I fell onto one of the infirmary beds, safely hidden behind a curtain. Rein sat in a chair next to me. My stomach felt as if someone were ripping it apart. I lay down on the pillow and covered my face with my hands.

Why us? Why did it have to be us?

"I'm sorry Rein, for making you lie like that to all of our friends. You must feel horrible," I said, still hiding my face. My voice shook.

Rein smiled weakly.

"It's okay Fine. You had to lie too, didn't you? We both agreed to do this. And right now you're the one in the most pain. Let me see your wound."

Rein helped me take off my uniform. Her eyes widened at the deep blood-red gash that ran across my stomach.

It had been our first night. And the master was a lot harsher than I thought. He sent hundreds of them at us, literally hundreds...

I can't believe I'm still alive.

Rein quickly used prominence to heal my injury. The pain disappeared, but a scar remained. And I knew that this scar would never go away. After I put on my uniform again, I glanced at Rein. She was silent. I knew she was trying to be strong for my sake, but I could tell she was on the verge of tears. I felt a stab in my heart. It didn't matter if I suffered. As long as my sister didn't. She was more delicate than I was. She broke easliy. She needed someone for support. I wanted to be there for her.

"Rein, you don't need to hold back for me. Just let it out. Let it all out. I'll cry with you." I went over and hugged her.

"Fine…" her voice caught and she wrapped her arms around me, tears trickling down her cheeks.

I closed my eyes and started crying too.

"Fine, I'm so sorry I couldn't heal the wound sooner! You must've been in so much pain. I'm so sorry!" She said between hiccups. Her body was shaking so much.

I hugged her tighter.

"Baka, what are you saying? As long as were together, we can get though anything, even this. Don't worry Rein. Never give up hope," I whispered softly.

She didn't answer.

I knew she doubted it.

I did too.

But I had to be strong. For Rein, for Shade, for everyone else.

Yet I couldn't stop my tears from flowing.

We were so alone.

Alone in a world of darkness.

And we would never be able to get out.

"Let's get to work now, shall we?" the monster growled.

"Yes, master," Rein and I replied monotonously.

He opened the cage. Demons and other evil creatures streamed out, charging at us. Rein and I stood our ground and raised our wands. A bright glow lit up the darkness and the deafening roar of several hundred monsters sounded through the silence. The master studied us from afar.

This happened every night, every night when we spun the Black Ring and were teleported here. Our master wanted to research us, to see how powerful the prominence could be. And he had no mercy.

He had us trapped from the very beginning. He was stronger than one could ever imagine, and if we did not give in to his commands, he would have destroyed our whole planet. We couldn't let that happen. It was our duty, as princesses, to protect Fushigi Boshi, to make sure our subjects were happy and content. We would do anything to preserve peace on our planet, even sacrifice our own lives. I thought we were ready. But I was wrong.

My head hurt. My arm hurt. I felt nauseous. I wanted to throw up. But I couldn't falter. One wrong move and I would get killed. I had silently vowed that I would stay alive no matter what. I couldn't leave Rein alone. So I ignored the fatigue, I ignored the pain, and I just kept fighting.

Then it happened.

I turned away from Rein for just a second. And a piercing scream shattered the darkness. It was only our second night, and I already hadn't been able to protect her. In one angry sweep I disintergrated the demon that had gotten a hold of her foot, but the damage was done. The tears came again. They were always there these days. Yes, I hated the master and I hated the demons. But I hated the tears the most.

The sun rose once again. We had survived another night of terror. And another day has come.

But life during the day was none less difficult.

Rein came to the school on crutches. I had healed the wound as much as I could after we came back to our room, but there hadn't been enough time for a full recovery. Rein had told me I was being stupid blaming it all on myself, but I can't help it. Her injury is much worse than that little gash I got on my stomach two nights before.

As we suspected, the crutches attracted a lot of attention at school. Bright was the first to come over and ask about it. We knew this was going to happen so we made up a story to convince everyone. It was the same one we had told Poomo and Camelot.

"Hehe, I twisted my ankle after I fell down the stairs after school." Rein grinned sheepishly.

"Does it hurt still?" Bright asked, his crimson eyes filled with concern.

"No, no, it doesn't hurt at all! I'm perfectly fine!" Rein replied cheerfully, shaking her head.

Bright exhaled. "I see. That's good to hear. Be more careful next time, okay?"

He then patted her on the head, smiled, and left.

