ja ne,
- Rob

rob@mitsukai.com
Mitsukai!- www.mitsukai.com
Tokyo Teleport - www.tokyoteleport.com

CAUGHT BETWEEN WORLDS
Sixth Symptom: The Great Train-Wreck of Reality 

A Magic Knight Rayearth story by Rob Barba

Magic Knight Rayearth copyright vice copy left.


"She can't be Umi," Allison said, trying to flag Rick's attention.  "Umi
died months ago, remember?  You were at the funeral, with 'Kari?"

Rick paid no attention to the other girl, even though he could hear her.
He could only stare at the girl in shock, the shock that was still
plastered to his face even after returning back to his place.  They'd
brought the unconscious girl there against Allison's better judgement.
If they were wrong, she argued, both of them were guilty of hit-and-run
and kidnapping.  He countered that if he was right, those two legal
issues would be the least of their problems.  But now, he had nothing to
say, except to stare at a girl who might be his girlfriend's best
friend...a girl who died tragically and violently, many months ago.

"Look, I really need some aspirin," Allison announced.  "I'll be right
back.  Want anything?"

"Coke," he whispered to her, not really paying attention to what she'd
said.  It barely filtered into his mind, and he'd given an automatic
response; quite natural, as his brain was on cruise control.  She could
have said anything, even that she was going on a ten-state killing
spree, and the most conscious thing he would have done was to absently
wish her the best of luck.  His mind was nowhere near ready to approach
the fact Allison was present, much anything else.

His mind was more than blank, though supposedly focusing on the girl
that might be the recently deceased Umi Ryuzaki, RIP.  His mind was a
jumble of memories and thoughts, little things he'd remembered about
her, times he remembered Umi and 'Kari playfully ganging up on him and
Lance, or her telling Kyle Sheridan that she really wasn't interested in
dating anyone, thanks.  Or the time when she...when she....

The keyring flashlight in his brain decided to turn on at that point and
automatically his hands moved.  There was only one way for sure he would
know if it was Umi, and he would probably be amongst a select few people
who would know about it...assuming she ever told anyone else.  His hands
reached for her, beginning to tug at her pants.

-=(*)=-

She wasn't sure how, but Hikari found herself in Umi's room.  Even
months after her death, the Ryuzakis hadn't touched the room and with
the exception of a slight layer of dust that indicated the room was
rarely entered, it looked no different than the afternoon that its
occupant had left for a fencing tournament that day, one that she would
never return from.  That was evidenced by Umi's spare fencing equipment,
sitting in the corner of the room.

Hikari felt her friend's presence her, as though she were still alive,
as though Umi might burst into the room at any second with a bundle of
energy, chattering on about this thing or that.  It was had to believe
that even now, months after she was gone, that she was really gone.  She
never admitted it to anyone, not even Hikaru, but it felt to her as
though Umi wasn't dead, but as though she was somewhere else, just
waiting to come back as though she was offstage of a sort, waiting to
make her grand reentrance.  Like in a play.

Or like in Hikaru's dementia.

That was the thing that bothered her.  From what Hikaru had told her
younger twin about that otherplace, it felt very much as though Umi was
alive.  Hikari knew the whys, whats and hows of that had come about, but
there was a complete realism to the whole thing that Hikaru described,
so detailed and vibrant that it really did feel that Umi had existed in
another reality like that, and to a degree, Hikari wished she could have
been there (although being assigned the vamp elf role of Nova wasn't
something she would have preferred).  Hikari smiled to herself; with
talents like that, maybe Hikaru should forget about being a veterinarian
and follow in their father's footsteps.  With an imagination like that,
she'd make one hell of a fantasy author in her own right.

Walking over by the dresser, the redhead spotted an old picture of them,
taken at a Halloween party only a couple of weeks before the accident.
All three of them had been there, the three of them together as always,
as forever would be in the picture.  She could still remember that
party, with Umi complaining that her Sailor Mars costume was too skimpy,
and that maybe she should have picked something else.  Hikari, having
decided to dress as Lara Croft, only laughed and teased her friend about
how many times she was going to panty flash while moving, a comment that
brought Umi no small amount of discomfort.  Hikaru, in the meanwhile,
dressed as Lina Inverse, was still slightly down; she'd meant to go to
the party with Dave (he'd planned to go dressed as Gourry) and had shown
up still dressed as Goury...with Danielle on his arm, baudily decked out
as Naga.  Over the course of that night, though, Hikaru's mood had
improved, and at the time the picture was taken all three of them were
on Cloud Nine, happy as the proverbial clams.

That had been the last time the three of them had done anything that
major fun since.  And now they would never be together, ever again, not
even at Umi's gravesite, thanks to some lowlife who'd defiled her grave.
Hikari was part furious, depressed and sick; God knew how Hikaru felt,
much less Umi's family.

Setting the picture down, she left the room as quickly as possible.  She
didn't want to cry, couldn't afford to, not now, not while the police
and her mother were still downstairs talking with Seattle PD about the
events of today.  Maybe tonight, she'd cry on one of her siblings'
shoulders, find comfort in Hikaru's or Lance's embrace.  Or maybe she
would call Rick, go over his place for a while and talk to the other
person she loved much.  Sure, her boyfriend could be immature and
unreasonable at times, but there were few others who were as gentle and
understanding of her as him, and few that could be there like that.
Setting the picture down, she left the room just as her eyes got misty
and began to well, threatening to rain grief onto her cheeks.

She was so tied into her feelings at the moment, Hikari never saw Nova
in the other part of the room, watching as she left, seeing the
elf-creature with an equally sad look on her face.  As the door closed,
Nova went over to the dresser and picked up the picture, gently wiping
off the frame cleaning it of the dust that had settled on it over the
months.  There was a melancholy look on her face as she gazed at the
three teens in the picture, her own eyes, so similar to that of the
Shidou sisters, began to mist.

Nova knew the costs, and knew what was going to happen.  She'd known all
of this the moment everything had changed for her, that defining moment
that felt like aeons ago.  And all of that led to the here and now, and
when this was all done, if they were very very lucky, the person
responsible for all this would be dead and Nova would be free.  But the
truth of it was also that lives of innocents, of people peripheral to
the coming conflict could be drawn in and crushed under the cogs of the
great engine of fate could happen.  If what would happen if they should
lose....  Madness would reign, and it would only be a matter of moments
before all was plunged into hell and chaos.  Madness and dementia were
already part of the mix, the rest, should failure come about would be to
upend the box of ingredients into the batch and press FRAPPE.

Nova set the picture down for a second, looking at it.  On impulse, she
picked it up again, stowing it in a pouch underneath her armor's cloak.
If all went well, this would be a war trophy of her struggle.  If not,
it would serve as the monument and last record that the trio in the
picture had ever lived in a time before psychosis had gripped all of
reality and twisted it far too much out of reason.  

Nothing more to do in the room of Umi Ryuzaki, she disappeared again,
using her flagging magic to continue on her plan.

-=(*)=-

The doll girl looked around with her new glasses, happy to have been
able to get them.  One of the things that she did with those new
spectacles was to look at herself in the reflection of a nearby window,
as if seeing herself for the first time.  And what she saw, while it
didn't surprise her, did seem somehow different from how she remembered
herself.  It was the details that had changed, while the core of her had
stayed the same: a young Japanese girl, wearing glasses, and old enough
to be in school.  Yet her hair had changed color, from the golden blonde
she remembered to a slightly darker tea-hair, as though she were one of
the Shibuya kogyaru that had dyed her hair from its natural black.  On
further retrospection, it suited her better, as though it brought out
the color of her eyes better.  Those eyes in question, sparkling forest
green eyes, were yet another example of the very unusual person she was.
She'd heard before how much like a gaijin she could pass; this was
clearly the case.

"Ohmigawd!" a burbly and, for some strange reason, familiar voice spoke
behind her.  The doll girl turned around and ran into someone her age
that, at first glance, reminded her of the slightly-too-young looking
optometrist from this morning.  However, she blinked and standing in
front of her was a dark-skinned, much taller and older woman.
Approaching her, the woman said, "Like, you!  You are...*just*...the
bomb!  But we have...got...to get you out of those duds, girl!  Shoot
time is in thirty minutes, and like if I don't find a replay, the boss
is like going to soooooooo have my head.  I can, like, see it now," she
said, moving her hands in a frame display as though she were some sort
of movie camera on rocket fuel.  "'Daphne'," she said in a huskier voice
that was meant to imitate the person she referenced earlier, "'if you
don't find a replacement model, you are like, so *FIRED*!'  Let me tell
you, that would like, totally suck.  But fortunately, you look like
you'd fit in the clothing, and you'd be *soooooooo* awesome in them
and-"

The doll girl, completely bewildered, muttered, "I...ah...well...I'm,
um, not from here, and...."  It was weird.  Her English was pristine,
far better than she'd ever thought it would be.  Granted she studied it
somewhere, in some time that she couldn't remember, but it had never
sounded this natural, never felt as though it were a normal speech and
not some odd method that had to be used to communicate with people who
didn't speak your own lingua franca.

