2011 REVISION

HAIBANE-RENMEI: CORPORATION

Chapter Seven

Feathers of Red – Wings of Leather

By R. A. Stott

"Why are we running from the Saint?" Toki asked as she stumbled along.

Rakka dragged her crew back to the doorway up from the catacombs. She stopped and pointed up the stairs as she ushered them out.

"I want you all to get out of here, NOW!" she ordered. "Toki, find the old Communicator and tell him what's going on. Cinder, you're the quickest… run to Old Home… I want you to tell Mr. Ptolemy. The rest of you stay near the Temple. GO!"

"But Rakka…" they complained, "what IS going on?"

She shoved them through the door. "I can't tell you now! Get GOING!" With the last one through, she slid the door shut.

"I've got to talk to it… settle it down," Rakka said to herself. She started to run back up the edge path to the glowing tag. "It may trigger a war!"

Ptolemy looked up at the clock on the mantle next to him. Roughly fourteen hours had passed since his release from the cocoon… almost half way through what may be his thirty hours. He had to squint to see the dial clearly… blasted nearsighted vision.

He studied the fragment of his cocoon. It was still quite rigid. It bothered him that the material was so thick and hard. Why was his so different from those he had seen before? He dropped the piece on the table.

It chimed. It gave off an almost metallic ring. He had not heard anything like that from it before, especially when it shattered falling from the wall. Maybe it had been the soft ground that it had landed on, he was not sure. He picked up the section again and dropped it to the hard floor.

Now it gonged. It bounced and spun a few times making a new, sometimes unpleasant sound each time it struck the ground before it settled.

"I'll be damned," he said in his now younger voice. "What is this stuff made of?" He picked it up and plopped it back into the box he had pulled it from.

Something caught his attention. He could not quite fathom what it was, but something was wrong. Something… up by the Temple?

"Scanners are off the board again," Janice reported to Plato as he stood behind her at the controls. "I've got Apogee Reports on phantom inbounds, flight data for everyone in Tripoli and a massive buildup of energy in the northwestern section of Glie… What is going on here?"

Plato grumbled. "You and Claudius were at your apartment the last time I saw this…" he said to her. "This is what we saw just before Bakuu was set free."

She shook her head. "It's not very far from where she launched from. As a matter of fact, it's only a few degrees off."

"Oh, this is not good," Dante said as he slid into a chair and covered his head. "This is not good at all…"

"More trouble?" the director asked the liaison chief.

He seemed to shiver. "Think about it," he told them as he raised his head. "Bakuu… I mean Katherine, is Seventh Realm, and she was released from the same area. That means that there's a good chance that those in the wall in that zone were Seventh as well."

Plato examined the map. "Wasn't their commandant taken down then as well?" he asked.

Dante only nodded and re-covered his head.

Rakka had to squint so she could even look at the tag. She tried to read the hieroglyphic letters by shielding her face with her hand while forming them with her fingers using her knowledge of the Toga alphabet.

"S-T-R-Y-K-E-R… Stryker?" she puzzled as the glow intensified and was now joined by a rushing wind sound. She stood back and looked up at the top of the wall. It was glowing as well, and in some places cracks were forming.

"Stryker! Stryker, can you hear me?" she called out. "My name is Rakka! Stryker! Please Stryker, if you can hear me, you've got to settle! Please Stryker! Now is not a good time to come out! You could start a war! You could make my home a battlefield! Please Stryker, you have to listen to me! PLEASE!"

A pulse of energy shot up from the base of the plaque and through the roof. After that, it settled down to a gentle glow and Rakka could once again look upon the tag and see the text without blinding herself.

"What is this?" she wondered as she examined the tag closer. There she found new text alongside the larger name of the tag's bearer. She started to gesture with her fingers the forms she found, mumbling to herself the sounds associated with the letters.

"To protect and defend," she read to herself. "I am the ram, the sword and shield of my mountain – protector to my lord… beware my wrath – covet my friendship. I seek the truth for honor and loyalty." She held her breath and stepped back as the words fell through her. Unlike Bakuu's tag, the words on this one seemed more ominous.

"What do you seek, child?"

Rakka spun about. The question had been asked by a deep toned male voice, but seemed to have come from everywhere.

"Who are you?!" she yelled. "Where are you?!"

"There is no need to shout, child," it replied. "I am here, before you."

She felt her foot slip as she nearly fell into the canal. She stumbled back towards the plaque. "Who are you?" she asked again as she tried to regain her composure.

A deep rumble filled the catacombs as if the voice suddenly was coming from deep below her. "Aries," it said with a thunderous clap that caused the water to ripple behind her and drowned out the sounds of the nearby falls. "But my legion calls me Stryker."

Rakka shivered. "Legion?"

The voice shook the ground with laughter. "The Seventh Realm, I am their commandant," it bellowed. It had told Rakka to not shout… now if she could just get IT to not do the same! "Tell me child, where am I? I sense you, but I can not see you… I can not see myself, save for this void before me."

Rakka staggered a bit as the booming tone had softened slightly. "You're… you're entrapped. You're within a plaque in this wall," she told him. "You have been here for a very long time, along with many of your fellow saints."

"Saints?" the marker bellowed. "Who are you referring to? Are you calling me a saint?"

"It is what we refer to you as, yes," Rakka explained. She was then forced back by a burst of howling wind.

"A SAINT?!" Stryker blasted. "I was HARDLY a SAINT! I remember… I remember now… the mission! The mission to quash man's pretense that he could attempt to harness that which was not his to tap! The blasphemy of his science! But in the uncontrolled cataclysm he unleashed, just as I was about to smite him, a ribbon of negative energy struck me down! It planted me, soul and sod into this crevasse! But now I am releasing my bonds – I can feel it! I CAN FEEL IT!"

"Stryker Aries, please! You have to listen to me!" she cried as she held her hands to her ears to keep them from popping. "You mustn't come out right now! You must stay there!"

The plaque laughed again. "Why would I want to do that?" it chortled. "I have been encased within this stone far too long! I will ascend!"

"But coming out now is bad!" Rakka shouted back. "You could start a war!"

The glow of the plaque suddenly vanished, leaving the catacombs dark. It then slowly returned, but now its golden hue was more deeply red. "Why would I care?" it asked. "War is my purpose."

Rakka felt her blood drop to her feet. "You're a Saint!" she screamed. "Saints do not seek war! Saints want to prevent war! It is NOT your PURPOSE!"

The plaque darkened again as it lost some of its red. "Not my purpose? It is not my purpose?" it asked.

Rakka looked at the dull light. "No, why would you want to go to war? God doesn't want war…"

The tag nearly went black for a moment then burst forth with a shower of crimson light and wind. "I HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED IN THIS WALL FOR LONG ENOUGH!" the voice of the Saint exploded. "IF A WAR IS BROUGHT UPON US BY MY RELEASE, THEN LET IT BE SO! I WILL BE THE FIRST HAMMER TO STRIKE! I WILL BE THE FIRST BLADE TO SLICE! I WILL PROTECT MY MOUNTAIN!"

Tears were being blown back across her cheeks as the wind tossed back the cowl to her robes. She lunged for the tag and slammed her gauntleted hands against it as she screamed "NO! YOU MUSTN'T! I WON'T LET YOU!" With each strike, the red light would shift to a light blue and then would dim down slightly.

"AHH!" the deep voiced entity yelled as she hammered the tag with the flat of her hands. "Child, what are you doing? How can a mere human have such strength against me?"

"I - AM - A - HAIBANE!" Rakka shouted with each strike of her hands. The vision of Bakuu's sword clanging off her halo suddenly flashed across her mind as she remembered how she had held that Saint back from killing Mr. Ptolemy. She gritted her teeth and pressed hard on the tag as the glow was now a deep blue and fading quickly.

"You WILL remain in there until I give you the all clear! Understand?!" she told the Saint. The light dimmed down to what normally would come from its light leaves. She finally let go and exhaled, dropping to her knees and panting hard.

"Rakka, just what are you doing?" she heard. She looked to her left and saw the old Communicator, Toki and Chip all looking at her.

She was breathing hard as she tried to catch her breath. "I… the Saint… can't say… Mr. Ptolemy…"

"Claudius?" the Communicator asked. "Has Claudius made you keep a secret?"

Rakka nodded as she continued to gasp for air. "How… how did I do that?" she asked as she heaved. "Why was I able to stop the Saint?"

The Communicator reached down and placed her hood back over her head and lifted her to her feet. "It is unclear why you have such strength over the Saint's powers, small one. You showed it to us on the day Bakuu rose as well, and I'm told that you were found floating over your bed the same morning… Interesting…"

Rakka blushed and looked away, remembering how the others had found her over her mattress that morning and her waking up wondering why she was standing in bed.

"Maybe she has ties with the Saints?" Toki suggested as she tapped her cheek and pondered the idea. "I mean, look at what she did to that sword of Bakuu's… her halo knocked it clear over the wall!"

Chip leaned down and examined the tag. "Well, it certainly looks like it's settled down." He placed his gloved hand against it and felt for any vibrations. "It seems peaceful again…"

He was then flung across the canal by a bolt of lightning. He landed on the far walkway in a crumpled heap.

