Took me a while to update it :( I'm really sorry guys but most of ya know what I'm going through right now…I will try to update as soon as I can from now on (well I always try my best but this time it will be sooner XD) anyway, enough with me, hope ya enjoy the chappie that explains everything ^^ thx so much for reviewing and all, you guys rock :D

Recap: Shun confronts Alice and she admits she was Alicia but leaves loose ends as she explains she was rescued from the fire. Runo, Julie and Miono will escort Alice to Zora at midnight. Kia is appeared to be hiding something as well as she allows Shun and Dan to escape the palace. As the appointed time is approaching what will they do?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 13:

Removing the Seal

The group consisting of four young ladies walked towards the park, in silence; one of discomfort which added to the awkwardness of the short journey.

The three witches shared glances of worry; something about Alice that night seemed off. They didn't know her for that long but usually a smile would never leave her face in spite of the conditions, but now her face held a sad expression and her eyes never dried.

They left her alone in the room for one hour and that was the outcome. It left them wondering about what exactly happened in that one hour.

They all stood in the middle of the park where the hidden gate was supposed to be opened and waited, hugging themselves since it was a chilly night.

A mixture of contracted emotions filled Alice's heart. Pained by her own words she spoke, relieved she got the matter with Shun over with, but wishing he never knew or spoke with her at the same time.

She felt the girls' stares; she knew she was making things more uncomfortable. She never wished to trouble her friends, so she shook any thoughts of what occurred not too long ago and put a small smile on her face and turned to look at them.

"I guess I got a little homesick, no need to worry," Alice said. Her voice was a bit shaky but what she said was enough to reassure the group.

"It's ok, I'm just glad you're fine. Cheer up girl you're going to Zora!" Julie said giving her a hug.

"We didn't spend that much time together, but don't forget us ok?" Miono said, joining the hug.

"We would come see you some time, Alice." Runo said and the whole group was hugging.

That warm hug put a true happy smile on Alice's face.

The stone clock near them dinged, declaring it was exactly midnight. The girls stopped hugging as a blue gate opened before them. Alice looked at the girls and nodded at them, they gave her a thumps up and smiled happily saying farewell to Alice. With that their first mission would be completed.

"Not so fast!"

The four girls turned to the direction of the voice. Two cloaked men stood on the top of the stone clock. Alice's expression changed to one of fear, she couldn't move a muscle.

The two young men jumped in front of a gate, acting as a barrier forbidding them to cross. As realization of their identity hit the girls they quickly summoned their weapons and took a defensive stance in front of Alice.

"We won't let you get in the way, Voldons!" Yelled Runo.

"We didn't come her to fight, so rest assured," One of them spoke.

That voice…it was familiar, too familiar that Runo let her guard down a bit and looked at him questionably.

"Alicia, just come with me." The other one spoke, extending his hand in Alice's direction.

The girls tensed a bit at his action.

"So you did came to get Alice!" Runo yelled and charged towards one of the Voldons with her slashing nails. All the Voldon did was dodging her attacks, holding his arms in a surrendering manner.

"Runo, calm down! I don't want to fight." He said, jumping backwards to avoid more contact.

She paid no attention to his words.

The other Voldon was not left alone; Julie took him on and was struggling against him for he could use magic as well as armed-combat. With each of his moves, she felt he was flying. His movements were swift and his attacks were strong but lacked accuracy as none of them hit her dead on. She doesn't know why, but she felt he was doing that on purpose as to not cause her any physical harm. As to why he was doing that, she didn't know.

Miono watched Julie's battle closely; at any moment he could divert his attacks towards Alice and she was supposed to keep an eye on her.

The redhead was standing there silently. She hugged her trembling body, trying to calm herself down, but failing. They didn't know what was to happen if she was late or if by any chance, the exposure of her true identity became known. Her mind was screaming as she got more scared and confused by just thinking about it.

Julie's unconscious body was levitated just before she hit the ground and was then put carefully down. The Voldon she was fighting looked at her apologetically; he had no time to keep messing around.

"Julie!" Runo screamed and quickly ran to her friend's side. That gave the Voldon she fought a chance to catch his breath before he made his way next to his friend.

"I won't forgive you!" She said and got up, charging towards the two.

"Please stop fighting!"

Runo stopped moving and looked in the direction of the voice, so did the two Voldons. The owner of the voice was none other than Alice.

Still facing the floor she muttered, "Friends should not fight each other." She then raised her face and looked at them, "I told you I won't come with you, Shun and ended it. Don't make a commotion and let me go, I'm late." She said in a sad tone.

