Ah, this next chapter turned out fairly short. This was due to many reasons but the predominant one was because I felt I had to stop at that point. Next chapter, I promise the whole gang gets assembled. Hold me to it, now!

I lost you, you lost me

We both lost each other,

You see?

.

But why must this game,

End so tragically?

With my blood, spilled before me?

.

It is to end this way?

To do nothing but flee…

Why does myheart have to be the key?

Chapter 14: Butterfly/Key

The scene before him was not something Clow saw every day out here in the desert. A strange grey and dark purple school uniform. A pair of hands tightly gripping a black parasol. Sprouting from her back were a pair of deep black swallowtail butterfly wings with shimmering blue veins running throughout their length like computer circuitry.

A snow white face was framed by an impossibly long sheet of straight black hair. It was such a perfect shade of black he wondered if it was a black hole in disguise. Beauty. It was so sparse out here in the desert that Clow wondered at first if she was an alien.

He leaned her delicate body against the boulder that disguised his tent. Around her arms were tight white bandages soaked with dark blood.

The surprising thing was that he had heard of her, this phantom beauty. The same girl who had supposedly attained immortality at the tender young age of fourteen also known as 'the genius mage of Mahokari Academy'. Somehow news of her and her friends' tragedy had even reached him and his father out here in the desert. That's why her nickname was —

«The Black Butterfly of Doom»

That kind of cursed nickname, that kind of cursed existence….the only thing he and that girl had in common was that they were both mages. Looking with that view in mind, Clow took out his staff from the crag where the rock met the sand.

"Percūro."

…

Less and less the possibilities of a clean escape without some sort of aid dwindled to less than 5%. Minako scowled, her attention directed to Dita's left data port. The stream of information was steady and deliberate; if it wasn't for the situation she was in, Minako would have been deeply impressed with the other Persocom's effort. "Sorry, I have to do this."

The flow of data sped up. "What?" Dita's eyes widened. A waterfall of green zeros and ones suddenly obscured her vision.

"Data Drain," mumbled Minako as two spell circles, both of them glowing neon green, appeared at either side of Dita. They rotated quickly, like two cart wheels before disappearing in an explosion of green pixels. At the exact moment the connectors Dita had inserted into Minako snapped back to their owner, who fell backwards. Her eyes were dark as she tumbled to the sidewalk.

Minako frowned, walking away rather calmly and rechecking the coordinates of the suspect she had just received. That last tracking spell she released had connected, and it was transmitting back to her.

She looked to Dita before propping her against the wall and smiling. The most the girl would wake up with was a tingling in her main processing unit and the strange feeling that she had forgotten something important.

Minako dialed Junji's number. "Hey," she said. "I've got something we need to follow up on."

The air was suddenly cold. "You guys don't get it, do you?" Garrett stood to his feet, his eyes dark, nearly black, with the exception that small flashes of light were streaking across the surface. His fists were clenched in frustration at their ignorance of the situation. Explaining the entire thing wasn't something he had planned to do until much later. This was in stark contrast to the cheery, bright-eyed Persocom they had met not too long ago, so it was understandable they were perplexed.

Hideki's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. He could feel the atmosphere had changed, thickened into a tense and disturbing mass of hostility. "What are you talking about?"

"The Game. What do you think it is?" Garrett's eyes swept over the assembly, all of their doe-eyed faces a testimony to their ignorance of the true situation.

Minoru cleared his throat and spoke up for the rest of the obviously blank-minded individuals beside him. "Well, the rules aren't entirely clear, and the reward isn't either."

Yes, that was true. But if Minoru had figured out how to make a pact, then surely he knew the prophecy associated with the outcome of The Game.

"'The Butterfly's Heart is the key to Elysium'," said the Persocom slowly, hoping that the meaning would sink in. "Now what does that sound like to you?"

No one could say for sure. He was met with the same innocent stares as before. Did Garrett have to spoon-feed them everything?! He sighed in exasperation and rested his forehead on the fingertips of his right hand.

"Who do you think is the butterfly?" he said, disgusted with not only himself, but the entire situation at hand.

Still, no one could say.

Of course, a certain heiress was getting tired of dancing around the issue. Amber took a breath before stepping forward.

"I am," she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

Now, the reactions ranged from apathetic to floored. Kotoko and Hideki both being the prime examples of each obvious feeling.

"You, Amber?" Minoru was only slightly less than flabbergasted. His dark blue eyes were large and unblinking as he gave his friend another glance.

