Warriors of Magic

Authors Notes:  Please read the afterward after you've read this
fic chapter.  Also, I am begging shamelessly for C&C!  PLEASE!
You know we fanfic writers live off of this stuff (and I can't
seem to get any of it to save my life for this chapter...odd.)
and I'd hate to dry up and die horribly. ^_-

The Love of the Warriors

<Queen � It's a kind of Magic>

	"nnn...would anyone tell that Convoy to quit running me
over?" someone asked as he tried desperately to open his eyes,
but finding the amount of effort it took to cause too much
dizziness, and so contented himself with laying in his heap of
limbs and tattered clothes.  Oh...wait...there was
sound...words...oh...he was speaking them, or moaning
incoherently.  No...that wasn't all there was.  There was indeed
other sounds not coming from him, and concentrated every bit of
effort into figuring out what it was.
	"...ou alright?  Hey, buddy?  Damn...now I need to call an
ambulance, shouldn't be hard with all the police roaming around
tonight."
	The man's eyes shot wide open. "No. Police."  He probably
meant it as frantic command, but it came out more as a tortured
whisper.
	The man took in a boy in front of him, not that impressive
a build, but not too bad, it being more athletic than muscular.
He had deep brown eyes, and equally deep black hair.  His
expression was a mixture of concern, nervousness, and no small
amount of fear.
	"Can...you...help...me...up?" The man dragged out.
	"I'm not sure..."
	"I'll be...alright...in a minute."
	A look of disbelief crossed the boy's features.  "You're
entire body's smoking in a freaking crater!"
	The man chuckled; ignoring the pain it caused him.
"Yeah...probably look pretty bad.  Done this before...happens all
the time...give me some time.  I'll...explain...but help me up?"
	The boy struggled with a moment of indecision, before
curiosity got the better of him, and he bent down, putting the
man's arm around his shoulders, and helping him unsteadily to his
feet.
	Damn it! The boy thought, this guy is shorter than me, but
is at least twice as heavy!
	Slowly, the boy managed to drag the man to the nearby fence
and lay prop him up, where the man promptly slid down and sat
right there.  The boy quickly followed, both of them breathing
hard.
	After a time, the man turned toward the boy and spoke.
"Thank you."  He appeared to have recovered much of his strength
as he was forcing himself to his feet.  "I always did hate it
when I do that."  The boy noted the man's much stronger and
steadier voice, and rose to his own feet, figuring that the man
was indeed right in that he just needed a little while to
recover.  The man proffered his hand.  "Cyraqs."
	"Tenchi." The boy replied, grasping Cyraqs' hand.  The man
looked at him funny for a moment, then relaxed.  "Something
wrong?"
	"No.  Just realized something.  The fates are, indeed,
psychotic."
	To this Tenchi had nothing to say, but waited patiently, a
question in his bearing.  Cyraqs realized this, and chuckled
again.
	"You believe in Magic Tenchi?"
	Tenchi shrugged.  "I kinda have to, considering the Magical
Girl's we have and that disturbance over there." he pointed to an
area with a lot of flashing blue and red lights and weird sirens
a few blocks away.
	"Well...I kinda come from the same place."  Tenchi looked
at him skeptically, 'til Cyraqs raised his palm upward causing
lightning to flow out and upward about a meter.
	"Umm...you looking for Pretty Sami or Pixy Misa?" Tenchi
asked warily.
	Cyraqs shook his head.  "No.  Others like me.  Not like
them."  At that, he detached himself from the wall, and stood on
his own.  "I thank you again Tenchi.  You might want to get home,
if those peace keepers catch you out here, who knows what might
happen to you."
	Tenchi nodded as Cyraqs turned and walked to the other side
of the fence.  "You be alright?" he called out.
	"Yeah!"  was the only reply.  At the same time, Cyraqs
vaulted the wall...the eight-foot tall wall of the fence
surrounding the empty lot they were in.
	Right.  Well, he hadn't seen quite what he wanted to.
There was a new player in town...and Tenchi only hoped it would
not be like all the rest of them.  Somehow he doubted it though.
	"Damn." he cursed to no one in particular.
	He poked his head out of the entrance of the lot, and
carefully began sneaking down the back alleys of the streets he
was in as he kept a watchful eye on his surroundings and a death
grip on his baseball bat.
	Why was it that fate never cut him a brake?

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

	Such music...could one possibly describe the melody, the
white symphonic force of life, which surrounded them?  It called
them away from their village, and drew them further and further
into the wilderness surrounding it.
	They?  No...yes, they.  Though apart, the couple moved as
one with the music toward the place where they were to meet.
They were being drawn by...
	They were part of the orchestra, two instruments who were
only softly played in this lyrical story, but who grew in power
and presence the closer they grew to the end of their journey.
	And suddenly they were there, though they cared not where
there was.  Only that the music had grown into a near deafening
and unrelenting storm of desire for the other who was only a
blinding blue-green light.
	Was there any time when there wasn't the other's arms?
Their body, glowing, wrapped around them, permeating through
them...when there wasn't two but one?
	The song was beyond them now, but still were they very much
a part of it, as everything around them lent their very selves to
the creation of this wondrous thing.  A new tone entered as the
crescendo reached its peak overshadowing the original at first,
but then mixing...
	Silence...
	Then sound beyond sound; light beyond light; life beyond
life!  They screamed the climax of their torment and pleasure for
a thousand eternities.  They began to come back to themselves,
breathing harder than they ever had, their hearts beating so fast
they would later swear that it had burst within their chests.
	Only then did they finally look about themselves, at the
forest, which, though in the dark of night, had the light of day
about it as it glowed with powerful, mystical energy.  The glen
made little trickling sounds as it flowed by their still upright
forms that hugged each other as if life itself was dependant upon
their embrace.  The lightning bugs glittered around them faintly,
illuminating the shadows where it could be seen that the denizens
of the forest had come to bear witness to this event...and
perhaps even to safeguard it's occurrence.  All was beginning to
disburse as the music faded back into the background.
	Slowly, haltingly, they pulled from each other enough to
look at who was in their arms...only to smile happily when they
saw whom they held.
	I dreamed of you, all my life.  "Hi," she greeted shyly.
	I dreamed of you too.  "Hi," he replied haltingly.
	They had never met, yet they had loved each other a
lifetime.
	Gently they guided each other's nude body to the soft grass
below, and in each other's arms they fell asleep in the warm
night.
	About them, flowers burst forth from the ground, opening
their blossoms to embrace the moonlight.

