Cross Ice

by Crimrose-A-Bee

Snow Hisayuki moves to the mysterious "Lost City" of Akutetsu in search of closure for a damaging past she could never truly overcome. When she becomes faced with pure magic, friendships she feels she doesn't deserve, and the burden of her first love, she realizes just how much of her life she lost to despair. However, she soon realizes that she holds a deadly mystery of her own...

14. Chapter XII- A Tragedy Of Shadows

Bonjor. I don't have much to say for myself (I AM SO SORRY) except that I am on summer break now, so hopefully updates will come more often now that I don't have school to worry about :D IAMSOFREAKINGHAPPYYOUHAVENOIDEA. Also. There is A LOT of information (and frankly, just words) in this chapter, so again, I won't blame anyone for not reading it all. And if anyone has ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL, don't be afraid to ask :) AT LAST, THE REAL STORY STARTS HERE!

Disclaimer (which I forgot again): I do not own Shugo Chara.

From hereon can we just assume that every chapter has a disclaimer? Like, can I NOT put it? I always forget anyway...

~Crimrose

Chapter XII

A Tragedy Of Shadows

There was only one explanation: I was dreaming.

That had to be it. I mean, there's no way that something like that could've happened in reality. Though considering all I had been through thus far, I shouldn't have dismissed the idea so easily, but it was one of those very mundane moments when you refuse to accept what's in front of you.

Even with my Shugo Chara apparently having aneurisms beside me from their panicked screaming and spasmodic movements, it was hard to believe that I was cooped up in some old abandoned warehouse with a horde of those creepy withered men from last night.

The day was so completely normal at first: I had been at the aquarium with Tadase-kun, having a grand old time, until an X-Egg showed up. When I rushed off to purify it, I found that Yoru- Ikuto's Shugo Chara- had materialized with the counterpart to my Humpty Lock, the Dumpty Key. Naturally Ikuto tagged along as well, and after a brief heated (and infuriating, from his comment on my bust) discussion between he and Tadase-kun, he made off with his key, leaving us to enjoy what time we had left at the aquarium. We finally saw Vivian's jellyfish, more of the penguins, a dolphin show, and respectively bought souvenirs, then decided it was time to call it a day. He had offered to show me home, but I declined, saying I could make it on my own. In hindsight, that was probably the worst idea I'd ever had, because look at me now.

With my hands free- an odd thing to do after essentially kidnapping someone- I scrubbed them down my face as I recounted how this could've happened. The last thing I remembered, I was walking home, the impassioned sunset blazing behind me. Viv, Lilith, and Satsuki were recounting our time at the "palace of fish", as they called it, gushing about all the colourful fish and laughing their asses off at how I got splashed during the dolphin show.

Distinctly, I remembered sardonically mumbling, "Har har", to which they chortled even more. Immediately after that, I felt something behind me. It was a hulking presence as undeniable as my shadow in front of me, but I figured someone was just moving on their way. When I moved to the opposite side of the sidewalk to make room, they had followed. That was when I threw a glance over my shoulder in confusion only to have a sharp explosion go off on the side of my head and my vision was dazzled with stars. After that, all was black.

Which brought me to my current conundrum. I awoke in a complete daze, a throbbing pressure on the side of my skull, and my vision was even more blurry than a fogged-up window. Even when that subsided and I quickly sat up to assess my surroundings, it was nearly impossible to see- everything was dark, not illuminated by any sort of electrical light, but only by the sliver of a moon coming in through a hole in the roof. If that wasn't enough to freak me out, I started hearing sounds that were like rapidly approaching snakes; whispers and hisses all at once, slithering out from the darkness.

Then they showed up- men just like the one on Halloween night. Withered, gray skin, barely any hair, and practically holes for eyes, hunched over like little gremlins. They were talking so quickly and quietly even I couldn't understand, but I could gather from their harsh tones that it was very urgent. After looking at me closely enough that I backed away until slamming into a dark wall, they scuttled further away and knelt into a small circle of Gollum-looking strangers.

"Snow?" Satsuki whispered desperately. Her voice sounded congested, tearful, like she had been crying her eyes out. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, not wanting any of the "men" to see that I was talking to thin air. They'd get suspicious of me and probably attempt to tie me up, seeing as they hadn't already. I tilted my head to the right side to show that it hurt like a bitch, which only made it pound more and a flash of heat zing down my spine and make me wince. When I squinted, I could vaguely see all three of them in front of me- small tears streaming down each of their faces. They all started to blab at once, but I just tried to tune them out and focus on other things.

The snippets of their blubbering I caught were all generally the same- "I'm so sorry", or "this is my fault", or "we should've done something". I didn't hold them responsible in the slightest; it was no one's fault I was freaking abducted. All I could do was calmly and quietly assess the situation and try to find a way out of it.

Even as my heart continuously slammed against my ribcage, I kept my breathing calm and even. The first thing I had to do was ask the five W's- who, what, when, where, why. The Who was easy: multiples of this creepy little man that had tried to do something to me last night, then got spooked by Lee's jester mask that I wore. The What was simply that I had been knocked out and abducted by them. When, on the other hand, was a tiny bit more complicated; it was clearly night from the darkness and the moon in the sky, but what time of night was the real question. I could've been knocked out for only a couple of hours, or for quite a few. There was no clock I could see to tell.

Where was probably the hardest. I had no clue where I was, but there was no sounds of the city nearby. No cars whooshing on the street, no other voices, not even the sounds of nightlife. From the limited things I could see, I was definitely in an old, abandoned warehouse of some kind- or even a factory. It must've been for kids toys, judging from the old, beaten up rocking horse sitting on my right side, and a porcelain doll with ratty white hair and a missing eye on my left. The sound of dripping water was close by, indicating it had either rained recently or something was leaking. Each drip was about five seconds apart, which meant that it was either continuously dropping very quickly from a high ceiling, or dripping slowly from a low one. I supposed that didn't really matter, but who could say for sure. Holes dotted the old, decrepit building here and there, so it couldn't have been made out of brick; unless there was some type of explosion. That could've meant trouble if any sort of flame was involved in the little men's grand kidnapping scheme.

As for the Why: I had no fucking clue. Last night, the man was the one who ran away from me after seeing the mask. He could've been insulted and come back with friends, wasn't frightened because I wasn't wearing it, and wanted revenge. But who would go that far? Could he have been a stalker? I couldn't think of anything I had done that would've warranted a stalker, unless he had seen me traipsing around Character Transformed with Lilith or something. That might've caught a few eyes.

Okay. So. Questions answered. Now to see what I could do to get out of this mess. I didn't want answers, didn't want to even talk to the creepy guys; all I wanted was to be home, safe, and in bed- wait no, I wanted food. Then sleep. My purse was tangled around my arm, and a very quick and quiet inspection showed that my phone was still there. I didn't check to see if it was on- the brightness would've given me away. But it was there as a last resort, or if I managed to get away somehow. There were no exits that I could see, unless I was willing to opt for one of the holes. I was sure I could maneuver through one on my own, but only if I was okay with losing time. Thank goodness for strategy RPGs; I was pretty sure I would've been at a loss by now if I had no knowledge of this fantasy-sort of happening.

The only way I was sure this was real now was the constant pounding on my head. I lifted my hand carefully to delicately probe it, only to find a sizable bump hidden underneath my thick hair. Lovely. Not to mention that, the whole hair thing? A complete disaster. I was glad it was messy now and not when Ikuto had been- wait, why was I thinking of that now? That was not a priority.

"Okay," I started to the girls. My voice had to be so quiet, more quiet than a breath. I barely even breathed as they edged as close to my mouth as possible to hear me whisper, "Go check around for exits or weakness. Don't go getting any help yet- I want to avoid getting anyone else involved."

"No!" Lilith said, her golden eyes shining with unshed tears. "We can't just leave you here!"

"Then two of you go, one stay."

Vivian and Satsuki went off, since Lilith would've been the easiest to escape with if I needed to. Unfortunately, as soon as the other two dashed off, the little goblins decided that time for incomprehensible chat was over and crept up to me, their heads ticking back and forth like curious birds'.

"How sssstrange," said one, apparently the ringleader from the way he stood at the front of the gathering- quite possibly the same one from last night. "I could have sssworn ssshe was of the Ssstiria." Yup. Definitely.

"I can't sssenssse anything," another hissed, his voice higher-pitched than the first. "It feelsss like sssomething isss there, but it'sss very weak."

"No, no, no, there'sss definitely sssomething," spat another, a loud thwack resounding as he apparently swat the one over the head. "It'sss jussst not overwhelming."

Now I was more interested in hearing the answers to the Why questions, since I had little scouts probing the area. I had time. So I gulped down the terrified, bulbous lump in my throat and shakily got out, "Who are you people?"

To my shock and appallment, they began to laugh. It was a horrible sound, the sound of sandpaper being drawn roughly and endlessly against wood. I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut as one simply said, "'People'. Ssshe definitely can't be of the Ssstiria."

"But ssshe had the mark," the first objected again, sounded unconvinced.

"What are the Stiria?" I tried again, that question dusting the back of my mind since last night. Lilith edged closer to me and pressed against my neck, her warmth providing some comfort.

I could've sworn he rolled his eyes. "It sssimply meansss one from Ssstiriacusss."

"And where is that?"

They laughed again, a grating chorus of howls slicing into the night.

"We don't need to anssswer your questionsss," said one hiss from the back of the group. "Anssswersss are ussselesss when you're dead."

Dead.

The word rang in my mind again and again, like it was a hollow space.

They were planning on killing me.

Initially, I thought there was a possibility of this being some prank. Or, worst-case-scenario, a gang rape. But they were going to kill me. That was extreme by the very definition of the word. What had I done to somehow deserve death? Why did they want to erase my very existence? I had done nothing to them!
"Human girlsss can be fun," chuckled the first one again. "But thisss one isss too much trouble. No point keeping her if not Ssstiria."

My heart had near-stopped beating, but it kicked into gear again once Vivian and Satsuki returned. Vivian swept low to my ear, Satsuki incapable of speech from all her blubbering and sobbing. "There's an exit due west of here." After a momentary pause, she elaborated. "That's to your left, Snow, not right."

But what would I do if I got out of here? Surely I couldn't make it far; I had no idea where I was. If I ran, there was always the possibility they would chase after me, and with no sense of direction, I'd simply be caught again. But I couldn't just sit here and let them... A painful, searing lump formed in my throat that I couldn't even gulp down if I tried. I couldn't just let them kill me. I'd have to do two things to get out of here safely: figure out a way to buy their time, and bolt straight for the exit and pray they'd be distracted enough not to notice immediately. If they were average speed, I could outrun them; I'd figure the rest out from there.

When I escaped, I had to consider calling someone- anyone to tell them what happened. The police seemed like my best bet, and the Guardians... I thought of how happy Tadase-kun was today, how normal and light everything had been. I had been actually enjoying myself to the fullest, so much I felt like I was going to explode. I couldn't ruin that feeling for anyone else. I'd keep this a secret- as much as I possibly could. I didn't need anyone to save me; I could make it on my own, like I always have.

Just as soon as I firmed my resolve and began hatching some sort of distraction plan- that may have involved little invisible people breaking things- I felt a painful, blazing tug on my hair that made me withhold a cry of pain and outrage. All that over-analyzing and thinking had cost me too much time- the little men were advancing on me, and sweat began to bead out in places I didn't even know it could as panic settled deep in the pit of my stomach, forming and solidifying like a hunk of ice. It was exactly like a nightmare, watching viciously clawed hands reaching out from the darkness to poke and prod, and then pull. The thick, dusty, and browning claws tore right through my shirt as they dug into my stomach, and I tried my best to resist thrashing, since it'd only earn me more scars. Backing away didn't exactly work anymore; I was already up against a wall. There was nowhere to go without escaping completely unscathed.

They started to make these sounds- some sort of scratchy, eager groans. That was repulsive enough to make me edge frantically to the side. It was hard for even me to believe that there were people out there who got actual pleasure from killing- from taking someone's life and leaving a hole in other's. My hair stuck to the back of my neck as I crab-walked backwards and to the side, my hand coming to rest in something wet. I didn't know what it was- water, oil, something else I didn't want to put a name to- but instinct seemed to take over me.

