Apologies once again. I regret the short (okay, long) hiatus. I am not abandoning this; don't ever worry. There are many valid reasons for my absence, including the fact that the eight guests back to back over a period of two months, really tried me out. I had to cook for them, and my big family, and we had some friends from Russia, Japan, and Belgium visit briefly, so my brain still hurts from speaking in like three languages. If this chapter seems confusing, please direct your critiques to the review box AND my email address: sarahalbarn94 at gmail yaddayadda, so I can reply. And, yes, I mean Klondrike. It's a bland name product.

I believe the world will end

All because of a butterfly

"The Effect" is real

Chapter 17: What would you do for…?

Smiling softly, Yuzuki walked down the corridors of the Kokubunji Estate while holding a tray of midday snacks. This morning she was slightly proud of herself, because she had made all of the treats by hand. Normally she would simply order all of her Master's favorites online, but recently, ever since she met Ms. Lee-Young, Yuzuki found that something odd had happened to her personality.

Lately, she found that at night, instead of standing up and going into Sleep Mode, like usual, she would prefer to lie in one of the extra beds and initiate the process. However, before that, she dressed in the nightgown Minoru had bought her so long ago, and carefully combed her wavy hair into two spiraling pigtails to keep it from tangling.

Yuzuki also had the unspeakable urge to learn how to bake. Of course, she had a rudimentary idea of how to create confectionery items, but in her spare time Yuzuki found herself watching cooking shows in order to let her Auto-Learning process assimilate the skills more naturally than if she simply read a recipe.

Admittedly, she also found herself watching several Romantic Dramas from Korea, out of idle curiosity.

However, she did not seem overly concerned about these changes, and only regarded it as an unforseen consequence of the contract she and Minoru shared.

Speaking of her precocious Master, she arrived at the door to his study within three minutes of leaving the kitchen. Of course, she had been gone for over half an hour, preparing the food. He had said if he needed her, then he would call.

That's how it normally went with them.

"Normally". That word was a strange one indeed, for it did not guarantee that things would stay that way.

No sooner had she opened the door, did their sense of normalcy shatter, like the fine china that Yuzuki had been holding.

A large smudged streak of crimson led to the open, smashed window—the panes still dripping red.

"No matter what you say, I'm not eating that." Hideki pouted and looked away from the dark brown square of frozen lactose and chocolate. It wasn't something he was used to, these western snacks and food. Not that he was closed-minded, Hideki was just unsure.

To his knowledge, Garrett had never encountered anyone who would refuse a Klondrike bar. It was fairly entertaining.

"It's really good," said Garrett, wagging it in front of the reluctant Japanese man.

"How would you know?" challenged Hideki, knowing very well Garrett's physical limitations. Hideki was not one for ice cream to begin with, and usually thought it a waste of milk. At his farm back home, he was always forced to make so many different types of cheese and yogurt, but the most daunting task was always ice cream. His mother never wanted to be without five different flavors of the accursed frozen treat.

If it wasn't made exactly right? Well, let's just say that she wouldn't keep it around for long, and it wasn't her that would be eating it.

"It's a long story. But if I could, I definitely would scarf down this puppy faster than you react to the word 'boobs'."

Hideki's face was aflame with heat. "I do NOT—," he began yelling.

Garrett promptly stuffed the ice cream into his friend's wide-open mouth.

Startled at the cold, creamy goodness flooding his mouth, Hideki fell backwards with most of the bar sticking past his lips.

Chii laughed. "Hideki made a funny face."

Looking away from the happy scene before her, Amber sighed. Just because they got an A on their report, the boys were acting like dolts. Chii looked upon the scene with silent contentment.

"Amber-chan," said Chii, tugging on the girl's sleeve. "Chii wants to know something."

Blinking, she looked into the Chobit's face. "Alright. What is it?"

"Is it normal for water to do this?" In the complimentary glass of water set before Chii, there was no water to speak of. Instead, there was a single slab of ice, molded to the shape of the glass.

Everyone sitting at the table stared at the oddity in Chii's hands.

"Uh…..Chii?" said Garrett, "that is most definitely not normal."

"Looks like you've mastered a freezing spell already." Amber lazily remarked this while poking the glass. Beads of sweat were piling up on the outside, and she traced a path from each drop of water to the next, as if connecting the dots in a coloring book. "It's definitely unfair."

"Unfair?" questioned Chii. She looked at the glass of ice inquisitively. "Why is it unfair?"

"I've been practicing magecraft for years," explained Amber. "First Minoru the Genius trumps me in a simple duel, and next Chii unwittingly masters a high-level freezing spell." Closing her eyes, she sighed. "It's a little unfair, if you'd ask me."

"But doesn't that mean you've got powerful allies on your side?" Hideki said while now ravenously devouring the Klondrike bar.

