I hate leaving people out of the loop, so I'll tell you now. I've already made small preparations for the next game, and started drawing out some ideas. Check it out!

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/The-other-Marie-275110266

I want to wish each of you a happy and Merry Christmas. I hope you and your family stay safe and healthy, and I hope you guys get what you've been craving for on Christmas. Yous alls specials. XD

Marie's casual wear:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/I-bring-you-peace-214094964?q=gallery%3Aswirl3y%2F29599925&qo=5

Chapter Nineteen
ଓ
A story and a young boy's arrival

Ryan walked around the town, hoping to find something fun or see something interesting. All he really did see was a bunch of adults walking around. It wasn't the same as the islands, where only children roamed around the streets. He wasn't complaining, since it was kind of refreshing to see adults.

He came around an ice cream shop, and decided to have some. Ice cream was a personal favourite of his, so he wondered what kind of flavours they had. He walked up to the store, and sat on one of the stools they had there. A young man walked in from the back counter, and nodded at Ryan.

"Hey there, what would you like," the young man asked. Ryan looked up at the price board, and figured he'd get the cheapest ice cream, or a certain angry brunette would get angry. He looked at the prices and noticed the 'sea-salt' one was the cheapest, so he ordered it.

"Good call," he said, making his way to the back. "Everyone loves it."

As he came back with the ice cream, Ryan looked at it. It was a soft blue, and it looked good. He took it, and the man excused himself—saying he had to clean up something. Ryan placed the ice cream in his mouth, and the first lick that he got was about as grotesque as watching his dad dance around the house with only a towel around his waist. "Yuck," he said.

He quickly got up from his stool, and made his way to the nearest garbage can. He threw out the ice cream, but felt a little bad for wasting good money. He shrugged his shoulders; it wasn't a lot of money that he spent, anyways. He walked towards the town square, and noticed three teenagers working on what seemed like homework. He wasn't that interested in speaking with them, until he saw the girl there. He smirked, and proceeded to walk towards them. One of the guy—a tall blonde one—began to glare, but he didn't care.

"Well, you're about the prettiest girl I've seen so far," he said, placing his hands on his hips. The girl had dark brown hair and green eyes; she wore an orange tank top and yellow capris. She smiled, and a small blush slowly crept on her cheeks. The blonde boy that glared at him stood up, and raised his hands into a fist.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?" he shouted. The third teenager, a pudgy boy with a red jersey shirt and blue jeans, stood up abruptly and tried to stop the blonde.

"Hayner, calm down," the pudgy boy with brown hair said. Hayner pulled away, and sat back down to continue reading his book. The brunette girl got up, and she walked towards Ryan.

"I'm Olette, and this is Pence," she said while pointing at him. "What's your name?"

"Ryan," he replied while flashing a smile. She giggled, and Pence smiled at him. They didn't know why, but Ryan looked familiar to them.

"I don't know why, but I get the feeling like I've seen you before," stated Olette. Ryan smirked at this, and placed his hands over his head.

"Hey, that's my line!" he said, while laughing. "Actually, I just got here. My cousin went missing, and I'm looking for her."

"Oh? What's her name, maybe we can help." Ryan nodded, and thanked the boy. He took out a photo of Marie, and handed it to them."

"Her name is Marie, and she's two in that photo," he said, while placing his hands in his pockets. "But she's fifteen now."

"Marie!" exclaimed Olette. Ryan flinched a bit at the sudden outburst, and then Hayner got up from his seat. He didn't like all the talking going on, and when he heard Marie's name, he had just about enough. Therefore, he got up to see what the commotion was all about, and then he spotted the photo. He took it from Olette, and examined it. Indeed, it was Marie—although smaller—and she was with her parents.

"Marie is your cousin?" he asked, a little suspicious. "Well, either way you missed her. She went travelling with her friend Sora."

"You mean she's alone with a boy?" he asked, not liking where this was going.

"Well, she's also travelling with these two other guys Dona—"

"You mean there are other boys?"

"Not exactly, one of them is a—"

Even before Olette finished her sentence, Ryan headed off into god knows where. Hayner scratched his head, while Olette and Pence laughed it off. Hayner scoffed, and didn't want to know how Ryan and Marie were related, since both of them were completely different.

