I'm so sorry! I was planning on updating, but the doc manager wasn't working, and blah blah blah. Thank you AGAIN, xXgo4goldXx, who sat with me for hours on this chapter.

"Amu. Wake up."

I stirred, recognizing Miki's hard voice. "What?"

"We're going to work. Stage One of the plan is occurring there."

I blinked and sat up. "Already? I don't even know my 'special power' or anything."

Miki shrugged. "We're going to carry it out anyway."

"Okay," I replied nervously. "Remind me, what exactly are you gonna do?"

"Don't tell me you forgot already," Miki sighed. "Anyways, we're going to try our best to get duties in the royal chambers today. Musashi and I have developed a complicated arrangement so that, if all goes well, all of us, excluding Ran, will be placed in strategic locations all over the castle."

"Oh, I remember!" I exclaimed. "Then, my friends and I will enter the castle with Ran's assistance. If we can get into the inner chambers, the thirteen from before and all of us will be the only ones there, apart from the king and queen."

Miki nodded. "Then, my sisters and I, who the royalty trust, will capture the king and queen." She paused. "That's where we're hoping your power will come in, because we can't win the trust of the people unless we use your 'power to take over the government'."

"Why can't we wait a little longer?" I groaned. "At least enough for me to learn what this power is?"'

Miki blinked. "I don't know, actu - " Her face suddenly darkened. "Never mind, I know. I just can't tell you."

"Miki!" Ran poked her head in. "The plan's starting~!" she sang.

Miki stood up and joined her sister, glancing back at me. "Ran will come for you this evening. See you."

I nodded uneasily. The door closed, leaving me alone in the room with an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I was supposed to overthrow the king and queen, today? With no idea how, I was supposed to win over an entire nation whose royalty had just been captured. No matter how I looked at it, this plan was bound for failure. It was crazy, stupid, all of it. I was just supposed to get home. And now, I was involved in some sort of teenage revolution.

I sighed heavily and got up, figuring that talking with my friends would help me feel a little better. I peered inside the kitchen.

Everyone but Ikuto and Yoru had went somewhere for the morning. The two teens were slouched in the kitchen chairs, chatting.

I poked my head in the door. "Hey, Ikuto, Yoru."

"Hey there-nya! Finally up?"

"Took you long enough," Ikuto commented.

I flushed red. "I was up late last night, you know!"

Yoru snickered. "Too bad-nya."

I huffed at the two navy-haired guys. "You two are insufferable."

"Miki says that too-nya. And if Miki says it, that means only smart people say it."

I rolled my eyes. "I copied it from her, duh. You really think I'd know what that means?"

Yoru stood up. "Whatever. I needa pee."

"We all needed to know that," I called after him as he left for the house's only bathroom.

"You're annoying," he shouted back.

I sat down at the kitchen table. "Tell me something I don't know."

Ikuto sighed and leaned back against the peeling wall. As always, I had no glimpse of what he was seeing behind those violet slits. It was like he saw everything through a set of mirrors, distorting everything he saw. Maybe the reason why he talked so rarely was because he was watching another world.

"This is never going to work, you know." He shifted his gaze over to me. "The whole thing depends on that crazy power you're supposed to have, and you don't even know what it is."

I frowned. "How am I supposed to change that?"

"You don't," he stated bluntly. "The problem is, you don't know anything about this 'revolution' or whatever, and Miki's going full speed ahead with her plan. Why did you even agree to it?"

"I-" I was lost for words. I knew, in my heart, that it was because I saw Miki's burning desire for freedom every time I looked into her cyan eyes. Every word was like another roaring wave of the untamable ocean. She was so driven, so independent, so. . .strong. How could I not agree?

Ikuto shook his head. "Never mind. Yoru had enough to say on the matter, anyway."

"Does he even realize what Miki wants?"

"That kid really can't see what's going on around him," he mused.

"Either that, or he's just had to shut it out," I said thoughtfully.

"I get it, he's got problems. But take Miki for instance. She's learned to accept it. A bright girl, for sure," he supplied.

I shrugged. "Miki's older. Sixteen, I think, or seventeen. Nothing too amazing for her to be able to see the world she lives in."

"I don't know about that," Ikuto answered slowly. "They look, she sees. Miki's the only one with a firm grasp of the tyranny they live under."

"So?" I grumbled. "Big deal."

Ikuto chuckled at me like I was a five-year-old. "Don't be jealous of her. We all still like you."

"That's not it!" I spluttered (though it very much was). "We talked last night and all!"

Ikuto sat up. "Last night? When?"

"I dunno, maybe in the early morning?" I answered uncomfortably. "Stop looking at me like like that."