The tag was again brilliantly lighting up the catacombs, and Rakka was torn between stopping its restlessness and seeing if Toki's partner was okay. She felt a little relief as she saw him get up and shake his head.

"What the hell was all THAT about?" he yelled as the sound the tag was making was now growing louder.

Rakka stepped up to the plaque and slapped her gloves hard onto its surface. This time though, it showed little change as it had before. She could even feel the tingle of the electricity starting to ebb through the leather of her gauntlets. She backed up and watched as the next burst shot through the column that the tag was mounted on and through the roof.

"Something's wrong!" she shouted. "It's like something is shoving the Saint out!"

"We must get up to the surface!" the old Communicator shouted as he dragged the skiff up from its dock to get the stunned Chip off the far walkway.

Cinder was amazed at how fast she had managed to run the distance from way up north to the old buildings in the south. She had taken a back path that took her into the southern end of the town, which made her snicker to herself a little at the ruckus she had caused by giving some the locals the sight of a Scar running through the heart of Glie. Still, she had managed to avoid any of the Town Watch as she ran the final length of the main road down towards Old Home. She rounded the turn up the path to the main gate and found her young-looking target examining the scooter parked just inside it.

"Ptolemy?" she asked out of breath. "Is that you Ptolemy?"

He squinted at the slightly fuzzy girl who had just asked his name. "Cinder?" he pondered. "That's your name, isn't it child?" He caught himself for a moment. Calling someone who looked his age 'child' suddenly became odd feeling to him. "What seems to be the problem? Aren't you part of Rakka's cleaning squad?"

She gasped for air as she leaned into him for support. "Yes, yes… we were just entering the canal… there was this light… the ground was shaking, and it looked like a Saint was rising!"

Ptolemy straightened her up as she continued to gather air back into her lungs. "What was that? A Saint?" he asked leaning down to get her to look at him. "Cinder, did you say a Saint was rising?"

She nodded as she clung to him. "Rakka told me… tell you what's going on… She sounded like this was a bad thing… is it a bad thing Mr. Ptolemy?"

He jogged to the back of the archway and looked over the buildings towards the northwest. There, even in the daylight, he saw the same flash of light he had seen when Bakuu had come free of her interment. He grumbled to himself.

"Wait here," he told her as he dashed back to the kitchen area of the old school. He shortly came out with the cell phone and a set of keys.

"That's right," he said to the phone. "Get two teams here now while I go and check things out up at the Temple. No, I don't know which Saint it is yet, but from the light I just saw, I don't think this one's going to be as held back like Bakuu had been. Yea… yea, I think we have a hot one here… Get Dante to get the reps for both the Attic and Basement together so that this doesn't start any incidents. Good. Good… I'm heading up there now. Yes… yes honey… yes I will. No, I don't intend on letting this one try to slice me in two… no, not this time… that's right, just mangled and splattered this time… hah hah… Gotta go… Love ya…"

He stepped aboard the scooter and gestured for the girl to climb on behind him on the jump seat. She watched as he jumped on the starter peddle and wondered if this was such a good idea as he revved the small engine.

"Let's go! Let's go!" he gestured as she tentatively sat behind him. She just managed to grab onto his shirt as he spun the tire under her and shot them down the drive and over the small foot bridge.

"They're getting too much oil into the gas on this thing," she heard him complain as they made the snap turn to the north at the end of the path. "Two-cycle engines are such a pain!"

The group exited the tunnel out of the catacombs and found a second cacophony of sounds and lights within the Temple itself. They found Watch members running about as they heard the noise of something crumbling nearby.

"Oh, I was worried about that," Rakka said as they saw a flash of light and a stone come from around a nearby corner. She ran up to see and found the top of a pillar along the northeast wall falling to the ground. "Where we were down there and where the falls are… the Saint is coming up through the Temple!"

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "Not quite," the old Communicator said as he pointed with his staff. "I would say just outside that wall though. This is only a residual feedback."

"Rakka! Toki! Chip!" they then heard and found Tom and Joshua huddling by the main entrance to the gardens. "Over here!"

Another flare ran up the wall opposite them, causing another section of the crumbling pillar to fall and bounce aside. "Sorry," Rakka apologized as they scurried to their side. "I guess this wasn't the safest place to be!"

"At least it's never boring with you," Tom kidded her. "What happened to you?" he asked Chip as he was still smoldering slightly.

"Never stand between a Saint and its release," he grunted as he brushed the singed robe. "The lightning they use will drill you out of the way."

Tom nearly laughed. "You pissed off the Saint?"

Chip shrugged a yes. "What now?"

Rakka had a determined look on her face as she looked at the damage the Saint was doing to the old building. "This is wrong… this is just like when Bakuu came up, only worse. I can feel it! Something is forcing him out! I've got to stop him, before he ruins the Temple!" She stood up and ran out the doorway towards the outer wall.

"You're going to do what?!" Tom asked as they realized what she had just said. But it was too late – she had already vanished through a cloud of dust.

"Yo! What's going on in there?" Hyohko yelled at a ruckus that was coming from a storage hut by the wind mill generators at The Hill of Winds. He was down there with a few others from the Factory assisting some of the electric company workers who were upgrading the generation farm for the modification to the power grid needed for the hospital and the work going on down at Old Home. He had seen some Little Feathers playing hooky from their day care lessons lately, and he half expected to find them clanging on the pipes of the chain-link fence that surrounded it again.

"Whoa!"

He stood back at the size of the man who was now standing outside that doorway to the hut. He also now knew what had been making the awful noise. It was some sort of contraption on the man's back. It had been snagged by someone within the strange green light that the door covered. He looked up at the boy on the other side of the fence from the opening and snorted like a horse that was displeased by its feed.

"Look away, son. I'm not really here," he told him in a deep voice that almost sounded like a whinny.

"Not another one," Hyohko said as he stepped back a bit further. "What are you doing down there? Are you from The Corporation as well?"

The man stood nearly two to three feet over his head, and had long black hair that ran down his back. He had dark black eyes, a black leather jacket that nearly matched his dark complexion, and huge round hands. But what caught Hyohko's attention most was the white spot on his forehead – out of all this darkness was this diamond shaped white spot that stuck out like a beacon.

"No," the man said as he adjusted the package on his back, "but I would expect them soon. Which way is it to town?"

Hyohko almost fell backwards as the man walked out from the portal area and climbed the short stairs into the daylight. "T-town?" he stuttered as the size of the man now became evident.

"I'll show you," Hyohko heard a coy woman's voice say as he backed into something soft. He looked over his shoulder and found a rather sizable bosom in his face.

"Ah," the man grunted. "Gabrella… and what brings you here?" he asked.

Hyohko fell over as she vanished. He looked around and found her now taking the arm of the stranger on the other side of the fence to escort him towards the main gate.

"What… what is that… woman?!" Hyohko finally gasped at the sight of the demon. And why was his nose bleeding?

"So Nightwatch… your human form, ea?" she asked as they strolled along. "And new toys I see… what is the Observer's most eligible bachelor doing lugging such a thing?" She twirled some of his long hair in her fingers as they stepped up to the padlocked doorway.

"Equipment for Dr. McManus," he said with little excitement. He looked at the high fence and then glanced back at his package. He snorted again and leapt over it as some of the other Haibane watched slack jawed. "Are you coming?" he asked the Demon-Goddess.

She sneered and walked through the chain barrier as if it was not there. Where she had passed through it, the links were hissing and popping.

Nightwatch shook his head. "You do know you just passed through an ionized field," he commented.

"Yes, it did tingle a bit," she replied as she tossed her curly black hair back and acted as if she were brushing soot off herself. "It might deter smaller and lesser demons, but you know I'm different." She then looked to the northwest towards the falls and smirked. "I believe I need to go that way. You'll find the Doctor at the hospital… it's in the middle of the town that way… you can't miss it."

She launched herself skywards. When last seen, she was only a wisp of smoke drifting towards the Temple of the Haibane-Renmei.

"Idiot," Nightwatch grunted as he adjusted the load and started to trudge towards the town center.

A sound caught his ear – the noisy epithets of a small motor being driven hard along with the tooting of a tinny horn. He stepped off the road as the scooter with Ptolemy and Cinder flew by, barely making the turn up the Renmei Road and headed towards the same direction as the smoke had gone.

"This whole world's gone mad," he mused as he returned to the road and his journey.

"Did you see the size of that man?" Cinder asked her driver.

"Too busy!" was all Ptolemy told her as they raised a cloud of dust and gravel behind themselves.

Kana looked at the grease brush she was holding and gagged. The gears of the clock tower main drives were sometimes really gross to keep in working order. And since she was the only one small and thin enough to climb in there and do the work without removing some major service plates, she would get lube-duty once a month. It was the one piece of the clock system she hated. Last month she nearly caught her halo in the main screw-drive, and she always had to keep her wings under a jacket to keep them from catching something. It was disgusting. But since her job this month had been interrupted by the events of Ptolemy's death and rebirth, she was completing what she had not the other day. She plopped the offending lubing tool into the bucket it had come from with a splat.

