Aya's P.O.V.

I felt disoriented and confused. I stumbled onto the couch and brought my hands to my eyes, feeling something wet. Had I been crying? Why was I crying? Dio had a strange look on his face as well. It felt like I'd just forgotten something important and I couldn't shake the feeling.

"What just happened?' asked Dio in confusion. "It feels like I just woke up from some crazy dream…"

"I'm not sure," I responded with a sigh. But then I smiled. "All I remember is that you just proposed to me."

Dio smiled back at me, coming over and sitting next to me on the couch. I happily rested my head on his shoulder. Then, a shock ran through me. Not the electricity of Dio's touch, but a different sort of shock. It felt like someone should be teasing us right about now, but why did I feel like that? It had always been just Dio and me….right?

"Something's definitely wrong here," said Dio, slipping away from me.

"You think so too? Doesn't it feel like something's missing? Or someone? Something feels out a place. Something isn't right."

"I feel it too, but what?!" growled Dio in frustration. "As far as I can remember, it has always been the two of us together. But I feel like there's someone crying out to me...someone...who?! Why can't I remember?! This is insane!"

Suddenly, tears started coming out and I was whimpering like a dog. I didn't know what was making me cry like this, but I couldn't stop. Dio wasn't faring much better either. His face fell into a depressing look. He looked broken.

"I feel like we need to be somewhere," I growled.

"I know!" he hissed. "I know...what did we forget?! It's driving me insane! I'm about to punch the wall!"

I looked down at Snowball as he brushed my leg, the bunny looked upset and he held something in his mouth.

"What's this?" I asked as I snatched it from his mouth. My memory came rushing back. "That bastard! Too bad he wasn't able to erase this…"

"What are you talking about?" Dio grumbled.

I handed it to him. It was a photograph of Arisu I'd taken on her most recent birthday. I wanted it as a keepsake to see how much she'd grown. I'd hidden it in the floorboards with some other precious memories of mine. It's a good thing that Snowball dug that out, otherwise we'd never have remembered her.

"We forgot our own daughter?" Dio said, looking forlorn. "No magic should be able to erase someone so special to us."

"Don't worry. We'll get Kuro back for this," I assured him. "But first, we have to figure out where exactly he took her. And if it's even accessible to humans…"

"And if it isn't?"

I smiled. "We aren't your average humans. We've been through this a million times before. Do you really think we'll be beaten now?"

"We really could be killed this time," he warned. "Our luck can only continue to a certain extent before it runs out."

"That's a risk I have to take. I know he's stronger than all our other enemies. He took Dio to the ground, helpless, with just one of his attacks. But he had my daughter and mama bear was coming out. Besides, I think I can finally die happy. After all these years of being with the two of you...I've gotten all I need out of life. Although, it would be a bit of a shame if I died before getting the chance to marry you."

"I'm in this with you," said Dio. "But once this whole mess is over, we're moving. We need to get as far from Germany as possible. Nothing but bad memories linger here. If we make it out, promise you'll move to America with me."

I flinched a bit. I never expected him to ask me to move away. This had always been my hope. I'd been born here and I wanted to stay here. If I ever moved, I feared I'd forget about mother and father. I didn't want to forget them, even though they'd caused me a great deal of hurt. I didn't want to forget the good memories. And this cabin, it was my first real house too. I couldn't even imagine abandoning it.

"You don't like the idea of moving." It wasn't a question.

I sighed. "No. I don't. But I agree with your reasoning. After we save Arisu we need to move before someone else can track us down. America is called the home of the free. Maybe we really will be free there."

Dio nodded. "Now that that's settled, there's a bigger question. How do we even begin to look for Arisu?"

Arisu's P.O.V.

I woke up with an enormous migraine. It felt like the veins in my head were trying to burst out. I winced and rubbed my temples, but it did nothing to help. I was really dizzy too. I felt awful. "Mom!" I called out, but then I remembered I wasn't home anymore.

I gazed around me. I was still within the cage Kuro had put me in. I wanted to go home. Right about now, if I were home and had a migraine like this, mom would do whatever she could to make me feel better. She'd order dad to grab ibuprofen or maybe even an ice pack, anything that would ease my pain. I doubt Kuro would do that for me and I wasn't going to ask.

