Somewhere in the distance, penetrating the darkness that enveloped her, she heard a sweet voice singing.

“And when death comes
will you cry for me?”

The tune suddenly curved over, sweeping down on a sort of low mournful cry that ran, crawling cold as a snake, through every nerve of her body.

“will you be there by my side
at the edge of my last breath?”

Maki’s eyes flew open.

She found herself looking at the curved ceiling, where grotesque shadows were leaping across in a macabre dance. ‘Where am I?’

“Past the point of no return
there’s nothing here left for me.
My happy end is the curse
of a twisted fairy tale.”

Curse?

Then like a nightmare, memories came crashing down on her. Yamapi-no, Aoi attacking her….. And then Naomi…. Naomi struck with a knife-

Maki sat bolt upright. The singing stopped.

Maki looked wildly around. She seemed to be in a cave, a small room-like sort of space with rough walls and a low ceiling. There were clusters of candles set high on the walls. At the far end of the cave, exactly opposite her was a stone chair, and sitting on that chair was a woman whose big round eyes were currently staring at her.

“Did my singing wake you?” The woman asked; her voice curiously piercing and sweet. “I’m sorry ne.”

Maki’s throat had gone dry. Her mind was racing: where is she? Where are the others? Are they coming to save her? And what happened to Naomi?

“Did you know?” the woman said when Maki made no effort to speak. “Our Goddess made that song.”

Maki didn’t know what to say so she remained silent. She only knew one goddess and that’s the Moon Goddess, the maker of the moonchildren. But the woman said ‘our goddess’ and it’s obvious that this woman was not a moonchild.

“That was also the last song that she sung before the Moon Goddess killed her.” The woman said as her eyes turned suddenly cold.

Maki’s eyes widen with shock. So there’s another one beside the Moon Goddess?
But then as she met the woman’s eyes, Maki realized her mistake at the same time that she heard the woman’s thoughts.
This woman was testing her how much she knew. As a human she wasn’t supposed to know about them and Maki’s shocked expression earlier had proven the fact that yes, she knew too much.
The woman’s next words confirmed her assumption. “It seemed like you know about the Moon Goddess. For a human, you certainly knew too much. I wonder what is in you that make the Moonchildren trust you with their secrets, Horikita Maki.” And when Maki didn’t utter any word, she added: “I’m sorry. I haven’t introduced myself have I? Or there’s no need for that since you already know my name. You said it when I took you from that school.”

Yes, Maki knew already who this woman was, even though this was the first time that Maki saw her true form. It was Aoi.

Aoi was actually a very beautiful girl, pale-skinned with long black hair and big rounded eyes. There certainly wasn’t anything sinister-looking about her to warn that she was a cold blooded killer.

‘You wouldn’t say anything huh?’ Maki heard Aoi said in her mind before everything went pitch black.

A small dim light appeared at the far end of the cave. The light slowly grew brighter, filling the cavern. Aoi was gone- Maki was alone. As the light reached the tips of her feet, Maki looked down and screamed.

Thousands of tiny scary-looking insects were crawling under her skin, through a scratch on her ankle. Maki screamed and kicked, trying to squirm away.

‘Yes.’ A voice said from out of nowhere. ‘Good- feel them. If your precious Tomohisa could see you now,’ the voice gave a ghostly chuckle. ‘Brought to your knees by an illusion.’

‘Illusion?’ Maki thought. She realized that the voice she heard was Aoi’s thoughts and she remembered what Yamapi told her, that this woman could do illusion. She stopped screaming and closed her eyes. She couldn’t get rid of the image of the insects on her legs. She tried to calm her mind and think of something to distract herself. Yamapi’s face filled her thoughts. She’d get out of this place eventually, she convinced herself. She would get out and see him again.

‘Why aren’t you screaming human?’ Aoi’s thoughts broke her concentration. ‘You’re tough huh?’

The illusion of the insects intensified. Though she tried hard to convince herself that it was not real, she could still feel them- their tiny thousand legs crawling at her legs…. her arms… her neck…. her face-

“STOP IT!”

