A/N: Well, let's get to it, shall we? Ahem. Last chapter, we saw the crash of the Nadesico onto Ninlan. Is this symbolic? Not really. Izumi first showed her signs… and Inez let more out. Rumiko and Igadosu attacked the ship, making it crash onto the planet. Akito and Gai STILL aren't on good terms. Ryoko and Itsuki have made up, once again. Oh, not to mention that Inez unlocked the computer, though they plan on leaving it on Ninlan. So, um, yeah. This will lead up to a HUGE history lesson, not to mention a HUGE explanation of some weird things, but yeah. But I'm just going to write it now. Yeah.

~*~

Uribatake shook his head at the damage of the ship. They crashed, cleanly. At least as clean as one could crash into a forest. Trees around them were on fire, but somehow they were controlled. He was murmuring to himself. "Well, it could have been worse, but it really could have been better… Much better." He turned to Inez and fisted his hands on his hips. "Well, O Wondrous Psychic? What're we supposed to do now?"

Inez wasn't angry at Uribatake's tone; in fact, she smirked. "Obviously, we go to the village." Yurika spoke up. "But wouldn't they feel intimidated if all one-hundred fifteen of us headed towards a town that looks to be quite small? I think we should make a small team to go there and ask for help." Inez nodded. "Not many though. Just two or three. And they have to bring the person here, and not be shocked at what they'll find." Akatsuki, sitting on a rock crossed his arms. "Why don't you go, Doctor?" She smiled sadly. "I'm afraid I'm not what's being looked for." Admiral Fukube cleared his throat. "That is regrettable. I assumed you'd be the best to explain to these people why we're here, especially when you know how they work." Inez smiled, but shook her head no.

Ryoko held her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose we should send someone who has people skills, not to mention able to conquer the language barrier." The strategic group turned to the best pilot. "What? You don't expect people on a distant planet to be spouting Japanese right and left, do you?" Inez cleared her throat. "It appears that I had forgotten about that." Yurika clapped her hands together and smiled. "'People skills!' That's definitely Megumi!"

The Communications Officer looked up from her seat at the base of one of the trees that was not ablaze. "Me?" Yurika nodded warmly at the girl that she was once in a rival for Akito's affections with. "Yes, you. You are perky EVERY morning, not to mention all day. You never can find many bad things to say about someone. I call that people skills!" Megumi was dumbfounded. 'She obviously knows why everyone was hired… Perhaps it's because Akatsuki's been hanging around her for the past day or so.'

The man in question flipped his hair over his shoulder. "We can't assume that they're going to respond well to only manners. We may have to send someone along that can fight." Yurika felt her lips. "Should we send an Aestivalis?"

"No," commanded Inez. "I'm putting my foot down at that. One sight of those robots, moving and all, and we will be without help. Absolutely not. Besides, the village shouldn't be more than five kilometers away." Hikaru blinked and snapped her fingers. "Izumi!" she cried out. Ryoko's jaw dropped. "Of course."

Yurika blinked in confusion. "Izumi? Why her?" Ryoko started counting things off her fingers. "She's a fighter, with all her intellect. She's really good with a gun. And she's great at learning other languages, even without an interpreter." Izumi smiled smugly. "You flatter me, Ryoko."

Akatsuki glared at the blue-haired woman. "Are you really?" Izumi glared her visible eye at him. "Of course I am. I'm a fantastic sniper only because I had a fantastic teacher." Akatsuki looked away, disgusted. "My brother." Izumi nodded, but continued. "And I could speak, read, and write both English and Japanese before I started Preschool. I'd say I have some skill with languages."

Yurika nodded, smiling. "Then it's decided! Meg, Izumi, you guys head off to the village and see if you can get someone over here. We'll work on setting up camp and telling what parts of the ship are totaled." Izumi nodded and helped Megumi up before they disappeared into the trees.

Inez turned to Jun. "You've been doing well, holding them off so they don't spread." She nodded a head at the fires around them. "Could you try to put them to a stop, or make them a little smaller at least?" Jun was confused, and his blue eyebrows knit. What surprised him was a flash of red light, and all the fires were snuffed immediately, all at the same time. His jaw dropped. Hikaru smiled. "Why do I have a feeling I know what's going on here?" The doctor turned to the artist. "Because you just might have a strong hold on the idea."

Hikaru nodded grimly. "I probably do." She glanced at her IFS symbol on her right hand, noting how it sparkled yellow. She felt the wind blow through her hair.

