Warriors of Magic

Authors Notes:  Welcome to the finale folks!  Been a rough couple
years, hasn't it? ^_^  Anyway, I need to thank the people on 
Dalnet's #TenchiFF channel for their help in this, and I 
certainly need to thank both Sethra and Evil Pii who did the most 
work and prereading of this.  Thank you so much.  This is for you 
guys...and you as well BGlanders.  It might have taken me awhile, 
but it's almost over now.  ^_^

Standard Disclaimer:  Pretty Sami is property of someone else.  
I'm just borrowing the characters for a time.  Any characters I 
make up are mine, and if you don't know the difference you need 
to go watch Pretty Sami!  Heh.

Warriors Eternal

<Queen - It's a kind of Magic>

	There were those of his people who delved into the 
absolutes of their beings and unleashed forces that mirrored the 
disrupted balance of their souls.  Nightmares of both light and 
darkness ravaged his world as a result of their foolish actions.  
He had been too young and powerless to even try to stop it, and 
lived the first few years of his life as a refugee.

	Trial, pain, loss, and triumph had been his friends in his 
quest to become a man who could help to prevent such an 
abomination from happening again.

	Madness had been his reward.  Madness at the hands of one 
to whom he was bonded on the most fundamental of levels; though 
she would never understand her role in his insanity.

	"Can you let me go?  Please?"

	The young, no more than fourteen or fifteen at most, 
deceptively adorable redhead cocked her deep green eyes his 
direction and shook her head kawaiily.

	Well, it would have been kawaii, had she not had that 
rather maniacal grin on her face at the time.

	Compared to all that he had seen and experienced in his 
short life, this topped the admittedly Herculean level of his 
weird-shit-o-meter.

	"Umm, Ms. Washuu...err...I'm sorry, please don't shock me 
again, Little Washuu, I'll remember this time!  Anyway, Little 
Washuu, could you find it in your heart to let me go?  We can do 
this later!  I really mean that!  I have things that 
simply...you're not listening to me are you?"

	Washuu stood from the chair at her terminal and walked in 
his direction, that maniacal grin never leaving her features.  
Yep, he was officially creeped the hell out.

	He groaned when he saw what the girl was reaching for.  And 
honestly, it wasn't the momentary biting cold that he minded so 
much about the probe she added to the growing collection on his 
upper body.  Nor was it the slight wet feeling of the electrical 
contact gel she put upon it.  It was the way her spiked up 
tresses weaved to and fro, tickling his nose and stabbing his 
eyes.  Really, the girl should register those things as 
instruments of the cruel and usual type.

	On the subject of cruel and unusual...there was something 
bugging him about the way that girl was looking at him now.  
Something that only added to that rather uncomfortable crawling 
sensation that traveled up down his spine.  In fact...

	"Aren't you a bit -young- to be tying up men like this?"

	"Aren't you a bit OLD to be thinking such things about my 
YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL BODY?!" she countered with a psychotic 
cackle.

	<Yeah.  Right.  Sure.  And she called me old too.> He 
glanced up at his white hair.  "Would you believe I'm only in my 
twenties?"

	"Actually, yes."  She reached out to the top of the 
monitor, tapping what he initially took to be some sort of office 
decoration.  "Wake up you!  I finally caught me one, and here you 
are napping on the job!"

	Legs unfolded underneath the circular disk and its two 
pinchers rose up in the air in what he could only call a stretch.  
"Ah man!  Why'd you have to wake me up?  I was having this great 
dream of bottom feeding on the ocean!"

	<A CRAB!?  A talking crab as a matter of fact.  What the 
hell?>  Yet another thing to add to the collection of weirdness 
he'd been experiencing this night.

	Then again, he came from a world where dragons, unicorns, 
and various other 'mythical' beings roamed and proliferated.  
They were pretty good neighbors too...even despite the relatively 
recent conflicts humans had engineered upon themselves.  He was 
sure that this world didn't have talking crabs, however.  If that 
was indeed a crab...something about it didn't feel quite right.  
Though it was alive, that much he could tell from his presently 
diminished senses.  Whatever the girl had him in was able to 
negate most of his magical powers, not to mention his physical 
strengths, leaving him pretty much stuck in this contraption.

	He tested his bonds again, sighing in frustration when the 
titanium alloy clasps refused to yield.  <Damn this girl!  I need 
to get to Ryo-ohki and Rumia!  Something is going on here, more 
than what I came here for!  They need me!>

	"But I'm stuck here with an overly saccharine looking Dr. 
Frankenstein," he muttered.  Just once, he wished that whoever 
was in charge of such things would tell him flat out that 
something was not meant to be, rather than just sending him 
through situation after situation like this.

	"But then you'd lose your entertainment value!" The man's 
eyes shot up in surprise and met Washuu's, which were twinkling 
with amusement.  "Did you know that you talk to yourself a lot?"

	The crab's eyestalks goggled over his direction.  "Oh, is 
he the one that was making all that noise?"

	"Just the kicking and screaming."

	The man continued to strain against his restraints, hoping 
that there was some way he could extricate himself from this 
nightmare...and get his clothes and staff back in the process.  
He couldn't forget those, though he'd be sorely pressed to remind 
himself to get them in his haste to get away from this cute 
terror...IF he got away.

	"You might as well give it up and get comfortable.  I've 
been studying your kind of energy for over a year now.  Those 
restraints conduct all that lovely power from you to my NT 
batteries in the basement.  I AM SUCH A GENIUS!!!"  To his 
horror, she started laughing again, that terrible insane laugh, 
like a tyrant about to obliterate his greatest foe with the most 
ironic of revenge.  Adding to his dread, the crab laughed with 
her.

	"So...what do you want from me exactly?"  he asked, 
figuring it was worth a shot to try and bargain his way out.

	For some reason, his blood froze when she snapped on some 
plastic medical gloves.  "Ooohh...just some samples!"  She 
grinned at him slyly.  "Just kidding, well, not exactly anyway."  
He breathed a sigh of relief.  "Right now, as my darling little 
machines take their readings, and my assistant monitors the 
terminal in case something fun scrolls across," she glanced back 
at the crab, which saluted smartly and dutifully assumed its 
duties as computer watch, "I want you to tell me about yourself, 
where you come from, that sort of thing!"

	"Now, aside from the fact you could probably force it out 
of me given time, why would I want to do that?"

	"I suspect you'll do it, because you're in a hurry to get 
somewhere...that much is obvious.  You cooperate with me, and 
you'll get there faster."

	He nodded.  Not much choice it seemed.  He didn't have much 
that he really felt like hiding anyway.  "Okay.  Sure.  So, what 
would you like to know first?"

	For the first time since his capture by this maniac, her 
expression grew serious. "I'm curious as to what your 
relationship to our world is.  Throughout history there has been 
mention of your kind in one form or another, in many and 
varied...activities.  Often, we were the pawns in some strange 
game you've played.  Other times, you've imparted knowledge upon 
us.  Other times, you show up and wind up taking one of us, 
usually a fairly nice to look at youth, as a mate or temporary 
plaything."

	It took him a moment to realize she was waiting for him to 
either confirm or deny what she had just said.  "Okay.  Yeah, 
that's true for the most part.  I certainly won't deny any of our 
people's...indiscretions.  Especially not back before travel 
between our worlds was carefully monitored."  

	She nodded, almost as if she had been expecting the answer.  
"I assumed that there would be independent organizations and 
governmental agencies that at the very least kept records of your 
existence, and yet there is none of that.  The most we have are 
the old legends and..." she paused, searching for a word, "past 
and present urban myths that far too many are eager to discount."

Washuu stopped and looked expectantly at him again.

	"I think it's obvious what happens, girl."

	"Indeed," she agreed, "I, for one, do not like invaders on 
my world.  I CERTAINLY don't like the idea that we are playing 
the pawns to said invaders' whims.  With the present Magical Girl 
activity, which makes little sense to a logical mind, I'm curious 
as to your kind's intentions for being here...now."

	He chuckled wryly, "You don't like that idea?  Kid, you 
don't even know the half of it."



----------------------



	<THAT FUCKING STUPID AIRHEAD DYKE BITCH!!!>

	Ramia was pissed.  Actually, Ramia was a few levels beyond 
what was normally categorized as being 'pissed off.'

