At the Edge of Reality

By: Lily (Lena) Evans

'I wake in the dark and remember

it is the morning when I must start

by myself on the journey' W.S. Merwin

Summary: The Gravi cast is (somehow) transported to a world where kings rule the land and knights and sorcerers roam. When an evil threatens to destroy the world they must all step up and help protect it and (hopefully) find a way home. Violence. Various couples. Broken hearts. OOC-ness. Yaoi (I bet you weren't expecting that). Just when you thought Eiri couldn't get any more sexy… he gets a sword! Why, you ask? Because it's MY fic and I said so!

Genre: Fantasy/Action/Adventure

A/N: Okay, another chapter. I've really had this one written for a while, I've just been pretty lazy. Anywho, Read and Review!


Chapter 3: Meeting More Accomplices Along the Way

Shuichi turned over as he felt a finger poke him in the back. He groaned as he felt it again.

"Five more minutes, Yuki…" he said. The poking, however, did not stop. "Yuki!"

"Wake up, baka," he heard Eiri say, though the voice was not close enough to be poking him. Shuichi's eyes opened and he saw Cory's smiling face.

"It's 'bout time," she said. "We were all 'bout to leave without you." Shuichi smiled apologetically and hopped out of bed. He then saw that Eiri had changed clothes. He was now wearing breeches like Tohma's. He also had on gloves, a girdle, a short jerkin, and boots. Cory, Tohma, and Hiro had already left the room.

"Why don't I get breeches like that?" Shuichi whined.

"Just get up, baka," Eiri said. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes and if you want breakfast you'd better hurry." Eiri left Shuichi by himself in the room.

"…Why didn't anyone wake me up sooner?"

"So let me get this straight," Mika said. She had just woken up and decided to voice what she had been wondering ever since Astra had saved her. "You are a psychic?" Astra nodded to confirm this. "Why did we get sent here? You know, to your world?"

"Because I called upon you," Astra said, smiling.

"You what?"

"I called you here," Astra said. "I used my magic to bring you here."

"So it's your fault?" Mika felt her temper rising. This woman did not help her anger problems.

"Yes," she said. "I was informed that you and your friends are the best warriors in the land." Mika stared.

"We're not warriors," Mika told her. "Tohma runs a record company. Eiri is an author. Ryuichi is a singer! We're not warriors!"

"Oh, dear," Astra said. "I believe I was deceived."

"You think?" Mika asked. "You said you were supposed to be psychic!"

"All of the technology in your world suppresses my powers," she said. "I cannot read any of your thoughts with so many electronics."

"Yet you know what electronics are," Mika said. "Why didn't you read your informant's mind?"

"I can only read what they think and know," she said. "My informant is very trustworthy, though I believe her source was the deceiver."

"Don't you know who the source is?"

"I didn't ask." Mika rolled her eyes and decided to give up. This conversation was giving her a headache.

"Well, hurry up," the woman was growing impatient.

"I'm not coming out," Sakano said.

"Come on," K said. "Get out of there."

"You first!" Sakano felt himself go red even though nobody could see him.

"They're not too bad once you get used to them," the woman said. "You two are new here, aren't you?"

"I don't even know where I am!" Sakano snapped.

"Oh, well," K said.

"Does that mean you're coming out?"

"No." The woman sighed.

"I'll force you out of there," she said.

"No," K said again. "I'm not wearing this."

"Come on, at least show me," the woman said. "If it really is that bad then I won't make you wear it. I'll find something else for you."

"Fine," K said, a response that surprised Sakano.

"If K-san goes first," Sakano said, feeling stubborn.

"Why don't you two go at the same time?" the woman asked. Sakano agreed, as did K. "All right. One… two… three." Sakano stepped out of the changing room, feeling rather foolish. He felt even more so when he realized that K had not changed at all and was taking quite a bit of amusement in watching Sakano. He felt himself blush, the black dress he was wearing did not flatter him in any way, shape, or form.

