The Priestesses' Regeneration Song that Connects the Worlds

by aquagon

Two months later, Inuyasha's group welcomes back Miko and Yasha together with their friends from the alternate Earth. Now, they must fulfill the mission they were given by destiny: become the Seirei to save the world the Dragonia. While many hardships await them, they will also receive the help from a world called Ar Ciel... Sequel to Entwining of Destinies.

1. Back to the Inuyasha World (1)

Chapter 1:

Back to the Inuyasha World - The Chosen Ones

Whenever we open a door,

A way opens up not only for us,

But also for everything lying beyond it.

Will you open the door and continue your way,

even if that opens the way to whatever may be lurking on its other side?

(Opening: Prelude ~ We are not alone - Ootou Fumi)

(BGM: Shikon no Tama wo Motomete (1st Half))

Inuyasha's group was now leaving Kaede's village, as they had spent the day resting there after several adventures.

- "Any ideas about where we gotta go now?" - asked Inuyasha impatiently.

- "Not for now, unfortunately" - said Miroku bitterly - "Unfortunately, we haven't heard any rumors about Naraku, the Shikon shards or Mouryoumaru. Besides, we have less possibilities of finding out their presences with the Fuyouheki active" -

- "Keh... If at least that goddamned living armor appeared once..." - said Inuyasha as he closed his fist enraged - "To think that piece of trash copied my Kongousouha..." -

- "We have to be patient, Inuyasha" - said Sango in a serious tone - "I know you want to get even because of the trap he set you to make himself stronger, but don't let it get to you" -

- "Sango-chan's right" - said Kagome in a tranquilizing voice as they continued walking through the grassfields outside the village - "Besides, remember we're a bit tired... We haven't been able to sleep well lately due to the nightmares..." -

- "You mean the one where you see two kids that look like you disappearing in a dark vortex? And that they called you as if they were your siblings?" - asked Shippou curiously.

- "Yeah, it's that one" - said Kagome worried - "But no one here has been able to figure out what they mean... and it's been already two months since we started having them..." -

- "Ever since we awoke in that plain covered in wounds..." - said Miroku placing his hand on his chin and closing his eyes.

- "And ever since these strange outfits appeared in Kagome's backpack..." - said Sango as she looked at Kagome with a serious gaze - "And you still have headaches whenever you try thinking about it deeply?" -

- "Yeah, I still do, and I also feel pretty bad and sad whenever I wake up from them" - said Kagome as she placed one of her fingers against her temples - "That's why we haven't gotten any closer to learning what they mean" -

- "Keh, I don't think they mean anything" - scoffed Inuyasha to try to get their thoughts away from that topic - "We've got enough in our plate already to begin having headaches about them too" -

- "Ehehe, Inuyasha only says that 'coz he wants to find Naraku or Mouryoumaru and slice their Youketsu as if they were logs" - said Shippou laughing - "But if there's a kid that's just like Kagome, maybe..." -

- "I know what you're about to say, Shippou, and I don't think it'd work out" - laughed Kagome - "I'm pretty sure that if there was a little girl like me, you'd get rejected pretty quickly" -

- "Come on! Don't be so mean!" - screeched Shippou irritated.

- "Say whatever you want, Shippou" - said Sango after they stopped laughing - "But at least we can agree on something: the sooner we finish them off, the sooner we can settle the problems the Pearl has caused us... and save Houshi-sama and Kohaku..." -

Her face then showed a great sadness.

- "Sango-chan..." - said Kagome as she put a hand on her shoulder - "That's why we're here: to defeat these villains, purify the Pearl, and save those we love. Besides, I'm sure Kohaku is in good hands" -

- "Kagome-sama is right" - said Miroku cheerfully - "As long as he is by Kikyou's side, nothing will be able to harm him" -

His words managed to cheer Sango up a bit. They noticed then that Inuyasha seemed to be lost in thought...

- "Is anything the matter, Inuyasha?" - asked Miroku in a cautious tone.

- "I just was thinking... About how I got the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga, and all the trouble I had to go through for that" - said Inuyasha with his arms crossed.

- "I know what you mean... Having to train with Youretaisei-san, getting beat up and burned, and almost getting Tessaiga destroyed..." - said Kagome a bit worried.

- "At least it was a success and Inuyasha now possesses the ability to kill Youkai instantly, if he can cut their Youketsu" - said Miroku with a smile.

- "That being a pretty big if" - said Sango seriously - "Finding that evil energy whirl is no easy task, as all youkai are always trying to keep it hidden from view" -

- "And ironically, we owe Naraku one thing: that he tricked us to offset the only weakness it had"- said Kagome thoughtfully.

- "Yeah, at least the energy you absorb with the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga won't backflow if you absorb too much of it" - said Sango with a smile, but this made Inuyasha explode.

- "Damn it! I don't wanna owe anything to that blasted bastard! And have you forgotten already about all the problems he's caused us lately!? Appearing at the worst moment possible, like that damn Mouryoumaru!" - said he enraged.

- "Not to mention he killed Kagura too..." - said Kagome - "How do you think Sesshomaru took it?" -

- "Keh, it didn't look like it affected him at all. Remember he hates human emotions" - said Inuyasha at the mention of his brother.

- "I disagree. While it didn't show in his face or voice, there was something off about him when Kagura bid him farewell for the last time" - said Miroku seriously.

- "Do you think... they were in love?" - asked Sango as she blushed a bit.

- "It's very possible..." - said Miroku closing his eyes.

- "Keh" - scoffed Inuyasha. However, they then noticed that Kagome had rolled one of her hands into a fist and was looking at it intently.

