Reality and Fiction

by TsubameSutaa

Fictional characters, both the good and the bad, are appearing all over Wands & Worlds County; now they'll have to band together with the local residents to fight off the bad characters and survive. Co-written with a friend. K-plus to be safe.

13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

POV: Lilacheart

"KENNEN!" I yelled. Someone screamed in despair. I don't know who, because by that point, I'd tuned everything out. You'd think it would've occurred to me by now that in our situation, someone could die. And it had occurred to me, though only once, as I'd jumped off a building, only I'd had my life saved by +Anima. This was different. Much different.

"Kennen!" I screamed again. I realized I was shivering and that there were tears running down my face. I hadn't known the guy as well as some of those around me. We were all yelling, freaking out, crying, or finding consolation in our friends. Sheila wasn't saying anything, just staring at the building. Starsight was staring at the Dog. I turned around, thinking some less then appropriate and understatement words. For some reason, it felt horrible to just stand there.

"I-I'm gonna go home," I whispered, before turning around and darting off. I just couldn't stare at the flaming wreckage where my friend had died anymore.

I heard the sound of footsteps behind me and picked up pace.

"Lilacheart-san!" I heard Syaoran call. I forced myself to jog to a slow stop. I glanced at him over my shoulder, completely miserable and in no mood to talk. He seemed to understand, placing a light hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he muttered. I knew there was nothing else he could say, either.

Wow, I feel like a whiny baby.

He didn't seem to care. Unsure of what to do next, I hugged him and placed my head on his shoulder. Wow, was I glad no one was watching. "I really should've considered...that someone might've died..."

"It's not like it's your fault," Syaoran reassured me. "You didn't set the building on fire. You aren't the reason those you thought didn't exist are here."

"What is the reason?" I asked.

"Fai told me a feather was involved."

"But it can't just be that, though! They're not that powerful, are they?" I was remembering Ôto as I spoke. Virtual reality to reality. Maybe they were...?

"...I don't know anymore."

I swore quietly. "Kennen..."

He gently patted my back. "It's okay—Well, no it's not, but..."

I laughed dryly. Syaoran: Not exactly good at comforting people. But hey, he tried.

I looked up at him and stepped back. "Why'd you follow me?"

I knew he wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but he restrained himself. "It's not safe going out on your own."

Right. I should probably know that by now. That's probably what his remark would've been if the county wasn't grieving, too.

"So...what are we going to do? Obviously, this isn't up to me."

I nodded. "Or me," I reminded him. "It's up to Sheila."

He sighed. "I guess we should go fill in Sakura-chan and Mokona, who are still at your house—" He cut short as a spark jumped off of his shoulder.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to stay at my house?" I asked.

"...You're going to have to replace your front door again."

"..."

"...Yeah."

"...Do you guys just not like my front door?" I tried to sound as teasing as I could through my misery.

"Well, it was a Hork-Bajir that did it."

I gave a brief nod. "I assume we should..." My voice shook and I nearly slapped myself. Dang it. "I assume the members of the county should hold a funeral. Or something, at least."

"...He seemed like the kind of guy who would want to go down fighting," he suggested after a long period of silence as we walked home.

"Oh yeah," I said, nodding my head. "I regret not knowing him more than I did."

We finally stopped at my house. Syaoran grabbed the door frame. "Sakura-chan, we're back," he called.

"Welcome home," Sakura greeted, sounding relieved as she appeared around the corner. "How was it...?" Her tone darkened slightly when she saw the tears in my eyes.

"Kennen...was caught in a flaming building...and..." I sat down and swore.

"Having Kurogane-san in the house hasn't had positive effects on her, has it?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran shook his head as she put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered, getting back on subject.

I sighed loudly. "It's okay—well, no it's not, says Syaoran-kun," I laughed dully.

Sakura glanced at Syaoran.

"...I'm not really good at the whole consolation thing," he muttered regretfully.

"Just having you all here is enough," I assured them. "Thanks for walking with me home. I probably should've known better then to just run off. I'm so useless."

"So this is what happened to your self-esteem," Mokona said as it leapt towards me. Again, I laughed, a laugh a little less forced this time. It was hard to be depressed with these guys around. And at the same time, I was. Wow, I clearly have some psychological issues that need dealing with. (See that in the sky? That's the last remaining shred of my self-esteem! Watch it fly! Wheeeee!)

"...Yup, pretty much," I said.

"I'm sure Sheila-san will give you all details on what you have to do tomorrow. You're all going to need recovery time."

"Depends if the other Shaoran-kun will give us time for it," I murmured. "He used to be such a good kid, too..."

The two exchanged glances. "I keep forgetting how much you know," Syaoran sighed with a shake of his head.

My cell phone rang suddenly. I picked it up and checked the caller ID. Sheila. I flipped it open. "Hey," I muttered.

"I'm calling everyone, Lilacheart. I just wanted to be sure you're okay."

"Syaoran-kun walked me home—...Oh God, that sounds like a romance joke."

Sheila let out a forced laugh. "Well, okay. Is Soundstorm at your house?"

"What happened to the door?" came a sigh from the doorway.

"...Yes," I said.

"Okay, good. You all get a good rest. I'll let you know what we're doing tomorrow. Also, be sure that the Tsubasa cast don't use your shower."

I took a moment to think through that one. ...Oh, right, the electric shock. Why does that feel like it was days ago? "Alright. Bye."

I hung up. "Get a good rest and don't use the shower unless you want to go over your pain from earlier today all over again."

Sakura's shoulder sparked, and she yelped. "...Well, we've got that message firmly planted in our heads now."

I gave a slight nod. "Are you all okay?"

"Yes. You?"

"As okay as I'll get for the moment." I stood up. "Thanks for the help today. Considering today's happenings, I'm assuming you won't get into trouble."

"I wish I would. You get a good sleep."

I nodded politely and headed up the stairs. Mokona hopped after me as Syaoran explained to Soundstorm what happened in the doorway. Fai and Kurogane had arrived and were taking out the dead Hork-Bajir.

