Lily returned the next day at school looking completely normal, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She greeted everyone normally and for all intents and purposes seemed like the ordinary girl that Miku thought she was.

But she wasn't. She was a dhampir. Miku couldn't help but to stare at Lily, analyzing every aspect of her appearance and behavior throughout class, and she was reprimanded by the teacher more than once for letting her attention stray from class. During lunch and break, Miku was quiet, focusing all of her attention on Lily, until after school when Lily quietly told Miku that she would like to talk to her privately.

Under normal circumstances, Miku would have been happy to go with her friend, but today, things seemed different. Lily's eyes now held a trace of the vampiric in them, and her pale skin and haughty mien all seemed to be the result of something supernatural. Plus, Miku was aware that Luka was probably watching the two of them - it was still overcast. Miku shuddered and her puncture marks, hidden by makeup, seemed to itch.

Miku agreed to go with her friend nonetheless, though, and Lily dragged her around to the back.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," said Lily, and she sighed and ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. "I wanted to keep it secret, but I guess after this I can't really, anymore. I'm a dhampir."

"I know," said Miku.

Lily smiled humorlessly. "Ah yes, I suppose it was a bit of a shock to see me alive again, but...how did you survive? I mean, that particular genie had been hounding me for days," her gaze grew serious. "It's very inconvenient because us dhampirs don't die that way and I have to lie on the floor in the middle of fog, but...I mean...you're not a dhampir, are you?" Lily looked a little hopeful as she looked at Miku's face - apparently hoping against hope that she wasn't alone.

Miku shook her head. "No, I'm not a dhampir. Wait, so this isn't the first time it happened? How could you deal with practically dying every day so...easily?"

"My mother warned me about my father," said Lily. She looked down at her hands. "I got used to the idea of being...hounded all the time. So it was surprising that whoever my father was is only trying to kill me now," Lily shrugged. "Anyways, how did you survive?"

Miku hesitated briefly before shaking her head and sighing. To hell with it. Might as well confess everything to this dhampir. "I know a vampire and she saved me."

"You know a vampire?" Lily's eyes widened. "Miku, they're dangerous. Why are you even getting involved with them?!" Her voice was aghast. "I hate vampires," Lily's eyes were aflame with anger. "They're nothing more than crazy monsters!"

"I must say I disagree," said a calm, musical voice that emanated from the direction of the bushes. Lily whirled to look at the intruder, but Miku sighed. It was Luka. Miku could recognize her voice easily now.

"A...vampire," Lily stammered, looking ill at ease. "Who are you?"

"As you said, a vampire," said Luka coldly. "Now stay still, half-breed. You're lucky to be alive. A little lower and you would have died. Dhampirs die from decapitation like everyone else."

"Shut up!" Lily flared up, and Miku winced. Not that she could blame Lily too much – Luka was acting rather haughty.

"What are you doing here, Luka," Miku sighed. "I told you to protect Lily, not insult her."

"I don't need a vampire's protection," Lily snapped at Miku. "When did you tell a vampire to protect me in the first place, anyways? Don't you think you should have asked me first?"

"You were dying at the time!" Miku said, putting her fingers to her forehead. "I was panicked! I was trying to protect you."

"And you told a vampire to protect me?!" Lily's voice was aghast.

Luka looked over at Miku and then at Lily. "Will you be quiet? I captured the genie so it won't be bothering you anymore, except..." Luka's face was set in a frown. "I don't think that the attacks against you will end there."

"I don't want your help!" Lily blurted out. "I can deal with this on my own. This is my own problem. Who said that the two of you could butt in like this? It's none of your business."

"Some friend you are," said Luka, her voice icy.

"Quiet, Luka," said Miku. Luka grumbled and obediently quieted.

Lily blinked at the two of them, looking a little puzzled - apparently because of the display of obedience from the vampire to the human.

"I'm worried about you, Lily," said Miku, her voice taking on a pleading tone. "We've known each other since we were kids. And I think after I almost died thanks to that genie...this is already my business."

"Fine," said Lily, grudgingly, looking a little guilty. "But...I don't see why we have to have that vampire with us."

"So shortsighted," Luka sighed. "There's no way a dhampir and a human can take on a vampire strong enough to father a dhampir in the first place. Face it, you need my help."