- "I have to get stronger... If I'm really a miko as powerful as Kikyou... I should be able to do better than I'm doing now..." - whispered Kagome to herself upon seeing how everyone was taking this - "I can't let anyone suffer at Naraku's hands any more..." -

- "I know how you feel Kagome, but don't feel too bad about it" - said Sango - "Right now, there's no time to get you into an intensive miko training, and we also think you're good enough as you are" -

- "Thanks, Sango-chan" - smiled Kagome - "But still think I'm going too slowly with my progress as a miko... I just wish I could help more" -

- "Keh, leave the fighting to me" - said Inuyasha with a smile - "You're doing good enough, so don't worry about it" -

- "Inuyasha..." - said Kagome a bit surprised, but she then smiled at him - "Thank you..." -

Inuyasha then allowed Kagome to get on his back while Kirara transformed in her large form; allowing Sango, Shippou and Miroku to ride her. They then continued their travels...

(BGM: A Calm Scenery - Popolocrois Monogatari Anime)

On the other hand, in Dragonia...

- "Fileia-san! Fileia-san!" - said the voices of two children that ran into a large wooden two-storied house as they returned from school. One of the children was an eight year old girl that looked identical to Kagome, but wore a kind of clothes that seemed like a mix of western clothes with the Japanese kimonos: the upper part was like a kimono, while the lower part was a skirt that went down to her ankles, both of which were white with blue borders and were adorned with water droplets, white spheres and arrows. She wore white slipper-styled shoes and pantyhose in her legs, and had her black hair tied on a white butterfly-shaped ribbon on the style used by the Warring States Era women. As for the other child, he was an eight year old boy identical to Inuyasha that wore an outfit that was very similar to Inuyasha's own fire-rat wool kimono, but it was adorned with flames, whirlwinds and swords, and he also wore white socks and brown shoes.

- "Ah, good afternoon, Miko and Yasha!" - said a woman as she greeted both children. She was a green-eyed and golden-haired woman whose clothes were similar to the girl's, but with the skirt and upper part being light green and blue, and the decorations being water droplets and leaves instead. She wore elegant light-blue shoes - "Did you have a nice day?" -

- "Yup!" - said Miko excitedly - "Today we learned at school some basic stuff about spells, and that the Wills of Dragonia are their power source!" -

- "And I've just learned to cast one~" - said Yasha in a happy sing-song voice.

- "Oh, seriously?" - asked Fileia surprised.

- "Yeah! Let me show you!" - said Yasha very excitedly.

- "Hehe, even though it's just a basic fireball spell" - giggled Miko.

- "Well, your water ball spell is just like it, right Miko?" - said Yasha a bit annoyed because she was puncturing the balloon of happiness and excitement that had been swelling inside him.

- "Sorry. I didn't want to annoy you..." - said Miko as she lowered her gaze. Yasha blushed and began moving his hands to tell her he wasn't angry.

- "Come now, don't begin fighting" - said Fileia with a sweet smile - "Let's go outside. Then you can show me what you've learned!" -

- "Yay!" - said both children.

Once they got to the backyard, which was covered in carefully cut grass and had a few places filled with bushes and flowers near the walls of the house and those that separated it from the neighboring houses, Yasha went first to show off his new spell.

- "Okay, you know what you'll be using for practicing this, right?" - asked Fileia.

- "Yeah, it's that hay ball we've got hanging from that pole" - said Yasha pointing to it - "Everyone in Dragonia uses these things to practice magic" -

- "Very well. Now go ahead" - said Fileia smiling with her eyes closed. Yasha nodded, closed his eyes, put his hands together in front of him leaving them in a way that left an empty circle between them, and concentrated:

- "Saf sieral, gaivz'alia tast paewat sos. Ah, Piralya, thar'alia sossaks, yst pirhyze syayul!" - he chanted. As soon as he finished, a small fire orb formed in the space between his hands. He then separated them, leaving the orb on his right hand, and he threw it to the target, which was instantly reduced to ashes.

- "Wow! Very impressive, Yasha!" - said Fileia as she clapped at him, which made Yasha embarrassed. He only scratched the back of his head as he smiled.

Fileia then turned to Miko:

- "So, do you want to try it out now, Miko?" - she asked with a smile.

- "Yeah, I'll do it!" - replied her with a smile. Fileia took a moment to place a new target to replace the one Yasha had burned, and she stood behind them to watch Miko's performance. As for Miko, she took the same stance Yasha had taken a moment ago, and chanted:

- "Saf sieral, himiarara paf tast paewat. Baprou, hydrast, lusya, kyahmalia sos, yst protasec'alia millauk!" - as soon as she completed the chant, two orbs formed in her little hands: a blue one with a watery appearance, and a white one that shone as much as a miniature sun. She then threw them back-to-back to the target: it first swung back far behind as if it had been hit by a water bullet, and when the light orb impacted it, it completely disintegrated.

- "Hmm, not bad! Not bad at all, Miko!" - said Fileia to congratulate her - "You even can already summon both of your elements in a single spell. But you have to be careful, as Light-elemental magic can be very dangerous if it's handled incorrectly" -

- "I know, Fileia-san" - said Miko as she put her arms behind and smiled sweetly - "That's why I'm never gonna use my powers for anything bad" -

- "And I've gotta get better at this..." - said Yasha a bit sad - "As I'm still not good enough using my Wind powers..." -

- "Hehe, that's because you're more of a warrior than a mage, Yasha" - said Fileia to console him as she knelt and placed one hand on his head - "But I'm still very impressed by how much effort you're putting into learning to use magic" -

- "Thanks, Fileia-san!" - said Yasha blushing before these compliments.

