Sorry for the wait. And thanks to my reviewers, reviews always make me happy. And who's ready for some humor? Jokes? Teasing? Drama/magic comes later on in the chapter, but I'd like to balance all the sad stuff with some funny stuff.

It was only then that I realized Ikuto was still falling.

"IKUTO!" I screamed, jolting into a sitting position.

"You nearly scared the heck outta me." a familiar voice drawled from somewhere over to my side.

I took a minute to take in my surroundings, though there wasn't much. Ikuto, as it turned out, was not falling off a cliff. Neither was I. How strange. On the contrary, we were both sitting in some funny sphere of snow held up at the top and bottom by two magical shields.

"We were falling off a cliff." I mused, trying to figure out what had happened.

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "Yes, we were. But then you saved our butts with those shields."

"I did?" I was beginning to remember, but everything was still a haze.

"Yes, you did." Ikuto said in a clearly annoyed tone. "Now why exactly did you wake up screaming? And why my name? Am I-"

"Don't even try teasing me." I muttered, and Ikuto fake pouted. "I dreamt we were all falling off a cliff, and all my friends saved me but totally forgot you," I continued, purposely avoiding Ikuto's pathetic attempts to pout at me.

"Gee, that makes me feel valued." Ikuto replied sarcastically.

"Shut up." I mumbled. "I'm beginning to like the emotionless Ikuto better."

"That's even better for my self-esteem." Ikuto shot back, still employing non-existent acting skills.

"Not like it had a problem in the first place." I huffed.

Ikuto waited expectantly for a while, then finally asked, "You're not asking where we are?"

"Ah! I forg- I mean, I was going to." I stammered.

Ikuto chuckled. "You're a horrible liar, you know that?"

"Wh-whatever!" I spluttered. "Where are we and how the heck do we get out?"

"Well, this is basically a hole in the avalanche made by your shields. And I, for once, do not know how to get out." Ikuto said breezily.

"Save your breath, 'cause soon you won't have anything to breathe!" I snapped. That shut him up. "Don't you know that there is limited air in here? If we don't get out we're going to die!"

Ikuto breathed in deeply, as if to calm himself, but stopped midway. "Ah. Sorry," he said, and began to breath quick, shallow breaths.

"Idiot! Stop fooling around!"

"Stop acting like my mother, Utau, and Kairi combined," Ikuto deadpanned.

My brain was honestly on overdrive. Three years of solitude had done much to me, and one of those was that I now had absolutely no social skills. And Ikuto was in a league of his own. So as a blustery, flustery teenage girl, I backed out of the confusion and set to work freeing myself.

"Ugh!" I turned away from him and stabbed my sword into the top shield, swiftly blasting a hole in our little capsule. Snow promptly rained on our heads, making Ikuto look like he had severe dandruff.

He shook his head slightly, and I could almost see the dandruff insult playing on his lips. He opened his mouth to speak and-

"NO! STOP INSULTING ME!"

"- good job there," Ikuto finished. "Not every word that comes out of my mouth is an insult, you know."

"Really?" I grumbled, stabbing my sword into the snow and hauling myself up. "I thought you only said random reflections on your past and insulted me."

Ikuto leapt up onto the surface with an easy grace, using his claw weapon as a boost. "I never reflect on my past."

I joined him, panting. "You did, like, ten days ago."

"Whatever. I felt obliged to."

"Why?" I persisted.

Ikuto kept his eyes on the ground, focusing on dusting off every speck of snow from his clothes. "I slapped you and all. I had to talk to you, else you'd think I was avoiding you."

"You were avoiding me!" I whined.

"Whatever." Ikuto said quickly, paying no heed to my exclamation. "Don't we need to find my sister and the rest?"

"Utau?"

"RIMA!"

"Kukai."

"NAGIHIKO?!"

"Kairi, where are you?"

"TADASE-KUN!"

"Sugar maniac, where are you."

"UTAU!"

My voice had long since gone hoarse, but I persisted my yelling. Ikuto was hitting me with annoyed glances every so often, but I ignored them.

"RIMA!"

"Enough. My ears are ringing," Ikuto grumbled. "Use magic or something. A more effective spell than that telepathy stuff."

I drew myself up tall. "You know, magic isn't the perfect solution to every problem. Especially when tracking people in this snow, it's-"

"I get the point," Ikuto cut me off lazily.

I huffed and turned myself to the landscape stretched in front. The snow was slowly decreasing in height, and I could see specks of green down below that were barely visible. We were backtracking down the mountain in search of the others, after several spells to communicate with them had failed.

"They better be safe," Ikuto muttered to himself, eyes narrowed so that I could only see violet slits. The sunlight glimmering in his eyes reflected his concern back to me.

