Thread: Wold you like to go to anther world?

Vivian’s POV:

“Oh, come on.” I said after we were refused for the 25th time. “Why don’t people want to help us?”

“Wait!” a voce called. I noticed the wolf from before was running towards us.

“Bonnie?” I asked. We were all surprised to see her.

“There is anther way.” she said. “Sensei knows what it is. Al I ask is time to prepare Mi for a trip to the Middle Ground.”

“The Middle Ground?” asked Sensei. “That is far too great a risk.”

“Yet it’s our only option.”

“What’s the Middle Ground?” I asked. Keith looked just as confused as I felt.

“Oh, right, I keep forgetting how little you know of our worlds.” James said. “The Middle Ground is a place between your world & ours, which you & Keith pass through with out even knowing it.”

“If Mi & Vivian can meet there, then Vivian can get her powers back & they’ll both be able to wake up.” Bonnie said.

“In theory.” Sensei added.

“I don’t see what’s so risky.” Keith said.

“It’s also the place in between life & death.” John said.

“Oh.”

“3 days.” Bonnie repeated. “3 days, & Mi will be ready.” She began to fade. “I must return to her now. Get Vivian somewhere safe, & hurry! Namro will know she’s missing soon enough…”

After Bonnie’s disappearance the others walked away from the house of the latest mere-dancer to refuse them.

“What did you do with the girls?” James asked his brother.

“I knew where they went and followed. Luckily Namro had a few documents lying around with his seal on them, and it’s fairly convenient that nobody I spoke with could read. It was a simple matter to pretend it contained orders that the women should follow me.”

“I have to wonder what you would have done if someone had been literate, Brother.”

“Anyway, the first group had no idea what was going on until I ordered them to cross the bridge over the chasm and find a place to hide on the far side. Once they realized that I was helping them out, they were practically scrambling over each other to escape. I went back for the next group and the next. But some of the women didn’t pay any attention even when I showed them the document.”

“They only obey officers.”

“Yeah well, I figured that out after one of them took a swing at me when I tried dragging her away. But honestly I thought Namro’s men would realize what was going on sooner. Maybe I’m just lucky.”

Keith lifted an eyebrow. “Angels believe in luck?”

“I was being sarcastic.”

Vivian was ignoring their banter by this time, and looked up at the stars. “Hmm…I wonder what Namro and Aque are doing now.”

***in the palace***

The soldier fell to the tiled floor after being struck. Namro stood over him, shaking with fury.

“Gone! All of them?!”

“We managed to retrieve twenty, my Lord—”

“Twenty out of nearly a thousand? Captain, look at my face. Do I look very pleased that you managed to catch twenty feeble women who have been in my service—in my palace!—for weeks? Do you know what sort of information they could have gleaned?”

“We still have the Soul-sworn, Lord.”

“The hypnotized women? They’re useless to me. Unless…” Here he paused as if discovering a new solution to his problem. “Make sure the remaining twenty undergo the treatment tonight. I want as many Soul-sworn as possible.”

“But Sire, twenty at one time could—”

“Did you hear me?”

“Y-yes, Sire.”

“Will you do as I have commanded, or would you rather join the Soul-sworn yourself so that I do not have to question your loyalty again?”

“I hear and obey,” he said, saluting.

Namro considered the loss of so many slave-soldiers, then made his way up the stairs toward the prison. At least the Sleep Walker was still trapped, and if that black beast was valuable in any way, which he suspected, then it gave him another bartering chip in the final upcoming battle.

Five minutes later he burst into his chamber but found it as empty as the cells he had just visited. Molten fury boiled within and he shouted for the guards. They came instantly, but fear was evident in their eyes when they saw their master’s rage.

“Where is she!? And where are the two prisoners?! Are you so incompetent that all my resources slip away in a single night?”

“Sire, Lady Aque never left through this door. There were guards at either end of the hall. No one went in and no one came out that way. I swear on my life!”

“Then you had better be right, because otherwise your life is forfeit,” he snarled before they left hastily. Nothing was going right! Why was everything happening at once?

Then a folded paper caught his eye. Namro reached out and took it, recognizing his name addressed on the front in his wife’s handwriting. Mentally fuming at her, he opened the letter and read its contents. His brow creased.

“She thinks she’s going mad? Well, that would certainly explain her most recent actions. Her idea of creating an army of women against their will could have had great potential if she hadn’t been so dim-witted about it. No men would kill them, especially if they have no will to fight but cannot help themselves, yet her sorcery only enables a few at a time to become Soul-sworn.”

The lord read the message once more before touching a mark at the bottom with his thumb. The note was instantly consumed in black fire and vanished in seconds without a trace of ash left behind.

“So…my wife has gone to free herself of dreams. Her power will be reduced but her insanity will cease. She couldn’t have chosen a more inappropriate time to go mad!”

*** Keith’s bedroom ***

Mi’s chin dropped down to her chest and she began to doze despite Keith’s warning to remain alert. He’d been asleep for nearly three hours and it was past 1 am. She had settled in the corner of his room and felt very fortunate that his parents never asked questions.

The real trying part was simply waiting for him to wake up. He was afraid a guy named Necro or whatever knew where he lived and would be able to find them, but things had been so quiet that she had grown tired of all threats of danger. She just wanted to sleep.

“Allysmi…my little Allysmi…”

Mi’s eyes slid open tiredly and beheld a beautiful raven-haired woman in her thirties kneeling before her. The woman’s eyes were blue like her own, and her arms were so thin and frail that they hardly looked strong enough to hold anything heavier than a book. In fact, everything about her was slim and wraithlike.

By this time Mi was staring at the woman wide-eyed, unable to say a word or even squeak in fear because her throat had closed so tightly. An overwhelming sadness covered the stranger's features as tears slid down her cheeks, and one white hand reached out to touch Mi’s face. Choked sobs echoed in the room as the woman’s form grew fainter and fainter. Just before she would have touched the young girl, she vanished completely.

Mi huddled in the corner, quaking like an aspen leaf on a windy day. That lady…who was she? Why had she appeared? And how had she known Mi’s full name? Her foster parents knew it when they adopted her, but Allysmi was such a foreign name that they never called her that.

“Mi.”

She shrunk back into the corner, scared that the frightening ghost-woman had reappeared, but a wet tongue licked her arm instead.

“Bonnie? Bonnie!” Mi threw her arms around her pet and hugged until the animal struggled to get free. “Are you really a wolf, girl?”

“I was born such a quarter-century ago, but at my death I became a Guardian Angel. Yours. I have not earned my way to Deep Heaven yet, for there is a final test I have not completed.” The familiar Labrador cocked her head to one side. “Are you not surprised at my speech?”

