Warriors of Magic Authors Notes: Oi…talk about a long time between posts of a chapter. Heh. I'd like to thank all those who helped out in the creation of this fic, as well as Hospitaller and Sethra on Dalnet's #TenchiFF in particular for their work in prereading the Technical aspects of this fic. Thank you guys! ^_^ Please read the afterward after you've read this fic chapter. Standard Disclaimer: Pretty Sami is property of someone else. I'm just borrowing the characters for a time. Any characters I make up are mine, and if you don't know the difference you need to go watch Pretty Sami! Heh. The Love of the Warriors "nnn...would anyone tell that Convoy to quit running me over?" someone asked as he tried desperately to open his eyes, but finding the amount of effort it took to cause too much dizziness. So he contented himself with laying in his heap of limbs and tattered clothes. Oh...wait...there was sound...words...oh...he was speaking them, or moaning incoherently. No...that wasn't all there was. There were indeed other sounds, however they were not coming from him. He concentrated every bit of effort into figuring out what it was. "...ou alright? Hey, buddy? Damn...now I need to call an ambulance, shouldn't be hard with all the police roaming around tonight." The man's eyes shot wide open. "No. Police." He probably meant it as frantic command, but it came out more as a tortured whisper. He took in that it was a boy in front of him, not that impressive a build, but not too bad, it being more athletic than muscular. He had deep brown eyes, and equally deep black hair. His expression was a mixture of concern, nervousness, and no small amount of fear. "Can...you...help...me...up?" The man ground out. "I'm not sure..." "I'll be...alright...in a minute." A look of disbelief crossed the boy's features. "You're entire body's smoking in a freaking crater!" The man chuckled despite the pain it caused him. "Yeah...probably look pretty bad. Done this before...happens all the time...give me some time. I'll...explain...but...help me up?" The boy struggled with a moment of indecision, before curiosity got the better of him. He bent down, putting the man's arm around his shoulders, and helped him to his feet. Damn it! The boy thought, this guy is shorter than me, but is at least twice as heavy! Slowly, the boy managed to drag the man to the nearby fence and proped him upon it. The man promptly slid down and sat right there. The boy quickly followed, both of them breathing hard. After a time, the man turned toward the boy and spoke. "Thank you." He appeared to have recovered much of his strength as evidenced by his forcing himself to his feet. "I always did hate it when I do that." The boy noted the man's much stronger and steadier voice, and rose to his own feet, figuring that the man had been right in that he just needed a little while to recover. The man proffered his hand. "Cyraqs." "Tenchi." The boy replied, grasping Cyraqs' hand. The man looked at him funny for a moment, then relaxed. "Something wrong?" "No. Just realized something. The fates are, indeed, psychotic." To this Tenchi had nothing to say. Instead he waited patiently with a question in his bearing. Cyraqs realized this, and chuckled again. "You believe in Magic, Tenchi?" Tenchi shrugged. "I kinda have to considering the Magical Girl's we have and that disturbance over there." he pointed to an area with a lot of flashing blue and red lights and weird sirens a few blocks away. "Well...I kinda come from the same place." Tenchi looked at him skeptically, 'til Cyraqs raised his palm upward causing lightning to flow out and upward about a meter. "Umm...you looking for Pretty Sami or Pixy Misa?" Tenchi asked warily. Cyraqs shook his head. "No. Others like me. Not like them." At that, he detached himself from the wall, and stood on his own. "I thank you again Tenchi. You might want to get home, if those peace keep...err...police catch you out here, who knows what might happen to you." "I doubt I'll have much to worry about, but you..." Cyraqs nodded and then turned and walked to the other side of the fence. "You be alright?" Tenchi called out. "Yeah!" Cyraqs called, vaulting the wall. The eight-foot tall wall of the fence surrounding the empty lot they were in. Right. Well, he hadn't seen quite what he wanted to. There was a new player in town...and Tenchi only hoped he would not be like all the rest of them. Somehow he doubted it. "Damn," he cursed to no one in particular. He poked his head out of the entrance of the lot and carefully began sneaking down the back alleys of the streets he was in. As he moved, he kept a watchful eye on his surroundings and a death grip on his baseball bat that he retrieved after Cyraqs done the Superman type hurdle. Why was it that fate never cut him a break? --------------- Such music...could one possibly describe the melody, the white symphonic force of life, which surrounded them? It called them away from their village, and drew them further and further into the wilderness surrounding it. They? No...yes, they. Though apart, the couple moved as one with the music toward the place where they were to meet. They were being drawn by... They were part of the orchestra, two instruments who were only softly played in this lyrical story, but who increased in power and presence the closer they grew to the end of their journey. And suddenly they were there, though they cared not where there was. They only knew that the music had grown into a near deafening and unrelenting storm of desire for the other who was only a blinding blue-green light. Was there any time when there wasn't the other's arms? Their body, glowing, wrapped around them, permeating through them...when there wasn't two but one? The song was beyond them now, but still were they very much a part of it. Everything around them lent their very selves to the creation of this wondrous thing. A new tone entered as the crescendo reached its peak overshadowing the original at first, but then mixing... Silence... Sound beyond sound; light beyond light; life beyond life! They screamed the climax of their torment and pleasure for a thousand eternities. They began to come back to themselves, breathing harder than they ever had, their hearts beating so fast they would later swear that their organs had burst within their chests. Only then did they finally look about themselves, at the forest, which, though in the dark of night, had the light of day about it as it glowed with powerful, mystical energy. The glen made little trickling sounds as it flowed by their still upright forms that hugged each other as though life itself was dependant upon their embrace. The lightning bugs glittered around them faintly, illuminating the shadows where it could be seen that the denizens of the forest had come to bear witness to this event...and