"She's coming out of it."

Celine, with a deal of effort, slowly opened her eyes. At first, everything blurred together, a brown mass of something. As her eyes began to focus, however, she could see that the mass was actually individuals, surrounding her.

They were dressed in long brown robes that dragged the floor. They had hoods that prevented a clear view at their faces. Among them, there were five present, each with a different crest imprinted onto the robes. She didn't recognize a single crest.

The closest to her spoke first. "The last sister awakens."

The other all seemed to breathe deeply at once.

Celine, confused and dazed, slowly got to her feet. She glanced past the girls to the walls of the room. Behind them were elaborate morals, paintings and statues. They all seemed out of place in the stone room. And was it ever cold. Celine began to shiver.

The first one misunderstood her body language. "We aren't going to hurt you. You are the one, the sister that will complete the circle."

The figure to the right of her pulled a robe out of seemingly nowhere and extended it to Celine. She was eager to pull it on, the fiber in it seemed like it was very warm. However, she noticed the crest, and decided it wouldn't be a good idea yet. Not quite yet, at least until she figured out a few things. She set it on the floor next to her.

The first girl lowered her hood, revealing a teenagers face and long black hair. "Our manners, sisters, we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Chi."

The next one lowered her hood. "Lena."

The next followed suit. "Ket."
As did the next. "Pae."

The fifth was seemingly hesitant. Chi, however, didn't seem to care. "Lia, remove your hood."


She complied, and Celine was only slightly surprised when the purple haired figure turned out to be Bitch, the assailant/patient/murderer she'd drug around Cross for miles with. She wanted to strangle her, right there on the spot. She kept her mouth shut about this "Lia" however, for now.

"That weapon...it's the same thing you used on Claude, isn't it?"

Ket raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"That's sleep dust in liquid form. I confiscated a weapon like it from your little friend over here. I didn't know about its contents until it was actually used on me."

Chi smiled. "Clever, little bird. The answer to your question, is no. The weapon we used on the blonde one is quite different."

Ket twiddled her fingers. "So you know this Claude person too, huh?"

Chi's face turned to anger and raised her hand at Ket. A shard of ice sealed itself over Ket's lips, preventing her from speech. Chi looked embarrassed. "Family issues."

Ket looked annoyed. "Mnmmph."

Celine showed signs of frustration. "Pardon me, but can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here??"

Pae spoke up. "You're home, sister."

Lena continued. "You've been brought here for a reason. We are the Trino sisters, and you are one of us."

Celine looked puzzled. "Trino? That name sounds familiar. I read in some book that it was a great city that was ravaged by natural disasters countless centuries ago. Any connection?"

"That was then, this is now."

Celine surged on. "Yet, I am now too. I only know Trino by name, how could I be your sister?"

Pae spoke. We know you were coming, we've waited for you for quite some time now."

"You expect me to believe-"

"Yes. Yes we do."

Celine frowned. After a moment of silence, she turned to Lia and said, "You're talkative." Lia just looked at her, wide-eyed.

Ket had been clawing at the ice ever since it was placed there by Chi. She raised her hand to her mouth and it turned cherry red as the ice melted. As soon as her lips worked again, she began to talk.

"If I can do my JOB...." she said, glaring at Chi, who was ignoring her. "As you've heard, you complete the circle. I somehow doubt you or anyone alive knows anything about us, so I'll explain briefly.

"You talk about a 'great city' and 'natural disasters'? Ha. A joke. Trino was a backwater town just like your Arlia. And back when it still existed, there was a secret far below it. Chi, Lena, Pae and I had discovered a tomb that ran deep underground. We reported it, but the town elder paced it off limits due to some rumors about 'dragons', or something; some bullshit they pulled just to keep us away, as 'we were just kids'.

"Needless to say, we didn't heed their off limits rule and ventured deep into the tomb. At the end of the tunnel, we found this..."

She raised her hand, and in the air a ragged old book spun slowly.

"Obviously, this time we didn't report our find. In fact, we read the book cover to cover. We traveled there every day for weeks. Everything was going fine until Lia told the elder about our little exploits into the tomb. After the hour-long lectures on safety, he asked us for the book. Apparently he found something in that book that we didn't and ran like a madman out of the tomb."

