Thanks for all the reviews guys. I hope you keep reading my story. This will be my 9th. Enjoy…

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Chapter 9: The Curse

"Interesting place you have here Strawberries," Natsume said smirking.

"That was only the Healing Chamber, the Dungeon, the Torture Chamber, the IT Room, the Ancient Library, the Weaponry Chambers, the Resting Couch, the Meditation Chambers and the Magic Illustration Chambers," Mikan said counting her fingers.

"Well, do you have the 'refreshing' chambers? That's where I'm heading," Natsume said.

"Down that hallway, to your left and be careful, the door of the ladies' is in blue color and the gentlemen' is in pink," Mikan pointed out.

"What the hell?" Natsume said.

"Don't ask me, they demanded me to design the Underworld this way," Mikan defended herself.

"What kind of 'cuckoo' people are they?" Natsume insulted.

"You'll be surprised to what they're planning later," Mikan added. "I'll wait here."

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"Here we are. The last chamber to show you, the Training Chambers. Come on in," Mikan said dragging Natsume.

"Damien-sama! Damien-sama!" Mikan shouted as she entered the room.

"Urusai, Mi-chan! I'm practicing here," A man with shoulder length blonde hair and delicate green eyes said. He was wearing a black coat overlapping his green sleeveless leather shirt and army type of pants.

"There you are. Ne, are you busy?" Mikan asked smiling.

"Do I look like I'm busy?" Damien said sarcastically.

"Well, anyway. I need you to train-"

"Natsume Hyuuga. It's been a while," Damien stood up and hand over his hand for a shake.

"Do I know you?" Natsume asked.

"The meeting hasn't start?" Damien asked Mikan. Mikan shook her head. "Figures, when he has come back with his memories, bring him to me. In the mean time, I can't train someone who doesn't know me," Damien pointed out.

"OK then. The meeting starts in 5 minutes. Are you joining us?" Mikan asked.

"And miss the whole entire crowd of gossips. Not on my watch," Damien joked, his hair flying down onto his face.

"So I'll expect you in 5 minutes or so," Mikan said and waved to Damien.

Damien waved back. Natsume followed Mikan out of the chamber.

"Well, time's up. We'll need to go to the Long Chamber," Mikan said.

"The 'what' Chamber?" Natsume asked.

"Here, hold my hand," Mikan lay out her hand. Natsume holds it. "Imaeto chambers wakaretes," Mikan chanted. Then the passage goes blur…

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"Now let's discuss about the main problem. Persona," A man with a blue cape, with silver eyes and brown hair said.

"Thank you, Master Kirian. As you know, we have the guest that Master Idnos requested," Persona said pointing in the direction of Natsume. "Natsume Hyuuga, arise," commanded Persona.

Mikan nudged Natsume's elbow and whispered to tell him to stand up. Natsume stood and look at the whole room filled with unfamiliar faces.

"As you all know, Natsume has been a part of our community for the past 8 years since he came to the Academy," Persona said. The chamber was filled with 'oohs' and 'ahhs'.

"Even if I have, why haven't I ever met any of you?" Natsume asked.

"Your little 'strawberry' friend here has made a deal with us 3 years ago," Persona said pointing in the direction of a smiling Mikan.

"3 YEARS AGO?!?!" Natsume shouted. "You knew him since last 3 years and you could still act like nothing has happen?"

"Calm down Natsume. This is not the Persona you used to know," A man who has blonde hair and violet eyes said. He wore the same blue cape as Master Kirian and Mikan.

"Eh?" Natsume said confused.

Mikan pulled her chair back and stood up, and then she stretched her body a little. "Ahh that felt good. Sitting in a chair for 5 minutes without any entertainment is boring," she whined.

"Mikan, would you care?" the man asked Mikan.

"No problem, Master Idnos," Mikan said then gave Natsume a wink and ran towards Persona.

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"Now Persona, if you'd please," Master Idnos said to Persona.

"As you wish," Persona said kneeling in front of Mikan.

"Observe," Mikan said in the direction of Natsume.

Mikan laid her palm on Persona's head. Persona took out his mask which revealed two absolutely beautiful purple eyes.

"Imae 'hearto' wa thidzusu ken memoir za issho REVERSE!" Mikan chanted.

A flash of yellow light glowed around Persona and some sparkling sound was made after that. The light slowly fades and Natsume found Mikan behind Master Idnos.

Natsume POV

Why is she hiding behind him? I ask myself.

She's tugging onto that Master guy's cloak hard. What's up?

