This is my first attempt at writing fan fiction based on the El
Hazard series. Note that it is based on the continuity of the
two OAV series and the second television series "The Alternative
World". It certainly contains spoilers for the first OAV series,
and a few for the second OAV series. At this point, six chapters
are planned. Though I call them "chapters" they are more or less
independent stories (which is what I said about my Sailor Moon
stories, so you're free to believe as much of that as you like).


El Hazard and characters therein were created by Hiroki Hayashi
and Ryoe Tsukimura, and brought to North America by Pioneer LDC.
All the normal fanfic disclaimers apply. I'll give this one a
PG-13 rating (mainly for the violence content).


Ken Wolfe


Ken_Wolfe@mbnet.mb.ca



El Hazard - Earth Chapter 4 - The Silent Invasion



	Makoto reached in through the open car window and leaned on the
horn again, a short blast and a long, lingering one that would
hopefully say "move your sorry ass."

	After a moment, one of the sliding windows at the front of the
sprawling house slid open and a mop of tangled red hair leaned
out. "What the hell is all the... oh.  Makoto."

	"Morning, Shayla," Makoto called, waving. "You seen Alielle?"

	"Not between here and my bedroom, no." Her heavy lids came down
the rest of the way and she reached up to rub the sleep out of
her eyes.

	"Sorry if I woke you."

	"'Sokay," she mumbled. "Where are you off to at the crack of
dawn?"

	Makoto smiled. The sun had risen half an hour ago. Absently, he
wondered if Shayla had ever seen a sunrise in her life.
Supposedly she had undergone years of rigorous ascetic training,
but it was hard to picture that. "It's her first day of school."

	"Oh, right. Heaven help them." She closed the window and
disappeared.  Makoto sighed. Heaven help them indeed.

	He was about to go back into the house to hunt down his truant
charge when the front door slid open smartly. Alielle waved
enthusiastically. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" she called.  She
closed the door with a snap and came running the short distance
to the car. She giggled and did a little pirouette in front of
him. "So, what do you think?"

	Makoto just shook his head. "Alielle, I told you, that's the
summer uniform."

	"But it's warm today," she whined. She grasped both sides of
her pleated blue skirt and lifted it out to both sides, letting
it fan out. "And I like this one better anyway."

	It was unseasonably warm, that was true. They were having an
early spring. "I already explained, everyone is supposed to
change to their summer uniforms on the same day. Oh well, you'd
better get in. I'll just say a button was missing from the other
one or something."

	"Okay!" Alielle ran over to the other side of the car, slipped
her school bag off her back and climbed in. "I just love riding
in these things!"

	Except for Kauru, who tended to get carsick, all the Rostalians
had taken a liking to Earth's motor vehicles. But Makoto had
drawn the line at giving Shayla driving lessons. He started the
motor. "Seat belt, Alielle."

	"Oh, right." She put her bag down on the floor in front of her
and buckled up.  She pulled down the overhead sun shade and
inspected herself in the tiny mirror, adjusting the kerchief
that was tied around her white blouse. "This is going to be so
much fun!"

	Makoto pulled out onto the country road that ran in front of
their house and accelerated. There was very little traffic this
far out of town. "Japanese schools are very strict," he warned
her for the tenth time. "You're going to be working very hard,
especially since you'll be way behind everybody."

	"Don't be so sure of that," she said playfully, wagging a
finger. "I think they're the ones who are going to have to catch
up with me."

	"Alielle, reading a few history and science books is not a
substitute for the years of schooling your classmates all have
under their belts."

	"Humph." Alielle crossed her arms and stuck her little nose up.
"I'll bet I've had more rigorous training than any of these
kids. It takes more than a pretty face to be a royal concubine,
you know."

	"Alielle-"

	"I know I know," she said, waving her hand. "If anyone asks,
stick to the cover story. I've got it memorized.  I'm from
Tadzhikistan, Ifurita is a friend of my family, she's sponsoring
me here for two years, I arrived at Narita Airport last week-"

	Makoto chuckled. "Okay okay, you've passed. Still, don't expect
to have an easy time of it, at least at first."

	"I can handle it," Alielle assured him. "Like I was saying, I
really had to learn a lot before they would even present me to
Princess Fatora."  She started counting items on her fingers. "I
had to play at least two musical instruments, I had to be able
to write and recite love poems, I had to be able to recite the
history of the Rostalian royal family back all one hundred and
twenty three generations, I had to have combat and infiltration
training against assassins, I had to do gourmet cooking, I had
to learn rules of protocol that make a Japanese tea ceremony
look like nothing..." She giggled. "And of course I had to know
female anatomy very, very well. All that when I was thirteen,
too."

	That would have been just a year before Makoto met her.  Which
would make her seventeen now.  She was still short for her age,
so they were passing her off as sixteen to get her into first
year high school, hopefully a little less demanding. "Yes, I'm
sure you can handle it. I just wanted to make sure you know what
you're getting into, I don't want you to be discouraged."

	"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Besides, it's not all work, you
were in clubs and stuff, right?"

	"Sure. I was in the astronomy, track and music clubs, but there
will be plenty of others. Karate, scifi, ikebana... all sorts."

	Alielle scrunched her eyes up and giggled gleefully. "Oh, this
is going to be just great. I can even start my own club if I
want, right?"

	Makoto didn't even want to ask. "Yes, I suppose so."

	"I just wish Fatora-sama could be here too."

	"She'll probably be just as busy as you for the next year."

	"I suppose so."

	Makoto glanced over at her. It would be overstating the case to
say that her bubble had burst, but she didn't seem to be walking
on air any more. "You really miss her, don't you?" he asked
gently.

	"Yeah."

	Fatora had finally agreed to seriously pursue the education
required to fulfill her duties as second princess regent. Makoto
gathered that Ifurita had some part in this change of heart,
though he had never asked for details and had no intention of
doing so. "She'll be taking a break in a few months," he said
encouragingly, feeling bad about having brought her down from
her high. "You'll be on summer vacation then, so you'll be able
to go see her for at least a week. You can tell her all about
the school here, it will be a nice break for both of you."

	"A break?" She sounded utterly astonished, Makoto wondered what
he had said wrong. "A break? Are you kidding? We are going to be
making mad, passionate, violent love for seven days straight,
they are going to have to carry us both out of there on litters."

	Which was pretty much what had happened just before Fatora was
sent off to Mount Muldoon and Alielle came here. Makoto coughed
awkwardly. "You know, you're going to be very popular with the
boys."

	"That's okay. Like I said, I've had combat training." She
smiled sweetly at the look Makoto gave her. "Don't worry, I
learned non-lethal defensive moves as well."

	It took just a few minutes to reach the suburb where the school
was situated. Makoto parked near the walled school grounds and
they got out. Alielle stretched and breathed in the morning air
with gusto. "Mmm, I like the feel of this place already."

	"Just how does it feel?" Makoto asked with some interest.

	"It's like the whole place is glowing! Especially over there,"
she pointed. "It's like another sun rising over there."

	Makoto nodded. "The city center is in that direction."

	Alielle pointed again. "And over that wall, it's just bursting
with youthful energy. That's the school, right?"

	"Right. Don't worry, it looks like a prison from out here but
it's much nicer inside."

	The short girl winked, her red eyes sparkling. "So what do you
think, is this really my super power?"

	"It sure looks that way." She had been saying ever since she
first visited Earth how much more alive it seemed than El
Hazard. Then everyone started noticing how she was developing an
uncanny knack for knowing when somebody was approaching her
before she even saw them. It certainly did look like she had
gained some sort of enhanced perception in the transit to Earth.
"Shall we go?"

	She shot a fist high in the air. "Yeah!"

	"Now remember-"

	"I know." Abruptly Alielle was standing at rigid attention.
"When I meet the Principal, I give him the greeting you told me
and do this." She executed a perfect bow. Then she broke out of
her formal stance like an unfolding flower and giggled. "Have I
got it down or what?"

	Makoto smiled, and by wordless agreement they headed for the
front gate. He resolved to stop pestering her. She could be just
as flighty and impulsive as her lover, but with the obvious
difference that Alielle knew when it was time to set play aside.
This had become more obvious over the past few weeks, and was
the only reason Makoto and his friends had agreed to let Alielle
try this.

	They walked through the gate onto the school grounds.  It was
still some time before first bell, so there was just a handful
of students making their way to the school. It looked like some
of the athletic clubs were getting some quick early morning
training in before homeroom. A group of girls in gym shorts and
athletic shirts came jogging across their path. Makoto glanced
down at Alielle. She was following them with the intensity of a
predator bird, licking her lips. Makoto coughed loudly. Alielle
started, then slowly turned to meet his steely gaze. She laughed
nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "They certainly look
very energetic."

	"You're supposed to be here to learn about our culture, not as
an excuse for skirt chasing."

	"Of course," she said sweetly. "The passion of young girls
blossoming into womanhood is something that each culture
expresses in its own unique way. I'm looking forward to sharing
this experience with your people."

	Makoto sighed. "Alielle, please don't make me regret agreeing
to this."

	"Don't worry," she chirped, playfully punching his arm. "The
age of consent is fifteen here, so there's no problem."

	"*What?*"

	"It's true. I looked it up on that Internet thingee."

	"You actually looked it up?"

	"Naturally," she said somewhat indignantly. "I have to make
sure I respect the local laws and customs. I've done my
homework, I'm ready for anything this place throws at me."

	You're ready for them, Makoto thought. But are they ready for
you? He reminded himself that Rune herself had asked him to
arrange an extended stay for Alielle. She hadn't said it in so
many words, but having Fatora's concubine on another planet
seemed the only way to remove temptation. Makoto doubted it
would do much good, there was certainly no shortage of other
young women where Fatora was going. But he had agreed, so there
was no point regretting it now. "Are you sure you don't want me
to pick you up after school?"

	"No, I can take the bus. Besides, I might get invited to some
girl... to somebody's place. You know, to help me get caught up
with the schoolwork. But I'll call if I'm going to be late."

	And with that the Rostalian invasion force quietly entered the
unsuspecting Earthlings' halls of learning.



	___****___



	Makoto had never seen Kauru in such a state. Her clenched fists
quivered at her side. She took rapid, deep breaths through her
open mouth. Her long straggly cyan hair and her white T-shirt
clung to her, drenched half with sweat and half with water
splashed up from the river. But it was her eyes that were the
most alarming, wide and burning and staring down her opponent
with defiance and rage. It did not look good for her.

	He heard Miz make a barely audible noise. He glanced at the
former priestess standing beside him at the river bank. She was
watching her successor intently, with a look that showed both
worry and disapproval. She shook her head. "Control, control..."
It was hardly even a whisper, she was just mouthing the words.
She tensed up, which prompted Makoto to look back to the young
priestess standing precariously on the wet, slippery rock in the
middle of the rushing mountain stream. Sure enough, Kauru was
gathering her energy for another attack.

	Long, thin streams of water leapt up from the stream that
flowed around Kauru's feet, curling around her fists and merging
into whirlpools that spun madly in the air at her sides. The
water in the stream started to churn madly and the two
whirlpools grew into two little wildly gyrating typhoons. The
little priestess was the eye of a storm now. Even from here,
they could see her pale skin darken as the blood surged through
her veins in response to the dangerous levels of energy being
channeled through her slim body.

	With a rebel yell she launched the two watery missiles straight
into the heart of the waterfall that cascaded down the cliff she
was facing.

	The white curtain of water absorbed Kauru's attack as it had
the previous ones. Shock waves rippled through the frothing
water, the waterfall's straight edges now rapidly wavering this
way and that like a big thick enraged snake. Makoto thought that
would be the end of it, that the waterfall had won again. The
silence came so abruptly it was like a plug being pulled. Makoto
gasped, heard Miz do the same. Where the waterfall had been was
a perfectly clear, smooth column of water hanging suspended in
front of the cliff face. Makoto could see the rocks behind it
like he was looking through a window. The water of the stream he
stood beside was now flat and placid like a pool, held in place
by Kauru's will.

	Ifurita took Makoto's hand. #She did it.#

	#Yes.#

	The magical moment lasted a few seconds longer. The return of
the roaring waterfall was just as abrupt as the moment that had
frozen it. The column broke into a million million droplets and
the stream resumed its natural course, once again splashing
playfully around the rock where Kauru stood panting and shaking.

	"Well done!" Miz shouted out, waving her hand enthusiastically.
Her carefully maintained stoic calm was dashed apart just as
effectively as the column of suspended water Kauru had finally
succeeded in forming. Kauru turned to face them, and Makoto and
Ifurita also waved at her. She looked utterly drained, but her
smile was glowing with pride.