ଓ
Aura and Riku

Aura and Riku sat down on the table Naminé used to sit in, and looked at the drawings that she had left behind. Aura never understood the magic prowess that Naminé had, and she was amazed at how she developed all of Sora's memories. She was the key person in helping Roxas go back to Sora, and because of it…well, it meant she would never see him again. Even if Naminé did all that, Aura could never bring herself to hate her. She was sweet and kind and never meant any ill in helping Roxas.

Then she figured something out. The feelings of love and hate weren't genuine for Roxas, they were…forced. How could she love someone genuinely if the feelings were already planned? Yes, Roxas was a great person, and she couldn't deny the many enjoyable times that she had with him. If anything, Roxas was like a close friend, much like Axel. If she pursued him any further, it would surely be destructive. She sighed, nothing was ever easy for her, but maybe she was the one who planned it out. Maybe she wanted to suffer, but who knew.

To be honest, it had never occurred to her how similar her life was to the book Zexion left behind. She brought it with her while she and Riku sat down at the table, and started to go over it. She had finished the book not too long ago, and all her thinking now was brought to light because of it.

The story went like this; a prince placed a girl under a spell the same age as he. He wanted her to love him, and no one else. She hated the prince for this, and felt disgusted about loving him. Then, along came an older prince, who befriended the girl. They got along great, and became close friends. The girl developed feelings for him, and so did he. As time passed, the spell eventually came off, and the girl was free from it. She soon realized, however, that she had fallen in love with the younger prince, and was torn between the two. She didn't know who to choose, but a tragedy occurred; the younger prince was murdered. The girl vowed never to love anyone but him again, but she couldn't deny her feelings for the older prince. The girl stayed within the younger prince's castle, out of respect, and they eventually went to war with the older prince's army. She couldn't believe it, and the older prince even tried forcing her to go with him and his army; she refused. It was then that she made a decision, and that was to leave and forget about the older prince. With the war going on, she couldn't allow herself to fight not only someone she once loved, but a dear friend. She told him this, and had no choice but to agree. That was the last day she ever saw him. She eventually set on a journey to find her relatives, and only one was found, a half-sister.

Along the journey to find her half-sister, the girl met a commoner. He was neither good nor bad, just a human being trying to live his life. She couldn't see anything good about him at first, but they spent a lot of time together. He needed to see a king that lived somewhere far away, and was the same path the girl had to take. As they journeyed together, the girl began to see through the exterior of boy, and even began to like him, despite all she had gone through. He had been love-stricken from the start, and even tried to cheer up the girl. She had noticed, but decided not to let it change her. In the end, she was glad that he had done all that, because she eventually fell in love with him. The only thing that stood between them was fear; she was scared to show her feelings, scared to suffer again. Moreover, as if that wasn't hard enough, the young prince suddenly appeared, claiming that he wasn't murdered. He asked the girl's hand in marriage, and again she was torn between the prince and the commoner. It took her a very long time, but she eventually found out that the spell had never worn off and that the feelings she felt were fake. She chose the commoner, but still wanted to remain friends with the young prince. In the end, she eventually confessed her feelings, in the end, everything fell into place, and she felt happy. She felt truly and honestly happy with her life and the commoner by her side, and she found her half-sister.

Aura sighed again; the story was very much like her life. The only thing that was missing was the commoner. Who was he, and when would he appear? Aura wanted to know, but she had to be patient. For now, all she could do was let go of the past that she wanted to cling on to; the past that made her suffer so.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked from across the table. She jumped a bit, not realizing he was still in the room, but nodded her head as a reply. Although he hid it well, Riku was always concerned about Aura. He knew she was still hurt from everything that had happened within Organization XIII, and he wished he could do something. He didn't dare take off his hood, because he knew that if she looked at him…he would staring at hate itself. He sighed lightly, and hoped that one day she would be healed of the wounds. It didn't matter if she was a Nobody, because he would always see her in Marie—no matter the difference in appearance.

However, he also feared that. In his heart, he desperately wanted to find a way so that she wouldn't have to go back to Marie. Aura was her own person, and he liked that. He didn't realize it, but he was starting to like her. Genuinely.

ଓ
Marie

We passed through the shortcut that Lumiere showed us, despite it being so arduous. I guess better to light up some candles quickly than to fight off a whole horde of heartless, although, it wouldn't be so arduous if Sora actually hit the candles on time. In any case, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Cogsworth went on ahead, and told us that the Beast was all the way at the end of the west wing.

