For a moment, he considered her nerve and what might be behind it. Certainly, she had shown a dramatic natural gift for magic and a rather distinct inclination towards the element of fire. However, she had only basic training in forming spells and rudimentary knowledge of said theory. His scrutiny did not fall to the wayside as he inquired precisely about her point.

"No, I disagree. There's more to it than just faith in magic," she began, idly running the feathered end of the quill along her cheek. "Faith in the deity is what's important. There wouldn't be magic without the deity."

She glanced at her notes, embarrassed, having heard her grandfather's voice in her own.

"Granted," he replied, pacing slowly. "But how will that help you focus your mind on the 'impossible'?"

She raised her hand again.

"Yes, Falra?"

"We can't see the deity, normally. There are visions and other stuff, but magic is the same. We can't see that until it's done. Believing in what we can't see… it's all the same."

"There's the feeling, though," observed a dirty blond-haired young man, raising his hand and lowering it as the words passed his lips. "You know it's there, the whole thing. It doesn't matter what it is; each feels different."

"Good, Juan," the teacher smiled. His gaze shifted to the rest of the two dozen-member group. "Juan has it exactly right. What you feel is most important. Magic is very emotionally tactile. Positive spells, such as the restorative, tend to have an encouraging manifestation. Some have been aptly described as 'invisible hugs.' This is part of why healers tend to be the friendly sort. Oppositely, as most of you already know, there is negative magic for the darker aspects of people. Summarily, faith in magic, or the deity, however you may view it, is supported by these feelings."

He turned and faced the distraught-looking student, who twisted a collection of short, shoulder-length black hair in her fingers.

"You are not wrong, young lady. Your approach to spell construction is as valid as any other. Do not forget that it is not the path taken but the result of the chosen direction."

'Shimatta,' she muttered, frustrated as she added to her newly learned scrawl upon the scroll.

"That is all for this week," the teacher announced. "We meet again at the same time next week, as usual. Your only assignment," he continued, pausing long enough for the students to settle down. "Is to read the local lore records. Now get the heck out of here!"

"Miss Hino?" requested the unpaid educator upon her standing up. "I would like to say something to you."

She felt a cold welling in her stomach.

"Yes?" she replied softly, facing him with mixed emotions.

"You have made clear your talent and experience in these matters…" More than you would even guess, she thought, concealing her ire. "Try to remember that your surroundings have completely changed. Learning to accept others' attitudes, especially regarding magic, would be best. The balance between manna and the mind is exceedingly delicate. Your formidable arguments, while passionate, are not always spot on and can discourage early apprentices."

"Yes," she nodded half-heartedly. "May I go?"

He nodded and walked away, shaking his head slightly. He had failed to reach her and could not fathom why. Folder locked against her chest, a frown written upon her stern regard, the young man who came to her in the hallway afterwards found considerable nerve in the approach as she half-stamped away from the classroom.

"Uh, Falra?"

She blinked, frowning faintly. Great, the guy who made me look like an idiot, she snarled in thought, not stopping nor acknowledging his request for attention. Her pace became heavier and somewhat increased.

"Okay," he replied to her lack of response. "Forget it. Seeya."

Instantly, she whirled about, feeling poorly. She reached out and pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Uhm," she began rather eloquently. "What?"

He faced her, arms crossed, a negative expression on his attractive face. "Look, I wasn't saying, 'Hey stupid; this is how it really works.' I've been a mage for years, and I know better. The way you see it is right too, for Lazlo's fricken' sake."

She said nothing, not even looking at him.

His frown deepened. "Your attitude sucks," he bit off, then turned to leave. She gazed after him, not quite knowing what to think. An urge pushed her to pursue him, which she initially ignored until nostalgia reminded her only one other had been able to have such nerve.

With this thought, she walked rapidly after him, following her sense of his comparably high-level aura. He had to be the most powerful mage in the minuscule school. As she reached the men's dorm, she realized she had no idea where his room was and also that she could no longer sense that powerful aura. Glancing around, she noted a green-haired girl chatting at high speed with three others.

