O.O oh my goodness. Sorry about the wait folks. Birthday time in the month of July and
it doesnt help to be in marching band. Sorry about the wait. Its been almost four weeks hasnt
it? Oppsss.... forgive the grammer mistakes. Since my computer crashed its been a bitch with
loading all the old programs back on. I haven't got microsoft word back yet. As usual try to
be kind as this is my first fanfic. Any suggestions? Comments? Questions?
e-mail me at clef@comic.com Oh and dont sue me. I have no money.
P.S. Yes I know.. this is a really short chapter. Sorry. *sweatdrops*



Love Story
chapter 2; Pawns
by Tina Plunkett
Date: August 4-5, 2000



'It's nice here.' A soft smile took over her face again. She could almost go to sleep
there on the rock. If it hadn't been for the voice she would have. Umi jumped up wide awake
as the wind whispered.........."Umi."

In Cephiro:

Clef's eyes flew open and the vision cleared. Umi had been there. She was sitting on
a rock with her head tilted back smiling and her eyes were closed in reflection. Her name had
formed upon his lips and he had whispered her name. Almost instantely the vision seemed to
hear his words and turned. "Umi..."
A dull thorbing in his chest reminded him that he himself had not dreamed it. A spell
of clearvouance and he saw her. Was she truely what his heart wanted to see? The thought had
hit him to do a clearvouance spell to check on the land of Cephiro but had something gone
wrong? Had his heart wished for something else to see?
His hand trembled as he brought it up in front of his face to push back some of his
lavender color hair. The hand holding the staff drifted up again while his shoulders relaxed.
His aqua blue eyes closed and there she was again. "Umi? Can you hea..."
A loud crash and shuffled feet brought Clef out of his trance. His eyes flew open.
Shouts could be heard from down the hall. Then everything was silent. 'What was that?'
Clef swung around to face the door which had started to open.
"Madoushi Clef..." Ferio cleared his throat in the doorway. A look of surprize etched
across his face and soon Clef's face reflected the same as a familiar blonde head looked around
Ferio's shoulder.
"Goodevening Madoushi Clef. It is so nice to see you again." Fuu smiled and inclined
her head. "Hikaru is down the hall visiting Lantis if you wish to speak to her. Is there a reason
why we were summoned back?"
"I..." Clef's mouth gaped and then he closed it. A frown creased his features in the slant
the midday sun which streamed through the glass cieling above him. The rays that fell to the
floor swirled up dust in the air or appeared to have tiny slow swirling tornados of dust trapped
in a barrier of light. He shifted silently disturbing a swirling ray of light and sent the contents
to fly off to other rays of light.
"I have not summoned you back. As you know only the pillar may summon those
from another world." His voice sounded deft to his ears. A hoarse voice, as if it hadn't been
used for years, sighed froth from his lips. Clef cleared his throat, silently cursing. "Has Hikaru
been wishing for a return to Cephiro?" Clef balled his free hand into a fist and brought it up to
his mouth. It was a habbit while he pondered to do so and closed his eyes as if the answer
would suddenly appear before him.

On Earth:

There it was again. The same whispering voice. The same voice she could now barely
recall in her memory of Cephiro. "Clef....?" Umi turned almost expecting to see the small
mage behind her. However, her gaze had meet with the trees and shrubs she had peered at
before. Nothing had changed not even with the movement of the gentle breeze.
Umi let her hand fall from her eyes. The sun filled her vision again. It blazed through
the dense shadow of the trees and fell in patches with the green leaflit of canopey.
'I should be going,' She thought with a downward glance at the stone underneath her
when something caught her gaze. The stone was different then before. When she had sat down
the stone had been a huge round stone with a flat surface. It retained its shape. The thing that
had got her attention was the writing on it. Rune like writing, the same writing on the walls
of the mashin.
She released a breath she just realized she was holding. The dream. This stone was in
her dream. The one of the forest of silence. Could it be? 'What does this mean?' Her hand
brushed across a blue tainted rune. 'Something is missing from the stone.'
"Excuse me miss are you lost?"
Umi turned to see a hunched old priest leaning on a walking stick. His robes rustled
in the wind. For a moment time stood still again. 'Boy its been doing that alot. As if in one
second there is eternity.' A hand lifted to her throat almost protectively and then stopped to
linger on a necklace.
"Miss?"
"Uhh, no Im fine. Can you tell me what this rock means sir?"
The old priest squinted in the light as he took feeble steps forward. "The stone? I don't
suppose I really know. Its been here since I can remember." His breath came in shortened gasps
as he approached.
"Im sorry to trouble you then. I'll be on my way..."
"Wait..."
"Yes sir..."
"Do you see the writing?"
Umi stopped and looked back at the stone. Sure enough the writing was still there. If
the old priest was going to accuss her of putting it there...."Yes sir. It was like this when I got
here."
"Umi, thats a lie." The old man looked up. His eyes had been downcast the whole time
and he had not once looked up. However now he glanced up. Looked directly into her eyes and
reflected the same aqua blue gaze that meet his own eyes.
"How did you..." She didn't understand or even comprehend.
"Hikaru and Fuu are already in the other world. The pawns are set. What you see in
this stone is a ancient language. A history... or as we speak a sort of fortune telling."
"How do you know about us?" Her guard was up. Either to run or to fight.
Appearances could be decieving especially when involving Cephiro. "What do you want?"
"To help..."