Chapter 3: Another World
~@~
The light was so bright. It hurt Skye's eyes. She heard someone calling her name.. Cathy? She squinted carefully; there. She could see three shadowy figures running towards her and Hitomi. They shouted at the same time, 'Hitomi..!" A man's voice 'Kanzaki! Not again..!'
At the sound of their voices, Hitomi's eyes flicked open, and she shouted sadly, 'Amano! Yukari! .. I'm sorry, but I have to go to him!'
A quick glance at her, and Skye saw that she was crying. She whispered, 'I'm so sorry...'
They were rising faster now... Skye shuddered. She wasn't too good with heights, and they were gradually getting higher and higher... she groaned as she felt her stomach lurch.
~@~
Cathy ran towards the pillar of light with Amano and Yukari. She didn't understand what the hell was going on, but she heard Hitomi's voice come from inside it.
-Those two shadows... they must be Skye and Hitomi!-
Cathy shouted, 'Skye!!' And next to her, as they ran, Yukari and Amano shouted for their friend. She was shocked when she heard Amano yell, '...Not again..!'
She shook her head, dismissing it. No time. She had to get to Skye!
She ran into the light, and leaped upwards to grab Skye's hand. 'Skye! What are you doing??! Come ON!'
At Cathy's touch, Skye blinked and looked down at her (She was, by this time, floating almost two metres in the air)
'I... I'm leaving, Cathy. I'm sorry.' She paused a minute, while Cathy whimpered; she was losing her grip on Skye's hand. Skye added, almost comfortingly, 'I don't think I'd be able to stay anyway. Even if I wanted to.' She paused again, and smiled at Cathy.
'Goodbye.. you're a good friend.'
And then Cathy lost her grip on her friend's hand, and as both Hitomi and Skye were swept up into the heavens, the last thing they heard was Cathy's anguished scream. And then the sky was dark again, as though the pillar of light had never been.
~@~
With Cathy's scream still echoing in their ears, Hitomi and Skye felt that they were flying. Neither up nor down... simply an infinite rush in all directions.
Eventually, though... Skye felt herself falling. She screamed as the air rushed past her ears, buffeting her face and whipping her hair almost cruelly. The last thing she remembered was a sudden darkness, yet she was still falling. Had something gone wrong? As her eyes just managed to adjust, she realised she was alone. And all through this she was still rushing downwards, faster and faster towards the ground. She shut her eyes, and her stomach clenched with nausea.
She thought: -Oh God... This can't be right...am I going to die?-
So dark. She murmured to herself, and she couldn't hear the words, the wind stole them as soon as they left her lips...
'...where once there was light, now, there remains only darkness...'
It was a while before she formed a conscious thought again.
~@~
As with all those distant times before, Hitomi was carried swiftly, but gently, along the pillar of light.
-Back to Gaea..' She thought nervously, -Back... back to Van. And all the others, too...-
Her eyes were closed, and had remained so since she took her last glimpse of Yukari and Amano through the light. She had no idea that Skye was no longer there with her.
She felt herself slow, and the benevolent light dimmed gradually as her feet touched the ground. Hitomi opened her soft green eyes as the beam silently thinned, its task, for now, accomplished. And then it vanished, in a final sputter of glowing white sparks.
It was dawn. That much she could tell...
A deep orange glow was slowly seeping into the sky, towards the east. As she turned to face the sun, admiring its simple beauty, Hitomi saw that she stood within some large gardens... and they seemed vaguely familiar to her. She frowned, trying to figure out where she was. She turned again, to take in her full surroundings. She almost gaped, as her gaze slowly lifted upwards, up to the magnificent castle that towered above her. She remembered now.
The pillar of light had brought her back to Palas, the capital of Astoria.
Among all the other questions that swirled in a confusing daze around her mind, she had one that was beginning to worry her.
If she wasn't *here*... where exactly on Gaea was Skye?
~@~
A musty smell, and a dark, damp room, it seemed. Her entire body ached, and the right side of her head felt as though it had been hit by a sledgehammer. She couldn't seem to remember anything, and she felt way too hurt to try. She almost made an attempt to sit up, but decided against such strenuous action in her condition... and attempted to open her eyes instead.
Blearily, she opened them -- or one of them, at least. She tried to open them both, of course, but the right one, along with the right side of her head didn't seem to want to stop throbbing.