"Meiya!" she called, waving at the lithe blue-robed girl. She was a recently indoctrinated healer, proving her mystic prowess and her social as well. Out of thirty students, perhaps one had found cause to dislike her. The thin-lipped girl smiled widely in reply, muttering something to her friends and then walking over to her.

'Hiya Fal-san,' she chimed in Japanese, bowing faintly. Falra recalled that the young woman was of Asian descent, despite her strongly Western appearance.

'Hai, how are you?' she bowed, mollified by being able to lapse into her native tongue.

'Really good!' she laughed. 'I learned "Ball of White" today. My first offensive spell. Not often a healer gets to pick up stuff like that!'

She nodded curtly. 'There are no healing spells for fire elementals like me,' she replied with a faint grimace. 'Too bad, I…'

'Iye,' she negated, interrupting her, a friendly snide grin spreading across her face. 'There is a healing flame even you can learn, you stubborn thing.'

Rei smiled faintly. 'So, what is it?'

'Is what?'

She tapped the side of her head, a knowing smirk upon her face. 'You forget very quickly,' she said. 'I am a psychic. Silly girl.'

'Empath. I remember. Um… it's a guy I'm looking for. I was nasty to him and… I kinda wanted to say sorry,' she explained, averted her eyes slightly.

'You? Nasty? No joke?' she exclaimed, mock surprise upon her finely detailed face. 'It's Juan, isn't it.'

'How do you know?'

'Because he's staring at you,' she pointed behind the dark-haired mage. 'Good luck, 'cause I'm outta here!'

They bowed simultaneously, and Meiya departed with a warming smile.

"Funny you two should get along," he remarked. "She's so nice…"

"And I'm not?"

He shrugged, his eyebrows pitching up for a moment. "You're Falra the Phoenix. You know what they say. 'Don't get too close, or you'll get burned.' It's true, too," he concluded. "I'm still smoking from the cold shoulder you nailed me with."

She sighed with the weight of emotion resting within her soul. "You don't know me, so don't think you can make judgment calls. I've been through more than you think."

"I don't think anything. I'm just going on how you've treated me: Not very kindly. That," he declared, "I can judge as I like."

She folded her arms and turned away slightly. "And I was going to apologize. Silly me."

"Okay. Silly you."

Her eyes narrowed, and her thin black eyebrows nearly met. While he waited, she thought and, after a while, decided. She faced him. "All right," she began soberly. "I'm sorry for…"

"Being a cow?" he filled in helpfully. Her face tensed again, then relaxed.

"Yes," she sighed heavily.

"Well, that's cool. I'd heard you never apologize to anyone."

She regarded him thoughtfully. "I don't. Why should I if they're…" she caught herself. "Oh."

"Yeah. Hey, there's a first time for everything," he smiled so warmly that the effect caught upon her expression, lighting her mind as much as a physical representation of emotion. "Come on," he gestured, turning towards the lunchroom. "Buy ya lunch?"

She balked at him, then nodded, warming internally to his pleasant attitude. Shortly after that, she smiled over a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup (it was flu season, after all).

"Thank you."

"Sure, you're welcome," he blinked. "For what? You thanked me for lunch."

"I'm kinda stubborn…" she started.

"No, really?" he smirked as he lifted a noodle-laden spoonful to his mouth. She frowns for a moment. "You mean for standing up to you when no one else would? I know."

Silence.

"I did it 'cause I think you're as hot as hell."

Her spoon soundly splashed in the large earthenware bowl as a deep blush flooded her features. "Uh…" she gasped, fumbling for the spoon, dipping her fingers into the scathing mixture as she stared at him blankly. "Ow!"

Her burnt fingers quickly went to her mouth, then were clasped in her other hand. Concern washed over the young man's face as he urged her to let him caress the burn. "I'm sorry," he issued before pulling her delicate hand up and kissing the fingers.