perhaps even to safeguard it's occurrence. All was beginning to disburse as the music faded back into the background. Slowly, haltingly, they pulled away from each other's arms, each seeking to know whom it was they held...and then smiling happily when they saw their lover's face. I dreamed of you, all my life. "Hi," she greeted shyly. I dreamed of you too. "Hi," he replied softly. They had never met, yet they had loved each other a lifetime. Gently they guided each others' nude body to the soft grass below, and in each other's arms they fell asleep in the warm night. About them, flowers burst forth from the ground, opening their blossoms to embrace the moonlight. ------------------ Sometimes...actually quite often, the acolyte thought, sometimes there are places he'd rather be. Oh don't get the poor guy wrong just yet. Because indeed, there were advantages to being in where he was. Apprenticed to one of the one hundred eight Mage-Priests that made up the part of the ruling body that was the one hundred eight, it was likely he would ascend to take his masters place one day; assuming he worked hard and persevered in his studies and proved himself worthy of course. This apprenticeship also carried with it the added benefits of an adequate room, food that; while not five star cuisine, was actually better than his father's or his own cooking (as his mother couldn't cook to save her life...shortening her life via her cooking was another matter altogether), and all the pretty girls he could look at, and/or hit on if this seeming prevailing lesbianism that seemed to infest them all at one time or another (likely trying to emulate the Heir, which was his personal theory on that) wasn't preventing them from looking at men as a viable option for the relief of sexual tension. The only two of these things he might have had a problem with are his studies and the girls. And considering he was actually quite gifted with magic, not to mention fairly nice and good enough looking to attract feminine attention, those were really not the problems they could have been. So why, one would ask, was he now quaking in his boots wishing to be elsewhere? If you had felt The Stare of Disapproval from the Heir, you would know why. The last poor unfortunate soul who had been the target of such an unwholesome fate had been a message courier, whose job it was to keep magical information transfers flowing without incident throughout the castle. This was normally the type of duty that most preferred to get in the castle, as it was little more than sitting around all day watching the network traffic, occasionally clearing up someone's miscast message, and trying to keep from falling asleep. This magical tech had failed in the latter, and one miscast message had been arranged in such a way as to, instead of being kicked back by the automatic safeguards should no outside intervention be employed, sit there...preventing any further message traffic, and causing many reports to be delayed. One of which happened to be the food availability report in the northern regions of Juraihelm, where the dwellers of ice and snow lived. Food was scarce there in the best of times, and only the strongest could use magic to enhance production, as the elemental forces would overcome near any arcane force leveled against them. It was quite often necessary to import food to the villages, outposts and shrines that were scattered across the area; so indeed this could have been incredibly vital to their well being, and would have behooved them to get the report to the Heir, The Second, and the one hundred eight as soon as possible. Fortunately this was not the case...this time. Merely a message saying quite enough supplies this year, no further assistance required, payment in full to the Arboreal Mages is in route by magical courier and would be there when the Kuma Kaiyo Warrior-mages could force the gate to open large enough and long enough to send it. But it could have been a request for more supplies. Or worse, a plea for help, if something untoward had happened. Tsunami knew this, and had asked said tech to be brought to her personally. It was well known that the Heir had not one violent cell in her body, and yet...she looked at the tech with sadness in her eyes, and a deeply hurt tone of voice when she said, "I'm disappointed." Now one might be wondering how that would cause said individual to fall into a depression that had the tech eventually admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where the clerics worked constantly to restore his psyche to a healthy operating state. And that was over a year ago. It was simple really. When Tsunami said those two words to him, it was like the tech's mother, grandmother, little sister, goddess, wife, lover, and best friend had said that he had just killed all of her children in the worst possible way, after raping her and destroying her entire universe in a way that would make the universal Nihilist who lusts after ultimate power (hoorah!) envious. And that just for starters. Such was her effect upon her soon to be subjects. Woe be it to those that would cross her loving justice. Something that the acolyte dreaded with all his very being. The very thought of her saying any words of disapproval nearly had him wetting himself right then and there. He was already shaking near uncontrollably...something that became more pronounced as the soft sound of bunny-slippers on the smooth marble floor manifested itself outside of the door to the viewing chamber in which he now stood watch. The double doors opened without sound, or even needing to be touched by the person he was dreading it to be. She paused only momentarily to let her eyes adjust from being in the dim moonlit passageways of the palace to the brightly colored and well-lit expanse of the room where those that were chosen for The Test monitored their avatars. After that all too brief moment passed, she walked without hesitation to the acolyte. "Why was I not immediately informed that Sasami had changed into Pretty Sami?" she asked with genuine curiosity. He noted, only absently, that the Second had arrived as well, and was livid with rage. Honestly, he'd rather face that then what he knew he was about to. Death would be preferable to the eternal madness that was likely about to befall him. Barely realizing what he had done himself, he had dropped to his knees and created a sword of pure energy, placing the point at his heart. Tsunami and Ramia both raised their eyebrows, "Eh?" they cried in surprise. The poor acolyte sat there for a moment biting his lower lip before..."OH PLEASE! OH PLEASE, MISTRESS TSUNAMI! I BEG OF YOU! DON'T SAY YOU'RE DISAPOINTED! I TRIED TO CALL YOU, BUT YOU WERE," He blushed without pausing his plea for mercy, "BUSY AND I WAS SCARED TO...! I TRIED I REALLY DID!" He saw Ramia smack herself and cast a glare at Tsunami that was filled with so much venom; he was actually surprised that she didn't start spitting it at Tsunami. Course, then he remembered she did that quite often anyway, though it was quite lost on Tsunami. For just a moment, he entertained the thought he might not have to kill himself as the lesser of two evils he'd have to endure. Then he saw the Heir's look go from curious to a gaze that spoke of actual thought being applied to this The last thoughts on his mind being: Oh goodbye cruel world! I so wanted to see the Heir and the Second nude just once. Then my life could have been complete! 