"Um…" the woman looked a little scared. "Maybe it would be best to see if the boss will allow you to wear pants…"

"So kids, where are your parents," the guard asked, bending down to look at Tatsuha and Suguru.

"We're not that young," Tatsuha snapped.

"We really don't know," Suguru said, trying to speak over the obnoxious boy. "We don't even know where we are."

"Are you in training?" the guard asked. "So many kids get lost during the traveling session…"

"In training for what?" Suguru asked, mildly interested.

"Knighthood, of course," the guard said. "I graduated a year ago, which is why I'm only a guard."

"Knighthood?" Suguru asked, feeling himself panic.

"There aren't any knights in Japan," Tatsuha said needlessly.

"Where?" The guard looked rather confused.

"Never mind," Suguru said. "…This can't be good."

"You're telling me," Tatsuha said. "Is Ryuichi-sama here?"

"I don't know," Suguru snapped, feeling irritated. "Right now, why don't we worry about where we are?"

"Fine, whatever," Tatsuha looked bored, which confused Suguru.

"How can you be calm when we're in a situation like this?" he asked the other teen. "We don't know where we are and you're worried about Sakuma-san!"

"That sounds about right," Tatsuha confirmed. Suguru glared at the other boy and turned back to the knight, who looked dumbfounded.

"How old are you boys anyway?" he asked.

"Sixteen," they both replied.

"Ah, so you're not too young," he said. "Old enough to be knights anyway."

"Actually," Suguru said, not really wanting to join any kind of guards. "We really want to find our way out of here."

"Oh, all right," the guard said. "I'll take you there, but where do you want to go once you get out?" Suguru noticed that he really had not thought that far ahead. He wanted to leave the town, but where would he go?

"I don't know," he said honestly.

"Well, I guess you should probably go to Zecim," the guard said. "Your parents might be there."

"Where?" It was now Suguru's turn to ask questions.

"You can't tell me you don't know where Zecim is!" the knight exclaimed. "You boys sure are strange. You're dressed really odd too."

"Oh, um…"

"We're not from around here," Tatsuha said. Suguru stared. "We came here while traveling."

"Oh, okay," the knight said. "I'll lead you two to the gates. Follow me!" He walked out of the room, leaving Suguru to stare at the other teen.

"Once you think about it we're not from around here," Tatsuha clarified before Suguru had a chance to ask a question.

"You're right," Suguru said. "I think it might be a good idea to keep our mouths shut and ask that knight to do all the talking." Tatsuha nodded. Teenage boys are much smarter than people give them credit for, Suguru thought.

"I think everybody's hiding," Ayaka pointed out. "There's no one around."

"Shut up," Noriko commanded. "We will find somebody who will listen to us."

"All right," Ayaka said, not believing it. Just then, a man and a woman came out of the church that Ayaka and Noriko had hid in earlier. The man had blond hair and his bangs came down into his bright blue eyes. The woman had bright red hair and blue eyes.

"Whoa, where'd you two come from?" the man asked. "What country did you come from?"

"Jap—" Noriko covered Ayaka's mouth so the two people would not run away from them.

"Where?" the man asked.

"Do you think you could help us out a little?" Noriko asked with a smile.

"Of course," the woman said. "Follow us." They followed the two people to a house near the marketplace where all of the commotion started.

"Why is there no one here?" the man asked as they passed through.

"Um…" Noriko decided not to tell them just yet and her hand was still firmly positioned over Ayaka's mouth. When they entered the house the man led them into what seemed like the dining room and motioned for them to sit down. The woman left to make tea.

"So," he said. "What country are you two from?"

"To be honest," Noriko said. "…You can't think we're crazy." That request in itself was rather difficult, but the man nodded. "We're from Japan." The man stared at them for a moment.

"Where did you say?" he asked. "I've never heard of that…"

"No one else has either," Ayaka said, freeing herself from Noriko's grasp. "They all think that we have amnesia."

