Me: School has again begun! Nooooo! My freedom has ended!

Other personality: Oh, shut up. And "again begun"? What kind of English is that?

Me: It's MY English. So there!

OP: Whatever…Wait. OP? What the hell kind of name is that?

Me: It stands for "Other Personality".

OP::snorts::

Me: Fine. You think of something better.

OP::mutters something::

Me: What?...No! We are not going to be calling you that. Sicko.

Drae::shrugs:: …you changed my name.

Lya: Yup. Split personality equals split name. Yay!

Drae: Just get on with the story. You're wasting time.

Lya: Okie-dokie!

---

Disclaimer: See Chapters 1-11.

Chapter 13

With nothing else to do, Aeris had taken to wandering again. At one point, she had tried to sing traveling songs, but they bounced off the invisible walls and hurt her ears too much.

After she had been moving some direction for a while, though, she paused. Another few seconds passed and Aeris strained her ears.

Ba-bum.

The pulse was faint, far away. A smile lit up Aeris' face for a second, then she frowned again.

But have I been going north, south, east or west? For all I know, I could be in my arm…or my…butt…She made a face. Deciding her horrible sense of direction couldn't be helped, Aeris turned again and began floating once more.

It wasn't long before she felt a growing sense of dread. She stopped and put her hands on her hips.

Why do I feel a growing sense of dread? she wondered aloud.

Dread, dread…

Aeris blinked.

BA-BUM. Ba-bum, ba-bum…

She smacked herself in the forehead. Not again.

Again, again…

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While Aeris was lost in her own body because she wandered around too much, Kai was doing the same. The only difference was that Kai actually knew where he was going (1). In fact, it wasn't long before he found his eyes, a surprisingly difficult feat.

It was like having two large windows in the middle of blackness. Except, though it was bright out there, no light streamed in through the windows.

Finally, he thought. The word echoed around in his mind and would have hit him in the head if he hadn't ducked in time. (2)

He peered out through his eyes. Outside, he saw a cyclone of snow-filled wind blowing behind a figure with blue hair.

Aeris, he realized. She looked different.

Her skin was paler than normal and her lips were tinged with blue. Bits of snow and ice stuck to her hair and her eyes were unfocused and dull. Altogether, she didn't look very healthy.

Your girlfriend's not looking so good, is she? A voice Kai had learned was more annoying than Tyson's said.

Kai sighed. If you're going to irritate me, you could at least show yourself.

Hm. Interesting idea. Alright. All of a sudden, a figure appeared in front of him. A light grayish-tan wolf with a silly grin on his face, if that was even possible. (3)

I thought you were black, Kai observed.

The wolf looked down at himself. I am, but tan shows up better in this- He waved a paw at the blackness and paused, stuck.

Kai raised an eyebrow. Vast expanse of nothingness? he suggested.

I was going for something like fun-filled park for the whole family. You know, put a water slide over there and a roller coaster. Maybe a pizza stand and some kiddie rides, too. Make some advertisements. He spread his paws wide. Come on, come all to the Body. Oh, and watch out for the Butt, or you could get flushed!

Kai watched Fiore without expression. When I first saw you fighting Ice, I took you as being much more serious.

Yeah, well, Zephira is so annoying that anyone would become serious about trying to destroy her.

You know you can't do that.

What?

Destroy Zephira.

Fiore looked extremely taken aback. Why not?

Because that would destroy the world.

How do you get that?

There can't be Fire without Ice, or vice versa.

Oh. Okay.

So you'll stop trying to destroy her and let Aeris and me go free?

No.

But you-

I said I understood. I didn't say that I care. So what if a bunch of humans are killed? What so I care? The wolf gazed at Kai, black eyes glittering. Abruptly, it turned. I'll be going now.

Kai blinked. What? Wait!

But Fiore had already vanished into the darkness.

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1…2…3…4…5.

BA-BUM. Ba-bum, ba-bum…

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. BA-BUM!

Ba-bum, ba-bum…

1…2…3… Aeris trailed off as she heard chuckling.

A figure appeared before her, and to Aeris' surprise, it was a woman. She was tall and willowy, with porcelain skin and long silver-blue hair. Most of her facial features were hidden by a glittering mask crafted to look like a swan or crane, with feathers and all.

Aeris looked at the woman shrewdly. I thought you were a bird.

I am, Zephira replied. But in here, I can change my form to whatever I please.

Cool. Can I? Aeris squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated. When she opened them, she was disappointed to find herself looking exactly the same.

No, you cannot. I've been watching you. Do-

Wait. Aeris held up a hand. You've been watching me? What are you, a stalker?

Zephira blinked. No.

Well, I'm not your pet, either, so get that idea out of your head.

You're a very strange human. Most just cry and beg for me to release them when I take over their bodies.

And you, being your kind self, do, right? You release them into the eternal peace of the afterlife. Though it was said with Aeris' usual flippancy, there was a hint of anger behind her words.

Zephira smiled slightly. That's correct.

Aeris glared at her. You're not even a little ashamed, are you? Oh, wait. She held up her hand. What should a Spirit care about pathetic little humans? Well I'll tell you what, Zephira. This "pathetic little human" is gonna give you one hell of a headache. At least! Her threat issued, Aeris turned away.

Zephira stared at her a moment longer, and was gone.

End of Chapter 13

(1) How? We don't know. He has special "Kai powers".

(2) That sounds weird.

(3) And it is because I'VE GOT THE POWER!

Lya::sighs:: Hopefully, I'll be able to update again soon.

Drae: …

Lya: What she means is 'Please Review!'