I sat down on my bed; Mokona hopped up beside me. "...Everyone's sad," it whimpered. "So much sadness, hate, pain..."

Mokona started to cry. I wiped away its tears. "We're sorry." I forced myself to smile as I lay down on my bed.

"At least it can't get any worse," I said to it as my eyes fell shut.

...I just HAD to say it, didn't I? That's the last time I ever try to push my luck.

—

POV: Shaoran

I watched as the members of Wands and Worlds County gathered around the clearing. I didn't particularly understand, or care, why anyone would consider mourning their fallen comrade. Dead is dead. And he, like all of them, had been in my way.

A lady, who I'd come to know was their leader, eventually stood in the front of the group and started to make a speech. There were lots of tears, and crying, and I heard the members of the group whispering to one another. Again, I didn't particularly understand, or care. These people were all in my way.

And they were all going to pay dearly for it.

I felt energy surge around my eye. The one that I had taken from the magician. It'd come in handy on multiple occasions. I summoned Hien. This forest was going up in smoke. I'd make sure that nothing inside got out.

I drove my sword into the ground. Fire started crackling around the edge of the blade.

"Guys...?" I heard a voice quietly speak. I didn't care who it was. The flames started, and the magic I had spiralled towards the flames and sent it blasting in their direction. There were shocked yelps of surprise.

The flames spread much more rapidly than I could actually control. I focused my hold on a small portion of the flames, and I knew what to do with it. And that would do.

"Shaoran-kun," I heard one of the people say. It was that magician. He had turned to face me. The flames from my sword flared and started to swirl around the group. Some of the members tried to run, and I saw one girl unfurl wings.

...That girl. How had she survived?

It didn't matter. Not now.

Commanding the flames, I forced them to spiral around the whole group, cutting off any upward escape by creating a sort of flaming roof. I think some of them tried to talk to me, and to each other, but most of it was just frenzied yelling. After these pests were gone, there'd be nothing standing in my way.

"Starry!" someone cried desperately, somehow breaking through the noise everyone else was emitting. "Your Kudan!"

Kudan. That word was familiar. I shoved the thought aside. I didn't need to remember that...

"Right—argh!"

I smiled. I guessed 'Starry' was on the outside of a circle, whoever she was, and anyone on the outside would be seriously burned by this point. (These members weren't stupid. I'm sure at this point, anyone would know the smartest thing to do was huddle close together, stay as small as possible, and try to avoid the flames that were closing in.)

Out of nowhere, large spikes of ice shot in all directions. "Everyone, run!" a boy yelled. Why did I feel like he was supposed to be a toad?

Without using any effort, I sealed the holes shut. I saw two charred figures escape the flames, but they were the only ones who did. I felt my body tense against my will. One of those girls was Sakura. The other was the one who'd fallen from the skyscraper.

I attempted to throw a second fireball at them. But something wouldn't allow me. Sakura...I couldn't...hurt Sakura...

I tried to shove these emotions away. The only reason I wouldn't want to kill her is because Fei-Wang Reed needed her body. Nothing more than that.

The two darted towards me. I pulled my sword out of the ground and pointed it in their direction.

"Sakura-san, stay in front!" the winged girl yelled. "He's much more likely to try to run through me than you!"

"Are you sure?"

"I watched Shunraiki, of course I'm sure!"

"You watched what now?"

"Never mind!"

The two stopped in front of me. Sakura's eyes were locked on mine. There seemed to be some sort of desperateness in her gaze. The desperate look was mirrored and even amplified by the girl who stood behind her.

"Why are you doing this?" the winged girl yelled at me.

"You are all in my way. I will get all of the feathers, no matter what," I said. Of all the things that were in my mind, I guess that was the only thing I was certain about.

"We don't know where it is!" Sakura yelled in protest.

"Just because you don't know where it is, doesn't mean you're not in my way," I reasoned. The key components I needed to find the feather, they were all inadvertently protecting. It didn't matter if they didn't know it. I would get them out of my way.

"Shaoran-kun, please, let them go!" Sakura yelled, her fists clenching uselessly at her sides.

I was glad that none of them had considered bringing weapons to a funeral. Except maybe Kurogane. That wouldn't be surprising—

Stop thinking about the group already! They're also in the way...

I guess my thoughts must've been expressed on my face, because the winged girl ran forward and punched me in the face while I was off guard. Immediately I retaliated, driving Hien through her right wing. Her eyes widened and she let out a scream before she nailed me against a burning tree, keeping a firm grip on my shoulders. Her breathing was ragged, probably from the smoke. She had also been badly burned. I noticed that my breathing was also coming out in short pants.

"Shaoran-kun, I know you're in there somewhere. Your soul. When Sakura's near you, it shows," she whispered.

Shut up! Make her shut up! I snapped my eyes shut, trying to tune out her words.

"Sakura trusts you! I trust you! You're trying to kill us all and I still trust that you have a shard of your soul left in there somewhere! Please! You can't kill my family! You can't kill your family!"

My family. I didn't have a—

Sakura. Kurogane. Mokona. Fai. Syaoran.

Oh my God...What was I doing?

I had to stop this...I couldn't sto—

I wanted to cry. I wanted to run. Mentally, I was pleading, Somebody tell me what to do!

I suddenly small pressure against my cheek.

"Pactio!" cried a voice from WHO knows where.

I was barely aware that the girl had kissed me. And at the same time, that was the final straw that broke me from this heartless curse I was under. And only then, I could feel it was just for a second. The words echoed relentlessly in my mind.

I will collect all of the feathers, no matter what!

My whole body shaking, I brought down the flames that I controlled. I couldn't bring down the rest of the fire. I didn't know if I could make myself even if it was possible.

"You don't have long," I heard Sakura say, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Run. Get out of here." She forced a smile. "Thank you." The last words were said by both girls.

