Chapter 9: Departure

   The next morning, Mokona bounced out of the room where Hikaru and 
a giant panda had been sleeping, and bounced down the stairs. It was 
fascinated by this household, so different from what it knew.
   Mokona saw a tall girl with short brown hair in the hall. The girl 
was eyeing it warily. "Now who are you?" she asked it.
   "Puu!" Mokona said. It smiled up at her. "Puu, puu!"
   "Yeah, well if you do, you have to clean it up yourself, because I 
sure won't," the teenager mumbled.
   "Puu?" Mokona wondered what this girl's problem was. She seemed 
even grumpier than Umi!
   The grumpy girl padded off to the bathroom. Akane came out of her 
room, and smiled at Mokona. "Good morning, Mokona!"
   Mokona recognized Akane from the previous evening, and bounced a 
couple times. "Puu, puu!" it said. Akane giggled, and scooped the fat 
creature up in her arms. Mokona decided it didn't mind being carried, 
and the two headed downstairs.
   A soothing voice called from the kitchen, "Breakfast will be ready 
soon everyone!"
   
   Ranma emerged from the stairs, in male form. Mokona saw him, and 
inquired, "Puu?"
   Ranma blinked, then said, "Oh, you're Mokona." Mokona looked 
confused.
   Akane explained, "Mokona, this is Ranma."
   "Puu?" Mokona asked. It leaped to stand before Ranma. Its jewel 
flickered, and a beam shot forth, connecting to Ranma's forehead. 
Akane gasped, but Ranma smiled. "It's okay, Akane," Ranma said. 
"Hikaru said to expect this." He closed his eyes.
   Mokona held the beam for a moment, then it cut off. "Puuuuuuu," 
Mokona said.
   Ranma's eyes saddened. "I'm sorry, Mokona," Ranma said. "I know 
you're not too happy about this." Brightening, he said, "But, she's 
still alive in here, and you'll get to see her again pretty soon."
   "Puu!" Mokona said. Then, it bounced back over to Akane, who 
scooped it up again, as breakfast was served and the rest of the 
household gathered.
   A "buii" was heard as a bleary-looking piglet trudged into the 
dojo. "P-chan!" Akane called. 
   P-chan looked up at the sound of Akane's voice...and scowled. 
"Bukii!" he remarked, glaring accusingly at Mokona.
   "Puu?" Mokona asked. 
   "P-chan, this is Mokona!" Akane called. 
   "Puu," Mokona offered. It sensed something unusual about this 
piglet. Something which reminded it a lot of a particularly 
irritating fairy it knew...
   P-chan didn't like the fact that an intruder was taking his place 
in Akane's arms. Although in the back of his mind the name "Mokona" 
registered as being something important, he ignored it for the time 
being, and made a flying leap at the creature, hoping to scare it 
away.
   Mokona opened its mouth wide, and swallowed P-chan in one gulp.
   Akane gasped, mortified. "Mokona!!"
   Kasumi covered her mouth with one hand. "Ara..."
   Ranma snickered, and Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
   "Puuuuuuuuu," Mokona said smugly. 
   "Mokona! That was bad!" Akane scowled.
   Mokona opened its mouth again, and P-chan tumbled out. He backed 
off warily, and glared at the white creature. Mokona, for its part, 
continued looking smug.
   Ranma was laughing like crazy at this point. Akane glared at him. 
"And just WHAT is so funny?" she demanded.
   "Oh come on Akane, you gotta admit that was good," Ranma said.
   "Oh yeah? Well so is THIS!" Akane shouted, retrieving her mallet. 
Ranma was knocked outside, and landed in the pond.
   "Puu?" Mokona wondered. It certainly hadn't seen any magical jewel 
on Akane's clothes. Maybe she kept it hidden?
   The redhead which re-entered the house was Hikaru, and she didn't 
look particularly happy. "Akane-chan, please don't do that again," 
Hikaru said. "You're sort of denting two people now, remember?"
   Akane had the grace to look sheepish as Hikaru ignored her and 
smiled at Mokona. "Mokona! I'll play with you in a minute, as soon as 
I get dried off, alright?"
   "Puu, puu!" Mokona was just happy to have Hikaru back again. It 
had been so sad when she'd...it didn't want to remember that right 
now.

