Sorry, slow update here…hope you liked that last one! I got lots of reviews for it, which was nice…and now that I've got the story completely planned out, things might be able to go a bit quicker. I got some interesting reviews…prominent among them were people asking if Kathleen was a ghost (no, sorry), what Nouda told Nathaniel (which won't be discovered right away), and one that wanted me to kill off Kevin to make Kitty feel guilty…sorry, no! I have everything worked out on a single sheet of paper, whether you like it or not…mwahahahahaha! Ahem.

Kitty finally gets to Phasma Mortuus in this chapter (last time, it only took three or four chapters to get her there…funny how things work out) with Bartimaeus' help. The most predictable outcome you could imagine happens…A HAPPY REUNION! Ish…Kitty discovers something special that has happened to her, and a plan is made…And something else really kind of creepy with Kathleen…notice the title is based off yet another Smallville episode. And sorry, the little song has basically nothing to do with the chapter...

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, I own nothing, blah, blah, blah…except for setting and my two OCs…not that we'll be seeing Kevin again for a long, long time…

Arrival

"Pitiful creature of darkness,

What kind of life have you known?

God give me courage to show you,

You are not alone…"

- Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Kitty gently turned the doorknob of her flat, cursing the creaky door. She wanted to enter as unobtrusively as possible, but not because she had stayed out late; quite the contrary.

It felt as if someone had lit a burning brand in her mind. Her anger seemed to consume her body; her hands shook with ill-concealed emotion. There were no tears, though; no tears for the things he had said.

How dare he think her unfaithful? There was only him for her, and he should have known from the moment he had seen her sitting alone on that statue only weeks ago. As for lying to him…well, she hadn't really done that outright. More like…concealing private things. Kevin wasn't Bartimaeus; he could never understand Nath-

And there was where she stopped herself. Best to wait until morning to decide what to do about Kevin and – and him.

"Back so soon, Lady Daffodil?"

Kitty started. Instead of quietly sneaking off to her bedroom, she had been meandering throughout the house and right into the living room. And there, of course, was Bartimaeus.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said stiffly.

"Then…what are you doing here? Have you ever noticed that when people say they don't want to talk about something, it usually means they really want to talk about it really bad?"

"Shut up." Kitty rubbed her head, wondering if she should talk or just go to bed. She didn't want to face anything to do with Kevin or him…

And in that instant she made up her mind.

"Bartimaeus, I need you to take me to Phasma Mortuus."

"What, now?"

"Yes, now. Why else would I have asked?"

"I dunno…but you aren't even, erm, packed or anything…and I bet you're hungry…"

"None of that matters." Kitty's voice was firm and resolved. "Come over here and take me!"

"Wait one sec." The djinni was scrutinising her. "What did that guy say to you? Was it something about Nat?"

"Nothing." Kitty didn't meet his eyes.

Nothing, of course. How I could I imagine her response to be anything else?

Kitty had done quite a lot of lying in the past few days, which was unlike her. I was probably the only person who knew about her visions, not to mention what happened to Nathaniel in the Glass Palace…but here she was, lying even to me!

I seriously doubted that Kevin what's-his-name knew anything about Nathaniel except his other name, John Mandrake (his statue was in the park, after all…), so I couldn't imagine what the poor boy could have possibly said that had caused her to flee. Perhaps he had asked her to marry him, and she had been terrified? No, that wouldn't be like her. If that were the situation and she had run away, then perhaps she felt guilty because of…

Oh. Of course…how had I not seen it before? I was treading on dangerous ground here…

"Listen, Kitty…" I began, seeing she was packing a backpack (as per my suggestion). "Don't you think you should maybe consider…"

"What?"

"Consider the fact that Nathaniel might not be there?"

"I TOLD YOU, I'VE SEEN -"

"I know, I know, don't spaz at me again. All I'm trying to say is…well, maybe he left there already. It's been a few months, after all."

Kitty twisted her lip.

"And anyways," I ploughed on fearlessly, "don't you think that, erm…you might be grasping at any small chance of seeing him because of your feelings? I mean," I babbled, because the look on her face was suddenly murderous, "not that I'm presuming anything…but I kinda think you might have more – personal motives for getting him back other than the sanctity of an innocent life. OK, semi-innocent -"

"Well, you thought wrong. Are we going then?" Kitty didn't meet my eyes, and I knew that (once again) my stunning insights were correct. I sighed.

"Give me your hands." She held them out, but then hesitated.

"Wait!"

Sprinting back into the living room, she opened a secret door on the side of the ornament cabinet. Carefully, she drew out a shining silver knife and stuck it in the belt loop on the back of her jeans. Her shirt covered it quite nicely, but I could feel its cold aura from halfway across the room.

