Chie sat down on the floor and sneezed ten times loudly. She had been painting in the art room when Riku had suddenly burst in and told her to go home with her. Now, she was sitting in an old, dusty library that was severally affecting her allergies.
"What did you want to see be bor, Giku-chan?" Chie asked with a stuffed nose.
"This book I found," Riku responded as she took a large book off the shelf and blew on it. Chie sneezed five times.
Chie blew her nose until she no longer sounded like a duck had been crammed up her nose and read the title. "Fortune of the Four Angels? What's it about?"
"I'm not sure," Riku admitted and sat down next to Chie. "I was paging through it and found a picture of something." Riku opened the book to a page and pointed to a picture. "See?"
Chie squinted at the picture.
"It's you, Anko-chan!" she exclaimed.
Anas nodded. "This is certainly strange."
"Do you know what it is?" Riku asked eagerly.
"Not really," Chie admitted.
Riku's face dropped. "Weird. I mean, that girl looks a little like you, don't you think? And look at this." Riku turned the page. "This girl almost looks like your sister!"
"May I take a look at it?"
"Uh-huh."
Chie took the book and started skimming through it.
"By the way, did you ever find out what that red stuff was? On Daisuke, I mean."
"Uh, I think it was paint. Emiko-san didn't make a big deal out of it, so I guessed it."
"I see."
Chie squinted at the text. It was incredibly tiny, like the font was below five, and the fact that the book was practically falling apart didn't help. Still, how could a book so old and crumbling have such brilliantly colorful illustrations?
"Hey, this is a song!" Chie exclaimed after a moment. "In English!"
"What is?" Riku asked, leaning over and stared.
Chie read it out loud.
"On the day you left I just waved goodbye as usual, as if we were to meet again in this city
To believe in love is not to lose to myself
Until my wish comes true, I'll remain with a smile and look at the stars, praying for your return
I want to be the sky for you
Even if it means taking in all of your pains
Whenever I look up, I want to fell as if I'm not alone
Let there be a place I can return to . . . "
Riku sat back on her heels. "I didn't know you could read English so well."
"How strange. This song, the tune . . . it's almost like 'Onnagokoro'."
Suddenly, the locket started to glow. Chie didn't notice it at all, but Riku sure did. She jumped to her feet and gasped.
"Is something wrong, Giku-chan?" Chie asked.
"Your locket," Riku said. "It's glowing."
Chie looked down at it. "Maybe it's one of those electric ones."
Riku backed away from her. "Do they always float?"
Chie stared at the glowing locket. It wasn't one color, but many, like an opal. She stared at it and a dazed expression took over her face. The book fell out of her hands. Chie continued to stare at the glowing locket. Tears fell from her expressionless eyes. Riku took a few steps toward her friend.
"Chie?"
Chie closed her eyes and the tears splattered onto the locket. Slowly, she toppled over and fainted.
"Anko-chan, why does it hurt?" Chie asked.
"What do you mean?" Anas asked.
"My body . . . it feels extremely cold, but it hurts. I thought when you got cold you felt nothing, not pain."
Both Anas and Chie were on the ground. Anas was sitting with her legs tucked neatly beneath her and she was hugging Chie. Chie was motionless in her arms. Motionless and freezing.
"How much does it hurt?"
"Like I can't breathe. To draw breath hurts too much."
"You read 'Onnagokoro' in its original version."
"Original version?"
"'Onnagokoro' was originally called 'Motherland'. It was changed after---Well, that doesn't matter. Still, hearing it made me sad and my tears fell onto the locket."
"I'm sorry."
"It's all right."
"Am I dying?"
Anas's eyes widened. "No, why?"
"I feel no warmth. The dead are always cold."
"Yes, but then again the dead don't feel pain."
"Chie-chan! Chie! Please wake up!"
Chie opened her eyes a little. "Giku-chan," she whispered. "Rada-san."
"Are you okay?" Risa asked. "Riku told me you fainted."
"Everything hurts."
"You've been fainting a lot lately," Risa said. "I think you should go a see a doctor."
"That was so weird, though," Riku said. "You were just singing that song and then suddenly---"
At the very moment, the girls heard a loud crash. The large window in the back of the library broke and sent shards of glass flying. The girls scrambled to their feet and ran for the door. Something, however, grabbed Chie's arm, preventing her from leaving.
"Let me go!" Chie shouted. "Giku-chan, Rada-san, help me!"
The girls turned around and gasped. They had no idea what was going on. They only knew that a girl with short, golden curls and golden wings was holding on to Chie's arm as she tried to run away.
"Hi, girls!" she said. "I'm Sana and I'm taking Chie with me, okay?"
"Sana?" Risa asked with s shocked expression on her face.
"Oh, no you don't!" Riku said, trying to hide her fright. "Let Chie go!"
"And why should I do that? Listen, why don't you be good little girls and take The Fortune of the Four Angels to Kikuko?"
"To Kikuko?" Risa asked.
"Chie's grandmother?" Riku asked.
Chie turned to Sana. "What do you want with me? Please, let me go!"
Sana smiled and let go of Chie. Chie started to run away, but she suddenly stopped. Her eyes were wide with horror.
"I can't . . . I can't move!" she whispered.
"Hey, I can't move either!" Riku exclaimed. "Risa, can you?"
"No!"
"Come with me, Chie-chan," Sana said in a sing-song voice.
Slowly, Chie started moving backwards.
"Let me go!" Chie shouted and struggled to run forward. "Please, let me go!"
Suddenly, Chie gasped. She sank to her knees and, with trembling hands, reached up to her throat.
I can't breathe! I can't see! Giku-chan . . . Rada-san . . .
Sana grabbed the trembling girl around the waist and pulled her close.
"Bye, girls!" Sana called cheerfully. "Don't forget what I said!"
With that, Sana flew quickly out the window.
Risa gasped. "Riku, did you say that! She had wings! Just like Dark-san!"
"That's not all I noticed," Riku said grimly.
"What do you mean?"
"The way Chie was being held back was different. Her clothes bunched in places. And did you see when she fell? It looked like she couldn't breathe."
Risa frowned. "I don't get it. Why did that girl come and take Chie? What could she possibly want with Chie?"
Riku picked up the copy of The Fortune of the Four Angels. "Guess we'll have to go see Kikuko to find out."
"Let me see if I have this story straight," Kikuko said. "Riku-chan, you and Uta were in your house. You found a book, Uta sang the song that the book contained, her locket glowed, and she fainted. You went to get Risa-chan, Uta woke up, and, according to Risa-chan, someone 'like a brighter, girl version of Dark' showed up, kidnapped her, and told you two to bring this tattered book to me?"
"I know it sounds farfetched, but that's really what happened," Risa said.
Kikuko sighed. "Never thought this would happen in my lifetime. I thought she had been sealed for good."
The twins' eyes widened.
"What do you mean?" Riku asked
"It means I need to have a talk with the Niwa family."
I finally have a reader! Yay, yay, YAY! Thank you so much for reading and I hope I won't disappoint you (though I probably will, knowing my lack of talent and the fact that I might be coming down with something). Anyway, some weird stuff will be revealed in the next chapter, so I hope you'll remember that this has nothing to do with the original series.
