TYEEB
(Shadow)




This is weird. Way past weird.

I feel my eyes are closed shut, and yet I can still see as if they were completely open. I see Dr. Quack's face, filled with abject loss, wheeling me on a roll bed, or something like that, the same thing they use when they're wheeling people into operation. There are several of his assistants, looking just as mournful.

They say I have no feeling, but I could feel them putting a tag of identity on my toes, the sheet….the
shroud…over my head. Now I can feel my body react to the bumps in the makeshift floor of the office. I'm supposed to know no more pain, but my back is aching from the jolting.

I know my heart's stopped, ripped apart, and my body's stiff to the touch, but I still feel warm from where the bullet hit me. I feel something within me is keeping me alive
somehow, even in one place, even though the rest of my body's gone and I'm really dead like they say I am.

This doesn't feel like death. This feels like something totally different. I'm not supposed to be here, period. I'm supposed to be walking towards the light. I'm supposed to be looking down from the sky. But I'm looking up, at the bright lights of a coroner's table, and my unfeeling body can feel the poking of a satchel as it searches for the right place to cut me up.

Is this really death for me? Or am I just…
sleeping?

For some reason, more than ever, I wonder why these lights aren't charring my skin to the blackest black. It feels like the pallor of death just isn't what I'm supposed to wear, that donning the darkest color of life's colored palindrome is the way I'm supposed to look.


---------------------------------

The steps up to Hikawa seemed far steeper than they had been for Locke.
Urrgh…. Locke looked at the ground. I don't feel good…

"Princess." Star Healer looked at Kakyuu as the group of Starlights, Mars and Locke, still in fighting mode, proceeded up the steps. "Forgive me, but I believe your decision to fight was incredibly rash."
"You could have been killed, princess." Maker glanced at the echidna without his noticing. "There are many things you must watch out for. Many things."

Princess. The word grated into Locke's head. All this time, a princess. From another world. Yet I must have acting so foolish in front of her….me, a man of my age, foolish!

"But I wasn't killed." Kakyuu sighed. "Starlights, I do not understand you. I am a strong soldier as well. I can fight my own battles. Must you always be so overprotective of me?"
"But there is always a battle that might be too much for you," Maker objected.
"Come come, Healer, Maker!" Kakyuu tossed her head. "What if I wished to help those who have helped me in all of my years? Am I not allowed to at least be given that luxury?"

No one said another word as the group proceeded to the top of the steps. As they approached the shrine, lights were suddenly turned on.

"Oh no…" Mars turned to the others. "Quick! Hurry! Un-transform bef-"
"My goodness!"

With a gasp, Mars turned to see George Fortinbras coming towards them from the door.

"Well, well, staying up was a good idea, no?" With a chuckle. "I say, but it is quite chilly for that getup of yours….."

He suddenly stopped cold.

"What in…?" He began to stare. "What is….that?!"

The Starlights looked at one another, their ruse found out; first Healer at Maker, then Maker at Fighter, and then Fighter up towards the sky. Then they looked down upon Fortinbras' object of posterity. The object of posterity, in turn, realized his mistake and looked down at the ground.

"In the name of Saint James…" Looking up from the echidna, Fortinbras looked up to his three aides, now dressed scantily for reasons he had not yet identified. "What is going on?!?"

-------------------

Sally couldn't bear to look up from the ground.
Sonic…. She felt tears come to her eyes each time she thought of him. Why….why did this happen…

"It's all my fault."
"Princess?" Julie-Su, who sat next to her, looked at her.
"If I had seen that guy aiming for me, he'd be alive."
"That's ridiculous." Knuckles' low voice came in. "You could never have known. It's not your fault."
"It is, Knuckles. And don't you argue that it isn't."

Knuckles gave another sigh. He leaned against the tent pole, the siding swaying softly in the breeze as the Mobian sun began its exodus to dusk for the second time since he had returned.
It felt strange, almost ethereal, to him, watching the sun set the first time. It was when he had stormed off to prove himself to his mother. It was when no one in the town except for Tails (whom, he felt, was acting unnerving and strange lately - the news of Sonic's abrupt death did not seem to even touch him when he was informed) had recognized him. Once again, the sun set, and it seemed more painful because the idea of the sun setting now meant so much more than just a daily, physical event. Yet another person he knew was dead. His sun, just like those who had died on the Island on that horrible day…their suns had set, crossed into another, more invisible setting, the endless, eternal twilight, a world of moonset, night and peace…their new domicile.
Perhaps, Knuckles suddenly found himself thinking. Perhaps Sonic's spirit could visit us in this world. The Brotherhood could. Maybe…..no… his more conventional thought prevailed. It wouldn't be possible. Only Guardians can ascend and evolve. It's in our constitution, revealed when Steppenwolf created the Brotherhood. And Sonic…

"Knuckles!!"

