Last chapter I had 25,252 words. This is beginning to freak me out...

Disclaimer: I don't own Baten Kaitos. Okay? (How many times do I really need to repeat this...?)

Chapter VII: Heart's Desire

The blue haired man did not know how long he had been held captive in the cell. There was no clock or window out to the sky, so he could not tell the time. He could have been held in there for minutes, or days. He was not claustrophobic, but he hated being cramped up in small places. Sometimes, if his injured leg would permit, he would stand up and pace a couple feet, trying to keep himself occupied. Though this never lasted, as his injured leg would always give eventually, and he would have to lie or sit down. Other times, he tried to pass the time simply by sleeping, but his thoughts were always buzzing with questions, so he could never sleep. Why was he being held like this? What was Morjidza planning? What happened to the others? Were they going through this? Or were they already dead?

Such thoughts did not cheer him up at all. Soon he was pretty much convinced that if he did not die here, he would just go mad worrying about the fate of his friends and wife. No one had come into the cell since he had been thrown in. He did not have food or water in what felt like weeks. He could feel himself getting weaker by the day, or what felt to him like by the day. The pacing grew harder to do, and he eventually stopped, trying to preserve whatever strength he had left. Eventually, he lost all hope of ever getting out of his miserable little prison. He had studied the door obsessively for a long time after he had woken up in the cell. But as there were no hinges or bolts he could find, there was no way he could find to break out on his own. He had even tried pressing his ear to the door, trying to hear the voice of a guard, or anything else,beyond. That effort was to be in vain. The door and walls must have been soundproofed, because he never heard anything other than his own breathing.

He had been lying on his side, back to the door, when he heard someone come in. The hinges of the door creaked loudly as if actively protesting against being used. A flood of light filled the room as if some strange invisible dam had been destroyed. After being in the cell with the dim light bulb for days, the light was absolutely blinding. He suddenly became aware of a soft, rhythmic, humming sound, like a large engine somewhere in the distance. He sat up slowly, an arm in front of his face, trying to figure out who was there. "There you are," said a gruff male voice coming from the direction of the open door, "You're coming with me." He was suddenly unsure, if he should be happy that he was leaving his prison, or afraid because he did not know where he would be taken now…

Takei groaned, trying to get his bearings. He opened his eyes a crack, and tried to figure out where he was. He was tied up, held upright by a stick or pole of some sort. He tried to remember how he had gotten here. Lets see… he had been leaving school when… did he get mugged?

"You're finally awake," said a voice. Takei looked in the direction of the speaker and saw a man in his late twenties, leaning against a metal mesh fence. He was wearing dark gray pants and a knitted, black, turtlenecksweater. His long black hair fell almost to his shoulders, and he looked intently at Takei with deep black eyes. Takei looked around and saw they were in a basketball court. One of those courts open to the public so anybody can walk in and play a game. Takei twisted around a little and saw that he was tied to the base of one of the nets. It had snowed the previous night, so the court was covered in a layer of snow. Frost clung to the net and the metal mesh fence. Takei was grateful that he still had his coat on, or he would be freezing to the pole he was tied to right now. "I wouldn't shout for help if I were you," said the man leaning again the fence, "It would be a terrible waste of energy. I've warded this place, no sound can leave it, and no one can see in. And only two other souls besides you can I can see through my ward: Your sister, and her Guardian."

"W…what?" said Takei, wondering if he was the victim of some really bad joke, or maybe, despite the sweater, the cold was getting to this man's head, "What do you mean warded? How do you do that? And what do you mean by my sister's Guardian? She doesn't have one."

The man shrugged, "I'm not really that surprised she didn't tell you," he said, sounding uninterested, "She probably did not want her own brother to think she was loosing her mind."

"What's she got to do with this?" said Takei, trying to keep this man talking. He did not have any other plans.

"She's… a bother,"said the man, "A thorn in my side if you must. An irritation I'd rather like to be rid of. Such a pity really," he added, looking up at the sky that was already darkening, "Guardian Spirits are so rare. Such a shame to have to kill the only pair in your world."

Takei wondered if this man might be a little mad, "What are you going on about?" he said, "Guardian Spirits? Like Guardian Angels? They're not real. Just stories." Then something occurred to him, "What do you mean, 'only pair in your world'?"

"It's just as it sounds," said the man, "She's the only human in your world, right now, who is bonded to a Guardian. I wonder who her Guardian is." He started speculating, "Maybe I've met him or her before."

