Surviving is much more painful than death.

- Tom Clancy

"Wake up or you're going to miss breakfast!" I heard someone banging on my door and yelling in at me. I put my pillow over my head and grunted. "Ariiiii!" I opened one eye and looked at the door. I reluctantly stood up and walked over to open it.

"What do you want, Satan?"

"It's breakfast time and we're having chocolate chip pancakes. Hurry up or you're going to starve."

"How are you so awake right now?"

"Easy. I don't sleep." I blinked.

"Umm, why exactly don't you sleep?"

"Easy again. I got a spell cast on me when I was little, and now I don't need to sleep."

"You physically don't need to sleep?"

"Nope. I am energized 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days, or 366 days, a year!" I shook my head.

"Sleep is sacred to me. I can't imagine not sleeping." I sighed. "Just give me a second to make myself look slightly decent, and then I'll be down."

"Kay!" She ran off and I closed my door.

"Well... It could be a lot worse... She could be an insomniac like *Kanato and be a frickin' psycho... Not that she isn't already one..." I shook my head as I walked over to my closet. 'What do I even have in here...?'

I looked through my closet, and I saw it had a lot of my clothes from back home. Several of my major fandom shirts were missing, so I could only assume that those fandoms were real here.

"Hmm... What's that?" I pulled out an outfit and smiled to myself. "Let's change things up a bit..."

"Good morning, Ari." I smiled as I entered the dining area.

"Morning." I sat down in my seat and saw everyone was there except Hasu, Momo, and Tadashi.

"You look nice today, Sis."

"Iris is right. It's way different than what you were wearing yesterday."

"Yesterday's look is a more typical look for me... Much more comfortable... I wanted to try this on, though."

The day before, I had been in the same clothes as school and Traverse Town. It consisted of a grey hoodie, a shirt that said *"Vote for Pedro", blue jeggings, and black slouch boots. I am the master of lazy dressing.

That day was a different case, though. When I was looking through my clothes, I had found an outfit that resembled the outfit I had worn for picture day back in preschool, just more mature looking. My outfit was made up of a blue button-up shirt, a black sweater vest, a light blue ribbon that was like a tie, a blue plaid miniskirt, and matching blue knee-high socks. I also had on a pair of black combat boots.

"I approve." I smiled.

"Thanks, Iris." She reached into her pocket.

"It is missing something, though... Hold on..." She pulled something black out of her pocket. "Here we are!" She handed what she had found to me.

"Fingerless gloves?"

"Yep. I know you like them, so that's a present from me to you."

"Thanks."

"Welcome." I slipped on the gloves as Selene came out of the kitchen.

"Chocolate chip pancakes are served!" She began to hand out plates to everyone. Tadashi entered the kitchen as she was doing so, and I looked over to him. He looked tired, still.

"Morning, everyone..."

"Good morning, sleepyhead." He trudged over to the table and collapsed into his seat.

"You okay, dude? You look like you didn't get any sleep."

"Look at your sister and gamer boy for the answer you seek." I looked at Nolan and Iris who looked away at nothing. "They were up late playing Soul Calibur, and all I could hear was shouting coming from them when they lost."

"Who won?" Iris grinned.

"Me!" Nolan slouched in his seat.

"She *pwned me..."

"And you call yourself the master gamer in the household."

"Hey, just be thankful I'm not playing Rhyme." Selene placed a plate in front of Nolan.

"That's just because Momo nor Sonia want *AllMates in the house."

"Which sucks. AllMates nowadays are capable of so many things. Not to mention you can link them to your *coil."

"Coil?"

"That's what we forgot to give Ari!" Iris facepalmed. She pulled a watch looking thing out and handed it to me. "That's a coil. You can make calls, check your email, and play games on it." She opened a menu and showed me. "It's already got our contacts in it."

"Cool. Thanks."

"Welcome." I looked around and saw that everyone else was wearing one. 'How'd I miss that...?' I shook my head.

We all sat together through breakfast, talking about various things. Selene was still sitting in the kitchen, but I didn't ask why. Eventually Selene, Akane, Nolan, Eri, and Sonia left to go to work, leaving only me, Tadashi, and Iris.

"Okay, so what's the game plan?"

"A movie with The Rock and Madison Pettis."

"Ha ha, Iris." She grinned.

"I had to."

"You know I can't be mad at a movie reference. Damn you." She continued grinning. "Anyways, seriously, what are we going to do?"

"We should try her house. It's the most likely place where she'd be." I nodded.

"Do you guys know where that is?" They nodded.

"Yep. It's in the district really close to *Platinum Jail. It'll be a bit of a walk." I sighed.

"Of course... At least I seem to be in better shape here than I was back home." I stood. "We should get going. If she's in trouble, we need to get to her sooner than later." They nodded and stood.