'Tis not meant to be it seems. And with that he saw Tsunami's brow furrow and her lips part to speak. "It seems this is my fault." Say huh? She wasn't blaming him? She had just said, "It seems this is my fault." Not his fault...her fault. He made to protest, his mind not realizing he was no longer forfeit, "But milady it was my duty to..." She waved him off. "No. This was mine. I made no provision for this, and you are not to blame for my errors." The acolyte grasped at nothing, only now realizing that he hadn't had anything in his hands since the end of his plea for reprieve from Tsunami's 'wrath.' He glanced at his hands in disbelief, hearing Ramia chuckle at his confusion. Had she taken his sword? Or had the heir? "Please leave. I will not be needing you for the rest of the night." She drew him to his feet, and hugged the young man softly. "You did very well, and I am so sorry. Because of my error you thought you had failed." She grasped him closer. "Forgive me." Was she crying? His arms had went around Tsunami's shoulders by reflex, but his mind was doing the ol' snap crackle and pop as its logic circuits went bye bye. Still he managed a "yeah, sure." She's soft, he noted. And warm...comforting...oh my GOD! I'M HUGGING THE HEIR!!! His mind finally screamed. "C'mon kid." Ramia picked him up out of Tsunami's embrace by the scruff of his neck and tossed him out the door, "Beat it!" He scurried onto his feet and down the hallway as Ramia closed the door behind him. She then turned toward the Heir and said, "We need to talk." --------------------- He was the Wiseman of the village. He had seen things that still left him in awe when he thought of them. The rainbow lights in the sky of the north, whose shifting and pulsating patterns reflected throughout the forests of the ice trees and well beyond for miles and miles nearly blinding all who came close. The Ryokan Rain Forests, which had such an abundance of life, that were not the forest itself a conscious living thing in and of itself, one would have a very hard moving about in it's lush expanse. The great city-states, whose tree buildings extended sometimes for miles into the sky, and blended near seamlessly one into the other, existing in a symbiotic relationship with those that resided there. Experiencing these wonders and so many more had been an honor to him; yet none he had seen has ever compared to what he was now about to witness. The young woman should have been in pain, yet all that he saw was a serene and calm expression on her face as the contractions came and went...faster with each passing moment. The time was close. Sweat plastered over her face and body, yet she was not troubled by this either. She was only impatient for her child to be born into this world. The wise man knew her name was Akemi; he would know this, as it was he who had delivered her into this world some eighteen years earlier. It blew his mind that she was now the one bringing life into this world, and not just any life either. Her husband wiped her brow and arms with some of the sponge moss found beside her, wet with the cool water of the small creek that flowed next to the couple. Her husband was named Ryuken, a rather nice looking man of green-gold hair, and pink within pink eyes. He whispered words of encouragement to his mate who nodded in acknowledgement. She had only met the boy from a city some one hundred or more miles away, nine months ago, when they had both been chosen. Chosen in the way all those before them had been to bring about one of the greatest wonders of their world. Chosen to be the parents of a Magical Girl. The wise man ached to go to her, to help the girl he had known for so long. It seemed the forest sensed his need, when one of the werecats came to sit in front of him. Not a threat, but more of a request, that he just let things be. Just watch, things would be ok without him. The wise man nodded his acknowledgement to the werecat, and let his gaze wander for a moment. It was then that he noticed the entire forest around them was teeming with innumerable amounts of it's denizens; many of which far more dangerous than even the one sitting before him and many who were as harmless as the glow-flies that illuminated the darkness of this night. Though many were predator and prey, all were at peace while the woman continued her calm struggle to give birth to her daughter. A Magical Girl. The treasure of their entire world, powerful in ways that defied explanation, even in today's magically advanced society. They knew things, experienced things about themselves, which others, not even the most skilled of mages, did not. They carried serenity with them, not just a connection with the world around them, but also a connection to something far beyond even that...perhaps to the very cosmos itself, the mystery of all things. Suddenly every bit of ambient noise hushed, even the rustling of the water across the stones of the creek seemed to be not more than a whisper now. And then a sharp cry from the Akemi, followed closely by the cry of a new life announcing her arrival to this world. It had...happened so fast the Wiseman could scarcely believe it, nor could he believe the sound he heard from the forest now. A word...no, a name. The girl's name. And he found himself whispering it with everything around him. "Tsunami. Tsunami. Tsunami..." -------------------------- He surveyed the chaos and destruction about him, hardly believing the nightmare that had been wrought. Entire cities had been wiped out, whole schools of mage and warrior lost forever. And the death toll, dear gods, the death toll was unreal! He turned on the balcony of one of the few surviving structures in this city and finally asked the question that he had dreaded since the silver-haired master had come to him what had been hours ago. "How many?" She said nothing, only handing him a scroll in response. He took it from her hands. She let her arms fall to her sides limply as if she had been carrying a burden far too heavy, and was glad to be rid of it. She stayed as he slowly unrolled and read its contents. Carefully he rolled it back and set it on the small table next to his right. Sighing slightly he began