"Yes." Turning around, she lifted her hair off the back of her neck for everyone to see. Though she was a couple of feet away, Minoru noticed one thing right away.

It was small and dark, like a tattoo. There was a mark in the shape of a black butterfly with elegant lace-like wings at the middle of the base of her neck. Minoru immediately recognized this sigil, and when he did his eyes widened even further than before.

"That's the symbol I saw in the book." He walked closer, wanting to examine it further. "There was the symbol of a very powerful sorceress named Yuuko."

Hideki didn't quite understand but something in his brain clicked into place. "You're…"

Irritated, Amber turned around with her fists balled and interrupted him before he started calling her 'Yuuko' like the other contestants often would do.

"That was only my past life," she said quickly.

Kokubunji grasped the meaning of her words instantly. "You mean..."

The wind blew through the courtyard slowly, jostling everyone's clothes. "Yes, my soul was…" Amber held her hands over the middle of her chest, "…reborn into this body." Her voice was colder now, more grieved than it should have been, given her usual, slightly cheery but somewhat sour mood.

Adjusting his glasses, Kojima gave her a second glance then looked away. What was so special about her that she was being targeted so often? "What is it all for?"

She looked to the koi pond and clenched her teeth. Yes, that was what she always wondered. It was too recurring of a question, too obvious of an issue that she could not allow herself to ignore the real reason for The Game and for its terrible edict. "That…I question myself."

"So what does Garrett mean?" said Minoru as another gust of wind passed by.

Miimii cut in before Amber could explain. Her eyes were giving off a rather smug expression. They were dark grey, like thunderstorm clouds gathering in the sky. "In order to win, we have to have her heart."

An arrow of ice seemed to shoot through Hideki's chest. The words, the way she said it…it sounded so murderous in intent. He looked to Miimii, her smiling face full of bloodlust. Hideki choked out a small, terrified "What?" As much as he didn't want to admit it, in the bottom of his stomach he knew the truth behind those words. He couldn't even believe that a moment ago he had actually pitied the wicked little girl.

Minoru's fists were shaking. He wasn't stupid. He'd heard what these two were already capable of, and from what Yuzuki described, they were really out for blood. "That means…"

Fiifii also broke into the same mad smile as her sister, licking her lips and looking at Amber. "Ja, we were sent to…"

"…cut it out," finished Miimii, her eyes never leaving Garrett and Amber.

They began giggling, a loud whiny sound that reverberated around the group of Persocoms and humans. It was an unnerving, maniacal thing to listen to. Chii clutched onto Hideki in fright, her face buried into him and her body shaking as if she were crying.

"Th-This is crazy!" shouted Minoru, his anger directed at the twins. He knew that this "Game" was dangerous, but to carve out someone's heart just for the sake of it? "You can't possibly be serious," The young boy's voice was trembling with fear as well as his hands.

Garrett's face was confirmation enough. His eyes were steely blue, and he looked skyward in search of the meaning of such a pointless game. "We're completely serious."

Minoru heard a rumbling in the distance, an early indication of rain.

Amber closed her eyes and listened to the sound. "So as I said, Minoru." A bead of sweat trickled down her face as her heart trembled within her chest. "A war, a war, a war is coming."

For a reason unknown to even himself, Hideki felt the rage pouring into him. "But what does Chii have to do with this?"

The Chobit looked up at him, a guilty look in those brown brown eyes. She looked away quickly, staring down at the fistfuls of his shirt that she had within her hands. "It's because…Chii knows where it is."

"Chii?" said Minoru, the pieces finally falling into place.

She nodded solemnly, the golden hair bobbing with her head. "Yes, Chii knows. Chii knows where the gate is." Her grip tightened. "Chii and Freya…are the gatekeepers."

"I want her to open her eyes one more time."

Bonus!- Complete List of Voice Actors!

Garrett Ravensdale: (Eng) Drew Aaron, (Jap) Hiroshi Kamiya / Hiro Shimono

Amber Lee-Young: (Eng) Olivia D. Knight, (Jap) Chiwa Saito

Elda Mihara: (Eng) Michelle Ruff, (Jap) Ai Kayano

Freya Mihara: (Eng) Michelle Ruff, (Jap) Rie Tanaka

Hideki Motosuwa: (Eng) Crispin Freeman, (Jap) Tomokazu Sugita

References abound! Don't forget the trope page for all those who are paying attention!