"Hey, Ari." Ashley nodded. Ari's face was bright red. "What have you been doing? Looks like you distracted that guard really well."
"S-shut up." Ari blushed. "Let's hurry up."
They rushed away for a few minutes.
"Did you have FUN, Ari?" Pan joined in, once they were safe.
"Of course she did. That's why she took so long to get out of there." Chetara laughed.
Ari ignored the jibes. "Can I at least see it?"
Ashley fumbled around. "Yeah... Wait. Nikoru, do you have it?"
"No. I thought you did." Nikoru frowned.
"...Arjei, do you?" Ashley looked hard at her.
"No." Arjei looked puzzled.
"I must have dropped it." Ashley said, after a moment. There was a heavy group silence. Arjei walked over, and put her arms around Ashley's shoulders.
"It's okay." She
comforted.
"Yeah, we didn't... actually... NEED that thing
anyway." Ari said, slowly.
"Yeah. Let's go home." Pan frowned.
"I'm sorry." Ashley apologized.
"We're not mad!" Nikoru frowned. "It's okay."
"Don't worry about it. Ari
loses stuff all the time." Chetara nodded. Ashley laughed. Ari
nodded, also.
They all headed home.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ari was sitting on her bedroom floor, with a pile of flowers and plants next to her. She was playing around, being a bored neko. Slowly, she started to weave a necklace. Smiling, she weaved a 'Love Necklace' according to old neko magiks. It was more of a joke than anything. She weaved it slowly, and intricately. Each flower was precise, every herb exactly where it needed to be. Ari smiled, duefully, finishing up her weaving. This was her joke. Slipping it on, she giggled. There was a knock, and Ari answered her door.
"Come on, we got a letter from the TANTEI!" Arjei pulled her to the living room. Ari didn't get a chance to take her flower necklace off.
"Who do they think they ARE?" Pan was making a fuss. "Inviting us up there like that? They're just going to kill us when we're there, or put us in jail."
"But he said that it'll protect us." Ashley pointed at the top of the page. "We're being framed."
"So what if we take the rap for someone else's crimes!" Pan defended.
"They're murdering!" Nikoru blinked.
"Well, hm." Pan re-read over the paper.
"Nice necklace, Ari."
Ashley laughed, then looked back at the paper.
"Yeah, that is
cool." Pan chimed in. "You make it?"
Ari blushed. "Yes, it's... sort of silly." Ari took it off, setting it down. "What's going on?"
"A boy named Kurama from the
Reikai Tantei sent us a letter." Ashley looked at it. "Read
it."
"It doesn't seem safe." Chetara agreed.
"I
doubt Spirit World would back up a trick like that." Arjei
frowned.
It was agreed on. "So...what're we gonna do? We're meeting at the Griffin's grounds... we won't be able to lie..." Ari frowned. "But if they're luring us there to get us, they won't need to lie."
"I say we go." Ashley frowned. "It's not like we can't run. Ari can use her ... abilities... like she did with the one guard..." Ari hit her in the face with a pillow. "Oof!"
"And all the other guards." Arjei laughed.
"Arjei, not you too!" Ari groaned. "Thanks."
Chetara laughed. "And most of the rest of male society?"
"Exactly." Pan nodded.
"I say we go." Arjei nodded.
"Well, I'm going to be outvoted, so I say go." Pan frowned.
"Go." Nikoru nodded. "Horray for road trips!"
"And fascist dictators." Pan crossed her arms. "Going it is, I suppose." She stood up. Everyone went off to get their gear.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They walked along and over the bridge. Ari stopped, and pulled out her necklace. The last part of the 'spell' she'd learned from her family. She tossed it into the water, and it floated on.
"Come on, Ari." Arjei urged.
"We're almost there." Pan looked back. Ari scurried on. Chetara raised an eyebrow at the neko.
