Author's Note Hola! Okay, I had a lot of really nice reviews so I want to thank all of my reviewers who reviewed my last chapter: thank you so much to Yazoo IS Superior, Caelia Danan, Freedom Rionach, and (just because I forgot to acknowledge you for being my second reviewer) Shonen air girl! I really love reviews... so yeah. Anyway here is my fifth chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE: UNYIELDING LOCKET

"Go to sleep mother… everything's okay. Trust me, you're tired, go to sleep—"

"What's this, Mother?"

"Loz!"

A silent voice came from the darkness, "It is Mother's necklace, Loz. Do not touch it or she'll get mad," the voice was laconic and sleepy… it lulled Kitty into a deep dreamless sleep…

Kitty awoke to a dark room. The only source of light came from the ripped holes of the fluttering curtains by the bedside, and a room opposite where Kitty lay. Outside, Kitty could hear the rumbling of thunder way off in the distance; approaching.

Wondering where she was, Kitty sat up, and looked around the dour room. "Hello…," she called out, "anyone here?" she feared that one of the brothers might appear. With a cursory glance down, Kitty checked to make sure her clothes were still in check. They were… but something was wrong. Kitty's eyes widened as soon as she saw the locket exposed so assailable against the thin clothe of her jacket. It has been forgotten… Kitty thought.

As it should be Kitty…

I forgot about it… Kitty swiftly brought her hands up to push the locket back under her jacket, but as soon as she saw her wrists she stopped. Bringing her hands up closer to her face, Kitty was able to examine them more closely. Her wrists were no longer hindered by rope. Bandages had been taped, meticulously, to parts of her wrist that had chafed during the time the brother's had held her captive. Now curious, Kitty threw the covers off of her whole body, and pulled her legs up to her chest. She then examined her ankles; they had received the same medical treatment as her wrists.

Kitty situated herself so as she was sitting on the side of the bed, her legs dangled slightly above the floor in the space between her, and her savior's own bed. She stared at his or her bed for a while; it was unmade, and pillows were strewn all over the floor and foot of the bed. From where Kitty sat, she could see a makeshift couch bed that had been moved, for some unknown reason, into the closet right next to the apartment room's door. One of those makeshift beds that Clary would pull out for her, when they'd go on vacations. She felt a strong pang of despair, at a reminiscence of her aunt.

"Aerith…? Zack…? Who's here?" Kitty glanced over at the door across from her. Kitty pushed up off of the bed and moved towards the door at an angle so as she would be poised to run just in case. She wondered if her savior was hiding from her in there. "Zack…?" Kitty tripped over the corner of something soft and plushy, but caught herself against the wall. She looked down at the floor; there she saw a mattress with sheets tangled up and left to the side. But, no matter how much proof she had, Kitty refused to believe that the brother's still had her in their grasp.

"Zack, this isn't funny," Kitty called out in her timid voice. She languidly pushed the door open even farther than it had been, and peered inside. Inside was a small bathroom with white tiled floors and obsolete white walls. There was nobody… Kitty was alone. She began to shake.

Calm down… calm down… Kitty reasoned that it might be smart to go and find out where she was. Then what? I don't know… how could someone just bandage her up, and then leave her?

Kitty turned away from the bathroom, and shivered. The room was cold without the protection of warm blankets to cover her up. Quickly Kitty gave herself a once over look, just in case she had missed some other wound that had been inflicted upon her. There were none except for the ones that had already been bandaged. Kitty decided that now, rather than later, was the best time to go and figure out some things. If Kitty was to be stuck in some other world other than earth… than maybe it was best she knew where to start. An orphanage… perhaps…? Kitty didn't like the idea, but at least—

Thunder boomed over head. Kitty remembered that right before she had fallen asleep against Loz in Midgar, she had been watching the dark clouds' approach. How long have I been asleep? Kitty had no answer… of course she didn't. Kitty didn't even know of the date she had awoken in Midgar… she hadn't asked— she hadn't thought of it. She felt stupid for not having thought about it.

Looking around the gloomy room, Kitty decided that first thing was first; she would clean up for whoever had helped her. It was the least she could do to demonstrate her gratitude. Moving to the windows, Kitty moved the curtains aside to let through some daylight. She was met with a sight that was unfamiliar to her… a fast kinetic crowd of people below snaking through the narrow streets as if claustrophobia didn't even exist, and buildings on either side of the street closely packed together for as far as the eye could see.