	'Enraged,' 'furious,' and 'royally fucking miffed' were 
probably closer descriptions to what she was feeling right now.  
Most would consider this to be her normal state, odd as that was 
for a Magical Girl.  This kind of anger was generally not 
something that one connected to the very life and breath of their 
world was capable of.  Ramia, however, like Tsunami, was the 
exception to a number of behaviors that were the 'norm' among 
Magical Girls.  In many ways, the two were polar opposites.  
Tsunami was calm, subdued in her actions.  Even in the act of 
love, Tsunami was a kind of focused passion; little was wasted in 
what she did.  Ramia, on the other hand, was wild...a force of 
pure chaos.  She was a raging storm of extremes in her emotional 
states.  If she loved you, you'd know it.  If she hated 
you...well, only Tsunami was oblivious to that.

	Yet, behind this new bout of Tsunami-loathing, Ramia was 
experiencing something that was alien to her.

	For the first time in her life, she was experiencing 
Fear...real Fear, the kind one spelled with a dark and bloody 
capital 'F.' 

	HE had gone to Earth, or Terra, or Chikyuu, or any one of a 
dozen other names that world had been given by its inhabitants.  
HER boy protector had been allowed to use the only magical portal 
that remained upon their world, which would temporarily render it 
useless for any other purpose to which it might be employed.  So, 
she could neither see what was going on, nor could she use it to 
delay him from his single-minded goal.  Her brother was also not 
answering her psychic demands for contact, which could be for any 
number of reasons, none of which she could confirm.  She actually 
gave a moments consideration to starting the ritual which would 
allow her to travel to Chikyuu, but she quickly dismissed it.  It 
would take time to set up a temporary portal for travel.  Time 
was a luxury she did not have.

	If nothing else, the one thing she knew for a fact about 
her love was that his sense of loyalty to her brother would 
demand he return and expose Ramia's plot to remove Tsunami from 
her candidacy.  His devotion to a person was nearly 
insurmountable compared to anything else.  Except his devotion to 
her...or to be more accurate, the devotion he should have had 
(and at one time DID in fact have) for her.

	That thought did little to improve her disposition.

	A scream of fury tore itself from her, "TSUNAMI!  CYRAQS!  
DAMN YOU BOTH TO THE PIT OF HELL!"

	A concerned feminine voice inquired from the doorway, 
"Mistress?"

Ramia turned and set her malevolent sights upon whomever the fool 
was who DARED come near her in this state.  The pink-haired 
second smiled in an almost friendly way when she recognized who 
was at the door.  She was on the girl in an instant, hands 
grasping the woman's slender throat and pulling her inside with a 
muffled choke.

	"Tell me," Ramia asked, lifting the pink-haired lass nearly 
a foot in the air by her collar, "When Tsunami fucks you silly, 
is it really as fulfilling as having someone who loves you in 
your arms?"

	Confusion, and no small amount of fright entered the pink-
haired girl's voice when she timidly asked, "My lady?" 

	"Really, I must know, because my own boy protector refuses 
me in favor of the nonexistent love that is promised him in 
that...that THING called Tsunami!"

	"But...she does love him," she replied haltingly, "...in 
her way."

	Ramia blinked once, then gently set the terrified girl 
down.  "'In her way,' you say?" Ramia's tone suggested disbelief, 
but the handmaiden sensed something else too, once the pink-
haired servant gained some measure of control over her fear.  
Something like understanding.

	It began as a small twitch within the pink-haired second, 
growing steadily more pronounced and audible to the servant woman 
as the seconds ticked by until Ramia was laughing hard enough to 
cause tears to run down her cheeks.  She chortled long and hard, 
'til her throat became sore and spots began dancing in front of 
her eyes...and then she laughed some more.

	"Oh no, little girl." Ramia managed to squeeze out 
breathlessly, "She does not love him.  Whatever she has for him 
only leads him blindly to madness and death."

	Ramia abruptly quieted and pointed to the door.  "Go.  Go 
back to being Tsunami's pet for a while.  One day, when you 
realize that she is incapable of loving in the way your soul 
desperately needs, you'll remember this day and my words.  You'll 
know them to be truth."

	The girl stood there, seemingly enraptured by the second's 
words.  A moment later, she fled from the room, sobbing her heart 
out.

	"Madness and death.  She'll lead us all that way if she is 
allowed to.  The War of Balance will be nothing compared to the 
holocaust she will unleash upon us."

	Ramia's eyes scanned her room.  It was in total shambles, 
like it had been so many times before when her anger had gotten 
the best of her.  Her eyes narrowed as she called upon her 
mystical powers to restore her room to its untarnished state.

	This would be the last time such an act would be necessary.  
The plan on Earth was compromised, soon it would collapse.  When 
Cyraqs found her brother and then Ryo-ohki, they would no doubt 
show him the Magical Girls...then he would see to what lengths 
she had gone to thwart the blue-haired heir she so loathed.  
Assuming whatever it was that had happened on Chikyuu hadn't done 
anything permanent to them.  Not that it mattered now, she 
supposed.

	"I guess there is only one thing left to do."

	Ramia made her way over to the center of her now immaculate 
room.  Reverently, she closed her eyes and entered a meditative 
state that cleared and focused her mind.  Magical energies were 
drawn into and expunged from her body as she made herself one 
with the world she loved.  Every last pulsing particle of life 
became the same as her body...her heart...her soul.

	For what was now left to do, she could take no chances.  
She had to be at her most powerful, and most focused.

	She'd be damned if she let her people be 
destroyed...especially not when she could prevent it.

Even if it meant her life.



--------------



	"Your world is one of about ten or so that have a kind of 
symbiosis with ours.  Transdimensional barriers weaken between 
the worlds, and every so often, people and things travel through.  
I expect a number of unexplained disappearances on your world are 
the result of this."  Washuu nodded thoughtfully.  "A powerful 
user of the mystic arts can travel these doorways at will."

	"Why only these ten or so?  Why not more?"

	"I don't know.  You're the Sage here.  Why don't you figure 
it out?"

Washuu flipped him off.  "Heh.  Anyway, as I was saying, 
throughout history we've traveled the worlds, and to a very 
limited extent, vice versa.  All of them have a humanoid 
populous, which I expect is because of the accidental travel that 
happens from time to time, but I'm sure you've already surmised 
that yourself.  Back in the day, when we were first learning of 
the powers our world gave to us, many thought themselves gods.  
I'm sure you can imagine how that went."

	Washuu nodded.  "So what changed it?"

	"The Magical Girls did.  It was a brief, fairly one-
sided..."

	The little crab called for Washuu, who motioned for him to 
cease for a moment.

	"NICE!" she shouted, and then turned her attention back to 
him.  Honestly, he was a bit scared at whatever it was that she 
had seen to elicit that response.

	"fairly one-sided conflict," he completed.  "After that, 
travel between the worlds was strictly policed.  All travel gates 
were destroyed save the one in the royal palace.  Anyone who 
could do so on their own power was sworn to never use such power 
without the knowledge of the newly created council of one hundred 
eight.  To do so was to invite a fate that was worse than...  Not 
to be a dick here, but if you're going to have me talk, the least 
you could do is set that thing on record or something so you 
don't keep interrupting me."

	Washuu grinned manically at him as she turned from the 
console's latest findings.  "I suppose you're right.  That is 
terribly rude of me!"

	"You don't really care about that, do you?"

	"Not really.  Anyway you were saying worse than?  Worse 
than what?  Death?"

	He nodded.  "Yes.  The punishment was the complete sealing 
of all magical ability, and then exile to the remote regions of 
our world.  You could live like that, but that's about the most 
you could do.  You'd never be what you once were, which is 
something most would try to avoid at all costs."

	"I can imagine.  It'd be like someone lobotomizing me."

	<If only someone would!> "Yes, quite.  Our Magical Girls 
first enforced this edict.  After a time, the job was given to 
the new ruling body, a council of one hundred eight priests and 
protectors.  Not many tried after that, though, it still happens 
from time to time.  That was around a thousand or so of your 
years ago."

	"So anything we've seen since then is that 'from time to 
time' you were referring to."  She thought about it for a moment. 
"I take it there were sanctioned visits to other worlds?"

	He smirked, "From time to time."

	"Explain."

	"For research and observation...for the occasional rescue 
of one of our own who'd accidentally stepped through one of those 
rifts...to make sure our presence was little more than myth and 
legend...that sort of thing.  You need not worry about an 
'invasion' as you put it."

	"Perhaps."  Obviously she didn't completely believe what he 
had told her, but was willing to let it slide for the moment.  
"So what about the Magical Girls?"

	"Ah yes," he sighed, "them."

