I have returned from my conference in Chicago. I'm all fired up . . . to sell knives (Whooo CUTCO!!!). I have on odd profession.

Thanks for all the nice things you all said. When I found out that David Chokachi was on Bay Watch (I never got the point of that show), I had to make fun of it some where. Oh, come one!!! It's an easy laugh!!! As for the "second" story line . . . there is none. If you go back and read the long preamble, I said that I used Seiji because he fit in with all the people that "he" is going after. The other two are made up characters. There ARE drawings of Iceani and Sirous, but they were destroyed when my friend's house flooded. I remembered that her armor had pieces that resembled a cross between the tv and comic versions of the Blade (My friend made it look like something out of a Xena or Hercules show :p. . . he's an awesome artist though.) I just did that little dream to give Sara, yet another, dead end when it comes to the Witchblade's past. The story on those three is: they were all going to be in New York and meet up. All the other two are doing is looking for Seiji. I might mention them a few more times, they will be there at the very end. And I might use them in a scene that is just between them and Jake.

So, no underlying story with that thing, though.

You know what. I just watched this weeks episode and they got ahead of me. . . They stole one of my ideas! Sure the writers had it before I did . . . and put it into use before I did . . . I'll stop now. Warning: if you ever see something that resembles one of the scenes out of Periculum, it is pure coincidence.

You should know that I originally intended to have the mother live, the girl die, and I was going to off McCartey there too. But I didn't like how the chapter turned out, so I changed it. I keep warning you all that I have an itch to kill off a major character. I still don't know. I might. I might not. :::evil smile:::

If I get time, I'll write about it on my web page. I might even put the, unfinished, original chapter up. Time permitting.

Feed the review-a-saurus. Or I'll send him to eat you. He likes human . . . it tastes of chicken. Sorry. I had to say it.

I own nothing.

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XVI. Heaven

The sunsets were always beautiful here. The different colors on the water had always made her smile. Especially the color red. Her father had told her that the colors were the gods way of painting the road to heaven in the sky. So the newly dead would not lose their way and end up wandering the land as restless spirits.

Father had not been pleased when she told him that she could see the one's who had lost their way. He was even less pleased after she told him that she would often speak with them.

He had locked her in the wooden cage that hung above the cliff valley as punishment for being cursed.

The colors there were magnificent. The fire mountain's smoke had turned the sky lavender, ocher, and varying shaded of crimson. She had almost enjoyed her time there. At dusk and dawn, at least. The days, however, were unbearable. It was the warm season, and the added heat of the fire mountains did not help.

Father's guards had come three days later to take her down. She did not see the lost one's for many weeks after that. But she could hear them.

In the back her mind.

Whispering.

Her curse had nearly been forgotten, until one of her father's guards fell to the ground one evening.

They built hid funeral pyre after the medicine man had examined him. The guard had a bad heart. He had never shown it before. It must come with age. But others soon fell. All with bad hearts. It was a sickness. It made the heart weak.

It plagued the nation for the longest time. And it was always someone she had been with. After a few days, the sickness would visit them, and another would be dead. The medicine man had noticed the pattern, and called her a demon child.

The news spread quickly.

The chieftain's eldest daughter was a walking devil. The people feared that they had displeased their gods. What if there was no rain because of her? Would they all die from the sickness? So many questions.

Too many fears.

The people had thrown rocks at her upon her appearance to them.

Her father had ordered her killed.

To save the nation.

She had fled for many days. At first she had headed to the water. But her father's personal guards had been waiting there for her. They had not seen her, though. It was night, and her skin was dark. She could almost not be found in the dark.

She had returned to the cliff valley. She was tired and bleeding. She had never fought before, but she had beaten the guard. She was no devil. Not a cursed woman. Her father had taught her to be strong.

She was.

But also, only mortal.

She had been running for days now. With no food and little water. The guards were making their way to the cliff ridge. She couldn't fight them all. She was only one person. To win against twelve would be a miracle.