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

	Sometimes...actually quite often, the acolyte thought,
sometimes there are places he'd rather be.  Oh don't get the poor
guy wrong just yet.  Because indeed, there were advantages to
being in where he was.  Apprenticed to one of the 108 Mage-
Priests that made up the part of the ruling body that was the
108, it was likely he would ascend to take his masters place one
day; assuming he worked hard and persevered in his studies and
proved himself worthy of course.  This apprenticeship also
carried with it the added benefits of an adequate room, food
that; while not 5 star cuisine, was actually better than his
father's or his own cooking (as his mother couldn't cook to save
her life...shortening her life via her cooking was another matter
altogether), and all the pretty girls he could look at, and/or
hit on if this seeming prevailing lesbianism that seemed to
infest them all at one time or another (likely trying to emulate
the Heir, which was his personal theory on that) wasn't
preventing them from looking at men as a viable option for the
relief of sexual tension.
	The only two of these things he might have had a problem
with are his studies and the girls.  And considering he was
actually quite gifted with magic, not to mention good enough
looking and fairly nice to attract feminine attention, those were
really not the problems they could have been.
	So why, one would ask, was he now quaking in his boots
wishing to be elsewhere?
	If you had felt The Stare of Disapproval from the Heir, you
would know why.  The last poor unfortunate soul who had been the
target of such an unwholesome fate had been a message courier,
whose job it was to keep magical information transfers flowing
without incident throughout the castle.  This was normally the
type of duty that most preferred to get in the castle, as it was
little more than sitting around all day watching the network
traffic, occasionally clearing up someone's miscast message, and
trying to keep from falling asleep.  This magical tech had failed
in the latter, and one miscast message had been arranged in such
a way as to, instead of being kicked back by the automatic
safeguards should no outside intervention be employed, sit
there...preventing any further message traffic, and causing many
reports to be delayed.  One of which happened to be the food
availability report in the northern regions of Juraihelm, where
the dwellers of ice and snow lived.  Food was scarce there in the
best of times, and only the strongest could use magic to enhance
production, as the elemental forces would overcome near any
arcane force leveled against them.  It was quite often necessary
to import food to the villages, outposts and shrines that were
scattered across the area; so indeed this could have been
incredibly vital to their well being, and would have behooved
them to get the report to the Heir, The Second, and the 108 as
soon as possible.
	Fortunately this was not the case...this time.  Merely a
message saying quite enough supplies this year, no further
assistance required, payment in full to the Arboreal Mages is in
route by magical courier and would be there when the Kuma Kaiyo
Warrior-mages could force the gate to open large enough and long
enough to send it.
	But it could have been a request for more supplies.  Or
worse, a plea for help, if something untoward had happened.
	Tsunami knew this, and had asked said tech to be brought to
her personally.  It was well known that the Heir had not one
violent cell in her body, and yet...she looked at the tech with
sadness in her eyes, and a deeply hurt tone of voice when she
said, "I'm disappointed."
	Now one might be wondering how that would cause said
individual to fall into a depression that had the tech eventually
admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where the clerics worked
constantly to restore his psyche to a healthy operating state.
And that was over a year ago.
	It was simple really.  When Tsunami said those two words to
him, it was like the tech's mother, grandmother, little sister,
goddess, wife, lover, and best friend had said that he had just
killed all of her children in the worst possible way, after
raping her and destroying her entire universe in a way that would
make the universal Nihilist who lusts after ultimate power
(hoorah!) envious.  And that just for starters.
	Such was her effect upon her soon to be subjects.  Woe be
it to those that would cross her loving justice.
	Something that the acolyte dreaded with all his very being.
The very thought of her saying any words of disapproval nearly
had him wetting himself right then and there.  He was already
shaking near uncontrollably...something that became more
pronounced as the soft sound of bunny-slippers on the smooth
marble floor manifested itself outside of the door to the viewing
chamber to which he now stood watch.
	The double doors opened without sound, or even needing to
be touched by the person he was dreading it to be.  She paused
only momentarily to let her eyes adjust from being in the dim
moonlit passageways of the palace to the brightly colored and
well-lit expanse of the room where those that were chosen for The
Test monitored their avatars.  After that all too brief moment
passed, she walked without hesitation to the acolyte, who himself
looked like nothing more than a deer caught in a vehicles
headlights.
	Right before it gets ran over.
	"Why was I not immediately informed that Sasami had changed
into Pretty Sami?" she asked with genuine curiosity.  He noted,
only absently, that the Second had arrived as well, and was livid
with rage.  Honestly, he'd rather face that then what he knew he
was about to.  Death would be preferable to the eternal madness
that was likely about to befall him.
	Barely realizing what he had done himself, he had dropped
to his knees and created a sword of pure energy, placing the
point at his heart.
	Tsunami and Ramia both raised their eyebrows, "Eh?" they
cried in surprise.
	The poor acolyte sat there for a moment biting his lower
lip before..."OH PLEASE!  OH PLEASE, MISTRESS TSUNAMI!  I BEG OF
YOU!  DON'T SAY YOU'RE DISAPOINTED!  I TRIED TO CALL YOU, BUT YOU
WERE," He blushed without pausing his plea for mercy, "BUSY AND I
WAS SCARED TO...!  I TRIED I REALLY DID!"  He saw Ramia smack
herself and cast a glare at Tsunami that was filled with so much
venom; he was actually surprised that she didn't start spitting
it at Tsunami.  Course, then he remembered she did that quite
often anyway, though it was quite lost on Tsunami.
	For just a moment, he entertained the thought he might not
have to kill himself as the lesser of two evils he'd have to
endure.  Then he saw the Heir's look go from curious to a gaze
that spoke of actual thought being applied to this
	The last thoughts on his mind being: Oh goodbye cruel
world!  I so wanted to see the Heir and the Second nude just
once.  Then my life could have been complete!  'Tis not meant to
be it seems.  And with that he saw Tsunami's brow furrow and her
lips part to speak.
	"It seems this is my fault."
	Say huh?  She wasn't blaming him?
	She had just said, "It seems this is my fault."  Not his
fault...her fault.  He made to protest, his mind not realizing he
was no longer forfeit, "But milady it was my duty to..." She
waved him off.
	"No.  This was mine.  I made no provision for this, and you
are not to blame for my errors."
	The acolyte grasped at nothing, only now realizing that he
hadn't had anything in his hands since the end of his plea for
reprieve from Tsunami's 'wrath.'  He glanced at his hands in
disbelief, hearing Ramia chuckle at his confusion.  Had she taken
his sword?  Or had the heir?
	"Please leave.  I will not be needing you for the rest of
the night."  She drew him to his feet, and hugged the young man
softly.  "You did very well, and I am so sorry.  Because of my
error you thought you had failed."  She grasped him closer.
"Forgive me."  Was she crying?  His arms had went around
Tsunami's shoulders by reflex, but his mind was doing the ol'
snap crackle and pop as its logic circuits went bye bye.
	Still he managed a "yeah, sure."  She's soft, he noted.
And warm...comforting...oh my GOD!  I'M HUGGING THE HEIR!!! His
mind finally screamed.
	"C'mon kid." Ramia picked him up out of Tsunami's embrace
by the scruff of his neck and tossed him out the door, "Beat it!"
	He scurried onto his feet and down the hallway as Ramia
closed the door behind him.  She then turned toward the Heir and
said, "We need to talk."