She climbed out onto the outside walkway and stretched herself. That was a crummy job, but at least it was done for another month.

The breeze was blowing up from the south. It brought along with itself the sound of beeping coming up from behind her that she recognized. She quickly moved to the southern face of the clock and looked down the main boulevard. Briefly, she saw the bright yellow body of the Vespa as it made the turn up the Renmei Road just south of town. She saw a scattering of Young Feathers that it had shooed aside with its noisy little horn.

"What is that crazy kid doing with my scooter?!" she yelled. "HEY! CLAUDIUS! WHAT'S GOING ON?! I LEFT THAT WITH YOU FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY!" she then barked as loud as she could. Other than getting the attention of a few people below her at the foot of the clock tower, the effort had been obviously futile, and she knew it.

"Crap…" she said as she held back her hair from a gust of wind. "Well, I hope he gets gas for that thing!" she added with a grumble.

There was a flash of light then that caught her attention. It was up near the area of the Temple. It seemed to be coming from the wall!

"A flash of light… from the WALL?!" Kana held her breath for a moment. "Again?! DAMN!" she shouted as she tore off the jacket and headed for the stairwell down.

Ptolemy neared his favorite bridge. The Gideon swung slightly in the afternoon heat – it was empty so he readied his turn into it.

"Where are you going? Where are YOU GOING? WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Cinder yelped as they started onto the span. "The Saint is up at the Temple, not my town!"

Ptolemy brought the scooter to a bumpy stop a few yards into the wood and rope bridge. He squinted hard up river to see if he could see anything. "Blasted eyesight… I really should have made the optometrist my first stop of the day… do you see anything that way? It's all a blur to me…"

"What?! You can't SEE?!" Cinder was about ready to leap off the scooter now, but that would have sent her over the edge of the swaying span. She gingerly stepped off as Ptolemy stood up so that they could back the vehicle up. It was when he wanted to continue on that she had second thoughts about it.

"We must get going!" he complained.

"But you didn't even see that huge man back there!" she shot back. "I think I'd rather walk!"

"I can see fine! We won't hit anything!" He sat back down on the scooter and kicked the starter again. "Young lady, come ON!"

Having a boy call her 'young lady' seemed weird to say the least, but he did say it with authority. She reluctantly climbed aboard and he floored it.

"How are we going to get this up to the Temple along that narrow ledge up ahead?" Cinder yelled over the whine of the motor. They were rapidly approaching the section where most people needed to hug the side of a hill as they moved along the south side of the river.

"We'll take the Town Watch's route," Ptolemy said as he slowed down. "You must swear that you've never seen this, young lady."

She had no idea what he was meaning. But just prior to the hillside and the path to the right, they swung to the left and headed behind some trees and scrub-brush bushes. There they approached a small tunnel opening.

"What is this?" the girl asked as they stopped. Ptolemy dropped the kickstand and stood up.

"Old military service tunnels used by the Renmei… you think those old fools would risk themselves sliding along the face of that hill?" Ptolemy chuckled to himself as he entered the path.

Cinder slid her fingers across the sides of the tunnel and felt the slight crumbling of built-up soot there. "This feels older than even the tunnel under the town walls…"

"It is," Ptolemy said as he led the way. "They're older than Glie… the tunnel under the wall is relatively new compared to this one." They continued on in silence until they popped out into the daylight again. They were behind another bush, but from the roar she now heard deafening her ears, she knew just where they were – the falls near the Temple and the rope bridge before it.

"You mean to tell me that all those times I nearly fell into the river, there was a safer way to this bridge?!" Cinder shouted.

"Oh, like this thing makes it any safer?" Ptolemy yelled back as he started to make his way across the span. Cinder had to agree with him about the old rope bridge. She tepidly started to follow him when he was about half way over. She stared at her feet the entire way, making sure she found solid wood under them with each step. She did not know how long she had left until she found the old boy's hand taking hers at the far end.

"Of course, I remember when we strung this bridge," he said as he assisted her off. "Certainly was an event… It took us ten times with a rocket powered sea-rescue gun to get these ropes across. We kept hitting the falls with the vacuum the water makes…" He continued on, leaving Cinder to ponder this boy who had been a man a short while ago.

Koi stood outside the newspaper office as he flipped through his notepad. The editor had asked him to interview Ptolemy for the next edition of the weekly rag. He wondered just how he'd pull that one off without sounding like he was being a too nosy 'Homer'.

A thunderclap struck his mind. It made him stagger against the wall of the building he was in front of as his brain felt as if someone had just stuck a hot poker with it. He managed to open his eyes in a slit and peered towards where the spike had struck him – in the hills southwest of town.

A flash of light caught his eye, illuminating the corner of the hospital. Something was happening up towards the Temple… but what?

"It's evil… demonic… what the hell?"

"Koi!" he heard. He turned and saw Kana running across the square towards him. He looked back to where he had seen the flash and saw a huge dark man standing beside the hospital… he seemed to be looking at him. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind.

Suddenly he found his right hand being yanked. He looked down it and found Kana dragging him along.

"Come on! It looks like another Saint is rising!" she yelped as they headed towards the south road.

"What?" Koi asked as he stumbled along. "Is that what I'm feeling? Why? Why is it so… evil?"

Kana stopped and looked up at him. "What? You mean you can feel it?" It was then she noticed that the boy was holding his head. He looked like he had the all-time headache. "Hey, are you all right?"

"You have little time," he then heard. "Climb aboard me."

Koi looked up. "What? Who said that?"

Kana looked about. "Said what? What are you talking… on my…"

Koi looked at Kana and saw she was looking ahead of them. He followed her gaze to find a startling sight.

There was a horse. A huge black stallion with a white diamond mark on its forehead was looking back at them and pawing the cobblestones with its hoof.

"Get on me if you wish to get there in time, son," he heard.

"I don't believe it," he whispered.

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant," a flat reply came to him. "Just do it! Time is wasting!"

He grabbed Kana's hand and dragged her to the horse. "Come on… get on!" he told her as she suddenly found herself being lifted up by Koi.

"HEY! WAIT! Whose horse is this?" she yelped as he planted her over the shoulders of the beast.

"Trust me, he's here for us," Koi said as he dragged a box over and got up behind her. "Okay, go! Get us up there!"

"The name is Nightwatch," he heard in his mind. "I will guide you there. Hold her safe."

The horse nodded and spun about with a snort. Kana gasped at how fast it accelerated through the town. People stared as the trio raced southwards.

"THIS IS NUTS!" she shouted as they blew into the top of the southern farms. But it certainly did not take long for her to switch from sheer fear to utter enjoyment of the speed.

"WHOO HOO!" she shouted. "I DON'T CARE WHOSE HORSE THIS IS! WHAHOO!"

She then realized that they were riding bareback – no saddle. A slight amount of fear crept back through her and she leaned back slightly. It was then she noticed how Koi was surrounding her with his body. There was no way she was going to fall off – he had a look of determination on his face. He sat behind her as if he had done this before.

She felt her face blush… what? What the hell was she doing that for?

"I don't know… he was just huge!" Hyohko was telling Midori as they stood before the gate at the hut. "And that woman that was with him… damn, I don't know what the hell she was…"

Midori held her hand up. "Shhh!" she hissed. "What's that?"

The rapid scraping of gravel and dirt ran up the hill towards them. They stepped back as a cloud of dust and wind approached them.

"GEEZE!" Hyohko shouted as the horse thundered by and left them covered in soot.

"What the hell was that?" they then heard. They looked back at the gate and saw the padlock in the hands of Director Plato. He was followed by Janice and some other people who were carrying equipment. A few of those in the rear were swatting smoldering spots on their jackets courtesy of Jester and his fireballs.

"I swear, it was like he knew we were coming," Dante said as he brought up the rear. "The attic is yelling now, boss," he then directed towards Plato. "The basement denies all, but I seriously doubt it. The energy readings are acting as if this one was spiked out by a jolt from down there."

Plato looked at the flash of light from the northwest. Broad daylight, a bright sun, and yet the glow of the rising Saint was easily seen. He then looked at his watch.

"This could not have happened at a worst time," he grumbled. "Okay, most of us only have about ten hours available to us. Let's set up, get things ready and bring the second team in. Got it?"

Janice was on her cell phone delicately trying to keep it in contact with base over the static. "Rhea confirms that we have a go, and the second team will be ready with the heavy equipment if needed."

"Very well," Plato said as they started to hike up the Renmei Road.

"Umm…" she added. "Director, she also confirms… we have Observers, sir."

Plato stopped and looked at her then at Dante. "Observers, ea?"

"Thank god," Dante said with relief flowing off his face. "It certainly took them long enough."

Plato scowled. "More likely they've been here all along… or at least since Ptolemy's hatching. How else would that man on watch the other night know about Haibane drowning in their own cocoons?" He looked at Janice and sighed. "If they are here, then they must expect something nasty."