I submerged my hand entirely into the pool of unidentified liquid, then flung out my hand in a straight, horizontal line. Gasps ripped through the silence from the direction my Shugo Chara floated in as the droplets almost instantly formed to small icicles and pierced through the men's skin with a squishy, puckering sound that reminded me of a piece of raw meat being flung to the ground. Now their hisses were angry and frustrated rather than anticipating, and their darkened eyes seemed to blaze up like black flames. Rather than being proud of myself for being able to control it for once, I was more terrified than ever for having angered these men- but instead of advancing further, they seemed to step back a little bit.

"Ssshe isss Ssstiria!" The leader exclaimed, pointing an accusatory claw at me- like being whatever that was, was my fault. "Ssshe hasss the powersss to prove it!"

"But sssomething isssn't right," said one from directly beside him, moving a tad bit closer to examine me again. "It'sss like her power isssn't... complete."

There was a moment of startled silence from everyone. Lilith, Vivian, and Satsuki looked incredibly nervous, the men were shocked by their companion's own words, and I was just incapable of speech from not having the slightest inkling of what they were talking about. Then the air seemed to shift to something far more hostile, and they're faces turned from curious to terrifyingly feral.

"I know who ssshe isss!" Called one of them from the back, sounding far too disgusted for comfort. "Ssshe'sss that abomination!"

...Abomin- look who the heck was talking! They didn't know me in the slightest, and I understood that showing the ice mojo to strangers would earn a completely warranted appalled reaction, but abomination? They were speaking of me like I was the scum of the earth- that I was polluting the world just by breathing. It reminded me of the kitsunes all over again, and once I realized that they weren't the only ones to practically say I didn't have the right to be alive, I began thinking it was true. Maybe I didn't understand why it was justified, but they seemed to- there must have been something to horribly and grotesquely wrong with me that I was completely blind to it.

As I sat completely still in shock, the men growling and advancing, Vivian was hurriedly whispering in my ear: "Don't listen to them! There's nothing wrong with you- you're just a bit different-"

"Ssshe ssshould have died a long time ago." The comment wasn't directed at me, but it still felt like a slap to the face. "Wonder why ssshe'sss ssstill alive?"

"Who knowsss. But sssurely Hisss Majesssty would be more than thrilled to hear that we were the onesss to cleanssse the world of her presssence." The group of them gave a powerful whoop that seeemed to shake the very fragile building we were in, and I cringed away, a foreign stinging irritating the back of my eyes.

"Jussst imagine how high our rank will become!" That scathing, nails-on-a-chalkboard laughter again that made me claw my hands over my ears and wish to tear them off. I didn't want to hear anymore. I didn't want to be here. Everything in my body was completely numb from shock and pure, unfiltered hurt, their harsh words stabbing into me like acupuncture needles paralyzing me forever.

The words continued as they began tearing at me again- words like "atrocity", "sin", "filth", and even "vermin". What could I have possibly done to earn such judgement from people I didn't even know? I didn't do anything wrong- I wasn't a freak- I was normal- there was not anything wrong with me!

"STOP IT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my throat scalding, so completely dry and irritated it felt parched. The opposite of the effect I hoped my scream would have happened; instead of backing away in surprise, the leader of the men reeled forward, his claws slashing right through the fabric of my scarf and tearing open the skin on my collarbone. Red began spilling from it, an eerie crimson waterfall cascading and staining all the way down my white shirt, the liquid all too warm against my already blazing skin. I watched it in a daze, only faintly registering that the numbness was giving way to a blistering pain.

Then there was a blinding flash of light that I had to squeeze my eyes shut to avoid, and even then the afterimages swam against my eyes. It did not last long; black and red began to crawl into the edges of my eyes, indicating that I was losing a lot of blood, and very quickly. As if from a distance, I heard wails and howls of pain, that same sound of piercing into thick meat, and then just nothing. The silence was darkness, and darkness was silence, both leaving me with the impression of a hollow, blank space. I pitched over to the side, no longer capable of supporting my own weight, unable to respond to my Shugo Chara's cries of distress.

I never hit the ground.

Instead, it felt like I was being lifted up by a strong, vise-like grip, clutching at me as if I were a lifeline. Someone had swooped in and saved me, like some kind of hero- a hero whose arm's were shaking, not from my weight (they lifted me as if I didn't have any, actually), but from fear. Opening my eyes to see who it was seemed like too much effort- my eyelids were so heavy, smothering me like a thick blanket. Each breath of mine came out shaky and stuttering, the movement of my chest causing new pain to tear into what would be a brand new scar each time.

"I am so sorry," said the deep voice of my saviour, their voice trembling like the string of a bass having just been plucked. "I am so sorry I did not get here sooner... sorry for ever leaving you by yourself."

That same biting pressure shoved against the back of my eyes, leaving them to sting in a way I swore I felt before. Then I realized what it was with a start- it was tears, screaming at me to be let out. I hadn't cried since that day I beat the tar out of Mao for teasing me, and even then it was silent and sobless, quiet, quivering tears snaking their way down my pallid cheeks. The words of the eerily familiar voice seemed to violently tear something apart inside me, something I had wanted to hear not from them, but from someone else who had left a long time ago.

"I swear," they continued, and I remotely felt my legs swing back and forth from being carried out of the building. I wondered what had happened to all of those men, wondered if they had fled, but the metallic scent punching my nostrils told me something I didn't really want to hear. "I swear I will protect you from now on. You will never be alone again."

I still didn't cry, but a savage feeling coiled in my stomach and chest, like I was going to throw up. I had to open my eyes. I had to see who was saying this to me, the words I had wanted to hear for so long.

With great difficulty, I opened my eyes into slits. And the last thing I saw before I fainted for the second time that night was a black and white jester's mask, caught in a permanent, taunting smile.

---

Lilith, Vivian, and Satsuki should've known me well enough to expect that as soon as I got out of my one-day-long comatose and shocked state, they were going to get a serious grilling session.

Yet, they still had the gall to act surprised and pretend that nothing had happened. Completely bedridden and more than a little depressed from lack of food intake, I was a teensy bit snippy, and was not in the mood to deal with their evasiveness.

"Listen to me, you little shits." Okay, maybe more than a little snippy. "I have questions, and I think that I have a right to answers more than ever now. Look at this," I spat venomously, pressing two fingers to the already pink, puckered straight slice running from the dip in my collarbone to the end near my right shoulder. It was in the most awkward, near-impossible to hide place, unless I was keen on wearing scarves for the rest of my life. The ones so lovingly gifted from my mother were more than easily concealed with a shirt, but this? No. "Look at this fu- freaking mess," I corrected, softening slightly when I observed their cringes. "This ain't goin' away anytime soon. Now. Are ya prepared ta give me straight answers?"

They didn't look at me, but said, "Sure."

First and foremost: "Who were those men?"

Vivian responded. "Not men; um, things. Let's just call them things."

I grit my teeth. "O-kay. What did they want with me?"

"To kill you." This coming so lightheartedly from Lilith that I nearly considered taking her and drowning her in the cup of water by my bed- which couldn't have been gotten by them or me, so apparently it just materialized.

"Why?"

Satsuki piped in this time, her answer far more gentle than the other two. "They didn't like you very much."

"Why?" I pressed, clenching a fist into my duvet.

"Bad genes." That was the only answer they gave me, but I had to admit it wasn't all that surprising. My mother was certifiable, and my father dropped off the face of the earth. I wasn't too surprised that they might've wracked up a few enemies that'd be coming after me for a sense of comeuppance.

"Good enough... for now," I warned, earning an eye roll from the two sardonic ones. "So, what are the Stiria?"

Apparently that one was less like pulling teeth, since Lilith answered easily. "They're a race of people."

My bristling and furious reaction was evidently completely unwarranted, since they all seemed taken aback when I slammed a fist on my bedside table, making the water slosh over the sides of the glass, then solidify into ice before it dripped to the floor. "Does it mean 'Albino'? Because if it does, I swear to fucking god-"

"It doesn't," Satsuki intervened quickly, holding her hands out as if to calm down the fire of my rage. "It's um... well, it's hard to describe. Er... in the beginning, there was-"

"I don't need the story of creation," I tiffed, a look of pure impatience on my face.

She frowned deeply, nearly invisible lines creasing the sides of her cheeks. "But that's seriously the only way to describe it."

"Forget it, Suki," Lilith groaned with a dismissive wave. "She's not ready anyway." She barely dodged out of the way when my hand shot out to grab her in frustration, sick and tired of "not being ready".

"Just listen," Vivian broke in. "Basically, it's one of those races based on a monarchy that has begun to fade overtime, eroding from everyone's memories until they have completely dissolved into the background." She thought over her next words a bit, clearly editing for my benefit. "They are still remembered by some people... but only when they're frightened. As people grow, and as the industrial revolution just keeps crippling the old ways, they become more and more forgotten."

"Sounds sad," I admitted begrudgingly. "But what does it have to do with me?"

"You heard the things," Lilith shrugged. "You're a descendant."

"And this race..." I continued, suddenly not wanting my questions to be answered anymore. I was terrified of the answer, terrified of hearing that I really was a freak, unlike anyone else around me. A lone member of a race long forgotten. "They have white hair, pale skin, weird eyes, are freakishly tall..."

Viv nodded. "Typically, yes. It's genetics."

"So... my dad was a member?"

They seemed completely shocked that I had made that connection. But what else was I supposed to think? I had obviously inherited those traits from him. "He was," Satsuki murmured quietly, seeming more forlorn than she was previously. I realized why with a silent start that left me leaning back into my pillows and unwilling to speak anymore. We were speaking of him in the past tense again. It was like acknowledging that he really didn't exist anymore, that he was fading away just like the people we were allegedly a part of.

To say I was having a hard time grasping all of this information would have been the understatement of the year.

With a sigh, I crumpled beneath my duvet and snuggled into my sheets- smelling crisply of fabric softener that was so good I wanted to cry- making disgruntled moaning sounds. I could practically hear the eye rolls of Viv and Lilith, and Satsuki just laughed good-naturedly. "That's it for the inquiry?" She teased, as if everything were light and normal again.

There was a chance they could sense it. But then there was a chance that they still couldn't. Something was changing inside of me, shifting and turning like the gears of a clock that had been broken for forever and a day. My frozen time began to thaw again, returning to the way it had been so long ago, with all of the new information. Something was going to happen very soon. And slowly, surely, I was beginning to adapt to it.

But just like the shadows of falling leaves performed a mischievous play across my floor through the balcony doors, it was dark and foreboding. That "something" that was going to happen was not going to be good. A tragedy, perhaps.

Nonetheless, I peeked over the covers and forced a sardonic grin. "For today," I warned, and they all began whistling nonchalantly, perfectly in synch.

The mask I had placed upon my face was as perfect as the jester's.

Right on cue, a knock began thumping politely at the door- not the door to my apartment, but to my room. I sat there for a moment, debating, and figured it must've been unlocked. Also, I had no idea how I even got home in the first place. The last thing I remembered was a black and white face smiling at me, then I woke up in bed, throbbing everywhere and my cut already healed. Figuring I was keeping my guest waiting, I shoved those thoughts aside for the moment and called, "Come in."

It wasn't really all that surprising to see Lee slide cautiously into the room, conspicuously leaving the door wide open behind him. He summoned up a smile upon seeing me, but he looked more worse for the wear than I did. There was a heavy slouch to his posture, like a giant weight was settled on his shoulders, and dark bags under his eyes made them seem almost puffy, like he had gotten beaten up. "You're looking better," he began, a slight croak to his voice.

Seeing him all ragged like that, I cut right to the chase. "Were you the one who's been taking care of me?" I gestured vaguely to the water on the nightstand, almost knocking it over before the girls caught it and pushed it back into an upright position with a vicious effort.

Now he seemed more sheepish than tired. "Yes," he confessed, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Imagine my surprise when I came home from work to find you collapsed in the hallway, all battered-up and torn apart." His body was racked with a shudder. "So- apologies in advance- I went into your purse to grab your keys, unlocked the apartment, and brought you here."

"Well..." I began hesitantly, many questions still unanswered. "Thank you very much," I finally murmured with a smile as bright as I could manage. In that moment, I also felt a beam of something like pride, since I had made a grown man flush red like the teenagers I was surrounded by every day.

"No problem," he muttered, scuffling his feet on the wood floor. Vivian was shooting him a weirdly disgusted look from her position on the table, like the very thought of the man being one of the city's leaders repulsed her. "So, what happened, exactly?" He asked me.