Her mouth was dry, and her lips sore. She barely noticed, the pain in her head was so severe. She tried to speak, but ended up spasming into a coughing fit which nearly knocked her unconscious.
Cool fingers upon her forehead. A man's soft voice murmured to her; reassuring and calm. Her left eye drooped shut again, and she remembered him saying, 'Sleep. You'll be moved soon. We're almost at the palace.' And then, quieter as though she weren't meant to hear: 'I can't believe she survived a fall like that. Only barely, as it is.'
She slept.
When she woke, it was in a modest room, and this time she managed to open both eyes. Something felt wrong with the right one, though. It must have been high noon... the sunlight shone brightly across the square room, and across the two people that sat by a table in the corner.
She turned her head carefully, to rest it upon the pillow beneath her, and faced the people by the table. They were talking quietly, and she could see that one was a man, the other... a woman? Sort of. She was... strange. She wasn't sure exactly if she was seeing right... this woman had a... a tail! And pink hair. Dark, delicate stripes -- reminiscent of a tabby cat swirled along her arms, and from what she could see, her neck and face, too.
As she gazed at the cat-woman wonderingly, she noticed her ears twitch slightly, and perk upright. The strange woman turned to face her, and she could only wonder more as she met a dark-blue gaze. The cat-woman smiled.
'Ah, so you're awake.'
She could only blink.
The man smiled at her, kindly, and suddenly, she recognised him. She gasped suddenly, 'You're Van Fanel!'
This sudden outburst caused her to start coughing again, and the man only looked puzzled. She sobbed helplessly and the friendly cat-woman came to kneel beside her.
She whimpered, 'What's happened to me? Why am I so hurt?' The whimper turned into a loud sob as her journey through the pillar of light suddenly came back to her, 'I want an answer, damn it! -- You brought us here --' She dragged herself to a sitting position despite the cat-woman's attempts to keep her lying down. '-You brought me and Hitomi here. I want to know why.'
Skye became silent, then, as she waited for a response from the dark-haired man. Her lips set in a stubborn, thin line.
The cat-woman gave up trying to coax Skye back into lying down, and slid softly back to the chair and let the man speak.
She stared at him. He looked tired, though he was young. A nice tan coloured his skin, and his dark, raven hair fell carelessly across his face. His eyes were weary. A dark, troubled maroon, which had deepened at the mention of Hitomi's name.
He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.
He stood, and Skye blinked at how tall he was. She cringed and felt a sharp jab of pain at the base of her skull as she tilted her head to look up at him. Noticing this, Van glanced at her apologetically and brought one of the chairs to sit by her bedside. Skye watched him quietly until he spoke.
'What's your name?'
She would have raised an eyebrow at him automatically, but her efforts were only rewarded with a slight twitch. Her eyes filled with tears; she couldn't help it. What happened to her? Was she a cripple now? Would she ever get better or would she stay like this: A twitching bundle of bones that could barely sit upright and break down at every word.
She managed to mumble; 'My name is Skye.' And then she asked pleadingly, 'Will I get better?'
Van's warm gaze was filled with compassion for her, and it was almost too much to bear. He told her gently, 'Yes, you will. It may take a little time, but you'll be alright. You've already healed an incredible amount in the last few days.'
He paused, as though uncertain as to whether he should say whatever he was thinking.
The cat-woman spoke instead -- her voice was surprisingly pleasant. Lilting and bright, with a gentle purr beneath it all as she spoke. 'What happened to Hitomi, Skye?'
Skye glanced slowly at the cat-woman behind Van, 'You... know Hitomi, too?'
When the woman nodded, Skye confessed regretfully, 'I don't know what happened to her. Something must have gone wrong -- I was in the light, and everything was fine, and all of a sudden, I was alone in the dark. Falling, and falling... it felt so awful...'
She shivered involuntarily as the memory of that night came back to her.
Van suddenly reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. The look in his gaze was so intense it was scary. He demanded of her, 'Where is Hitomi? Did she fall, too?!'
Skye stuttered, his sudden change of mood was muddling her already foggy brain; 'I... I... I really don't know, honestly. I think she's fine -- I mean, when the light disappeared, I could tell I was alone -- she wasn't with me anymore... and, and....I...'
