This is a book that I have written and have copywritten.

 

 

The Beginning

            “Ha, ha, ha, ha, you’ll never be able to find me this time sis!” I yelled back to my sister, “and don’t forget to count to fifty this time!”

            “Alright, alright,” she replied, “and you know that you can run but can never hide from me. I always find you.”

            “Where can we hide? Got any ideas Nicole?” I asked my fairy cat-girl.

Nicole has always been with me, except during classes. She is my personal fairy; every cat-girl child gets one. They are given to you when you are three years old. Well, actually we get to choose them, because we all go into this building to describe what we want our fairies to look like, how they will act, and stuff like that. Then after a few minutes, out pops a little crystal with a specific color and style, inside is the fairy we created. Then you get to choose something to hold your crystal, it could be a scepter, a wand, a box, a staff, a necklace or bracelet for the really small ones, or a sphere that will turn into anything you want it to and it will stay with you wherever you go. Mine was a medium sized pink crystal, and I got a sphere and have it stay as a necklace so that I can where it with me, or I turn it into a ribbon and tie it either in my hair or around my waist. Nicole is a beautiful little pink fairy that has dark pink eyes and bubblegum pink hair. She has clear pink wings and is light skinned. She wears a light pink skirt that goes down to about her knees, and wears a white shirt that goes from her neck down to just above her bellybutton. She also has white-pink armbands that go from her middle finger all the way up to her elbow. She was created as a guider and helper; she is extremely smart and adventurous. I made her to be just like me in personality and she also, like me, isn’t afraid to take risks, whether they are necessary or not, unless it’s either really dangerous or just plain old stupid.

“Hurry, she already counted to thirty-five!” Nicole cried, “Um, let’s see…oh! Over there, there’s a spot over there in that tree.”

“That tree?” I asked, I wasn’t so sure about this but, there wasn’t anywhere else close by, “I hope your right about this Nicole.”

“I’m getting good vibes from this tree, there’s nothing to worry about.” Nicole said reassuringly.

When I got to the base of the tree it had a tablet that read:

Tree of Many Portals

This tree is forbidden to all those who are not accompanied by either the kings or the queens of the 3 kingdoms of Neko-Inu World.

If anyone does not wish to be banished for all eternity, then they shall leave this place immediately and never speak of it to anyone!

King George                              Queen Kimi

King George                                                            Queen Kimi

King Stephan                           Queen Arabella

Kind Stephan                                                          Queen Arabella

King Hiroshi                            Queen Naoko

King Hiroshi                                                           Queen Naoko

          “Um, Nicole, are you sure about this?” I asked fearfully, reading the tablet over and over again, “Have you seen this warning? I really don’t think that we should be here.”

“Oh come on,” Nicole chided, “Don’t you like to take risks? Aren’t you the one who said that if you don’t take risks, then you’ll have no fun in life?”

So, cautiously I approached the tree. I used my bear claws to rip off the wood that boarded up the entrance to the portals. I then heard Tora, my younger sister, yell: “Ready or not here I come!”

            I quickly ran inside, it was dark and creepy. I saw about a hundred different pathways and was about to touch one when someone cried, “Girls! It’s time for dinner. Hurry up now!” It was our mother, Queen Naoko. She was very nice and extremely beautiful. She always let us play outside in her gardens and even gave us a day off of classes occasionally.

            “My, my, what have you been doing Aneko?” She asked me looking at my claws which were dirty and had bits of wood in them, “Go and wash up right now young lady.”

            After I had washed up, we all had a lovely tuna and salmon dinner. We also had saucers of milk to drink. It was a normal dinner at the palace, but I couldn’t help but wonder that there was something missing.

            “Where’s dad, mother?” my little sister Machiko asked looking at our father’s empty space.

            “Your father had been called to the neighboring kingdom on very important business, and won’t return until tomorrow.” Mother answered kindly.

            “It’s about me and Taro, isn’t it?” I asked my mother. Taro was the neighboring kingdoms’ first-born son of King Stephan; also as me being the first-born daughter of King Hiroshi, we had been betrothed ever since I was born. Now don’t get me wrong, Taro is handsome, brave, and perfect in every way I can think of, it’s just that he has never really seemed to love me in the way that I do him. “Did father go to King Stephan to talk about me and Taro?”

            “Well, yes,” mother admitted looking quite defeated, “but he also has gone to see if there is a way to get the rest of you betrothed to King Stephan’s younger sons too.”

            “WHAT?” my three younger sisters cried in horror. Obviously they didn’t seem as excited as I had been when I was told that I was going to be betrothed to Taro. But then again, I had been only six and thought it was going to be like a game. Then when I met him, we got along great and met with each other every day since then. Even though I was six, I could tell that I liked him very much. We even gave each other nicknames when we were ten, his was Kichiro, meaning lucky son, and mine is Akemi, meaning bright and beautiful.

            “Your father and I think that it is time for you to be betrothed and spend time with him so that you may grow to love each other like Aneko and Taro.” Mother replied modestly.

            “But, what if we don’t want to be betrothed?” my second youngest sister, Maeko asked with a look of worry on her face.

            “I’ll take this one mom,” I said in time to stop mom from answering. I felt that if they heard it from me then maybe they’d do what I did. “Listen, all of you, it might sound scary at first, but its nice and fun. I was only six years old when I was betrothed, and now look at me ten years later with Taro. We meet each other every day, and I’ve even asked him about his family and he told me, ‘Well, my younger brothers have been shy for ages, but they keep wanting to come over to your palace and meet your sisters.’ So, even though you might think that it’s going to be scary, treat it like it’s a game, and to win, you need to get the boy you are betrothed to, to give you a kiss.”

            “Wow, really? Did that work for you Aneko?” Aiko asked with her eyes big and hopeful.

            “Indeed it did. Now go get ready for bed so mother and I can clean up.”

            “Okay,” they cried and then they raced from the room.

            “That was a great job sweet heart.” Mom said as I started to pick up the plates, “How do you do it? I was afraid that they would start getting all angry at me for doing this without their permission.”

            “Well, I just told them the trick that I used ten years ago when you and dad told me about Taro. Now look at me, sixteen and Taro is seventeen, plus I got a note from him to meet him tonight in Moonlight Park.”

            “Ah, but here’s the thing, have you won your game yet? Have you gotten Taro to kiss you yet?” mother asked.

            “Well, no, not yet at least. That’s why I’m getting so desperate. I really love Taro, but I’m afraid that he doesn’t love me back.” I admitted.

            “Well, thanks for helping me clean up dear.” mother said gratefully as I started to leave, then she added with a twinkle in her eye, “Good-night, and good luck.”

            “Thanks I’ll need it.”

©©©©©©

            “Hey, Kichiro, you’re late!” I cried as I saw Taro coming closer.

            “Yeah, by a full two minutes. I’ve really don it now, oh whatever will I do?” He exclaimed teasingly.

            “Well, your note said that it was urgent. What did you want to talk about?” I asked him looking hopeful.

            “I wanted to, um…say that I…I um,” He stammered nervously, “I wanted to say that, I… I… I LOVE YOU, AKEMI!”

            “Huh? You, you love me? You actually love me?” I questioned, “I love you too, Kichiro.” I added.

            Then without warning, we kissed. Then we stopped, looked at each other and said that we were needed t home, and left. I left with my heart thumping madly, I had won the game, and I had gotten my first real kiss. Then, I heard something in the bushes.

            “Wh-who’s there?” I asked frightful. I wasn’t always scared, but the sound was startling and scary.

            “Whoever you are, you shouldn’t be here.” I said as calmly as possible when I heard the same sound but louder.

            Suddenly, someone very small jumped out of the bush, kicked me down, and ran toward the entrance to the palace, it was a little boy. He must have been very smart to get past the guards. Then, as quietly and as fast as I could, I followed him. He was heading for the garden that had the Tree of Many Portals in the middle. This time I didn’t care bout stealth, I ran for it, I tried to catch up to him, but he had had a head start. When he reached the Tree, he turned to me and lit a lamp nearby. I tried to see his face, but he had sunglasses on and his hair was in his face too.

            “Stop right there!” I yelled to the boy, “Nobody is allowed near that tree unless they’re with any of the kings or queens of the three kingdoms.”

            The boy just laughed and climbed into the hole of the tree. I knew that I should run for help, but then he would get away, so I climbed into the hole after him.

It was dark except for the candles the boy had lit, and he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I wondered whether he had not just simply run for it when I entered the tree. Then I heard him laughing and I was kicked again, but this time it was from behind. I looked up, pushed my hair out of my eyes and saw a young boy. He was no taller than Maeko, and had an evil look in his eyes. He simply laughed and kept on kicking me until I had had enough.

“That’s it! You little annoying brat! How dare a little boy dog-boy attack an innocent princess cat-girl like myself! What have I ever done to you?” I screamed enraged at the little boys strength. The boy simply kicked dirt in my face and that was pushing the limit. “I’ve had it with you and your little games!”

I stood up and used my ability of transformation and turned myself into a full-fledge cat, and was just about run and get help, when something grabbed me by my pink ribbon that was around my neck.

“Why do girls always have to take the fun away from everything?” the little boy cried in exasperation. “You always have to get in the way and mess everything up, don’t you, Aneko.”

I transformed back into a cat-girl and said, “So, it’s you isn’t it, Jiro? You wanted to oh let me guess, go into the human world and try to find someone who will finally accept you for the monster you are?”

“Oh ha, ha, ha, you’re real funny aren’t you Aneko? Think that just because you have everything you don’t need any friends?” Jiro retaliated. I thought that for a moment that he was going to let go of my ribbon, but he only lessened his grip to get a tighter one. “Well, have I got news for you, my brother lied to you. He has never loved you and never will. I don’t know how he got you to fall for it but he has never ever loved someone like you! Now about what I’m doing here, I just came to see if the rumors were true. I had heard father talking to some man in the market the other day and heard him mention this place. It really is just like he said it was, an incredible and remarkable beauty. Then he said that he was angry that your good-for-nothing dad said that it was dangerous and decided to board it up. But my dad and I know better and I’m going to go and see if he’s right.”

“What-are-you-talking-about?” I said angrily while I tried to get free form his grip. Jiro was Taro’s second youngest brother. He was always on his dad’s side in everything, even if it meant something bad for him. He was also very skilled in weapon use and took classes to become stealthier so that he could join the Black-Cat-Crew, a big cat gang that always created trouble wherever they went. “This tree has been boarded up for a good reason! Even if it’s useful, it was, and still is dangerous! I might not know all the details, but my father has a good reason for everything. He never does things so that he can get others mad, he does things because he knows that he is doing what is right for the kingdoms.”

“Wow, how touching. I never thought of it that way.” Jiro said in a sarcastic-caring kind of voice, “Oh well, I guess that means that you want to be the one to test my fathers theory and go to the human world for me. Thanks a lot! I’ve heard that it’s better to send a tester in first and then follow. Guess you’ll be my tester and see if it’s safe enough to follow. Ha, ha, ha!”

He then dragged me to a portal labeled:

Human world

 “Hey-stop!” I pleaded, but he only pulled tighter on my ribbon. Then I remembered that my ribbon was Nicole, my cat-girl fairy. I had turned her into a fairy before I went to see Taro. I whispered, “Nicole, please become my scepter.”

In the blink of an eye, my ribbon had flown out of Jiro’s hand and had come off my neck and turned into my scepter that had my crystal in it. I grabbed it before Jiro could figure out what was going on and had turned to face him.

“Jiro, I don’t like fighting and I try to avoid it when I can, so please I’ll give you one more chance. Leave and I won’t hurt you.”

“You hurt me? Is this some kind of joke? You don’t know the first thing there is to know about fighting. Even if you did, there’s no way that I’d fight with a girl, let alone a princess. I could b sent to jail for injuring a defenseless child. Then I’d¾”

I had hit him square in the face with a blast from my scepter and he had flown across the room and had hit his head on the hard wall.

“Ok that dos it. You want a fight, I’ll give you a fight.” Jiro had got up and had pulled out a small blue orb. “This is my fairy that I got a few years ago, and his name is Ryo, for dragon. Come on out and join the party Ryo!”

A small boy fairy had erupted from the orb and had wings the size of his body. His wings were obviously made to look like those of a dragon’s, but knowing Jiro, he probably created it to attack and not defend.

“Super-Sonic Blast!” I cried at the top of my voice, and a jet of brilliant blue light shot out from the crystal in my scepter and hit Ryo square in the chest and he had been defeated. He turned back into an orb and flew back to Jiro’s pocket. “You think that all princesses do all day, Jiro, is learn how to be a better princess. We learn, everything you dog-boy princes do. We learn it and master it faster than you. I learned the super-sonic blast when I was five. And now if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if you would leave and go home. Because as I said before, I hate fighting, especially because…I always win.”

“Fine, I’ll go.” Jiro said, “but before I do, let me say how sorry I am and how sorry I’ll be when I tell my father about this.”

“Stop trying to butter me up Jiro! I know you never would tell your father that a girl, no less a princess, beat you in a fight.” I yelled and I was about to use my scepter to shock him just to where he would get knocked out, then drag him outside and call for the guards to come and get him while I boarded up the tree, when he started laughing again.

“I see that it takes a lot out of you just to use one lousy spell. If you used one more, you’d use up all your strength and die.” Jiro taunted. He was right, however, I only had a little strength left for one more spell, and then I’d probably die. “Here let my friend here help you out so you can use it now. Hey Mio! It’s time to do it now!”

Mio had tied me up and gagged me and then he placed me in the far corner and blindfolded me.

“Oh and by the way, Aneko, you’ll probably be dead by the time anyone finds out your missing. We are going to board up the hole so it doesn’t look suspicious. If anyone ever saw this thing open and came to look for you, then I’d never get to go to the human world. See you tomorrow night loser!”

 Then he placed something on top of me. The last thing I remember was being hit in the head with something hard before I knocked out.

©©©©©©

It was a while before anyone had found me. I had used Nicole to send a message to my mother and sisters so that they could find me. I had changed her back right before Mio tied me up last night. I couldn’t tell how long it had been, but it felt like it had been hours, maybe even a day until I had herd sounds coming from the entrance of the room. I tried to move so that they would notice me, and found that I couldn’t move. I thought that at least Nicole and my sisters should be able to notice me. But I didn’t hear Aiko, Maeko, Machiko, Nicole, or even mother’s voice; it was a man’s voice.

“Here she is, let’s get her out of here and up to her palace.” Said the voice.

Then someone untied me and took off my gag and blindfold. I didn’t open my eyes for about a minute because I was so tiered and was aching all over. When I finally opened my eyes a little to see who had rescued me it was someone very familiar, and he was carrying me toward the palace.

“Ki¾Kichi¾Kichiro?” I said weakly.

“Hold on Akemi, just rest for now, your safe now.” Taro reassured me. And with that I fell back asleep.

“Ari─arigato, arigato Kichiro.” I cried tearfully to Taro, who seemed to understand, and with that, I fell asleep, knowing that Taro would always be there to protect me.

“Wh¾What happened?” I asked when I woke up, still aching all over. I looked around and saw Taro holding his little sister on his shoulder and my family all around me. Taro’s little sister, Tora, was as lovely as could be. She hopped off her brothers’ shoulder and climbed up onto my bed and sat down right next to me.

“Are you okay Aneko? I heard about what brother did and how Taro saved you. You must be really special. Were you scared at all of Jiro?” she asked

“Don’t ask her questions, let her rest.” Taro scolded.

“It’s fine, I’ll tell you guys everything,” I answered.

©©©©©©

“Where are you going young lady?” mother asked as I tried to sneak outside to go to the garden.

“I just want some fresh air is all.” I answered truthfully.

“Take your sisters out there with you then, they could use some fresh air too.”

“Yes ma’am”

“Let’s go to the tree! Please?” Aiko pleaded for the hundredth time this morning.

“Okay, but just for a quick look.” I said.

While we were in the tree, our fairies were playing around with some of the mirrors they conjured up, and we were imagining what the other worlds might look like. Then we heard someone, or something, come in but couldn’t see anyone, so we decided that we were just imagining things. The next thing we knew, we were being pushed into one of the portals by someone that was invisible; was it a ghost, our imagination, or was there really somebody else there, spying on us?

Portal to the:

Human world

 Then everything went black.

 

 

Chapter 1

Aneko, Taro, Cat-Girls, and Magical Powers?

“You know that I will always find you, no matter where you are, or what you are.” Came a boy’s voice, “Oh, and before I forget, stay away from my brother, Taro, Aneko, he doesn’t need a filthy princess to distract him from his family! Next time I catch you kissing him, it’ll be the last thing you ever do!”

            I began to run. To where, I didn’t care, as long as I got away from that maniac. He sounded familiar, yet no name or face came to mind. Who was he? And how did I know him? His voice was getting closer and closer.

            “Who who are you?” I cried to the dark forest, “And what do you want with me? Who is Taro? And where the heck am I?”

            “Ha, ha, ha! I see that you have completely lost your memory.” Laughed the voice in an air of happiness, “That has its good points, Aneko, but you obviously have forgotten who your enemy is, me! I, Jiro, will not stand for that. You must know as much as you can about the one who will defeat you. As for where you are, this is supposedly your home, The Neko World. You are- I mean were- Princess Aneko, first born daughter of King Hiroshi and Queen Naoko. You had an older brother that went off to the human world and was never heard from again. You also had three younger sisters, Aiko, Maeko, and Machiko. Taro, also known as Prince Taro of the Inu Kingdom, was your betrothal and you were both in love. But then I saved him from a life of misery that would only happen from you and your filthy family. You also should know that your sister, Aiko, the second daughter, is a good-for-nothing pest. Spying on us whenever she gets the chance.”

            “I just want you to know that I have no clue what you are saying!” I cried to a big tree in front of me. “Let me wake up and go home!”

            “Oh, I can’t let you do that quite yet Aneko.” He yelled, then I heard something like he was snapping his fingers, then something flew from behind me and locked something like a collar on my neck, ankle-chains, and tied my hands to my side with some metal loop that could shrink in size. “You see, I need to make sure that you don’t find some way to return to the Neko world. And the only way to that is to either kill you now or later, or to take away your cat-girl form from you, permanently and painfully!”

            Then something flew out from one of the trees in front of me and knocked my off my feet. That’s when I noticed that I had cat-like qualities and cat ears, a tail, cat teeth, and long claws. I thought that, seeing as this is a dream, anything is possible, even, if not especially, it makes no sense at all.

            “And don’t try that ‘it’s just a dream’ junk, because your body might be asleep, but this is the real world.” Jiro said, stepping out into the open where I could see him, “Besides, you’re going to be tied up for the rest of your dream. Don’t try to get out of your bonds; they’re made of diamond-metal, the strongest substance in all the universes. Nothing can break it.”

            “Oh yeah,” I yelled, “If I can stand up and fight you like this, will you tell me what this really is?”

            “Sure thing Aneko.” Sneered Jiro, “I’ll even take the shackles off of your legs, just to make it more interesting, for me.”