Kitty's breath hitched as she caught sight of a few of the people in the crowd: three men were walking on stilts ten feet tall, looking down upon the people below them; a few women could be seen walking down the street with the most bizarre-looking clothes Kitty had ever seen; there were even animals walking amongst the crowd here and there, some with pink and yellow fur, and others that were some kind of hybrid Kitty had never laid eyes upon before.

Kitty was just about to shift the curtains back into place over the window, when she heard a dreadfully familiar voice echoing from the halls outside of the room's door.

"I can't believe you left her alone, Loz! You fool, she could've decided to up and leave, and we wouldn't have had any inkling. Damn you!" Kadaj's voice caused Kitty to turn pale… she remembered how fondly he had peered down at his double-bladed sword on that afternoon that they had caught her. How deviant he and his brother's had seemed then, how much her heart had beat with fear.

"I was hungry!" Loz defended, "and besides she looked fast asleep when I left. I don't think a blow horn would've woken her."

Kitty grinned slightly at this… the brothers did have a distinct bit of humor about them, she noted. But they were still very dangerous, and Kitty didn't want to be tied up again… or killed for that matter… so her decision was made. Quick as a dart Kitty threw open the window panes, causing them to make a loud squeak of protest and was out the window the moment the hotel room's door burst open.

The three brother's who had been walking swiftly down the hall, had heard the window pane's protest, and came running. Throwing the door wide open so as it banged vociferously against the wall, Kadaj ran forward to the room's only window. "Mother!" he caught a glimpse of fingers upon the roof's parapet and a shimmer of silver hair, until both slid out of sight.

Kadaj turned to his brothers with narrowed eyes, "Shit!" he swore. "She's escaped; Mother's little vessel has escaped! Mother's going to kill me…" Kadaj paced back and forth in front of the window, his head bowed in thought, he suddenly stopped, and slowly a smirk began to form upon his lips. "Loz, want to play a game?"

Loz raised an eyebrow, "Depends on what type…"

When Kitty had heard the sound of the door bursting open, she had panicked. She hadn't expected Kadaj and his brother's to be able to hear the window's creak or its moan of protest when she had crouched upon its sill. Startled, she had fallen upon the slanted roof, and as she slid down its length she'd tried to get a hold of one of its many moldy shingles. But every time she would dig her fingernails into one it would always come apart at the momentum of her speed and weight, leaving her to topple over the edge. There, in the flash of a moment, she had hurriedly pawed out at anything in her reach, and had fortunately caught a hold of the roof's parapet.

In the moment of relief, Kitty had looked up at the window she had fallen from, and had seen Kadaj there staring at her with his wide blue-flecked-green eyes. He hadn't narrowed them, or smirked at her, he'd done nothing but watch her in… fear?

She felt her fingers slip from the parapet railings, and glanced down at the ground. There she saw a man coming with an immense wheelbarrow full of clothes he was almost right beneath her… if she timed it just right—

Kitty slipped and fell. Down she went, until she landed with a soft thud amongst the piles of clothes in the wheelbarrow. Kitty breathed in a sigh of relief, and then glanced back up at the building she had fallen from. She whistled in disbelief, five stories… not too scary.

"Hey! You get out of my cart!" shouted the carter behind Kitty.

Kitty turned to look at him, noticing that the wheelbarrow had descended from its height, "Oh… sorry sir, I— I must have been sleep walking again," Kitty gave the carter man a fake smile of sheepishness.

"Sleepwalking… what a bunch of rubbish…" the man muttered under his breath, as he gazed down at her. He wore a long baggy navy blue shirt and jeans.

Kitty narrowed her eyes at him, but did not let her irritation get the better of her. She knew better than to allow something like that to happen. She heard some commotion in the street, and craned her neck to look around the carter's gaunt body, a streak of purple light— something moving at the speed of light— Loz. How Kitty knew that it was him… she honestly couldn't tell herself… Maybe it had been the chocolate bar that she had eaten that night at the church all alone… perhaps that was why all her senses were becoming a jumbled up mess of sounds and scenes and smells. Perhaps…

"Oh god!" Kitty immediately buried herself amongst the multicolored clothing— if Loz saw her then Kadaj would— Kitty's head throbbed and Kitty remembered an excerpt from a time she didn't remember waking up to. Kadaj walked forward and fell to his knees in front of the her, he put a hand on Kitty's back, "Shhhh… don't fight her…," he whispered.