"Amnesia?" the man asked. Then he laughed. "Oh, boy. I bet you two caused an uproar!"

"What do you mean?" Noriko asked.

"It's a newfound disease," the man answered. "Not many people know what it is. It's only been mentioned in the paper once, and not in detail, so they probably think it's like the plague or something."

"Wait," Noriko commanded. "Amnesia's a new disease?" The man nodded.

"Now, where did you get those strange clothes?"

"Japan," Ayaka answered.

"Oh boy," the man said. "This could turn into a problem."

"You're telling me!" Noriko shrieked. "We have no idea where we are!"

"Zecim," he answered.

"I KNOW!" Noriko yelled. "But I meant that we really don't know how we got here. Neither of us have heard of this city, or even this country."

"Right," the man said. "I think I know how to help you."

"Really?" Noriko asked. "How?"

"We'll take you to Astra," he said. "She'll know what to do."

"Who's Astra?" Ayaka asked.

"She's a seer," he answered. "She can help." Noriko felt skeptical and, by the look on her face, Ayaka did too.

"Here, drink some tea," the woman said, coming into the room with a tray of tea.

"Thank you," Ayaka said. Noriko politely refused.

"I know you probably think I'm crazy," the man said. "But she's never been wrong before. Maybe she can tell you how to get home."

"Maybe," Noriko said, still feeling skeptical. "Well, if we're going to find this Astra, can we know your names?"

"Oh, right, I forgot!" the man said apologetically. "I'm Nash and this is my sister, Rachel."

"Nice to meet you," Noriko said politely. "This is Ayaka and my name is Noriko."

"Those names are rather odd," Rachel said. Noriko shrugged.

"So, you two are welcome to stay here until we are ready to leave," Nash said.

"Why can't we leave now?" Ayaka asked.

"I have to get a vacation approved," Nash said. "I can't just leave or I'll be fired, or worse."

"Like what?" Noriko asked.

"I could be killed," he said.

"They really kill their employees?" Noriko wrinkled her nose.

"I work for the king," Nash explained. "He can do what he wants."

"Um…" Noriko was not used to hearing about kings and such. This was a rather odd place, wherever it was.

"Why don't I take you two shopping?" Rachel offered. "You can't travel around in clothes like that. I doubt any of my clothes will fit you." Rachel was rather tall, so Noriko figured that she was right.

"Okay, thanks," Noriko said. "… a shopping spree in the medieval times… pretty cool…"

Maa and Ken woke up shortly after the man left the room. Tachi glared at them.

"Well, that was a bad time for a nap," he snapped, slightly more moody than usual.

"What happened?" Ken asked, looking around.

"This guy told me we aren't in our world anymore and we're being held for ransom," Tachi explained, looking slightly tense.

"Um…" Maa and Ken glanced at each other, not knowing what to say.

"I'm not crazy," Tachi said, glaring. Maa and Ken kept silent, not wanting to disagree with their deranged leader.

"It's about time you got out of there," Hiro said as Shuichi wandered out of the inn. He also was wearing clothes similar to his and Tohma's.

"Well, now that yer all here let's git movin'," Cory pointed and led the way.

"How long do you think it will take us to get there?" Tohma asked.

"I'd say 'bout five to six days," Cory answered. She turned around to see that all four men looked as though they would faint.

"Are there any showers in the next town?" Tohma asked.

"Y'all shoulda taken one in the lake," Cory said.

"I'm not bathing in a lake," Eiri snapped as he glared at her. He was clearly cranky because of his lack of nicotine.

"Where's the next town?" Tohma asked, trying to relieve the tension.

"It'll take us till nightfall to git there," Cory answered. Eiri growled, even more irritated than before.

"Come one Yuki!" Shuichi said, hanging off his lover's arm. "It's like an adventure."

"It is an adventure, baka," Eiri snapped.

