Once again...sorry for the belated chapter D-: I tried to make up for it with an oh-so-obvious cliffhanger though...oh I'm going to have fun writing the next chapter!

And it looks like I misnumbered the last chapter o-o; I'll fix that...

Disclaimer: meh...

Chapter Fourteen: Panic in the Tower - Part II

When Chykisasa and Shantotto arrived at Heavens Tower, there was absolute silence. No one else knew exactly what was going on, but anxiousness and uncertainty hung thick in the air. They could hear their hearts beating as they climbed the dozens of steps to the top floor. When they arrived at the top, the Star Sibyl was in her vestal chambers. There were no ladies in waiting on the top floor–they were dismissed to the lower levels of the Tower, in order to give the Sibyl room to think. Semih told them to wait outside the chambers as she informed the Sibyl of their arrival.

After a moment, Semih let them into the Sibyl's chambers. Shantotto took a good look around as she entered, for it had been many years since she had last set foot in the sacred room. Chykisasa, on the contrary, was nearly unaware of her surroundings–her mind plagued by other concerns. Semih left the room to get paper and a pen for Chykisasa.

The Star Sibyl noticed their expressions, Chykisasa in particular, and knew that they must have seen the article already. "Good morning, Chykisasa and Lady Shantotto. Can I safely assume that you have already seen the newspaper article?"

Chykisasa nodded absently, and Shantotto nodded as well, along a huffed grunt. "And upon that note, we have taken a bit of action. With the newspaper, we came to a deal that was to our satisfaction."

She paused out of courtesy, and the Sibyl spoke, "What were the terms of this deal?" she simply asked, hoping with all her heart that Shantotto had not taken things too far.

"Hiwon-Biwon must formally apologize for what he said, and that he got the information when he spied on me and fled. And, Naiko-Paneiko must apologize for publishing what the boy wrote, now that his foot is halfway down his throat." Shantotto frankly replied, attempting not to be rude as she stewed in her own anger.

The Sibyl was fairly satisfied with the terms of the agreement, "I suppose that is what I would have done in that sort of situation, however I would have preferred that you waited for me to sanction such a movement." She turned to Chykisasa, as Semih Lafihna walked up the steps into the room with paper on a thin board and a fountain pen in hand. "Was there anything else that you wanted to tell me, anything at all to improve what has happened.

Semih handed the board and pen to Chykisasa, and she thought for a moment about what she wanted to say. All three of the others silently waited as she wrote down her thoughts, staring at the paper, as if trying to read it from a distance. It took her quite a while to get it all down, but when she was done she handed it to the Sibyl, who quietly read it aloud:

"There is another boy involved in all of this, Uchi-Buychi. He is the Orastery student who was mentioned in the article. His parents didn't know about him and me, and I have a feeling he will be telling them all about it today. I am afraid that they will wrongfully punish him for getting involved, and I am wondering if you could somehow contact them and reassure them that he has done nothing wrong."

The Sibyl thought for a moment, taken off guard by such an unexpected request. Shantotto was slightly surprised, but felt in her gut that it was coming. "I will send them a letter, stating exactly what you have just said, Chykisasa." the Star Sibyl replied, unable to refuse such a selfless request. "However, I will need to know a bit more about what you and he did together, if you wouldn't mind sharing," she said, a bit embarrassed at what she had just asked of her.

Shantotto cut in at that moment and summed up how she had come across the boy, and what he and Chykisasa had done the past few evenings–in perfect rhyme. When she was finished, the Sibyl nodded and turned back to Chykisasa. "Is there anything else you would like to add then, that directly pertains to the newspaper?" she asked.

Chykisasa thought again for a moment, and began to write her response. The others, again, waited in silence, however Shantotto shifted her weight impatiently, feeling uncomfortable in such an emotionally-tight situation. After a minute or two, Chykisasa handed the paper to the Sibyl once more:

"I think the rest can take care of itself from this point on, however thank you very much for asking. The only other thing I can ask of you is to not punish Hiwon-Biwon or the newspaper too harshly. What has happened has happened, and there is nothing we can do about it now. We need to deal with what they do in the future, rather than dwell on what damage they have already caused."