	After resting for a minute, Kauru stepped down to the surface
of the water. A little whirlpool formed at her feet, holding her
aloft and gently propelling her across the surface to the river
bank. She stepped gingerly onto the rocky shore with her bare
feet. Miz took both the girl's hands in her own. "Well done,
Kauru," she said more gently, at this distance no longer needing
to shout over the noise of the waterfall. "I knew you could do
it."

	Kauru's face was still flushed, but now it was probably more
the glow of pride than the aftereffects of her efforts. "I'm
getting more in tune with this world's elements," she said in
her high, clear voice, looking shyly up into her mentor's eyes.
"I think it will be easier next time."

	"Afura and Shayla say the same thing," Ifurita said. "The
longer they are in this world, the easier it is to call upon its
elemental powers. At this rate it won't take you long to become
as attuned to this world as you are to your native world."

	"Did it take you long to adapt?" Kauru asked the Demon God.

	Ifurita smiled. "I have been on this world for ten thousand
years."

	"Oh right, I forgot."

	"Come," Miz said, patting the shorter girl's hand. "We should
take a soak in the water to cool you off and settle you down."

	"I think we'll pass on that," Makoto said, guessing they wanted
to strip down for their soak in the stream. "Jumping into a
mountain stream seems too much like shock treatment for me."

	"You should try it sometime," Miz said. "It's a wonderful way
of clearing the head."

	"Maybe next time. Anyway, we'll see you back at the house."

	"Thank you for allowing us to observe your exercises," Ifurita
said. "It was a truly enchanting display."

	"Thank you, Ifurita-sama," Kauru said, bowing. Makoto could
feel Ifurita's mild discomfort through their touch. Of all the
Rostalians, the young priestess of water was the one who still
seemed to be a bit intimidated by the Demon God. They were both
working to overcome that, but it would take time.

	The couple took a leisurely pace down the rough wooded path. "I
wonder if Afura and Shayla are done with their own morning
exercises," Makoto said.

	"I believe so. I am detecting no disturbances."

	Adapting their powers to work in an alien world had been an
interesting challenge for all of them. Afura in particular was
pleased at this unique opportunity, she felt it would be good
for all of them. "You didn't actually answer Kauru's question,"
Makoto commented.

	"I don't think the issue applies to me. I can use their
techniques but I don't actually draw power from the elements. I
draw it from myself or from the staff."

	"Are you ever tempted to try it out? Go out into a desert
somewhere and cut loose?"

	Ifurita smiled. "If I feel the need to work off tension,
perhaps I'll do that. Though if I wanted to 'cut loose' as you
say the far side of the moon would be more appropriate."

	Ifurita was much more comfortable talking about her Demon God
powers than she had been before her memories of her early life
had surfaced. Makoto was pleased to see that she had come to
terms with what she was. But it still hurt that she had been
forced to seek help from somebody else. It was a failure he was
determined not to repeat. "Hopefully nobody will ever annoy you
that much."

	"The last person who annoyed me that much was Fatora."

	"Really?"

	He knew Ifurita would catch his drift. "You mean Alielle? No,
she's quite different. She would never truly force herself upon
anybody. I think that your concern for her behavior at the
school is unfounded. If she did take a lover I'm sure she would
treat the girl with genuine affection."

	Makoto really hoped it would be that simple. "Actually I was
thinking more of Shayla."

	Ifurita raised a slim eyebrow, looking puzzled. "Shayla?"

	Makoto chuckled. "No, not like that. It just seems lately it's
almost like she's trying to provoke you. Sometimes I'm afraid
that she's pressing her luck."

	"Oh, that. Well, yes she can be very competitive. But she
doesn't seek dominance the way that Jinnai does. She simply
enjoys a challenge. I suppose I represent a challenge for her in
many ways."

	"So you don't mind sparring with her?"

	"Quite the contrary. Both she and Afura have taught me much.
Because of our power, Demon Gods tend to use brute force
approaches. But when I powered down my implants to human level I
found I was no match for them in unarmed combat."

	"From what I've seen that didn't last long."

	Ifurita smiled. "I am designed to be a quick study."

	"So do you enjoy your time with them?"

	"Yes. Yes, I do." She stopped walking and faced him. "Why do
you ask, all of a sudden?"

	Makoto wasn't quite sure how to put this. "I guess I'm trying
to make sure I haven't stuck my head back in the sand."

	She took his hand. Her beautiful blue eyes bore down on his.
They showed just a hint of sadness. "Makoto, I wish so much you
could stop blaming yourself for what happened."

	She had entreated him thus many times since that
near-disastrous powerup had almost driven her over the edge. But
Makoto was all too aware of the facts. She had hidden her
condition from him because she didn't want to shatter the little
fantasy world he'd settled into.  She'd had to go to Nanami, and
then to a stranger, for help. They had just barely been able to
bring her back... no thanks to him. "I'll only be able to
forgive myself for my blindness once I've made it up to you. To
do that I have to start thinking about you."

	"But you are always thinking of me, Makoto. I could never doubt
that."

	He shook his head. "No, I've been thinking of *us*. I haven't
been considering the needs you have beyond our relationship. And
I don't just mean your physical well-being."

	"What do you mean?" She spoke softly, but he recognized the
look of eager inquisitiveness with which she approached any
question.

	"I've had my whole life to make friends. I know I've given you
those memories. You've told me you have made them your own and I
couldn't be happier to know that. But the fact remains, you've
never been shown friendship before. The people who followed us
back here from El Hazard - both the Rostalians and my fellow
Earthlings - they're the first friends you've ever had. I've
never stopped to think what that might mean to you."

	"You're thinking of it now."

	Makoto's lips curled in a wry smile. "Better late than never, I
suppose."

	Ifurita stepped closer, he took both her hands in his own in
response. "You're right. They were the first people to treat me
as more than a machine, much less show me friendship. And your
friends and family here on Earth have shown me every kindness.
It does mean a great deal to me. I've tried to show them that, I
only hope I've succeeded."

	"I'd like to show them too. How grateful I am to them, that is.
I've been thinking, we should try to do more things together.
With our friends here, and then with our friends from Rostalia
whenever they come visit."

	"What did you have in mind?"

	"A trip to the beach. A night at a karaoke bar. Whatever. The
priestesses are going to have to get tired of tossing things
around with elemental powers of nature sometime, we'll suggest
they take a break."

	"That sounds wonderful." A slight frown of uneasiness creased
her brow. "But I have never sung before, I don't know how good I
would be."

	"Trust me, it really doesn't matter."



	___****___



	Nanami looked out over the crowd filing out of the concert hall
into the sumptuous foyer. "Woo, now I really do feel
underdressed."

	Alielle squeezed her arm tighter. "What are you talking about?
You look yummy."

	"Thanks. I guess. Well, it did say formal. I've never seen so
many tuxedos." It was a very exclusive performance of the top
Kabuki troupe in the country. Nanami didn't even want to think
about how much it cost Makoto to get tickets for all of them.

	"Are those the kimono you were talking about?" Alielle asked,
pointing discreetly at two women standing and talking nearby.

	"Yeah. Boy, those ones are really gorgeous." Probably cost more
than some of the cars parked outside too.

	"They sure are. I think I like the other sort of dresses better
though. They're called evening gowns, right?"

	"Uh-huh." Of course she would prefer evening gowns to kimono.
The more flesh showing the better. Which was undoubtedly what
Alielle found 'yummy' about her look. "So how did you like the
first performance?"

	"It was really beautiful. We have something like that in the
mountain village I come from. But the stories in ours are a lot
more lewd. And the audience really gets worked up."

	"Kabuki used to be like that, before it got turned into
performance art." She took another look around. "I wonder where
everyone disappeared to anyway. I bet Shayla dragged them all to
the bar."

	"Yeah, she's such a lush. I'm glad you're my date tonight."

	"I am not your date."

	Alielle chose to be oblivious to her comment. "Let's go look
for them."

	"You go ahead, I need to find the ladies' room."

	Nanami wove her way carefully between the clusters of elegantly
dressed men and women. This really wasn't her sort of thing. But
Alielle was right, the performance was remarkable. And it was
sort of fun to dress up once in a while too. This had made a
good excuse for all the girls to go out shopping for new dresses
together. It was interesting that Ifurita had thrown herself
into the shopping trip no less enthusiastically than any of
them. Of course it was easy for her, she'd look gorgeous in a
burlap sack.

	Nanami stopped short when she came upon a sign saying the area
beyond was reserved. Probably a special section for VIPs. This
really was a high-profile event, there would be many government
bureaucrats and captains of industry out to impress their bosses
and counterparts and customers. Obviously I got turned around
somewhere along the way, Nanami thought. But that's modern
architecture for you, leaves you feeling like a rat in a maze.
She looked for another way out of there and locked eyes with a
blue-skinned boy.

	Her heart stopped. When it beat again he was gone. She'd seen
him just long enough to think that she couldn't have imagined
it, long enough to think she recognized the face. She'd thought
he was so cute the first time she'd seen him... but not so cute
when he had been holding a knife to her throat.

	Nanami found herself walking inexorably past the sign and to
the corner around which the apparition had disappeared. Her
pulse was pounding in her head, her mind locked in a paralyzing
grip of terror and confusion. She wanted so much to run but she
wanted so much more for it not to be true. The answer lay around
this corner, she had to see for herself.

	She emerged from around the corner and looked onto yet another
carpeted balcony filled with yet more elegantly dressed men and
women sipping drinks and chatting amicably. It took just a
second for her to take in the scene, just a second for mortal
dread to paralyze her body as it had her mind. They stood out
like beacons among the press of pale faces. A light scattering
of blue, like an outbreak of pox.

	She began to shake. They don't know. My God, they don't even
suspect. It's just like Galus...

	"Can I help you, young lady?"

	The attendant standing dutifully at the entrance to the roped
off area was regarding her with barely concealed suspicion. But
he was not blue. Not one of them, thank all the Kami. "Uh,
n-no," she managed to say in a weak voice. "Sorry..." she turned
and started to walk back the way she came. She forced herself to
think. Don't run. Don't look back. Don't call out to your
friends. Just find them. Find them.

	The crowd she walked into looked just like the one she had left
behind. She tried to look everywhere at once. There was no
further sign of them, but she never stopped looking for a
second. She felt eyes on her the whole time. She was suddenly
walking through an alien world again. It was hell, she just
wanted to scream, to call out to her friends and warn them.
Surely the intermission must have been over hours ago, it
couldn't have been just a few minutes since her world had fallen
apart.

	"Hey, Nanami." She gasped, spun around.

	The redhead took a reflexive step back, sloshing her drink.
"Whoa, what's with you?"

	Nanami let out a shuddering breath. "Oh God, Shayla..." she
moaned.

	They were all there, Alielle had caught up with Makoto, Ifurita
and the three priestesses. She could see on all their faces the
emerging realization that something was wrong. But it was the
Demon God who reacted most quickly. She immediately walked up to
Nanami and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nanami, is something
wrong?"

	It was impossible to keep the tremor out of her voice. "I need
to talk to all of you in private right now."

	Ifurita glanced at Makoto, who by now looked just as worried as
she did. They nodded in unison. For just a moment Ifurita
assumed the poker face with which she faced everything from
tennis to mortal combat. She was consulting the inner voices she
had told them about, her internal tacticians. "Follow me," she
said in a flat tone, and headed off at a brisk pace without
bothering to ask leave. Nanami followed right behind her,
infinitely relieved by the cyborg warrior's presence and by
Makoto's hand resting lightly on her back as he followed. The
three priestesses took up the rear. Nanami heard Kauru whisper
some question to Afura. She couldn't make out the elder
priestess' curt reply, but whatever it was silenced the young
priestess of water.

	Nanami was relieved to find that Ifurita had picked a secluded
spot on the ground floor hidden by an overhead staircase and a
line of potted plants. She had obviously taken Nanami's request
for privacy seriously. They were all gathered around her now.
"Nanami, what's this all about?" Makoto asked.

	By now she had managed to calm herself enough to speak with an
even tone. "Up in the VIP section I spotted Nahato, that
Phantom Tribe boy. He's older now but I'm sure it was him."

	"What?" Shayla hissed. "Are you serious?"

	Nanami plowed on, ignoring her. "He wasn't the only one, there
were others. Five or six at least. It's just like on El Hazard,
I'm the only one who can see them."

	"How could they possibly be here?" Afura asked in open
disbelief.

	"How the hell should I know?" Nanami snapped, barely managing
to keep from shouting. "They're here, I saw them, that's all I
know."

	"Were they alerted to your presence?" Ifurita asked in the same
flat tone. It was almost like seeing the return of the Demon God
who had done the bidding of the key master.  But not quite.  The
cold calculation was there, but not the malevolence. It was hard
to believe this was the same woman who had giggled and blushed
as she modeled slinky evening gowns for her friends.

	"When I spotted Nahato he made eye contact with me. I'm sure he
was making himself invisible like he did before. Even if he
didn't recognize me he would know I saw through his spell."