"It stings. How romantic is that?"

"It was my fault, let me…" he said, and in so doing, confessed to her, 'No, I'm not perfect.' A tingling sensation banished the superficial throbbing within moments of his hushed chanting. Politely, she pulled her hand away.

"It's better," she told him, a faint warmth in her voice. "A lot. Thanks."

"Forgive me?" he tried, uninterested in his cooling lunch. Numbly, she averted her gaze and resumed eating.

"Sure. Nice to know you've got good taste," she half smirked. There was no point in inquiring after his sincerity. His eyes told her plainly what she needed to know. He was cute, no doubt, but… a tad pushy.

Oh, she thought sarcastically—just a little. In a relatively short period, lunch had ended, and he was gazing at her steadily.

"Hey, I'm not busy now," he offered elbows upon the table, hands clasped together.

"I am, though," she growled. He blinked at her, almost offended. "No, no, it's not… It's Ms. Kayole. She's nagging me to perform a Cloud of Smoke… but…"

"But…?"

"Uhm… but…" she stopped, cursing her mumbling mouth. Then, she gazed at him firmly, flirtatiously flicking her hand through her hair. "Do you tutor?"

Juan found the table of sexual control flipped over quite swiftly. She had it, and… he didn't mind.

"Uh," he muttered, her smile beaming. Her cunning combination of appearance and action had the desired effect, prompting him to say, "I do now."

—

The effect was immediate and dramatic. Juan laughed loudly as the light grey cloud quickly suffused the circumference of the circle of apprentice mages with such speed that the bright-haired and compactly built teacher lost her equilibrium, falling over in a robed heap.

There's your cloud, you impatient cow! Falra grinned.

"Excellent!" cried Ms. Kayole, waiting for the thick manifestation to dissipate before recovering her feet. "Your improvement is exceptional! I am very pleased."

Falra bowed, hands clasped in front of her. "Thank you, Ms. Kayole."

" 'Cissy' my dear, please," she smiled, approaching and laying a hand upon her shoulder as she leaned close. "Lucky girl. He's so cute. But you know he doesn't just tutor anyone."

"Oh really…"

"Oh yes! He must like you… and see - as I - that you have a great strength."

He was smiling proudly as her eyes fell upon him. As they exited the circle, Falra allowed some distance away from the other mages. She turned to him, took his face in her hands, and fully rested her lips. As they kissed, his hands descended to her slender hips. She murmured something as she pulled away, removing his hands from her body and taking one of his hands in both of hers.

"No," she decreed softly. "Don't."

He nodded a sincerely innocent expression upon his apparent regard. "Shoot. Okay. On your word, gorgeous."

She turned, leading him through the hallway toward the large, open garden. "You've been so sweet these last couple of weeks, Juan. I was thanking you."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," he replied with an earnest and honest smile. "Maybe we can go further next time."

"Maybe."

Juan felt the tension suddenly surrounding her, like a glimmering shield of manna. Gently, he prodded: "What's up, beautiful?"

"Just because I won't… you think something's wrong?"

"Did I say that? Before you get nasty, stop and think. Please?"

Internally, she reluctantly snapped a leash about the roaring beast of emotion that loomed over her sense of hope. "Sorry."

"Forget it. Not your fault. It's been a long week."

She shook her head minimally. "That's not it."

"I'm all ears, Fal," he offered, pushing only slightly.

The fact that someone cared more intimately than she had ever previously understood brought a wash of brief serenity through her being and into her shining eyes as she beheld him. Yet, as memory beckoned, her expression darkened.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," she admitted selflessly.

"Great! Me too."

She chuckled despite herself.

"What's that 'but' expression for?"

Her hand squeezed his, emotional need tearing through her young soul. "Before… we get serious, we kinda need to talk."

He glanced at her with stark curiosity. "Kinda? Sounds scary."

She wrapped her arms around his. "It is."

"Scarier 'n you? I'm all ears," he offered.

"No, no, not here. It's… can we go to your room?"