Suddenly, the insects were gone. Maki felt herself shaking and when she opened her eyes, Aoi was back in the cave.

“Stop what?” Aoi asked; her big round eyes looked very faintly amused.

“What you’re doing.” Maki’s voice shook as she stared back at her. “I know they’re not real. They’re only just illusions.”

Just then, a manic gleam passed through Aoi’s eyes as she stood up. “It seemed like the moonchildren didn’t only tell you my name but my power as well. But its okay,” Aoi pulled a knife from the sheath on her belt, “it will be more interesting as I played with you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Maki asked, slowly getting to her feet. “Why did you bring me here?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was dangerously low in the sky by the time Yamapi reached his destination. He landed on the ledge of a cliff; his wings furled before they shimmered and vanished behind his back. Before him was a dark jagged opening like the entrance to a cave.

It was not so much a cave as a chamber; walled, roofed and floored with living rock. By the dim light that filtered in through the narrow opening, Yamapi saw the smooth wall on the far end of the chamber: the entrance to Tartarus.

Old memories came back to him with bitter sharpness.... his parents.... his aunt.... Toma....

Yamapi shook his head; this was not the right time to dwell in the past. Maki needed his help. He turned around and looked in the direction he came. In the distance he could see black, silver and blue specks against the darkening sky. So Ryo had followed him even though he told him not to, and that silver glint meant that he took Tegoshi with him and if Tegoshi was there then that blue one must be Massu. He’s slightly annoyed that Ryo disobeyed his orders but then he felt some of the tensions in his chest eased up. They could save Maki while he deals with Aoi.

Yamapi whirled around and with hurried steps, went to the far end wall of the cave. He ran his hand down the smooth wall in front of him, searching for the crack that would open the doorway. He remembered clearly how Toma would open this door every time they came here, and he himself had opened this once when he was looking for Toma but it had been ten years since then. He was afraid he couldn’t-

He found it. At shoulder height, just beyond the crack, he found a square plate and pressed. With a rumbling groan, the wall under his hand began to slide back.

It was pitch dark but Toma had brought him here so many times before that he could remember every nook and cranny. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward - into the darkness of Tartarus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Massu stared at the black gap in the wall. An icy shudder worked its way up his spine. Here he was standing before the place where countless moonchildren had gone in, but never come out.

“So this is Tartarus.” Tegoshi said. Not an ounce of fear could be seen in his face as he stared at the entrance.

“Here, you’ll need this." Using his gift, Ryo lit the two torches that he brought and handed it to them. "If there’s still anyone inside you could use that against them. One of their weaknesses is fire,” he said.

Massu wordlessly took one of the torches but Tegoshi merely stared at the torch in Ryo's hand.

“What?” Ryo said.

“How did Yamaa-kun know how to open this door?” Tegoshi asked calmly. There was no accusation in his voice, like he was just merely asking an innocent question but the effect of it on Ryo was evident. In all of time that they’ve been together, this was the first time that Massu saw Ryo being scared.

“I don’t know.” Ryo said, ing the torch to Tegoshi’s hand before he turned his back on them and Massu knew that was to hide his expression. In Ryo’s hand appeared a fistful of blue flames as he started to walk towards the entrance of Tartarus. Massu silently followed him but Tegoshi remained where he was.

“But you’ve been here before.” Tegoshi said. “You first met Aoi in this place. What were you doing here then?”

Ryo stopped in his tracks and faced him, his face was now unreadable. “I don’t know because I was just following the Prince’s command. I don’t know why he was here, I just escorted him."

Finally Tegoshi moved and stepped closer to them. “Did the Prince have a connection to the Hollow People then? No one could teach him how to open this doorway except them. Had he been friends with one of them before?”

For a moment Ryo looked so angry that it seemed like he wanted to strike Tegoshi. Massu instantly stepped between them but Ryo remained where he was. Massu realized Ryo wasn’t angry at Tegoshi but at something that Massu didn’t know..... Perhaps at something that Ryo remembered.