	The air suddenly grew heavy around them both.  Washuu 
glanced behind her at one of the various terminals which had been 
dormant until this new phenomena had suddenly and completely 
covered her lab.  Not just her lab, she gathered from the 
readings.  It had blanketed to whole city in magical energy.  
More of it than she'd ever seen before, and quite strange 
compared to the readings she usually received.  
Amplitude...modulation...frequency...strange, the wave pattern 
looked similar to...

The Crab was already ahead of her, bringing up a readout of the 
psychic wave pattern of the city.  Washuu didn't need any 
specialized computer equipment to see the magical energy and the 
ambient psychic energy were almost in sync.  The spell was trying 
to match itself to the general biorhythm of the city; connecting 
itself to all living things.  But to what end?

	"You feel that?" She nodded; it was impossible to ignore. 
"Ah shit."  Washuu looked back at him quizzically.  "Those are my 
boys, Little Washuu.  They are why I came.  Feels like they're 
about to perform one hell of a resurrection spell.  Let me go to 
them!" he pleaded, "I'll do whatever you want!  I'll swear to 
anything you want me to!  I'll tell you anything!  If they're 
trying something like this, there is no telling what's wrong!"

	"Your children then?"  He nodded desperately.  Washuu shook 
her head.  She considered herself a pretty good judge of 
character, and every instinct she had told her this man was 
telling her the truth.  Her search for these beings had been a 
lifelong ambition of hers ever since she had...<But that had been 
when I was barely walking and trying out my first quantum 
equations.>  She desperately wanted to keep him, and examine him 
as much as she possibly could!  She could learn so much!

	She nodded to her assistant who pressed a couple of buttons 
on the control panel located to the right of its keyboard.  The 
bonds holding the man snapped open with an audible hiss of 
compressed air.

	Washuu grabbed her heart shaped laptop as he staggered away 
from the table.  "What's your name?" she asked as he pulled 
himself to his feet and ripped off the probes on his chest.

	"Cyraqs."

	"Cyraqs," she tried out.  "Follow me."  She nodded toward 
the door.  "I have a truck out back.  You can tell me about the 
Magical Girls here on the way."

	"I thank you."

	Thirsting for knowledge, yes.  But not so much so that she 
would be cruel enough to keep a man away from his children.  
Especially not if they were in trouble.

------------------

	Rumia woke suddenly, startled out of dreamless sleep by the 
feeling of some great warm weight being draped across his chest.

	"Damnit, Ryo.  Go sleep over..." Wait a second.  This was 
heavy, but not heavy enough to be Ryo-ohki.  Opening his eyes 
fully, he found himself staring at Misao's dark purple tresses 
scattered across his chest.  Somehow, the girl had bunched 
herself up into a position that put most of her body upon his 
upper torso.  She seemed pretty relaxed, but he was finding this 
to be damn hard to breath.  He wondered how long she had been 
here as he tried to figure out how best to move her without 
waking her.  Last thing he remembered was dropping unconscious 
with his best friend onto the floor.  Ryo-ohki was now in cabbit 
form, being held by Sasasmi on the couch, like some overly cute 
plushy.  The two girls had been out cold on the couch after 
everyone's little expenditure of mystical energies.  It was 
obvious that somewhere along the line she had woken up (or maybe 
slid off the couch) and then curled up next to or on top of him.

	The first signs of sunrise were beginning to show outside.  
No bits of yellow and gold yet streamed over the horizon, but 
that dull grey-blue color that now permeated the sky through the 
window heralded its imminent arrival.  It was a school day, and 
worse for these girls, a test day.  Yet with the events of last 
night he doubted any of them would be moving very well, much less 
be able to head out and wrack their brains in the Japanese school 
system.  It was a system he thought bordered on militant, if not 
outright soul killing.

	Then again, regardless of the fact he chose this way of 
life, he wasn't sure he had enough moral high ground to be 
casting such stones considering some of the training he'd been 
subjected to.  Of course, he DID have a choice, which was 
something his precious Misao never had.  Most everything in her 
life was done to her or forced upon her with little regard for 
her feelings on the subject.  He understood why she embraced the 
power offered to her when she became Pixy Misa.

	His arms found their way around the girl in a protective 
embrace.  "Not again.  Never again."  So long as he drew breath, 
he'd never again let anything happen to his magical little girl.

	The fact that he might not be drawing breath within the 
next few hours discomfited him, however.  He was no match for his 
sister, who had both years of experience in the mystic arts on 
him and was one of his world's most powerful Magical Girls.  His 
fighting skills were the only edge he had, and she had 
demonstrated time and again that he wasn't any match in that area 
either.  She'd find out, and that would be that.

	<Fuck worrying about tests!  I should be trying to figure 
out how the hell we're going to survive the next day!>  He 
glanced again at Ryo-ohki.  <Why couldn't you have just killed 
me!  That'd have gotten the attention of EVERYONE!>

	Ryo-ohki, however, was involved with problems of his own.

	Sasami hadn't been asleep for the past half hour or so, yet 
she had not released him from her embrace.  He felt from her a 
certain sense of contentment, mixed strangely enough with 
irritability.  She felt calm...comfortable even...with the boy in 
his cabbit form cuddled to her budding bosom.  She just didn't 
want to feel that way.

	Ryo-ohki sighed.  <Sasami?> he tried.

	She didn't answer, but he knew she heard.  Strangely, the 
connection had suddenly gone from the sense of each other's 
general well-being, to being able to sense each other's moods, 
and finally to full blown mental communication on demand.  It 
would certainly cut down on cell phone charges in the future.

	<Sasami...I'm sorry.  I never wanted to hurt you.>  Still 
nothing.  <Will you...will you please say something?  Anything?>

	The only response he received was her hold upon him 
tightening.

	<You were right.  I should have told you what I really was 
a very long time ago.  Tsunami told me not to blow my cover, but 
that doesn't mean you couldn't have known about it.  I 
couldn't...I didn't know how...can't you see?  I stayed with you 
as your advisor and your guide.  Sometimes even your protector 
when you needed it.  In this form, I could stay with you on this 
world and no one would ever ask questions.  Yet, the more we went 
on, the more I started...started falling love with you!  Me!  
Fourteen years old and already in love!  I didn't know...you had 
known me as this for so long...I was scared of what you might 
think of the real me...the one that is both human and not.  I 
know how I look in my true form, and I couldn't bear the thought 
you'd hate me, or worse, fear me!>

	He fell silent for a time, awaiting judgment from blue 
haired girl who now held him.

	"I love you, Sasami," he whispered softly to her when she 
still didn't respond.  "I don't know what I'd do without you.  
Even if I had to stay a cabbit, I'd be with you forever."

	<Ryo-ohki?>

	After so long a silence from her, he could hardly believe 
she had responded.  <H...Hai?>

	<Shut up!>

	It was a command generally spoken in malice, and yet here 
it was issued with nothing but the purest of warmth and love.

	Ryo-ohki melted in Sasami's arms, basking in the glow of 
her love returned.  <Hai...Sasami-chan.> 

	Sasami...his Sasami-chan.  He could scarcely believe this 
was happening to him after wishing for it for so long.  He 
reveled in this closeness, knowing...feeling her within him.  
Constantly touching him with her devotion and her affection...he 
knew she could feel the same from him.  Would it always be like 
this for them, he wondered?

	No, he knew better.  This was a temporary respite, at best.  
Rumia was probably over there thinking the same thing as he.  
Soon, Ramia would discover their little insurrection.  Unless 
they could get outside attention, there would be no telling what 
could happen to either of them, not to mention their Magical 
Girls.  The original plan had merit, and it would have been a 
simple matter to shock those old bastards, and even Tsunami 
herself, into some sort of action against Ramia with what Ryo-
ohki would have done.  Now, they'd probably have to fight Ramia 
without anyone's knowledge, because his gullible mistress 
wouldn't believe it even if Rumia and Pixy themselves told her.  
There was no telling what would be the eventual result of that 
kind of conflict...other than their defeat.  Even collectively, 
they just did not have that kind of power.  It would set both 
Tsunami and Ramia back tremendously, but better that than risk 
them finding a way to blow the whole story wide open.

	Damnit!  If only he could get in contact with his old 
Master!  <WE NEED YOU SENSEI!> he cried out mentally with little 
hope of being answered.

	<And I once told you I'd always be there if you did.>

	Both boys' eyes shot open in surprise.  "Sensei!"  
Sometimes even when there is no hope, miracles can happen.