	"He must have made the connection with your previous
encounter," Ifurita said. "By now he has alerted the others to
our presence. We should leave before they have a chance to take
action."

	"What are you talking about?" Shayla said. She fed the rest of
her drink to a potted plant and set the glass down on the wide
pot ledge - a sure indication she was in tune with the
seriousness of the situation. "We've got to find them before
they run. If they're still there, Nanami points them out to us
and we take care of the rest." She smacked a fist into an open
palm.

	"Will you get a grip!" Nanami hissed. She put her hand to her
face as she took a deep breath, in and out. It wasn't Shayla's
fault, she just hadn't explained properly. "Look, they're not
hiding or anything they were up there sipping cocktails with the
rest. Some of them might be cabinet ministers or something for
all I know." The cold dread threatened to overwhelm her again as
she listened to what she was saying. "We can't just barge in
there and start hunting them down."

	"She is correct," Ifurita said. "Nobody here has heard of the
Phantom Tribe, they would never believe us."

	"Their illusion spells fade if they're seriously hurt," Shayla
protested. "We've seen that. We go there, break a few limbs, the
results will speak for themselves."

	"We don't know that for certain," Afura cut in. "Besides, if we
go into combat now we're at a disadvantage. We don't have our
lamps and Ifurita doesn't have her staff, we'd be fighting at
reduced strength."

	"Could we stop arguing and get the hell out of here?" Nanami's
voice was starting to become shrill but she didn't care, she was
going mad listening to this.

	"I agree, it's too dangerous to confront them here," Makoto
said. He also looked very anxious to leave. "Let's go straight
out the door now and catch a limo out of here." He looked
sternly at Shayla. She did not look at all happy, but after a
second gave a curt nod of assent.

	Makoto led the way out. Ifurita lay a gentle hand on Nanami's
shoulder as they walked. "Keep an eye out for them," she said
softly. "But don't give any warning unless one approaches us or
makes a hostile move."

	"Right," Nanami muttered. Alielle, who had been quiet
throughout the sudden crisis, now had a death grip on her arm.
She hardly noticed. It seemed to take them forever to cross the
expansive front foyer of the concert hall. Every shadow and
corner held the promise of blue-skinned assassins. After a
horrible eternity they reached the wide bank of glass doors that
fronted the building. Upon Makoto's request, the attendant
outside the door signaled for one of the white stretch limos to
approach. Nanami finally realized why they didn't simply leave
as they had arrived, in two taxis - Makoto wanted everybody in
one car where he could see them, watch over them. She was glad
somebody was thinking more clearly than she was. She seriously
wanted to curl up and cry. This just couldn't be happening, not
here.

	They piled into the car and Makoto gave the driver an address
Nanami didn't recognize. The power window behind the driver's
compartment came up and closed them in a blessed armor of
upholstery and tinted glass. She had taken a good look at the
driver on the way in. Not blue.

	They had privacy now, but nobody spoke for a while. Makoto
stripped the black tie off his tuxedo and sighed deeply. His
face was glistened with sweat. He had been hiding it well, but
it looked like he had been just as spooked as she had. Of course
it would hit the two of them harder than the Rostalians. This
was their home, stuff like this just was not supposed to happen.

	"Makoto-sama," Kauru said in a tiny voice, as if reluctant to
break the silence. "Aren't we going back to the Imperial Hotel?"
That was where they had planned to stay the night in Tokyo
before heading back home.

	"No. We're going to a safe house."

	"Safe house?" Nanami asked. The others also looked confused.
They probably weren't sure what the term meant.

	"I should explain," Ifurita said. She sat rigidly holding
Makoto's hand, her eyes spending most of their time looking over
Nanami's shoulder through the rear window. Watching if they were
being followed, she guessed. "It is actually an apartment.
Makoto rents it under the name of a third party. It is intended
as a hiding place in case we need one. A bolt hole, if you will.
At the time we thought of the idea we were envisioning threats
from authorities, criminals or simply the press."

	"I think we should stay there for now," Makoto said. "It will
be a bit cramped, but nobody should be able to associate the
place with my name. We'll be safe there."

	"Safe?" Nanami said incredulously. "Nobody is safe. These
people could be anywhere, everywhere! There could be thousands
of them. And now they know we're onto them."

	"Nanami," Afura said sternly. "I really don't think there could
be that many of them. Think about it. You have probably come in
sight of thousands of people since coming back to Earth. If they
were ubiquitous you would have spotted one long ago. On El
Hazard their typical strategy was to insert a few of their top
illusionists in the highest positions of authority. Much like
Galus in Rostalia. I would guess they've done the same thing
here. This was simply the first time you've come into contact
with such high level officials."

	"Oh God." Nanami buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe
this is happening."

	"I can't believe it either," Shayla said. "How the hell did
they get here? Have they figured out how to travel down those
wormholes?"

	"That's possible," Afura said. "They've always proven adept at
using other people's technology. They could have found some more
relics from before the Holy Wars, figured out how to use them."

	Makoto wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief. "This
is crazy, how do they just replace people with dopplegangers
like that? Where are the people whose doubles have replaced
them?"

	"Dead, probably," Afura said. "We've never been sure how they
do that. We suspect that they shadow their intended victims
invisibly for extended periods, learning their habits and such.
Then one night the person disappears and the Phantom Tribe takes
his place. I've always thought they have some mind reading
abilities, that's the only way I could see them being able to
mimic their victims so effectively. Be that as it may, whenever
we have found out such a switch it has usually turned out that
their spouse or most intimate friend has suddenly died. The
arranged tragedy probably serves two purposes, as an excuse for
any perceived change in the victim's behavior and to remove the
one most likely to notice the change. If we look in records of
the recent past we will probably find that many high level
officials have abruptly been widowed."

	Something was roiling about in the back of Nanami's mind, some
new potential disaster that she just couldn't articulate. "They
must have been here for a long time," she said hesitantly.

	Afura nodded. "It would have to be a year or more at least, I
would think."

	Then it hit her. She felt sick. "My God, they must know about
us! I mean that we're back on Earth. It was in all the papers!
They would know who we really are!" She shivered. "They've
probably been watching us..."

	"That is undoubtedly true," Ifurita said. It sounded as if she
had figured that out a long time ago. "They would also know
where we live. Now that they know we are aware of their
presence, they may take any opportunity to attack. For now, we
will have to stay in the safe house."

	"The Fujisawas." Kauru's frightened voice was followed by
stunned silence.

	Makoto slapped his forehead and rasped as he did when berating
himself as a fool. He checked his watch. "They must have left
the cabin by now, they'll be back at the house any time." They
had been spending some time in Fujisawa Sensei's favorite
mountain cabin, which was why they were not at the concert
tonight.

	"I should go fetch them," Ifurita said. "They could be in
danger, so time is of the essence. As soon as we are safely at
the apartment I will fly there."

	"Do you have enough power to fly all that way without the
staff?" Makoto asked.

	"Yes. At any rate I should go retrieve my staff from the vault."

	"Somebody will have to go to the hotel for our things," Makoto
said. That was where the priestess' lamps were. In retrospect it
had been folly to leave them there. They really had been caught
with their pants down. "Hell, that's where we should have gone
first. I wasn't thinking."

	"Makoto," Afura said. "If as Nanami said some of the Phantom
Tribe hold positions of power could they not have given orders
for the local constabulary to find us and take us prisoner?"

	He was really looking spooked now. When she wasn't watching the
windows Ifurita was sending furtive, worried glances his way, as
if she could sense his distress. "It would depend exactly who
they are," he said hesitantly.

	Something new occurred to Nanami. "I don't get it, wouldn't I
have seen one of them on TV or something? And when I got back
here I was looking through two years of news magazines."

	"We have to presume their spells can confound electronic
devices," Ifurita said. She glanced at Nanami. "I suspect you
can only see through them when you are in their proximity."

	For a variety of reasons that wasn't what Nanami wanted to
hear. But it made too much sense. "Oh Lord, they really could be
anyone."

	"I think Afura's got a good point," Makoto said. "We should
stay in hiding for now. Once we've taken our stuff from the
hotel we should stay at the safe house until we find out more."

	"And just how are we supposed to find out more?" Shayla asked.
Nanami looked away just a millisecond after Shayla's eyes
settled on hers. She was the only one who could see these
people. Right now, that wasn't something she wanted to think
about.



	___****___



	The tiny cellular phone in the breast pocket of his tuxedo
chirped softly. He muttered an apology to the people he was
chatting with, turned and walked to a more secluded part of the
room as he flipped open the slim black telephone. "It's me."
Anyone who had this number would know who he is.

	"Please forgive the interruption, Galus-sama," the familiar
voice said.

	"What is it, Nahato?" The boy was there in the building with
him, he would not have called him like this unless it were
something requiring his immediate attention. These little
devices were such a convenient way of publicly speaking with
somebody who was supposed to be invisible, who officially did
not even exist.

	"We have a problem, Galus-sama. The woman who can see through
our illusions, she was here. She spotted me."

	"I see."

	"I'm very sorry Galus-sama, I was careless. I have no excuse."

	"What is happening now?" He didn't even ask the boy whether he
had her under surveillance, that was a given.

	"She has run away. She is likely here with some of the others
and is trying to find them." He hesitated, something Galus saw
him do when reporting something shameful. "Galus-sama, we made
eye contact. My failure is complete."

	So she knows we are warned, that was what the boy was telling
him. "I am going to the car."

	"Shall we take action?"

	Shall we kill her? He considered for just a moment. "No. Stay
in the building, take no action unless the situation warrants
it." Not there. Observe, but do not pursue and do not attack
unless attacked.

	"I understand. If that is all..."

	"It is. Report their actions to me." Galus snapped the phone
shut and pocketed it. He gave no outward indication of how
irritated he was. This was annoying. Not disastrous, but very
annoying. He turned to the field operative who was hovering at
his side. She had of course noticed him receiving a call and was
standing by for instructions.

	"I will not be returning," he said in a low voice. "Make my
excuses. And take care of matters here." That was a signal to be
on her guard. It was the least he could do. Even if the Demon
God herself was there he doubted they would attack openly, not
there. But if they did, the ones left behind would be covering
his escape. His operative acknowledged the order and he made his
way to the VIP elevator. It took him directly to the underground
parking lot. His sportster was in a reserved stall near the
entrance. He could have brought one of his people as a driver,
but in truth he loved driving these marvelous machines. Galus
was somebody who liked to feel he was in control.

	The car phone did not ring until he was on the highway headed
back to their home base. He picked up the receiver on the first
ring. "It's me."

	"Galus-sama, if you please I have a report," came Nahato's flat
voice. So, his people there were still alive. Nothing had
happened.

	"Go ahead."

	"Nanami and her friends have left the concert hall. There was
no incident."

	"Who was with her?"

	"The Demon God, Mizuhara, the three Great Priestesses and the
Princess' whore."

	"No sign of Fujisawa or the old lady?"

	"No, Galus-sama."

	Interesting. "Do we know where they are?"

	"I have already obtained a report from our spies at the house.
They were last spotted leaving for their mountain retreat. On
the basis of past behavior, they will likely be returning to the
house very soon."

	Now that was very interesting indeed. He considered the risk of
what he was thinking. The timing would be tricky. If it went
wrong he could lose good people. But until this incident
everything had been going well, they were ahead of schedule. It
would be a shame to lose it all now. He would certainly like to
have a little insurance. "Have our spies at the house call me
here. I have special instructions for them."

	"Understood."

	The call came less than a minute later. Galus gave his
instructions. When he hung up he smiled to himself. Even if this
did not buy him the prize he was after, he had other surprises
for the Earthlings and their Roshtalian allies. One surprise in
particular they would find very unpleasant indeed.



	___****___



	"Look, Ai-chan," Miz said softly, leaning over the crib and
handing the little stuffed doll to her daughter. "It's Hello
Kitty, your favorite little friend. She's so glad to see you
again. Isn't that nice?"

	The baby cooed and gurgled happily. It wasn't long before she
was settled down, absorbed in playing with her toys again. Miz
quietly backed away and walked over to the kitchen. She let out
a tired little sigh. "Dear me."

	Her husband came in from the garage laden down with an
astonishing amount of gear. Before he could say anything she put
a finger to her lips.  He walked closer to her. "Asleep?" he
asked softly.

	"No. But settled down." Ai had slept for most of the drive
home. Which had left her an excited bundle energy when they did
arrive.

	"You wheeled the crib out here?"

	"I want to watch over her while we get dinner ready."

	"Anything you need done?"

	"They forgot to put any rice through the cleaner. Again."

	"Those rice bags are heavy, let me do it. Speaking of heavy,
what on Earth have you got in here?"

	Miz made a face. "Well, if you hadn't taken a drink after our
walk it wouldn't feel heavy now would it?"

