Hello people! Very excited for this chapter I am. Oh, two little things before I start though. First, I don't actually hate Dylana, she just… has to die, nothing personal. They all do… haha, just kidding on that last part. Maybe. And with the guards being overrun so fast, it was just mainly because they were out numbed, and the mob had fire… I couldn't really find a way to put that in the last chapter smoothly.

Well, here's the next chapter, in which the title is finally explained :)

Chapter 11 - Of Mice and Men

Keane sat on the ground, completely frozen. He didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't even feel any of his limbs anymore, everything numb. His mind kept repeating, over and over again like a broken record, he had to get out. It wouldn't go any farther then that though, and actually tell him how to.

The redhead nearly choked on his own breath when someone roughly yanked him off the ground. He started coughing and gasping for air, but managed to turn and see just who it was holding him, his body pretty much running on autopilot by this point. He could still somehow feel his body go rigid when he saw who it was though. Not a guard, no one from the palace. One of the people attacking. Someone who was going to kill him.

"Ahhk!" He yelled, although it sounded more like a squeak, as he just barely managed to break the man's grip on his clothes and fall back down to the ground. He was only barely able to move his hand out of the way as his attacker's ax became lodged in between two stone tiles that made up the floor.

The red head slowly tried to push himself away from the man, so that he could stand up and run and try and not die, but he couldn't even take his eyes off him as he pathetically moved backwards, slipping around in puddles of stuff he really didn't want to think about. The man tried to pull the ax out of the ground, but soon gave up and started walking towards Keane without it instead. He was going to die. Oh god. He couldn't even move anymore. He could feel the sharp claws of a mouse run over his paralyzed hand.

He couldn't think of a reason as to why the mice would be out in this that wasn't making him want to throw up. It smelled like death, and he guessed that was something mice were attracted to.

The man was almost on him now, and he felt a wave of nausea wash over him again, but didn't throw up. His arms were numb from the elbow to his fingertips, and so were his legs. He felt like the bones in his fingers and toes were snapping in and out of their sockets, and for a second thought that the man had started attacking already, it hurt so bad, but he hadn't. The horns had stopped a while ago, not that he could tell you when, but everything sounded almost twice as loud. It made his ears hurt like crazy, or they might of already been hurting before that, he couldn't tell. His eyes were open wider then he thought possible at this point, and they started to burn, although it wasn't like anything before, the pain feeling like it was coming from the inside of his eyes out.

Before he could think the man was trying to grab him again, and Keane did the only thing he could do in his current state of mind, slash at him in a pathetic attempt at pushing him away. To his surprise, the man pulled his arm back, holding it in his other hand. Keane didn't get any time to think about this though, once again being dragged away against his will by someone else.

When he saw who it was, his heartbeat managed to slow slightly from it's about to burst level, to something slightly more healthy but still miles faster then any speed it'd gone before.

"L-lady Me- L-lady Mah-" he stuttered, not able to form any sort of coherent thought or even remember her name at this point. She just continued to pull him along without saying anything. She never said anything to him though, so it wasn't like it mattered. Before he knew what was going on they were on a stairwell, and she had stopped moving, instead sitting next to a wall.

"W-wh…" he didn't even know why he was trying to talk at this point, jumbled syllables just barely making there was out of his mouth. Instead of answering whatever question he'd been trying to ask, she grabbed his shoulder again, and pushed him into a small opening that hadn't been there before.

He couldn't comprehend what was going on as he turned back towards the silver haired woman. She was already starting to place whatever barrier had been hiding this entrance back in place, but all he could do was stare.

"But you-" he could hardly believed he'd gotten those words out, but was still stopped short of what he'd been trying to say, his eyes landing on a huge red stain on the side of her blue dress, that only seemed to be growing. When… when had he been hurt? Keane didn't remember it happening when he was there, not that he'd been overly aware of his surroundings at that point, but if it'd happened before then why… why had she come to help him. She hated him. Deserved to hate him. What…?

Before he could get the chance to ask any of these questions, the injured woman resealed the passageway, encasing him in darkness.

It… it didn't… what? Why had? He knew he was in one of the secret passageways inside the palace, but it was only barely acknowledged in his head, which was swimming with confusion and questions.

Instead he just sat in the darkness, the sound of sheiks and murder muffled by the wall, but still way too vivid for him to digest. He was alive… Why was he alive? It didn't make any sense. He was going to die. Lots of people had died… were dieing as he sat there staring at nothing, but he was still alive…

He had no idea how much longer it was when he slowly started to crawl away from the sealed opening, not even feeling anything at this point. He couldn't stand up, his legs like jelly, although even if they weren't he'd still have to crawl, the entire height of the tunnel only a few feet. There weren't any lights in there though, so he had no clue how he could see the ceiling.

Another mouse ran over his hand, and he instinctively looked down, not that he cared at this point. He didn't even know where he was going, just wanting to get away from the slowly dieing sounds of a revolution.