"If y'all will stop all that there arguin' and git to movin' we might make it to Rone before nightfall," Cory said, her patience waning as well.

"Just try to relax," Hiro said calmly. "Since we are obviously stuck together for a week, why don't we try to get along?"

"That sounds like a good idea, Hiroshi," Tohma concurred.

"Yeah, come on Yuki!" Shuichi smiled cutely. Eiri growled again, but stopped trying to shake off Shuichi.

"This is going to be a long trip," Hiro whispered to Tohma, who agreed.

"Mika-san?" Ryuichi mumbled. Mika stepped closer to the bed he was lying on. "Where are we?"

"In a woman's house," Mika answered vaguely.

"Whose house?" Ryuichi asked, looking as though he were trying to clutch onto something, most likely Kumagoro.

"Her name is Astra," Mika told him. Ryuichi cocked his head.

"That's a funny name," he said, giggling rather childishly.

"I know," Mika smiled.

"Where's To-Chan?" Ryuichi asked. Mika frowned at the thought of her husband.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I was told that he's okay."

"That's good," Ryuichi said. "What about Nori-chan and Shu-chan?"

"I don't know," she repeated.

"K-san?"

"I only know that Tohma's okay," she told him. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." Ryuichi nodded, looking a little helpless. It was rather cute.

"Oh good, you are up." Ryuichi jumped as Astra came into the room. "I can explain things now."

"Who's the lady?" Ryuichi asked.

"This is Astra," Mika told him. Ryuichi nodded and smiled.

"I'm Ryuichi, na no da!" Astra smiled.

"I know," she said. "I know all about you two." Ryuichi looked slightly afraid of this information.

"Don't be afraid," Mika told him. "She's a psychic."

"A psycho?" Ryuichi looked even more scared.

"No, a psychic," Mika laughed. "She can read minds and see the future and stuff."

"Oh," Ryuichi smiled again. "Okay, where's Kuma-chan?"

"Kumagoro is just fine," she told him. "He is back at your house in Japan."

"Okay," Ryuichi said. "Is he being a good boy?" Astra nodded, smiling.

"Now, I cannot divulge all secrets here," she said. "For even I do not know the full outcome."

"Yeah, what's going on?" Mika asked. "Why did you bring us here?"

"There will be a war soon," she answered. Mika and Ryuichi stared at her. "You, along with your friends, must fight in this war."

"Excuse me?" Mika asked.

"Ryu-chan doesn't like fighting, na no da!" Ryuichi sniffled.

"What do you mean we have to fight?"

"It's mean!"

"We're not warriors, lady!"

"All the violence… it's mean!"

"We can't fight, we've never done this before!"

"We could hurt people!"

"Silence," Astra spoke softly, but the two of them became silent almost immediately. "It was my error to bring you here. However, you cannot go home until this war has been fought."

"Then why not let someone else fight it?" Mika asked. "We don't have to fight."

"It has already begun," she answered. "Some of your friends are already destined to be involved."

"Like who?" Mika wondered. Ryuichi grabbed a pillow and began chewing on the corner. He noticed that it was not the same as Kumagoro and tossed it aside.

"Your husband, for one."

"Tohma?" Mika asked, holding back laughter. Tohma? No way.

"Yes," Astra answered. "Also, your brothers, both of them."

"Tatsuha and Eiri?" Mika was getting more confused by the minute. "So, who doesn't necessarily fight?"

"Let me think for a moment," Astra said, closing her eyes. "Mr. K and Mr. Sakano. They have yet to be involved in any immediate action causing the war."

"Is that it?" Ryuichi asked.

"Except you two," Astra concluded. "It is your fate."

"No," Mika protested. "No way. I do not fight like this." Astra shook her head, dismissing this.

"How do you people here fight?" Ryuichi asked Astra.

"With swords of course," Astra told them. Mika shook her head and Ryuichi whimpered.