            The second that the shackles on my legs were removed, I ran toward Jiro. I gave him a surprise as I body slammed him and it knocked him into a tree. He looked at me as a hunter would to a prey that was putting up a fight, but I could have sworn that he had a look of surprise right as I made contact with him. I was obviously not supposed to be able to do what I did, because he said:

            “How  how are you able to move, no less attack in a state like that?” He asked enraged, and then he added curiously, “You are a very interesting girl. Even though you don’t have a weapon or your full power, you still attack? You even have enough strength to stand; even my sister couldn’t do that! What’s your secret?”

            “No secret, just wanted to knock the heck out of you for intruding on my dream and for threatening my life!” I admitted.

            “You still have some of your powers left from when you were a cat-girl.” Jiro said, “It’s too bad that you don’t have your magical fairy, Nicole, here with you. I was hoping for more of a challenge, but seeing as you’re almost powerless, I can just do this”

            I jumped up and avoided his attack and stepped onto his head and bent over and bit into his right shoulder. While he was howling with pain, I was somehow able to break though my binds. Just then, he had grabbed me by the neck and held me down by almost choking me.

            “I’ll let you go this time, but next time you won’t be so lucky.” Jiro said, “Anyway, here’s my good-bye present!” and he took a sword from his belt and grazed the left side of my torso.

Then I woke up. I felt as though my dream had been real. Of course, I had been having this kind of dream for days now, and it kept feeling more real each time. I had suddenly felt as though I had had a sword graze my side. I let out a gasp of pain and grabbed my torso where I had been “grazed” by a dream sword. Only, when I felt my side, it felt just a bit, damp. I looked down and saw that I was bleeding, only a little, but I couldn’t stop myself, I let out a big ear-splitting scream. My sister Lydia woke up and was obviously startled by my screaming.

“Wh  what happened?” she stammered, and then I noticed that she saw the blood stain in my nightgown, “and why the heck are you bleeding?”

“I don’t know!” I cried in an almost whisper, “I was having that dream again and then I remember him taking out a sword and grazing my side right here.” I said pointing at the spot where the blood was starting to stop, “Then I woke up and noticed that I was bleeding. Oh Shadow what do I do?”

“I don’t know, but it’s only four o’clock, so try and go back to sleep and dream about something peaceful.” She answered tiredly.

So, I closed my eyes, but this time I was ready for him. I dodged his traps and I was able to cut off some of his hair and I stuck it into my sock. Then I used my claws and ripped off some of his shirt and then I said, “Sayonara, loser!” and left my dream for a more peaceful and relaxing one, hoping that when I woke up that the bit of hair and piece of cloth would still be in my sock.

“Barbara! Time to get up!” I heard my sister yell up the stairs. I looked over at my clock and saw that I had overslept. I got up and remembered to check my sock. The piece of cloth and bit of hair were still there. I took them and placed them in Ziploc bags and placed them next to my spy kit. I changed into my school uniform and looked at the calendar. It was the last week of school. I crossed out yesterday and circled today. I noticed that there was something off about today on the calendar; there was a picture of a heart on it. Where did that come from? I asked myself.

When I got downstairs, I noticed that Mina and Peter, our foster parents, were already preparing our lunches. We normally get up at six and have breakfast together, and then we would make our lunches after. Mina and Peter normally didn’t make our lunches unless there was something important they wanted to tell us before school.

“Um, Lydia, why is there a picture of a heart on the calendar for today?” I whispered to Lydia as I took my seat at the breakfast table.

“Oh, don’t you remember?” she answered looking surprised, “Today your going to have lunch with the cutest guy in school! Remember, he asked you if you would eat lunch with him on Monday.”

“Oh, right.” I answered, “I guess my nightmare last night distracted me.”

“That’s what you were screaming bout last night.” Mina exclaimed looking relieved, “I heard someone scream and when I went to check on you, you were asleep.”

“Sorry if I scared you. I just had another nightmare.”

“That’s the tenth one you’ve had this month.” Peter said, “I wonder where they’re coming from?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” I said reassuringly, “It’s probably nothing, really, I’m fine.”

“Hurry up, Barbara, or else we’ll be late for school.” Lydia yelled through the hallway.

“Coming!” I answered, “Look, I promise that I won’t have any more nightmares after tonight.” I added to Mina.

“See you after school then.” She cried from the kitchen.

“So, what do you two have planned for the summer?” our fiend Catherine asked us on the way to school, “I’m going to France and then to Australia.”

“We don’t really have any plans yet, Catherine.” Lydia said.

“Oh my gosh! Barbara, are you bleeding?” came a voice from behind us; it was our other friend, Sofia, “What happened? Are you all right?”

“No, no it’s fine. I’m ok.” I lied. The truth was that I wasn’t sure if dreams that can really hurt you would make me sound insane or crazy.

We talked about school projects and summer plans the rest of the way there. We reached the school just as the eight o’clock bell rang. After class, I stayed back to ask the teacher, Mr. Dlouhy, about my strange dream. Mr. Dlouhy was our history teacher and our homeroom teacher. I just had the feeling that he might be able to answer my question.

“Nope, sorry.” He answered, “I can’t help you there. Ask your parents about that, they might know.”

At lunch, I ate with Christian (a.k.a. the most popular boy in school…or at least in eighth grade). He was so cute; he had short, black hair, blue eyes, and the most beautiful smile that would make anyone feel special.

“Do you want meet me later out by the lake?” he asked me after we finished our lunch, “I’ll understand if you don’t want to, it’s just, I would like to hang out with you some more.”

“Sure, how about you swing by my place at seven, then we can walk to the park together. I heard that it’s supposed to be a full moon tonight.” I answered.

“Great, I’ll see you at seven then.” He replied.

“See you then.”

Then we left for our afternoon classes. After school I ran home with Lydia begging me to slow down.

“I’ve got to get ready for my date at seven!” I yelled back.

When I got home I ran upstairs and jumped into the shower and cleaned myself up. I searched my closet for the right outfit.

“Are you looking for that one?” Lydia asked over her book, 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents, “because it’s on the other side.”

“Thanks,” I said, I found the perfect outfit: a light pastel pink top with a pair of blue jeans that goes down to right below the knees. “Well, what do you think?” I asked Lydia turning round so that she could see all sides.

“Beautiful sis, you just need those pink flower earrings.” She added handing me the earrings.

“There, perfect.” I stated to myself in the mirror, “I have about thirty minutes before Christian gets here, so help me with this.”

“What?” Lydia asked looking confused.

“Look, I went back to that guy in the nightmare and cut off a bit of his hair and a piece of his clothing. Help me examine it.”

“It looks as though he has bright blue hair and wears expensive silk clothing.” Lydia examined, “What is that on your neck?”

“Huh, what, oh this,” it was that collar that Jiro stuck on my neck in my dream, “Jiro put it on there. He said that it’s made from diamond-metal.”

“Cool!” Lydia exclaimed.

I heard the doorbell ring and I ran downstairs. Christian was standing there in a T-shirt and blue jeans too. He was holding a bouquet of flowers, which he held out to me after I opened the door.

“These are for you.” He said, “I thought that you might like some flowers. Geez, you look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” I replied happily, “I’ll be home later, try and figure out as much as you can about you know what upstairs. Oh, and please put these in a vase for me.” I whispered to my sister handing her the flowers.

While we were on our walk, I noticed that Christian looked really nervous. I had never seen a boy act this strangely in font of a girl before, nonetheless in front of me. We talked and laughed and had a real good time. When we got to the lake was when things got really weird.

“Um, Barbara?” Christian asked looking as nervous as it was possible, “Do you like me?”

“Do I, what?” I asked looking confused.

“I was just wandering, if you liked me or not. It’s okay if you don’t.” he said quickly, “Because I, well I kind of…like you, a lot.”

“Excuse me?” I was very surprised to be asked this.

“Do you like me or not?” he repeated, “I know that you probably think that I’m being weird, but I am just curious.”

“Um, well…if I didn’t like you, then I wouldn’t have come then, would I?” I said looking at him, but I began to feel awkward, “Aren’t the stars beautiful tonight?” I asked hastily changing the subject and looking up to the star-strewn sky.

“Yeah, but not as beautiful as you are.” He replied and leaned in to kiss me. Right when we kissed, there was a very loud bang. It sounded as if somebody was shooting at us. I felt Christian jump up and grab my hand. Then we ran for it, into the woods, seeing as there wasn’t anywhere else we could hide.

“I-I-I’ve been here before.” I stammered, then I got scared and tried to pull my arm away, but I couldn’t, “Let me go! We have to get out of here, it’s not safe!” I was beginning to cry if Christian got hurt, I’d never forgive myself, “let’s get out of here!”

“Do you want that maniac out there to shoot us both?” Christian said in an angry whisper, he had turned around and was no gripping on to both of my hands, “Look, I know that this way might be more dangerous, but you’re just going to have to trust me all right?”

“Fine, but you don’t understand, I’ve been here before and, don’t you dare interrupt me,” I added as he opened his mouth to retaliate, “there’s a crazed man out here who knows stuff about me and others that he says are my family. He told me that he would always be there to find me and I would rather get shot than die from a nightmare!”

“What do you man ‘die from a nightmare’?” he asked looking puzzled, “what could a nightmare do to you in the real world?”

“That’s just it! I don’t understand it either, but I had a nightmare last night and sword went through my chest. When I woke up I was bleeding from where the sword was!” I was streaming tears now and probably sounded insane, but I didn’t care, I wanted to save Christian, even if it meant sacrificing myself.

“You were probably just still dreaming.” He said convincingly.

“You don’t get it, a man-boy, tried to-tied to”

“To what save you?”

“HE TRIED TO KILL ME!” I screamed at Christian, and then something hit me square in the back and I fell to the ground, paralyzed and blinded, but I was still able to hear.

I heard someone saying, “Who are you? She wasn’t supposed to bring anyone else. Guess my trap didn’t quite work.”

Then I felt someone picks me up and another voice say, “Put her down! What are you going to do with her?”

“Shut-up, foolish boy. Since you care about her that much, I guess I could take you in as a servant to my father. When he sees two limp bodies, he’ll be so pleased with me!”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. And I’m not going to leave here without her!”

“Fool! She’s already been paralyzed and blinded by my spell; she’s of no more use to you now! Or is it simply foolish teenage love? Ha, ha, ha!”

“Yes I do love her, and I won’t let you even tell you her name!”

“I already know her name; it is her birth name and will always be her name: Princess Aneko Neko, first born daughter of King Hiroshi and Queen Naoko! She is a cat-girl, and has powers beyond belief! My father covets power and wants to use her to help him rule over all the Neko and Inu kingdoms.”

“I don’t understand what delusion you’re living in, but her name is Barbara, and she and her sister were orphaned when they were babies and live with foster parents. Don’t talk about people as if they’re just something you can use. People have names, and stories of their own. Don’t treat them s if their just there to take advantage of, you worthless scum!”

“Ahhh, so you want to play hero, huh boy? I’ll teach you to mess with Prince Jiro of the Neko world! Never call me worthless scum, you rotten human fil—“

I was dropped back to the ground and couldn’t move anything. All I knew was that someone had injured the one who was holding me.

“Sorry we’re late; I heard a gunshot and knew there was trouble.”

“Thanks, who are you?”

“My name is Moonlight, and she’s Crystal. No time for proper greetings, Christian, take Barbara and go.”

“But, what about him?”

“We’ll take care of him, just go!”

I was being picked up again, and this time I was being carried off through the woods. I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I knew that Christian and I were safe. I tried to open my eyes but I was still paralyzed and blinded. I couldn’t move anything expect my lungs and mouth.

“Ari—ariga—arigato. Arigato, Tar—Taro, arigato Taro.” I stammered.

“It’s okay; you’re going to be all right, Barbara. Just hang in there.” Came a reassuring voice. Then, I fell asleep.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

“Don’t worry; she’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah, you got her here just in time, any longer and she would have never woken up. But, even though she might not, she should wake up soon, so don’t worry.”

“Can I at least stay until she does? I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course you can stay, we’ll call your parents to tell them you’re over here, so they won’t start worrying about you.”

“Thanks. You can stay if you want to, Lydia,”

“Thanks, but I need to go and finish something very important upstairs. Let me know when she wakes up, ’k.”

“Okay. I will.”

I could hear voices in my head, but didn’t know whom they belonged to. I slowly opened my eyes. Christian was sitting in a chair right beside my bed. I was lying in the downstairs guest bedroom, which was usually used for people who couldn’t afford to stay in a hospital. Christian was sitting there, crying lightly and was saying something like a prayer or apology.

“Please let her be okay. I should have listened to her when she said that it wasn’t safe in the forest. I should have taken her seriously and high-tailed it out of the forest. I thought that she was doing that just as a joke or something. But, when that…that boy hit her with the back end of his sword, *sniff*, I—I—I thought that I was going insane! I was scared and would have did in order to save her!” he than started to shake his tear-stained face as he said, “Please, don’t let her die! She doesn’t deserve that; she doesn’t deserve to die that way! It’s my entire fault. I lead her into the forest, because I was scared. It’s my fault that she got hurt, and almost died. If she dies, I’ll blame myself.”

I was just lying there, listening to him cry. Why did he blame himself? I man, I can see why he would blame himself, but I felt the same way. That boy was after me, not Christian. If it hadn’t been for me, this wouldn’t have happened. Then he said something that made me laugh on the inside.

“That, boy, said that she has powers beyond belief. But he is probably one of those nutcases that run around screaming, ‘Beware! The end of the world is coming!’” he laughed lightly, “I also think he said that she is a cat-girl? I don’t know what he was talking about, because I asked her parents what a cat-girl is and they say that it’s supposedly someone with cat-like ears and tail. And Barbara doesn’t look like she has either of those.”

My heart was laughing slightly, and then I felt his warm hand holding on to my cold ones, and I felt some of his wet tears fall onto my hands.

“Barbara, if you can hear me, I want you to know, that I enjoyed our walk to the lake. It was the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I just want you to know that you’re the most beautiful, smart, talented, brave, and special person I have ever met in my entire life. I know it’s hard for you and your sister, living with foster parents and having no idea who your real parents are. I know how hard it is, because my little sister’s friend is the same way.”

“Ariga—arigato. Arigato, Christian.” I whispered weakly, “I want you to know that it’s not your fault. Jiro was after me, not you. If there’s anyone to blame it’s me.”

I made myself sit up and saw that Christian and I were crying. We knew that we both thought it was our own fault and I could tell that he had expected me to say it was his fault.

“I know that you think it’s not my fault, but it is.” He retaliated, “I was the one who dragged you into the forest the other night. I was the one who wouldn’t listen to your warnings. And I—”

“Was the one who saved me.” I finished for him, “if you hadn’t gotten all brave, I would either be dead, or being held prisoner right now.”

Just then Peter told Christian that I needed no more excitement and that I needed more rest, and told him it was time to go home.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

I was completely healed the next day. Lydia had told everyone that I had a migraine and that I was feeling better today. She also told me that she had some interesting news for me.

“That hair sample from that boy, what’s-his-face, isn’t really hair!” she exclaimed, “I took a strand of hair from my hair brush and examined it right next a strand of the sample you gave me, and they didn’t match at all!”

“How strange?” I replied, “I know that I got it off the guys head. Let me take a look at it when we get home.”

When we got home I looked at the samples, Lydia was right! The hair samples didn’t match at all! I even double-checked with my microscope set; they were very different. Then my pure white cat, Crystal, came in and rubbed herself all over the microscope.

“Crystal! Now’s not the time to play!” Lydia scolded.

“No wait! Look,” I said. We were looking at the fur sample, which had fallen next to the other samples; they matched!

“Oh my gosh! He doesn’t have hair, he has fur!” Lydia cried.

“No, I think it’s because he has dog ears, too!” I exclaimed, “in the dream, he had dog ears, a tail, everything! He’s a dog-boy!”

“A dog-boy?” Lydia repeated puzzled.

“A dog-boy, or cat-girl in my case, is someone with cat or dog ears and tail.” I answered.

“Okay, so what are we going to do now?” She asked.

“Well, I don’t know what your going to do, but I’m going to go back into the forest and hunt him down.”

“But what will you do when you find him?”

“‘What will I do when I find him?’ when I find him, I’m gonna kill him!”

“How? You don’t have anything to use.”

“Maybe, we can help you there.” Came a voice from behind us.

“Yeah, I think you might be old enough to understand.” Came another higher pitched voice.

We turned round and saw two girls, about 18, standing in the doorway. One of them was leaning against the door; she had light skin, pitch-black hair, bright green cat eyes, and had black cat-like features. The other one had long white hair, brilliant blue eyes, and had white cat-like features. They looked a lot like twins, except the black-haired one looked a bit more serious and older, while the white-haired one looked like a happy little girl. Each was holding something in their hands. The black-haired was holding a box the size of her head. The white-haired one was holding a brilliant white staff that had a clear pink crystal in the top, being held in place by four magenta legs, which looked like cat claws. It was a sight to see, nobody spoke for quite a while until the white-haired one spoke.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know who we are yet, unless you’re smarter than you look.” She said laughing slightly, “My name is Crystal and this is Moonlight.” She said gesturing to the black-haired girl who only smirked.

“Enough with introductions,” she answered holding out the box to Lydia and then Crystal handed me the staff, “these are yours, they were put into our possession after you disappeared from our world.”

“Aneko, this is your scepter,” Crystal said pointing to the staff in my hands, “It is also your cat-girl fairy, Nicole. This was the last form that you commanded her into before you disappeared. She will turn into anything you ask her to. Plus, she is the strongest, most wise cat-girl fairy in the world.”

That second, the crystal began to glow, I could feel myself grow cat ears, a tail, long claws, and everything. I was turning into a cat-girl! Just then I saw memories of my other childhood. I saw a handsome prince and three younger sisters. Then I saw something I had never known before.

“But you can’t go Oniichan, you just can’t!” it was a young cat-girl, about five or six, crying and pulling on the end of her older brothers’ clothes, “What if you don’t come back Oniichan? Daichi, if you go and don’t come back…I…I…I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!” she cried.

“Don’t worry, little Aneko. I must go, besides, if I don’t go, who will take care of Aiko, Machiko, and Maeko for me? I need you to be brave for me little Aneko. I promise you, I will come back.” The brother replied, then he turned and stepped through into a tree trunk and vanished into a portal that was labeled: HUMAN WORLD.

The little girl was sobbing harder. She sat there, hands over her eyes trying to hide her tears, just as it started to rain. Then she whispered to herself, “Daichi Oniichan. DAICHI ONIICHAN!” she screamed to the tree, hoping that it would bring her brother back. I knelt down and started crying myself, realizing that that little girl was me.

Then the dream changed. Now the girl looked to be about ten years old. She was standing next to a young handsome Prince. They were both next to three more girls, who looked to be around the same age. They were standing in front of a man sitting on a throne, probably the king that is supposedly my father, I thought to myself.