   A few minutes later, Hikaru sat, with Mokona beside her, at the 
table, eating breakfast. P-chan was being fed by Akane. Hikaru kept 
casting glances at P-chan, making the pig feel slightly nervous.
   "Puu," Mokona commented, nudging Hikaru with its head.
   "Hmm? Oh yeah!" Hikaru wiped her mouth, and cleared her throat. 
"Everyone, I have to tell you something." She paused, swallowing 
nervously.
   "Mokona came here because there's trouble in Cephiro again. I 
think it wants the Magic Knights to go back with it to Cephiro."
   Everyone gasped. "You can't be serious? After what happened last 
time?" Akane said.
   "Puuuuuuuu...." Mokona replied.
   "I don't think it would have come here if that was going to happen 
again. It's got to be something different this time. Isn't it, Mokona?
"
   "Puu, puu!" Mokona bounced in its approximation of a nod. Hikaru 
idly wondered about that...when she'd seen it last, Mokona could 
seemingly nod like a normal person. It must have gotten fatter, she 
decided.
   Akane frowned. "Are you sure this is a good idea? It's not just 
you this time, it's Ranma too. What would he have to say about this?
"
   Hikaru closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were blue.
 Everyone stared. 
   "You're getting really good at that," Nabiki commented. 
   "Puu," Mokona observed, slightly unsettled by the way the two 
teens interchanged the body like that.
   "Akane...people are in trouble again over there. We saw a little 
bit of that when Mokona did that light thing a few minutes ago. I 
don't think it's the same thing all over again." He sighed. "If 
people are in trouble, I gotta help. I can't be selfish, not anymore.
"
   "Well, if you're going," Akane decided, "then I'm going too."
   "Indeed," said a new voice, "It would be a good idea if many of us 
went."
   Everyone looked up to see Cologne standing in the doorway. She 
pogoed over to Mokona, and sketched a small bow to it. 
   "Puu!" Mokona said, and smiled at the old woman. Everyone blinked.

   She looked up, and said, "You have no idea what this creature is, 
do you?"
   Everyone shook their heads. Cologne chuckled dryly. "You'll find 
out." Then she became serious again. "In any case, for now, suffice 
it to say that if this creature wants us to accompany it to another 
world, we must go as quickly as possible."
   "Puu," Mokona agreed.
   Everyone considered this.

   Later that morning, Cologne, Mokona, Hikaru, Akane, Shampoo, Ukyou,
 Mousse, and Ryouga were gathered at the bus stop. A bus pulled up, 
and Umi and Fuu stepped off. The second Umi saw Mokona, she scowled. 
"MOKONA!? What the hell are YOU doing here?"
   "Puu!" Mokona offered, smiling cutely at the blue-haired girl. Umi 
glared at it.
   "Mokona-san, how did you come to be in this world?" Fuu asked.
   "Guys, Cephiro needs us again," Hikaru said.
   Umi snorted. Fuu looked displeased. "Suuuure, so we can fight a 
pointless battle again? No way," Umi said.
   "It would be wise not to take this lightly," Cologne advised. 
   Hikaru nodded. "Mokona showed me a little bit of what's going on. 
There's a lot of people sick and dying over there. We're not being 
asked to go after the Pillar again."
   Mokona bounced. "Puu."
   Umi frowned. "How can we be sure of that?"
   "My child," Cologne said, "You were summoned last time by the 
Pillar of Cephiro. This time, you are being summoned by this creature.
 That's a very big difference."
   "Yeah? Well the way I remember it, this baka bunny also led us 
into a nest of monsters shortly after we met it, AND managed to hide 
itself while WE did all the hard work!" Umi snapped.
   "Puuu...." Mokona said dangerously.
   "Trust me, child. I know exactly what Mokona is. When it guides 
someone in a particular direction, it has a good reason. And if it 
wants all of us to go to Cephiro, then we should all go."
   "Just how do you know so much about Mokona anyway?" Akane asked.
   Cologne closed her eyes. "I cannot reveal that right now. When the 
time is right for you to know, Mokona will show you."
   "Puu!" Mokona confirmed.
   Umi sighed. "Okay, okay, we'll go." She fixed Mokona with a stern 
gaze. "But if you're dragging us all over there for something stupid, 
I promise I'm gonna serve up some rabbit stew, got it?"
   "Puu?" Mokona said, backing up a bit and trying to look cute. Umi 
just scowled at it, and it wilted slightly.
   "Is everyone ready?" Cologne asked.
   "Sure," Ryouga said.
   "Ready as I'll ever be," Akane answered. 
   "Same here, sugar," Ukyou chimed in.
   "Shampoo ready go!"
   "As am I," Mousse said.
   "I'm ready!" Hikaru chirped.
   "I suppose I am also ready," Fuu said.
   Reluctantly, Umi sighed and said, "Okay, I'm ready too."
   Mokona bounced three times. Its gem flared yellow. 
   The next thing the group knew, they were in freefall.


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Ryodachi Kouma
"The Eternal Lost Lurker"
squn29a@prodigy.com
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no da.