ALIELLE: You came back? Wow! Hey, Fatora! They came back! THE ADVENTURES OF ALIELLE AND FATORA Featuring Fatora (she asks the questions) and Alielle (she gives the ego- building answers). FATORA: Hey there, loyal subjects. How did you like Fatora Day? ALIELLE: I liked the stripper. FATORA: We all did! Ah, my birthday... A chance for mere nothings like yourselves to reflect upon the true greatness that is myself. ALIELLE: Oh, Fatora. For me, every day is Fatora Day! FATORA: Now, it's no misconception that I'm popular. As somebody with tens of thousands of fans in Japan, and literally tens of fans outside Japan... I'll never understand Westerners, will you? ALIELLE: We are close to hitting the one hundred mark. FATORA: Anyway, my point is that you don't become as popular as I am without suffering along the way. And yes, I've had my share of suffering. Of course, I've also had more fun than most of you peasants ever will! ALIELLE: Yeah! You said it! Fatora, can we... FATORA: What? Oh... not yet, you have to introduce the story first! ALIELLE: But Fatora... I've been waiting minutes, I'm not sure I can hold on much longer... FATORA: Just... introduce it really quickly and we can get down to business! ALIELLE: Okay, um... Hi everyone, here's the next story in our exciting... uh... okay... start reading now! FATORA: Okay, go! ALIELLE: Here I come! CUT!! CHAPTER FOUR: "THE BLUE AND THE GAY" A beam of light hit the far wall of the dark, wrecked chamber, the first light to enter the chamber in many months. It illuminated the banks of highly sensitive equipment, all but destroyed by a massive rock slide. A large section of the room had flooded, and the panels and strip lights that once lit up the area had long since burned out or fused. The light grew brighter as two large men gradually removed the rocks and boulders that blocked the entrance. This whole section of caverns had been sealed off by an earthquake- a side effect of the Eye of God's recent use against the Bugrom. A smaller, thinner man climbed through the newly created entrance, and surveyed the damage. "It's not quite as bad as anticipated," he called to the others. "A lot of this equipment could be salvaged." "Later," came the reply. "We have our orders. Find the probe." The man nodded, and took out a key. He bent down to study the markings on a row of lockers. Finally he used the key to open the last one, and took out a long metal cylinder. "It's here," he called over his shoulder. He opened a small panel on the cylinder, and peered through the gloom at the inside. "Looks like the power core melted. We'll have to clean it up, but it should work once the core's replaced." "Good. The master will be pleased." The man climbed back over the rocks and rejoined his colleagues. They walked silently away from the flooded section, the artificial light shimmering on their blue skin... Londs stood in the doorway, and cleared his throat as noisily as he could, in order to attract the attention of Princesses Rune Venus and Fatora. The servants applying their makeup broke off from their task. "Your majesties," Londs stated, "the royal delegation from Styrenia has arrived. They await your presence." "Can't wait," Fatora commented with more than a hint of sarcasm. "Thankyou Londs," Rune nodded. "We will be along shortly." Rune turned to her sister as Londs left. "I am looking forward to meeting Princess Formyka. The last time we met, we were still children." "I met her last year," Fatora replied. "She's... well, she's changed." "I hear she leads an interesting life," said Rune, intrigued. Fatora raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you could say that." Formyka was indeed a rare character. For one thing, she was one of the only people still capable of making Fatora feel insignificant. And if there was one thing Fatora couldn't stand, it was feeling insignificant. Alielle wandered through the conference hall with a look of excitement on her face. The visiting Styrenian delegation was so large that it had to contain at least a few pretty girls. While searching with a rigorous process of deduction through the new faces, a hand on her shoulder made her jump. "Hey, little girl," said a female voice. "And what do you do here?" Alielle turned around to face the voice, and was confronted with a tall, stunningly beautiful red haired woman. Behind her stood two young servants, one male and one female. "My name is Alielle," she greeted the visitor. "I'm a servant here, but I'm also..." "Fatora's girlfriend, right? I've heard a lot about you. I can definitely see the attraction. You're quite a beautiful young lady, Alielle." Alielle's eyes widened. Things were clearly looking up. "By the way," said the woman, "you're probably wondering who I am, right?" "Well," Alielle pondered, "your face does look familiar." "Of course it does!" she laughed. "I am the crown princess of Styrenia! Ruler of the dependency of Caustica! The most celebrated royal bisexual in El-Hazard's history!" The two servants squealed with joy and grabbed the princess in unison. She smiled down at Alielle. "But you can call me Formyka." Alielle giggled. What a woman! The main doors swung open. Londs strode in, followed by Rune and Fatora. "Honoured guests," he announced, "I present to you her royal majesty, Princess Rune Venus, commander in chief of the armed forces, ruler of Roshtaria and leader of the tribes." There was polite applause. Meanwhile, Fatora was scanning the room in an attempt to locate Alielle. She gasped as she found her- staring lovingly at her arch enemy, Princess Formyka. Londs continued with his introductions. "Her royal majesty, Princess Fatora, protector of..." He didn't get the chance to finish, as Fatora angrily pushed past him and marched towards Alielle and Formyka. "Alielle," she demanded, "what are you doing with... that woman?" "We're just talking," Alielle replied innocently. "Oh, Fatora, have you met Princess Formyka?" Formyka put her hand on Fatora's shoulder. "Of course she has. Me and Fatora go way back. Don't we, Fatora?" Fatora frowned back. "Hello Formyka," she said through gritted teeth. "I've just been speaking to your little companion," Formyka continued, leaning heavily on Fatora in her customary manner. "She's really cute. Of course, I've brought my own servants along." She waved in the direction of her two followers. "It would have been nice to bring my entire harem along, but... there wasn't nearly enough room on the transport! Anyway, Fatora honey, where's yours?" "My transport?" "No, stupid, your harem. I'll bet the famous Princess Fatora has just hundreds of girls at her beck and call, right?" "Very funny, Formyka," Fatora frowned. "But I'll have you know I could seduce any woman in this room!" "Now, Fatora, try to calm down," Formyka smiled, somehow managing to be courteous and condescending with the same facial expression. She yawned, and turned to her followers. "I hope there'll be alcohol at this party. I haven't had a drink in hours." "Miss Formyka," Alielle offered, "I'm sure if you ask Londs we can get you some wine from the kitchen." "Thanks, Alielle," Formyka replied. "I'll do that. Will you join me in a glass, Fatora? Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't drink, do you? Owing to your weak constitution." "No," Fatora corrected, "it's because I don't WANT to drink. It's a matter of principle." "Right, sure," Formyka nodded. "It's okay, Fatora. Being a lightweight is nothing to be ashamed of." Fatora grabbed Alielle's arm and narrowed her eyes at Formyka. "I... don't like you," she hissed, before marching out of the room with Alielle in tow. "Well, it's nice to see you getting along with my WORST ENEMY! I can see I'm clearly outclassed in this situation. Go on, if you love her so much why don't you go off to Styrenia and join her little troupe of sycophants and lovers?" "Fatora, I..." Alielle's first instinct was to apologise, to try to make things better, as she hated seeing Fatora upset. But her voice trailed off as she realised that Fatora was being totally unreasonable. "Fatora, calm down. Now, firstly, I had no idea there was some sort of feud going on between you and Formyka. Second, I don't recall you ever seeking my approval of any of the women you seduce." "She was insulting me!" objected Fatora, "and you just stood there and let her! I would have appreciated some support!" "Oh, so you wanted me to talk back to a visiting princess?" Alielle challenged. "I am a servant, you know. I have to be nice to visitors even if I don't want to. Besides, you don't usually need any help sticking up for yourself." "Tell me," Fatora snarled, "do your duties as a servant extend to looking up adoringly at any visiting dignitary that catches your eye?" Alielle turned her back on Fatora. "For somebody who's forever extolling the virtues of free love, you have one serious jealous streak. I know you're upset, but you're just acting stupid. I love you Fatora, but I won't let you take this silly grudge with Formyka out on me." Fatora and Alielle were conspicuously silent at the banquet. They made continuous efforts to avoid eye contact with one another, a difficult task considering they were seated next to each other. Alielle sneaked a glance at Fatora. She didn't like this. It was very unusual for the two of them to fight, and already she was missing the feeling of security Fatora gave her. Right now, she wanted nothing more that to curl up next to the one she loved and forget about their dispute. But Fatora had been wrong. She had to stand her ground. The last thing she wanted was to be regarded as a pushover. At the opposite end of the table, a servant carrying an enormous jug of wine gradually worked her way along the row of seated guests, filling each one's glass in turn. She reached Princess Formyka, who glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "Thanks, baby. Don't mind if I do!" Formyka happily took the still half- full wine jug from the confused servant's hands and set it down next to her plate. "How kind," she smiled, waving at Fatora. Fatora groaned inwardly. It wasn't fair. Formyka was so much better at debauchery than she was. Formyka's seemingly insatiable sexual appetites covered both sexes, while Fatora was strictly girl-only. Formyka's drinking ability was such that she could drink a distillery dry (and, on one occasion, reportedly had), while Fatora, apparently, lacked an important enzyme necessary for alcohol digestion. She raised her glass, and, glaring at Formyka, took a sip of wine. All things considered, it was quite a big sip. For Fatora. It took Alielle a few moments to realise that Fatora had completely frozen. Her glass still in her hand, not blinking, apparently not even breathing, she seemed to be staring intently at something at the far end of the room. Alielle started to panic a little, as others stopped their conversations to look at Fatora. "Miss Fatora," she whispered. No response. "Miss Fatora!" She passed her hand in front of Fatora's glazed eyes. Suddenly Fatora blinked. Then she began to shake. "Get... him... AWAY!" she screamed, trying to back up. In her desperation, she toppled off her chair. "Wow," said Formyka. "This stuff must be good." She picked up her wine jug and took a large swig, Meanwhile, Alielle, Londs and Doctor Schtalubaugh had clustered around Fatora and were trying unsuccessfully to determine the nature of her distress. "He's come to kill me! Hasn't he?" her eyes flitted nervously between the faces. "Fatora," Alielle said softly, "who do you mean? We can't see anybody." "That's because he's STANDING BEHIND YOU!" she cried. Alielle threw a quick glance over her shoulder, but as expected, there was nobody of a remotely threatening nature to be seen. "Well? What are you all, blind?" Fatora urged, breathing erratically. "Don't you see him? It's him! Galus!" Rune Venus, already making her way over, increased her pace noticeably upon hearing the name. "Princess," Schtalubaugh tried to calm the near-hysterical Fatora. "Galus is dead." "Well, of course he is!" Fatora snapped, almost as angry as she was afraid. "If he wasn't then how could he have walked through the table like that?" Londs and Schtalubaugh parted to allow Rune through. Rune was saying something... Fatora couldn't make out the words. Couldn't she speak up? The voices around her were blurring, merging into a single, uniform, deafening noise. And the faces, they were starting to blur too. All apart from one. Galus, who had at first seemed like an apparition, his form vague and indistinct, was now the most real thing in Fatora's universe. In fact... the only real thing. "Princess," Galus smiled. "What a pleasure. It's been too long since we last met." Fatora tried to speak, but found herself unable to. Galus continued. "And how is your lovely sister? I wish I could have stayed in touch, but it wasn't possible. I've been a little dead recently." He laughed quietly at his own joke. "But these surroundings... are inappropriate, wouldn't you say? Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Galus disappeared, and Fatora now found herself staring at Princess Formyka. What was she doing here? It took her a moment to work out that she was, in fact, witnessing a memory. This was her recollection of the conversation they'd had less than an hour ago. As suddenly as it had appeared, the image changed. Now she was with Alielle. It was night, and they were in the forest outside Florestica. Another memory- this time of that ridiculous caper with her would-be protector, Ibon. That confirmed it. She was experiencing past events. Except... Now she couldn't remember what the previous memory was. In fact, she couldn't seem to recall anything much after the memory she was seeing now... Another change. Now it was her birthday, and she was addressing the crowds from the balcony. Again, she seemed to have forgotten what the previous memory was... She realised to her horror what must be happening. Her memories were systematically being taken away, layer by layer, starting with the most recent and working back. Back, back. Back now to the Eye of God, receiving the faulty telepathic archive that had resulted in her brief infatuation with Makoto. The images were moving faster now. With Alielle again, fleeing the Trigger of Destruction. Being held in an armlock by Kalia. Kissing Shayla. Activating the Eye of God. Being reunited with Rune and Alielle after she had been rescued from... Uh oh. She couldn't move. At least, not by herself, although she was aware of her arms moving slowly, involuntarily. She was kneeling, and her arms were suspended. Two voices in the background conversed in hushed tones. This was a Phantom Tribe laboratory, and it was fairly obvious what the test subject was. Galus appeared out of the darkness. "That's much better, wouldn't you say?" he asked casually. "I don't understand..." Fatora replied. Every one of her memories after this