“I have called you here to tell you something of great importance,” the king started, Aneko and the Prince exchanged worried glances and grasped each others hands, “If you remember, your older brother, Daichi, went to the Human World for me about four, five years ago. I am sorry to say this, but your brother hasn’t been seen since.”

Aneko leaned over and whispered something to the young prince, and then she looked up and said, “So, Oniichan, is gone?”

“I’m afraid so,” he replied. The three little girls started crying, but Aneko let go of the prince’s hand and ran out of the room, tears streaming down her face, yet she did not make a sound. I followed her and she finally stopped at a swing hanging in the middle of a garden.

“Oniichan,” she sobbed talking to herself, “Oniichan, Daichi! I told you that if you left and never came back that I would never forgive you. Then you promised me that if I was brave and took good care of Aiko, Maeko, and Machiko, you would come back. YOU PROMISED!” she screamed. I sat down next to her and listened intently, “You have never lied to me, and have never broken a promise. So why did you start now? I need you Oniichan. I promise you that I will find out why you aren’t back yet! DO YOU HEAR ME, ONIICHAN? I PROMISE THAT I WILL FIND OUT WHY YOU’RE NOT BACK AND I WILL BRING YOU HOME! I PROMISE!”

Then, I found myself lying on the floor of my bedroom with everyone around me. “What happened?” I asked rubbing my head, “I saw a little girl that was me—gone missing—crying—promising—”

“Well, that can happen when you get your powers back after a long time.” Crystal said in a casual voice, “You were having premonitions of the past. You obviously got in touch with it because now you’re crying.”

“My brother, died or is missing out here in the human world somewhere and I will find him.” I declared getting to my feet, “I made a promise and so did he. He promised to come home if I looked after our younger sisters, and I promised to find out why he hadn’t returned and to bring him back home! I will find you Oniichan, I will bring you home, and nobody is going to get in my way! Nobody is going to stop me! Not even Jiro!”

Chapter 2

Training & Sisters

            “How do I use this?” I demanded Crystal, “Will you agree to train me so I can fight with that fat-headed jerk, Jiro?”

            “Sure, but you must promise to do exactly as I tell you to.” She replied happily.

            “Yes, ma’am, arigato.” I said gratefully.

            “Moonlight, you will train me on how to fight too.” Lydia said.

            “Lydia, I can’t let you do that, Jiro is really strong. I would never forgive myself if you hurt yourself because of me.”

            “I’m not doing it for you,” she laughed, “I’m going to give a good beating to the one who made my sister cry. Besides, he’ll probably will be expecting you to try and find him; if he is then at least I’ll be there to teach him not to mess with you, or me.”

            “Open the box then,” Moonlight said, “in it is your cat-girl fairy, still in its sphere form.”

            “Arigato,” she said as she opened the box, out popped a small white orb that began to glow the moment it touched Lydia’s hand. She closed her eyes and began to change. She was a cat-girl with black fur.

            “You need to say, ‘Awaken,’ then say your fairy’s name. We don’t know it, but you do.”

            “Awaken, Little Angel!” she cried. The sphere transformed into a cute little fairy cat-girl. She had a silver dress that went down to above her knees, and she had flowing, shiny silver hair, and light skin. She had little white angel wings, and a beautiful little tiara.

            “Barbara, come with me,” Crystal said, leading me out of the room and down the stairs. She took me across the street to the empty lot that kids use during the summer. She pulled out a small green orb that was glowing brightly, and then it turned into a precious little cat-girl fairy that had long emerald-green hair pulled up into a ponytail; she was wearing a short, knee-length aqua-green dress that made her look like a little earth fairy, and she had lime-green eyes that matched her cat features and the ribbon in her hair. “This is my cat-girl fairy, Ayame. She has bonded with me so that we can communicate telepathically. It is actually easier than it sounds; all you have to do is spend some time getting to know each other first and the more you know about each other, the stronger your bond and power is. But as much fun as that is, we're going to train with the verbal commands first.”

            “Come on out, Nicole.” I said to the scepter, then it began to glow like Crystal’s orb and in its place was a little cat-girl fairy, somehow she looked just as I thought she would. “Do you remember me?”

            “Of course I do, silly,” she answered laughing, “But I don’t remember you being this young, I mean you were sixteen when I last time saw you.”

            “Sixteen?” I said gaping at her. How could I have already been sixteen? I’m only fourteen! “How in the world could I have been two years older than I m now?”

            “Because you age faster as a cat-girl than a human. Also, you fell into the Tree of Many Portals, which we think caused you to turn into humans and gave you a second life because you were so young.” Crystal answered, “but don’t try and understand it because then you’ll get a headache, and besides, nobody ever really understands that stuff anyway so just pretend like you understand it alright.”

            “Okay, so I’m fourteen years old and I am really good at school.” I said to Nicole, who looked as though she was thinking about whether to believe me or not, “and I like this boy named Christian in my grade.”

            “Alright, well I like to play around and I have your personality and your likeness for adventure and risk taking.” She said happily, counting off each one on her small fingers.

            “Can you tell me things about my first life?” I asked curiously, “I mean before I came here.”

            “Well, I mean you were always sneaking off somewhere to meet Prince Taro, you betrothal, and you and your three younger sisters were always getting into all kinds of trouble. You were known as the ‘Troublesome Four’.” She answered.

            "Great, now that you two know something about each other," Crystal interjected, "Let’s get to training."

            "So exactly how are we going to train?" I asked, looking around the park. "Am I going to fight against something?"

            "No, no, nothing like that!" Crystal laughed, "No, your opponent is... me."

            "What?" I said startled, "You mean I have to fight you?"

            "Well, seeing as Moonlight and I are going to be here until you get strong enough to where you don't need us anymore and I'm the strongest of us... I'd say yes you have to fight me." she answered, giving me a smile that didn't seem to natural, "Besides, I'm just as strong as Jiro, and you did say that you wanted to become strong enough to fight against Jiro, didn't you?'

            "Of course I do," I said, "It's just..."

            "You don't want to fight me, that's okay,” she said. "Just pretend that I am Jiro, and you'll be fine."

            "Okay," I said. Then words came floating up, like they'd been waiting for me to say them, even though I had no clue on earth as to what I was going to say... "Sandstorm of Confusion!" I yelled.

            Nicole created a giant sandstorm and aimed it for Crystal. Crystal hadn't been expecting this, yet she dodged it easily. She turned and faced me with a smile, and then she said, "Wow, I'm impressed. That's a high level attack. But it still doesn't mean that you are good enough to dodge this, Fire Blast!" and a big ball of fire hurled toward me from Ayame.

            "Giant Shield of Water!" I cried, and Nicole produced a barrier made of water to protect me from the Fire Blast.

            "Nice counter... but not good enough, Wind of Illusions!" Crystal said, and Ayame blew so hard that I thought that I was being thrown over a hundred miles per hour, yet I wasn't moving at all.

            So this is an illusion to distract your opponent, huh, I thought to myself, well in that case I'd better do...

            'Petal Dance!' I thought hard to Nicole, who seemed able to hear me because then Crystal was showered in flower petals that were cutting lightly into her skin.

            "Not bad, you've moved onto the telepathic commands, good very good." Crystal said. "Now lets-- What's wrong?!"

            I got a huge headache. I dropped to my knees and grabbed my head. Crystal came running toward me and knelt down to get a good look at my face.

            "What's wrong? You're not hurt are you?" she asked looking worried, "I hope it's nothing I did. If it was, I'm so very sorry."

            "No-no, I-I'm okay." I stammered shaking my head, "I just got one hell of a migraine after I used my power to create that shield. I-I-I can remember things...things from before...before I became a...a human!"

            "What? Really?" Crystal exclaimed excitedly, "You mean you remember everything from our world? Do you remember how to fight then? And do you know all your spells, too?"

            "I-I-I think so." I said, then I remember what happened before I fell into the portal to the Human World, "And, I'm going to beat the heck out of Jiro the next time I see him."

            "Alrighty then, let's get you inside so you can tell Midnight and your sister." Crystal said changing the subject hastily.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            "WHAT IN THE NAME OF MAGIC HAPPENED!?!?" Midnight screamed as we told her what happened while we were training, "AND WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT, HUH?"

            "Calm down, Midnight!" Crystal begged, "We thought that you would be happy that she has regained her memory."

            "Yeah, what's wrong with me getting my memory back?" I asked curiously, "Was I not supposed to get my memory back, or something?"

            "Or something's right." Moonlight stated sitting back down again, "There were parts of your memory that your mother and father wanted to keep from you, so you could have a better, happier life. But if you have just regained all of your memory, which means that those memories are there too. We are going to be in big trouble if your parents find out about this."

            "Dramatic much?" Crystal scoffed smiling, "They always knew that the memories wouldn't stay forgotten forever. They knew that she would regain them sooner or later."

            "Something's in the forest, something...or someone." Lydia said looking quickly out the window toward the forest, "I can sense something that's not of this world in the forest."

            "How can you do that?" I asked gaping at her, "I mean I can sense something too, but I thought that it was just a feeling of fear because of that night when I was with Christian."

            "You naturally can sense the presence of our people when they are near. Not everyone can sense them though. Plus some of our kind can hide their presence from others, meaning that those who can sense them won't be able to anymore." Moonlight explained.

            "Anyway, should we scout tonight?" Crystal asked Moonlight with a curious look in her eye, "Do you think we can risk it?"

            "I think that you and I can risk it, yes. But they don't have as much experience as we do, so I think that they should just stay here, in case it's something dangerous." Moonlight answered in a barely audible whisper.

            I got to my feet and went to go and sit in the window seat. I stared out at the beautiful lake with the forest close by. I thought about what Christian had said when he was crying for me. He was crying because he thought that he had lost me. I began to feel white-hot inside my stomach and rose to my feet.

            "I'm going with you on the scouting, and don't try and stop me." I said to them. Lydia and Crystal seemed to understand what I was feeling, but Moonlight was looking as if someone had just slapped her hard in the face.

            "Did you not hear me? I said you're not coming!" she yelled at me, "You're not experienced enough with this sort of thing. Crystal and I are more than capable enough to figure out what's in that forest."

            "Listen, you don't know Barbara the way I do, and when she sets her mind on something, there's no stopping her." Lydia said to Moonlight, which seemed to make matters a little better.

            "Alright, fine! You can come along too." she said defeated, "But Lydia needs to stay here in case something really bad happens and we need back-up. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks at a time like this."

            "I'm fine with staying here, but Barbara," she said looking at me, "Promise me that you’re not going to do anything too risky, okay? I know how you can get in a time like this."

            "Promise." I said placing my hand over my heart, "And I also promise to not go looking for trouble either." I added reading her mind.

            She just smiled and gave me a big hug, because she wanted to comfort herself on whether she'd see me again or not.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            At 7:30, we were walking down to the forest. Strangely, the collar around my neck had sprouted spikes on it the moment I walked outside. Now I looked like some Goth’s cat mutation. We were wearing special communicating crystals disguised as hairpins. They allowed us to split up and still be able to talk to each other. Moonlight signaled for Crystal and me to continue on into the forest while she looked around the edge of the forest. Crystal and I split up when we came to a fork in the path, and I found myself in front of a small cabin. Then I heard something behind me. But before I could do anything, I found myself being pushed to the ground and someone putting their foot on my back. I couldn't move or escape. Whoever it was, I was betting everything that it was Jiro, reached down and covered my mouth with his hand.

            "Don't even think about calling for help, Aneko." the man whispered into my cat ear, and there was no doubt that it was Jiro, "I can sense them coming. Now, be a good little prisoner and don't give me any trouble."

            He tied my hands behind my back and tied my arms to my body, and tied my legs together, but he had gagged me with a handkerchief first. I wouldn't have needed to scream, because my plan was working; even if it was working too well and not how I thought it would. When he was done tieing me up, he removed the handkerchief and pulled me to my feet. I grudgingly allowed him to tie me up so that I was dangling from a nearby tree.

            "What are you going to do to me?" I asked him, not daring to look him in the eyes, but at the ground instead.

            "I'm just using you as bait. What I'm really after is your sister. She can't help but want to save you, and those two dim-witted fools are going to lead her here."

            "It won't work you know," I said, "They'll never fall for your trap. I won't let --argh!" I had been shocked by something from the rope.

            “Like it? It’s as electric shock filled with a pain-issuing potion of my own creation.” Jiro sneered.

            Just then Crystal and Moonlight came out behind me and gasped at the sight of me.

            “Let her go!” Crystal cried, “She’s useless to you! Let her go now!”

            “Don’t worry about me,” I said weakly, still looking at the ground, “He’s not going hurt me—Ahaa!” I got another dose of Jiro’s pain-issuing electric shock, but added in a whisper, “Just go home… I’ll be okay, really.” Then I lost consciousness.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            When I regained consciousness, I was laying down in a bed that was inside a wall. When I looked around I saw that I was inside the cabin. Jiro was sitting next the fireplace, staring at me with an evil glare. I was untied, and yet I seemed unable to move.

            “Good, you’re awake.” He said, “Why did want to be captured? Do you know that I’ve been having the worst time trying to kill you in your dreams?”

            “Yeah, I kind of figured that out, Jiro. So, what do you want with me?” I asked, deciding to stare at the ceiling.

            “Your power, of course. But your sisters just get in the way. If they keep doing that, I’ll have no other choice than to kill them, and I really don’t want to do that either.” He replied.

            “I’ll do whatever it is you want me to do. Just don’t hurt my sister.” I said. “Spare Lydia, please.”

            ‘I was hoping you’d say something like that. All you have to do is drink this.” He said handing me a cup of what looked like water. I was able to sit up and I drank it, and the moment I did, I began to glow. A chain came out of the wall behind me and attached to my collar, then became invisible. I knew it was still there, just hidden for the time being, but I knew that I was trapped now.

            “Good, now… obey what I say!” he yelled. I began to feel evil coursing through my body. Whatever had been good, happiness, joy, or anything like that disappeared. I yearned for evil, for the thrill of battle and deception. I didn’t know why, and didn’t care.

            “What is your command, mast?” I said, in a voice that wasn’t mine, “What is it you wish for me to do?”

            “I want you to bring your sister, Aiko… or Lydia, as you call her, here to me.” Jiro said.

            “Understood, I must bring my sister here to my master.” I said, and immediately stopped glowing. Then I took the communicator out of my hair and said in a fake scared voice, “Crystal? Moonlight? Can you hear me? I need you to meet me at the park in ten minutes. And bring Lydia, this is an emergency!” Then I smashed it in my hand.

            “Perfect, that’s a good girl.” Jiro said, “Now go and wait for them outside.

            “Yes master,”

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            Ten minutes later, Lydia, Moonlight, and Crystal were running toward me with relieved looks on their faces. But when they got closer, Moonlight and Crystal stopped dead in their tracks, grabbing Lydia to make her stop too.

            “That’s not really her, Aiko. She’s been brainwashed!” Crystal warned.

            “I’m not brainwashed! I’m still me!” I said outraged, “Shadow, don’t believe them! They’re just trying to turn you against me! Come to me, Shadow Cat.”

            Lydia broke free from their grip and ran to me. She gave me a hug and told me that she was on my side.

            “I want to show you something, just follow me.” I whispered, jerking my head toward the forest.

            “Don’t do it, she not herself!” Moonlight warned sternly.

            “She’s my sister and I trust her with my entire life, body and soul!” Lydia protested, “I think that I would be able to tell if my sister wasn’t herself, just let me go with her!”

            After that, I just grabbed her arm and ran toward the forest, pulling her along with me, leading her to the cabin. When we reached the cabin, I held my hand up to the door and it flew open instantly. I lead her inside and picked up a cup of the same liquid that Jiro had given me, and she drank it without protest or question. She closed her eyes and a collar attached chain appeared on her neck and she asked, “Where is he?”

            “He’s getting the portal ready for us. He’s taking us home.” I answered.

            The door flew open once more and Jiro came in. “Hello, ladies.” He said, “Our portal is waiting.”

Chapter 3

Two Girls and a Magical Trap

            “Jen, please report to the director’s office immediately. That is all.” Came a voice form the intercom.

            Jean, known as Jen by all her friends and co-workers and family, was the best worker at the panda reservation in China. She was wondering what she did this time. You see, Jean’s parents owned the panda reservation and Jean had loved pandas for as long as she could remember. Just recently she had a baby panda that had gotten abandoned or separated from its mother in a terrible forest fire. Jean was told not to go, but she went anyway, because she couldn’t stand not being able to help the baby panda, and ended up saving the pandas life (I guess that it’s good to disobey your orders once in a while). The baby panda lives with the other pandas on the reservation, but has to be separated from the others because it is so small and helpless. Jean named it Ruby, because she noticed the panda likes the color ruby red. Anyway, Jean’s parents only called her in to talk to her about specific information, like how they would be leaving on a rescue mission and wouldn’t be home that evening.

            But today her parents had told her that at breakfast, so Jean was beginning to worry.

            “You wanted to see me dad?” Jean asked, poking her head in the door.

            “Yes I did Jean,” her father replied, “Before you get all worried, you’re not in trouble. We have a new worker, Audrey, about your age, and we wanted you to show her around.” He said gesturing to the chair in front of him.

            Jean looked and saw a young girl with a beautiful complexion, and light brown hair.

            “Hi Audrey, my name’s Jean, but everyone just calls me Jen.” Jean said, holding out her hand to Audrey.

            “Hi Jen,” she replied, a little shyly.

            “Let me show you around, you’ll love it here.” Jean suggested, “Maybe I can show you Ruby.”

            “Ruby?” Audrey asked.

            “Just let me show you.” Jean giggled.

            Jean led Audrey toward the small enclosed area where the baby pandas were. They were all so small and delicate, but only one of them was the smallest and most delicate of them all. Most pandas are about 4 ounces when they’re born, but this one is only a 3 ½ pounds.

            “This is Ruby.” Jean said proudly, picking up the baby panda, “I rescued her from the forest recently.”

            “She’s so adorable!” Audrey exclaimed, “I’m curious, why did you name her Ruby? I mean don’t pandas get names like Meling or something in Chinese?”

            “Well, not all of the pandas have to have Chinese names, you know.” Jean said, “I named her Ruby because she likes the color ruby-red. Let me show you what I mean.”

            Jean took out a ruby-red ball, blanket, ribbon, and chew toy. She placed the toy in front of Ruby, and the little panda played with it happily. Then Jean held up the bottle and asked, “Do you want something to drink Ruby?” to the panda, who nodded. Ruby took the bottle from Jean and drank greedily. Jean then tied the red ribbon in her long brown hair, and when the panda was done drinking it began to follow Jean around the pen.

            “Okay, I have seen some pretty amazing stuff, but that has got to be the most amazing!” Audrey said, “And I can tell that you take really good care of her. But how did you teach her how to do that in a few days?”

            “That’s the thing, I didn’t,” Jean answered. “One day I put this ribbon in my hair and Ruby started following me around wherever I went.”