"Rough sleep?" asked Kuro, walking out from the shadows. Right now, he really looked like a villain. He was a villain. And I was his captive "princess."

"No, I only slept on an ice cold, metallic floor. I got the best rest of my life. In fact, it was so great I woke up with a migraine!"

"No need for an attitude," Kuro snapped at me. "If you're in pain, I can fix that. All you have to do is ask me nicely."

"I don't want any favors from you!" I spat at him.

He sighed. "If you keep acting like this, I'll have no choice but to...if you won't behave, I won't even warn you of the danger. I suppose you'll just have to find out when it's too late. Now I strongly suggest you apologize for your rude behavior."

"Or what?" I hissed. "You'll kill me? You said I couldn't die in this world. And if that's just a bluff, then please kill me. I'd rather suffer having a knife thrust through my head than this. And I'd appreciate it if you'd shut up! Every time you open your mouth, my headache gets worse."

"I can heal you of that," he replied. "That is, for the right price."

"Price?"

"I doubt you'd accept, considering the mood you're in, but I'll forgive you for your insolence if you kiss me."

"You're right," I laughed. "I'd never accept that."

"Why must you be so stubborn?" he sighed. "I'm sure that we could have a lot of fun if you forgot about those two humans."

"I don't want to forget them! They're important to me!"

"And you're important to me."

"Then...bring them here too!" I suggested hopefully. "We could all live together."

Kuro looked like he was considering it for a moment, but then shook his head. "I don't trust those two whatsoever. And besides, I grow jealous very easily. I don't want anyone else playing with my toys. Besides, the problem has already been solved. They don't know you anymore. But I know you. I'm the only one who will ever know you, so you really should be more friendly."

I gritted my teeth together in anger. "If you really wanted me to be friendly to you...what do you even know about friendship? Friends don't lock each other up. Friends don't monopolize people from their own families. And real friends wouldn't threaten each other. You seemed nice to me before, Kuro, but now I see you're really not."

Kuro's superior look disappeared, replace with a look of pure rage. My cage started to rattle and I screamed in fear. I knew he couldn't kill me, so some may say my fear was irrational, but he could still hurt me as much as he wanted. He could rip me apart and I'd have to endure that pain with no risk of death. He could allow me to suffer forever…

"I'm sorry!" I cried out. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

I kept apologizing over and over, tears in my eyes, until the rattling stopped. Suddenly, he teleported inside the cage with me. I recoiled as he came closer, backing myself against the end of the cage.

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked in fear.

He took hold of my wrist and pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me tight. He...was hugging me.

"I wish you wouldn't hate me so," he sighed in my ear. "You have no idea how lonely I am. This vast, empty space is my home and most of my kind kill themselves because they can't stand the isolation. I've been longing to find a beautiful girl like you to spend my time with. I don't mean to frighten and sadden you. I just can't control my anger. Please...don't hate me."

The dark aura around Kuro suddenly changed. He suddenly seemed so sad and completely alone. I wanted to push him off of me, but I couldn't. I hugged him back, still crying. I then started to stroke his hair to calm him, since he was crying now too. It felt awkward, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"D-Don't cry," I said, feeling a bit panicked. "Hey….come on. Aren't you a strong guy? Really...this is embarrassing."

But there was nothing I could say that would make him stop.

"Geez…"

Aya's P.O.V.

I grabbed a bottle off the shelf. Maybe, this could create some miracle to help us out. Dio had retrieved this for me from father's mansion. The bottle that had held the magic water that Ogre had given to me. I hadn't ended up using every last drop, there was just the tiniest pool of the water resting in the bottle.

"You think that can help?" Dio asked, sounding skeptical.

I shrugged. "It's the only idea I've got. Unless you have a better method…"

He shook his head and sighed. "It's worth a shot. But how would we use it?"

"Maybe if we believe hard enough…"

"Stop," he said. "This is starting to sound like some cheesy movie."

"Well, maybe if we dump the rest of this on the floor and think of Arisu, it could guide us to Arisu?"

"Let's try it."

I opened the bottle and tipped it over, letting the last of the water drip down onto the floor. All the while, I thought of Arisu and how much I wanted to find her. Then, something happened. The water started a reaction.

I'll leave it there. Yay! Cliffhanger! Please don't kill me.