"You have got to be kidding me," Mika said. "We can't fight in this war!"

"You shall learn," Astra said. "Now, rest."

"We've just finished resting!" Mika protested.

"Rest again," Astra said. With that she left. Mika was beginning to wonder if she just used that excuse to leave the room.

"It really didn't look that bad."

"I told you not to talk to me," Sakano snapped. He was still angry with the manager for letting him make a fool of himself.

"I told you it wasn't that bad," K said.

"Yeah, you weren't the one wearing a dress," Sakano protested. The woman had taken pity on them however and they were now wearing leather pants, high-heeled boots, and a black tank top.

"Well, now we both look like idiots," K said, shrugging.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Is it not?" K asked, glaring at the producer. Sakano whimpered and moved away. Even without his guns K was still very scary. They were sitting on a bench, awaiting their orders from 'the master'.

"Hey, shut up, you two," the woman who gave them clothes snapped. "The master will be here soon, can't you be quiet for two minutes?" K glared and Sakano figured that if he had his guns at the moment, the woman would no longer be among the living.

A man then walked through the door. He was very creepy looking. He had slicked back black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing all black, including a cape. He eyed K and Sakano with suspicion.

"What the hell is this?" he snapped at the woman.

"These two need something to do," she answered.

"They aren't women!"

"But sir—" K looked disgusted and Sakano nearly fell out his chair. She thought they were women?

"Do these two look anything like any of you here?" he asked icily.

"N-no…" she admitted. "Except the blond one, he—"

"Silence!" he snapped. "I will not tolerate men among this village."

"You're one yourself," K said before Sakano could stop him.

"Silence!" he snapped again. K glared, but was quiet. "I will not tolerate them here."

"How could they have gotten in here?" the woman asked.

"I don't know," he snapped. "You have guards at the gate, do you not?"

"Yes, we do," she admitted. "I'm just—"

"You need to learn some discipline," the man said, leaving the woman cowering in fear.

"Hey!" K shouted. "You can't—"

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do," the man snapped back at him. "Dispose of them!"

"How?" the woman dared to ask.

"Kill them," the man said. "I don't care how you do it, but get it done." With that he stormed off.

"K—kill us?" Sakano felt his nerves leaving him and a panic attack was coming on.

"Here we go…" K said, sighing.

"I'm very sorry," the woman said. "I had no idea. I've lived here my entire life and I've never seen another man besides the master."

"You're going to kill us?" K asked, in a voice too calm for Sakano's liking.

"How can you be so calm?" he shrieked at the manager. K scowled.

"Don't worry," the woman said. "If you help me out, I can get you two out of here."

"How do you plan to do that?" K asked.

"I can pass you off for somebody the master wants here," she said.

"What do you want?" K asked.

"I want you to help me get out of here," she said.

"All right," K said, before Sakano could say anything. "What's your plan?"

"Thanks a lot," Tatsuha said to the knight. "We've been looking around forever for someone to help us."

"Well, this isn't really the town where you can just ask anybody for help," the knight said. "There's a lot of dangerous folk around."

"Like those people we met earlier," Suguru recalled.

"Hm?" the knight looked puzzled. "Who'd you meet?"

"Some guy named Jonnie and his gang of losers," Tatsuha shrugged.

"If you don't recall," Suguru said, trying to refresh the other teen's memory. "We were only able to get away when they found out that you were a monk." The knight stopped.

"You're a monk?" he asked, looking Tatsuha up and down.

"Yeah," Tatsuha cocked an eyebrow. "So?"

"Well, no wonder you two got off so easily," he laughed. "Most people around here are really religious."

"Though that doesn't stop them from raping teenage boys?" Suguru asked bitterly.

"Go figure," the knight said. "They believe that you should not hurt anybody who works for the church. However, they'll do anything for money."

"I see," Suguru wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"That's sick," Tatsuha voiced Suguru's thoughts.