The Sibyl nodded, "A very profound statement. I will keep that in mind, child. Unless either of you have anything to add, you may leave now if you wish."

Chykisasa bowed, and Shantotto spoke, "Thank you very much for helping us with this predicament, if we need you again we'll make an appointment." She bowed elaborately, to show that she was being serious.

And with that, the two left Heavens Tower, Chykisasa feeling much more relieved about the situation. Hearing her own statement about not being able to do anything about the past read aloud to her gave it new meaning in her mind, and let her really take in what it meant.

A few more people than usual were in Windurst Walls at that time of day, most of them curious about the article they had read in their papers. They had flocked to the area like buzzards, seeking to feed on whatever information they could find. Some even hoped of seeing Chykisasa, and a few were considering visiting Shantotto herself.

Both Chykisasa and Shantotto were well aware of the inquisitive looks and whispers among the small crowd, however the only figures they paid mind to were the ones standing in front of Shantotto's manor. Shantotto quickened her pace to see who was knocking on her door, and Chykisasa slowed down as soon as she knew who it was.

It was Uchi-Buychi and his mother, Kesisi. Though Chykisasa had never seen his brunette mother, she knew who it had to have been. A new pang of dread emitted from her stomach, and her worry was restored with full-force.

Uchi directed his mother's attention to the two approaching them, and both of them became nervous as well.

"Uchi-Buychi and...friend, how interesting," Shantotto began as she arrived in front of them, hushing her voice in order not to be heard by their spectators. "Might I ask why at my door, you are knocking?"

"I am Uchi-Buychi's mother, Kesisi," Kesisi said, offering her hand to Shantotto. Shantotto stared at it for a moment, but then took it and shook limply. It wasn't often someone offered her hand to her, given her reputation for rudeness. "I supposey you are Chykisasa?" she asked, turning to her.

Chykisasa was dumbfounded not only at Uchi-Buychi's sudden return, but that his mother was there with him. After a moment of delay, she swiftly nodded her head, and pointed to the door.

"Of course, let us speak of this inside. The attention is coming, but for now we can hide." Shantotto said, unlocking her door and letting the other three in, locking the door behind them.

For a moment, they simply stared at each other, none of them wanting to begin the conversation. Eventually, Chykisasa walked across the room to get some paper, and Shantotto spoke, "I suppose Uchi-Buychi has told you of their secret meeting...is there any part of the story that needs repeating?"

"No, no, I think we have what happened pretty-wetty well down," Kesisi responded, "I simply wanted to meet this Chykisasa..." she inadvertently let her voice trail off, looking up at Chykisasa, who was already writing.

Chykisasa looked up at the silence, feeling uncomfortable when she saw that everyone in the room was staring at her. Shantotto again spoke, in order to keep Chykisasa calm. "Well, here she is, just as you have heard. These two are quite the lovebirds, ohoho!" she giggled.

Kesisi laughed as well, trying to assist in lightening the atmosphere. At that moment, Chykisasa finished what she had been writing and was going to hand it to Kesisi.

Uchi had been standing the entire time with his hands deep in his pockets. He was not afraid or nervous, simply embarrassed that his mother was about to meet his girlfriend. "Girlfriend?" he asked in his head as he realized the word he had thought of. Before he had a chance to ponder on it, his mother was reading what Chykisasa had written:

"It is very-wery nice to meet you, ma'am. I apologize for the cover-wover-up we stagied, but there was a lot that needed to be keptaru secret at the time. I am glad that you don'taru seem to be too angry-wangry over what we did, and if anyone is to blamey for this, it's me."

Kesisi smiled. "I am not angry-wangry with anyone, Chykisasa, and it is nicey to meet you too," she said, offering her hand. Chykisasa took her hand and shook it, smiling back. When they were done exchanging greetings, Kesisi turned to Shantotto. "However-wever, I would like to ask something-wumpthing else of you, to clear everything up, if you don'taru mind," she began. "I thinky both Uchi and I were wondering: just why did you choosey-woose to take Chykisasa in? I know that her parentarus were gone a lot, and thataru is when you spent the most time withy her, but why did they choosey you to take care of her?"