	That long missed voiced chuckled inside their heads.  <Yes, 
it's me.  Good thing you did that, Ryo.  I was having some 
trouble locating you.  That last blast of magic only gave me a 
general direction, but I've got you locked now.  Just stay put, 
and I'll find you.>

	<Sensei...we have so much that we need to tell you!> Rumia 
told him urgently, <It's about...>

	<Tell me when I get there,> he interrupted, <For now, I 
sense you both need to recover your strength.  Just stay there, 
and don't move around too much.  I think I'll be there in an 
hour...maybe less.>

	<Hai, Sensei!> they shouted enthusiastically.

	Rumia easily glanced over at his furry friend, having 
finally got Misao to settle beside him.  "We might have a chance 
now."

	"We might at that." Ryo-ohki agreed.  Still, they were a 
long way from making that chance a reality, and there was no 
telling what could happen in the interim.



----------------



	"They're over in that direction." Cyraqs pointed.  "They're 
in a building that's rather tall and has domiciles that seem to 
be for those that are well off in your economic system.  I will 
be able to be a bit more specific when we get closer."

	"Yeah, that's the rich area of town.  I have a few students 
from the school I teach at that live over there."

	"Why was the lab we were at so far out?"

	Washuu grinned maniacally.  "Things have a tendency to go 
BOOM there."

	Cyraqs inched as far away from the short redhead as he 
could in her truck.

	"Anyway, you were going to talk about Magical Girls, and 
why they were here," the girl noted pointedly.

	The white-haired man sighed.  <I did say that, didn't I?>  
"Back about...twenty or so of your years ago, our world had a bit 
of a scuffle."

	"Earth shattering or Hell raising?"

	"A bit of both actually.  It...did a number on our humanoid 
population and completely threw our planet's environment out of 
whack.  Deserts became encased in ice.  Rainforests became 
deserts.  Savannahs became Rainforests, that sort of thing.  
Surprising the non-human races didn't rise up and kill us all, 
but then they did figure it was our mistake to make.  They would 
not interfere...they'd just pick up the pieces if we did wipe 
ourselves out."

	"That's rather responsible of them.  Our world could 
probably use a few lessons in that.  So what caused it?" she 
asked.

	"Stupid fuckers forgetting the first rules of magic," he 
replied,  "It's what eventually led to this little infestation of 
Magical Girls you got here."

	"Really?"

	He nodded.  "Yes, indeed."

------------



	Who needed to live forever, Ryo-ohki wondered, when you 
could have an eternity in an hour?  Conversely, he wondered, how 
could it be that years seemed to stream by as if they were 
seconds?

	He was presently having the former problem.  With the 
impending arrival of his master, he could not get any of the rest 
he knew he needed.  His mind was abuzz with plans, memories, and 
theories.  The minutes ticked by at an excruciatingly slow pace 
as he tried to put those thoughts into some kind of order that 
would best serve them all in the hours, possibly days, to come.

	Sasami, strangely enough, didn't have a problem at all with 
napping right now.  Even with the knowledge of what was coming 
and Ryo-ohki's mental state not the best it could be right now, 
she was perfectly content to sleep and dream while Ryo-ohki 
worried interminably.

	<Sensei told us we were going to have days like this, Ryo.>

	It seemed that Rumia wasn't in much better condition.  <So 
he did.  You think...>

	<Shh.  He's here.>

	The door to the apartment cubicle clicked open.  It was an 
electronic lock set to keep the door shut unless you had the key 
or were given access.  Obviously it was child's play to their 
master's powers.

	Ryo-ohki and Rumia slid out from their respective girl's 
embrace, waiting in anticipation for their master to walk on 
through.

	It was surprising that a shock of spiked up red hair came 
through first.  Each knew who this was, having watched the girls 
in school often enough.  This lady was the slightly nutty, and 
sometime ally to Pretty Sami, Professor Washuu.  Yet, even that 
shock did not prepare them for the changed visage of their master 
when he walked inside.

	He smiled whimsically at the disturbed, even sad, 
expressions on their faces.  "Look I so old to young eyes?"

	They both started to deny it, but they knew he already knew 
the truth.  His face, once troubled and smooth, now sported ever 
so slight leather wrinkles.  His eyes, once a shade of bright 
green, now looked dull...devoid of life and hope...almost.  His 
eyes brightened considerably as he beheld his two students for 
the first time in years.

	"Gods!  Look at you!  Look at how powerful you've both 
become!  My boys...my sons!"

	The two boys threw themselves into a heartfelt hug at the 
man who was the only father either of them had ever known.  He 
returned their embrace with all the love he had been denied 
giving them since they went to serve their mistresses.  His 
children were finally returned to him after forever and a day of 
waiting.

	The crab on Washuu's shoulder whipped away the errant tears 
that streamed from the redhead's eyes.  "Softy."

	"Shut up!" Washuu replied good-naturedly.

	Eventually, the man's attention turned toward the two girls 
who had been roused haphazardly by the commotion.

	"Sasami, I presume?"   The blue haired girl nodded.  The 
boys disengaged themselves from their master and walked their 
respective charges to Cyraqs.  He couldn't help but note how 
shaky the two girls seemed on their feet.

	Rumia was leading the other girl, the one with the 
hauntingly beautiful sea-green eyes and the deeply purple hair, 
toward him.  His former student's eyes were lost in adoration as 
he gazed upon the girl.

	<Both of them?  Bonded to Magical Girls?  What the hell is 
going on here?>

	"This is Misao."  Rumia said by way of introduction.  The 
girl tried to curtsy in her robe, but wound up stumbling into her 
protector's arms.  It was clear to the bearded man that it was 
taking almost everything she had just to hold on to the boy.

	A soft golden glow appeared in the man's hands as he cupped 
the girl's chin.  The glow spread over her body, and into Rumia's 
as well before dissipating moments later.

	The girl blinked and stood again on steady legs with wonder 
in her eyes.  Rumia bowed his head in thanks as the traces of his 
own weakness dissipated.

	Cyraqs wasted no time in doing the same for Sasami and Ryo-
ohki.

	"It's the least I can do." 

	Washuu's looked on enviously, "You've got to teach me how 
to do that."

	"Life is born of the struggle of Yin and Yang.  Magic is 
born of Life.  They feed each other in a symbiotic circle," he 
told the scientist cryptically.  She understood the explanation, 
at least as far as it went.  To pursue the kind of knowledge she 
did meant that she had to keep an open mind concerning what the 
scientific community would consider spiritualistic nonsense.  She 
also understood the undertone.  She had been given a hint...the 
rest would be up to her.

	Cyraqs settled heavily into a nearby chair.  It had taken 
him a fair bit of power to cast a Refresh Spell over four people 
in rapid succession.  He'd need time to recover his magical 
powers.  If he were a healer priest or a Magical Girl, he'd not 
be having this problem, but his skills and talents lay elsewhere.  
Still didn't cover his bit of disgruntlement concerning that 
fact.

	"Now, what's been going on?" He stared pointedly at Misao 
and Rumia.  "What's REALLY going on here?"



-----------------------------



	Ramia's eyes shot open.  She was one with all things.  The 
energy of Juraihelm flowed through her; their wills intertwined.

	Their world of Juraihelm seemed to agree.  With present 
conditions as they were, something had to be done to save their 
people.  The first plan by the one hundred eight was well 
conceived with the assistance of many of the Magical Girls and 
sooth-seers of their world. The execution, however, left much to 
be desired.  Well, SOMETHING would be done.  She would take care 
of all their problems in one fell swoop.  Maybe the one hundred 
eight would get their act together and choose right this time.  
Then again, their little drama had been one bad choice right 
after another by that ruling body.  A housecleaning would 
certainly be in order after this was done.

	A pity, she figured, that she'd probably not be around to 
see it.  Not that it much mattered.  Her life had always been 
spent in service to Juraihelm, she might as well end it the same 
way.

	Elegantly she rose from her kneeling position on the floor.  
Straightening her blouse and overcoat she started toward the door 
in a grim resolve.  Idly, she wondered how many innocents were 
about to be caught up in what was about to happen?  She didn't 
dare order an evacuation of the general area...but maybe...yes, 
that could work.

	<Tsunami.> she called out silently.

	<Yes, Ramia?>

	At least she didn't have that amorous air about her this 
time.  Ramia wasn't sure she could maintain her present calm if 
she heard that.  <I would like to see you in the meeting hall.  
Come alone.  Quickly.>

	<Is something wrong?>

	<Yes.>

	A small pause.  <I'll be there shortly.>

	Ramia smirked.  <Perfect.>  Wasting no time Ramia 
teleported to aforementioned spot.  "I want this place cleared of 
all personnel.  When Tsunami comes, the Queen-elect and I must be 
undisturbed."