"Why are you helping us in the first place?" Lily asked. "No vampire is so selfless as to sacrifice their oh-so-valuabletime to help a half breed and a human. What do you want?"

Luka opened her mouth and then closed it and then opened it again. "I..."

"Let me guess," said Lily "You want to feed off of our blood after this is done. Well, don't even try."

"Oh please," Luka scoffed. "I wouldn't drink your blood even if you paid me."

"It doesn't matter, you two," said Miku. "Look, let's just work together. I know that Luka isn't entirely trustworthy, but it's too late to kick her out. If she does anything suspicious, I promise you that you won't have to see her again. I have something on her."

Lily looked at Miku for a moment. "Wow Miku, since when did you start blackmailing vampires? What'd she do to you?" Lily turned her glare back at Luka. "Hey, did you hurt my friend?"

Luka's blue eyes were starting to have a little hint of red in them, so Miku decided to stop this now.

"Don't worry about it, Lily," she said in her best reassuring voice. "She didn't hurt me. I just know something about her that the Seraphim would be interested to hear."

"Fine, fine," Lily waved her hand irritably. "Well then, how old is this vampire? You know that the older a vampire is, the stronger it gets. I want to know if we have a weak fledgling with us or someone that could actually, you know, be usefulinstead of strutting around giving herself airs."

Before Luka could answer, Miku spoke up. "She's a three year old vampire."

There was a long silence that was broken by the sound of Lily's laughter.

"Three years old!" Lily was shaking her head and laughing. "Pathetic!"

Luka hissed. "A three year old vampire is more than strong enough to defeat a dhampir."

"Certainly not strong enough to defeat a vampire old enough to father a dhampir," said Lily.

Miku was silent. Lily did have a point - if Luka really was a fledgling, then her strength would be low compared to the older vampires as she was still more human than vampire, in a way. Perhaps Miku had been too hasty in agreeing to this and allowing Luka to drink her blood for the secondtime, as if once wasn't bad enough. In fact, all of this was happening too fast for Miku's comfort - just a few weeks ago she had been an ordinary girl, and then she met Luka, and now she was thrown into all this. Perhaps it would be easier to have just gone home and be ignorant, but considering how the genie tried to kill her and how Luka sucked her blood not once but twice, not to mention Lily being a dhampir, and now Miku was beginning to see that there was no escape from this - she was already too entangled to escape.

-o-o-o-

Miku had to admit that she had never been in a place like this before.

All around her were vampires; Miku could tell by the sheer inhuman beauty in each of their faces and bodies. Loud dance music with husky female vocals pounded into her head, and she could see that a few vampires held a few shots of red liquid in their hands that could only be blood. There was a sort of atmosphere in this place, slinky and unsettling, with its ghoul bartender and the vampires wearing clothes that ranged all over the map; one person wore a hood, mask, and cloak...another vampire wore only duct tape.

Miku gulped. She felt as though she was the only human in the place. Luka had assured her that it was not uncommon for there to be humans and dhampirs in these sorts of places, but looking around, Miku only ever saw perfect vampire faces, and no human ones. Luka had a cold arm around Miku's shoulder, and Miku's puncture marks were not hidden; both of those were probably enough to mark Miku as Luka's.

Of course, Miku did not especially want to be the companion of a vampire in some vampire nightclub ("The name is 'Zero'," said Luka to Miku and Lily), but Luka had somehow managed to convince her into it. Her voice was hypnotic if she really put her mind to it, and Miku was powerless to resist; just another vampire power Luka had, apparently.

Miku frowned and looked behind her for Lily, who was looking very ill-at-ease as she tried to fend off the vampire who kept offering her a drink of blood. However, as Miku opened her mouth to try to wave her over, her line of sight was blocked by a group of vampires walking by, and Luka was still walking.

"Luka," said Miku, urgently. "Lily was back there..."

"She'll be fine," said Luka as her eyes scanned the crowd. "I know a girl here who shouldknow about this sort of thing..."

"How?" Miku asked.

"It's always unusual when a vampire makes a dhampir," said Luka.

"Oh," said Miku. There was a pause. "So...whenever vampires bring humans here...what happens?"

"Nothing special," said Luka. "I mean a few vampires bring humans here as a sort of 'drinking vessel', as it were-"

"That's disgusting!" Miku interrupted, getting the picture already. Suddenly the cold arm around her shoulder didn't feel so comforting and safe anymore. She shuddered; she could imagine the fear and terror in the humans as they get fed upon by vampire after vampire, a neverending hell of violation. "Please don't tell me that you do that kind of thing."

