!Em eus t'nod os, sretcarahc eht edam Ecreip Aromat, gnihton nwo I: Remialcsid.

Author's Note: See? I told you I would post the next two chapters up as fast as I could. I would have finished Chapter 7, but my friend…umm "borrowed" it to "correct" it. She then promptly forgot to bring it back—so blame her, not me. But I have good news too: I'm almost done with chapter 7, so expect it by next week. (I don't post on weekends, because I don't have an excuse to go on the web, I do everything at school) I'm trying to work in all of the rumors I've heard about Squire, (Thanks to Jae's rumor page!), so things may be a bit weird. Also, I went to check my author status yesterday, and checked my Visitor-to-Review ratio, and…heh heh…it was: 110/1 . But, then I found out that ff.n was a bit kooky, so…yeah. Oh, you might want to skip this chapter, since it is a bit…boring. I've also decided to kill Crown. Why? Well: 1: I'm in a murderous mood, and 2: Come On! The bird's over six years old! She has got to die sometime! Normal birds (song birds at least) live only up till three years! Crown's like, three hundred years old by human standards already! Don't worry, though, she'll have a romantic death (as in flashy, not romantic). PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME FOR THIS! Just take it like an adult. Oh, if anyone can't read the first letter, it's "Y

Section 2: Autumn

Chapter 6: Metamorphosis

ou're evil." Owen said grouchily, he slumped dejectedly in a corner, glaring at Khari and the others. None had Saturday work, so they spent the better part of the afternoon to pry Owen from his room.

"Owen," Khari said, pulling on one of his arms, "You. Are. Coming. With. Us. No. Matter. Whether. Or. Not. You. Like. It!" Merric seized Owens other arm. Together, they pulled him into a standing position.

Suddenly, Khari pulled out her timekeeper. It was a beautiful thing, a gift from her adoptive parents, that told the exact time of day (spelled to keep it working). She glanced at it and ran quickly out the door, stopping momentarily to drag Kel with her.

"I have to get going!" Khari called out behind her, "I'll leave Owen to you!" Owen whimpered as he glanced at the others. Jump, seeing the intensity of the situation, bounded over to block the doorway.

Kel followed mildly, not willing to risk the probability of crashing into a wall—Khari seemed to be a great sprinter, but only short distances. Sure enough, after a minute or two of sprinting, Khari halted abruptly, and tried to catch her breath. "So," Kel asked, not at all winded, "Where are we going?" Khari gasped, and formed letters with her hands.

"L-A-L-A-C, no, S-A" Kel read, "Lalasa? For the dress?" Khari nodded, and added some more letters, "L-A-L, Lalasa, G-O, go, F-E-S-T-I-V-huh?" Khari waved the letter away, "L, festivl? Festival! Lalasa's going to a festival!." Khari, still out of breath, mimed sweeping the floor, and pointed at the palace. "Oh! Lalasa's going to a servants festival at the palace!" Kel exclaimed. Khari nodded weakly, and motioned for Kel to lead the way, who automatically began to run.

When the two finally made it to Lalasa's dress shop, Khari promptly collapsed into a soft sofa. Kel smiled, and told Lalasa what they had come for.

"If my Lady pleases," Lalasa began, "I'll take the dress to your room and we can fit it there." She turned to wait for Khari's answer. Khari lifted up a hand and waved.

"Is that a yes?" Lalasa asked. Another wave. "Goddess, Lady Khari, if you don't speak, I won't be able to understand you!" Khari flipped over and nodded, then mechanically flipped back. Lalasa smiled and Kel laughed.

In the few minutes it took Kel and Lalasa to pack, Khari recovered sufficiently enough to walk back and mutter, "Kel, I am never, ever, ever! Going to "walk" with you again." The three walked back and chatted a bit along the way. They all filed into Kels' room, and washed up a bit. Kel put on her squires' tunic, and checked to make sure she was okay, while Khari complained about her dress.