point had gone. This was no longer the past. This was now. "Of course you don't understand," he laughed. "But you will. Or... maybe you won't. It really doesn't matter. I am simply here to finish what I began." Fatora had stopped moving and speaking now, but her eyes continued to flicker. She now lay on a bed in the palace surgery, her body limp and her face twisted into an expression of great distress. She was clearly hallucinating, so Doctor Schtalubaugh had proclaimed, and whatever she was experiencing couldn't have been pleasant. The doctor, who had enlisted the help of Makoto and Afura, searched through the racks of medicine while barking instructions at his two new assistants. Princess Rune, Londs, and various concerned servants remained near the door, a respectful distance from the bed. The only figure at the bedside was Alielle, kneeling, her hand clasped tightly around Fatora's, and her head bowed. Princess Formyka, flanked by her two servants, fought her way into the room and walked over to the bed. "Whoa," she said, and looked down at Alielle. "Does she do this a lot?" "Of course not," came the reply. Alielle did not look up. "Is she gonna be okay?" "I don't know!" Alielle looked up angrily at Formyka, revealing a face soaked with tears. "I don't know! I don't know!" Then, remembering her place, she relented. "I don't know, your majesty." But the usual carefree expression had left Formyka's face. She placed a hand on Alielle's shoulder. "It's okay, kid. I'm sorry." Formyka and her servants walked slowly away. Makoto and Schtalubaugh quickly approached the bed. Makoto was holding a bottle of liquid. "We will have to inject it," Schtalubaugh told him. "A significant dose may be enough to bring her round." Afura made her way over to Alielle, who looked up expectantly. "We should leave now," she said. "You can come back later. I'll explain." Afura and Alielle entered the small room. Afura beckoned for Alielle to sit down. She quickly did, then looked back at the priestess, impatience in her eyes. "We're not absolutely sure what's wrong with Fatora," Afura said softly, "but we have a theory. She mentioned Galus before she blacked out. She may be experiencing flashbacks to her time with the Phantom Tribe. You have to understand, what Fatora went through was extremely... painful, for want of a better word. She did seem to be dealing with it very well, but there was always a chance that something like this might happen." The words continued to echo through Alielle's head that night as she lay in bed. The bed had never seemed quite so big, so empty. She might have to get used to this. Three days later, something extraordinary happened. One of the Phantom Tribe, a woman by the name of Amiri, was apprehended in Florestica by the royal guard. As far as anybody could recall, no member of the Phantom Tribe had ever been successfully captured by any of the Allied Nations. But that wasn't what made it extraordinary. What baffled everybody was that the woman was captured while walking casually down a street, making no effort to disguise herself, and reportedly bidding the terrified Roshtarians good morning. When approached by the guards, she politely gave herself up. And between than and now, she had not created a single illusion. "It sounds as if she wanted to be caught," Shayla commented as she descended the steps to the dungeon. "We are as confused as you are," Londs replied. "Her actions defy all logic." The two stepped into the dungeon, followed by Makoto, Nanami, Afura, Alielle and about twenty guards. In a situation like this, everybody would have been more comfortable if Miz and Fujisawa were around, but Miz had been summoned to the seminary earlier in the week to discuss the next water priestess, and Mr Fujisawa had gone with her. The prisoner stood up and, to everyone's surprise, waved. "Hi," she acknowledged. "That's a lot of guards. They're really not necessary." "We're not taking any chances," Shayla said, suspicious. "You have powers. You could use them at any time." "That's right. I could, couldn't I? I could blind you all with a flash of light, and probably be out of here before you knew what was happening." "But... you haven't," Shayla observed. "Why?" "Why indeed," she smiled, looking at their confused faces. "The Phantom Tribe... aren't illusioners by nature, you know." "What's that supposed to mean?" Shayla challenged. Amiri looked directly at Nanami. "Nanami Jinnai. When you were transported to El-Hazard, you gained the ability to see through Phantom Tribe illusions." She turned her gaze to Makoto. "Makoto Mizuhara. Upon your transportation, you gained the ability to manipulate ancient technology. When the Phantom Tribe's ancestors were sent here, they gained the very ability that defined them in your eyes. The ability to create illusions." "The Phantom Tribe got their abilities from the dimensional crossover?" Afura considered this. "It does sort of make sense..." "The Phantom Tribe weren't always the people you consider them to be," Amiri continued. "And things are changing. Most members of the Phantom Tribe inherit their illusory technique from their parents. But for a long time now, there have been those of us who are born without those abilities. They are beginning to fade." "Are you one of them?" Nanami asked. "Maybe," she replied. "It doesn't really matter what I say, you'll draw your own conclusions. I'm not to be trusted. One of the evil Phantom Tribe. Inherently bad." She paused. "Or," she added, "maybe we're not all lunatics like Galus and Nahato. Maybe those of us without special abilities are seen as a lesser race, treated as outcasts. Maybe we want out, and maybe, just maybe, the chaos following Galus' death has given us that opportunity." "That doesn't explain why you're here," Afura said. "Maybe we need your help." "Don't make me laugh!" Shayla responded, incredulous. "Roshtaria, help the Phantom Tribe?" "We are NOT the Phantom Tribe!" Amiri insisted. For the first time, she seemed upset. "Phantom means illusion. We don't have that ability, and apparently are unworthy of the name. We have no name. That's because, in the eyes of our leaders, we are nothing." There was a long silence. Amiri gathered her emotions, and calmly said- "How's the princess? Has her condition worsened?" There was a collective gasp. "How..." Alielle started, "how do you know about Fatora?" "Princess Fatora is my reason for being here now," she explained. "Her current state is no accident. She is being manipulated." "A-HA!" Shayla cried. "So YOU'RE responsible for this, huh? And you want our help in return for..." "Oh, Shut UP, Shayla-Shayla! What's wrong with you? Why do you want so desperately to believe that I'm your enemy? Do I challenge your bigoted notions of good and evil? You leap to your ignorant conclusions, when in fact I am here to help!" Silence again. "I'm sorry," she offered. "I realise you have no reason to trust me. But you must. For the sake of your princess." "Very well," sighed Afura. "We'll talk to Princess Rune." Rune listened intently to Afura's account of the meeting. Then she turned to Nanami. "Nanami, do you trust her?" "Me?" asked Nanami, surprised. "Why do you want my opinion?" "You can treat this matter more objectively than the rest of us. Besides, if we were to let Amiri go, we would have to rely on your abilities to keep watch over her." "Well," Nanami hesitated, "other than her being blue, I can't really see any reason not to