However, Daphne (was that her name?) grinned and chirped, "Hey, that is
like so, totally even better!  I can label the spread something about
'Exotic Canadian Beauty' or something like that.  You are from across
the border, right?"  Well, nevermind if you are or not, that's what I'll
tell the boss and he'll just have to buy it!"

"Excuse me," the doll said, "but I'm afraid I do not have the time to-"

Daphne cut the doll off, though not unkindly; the look in her eyes was
one akin to desperation.  "Oooh, but you gotta!  Look, my editor really
needs the pics for my mag, an-"

"Mag?"

An energetic nod of the head, followed with a bubbly, "Well, yeah!  I
mean c'mon, you're going to be in _Teen Fashion Scene_ magazine!  And
it's not like I'm not going to pay you or anything and you can even keep
the clothes!  Look, my previous model bowed out on me today because she
got pregnant when we planned the shoot months ago and now she's too big
to fit in the clothing!  Just by wild co-inky-dink, you look like a
perfect fit, and I really need someone to do this or else my boss is
going to really, really fire me!"  Daphne's eyes were pleading once
again, the look on her face seeming as though she were in the absolute
worst of dire straits.  "I'm absolutely desperate, and it won't take
long!"

The doll paused for a second, wondering what she should do about the
girl's situation.  On one hand, she had a mission to accomplish, even
though she had no idea what it was, or even for that matter who she
really was.  She had nothing to go by, other than the fact that whatever
it was had to be accomplished soon, and that it was of the utmost
importance that she complete it.  But how does one complete something
when one doesn't even know what the hell it is to be done?  The truth,
of course, was that it wasn't likely to happen without divine
intervention...or at least someone around to explain what the hell was
going on.

On the other hand, there was a woman here in need of help, a help that
the doll girl could provide.  According to Daphne, she was in dire
straits, it wasn't going to take long, and the doll girl would be
recompensed for her time; money, which the doll didn't have, was
something that she was going to need at some point to come.
Additionally, she might be able to get some extra information out of the
encounter.  In any case, the advantages would likely outweigh any
liabilities, and the doll wasn't sure that she was so pressed for time
that she couldn't spare the time to help out someone else, if it would
benefit her.

But the other reason was that someone needed her help, and it was part
of her personal code to help when she could.  More so than just kindness
or concern for her fellow man, it felt like a formal code, like the
rules of chivalry...  ((Like the code of a knight?)) she wondered idly,
trying to figure out how that popped into her brain, and how it felt so
right.  Regardless of reason, the very fact that it made sense made it
clear that such was the action to go, and therefore the route that she
could travel.  Looking at the woman, the doll smiled and said, "Sure, I
think I might be able to help you."

Daphne grinned.  "Great!  We'll get you made over in that trailer over
there, you can keep whatever fits you and the job pays about $400.  Now
come with me, and let's get you started."  Taking the doll by the arm
and all but dragging her towards the trailer, both women headed towards
the trailer and a few new things to be had.


Standing some slight distance away, Nova leaned against a tree, her face
pale and wan.  She looked both tired and sick, as though she was on her
last legs.  That...was much harder than I thought it was going to be,
and that's my specialty, she mused, her body screaming at her that it
would like to take a nice vacation in unconsciousnessville right now.
((The day I can't do possession anymore tells me that I'm at my limits
and that my magic's about to go.))

Slumping against the tree and sitting down for a second or two, she ran
a few numbers through her bleary head and determined that magicwise, she
was scraping the bottom of the barrel.  If the magic ran out, she'd be
trapped forever like this, in this half-world half-life that she was
experiencing.  But it was necessary, something she had to do.  It was
remotely the only way that she was going to get that idiot to look more
along the lines of a normal human, and that photographer wouldn't have
bothered touching her with a ten-foot pole if Nova hadn't taken the time
to step inside Daphne's mind and do a couple of tweaks here and
there....

That itself opened up a few ugly things as well.  Magic expenditures
aside, there were ethical concerns, and those gnawed at the soul of the
elfling.  Messing with people's minds was clearly wrong, and she'd done
it in the worst possible way - several times today.  From Daphne to the
girl who was supposed to show up for the photo session (with a little
help from Nova, the girl "suddenly" decided that hanging out with her
friends was more important than a paying job) to the optometrist (who
was going to lose hundreds of dollars from that all-day Guinness event)
to a few others here and there, she was playing a grand game of chess,
ensuring that everything had to be in the right place at the right time.
But to do so meant ethical violations en masse.

((Can it, girl,)) she told herself.  ((You weren't too worried about
those ethics back....))  Nova shook her head; to go down that path was
madness, and she'd already resolved most of those issues.  Most.

Struggling to get to her feet, she decided she needed some food again,
and soon.  That power pill stuff from the theatre was already depleted,
and while the good thing about the matter-energy theories of magic was
that you never got fat (all those calories being used up in the energy
fluxes), it also meant that during tough times it would be a fat and
stamina burner like no workout ever experienced.  ((Heh.  If I could
teach the world magic, I could make a fortune in the fitness biz,)) she
mused.  ((_Buns of Steel_ would have nothing on me!))

She was about to continue on when she stopped.  Something was wrong,
something she could feel.  And she didn't like the feel of it, not one
damn bit.  It felt like another traveler, and if that was the case, they
were all in serious trouble, the kind that stunk up to the armpits.  The
worst part of it, though, was that she'd have to prioritize, and that
meant the newest crisis would have to be shoved to the bottom of the
pile; Nova only hoped she could get to it before it exploded in her
face.

Setting off another spell, she moved to make her next rendezvous, yet
another dot to be connected to create the whole picture that needed to
come together, because either there would be clarity, or there would be
no such thing as sanity, ever again.

-=(*)=-

"Hey, that was a pretty cool movie," Emily chirped, skipping around
merrily in the mall, Mutsumi tailing behind her.  Behind them both were
Hikaru and Eric, who'd barely remembered what the movie was about.
They'd both made up, and were currently walking together, though not
holding hands and not the last because they were filled with the
redhead's latest acquisition.  

Feigning that the weight was too much to bear, Eric smiled and said,
"'Karu, what are you going to do with all of these?"

She smiled sweetly and said in her most sincere voice, "Not a damn clue.
I wish I had an answer, but I don't.  Maybe if she wants, I'll teach
'Kari a little bit of kendo, but I don't really think she'd be too
interested, what with her gymnastics and all.  Maybe you want to learn?"

Eric shook his head.  "Sorry, sweetie, but not me.  I don't think that
kendo would help my pitching arm all that much.  Different muscle
toning, and I really don't want to ruin my fastball, no offense.

"None taken," she said, punctuating it with a light kiss to the cheek.
"But I really wonder what I'm going to do with these.  Maybe I can give
them to Grandpa and Obasan and they can give them to the cousins on my
Dad's side.  I'm sure Uncle Duke or Aunt Emi would like a copy.  Don't
know if I can send one to Europa, though - not sure if it can go in the
mail.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll think of something."

"Wow!" Emily suddenly burbled.  "Hey, guys, look!"  the little girl
pointed towards the center stage in the mall, where some firedancers
from a circus in town entertained the crowds.  All of them were
enraptured by the sight, and a few seconds later, the swords were placed
on the ground as both young girls were hoisted on Hikaru's and Eric's
shoulders as they all strained to see the rhythmic syncopation of the
performers over the gathering crowd.  The throng oohed and aahed, few
ever having seen the talent that came with Polynesian firedancing.  To
say it was so entertaining as to be practically hypnotic was an
understatement.

But to say that in regards to Hikaru, it was not an understatement, but
a truism.  As Hikaru watched the tanned and toned man spinning around
with the burning staffs in hand, a part of her mind seemed to open up,
and suddenly she wasn't entirely on Earth, but back in Cephiro once
more.  The whole event happened too soon for her to shudder as her soul
recalled another time when it had been her that had been dancing with
flames, controlling them in her hands, playing with it as though it were
clay to be shaped and formed to her will.

Part of her rational mind told her that she was sane enough, healthy
enough again to see Cephiro as nothing more than what it really was,
just the imaginations of a girl who created them to cope with her
problems.  Yet, at the same time, as if bringing to recall a distant
memory, she could feel the warmth of the inferno in her hands, feel its
power, warmth and strength, under her control and hers to command...