Celine could sense rage in her voice. "He sealed the cavern with a magic force, banning entry and exit, sealing the five of us in the tomb."

"Why did he seal Lia? She was just the middleman."

Ket shrugged. "Who knows? We never even saw him again. It was all way too sudden. Out of the blue we were trapped in a catacomb with no way out, just because we were ambitious teenagers."

Lena walked to Lia and stroked her hair. She seemed to moan, almost purr. "At first, we were furious with Lia. We tried to kill her, but we just couldn't. It wasn't her fault, and she didn't deserve to die. However, her betrayal needed punishment. We destroyed her coherent abilities and gave her the intelligence of a cat. She isn't exactly sociable, but she's loyal and would never hurt us."

That is such bullshit, Celine thought. "Excuse me for sounding impatient, but when does this story involve me?"

Ket spoke again. "The book talks about Heraldry, and lots of it. Countless spells. We have them all memorized and we're quite proficient now. However, there was one more thing the book said. It said that once the circle was completed, the passage, the door to the next world would be open...and in the next world lies time...the most ultimate power."

Celine looked confused. "What would you do with that power?"

Ket smiled. "Revenge, dear sister. Revenge for the centuries we've been locked down here. A hundred years? A thousand years? Who knows anymore?"

Celine interrupted. "You mean THIS is the tomb?"

Chi nodded. "We attempted to open the passage. Many, many times. We realized, however, that the passage wasn't ready to be opened. So we've been waiting for you. Somehow when you heroes shifted time back to restore Expel, the magic barrier shifted ever so slightly, but more then enough for us to escape this prison so we could find you."

"Why me?"

"Because you are the best Heraldic artist to ever exist, and that is not empty flattery. You are the link, and the strongest link at that. You are the one who will help us through the passage."

Celine was speechless. "So...I would be helping you go back in time and changing the past. Would there be a 'coming back' to the present?"

They all hesitated. It was Pae who spoke up. "We would be changing the past...so the future, the present as it is now, would no longer exist."

Celine shook her head. "You would be destroying everything...I can't...what about Chris, and what about Cross? And Rena and Cl-...Claude. Where is he!?"

The hesitated again. This time, no one answered.

Celine sighed. "I...can't."

Lena lowered her head. "...then you leave us no other choice."

Lena raised her hand, and on the side of the room, a cage-like field of energy appeared, and in the center of that energy...

"Chris..."

Pae spoke. "This one is real, sister."

Ket shot her a look. "Quiet."

"Chris!!" Celine yelled.

"Celine...!" Chris yelled back, trying frantically to somehow get out of the cage, wary not to touch the field.

Celine turned on the group angrily. "Let him go!"

Ket shined a grin. "We all have our bad sides, don't we, dear? You've seen me good side." She walked slowly to the cage. "Oh, oh, the princess is separated from her prince. It's like a fairy tale gone wrong. I do hope you refuse us, sister. I would take great pleasure in slowly draining the lift out of this little palace brat."

"Celine! Don't do it! Either way, they'll win if you agree, and I'll be gone no matter what!"

Ket raised her hand and shot a bold of lightning into Chris. The force shot him back into the energy wall. As he hit the field, he cried out in agony and fell to the floor. Ket laughed. "No witty comebacks? No treacherous ambitions to thwart us? Where is your power now?"

Celine sunk to her knees with a muffled sob. Pae began to walk towards Ket, but Lena grabbed her shoulder and held her back. They stood there motionless and could only watch as Ket shot another bolt into the young prince. He fell to the ground, groaning.

"'Line...don't...do it..."

"You still talk!?" Ket raised her hands and gathered energy into her palm.

"...wait..."

Ket stopped as she heard Celine's now weak voice behind her. "Ah, poo." She released the energy into the ceiling above, causing a slight earthquake around them. "You agree then?"

Celine nodded, holding back sobs. Lena walked to her, helping her to her feet. Celine thanked her and looked sadly at Chris. Lena turned and walked away, but Pae knew, without a doubt, that she'd seen tears in Lena's eyes.

~