From outside came Lara-Le, who promptly went to the echidna and latched herself onto him.

"My god!" Lara-Le looked up. "I heard what happened……are you all right?"
"Yeah, mom." Knuckles replied quietly. "I'm fine."
"Now."
"Hmm?" Knuckles turned towards the princess. "What?"
"The truth, Knuckles." Sally, who had only spoken in a self-depreciatory manner since carrying Sonic's body to Dr. Quack, now stood up. "About what happened on the Island. And what happened to you."
"The truth…"

Tell them? They won't believe me. Never.
'Hey, well, after that group of Overlanders in the vision slaughtered everyone on the Island, I was taken prisoner, tortured and brainwashed by an immortal freak so I could go to another planet, through a warp hole that was conveniently in the airspace that the Island was moving that day, and destroy it with the power of
their seven Chaos Emeralds! Only when the guy went to destroy the planet this girl who had this gem called the Silver Crystal came and not only stopped the seven emeralds, she covered the earth with her power to cleanse it, and golly gee, I think some of that power came here and cleansed you guys too! Now I'm back because I thought this place was long gone cause we slept for about a thousand years and aged as a result of the energies we were exposed to, and wow, nothing changed! Oh, and did I forget to mention Dad can become a human now, he thinks you're all dead and he's in love with that girl who saved the world and that's why he's not with me? Ho ho ho!'
Knuckles gave a breath.

"…is hard to accept."
"Is it?"
"Yes." Knuckles looked at Bunnie. "If I told you, I don't think you would believe me."
"At this point, I'm sure that what you have to say is believable." Sally sat down in a chair across from the guardian. "Tell us."

With a look of resignation, Knuckles turned to Julie-Su. The pink echidna simply shook her head.

"There's really no turning back at this junction, Knuckles…"
"Very well…" Knuckles took a deep breath. "I'll simply start with what you saw…what you could understand. That was when a group of renegades known as Mafia came to the island…"

-----------------------------

"Un….unbelievable…"

Eyes wide, Fortinbras simply set down his bowl of rice, staring at Locke.

"Is this to be believed?"
"It is the truth." Locke, back in human form, muttered. "Every drop of words."
"If this is true…that our planet is experiencing an artificial disaster…" Fortinbras looked at Rei. "Why does your leader not reverse it?"
"Our leader isn't here to do it." Rei sipped some homemade tea. "She's gone into the distance of space to acquire and control the power needed for the birth of the sacred land. This city, Tokyo."
"The aging is merely only a by-product of the cleansing power that she unleashed to counter the emeralds." Locke looked up. "There could be much more, information I do not know of. But the destruction is not necessarily from the Silver Crystal - it is from the Cha….the Philosopher Stones."
"Jesus H…" Fortinbras chuckled sadly, shaking his head. "Within the course of an hour my stance on witches, aliens and every other conceivable myth has been wholly shattered by people who either speak the brutal truth…or experiencing the world's most horrifying acid trips."

Locke looked confusedly at Rei, then at Kakyuu, who simply smiled and shrugged. From the corner of his eye, Fortinbras noticed Yaten and Taiki staring at the red-haired man who sat across him with expressions that could not be described any less as cold glares of apprehension.

"Well, well…" Turning his eyes to Locke, whose eyes were cast down towards his own food. "You seem to be a good man…or, whatever you are…to be around in a situation like this-"
"Are you married?"

Taiki's blunt question came from left field. Seiya's eyes bulged as soon as the words left her partner's mouth.

"I beg…"
"It is a question I wish to ask, ambassador." Taiki looked back towards the seemingly frozen echidna-man. "Are you married? Or ever married?"
"…………I am not married…not anymore." Locke didn't look up from his tea as he spoke in a quiet, almost forced voice. "My first wife and I are divorced for 14 years."
"Figures why."

Kakyuu shifted uncomfortably as Taiki stood up and excused herself from the room. Yaten then stood up and followed suit, leaving Seiya alone on the couch.

