"Millenia, what's going on here?" asked Elena, "Where did you go?"
"I…I didn't go anywhere…I was with you the whole time." Said Millenia.
"Then why didn't you answer when I called?" asked Elena angrily.
"I did," said Millenia.
Elena stared at her in disbelief.
"Do you know how worried we all were? Tio's been really upset!" said Elena.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" shouted Millenia.
"No, of course," said Elena sarcastically, "You never do anything on purpose. I don't know what's going on with you, but get over it already!"
"I can't because I don't know what's happening to me…" cried Millenia.
"What do you mean?" asked Elena.
"I…I keep disappearing." Said Millenia.
"We know that." Said Elena.
"Not like that…I mean turning see-through." Said Millenia quietly.
Elena stared at her, wide-eyed. She obviously didn't believe her, but that wasn't going to stop Elena from explaining it to her.
"That's not all…I keep feeling a…presence." Explained Millenia.
"What sort of 'presence'?" asked Elena.
"The bad sort of presence." Said Millenia.
"You can't mean…" began Elena.
Millenia nodded and bit her lip.
"He's pulling me, and with every pull he takes a bit more of me." said Millenia.
"We need to tell the others about this," said Elena quickly.
"No!" said Millenia, "I don't want anyone getting involved."
"Millenia, we can't help you if you don't tell us what's happening." Said Elena.
"Maybe this is supposed to be happening," said Millenia, "I was a part of him and…now he's gone…I guess I should go too."
"No," said Elena, "You're not going anywhere, you're our friend. You're my sister; we're not going to let him take you away from us."
"Thank Elena," said Millenia, "But there's not a lot anyone can do."
"That doesn't matter, we'll find away." Said Elena, "You're talking about the people who defeated him in the first place. We're not going to lose to him again."
Millenia's eyes filled with tears and without any warning she suddenly hugged Elena tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Elena loosened her arms and smiled gently before leading Millenia back to the village.
"Millenia!" Shouted Ryudo, "Where the hell have you been?"
"Ryudo!" said Elena, shaking her head slightly, "We've got some explaining to do."
"What do you mean?" asked Roan.
"Not here," said Elena, "Inside,"
Tio stepped aside to join Millenia and Elena as they followed Ryudo and Roan into the house.
"Millenia, I apologise for before…" she began but Millenia shook her head.
"I'm the one who's apologising here, you were right Tio. There is something wrong with me, and now I know what it is." Said Millenia.
As they entered the house, Ryudo span around to face Millenia.
"Alright, tell us." He said.
"It's…I'm disappearing." Said Millenia, "There's something pulling me away from this world…something evil."
They all stared at her as this message sunk in.
"I don't understand this," Said Roan, "I thought he was defeated,"
"He was, but not all of him," said Tio, "Millenia was his wings, and she still remains."
"So what he's pulling you into another world?" asked Ryudo.
"The other world," said Millenia, "He's trying to pull into the world of the dead."
They all stood in silence for a while. This was hitting them harder than Millenia had expected.
"But you can't go," sad Tio, "You're still alive so he can't pull you through."
"Well he's doing a pretty good job of it!" snapped Millenia, "If he can't pull me through then where am I going?"
"Nowhere," said Tio quietly, "You're being pulled into the nothingness between worlds."
Millenia stared at her in horror. She wasn't going to be pulled into nothingness…she couldn't…
"Where did you learn that?" asked Roan.
"I looked in the palace library from time to time," said Tio.
"You mean there's a book on it in my palace library?" asked Roan.
Tio nodded. An idea hit Roan.
"Maybe there's a way to stop it in that book, perhaps if we returned to my palace, we can find our answers!" said Roan.
"Or maybe I can disappear into nothingness before we ever reach it!" moaned Millenia.
They stood in silence again. None of them really knew what to say. What can you say when one of your oldest friends is going to slip into a void between dimensions? Millenia was trying to think of a way of reaching Roan's kingdom fast enough to find a solution before she disappears completely. On the other hand…maybe she should just go, it would save her friends the trouble and she might just be able to fly again…What the hell was she thinking? Thinking about flying again wasn't going to save her life! Maybe she could just hold herself together long enough to get back.
"We haven't got any better ideas," she sighed, "When do we leave?"
On the ship back to the main land, Millenia stared at a scratch in the table top blankly. She hadn't spoken since they left, and merely nodded or shook her head when asked a question. She refused to eat, she hardly drank anything and hadn't slept since she had had the nightmare.
Elena watched her; terrified that she might lose sight, but also scared that Millenia might suddenly snap to attention and try to act as though nothing was happening. She so badly wanted to hug her like a sister and tell her that everything was going to be alright, but she knew that there was no point in fooling herself and it was obvious that Millenia wasn't in a hugging mood.
Tio slowly reached out and touched Elena's arm. She jumped and looked around.
"Are you alright?" Tio asked, "I know you do not like boats."
Elena blinked blankly; she was so concerned about Millenia that she hadn't noticed the rocking motion of the ship. She smiled gently.
"I'm fine…just tired." Said Elena.
"You are concerned, we all are, but worrying is not going to make it better," said Tio quietly so Millenia couldn't hear (Not that she was paying attention anyway).
"It's just…I feel so bad because…I feel so helpless," said Elena, "I'm worried about her reaction, but I'm also worried that she'll just try and deny it and…she's practically my sister and I don't want anything to happen to her."
"Hopefully, nothing will happen to her. If we can find something to stop her from disappearing…" Tio trailed off, knowing that it was going to be a very close call.
They only had one shot at this, and if their plan failed, one of their oldest friends would disappear forever…
(A/N) Sorry I took so long; my sister's been hogging the computer again.