Despite having a lot of errands to do now, such as rescuing Yoru and that little girl and meeting those two idiots about to be executed tomorrow, he felt quite taken in by this kid Daichi; He wanted to listen to his story.

"This town is named after the curse….the Barren curse," Daichi continued, "it's a curse that causes all the children of this town to disappear, so that this town can never produce a next generation. Because of children disappearing, this town has struggled a lot to keep surviving."

"You believe in this Barren Curse?" Ikuto quizzed.

"I don't believe in it. I think it's obvious to you what's happening in this town and I want to stop it, however," Daichi answered confidently, "everyone in this town believes this Barren curse strongly…I…I cannot deny its existence if people are willing to believe in it." Daichi stared at Ikuto, examining him to some extent. This person is strong, he's confident and he's clever…maybe he can…but I know nothing about him, Daichi thought, but this may also be my very chance…I'll take a gamble on this man. "Ikuto…"

Ikuto waited now.

"I'll tell you my story, about this town and about the Barren Curse, in exchange, will you…"

"Yeah I will," Ikuto answered without second thoughts, knowing exactly what Daichi wanted. "I'll wreak havoc in this Barren Town."