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

	He was the Wiseman of the village.  He had seen things that
still left him in awe when he thought of them.  The rainbow
lights in the sky of the north, whose shifting and pulsating
patterns reflected throughout the forests of the ice trees and
well beyond for miles and miles nearly blinding all who came
close.  The Ryokan Rain Forests, which had such an abundance of
life, that were not the forest itself a conscious living thing in
and of itself, one would have a very hard moving about in it's
lush expanse.  The great city-states, whose tree buildings
extended sometimes for miles into the sky, and blended near
seamlessly one into the other, existing in a symbiotic
relationship with those that resided there.
	Experiencing these wonders and so many more had been an
honor to him; yet none he had seen has ever compared to what he
was now about to witness.
	The young woman should have been in pain, yet all that he
saw was a serene, and calm expression on her face as the
contractions came and went...faster with each passing moment.
	The time was close.
	Sweat plastered over her face and body, yet she was not
troubled by this either, only impatience for her child to be born
into this world.
	The wise man knew her name was Akemi; he would know this,
as it was he who had delivered her into this world some eighteen
years earlier.  It blew his mind that she was now the one
bringing life into this world, and not just any life either.
	Her husband wiped her brow and arms with some of the sponge
moss found beside her, wet with the cool water of the small creek
that flowed next to the couple.
	Her husband was named Ryuken, a rather nice looking man of
green-gold hair, and pink within pink eyes.  He whispered words
of encouragement to his mate who nodded in acknowledgement.
	She had only met the boy from a city some one hundred or
more miles away, nine months ago, when they had both been chosen.
Chosen in the way all those before them had been to bring about
one of the greatest wonders of their world.
	Chosen to be the parents of a Magical Girl.
	The wise man ached to go to her, to help the girl he had
known for so long.  It seemed the forest sensed his need, when
one of the werecats came to sit in front of him.  Not a threat,
but more of a request, that he just let things be.  Just watch,
things would be ok without him.
	The wise man nodded his acknowledgement to the werecat, and
let his gaze wander for a moment.  It was then that he noticed
the entire forest around them was teeming with innumerable
amounts of it's denizens; many of which far more dangerous than
even the one sitting before him and many who were as harmless as
the glow-flies that illuminated the darkness of this night.
Though many were predator and prey, all were at peace while the
woman continued her calm struggle to give birth to her daughter.
	A Magical Girl. The treasure of their entire world,
powerful in ways that defied explanation, even in today's
magically advanced society.  They knew things, experienced things
about themselves, which others, not even the most skilled of
mages, did not.  They carried serenity with them, not just a
connection with the world around them, but also a connection to
something far beyond even that�perhaps to the very cosmos itself,
the mystery of all things.
	Suddenly every bit of ambient noise hushed, even the
rustling of the water across the stones of the creek seemed to be
not more than a whisper now.  And then a sharp cry from the
Akemi, followed closely by the cry of a new life announcing her
arrival to this world.
	It had...happened so fast the Wiseman could scarcely
believe it, nor could he believe the sound he heard from the
forest now.  A word�no, a name.  The girl's name.  And he found
himself whispering it with everything around him.
	"Tsunami.  Tsunami.  Tsunami..."

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

	He surveyed the chaos and destruction about him, hardly
believing the nightmare that had been wrought.  Entire cities had
been wiped out, whole schools of mage and warrior lost forever.
And the death toll, dear gods, the death toll was unreal!
	He turned on the balcony of one of the few surviving
structures in this city and finally asked the question that he
had dreaded since the silver-haired master had come to him what
had been hours ago.
	"How many?"
	She said nothing, only handing him a scroll in response.
He took it from her hands.  She let her arms fall to her sides
limply as if she had been carrying a burden far to heavy, and was
glad to be rid of it.  She stayed as he slowly unrolled and read
its contents.  Carefully he rolled it back and set it on the
small table next to his right.  Sighing slightly he began to rub
his forehead feeling full weight of everything that had
transpired during this time of conflict.
	"So many," he said quietly.  "How could we have failed so
badly?  Our people...how could we do that?"
	"What does it matter?  Maybe we had become too arrogant in
our power.  Maybe it was just our time to get slapped down.  Or
maybe someone was just plain stupid at the wrong time.  Whatever
it was, it doesn't become you to torture yourself for what you
cannot change."
	Her pragmatic matter never ceased to amaze him, even at a
time like this, even when it had seemed things had just barely
been saved from the brink, only to die horribly in the aftermath,
she still saw things in such simple terms.
	Tears dripped from his face as he asked in a raspy voice,
"So, what would you have me do?"
	"Live."
	"How?"
	"That you couldn't save more of our people and our way of
life was unavoidable.  That I lost my apprentices was saddening
to me." She shook her head as she tried to reign in her own
despair, "And that you were unable to protect her...that so many
of our brethren died and still they could not protect them,
especially the boy defenders...their guardians and soul mates,"
he clenched his eyes shut at those words, "is everything that is
horrible in the worst possible way. BUT," she clarified, "you
MUST live!  If for nothing else than she would not wish you to
die.  It's what she fought for!  And what she died for...what
most of our Magical Girls died for."
	"It would be so easy you know. I could be with her then..."
	"She does not need you now," she interrupted, "And will not
for some time to come.  At any one time, to each master, only two
apprenticed there are:  The Fighter and The Teacher.  And of
those pairs only we two remain of our school.  We who were once
the pair under a master: me, the teacher; and you, the fighter.
I need...our WORLD needs you here and now!"