Now this was the hard part: to confess, or not to confess. Would anyone really believe me if I told them the truth about what happened? If so, then what? Even I wasn't entirely sure what the whole episode was about. I'd really rather forget it; being called 'vermin' and 'abomination' did terrible things to my ego.

I bowed my head slightly, my hair curling like tendrils of frost against the riot of cold colours on my duvet cover. Vaguely, I gestured for him to sit in the desk chair, and he daintily complied, keeping to the edge of the cushion. "I... don't know," I said, not entirely a lie. I just couldn't bring myself to explain what had happened in detail; fear would undoubtedly leak into my voice, splotches of pure red paint against a white, void facade, and I was more than unwilling to show any sign of weakness to anyone. People took advantage of the first crack in defense they saw, with hordes of history and memories of mine to prove it. "I think I was kidnapped. I was knocked out, and... I don't know, just woke up here."

That was incredibly far-fetched, and it was quite obviously a lie. My hands were busy fiddling with the sheets, my eyes darting all around the room to avoid coming into contact with his. The silence between us began to weigh on me like a burdensome shadow. He could call me out on the lie, he could ignore it all together, he could not even care to stick around... none of the possibilities were too desirable.

After the silence was painfully stretched thin, he finally said, "How odd." That was the end of it. He didn't meet my gaze when I finally lifted my head, which sent a white-hot flash of guilt spearing straight through my chest. He knew I was lying, and he was choosing not to pry about it. Yet again I came to wonder why such a man was being so kind to me, of all people, a foolish teenager who merely came to live beside him unsuspectingly. He was so nice, so mature, so much... well, better than I was. He was an adult that was being friends with me of his own volition.

A twisted smirk contorted my features when I thought of how someone as influential as him was willingly friends with vermin.

"So," he began again awkwardly, slapping his hands on his knees. "What say you to some food? You must be starving."

My eyebrows skyrocketed, matching my wincing expression. "Your cooking? I'm not too sure about that..."

He made a show of rolling his eyes. "Funny. I was thinking take-out."

"A sick person eating take-out? Is that a wise decision?"

"Well, if you ate my food, I would actually have to take you to the hospital this time," he cautioned, his expression so serious I couldn't help but laugh. "You chortle, but I'm not kidding."

"Take-out it is then." I pointed to my purse, which had been haphazardly tossed to the floor; most likely in his frantic rush to get me into the house and properly resting. "There's money in my wallet."

He shook his head, which permitted me to notice that his ponytail had grown in length; when it had once merely grazed the space between his shoulders, it now reached to the middle of his back. It had grown so quickly in just a matter of days, yet another trait we seemed to share. "Nuh-uh. My treat."

My eyes narrowed into slits. "We'll split."

He must've known me well enough by then to realize that I was too stubborn and too proud to have people pay for me with no additional consequences- so he merely heaved a weighted sigh and reached into the back pocket of his jeans, emerging with his cell phone. "Pizza fine?"

"I think you know the answer to that question."

With a chuckle, he suavely exited my room, shutting the door gently behind him to leave me to my own devices.

Immediately after his departure, I leaped from bed, eager to finally get my legs moving again- which instantly left my head spinning with vertigo and falling back into a sitting position. I groaned and bounced my legs up and down as quickly as I could to get my blood circulating properly again- it had been a full day since I had moved around at all, and I needed to start again soon before muscle aches and pains tore into my body. I looked down at myself, my expression changing as I did, and it was evidently entertaining enough to the two torturers of my teeny posse that thye burst into uncanny laughter. I wasn't wearing the outfit I had been that day- granted, it was more than likely covered in stains of red, but that meant something to me, something I didn't really feel comfortable with.

Someone had changed my clothes. And it wasn't my Shugo Chara; they were far too small and physically inept to accomplish such. That only left one other suspect.

"Kill me now," I groaned into my hands, only half-joking. Their laughter quieted into a suspenseful silence, leaving me to do what I could to maintain a presentable appearance. I needed a shower, that was for sure. I did have school tomorrow, after all. I threw off my tank top and pajama shorts, sincerely hoping that they had miraculously just materialized on me and a grown man didn't see me in my undergarm-

He saw my scars.

The thought hit me so suddenly the hanger preferring a striped long-sleeved shirt fell to the floor with a clatter when it slipped from my hands. If Lee really had changed my clothes, like I was dreading he did, they were impossible not to notice. They were like disturbing ink blotches on a perfectly white sheet of paper, effectively ruining the whole product and leaving it to be shoved somewhere where no one would remember. But he hadn't brought them up. Maybe he was just being considerate of my feelings again.

He really is too good for me, I thought to myself with a bitter laugh as I gathered the shirt of the floor and pulled it on. I opted for my amazing butt-enhancing denim capris that I was sure would kindle a perverse remark from some cat-wannabe, thankful I wasn't going to see him today. But really, what did I know- he tended to pop out of nowhere. Just as I gave myself a once-over in the floor-length mirror on the door of my closet, I paused, making a pensive expression directed at the right corner of the ceiling.

"What's with you?" Lilith snorted, flipping her ponytail over her back. How she could be so shameless and expose excessive amounts of skin like that- no matter how tiny- was beyond me. "Is there a spider up there?" Her tone began to border on panicked. "If there is, kill it! It may seem like nothing to you, but it's almost the same size as-"

"No, no," I quickly rectified. "I was just thinking- what if I could do something to cover up my scars?"

They knew me well enough by then that they were instantly suspicious, narrowing their eyes in unison. "This is not going to be intelligent," Vivian muttered to herself.

"What if I... put foundation on them?" I wondered aloud, actually considering how it would look.

Suddenly Vivian was chucking her rabbit to the ground, stomping her feet on the tabletop and exaggeratedly throwing her hands in the air. "I'M DONE!" She screeched, floating away whilst shaking her head. "I'M DONE!"

"No, but really-" I turned around to try and plead my case, but Lilith distracted me by bashing her head against the wall.

"THIS IS THE WORST IDEA YOU'VE EVER HAD!"

I began chuckling to myself, pretending that I had only been joking to get a rise out of them- when in reality I had actually been considering applying makeup to my stomach and back. "I highly doubt that."

"Yeah, guys," Satsuki said, trying to appease the situation with her smile of the utmost grace. "The worst idea she's ever had was when she built that little shrine space in her closet to Ian Somerhalder and asked Mao to get her a pair of shoes from there and he-"

"AHHH NEVER BRING THAT UP AGAIN!" I howled, falling to my knees and covering my ears. What could I say- the guy was gorgeous.

There was a circumspect knock at my door, and Lee's voice warily leaking through: "Is everything alright in there? I thought I heard yelling..."

"I'm fine!" I laughed, suspiciously high-pitched and loud. "Just, uh, talking to someone on the phone!"

Again, the lie was obvious, and his voice was softer now, more concerned for my mental health for screaming at nothing. "Well, uh, the pizza will be here soon. Are you well enough to get up?"

Considering that I already was... "Yup," I called, more relaxed than before. I raked a brush quickly through the snowball of my head and decided to ignore the incessant shots at my pride from Lilith and Vivian- who were probably going to be going on about that whole foundation thing for a week.

I had to admit- eating pizza alone with Lee in my apartment felt more intimate than it should have. As if we had been friends torn apart by time and were thrown back together when fate thought the time was right. We turned on the television, and he put up with my lame shows like Love it or List it, supplying input whenever he thought the time was right. I covered my legs with the afghan I folded neatly and laid across the back of the couch, not feeling cold (of course), but merely longing for more comfort. Ever since the whole, ahem, accidental holding incident with Ikuto, I felt... deprived somehow. Like the privilege of exchanging warmth between two people had been prohibited to me, like I had no right to experience such a thing again. But of course I didn't have the right- I was a monster, after all.

It was so easy to pretend that Friday night/Saturday morning never happened. So simple and painless to act like everything was normal, to forget and shove the memories into the darkness where everything I hid deep inside would remain until the end of my days. I told myself that it was okay to live this way, to enjoy the time that I had with Lee and the Guardians, to live without really doing so.

I could lie to myself for just a little while longer.

---

As much as I hated to say it, that was only the beginning.

On Monday, school continued as usual- like the weekend had never even passed. Students were sluggish and dragging their feet, as per the usual beginning-of-the-week atmosphere, teachers equally as disgruntled and giving half-hearted responses to questions. However, the Guardians were chipper as always- it was like having small friends who were always by your side improved your lifestyle, made you want to be the best person you could be. This included getting up early whilst remaining chipper and alive, and not a total slob.

Apparently I missed that memo. Now I would always be just plain paranoid of things that went bump in the night, but I believed that fear to be rightfully justified- I got kidnapped and a severe verbal thrashing, after all. Information which I withheld from the Guardians, but for good reason- namely because I didn't want to worry them, more because I didn't want to get them involved in case those men ever came back (but from the strong scent of iron that flooded the building at the time, I didn't believe they would), and subsequently because I just didn't want them to know. It was kind of humiliating to admit that I had been weak enough to be caught off-guard and taken away against my own will, and unable to do anything in that situation but back away and scream. Mortification made my cheeks burn and the backs of my eyes sting during lunch break- a fact they all had noticed when I began scrubbing the heel of my hand into my eyes.

"Whoa, Tadase, I didn't know you had it in you," Kukai-kun said, his voice a low, suggestive murmur.

That, of course, instantly threw our king for a loop. "What are you talking about, Souma-kun?" He asked politely, his head tilting to the side like a dog's whose name had just been called by an unfamiliar voice.

"You know," the firebush chanted, his eyebrows waggling with each syllable he dragged out. "To traumatize Hisayuki enough that you're making her blush and cry just by looking at you."

Both of us began to object in our own respects, both with faces that complimented his hair, his polite and reserved while mine was very unladylike and thuggish. The others only laughed at our shenanigans, Yaya-san even holding her head in her hands and laughing so hard she sobbed, probably more at the fact that she had unabashedly abandoned the two of us on a date- all of them were probably imagining just how awkward that was, thus bringing the abasement to a new level.

However, we all jumped and nearly collapsed out of our chairs when we saw that we suddenly weren't the only ones in the Royal Garden.

A girl had appeared out of nowhere- wait, that wasn't exactly right. More like she had appeared from my nightmares. She was the embodiment of shadow, seeming to bring down the entire atmosphere of the once fairytale-like glass greenhouse, dragging dark smears of cloud across the sky and killing the flowers that once stood strong and proud. Not literally, of course, but the look on her face might as well have. Here I was under the impression that Lee's hair was really black, but I stood corrected when I saw hers, completing enveloping her like the darkest of velvet, cushiony and voluptuous. Her bangs were a straight slash across her equally dark brows, mercifully covering her glowering eyes- eyes that gave Tadase-kun's a run for their money in a reddish colour. They were the only thing about her that didn't come off as a shadows stripped off the ground and come to life. They looked so sad, so worried- mournful even.

"You are the Seiyo Academy Guardians, correct?" She began, her voice surprisingly girlish and small, just like her petite frame dwarfed by her hair.

"Uh, yes, that's right," Yaya-san announced, standing from her chair to get a good look at our guest. When she appraised her fully, her eyes narrowed, having a stern competition for a small, cutesy-looking girl. Only while Yaya-san was more childish and babylike, this girl was probably a gothic lolita. "What can we do ya for?"

"Sixty bucks an hour," Kukai-kun snickered under his breath, earning a harsh swat from me.

The second I moved, the girl's gaze snapped to me- and it was so fierce and filled with anticipation that I froze where I sat. Her carmine eyes gained a spark to them that made them ignite, pure-red flames snapping in her otherwise spilling ink presence. The first thought that occupied my mind was half-offended, half-freaked-out, wondering why she was looking at me like I was something scrumptious on her plate at the dinner table. Even as she continued to speak, she held my gaze, trapping an innocent rabbit underneath a wolf's overwhelming paw. "Your position is to assist students with any unfortunate situations they come into, yes?"

"I suppose so," Nadeshiko-san murmured, her smile kind and polite as well as curious. "Is there something we can help you with?"

We should've known from the second we noticed her that she wasn't from her, considering none of us had ever seen her before. But when we all noticed the Mayosu Academy uniform at the same time, we simultaneously took in sharp breaths, moving from willingly helpful to suspicious and guarded.

"Who are you?" Kukai-kun said lowly, his voice one octave above a growl.