Luka looked away and rubbed her nose and changed the topic. "I uh, think she should be..." she led Miku over to a room where, to Miku's disgust and horror, there were a few cages of humans, all of whom had a dazed grin and half-lidded eyes, puncture marks all over their bodies. The room was rather odd, with its tatty Persian rug, and its loud red walls, and the various couches around the room where the vampires were engaged in a wide variety of activities.

Miku couldn't look at any of this, and, face flushing red, she looked down at the rug, which looked more or less normal save for a few rusty stains of blood. She felt Luka drag her over a couch where a girl was rapidly tapping out things on an iPhone.

"Hey Gumi," said Luka.

The girl looked up. "Oh, Luka! What a surprise," she had a voice like the tinkle of a bell. "You brought a human with you?" She swung her gaze over at Miku, who at first met it before tearing her gaze away; Gumi had uncommonly deep eyes. Miku felt as if she were to stare at her too long, she'd fall into her. "She looks delicious. Smells good, too. For a fledgling, you sure know how to pick them! Is she going into the empty cage over there?"

"Oh," said Luka. "No. She's just a...friend of mine. Anyways," her tone grew businesslike. "I interrogated a genie recently because it's been harassing a friend of mine, but...it was really tight lipped," Luka shrugged. "Could you get the information out of it?" She withdrew from her jacket a flask, firmly corked. Inside the flask was a distinct, smoky substance. "I just want to know who sent it."

Gumi took the vial and looked at it. "Sure, but you can't expect me to do it for free." She looked up at Luka and grinned. "So, got anything to make it worth my while? Maybe a quick drop of blood from your delectable little friend here?"

Luka shook her head. "No, not her. I don't think she'll like it."

Gumi laughed. "What happened, Luka? So protective of humans now!"

"Look," said Luka, impatiently. "I'll give you some time incense."

Time incense, Miku knew, was something very rare and sought after by vampires, for its smoke could change the chemical properties of the local environment to make night seem like day, or day seem like night. Eating time incense, although the taste was terrible, could also enable the vampire to walk around in daylight with no ill effects for a moment of time that depends on how much time incense was consumed.

Gumi's eyes grew wide and greedy. "Time incense? My, how'd a fledgling like you get her hands on that? How do I know if you're telling the truth?"

"Simple," said Luka. She pulled out a small white candle from her jacket. "I have a stick of time incense right here." She rubbed it and an exotic, not unpleasant smell wafted over to Miku. Gumi took a long breath, smelling the scent of the time incense.

"How much of it will you give me?" Gumi asked.

Luka considered. "A quarter of it."

"A whole quarter of time incense for interrogating a genie!" Gumi laughed and clapped her hands. "You fledglings have no sense of how valuable these things are! Well, you'll learn. Anyways," Gumi put the genie vial away. "Come back here tomorrow night. I'm sure I'll have extracted the information from the genie."

Luka nodded. "Okay." She took Miku and led her out back into the main room, where Lily appeared from the crowd and latched onto Miku.

"There you two are!" said Lily. "Are we done here? This place is sickening," she shuddered. "People kept wanting to give me blood..."

"Blood is good for a growing dhampir," said Luka.

Miku frowned at Luka before looking back at Lily. "Umm, Luka talked to some girl in there, so we should get the information on who your dad is soon. And I guess after that we can just...talk to him and see if-"

"Talk to him?" Lily laughed, disbelievingly. "Do you really think that freak'll stop if you just stroll in and talk to him?"

"It's true," said Luka, looking at Miku. "For some vampires, having a dhampir is a shame, a mark of thin blood. For others it's a source of pride and honor, but since this particular vampire is trying to kill Lily...well..."

"Exactly," said Lily, impatiently. "I hate him," she clenched her hands into fists. "He was never there, and now he's trying to kill me. And he's a vampire! He should just die, like the freak he is."

"Die!?" Miku stared at Lily, aghast. "Lily, do you know what you're saying?"

"So!?" Lily yelled. "He deserves it! I never wanted to be a dhampir, I didn't want all this trouble, and then one day walking home from school a genie appears and tries to kill me and has been trying to kill me, my mother's too afraid of him to do anything! Vampires are already dead...they shouldn't even exist."