"You…you'll have to excuse my partners, Locke." Seiya embarrassingly nodded her head down. "They are…slightly tired from the battle and…they are a bit cranky."
"Of….of course…"

Locke could feel his teeth grit as his body stayed rigid in the position it had taken. It was not so much the personal humiliation he had suddenly been dealt by Seiya's seemingly insult-happy partners, as it was another, increasingly sharp pain in his side. This one, however, ripped into his abdomen into his arm with the old injury, preventing him from sitting up straight.

"Locke…?"
"Forgive me." The pain subsided, not completely, but enough for Locke to fake in front of Kakyuu. "I'm slightly cold. A walk will do me well."

Excusing himself, he left as well, leaving Fortinbras, Rei, Kakyuu and Seiya.

"Well!" Shaking his head, Fortinbras stood up. "I seem to pick the feisty ones, eh, Seiya?"

There was no reply from the black-haired woman, and Fortinbras hastily changed the topic.

"Interesting…learning experience," he managed to chuckle. "For me, of course…"
"…..and of course, you'll do good not to repeat what we told you to another soul outside this room, George Fortinbras?" Rei sipped her tea again.
"Miss Hino…" Fortinbras gave a hasty bow. "I am a diplomat for Her Majesty Elizabeth of the British Empire. I never enjoyed the luxury of the impartation of information made to me in confidence. I assure you that if a peep escapes from this room it will not have come from my sealed lips."

With a nod to Kakyuu, the Briton left the room. The moment he left a chuckle suddenly came from Seiya, her shoulders hunched.

"Star Fighter…" Rei put down her tea.
"'Feisty…'" Seiya looked up at Kakyuu, her teeth clenched, eyes blazing. "Their nerve. Their nerve."
"It is all right, Seiya." Kakyuu looked down. "Yet I certainly hope he was not offended."
"Offended or no, princess." Seiya looked up. "They had no right to ask such a personal question in such a fashion."
"Oh, Seiya..." Kakyuu stood up. "They are…..they are just being foolish. I will talk to them."
"I would understand if he was a true menace, princess." Seiya turned towards the door. "But he's not. And save your breath for people with more respect for your thoughts and feelings," she continued as Kakyuu opened her mouth. "I will talk to them."

Without another word, Seiya left the room.

--------------------

"Durr!!"

The knife flipped up unexpectedly, almost snapping in half in Dr. Quack's hands. He suddenly jumped back, grunting in pain as the knife clattered to the ground.

"Son of..!!"

The sheet went over the subject immediately. Dr. Quack turned his eyes away from the wound as he hurriedly went to the makeshift sink, turning the water on. Turning back for a moment, he stared at his subject. The bullet was lodged, stuck, tangled somehow just under the layers of skin and dried blood on the hedgehog's chest.
Urrgh…
The stinging began as his hand went under the water. Fumbling with the cabinet with the aid of his good hand, the doctor-turned-coroner took out some anti-septic and a bandage box before looking down to see the extent of the damage.
Of all the… Some of the embalming fluid had come up with the knife, as there was a sticky foam around parts of the widened stab wound. This is the third knife in an hour. I can't get the bullet out or deepen any of my incisions- its almost like the body is completely hardened. I don't understand it at all…
With another angry huff, Dr. Quack wiped the antiseptic on his hand, wrapped his hand, and scanned the counter for a scalpel. He had run out of knifes.
As he finally spotted one, a snapping noise caught his attention.

"Hmm?" Dr. Quack's attention immediately went towards the door. "Who's the-"

His question was followed by a shout as a short figure quickly snapped the tent closed.

"Hey!" The duck's feet quickly reacted. "Stop! You're not allo-"

He stopped as he opened the flap. There was no one there. He took several swipes to the left and right, but it was as if there had been no one there.
Strange…. Dr. Quack shuddered nervously. But a good thing they left. For a moment…with the was the height was, I thought it was….well, I would certainly hope that Sally wouldn't just let him come up here and see Sonic in this condi-

A quiet humming sound from back inside the tent caught his attention. He quickly turned around and gasped.

"What in…?!"

The sheet was completely white. Too white. It glowed brightly, darkening the tent, blowing with a breeze that seemed to come from within the sheet itself. Within the sheet…
My god… Dr. Quack's eyes widened in horror. …Sonic….

Without another word, the duck ran out of the tent, screaming.

"PRINCEEEEESS!!!!!"

----------------------

Seiya's feet stomped out the door, into the garden, and out to the end of the fencing.
The nerve….