"You're… you're mad," said Takei, trying in vain to get a little further away from this man. He was clearly mad, there was just no other explanation. There were no such things as supernatural guardians, it just could not be.

The man shrugged, "If you wish to think that way you can," he said, "It does not matter to me."

"You know this is illegal!" Takei shouted at the man, "You can't just go and kidnap people and do with them as you please!"

"Oh?" said the man, turning to Takei, raising a thin eyebrow, "I can't? What are you going to do? Tell the police? They won't make any difference. Besides," he grinned at Takei, a smile that frightened him on many levels, "They aren't here now, are they?"

Takei remained silent, and he and the man just waited. Only what felt like hours later to Takei, did he hear something that gave him some hope. "TAKEI!" shouted a female voice, close by. He looked up and saw his sister Allyr, who had just walked onto the court.

"You're several minutes late," said the man, straightening up, frowning at her as if he was a teacher and she was a student who always managed to come to class late.

"Shut up!" she snapped, "What the hell do you want?"

Takei just stared at his sister, what did she know that he did not? Had she met this man before? "Why, what's so wrong about wanting to get to know you?" said the man, smiling at her.

Allyr looked furious, "You give me back my brother," she demanded, "Or I'll-"

"My oh my, talk about an impulsive little girl." Said the man. "I just wanted to show you something." Get her off of her guard, he thought. He knew that if she decided to try to cast one of the Spirit Spells now, he would not have half a chance. She could burn him to a crisp before he could get close enough to harm her. Just ease her and her Guardian off their guard and then comes the easy part…

"This is some kind of trick," whispered Kalas to Allyr, just incase this man could hear him.

"I knew that!" she hissed back at him.

"Why don't we just attack him now and get this over with?" whispered Kalas, sounding like what he really wanted to do was take a sword and dice this black-haired bastard into lots of little slippery cubes.

"He's standing too close to Takei," replied Allyr, sounding like she was envisioning something similar, "I don't want to hit him with a Spell."

"Do you suspect me of some kind of trick?" said the man, taking note of Allyr's conversation with the air, "I only took your brother to get your attention."

"Well, you got it," snapped Allyr, "And generally, I find murderers to be untrustworthy." Just keep this guy talking, she thought, Come on, get cocky and walk just a few paces to your right away from my brother.

"What makes you think I'm a murderer?" he said, sounding genuinely hurt, "Why would you think that?"

"A little fish flopped to shore and told me about you," said Allyr blandly, "Your name's Morjidza, right?"

The man smiled at her, and there was something about that smile that made Allyr think of big things in dark places. Big things with pointy teeth, "Well, well," he said, "So I take it your Guardian met me before."

"You could say that," said Allyr, watching Morjidza very carefully, still waiting for him to stray too far from her brother.

She knows this guy? Thought Takei stunned, Just what the hell is going on?

"Don't you want to see what it is I have to show you?" said Morjidza, smiling over at Allyr.

"No," she said, "Not really."

Morjidza started walking over to her, but stopped when she tensed visibly. He sighed deeply, "If you wish to be stubborn," he said. He pulled out a knife, seemingly out of nowhere, and held it at Takei's throat, "Why don't you come over here?" he said, pressing the knife against Takei's exposed neck, "Like a good girl?"

She was seething with anger, but knew that if she did not do as he asked, he would kill her brother. But then, if she did not do as he asked, he would kill her, then kill her brother. Neither option really appealed to her. She walked over, carefully, expecting to feel that knife land itself in her ribcage at any time. "Why are you so anxious?" said Morjidza, as Allyr walked over to him, "I mean you no harm."

"And I'm the king of Australia," retorted Allyr sarcastically, "What do you want?"

Allyr was standing five feet from Morjidza. He relaxed the knife at Takei's throat, and started to walk over to Allyr. She jumped back, tense as if preparing to attack Morjidza. He stopped, walked back to Takei and pressed the knife back against the boy's throat, giving Allyr an impatient look. Allyr swore under her breath and walked back up to Morjidza. When she was back within five feet of him, he carefully put the knife on the ground not taking his eyes off of Allyr for a second. He straightened up and walked a foot closer to Allyr. "I want to show you something," he said, softly, as if he was telling her a secret, "I wantto show you something very special."

"What?" said Allyr, louder than normal, purposely in contrast to his soft tone.