            “That’s a little creepy, yet extremely interesting and entertaining.” Audrey said.

            “Hey, I’ve got an idea.” Jean said, “Would you like to spend the night at my house tonight? My parents are going on a rescue thing tonight so I wasn’t planning on doing anything tonight anyway.

            “Sure, my parents are out of town too.” Audrey replied. “Sounds like fun.”

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            Later that day, Jean and Audrey were having the best time of their lives. Unfortunately this is where we come in. Jiro had made us humans again and told us to lure Jean and Audrey into the forest that night. We really didn’t want to, but Jiro said that if we didn’t then he would kill them both and us too.

            "Hi there!" Lydia and I said happily, giving Jean and Audrey, "Sorry, my sister and I couldn't help but overhear, you have a small baby panda that you rescued in that big forest fire?" I asked.

            "Yes, and um, who are you exactly?" Jean answered, looking at us suspiciously, "And how come you're interested in the panda?"

            "Oh no, you've got it all wrong. We're not here to look at the panda, we're here for you." Lydia explained.

            "Yeah, you see, our parents are reporters and asked us to interview the young girl who was said to have risked her life in a terrible forest fire to save the life of a baby panda." I added, even though I felt a little bed that I was lying to someone as sweet as Jean, "Anyway, that's what our parents want. What we want to do is find some friends."

            "What do you mean?" Audrey asked.

            "Well, since our parents are both reporters, they travel around getting offered to report some of the most important stories. Since we were six, our parents have been to Africa, Australia, Scotland, Iceland, Alaska, India, and England, so we don't have any friends. We've always tried to make friends, but since we don't stay anywhere for long, we don't normally get any."

            "Well, we'll be your friends. You can even come to my house tonight." Jean said enthusiastically, "I've never had that many friends either, and this would be my first sleepover."

            "Okay, if it's not too much trouble..." I started.

            "No trouble at all." Jean said, "You can hang out here today if you want. We have only two more hours to work, and then we can go to my house."

            "No, it's okay. We don't want to call you anymore trouble." Lydia said.

            "Come on, I'll take you to see Ruby, the panda I rescued." Jean said.

            "Do you draw?" Audrey asked, pointing at the sketch pad under my arm, "Or, I mean, sketch?"

            "Yes, ever since one of my old friends, who loved to draw, gave me this." I lied, "I sketch pictures for Lydia's articles."

            "My articles aren't as good as your pictures." Lydia retorted blushing a little.

            "Here's Ruby!" Jean said, bringing us up to a small enclosed area, "Ruby, come here girl."

            "Awww! How cute!" Lydia and I exclaimed as the little panda bounded toward us, "She's just adorable!"

            "Thanks, I take really good care of her, as well as all the other pandas in the reservation." Jean replied smiling, "Audrey hasn't been here that long, so she doesn't know everything about this place that I do."

            "I just started working recently, but I'm a fast learner." Audrey said, "Jen cares more about the pandas than anything else around here. She's so kind."

            "I agree, anyone that is willing to put others needs before their own must be a kind person with a pure heart and soul." I said honestly. Part of me felt bad because I really didn't want to follow through with our plan, but I had no choice.

            We spent most of the afternoon talking about animals and about how much we loved them. After that, we all headed to Jean's house, which was right next door to the reserve, and had a great time. We had pizza, soda, watched movies, had pillow fights, and played truth or dare.

            "I just remembered...I forgot something at home," Lydia exclaimed before we were going to do the interview, "Do you mind if I go and get it? It's my mother's tape recorder. She told me to use it to help with the report."

            "No, go on." Jean said, "We can wait."

            "Arigato,"

            "She forgets things like that all the time," I said when Lydia left, "But normally she will remember to bring the tape recorder."

            "It's ten-thirty," Audrey said checking her watch five minutes later, "What should we do now?"

            But before we could answer, we heard an alarm go off. It was very loud and startled us half to death. Jean got a look of worry on her face when she heard it.

            "That's...that's the alarm for Ruby's area!" she gasped, "Someone's broken into the reserve and is trying to mess with the pandas, but what do they want with Ruby?"

            "Maybe they heard about you and thought that you would be there with her." I suggested, but I knew all too well what was going on and what we had to do. "Let's go check it out."

            "I don't think that's such a good idea...but what else can we do." Jean said, picking up something off her dresser. "Let's go."

            We ran as fast as we could to Ruby's area, the alarm growing louder and are hearts beating faster the closer we got. When we reached it we saw something that made us hold our breaths. It was a cat-girl wearing a mask over her eyes, and holding Ruby! She looked at us and gave us a wicked smile.

            "So you're finally here. I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show up." she said.

            "Who are you?" Jean asked angrily, "And what do you want with Ruby?"

            "You mean to say that my sister hasn't told you yet?" she asked, "Shame on you Aneko."

            "Who are you talking to?" Audrey asked, looking around us to make sure that there wasn't anyone else there, "There's no one else here."

            "I'm talking about my sister, she's standing right next to you!" she laughed, tossing her long black hair out of her eyes, "Also known as Barb--arg!"

            "You know what you're problem is? You talk too much." I said, knocking her off her feet.

            "Yeah, but do you know what your problem is?" she asked as I held Ruby, then she yanked her away, "You're too slow and don't know when to give up, sis."

            "I was waiting for you to set off the signal, but I see that you chose to use their alarm instead. Very creative." I said, giving her a wink.

            "You're her sister!?" Jean and Audrey gasped, "But how could you be? You look nothing alike."

            "Oh, that's because I'm in my human form." I explained, "See, you two, like us, have a human form as well as a cat-girl form. Our home, Neko-Inu Seken, is where we belong."

            "We were asked to come and pick you two up." Lydia added, gesturing toward Audrey and Jean, who looked as confused as was possible. "Now, are you going to come?"

            "Hold on a second!" Audrey said, shaking her head, "I'm still not so sure that I believe your story, at least not until I see some proof."

            "Like what?" Lydia asked.

            "Show us Barbara's other form, and then maybe I'll believe you." Jean added, pointing at me.

            "I can do that," I said. I closed my eyes and felt myself grow ears, a tail, and I also felt a mask on my face and a collar on my neck. When I opened my eyes I saw that I looked like Lydia, except that her outfit was black and mine was pink. The one thing that also set us apart was that the braid on my right side was white and pink, and hers was silver and black. We saw Jean and Audrey's surprised faces and saw that they were now far from thinking that we were making this up.

            "If we go with you, will you leave Ruby here?" Jean asked after a few minutes.

            "Of course, but if you don't come with us, we'll have to take her with us." I said.

            "Our master has a pet that wouldn't mind having a little snack." Lydia said, in a teasing way.

            Lydia was becoming impatient after five minutes of trying to persuade them, so she handed me Ruby and told me to run off into the forest. I did so, only to find that she was just going to let them follow me, but I began to understand. I ran as fast as I could, until I came upon a thick grove of trees, making it almost impossible to continue on. I stopped and turned around, and saw Jiro leaning against one of the trees.

            "I was wondering what was taking you so long." he said in a rather bored voice, "But I don't recall asking you to bring back a panda, just your sisters."

            "Their coming, but we need to have the portal ready before they get here." I said, "If they get here and it's not ready, they'll have time to escape. Besides, if they come running this way, then we can easily make a portal that stretches around here, so that when they come near it they'll be transported to our world."

            "Good enough of a plan, but what are you going to do with that panda?" he said, pointing at Ruby.

            "Use her as bait of course," I replied, conjuring up a metal cage around Ruby, "They seem to care deeply about her, so I intend to use that to your advantage."

            We conjured a portal around the trees, and teleported ourselves back home, to wait for them to arrive. We didn't have to wait for more than five minutes before they came, and the second they did they were turned into cat-girls. They looked as scared and confused as we thought they would. Jiro snapped and collars materialized around their necks with chains that ended in Jiros hands. They struggled and fought the collars, but they couldn't break them.

            "Where are we?" Audrey asked, looking around as we sat down in a private garden five minutes later. "And what's going on here?"

            "I'd like to know the same thing," I said, turning to Jiro. "What are you planning to do with us?"

            "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." he answered, giving us a wicked smile.

Chapter 4

Tomb of the Lost Souls

            Have you ever felt so confused that you thought your head was going to explode? If not, then I'm sorry to say that the remaining chapters of this book will confuse anyone who tries to figure it all out (unless I've already told them), so please just try to follow along, but try not to get too confused.

            Jiro made us sit there in the garden for a couple of hours until we heard a very high-pitched whistle. It was coming from the castle behind the garden, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from in the castle.

            "That's the signal that the coast is clear," Jiro stated, getting to his feet and pulling us up as well. "Now listen, you've got to be extremely quiet as we go in, or else I'll have to knock you out and drag you in. Got it?"

            We nodded in agreement, it was best to not argue with someone that had a collar with a chain around your neck and could attack you at anytime. Jiro pulled us by our chains, which was highly unnecessary because we couldn't have gone anywhere if we actually wanted to. He led us toward the castle through a number of hidden passages and the stars were shining brightly by the time we reached a small entrance into the castle. A young girl with tiger like ears and tail crawled out of the entrance and nodded to Jiro, gestured for him to follow her, and disappeared back into the entrance. Jiro followed pursuit of the girl, running very fast, making it hard for us to keep up. She led us to an alcove that could fit about six people in it, hidden behind a large Weeping Willow tree. Jiro shoved us into the alcove and the girl pushed something on the inside of the wall, making the alcove spin around and opening up to a large room the size of the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas, but as dark as the night sky with no moon.

            "Nice work Tora, you've been a big help." Jiro said to the little girl, "Now go and fetch father for me, little sis."

            "Okay, big brother!" Tora happily replied, skipping off into the darkness.

            "What's going on Jiro?" I demanded after Tora's footsteps died away, "And where are we?"

            But before he could answer I heard something strange. I couldn't tell what it was, but it sounded as though someone was playing a flute. I looked around but the room was covered in darkness. Jiro must not have heard it because he looked at me as though I was confused. I turned to Lydia, Jean, and Audrey, but they looked a little worried as well.

            "What are you looking for?" Audrey asked.

            "Can't you hear it?"

            "Hear what?" Jean asked looking completely perplexed.

            "You can't hear the music?"

            "What music?" Audrey asked, looking around as well.

            I turned to Lydia, "You can hear it, can't you Shadow?" I asked feeling scared, but all she did was shake her head.

            Now I knew there was something strange going on. Someone was playing the flute and I was going to find out who it was. Jiro just shrugged and just attached our chains to metal rings in the stone wall, and just as he was finishing with mine, Tora came back with a man wearing a gold crown and bright red robe.

            "What it is you want me for this time Jiro?" the man asked bitterly. Tora ran to her brother and hid behind him whispering, "He's in a bad mood big brother."

            "I thought you might want to see what I brought you for a birthday present, father." Jiro replied through gritted teeth, "I brought you something that you told me you wanted." he added gesturing toward us.

            "Wh--what--how" the man stammered, looking bewildered, "How did you do it my son?"

            "I just followed your advice and went for the oldest first, after that it was pretty much hunt and prey." Jiro replied.

            "Well done Jiro, you've made your father very proud." Jiro's father said, clapping his son on his back, "You were able to bring me the last ingredient for my plan to work perfectly without fail."

            "I wanted to make you happy, father." Jiro replied, giving his father a weak smile.

            The mysterious flute music had been playing since we had entered the giant room. I had kept looking around the dark room until my eyes adjusted to the dark, but the music now seemed to be coming from everywhere. Somehow I felt like I had been in this place before, but I couldn't think of where I'd seen this place before. Lydia was sitting against the wall, deep in thought, Audrey and Jean had started playing tic-tack-toe in the dirt, and Tora was sitting on a nearby rock, starring at all of us.

            Jiro and his father left the room, and Tora just sat there on her rock and kept starring at us.

            "Alright, now I'm confused." Lydia said after a few minutes. "What in the world can that boy be planning to do?"

            "Maybe he's, um... I got nothing," Audrey said.

            "What I don't understand is how I can hear someone playing the flute, and nobody else can." I said, standing up and leaning against the wall. "Also what I can't figure out is why Jiro chose to attack me in my dreams, instead of attacking one of you, or all three of us. Is there something that he's planning to do with just me?"

            "That just means that you've got to be more cautious than the rest of us," Jean said, lying on her back. "Maybe he needs you to do something that none of us can do."

            "Wait a second; I think I understand something now!" I exclaimed.

            "What is it?" Jean, Audrey, and Lydia asked together.

            "This place is known as _____, or the Tomb of Lost Souls. I remember it from when I was playing with Taro one day, six years ago." I said, "He brought me here because he thought it might be a place where I could see Daichi's spirit before it passed on. But I remember that we were only able to hear Taro's older sister, Hana's spirit. He said that she had died when she was only sixteen, but she had died in the middle of a concert she was giving to her family. She was very talented at the flute, and was extremely beautiful."

            "But what's that got to do with you being able to hear her playing the flute?" Audrey asked.

            "Wait a second," Tora exclaimed, shaking her head, "Is it my understanding that you" she pointed to me, "can hear her too?"

            "Well, yeah." I answered, taken completely by surprise forgetting that Tora was there. "How long have you been able to hear it?"

            "For as long as I can remember," Tora said, "I don't remember Hana very much, all I remember was hearing her play the flute every day. I loved to listen to her play, and would sometimes sneak out of bed to listen to her play."

            "Well, I think I remember Taro saying something about her wanting to see me, but never getting the chance to. So she decided to create a song to play for me on the evening of our engagement, meaning she had a very long time to write a good song. He said that she had worked extremely hard on that song, because she wanted it to be perfect and hoped that I would like it, but when she was finished with it and was practicing it for everyone, she died."

            "How can someone just... die?" Jean asked.

            "They can't, well not like that," Lydia thought aloud, getting to her feet, "Isn't it strange, Taro's sister mysteriously dies while practicing a song that she wrote for you, and you are the only one, of us, that can hear her playing the flute, and now we know that Tora can hear her too? Only you, Tora, and Taro can hear her playing, yet you've never even seen her, nonetheless know her."

            "I know, I don't really understand that part either, but still..." I said, looking off into the darkness. I can't help but feel that there's some kind of connection between me and Hana.

            Just then, we saw a bright light and we saw a girl, about sixteen years old, with light blue hair, bright, powerful blue eyes, ginger dog ears and tail appear holding the hand of a young 6-year-old boy that I'd recognize anywhere by those big green eyes, dark blue dog ears and tail, and short light brown hair: Taro.

            They were standing on a balcony overlooking a peaceful kingdom, the girl was wearing a beautiful red renaissance-style gown that glowed in the evening sun, and Taro was wearing a cute black tux. The girl bent down and stroked the boy's hair, looking him straight in the eyes.

            "Don't worry about what's going to happen to me Taro, just promise me that you'll take care of Jiro, Mio, and little baby Tora for me, okay?" she said, wiping away a tear from Taro's face.

            "But, I don't understand what you're telling me, Hana. I don't understand... why you have... had to leave me..." he cried, looking up into his sister's blue eyes. "Why can't I go with you?"

            "Because where I'm going, you wouldn't be able to return, alive." she said, turning to look at the kingdom. "Besides, I'm not going alone. Daichi said that he was going to go to the same place with me because he wants the same thing I do. Even though he's only two years older than you, I think that because he wants to stop the war from breaking out as much as I do, that it might serve as a good cause."

            "But... what about... your song?" Taro asked, sounding more like a father than a little brother, "If you leave now, Aneko will never be able to hear your beautiful song."

            "Oh but she will," Hana said keanling over and giving Taro a kiss on the check, “I’m sure that she'll hear it someday."

            "But how can she--"

            "Don't try to understand this now Taro," Hana interrupted, "You're too young to be able to comprehend something this complicated. You'll understand it when you're older, trust me and know that I will always be there to protect you and help you when you need it. For I am willing enough to give up my life for the safety of yours."

            The room changed into a large room made of white marble. In the middle we saw Hana and Taro, but we also saw that half of the room was of when Daichi left and I was left crying at the base of the tree. Hana and Taro opened up a portal at the same time, they both told us not to worry, and then they both disappeared into the portals together, leaving Taro and I to cry as we were so young and thought that they were abandoning us.

            "I think I understand everything now," I said, falling to my knees, "I now fully understand what Jiro was talking about, and why he needs us, and more importantly why he needs me most of all."

Chapter 5

Tomb of the Lost Souls

            Have you ever felt so confused that you thought your head was going to explode? If not, then I'm sorry to say that the remaining chapters of this book will confuse anyone who tries to figure it all out (unless I've already told them), so please just try to follow along, but try not to get too confused.

            Jiro made us sit there in the garden for a couple of hours until we heard a very high-pitched whistle. It was coming from the castle behind the garden, but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from in the castle.

            "That's the signal that the coast is clear," Jiro stated, getting to his feet and pulling us up as well. "Now listen, you've got to be extremely quiet as we go in, or else I'll have to knock you out and drag you in. Got it?"

            We nodded in agreement, it was best to not argue with someone that had a collar with a chain around your neck and could attack you at anytime. Jiro pulled us by our chains, which was highly unnecessary because we couldn't have gone anywhere if we actually wanted to. He led us toward the castle through a number of hidden passages and the stars were shining brightly by the time we reached a small entrance into the castle. A young girl with tiger like ears and tail crawled out of the entrance and nodded to Jiro, gestured for him to follow her, and disappeared back into the entrance. Jiro followed pursuit of the girl, running very fast, making it hard for us to keep up. She led us to an alcove that could fit about six people in it, hidden behind a large Weeping Willow tree. Jiro shoved us into the alcove and the girl pushed something on the inside of the wall, making the alcove spin around and opening up to a large room the size of the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas, but as dark as the night sky with no moon.

            "Nice work Tora, you've been a big help." Jiro said to the little girl, "Now go and fetch father for me, little sis."

            "Okay, big brother!" Tora happily replied, skipping off into the darkness.

            "What's going on Jiro?" I demanded after Tora's footsteps died away, "And where are we?"

            But before he could answer I heard something strange. I couldn't tell what it was, but it sounded as though someone was playing a flute. I looked around but the room was covered in darkness. Jiro must not have heard it because he looked at me as though I was confused. I turned to Lydia, Jean, and Audrey, but they looked a little worried as well.

            "What are you looking for?" Audrey asked.

            "Can't you hear it?"

            "Hear what?" Jean asked looking completely perplexed.

            "You can't hear the music?"

            "What music?" Audrey asked, looking around as well.

            I turned to Lydia, "You can hear it, can't you Shadow?" I asked feeling scared, but all she did was shake her head.

            Now I knew there was something strange going on. Someone was playing the flute and I was going to find out who it was. Jiro just shrugged and just attached our chains to metal rings in the stone wall, and just as he was finishing with mine, Tora came back with a man wearing a gold crown and bright red robe.

            "What it is you want me for this time Jiro?" the man asked bitterly. Tora ran to her brother and hid behind him whispering, "He's in a bad mood big brother."