"Yeah," the knight agreed. "It is. I'll bet they had intentions of raping you and then selling you into prostitution."

"What the hell?" Suguru suddenly felt rather sick, Tatsuha, on the other hand, looked kind of interested. Suguru rolled his eyes, remembering Shuichi's description of exactly how horny the other teen was.

"Yeah," the knight said. "It would have been pretty bad. I don't know about any of the other countries, but here prostitution is pretty looked down upon. Though I don't see how the church can condemn prostitutes when they, themselves, are swindling people out of their money."

"We got pretty lucky," Suguru said.

"If you hadn't mentioned I was a monk then we'd probably be…"

"I really don't want to hear it," Suguru cut off the other teen. Tatsuha shrugged.

"There it is," the knight said, pointing. There were two other guards at the gate. They were just standing there, not moving.

"What's wrong with them?" Tatsuha asked, waving a hand in front of one of their faces.

"They've been on guard duty for a really long time," the knight said. "I guess no one's relieved them yet…"

"Okay," Tatsuha said. "So, where are we going?"

"Zecim," the knight replied. "Do you boys know your way?" The silence was all the knight needed. "All right, then. If you give me a few more minutes I'll change and then I'll take you there."

"Okay, thanks," Suguru smiled. The knight hurried off.

"He just expects us to wait here?" Tatsuha asked.

"We don't know where we're going, so we might need him," Suguru pointed out.

"This is so weird," Tatsuha voiced. "What the hell's Zecim anyway?"

"It's a town," Suguru shrugged. "That's all we've been told so far. I guess if we get in trouble we can always use your monk excuse again."

"Sure," Tatsuha agreed. "If it'll get us out of trouble."

"Okay, ready to go?" the knight was standing behind them, but devoid of his armor. He had red hair and brown eyes. He was wearing brown pants, boots and a jerkin.

"Why are you dressed so funny?" Tatsuha asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" the knight slapped his forehead. "You two can't travel around dressed like that."

"Why not?" Tatsuha asked.

"That's probably what got you into trouble in the first place," the knight said. "Your clothes are so exotic looking. People are attracted to that."

"Oh, okay," Suguru nodded. "So what do we do?"

"Hm…" the knight looked them up and down. "Okay, we'll go and get you some clothes."

"I don't have any money," Suguru said, glancing at Tatsuha to see if his situation was the same.

"Neither do I," Tatsuha said, confirming Suguru's suspicions.

"No problem," the knight said. "My treat."

"Thanks buddy," Tatsuha said. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, that's right," he said. "I'm Ken. What about you two?"

"Tatsuha."

"Suguru." Ken sniggered a little after hearing their names.

"Boy, you two sure are odd…"

Noriko was surprised at how many people came back into the center courtyard in such a short amount of time. It was bustling with life once again and nobody seemed to remember them. They had entered a clothing store for women, but none of the articles of clothing looked like they would be worn in modern day Japan.

"These are very nice," Ayaka said, looking at a rack of dresses.

"Yes," Rachel said. "Those are made from the finest silk that comes all the way from Khiisi."

"Really?" Ayaka asked, not really knowing what she was talking about.

"Khiisi is very far north," Rachel said, noticing Ayaka's confusion. "It took a lot of money to bring the dresses here, so it will take a lot of money to buy them. A lot of money that we do not have."

"But you looked like you were pretty rich," Ayaka protested. Noriko groaned, but Rachel took it in good humor and laughed.

"Oh, we are of the middle class," Rachel said. "These dresses are reserved for nobles. Nobles like the king and queen and their friends."

"Oh, all right," Ayaka said, finally getting the hint that Rachel did not want to buy the expensive clothes for her.

"What about these?" Noriko asked, showing her a dress that looked like a regular peasant dress.

"We're going to be traveling," Rachel said. "You're going to need traveling clothes, not a casual dress."

"Well, where's the sporting goods section then?" Noriko asked.

