Oh, writing to a schedule really bites.  Of course, I was on my third
rewrite of the chapter when my deadlines o'erwhelmed me and, well, I'll
leave as is unless someone can think of some fixes (there are always
fixes, sigh, never ever quite done).  Some parts are still very clunky,
but the danger of diving into a massive rewrite of whole sections to
alleviate one or two bad sentences or horrible conversation . . .  Ah!
Just read and enjoy (hopefully! :).  [Oh, if you can suffer thru my
miserable attempt at a fight scene, I do make a stab or two at some
semi-erotic vampire necking later on - OH yes, a SHAMELESS plug to make
you waste your time reading more ^ ^]  Email me if you want to read the
intro (very good), ch. 1 (passable) and ch. 2 (decent), since I keep them
at hand/at keyboard/at file/ready to email/something of that nature.

Miyu etal is owned by a most excellent manga-ka and publishing company in
Japan and distribution rights by some wonderful company here in the US.
Everything else is mine, all mine!  Mwahahahaha!

Ari

Chapter 3 Start

Miyu yawned politely behind her hand.  Below the tree she sat in stood Ari
and Jenny.  She was bored.  She neither cared nor was interested in what
they were talking about.  Everytime they got close to saying something
interesting one or the other got scared and stopped talking.  Yawning
again, she slipped into the boy's mind to see his memories of a much more
interesting event from two weeks in the past.

**********

Ari was starting to get a bit worried.  He had searched all through the
school and over the surrounding grounds.  She wasn't at her locker.  She
had missed her last class.  None of her friends had seen her since early
this morning. He debated swinging by the nurse's office to see if she had
gone home sick. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to check, he started to turn a
corner.  Just as he did, a smaller girl came tearing around it and ran
right into him, knocking herself down and him staggering backwards.
Reaching out to steady himself against a wall, he recognized the younger
girl on the floor as a friend of Mieko's.  He was about to yell at her
when he saw the scared expression on her face.  "Midori, what's wrong?"

"Mi . . . Mieko!" gasped Midori.  Panting for breath, she tried again.
"Mieko's in trouble!  I need a teacher!"

"Trouble?  Where is she, Midori?"  Kneeling down, he grabbed Midori by the
shoulders, shaking her gently but insistently.  "Where is she?  What is
wrong?" Still a little dazed, Midori paused again to catch her breath.
"She's behind the gym.  Mendou-san has her . . ."  She trailed off as she
realized that Ari was no longer there, gone in the blink of an eye.  "No,
we need to get a teacher!" she cried , but he could no longer hear her.

Being conscious the last few times E'ani had been in control gave Ari the
ability to call upon the foci power he now desperately needed.  Energy
sang through his body as he slid between dimensions and teleported towards
the gym.  Those last three words he had heard burned through his mind
again and again as his fear and rage grew.  Mendou, again.

Rematerializing beside the gym, he cautiously looked around the corner.
First he saw Hiero, facing away from him, arrogantly leaning forward.  And
then, beyond the bastard, he saw Mieko, trembling, her back against the
wall.  Mendou was pushing her chin up with one hand, the other forcing her
against him.  Mieko cried out and tried to jerk her head free.  Laughing,
Hiero pulled her in tighter, forcing her head back further.  "You still
want me, don't you, pretty girl?" he jeered.  Licking his lips, he brought
his head down to kiss her.

Something inside of Ari snapped. A scream of rage filled the air as his
battle aura flared into life.  "Mendou!" he howled, leaping around the
corner.  Hiero spun around, a startled look on his face. Ari raised his
hand and unleashed a blast of red energy that engulfed the larger boy,
knocking him away from Mieko.

For a second, Ari was blinded by the bright flare of light, but as his
sight adapted, he stepped back in astonishment.  A blue aura now
surrounded Mendou. Ari's attack wasn't touching him.  Damn, Ari growled to
himself, he's a foci. I'd better finish fast before E'ani shows up and
starts panicking.  He opened the channel wider, shaking slightly as the
energy passing through his body increased ten-fold.  Still Hiero stood,
untouched and unhurt.

He smirked.  "Nice try, lover boy.  Keep it up.  Soon you won't have any
energy left."  He threw his head back and laughed as a startled Ari
stopped his attack.  "Here, try this on for size," Mendou said.  Without
much further warning a bright star formed between his hands and shot
through the air towards Ari.

