…

Cassandra yelped as she walked straight into a cobweb.

"Filthy vermin," she exclaimed in disgust as she frantically removed the sticky substance from her person. Ahead of her, Drakon chuckled and she glared at his back. "And what is so funny?"

"You are brave enough to live alone in a cursed castle for centuries and follow a slightly crazed old wizard into a dark tunnel, but you fear spiders?" He questioned, sounding amused.

Cassandra checked her hair for any unwanted creatures and then she closely examined her clothing. "Spiders are terrifying, disgusting, hairy little abominations that I would willingly set fire to if I had a chance."

"And now I remember why I kept you around," said Drakon. "You have a dark, twisted little mind at times."

"Well, that is why we have always made such a good pair," replied Cassandra, satisfied she had not found anything. "And the castle may have been cursed, but it was also completely safe and hidden from outsiders. Also, you are not insane; you are just emotionally and mentally unstable at times."

"Why, thank you, my dear," he said a bit dryly. "I forgot just how far away the castle is from the other kingdoms. Are you tired, Cass? Do you want to stop and rest?"

Cassandra gave him a look that he could not see and she increased her walking speed so as she walked past him, she slid her hand over his and swept the ball of fire from his hand. Thanks to being around magic for so long, she was basically a witch without the ability to perform actual magic so the fire did not burn her.

"I am not an old woman and you are not an old man, Drakon," she huffed. "Anymore, at least; do not dismiss me as weak, though I appreciate your concern, or I will end up leaving you behind. You are not the only to have explored the mysterious underground world."

Drakon stared after her, shocked, before he shook his head and laughed. "You are still as hotheaded as you were back then. Hotheaded and stubborn, that's what you are." He conjured another ball of fire and trailed after her. "And I apologized for keeping you underground, did I not?"

"That hardly matters! You had me buried alive practically!"

"Again, I apologized! Besides, it's in the past!"

"Don't be snarky with me!"

Drakon suddenly stopped. "Be quiet."

"You are not my master anymore; you cannot tell me what to do!"

"Cassandra, be quiet," snapped Drakon harshly and she shut her mouth, staring at him curiously. "Do you hear that?"

Cassandra strained to listen. After a few seconds, her eyes widened and the fire in her hand snuffed out immediately. "What is that?"

Drakon placed his hand over the wall and muttered something. The wall suddenly became transparent like a window and the two old-timers could see what was making those eerie, deep-breathing noises.

Cassandra fell back in shock, a hand over her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the scene.

"Are those…?"

Drakon nodded gravely. "Yes, it seems Kikaloa has been quite busy these last few centuries."

On the other side were clear, jelly-like eggs with people inside. They looked as if they were asleep and the sight would have been less horrific if they didn't have demonic characteristics…characteristics quite similar to Kikaloa. They were all from different time periods from what their clothing suggested and their ages ranged from the elderly to toddlers, much to the couple's horror and disgust.

Cassandra shakily stood. "How could this have happened?"

Drakon rubbed his temple. "I am not entirely sure. My best guess is that Kikaloa has been kidnapping people over all this time and combining his blood with theirs before putting them in this…stabilizing trance. It's as if it is all one large mutation experiment."

He waved his hand over the wall and the 'window' vanished. Seeing his friend so shaken, he took her hand and began to lead her away.

"So Kikaloa has been underground as well," said Cassandra, still looking understandably frazzled. "Or at least been laying his 'eggs' in the ground, but why is he doing this? Could it be that he is building an army?"

"It's possible," admitted the blond wizard as he picked up his pace, nearly stumbling as he did so. "All that is important right now though is to get out of here and find the 'chosen ones' for a lack of better words."

"You're right," replied Cassandra, looking around warily as she allowed the wizard to drag her through the tunnels. "But what if those eggs hatch?"

"We'll figure something out," said Drakon reassuringly.

Just then, they came to a fork in the road.

"Which way?" Cassandra asked, looking between the two tunnels. "They look the same. Should we split up?"

"Too dangerous," dismissed Drakon. "I think this is a good opportunity for us to catch up on our sleep. I can conjure up some food."

Cassandra finally released his hand as she leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting. "I guess that's a good idea. But be careful of what you conjure; the last time you conjured up something 'edible', it ended up chasing us around the parlor for days. I think it's hiding in the kitchen now…if the kitchen survived the attack, I mean."

Drakon chuckled. "I would have thought it left by now. And I told you, that was an experiment gone wrong. I'm sure I've gotten better in the last thousand years."

"How? You've been sleeping, not training!"

"But this chicken doesn't look so bad, now does it, my dear?"