Then I look towards Persona. He slowly opens his eyes. When I look closer, it wasn't purple anymore, it was…black.

"Who are you?" Persona demanded.

This is definitely Persona. No doubt about it.

"Master Idnos…what is that girl doing here?" Persona asked. "She wasn't supposed to be here."

"Persona," I said.

"Hyuuga Natsume. The dark hearted boy, in this inhumane place. Has the world gone mad?" Persona cried out.

"Calm down Persona," Master Idnos said. "You have succeeded your mission Mikan. Your training will start tonight as promise."

"Yokatta! Ne, Natsume, did you see what I did?" Mikan said gleefully clapping, running towards me.

I was stunned. I couldn't move. This girl whom I have cared for, I know nothing of her, of this. It's surprising. She's…she's amazing!

"Natsume?" Mikan said bringing me back from my world to reality.

"Huh?" I shrugged.

EEYYAAAAAAAHHH!!!!

A screamed was made in the chamber, loud and clear as it was, it belonged to MIKAN!

"Persona, calm down!" Master Kirian said holding Persona's shoulders.

"That witch! The witch! Why are you defending her? Kill her! She doesn't belong here! You saw what she did months 2 years ago! You saw it! Kill her!" Persona went bizarrely mad. He was screaming and screaming. What did happen 2 years ago?

"I'll get Persona to the Resting Couch. We'll need to readjust his memory for a while until Mikan wakes up," Master Kirian said and holds onto Mikan.

"No way you're letting her touch me! DO YOU HEAR ME!!! She'll never appear in front of me again!" Persona shouted.

"Someone, go and call Lady Sinori, Mikan's injured seriously," Master Idnos said.

"MIKAN!" Damien shouted and pushed me out of the way.

"What are you just standing there, help us get her into the Healing Chambers," Damien shouted in my direction.

I was totally clueless. So I walked and crouched next to Damien and saw Mikan. Half of her whole body was burnt. Everything on the half.

"What…what happened?" I manage to ask.

"You fool! She was next to you, how couldn't you see what happen?" Damien snapped.

"Damien, calm. He was in his own world; we couldn't blame him for this. We honestly should have expected this from Natsume. Come on," Master Idnos said.

What are you doing? The traitor is right there! Kill her for darn sake! Echoes the hallway when Master Kirian dragged Persona to the Dungeons.

"Kill her? Why her?" I whispered to myself. Then I stared at Mikan again. Who are you?

Lady Sinori came into the chambers.

"Master!" she shouted and ran to Mikan.

"What in the world happen to her? I was away for 10 minutes and she nearly got killed! Have you no protection over our Master?" she snapped holding onto Mikan's head.

"Master?" I asked randomly.

"Sire, explain things to him. Me and Damien will handle Master," Lady Sinori said.

Master Idnos stood up and brushed off all the dust and blood of his clothes. Lady Sinori and Damien carried Mikan and chanted something and they disappeared. Probably to the Healing Chambers.

"Do you wish to know a secret? A secret you will have to keep with your life? The secret that will change your upmost personality?" Master Idnos suddenly said.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"Mikan to each and everyone here is GOD!" Master Idnos said.

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"GOD?! Why god?" I was shocked. I'm going to ask everything in my mind as the thought pops up. I need all the answers to all of my questions.

"She created some of us and all of this," said Master Idnos pointing to the whole chamber.

"You don't have to call me Master Idnos. Aikawa Sakura is better. On a second thought, maybe just Aikawa," Master Idnos said.

"Sa…saku…Sakura?! Are you related to MIKAN?!?!" I shouted.

"Naturally, I'm her father after all," Master Idnos said.

"Then who? What? How? When? Huh?" I mumbled everything in a sentence though I doubt he could understand anything.

"Mikan is Mikan. No one else. I'm her father, her mother ran away when she found out that she was pregnant, she gave birth and gave the child to her father and never told me about anything, and that child is obviously Mikan. I'm a senior to Mikan's mom, I fell in love with her and we had a secret relationship. It was 17 years ago when I fell in love and as you know, 16 years ago was when the both of you were born. Does that answer your questions?" Aikawa-san said.

I was shocked. He…he read my mind!

"Of course! Didn't Mikan tell you that she could read minds too?" Aikawa-san asked.

She could read…read minds? That means, all this while, she knows what I've been thinking. She knows how I feel? She knows who…who I like?

"That's the disadvantage of the Psychic Alice after all," Aikawa-san sighed.

"One more question," I said. Aikawa-san looked at me and smiled.