He was very, very close now. He stared at her face... to try to tell if she was lying?
Too close..!
His eyes were drawing her inwards, there was something behind them - something, something... something she had to run from! -- but she couldn't move, couldn't feel -- she could barely think.
Vaguely, as though from behind a veil, she saw the cat-woman pry Van's strong hands from her bruised shoulders. She saw him suddenly blink, and his eyes changed. His hands began to tremble and he said something like, 'What have I done, Merle...' He looked dismayed, lost.
Skye looked down at herself -- (Everything was so slow!) -- and she saw that her hands were twitching, her body twisting in pain, and she couldn't do anything about it.
From a distance, she heard a scream torn from her pain-wracked body, 'Ryujinbito!! Azrael; he will come!'
And, as before, she was pulled under by the pain, which had finally begun to overcome her. She fell into blissful oblivion.
~@~
Hitomi now sat inside the Queen's private chambers, upon an extravagant chair which she felt like she was going to be sucked into. She shifted slightly, trying to find a less vulnerable position, and abruptly gave up.
She smiled at Millerna 'It's so good to see you again -- and Queen, no less!'
Millerna smiled brightly at Hitomi 'And to you, my friend. Now, tell me what's troubling you, and perhaps I can help.'
Nodding quietly, Hitomi said, 'Millerna... Van called me back here. I don't know why, or how, but he has.' She carried on, without pausing to hear Millerna's response, 'There was another girl with me. Her name was Skye. I don't know why, but I think Van meant her to come here, too.' She tilted her head, thinking.
'Something went wrong, though... the pillar of light only brought her half-way. She must have fallen, somehow. I... don't know if she's even still alive. I'm not even sure if I could find her, seeing as Van has my pendant... and... I don't use my cards anymore. Even if I did, I don't have them with me.' Hitomi sighed. 'I don't know what to do.'
Having listened to this overview, Millerna smiled kindly, 'Well... there's only one thing I can think of to do, then. We must contact Van, and either travel to him, or have him travel here.'
And with that, she summoned a messenger to be brought forth and proceeded to write a simple letter to King Van Fanel of Fanelia, briefly explaining the situation. She wrote that Hitomi was safe, and would either travel to him, or him to her, pending his decision.
Hitomi couldn't help but smile. She was going to see Van again! So many things were left unsaid... well, now she was ready to say them, no matter what.
Millerna had let her have her own room, which, coincidentally, was the exact same one as she'd stayed in before, the last time she was in Astoria. She stood on the balcony now and leaned against the railing.
She sighed deeply, 'Nothing to do now but wait, I guess...' She lowered her head until she felt her forehead touch the cold stone of the balcony.
She sighed again.
~-------------@--------------~
It was now a week after the two women reached Gaea. Hitomi waited patiently for Van's messages, which took around two days to reach their destinations. They soon had a sketchy plan decided. As Skye was still too injured to travel, Hitomi would travel to Fanelia -- alone with all her old comrades from two years before... even the King and Queen of Astoria - though it took their advisors some heavy persuading to do. In the end, the very basic list would be decided as: Dryden and Millerna, Allen and Celena (since Allen refused to be separated from her), Gaddes (who followed Allen), and of course, Hitomi.
If they travelled fast, and light, it would take them only three days to reach Fanelia.
Skye, was a different matter altogether. Van, Merle, and the healer who tended to her were stunned at her recovery -- let alone the fall she had survived intact. Since no-one else was allowed to see her except the three, there were only rumours of the strange girl from the Mystic Moon. Some believed that it was Hitomi, taken ill - or another, new person that the King forbade anyone to even attempt to see. The people were unnerved. Especially when they heard that a band of people were to arrive within the next week. Very strange, they thought.
Skye's injuries were many. Her entire body was battered. When they first found her, she was badly bruised, and had shallow cuts all along her arms. She had been lying in a bent and twisted position at the bottom of an old oak tree, unconscious when they found her. One side of her head had been swollen and purple, and the healer had feared for her sight in her right eye. Her arm was broken, and her left leg had a deep slice from her knee reaching up her thigh. That was how they had found her; a group of merchants just on their way into the recently-rebuilt city, they had taken her, and brought her to a healer. And then, of course, Merle had found her and taken her to Van.