Mi laughed. “Of course I am! But so many impossible things have happened to me lately that I’m beginning to label them as ‘ordinary’. It makes sense that instead of you being my pet, I’m your pet.”

“Well, it is time to grow serious. There is a matter of great importance I must tell you. I made a mistake long ago after you were born, and you came to this world. You do not belong here and it is slowly killing you the same way prolonged exposure to my world is killing Vivian, but at a much faster rate for her. I have noticed your habits and appetite changing. You can no longer stand salty foods, am I wrong?”

Mi remembered blanching at certain meals even when a mere sprinkle of salt dusted it, and seafood was absolutely out of the question.

“That is because there are no salt-oceans in my world. Your world, I should say. Angels have no home except the one they hope to attain one day.”

“So what am I supposed to do now?”

Bonnie looked very somberly into her ward’s ice blue eyes. “You must go back to your true home, but the only way to do so is by traveling to the Middle Ground and finding Vivian. I can only attend you part of the way, and illusions abound in the place. There are many things you must not do. It will take some time to prepare you—”

“I’m ready.”

The Guardian Angel blinked at Mi, revealing her surprise. “You know that if this fails you will die, don’t you?”

“I’ve known that for a while now, though I’m not sure how. But I’ve accepted it and I’m willing to do what it takes. Now what do I have to do?”

Mi’s POV:

“You’ll be waiting for me if this works, right?” I asked Keith. We had exchanged cell phone numbers. Over these last 3 days, I had grown to trust him, & listened to his tales of what he’s done.

“I’ll be there when this works.” he told me. “You’ve worked really hard. You’ll make it.”

“What about my parents?” I said. “Will I ever see them again? I know they adopted me, but still…”

“You can still talk to them.” Keith said. “Vivian & I can bring your letters back & give them to you, if you want…” I smiled. That would be great. “Well, I’m gong to bed now. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon.” I said & hung up. I laid the letter I wrote to my parents. I didn’t mention any thing about other worlds, but said that I had to figure some stuff out. I headed into my back yard, where Bonne was waiting for me.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

I nodded & together we walked through the portal.

*~*~*~Later*~*~*~

“This is as far as I can take you.” Bonne said. “I’ll see you later.”

“I hope so.” I said. Boldly, I opened the door. A blond girl stood there who I figured had to be Vivian.

“You…you look nothing like Vivian.” I said.

The girl laughed. “Keith told you we all change forms while traveling, right? I don’t think you have long, blue hair at home.”

I laughed. “My home is Luin, or maybe some other world. How exactly do we go about this?”

“Well, I think you have my power to get home.” she said. “So, if you give me that…”

“But how?” I asked. “Nobody seemed to know on my end…”

“Same here. Looks like we’re supposed to figure it out. Sensei said that not much is known about the Middle Ground, because it changes for everybody…”

“So…do you have any idea of what we’re supposed to do?” I asked.

“No. You?”

“No.”

James stood outside the portal, arms folded and face expressionless. The entrance had gone foggy ever since Vivian entered. He could still remember the moment when he’d brought her to the darkest room in the dojo. The portal had only been a frame made from three strips of wood and nothing between…

“That’s it?” Vivian said before a coughing fit overwhelmed her.

It had been getting worse ever since she was rescued. Apparently without her mind, her body was dying, and that was leading to weakness here. She could no longer float in the air no matter how hard she tried.

James waited patiently until her coughing had subsided to answer. “You expected something more glamorous, I take it. I asked Sensei if he would allow me to encrust it with jewels or in the very least gold, but he told me ‘one does not ask frivolous things of a poor benefactor and expect to be gratified’…and then he warned me to keep my fingers out of his treasure vault.”

Vivian grinned, surprised by his joke. Then the presence of the empty portal dampened her spirits once more. “I wish there was an easier way… How do I know I won’t die?”

She doubled over almost before the words were out of her mouth, the coughing so violent that she dropped to her knees. James noticed a splattering of blood on her hands.

Abruptly he was down beside her. “Don’t try to speak. Just relax and it’ll fade soon.”

She couldn’t seem to stop, and more blood leaked between the fingers of the hand covering her mouth. He suddenly pulled her close to his chest and tightened his arms about her.

“You won’t die, Alice! I won’t let you! No matter what happens, I’ll keep you with me!”

The coughing ended a moment later and the girl in his arms gazed up at him in confusion. “Alice?”

James cringed inwardly. Had he really called her that? Rather than answering, he helped her to her feet and stood silently before the portal. Raising her head, Vivian took three steps and passed through the empty space and vanished.

He glanced around, feeling that something had changed…but not sure what. The colors seemed to have been washed from the world, and yet he could still see them. He happened to glance into a mirror on the far wall and gasped.

The silver cross that had been branded onto his forehead had vanished. He was no longer counted among God’s chosen.

Vivian and Mi looked at each other, then at their surroundings. They were standing in a valley surrounded by mountains so high that they faded into the clouds. There was a river that started at one end and went all the way through to the other.

At first Mi thought the waterfalls formed it from both ends, but then she noticed that the water seemed to be flowing upward at the one nearer to them rather than obeying gravity. When she glanced at the other end of the valley, it seemed the sky was darkened by clouds there, but the dusting of stars told her otherwise.

This place had both night and day at the same time, and water that flowed up as well as down. Were there other oddities in this Middle Ground?

“I take it you noticed?” Vivian asked.

“It’s very strange.”

“I don’t know where we’re supposed to go, but we’d better get there quick. James told me if we spend too long here we could be marked.” She took a deep breath. “I'm just glad I can breathe without coughing all the time.”

“But which way is the cave supposed to be? The day-side or night-side of the valley?” Mi wondered.

“Cave?”

“Well…it just occurred to me that we’re looking for a cave.”

“Funny. I got the feeling what we’re searching for is on the other side of a waterfall. I just couldn’t decide which one.”

The two girls gazed at each other. Mi spoke first.

“Am I the only one feeling that we—”

“—Need to hurry? I feel it too. There’s only time to look for one, though.”

“Let’s separate.”

“But shouldn’t we be doing this together? Isn’t that why we’re here in the Middle Ground to begin with?”

“We need to restore your connection to your body, Vivian. That doesn’t mean we’re glued to each other. Bonnie would have told me that otherwise.”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. If I had a coin I’d flip to see which way we go.”

“I’ll take the night-side. Let’s go!” She started turning away.

“Mi, be careful! I’ve tried traveling here already and it’s harder than it seems. I’ll try flying.”

“You can fly?”

“It’s my Gift. I just discovered it four days ago.”