Ari pivoted to one side, but the sphere changed course to follow him.  It
was moving too fast for him to dodge again.  He screamed in agony as a
wave of blue fire engulfed his body from where the sphere hit him.  The
grass beneath his feet was smoldering.  He couldn't breath because the air
was so hot. Doubling over in agony, he finally managed to summon enough
control to teleport a short distance away, leaving the flames behind.  He
crouched on the ground, panting.  This wasn't working.

"I pity weaklings like you," Mendou sneered.  "I am the Chosen, and all
will be absorbed into me so that He may be reborn."  He paused
dramatically, throwing his arms wide flamboyantly.  "Ready to die ?"  he
asked calmly as he closed the distance between them rapidly.  Grabbing Ari
by the hair, he lifted him up until the smaller boy's feet dangled above
the ground.  "Considering you tried so hard, I will try to make this
relatively painless."  Ari screamed as a terrible pulling sensation began
at the top of his head. It felt like someone was sucking all the blood out
of his body through a straw in his head.  His energy was being rapidly
drained, and he couldn't stop it. He continued to scream as his body began
to age rapidly, the vitality draining out of it along with the energy. His
hair began to turn white and a haze of dead skin flaking off his body
surrounded him.

It was then that E'ani finally arrived in his head.  *Fool!  ENOUGH.* The
pain stopped, though the power continued to flow out.  *Foci, what have
you done?  I give you the freedom of being alone and this is the result.*
E'ani paused, and Ari could sense him probing the other foci.  *Ah.  Ter
is not fully awake in this one.  I will fix this and dispose of him.  You
should be glad, foci, otherwise you would have to be sacrificed so that He
would never suspect.*

Fighting to remain conscious, it was all Ari could do to respond.  *No,
this is my fight!  She's . . . my friend, and I have to protect her.  This
is my problem, not yours.*

E'ani considered it briefly.  *You may try, foci, this once, but you have
10 seconds to prove that you can deal with this or I will take over and
finish it. I have no patience left to pamper your continued failure.* Ari
felt the shadow's presence withdraw.  Freed at least from the pain, he
redirected his remaining energy into his legs.  He brought his knee up as
hard as he could into Mendou's crotch.  The older boy doubled over,
clutching himself and letting go of Ari.  Ten years of practice took
control as Ari hit the ground.  Without losing momentum or balance, he
swiveled around on one foot bringing the other up in a smooth arc to
connect with Hiero's chin with tremendous force.  Hiero flew backwards,
slamming into a tree trunk.  For a second he remained standing, then his
eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground.

Almost doubled over and gasping for air, Ari finally managed to speak.
"You beat me up once before, Mendou.  You wouldn't remember, of course, we
were little kids at the time, but I remembered.  And I've spent ten years
preparing.  I'll try to make this 'relatively painless'." He winced as he
tried to smile grimly at the last.  Everything hurt, all over, there
wasn't one part of him that didn't feel some sort of pain.  He
concentrated, drawing energy from E'ani, recharging his own core.  With
the slow patience of healing, he carefully converted more and more energy
back through his bloodstream and into his body, reversing the effects of
Mendou's drain.  Hiero stirred and groaned, but there was nothing Ari
could do until he finished fixing himself.  Moving too soon would leave
him permanently damaged, his lifespan shortened, and his physical body
withered and deformed.  He grimaced as muscles spasmed and flesh
stretched, writhing under his skin.

Finally, he was done.  Straightening up, he saw Hiero had returned to his
feet, weaving a little, still in shock from smacking into the tree.  Hiero
tripped on a root and collapsed to the ground, still desperately trying to
regain control.  Finally, he rolled backwards and jumped to his feet.  He
tried to turn and run as he saw Ari begin to walk towards him.  Not fast
enough, though, as a foot smashed into his back sending him stumbling.
"Help me, Teranimus!" he screamed.

A scream ripped from Ari's throat as he launched himself at his hated
opponent. Just enough warning for Hiero, though.  He turned back around to
face Ari and brought up his arms to protect himself. Ari slammed into the
shield and bounced back in a shower of sparks.  He smashed at Hiero with a
backhand slash.  Energy crackled off Hiero's hastily-raised shield.  Not
raised fast enough, though, as burn marks appeared on his arms.  Screaming
in rage, Ari twisted through a reverse kick, smashing Hiero further away
from Mieko, who had collapsed at the base of the wall.  Her hands
desperately clutched her ripped shirt together and she was trembling.  It
wasn't that that drove Ari over the edge, though, it was the faint blush
and the look of desire he saw burning in her eyes and lips as she looked
at Hiero that pushed all civilized thought from his mind.  *DESTROY!* his
mind screamed telepathically, so powerfully that Mieko screamed and tried
to cover her ears and Hiero scrambled backwards, screaming as well.