Ikuto crossed his arms. "I'm not. You're just a weirdo for being up so early."

I cast him a wary glance. "Miki, and now you . . . both of you never tell me anything."

"Maybe I'd tell you some more if you told us anything."

"That's not. . .I can't," I whispered.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"When this is all over, I will tell you," I assured him. "You'll understand later."

Ikuto said nothing. He only lowered his gaze to the uneven wooden floor.

Yoru (he really had chosen the perfect moment) stuck his head through the door. "Hey, you guys. Stop isolating yourselves. Unless you -"

"I'm coming," I sighed, following the teen back into the kitchen.

"Hey, how old are you?" I asked abruptly, remembering what Ikuto had said.

"Me? I'm sixteen," he replied, fiddling absentmindedly with the cross around his neck. "Why d'you ask?"

"You're older than me," I observed. "Can't you notice what's going around you?"

Yoru glanced backwards at me, amber eyes bright with curiosity. "I can," he said. "But then what would happen to Yoru? Me, being dumb, that's just me. Miki can do the thinking."

"You're actually smarter than you look," I told him.

He grinned cheekily. "I am older than you, ain't I?"

I laughed at his antics, ignoring the two pairs of violet eyes that watched me intently, two minds that worked as one, two siblings that fought to keep themselves together despite fighting so often.

. . . What would I give to have those kinds of unbreakable bonds?

We trailed after Ran, who was bounding ahead energetically.

"All nine of you are here, right? You memorized your positions, right? I'm so excited, aren't you?"

"Seriously, Ran . . ." I whined. "We're all fine."

"Gee, way to be a cheeseball," she grumbled.

"Amu," Rima said emphatically, tugging my worn sweater firmly.

I turned back to the little blonde. Her face was turned down in a childish pout. "What is it, Rima?"

She said nothing, simply studying my face. After a brief moment, she said softly, "Hi."

"Uh, hi," I replied bewilderedly.

Rima quickly engaged me in conversation. Something else confusing for me to deal with - Rima was acting weird, too. I got the feeling it had something to do with me.

Before long, though, we had come close to the city gates, where Ran stopped us.

"This is where you use me," she announced. "Since I'm a legalized worker, I'm allowed entrance with my ID." She flashed a silver card. "This security assumes that you don't have any accomplices who work here, because only the palace workers and very trusted citizens are given an ID. Generally, guests have to be screened and verified to be safe. But we've found a loophole," she said dramatically.

"Which is?" Kairi inquired.

Ran smirked. "Since they don't screen me for spells, I can hide you guys and they won't notice, unless they do a random special screening or something."

Kairi pursed his lips. "And if they do?"

She laughed nervously. "We book it. Run."

"Excellent plan," Rima said dryly. "Apart from the fifty different ways it could fail, it's completely safe."

"You're right," Nagihiko chimed in, "It honestly doesn't seem foolproof."

Ran's bright ruby eyes flashed with anger for a split second. "It'll be fine. Miki's plans never fail."

"Guys, believe in Ran. We'll be fine," I cut in before anybody else protested.

"What makes you say that?" Kukai interrupted.

I ran my hand exasperatedly through my hair, tired of their complaints. "Geez, Kukai, can't you have a little faith in them?"

"I don't know," Ikuto said slowly. "Last night, these kids kidnap you, then expect you to be the prime factor in their revolution?"

I suddenly remembered my talk with Miki early this morning. Her sorrowful eyes, the poignant words she spoke.

"You don't know how badly we need this -" Ran snarled.

"You mean Miki?" Utau cut in. "Why is her word law?"

"Miki knows what's best," Ran hissed in reply. "She's the oldest sister, she's the one that was there at Amu's trial -"

"What?" I gasped.

"Yeah, Miki was the one carrying the document that had your exile sentence on it -"

"Her what?" Kukai cried.

Now that I thought of it, I did faintly remember a girl with bold blue eyes. "She. . .Miki. . .I can only remember her as the only one who didn't look at me like I was a monster."

"Exactly!" Ran exclaimed. "Miki's -"

"Wait, slow down," Nagihiko cut her off. "Trial?"

"What, don't you know? The special power she has came from something she st-"

"Stop. Wait, Ran," I interrupted her once again.

"What?" she grumbled, clearly annoyed that she hadn't been able to finish her sentences for the past five minutes.

"Yeah, what? I think we'd all like to know," Ikuto growled.

"Look, guys, I need to get you out of here, and then I'll tell you everything," I promised desperately.

"That's what you said to me before," he retorted. "I don't see why you can't tell us everything now."