The name Shun caught Runo's ears. She, quickly, casted a wind spell that removed both of their cloaks. Taken by the sudden action the Voldons could only wonder about what happened. Runo looked at them with wide eyes; Shun and Dan were standing right in front of her.

"You…so I was right all along. You were Voldons!" She screamed the last part with frustration. "You lied to me." She almost whispered. At that moment hurt and sadness covered the anger she felt at first.

"I'm sorry, Runo. I'll explain later I promise!" Dan said, lowering his head. Runo didn't respond but ignored him but faced Alice once more, his explanation wasn't needed.

"You were never so stubborn in the past," Shun said, addressing Alice as he took no notice of Dan and Runo's commotion.

"People change," She simply answered as a small sad smile tugged her lips.

Runo felt this weird sensation hearing them talk with each other. It sounded they knew one another and if Shun was really here to hurt her he would have done that already, it confused her as they were trying to kill them the first time they met. She woke up from her state as she felt a hand on her right shoulder.

"Doesn't this show you we are on the good-guy's side?" Dan said, voicing a conclusion to her inner thoughts. Runo looked at him wide-eyed as he managed to read her mind, she wondered if it was one of his abilities.

"Dan, take him and both of you get out of her before it's too late!" Alice pleaded, tired of reasoning with Shun. Dan looked at her and nodded slightly.

Before any of them could act, a person emerged from the gate.

"It's already too late." A smirk appeared on Verona's face as she looked at the group before her. "I was wondering what took you so long and came to see."

Alice's expressions changed to ones of fear and worry. Shun's body tensed upon hearing the head witch's voice, he held his sword as anger found its place in his heart and pointed the sword at her.

"So, it was you in the end!" Shun said and charged at her only to be thrown to the ground almost instantly.

Shun's body ached, he was thrown at the ground with such force, he clutched his side and let out a shriek of pain between his heavy breaths. Dan ran to his side and helped him to his feet, Alice stayed in her place paralyzed with fear.

"Head witch, what's going on exactly?" Runo asked as the situation was too bazar to understand. For some reason, she didn't feel Dan and Shun were at fault.

"You have no right to question my doings, you failed to complete the mission and you shall be punished too." Verona said, an evil smile formed on her face.

Though it rarely happens, Runo was scared. Verona was speaking in a murderous tone.

Verona raised her hand in Runo's direction and lightning came out from the tips of her fingers and though Runo was fast enough to avoid the first hit, Verona kept firing at her fleeing figure and she was having a hard time avoiding the lightning.

Runo slowed her pace down for a few seconds for her legs could take only that much and in the end she came to a stop which was the worst thing to do right now as the lightning bolts didn't stop but continued to move closer to where she was, she wanted to move away but she had no strength left in her and fell to her knees.

The light of the attack was blinding, she covered her eyes with her arm, but other than that she felt nothing. After the light was gone, she checked the surrounding area only to find a red force field around her; the force field flickered and then disappeared. Runo looked around to see the caster, only to witness another battle going on between Verona and her aunt, Seera as the later defended the now conscious Julie and Miono. It was probably her aunt who casted the spell, she thought.

"You okay?" Dan asked as he bent next to her.

Many parts of her body were still aching but she nodded. He sighed in relief and then averted his sight to where Seera and Verona were fighting with a serious expression on his face.

"Tch. Things are getting ugly! Damn." He said talking to himself.

Runo kept gazing at him this whole time, though it was not a proper time for her to do, but she couldn't shake that feeling of familiarity away. If he really was that stalker why did he stalk her in the first place? And why did she meet him again after all these years? Who was Dan to her anyway?

Seera was having trouble keeping up with Verona, who on the other hand was enjoying the battle and didn't show any sign of weakness. In the corner of her eye, Seera could she Alice standing with Miono standing guard in front of her. She smirked and shoot a blinding light attack at Verona who closed her eyes for mere seconds and in those mere seconds, Seera turned her attention to Alice and shoot at her. If Alice was to be captured then it will be settled.

An indigo laser beam was moving closer to where Alice was, Miono ran a few feet a head and casted a nullifying spell but it didn't work and the laser continued to move with Miono standing far apart from Alice, who was too deep in her world of thoughts to notice what was going on. All she felt was a cold, strong breeze that lifted her in the Air then put her down next to Shun who held her tight.

Alice looked at him and couldn't help but hug him back; it was only when she's in his arms that she would be calm.