- "Hehe, though I still don't understand why you say "san" after my name or Elaer's" - said she in a tone showing she found the whole honorifics topic amusing.

- "It's because it's a natural part of the language we spoke when we arrived here" - explained Miko - "I still don't remember all details, but I think it was to show how much the person saying it respected the one they're talking to" -

- "Hmm, I see. Well, Elaer is doing his job as guard in the outskirts of Soleila right now, so... Would you like to go out and eat ice cream?" - asked her gently.

- "Yeah!" - said both at the same time as they jumped in joy.

(BGM: [Pietro's March] Prince Pietro's Concert Part I - Popolocrois Monogatari Anime)

After a little while walking, they reached a nearby ice cream shop, which was located in one of the cobbled streets that ran through the city. At the side, there were other houses made of wood and tile, while in front there were a flower shop, an armory and a couple of alleyways that led to other parts of the city.

Fileia bought the ice creams, which were mint for herself, strawberry for Miko and vanilla for Yasha, all of which came in cones; and they sat down in the wooden chairs surrounding the circular wooden tables to eat them.

- "Thank you!" - said both children.

- "Don't mention it!" - said Fileia as she smiled gently - "Hehe, maybe this is how it feels to be a mother..." -

- "And about that, how is it that you and Elaer-san don't have any kids yet?" - asked Yasha confused as he gave a bite to his ice cream.

- "Yasha!" - said Miko to scold him, as she thought he was bringing up a touchy subject.

- "Don't worry about it, Miko" - smiled Fileia as she licked her ice cream - "It's nothing to be embarrassed about" -

- "But..." -

- "It's just because we haven't tried having them yet" - said Fileia with a slightly sad smile - "You know how our world was sealed away because an evil being called Tenebross is wreaking havoc through it, right?" -

- "Yeah, we know" - said Yasha taking another bite from the ice cream - "The evil shadow or whatever that wants to destroy all universes" -

- "That's right. He might be imprisoned right now, but we don't know how much the seal that keeps him prisoner and that isolates our world from other dimensions will continue working. I fear it might be close to breaking..." - said Fileia worried.

- "So you don't wanna have kids because..." - said Miko as she stopped eating for a moment, guessing what was going on.

- "Yes, it's because we don't want our children to be born in a possible war zone, or that we might die shortly after their birth. We want this situation to be solved first so they may be born in a peaceful time" - said Fileia with a sad face before biting her ice cream again.

- "It'd be really sad if that happened, yeah" - said Yasha as he fixed his eyes on the table.

- "And on that same order of ideas, I'm finding a bit strange you still haven't begun considering me like a foster mother or some kind of relative" - said Fileia laughing, as she evidently found the whole idea very funny. This got Miko and Yasha by surprise, making them spit the last ice cream bite they both had put in their mouths.

- "O-Of course no!" - said Yasha as soon as he recovered from the shock - "You're a great friend and the person who saved us when we got here, but we can't really think of you like that" -

- "Especially because our relatives must be waiting for us in the world where we were born" - said Miko saddened.

- "So, have you managed to remember anything about them?" - said Fileia with a smile, glad because she thought it was the case.

- "No... Sadly we couldn't..." - said Miko getting saddened to the brink of tears - "I can only remember that phrase my onee-san said... but when I try to remember anything else... My head starts hurting..." -

- "The same goes for me..." - said Yasha as he placed his hand on Miko's shoulder, even though he was about to burst in tears too - "Aside of that voice that sounds like mine... I don't remember anything..." -

- "I see..." - said Fileia, regretting having brought out such a depressing topic. She hugged both in a loving manner - "But don't worry... I know you'll see them again someday, and both Elaer and I will continue taking care of you until that time comes..." -

Their sadness abated a little upon hearing her words, and they went back to their ice creams.

- "Anyway, we've been enjoying our time here a lot, Fileia-san" - said Yasha with a smile - "Going to school, getting Seirei Crystals and the Elemental Baptism from the Head Priestess of Soleila..." -

- "Hehe, and I'm even receiving personal training from her. Selfaia-san's a great person too, and we're even coming up with ideas on how to combine my spiritual powers with my Seirei-based magic" - said Miko smiling.

- "Yup. And while I'm still learning how to use my Wind-elemental magic, I'm trying to come up with tricks that combine my Seirei magic with Tessaiga's powers" - said Yasha puffing up his chest with pride.

- "Your sword is quite surprising itself; Yasha" - said Fileia smiling - "However, didn't something strange happen to it recently?" -

- "Yeah... it first seemed to have lost its powers for a day, it then covered in cracks, and now it got a new power that covers it in dragon scale-like thingies, but I don't know what it's for" - said Yasha thoughtfully as he gave a final lick to his ice cream and began biting the cone.

- "Hehe, and I still haven't gotten used to seeing you wear shoes, Yasha" - said Miko laughing as she began also eating her ice cream's cone, having finished with the ice cream ball - "After all, I don't remember you ever wore them in our world" -

- "Yeah, I don't remember doing that either" - said Yasha with a smile - "But everyone does it here, and I don't really wanna be the nail that sticks out. And I'm also taking them off whenever I put my old clothes on" -

- "Yeah, I get you. I also wear my zori and tabi when I put on my kosode... they make me feel like I'm back at home and with my loved ones when I wear them, even if I can't remember them..." - said Miko with a smile.

- "The same goes for me..." - said Yasha.

- "Looks like your clothes have a lot of feelings stored in them. I'm glad that at least they let you feel connected to your loved ones" - said Fileia with a smile.