            "I thought you might want to see what I brought you for a birthday present, father." Jiro replied through gritted teeth, "I brought you something that you told me you wanted." he added gesturing toward us.

            "Wh--what--how" the man stammered, looking bewildered, "How did you do it my son?"

            "I just followed your advice and went for the oldest first, after that it was pretty much hunt and prey." Jiro replied.

            "Well done Jiro, you've made your father very proud." Jiro's father said, clapping his son on his back, "You were able to bring me the last ingredient for my plan to work perfectly without fail."

            "I wanted to make you happy, father." Jiro replied, giving his father a weak smile.

            The mysterious flute music had been playing since we had entered the giant room. I had kept looking around the dark room until my eyes adjusted to the dark, but the music now seemed to be coming from everywhere. Somehow I felt like I had been in this place before, but I couldn't think of where I'd seen this place before. Lydia was sitting against the wall, deep in thought, Audrey and Jean had started playing tic-tack-toe in the dirt, and Tora was sitting on a nearby rock, starring at all of us.

            Jiro and his father left the room, and Tora just sat there on her rock and kept starring at us.

            "Alright, now I'm confused." Lydia said after a few minutes. "What in the world can that boy be planning to do?"

            "Maybe he's, um... I got nothing," Audrey said.

            "What I don't understand is how I can hear someone playing the flute, and nobody else can." I said, standing up and leaning against the wall. "Also what I can't figure out is why Jiro chose to attack me in my dreams, instead of attacking one of you, or all three of us. Is there something that he's planning to do with just me?"

            "That just means that you've got to be more cautious than the rest of us," Jean said, lying on her back. "Maybe he needs you to do something that none of us can do."

            "Wait a second; I think I understand something now!" I exclaimed.

            "What is it?" Jean, Audrey, and Lydia asked together.

            "This place is known as _____, or the Tomb of Lost Souls. I remember it from when I was playing with Taro one day, six years ago." I said, "He brought me here because he thought it might be a place where I could see Daichi's spirit before it passed on. But I remember that we were only able to hear Taro's older sister, Hana's spirit. He said that she had died when she was only sixteen, but she had died in the middle of a concert she was giving to her family. She was very talented at the flute, and was extremely beautiful."

            "But what's that got to do with you being able to hear her playing the flute?" Audrey asked.

            "Wait a second," Tora exclaimed, shaking her head, "Is it my understanding that you" she pointed to me, "can hear her too?"

            "Well, yeah." I answered, taken completely by surprise forgetting that Tora was there. "How long have you been able to hear it?"

            "For as long as I can remember," Tora said, "I don't remember Hana very much, all I remember was hearing her play the flute every day. I loved to listen to her play, and would sometimes sneak out of bed to listen to her play."

            "Well, I think I remember Taro saying something about her wanting to see me, but never getting the chance to. So she decided to create a song to play for me on the evening of our engagement, meaning she had a very long time to write a good song. He said that she had worked extremely hard on that song, because she wanted it to be perfect and hoped that I would like it, but when she was finished with it and was practicing it for everyone, she died."

            "How can someone just... die?" Jean asked.

            "They can't, well not like that," Lydia thought aloud, getting to her feet, "Isn't it strange, Taro's sister mysteriously dies while practicing a song that she wrote for you, and you are the only one, of us, that can hear her playing the flute, and now we know that Tora can hear her too? Only you, Tora, and Taro can hear her playing, yet you've never even seen her, nonetheless know her."

            "I know, I don't really understand that part either, but still..." I said, looking off into the darkness. I can't help but feel that there's some kind of connection between me and Hana.

            Just then, we saw a bright light and we saw a girl, about sixteen years old, with light blue hair, bright, powerful blue eyes, ginger dog ears and tail appear holding the hand of a young 6-year-old boy that I'd recognize anywhere by those big green eyes, dark blue dog ears and tail, and short light brown hair: Taro.

            They were standing on a balcony overlooking a peaceful kingdom, the girl was wearing a beautiful red renaissance-style gown that glowed in the evening sun, and Taro was wearing a cute black tux. The girl bent down and stroked the boy's hair, looking him straight in the eyes.

            "Don't worry about what's going to happen to me Taro, just promise me that you'll take care of Jiro, Mio, and little baby Tora for me, okay?" she said, wiping away a tear from Taro's face.

            "But, I don't understand what you're telling me, Hana. I don't understand... why you have... had to leave me..." he cried, looking up into his sister's blue eyes. "Why can't I go with you?"

            "Because where I'm going, you wouldn't be able to return, alive." she said, turning to look at the kingdom. "Besides, I'm not going alone. Daichi said that he was going to go to the same place with me because he wants the same thing I do. Even though he's only two years older than you, I think that because he wants to stop the war from breaking out as much as I do, that it might serve as a good cause."

            "But... what about... your song?" Taro asked, sounding more like a father than a little brother, "If you leave now, Aneko will never be able to hear your beautiful song."

            "Oh but she will," Hana said keanling over and giving Taro a kiss on the check, “I’m sure that she'll hear it someday."

            "But how can she--"

            "Don't try to understand this now Taro," Hana interrupted, "You're too young to be able to comprehend something this complicated. You'll understand it when you're older, trust me and know that I will always be there to protect you and help you when you need it. For I am willing enough to give up my life for the safety of yours."

            The room changed into a large room made of white marble. In the middle we saw Hana and Taro, but we also saw that half of the room was of when Daichi left and I was left crying at the base of the tree. Hana and Taro opened up a portal at the same time, they both told us not to worry, and then they both disappeared into the portals together, leaving Taro and I to cry as we were so young and thought that they were abandoning us.

            "I think I understand everything now," I said, falling to my knees, "I now fully understand what Jiro was talking about, and why he needs us, and more importantly why he needs me most of all."

Chapter 6

Memories and Answers

            I concentrated all my power on bringing back the memories. I tried to remember being with Daichi the night he left, and I tried to remember the day that we overheard our parents talking about trying to stop a war from starting. Suddenly, the room changed and we saw the memory of our parents talking about the war.

            We saw me, as a young cat-girl, hiding behind a wall and starring at our parents who were sitting on their thrones, talking with the head soldier.

            "If we don't act quickly, many innocent lives will be sacrificed." the soldier said, "Your sister thinks it best if we try to use one of the other worlds to save our women and children, you majesty."

            "But who'll we get to find one that's safe enough?" our mother asked, "Surely we can't go."

            "I would be happy to risk my life for the sake of the kingdom," the soldier said. "I will go into the Tree of Many Portals and find a suitable world for our kind."

            "Alright, it's decided then," our father said, standing up. "You'll go and check the worlds and report back here."

            Just then, a younger Daichi (about the same age as he was when he left) appeared behind me and looked very upset. The younger me turned to look at her brother and he saw that there were tears in her eyes.

            "I don't want to go to war with the other castle big brother!" she cried, it was obvious that she was only six and still got very upset over things she knew she shouldn't get involved in. "Make it stop big brother!"

            "You know I can't do that Aneko," he replied, wiping away the tears, "You know that I can't stop a war between the dog-people kingdom and ours."

            "It's Light Kitten now!" Aneko cried, "Remember?"

            "Alright, Light Kitten," Daichi laughed, "But you'll have to call me Brave Cat then, alright?"

            "'Kay!" she said, apparently cheering up a bit, "but what about the war? What are we going to do about that?"

            "Don't worry, I'll think of something." Daichi said soothingly, giving Aneko a hug and rubbing her head gently, "I'll think of something, don't you worry."

            The scene changed and we saw the younger me spying on her parents again, except this time she was holding a lumpy envelope in her hand and she looked both angry and frightened.

            "Sir, your son has left you a letter," one of the servants said, handing a small letter to the king. "He said that this letter must go directly to you, now..."

            "Is it that important?" the king asked laughing, "If it's so important, then why didn't he come and tell me himself? Oh, what am I going to with that boy...? What?!" he exclaimed, looking at the letter with rage and shock. "What does that boy think he's going to accomplish by doing such an act of foolishness?"

            Anekos eyes immediately filled up with tears and she ran from the room, throwing the letter she was holding to the ground as she did so. The king looked up and knew that he shouldn't have yelled about something like that, and regretted it especially because Aneko had heard him. He went to pick up the letter, but the queen had got to it first and put it in her robe.

            "I'll hold on to this for the time being," she said gently to her husband, "And please try to control your anger next time dear."

            The room changed once more, and this time we saw Daichi sitting at his desk writing a letter. The room was quite dark, and he was writing his letter by a candle instead of his lamp. After a few moments he said, "I can feel that something's troubling you sister, what it is?" he turned towards the doorway and saw Aneko standing there, a light stream of tears falling down her face.

            "When are you going, big brother?" she asked softly, walking into the dimly lit room, "When are you planning on leaving me?"

            "I'm not leaving you," Daichi protested, picking up a bag and stowing it under his bed. "I'm just trying to make you happy by making sure that a war doesn’t start."

            "But, why must you leave?" she asked desperately. "Why can't you stay here with me?"

            "We can't be selfish sister," he replied, stepping towards her and putting his hand on her shoulder, "We must learn that we must do whatever necessary for the greater good, and for the good of the people of our kingdom."

            "Dai... Daichi..." Aneko said adoringly. Then her brother gave her a smile and ran out of the room and the memory changed again. This time it was a memory of Jiro and Lydia standing in front of the Tree of Many Portals.

            "Aiko, there's something that I need to tell you." Jiro said, "It's about my father..."

            "What about your father?" Aiko asked, looking very confused. "Is it something bad?"

            "No, not really," Jiro said, "It's just that he wants me to... You know how I told you that my older sister Hana disappeared a couple years ago, and that she was only sixteen. Well, my father said that he had a plan to bring her back for Taro's birthday present."

            "What's so bad about that?" Aiko asked.

            "The spell to bring her back requires two people of equal power, and nobody in our family or in yours has the same power level." Jiro explained, "But your sister, Aneko, she has enough power to perform the spell alone."

            "Why not ask her?" Aiko suggested.

            "Because, even if she did perform the spell flawlessly, she would lose something." Jiro said.

            "What? What would she lose?"

            "She would either lose all her power, or she would lose the feeling that is the strongest at the time she performs the spell."

            "That's not fair! Isn't there any other way to bring Hana back?"

            "No, I'm afraid that there isn't any other alternative. And I've tried asking my father to reconsider, but he just says that he's not going to let anything stop him from bringing his daughter back."

            "May I ask why he wants to bring her back?" Aiko asked.

            "He's noticed that Taro has been spending a lot of time locked up in Hana's room and that he hasn't been as focused on his duties as he used to be. He thinks that if he can bring Hana back, that Taro will forget about Aneko, stop moping around all the time, and get back to being more focused on his duties as the prince."

            "That doesn’t make any sense!" Aiko said, she’s absolutely right about that! I thought to myself.

            "I know, but that's not all. My father said that I have to test Aneko's strength and see if she can bring out the full potential of her powers." Jiro said.

            "Meaning what?"

            "Meaning... meaning that I'd have to... act like I'm going to kill her." Jiro said.

            After that, the room changed back to normal and the memories were gone. We stood in silence for a few more minutes and didn't know what to say or do anymore. I knew now why Daichi and Hana had left, and why Jiro acted as though he intended to kill me, but I still didn't understand why I was the one that had the most power, enough to bring someone back from the dead.

            "So, you were intending to see how I would react when faced with death, huh?" I said after a while. "At least now I know whose side you’re on."

            "I told you that I didn't want to kill you." Jiro said, "I was just doing what I was told to do, that's all."

            "Do you still want my help?" I asked.

            "Well, I'm certainly not going to force you to help me if you don't want to." Jiro shrugged.

            "Can we help?" Jean and Audrey asked.

            "You heard what Taro had said," Lydia said, "He said that it takes two people with equal power or one with a lot more than anyone else."

            "But, Barbara can't just do it alone!" Jean protested, "I've only known you guys for a few hours, but we are sisters after all. And I can't just sit by and let her lose all her powers or her most cherished feeling."

            "Me neither, I don't want to see her lose something like that just because I'm too weak to help out." Audrey added.

            "Be quiet, both of you," I said, in a voice unlike my own. "You don't know what you’re talking about. It's not because you’re too weak or too powerful, it's because you’re not meant to do it. It's my destiny to either lose my powers or my most cherished feeling, but that's because God meant for it to be that way. So just be quiet and let me do what I'm meant to do."

            Everyone was starring at me, holding their breaths. I'd never been so cruel to anybody before. But I couldn't help it, I was so angry, so confused, and so... afraid. I was afraid for losing my powers that I just got back, I was afraid of losing my most cherished feeling, but most of all, I was afraid that, knowing now what I was meant to do, that I would go on living in this world without a purpose, without a reason to continue living. If Taro did forget about me, then he would surely find another whom he would love. I knew that deep down inside my heart, there was so much untouched power of great potential, and that if there was ever a time to bring it out, it would be now.

            "Take me to the room, Tora." I said. "Jiro, you stay here and make sure that my sisters don't come after me."

            "Alright, just don't hurt yourself too much." Jiro replied.

            "I won't," I said as Tora lead me out of the room and toward the giant room made of white marble. I knew that Tora was going to ask me why I didn't ask Jiro to take me to the room, or better yet, why I didn't go alone if I'd been there before. But all I said was that I knew that Jiro would have much rather preferred to stay with Lydia than me.

Chapter 7

The Power of One that Must Stand Alone

            When Tora and I reached the room, I walked up to the part of the wall that had the spell on it. I moved my hand over the words and placed my other hand on the heart shaped mark on my chest. I remembered Daichi telling me that this heart was a symbol that made me special from everybody else and that it meant that I was destined for great things. At the time I didn't understand what he meant. But now...

            "... Now I understand what you meant, oniichan."

            "What did you say?" Tora asked.

            "Nothing, just thinking to myself. You might want to step back Tora, I'm not sure if I can control all of my power yet."

            "Okay, please be careful." she whispered as she scampered off to hide behind a pillar on the other side of the room.

            I closed my eyes, focusing all of my powers to surface. I could feel myself growing stronger and stronger every minute. I couldn't ever remember having this much power before, because I was so used to using only a fraction of the power that I had now. I was always running out of strength and stamina after every attack, and so I thought that I didn't have that much power inside myself, but boy was I wrong. As I focused myself to surfacing all the power that I could, I was able to sense things more clearly and easily. I could sense Hana's spiritual presence, Tora's presence, even everyone back in the other room's presence.

            When I felt like there was no more power that I could bring to the surface, I opened my eyes and saw that I was glowing. I had a bright light coming from the heart shaped mark on my chest, and it was causing my entire body to glow brightly. I normally would have been surprised by this, but I reminded myself that I wasn't here to fascinate myself.

            "I'm here to bring Hana back." I said to myself. I looked up at the spell and saw that it too was glowing. I understood what I had to do now. "I'm here to bring Hana back to this world!" I said a little bit louder. The spell glowed more brightly and a bright portal was beginning to form right between the wall and myself. "I'm here to bring Hana back to this world where she belongs!" I yelled, and the words glowed more brightly and the portal grew bigger. "I'M HERE TO BRING HANA BACK TO THIS WORLD WHERE SHE BELONGS!" I yelled as loud as I could, and the spell glowed extremely bright and the portal opened up completely.

            The moment the portal opened completely, Hana's spirit had walked out. Except that it wasn't her spirit anymore, she was flesh and blood. She had been successfully resurrected. When she had stepped out of the portal, the portal disappeared, the spell stopped glowing, and so did I. Then Hana looked at me with grateful eyes and wrapped her arms around me.

            "Arigato," she whispered, "Really, thank you very much. You have saved me, and by doing so, risked everything."

            "Si-sister? Is that really you?" Tora asked, from around the pillar, "You're so beautiful!"

            Tora ran to her sister and they hugged each other. I watched them smile and laugh and cry all at the same time. I knew that whatever I had given up, whether it have been my powers or my most cherished feeling, which was love, I knew that it was worth it. To just stand there and see these two sisters who hadn't seen each other in a very long time, was reward enough. I heard footsteps and saw Lydia, Jean, Audrey, and Jiro running into the room. Jiro ran to his sister and Jean, Lydia, and Audrey ran to me.

            "Are you all right?"

            "Did you get hurt?"

            "What happened?"

            "It's all right, I'm fine. Really, it's okay." I reassured them.

            Lydia looked back at the siblings, "So that's Hana, well she is beautiful." she said.

            "Yeah, she sure is." Jean and Audrey agreed.

            "It doesn’t even matter now if I lost all my powers or my feeling of love, because reuniting a family has its own rewards." I said.

            Just then, Taro rushed into the room with Mio and his father. He first looked at me, then at Hana. His expression seemed to ask, did you bring her back?. Hana approached Taro and whispered something in his ear, and he gestured for me to come over to him.

            "There's something that we need to do, right here and right now." he said. He knelt down on one knee, pulled out a small black box, held it up to me and asked, "Aneko, will you marry me?"

            I starred down at the ring and said, "Yes Taro, I will marry you." and Hana said, "Well now it looks like I'll finally get to play my song for you."

            "Hang on Hana," I said, "I've already heard your song once, remember, so this time... can I add lyrics to it?"

            She hesitated for a moment and then said, "Of course, seeing as I did write this song for you anyway."

            So Hana began playing the flute and I began to sing. I wasn't just singing, it was much more than just words, it was my heart speaking through words.

"Love can be a funny feeling,

It can make one very happy,

Yet also make one very sad,

It can be a pain and bring great sorrow,

But it can also be a joy and bring great happiness.

With love, you can't be harmed by others,

Because love sees you through.

Love is there from the beginning, and will be there till the end.

Yes love can have its ups and downs,

But in the end love gives us a child of gracious light.

Love is very complicated,

Yet it can be so simple.

Yes Love is there from the beginning of the beginning,

And will be there till the end of the end."

            "That's beautiful, Aneko." Taro said, "Where did you learn that?"

            "I just turned a poem that I remember writing into a song." I said.

            "Well, that must have been one heck of a poem, because it was beautiful." Taro said.

            We all laughed and caught each other up, and shared our stories with everyone who'd listen. After a couple of hours, we headed upstairs and went home. When we got home, however, we were greeted with hugs and kisses and cries of relief. Our mother and father were extremely happy to have us home, and we were glad to be home. After a few more hours, I was able to sneak out of the room, and instinctively went up to the northern tower. I reached the top and came across a door that read: DAICHI NEKO. I carefully opened the door and stepped inside. The room was covered in a thick layer of dust, and was filled with light from the windows. I picked up an old, beautifully carved out wooden jewelry box with a golden nameplate: PRINCESS ANEKO. I starred at the name and began to cry, this was obviously a gift that my brother was planning on giving me. I noticed that there was a lock on the front. I looked around, but couldn't find the key anywhere.

            "I thought you might be here." came a voice from the doorway. I looked up and saw my mother standing there, smiling.

            "Why aren't you downstairs with the others?" I asked, wiping away my tears.

