InnocentDiamond: I'll talk about the flash of yellow later. Groups of three refers to Chapter 1's title, remember? Everyone's talking about the third anomaly. It doesn't all have to be in one chapter. The cloak's for technical reasons.

Cup of Violet Tea: I haven't seen any of those scenes in REAL life. Thanks for being honest! The raven's kind of like the sunglasses effect, only it's not stiff and just a floating shape. Julie will explain more details soon.

fia3striker: You liked the major twists, right? I don't think I'll scare anyone anymore. I guarantee that Alice is NOT a drug lord. Keep guessing for now.

RosesOfTruth: New reviewer! I'll update every five days, and most chapters end in cliffhangers. I'm glad we like the same genres. Superstitions and anomalies play major roles.

Cherry-Tree: First person to notice two anomalies instead of three! I'll make up for it soon. Shun's mother isn't important, but she might appear, since we're time travelling. Julie doesn't know much either.

Flopi216: The person who planned Alice's death will come a long time later. Even Julie doesn't even know half the story.

SSR: Third chapter! I hope this story isn't going too fast for you. I already planned this to end up near 20 or more chapters.

Marucho: That's a lot of chapters.

SSR: I was looking through newspapers and found an ad for a charm bracelet, which inspired me.

Dan: As always, Sugar Spice Rush doesn't own Bakugan.

Chapter Three

Deep Inner Thoughts

...

...

Shun simply stared. "But why?"

"I...I don't know. I was-"

"First of all, Julie." Of course it was natural for Shun to be irritated when told that Alice's death wasn't accidental, but when told that it was related to these scientifically inexplicable anomalies, he went overboard. "Who are you? What's going on? When did all this start? Where did you come from? Why is all this happening?"

Julie was on the verge of crying, and Shun's harsh voice wasn't helping. "I'll start from the beginning. I, Julie Makimoto, am from what you'd call an 'alternate dimension' in which we Guardians of Time watch over time pass by smoothly without any tampering. You with me so far?"

"Pretty much..."

"Good. Now recently, we've discovered that something was wrong with the time-space continuum and found out that Alice's death was planned ahead of time. Originally, she was supposed to die much later from natural causes, as most people would, but we forward and saw the problem. Then we went backwards and noticed little details that lead to this problem. You still with me so far?"

"You made such a big problem sound like finding a badly-recorded scene in a video." Shun replied honestly. "I now know why you're here, but why are you you're specifically looking for me?"

"The problem lies within Alice, but we're only allowed to rewind or forward a certain amount of time at a time. We couldn't go deeper into the past to find what really happened..." From the pocket of her coat under the cloak, Julie pulled out a golden chain bracelet. "But we can travel back in time step by step with this. Look familiar?"

Shun took the bracelet and examined carefully. "It looks like the charm bracelet I gave to Alice for her sixteenth birthday, only without all the charms. Where did you get this? Where did the charms go?"

"I found this on Alice when I was in the hospital, minutes before her grandfather arrived. I can choose to invisible to certain people, that's why. I don't know about the charms at all. Close your eyes, lay the bracelet in the palm or your hand, and think deeply."

Can I really go back in time to save Alice? Is what Julie telling me all real? Uncertain of his decision to leave the present and change the past, Shun reached his hand out to grab the bracelet but didn't do anything with it. "When exactly are we traveling to?"

"Well, since you met Alice a year ago, I'll try to make us land during that time period, but you'd better hurry. I have a feeling these anomalies are connected with you somehow too. Look."

Shun looked up to see a discolored long streak in the sky, turning from clear blue to rosy pink and other colors. "First the raven, then the fireballs, now this aurora. I accept fate. Here's goes nothing." He placed Alice's bracelet in his hand, held his palm out, and closed his eyes. I want to go back in time to save Alice...

"That's the spirit!" Julie placed her fingers on her temples and focused. Energy flowed into the bracelet and made it glow, creating a portal hovered above the two and shone light on them. "Here goes nothing..."

...

...

Splish...splash...splish...splash...

Water hit up against the rocks along the shore. The weathermen said tonight would have high tide late at night and early morning, but the ocean water wasn't all that patient. This time of the month begged spring tide to come. Two people stood at the top of the cliffs, safe from the rising water.

"Where are we?" asked Shun, staring into the vast blueness of the ocean. It was dark, and the moon was only a slender crescent. No sun was in sight, but it was a little bright to be midnight. "I don't recall this place."