Rein watched him go. When she finally turned to face me, her ocean blue eyes sparkled with tears.

"Fine, why does it hurt so much?"

I didn't know what to say. And I knew it was useless to try to comfort her with words. So I just went over and hugged her and put all of my feelings in that hug. Rein managed a faint smile.

"As long as were together we can get through this, right?"

I nodded. Rein wiped away her tears and we both took a deep breath and hurried to class.

We didn't notice a little figure dart around the corner, running quickly away.

The rest of the day went fine, until gym came around.

I hadn't told Rein because I didn't want to worry her anymore than she already was, but I had hurt my hand slightly the night before when I went to save her. It's no big deal, really, just a little damage to the bone. I knew I should've skipped gym and went to the nurse to have it treated but I didn't want to alarm Rein. And just my luck–we were playing dodgeball today. As long as I don't catch anything with my left hand, I'll be fine, is what I thought. But of course something went wrong. During the game some idiot whipped the ball hard and it was headed toward me and I didn't have time to dodge it so I did what any other person would do: raise my hands to shield my face.

Wrong move.

As soon as the ball hit my left hand a scorching pain went through me as if my hand was on fire. I fell, clutching my left wrist, while the rest of my teammates ran over. Rein, who had been watching from the sidelines, pushed to the front.

"Fine, what's wrong? What happened to your hand?" She rushed at me.

"N-Nothing's wrong! I just twisted it a little when I caught the ball!"

The look from her eyes told me that she knew I was lying.

Shade came forward.

"Okay, today I'm definitely bringing you to the infirmary." His violet eyes bored into mine. I could see the worry, the questions in them.

Oh god. Not Shade.

But he pulled me up, grabbed my right hand, and dragged me towards the school before I could even protest. Rein followed closely behind on her crutches. She didn't even try to stop him.

In the infirmary, Shade ordered me to sit down on the bed and he inspected my hand. His eyes narrowed at what he discovered.

"Fine, what do you mean it's nothing! You fractured your wrist!" He looked at me angrily. "You can't fracture your wrist by just blocking a ball! It was already hurt before, right?"

He was grip around my injured hand was getting tighter.

"Ow!" I grimaced.

Shade let go immediately and turned away.

"...Sorry."

We sat there in silence.

My head was bowed.

I couldn't face Shade.

I couldn't face Rein.

How did this happen?

Suddenly, Shade spoke up.

"Why didn't you tell anybody about your wrist? Why didn't you tell me? You've done nothing but avoid me in the past few days. What's going on, Fine?" Shade sounded hurt.

Each question was like a stab to my heart.

"T-There's really nothing going on, but..." I couldn't meet Shade's eyes.

"But what?" he pushed.

"But..." I tried to think of an excuse. None.

"Becuase..." I couldn't get the words out.

Suddenly tears started rolling down my cheeks.

Again.

I hate tears so much.

"Fine, why are you crying?" Shade's voice was softer now.

But I knew he was still confused and frustrated, and worried.

And it was all my fault.

The tears came down faster.

"C-Crying? I'm crying? Oh...W-Wow, I really am. I-It's weird...the tears just...came out...haha, I'm crying..." I stuttered. "I-I think I should just go back to my room now. Tell everybody I'm sorry, okay?" I stood up, rubbed my eyes, and went out before Shade could say anything. As I closed the door behind me, I noticed Rein was holding my right hand. I waited for her to say something. Was she going to yell at me?

She didn't.

Instead she just gave me that kind, gentle smile of hers and squeezed my hand.

"C'mon, we have to heal your wrist, right?"

The tears came again.

"Thanks, Rein." I squeezed her hand back.

A couple hours later, night came upon us.

It was time to go.

We stood before the master. For some reason, he didn't send us directly to work today. I could only imagine what he wants from us.

"Futago hime, you are having trouble with some friends of yours, aren't you?"

We both gasped. How did he know? And what was he planning?

"I cannot allow my dolls to have such mixed feelings while I collect research. Something must be done."

"What are you-"

"Don't interrupt!" he scowled.

I fell silent, but couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that was settling on me.

"Hmph. Such foolish little pets. Don't worry, I won't hurt them," came the master's growl.

Rein and I sighed in relief.

"You will."

I wasn't even able to fully understand the meaning of his words when there was a blinding flash of light and all became dark.

Another chapter finished! PLEASE REVIEW! (I'm on my knees begging!)