            "Because I felt that you needed me more." she replied. She held out a lumpy envelope with my name on it.

            I took it and starred at the handwriting, it looked very familiar. I quickly opened it and pulled out a letter, a few pictures, and a heart-shaped golden locket with the initials LK on it. I looked at the letter and began to cry even harder.

            Dear sister Aneko,

                       

                        We've been together since the day you were born. Your eyes are as blue as sapphires, your smile is as beautiful as a song, and your voice is full of strength and determination. I feel that even though I'm only 10 years old, you will still need to have some kind of memory of me. You, a six year old princess, wouldn't be able to live without something to remember your older brother by. You always follow me and look up to me greatly. If I ever left you, without even the slightest bit of something to remember me by, you would probably run away (and we don't want that). I hope to be able to see your beautiful smile when I return home, and I wish to see how much you've grown in my absence. I hope that you will come to understand why I must leave you, mother, father, our sisters, and the kingdom, please don't think that I'm abandoning you. I entrust you with all my pictures and this special locket. I made this locket with father when he took me to the village last week. I made it in the shape of a heart because I love you greatly, little sis, and I engraved your nickname initials on it because I know how much you love that name. The pictures I leave to you are of before you were born, and of us playing together. I hope you enjoy them and I hope that they will bring back memories of me.

Love,

Your Brother

Prince Daichi

P.S.

Take care to look after our little sisters and take lots of pictures so I can enjoy your memories when I get back, just like I have let you enjoy mine.

            I looked down at the locket and I ran my finger over the LK. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine brother with father making this locket for me. I tried to smile, but could only cry.

            "It's okay dear," my mother said comfortingly, "It's all over. Your home safe and sound now. It's all over."

            "No, you're wrong," I said, standing up and walking out on to the balcony, "No, this is far from over. This is just the beginning."

Chapter 8

Special Twin Sisters & Daichi

            The sky was blood-red, all the villages were ablaze, and all the villagers were screaming and scurrying for shelter…a war had begun. I was on my knees on the balcony overlooking this disastrous phenomenon. I held someone in my arms, someone that was dead. I couldn’t clearly see who it was through all my tears and the blazing firelight. I was holding a blood-stained dagger in my right hand, and I understood that I had pierced the heart of the victim now in my arms. I cried harder and harder as the time passed, until I heard someone behind me.

            “I knew that you were going to be a pest, right from the beginning Aneko. But seeing as you’re in so much pain, I’ll do you a favor. I’ll remove your pain for you!”

            I woke up, finding myself back in my bedroom. Thank God that was only a dream, I thought to myself. I looked down at my hands and was relieved to see that I wasn’t covered in blood, nor that I was holding a dead body or dagger. But who was it that I had killed? Who was the person behind me that sounded so full of hatred for me? Why had a war broken out between the kingdoms? These were the questions that needed to be answered. I walked out to the balcony to ponder over these thoughts before going back to sleep.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            “Aneko! Get your tail down here right now!”

            It was morning already, and I hadn’t had much sleep. I still couldn’t figure out what my dream meant. I was told that I sometimes will get premonitions, or visions of the future, in my sleep as well as when I’m awake.

            It’s been about six months since my sisters and I were brought back to our world. The only problem is that we need to go back to the Human World in order to save our older brother, Daichi. Nothing really interesting has happened to us, I mean all we did was come back, I brought a girl back from the dead, and got engaged all in the same night. See, nothing that interesting happened to us. Anyway, Taro, my fiancé, and I have agreed to wait until my sisters and I find my brother before we get married. And since he proposed to me and Hana, his older sister, was brought back from the dead, I’ve been seeing less and less of him.

            Also in the past six months, I’ve gotten to spend some time with Hana and some of my old friends. In the cat and dog-person kingdom there are seven princesses: Chitose, Emiko, Suri, Keiko, Keera, and Abila. Keera and Keiko are twins, and the only way to tell them apart is by hair and eye color. Keera’s hair is pitch-black and Keiko’s is blonde. Keera’s eyes will glow blood-red whenever she gets angry. Suri is sweet and shy, Emiko is very smart and will always be caught with a book in her hands, Chitose is very strong and athletic and is always up for playing outside, and Abila is the only one that can stop Keera from fighting with anyone. My sisters and I have spent a lot of time catching up with them.

            As I walked down to breakfast, I noticed that something was different. I didn’t mean different as in scenery, but I could have sworn that I could feel the presence of two more people in the castle. But, I didn’t let that bother me too much, because I was going to go and search the castle today.

            “You can’t explore the castle today!” Maeko complained as I explained my plans for the day. “We’re going to go on a picnic with Hana and the others.”

            “We’ll settle that matter later you two. Mother, what was it you wanted to tell us?” Aiko asked.

            “Oh yes,” our mother said, “I wanted to tell you that you have two little sisters.”

            “What?!” we exclaimed, “Wouldn’t we have seen them around here?”

            “Well, that’s the problem, they’re shy.” Our mother explained, “They’re only six years old, and they haven’t seen you around that much, so they stay coped up in their room.”

            “For the past six months?” Machiko asked.

            “I know that it’s strange, but I’ve talked to them and I’ve convinced them to come out of their room. Tama, Suki, come here. Don’t be shy.” She said.

            Two little girls came out from behind a pillar. They both had long brown hair and pure white cat ears and tail (still in beginning stage). I noticed something odd about one of them, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

            “Hello, I’m Tama, and this is Suki.” One of the girls said, gesturing to her sister, “I’m blind and Suki can’t talk.”

            “How can you see where we are then?” I asked.

            “I don’t, I can just sense your presence.” She replied. “I’m Suki’s voice too. We are helpful to each other, she sees for me and I speak for her.”

            “That’s so cool,” Maeko said.

            They joined us for breakfast, and we were able to talk to them and get to know them a little better. Tama said that she is very happy that she has four older sisters and that she is looking forward to spending time with us.

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            I wasn’t sure if I should tell my sisters about my dream or not. They seemed so happy now, and if I told them about it, it might make them worry and then they wouldn’t be so happy. We walked out to the park with our fairies, who had been hidden when we arrived here, and we met up with our friends.

            I held Hana back and asked her about Taro, but she just said, “I don’t know what he’s up to, but don’t worry too much about it. I mean you know how he is, when he’s working hard on something he never lets anyone in on it.”

            “Yeah, I just wish I could spend more time with him, that’s all.” I said.

            “Cheer up; you’re on a picnic, which means: no worrying about anything…well, except for rain.”

            We had a great time, and before long I’d forgotten all about Taro. Keera suggested we go and play in the forest by the lake. However, when we got there we smelled a strong miasma, a toxic gas, making it impossible to go near it. We all held our noses and ran back to the park.

            “What’s with that miasma?” Keiko asked, “It wasn’t here before.”

            “Maybe something, or someone, is in there and doesn’t want anyone to find out what their up to.” Keera suggested.

            “No, that’s what you would do, Keera.” Abila said. “You’re always yelling at people when they go near your room when you don’t want them to.”

            “So, I’m just…uh, well I just don’t want anyone snooping around my room, that’s all.” Keera retorted.

            We all laughed then I asked, “But I didn’t sense anyone in there, did you guys?”

            “Now that you mention it, no.” Emiko said.

            Tama’s ears perked up and she said, “I feel it, someone’s coming.”

            We looked around but couldn’t see anyone, and then out of nowhere, Taro, Jiro, and Mio appeared. Mio is Taro’s youngest brother, and has green cat ears and tail.

            “Sorry if we haven’t been able to see each other lately, Aneko.” Taro said.

            “It’s okay; I know that you’re busy.”

            “Anyway, we need you and Hana to come with us, now.” Jiro said hastily.

            Hana and I got up and held on to Taro and Jiro, then the five of us disappeared and were teleported to the room where I had brought Hana back from the dead.

            “So what is it you need us for?” I asked.

            “We think that we might’ve located your brother, Daichi.” Mio said.

            “Daichi, really?”

            “We think, alright, we’re not sure if it’s him or not.” Jiro said.

            “We need you and Hana to go back into the human world and make sure that it’s him.” Taro said, “And don’t worry about the age thing, we know a spell that will keep you at your normal age, and only Daichi will be able to see you. Got it?”

            “Yeah, let’s do this.” I said. “But before we go, who will we recognize him?”

            “Either you’ll see his true form, or he sees you.” Mio said

            “Now get ready, we might be able to get you there in one piece, but the landing isn’t going to be a soft one.” Jiro warned.

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            Hana and I landed hard on the ground. I looked around and saw that we were back in the town that Aiko (Lydia) and I grew up in.

            “Guess Jiro wasn’t kidding when he said that the landing wasn’t soft, that hurts.” I laughed.

            “Yeah, but where are we exactly?” she asked.

            “We’re in the city that Aiko and I grew up in as humans.”

            “Where could Daichi be?”

            “Well, let’s see, he left when he was ten, so he should be around that age, right?”

            “Last time I saw him, he was ten, but who knows how old he could be now.”

            “I got it!” I said, “Let’s go and look in the schools, if we see him, then he’ll see us and we can bring him back.”

            “Sounds easy enough,” Hana said, “Let’s try it.”

            I lead the way to the local schools. We searched through every classroom, but couldn’t find him anywhere. It took us two days to look through all the schools in our area, and to no avail.

            I finally gave up, “We’re never going to find him Hana, let’s just give up and go back.”

            “We can’t, we must find him!” she said, “I know that this is hard, but we have to keep trying, have some faith.”

            “Wait,” I said, I felt a familiar presence. “I think I can sense him.”

            Sure enough, two seconds later a young seventeen year old came walking around the corner. I recognized him at once, it was Daichi. I ran up to him and gave him a hug, but he apparently didn’t know who I was and pushed me away.

            “What’s wrong oniichan? Don’t you recognize your own reimai?” I asked.

            “I—what are you two?” he asked startled, pointing at Hana and me. “And what do you mean ‘oniichan’ and ‘reimai’? I’m an only child!”

            “But you’re not, you’re my oniichan!” I persisted, “And this isn’t the world that you belong in.”

            “We were sent here to bring you back, Daichi.” Hana added, “You must remember me, at least you should, because we came here to stop a war from breaking out on our home planet. Please try to remember.”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I’m not going anywhere with either of you.” He said.

            “I hoped that I wouldn’t have to use this, but I guess I have no choice,” I said, “Please forgive me, oniichan. Starlight Kiss.”

            I kissed him on the cheek and he fell asleep instantly in my arms. Then I put my hand to his forehead and said, “Please, return my oniichan’s memory to him.” With that, Hana and I teleported back to our world with Daichi save in our arms.

Chapter 9

Oh Brother,

            “Wh-where am I?” Daichi asked when he woke up a few hours later.

            “You’re in your bedroom.” Maeko said, “Aneko’s magic was stronger than she expected. But not to worry, Machiko and I have been taking care of you.”

            “Arigato,” he said. “Where is Aneko anyway?”

            “Oh, she and Aiko are battle training,” Machiko answered.

            “For what?”

            “To make themselves stronger, I guess.” Maeko replied.

            Daichi got up and walked down to the training ground. Aiko and I were fighting against each other, practicing our techniques, so we didn’t notice him. Aiko and I had been practicing ever since Hana and I brought him back. We both wanted to become stronger and decided to practice on each other.

            “Spiral Flame!” Aiko yelled, and Little Angel produced a spiral flame that headed straight for me.

            “Giant Shield of Water!” I thought to Nicole, and a water barrier blocked Aiko’s attack.

            Even though we were both tired, we never stopped fighting. We continued to fight until neither one of us had any strength left to even move.

            “Petal Storm!” I thought to Nicole, and Aiko was flocked by petals that cut shallow cuts into her skin.

            “Even when you attack telepathically, I can still fight back harder…Shroud of Darkness!” she yelled, and the battle ground was covered in darkness, making me unable to see where Aiko was.

            “That’s very clever sis,” I complimented, “But I can still sense your presence…Nicole, please turn back into a scepter.”

            “Okay,” she said, changing into a scepter for me. I grabbed it and focused all my energy into it. As more energy entered into it, it glowed brighter.

            “Heaven’s Light!” I cried, and the darkness evaporated, and I continued, “Piercing Wind!” and the wind formed a small blade that lightly pierced Aiko’s chest.

            “I’m impressed you two,” Daichi said as the dust cleared. “But if you keep fighting like that, you’ll end up killing each other.”

            “Daichi! You’re awake!” Aiko cried, running to him and giving him a hug.

            “How much of our battle did you watch oniichan?” I asked.

            “Enough for me to tell that you two have grown stronger than when I last saw you.” He answered. “I remember leaving when you were only six, Aneko, making Aiko…”

            “I was four.” Aiko finished for him. “But how old are you now, all this time and space continuum stuff is confusing.”

            “I’m twenty, just four years older than Aneko.” He replied.

            “Hey Daichi, in the letter you left me, you said something about when I got older I’d understand why you and Hana had to leave. But I still don’t quite understand.” I said.

            “Don’t worry, you will…soon enough.” He laughed, rubbing my head.

            I pulled on his dark brown ears and we began to play as if we were still six and ten years old.

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            “Daichi, you and Aneko got a letter!” Tama called from the kitchen. We ran to see her and Suki. Suki handed Daichi a letter that was embellished in gold.

Aneko and Daichi,

You and your family are invited to a Welcome Home ball at the Neko-Inu castle on the 15^th of this month. We hope that you will attend a ball held in your honor.

Your friend always,

Keiko

            “Well, I guess we can’t not go,” Daichi said. “I mean it would just be sad to skip out on your own ball, wouldn’t it?”

            “Yeah, you’re right.” I laughed.

            “What’s a ball?” Tama asked, “Aren’t balls round objects that you play with?”

            “Yes, they are, but this is a different kind of ball.” Daichi replied, patting Tama on the shoulder. “This ball is more like a party where people dress up in fancy dresses and suits and dance all night.”

            “Oh, well then can we go?” she asked.

            “Of course, the letter did say ‘…you and your family are invited…’ so I don’t see why you couldn’t go.” I replied. “Come on, I’ll help you two pick out the purr-fect dresses.”

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

 

(Look Up the Rest)
Chapter 3

The Lunar Eclipse Prodigies

 

            I was kneeling on the balcony again watching the disasters fall upon my kingdom. I was holding the dead body, crying, and screaming my heart out. I didn't really understand what was going on, but I didn't like it at all. I heard the voice behind me, and this time I felt a sword go through my back. But the second I did, I woke up.

            "Okay, now that was scary." I said. "I think that I'm just getting paranoid. Maybe if I read something, then I can forget about that dream."

            I picked up a book from my nightstand and began to read.

 

            "Some people say that history repeats itself, they also say that the best rewards come with great sacrifices. But sometimes, the reward isn't worth the sacrifice. When most people are caught between life and death, they'll do anything to live, not even thinking about the consequences.

            Long ago, there lived a young cat-girl named Tama, who fell in love with the dog-boy prince, Ryo. They met when they were only ten years old, and you almost never saw them apart. But their fathers had hated each other, and when they found out about their children's love, they had them locked up in separate towers for five months. But then, Tama and Ryo were able to escape from their prison and ran away from the life they used to know. When the fathers found out that their children were missing, they blamed each other. Tama's father blamed Ryo's father for stealing his only child, and Ryo's father blamed Tama's father for stealing his first born son.

            The fathers argued so much that they decided to settle their problem by having an all out war. They gathered up their armies and headed out. Tama and Ryo were hiding nearby and when they heard the armies, they ran to stop them. They combined their powers to grow a tree in between their fathers to stop them from going another step toward each other. Then they faced their fathers and tried to reason with them.

            "They've done nothing wrong, so why should you fight them?" Ryo asked his father.

            "Yes," Tama added, "Ryo and I don't care if you two have a problem with each other, but Ryo and I do love each other, very much. And whether you two like it or not, we aren't going to change that!"

            "Exactly, and when we are old enough, we're going to marry and start our own kingdom." Ryo agreed.

            "I don't see why if I can be friends with them, you can't. Fighting doesn't solve anything! All it does is make innocent men and women risking their lives, and for what? Nothing, absolutely noting. Because in the end, all fighting does is lead to more fighting and more deaths, which causing nothing but pain and sorrow for everyone!. Also, if you two can't accept each other as equals, then we have no relation to either of you!" Tama said, crying.

            The two kings realized that their children were right, there really was no point in fighting each other. And they vowed to never fight one another, for any reason, ever again. So, to commemorate their promise, the two kings added portals to the tree that their children had created, thus the Tree of Many Portals was born. Soon afterwards, the kings built two kingdoms, one for cat-people, and one for dog-people. But when Tama and Ryo grew up, they built their own kingdom, right between the other two.

            As the story goes, any time that the two kings would start to have an argument, their children would stand between them and remind them of their promise."

 

            I closed the book and looked at the title, but when I did, I gaped at it: Legend of the Three Kingdoms by Prince Hiroshi Neko. It couldn't be! There's no way that father could have written this, but then again, I never really talked to father, I hardly ever see him. I placed the book back on the nightstand and closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            When I woke up, I grabbed father's book and ran down to the throne room. Luckily my father was there, just reading a letter. I approached him intending to ask him about the book, but when he looked down at me, he just said, "Sorry Aneko dear, but I just received an urgent message from your Aunt, and she needs me right away."

            "That's okay father, really I can talk to you later." I lied, feeling hurt because the one day that I actually need to talk to him, he acts like I'm not important enough for him.

            I ran from the room and headed up to the North Tower. I ran into my brother's room and found him standing shirtless on the balcony. I knew he didn't care that I was there, but I picked up a shirt that was lying on the bed and said half laughing, "If you knew I was coming, you could have at least put a shirt on!" He caught it and we both laughed. He always seemed to know when I was troubled by something and was always determined to help me through it.

            "Aneko, you know how I'm only four years older than you and Aiko and Machiko are only two years younger than you?" he said.

            "Of course I know."

            "I mean, not that I'm complaining, but you would always come to me whenever you were scared or had a problem or just needed someone to talk to, yet not once did you ever go to your sisters, who were girls and also closer to your age than I was."

            "I know, but I can't...I mean I've always looked up to you, and you were always there for me. But when we were little, I couldn't turn to Aiko because she was still a baby, but you are the oldest and the one I will look up to for everything, except maybe advice on clothes or romance or boys or make-up."

            We laughed and then he went to his desk and picked up the Jewelry box and necklace from before. He also went and picked up a crumpled letter from the trash.

            "Open the box." he said, holding out the box, the locket, and the letter.

            "How?"

            "You'll find out, and you have until the Lunar eclipse tonight to find out what's inside.

            "What do you mean I have until the Lunar Eclipse?" I asked, almost dropping my treasures. "There isn't any such thing as a Lunar eclipse, is there?"

            "There is in this world," he explained. "One night, I looked up into the sky and saw that the moon was being shrouded in darkness. It was only for an hour, but the moment that the moon was completely hidden, I heard a baby start crying. I ran toward the sound and came across you, lying in mom's arms. Aneko, you're a Lunar baby."