Lalasa made a few final adjustments on Khari and Kel—throughout which Khari grumbled, and stepped back to admire her work. Khari had donned a nice dark blue dress with the minimum of frills and ruffles. She had also piled her long hair on top of her forehead. The only adornments she wore were black opal earbobs, and two necklaces—her usual timepiece, and a black opal charm to match her earbobs. She had flatly refused to let Lalasa put face paint on her, though she allowed a bit of lip-paint, in the shade of light, glittery pink. Kel was neat in her tunic, and the almost shoulder length brown hair was smoothed and tucked behind her ears…Lalasa suddenly remembered something. She pulled Khari over and held a whispered meeting with her. Kel glanced at them warily, it looked too much like a council of war to her.

Lalasa pulled out a long needle, which had a bit of cloth attached to the end, along with a diamond button. As she approached the girl squire, Kel asked mildly, "Is that for my tunic?" she wondered where Neal was, and what he would look like in his tunic. She mentally slapped herself, stop being silly, she commanded. You've seen Neal in his tunic before!

"—for your ears." Lalasa finished. By the time this comment struck Kel, Lalasa had already readied herself for the stab.

"For my wha—OW!" Kel shouted.

On three, Lalasa and Khari had simultaneously punched their needles into their respective ear (Kels, not their own). Kel fingered her new adornments while Lalasa professionally cleaned the little blood there was. The two earbobs were small, yet perfect, emerald colored crystals. Every time Kel moved her head, they sparkled, catching the sunlight. Kel saw all this in her mirror, and was dazed by the quick order of events.

A few minutes later, the clock struck four o' clock, and a pounding sounded on Kels' door. Kel was still, as Lalasa and Khari were amused to see, dazed and had a rather blank look in her eyes. Khari decided to open the door, before it was pounded into smithereens. Neal and the other boys toppled into Kels' room, and waved cheerily at Lalasa, Kel, and Khari. Lalasa offered each a cookie, which all accepted with pleasure. Neal noticed Kels dazed looked, and inspected her closely. Grinning, he ran his finger over Kel's new earbobs. Snapping her out of her daze.

"Nice," He commented, still grinning, "We thought we heard you yelp." Kel's ears cooled under his touch, but her face burn hot.

"Prepare to pay for that in the dueling arena." She said, and began to tidy the boys up. Khari, who had no eye for such things, began the tricky process of strapping a dagger to her arm.

"I'm sure we'll all come to your funeral." Owen said, patting Neal on the back. Owen had started looking forward to the ball when he heard that Maura of Dunlath would be there, he had seen her and thought her strikingly pretty. (author grins evilly.)

"Thank you for not commenting on my looks," Khari mock-scowled, coming to Kel's rescue.

"Nice addition," Seaver grinned, poking the dagger hidden in Khari's sleeve.

"How did yo—" Khari stammered.

"I knew because you were rolling your sleeves down when we came in." Seaver replied.

"Well," Khari explained, "I feared that we may turn out weaponless if we were in danger, so I stuck it into my wardrobe."

"Are the opals there for that reason also?" Neal asked, Khari nodded; she hoped that they would increase her control of her gift.

"You're obsessed." Owen muttered. "A jolly good party, and you've got to ruin my optimism."

"A "jolly" good party?" Khari muttered darkly. The group waved goodbye to Lalasa and headed down the hall to the ballroom.

High overhead, the creature spread its gigantic silver and black wings and planned its homecoming.

Author's Note: Heh heh heh. You'll all have to wait for the next chapter to find out what the creature is. I believe you may be surprised…except for the evil people who snuck into my backpack to "borrow" the next chapter ~.~;; Any guesses for what it is? Oh! Does anyone know who Falerons' Knight Master is? And how long Neal's hair is? (like, long, or short?) If not, give suggestions for Falerons' knight master and vote for long Neal hair or short Neal hair. And, does anyone want to have Khari paired up with a character? I was thinking Neal (but then Kel had to ruin my fun…maybe I should pair her with Owen, but then I would get so many flames.) but now I sort of like Faleron. Submit your answer through the review, or e-mail them to me (at: starbreeze16@hotmail.com, or yanagi@fushigiyuugi.net.) Thanks!

—Kourin ^o~