Tears flooded into my eyes. I could feel my whole consciousness flooding out. Despite the flames, the world was growing cold.

"...Next time, you won't be so lucky," I said, my voice cracking.

I really was weak, wasn't I? I pulled my sword out of the girl's wing. Magic swirling around me, I disappeared.

—

POV: Lilacheart

...Holy crud in a bucket, I had just kissed a heartless sociopathic clone who had tried to kill me and my family.

OH. MY. GOD. I was never, ever, for the rest of my life, going to hear the end of that.

I stood there in shock, staring at the spot where Shaoran had disappeared. My wing burned much more then my burns did. Weird.

I glanced back at the rest of the Wandies. Not a lot of them were conscious. Sheila, Magicyop, Fruit Salad, Adderfang, Thunder, Starsight (but only barely), Halt, Will, Ripred, Icestar, Moonglow, Squirrelflame, somehow Kirby, Kurogane, Fai (who was supporting Starsight), Watanuki, and...the two people who I'd hoped the most were unconscious, Cloudwind and Rabbitfoot.

Why was I hoping that they weren't conscious? You can probably guess why from their insane giggling. They were the last people I ever wanted seeing THAT. I bet Rabbitfoot had just been waiting for this sort of opportunity, so everyone would stop focusing on her proposal to Roy Mustang and her kiss with Watanuki. And Cloudwind was always trying to use the Internet to marry me to Syaoran, anyway. And even though this wasn't the right Syaoran she was always trying to marry me to, I was sure this alternative didn't bother her.

"...I am never going to live this down," I said to them.

"No, you're not," Starsight said. Despite herself, even she was laughing.

"We're not a part of that kid's family," Kurogane retorted.

"Kurogane-san, he doesn't have a family, and from what I can tell, you were as close as it got."

The people who were conscious were trying to awaken some of the others, because we obviously couldn't carry them all. The cats were all in a panic. The forest was burning, darn it, of course they were in a panic! If no one could leave the county, and no one could get in, (so we assumed), HOW were we going to call a fire department? Could Fai put this fire out? Emily, who was a water mage? She was healing, so no...

Starsight tapped my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glanced at her. "That voice I heard. Did I imagine it?"

"...'Pactio'?" I asked. "No, you weren't—" I did a face palm. "Is the world out to get me today?"

Laughing, Starsight ran towards a set of bushes that had yet to burst into flames. The other members were evacuating.

"Are you sure you didn't get a bit carried away there?" Sakura asked.

"You weren't going to do it," I muttered. "...Were you?"

"No, because I didn't really have the guts. Apparently you did."

"Don't worry, Shaoran-kun's yours."

She smiled slightly. "Thanks for the reassurance." She turned around and ran towards Kurogane, who was carrying Syaoran out of there. Him, along with a lot of the members (mainly the ones who'd been in the outer protective circle) had third degree burns.

...Syaoran having the heck beaten out of him wasn't all that fun in reality. (In a fanfiction and in a roleplay, however, this was a completely different story.)

"Let go of me!" yelled a voice.

I swung around, spotting Starsight limping back over to me. I glanced at the figure in her hand. "...Reminds me of Mousey," I said.

"Mousey?" Starsight asked.

"Yeah, Cloudy's ferret."

"This is an ermine," Starsight said...at the same time as the ermine.

"...I know this character, don't I?" I asked, staring at the card in its paws.

"Character?" the ermine snapped. "Why I—"

"Be quiet, Kamomile," Starsight cut in. Kamomile, or just Kamo, fell silent. I guess he was shocked that we knew his name.

"Isn't this the perverted ermine from Negima...?" I asked.

"That's the one. And he's got something for you! I'll take that." She plucked the card out of his paws and handed it to me. I laughed at her mock enthusiasm. Or, maybe it wasn't mock.

The card had a picture of me holding a sword on it. It looked a lot like Hien. "This is a Pactio card, isn't it?" I asked, flipping it over in my hands.

"Yup!" Starsight said enthusiastically, and then, suppressing her laughter, she added, "A magic card created when you kiss someone!"

I thought about that one for a moment. "...This is so going into the bottom drawer of my dresser, where no one will ever find it. Not even me." That drawer was a complete mess. Just take my word for it. It was like a black hole; if you put something in there, it never comes out. I really think we'll lose Mokona in there someday.

"...Why are you having a conversation in a burning forest?" Kamo suddenly yelled at us.

We both looked up; we had fallen far behind. I stood beside Starsight, using my wing to shield her from the flames as we both darted through the trees. As we ran, I spotted Daisy and Ferncloud. Everyone hated these guys, I recalled. But seeing them run through the trees, kits in tow, trying to stay calm while their kits clearly weren't...

I scooped up Ferncloud, and Starsight picked up her kits. They yowled in shock. I guess we should've told them we were here. "Twolegs!" Ferncloud hissed, lashing out at my face with her claws.

"Watch it, dam—" I began.

"We've met Twolegs like these ones before, Ferncloud!" Daisy called.

"We're all gonna die!" came Fruit Salad's yell from up front.

"What's happening this time?" one of the kits wailed.

"Nothing, I think she's just always wanted to say that," I muttered. "Can somebody help us!" I called ahead.

Eventually, I saw one of the members fall back. Spottedshadow. "Can you carry Daisy and her kits?" I asked. Daisy looked annoyed by the request, but she didn't complain.

"Sure," she said, picking up Daisy's kits. "She could probably run faster than we could without the kits—" she began.

"Don't even suggest Daisy would leave her kits or she'll kill you," I said.

"Good point." With that, she picked up Daisy in her free hand and broke into full speed, with us chasing after them.

—

It was later that evening. The sun was setting. Amaterasu, Katara, and Fai, from what I knew, were busy trying to put out the fire, while Sheila had sent everyone else home to rest. I was on the couch, listening to my iPod. Soundstorm was writing a story. Not sure which one. Probably Guardians of a Fugitive. I'd have to steal her notebook and read it sometime.