The girl's smile was just as affable as it was terrifying. "My name is Is- Isabelle," she stumbled awkwardly, leaving me to grow even more suspecting that something wasn't entirely in place here. Who stumbled over their own name like that? Well, anyone would if they were nervous, but her expression and stance were completely contrary to that; she stood proud and straight-backed as if she belonged there, like every speck of light and beauty surrounding her deserved a speck of pitch. "And I require your service to a pressing matter."

"And what is that?" I asked, more quiet and more uncertain than my companions. They didn't trust her presence here- that was not to say that I did, but something about her was just... off. I did not want to get all presumptuous around her and find out what it may be the hard way.

Her expression slipped from confident and striking to mournful and devastated. "Well- you see, the truth is that my classmates are not exactly being entirely pleasant around me," she admitted, though she sounded like she did so begrudgingly. "Mayosu Academy has no clearly defined organization such as yours where students such as myself may seek sanctuary. Everyone fends for themselves, only cares for themselves."

"I can believe that," Tadase-kun muttered under his breath, the most pessimistic thing I had ever heard him say.

"I cannot simply stand by and take it any longer." Her voice came out like a ripped-apart sob, and I was surprised to see that she was shaking, like the strain of holding in her emotions and frustration was threatening to tear her apart from the inside-out. "However, I am too afraid to attempt to confront them on my own. So..." She averted her gaze to a patch of bright violet peonies nearby, and they seemed to cower under her shadow. "I did not know where else to go."

"I see," Nadeshiko-san murmured sympathetically. "Well, helping students from other schools isn't necessarily under our jurisdiction..."

"...But we'll see what we can do," Kukai-kun finished with a tone of finality, taking us all by surprise. "No matter where you come from, bullying is the same. We all suffer in the same way. So it doesn't matter whether or not you're a Mayosu." His usually carefree grin had a hidden undertone of sadness- and maybe a bit of regret. "Your tears are just like ours. So... we'll help."

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" He demanded, a russet colour flooding into his cheeks. "What?!"

"That was the most mature and insightful thing I have ever heard you say, ever," I told him, my eyes popping out of their sockets in shock.

He made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat, but it was more out of an adorable embarrassment than being grossed out. "Shut up, Hisayuki, if you know what's good for you."

"Ooh, I'm scared."

Kukai-kun chucked a cookie at my head. Crumbs stuck in my hair, dribbling into my eyes like droplets of water, and Yaya-san leapt up and wrapped her all-bone arms around my waist just before I could smack him right in the kisser.

You would think such weird behavior from complete strangers would turn the unsuspecting observer away without a second thought. But Isabelle took one look at our antics that were actually becoming a daily thing and began lapsing into hysterics. Nadeshiko-san and Tadase-kun were easily chuckling along as I sat back down in my seat, disgruntled and feeling as if I had lost.

"You guys are very interesting," the girl of darkness said, opening her eyes- once squeezed shut in laughter- that came to rest on me. The feeling I got right in that moment was the same as if someone had locked gazes with a ghost- frozen in fear, wanting to run, but unable to move. The two wide spheres of cardinal red stared at me ruthlessly, a fork pinning me down on a dinner table, and a grin widened on her porcelain face like she was actually preparing to eat me. Her teeth were as white as my hair, sharper than most. Suddenly I was reminded of a shark lurking inside of dark waters looking at her, of the vacant yet predatory look in their eyes when Tadase-kun and I saw them at the aquarium. It was almost like she was a homicidal puppet.

Immediately my twitching smile disappeared and I shook my head vigorously. What right did I have to so apathetically judge someone I didn't even know just because of how she looked? I knew I didn't particularly enjoy it when people did that to me; I should get to know her better and help her before anything else.

"Then I will be back tomorrow at lunch time," she finalized with another smile, more serene and confident than the first, less mindless. "I will indulge you further in the details. For now..." She dipped into a small bow and began walking back towards the entrance of the garden, small kitten heels clicking along with her.

Yaya-san stood back up from her chair and waved spastically. "See you then!"

As soon as the heavy glass door shut behind her with a thunderous slam, the first words out of Kukai-kun's mouth were: "Well, she was weird."

I swat him on the arm. "Don't say that. We don't even know her."

His eyes swung to meet mine, narrowed and suspicious. "Like you have any right to talk. You looked terrified of her, Hisayuki."

"I'm not..." I heaved a heavy sigh, not wanting to lie any more than I already did. "She just took me off guard a little, alright? I'm not scared of her."

"Yuh-huh," he muttered, clearly a nonbeliever.

With a grunt, I scraped back my chair and stood, scooping up my bag along the way. "Whatever. I'm going to class."

"Aw, I didn't mean to make you mad!"

"You didn't!" I snapped, then forced a smile to try and prove my case- which came out looking more insane than sincere. "I just don't want to be late. Text me if anything come up, okay?"

Tadase-kun waved his phone at me with his trademark heart-melting smile. "As always. We'll see you later."

I copped off our partings with a boy-scout salute I'd regret for the rest of my life when I saw him bow his head slightly in laughter, then began following the same path the mysterious girl had just wandered down, like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. The door closed behind me with the same heavy thud, and I shoved my hands in my blazer pockets before continuing to swish through the long, dying grass towards the imposing building.

"What is this?" Lilith drew out slowly, her voice creeping towards a suggestive tone. "You and Tadase are so close now."

As I flushed and was about to shoot back a reply, Vivian barked out a laugh and interjected. "Yeah. Texting each other if the slightest thing comes up?" She swat the back of my neck, a true feat considering the mass of white forest she had to navigate through to get there. "Girl, you got it bad."

"I do not," I hissed automatically, not even knowing the very definition of the words. Many a time before had I mulled over the subject of love, and thought of it as something completely beyond me, out of my reach. I did not 'have it bad'; with a cruel smile directed towards myself, I realized that vermin probably were not even capable of feeling such a thing. The image of myself holding hands with someone, even gazing into their eyes with emotion so deep one could drown in it, was so distant and vague it was like staring at it through layers of abundant fog.

That didn't make me any less upset about it. I pitched a deep sigh and kicked a nearby pebble, grumbling to myself and the girls about the corniness and futility of teenage relationships. When the small rock should have made skittering noises until it was a distance away, it seemed to stop very close by, with a squishy thud and a small voice hissing, "Ow."

Immediately I turned around to apologize and see who I had hurt. "I'm sorry," I sputtered, outstretching my hands in an attempt to be comforting. But as soon as I did, they fell slack to my sides again, confusion written all over my face like a question mark. No one was there.

"Down here," said the same voice, and it sounded as though it was speaking through static. I wondered if it was a Shugo Chara talking, and conspiratorially knelt closer to the ground smoothly, my hair fluffing around me, to see who had spoken. Not a Guardian Character in sight.

"Am I going crazy?" I asked Satsuki, who seemed completely paralyzed in shock by something hidden between a few blades of grass. When I crawled forward on my knees slightly, damp soil turning pallid white to an earthy brown, I could see why, and my reaction was the exact same.

A mad, mad smile froze on my face, the expression of someone watching the world burn.

"Honestly," said a vivid, long black snake from the grass, shaking its head sadly like I should be ashamed of myself. How it had gotten there was beyond me, but there it was, a stark contrast to the rapidly bleaching grass, it forked tongue slithering between its teeth as it observed me with far too intelligent ruby eyes. "To think that you are the one we have been searching for all this time. What a disappointment."

To my utter horror and denial, it seemed to give out a little snort. "But what can we do? You are incomplete, after all. I suppose we are just working with what we have got."

It blinked at me quickly, as if expecting a response. So naturally, I did what any coherent person would do if a very dangerous-looking snake spontaneously started talking to you after kicking it with a rock.

"There was a... talking snake outside," I panted to Deryn as I collapsed in the threshold of the home economics room, after having run so quickly I was a blur of white from the scene.

She looked at me, blinked once owlishly, and said, "I believe you."

"Deryn," I nearly sobbed, dragging myself across the ground to rest by her feet, not even caring that my uniform was getting dirty. "Everything is so messed up."

She showed no sign of affection, and yet she attempted to be comforting by patting my head once. My current mood was one that pretty much entailed crawling into a dark corner and never, ever coming out again if I could help it. The snake hadn't been an illusion; it was too real, its bright, self-aware red eyes glowing with menace and emotions snakes shouldn't have. Things were beginning to add up to something, that same shadowy feeling tingling the edge of my consciousness, but I just didn't know what it was yet. As soon as I came to this city, all of these strange things started happening- the sudden manifestation of my powers, odd little men kidnapping me, the discovery of being a part of an extinct race, and now animals were talking to me. I was beginning to think that it wasn't so much the city that was strange, but just myself that was finally beginning to lose her mind.

A few moments before I carried on speaking with Deryn, about a question that had been itching the back of my mind from her response to my snake revelation, I mulled over the whole event. So there was a big, black, most likely venomous snake in the grass with unusually crimson eyes and the ability to speak. That was right up with "suddenly obtaining small friends" on Snow Hisayuki's list of Strange Things Currently Happening In My Life.

"But..." I said aloud to Deryn, not letting any of the exploding inner turmoil I felt at my life falling apart show on the outside. "Why do you believe me? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but normally when someone mentions a talking snake..."

She didn't lift her eyes from a thick, leatherbound volume she was reading as she shrugged. "My parents were religious. Also..." Her bottomless eyes traveled downward, to me picking myself up off the floor, and glinted with something sharp and threatening. "There's a giant black snake wrapped around your leg."

Deryn didn't even blink as ice very suddenly broke out under my feet.

Trembling in terror, I looked down very slowly to see something grotesque coiled around my leg like a vise; the snake was so stark and black against my white skin it looked as if I had slipped in oil. It lifted it small, spear-shaped head to glare at me, its already slivered pupils shrinking even more.

"We were not done conversing," it spat, small fangs poking out of its mouth whenever it moved. "I am doing you a favour by speaking to you like this, when I was specifically told not to by L-"

It didn't even get to say who had told it to do what, because it was screaming at the top of its lungs as I yanked it off, whirled around in the air like a lasso, and pitched it out the window with a girlish shriek.

Deryn merely huffed out a sigh at the fading streak of black shooting across the sky, saying, "That was a bit excessive, don't you think?"

"I really don't," I admitted, my voice a low, guttural growl. "Is it too much to ask for all the weird things to go away? To just live a normal life?"

The look in her eyes was so deep and fathomless that it made me think she might actually be empty on the inside- like something had ripped her heart out long ago, or encased it in ice, as mine had been. "I think it is," she murmured. "We cannot change fate now, can we?"

That word was beginning to edge its way onto my blacklist. Not having any control of my future, implying that I should just let my world continue its steady downward descent towards things unimaginable... that kind of future wasn't what anyone would desire.

As for the mess I had just created- which was not limited to the spontaneous patch of ice shimmering on the floor- I heaved a sigh and got to work. I began stomping on it so hard very few cracks began to destroy its once crystalline composition, and I made it look like I was showing Deryn a dance so I didn't come off as suspicious- which may very well have been an ironic action. All she did was stare and stare, not commenting, her expression not changing, and I got the impression that she could be the one who I told everything to- the one I could unload all the screams I had bottled up inside. The very thought of finally exhaling that one lasting breath made me sag with relief.

But I couldn't do that to her. From what she implied and the looks on her face- or lack thereof- she already had enough to deal with. Besides, who could I really trust with secrets like that without having to worry about being sent to bunk with my mother? No one at the moment, it seemed. It appeared I was going to be stuck like this, unmoving and silent, for a while. Which would have been fine by me if these freakish experiences didn't keep happening.

When my little destructive jig was complete, I yanked a broom from the supply closet in the room and swept the pieces inside. I was about to toss it not in the trash can (too much evidence) but out the window, when Deryn stopped me and asked quietly, "Can I see?"

"Aren't you freaked out?" I grumbled, my voice empty save for a sour tone of self-contempt.

"I've seen far worse. There was just a talking snake in here." She had a point. I preferred the dustpan to her and she carefully picked up a shard between her forefinger and thumb with surgical precision. I moved swiftly through the room to toss the rest before the other students came in from lunch.

"It is very beautiful," she murmured, more to herself than complimenting me. "Look- it's like there's a small aurora trapped inside."

"I know." I thudded down in the seat beside her, the broom clattering to the floor once it slipped from my weak grasp. "It's weird."