	He chuckled. "Well, that's the proper way to end off a hike."

	"Anyway, I thought you weren't supposed to drink before driving
those motor vehicle things."

	"Not to worry, I know my limits."

	She sighed. "You're hopeless."

	"I'll just drop this stuff off in our room. Do I have time to
get cleaned up before I come help?"

	"I guess you'd better take the time."

	He winked. "Back in a flash." He trudged off down the hall with
his burden.

	She was going to tell him to at least take a shave, but that
could wait until after he had done the rice. She shook her head
in wonder. However had he lived before she came along to
straighten him out? If things were left up to men they would all
still be shivering in caves and gnawing flesh off of bones like
those ape-men in the Earth book Afura had shown her. She could
certainly believe that men used to be monkeys, they were just as
difficult to train.

	"Is that heater really on?" she muttered under her breath. She
walked over and put her hand over the electric space heater.
Rising warm air caressed her open hand. It would take a while to
get the room nice and toasty the way she liked it. In the
meantime she warmed her hands for a moment. No wonder this
country was so full of machines, how else could they cope with
this climate? They kept telling her the summers were warmer, but
from what she heard it rained constantly. Her husband's world
certainly had its own beauty and wonder, but she always looked
forward to returning to her homeland.

	The heater was quickly warming her up. She was about ready to
take off her sweater when a chill ran through her, as if her
body were remembering the brisk wind she had endured as her
husband led her across the rough paths, their well bundled
little girl strapped to his back. Inexplicably she felt queasy
and jumpy. Hopefully she wasn't coming down with something. The
room rippled behind the column of warm air rising off the heater.

	Miz blinked. Not warm air. Something else.

	All of a sudden her hackles were up. She knew with utter
certainty that something had entered the room. Her eyes
immediately darted over to where her daughter was playing
quietly in her crib. She willed her mind and body to relax, she
became as water once again, water free of form and constraint.
She saw with eyes that could look beyond the rippling surface of
the water and see the depths beneath as if through plate glass,
she saw...

	She saw him. The blue-skinned devil was creeping up on her
little girl. Driven by the most primal instinct of woman and
guided by the way of the water she exploded into motion. She
coiled and sprang. In the same fluid motion her hand flew to the
rack over the counter beside her, came back with a knife that
could glide through living flesh as easily as dead. She was
water, a raging river breaking its banks and sweeping away all
before it. Her shrill cry was both a spontaneous outburst of
rage and hate and a coldly calculated move, to freeze her target
for the one moment she would need to reach it, and to bring her
child's father to her side. The other devil appeared before her
like a shark breaking the surface. She was water, flowing around
the knife-stroke and sliding her own blade across the devil's
throat. She crashed across the obstacle in her path, leaving it
behind like rapids leave behind a battered rock in their midst,
none of her momentum lost. The first devil stood before her
clear as day now, no longer a shimmering mirage on the edge of
vision. He locked eyes with her. She saw below the surface, it
told her everything. He was no longer depending on his illusion
to protect him as the other had. He was prepared to match his
blade with hers. And his was well suited for this work, hers was
not. She stopped dead just outside his reach, feinted and sprang
back. He could not be invisible while he faced her like this,
her husband would see what was happening and they could take him
from both sides.

	His eyes shifted for just an instant. She was on the verge of
spinning around with a wild stroke when she felt the pinprick at
her back. An instant later the agony came blasting up her spine
as the knife was twisted and withdrawn. Her body was truly water
now, but no longer moved under her will. Her legs turned to
liquid and collapsed from under her. Every ounce of will went
into just holding onto consciousness, bearing it up against the
raging torrent of pain that wanted to push her over into
oblivion. She pushed back against it and her other senses were
given back to her. She was on the floor. The third devil had
joined his fellow. The first one had something in his arms, oh
God he had...

	"Ai-chan!" The strangled scream was not even done when they
vanished. She had lost the water dance, had lost her deep sight.
She could no longer see the things that had taken her life from
her.

	"Miz!" His voice seemed so far away. The running footsteps took
so long to reach her. Finally, finally he was there, holding
her. His face came into focus. His gaze shot wildly back and
forth between her and something out of her sight. "What... what
did he do to you?"

	She turned her head slightly and saw it. The second devil, the
dead one in an expanding pool of dark blood. Her husband took
one of his hands from her and looked in horror at the blood
dripping from it. "Oh no... Miz... Miz, just lie still okay,
I'll call for a doctor."

	No don't tell him don't send him after them he can't even see
them they'll kill him don't don't "Ai-chan. They took Ai-chan.
Please..." She didn't think it would have been possible for his
face to register yet more overwhelming horror, but it was. He
was utterly paralyzed. He looked around helplessly. "Which
way... which way..."

	"I don't know," Miz whimpered. She had seen Ai crying just
before she had disappeared, but had not heard. The devils could
mask sound as well as sight. He would never find them. Only one
had any hope of finding them. It would be far too late but she
was beyond caring. "Get... Nanami."

	There was a change in his face. All the horror was there, but
the panic was replaced by some level of resolve. "I will. You
just lie here, I'll bring help." He laid her down gingerly and
ran over to the phone. Everything in the room seemed to be
pulling further away, like she was getting smaller, collapsing.
As if from a great distance she heard her husband frantically
shouting at somebody to send something called an ambulance. Why
was he not calling Makoto? Because he was trying to save her
life. She had been preparing herself for the end. But the
doctors on this world could work miracles. She could live, live
to find her daughter, to save her, to see her again. All she had
to do was hang on a little longer. But it hurt so much. It would
be so much easier to just slip away quietly, but she would not.
She absolutely would not.

	Something changed. She was in somebody's arms. Had help arrived
already? With an effort she focused her eyes. A pale face framed
in waving platinum hair looked at her with piercing blue eyes.
"I will take you to where you can be helped," her distant voice
said.

	Miz had a vague sense of flying through the air before the
oblivion finally took her.



	___****___



	"It's just over there," Nanami said, pointing down to the
hospital far below.

	"I see it," Afura said. They began their descent. Nanami
shivered, held on tightly to the priestess of the wind. At the
hotel they had taken the extra couple of minutes it took to
change into warmer clothes, but Nanami still shivered at the
cold night air that whipped her short copper hair around her
face. With only one passenger to carry, Afura could maintain a
very respectable speed. When Ifurita's call had come, they had
quickly agreed that getting Nanami's eyes there was the first
priority.

	Not necessarily to protect Miz' life. Until Nanami was there,
Ifurita was fully prepared to vaporize anyone or anything that
looked even vaguely suspicious. That was what they were really
speeding to prevent.

	Nanami could make out more details as they swept down onto the
hospital. It was a wonder they hadn't become lost in the
darkness. But they just followed the highway and flew low enough
to read the signs. "The emergency entrance is over there,"
Nanami said, pointing again.

	"Should we really just drop right there?" Afura asked.

	"They've already had one girl drop out of the sky today."

	Afura's only reply was to angle down to where Nanami had
indicated. They came to rest just outside the door. The only
people in the immediate vicinity were what she assumed were two
paramedics standing and talking beside an ambulance. One of them
suddenly said something in an alarmed voice, she didn't quite
catch what. More visitors dropping in from the sky. She ignored
them, walked straight in the door, Afura close on her heels. The
first person she flagged down pointed them in the right
direction. Nanami walked briskly down the indicated hallway. The
brightness of the hospital was almost painful after their mad
flight through the night sky. She rounded a corner and spotted
him. "Fujisawa Sensei!"

	He lifted his head out of his hands and gazed up at Nanami. She
stopped dead as if she had been slapped. He looked twenty years
older. His eyes were vacant, hollow. For one horrible instant
she was convinced the Phantom Tribe had done something to him.
But in fact they had. They had ripped his life away from him.
Her eyes blurred with tears and her throat constricted. "Oh
Sensei," she whimpered.

	"Nanami." His voice had no more life than his face.

	She walked over and sat beside him. She spared a glance for the
one other person who was waiting outside the operating room.
Ifurita acknowledged her with no more than a nod. She seemed
utterly out of place here, dressed in the formal evening gown
she had not had a chance to change out of. Nanami wondered that
the breeze of her passage through the sky had not blown it off
altogether. She stood like a sentinel before the door, arms
crossed below her barely concealed bosom. Nanami turned back to
her sensei. "Ifurita told us what happened," she said softly.

	He just nodded, still hunched over and staring at the floor.
Nanami felt helpless. What could she possibly say? That it was
going to be okay? His daughter was in the hands of alien killers
and his wife was in there fighting for her life. Both of them
were in limbo, their fates hanging in the balance, and there was
nothing they could do for either of them. What was she supposed
to say?

	"Nanami." She looked up to see Afura standing over her. The
priestess inclined her head to the side. Nanami looked in that
direction to see two people approaching. A man in a suit and a
uniformed policewoman. She immediately understood what Afura
wanted of her. They locked eyes again and Nanami shook her head.
*No.* Nanami looked over towards Ifurita. The Demon God had seen
the exchange, it looked like she understood its meaning. Nanami
would swear she could sense her powering down.

	Nanami recognized the man now. His was one of the faces she had
seen across the table of a police interrogation room, back when
they had first returned to Earth. "Good Evening," he said
gravely.

	"Good Evening, Chief Inspector," Nanami said.

	He had the attention of everyone now. "Please forgive this
intrusion, I know this is a very difficult time."

	"How can we help you, Chief Inspector," Fujisawa said woodenly.
In his voice was no expectation at all that he would ever be of
any help to anybody.

	"I simply wish to inform you that I have received a verbal
report from the crime scene. I am afraid there is no sign of
your daughter, Fujisawa-san. At this time we are treating this
as a kidnapping. We are of course setting up roadblocks and
checking vehicles leaving the area. I have to warn you though, I
feel there will be little we can do until we receive a ransom
note. In a typical case, the kidnappers contact the family very
quickly. We have officers stationed at the house, if there is
any communication we will of course inform you immediately. We
have as yet been unable to identify the young man whose body we
removed from the house."

	"You will not be able to identify him." Ifurita had come a
little closer to the group, but was still hovering near the door
to the operating room. "As I explained to the officer, he is not
of this world. I would have thought that would be obvious even
from a casual inspection. An... autopsy, I believe you call
it... that will certainly prove the matter."

	The Chief Inspector cleared his throat nervously. "Yes. Well.
This is obviously not the time, but at some point we will want
more detailed statements from you and from Fujisawa-san. I would
ask that you ensure you are available."

	"They'll be staying with me," Nanami said quickly. "If you want
to contact us, leave a message on the house voice mail. We'll be
checking it. And yes, if we get a message from them we'll leave
it in the mail system and tell you, so that you can hear it."
Makoto had already set up the phones so that calls to the house
would be transferred to the safe house.

	"I see. Then I'll take no more of your time. Fujisawa-san, we
wish your wife a speedy recovery."

	The two police officers took their leave. "Damn, I don't like
this," Nanami muttered.

	"What do you mean?" Ifurita asked. "Was there something
suspicious about him?"

	"No. I remember him from those interviews. He's just doing his
job, that's all. But for all we know his boss or his boss' boss
is Phantom Tribe. Even if he's trying to help, we have to watch
what we say to him."

	"I concur," Ifurita said. "You told him nothing of the safe
house. That was good thinking, Nanami."

	"Just paranoia. Right now I've got more than enough of that."

	"I wonder how he could help us anyway," Afura said. "It looks
like he still doesn't believe where we really come from. How can
we make him believe in an enemy who can confound his very
senses?"

	"That may change," Nanami said. "They've got that body now. And
there are going to be stories of how we flew in here."

	"I'm afraid I was observed as well," Ifurita said. "I felt that
speed was of the essence."

	Nanami thought better of asking about Miz' condition. Ifurita
was always thorough, she no doubt relayed all she knew when she
called. Nanami's mind went back to that horrible moment when
Makoto passed the news to the rest of them. Shayla had nearly
gone into a blind rage, Makoto was still trying to calm her down
when Afura and Nanami had departed for the hotel. By now they
were all on their way to the hospital. "Thank goodness you did
decide to fly out here."

	"I only wish I had been there sooner. I could have prevented
this," Ifurita said bitterly.

	Nanami didn't like the way she sounded. The Demon God seemed
almost as remorseful as Fujisawa. Nanami hated it, she wanted to
deflect their attention elsewhere. "Ifurita, do you feel okay? I
mean, after doing all that work."

	"I'm fine. But when the others arrive I'll want to go back to
the house and retrieve my staff." She glanced down. "And to
change."

	So until then there was nothing to do but wait. Nanami sighed.
She sat down beside Fujisawa and put a hand on his arm. "Sensei,
can I get you anything? A coffee maybe?"

	He looked up at her. She was astonished to see a wry little
smile on his lips. "The usual rate?"