~*~

It was only when they were out of earshot that Izumi broke the natural silence. "Well, this is sure interesting. Me and you, of all people." Megumi nodded. "But they had good intentions, I suppose…" Izumi yawned, crossing her arms behind her head. "Of course they did. The girl with prophetic dreams and the girl who's been stalking Inez. Makes lots of sense to me." Megumi stopped and Izumi walked on for a few seconds before turning around. "What?"

Megumi's brow was furrowed. "How did you know about my dreams?" Izumi shrugged before walking backwards. "Who doesn't?" Megumi sighed before continuing. "Damn the gossip." Izumi laughed out loud. "That's amusing. You feed in most of the gossip in the grapevine, Meg. You and Minato, you know?"

Megumi shook her head, unbelieving. "Let's stop talking about me, okay?" Izumi shrugged. "Fair enough. What do you want to know about me?" Megumi thought for a moment. "Nothing much, really. But… hey, what do you know about everyone else?" Izumi smiled. "Even when in a crisis, Megumi sees no reason to not gossip." Megumi grinned. "Of course not. One of my hobbies, you know. And this isn't a crisis." Izumi's face fell. "If this isn't, I don't want to see your basis of what is a crisis." Megumi shook her head. "No, that's not it. I just… don't see this as much of a big deal. Sure, we may be millions of light-years away from Earth, in any time in the past or future, but nobody's dead, are they? We'll be able to leave eventually, why else would they have us just get help, not be worried about whether the Nadesico will explode or not?"

Izumi stroked her bottom lip with her fingers as she turned around and walked straight. "Interesting. I never thought it that way. And the way Inez has been rabidly trying to get us here, I think you may be right." She turned to the Communications Officer again. "We're here for a reason."

~*~

Jun sat before the rock circle and focused his energies on the straw before him. Hikaru could have sworn she saw smoke when Jun sighed and fell backward, with his legs dangling in the air before falling to the ground as well. "Fuck," he whispered. She walked over and plopped on the ground. "What're you trying to do?" The Executive Officer sat up and brushed off his back. "Light the goddamn fire." Hikaru tapped her chin, smiling maliciously. Then she exclaimed, "Are those Akatsuki's and Kanchou's clothes?" Jun's eyes bulged and he quickly looked around. "Where?!"

Hikaru barely had time to jump back before the fire exploded before them. "Jesus, Jun! You didn't have to go crazy, you know!" Jun glared at her. "Akatsuki and Yurika are right there, fully clothed." Hikaru giggled. "The point was for you to use your anger as fuel!"

Inez couldn't help but notice the sudden burst of flame. She walked over, intrigued. "How did you know that emotional energy could be used to start up magic?" Hikaru smiled, not afraid by the word. "It was in a book I read once. This guy was once very pissed off, and he set his entire house on fire." Inez nodded slowly. "Fascinating. You actually know the laws?" Hikaru shook her head. "All I know, I know from reading."

Inez's eyes portrayed her lonely feelings. "How sad," she whispered, and Hikaru realized for the first time that Inez felt lonely sometimes, for being the only one to know things. 'She misses Erina. She misses Erina's intelligence. Not even Izumi can replace that.'

~*~

Izumi held her blue hair off her neck as they trudged into town. "Why's it so fucking hot…?" Megumi shook her head; quite aware of the stares they got from the townspeople, dressed in very medieval clothing. She felt very much out of place, but that didn't stop from discovering the smoke billowing from the chimney in one of the largest houses in town. She pointed towards it. "Someone's home." Izumi nodded and headed in the direction of the house, Megumi trailing closely. She stayed back as Izumi raised a pale fist to the door. "Aren't you going to come up here?" Megumi shook her head. "No, you knock first." Izumi shrugged, then tapped her fist on the door softly.

The oak door opened abruptly, showing a man dressed in a white wrinkled robe, his black hair tumbling around his waist, and tangled from sleep. His amber eyes squinted into the light in a way that made Izumi believe he was glaring.

Megumi's heart dropped when she saw the man at the door. To her, the man wasn't glaring, but squinting. He was examining her, as if he recognized her, but in a déjà vu sort of way. She knew she felt uncomfortable under his gaze, however. She tugged at the bottom of her black skirt, feeling that, perhaps, it was too short.