Dante swallowed. "Err… true… but they are quite capable of mediation… better than I am…"

He found the huge hand of his superior on his shoulder. "Don't put yourself down, Dante," he said. "You've defused many conflicts before."

He sighed as they started north again. "Nothing like this… it's been building exponentially ever since the last war."

Plato laughed. "That's because it never ends, Dante my boy. If there were ever true peace, I believe the universe would cease to exist."

"That's a rather grim view of things," Hyohko said. Plato and the others then noticed that they were being followed by the two Haibane.

"Well, think about it son," the director said as they continued on. "There is always conflict, even in the most subtle of things." He held up the lock that he found he had forgotten to leave at the gate. "For example… this…"

Hyohko and Midori blinked at the object. "A lock?" they asked.

"A lock…" Plato pushed the bolt in. "Now it's closed. My conflict… I want it open. The lock wants to open, but its conflict is that there is a pin inside it that keeps it closed. My solution is this… the key. The key's conflict… it must match up with the tumblers inside the lock, or it won't work. So when I insert my solution, all my conflicts are released, and the lock opens."

"But what if you didn't have the key?" Midori asked.

Plato nodded. "That is the correct question my dear," he laughed. "My conflicts have then escalated. I have the wrong key… or no key at all… and I must release the lock. My solution would then be to take a drastic action and get a set of bolt cutters… hardly a peaceful resolution, correct?"

Midori shook her head. "Yes, but you've removed the lock."

Plato grunted. "Yes, but at what cost? Now I have to get a new lock, keys… all because I couldn't wait for the correct key to arrive. Was it worth it then?"

"Depends," Hyohko, said as he knocked some of the dust off himself.

"Depends?" Midori asked.

"Sure," he said. "It depends on just why you needed the lock off for in the first place."

Plato shook with laughter. "My, we do still have smart children about, don't we? That is exactly the right answer. The conflict is only judged by why it was necessary in the first place."

Midori shuddered. "Is there a conflict coming then?" she asked as she leaned into Hyohko.

Plato suddenly became less jovial. "Darker than you'd know… I hope not, but at this time, I can only say… yes…"

Midori and Hyohko stopped and watched the group proceed on.

"The man… the man we saw earlier… before you arrived, director…"

Plato stopped and looked back at them. "A man?" he asked.

Hyohko nodded. "He was tall and dark… he had an incredible black jacket on and had long black hair…"

Plato smiled. "Tell me, did he have a white spot on his forehead?"

Hyohko stepped forwards. "Yes… yes, like a diamond."

Plato's smile turned to a grin. "Oh, very good."

Dante shook his head. "Damn, no wonder the blasted demons were waiting for us!"

"Just as well he's here," Plato chuckled. "That was Nightwatch, an Observer, and a very good friend."

"Nightwatch?" the two Haibane asked as they returned to following The Corporation members. "Is he here to mediate whatever this conflict is supposed to be?"

"Not that I would think," Janice said with a laugh. "He's an Observer, but he's really a teacher."

"Observers… what are Observers?" Midori asked.

Plato looked towards the sky. "Truthfully, we aren't supposed to say… though there is no rule saying we aren't supposed to either… The Observers are a group that record and witness history on multiple universes – dimensional levels they call it… They work independently of both the attic and the basement, and are sometimes called in to mediate conflicts between the two."

"They would only intercede though if the conflict would spill over into multiple levels," Dante added. "This could be one of those times."

"And this Nightwatch… he's only a teacher? A teacher of what?"

Plato laughed again. "Life is his curriculum, and how to live it!"

The horse rounded the bend in the path just past the Gideon Bridge. Kana then realized something and started to look about for an escape route.

"How is something this large going to make it past that thin little path before the waterfalls?!" she shouted as the hillside loomed up out of the mist the falls generated.

She felt Koi lean over her and hold her tighter to the steed. "Trust him, he knows what he's doing," he whispered into her ear.

"Are you sure?" she gasped. She was not sure herself that she knew what she had just asked.

"Yes," Koi said. He held her closer and placed his head beside her own. "Trust Nightwatch… he knows the way."

"Nightwatch? Who's Nightwatch?" she asked. But she suddenly felt her stomach sink into her feet as the horse leaped up and started to run along the steep side of the wall of dirt that the path followed. She looked to their right and saw the falls and the rope bridge below. They were literally climbing the wall.

"WOW!" she shouted as they started to descend rapidly and gain even more speed. "BUT HOW IS HE GOING TO CROSS…"

She could see he was heading for the bridge, but there was no way that he'd be able to cross it!

"Get down close to his back!" Koi told her. She had no choice but to listen to him as he was pushing her down. She hunkered down against the horse's shoulders.

His fur… it was so soft. And was that his heartbeat? His long mane whipped across her face as the world seemed to blur in her view.

She was shoved into his shoulders by a violent thrust. Suddenly there were no more hoof-beats below them – only the roar of the water flowing over the wall beside them. She felt Koi rise up a bit. She looked to their left and saw the water as it dropped down. The view drew her gaze to look over the side of the horse. She saw nothing but foam below them.

It was then that it occurred to her what had happened. He had jumped. It was a massive leap. They were soaring high over the rope bridge. She held her breath expecting a sudden amount of pain as they flew over the chasm, as she was sure the landing was not going to be as amazing as this flight. They passed through a cloud of mist at the center of the falls.

"My god, what are those?" she asked as the vapors showed her the ghostly trails of wings. They vanished as soon as they exited the cloud.

She hardly felt the landing, and their speed dropped only a little as they made the final dash for the Temple.

Rakka felt the energy swell around her. Unlike the release of Bakuu, this upheaval was being felt not just in the wall, but around the base as well, disrupting a large section and forcing a steady retreat of those around it. The outer gardens were busily being sliced up like a lawn mover was madly at work. Trees were being diced up along the boundary area, and a few old pieces of equipment and buildings were being rendered into small chunks by the powerful discharge.

"Rakka, how do you expect to stop that?!" Tom shouted as they rounded the corner behind her. But they stopped when they noticed that her halo was shining rather brightly.

She seemed in a trance to them. She never answered Tom back, only held her hand up for them to stop. She then raised both hands up and held them out.

"I said STOP!" she shouted, and the destruction halted, but only for a moment. It returned, this time sending a crack up the wall and making a stream of light break free of its containment.

She gritted her teeth and readied to try again when she felt two hands grab her and drag her back to her friends.

"NO! YOU MUST LET ME… C-Claudius?" She blinked as she saw the young boy holding her down.

"This is a bit over your head kiddo," he said to her. "This one is being shoved up from underneath, and I doubt even you have the capability to hold it back. Any idea who we're dealing with?"

Rakka grabbed him and began to sob. "Oh! This is it, isn't it?" she bellowed.

"Shhh, shhh," Ptolemy said as he stroked her head with his hand while watching the power flow over the stones behind her. "Maybe yes, maybe no… we won't know until it happens. But I need to know if you've communicated with it… have you?"

She nodded and looked up at him. "He… he called himself Striker… Striker Aries of the Seventh Realm…" She noticed his hand suddenly get tight on her shoulder. "Ow, Claudius, what is it? You're hurting me!"

A vision had flashed over his face. It was an ancient memory of an archangel whose helm was covered in the horns of a ram, just outside his window at his lab, a scythe in its gauntlet covered hands as if it were the Grim Reaper itself. He had just released the core into space as it began to rear back with its weapon. The angel's first strike severed the facade of the marble building off, exposing his lab to his attacker. He watched as chunks of the building flew away. The weapon was swung back in readiness for the final blow.

The detonation of man's attempt to capture God's Power was all that kept this angel from smiting him down with his blade at that moment. Death had surrounded him then but released him by the anti-science set free by the implosion and explosion. Before him only lay the newly formed seven zones and a rain of angels.

He blinked and released his hold on Rakka's shoulder. "Umm… sorry… Striker, ea? Well now, he's going to want my head, that's for sure. We need Katherine here, now…"

"I doubt she will be here in time," the sultry voice of Gabrella said behind them. "She's nowhere to be seen that I can tell."

Ptolemy smirked. "Interesting. Is that why she's behind you right now?"

The demon spun about and found her rival only a fist-length behind her, which threw her to the ground. "You DARE steal one of our Saints?!" she shouted. "And not only that, but my former leader?!"

The demon wiped her lip and got back up on her feet. "Oh, and he's going to be pleased that you replaced him?" she asked. "I doubt that. In fact, I expect him to slice this place in two at any moment!"

"That is not an option towards conflict resolution," they then heard. "Nor is it your place to determine just what becomes of this Saint!"

The black horse stood there with Kana and Koi on its back. Kana was staring at it in disbelief.

"You… you TALKED?!" she squeaked.

"Pardon me, but you may now disembark," the horse told them.

"But… but… it can talk!" Kana complained as she was removed by Koi. When he put her down she shot him an angry glare. She then returned to looking at the horse, but found a tall dark man in a long leather jacket looking down at her. He looked at the boy over top of her and gestured towards the maelstrom being racked over at the wall.

"Best get in there son," he said. "Otherwise there's going to be a breach in the wall of Glie."