Repeatedly, now, Ari lashed out, driving Hiero back, more scratches and
more burns appearing with every strike.  Hatred burned through his blood,
but he found little satisfaction with each blow.  Finally, he had had
enough, and he pulled his fist back for one last, final blow.

Crying out in terror, Hiero again tried to turn and run.  "A'terimus, save
me!" he screamed, stumbling and falling.  As another unearthly scream from
Ari resonated through his entire body, he looked around frantically for a
way out.  "No, it can't end this way!" he screamed bringing his hands up
to block . . .  and vanished.

**********

A sudden silence fell from behind the gym.  Midori ran as fast as she
could.  She had heard the screams and blows and cries of agony.  She
berated herself for telling Ari, she should have known better.  Almost at
the corner, she paused, and then started in terror as a mental howl of
rage ripped into the heavens.  "nnnNNNOOOOOO!!!  Come back, you coward!
You're not supposed to get away, you're suppose to die!  uuUAAHHHHH!"

Peeking around the corner, she could see Ari, surrounded by a glowing red
aura, raging at an empty burnt spot on the ground.  Glancing past him, she
spotted Mieko struggling to rise from where she had been sitting against
the wall.  Her shirt had been ripped down the front and her bra twisted to
one side.  One hand was cupped gently over a breast while the other pushed
against the wall.  It was her eyes that bothered Midori the most.  There
was something wild about them, something that made Midori feel funny
inside . . .

**********

Turning as he sensed another foci nearby, Ari screamed again as he saw
another enemy at the corner.  Something was bothering him.  He shook his
head.  He would destroy them all!  But the uneasiness returned, and
something stabbed at his mind.  With that sudden pain, reason flooded back
into his mind, driving the battle rage out.  It was only Midori at the
corner.

There was something he was forgetting, a thought floating just out of
reach in the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember what it was.  A
cool hand slipped under his shirt and pressed against his back.  He went
rigid as his senses were suddenly overwhelmed, burning, consumed by a
feeling so strong it temporarily blinded him as he tried to arc away from
that hand.  Breaking free, he twisted about to face this new attack.

He stared at the girl standing before him.  He glanced down and then back
up again, quickly, blushing.  "Mie. . . Mieko!  Are you ok?" he stammered,
looking down at the ground, nervously backing away and rubbing at his
head.  It was then, when he looked back up, that he saw the same look in
her eyes as she stared at him.  His mouth was suddenly very dry, and he
swallowed convulsively.  She gave a small gasp and stretched both hands
out to him beseechingly.  He closed his eyes and turned his head away.
She wasn't the Mieko he thought he knew, something was very wrong, but he
couldn't figure out what.  He fought for control as those feelings began
to take control and his body reacted as it always did.

He took a half step forward, and then her arms came up to embrace him and
with a wail of anguish he wrenched away from her, turning around and
stumbling, coordination gone as he tried to get away but couldn't.  Deep
inside he could hear E'ani wailing.  *Keep her away, foci, keep her away!*
He could feel E'ani's fear, radiating in waves as the shadow struggled to
regain control of their shared body.

Trying to remain rational, to keep a hold of his emotions, he stumbled
away from her for a few more steps.  E'ani's fear continued to make him
instinctively try to get away, but he was barely able to move now because
of the emotional fire that was overwhelming his mind and body.  It wasn't
just that feeling, the one you had around a pretty girl who was standing
close, it was somehow different, more intense.

Finally he stopped moving, desperately trying to clear his head enough to
think.  He almost screamed in agony again as arms embraced him from
behind, and he could feel her pressing against his back. E'ani was
screaming now in sheer terror in his mind, and Ari's eyes snapped open and
he desperately gasped for air.  Her hands slipped under his shirt again,
moving across his body, seeking.  He was frozen now, unable to move as she
flowed around him, slowly opening his shirt and running her hands across
his bare skin.  It was too much, and his muscles spasmed once then locked
in place.  There was only a blank spot in his mind where E'ani had been.

Pushing his shirt down to bare one shoulder, she tugged at him,
insistently, pulling him down to her level so she could reach him.  She
trailed one finger down his skin from his neck down to the crook of his
arm, and then she kissed him behind the ear, nipping at his earlobe.  Her
lips whispered across his skin till she reached the hollow where his neck
and shoulder met.  Trying to look down, he could only see the top of her
head.  A sharp pain lanced through his body as her teeth pierced his skin,
and then his eyes glazed over as his mind was overwhelmed with pleasure.
He stood there, frozen, unable to move, or breath or do anything but
vibrate with pain and desire.