"I'll lead the way!" And, once again, I was pulled along by Iris.

After a lot of walking (and complaining on my part) we finally arrived in front of Diana's home. It was a large mansion-like building, and it greatly contrasted from the other homes around it.

"So, do we knock or...?"

"Diana's parents are typically away on business, so she said if we ever visited to just walk in."

"They don't have a security system?"

"Umm..." Tadashi sighed.

"She gave us a code to disarm it. Don't worry, I have it memorized."

"You mean you've *got it memorized?" Iris laughed at my reference, while Tadashi shook his head.

"Let's just go." He hurried to the front door while Iris and I laughed and followed. He typed the code into a keypad and it blinked green before we entered inside. "Keep quiet. We don't want to spook anyone that's here." We calmed down and nodded.

I looked around at the house. It was spacious, and there were three entryways into other rooms. There was also a staircase that led to the second floor.

"So, what should we do?" I looked over at Tadashi and Iris.

"We should handle this very carefully. Summon your weapons and we'll check the first floor. We'll come back here when we're finished, and if we don't find anything, we'll head upstairs." Iris and I nodded.

"Shinsetsu!" My sword appeared in my hand, and I gripped the hilt tightly. Iris summoned her sabers after me.

"Gisei!" Tadashi was the last to summon his katana. "Ari, you check the kitchen. Iris, you've got the dining room, and I'll take the living room." We nodded, and then headed in the different directions we'd been assigned.

I entered the kitchen slowly, and then looked around. The room was kinda rounded, and it had a bar like area that circled the actual kitchen part. There was an island behind the bar, and the kitchen circled the wall.

"Anybody in here?" I walked forward cautiously. I held Shinsetsu so tight that my knuckles were turning white. I circled the bar and the island, and I didn't see anyone or anything. I looked at the fridge and saw there was a note on it.

Diana,
If you ever decide to get your act together and come home, we'll be away for a few months. Feel free to take care of yourself. Don't expect anything from us.
-Your Parents

"Geez... World's best parents, ladies and gentlemen..." I looked down. "Makes both of my actual parents seem like saints... At least Dad just left... He didn't tell me to go to hell..." I shook my head.

I checked the rest of the room for anything where someone could be and any clues that could tell me what happened. There was nothing, although I did take a few grapes from the fridge... Okay, maybe a lot...

Anyways, after I was done, I headed back to the foyer and waited for Iris and Tadashi. I kept my guard up just in case anything happened.

I didn't have to wait too long for them to come back. I stood up and looked at them.

"So, we head upstairs?" Tadashi nodded.

"Yes. We'll check the different rooms individually. We'll see if there is anyone here, and if not, we check if there is anything hinting to her whereabouts."

"Right." We went upstairs, and a hallway came into view. There were six rooms, three on each side of the hall. There were windows in between the doors, and chandeliers on the ceiling.

"Iris, you check the middle two doors. I can check the first two." Tadashi turned to me. "Ari, are you okay doing the last two?" I nodded.

"I think so. I'll just scream at the top of my lungs if I think I'm going to die."

"Well, if you die, Iris and I will cease to exist, so just keep that in mind." I deadpanned.

"Thanks for the added pressure and guilt, bruh. It's really appreciated."

"I'm just stating the facts."

"*Never tell me the facts." Iris gave me a thumbs-up while Tadashi sighed and turned to go search his rooms. I walked with Iris to her doors.

"Be careful, Sis."

"I will be, Iris. Don't worry." Iris nodded before she entered one of her rooms. I sighed as I walked down to mine. I looked back and forth between the two. The left one was closed, while the right one was open. 'I'm right handed... so I'll go right.' I walked inside and looked around.

It was a study. There were bookcases lining the walls, and there was a messy desk in the middle of the room. A ladder was propped up against the wall so that you could climb up and reach the books at the top.

I was quick in searching the room, and I sighed when I was done. 'I guess I go across the hall now...' I turned and left the room. I kept a tight hold on Shinsetsu. '3... 2... 1...' I opened the door and found myself in a really pink girl's bedroom. And I mean really pink. Someone was lying on the bed, and they looked at me before jumping up.

"Azazel!" In a flash, I found the blade of a scythe wrapped behind my neck. My eyes widened.

"What the hell?!"

"Who are you?! Are you one of them?!" I looked at the person, who I now saw was a girl with pink hair and blue eyes. She had strange protruding veins on half of her face, that were partially covered by her hair.

"I have no idea who the hell you're talking about. I'm Ari Walker, and I'm not whoever you think I am." She squinted at me.

"Ari Walker... Do you mean you're-?" Iris ran in with her swords.