            "What do you mean, 'Lunar baby'?"

            "I did some research on it when I was nine, and a Lunar baby is a baby in this world born on the night of the Lunar eclipse when the moon is completely hidden in the shadows." Daichi said, "Lunar eclipses only happen every seventeen years, and Lunar babies are born with enormous power abilities, greater than that of the greatest and most powerful magical creatures in any universe. Only five Lunar babies have been born in the history of the world. The king of the Inu kingdom...our father and his sister, queen of the Neko-Inu Kingdom, and...I don't know if you want to know the last one,"

            "Tell me!" I persisted.

            "Well, the other Lunar baby on recorded history is...Hana."

            "What! Hana is a Lunar child too!?" I said gaping at him, dropping my treasures on his desk. "Why-WHY didn't you tell us sooner!?"

            "Because," he said, lowering his voice, "I wasn't supposed to know. It was a complete accident, I had just happened to find out what you, Hana, our father, aunt, and Taro's father are. I mean, I've researched it so much since I got back the other day, that I'm beginning to think that Tama and Suki are Lunar prodigies."

            "You mean, that's how come Tama can understand what Suki means even when she isn't able to speak at all?" I asked. "And how they act like one person all the time?"

            "Exactly! Well, that's what I figured as a possibility anyway."

            "Well, now I have something to tell you about," I said, pulling him down to sit on the bed. "And you might think I'm losing my mind, but I need to tell somebody before my head explodes of all this confusion."

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            All that night I tried to figure out how to open the box (I even asked my sisters for help, what a lot of good that did me). The box wouldn't open, no matter what I tried, but then I remember that I hadn't opened the letter yet. I opened it and saw to my surprise that it was written in...my own handwriting!

 

            1. To open the lock which cannot be locked, you must first find the key to your heart.

 

            What does this mean? It doesn't make any sense at all, or can it? I asked myself, then it hit me. "The lock that can't be locked must mean that the lock on the jewelry box isn't a lock at all! It's sealed with magic that can only be broken by finding the key to my heart! Oh, but what is the key to my heart?"

            I looked down at the locket...that must be it! It was in the shape of a heart and it had my nickname's initials inscribed on it! I picked up the locket and placed it into a heart shaped hole in the front of the box. The locket glowed a moment and then the box opened up. Inside there was a small photograph, a few pieces of small jewelry...and another crumpled up piece of paper. I opened this one up and read:

 

            2. Yay! You’re really smart! Now to find what your true purpose is, find the room of no light in the day and no dark in the night.

 

            "Aneko! Hurry up, or else we're going to be late!" my brother called. "Have you opened up the box yet?"

            "Yes, but there's not much in here!" I called back, hurrying down the stone steps.

            "Good, now all we have to do is wait until the Lunar eclipse appears." he whispered to me as we headed out the door.

            "Wait for what exactly?"

            "I'm not really sure, but the Lunar eclipse will occur at midnight, oh and by the way, happy 17th birthday, little sis."

            "Oh yeah, today's my birthday, in the human world my birthday wouldn't have been for another eight months."

            "What are you two babbling about, hurry up." little Maeko called, about twenty feet away.

            "We're coming! Anyway, I read the next clue and it said that to find my true purpose I need to find the room which has no light in the day and no darkness at night. But I can't figure out one thing, how is it that it's in my handwriting?" I added to Daichi as we quickened our pace.

            "I don't know, but here's another mystery: If you brought Hana back, what spell did you use?"

            "I-I'm not quite sure. All I remember was needing to say what I was there to do in able to bring Hana back." I said, trying to recollect what had happened the night I brought Hana back. "But I do remember needing to stand in front of the spell that marks one for all eternity, and something about one losing their powers or greatest feeling. But I can't remember what it was."

            "You know that the spell you're talking about backfired, don't you? Hana was the one who lost all her powers, not you."

            "I noticed that, but I still can't figure this whole thing out. It's so frustrating!"

            "I understand, but we need to be strong, even when we don't understand everything. But for now, just forget about what happened before, all that is important now is what is going to happen now in this world...and what will happen in the future."

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            I was beginning to get really confused, but I took Daichi’s advice and tried to forget about before. When we arrived at the palace we were greeted with a round of clapping and people rushing to us to shake our hands or give us hugs. After bout ten minutes of being shoved around like a kickball on the playground, Keiko got up and announced that it was time to start dancing. She started the music and people started to pair up. I stood off to the side, because I knew that I couldn’t dance. I tried to become invisible, but soon Taro had approached me and smiled at me.

            “You’re not trying to disappear at your own party, are you?” he asked.

            “No, I just…I just,” I started.

            “Can’t dance? Don’t worry, I can’t dance either.” He said, then he held out his hand, “Why don’t we learn together?”

            “Okay, I guess.” I said, taking his hand. We walked out onto the dance floor and began to dance. I felt strange, because we were so graceful together, it was as if we’d been here before.

            “And now, friends and family from the dog and cat-people kingdoms of Neko-Inu world, we have a special guest here with us tonight. Please welcome Princess Hana Inu!” Abila announced.

            Hana stepped onto the stage and looked out to us. “Hello, I’d like to start off by thanking a very special cat-princess who made it possible for me to be here today: Aneko Neko. Also I’d like to say how happy I am to be able to get a second chance at life. I would like to dedicate this next song to my soon-to-be sister-in-law Aneko.”

            She materialized a flute and began to play the song that she had written for me. I went up next to her and began to sing the words for the song. Everyone was silent and still, listening intently to the soft, sweet words I sang and the slow, but beautiful notes of Hana’s flute. When we finished, I rejoined Taro and Hana began to play another song with the orchestra. Taro and I walked outside to the garden and looked at all the beautiful lights.

            “Um, Taro? Can I ask you something?”

            “Sure, but before you do I’d like to apologize again for not spending enough time with you after I proposed to you.” He said. “It’s just that I wanted to make you happy and I knew that you missed your brother, so I decided that I would spend all my time searching for the whereabouts of your brother.”

            “That’s okay, it’s just that I wanted to ask you if you knew what today is.”

            “Today, well isn’t today Tama and Suki’s birthday?” he said.

            “It’s Hana’s and mine birthday too!” I said.

            “Oh yeah, that’s right.” He said, acting like he’d really forgotten, “Don’t worry I didn’t forget.”

            “But do you know what today is?” I asked, “Not meaning birthdays or anything like that.”

            “I give up,” he said, “what is today Aneko?”

            “It’s the night of the Lunar eclipse.” I said, “and at midnight the moon will be hidden behind darkness for and hour.”

            “That’s what Daichi was talking about. Now I understand what he was telling me earlier.”

            “I also have these riddles that he said I need to figure out as quick as I can, he said that I had to open the jewelry box he made for me before the moon disappears, but he didn’t tell me if I need to solve the riddle inside it before that happens. So I don’t know what to do.”

            “It’s okay, nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise.” He said, putting his arms around me.

            “There’s more.” I said, “I’ve had this strange dream where I’m standing out on my balcony, listening to the cries and sounds of war and battle. I’m holding the corpse of someone that I killed in my arms and then I hear someone behind me. I can’t tell if it’s a male or female, I don’t even know if it’s of this world. But whoever it is says that they knew I was going to be a problem from the start, but seeing as I was in a lot of pain, he would do me the favor of removing it for me. Then I wake up.”

            “Wow, that’s some dream. Have you told anyone else about it?”

            “No, I was too afraid to.”

            “Well, you should at least tell your brother and sisters, they’d want you to tell them about that.”

            “Alright, let’s go back into the party, ‘kay?” I said.

            “Okay, but don’t forget to tell them.”

            “I won’t.”

            We went back in and danced for a little bit longer, laughing and having a good time. We wished that the night would never end, but soon I would wish that it never happened at all.

Chapter 4

Lunar Star Riders

 

            My sister’s and I were singing a song in the middle of the party, and when we were done, Suri said that it was time for a special announcement.

            “Everyone, I’d like your attention, please. Yes, today we are celebrating the return of Prince Daichi of the Neko kingdom, and Princess Hana of the Inu-kingdom. But also we are here to celebrate a couple of birthdays! Hana will be turning seventeen, since she was brought back at the same age she died, Aneko will also be turning seventeen, my mother will be turning, uh…well let’s just say that she’s turning a year older, and King Stephen will also be a year older today.” She said. “And we are very pleased to announce that the twins Tama and Suki will be turning seven! We all know what that means: their cat ears and tail will show their color! Isn’t that exciting?”

            Everyone cheered, well, everyone except Keera that is. Keera's personality is kind of...well, let's just say that she's someone that you don't want to meet when you're lost. I don't know why but ever since I met Keera she's been nothing but mean and rude. People say that her sister, Keiko, was beat up one day in her village and has been hunting down the one who did it to her sister. I just think that she's a little misunderstood or just touched in the head. I glanced at the giant clock tower outside, it was 11:45. I have fifteen minutes before the Lunar eclipse, and that might not be enough time to figure out what was going to happen when the moon is gone.

            "Daichi, what's going to happen when the Lunar eclipse occurs?" I whispered to my brother.

            "I don't know, but nothing bad is going to happen, I'm sure of it. By the way, what's the second riddle again?"

            "It says to find the room with no light in the day and no dark in the night. But that's not possible, is it?"

            "I know of that place!" Tama cried, tugging on my dress, "Suki and I discovered it one day while we were exploring this castle."

            "It's in our friends' castle? This castle? When did you go exploring this castle?"

            "When we were three, they invited us over here to play a game called 'the hunter and the hunted'" she replied.

            I looked into her bright blue eyes and said, "Can you and Suki lead us there?"

            She smiled up at me and nodded her head. Suki and Tama lead Daichi and I down to the basement of the castle. When we reached the bottom, we saw a big, black door labeled: TRAINING ROOM.

            "Does everybody have a training room in their basement?" I asked myself.

            When we opened the door, we were almost blinded by a bright light. I looked around and saw that there was a big feild in the middle,(about the size of the city of Los Angelus or New York City, I couldn't tell) all kinds of weapons lined the walls. I noticed that a brick was loose on the wall closest to us, so I pryed it loose. I saw that there was a small rolled up peice of paper behind it, and pulled it out as well and placed the brick back in its place.

            3. You're on a roll, and getting closer to your goal, now you must wait for the Lunar Star Riders to appear. Only they will be able to help you with what you seek.

            P.S.

            After you do the above, you must invite the Star Riders to stay, only then will they be able to help you on your quest. You must also find the one that doesn't wish to be found, show them your true nature, and give them the gift that cannot be given.

            "And I thought that the last riddle was confusing," I groaned, starring at the riddle. When we got back upstairs, it was 11:58, only two minutes to go until the Lunar eclipse. I ran outside onto the balcony and stared up at the sky. The moon was beginning to become hidden in the darkness. I stood there, starring up in amazement at the moon. The midnight bells rang out just as the moon was comepletely hidden in the darkness. I could hear and feel my heart beating, and I felt like I was being...called. It was as if the moon was somehow, calling my soul. Tama and Suki came out and stood on either side of me. the doors behind us slammed shut and the curtains drew themselves closed. We were alone and nobody could interfere, but with what I didn't know.

            Just then I felt someone kissing me! I pushed them away and saw that it was someone I'd never seen before. Actually there was two people I'd never seen before. One was a young girl, no more than ten, and the other was a boy who looked to be about eightteen. They both had elvish ears and were floating in mid-air, but when I looked closer I noticed that they both had wings. They weren't ordinary wings either, they were big and made of tiny stars.

            "Good evening, sorry to startle you, but that's what we Star Riders do as a proper greeting." the boy said.

            "Please excuse my brother, he's been so bored lately, and he's not very good at manners. By the way, my name is Rin," the little girl said. "And this moronic brother of mine is Ryo."

            "Um, hi." Tama said sheepishly.

            "Why did you come here?" I asked.

            "We don't know, we just felt like we were supposed to be here." Rin answered.

            Then I remembered the riddle, you must wait for the Lunar Star Riders to appear, "Are you two Lunar Star Riders?" I asked.

            "Why yes we are, how did you know?" Ryo asked.

            "Because, I...because I...lucky guess?" I answered shrugging.

            "We're only allowed to stay here on this planet for as long as the Lunar eclipse is occuring. After that we must leave." Rin said. "Unless we're invited to stay, that is."

            "Well then, in that case, please do stay." Tama said. "My name is Tama, and this is my sisters Suki and Aneko."

            "Nice to meet you, Aneko, Suki and Tama." Ryo and Rin said. They landed on the balcony in front of us and took a good look at us. Then they transformed into cat-people!

            "Do we look alright?" Rin asked, spinning around and looking at herself as best she could. "I mean do we blend in?"

            "Y-yes, quite well actually." I said. Then the moon began to reappear and the doors opened back up and the curtains went back to their normal position. Aiko came up to me and asked, "What happened out there? You were gone for an entire hour!"

            "Let's just say that you don't want to know about the night I've had." I whispered back. "Besides, Tama and Suki will be getting their colors in a few moments."

            Indeed, a few seconds later Tama's cat ears and tail turned from white to baby-blue, and Suki's turned from white to rose. Everyone was enjoying themselves for the rest of the party, even Ryo and Rin seemed to be having a good time (seeing as they just got here on this planet). But all that was about to change, and I don't mean in the good way either.

 

Chapter 5

Forest of Death

 

            I woke up in the middle of the night, I had had the same dream again. It seemed that each time I had the dream, the person in my arms makes me sadder and sadder, and the voice behind me gets clearer and clearer. Ryo and Rin were staying in the guest room two floors below me, and I was wondering how they were doing. Ryo never took his eyes off of me the entire way home, and Rin never stopped starring at Tama and Suki.

            I got up and walked out onto the balcony and looked up to the sky. I felt the gentle breeze of the wind, heard the soft chirps of the crickets, and listened to the low rushing of water in the river close by. I stood out there in silence until the sun began to rise, then I said to myself, "How beautiful this is. If only it could last forever, that'd make me happy."

            I pulled a shawl over my shoulders and sat on the balcony rail, took a deep breath, and jumped. I landed on my feet on the roof of the kitchen. I looked through the window that showed the dining room and saw my mother and father sitting there, eating breakfast together. I knew that they were going to be mad at me for what I was going to do, but I knew I had to do it.

            I walked to the edge of the roof and jumped to the closest tree. I jumped from tree to tree until I came up to the edge of the forest with the strong miasma. I knew that this was going to be risking everything, but I figured that there was nothing I could lose now. I had my brother back, I got engaged, and I returned to my home.

            I brought the shawl up to cover my mouth and nose, and ran straight into the Forest of Death. The miasma was indeed strong, but I was able to hold my breath for a long time. I headed toward the center of the forest, and to Purity Lake. Purity Lake is the home of the Water Princess Oki, who is one of the most powerful creatures in the world. She is also the most wise and most beautiful creature.

            No one knows why the Lake of Purity is located at the heart of the Forest of Death, but a few guess that it's because one must show that they are worthy enough to see Princess Oki, and that she has placed herself in the Forest to avoid too many people. I could feel myself loosing strength, but I didn't stop or turn back. I began to feel dizzy, but still I continued on. Soon I began to see the lake, and that made me hurry my pace.

            I reached the Lake of Purity, but I felt so weak that I fell into the Lake.

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            When I woke up, I was bound to a tree trunk in the Forest of Death, facing the Lake of Purity. I saw a hunched figure by the lake.

            "Who are you?" I asked. "And what are you doing here?"

            "Good, good, you're awake." the figure said, but I couldn't tell who it was. "I'm the one who's going to use you as a guinea pig, and as for what I'm doing here, I was waiting for you to come out here alone and lure you into my trap."

            "Let me go!"

            "I can't, but I will, after I've tested my potion on you first." he said.

            He turned around, and I saw that it was Ryo. Ryo was holding a vile of some kind of bright red liquid in one hand. I didn't know what it was, but I sure as heck didn't want to find out. He came up to me and grabbed my face and held the vile of the red liquid up to my mouth. He tipped it into my mouth and stepped back. It tasted like blood and raw meat. My ears and tail turned black and my eyes turned blood-red. My teeth and claws grew slightly larger, and I craved evil (like what Jiro made me feel before) and destruction.

            "How do you feel?" he asked.

            "I feel like causing pain and suffering." I said in a voice that wasn't my own. It was more cold and evil.

            "Perfect, it worked, now drink this." he said making me drink a light blue liquid from another vile. I istantly returned to normal.

            "What was that for!" I yelled.

            "Nothing, it seems that my plan will work after all." he smiled. Then I smelled a strange and unfamiliar scent, and fainted.

            When I woke up, I was asleep on the roof of the kitchen. How I got there I had no clue, but one thing was for sure: that was not a dream that I just had, it was one hundred percent real.

 

Chapter 6

Ryo's Hostage

 

            I wasn't quite sure how I was going to explain anything to anybody. I knew that I could tell Daichi anything and that he would believe me no matter what, but it was just that I felt so ill and confused by what had happened. Whatever that liquid thing was that Ryo had, I needed to find it and destroy it somehow. The only problem with that was that I have absolutely no clue where he would keep something like that. I had jumped up to my balcony and had kept jumping up until I had reached the tallest tower of the entire castle, and sat up on the roof. I wanted to stay away from everyone so that I couldn't hurt them. Even though I was my normal self, I still had the feeling that a little bit of that demon was still in me. I sat up there on the roof and watched the peacefulness of the world with tearfilled eyes.

            I remembered when I was about three years old, I had been crying because I had accidentally stepped on a flower that our mother had planted in her garden. But my brother had come and told me that I shouldn't cry over such things that were mistakes, because nothing can came of tears except the feeling of sadness. Then I remembered what I read in my father's book, "Nothing ever prospers from fighting excpet more fighting and death and sorrow." I wondered what would happen if the potion that Ryo made me drink reactivated itself and I turned back into that monster. I spent the rest of the day up on the roof and decided that I couldn't risk going back down there. I might start attacking my family, or anyone that I came across.

            "I don't know what to do...I need to protect my family as well as my friends." I cried to myself. "Oh what am I going to do? I know, I've got no other choice...I need to do what's best for the protection of the people. I need to..."

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            "Hey Taro, what's that?" Tora asked, pointing up at a dark figure on the roof of the tallest tower of the Neko-kingdom.

            Taro looked, and soon realised that it was me. He wasn't worried until I stood up and looked down at the ground below me. "No, she wouldn't dare..." he said. I fell forward, heading toward my death. He ran as fast as he could (luckily he wasn't very far from the castle) to the bottom of the tower. I had tied my feet and hands together so I couldn't land on my feet and save myself. Just as I thought that it was all over, Taro had me in his arms.

            "What were you doing up there!?" he yelled at me. untieing my hands and feet. "Don't you realise that you could have--"

            "I know! I was trying to kill myself!" I yelled back tears coming down my face, "There's something worng with me Taro, and I don't know if I can control it!"