Therefore, as always, we made our way towards the centre of the problem.

ଓ
The Beast and Xaldin

"It's time you dealt with Belle," said a very convincing Xaldin. "She's scheming to take everything from you; this castle, your precious rose, and then—your life."

Xaldin convinced Beast not to trust anyone, and to feed his anger. Beast told him that he only wanted one thing, and Xaldin scoffed at it. "What? To love and be loved in return?"

"Who could ever love a beast?"

ଓ
Sora and Xaldin

Sora, Marie, Donald and Goofy rushed into the room, and saw a tall, muscular member of Organization XIII. Sora growled, and instantly took out his keyblade. Xaldin scoffed, and stared at them. "See? She has accomplices."

Marie gasped at his voice, and was caught off guard for a moment. She knew that voice, but from where she had no clue. Sora noticed this, and was only fueled to bring this oaf down. However, the air suddenly grew thick, and in an instant, a huge flash appeared. Marie, Donald, Goofy and the Beast all became disorientated, but Sora was perfectly fine.

"You really adore her, don't you?" he said, taunting the boy. "Well, it's a shame she doesn't feel the same. In fact, she can't even remember ever loving you, bwaha!"

"W-what? What do you mean!" Sora shouted back. "Just shut-up!"

Xaldin laughed bitterly before disappearing, and everyone else reverted to normal. Beast was far from the gang, and Marie scratched her head. Sora looked at her, and wondered if what that man said was true. He didn't know, but he figured it was time to talk to Marie about it. He shook his head; this wasn't the time to mope about it, either. He looked at the Beast, and started walking slowly towards him. "Hey, Prince!"

A giant roar came from the mouth of the Beast, and everyone covered themselves. Cogsworth was in the room, and he tried calling out to his master, but it was ineffective. Sora knew what was going on, and Marie was right. Beast had been possessed, and it was that man's fault.

Sora didn't want to fight the beast, but if he was ever going to come to his senses, he needed to knock some of it into him. He took out his keyblade, and both Donald and Goofy followed him. Marie hesitated, and Sora understood why; no one wants to fight a friend. She reluctantly took out her keyblade, and prepared. Cogsworth was going to help by trying to convince the Beast, while the rest fended off his attacks.

The Beast roared again, and ran towards Sora. He raised his claw and was about to attack him, but golden star-shaped knives intercepted the attack. Sora looked over to Marie, and the stars returned to her keyblade. She nodded at him, looking a little confused. It was clear to him that fighting a friend bothered her greatly. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they once fought Riku. Sora attacked the Beast, and he growled in pain. Donald fired the occasional spells, and Goofy defended when he could, with no will to hurt the Beast. Marie stayed on the sidelines, healing when it was possible. She refused to fight a friend, but also did not want anyone getting hurt.

It wasn't too long though, that Sora and the others managed to get through to him just a bit. Cogsworth suggested that they use the keyblades to gather up the energy to knock some sense into the Beast, and both Sora and Marie nodded.

ଓ
Marie

I really hoped that this wouldn't hurt the Beast, but we had to do something to make him return to his senses. I stood beside Sora as we lifted our keyblades, but I noticed only Sora's blade was gathering energy. Donald and Goofy took notice, as did Cogsworth, but Sora was too busy gathering energy, that in the end he was strong enough to project the energy towards the Beast.

It struck the Beast, and Sora quickly turned to me as Cogsworth went to check the Beast. Donald and Goofy followed Sora, and the three of them stared at me. I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there as they stared.

"Gwarsh, I wonder why you weren't able to gather the energy with Sora," questioned Goofy. I didn't understand myself, but it was the least of my issues. I'm trying to figure out who I am without my powers, and this feeling that I'm missing something—there's no space to worry about anything else.

I looked over to the guys, and gave them a weak smile, "It doesn't matter, Sora was able to bring the Beast to his senses. That's all that matters."

"Cogsworth, what happened?" we heard the Beast say. We walked over to them, and watched as Cogsworth explained everything—well, Donald had to step in since he really couldn't.

"Who was that guy you were talking to?" Sora asked, "The one in black."

Beast gasped, and muttered the name 'Xaldin'. It was his name, and he had used the power of darkness and used Beast's anger to control him. I won't deny that the voice of that guy sounds familiar, like I've heard it before. Beast told us that Xaldin manipulated his emotions, and clouded his perception. Cogsworth mentioned Belle, and all of a sudden, the Beast gasped again calling her name.

