THEME SONG: Aoi Hitomi (Blue Eyes) – Tenkuu No Escaflowne


A warm trickle of blood seeped from the bite-mark in Rachel's bottom lip. She ignored it, and merely bit down harder, almost enjoying the pain, as she listened to them… to Passion, Hope and Innocence – their given names unimportant to her now, as she lay in the darkness, absurdly pretending she was asleep.

I'm going to make you suffer, she thought vehemently, feeling her black pendant glow with a pleasant heat. Passion… her mind spat. It's going to be slow. And I'm going to make sure, that you know it was me. Me who killed you.

~*~

"Feeling better Kaz?" Rachel fussed, shoving a heaped plate from the breakfast buffet table underneath the still-pale Karlie's nose. Karlie declined it politely and wearily, continuing to chew on her one piece of toast that Trish had threatened her into eating.

All things considered, it hadn't been a bad night – unless you counted Mia's tendency to brutally hug whoever was sleeping to the left of her, which had left Sarah rather bruised.

The males had been banished to the far end of the room, squashed in a corner, while the females lounged around in comfort. The only way too fit everyone into the reasonably small cabin, was to give Kaz the only bed, push it and all the other furniture up against the wall. And then of course cover the floor with various cushions and bedding.

"It's like a giant girl's slumber party!" Brock had cooed happily, before Michelle had firmly shown him to his corner.

They had set sail late the previous afternoon, and they still had a good few days at sea to go before they reached Valencia Island (Brock was less than pleased).

"Well okay!" Rachel piped, cheerfully. "If you need anything Kaz, just call!" Rachel went to stand up, but Karlie grabbed her hand. Rachel stiffened.

"Rach? Can I tell you something?" Karlie murmured, keeping a careful eye on the only other people in the cabin: Mia, Erin and Gary were having a conversation about why the boat was named Saint Atlantis instead of the SS Atlantis.

"It's named after St Atlantis! Duh!" scoffed Gary, earning an indignant clip around the head from Mia.

"Yeah sure Karlie, what is it?" Rachel asked, trying to keep her voice sounding innocent.

"I-I- had one of those dreams last night," Karlie whispered, dropping her head. "And I don't know how to tell the others…" Rachel gave an inaudible snort or annoyance, before falling to her knees beside the bed.

"Oh I'm sure it's nothing, Karlie," she reassured, keeping her tone sincere. "What was it about?"

"It was really… strange…" Karlie began quietly. "I don't know what to make of it. We were all in this, boiler room type thing, and I wanted something, and all of you had loads of… whatever it was… and no-one would give it to me…" Karlie's voice trailed off quietly, and Rachel fidgeted, annoyed. This could ruin everything. If the others knew that Karlie had had a foreseeing dream, they'd never let her out of their sights.

"I'm sure it's nothing Kaz," she repeated, obstinately. "I don't think you should worry the others-"

"Rachel –Richie is dead because he didn't warn us that he had a dream," Karlie said seriously, wondering why she suddenly felt so on edge.

No, screamed Rachel's mind. He's dead because YOU let him die.

"If he had told me at least, I may have been able to do something…" Karlie said, quietly. Rachel bit down on her lip again as Karlie looked up at her beseechingly, her eyes huge and scared behind her glasses.

"Rach – I'm scared. I mean, really, really frightened." Rachel felt something warm flicker inside her, but it was gone before it had even properly registered that it had been there. "But," Karlie continued, still looking at Rachel with scared but serious eyes. "If you say that I shouldn't worry the others… then okay. You know best Rach – I'm sure it is nothing… I'm just paranoid – and this fever doesn't help much!"

Karlie smiled weakly at the younger girl, who smiled edgily back.

~*~

Rachel Griffiths, she wrote on the top of the paper, doodling a small interpretation of the kanji of Soul next to the name. Slowly and labouredly, she fashioned a flat circular loop around the name.

Protection for the Black Soul. For now at least.

~*~

"Hello Karlie," murmured Tracey, as he knelt down beside the bed Karlie had been confiscated to since their arrival on the boat. "Can I get you anything?"

"Yes! You can get me outta this bed!" Karlie snapped, thumping her fists down on the cheap duvet. "I'm going insaaaaaaaaaaaane!" Tracey smirked, kindly.

"I think that's appropriately called Cabin Fever…"

"I'm in a cabin," Karlie grunted, shifting on the bed. "I have a fever… and about ten million BEDSORES! Get me outta here!"

"I think a nice walk around the boat would make Karlie feel a lot better," interjected Rachel, quietly, staring in concentration at the teenager on the bed. "I'll take you on a nice little walk Kaz," she offered, smiling slightly. Karlie grinned, and looked hopefully up at Trish and Brock, with matching disapproving looks.