He suppressed a smirk, knowing what he had in mind was quite distant in interest from hers. "Sure. Anytime."

"Now."

He shrugged. "This way."

As they proceeded in silence, she admitted something that made Juan wonder, to say the least: "I'm a D-Bee."

"You mean you came through one of the Rifts?" he started, not stunned as she might have thought him to have been. "Only freaks, demons, and mutants came through those."

"I didn't exactly have a choice," she muttered.

"No? Kid-" he was stifled as she slapped a hand over his mouth. He nodded as she pulled her hand away and let her into his room. She hopped onto the bed and sat, legs crossed, as he took his usual place in a customized chair. That is to say, a comfortable but haphazardly cushioned thing.

"Yes," she confirmed. "I was kidnapped…"

"If I wasn't a mage and…" he chuckled, "who I am, I wouldn't believe you. But I do."

"I wasn't sure you would," she replied, arms folded over her chest.

"Why not? I mean, come on, they're rifts. At least something worthwhile, like you, came through one for a change."

"Thank you, Juan," she smiled gratefully. "But it wasn't that simple! It's not like a mystic vacuum, or something sucked us in. Someone - something - sent that flaming lion after us."

"Okay, I'll buy it. What does that mean for you?"

"I… I don't know what you mean," she gazed at him blankly.

"Do you know what you're going to do? It sounds to me like you care about your friends a lot. You aren't giving up, are you?"

Her wandering eyes locked to his, face abruptly tensed. "What?"

"On them. Your friends."

She averted her gaze. "No, that's why I'm training to become a Walker."

"I'll help."

She peered at him vaguely. "You already are."

He spread his hands, palms up in a brief motion.

"Sure, but I mean in finding them. I know people. It might take a while. I don't think you'll mind my company, hey?" he grinned assuredly. Rising from the chair, he approached her and paused as she negated him for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. His lips found her forehead, and she sighed, emotions swirling in her soul.

"No. I can't ask you to risk your life for me."

"But you're not asking," he uttered with that ever-calming confidence which inspired his being. "I'm offering, and hell, I'm not going to watch you suffer 'cause it sucks to see you like this. You said you were falling in love, gorgeous? Well, so am I…"

—

"Why can't I sense anything?" she asked, purple eyes squinting into the translucent blue energy before her in the darkness. The distant crackle and hiss of tangible mana were awe-inspiring, and she could think of little else to say.

"Give yourself a moment to adjust," a brown-robed figure said. She stopped. "What is it, Rei?"

She glanced at him, "Juan, I asked you not to call me that!"

"Sorry, gorgeous."

"That's okay," she replied somewhat absently. Her eyes swept the valley that the small cliff overlooked, her gaze ponderous, alert, searching. Her voice came to his ear hushed as if she feared being overheard by someone or something; "I do sense something."

"Didn't I tell you?"

"Yeah, you're right… but I sense something else." Her words turned harsh again, "Don't give me that look! I don't know what they are!"

"Damn, Fal, I don't know either!" he snapped in reply. "You don't have to yell at me!"

She grabbed him by the shoulder of his robe, pulled him over to her, and made sure he was within arms reach.

"This was your dumb idea, you cute twit. It's not safe; we shouldn't even be here." She guided him to the edge of the cliff, where a section rose like a protective shield. They sat down behind the relative safety of the stones. He took several calming breaths, and it dawned on him that she was being so argumentative.

"Falra, would you calm down for a second? We're safe; this is pretty well-neutral territory. The Coalition is a long way off."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, gripping his shoulder and frowning. "I've never been to a nexus before. I didn't realize they were so big!"

Indeed, some three hundred feet high, massive glowing lines of blue psychic energy wavered and shimmered in the fantastic night as if swayed by some otherwise ineffectual wind. A towering oval of loudly crackling energy formed where they crossed, much like the portal…

-'Jupiter no!'-

Usagi!

