The Divine Eating Utensil is back! YAY!

Chaotic Illusion is a direct sequel to Dreams of Rain, but you do not need to have read Dreams of Rain to understand what's going on here. (Just be aware that another story has taken place between the game and Chaotic Illusion.) In fact, it's better if you didn't read it; it was my first story and thus has the quality of a first story. The only thing I'll tell you right here is that in these stories, Kalas's Guardian Spirit is named Allyr. Just for clarification sake.

This story has spoilers for both the game and Dreams of Rain. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Baten Kaitos, or the lyrics that the little kid sings at the end of the prologue. Yes, someone has the rights to that... And all of the original characters are mine, and anyone who uses them without permission will be reported. I'm serious.

Now, let's see who knows their mythology! (-hint hint-)

Chaotic Illusion

Prologue: Fenris

Oh you poor thing,

Shunned by your own kind.

Born deformed and condemned,

Doomed to a life of misfortune and violence.

O poor mongrel dog,

Who dreams wolf dreams,

Come with me,

Spread your beautiful white wings,

Take on your true form,

And become who you really are.

The house was like many others in the residential area of the city. One story tall, with a red door, black singled roof, and white paint slowly peeling off the sides of the home. A small, slightly overgrown front yard and a sidewalk was all that separated the building from the street. It was about noon in the middle of summer. It was a blazing ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to make an omelet on the concrete sidewalk.

This was what Vivian thought about as she walked up to the house, sweat rolling off her skin in fat beads. She was five foot five, with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a light-blue shirt and yellow sweat pants that hugged her legs. In all her twenty-two years of life, she never remembered a day that had ever been this hot.

She walked up to the door, and knocked once. She stood waiting patiently for the door to open. When it finally did, a short overweight woman with dark brown hair looked up at her.

"Oh, it's you Vivian," she said smiling, "I didn't expect you."

Vivian gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry Mrs. Mayers," she said, "For dropping in like this."

The older woman waved a hand, "Don't mention it," she said kindly "You're a friend of both my children. You'll always be welcome here."

Vivian stepped inside, and began to remover her shoes, "I wanted to ask about that," she started as she untied her right shoe, "Has Allyr come home yet?"

Mrs. Mayers lower lip quivered for a moment, "No," she said, sounding painfully close to tears, "She's still missing."

"…I'm sorry," said Vivian, finally straightening up. Allyr had been Mrs. Mayers's eldest child. She had disappeared five years ago.

Vivian knew what had happened to her, and had tried to explain it to Mrs. Mayers without success. In truth, it probably did seem ridiculous to someone who had not been dragged into Allyr's story.

Seven years ago, when Allyr had been sixteen she had gotten into a bad car accident. As a result she had fallen into a deep coma for two years. She would later try to explain to Vivian that in that time she had traveled to another world and had become sort of a guardian angel to a man named Kalas. Shortly after her return, Kalas had similarly traversed the boundaries of the worlds and came to Allyr, this time he was the Spirit, and became her Guardian. When Allyr had found a way to return to his world, and a chance to bring him back to life, she had left. She had asked Vivian to try to explain everything to her family, assured Vivian that she would come back, and finally left this dimension altogether.

After five years she had not yet returned.

Vivian harbored a fear that maybe she had died, or had somehow become trapped in that other world. After a while, she stopped expecting Allyr to return home. Perhaps life had been better on the other side. Maybe 'normal' life had become too dull, and she had wanted to stay. Perhaps she stayed for her partner, Kalas.

Vivian fell away from these thoughts as she felt a gentle tugging in the back of her mind. It was as if some small part of her brain was actively trying to get her attention. "Um… Mrs. Mayers?" she started, "Do you mind if I stay a while? College has let out and I just need a place to stay." Vivian blushed, "I got kicked out of my other apartment because I forgot to pay rent."

"That's no problem," said Mrs. Mayers, "David and Barb are staying in the guestroom. So can I trust you with Allyr's old room?"

Vivian blinked, "David's here?" she asked. David was Allyr's biological father, and had remarried after he had divorced Allyr's mother. (Despite being divorced, Allyr's mother was always reffered to as 'Mrs'. It's one of those things that has always been, so there is no reason to stop doing it.) She was also surprised that Mrs. Mayers was letting Vivian into Allyr's old room, which she knew for a fact that Mrs. Mayers had not gone near since her daughter's disappearance.

"Yes he's here," confirmed Mrs. Mayers, "Don't worry about him. He's mostly harmless."

Vivian walked down the narrow little hall, and let her feet bring her to her friend's old room. She looked inside to see that nothing had been altered since Allyr had vanished. There had been no dusting, or removing of any of the items on the floor. Closing the door behind her, she walked in and sat down on the dusty spring bed on the far side of the room. She looked up at the ceiling.

"…Fen?" she said aloud, apparently to no one.

"Yes Vivian?" replied a deep, gentle, male voice.