Kitty began to sob; it hurt so much. She had so many questions; she couldn't just let someone take her over without answers.

"Just let her through," Kadaj soothed. His voice wasn't deadly sweet, or smug, it wasn't sarcastic or apathetic… it was actually… reassuring. "Just let yourself go. It will all be over in a second. Trust me."

Another spasm of excruciating pain and Kitty was out cold.

Kitty gasped. What had happened? What had happened throughout the time of her black out to her awakening? Kitty's heart beat and her breath came out in pants. Concealed by an immense mountain of clothes Kitty closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. It will all be alright…

"Hey girl! I thought I told you to get out!"

The blood in Kitty's face drained, as the carter came around and found her in the midst of the clothes, then grabbed her by the shoulders. He pulled her up with surprising strength for such a gaunt man, he pulled her up so as she now kneeled on her knees.

"Do you want me to call a SOLDIER to—" the cart man continued to speak, yet Kitty ignored him. Her eyes searched the crowd for any signs of Loz or his two brothers. He can run at the speed of light… what next? Kitty wondered if the chocolate bar she had eaten was the reason why the three brothers weren't so human. Perhaps Kitty was becoming less of a human herself every second that ticked away.

"Listen," Kitty interrupted the carter from his tirade that she had completely missed, "I'll give you this, if you'll take me to a place where an orphan, like me, can find help."

"Help…?" The man gazed greedily at the dazzling golden chain that Kitty held out from around her neck. It contained a mediocre-sized golden star pendant glimmering with authentic sparkling white jewels. Kitty had received it on her seventh birthday from some anonymous relative, who had written on a card: Dear Kitty, I wish I could be there to see you on your birthday. But since I can't come… I am entrusting you with this gift. It is a locket… one that you will not be able to open so easily— and there the letter had ended. Clary and Kitty had stared and stared at the letter after reading it the first time, Clary had turned it over to see if, whoever it had been, had written on the other side of the letter… but the rest could not be found. Sometimes Kitty would stay up late during school nights, always trying to figure out how to open her locket. Yet every time would leave her even more frustrated than the first. Now fourteen, Kitty still hadn't figured out a way of opening it, and figured that if she couldn't open it— and since she wasn't on earth anymore— then what was the point of keeping the locket?

Half of the time Kitty barely even knew that she was wearing the necklace anyway… she had grown used to it always resting upon her collarbone out of sight from her aunt, who had prohibited her from wearing the necklace years ago. Yet despite her aunt's wishes, Kitty had put the necklace on nonetheless; it had lured her to it… and once she had it on she'd immediately forgotten about it. It was only during those sporadic times that Kitty would remember her locket and stay up late into the night trying to open it.

Kitty stared down at the locket now, she felt a deep feeling of regret and guilt as she thought of what she was about to do. But she didn't know what else there was to do since the brothers were still around… and she didn't want to be recaptured.

"Yes, I need help," Kitty whispered, "for the exchange of this necklace I want you to take me to the closest police station, okay?"

"Police station…?" the man looked confused.

Kitty remembered that this wasn't earth, and she gave the man an apologetic expression. "Forgive me, sir, I meant can you take me to whoever helps orphans in this village?"

The man nodded.

"Good," Kitty replaced the necklace against her collarbone, "I will give you this once we get there."

The man turned to walk back to the handlebars of the wheelbarrow, and held the whole thing up, as if there wasn't a whole one hundred twenty pounds added to the scale. He grunted, and then began to push the hoary thing along into the crowd of rushing hectic people.

Kitty had once again tediously buried herself into the pile of clothes, so as no one— specifically the brothers—would see her and recognize her. She sighed once she was fully concealed, no one would be able to discover her now… As soon as the wheelbarrow began to move— like, really move— Kitty began to rethink her plans.