	She astonished herself even more by returning his smile. "No,
this time it's on me."

	The others eventually arrived. They had no more idea what to
say than Nanami did. It wasn't much later that the doctor came
out to deliver the verdict. Critical but stable. Cautiously
optimistic. Won't know more until later tomorrow. Go home. Get
some sleep.

	Yeah, right.



	___****___



	Shayla Shayla had never been good at waiting. All good things
come to those who dive in feet first, that was her motto. Which
was why she still thought they should have just gone up there
and cleared out those filthy blue-skinned bastards when they had
the chance. Sure it may or may not have changed what happened to
the Fujisawas. But it would have been a few less Phantom Tribe
snakes to deal with later, that was good enough for her. They
would have to wipe them all out eventually, you had to start
somewhere.

	"Shayla, you're going to wear out the carpet."

	"Shut up." She didn't even look at Afura. The black-haired
priestess of the wind had been the second one to wake up this
morning, and had sat there watching Shayla pacing. "I'm
thinking."

	"About what?"

	"Everything."

	"Ah, contemplating the mysteries of the universe. Good, an
excellent way to calm the heart and clear the mind."

	Shayla had managed to get just a couple of hours of sleep last
night. On top of everything else she really wasn't in the mood
for Afura's sniping. "I'd still prefer if we were with Miz."

	"Don't be silly. Ifurita was the logical one to leave behind.
We need sleep, she doesn't. Think of poor Nanami. She has to
practically live in that hospital, being Ifurita's eyes and
ears."

	"That's what I've been thinking about."

	"Oh?" Afura sounded genuinely curious now, abandoning her glib
tone.

	"Miz put down one of those bastards before they back stabbed
her. That means she saw him."

	"Yes, that occurred to me too."

	"You remember the time that Galus got found out?"

	"Of course."

	Shayla stopped her pacing and faced her friend. "Just before he
and his little trickster took off and their illusion
disappeared, I could swear that for a second I saw through it. I
could swear I saw them."

	"You think Miz did the same thing yesterday."

	"Yeah. I figure they weren't even looking for a fight. Just
sneak in, grab their hostage and sneak out. But she caught them."

	"Which might mean we can do the same."

	Shayla nodded. "Miz passed her power on to Kauru, she was using
nothing but her training. I figure with our lamps and with
practice we could spot these bastards easy."

	"And how do you expect to get practice?"

	Shayla grinned. "Well, if we can capture one of these jokers we
could hang him up somewhere and say make yourself invisible or
we'll slice off your-"

	"Okay, I get the idea. If the opportunity arises, that's
probably not a bad idea." Her face sobered. "Just remember,
there was at least one that she didn't see on time."

	"Well, none of us has eyes at the back of our heads."

	Afura sighed. "Poor Nanami. This is such a burden for her,
being our eyes. I hope you're right and we can stop depending
just on her."

	"She's pretty tough, you know. I don't think you need to worry
about her."

	Afura's brows came up in surprise. "You don't compliment people
like that very often. Consider me impressed."

	Shayla grunted, crossed her arms. "Yeah, well. Anyway, what do
you figure these bastards are after anyway?"

	"I haven't figured out anything more since the last time you
asked. That was maybe ten minutes ago."

	They were interrupted by Makoto walking into the living room.
Like them, he had just wrapped a yukata around himself. It
looked like he had just gotten up. "Morning."

	"Good morning, Makoto," Afura said. "I'm sorry if we woke you."

	Makoto shook his head. "Just couldn't sleep anymore. No news?"

	Afura shook her head. "I made some tea, why don't you have
some?"

	"Thanks." He poured himself a cup and went to sit down.

	"How's Fujisawa?" Shayla asked hesitantly.

	"Sleeping. Finally." His tone said the rest. Shayla looked
away. She had known full well what he'd gone through, had known
what to expect. Still, she had been shocked to see what her
merry, carefree drinking buddy had been reduced to. They had
hardly said a handful of words. Shayla had felt just as helpless
as the rest.

	She clenched her hand into a tight fist. Somebody was going to
pay very, very dearly for this.

	Makoto very soon became restless. After checking voice mail and
email and even checking the weather outside he started flipping
through news channels. It was almost like he was looking for
something. Maybe looking for some sign of the enemy. Some sign
of just how much of the world they were running now. Shayla
didn't ask.

	Kauru and Alielle soon joined them. Of course they both asked
the same questions about Miz and Fujisawa and got the same
replies. No news. Sleeping. The two young girls looked almost as
shell-shocked as Makoto. It was probably for slightly different
reasons - to Kauru the Phantom Tribe was little but a legend,
but Alielle knew them all too well. And Kauru practically
worshipped the ground Miz tread.

	When the phone rang, Makoto picked it up on the first ring.
Everyone's eyes were suddenly on him. "Hello... Nanami..." His
brow furrowed, but it seemed more in confusion than worry. He
just listened for what seemed a long time. "Okay. Anything
else?... I see. I'll tell them. Thanks Nanami. Bye." He hung up
and looked around the room. "There's no news about Miz. But
Ifurita said she's heard from the Phantom Tribe."

	"What?" Shayla blurted out. "What do you mean heard from them?"

	"It was a signal sent to her directly. It just told her to go
to a particular place and pick something up, nothing more.
That's all Ifurita would say. She wants to go there, but doesn't
want to leave Nanami and Miz on their own." He looked at Afura
and Shayla now as he spoke. "She wants at least you two there
before she leaves."

	"But it could be a trap," Kauru objected.

	"Yes, it could. That's why Ifurita wants to go alone, so she
doesn't have any of us to protect." It was obvious he really
wanted to find some objection to this plan. Apparently he could
not.

	"Wait a second," Shayla said. "Are we really sure she should go
alone? If she needs to fly there at least Afura and I can go
with her."

	Makoto just shook his head. "She feels it's best she go alone."

	Shayla really didn't want to get mad at Makoto. She tried very
hard not to. But she was probably doing a poor job of it.
"That's not just her choice to make."

	"Shayla," Afura said, standing up. "We should hear more details
from Ifurita before deciding anything. For now, let's just get
dressed and go." She turned back to Makoto without awaiting a
reply. "We'll contact you before making any move."

	"Thanks, Afura," Makoto said, sounding a little relieved. So he
did want them to go with her. Fine, she would just make sure
they did.

	They quickly got dressed and took off from the balcony. It
occurred to Shayla that they were flying through the air in
broad daylight, something Makoto absolutely forbade. Well, the
Earthlings had a lot worse things to worry about than a
priestess of the wind flying over their heads. Like all their
leaders being slaughtered and replaced by dopplegangers. At any
rate, Afura decided to be a little more discreet and land them
on the roof of the hospital. A service entrance and a staircase
took them to the floor where they needed to go. Nanami and
Ifurita were right where they left them last night, at the
entrance to the IC ward where Miz was recovering. The former
looked somewhat the worse for wear. The latter still looked
utterly out of place... but now for a rather different reason.

	Nanami walked over to greet them. "Hey," Shayla said, putting a
hand on her shoulder. "How you holding out?"

	The bleary-eyed girl smiled weakly. "Okay. I managed to get a
little sleep."

	"Good."

	"Ifurita, what's this about a signal you received?" Afura asked
without preamble.

	The Demon God still gave the impression of a soldier on guard
duty. The sturdy, casual clothes she chose looked a little more
suited to the role than had the evening gown. But the great huge
staff she held erect against the floor beside her was what
really completed the picture. They all gathered close around her
so that she could speak softly. "The signal came through one of
my internal communicators. It was in a code used during the Holy
Wars. The message was very brief, it simply said I would find
something if I went to Fujisawa Sensei's mountain cabin. Now
that you are here I can go."

	"Wait a sec-" Shayla was cut off by a sharp gesture from Afura.
She fumed silently. She hated it when Afura did that.

	"What makes you think it was from the Phantom Tribe?" Shayla
had to admit she hadn't even thought to question that.

	Ifurita raised a slim eyebrow. "It would have to be from
somebody who has obtained and used communications technology
from one of the ancient El Hazard civilizations. The Phantom
Tribe have proven able to use the old Living Machines before.
That is likely how they were able to travel here."

	"You know this could be just a trap."

	Ifurita just looked mildly annoyed, as if Afura were stating
the obvious. "Of course. I will be approaching the place in
combat ready mode. Unless they have obtained a nuclear warhead
they are very unlikely to be able to harm me."

	Shayla shivered. She'd seen pictures of what happened to that
southern city, Hiroshima, half a century ago. It looked worse
than anything the Demon God ever did back before she met Makoto.
"You don't think-"

	"No. If they were willing and able to take such drastic action
they could have killed us all before we were aware of their
presence."

	"So then what do you expect to find there?" Shayla asked.

	"I presume something telling us what they want in exchange for
their hostage."

	"That's it?" Shayla asked incredulously. Afura gestured for her
to keep her voice down. She did. "Why didn't they just send all
that in the signal?"

	"The code they used was designed for coordinating the actions
of Demon Gods and other weapons. It has a limited, specialized
vocabulary, meant to order movements and weapons deployment."

	"Ifurita." Shayla tensed up. The others hadn't known Afura as
long as she had. They probably wouldn't recognize the nuance in
her voice, the warning that they were about to hear something
they wouldn't like. "In all the technology of your time that you
are familiar with, is there anything that would allow them to
obtain control over you?"

	Ifurita's expression darkened. "No," she said in a voice cold
as ice. "I am no longer a puppet."

	"I'm sorry, Ifurita. I had to ask."

	Ifurita's expression changed again just as swiftly, looking
somehow wistful. "That is what Rune said."

	"Excuse me?"

	She shook her head. For a moment her eyes closed and she looked
almost peaceful. "No matter." Whatever it was, it had obviously
taken the edge off her anger. "Please watch over Miz in my
place."

	That seemed to decide the matter. Somehow, Shayla couldn't find
it in herself to argue. "Be careful, okay?"

	"I will."

	"You might want to leave by the roof," Afura suggested. "The
less attention we attract, the better."

	"That was my intention. I will return as soon as possible."

	When Ifurita had left and Afura had come back from calling
Makoto, Shayla realized why she had been so anxious to go along.
She sighed and plopped herself down next to Nanami. "More damned
waiting," she muttered.



	___****___



	The nations of Ifurita's age had been armed camps in a
perpetual state of mobilization. The Holy Wars had been but the
climax of a bloody, pointless struggle that had waxed and waned
over millennia. There had been no principles or ideology as
Ifurita understood the terms. There had simply been those with
power and those who sought it. The Demon Gods and the Eye of God
were simply the most devastating of the dizzying array of
weapons that age had produced. There was no telling what the
Phantom Tribe had resurrected, no telling what she might be
facing. Her comment to the priestesses had been less than
truthful - right now nuclear weapons were the least of her
concerns. The Voices made their recommendation. Ifurita
considered their approach plan in her own mind, agreed it was
the best course. But she hovered in place for just a moment
longer. Her systems check came up clean, but something was
wrong. Her biological systems were running at an accelerated
pace even before entering the threat zone. It took but a moment
for Ifurita to realize what was different from the many other
times she had gone into combat. She had felt it more than once,
after Makoto had freed her from the staff. But only now did she
recognize it for what it was.

	She raised an eyebrow, her only outward show of emotion. So
this is fear. How curious. She took a moment to consider the
phenomenon. It looked like it would not affect her function.
Quite the contrary, it would likely make her more alert to
unexpected threats. 'Jumping at anything that moves' was one of
the phrases she had heard to describe it. That was more or less
how she felt now. Well and good.

	The Demon God accelerated to a barely subsonic speed in a
matter of seconds. She angled down on the little cabin far
below, dropping like a meteor, her passive sensors looking
everywhere at once. Only when she was seconds away from her
target did she throw open all her active sensors, effectively
announcing her presence to any detection systems the Phantom
Tribe may have set up.

	She crashed straight through the tiled roof of the little cabin
and alighted on the floor in the middle of its single room. She
turned about in place, her staff at the ready, scanning the room
with her eyes and the surrounding area with all her senses.
There was nothing. Nobody.

	She had been to this cabin before, knew what was supposed to be
here. But even without that knowledge, the items she was
supposed to notice were obvious. On the wood table were a piece
of paper and what she recognized as a video tape. Never dropping
her guard for a moment, Ifurita stepped closer. The paper held a
single word, something only she would recognize. Her name,
written in the script of the nation she served in the Holy Wars.

	Take the tape and go, the Voices said. Ifurita picked up the
little tape and pocketed it. She did one more full sensor sweep
before departing, standard procedure. Again, there was nothing.
She frowned. There really was nothing. Just background noise.
But even that was too even, too smooth.

	Something was masking its presence. Something nearby. The part
of Ifurita's mind that was in control coolly noted that her
biological systems were going into a yet more accelerated state.