Izumi cleared her throat. The man turned back to the red-clad pilot. "I think you have the wrong house," spoke the man, surprising both Izumi and Megumi with his clear, yet heavily accented, English. Izumi's jaw dropped, but she recovered quickly. "You speak English?" she queried, her British accent attached to her English. The man nodded. "I speak the languages of the nobles. Who are you, and what is your business here?" Izumi laid a hand on her chest. "I am Maki Izumi of Satsuki Midori Colony at Lagrange Point 2. This is…" She gestured to Megumi, but realized that she didn't think Megumi could speak English.

Megumi stepped up next to Izumi, feeling confident. "My name is Megan Rainerd, and I hail from America on Earth. Have you heard of it?" Izumi's jaw dropped once again. 'America???' The man's amber eyes softened. "Why don't you come inside? We obviously have much to speak of." He stepped into the house and held the door open for them, holding a hand out to allow them in. The two women walked in cautiously, and were surprised to find that the house was big, but yet had only one room. They both took seats at the table in the center of the room. The man picked up a kettle from his crude sink and set it in the fire, hanging off a hook in the fireplace. He came to stand next to a chair at the table. "Now, where did you come from?"

"Earth," retorted Izumi. The man nodded. "The blue planet owned by Mars… Obviously time has been graceful to you." He glanced at their clothes, and Megumi began to squirm. "What's your name, sir?" The man chuckled. "I suppose that you are in my debt, and shouldn't be making such demands. But, as it would be polite to not give you my name, I'll tell you. I am Rumiko Adagio of Somenolenthe, Apprentice Priest at the Temple of Magus." He looked proud of himself, and seemed to be expecting praise from the two women.

They just glanced at each other before Izumi began speaking. "Look, we really need to get back to our ship, so do you think you can help us or not?" Rumiko's yellow eyes bulged out of his head. "Ship???" Izumi nodded slowly, perplexed by this strange man. "Yes, how else would we get all the way out here?" Rumiko sat down and stared at the grain of his table, murmuring to himself. Megumi heard, "Ships since the three-hundreds" before he stood. He looked official for a moment, standing straight. "All right, I'll come help you. Where's your ship?" Izumi nodded a head towards the window. "In the forest." Rumiko's eyes bulged again, then he turned and mumbled something else to himself. They caught the words, "is the comet" before he turned again. "All right, let's go then."

The water in the kettle began to steam, making the device whistle. Izumi glanced at it and the whole kettle tipped over, the hot water putting out the fire below, she glanced back to Rumiko, to find both him and Megumi looked at her strangely. "What?"

As they headed out the door, Rumiko, surprisingly, led the way to the crash. 'Just as well,' thought Izumi as she stepped back to speak with Meg. She glared at the Communications Officer, and spoke in plain English. "Why didn't you tell me that you're American?" Megumi shrugged. "Same reason I didn't tell anyone else. It just never came up. I never thought it was so much a big deal, anyway." Izumi's glared faltered. The girl was right. Still, Izumi set her pale lips into a straight line. "So how did you manage a Japanese name? You said to Rumiko that your name was 'Megan Rainerd.'"

Megumi shrugged again. "When I moved to Japan, I changed my name. Those damn katakana annoyed me." Izumi nodded, her glare falling apart and dissipated into the warm air around them.

~*~

It grew significantly colder as night started to fall, and much more difficult to see the smoke that billowed from the crash site. Rumiko turned to the two women. "Well? Where's this ship of yours?" Izumi smiled. "Oh, we'll definitely be seeing it in about ten seconds." She took a deep breath, then yelled. "HIKARU-CHAN!"

~*~

Hikaru had just thrown another log into Jun's fire and was about to join everyone else at the river when she heard Izumi's shrieking voice somewhat close by. "HIKARU-CHAN!" Hikaru's ears perked up, pointed out the direction, and she was off like a racecar. As soon as she saw her friend she smiled and ran towards her hugging her, and accidentally knocking her down.

The redhead smiled at her best friend. "Hi. What's up?" Izumi rolled her eyes. "Off of me, will ya? You're embarrassing us." Hikaru reluctantly got off of the other woman before glancing at those who accompanied her. Megumi was rubbing her temples, frustrated, and what looked like could be a man was slowly turned red. Hikaru smiled. "Are you the ever-so nice person that's decided to help us? Great. Though," she turned back to Izumi, "Everyone's either at the river or in the Nadesico, washing up for dinner. All I really have to say is that Miss Howmei, 'Kito, and the Howmei girls have their work cut out for them." She grinned and led them in the direction of the Nadesico.