"Seiya!"

The motion of Seiya walking through the grass caught the attention of the two roaming companions. Without a word, Seiya simply stared as Yaten and Taiki walked towards her.

"These flowers are rather pretty, even for the fog…" Taiki noticed Seiya's glaring at her. "Seiya? Is something wrong?"
"….What was that back there?"
"What was what, Seiya."
"Don't play games with me, Yaten." Seiya's eyes flashed knives. "Don't."
"What's wrong?" Taiki shook her head. "We were just asking a question."
"A highly inappropriate question."
"It was for the princess's good."
"Don't bring the princess-"
"Seiya." Yaten muttered. "Just because you are the ultimate optimist doesn't mean you need to be stupid and fall for this old man's tricks. Our princess has fallen for them, it seems, but then again, its no surprise - she has unfortunately had many unworthy men in her life she couldn't see past."

Seiya's hand flew up for the hit within the instant. Yaten shut her eyes for the impact, but it never came. Instead, there was a shout within the shrine.

"Aaaar!!!"

Seiya's head picked up. It was the sound of pure pain.
Is that…Oh no…
Without another second, Seiya bolted back towards the shrine, her anger towards her fellow Starlights forgotten at the moment.

------------------------

Sally could no longer see the world clearly.
The way in front of her was blurred with shock. She felt herself numbed with sadness, remorse, and regret. A sense of disbelieving belief.

"Everyone is gone….the Island destroyed….we ourselves found ourselves in a world different from our own….one that almost killed us…."

Wormholes? Other planets?
Earth Emeralds? Sally's thoughts had not yet processed everything. Can it be?
It seemed too impossible to be true. To think that there was another source of power to challenge the power of the Chaos Emeralds, that this undiscovered power was what created the vines and not some freak storm. That it was all controlled by one girl…a human, as Knuckles has called her…

"Do you think they understand now?"

Julie-Su's muffled voice came from the other side of the tent. Sally's eyes widened as she heard Knuckles' reply:

"....I don't think they do." His voice was disheartened. "They will probably never believe us."
"I think everyone is upset about Sonic right now..."
"I know." Knuckles' voice became bitter. "But mark my words, I'm going to find out what exactly Gala-Na has been saying about me. And when I do....I'll put a stop to this madness...."
"Knuckles...."

Sally could almost feel Julie-Su putting her head upon his chest, looking for calm. She could feel herself become more angered, more saddened. I have no chest to put my head upon anymore....

"What should we do until then?"
"...........Wait." Knuckles' voice was calmer. "And hope."

Though she could not see what was happening, Sally knew what was occurring in the moment of silence around the corner. The look into the eyes. The closeness of their cheeks. Then the kiss, slow, passionate, but also mournful, confused, lost...
Like me. I...I feel so lost without....without-

"Princess!!!"

Sally's head snapped up as a grip on her fist suddenly appeared.

"Dr....Dr. Qua-"
"Princess, something has happened."

Something-oh no.... Sally's sadness turned to fear as she felt herself dragged. Sonic....what's happened to him now...

-

Knuckles suddenly broke the kiss off.

"Knuckles..."
"Julie-Su..." Knuckles' face was a mixture of surprise and horror. "Impossible..."
"What?!"
"Come on!"

Julie-Su felt no choice but to obey as they quickly came from behind. Knuckles gritted as he saw Sally and the doctor disappear into the shrub.
This power....the power of the Silver.....wait, not.....SONIC?!?!?

-

The fingers twitched as the sound of the approaching steps.
The creature cocked its ear to listen. Though it was far away, for some bizarre reason it instantly recognized those who were coming towards the darkened tent.
Sally. Doc.
The light was gone, all there was black mass, a black creature to fill the void that the blue hedgehog had left. It stretched.
Well. So much for a clo-

"He was right here!" The tent flap opened. "And as I was operating on him it was almost as if he had come ba..."

Dr. Quack suddenly stopped at the door upon seeing the creature. His eyes filled with horror and dread.

"What....what is..."

Sally entered as well, her eyes widening at the scene before her. What she saw looked like a devil.

"Oh...my..." Everything began to crash in. She began to become hysterical. "MY....GOOOOOOD!!!!!!"

----------------------------

Doubling over again. The pain intensified.

"Iiiirgh..."

