A/N's: Sorry. I got sick... making it difficult for me to type everything I've written. But, yes! This story is fully written! I just need to type all of it up... Enjoy this chapter! I'll try and type the next one as soon as possible!

Chapter 9: Control

"Autor?!"

Myune stared at him, seeing through everything. She understood now. She ground her teeth before shouting at him.

"You fool!" Terrane said nothing. Autor laughed in response.

"I am no fool. I am the genius who formed this! That is why I am the true king!" Ahiru gasped.

"Why, Autor?" Fakir asked as he gripped the sword in hands.

"Why you ask?" His eyes locked with Fakir's and the anger and jealousy he held could be seen within them. "Because you always got everything, Fakir. You were the one who was destined to finish what your ancestor had started. You were the one who got all the glory. Why? I have the same ability as you do." He waved his arms at the scene around them. "Do you see? Do you see the masterpiece that I have created? Now, I've even written myself into the story!"

"You are a complete, stubborn fool, boy!" Myune seethed. "You have allowed the story to spin out of control without someone to keep it in check!"

"Who cares what happens?" Another voice said. Terrane rubbed his head.

"Why is everyone making their appearance now?" he muttered to himself as everyone looked towards the roof of a building where a new figure stood. A boy with fiery red hair. He stared down at them, smirking with an odd spark in eyes. Myune stared up at him, frozen to her spot. Terrane didn't move either.

"Phyros..." Myune muttered quietly. She wasn't sure if anyone heard her. Autor moved towards the 'King' and the soldiers backed away. Phyros raised his arms high into the air and they began to glow until a fire started around them. Terrane took a step back. Myune thought for a moment. She tapped her foot once before pushing Ahiru towards Fakir by pushing her hand against her chest, and in the process, lightly brushed her hand against Fakir's sword before running forward and jumping into the air with her magic ready at hand, just as Phyros unleashed his own power.

They clashed with a great intensity. Fire and water met and steam surrounded the two of them.

"You know, Myune, you've always been just a little too slow," the red headed boy said. A foot connected with Myune's stomach and she flew back to ground level with her back facing it. She didn't move after her ungraceful landing.

"Myune!" Ahiru shouted and reached for the spirit of water, only to be held back by Terrane.

"Maiden, stay behind us." Fakir moved to stand next to Terrane and the two of them stared down Phyros. He jumped down from the building.

"Terrane? You can't stop me. You know it."

"Why are you doing this, Phyros? That man is our enemy! You know that!"

The spirit of the fire crystal shrugged. "Because, I feel like it." He waved his arm in a sweeping motion in front of him and unleashed a harsh wave of fire. Terrane flew backwards into another building and Fakir was pushed away as well from the attack.

"Fakir! Terrane!" Ahiru called out, but received no response from either of them.

Maiden! She heard Leah's voice call out to her. Myune gave you her power before she attacked, you can use it to help you! She nodded and resisted when Phyros took her hand roughly. The sapphire that now sat on her necklace glowed softly. She pulled her hand out of the spirit of fire's hold and moved backwards. He smirked and flashed forwards so quickly that Ahiru couldn't see him move. He tripped her, but caught her before she hit the ground. As she felt the warmth of his arm, she froze. It was a tense, dangerous warmth. Phyros simply chuckled before resting the palm of his other hand on her forehead and she fell limp in his arms.

"Let's go then, everyone! We can discuss things at our hideout!" Autor called out. The King smirked at him but complied.

"Alright, men! We're leaving! Phyros! Bring the maiden. We are leaving."

Phyros grinned. "Yeah. I'm coming." He looked around at the unconscious bodies of Myune, Terrane and Fakir. The boy and the spirit of earth he had no problems with. However... He frowned at Myune. She was a danger to him. He noticed how she had given her power to the Maiden before attacking. He'd be sure to deal with her afterwards. He vanished with the others, missing the glint of a blue crystal on Fakir's sword.