"Are you worried about them?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No. They're strong enough," Ikuto said, clearly lying.

"Utau in particular. You feel insecure, not being able to keep her safe," I guessed.

Ikuto tensed, and I knew I had hit the nail on the head. "It's not like I do a good job of it."

I frowned. "Why not? She loves you to death."

"For what?"

"Well, you - " I stopped, lost for words. Hadn't Ikuto blamed Utau for the death of whoever it was - Ko, that was it - and avoided her for years afterward? If Ikuto had done so little for Utau, why did she adore him so?

"Exactly." Ikuto hissed through gritted teeth. "What have I done for her?"

"I - well, you're her big brother, so, well, I guess. . ." I trailed off, trying in vain to comfort Ikuto, and instead doing the opposite.

He stayed silent for a while after that, eyes darting from side to side in search of the others. I felt like I should have been doing something, yet I was quiet as well. For once my problems, haunts of Nadeshiko's voice, were fading from my mind. The cool air seemed to wrench my mind free from chains of my past. It was a temporary relapse, but all the same, I pretended like I would be able to forget it all until we reached the capital. So I poured my heart and soul into the simple task of finding the rest.

It was difficult, searching for seven people in a mass of snow and rock. With every passing minute worry grew like a parasite inside me. Every groan of the rock seemed to whisper, They're in trouble, in trouble, trouble, trouble.

"Amu." Ikuto said softly, gesturing to a sunken mass of snow. Looking closer, I could see the faint outlines of footprints, long since eaten away by falling snow.

I ran through a list of options in my head with the new clues. "Well, at least that makes it more likely they're alive." I said at last, sifting snow through my fingers.

"Of course they are." Ikuto whispered, hand clenching on the snow so hard that it crumbled to bits of ice in his hands. He pursed his mouth into a straight line. "They have to be."

I stood up awkwardly, leaving Ikuto to worry on his own. I could see absolutely no hint as to where they might have gone in the landscape. Running my fingers through my cotton-candy hair and sifting through various tangles, I reflected that it might take us days, weeks even to find them. A part of me groaned in annoyance. That was so much time lost in which I might be halfway to the capital.

"Go." Ikuto stood and stretched. "I'll find them. Whatever is in the capital must be important to you." Had he read my mind?

"Ikuto, I can't. I - "

"This is your home. We're holding you back. Isn't that what's going on in your head?"

"No!" I denied my feelings.

"I'd feel better if you left. If there's one thing I can't be, it's a burden." And that's when I saw the void look in his eyes, his lack of emotion not even hidden by a mask. He had seen my internal battle and realized everything. I was his last chance of finding his sister. And I broke his only hope without even saying a word.

It was like the world was swirling into chaos, where every word I said could decide my future, my life - and theirs. With Ikuto looking at me like that, a mixture of pain and sorrow, for his sister who could be dead right now, for the future which he had lost the moment he stepped into Tiraldae. My world.

. . . My fault.

I sank down to my knees ins now, cursing myself for every hint that had suggested that I wanted to leave them behind. When it was me who was the one who had brought them here.

"Ikuto, I got you guys into this mess, and I. . . have the responsibility to get you out."

"You yourself said we would likely die." Ikuto murmured, voice laced with suspicion.

"But if we die here, then I will have taken away your future! This is my problem. More likely than not I'll never come out of this, but at least the seven of you should go back." My voice dropped to a low, sorrowful tone.

Ikuto said nothing for an endless stretch of time. His face was dark, as if contemplating what to say. I waited silently for his answer. All of a sudden his head snapped upwards, panicked gaze directed behind me. I twisted around.

There was a huge beast in the distance. It was hairless, as if it was made of the earth itself. Mottled green and brown splotches dotted its skin. Short, heavy feet echoed in a resounding crash every time they hit the ground. A single speck was clutched in one long, spindly hand. It thrashed frantically, screaming, though I could not pick out whether it was a human voice. Turning back to Ikuto, I saw that he was stricken with shock, eyes focused on the little speck.

"It's blonde."

Before I could say a word he had bolted in the direction of the beast. Even as I shot after him he he sped up, becoming outlined in a faint glow. Magic was coming to his aid without him asking.

I leaned forward, activating Amulet Heart and tearing off over the rocky landscape. My feet seemed to be skimming the ground. As I neared the monster, I saw that the person in it's hand was indeed blonde. Long hair had spilled out of pigtails so it hung it loose curls.

"Utau! We're coming!" I cried. She stopped struggling immediately, and I could almost hear her begging me to save her.

Ikuto launched into the air, slashing with silver claws. The beast recoiled, moaning in annoyance.

I soared into the air, delivering a powerful blow from behind with the point of my sword. It whirled around and faced me, crooked yellow teeth set in an ugly growl.