Koi nodded and turned towards Rakka. He held out his hand to her.

"Come with me," he told her. "We together can hold this back."

Ptolemy looked between the two of them. "Are you sure?" he asked as he then glanced at Katherine. She nodded.

"I returned what was taken away," she said.

"Really?" he asked. "And just what did you take away?"

She sighed. "Koi's 'birth' into the holy waters endowed him with special powers. He is a sensitive."

Ptolemy nodded. "Yes, we knew that already… his experience with the NDE spirit told us that… But what else is he?"

Katherine stared at him. "Else?" she said with a slight crack to her voice that caught Gabrella's attention.

Ptolemy watched the two Haibane walk towards the eruption. "He had that power even before you returned his memory, Kat… Please don't lie to me. You're not allowed to lie, remember."

"I… I haven't lied to you!" she nearly burst.

"Then DON'T HOLD THINGS BACK EITHER!" Ptolemy bellowed, almost in the same deep stern adult way he had once spoken. "He's a hunter, isn't he?"

Gabrella stared at the boy in Rakka's grasp. "He's what?"

Ptolemy sighed and glared at Koi. "He's a demon hunter. His saturation in the holy waters of the canal when he had just been 'born' gave him that special ability. He has the capability of seeking demons and other non-ethereal energies and excommunicating them."

Katherine stepped back. "How… how…" she asked.

Ptolemy shook his head. "How did I know? Come now, returning such 'memories' would be an advantage to the attic, would it not? They wouldn't bother returning a simple memory banishment now would they?"

He turned to the Demon-Goddess just as she was smugly going to rub that in. "And you," he snapped. "How dare the basement attempt to usurp the will of a Saint! Just what was going on in Soltarn's pointy head?"

Gabrella looked at him with a shocked expression. "Soltarn… how did you know…"

Ptolemy sneered. "Don't let my age fool you… I know a plan by your clan's war chief when I see it. Let's see if I can guess it… redirect all demonic energy to one point to override any influence the holy waters would have and fire, right? Well did he, or anyone else for that matter, consider the consequences of doing something like that to a Saint?!"

A fissure cracked open along the top of the wall and dropped a few boulders to the ground near the Temple's base.

"This will not be a controllable creature that comes out of here, Gabrella," he continued as he gestured towards the bursting wall. "Haven't you heard of 'slow and steady gets the job done'? Well, 'brute force and ignorance' only creates an apocalyptic giant!"

"Stryker!" Katherine called. "Stryker Aries, do you hear me?" She raised her arms and spread her wings as she attempted to touch the mind of her former leader. "Aries, please, I beseech you, talk to me!"

The ground shook, and the wind started to gust much as it had on the day she had been released from the tag that bound her to this place. She watched as a shaft of light burst out the top of the wall, but this time, its glow was a blood red, not the heavenly light blue hers had been. It was followed by a long shaft and blade of a scythe held by a large muscular arm. A wing then shot out and unfurled itself. But this was not the tapered golden white wing of an angel – it was a leathery bat-like structure of a demon that stretched out and dominated the sky. It was followed by its mate as the shaft of the weapon was slammed to the ground with a thunderous blow.

"Here he comes…" Ptolemy said as he watched the second arm come forth. "I strongly suggest that you all get back, especially you two." He pointed at the goddess and demon.

"Us?" they both asked.

Ptolemy started to walk forwards towards the two Haibane that stood alone before the creature. "He's out of control by either side now," he told them. "He'll want both of your heads."

"Are we still in communication with the control center?" Plato asked as they saw the ruckus across the falls from them.

"We lost that almost an hour ago," Janice said. "YIEE!"

Plato spun about to see why she had shrieked so and found the woman ducking under a set of black wings.

"Mabel!" Janice yelped. "What have you been doing, putting your claws in ice water?"

"CAW!" the bird replied as Janice removed her message badge. She opened it and quickly read it.

"Oh damn," she said as she handed it to the director and looked over her shoulder.

"Oh, you said a mouthful," he agreed as he rummaged through his duffel bag and pulled out an old pair of binoculars. "Oh yes, there they are…"

"What? Who is?" Hyohko asked as he and Midori looked skywards. A squint of the eyes allowed them to see very small spots high up.

"That's got to be at least a garrison or two," Plato said. "And they're in full battle dress as well…"

"Seventh Realm?" Dante asked as he covered his eyes from the sun glare.

"Undoubtedly," the director said, "which means Katherine must be here somewhere."

Midori looked back towards the Temple. "She's probably there already."

Plato looked over the side of the precipice that made up the river's left bank. "One can only wonder what's coming up from underneath then," he said.

Katherine stepped forwards and joined Ptolemy. He glanced up at her as he continued towards Koi and Rakka.

"Not going to listen to me, are you?" he stated more than asked.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not the same angel you released a few months ago," she said with a smile. "I can handle myself."

He nodded. "Oh, I understand that as well my dear," he said. "I was more intent on not riling him up further when he finds he's not the commandant of the Seventh anymore. And as for you," he told the dark woman now walking to his other side, "I was told that Stryker was never a demon lover."

Gabrella smirked. "That should make him even more unhappy now that we nearly turned him into one," she laughed. She saw the glare that the Goddess was giving her and she snorted. "It's water under the bridge now, Bakuu."

Koi knelt down. Rakka did as well. Neither seemed exceptionally aware of their surroundings, which was nearly more than Kana could stand. It was taking all the strength of both Joshua and Tom to keep her back. Cinder stood next to the old Communicator and stared as her mentor began to pray before the volcano that was erupting before her.

"Are you watching this Nightwatch?" Ptolemy yelled back at the tall man next to them as the wind began to swirl about them.

"Observing and reporting," he replied. "Any messages?"

Ptolemy looked up at the towering behemoth that was now coming out of the light. It was dressed very much like the archangel that almost struck him down long ago, but distorted by the manipulation and transformation it had gone through, and any human-like appearance was twisted by the demonic overlay. He swallowed.

"Let your folks know that I would very much like my final request readied - on my command," he told him.

"Understood… standing by." Nightwatch stood like a statue with a communications device in his hand.

Ptolemy looked at the two with him. "Ladies, show time," he said and walked into the storm.

Katherine stopped and stared at the young scientist, which caught Gabrella's attention as well.

"What is that?" the Goddess asked.

The demon looked in the direction her rival had been and saw what she meant. Two red streaks were running down the back of Ptolemy's white shirt.

"Blood?" she asked herself.

Stryker saw one of the figures below him and burned. It matter little to him that his target was somehow much younger, the fact that it was still his primary objective, the final subject he remembered prior to being sealed within the metal and stone of the cavern below the walls was all that filled his world at that moment. The scythe reared back.

Katherine threw her arms wide causing a burst of wind that countered the gusts coming from the wall. "Stryker! Stop!" she called out.

"Oh, that's impressive," Tom said as he, Kana and Joshua stood and gaped at the Goddess.

Katherine noticed that Gabrella was moving away from her with an almost scared expression on her face. She was holding her left arm up as if shielding herself from something behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see what it might be and was shocked at what it was.

Serendipity and Faith, her proto-angel she had taken within herself, had come forth and was mimicking her stance and adding her powers to her own. She felt a swell of energy flow through her wings. Her fingers tingled. She knew she could now deal with this problem… maybe…

The eruption of the proto-angel seemed to not faze Stryker as he had his own objective and target. He swung the blade down at Ptolemy, who was now covering the two Haibane.

Katherine sent a vortex of wind at her former leader, but not in time to stop the blow of the sickle. But again, she was surprised as she had been on the day of her own launch, to watch the weapon fly from the hand of Stryker Aries and impale itself into the roof of the Temple. The gust then made him stumble back against the wall where he let loose a ground rumbling shout of pain.

Katherine and Gabrella looked down at the scientist expecting to see a severed body, but what they saw made them stand back in shock.

Ptolemy stood up and glared at the monster that had been a Saint. A pair of bloody red wings was now protruding out of his back. Greasy sack liquids had splattered across his shirt and were dripping from the feathers. "That was naughty," he told the monster who had tried to smite him. "Now Nightwatch!"

"Raise shields," the Observer said to the com unit.

"Injectors to full - Shields up to maximum power," the reply came. "Standby for zero emissions in five seconds... Frequency blockage, all channels..."

The proto-angel suddenly looked up and stopped mimicking her host. She silently screamed as she melted back into Katherine's back. The Goddess felt her powers drop substantially, and her attack on Stryker faded.

The demonic Saint was also looking up as the streamer of light coming from the wall dropped as well.

"Now you two," Ptolemy said to the Haibane. "Force the demon out!"

"NO!" Gabrella shouted. "You can't do that!"

Ptolemy turned towards her as Koi and Rakka prayed beside him. "Stryker Aries is NOT a demon… he was an archangel of the highest order. You have no say or right to him or ANY of the Saints in these walls! That was the agreement that your side made with the other side. If Lucifer has any problems with that, he can ask ME directly!"