Vivian looked toward the lighter sky and took a deep breath as though nervous. Spreading her arms wide, she seemed to lift off the earth. For a brief moment she started to fly, then the ground seemed to slide out from beneath her and before either of them could cry out, she’d been swallowed.

Mi waited for some minutes, calling for the girl, but there was no response. Hoping the Sleep Walker hadn’t died, she turned toward the starlit sky and started running. The ground seemed to slide beneath her feet too, but she wasn’t falling into it. Instead she appeared to be getting farther from her goal.

Surprised, she stopped and the earth quit moving. After a few more running steps, she knew it wasn’t working. Carefully she measured the distance and angle, then turned exactly 180 degrees and started running as hard as she could. The world spun back and with a grin she recognized that she was going the right direction.

*** with Vivian ***

As soon as the ground closed over her head, Vivian screamed and kept trying to fly. But the more she attempted to rise above the ground, the deeper she seemed to go.

Then it took her a few moments to realize she could breathe as easily underground as above it. In fact, the earth parted where she passed, as though she was swimming through water rather than solid dirt. But why? Well, she couldn’t exactly answer that, so instead she focused on her surroundings.

It was odd, but rather than complete darkness Vivian’s eyes seemed to pick up shades of light. In fact, the more she looked around, the more she started to understand what she was seeing. The darker shapes were large stones and the lighter ones were empty areas of simple earth that she could slide through easily.

She could see a moving shadow far above her and knew instinctively she was watching Mi running. Well, at least the blue-haired girl had figured out that moving any faster than a walk resulted in the entire valley shifting against her.

Vivian headed towards the other end of the valley, wondering what she would find behind the waterfall. It didn’t take long to reach it. If this was meant to be a sort of test, it was almost too simple.

Willing herself to land, the Sleep Walker rose to the surface just outside the falling stream of water. Sure enough, just behind its glassy falls the dark entrance to a cave waited. A warm glow rose and fell from deep within and she tentatively crossed the threshold.

Before she’d gone far, the cave widened into a great cavern lit by green flames that danced on a pool of water. In that light she could see the great lithe form of a giant reptile. Its scaled body expanded and deflated as the creature breathed, and the folded wings on its back fluttered.

Vivian stared in awe for a moment before noticing the crimson scales that were difficult to see in light of the unnatural green fire. A creeping terror began to affect her, starting with her fingers and traveling all over her body in seconds. The flames brightened.

Something was wrong. This was not the right cave!

But no matter how she tried to run, something held her fast to the stone. She couldn’t make a sound. Then one sinister golden eye snapped wide, fixing on Vivian.

*** with Mi ***

She reached the end of the valley in minutes, hardly aware of the time passing since there was no sense of tiredness in this place between Life and Death. The sky had grown dark and she smiled to look up and see bright constellations shining despite the sunlight streaming down not far away.

The waterfall was difficult to reach, but she was determined and climbed over slippery rocks and up the side of a gorge before finally making it to a ledge that would support her weight. She felt a sense of pride as she climbed higher, knowing if she’d been an ordinary person she would have given up at the bottom at the mere sight of the obstacle.

But Mi knew the cave was there although she could not see it. And the closer she came, the more she felt this place was right. There was a sense of comfort emanating from ahead, as though she knew someone familiar was waiting for her.

At one point she wondered what would happen if she leaped into the strongly flowing waterfall. Would she fall upward like the water itself, or would she still fall downward? The risk was too great to take. Instead she continued on her own, but couldn't help feeling she was walking upside-down whenever she looked at the strange falls.

When at last she reached the cave, she was soaked through from the spray, but within a few steps she came within sight of a heartening blue fire. Strangely the flamed danced on the surface of a still pond, but she didn’t mind.

Before she reached the pool, Mi came to a halt. She’d caught sight of the sleeping figure at the edge of the light. Its scales gleamed like the metal of a polished sword, but she paid no attention to the form. The head with its gently curving ridge, long thin ears, and blunt nose was so familiar to her that she could only stand there staring in delight.

“Father…” she whispered, tears of joy running down her cheeks.

But it was already too late. The other had wakened first.

*** with Bonnie ***

Bonnie paced outside the smoky portal several times before uttering a silent prayer: “Please let them work together to solve the challenge.”

She stepped through the Curtain and appeared in Sensei’s dojo beside the opposite portal. The moment she arrived, she knew something had not gone as planned. Keith told Mi that James would be waiting for her on the other side, and she knew for a fact that Vivian had entered, otherwise the two portals wouldn’t have turned foggy.

So where was he? A broken mirror nearby seemed to be a clue. Had the Angel seen something?

She couldn’t be sure, but before she had even fully grasped the significance of his disappearance, the portal exploded! Had she been a wolf rather than a Guardian Angel, Bonnie would have been skewered by the shard of wood that struck her.

She ran to the figure lying prone on the floor. Mi had made it!

Her hair was blue and she was taller than before, and somewhat heavier, but she was the same person with the same smell and the same eyes…though her eyes were frantic at the moment.

“Where is he?! My father! Where did he go?”

“You saw your father in the Middle Ground?” The possibility that the missing master of the Wolves had been banished to that place had never come into her mind. And if Mi saw him, then that meant he was free!

“I don’t know what happened, Bonnie! I was about to wake him and suddenly something wrenched me away and now I’m here. I didn’t even get to speak to him!”

The Angel’s hopes faded. If it was true then that meant…

*** with James ***

He staggered into the dawn’s light, wondering what he could do. His first thought was to find a gun. What was the point of living now? God had exiled him once more, and this time with no warning.

What had James done wrong?!

But before he had gone more than a few paces, the sky seemed to tear open. Bonnie’s words came back to him: “Wing and fang of silver will be victory, but wing and fang of red means death.”

A dragon the color of blood broke through the clouds.

Sorry for takng so long, stuff kinda came up.

Vivian’s POV:

“James?” I asked. I fond him on the ground, crying.

“Vivian? Where are you?”

“Right in front of you.” I sat down as looked at me.

“Vivian…are you a…?”

“Ghost? Yes, but don’t worry, this won’t be the last time you see me.” I laughed slightly.

“What happens after you die?” I knew James thought of death a lot, so the question didn’t seem to strange.

“I can’t tell you.” I said. “I’m not allowed, but I can tell you that you’ll have options. I chose to be a ghost.”

“But…you’re all right?” James asked.

“I happy with my choice, if that’s what you’re asking.” I said.

“So…why did you chose to be a ghost?” James asked.

“So I can talk to you, help you.” I smiled. “You guys don’t know it yet, but what happened here with Namro & Aque is just the tip of the ice berg. You guys have a lot more work to do.”

“Is there anything you can tell us?”