- "Yeah, thanks Fileia-san" - said Miko with a smile - "By the way, when we're gonna go on flying or swimming around again?" -

- "Hehe, you've both greatly enjoyed the times we took you both flying around Soleila and to Agricultural Village Seliart, or when we went to play and swim in the shores of the lake surrounding the city, right?" - said Fileia smiling as both children nodded.

- "Yeah! I'm never gonna forget these times!" - said Yasha overjoyed.

- "Yup! They were very fun, and we saw so many wonderful sights while we were flying around!" - said Miko excitedly.

- "I'm glad. But unfortunately, we can't do that now because we have been forbidden to leave the city for the past two days, and it looks like it's going to continue for some more time. I'm sorry" - said Fileia a bit saddened.

- "Don't worry about it. We'll go again when we can do it again!" - said Yasha with a smile.

- "By the way, Yasha... Don't you have any problems with me knowing about your little secret?" - asked Fileia in a calm voice.

- "About how I change appearances when there's new moon?" - said Yasha as he felt a strange poking in his stomach - "You're like our guardian, Fileia-san, so it's no problem" -

- "Well, I feel like he didn't really trust me much when I first learned about it" - said Miko thoughtfully, but she ended paying for it with a sting of pain on her head. Fortunately, it was weaker than when she tried remembering something - "I think he had to keep it hidden in our world, even though we can't remember why it was like that..." -

- "Maybe it's because your world is very dangerous" - said Fileia reasoning the reasons for it, as she had seen Yasha suffer that transformation once ever since they came to live with them - "Besides, Yasha also loses all his powers whenever that happens" -

- "Hmm, now you mention it, that's true" - said Yasha noticing it now that Fileia had laid out for him - "How could I be stupid enough to not figure that out?" -

- "Don't worry about it. And Miko, don't you have Priestess lessons today?" - asked Fileia.

- "Not today" - replied her - "Selfaia-san has some other stuff to take care of, so she can't give me lessons today. However, she's told me that I'm making good progress, and that maybe I'll finish off the basic level in a couple weeks more!" -

- "That's great!" - said Fileia with a smile - "But you still think it isn't a good time yet to go search for your partner dragons?" -

- "Not yet" - said Yasha as he pointed to himself and Miko - "As we can't use the Power of the Dragon for some reason, it isn't a good idea" -

- "Yeah, we don't really know how dragons will react if they notice their partners can't use something so important to this world" - said Miko saddened.

- "Hehe, it's fine" - said Fileia gently before noticing they had all finished eating their ice creams - "Well, shall we go back home?" -

None of the children had any objections toward the idea, so they decided to retrace their steps.

Finally, in Earth...

(BGM: Unrest - Ciel nosurge)

- "Aaaagh!" - screamed Gerardo as he opened his eyes. He then slowly sat up on his bed, checked himself, noticing he was still wearing a sky-blue pajama with black and white lines, and white socks, and looked around. His new room, into which he moved shortly after the house was revamped to add a second floor with more rooms, was slightly larger than the previous one and had a closet, a library filled with games, CDs and books, a desktop PC and a door leading into a bathroom. The bed was covered in a blue sheet and had a picture of snowy mountains, a river and forest behind and above it. He looked to his right and only saw his sister, Gabriela still fast asleep - "Was it... a nightmare?" -

- "Hmmgh... Gerar... I wanna sleep a little more..." - said Gabriela groggily as she woke up rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a pink two-part pajama decorated with hearts, and had her hazel thigh-length hair made into quite the mess.

- "I'm sorry, Gaby..." - said Gerardo a bit worried - "I had a nightmare..." -

- "Again? Which one was this time?" - said Gabriela she fully woke up.

- "The one where we saw Miko and Yasha disappear when Dragonia was sealed..." - said Gerardo bitterly as he crawled through the bed to reach the window, and rolled the blue curtains covering it a bit to the left: it showed a view of the house's roof and those of their neighbors, while above there was a clear blue sky with a strong sun shining down over everything.

- "Ah. Well, it can't be helped. It's been two years already since we got kicked back here, and there's been no signals of the gateway opening again" - said Gabriela with a sad smile.

- "And at least it wasn't the other one... Ugh, it still gives me shivers..." - said Gerardo as he lowered his gaze back to the bed.

- "The one... Where a guy that looks like you kills a girl that looks like me?" - asked Gabriela afraid.

- "Yeah... We've both had that horrible sight a few times already..." - said Gerardo thinking back on how he and Gabriela awoke up while nearly drowning in tears the first time they had that nightmare - "I wonder... What could it mean?" -

- "I don't know, and I don't really wanna know it either..." - said Gabriela saddened - "By the way, isn't today...?" -

(BGM: Leave It Alone - Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica)

- "Yeah! Today's the AnimeFest convention we've been waiting for so long!" - said Gerardo excitedly - "Henry'll be coming here to pick us up to go there at noon" -

- "And now's... ten o'clock!?" - said Gabriela shocked - "We've overslept!" -

- "Okay, then get up and go to your room to get changed!" - said Gerardo - "I'll do the same here!" -

Gabriela nodded with a smile and went to the bed's border to get up from it and left the room. She had gotten quite a bit of height in due to now being ten years old.

- 'Yeah, this is gonna be a good occasion to get my mind off everything. After all, having these reunions and outings with Henry, Roger, Carlos and Kember are doing wonders to forget about all the sadness and anxiety we've felt these past two years after that catastrophic last battle we had... So it's time to enjoy!' - thought Gerardo excitedly as he took out a short-sleeved blue shirt, blue jean pants, and black shoes from the closet to change into them.