~@~
A/N: I guess this is mostly an in-between update chapter. :)
~@~
The light was so bright. It hurt Skye's eyes. She heard someone calling her name.. Cathy? She squinted carefully; there. She could see three shadowy figures running towards her and Hitomi. They shouted at the same time, 'Hitomi..!" A man's voice 'Kanzaki! Not again..!'
At the sound of their voices, Hitomi's eyes flicked open, and she shouted sadly, 'Amano! Yukari! .. I'm sorry, but I have to go to him!'
A quick glance at her, and Skye saw that she was crying. She whispered, 'I'm so sorry...'
They were rising faster now... Skye shuddered. She wasn't too good with heights, and they were gradually getting higher and higher... she groaned as she felt her stomach lurch.
~@~
Cathy ran towards the pillar of light with Amano and Yukari. She didn't understand what the hell was going on, but she heard Hitomi's voice come from inside it.
-Those two shadows... they must be Skye and Hitomi!-
Cathy shouted, 'Skye!!' And next to her, as they ran, Yukari and Amano shouted for their friend. She was shocked when she heard Amano yell, '...Not again..!'
She shook her head, dismissing it. No time. She had to get to Skye!
She ran into the light, and leaped upwards to grab Skye's hand. 'Skye! What are you doing??! Come ON!'
At Cathy's touch, Skye blinked and looked down at her (She was, by this time, floating almost two metres in the air)
'I... I'm leaving, Cathy. I'm sorry.' She paused a minute, while Cathy whimpered; she was losing her grip on Skye's hand. Skye added, almost comfortingly, 'I don't think I'd be able to stay anyway. Even if I wanted to.' She paused again, and smiled at Cathy.
'Goodbye.. you're a good friend.'
And then Cathy lost her grip on her friend's hand, and as both Hitomi and Skye were swept up into the heavens, the last thing they heard was Cathy's anguished scream. And then the sky was dark again, as though the pillar of light had never been.
~@~
With Cathy's scream still echoing in their ears, Hitomi and Skye felt that they were flying. Neither up nor down... simply an infinite rush in all directions.
Eventually, though... Skye felt herself falling. She screamed as the air rushed past her ears, buffeting her face and whipping her hair almost cruelly. The last thing she remembered was a sudden darkness, yet she was still falling. Had something gone wrong? As her eyes just managed to adjust, she realised she was alone. And all through this she was still rushing downwards, faster and faster towards the ground. She shut her eyes, and her stomach clenched with nausea.
She thought: -Oh God... This can't be right...am I going to die?-
So dark. She murmured to herself, and she couldn't hear the words, the wind stole them as soon as they left her lips...
'...where once there was light, now, there remains only darkness...'
It was a while before she formed a conscious thought again.
~@~
As with all those distant times before, Hitomi was carried swiftly, but gently, along the pillar of light.
-Back to Gaea..' She thought nervously, -Back... back to Van. And all the others, too...-
Her eyes were closed, and had remained so since she took her last glimpse of Yukari and Amano through the light. She had no idea that Skye was no longer there with her.
She felt herself slow, and the benevolent light dimmed gradually as her feet touched the ground. Hitomi opened her soft green eyes as the beam silently thinned, its task, for now, accomplished. And then it vanished, in a final sputter of glowing white sparks.
It was dawn. That much she could tell...
A deep orange glow was slowly seeping into the sky, towards the east. As she turned to face the sun, admiring its simple beauty, Hitomi saw that she stood within some large gardens... and they seemed vaguely familiar to her. She frowned, trying to figure out where she was. She turned again, to take in her full surroundings. She almost gaped, as her gaze slowly lifted upwards, up to the magnificent castle that towered above her. She remembered now.
The pillar of light had brought her back to Palas, the capital of Astoria.
Among all the other questions that swirled in a confusing daze around her mind, she had one that was beginning to worry her.
If she wasn't *here*... where exactly on Gaea was Skye?
~@~
A musty smell, and a dark, damp room, it seemed. Her entire body ached, and the right side of her head felt as though it had been hit by a sledgehammer. She couldn't seem to remember anything, and she felt way too hurt to try. She almost made an attempt to sit up, but decided against such strenuous action in her condition... and attempted to open her eyes instead.
Blearily, she opened them -- or one of them, at least. She tried to open them both, of course, but the right one, along with the right side of her head didn't seem to want to stop throbbing.