            He wrapped his arms around me and whispered, "It's alright, I'm here. Just know that you can tell me anything."

            "Arigato Taro, arigato."

            ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            I threw away those riddles and isolated myself up on the roof of the tower. On the third day, Ryo came floating up and looked at me, giving me a wicked smile. I ignored him at first, hoping that he was just my imagination, but try as I might, he wouldn't disappear. He sat down beside me and acted as though he had done nothing wrong.

            "What do you want?" I choked through my tears. "Haven't you caused me enough pain already?"

            "I wasn't being evil, I was just doing an experiment on you." he answered with an air of innocence. "Luckily my experiment was a great success."

            "I want you out of my sight!" I yelled, trying to push him off the tower, but he dodged it.

            "I was planning on killing everyone on this planet, but I accidentaly fell in love with you." he said. "So that's why I chose you to be my guinea pig."

            I was crying harder, but more out of rage than sadness and confusion, "I'm already going to marry Taro! You can't just go up to somebody that's already engaged and tell them that you love them! It just doesn't work that--"

            Ryo had leaned in fast and gave me another kiss on the lips. Then he whispered in my ear, "If you want to save your home, then go to the cemetery tonight at seven, and bring along your brother and sisters, or else." then he disappeared again.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            At seven, Daichi, Aiko, Maeko, Machiko, Tama, Suki and I were standing at the entrance to the cemetery. It was dark, cold, foggy, and to top it all of, scary. Tama and Suki weren't hard to persuade into coming, they were looking forward to being out after bedtime. We waited for Ryo to meet us. He came out from the fog, walking toward us with Rin. They both had reverted to their true form and looked sinister in the fog.

            "So, you decided to show." he said, "Very good."

            "What do we have to do to save our world?" Aiko asked.

            "All in good time, my friend, all in good time. But first, Rin."

            "Yes brother," Rin said, then she disappeared from her brother's side and reappeared behind Suki. She grabbed Suki from behind and returned to her brother's side. Then they both flew off into the night, taking Suki with them.

            "So that's what they wanted, a hostage." I said. Now they can do whatever they want! How could I have been such and idiot?

            "Where did Suki go?" Tama asked frightfully. "I can't see anything without her!"

            "They kidnapped her, Tama." Maeko said, then she added comfortingly. "But don't worry, we'll find her."

            "What in the world could they want with Suki?" Daichi asked Machiko.

            "I don't know, but they can't be up to anything good, that's for sure." she answered.

            "I know why, and I can't believe that he's going to use her to get to me either!" I said, wiping away the tears on my face.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            Ryo had taken Suki, and now Tama wasn't able to see anything, even though she was already blind, she was able to see through Suki's eyes. Tama and Suki had become one person, Tama was the voice and Suki was the eyes. It was heartwrenching, nobody that was supposed to help me would have done that.

            I was sitting up on the roof again, thinking about everything when I was joined by Tama. I didn't know how she got up there, but she said that she thought about me and was teleported to me. I knew why she wanted to be with me, it was because she knew I felt responsible for Suki's being kidnapped.

            "It's not your fault you know," she said after a while. "Suki's brave, she'll be okay."

            "Tama," I said, placing an arm around her, and wiping away her tears with the other. "It's not that, I know what Ryo's up to, and if he's going to do what I think he is, he's going to make one of us (probably me) cause destruction and start a war between the three kingdoms."

            We sat up there for a few more minutes, then we teleported ourselves down to the garden. I went to ask my dad about his book again and this time, he was there.

            "Father? Can I ask you something?"

            "I'm kind of busy sweet heart, can it wait?" he said distractedly.

            "No, dad it can't. I found this book the other day, and when I read it I felt like I could relate to it. When I looked at the front cover, I saw that you wrote it."

            "Oh, you read that book now, did you?" he said.

            "Yes and I wanted to ask you how you came up with that."

            "Well, if you really want to know, it was a true story that happened when I was about ten years old." he said. "The princess in the story was my older sister, Queen Tama of the Neko-Inu kingdom, and the prince was King Stephen's older brother, King Ryo of the Neko-Inu kingdom. They passed away a long time ago from a disease, so my little sister, Queen Kimi and Stephen's younger brother, King George became the new king and queen of Neko-Inu kingdom."

            "Wow, so that story actually happened?" I asked, "But wasn't your sister an only child?"

            "She wasn't at the time, my father just said that because my mother hadn't told him about me because he wasn't ever around. So, I had secretly hid myself in the forest and witnessed the entire story. So as I watched, I wrote, and soon I had the legend of the Tree of Many Portals."

            "Thanks dad, well I better get going."

 

Chapter 7

An Evil Demon Boy and an Innocet Cat Girl

 

            Suki was being held captive by Ryo in the Forest of Death. He had her bound to the tree to where she could hardly breath. She wasn't afraid, but she was confused. Rin wasn't involved in this entire thing, she didn't even know what her brother wanted Suki for. Ryo didn't want to do anything to Suki, unless he had to; he needed me because only my blood was compatable with the potion he had concocted.

            "Why doesn't she cry? Isn't she afraid?" Ryo asked after a while.

            "I don't think that she can, oniichan." Rin answered.

            "What a bore, I was hoping to have some fun with this one." He said tieredly.

            "What do we do now?"

            "All we have to do now is wait for them to fall into our trap."

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            "Dammit! Where is he hiding her!" Daichi yelled furiously, punching a tree.

            "Don't take your anger out on the trees," Maeko said, "Besides we need to calm down or else we're never going to find her."

            "Maeko's right," Machiko agreed, "We need to calm down and think about this."

            "I know where they are, but I'm the only one strong enough to go in there." I said. "He's hiding out in the Forest of Death, that's where the strong miasma was coming from. I went there once, a few days ago, at the Lake of Purity. He gave me some kind of...never mind! It's nothing."

            "It doesn't sound like it's nothing." Aiko said. She added sternly, "Besides, you know that I will always be able to find out anything if it's important. So if it's important, you'd better tell us before anything bad happens to you."

            "It's nothing! Really, I'm okay." I lied.

            "Aneko," Aiko said, giving me the stare that she always gave me when she knew I was lying.

            "Okay, okay, I'll tell you!" I said, giving in (there was no way that I could stand a stare like that). "He gave me a...potion that turned me evil." I mumbled.

            "What, I couldn't hear you." she said tauntingly.

            "He gave me a potion that turned me into an evil cat girl demon!" I yelled at her.

            "Thought so," she said. "Now all we have to do is--wiat what did you say?!"

            "I said that he turned me into an evil cat girl demon." I repeated. "He tied me to a tree and forced me to drink this red liquid that tasted like blood and raw meat and I turned evil. But don't worry, he gave me the antidote and I turned back to normal. But I think that he needs me for something, I don't know what though."

            "That's so typical, a guy that wants to turn the girl he likes to be just like him." Machiko said.

            "That's not it at all!" Maeko, Aiko, and I yelled at her.

            "I was just kidding!" she said nervously.

            "Alright, now all we have to do is find a way to get past the miasma, then we have to destroy the potion, then we'll be home free." Daichi said.

            "I'm going in alone, none of you are going to risk your lives, I'll go and take Suki's place, then Ryo can do whatever he wants with me. I don't care anymore." I said, starting toward the forest.

            "How can you say that?" Aiko said, grabbing my arm. "How can you say that you don't care anymore?"

            "Because, it doesn't matter what happens to me, as long as Suki is returned to Tama's side safe and sound, then it doesn't matter what happens to me." I said. "So let me go!"

            "You're such an idiot you know that!" she screamed, I could hear the sandness in her voice. "But if you want to go and commit suicide, then be my guest!" and she threw my arm and ran away toward the gardens.

            I'm sorry Shadow, but I have to do what's right for my family, I thought to myself. Then I turned and continued toward the forest.

            "Light Kitten, wait."

            I stopped dead in my tracks. Nobody had called me that in a long time. I knew it was Daichi, but I pretended like I couldn't hear him, and continued on.

            "I know that you can hear me Light. Don't even try to pretend you can't."

            "Don't you ever call me that name again!" I cried, and ran into the Forest of Death without another word.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            I couldn't explain why I had felt so angry at Daichi for calling me by my nickname. All I knew was that I needed to find Suki and rescue her from Ryo, and that I had to find some way to destroy Ryo's evil potion. I hurried along, praying to God that Ryo hadn't hurt Suki. I began to see the light of the Lake of Purity, and when I came into thwondere clearing, I had more strength than I had the first time. I was still a little weak, but I knew that if I needed to, I would have to fight Ryo with everything I had.

            Lucky for me Ryo was there, standing next to my little sister. I saw that he was about to give her the same potion that he'd given me! Suki was struggling to get free from his grip, but as soon as Ryo saw me, he turned to me.

            "I was wondering wheather or not you'd show up to save your sister." he said.

            "Shut up! I-I-I have a favor to ask." I said, my voice trembling.

            "Oh, and what would that be?"

            "Let my sister go, and put me in her place."

            "An interesting proposition, but if you want to spare your sisters life, you'd better make a better sugestion." he said, tilting the vile toward Suki's mouth.

            "I'll fight you!" I said, "If I win, you let my sister and me go, but if I lose, then you take me in her place and let her go."

            "So, either way your sister's set free? I'm not so sure I like that plan, but it's better than the first one. Alright, you win you both go, but you lose and you replace your silent sister."

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            Ryo and I stood facing each other, ready for the battle to start. I knew that it was taking an unnecissary risk, but I knew that I had no other choice. I called Nicole out and we prepared ourselves, because we didn't know what kind of tactics a Lunar Star Rider had.

            Petal Storm! I thought to Nicole, and my attack was a direct hit! But the cuts began to heal themselves, and I began to understand that I had signed my will right then and there.

            "Such feeble attacks, Fire Blade!" Ryo said, and a sword of fire appeared in his hands. He ran to me and before I could block him, he had cut deep into my leg. I fell to the ground, but I didn't give up.

            So he wants to play with fire, does he? I'll just fight fire with stratagey. Nicole, use Heart of Eternal Suffering!

            Ryo was engulfed in pain, transported through the mind straight to the soul. It was a trick that I taught myself a long time ago. Then I thought, Nicole, now use Sandstorm of Confusion! A large sandstorm spun around Ryo, but he had recovered yet again! I ran to him and used my Starlight Kiss on him, but the effect didn't last long, and before I even knew what had happened, Ryo had me pinned to a tree by my neck.

            "Such pathetic weaklings, tell you what, I'll keep my promise of beating you, except that I won't let your sister go!"

            My voice left me, I knew it was too good to be true! Rin stepped out from behind a tree and moved her fingers, guiding vines from the tree I was pinned to, so that I was tied to the tree and I couldn't move or call for help (like there was any).

            Just then, Daichi appeared from the Lake of Purity. He was very angry and I could tell that he wasn't going to leave until Ryo was slaughtered, or at least captured. Ryo ignored him and took out the vile of red liquid, removed the vines from my mouth, and, holding my face, made me drink it. I turned into the evil demon again, but this time I couldn't control what I was thinking or doing. I had broken free from the vines and attacked my own brother! I had become an evil one after all.

 

Chapter 8

Never Turning Back

 

            I knew that Ryo had turned me evil, except this time it was for good. I couldn't control my actions, and knew that whatever my evil demon thoughts did, that if I ever, and I mean if ever I returned to normal, then my actual form would be blamed for it. But, now I knew that it was too late for me, but I had to try and save Suki from having to go through the same thing.

            I had continued to attack my brother, but he didn't fight back! He didn't even try to block my attacks. That's when I realized something.

            "You're not my brother, are you?" I asked, pinning him on the ground.

            "Whatever do you mean Aneko? Of course I'm your brother." he said.

            "My brother would never let me beat him this easily," I said, bringing my claws up to his neck, "Besides, my brother would have called me by nickname if he knew that I wasn't sure it was him. So, if you are really my brother...then call me by my name! CALL ME BY THE NAME I TOLD YOU TO CALL ME TEN YEARS AGO IF YOU'RE REALLY MY ONIICHAN!" I cried, starring into his eyes. But I didn't need to hear his answer, because I could already tell that it wasn't him just by looking into his eyes.

            "Fine, you figured me out, but I do know your nickname. It's Light Kitten, am I right, Light?" he said, "Oh, and by the way. If your wondering who I am, I'll tell you if you get off of me."

            "Sure thing, but I already know who you are: Water Princess Oki. I can see it in your eyes that you're not my brother." I said, not moving but a little so she could transform back to her true form, which was like a mermaid that had legs on land and a tail when in the water.

            We bore into each other's eyes for a while, but then I asked, "What were you doing you pathetic fool? Don't you know that I'm evil now?"

            "Yes, but if you can't turn yourself back, then someone whom you love is going to die..." she warned, "...and at your own hands." then she disappeared into the deep bows of the lake.

            I got up and turned to face Ryo. He had went back to my little sister, and was about to force her to drink the potion too. I ran up to him and whispered in his ear, "If you even think about turning Suki into a demon, I will have no other choice than to kill you."

            "Such strong words to say to your new boyfriend, wouldn't you say?" he said.

            "Well, you did turn me into an evil cat-girl, didn't you? I'm only acting to your standards." I said in a fasle voice.

            "I know, but seeing as we're going to be together for a while, what are we going to do with her?" He said, pulling Suki's face up a little.

            "She can't tell anyone even if she tried, because we're going to take her with us and keep her hidden. I will go back and act as if all that happened was that you had changed my appearence. That way, I'll be able to pass information on to you."

            "A spy on the inside, how much better could my day get?" Ryo said happily, then he added to Rin, "Rin, you must take this...mute child with you to the Kingdom of the Moon and Stars. That is where we will meet up with you, got that?"

            "Yes, oniichan." she said, and she hastened to obey his orders.

            "Stay here, but meet me out in the park at midnight. I shall have pleanty of information for you by then." I said.

            "Perfect, here's your reward for thinking of the plan." he said, and he gave me another kiss.

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            "Aneko! What happened, you're covered in scratches! Did Ryo do this to you?" Maeko asked as I came out from the forest.

            "You were gone an awfuly long time, what happened." Machiko asked.

            "Nothing. He just changed my appearence for some reason, that's all." I lied.

            "Well, it's not what I'd call an improvement, but whatever." Machiko said.

            "Aneko, where's Suki?" Tama asked, starring at me with her big shinning eyes.

            "I couldn't find her, Ryo's keeping her somewhere else." I said. "Enough about that, lets go back up to the castle and rethink our plans."

            Machiko, Maeko and Tama headed back up to the castle. I stayed back and said, "You know that she's not strong enough to last too long with Ryo."

            "Yeah, I know, but I'm sure that he's not going to harm her in any way until he gets what he wants." Daichi said.

            "Are you coming?"

            "In a minute, just let me think things over a minute. You go on ahead."

            "Okay. See you later." I said heading up to the castle.

            He waited until I was out of earshot and said, "Well, is she telling the truth?"

            "It's kind of hard to tell, but I think she is." Aiko said, stepping out from the bushes. "Especially because I highly doubt that all Ryo did was change her appearence."

            "That's exactly what I thought. Could you sense her at all?"

            "Nothing, all I could sense was an evil spirit energy. Hers was completely gone, almost as if it has disappeared completely!"

            "I knew it, Ryo kept her in there for a much longer time than it was necissary to just change ones looks. He's killed our sister's soul and replaced it with an evil one."

            "What are we going to do? I mean, we can't just kill her, because either way she's still our sister."

            "That's where I'm confused. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. But if things get too out of hand, then we'll have to take action."

            "Right,"

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            We waited for Daichi in my bedroom. We couldn't think of anything good enough (well they couldn't). When Daichi came back, he said that he had a foolproof plan, and that it was going take all of us working together.

            "Oniichan, you know that nothing's foolproof." I said. "Besides, we don't even know where Ryo is keeping Suki."

            "Ah, but you do." he said.

            "What? No I don't, I told you, she wasn't in there." I protested.

            "Sorry, I forgot." he apologized, "Anyway, this plan is to find Suki, not rescue her. We must first locate her, then think of a plan to save her."

            "Alright lets hear it." Machiko said.

            "Okay, first what we need to do is..."

♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥          ♥

            "Ryo, you're not going to be able to stop them if they find her." I told Ryo at the park hours later. "They've already got an almost foolproof plan to find her."

            "What is it?" he asked.

            "They're going to have Jiro and his brothers make us special masks that can go through the miasma, and then they plan to ask Princess Oki where Suki is."

            "That is a problem, but I'll just have to make the miasma stronger." he said. "That's good work you've done Aneko."

            "Thanks, you're not doing such a bad job yourself Ryo." I said.

            "Are you sure that you want to follow through with this plan though, I mean you are betraying your own family."

            "I have no regrets, and there's no turning back now that I'm yours Ryo. You've made me see the light and for that...I am truly grateful." I said.

            We kissed and flew off into the night sky. Aiko stepped out from behind a tree and starred after us. "So, she truly is gone. This is going to cause some problems."

 

Chapter 9

Dreams Become Reality

 

            The next morning Maeko, Machiko, Daichi and I headed over to the Inu kingdom. When Tama asked if she could go, Daichi said that they couldn't risk her getting captured too, so she stayed behind. The entire way there, Daichi never looked away from me, but when I asked him if there was something wrong he just said, "I'm just making sure that you're not bugged or anything, that's all." but I had the omnious feeling that he knew.

            "So you want us to make you some masks that will block out the miasma," Jiro said. "Well, it shouldn't take us that long to make them, come back in two hours. They should be done by then."

            "Arigato, Jiro." Maeko said. "You don't know how much this means to us."

            We spent the two hours waiting in the park thinking of backup stratagies. And the more we planned, the more worried I became. But soon we were heading back to Jiro's kingdom and picking up our masks.

            We went to the Forest of Death and headed toward the center of it. But whenever one of them got close to it, they we trown back.

            "What the devil is this?" Daichi said, his voice shaking a little from being thrown back so many times. "Is this someone's idea of a game?"

            "I don't think so, but I why would someone put up a barrier around the Lake of Purity?" Maeko asked. "It just doesn't fit at all."

            "Well, whatever it is, we need to break through it." he said.

            "I agree, but how are we going to do that?" I asked.

            "I know, we could just keep hitting it and hope that it will break." Maeko suggested.

            "Or we could just ask it to open for us." Machiko joked. Daichi and Maeko gave her dirty looks, "I was just kidding!" she said, "You know that I'm not good at making suggestions or plans."

            "You're not so good at making anything else either," Maeko mumbled under her breath.

            "Well, we're not going to get through it by just sitting around, I think we should do what Maeko said: just keep hitting it with everything we've got." I said.

            We began to hit it with everything we had, then it finally broke open. Ryo was floating  above the middle of the Lake. I saw him and we shared a wink, and luckily nobody noticed.

            "I was becoming impaitent with waiting for you cat people to arrive." he said.

            "What are you planning? What have you done with Suki?" Daichi yelled. "And whatever you've done to Aneko, you'd better reverse it!"