Mion was running. From something... something... Her memories were slowly slipping away. Which wasn't good because that meant she was forgetting. Forgetting everything that was important now.

She could hear the cries of her sister, Shion, far behind her. She started to think about what she had done. She had left her sister to die. But at what cost? It was for her own selfish gain. Mion thought to herself, "There's no way I'll live if he catches me. That meant that Shion would have died anyways. Besides she's probably the lucky one. If he gets me now, he'll stab and beat me to death,"

Mion searched for somewhere to run to. She saw a path into the forest and quickly diverged. If she was lucky it would take her into town. Where she could find help. Where she could find Rena and Satoshi.

"ONEE-CHAN!"

Mion noticed her pace speed up. She couldn't care about that now. If she was lucky maybe by the time she got help, Rika and Satoko would be spared.

"PLEASE! IT'S PAINFUL!"

Mion then realized he wasn't going to kill Shion swiftly. He was going to torture her. A tear trickled down her face, and she started to run as fast as she could. She cared, no matter how much she should be concentrating on other things. She tried to think of others things... like how Rena and Satoshi would be at the end of the forest, waiting. They would comfort her and tell her they would save them all.

"REALLY! ONEE-"

Silence. Suddenly Mion stopped all together. She listened, but all she could hear was her own heavy breathing. She wanted to hear her sister's voice- No, she needed to hear her voice. She wanted to be sure that she could save all of them. After a whole minute and a half of silence. Mion was positive her sister was dead.

"NO! It... it can't be true! Not now!" Mion whispered. She was infuriated. She hadn't saved her own sister. She was a horrible sibling. Out of complete frustration she took her out her gun which she had filled with blanks-a bad idea, in the end-and aimed it at a tree. Mion gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger.

...just more silence.

Mion stayed silent as a thousand thoughts through her mind. "Why don't I feel better? What if I lost time? What if he finds me now? What if..." Mion's angered expression turned to complete horror. "What if he's already killed Rika and Satoko?" She could be running to safety for no reason, but herself. If she brings them back to the chamber, all they would find were the dead bodies of the beloved children that were murdered. Mion started to bawl and fell to her knees. She couldn't take the pressure that was now upon her. But she knew she had to be strong, there was still the small chance that she could save Rika and Satoko. There was even the small sliver of chance that Shion had just fainted, but was still alive. She was a tough girl, she made it through birth as the younger twin.

So, Mion got up and slowly started moving again. She started to get dizzy and her head was getting heavy. But then, she saw a light. Mion's face lit up as she ran for it. She knew she only had minutes now and that there was absolutely no time to spare. But, Mion's head got too heavy for her body and she fell. She couldn't move. She had failed.

Suddenly, a new shed of hope appeared before her. It was-

"Mii-chan!"

-Rena. Her ginger-orange hair shimmered and her blue eyes shined. Or was that just Mion's imagination playing tricks on her? She couldn't tell. But whatever the case, she was overjoyed to see Rena.

"Oh Mii-chan! What happened? Are you hurt?"

Mion looked at the thoughtful Rena and just started to let it all out. She couldn't believe how it came out with such ease. She thought she would have trouble talking about it, but she thought wrong.

"...He threw Shion to the ground and left me cowering in the corner. He...he kept striking her with the whip."-Rena winced at that part-"But then I saw it. My only chance of escape; it was one of the underground passageway. I saw it open... and I knew... that I could save myself and maybe the others if I got help. But, it was selfish of me not to think of the others! Now Shion's dead and the others probably are too! Oh Rena, please, please, help! Make it all better"

It was silent besides Mion's whimpering. Then Rena said:

"...that WAS selfish of you, Mii-chan,"

Rena's sudden response shocked Mion. Mion went to Rena with everything. She was always there for her and never said anything as harsh as... that. She was supposed to comfort and support her, not say something that made her regret everything she had done!

Rena saw Mion's upset face and said, "I didn't mean that. What I meant was that it isn't like you, Mii-chan. Your acting... more like... heh, Rena-chan," Mion suddenly stopped crying at looked at the now smiling Rena.

"I've always been jealous about how you were strong until the end. No matter what came your way you stood tall and I was proud of you. What you've been telling me and how your acting now is not the Mii-chan I know and love. We can still save them, because I know they're alive. I know that they may be hurt, but they will stay alive until they know it's their time to go. Now,"-Rena reached her hand out to Mion-"...it's time for them to be saved," Mion was finally content. Rena gave her the spirit she needed to get up and save the ones she loved. This time Mion could really see Rena's eyes sparkling. Rena really believed they could be saved. Mion took Rena's hand and smiled. Rena started to say something but...

...a sudden blow to the head made her quiet. Mion's face turned pale. She looked up to see a person who she'd never expect to be the bad guy.

"Eh? Well isn't it my good friend, Mion Sonozaki. How's it going... Sonozaki-sama?"

Mion was mortified. It was Satoshi. She had never seen someone look so evil and so cunning. She thought Satoshi would have been there to comfort her along with Rena. But now Rena was knocked out on the ground with a bleeding head and Satoshi was to blame. Mion couldn't talk. She clenched her throat and started to think she couldn't breathe.

"Aw, don't commit suicide on me." Satoshi got close to Mion's face, "I really wanted to kill you myself,"

End of Part 1