“I’m a ghost, I don’t know everything! But I don’t need any knowledge to know what I’m gong to do next.” I lend in & kissed him. As much as I had liked Keith, I knew now that I had loved James. I was pretty sure he liked me too.

Besides, I had never had a real kiss.

“I have to go.” I said after I pulled away. “Tell the others I said good bye!”

“I will.”

I smiled & left.

(Note: Michlle in Sleep Walkr form - Doll ID 7996. She belngs to The Doll Palce)

Keith’s POV:

Normally, I loved being a teacher’s aid, but grading these English essays was complete torture. I mean, it was so obvious that these people didn’t have a single clue, but yet they wrote enough to get credit any way. What the heck was up with that?

I was skimming through yet anther essay when a few phrases jumped out at me. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I double checked to make sure that they had the right question, ‘cuz I couldn’t believe their answer.

What do you think your dreams say about you? Gotta love stupid SAT type essays…

I keep having the same dreams every night…I look totally different…It’s an amazing place, almost like Emerald City form The Wizard of Oz but everything is orange…It feels like more then just a dream to me…

“Hey.”

I jumped out of my skin. “Vivian, what are you dong here?” I whispered, glad that the teacher had left to go to the teacher’s lounge. “Why do you still have blond hair?” She looked the same as she did in the dream worlds.

“I don’t know, perhaps because that’s how I was when I died? Any way, what’s new?” I handed her the essay.

“Wow.” she said after she finished. “I guess this…Michelle Cook is a Sleep Walker…”

“Who is she any way?” I asked.

Vivian rolled her eyes. “Duh, she’s the skater chick that sits next to you in Math…”

“Oh. Her name’s Michelle?”

“What did you think it was?”

“…Amy.”

Vivian rolled her eyes again. “Look, you better talk to her about this. If she’s a Sleep Walker & she’s stuck there, then that must mean that there’s some thing important to do there…”

“Well, I’ve been stuck in that world lately, too, so I’ll be able to find her tonight. Are you able to contact Sensei & the others?”

“Yes, & I’ll tell them to find you.” She began to fade from sight. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a little brother to scare…”

The weird thing about Keith's day had been knowing that something important was happening just on the other side of a dream while he was stuck going to school. It wasn't right. And it definitely wasn't fair!

After Vivian's appearance, he'd been so struck by the fact that he was seeing her to absorb her words: When I died…

Keith's legs gave out and he slumped with his back against the desk.

How could she treat it as if it was no big deal? He might be able to touch her but she was no longer human, no longer even the girl he knew! The girl he’d fallen for…

How had she died?! Who had done it?!

Keith surged to his feet, throwing himself at the only purpose he could hold onto. If he could just find out who had killed her, at least then he could take revenge for Vivian's death.

Just before he reached the door, it opened. A girl wearing short, spiked hair with bleached ends came into the teacher's lounge. She had on headphones and her head occasionally twitched in time to the music. He could hardly see her eyes past the brown sunglasses, but her bra straps were showing thanks to the torn shoulders of her shirt, not to mention her cargo pants looked like they were about to fall off.

Keith came up short and stared, every thought of avenging Vivian skittering away as he stood face-to-face with Michelle Cook.

The vague shadows of her eyes flickered behind the dark lenses and she raised her eyebrows, cocking her head to one side. "Got a problem? Where's the Hankster?"

"Uh… Mr. Hanks isn't here. He already left for the day."

"Typical," she sneered. "Gives me detention and then runs off. Guess I'll have to fulfill my civic duty some other way."

Keith saw her start to turn away and without thinking he blurted out, "Do you really dream so vividly all the time? Of a place that's so real you can feel everything? You might be a Sleep Walker. I go there too."

Her spine went stiff and for a moment he didn’t expect an answer. Then abruptly she spun around and hit him square in the jaw! He flew into the desk and landed on the floor in a painful heap.

"You stay away from me!" Michelle snarled with fury. "The last thing I need is someone else mocking me!"

She ran past the water fountain just as Keith recovered. And he was not at all in a good mood.

"You brat!" he yelled, throwing his energy outward.

He had only expected the water fountain to respond, but pipes beneath the floor and in the walls suddenly burst through stone and plaster as the water inside them surged after Michelle! Within moments the hallway had flooded and she screamed until he gagged her with a thick liquid muffle.

The circumstances were different than they had been with Mi, but they were also very similar and Keith couldn't help feeling he was getting pretty good at catching girls who fled from him.

Then he looked around and realized that there was going to be a real stink about the school if he didn't hightail it out of there quick!

* * *

Vivian's mischievous idea to tease her family was abandoned the moment she appeared at home. Her mother was hugging the now-stiff body of her little daughter and crying her heart out as she rocked back and forth. Ezekiel, her little brother, knelt beside the bed stroking the back of her hand as tears trickled down his face, though without a sound. Her father wasn't in the room.

She faded into the hallway and saw him sitting in a chair just inside his private library. There was a book of photographs in his lap (an old one by the look of it), but he wasn't staring at them. He seemed to be looking past them as if he could see and hear everything happening behind those still shots. She stood there for a minute listening to the wails of her mother, and he didn't turn the page. Finally she went over.

He didn't notice Vivian as she slid into the room. She kept out of sight, but came as close as she could to see over his shoulder. He was staring at pictures of her fifth birthday.

"Daddy, I'm sorry I died," she said without meaning to.

Instantly she tensed and jumped back, expecting him to whirl around... but he didn't. He continued to stare at the little girl waving her frosting-covered hands about as her disheveled mother tried to clean them off.

"...Daddy?"

No response.

"Daddy?"

Still nothing.

"Why can't you hear me?"

She ran into the other room and stood beside Ezekiel. He didn't notice. He continued to stare at the expressionless face of his sister's dead body.

Vivian tried touching them and her hands faded through their skin, although when Keith had handed her the essay earlier she had been able to hold it without a problem.

"Mom, I'm here! I'm not dead! I mean, I am but I'm not gone! Why won't you listen to me?!"

She didn't want to give up, but soon other mourners arrived to offer their condolences and comfort her family. Her mother's sobs slowed even if they didn't stop. People from the morgue came and took away her body. Cousins coaxed Ezekiel into playing outside and her father stood by the doorway solemnly greeting everyone as they entered.

In the midst of so many people, Vivian felt more alone and lost than she ever had in her life.

Then suddenly someone was beside her. It was the Angel from the cell. Bonnie gazed at the gathering and turned to look up at the young, dead girl.

"Do you understand why many do not choose to come back as ghosts? The pain does not end for you as it did for me. But you must stop looking back. Rather look forward to the day when you may all be reunited."

She said nothing for a few moments as she watched her mother dissolve once again into tears. "Can I never talk to them? Will they never see me?"