The sun was setting again.

A fitting time to die.

The rays of the sun caught something nestled between two rocks. She edged her way over to pick up the strange silver object. The moment she touched it, the whispering grew to a roar in her ears. The guards men rounded the turn and spotted her. She pivoted to see them begin their assault.

The whispering grew to screaming in her mind. The word spun and broke apart before her. She shut her eyes, not wanting to watch. An eternity later, her eyes opened.

The world was still there. Not shattered, and the whispering had quieted.

All the guard were dead.

She ran from the cliff valley until she could see the edge of the plains. She took shelter in a small grove of trees, and cried. She grew numb from the sadness and her tears faded. She felt pain.

She looked down to see her wound nearly healed, and others that she had not had before were closing rapidly. She went to touch one with her hand.

What was this?

Wrapped around her wrist was something that resembled the silver bangle she had found earlier.

* * * *

Sara Pezzini's eyes fluttered open. She lifted her head off of Jake's coffee table. She had brought Jake back here after they had gone to the office. She had gotten him up the stairs to his place, along with the bag of papers and his laptop. He had managed to stay awake long enough to get changed before he collapsed on his bed. Hypothermia really did a number on the human body.

She pulled the covers over him and left the bedroom to do finish up the written end of things. But the monotony had gotten to her. Sara had put her head down for a moment, and sleep had followed.

This was the third dream that had not been about the woman's death. The first two had been in the middle of her time with the Blade, and this was clearly the beginning. This one hadn't been like the last few, either. It didn't have the constant lust for battle, and didn't leave her covered in sweat.

The dream still exhausted her, but it was nice to have a change.

Maybe she should try to find out who these women were. If she wasn't going to ask Irons for answers, she might as well start looking on her own. The Bowman kid could help too. Her mind was much too foggy to think about that right now. She stretched the kinks out of her neck and grabbed the pen she had dropped on the floor.

"Sara?" A sleepy male voice came from behind her.

She looked behind her to see Jake leaning against the frame of the bedroom door.

"You're up. Do you feel better now?"

"Come to bed."

Sara smirked at him. He didn't sound as bad as he had at earlier, but for some reason, she thought it was funny that he had gotten up to tell her that. Maybe she could get him to do some of the paper work while he was still upright.

"I . . .we should finish this, Jake."

He didn't even blink. It looked like she'd be getting writer's cramp later on tonight. He left his place by the door and came to sit beside her, and rested against the couch.

"You going to stay up with me since you won't help me?"

"Come to bed."

She sighed.

"I need to finish this, Jake."

He reached over and shut the folder that was in front of her.

"Jake!"

"It's cold."

"Get another blanket. If this isn't done, I'll have to face Dante. There is a reason why that is his last na-"

She was cut off when Jake quickly moved to kissed her. It wasn't a bad way to stop talking. A little warning would be good though.

"Come to bed." He whispered.

"But the-"

Another.

"Please."

She nodded her head and forgot about the file.

* * * *

He had been right. The white-haired man was not happy about him being seen. It would interfere with his work. He couldn't take people during that day anymore. It had to be before it got light out side. It would make it easier, and would hide him from the police. He was sad. This would slow him down. It was that many more people that he wouldn't be able to help because he had gotten sloppy.

The white-haired man had told him to wait again. He should use this time to make sure he learned his lesson. He was even more sad when he learned that Mary's mother and the Partner were still alive. He wasn't as sad that the girl's mother was still living. Mary would need her now that he couldn't help her. But the Partner . . .

The look on the Lady Detective's face said everything. When he mentioned the Negations, she had looked over to him. He, on the other hand, never moved except to save the woman.

The river was half frozen and the wind had picked up. He was hoping that the cold would have killed the Partner, then there would be one less bad person to deal with later on. The Partner had to have come close, but not close enough. He would be careful, and he would get rid of him. Then send the Lady Detective on. He was determined to get it right.