She shook her head, and a golden curl tickled my nose. "I wish I could have a talent like this." I flinched away from her, a horrified expression clawing its way onto my face. So she had seen that I was the one who made it in the first place. Well, of course she did, but there was some small, irrational hope deep within me that prayed she would just assume it was already there- or something.

However, when I peeked through my curtain of white hair to gauge her reaction, she didn't look the slightest bit disgusted- not even spooked. I would have waved it off as a trademark 'Deryn Sivas' reaction, but her mouth was drawn down slightly- almost like she was sad. "I'd much prefer this to anything else. Ice is so perfect- it captures beauty and stills it in time forever. It stays safe in the darkness. You could make anything you wanted to."

"Yeah?" I asked quietly, not having considered it before. Hey, maybe I could make a living as an ice sculptor! First I'd have to train myself to actually make shapes with it instead of just acting like I had spilled it everywhere-

"Ice can always be beautiful," she continued, unaware of me hatching my life plan beside her. "But I, on the other hand..."

The last part was muttered to herself, but it caught my attention anyway. Just in time for me to shoot a glance at her again and see that she was pressing the shard deeper into her finger. I reeled back with a gasp and said, "No, don't-". But it was too late. The pointed tip pierced her skin, and when I cringed away, fearing the sight of blood, I checked again to see how bad the bleeding was. Turns out, it wasn't- or maybe it was? Who could say- instead of a vivid crimson, iron-smelling liquid streaming from her fingertip, there was a substance strangely like oil; slick, black, and smelling bizarrely like black licorice.

"Uh," was all I could say.

She heaved a sigh and tossed the shard at the window, grabbing a sheet of paper towel and wrapping it around the wound on the way. "You don't have to say anything," she said, her mouth twitching upwards. "Just know that if you are thinking about how everything that seemed impossible is gradually becoming possible... you are correct."

There was a vacant ghost of a smile on her face when she turned her head to look at me again, the steady murmur of students streaming in the classroom white noise compared to her next words. "It's nice that you have a Guardian Character power to freeze things. It must really come to good use with Guardian duty."

"Uhhh... yes, yes it does," I murmured with growing confidence and an easy smile, a plan already beginning to explode in my head. Saying my powers were because of my Guardian Characters, dishonest as it may be, would be the perfect excuse for whenever I accidentally used them in front of the Guardians! I supposed it didn't matter whose they stemmed from, but hey, it was an excuse I was beginning to silently applaud Deryn for. While all the lies were beginning to pile up and weigh on my shoulders like some kind of hunching gargoyle, they were keeping me and the people around me safe. Just one more couldn't hurt.

When Deryn turned away to observe the students crawling through the door, I mimed giving her a hug behind her back. Heck- I could kiss her!

"I hope you're not trying to steal my girlfriend, Snow," growled a masculine voice from behind me. I jumped away with a "Gah!" to see none other than Will standing there, arms crossed, mouth pouty. The effect would have been menacing- if his mouth hadn't been twitching, informing me that he was only screwing around.

"Then you'd better step up your game," I teased back. "Because she seems ready and willing for some change."

Deryn looked at me then, a confused look crossing her face. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know you felt that way."

Both Will and I froze. "Uh, no, Ryn-"

"But I have to decline," she sighed wistfully. "Unfortunately, I do not like members of my gender in a carnal way. And I have already promised myself to William." She edged back her chair from the table to bow slightly. "I hope we can continue to be friends."

She became all the more confused when she lifted her head again to see Will and I looking at her with something along the lines of endearing pity. She was so oblivious sometimes, but in an adorable, childlike way. It was no wonder she and Will had-

Hold up. "Promised yourself?" I repeated incredulously. She nodded and I tossed my head back to stare at Will, who was blushing and looked disgustingly sheepish. "I hope that does not mean what I think it means."

"Snow," Will began calmly, straddling the seat in front of me. When I was on the receiving on of the endearingly pitiful smile, I realized I wasn't too fond of it. "I know you may not be ready to understand this yet, but when two people love each other very much-"

"ENOUGH!" I hissed as I bat his outstretched hand away, like he was a parent trying to tell their child to remain calm when explaining they were about to have another sibling. "I do not want to hear about other people's love life when mine is already nonexistent."

This time it was Deryn who reached out to pat my hand semi-affectionately. "Your prince will come some day."

"UNHAND ME!"

That was the precise moment our teacher chose to walk in, effectively silencing us all and making me just sent daggers towards Deryn and Will, who flipped me two thumbs-ups at the exact same time. I heaved a disgusted sigh when they stopped and turned my attention towards the front, where Mrs. Kelling was beginning a lecture on the different ways to squeeze a lemon (shockingly enough, there was more than one). My thoughts, on the other hand, were trailing after a black snake that had been flung into the sky like Team Rocket whenever they were defeated in Pokémon ("the demonic snake is blasting off again!").

My ability to multitask astounded even me at times; while I meticulously jotted down notes on whatever Mrs. Kelling was spouting out, I was able to sum up all of the strange happenings that had begun ever since the first moments I got to this city in the margins of my page. First and probably the most significant, my ice powers made an appearance. Then my Shugo Chara. The kitsunes at the shrine, the unconscious girl with two puncture wounds on her neck, the weird little old man- which quickly turned into weird little old men kidnapping me, Isabelle (if she even counted- maybe she was just a tad bit strange), and now a talking snake. The events surely all had to add up to something... the only problem was that I wasn't sure what the sum could be. None of them seemed to specifically be connected together, except for the one element that maybe it wasn't the city that was crazy, but just me.

No. I couldn't afford to think that way right now. I had to push all self-depreciating thoughts aside and get to the bottom of this whole mystery. While everything was confusing and- to be perfectly frank- terrifying, I had to admit that I secretly took some joy in playing something that was like a game of life, with mystery and intrigue and fantasy. Did that make me a sadist? Or a masochist? Or a sadomasochist? Oh, whatever, it didn't matter.

Through all of the nonsensical and difficult times, there was one thing that didn't sit right with me: the talking snake. Animals didn't just talk out of nowhere. I wasn't sure of the exact science of it or anything, but they have their own means of communication through making noises and doing little mating jigs and whatnot. Besides, why would they choose to converse with something that did nothing but destroy their planet? As little sense as everything else made, spontaneous talking animals could only be chalked up to a Disney thing. But then where did that leave that snake...?

Desperately, I wracked my brain when trying to come up with other instances of talking animals besides the whole Disney factor. I supposed I've read quite a a few books in which that happened, but was there any famous instances...?

The realization hit me so hard my arms went limp and the pencil fell from my hands. It rolled to the edge of the desk, teetered for a moment, then fell to the ground with a small clatter. I didn't even reach down to pick it up, which left Yuzuhara to grumble and place it on my desk a bit too hard. I could not have cared less about his aggression when putting a pencil on my desk; bigger things were on my mind. Of course there was a famous instance of talking snakes. I was astounded it had eluded me for so long. It was the tale of Adam and Eve.

In said story, the Devil disguised himself as a snake to infiltrate the Garden of Eden and persuade Eve into eating the Forbideen Fruit, thereby betraying God's wishes and having her and Adam exiled from the paradise forever. If I took that tale into account, as well as the fact that there was probably a vampire lurking around this city, then it was pretty obvious that snake wasn't actually a snake at all. It had to be a shapeshifter.

Oh boy. Things just got a lot more complicated, and a whole lot more scary. If shapeshifters really existed, then that called for a lot more paranoia than I already had. How did I know if anyone I had personal connections with were actually who they claimed to be and not... something else? Well, I had to completely ignore that factor if I ever wanted to come out of my apartment again. For now, all I could do was assume that nobody was trustworthy. And even though the shapeshifter theory wasn't exactly proven, nor could it probably ever be, it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

However, as well as making me live in more fear than ever, the idea also filled me with a tangible sense of loneliness. Now no one could ever hear any of the secrets I held. But that was alright What I had to focus on more than anything now was protecting others from the spreading sense of impending doom that I was getting even just sitting in a classroom.

Thinking over everything like that made the rest of school just fly by. With autumn colouring everything shades of flames and cooling the area, it also meant that the days were increasingly shorter. By the time the final bell rang, the sky was already russet and burning orange with the sunset, and I didn't feel inclined in the slightest to move from my seat. Everyone stood from their lab tables in science class and shuffled towards the door, Mr. Nikaidou weaving between all of them briskly and surprisingly with a lot of coordination, but I remained seated with my arms thrown over my eyes. Reminding myself of my priorities got me to move slightly to pull my phone from my bag and check the time. I had to go the Guardians' meeting, rush home and get some homework done, change, go to work...

A text blipped up on my screen with a chiming sound that resounded through the empty room. It was from Tadase-kun, and just seeing his name in big, bold, white block letters pop up on my screen made my chest pitch towards the floor. The contents of the message, on the other hand, made me sag with relief, then instantly regret doing so. "No meeting today" it said, then a smiley face emoticon after that actually made a wide grin spread across my face. He was so cute.

Just as I finally decided that it was about time for me to mosey on home, the door opened with a piercing squeal that pleaded for more oil, and Professor Kenneth slipped through with a sigh. He didn't seem to notice me at first, since he collapsed in the wheeling chair at the front of the room and lounged back without a care in the world, grumbling to himself about someone being irresponsible. When he opened his eyes a crack, their startling yellowness making me flinch as I was reminded of reptiles, he sat up straight and flashed a crooked grin. "Well, hello there, Snow," he called companionably, raking a hand through his flyaway ebony waves. "What are you doing here so late?"

I shrugged, startled by his normal appearance after his elaborate costume on Halloween. "Just being lazy, I guess. But I'm leaving now." I stooped into a small bow. "Sorry to bother you."

"Hang on," he muttered, wheeling to the edge of the platform at the front of the room and hopping out of the chair. He strode easily over to the windows at the back of the room, his legs long and carrying him quickly, and stood there thoughtfully for a moment. "Don't you think the twilight is so beautiful?"

Uh, that was a weird start to a conversation. One that I would only expect from cheesy romance movies. Regardless, I hitched my bag onto my shoulder and walked over to join his tall, lonely figure concealed in shadow, my sneakers slapping against the floor and breaking the barrier of dramatic silence. "Yeah," I agreed, staring out in the same direction as he, towards the north- my crappy sense of direction even recognized how wrong that was, since a Wiggles song clearly stated which direction the sun set in ("sun rise in the east, sun set in the west...").

"Sorry," he said suddenly with a bark of a stiff laugh, scratching the back of his head. "That was a little awkward, wasn't it?"

"Just a tad."

His small snickers crescendoed into full-on chortles as he regarded me in the dying sunlight, trying to cover up his mouth with a fist to tone it down a little. The effect was lost when he saw the squinty-eyed look on my face and he started all over again. "Oh, Will was right," he sighed as he wiped the corner of his eye with a finger, like a tear might actually be there. "You are really funny."

This came as a surprise to me. I thought Deryn and Will were only friends with me for the sake of helping out the Guardians. But to hear that they talked about me in their home life, without any missions or presences to worry about... "They talk about me?" I asked slowly, the words feeling strange and foreign in my mouth, like cotton.

He nodded, trying to be grave, but the smile on his face gave him away. "Oh, yes, quite a lot actually. I've never heard Deryn get so animated before." His gaze switched back to stare at the window again, the smile still on his face, only the shadows cast on it made it seem more melancholy, like it was a slammed door that held countless secrets inside but was covered with happy, childish stickers and posters. "Of course, she doesn't talk about Will when he's right there beside her all the time. I doubt she would even if he wasn't. I think it's a given that she isn't very vocal about her feelings."

Even as I laughed and said "Noooo...", it was obvious to tell I was fibbing from the way I avoided eye contact.

"You don't have to be considerate," he said easily, waving off the tension with a flick of his hand. "It's just a part of her character. But around you..." He blew out a heavy sigh that ruffled his long, shaggy bangs, and it seemed like waves of exhaustion and just plain sickness were all blown out with it. This man may have been charismatic, and generally easy to get along with as both a teacher and a person, but there was something on his face that you could only clearly define when you looked closely enough. Lifeless, dull eyes, despite their snapping yellow colour, that had lost their way a very, very long time ago. "Around you, Snow Hisayuki, she's different."