At that moment, Kurogane came down the hallway. We both looked up.

"Can someone go check the chimney?" he snapped. "It's annoying the heck out of me."

I stood up. "I'll do it," I muttered, unfurling my wings.

"...Did you talk to the Healer?" he asked, glancing at my wing.

"She's dealing with the burns of the other members. I'll talk to her later." After an extremely stern gaze, I sighed and added, "I promise."

He grunted, knowing he'd just have to take that as an answer. I glanced at my sister. "Soundy, could you make something to eat while I check out what's wrong with the chimney?"

"I can do that," she said with a brief nod.

I smiled. "Thanks. Be back in a moment." With that, I left the room and headed for the door. As soon as I was outside, I noted it wasn't too cold around here anymore, with the heat and all, and the smoke blowing overhead and messing up the air quality. Good thing it wasn't too windy today. Even if it had been, having Amaterasu around here was pretty good.

...Huh. Why hadn't she done anything when the fire was burning us all? Had she not been there? I couldn't remember seeing her. I'd have to talk to Spirithunter later.

I clicked my iPod off. Twisting around, I placed the iPod in the pocket of my jacket; the headphones hung out slightly. I shut the door behind me and spread my wings. That would actually be pretty useless, with a hole in them, I realized.

Suddenly, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around. "...Emily?"

"...Kurogane called me. Using your cell phone."

"WHO TAUGHT KUROGANE HOW TO USE A CELL PHONE?" I yelled, much louder then I had intended. I could hear hysterical laughter from the next door neighbour. My next door neighbour, might I add, is Sunstreak. Well, it hadn't always been Sunstreak. Originally, my neighbour was Aerobar. But she disappeared one day, a long time ago. Time moves on, I guess. The community still missed her, though. But I digress.

Emily laughed as well. "I'll heal your wing here, okay? I was actually heading towards the forest to see how Ammy, Katara and Fai were doing."

I nodded. "The forest is that way—" I began.

"Then Kurogane called and told me you were injured, and I figured I'd stop by."

"You weren't too far away, were you? When did he call?"

"About five minutes ago."

"...That Kurogane," I sighed, shaking my head.

She placed the healing crystal on my wing, and I could feel the healing vibrations run through it. I stood there for a moment, until she nodded. "Done."

"You're an amazing healer," I commented, stretching my wing.

She blushed. "Not really—"

"You and I both need to go shopping for self-esteem. Rabbitfoot and Soundstorm should join us."

She laughed. "Okay, I'd better get go—"

There was a huge crashing sound from the chimney.

"...That's what Kurogane's complaining about, I guess," I remarked.

She nodded, smiling. "I can see why. Well, good luck."

"Thanks, you too," I said, spreading my wings and flapping them experimentally. I gave a nod. Good. With that, I took off to the roof. I landed quietly and wondered how to work this out. I looked down the chimney, almost expecting something to attack my face, but instead, I heard yelling.

"OW! Knock it off already!"

"Hey, this isn't my fault!"

"Get your foot out of my—"

A horn honked, and I swung around. Crescentmoon was glancing out the window of her car.

"Did you drive by for the sole purpose of censoring a swear word?" I asked.

"...No, I wanted to get your attention, what are you doing on the roof?"

"There are fictional characters in my chimney, I think," I said.

"Like Santa?"

I sniggered. "Doesn't sound like it. They're bickering. One's male, one's female, and they sound familiar."

"Well, good luck," she said.

I nodded. "You too, whatever you're doing."

She nodded back, rolled up the window, and drove off.

"I'm onto you, author," I grumbled, glancing at the fourth wall. With that, I folded my wings tight to my body and stepped onto the chimney. Slowly, carefully, I used my feet and my arms to crawl down without getting stuck. Finally, I found the two.

"Get your foot out of my face!" the boy yelled.

"Get your foot out of my—" the girl started.

Then it clicked in my head. I did know these two!

"Shiki? Neku?" I asked.

The two stopped and glanced up at me. "Do we know you? Shiki asked.

"Probably not," I admitted.

"Then how do you know us?" She sounded skeptical.

"The World Ends With You," I answered, giving them a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't care!" Neku snapped. "Can you get us out of here? It's painful, it's claustrophobic, and I'm more then slightly worried about my foot!"

There was a long silence. Then I burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" the two complained.

Yes. Yes it was. But I wasn't going to argue at the moment. "How did you get yourself into this?" I asked.

"...We don't know." The two spoke simultaneously, and I had to stop myself from laughing again.

"Okay, how do I do this...?" Slowly, I reached my hand down. "Anyone who can move their hand, grab mine. I'll pull you up, then come back down for the other one."

There was the sound of the two trying to move. I laughed. Then I felt like a jerk. And then I laughed again.

"Stop laughing!" Neku snapped, and then someone grabbed my hand.

"I'm sorry, but you two have no idea how funny you look."

Shiki sighed. "I guess it can't be helped."

I pulled upwards. Neku grunted. I guess it was his hand that had grabbed mine. I pulled upwards again. "That hurts!" he retorted.

"Hang in there, okay?" I said. "You and Shiki can probably stay at Sevenclaws' house."

"Sevenclaws?" he asked, sounding uncertain.

"A member of the county. Though you might prefer Sunstreak's, since she's lives right next door and you won't have to walk as much," I told him, giving one more sharp tug. He let out a painful grunt, but I could feel him come lose. I didn't exactly see how this moved him below, but by Shiki's words of, "...This is really awkward," I had a feeling he probably wished he was back stuck in the chimney, lodged in his old place.

I crawled up very slowly, until Neku managed to stretch his muscles and crawl back up on his own. After that, I went back down and grabbed Shiki, helping her up, too. I flew the two back to the ground.

"You two wait here," I murmured, before walking down the sidewalk and knocking on Sunstreak's door. She pushed it open.

"Hi, Lilac," she said. "Did Kurogane, by chance, learn to use your cell phone?"