((...just like Lantis' kiss, the warmth of that which she cherished so
much...))

Something about that jarred her back to the real world, and just in
time, too as Mutsumi, seated on her shoulders, screamed in fear.  Her
attention brought back to the here and now, Hikaru's eyes focused long
enough to see one of the dancers, having stepped on a loose floorboard
and trip, crashed into one of his fellow dancers.  Unfortunately, the
collision caused both performers to accidentally loose their firesticks.
The four staffs, self-burning with their own fuel source, were straight
on a collision course with both teens, the girls and a couple of other
people.  Due to the press of the crowd and the number of people present,
there would be no time to move out of the way as the two staves cut a
burning swath into anything - and anyone - in their paths.

Hikaru didn't even have to think twice; before the objects had even
cleared the stage, she'd already set Mutsumi down and reached for her
own sword instinctively.  The second the blossoms of fire presented a
threat to the crowd, Hikaru had unsheathed the ages-old katana and was
already on the move, vaulting towards the projectiles.

Her movements, though appearing as though out of another age or time
long since gone from the earth had a graceful, gazelle-like effect as
she brought the sword to bear, slicing through two of the staves in an
instant.  While people were wincing, afraid to be hit by the staves, the
redhead turned and with a reverse motion sliced through the third and
moved towards the fourth, already mere feet away from careening into an
unfortunate old lady who had no chance to move and who was not being
protected.  To lash out with the sword would risk injuring the woman,
and no one jumped to her aid.

One chance, moving as fast as she could, Hikaru threw herself in the
path of the staff.  It slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her,
and as it did, it exploded into a blossom of fire and smoke as the staff
broke and disgorged its previously insulated payload of kerosene onto
the redhead.  At once, Hikaru turned into a bonfire of smoke and flame,
screaming more from the impact and the surprise as people finally
realized what was going on and moved the old woman to safety.  Hikaru
crashed to the ground, and at once people were there, pulling off shirts
and light jackets, trying to put the flames out on the young woman.

*"HIKARU!"* Eric, finally realizing what was going on, almost dropped
Emily and nearly ran over Mutsumi as he raced to his girlfriend's side,
fearing the worst.  His mind, needless to say, was a morass of confusion
and surprise.  A few seconds ago - literally a few seconds ago - Hikaru
had been by his side watching the show.  Somewhere in between here and
now, she'd moved with a speed that was fast even for her, brought her
swords skills out with the caliber usually found only in kung-fu flicks
and stepped right into the path of a potentially fatal projectile as
though it were the most common thing in the world.  Needless to say,
this was bizarre to say the least, and as he told the girls to stay put,
he tore towards the gathering crowd, expecting to see the worst and
figuring out how he was going to explain any of it.  As he pushed people
out of his way, crying out her name, he was shocked to see...

...Hikaru, sitting up, slightly dazed, but otherwise no worse than wear.
She was sitting with her arms folded in front of her, covering her
modesty with a slightly disgruntled look to her face.  At her side was
her completely ruined shirt, the majority of it smoldering tatters;
right next to it was a bra that had clearly seen better days.  Looking
up at him, she looked and said, "Um, help?"

"Hikaru!"  Eric made to rush towards her, but was stopped by the classic
not-right-now-dear look that seemed to be so instinctive in the female
half of a couple.  Realizing why she stopped him, he asked. "Are you
okay?"

"Do I look okay?!?!" she asked, just as surprised by his statement as
his.  "My favorite T-shirt is ruined, not to mention my bra!  Now, go be
a sweetheart, march into the nearest store and get me something,
willya?"  What was surprising was that Hikaru wasn't acting as though
she was in mind-numbing pain, or even the traumatic shock of being hit
by a fiery missile, but more akin to if she'd tripped and embarrassed
herself.

((Maybe it just hasn't set in yet,)) he thought.  Scratching his head
and looking at the equally confused people around them, he muttered,
"Um, yeah, sure, 'Karu."  Seeing the paramedics approaching, he said,
"I'll be right back.  Don't go anywhere.  I'll leave the girls with you,
'kay?"

"Thanks," she said in sour tones, more from the fact the then spied the
EMTs jogging her way rather than any attempt to take it out on him.  "Oh
great, here they come."

"I'll hurry back," he whispered, giving her a kiss on the cheek.  He
waved Emily and Mutsumi to come on forward, and as they moved, so did
he, towards the nearest T-shirt store.  But as he did so, watching as
the EMTs moved in, he had the chance to walk behind her, fearing to see
what condition her back was in.  He was expecting the worst.  But
instead of scars, charred skin and blisters, he saw a perfectly healthy
back, the same pale-golden skin that he'd last seen last time they were
intimate. Considering the condition her topcloths were in, that should
be feasible, much less reality.  And yet here was the reality, Hikaru
looking absolutely no worse for the wear except for utter embarrassment.

((What the hell...?)) he thought.  He took one last glance at the crowd
still gathered around and he could see in their eyes they were just as
confused as him.  What had happened? they all asked silently, as the
group of onlookers unintentionally provided a ring of protection for a
girl that seemed not to need it in the conventional manner.  Oddly
enough, that brought a note of pride in him: Hikaru was always so afraid
that what had happened to her last year had left her fragile, and now
she'd proved otherwise.  

((But I gotta admit,)) he thought to himself, ((I didn't think she was
capable of doing what she did.  It was almost as though she was used to
it, something she did on a regular basis....))

-=(*)=-

Allison walked back into Rick's room, drinks in hand.  It took her only
a split second for her to drop them in shock and scream, "What.  *The.
FUCK?!?!?!*"  Both the can and the glass of water fell to the ground,
the twin liquids scattering in all directions like fluid blossoms
reaching for the four winds.  

Rick looked up, the view on his face one of a person caught in what was
clearly, in retrospect, a bad idea.  Halway between embarrassed and
fearing for his life, he stammered, "Um, look, ah, A-a-Allison.  I can,
um, explain everything.  Really.  Just, ah, give me a sec and...oh, shit
am I in for it."  The last he said to himself, but loud enough that the
brunette clearly heard his words.  

Her eyes narrowing between shock and rising anger, she looked at Rick,
his face completely flushing...

...and the still unconscious Umi, splayed out on his bed, pants
completely off and Rick just beginning to tug at her panties.  It didn't
take long for Allison, hung over or not, to be able to put two and two
together.

*"YOU ANIMAL!"* she screamed at the top of her lungs while tackling him.
*"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"*  Though she wasn't as adept
at fighting as Hikaru or Lance (meaning she didn't know the first thing
about martial arts), she was able to lay an ear-shattering slap across
his face, the kind that drew blood easily.  *"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU
EVEN THINK OF DOING THIS?!?!?!"*

*"ALLISON, FOR CHRISSAKE, WILL YOU LET ME EXPLAIN?"* Rick shouted back,
to no avail, as she tried to slap him again.  Finally, he whispered
"Sorry," and grabbed both her hands, spun around and body slammed her
with as little finesse as possible on the floor.  The air knocked out of
her, Allison grasped for oxygen and was, for at least a second,
completely stunned.

Hoping he had her attention, he said, "Now can I explain?  What you saw
was wrong an-"

"Don't you *dare* lie to me, Rick!  I *know* what I saw!"  she spurted
between desperate gulps of air, now trying to ignore the pain in her
back as well as the still-active hangover.

"No, you *don't*, Allison!  Do you really think that I'm that kind of
person?  I admit, I'm not a perfect guy, but I thought you knew me
better than that!"

"Then what the hell is the reason for molesting that girl, whether she's
Umi or not?"  Allison managed to sit up and thrust an arm in the
direction of the girl, all the while not taking her enraged glare off
the guy she barely trusted at the moment.  "What the hell are you
stripping her for?"

"Um, you're not going to believe this," he said, "but I'm looking for a
tattoo right by her...well, you know."

The other girl crossed her arms, taking only a second to adjust her
glasses.  "No, I don't - I never knew her, remember?  But you have two
seconds to enlighten me before I call the police."

((Shit, why do I have the weird crap happen to me?)) he wondered.
"Look, it's a secret that only I know about, because I got it for her.
Sometime around her last birthday, she and I got talking, and somewhere
during the conversation she confessed to me that she wanted to get a
tattoo, but that her parents would get pissed - they were already amping
that their daughter dyed her hair a bluish shade.  So since as a
birthday gift, I took her to go get a tattoo in a spot that her parents
wouldn't be able to see easily."

"You're joking, right?" Allison said, more out of the disbelief that a
person as meek as Umi was described getting a tattoo in a rather painful
location like that.  Then again, this was Rick talking, and where he
was, with whoever he was with, frathouse antics and childish notions
were the rule of the day.