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

	Ryo-ohki and Sasami burst into the bathroom to see Pixy
Misa laying on the ground convulsing and a nude, very wet Rumia
trying to stop her erratic motions.
	"What did you do to..." Sasami started forward intent on
ripping the boy limb from limb, only to be stopped by the other
boy behind her.
	"HE wouldn't..." he paused what he was about to say, aware
that Rumia HAD in fact done this to her.  Albeit not in the way
that Sasami likely thought he had.
  	Rumia cast a stricken glance at Ryo-ohki who threw him a
towel to cover himself, both feeling the heated stare of Sasami.
She knelt down and placed a hand on Pixy's head, but immediately
jerked it back...it had felt as if Pixy were on fire.
	"Get her legs Sasami." Her venomous expression did not
change, but she did as Ryo-ohki bid.  Ryo-ohki grabbed her upper
torso, holding her as tightly as he dared to keep her from
writhing free as Sasami did the same for her legs.  Together,
they managed to get her out of the bathroom and onto a nearby
couch.  Rumia quickly followed, having called his clothing back
to him.
	"What have I done?  What. Have. I. Done?" Rumia whispered
impotently.
	"YOU!  Yoouu..."  Sasami launched herself at Rumia in rage
and began throttling him.  Ryo-ohki actually considered letting
her finish him for a split second before pulling the enraged girl
off his friend.
	Sasami tried to kick and punch her way out of Ryo-ohki's
grasp. "LEMME GO!  I'LL...I'LL KILL HIM!!!"
	He held fast.  "And how's that going to help her?"
	She turned a tearful stare of hate and despair toward Ryo-
ohki, "But he...he...he..."
	"Her life force is fading.  She pushed herself too far.
*I* pushed her too far."   Rumia informed them sullenly.  "I can
feel her slipping...soon...no," he shook his head. "I won't let
her die!  Even if I must give her mine to..."
	Ryo-ohki raised his hand to interrupt, "Rumia, that won't
be necessary."  Both Sasami and Rumia looked at him in askance,
"You're too weak...what you're thinking of would kill you both.
Even you and me together, we just don't have what it takes.  Not
right now.  There is only one person here who has the
strength..."
	"I'll do it!" Sasami shouted.  "Whatever it is I'll do it!"
Both boys looked at her funny.  How could she... "What?" she
looked at her companion, a coy grin on her face, saying in a tone
somehow asked how he could possibly forget: "I still know what
you're feeling."
	"Sasami..." Ryo-ohki began.
	"I don't care what it is!  She's not going to die!  She's
my friend and she won't die!"
	"There is a danger..." Rumia tried to warn her, but his
voice failed him when Sasami cast her hate filled stare in his
direction.
	Rumia grasped Pixy's hand, and winced in pain as one of her
spasms nearly broke every bone in his own.  Ryo-ohki sat down
beside Misa's head on the couch and grabbed her other hand,
extending his remaining one for Sasami to take.  She hesitated
only for a moment before accepting his offering.  Ryo-ohki nodded
at Rumia, keeping his gaze on Sasami, which caused her to look
over and see his other hand stretched at toward her.  She looked
as if it were a poisonous snake for a moment before she quickly
grabbed it, digging her nails into his palms hard.
	If Rumia felt it, he gave no indication.
	"We are going to connect ourselves in a circle of living
energy," Ryo-ohki explained, "We will give you as much of our
power as we can, but it will be you, and you alone, which will
have to give of your life force.  You will...be with her.  Mind
to mind.  Soul to soul.  You..."  he closed his eyes, and tried
to gather the strength, "will be one with her.  If she dies...so
do you.  And then so will we."

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

	"I hear you're being assigned to be the protector of a
Magical Girl."
	He turned from his view of the pretty blue-haired girl in
the garden of flowers and grinned happily at his auburn haired
sister.
	"It is an honor," she continued, "to even be considered,
let alone to be found worthy to be the protector for one of
them."
	His grin widened.  Translation: She's taking my brother
away from me!  "Jealous?"
	She chose to ignore his barb, "Not just for a magical girl,
but for one of the candidates to be the focus of the balance; the
Queen of Juraihelm herself!  The one who will prevent another
Duality War.  That such an honor befalls you speaks well of your
skills, my brother."
	Translation: I don't think even she deserves my brother!
	His grin never wavered, "You're not fooling anyone,
sister."  Suddenly his arms were full of his sobbing auburn
haired sister, "Hey, it's alright!  It's not like I'm going
anywhere."
	"She...she's..going to ta...take you aw..way from me!"
	He sighed annoyed and embarrassed at the same time, yet
could not deny the surge of affection for this girl.  "We'll both
be here now, you know.  We haven't completed our training yet.
And since I'll have to stay with her..."  Her eyes narrowed
dangerously, "ANYWAY, we'll both be here, and we both gotta
train, so we'll still be together."
	"She's...different somehow.  She doesn't feel right,
brother."
	Was that fear he heard in her voice?  "Tsunami?!"  How
could his twin possibly think that girl was anything other than
harmless?  From what he could tell there wasn't a mean particle
in her body.  "You make it sound like she's one of the monsters
we used to hunt in the Ryokan desert."
	He turned their still hugging forms so they could both gaze
at the blue haired girl in the garden.  He could hear the girl as
she sang softly to her flowers, smell the gentle scents she
emitted; not so different really from the flowers she tended,
taste her very life to which the garden itself responded and
seemed to pull itself closer to her.
	"That is no monster."
	The girl in his arms tried hard to block it out, but she
had trained with him far too long not to have some sort of bond
with him.  Worse, she had been his twin sister all his life;
sometimes she was more aware of him than she was of herself.  And
this...girl was going to take him away!  The girl was dangerous
to him somehow.  Could he not feel it?
	No, he was oblivious, already quite smitten with the girl's
pretty looks and gentle demeanor.  Lost to her even before she
had a chance to fight for him any way shape or form.
	"Go to her Cyraqs," she told him, "Go now."
	"Hey," he pulled away, "I'm still your brother."
	He walked up behind the pretty blue haired girl silently.
Still, she turned at his approach and regarded him with her
luminous innocent eyes.  His own green eyes could not pull away
from those oceans of pink as they studied him.
	The seven-year old girl broke the silence first.  "You are
my boy protector."
	The ten-year old boy nodded his assent.
	She held her hand out to him, inviting him to take it.  As
he did, the green runes of power on her forehead began to glow.
"I am Tsunami."
	"I am Cyraqs."
	And as for the girl watching?  She bit her lip as she tried
in vain to staunch the flow of tears.  When Cyraqs' hand had
touched Tsunami's he had bonded with her as a guardian does for
his magical girl.  She had felt that piece of him flow away from
him and into the girl, to be replaced by a similar piece from
Tsunami.
	It was there, she could feel.  Some new alien presence in
her brother; the damage had just begun.
	"Are you my brother anymore?"