"Yup. Could you take Shiki and Neku into your house?"

"...Who are they?"

"Characters I found in my chimney. I'm not sure if they're up for much walking."

"...Sure." She shrugged slightly. "I don't see why not."

"Shiki! Neku!" I called over my shoulder, waving them forward. The two stood up and walked towards me. "Sunstreak, meet Shiki and Neku. Shiki, Neku, meet Sunstreak."

They all politely waved.

"Come on in," Sunstreak said, signalling for them to follow. The two exchanged glances.

"It's OK, come on!"

Uncertainly, the two followed her inside.

I smiled slightly. "Have a good day," I said to Sunstreak.

She nodded. "You too. It's so weird...everything's gotten much darker lately. Literally, if you consider the smoke. But...Kennen..."

I nodded. "Yeah..." I sighed. "I guess it will get better. Who knows what could happen, with fictional characters here and all..."

She shrugged. "Who knows?"

I turned around and waved goodbye, which she returned before shutting the door.

"Who knows," I echoed to myself. "Who knows."

I pushed the door open, grabbed my headphones, and sat down on the couch beside Soundstorm, who was eating a small snack from a bowl. What snack? You'll know in a minute. At the time, we had no idea how eating this snack would end in complete and total irony.

Well, we learned once a figure appeared around the doorway. We had no idea who he was, but we were sort of tired and a bit out of it, so I just figured he lived here. Wow, I must've been drunk or something.

"Hey," he said.

"Hello," I muttered.

"...What are you doing?" he asked.

"Eating bean sprouts," Soundstorm muttered.

There was a long silence.

"..."

With that, the kid turned around and ran out the door. There was a slam.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"No idea," Soundstorm responded.

There was another long silence, then we both looked at each other.

"W-wait, who WAS that?" I asked.

Soundstorm jumped to her feet.

"Allen!" she yelled, and with that, she was out the door.

—

POV: Soundstorm

"Allen!" I called again as I darted after him. "ALLEN!"

The boy stopped and turned around. "Hello," he said, blinking. "How do you know my name? And more importantly, why aren't you eating your bean sprouts? They're good for you."

I laughed, all the while thinking, Cool, it's Allen! in a somehow weirdly calm manner. Well, at least no one had to worry about Akuma anymore. For me, now it was just Hinamizawa syndrome. If that shows up, we're all going to die! Why am I smiling?

"Forgive me for being rude, but who are you?" he asked.

I looked back up at him and smiled. "My name's Soundstorm. My twin sister, who was with me back there, was Lilacheart, though she's probably still in the house being sure Mokona doesn't blow anything up. Is that Timcampy on your head?" I don't know why I was so talkative all of a sudden.

"...Yes, that's Timcampy," he said, smiling. He took it off of his head. "You can pet it if you want."

So I did.

"Can I teach to say squee?" I asked suddenly.

"...Huh?"

"Can I teach Timcampy to say squee? I once called it a squeeing orb before I read D Gray-Man, and was wondering if I could teach it the word squee."

"...Um...sure...but what's D Gray-Man?" Allen asked.

"It's your manga series."

"...Okay, I'll accept that, but why the heck is it called D Gray-Man?"

"...No one really knows."

Allen blinked, taking in the answer. "...So...I have a book series...and it has a title that I don't even understand." He left the statement hanging, almost like a question.

"Yup, pretty much," I answered after a second's thought.

Weird." He shrugged, then asked, "Where am I?"

"You're in Wands and Worlds County," I said. Without another word, I turned around and motioned for him to follow me as I headed towards Whisperheart's house.

He followed me down the road, seeming a bit uncertain, but not exactly worried. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're heading to a friend's house. Everyone's friendly here, and it's not exactly the first time that a manga character has fallen out of nowhere...though admittedly, it's funny you came in while we were eating bean sprouts."

He smiled at me. "I guess that is sort of ironic. But I prefer you don't call me that."

"Right, Kanda calls you that...StarClan forbid he come here," I muttered, wondering how the Warrior cats were doing. Last I recalled, Sheila had taken them all in after the fire. She and Skywing.

"...Is StarClan from my supposed manga?" he asked. "I've never heard of it." When I mentioned Kanda, I noticed his gaze hardened slightly. Then he shrugged. "So, who's this friend of yours? Does she read...D Gray-Man?" He seemed to be pretty open to the whole book concept. Or maybe he was humouring me.

"No, no, StarClan is something completely different, as for my friend—" I paused. On second thought, maybe taking Allen to Whisperheart's house would be very bad for his health. Well, a little late now.

"Yeah, she reads the manga," I answered.

He smiled. "Cool." I assumed he probably had no idea that heading to Whisperheart's house was detrimental. I wondered if I should tell him or not, but at that point, we'd stopped at the doorstep. I left the question unasked.

Slowly, I knocked on the door. "Whisper, there's...er...someone here to meet you!" I then looked over at Allen. "Beware the glomp," I warned.

"The wha...?" Allen began.

The door creaked open, and his sentence was cut off when Whisperheart cried, "ALLEN!" and glomped him. Unprepared, Allen fell over. I laughed quietly while feeling slightly bad for Allen.

Key word, slightly.

"When did he land here?" Whisperheart asked, looking excitedly back up at me.

I laughed. Then I felt like a jerk. Then I laughed some more. Didn't Lilac already say this earlier?

"Just a few minutes ago, as far as I know," I answered, helping her and the more then slightly dazed Allen to his feet.

She nodded, seeming sort of hyper now. "That's so cool! Why'd you bring him here? Can he stay at my place?"

Allen glanced between Whisperheart and me, seeming slightly lost. Timcampy was clinging to his head. "Who are—" he began.

"Whisperheart!" she said cheerfully.

He nodded. "Nice to meet both of you."

"Hey!" a voice called, and I turned to see Spirithunter walking towards us. Oddly, she was alone. What was she doing out?

"Oh, hey Spirit!" I greeted. "You need something?"

