A Note From Lara: Well, I finally got around to updating this. I feel thoroughly ashamed of having left it alone for so long. But now that we're nearing the winter hiatus, hopefully I can wrap it up before the new volume (are they going to begin a new volume after the break?) starts. Also, I'll be borrowing heavily from The Matrix. But oh well. It's FF. I can do that.


Charlie tapped Caitlin on the shoulder. The other woman had completely drifted away again, staring out across the sea with a blank look on her face. But at Charlie's touch, she slowly drifted back to glance at her. "Hm?" she asked dreamily.

"Is there anything else here besides this hilltop?" she asked.

Caitlin nodded. "Yes, of course," she said. "There's everything here. Everywhere and everywhen blend together around here. That's what Elsewhere is, you see. It's everything and nothing, and if you think about it too hard, you'll get confused and you'll lose yourself."

"You've already lost yourself!" Charlie exclaimed.

"What?" Caitlin asked.

"Never mind," Charlie said. "I'm sorry. What I meant was, is there a town nearby?"

Caitlin nodded.

"Can you take me there?" Charlie asked.

Caitlin shrugged.

"What d'you mean?"

"I... I suppose I could," Caitlin said. "But what if Peter comes?" Her pretty face collapsed into a hopeless kind of look. "I would miss him, and then how would I ever get out of here?"

"I'm sure that if he comes, he'll stay long enough to find you," she said. "You've been waiting all this time; surely he'd do the same."

"Maybe you're right," Caitlin said, fears apparently all that easily appeased. "Come on, then. I'll show you the way."

* * *

Charlie stared around them in wonder as they entered the town. It was a bizarre place. Steel and glass skyscrapers were interspersed with Greek and Roman architecture and several buildings that looked straight out of ancient Japan. Scattered between these were thatch-roofed huts that seemed to date from medieval Europe and nomadic tents whose origin Charlie couldn't place despite the encyclopedia her mind seemed to contain on architecture.

And even stranger than the buildings were the people. Men and women dressed in furs were chatting gaily on cell phones, and people in smart business dress were attempting to roast haunches of raw meat over open fires. It was exactly as Caitlin had said: everywhere and everywhen had blended together to create a chaotic atmosphere that nearly overwhelmed Charlie's senses.

"Oh my," she said softly.

"A tad much, isn't it," Caitlin said, shrinking back. Her words dissolved into a near-whimper as she became even more disoriented by the crowded village. "I don't want to be here any more, Charlie. Please, let's go back to the hilltop. We can wait there. There's no reason to be here in the town..."

"Don't be silly," Charlie said. "It'll be alright. I just want to look around. Is there anyone who might know how to escape from Elsewhere?"

"Escape?" the other woman asked in dazed confusion. "Why? Elsewhere isn't a prison. It's..."

She trailed away, a confused look on her face. Charlie sighed, and rephrased. "Who's the wisest person here?" she asked.

Caitlin shrugged, and a strange look came over her face. If her drifting, shell-shocked expression she'd worn this whole time had been blank, she was now completely without emotion. Her pupils blazed with a sickly-looking green light as she said, "Seek out Master Akio. He will know." Then she shook her head, and what little awareness she'd had came back into her eyes as the eerie light faded away. "I'm sorry," she said. "Did I do something unexpected?"

"Uh, no! Of course not," Charlie assured her, not quite sure why she was lying.

Relief flooded Caitlin's face. "Good. They tell me that sometimes when the Knowing comes on me, I say strange things."

Charlie nodded. "I was thinking maybe we should find... I once knew a man," she said, inventing wildly. "A few years ago, he disappeared. I wonder if maybe he came here. His name was Master Akio."

The Irish woman's emerald eyes flared with recognition for a moment. Then her face collapsed into a desperate, childlike fear. "No, please! Charlie, please! Don't make me go to him. I..." She clutched at Charlie's hand. "It will hurt me," she whispered. "It will hurt me again, the way it did when--" Her face twisted up in confusion. "I don't remember. I don't remember when. But please don't make me..."

"Okay!" Charlie exclaimed. "It's alright. You don't have to come with me. Wait right here. I'll be back in a jiffy, alright?"

Caitlin nodded and sat down on the ground, holding her arms tightly around herself. Distinctly worried and deeply confused, Charlie set out to find the mysterious Master Akio, not quite sure why she was doing it except that she had nothing better to do.