	Ifurita considered her options. Stealth itself could be
considered a hostile move. But if there was to be an attack it
would have come by now. She had what she came for. And the enemy
still had their hostage. She made her decision. Like a
projectile being lobbed from a mortar, the Demon God rocketed
straight up through the hole she had made in the roof, quickly
accelerating to top speed. She engaged stealth mode upon
reaching cruising altitude and sped back towards Tokyo. She
chose a a very tortuous route, now flying at altitude, now
flying nap of the earth, now disengaging flight mode altogether
and running through woods or across rooftops as required. She
could not explain the anxiety that drove her to such measures,
could not articulate what exactly she was so anxious to flee
from. It was a dread she dare not confront or articulate, not
yet.



	___****___



	"Thank you for allowing this, doctor," Makoto said quietly,
bowing.

	"Not at all," the doctor responded, also keeping his voice
down. "The nurses will be in to check up on her in another hour,
please try to be done by then. And by no means touch anything."

	"Of course."

	The doctor left the room, closing the door behind him. Makoto
turned around and walked back to where everybody was gathered
around Miz' bed. She would not wake up for some time yet, but
the doctor had given his consent for them to come see her.
Makoto got his first good look at the unconscious woman. She
really did not look bad, just a bit more pale than usual. But
the machinery at her side gave cold, mechanical testament to how
thin was the thread by which she hung on to life. They
maintained a respectful silence for Fujisawa, who sat beside his
wife, gently holding her unresponsive hand. He looked just a
little better, which wasn't saying much. The news had been as
good as they could expect. Barring further complications, she
would fully recover, though not quickly. His other friends were
holding their feelings in check with various degrees of success.
Kauru was still sniffling and occasionally wiping a tear from
red-rimmed eyes. Afura, her arms gently wrapped around the
shorter priestess of water from behind, maintained a stoic calm.
Shayla had settled to a permanent slow boil. In her glaring
green eyes seemed to be dreams of all the lovely things she
would do to the ones who had attacked her friend. Nanami and
Alielle stood slightly apart, arm in arm. They just looked tired
and miserable. Ifurita watched calmly from the foot of the bed.
He was probably the only one who could tell she was upset - he
didn't even need their link. He did not ask. As part of making
up for his dismal failure, Makoto had sworn to share any of his
worries and pain with her, to always come to her for help. She
had sworn likewise. Now she knew she could trust him to listen,
to understand. Whatever it was she would tell him, when the time
was right.

	After just a short while, Fujisawa stood up and looked to
Makoto. "Let's have a look at it, Makoto." He spoke as if not
wanting to wake up Miz, even though they all knew it would be a
long time before that was a concern.

	"Are you sure?" he answered softly.

	"Yes. I have to see it for myself."

	Makoto nodded. "I understand." He unslung the portable Hi-8
TVCR from his shoulder and went to set it on a table at the
other end of the room. He switched it on and flipped up its
little color screen. Fujisawa walked over and stood stiffly in
front of it. The others made room for Afura and Shayla to stand
by his sides, the other two people who had not seen it yet.
Makoto had already warned them what to expect. He hit the play
button and stepped aside.

	The picture that came up was a sneering blue face that most of
the people in the room had seen before. It was one they could
hardly forget, given the circumstances of their previous
meetings.

	"Greetings," said the man in his rumbling, basso voice. "I
expect you will remember who I am. Nevertheless, allow me to
introduce myself. My name is Galus, and I speak for the Phantom
Tribe." He looked just as he had three years ago. It was an
ageless, hawkish face with unsettling, deep-set eyes and
straggly silver-white hair spilling over his shoulders. "First
of all, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine." The
picture zoomed out. Galus' face did not change, but suddenly he
took on the aspect of an utterly different person. He sat in an
easy chair, dressed in polo shirt and slacks, holding a baby
gently in his hands while he lightly bounced her on his knee.
"This is Ai-chan." The baby girl's head was turning this way and
that, eyeing the room with avid curiosity. She looked just a
little bewildered, nothing worse.

	Makoto resisted the urge to look and see Fujisawa Sensei's
reaction. At some moments a man deserved privacy.

	"I will come right to the point," Galus continued. He spoke
mildly, as if not wanting to alarm the child he held. "I take it
as a given that our presence on this world is not acceptable to
you. If my people stay here, a confrontation between us is
inevitable. Such a confrontation is not in our interest. There
is a very simple way to avoid it. We are going to leave." He
paused, as if he wanted to let that sink in or to gather his
thoughts. "As you have no doubt gathered, we have gained the
ability to move through the wormholes. This is only one of many
worlds we have found and settled. It will be a hardship for us
to abandon this one, but if that will avoid a conflict then so
be it." He nodded, which seemed to be a signal for the cameraman
to zoom in on him again. "Now, I will tell you what I want from
you. It is simple. Allow us to depart peacefully. I have already
set the process in motion. But there are very few of us who have
mastered the art of opening the wormholes. It will take time. If
you take no action against us, if you allow me to evacuate my
people, we can avoid bloodshed. When I and my last pilot are the
only ones left, I will deliver Ai-chan to a safe place and
inform you where to find her. We will depart, and you shall
never hear from us again." His neutral expression hardened. In
his eyes, some of the wild, fanatical would-be destroyer of
worlds Makoto had seen atop the Eye of God was rekindled. "We
have many weapons at our disposal. Move against us and you shall
surely regret it. You and many, many others. This is the last
warning I shall grant you." He leaned back in his chair and
glared into the camera. A second later, the picture was replaced
by a blue screen with the word 'stop' in one corner.

	Makoto stepped over to the table and stopped the machine. "Uh,
we've run the tape to the end," he said, fishing for something
to say. "That's all there is." He finally dared turn to
Fujisawa. "I'm sorry, I don't know what more we can do."

	"We can go hunt down these snakes, that's what we can do,"
Shayla growled.

	"But we can't!" Kauru said, a tremor of dread in her voice. She
shrank back, as if astonished to find it was she who had spoken.
"Maybe Galus will do what he said," she said in a tiny voice.

	Shayla glared at her. "Do you really believe that?" she growled.

	"Shayla." Afura looked even more displeased than usual with her
fellow priestess. Shayla's face fell as the import of her worlds
settled in. She shot a furtive, remorseful glance to Fujisawa
then averted her eyes awkwardly.

	"I believe Shayla is right." Makoto heard the strain in
Ifurita's voice, it was probably obvious to the others as well.
She stepped closer to Fujisawa, the others making way for her.
"I'm sorry to have to say this, Fujisawa-san. But we have no
reason to believe that Galus will keep his word. I believe our
best chance of returning your daughter to safety is to find her
ourselves."

	"Now you're talking." Shayla had a bit of her previous resolve
back. But she practically withered under the icy cold stare that
the Demon God sent her way.

	"Even attempting to gather intelligence regarding enemy
movement introduces grave risk to the hostage," Ifurita
continued in a tone sharp as a razor. She turned her attention
back to Fujisawa, and her expression softened immediately. "This
is not my decision to make. I will only take action if you give
me your permission, Fujisawa-san."

	It hurt Makoto like a knife, seeing his sensei so frightened
and lost. His tall, lanky body was stooped over as if a breeze
would blow it over. He stared at Ifurita vacantly for just a
moment. Then he took two shuffling steps towards her. He reached
for her hand, and she clasped his firmly in return.

	"Please," he said in a low, gravely voice. "Bring her back to
me."

	"I can make no..." Ifurita's voice trailed off. She gazed up
into the tall man's face with something approaching awe, like
she saw the answer to some great question there. There was new
confidence in her voice when she spoke again. "I will."



___****___



	Ifurita pointed to the rightmost of the three laptops arrayed
along the coffee table before her. "Print this one as well,
please."

	"Okay." Afura slid the slim machine into a more convenient
position in front of  her and worked the pointing device below
the keyboard. A few seconds later, the laser printer on the
floor beside her came to life and another picture slowly rolled
out of it onto the tray.

	Makoto picked up the paper and looked at it. "I recognize him,"
he said gravely. "He's the cabinet minister in charge of MITI."

	"MITI?" Alielle asked, turning from her work at the big
bulletin board.

	"Ministry of International Trade and Industry." Ifurita had
already turned her attention back to the leftmost of the three
laptops arrayed on the floor under the others. Her eyes were
locked on the screen and her hands did not pause in their typing
as she recited what she had obtained from the other machine.
"Widowed ten months ago. Heart attack, unusual for a woman that
young. His children are grown, they no longer live with him.
Since the death of his wife, two things of note. First,
criticism that he is no longer effectively coordinating with
other ministries. Second, questions of misappropriated funds.
These have as yet not led to an investigation due to lack of
evidence. At least one potential witness inexplicably refuted
earlier statements. Also, I could find no record of him
returning to his home prefecture since his wife's death, which I
believe is highly unusual."

	"Should I put him on the short list?" Alielle asked.

	"Please." Alielle took the page from Makoto and pinned it on
the board as Ifurita continued. "If this is a hit then it would
have to be one of their most gifted illusionists. Perhaps we
should..." She stopped typing and frowned at the screen. "So.
Another one."

	Makoto slid over and peered over her shoulder. She had been
telling him that one of the most powerful members of the cabinet
was probably Phantom Tribe, he wondered what could suddenly grab
her attention away from that. She was paging through an article
far too quickly for Makoto to follow. When she got to the end of
it she nodded as if it had confirmed something. "Alielle, please
also move President Kawabata of Kyushu Electric Power to the
short list."

	"Okay." Alielle bent down to the open file cabinet drawer
beside her and started flipping through it.

	"You found something new?" Makoto asked.

	She looked up from the screen. "In the past few months there
have been some irregularities in the operation of the new unit
of the Hatchobara geothermal plant."

	"That's the third geothermal plant I recall your mentioning."

	"It's the fifth," Alielle called from where she was quickly
pinning up another of the condensed portfolios Afura had been
compiling. She turned around, vaulted the coffee table and
trotted over to the big map that had been pinned to the opposite
wall. "'Scuse me Shayla," she said, stepping around the
priestess sitting on the floor bent over her task. As before the
redhead said nothing. The constant repetitive noise of her work
had long since become part of the background. "Two of them have
red pins, here and here. Two have yellow, here and... uh, here.
Um, where's that new one?"

	"Kokonoe-cho, Oita Prefecture," Ifurita said.

	"Got it. It's green, should I change that?"

	"Red, please."

	That meant she was virtually certain that the head of that
organization was Phantom Tribe. "Can that many geothermal plants
be a coincidence?" Makoto wondered aloud.

	"Unlikely. At least one other I read about followed the same
pattern as the Hatchobara plant. High level management brought
in external consultants and very quickly afterwards ordered a
shutdown for an inspection that nobody else felt was necessary.
Senior engineers who objected resigned in protest or were fired,
often replaced with one of the consultants." Ifurita had already
started typing at one of the other laptops. She was doing
searches with six different accounts to minimize the chances of
her activity being detected. "I'll do some more searches here,
but I'd also like to pay another visit to the microfilm
library." She looked back up at Makoto. Her face was more
animated now, she was letting more expression slip into her
voice. "I think we've found it, Makoto. This is the core of
their operations here on Earth. It's centered on geothermal
plants and mining operations all along the Japan islands."

	"Do you have any idea what they might be up to?" Afura asked.

	"Not yet. But that is unimportant for now. The point is, we
will soon be able to choose a place where we can execute our
plan."

	Makoto's trepidation grew with each step closer they came to
putting together this plan of theirs. It was all happening so
fast. Once they had brought this equipment to the apartment and
slapped it together, Ifurita had hardly left the living room at
all. The rest of them helped her in shifts, what little help she
needed anyway. The map full of pins and the bulletin board full
of portfolios was the result of two days of solid work. Ifurita
was throwing herself into the task with a fury that went beyond
the single-minded focus of a cyborg warrior. Her brief exchange
with Fujisawa had done something for her that Makoto couldn't
put a name to yet.

	Her attention was grabbed by the screen again. "Another hit.
This one a silver mine. I think we're on the right track."

	"How long?"

	Ifurita turned to look at Shayla's back, as if mildly annoyed
at the cryptic question. "No more than another day. Tomorrow
sometime I would think."

	Shayla raised the blade she had been passing over a whetstone
for the past hour. Makoto wasn't sure whether to call it a
dagger or a shortsword. The priestess turned and smiled for the
first time in three days. "Good."



	___****___



	The telephone on Chairman Honda's desk rang. A man who was not
Chairman Honda of Consolidated Silver Mines picked up his
telephone. "Honda here."

	"It's me."

	Kavin sat up straight in his high-back chair. "Ah, good
evening, Minister," he said pleasantly, using the title of
Galus' front.

	"As of now we are moving on the accelerated schedule."