to rub his forehead feeling the full weight of everything that had transpired during this time of conflict. "So many," he said quietly. "How could we have failed so badly? Our people...how could we do that?" "What does it matter? Maybe we had become too arrogant in our power. Maybe it was just our time to get slapped down. Or maybe someone was just plain stupid at the wrong time. Whatever it was, it doesn't become you to torture yourself for what you cannot change." Her pragmatic matter never ceased to amaze him, even at a time like this, even when it had seemed things had just barely been saved from the brink, only to die horribly in the aftermath, she still saw things in such simple terms. Tears dripped from his face as he asked in a raspy voice, "So, what would you have me do?" "Live." "How?" "That you couldn't save more of our people and our way of life was unavoidable. That I lost my apprentices was saddening to me." She shook her head as she tried to reign in her own despair, "And that you were unable to protect her...that so many of our brethren died and still they could not protect them, especially the boy defenders...their guardians and soul mates," he clenched his eyes shut at those words, "is everything that is horrible in the worst possible way. BUT," she clarified, "you MUST live! If for nothing else than she would not wish you to die. It's what she fought for! And what she died for...what most of our Magical Girls died for." "It would be so easy you know. I could be with her then..." "She does not need you now," she interrupted, "And will not for some time to come. At any one time, to each master, only two apprenticed there are: The Fighter and The Teacher. And of those pairs only we two remain of our school. We who were once the pair under a master: me, the teacher; and you, the fighter. I need...our WORLD needs you here and now!" ------------- Ryo-ohki and Sasami burst into the bathroom to see Pixy Misa laying on the ground convulsing and a nude, very wet Rumia trying to stop her erratic motions. "What did you do to..." Sasami started forward intent on ripping the boy limb from limb, only to be stopped by the other boy behind her. "HE wouldn't..." he paused what he was about to say, aware that Rumia HAD in fact done this to her. Albeit not in the way that Sasami likely thought he had. Rumia cast a stricken glance at Ryo-ohki who threw him a towel to cover himself, both feeling the heated stare of Sasami. She knelt down and placed a hand on Pixy's head, but immediately jerked it back...it had felt as if Pixy were on fire. "Get her legs Sasami." Her venomous expression did not change, but she did as Ryo-ohki bid. Ryo-ohki grabbed her upper torso, holding her as tightly as he dared to keep her from writhing free as Sasami did the same for her legs. Together, they managed to get her out of the bathroom and onto a nearby couch. Rumia quickly followed, having called his clothing back to him. "What have I done? What. Have. I. Done?" Rumia whispered impotently. "YOU! Yoouu..." Sasami launched herself at Rumia in rage and began throttling him. Ryo-ohki actually considered letting her finish him for a split second before pulling the enraged girl off his friend. Sasami tried to kick and punch her way out of Ryo-ohki's grasp. "LEMME GO! I'LL...I'LL KILL HIM!!!" He held fast. "And how's that going to help her?" She turned a tearful stare of hate and despair toward Ryo- ohki, "But he...he...he..." "Her life force is fading. She pushed herself too far. *I* pushed her too far." Rumia informed them sullenly. "I can feel her slipping...soon...no," he shook his head. "I won't let her die! Even if I must give her mine to..." Ryo-ohki raised his hand to interrupt, "Rumia, that won't be necessary." Both Sasami and Rumia looked at him in askance, "You're too weak...what you're thinking of would kill you both. Even you and me together, we just don't have what it takes. Not right now. There is only one person here who has the strength..." "I'll do it!" Sasami shouted. "Whatever it is I'll do it!" Both boys looked at her funny. How could she... "What?" she looked at her companion, a coy grin on her face, saying in a tone somehow asking how he could possibly forget: "I still know what you're feeling." "Sasami..." Ryo-ohki began. "I don't care what it is! She's not going to die! She's my friend and she won't die!" "There is a danger..." Rumia tried to warn her, but his voice failed him when Sasami cast her hate filled stare in his direction. Rumia grasped Pixy's hand, and winced in pain as one of her spasms nearly broke every bone in his own. Ryo-ohki sat down beside Misa's head on the couch and grabbed her other hand, extending his remaining one for Sasami to take. She hesitated only for a moment before accepting his offering. Ryo-ohki nodded at Rumia, keeping his gaze on Sasami, which caused her to look over and see his other hand stretched at toward her. She looked as if it were a poisonous snake for a moment before she quickly grabbed it, digging her nails into his palms hard. If Rumia felt it, he gave no indication. "We are going to connect ourselves in a circle of living energy," Ryo-ohki explained, "We will give you as much of our power as we can, but it will be you, and you alone, which will have to give of your life force. You will...be with her. Mind to mind. Soul to soul. You..." he closed his eyes, and tried to gather the strength, "will be one with her. If she dies...so do you. And then so will we." ----------------------- "I hear you're being assigned to be the protector of a Magical Girl." He turned from his view of the pretty blue-haired girl in the garden of flowers and grinned happily at his auburn haired sister. "It is an honor," she continued, "to even be considered, let alone to be found worthy to be the protector for one of them." His grin widened. Translation: She's taking my brother away from me! "Jealous?" She chose to ignore his barb, "Not just for a Magical Girl, but for one of the candidates to be the focus of the balance; the Queen of Juraihelm herself! The one who will prevent another Duality War. That such an honor befalls you speaks well of your skills, my brother." Translation: I don't think even she deserves my brother! His grin never wavered, "You're not fooling anyone, sister." Suddenly his arms were full of his sobbing auburn haired sister, "Hey, it's alright! It's not like I'm going anywhere." "She...she's..going to ta...take you aw..way from me!" He sighed annoyed and embarrassed at the same time, yet could not deny the surge of affection for this girl. "We'll both be here now, you know. We haven't completed our training yet. And since I'll have to stay with her..." