OK! some more stuff happens in this chapter but no real fighting yet. Just some preparations etc. Hope it's not boring! Theres some more pairing stuff here though, so yay!

Naru smiled and walked over to Mai slowly. "You ready to have a tour?" He asked, and she felt her heart skip a beat... or two.

"Uh... yeah of course!" She grinned. Then she noticed something she'd not noticed before. "Naru... you're wearing jeans!" He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and dark plain jeans with black converse shoes. Uh... wow. She laughed. "I wasn't sure you were really seventeen before now!" Naru shook his head and lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He looked down at her from beneath his dark fringe. "You're such an idiot." He sighed. Mai herself was wearing a light pink summer dress with a denim cropped jacket and trainers, looking decidedly unusual but at the same time cute.

Luella squealed proudly. "Oh my god you two are adorable!" FLASH "Martin! Darling you'll love this one!"

"Mother..." Naru's eyebrow twitched lightly in annoyance and he stared at her as she ran down the corridor to the ward rooms where Dr Martin Davis would undoubtedly be filling in the other doctors on the severity of their situation.

Or not.

"So They've been an adorable little couple ever since!" Martin smiled proudly and showed Dr Finch the developed photos of his son and Mai. "Look at the softness in his eyes in this photo! My little boy is so grown up!" He grinned and Dr Finch's eyebrows rose.

"They got kidnapped? This woman is after them? Shouldn't you have told me we needed to fortify the building as soon as you got here?" Dr Finch indulged his employer's eccentricities quite happily, but he was a man with a great sense of prioritising. "Marie!" He shouted, and a female doctor ran into the office.

"Yes sir?"

"Gather all the PK users in rooms according to type and strength, the all the Mediums and other patients in similar groups. We need to fortify the building so get the Priests and spell users to secure the perimeter of the courtyard, with another barrier around the institute building. This is a crisis and we cannot afford to lose any more time!"

"Yes sir!" Marie shouted and ran from the room, her white coat trailing behind. Martin laughed bemusedly.

"I suppose it is rather urgent isn't it?"

Dr Finch sighed. "Sometimes Martin, I think you're far too young for this."

Martin smiled. "And Noll?"

"Noll's too old."

"Ah."

Marie ran right past Naru and Mai as she gathered the patients and employees according to Psychic type. "Hi Noll! Bye Noll!"

Naru shook his head and smirked. "It seems that Dr Finch has managed to find out what's going on from Dad's ramblings." He murmured in amusement. "Did you have a dream last night?"

Mai nodded. "I saw both Gene and Adrian."

"Did you do as I asked?" He whispered, looking down at her compassionately.

Mai smiled. "Yeah."

"Tell me what happened."

Mai's dream-

"Gene? Are you there?" She called, and looked around. She was standing in front of a cave, and from the cave an eerie white light made the atmosphere surreal and spooky. From the cave, Mai could hear the steady dripping of water and... a voice.

"Mai. Come here." It was a woman, but Mai hesitated, thinking of the strange woman with silver hair... "Mai. Don't worry; it's not the captain, it's me, Adrian."

"Adrian?" Mai asked, and slowly moved into the cave, squinting past the glow and trying to look for the dark haired elf-like woman who had helped them escape. "Where's Gene?"

"Hello Mai." Gene smiled warmly and Mai felt the knots in her stomach relax.

"Hey."

Adrian's voice came again, but the glow still blinded Mai. "Follow my voice."

Mai entered the cave more and found she was following a tunnel, getting closer to the sound of water and Adrian's smooth voice. She emerged in a small cavern, and Adrian sat before a hole beneath a shelf of rock, from which pearlescent water seemed to drip slowly.

"Welcome to the gate Mai." Adrian smiled, and Gene moved to stand with her. "This is where spirits move on."

Mai smiled. "Adrian you look... much better."

"Healthier." Gene agreed. "When Adrian's here, there's no danger. She guards the spirit world and keeps spirits safe from outside influence."

"Like what?"

"Like the Captain." Adrian smiled. "I joined her ranks for my own amusement; I was curious to see what such a strong power could be looking for. Then my purpose changed, and I stay simply because I need to keep the peace." She reached out a hand and stroked Mai's cheek tenderly. "When your parents came past me, I didn't tell them your fate, because if I had they would have never crossed over."

Mai smiled. "Then I must thank you."

"No need. Just promise me that you'll help me fix this. It's her influence that's causing an unbalance in this world, and soon the spirits will pour out of here, unable to find peace ever again as they watch their descendants suffer." Adrian steeled her gaze. "Only you and Oliver can know this. Alice knows the outcome of this, but if you tell the others then the future may change for the worst. Bad things are coming anyway, but if you change the way this is going, then our plans fall to ruin, and Mai, you become what the Captain wants you to become."

Mai nodded tightly. "What does the captain want? Why has she gathered a council?"