"…I'm not eating it."

"Do not be stubborn, Cass."

"I'm not stubborn! It's moving!"

"That is perfectly normal."

"Admit you just cannot conjure food or cook to save your life! Just conjure some water for us!"

"Look, see, it is even normal on the inside. Chicken these days are yellow-spotted, right?"

"Drakon!"

…

Ami cautiously looked over her shoulder, ignoring the eerie feeling that hung in the air like a heavy fog.

"It's just my imagination," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she pulled her robes closer to herself.

The eight-year-old had no idea what had compelled her to visit the forest at such a late hour, but her curiosity got the better of her and she was too far ahead to turn back now.

"God…f!" Ami swore under her breath when she stubbed her toe against a tree root that she failed to see. "This better be worth it…whatever it is!"

After a few minutes, the young girl finally came to a clearing and she was taken aback by the random woman stirring a cauldron and chanting under her breath.

"Uh…excuse me?" Ami said cautiously, getting the witch's attention. She didn't look dangerous or intimidating, more like strange and a bit crazy.

"Who are you?" The witch snapped. "Why are you here?"

"That's my line," remarked Ami. "Are you in hiding or something?"

"I don't tell my stories to strangers, especially to lost little girls," said the witch, sneering.

Ami shrugged. "Okay; my name is Ami. What's yours?"

The witch eyed the girl for a few moments. Finally, she responded.

"Nobuko."

Ami smiled and sat on the log next to the witch, who stopped stirring the cauldron and sat next to her. "So, Nobuko-chan, why are you out here all alone?"

The woman sighed. "Well, a witch doesn't have many friends…especially when they did something bad."

"Aw, it couldn't have been that bad," reassured Ami kindly, placing a hand on the witch's arm comfortingly.

"They'll kill me if they know what I did," wailed Nobuko. "I might not have a reason for living, but I do enjoy living!"

"Me too," replied the eight-year-old. "I may be a 'good child', but even I do bad things from time to time because how do you what you're doing is right if you don't mess up once in a while? My older sister taught me that."

"Your sister sounds very wise."

Ami laughed. "Not really; she just learns from her mistakes. She once told me that she accidentally destroyed her friend Miki's painting when she tripped and crashed into it; she's really clumsy. Miki got mad and blamed her rival for trying to sabotage her. My sister felt really bad about it so she confessed to Miki a few days later and told her she was really sorry."

"And what did Miki say?" Nobuko asked softly.

The young girl smiled. "Well, Miki was really upset at first because my sister didn't tell her the truth right away. But then she said that she forgave my sister because she told the truth. She said she would have been madder if she found out and my sister never told her."

"But what about the painting?" The witch questioned. "Didn't Miki get upset about it being ruined?"

Ami replied, "She was, but then she said that she didn't really like it and was planning on repainting it." She patted Nobuko's arm. "So if you really are sorry about whatever you did, then I think you just apologize and try to face the consequences. Because it'll be much worse if you don't confess and they find out. Any attempts of convincing them you regret the deed will be in vain and they'll fall on deaf ears."

Nobuko stared out at the horizon for several moments with a contemplative expression on her face. Finally, she said softly, "You seem wise beyond your years, little girl."

Ami blinked before she stood up. "Nope, like I said; I learn from my sister, who learned from her mistakes. But I guess it's also because grown-ups think too much and kids like me just go for it. So…stop over thinking the situation, Nobuko-chan!"

She glanced over her shoulder and noticed the sun had nearly disappeared.

"Well, I should get back home before my family freaks out. It was nice meeting you, Nobuko-chan; it's always a delight making new friends!"

"Friends?" Nobuko stammered. "I…I never had any friends." The poor woman looked as if she was going to cry.

An odd expression crossed over the eight-year-old's face, but it was gone in an instant.

"Well…I guess I'll be your first," replied Ami kindly. "If you want any more, my sister is willing to befriend almost anyone. I hope we'll meet again, Nobuko-chan!"

She turned and began to leave the clearing when Nobuko cried out, "Wait!"

Ami paused and looked back as the witch scrambled to her feet. She went over to the cauldron and stuck her hands in as if she was searching for something.

After a few seconds, Nobuko pulled out a little black chest. It was completely spotless, despite being drenched in the foul smelling liquid.

"This is for you and your sister," she said, approaching Ami shyly. "I know you probably know better than to take things from strangers, even if you say we're friends, but I really want you to have this."

"What is it?" Ami asked as she took the chest and examined. "And why was it in that cauldron?"

