If you are somehow STILL confused as to why this is a rewritten version of chapter 7, please read the two A/N's titled "Future Edits Coming Possibly(?)" and "This is happening-- Hold on to your butts."

   Now read on, fellow fangirl/fanboy ;)

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   ¤&!^$#&@? Jan. 4, 2009
   The Crystal Caves
   Mount Alliance¤

   Aphmau stirred slightly, her senses focusing in on the world around her. She felt a warm breeze on the back of her neck.

   "Am I outside?" She thought, still too tired to open her eyes to check. She shifted again. She was wrapped in something warm.

   "A blanket?" She tensed as she felt something stir against her back. She cautiously opened her eyes, and her eyebrows furrowed. Her expression softened when she realized where she was.

   "That's right. I slept in the Crystal caves." But she tensed again and she heard something behind her.

   "Hmm..." There was a low, raspy humming noise, and she felt that warm, inconsistent breeze on her neck again.

   "That's not a breeze..." She thought, deciding if she dared to turn around. She eventually looked over her shoulder, and her faced heated up. Tony laid behind her, his arms wrapped around her loosely. She quickly looked forward, her eyes wide.

   "WhatishappenningWhatdoIdo-WhatdoIdo--" Her mind raced faster than she could keep up with. Tony hummed again, and he pulled her tighter against him. He buried his face in her hair on the back of her neck, and she felt his tail move in between her and the blanket, laying itself over her hip. She could feel the soft fur of his tail on her thighs since her shorts were fairly short and loose. Her blush intensified immensely, and she started to get worried that he could feel her heart with how hard and fast it was pounding.

   Tony slowly came to, his eyes fluttering open. He pulled his head back slightly and smiled warmly. He put his head on her shoulder, making her jump. He laughed softly.

   "Awake I see. Did you sleep well?" He asked, his voice lower and raspy from just waking up, and she tried her hardest to calm herself down. She failed, but it's the thought that counts.

   "Y-Yeah..." She whispered, her voice jumping up almost an octave higher than it usually is. She mentally face palmed herself for being so obvious. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, smiling.

   "I'm glad. You deserved a good night's rest." He really wasn't making this any easier for her, but she couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness. Tony shifted before sitting up, holding himself up on his hand on either side of her. She looked up at him, trying to focus on his eyes.

   "Sorry about falling asleep with you. I was going to wait until you fell asleep and then lay you down and go back to my bed, but it was just so comfy that I couldn't help it." He smiled sheepishly.

   "N-No, it's okay..." She assured, though her tone didn't sound very assuring. It sounded more shaky and like she was about to pass out, despite her best efforts to cover that up. He somehow smiled even brighter and warmer than before, and he got up out of bed. She turned and sat up, watching him. He walked over to the electricity orb, and put a hand near the button of it. He held it there for a second before electricity sparked on the inside of the orb where his hand was, and the orb lit up. It rose slowly and brightened, giving light to the room. The electric waves must've cause a reaction, because as soon as this happened the crystals on the ceiling also started to glow in their rainbow colors.

   Aphmau watched all of this in awe. Tony looked back at her and smiled at her reaction. His smile faded, and he walked back over to her. She looked at him curiously.

   "May I see your hands?" Aphmau wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but she put her hands in his. He briefly rubbed the back of her hands with thumbs before turning them over. He dropped her left arm and focused his attention on the inside of her right arm. He frowned sadly, his hand hovering over the etched, unreadable words overlapped on her skin. He gently touched the scars with the tips of his fingers, and he dragged them down gently. Aphmau flinched, and Tony looked at her. She met his gaze and he smiled reassuringly. He studied her scars for a moment more before letting go of her arm.

   "I'm so sorry. I should've stepped in more when Aaron told me about you. I had too much faith in him. He's far too unstable to know how to handle someone living with him. That's why we put him there in the first place. He just doesn't trust easily, and doesn't understand how to win trust. He resorts to hurting you because that's the only way he knows to get you to listen to him. He doesn't understand how much he hurts you when he does these things." Tony said solemnly. Aphmau gazed up at him.