Only able to blink rapidly in surprise, I watched as he paced over to the many different types of anatomical models and animal skeletons. He brushed one long, pale finger across the shelf, looking more bone then flesh all on its own, and came away covered in dust that he wiped away on his jeans. He seemed saddened by the presence of it, like the improper care the facilities were receiving genuinely upset him. "Deryn describes you as, how can I say it... someone who brings out the best and worst of people." Unable to descern whether that was a shot or not, I remained silent and let him continue. "You're like some sort of divine presence that makes others realize their faults by dazzling them, and therefore encouraging them to try to better themselves. It's both a blessing and a curse, a quality that can receive both love and hatred. It's a double-edged sword, you could say.

"For example," he continued, turning back to look at me with a flame in his eyes that wasn't there before. "You make Deryn want to be more honest, both with herself and others. While I would've encouraged it under any other circumstance..." Another sigh ignited a puff of dust up from the shelf, and he collapsed very ungracefully into one of the plastic chairs the students sat in. "But it's too late for her now. Too late for any of us to fix any regrets we may have. Change is frightening, but inevitable, don't you agree?"

Completely mute, I could only nod.

"I didn't mean to intimidate you," he snorted, sounding more bitter than accomodating. "I just wanted to get more of a feel for the type of person you were. Just by looking at you, I can see in your eyes that you're as honest as you can manage, brave, inquisitive, and strong." He cocked his head to the side, and his smile reminded me all too much of Isabelle's that afternoon, making shivers course down my spine and my foot automatically take a step back. "But what good is strength if you don't know how to control it?"

Somehow, and I had no intelligible reason of how, he knew. He knew about the powers I had, and that I couldn't even manage to control them properly. He knew that my entire world was beginning to shift and change, and that I didn't know how to handle it. His eyes were too unsettling for me to keep looking into, too wise and benevolent. I barely managed not to flinch as I heard him swoop up from his chair, walk over to me, and clap his hands on my shoulders. They were the hands of a fully-grown man, therefore completely dwarfing me, and they were the hands of someone who's had their own fair share of battles, judging from the barely-there scars that covered almost every visiblr surface.

"Though there is nothing to fret, my dear," he cheered, his tone light and conversational again. "It's easier to accept change if you think of every human life like a clock. The time may continue to perpetually change, but the numbers do not." This time, his smile wasn't at all bitter or frightening, or even melancholy; it was encouraging, and filled with the kind of affection only a father-figure could have. "No matter what happens to you, you'll always be Snow. Got it?"

I nodded again, but didn't vocalize the serpent of doubt that slithered down my throat and into my stomach, coiling there like a disease of contempt and bile: but what if I don't know who that is anymore?

"By the way," he added, giving my right shoulder one final clap before lithely swaggering out of the room and waving his hand, his lab coat fluttering behind him. "There's a traitor in your midst. I suggest you be mindful of who you come to trust."

---

So it was official; Professor Kenneth was probably the Mad Hatter in this whole Alice in Wonderland scenario- he was more than a little wacky, but sensical if you were able to decode his words. At that point, however, I was unable to distinguish whether he was wise or legitimately certifiably insane. Thus it was completely justifiable that, instead of walking from the science room like a calm, normal person, I bolted right out of there, the girls struggling to keep up for the second time that day.

Just my luck not to be watching where I was going and have yet another encounter; though this one was more painful than the last. As I sharply rounded a corner of the hallway, grumbling to myself about nonsense and stupid, cryptic people, I barely had time to even notice that someone was right in front of me before we collided with a sound so loud it came off like an explosion. Papers were flying through the air and spiralling to the ground like small planes, and I was rubbing the top of my head that I had very unceremoniously clipped off of someone's jaw. I should've known from both his impeccable timing and telltale clumsiness that it was Mr. Nikaidou I had bumped in to, of all people- but at the same time, it wasn't him. At least, not the quirky but well-meaning teacher I had come to recognize.

Everything on the surface looked the same- his hair was still messier than a violently orange haybale, his milkbottle glasses askew, his suit crumpled in every possible place. And yet there was something off, something about the general aura he was exuding. He was practically oozing negativity and seriousness, something so out-of-character for him I couldn't even bring myself to apologize as I scrambled to assist him in re-accumulating all of his documents. I recognized quite a few as marked tests from the stern, trademark red pen that teachers tended to use, but there were some there that were quite unfamilair to me. Some that looked almost like legers for some sort of mechanical equipment...

"I'm sorry," I finally forced myself to say. "I was kind of in a hurry."

"Oh, how rare for you, Himayuki-san," he chuckled, though it was tight and clearly forced. "What's got you so frazzled today?"

I shot my hand out to grab his wrist, earning a startled yelp that was more like the science teacher I was used to. Then I let it fall slack to his side with a wince. "I'm gonna be late for work. I have to hurry up a bit."

The urgency I thought I had clearly established in the tone of my voice was apparently lost on him; he struggled to stand under the weight of the staggering tower of papers he held that reached to his chin, and yet kept on chattering to me. "Oh, you work? Well, you must be very responsible, then."

"I guess so," I offered, bouncing my weight between my two feet in impatience.

"Where are you working?" He asked, maybe trying to make conversation, maybe because he was legitimately curious, I didn't know; I just had to get going ASAP. But something in his gaze, in the way it didn't waver in the slightest and how the shade of his mossy eyes darkened slightly as if he was working out an impossible puzzle in his head, made me want to tell him just to see what kind of reaction I'd get.

"East Side Mario's," I submitted, now rocking back and forth between my heels and the balls of my feet. "On the right side of Carmine Boulevard, near the park. And my shift starts at five, so..."

He checked the watch himself, then stuck a mask of horror on his face. "Well you'd better get going! It's four thirty now!" I didn't even offer a response as I merely nodded and flew past him, only Lilith finally catching up to me and groaning heavily when she saw me take off again. Then I got that feeling that strikes you sometimes, the feeling when you know you're leaving something important behind, and it forces you to throw a final glance over your shoulder before you exit the scene completely. In hindsight, I probably should have paid more attention to what I saw before darting down the stairs and out into the blazing autumn world outside. Then maybe things could've remained normal for a bit longer.

Mr. Nikaidou was staring after my retreating form with the malicious grin of an evil mastermind.

Evidently, it didn't strike me as overly odd as the other events of the day had, for I completely ingored that little devillish expression and scurried down various streets and hopped impatiently at four crosswalks. I would've been amazed at myself for not having gotten lost, but- as always- Vivian was directing me. How they knew the city better than I did when they were the size of Tweety Bird was a concept that flew right over my head, but I supposed it had something to do with my being so absentminded I could barely find my way home in New Orleans, the city I had lived in my whole life. However I deserved to be cut some slack; Mao lived on the baiyou, seeing as his adopted family was Cajun, and navigating threw that mess of marsh and 'gators was a nightmare. He had to come with me every time, and now that I looked around in the current city I was in, at the passerby's modern apparel and women strutting about in five-inch heels, I had to restrain a bark of laughter when comparing them to the thigh-high boots we sloshed around in. Pardon me for feeling like a tad bit of a hick, but what can you do.

When I made it into work, I barely had time to change into my uniform and get out on the floor by the time I made it in the door, and Mrs. Garrett felt the need to emphasize that fact by following me to the door of the locker room, snapping all the way to tell me to hurry up. I got in there in a tizzy, practically ripping my locker open and shoving my bag in there, all whilst throwing off my school uniform and pulling the East Side shirt over my head and shoving my legs through some black jeans I had on-hand. The girls floated around calmly, annoyingly serene and at-ease, as I wrangled my thick hair into a bun at the top of my head and scrubbed a hand down my face. "Wait in the locker," I snapped before flashing out of the room, not even bothering to lock up behind me.

Despite my absolute panic to get in on time, the night went relatively slowly. There were only a few patrons dotting the booths and tables, with some older men at the bar, but other than that it was fairly relaxed. I was the server to go out most of the time, and I swiped a sucker for each time someone asked me if my hair was real (six in total). It was a sad quota, but I absentmindedly munched away at it whenever I wasn't on duty. That gave me time to mull over everything that had happened; the appearance of Isabelle, the snake, Professor Kenneth, et cetera... I wondered how he knew everything about me when I had only spoken to him once before. Maybe Deryn or Will told him how I was struggling with my powers. But then how would they have known? I didn't tell them, either... Maybe there was some kind of website that made every second of my life pop up as a new blog and everyone I knew had knowledge of it apart from myself. Now that's paranoia.

At one point that night, I thought I saw the familiar messy hairdo of a fumbling and bumbling teacher, but it was gone before I could look again. I must've been hallucinating for real now, and I shook my head at myself in disgust. I really needed to step up my game.

"It's really slow tonight," commented Louise from her podium at the front, which I leisurely leaned against and eroded away at the sucker. "I want to go home already."

"Our shift's almost over, at least," I provided, but it didn't do much for her mood from the way she sighed and bashed her head against the hard wooden surface. "We've got, like, an hour left. It should fly by."

Her sparkling hazel eyes brightened in a way that implied she had an epiphany. "We could play with the toys from the treasure chest!"

"You know, I probably would if our boss was anyone but Mrs. Garrett." It was a weak excuse, but it probably saved her ass from getting kicked to the curb for disobeying Mrs. Garrett's policy- that's right, not company policy, but Mrs. Garrett's. I had a feeling this certain location of East Side Mario's was under a dictatorship.

But Louise wasn't done with looking on the bright side yet; she then proceeded to make attempts at creating a social schedule that excluded the hours she usually logged in on playing RPGs online. "We should go out for lunch some time," she suggested, and a flutter in my chest ignited at the proposition. New friend? it asked tentatively, and I told it to calm the heck down before I experienced any disappointment. "I feel like we're already friends. Plus, you play video games." Her eyes shone in a way that meant unshed tears, but that was only a hidden talent of her that made me roll my own. "You understand me."

"I'd love to," I said with a smile, but then we both had to turn and do our respective jobs as an elderly couple strode through the door and requested to be seated.

By the time my shift ended, I was ready to keel over from both boredom and exhaustion. I was holding my head in my hands when I walked into the door to the locker room- literally into it- but it was effective in opening the portal. As I moved sluggishly around the small bench that was purposefully there to relax (or maybe just put your shoes on), I began to notice that something was missing. Unable to put a finger on it at first, I stood and thought for a moment, wondering what could be missing. But then I realized it; there was no one else in here. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue, but there was precisely no one in there. No small voices echoing around in my locker, screaming at me that I was an abusive parent (perhaps a true statement), no immense smashing and bashing, not even snores that sometimes came from them snoozing away. They could've just went outside for a bit- they could've even flown all the way home. Even though I knew that, my first reaction was immediate panic. My chest felt like it caved in on itself and collapsed to the ground in pieces, and I tore threw the small room and threw the locker open. It wasn't locked. Ironically enough, I remembered idly that I had forgotten to lock it in my rush to get out on the floor.

Nonetheless, it was heartwrenchingly empty, and the sound of the metal door smashing against the one beside it seemed to echo endlessly inside. My legs felt wobbly, a lot like Jello being poked and prodded until it fell apart, and I was barely able to stumble around the room, softly calling their names. "Lilith? Viv? Satsuki?" I whispered, knocking on each and every locker door. The small window at the top of the room to allow some ventilation was closed, so they couldn't have gone through there. And no other employees walked into the locker room that night, since all of us were on time when working our shifts.

So how could they have gotten out?

My hand grabbed the locker door so tightly there was a slight dent in its surface. I had to support my own weight and pull myself up before telling myself to just calm down, that everything was alright, that they were out there somewhere. I couldn't wrap my head around why I felt so panicked- it couldn't be that they were gone forever. And even if they were pranksters, and quite frankly bitchy, they would never just leave. They told me to believe in them, and I did, with all my heart. Maybe that was why it felt like it was physically breaking right now, after I had implemented the last shreds of trust I had left in their words only to find that they had disappeared.