	The two acolytes on watch at the door hurried to obey her 
orders.  Now all she needed to do was wait.

	Fortunately the wait was not very long.  The double doors 
at the forefront of the hall opened slowly admitting the blue-
haired heir apparent, who had opted to walk rather than teleport.  
Ramia had said something was wrong and important, but she didn't 
make it sound like it was anything that couldn't wait long enough 
for her to walk the distance between her office and the meeting 
hall.  The flowers through the hallways were quite lovely in the 
mornings, and it would have been a shame not to appreciate them 
every chance she got.

	Tsunami studied the uniquely serene visage of her second as 
the doors closed behind her.  Serene was not something that was 
part of Ramia's character.  It was the equivalent of seeing dry 
water. 

	"What's wrong Ramia?"  Ramia smiled at her in a friendly 
way.  Now she knew something was wrong.  Ramia was rather bitter 
for a Magical Girl, certainly in need of a good lay.  Maybe 
that's what was wrong?  Maybe Ramia was so hard up that she was 
about to finally give into Tsunami's charms?  Tsunami certainly 
hoped that was the case.  And here in the meeting hall?  She'd 
never done it in public before.  What a delicious novelty!  

	The pink-haired second raised her arms and twirled about 
once, indicating the ornate domed hall.  "How much...how much has 
happened here, you think?" Ramia began quietly.

	<Nothing compared to what's about to happen!> "Quite a lot 
I would think.  Decisions that affect our world are made here 
often."

	"Yes," Ramia agreed, "Decisions that affect our world.  How 
appropriate." Ramia shook her head, chuckling whimsically. "He 
doesn't remember, you know."  Tsunami's innocent gaze took on a 
puzzled sheen.  Ramia walked over and leaned upon one of the 
wooded pillars that supported the meeting hall as memories 
overtook her.  "Remember when were children?  What happened to 
the three of us?  What happened with -him-?"

	<Ah.  Him.  So much for sex in the meeting hall,> she 
thought in dissapointment.

	Tsunami's face tightened as much as it ever did as those 
bitter memories washed over her too.  It was not...pleasant what 
had happened.  He had been ripped from her soul; quite messily at 
that.  Little traces of each still lingered within the other.  
Even she, with her peaceful disposition, had not taken the 
violation of her inner being very well, though it had been 
necessary.  Something about her...orientation...had been damaging 
to him.  She really did not understand how that could be; no 
matter how often it was explained to her.  She had loved her Boy 
Protector; there should have been no problem.  Reality, 
obviously, begged to differ.

	"I remember.  I was...incapacitated for a long time after 
that.  You took care of him, didn't you?"

	Ramia almost hugged the pillar.  "Yes.  His sister, his 
master, and I nursed him back to health.  When he came back, he 
remembered nothing.  Nothing except you."  She turned and leaned 
upon the marble hugging herself as feelings of warmth coursed 
through her.  "And me.  He remembered me too.  We were 
happy...for a while.  I was his Magical Girl.  He was my Boy 
Protector.  You never took another, did you?"

	"I was...not allowed.  Nor would I have.  Not after Anata.  
Not after what happened to him."

	"Yes, your Anata," she said with a slight laugh, "The one 
thing that haunted him more and more as time went on.  It 
tormented him.  It tore his spirit apart no matter what I did!  
He pushed me out, right after he let me in completely!  He was 
mine, and then he threw me away!  And WHY?!"

	Ramia pointed balefully at the Heir.  "BECAUSE HE COULDN'T 
FREE HIMSELF OF HIS MEMORIES OF YOU!"

	Tsunami flinched back from the palpable hatred that issued 
forth in that single outburst.  Tears of guilt and frustration 
gathered in the corners of Tsunami's eyes.  She knew it to be 
true, but... "I'm sorry!  I know...but I just don't...I just 
don't understand!  My dearest Ramia, what can I do to help?"

	Ramia was taken aback at those words, but only for the 
moment.  Tsunami always wanted to help, but never understood the 
harm she would cause in the process.  "I know you don't 
understand.  The one hundred eight obviously never did.  That is 
why its come down to this."

	Tsunami blinked.

	Ramia frowned.

	The meeting hall exploded in a conflagration of purple and 
pink light.



-----------------------



	Cyraqs listened to the four children as they told their 
tale.  His eyes grew hard, and his frown deepened at the conflict 
they described.  It had been a small war composed of two generals 
and four soldiers for little over a year.

	"Enough," he said finally.  Washuu glanced at him curiously 
between bites of the potato chips she had dug up from Misao's 
kitchen.  She had been impressed with his resilience thus far.  
Had she been in his position, she'd have long since hightailed it 
straight back to Juraihelm and given everyone even remotely 
responsible a piece of her newest BFG.

	The minutes ticked by slowly as thoughts and plans crossed 
the white-haired man's mind.  The four who had shared this tale 
with him, sat silently awaiting his next move.

	"Go get something to eat.  I still have much to ponder."

	The four headed to the kitchen, with a side trip to the 
bathroom, at warp speed.  Cyraqs chuckled, "Their bodies are 
still growing, but their souls are far more mature than they 
should be."

	"Yup.  You've got adults there." She smiled at him wryly.  
"I think we could both relate to growing too fast."

	He folded his hands before him and nodded grimly.  "This 
was something I and my sister have dedicated our lives to keeping 
from happening again.  It seems I've failed.  I should never have 
let either of them go so soon."

	"It was their choice, wasn't it?"

	It was an interesting question; one that he already knew 
the answer to.  Sure, when Ramia called for Rumia, he went to her 
with no questions asked.  But Cyraqs also knew that had Rumia not 
wanted to go; he would have been able to keep Rumia at his side.  
Ryo-ohki would never abandon the one he called brother, so he 
went with Rumia.

	"Yes."

	Washuu nodded, her point made.  He didn't fail.  
Regardless, this should not have happened.  "I've been wondering 
why you didn't just go with them?"

	His frown turned into a full-blown scowl.  "And be near 
Tsunami and Ramia again?  Day in and day out?  I'd have lost 
whatever sanity I have left."

	"Again," he added after a moment.

	Washuu filed that bit of information away to pursue another 
time.  More important matters had to take precedence.  <Oh well,> 
she thought sardonically, <I guess my poor victims will have to 
wait 'til tomorrow for their math test.>

	"So what do you plan to do now?" she asked.

	He stared into the distance for a time.  "First, I'll need 
to...need to..." 

	"What's wrong?"

	His hands suddenly shot up to clutch his head when a spike 
of excrutiating pain drilled through his skull.  A scream welled 
up inside him, but his teeth were clenched so tightly it only 
came out as a tortured shriek.

	Ryo-ohki and Sasami had rushed out of the kitchen hastily, 
followed closely by Misao and Rumia.  A bit too hastily for some 
as it looked like half a bowl of miso soup had been dumped all 
over Rumia.

	Sasami looked worriedly to her guardian. "What's going on, 
Ryo-ohki?" 

	"I..." he began to answer before Cyraqs shot to his feet; 
all traces of whatever hit him gone.

	"Ramia.  It's Ramia.  And Tsunami.  They're fighting.  For 
real.  We have to go.  Now!"

	Rumia's eyes widened in surprise and more than a little 
fear.  "Fighting?  Them?"  They were the two most powerful of 
their race.  They were the most gifted of the Magical Girls of 
their world.  There's no telling what damage the two of them 
could cause before they were stopped.  IF they could be stopped.

	"You have the return cube?"  Ryo-ohki asked their master.  
In response Cyraqs pulled from sub-space a small blue cube, no 
bigger than a golf ball.  "Damn!  It's not charged yet."

	Washuu came up to them and plucked the device out of 
Cyraqs' hand.  "What's the problem?  Not enough energy?"

	"It takes a bit of time for it to charge on other worlds.  
This one can carry multiple people if it gets enough...what the 
hell are you doing?"

	The red haired scientist got that maniacal look on her face 
that the sensei-master had learned to dread.  "Oh, nothing."  She 
pulled from her suitcase her laptop and what looked to be a 
collapsible satellite dish assembly.  Morbidly fascinated, they 
all watched as Washuu and her crab assistant hooked up some sort 
of wireless control assembly to the back of the computer and then 
set up the dish next to the window.

	The crab then took out a set of wires, one side looking 
like a serial port, and the other a standard female power 
coupling.  He (she?) cut the female end off and stripped the ends 
bare of their plastic covering.  The crab then connected the 
serial port to the back of the satellite setup as Washuu dropped 
the cube onto the now bare copper.