"Di, it's us! Calm down, she really is Ari!" She lowered her scythe and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Iris... Why did you guys come here?"

"Why did you think? We were looking for you." She frowned.

"Why? I'm perfectly fine... It's just that that crazy bitch is after me again with those... friends of hers."

"Di, you know it is safer at Sukui than it is here."

"Hasu's spell won't keep her out! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that! Azazel is the only person that can protect me!" 'Who is Azazel...? I wonder if that is the name of her scythe...'

"Di, you have to come back." Iris lifted the sword in her right hand. "There's always the forceful method." Iris's eyes were glazed over. She was going into some zone I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of.

"Go ahead and try." She swung her scythe. "If you win, I'll go back." Iris nodded.

"Deal. I'm just letting you know I won't lose."

"We'll see." It was silent for a moment, and then everything began to speed up. Iris rushed forward at Diana and swung both swords down at her. Diana blocked the attack and then jumped back and landed on the bed. Iris jumped up after her and swung again. Their blades clanged and they were pushing against the other's blade to try and get control.

"Ari, move!" I got tackled to the ground when a shot of black energy came at me. I looked up and saw Tadashi covering me.

"Tadashi, are you okay?!" He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He grabbed my hand and helped me up. "Come on. We need to get you out of here." He pulled me along and we ran out of the room.

"What about Iris?!"

"She'll be fine! She was right in saying she won't lose. Not against Diana." We ran downstairs and then outside. I doubled over and panted.

"Why did she think I was going to attack her? She asked me if I was 'one of them'. What does that mean?"

"We don't know. We just assume she means the enemies of her family." He shook his head. "I don't honestly know." I dismissed Shinsetsu.

"How come you took me out of there?"

"You aren't ready to battle. Even if you think you can because of Traverse Town, you aren't truly. Shadows are weak. Diana is weak, too, but she has more experience fighting than you. She would kill you."

"When will I be able to fight?"

"You need training. Luckily you live in a house full of very capable fighters. Hasu and Momo will probably be your teachers, though." I looked down and clenched my fists.

"I hate being weak... I always have and always will..." Tadashi put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up.

"This world is different, Ari." You aren't who you were on Earth. Think of all you've done and seen in the short time you've been here. You may not think so, but what you did in Traverse Town is amazing for someone who has never fought before." He smiled. "You'll get better in no time. Iris and I both know that you will."

"If I'm not who I was... who does that make me now...?" I put my hand to my head. "I still have all of her memories... I still have all of her doubts and insecurities... I'm still flawed like her..." I shook my head. "Then who am I if not her?"

"You've been reborn. You're Ari Raine Walker. Your parents are Artemis Alexandra and Azrael Walker, and your sister is Iris Lily Walker. You are someone new. Yes, you are her, but you're something this world has never seen before. Mezame needs you, and it knows you're the only person capable of doing it. I know that you truly are atheist, but you have to have faith in at least the people who are here for you. All of us at Sukui have your back."

"I feel like I'm talking to Annoying Nag... This conversation is super deep..." I wiped my eyes for a few tears that had fallen. "I'll try... Anything is possible in this impossible world..." I smiled. "And, let's tell people I believe in Saisei, okay? I'd rather not get stabbed for being atheist. Not to mention it kinda fits me." He nodded.

"Alright." Just then, the front door slammed open, and we saw Iris huffing while holding an unconscious Diana over her shoulder.

"I think she's been doing steroids or PCP while she's been gone... This chick took forever to knock out." I looked at Iris's dress and saw it didn't look like it had one rip. She was unscathed everywhere. Diana had a few cuts on her arms, though.

"Are you okay, Iris?" I walked over to her.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Sis." I looked at Diana.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah. I finally got close enough to use a technique one of the Saisei monks taught me." She grinned. "Good old pressure point trick works every time. It always did on me."

"Why did they pinch your pressure point?"

"Have you met me?"

"Point made." She readjusted Diana.

"Let's hurry up and take her home. Rich girl here ain't exactly light." She poked Diana's midsection. "Damn bonbons or whatever the hell they eat..." I looked at Diana's face and saw the strange veins again.

"What's up with her face? Is that normal?" We began to walk.

"Tada-chan, it's story time."

"I'm amazed. You don't want to tell the story yourself?"

"Hell no. I just spent an hour of my life trying to not get impaled by a scythe. When Diana wakes up, she is getting a fricking punch in her stupid face." Iris huffed when she was done ranting.

"Forget I asked." Tadashi sighed. "Anyways, the reason for the veins is because she has an extremely rare disease that's life threatening. Typically, you're born with the disease, and you die early in your childhood. Diana, however, somehow escaped that fate." Tadashi looked at her. "Usually the veins protrude on both sides, so it's strange how she only has them on the left side of her face. Honestly, it's amazing she's even alive. The odds were not in her favor in the very least."

