Matt ran at top speed to Rage's door. He knocked quickly, frowning. He could almost hear Raven's irritable voice. 'Psht, Patience is a virtue? Patients are for –doctors- thank you very much!' Suddenly the door burst open. There stood his cousin Nina. Her medium length hair was in two French braids. She beamed at him.

"Matt! S'been a while. How're you?"

"Alright, you?" Matt couldn't help but smile brightly. That was the effect 13 year old Nina had on most people.

"Pretty good. C'mon in." she stepped aside and Matt strode in.

"NINA!" yelled Rage from the basement.

"Wasn't me!" she automatically called back.

"Oh, yeah right, you sonova butt…." He sighed, clomping up the stairs. He saw Matt. "Geeze! Long time no see Matt!"

In Matt's opinion, Rage was probably the coolest uncle that ever existed. He snowboarded, illustrated books for a living, and pretty much anything you named he's done it. Matt could confide anything in Rage, who could keep a secret.

"It's great to see ya." Matt grinned.

"You to!"

Instead of saying, 'Oh, you've been growing like a weed!' Rage tended to say things like, 'hehehe, I heard you got a girlfriend… who is she? What's she look like? You'd better hope she's not an idjit…!' he'd smile evilly. ((a/n: like thisà =) hehe, incase u were interested in e-smilies)) He was straight forward and didn't care how school was going… he cared about if you wanted to go rollerblading with him.

"So, um… I wish I hadn't of come on such grim matters, but…"

"Raven and Xeno." Rage replied before Matt could even finish.

"Yep."

"Come sit down." Rage lead him into a huge, cerulean living room with a cream-colored leather couch and loveseat. He sank down onto one as did Matt.

"Er…"

"Matt… I dunno. I can't… I mean, I kinda lost my powers. Heck, I was loosin' 'em the year Raven met Xeno! She was so magically powerful that her favorite leisurely pastime was telepathically picking me up by the shirt collar and kickin' me outta her room and slammin' her door behind me. Does –that- tell you anything?"

"Oh."

"I'm sorry I can't help… not in that aspect at least."

Matt winced. He had seen the look on Rage's face before, and he didn't like it.

                                                                        ~*~

Yuki sat across from a tall, blue eyed girl with red hair and freckles. The girl sat, observing Yuki's expression, one long slender leg crossed over the other. Yuki looked at her, unsure.

"That's really where Rage's house is?"

Tabitha, a good friend of Yuki's, nodded solemnly. "Yep. But be careful."

"Huh? What's that mean?"

"… Nothin' in particular. Just a warning. Good luck. And have you decided yet?"

". No."

"Ah, okay then. Remember to follow your heart, not your head."

"Is it your personal job to confuzzle me?" Yuki sighed.

Tabitha grinned. "You bet. That's half the fun of being with you! Now go find your boyfriend." She gave a nonchalant wave of her hand and stood up, stretching. "See ya soon Yuki."

"…Yeah."

She nodded, deciding to take the train to the city and walking to Rage's house from there. Yuki hurried to her dorm and unlocked it. There was a boquet of 12 red roses and a small note.

Yuki,

Please get back to me soon… I love you, but I had to leave to sort some things out in Esthar. Sorry!

            Lots of Love,

                  Dameon

She sighed, picking up her jacket. What do I –do-?! This is so confusing. My good friend whom I've known forever or a boy I met by dumb luck and only for a little while. How do I figure this out? It seems like Dameon's the one for me, but Matt's sweet and perfect… What did Tabitha say again? 'Follow your heart, not your head…' but they both say the same thing! I just… urgh… Maybe… I… I… She banged her fist down hard on the table, breathing quickly, hand shaking. I don't understand! She took a shuddering breath and ran out the door.

                                                ~*~

"Hello?" Yuki asked wearily to a little girl.

"May I help you?" she had a large, innocent beam on her face.

"Is Matt here?"

"Nah, he just left. Who're you? I'll take a message if you want. C'min!" Nina nodded and lead the way into the living room.