	The scientist smirked and walked over to her laptop.  "Just 
saving your ass."  She pressed a button.

	A green energy streamed from the sky like a laser, and 
entered the dish, which in turn traveled into the wire and thence 
into the cube.  The effects were immediately apparent as the cube 
began to glow softly.

	"You realize your technological power sources and our 
magical ones are completely different, right?  How are you doing 
this?"

	"Oh it wasn't really all that hard to figure out.  I just 
took a quick scan of your cube when I pulled my custom built 
laptop out, noted it was only on a slightly different wavelength 
than your own magical powers, ran the energy I sucked from you 
earlier through an amplifier powered by my own private nuclear 
accelerator, made a few minor adjustments on the frequency to 
match it to this little baby, and then beamed the power through a 
high capacity redirect satellite (that if the UN finds out we 
have, they'll cry like little babies) and straight into my handy 
dandy omni receiver here," she gestured to the satellite dish, 
"thus powering your cube.  You get all that?"  Blank looks 
abounded.  "I guess not."

	"Awe don't worry Washuu, not everyone can understand PURE 
GENIUS LIKE YOURS!"

	"Indeed!" Washuu agreed; feeling consoled by the Crab's 
words, "I AM A SUCH A GENIUS!" 

	Forestalling any of that horrific cackling, Cyraqs added, 
"And we are truly grateful."  He nodded toward the cube.  "Can I 
pick that up?  It has more than enough energy to take a legion of 
troops back to Juraihelm now."

	Washuu grinned and tapped a few keys on her custom laptop.  
The beam of energy to the receiver shut off almost instantly.  
"It's safe," she pronounced. Cyraqs waved and pulled the cube 
through the air to his waiting hand.

	"Gather round.  They're still fighting.  I don't know what 
we'll be materializing in.  I want you as close to the shield 
I'll generate as possible."  He looked at Washuu who had closed 
up her laptop and was walking up to him.  "What do you think 
you're doing?"

	She gave him a look that asked 'what the hell did he think 
she was doing?'  

	"I'm grateful for the help...and not so grateful for the 
rest, but mostly grateful.  However, I cannot let you come with 
us."

	"This from a guy who couldn't even get back home to stop 
whatever it is that's going on?"

	Sasami piped up, "She's an incredible ally, and has saved 
me...saved me AND the world more times than I can count!"

	Rumia agreed.  "I can vouch for that.  She's foiled quite a 
number of Ramia's plots almost single handedly and this without 
knowledge of who she was up against."

	"For Pixy Misa, she was quite troublesome I must admit." 
Misao added.

	Cyraqs looked pointedly at Ryo-ohki.  Ryo-ohki nodded, 
confirming what the others had said.

	"Fine.  But you're on your own getting back."  For some 
reason he doubted that would be a problem for her.



----------------------------------------



	The rag tag group of Magical Girls and their boy 
protectors, a burnt out sensei-master, and one slightly mad 
scientist shot forth from the portal in Juraihelm palace's 
scrying room.  Instantly a shield of translucent emerald energy 
appeared around them while the master surveyed the area.  Finding 
nothing immediately amiss he dropped the shield only to have the 
feeling of something...heavy settle over them.

	Rumia turned toward the white-haired man, clothed in the 
well-worn dusty black training gi.  "Sensei!  What's happening 
now?"

	"They're locked in a battle of wills.  In the meeting hall.  
Heh, they're more evenly matched than either originally thought.  
Fascinating.  I never knew Tsunami was capable of that sort of 
curiosity.  They feel me close...each is wavering...no, holding, 
wavering...we have to hurry!"

	The group quickly exited the room and ran through the wide 
corridors and ornate chambers of uses the Sasami and Misao could 
only theorize about.  On they ran toward the source of that 
strange heaviness past several-dozen palace denizens trying to 
put as much distance between the two warring women as possible.

	"Is it me, or is this looking kinda like that infiltration 
of the Death Star in episode 4?" the Crab asked.

	"Just as long as we're not really caught in the end of 
episode 6," Washuu replied without a trace of her usual sarcasm.

	"Or run into Darth Maul, like in episode 1?"

	"Bite your mandible."

	Eventually they exited the main body of the palace and 
entered the central garden whose beauty the three girls wished 
they could explore were not matters so pressing.

	Rumia pointed at the ornate domed building ahead of them.  
"That's our destination, so not much futher."  He looked behind 
at the fragile girl following him.  "You alright Misao?  Can you 
make it?"  Misao flashed him a brave grin.  She had changed into 
pants, which she rarely wore, and her running shoes, which hadn't 
seen much use, back at her apartment.  For some reason though she 
hadn't bothered to get a shirt on, and that robe she wore last 
night did little to cover her when she ran.  Rumia's head jerked 
forward as he blushed furiously.  He could sense Misao's 
amusement at the reaction of his fourteen year old hormones, and 
her reassurance that it was alright...even welcome for him to 
appreciate what he saw.  Even so, he couldn't help it...his face 
glowed a healthy crimson.

	Yet, a silly grin found its way to his face...even though 
he likely ran to certain death.

	They encountered several members of the one hundred eight 
outside the hall huddled around the head priest himself, locked 
in consultation.  A good number of Magical Girls milled about 
with their husbands/protectors as well.

	"What's the situation?" Cyraqs asked as he came upon 
priests.

	"Ah, Sensei-master, it's good that you are here.  Tsunami 
and Ramia..."

	Cyraqs cut the elderly priest off rudely.  "I KNOW what 
they are doing!  WHAT is the situation?  Keep it simple.  Time is 
short."

	A Magical Girl of curly green hair, and a simple brown robe 
approached the white haired man, her protector keeping a short 
distance away.  "Nothing has been destroyed, but the magic is 
stifling.  The world feels ill at this conflict.  Their powers 
have created a field that denies us entry into the meeting hall."

	Relief was evident from the Sense-Master when he beheld the 
Magical Girl.  "Hikari-sama!  Good to see you're around.  Do you 
know of any way to get inside?"

	Hikari frowned.  "It is possible...if we had a couple more 
of us and the help of the priests here that we could strike at a 
conjunction between the two's powers and open a doorway long 
enough to get someone through.  Once inside, that one might be 
able to quell the two long enough for us to subdue them."

	If it was Magical Girls the needed...Sasami looked at 
Misao, who nodded.  "Can we help you then?" Sasami asked.

	Hikari studied them both for a moment.  "Magical Girls from 
another world.  Inexperienced...lied to...need serious 
training...yet...yet...indomitable wills.  Yes, I believe you 
certainly can."  She turned pointedly to Cyraqs.  "We still need 
someone to go in."

	"Like there would be anyone else more effective," he noted 
sourly.

	She smiled sadly, but said nothing to him.  Instead she 
turned to Misao and Sasami.  "Go, stand before the door on either 
side.  When you feel me and the rest reaching to you, don't be 
afraid.  Let your feelings and power go...be one with the world, 
and you will see clearly what we are to do."

	"What about us?  That's my sister, and Ryo's mistress in 
there!" Rumia asked Cyraqs.

	"You?  You support your Magical Girls."

	"But..."

	"THAT'S what boy protectors do!"  Cyraqs steely gaze found 
its way to the door.  "What I too must do.  No matter the cost."

	"Come." Misao grabbed Rumia's hand.  "We can't waste 
anymore time."

	Ryo-ohki gave his master a final searching look, trying to 
find the meaning of his last statement, before he took Sasami's 
hand and followed Misao and Rumia who were running toward the 
door.

	Green lightning began writhing up and down Cyraqs' body.  
His skin began to take on a leathery sheen matching the shade of 
the energy surrounding him.  Scales were apparent after a moment, 
and his body began growing...stretching out clothing that was 
magically enhanced to allow for this transformation.  Wings of 
scale and bone spikes sprang from ports on his back as claws 
extended from his hands and feet, the boots having magically 
disappeared.  To complete the change, a tail adorned with spikes, 
now swayed gently behind him.  Other than the apparent fangs, the 
face was surprisingly human looking glanced at Hikari.

	"I had heard your spirit was in tune with a dragon's force, 
but I scarcely believed it was possible, though many have spoken 
of your drake form.  To see the battle form is truly awe-
inspiring."

	A familiar, yet alien, voice rumbled from within the fusion 
of man and dragon, "Even this will not be enough."

	"Of course not.  Strength alone will not be this conflict's 
resolution."

