Chie pinched her nose to hold in a sneeze. It was about one thirty in the morning and, instead of sleeping or studying for the test she was supposed to have in eight hours, she was in the attic.

"What happened to the skylight?" Chie asked out loud after the feeling to sneeze had subsided.

There was a gaping hole where the skylight had been. She could clearly see the large, full moon surrounded by the starry sky. The gaping hole let in lots of moonlight, so the girl didn't need to turn on the light. Chie held back another sneeze and walked around the attic. She stopped in front of a wooden bookshelf.

"Let's see . . . coking, cooking, cooking, needlework, flower arranging, gardening, Tarot for IdiotsBaking for Idiots . . ." Chie frowned and put her hands on her hips. "That's strange. There should be some books about weird stuff around here. I remember there were tons of books when I was little because Kiku-san would slap my hand whenever I touched them."

Chie stood on her tiptoes to look at the highest shelf, but there was nothing there.

"How come there's nothing here?" she murmured. "This bookshelf used to be full."

She searched around the attic looking for those forbidden books she knew existed. After opening trunks, boxes, and drawers for thirty minutes straight, Chie gave up. She sat down on a large, overstuffed chair and blew a stray strand of hair off her face.

"I was hoping those books would give me some help. Kiku-san didn't bother to tell me anything. Guess she doesn't want me to know." Her gaze fell on the locket Sasaya had found and given her. It was still hanging around her neck. She unhooked the chain and stared at the incredibly detailed piece of jewelry.

"A four-leaf clover. They're supposed to be lucky, but I haven't been having much luck lately." After turning it this way and that, Chie found a tiny device on one of the leaves. She twisted it and the locket sprang open. "What the?"

There were two words on the top leaves on the right side of the locket.

"Homunculi," Chie read slowly. "Seraphim."

On the leaves on the left were mini portraits. A gray-eyed boy and a brown-eyed girl were standing face-to-face. Both looked a bit terrified of something. The boy had brownish blond hair and the girl (who Chie noticed had exceptionally large eyes) had wavy brown hair.

"She looks like a fairy," Chie murmured and gazed at the other portraits.

One had a tall boy and girl standing back-to-back. The girl had green cat's eyes and long, pale blue hair. There was a tiny star on her forehead. The boy had long, ivory-colored hair and cold, golden eyes. There were purple markings on his cheek and Chie could barely see what looked to be a crescent moon on his forehead. The next portrait contained another boy and girl standing side-by-side. The boy had golden blond hair and golden eyes to match. The girl had black hair and emerald-colored eyes. Both looked very angry for some reason. The fourth leaf was blank.

"Who are these people?" Chie wondered out loud. She looked at the angry boy and girl closely. "Why do they look like Edo-san and Kira-san?"

On the other leaves on the right, below the ones that had writing on them, she noticed strange symbols. Below the word "Homunculi" was the symbol of a snake that seemed to be eating its own tail. Below the word "Seraphim" was a snake wrapped around a cross with a crown on top of the cross. Below the tail-devouring snake was the word "Ouroboros". Below the other symbol was written "Caduceus".

Filled with curiosity, Chie touched the symbols. Chie gasped. Both started glowing with such a bright light that she accidentally dropped the locket.

What was that?

Breathing hard, Chie bent down and picked up the locket. What was going on? Why did those symbols glow all of a sudden? Chie examined the locket very closely to look for some battery or something, but found nothing. There appeared to be no apparent cause for the glowing.

Chie yawned and put her hand over her heart. It was pounding very rapidly. She was afraid that Kikuko might have seen the glowing, but she was also scared of the glowing itself. What did it mean?

At school, Chie trudged over to her seat and dropped her book bag on the desk. She sat down and let her head fall on the bag.

"Sleep," she mumbled to herself. "Precious sleep."

Suddenly, there was a loud THUMP! Chie's eyes flew open and she instantly grabbed her book bag and held it in front of herself as a shield.

"I wasn't sleeping, Koiko-sensei, I swear!" she cried with her eyes shut. "Please don't throw a marker at me!"

"Chie-chan?"

Chie opened her eyes and slowly lowered her book bag. Riku was staring at her with a look that plainly asked, "Exactly how much coffee did you drink?"

"Ah, Giku-chan, good morning," Chie said and smiled sheepishly.

"Are you okay? You have dark circles under your eyes and you look like you haven't slept in a week."

Chie sighed. "Sleep. I hear it's good for you. Maybe I should try it again."

Chie hadn't been able to sleep at all. Every time she closed her eyes, the glowing would come back and she would wake up in a cold sweat. Why did it frighten her so much? Of course, Anas's death and Sasaya's sudden disappearance had kept her awake. So much anxiety and worriment made sleeping seem like a waste of time.