   "What made him like that? Why is he so... unstable and sadistic?" Aphmau asked. She didn't understand Tony's feelings. He seemed to feel pity for Aaron, and Aphmau started to question if maybe her hatred was misplaced. Aaron's life certainly wasn't easy up here, and he apparently lost the love of his life and is trapped on the mountain. She wasn't sure how stable she would be if all that happened to her.

   "There could be many reasons. It's likely that he experienced head trauma during his accident. That alone and the mental trauma and shock he went through when losing Lily, plus the added factor of the loneliness of the mountain is what probably made him like this. And he certainly isn't getting better. We tried to help him, but he was repulsive towards us. He eventually warmed up to us, but only after we moved him to the observatory." Aphmau looked down guiltily. The whole time being up here, she had forgotten why she was there in the first place. She swore that she would bring Aaron back to Phoenix Drop. And he won't go back as he is now. He can't. If trying to help him become mentally stable would help him come to grips with what happened and get him to want to go back to Phoenix Drop, then maybe she should've tried harder.

   "Come with me. Let's get rid of these scars." Aphmau's eyes lit up. Could he really do that? She followed him out of the door and down the stone hallway. They came to the door and Tony pushed it open, walking through it. Travis stood near the large cauldron. His fairly long white hair was tied back in a half-up style to keep his hair out of his face. He was focusing on some old book in his hands.

   "Good morning, master." Tony said cheerfully. Travis looked to him as if he had just noticed that he was there.

   "Oh, good morning. I didn't hear you come in." He replied. Tony sifted through some bottles on the shelves until he pulled out a vile of reddish-pink liquid. He swirled it a little bit and smiled. He walked over to Aphmau.

   "Here you go. This should take care of those cuts." He handed her the vile, and she looked at it for a long while.

   "So, Aphmau, did you sleep well?" Travis asked suddenly. Aphmau looked at him, caught of guard by the question.

   "Uh..." Aphmau's mind immediately went to the events of earlier that morning when she woke up with Tony practically cuddling her. Heat crept up her face and she forced the memories away quickly. "I slept good." She finally answered hastily. Travis looked at her curiously, but shrugged it off and continued what he was doing. Aphmau sighed in relief and looked down at the vile in her hands again. She pulled off the cork and quickly drank it. She immediately regretted it, dropping to the ground. Travis and Tony, who had gone back to the potion shelf both turned their attention to her. She started coughing violently and looked like she was writhing in agony.

   "Oh, I forgot to mention that it tastes terrible. Small price to pay for quick healing." Tony said. Aphmau glared at him before covering her mouth, resisting the urge to throw up. Eventually, the bad taste subsided, and she felt almost a sizzling feeling in her arm and ankles. She looked down at her arm and saw the scars burning away. It stung a little, but it didn't take long for the cuts to disappear, leaving little evidence of their existence. Tony walked over to her, bending down. He examined where the scars used to be.

   "That's odd... it doesn't seem like they disappeared completely. I could've sworn that was the right elixir. Did I grab an old one by accident?" Tony said, examining the vile and sounding slightly panicked. Aphmau smiled and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. He flinched from being caught off guard.

   "It's fine... thank you, Tony." Aphmau whispered, holding back tears. Tony looked down at her for a moment before smiling. He returned the hug, rubbing the small of her back with his thumb. Travis raised an eyebrow at the two of them, then rolled his eyes and smiled in amusement.

   "Help!" Aphmau and Tony quickly pulled apart at the girlish cry for help that echoed through the cave. Tony stood up and stepped in front of Aphmau. Travis dropped his book, narrowing his eyes at the large stone door. Both Travis and Tony stared at the door with intensity.

   "Who goes there?" Travis bellowed, his voice echoing in the large room.

   "It's Aleena! Please help! Brother's injured in the forest!" The girl cried desperately, knocking on the door. Tony's eyes widened and Travis quickly grabbed a wooden case, pulling the hair tie out of his hair.

