Morg: Heyo! The last chapter was sort of a downer.

Ikuto: It was.

Amu: And this chapter isn't going to be?

Morg: I didn't say that.

Ikuto: So what was the point of making that comment?

Amu: I doubt she had one.

Morg: Sometimes I enjoy stating the obvious.

Ikuto: Okay then.

Amu: Here's something obvious. You don't own us.

Morg: Rub it in, Amu. Rub it in.

Ikuto: She can rub me but not you.

Amu: I'm not touching anyone.

~Guardian of Light~

Stumbling, Amu wasn't entirely certain as to where she was going. All the blonde knew was that she needed to get away. Away from the screams of the girl she couldn't protect. Away from the hurt and confusion that she knew was inside of Ikuto. Away.

Having been in the castle for a while, Amu knew where most every passageway led. But most was not all. This being the case, she threw herself down a stone corridor that she'd never been down before in the hopes of getting lot somewhere amongst the bricks of the foundation to drown in her own guilt and sadness. Tears blurred her vision and yet the girl pressed on.

They were quieter now, the screams, but they weren't gone. Amu could hear them. The begging and the pleading didn't stop just as Amu knew that Ikuto wouldn't either. She'd been pushing him lately to change his way of thinking and she'd pushed too hard. This was all her fault.

Not caring, Amu threw door after door open as she moved deeper into the castle. She yearned to go to Rima and allowed the dragon and the small amount of light in that cell to console her, but Amu wanted to taste her misery for a little while. These were the consequences of her actions and she was going to deal with them.

Unknown to the crying girl, a dark creature started following. At first, the witch was simply just curious to know as to why the girl that everyone spoke about as being happy and all smiles was stumbling and crying, but a particularly loud cry-not from the strawberry blonde-made that a little obvious. Kusu felt terrible that Ikuto had done this to the girl. She and the others had been hoping that Ikuto was going to lead them better with Amu's influence. She wasn't the Guardian to balance him out, but she was enough to bring some light to the dark castle.

Surprised, Kusu watched as Amu finally stopped running. The girl collapsed in the middle of the hall and sobbed. The witch felt terrible for the girl as she watched her cry. She'd even been about to move forward and try her hand at consoling when the girl threw her head back and let out a terrible scream.

The scream lasted more than a few seconds and shook Kusu to her core. There was so much power behind that scream. Power that wouldn't be found in any human or creature be they light or dark. This was beyond that. That was when Kusu understood. All this time and Ikuto had never known. Well, this was his own problem now. Whether Amu was tricking him or she didn't know the truth herself, Kusu wasn't about to interfere. They could handle it. This was between them.

Amu, thinking that she was alone, let all of her frustrations out. Everything that had been building was thrust away. Rima being captured. Being taken from Tadase and Tsukasa. The girls that Ikuto continued to rip away from their families. The girl that Ikuto had just broken almost beyond repair. All of it. Yes, she was angry. Yes, Amu hated that fact, but she wasn't going to allow her anger to consume her to the point where she did nothing to solve her problems. Mistakes were meant to be learned from. So Ikuto didn't like being pushed, Amu wouldn't push. She'd learned her lesson.

Crying out the rest of her tears, Amu began to form a plan in her mind. She was hurt as well. No one had actually touched her, but Amu felt as if a blow had been sent straight through her chest. Her hand clutched the fabric of her shirt just to make certain that there wasn't a hole going through it. She felt as though she was bleeding even if she wasn't.

When her last tears fell, Amu continued to kneel in the middle of the hall. Her surroundings were unfamiliar, but then again, Amu wanted them to be. The point was to get away from everything for a few hours. When she could, Amu would go back and she'd fix what she was able. The girl that Ikuto had raped, broken, wouldn't be as easy of problem to solve, but that wouldn't hold Amu back. Ikuto would more than likely show no remorse, but Amu wouldn't let him see her hurt, either. She needed to be strong and she was going to be.

XXX

It wasn't as though the girl wasn't physically pleasing him, Ikuto just couldn't find release. This wasn't what he wanted. Before it didn't matter. Before he'd take what he wanted and have no thought towards others. But that was before. That was before Amu.

Refusing to give into the thought that he was actually different-a thought that petrified Ikuto-the Angel of Darkness continued to hurt the girl he had pinned to his bed. Her cries were beginning to die out, though it didn't help with his problem. She wasn't enough. She wasn't what he wanted. She wasn't…

A surge of power swept through his castle. Ikuto halted his movements to try and pinpoint the location of the source of the power wave. Being that this was his castle, Ikuto had that sort of control. Somewhere deep, near Kusu's rooms, though Ikuto couldn't be certain. The witch wasn't capable of producing something as powerful as he had felt. The surge left his fingers tingling.

Getting off his bed, Ikuto looked down at the bleeding, crying girl. "You're lucky that something came up or this would have been worse for you. Try and escape. I dare you."

The threat wasn't exactly needed, though it made Ikuto feel better. With that being said, he reclothed himself before going to investigate.

XXX

Rima stilled in her and Nagi's work to feel the power of the Guardian flow through her. Amu was upset and hurt and her call was still lingering in the air. Everything within Rima's body ached for the dragon to aid her master. There was no way for her to do anything. Rima wouldn't be able to get out of the room with her body being so big. The only doors that would allow her to exit were locked tight and unbreakable.

There was that and the fact that no one in the castle knew of Amu's true identity. Though, the Guardian may have just unknowingly given herself away, Rima couldn't help but fight the urge to go to her when staying away would mean protecting her. This was for the best.

Focusing back on her work, Rima tried to send Amu some comfort even if she couldn't go to her physically.

