Okay, to those who have read this story, thanks to you guys, it reached more than 50 hits! :D

Although…I really need some more feedback please! One's not good enough for one story so I think you guys can do better than that! Just tell me what you like about the story so far!!

Anyways…there will be times in this story where I will shift between narrators. Sure, Anari (the heroine) will be telling most of the story, but there will be times where Toboe will take over as well, just like the chapter that you are going to be reading right now. So, this story, you will have two narrators. Two narrators make more excitement for me~~.

Don't worry though, I will notify you guys every now and then to tell you who's telling the story now.

-Twilight Anarein

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Stage 8: Heart of Gold

I hear voices echoing inside my head, calling out my name from every corner.

I thought for a second, that may have been Anari's voice, but…I'm not so sure about that.

My eyes burst right open right away, I thought I also heard a girl scream, but I was sure that it was just my imagination.

What's happening to me anyway? I never even felt like this before, ever since her cousin Leilani showed up, my mind has gone completely blank. I think…it was after when we cut the cake my mind was getting hazy.

So there I was, sitting on the couch, knees high to where I could see them (don't worry, I am wearing pants), my red shirt unbuttoned (hey, it sometimes get hot around here, even in winter, which is pretty weird if you ask me), and I was breathing heavily.

I swear, something doesn't feel right I'm pretty sure of it. After the party, that's how I've been feeling ever since the party ended. I don't even remember what happened after the party was over. And Anari…what happened to her? She always comes over whenever I wanted to see her…but, it's already been a week and she hasn't shown up ever since the party ended.

I think…it must've been something that I've done.

I got up from the couch, and started to lace up my shoes. Now feeling a little light-headed over this, it really doesn't matter to me if I feel this way. Even if my mind has gone hazy, I need to ask Anari what happened after the party.

So, I rushed towards the door, not bothering to button up my shirt. So what if I don't button up my shirt? I don't mind going shirtless, besides, it's not like I'm going to church anyway.

Just as I opened the door, I gasped, and took a few steps backward. Leilani stood on my front door step with one of those charming smiles of hers. It was like watching reruns of 'Seed of Chucky' where the scary dolls are out to kill you. That's how it feels like, not how it looks like…or, maybe it is…

"Hey there Toboe." Leilani said to me charmingly, "So, I see that you've got your shirt unbuttoned. Looks pretty sexy if you ask me."

"I was taking a nap earlier. And, it gets hot in here sometimes." I replied calmly, "Look, I'm really happy you came to see me Leilani, but you see, I was heading over to Anari's and--,"

"Oh, you don't need to go there." Leilani interrupted before I could finish, "I already went to her house and she's not there."

"Okay…" I answered sheepishly, "So, where is she?"

"She's gone." Leilani smiled big at me.

"Gone??" I repeated, "Gone where?"

"Oh, so many questions!" Leilani answered dramatically, which kinda scared me if you know what I mean. "Oh Toboe, why talk about my super sarcastic cousin all the time…while we can talk about our future together?"

All of a sudden, she gets up near my face and her big blue eyes glisten brightly, as I backed away slowly. Then she gets near me and she places both hands on my shoulders. Alright, I have to admit, I'm really scared right now.

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked, looking hopelessly lost. "And what future? We never even had a relationship together!"

I gave her a slight push (sorry, I didn't mean to, but she scares me), and I tried heading towards the door. I tried to get a hold of the doorknob, but she suddenly ran up towards me and she grips onto my hand so firmly, I lost the feeling in my right arm. My hand has gone completely numb all of a sudden.

Holy crap! She's strong!! I thought to myself. The pain has finally reached into my bloodstream, and it's making me squeeze one of my eyes shut tight.

"Get away from that damn door!" She shouted at me, "Anari hates you anyway! Why the hell do you want to see her anyway??"

"Now I understand." I suddenly said out loud, even in pain, I still remained calm. Leilani, on the other hand, looked hopelessly lost and then she suddenly let go of my arm.

"What are you talking about??" Leilani said in a low tone, she's definitely losing it. "Tell me Grey!! What the hell are you talking about??"