trust her." Alielle took hold of Nanami's arm and stared pleadingly up at Rune. "Please, princess. We have to do something to save Fatora." Rune nodded. "We will release the prisoner. But I am increasing palace security as a precautionary measure." Alielle smiled up at the princess, not with her usual smile of affection, but with one of genuine relief. "Thankyou, princess," she whispered. Upon her release, Amiri requested two things: to be taken immediately to Fatora, and the return of an object which was confiscated from her during her arrest. She and Makoto looked down over Fatora, who still appeared to be asleep. Nanami hovered behind them, feeling slightly awkward. "And you haven't been able to wake her?" "No success," Makoto sighed, shaking his head. "Didn't think so," she said, trailing off as she noticed Fatora's eyelids flicker slightly. "REM sleep," Makoto noted. "Yes," Amiri agreed. "She's dreaming, alright." Makoto shifted a little. "Actually," he offered, "there was something I noticed about that which seemed unusual. I'm no expert, but... isn't REM sleep supposed to happen in short bursts?" "Usually," she confirmed. "Why?" "Well, as far as I can tell, Fatora's been in more or less constant REM sleep ever since she collapsed." Amiri looked alarmed. "Are you sure?" "Pretty sure. What does it mean?" "The item I requested. I need it as soon as possible!" Amiri held aloft the cylindrical object which had finally been returned to her. She was addressing a small gathering of people- Princess Rune, Shayla, Afura, Nanami, Makoto and Alielle. Formyka and her servants had also tagged onto the group, and the trio now stood at the back, observing, just in case something interesting transpired. "This object," Amiri explained, "is a neural interface probe. One of only two in existence. They were used on the princess during her time with the Phantom Tribe. I happened to procure this one some time ago. We all thought the other had been destroyed. Unfortunately, the Phantom Tribe leadership managed to retrieve it, and they're now using it to affect Fatora's thoughts." "What does it do?" Makoto asked. "The Phantom Tribe were looking for a way to control the Eye of God through Fatora. Now, as you know, control of the weapon isn't just genetic, it's also telepathic. It requires the willing participation of the princesses. So they inserted a small chip into her brain, that allowed direct interface between the probe and her thought processes. With the probe, they were able to insert themselves into Fatora's dreams and memories, in the hope of creating a set mental illusions so compelling, that Fatora would be tricked into giving the mental command to fire the weapon. As you know, that didn't work. But now they've retrieved the probe and they're using it again." "And just how do YOU know all of this?" Shayla challenged. "I happen to be a scientist myself," Amiri replied, giving Shayla a glare that could melt tungsten. "Not that I was connected to the tests on Fatora. A degenerate such as myself would never have been allowed near such a critical operation. Besides, my speciality is embryonics. But I got to hear about Fatora through my scientific contacts." "What are they trying to achieve?" Nanami enquired. "What's the point of reactivating the chip now?" Amiri shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine. I don't even pretend to understand what motivates our new leader, Nahato." A look of poorly disguised resentment crossed her face at the mention of the name. "It could be that he's just out for revenge. He's trying to torture her, drive her insane. If the chip really has been active for three days, that's probably the case. Which is why I brought along the other probe. This also allows interaction with Fatora's thoughts. It might provide a temporary way of keeping the princess sane. I can use it to send somebody else inside her head. Ideally, it should be someone she really trusts..." "Well," said Nanami, "we have Alielle. She should be ideal." She placed a hand on Alielle's shoulder. "Alielle, yes, I've heard of you." Amiri looked down on the girl with curiosity. "Aren't you Princess Fatora's sex slave?" Alielle gasped. The other occupants of the room glanced at each other with hushed embarrassment, and then glanced at Formyka and her servants, who were desperately trying to suppress their amusement. "Or... was that propaganda/" Amiri considered. "I'm sorry, my sources of information are limited. Often what our leaders tell us is all we have to go on." Alielle frowned back at Amiri. "Fatora LOVES me! And I love her!" "I apologise, really," she reaffirmed, desperate to pacify Alielle. "Now," she continued, addressing Miz and Afura, "to permanently release Fatora from the Phantom Tribe's influence, it will be necessary to find Nahato's probe and shut it down. I know where he is, but getting to him won't be easy. He's not the trusting type. That's where you come in." "I see," mused Afura. A mission into Phantom Tribe territory. This could be tricky. "You said you wanted our help with something in return?" "That's simple. Those of us without special abilities are planning a mass evacuation. We make up nearly a quarter of the total Phantom Tribe, but our leaders would rather see us die than let us leave. You see, although we can't create illusions, we can still see through them. If we were to defect to your side... their special abilities would no longer be quite so special. Basically, we need a diversion. The presence of two elemental priestesses should create enough confusion to let us get away." She looked at the faces before her. Each one of them was contemplating her plan. She hoped she'd convinced the, because she certainly hadn't convinced herself. The Glorious Fatora II, one of Fatora's private fleet of transports, took off with Afura at the helm. Makoto was staying behind to monitor Fatora's condition, and had been provided with a two-way communication device by Amiri. "This is Makoto. Can you hear me?" Amiri spoke into her communicator. "Loud and clear. Makoto, I want you to keep this channel open at all times. Report any visible changes in the princess." She realised that the other occupants of the craft were transfixed by the tiny communication device. "What? What are you all looking at?" Alielle, Shayla and Nanami all went to reply, but Nanami got there first. "That thing you're using. I mean, we have similar technology on Earth, but I've never seen anything like it in El-Hazard." Amiri blinked. If they were amazed by low-tech equipment like this, they were in for a few surprises. "Much of the Phantom Tribe's technology was developed in complete isolation from the rest of El- Hazard. When our ancestors first arrived here, their primary objective was to try to return to their own dimension. That was what began the accelerated development in Phantom Tribe technology." "Oh, I get it," Shayla replied. "You developed incredible technology then kept it to yourselves." "We had no desire to be outcasts! It was your ancestors who..." "Will the two of you please calm down?" Afura sighed, glancing back from the controls. "Shayla-Shayla, you should know better than to talk politics with a member of the Phantom Tribe. Nothing is going to be achieved by arguing over whose ancestors are to blame for everyone's problems." Shayla backed down. Afura was probably right, as usual. But this wasn't easy. Co-operating with any member of the Phantom Tribe, however polite, just