"No," he continued, unaware of her pause.  "We had to wait until parents
were out of town for the weekend, and even so I had to get her drunk as
hell so she wouldn't feel the pain or chicken out.  Then I snuck her in
to the same place where I got my tats.  Even so, she limped for a week
and 'Kari was pissed at me 'cause I got Umi drunk."  He paused a second.
"Do you really think I'd invent something like this?  That's why I was
looking for the tattoo, because I'm probably the only one that knows
about it."

"Oh."  Allison stewed on that for a few seconds.  It was so bizarre, it
had to make sense.  "Then why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I didn't think of it at the time," he admitted, looking a bit out of
sorts about it.  "Besides, what would you have said if I told you I had
to strip her naked below the waist just so I could prove it was Umi?"

The girl rolled her eyes as she slapped her forehead, knocking her
glasses to the ground - as stupid as it was, it made a hell of a lot of
sense.  "Okay, okay, that's so mindless, I'll buy it.  Okay, what am I
looking for?"

Rick's face showed obvious belief for a second, glad to be spared the
burden.  "It's a blue Japanese symbol.  Her name in kanji.  It's not
that big, maybe about the size of a quarter, max, an...."  He quieted
down as he heard the girl on the bed moan softly in Japanese.  He didn't
know a damn thing about what she was saying, but he did catch a couple
of things, one of which was "Hikaru".  The oriental girl muttered a few
more things before falling silent again, still as a corpse.

Looking at Allison with pleading eyes, it was the only signal he could
send.  Fortunately for him, his counterpart understood instantly, and
with no further pausing moved right next to the girl.  Whispering for
Rick to "turn around for a second," she gently moved the girl's
underwear for a slight second, exposing a clear sea-blue tattoo on her
right inner thigh.  

"Ohmigod," Allison whispered. "It *is* Umi."  Gently moving the
underwear back into place, she began to shiver, realizing that whatever
laws that reality had set up on the planet, they were now null and void.
A girl who died six months ago was now lying on Rick's bed, breathing if
looking worse for wear and certainly, undeniably, alive.  That went
against every tenet of life, everything that everyone in the world
believed in.  Before she realized it, she found herself back from
the...person?...leaning against Rick and with a look on her face that
said she'd all in all rather be drunk and in deep trouble with her folks
than to be sober and realize that the rug of reality had just been
yanked out from under her.  The underpinnings of everything that ever
existed was now clearly in doubt at best, and in the middle of it were
two scared teenagers, with a person that just hours ago had been the
corpse of a mutual friend.

It didn't help much when the living dead girl, with no warning, sat up,
looked at the two in front of her, then looked at her state of undress,
then back at the pair in front of her, and began to scream at the top of
her lungs.

-=(*)=-

Lance, Clef and company arrived at the Shidou home just slightly ahead
of Priss, Hikari and the Ryuzakis.  The short greeting between the two
Shidou ladies and Hizashi and Harry was short but sweet, and with a
lawyerly manner, began to describe the situation as it was.  Within
seconds, Hizashi went into maternal action, going over to comfort the
Ryuzakis.  She'd known what it was like to lose loved ones, so if there
was anyone who could do something to comfort them, it would be the
kindly old Japanese expatriate.  Meanwhile, Priss and Clef went to talk
with Harry, leaving Hikari and Lance to figure out what was next.

"Hey, how you holding up?"  There was clear concern in Lance's eyes;
though Hikari hadn't been effected by Umi's death as much as Hikaru had,
this was something different, something that affected them all and to no
good, either.

"I'm fine," she said, clearly not.  Sitting on the stairs, she looked at
her older brother and sighed.  "This sucks.  I mean it.  Umi doesn't
deserve this.  None of us do.  I mean...oh hell, Lance, you know what I
mean."

Lance tried to foist one of his trademark grins on his sister, but found
he didn't have the strength to.  Instead, he leaned against the wall and
said, "Hey, people are idiots sometimes.  I wish that wasn't the case,
but unfortunately, things aren't as perfect as they like them to be.
Sometimes things happen just because they can.  I wish I had a better
answer for you than that, 'Kari.  I really wish I did.  But until I do,
that's all I can say."

Hikari nodded, then thought of something.  "Hey, do you think it would
be okay if I told Rick?  I know we probably should be keeping this under
wraps, but he knew Umi as well, and I think he might want to know."

"Plus you probably want someone to cuddle with," Lance continued for his
sister.  "Yeah, I think you should.  Maybe I should call Allison as well
- she didn't know Umi, but she considers you two her closest friends,
so...."

"It's really times like this when you really remember who you love,
don't you?"  Hikari didn't say that directly to her brother, but the
implications were obvious.  Turning to face him, she added, "Bro, we
already know that you're thinking your breakup was a mistake.  Don't let
that haunt you forever.  Go make up with her."

This time, Lance was able to smile.  "You know, 'Kari, you're just a
doll."

The redhead gave him a smile in return.  "Of course.  You're my big
brother; *someone* has to watch you for you, right?"  The two went over
and embraced briefly, glad that the other one was there; it was just
another sign of how the Shidous were so close to one another, a genuine
family.

The phone rang briefly and Clef called out, "Hikari?  Lance?  Can one of
you two get that?"

"Sure thing, Dad," Hikari called back as she let go of her brother and
walked over to the phone.  "Hiya, Shidou residence.  Hikari speaking."

[['Kari?]]  It was Rick on the phone, and he sounded agitated.  Really
agitated.  

"Rick?  What's up?"  The urgency in her boyfriend's voice really
bothered her.  Did he know, and thought she didn't?  Or was he worried
about her, the big sweetie?  Or was it something else - as much as she
loved him, she knew quite well he was known for doing stupid things from
time to time, like the time he got a citation for illegally
skateboarding and loitering at the mall....

[[Um, I ah...er, are you and Lance home?]]

"Um, yeah, sure.  We're home," Hikari replied, waving her brother over
to the phone.  "Why, what's up?"

[[Um, I gotta - that is, we, Allison and I - gotta talk to you.]]

*That* worried her even more, and a chill crept down her spine.  Maybe
it was just the sudden fear in his voice.  Maybe it was the way he said
"we", meaning him and Allison.  Maybe it was the fact that both of them
had to talk to both him and Lance.  And from what she heard, Rick and
Allison were going to that party at Elaine's the other night.  

He couldn't have...could he?  With Allison?  She wouldn't have, they
were friends, and she was in total love with Lance.  But then again,
Lance had just broken up with her.  And she could be depressed, or
willing to take her anger out on him, and that could ambiently extend to
Hikari as well.  But she didn't think that they would....  With Rick, a
person that loved Hikari and whom she loved....

In the background, she could hear some muffled sounds, along with Rick
shouting in the background, [[Keep it quiet!  I don't want them to find
out until we tell them in person!]]  Turning his attention back to the
phone, he said, [[Look, Hikari, we'll be over later.  We have something
important to tell you.  Gotta go.  Bye!]] and with an all-too-familiar
phone click, the line was disconnected.  

Hikari looked at the phone as though it were a live snake.  Rick had
rarely called her "Hikari"; it was always "'Kari" or "cutie."  Now, he
was too busy to talk to her?  And why was he telling Allison to keep
quiet until they told her in person?  Ohmigod....

Nervously, Hikari placed the cordless back on the cradle, then ran
upstairs towards her bedroom, the first sounds of sobbing beginning to
sound.  The world had decided today was a nice day to crush Hikari
Shidou and now it was doing it with a vengeance.


Priss managed to poke her head out of the kitchen for just a second when
she called out, "Who was that for, Lance?  And I thought I heard your
sister crying."

Lance looked at his mother, then back towards the room.  "Oh, just a
call for 'Kari.  She had to end the phone call early so that she
wouldn't break into tears on the phone over Umi.  I'll go check on her
and see what's wrong."  As his mother went back to her conversation,
Lance frowned as he headed up the steps.  A call from Rick had just sent
his sister into a tizzy, and Hikari looked like her whole world just
dropped out from under her.  Lance thought about it for a second, and
about the favor that he asked Rick to take care of it, and that fact,
combined with the look on Hikari's face made him wonder if he wasn't
right about that.

Heading upstairs, he began looking for ways to explain what was going
on.  If what he thought had just happened, then he'd lost his girlfriend
and cost Hikari her boyfriend, all because of his own stupidity.  That
was something that Hikari wouldn't forgive him for, and if he'd
indirectly hurt her like that, he wouldn't forgive himself, either.
Plus, if Rick hurt his little sister, best friend or no, he was going to
be having a talk with him.  The hard way.