Suffice to say, I dressed in a flurry of white hair and a thundering heartbeat, and couldn't even muster up a goodbye for Louise or my tyrant of a boss. I quickly scanned the restaurant to prove what I had already suspected: they weren't even in the building. My breathing became more of panicked bursts as I fled outside and began throwing glances up and down streets, and aimlessly wandering around whilst calling out their names. It was a horrid idea to leave me alone in a big city like Akutestu, especially when the only way I managed to get around was with them at my side. Before I even realized it, I was in an area I didn't recognize, but definitely gave off an air of trouble and sent warning signals shooting across my brain like flashes of lightning. Steam spewed from the pipes at the bottoms of steel and industrial buildings, making the whole area weighed down by a mysterious fog. It was definitely a road I was hurrying along, with no visible sidewalk in sight, the ground under my feet wet and sticking to my shoes with a sound that echoed around me and made me jump. Litter dotted the landscape periodically like spasmodic plantings of flowers, and the yowl of a cat somewhere off in the distance and a crash that followed made me strike an attempt at a kung-fu pose which resulted in accidentally hurling a spear of ice at a smudged, brown brick wall. The whole area was sketchy, and when the only sound I was able to hear was my rushing blood that resembled hurried rapids, I heaved a defeated sigh- that admittedly sounded more like a sob- and collapsed against the wall. I had no idea where I was, or where to even look. Something told me that they hadn't gone home, that they were out here somewhere, with the night sky darker than a raven's wing and ominous clouds shrouding the moon. Just like me, they were all alone. And I had no idea what to do.

I began mumbling extremities to myself, while at the same time wondering why the hell I was so worked up about all of this. There was that feeling of betrayal sitting in the bottom of my stomach like some- gross- toad, I don't know, but there was more to it than that. They had changed my life. They had given me hope that maybe I wasn't going to be lost forever, that maybe I had a chance at living a normal life and making friends and actually being happy instead of forcing a smile every single day. Through everything strange that had happened, even when they hid things from me, they were there. Everyone else had left me, or had grown distant as years had gone by- or maybe even I had left them. But they were pieces of myself. I hadn't expected to ever be without them. No matter how lost or scared I was now, and no matter how lonely I came to be, I had to find them. I wouldn't be able to stand this horrible, gut-wrenching feeling inside me for much longer, since it made me feel like I was going to be sick.

Just as I pulled myself from the slick ground, determined to keep looking until I found some sort of clue, a tiny male voice from overhead exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, it's Snow Hisayuki! What are you doing out here, all alone?" And then a snicker I knew all too well.

The only way to describe the expression I pulled just then was an old woman who had just bitten into a particularly tart lemon with the sun glaring in her eyes at the same time. Making an attempt to stall, I turned slowly, still glaring, to face Yoru, who floated only inches away with that irritating cat-like grin on his face that was so like his master's (don't think of him now- that is a distraction). "Whaddya want?" I spat, hostile for no specific reason.

Unsurprisingly, he made an affronted grunt. "Well, you looked a bit lost, so I thought I'd see what was up. Sorry for expressing any concern." He then proceeded to mumble to himself things his master had allegedly said about me behind my back, which I did my best to block out and ignore that heart-racing fact that Ikuto thought about me often enough to complain. Wait, was that something to feel flattered about? God, who knew anymore.

"Wait," I called, the hint of desperation in my voice making him turn to look back at me with a maliciously curious glint in his eyes. "Actually... I'm looking for my Shugo Chara." He squinted, like trying to figure something out, and I could only guess what: he had no idea who they were. "Lilith, Vivian, and Satsuki. They were with me earlier tonight, but when I finished my shift at work and went to get them, they were gone. Have you seen them anywhere?"

For a moment, he honestly seemed to think about it. He made a thoughtful, drawn-out "hmmmmm" sound, while tapping his head with one elongated claw. In the back of my mind, I wondered how the heck he could do that and not bleed, but quickly pushed that to the back of my mind in irritation when he said cheerily, "Nope! Can't say that I have!"

"Never mind, then," I spat, turning on my heel and marching away. Which probably would've been more effective if I actually knew where I was going. "Forget I said anything."

"Whoa, hold up there, missy," he chuckled, shooting in front of me like a mini torpedo. "I admit that I haven't seen them... but for a small fee, I can ask my stray cat gang if they've seen anything."

I squinted at him in suspicion. "You can seriously talk to cats?"

His baby caterpillar-sized eyebrows rose sardonically. "Seriously. I am, after all, a cat."

Both the Shugo Chara and his master were really grating on my nerves with that "I am but a cat" thing. "Well, alright. I'm willing to do anything." I averted my eyes and bit down on my lip, hard, the insecurity and worry building up inside me like a water balloon of unshed tears. Yoru examined me with a strange expression on his face, something almost like... admiration. A quirky grin twitched its way onto his face as he looked at me, but I couldn't smile back. Not right then, anyway.

"Okay, it'll only cost you two bags of catnip!" He exclaimed, holding up his paw and waving it erratically.

"Where the hell am I supposed to get catnip?" I didn't even know if bags of catnip were even sold, let alone where a pet store could be. I had just moved here, and my sense of direction undoubtedly left something to be desired. But he just shrugged, a noncommittal expression on his face, and carried on like my dilemma was nothing.

"I don't know and I don't care, but I'll put in on your tab." How fabulous. I hoped I wouldn't be racking up any more repayments on this little "tab", especially if Ikuto became involved. "Now, are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I grumbled, warily following his laguid little float around possibly the sketchiest part of Akutetsu. Almost like a warning of impending darkness, the moon overhead that once provided the only constant beam of light became covered by dark clouds, pitch ink spilling across a pure white sheet of paper. A shiver raced down my spine, Yoru's idle humming overhead coming out more like a dark lullaby.

Somewhere along the way, I began to notice that not only were we entering a part of the city I had never been in before, but we were also taking the strangest route imaginable to get there. Apparently walking on the ground wasn't even feasable to Yoru, because he didn't allow me to do as such after we had exited the suspicious neighbourhood; no, of course I had to jump up and balance on precarious ledges while he just drifted along, sneak through backyards of perfectly friendly-looking townhouses, and- by far the worst of all- scale a huge wall. There were hardly any outcroppings of stones for me to grab a hold of, but I clenched my teeth and began pulling myself up anyway, despite an obvious struggle.

Yoru- curse him- was watching high above in both amusement and genuine approval, like my willingness to haul myself up a giant wall could actually be considered impressive. "You really want them back, huh," he speculated, and even if he couldn't see with the distance between us, I rolled my eyes and groaned as I groped for another foothold.

"Obviously," I huffed as I propelled myself up even further. "When something becomes mine, I don't let it go easily." For the strangest reason that I couldn't even unravel, his face flushed an adorable cosmetic pink. I got the feeling he took that more like an innuendo than me just being possessive. "Besides, it's a pain in the ass if something you get so used to jus disappears. More than that, it's... unnerving." The bones in my hand creaked as I clutched onto the small rock even harder in concentration, using the other to search ahead for the next hold. "And when I think that they may be in trouble... I just have to find them. No matter what, they try their hardest to protect me even though they're so... small. I have to do the same."

Unfortunatelyfor me, the next rock I chose to grab a hold of was faulty- as in, already collapsing from the wall. The moment I began to use it to pull myself up, it came loose in my hand, causing me to lose my hold altogether, rock back, and pinwheel a moment before falling off the entire thing. Both Yoru and I gave a little yelp of surprise, but before I could register the shock of hitting the ground and possibly getting a concussion, I fell into the waiting arms of someone who seemed to be there whenever I was in the slightest bit of distress.

Ikuto and I rolled our eyes at the same time. "You sure do like to fall," he grumbled, and I just heaved a sigh in response. I didn't like it when he came to the rescue all the time; it made me feel too weak and useless, like I always needed someone to protect me, like some damsel in distress. Which was probably indeed the case, but my stupid pride cringed away from that being the reality.

When he still hadn't let me go, and we just stood in the middle of the street in awkward silence, I wriggled in his arm uncomfortably to send a signal of distress, but all that accomplished was my skirt hiking up and his hands coming into contact with my bare legs. "You can, uh, put me down now," I coaxed, but instead of loosening his grip, he tightened it instead, his fingers digging slightly into my shoulder and leg.

"You should be more careful," he warned, his expression severe and blue eyes especially mystic in the night. Staring at him like that made a jolt go straight through me and land in the bottom of my stomach, like an ice cube sliding down my throat.

But instead of acknowledging like a strong, courageous person, I laughed it off and said, "You should be grateful that I'm so clumsy. It makes one less enemy, right?"

He exhaled deeply, almost in exasperation, and rolled his eyes yet again. "You really seem to have the wrong impression about me. I'm not dead-set against you so much that I want you to get hurt and get out of my way."

"Well, that doesn't make much sense," I grumbled, finally clambering out of his hold and landing on solid ground- which could be a good or bad thing, since I was feeling quite weak in the knees. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He raised his eyebrows and put his hands on his hips, like I was the one in trouble. "We're near my neighborhood, actually." His gaze traveled over to his Shugo Chara, who was making a futile attempt to hide behind a small, naked twig. "Why did you bring her here?"

Yoru flinched and dropped his impromptu hiding place, stalling his time by licking his paws and raking them through his hair. "Well you see... it's kind of a long story..."

"It wasn't his fault," I said automatically, afraid Ikuto might punish him in some way as I had witnessed before. But before I could launch into my story to actually vouch for Yoru's innocence at leading me around, I hesitated, the feeling of shame darkening my mood and making me avert my eyes. It seemed so ridiculous to say that I had "lost" my Shugo Chara; it made me seem so irresponsible, like I didn't care about them at all, when in reality I was close to having an anxiety attack. That would've been equally as embarrassing to admit, because it was like saying that I was so weak on the inside that something like this could effect me greatly. Either way would have been mortifying, so I launched into something that was gradually getting harder and harder to do as time passed and I learned more about my freakish nature: telling the truth.

Once my whole spiel was done, I expected a cynical retort or snide comeback, something insensitive and classic Ikuto talk. But he just remained silent, and that was almost even more alarming. His gaze was strangely vacant, like he was thinking hard about something or not thinking at all, and his stance implied impatience and frustration, with his arms crossed and weight shifted to one side. I was about ready to give up relying on the two of them, wondering why i had even considered an enemy's help in the first place, when he finally spoke a few words that entirely shifted my perception of him all at once.

"If it was only a few hours ago, they couldn't have gotten too far. We'll find them eventually."

My eyebrows did the weirdest thing eyebrows could probably do, which involved raising in shock at the same time as furrowing in confusion. It resulted in this weird google-eyed astonished expression, which was met with a snort from the pair of them. "'We'?" I asked, glancing around to see if there was anyone else he could mean. "What do you mean, 'we'?"

"Don't make me say it," he snickered, almost sheepish. "You already promised Yoru to pay him for his services. Besides..." He looked away from me then and groped his pocket for the Dumpty Key, which he removed with flourish and an elaborate light show when the moon peeked out from behind the clouds and shone on it. "I'd do the same if I were you. In fact, I might lose my mind if I thought Yoru was missing."

"Liar," I mumbled as he and Yoru came together for a Character Transformation- which I averted my eyes from for some unfathomable reason with red cheeks. "Yoru goes off on his own all the time."

He snorted, and it definitely sounded like he thought I was being silly. "It's not the same thing," he insisted after he had finished transforming in a flash of navy light and major glitter action (which seemed far too effeminate for him, admittedly). He strolled over to my side all done up in what could be considered male stripper get-up, with all that leather and the bare stomach. I would've laughed at anyone else, but with him and his stomach all bare- which was, by the way, very solid and defined-looking- I only blushed and tried to keep eye contact. I ended up focusing on his bluish-black cat ears flicking in time with the slightest breeze. "I know Yoru well enough to understand that he'll always come back. It's in his character. But if it wasn't..." He shook his head, apparently dismayed. "I'd be at a loss."

"Thanks for your help, then," I regressed, being without the strength to be stubborn and ungrateful.

"You're so tame when you're down." Even without looking, I could hear that little crooked smile in his voice, and that combined with his close proximity was bad for my health.

"Don't get used to it," I mused, giving him a sour look. What was my attempt at intimidating only came out to be amusing to him, judging by his chuckles. "So what are we doing?"

He used one long, pale musician's finger to point to the sky, like it should be obvious. I followed it, only finding that sliver of the moon winking at us, along with the cottonball clouds painted black. "I was thinking that it'd be easier to see them from above."

Narrowing my eyes, I made a show of looking around me, feeling up my pockets, then a heavily exaggerated shrug. "Gee, I'd love to... if the very thing I was looking for wasn't what allowed me to reach the sky in the first place."

"No need for sarcasm," he scoffed, slapping a hand firmly against his stomach and making me glare at him even more. "I was planning on carrying you."