"Are you worried about your sister?" Riku asked and took a seat in front of her.

Chie nodded and rested her head on her hand.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the Portal?"

Chie blinked. "Huh?"

Riku grabbed the book that had startled Chie earlier and showed it to her.

"Alternate Dimensions?" Chie looked up at Riku with confusion on her face. "I didn't know you were into this stuff."

Riku shook her head. "It's not me; it's Risa who likes this crazy junk. I just snatched this out of her room and brought it here. She bought all these books from your grandmother a while back."

Chie groaned and smacked her head against the book. No wonder she hadn't been able to find any books in the attic. Kikuko had sold them all!

"Anyway, Daisuke told me about some things that happened---"

Chie gasped and her eyes opened wide with horror. Had Daisuke told her everything?

"It's not like I can do a lot to help you because I didn't even believe Daisuke at first," Riku continued, "but you're my friend and I want to help you in anyway that I can."

"Giku-chan," Chie whispered. Her trembling lips managed to form a smile. "Thank you."

Riku smiled back it her. "No problem! By the way, did you study for the test?"

"Test?" Vaguely, Chie remembered the teacher saying that there was going to be a test today and that the test would count of forty percent of their grade. "Oh, no!"

"Forgot to study?" Riku asked.

Chie nodded miserably and let her head crash on the desk. She banged it several times before Riku stopped her by saying, "Don't kill off any more brain cells!"

"Do you think you did well on the test?" Riku asked during lunch.

Chie bit her sandwich miserably. It tasted like sawdust and dry ham. "Not especially. I think I flunked badly."

"Well, it was a hard test."

Chie sighed. "May I see that book?"

"Sure." Riku handed Chie the book and Chie opened it.

The first few pages were filled with text too small to be seen by the naked eye. After ten pages, Chie as ready to give up, but then she saw something that made her stop. It was the drawing of a sunflower with golden leaves and an emerald green stem.

"It's a sunflower."

Riku leaned over and stared at the drawing. "There's a poem."

"Sunflowers are weak

They pass through several trials

Sunflowers crumble"

Chie lifted an eyebrow. "Um, I don't get it."

"Me neither. Hey, here's another one."

Riku read the next one.

"Living things need life

Tears and pain are part of life

Sunflowers dry out"

Chie twirled a lock of her hair and sighed.

"This isn't really helping, is it?" Riku asked.

"No, I'm afraid not."

The girls spent the rest of their lunch hour in silence.

When school let out, the girls decided to walk home together.

"I guess this wasn't really useful," Riku said, staring at the book. "all we got out of this were some dumb poems and a description about the Portal that didn't really help."

Chie smiled. "Well, at least you tried to help. That's good, but I guess you can't expect books to carry that sort of information."

Riku gazed at the book thoughtfully. "Still, I think it's weird that this book had two poems. I thought it was supposed to be about different dimensions, not sunflowers."

"Different dimensions?" a voice behind them asked.

The girls turned. Behind them stood a high school girl wearing a purple skirt and purple middy blouse with a pink ribbon at the collar. She had bright green eyes and long black hair that shown with a greenish sheen.

"Ah, Kira-san, hello!" Chie said with a smile.

Kira smiled at her. "Hello, Chie-chan." She nodded in Riku's direction and asked, "Who's this?"

"I'm Harada Riku."

"Harada Riku." Kira tapped a finger against her lips. "Would you mind if I called you Riku-chan?"

Riku shook her head. "No, I wouldn't mind."

"Good. Now, what on Earth were you two talking about?"

"We need to get to the Portal!" Chie said suddenly.

Kira's eyes widened with surprise. For a brief moment, horror flashed through them. "I'm sorry, you need to what?"

"Ah, it's a really long story, but Ku-chan went missing and---"

"Say no more," Kira said. "If you would like to learn more about this Portal thing, I have plenty of books on the subject."

Chie's face brightened. "Really? And you'll let us use them?"

Kira nodded. "Of course. Meet me in the park tomorrow."

"Okay."

"I have to go now. Good bye!"

"Bye-bye, Kira-san!"

Kira ran off and Chie's watch beeped. She looked at it and gasped.

"Oh, no, I'm gonna be late!" she cried.

"Late for what?" Riku asked with confusion.

"Kiku-san told me she wanted me home by five because we have to start baking the fruit tarts today. Oh, it's already 4:56!"

"You better hurry then."

"Oh, yes! Bye-bye, Riku-chan!" Chie called as she ran backwards and waved goodbye. "Please meet me in the park tomorrow!"

"Chie-chan, watch out for that pole!"

Too late. Chie turned around, smacked into the pole, and fell down. Riku laughed and ran over to help her up.