“And what if,” Ryo said. “What if he was friends with one of them before, would you hate him now?”

“No.” Tegoshi answered quickly.

“Then stop asking questions. What happened in the past belongs in the past. There’s no point reliving it now.” Ryo snapped before he rounded on his heels and led them through the doorway out into a tunnel. The moment they stepped into Tartarus, the great stone door closed behind them with a crushing sound as rock scraped against rock.

They were sealed in.

Massu gulped and forced himself not to think about how they were going to get out.

“Come,” Ryo said as he went first in the stone passage to guide them, Massu after him and Tegoshi behind them.

The air was cold here and the passage was completely silent except for the sound of their footsteps echoing on the hollow rock around them.

Then they had arrived at a fork in the passageway; one leading left, one straight ahead and the other bending to the right. Ryo shook his head and cursed.

“We need to separate then.” Tegoshi said softly. “I’ll take the middle.”

“I’ll take the left.” Massu suggested, pointing at the tunnel on his left as he looked at Ryo.

Ryo took a deep breath and stared at the two of them. “Listen,” he said. “Just walk straight on the main path and don’t turn into any smaller tunnels so you won’t get lost. If you don’t see anyone, Yamapi or Maki get back here at once. We’ll meet here again. We don’t know what’s still in this place.”

Tegoshi nodded and before anyone could utter another word, he swiftly walked down the middle tunnel, almost running, leaving the two of them gaping at his disappearing back.

“He didn’t come here because of Yamapi, did he?” Ryo muttered, looking at him.

Massu gave a noncommittal shrug. He wasn't giving away any secrets. Ryo sighed and set off down the tunnel at his right.

Massu muttered a short prayer before he walked into the tunnel on his left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maki’s head snapped backward, pain exploding in her face. She slammed hard against the ground and for a moment or two she was too stunned to react to the danger approaching.

Warm wetness flowed down from her nose to her lips. The taste of blood stirred her to her senses and she opened her eyes.

Aoi stood over her, knife in her hand.

Maki eyed the knife warily; blood, her blood, still trailing down on the blade. Her side was bleeding and she put her hand to stop the blood from flowing. With her other hand, she wiped the blood that dribbled from her nose. She winced slightly as her hand made contact with her stinging cheek.

If she could only take the knife.

Having the ability to hear other people’s thoughts had given Maki a secret weapon but even though Maki can perceive her enemy’s every next move, she was still a human and Aoi was not. Aoi was much faster, stronger than her and she was skilled in using the knife against any mortal being. This was a pathetically uneven match.

Maki realized, as fear dried and she frantically searched for a means of escape, that she was as good as dead.

Then, Aoi let out a tired sigh. “I’m bored of this,” Aoi said, raising the knife a little higher. “It seemed like I’m wrong. He wouldn’t go here to save you after all.”

“Who’s he?” Maki asked though she already knew the answer. Her heart plummeting as her last hope started to leave her.

“You’re only a human.” Aoi said instead of answering. “Why would he risk his life just to save you?” With that, Aoi lunged at her.

With a cry of terror, Maki rolled away. The blade caught her skirt, pinning it to the ground. Maki ripped it free and ending up having a kick at her stomach.

Maki wheezed from pain and shock, and then she lifted her eyes.

For one hideous moment, Maki saw it when Aoi raised the knife again, saw the blade glinted in the candlelight before the knife swiftly went down to her.

____________________________________________________

a/n: finally

minna.. i'm sorry if i haven't updated this last few months.. i have a massive writer's block... i even put Stained Hearts to hiatus because of it....

and uh.. this chapter was dedicated to the people who commented and pm and chat with me during my-2-months-of-unproductivity

to ally... for bearing with me with this whole story.. i can't contact you girl.. there's something wrong with our emails..

to miki... for cheering me on and saying that she'll wait for this even if it's long.. well here it is girl

to mirka... i'm still flailing over your gift.. thank you dear...

minna~ have a merry christmas!!!

edits: i did not make the song from above.. it was actually a poem made by C.O. ^___^