	

---------------------



	As they ran, Sasami watched in disbelief as a soft glow 
surrounded the girl Misao.  Dark purple hair turned a brilliant 
golden.  Her clothing disappeared for the most part, though it 
appeared that the newly transformed Pixy Misa had taken a liking 
to the addition of tight blue jeans to her attire.  The button 
and zipper on the front was undone, not that it showed anything 
through her leather outfit, but honestly if her hair had been 
red, Sasami figured she'd look like that American comic character 
she once read called Dawn.  None of which answered Sasami's 
question of HOW Misao just did that without her baton.

	"Misao...how?" Sasami asked when they reached the doorway.

	Misa looked at Sasami in disbelief.   "You mean you still 
haven't figured it out?  The power is ours.  It's always been 
ours."

	"I don't...I don't understand."

	"Your baton.  My sword.  They did have power, but both were 
merely tools we were using.  Rumia...he also held control of my 
power for a time, before I took it from him."  Rumia looked away 
from Misa in shame.  "Il est bien, mon amour."  She patted his 
arm consolingly.  It's okay, my love.

	Her eyes met Ryo-ohki's with a question.  <You didn't 
believe in magic,> he explained.  <Tsunami gave you one of her 
old tools, and you believed in it.  All the real power came from 
you.>  Sasami gave him a hard look.  "Hey!  It wouldn't have 
mattered if I'd told you or not if you didn't believe it!" he 
shouted defensively.

	Sasami shrugged and thought stubbornly, <Well, if Misao can 
do it, I should be able to, too!>  She reached deeply within her 
to the same place she pulled power from when she was Pretty Sami, 
and found the energy there surprisingly enough.  She realized as 
immersed herself within its depths; even the transformation was a 
fraud.  They didn't need to change to access their magic!  
<Still...if Misao is going to be Misa...I may as well be Pretty 
Sami.  For old time's sake.>

	A warm pink glow enveloped her, enshrouding her with her 
red and white outfit she only wore when in her 'super' form.  It 
too was a placebo, like everything else.  Might as well go all 
the way if that's how they were going to do it.

	Ryo-ohki's furred hand enveloped her much smaller one.  
Through it she could feel the hot glow of his own magic as he 
gave of it freely to her.  It rushed through her, burning her 
alive...yet not in an unpleasant way.  In fact it felt pretty 
good...really really good as a matter of fact.  Thoughts that she 
had barely pondered yet were boiling to the surface under the 
influence of his power.  A full-blown blush traced its way 
through her body when she realized this was what it must be like 
to be 'turned-on.'  It would be a pity when he had to let go; she 
could really get used to this.



----------------------



	"The children are ready," Hikari stated.  "Let us begin."  
She walked over and took her place with the rest of the gathered 
Magical Girls.  Cyraqs flapped his wings, lifting off from the 
ground, and flew to hover above the children before the massive 
doorway.

	It started with a ripple of golden electricity that 
transferred itself from priest to priest gaining intensity and 
brilliance with each one that joined into their gestalt.  It came 
last to the head of the one hundred eight who in turn sent that 
nearly blinding golden light into Hikari.

	She smiled slightly when her husband placed his hand upon 
her shoulder, adding his strength of will to hers.  Her arms 
seemed to rise of their own accord to either side of her and with 
that, pure argentine fire burst from her being and into the other 
Magical Girls at her sides.  The energy traveled down the line at 
nearly lightspeed, each one adding as much power as they could to 
the spell.  At both ends of the arc, blue lightning shot from the 
elder Magical Girls, and into Sami and Misa.

	Misa looked deeply within Sami's eyes as mana beyond 
either's imagining flooded through them.  And with it came 
understanding of what needed done.  They could feel the world of 
Juraihelm welcoming them, murmuring instructions to them.  Each 
girl reached out, and felt for the edges of the barrier.  Quickly 
finding the invisible line between the interactions of the 
energies issuing forth from Tsunami and Ramia, the girls employed 
the collective willpower of everyone present to pull it apart.  
The barrier refused to budge.  

	In response the outpouring of power from the priests and 
the Magical Girls into increased.

	Still, it remained as immoveable as an ant trying to knock 
the planet out of its rotation with the sun.

	<What's going on?!  We should at least get some sort of 
reaction.  What are we doing wrong?> Hikari wondered.  At this 
rate, it wouldn't be long before the weaker members of this 
gestalt started falling out.  Even the Magical Girls wouldn't 
last long after that.

	"Uh hem."  Hikari glanced down at that strange girl that 
had come with the Sensei-Master and the other children.  Turning 
the strange heart shaped device around, Hikari could see on the 
LCD screen the barrier surrounding the hall and the seams between 
the two opposing forces.  A red dot blinked at an area close to 
the bottom of the doorway.  "Try here," Washuu suggested.

	Hikari nodded and relayed the instructions to the girls at 
the doorway.  It wasn't like they had anything to lose.

	Sami and Misa bent down and grasped the barrier where the 
computer indicated.  Nothing happened at first, but after a 
moment a slow wrenching sounded from the barrier and a small hole 
was appearing where the girls were pulling.  Eventually the hole 
widened...enough so that Cyraqs could squeeze on through, but it 
was taking everything they had and then some.

	With a might flapping of his wings, Cyraqs flew up 
slightly, and then shot down into the portal like supersonic jet.  
Sami and Misa let go and fell into their respective protectors 
just as the power flow to them cut off.

	Hikari sighed worriedly.  "It's up to him now."

	"Can he do it?" Washuu asked.

	"I don't know.  I honestly do not know."



-------------------------



	The dragon-man landed upon the smooth marble floor.  Having 
seen the both of them when he had entered, Cyraqs looked up to 
behold Tsunami and Ramia floating in a lotus position.  Both 
their eyes were closed, but their expressions told of their state 
of mind.  Tsunami was calm...passive...possibly a little puzzled; 
she was responding only to the threat on her life that Ramia 
presently represented.  Ramia's visage bore hatred, anger, and 
desperation.  She wanted to kill the blue-haired heir that she 
now fought against.  More so now that she knew that he had found 
a way inside their little battlefield.

	They knew he was there.  Each could feel that much, but 
neither spared more than a fraction of a thought to acknowledge 
that.  The two Magical Girls were at their limit in their battle 
against each other.  To do more than to simply know he was there 
would be the death of the one to make such an error.

	His powers and fighting skills were useless here.  Nothing 
of that nature could or would affect them, much less make them 
stop.

	"Strength alone will not be this conflict's resolution." 
Hikari had told him.  There had to be some way...he had not the 
power to stop them directly.

	Unless...

	<Doesn't look like there is any other option.>  He smiled 
bitterly to himself.  <Well shit.  Destiny has wanted my ass in 
tatters since I was a boy.  Who am I to deny that?>

	His wings flapped once, propelling him up between the two 
women whom he had been pledged to at one time or another.  The 
green glow of his power surrounded him and with a scream of 
inhuman effort, he lowered the barrier he had erected between 
himself and Ramia and forcibly reinitiated his connection with 
Tsunami.

	How could one have described the thoughts of three becoming 
one?  How could anyone have possibly known what to expect?  
Whatever it was, Cyraqs wasn't sure he expected this...this dark 
place.  He certainly didn't remember the last time he was as one 
with these two...then again, with his state of mind, the two 
women really hadn't done more than feel the presence of the other 
through him.  Ironic that his destructive state of mind had done 
so much to protect the three of them so long ago.

	He could see them both to either side of himself, and not 
as they were in the realm of the physical, but as they really 
were in this place of thought and spirit.

	Tsunami was a pure grey color, almost solidly grey.  Were 
it not for his perception of how she appeared, she would have 
been nothing but a vaguely human chiaroscuro.  This was why she 
had been chosen for the focus of her people's balance...she could 
see what was truly out of balance for her people, and guide them 
back to what she was.

	At least, that was the theory.

	His perception turned toward Ramia, and he nearly gasped 
when he saw her.  Or what he didn't see would be a more accurate 
way of describing it.  In this place of obsidian she was a thing 
of shadows that writhed and twisted in fury.  The only thing they 
didn't touch where her eyes.  Golden and piercing they 
practically glowed their malevolence as she stared at the girl of 
nothing but greys across from her.

	"You've nearly crossed over...haven't you?  You forgot the 
first rule that nearly killed us all.  You've let an extreme of 
magic take you...haven't you?"

	How could this have happened?  Magical Girls were beyond 
this sort of thing...but apparently this one wasn't.

	Then again, whoever heard of a lesbian Magical Girl?

	Given what was known about the Magical Girls, one would 
think both situations impossible.  Of course, the two before him 
happened to be text book examples of exceptions to the 'rule.'