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "ANYWAY, we'll both be here, and we both gotta train, so we'll still be together." "She's...different somehow. She doesn't feel right, brother." Was that fear he heard in her voice? "Tsunami?!" How could his twin possibly think that girl was anything other than harmless? From what he could tell there wasn't a mean particle in her body. "You make it sound like she's one of the monsters we used to hunt in the Ryokan desert." He turned their still hugging forms so they could both gaze at the blue haired girl in the garden. He could hear the girl as she sang softly to her flowers, smell the gentle scents she emitted; not so different really from the flowers she tended, taste her very life to which the garden itself responded and seemed to pull itself closer to her. "That is no monster." The girl in his arms tried hard to block it out, but she had trained with him far too long not to have some sort of bond with him. Worse, she had been his twin sister all his life; sometimes she was more aware of him than she was of herself. And this...girl was going to take him away! The girl was dangerous to him somehow. Could he not feel it? No, he was oblivious, already quite smitten with the girl's pretty looks and gentle demeanor. Lost to her even before she had a chance to fight for him any way shape or form. "Go to her Cyraqs," she told him, "Go now." "Hey," he pulled away, "I'm still your brother." He walked up behind the pretty blue haired girl silently. Still, she turned at his approach and regarded him with her luminous innocent eyes. His own green eyes could not pull away from those oceans of pink as they studied him. The seven-year old girl broke the silence first. "You are my boy protector." The ten-year old boy nodded his assent. She held her hand out to him, inviting him to take it. As he did, the green runes of power on her forehead began to glow. "I am Tsunami." "I am Cyraqs." And as for the girl watching? She bit her lip as she tried in vain to staunch the flow of tears. When Cyraqs' hand had touched Tsunami's he had bonded with her as a guardian does for his magical girl. She had felt that piece of him flow away from him and into the girl, to be replaced by a similar piece from Tsunami. It was there, she could feel. Some new alien presence in her brother; the damage had just begun. "Are you my brother anymore?" ----------------- "What is it Ramia?" Couldn't she just reign in her degenerate libido for one minute!? "The kid...no! He's unimportant!" Tsunami's peaceful look changed not one bit, yet somehow Ramia felt that continued invitation to rip her clothes off and make mad...NO! Damn that...that creature! "You should have realized this would happen! Our acolytes are NOT going to disturb you when you are...with your toys Tsunami!" Tsunami's gaze narrowed in the closest approximation of anger that she could muster. "My friends are not toys, Ramia. Perhaps I could show you this later...?" Ramia cut her off quickly, "NO!" gritting her teeth, she continued, "Damn it Tsunami! Will you listen?!" Tsunami remained silent, but that damn smile did not leave her face. "Your chosen champion of love and justice transformed on her own! Her companion has not contacted you in regards to this! YOU were unavailable! Does none of impact that thick skull of yours! Don't you realize the full importance of this?! You better be praying that nothing bad has happened here or you'll wind up out of the candidacy!" She really hoped she kept the satisfaction out of her voice. She hoped to the ever-sacred spirits that something untoward had happened to Pretty Sami, so this weak and flaky THING wouldn't ascend to the throne. There is no way this sub creature could possibly safeguard the balance of the Gemini her people required. "Ryo-ohki has not contacted me, this is true," she said finally, "But I sent him a summons notice before we brought the acolyte in for questioning." Did she now? "And?!" "And, he replied that when he finally sorted out the situation, he'd advise me of it. He expected to have a full report for me sometime tomorrow." Tsunami was actually one step ahead of her this time. Damn, she has more information than *I* do, she thought to herself. If only she could get away and contact her brother or possibly get the scrying room to SEE what was going on. Perhaps a casual inquiry into the subject was called for. "We NEED to see what has happened! Since when has he ever said 'will advise' when you have asked him to report before?" Tsunami blinked. Would that blue haired fop even realize what she was asking? "Oh! Yes, that would be a good idea! Oh...wait it won't work for awhile..." Ramia raised one eyebrow in a silent question, "I allowed Anata access to it to travel to Earth...oh Ramia, please don't hit your head on the wall like that. You'll hurt yourself!" ---------------------- The boys began talking in a strange language, using words that seemed to get louder and louder with every syllable. The power they carried began as a small thumping, then after a few moments, grew into a torrent of energy that swept around them all, yet leaving them untouched. And she felt herself drawn away from the two boys. Drawn away from herself altogether, and into the waning golden light of the other magical girl before her. Cold! She was so cold! Yet everything around her was scalding to the touch. Wait. Everything around her?! There was nothing around her. Nothing at all! Oh, God, she couldn't feel anything now, there was nothing to feel, nothing to see. Air was nonexistent; vertigo was overtaking her. She could feel herself slipping... "CONCENTRATE!" Startled out of near death by the word spoken with both Rumia and Ryo-ohki's voice, she felt new strength flow into her from them. She did as bid, and focused the power, finding her balance in this void. They were still with her yet. "YOU MUST FIND HER CENTER!" "How?" she asked. "FOLLOW YOUR HEART. IT WILL LEAD YOU TO HER." Follow my..? Briefly she noted how utterly cliché this was. How many times had she read about just such a situation in the various magical girl mangas she used to read before she became the story? Too many to name. Still, there was a certain truth they all shared. Their friendship connected them in ways she couldn't begin to fathom...all she had to do was follow that back to her friend before Misao disappeared in this darkness...and took Sasami with her. If only the writers of said stories could see me now, she thought. "QUICKLY! WE HAVE TO FIND HER SOON; WE'RE TOO WEAK TO KEEP THIS UP FOR LONG! ONLY WHEN YOU FIND HER CAN YOU GIVE HER THE POWER SHE NEEDS!" And she floated, not noticing if she was 'moving' (if motion was what had to happen here) or not, keeping Misao in her thoughts, praying that she would find her before it was too late. She kept going, only knowing now that she loved her Misao...and Misa as Sasami knew now that Misao was Pixy Misa too. Where are you? Please...I have to find you! She called silently