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

	"What is it Ramia?"
	Couldn't she just reign in her degenerate libido for one
minute!? "The kid...no!  He's unimportant!"  Tsunami's peaceful
look changed not one bit, yet somehow Ramia felt that continued
invitation to rip her clothes off and make mad...NO!  Damn
that...that creature!  "You should have realized this would
happen!  Our acolytes are NOT going to disturb you when you
are...with your toys Tsunami!"
	Tsunami's gaze narrowed in the closest approximation of
anger that she could muster.  "My friends are not toys, Ramia.
Perhaps I could show you this later...?"
	Ramia cut her off quickly, "NO!" gritting her teeth, she
continued, "Damn it Tsunami!  Will you listen?!" Tsunami remained
silent, but that damn smile did not leave her face.  "Your chosen
champion of love and justice transformed on her own!  Her
companion has not contacted you in regards to this!  YOU were
unavailable!  Does none of impact that thick skull of yours!
Don't you realize the full importance of this?!  You better be
praying that nothing bad has happened here or you'll wind up out
of the candidacy!"  She really hoped she kept the satisfaction
out of her voice.  She hoped to the ever-sacred spirits that
something untoward had happened to Pretty Sami, so this weak and
flaky THING wouldn't ascend to the throne.  There is no way this
sub creature could possibly safeguard the balance of the Gemini
her people required.
	"Ryo-ohki has not contacted me, this is true," she said
finally, "But I sent him a summons notice before we brought the
acolyte in for questioning."
	Did she now?  "And?!"
	"And, he replied that when he finally sorted out the
situation, he'd advise me of it.  He expected to have a full
report for me sometime tomorrow."
	Tsunami was actually one step ahead of her this time.
Damn, she has more information than *I* do, she thought to
herself.  If only she could get away and contact her brother or
possibly get the scrying room to SEE what was going on.  Perhaps
a casual inquiry into the subject was called for.
	"We NEED to see what has happened!  Since when has he ever
said 'will advise' when you have asked him to report before?"
	Tsunami blinked.  Would that blue haired fop even realize
what she was asking?  "Oh!  Yes, that would be a good idea!
Oh...wait it won't work for awhile..."  Ramia raised one eyebrow
in a silent question, "I allowed Anata access to it to travel to
Earth...oh Ramia, please don't hit your head on the wall like
that.  You'll hurt yourself!"