Seera, who was surprised by Shun's ability, was attacked from behind by Verona, who regained her sight not too long ago, and fell to the ground. Verona then averted her eyes to the remaining five teens with a smirk. A smirk that sent chills down their spines.

"P-please stop!" Alice's voice interrupted the short-lived silence as she was finally freed from her paralyzing state. "I'll come with you, willingly as promised; you didn't have to do this, my lord." She said in a shaky tone.

"But that was a punishment as you didn't keep that promise." Verona said. "But because you spoke up, I'll stop as long as you come." Verona said and started walking towards the gate, her long white dress being dragged behind her.

Alice released herself from Shun's grip, but he caught her wrist still unwilling to let her go.

"Shun, I don't want him to hurt my dear friends or you."

Before he was able to respond, he was sent flying to the ground, parts of his body were burnt by the lightning jolt he was hit with. Alice screamed as tears flooded down her cheeks. Dan quickly ran to his side and tried calling his name but Shun never responded.

"With this, the punishment is over." Verona said and laughed evilly. "Let's go, Alice."

Alice fought the urge to run to Shun's side and use a healing spell on him for she knew if she was to do that maybe he would end up dead not hurt as she knew Verona's powers could go past the bond and hurt him. She hesitantly moved towards the gate and took one final look at her friends. With a pained, scared face, she went through the gate and it vanished in a blink.

She was supposed to go to her aunt's side and check on her but Runo found her legs moving towards Dan and Shun's limb body.

"How is he doing?" She asked, worry in her voice as she feared to hear the worst. Why was she worried for his welfare? She didn't know.

"He's alive, but he's breathing heavily and his back is slightly burnt." Dan answered with a long, exhausted sigh.

Runo put a hand on his shoulder as a reassuring gesture. Dan looked at her and smiled, this small move was enough to give him a little more energy.

"Don't worry about him, he's strong he just needs some rest," A feminine voice said making the two pay attention and look for the source of the sound. "I was worried so I came out." Sarity, Shun's guardian fairy said.

Dan nodded, now more assured and relieved.

"What's going on exactly? I don't get anything anymore," Runo asked. Dan looked at her and smiled.

"Does that mean you are willing to believe me?" He asked with a cheesy grin that made Runo blush.

"I'll decide after I hear you out!" She said defensively.

"It's a long story, one you must know." Seera said as she approached the two teens, followed by Miono and a levitated Julie.

Runo and Dan stopped the humorous atmosphere and stood up, eying the witch seriously. If looks could kill, she'd probably be in a grave by now. Seera sighed.

"I'll tell you everything, but first we need to treat those two. Runo, call your mom and let her know we're coming." Seera said. Dan and Runo decided to wait for the story before they question anything.

Runo used magical powder to transfer a note to her mother. Seera kept Shun and Julie levitated as it would be impossible to carry them by hand and the whole group went to Runo's house under the cover of an invisibility spell casted by Miono.

Mr. Misaki switched the kitchen's lights on. It was a little past midnight and he wasn't able to sleep well, and the easiest solution for that was a warm glass of milk, he thought.

As he was opening the fridge to get the milk, the back door of the café was opened, taking him by surprise. He slowly took a look while concealing most of his body behind the wooden frame of the kitchen's door. He wasn't ready for what he saw.

His daughter came inside with a woman he recognized as his wife's older sister, Seera. Also in his doorway was a young man near Runo's age with brown hair dressed weirdly while holding a sword in his left hand, Miono and two other teens flying in midair seemingly unconscious. He wondered if he his eyes were deceiving him or if he was still asleep and dreaming!

Just then, Mrs. Misaki rushed into the scene, passing her confused husband by without taking notice to him, and stood by her sister's side asking about the details of the battle. Seera said they should let the kids rest first then explain and Mrs. Misaki nodded and told them to follow her upstairs. But this time she noticed her husband standing in the kitchen looking like a five year old who accidentally entered a class of advanced math, very confused.

She sighed knowing she finally have to explain the whole ordeal she's been keeping away for years now.

…

"You mean to tell me that I'm married to a witch?"

Saki only nodded.

"And my daughter is a witch too?" He said looking at his daughter who nodded.

They have been trying to convince her father for over half an hour that they were witches, they even went far as to display a spell in front of him, but it was still sinking in.

Runo needed to know what the story behind everything was from her aunt and she really didn't want to waste any more time. The whole thing was starting to get on her nerves.

"There's magic and spells and other worlds humans don't know of?"

"YES, I swear there's!" Runo snapped.