While he was waiting he might as well entertain himself. He had given Seiji his medicine, so he was asleep again. He wouldn't be able to talk with him. For a few days he didn't look too good, but after he gave Seiji the medicine he started to look like himself.

He didn't have anyone to talk to, and he couldn't leave for a few days. He sat on the table and swung his legs back and forth while he decided what to do. Humming his favorite song to himself the whole time.

Ohhh. He knew what to do.

He searched around in a large box and brought out a container and a book.

He loved to color, and it had been such a long time. He sat down on the floor and chose an orange crayon from his container. He hummed while he colored in the picture on the page. The song suddenly stopped. He had an idea. It was a good idea, for the Italian woman he found in the bakery shop.

He leapt up to call the white-haired man.

He was sure to love it.

* * * *

"They have returned to their own homes."

Kenneth Irons did not reply to his ward's statement. He already knew this information. He was more interested in another fact at the moment.

"Did she use the Blade to heal him?"

"No. She did not."

Good. That would reek all sorts of havoc with his plans if she had. He would have lost some of his ability to peer in on the Witchblade to that worthless surfer if she had. That was the last thing he needed. Detective Pezzini was hard enough to deal with without outside interference of any kind.

The phone at his desk rang.

"Please leave me, Ian."

Nottingham nodded his head and left Irons to his business.

"Hello . . . of course . . . I see . . . a very good one . . . it should work . . . good day."

He hung up the phone, and went back to pondering Sara Pezzini.

* * * *

The Captain had called his place five times now. Every time it was the same message in his machine: "McCartey, find your partner and get your butts down to the precinct." Or something along those lines. Jake knew where Sara was. Actually she was the reason why he hadn't answered his calls. She had decided to give him one of those 'good morning' kisses of hers. Not that he was complaining, mind you. The Captain's calls had become annoying. Didn't that guy know he was busy?

The more important factor was that, at the moment, he wasn't cold.

And Jake didn't want to move.

The phone rang again. He didn't like that man. No one did, really. But he had to play his little part to get in with him. He reluctantly broke away from Sara, and picked up his phone just as the machine picked up.

"McCartey."

"Where are you, Detective?"

"I just got out of the shower, sir. Why? I'm not late."

"There are a few messages from me on your machine. I called to get you and your partner in here. There's work to be done, Detective."

"Have you called Pez?"

"Yes. She doesn't answer either. Find her and get to work."

A dial tone came over the line. He hung up.

"I guess we should get moving."

He nodded.

"If you hadn't interrupted me, you wouldn't have to move, Jake."

"I didn't want to keep hearing his voice right there. It was creepy."

His comment made her smile. She slid out of bed and went to take a shower. Jake sat up slowly. The movement made him remember the freezer burns on his body. He was going to be hurting for a while. Great, he was on fire and cold at the same time. He waited for Sara to leave the bathroom so he could go next. Jake went over the previous day in his head. The man didn't look familiar. There were a lot of people in the world, he couldn't recognize all of them.

But something about him reminded Jake of something. He had a hunch, but he wasn't going to say anything until he had checked it out. The other thing that bothered him was how he knew where to go. He had never felt like that before. It bothered him. The water shut off. A few moments later Sara stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed on toweling off her hair.

"Your turn."

"Thanks."

He brushed past her and shut the door. He turned the water up to as hot as he could stand stepped in the shower. He couldn't decide whether the heat was a good thing or a bad thing. At least he healed fairly quickly. He finished his shower and got ready to leave.

Jake stepped out of his bedroom to see Sara watching the news and talking on her cell phone.

So the saying was true, there was no rest for the wicked. She turned to look at him when she hit the 'end' button on her phone.

"Jake, we need to get going. I have an extra helmet on my bike. We'll get there quicker that way.""

"He didn't wait long, did he?"

"No, he didn't."

He turned off the television and followed his partner out the door.