"It's a personal artifact potion," said Nobuko, wringing her hands nervously. "I ran out when my shop blew up…I mean…oh, whatever. I was making some more when you came. The potion finds lost heirlooms from a person's ancestors and brings it here. It takes a lot of magic though so I couldn't bring you anything larger than that."

"Thank you," said Ami. "This means a lot; do you know anything about what's in here?"

Nobuko blinked. "Not very much, unfortunately, but I can tell you that it is very old-it's probably from hundreds of thousands of years ago. Let me think…oh! It's from your mother's side of the family, I can tell you that. And…oh." A strange expression crossed the witch's face.

"What?" Ami asked worriedly. "What is it? Is it cursed? Was it taken from a sacred burial ground?"

"Oh, no, no," replied Nobuko reassuringly. "I just sensed a strong source of magic from whatever is in that chest. It's not dangerous," she assured. "A very powerful witch cast a spell on that chest; it's an old spell so I'm not sure what it is exactly. Perhaps I should get you another heirloom."

"No, it's alright," interrupted Ami. "This took a lot of magic, right? I don't want to exhaust you; I really appreciate it. I can give it to my sister for her wedding." She glanced up at the darkening sky. "Say, I don't suppose you could give me some light for the way home?"

"Oh, of course," said Nobuko, waving her hand. A small, bright orb appeared and floated over to the path where Ami had come from. "It will disappear once you're close enough to civilization."

"Thank you," exclaimed Ami gratefully, bowing to the witch. "I hope we can meet again! And I hope you remember not to over think things!"

This time, when the eight-year-old turned to leave, Nobuko didn't stop her. The witch was left alone in the clearing once more, but this time she didn't feel so lonely.

…

Ami returned to the palace just before dinner and had time to stuff the chest under her pillow before joining her family in the dining hall.

However, to her surprise, nobody was in the room.

The eight-year-old looked around, confused, before she spotted one of the maids clearing up the plates. "Excuse me? Where is everybody?"

The maid looked up, startled. "Oh, Miss Ami; you were not home earlier. Dinner was about to begin when the guards came in with a woman who claimed to know about Madame Amu's poisoning. Your family and the prince's are in the meeting room down the hall."

"Where are Kukai and Emiko?" Ami questioned even as she inched towards the door.

The maid replied, "Princess Emiko received an unexpected visit from her fiancé and is avoiding him in her rooms. I assume the duke went to keep her company."

"Thank you," said Ami gratefully before she rushed out of the room towards the meeting hall. She was stopped by the guards and she glared at them. "My sister's conspirator is in there! You can't stop me from entering!"

"We were not planning to," assured one of them. "But it is best not to make a scene during such an important meeting, young lady. A princess holds her composure even in the toughest of times."

Ami blinked, stunned. "R-Right, thank you." She received nods before the guards opened the doors and she walked in.

The Tsukiyomi family was sitting on their thrones while her parents stood close by with all eyes on the woman blubbering in front of them. Ami's eyes widened and she gasped loudly, getting everybody's attention.

"Ami?" Midori asked. "What are you doing here? You should be in your room!"

"But…what are you doing?" Ami exclaimed.

"We are dealing with the woman who had a hand in your sister's poisoning," said Ikuto stiffly. "You should be relieved to hear this woman's pathetic last words before she is executed."

"No, where is Amu?" Ami demanded, having noticed her sister's absence. "It was her person that was harmed so it should be her decision to what happens here! Not only that, but have you considered listening to this woman's 'pathetic last words' or are you just going to execute her on the spot?"

Souko interjected gently, "Ami, dear, you are young and unfamiliar to how the court works but…"

"I don't need to know," said Ami sharply. "How is it any fair to this woman? She had the courage to come up and confess to whatever crime she had hand in, and you're not willing to listen? If you kill her without listening to what she has to say, then you could end up missing out on vital information she might have that could inform you on any more attempts on my sister! I don't need to be old and familiar with this crazy court to have some common sense!"

Everybody stared at her in shock for several seconds before the silence was broken by chuckling. Ami turned and saw her sister in the doorway with Kukai, who had difficulties hiding his grin.

"You always had a temper," remarked Amu. "But I agree; should I not have a say on what happens to the woman who had a hand in my poisoning? Or are ladies in the court supposed to stay silent and let other people dictate their lives?"

Again, everyone was silent before Kukai muttered, "Damn, these two would have dominated the royal system." He was ignored.

Aruto chuckled. "You are both right. I apologize for the harshness of my son; please continue, Nobuko."

Ami flashed an encouraging look towards her friend, something only her older sister spotted.