"She has far more greater power than you, Natsume. Much more. She can steal someone's Alice and she could also give someone an Alice," Aikawa-san said.

"How?" I asked confusingly.

"It runs in the blood. On my side of the family," Aikawa-san said.

"Wakarimasen (I don't understand)," I said.

"Since Azumi did not realize about my family's past, she doesn't know what runs in the blood of a Sakura," Aikawa-san said.

"The Sakura's are SORCERERS," he said.

"A sorcerer? Are you one?" I asked.

"Fortunately, no. It skips a generation to get the rank of a sorcerer. When Kirian-sama approached to me saying he found a sorceress in the Academy. I changed my identity to see who it was," Aikawa-san said.

"She looked just like Azumi only with a happy-go-lucky personality like me," Aikawa-san said.

"Heh, you got that right," I agreed. "But why did you say 'fortunately'?" I asked.

"A Sakura Sorcerer has a curse built inside them. A tragic curse which all of my family members have to endure," Aikawa-san said.

"So…what is it?" I asked.

"A wishing curse," Aikawa-san said.

"A…what?!" I shouted.

"Everything that she wishes for will instantly come true. But only negative wishes. For example, if she sees a CD that she wanted to buy and there left only one, when she wishes for it, it will NOT come true. But, when she has struggled to save up money to buy it, and found out the last CD was being paid by a person at a counter. She'll naturally get mad and wished for the CD to belong to her. That person will either die out of heart attack or suffocation," Aikawa-san pointed out.

"So, what you mean is, the wishes she made will come true in the end but ends up in a tragic way," I said.

"More or less. That's why I'm afraid," Aikawa-san said.

I can't help but to tilt my head to see what he meant. He saw my glance and looked away.

"You've heard about the fact that she's protecting you, right?" Aikawa-san asked.

I nodded my head in return.

"Do you have any idea who she's protecting you from?" Aikawa-san asked looking at me.

"Persona?" I guessed.

"Persona is a whole lot weaker than the person she's protecting you from," Aikawa-san said facing the ceiling.

"Then, who is it?" I asked looking on the floor.

"Her own mother, Azumi Yuka," Aikawa-san said.

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Mikan's POV

Huh? What's going on? I asked myself. Where am I?

"She's back. Master, how are you feeling?" I heard Lady Sinori said.

"I…I...I muh…" What's going on? I can't speak properly.

"Damien! COME!" Lady Sinori shouted.

"My lady," I heard Damien said.

"She can't speak, Damien. We have no choice," Lady Sinori said.

"But, we don't have Mikan's approval," Damien said.

"When you're with me you'll assign 'Mikan' as Master," Lady Sinori snapped.

giggle…giggle…

I opened my eyes. I can't help but to laugh a bit. Lady Sinori's character is absolutely amusing to me.

"It seems that you really have awoken, Master," Lady Sinori smiled.

I nodded.

"Well, then 'Master' would you approve?" Damien asked saying the word 'Master' sarcastically.

I tilted my head. What are you talking about? I asked.

"See! See! She can't speak and she's speaking only in her head! We have to save Master!" Lady Sinori snapped.

"Do you mind, my lady! URUSAI!!! (Shut up!!!)" Damien shouted.

Lady Sinori crawled to the corner of the Healing Chamber, sulking.

Where's Natsume? I asked.

He's fine. He's with Master Idnos. Damien said.

Ahh. You mean 'father'. I said.

EHHH! How'd you know Master Idnos is your father? Damien shrieked.

Damien. I am a Sorceress. I know everything that's happening in the Underworld Central. Including the fact that you have a crush on Miss Suzumiya (Miss Suzumiya is one of Lady Sinori's nurses in the Healing Chamber. Suzumiya is in charge of massaging people)

HOW'D YOU KNOW THAT TOO?! Damien asked shockingly.

I answered that question already right? I pointed out.

Right. Anyway, are you going to undergo another one of Lady Sinori's operations? Damien asked.

What for? Is there something wrong with me? I can't help but to ask.

You can't speak. Damien said straightforwardly.

Then, what am I doing now? I asked in a weird tone.

Your lips are moving but no voice is coming out of it.

Then, how are we communicating exactly? What? Then how was it that I could actually hear the tone of my voice.

You gave me a gift last year didn't you? The gift to speak with thoughts.

Oh, yes. Now how could I forget that? I tried getting up from the bed.

EEYAAAHH!!! I screamed. My left hand is covered with blood. I moved my hand to my shoulder; it wasn't a smooth skin anymore. It felt like, 'frozen blood'.