Her father seemed to be in deep thought one second and the other he fell to the floor unconscious as the whole shock finally got to him. Runo's mom and her daughter sighed and put him on one of the couches of the living room they were currently in to rest and went to Runo's room to join the others.

"So, how did he take it?" Asked Miono as Runo entered the room followed by her mother.

"Better than I thought," Runo shrugged and sat on her bed next to Dan and Julie, who had woken up not too long ago.

Her mother came and sat next to her sister on the opposite bed while Shun was in another room as he didn't regain his consciousness yet.

None of them spoke after that and a heavy atmosphere hung over the room.

"I think you do need to hear my story first Runo," Dan said, turning his face to meet the Runo's eyes, breaking the silence. She nodded and the others didn't complain.

"Shun and I are assassins from Valdolit," Dan started and he could her Runo mutter 'No kidding there' under her breath. He ignored her and continued. "They ordered us to kill Alice, but she turned out to be Shun's fiancée whom we thought she died years ago," The three young witches eyed Dan with widened eyes.

"Why would they ask him to kill her?" Julie asked, confused.

"We did ask the king and he and Shun got into a fight and we escaped the kingdom to come and get Alice and well, you know the rest."

"I see." Runo muttered. "But you shouldn't have lied!" She suddenly snapped and hit Dan on the head. A fight was about to break between the two if it wasn't for Seera interrupting them.

"Alice needs to die or a great misfortune would befall all the worlds, not any alone." She said. "The story is long and it has roots in the ancient past, if you are ready to listen, I'll speak."

The four teens nodded as a sign they were ready to listen. Their hearts raced a bit, what exactly could be this story? They wondered.

Before Seera could say a word, Saki stood up and sat on the floor between the two beds, close to where Runo and Julie were seated. She eyed them with serious eyes, it scared them a bit.

"If you are willing to know then you must remember what you have forgotten." She said.

The girls titled their heads, not understanding a word.

"You will remove the seal!" Dan exclaimed, suddenly getting off the bed. Mrs. Misaki nodded. The girls got more confused.

"NO WAY!" Dan yelled again as he seemed overjoyed for some reason.

"Girls, I'm sorry to have hid this from you for so long. Now you need to remember," Mrs. Misaki said as she put her hand near the foreheads of the two witches and muttered some words. Her hand shone with bright light that filled the whole room.

Runo and Julie were there, but weren't at the same time. Their once lively eyes were now blank. It seemed their minds were stuck in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness leaving them unresponsive to any sound or light. Like a sleeping person drowned within his dream, and what a dream Runo was having!

An eight year old Runo was in the park with her friends. It was nearly night time as the sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon giving the sky a dark orange color. She was talking with one of her friends, a brown-haired boy of her age and he looked very sad as she was asking him what was wrong many times. He finally sighed and decided to tell her.

"Runo, you know I enjoy coming here to play with you." Dan started. ''Though you're annoying sometimes." That earned him a pinch from Runo. He rubbed his slightly red hand and looked away.

"I won't be coming back again for some time. I have to go back to my planet."

"It's ok, Dan. You'll come back eventually," Runo said, innocently.

"No, kid you don't understand! I might never return again!" He shouted which scared Runo a bit. "War started back home and the grownups are planning to separate us for a while," He said as tears started flowing out of his eyes.

"You're such a kid! Seems like you enjoy playing with me." She teased.

"A little," He admitted, softly that Runo wondered if she heard him right. "They would make you forget about us," he said sadly.

Runo's eyes widened. "How? Why?"

"I don't know, probably by magic, it's because of the war,"

Silence…

…

"HAH! If you think a little spell can win against me you're so wrong!" Runo declared. Dan looked at her fired-up self and smiled and wiped his tears away.

"It can, you are a little girl after all, HAHAHA" He laughed. Runo's cheeks turned red with anger.

"NO IT CAN'T! I'll show you!"

"Fine, then don't dare forget about me Runo Misaki!"

"I will not stupid Dan Kuso!"

The two kids then broke into a fit of laughter and joined the rest of the gang for a farewell game of baseball.

It hit Runo and it hit her hard as memories of herself as a child returned to her, the same guy who was about to kill her, the guy who used to stalk her whenever he came to Earth was the same guy whom she used to spend every second with since birth. It was Dan Kuso.

That shall explain lots of things. Finally got a chapter updated XD Hope you liked it and in case you forgot Saki is Runo's mom real name ^^ oh and you noticed I changed the font so tell me which one is better for you

Tell me how it was and remember to R&R please =]