"Na, just out for a walk," she responded, stopping in front of us. She cast a glance at Allen, shook her head, and looked back at me. "This might sound odd...but have you seen the toad hopping around asking if we recognize him?"

Allen cocked his head. "I did. After that, I went into a house looking for something sane. Instead, I found a winged girl on the couch with her sister eating bean sprouts. Both of them were armed. It was sort of weird."

"If that's the weirdest thing you've ever seen, you're in for quite a shock," I admitted, laughing sheepishly.

"No, I've seen some pretty weird things, but a talking toad sort of came as a surprise."

I smirked, then glanced back towards Spirithunter. "Talking toad...you're referring to someone who's not Magicyop, right?" I asked. I knew Magicyop wasn't REALLY a talking toad, but still, the title often associated with his name.

"Well..." Spirithunter looked like she was trying (and failing) to find some way to put this. "What if I told you it actually was Magicyop...?"

"Then I'd be forced to ask the question of whether or not his butt was on fire," I responded before I could stop myself. I then noticed that everyone was staring at me. Particularly Allen, to whom the statement made the least sense. "Er...I mean..." I began, looking for a way to clarify my statement. Then I gave up. How DO you clarify that statement? "You know what? Forget I said anything."

Spirithunter laughed. "I'm sort of sad to say I'm not joking. No, his butt was not on fire. He says that he found a blue box, of sorts, that lets him transform into a toad, or whatever. Do you know anything about it?"

A thought came to mind. "I might...have you heard of Animorphs?"

"Um...I think it was mentioned when those aliens, Hork-something, first showed up..."

"It could be the morphing cube, then. Maybe you should ask Lilac or Starry, they seem to have the most grasp on the situation, whilst I hide behind both of them as to be a lazy bum so I don't have to do anything."

Meanwhile, back at the house...

"I don't know why...but I think I'll slap Soundy when she comes back home," Lilacheart decided.

"The morphing cube..." Spirithunter muttered. She then shook her head again. "Want to go for a walk? It's fairly nice out this evening, despite the cold and the smoke, obviously."

"Sure," I said, nodding. "Whisper, Allen can stay with you. Try not to hurt him by glomping him, 'kay?"

"Okay! You have fun!" Whisperheart said, hugging Allen. Allen gave a nervous grin and waved politely. "See you later."

I mouthed the words 'I am so sorry' and gave a hopeful smile in return. "Bye."

"See you guys," Spirithunter said with a wave before walking off down the street, obviously meaning for me to follow. I followed, glancing over my shoulder at Allen a few times. Poor guy...

We walked in silence for a while. Spirithunter chose a path that went to the park, eventually winding around until we were walking beside the river. "You know how the clone, Shaoran, mentioned Sakura's feather the other day?" she asked suddenly.

I nodded. "It's probably why we all nearly died earlier today. What of it?"

"I've kind of been wondering about, like, where it might be. Mokona hasn't been acting strange or anything lately, has it?"

I thought it through for a moment. Finally, I shook my head. "Not that I've noticed, no..."

"If Mokona hasn't been reacting, then it's got to be hidden somehow, right? But where, and how would it be hidden?"

"Beats me."

Spirithunter shrugged. "Do you remember anything from the books that might help?"

"I'm not really a hardcore Tsubasa fan, but I can ask Lilac or Starry if you'd like..."

Without warning I felt a large jab in my side. I wind milled my arms, trying to catch my balance, then fell headfirst into the river.

Now, you may have been expecting me to thrash around or wonder what the heck had just happened, but instead I was thinking, Hm, the land looks pretty from underwater. Okay. I'm not that smart. Sue me.

Something suddenly wrapped around my ankle, yanking me deeper into the water. THAT was when I was wondering what the heck this was. I twisted around and tried to get a look at it. It looked like a long, serpentine creature, with long red ears and a horn...Wait, a Milotic? So I guess we had more than just the Absol when it came to Pokémon, now...this discussion would be so much easier if said Pokémon wasn't trying to kill me.

The Milotic dragged me deeper, starting to coil its body around me. I tried to twist out of the creature's grasp, but guess how badly that failed. (Or, even better, don't.) Everything began to fade black as I ran out of air, and I made the mistake of inhaling. So now I was blacking out, and had a lungful of water.

Delightful.

Abruptly, I felt a slight but sharp pain in my ribs. It was a little different from the pain I was already experiencing from the lack of air. A strange, gentle sensation rippled through my sides, and everything began to come back into focus. I could see how the Milotic seemed to hesitate, but it was only for a second. After that, it tightened its grip slightly.

I found that I no longer felt the urge to inhale large quantities of water, which was a little confusing, since just a second before, I had been about to black out. I kicked my legs, but found I didn't have legs anymore; I had a fish tail.

My first thought was 'what the foo?' Then my second was 'ooh, shiny'. Then it was just 'what the foo' again. My legs had turned into a fish tail, for StarClan's sake!

At this point, the Milotic seemed really confused. Join the club, Milotic. Well, I'm just judging this from the way it was loosening its grip. My Attention Deficit "Ooh, Shiny" Disorder (ADOSD?) didn't stop me from taking advantage of the moment and try to get away from it while it was confused. Just because I could breathe now, for whatever the reason, I wasn't pushing my luck. I kicked out with whatever coordination I had in my legs (repeat: none) and felt myself slip loose. It attempted to regain its grip, but by this point, I was out of grasping range, and swimming away as fast as I could. My mind was on +Anima, mainly Husky. I guess I was a lot like Husky right now, with a fish tail. Only difference was I was a girl. He just looked like one.

The Milotic charged after me, clearly not intending to let me escape. Would this thing not let up? Why was it so persistent? I hadn't done anything to it! And where had Spirithunter gone all of a sudden? How had I fallen in here? Why was this happening to the county? Where was the feather? (Who am I? Where am I? Who took my wallet?)