felt wrong. What if they were being tricked? Even if they weren't, they were still taking one hell of a risk. Afura, though, seemed confident, and certainly appeared to trust Amiri. Not too surprising- the two seemed very similar. It wasn't that Shayla didn't want to trust the newcomer: in fact, just the opposite was true. It was more that she was afraid of being wrong. After all, if this did turn out to be a trap, she wanted Amiri to know she was prepared. Alielle was crouched next to Amiri, as the pair studied the neural probe. "We should try this now," Amiri decided. "Now, Alielle, I'll be here to supervise, but I can't predict what the exact effects will be. Are you certain you want to go through with this?" "I'd do anything to help my dear Fatora," Alielle replied, her eyes growing even more concerned. "Well, if anybody can help her now, it's you. You have to keep her sane; if possible, try to convince her that what she's experiencing is an illusion. If the emotional attachment between you is sufficiently strong, you should be able to get through to her and let her know help's on the way." Alielle hesitated, then looked quizzical. "Emotional attachment?" "Well, you do love and trust each other, don't you?" "Umm... yes..." "Don't worry, you'll be fine." Amiri pressed a small pad on the probe, and a green light came on. She placed the device in Alielle's hands. "Now, concentrate on the light." Alielle stared closely at the spot of light for a few seconds. "I don't feel anything." "Try letting your eyes drift out of focus." Moving her head closer to the object, Alielle tried to relax her eye muscles. She was suddenly aware of a second set of images around her. Yes, by altering the focus of her eyes, she could shift between the two worlds. She wasn't on the transport any more. It wasn't clear where she was instead, as she was still trying to fine-tune her surroundings. One thing was for certain, though; it was very dark. There were some lights- at least, she thought they were lights. Spots of purple and blue that did little to pierce the blackness. There was no sound, save for the constant humming of what she assumed was machinery. Nothing seemed to be moving either. It appeared she was all alone. There was a large object ahead. It was still too blurred to see clearly, just a mixture of red, grey and black with a few light patches. It seemed to draw Alielle in. She moved tentatively towards it. Suddenly the image before her became crystal clear. Her heart skipped a beat. No, she wasn't alone after all. "Oh, Fatora, what have they done to you?" It was Fatora, suspended in some sort of machine. Her eyes were shut, and she looked unusually pale and thin. So this was what was going on in Fatora's dreams. Alielle panicked. What could she do? There was no obvious way of releasing Fatora from the contraption, and even if there was, would it make any difference? After all, this was part of some elaborate illusion. She decided the first thing she had to do was communicate with Fatora. "Fatora? Can you hear me?" Fatora didn't respond. Alielle spoke louder. "Miss Fatora! Please listen to me!" Now, a result. Fatora's eyes opened, just a little. Alielle quickly positioned herself in Fatora's line of sight. "Fatora, it's me! I've come to help! Listen, this isn't really happening. It's all an illusion, do you understand?" Fatora's expression remained unchanged. Finally, she spoke. "Who's there?" "I... it's me, Fatora! Alielle! Can't you see me? Can't you hear me?" "Is somebody there?" No, it wasn't working! Alielle became frantic. "Please, Fatora!" she screamed. "Please, say you can hear me!" But clearly Fatora couldn't hear or see Alielle. And she knew why. Slowly she let her focus drift back to reality. Nanami, Shayla and Amiri were staring at her expectantly. "Well?" Amiri ventured. "What happened?" "It didn't work, I can't do it." Alielle hung her head in shame. "I could see her, but she couldn't see me." "There might be a problem with the probe's transmission," Amiri pondered. "I've never used one before. I'll work on it." Alielle didn't look convinced. She turned to Nanami. "Oh, big sister, it was terrible. Fatora was stuck inside this big machine, and I was yelling and yelling but I couldn't make her hear me. I couldn't do it!" "Hey, Alielle, it's okay," Shayla offered. "You heard what Amiri said, you can try again when she's adjusted the probe thingy. You'll be able to talk to Fatora then." "No I won't," Alielle insisted, shaking her head. "Umm... is everything okay, Alielle?" Shayla asked. Alielle stood up and walked determinedly to the other end of the transport. "I don't want to talk any more," she said, turning her back on everyone. That night, the Glorious Fatora II was at rest. Shayla was asleep in the rear of the transport, while Afura and Amiri stood at the helm, discussing a map. "I didn't expect to be going this far west," Afura noted. "By my reckoning we're heading away from Phantom Tribe territory." "It'll become clear once we're there," Amiri reassured. "I realise you've had to put a great deal of trust in me. I'm very grateful." Nanami approached Alielle, trying and failing to look casual. Alielle hadn't said a word for hours, and it was obvious something was bothering her. "Alielle," Nanami started, "is there something you're not telling us?" Alielle just looked away. "We can't help you if you don't say what's wrong." "Nanami... I know why I couldn't communicate with Fatora. It's because... I don't have a strong enough emotional attachment with her." Alielle started sobbing, and grabbed onto Nanami with both hands. "Whatever do you mean, Alielle?" Nanami asked, confused. You love Fatora, don't you?" "Yes, but... before she passed out, I was talking to Formyka, and Fatora was upset because she doesn't like Formyka, and I said she was being silly, and she said I was siding against her, and then we weren't talking to each other and the next thing I knew Fatora had fainted and that's why I can't get through to her!" "That's it?" Nanami was incredulous. "You had a fight? Is that what this is about?" "I should never have got angry at her. And now I might never see her again. What have I done?" "Alielle, couples fight all the time. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't matter." Amiri, who had overheard the conversation, made her way forward. "I don't think you thought you'd be able to communicate with Fatora from the start, did you? You were already convinced you'd fail." "She's right," Nanami nodded. "I know you, you're very dedicated to Fatora. Maybe you just weren't persistent enough." "But... she couldn't see or hear me. I tried everything!" Alielle insisted. "I think you're approaching this problem from the wrong angle," Amiri observed. "Going inside someone's mind isn't the same as just going up and talking to them. It's possible Fatora is trying to block out some of the stimuli around her. You'll need to develop some sort of strategy." "How?" "I don't know, because I don't know Fatora. You understand how her mind works better than any of us do. Use your knowledge of her mind to get her attention." Alielle sat quietly for a while, letting this sink in. Then she stood up. "I want to go back in," she said decisively. "And this time, I know I'll succeed." Having done it once before, Alielle now found it much easier to slide between the two worlds. Fatora, still suspended in the apparatus, was directly in front of her. She knelt down so that