"You're really funny," Rachel said, taking Noriko's comment to be a joke. Noriko glanced at Ayaka, who shrugged.

"Okay, where are the traveling clothes?" Noriko asked. Rachel began to walk to the back of the store, but stopped when she heard a commotion outside.

"Oh dear," she said. "Come on, we have to go."

"Where?" Noriko asked as Rachel grabbed her hand to drag her outside.

"The king and his son are making their rounds," she said. "We have to be outside just in case they want to come in this store."

"Oh, right," Noriko said, feeling rather silly. She had never let anybody come before her before.

The king was old looking, with a beard and moustache. His son, however, was what Noriko would consider a hunk. He had dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a black cape and all black clothes. If he were not so good looking, Noriko would have thought him to be a little creepy.

"That's king Gustav," Rachel whispered, trying not to be heard by anybody but Noriko and Ayaka. "That is his son, Prince Malvolio."

"A prince, eh?" Noriko smiled, but then remembered her husband back home, which brought a strange knot to her stomach. What was he thinking by now? She had been gone for a whole day and without calling!

"Oh, they have Lord Ridley with them," Rachel noted.

"Who?" Ayaka asked.

"Lord Ridley," Rachel said. "The man next to Prince Malvolio. He's the royal advisor."

"Oh, who's the guy next to the king?" Ayaka asked.

"That's Lord Ignatius," Rachel said, craning her neck to see. "He's captain of the knights. He has saved this country on many occasions. He's a revered hero around here."

"Pretty cool," Noriko said.

"Oh, there's Sir Brandon and Sir Chad," Rachel said.

"And who are they?" Noriko asked, wishing that Rachel would just tell them who they were and get it over with.

"They are some of the best knights to ever serve under Lord Ignatius," Rachel told them. "They're both really cool."

"Chad's really girly looking," Noriko said.

"That's what a lot of people say," Rachel said. "But he's a great knight."

"Hey, who's—" Rachel covered Ayaka's mouth. The king's carriage had stopped right in front of where they were. The prince snapped and whispered something Ignatius' ear. He looked reluctant, but called for Chad and Brandon. He pointed to where the three of them were standing and the two knights walked over to them.

"Who are these two?" Brandon asked Rachel, indicating Noriko and Ayaka.

"They are from a different country," Rachel said truthfully.

"Is that why they are dressed so exotically?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Noriko was finally able to get a good look at him. He had blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was good looking, which surprised her. Noriko was expecting someone old and ugly.

"Yes," Rachel said.

"Hm," Chad looked skeptical. "Which country?"

"Um…" Rachel glanced at them, as if trying to decide whether or not to tell the truth. "Serete."

"Very well," Chad said. He was, indeed, very feminine looking. He had blond hair as well, but his eyes were blue. He would have made a very nice cross dresser. "The girl over there, she will come with us." He was motioning toward Ayaka.

"Her?" Rachel and Noriko both asked.

"Yes, her," Chad said, glaring at Noriko. She raised her eyebrows, which he ignored. He had his hand outstretched, waiting for Ayaka to take it. She glanced at Noriko and Rachel once and accepted it.

Chad helped her onto the carriage into the back behind the king and prince. They rode off, leaving Noriko and Rachel staring after them.

"Hm…" Noriko said. "Well, at least now you don't have to buy as many clothes…"

END CHAPTER THREE

A/N: Hm, this is slightly longer. It took me forever to write, though. So now that practically everybody's heading to Zecim, will they meet up in the large city, or along the way? Will they ever get back home? Will we ever get to the main plot of this story? Review and you will find out! BTW, the knight Ken has nothing to do with Ken, the member of ASK, I just realized that they had the same name at the last second and I'm too lazy to change it.

Oh, Lily has a question! Anyone know what PWP stands for? It's been bothering me for a while... ::cough:: Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that. Review please!

Love always,

Lily