The Milotic cried out behind me, and a sharp jolt rippled through the water. A Water Pulse. I ignored it to the best of my abilities, and gathered my remaining energy for one last push towards the shore.

I hit the surface and somehow ended up flying out of the water, graceful...beautiful...free in the air...

And then I hit the ground and just looked plain stupid.

Spirithunter didn't seem to notice, however. "Soundy!" she shouted. "Are you alright?"

"Uh-Uh huh..." I managed to say, trying not to feel embarrassed. "What happened again?"

"You just collapsed," she murmured, an uneasy tone in her voice. "...By the way, your feet—"

"I know," I snapped. Then I caught my bad mood. (Yes. I nearly died, and now I'm, no, not scared, but in a bad mood. It makes just as much sense as finding things pretty when I'm drowning.) "Sorry. We're going to have to talk to Sheila. Something tried to kill me down there."

"R-really?" She seemed shocked. But...something inside my gut wasn't buying this.

I could swear that I had been pushed.

But why? That made no sense at all...

Unless...

"Hey, Soundy, there's something in your shoulder."

"Wha...?" I glanced at my shoulder. Spirithunter was right. There was blood welling over and open wound on my shoulder. Inside the wound, was...a glass shard.

And the only sentence I could think to say was "What the" followed by a profanity word of your choice.

I gripped the edge of the shard and eased it out with a wince. "I knew I was prone to getting cuts when I swam, but this is ridiculous," I said to myself. Lilacheart and I always seemed to cut ourselves when we were swimming. But...just...a glass shard? What was this even doing in the river? And how does it run through my shoulder without me knowing it? Heck, I couldn't even feel it in my hands now!

"...It's special," I murmured quietly.

"Huh?"

I'd almost forgotten about Spirithunter. Wow, was my attention span short. I sort of ignored her, turning to glance at the sky.

"It's getting dark. We should head home." I pushed myself upright, and flopped my tail for a second or two before it disappeared. Then I stood up. "I'd like to walk home alone," I muttered.

"That's not safe," Spirithunter cautioned.

Somehow, I felt walking with her wasn't safe, either. "I'll take my chances. See you tomorrow, Spirit."

I turned around and walked away. Quietly, almost mirroring what I'd done earlier with Allen, I glanced over my shoulder and muttered "I'm so sorry..." but this time, my reason was different.

By the time I was back at the street, it was already dark. But that didn't stop me from seeing the little critter walking down the road. He looked a lot like a cat, holding a disk-sized ring, and he was walking on two legs. I didn't even hesitate to walk over to him. "It's dangerous to be walking out here, Klonoa."

Klonoa looked up at me. "Do I know you?" he whimpered.

"No, but I know you, and that's all that matters." I yawned loudly before signalling he follow me. "We need to head indoors before Shaoran appears and tries to murder us."

Klonoa glanced around before following me. I opened the door and sat down on the couch. I was so tired...

"So, who are you?" Klonoa asked.

"My name is Soundstorm. For more details, you can talk to my sister. Goodnight."

—

POV: Syaoran

"Lilacheart-san?" I said, knocking on the door frame to her room.

"Yes?" came Lilacheart's sleepy response.

"...Your sister's on the couch. There's a cat resting its head on her shoulder."

"...Come again?" she asked, and I heard her forcing herself out of bed. She pushed the door open, rubbing her eyes. I wasn't sure if she seemed to remember that she was in her PJs. She didn't seem embarrassed, so I figured I shouldn't be either.

"Your sister is on the couch with an anthropomorphic cat sitting beside her."

"...Awww, how cute," she laughed, before walking passed me.

I wasn't really kidding. Who was that black cat kid anyway? With a shrug, I went a few paces down the hall and gently knocked on Sakura's door. "You awake?" I called quietly, as to not wake her up if she wasn't.

"I've been awake for an hour," came Sakura's response.

I pushed the door open and walked over to her. "How are you?" I asked. I'd been concerned over her burn wounds, but Emily had healed them really well. I'd refused to be healed until Sakura was.

"I'm good. You?" she asked.

"I'm fine."

Whatever conversation we were about to have was cut off with a loud yelp.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"We should probably check it out," I decided. We both walked out to the living room and saw Soundstorm staring incredulously up at Lilacheart.

"You slapped me," Soundstorm finally said.

"...I don't know, I sort of thought you deserved it."

"...Why?"

"...Instinct. And your self-esteem."

"...Oh. Yeah. I guess I did deserve that, huh?" she muttered, more to herself.

"Am I missing something?" I slowly queried.

"It's a twin thing," the two answered.

"Who's the cat?" I asked, deciding it would make much more sense if I switched subjects.

"Klonoa. Some cute little cat kid," Soundstorm immediately responded. I nodded to prove my semi-existent understanding.

"Soundstorm-san, what's that in your hand?" Sakura asked, walking towards the twins and grabbing Soundstorm's left wrist. In her hand was a glass shard. It was covered in blood.

"This? Oh, I found it when I nearly drowned yesterday."

There was a long silence.

"You have so much explaining to do, it's not even funny," Lilacheart finally informed her.

"...I know, it's hilarious." Her tone was sarcastic. "Long story short, there's a Milotic in the river and I'm a +Anima."

"...I'm never letting you out of my sight again," Lilacheart decided, gently taking the glass out of her hand. "This looks familiar..."

I stayed quiet while she thought. Her sister seemed to be analyzing it as well. I didn't understand. It was just glass...

Who am I kidding? This is Wands and Worlds County. It could be anything. When Yûko said that we'd see worlds that defied all logic, this is probably what she'd been talking about.

"...This," Lilacheart half-gasped in an amazed tone, "is the glass I scraped my wrist on three weeks ago."

"I-it is? I thought you left that in your room!" Soundstorm said. "On your dresser—"

"It disappeared." She turned to look at me. "Remember when I gave you bandages when we first met, Syaoran-kun?" she asked. I nodded; it felt like years ago, but I could recall what she was talking about. "Well, the bandages I had were because I scraped my wrist against this piece of glass."