A woman in her mid to late thirties sat on the couch. She had on a lime green summer dress, showing off her dark complexion, and she was very thin. She wore small silver hoop earrings and light wood sandals. Her hair was dark and in a twisted bun, and had the expression of an eager teenager. She stood up and grinned. Yuki smiled nervously.

"My name's Star." the woman smiled happily. Yuki had trouble believing she was older than 21.  "Who're you?"

"Yuki Kaida." She replied hesitantly.

"Hm… lemme see… I think I heard Matt mention you. He really thinks highly of you. You're looking for him." She added and nodded. "He left about half an hour ago with Rage to save Raven and Xeno."
 "…How'd you know?" she asked, aghast.

"Ah, I've always been good at guessing things." Star shrugged, grinning. "Really winds up Rage when I tell him what he got me for my birthday. But you if you wanna catch up to Matt… Yuki…" she trailed off. "Yuki, I really don't think you should go after him."

"Why not?" Yuki asked defiantly.

"Fate's got a weird way about it…" shaking her head, Star gazed moodily at the floor.

"What do you mean?!" she was infuriated. Everyone knew what was going on but –her-! Tabitha knew, and now Star!

"Yuki… if you do decide to go, then the only way you can get there is by warping. It's not a region known to anyone around here. You'll find a path that has a town spaced halfway through it, at the beginning, at the end, and one that is the most treacherous of all. It is located where the Earth meets the Stars… Don't get to close to the blackness. The darkness will overwhelm you… it's happened many times before. That's why all of the people that know of the other world here are gone. They've been sucked into the void of shadows. Rage found out by an old scroll he found. No one else could make sense of it. It said 'Where the sun and the moon, the velvet and the dusk meet, there will lay the prison of hearts, the mages lay there alone, left to die by the human race. When the treachery is undone, the abandonment reversed, then the Hero shall emerge and fight for the guardian and the mourning bird. Fate, balancing on the whispering wind, shall decide if the Little Dragon shall follow him…'…" she did not finish.

"What next?" asked Yuki impatiently.

"I don't remember." Star replied abruptly. "But Rage understood it somehow with Raven's help. Mages were spread unevenly through families, skipping siblings and sometimes generations. Rage realized, after doing research, that besides Raven's sorceress powers, she was a mage. One of the few mages that escaped to this world. It was her father who was the mage, though in his lifetime he told no one. So he fitted more of the puzzle and had their magic connect at dusk, where the sky is 'velvet and dusk' when the sky was dark but the sun could still be seen setting. The moon was up very slightly, but the sun was still barely up. His magic has been completely and totally gone since then… But then a threshold opened up… Rage journeyed inside, instructing Raven to stay outside. Rage realized only after it was too late that the Hero of Mages was Matt. The 'mourning bird' was Raven and the 'Guardian' was Xeno. He knew that he had to let Matt go over and save Raven and Xeno, but insisted upon going with him. So here we sit. No are you up to date?"

"…Yeah. But I'm going after Matt –right now-. Please show me the way."

"Are you positive about this?" Star had an anguished look on her face.

"Yes." Replied Yuki determinedly.

"Follow me." Whispered Star, leading her outside. "Matt left me this. I think it will open the threshold." She held up a sparkling pendant. There was a noiseless flash of light and a hole appeared, as if a seam in reality had ripped.

"Do I go in?" whispered Yuki.

"Yeah. But be careful, though, Yuki, okay? Promise?"

"Mm hm."

"And take this. You'll need it." Star handed her a sword, long and slightly worn. Without warning Star gave her a hug and nodded. "Good luck!" she brushed the tears out her eyes and running off.  Yuki held her breath, closed her eyes, and stepped over the threshold.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

((a/n: thanks to kool kaizer (sp?!) and Selphie 108 for reading and supporting Perfect 2. And… I'm debating whether I want to continue or not. Suddenly acting for everyone has become really hard, and writing even a 1,000 word chapter is a stretch. So I might quit… it really depends on a burst of inspiration and what everyone else thinks. Aighty! ~Sefie))