A coldness began to seep into his bones, and the deep power of his
recharged core began to flow out of him and into that delicate little
mouth pressed against his skin.  There was a fire burning through his soul
as the exquisite sensation continued unabated.

Time passed, and as his body weakened he found he was able to think again,
and then, after a while longer, he could finally move.  Weakly lifting one
hand, he gently placed it on her shoulder, shaking her ever so slightly to
get her attention.  "Please . . . stop, Mieko.  I don't think I can give
you anymore. Please! " he whispered, drawing breath raggedly to keep from
passing out.  She gave a little sigh, and with a lick of her tongue and a
sweet kiss of her mouth let go of his shoulder.  His arms reflexively
caught her as she collapsed against him.

"Why, Mieko?" he wondered aloud, "Why?  What are you?"  There was no
response.  Looking down, he found she was fast asleep in his arms.  He
felt Midori's eyes on them, then, and turned toward her, beseechingly
looking for help.

**********

Miyu shuddered slightly, delicately licking her lips.  She could still
remember, watching, also trembling as the other fed.  And now, she tried
again to separate the two of them, to find out who and what they were, the
hidden ones.  But even with the two shielded from one another by all of
her power and skill, the girl could still find him, somehow.  The girl had
entered the park, headed straight across it towards the spot where Ari and
Jenny stood talking. Larva observed from the shadows behind her in the
tree.  He shifted abruptly, as if bothered by some small insect.  He
reached up and touched his cheek briefly, then faded away, vanishing into
a shadow of a tree limb, leaving Miyu to her self-appointed task.

**********

Mieko stumbled as she stepped on yet another rock.  There had been no time
at all, not even to put on shoes.  So far she had been lucky, her pajamas
looked enough like one of the newer fads that they had passed unnoticed,
and no one appeared to have noticed that she was wearing house slippers.

But they weren't thick enough to protect her feet from the rough ground,
and Her need now dragged them through a park.  She cried out a little as
she stepped on a broken branch and then almost tripped as part of it
snagged her pajama leg.  Where was Ari?  Couldn't he hear Her calling him?
She slipped on some wet grass and sat down abruptly.  Sobbing now,
bruised, cold and scared, she began to panic.  Struggling to regain her
feet, she began to run forward blindly.

A wall loomed ahead, blocking her path.  She took a step towards it and
something pushed back, stopping her.  She started to move to one side, but
Tel suddenly stopped her.  *I can feel him now!  He's straight ahead!*
Tel's power flared briefly and Mieko could sense the barrier weakening,
till finally she was able to push through.  Now she too could feel him, a
warm, intoxicating presence, like gentle sunshine.  Tel was frantic, her
small energy use having drained her available power.  *Climb over, I need
him right now!* she demanded.

The wall was too high, and there was nothing she could use to climb over
it.  *I can't.  You find a way over, Tel.  And he's talking to someone on
the other side, I can hear them.* She was too tired to make out what was
being said, and the wall damped out most of it.

*Call him!  I can't reach his mind, something is still blocking me.* With
a sad weariness, she called his name.  "Ozawa-san?"  There was a sudden
silence from the other side.

********************

Time begins to blur by, flowing backwards past the observers watching Miyu
and those below her.  They remember . . .

The sky blazes with fire as a piece of the sun falls from the sky.  A man
peers up through the trees.  On a sudden, unknown impulse, he stands and
begins to run in the direction it will land.  He travels for more than an
hour, till he can smell burning grass and the trees begin to thin,
revealing a huge plain ahead.

Pausing at the edge, hiding behind some bushes, he peers out in curiosity
at the bright, shiny rock that rests in a large blackened area of ground.
A sudden whining noise makes him duck, and he wants to run, but he can no
longer control his body.  His body stands up and his head turns to look
directly at the strange object.  A hole slowly begins to open in one side
. . .

The Something inside of him screams in anger as people-like shapes begin
to emerge from the shiny rock.  He tries to turn, to run, to hide, but the
something inside makes him walk toward them.  His hands tingle.  He can
just barely see them out of the corner of his eye.  The man's mind writhes
in horror as he sees the fire that engulfs his hands. His hands raise up
and point at the large, shiny rock. With a shrieking roar, the fire on his
hands flares out towards the rock and there is a large explosion.  A chunk
of the rock flies off and it tilts to one side.  One if the figures
standing outside raises its hand and . . .

The watchers flee forward through time.  There is nothing more to learn
there.  But every little stray bit of memory adds slowly to the total . . .