"All right," she said, crossing back to me and placing both her hands in mine. "I'm ready."

Nathaniel sat back down hard upon the beach as Nouda faded back into the shadows. His heart seemed to have taken residence in his throat, and his eyes burned with tears of rage and grief. His life's course might as well have been ended now, but he was trapped in this nightmare. Nathaniel had evaded death only to come upon suffering much worse than he could have imagined.

But no…it was best not to think of the situation at the moment. He had to put his hopefully undiminished mind to work on how to get out of here.

Kathleen softly sat down beside and placed a tiny arm around his shoulders. It was a small comfort, but one he needed desperately. He placed his head between his knees, his shoulders shaking with grief and hopelessness; the girl made soft cooing noises to him, the only sound he had ever heard her make.

It was only when she was deathly silent once again that Nathaniel looked up. Her face was blank, but she was staring off into the distance, where he could see something foggy and indistinguishable taking shape…

A gasp escaped his lips, and in his mind he ran over the fantastic and terrible creatures that guarded Phasma Mortuus…what if he was no longer considered a welcome guest?

It was only when he saw the Egyptian boy and the thin girl with the short black hair that a cry of wonder escaped from him instead. He pushed himself to his feet with some difficulty and set off towards what we hoped was not an apparition…

The girl had fainted on the sand and Bartimaeus (if it was he) was now standing around, looking bored. Their eyes met for a second, and the djinni's widened in surprise; evidently his presence was somewhat unexpected. But why?

He walked gingerly over to them, noticing Kathleen tailing behind him and grinning from ear to ear.

"Is this what you were waiting for?" he asked her, remembering her long sojourn at this very spot on the beach. The girl looked at him solemnly…and Bartimaeus sauntered over, leaving Kitty on the ground.

"Erm…hello there," the djinni said slowly, squinting at him; Nathaniel caught the telltale flash of his eyes as he accessed each of the planes in turn. "It's really you, is it?"

"Yes," he replied. "How did you -"

"And you're – you're all right, are you?" Nathaniel heard the uncomfortable tone in the djinni's voice and understood why it was there; he had, after all, saved Bartimaeus' life only days before.

"As well as can be expected." He kept his voice cool. "And – Kitty!" Nathaniel ran to her side. "What's wrong with her, why is she -"

"Oh, that. Don't worry, no human has ever been brought here in full consciousness; something to do with an overload of magical energy -"

"Bartimaeus…look…"

The two of them stared at Kitty, who was showing some signs of waking up. It wasn't that that surprised them, however; it was that, for the first time since either of them had last seen her, Kitty's face had regained its youth. It was as young and flawless as that of any girl her age…but what could have caused it?

Her eyes flickered open and Nathaniel stepped back hurriedly, remembering the last time she had woken from consciousness in Richmond. He remembered only too well her reaction when she had discovered him holding her hand.

"Nathaniel?" she whispered dazedly.

"Yes, that's right," he said carefully, still mesmerized by her sudden transformation.

"What are you – Nathaniel!" she cried suddenly, springing to her feet with remarkable agility. Without warning, she threw herself at him and enveloped Nathaniel in the type of embrace such as he had never experienced in his life (as far as he knew.) He winced, his injured body protesting, and gently peeled her arms away from his thin torso.

"Yes, yes, I'm here – you're remarkably -"

"Nathaniel!" she shouted suddenly, her face screwed up with fury. "You lied to me! You said you would be all right, that the boots would get you out, that you would be safe -" She broke off, confused.

"Well, that was remarkably quick compared to what I had to go through," Bartimaeus muttered.

"I'm sorry, Kitty," Nathaniel said softly and painfully. "If I'd have told you the truth, Nouda would never have been destroyed. And you would have followed me and gotten us both killed."

"The three of us, actually," Bartimaeus muttered angrily.

"But – look," Nathaniel said desperately, wanting for her to understand something, "it all worked out anyway, didn't it? You and Bartimaeus are alive and I'm…here. Speaking of which," he continued, "how did you figure out I was here so fast? It all happened only three days ago, and you can't have been able to remember anything about the last time we were on Phasma Mortuus while on Earth…"

Kitty looked blank.

"Three days!" she said, surprised. "What are you talking about? It's been months since you – erm – died, for lack of a better word."

"Months? How is that even possible?"

"How are days possible?"

"You know, as illuminating as this conversation is," said Bartimaeus dully, "shouldn't we be maybe trying to get Nat out of here?"

Kitty looked at him. Nathaniel grimaced.