"...Lily, calm down," said Luka, her voice low and dangerous, her eyes flashing red. "You are in a vampire club right now. Insulting us will get you no help from us," she grabbed Lily by her scarf. "Now shut up."

That only made Lily angrier, and she slapped Luka's hand away. "You shut up. I never wanted your help." She turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Miku looked at Luka and then at the area where Lily left, uncomfortable. Luka was looking rather angry, her eyebrows drawn together, her hands clenching and then unclenching, so Miku decided to drag Luka over to the blood bar. Luka mumbled out her order and paid a ridiculous amount of money for the blood. Miku shivered as the bartender silently handed her the warm cup of red blood, and she handed it over to Luka, who drank all of the blood in the tiny shot glass in one gulp, and then slammed the glass back onto the bar.

"Where does the blood in here come from?" Miku asked, almost dreading the answer.

Luka stared at her before looking distantly over at the dance floor, crammed full with undead bodies. "Sometimes vampires would bring humans over here so that we can extract their blood for the drinks...other times the owners have to go get the blood themselves...that's why this blood is so overpriced," she stared down at the empty shot glass glumly. "Two hundred a pop."

Miku opened her mouth to ask where the hell Luka could get so much money, but then she thought better of it. She didn't especially want to involve herself too much with this vampire's life. "So...where did you get the time incense? Since it's really rare."

Luka rubbed her finger around the glass and said nothing, and after a few minutes Miku realized that Luka was ignoring her. With a frown and a huff, Miku turned back towards the bar before looking back over at Luka, who was still staring down at her empty shot glass.

"So. Do they serve any other drinks in this place? Water? Soda? Wine?" Miku asked.

"I never drink...wine," said Luka.

Miku looked over at the bar and saw that indeed there was no wine served, nor soda, nor water, only blood. Once again, Miku felt that shudder run through her body, that essential sense of not belonging, and then she stood up from the stool. "I want to go. Can we leave now?"

Luka looked up at her and with a sigh nodded.

-o-o-o-

"I hired an Ishim," said Lily to Miku a few days later, after school. "We can't trust that vampire."

It was daytime and the sun was out. Miku and Lily were sitting in McDonalds, eating burgers and fries. Miku wasn't able to eat her food, her stomach too twisted with worry and fear, but Lily, even though she was the one in danger, ate a lot, even eating through Miku's fries.

"An Ishim!?" Miku stared at Lily. "They're so suspicious, though..."

"No more suspicious than a vampire," said Lily, taking a bite from her burger. "Look, just tell your vampire friend to buzz off. We don't need her anymore. She's just a fledgling, too."

Miku hesitated. "Can't we all just work together?"

"An Ishim and a vampire?" Lily snorted. "Please."

"W-well, fine," Miku said. "What's the name of this Ishim?"

"Meiko," said Lily. "She seems reliable, experienced."

Miku sighed. "That's good, but Lily, I don't think that we can get rid of Luka. It's not that easy."

"She'll probably be relieved that she doesn't have to help us anymore," said Lily. "Come on, Miku. Luka has no personal interest in us; she's only helping us because you blackmailed her, correct?"

Miku hesitated. Luka was helping because she liked Miku's blood, and Miku had paid Luka with a little of it. Plus, Luka also mentioned being 'drawn' to her...somehow Miku did not think that Luka leaving would happen so easily. "It's...complicated."

"What's so complicated about it?" asked Lily, exasperated at first, before a slow expression of horror made its way across her face. "Miku, don't tell me. Are you attracted to her? Is that it?"

"Wh-what!?" Miku gaped at Lily. Attracted to Luka? Was she? Sure, Luka was stunningly beautiful, but Miku never really thought of Luka that way before. Or did she? Miku remembered the two times when Luka sucked her blood, and shuddered. It had seemed so pleasurable both times. Miku had completely lost herself in the feeling. She didn't want to enjoy it, but she did, and each time Luka finished, Miku found herself feeling disappointed.

"She's a vampire, Miku," said Lily, her voice low. "Her beauty is just a trick to lure us mortals into giving those bloodsuckers their blood! They're evil. Don't forget, Miku. Vampires don't understand things like 'love'," Lily's voice was bitter. "Just ask my mother. Sure, they can be charming and sweet when they want to, and I don't deny that they are beautiful, but it's all a trick. They aren't human."