Adrian looked at Gene and then back at Mai. "She wants... to have the spirit world die. If ghosts are stranded on Earth, then the world beyond becomes empty. Do you have any idea what lies behind me?" Mai shook her head. "You cannot imagine how beautiful it is there. Anyone who's seen it wants it, and anyone who wants it will do anything for it. As spirits, the dead can find peace, but if a living person sees it, their hearts are closed to my influence, and I can't purify the selfish emotions that take hold."

Mai's eyes widened. "She wants the spirit world? All this for land?"

Adrian shook her head. "No." She whispered. "she wants the power that lies in its depths. There is an object in there, and it governs existence itself with its power. It is a consciousness that both creates and destroys, and it is the very thing that gifts some with psychic ability. It is my master and my servant, my lover and my parent, it is..." Adrian stopped.

"It is...?" Mai prompted, and from Gene's expression of intent concentration, it seemed that Adrian had not told him either.

The elfin beauty smiled. "It is... the pure essence of Karma, of God, of life and death. This is what we protect by destroying her."

"Why does she want it?"

"Greed." Adrian murmured. "She will never be stronger than this object, and she resents it. The Captain is a complex woman, but she is also so very simple. She doesn't understand its potency, but she wants it anyway. That is all I can tell you."

Mai nodded. "I don't understand though..." She whispered, and Adrian bowed her head.

"You won't. Not for a long time."

Gene shook his head. "I think... that you don't know everything."

"Of course not." Adrian nodded. "There is only one person who knows everything that is going on, and she can't tell you."

"Alice." Mai sighed. How can she be sane? Knowing the outcome and being unable to change it for the better? "Poor Alice."

"Indeed." Adrian agreed. "She comes here sometimes, as she goes into trances. She's sat with me many times and talked."

"Will she die?"

"Ever? Certainly." Adrian looked away. "She has told me things. She knows I won't affect the outcome, so it is safe. I can keep her sane." Mai felt a familiar pull on her consciousness and smiled.

"I have to go." Mai stated. "Naru's waking me up."

"Yes. Tell him what I told you, and tell him you asked his questions well." Adrian smiled and Gene laughed. Mai grinned brilliantly and left the dream.

Naru nodded. "We'll help her." He agreed. "Mai, follow me, I want to show you my laboratory."

Mai smiled at him happily and hugged him, a faint blush gracing her cheeks as she walked beside him and they entered the research area of the institute. "You have your own laboratory?" She asked, and he raised his dark eyebrows in that prideful, arrogant way.

"Of course I do."

"Of course you do." She rolled her eyes and sighed but smiled gently up at him. "This means a lot to you doesn't it Naru?" She asked, reaching to take the other teen's hand. A strange expression crossed his face; something between sadness and excitement.

"Yes." He breathed, and Mai understood; it was something he'd shared with Gene, and something he had to connect him with his family. This science was the very thing his life had revolved around all his life, and it was the very thing he liked to have for himself. It was the talent he possessed that defined him and ensured his academic and intellectual superiority.

Mai nodded. "You're sure you want to share this?" She asked, looking down and away from his face, but the pale hand around hers tightened almost imperceptibly, and nothing was said but Naru continued to lead her down the network of corridors. "Thanks." She whispered, and unseen to her Naru smiled.

"Naru..." Mai started, biting her lip. "This is going to work right? Rin said it would but I don't understand her motives here..."

Naru nodded and they entered the laboratory, donning their white coats and putting their id cards through the reader. "We don't have any other ideas." He stated.

"We have Adrian."

Naru smiled. "No one else can know that."

"Where are you going?" Adrian asked, as Boar watched silently from beside her. "Why did you call us here if you were already leaving?" Her pretty face was flushed. "I need to be at the gate!"

"No you don't." The Captain said, softly. "I've decided that I won't wait for a new body. I want it now!"

Adrian shook her head. "You know you can't."

The Captain glared at her. "Then hurry up and send Lucifer to find them!" She turned her glare on Boar. "GO!"

"Yes sir." He grunted, and left the room. The captain smiled at Adrian who shook her head and vanished.

"Alice!" David shook his sister's shoulder and she looked at him. "You spaced out." He muttered, standing up. "We have to go; we're being called to help fortify the building."

"I can't help." Alice frowned. "I can only see the future." She looked away. I don't want to know anyone any better, not when their deaths keep me awake at night. "You go. I want to stay here." When he didn't move, she slapped his shoulder. "Alone! Go." Reluctantly, the blond boy moved from the bed and left, as his sister turned on the CD player.

Her favourite song came on, but she closed her eyes. This singer will die of heart failure after a car accident in two days. She sighed. "Tonight, I will be eating beans but David will steal five of them." Her eyebrows furrowed and she opened her eyes.

Whenever I blink, I see things, when I sleep it's like a film on fast-forward.