   "Wait, Aleena? Didn't Tony mention her to Aaron? Who's her brother? Just how many people are on this mountain that I haven't met yet?" Aphmau asked herself a million questions, but didn't get enough time to vocalize them as Tony and Travis rushed to the door. Tony placed his hand on the door and it slowly started to swing towards him. He stepped back, and Aphmau ran up to his side. When the door opened, it revealed a thin girl with long, straight, raven black hair. Her black eyes were filled with tears, and she was panting heavily.

   "Lead us to him." Was all Travis said to her. She nodded feverishly and turned around, running off. Travis followed her, and Tony took Aphmau's hand, pulling her with him as he followed.

   They exited the cave and followed Aleena into the forest. Aphmau shielded her eyes as the sun shone into her eyes. Eventually, they came to a clearing with a pond.

   "This was where Tony found me last night..." Aphmau thought. Her eyes fell to the floor and her eyes widened. Aaron was laying on his stomach in the clearing. The grass and parts of the surrounding trees looked dead, like all the life had been sucked out of them. The dead grass near Aaron was stained with blood. Aphmau couldn't see his face.

   "Wait, he's your brother?!" Aphmau exclaimed. Aleena looked at her, confused. Travis and Tony bent down near Aaron. Travis checked for a pulse.

   "He's still alive. What happened, Aleena?" Travis questioned. Aleena shook her head.

   "I don't know! I went to the observatory and he wasn't there. I figured he was with you guys, so I slept there for the night. But he never came back this morning so I decided to look for him. I found him here and came to you immediately." Aleena said, her voice shaking with fear and worry. Aphmau just stared at Aaron. He left the observatory at night? He was always telling her that she could never leave at night. Heck, he wouldn't even let her leave in the daytime! What would've possessed him to go out at night?

   Tony rolled Aaron onto his back. Travis sucked in a sharp breath when he saw him. Aaron had a huge gash across his front, his shirt torn and soaked with blood. Aleena whimpered and covered her eyes. His shoulder looked like it had been bitten. His face had small more minor cuts, but that wasn't saying much as the cuts were still deep. His hands were stained with a darker color. Aphmau assumed it was blood, but it looked almost black.

   "Why would he do this? Why would he go out at night?" Tony asked himself.

   "This isn't good. We need to bring him back to the cave. We can't treat him properly out here." Travis wrapped his arms under Aaron's arms and Tony around his legs. They picked him up and Tony stumbled for a moment.

   "I forgot how heavy he actually is." Tony muttered under his breath. "Aphmau, can you grab the case?" Aphmau nodded and grabbed the case that Travis placed on the ground. Aphmau and Aleena followed as Travis and Tony carried Aaron back to the Crystal Caves. When they got back inside, Aleena moved the map off of the round stone table, and Travis and Tony placed him on it. Aphmau wanted to help, but both her and Aleena had seemed to decide that they would only get in the way, so they just stood there and watched hopelessly. Tony grabbed a large cloth, pressing it onto the wound across Aaron's torso. Travis grabbed some dried herbs, crushing them with his hand and pouring them into a bottle. He mixed in some different elixirs, swirling the bottle. Travis gripped the bottom of the bottle with his hand, and his eyes glowed brightly. His hands and the contents on the bottle glowed, surrounded by a strange aura. Eventually, the light and the aura faded, and Travis carefully held the bottle over Aaron's mouth. Travis let about 5 drops of the elixir fall into his mouth before putting the bottle down. He mixed a few more things into it, and grabbed a clean cloth. He pulled up the one Tony had placed, which was now covered in blood. Travis poured out most of the contents of the bottle onto the clean cloth and placed it back over Aaron's wound. Tony grabbed a smaller cloth and handed it to Travis. He poured out the rest of the bottle on the cloth and placed it carefully over Aaron's eye, which had a large cut near it and was bruised.

   "Is he going to be okay?" Aleena asked shakily. Travis turned to her.