…that had brought them here. Images flooded her mind. Where they had arrived after the portal had closed. The lion had gone. Why? She still failed to understand that. The strange floating ship, the blind women aboard it. Why did they not retaliate against the Splugorth? Again, another answer which was beyond her. She shook her head. Thoughts of Atlantis, death, and slavery made her shudder.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Juan breathed, holding her shoulders as they gazed at the incredible energy tower.

"Makes me wish I'd finished my Line Walker training…" she half-whispered.

Dully stared at the fantastic manifestation, her mind transporting her to a place much safer and more forgiving than the savaged Earth upon which she now lived. The power of the massive ley lines made her entire body tingle, a mighty rush moving through her slender frame. Never before had she felt quite so alive! As Juan observed the tiny spots fly through the great portal, he found his memory floundering in attempts to recall what they were.

"What are they…" he muttered, frustration beckoning.

"Hmm?"

Juan looked serious. "Look," he said, pointing towards the portal. "I think the leader, the queen, or whatever, is coming through the portal."

"Are you sure, Juan? I don't see anything," she squinted into the light of the dimensional doorway. "Wait, no, you're right, I see something…" Carefully, she watched a larger humanoid insect emerge from the portal. It looked as though the creature had a skin made up of plates, like armour, or was it an exoskeleton? She could not be sure. Watching it fly through, she noticed its abdomen was much larger than the others. It reminded her of a queen bee from her homeworld. A pang of homesickness struck her. After a time of the study, she noticed that the queen-bee creature was looking back at her.

She cursed. "We've been seen! It knows we're here!"

"Oh hell," he said, not wanting to believe they were in grave danger.

"Run!" she grabbed him as she turned to act upon her word. He uttered an oath and hurried to catch up to her. Her long black hair flew out behind her as she ran. She threw a glance over her shoulder.

"We're not going to make it!"

Juan could see the hovercycles in the distance and judged her right. They might have had to start their engines if they had left a few moments earlier. At that point, they would be just short of reaching their means of escape before the creature caught them.

"We need a distraction!" she called out. "Any ideas?"

"Well, if I can just get a second to cast a spell…" A myriad of spotlights lit the sky, announcing silently another distinct presence. "Oh, beautiful," Juan quipped. His eyes widened in alarm. "Duck!"

"Huh?" was her startled and stunned reply.

As Juan fell face-first into the dirt, he reached out with a hand in hopes of dragging her to the ground with him. Via a combination of tripping over an unseen stone and being grabbed by Juan, Falra found herself painfully winded as the ground came up to greet her by smacking her soundly on the forehead. Juan heard the low rumble of what he recognized to be jet engines as they flew over him, tossing, tangling his short hair, and rippling his robe as the violently expelled exhaust pushed at the two of them. He spat dirt and crawled over to Falra's fallen form. He went at her shoulder gently.

"Rei?"

She groaned and coughed. Her wildly dishevelled hair lay in the dirt, twisted and mangled. She put a hand to her head as she turned over, a dull throbbing washing through her skull. She did not speak, mainly due to her struggle for air. Once she found it, she croaked an effort at vocalization.

"Wha- What was that?"

"SAMs," he said, sounding defeated by a battle she did not even know they had been fighting. She lay there, not trying to move, and gave him a quizzical look.

"The Coalition."

A lone' Smiling Jack' SAMAS approached them as if to make a point of their presence. The winged armour landed and waved a gun in their direction.

"Get up," a deep voice said behind a very prominent metallic grin, the namesake of the power armour.

"Come on," Juan whispered, "numbnuts here won't take kindly to argument."

"We can handle him," she snarled, lighting beginning to manifest within her clenched hand.

"No, don't. Not yet, anyway."

"Get up!" the 'Jack snapped impatiently and threateningly.

"Wait until I say 'when,'" he ordered in hushed tones, helping her up. Once on their feet, Falra winced when she set her weight on her right foot.

"Hurt bad?"

She nodded. "I think it's broken."

"Shit," he sighed.

