It was dark. A filmy white haze snaked around the edges of the strange room Dark had suddenly found himself in. The haze appeared to glow and cast some light on the dismal surroundings.

"What the---?"

"Dark?"

The phantom thief looked up and saw someone with red hair being illuminated by the haze.

"Saki!" Dark ran over to her. "What the hell's going on?"

"Someone must've opened the Portal," Anas whispered.

"But how?"

Dark still wasn't exactly sure what this Portal thing was, but it didn't sound like something someone could open by snapping their fingers.

"I don't know." Anas frowned. "No one here should have the power of Kolia."

"No one except that little brat," a voice said.

Dark turned around and Anas stood up. In front of them stood Sana and Krad.

"You, too?" Dark demanded. "What the hell's going on?"

Sana clenched her fist and glared at Anas. "You have no idea how much I hate you, do you?"

Krad put a hand on her shoulder. "This is not the time. Explain to them about Kolia."

Sana turned to look up at Krad and pouted slightly. "But---!"

Krad shook his head. "Not now. Tell them."

Sana let out an exasperated sigh and put her hands on her hips. "Fine. Listen, Anas, you know how that little brat Chie is a good singer, right?"

The red-haired angel nodded. "Yes, go on."

"And you know how stupid she is, right? Anyway, to make a long story short, she's the one who opened the Portal by using Kolia."

"But what's Kolia?" Dark asked. He felt like he was being left out of the loop.

"Kolia is---"

"Hee, hee, hee, hee . . ."

The sound of child's laughter made Sana stop.

"Idiots," the child said, still laughing. "You're all idiots."

The angels scanned the dark surroundings.

"Who's there?" Krad called out.

Something started to glow in the middle of the circle they had formed. A child with long, ash-colored hair rose out of the ground. The child was wearing a shapeless black dress and it was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"Hee, you're so stupid!" the child said with a smile.

Horror washed over Sana's face. "It's Loathe!"

Loathe turned its purplish eyes to Sana and raised a hand. "That was very rude," it said as it slapped her so hard the she nearly fell.

"Who the hell are you?" Dark demanded, grabbing Loathe by the shoulders. "Answer me!"

Loathe grinned. "If you don't let go, I'll kill you," it said sweetly.

Something in the child's voice made Dark let go. How could Loathe say something like that so calmly?

"Now, as I was saying, you're idiots." Loathe turned to Sana. "I give you one tiny task and you screw it up with your little 'revenge' plot."

"It's not my fault!" Sana cried.

"Oh, but it most certainly is. I told you all you had to do was get rid of Chie, but you never listen, do you? And you!" Loathe glared at Krad. "You were supposed to keep her on track! Why do you think I broke the seal?

Anas raised her eyebrows. "I don't understand. Who are you, young one?"

Loathe walked over to Anas and stared at her menacingly. "I'm not human or angel. I'm something else all together that was birthed by someone very stupid." The strange child walk toward the middle of the circle and clapped her hands. The haze stopped swirling around the room. A white swirling shape formed on the floor.

"I'm taking you four with me. You and your tamers."

Before anyone could protest, the shape on the floor glowed intensely and everyone disappeared.

Riku opened her eyes. She had shut them after the letters had formed on the wall, but now that they were opened, she didn't see anything strange. The letters had returned to their original places and there weren't any strange shapes popping out of nowhere. Her gaze fell on a figure lying on the floor.

"Chie-chan!" she gasped and ran towards her.

Chie stirred a little and opened her eyes to look up at Riku. "What happened?" she asked, taking Riku's hand and standing up.

The girls turned to Kira. Her eyes were wide open with fright and she was trembling. The book fell from her hand with a loud thumping sound that echoed in the semi-empty room and she sank to her knees.

"Kira-san!" Chie exclaimed and ran over to her. Riku followed.

"It was all true," Kira whispered. "Iru-kun didn't lie."

"Iru-san? What do you mean? What did he say?" Chie asked desperately. When Kira didn't respond, Chie grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Kira-san!"

Kira stared at Chie with sadness in her eyes and removed the girl's hands from her shoulders. "The other. The one who exists in the way inanimate objects exist."

"What other?" Riku asked.

"There are two verbs for existing: aru and iru. Iru-kun's name means 'to exist' for animate objects. Aru means to exist for inanimate objects. Aru's older brother will come. Two people will try to protect him because he is a seraph."

"A seraph? But that's an angel!" Riku exclaimed.

The name sounded familiar to Chie, but she couldn't quite remember where she had heard it.

"It'll all disappear," Kira said.

She closed her eyes and fell backwards.

"Kira-san!" Chie exclaimed. She shook her again, but the girl wouldn't respond.

"What did she mean?" Riku asked.

"I don't know!" Tears were filling Chie's eyes. She didn't understand what was going on at all.

"Kira-san! KIRA-SAN!"

Kira did not wake up.

At that moment, Kikuko and Emiko entered the room. While Emiko looked horrified, Kikuko was all frowns.

"What the hell happened!" she immediately demanded. "What the hell did you idiots do!"

"How did---?" Riku started

"Daisuke suddenly fainted, so I went over to see Ekisha-sama and we both ran over here." Emiko had a look of sadness and anger on her face. "What happened?"

Chie hiccupped and started sobbing. She pressed her hands against her eyelids and sobbed, "I wanted my friends back, so I asked Kira-san for help. Giku-chan came along and---!"

"You didn't!" Kikuko turned to Riku. "Tell me she didn't sing. That's all I want to hear."

Riku opened her mouth, but shut it quickly. She didn't know whether to tell the truth or lie. Instead, she asked in a slightly scared voice, "Daisuke fainted?"

Emiko nodded and walked towards Riku. "Tell me what happened."

"Chie-chan sang and the letters on the walls started moving and---"

Kikuko slapped her forehead. "I was sure she didn't have it. Now they're all lost."

Chie removed her hands and looked up. "What?" she asked, trembling.

"Kolia. You were born with Kolia. It's a power that allows the user to open things by the mere sound of their voice. When concentrated perfectly and in the correct place, the Kolia user can open the Portal. Now, Daisuke, Satoshi, and Sasaya have all disappeared beyond the Portal."

Chie gasped. "Why would Kira-san---?"

"Kira was the one who told you about this?"

Chie nodded and suddenly remembered that Kira had suddenly collapsed.

"What about Kira-san? What happened to her?"

Kikuko walked over to the girl and knelt in front of her. "She's a little lost," the fortuneteller stated and stood up. "Let's go."

"But what about---?"

Kikuko sighed. "Emiko-chan, pick up the fool and take her to a hospital or something. I'll call Ami and we'll see."

Chie wanted to ask more questions, but kept quiet. Riku walked behind them, not quite sure what had happened. Daisuke had fainted? He had disappeared beyond this Portal thing?

As they walked down the stairs, Riku stared up at the sky. It had become a strange shade of purple.

Daisuke, she thought as a tear rolled down her face. What happened? What did we do?

To be continued in The Land Beyond the Door

Wow, this had a very crappy ending. Well, thanks to everyone who actually read this product of my diseased mind. Hopefully, the sequel will come up before humans sprout wings and everything will be given a proper explanation. Now I got some homework to finish up (homework over the summer sucks!). Next is I Will and, yes, it will suck. Bye for now!