"How many people were on your ship, exactly?" asked the white-clad man in his English. Hikaru smiled at him, and replied in the same language, "Hundred-fifteen, give or take a body or two." His jaw dropped, expectedly. Megumi shook her head. "Hikaru, this is Rumiko Adagio. Rumiko, this is-"

"Amano Hikaru, at your service, but really, I don't do sex slave requests." Hikaru bowed graciously, despite her comment. Just then, the woods seemed to open up to them, the ship towering over them and the clearing much larger than when they left. Izumi averted her visible eye to Hikaru. "Busy, much?" Hikaru shrugged, then turned back to Rumiko. "I think Miss Fressange would like to meet you, like, right away." Izumi snapped her fingers, remembering as such. "I'll go get her," and the blue-haired pilot ran off.

Hikaru sat down on a rock and picked up a pad of paper. Rumiko took this time to speak with Megumi. But before he could, one of his hands shot up to his temple, and he groaned in agony. Megumi's jaw dropped as he slumped to the ground, holding his head and swaying, as if in a trance. Hikaru jumped off her rock and ran over, obviously concerned. She reached over to comfort her acquaintance, but the man shouted, "No!" Megumi squatted down. "Are you okay?" she whispered, keeping her distance from the anguish man.

Rumiko gritted his teeth against the psychic pain he felt and quickly reached out and grabbed the redhead's right hand, bending it back so her symbol would not be shown to him. Through his clenched teeth, he growled, "Aer's Calm…" Hikaru's dark eyes widened with Rumiko bending her hand away from him. She noticed Inez, Yurika, and generally most of the crew she was familiar with come out of the ship, and she snatched her hand back, massaging the IFS symbol on it. Rumiko seemed to snap out of it to stand before the group.

It was Inez whose eyebrows furrowed first. "What's wrong?" queried the woman, concerned for their volunteer's health. Rumiko shook his head, as if to shake out some thoughts. "It's not important at this time. And you are?" Megumi stepped up to introduce her. "This is Miss Inez Fressange of Mars, Captain Misumaru Yurika of Mars, and-" She was cut off by Inez lifting a hand, indicating silence. She swept part of her coat back with an air of nobility around her. "I am called Inez Fressange by my co-workers, which is my adoptive name." She smirked. "My true name is Maboroshi Ai."

Rumiko's jaw dropped and he quickly fell to on knee, bowing very respectively to Inez. "My Lady, please forgive my insolence toward those who are close to you. I had no idea-" Inez shook her head. "Stand up, please. Really, we are in your debt." Rumiko's look of shock and respect didn't falter, and he kept his head bent, not looking in her gray-blue eyes. Inez's eyebrows snapped together, twisting her expression into a glare. "Enough."

Rumiko still could not bring himself to face the older woman. "I cannot, My Lady. It would be dishonorable to face you as an equal, as it is obvious you are above me." Megumi raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? Why are you calling Miss Fressange, 'My Lady'?" Rumiko turned to her and faced her, not giving her as much respect as he did Inez. "Lady Ai is a legend. She's almost as respected as the very Gods!" His voice dropped into a whisper. "Though, it is only Magus's doing that we worship only him now…"

Inez had to blink. "Me, up with the Gods? Surely you don't mean that." Rumiko nodded. "Absolutely, My Lady. Juveus-sama, the Final First Priestess of Flamma, and Arthenus-sama, the Final First Priest of Terra, are only on your level. No others. Only the Gods could be higher than the Girl from the Future." Inez nodded slowly. "Interesting. And what is that about Magus and the other Gods?"

Rumiko glanced up at the now dark sky. "I'm afraid that is a long story." Inez sat on a rock and crossed her arms. "We have dinner and shelter. And that is a long story at least some of our crew needs to hear." She glanced at the pilots, all sitting together, but mostly at Hikaru. She smirked. "Perhaps I shall begin?" Rumiko hung his head and mumbled, in distinct Japanese, "Hai, as Ai-sama wishes," earning a gasp or two from the small crowd in the clearing.

~*~

TBC…

~*~

A/N: Yeah yeah, cliffhanger. Well, the next chapter will be confusing, so I want you to clear your minds first. So keep in mind all that has happened here, but don't dwell on it. We definitely will get to see the psyche of Tabby next chapter, and how she planned this bitch out. Anyway, this sucked, because halfway through, writer's block hit me and gave me a black eye. Well, Read and Review, as always, and keep an eye out for the next chapter, coming… whenever.