And so Nobuko began to sob once more as she told her story of how she had given the two vials to Utau and then claimed she had no idea what the intention was for.

"It wasn't meant as a poison," insisted Nobuko. "She must have mixed the vials and created something toxic! I swear on my life that it was only a mild love potion I gave her! I never meant to harm anyone! Please have mercy on me!"

She was unable to speak any more and just sobbed into her hands.

"Amu," said Souko quietly. "It is your decision. What do you think we should do with her?"

"And with Lady Utau?" Aruto added.

The pink haired girl thought for several minutes, indecisive. Finally, she turned to her sister. "What do you think I should do?"

Ami smiled. "I think you should do whatever you think is right, even if your fiancé thinks we should kill her. He's very scary when he's dealing with the person who unintentionally tried to kill the woman he loves."

Amu blushed darkly, glaring at the young girl who merely smiled innocently.

The seamstress sighed and turned back to Nobuko, who had reduced herself to small sniffles. She stepped forward.

"Saeki Nobuko," started Amu. "You had a hand in my attempted murder and nearly succeeded; attempting to kill a royal, or their not-so-royal fiancée, has severe consequences, I assume. And witches are wanted for quite a few high prices…"

Nobuko looked ready to break down again.

"However, you were merely doing your job and had no clue as to what Lady Utau had planned for the vials you sold her. I do not believe you deserve to be punished for being innocent," concluded Amu. "It is Lady Utau who is at fault here. She let her jealousy and anger get the best of her; in a cowardly fashion might I add. You had the courage to speak up and confess even if you did nothing wrong."

Amu paused and glanced behind her. Aruto and Souko wore encouraging smiles, Midori and Tsumugu looked at her proudly, Ami was beaming, Kukai was nodding, and Ikuto looked impressed.

The pinkette turned back to Nobuko. "Therefore, I will give you the lightest punishment in my power. You will have until tomorrow evening to leave the kingdom and away from the angry people…" Nobuko's face crumpled; this was her home! "…Or you may have a private home out in the woods, protected by the palace so that you may stay here and be visited by my sister whenever you two feel up to it. You could be the royal witch counselor."

Amu paused again. "That is, I mean, if the king and queen will allow it." She completely ignored her sister's gaping expression.

"We do allow it," said Aruto immediately. He sounded…proud.

"Then so be it," announced Souko. "Saeki Nobuko, you are in no way held accountable for the attempted murder of Hinamori Amu."

Nobuko started to cry again. Amu nudged her sister, who stared at her in surprise before racing over to comfort her newest friend.

"You really are something," muttered Ikuto as he stood next to her. His hand reached out to grab hers.

Amu smiled and leaned against him. "I try."

…

And so, a few days later, Utau was thrown into the palace dungeons after Amu turned down Ikuto's suggestion of beheading her. That was too violent and uncalled for, she claimed.

Lord Kazuomi had been so outraged and ashamed of his daughter's behavior that he burned all of her things and fired all of her personal maids, who consisted of Il and El. He kicked out Lulu as well.

When Amu heard, she convinced Aruto and Souko to hire them. Lulu declined the offer and went to go find her mother instead, only stopping by the palace to confess the truth about being Utau's half-sister to her and saying she was sorry she failed.

El was brought to the infirmary due to the several bruises an enraged Utau had left on her over the years. Il, upon learning about her sister's injuries, stopped her verbal abuse at once and changed her attitude almost immediately. She was still vulgar and cruel, but to a lesser degree.

Nobuko settled into an abandoned house just outside the palace walls and Ami frequently visited to keep her company. The young girl became the witch's helper, much to family's slight amusement.

Emiko continued to avoid her fiancé, Prince Himachi Yuko of the Elixer Kingdom, and Kukai kept her company so she wouldn't descend into depression again.

Amu suspected that there was something more to that, but she was preoccupied by her own romances with Ikuto, who had refused to leave her side. They became closer each day, though Amu wondered if he only paid attention to her because of the false engagement they were in.

She definitely liked Ikuto, maybe even loved him, and was so caught up in the drama of the royal life that she sometimes forgot that their engagement had been for purely selfish reasons.

Would it be better to back out? Their wedding was approaching quickly…

"Speaking of weddings," murmured Amu as she flattened out her dress. "I cannot believe you agreed to come."

"Well, Daichi is a friend of mine," said Ikuto as he watched Ran walk down the aisle.

Yes, Daichi and Ran's wedding day had finally come, all their friends and family had come, and the couple couldn't be happier.

The only thing that could have made it better was if Daichi's parents would stop glaring at them. They only came for appearance's sake, they claimed.