	This took Kavin by surprise. "I..." To question orders is to
betray the Tribe, he reminded himself. But to warn the Master of
danger is to preserve the Tribe. "I should mention, that will
mean shutting down the mining operations for another half-day,
on very short notice. It will raise questions. My position could
be seriously compromised."

	"In a few days that will be of no concern."

	Kavin stammered wordlessly for a second before getting his
composure back. "Then this is not in preparation for another
test," he said, being very careful to maintain a respectful tone.

	"No."

	The matter was ended. "I understand. I will inform you when
everything is in place."

	"Good day, Chairman."

	"Good day, Minister." Kavin hung up the phone. He took a deep
breath and sighed. What was supposed to be months away would now
be happening in a matter of days. The threat from the Rostalians
must be grave indeed, for the Master to take such a risk. He
shook his head. It would still work but with so many untested
factors the results may turn out to be far from optimal. But
they would make do. The Tribe would survive. Kavin swung around
and looked out over the sprawling city lit orange by the setting
sun. The teeming masses of humans went about their business,
utterly unaware of what the Master had just set in motion. Galus
was right, in a few days none of this would matter. He should
just be focusing on his part of the Plan.

	He keyed his intercom. "Miyuki."

	"Yes, Chairman?" his receptionist's voice came.

	"Schedule a meeting of the full operations committee for
tomorrow afternoon, one o'clock."

	"Sir, Vice President Matsui is still in Nagano."

	"I know. Tell him to come back tomorrow morning."

	"Yes sir."

	Kavin did some preparatory work before leaving for the day.
Tomorrow would be a zoo, the humans would be all aflutter. But
in a way it was easier now. He could force the scheduled
shutdown without worrying about the consequences to his
position. He called his wife to let her know when he would be
home and called for the limousine to pick him up. That was one
thing he was pleased about, Kavin mused. Now he would have to
endure that human sow for just a few more days. He was sure she
did not suspect, but she obviously perceived that something had
changed. She was becoming more antsy over time. In this case,
they had judged the risk of arranging another death was greater
than the risk of discovery. Especially since Honda had not used
her in any way as a woman the whole time Kavin had been
shadowing him. Disappearing the secret mistress had been much
less risky than arranging a death for the wife would have been.

	Kavin ate his dinner while watching the news and discussing
some banal matter of the garden with his wife. It was with
relief that he retired to the privacy of his bath. He lowered
his bulk gingerly into the oversized tub of steaming hot water.
Kavin was a large man, but Honda had been revoltingly obese. By
the time the day to make the switch had come, Kavin had through
a regimen worthy of a sumo wrestler nearly matched his weight.
The closer his body proportions were to the original, the easier
the illusion spell was to maintain. Losing all this flab was
another thing he could now look forward to.

	He was just starting to relax when he heard his wife's light
footsteps approach. He saw her outline through the frosted glass
of the bathing room door. "Honey?" she called from the hallway.
She sounded more agitated than usual.

	Oh what now. "Yes dear?"

	"There was a call from the hospital. My sister has been in a
car accident."

	Kavin hated that woman even more than his wife. "Is she okay?"
Hopefully the cow was dead, not that it really mattered any more.

	"She will be, but they said she's very upset. I've called for a
cab, I'm going to go see her."

	"Okay. Give her my regards."

	"Don't wait up for me dear."

	As if. Kavin settled back down into the tub. Odd that the call
would have come from the hospital. As he understood, such a call
should have come from the police. Well, his study of these
people had centered on their primary industries, not their
medical and law enforcement institutions, perhaps he was
mistaken. At least it meant he had the house to himself for what
little of the evening remained. There would be no humans to
intrude upon him, just his two shadows watching over him.

	Kavin was just starting to dry himself off when he heard a
noise. It sounded like the back door, who would be using it at
this hour? Then came the scream.

	Alarm and disbelief froze Kavin in place. It was the voice of
one who was supposed to be unseen and unheard. His senior
shadow, his invisible guardian. He and his counterpart had been
here as long as Kavin, forever watching, observing for signs of
trouble. Now Kavin could hear him running this way, screaming
for help.

	But his were not screams of panic. He was using the proper
keywords, warning Kavin to run. Without even taking a second to
put a towel about his loins Kavin slammed the sliding door aside
and shot out into the hallway. What he saw explained much.

	His shadow was far down the long hallway, down on the wood
floor, madly crawling away from Kavin. He was trailing blood
from several places, one of which was his ankle. He had been
hamstrung. He was still screaming. Two other figures had emerged
into the hallway simultaneously with Kavin. The first one looked
in his direction, presumably attracted by the door opening. She
pointed. "There he is!" The second figure spun around in
response. Wild, demented green eyes locked on his. The
red-headed devil girl grinned and raised her bloody knife in
anticipation. She stepped closer and Kavin's second shadow burst
from the doorway she walked past.

	He should have had the devil girl dead to rights. But his
thrust to her throat was spoiled by the copper-haired girl.
Kavin's junior shadow screamed, his gashed arm dropping his
blade. The girl had looked so harmless, Kavin hadn't even seen
that she had a knife as well.

	The devil girl spun and leaped back all in one motion. Kavin's
junior shadow sank to his knees. The boy cast his gaze down with
a look of utter bewilderment, as if wondering how he was going
to get his intestines back into his abdominal cavity.

	They were distracted, both focused on the grisly sight, shaken
by their brush with death. Kavin ran straight out the front
entrance, not looking back once. It would be just a few seconds
to the car, a few seconds more to grab the spare keys from the
ashtray. The dark yard was empty and the carport was just in
front of him. He crashed straight through the line of little
trees, grunting as the coarse foliage raked his legs and
man-parts. He grabbed the door handle and something landed
behind him. Maybe if he was quick enough-

	It was all over in an instant. Just a horrible blast of pain
from his kidney and blessed relief when the blade was withdrawn.
"I give you the same chance at life that your assassins gave my
friend," a voice murmured in his ear. He would have called it
the voice of a woman just from the pitch. But it was no woman,
it was the voice of a soulless thing from the Abyss. "My
companions would prefer to kill you outright. If that is what
you wish, then stay."

	Kavin whimpered and sobbed as he forced his body to move
through the torrents of agony that rushed out from his opened
side. His shaking hands nearly broke the key in his mad attempts
to insert and twist it. The mechanical beast came to life and he
tromped down on the gas. Kavin did very little of his own
driving. In his panic he ran over two ornamental stone lanterns
on the way out. He had to blink his eyes furiously to squeeze
out the tears of pain and terror and relief.

	Eventually something like coherent thought started to return. I
must warn the Master, Kavin thought. That was the Earth girl who
can see through our spells. She and the Rostalian devils might
be hunting us all down. Pick up the car phone. Why is there no
tone? Why is there no dial tone? Press the button again. Hit the
receiver against the wheel. Hit it again. Why is there no tone?
Why is there no thrice-damned gods-forsaken tone? Hit it against
the dashboard. Broken in half? No, no, no, NO! Have to go
faster. Have to get help. Bleeding all over the floor. It's
deep. Oh Great Movers, it's really deep. Have to go to the
Master, he'll know what to do.



	___****___



	Ifurita watched the car speed away while she wiped and sheathed
the remains of her trick dagger. Satisfied, she retrieved her
staff and flew back in through the open front door, ready to
provide assistance to the others. It looked like none was
required. Their reserve unit, consisting of Afura and Kauru, was
already in the hall. They spared just a glance to see Ifurita's
arrival, then went back to their sentry duty. Upon arrival it
had been Ifurita who had detected the presence outside and
Nanami who had pointed out the exact location of the invisible
tribesman. All three priestesses reported that they could see
him, after a fashion. It was Shayla who had put this to the
test, her precision hamstringing of the man attesting to just
how well she really could see him. That was one bit of very good
news, it confirmed that with some work the priestesses could
also see through the Phantom Tribe's illusions. Quite properly,
Afura and Kauru were taking advantage of this fact, watching to
see if any more tribesmen were about.

	Shayla entered the hallway again. Her long knife was now
sheathed. She walked with a loose, relaxed gait, but Ifurita
could sense the lingering adrenaline rush that yet seethed
through her body. "The first one's dead," she reported, not
elaborating upon how that happened. She turned to Ifurita. "Did
you do it?"

	"He is away, the tracer is in his body. He is headed for the
mountains, as I had expected."

	"Good." Shayla walked over to the last member of their strike
team, who was now sitting on her haunches, her back against a
wall. She was uninjured, but she did not look at all well.
Shayla picked up Nanami's knife, which was still lying on the
floor. She wiped it off with her cloth as she squatted down
beside the shivering girl. "Hey," she said softly. "You okay?"
Nanami just nodded, her eyes still not focused on anything in
particular. "Thanks, that was really decent knife work. Here-"

	"Get it the hell away from me!" Nanami's hands went up and
clamped on both sides of her head. Her breathing was more ragged
now. Shayla just stared at her with a bewildered look while her
friend tried to calm down. When she spoke again, it was in a
lower, carefully modulated voice. "Look, just get it away from
me, okay?"

	Ifurita had watched this scene repeated all too often on the
ancient battlefields of her youth. It took on a whole new
meaning when it happened to one of her friends. She could only
comfort herself with the knowledge that the distraught girl
would recover, given time and given their help. But right now,
there were more pressing matters to deal with. "I should go
follow Honda's double," Ifurita said. "His driving was erratic.
If it attracts the attention of the police I will need to divert
them." Afura frowned. "I will be discreet," Ifurita added. "You
should all leave by the agreed routes." Afura was to fly Nanami
out and Kauru would take Shayla by the water route, whisking
them through the rivers and canals.

	"No." Nanami brought herself up onto unsteady feet.

	Afura walked over and put a hand very lightly on her shoulder.
"Nanami, we have to go."

	"Fine," Nanami snapped. "But take me to a telephone before we
go home. We'll find one around here."

	Afura shook her head in puzzlement. "Why?"

	"I'm making an anonymous call to the police, telling them
there's a disturbance here. I want them to find... this," she
gestured towards the disemboweled young boy without looking at
him, "Before Honda's wife does. It won't take her long to figure
out that call was bogus."

	Afura sighed. "Yes, of course." She turned back to Ifurita.
"Best of luck,"

	Ifurita lifted off the floor, flew back out the front door and
straight up into the air. It did not take her long to catch up
with her prey. She stayed just close enough to be able to see
his car, and to be able to intervene if anything happened. He
was on a highway now, heading out of the city and up into the
mountains. What little lore the Rostalians had on the Phantom
Tribe suggested that they tended to settle in deep caves,
preferably in remote mountain regions. It was thought that only
a fraction of their numbers had the illusionist skills required
to walk among humans. The rest were thought to dwell in these
underground nests where they would work upon the alien
technologies they were so keen on making their own.

	Nobody believed the story that the Phantom Tribe were preparing
to abandon the Earth, least of all Ifurita. The patterns she had
found in their actions all pointed towards a very elaborate,
very carefully coordinated project. Activity had been slowly
accelerating for months, building up to something that Ifurita
could not as yet even guess at. Considering what they had been
prepared to do - had almost done - on El Hazard, the
possibilities were frightening.

	But right now that was a moot point. She had a promise to keep
and a life to save, nothing else mattered.

	After some time, her prey turned off the highway. Ifurita was
relieved. She had been very precise in the cut she made, the
wound would cause enough pain and bleeding to put the man into a
panic but not enough to disable him. At least not for a while.
If he did not receive treatment within another couple of hours
he would likely collapse and die. It would be unfortunate if
that happened before he led her to his master's lair. She had no
doubt now that was where he was headed. Naked and bleeding to
death, his companions dead, his communications device disabled,
he would run back to his master.

	As he worked his way further into the mountains, Ifurita
dropped farther back. Abruptly his pace slowed down to a crawl.
He was on foot now. She dropped down to the ground and began
running up the slope he had been ascending, flying across each
switchback of the road her prey had taken. She had been in
stealth mode the whole way, but dropping out of flight mode
further decreased the risk of detection. If this truly was
Galus' lair, it would be closely guarded.

	He was already moving underground. The signal was rapidly
weakening. She pinpointed the spot where he had begun his
descent, moved more cautiously towards it. This was the critical
point, where she must decide whether to actually make the rescue
attempt by herself. Her analysis of the audio portion of Galus'
message suggested an irregular room, like a cave. She had little
doubt Ai was being held here. The only question was whether an
assault upon the entrance she had now found was the best hope of
retrieving her.

	She skirted the edge of a clearing which held a tall A-frame
mountain cabin. Peering quickly through the trees she noted
Honda's car parked beside it. Most likely it was something owned
by one of the men whose dopplegangers now stood in their place.
The entrance she sought would be somewhere further up the slope
from it. She took a couple of extra minutes to make a wide path
around the spot, approaching it from upslope. Her passive
sensors were showing nothing. When Nanami had pointed out the
tribesman at the house for them he had been invisible even to
Ifurita's eyes. But she had detected his presence... accurately
enough to have been able neutralize him had Shayla not been able
to. If they were nearby, she would detect them. There was
nobody, which Ifurita found puzzling.