over and over into the inky blackness of what was inside of her best friend and worst enemy. There in the distance, she thought she saw a shimmering white-gold light. At first she thought her eyes must be playing tricks on her, but it soon became apparent that what she saw was coming closer with each passing moment. In no time at all she came to the source of the illumination and floated down to what was the only ground she had seen in this featureless place. There in the pillar of light, Sasami saw the object of her search, naked as the day she was born, and crying softly. "Misao? Misao, it's me. It's Sasami, can you..." she tried to reach for Misao, but the light surrounding the purple- haired girl stopped her, "Please can you let me in? I want to help." "Maybe I don't want any help." A familiar, bitter voice told her from the darkness behind her. She turned and saw someone who just should not have been here walk from the darkness toward her, "Pixy Misa." "In the flesh, such as it is here, Mon Chere." She bowed sardonically toward Sasami who turned to glance at the girl in the light, "Oh, worry not! I'm safe and protected behind my wall." Sasami walked toward the blond haired girl. "I don't...don't understand. How can you be here?" Both Misao and Pixy Misa spoke as one, "We are the same." "And at the same time," Pixy began. "So different." Misao finished softly. "I'm here to help you. I can help you..." Let us help you, the voice of Rumia cried within Sasami, knowing he would not be heard, and yet... "Rumia..." she did. Turning Pixy Misa looked at a wall that was not there before, and a picture of a boy and who was also the most grand and gorgeous bird that Sasami had ever seen. "Is he not beautiful?" Misa grabbed the picture from the wall and hugged it over her heart, "My pretty bird. My protector. My tormenter." A single tear traced its way down both Misao and Misa's cheek, "Damn you, my love." Sasami heard the voice of Rumia cry out a plea of forgiveness, but if Misao or Misa heard it this time, they gave no indication. Still, that was not why they were here. "What do you mean you don't want any help?" "Feels good, doesn't it?" Misa spat at her venomously, "Feels SO good to come charging in to save Misao. Must make you feel real special to be able to save weak and frail little me!" Sasami was taken aback, "Misao...Misa...why are you saying this? Misao...you're my friend!" "Your friend?!" she asked incredulously, "More of...your pet, wouldn't you agree?" She walked past Sasami and through the barrier of light to her other self and hugged Misao's huddled form gently. "Always the outgoing one, weren't you Mademoiselle? Always the popular one, the one that boys wanted, and that girls wanted to be! And me? I was just the girl you used to feel like you were doing something good. Being nice to sickly ol' me was just a way to make you feel better about yourself, wasn't it?" "No...no..." It can't be, she insisted to herself. I can't be using her like that! She's my friend...no more than that! How could she even think that? "Misa...that's not true! All we've shared! All the time we've spent...I did it because you are a part of me! You are a sister to me! Closer even..." "A sister?" Misa mocked. "Would I be so envious of you, were I your sister?" "Envious?" Misa nodded, "Yes. ENVIOUS! I wanted to BE you so badly! You had EVERYTHING I ever wanted! A family who loves you! A body that doesn't give out every time you play! Beauty..!" You're beautiful beyond words, Misa... Misa's tirade cut off by Rumia's words, Sasami took the chance to speak to the blond still holding her other self, "Misao, don't you understand?! I wanted you to have everything I had! I wanted to share with you all my joys! All my good and bad times! You understood me so well! You helped me so often..! Misao I protected you because I always want to be with you! Misao I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!" "Where were you then?" the still sobbing girl asked softly. "Misao?" "WHERE YOU WHEN I REALLY NEEDED YOU?" both Pixy Misa and Misao screamed to the blue haired girl in torment, "I needed you, and you weren't ever there. When my father..." briefly Sasami was treated to an experience within her mind of when Misao's father had come into her room at night and... "Misao..." "And then when..." When the pretty bird came to her time and again to change her into... "Me." Pixy Misa finished, "I used to be only what Misao wanted to be and now I am what I wanted to be. The strong one. The one who could go out into the world and fear nothing...in fact *I* was the one who was feared for a change!" Misa is Misao! They really are one and the same, Sasami realized fully, finally and for the first time. The epiphany caused her knees to give out under her. How much of this was her fault? How much of this could she have prevented? How many times had she talked with the girls in her school, and flirted with the guys, never really trying to get Misao into it? How many times had she played with her friends when Misao was forced to watch on the sidelines when her asthma kicked in, or she got too much sunlight, while Sasami continued to play? How much? But how could Misao even think this? Sasami loved Misao! "I'm tired of it all Sasami. I don't want any more pain. I don't want to be used anymore." They began to become translucent, "I just want it all to go away." The three voices that were Ryo-ohki, Sasami screamed as one, "NO! MISAO!" The blue-haired girl got to her feet and threw herself against the shield of brilliance separating her from her friend. Sasami would be damned if she ever let Misao down again! Never again! She would die before she let that happen! After all, Magical Girls never give up. Neither did Sasami. "NO! MISAO DON'T GO! I LOVE YOU MISAO!" The fading girl looked up in surprise. "Please, Misao I want to be with you! There's so much we haven't done! There's so much I still want to do with you!" She kept on pounding impotently at the shield, "I love you Misao! I need you! Don't go!" A small crack formed in the light, "Please Misao! I'm begging you!" Small shards of the shield broke off and fell to and through the ground as if they had always been insubstantial. Sasami continued to fight relentlessly, ignoring the pain and blood pouring off of her fists where she struck, "I love you! Damn it! Misao!" Even so, her strength was limited, and eventually failed. Sasami collapsed to her knees propped up on the light, still weakly punching it, and crying Misao's name again and again. "Please go, Sasami. Please go. Take the boys with you and go." Misao pleaded. "I can't, Misao. I can't...I won't leave..." Sasami began to fade from Misao's view, becoming nearly as transparent as her. "SASAMI! You have to go! You're going to...to..." Sasami smiled then, but instead of a smile of