"What are you to doing here?" 'Jack demanded.

Juan gazed at the armour with his best false cock sure mask. "We heard a loud buzzing and thought it might be a good idea to check it out. You know, D-bees. Thought maybe the good Coalition might want to know about it."

With a pair of mechanical whur-thwumps, the darkly smiling armour stepped towards them. "Your ID. Let's see your ID."

So it's not just the stupid grin, Falra thought sardonically.

The bravado quickly fled Juan Nathan Iridian. "Would you believe we left them at home?"

There was a dull click.

"Didn't think so," Juan muttered, then dropped a magic net on the grinning idiot's armour. "Falra, let's go!"

Falra hung frantically on to Juan with one arm as they fled, trying to reach the… "They're gone!"

"Halt magic users!" another commanding, deep voice demanded. "Halt or die!" Two more giant Super SAMAS armours stood at the site where the hovercycles had been.

"I'm sorry, Rei," he apologized uselessly in hushed tones, "If we get out of this alive, I'll make it up to you. I…" His voice fell silent, lacking words in the seriousness of the situation. Falra merely nodded, her head on his shoulder.

"I guess you can drop Falra," she noted cautiously. He started to speak, but she did not give him the chance.

"Wouldn't be good for the kids, right?" she chuckled faintly, pain creasing her brow.

"Well, well," one of the grunts in the armours said with a hint of false pleasure. "What've we got 'ere?"

The other SAMAS turned to the first. "It looks like the D-bee girl we been searchin' for," the second stated with a laugh in his words.

"I don't suppose they'd mind if we played with her for a bit?" the first asked the second.

Rage poured through Juan as his mind registered what they dared conjecture. Rei gasped, stunned by the flow of power from his flaring aura.

"Not all." The first seemed to ponder something. "What 'f," the first dropped the supposition.

"What?"

"What 'f she's too inhuman for us?"

"No!" Juan screamed, a swirling silver light encompassing the two young mages as he did something unique to his class:

He winged it. No spell in store, no wit in summoning, just a sharp blast of white energy, which tore into the first of the two robust armours, knocking it aside with a deep, male grunt.

"You won't touch her, not if I…"

"Oh shut up!" bellowed the second, a multicoloured bolt reducing Juan's head to particles. Rei fell away from the sudden corpse and collapsed into a shrieking heap.

"You too hussy," the armour grunted, slapping her softly. A large red welt formed across the side of her face. "Hey Joel, you cool?"

"Yeah, cool," he replied as he got to his feet. "That jerk hit hard, but I'm still kickin' shit. I tell you, I like these new PAs!"

"Ain't they sweet?"

"Oh yeah. So, who first? Oh man, she will be a great piece of action…"

"What… she's out! Are you going to…"

"What's she gonna do, wake up?" the first laughed. "You're bloody paranoid, Dallas. Witch bitch won't be casting nutin' when we're up in her…"

There was a hiss as the back of his armour opened. The short, deep air-cutting sounds of helicopter blades muted the noise. A small spotlight lit the collapsed figures, reflecting off their armour's glossy darkness.

"Report!" a loudspeaker voice rang.

"Emperor Prosek! Sir! We captured a D-bee, sir!" the second replied frantically, his fear keeping him from error in words.

"Ah, so I see. And the other?"

"Tried to kill me, sir!" the first armour snapped off as his armour hissed closed.

"I see you dealt with the creature appropriately. Good. Take the corrupted one and report back to Headquarters."

"Aye, sir!" they agreed in unison.

The first sighed as the spotlight and the sound of the helicopter faded.

"Damn!"

"That was close. Well, let's get busy. I can't wait to get a taste…"

"No," the first Sam said, sounding angrily disappointed. He turned to Juan's body and fired off a quick round. The body dispersed into the air, vaporizing in a thin burst of smoke. "You know what happened to the last guys who ticked him off, right?"

"Uh…"

"So shut yer damn trap and grab the D-bee hussy," he snapped.