"Five days ago, before the party even started, you helped Tsume, Hige, and I to order a cake correct?"

I waited for her to answer, but all she said was, "Yeah…so?"

Then I continued on, "I knew that day, when you helped us to cut Anari's cake, I saw you putting something into the cake. That time, I didn't say anything, because I don't want to cause a scene that could possibly ruin the entire birthday party."

"What are you saying?" Leilani gave me the dirty look and continued, "I did not put something into that stupid cake!"

"Maybe not the entire cake." I replied quickly, "But, it was after when we cut the cake, you put some sort of ingredient into the five pieces of cake that we all cut out together."

"Toboe, you must be losing your head." She said to me briefly, "Seriously, I didn't put any extra ingredient into that damn cake. It was all real, and you told me that day that you loved me more than my stupid cousin!"

"Why would I love you?" I said with a tiny laugh, "I never have been in love with you! I'm sorry Leilani, we aren't really, I mean, I don't even see you connect to me in any way. Don't take this the wrong way but--,"

"Shut up!" Leilani suddenly got close to me and started smacking me with her hands, "You bastard! She's not here because she went to the graveyard to visit her deceased mother and I left the scepter to banish her away!" Leilani said with a grin, but then her eyes widened and then she said, "Oops…"

"Wait a minute…" I said, finally losing it, "You did this? You poisoned the cake just to get close to me and just get rid of your cousin? How could you do something like that?!"

"I did it…" Leilani said with an even more twisted grin, she started backing away the moment her grin started getting wider. "Because I totally despise Anari. She always gets more attention and people say that she's the cuter one of the two. But, will anyone listen to Leilani Kiya? No! Will they ever understand Leilani's feelings? No!! Will anyone give some love to Leilani Kiya? NO!!!"

"That's awful…" I answered quickly in a soft tone, "Nobody should have treated you like that. But you know, it's even more cold that you do something like that to Anari…"

"You see?!" Leilani replied, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Even you don't pay attention to me!!"

She opened the door and said, "Go! Go and save Anari! See if I care!! And by the time this world will have it's downfall, nobody will even to my cries at night! Because, nobody cares about Leilani Kiya!! Nobody!!"

She slammed the door right in front of me, and I couldn't help but feel a bit sad. It's no wonder I find Anari and Leilani to never get along. Leilani…all she ever wanted was to have someone to notice her just once. Somebody who notices her as a person and not a freak, but…she chose her own path and decided to follow it.

My first priority right now is to find Anari. The second is to bring her back home.

So, I took one good look at my house, 'cause this will be the last for a while. I made a huge sigh, as I opened the door, and walked out.

The funny thing is, it feels like an oven inside my house, because the fans are all broken, and outside, it's so cold, so I just stood there for a couple of seconds buttoning up my shirt. It's funny though, the cold doesn't bother me much since I'm a wolf, but you know, wearing a loose red shirt, huge baggy pants that go down to your ankles, and red converses, doesn't make that much of a difference either. But then again, I don't want my neighbors to find me strange either. (Seeing a shirtless guy with his shirt undone in the middle of winter does look really bizarre.)

So, I started into a sprint, and onto the concrete path. My paws making prints in the huge snow. I headed my way into the graveyard—sorry, I forgot the name, but Anari is the only one that remembers the name, since she goes twice every week to make tributes to her late mother.

Anyways, I arrived at the graveyard, taking only but a few steps inside. This is not the only time I stepped into a graveyard either. No matter how many times I step inside one, it always gives me the creeps. Like, as if there was dead folks staring at you when you have your back turned. Just the thought of that just makes me jump, all the time.

So, I looked around for Anari's mother's grave, and then I got lucky and spotted it from the corner of my eye. This place makes you feel so cold and so numb, I even found myself getting goosebumps just by taking a peek at this place.

And then, right beside her mother's grave, I then saw a tiny piece of paper left behind on the ground. I took a good look at it, and then I kneeled down to my knees just to pick it up. Apparently, it looks like it was a note.