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

	The boys began talking in a strange language, using words
that seemed to get louder and louder with every syllable.  The
power they carried began as a small thumping, then after a few
moments, grew into a torrent of energy that swept around them
all, yet leaving them untouched.
	And she felt herself drawn away from the two boys.  Drawn
away from herself altogether, and into the waning golden light of
the other magical girl before her.
	Cold!  She was so cold!  Yet everything around her was
scalding to the touch.  Wait.  Everything around her?!
	There was nothing around her.  Nothing at all!  Oh, God,
she couldn't feel anything now, there was nothing to feel,
nothing to see.  Air was nonexistent; vertigo was overtaking her.
She could feel herself slipping...
	"CONCENTRATE!"
	Startled out of near death by the word spoken with both
Rumia and Ryo-ohki's voice, she felt new strength flow into her
from them.  She did as bid, and focused the power, finding her
balance in this void.  They were still with her yet.
	"YOU MUST FIND HER CENTER!"
	"How?" she asked.
	"FOLLOW YOUR HEART.  IT WILL LEAD YOU TO HER."
	Follow my..?  Briefly she noted how utterly clich� this
was.  How many times had she read about just such a situation in
the various magical girl mangas she used to read before she
became the story?  Too many to name.  Still, there was a certain
truth they all shared.  Their friendship connected them in ways
she couldn't begin to fathom...all she had to do was follow that
back to her friend before Misao disappeared in this
darkness...and took Sasami with her.
	If only the writers of said stories could see me now, she
thought.
	"QUICKLY!  WE HAVE TO FIND HER SOON; WE'RE TOO WEAK TO KEEP
THIS UP FOR LONG!  ONLY WHEN YOU FIND HER CAN YOU GIVE HER THE
POWER SHE NEEDS!"
	And she floated, not noticing if she was 'moving' (if
motion was what had to happen here) or not, keeping Misao in her
thoughts, praying that she would find her before it was too late.
She kept going, only knowing now that she loved her Misao...and
Misa as Sasami knew now that Misao was Pixy Misa too.
	Where are you?  Please...I have to find you! She called
silently over and over into the inky blackness of what was inside
of her best friend and worse enemy.
	There in the distance, she thought she saw a shimmering
white-gold light.  At first she thought her eyes must be playing
tricks on her, but it soon became apparent that what she saw was
coming closer with each passing moment.
	In no time at all she came to the source of the
illumination and floated down to what was the only ground she had
seen in this featureless place.  There in the pillar of light,
Sasami saw the object of her search, naked as the day she was
born, and crying softly.
	"Misao?  Misao, it's me.  It's Sasami, can you..." she
tried to reach for Misao, but the light surrounding the purple-
haired girl stopped her, "Please can you let me in?  I want to
help."
	"Maybe I don't want any help." A familiar, bitter voice
told her from the darkness behind her.
	She turned and saw someone who just should not have been
here walk from the darkness toward her, "Pixy Misa."
	"In the flesh, such as it is here, Mon Cheri." She bowed
sardonically toward Sasami who turned to glance at the girl in
the light, "Oh, worry not!  I'm safe and protected behind my
wall."
	Sasami walked toward the blond haired girl.  "I
don't...don't understand.  How can you be here?"
	Both Misao and Pixy Misa spoke as one, "We are the same."
	"And at the same time," Pixy began.
	"So different." Misao finished softly.
	"I'm here to help you.  I can help you..."
	Let us help you, the voice of Rumia cried within Sasami,
knowing he would not be heard, and yet...
	"Rumia..." she did.  Turning Pixy Misa looked at a wall
that was not there before, and a picture of a boy and who was
also the most grand and gorgeous bird that Sasami had ever seen.
"Is he not beautiful?" Misa grabbed the picture from the wall and
hugged it over her heart, "My pretty bird.  My protector.  My
tormenter."  A single tear traced its way down both Misao and
Misa's cheek, "Damn you, my love."
	Sasami heard the voice of Rumia cry out a plea of
forgiveness, but if Misao or Misa heard it this time, they gave
no indication.  Still, that was not why they were here.
	"What do you mean you don't want any help?"
	"Feels good, doesn't it?"  Misa spat at her venomously,
"Feels SO good to come charging in to save Misao.  Must make you
feel real special to be able to save weak and frail little me!"
	Sasami was taken aback, "Misao...Misa...why are you saying
this?  Misao...you're my friend!"
	"You're friend?!" she asked incredulously, "More of...your
pet, wouldn't you agree?"  She walked past Sasami and through the
barrier of light to her other self and hugged Misao's huddled
form gently.  "Always the outgoing one, weren't you Madam
Moisele?  Always the popular one, the one that boys wanted, and
that girls wanted to be!  And me?  I was just the girl you used
to feel like you were doing something good.  Being nice to sickly
ol' me was just a way to make you feel better about yourself,
wasn't it?"
	"No...no..."  It can't be, she insisted to herself.  I
can't be using her like that!  She's my friend...no more than
that!  How could she even think that?  "Misa...that's not true!
All we've shared!  All the time we've spent...I did it because
you are a part of me!  You are a sister to me!  Closer even..."
	"A sister?" Misa mocked.  "Would I be so envious of you,
were I your sister?"
	"Envious?"
	Misa nodded, "Yes.  ENVIOUS!  I wanted to BE you so badly!
You had EVERYTHING I ever wanted!  A family who loves you!  A
body that doesn't give out every time you play!  Beauty..!"
You're beautiful beyond words, Misa...
	Misa's tirade cut off by Rumia's words, Sasami took the
chance to speak to the blond still holding her other self,
"Misao, don't you understand?!  I wanted you to have everything I
had!  I wanted to share with you all my joys!  All my good and
bad times!  You understood me so well!  You helped me so often..!
Misao I protected you because I always want to be with you!
Misao I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!"
	"Where were you then?" the still sobbing girl asked softly.
	"Misao?"
	"WHERE YOU WHEN I REALLY NEEDED YOU?" both Pixy Misa and
Misao screamed to the blue haired girl in torment,  "I needed
you, and you weren't ever there.  When my father..." briefly
Sasami was treated to an experience within her mind of when
Misao's father had come into her room at night and...
	"Oh God no, Misao. No."
	"And then when..."  When the pretty bird came to her time
and again to change her into...
	"Me." Pixy Misa finished, "I used to be only what Misao
wanted to be and now I am what I wanted to be.  The strong one.
The one who could go out into the world and fear nothing�in fact
* I * was the one who was feared for a change!"
	Misa is Misao!  They really are one and the same, Sasami
realized fully, finally and for the first time.  The epiphany
caused her knees to give out under her.  How much of this was her
fault?  How much of this could she have prevented?  How many
times had she talked with the girls in her school, and flirted
with the guys, never really trying to get Misao into it?  How
many times had she played with her friends when Misao was forced
to watch on the sidelines when her Asthma kicked in, or she got
too much sunlight, while Sasami continued to play?
	How much?  But how could Misao even think this?  Sasami
loved Misao!
	"I'm tired of it all Sasami.  I don't want any more pain.
I don't want to be used anymore." They began to become
translucent, "I just want it all to go away."
	The three voices that were Ryo-ohki, Sasami screamed as
one, "NO! MISAO!"  The blue-haired girl got to her feet and threw
herself against the shield of brilliance separating her from her
friend.  Sasami would be damned if she ever let Misao down again!
Never again!  She would die before she let that happen!
	After all, Magical Girls never give up.
	Neither did Sasami.
	"NO!  MISAO DON'T GO!  I LOVE YOU MISAO!"  The fading girl
looked up in surprise.  "Please, Misao I want to be with you!
There's so much we haven't done!  There's so much I still want to
do with you!"  She kept on pounding impotently at the shield, "I
love you Misao!  I need you!  Don't go!" A small crack formed in
the light, "Please Misao!  I'm begging you!"
	Small shards of the shield broke off and fell to and
through the ground as if they had always been insubstantial.
Sasami continued to fight relentlessly, ignoring the pain and
blood pouring off of her fists where she struck, "I love you!
Damn it! Misao!"  Even so, her strength was limited, and
eventually failed.
	Sasami collapsed to her knees propped up on the light,
still weakly punching it, and crying Misao's name again and
again.
	"Please go, Sasami.  Please go.  Take the boys with you and
go." Misao pleaded.
	"I can't, Misao.  I can't...I won't leave..." Sasami began
to fade from Misao's view, becoming nearly as transparent as her.
	"SASAMI!  You have to go!  You're going to...to..."
	Sasami smiled then, but instead of a smile of regret, all
Misao saw was joy, "We can't save you.  And you're right, I've
never ever been able to save you...when it mattered�" she laughed
whimsically, "I guess the best I can do now is go away with you,"
despite the barrier, Sasami tried to reach again for Misao,
"We'll be together forever."
	"No."  Misao shook her head slowly, "No, you can't die!
Don't die Sasami!  Please!  Rumia!  Ryo-ohki!" She pushed on the
shield, "Sasami!"
	"Misao..."
	Please!  I can't get...to her! Misao raged behind her
shield.  I don't have the strength!  I'm too...
	You have the strength.  You're stronger than you think!
	Misa?  How?  You're me!
	And you are me.  And I KNOW *I* am strong!  I have proved
that!
	Please!  Help me!  I have to...
	Why?  She is everything you wanted to be!  She treated you
like...
	No!  She is going to die!  Sasami's guardian is going to
die!  Rumia, my beautiful little bird, is going to die!  Help me!
	And risk, it all happening again?  Risk the pain, the
loneliness...
	Haven't we seen enough?  Sasami really isn't like that!
Sasami wants to be with us!  Rumia is giving her all the power he
can!  Can't you feel it?
	The shield began to give.
	I don't want her pity!  I am strong!  I won't go back to
being you!  I WILL be strong!
	And I want your strength!  But I also want to love!  I want
to be with Sasami and Rumia!  I want to love them!  I WILL love
them!  Give me the strength...to love them!
	Misa's form slowly melted into Misao's, leaving behind a
purple haired girl, in Pixy's magical girl outfit.
	I will, they thought as one, be loving, her face twisted
into an expression of determination, and strong!  For them!
	"SASAMI!!!"  The shield just fell away, and they fell
forward and onto Sasami's fading form.
	At their touch, the void filled with white-hot light.
	And for myself!