"I've mistreated her…," he said while sighing deeply. "I've mistreated her and been so selfish."

"She didn't say anything about that," commented Sora. Beast replied saying that she was too good to say anything mean about anyone, and Cogsworth quietly mentioned that the Beast judged himself too harshly. Sora came in again, and offered him to go see her. "Come on, I'm sure you can talk to her."

"But—"

"No excuses! C'mon, we'll go with you!" Sora butted in. I giggled, and everyone looked at me. I jumped a bit, and decided to add in my little piece.

"If you say Belle is too good, then why are you afraid?" I asked. The Beast looked away, and I smiled. "If she didn't want you to talk to her, I think she would have left the castle already."

Again, the Beast didn't say anything. He grunted, and then left for the door. It must be nice to have someone you can always talk to, someone like Belle is hard to come by, and the Beast is indeed a lucky prince. Lumiere told us that in order for the curse to lift the Beast had to love and be loved in return, and maybe that was Belle's destiny. I hope she's the key to lifting the curse. Well, in any case, we left the Beast's room, and travelled to Belle's room.

It was easier to get back than to leave, since there were less heartless. As we walked, though, a sudden ping of pain entered my chest. I clutched it, and didn't make a sound. Everyone else walked ahead, and I strayed a bit. The pain started to become a little more unbearable, and I stopped as the rest continued to walk and talk. We weren't too far from Belle's room, so I could afford to stay behind. As I tried to walk towards her room, I noticed the pain getting harder and harder to handle. I held unto my chest, and tried going away from the room. I noticed that the pain decreased, and decided to head all the way to the stairs at the centre.

As soon as I got there, I sighed in relief when the pain went away, but I began to hear muffling noises. Voices? But, who? I looked over to the big door in the middle of the two wings, pressed my ear against it. I gasped and my eyes widened when I heard Belle's voice and the other belonging to the man that was in Beast's room. Without a chance to think, I rushed into the room.

"Belle!" I shouted as I ran inside. She was standing in the middle of the room, and I ran to her side. I sensed the power of darkness appearing, and I quickly took out my keyblade and placed a hand in front of Belle. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but we have to do something!" she said, pointing at the man that was there. I furrowed my eyebrows together, and pointed my keyblade at him. He walked slowly towards us.

"Stay back! I'll hurt you if you come any closer!" I shouted, getting angrier by the minute.

"Mistress, have you forgotten?" he said. I froze in my place, what…what did he say? Did he just call me mistress? I shook my head, why was this guy so creepy?

"Who are you?" I said. By his look, it was obvious that he was with Organization XIII, and a Nobody. This means that there was someone else before him. "Who are you, really?"

"I'm afraid that time is not now," he said. He took out his weapon, which was a large lance. There was no way I could take this guy on alone, not the way I am now! He raised his lance, and I prepared for the worst by placing my keyblade in front of me.

"Did you think it would be that easy?"

I raised my head, and lowered my keyblade. I couldn't believe it… the same girl I saw at Hollow Bastion was here again. The only thing different was that there was a boy with her. He was tall with dark brown hair and sea-blue eyes, and he had a duffle bag with him. I heard her mutter something, and he nodded. He ran past her, and towards us. He grabbed my hand, along with Belle's and ran towards the balcony. As we ran, I looked behind me, and noticed the girl fighting Xaldin.

ଓ
Sora and the Beast

He was freaking out, as he hadn't noticed that Marie went missing. After entering the room, Sora looked around and didn't see the girl he loved in pink. He had panicked, and searched around the room. Donald and Goofy helped, and Beast took it as the perfect time to ask about Belle. She told them that belle went after Xaldin, and Beast grew furious.

"Let's go look for Belle, Marie might be with her," suggested the Beast. He was furious that Belle had gone walking into death's trap, but to be honest, he was concerned.

"Man, how can I be so stupid?" Sora said, slapping his forehead. Donald and Goofy frowned, and looked at the hero. "I should have kept my eyes on her—at all times!"

"Gwarsh, Sora, it's not your fault," comforted Goofy. "Marie might have found Belle and decided to chase after her."

"But that's not like—"Sora said, but stopped abruptly after realizing that it would be something Marie would do. He sighed, and rushed out the door right after the Beast, and they both ran as fast they could to find the two girls. They made it to the entrance hall, and heard Belle's muffled voice.