Locke growled, trying to hold the pain back in his room, but it was getting harder and harder. Splotches adorned his neck, and he had carefully hidden them with his kimono. But he knew it could not last.
Uuurgh. My side....my..

"Locke?"

The door of his room slowly creeped open, and Luna padded in, her face carved with a small smile.

"Are you all right?"
"I...have been better."
"Of course." Luna kept smiling. "May I stay with you for a while?"
"....Of course."

At that, Luna padded to Locke and rubbed her fac against his arm. In doing so she recieved a slightly unexpected surprise - his arm felt unusually bumpy.
Peculiar....They don't feel like pimples...

"What are you here for?"
"Oh....I wanted to ask...."

Keep calm. Don't say too much to him...he might not know...and too much at one time...

"Locke...." Luna's tail swished. "What type of guardian system did you have? Did people have direct contact with you? Or....or did you keep yourself away from them?"

Locke's head cocked uneasily as he heard the question. His eyes slightly widened.

"What....did you say..."
"I am asking you." Luna looked up. "Do you have other Guardians who work with you? Do you watch a specific domain of your world? The sailors, they work very much like that."
"I..." How? How could this cat.....whom I never met...guess about the Guardian System so easily when my own son was never brought the knowledge until years later?!....No.......no, don't think of it, because if you think of it you'll- "I...have to go..."

He got up to walk away; however, he was suddenly gripped by new pain in his waist. He tried to will it away, as he had done the past two weeks, grin and bear, but it was different this time. The spasm was so abrupt, so powerful it nearly brought Locke to his knees instantly.

"Nnngh..."
"Locke?!?"
"Uuuugh…"

Suddenly, Locke's hand shot out to get the door frame, but instead his feet fell from under him, and his head smacked the door. His entire body fell into the frame before sliding to the floor, where he shuddered.

"LOCKE?!?"
"Nnnnnnnnn….NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!"

Locke's teeth gritted, but the onslaught of everything - his memories, his thoughts, his fight, his new pain - came crashing down on him, and he found he couldn't breathe.

"LOCKE!!!!!!"
"Ahh….AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Pain………………………….pai-
too much to fast-what happened
Someone stop


"Luna?!?"

At the sound of Locke's screams, and the thoughts suddenly blazing through her mind, Rei's footsteps came down the hall and into the room, where she gasped at Locke's doubled-over body.

"Locke!!!! Lu-"
"Rei?!?"

Fortinbras, Seiya and Oji-san came bursting into the doorway, Oji-san under Rei's legs. He jumped to Locke's side and shook him.

"Snap out!!…What in…?!?"

Locke's shuddering did not cease. Kakyuu immediately ripped off Locke's kimono as he held his side and his head, screaming. Rei could see tears forming in his eyes from the pain.

"AAAARRRRRR!!!"

Kakyuu's eyes widened in horror. Dark black blotches covered Locke's body. On his right arm, patches of green skin were falling off around a dark brown splotch. The green extended from near his elbow to up near his shoulder.

"REI!!!" Rei's eyes couldn't be averted from the hellish scene. "Help!!!!! GO GET HELP NOW!!!!"
"Uh!!!"

Rei's mind clicked, and she instantly flung herself to the door, running outside. Cursing terms Luna had never heard before, Kakyuu and Seiya suddenly ran out of the room, into the other direction, returning instantly with scissors, bandages and a bottle of dark chemicals.
No…..Locke…. Luna could only watch as Locke writhed in pain from his affliction. Kakyuu took the scissors and began to inch her way up on Locke's arm. Seiya fumbled deftly with the bandage. Don't die. You have the key. You can't die!!

---------------------

Sally's scream finally stopped. The creature simply looked at her, its eyes widened.

"Sal!"
"My god…" Sally could only stare at the new creature. "Are…..you've……uugh…"

Sally, unable to handle the shock of watching him dead, the surprise of him returning from certain death, only to find something she had never seen in front of her all in one day, promptly fainted in Dr. Quack's arms.

"Sal!" The creature suddenly jumped off the table. "Are you-"
"WAIT!" Dr. Quack stopped him with a sharp voice. "I don't know who you are, or…what trick you're playing on the princess."
"Trick?" The red eyebrows crimped. "I'm not playing any trick, Doc. It's me! I survived!"
"….Sonic…?!?"
"Sally!!"

Knuckles and Julie-Su ran into the room, only to see the creature standing in front of them.