Her mouth was dry, and her lips sore. She barely noticed, the pain in her head was so severe. She tried to speak, but ended up spasming into a coughing fit which nearly knocked her unconscious.
Cool fingers upon her forehead. A man's soft voice murmured to her; reassuring and calm. Her left eye drooped shut again, and she remembered him saying, 'Sleep. You'll be moved soon. We're almost at the palace.' And then, quieter as though she weren't meant to hear: 'I can't believe she survived a fall like that. Only barely, as it is.'
She slept.
When she woke, it was in a modest room, and this time she managed to open both eyes. Something felt wrong with the right one, though. It must have been high noon... the sunlight shone brightly across the square room, and across the two people that sat by a table in the corner.
She turned her head carefully, to rest it upon the pillow beneath her, and faced the people by the table. They were talking quietly, and she could see that one was a man, the other... a woman? Sort of. She was... strange. She wasn't sure exactly if she was seeing right... this woman had a... a tail! And pink hair. Dark, delicate stripes -- reminiscent of a tabby cat swirled along her arms, and from what she could see, her neck and face, too.
As she gazed at the cat-woman wonderingly, she noticed her ears twitch slightly, and perk upright. The strange woman turned to face her, and she could only wonder more as she met a dark-blue gaze. The cat-woman smiled.
'Ah, so you're awake.'
She could only blink.
The man smiled at her, kindly, and suddenly, she recognised him. She gasped suddenly, 'You're Van Fanel!'
This sudden outburst caused her to start coughing again, and the man only looked puzzled. She sobbed helplessly and the friendly cat-woman came to kneel beside her.
She whimpered, 'What's happened to me? Why am I so hurt?' The whimper turned into a loud sob as her journey through the pillar of light suddenly came back to her, 'I want an answer, damn it! -- You brought us here --' She dragged herself to a sitting position despite the cat-woman's attempts to keep her lying down. '-You brought me and Hitomi here. I want to know why.'
Skye became silent, then, as she waited for a response from the dark-haired man. Her lips set in a stubborn, thin line.
The cat-woman gave up trying to coax Skye back into lying down, and slid softly back to the chair and let the man speak.
She stared at him. He looked tired, though he was young. A nice tan coloured his skin, and his dark, raven hair fell carelessly across his face. His eyes were weary. A dark, troubled maroon, which had deepened at the mention of Hitomi's name.
He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.
He stood, and Skye blinked at how tall he was. She cringed and felt a sharp jab of pain at the base of her skull as she tilted her head to look up at him. Noticing this, Van glanced at her apologetically and brought one of the chairs to sit by her bedside. Skye watched him quietly until he spoke.
'What's your name?'
She would have raised an eyebrow at him automatically, but her efforts were only rewarded with a slight twitch. Her eyes filled with tears; she couldn't help it. What happened to her? Was she a cripple now? Would she ever get better or would she stay like this: A twitching bundle of bones that could barely sit upright and break down at every word.
She managed to mumble; 'My name is Skye.' And then she asked pleadingly, 'Will I get better?'
Van's warm gaze was filled with compassion for her, and it was almost too much to bear. He told her gently, 'Yes, you will. It may take a little time, but you'll be alright. You've already healed an incredible amount in the last few days.'
He paused, as though uncertain as to whether he should say whatever he was thinking.
The cat-woman spoke instead -- her voice was surprisingly pleasant. Lilting and bright, with a gentle purr beneath it all as she spoke. 'What happened to Hitomi, Skye?'
Skye glanced slowly at the cat-woman behind Van, 'You... know Hitomi, too?'
When the woman nodded, Skye confessed regretfully, 'I don't know what happened to her. Something must have gone wrong -- I was in the light, and everything was fine, and all of a sudden, I was alone in the dark. Falling, and falling... it felt so awful...'
She shivered involuntarily as the memory of that night came back to her.
Van suddenly reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. The look in his gaze was so intense it was scary. He demanded of her, 'Where is Hitomi? Did she fall, too?!'
Skye stuttered, his sudden change of mood was muddling her already foggy brain; 'I... I... I really don't know, honestly. I think she's fine -- I mean, when the light disappeared, I could tell I was alone -- she wasn't with me anymore... and, and....I...'