Bonnie sighed. "The connection between ghosts and the world is mysterious even to an Angel. What I do know is that when they speak of you, you will know. And someday they may be able to feel your presence, hear the whisper of your voice. Do not despair. Hope will light your way, and we will need it especially in the coming era."

Vivian's brow creased. "What era?"

"It is time you knew. Your murderer has entered the Dream World. You freed him and now he has begun to establish his rule." She could only stare at the black wolf in disbelief.

They sat in the tool shed behind the school and Keith stared at Michelle as she tried her best to kick him. The watery bonds held her tightly and he could adjust them with a thought, so he was hardly worried about getting injured.

"You aren't trapped in the other world," he mused. "Vivian was, but I wasn't, and you aren't. What's the difference?"

She finally stopped moving and gazed at him. "You're from there? You're one of the strange guys who can do spells and all that?"

"Sort of. I'm human, but my mind is connected to that place whenever I sleep. That's why we refer to it as the Dream World. It isn't really, but that's the only way we can get there."

Michelle looked thoughtful. "Sorry for punching you. I thought you really were making fun of me." She looked down at her tennis shoes and shrugged. "I've been having those kind of dreams for a long time, but I was in an accident a month ago and fell into a coma for a week. That's when I really felt like I had entered a completely different world for the first time. I could feel things, and I was always hungry, and people were mean to me. I thought I was dead. Then I woke up."

Keith considered her words. "Are you saying you were in a coma, but you managed to wake up? Do you remember how?"

She bit her lip nervously. "Sorry. All I remember is this city that's completely orange and there are no people in it. I don't know why, but I always go back there when I dream. I think when I was trapped there for a week, I was wandering around the countryside, but then something happened and found myself in that city unable to get out."

He'd never heard of an uninhabited orange city, but Sensei might have.

"Oh no!" she cried out.

"What?"

"You soaked my MP3 player and it's broken! That was expensive, you big fat jerk! You are so totally going to pay me back!"

"Huh? I am not fat! I'm husky." He shook his head, annoyed. "Look, something crazy is going on and you're a part of it now whether you like it or not. You can either walk around the Dream World and pick up things as you go along -- maybe even get yourself killed -- OR you can join the dojo I'm part of. We can help you."

Michelle glanced at her hands still held together by the water. "Will you teach me how to do this?"

He opened his mouth to tell her flat-out no, but paused. "Why don't you come to the dojo and find out?"

She gave him a sulky expression. "Fine. But you'll have to find me first. I have no idea where I am. Somewhere in the mountains."

"I'll try tonight."

He released the water and it splashed to the floor, fully liquid again. The girl with partly-bleached hair stood up and walked away. Her voice came floating back a few seconds later.

"Hey look! The fire department's here!"

He decided to get out of the area as quick as he could.

* * * at the dojo * * *

John's eyes hardened as he heard the news. "Why a ghost? Doesn't she know why most people never choose to be one?"

His brother stood in the middle of the dojo with fists clenched by his side. "It was her choice."

"Why do you think Alice didn't choose to be a ghost? It's a living hell! To see things and touch them, but unable to feel or eat? Mortality is what makes humans human."

"And what makes Angels angelic?" James shot back. "I don't really see much merit in living when it separates me from the ones I love."

"James, you did that to yourself. You were sentenced to immortality for your crime. The way to overcome it is still a mystery. No one has ever been able to. That's why they sleep in the sacred place."

The lost Angel sagged. The fire that had burned inside after speaking with Vivian slowly softened to pale embers. At least when she'd been human he could have married her, but now...

"What? I am not invited to a meeting in my own dojo?"

They looked up to see Sensei standing in the entrance. The old man smirked a bit at their expressions.

"Don't bother. I already know. What concerns me most is the news I just received from Keith. He found me in middle of my bath about ten minutes ago and it took the boy forever to get over the shock." He shook his head with a slight roll of the eyes. "There may be a new Sleep Walker we can utilize. He wanted to know if I was familiar with an orange city."

Both Angels widened their eyes. They glanced at one another and back at Sensei.

"I take it you two do know what place this is."

James spoke, his voice flat. "Aurum Polis (Golden City) is where those punished with immortality go when they can no longer bear life with neither God nor death."

I'm back guys! hope that's ok

John shook his head dispairingly,
"Aurum Polis is much worse than death. When you're dead there are somethings that you can still do. In Aurum Polis you ARE the city. You lose yourself in it." he glanced at James, "Isn't that right brother?"
James shot him a fierce look,
"Spare Sensei my life story. I'm sure the mysteries of Aurum Polis are not so secret to him." he snapped at John. John raised an eyebrow,
"I was just saying..."
"Well don't!" James interrupted, his entire body shaking with anger, "I will not be reduced to going back there John! I have something to live for now!"
"She's a ghost James! Do you really think she can be happy now?" John shot back at his brother, "She will hate what she's become and she'll hate you because you're the reason she did it!"
James didn't remember a time when he'd hit his brother before but he gave him a real belter across the jaw now. John was sent flying to the floor, rubbing his jaw when Sensei's cane hit the dojo floor,
"I will have no infighting in this dojo!" he bellowed, making the entire dojo vibrate, "You two will patch up your differences because we are going to Aurum Polis! And that is final."
The two brothers looked at each other with the first ounce of hatred that had ever come between them.

Bonnie trotted toward the canyon in the Middle Ground, leading Vivian. The sky was different, now boiling with threatening clouds overhead while blue heavens shone out clear nearby.

"These paths are treacherous even to me, but you will need to know more than one way to pass between worlds if you are to become a liaison."

"Can't we just fade through? I did before."

"That is the easiest way to be followed. Ghosts are connected to the living worlds moreso than Angels, and if someone is on your tail, you must know how to weave in and out among the fabric of reality to lose them."

Their surroundings grew pale and then suddenly dark as they stepped through a ripple in the air just at the edge of a cliff. All was darkness except for the faint outline of Bonnie's canine figure walking ahead.

"Um, Bonnie? What exactly is the difference between ghosts and Angels anyway?"

The wolf stopped and Vivian nearly bumped into her. Her narrow head turned until the girl was staring straight into golden eyes with a strange glow about them.

"Angels are entrusted on missions by God which they must fulfill. Ghosts feel bound by things that happened in their lives and remain behind by their own free will to see those events through."

"That doesn't seem like much of a difference."

"It doesn't until you remember."

"Remember what?"

Bonnie shook her head sadly. "I may have died only a short number of years ago compared to most Angels, but I have met several ghosts in that time. And never once did I meet one who did not regret their choice to stay. They cannot affect the world and can be seen by only Angels and perhaps a Sleep Walker if there was a strong bond between them, so they can only watch as things happen...but very seldom the way they would like."