"…Sonic?!?!?" Julie-Su's hand went to her mouth. "You're…alive?!"
"What?" Dr. Quack turned apprehensively to the two echidnas. "That can't be…he doesn't look or sound like Sonic!"
"No…" Knuckles stared at Sonic, his surprise melting to realization. "The energy flowing from him. Like hers and the emeralds…This is Sonic."
"What are you guys talking about?" The creature who was supposedly Sonic scratched its head. "You make like I grew ten heads or fur or something like that….but I don't feel any different!"
"Sonic…" Knuckles gulped. He's not quite getting it… "Take your hand and look at it."

The creature shrugged, holding out his hands so that he might see. He found himself staring at an arm that was no longer peach, but black. Two small red streaks lined the side of his arm - one starting at his thumb, one at his pinky, both ending at his shoulder. Of his entire arm, only his palm, which was a yellow-orange hue, was not black or red.

"What the…" The creature's red eyes widened. "No way…"

He looked down at himself, nearly falling over. He was almost completely black, with red stripes on his legs as well. He was also taller and thinner, but he was too busy gawking in shock at his darker complexion to notice. He also found that even his peach-colored belly was replaced - replaced by thick white fur which, he noted as he slowly rubbed his new hair, covered his bullet injury. He felt the bump of lead as he ran his fingers through it once.

"My chest…"
"So…" Knuckles' stared at the hedgehog. "You evolved too…"

Sonic looked up at Knuckles, blinking in thought. All of a sudden Knuckles' story did not seem so unbelievable to the hedgehog.

---------------------

"Diverticulitis."
"What?" Kakyuu numbly looked up. "What was that?"
"He's suffering from diverticulitis, I think." Ami's mother calmly but firmly pressed on Locke's side, near his appendix. Delirious, Locke could only moan. "A not entirely uncommon condition for men at this stage of life. Especially with the weakened intestines that come with middle age. You shouldn't have him eating seeded food. Among other things, though, that is perhaps the least of his problems."
"Gangrene?"
"Yes. A very old injury, I can tell, one that went untreated."

The bullet lay in a bag, with the infected green skin which had surrounded it. The very bullet which had afflicted Locke on so many occasions after it had lodged in his skin on that fateful day when he lost almost everything he had. The bullet which Kakyuu understood to be the very thing that could have taken Locke's life.

"Of course, there's also the chickenpox…"
"Chickenpox?" Rei's eyes widened.
"Yes." Ami's mother looked up. "It's been going around the younger children lately - there's no vaccine, so we can't inoculate them. Not necessarily a bad thing for kids. It's hit our friend here rather hard, unfortunately, since he must not have had it as a child."


The little kid coughed as his mother looked at Locke.

"Please," The mother cried. "My child is sick, and with all of this aging…devil's work, I swear…..my son is still a baby!"



"Not only that, but I also see possible signs of an aneurysm."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm afraid so. It may have affected his brain, and given his…unusual….condition, I'm surprised he's still alive."

"God, no…."

 "He's very sick." Rei looked back up at Ami's mother, shocked. "It is very critical that someone be by his side at this time. Having one of those diseases is bad enough with medicine. All three, and no medicine….with this horrible attack…"
"Please." Kakyuu stepped up, her eyes tearing. "Please tell us what we must do."
"Don't feed him seeded foods." Ami's mother looked at Kakyuu. "Change his bandages as often as you can with what I've given you and use the antibiotic I've given you. It's crude, but it works." Another shudder from Locke. "Don't let him exert himself. Be careful of any blood he may spit up, especially dryied blood. And don't pop the pox on his body. That's about all the advice I can give you now."
"Thank you…"

Ami's mother passed by the others whom were in the hall - her daughter, Minako, then a sobered Fortinbras, and Oji-san - before she left the building. Her head was down; her true age showed with the stress. Wiping her brow with her hand, she proceeded down the steps of the shrine.

"He must know."

Three shadows watched as Ami's mother descended.

"We must tell him."
"Tell him?"
"Knuckles." Michiru looked at Haruka. "His father is very ill."
"Oh….yes…."
"We must be very careful." Setsuna looked into her garnet orb. "It will be very dangerous to reach him."
"Indeed…"

Haruka's head went down slightly at that. Michiru looked at Haruka, perplexed.

"Haruka….are you all right?"
"Fine." Asshole. I'm so stupid. How could I… "We should hurry."
"Yes." Setsuna held up her orb. "To Egypt."

In a flash of red light, the three shimmered and disappeared.