"I can't help anyone."

Rin stirred the iced tea and eyed the gathering fighters carefully. They looked like decent people, but she knew that that wasn't everything. "I'm going to get that bitch for what she did to me and my family." She muttered, and her two companions nodded. John and Masako walked over to the four and John smiled. "Madoka, Lin wants to talk to you." He said, and the auburn haired woman smiled back.

"Of course." She smiled. "Koujo! I'm coming!"

Leaving Yasuhara, Rin, John and Masako at the small cafeteria table, she ran over to the stoic Chinese man. Rin motioned for John and Masako to sit down, but John shook his head. "Luella wanted me to help securing the perimeter." He explained, but smiled warmly. "Thank you anyway."

Masako smiled and took Madoka's empty seat. "Thank you." She nodded to Rin. "Are David and Alice...?"

"Helping?" Rin finished. "I think so. Alice isn't coping well with meeting you all. She... is very bad at getting close to people." Masako glanced at her and hid her face behind her kimono sleeve.

"She's seen how this ends." She sighed.

Rin nodded. "Yes."

Yasuhara sighed. "I'd rather not be told though." Masako looked up at him in surprise.

"Why not?" She asked. "Wouldn't you prefer to have the chance to prepare yourself if you were the one to die? What if we all die?"

Yasuhara smiled softly. "I'd like to act on my own choices, not on choices I make after seeing the result of those choices." He looked at Rin sadly. "You've been told?"

She shook her head. "Alice won't say." She sighed. "I wish I could help; I'm like their mother and it hurts to see them sad."

"Yet for your real children you have no cares?" Masako bit out, and then looked away. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't..."

"No." Rin nodded. "You're right to be angry. But the reason I went to Japan was to protect them... I thought they were there. I had no idea they were in my home country."

Yasuhara glanced at her. "You were there when Gene died." Masako gasped, and breathed the name of her dead lover.

"Yes I was." Rin assented. Masako stood up and pushed the chair back, making it fall over.

"I have to..." She sobbed quietly and turned, running away and out of the large room. The Catholic priest, John, saw this quickly and followed close behind.

"Miss Hara!" He called as the doors closed behind him.

Naru and Mai had just emerged from the laboratory when Masako ran past in tears. "Masako!" Mai cried, and John ran past. "John!" She called, and, dragging Naru by the hand followed the other two down the corridor.

The four teenagers ran down the corridors until they reached the bedrooms where they were staying. Masako ran into the room she shared with Mai and Ayako before falling on her knees and sobbing quietly.

John ran over to her and knelt beside her, pulling her head to his shoulder and rubbing her back. "It's okay... its okay..." He whispered.

"Did you hear?" Masako choked. "Did you hear that she was there?" She looked up at John and whispered so that Naru couldn't hear. "She was there when Gene died."

John's face twitched and he nodded. "I'm sorry."

Mai walked over and knelt beside the other two. "Masako... what's wrong? What happened?" Naru walked over to them as well, but remained standing, showing concern only through his eyes.

Masako smiled weakly at her friend. "I'm sorry... I suppose I'm just panicking about all of this." She shrugged and sat up, away from the blond priest. "I didn't mean to worry you."

Mai smiled. "It's okay." She whispered. "I'd rather worry over nothing than not be there when something happens."

Masako smiled. "Thanks."

John bowed his head and breathed in a voice not loud enough to be a whisper. "Well done." Only Masako heard and she looked at him.

"I've been in love once before. It wasn't Naru, but..." She looked up at Naru. "I'm sorry I never told you... I knew Gene. We... were lovers before he died."

Naru stepped back as though he'd been slapped. "You..." He closed his eyes and then glared at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She shook her head. "I wanted to see... if you could replace him. I loved him so much and you looked so much like him... I'm sorry." She looked at Mai. "I knew it was Gene who came to me at Urado's mansion... but I pretended it was Naru, because the idea of Gene watching over me was too... sad." She bowed her head and looked at John. Who winced and took a deep breath, steadying himself.

"I love you." He whispered, and she smiled happily.

"I... love you too." He smiled back and held her close.

Naru and Mai smirked at each other and left the room, leaving the couple embracing each other and walked down the corridor.

"Are you alright?" Mai asked, looking up at the boy beside her. He nodded and looked at her.

"Do you mind if we go back to the lab? I want to try some tests... on you. If that's ok."

Mai stared at him. "That was almost as good as a please! Are you sure you're okay Naru?" She faked fear and put a hand to her mouth. "I need to find a doctor."

Naru smiled softly and shook his head. "You really are an idiot. Come here." He held out one hand and she took it, letting him lead her to the lab, and opening the door once more to let her in.

I'm not happy with this chapter... It doesn't read well I don't think ... hmm...

Oh well!

By the way, should i separate the previous story into two stories? It's pretty long and I'm not sure. What do you think? REVIEW!