He was very, very close now. He stared at her face... to try to tell if she was lying?
Too close..!
His eyes were drawing her inwards, there was something behind them - something, something... something she had to run from! -- but she couldn't move, couldn't feel -- she could barely think.
Vaguely, as though from behind a veil, she saw the cat-woman pry Van's strong hands from her bruised shoulders. She saw him suddenly blink, and his eyes changed. His hands began to tremble and he said something like, 'What have I done, Merle...' He looked dismayed, lost.
Skye looked down at herself -- (Everything was so slow!) -- and she saw that her hands were twitching, her body twisting in pain, and she couldn't do anything about it.
From a distance, she heard a scream torn from her pain-wracked body, 'Ryujinbito!! Azrael; he will come!'
And, as before, she was pulled under by the pain, which had finally begun to overcome her. She fell into blissful oblivion.
~@~
Hitomi now sat inside the Queen's private chambers, upon an extravagant chair which she felt like she was going to be sucked into. She shifted slightly, trying to find a less vulnerable position, and abruptly gave up.
She smiled at Millerna 'It's so good to see you again -- and Queen, no less!'
Millerna smiled brightly at Hitomi 'And to you, my friend. Now, tell me what's troubling you, and perhaps I can help.'
Nodding quietly, Hitomi said, 'Millerna... Van called me back here. I don't know why, or how, but he has.' She carried on, without pausing to hear Millerna's response, 'There was another girl with me. Her name was Skye. I don't know why, but I think Van meant her to come here, too.' She tilted her head, thinking.
'Something went wrong, though... the pillar of light only brought her half-way. She must have fallen, somehow. I... don't know if she's even still alive. I'm not even sure if I could find her, seeing as Van has my pendant... and... I don't use my cards anymore. Even if I did, I don't have them with me.' Hitomi sighed. 'I don't know what to do.'
Having listened to this overview, Millerna smiled kindly, 'Well... there's only one thing I can think of to do, then. We must contact Van, and either travel to him, or have him travel here.'
And with that, she summoned a messenger to be brought forth and proceeded to write a simple letter to King Van Fanel of Fanelia, briefly explaining the situation. She wrote that Hitomi was safe, and would either travel to him, or him to her, pending his decision.
Hitomi couldn't help but smile. She was going to see Van again! So many things were left unsaid... well, now she was ready to say them, no matter what.
Millerna had let her have her own room, which, coincidentally, was the exact same one as she'd stayed in before, the last time she was in Astoria. She stood on the balcony now and leaned against the railing.
She sighed deeply, 'Nothing to do now but wait, I guess...' She lowered her head until she felt her forehead touch the cold stone of the balcony.
She sighed again.
~-------------@--------------~
It was now a week after the two women reached Gaea. Hitomi waited patiently for Van's messages, which took around two days to reach their destinations. They soon had a sketchy plan decided. As Skye was still too injured to travel, Hitomi would travel to Fanelia -- alone with all her old comrades from two years before... even the King and Queen of Astoria - though it took their advisors some heavy persuading to do. In the end, the very basic list would be decided as: Dryden and Millerna, Allen and Celena (since Allen refused to be separated from her), Gaddes (who followed Allen), and of course, Hitomi.
If they travelled fast, and light, it would take them only three days to reach Fanelia.
Skye, was a different matter altogether. Van, Merle, and the healer who tended to her were stunned at her recovery -- let alone the fall she had survived intact. Since no-one else was allowed to see her except the three, there were only rumours of the strange girl from the Mystic Moon. Some believed that it was Hitomi, taken ill - or another, new person that the King forbade anyone to even attempt to see. The people were unnerved. Especially when they heard that a band of people were to arrive within the next week. Very strange, they thought.
Skye's injuries were many. Her entire body was battered. When they first found her, she was badly bruised, and had shallow cuts all along her arms. She had been lying in a bent and twisted position at the bottom of an old oak tree, unconscious when they found her. One side of her head had been swollen and purple, and the healer had feared for her sight in her right eye. Her arm was broken, and her left leg had a deep slice from her knee reaching up her thigh. That was how they had found her; a group of merchants just on their way into the recently-rebuilt city, they had taken her, and brought her to a healer. And then, of course, Merle had found her and taken her to Van.
~@~
A/N: I guess this is mostly an in-between update chapter. :)