She stumbled, her small trembling fingers running along the rough stone walls as she felt her way in the impenetrable darkness. Her whole body screamed in pain with every step she took. She ignored the dizziness in her head, the weakness in her knees and the stinging in her wounds. All that matters now was that she was safe here in her home. Nobody can hurt her here, no one can harm her anymore…

Tears sprang from her eyes as her mind flickered through images from just minutes ago, remembering the ordeal she went through…. The series of tortures that her small fragile body had suffered….

She escaped. But her family… her mama, her papa, her sister… she lost them all to the enemies.

“Can anyone hear me?” her voice was small and weak. “Please, is anybody here?”

The tunnel veered sharply to the left and before she knew what was happening, her feet had slipped out from under her. She felt herself sliding downward on her back. The rocks cut into her, scraping away shirt and skin, opening the freshly closed wounds in her back. When she finally came into a halt, she didn't get up off the cold hard ground. Her nerves were screaming in agony as she waited for the shock of her fall to subside.

And then, she heard a sound… a voice…

Tears of joy came into her eyes as she struggled to sit up. She knew her people would find her and help her….

The voice grew louder and closer, and soon she was able to discern what it was saying. It was a boy pleading in the very most pained voice she had ever heard.

“Toma,” it said. “Toma, I know you’re there. Please talk to me.”

Then another voice came, it too belonged to a boy. “Your Highness, he’s not here. We must go; they will soon find us…”

But the first boy ignored him and continued to cry piteously. “Toma, please talk to me. I’m sorry. My father forced me to say it. I couldn’t do anything. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Please talk to me.”

Relief gave way to horror. Her small frail body was shaking, her thoughts spinning. These two boys were not her people. She could tell by the faint sound of their heartbeats and in the warmth floating in the air from their bodies. How had they managed to enter their home, to break into their sanctuary?

Then she heard footsteps… coming her way.

Her mind went wild with terror.

The two boys were on her before she could even think of a place to hide. Light flooded her vision as they came, it seemed that one of them was carrying a torch- no; one of them was holding a handful of blue flames with his bare hand. For a moment they stared at each other and she knew they were as shocked and scared as she was.

Then there were sounds of other footsteps and voices nearby, and she knew these were her people, alerted by the enemies’ presence in their land. The sounds seemed to wake the boys from the shock of seeing her. Then one of the boys, the one in a fine clothes started to run but the second boy, the one carrying the blue flames, took her hand and dragged her with them. She whimpered in fright and this made the first boy to stop. “What are you doing?”

“We need a sacrifice for the door.” The second boy said; his hand closed tightly around her wrist to prevent her from escaping.

“What? We can’t kill her. Can’t you see she’s still a child?”

“But we need someone to sacrifice to the door or else we can't get out of here.” The second boy said with a tinge of urgency in his voice.

This was too much for her. She cried.

She barely escaped the first group of enemies who tortured her and murdered her family and now she fell on the hands of another enemy who wanted to kill and sacrifice her to the door of her very home.

At the sound of her tears, the first boy looked at her and he just noticed the state she was in. “What happened to you?” he asked as he stared at her wounds. “Who did this to you?”

He was kneeling close to her now, so close that she could see the traces of tears in his dust covered face. She saw her reflection in his soft brown eyes: a child covered in wounds and scratches from head to toe, dressed in tattered and bloodstained clothes.

“Your people did this to me.” She shouted, moving away from him, making as much noise as she could. If her people could hear her, they could rescue her. But her voice, arms and legs were still weak with shock and they barely made a sound on the rough stone floor. The second boy saw her intent; he tugged viciously at her arm and with his other hand, he brought the fire dangerously close to her face. “Make more noise and I’ll set your hair on fire.” He hissed at her.

“Release her.” The first boy said.

“But-“

“I said release her.”

It was clear that the first boy had the authority here because the second boy followed his command and reluctantly took a step away from her.

Fear and revulsion crept into her skin when the first boy moved closer and took hold of her hand.

“Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you.” The boy said.

Warmth flowed through her body and she felt her wounds heal; she saw them close and vanish before her very eyes, leaving only the faint bloodstains on her skin and clothes.

“What have you done to her?!” the second boy said.

“You can see what I’ve done.” The first boy said. “She was wounded. She needed healing.”

“But she’s an enemy and we need someone to sacrifice-“

“If we’re going to kill someone it’s not going to be a child,” he said, getting up to leave. “Come, we need to get going."

The second boy looked at her for the last time and followed his companion.

Aoi was left there alone in the darkness, listening to the muffled shouting nearby as more of her people discovered that enemies had trespassed into their home. Trembling violently, her mind registered the fact that that boy, an enemy, had just healed her.

Who was that boy? And why he healed her? And most of all why were those two boys, those moonchildren, here in their home?

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a/n : this is the first part of the chapter.... ^_^

i'm going to be busy for this whole week and maybe more... and i don't know when i will be able to write the other parts...
so instead of posting the whole chapter at once (and wait for a month or so) i think i divide this into parts... so that you guys wouldn't wait for that long ^_^

a great thanks to ally for beta-ing ^_^

to dianna: taga pasay po ako... kau po?? ano po story nyo? ^_^