What happened? How'd this happen? I asked Damien-sama.

Master Idnos froze your blood. He cares for you, you know. Damien said with a sad tone in it. So I guess telepathy is almost the same as talking.

Yeah, I know. What is he doing with Natsume right now?

Probably telling the whole truth. Damien said smiling slyly.

Well, I guess I have to accept the operation.

Why's that? Damien asked.

The main purpose for Natsume to come to the Underworld today was so Natsume could regain his memory. I need quite an amount of energy to do so, even after what happen with Perso-…umm…where is Persona? I said.

He's being held captive in the Dungeon for a while.

But he could easily escape! Since I gave his memory back, he'll know how to use his full potential Alice energy. The guards wouldn't stand a chance. I shouted in my head.

This is why Master Kirian is guarding the Dungeon until we've done that mission of yours. Damien said.

OK then. On with the operation. I said.

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Natsume's POV

"So that's how it is. Ruka's kidnapped by the Anti-Alices and they want to exchange Mikan for Ruka. How troublesome," I said.

"My daughter is everything to me right now. She's fighting with her own mother. That's the worst bit. It's a matter of life and death between the both of them. Either way, I'll lose both of them," Aikawa-san sighed.

"What do you mean? Why'd you say that?" I asked.

"Mikan is powerful. Too powerful for the world to handle, that is why I asked someone to help her control her powers. 3 years ago, I persuaded Persona to make Mikan join our Dark Community and told him about Mikan's extraordinary powers, he went all greedy to possess her himself and ran out to capture her. I manage to cast a spell over him, on a certain point; he will do as I say. So the time Persona reached the Academy, my spell activated. So whatever I said will come out with is mouth instead," Aikawa-san said.

"Since she's too powerful, she will kill Azumi-chan easily, but Mikan will have a hard time dealing with the other Anti-Alice members especially Takashi Mimoru. That guy has a crush on Azumi-chan and he is quite powerful. He'll never let anyone touch Azumi-chan," Aikawa-san said.

"Does she have to take down the Anti-Alice on her own?" I asked.

"Yup. That's her destiny. She has to defeat her mother and in order to do so, she has to destroy the Anti-Alice," Aikawa-san pointed out.

"But why? Why does she have to kill her mother? Why can't she just erase her mother's memory and live peaceful lives together?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear what I said to you a few moments ago? Both of them will die," Aikawa-san said.

"WHY? HOW?" I snapped.

"Azumi-chan will die in the hands of Mikan," Aikawa-san said.

"And Mikan?" I asked.

"Her other curse will activate soon. The 'life' curse," Aikawa-san sighed.

"How many curses are there in her body?" I asked.

"4, all together there're 4. The wishing curse, the life curse, the memory curse and the special curse," he said.

"What's the special curse?" I asked.

"You've seen Master Kirian right? He's real name is Kaito Sakura. He is Mikan's grandfather," he pointed out.

"But you said, the rank of a sorcerer skips generation, so her grandfather should've died with that life curse," I said.

"He has managed to activate the special curse. The immortality curse," he said.

"So if Mikan activates that curse, she'll live! How do you activate it?" I asked.

"When she has lost all of her emotions and feelings," Aikawa-san said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"An immortal will lead their life on their own. They'll never understand what it's like to be loved or to love. No matter how, once that curse activates, no one knows how to break it. My father has been studying his whole life to find the solution to break the curse and I think he has already found it," Aikawa-san said.

"If he has, why won't he use it?" I asked curiously.

"Once the curse breaks, it'll activate the life curse. My family's life is very complicating. I don't think Mikan wants to give up her emotions and feelings at all," Aikawa-san said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Well, for one thing, she has you to protect," Aikawa-san chuckled. "Ever since her Alice upgraded and found out you were killing yourself by using your Alice every night, she has made a 'wish' to save and protect you. And as you know of her wishing curse, once she wishes for it, as you said, it will end tragically."

"As for 3 years ago, she thought it was her chance to make you live a normal life. That's why she made a deal with me," Aikawa-san continued.

"What happened 3 years ago?" I asked.

"Persona well, mentally, I erased your memories 3 years ago using Persona's body," Aikawa-san admitted.

"Why? Why'd you do that?" I snapped.

"Mikan told me to. I can never betray my own daughter, not when she has a short life to lead," Aikawa-san said. "You will retrieve your memories soon. Just after Mikan regains her energy back."

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How was that for the 9th chapter. Confusing? I know…sorry.