As for Gabriela, she was now in her own room, which was purple and decorated with both princess motifs and music-themed decorations, like treble clefs, notes, quarter notes and staves.

- 'Hehe, I always enjoy a lot the times I spend with Gerar and his friends, as I get some good laughs from annoying Roger and Carlos. And since Tiffany's also coming, this is only gonna get better!' - said Gabriela with a smile as she took out a purple and black gothic-styled blouse, and a knee-length skirt with the same decorations and style as the blouse, black net gloves and black boots.

After a while, they got out of the house after bidding farewell to their parents, entered Henry's father car, who was a man of around 50 with graying hair and slightly dark skin wearing a suit; sat down next to Henry after greeting each other, and they rode it to the mall near the center of their city to go to the convention. Once there, they met up with their friends Carlos, Kember and Tiffany, as well as Gerardo and Gabriela's cousin Miguel.

(BGM: Today's the School Festival - Mana Khemia)

- "Well, we're here" - said Gerardo once they finally set foot in the convention's grounds. It was a somewhat large hall filled with tables and stands where the shops and exhibitions were set up. There were several cosplayers of several anime, manga and videogame franchises walking around, the shop tables were lined up with people trying to buy merchandising, some exhibitions also offered workshops, and there were also drawing and cosplay contests, as well as fighting game tournaments - "This year's AnimeFest" -

- "Hmm, at least they got a good place for it this time" - said Henry as he looked at the place with a critical eye before smiling. He was an 18 year-old boy with black hair and eyes, and wore a black shirt, blue-jean pants and black and white shoes. He was also slightly shorter than Gerardo - "That means we won't suffer as badly as the latest ones we've gone to" -

- "Heh, you say that because we almost got turned into pancakes within the crowd last time, and it was as hot as hell itself" - said Carlos remembering how the previous convention grounds were rather lacking in space and didn't even have air conditioning. He had short brown hair, was a bit taller than Henry, and wore dark blue pants and a dark blue jacket, which was open to reveal a white shirt. He wore brown shoes.

- "We gotta go and begin enjoying this already" - said Roger smiling, which really didn't match up with his serious voice. Leaving out the two girls, he was the shortest in the group. He had slightly dark skin, wore a dark green shirt with black pants, square black glasses, had short brown hair and black eyes, and wore black and brown shoes - "As we don't know when we'll have another" -

(BGM: Leave It Alone - Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica)

- "And if it'll have tickets to order!" - said Miguel. Instantly, everyone made annoyed faces or facepalmed in reaction to his pun, and Roger and him high-fived each other. He was a chubby, yet muscled 18 year-old boy that had short black hair, black eyes and wore a green shirt, blue-jean pants and black shoes.

- "Could you please stop your god-awful "kages" for at least once in your lives?" - asked Gerardo in an irritated voice as everyone laughed at his exasperation. "Kage", a corruption from the Spanish "cagar" (to shit), was how everyone in their group called their notoriously bad gag attempts.

- "Calm down, Gerar" - giggled Gabriela, even though she herself had facepalmed a few seconds ago - "I'm sure they only do that to get you all irritated" -

- "Hehe, it's not that" - said Miguel cheerfully - "We just can't live without doing it every now and then" -

- "It's true!" - said Roger in an incredibly shrill voice - "We'll die if we don't!" -

- "You better shut up, chibi!" - said Henry with a deeper voice than usual as he smiled.

- "And you shouldn't talk with that voice, Henry" - laughed Carlos as he put a hand on his shoulder. Henry only looked at him in an unimpressed manner.

- "You better calm down" - said Kember. He was taller than Roger, had a brown, short and curly hair, light brown eyes, and wore a white shirt and blue pants - "You don't wanna end up making a romantic comedy anime scene, right?" -

(BGM: Today's the School Festival - Mana Khemia)

Everyone laughed, but Tiffany only showed irritation to this. She was a girl of the same height and age as Gabriela, though she had light brown eyes, and dirty blond and curly hair. She wore round glasses with white frames, and wore a dark gray blouse that ended right before her navel, and a black short that went down to her knees.

- "Ugh, why did I agree to come here?" - she asked herself - "I'm not even a big fan of these things..." -

- "Well, I wanted to come here with Gerar, Miguel and their friends, and since you wanted to see me while you were in the neighborhood..." - said Gabriela with a smile.

- "I know that... I just wish we could have just done it at your house like always" - said Tiffany a bit bitter.

- "Don't worry about that. We'll only come here for today, so just bear with it for a little" - said Gabriela with a cheery voice.

- "Heh, while Gaby's clothing tastes have changed quite a bit, she's still the same in the inside, luckily" - said Gerardo with a smile.

- "Yeah. At least she's still a sweetie thingy like when we first saw her when she was six" - said Henry nodding - "She's been like a little sister to us ever since we met you both" -

- "Even though you and Roger both have your own younger sisters, right?" - said Kember.

- "Yeah, but we just connected with Gaby in a special way... we could say it's like we're in the same wavelength as her" - said Roger laughing.

- "Hehe, you're making me blush!" - said Gabriela as her face turned red - "But annoy me too much and you're gonna pay for that!" -

- "Heh, yeah. Never forget she's a dere-type tsundere!" - said Miguel laughing.

- "Argh! Don't call me a tsundere!" - said Gabriela stomping her foot and pouting.

- "Hehe, at least I got to laugh a little" - said Tiffany smiling - "Well, if you excuse us, we'll be going to check things over there" -

- "Okay. We'll be back in a second~" - said Gabriela with a smile as Tiffany dragged her further inside the convention's grounds.

