((A/N: Yup, I still don't own Dynasty Warriors… though I AM working on a plan to remedy that… muwah hah hah hah hah! Beware, Koei… BEWARE!))

Chapter 2 – The Madness Discovered

Though the halls of the Wei palace, light footsteps sounded out against the marble floor. The two Qiaos, alerted of their husbands' presences in the palace, had been treated as honored guests as well, and now strolled the halls in bliss- completely unaware of the mayhem that was about to be unleashed. Accompanied by but one hand-maid, the two walked contentedly towards the impending horrors that awaited them.

"D-D-DAAAA!!!!!" The scream bounced off the walls as Sun Ce came scrambling into view. He dropped to the floor at the two girls' feet- in complete hysterics, and attempting to tell the entire story at one time.

Xiao and Da managed to make out 'chased by an evil sorcerer' and 'Zhou Yu', other than that, he might as well have been speaking gibberish.

Xiao giggled, tugging on her sister's sleeve. "He's always like this, isn't he?"

The older Qiao sighed and nodded, smiling lightly. "I know how to handle this don't worry." Reaching up, she unfastened one of the lotus-bloom clips from her hair and bent down, holding it out before her panic-stricken husband's eyes.

"Oooohhh… Shiny," he stared at it.

"You want the clip, Ce?" Da teased gently, holding the hair-piece up high.

In response, her husband sat up straight nodding vigorously.

Da sighed and shook her head. It was a good thing she loved her husband so much… many people thought he wasn't quite the sharpest sword on the field. She couldn't say she disagreed. "Good boy! Fetch!" And she hurled the hair-piece out a near-by window, right into one of the palace gardens.

Sun Ce dove out the window after it, and Xiao jumped up and down- giggling and clapping her hands. "Your husband's sooo funny!"

Da smiled a bit, "I'm not sure if he's actually joking, Xiao."

Xiao frowned, pooching out her lip. "Oh course he's just joking, Da! I mean, come on, evil sorcerers? Even Sun Ce wouldn't believe that!"

But at that moment Sima Yi, who had been in hot pursuit of Sun Ce, rounded the corner and found himself face-to-face with the two Qiaos.

There was a very long and awkward silence……………………… then Sima Yi turned, and whistled to himself as he made a hasty retreat back down the hall.

The sisters looked a him, and then at each other. In a flat instant both were scampering after him. But as they rounded a corner, they found themselves staring down an empty corridor- with Sima Yi no where in sight.

"Awww!!!" Xiao stamped her foot, "That's no-fair."

"Sh," Da held up a finger. "Listen."

Voices drifted out from down the corridor, one sounding out above the rest. "Get offa me! Get offa me!"

The two Qiaos cautiously made their ways towards the sound, and soon came upon an open doorway. Carefully, slowly, the two poked their heads inside and their hand-maid managed to glimpse between them.

Another awkward silence. This once of absolute shock.

Then Xiao broke the trance as she bounded into the room. "OH MY GOD, THEY'RE SO CUTE!"

The scene that lay before them was as follows- Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang were engaged in some sort of a wrestling match (of which Zhou Yu appeared to be winning), Liu Bei was attempting futilely to break up the fight, and Cao Cao sat some ways away- clapping his hands, and laughing.

Only… they were much smaller than they should've been, it seemed. Their faces were round, their eyes large and oddly sparkly.

All eyes fell upon the large lump behind some curtains on the other side of the room.

Silently, Da Qiao approached them, and pulled them back. Behind them was Sima Yi, blushing furiously with embarrassment.

"Um… I was just… making sure the drapes were stable…" he said, "You know… so that they- uh, don't fall! Yes, that's right. Because that's very important, you see…" he began to ramble on about how studies showed that people with loose drapes died earlier, but Da silenced him with a finger.

Xiao had plucked up the tiny Zhou Yu and held him out in front of her. "Aw, he's adorable!" She squeaked. "What are they, Lord Sima Yi? Dolls? How did you make them move?"

Sima Yi swallowed dryly, and Da frowned at him. It was uncommon to see her frown, but now she did. And she meant it too. "Yes, Lord Sima Yi," she said lightly, "What are they?"

Sima Yi choked a bit, "Um… they're… children?" He offered weakly.

Xiao looked at the others, "Ewww!!!" She cried, "Then why do those ones have beards?"

"Yes. Why do those ones have beards, Lord Sima Yi?" Da Qiao pressed her words against him a bit more forcefully. "Who are they?"

Sima Yi hung his head in defeat. "Lord Cao Cao, Lord Liu Bei, Lord Zhou Yu… and Liang," he admitted.

Xiao rolled her eyes, "That's not true, silly! Those men are much taller, everybody knows that!"

Sima Yi gulped, "No… I put something in their wine… they're 'chibi's now."

"Hey!" Xiao turned on the purple-garbed strategist. "Don't you try that Chibi junk with us, or we'll burn you again!"

"No, no, no…" Sima Yi moaned, "Not Chibi, chibi… oh, how am I going to explain this. They're not kids, their just cuter and smaller versions of themselves. It's a popular theme in Japanese anime, manga, and all such comical endeavors."

Da cocked her head, "How on earth did you find out about this? We're in CHINA, not Japan!"

Sima Yi shrugged. "Koei is Japanese." He said simply.

Sighing, Da turned to the hand-maid- who stood by the door covering her mouth with her hands. "Go and fetch Lady Sun and Lady Huang immediately." Da said.

The hand-maid nodded, and scurried quickly off.