"You're not human either," said Miku, sullenly.

Lily looked as though she had been physically slapped. "Miku...no, I am human," Lily glared at her. "I am human. I'm not like a dhampir. I mean, my blood might be part vampire, but I'm human. I don't thirst for blood like those freaks. I'm not like a vampire at all. I'm human, you hear me?" Lily gripped the table, her eyes flashing (like a vampire would, Miku thought to herself).

Miku looked away. "...if you say so, Lily. I just don't think that it's so easy to get out of having Luka-"

"And who said I wanted a vampire to help in the first place?" Lily leaned in. "I never did. You made the decision by yourself. You and your...vampire worship, like everyone else! They're all monsters. Why am I the only person who sees that?" Lily suddenly seemed very small and defeated.

Miku reached out a hand and grabbed onto Lily's, trying to be a good friend and give her comfort. "Okay, Lily. I'm sorry...I'll try to talk to Luka then."

Lily took a deep breath and a long exhale. "Good."

-o-o-o-

"I found out who the vampire's father is," Luka told Miku as the two of them walked down the store-lined street of North First Street at night. The lights from the store shone onto the dark concrete that Miku and Luka were walking on. All around the two were a mass of people, shopping or talking or just walking. Taxis raced to and fro, making noisy honks in the distance.

Miku blinked at her, surprised. "You did? Really?"

Luka puffed with pride. "Of course! Gumi told me after she interrogated the genie."

"Oh, so it wasn't you who found it out," Miku said, a little jokingly.

"Hey," Luka acted wounded. "I did my part. Anyways, her father is one of those old fashioned types. Very old vampire," Luka sighed. "Leon Magnus. Lives in a castle."

Miku's eyes widened. "A castle?" Vampires who actually had castles were very old indeed...very old, very traditional, and very powerful. "No way. He's Lily's dad? You're kidding."

"Unfortunately, I'm not," Luka winced. "But I did some more research on Leon. He lives in this old castle out near this small little old-fashioned village in Kasodil, a superstitious old place that pays tribute to him. He's completely removed from the modern vampire world. He doesn't even belong to a house! So...he shouldn't be too hard to defeat."

Miku blinked. "Uh. He's still a really old vampire, in case you forget."

"I know that," said Luka, impatiently. "But he seems like the type who's lazy and slothful; he's probably not as strong anymore."

There was a little truth in Luka's words. However...a thought struck Miku and she looked at Luka. Why was this vampire so interested in helping? There was really nothing in it for her, except for Miku's blood, but that wasn't anywhere near enough for a fledgling to want to stake one of its own kind. The more Miku thought about it, the less it made sense to her. Vampires should not be helping humans and dhampirs. Once again, Miku remembered that Luka was of Karnstein, and suspicion crept into her mind once more.

"Why are you so into this?" Miku asked. "Helping a human and a dhampir stake your own kind...what exactly are you planning?"

Luka stared at Miku, caught off-guard by the question. "Huh?"

"You don't even like Lily," Miku continued. "You keep fighting with her. There's no reason for you to be helping us. So generous too, giving away some time incense...what exactly are you hiding?"

Luka looked down and opened her mouth. She hesitated, and then closed it and shook her head. "I can't tell you."

"Does this have anything to do with the government?" Miku asked, on a small hunch, remembering Luka's refusal to go to the blood suppliers the day they first met.

"Maybe," said Luka, infuriatingly vague.

Miku frowned at her. "How can I know if I can trust you? You know, Lily told me today that we shouldn't be working with you anymore because she hired an Ishim...and..." Miku blinked as she slowly began to realize this. "We...don't know anything about you. What you want, what your past is, why you're even helping us...sure, you say it's because you feel like you owe me a debt, and you like my blood, but that's no reason to help us so much. Who are you, Luka?"

Luka was silent for a long while. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you that."

"...oh," said Miku, and she looked away. She remembered the club - the humans in cages, how Luka refused to answer Miku's question about whether or not she partook of the caged human's blood. She remembered Gumi. She remembered Luka taking her blood against her will, pushing her down to the ground and forcibly plunging her fangs into Miku.

Miku felt a chill of horror run down her spine. She was walking next to a vampire. Someone dangerous. Someone who had already hurt her, someone who probably saw humans as nothing, as food; Miku remembered once again the caged humans. She could end up like them, once this was all over...