"What's wrong Fen?" she asked, still looking up at the ceiling, "Is something bothering you?"

"I felt… something strange," he said, "It's hard to explain." He sent her a feeling of discomfort, as if something in the air had changed. Like a small animal sensing a large predator hiding somewhere in the nearby bushes, just waiting for the right moment to strike, "It's still hard to explain," the voice continued, the tone suggesting that it was thinking hard, "It's like something's wrong with the world. Like something important broke…"

A thought struck Vivian, "Maybe… Maybe it's Allyr coming back!" she said, "She's found a way back, and what you're feeling is just the world tearing for the gate to form or something like that!"

The voice sighed, "I don't know," he said, sounding fatigued, "It could be anything. That's just one very specific possibility."

"Aw… Come on Fenris!" pleaded Vivian, "Please just show a little optimism!"

Fenris sighed again, accepting defeat, "All right," he said, "I can take you to where the feeling's coming from. Or at least nearby the source."

She grinned up at him, "I knew you'd cave eventually," she said cheerfully. She stood up, opened the door to the bedroom, and started to walk toward the front door, hoping no one would ask why she was leaving so soon.

"When'd you get here?" asked a voice curiously. Vivian turned to see a twenty-one year old blonde boy, giving her a hard stare with his bright blue eyes, "I thought you woulda told me when you were going to drop in," he said. His name was Takei, and he was Allyr's younger brother.

Takei was someone Vivian could confide in with this kind of topic: He too knew about Allyr and her Guardian, even if he had never been able to hear Kalas's voice. "Takei," Vivian said smiling, "I think Allyr came back!"

Takei's eyes widened in surprise, taken aback by this statement, "Are you sure?" he asked, hope building behind his eyes.

"Um… No," admitted Vivian, "Fen sensed it. And I trust his judgment." Takei nodded, he knew Vivian had a Guardian Spirit, just as Allyr had Kalas all those years ago, but had never once heard either Guardian's voice. Though he still believed in their existence, for reasons he could never quite pinpoint. It was like knowing without knowing that oxygen existed. You would never see it in a lifetime, but at the same time its presence was something you did not doubt.

"Then I'm coming," he said stubbornly, "Understand?"

Vivian nodded with a smile. She did understand. "All right," she said, "Let's get moving."

It was a ten minute walk from Takei's home to the source. Fenris guided Vivian there with gentle tugs on her mind, a feeling like a small child tugging at a sleeve to get attention. When they finally arrived, they were only half-surprised to find themselves at the entrance to the city park, the trees bent over looking forlorn. "This is where the boundaries between the worlds are weakest," said Fenris, "And the feeling is coming from somewhere inside here."

"Then let's go!" said Vivian cheerfully. Vivian followed closely by Takei walked into the park, directed by Fenris until they came to a large oak tree in the middle of the park, its green leaves covering the sky like a blanket. To the surprise of the three, there was already someone there.

A woman in her mid twenties stood at the base of the tree, staring serenely at them with bright green eyes. Her long black hair fell like an obsidian waterfall down her back. She wore an elegant black dress, black gloves that went up to her elbows, and a black lacy shawl was draped around her shoulders. She smiled at them, exposing white teeth. "Why hello there," she said with an accent that Takei and Vivian could not identify, "I have been waiting for you."

"Be careful Vivian," cautioned Fenris, "She can't be good news."

"Um… Who are you?" asked Takei, whom was completely deaf to Fenris's warning.

The woman kept smiling warmly at them, and said, "I am the mother of Romulus and Remus." This meant nothing to any of them. Something in the woman's eyes made it seem as if she knew their deepest darkest secrets. "Come with me," said the woman, stretching her thin arms out as if to embrace them, "There is something I want to show you."

Without warning she ran at them and grabbed Takei and Vivian by their necks as if attempting to strangle both of them at once. They were so off-guard they didn't even resist her. Fenris had only enough time to cry out Vivian's name before the whole world turned black.

Meanwhile in Azha, the refugees had returned to their homes. The Mad Wolf Unit had long since left, taking with them a little bit of the villagers' paranoia, fear, and hate of the Empire, but only a little. In the dusty roads in the village, a little boy of about seven skipped along. None of the other children would go anywhere near him, as if he had some kind of horrible disease that they all were afraid to catch. None of the adults would even look at the boy, as if he did not exist.

He had pale skin, in sharp contrast to the darker skin on the native Azhani. His hair and eyes were jet-black. He wore a faded dark green t-shirt and a pair of orange shorts. He was smiling broadly, the smile plastered to his face as if made of stone. As he skipped along the road, he sang:

"Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,

The Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf?

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Tra la la la la…"

And there we go, starting off with a cliffhanger. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I like cliffhangers, they annoy my readers so much. There will be a lot of cliffhangers in this story, just a warning.

Please review, and I'll take good reviews, bad reviews, even flames. Yup, I'm easy to please, though I like good reviews, very much...