   "It may take a while for him to wake up and recover, but he'll be just fine." Travis assured. Aleena sighed in relief and Aphmau let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She couldn't lie, it was scary to see Aaron like this, especially when they first found him. Aaron winced and Aleena gasped."So much for taking a while to wake up..." Travis murmured in surprise. Aleena quickly stepped up to Aaron. He opened his eyes slowly. His eyes were dark and nearly lifeless. He looked at Aleena.

   "Brother!" Aleena looked like she was fighting the strong urge to jump on Aaron in excitement, and this was further confirmed when Travis looked ready to grab her at any moment.

   "Aleena..." Aaron managed to get out. Aaron turned his head towards Tony and Aphmau. He glanced over Tony and his eyes fell on Aphmau. They stared at each other for almost a whole minute. Aaron's eye that was uncovered shone slightly, focusing in on Aphmau's face. Aphmau's eyes widened as the corner of Aaron's lips turned up in a weak smile. He looked like he wanted to say something, but his eye started to shut involuntarily before he could, making him fall back into unconsciousness.

   Tony, Travis, and Aleena stared at Aaron in shock for a moment before turning their gazes toward Aphmau. She looked at them, just as confused.

   "Well, what did I tell you? He'll be just fine." Travis said to Aleena, quickly leaving what just happened behind. Aleena's face lit up and she immediately jumped on Travis, making him stumble.

   "Thank you so much for helping him!" She said, hugging him tightly. Travis laughed sheepishly. Tony walked up near Aphmau, whispering in her ear.

   "Do you know what that was about?" He asked curiously, pointing to Aaron.

   "No... I don't." Aphmau answered, shaking her head. She stared at Aaron, who looked like he was sleeping more peacefully than before he woke up. Her eyes wandered down to the cloth across his torso, hiding the large, bloody gash.

   "Just what happened to you...?" Aphmau thought.

   Later on, Travis went back to treating the rest of Aaron's wound, including his shoulder. Tony, Aphmau, and Aleena had left Travis and Aaron alone, going into Tony's room. Aphmau and Aleena sat on the bed Aphmau had slept on the night before, and Tony sat on his own bed, thinking.

   "So what's your name?" Aleena suddenly asked, turning to Aphmau.

   "Oh, I'm Aphmau." She answered.

   "I'm Aleena!" She answered cheerfully. Aphmau glanced at Tony, who wasn't paying any attention to them whatsoever. He seemed deep in thought.

   "So, Aleena." Aphmau started, making Aleena perk up. "Earlier you said something about Aaron being your brother. Are you really siblings?" Aphmau asked. She never remembered anyone back in Phoenix Drop mentioning that Aaron had a sister, or any siblings for that matter.

   "Oh, well, not exactly. We aren't actually related. I just call him my brother because that's just always how I've seen him." Aleena explained.

   "That makes sense... I guess." Aphmau muttered the last part under her breath.

   "I'm sorry to ask but... why are you here, Aphmau?" Aleena asked. Tony finally looked up at them, his eyes flicking from Aphmau to Aleena. Aphmau looked at Aleena, thinking. She felt like it was better to not to tell Aleena about what Aaron had done to her.

   "You girls should go to sleep. Especially you Aleena. You've had a long day." Tony said.

   "Yeah, okay." Aleena murmured. Tony stood up and placed his hand on the electricity orb, and it dimmed out, resting in its holder.

   "Hey, Aphmau. Come here." Tony beckoned, leaving the room. Aphmau followed curiously, giving a glance to Aleena before shutting the door behind her. They stepped into the hall a little ways from the door.

   "What exactly happened between you and Aaron that made you leave last night?" Tony asked in a hushed voice. His voice dropped at least half an octave as he spoke and Aphmau couldn't tell if it was because he was trying to be quiet or because he was serious.

   "Well, we kind of got into a fight." Aphmau started. She paused, and looked at the ground in shame and guilt. "I got really mad at him, and said some things I shouldn't have. He got upset and demanded that I left, so I did." Tony looked deep in thought.