XXX

Stopping midsentence, Tadase looked off into the distance. He'd felt it. He was rather certain that everyone had felt it. Amu was in trouble. Amu needed them. "Tsukasa."

"I know. I may not have been created like the rest of you were, but I felt it, too. Amu is hurting. We cannot act recklessly though. Think it through. We're almost prepared. She can hang in there a little longer."

Tadase's hand found the sword that hung on his hip. The Knight of Light was ready for battle. "If he hurt her, I'll kill him."

Laying a hand on his nephew's shoulder, Tsukasa tried to keep some of the anger in the other at bay. "What good would that do? He'd be reincarnated and we'd have to find him again. Not everything can be solved with violence."

Scoffing, Tadase couldn't disagree even if he didn't agree.

XXX

Finished with her self-pitying, Amu picked herself up off the dirty floor. Brushing away some of the dirt that had taken up residence on her clothing, the blonde turned to begin back the way she'd come. Her journey back would probably take some time, but then again, time was what she needed to think. Amu was only human, but there was so much that she could do. So much that she wanted to do.

Being that she'd been crying, Amu wasn't certain which way to go to get back. Thinking back, she didn't remember going around too many corners. Her path had been pretty much a straight shot down into the depths of the castle. So, through reasoning, Amu concluded that going straight up would get her back to areas that she knew.

Halfway there, Amu heard voices. One she recognized and it infuriated her, the other she wasn't familiar with.

"Kusu, what was that earlier? Were you doing something?"

"Wasn't me."

"Do you know who it was then?"

Amu peeked around the corner to see Ikuto's back to her. The Angel of Darkness was talking to a shorter girl with a star on one cheek and a teardrop on the other. Amu had never met her before.

Not wanting to lie and not wanting to tell the truth, Kusu let out a sigh. "I do but I'm not telling and no amount of threatening will make me. You made this mess so you clean it up."

Ikuto let out a frustrated noise before sighing. "You're lucky it's just you and me down here. If you'd disrespected me like that if front of any of the others I'd have to put you in your place."

Grinning, Kusu turned without being dismissed. "But it isn't just you and me down here."

Surprised, Amu wasn't certain that she wanted to deal with Ikuto just yet. The blonde wasn't entirely certain as to what she was going to say to him. What could she say to him? I'm sorry that pushing you to realize that you aren't evil caused you to rape someone? That didn't sound very good in her head and she definitely wasn't going to say it out loud.

Flailing a bit, Amu tried to find somewhere to hide as Ikuto turned around. There just weren't a lot of places to go in a corridor with nothing around. Resigning to being spotted, Amu schooled her face to show no emotions. Her eyes dropped to the floor as her hands found each other in front of her waist. Ikuto was probably still angry with her and would lash out at someone else if she did anything.

"Amu."

Her name was said so breathlessly that Amu almost looked up. Her gaze, however, stayed on the stone floor.

Taking a step forwards, all the guilt and remorse that Ikuto didn't know he could feel plowed through him. Amu's distraught face flashed in his mind as he looked down at the girl before him. Her hair didn't seem as blonde and her face showed that she'd been crying-what he could see of it-but beside that she looked unharmed.

The part that confused Ikuto was what Amu was doing there. He'd felt the power come from here and Kusu had said she knew, but what was Amu doing there? "Why are you down here?"

Shrugging, Amu wasn't entirely certain how to answer that question. She'd wanted to escape and this is where she'd gone. How does one go about telling that to one's captor? "I got a bit lost when I ran away."

The words seemed to empty and dull that they sent an ache through Ikuto's chest. "I'll show you the way back."

Nodding, Amu waited for Ikuto to show her the way. The Angel continued to look at her for a few more seconds before he turned and started. Keeping her head down, Amu followed.

Ikuto didn't know what to do. Amu was usually so energetic despite being stuck in his castle, and yet, here she was with a downcast head and no visible happiness to be seen. Granted, Ikuto had raped a girl in front of her, but that was to show her what he was really like. Amu had to understand. Still, Ikuto didn't like this sullen Amu.

Turning to the girl just before he let her out of the corridor and back into one of the main parts of the castle, Ikuto stopped their progress. This was all wrong. The Angel of Darkness wasn't quite sure what he'd been going for earlier when he'd raped that other girl. He'd just been so confused and now Amu was being strange. Wanting to fix things but not knowing how, Ikuto sighed. "I'm sorry."

Stunned, Amu looked up for the first time. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that in front of you and I have no real excuse to give that should be given because what I didn't shouldn't be forgiven, but I am sorry."

Feeling her anger flare, Amu schooled herself once more. Others weren't going to be hurt because of her. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

It was Ikuto's turn to be stunned. She didn't sound bitter though Ikuto could tell the girl was disappointed. "Look, you can go… see her. I don't know. Try to fix her up a bit and then I'll send her home. I don't want to see her again."

Glaring a bit, Amu couldn't help herself. No matter how much she tried to push her anger away, it still came back. "I don't think she wants to see you ever again either."

"Amu-"

"Ikuto, I'm not exactly happy with the situation right now. I'll get over it because I have to. It's just… I thought better of you."

Those words hurt more than any she could have screamed ever would have. Ikuto, for the first time in a very long time, didn't know what to say as the girl turned away from him and headed for his room.

.

Morg: So yeah. Things are a bit awkward now.

Ikuto: I'd apologize but like I said in the last chapter, I wouldn't do anyone other than Amu.

Amu: Still not happening.

Morg: Not yet. ;3

Ikuto: I like your style.

Amu: Perverts.