	Rumia and Ryo-ohki fell to the ground, gasping and clawing
for breath.  After a moment they began to hear chuckling coming
from the other, neither could tell who started, and neither
cared.
	"Nearly...lost...her...there..." Rumia managed to get out
in-between breaths.
	"Nearly...lost...all of us there..." Ryo-ohki replied in
much the same shape.
	The last thing either saw before they lost consciousness
was a girl with blue hair and one with purple hair sleeping on
the couch next to each other, hand in hand.

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

	The girl, Tsunami, touched her cheek tenderly, feeling the
welt left behind after the one who was Cyraqs Sonoda's sister and
fellow apprentice, had decked her across the room.  Tears of pain
streaked down her face, and she glanced back toward the auburn
haired girl, who held Tsunami's guardian protectively to her.
	Her own eyes burning in anger at the candidate to be queen,
she shouted, "Go away!  Haven't you done enough to him?"
	Tsunami glanced at the room around her, her protector's
personal quarters, which was in shambles.  The boy himself
huddled in his sister's arms in pain she could feel more than
see.  Others who had tried to enter the room now stood outside
cradling or healing the injuries inflicted upon them by the boy
in question, or his sister when she had rushed to help him.
	But his torment...what could cause it?  Why would his
sister not allow Tsunami to help him?  His mind, while she had
only recently begun to sense his thoughts, was now in shambles.
She could barely keep track of where it was going, what it was
doing.  Only a general feeling that he loved and hated something
so passionately his life was nothing next to it.  The same thing?
	A wall he had been building between them, she had noted
recently.  Was this what was behind it?  How could this have
possibly been?
	She rose to her feet and walked intently toward the pair;
despite the auburn-haired girl's eyes warning her not to come
closer...as if the blow she gave Tsunami had not been warning
enough.  She had to help him!  Cyraqs was her guardian, her
Anata...he had been closer to her than anything or anyone had
ever been!  Why would his sister not want her to come near?  No
matter, she HAD to find out a way to heal this...madness!  Her
own soul echoed with his anguish...she could only imagine what it
felt like to him.
	"Tsunami, do not go any closer to them."  Who?  Tsunami
turned to see the worried countenance of the silver-haired
sensei-master of the Kaiyo-Dragon Warrior Mage Form.
	A question crossed the features of the blue-haired Lady of
Mystery, one that the master tried to answer, "You cannot help
him, in fact your bond with him is what has put him in his
current state."
	"Our bond?"  She asked, "How?  Anata's bond with me is
something wonderful!  It's a closeness that..."
	The silver-haired woman walked up to Tsunami, and looked
down upon the child's tearful countenance.  Her hand reached out
and caressed the girl's cheek, taking away the redness and
swelling at her touch.  "He wasn't the right one for you."  She
glanced briefly at her auburn-haired apprentice still holding
Cyraqs in a protective death grip.  "Nope, not the right one at
all.  I suppose there is a first for everything."  She looked
back toward the candidate; placing her hands on her shoulders and
bending down to look directly in her eyes, "Go now to the 108
priests in the meeting hall.  There we will try to undo...try to
help your Anata." And pray that we CAN somehow, she thought to
herself.
	The girl nodded, tears still trailing down her face.
Glancing back once more at the boy, she took her leave.  The
silver-haired woman walked up to the pair, and nearly cried
herself when she saw the state her apprentice was in.  The anger
of the other's gaze was not lost on her either.
	"Go away!" the girl commanded,  "You didn't listen to me
when I told you something was wrong!  Now he's like this!  Just
go away!"
	"Tokimi...I..."
	"It's all your fault!  I told you!  I told everyone, but
you didn't want to believe me!  I hate you!  I hate you all!"
Cyraqs struggled to break free, but her grip held fast, "I hate
you..."
	The silver-haired woman tried to meet the gaze of those
pretty purple eyes, and found she could not.  After all, the girl
was right on every account.
	"And are you going to hold him forever?"  Bad question, the
master realized quickly.  Tokimi's expression answered that and
any other question she might have had on the subject.  "Alright,
what if I said there might be a way to undo what has been done?"
	"I won't let you hurt him anymore!  I don't care if you're
our master!"
	She repressed the brief impulse to thump the girl one.
After all, she could understand the girl's feelings...hell, she
would have been doing the same thing given the situation, "Do you
think I wished him harm?" Again he struggled, and again the girl
somehow held him fast, "He's like my son!  And you are like my
daughter!  I want him well again, too!"
	"How?" Tokimi sobbed, "How can anything help him now?"
	At that her master glanced toward the door, where Tokimi
noted a shock of hot-pink hair ducking back out.
	"Come in, Ramia."
	Ramia?  Tokimi wondered.  One of the other candidates for
the focus of the Gemini Balance?
	Timidly the girl poked her head back in the room, then
shuffled over to Tokimi's master, "I am...here...Mistress
Funahou."  The girl glanced fearfully at the boy who huddled in
on himself, his face clenching with every sensation that ran
through his disturbed mind, "I was...I want to...help...if I
can."
	"Then please...can you...bond with him?" Funahou asked.
	WHAT?!  Tokimi jerked him back from them both, her eyes
filled with darkness and anger.  It was forbidden, and with good
reason, to have more than one Magical girl bonded to a Boy
guardian, and vice versa.  The strain was overwhelming...it would
kill Cyraqs, Tsunami, and this girl!  What the hell was her
master trying to do?
	Funahou must have known Tokimi would know this too, for she
said next: "Please, Tokimi...trust me.  They will be
alright...for a time.  Tsunami is waiting with the priests...they
will...try and separate him from her, but he can't...he needs
someone to bring him back."  She glanced at the girl, "Can
you..." who was already in motion, no longer paying Funahou or
even Tokimi any heed.
	"I am Ramia," kneeling down, she whispered to the boy as he
tried to claw free from Tokimi and tear her eyes out, "I'm
told...I'm told that this is the only way to bring you
back...I'm..." she gulped once, "I'm told...you are the best of
your generation.  Something about what..." her eyes hardened
slightly, "Tsunami's bond...this drove you to madness.  I've seen
you with her...I wanted that kind closeness with someone too.
Please, let me..."
	Her left hand reached out, and touched Cyraqs' face
momentarily.  In that brief instant, she was treated to images
that sped by too fast for her comprehend, but the feelings were
all the same...not all of which came from him.  A few, just a
small fraction, came from the other he had been bonded with as
well.
	She knew then.  She knew...in fact she understood more in
that fraction of an instant than she had ever known about this
situation in her life.  This boy wasn't just meant to be
Tsunami's guardian, he was meant to be Tsunami's... "Soul mate!"
	Funahou and Tokimi looked on as Ramia continued to touch
the boy's face, which had unclenched.  His eyes had opened as
well, and he looked upon the girl in front of him in wonder
	"They're all...we're all supposed to be together!  The boys
aren't...just guardians, are they?"
	"No," Funahou answered "They become far more."
	Tokimi looked on her master horrified.  Soul mates?  Why
weren't the boys told what they were getting into?  It's unfair
to them!  She had shouted that last, and her master had hung her
head in shame.
	"It is unfair, and in a way it's the greatest gift one
could give you children.  You wouldn't understand it if we told
you, and I'm sorry you understand it now...you shouldn't have
ever had to worry about such things."
	Ramia continued to stroke Cyraqs' face, murmuring words of
comfort and solace, for she now knew what had confused and
tormented his spirit.  For a young girl, she understood much more
than most magical girls, hence her selection as a candidate for
the most difficult duty their world had ever conceived of.  The
poor dear, he had been attracted to Tsunami, but she only
thought...her face wrinkled in disgust when she thought of that,
even now it burned inside of her from the little bit of Tsunami
that had passed to her in the bonding...of girls like that.  He
wanted her, but she was repulsed by that thought of him being
with her in such a sense.  The more he loved her, the more he
hated himself.
	Cyraqs had started sobbing quietly as Ramia tried her best
to hug him around Tokimi, who still refused to let him go.
	"Quickly now." Funahou warned Tokimi, "We have to get them
to the 108 before it's too late!"
	The two girls pulled Cyraqs to his feet, and allowed
himself to be led by them.  It was obvious he was still in no
shape to comprehend what was going on, but at least he was calm
for the first time in awhile.
	"Will it work?  Can the 108 really separate them?"  Tokimi
asked.
	"It's never been tried," Funahou's expression darkened,
"But they better."

