Continued from Part 1....

In the darkness of the theatre, Hikaru gave her boyfriend yet another
apologetic kiss.  The girls were entranced by the images on the movie
screen, which made it easier for the two teens to not have to entirely
explain their actions.  As she broke the kiss, she laid her head on his
shoulder, sighing in contentment.

"Do you have any idea what this movie's about?" Eric teased.  "I don't think
I've been watching more than ten minutes of it."

Hikaru cooed softly, "I know I've been busy being entertained in other
fashions," giving his hand a soft squeeze.  "And to think that I could have
missed out on this, too."

"'Karu, you don't have to apologize.  I know how you feel. Maybe I can't
understand it completely, but I can understand how Umi's death still hurts
you, and today's news hasn't made it easier.  But I don't think that she'd
want you to be hurting forever; she'd want you to move on, and to a great
degree you have."  He moved his head slightly, kissing her softly on her
nose.  "And in the end, everything you went through will only make you
stronger, will help you to become the woman that you want to be and the
woman that I'm going to marry someday...if you can manage to wait about six
or so more years."

"I'd wait for you beyond the end of time, and you know it, lover."  She
looked at him, deep into his eyes, mouthing, "I love you", then smiled to
herself, relaxing again.  She'd made up with him, and though she knew she
was in no danger of losing him (Eric was more mature than others of his
age), the disagreement, however minute, had put a strain on their
relationship (at least in her eyes).  Though that hadn't even remotely
entered his mind, Hikaru was more sensitive to her emotions.

He looked at her as she gazed back at him lovingly, and once again their
lips found one another again, brushing as lightly against each other in a
sign of love and grace, unseen by all except for each other as they drank in
the essence of each others' love....


((God, those two make me *sick*!  Lovey-dovey and shit.))  Seated on the
other side of the theatre, also bathed in the same darkness than Hikaru and
Eric used for their advantage, the young woman on the other side stared at
them with calculating, wicked ruby eyes.  So far she'd paid as little
attention to the movie as they, but where their attention was focused on one
another she was running a litany of different things through her head.  In
truth, she needed this movie to get a chance to relax.  The logistics and
magic usage in order to align everything perfectly for that one chance
moment was exhausting her reserves like there was no tomorrow.  But if it
all worked out, she would have that one chance, that single opportunity to
strike against her enemy.  And if it didn't work....  She didn't want to
consider the odds if that occurred.

"Hey, sweet thang, 's seat taken?" The stranger turned to see a young man
her age wanting to sit down in the empty seat next to her, even though there
were dozens of other like seats in the theatre.  Clearly, he thought himself
the type that could woo a girl off her feet at any time.

"Why yes, the seat is taken," the girl replied as cattily as she could.
"It's available to anyone else but you."

Sitting down anyway, he said to her, "Aww, c'mon, sweetbox, you know that
you're just looking for a guy like me."  Boldly he put his arm around her
and whispered, "Give me a night and I bet I can make you sing to the
rafters."

Without even bothering to look at him, the stranger raised her hands
slightly, creating a small ball of golden light.  "You have two seconds to
get the hell out of here," she answered, closing her hands and causing a
miniature lightning storm, "or you get a magical pap smear."  She then
turned to him and stared at him with burning, inhuman ruby eyes.  "Oh, and
since you're being such a gentleman by leaving, you wouldn't mind leaving me
the snacks, would you?  I skipped lunch today and could use the fill."

"S-sure," he said, shaken, setting everything in her lap and deciding that
going to see a movie was probably not the best thing for his health at the
moment.

As he left, she immediately partook in the "parting gift" the guy left for
her.  She hated grape soda, but it was best not to look a gift horse in the
mouth.  Also, the nachos were cold, and the hot dog lukewarm, but at least
the popcorn was decent.  Deciding that she needed at least a little downtime
before she continued with her machinations, the girl settled in to watch the
rest of the movie, consciously ignoring the love birds on the other side of
the movie theatre and at the same time feeling just a bit saddened by the
fact that she herself was alone.

((Soon,)) she reminded herself.  ((If everything works out, soon enough I
can rest easy.))

-=(*)=-

The pale girl's head was spinning.  ((What the heck just happened?  I
remember the world spinning, and....))  Her mind throbbed a couple more
minutes before clarity had come.  She'd stopped at a store, bought herself
some clothing that was in better condition than what she'd been wearing,
then made her way down to the nearest public swimming pool and baths.  She
ignored all the stares and such long enough, but had questions of her own,
such as where the where the huge scars on her body came from.  They were
huge, and looking in the mirror, they looked as though she'd been torn apart
and sewn together, just like Frankenstein's monster.  Some other girl in the
distance made some comment about "formaldehyde", and the pale girl made the
connection instantly.  That odd smell was formaldehyde, something she
remembered from her biology class.  And that smell had been coming from her.

((Why do I smell like formaldehyde?  Am I dead?  No, I can't be!))  The pale
girl showered for a couple of hours, trying desperately to get the stench
off her, scrubbing until her skin grew wrinkled from the water and red from
the abrasion, her whole body wet and soaked, but nowhere near as much as the
redness from the tears that tracked from her face, her mouth barely
controlling the sobs that came from the knowledge that only dead things were
pickled in that chemical, and that her body reeked of it....