"Puh-lease?" she begged, and Trish sighed in defeat.

"Don't be gone long!" she instructed, frowning slightly.

"Okay, I'll go too," Tracey shrugged, standing up.

"No!" objected Rachel, quickly. "I erm, need to have a girly talk with Kaz – you understand." Tracey shrugged again, and wandered over to join Ash and Todd, amidst a discreet discussion on what do to with Richie's Pokémon. Karlie stared at Rachel strangely.

"Maybe you two better not go by yourselves," interrupted Sarah suddenly, as another bad feeling washed over her. Karlie looked around nervously.

"No, it's okay," she bluffed. "I trust Rach'll protect me!" she laughed, earning a giggle from the audience, and a feeling of nausea welling up in Rachel's throat.

~*~

"Oh it's so good to stand up!" laughed Karlie, as she attempted a twirl with her arms out-stretched, but halted quickly as her aching head protested. "So what's up Rach?" Rachel kept her arms straight by her side and her back hunched slightly as she led the way purposefully down the deserted, white boat corridor.

"I want to show you something I found the other day," she answered, through tight lips. After another minute or so of seemingly urgent walking, she stopped suddenly, in a grungy, crew area. Karlie swallowed deeply, as the rocking motion of the luxury cruise-liner just made her feel worse… I should have brought my medicine with me, she lightly scolded herself.

"Okay, close your eyes," Rachel instructed, without turning around to face Karlie as she readied the heavy bolt on the nearest door. Karlie obeyed, and shivered when she felt Rachel's ice-cold fingers grab her around the waist and firmly lead her into the room.

Rachel led her into the middle of the room. It was cold, and dank, and smelt of must. Not good for a gal with a fever, thought Karlie disapprovingly.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she asked as she felt Rachel let go of her, and heard her footsteps walking away from her.

"Sure," smirked Rachel, in a tone Karlie had never heard her use before. Karlie opened her eyes curiously, and gasped, whirling around to face the obscenely grinning blonde in anger.

"I suppose you think this is funny?" she growled, gesturing around at the boiler room. "You KNOW I had a dream telling me I was going to die in a room like this!" she yelled, ignoring her migraine.

"You are," interrupted Rachel, sounding bored as she fingered the rust of the lock and began to back out of the door. "Goodbye Passion." Karlie's eyes opened wide in shock as her vision caught upon both the blackened stone hanging from Rachel's pendant, and the menacing crimson tinge in the blonde girl's eyes that seemed to prove that this wasn't just a sick joke.

"Rach-" she protested, her voice cracking with disbelief. "You- you can't leave me in here! I'm sick godammit! I need water, and my medicine!" Rachel ignored her, and proceeded to tug the heavy door closed. Karlie's first instinct was to run for the door, but a mixture of illness and fear had made her legs turn to lead, and it was all she could do to stand there as her friend pulled the door to, blocking out any light in the dank room.

As Karlie heard the heavy bolt slide into place, her legs gave up and she collapsed to the floor, crying helplessly.

"Help?" she murmured, more to herself than anything else as her fever still ate away at her consciousness. But as she curled into a burning hot ball in the freezing room, and began to fall deeply into the fever, it wasn't for Tracey that she called. Or her mother, or Erin, or Trish.

She called out for Rachel.

~*~

Rachel stopped her triumphant grinning before entering the cabin, and put on the worried face once more. As she opened the white door, everyone looked up at her.

"Where's Kaz?" Sarah asked, in puzzlement.

"Oh it was horrible!" Rachel began to sob. "She collapsed! She was so hot!"

"What?" squealed Trish in horror. "I knew I shouldn't have let her go!"

"I took her to the on-board doctor! He took her away! He said she was contagious and that she can't be in contact with any of us until she gets better!" There were assorted gasps from around the room.

"Doesn't he want to examine us then?" asked Michelle, skeptically and realistically. "I mean, if we possibly have what she has." Rachel sweatdropped.

"He said he'd be in touch," she bluffed. Michelle looked at the bedside table where Karlie's orange backpack and her bottle of medicine sat.

"Doesn't he want her pills?" she pressed. "Shouldn't someone bring her bag to her?

"NO!" Rachel yelled, startling Michelle. "He said no contact."

"Well okay," said Misty, getting up from where she had been having a game of Rummy with Mia and Erin. "If that's what the doctor says," she murmured, with a hint of a sardonic undertone, staring Rachel right in her innocent, blue eyes.

~*~

Karlie Jane Carroll, wrote Author, underneath the kanji of Soul. Slowly, she drew an arrow from Rachel's name to Karlie's.

Sayonara.