"I don't know if it will work as easily as all that," he said. "In addition, I'm a little worried about my condition…" Kitty glanced at him, looking suddenly worried.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle," Bartimaeus said sarcastically.

"There are plenty of hospitals in London," said Kitty, who looked as though she was trying to convince herself as much as him.

"Whatever," said Bartimaeus, "let's just go one at a time, shall we? Come here, Nat."

Gingerly, Nathaniel placed his hands in the djinni's darker ones. He closed his eyes as Bartimaeus spoke the necessary words.

Kitty thought for a moment that it had worked; a shimmering mist gathered around the two of them, just as it had in coming here with her. But the next moment everything went wrong; with an odd fizzling sound, Bartimaeus was catapulted away from Nathaniel. He crashed into a nearby tree and slid down to the ground, dazed. She saw Nathaniel wince.

"Damn it, Nat, what did you do?" Bartimaeus demanded angrily.

"I knew it wouldn't be as easy as that," Nathaniel said quietly. "He's made sure I can't leave."

"Who?" she asked, feeling chilled. Nathaniel looked at her, not managing to mask the pain in his eyes.

"Nouda," he whispered. "He brought me here, and he wants me to stay here."

"Can't we do anything?" she asked him.

Nathaniel laughed sourly.

"Do anything?" he said. "Like what – beg for mercy? He wants me to suffer because of what I did. And in any case, he's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"You know what I mean. He's made his choice, and he's chosen to disappear rather than wander here forever."

At that moment, a small brown-haired girl with startling green eyes came from behind Nathaniel to stand beside him. Kitty stared.

"Erm…" Nathaniel looked and saw the little girl.

"Oh…Kitty, she's here too. You're not dreaming or anything."

"Who are you?" Kitty asked softly, bending down beside the girl, who stared at her unsettlingly but said nothing.

"She hasn't said a word since I've met her," Nathaniel explained. "I'm not sure who she is, but I think…maybe one of the other demons I destroyed brought her along for sport. It's just a theory…"

"For sport? What did you say about sports? I didn't know you knew what sports were…And who's that?" Bartimaeus, apparently tired of being ignored, had come up beside them as well. Nathaniel looked up at him, startled.

"You can see her, then?"

"Yes…" the djinni looked nonplussed. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Nouda couldn't."

"Ah…" The djinni appeared to scan the girl. "Who is she?"

"We don't know," said Kitty.

"I…erm…called her Kathleen," said Nathaniel, flushing scarlet. Kitty, surprised, felt herself go red as well. They both looked at Bartimaeus, who looked bored once again.

"Can't see nothing on her, anyway," the djinni said. "She looks human well enough."

Kitty glanced at Nathaniel, who looked rather relieved. What had happened to make him uneasy about a little girl?

"By the way, Kitty," Bartimaeus continued, "have you looked in the mirror recently?"

"Why?" she asked suspiciously, reaching in her pocket for her hand mirror. Gazing into it, she felt another jolt of surprise. Her face was young again, smooth.

"Oh my God," she said out loud. "I look -"

"Beautiful," said Nathaniel. He blushed again as she looked up at him, amused. "Erm…so what are we going to do?"

Kitty's thoughts crashed back down to earth, in a sense. Nathaniel trapped on Phasma Mortuus…that was what was important right now.

"I've had an idea," she said. "What if we go back to the tower?"

She had neglected to mention it before now, but the moment her feet had touched the ground of the mysterious island, every memory that had been erased from her mind had returned full force. Kitty remembered the Amulet, what it had done, who had lived on the island, what had happened between her and Nathaniel…

"The tower that the Amulet was found in?" asked Nathaniel sharply. Evidently, he also remembered everything. "What good would that do?"

"I don't know…maybe there were other artefacts that we missed that could help us break Nouda's spell?"

"I guess it's worth a try…" Kitty glanced at Bartimaeus, who was watching. She shook her head slightly at him; she hadn't seen any of this in a vision.

Kitty looked at all of their faces in turn: Bartimaeus', pensive and calm; Nathaniel's, agitated and hiding something, although she didn't know what; and the mysterious girl "Kathleen," wearing a blank expression that unnerved her. Green eyes met hers for a moment, and she felt a strange sensation in the back of her mind…

Then Kitty's eyes widened as she noticed something none of the others saw.

There was a slight breeze on Phasma Mortuus, one that blew her hair away from her face. Nathaniel's stubbled hair waved slightly in the wind, and even Ptolemy's perfect black locks were shifting slightly. But not a single hair stirred on Kathleen's head.

Oooooo, mysterious! I suppose I could have had a better summary, but there wasn't time…read and review please! I love all of you so very much!