He was standing right next to her now, and she could feel Kalas's burning desire to do this man harm. Morjidza smiled at her, "Your heart's desire." He said simply. He waved an arm in front of her face, and suddenly the colors that made up the world seemed to run and mix, like wet watercolors mixing on a damp piece of paper. Suddenly there was no up or down, just a swirling mass of colors that made out nothing in a random swirl that dazed the senses.

What's going on? She thought panicking, wondering if she was going to find herself without ground to stand on, or fall into a multicolored sky. Then the colors solidified, and Allyr found herself someplace completely different. She was standing on a low grassy hill, covered in wildflowers. A cloudless blue sky floated above her head. The hill flattened off into a field covered in the same wildflowers stretching from horizon to horizon. The air smelled faintly of grass and flowers, and it seemed calming to Allyr. Where am I? She thought, looking around, Is this an illusion, or have I been teleported somewhere else? She started walking down the hill, trying to figure out what was going on. She seemed to be alone here, with no one else in sight.

"Hey, Kalas,"she said, feeling very alone, "Do you have any idea..." she trailed off when it occured to her that he was not listening. "Kalas?" she said, reaching out for him with her mind, "You there?" He was there, but he did seem to be in a... trance? Whatever it was, he was not responding to anything Allyr said or did. Whatever he was seeing, it was seperate from what Allyr was seeing, she could figure out that much at the very least. This did not, however, help. Okay, she thought, looking around at the strange landscape, If he's in a trance, then I must be. She kicked at a clump of grass, which felt very real, despite her latest conclusion, So... how do I get out? She spun around suddenly when she heard someone laugh, or a group of people laughing. Curious, she started walking in the direction of the sound.

Takei stood and stared at Allyr, who must be nuts as well, she was just walking around the court, with a look on her face that suggested that she was seeing something other than the concrete, snow and fence. Morjidza smiled, "Perfect," he said to himself, a grin like that of a hungry animal crossing his face, "Now for the fun part." Takei stared in disbelief as Morjidza's body was surrounded with bright white light. He had to look away, the light was so blinding. WhenTakei looked back, he became a believer. Where the man calling himself Morjidza had stood, was something most definitely not human. Its skin was clammy looking, and pale yellow, almost scaly in texture. It was too tall, its body and limbs too long and thin. It had six arms, all of which sprouted from its shoulders. Instead of legs, it had more tentacles than Takei cared to count. Its head was that of a crocodile, with a long mouth, though it seemed to lack the crocodile's razor teeth. It slithered, slithered for there is no other way to describe the movement, over to Allyr, who still seemed to be lost in a daydream.

"Allyr!" shouted Takei desperately, "Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

Allyr was deaf to these cries; she was still walking in that field of wildflowers. She had found the source of the laughter, and her heart seemed to jump to her throat. There were three people standing together in the field. Two she recognized as her mother and brother, both seeming to be enjoying themselves. The third was a tall man in his late forties, balding slightly, with short black hair and round glasses. He looked up at Allyr and smiled. He waved to her, as if beckoning her over. …Dad? Thought Allyr, feeling numb. Her mother was hugging the man tightly, as if nothing else existed. Soon, when her mother and brother noticed Allyr staring at them as if dumbstruck, they started waving to Allyr too, beckoning. Why wait? She thought, forgetting what had happened before. It all just seemed to fade away, the way a nightmare does after waking. It seemed so… distant now. Had it really happened? Did she care? She took a step to go to them…

"STOP IT!" shouted a pained voice. The shout was like a physical blow, shaking her out of her daze. It was as if someone had broken a mirror in an otherwise silent room, the sound seeming louder than it should have been, reverberating in Allyr's head,"Stop it! I can't take it anymore! Just stop it PLEASE!" Allyr was brought back to reality sharply, as if someone had grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled. She was back at the court, and she heard Takei shouting. She spun around to see the monstrosity bearing down on her. She screamed and leapt out of the way at it reached out to grab her. She started backing away, trying to get her bearings back. Kalas had shouted and brought her out of her trance, or whatever it was, she was sure of that.

"Hey, Kalas," said, Allyr, keeping an eye on the monster as it turned toward her, "Now would be a good time for you to use one of those Spirit Spells." The monster roared, which was only semi-impressive. The roar was loud enough to be heard a mile away, but the monster's toothless gums were less than frightening. Regardless, Allyr wanted this thing dead now. "Anytime now Kalas," said Allyr, backing away even more. When she backed into the mesh fence, she really started to panic, "Don't chicken out on me now Kalas!" shouted Allyr, watching the monster as it advanced on her, "Don't worry, I can take it! Just use the damn thing, NOW!" The monster tensed to jump, body coiling. Allyr was frozen in place, seeming to have forgotten what legs were, and how to use them. Then came the feeling that she had been injected with extra adrenaline, as the power flowed swiftly through her body. Silver-white light surrounded her body, and her right hand glowed bright green.