She wasn't sure what did it. She should have known who she really was a long time ago. All the hints were there... Myune and Terrane's interactions with her, her own obsession with the library... All she knew was that she awoke to find herself in a dorm room that was not her own. She saw a note left by Myune telling her to stay inside. But, she couldn't. She felt as though if she stayed something would go terribly wrong. She had gone to Ahiru's room to look for her, but instead found 'The Dream Maiden' sitting on a night table. Normally, she would've have left it there. Normally, she would've left the room since she hadn't found the person that she was looking for. But, instead, she found herself being pulled towards the book. She lightly ran her fingertips across the cover and suddenly, everything came back to her at once.

She immediately left the room, taking the book with her. Even if she wasn't exactly who she used to be, she could still do something about the situation at hand. She ran out into town and felt the dread fill her heart when she heard nothing but silence.

The town was completely empty.

She ran down all the streets she came across until she finally heard something. Groaning. Then, complaining. She ran towards the noise and finally stumbled across Myune, Terrane and Fakir. Fakir was only just coming to, and Myune was complaining about something. When the two spirits noticed her, they paused.

"Mina?" Terrane asked quietly. He sounded exhausted. "What are you doing here?"

"What happened? Where's Ahiru?" Mina asked, feeling the panic creep into her voice. Fakir's eyes snapped open upon hearing Ahiru's name. He sat up quickly before rubbing his head.

"Where is she?" he asked, his voice hoarse. Myune seemed tense.

"Mina. Go home."

"Myune, where is she? What happened?" she demanded.

Fakir looked around, his face contorted in anger. "Did they all leave? Did Autor and that stupid King take Ahiru?" Mina turned to him.

"Who's Autor?"

"He's the stupid fool who wrote himself into the story!" Myune replied.

"Wrote himself into the story?"

Terrane rubbed his temples in frustration. "We're not going to get anything done at this point..."

"But, where's Ahiru?"

"He took her!"

"Where?"

"We-"

A tree burst from the ground as a vine tied itself around Fakir's leg, lifting him upside down and hanging him from the tree. Another vine simply tied itself around Myune, blocking her mouth as well. Mina simply froze at the sudden spectacle. As silence fell upon the four of them, Terrane breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now that we can all hear each other, let's get this straight. Shall we? First off, Myune attempted in fighting Phyros and failed. We spirits have our own limits in power as well. We can't use too much of it so soon after a test. Myune was practically already drained. It didn't help the fact that she's the only one who can stop him. I'm powerless against him. I can only stop Myune." He turned to Fakir. "Yes, Ahiru was mostly likely taken by the others. We will get her back as soon as we find out where they're hiding and that won't be too difficult." Then, he turned to Mina. "There's something you need to tell us, isn't there?" Her eyes widened and she smiled. Terrane was always the smartest.

"Yes. I'm sure you and Myune already knew but," she showed them the book she held in her hands. "I suppose, after Autor let the story write itself, I got my memory back. I know I'm the old maiden from the story. I know I'm supposed to be... well missing. I was assumed to be dead... No one really knows what happened. Even I don't. However, there's much more important things going on. You said the king came back? Then, there are two things that I know will happen. One, if Autor wrote himself into the story, then he had no control over what the characters can now do to him. Two, if the king isn't stopped, war will break out and it will be catastrophic."

Phyros sighed. He couldn't wait until this whole thing was over. He didn't really care about what happened to either side. He just liked making things a bit more interesting. He helped one side gain the advantage... but, now he was bored. He wandered into the main room of the underground cave they were in and caught the King in a confrontation with a boy, Autor.

"Now, listen, I'm the one who released all of you and so, you must bow down to me!" He shouted. Even the guards snickered at him. Phyros frowned. If that boy really had written the story, then did he not notice that all the power he had over the story was gone as soon as he wrote himself into it? The King laughed.

"You? Released us? And I have to bow down to you?" The King turned away for a moment, shining one of his swords with a cloth. When he turned back, he pointed it at Autor. "If you really did release us, we thank you, really. However, you are no longer useful to me."