-=(*)=-

That had to be, the doll girl admitted as she walked away from the
scene, the most fun she had in a while.  It was different, and though
she wasn't sure, she got the distinct impression that she'd never had
the experience of being treated as beautiful by anyone before.  Well,
maybe there was one person, but she couldn't remember.  The fact that
she couldn't remember disturbed her very very much.

She thought about what Daphne had said about her: her skin was so clear,
that it seemed almost as though she were molded from something; and that
she had a cute, oriental quality about her that seemed to be at odds
with her light brown hair and green eyes.  Additionally, with her looks,
she was capable of pulling off any style, from the faux-70s look Daphne
had seen her in earlier (whateve that meant) to the more contemporary
fashion she was sporting now.

She reached up to touch her hair.  It felt weird, this new hairstyle.
For the longest time, she was sure anyway, she had her hair in that
style that she wore when this whole misadventure started.  But Daphne
insisted that the doll girl change her hairstyle, that she would look so
much cooler with it.  Even now, looking at it through the reflection of
a store window, it looked very different, a golden-brown orb of hair
that gave her an actually older look, more sophisticated and tough, and
didn't, in retrospect, look as feminine and soft as the previous one
did.  Combined with her new clothing (which she got to keep after her
modeling session), she looked very, very different than she figured she
did the day before.  That girl had been...someone else, visually.  Now,
she kinda sorta looked like one of those characters in that movie about
Matrices and something like that.  Trinity - that was it.  She looked
like a blonde, oriental Trinity.  Which was, she had to admit, kinda
cool.

Plus, she had some money to continue her on her mission.  She still
wasn't used to being here in America (if this really was where she was),
so she really didn't know how far five hundred dollars in cash would go.
She figured at the least that would be enough for her to be able to
survive a few days, get some clues and piece together why she was here
and who she was.  And if she could find those answers out, the rest of
it would fall into place.  Assuming there was a rest of it.  This whole
situation was so Byzantine she really couldn't tell up from down
anymore.


She wasn't the only one.  From a respectable distance, seated in a
windows seat at the cafe across the street, Nova downed a quick
croissant sandwich and a cup of coffee as she watched the girl continue
on her journey to where the elfling had set the three idiots to meet.
Watching the blonde walk as though she had a purpose almost made the
doppelganger laugh aloud, yet admittedly there was a sort of envy that
Nova had for the girl.  She had a purpose, a full life that she was
seeking; if Nova's plans worked, the doll girl would get everything she
wanted, and if Nova had a miracle on her side, she might - might - get
some sort of semblance approaching a life.  Something much better than
she'd been putting up with for what like seemed forever.  

((Maybe it *is* forever, and I just don't know it,)) she mused, absently
taking a sip from the cup.  ((Maybe this is all just a dream, and when I
wake up, everything will be back to normal.  But that's the problem,
isn't it?  Normal for you is the nightmare, and the dream is just that,
someone else's version of what normal is, not yours.  ))

Nova wanted so much to blame Hikaru for all of this, to beat her head
in.  Yet at the same time, there was no denying how she felt about the
girl and how much she wanted her.  But there was also the fact that she
wanted more than just what was there, Nova wanted more and even things
that she was never meant to have.  And that quandary led to the worst
part of all: despite her love-hate relationship with the pigtailed
redhead, Nova also felt pity for her, because she was so blind as to
what was really happening.  For the girl to think the elf was a figment
of her imagination - or even an elf, for that matter - showed clearly
how much she didn't want to see, couldn't see, or even didn't know about
how much danger they were all in, all because of the past.

((A past that no one expected, a past that no one ever expected or would
have believed.  Yet one that happened, nonetheless.))  That was probably
the worst part of it all.   If there was anyone to blame, it was Nova,
at least indirectly, and now it would be up to her to stop it all with
the help of the person she loved and hated most in the entire world.

Yet she was now straining herself past the point of no return.  She was
using what powers she had at her disposal, those that she had at the
very beginning, and those she'd picked up while in the Other World.
Under ideal conditions, they'd be considerable and formidable, but now
they were the barest flicker of what she could barely keep up to get
things rolling.  She had to get Hikaru to wake up, to come alive again
and to...

Nova stopped from her reverie and looked out the window.  The doll girl
was out of sight, having taken a different course.  That was not going
to do either that blonde or Nova any good.  Time was running out, and if
they were going to get this party started in time, Nova was going to
have to expend the rest of her magic in order to get everyone where they
needed to be before it was too late.  So far she got one person on that
path, now all she had to do was to convince the doll girl and Hikaru to
get with the program as well and everything would be grand.

Dropping a sizable tip for the waitress who cleaned the tables (a
definite hottie, that girl), Nova left the cafe, taking to the skies and
back on her mission impossible.

-=(*)=-

On the ride back from the mall, Hikaru was deathly silent.  Eric, not
wanting to disturb his girlfriend, let her sit and stew quietly,
figuring that when the time was right, she would tell him what was up.
Fortunately for both teens, the girls were exhausted by the day's events
and were asleep in the back of Eric's car.

Eric sensed that despite the girls, home was the least place that Hikaru
wanted to go at the moment.  She looked very fragile at the moment, her
eyes wild with a confusion that he'd never seen in those sienna orbs
before.  She had every reason to be confused.  Despite being hit by
something that could have very well killed her, the most she got out of
her ordeal was a slight bruise from where the projectile struck her
back.  At the moment she was wearing a T-shirt that Eric grabbed for her
on impulse, a replacement for a completely torched tee and bra that
should have been, realistically, embedded in third-degree burned skin.
Yet there was no sign of any burn damage at all, and if there was
anything that took a serious hit, it was that Hikaru was just not acting
like herself.  And that was the most disturbing part of all.

So they drove around the general Seattle area, not heading towards her
place, yet not really going anywhere.  About an hour into the drive and
half a tank of gas later, Hikaru cleared her throat slightly and said in
a soft, nearly inaudible voice, "I'm...."  She gulped, then looked at
the windshield as she said, "Eric, would you love me even if I was a
freak?"

His eyes darted over to her for a second.  "Hikaru, you're not a freak.
And yes, I love you.  What would ever make you think otherwise - or that
you're some sort of circus show display?"

"I got burned today.  Only...I didn't get burned.  All I can remember
was one second, watching that dancer drop that firestick, then the next
second later I'm moving like Michelle Yeoh on crack, doing everything
that shouldn't be possible.  Then to top it all off, I dived in front of
an old lady and took the object at point blank range.  I should have
been killed by that thing, and the worst that I got out of it is that my
favorite T-shirt is ruined.  What does that tell you?"  Her eyes began
to water.  "Something happened to me while I was in the institution, and
I don't think it was as innocent as it seemed.

"What if all my dreams, everything I thought happened to me in Cephiro
are real?  What if I was taken in the span between instants?  Maybe it
sounds funny, but in one of my dad's books there was a scene were
Princess Cephiro's soul was taken by the demon Windom to the
netherrealm, where she had to learn magical powers to escape.  When she
got back to Mokona, she still had the powers for quite some time.  What
if that happened to me?"

"'Karu, that's just silly.  Your father writes some of the best books
out there, but they're just fantasy, nothing real.  Nothing like that
happens in real life.  Now as to what's happened to you, I don't know.
I really don't.  But to be honest, it doesn't mean a thing to me.
*You*, however, *do*.  I love you, Hikaru, and I love you for who you
are and what you mean to me, not because you can use a sword like
something out of a video game and shrug off fire as though it were
nothing.  Although, I do find that sort of a note of pride."

"Huh?  I don't get it."

"All the girls in the world who I could have dated, and I get the one
who lives up to her name.  Light?  Hell, you take on fire like it's
nothing."  He smiled sweetly at her, his eyes clearly radiating how much
he cared about her.  "'Karu, even if you were to find out tomorrow that
you're secretly a goddess of another world, or a mystic warrior of some
fantasy realm, I'd still love you because I love the Hikaru Shidou that
you are, not the ones that you might or might not be."

She flushed for a second, then said, "Stop the car."

"Why?"

"Because I can't kiss you passionately if you're driving.  We don't want
to have a wreck, do we?"  Immediately he did as he was asked, and
immediately rewarded for his efforts by the girl who cared for him so
much.  They were so busy kissing that they didn't notice the two girls
wake up and see them.  In fact, they paid no attention until they heard
the girlish giggling, followed by, 

"'Karu and Eric, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.  First comes love,
then comes marriage, then comes 'Karu with a baby carriage!"  

The lovebirds immediately broke from their kiss and turned back to face
the windshield, their faces red as Hikaru's hair.  It was a few seconds
before either could do anything other than sit there out of sheer
embarrassment at being caught, yet swooning over such a tender moment
between the two lovers.