"Before, I told you I was a Guardian living on Earth under special circumstances," I recalled. "Isn't that enough?"

"Why?" Kairi pressed. "What are these circumstances? What trial did you go to?"

My heartbeat sped up until it was like a nervous bird flapping around my chest. "It's. . .Miki will tell you, okay? I don't have the guts."

Rima frowned. "Why Miki?"

The nervous bird became a stampede of elephants, making it hard to breathe. "She was there, and she knows my story."

"Very well, then," Utau said as if she was a lawyer, "Let us enter the castle."

Ran tensely flashed her card to the burly man standing at the gate. "My ID."

I stared nervously at my transparent hands. Ran's spell hadn't been detected yet.

The guard nodded, checking his watch. "'Kay then, Miss. It's the hour, so can I do a spell screening real quick for ya?"

I froze. This had to be the worst luck we could have had.

Ran attempted to keep her cool. "Um, Mister, I'm kind of in a hurry, I work at the palace and all. You know how the royalties will get upset if I'm not punctual," she bluffed.

He took a little black machine out from his pocket. "It'll only take a minute. I'm sure you won't be disturbed-" He stopped suddenly, eyes flashing with recognition. "You're a personal attendant to the Queen and King, right?"

"Y-yes," Ran stammered.

The guard practically shoved Ran through the gate. "Go, then, hurry! We wouldn't want them to be upset!"

We hurried after Ran, slipping right past the guard. Luckily, he hadn't noticed a thing.

"Whew," Ran breathed as soon as we were out of earshot. "That was close!"

"You look like you're talking to yourself," I muttered into her ear. "Let's get into position."

"I was talking to myself!" she insisted. "Right, Ran-A?"

"Right!" she continued in a high, squeaky voice.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering how the heck such an idiot had ended up leading us here without the destruction of the universe.

"Ran." Miki hurried down the hallway. "Stop fooling around. Suu and Dia have the north wing covered. Kairi and Yaya are going to the south wing, Utau and Kukai to the east wing, Rima and Nagihiko to the west wing, and Tadase, Amu, and Ikuto are going to the central chambers."

I nodded. "'Kay. And?"

"Tadase and Ikuto are to guard the chamber and block all exits. I'll get the king and queen in, and Amu, get them captured," she continued.

"Slow down," I protested. "I still don't know how-"

Miki ignored my objection and snatched my wrist. "We're going."

I looked back one last time before she dragged me to the chamber. "Careful, guys! We'll see each other later, okay?"

They waved to us as Miki herded us away. -something-

The central chamber was definitely a place for royalty. The whole place was covered in cushy lavender carpet. All the furniture was lined with cushions and decorated in fine embroidery. Even the toilet (yes, I looked) was painted in pale pink and had a solid gold flush handle. Like, what the heck?! A gold flush handle?

Ikuto and Tadase paced the room nervously. Both their weapons were out. Ikuto's claws gleamed from the light of a crystal chandelier and Tadase's golden scepter glowed faintly.

"We have arrived, Your Majesties."

I tensed at the sound of Miki's voice. The three of us exchanged glances and prepared to take action.

Miki walked inside, the King and Queen following close behind.

I launched forward, preparing to tackle the king and queen. My Amulet power sprang to life, and the multicolored magic seared forward.

My breath hitched as an elegant sweep of aqua magic like glowing water materialized in front of me. I hadn't planned on the royalties being able to use magic. I would just have to fight back.

I muttered a quick spell, smashing the attack into crystallized teardrops.

A full-out battle broke out, Ikuto and Tadase rushing forward to face the king and queen. I sprinted at them, though my sense of direction was unbalanced by the flashes of magic. Praying that I was striking enemies and not friends, I thrust forward my sword.

There was a resounding crack. My sword rebounded backwards, forcing me to duck to avoid being decapitated. For a split second, I wobbled on one leg, attempting to maintain balance.

A powerful strike from behind unexpectedly forced me down to my knees. I gasped for breath, unable to defend as attack after attack pummeled me.

"Amu!"

I could make out Ikuto fighting his way towards me. I wished he would just stay away, stay away, because soon -

Cold hands shoved me to the ground, sprawling over the carpet. Long fingers secured my hands in cold metal. My breathing quickened. I had felt those handcuffs before - three years ago.

"You belong in chains," a voice hissed menacingly in my ear. I struggled against the handcuffs, straining to catch a glimpse of my captor.

I twisted around, seeing the person above me for only a moment before I was smashed into the ground once more. I did not attempt escaping.

For the second time, remorseless blue eyes glared down at me.

I just love plot twists~!