********************

She presses her hands and face against the cool bricks of the wall.  Waves
of nausea sweep over her, and she retches silently.  When she finally
regains control of her errant body, she calls his name again.  "Ari-kun,
please."

**********

He stood frozen at her voice.  No!  He hadn't had a chance to tell Jenny
what he needed to tell her.  He glanced back at Jenny with a growing
dread.  There was a determined look on her face.  Oh, no, she wouldn't,
she couldn't, he told himself.

"Where is she?" Jenny asked.  He shrugged and pointed at the wall.  "I
imagine she came looking for me again.  Somehow she always knows where I
am."  Using E'ani's power, he reached out and gently lifted Mieko up and
over the wall, carefully lowering her to the ground.

"Ari-kun, I'm sorry.  She's hungry.  Please, Ari!"  Mieko looked at him
with those large, pleading eyes, standing there in her pajamas.  He could
see that she was trembling slightly, but she came no closer .  She had
told him once that she wouldn't let Her touch him ever again if he didn't
want Her to, but he couldn't.  He had seen Tel punish Mieko, a subtle
demonstration of Her ability to inflict pain on his childhood friend.

He sighed and began to unbutton his shirt.  "Hisada-san, could you please
leave?  I would rather you didn't see this."  He took his jacket and shirt
off.  "It's not her fault, she hates it more than I do.  Come here, Mieko,
let's take care of Her Highness."  Mieko stared into his eyes for a
moment, then with a little cry she flew into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Ari.  She . . . she . . ."  For a brief second longer she was
still his Mieko, and then the other took over.  "Hello, lover," she
purred, and her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down to her.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jenny hadn't left yet.  "Please leave,
Hisada-san,"  he pleaded.  He could feel her lips on his skin, slowly
moving back and forth, a little touch of tongue here and there, tasting.
He shuddered as she moved against him, and he tensed in anticipation.

"What's wrong with her?" Jenny whispered.  He opened his eyes.  She had
moved closer, watching.  He almost laughed.  Of course, he asked her to
leave, so she remained and asked questions.  "I don't know.  Well, I'm not
completely sure.  I have . . ." and he winced as Mieko bit then, " . . .
my suspicions. There is someone else there, maybe another shadow, but
whatever it is, it's making her do this."

He closed his eyes again, and the pain increased and increased until it
became a pure brightness in his mind, so intense he felt disconnected from
his body. Mieko was now floating a few inches above the ground, and she
was humming to herself, the same strange tune she hummed every time.  Her
hands pressed against his chest, and her eyes sparkled languidly, half
closed with pleasure.

If he ever found a way to kill it without hurting her, he would.  He could
feel the tug of that little mouth on his shoulder all the way down to the
core of his being.  Pain and pleasure washed over him in equal measure.
He could feel the energy and vitality flowing out of him, slowly draining
him dry.  But never quite all the way, no, always he regenerated, using
E'ani's enormous pool of shared energy to bring himself back.

End Chapter 3

C&C much appreciated.  Fight scenes are hard!  I can see what I want in my
head, but the description in words - never adequate, always to verboise or
to simple.  Grrrrr.  Oh, author's note - Ari is a cripple since birth, so
how the heck does he spend the last 10 years training in martial arts?
All those powers he was born with (oops, I don't think I've mentioned
those in the story yet, have I?  A-ha-ha-ha, well, I'll leave it, I think
he gets around to explaining it partially in about two chapters, or maybe
the next) allow him to move his body, but he can only manage this for
about an hour a day (more and he burns himself out and gets to spend some
serious time in a coma recuperating).  Fortunately, this allows him to
train himself physically, building some muscle tone but more importantly
allowing him to ingrain the moves mentally.  This is why he really, really
likes having E'ani around, no matter how much it complicates his life - he
now has enough power to draw on to move his body all the time.

Similar to Ranma's situation in Careful Destiny, being a martial artist in
his mind, but having a body not trained to it.  Of course, Ari has the
problem that his body never ever really gets "in shape", so he has to use
his power almost exclusively to move his body well.  Hmm, to note, he can
normally move his arms, etc, just very weak and tires quickly, but can
write, type, etc no problem.

Salute!

Charles K. Hurst - ImageNation Corp. Wage Slave/Employee - RPI graduate-MechE
Chocolate and Anime Forever!  1 year, 2 months a fan and counting.
MI = eps. 96  MB = eps. 76 - 0/0 episodes each to utter boredom or Fushigi!
FY = eps. 24  Escaflowne = eps. 13 - ?/? to my next bout of depression. ^ ^