Shantotto looked at Kesisi and smirked, making her internally cringe. She had not been expected to be asked such a direct question, but chose to answer nonetheless, "Ohoho! I suppose that I could construe, given that it must seem very odd to you. It is quite simple, as you will see: I tutored both of her parents at the Orastery. When she was just an infant and needed much care, they began to run low on money, and began to despair. However I had a clever plan: to tutor her as they toured the land! I would keep Chykisasa from public view, and help her with magic, which she had a passion to pursue. And so they let me care for her, until that fateful day occurred..."

When Shantotto had finished, Kesisi and Uchi-Buychi simply stared at her. They had expected a deeper answer, and already knew basically all that she had told them.

Halfway through Shantotto's story, Chykisasa rolled her eyes. "She's avoiding the subjectaru again..." she said to herself. "I'll show her..." and she knelt down soundlessly and began to write.

By the time Uchi-Buychi noticed what Chykisasa was doing, she was holding the paper out to him, smiling. He took the paper and read it aloud, ready for anything:

"Whataru Shantotto means to say is she saw thataru my personality was being suppresseied from all the pity-witty I was getting, so she tookie me in to set my spiritaru free."

All smiled in spite of themselves but Shantotto, who was beginning to turn a shade of pink. She had always enjoyed Chykisasa's poignant–though slightly obnoxious–side, but all of the sudden unleashing that part of her seemed to become a less-than-wise choice. After an awkward pause, she coughed, "Well...yes, that would be correct," she eyed Chykisasa, "And now we will be getting off the subject."

Chykisasa's smirk widened with the wondrous feeling of victory. Kesisi and Uchi did their best to not laugh aloud at Shantotto's lapse in tactfulness.

Uchi, finally, turned and said something to Chykisasa, "I supposey we should be going then, I'm surey you're in for a big day!" he laughed. Chykisasa laughed for her own sake, but shook her head at Uchi, and then kneeling down to write. Kesisi and Shantotto slowly backed away from the two, giving them their space (and giving them a good view).

After a few short moments, Chykisasa handed the paper to Uchi, who read it to himself:

"No, no, stay as long as you like. I'd really rather have company to talk with right now, considering the most of the company I have soon will only talk about me."

Uchi smiled and shook his head, "No, no is rightaru–you have a voicey now, Chykisasa! You can tell people-weapole what's what, and thataru you are a person and not an exhibit-wibbit!" In the thrill of the moment, he took her hands in his, and clasped his palms around hers. Chykisasa stood stunned for a moment, but smiled and held back the tears in her eyes.

Kesisi's ears perked up in recollection, "Oh, Uchi dearie! We must go home righty away, I told your father thataru we would be homey in time for lunch." Uchi-Buychi and Chykisasa looked over at her, and try as they may, they couldn't help but look disappointed. Kesisi felt a pang of guilt in her stomach for interrupting such a touching moment.

"Well...I supposey I must say goodbye now. Take care, Chykisasa, and rememberu to use your voice!" He gripped her hands tighter as a sign of farewell, and Chykisasa shook his hands and nodded. After another moment of staring at each other, Shantotto coughed and their hands parted. Finding no other words to use, Uchi-Buychi simply waved goodbye as Shantotto opened the door for him and his mother to leave through.

Both Uchi and Kesisi left the manor and were immediately blinded by the late morning sun. Once their eyes adjusted, they noticed half a dozen Tarutaru and one Mithra staring at them. Uchi turned around to see if they could escape back into Shantotto's manor, but found himself staring at a locked door. He swallowed, and whispered to his mother, "Let's go, staying isn'taru going to helpey."

Kesisi nodded and giggled, "Hehe, took the words rightaru out of my mouthey!"

And so the two casually strolled away, as if completely unaware of the curious citizens staring at them. A very young blonde-headed girl Tarutaru turned and whispered to another young boy next to him just as the two passed out of earshot, "You thinkie thataru isth tha Orasthery student?" she asked.

The boy turned back to her, "I don'tie know, Pichichi. But there isth only one way to find outaru!"

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For those of you who didn't get it, let's just say the next chapter will have something to do with...onions...