He could feel every muscle in his body tense at the sight he shouldn't of logically been able to see in the darkness, but did anyway. His hand… it wasn't his hand… It- It had claws… and f-fur. Sitting back dumbstruck, he moved both hands in front of his face, and they were exactly the same.

They were covered in a light brown fur almost up to his elbows and where his finger nails should be were thin, curved claws. Something caught his eye, and the red head nearly passed out when he saw his feet were the exact same way only longer, the short fur reaching to nearly his knees under his tattered and bloodstained pants, and short but sharp claws on each of his morphed toes.

This… this couldn't be happening. He felt like he was going to pass out, the disbelief that he hadn't already the only thing that was actually keeping it from happening. Slowly he started to pat down the rest of his body, careful not to scratch himself. No tail or whiskers, but his heart nearly stopped yet again, and he swore he was going to have serious heart problems when he grew up because of this. If he ever got the chance to that is, when he reached his ears.

They were furry… and round… The tunnel in front of his seemed like it was swirling, and his vision started to fade in and out. This couldn't be real. All of this had to be a dream. Everything. Please, just let it all be a dream. The attack, his mom, lady Marein, Straton. Oh god… he never found Straton…

Tears started spilling out of his eyes at the cruel fact that none of this was a dream, or rather nightmare. He was alone, he was trapped with no where to go, and now… he was an anima. A mouse, but he just didn't care. He wanted it to all go away.

He wanted to be able to wake up in the morning and go to class and see Straton and be picked on by the other princes and be stupid and ignorant of the world around him again, but it wasn't going to happen.

Slowly, the traumatized and terrified boy started to black out, crumpling in a heap of blood soaked clothes and fur and claws. He was all alone in the dark, and he had no where to go, and his strung out mind just couldn't handle any more.

When he woke up, he had no idea how much later it was, what time it was, or how he'd managed to stay alive and not be found. Hardly anyone knew about the secret passages though, and he was pretty sure almost no one knew where they all were, but once again his mind deemed those facts irrelevant.

He could still see somewhat, and when he looked down his hands were still rat like. Before he could control himself the redhead started to vomit again, and almost immediately started to crawl away after, if just to get away from the smell. He still had to leave though, he couldn't live in a tunnel. He really wasn't even sure if he still wanted to live at this point, but desperately pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He wouldn't end up like Myrrha. Not yet.

As he crawled though the darkness, he tried to think of what he could possibly do to prepare himself for whatever he had to do next, but his brain was shot in a way he wasn't sure would ever be fixed again, if it even got the chance. He might be caught and killed as soon as he crawled out to where ever this passage led.

He kept having to stop periodically in his way down, he'd figure a while ago that the tunnel was slowly winding down, to clam himself, to cry, to start dry heaving, any food that was in his stomach long gone by this point. His insides were in knots, and it took every ounce of strength and denial he had to keep the thirteen year old moving himself forward.

After what felt like hours and very well might have been with the speed he'd been moving at, he reached the end. It was just a wall, looking very similar to the how the passage had after lady Marein had boarded it up, and very much like a dead end. Somehow managing to keep his breath steady, to pushed on the wall, and felt it move very slightly, before drawling his still clawed hand back so that it wouldn't open fully.

W-what was he suppose to do now? If he went outside, he could be recognized and killed or something else terrible, but if he stayed in here, he'd just die of starvation or dehydration after a few days… Once again he started crying as his overloaded mind tried to find some way out.

He couldn't leave yet. He just had to stay in there for a while. For the night… if it was even night anymore. He didn't know, but he wasn't about to check in case he couldn't get the board back in place afterwards. It didn't matter anyway. He'd stay for a few more hours before heading outside. His clothes were rags at this point, no one would mistake him for royalty.

Fingers still shaky from before slowly started to untie the sash that was around his waist. The ends were covered in now dry blood, but he desperately tried to ignore it as he wrapped it around his head. It wasn't much, but at the very least it would hide his ears.

Now he just had to wait until it was safe to leave. Leaning against a wall and trying to keep his hands from shaking again, he didn't think that would ever happen. He couldn't wait for it to be safe, he'd be dead before that happened. No, he just had to wait until he could mentally keep himself together, and go out and find a place, any place, where he could hide.

Wooohooo! I shouldn't be happy with what just happened, but I am! The big plot twist (that some of you already knew) has happened. I hope it doesn't seem too stereotypical, him becoming an anima and all, but I mean, this is plus anima, what did you think was gonna happen?
Also, I really want to say something about Straton, but just give it one or two more chapters. His final fate will be clearly reveled soon enough, but for now, I leave it ambiguous! wooooooo! (scary XD)

By the way, I was originally gonna end the chapter when he passed out in the tunnel, but felt it was a bit too short. Well, I hope you liked this milestone chapter, and please review.