"Sir!" one of the staff yelled. "We found some footage, of the android that the princess owned. It shows her in the plague containment facility."

This made Torin sigh. He'd already seen that footage, which included the princess with the android visiting a patient and then leaving. "I've already seen this. It has no value to the investigation."

"No, Sir. It does." Torin was about to slap the man trying to get him to watch the video feet. Before he added, "The android went back after the two of them left. It shows the android .... Well, you might have to just see for yourself."

Torin took the port from him and started the feed. At first, it just showed a young girl and the android going to sit at her bedside. But Torin remembered the girl. She was the one who contracted Letimosis on the day Kaito and Selene first when to the market place. The previous owner of the android's chip.

What Torin saw became horrifying and almost to cold, even for a robot to do. He saw the girls life extinguish, and the android begin to go crazy. No one was there to stop it from doing what it did next.

When another android came to take the girl's ID chip, just like it was programmed to do, the android tried to stop it. After the chip was successfully removed, the princess's android stole it from the other, and disabled the poor little robot.

"The android stole the girl's chip, which could mean it was having a malfunction or experiencing a programming error."

"Why show me this?" Torin questioned. "What value does it have to the investigation?"

At that, the staff member grinned. "It means that if the android stole that chip, it might still have it on it. So ..."

"Wherever the chip is, it's probably with the android," Torin finished. "So if the chip is traced, we can find the android."

"And probably the princess and her kidnapper as well," the other man smiled.

For the first time in the past three days, something was finally turning for the better. They had a solid lead, and the princess could be found. Kaito could be happy again.

All of the sudden, a woman burst into the office with red cheeks and messy hair. Torin was about to reprimand her when she all but screamed. "Sir, it's the prince! He's lost it!"

..................

When the Rampion landed in an open field close to the house of the Benoit family, Cinder thought they might have been too later.

Until she saw a girl with fiery hair and a pistol crazily shooting at a man-beast hybrid with a limp that was chasing her.

Another hybrid came lumbering after the two, but with blood streaming down his arm. Though the girl didn't seem to be keeping much attention on him.

Carswell ran back onto the ship, and came back a minute later with three pistols. "Can you two shoot?"

"I'm a pacifist," Iko protested.

"Not today you're not." Carswell shoved the gun into her hands and asked, "Any ideas on what the hell those things are?"

"They're lunar soldiers," Cinder stated. "Levana created them for an army. One I thought was still on Luna."

"I guess not anymore," he drawled. "Still, do you know how to use a gun?"

"Don't need to." Cinder left Thorne with the last two pistols and sprinted to help the girl fighting for her life. She was trying to fend off the beast attacking her, but cast her pistol aside, like she was out of bullets.

Cinder raised her cyborg hand, and commanded the tranquilizer dart to engage. In one breath, she pointed at the hybrid, ready to fire.

Little did she know, the other hybrid was coming up in her sights. When Cinder finally turned away to face him, the look on his face was bloodthirsty, and he held his own gun in one hand.

Before she could stop him, he fired. Her first instinct was to shoot at him instead.

"No, stop!" he yelled. Too late. The dart hit him almost in the dead center of his chest. He fell to the ground within seconds.

Cinder frantically turned back to the girl, who was starring up at her, stunned. The hybrid that had attacked her was lying just a few yards away. A bullet hole in his skull and blood pooling around him.

"Thanks," the girl said, with a thick french accent.

"No problem," Cinder smiled. She carefully walked over to the girl and helped her to her feet. "Do you know where Michelle Benoit is?"

The girl's eyes bulged out of her head. "Grandmere!" After that, she darted off back into the house, and Cinder chose to follow.

................

Today was almost as bad as the day she was taken to Kai. That night, he hardly slept, and was troubled by nightmare after nightmare. About Cinder dying, finding her hurt or maimed, or even her never wanting to be with him again. She was everything to him, and he couldn't bare the idea of her hating him.

Yet, when he held the cloak she'd been wearing, he found a bit of peace with him. Like a part of her was still here. It wasn't even close to how Cinder made him feel, but for now, it would have to do.

For a while, Kai gripped the cloak close to his chest and imagined it was her instead. The same scent filled his lungs like sweet summer winds. After some time, the fabric became warm beneath his fingers, just like she was. Soon his sleepy eyes began to close, and he saw a vague shape inside the hood, making him think he was already dreaming.

Before long, he was in the garden again, and Cinder was sitting gingerly at his side. Her head laying on his shoulder as she hummed a soft melody. Kai held her metal hand in his, and felt the prickles of cold it gave him. And he loved every second of it.

He thought they were sitting there for hours, just watching the colors of a beautiful sunset ripple in the sky. It was just the to of them, for now. And Kai wanted nothing more than to have her back in his arms, safe and sound.

Abruptly, Cinder moved out of his arms and away from him. The second he got up to get her back, she disappeared. The glorious shades of pink, purple, and orange vanished from the New Beijing sky. The Garden faded into his room, dark and hopeless as it was. Ever since Cinder had been kidnapped, he dreaded coming into his room, as she wouldn't be here with him.

Once his eyes became as awake as his senses, he saw a woman, a maid, walking toward the door with Cinder's cloak. The sight left him speechless, making him jump out of bed and lung for it.

He grabbed on, and tried to tug it away from the woman who dared to steal it from him. The woman spun around, the shock on her face obvious.

For a moment, they fought over the garment, until Kai ordered, "Let go!"

The maid release it, forcing Kai to stumble. He hadn't realized that he was now in tears again, or that his voice was trembling more than an earthquake. All he cared about was that the cloak was in his possession again.

"Your highness," the woman pleaded. "That cloak belonged to the princess. The queen has asked for it."

The words made his blood boil. "It didn't used to belong to her," he corrected angrily. "It still does. Because she's going to come back for it! And as for Levana, to hell with what she wants!" he bellowed. Every last time that horrendous excuse for a queen acted like a monster reeled over and over in his mind. How that horrible witch treated Cinder, how she treated her own people.

But now, he almost understood why she was so cruel. She lost her husband, Evret, to an assassin. One that broke into the palace and may have been trying to kill her. She must have thought it was all her fault. Maybe she wasn't really as bad as others thought. Maybe she was just still broken up over Evret's death, thinking it was her fault.

And Cinder's kidnapping was definitely his fault.

So if she could take her anger out on others, just like she did to Cinder, why couldn't he?

"If you ever try to take anything from me without my permission again," he threatened. "I will let Levana decide what punishment you endure. As you are so fond of following her orders. Why not let her be your master too?" For a second, the room chilled over, and Kai couldn't believe what he'd just said. He never thought he could make any sort of threat to anyone, much less mean it. Even if it was for only a moment.

Still, the hatred over this woman's attempted thievery coursed in his veins. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he wasn't being himself.

The icy air of the room was broken when the maid ran out in hysteria. Kai could hardly blame her.

It was as if this whole ordeal was turning him into a monster.