Everything started coming together at that point.

Waking up in a strange place, the kids being five years older, their memories being erased, the horrifying fact that I was now an outlaw, and everything else. It all made sense. Since my friends and I were the only ones who knew who he was and what his motives were, Kurokasai had manipulated time with his Phantom powers and sent us to the future, to get us out of the way so that he could take over Death City. And now that we were there, five years ahead of our time, he was already ruler and there was nothing we could do to stop him.

Then he erased everyone's memories just so that no evidence was left behind.

I stood up abruptly. "We have to go."

The three of them looked up at me, bewildered. "What? Go where?"

"To see King Kuro."

James, who had just climbed back into the den, protested. "Are you crazy? You're an outlaw! He'll have your head on a platter within seconds."

Ashen, who was trailing behind him with an armful of laundry, dropped it all in shock. "Jay, please tell me you did not bring an outlaw into our home."

James' face flushed. "It's not what you think."

"Then tell me! What's going on? You're so secretive all the time now, you're not the same James anymore!" Ashen's shock was soon turning to anger.

"You wouldn't understand," he snapped.

Ashen reeled, obviously hurt. I rolled my eyes.

"I think it's time for me to be leaving now. Anyone wanna tag along, or am I going to handle this myself?"

"You can't go," James ordered. I started angrily towards the den's entrance. "It's dangerous," he tacked on, in a nicer tone.

"I don't care. I made this mess, I have to fix things." I stopped at the entrance and turned around to glare at him. "I have to help you guys. I have to save my friends...I have to find them, first." I looked past him and nodded to AJ, Hana, and Crimson. "Good luck, guys. See you five years ago."

I climbed out of the den.

oOoOo

The first thing on my agenda of Saving Death City, was finding my friends. I had come to the realization that I was going to have to go back to the pub where I had almost been skinned alive, and the more I thought about it, the more I accepted the fact that if I went back I could possibly die. And I was okay with that.

The problem was that I had no clue how to get there. I stood in the middle of the woods, surrounded by trees and animals making their mating calls, debating with myself which way to go. There seemed to be a faint trail I had been following, but the growling in my stomach told me I was probably just imagining it due to starvation. At that point it occurred to me that I should probably find something to eat soon.

I was jolted out of my thoughts my a rustling and thumping behind me. Running footsteps, by the sound of it. I squinted my eyes shut and braced myself for the bounty hunter or ruffian that was about to capture or quite possibly kill me. To my surprise, I heard AJ's voice, and whirled around.

"Red," he called, slowing to a walk. "Thank goodness I caught you, I was afraid you'd gotten lost."

"Following me?" I sneered, half joking.

"More like guiding," he corrected, a smirk lingering on his face.

"Seriously, why are you here?"

"I wanna help."

"Why?"

"It's my father; it's my fault. I need to fix things too."

I froze, furrowing my eyebrows quizzically at him. "How much do you remember?"

"Everything."

This took me by surprise. He had put on a good act, making it seem like he too had lost his memory. "But how? Why you? And why do you pretend you don't?"

"Woah. Slow down." He started leading me through the woods. "And multitask; ask questions while you walk. We got a pub to get to."

Every few seconds I had to break into a jog to keep up with his brisk strides. Yet, he continued, "I'm a Phantom too, remember? I have at least half as much power as my father, if not more...since my mother was powerful, too, at least I'm told." He paused. "Anyhow, no one could erase my memory. I'm a master of all time, I remember everything."

He sighed and continued, never breaking his pace. "I don't want to freak the others out, though. Around the others I pretend not to remember, for two reasons."

After that he went silent, focusing on the trip. "And what would those reasons be?" I pressed further.

"Well, one, I don't want to scare them off and intimidate them just because I'm the son of the King." He said that last part in a mock-important voice for emphasis. "And two, you saw how they acted about their memories." At this point his voice faded, and he got quieter, as if he were guilty. "If they knew I remembered everything, especially things about my family, they might be jealous and hate me for it."

"They're your friends. They wouldn't ever hate you for anything."

"You'd be surprised. This world changes people."

His eerie words stuck in my head and crept down my spine as I tried to soak them up. He stopped abruptly and I almost rammed into him from behind.

"The pub..." he mumbled, trailing off. I followed his gaze and gasped. Even from the outside, you could tell the pub was completely ransacked. The place was destroyed; the front door hanging open, the roof with a gaping hole, beams hanging off, one wall almost caving in.

"Do you think there's still...?" I couldn't finish my sentence.

"Pirates? We can't be sure. Let me handle this." He grabbed my hand and led me into the pub, protectively keeping me somewhat hidden behind him. We could already hear it was loud inside as we went inside the open door. The pirates were up to the usual; joking, laughing, arguing, fighting, and the occasional killing. Because of this, we weren't noticed right away, and AJ led us right up to the front bar. He took a seat on a barstool and, at a loss, I did the same. He was still holding my hand.

The bartender turned around and addressed us. "A!" the scary-looking guy exclaimed once he laid eyes on AJ. "It's been a while, buddy."

AJ's cheeks tinted pink. Was he embarrassed? Did he come here regularly? "Yeah. Anyway - "

Scary Guy's eyes shifted sideways to me. I could almost feel him sizing me up. "And who is this?"

AJ's hand tightened around mine. "Um - a friend."

The corners of Scary Guy's mouth raised in a not-so-friendly-way. "What's your name, little lady?"

"Red," AJ intervened. I realized I was about to tell him my real name, the name that would have gotten me recognized as an outlaw. Man, AJ was really keeping on his toes. I wondered how often he was in situations like this, where he had to lie to cover up his identity. Probably often.

Scary Guy completely brushed AJ off. "Fitting," he said, addressing my so-called "name," and the word slithered off his tongue like tar. I fought back the urge to throw up.

"We're here on business, Sal," AJ finally said, a flustered look on his face. Sal perked up, cocking his head back in AJ's direction.

"Business, you say? What kind of business?"

AJ raised his eyebrows and leaned across the bar, lowering his voice. "It's come to my attention that there was a battle here last night."

Scary Guy's eyes grew to be the size of teacups. "The word has spread already?" he murmured. I noticed he glanced back and forth feverishly.

"Depends. Would that be bad?"

Scary Guy paled. "Deadly." He dropped his voice to a whisper, and I had to strain myself to hear without leaning forward like AJ was. "The Hammer was defeated."

The Hammer? These thugs didn't have very creative names.

AJ arched his green eyebrows. "Defeated by?"

"A group of foreigners that fell from the sky."

"And where are they now?"

Scary Guy shrugged indifferently.

AJ slammed his fist on the countertop, and Scary Guy flinched. "Dammit, where are they?"

"I-in the back," he admitted finally. AJ was about to bolt. "Wait! They're tough..."

"Oh, I know," AJ said. He grabbed my hand again and pulled me off the stool. "Come on."

"Wait, they're in the back?" I asked quickly, while being dragged through the pub. The ruffians stared at us as we hurried through.

"The back room," AJ said over his shoulder. I was not ready for this. Seeing Soul, and Maka, and Black Star...but Soul. I didn't want to hear him turn me down for Maka, especially with Maka there. I couldn't do this, I wouldn't do this -

But AJ swung the door open and flung me inside. All four of my friends stared at me.

Soooo sorry for the long hiatus! I've been caught up with...life, haha. If I even have any readers anymore, I hope the past year has been good for you guys. Anything big happen? Tell me anything you want in a review or private message. (:

I hope you liked the update! If I get good feedback I'll post more soon!