   "Why do you want to know?" Aphmau asked. Tony looked back up at her.

   "I'm just trying to understand why he was out at night. At first I thought it was because you had went out at night against his wishes and he chased after you and got... unlucky. But that can't be the case if he was the one who made you leave. It just doesn't make sense. Aaron has never gone out at night like this before." Tony said, almost talking to himself. Aphmau noticed that he seemed very bothered by the whole situation, and she didn't blame him. Tony and Aaron seemed like friends somehow, so naturally it makes sense that Tony would be bothered by it.

   "Maybe he thought he was dreaming." Tony broke the silence suddenly. Aphmau looked at him quizzically.

   "What do you mean?" She asked.

   "As I'm sure you already know, Aaron has mental instability. Well, that isn't really his fault. As I have told you before, he was badly injured when we found him, and Travis and I suspect he suffered head trauma. Well, because of that, he can't exactly tell the difference between dream and reality, and in what he thinks are dreams, he acts far more violent and sadistic than he does when he thinks he is awake and everything is real. But there are times when he thinks he's dreaming, or thinks he's awake, and he actually isn't. It caused him to talk about things that he thinks happened in real life, but I know for a fact never happen. Then he forgets ever telling me about two weeks later." Tony explained.

   "But he's aware of that, right? So even in what he thinks are his dreams, he would be careful." Aphmau reasoned. He looked at her, giving a small frown.

   "Actually, I'm not even sure if he is aware of it. He forgets all about his dreams eventually, and he forgets if he ever told anyone about it. So I don't think he believes that he even has this problem." She stared at him gaping. Is Aaron really this bad mentally? She never considered the possibility of head trauma in his accident. They stood there in silence for almost a minute, not even looking at each other.

   "Listen... Aphmau... I..." His voice fell to a whisper.

   "What is it?" She asked, urging him to spit it out. Tony's eyes met her's. They were shining with so many different emotions that she wasn't entirely sure how he was feeling. He must've been really worried about Aaron.

   "Don't worry. Aaron will be just fine. You guys treated him and Travis said he was stable, right? He'll make it okay." She smiled reassuringly at him, and he just stared at her, his expression feigning disappointment. Disappointment over what, though?

   "Yeah." He forced a smile. "You're right."

   "I always am. Now we should probably get to bed, too, y'know? I need my beauty sleep." Aphmau said as she stretched and yawned, walking towards the bedroom door again. Tony stared after her for a moment, a small frown on his face. He cast his eyes anywhere but her as red crept on his face and the tips of his wolf ears.

   "He wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about..."

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   GAAAAAAAHH I'M SORRY I'M LATE TO UPDATING. I KNOW I SAID I WOULD GET THIS OUT YESTERDAY BUT THIS TOOK LONGER TO WRITE THAN I THOUGHT. These chapters just keep getting longer and longer it seems like. I'm gonna try to make the next ones a little shorter and still be eventful. It's important to balance both to keep readers from getting bored! #TipOfTheDay

   So anyways, small talk time. So I just finished binging an anime called Kamisama Kiss. It's a romantic comedy anime, AND IT'S FRIKIN AMAZING. I highly recommend it. 2 seasons, first with 13 episodes and second with 12 episodes. There is also an OVA series that's 5 episodes long but I haven't watched it yet. I watched the dub but I've heard the sub as well and honestly I think the dub does a really good job with the voices and the dialogue itself.

   Be warned though, if you are a Fairy Tail fan and you watch the dub, there are a LOT of voice actors from the Fairy Tail dub who voice a vast majority of the characters in Kamisama Kiss. Including the main protagonist.

   Anyways, just thought I'd mention it because I personally enjoyed it a lot, and I think it would be up your guys' alley.

   Thanks for reading! :3

   Check out Aphmau's channel ;)

   Word Count: 3722

   Writer:
   Nylo
   Editor:
   Nylo (it was minor editing though so if you catch any grammar mistakes I apologize!)