"That is absolutely right," said Garrett brightly. He took out his contract card and pointed to the picture of himself on it. My artifact may not look very rare, but it does have a great special ability. We haven't tested out your own artifact, but just by the color alone, I know it's good.

"Oh?" Hideki brought out his own card and examined it. Ever since the night of the hot springs, Hideki never really had a good look at it, but diligently followed Garrett's stern advice to keep it on his person at all times.

It was a solid gold card, an extremely rare hue—just as rare as Chii's own Iridescent-colored card. His nickname on it, DEVIUM SACERDOS, was below his Romanized name in dark black ink. His astrological sign was Venus. Not surprisingly, his most redeeming personality trait was "justitia" (justice, of course), and his direction was East.

It was a single sword, a Nodachi, actually. It's special ability had yet to be discovered, but it was named Kazeha, as the tiny inscription at the bottom of the back of the card had said.

"Well, I'm bored," said Amber gloomily. She stood to leave. Maybe if she hurried, they could get to the apartment before the newest episode of 'Please, let me be a Seiyuu!' aired. She'd been following this year's anime lineup pretty well, and didn't want to get left behind any more than she already had been. "Are you two done examining each other's swords, yet?"

"Please don't say it like that," insisted Hideki, growing red. The other night's memories were coming to mind, and he really did not want those images displayed in his head.

"Why is Hideki embarrassed?" Chii poked his warm face with her finger. "Hideki looks like a maple leaf."

"It's nothing." Hideki quickly told the group, to which Garrett had to roll his eyes.

"Well, I think we'll be taking our leave," said Amber, tugging on Garrett's sleeve.

"H-hold on!" Hideki rose as well, and Chii did the same. "We'll come with you!"

Outside, there were crowds of people lining the streets. It may have been Tokyo, but that never stopped them from holding a parade in the streets. Hideki had completely forgotten about the festival, but at the moment, he didn't have enough money to buy Chii a new kimono. Well, he was grateful for the clothes that Ms. Hibiya provided for her, but Hideki had his own pride. For once he wanted to buy her all the clothes she could ever want or need, and see the delighted expression on Chii's face because he was able to provide for her.

But that was a crazy dream, wasn't it?

After walking around for five minutes while pondering his inadequacy at making money, Hideki sighed.

"Hm?" said Chii, quickly noticing his slightly unhappy expression. "Is Hideki upset?"

"No, it's not that, Chii," he replied, looking up at the sky.

"Stop lying, Motozuwa."

When he heard Amber's harsh voice cutting through the ambient noise on the street, Hideki stopped walking and looked behind him. Lying? Him? Well, it was true that he wasn't being completely honest with Chii, or himself, but it wasn't a total lie, either. He thought it was nothing, comparing to the dilemma he currently was in. Magic and mages and a terrible contest—this sounded like some crazy fantasy novel, and not real life.

"We all know you're concerned about something, right?" With her sparkling brown eyes peering through him, Amber folded her arms.

"Ah-you could say that. I was just thinking about things...and stuff. Things and stuff." He laughed lightheartedly and scratched the back of his head, but Hideki could not fool Amber. She may have been an heiress, but that did not mean she was unobservant or unintelligent.

All the gears winding around in her head suddenly locked in place.

With a single eye closed casually, she said, "It's about money, isn't it, Motosuwa?"

As most people's problems often originated with money, it was not surprising that Hideki had not been exempt from this fact of life.

"Eh? What, I mean..." Hideki quickly wondered if she had read his mind.

Noting the large look of astonishment on his face, Amber realized that she had completely hit the mark. "Hmm...here, I'll tell you what." She pointed at him sharply and pouted. "Just get into Tokyo U, and I'll make sure you get a scholarship."

"But how?" said Hideki immediately. He had never heard such a ridiculous thing in his entire life.

"Simple. I'll just make one up."

In reality, Hideki had been asking about how he was to even pass the entrance exam, but somehow that had been lost in translation. She referred to actually creating an entire scholarship program in order to help the flabbergasted farm boy in front of her.

"Chii?" chimed Garrett and Chii in confused unison. Mostly, it was Garrett imitating Chii with a few milliseconds of lag, because he had calculated that she would say that in response. Whatever his reasons for doing so, it came out sounding very cute, despite his appearance.

'Oh these people of little faith...' thought Amber to herself. She suddenly struck a pose. Her hands were outstretched wide, as if giving Hideki a hug from a far. Likewise, her wild, bouncy curls seemed to move all on their own, like a giant fan had been placed to operate in front of her to increase dramatic effect. If Amber had been wearing a white coat, that entire pose, including the slightly haughty look on her face, would make most mad scientists cringe in jealousy.

"I'm the daughter of a Billionaire," she announced grandly. "We can spare a couple billion yen to donate to Tokyo U. We can even make up our own scholarship. Money talks, you know."