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!"

"Belle! Where are you?" shouted the Beast. He heard her voice again, and she shouted that she was in the ballroom. Sora and Beast ran towards the room, with Sora hoping that Marie was with them.

ଓ
Marie

Man, this was getting out of hand. The girl and Xaldin were fighting like crazy, and then suddenly, they disappeared into god knows where! A heartless popped up out of nowhere, and Belle warned it. We heard Beast's voice, and she told him that she was in the ballroom. I took out my keyblade again, and looked towards Belle, and the new boy that had suddenly appeared when the other girl came in.

"Take Belle and go to the balcony again!" I said, and the boy looked at me—quite surprised, but he listened nonetheless. I held my keyblade and stood in the middle of the room. I heard the door open, and I saw the Beast and Sora walk in along with Donald and Goofy, "Sora!"

"Marie!" he shouted back. I was glad they were here, now I wouldn't be alone. They ran up to me, and the Beast shouted Belle's name. She was all right, and Beast growled about the boy with her.

"Don't worry, he's good!" I said, protecting that boy. As soon as the Beast could say anything, the same heartless popped out again, and Sora took out his keyblade. The room turned pitch black, save for some chains that were linked up on the pillars.

We all prepared to fight the heartless, but my mind was boggling at so many things. I needed to stay focus, though.

ଓ
Aura and the fight with Xaldin

"Why don't you mind your own business for once?" Xaldin said coolly. Aura swung her keyblade at him, but he blocked it successfully. She was getting angry that these Organization losers were trying so hard to obtain something impossible.

"Why don't you give up, already?" she said, running up and attacking him. She was aware of Xaldin's moves, but he had gotten much stronger, an indicator that she needed more training," you know you can't get her without getting to me, and I'm trouble."

Xaldin scoffed, and swung his lance around to create a wind barrier. He barely had time to observe the young Nobody's move, but he knew he was much stronger. What could a young, pitiful girl do to a giant? She attacked him despite having placed the barrier, and surprisingly, it was able to get through, but not enough to touch him. He took off the barrier and swung his lance towards her. She was able to block it using the power of darkness, and when he got close enough, she snapped her fingers—sending him flying back.

He landed roughly on his feet, and crouched down to grasp the floor. She stood there chuckling, and pointed her keyblade at him, "I won't be the one with the satisfaction of destroying you, but I know that Marie and…Sora will do it just right."

Xaldin growled, and got up quickly and tried to get rid of Aura. He didn't care that she was needed in their plans, he just wanted her to go away forever. He ran towards her, and went to lunge this lance at her—but he missed! She was already through the portal, and fell into it. When it disappeared, he yelled, and threw his lance at the floor, "I'll see to it that you are destroyed!"

ଓ
Ryan

Was it possible? Were his eyes telling him the truth? His cousin was fighting a huge whatever-you-call-it thing and he was hiding behind a balcony with a hot babe, one that he couldn't give his attention to because of the fight that was going on!

As he watched his cousin fight off the monster, he noticed that Sora, the boy next to her, had the same weapon. In fact, both Marie and Sora had the same weapon as that other girl, except he forgot her name. Well, he was never good with names. He continued to look on, and he noticed that the girl beside was filled with concern.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked. She turned to him, and flashed a smile. Although she was worried, she knew that Sora, Donald, Goofy, Marie and the Beast would get rid of the monster.

"I'm all right, I know they will get rid of that monster," she said as she placed a hand on her chest. Ryan raised his eyebrow in confusion, and thought that it wouldn't hurt to ask about Marie.

"Do you know the girl fighting there?" he said, pointing at Marie. She giggled, and stared at her.

"Yes, she fought to save the worlds along with Sora," she said as she continued to stare, "She is the protector of a power with unimaginable power. I met her down at Hollow Bastion, where I along with other princesses defended against the power of evil."

"Protector…," he repeated. His cousin—Marie, was a fighter beyond belief. He never really had confidence that he would find her, he was just so angry with his parents for not telling him about her. It was more like he just wanted to run away as revenge, but he never knew it would escalate into this! All he could do now was just watch his cousin beat the snot out of the monster.