"They're secretly happy for him," Amu had said to her fiancé. "They just don't want to admit it."

"You put too much faith into people," he had responded.

Now, everybody was standing up and clapping for the newly married couple. Ran was beaming and kissing her husband every five seconds, much to Daichi's embarrassment and to everyone else's amusement.

Once Kukai pulled his cousin away for a drink, Dia and Miki began teasing their sister, making her blush ferociously.

"Knock it off," wailed Ran after Miki made another vulgar joke. "I get it, okay! And Su is right there!"

The eleven-year-old merely shrugged. "I don't know why you're upset. They've been with Rhythm and Yoru longer than you and Daichi have, and they're still not married so you have that over them."

Ran blinked as her two other sisters froze. A malicious grin formed on the sailor's face and she turned to her sisters, ready to turn the tables.

Amu watched from afar, chuckling, and turned back to Ikuto. She noticed an odd expression on his face. "What are you staring at me like that for?"

Ikuto responded by softly placing a hand on her cheek, making her freeze.

"Just imagining you in that wedding gown," he whispered so only she could hear.

Amu looked confused. "Why? I would never, ever, ever marry Daichi."

Ikuto stared at her for a few seconds before he pulled his hand away and chuckled, taking a sip from his wine. "You are so dense."

"What?"

"Nothing, Amu; don't worry about it."

"What's wrong, Ikuto?"

"Nothing's wrong."

The fifteen-year-old glared at the older man. "I think I have a right to know if something is bothering you, Ikuto! And something is wrong! So just tell me already!"

Ikuto, after a few moments of silence, sighed. "I just…"

Someone suddenly screamed.

Everybody whirled around towards where a woman was pointing and all color drained from their faces as they spotted a large, dark creature flying towards them.

People screamed and many mothers grabbed their children as they fled from the scene. Tables were overturned, the cake was thrown somewhere, and it basically every man for himself.

Ran cursed under her breath for wearing a long gown, which she had to pick up and carry as she ran alongside with Daichi.

Miki was screaming for Yoru, who was nowhere to be found. She only left when Rhythm said he had gone back to the palace with all of the wedding gifts and she followed Dia and her fiancé away from the scene.

Kukai lifted Su up and carried her with one arm, his other hand grasping Emiko's tightly as they headed towards the safety of the palace. Her fiancé had refused to come to the 'peasant wedding'.

Ikuto immediately grabbed Amu's arm and dragged her away from the scene, catching her off guard as she stumbled over fallen chairs.

"Come on," he exclaimed, pulling her along. "We have to get out of here!"

"I'm trying," said Amu just as somebody shoved into her. She fell to the side, her hand separating from Ikuto's, and crashed into one of the nearby tables.

The plates from the table fell on her head and she vaguely heard someone screaming her name.

Then all she saw was darkness.

…

I do not own Shugo Chara!

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that! I really meant to update but school and the holidays…

Oh, and I have to update my other stories too…yeah…not enough time in the day…

But anyways, putting my lame excuses away to the side where they belong…I want to thank you guys for giving this story over a hundred reviews! Like, wow…thanks a lot!

I haven't gotten that many reviews since I was eleven or twelve, and that was for my lamer stories with the grammar and spelling you expect from an eleven or twelve year old. I feel like shuddering just thinking about it so let's forget about that because a lot of things happened then that I am ashamed to talk about. Let's just say I reacted badly to criticism back then.

So back to the actual chapter, it was a little longer than usual and probably just a little rushed towards the end, but I needed to finish off Utau and get to the real plot of the story. Yes, I actually have a plot; surprise, surprise!

Okay, so here's the thing. I have the next few chapters vaguely planned out-okay, not so vaguely-but every time I write one of my points, I stray from the plan and the next scene isn't what I planned.

I'll try my hardest to stay on topic and update sooner, but I really can't make any promises.

Also, if you reading my other story Fantasy, again I apologize for the long wait and I will try to update that as soon as I can. Truth be told, I have writer's block for that but I kinda know the direction I want to head in.

Speaking of stories, I've begun to read The Mortal Instruments series and OH MY GOD. Cassandra Clare knows how to rip out your soul! I'm only book four and the cover for book six was just released and AGH.

If you haven't read it, I recommend the series; it's really good. I'm also reading Divergent, but I find it boring quite frankly. It's a good series, don't get me wrong, but I tire from reading so many dystopia books.

There are plenty of other books I'm reading but I'll spare you the details because my bookwormish way of life is extremely boring.

Anyways, don't hesitate to tell what you thought of the chapter or if you found any mistakes!