"But they can leave if things don't turn out like they wanted, right?"

"The only way they can go to Heaven is if they are satisfied. They cannot be simply tired of wandering life in a lifeless form. They must accept the results of their life and acknowledge that God's plan will triumph despite all the despair and pain that occurs."

Vivian swayed on her feet. She had been given a choice and there had been a warning, but she was desperate and seized the chance before it could be taken away. Was it really so risky? Could she ever be satisfied if things went awry?

"Bonnie...?" Her voice was plaintive, but she couldn't speak the question aloud.

Bonnie seemed to be looking at her, but at the same time she seemed to be talking to someone else. "I feel no pain and everything else I smell and taste and feel is a thousand times more sensitive and amazing than you can imagine. Ghosts...it is not so."

Finally it struck the girl what was wrong: everything had been dulled.

She saw colors, but they were a different shade as though she was staring through dusty glass. The things she touched were hard and soft, but muted at the same time. Sounds like the far-off calling of birds or street cars were gone so that all she heard were noises close by. She hadn't tried to taste anything, but now she was scared to. Would it be lacking as well?

Then she realized another thing: when she had kissed James something was missing. Looking back, she remembered wondering faintly why his body didn't feel warm and why the fascinating feel of his mouth meeting hers she expected to experience hadn't been there. She had never kissed anyone, especially not an Angel, so had contributed it to that, but...

Everything was so far away. The whole world was right in front of her, but she could hardly feel it! She was more connected to it than Bonnie, but the other could experience everything more acutely.

If this was really what happened to ghosts, why had she chosen it?

"I did not mean to make you upset, Vivian. You may have told James you were happy with your choice, but I knew you didn't truly understand it otherwise you would not have been happy, but simply resigned."

Vivian couldn't get the image of her weeping family out of her head. And the look in James' eye when she leaned up to kiss him. And the complete bafflement on Keith's face when she appeared to him. And now the sadness in Bonnie's voice. The apology.

They would never look at her the same way. What made her want this? She felt so alone.

"I just want to focus on the mission," she said.

Maybe once she knew what she was supposed to do she could be satisfied and lose her ghost-hood. What made her stay behind anyway?

*** Aurum Polis ***

The mountains arched overhead so tall that their peaks were lost in the perpetual mist that sunlight never dispersed. A small hollow hid from the valleys below, the ruins within it more secret than the treasure it held. If not for her magic, the woman would never have been able to reach it.

Aque tied a cloth over her nose and mouth before venturing into the strange place again. She had been caught unawares the first time and if the wind hadn't shifted suddenly northward, she might not have been able to wake up.

What a strange, realistic dream... It was almost as though her desire to see the child she'd borne so many years ago had taken form. The girl tucked in the corner of a dark room hugging her knees had stared at her with frightened blue eyes. Aque almost recognized those eyes. But most likely it was simply a dream.

Still, the girl had been beautiful and the sorceress would have liked to see her again.

She shook her head and made sure to breathe slowly through the cloth. The only way to get the flowers was by entering the dead city, and that in itself was challenge enough without succumbing to the scent. The place was dark and forbidding, and the only reason it was called the golden city was due to the brilliant flowers growing from every building, though only the very highest points so that it was difficult to reach them.

Supposedly the Cursed Immortals lived in Aurum Polis, but she had not seen them yet. There was always the unnerving feeling that she was being watched, but she attributed that to her personal nervousness and the constant dreams that plagued her both sleeping and awake.

Before she'd left the note for her husband, Aque slipped invisibly through the halls to the library. She knew the keep was renowned for its collection of mystic texts, which also meant it included copies of the legends taught in mystic circles. She knew what she was looking for and was surprised at the amount of details included.

The ruins were secret even in the highest mystic circles, but the master of the wolves had told her long ago where the city stood. All she needed were the instructions to make a dreamless dram.

If only her dreams could be taken away! If the dram truly worked she could return to her husband and be the perfect wife he desired! All those half-memories made her confused and disoriented. Half the time she hardly knew what was truly happening and what occurred in sleep.

She saw a cluster of flowers nestled in the lee of a roofless home, but before Aque came close, the air shifted.

A young girl, appearing no older than 15 or so, stood there with head tilted back, eyes closed, and arms spread wide as though she was drinking in the emotions of the world. Her crimped hair was silver in the dim light and her clothing a dress with a divided riding-skirt. The designs of it were none Aque had ever seen before and she backed away in fear, thinking that she had angered a Cursed Immortal.

She opened her eyes and gazed at the sorceress. "Hi. Ya Keith's friend?"

Aque's eyes flickered from the girl to the surrounding flowers. Surely she couldn't be immune to them! But she didn't act like an Immortal.

"My name's Michelle." She looked at the strange woman curiously. "What's wrong? Don'tcha speak my language?"

"There is only one language here among humans," Aque finally said. This girl could only be a Sleep Walker. Everyone knew that animals clung to their separate languages but humans had united under the far-reaching Spell of One Tongue.

"Oh, sorry. Wha's wrong with your nose? Ya having trouble breathin'?" She took a deep breath and let it out. "The air's so clean here. Those flowers use-ta have this weird smell, but I guess I got use-ta it or somethin'."

The older woman tentatively released the string tied around her head and the cloth came loose. The air was indeed clear of the toxic scent. But how? Had the winds shifted or did their pollen settle at certain times?

She looked at Michelle with a suspicious gaze.

*** nearby ***

James didn't pay any attention to his brother as they made their way through the mountains. John treated him just as coldly.

Sensei's resources were surprisingly vast, and it had taken a relatively short time to organize a series of mounts. The dojo leader was only able to reach the bottom of the mountain, though. Something about his bones being too old to withstand the exertion and the weather.

Their red chocobos scrambled up using paths only they could see. The animals were seldom, if ever, seen in those parts which was part of the reason so few people knew about the existence of Aurum Polis. The birds could easily outstrip mountain goats and the cold hardly bothered them.

An extra mount trailed behind on a lunge-line, younger and more docile than the ones the Angels were riding. Fiery-eyed and mischievous, they occasionally ran straight into a headwind trying to get their passengers to slip off from the force of the gales. But John was impervious to pain and James was far too stubborn to give up.

At last they reached the sheltered lee where Aurum Polis lay hidden. The brothers tied the chocobos to a tree and placed rags over their mouths before venturing into the city.

James hung back for a moment. What if they remembered his name?

He shook off the foreboding feeling creeping over his skin and hurried to keep up with John. They had hardly entered when they caught sight of two women speaking ahead in the remains of an old house. Both stopped dead in their tracks, too stunned to do more than gape at first. The younger girl noticed them and offered a cautionary wave.