The man was fast for such a scrawny guy. Instead of walking, he ran through the streets, shouting out obscenities to people who got in his way.

Kitty's eyes went wide, she'd never ridden a wheel barrow before, and its rickety balance scared her to death. She closed her eyes, breathing in and out… in and out—

"Get out of the way, you little scum!" came the carter's voice through Kitty's meditation. She opened her eyes.

The wheel barrow picked up speed.

"Move!"

Kitty felt sick, and closed her eyes.

The carter's speed increased through the crowd of people, and there was a loud cacophonous uproar. The wheelbarrow lurched… and then there was a cry of protest— the wheelbarrow swerved, and hit something hard.

Kitty along with all of the clothes in the wheelbarrow fell out of it, and landed hard against the paved street. So much for a long ride to where ever he was taking me…

Kitty hissed in pain her eyes tightly closed, she had landed hard on her side having bashed the left side of her forehead against the road. She opened her eyes and gazed at her blurry surroundings, as soon as Kitty's vision cleared, she gasped. A few inches away lay her locket in the rubble of the street in between someone's shoes. A whole crowd had gathered around her and the accident scene, Kitty groaned. Just what she needed: some witnesses that would be more than willing to blab out her latest whereabouts with the help of a double bladed sword or gun at their throat for extra guidance.

Swiftly Kitty swiped her hand over her locket, and just barely noticed that the chain had broken, before jumping up and bolting through the crowd. As soon as the carter had seen her get up, he had dropped the number of clothes he had been busy picking up, and called after her in a fury.

"Come back here! Hey! You, come back!"

But the carter's shouts were drowned out by a clap of thunder. As quickly as she could, Kitty dodged around and in between people trying not to bump into anyone that would cause her trouble. For a while that was all Kitty did; she dodged during a thunderstorm. But as soon as Kitty spotted a vacant bridge that crossed over a little stream, Kitty turned onto it breaking out of the bustling crowd.

The bridge was small but welcoming; as soon as Kitty was upon it she stopped and leaned over the side parapet, breathing heavily.

"Sheesh… that was a close one," Kitty whispered to herself, with a small but sad smile. She still hadn't figured out where she was, and where she should be heading. Reaching up to touch the wet liquid against the left side of her face, Kitty could tell that she was bleeding heavily. Wincing, Kitty bowed her head. She ran the fingers of her left hand through the annoying wisps of hair that had come undone during her little fiasco in the wheelbarrow; she vowed to herself that she would never ride a wheelbarrow again.

Thunder rumbled over head, a drop of rain fell on Kitty's nose. She ignored it.

Looking down at the necklace that she held in her right hand, Kitty stared at what was left of the golden chain holding her gorgeous locket. How could she have been so stupid…? Kitty knew that after all of the years she had hidden the necklace from her aunt's view— after all of the years she had worn the locket, and had spent countless night's trying to open it— that she could never give the locket up. The locket had become a part of her, Kitty realized as she stared down upon the star's dazzling façade.

Pitter-patter… pitter-patter… Kitty yelped when the clouds above began to let loose a barrage of rain that came hurtling down. She ran for cover— across the bridge to a grove of trees looming tall above the building of the village.

Underneath the trees was just enough coverage for Kitty to keep dry, she hugged herself, and crouched against the stump of one tree.

Plip-plop… plip-plop… Kitty had only been crouching there for a couple of seconds, when the rain had found her. Immediately standing up, Kitty decided that maybe staying in one spot had not been such an excellent idea after all, especially not with the three brothers still out there looking for her. Kitty shivered, and dashed out into the rain, her right hand— she clutched tightly against her chest, protecting the one thing that was related to her; the one thing that had been 'entrusted' to her by a relative.

Out on the bridge, puddles were already forming upon the uneven cobblestones, and accidentally Kitty caught a glimpse of herself—

Silver strands of hair… NO!

Has she seen herself?

I wouldn't put it past her. Kitty's very observant.

Well then hopefully she'll put two and two together. I do not want her wandering those streets alone, without their guidance— they weren't suppose to leave her alone anyway… and yet they did…

I promise you that they won't let it happen again, mother.

Well then… I guess that's that for right now.

Yes.

Good. How many days do we have left?

…

Nice and long! R&R, please!