A note that was left behind by someone. I quickly took my fingers and unfolded the paper as fast as I could, hoping that it was Anari who wrote the note.

But…the words printed here didn't look like Anari's handwriting at all. This is advanced cursive writing, Anari never writes in cursive. She writes in fine print, which is really easy to read. So, here I was, trying to decode the message, and I think it was something like this:

-To anyone that finds this message-

Greetings fools! I am the Earl, and this is a special little gift of mine that I ordered in a very pricey weapon shop south of town. The 'Nightmare Assault' is a special type of scepter of mine, and it's got very unique powers, since it is made by the power of sadness and hatred. And it even grants you wishes.

But there is one special power about this scepter that I found quite interesting. And, I was desperate to try it out. I can use the Nightmare Assault to go through different time periods, I decided to take it into the future, so I could continue my hours of making more tragedy and that would mean making future akuma weapons as well!! Hee hee hee!!

I don't mean to interrupt, but what kind of weapon is called an 'akuma'?? And this 'Earl' guy must sound pretty stupid if you ask me. Besides, what kind of person would leave their possessions lying around in the future? Somebody's going to find it sooner or later…like I don't know…somebody like me? The thing I funny in this letter is that he finishes his sentences just by drawing little hearts.

All I ever asked for is to create a world full of sadness, and have the akuma stand by my side. If I could succeed that, no, I will succeed in that! Then, nobody shall be able to stop me!! One day, when that one lucky person from the future releases its power, they will be able to release me, and I shall revert to my old self again! The reward for this mortal will be taking a trip back in time and be stuck in that century…forever!!

But…there is only one, possible way to escape, but since there's nobody out there that's even reading this message, which would mean the secret is still safe! And besides, nobody's going to remember the spell to get back home anyway! But I'll be nice and tell you the spell to get back home.

The key to getting back to your time period is finding out the one thing that surpasses sadness, in other words—

Gone. Like every other message, the last bit must've been torn right off. Even if I haven't met the guy, he sounds pretty evil if you ask me…to do something like that.

The only thing is…if Anari has released the scepter's power that must mean that she's the one that went back two centuries back in time! So then, how come it didn't take Leilani if she got a hold of it first!Wait…that night, after when she disappeared, it was her birthday…so that must mean…she made a wish! I thought about that for a couple of minutes, and then it came to me.

She must've made a wish that would send her away somewhere, so that way, when she got a hold of the scepter and made the wish, that must mean that Leilani made a prototype just to send her away somewhere else! And she only did this just to get revenge…

Sometimes…you could never understand the true feelings of a young girl. Take it from someone who knows from experience…

But, I can't let my sad feelings get the best of me. So, I morphed into wolf form and used my two front paws to make a hole in the cold dirt. Hopefully, if my hunch is right, then maybe I should be able to find the real scepter and hopefully rescue Anari.

And then, I found something hard inside the hole; I poked my head inside the hole and grabbed the object with my mouth.

So, I morphed back into human form, and wiped the spit from the corner of my mouth. That scepter is not something I want to have for an appetizer the next time I decide where should I go to eat for dinner tonight.

And then, once I took a good look at the object I picked up, I was definitely on target. I found the real scepter, and it was funny looking to me. It has orange and black stripes on the pole, with a pumpkin head sticking out on the end of it. There was black stones crafted below the pumpkin's head, and sticking out of the side, was a huge flag. There was a sentence formed on the flag it said something like this:

"The Earl's Key to Ultimate Power!"

Okay…that was a little weird. No, I take that back, that is really weird, not to mention really dumb. Oh well…

So then, if I was right that I found the real scepter, then maybe I could do the same thing that Anari did. I should make the wish right now and save her life. Jeez, how do I know all these things? And I didn't even see it happen…I guess you could say that I'm just lucky like that.

Anyways, I took a deep breath and took the scepter in both hands. I closed my eyes and concentrated, "Show me, where Anari is… I wish to see her, I wish to find Anari back in the nineteenth century."

Suddenly, the scepter began to glow, and then the whole light took over the scene. The next thing I knew, everything just went black.