"How do you scrape your wrist against glass?" I wondered.

"It involved basketball, a mop, tennis shoes, and my science teacher. Ironically, no broken windows. This glass was just...there. I don't know why. I suppose there's a reason..."

"Syaoran!" Mokona called from the top of the stairs before promptly...falling down them.

"Way to go," Lilacheart laughed before going to help the poor creature.

"Are you okay?" I asked, walking over to it. "What is it?"

"Mokona just felt a really strong power!"

Sakura, Kurogane, Fai, Lilacheart, and Soundstorm were all surrounding us now. Kurogane and Fai, I'll add, had followed Mokona down the stairs, needless to say, without falling. "Where from?" I asked.

"There!" It pointed towards the shard in Lilacheart's hand.

"Soundy found it," she said, quickly handing the glass back to her sister.

"I don't want to the credit," she whimpered, passing the glass back to her sister. The two continued to pass it back and forth for several seconds before Kurogane finally snapped, "Stop it before you accidently kill one another! That thing's sharp, you know!"

Seriously, living with these twins was often more entertaining then what was on TV.

"Here." I took the glass from both of them before kneeling down to Mokona's height. Everyone, including me, watched in interest as Mokona took the shard.

"It's from a mirror," it murmured.

"Isn't that usually considered bad luck?" I asked.

"Considering that I was drowning when I found it..."

"Soundy, I seriously wonder if you have more doom magnetism then Himawari," Lilacheart laughed.

"Says the woman who fell off a building," Soundstorm shot back, but the two were smiling, so I couldn't help but laugh, especially since Sakura did.

Watanuki. It'd been a while since I'd spoken to him, even though we were in the same place. I wondered how he was. Or how Yûko was doing without him. Would that be her first complaint?

"Didn't Himawari-chan doom the people around her, and not herself?" I asked.

"DOES IT REALLY MATTER!" Kurogane roared, causing Sakura to jump, me to flinch...but it just made everyone else laugh harder.

I glanced over at the cat kid, who looked so lost that I actually felt bad for it. I waved it over towards us. "My name's Syaoran," I said as it came into hearing distance.

It smiled and nodded. "I'm Klonoa."

"Nice to meet you."

The cat grin it gave almost reminded me of Mokona.

Wait, a cat and a rabbit/manjû bun. Was that safe?

There was no time to worry about that now. "What's so powerful about a mirror shard?" I asked Mokona, who focused intently on it. Suddenly, it started squeaking and jumping up and down.

"It's on the tip of my tongue—!" it repeated a couple of times, before saying, "It's an amplifier!"

"An amplifier...?" Fai asked. "Care to explain?" He seemed intrigued.

It turned the shard around a couple of times in its paws before glancing around. "Can someone hold this?"

We all exchanged glances, then I knelt in front of it and took the shard.

"Hold out the point," it requested. I listened to it, and held the point directly to it, unsure of what it was going to do. Gently, it tapped the jewel against the sharp edge of the mirror.

"Mekyû!" it cried, its eyes shooting open in 'boink' mode. With that, a beam of light shot out of the jewel on its forehead and projected an image...

"Y-Yûko!" Lilacheart cried in surprise. I glanced at her, and she immediately went red in the face. "Yûko-san," she corrected herself. I gave her a sympathetic smile. It's not easy getting used to someone else's culture.

Yûko turned to face us. "Mokona. It's been a while. Have you been having a hard time getting into contact? The other Mokona and I tried to get into touch with you the other day."

"That had some painful results," Fai recalled. We all nodded. Well, except Klonoa. Poor thing.

"...Lilacheart and Soundstorm. Those are your names, correct? Mokona mentioned you the last time we talked."

"H-huh? Y-yeah, that's it."

"Many others live in your county, correct?"

"Yes." The two both nodded, and I even found myself nodding. I had a hard time keeping track of the members, let alone trying to name off some for Sakura.

"Can you get them all together?"

"Last time we all tried to get together..." Lilacheart began. She glared at all of us, just daring us to speak. Had something happened after I'd fallen unconscious from the smoke fumes...?

"The clone tried to kill us," she finished slowly.

Yûko nodded. "This is different," she assured the two. "I need to talk to the entire county."

"...Are we finally going to get an explanation?" Lilacheart whispered.

"...Yes, I think I can safely say you will."

"Woohoo!" the twins cheered. I smiled, at the same time agreeing with them. It was about time we got some answers.

Klonoa glanced questioningly at Soundstorm, who nodded. "Go right ahead."

"Wahoo!" he cheered. Soundstorm laughed. I guess Klonoa was known for saying that, or something...?

"We'll get back to you soon, okay, Yûko-san?" Lilacheart said.

Yûko gave a short nod. I pulled the glass shard away from Mokona, and the image faded out.

"Soundy? Call Sheila," Lilacheart said.

"Okay. By the way..." She grinned. "It was me who taught Kurogane to use the cell phone." Then she disappeared around the corner.

"...Why didn't I expect that?" Lilacheart asked Kurogane. He refused to answer.

—

POV: ?

There wasn't much noise amongst all of us. Most of us were resting. Maybe everyone was asleep now. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get myself to sleep. I was too worried.

I noticed a figure approach me from my right. I turned my head to see him behind me.

"You can't sleep either, huh?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "No," I sighed. I looked down at the ground. It, too, like everything around us, was just a black expanse of nothing.

I felt a pang of fear grip my heart. "Are you sure she's okay?" I asked him, suddenly feeling frantic. "We haven't been able to find her...everyone else is here except her!"

"I'm sure she's okay. Maybe she managed to escape. Someone will find us, and I bet she'll be with them. Stop worrying."

I let out a long sigh. "I suppose..." I looked up. "Until then...we need to make sure this world stays bright."

I saw him give a small nod out of the corner of my eye. "Yes. Until its rightful owner reclaims it. Until then...we wait."