- "Well, are you okay with that?" - asked Miguel to Gerardo.

- "It's no problem. These two always like to run off on their own" - said Gerardo crossing his arms as he smiled at both girls.

Meanwhile, Tiffany and Gabriela were checking some figurines patterned after the protagonists of several magic girl shows...

- "Whoa, this one's so cute! Who's her?" - asked Tiffany checking one of a girl in a red and white dress that had a golden and pink staff with wing ornaments.

- "She's Sakura; from Card Captor Sakura" - replied Gabriela with a smile - "That's one of the very first anime shows I remember watching" -

- "So that means she's pretty famous, right?" - asked Tiffany.

- "Yup, more than you can imagine" - said Gabriela laughing - "By the way, how're things going over in Spain for you?" -

- "A little hard, but it's nothing I can't handle" - said Tiffany with a smile - "Too bad I had to leave this country three years ago, right...?" -

- "Yeah, but at least we can keep connected through the internet" - said Gabriela - "I don't wanna imagine having to contact you through transatlantic snail mail..." -

- "You're right. And that'd be the worst, as you're my one and only best friend forever..." - said Tiffany a bit saddened.

- "Then let's make the best we can of the time we've got together!" - said Gabriela cheerfully as they continued running around checking the stands.

On the other hand, Gerardo and the others were checking the screenings and checking out merchandising to buy, and while Roger, Miguel, Henry and Kember were taking a lot of care to not spend up their entire savings on a single place, Gerardo was only sighing disappointed...

- "Hell, finding some decent plamos or artbooks is getting harder every year..." - said he.

- "Well, you can't expect much from this time-forsaken country" - said Miguel.

- "Besides, didn't you start importing them from Japan directly already?" - asked Roger.

- "Yeah, but I only did that for books and CDs I was personally interested in translating..." - said Gerardo in an attempt to defend himself.

- "Yeah, but you still added them to your personal collection, right?" - said Henry with an eyebrow raised.

- "You're right... I think I'm beginning to sound like a whiny idiot" - said he as he looked at them in an apologetic way - "Sorry about that" -

- "Don't mind it" - said Carlos patting him on the shoulder - "By the way, how's your first college year coming along?" -

- "So far, it hasn't been too bad" - said Gerardo with a smile - "I expected a sharp difficulty spike after I finished high school and the admission tests, but the first semester has been smooth sailing" -

- "And we're all in the final two years of high school, so we'll be following your footsteps pretty soon" - said Henry with a smile - "Though Roger and me are going to be studying Medicine" -

- "Hmm, I thought you'd be following my same choice and study Systems or Information Engineering, as you're all pretty good with computers too" - said Gerardo a bit puzzled.

- "Yeah, but as we're epic fails at math, we decided to take another career that didn't rely so much on it" - said Roger a bit embarrassed.

- "Come on! You all know I'm horrible at numbers too!" - said Gerardo laughing.

- "We'll, that's also why I'm gonna be studying bioanalysis once I'm out of high school too" - said Miguel crossing his arms and closing his eyes in a satisfied smile.

- "So I guess we're the only ones here studying Engineering" - said Kember smiling - "I'm even gonna study Systems too" -

- "Well, at least we'll be colleagues" - said Gerardo smiling - "Though that's a pretty weird choice for someone who's training to become an artist" -

- "Yeah, but I've gotta have a B plan if I don't make the cut as one" - said Kember laughing.

- "By the way, how's Gaby doing now she's in fourth grade?" - asked Roger with interest.

- "She's doing fine. She's been pretty smart all her life, and luckily her grades are as good as they always have been, as also is her social life" - said Gerardo - "I can easily say I'm very proud of my little sister" -

- "And add us to that" - said Miguel smiling, but then he frowned - "My own sister is already starting high school, but she's only failed all the tests she's taken" -

- "At least Francis isn't doing too badly out there" - said Henry thinking about his sister.

- "And my sister is on the final years of elementary school, though she's kinda average" - said Roger laughing.

- "Looks like I don't have any place on this conversation" - said Kember shrugging and sighing - "I'm an only child, after all" -

- "The same goes for me" - said Carlos sighing.

- "Let's leave it at there then. And shall we go and check what the girls are doing?" - asked Henry.

- "Yeah. Let's make sure they didn't get lost or anything" - nodded Gerardo as they went to search for Tiffany and Gabriela.

Meanwhile, in the Inuyasha world...

(BGM: Shikon no Tama wo Motomete (1st Half))

- "Keh, how longer we're gonna be prowling around without getting any clues or anything!?" - shouted Inuyasha bored and angry after a few hours of travel. It was mid-afternoon already, and they didn't find anything.

- "Again, Inuyasha, I must remind you we can't do much due to how Naraku and Mouryoumaru are currently" - said Miroku in a patient voice, trying to hide away the exasperation he himself was feeling.

- "Houshi-sama's right" - said Sango closing her eyes for a moment as they continued flying through the air while Inuyasha ran with Kagome on his back a little below them - "We're all as eager as you to put an end to this, but we can't do anything if neither Naraku nor his heart show up" -

- "Besides, even though you can now find the enemies' Youketsu and rip it apart with the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga" - said Kagome in a serious voice - "That doesn't mean you'll be able to beat them as soon as we find them. You should calm down a little" -

- "Yeah" - said Shippou - "And look at Sango; even though defeating them'll let her save Kohaku, she's taking it very calmly" -

- "I don't think I'm the best example here, Shippou" - said Sango blushing and lowering her gaze - "After all... I've committed several terrible mistakes whenever Kohaku was involved..." -

- "Argh... You make me so..." - began Inuyasha, but he stopped in that precise instant because he felt something: the wind currents changed, as if something was blowing with force from behind them... And he also felt a familiar presence... He stopped dead in his tracks right there - "What's that!?" -

(BGM: Fuonna Kehai (1st Half))

- "Inuyasha?" - asked Kagome scared upon noticing the wind current and the presence, as she looked around - "But... What's happening?" -

The others were looking around confused, and then Miroku noticed something.