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

	Cyraqs shook his head clear of the memories that befuddled
him.  Musing on things of the past would not allow him to
accomplish his current mission.
	He barely caught himself before he checked on Ramia and
Tsunami on reflex.  The priests hadn't been able to pull
everything that Tsunami had given him away, and vice versa from
Tsunami; so he still sometimes had the ability to see what she
was feeling.  With Ramia, since his falling out with her, he
guarded that link with her like a hawk, and only through shear
force of will did he not allow her access to his mind, or he
access to hers.
	But it was still there...only the gentlest of touches, and
he'd know.  Like he always had before...
	And then his feelings for Tsunami came to fore!  DAMNIT!
WHY CAN'T I FORGET HER?!
	No!  Focus.  Stay on mission, he berated himself.  Have to
find Ryo-ohki.  Have to complete his training...then the line is
safe.  Then our world will have its next generation of guardians,
and I can finally rest.
	Rest.  It seemed such a faraway dream for him.  Such a
simple thing, most would think.  For one who hadn't had a
moment's peace amidst the torment that was his life, it was the
most coveted prize that could be imagined.
	With that thought in mind he continued to follow the slight
trace of magic he felt from the city to its source...completely
unaware of figure following him.
	"Another Magical being, eh?" A few typing sounds, followed
by a couple of synthetic beeps later, the stalker smiled, "This
town is a jackpot!  I am SUCH A GENIUS!"
	For a moment the figure thought that it had been
discovered, but the one it was following continued on as if he
had heard nothing.  Berating itself for such a loss of control,
it folded up its heart shaped laptop computer and tried to stay
out of site.

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

Author's Afterward:  Given that a few of you have likely seen
Pretty Sammy TV (Magical Project S) many of you will note a few
similarities to a certain couple of episodes of that series to
this chapter of the fic.  Be advised, at the time I was planning
this, Pretty Sami TV hadn't even gotten here yet.  I had no clue
they'd do something like that in the series proper, and was
actually in tears during those two eps (Niagra Falls, folks) when
I finally saw them.  You see it's obvious they were setting
something like this up from the beginning, but I was truly
surprised to have seen them go through with it (and do it so
well).  This is how I would have done it, which is not so
dissimilar to what they had done, which should tell you how clear
a plot point this was from the beginning.  I just want you all to
know, I didn't steal the idea.  This was more like parallel
development for an idea so clear a blind man could see it.

	     .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'