"Do you guys know Keith too?"

Aque spun around and gasped. For a moment the sorceress tried to run, but they had blocked the only exit. She pressed herself up against the wall and gazed at them fearfully.

John spoke first, "We were sent by Keith to find someone named Michelle."

"Yeah, that's me. This lady was just tellin' me you guys could really use some help or somethin'. I just wanna figure out wha's goin' on."

"Aque is no ally of ours," he responded with fervor and he saw her flinch. Then suddenly he realized he had dropped the cloth over his nose and hadn't fallen under the spell of the golden flowers. "Wait! How can this be? The pollen always coats this place. Why haven't we fallen asleep?"

"I dunno. It's been like this ever since the first time I got here. Hey, wha's wrong with your friend?"

John turned to James and saw a strange glazed film over his brother's eyes.

"Why are you here?" the lost Angel asked in a monotone voice. "Your thoughts disturb us. We send you away but you come back. You call us back to life by your very presence, and now you call others to interfere as well. Go away."

"James! Stop listening to them!"

But he had been hearing the faint whisper ever since he entered the city gates. And even with their scents deadened somehow, the the golden flowers were intoxicating him, dragging him back down to a dark place.

"Dark, dark place," he muttered with an uneasy shiver before returning to his toneless words. "There is no reason to live. We sleep, but our awareness cannot fade. We seek oblivion, but it does not exist for us. We come and unite to become not many, but one. If that one can only stop thinking, then we will truly know nothing. Be nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Go away and leave us to nothing."

James walked forward and touched the wall. Michelle screamed when his hand faded into the stone, followed by his whole body! John darted after him, but came up against the solid wall.

"James! James, come back! You fool, don't listen to them! It's all empty promises!"

He kicked and yelled at the wall, ignoring the two women who continued to stare with shock at the scene.

James’ POV:

I opened my eyes to see Vivian. I was laying on my back.

“Vivian…what are you…?”

“You fell through a wall.” Vivian said as she helped me to my feet. It was then that I realized that Bonne was there too. “You’ll be all right now.”

“Where am I?” We had definitely left the field of flowers.

“The city. Don’t worry, the Cursed Immortals will not hurt you, not while we’re here any way…”

“Viv, why are you here?” I asked. “Is this what ghosts do?”

“I’ve come to warn you.” She sighed. “Aque is here. She came alone, but Namro is coming for her. The Sleep Walkers are needed. I don’t know why, but…”

“But…?” I urged her. It was like she didn’t want to tell me.

“But…some thing will happen. Some thing really bad.”

*~*~*~*~*~

Michelle’s POV:

“Uh…dude? You ok?” I asked as the guy rammed himself against the wall again. This place was really starting to freak me out…

“We have to get him out. He won’t be able to do this alone.”

“Well, what we saw had to be some kind of weird illusion, right? People can’t just walk through walls…”

“My brother & I aren’t exactly ‘normal’ any way.”

“Well, maybe that lady can get him out.” I turned to look for her. She had disappeared.

This had to be the strangest thing that had ever happened to me.

“Well, if your bro was able to get through, maybe you can, too.” I realized what I had said. “Dude! Are you Sleep Walkers, too? Do I get awesome powers, too? Dude that would be so cool!” To test my theory, I walked straight into the wall.

“Ow...” Apparently, I was not able to walk through walls. “Ok, that was stupid…”

“Yeh, it was. The name’s John, by the way. Not ‘Dude.’”

The wall suddenly shattered and a single fist broke through the tough stone. The single fist seemed to pull backwards and half of the wall caved inwards. But the room beyond was totally empty. The hand was coming from the wall.
The fist was followed by another before arms came out. Then James' head emerged from the section of wall. James turned his head to look at his brother and the two women. John's blood ran cold. His brother's eyes were now nothing more than white, sightless, orbs. John pushed Michelle backwards slowly,
"Now is a good time to start backing away from my brother..." he said, drawing on his own power for the first time in seven decades. Michelle frowned,
"Why? He's just got something wrong with his eyes right?" Michelle asked, backing away even as she said the words. As if to prove her wrong the shadow of the nearby building reared up, becoming solid as it hurled itself at her.
Michelle groaned in pain and looked over to see John physically grappling with the building's shadow. And the shadow was winning. John was flung through the air by the shadow and landed with a mixture of very unhealthy sounds. Michelle tried to back away even more but the shadow became liquid again and snaked around Michelle. It became solid when it was wrapped around her and raised her off of the ground.
John shook his head and saw Michelle being held in the air by the shadow,
"Michelle! Stay calm! I won't let him hurt you!" he shouted up to her. A voice called out to him, a voice constructed of many different voices,
"She has been here so many times now that she is one of us." the voice boomed, coming from the now fully formed James' mouth, "We protect our own from people like you."
Another person, with white eyes like James, walked out of the wall before standing behind James. Dozens more walked out of the buildings before standing at some sort of attention behind James, like soldiers ready to march to a fight. James spoke and his words were mirrored by the words of the other fallen angels,
"We protect our own John. You attacked this villiage decades ago to 'rescue' our brother James." James tilted his head to the side, "Did it ever accure to you that brother James was happier with us? That even Michelle is happier with us?"
Michelle stopped trashing in the air,
"Actually I'm not here by choice." Michelle pointed out. John growled as his brother took a step closer to him,
"You're going to release my brother or-"
"Or what John? We have James' memories now. We know what happened the last time you used your personal power." the town said, speak through the mouths of all of the angels at once. John growled,
"I don't care." he spat. Sparks jumped from his finger tips once. The town watched expectantly. John smiled and his hands suddenly burst into flames but did no visible damage. John waved his flaming hands, "Bring it on! I'm getting my brother back and Michelle!"
James gathered the shadows around him and seemed to grow another foot taller. Black spikes pushed their way out of his skin at the knuckles to form solid, black, hooks on each knuckle. The town smiled as one,
"You will join us John."
"I'd rather die."
"That is how you will join us."

"But... something will happen. Something really bad. If Namro discovers this place, he'll use the-- James? Are you listening?"

Vivian's words didn't seem to be having much effect. James had begun to stare through her and she knelt down to peer curiously at him. The pupils there seemed to fade, leaving his eyes eerily milky.

"James?"

He suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and she gasped at the strength with which he held her. The pain was dulled because of her ghostly attributes, but even so she could still feel it.

Then when he locked gazes with her, Vivian's jaw went slack and her eyes glossed over as she felt dry and cold. James was draining her somehow and she couldn't... quite... think...

Bonnie leaped between them, tearing the girl away and uttering a low growl that resonated in the small dark space.