"Oh, no way in he-"

"There's no other way," Ikuto pointed out. Which was very true, I'd give him that, but my heart probably wouldn't be able to put up with another attack tonight. "It's either I carry you, or you look by yourself on foot." His eyes got a sultry look to them I didn't trust in the slightest, but I ended up allowing myself one glance at his mouth, which was slipped into a little pouty grin. "And let me tell you, the second option seems far less appealing than the first to me."

"Oh... fine," I growled, stomping around to his back. His amused gaze followed me until he was looking over his shoulder, where I stood all huffy and red in the face and chest. Before I could chicken out, I took a deep, shuddering breath and hopped so that my arms locked in a vise around his neck and my legs were around his waist. My first thoughts bordered on Oh God Oh God Oh God at our close contact, and he could probably hear my heart punching through my chest through his clothes, my blazer, and blouse. The large, cracked white cross that swung from a collar around his neck hit my wrist, but I was more focused on how thin the boy was, and yet surprisingly firm. Sticking to his back like that allowed me to feel him breathing against me, and smell the shampoo in his hair- which was probably the part that killed me the most. It didn't smell like any girl's, and not even Mao's or Jack's, but something entirely different and kind of spicy and it made me want to bury my face in his neck. It took the physical effort of practically hanging off of him to restrain myself.

Yet for some reason, he didn't place his hands under my legs to hike me up further. He just stood still, bearing all my weight on his own two feet, until he coughed a bit impishly. "I, uh, I meant like a bridal carry, but this could work too if you want..." He demonstrated his feet kicking back in a jump and nailing me right in the butt. I screeched and practically leaped from my koala position, and briskly moved to his front, not trusting myself to speak.

Obviously restraining laughter, he awkwardly coughed, "Okay, so how do we do this?"

I hadn't mentally prepared myself to give a response, so I had to swallow down a burning sensation in my throat multiple times before I was able to. "I... I don't know."

"Well, just- put your arms around me," he instructed, strangely efficient for the given situation.

I'd never been given better instructions. I willed down the sense of guilt and betrayal beginning to bubble and brew deep inside and instead moved so that we were almost chest-to-chest and threw one arm over his shoulders and the other around his neck to hold my own hand. From there is where the struggle became real. He tried to bend down and lift me up, and when that didn't work, I just tried jumping and prayed he would catch me- he didn't.

"Why is this so hard? We've done this before," he demanded, clearly frustrated from both of our shortcomings.

"Yes, but all of those other times were accidents," I omitted with an angered grunt.

"Because someone has some strange obsession with falling."

"That is completely false. Let's just keep trying, alright? My mood is souring every second."

"Alright then, princess." I snapped my teeth at him for a retort, which only earned a laugh that I felt even in his shoulders. "This time we'll time it. When I say jump, do it, okay?" I nodded, and a few beats later, he counted down from three and I leaped just in time for him to move his arms beneath my back and calves. He began to chortle all over again when I let out a whoop of victory.

"Ready?" I had to look away from him, his pretty face all too close to mine for comfort. Our breaths had been intermingling, thus fogging up my mind and threatening a fainting episode

Insecure and fluttery inside, I giggled and swung my legs in his arms, feeling too giddy for a search-and-rescuse mission. "This is making me all shy."

"Don't say that." Ikuto let out a manly grunt and looked in the opposite direction. "You're embarrassing the both of us."

Before I could add any input to that, he steeled his long legs beneath us and vaulted into the air. I swore that my heart rocketed straight out fo my chest, along with a bark of terror from my throat. We were practically flying, all the terracotta and shingled roofs suddenly beneath us. Ikuto was gliding through the air, pausing to launch himself from one roof to the next with no worries. As a matter of fact, his expression was almost a mask of glee. It was so rare to see him so free, so unsuppressed, that I found myself beaming and enjoying the view while searching the city below for any sign of my girls. Wind whipped against my face, dusting my bangs in my eyes, but naturally I wasn't cold. When I realized that Ikuto wasn't shivering either, it occurred to me that he was probably used to 'flying' like this. And that was something I could get used to, as well.

Restraining myself from resting my head on his (very comfortable-looking) shoulder, I instead scanned the ground and sky both for three small, colourful floating things. Which was admittedly difficult to do when the lights of the city were shooting everywhere like beams from a laser light show. After a few minutes of searching and leaping, Ikuto apparently felt compelled to break the pleasant ice between us with a standard jerk comment: "You know, you're heavier than I thought."

"Hey, rude."

"Just trying to make conversation." I felt his chest move as he shrugged beneath me, and I would've struggled to put some distance between us if we weren't high in the sky and I would've fallen to my doom.

"I don't believe my dietary habits are any of your business."

"They are if I'm planning to eat you up." Judging from his jester's grin, he was clearly kidding, but that didn't stop the race of blood dashing to my face. As I sputtered for a response and he laughed along, I felt a sense of camaraderie blossoming between us, and I swore tfrom that point on the fact that we had become friends was undeniable. Just when I was ready to throw a snarky comment back at him, a sound penetrated straight into my skull, and it felt as though it was splitting just from the noise. It was definitely some kind of high-pitched frequency, almost like the amplified sound of nails scraping down a chalkboard. Unable to press my hands against my ears, I could only wince and moan, my entire head feeling like it had been smashed against concrete.

"Are... oka...?" I could barely hear Ikuto over the sound, and before I could even think to give him some signal that I was hurting a lot, every sound was blocked out completely- even the banshee's wail of death. I opened my eyes again, having squeezed them shut in pain, and cocked my head closer to him. What had happened? Why couldn't I hear anything then?

As if to respond to my question, a voice that sounded identical to my own broke through the barrier of silence.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"What did you say?" I asked Ikuto, who looked at me in confusion. His lips moved, but no sound came out. Not even the rush of wind or his feet thudding against surfaces could be heard, and I ended up moving one arm to check my ears, futile as it may have been. Nothing was physically wrong, but not a thing could be heard, exempt from that one voice that was like listening to a recording of myself

"Do you want the pain to stop? I can make it stop... if only you'd stop resisting."

"What are you talking about?" My voice was barely even a breath. A very strong sense of terror began melting into my stomach and chest, and I began to shake uncontrollably, like an urge to lash out at something couldn't be contained any longer. All movement stopped around me, Ikuto having given up the chase, and was gently checking my forehead with his hand for a fever or something. All I could do was squeeze my eyes shut again, plagued by the unsatiable feeling that I had to just... stop moving. Stop breathing. Stop everything.

Yet in a single second, all of it stopped.

I could hear everything again, like Ikuto's incessant questions for my well-being, the wind smacking both of us with an almost physical pressure, the cars and city life below. I opened my eyes again, the feeling of dread finally subsided, and began to notice something else; a strange, strong scent right in my nose, and the feeling of wetness on my face.

"Your nose is bleeding," Ikuto stated very helpfully, sounding a little stunned. "Maybe the pressure's too high up here."

"I... don't think that's it," I murmured breathlessly. And then a whole new sound came into play; only this one wasn't morally disturbing, but instead more like a plea. A plea for help. Like my name was being sobbed over and over again, by very familiar-sounding voices...

"They're down there!" I gasped suddenly, making Ikuto jolt back in shock. The voices were coming from the direction of a small bridge just overhead of an even smaller road, leading into the more rural part of the community. That was one of the other sketchy places in the city, evidently, from the flickering street lights and trash rolling around in the dirt like tumbleweeds. I swore I could hear Lilith, Vivian, and Satsuki's voices crying in my head, right in that very place, and immediately stood to go check it out. "We have to go," I told Ikuto, and he only gave one grave nod before picking me up again (this time with less struggle than the first) and gracefully floating to the street. He landed with a dull, wet thud, his shoes clicking against asphalt, and there was one more momentary struggle as I almost fell from his arms and began shooting glances everywhere. Then in the distance I saw a shadow, more like the silhouette of a person, a small briefcase swinging at their side, and an eerie whistling tune streaming from their mouth.

I couldn't see them at all. But their voices had absolutely gotten louder. They were like tiny screams right in my ear, and not knowing what else to do, I called out to the retreating figure, "Hey!" and they stopped their stride. Though the idle tune still flowed from their direction, and it sounded almost like a funeral march. Achingly slowly they turned, and even from a distance I could see a smirk forming on their face, until I marched forward enough to see who it was. And when I did, I was unable to stop the growl that ripped from my throat, recalling Professor Kenneth's words from earlier that very same day: "There's a traitor in your midst".

"Nikaidou!"

"Why, hello there, Himayuki-san," he called from afar, striding forward to close the distance between us. "I don't suppose you've come here looking for your Shugo Chara?" By then he was only a few meters away, and the sneer on his face was illuminated by the shortcircuting streetlight. He didn't look like the teacher I had come to know; more like the stranger in his skin I had seen that afternoon. His hair was out of its usual ponytail, covering his head in a complete mess of cowlicks that seemed nothing but evil.

"You can see them?" I demanded dumbly. Of course he could see them. He knew that they existed when no one else normal did. Now I knew; the person that had been there when Maika-san's egg became tainted, as well as Ayame-san's was him. He had been at the meadow with us the afternoon we came to the shrine, and ever since he transferred to Seiyo Academy, more and more X-Eggs had been cropping up. Somehow, he knew how to turn an egg into darkness. And he had chosen our academy and the people around us to perform it on.

"Nikaidou-san?" Ikuto asked quietly from behind me, stepping out from the shadow of the bridge. It was rare to hear him attach an honorific to someone's name; I supposed even he could be formal with adults. Nikaidou looked just as surprised to see him there as Ikuto did, and I threw glances between the two of them before asking the obvious question.

"How do you two know each other?"

Ikuto jerked his chin out towards the malicious adult, who had quickly recovered from his earlier shock and was grinning ear-to-ear all over again. "He works for Easter."

No fucking duh.

"This is a rare sight," the traitor drawled out, curiosity written all over his expression. "A Seiyo Academy Guardian assisted by Easter's most pragmatic employee? It's kind of cute, if you ask me." His teeth began to show in a shark's smile, looking between the two of us like we were experiments beneath a microscope. "And pitiful."

"No one asked you," I spat, glaring at him with all the force I could muster. Feelings of fury and betrayal plagued and swirled in my stomach like a revolting disease, I could feel Ikuto shiver slightly behind me, the temperature having dropped a few degrees from my swing in temperament. No doubt, ice would soon begin blooming on the ground, a dangerous and deadly portrait of cold and timelessness. "Do you have my Shugo Chara or not?"

"Oh, could you be referring to..." He paused momentarily to lift the briefcase that had once swung idly from his hand, his smile so large I was surprised it wasn't tearing the edges of his mouth. "These?"

When he popped the latch of it open and my three eggs were revealed, all screaming my name, I couldn't recall a time when I had felt so frenzied and protective. One step was all I took and patterns of blue, jade, and light violet ice all exploded beneath my feet, my emotions being channeled all through my body in blasts of heat that made me want to hit him, over and over again, just as I had done to Mao all those years ago. But before I could make any more moves forward, small, spear-shaped shadows melted away from the darkness around us, illuminated only slightly from the gentle snow that began to drift down from the sky. They were X-Eggs, all chanting their standard "Useless" phrase over and oevr again, like the darkest of cults.

"Now, Hisayuki-san," Nikaidou chuckled, proving that he was no longer the man we knew from the first time he ever used my real name. "How is it that you plan to stop me?"

---

Okay, so at the end of every chapter, I've decided to mix it up a bit! Sometimes there will be the usual banter, sometimes nothing at all, or there will be an instance like today: quotes from the NEXT chapter! Kind of like an anime preview! I will not specify who says them; maybe you guys will be able to guess! ;)

"I swear I'll get them back!"

"Well, we're already friends, aren't we?"

"What are you doing here?"

"You don't have your Shugo Chara today- not that I care."

"It doesn't matter. I will save her regardless of who or what stands against me... even you- hey, you aren't even listening!"

"You're not alone anymore. We're all here for you now."

"My dreams were already shattered a long time ago. Why do you kids get to just enjoy your lives without any suffering?!"

"We all have our scars... some are just easier to see then others."

"We're not depressed. Maybe just... empty."

LOOK FORWARD TO IT! R&R IF YOU WILL!

Snow: "Why is my life getting worse and worse?"

Crimrose: "Oh, trust me... this is only the beginning!"