- "Kagome-sama, your backpack!" - said he pointing out to the fact that a silver and golden shine was emanating from it, which left everyone astonished. She got off from Inuyasha's back, put the backpack on the ground, and opened it.

- "What..!? The broken medallions I've got here are shining!" - said Kagome as she took them out for a moment to show them to the others: both the silver medallion and the golden medallion were emitting a powerful light.

- "What could this mean?" - said Miroku worried upon seeing this phenomenon, as also were the others. However, they couldn't continue dwelling much on it because a multicolored vortex opened in front of them.

- "That's... like the thing we saw in our nightmares..." - said Kagome shocked, while all the others were agape and wide-eyed from this.

- "No... It's not like it... That one was dark-colored... While this one looks like a damn rainbow..." - said Inuyasha when they got closer to the vortex.

- "Should we enter it?" - asked Shippou.

- "No... We should think it over first..." - advised Miroku with his shakujou ready - "I can feel a great power flowing out from this... But there isn't a single drop of evil energies or presences... It rather feels like... a holy power..." -

- "Yeah... It does feel like that...!" - said Kagome a bit shocked.

- "Holy power!?" - shouted all others amazed.

Meanwhile, in Dragonia...

(BGM: Looming Conspiracy - Mana Khemia)

- "Fileia-san!" - shouted Miko and Yasha scared into the kitchen in Fileia's house, who was cutting up vegetables to make lunch. They had been playing in the backyard until that moment.

- "What is it, children!?" - asked her scared.

- "Some weird stuff appeared in the backyard, and we don't know what it is!" - said Yasha visibly upset.

- "It looks like a big colored shiny ball, and it's got a strong wind blowing from it!" - said Miko scared.

- "Okay, let's go check it out" - said Fileia as she left the kitchen knife she was using, ran to the living room, and took her sword and shield from the hook in the chimney they were placed on. When they got to the backyard, Fileia noticed immediately what Miko and Yasha were talking about: it seemed to be a multicolored portal that floated in front of them as a strong wind blew out of it.

- "What's that...?" - said Miko scared as she and Yasha were taken by the hands, and stood behind Fileia.

- "It seems to be a gateway to another world" - said Fileia recognizing the portal - "This kind of time-space distortions are the cause of us having visitors from other worlds, even though not even a single one appeared during this last month" -

- "Then we got here through something like that?" - asked Yasha as his scared face changed into an excited one, as also did Miko's.

- "It's possible, as you both don't remember anything before you awakened in the hills at the west" - said Fileia with a sweet voice, even though her face was serious and her gaze was focused on the portal.

- "Then we should get in there and to get back home!" - said Miko clapping her hands as she smiled.

- "No!" - said Fileia as she raised an arm to signal to them they shouldn't get any closer - "We don't know where that gateway may take you! It's true that it could send you back to your world, but it also could end up sending you to an entirely different and unknown world!" -

Yasha and Miko were crestfallen upon hearing that, but then, the broken medallions they both were wearing around their necks began shining. They began hearing the voices that caused them headaches whenever they tried remembering their pasts. However, this time they didn't feel any pain, and instead, felt as if a gentle and nostalgic warmth was enshrouding them:

- "Come back... Come home..." - said a young man's voice.

- "Nii-san...?" - said Yasha.

- "I miss you... Please, come home... Come home..." - said a young woman's voice.

- "Onee-san...?" - said Miko.

- "What is happening to you both?" - asked Fileia worried upon seeing this - "These broken medallions are shining... could they be...?" -

- "Fileia-san, we're sure of it" - said Miko once she and Yasha recovered from their trance, and they locked eyes with Fileia - "That gateway's gonna take us back home. I could hear it... It was my Onee-san's voice... telling me to go back home..." -

- "Me too..." - said Yasha with a determined face - "Nii-san and all our friends are waiting for us in our world... We've gotta get back there..." -

- "No! It's too dangerous...! Or so I'd like to say, but… I know I won't be able to stop you..." - said Fileia as her angry face changed into a sad smile - "You both have waited too long for this, right? Then go ahead, but please make sure to be careful. Okay?" -

- "Yeah!" - said both children.

- "Don't worry, we won't do anything dangerous!" - said Miko with a smile.

- "Yeah, and we'll make sure to come back and see you again someday!" - said Yasha smiling.

- "We'll be looking forward to your return here, so please don't forget to visit me and Elaer when you do" - said Fileia as she held in the impulse to shed a few tears as she dropped her sword and shield for a moment, and hugged both children - "I know we couldn't be parents to you both, but we really enjoyed the times we spent together..." -

- "Fileia-san..." - said Miko saddened.

- "We said it already! We'll be coming back here someday, and we promise to drop by you again!" - said Yasha energetically.

Fileia picked up her sword and shield again, and saw off both children, who took each other's hands and slowly walked to the portal. They stopped right in front of it, turned around to look at Fileia one last time, they waved to each other, and then they disappeared into it. The portal then disappeared up as if it had never existed.