	Ramia's eyes suddenly shot his direction.  The shadows 
wavered, but never fully faded as the form of the girl he once 
knew seeped through.

	<Not completely.  Thank the gods, not completely!>  He 
surprised himself with the amount of relief he had in that 
statement.  He had long thought himself over whatever it was he 
had with her.  Looks like that had been as much a lie as 
everything else he had tried to convince himself of over the 
years.

	Perhaps it could have even been love, had he tried...really 
tried for it.

	<But then,> he thought as he glanced over to the Heir, <I 
couldn't bring myself to get over you?  Did I?>

	"No, YOU COULDN'T!" Ramia agreed venomously.  Her gaze 
never wavered from Tsunami, but he could feel who it was directed 
at.

	He started slightly. <Of course,> he realized.  Speaking 
and thinking was the same thing here.

	Looking at Ramia like this he couldn't help but feel the 
heat of what they once had.  Gods she was beautiful in her 
passions.  Love, Hate, or something else, it was like a sun's 
fire in her and she made sure you were immolated by it, had you 
aroused any part of her being.

	"Nothing to say for yourself, destroyer?" she accused 
Tsunami.

	Tsunami turned those strangely innocent eyes toward Cyraqs 
and then to Ramia.  Cyraqs had no defenses now, and the years had 
only eroded away what tolerance he might have had to what she was 
doing to him.  What she had done to him lo those many years ago.  
He love her still...he wanted to be with her so badly.  However, 
it was returned, not as revulsion as he first thought, but as a 
total anathema to her nature coupled with that strange love 
Tsunami had for him.  He was not sure how long he could bear her 
presence in his soul.  It was, quite painfully, tearing what was 
left of him apart.

	Ramia closed on him, gathered his collapsing form in 
shadowy arms. Bolstering his depleted will with her own, she 
gently lowered him to the ebon ground in her embrace.

	"You have no idea how much I hate you, right now, do you?  
LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO HIM!"  Ramia proffered the man that 
had been protector to them both to her.

	Tsunami closed the distance between them with a distressed 
sob.  This pain...this suffering she felt from Cyraqs...from them 
both HURT in a way she could not even begin to fathom, but felt 
all the same.  He no longer had any mental barriers or defenses 
to stop her from seeping through him and seeing as he did.  She 
was killing him and she couldn't stop it!

	"Why?  I never wanted this.  Why is this happening?!"

	Cyraqs laughed.  Strangely it contained no malice or 
bitterness, just...laughter.  He actually found this situation 
funny for some reason.  "I love you.  You reject my love like a 
poison and fed it back through me."

	Tsunami shook her head, denying his words.  "I don't 
understand.  How could that be?  I do love you, my protector."

	"MY protector," Ramia countered fiercely.  "You don't 
understand you fucking DYKE!  That INSULT tells you everything 
you need, but you STIL DON'T GET IT!"

	The inky blackness of the dark magics returned with a 
vengeance, nearly swallowing Ramia completely.  

	"No, Ramia.  No."  The weakened warrior caressed her cheek, 
killing the darkness around her like a thrown light switch.

	"Ramia..." Tsunami reached out.  Even this girl of greys 
knew of the horror of what was slowly consuming Ramia.

	"Don't TOUCH ME!"

	Tsunami drew back fearfully when the shadows 
returned...only to be banished again by the warrior in Ramia's 
arms.  Whatever the depth of Ramia's feeling for Cyraqs, it was 
enough to keep her darkness at bay.

	<Why?  Please, I want to understand!  Why?> Tsunami 
demanded desperately.

	"How can one who has very little light or darkness, who is 
nothing but a shade of grey, understand what extremes we are?  
How could we understand the pure neutral simplicity of you?"  
Tsunami shook her head crying, looking for all-the-world like a 
lost puppy.  "I think...I think...you were made far too well to 
understand." He reached up to pull Tsunami to him, "I think it's 
time you knew."

	Ramia's eyes widened when she felt his intent and drew him 
a thousand miles away from Tsunami in the blink of an eye.  
"You'll die if you do that!"

	He turned in her arms, an odd grin on his face.  She felt 
his lips press upon hers before she realized what was happening.  
She drank of him deeply, savoring his taste amidst the salty 
flavor of her own tears streaming down her cheek.  More, she 
could feel him...completely.  The way he should be within her, 
thoughts and feelings intertwined.  Tsunami's were there as well, 
but she found it easy to tune those out and concentrate on her 
love's embrace.

	She had waited for this again for so long!  She'd have done 
anything, if only for this!  And he wanted to throw it all away 
again...this time for good!

	"Ramia," he chided gently after too short an eternity, 
"Nothing can stop that now."

	"But..."

	He brushed her hair out of her eyes.  Her lovely purple-
pink hair, untainted by the darkness that only moments ago 
threatened to swallow her.  "You know I'm right."

	"Cyraqs...please...I can..."

	He shook his head.  "No you can't.  I had...no defenses 
against either of you, and I was so weak...so tired.  She needs 
to know."  He reached up, covering the distance between them and 
the distraught Tsunami instantly, and pulled her to him.  "And 
it's about time she did."

	He kissed the girl of greys, long and hard.  And for once, 
he could feel, she wouldn't have wanted to pull away.  Ramia 
looked away feeling something breaking inside, but experiencing 
it through them both all the same.  The bonding between the 
Magical Girl and the Boy Protector was a melding of souls to a 
small extent, giving both just a bit of the to carry with them.  
Cyraqs, however, was giving the Heir more...a lot more.

	Ramia looked back when she felt it was done.  Tsunami 
returned the gaze with her ever so light pink eyes.  Her own 
neutrality was now and forevermore tainted by the man who slumped 
heavily back into Ramia's embrace.

	"You thought...you thought I'd do...what I did...to 
Anata...to everyone?"

	Ramia nodded bitterly.

Tsunami finally understood.

	"And Anata he...he wanted what I could not give...but he 
couldn't...he felt my...OH ANATA!" She threw herself upon him and 
wept uncontrollably.  "I'M SORRY!  I'M SORRY!"

	"Yeah." He smiled weakly as his body became translucent.  
"I'm sorry too."  His fingers traced the outline of Ramia's face, 
his other hand weakly wrapping around Tsunami, "Love ya." They 
barely heard his whisper when he finally ebbed completely from 
this place.

	In the real world, back at the meeting hall, their eyes 
shot open.

	"CYRAQS!"

	"ANATA!"

	A shockwave of pink and purple light destroyed every window 
in the palace and flattened all within its radius.



------------------------



	Ryo-ohki pulled Sasami to her feet and looked about as 
others did the same.  Whatever his master had done had been one 
helluva bit of magic.  They'd be repairing this place for months 
if not years to come.

	Sasami weaved in his arms a tad shell shocked.  "Did we 
win?" she asked drunkenly.

	Ryo-ohki was about to reply when he heard, "LOOK!"

	Rumia pointed as Misa leaned against him.  The huge double 
doors that had once guarded the entrance to the hall now stood 
open and barely attached to their hinges.

	Ryo-ohki saw, and quickly found himself within Sasami's 
embrace.  "Oh no.  No. Gods, no," he sobbed in her arms.

	Rumia tried to go inside, but was quickly stopped by Pixy 
Misa. "Please..." he began.  But then he looked into her eyes 
that were filled with pain and sympathy, but a determination not 
to let him go.  It was already too late she could feel, and there 
was nothing he could do.  He felt this in her soul, saw it in her 
eyes...his crushing embrace found its way around her moments 
later, his choking cries breaking her heart.

	Inside they had seen Ramia holding their sensei's head in 
her lap, weeping openly.  Tsunami knelt beside the two, and sadly 
caressed his cheek, in no better condition than Ramia.

	"Strange." He hands clasped theirs, and brought their hands 
to his heart.  "It doesn't hurt anymore."

	His grip on their hands faltered, and peace settled over 
him as he gazed at the two women.

	"Rest, my love."  Ramia closed his beautiful green eyes for 
the last time.   Tsunami's tears joined Ramia's as the life of 
the one who had been protector to them both faded away.

	"Your torment is over."

<The Police - Every Little Thing She Does is Magic>

What?  You'd think I'd end it like this?  Heh, stay 
tuned...there's still a bit more to come before this story is 
well and truly over.  Though, I gotta admit, it's been one 
helluva ride hasn't it?  Send C&C, if you can find it in your 
hearts to send C&C to this unworthy soul, to 
kthardin@tenchifanart.com Later folks!

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