~Chapter Thirteen~

Miki fell into darkness, shadows engulfing him.

His eyes fluttered open into a large meadow, filled with daisies.

A dream.

But the meadow was gulped by flames, a house in the middle of it. The house and field burned, but the flowers... only two stayed alive.

Sparks swirled around in the air, smoke arising from the house, the smell of putrid acid filling the space. Miki padded forward, strangely untouched by the fire.

The house burned, but it looked... familiar.

Miki stiffened as he realized it was his house. Memories swirled and dizzied him, making him want to faint.

A strange voice echoed in his head. ~Miki, find me before all is gone...~ Her voice echoed again and again, surrounding Miki until he fainted form dread.

Miki woke up, finding waves of sunlight touch his face.

Enzo sat beside him, muttering something.

Miki sat up. "What's going on?"

"Oh, you're up." Enzo sounded distressed.

"What?" Miki pressed.

"I... I can't find Oaka or Daigo."

Miki forced himself not to flinch. Oaka took him over the wall.

"Do you know where they went?" Enzo's gaze burned a hole into Miki's heart.

"N-no..."

"Dang. We have to find them. Oaka would never send him out this long."

*Really? You may want to think it over.* Miki thought miserably.

But surely he was right? Oaka wouldn't do that, would she? Maybe something was wrong.

Miki trodden behind Enzo as he searched around the destroyed arena.

"What happened between you guys last night?" Enzo said after a while.

Miki searched his gaze, wondering if he was teasing him or not.

"N-nothing." Miki sharply looked down.

"What happened? You seemed mad at each other."

*And I have no absolute reason why.* Miki thought.

"She was acting evil." Miki accidentally thought

out loud.

He immediately covered his mouth.

"What?" Enzo sharpened his stare at him. "Why would she?"

Before Miki could reply, a large creak sounded, piercing his ears.