her face was level with Fatora's. This time, instead of shouting, she spoke softly. "Fatora, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm just here to tell you that we're trying our best to save you. I've come into your dream because... I thought you might be lonely." Alielle attempted to make herself comfortable on the hard floor. The illusion was indeed realistic, down to the texture of the floor tiles. She pondered on what she could say to Fatora. "I was thinking... about the night we first met. Do you remember? You drank way too much that night. I had to carry you back to your room..." Fatora made a little noise. Perhaps this was working... although it hardly amounted to communication. How could she get Fatora's attention? How did Fatora think? Then it hit her. "Do you remember," Alielle prompted with a little smile on her face, "what we did the night AFTER we met?" Fatora made the noise again. Only this time, it got louder. Fatora was quietly laughing to herself. Then, quite unexpectedly, she spoke. "I think, in all fairness, I was pretty damn good for a beginner." She opened her eyes and smiled down on Alielle. "Oh, and you were good too." "Fatora!" Alielle squealed in delight. "You're okay!" She reached through the metal framework of the apparatus to embrace Fatora. As she did so, her sleeve lightly brushed against one of the metal brackets, giving her a reasonably large electric shock. "Ow! Owowow!" Alielle skidded backwards along the floor, eventually colliding with a bank of monitors. Shaking her head to reorientate herself, she saw that Fatora was being shocked as well. Strangely, though, she didn't seem at all bothered by it. "Alielle, are you okay?" "I'm fine. Doesn't that... hurt?" "No, I'm not feeling any pain. It's odd, really." Fatora appeared distracted for a moment, but then focused again on Alielle. "What are you doing here, anyway? How did you manage to get so deep into Phantom Tribe territory?" "Well, um, actually Fatora, this isn't really..." "Oh! Alielle! Listen, you have to warn my sister. You won't believe this, but Galus is one of the Phantom Tribe!" Alielle paused upon hearing this. At first, Fatora had seemed just like her old self, but now it was obvious that all wasn't well. She was clearly experiencing memory loss. Fatora studied Alielle's puzzled expression and added, "I know, I wouldn't have believed it either. But didn't I always say there was something creepy about him?" Then something occurred to Alielle. If this was taking place inside one of Fatora's memories, then naturally she wouldn't be able to recall anything that happened afterwards. As far as Fatora was concerned, this was the present. "Fatora, please listen carefully. None of this is real. You're in some kind of dream, and this is all based on something that really happened months ago." "Wait... a dream, you say?" Fatora looked doubtful. "That would make you part of the dream too, right?" "No, I'm using Phantom Tribe technology to get inside the dream. They're the ones who are doing this to you. They're making you relive something they did to you some time ago. A lot of stuff has happened since then that you can't remember right now. Galus is dead! The Bugrom Empire is almost completely wiped out. There's some kind of revolution going on within the Phantom Tribe. And there are two really cute girls hanging around the palace." Fatora took a few moments to absorb the enormity of what her girlfriend had just told her. "Cute girls, huh? Well, I'm sold. If this is a dream, that would explain a few things." "Like what?" "Well, since I arrived her, I've been cut, stabbed, burned, probed, and some really nasty stuff that doesn't bear thinking about..." "Oh, Fatora, that's terrible!" Alielle went to embrace Fatora again, then, remembering the shock she received last time, thought better of it. "Well, it WAS terrible," Fatora continued, "until I realised that it didn't hurt. Not at all. I haven't felt any pain since this whole thing started. It really pissed Galus off, I can tell you. No matter what he tried, it didn't hurt me." Alielle was relieved, but also confused. "How could that be?" "I have no idea. But when was the last time one of your dreams made sense?" Nanami, Afura and Amiri watched closely over Alielle who was sitting, entranced, staring at a fixed point in the middle distance. Resting on her lap was the probe. "She's been like that for a long time," Nanami observed. "Should we do something?" "I think we should leave her for now," Amiri replied. "This is probably a good sign. She may have got through to Fatora at last." Something caught Afura's attention. The light on the probe was flickering. "Should it be doing that?" she asked urgently. Amiri immediately grabbed the probe and looked closer. "Oh dear." "What?" Afura demanded. "What's 'oh dear'?" "The signal is fluctuating. I think... the other probe may now be in use." "You mean one of the Phantom Tribe has just entered Fatora's dream as well? What happens if they run into Alielle?" "I don't know," Amiri admitted. "But I'm pulling her out as a precaution." Nanami and Afura watched with growing concern as Amiri desperately fiddled with the controls of the little device, to no avail. "Sorry, sorry," she said with a hint of exasperation. "Maybe I should have studied this thing more closely." "If this is a dream, why can't I wake up?" "We're, um... working on it," Alielle replied, trying to ignore the fact that her beloved was still encased by a scaffold of unpleasant looking machinery. "Ssh!" Fatora suddenly hissed. "I think I hear someone coming!" There was no obvious place to hide in the chamber, so Alielle simply crouched down next to Fatora. A small figure seemed to melt out of the darkness before them. "Galus," Fatora sighed. But to Alielle's eyes, it most certainly wasn't Galus. The figure was a small Phantom Tribe boy. The boy did a remarkably authentic double take as he saw Alielle in front of him. "What... what are you doing here? You are not part of the dream!" "Go soak your head, Galus," Fatora gloated. "My love has come to help me." "Fatora, that's not Galus," Alielle whispered. "It's just some kid." "Looks like Galus to me," Fatora responded, unconvinced. "I am not merely 'some kid', fool!" the boy exploded. "I am Nahato, ruler of the entire Phantom Tribe!" "Told you," Alielle whispered back to Fatora. "If you can see through my illusion," Nahato continued, "then you must be... well, well, well, you found the other probe. I'd be most interested to know how you came across it." Without warning, Nahato lurched forward into Alielle, twisting her right arm behind her back and pushing her up against the nearest wall. "Alielle Ralielle," he smiled. "Age sixteen. A Dorusian national. And Princess Fatora's plaything." "Hey!" Fatora called over her shoulder. "I object to that description! Now let her go or I'll tear your head off... after... I get out of this thing..." "I suggest you keep your mouth SHUT, princess," Nahato sneered. He pulled Alielle's arm further back, causing her to cry out in pain. "Ow! That hurts!" "Does it now?" he asked with mock curiosity. "Well, that is music to my ears. You may be interested to know that so far I haven't been able to make your beloved Fatora feel pain. However, I notice you aren't similarly afflicted." Alielle didn't like the way this was going one bit. In desperation, she tried to exit the dream as she had done before, but for some reason that tactic no longer