"The Cursed Immortals are more stubborn than we are, I'm afraid," she said, fangs still bared threateningly. "We are at the heart of Aurum Polis. This one is lost to us. He has already become part of the city. There is nothing more we can do for him."

"No!" she cried out.

James had no expression on his face, but he turned away from them as though they were not worth his attention. He pressed his hands against the wall and began to strike it with his fists. Bonnie quivered visibly, her breaths coming in uneven gasps.

"I can't--can't hold him here! He's breaking through!"

She staggered as a hole appeared in the bricks and James forced his way through. Vivian was stunned and didn't immediately react. When she finally ran to the opening, she saw a shadow restraining strange girl with silver hair fearfully calling out to John where he was fighting.

For a moment she thought it was a hideous monster, but then she recognized the creature's hair that stuck up in the front like a ruff. Armor-like spikes spread over his back and arms and there was something almost animalistic in the way he crouched opposite his brother, whose hands glowed with writhing blue flames.

Fire met darkness as their fists met and clashed. They spun around each other, issuing kicks and punches as best they could. John's goal was not so much to kill his brother (which was impossible due to his punishment) as subdue him (which also may be impossible due to the city rising up to give him strength).

As things stood, his own stamina was flagging and he was forced down to one knee, only barely managing to roll to the side and avoid a devastating blow that cracked the hard stone street. James swung his arm so that the spikes along his knuckles whistled through the air as they struck John in the chest with a backhanded blow!

The Angel flew backward and struck a building. The shadow there coiled around him and he could do nothing but lay there, dazed and unmoving as James approached. There was no smile on his face, but triumph was obvious in his step. John's expression went blank and his mouth worked with desperate slowness as his spirit began to drain away from his body.

Vivian spun on Bonnie. The wolf had regained her feet, but was weak from having her barrier broken. Angels may not experience pain, but fatigue was another matter.

"Can ghosts die?! Tell me!"

"Die, no, but they can lose their souls and that is far worse than death! Those there are all lost and we must flee before Aurum Polis turns on us. Follow me and we will step into the waking world."

The ghost started to follow, but she risked a glance back and realized she couldn't leave.

"You go! Ghosts may experience nothing except pain, but I refuse to let that stop me from doing the right thing! Even if this costs me Heaven, I have to stop him!"

Bonnie had no chance to stop her. Vivian darted between the Angels, crying James' name. His blank eyes focused on her and John suddenly began breathing again behind her.

"A ghost," he uttered. There was no recognition, not even of their recent encounter. "Worthless. But powerful."

He reached forward, but she didn't wait. Vivian threw herself onto him, encircling her arms about his neck and burying her face in his chest. Tears streaked down her face and onto his skin, but they seemed to burn him like hot tallow.

James tried to extricate himself and the city around them began to roil and pulse as though all of them were suffering some torment. Spikes dug into her back as he scrambled to get away, but she refused to let go, her hold only becoming tighter.

Behind her, John had finally recovered and the flames from his fists traveled up his arms and all over his body. The shadow wrapped around him let out a piercing, inhuman shriek before fading away. He rescued Michelle quickly.

"We do not want to live!" came the echo of many voices around them. "You bring emotions and desires here where we want nothing! You ruin us! Become one of us or be nothing!"

The pain was unbearable! Vivian screamed and felt the hands pull her abruptly forward rather than thrusting her away. She opened her eyes and looked into James' sorrowful blue gaze.

"I never wanted to hurt you," he whispered. "It'll never happen again."

The shadows had formed a whirlwind around them, making it impossible to see anything and their voices growing into a cacophony of insane noise. Despite it all, they continued to stare at each other as if none of it existed.

"I promise you that."

John came up and the brothers grasped one another's forearm. Paler green flames began to dance along James' skin. He held Vivian while the other carried Michelle and together they forced themselves into the wall of swirling darkness.

A stifling thickness pervaded every sense so that it was more like swimming than running, but their flames harmed the shadows and they began to make headway.

Almost as if a switch had been flipped, they were through. The air was still and the city calmed behind them. There was still the feeling of ire and agitation from the place, but it only extended to the boundary, not beyond.

Michelle's head rose and she looked around in confusion. "What just happened?"

The fright of nearly getting killed made her lose most of the careless slang in her speech. Rather than having a cocky attitude, she had become serious and timid.

"If it weren't for Vivian I would never have come back to myself," James breathed, stroking down the girl's hair as she lay limp in his arms. He held her bride-style and remembered faintly holding Alice in such a way long ago.

"Who?" the Sleep Walker wondered. "And why are you holding your arms like that? I'm not going to crawl into them if that's what you want."

Okay, scratch the altered attitude bit. Her words may have been complete and not chopped off in a slang way, but the tone was just as biting as before. Still...

"Are you saying you can't see Vivian?"

"Again, who's Vivian? And would you put your arms down? You really look silly."

The subject of this conversation shook her head. "Bonnie told me only Angels and Sleep Walkers who had a close relationship with me could see me at all. But that doesn't matter. Namro is on his way and he'll be here any minute looking for Aque!"

John sighed,
"If Namro is coming he'll have enough men to form an army with him..." he shook his head, "And there's no other way out of the city. We're trapped."
James looked down at Vivian and smiled down at her,
"Not yet we're not." he said. He put Vivian back down gently before the spikes in his body grew larger, "This city will never fall to Namro. Even our defiance has only stilled it. This place can never die."
Vivian frowned,
"And how does that help us?" she asked. Michelle caught on though,
"You're going to use the powers of the city to fight him? Is this one dude and his mates really such a bad thing?" she asked, to be responded by only glares from both of the dangerous brothers, "Oh. I guess it is then."
John frowned,
"Are you sure you can fight him like that?" he asked. James chuckled,
"Fight? Not a snowball in hell's chance. Create one heck of a distraction? Just watch me." he said with a grin.
James and Vivian made their way to the edge of the city, leaving the others behind. James rested his arm on Vivian's shoulder as they stared out of the city in silence. Finally Vivian spoke,
"How dangerous is you plan James?" she asked, still not looking at him. Jame frowned,
"Very." he conceeded. Vivian nodded,
"And how dangerous is trying to escape without a distraction?" she asked. James nodded slightly,
"Impossible." he said with a sigh. He frowned when he heard Vivian sniff. He turned to look at her and found her crying openly. His hand went to her face and she stared at him as he whiped her tears away, "You'll be fine Vivian."
She nodded with a sniff,
"I know that... it's you I'm worried about." she confessed before flinging herself on him, wrapping her arms around him. James smiled,
"You'll never have to worry about me Vivian. I'll always come back to you. Right up until the day the world stops existing." he vowed. Vivian sniffed again and they returned to staring out across the fields below.