"Get ready, Amu!" Ikuto yelled from behind the beast. I only had time to shoot backwards before Ikuto hit the beast with an explosion of raw magic, sending it rolling forwards. The long fingers wrapped around Utau's figure slackened. I dove at her.

"Utau!" I screamed, throwing out a hand to her. Confused eyes glanced up at me - chocolate doe eyes instead of glittering violet ones.

"Rima. . .?"

"Would you rather it be Utau?" she snapped. "I would think I'm enough!"

I landed lightly on the ground, setting down Rima beside me. "You need a weapon to fight, Rima." I said patiently to the petite blonde.

"Not necessarily. A lot happened after the avalanche." Rima charged straight at the beast. I hurtled after her, trying in vain to stop the little idiot before she got killed.

"Stay back, Amu!" Rima called back to me. "I know what I'm doing!" I obeyed reluctantly, keeping various spells at hand in case Rima got herself into trouble. But she had been right - this little girl knew what she was doing.

Rima threw her hands in front of her in a X shape. I watched in awe as two fatally sharp-edged juggling pins coiled with tightropes materialized in her hands. With a flick of her wrist Rima thrust the pin-tightropes at the monster.

"Deadly Clown!" she shrieked, and the sharp edges of the bowling pins expanded into silver blades. The tightropes moved of their own accord, wrapping in tight coils around the beast and trapping it in place. The pins, which were attached to the ropes, followed suit. Every time it grazed the monster a long, deep, cut would be left in its wake.

After endless slashed and whips across the beast's skin, the clown props returned to her outstretched palms. They promptly disappeared at her touch.

"My special ability," Rima said quietly. "I've figured it out."

I glanced back and forth between the beast and Rima, her tiny figure matched against the monster's enormous body. And yet, Rima had done immeasurable damage with her delicate fingers and sharp mind.

"Congrats," I answered at last. "Your magic is strong. Maybe with the three of us, we can defeat it."

Rima shook her head, long locks of her swaying behind her. "This is just the baby. The momma is keeping the rest of us safe." At first, I could barely even comprehend that this giant thing was only a baby. And then the rest hit me.

"You just attacked the kid of whatever's keeping you safe?" I asked incredulously.

Rima shrugged. "The earth giants are ridiculously strong. That was just a demonstration of my new power. Look." She pointed at the 'earth giant', whose wounds were already mending.

"Yeah, but. . .!" I tried to figure out exactly why something about the attack was so off. "Don't attack something just for fun!"

"Bubbles got a little carried away while playing with us, grabbing me and all. He needed a lesson."

". . .Bubbles?"

"Yes, Bubbles. Now, get Ikuto and get yourselves acquainted." Rima set off in the direction of the earth giant (I refused to call him Bubbles) and I was left to gape at that thing and try to explain this mess to Ikuto.

Things had just taken a turn for the weirder.

Queen Kiandyr played idly with a bejeweled necklace."How long has it been since Hinamori and the humans entered Tiraldae?"

The king scratched his bearded chin. "A bit more than two weeks, I'd say."

The queen sighed heavily. "I almost feel bad for the poor girl. Who knows if she was being blackmailed?"

King d'Atsa tapped the arm of his red-and-gold throne impatiently. "You're turning weak, Kia. We cannot afford to take chance, although. . ." his face softened, "I do feel some pity for the young woman."

"You're right." Queen Kiandyr murmured, though her gaze remained distant.

A sharp knock on the door made them both sit up. The queen resumed her poised expression and called, "Come in!"

One of the servants entered, taking swift strides along the golden carpet before coming to a stop at the thrones of the king and queen. She knelt at their feet, every move robotic and practiced.

"A notice has come from the mayor of Bluté, Your Majesties. They request an audience as soon as possible."

"Why so?" the king questioned.

"The residents of one house claim that Amu Hinamori broke into their home," she said in barely a whisper.

Both royalties stiffened. The two of them shared a worried glance and King d'Atsa answered in a firm, tense voice, "Very well. Tell the mayor we will see them tomorrow."

"As you wish, your master," she muttered.

"Then take your leave at once, Miki," the queen commanded. The servant stood up stiffly and exited with skillful poise. Behind locks of cerulean hair, deep blue eyes gleamed in frustration. Miki was trapped at the palace in virtual chains, ordered to come and go as the higher-ups pleased. It was agony to watch her ambitions crumbling to dust, to feel her soul harden to stone. She could have been free, living her dreams. Yet Fate continued to play its cruel tricks.

Miki wondered if Amu Hinamori felt the same.

So, who's fangirling over Bubbles? *raises hand* . . .No? No one else? Fine, go fangirl over someone else instead. What do you mean, humans are more worth fangirling over?!