GATE

Fakir watched the changing expressions on Ahiru's face.

At first there was confusion, then awe, bewilderment, excitement, a step back to puzzlement, and finally she was pensive. The green eyed writer wondered if she could handle all that must have been going through her mind, because she was back to confused all too soon.

With a sigh, he sat back and watched her, "is something wrong?"

He watched her expression change again to pensive, "nothing's wrong really, it's just... well, this town is actually stranger in reality than it had been in Drosselmeyer's story."

Fakir had to agree; he hadn't remembered what the town had really been like before the story took over. "It's true; I'd forgotten ours was a world of magic. It makes Drosselmeyer's world seem tame in comparison."

The young redheaded woman nodded, "it's scary what the gates could do if misused."

He nodded in agreement. Those gates were the whole reason the crazed story spinner was able to escape the fate of oblivion in the first place. He may have died but he was still able to create another reality with the town gates, a reality where he had power. Limited power, but still power nonetheless. Once Fakir destroyed the story spinning device, that realities ties to the gate was severed. So wherever he was, there was no danger of seeing him again.

"So can we use them to bring Mytho and Rue back from the story?" her question severed his train of thought.

Green eyes connected with blue and he understood how much she missed them, "it should be possible as long as we use the right gate." His face reddened at the way hers lit up, "don't get ahead of yourself. I have to do research first."

Happiness radiated off of her, "I know," she said matter of factly. She tried to curb her happiness so she could show she was serious, but she was soon smiling once more, "is there anything I can do to help?"

No longer able to keep his face neutral, he gave in to the urge to smile at her, "yeah, come with me." He started walking knowing she was right behind him.

Ahiru knew the importance of Fakir's research, she really did. But it was just so... boring and over her head. She was becoming increasingly better at ballet, and she was coming along in her academic classes, but the magic side of things completely threw her. Sure there was a certain fantastical magic air to Drosselmeyer's world, but there hadn't been formulas to it.

At least none that she had been aware of.

Still, she did her best to understand the magical tomes table of contents system to try and find what Fakir was looking for.

"Extra dimensional gates... extra dimensional gates..." she repeated the words to herself, hoping she would find the right section. She still did not understand why the table of contents was spread throughout the entire book instead of being all at the beginning like her academic books.

She narrowed her eyes in concentration as she flipped through the pages, skimming them for the information needed. About ten minutes into her search she found something.

"Hey Fakir," Ahiru whispered, remembering they were in a library.

"Did you find something, Ahiru?" he questioned.

She nodded and handed him the book, "extra dimensional doors. That's basically the same thing, right?"

She watched as Fakir's eyes sped along the page, watching for a positive reaction. When he looked at her with a small smile a huge one broke out on her own face.

"This should work. Thanks, Ahiru."

"Alright!" she cheered before several voices shushed her. Face turning cherry red, she hung her head and whispered, "Sorry."

According to the book, and some minor alterations he had to make to the spell, the West gate of Kinkan had to be the location of the spell. It also specified that it had to be done in the hours leading dusk to nightfall, a time of day where one door closed and another opened. So Fakir and Ahiru arrived a little before five to prepare the area.

The two spent time cleansing the area so that nothing impure would block the pathway of their gate. As the town clock struck six in the evening, Fakir got into place and Ahiru stood off to the side. Both watched as the sun lowered, painting the sky red, orange, pink, and navy. At exactly a quarter past six, Fakir began chanting.

No matter how many times Ahiru saw the sunset, it never got old. It was beautiful and breathtaking; a sight she could not fully appreciate as a duck. However, her attention was stolen by Fakir's voice as he began chanting. It wasn't an enchanting voice, but it did send shivers down her spine. She had no clue what he was saying, but she could feel the magic in his intentions.

"Lead us to Mytho and Rue." That was what she felt his words were saying.

After a few minutes of chanting the Western gate began to glow, and intensified the longer he continued. Time was lost as they stood before the gate. Ahiru had no clue how long they'd been standing there when Fakir turned to her and held out his hand.

"Let's go get Mytho and Rue," he said to her.

Smiling, she nodded as she took his hand, the gate opening before them, a black abyss instead of the cobblestone pavement.