Hikaru looked around for a second, then at Eric, the guy her world
revolved around.  It was clear to her now, something that she should
have understood quite some time ago.  Something that she was lucky to
have, and she would never have had, ironically, if things hadn't
happened as they did.  If she hadn't had so much attention upon coming
back from the institution, he probably would have never noticed her.
Likely, he'd be dating someone like Lisa Gutierrez or someone, not her,
and she'd be still on the outs, depressed about her breakup with Dave
and saddened about Umi's death.  Frankly, she probably would have been
unbearable by now.

Tragicaly, it was all due to Umi.  In a roundabout way, her friend
sacrificed herself so that Hikaru could find the man of her dreams.  And
now Umi would never have that chance with anyone, and she wouldn't even
have the opportunity to rest in peace, because of what they did to her
grave.

((Umi, you were my best friend - you always will be.  I'll never forget
you.))  Closing her eyes for a second and whispering something in what
very little Japanese she knew, Hikaru sent a silent prayer to her
friend.  Once done, she looked at her boyfriend, and while she said
nothing, he clearly knew what she wanted.

"Look, 'Karu, do you think that's a good idea?  I know you have to see
it, and I'm not denying it, but what about the girls?  Mutsumi in
particular?"

"Wha' 'bout me?" the girl chirped from the backseat.

"Oh, nothing, nothing, 'Sumi," Hikaru commented.  "Eric and I were just
wondering if you two wanted to go to the Chuck E. Cheese over at
Brycewood Street for dinner."  The redhead looked at her boyfriend, and
he nodded his approval.  The pizza place on Brycewood was about a block
away from the cemetery, and while the two girls would get to play inside
the games and jungle gyms, Hikaru could head over to the cemetery and
get her chance to see Umi's plot and get a few things off her shoulders.

With a much lighter heart, the group started the car again and set off
for their new destination.

-=(*)=-

"Okay, is there a reason why the hell you called the Shidous?" Allison
said while keeping one eye on the girl who was possibly Umi.  While they
had managed to get her silent, it had taken Rick to hold her down while
Allison put a racquetball in a clean sock, then shoved it in Umi's
mouth, followed by keeping it in place via tape.  A few more seconds
found Rick reluctantly tying her up using his bedsheets and a couple of
extension cords, but at least Allison took the time to put Umi's pants
back onto the mystery girl.

Rick shrugged, looking at "Umi", then back at Allison.  "Um, because it
seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"Real brilliant, Rick.  'Hi, 'Kari, this is your loving boyfriend
calling.  And, oh, by the way, I have your very dead friend here busy
not being dead and I'm sure it's her because I took off her pants and
peeked under her delicates to make sure,'" Allison imitated with some
venom.  "Did it ever occur to you that wasn't the smartest way to get
your point across to her?"

"Um, no, now that you mention it."  He looked at his friend sheepishly.
"But in the meanwhile, we have to do something about Umi here."

"Are you so sure that's Umi?  I mean, c'mon, people don't come back from
the dead.  This *can't* be Umi!  It's just not possible."

"I know, but what other answer do we have?"  Moving away from the phone,
he sat next to the girl and said, "Look, I'm going to remove your gag,
so we can talk, but I need you to calm down.  If you scream, I'll have
to put the gag back on, and I'd rather not do that, Umi...if that's
really you.  Do you understand?"  When the girl nodded, Rick reached
around and began to take the tape off slowly, while Allison went to go
get refills on the drinks that had been spilled just fifteen minutes
ago.  The Coke spilled on the carpet would probably leave a stain, but
considering the disastrous state of Rick's room, that wasn't going to
have an earth-shattering effect on the whole situation.  

Rick sat down next to Umi and carefully undid the gag.  As he did, he
asked, "You okay, Umi?"

Umi looked at him as though he were proof of something gone wrong.
"Ferio?  What's going on?  Where are we?  This doesn't look like
Cephiro."

"Cephiro?" Rick did a double-take at that and slowly wondered what the
hell was going on.  Cephiro, as far as he knew, was the name of a
character in the books that Hikari's father wrote.  Other than that,
that was about it.  It certainly wasn't a place, and it shouldn't be any
sort of location that Umi would be referring to.

Umi, not quite catching his hesitancy, continued.  "And who is the girl?
She looks a lot like Alcyone.  And where's the rest?  Fuu-chan and
Hikaru-chan?  I though they'd be with you!"

"Who's Alcyone?  Umster, you're losing me here."  ((What's a Foochan?))
he thought, but he did catch the "hekaroo" part of her comment.  Could
that be a reference to 'Karu?  He heard her name pronounced in Japanese
was slightly different than how it was pronounced normally, could that
be it?

Umi looked at him as though something was wrong...with him.  "Ferio?
What's happening?  Why are we speaking English - you shouldn't know
that.  For that matter, why are we in a place that looks American?
What's going on?"  The last comment in her voice carried the tone of
someone who was beginning to distrust what she saw in front of her, and
that usually meant there was trouble ahead.  

Of that, Rick had to agree, as he wasn't too comfortable with Umi's
attitude, regardless of what it was.  She just wasn't acting like the
Umi he knew for so long, the girl who was always there with a smile, a
joke and a ton of Hello Kitty knick-knacks.  Instead, she was acting as
though she were someone else.  For that matter, she was acting as though
he was someone else, as well.  Of course, if that was the case, who was
this girl that looked exactly like Umi - down to the tattoo, even - yet
was not her?

"Look, Umi, for starters, stop being so formal," he said, smiling and
pouring on the charm.  "This is me, Rick, remember?  We've been buds for
a while, and I want to help you, but I need to know what happened to
you!  I mean, you're supposed to have bee-"

At this point, Allison walked into the room with a coke and two glasses
of water.  "Figured she'd want something to drink.  Well, at least you
managed to keep her clothing on this time," she said with a fatalistic
glance.  "But couldn't you have untied her a bit more so I can hand her
a drink?"

Umi turned her attention onto the girl.  "Alycone?  Wha-what're you
doing here?  I thought you were...you...."  There was a shocked look on
the Japanese girl's face, as though she were seeing a ghost or
something.

"Alcyone?"

Allison shrugged.  "Do I look as though I know what the hell she's
talking about?"

Meanwhile, whatever confusion Umi was suffering got extensively worse.
"I don't know what's going on, Ferio, Alcyone, but let me go now!  Or is
this a trick of Zagato or Debonair to try to stop us?  What is going on!
You can't be the real Ferio and Alycone!  Ferio would never do this to
me!  And Alycone - you're dead!"  She grabbed her head with her hands
and shook in disbelief, as though she were witnessing a nightmare.
"What's going on?"

Rick and Allison looked at each other for a couple of minutes, then back
at Umi, then back at each other.  Finally, Rick turned back to Umi and
said, "Umi, what the hell's gotten into you?  Are you even really Umi?"

"Of course I'm Umi!  But *you* can't be Ferio, nor you Alycone!  But I
can take care of you, you demons!" she screamed, scrambling to her feet.
"Water Magic will defeat you, for I am the Water Knight, Representative
of Ceres and wielder of the all-powerful water sword!"

Allison looked at the Japanese girl as though she were being absurd.
She then took her glasses off, inspected them, put them back on, looked
at Rick then looked back at the girl who'd apparently appointed herself
the next Xena the Warrior Princess.  "Look missy, I don't know who you
are," she said, trying her best not to laugh in the girl's face, "but
are you aware that drugs are bad for you?  I have no idea if you are Umi
Ryuzaku, but from what I was told about her, she wasn't some hopped-up
acidhead who's been playing one too many videogames!"

"That's it; I've had it, and you're through, demons!"  The girl flexed,
clearly calling upon arcane powers and inexplicable energies to free her
from her bonds and layeth upon her enemies the most smiteful of
smackethdowns.  Unfortunately for her, she was in the real world, where
things didn't exactly work on the same physics, and in the end all she
appeared to be doing was the Funky Chicken while having the facial
expression of someone suffering through extreme constipation.

"I don't *believe* this shit!"  Rick, already having a bad day, had just
reached the mother of all stupidity checks.  Taking the girl, he sat her
down and said, "Look.  I do not need this shit.  I don't know if you
really are Umi or not, even though you look like her, even though she
didn't spaz to hell like you're doing, but frankly at this point I don't
give a damn."  Putting his face to hers close enough for her to peer
deep into his eyes, he snarled, "Knock it the fuck off!"

Allison, behind him, rolled her eyes.  "Great sensitivity, Rick."
Shaking her head and wondering why she just didn't stay home instead of
going to the party from hell, she gently moved her friend out of the way
and looked at the girl.  "Look, I never knew Umi - if that is who you
really are - but I do know that your arrival here has stressed out the
place.  If you are Umi, we have to know: what is going on?  If you
aren't, why are you impersonating someone who my friends cared about who
died last year?"