"I am Time, hear my Voice!" she shouted at the monster. It leapt at her, and only in mid-leap did it realize what was coming. "LINGERING TIME!" completed Allyr. A white pentagram glowed on the ground, bright enough to make the snow look gray, beneath the monster. It slowed and soon stopped in mid-air, looking like it had turned to stone. The air around the monster seemed to grow still, though it was impossible to see. There was just something about it that seemed… still. The white pentagram faded, and Allyr looked up at what looked like a stone stature hanging in the air. It was more detailed than any human artist could make it; everything was in perfect detail, from the minute fold of skin on the fingers to the scales on the tentacles. The muscles were tensed in the middle of a motion, coiled like thick rope beneath the thin, sickly skin. The look on its face was one of mixed surprise and terror. This lasted for about three seconds, before the statue seemed to explode in a flash of bright green light. Flecks of stone flew everywhere, and Allyr had to cover her face to keep the shards from getting in her eyes. When she looked up, the monster was laying on the ground, looking very dead, blood trickling down from the corner of its mouth, and from many other deep wounds on its body.

Allyr knelt down on the pavement and sighed. She felt like she had just runten miles, but was still in one piece. She sat there, panting hard. Now she and her brother were safe.

Wait… her brother…

Allyr had some explaining to do now. She looked up at her brother, whom she had completely forgotten about during her thirty second fight with the monster. Takei was giving her a look that was equal parts shock, horror, and relief. "Allyr," he started, voice holding the same mixed emotions as his face, "What just happened?"

"It's… nothing to… worry about." Panted Allyr.

"But…" started Takei, "You went all glowy and… and then that thing sort of…" He trailed off and was silent. He gazed fixedly at the strange corpse silently bleeding onto the snow-covered concrete.

"This wasn't Morjidza," said Kalas dully. This was the first time he had spoken since he had shouted before, and it caught Allyr a little off guard.

"What'd you… say?" asked Allyr, turning to Kalas who was floating over the body of the monster.

"I didn't say anything." Said Takei, looking worried.

"I wasn't talking… to you!" panted Allyr shortly, now in a very bad mood. Turning to Kalas she asked, "What'd you mean… this isn't Morjidza? You were the one… that was all… 'oh, but of course... the evil English substitute… is my murderer'!"

"It's just a monster he must have summoned," said Kalas, sounding like he was beyond caring, "It's really rare. Their bodies are really weak, but they have immense spell casting abilities. When they see prey they create an illusion of whatever the prey desires the most. Then it kills its prey while the prey is in a trance it can't escape from. And," he added, "It can create an illusion around itself so it can look like something, or someone else. It can also create small illusions around places, which is probably why we're not getting the attention the appearance of a monster like this should. Which suits me just fine."

Talk about a textbook answer. Thought Allyr beginning to get some of her breath back, "Kalas are you… all right?" asked Allyr, concerned, "You seem a little…"

"I'm fine." He said dully.

No, you're not. Thought Allyr, This isn't like you. If the illusions were of desires, then it must of been of him, being alive again and with Xelha. I can see why that would bother him so much. Maybe it was because she was bound directly to his soul, but something told her that was not quite it...

"What the hell is going on?" asked Takei, disrupting Allyr's thoughts, "Allyr, why are you asking the air if it's feeling all right?"

"Ignore that," said Allyr, beginning to stand up shakily, "Just pretend it… didn't happen."

"Um… okay," said Takei, submissively, "But can you untie me now?"

"Oh…" said Allyr, looking at her brother, and remembering he was still tied to the basketball net, "I'll get you out of there in a minute." Five minutes of hard sawing later, with the help of the knife the monster dropped, Takei was free.

"Thanks," he muttered, rubbing his arms where the rope had bit in, "But what just happened here?"

"I'll explain on the ride home," said Allyr, "And if mom asks, tell her I found you with some friends and you just forgot the time."

"Um… okay," said Takei, as he allowed himself to be pulled away by his older sister, trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened.

Ugh... that didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. So, I guess it balances out...