Still smiling, Amber continued her crazy speech. "In fact—,"

Right in the middle of her sentence, Garrett gently clasped a hand over her mouth. "Wait a second, oujo-sama," he whispered from behind her. Holding up his hand to signal that Chii and Hideki were to be quiet, Garrett released Amber's mouth and placed his contract card to his forehead.

'Don't move,' said Garrett, using the telepathic link he had activated with his artifact. Earlier that day he had linked all four of their cards together, so Hideki and Chii heard this as well.

However, before anyone could act, they were surrounded. From adjusting the focus of his optics, Garrett could just make out the thinner-than-pianowire strands that surrounded them. Kicking himself mentally, Garrett believed that should have noticed the sudden absence of people, as a person-clearing field was basic battle magic.

The two figures that glided down from the sky appeared as if some invisible veil was concealing them only moments ago. Landing with a soft click-clack, they stood before our quartet of shocked heroes.

To be able to move so silently that they went unnoticed by Garrett's sensors, they either had to be using a high-level perception-based spell, or they were well-versed in the way of the ninja.

In front of the black butterfly and her baffled associates stood a young woman, accompanied by a Persocom who resembled a 19-year old young man.

"Nice to see you again, Ms. Lee-Young," said the woman, her blood red lipstick complimented perfectly her vivid hair of the same rich tint. Her eyes were a dark navy blue, like the ocean. She wore a black miniskirt, dark stockings, high heels, a simple red blouse, and lastly, a long, white lab coat. Smirking, she flipped her hair while her hands remained in the pockets of her coat. "Or should I call you Yuuko?"

The name stirred fury within Amber's heart, but as she dared not to move, the young girl could only grit her teeth in irritation.

"Melinda Lestat," said Garrett, his voice not only playful, but full of scorn. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence, Madam Rouge?"

"Just your Master's heart," quipped Melinda. Her partner at her side stayed silent the entire time, and simply stared ahead with dark smoldering green eyes.

Several years ago...

Amber remembered the first—and the last time she had felt such terror.

It had been a day, like any other. Victoria had offered to take a walk with Amber in the morning, in an attempt to help her get accustomed to her new legs. They were walking on the sidewalk that ran through the middle of the main building at Gala Labs. The strange, pale Persocom was not particularly the person she had wanted to see every day, but for the most part, Victoria was the only friend she had right now. She and her 'Master' had been visiting the lab more often, ever since Dr. Lestat and Dr. Orpheum had defected the other week, taking with them a few key files on the CHOBITS Project.

The next Chobit in the series after Rima, but before Garrett, had to be protected. As her operating system was of a completely different build, Amber's father and Dr. Mihara did not want to take the chance of her being kidnapped.

Victoria Lucrezia Hawley. That was her name; otherwise known as Persocom 03. She held no expression as she spoke to Amber, but her voice was passionate all the same.

"Have you ever stood and stared at the city, Amber? Billions of people just living out their lives... oblivious to what is in front of them." The wind scattered the light blue strands of her length of hair.

The young amnesiac could not imagine what Victoria could be talking about. Everyone was oblivious? Amber had an odd feeling about that ominous statement. She knew her father said to keep this odd Persocom company, but Amber barely remembered how to speak to regular humans.

Next thing Amber knew, she was lying on the floor, the small form of Victoria standing over her body. From Amber's head a thin stream of blood trickled down her forehead and the side of her head. She had lost pieces of her memory, but Amber's reflexes were not connected to those missing fragments of time.

Trembling, Amber looked up at the weapon brandished above her head. It was a straight sword about the length of her forearm. From the glinting steel tip Amber could see a thin line of red, the only indication that it had sliced through her flesh.

"Did you know that the world used to be just like Elysium? Where none suffered, where everyone was happy." Lifting up the blade, Victoria frowned. "But Elysium on Earth had been lost."

"El-y-sium?" Amber could not be sure at the moment, but that word held some meaning for her. Just what it was, the young girl wasn't able to recall.

All the same, from the corners of her eyes gathered fearful tears.

Angel, looking at her weapon rather curiously, continued to speak. "I believe that, as a species, human beings define their 'reality' through suffering and misery."

Looking down at the heiress, Victoria's icy stare looked through Amber's soul and into the past.

"Unfortunately, they spread their misery to every aspect of their lives, poisoning everything they touched."

"Victoria...?" She wanted to plead for her life, but Amber already knew it was useless.

The psychotic Persocom actually began to smile. "Don't you see? Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague. "Victoria stepped forward. "And I... am the cure." Her thin, pale lips held a semi-sweet half-smile as Amber shrunk back in fear and waited for the end. "Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated..."

Thanks for reading, as always, don't neglect the TVtropes page, and I warmly accept your reviews. Oh, and, lately I have been speaking to local bookstores to promote my book. On another note, this story has around 18+ chapters left. Then I will fully embark on Bakamonogatari, finish Yuuko Magica, and reboot the saga in Parallel Souls. I also will try to release the art for I dunno, some of my stories.