Her mind swirled forward a few more, and as she moved through countless
neighborhoods in the direction that the stranger had pointed, somehow it all
looked familiar, and yet none of it did.  Did it make sense?  About as much
as a dead girl coming back to life and wandering the streets of a city that
she didn't know, yet knew so well....

Her mental soliloquy was broken by a slightly beat up Astro making too tight
of a turn on the corner, coming straight toward her.  Instinct, though she
wasn't sure where from, propelled her into the air and away from the car,
certainly higher than the average person could ever jump yet it felt so
natural, so right.  The feeling suddenly terminated as she met with a
painful collision with a tree branch overhanging the street, and summarily
crumpled to the ground in a heap.  That had been a few seconds ago?
Minutes?  Hours?

"Kuso...." She whispered, then tuned in on a voice.   The words from another
person was something like "Hey, you okay?" and she could feel soft hand's on
her face, could make out the blurry view of a face just above her, slightly
shadowed by the angle of the afternoon sun.

Then the person gasped, and the pale girl's vision stretched into clarity.
Instantly she could see a person about her age, with long black hair and
violet eyes, staring at her in shock.  Behind her was a guy, his face also
registering impossible comprehension...

...but not as impossible as the fact that somehow, she knew him.  She wasn't
sure where or how, but it was as though a first signpost to her destination
had appeared, and he was it, standing before her as if to say, "you're
almost home."

Reaching for him on automatic, she stretched her hand out for help,
whispering words that she had no idea where they came from;  "Help
me...Ferio...please...." before slipping back into merciful and blissful
darkness.

-=(*)=-

"Shit shit shit shit shit!" Allison screeched as Rick slammed on the brakes,
bring the van to a halt.  "You hit that girl!"

Rick's eyes were wide with shock, not believing he'd just....  "Goddamn...."
Scrambling out of the van as fast as he could, he moved over to the person,
who'd been clipped by the car into the air and hit a low-hanging branch on
the tree.  She wasn't moving, but that was no way to tell if she was winded,
knocked out or even....  ((Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!  Asshole!  'Kari always
told you that you drive too damn fast, but did you ever listen?  Noooo....))

Fortunately, Allison moved far faster and was already by the side of the
girl.  Having taken some first-aid courses, she was checking the girl's
pulse and then forcibly opening her eyes to check for concussions.  A part
of her brain was pissed that apparently either no one in this neighborhood
was home, or they didn't give a damn enough to come outside and see what the
hell was going on.  Hoping that she could get the girl's attention, she
said, "Hey, you okay?  Can you hear me?"

"...kuso..." the girl moaned, a word that Allison wasn't too familiar with.
A name?  A word?  She looked oriental, maybe Japanese or Vietnamese?  It was
times like this that she wished Lance were around; though he didn't speak
Japanese, he did know a few words here and there; his absence suddenly
reminded her about the estrangement from her boyfriend and she had to
refocus on the girl again just to get the misery out of her mind.
Refocusing also brought a new line of thought: the girl looked awfully
familiar....

Behind her Rick gasped.  "Shit, she looks just like...."  Allison never
heard him finish his sentence, as her mind immediately clicked and realized
exactly who he was talking about.  The unconscious girl did look a lot
like...but if that was the case, what were the chances of that happening,
unless the dead were now walking the earth, and....

The girl's eyes opened, and in them Allison could see an eternal flat
emptiness, as though she were something that just didn't belong in this
space and time.  At first Allison thought she was reading far too many
sci-fi books, until the girl lifted a shaky arm out towards Rick, speaking
in an accented, shaky and barely conscious voice: "Help
me...Ferio...please..." before passing back to a silent blackness, still as
death yet still breathing.

Silence seemed to reign at that point, an unnatural quiet that appeared to
conquer all.  Allison was stunned.  What the hell was going on?  What was
the possibility of it being who she thought it was?  She'd never met the
person in question, yet she'd always heard the loving reverences that the
Shidou twins had for that person, even the protective pseudo-big brother
tone in Lance's voice the couple of times he'd mentioned the girl's name.
Could it be?  It was impossible, but as the old saying went, there was no
such thing as impossible, only improbable.  This, then was certainly
improbable.  Yet how to prove otherwise?  Behind her, Rick was equally
quiet, still as death - he was *never* that quiet.  *He'd* known the girl
and had comforted Hikari many a time over her death. But people
didn't...they couldn't...could they?

Rick's next word, two simple syllables, confirmed the impossibility and
started the madness rolling:

"Umi...."

Author's Notes:
B Flat and C Minor

I'd initially intended to call this chapter "Bumped", but while getting
ready to write it, I'd been listening to this Jpop song by Hiroshi Fujiwara
& Shinichi Osawa (featuring vocals by Crystal Kay) called "Lost Child".  The
haunting tone of the song, combined with the very apt lyrics, made it all
too easy to write this chapter (hammered it out within a matter of days).
Thus, it seemed absolutely appropriate that I rename the chapter after the
song, not to mention that the title seems far more apropos than "Bumped".
Oh, and for those who want it, it's on the "Soul Scramble" compilation
album, published by TributeLink/Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

And yes, before you ask, the "true" blue moon is a real event based on a
variation of the same atmospheric conditions that make our skies blue; the
interval is about every forty years.  Other atmospheric hues are the lemon
moon (a yellow-hued moon), which occurs once every five years; and the
sackcloth (red) moon, which occurs once every eleven years.

Next:
Sixth Symptom: The Great Train-Wreck of Reality

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