- "These children... Are very special... I hope nothing will happen to them in their way home..." - said Fileia rubbing her eyes as she looked at the place where the gateway was a few seconds ago - "And in any case... I also have a duty to carry out... I must report this to the Royal Army..." -

She whistled to call her dragon: a dog-sized blue and light green scaled one, which flew to her from inside the house. The dragon surrounded herself in a green and blue aura when it reached her, turning into five times the size of his partner, and allowed her to mount him. Fileia then directed it to fly her to the headquarters of Dragonia's military forces: the Royal Army, which were located inside of Soleila Castle.

On the other hand, in the real world...

(BGM: Vayne and His Pleasant Friends - Mana Khemia)

- "Well, it's about time for us to go eat lunch" - said Miguel after a while. They had already got back Gabriela and Tiffany in tow to make sure they wouldn't get lost - "Shall we move to the food court?" -

- "Yeah, as hunger is setting in" - said Gerardo a bit unenthusiastically. None of the others had any objections, as they also started getting hungry. So they left the convention grounds, took a couple stairs up and found themselves in the food court, which was a large plaza that was part roofed, part open to the sky. Most of them got two tables together and sat down to wait while Miguel, Henry and Gerardo went to a pizzeria, ordered several large pizzas and soda bottles to eat.

- "Ooph... Good thing we brought a lot of money" - said Henry amazed that the group's collective hunger was so large.

- "It's no surprise" - said Gerardo with a smile as he cut a slice and served it to Gabriela - "We haven't eaten anything since breakfast, and it's almost 3:00 PM" -

- "Plus, it's not like this is all for a single person" - said Gabriela smiling as she took her slice and gave it a bite, while Gerardo cut one for himself. The others began serving themselves their respective pizza slices and poured some soda into the ice-filled plastic cups - "We're eight people in all" -

- "Besides, we've all gotta eat. We won't last much on an empty stomach!" - said Henry laughing as he drank a bit of soda.

- "Yeah, let's not worry much about small details" - said Roger.

- "Or what they entail!" - said Miguel. Both high-fived each other as the others made annoyed sounds and gestures. Gerardo comically planted his forehead on the table's border while Gabriela facepalmed.

- "Hehe, looks like we've got them on the border!" - said Miguel laughing upon seeing Gerardo's reaction, which made everyone cringe even more.

- "I'm more surprised that someone brilliant enough to know lots about computers and biochemistry wastes so much time with these awful puns" - said Kember crossing his arms once they all recovered.

- "It's because life's pointless without humor" - commented Miguel as he smiled in a somewhat arrogant way, while Roger sneered from his seat - "And you haven't seen anything: my sorta-uncle Thor, who also was my mentor in the fine art of bad puns, is infinitely worse than both of us!" -

Gabriela and Gerardo felt a shiver go down their spine. Victor, better known by the nickname Thor, was an older friend of theirs that Miguel introduced to them, and even though he was a very pleasant guy, his puns were so horrible they had even reached legendary levels among the people who knew him. Gerardo hurried back to eating, noticing the remaining pizza slices were disappearing so fast he wouldn't be able to repeat if he didn't do something.

- "We know, we know" - said Gabriela blushing so they would stop talking about that already.

- "I'd like to listen to one of these puns to see if they're as bad as you say" - said Carlos with a thoughtful expression.

- "You really have a knack to get yourself in trouble, you know?" - said Henry annoyed.

- "And you both like fighting a lot, huh?" - said Tiffany with an unpleasant smile.

- "Tiff, I don't think you should do that" - said Gabriela.

- "Heh, pay no mind to it" - said Roger - "These two are always at it" -

However, their discussions got cut off at that point: the sky darkened and a strong wind began blowing.

(BGM: DANGER! - Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny)

- "What's happening here?" - said Miguel as he looked around, as the others also did. The people around them began screaming and running away like crazy.

- "This isn't normal!" - said Carlos looking at the sky.

- "Thanks, Captain Obvious!" - said Tiffany scared and angry.

- "But that's true! And it isn't an eclipse or anything like that!" - said Roger upon noticing the sun was still barely visible behind the darkness that had covered the sky. However, they were shocked when they noticed that Gerardo and Gabriela were looking at the darkness with a smile. As if they were expecting something...

- "What's up with you two!?" - asked Tiffany creeped out.

- "We've gotta run away!" - said Henry scared. Gerardo and Gabriela sighed for a moment, and turned to look at them...

- "No. This is the time we've been waiting for... It has finally come" - said Gerardo with his eyes shining with excitement.

- "Finally... The gateway is opening again..." - said Gabriela with such a soft voice that it seemed like she was going to faint.

- "What are you talking about?" - said Miguel confused.

- "Yeah! This isn't the time to be acting like that!" - said Kember anguished.

- "You'll see it soon enough" - said Gerardo in a mysterious tone. He then felt words coming into his mind - "Yes... Finally, I've started remembering... About everything I had forgotten about Dragonian..." -

- "Me too... It's time to go back there..." - said Gabriela. The others looked at each other, scared and confused, but before anyone could do anything, she raised her hands to the darkness, closed her eyes and pronounced a single word - "Apreiae!" -

As soon as that word stopped echoing through the winds, a multicolored vortex appeared from the darkness and sucked all of them. The people around were so concentrated in running away they didn't noticed that several boys and two girls had disappeared from the place. The darkness dissipated after a few instants, and the food court went back to normal.

(BGM: None)

As for Gerardo, Gabriela and all the others, the last thing they saw was an infinite torrent of colors bombarding their eyes, and after a few instants, everything blacked out for them...