Rakka stood up and held her hands out. "Aries, I can feel you in there… please… please come to me… you are not a demon… you are an angel… please…"

"Rakka, what are you doing?!" Kana shouted as she watched her friend start to walk towards the creature that had now settled to a hard-panting heap against the wall.

"She is doing her job," the Communicator said.

Kana glared at him. "Her JOB?! What the hell are you talking about?! What has this to do with HER JOB?!"

"She is cleansing the soul of someone who has been sin-bound," he calmly said as the others continued to hold the girl back. Cinder, Toki and Chip all looked at him in awe.

"Is… is that what we've been doing?" Toki asked. "Have we been cleaning sin?"

"To a degree, yes," the old man said as Kana lessened her fidgeting. "The material that builds up on the tags does not encroach on its own." He looked at the Demon-Goddess. "It has help."

Gabrella snorted. "It's not like you give us much reason not to try," she grumbled. "Proper representation to the holy sites would help us not to HAVE to do that."

"Attacking defenseless angels is hardly a persuasive way to get that now is it?" Nightwatch noted. "Whatever becomes of this, be ready Gabrella… You're about to have a seriously injured demon to care for…"

She looked back at the creature that had been forced down by the removal of its energy source. Rakka's calling to the angel within it was beginning to draw the true Stryker Aries out. Now Koi stood up and held one hand to his face as if it were a blade and followed the smaller girl towards the beast.

"In the name of the holy father and the spirits of the angels that guide us all," he chanted in a near whisper, "be gone vile monster… In the name of the holy father and the spirits of the angels…"

Ptolemy now followed. He held up a small scanner and took readings. "Split it NOW!" he shouted.

Koi sliced down with his hand, and a line was drawn across the body of the creature. Rakka now stepped up to its side and reached in.

An ethereal white hand reached out and grabbed hers. Koi stood beside her and reached in as well, grabbing the second hand. They both pulled as hard as they could.

Sol sat down on the edge of her bed. She was removing the cumbersome wing-plates to allow her injuries some air, per the doctor's orders. She would need someone's help to replace them later, but she could do the removing herself – though even now it would have been nice for someone to be there…

She grunted and twisted to get to the thumbscrews that made it look like she was wearing mechanical wings. The first set of plates fell to the bed with a clatter. The second set on her left wing was being a problem. It felt like one of the bolts had snagged a feather, as it shot a searing pain down her spine.

"Sorry I am to see you this like," she heard. She held her breath and spun about. There she found a red rose in her face held by a small green demon.

"Better I hope you be?" Jester asked her as he scraped his toe along the linoleum tiles while holding the flower.

"What… what are YOU doing here?" she asked him.

"See you I wanted to, yes!" he said with a grin. "Thank you I do want please!"

"Thank me? What for?" she asked as the pain hit her again. Before she knew it, the imp was up on the bed holding the form up and removing the last thumbscrew. He lifted the plates and sighed when he saw the wings hidden underneath.

"You Jester save did you," he said as he examined the moist darkened wings. Small tips of new feathers could be seen coming out from under some of the worst spots. "I am humbled and debt in yours."

Sol stood up and looked at him. "Well, I… umm… I appreciate what you say, but… really, you're not supposed…"

Jester held his finger up to her mouth. "Trouble to you I be not be… I assist you do I… make you all better will I!"

She waved her hands about. "Jester, how DID you get in here?!" she now demanded.

"Umm… leave open door did big man… I sneak out open gate… Claudius' boss," the demon said as he fiddled with his fingers.

Sol placed her hands on her cheeks. "Plato let you out? Oh, this is too much!"

"Please! Please let stay Jester!" he begged. "I only wish to be with Sol! Me help Haibane!"

Sol stood upright. She was surprised by the little demon's request. "What? Jester, you know you can't stay here! You don't even fit in here!"

"Me fix that!" he said. "Around turn."

Sol looked at him with an unsure expression. She slowly turned about, but only briefly did she take her eyes off the imp. But when she returned her view to him, the demon was missing. In his place was a teenage boy roughly her size and age. He had shoulder length black hair and the greenest eyes she had ever seen.

He also had nothing on, since the imp he had once been had not been wearing anything either.

"See? Stay me! No tell anyone!"

'Until he speaks,' ran through Sol's head as her eyebrows twitched and a sweat drop fell off her brow.

"Umm…"

"Yes? Yes?" Jester asked expectantly.

"Umm… c-clothes?"

The demon boy looked down. "Nope… none here!" he said with glee. It was when he looked up and saw the expression on her face that he finally realized what she meant.

"Ooooh… wardrobe!" he said as he snapped his finger and was instantly dressed in a tux. He looked at it and shook his head.

"Much too…" he said. Now he was in a fireman's suit. He grunted and snapped his fingers again.

Cowboy…

Police Officer…

Baseball player…

Sumo… (Sol nearly fell over with that one)

Military of some sort… Possibly Sgt. Pepper…

Astronaut…

It finally sank in that this was going to be harder than he thought. He sat on the edge of the bed and snapped his finger one last time. "Give up I do," he said as he was covered in a simple pair of pants and a t-shirt.

Sol giggled. "Well, at least that's the closest you've been to normal clothes," she said. "But you do know that you still wouldn't be able to stay here. Humans aren't supposed to be here at Old Home except the housemother."

"Human me not!" Jester snapped.

Sol sat beside him. "Funny, you look human… almost…"

Jester blinked at her. "Do I? I do course I! Hummm… This maybe…"

He stuck his thumb in his mouth and blew. Two wings popped out of his back, though they were under his t-shirt, which caused the neck to nearly strangle him. He scrambled to remove the over-garment to show her. When he looked at her though, he could tell something was wrong.

"What?" he asked.

Sol shook her head. "I don't think so… they are hardly Haibane wings," she nearly laughed.

He looked back and saw that he had brought out his normal demon wings – leathery and green.

"Bad wings! Bad! Bad!" he scolded them. He then gritted his teeth and concentrated. Sol watched feathers pop across the surface of his appendages in an extremely random pattern. When he was finished, he had gray fluff all over in a higgledy-piggledy sort of layout. He let go of his straining exercise and panted.

"There… feathers… yours like…" he wheezed.

She looked at her own wings in a mirror on the dresser across from them. She would be lucky if her own wings grew back to look as messy as his. She sighed and turned towards him.

"Why do you want to help me?" she asked him. "You know you'll only get in…"

She suddenly found him kissing her. It was brief, and a bit sloppy. As he pulled away she hardly had a breath in her. He looked at the floor between his feet and scuffed the tiles.

"Me love…" he said in an almost whisper. He glanced up at her. She still had a stunned look on her face. He sighed.

"No one ever treated me like you did," he said. It shocked her even further, as this was the first time he had ever spoken in a normal unbroken speech. He hung his head and shook it. "My sister probably would skin me if I did anyway… I should go…"

Sol reached down and took his hand in hers. "Maybe not… but not like this," she said. "Not in secret…"

"Secret?" he asked as she lifted his hand up. "Mean what you do?" So much for unbroken speech…

She smiled at him. "First of all, you must ask permission to stay."

"But already me ask you," he stated.

She shook her head. "Not me… technically, I don't belong here either. No, you must ask Claudius."

Jester twisted his face and looked about. "Claudius?" he asked.

Sol nodded. "You know, the Professor…"

He continued to look about in a slight daze. "You wish I ask dead man to stay Glie in?"

Sol blinked. "Oh, you weren't here… Mr. Ptolemy returned… he came out of a cocoon last night!"

Jester now looked at her as if she were nuts. "My tail pull you!" he cracked. He saw her shake her head. "Back old man?" he then asked.

"Old boy you mean," she added. "He is now a young man."

Jester sat and stared at the far wall, a perplexed look on his face. He scratched his head then cocked it to one side then the other. He shook it. He blinked twice. He then burst out laughing.

"Old man back! Old man back!" he cheered. He bounced a few times on the bed and finally stood up. He spun about and found that he had bounced Sol flat onto her back. "Great this is!"

"Umm… you're molting," she said as she righted herself and waved a few feathers out of her face.

Jester grinned and snapped his finger. The feathers on his wings reset into a normal pattern. A dark green shirt now covered him. He then looked at Sol. She had something he lacked, and if he was going to blend in, he needed one as well. He looked up.

He snapped his fingers again. A small ball of flame erupted over his head, and it spun about until it formed a rudimentary halo. But it was still only a swirl of fire. It also did not help that it was a green fire to boot!

"Do that won't," he grumbled and swatted the fire out. He looked around as if he were looking for something. "Need mold or form…" he mused as he searched the room.

"Ah, here wait," he said as he vanished. The drapes next to the window moved slightly as something whisked out it.

Jester reappeared deep in the Western Woods and the altar of the wrecked church. There he found his perfect mold – the discarded husk of a Haibane halo. He looked at it and spun it about. He even bit it to see how hard it was.

"Good metal – easily held," he said as he put it over his head and spun it. It listed slightly to one side. He gritted his teeth and made it hold position better.

"Gooder," he said to himself as he dashed back to Old Home.