ଓ
Marie

Sora attacked the heartless, and it moaned. We were a hit away from offing this thing, and Sora let Beast do the honours. He roared, and let his claws do the rest. Sora stood beside me as we watched Beast deal the last blow. When he did, the heartless let out a high-pitched scream, and a pink heart floated from it's body.

"We did it!" Sora exclaimed joyfully—

"So you think."

However, that joy was stepped on when Xaldin appeared from behind us. We turned around, and the Beast shouted his name. He ran at full speed towards Xaldin, who simply said farewell and disappeared into the darkness. The Beast stopped, and growled, "What does he want here?"

"He must be with Organization XIII," replied Sora, who stared at the specks of darkness left behind. He explained to Beast what the nobodies were, and hypothesized that they were probably trying to make Beast into a Nobody—so that they could control him.

"You're all right!" we turned around, and saw Belle walking with the boy. The Beast called her name, and ran towards her. They began to talk amongst themselves, and we decided to let them have that talk. Besides, I was more interested in the boy who mysterious arrived with the girl. Without saying anything, I walked towards him, and he stood there a bit nervous.

"Who are you?" I asked. He chuckled, and scratched the back of his head. He really did seem nervous, and when he looked back at me, all he could do was stare. I guess he's not much of a talker, "Well, I'm Mar—"

"Marie Hill, I know," he replied. I was about to raise my hand so he could shake it, but after finishing off my sentence, I brought it back.

"How do you know my name?" I said, looking a bit concerned and a bit worried. He went to lump the duffle bag over his shoulder, and looked away again.

"It's a long story, but in short, I'm your cousin," he said, looking straight at me. I didn't take it in the first time, and my jaw opened. I had to process what he said, and when he did, I gasped.

"M-my what!"

Holy shiznats, over 5,000 words, I'm so happy! I hope you guys have a very Merry Christmas! I know I'll be enjoying my new XBOX. Hey, if any of you have it, add me—It's SWIRL3Y. [As if that wasn't obvious enough.] I'm kind of quiet, though…

grapejuice101:

Merry Christmas!

There will be more moments like that, but later on. Then, there will be huge moments like that! I love the Tron world, World that never was, Twilight Town, and Halloween/Christmas Town! I'm not a big fan of Atlantica, or the Olympus Coliseum worlds, since to me they're kinda boring. However, I'm glad you like them, lol.

Shadow 1n2:

Merry Christmas!

Oh, man I would have loved to see that. Haha, I say the same things to my friends when they plain out annoy me, and then I go back to reading. XD ack, tell me about it. I had the same thing happen to me. My mom bought the XBOX 360, I was staring at it, and as I placed a hand on it and she slapped it and said, "No! You wait until Christmas! I've heard about it, but I'm not really into anime. I was only interested in Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon until my interest died down.

Dracula X:

Merry Christmas!

Haha, here is another present, I hope you like it.

You know, I would love that, but if I asked around it wouldn't come cheap. I have heard the new version, and I really like it. Although, I've always loved the 'dearly beloved' themes.

Lele-the-Greek-Geek:

Merry Christmas!

Hola, amiga! Haha yeah, it would be weird, but at least you'd have someone to talk to at night. XD and yeah, Marie will just continue to be 'weird'. Lol. I actually have made up my mind and I have revealed it to you on DeviantART. XD

Lvl-ZeR0:

Merry Christmas!

Why, thank you!

That's a little gross, even at my age. Man, boys will always convince me that they have cooties. XD er… yeah, you should get that checked. My sister just got sick, and she's throwing up all over the place. DX

HopeReincarnated:

Merry Christmas!

Aw, sorry about that, I made this one longer for Christmas.

1) Well, for the most part, yes. Although she is losing contact as she advances in her journey and I'll write about that in later chapters.

2) well, again since I haven't written it, Stella is busy tending to Dante—since he's really sick. Moreover, she's trying not to be in Marie's life so much, or else she'll be tempted to help.

3) He's a teenaged boy, they don't usually think, and most usually do. He was mostly angry with his parents, and wanted some kind of revenge. He didn't actually he would find her, but somewhere inside him he was really sad about being an only child with no family other than his parents. I guess the fact that he has a shot at being an older cousin motivated him, and the fact that she was adopted means he also has a shot at being an older brother.

I hope these answers are good enough, if you need more just tell me! XD

dracula-key:

Merry Christmas!

Yes, it is a good thing, and it will show more as the story progresses. I hope you have a Merry Christmas, too!