regret, all Misao saw was joy, "We can't save you. And you're right, I've never ever been able to save you...when it mattered..." she laughed whimsically, "I guess the best I can do now is go away with you," despite the barrier, Sasami tried to reach again for Misao, "We'll be together forever." "No." Misao shook her head slowly, "No, you can't die! Don't die Sasami! Please! Rumia! Ryo-ohki!" She pushed on the shield, "Sasami!" "Misao..." Please! I can't get...to her! Misao raged behind her shield. I don't have the strength! I'm too... You have the strength. You're stronger than you think! Misa? How? You're me! And you are me. And I KNOW *I* am strong! I have proven that! Please! Help me! I have to... Why? She is everything you wanted to be! She treated you like... No! She is going to die! Sasami's guardian is going to die! Rumia, my beautiful little bird, is going to die! Help me! And risk, it all happening again? Risk the pain, the loneliness... Haven't we seen enough? Sasami really isn't like that! Sasami wants to be with us! Rumia is giving her all the power he can! Can't you feel it? The shield began to give. I don't want her pity! I am strong! I won't go back to being you! I WILL be strong! And I want your strength! But I also want to love! I want to be with Sasami and Rumia! I want to love them! I WILL love them! Give me the strength...to love them! Misa's form slowly melted into Misao's, leaving behind a purple haired girl, in Pixy's magical girl outfit. I will, they thought as one, be loving, her face twisted into an expression of determination, and strong! For them! "SASAMI!!!" The shield just fell away, and they fell forward and onto Sasami's fading form. At their touch, the void filled with white-hot light. And for myself! Rumia and Ryo-ohki fell to the ground, gasping and clawing for breath. After a moment they began to hear chuckling coming from the other, neither could tell who started, and neither cared. "Nearly...lost...her...there..." Rumia managed to get out in-between breaths. "Nearly...lost...all of us there..." Ryo-ohki replied in much the same shape. The last thing either saw before they lost consciousness was a girl with blue hair and one with purple hair sleeping on the couch next to each other, hand in hand. ----------------- The girl, Tsunami, touched her cheek tenderly, feeling the welt left behind after the one who was Cyraqs Sonoda's sister and fellow apprentice, had decked her across the room. Tears of pain streaked down her face, and she glanced back toward the auburn haired girl, who held Tsunami's guardian protectively to her. Her own eyes burning in anger at the candidate to be queen, she shouted, "Go away! Haven't you done enough to him?" Tsunami glanced at the room around her, her protector's personal quarters, which was in shambles. The boy himself huddled in his sister's arms in pain she could feel more than see. Others who had tried to enter the room now stood outside cradling or healing the injuries inflicted upon them by the boy in question, or his sister when she had rushed to help him. But his torment...what could cause it? Why would his sister not allow Tsunami to help him? His mind, while she had only recently begun to sense his thoughts, was now in shambles. She could barely keep track of where it was going, what it was doing. Only a general feeling that he loved and hated something so passionately his life was nothing next to it. Could that be the same thing? A wall he had been building between them, she had noted as well. Was this what was behind it? How could this have possibly been? She rose to her feet and walked intently toward the pair; despite the auburn-haired girl's eyes warning her not to come closer...as if the blow she gave Tsunami had not been warning enough. She had to help him! Cyraqs was her guardian, her Anata...he had been closer to her than anything or anyone had ever been! Why would his sister not want her to come near? No matter, she HAD to find out a way to heal this...madness! Her own soul echoed with his anguish...she could only imagine what it felt like to him. "Tsunami, do not go any closer to them." Who? Tsunami turned to see the worried countenance of the silver-haired sensei-master of the Kaiyo-Dragon Warrior Mage Form. A question crossed the features of the blue-haired Lady of Mystery, one that the master tried to answer, "You cannot help him, in fact your bond with him is what has put him in his current state." "Our bond?" She asked, "How? Anata's bond with me is something wonderful! It's..." The silver-haired woman walked up to Tsunami, and looked down upon the child's tearful countenance. Her hand reached out and caressed the girl's cheek, taking away the redness and swelling at her touch. "He wasn't the right one for you." She glanced briefly at her auburn-haired apprentice still holding Cyraqs in a protective death grip. "Nope, not the right one at all. I suppose there is a first for everything." She looked back toward the candidate; placing her hands on her shoulders and bending down to look directly in her eyes, "Go now to the one hundred eight priests in the meeting hall. There we will try to undo...try to help your Anata." And pray that we CAN somehow, she thought to herself. The girl nodded, tears still trailing down her face. Glancing back once more at the boy, she took her leave. The silver-haired woman walked up to the pair, and nearly cried herself when she saw the state her apprentice was in. The anger of the other's gaze was not lost on her either. "Go away!" the girl commanded, "You didn't listen to me when I told you something was wrong! Now he's like this! Just go away!" "Tokimi...I..." "It's all your fault! I told you! I told everyone, but you didn't want to believe me! I hate you! I hate you all!" Cyraqs struggled to break free, but her grip held fast, "I hate you..." The silver-haired woman tried to meet the gaze of those pretty purple eyes, and found she could not. After all, the girl was right on every account. "And are you going to hold him forever?" Bad question, the master realized quickly. Tokimi's expression answered that and any other question she might have had on the subject. "Alright, what if I said there might be a way to undo what has been done?" "I won't let you hurt him anymore! I don't care if you're our master!" She repressed the brief impulse to thump the girl one. After all, she could understand the girl's feelings...hell, she would have been doing the same thing given the situation, "Do you think I wished him harm?" Again he struggled, and again the girl somehow held him fast, "He's like my son! And you are like my daughter! I want him well again, too!" "How?" Tokimi sobbed, "How can anything help him now?" At that her master glanced toward the door, where Tokimi noted a shock of hot-pink hair ducking back out. "Come