Sol was looking out the window as a gust of wind blew her hair back. She looked behind herself and saw that the boy had returned. But this time he had a black halo over his head.

"What is that?" she asked. It took her a moment to realize just what was hanging over the demon's head. She gasped. "Jester, tell me you didn't take a spent halo from their prayer site?"

He was busy examining her halo and looking at his own. "To me it called," he said as he pointed at it. "It say 'me use' did it." He snapped his fingers again and it began to glow – not the golden glow that the normal Haibane halo put out, but a reddish color that almost made it look hot. He reached up and acted as if he were turning a knob on the side of his head. The color shifted slightly, getting the more proper yellow to the light, but still retaining the red ever so slightly.

"There," he smiled. "Why cigarette do feel I need?"

Sol slapped her forehead.

Koi and Rakka nearly had the angel free of the demonic skin that had covered it. Stryker had at first held tight to their hands, but now he seemed to be loosing his grip.

"Something is not right here!" Koi shouted. "He seems to be loosing strength!"

"You've cut off his energy," Gabrella shouted. "You've got to open the shield again!"

Ptolemy looked at the readings on his spectral scanner and grimaced. "If I do that, we will have a war on our hands," he said as he looked over his shoulder. "The Seventh Realm is on the outside above us. The Twelfth Dragoon is below us as we speak. Open the field and we risk them attacking right here, right now."

"He will die if you don't," Nightwatch said bluntly. "The decision is yours of course, but either way will be dangerous."

Rakka shook her head. She realized finally where she was and what she was doing. She looked beside her and saw Koi hanging onto the other arm of the angel they were attempting to remove from the husk.

"Koi, we have to give him what we can," she said as she started to pull harder.

"This demon isn't helping much," he said. "And I'm not sure just what we have to give him."

"Can't you feel it? Just like when you felt that spirit before?" she asked. "We've got to do it, or there might be a war because we couldn't save them…BOTH of them!"

Koi looked up at the sliced husk that they were removing Stryker Aries from. Even with the hole in its side, it seemed alive. It was as if they were the surgeons and this was an operation. He grunted and concentrated.

Rakka nodded and began to attempt the same. She thought of sending her own energy to the stricken angel as they both pulled hard on their heels and hauled for all they were worth.

"We've got to help them!" Toki yelped as she ran towards the pair. Chip followed closely behind. Before Ptolemy, Katherine or Gabrella knew it they had joined the two Haibane in dragging Aries out.

"UH!" Bloodeagle grunted from her seat at the end of the Gideon Span. She reached back at a phantom pain that racked her back. "What is this?" she asked the sky. "Why do I feel the twinge of these feathers that no longer belong to me?" She looked up the northwestern path.

"Setsu, Setsu, what are you doing on that wall?" rang through her head. She remembered looking down at Professor Ptolemy as he was looking up at her.

"These wings, do you ever think they will let me fly?" the child she had been asked him. "Are these truly the wings of angels waiting for a breeze?"

"It depends, dear," he told her as he placed his hat on and readied his trip back to his world so long ago. "Do you feel that breeze picking up?"

She looked out towards the Western Woods. "What I feel right now is betrayed," she said as she moved to be collected by the old man. "No one listens to me… no one cares…"

She felt him hold her close. "Then tell me," he said. "What is the problem Setsu?"

Bloodeagle sighed. "Why are these ghosts here?" she asked. "Why are they now wanting to come forth and remind me of… his kindness?"

She took her staff and slowly lifted herself from her chair. She picked up her mono-eye and looked at it. She placed it to her face and looked about.

"Ah, I see… The confrontation is here…" she said to herself. "But what is this? A third party comes and interferes? Interesting… I must see what becomes of this."

She slowly turned and headed for Sinner's Rock.

"What is this?" Ptolemy asked as he looked at his readings. "Do I have to let the power flow again to save them? Is that the only way?" He then held his breath and looked at the two Haibane struggling with the fallen angel.

Feathers were falling from their wings. Not just a few, whole clumps were dropping.

"NO! NO YOU TWO!" he shouted and leapt in. "You do not have enough power to feed him your own energy!" He pulled Rakka then Koi away and took their place.

Rakka fell to the ground as if someone had hit her in the belly and knocked the wind out of her. Koi followed beside her. "What… what happened?" she gasped.

Ptolemy glared at the angel he now had in his hands. He looked at Toki and Chip and gestured to really lean back.

"Come on you idiot!" he yelled at Stryker. "I'm your target! Get a MOVE ON!"

The limp hand that Ptolemy held suddenly grabbed his arm.

"That's it," he said as he pulled. "Get angry and get out!"

Katherine joined Toki on her side while Gabrella joined Chip on his to assist.

"No, no!" Ptolemy called out. "Get on his wings! That's what's holding him back!"

Katherine looked into the demonic skin and saw that he was right. The wings were slowly sliding out of the leather ones. She reached in and pulled the right side down, causing Stryker to slide a bit to Toki's side. She looked at Gabrella, who seemed unable to do the same on her side. She reached over and pulled on the left set until it began to come out as well.

"That's got it!" Ptolemy said as he gained ground. Finally the body pulled away from the demon as they all fell backwards.

"Quickly," he said out of breath to Gabrella as he pointed to the demon skin. "You'd better do something about his wound."

Toki gasped for air and looked up. "Hey," she said. "What happened to your wings?"

Ptolemy looked at her confused and out of breath. "Wings? What wings?"

Katherine looked at the boy. Sure enough, the wings that had come out so messily before were now gone, though the shirt was still splattered with wing grease and blood.

"This is… strange…" she said as she attempted to assist her former leader. But as she placed her hand on his head, she found it passing through it.

"Something's wrong," Gabrella shouted from the side of the demon skin. "I can't heal the wound!"

"Stryker Aries is fading away to nothingness!" Katherine yelped.

Ptolemy looked back at Nightwatch and nodded.

"Open the shield," the Observer said to his com unit.

"Cooling injectors," a reply came. "Incoming bogies at zero – zero – two - seven mark twelve and four – four – eight – four - mark twenty-seven. Contact in three minutes."

"Acknowledged," Nightwatch said in a deep grumpy tone. "Do you wish intervention?" he then asked Ptolemy.

The young scientist only nodded as he watched the angel dissipate on the ground. Behind him, the demon was starting to turn to a rocky substance. The upper part of the body and wings were already starting to crumble into dust.

"No!" Rakka said from the ground. "No! They can't die! They can't!"

Ptolemy sighed. "I'm sorry child," he said. "We… I was too late to restore the energy field… we've lost them…"

Katherine glared at her rival as she stood up from the vanishing angel. "This is all your fault… If your side had NOT started this…"

"Oh, like we had any choice…" Gabrella started in on the Goddess.

"LET us NOT cast the first stones!" Ptolemy shouted at the two of them. "Damn it, I just lost a son! What is lost is lost. Before we loose anything more, may I suggest that you call your two sides off?"

They stood and glared at each other.

"NOW!" the boy shouted at the top of his lungs. "OR DO I HAVE TO RAISE THE SHIELDS AGAIN?! I KNOW WHERE TO GET A BASEBALL BAT WITH BOTH OF YOUR NAMES ON IT!"

They both looked at him in shock.

"If I have to BEAT some sense into you two, I WILL!" he said as he spun about and stormed away. "Now CALL THEM OFF!" He nodded to Nightwatch.

"Send in the mediator," he told him. The large man bowed to him. He turned and left the field of destruction while conversing on his communicator.

"Ow…"

"Ow – Ow – OW!"

Rakka looked up as she regained some of her wind. It sounded to her as if someone was being stabbed next to her. She found Toki doubled over beside her. She was feverishly reaching for her back with an expression of utter pain streaming across her face. Then Chip, who had been kneeling on all fours beside Koi, crumpled as well.

"Chip? Toki?" she asked as they fell to the ground in extreme pain. She saw something move under their shirts and gasped. She wheeled around looking for something. She saw her gauntlets near Kana's feet and bolted for them.

"Koi! Quickly!" she squealed as she tossed one to him and gathered Toki in her arms. She folded the glove over and raised her head.

"Quickly, bite down on this!" she ordered the scar girl. Tears were pouring off Toki's face as she looked up at Rakka in terror. The Communicator now was by her side as well.

"We must get her shirt off, or she will break them as they come out," he said as he pulled a curved bladed knife out. He sliced of fabric away then tossed the knife to Koi's side for him to do the same with Chip.

"How is this possible?" Cinder asked as she and Kana looked on. The rolling skin under the ugly scars of where they had both once had wings was obvious to everyone.

"You two were attempting to transfer your life force to Stryker, weren't you?" Ptolemy asked as he bent down to assist. "You know that was impossible."

Rakka looked at him as she struggled to keep Toki still. "How did you know?"

Ptolemy smiled at her. "I saw your feathers start to fall – a loss of internal energy will cause that. That was why I pulled you away. Any longer, and you could have become a scar."

"Is that what happened to yours then?" Kana asked.

Ptolemy looked up at her in puzzlement. "What are you talking about?" he asked her. "First she said I had wings, then you too… What wings?" He looked over his shoulder to see if he had missed something. "Hey… how did I mess up my shirt?" he asked.