At the sound of those words, Umi's eyes grew wide in shock.  "Dead?"
Instinctively she moved back from them, as though they were anathema.
"I'm not dead...I'm not!  *I'm not!*"  Those simple words immediately
set off an unnatural terror in the girl, as though something suddenly
switched on in her brain.

It did not go unnoticed by Allison.  She watched the Japanese girl try
to virtually merge herself with the wall in order to get away from them
before she went over and sat down next to Umi, trying to be calm as
possible as she said, "Look...we want to help, but we can't unless you
help us.  Don't answer that - just sit right there and we'll be right
back."  Grabbing Rick by the arm, she dragged him out of the bedroom and
hopefully out of earshot.  When she felt she was safely away, the
brunette turned to Rick and stated, "As fucked up as it was, maybe you
were right to call 'Kari and Lance."

"Are you sure?  I really don't think either Lance or 'Kari are going to
be able to help us on this one," Rick reasoned, running his hands
through his hair as he began to pace back and forth in a nervous pace.
"Fuck, it's going to freak them out, if anything.  I don't know about
*you*, but *I'm* scared enough to shit my pants right now."

"That was not a mental image I needed," Allison drolled.  "What I meant
was that Mrs. Shidou might be able to explain something legally that we
may not know about, and it's better to have your ass covered."

"Covered?"  Rick's brow shot up.  "Look, Allison, I swear I wasn't going
to harm her, okay?"

"Jesus, Rick, and *you* were lecturing *me* a few ago on melodrama?  Get
a grip, man!"  Allison hooked a thumb in the direction of the bedroom
and added, "I'm thinking along the lines more of what the hell do we do
since we apparently have someone reported dead, someone that 'Karu
apparently witnessed as dead, suddenly pop up?  Think about what that's
going to do to her.  Or, for that matter, to anyone else.  We've gotta
tell Mrs. S.  She's got enough brains to figure out something."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Go get your van ready, and I'll talk to her and tell her we're going to
take her somewhere that we can help her.  But don't tell her that it's
the Shidous.  I don't want to trigger anything odd or anything.  Maybe
it's just me, but I have a funny feeling that things are really, really
going to get weird." She stopped for a second and then changed tacks.
"Hey, how much cash do you have on you at the moment?"

"Not much, maybe about twenty, why?"

"You owe me dinner for this one, Rick.  We're all stopping at Jack in
the Box on the way to the Shidous.  I haven't eaten a damn thing all
day, and frankly, I'm hungry as hell.  I'll bet she is, too."  As she
headed to the bedroom, she said, "Oh, and one more thing."

"What?"

"Remind me to *never* get drunk at a party again - dealing with this is
worse than any hangover."

Rick paused, then smiled weakly.  "Yeah, I heard that."

-=(*)=-

Lance hung up the phone.  "Well, whatever's going on, sis, there's gotta
be a reasonable explanation for it."

Hikari lay on her bed, her face puffy from tears.  "How could he do that
to me?" she whispered.  "How could either of them do that to me?"

Lance almost smiled.  "You know, you're awfully sure about this.  Do you
really know your boyfriend so little?  Or your friend?  I don't know
about you, but I've known Rick and Allison for ages, and neither of them
would ever do that to hurt someone.  They're not that way."  A pause.
"Okay, well, maybe Rick's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I
know he loves you more than anything, 'Kari.  And I don't think Allison
would do anything to harm the relationship between you two.  Just calm
down, okay?  Give them a chance to explain themselves?  I'm sure there
was a good reason."  ((There had *better* be a good reason,)) he added
silently.

"You know, this is all *your* fault," Hikari said, without looking up or
moving from her prone position.  "If you hadn't given up on Allison, she
wouldn't have had to do this.  You two were - are - in love, so what the
hell?"  She shot up to a sitting position, and there was a rare anger in
her eyes.

Lance immediately went on the defensive.  "Hey, that's not fair, 'Kari.
I love Allison, and I would never blame her for doing something like
this.  It's not her, and you know it.  And the fact that she and I broke
up has nothing to do with this."  He crossed his arms and looked at her
with concern.  "Do you really think that I set this up?  Or do you just
feel the need to take it out on me just because I'm a convenient target
at the moment?"

Hikari backed away, slightly embarrassed.  "Sorry."

"Hey, no problem.  I understand.  But give Rick and Allison a chance.
I'm sure there's a valid reason for all of this.  Considering it's Rick,
I'm sure it's something innocent, but wild and insane just at the same
time."

She grinned slightly at that.  "Yeah, he does tend to come up with
interesting things, doesn't he?"

"Trust me, sis - I've known him longer than you've been dating him and I
can guarantee that whatever's going on, not only is it not what you
think it is, it's probably something that will catch us completely
unawares."

-=(*)=-

It took Hikaru some time, but she managed to sneak out of the pizza
place some time around when Chuck was leading the rest of the
animatronic puppets in another round of some goofy birthday song.
Feigning a need to take a walk for a little bit, the redhead stepped out
of the restaurant and made a direct beeline to the cemetery, pausing
only to buy some flowers from the florist across the street.  Once in
the memorial park, she moved on instinct, knowing exactly where the plot
was, even though this was the only the second time she'd been here.  It
would have been hard to miss it anyway, considering the sizable hole,
the yellow SPD - DO NOT CROSS: CRIME SCENE tape circling it, and the
solo cop standing by.  Once Hikaru convinved him that she was on the
level and not some idle passerby gawking at a freakshow, she was allowed
beyond the confines of the yellow tape.  The officer, understanding the
girl's need to be left alone at the moment, stepped out of sight to give
her some privacy.

The redhead set the flowers down gently on the broken remnants of the
gravestone, then sat at the edge of the hole.  "Hi, Umi.  I know it's
been a few months since I last came here, and I'm sorry for that.  It
feels funny that I'm sitting here, and you're not here - not even your
body - but it's the best place where I can talk to you right now.  I
know I haven't been as good a friend lately as I should be, coming to
visit your grave, even though some would say that's moving on.  I'm not
sure about that.  I've never really had anyone I care about die before.

Hikaru looked around the graveyard for a second or two, eyes scanning
the horizon in some vain hope that Umi's ghost would appear.  She might
be freaked out about it, but at least she would get to see her best
friend again.  When that didn't happen, she continued.  "We miss you
all, Umi, but we're getting along fine.  'Kari misses you too, when
she's not all over Rick - you know how that is.  I've got a new
boyfriend, I think you would have liked Eric - he's a lot better for me
than Dave was.  Lance broke up with his girlfriend, but I don't see that
lasting - I think they're really in love and'll get back together again.
Maybe it's just me, but I can kinda sorta see those little details now.

"Things have been really strange for me.  Since the...accident, I can do
so much more, I'm capable of so much more.  All those years I didn't
know that I learned martial arts, just by watching Lance.  I guess I was
working out more than I thought I was - yeah, I remember you told me so
- because I can keep up with my sis in her gymnastics, even though I'm
not interested in them.  I caught up in school from all the time I was
hospitalized, and I'm doing better than ever in my classes.  It's like,
I dunno, like something happened to me when we crashed, and all these
abilities I never knew I had got busted wide open.  But I'd trade them
all in a heartbeat if it meant that we could get you back, Umster.
There are some things, that no matter what, I just can't do.

"Like last weekend, when Emily and Mutsumi's girl scout troop went into
the forest for a 'Big Sisters' campout.  'Kari took Emily, I went with
'Sumi.  We had fun, and like I said, we've stepped in whenever 'Sumi
needs us, but it shouldn't have been us, Umi.  It should have been you
there."  

"Oh, hell, I can't do this, Umi!  You know why I really came here, and I
could never beat around the bush, even to you."  Hikaru took a second to
wipe the tears forming in her eyes, to clear the lump forming in her
throat.  "You know I have to ask this: why did I have to live, Umi?
What was so special about me that I had to live?  From what people saw
of the car, I should have died, too.  Of all the people we had to catch
a ride with, why did we ride back in Scott's car, which was one of the
few models they make with back-seat airbag?  Why didn't we just take my
car?  It doesn't make sense to me that you're gone and I'm not."  She
smiled wistfully, not a real smile, but more of a bare upturn of the
lips.  "Yeah, I know all about all that 'Survivor's Guilt' and all that,
'cause both my uncle and Dr. Choi told me enough about it, and how
sooner or later I was going to feel it and that it would be a natural
thing.  But you know what?  It's not guilt I'm feeling.  It's confusion.