in, Ramia." Ramia? Tokimi wondered. One of the other candidates for the focus of the Gemini Balance? Timidly the girl poked her head back in the room, then shuffled over to Tokimi's master, "I am...here...Mistress Funahou." The girl glanced fearfully at the boy who huddled in on himself, his face clenching with every thought that ran through his disturbed mind, "I was...I want to...help...if I can." "Then please...can you...bond with him?" Funahou asked. WHAT?! Tokimi jerked him back from them both, her eyes filled with darkness and anger. It was forbidden, and with good reason, to have more than one Magical girl bonded to a Boy guardian, and vice versa. The strain was overwhelming...it would kill Cyraqs, Tsunami, and this girl! What the hell was her master trying to do? Funahou must have known Tokimi would know this too, for she said next: "Please, Tokimi...trust me. They will be alright...for a time. Tsunami is waiting with the priests...they will...try and separate him from her, but he can't...he needs someone to bring him back." She glanced at the girl, "Can you..." who was already in motion, no longer paying Funahou or even Tokimi any heed. "I am Ramia," kneeling down, she whispered to the boy as he tried to claw free from Tokimi and tear her eyes out, "I'm told...I'm told that this is the only way to bring you back...I'm..." she gulped once, "I'm told...you are the best of your generation. Something about what..." her eyes hardened slightly, "Tsunami's bond...this drove you to madness. I've seen you with her...I wanted that kind of closeness with someone too. Please, let me..." Her left hand reached out, and touched Cyraqs' face momentarily. In that brief instant, she was treated to images that sped by too fast for her comprehend, but the feelings were all the same...not all of which came from him. A few, just a small fraction, came from the other he had been bonded with as well. She knew then. She knew...in fact she understood more in that fraction of an instant than she had ever known about this situation in her life. This boy wasn't just meant to be Tsunami's guardian, he was meant to be Tsunami's... "Soul mate!" Funahou and Tokimi looked on as Ramia continued to touch the boy's face, which had unclenched. His eyes had opened as well, and he looked upon the girl in front of him in wonder "They're all...we're all supposed to be together! The boys aren't...just guardians, are they?" "No," Funahou answered "They become far more." Tokimi looked on her master horrified. Soul mates? Why weren't the boys told what they were getting into? It's unfair to them! She had shouted that last, and her master had hung her head in shame. "It is unfair, and in a way it's the greatest gift one could give you children. You wouldn't understand it if we told you, and I'm sorry you understand it now...you shouldn't have ever had to worry about such things." Ramia continued to stroke Cyraqs' face, murmuring words of comfort and solace, for she now knew what had confused and tormented his spirit. For a young girl, she understood much more than most magical girls, hence her selection as a candidate for the most difficult duty their world had ever conceived of. The poor dear, he had been attracted to Tsunami, but she only thought of girls like that. Ramia's face wrinkled in disgust when she considered the idea. Even now it burned inside of her from the little bit of Tsunami that had passed to her in the bonding. He wanted her, but she was repulsed by that thought of him being with her in such a sense. The more he loved her, the more he hated himself. Cyraqs had started sobbing quietly as Ramia tried her best to hug him around Tokimi, who still refused to let him go. "Quickly now." Funahou warned Tokimi, "We have to get them to the meeting hall before it's too late!" The two girls pulled Cyraqs to his feet, and allowed himself to be led by them. It was obvious he was still in no shape to comprehend what was going on, but at least he was calm for the first time in awhile. "Will it work? Can the priests really separate them?" Tokimi asked. "It's never been tried," Funahou's expression darkened, "But they better." ------------------------ Cyraqs shook his head clear of the memories that befuddled him. Musing on things of the past would not allow him to accomplish his current mission. He barely caught himself before he checked on Ramia and Tsunami on reflex. The priests hadn't been able to pull everything that Tsunami had given him away, and vice versa from Tsunami; so he still sometimes had the ability to see what she was feeling. With Ramia, since his falling out with her, he guarded that link with her like a hawk, and only through shear force of will did he not allow her access to his mind, or he access to hers. But it was still there...only the gentlest of touches, and he'd know. Like he always had before... And then his feelings for Tsunami came to fore! DAMNIT! WHY CAN'T I FORGET HER?! No! Focus. Stay on mission, he berated himself. Have to find Ryo-ohki. Have to complete his training...then the line is safe. Then our world will have its next generation of guardians, and I can finally rest. Rest. It seemed such a faraway dream for him. Such a simple thing, most would think. For one who hadn't had a moment's peace amidst the torment that was his life, it was the most coveted prize that could be imagined. With that thought in mind he continued to follow the slight trace of magic he felt from the city to its source...completely unaware of figure following him. "Another magical being, eh?" A few typing sounds, followed by a couple of synthetic beeps later, the stalker smiled, "This town is a jackpot! I am SUCH A GENIUS!" For a moment the figure thought that it had been discovered, but the one it was following continued on as if he had heard nothing. Berating itself for such a loss of control, it folded up its heart shaped laptop computer and tried to stay out of site. Author's Afterward: Given that a few of you have likely seen Pretty Sammy TV (Magical Project S) many of you will note a few similarities to a certain couple of episodes of that series to this chapter of the fic. Be advised, at the time I was planning this, Pretty Sami TV hadn't even gotten here yet. I had no clue they'd do something like that in the series proper, and was actually in tears during those two eps (Niagra Falls, folks) when I finally saw them. You see it's obvious they were setting something like this up from the beginning, but I was truly surprised to have seen them go through with it (and do it so well). This is how I would have done it, which is not so dissimilar to what they had done, which should tell you how clear a plot point this was from the beginning. I just want you all to know, I didn't steal the idea. This was more like parallel development for an idea so clear a blind man could see it.