The globe of light and wind that had blown the sands of my home around me vanished abruptly as I arrived in a completely different world. Water fell from the sky, soaking me within seconds. Underneath my bare feet the earth was wet with mud and the sky was dark and angry. The falling water
made it hard to see anything and the sudden darkness after the blazing sun of my home made my vision blacken, my head swam as my eyes began to become accustomed to this new world.
It was then that I realized I was not alone. In front of me was the witch, the one I sought. Standing beside me were four others, A cloaked man, another carrying a sword, and two more who seemed no more the children. The boy child was holding a limp girl in his arms and I couldn't tell if it was the water from the sky that made his face wet or his own desperate tears.
"Please," the boy said, his eyes locked on the witch. "Please help me save Princess Sakura!"
The witch looked back at him, her expression unreadable. "The Princess has lost something very important to her."
"The feathers..." the boy murmured.
"Yes. Those feathers contained her memories. Without them she will die."
"How can I get them back? Please, I'll do whatever it takes."
The witch eyed the boy critically. Then she looked at the others behind him, including me. "I have the power to grant wishes. However, I must have compensation. That is the law of all things. To gain something, something must be lost. So, are you prepared to pay that price?"
The question was directed at the boy but I could tell she was asking all of us.
"Yes!" the boy said, immediately.
"Very well then."
"Look, I don't know what's going on here but could someone tell me where I am and how the heck do I get back home?" The swordsman spoke up, interrupting this weighted exchange. "And you'd better start talking quick before I decide to start hacking at things!"
"Is that your wish?" the witch asked, turning her eyes on him.
"I just want to go back where I came from, Lady, so yeah, that's my wish."
"And my wish is the opposite." the cloaked man said with a smile. I realized now that his aura was strongly cloaked in magic. He, like me and unlike the swordsman and the children, had gotten here under his own powers. He must be a very powerful magic-wielder indeed. "Any world but my own will do."
"The feathers the boy Sauron seeks have been scattered across many worlds. He will have to look very hard to find them. Both of your paths lie entwined with his. You will accompany him, whether you help him in his quest or not is up to you. And you as well girl," she said, turning now to look at me. "Why are you here?"
"To call in a favor." I replied, pulling a leather cord from around my neck. Dangling from the cord was a single glowing stone. "You remember this, yes?" I tossed the ornament to her.
She caught it, her eyes widening as she looked at it. "I see. Well then, what is your wish?"
"To find the world-traveler who came to my world and kill him." I said immediately.
The others looked surprised but the witch merely nodded. "Then you will also accompany Sauron. However, there is still a price to pay."
I nodded along with the others.
"From you swordsman." the witch started, turning to him first. "I'll take you're sword."
"What?" he demanded, drawing back from her in outrage. "What's a swordsman without a sword? There's no way I'll give this to you!"
"Then you will be stuck on this world for eternity." The witch said with a shrug. "It makes no difference to me. To you wish to return home or don't you?"
Reluctantly, the swordsman nodded. He held out his sword and it glowed with a golden light, then disappeared, reappearing behind the witch.
"And from you, wizard, that tattoo on your back..."
"Wouldn't you rather have my staff?" the cloaked man asked, holding out a beautifully decorated staff wrought with gold and crystals. The witch shook her head and the man sighed. "No, I suppose not."
"The thing that is given must be the thing most valuable to the possessor. You most treasure that tattoo, so that is the price."
"Very well." the man said and then he began to glow, just as the sword had. A moment later an ornate design floated up, away from the man and over to behind the witch.
"As for you, Sauron." the witch continued, looking at the boy. "The thing you most value is that girl. Therefore, what I will take from you will be memories."
The boy blinked, not understanding.
"The girl Sakura's memories. I shall take all her memories of you. No matter how many of her feathers and other memories you recover, she shall never remember you. You shall be nothing more to her then a kind stranger."
The cloaked man winced, sympathetically and even I felt sorry for the boy. It was a hefty price.
But the boy agreed to it without even pausing for thought. "If that's what it takes to save the Princess. I will gladly pay that price."
This time both the boy and the girl were bathed in the light. What the witch took from them was not visible, but it was just as heavy a price as a sword or a tattoo.
"And my price?" I asked, almost afraid of what she would demand of me.
The witch looked me up and down, slowly. "Your ring." she said finally. "It will be the price."
I bit my lip, I had expected as much, but I nodded and in a flash of gold light my ring was gone.
"Thank you. And now, I shall give you what you wish for." The five of us leaned forward eagerly, but where taken aback when Yuko's assistants brought out, what looked to be, a pair of rabbits.
"This is Mokena." The witch said, waving to the white one. "It will allow you to travel from world to world. It will also allow you to contact me at any time. Just remember, and help I give you will come at a cost."
"What about the black one?" the swordsman asked.
"That one I keep. Mokena will also be your guide. It will sense the Princesses feathers and tell you when they are near."
"How does that help me?" I asked.
The witch looked at me. "The sooner Sakura's feathers are found the sooner you can move on to other worlds. Of course, whether you help him or not is up to you."
The white rabbit, Mokena, jumped from the witch's arms and into the cloaked man's hands. "I Mokena." It said, a ridiculous grin on it's face. "What's your name?"
"Well, aren't you cute?" the wizard said, smiling back at it. "My name's Fai. It's nice to meet you Mokena."
"That's enough pleasantries." The witch said, turning away from us. "Goodbye you all."
"Goodbye, Lady." the wizard said with another smile.
"Hang on a minute!" the swordsman called as the boy called out "Wait! What about Sakura?"
The witch looked back at him. "She'll be fine once you find her feathers. But you'd better find them quickly. That girl's memories hold tremendous power. You won't be the only ones after the feathers."
"I understand." the boy said, his face set with determination.
"Mokena Moriki ready to go!" Mokena announced. With that it leapt into the air, wings sprouting from it's back, enveloping us all in another golden light.
"What the-!" The swordsman cried as the wizard watched with interest. "Now, isn't that something." I touched the throwing dart hidden against my side for comfort as the swirling light covered us. Only the boy seemed unshaken, the girl in his arms taking all his attentions.
The light grew brighter and brighter, swirling faster and faster until finally the sky itself swirled down with it, taking the light and us with it.