AN: Here we go, Chapter 5! I don't own Rayman and all of you know that by now. The only chars I own are Orchid, Janus, Orion and Diego. Well, here it is…

Chapter 5: Diego

"Where am I"

Orchid felt like she was floating in a sea of nothingness. She could see nothing, feel nothing. Suddenly, she saw a familiar figure; the form of Rayman was standing before her, beaming down at her.

"Rayman!" She yelled, running to embrace her friend. But when she got to him, his form vanished through her arms like mist. In his place, she saw a strange, gaunt figure sneering at her.

"Hello, Orchid." It told her. "Do you remember me?"

She stared at it for a long time before she could stutter a reply. "You… you're Janus! But… but how…"

"There is much you don't know, girl." The figure of Janus told her. "My body was destroyed, but I live on, formless and etheral. The only reason you see me like I appear is because this is how you know me. My true form would be impossible for you to comprehend."

"Why am I here?" She yelled. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Janus said nothing. Instead, he merely waved his left hand. Traces of mist swirled from his hand, finally alighting and forming into a duplicate of Rayman.

"He is the reason you are here. You see, girl, I had the world in my grasp. I was going to lead this world into a new age… but then he destroyed me. Trapped inside the amulet I wore, I could feel nothing but my pain and hatred of the Rai' Muana for what he had done. And this, my girl…"

Once again, Janus waved his hand. The mist figure suddenly swirled and changed into a duplicate of Orchid, screaming in terror. "…This is where you come in."

"Leave me alone!" Orchid screamed, pushing the figure in front of her away and turning to run. But all she saw, in every direction she turned to, was Janus.

"He loves you, Orchid." The voice of Janus said, echoing through the strange world. "You know this as well as I do. He loves you and would do anything to save you. With you gone, he has no other choice but to search for you. And eventually, he will find me. And there…"

"He'll destroy you for good." Orchid spat at the mocking figure in front of her.

"The Rai' Muana will come to the Keep. He will then join me… or die. And now, girl, it is time for me to depart." The figure of Janus disappeared before Orchid's eyes, still laughing cruelly all the while. Orchid, faced with Janus' taunts, turned away and cried into what appeared to be eternity.

*******

Rayman, having removed the knife that was thrown at him, was burning with questions to ask the man before him. "Who are you? How did you know my name? Why did you rescue us? What were those things?" He asked rapidly.

"Hold on, kid." He replied. "First of all, I had been following you and your friends shortly after you entered this desert, so I heard every word you and your friends said. Not a very hard time, I must say, since you and the old man left such clear tracks. And secondly, my people, whom you have termed 'those things', are a race known as the Phantoms."

Rayman flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry about that." He said apologetically. "But who are you? And why did you help us?"

"You can call me Diego." The Phantom said curtly. "The reason I rescued you was because I… have a bit of a grudge against them. Now, why don't you tell me a little about yourselves?"

"Well, thanks for rescuing us, Diego." Rayman said gratefully. "Anyway, the fairy's name is Ly, and this old man is named Simon. We're traveling through this desert so we could find a friend of ours named Orchid. She looks a lot like me, with long brown hair, lovely blue eyes, a gorgeous smile, pearly white teeth...." Rayman's face turned a shade of red at a snicker Diego gave, but he continued. "Have you… have you heard anything about her?"

Diego looked calmly at the three friends. "I might have."

"Please, tell us anything you know!" Simon begged him. "Orchid is my daughter, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her."

"Well, since you insist." Diego muttered lazily. "I saw a large, brown man carrying a girl that looked like her that way." Diego pointed in the direction with his knife. "But if you want my help… there are a few conditions that you'll need to agree to."

"What are they?" Simon asked. "I'm sure Rayman will agree to anything within the boundaries of reason."

"Food, water, and a safe place to rest." Diego said. "That's all I'm asking for. Do we have a deal?"

"It's a deal." Rayman replied, shaking Diego's outstretched hand. "One question, though; what do you have against those other Phantoms."

Rayman immediately regretted asking the question upon seeing the pained look on Diego's face. He quickly resumed his composure before responding. "Personal reasons. Now let's go find your friend." At that, Diego set off to the west with the friends behind him. As they went through the desert, Diego told them some things about the Phantoms.

"We're not going to be walking through the desert the whole way, you understand." He said. "We're going to take a bit of a shortcut through the Catacombs."

"Catacombs?" Rayman asked. "What are those?"

"Let me explain." Diego said. "My people have a knack for exploration. We've been searching the whole of this continent for resources necessary to survival like wood, food and water; those things don't come naturally in a desert, you understand. Thus, we created a series of Catacombs to almost every place on the continent."

Ly wasn't listening. She was focusing, instead, on a glimmer of gold that seemed to be visible whenever Diego moved his left arm.

"Excuse me, Diego," Ly said politely, "but what's that on your arm?"

"What are you talking about?" Diego asked, trying to hide the golden object behind his back.

"That." Ly replied, pointing to a golden bracelet on his arm. "Can I see it?"

"Well… alright." Diego sighed, extending his left arm. Ly stared at it in awe. The bracelet was carved out of solid gold and engraved with emeralds and other precious gems. A few strange symbols were engraved on the backside of the bracelet in a language Ly couldn't understand.

"It's beautiful." She said in awe. "How did you get that, Diego?"

"I… just have it, that's all." He replied sheepishly. For the second time the friends had known him, Diego adopted a pained expression and furrowed his brow. "Look, can we stop talking about my personal life?"

"Sorry." Ly said.

"How much farther, Diego?" Rayman asked, trying to liven up the mood.

"See that cactus over there?" Diego said, pointing to a cactus with his knife. "Come a little closer."

As the friends approached the cactus, they noticed a few odd things about it. While the other cacti were green, the one before them was an odd shade of gray. A slit was also strangely visible in the base of the Cactus.

"We created these stone cacti to mark the entrances to our Catacombs." Diego explained. "Now watch."

Saying this, Diego slid his knife blade into the slit in the cactus. He then turned the knife handle, making the slit turn as well. Suddenly, something strange happened. The cactus began to move slowly backwards, revealing a stairwell.

"Here they are." the Phantom said. "The Catacombs await."