"Let me see." Julie took out her pocket watch and turned a few dials. "We're officially three years before the time we opened the time traveling portal. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Three years...and a beach...I don't know. I've only been to a beach on weekends with my mom. Should we walk down?"

"If you can find a way down, why not?"

As they carefully walked down the rock formations, Shun recalled a memory. "Wait. Alice and I have been to a beach before. We were together for about two months when she offered to take me to the beach. It was a memorable, beautiful sunny day..."

Once they reached the bottom of the shore, Julie stared into the ocean again and murmured, "I wonder how it feels to ride a sailboat out in the ocean."

"I wonder, too." Suddenly, a splash in the water caught his attention. "Did you hear that? It sounded like rocks being thrown into the water." Shun ran down the shore and saw multiple boulders along the shores. On the tallest boulder sat a girl with her knees to her chest, tossing pebbles into the ocean. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Huh?" She picked up her pebbles and slid down the boulder. "I guess I'm not the only person here who does this as well."

Now Shun was the confused one, but he was more confused about who this girl was. Even in the dark, he could tell she had orange hair that looked brown against the blue ocean. Her skin glowed warmly like the moon. "Alice?"

She giggled sweetly. "How did you know my name?"

Oh right. I didn't know her three years ago yet. "Just a guess. It reminded me of when Alice in Wonderland was lost and had nothing to-"

"Shun!" Julie caught up behind him, panting heavily. "Alice doesn't know you yet! She can't see me, so see if you can talk some stuff out of her for now. I have to do other things."

"Got it. Be safe." He faced Alice again, but Shun couldn't focus with the awkwardness of them being complete strangers right now. "Do you always come here every night?"

"Sometimes. It's really relaxing. What's your name?"

"Shun."

"Hi Shun. Do you always come out here by yourself?"

"Well..." How am I going talk anything out of her if we have nothing in common? "Isn't that the whole point of going here? To relax by yourself and express your inner thoughts?"

"You sound like a really deep and thoughtful person."

He chuckled. "That's exactly what someone else called me to. Deep and thoughtful."

"Who is it?"

I wish I could say 'you', but I just can't. "My late girlfriend."

"Oh...sorry to hear." Alice walked over to Shun and asked, "What do you exactly do out here?"

"You really want to know?"

"Come on. I'm bored. I have no more pebbles."

"Okay then. Do what I do." He stepped forward a little enough to avoid the water. Putting his hands around his mouth, Shun yelled, "I wish my girlfriend was still alive!"

"Oh, I see." Alice step forward so she lined up with Shun. "I wish other people wouldn't ignore me!"

"Say what?"

Although Alice enjoyed the feeling yelling anything she wanted, she yelled out one of her most deep, inner thoughts in front of a stranger. "That's about it..."

"Alice, I'm serious. We may not know each other-" Saying that hurt Shun's feeling a lot. "-but if something's wrong, then you should do more than just saying it out loud."

Alice sighed, knowing there was no return. "I wish, but some things are strictly left up to fate to decide."

"Like what?"

She turned her head toward him, staring yearningly into his amber eyes. "There are times in which I feel like people want me gone..."

...

...

"Stop here!"

Julie ordered Marucho, ironically her superior, to stop rewinding. "Are you sure this is where you sent Shun? Three years seems too far back."

"I did my best. I'm not as skilled as you are."

"That's true." He forwarded through a couple scenes. "Looks like Alice's going through some teenage life crisis."

"What...?"

"As far as I know, it's not a typical crisis about what to do with your life. Something deeper is going on here. This started before three years ago, but doesn't show up until here. Kato, I need your help."

"Yes, Master Marucho."

What kind of life crisis was Alice going through? Julie thought, unaware of what Alice already told Shun.

Dan: Traveling in time back to a beach was pretty random.

Marucho: A very relaxing point to start, actually.

Dan: Of course you'd say that.

SSR: If you look at the charm bracelet, four of the charms are dolphin, turtle, Buddha's shell, and anchor. All maritime items. Didn't Julie take out Alice's charm bracelet earlier?

Dan: Cheap robber.

Shun: Name caller.

Runo: Please just shut up!

SSR: The bracelet's called "All the Luck in the World" Lucky Charm Bracelet. You can probably find images online. Please review guys!

Everyone: See you all on Halloween!