"Maybe it worked like The Sims, and she literally beat Death."

"I highly doubt that's the case, Sis." I shrugged.

"Hey, I'm just trying to come up with some sort of logical explanation for it."

"Logic ain't got nothing to do with white girl over here." Iris grunted, trying to keep Diana up. "Seriously, I'm about to f'ing drag her."

"Iris, language. Tadashi is just a baby." Tadashi frowned.

"You do realize I'm a year older than you, right?"

"No, I was not aware. It doesn't matter, though. You both are technically babies compared to me, considering your are brand new beings and all. You both are my brain babies."

"I'm starting to feel uncomfortable."

"Me too. I'm going to stop talking, now."

"Wait, then who is our brain dad?"

"Iris, drop it."

"No, I need to know now."

"Seriously, no."

"Come on, guys! I want to know!"

"Iris, no!"

And it continued like that all the way home... and even after we arrived home...

"She should be fine. Minor damage on her body will take a very short while to heal." Momo stood up and sighed. "I already cast a healing spell on her, so now she just needs to rest." She looked back towards Diana. "I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't try leaving again. Sukui is the safest place for her if there really are people after her."

"She's gotten stronger. Her veins have disappeared a lot more, too." Iris looked over at Diana. "I'd like to know what she's been doing while she's been away... The growth she's showing is immense. More than any normal human being can pull off..." Iris smirked. "Still can't beat me, though."

"I think we should be more concerned with her welfare rather than your winning streak, Iris. This is kinda serious." (Heh... Only kinda...)

"I wasn't trying to go off topic. I just wanted to state a fact. I'm a frickin' badass, man."

"And modest too, apparently." Iris stuck her tongue out at Tadashi.

"Calm down. Anger has a tendency of waking people up."

"Sorry." Momo nodded.

"You three went through a lot. Go and relax until everyone arrives home." She looked at Diana. "She needs to rest... I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere..."

"Okay." We exited the room and looked downstairs. Iris looked over at Tadashi and me.

"I'll go make us some lunch." She looked between us. "What do you guys want?"

"What do we have?"

"No. Uh-uh. We aren't starting that crap, Ari."

"What? I was just wondering what there was."

"Ari, Sukui is a café. We almost always have some sort of food at home that is tasty."

"Well, I don't know if this world has different foods or not. I don't know what's changed and what hasn't."

"We have everything Earth has got, plus a little more."

"That is, in regards to food. Not everything from Earth is here."

"Paramore is real... meaning that there are copies of people..."

"Right." I thought for a moment.

"Then... are my mom and dad real here?"

"They aren't real here, Ari. They may exist in some form here, but they aren't the same. They may not even know each other." I nodded.

"So... it's like how Ari and me are the same, yet not at the same time."

"Correct." I frowned.

"So how come some people here exist how they did back home but others don't?"

"Parallel worlds and different places entirely. Not everything can be the same because their existences aren't the same."

"Wow... That... really makes me feel lonely, in a way..." I looked down. "I'm the only person in this world that has to live with knowing of a different reality..." Iris walked over and hugged me.

"I know it's a lot, Sis, but you're so strong. You always have been."

"I didn't have a choice back home..."

"I know..." Iris looked at me. "But you're here, now. You aren't Ari, and you aren't who you were. You're just you." Iris leaned her forehead against mine. "Without you, Tadashi and I would be nothing. You mean so much to us in so many different ways. We love you and want you to be okay. You don't have to be alone, because if nothing else, you have us. We won't ever leave you." I felt tears beginning to fall from my eyes.

"I don't want to be lonely anymore... I don't want to be useless and weak... I just want to change..."

"We know you do. We'll be here to help every step of the way, Ari..." She put her hand on my head. "You got that?" I nodded, which made her smile. "Good..." She moved her arms away and then stretched. "I'm in the mood for some Chinese food. What about you guys?"

"You know how to make Chinese food?"

"Yeppers. Aunt Selene has passed down her cooking knowledge to me."

"I'm up for some. How about you, Tadashi?"

"As long as you don't put *Sichuan in mine, again..."

"Can't promise anything. Sometimes it gets a little crazy in the kitchen."

"I don't feel confident in you."

"That's probably a safe bet, Bud."

"Oh, so I'm Bud now?"

"Oops. My mistake, Tada-chan." He sighed.

"Me and my big mouth." I laughed.

"Poor Tadashi."

"I should really be used to it by now."

"You should." He sighed again while Iris ran off to the kitchen. Tadashi followed her while I lagged behind. 'Stop thinking about Earth... You have a chance at happiness, so don't mess it up..." I sighed before following after my guardians.