"Why did I survive when there was no real reason for me to?  Why am I
changing into Wonder Girl, when before the crash I was just an ordinary
girl?  And why is everyone telling me that this is normal, when usually
it's not - according to some statistics I read somewhere, you're
supposed to get worse for a little while then come back to normal.  But
for me, once I got out of Everett Glenn, I didn't get back to normal...I
went beyond it.  And I thought that was a good sign, I really did.  But
after what happened to me today - the fire, my moving like a samurai - I
have to wonder what really happened to me.  It's like I'm not me
anymore, but someone else who is me but not me.  Does that make sense?"
Hikaru shook her head, trying to understand in her own mind what it was
she was trying to say.  Gesturing with her hands, she commented, "It's
like I'm a freak now.  It's like I'm going to wake up one morning and
find I have super powers or something."

Without warning, Hikaru's left hand suddenly warmed up.  She tensed, for
a second genuinely concerned that her words were not commentary but a
harbinger.  Looking at her left hand, her writing hand, she saw
something that shattered her world again, right then and there, like a
great train-wreck of realities coming together, the realms of fantasy
and reality having a back head-on collision at the corner of Hikaru and
Shidou.  There, sitting in that hand, was a glowing reddish orb, about
the size of a baseball, that was throbbing with energy, occasionally
streaming off a ray of light or a mote of energy to the sky, as though
it wanted to be noticed and seen, as though it were waving to Hikaru.
At that moment, Hikaru began to shudder, nervously turning away from the
energy ball, to look at Umi's grave as if to ask, ((What the fuck?))

Instead of an answer from the great beyond, she was answered by a great
column of dirt tearing into the sky from what had been Umi's grave.
Hikaru crawled backwards as fast as she could, her mind too numbed by
the sudden appearance of her "fireball" to think clearly.  The column
grew wider and wider, until a being of some sort crawled through the
geyser of earth, looking around as though seeking something, before it
set its eyes on Hikaru.

The redhead looked at the creature with a gaze of terror.  Standing
before her was a being that looked human...if God had been H.R. Giger.
A mass of muscles and sinew on the outside, its surface looked like
ribbed metal, the carapace of some grotesque insect given human form.
It stared at her with burning, air-warping eyes, a gaze as painful as it
was laborious to meet.  There was no doubt as to the intent of this
creature from nowhere, and what he had on her.

Hikaru didn't have to think twice.  Terror overcame the girl in an
instant; she might be good enough to beat Frankie Lassiter, but whatever
the hell this thing was, was an entirely different story.  Backflipping
to get to her feet immediately, she spun around, intending to get the
police officer for help.  That she was having another relapse of her
delusions didn't bother her at the moment.  She'd rather be medicated
than to really have to deal wit-

The police officer lay on the hood of his car, red dripping from a
massive smoking hole where the left side of his body had been just a
second ago.  Next to him was another one of the creatures, its hands
glowing with unnatural and arcane energies, the same type that Hikaru's
was glowing with a second ago.  Behind that, there were several more of
these things moving in her general direction.  The redhead considered
for a second looking around her to see how many there were, but
something in her mind told her that wasn't necessary; she was
unnumbered, outgunned and outflanked - not to mention completely and
utterly out of ideas as to what the hell was going on or why this was
happening to her.

There was no chance of escape, and these things were clearly hellbent on
killing her, regardless if it was a fair fight or not.  A beam of
unknown power ripped past her head, a warning shot across the
metaphorical bow.  Hikaru didn't know how to respond to that, or to how
she was going to respond to the rest of them as they all lifted their
glowing hands, fists priming to release a blast of incalculable power at
Hikaru Shidou.

-=(*)=-

"You know, that can't be good for you," Allison said as Rick sat down
with what passed for the meal of the day: one Ultimate Double
Cheeseburger, an order of Chili Chese Curly Fries, and an extra large
Coke.  "Can you just imagine how much damage that does to your system?"

Rick rolled his eyes.  "Some of us don't like rabbit food, Allison," he
commented, pointing his fork in the direction of her chef's salad.
"Hey, look, even Umi isn't into the veggie crap," motioning towards the
girl's sourdough chicken sandwich, small fries, and small banana shake.
"I guess you're just outgunned, don't you think, Umi?"

Umi sat there, one step from taking a bite of her sandwich, and mind
still reeling from what was going on.  These people had to be Ferio and
Alcyone, yet they were not.  That would mean she couldn't know them,
yet, the guy, if not the girl, seemed very familiar, very faint in
recognition.  But that didn't make any sort of sense at all.  It
shouldn't.  Yet it did.  "Aaa, gomen ne, but I do not know."

"'Gomeneh?'  What's that mean?" the brunette asked as she adjusted her
glasses.

"Something like 'Sorry' or like that," Rick answered.  "Got it from
watching one too many eps of _Dragonball Z_ with 'Kari, but I'm not
totally sure."  Rick set down the burger and looked at Umi again, as
though he were looking for some sign that this wasn't the girl who
entrusted him with her biggest secret, that tattoo.  But if there was
some clue that this was an imposter, he couldn't see it.  All he could
see was that pretty smile, those cute eyes that made him comment (and
got the cold shoulder from Hikari for an hour) that if he wasn't dating
her, he'd be chasing Umi's skirt in a heartbeat.  This was clearly Umi
Ryuzaki...and how that was the case, he couldn't answer.  He wasn't sure
that anyone could.

Umi took another bite of her sandwich, looking around and visibly
nervous for some reason.  She looked at Rick, then at Allison, then back
at Rick, before staring out the window and seeing..."Fuu-chan?"  

"'Foochan?'  Didn't she say that earlier?  First it was 'gomeneh', now
it's 'foochan'.  I'm beginning to see why the Shidou kids never bothered
to learn Japanese - it's too friggin' confusing," Allison moaned.
"Look, I'm not trying to be a pain or anything, Umi, but could you
please speak English?"  She said this to an empty chair, as Umi had
already bolted out of it, headed for the restaurant exit.  "Um, did I
say something wrong?"

Rick watched the girl floor it out the door.  "Not that I can think of.
Should we go after her?-ah, never mind," he amended as he saw her come
to a stop in front of another girl in front of the place, a cute and
well-built blonde.  One with Oriental features, maybe a half-Japanese
like the Shidous?  "Well, it seems they know each other."

"Yeah, but it doesn't look like anyone I know from school.  She look
familiar to you?"

"Not at all.  Maybe she knows her from somewhere else."

"Or maybe she really isn't Umi.  Tattoo aside, we have really yet to
find out who she really is," Allison commented.  "Short of a DNA test or
dental records, there's no real way.  You said it yourself: she doesn't
act like the Umi you knew."

It was at this point that Umi pointed excitedly towards the pair in the
restaurant.  The blonde turned and...stared...at both Allison and Rick.
Then both girls began to hustle into the place, whereupon the blonde
screamed out what sounded to be a gleeful *"ANATA!"* and tackled Rick,
bowling him out of his chair and smothering him in a dozen sensual
kisses...all of which, it was at least clear, that Rick wasn't
responding to.

"What the hell?!?" Allison snarled, pulling the stranger away from Rick.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"  Umi stepped in the middle of
them, separating bespectacled blonde from bespectacled brunette and
trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and why Fuu was now in
the middle of all this, even as Allison was ready to rumble with both of
them.

Meanwhile, Rick had scrambled away from the girl, trying to catch his
breath, wondering what he did to deserve that - both in good and bad
senses - and glad as hell that Hikari wasn't around to see any of that,
as it would be very much hazardous to his health.  ((Shit, I knew I
should have stayed in bed this morning,)) he mentally whined.  ((How
much worse is it going to get?))


Across the street, Nova was laughing her ass off.  ((Oh, this is just
too rich! she mused.  These people are *complete and total idiots*, and
*they're* the last hope of mankind?  Gimme a break!))  Clearly neither
Umi nor Fuu had gathered the concept of reality yet, and those other two
were just as much doubting their sanity as Hikaru was.  This was just
too, too grand.

((But at least I got them all together.  Now, all I have to do is gather
my little cutie sex kitten with her pals, and we can really start to
dispense with the mayhem!))  Pulling a crystal out of nowhere, she
peered into it, scrying for the location of her-

-standing around at the cemetery as the creatures of doom rushed in,
harbingers of death for the young woman-

That was not what Nova wanted to see.  Putting the crystal back into
netherspace and dusting off her hands, she said to herself, "So little
Hikaru-chan's gone and gotten herself in trouble, and without me to play
with her!  Well, I just can't have that.  Off to make some merriment!"
With that tone, she leapt onto the nearest roof, headed towards a
rendezvous with her greatest rival and flame.

Author's Notes: 
All Your Base Are Belong To Us.

Next:
Seventh Symptom:
Reality Is For People Who Can't Handle Delusions

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