She shouldn't have trusted Luka so foolishly in the first place. Even if she ran...Miku was certain that Luka knew where she lived, because the vampire had been watching her ever since their first meeting. She couldn't go inside Miku's house, no, but Luka could easily abduct Miku and kill her by sucking out all of her blood, or worse, make Miku her thrall, her blood-slave, living only to serve Luka.

The full gravity of the situation crashed down around Miku. She stopped walking and suddenly found it difficult to breathe. She put a hand to her rapidly beating heart. Lily was right; she was always right. Luka was a vampire, after all. Perhaps Miku really had been too attracted to Luka to notice the predicament that she, that they all, were in.

Luka looked back. "Something wrong?"

Miku couldn't speak. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She only backed away, slowly. "I...you're...st-stay away from me," Miku stammered, her words coming out mangled due to her fear. How could she have been so stupid? Foolishly going along with a vampire she knew nothing about, drawn to the vampire like a moth to a flame, but flames can kill moths if they get too close...and vampires feed on human blood.

"What?" Luka stared at Miku, confused. "Why?"

"I don't know anything about you," Miku said, putting a hand to her head. "Th-this is stupid. I was stupid. Maybe this was all a trap or something. Lily was right. I shouldn't trust you. I shouldn't even be walking with you, I..."

Luka stared at Miku some more as her face slowly changed into an expression that was impossible to define. "You don't trust me." It was a statement.

"How could I? I don't know anything about you," Miku said in a rush. "You took my blood without my permission the first time we met, I was so afraid back then...why am I even talking to you? Oh god..."

"I was starving back then," Luka said, her voice a little upset. "I couldn't control myself."

"So!?" Miku yelled. "You're a vampire!"

Luka's face twisted into one of anger, her pupils rimmed with red. "So what if I am? I'm helping you now, aren't I?"

"Exactly! You have no reason to be helping us!" Miku said, her voice panicked with fear. "I can't trust you! Who knows what you want? After all this is over, what are you going to do with me? With us? Leave us alone? We can't give you anything, except for our blood. You want to make me your thrall after this, right?"

"What? I'm not going to make you my thrall," Luka said in a low hiss, her fangs appearing; the sight of it was enough to make Miku's breaths hitch with fear. "I'm not so degenerate...you humans really don't understand anything!"

"You're degenerate enough to trap humans in cages and drink their blood in some kind of...some kind of blood drinking orgy!" Miku said, her fear and anger at the forefront of her mind. The fact that Miku and Luka were arguing in the middle of a crowded street did not phase into her consciousness.

"Shut up!" Luka's eyes were fully red now. Combined with her fangs, she looked completely feral and dangerous; a true vampire. "Idiotic human..." She grabbed Miku by her shirt and dragged her down the street, making a few sharp turns into a deserted alley.

It was dark and dirty, with no lights. Miku noticed to her alarm that Luka's eyes glowed in the dark, and the sight of it was enough to make her almost die from fear. Miku was barely coherent by the time they actually reached the alley, crying and shivering with fear at her inevitable fate as the vampire she barely knew pushed her against the wall with enough force to make Miku feel like her bones were shaking. The vampire shoved her forehead against Miku's, making her stare into her blood-red, glowing eyes. Miku whimpered and tried to close her eyes, but she could not tear them away from Luka's.

"Listen up," said Luka, her cold breath dusting over Miku's face. "I'm someone you don't want to piss off. You don't want my help? Fine. I won't help you then." Luka's eyes were beginning to go back to their natural blue color. "I don't know why I waste my time helping you humans when all I get in return is this." She moved her head back and Miku, her knees too weak to support herself, slumped to the ground. "Your friend and you can go die for all I care. You really think an Ishim is enough to stop Leon Magnus? If so, you're an idiot. A complete and total idiot."

"Why are you even acting so wounded?" Miku managed to say in a quivery voice. "You have no reason to be helping us..."

Red-blue eyes narrowed in the darkness. "That's just what you think." Miku heard the sound of Luka turning and beginning to walk away. Miku felt panic clench her heart.

"W-wait," she cried to the darkness. "H-how am I going to get back home? I don't even know where I am!"

"Find your own way back," Luka replied, her voice ice-cold. "You don't trust me anyways."