"He must have transferred his own wings to them," Katherine said as she looked up. She held her hand up and signed to the oncoming warriors."

"Toga?" Rakka said as she read what the Goddess had said in her hand movements.

There was a cracking sound that brought Rakka's attention back to the matter at hand. Toki bit down hard on the gauntlet. There was then a spurt of blood and a popping sound as the wings of a Haibane flew wide of her back, splattering everyone around the flaying wet feathers.

Janice and Dante stepped back as the scream of someone it pain washed over the falls, having never heard such a yell before. Plato stood and stared at the Temple and sighed.

"That… that was the sound made by…" Hyohko said but was interrupted by a second yell of pain.

"…Wings," Midori said. "Someone just got their wings up there! How can that be? There aren't any New Feathers up at the Temple."

Janice nearly leapt when her cell phone chirped. She popped it open and listened.

"Automatic system is reporting in," she told them. "The situation has stabilized… code… Delta…"

Dante shivered and sighed. He looked as if the world had been both taken off his shoulders and then dropped right back down on them.

Plato looked back at Janice. "Intervention by the Denivan… it's about time." He turned about and started to head back down the road.

"Denivan?" Hyohko asked now even more confused. "What the heck is a Denivan?"

Plato smirked. "Another group that The Observers are associated with," he said.

"The Observers? The bunch that this Nightwatch guy is with?" Hyohko asked.

"He probably called them in after all this," Plato huffed as he lifted some of Janice's equipment up for her. "They might not run The Observers outright, but they do work closely enough that they tend to become indistinguishable at times. And besides, in their language Denivan means Peacemakers."

Bloodeagle entered a clearing off the path leading towards the Scar's Village. She uncovered a white stone that was partly buried in the soil. She then sat on it and began to meditate. She felt her world spin and sway as she drifted about the cosmos attempting to figure out the feelings she had felt shortly before.

"My day of flight?" her younger self asked the old man as he lead her out of the courthouse after the trail of her former boss. "What I said in there, is it going to affect my day of flight?"

The old scientist looked down on her and smiled. "Of course not – you remember your cocoon dream, do you not? You understand what your true name means, correct?"

She nodded as the snow began to fall. "Yes, but if I do, from what you told me, shouldn't I be ready to fly?"

Ptolemy scratched his chin. "It is not uncommon for a Haibane to know their dream's true meaning and not have their day of flight right away. But you do have a point," he told her as they descended the stairs. "We will have to look into this… In the meantime, you're safe now from your former employer… we'll have to find you a new opportunity soon if your day of flight is delayed further…"

"Maybe I should just go out into the Western Woods and wait," she replied as they crunched along the snow-covered street south.

"Do you feel flighty?" he asked her. "Waiting might not be the right thing to do – in this weather you'll only catch your death of cold."

She sighed and clung to his arm. "I don't know… I'm confused…"

He laughed. "You and me both, kiddo… you and me both…"

The winter had passed by without a single feeling of flight in her. She did know her true name, the meaning of her dream, and she had been the perfect Haibane… why was she not flying away from this place? The others were now ribbing her relentlessly, saying she must be hiding something. In some cases, it was almost to the level of torment. She would hide out with Thido in the clock tower at Old Home when it became too much.

And now, the town folk were not allowing her to work. She had turned against her former employer, even though he had been found guilty of molesting her. She was now marked as untrustworthy.

She became depressed. She would climb the wall and look into the Western Wood for hours just wishing that the day would come she would be urged to take that walk she had only seen twice before. There were a few times she even secretly wandered to the old church in the woods and sit and stare at the discarded rings at the alter until Town Watch or Thido would usher her home.

Then the day came that she left a note on her bed. "I will fly," it said. "Come hell or fire, I will fly."

Bloodeagle sighed as the memory of the pain the earth invoked upon her body then shot through her once again. In an instant of despair, a Haibane without sin had created her own.

She turned her attention to the Temple, and the two Scars who now had become Haibane again. "Have you just created two more just like me?" she asked the young vision of her protector who was attending to the pair. "Or have you found a release for them?"

Toki and Chip were taken to the Renmei dorms. The Haibane-Renmei would see to them for the time being, until their situation settled and more was known about their condition.

Repairs had already started on the Temple by the Toga and Watch members. The halo mold had been unearthed from the rubble of a collapsed wall and had been cleaned up for use. Rakka and Koi made up the paste that would make the ring of gold for the two returned souls. Finding a working heat source was being difficult, as the main kitchens to the Temple had taken the burnt of the damage from the rampage earlier. They finally found an open gas jet that allowed them to 'cook' the material 'the old fashioned way' the Communicator told them.

An hour or so later, Rakka and Koi came into the bedroom with the resting Toki with the first halo. Because of the awkward way the prep work had to be done, Koi was handling the hot mold with Rakka's gauntlets, while she was handling the tongs. He had to be careful to keep a section of his exposed hand away from the heat, as the right glove now had a flapping hole in it from where Chip had bitten through it.

"This is odd…" Ptolemy said as they watched. Rakka had taken the hot ring out with the tongs and attempted to leave it over Toki's head. But it nearly scalded her as it bounced off her hair and clanged to the floor.

"It did not seem to even attempt to stay," the Communicator said. "Could it be that her Haibane energy has not fully returned? It was more of a struggle with her wings as well this time…"

Ptolemy scratched his head. "You're the one with the answers about this one, brother," he said as he took the tongs from Rakka and picked up the wayward halo. "Let me see…"

"Could they just be your wings and not mine?" Toki weakly asked from her belly as he held the halo over her head again.

"That is what I'm trying to find out my dear," he told her as he felt the halo on the end of the tongs. It seemed to twitch a bit. "I still don't remember having those wings."

"This almost feels like the day my halo fell," she said in a nearly drowsy state. "It dropped into my lap, and I attempted to put it back up there twice. I finally dropped it into the Fountain of Tears in the Scar's Village."

A twinge - It was ever so slight, but Ptolemy felt a vibration jump through the halo. He smiled.

"Get a halo holder ready… it just needs some help," he said.

Katherine stood before her garrison as their staffs were lowered in mourning over the loss of their former leader. A chorus was singing a hymn somewhere as the flag-bearers tromped their poles to the floor seven times.

But her mind was on her adversary. They had both attempted to save Stryker Aries, even if Gabrella had complained about it. Was it too much to seek a peaceful reconciliation? The memory of her punching her flashed over her mind, and she winced.

A mediator had been called. The Denivan was coming. All she could do was wait. And then here would be the inquisitor. More fuel for the fire… Damn!

Nemu sat down at the table in the guest bedroom having listened to the wild story Kana had related to her. Hikari was in the kitchenette making a fresh pot of tea.

"Where's Sol?" Nemu asked. "I would have thought she would have wanted someone to replace her wing-forms for her."

"I haven't seen her all day," the housemother said as she entered the room with a bag of groceries. "I was going to ask her to help me with these, but she seems to have disappeared."

"Huh," Kana said as she bit into a cookie. "Odd… she's normally right here to greet us… with all that went down today, I wonder if something happened here as well… see, there's her wing-forms on her bed."

"Did anyone check her tag on the posting board?" Hikari asked as she brought the tea cups out.

Kana looked out over the balcony towards the gateway arch. "It doesn't look like the visitor's tag has been moved," she said. "Oh, wait a minute, there she is… in the field across the way…"

Hikari joined her on the terrace. "Oh yes, I see her too… who is that with her though?"

Kana peered harder with her hand over her eyes. "Drat… I left my binoculars over in the bell tower," she cursed.

She spied down over the field at the pair from the high window of the clock tower using Kana's spy glasses. She smiled as she watched them laugh at each other's silliness. And she then took a double-take when she saw them kiss behind the tree just outside the path back up to Old Home.

"My dear brother…" Gabrella grinned. "This should be interesting!"

oOo

Play the RPG Sadako's Well on AnimeMangaWorld! - Email for the address

Join the Renmei - Visit the C2 Community and Discussion Forums of Charcoal Feathers of Glie & Surrounding Territories here on FFN!

Characters from Sadako's Well – Toki, Chip by R.A. Stott ©2005-2011, 18 S.E. Nordwall & R.A. Stott

Character Setsu from the FFN FanFic "Darkness" ©2005-2011, 18 TeaRoses – Used with Permission

Character name Bloodeagle ©2005-2011, 18 S.E. Nordwall – Used with Permission

Sgt. Pepper from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ©1967 The Beatles/NEMS/Apple Records/Capitol Records/EMI

Gabrella ©2005-2011, 18 The Lugia Project/Denivan Media Services – Used with Permission

Nightwatch, Doctor Abigail McManus, Captain Roy Strom, Scanning Rods, The Observers, The Denivan ©2005-2011, 18 Denivan Media Services – Used with permission

Characters from Haibane-Renmei ©2005-2011, 18 Yoshitoshi ABe

©2005-2011, 18 The Golden Halo Project/DMS

Edit & Remastered 1106.15

Edited 1804.27

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