	#Move to these coordinates. Retrieve the object required to
complete your mission.#

	Ifurita froze in place. Despair gripped her heart, something
not even all her combat regulators could suppress. It was the
same kind of signal as before. The coordinates given were of the
entrance she had pinpointed. They knew she was here.

	She made her decision, threw open all her links with the
Voices. Full shields and active sensors. One entity detected.
Flight mode, go above tree line, maximum speed. Approaching
target. Locking target. Checking target. Correction, two
targets. First target identified, eighty percent certainty.
Second target identified, seventy percent certainty. Not hostile.

	Ifurita hovered above the little clearing, her stunned mind
unable to accept the assessment that the Voices were calmly
spoon-feeding her with. Her eyes told her the same impossible
thing.

	The woman holding the sleeping baby in the crook of her arm
looked calmly up at the Demon God that had a doomsday weapon
trained on her. "Hello Ifurita. It's been a while."

	Slowly, unthinkingly, Ifurita powered down weapons and settled
to the ground. The Voices were all warning her that she was
still in hostile territory. She hardly noticed them.
"Erinyes..." she whispered.

	She had changed little. Her black hair was now cropped short.
One of her eyes had been replaced by an implant that glowed red.
Her slim body was covered by a dull black body suit with
matching boots, gloves and high collar. She held her slim white
power staff upright at her side. Ifurita's mind was caught in
blinding white noise between being elated and being horrified at
the implications of what she was seeing.

	Without a word, the other Demon God walked across the clearing
towards her. Ifurita just stood there and waited, utterly at a
loss for words. As Erinyes approached, Ifurita could see other
changes that the distance and the dim moonlight had hidden. Her
hair was actually a rough skullcap that Ifurita recognized as a
cooling unit... functional, but not something meant to be used
on an anthropomorphized cyborg. Gleaming machinery peeked out
from under her high collar... that and subtle irregularities
showing in her body suit suggested that most of her organic skin
had been replaced with inorganic plating. Even her face, perhaps
now the only visible living tissue on her, was rough and scarred
as if from repeated incisions. "Oh Erinyes... what happened to
you?"

	"Ten thousand years happened to me, Ifurita. Here." Erinyes
stabbed her staff into the ground and used both hands to hold
the baby out. Ai was wrapped up tightly in blankets. Only her
peaceful, sleeping face was visible. Ifurita sank her own staff
into the soft earth and very carefully took the bundle into her
own arms. She looked down, frowning, reaching out with all her
senses. Ai seemed to be fine, vital signs and brain waves
indicated a deep, healthy sleep.

	"She has been mildly sedated," Erinyes explained, stepping back
again and retrieving her staff. "She will likely not awaken for
a few hours. Do not be concerned about that, she has been well
fed and cared for."

	Ifurita settled the baby into the crook of her arm and looked
back up. She hardly knew where to begin. Instincts pressed her
to deal with the most immediate matter. "She was being held by
the Phantom Tribe. Have you taken her from them? Are we in
danger from them here?"

	"You must have figured out the truth by now, Ifurita."

	Yes, she had. It was a moment before she could bring herself to
speak the words. "You're the one who brought the Phantom Tribe
here."

	She nodded. "I sent the signal that brought you to the cabin. I
was there in fact, it looked as if you were aware of my cloak
field. I was the one who remembered how to write your name in
the ancient script. I even filmed Galus' message."

	"You helped him kidnap her," Ifurita said, more pain than anger
in her voice.

	"He took the action on his own, on the spur of the moment. I
warned him it would not deter you from seeking him out, but once
the deed was done it was worth a try. The fact that you are here
proves that I was right. When poor Kavin came stumbling in I
suspected you would not be far behind."

	"Erinyes... why?"

	"I want the same thing as Galus. I want to avoid a
confrontation with you. I am hoping this is the way to do it."

	"That's not what I'm asking."

	Erinyes lips came up in a mirthless smile. "You mean why am I
working with the Phantom Tribe? No, they have not reactivated my
keylock, I am helping them of my own free will."

	"Do you know what it is they're planning to do here?"

	Her expression hardened. "Ifurita, because of what we shared
all those years ago I will give you this warning only. Take
anything you value and leave this world. Go back to El Hazard or
wherever you please. But if you wish to abide with humans then
do not come back here. Their time on this world is done."

	Ifurita felt sick. "There are five billion souls on this world.
Do you mean to kill them all?"

	"We are simply hastening what is inevitable," Erinyes said.
"This world is but a carbon copy of ours, producing the same
sort of abominations."

	"What abominations?" Ifurita asked.

	"I mean us. We are abominations, you and I. Weapons built out
of terror to feed on that terror. The Earthlings are plunging
down the road of destruction with a speed and an enthusiasm that
makes the Warlords of our day look like meek, hesitant children.
One day their weapons would do far worse than anything we have
planned."

	"Erinyes, has Galus told you what he tried to do on El Hazard?"

	"Yes, he tried to self-destruct the Eye of God, to rid us of
that obscenity forever."

	"He tried to destroy El Hazard!"

	Erinyes just shook her head. "No, he tried to turn it into a
lovely, peaceful world of perpetual twilight."

	Ifurita's face screwed up in revulsion and disbelief. "What?"
she rasped.

	"I've been to their homeworld," Erinyes continued, ignoring
Ifurita's reaction. "I came upon it a very long time ago. Of
course there they don't call themselves the Phantom Tribe there.
They call themselves the Eyes, the Eyes of the World. And what a
world it is, Ifurita. It is old, almost as old as the universe
itself. The Eyes have been there for billions of years.
*Billions,* Ifurita. They bring about things of sublime beauty
that I cannot even begin to describe. They welcomed me and I
stayed with them. I had never been happier."

	Her expression darkened. "Then the catastrophe came. We had no
idea what it was, but it simply swallowed up a whole country.
Everything in that part of the world was gone, stripped clean.
The Eyes of the World were frightened and bewildered, but we set
that horrible mystery behind us and went on with life. Much
later, when the end of my life was upon me, when my systems
would no longer sustain me, I chose the blasted earth of that
poor, raped country as my resting place. Can you guess what
happened next?"

	Ifurita had already figured that out. "The Eye of God fired a
second time. It pulled you back to El Hazard."

	She nodded. "It deposited me in the same wasteland it had
thrown those of the Eyes who would become the Phantom Tribe.
Many of them still abide there. They found me, recognized me for
what I was. They already had much of the ancient technology, so
they rejuvenated me." An ironic smile curled her lip and her
hand swept down her body. "As best they could. When I understood
who they were and what had happened to them, I decided to help
them."

	"So you brought them to an unsuspecting world," Ifurita said
bitterly. "One where the people had no defense against them."

	"That was not my original intention," Erinyes said. "Yes, I was
looking for a new homeworld for them. But my first stop along
the way was Earth. When I saw that the Earthlings had gone the
way of our ancient masters, I knew I need look no further. I
could give the Phantom Tribe a new home and stamp out the
perverted Empire of Man all in one stroke."

	"Why not just take them back to their homeland?" Ifurita asked.

	Erinyes let out a sharp breath of annoyance. "The descendants
of those who were cast from the home world are not what their
forefathers were, they well know that. They have been tainted
with their contact with man, the thought of returning to their
homeland in that state is repulsive to them. Their only hope of
gaining back what they lost is to start again in a land that has
been swept clean of man's abominations."

	"Is that what they have done on the other worlds they have
conquered?" Ifurita asked, making no attempt to take the anger
out of her voice. "Have they already killed billions?"

	Erinyes chuckled lightly. "There are no other worlds, Ifurita.
That was a ruse to buy time, to make the evacuation story
plausible. You still don't get it. Even after all they have been
through, the Phantom Tribe are still not at all like man. They
do not dream of becoming immortal masters of all creation. They
never wanted more than their own little world. The Eyes have
forgotten more about the stars and the heavens than man could
hope to ever learn in a million years. Yet in all that time the
very idea of riding out in conquest never even occurred to them.
When the Phantom Tribe have made this world like unto the one
they were ripped from, they will become one with it, as the Eyes
did with theirs. Then here they will stay, hoping for nothing
more than to make something like the sublime wonders of their
homeworld that are now only legends to them. They will live only
for this world, forsaking all others. They will stay with this
world for all the eons it has left, and when it finally dies
they will die with it as is the natural way of things."

	"Why must it be this world?" Ifurita asked, caring nothing for
the mad nonsense Erinyes was trying to tell her. "Is it revenge
for what happened to them? The Earthlings have done nothing to
you!"

	"The Earthlings dream of ruling over all of space and time.
Soon, mere centuries from now, they may have the tools to do it
with. I will not let that happen."

	Ifurita shook her head in disbelief. "Erinyes, you don't know
what you're saying..."

	"Oh but I do. It was many centuries before I came across the
Eyes of the World, you know. Before then I had been to countless
other worlds. Many held civilized peoples among whom I would
live for a time. But far more numerous than that were blasted
hulks full of nothing but fossils. They were the works of those
not content with the life their world blessed them with.
Would-be conquerors fear nothing so much as each other, and that
always dooms them. I have seen more than one of man's cousins
wipe themselves out in an orgy of fear and hate, seen it with my
own eyes. I know what the Earthlings will do, given time. When
you have seen what I have seen, then you will understand. What
we shall do here pales next to what the Earthlings will do if
they are left to pursue their mad dreams. This is a doomed
world, we are saving it. And maybe saving countless others."

	"Erinyes..." Ifurita sighed and shook her head. "Erinyes, look
at you, look at what they have done to you. They have turned you
back into an instrument of destruction. Is that what you want?"

	"That is what we are, Ifurita. The instruments always come back
to destroy those who make them, that is as it should be. And in
fact I appreciate what the Phantom Tribe have done to me. It is
a more honest appearance, it shows what I am. I hate
masquerading as a human just as much as they do. They accept me
for what I am, and when they have made their new world they will
welcome me into it."

	"We would welcome you as you are, Erinyes."

	Erinyes shook her head. "I could not live in this world of
humans, knowing as I do what they must become one day, what they
will do."

	"But you are doing that already!" Ifurita said, desperately
looking for the one thing, the word that might get through to
her. "You are about to create another of those dead hulks, those
worlds of fossils!"

	Erinyes sighed. "Ifurita, even if we linked minds and I showed
you all that I have seen it would be but fleeting images to you.
It would take a thousand years for you to truly see the
Earthlings as they are, to see why I know where they are headed.
But you do not have a thousand years. In a matter of days this
world will be no more and there is nothing you can do about it,
just accept that." Her lips curled up in a sad little smile. "I
see your plan in your eyes already, Ifurita. Return the infant
to your friends, come back here and reduce this mountain to
rubble. I would not even try to stop you. What you would destroy
is just one small part of a massively redundant system, not even
you could destroy enough of it to matter. Our plan would
proceed, you would accomplish nothing."

	Ifurita was not expecting an answer, but she had to try. "Just
how do you plan to transform this world into your twilight
paradise?" Only some of her bitterness was calculated.

	"I am leaving now," Erinyes said, ignoring the question. "I do
not begrudge you your friendship with the humans, which is why I
have given you back the one thing that might have held them to
this world. If you value their lives then convince them to
leave. Make it soon."

	Ifurita knew she could not do that. But she caught herself
before saying so. In the battle to come, surprise might be a
factor. She hated herself for thinking that way. "Erinyes...
damn you."

	"We were born damned, Ifurita. As were those who made us and
all like them. One day you will understand that. Perhaps then we
will meet again. Until then, good-bye." She began to rise into
the air.

	"Erinyes?" The black-clad cyborg halted her ascent, looked down
at Ifurita. "Did you ever find your soul mate?"

	Her expression darkened. "He died. They all do." She shot up
into the sky with greater speed now. In just a second she was
out of sight.

	Ifurita stared after her for a moment. In her heart had been a
place for the fellow Demon God who had built the temple where
Makoto found her, who had called her sister. That place had been
filled with hopes for all the wonders Erinyes had seen, the long
life she had led. Now in that place there was nothing but a
gaping hole. It hurt worse than any injury she could imagine.
This must be what Fujisawa felt, she thought, what he felt when
he saw his wife lying on the floor bleeding to death.

	She looked down at the baby girl tucked in her arm, still
sleeping soundly. "Let us get you home, little one."

	As she flew, she tried to imagine the moment when she would put
Ai into her father's arms. Thinking of that made the pain in her
heart almost bearable.



End Chapter 4



Next Chapter: Fall of Darkness