worked. "Four long days," Nahato continued. "I've tried every single thing I could think of to torture Fatora. But I failed. Inside her own mind, I can't hurt her. But now, I wonder... how might she react to seeing her friend in pain?" He didn't get to find out. For at that moment, Alielle vanished from the dream. "Huh? What happened?" Alielle found herself surrounded by the startled expressions of Nanami, Afura and Amiri. "I only just managed to pull you out," sighed Amiri, wiping the sweat from her brow. "The signal indicated someone else inside the dream." Alielle nodded vigorously. "It was this kid, he said he was the leader of the Phantom Tribe..." "Nahato," Amiri guessed. "That's it. But Fatora saw him as Galus. And... oh, this could be important- Fatora isn't feeling any pain. I'm really tired." "You haven't slept in a while, Alielle," Nanami acknowledged. "Maybe you should try to..." Before she could finish the sentence, Alielle had pre-emptively taken her advice, and was now fast asleep with her head in Nanami's lap. It was mid-morning when the transport finally reached its destination- a mountainous patch of desert on Roshtaria's western tip. It was quite the most lifeless setting imaginable, yet Amiri was adamant that this was the place. Alielle, Nanami, Shayla and Afura watched closely as she climbed down from the vehicle and walked cautiously into one of the nearby caverns. "I hope Fatora's still okay," Alielle pined. "I feel terrible knowing she's stuck in that dream, all alone." "Try to relax," Afura reassured. "I'm sure she's fine. You already found out she can't be hurt. I wonder why that is..." "It's obvious enough if you ask me," Shayla casually offered. "This is Fatora we're talking about. She has way too high an opinion of herself to ever accept she could be harmed in any way." "You know what?" Afura gasped. "I think that might be it. It is still Fatora's dream, after all. Could it be her ego that's protecting her?" "Of course!" Nanami agreed. "Nahato can't break Fatora... not because she CAN'T be broken, but because she doesn't BELIEVE she can be broken... right?" "I always thought Fatora was an egomaniac," Shayla sighed, "but I never expected her to be quite THAT self-deluded..." "Wow!" Alielle beamed. "My Fatora sure is amazing, isn't she?" Amiri emerged from the cavern with a rather nervous looking Phantom Tribe man. She signalled to them to come down from the transport. Nanami, Shayla and Afura descended the steps of the large vehicle. Alielle was just about to do likewise when she noticed the probe. The last thing she wanted was for it to fall into the wrong hands while they were gone, so she picked it up and pocketed it, before following the others down the steps. "I told you I'd return with assistance." Amiri was doing her best to reassure the man in the rather intimidating presence of Shayla. "Amiri, are you out of your mind?" he hissed. "Muldoon priestesses?" "They've promised to help us," Amiri insisted. The man still wasn't convinced. "We asked for help, and you brought us... Shayla-Shayla?" "You've heard of me?" Shayla responded, curious. "Y... yes..." he stammered. "You're feared throughout the Phantom Tribe as a force of uncontrollable destruction." Afura smiled. "Some things are the same the world over, eh, Shayla?" The man turned back to Amiri and scowled. "We can't possibly trust these people. We have no idea what their true motives are." "Hey!" Shayla objected, insulted. "We came here in good faith, intending to help, and after all our trouble you're still not prepared to trust us!" "Oh my," Amiri said, glancing back at Shayla. "What an awful feeling that must b. I can only imagine." She turned her attention back to her colleague. " I'm very sorry if you don't approve, but you'll just have to live with it. We're out of time." The inside of the cavern was a sight to behold. There had to be at least a hundred members of the Phantom Tribe, of every conceivable age. Stacked against the walls were stocks of food, supplies and even machinery. In the centre of the cavern was a square metal plat from, about ten feet by ten feet, with a control unit at one end. "What is that?" Nanami asked. "It's what we'll be using to get to Nahato, and to transport the rest of our people here," Amiri explained. "It's a transience platform. One of the Phantom Tribe's more impressive technological innovations. It allows instantaneous travel- between one platform and another, that is. We built this particular platform ourselves, in secret." She stepped up onto the platform, and invited Nanami, Alielle, Shayla and Afura to join her. She continued. "Already, as you can see, we've transported some of our people here to safety, along with some supplies. But moving any more people would arouse suspicion. The exodus has to be timed perfectly." "To coincide with our diversion," Afura finished. "I understand." "The moment anybody sees you in there, all hell will break loose. We'll do our best to protect Alielle and Nanami, but I hope you priestesses are prepared to defend yourselves." Shayla and Afura nodded solemnly. Four armed men joined them on the platform. Amiri looked over to one of her colleagues. "Commence evacuation as soon as we're gone. Signal when you're done." Without another word, she entered a code into the control unit, and all nine figures vanished. Makoto had a very serious problem. Since yesterday he'd been watching over the unconscious Fatora, occasionally contacting Amiri with updates on her condition. Just a few minutes ago, he'd received a message from Amiri, telling him to stand by. Why now? He really, really needed the bathroom. How ironic. One of the first lessons he'd learnt here in El Hazard was never to put something like this off, because you might not get the opportunity later on. What had he done to deserve such a treacherous bladder? Okay, something had to be done, and fast. He estimated there was around three minutes left before the point of no return. There was one possible solution, though... He began scanning the shelves for an empty bottle. "Morning, kid. Why the long face?" Makoto spun round in surprise. In the doorway was Princess Formyka. "You do look a lot like Fatora," she smiled. "That must create some interesting... possibilities." Makoto was in even less of a frame of mind than usual to notice sexual advances. He was, however, relieved to see somebody else. "Princess! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Formyka raised an eyebrow. "Well, somebody seems keen. I can't say I blame you, though." "I need your help!" Makoto continued, still oblivious. "I'm absolutely desperate to... you know..." "Hey, okay," Formyka replied, for once taken aback by his forwardness. "Let's not make an issue of it. Just take your clothes off and we can start." A look of total bewilderment crossed Makoto's face. "I... don't... understand..." For a few moments, they stood staring at each other in confusion. Then Makoto's nervous system discreetly reminded him that his bladder was seconds away from explosion. "Princess, I need you to look after Fatora for a few minutes while I use the bathroom," he blurted out, making for the door as quickly as possible. "I'll be back soon!" Formyka watched him run. That had been disappointing. Shayla deflected a volley of weapons fire and uttered an ancient swear word so obscene, it was still technically a mortal sin to use it. "Remind me again whose stupid idea this was?" she snarled. Amiri glared back. "I thought you got a kick out of this sort of thing." As Amiri had predicted, they had been spotted the moment they materialised. They were close to Nahato's inner sanctum now, and the area was heavily guarded. At least, Shayla thought, one of the two plans looked to be going well. It seemed as if every member of the Phantom Tribe was converging on the intruders- so the evacuation of the dissidents was probably proceeding unnoticed. Continuing blasts of wind and fire marked the group's steady progress through the catacombs. The guards may have been heavily armed, but they were no match for the combined might of Shayla and Afura. A guard dropped from the ceiling, and aimed his weapon at Amiri. Shayla casually flicked a firebomb at him. "So tell me," she shouted to Amiri, "would you be so keen to help us if it weren't for your little revolution?" "I suppose not," she replied. Two more guards hurtled towards Shayla. Somehow, her retaliatory fire blast only caught one of them. Quite unexpectedly, Amiri whipped out a small handheld weapon and took out the other guard. "Now tell me," she countered, "if it wasn't for Fatora, would you be helping us?" It was a good question, although one destined not to be answered. At that point they came to a huge door. "We're here," Amiri announced. As Shayla and Afura covered her, she punched a code into a wall panel. Nothing happened. "Damn it! They changed the code!" Shayla shook her head. "I suppose that's it. There's no way we can get through that door." "What?" Alielle and Nanami cried in unison. "Just kidding," she laughed. "Stand back!" Summoning all her available energy, she created a super-heated ball of fire, which she hurled at the door. Rather than exploding, the door simply melted, revealing a room in a state of hysteria. Amongst the chaos, Nahato calmly looked up at the intruders. "Amiri," he acknowledged. "I'm disappointed. For a degenerate, you were very useful. And now it seems you're a traitor. Such a waste." Turning to the others, he continued. "You should all be very proud of yourselves. No outsiders have ever made it this far into our territory." "Hey!" Alielle frowned, pointing at Nahato. "You're that nasty kid in Fatora's dream, aren't you?" "The very same," Nahato acknowledged, producing his copy of the probe. "If you value the life of your princess, I'd suggest you surrender now." "We BOTH know you can't hurt Fatora," Alielle reminded him. "Oh, I'll admit her inflated sense of self importance made it difficult to inflict psychological damage. However..." He yanked an electrical cable from a nearby by console and plunged it into one end of the probe. "I can still kill her." Alielle looked urgently to Amiri. "Will that kill her?" "By exponentially increasing power to the probe... the chip in Fatora's brain could short circuit. If her consciousness was still inside the chip at the time..." Amiri looked back at Alielle with a worried expression. What could they do? If Shayla or Afura made a move on Nahato, they'd leave the others open to attack. Then Alielle remembered she'd brought along the other probe. It was dangerous, but she had to warn Fatora. Princess Fatora noticed, to her alarm, that the world around her seemed to be collapsing. The environment was twisting and buckling, as if being manipulated by some unseen force. This wasn't just disorientating; it was also very annoying. Especially as she was still stuck in this stupid machine. A figure ran through the chaos towards her. Alielle! And she looked very worried... "Fatora! If you stay here, you're going to die! You have to leave now!" "I see..." she considered. "Well, any suggestions?" Alielle sighed. Fatora was stuck here. There was nothing she could do. She was so tired. She just wanted to rest. Sitting down next to Fatora, she wondered if she too would die when the chip overloaded. Somehow, she didn't care. Fatora had kept her safe for this long, she thought... And at that moment, she had a rather ingenious idea. Formyka was bored. Standing around, keeping an eye on Fatora, she was wasting valuable seduction time, And where was that cute boy who needed the bathroom? Looking at her unconscious rival, she was reminded of an old legend. It told of a princess, cast into a deep sleep, who was awakened with a kiss. A smile crossed Formyka's lips. Why not? Quickly, she glanced around to make sure she was alone. It made perfect sense to Alielle. In this environment- Fatora's mind- Fatora could do no wrong, and her ego wielded great power. What if she further reinforced it? If there was one thing Alielle was good at, it was reinforcing Fatora's ego. The constant twisting of the images around her made it tricky, but Alielle managed to make it over to the console, which, she assumed, controlled the machine. "Miss Fatora," she called out, "you have such wonderful powers of intuition." "That's true," Fatora nodded in agreement. "In fact, I bet you could guess the code for the release mechanism, couldn't you?" "Probably. Let's say... 0191." Alielle quickly entered the numbers into the display. Sure enough, the machine released Fatora. "What did I tell you?" she grinned. "Come on, Alielle, let's go." The pair ran towards the exit. Suddenly, the walls collapsed in on them. This, however, didn't bother Fatora, who simply kicked them back. They staggered through the doorway into a corridor. Where was the exit anyway? Alielle spied something familiar up ahead. It was a platform, identical to the one they'd used to enter Phantom Tribe territory. "Fatora! The Phantom Tribe use these to transport themselves from place to place! Could this be the way out?" They stepped up onto the platform and stared at the controls. "I'm afraid I don't know how to work it, though," Alielle admitted. "Aw, hell, how hard can it be?" Fatora smiled, pressing random buttons. "I consider myself something of an expert when it comes to technology." A bright light engulfed them as they dematerialised. "See?" Fatora exclaimed triumphantly. "I'm never wrong!" The situation in which Fatora awoke was infinitely more disturbing than anything she had experienced over the past few days. For some reason, Formyka's tongue was stuck down her throat. "Oh my God!" Fatora panicked. "I've died and gone to Hell!" Alielle, too, returned abruptly to reality, just in time to see Nahato's probe overload and explode. "There's no way Fatora could have survived that..." Nanami sighed. She was unexpectedly contradicted by a voice from Amiri's communicator. "Is this on? Hello? Where's Alielle? And who let this bitch in here?" "Fatora?" Amiri asked, astounded. "Did you leave the dream of your own free will? That's impossible..." "My Fatora can do anything," Alielle beamed. Something started beeping. It was another of Amiri's communicators, signalling that the evacuation was complete. "Retreat!" she urged. As the group charged back towards the platform, Shayla clearing their path with a sweeping carpet of fire, a strange conversation could be heard over Amiri's communicator. "Why were you kissing me, anyway?" "It was... an experiment." "You're sick! At least I wait for women to wake up before I..." "No, no! I thought I might wake you up with a kiss... you know, like in that legend?" "I don't recall the legend mentioning anything about tongues." "I feel I should thank... the little people." It had been a few hours since Alielle, Nanami, Shayla, Afura and Amiri had returned from their mission. In the meantime, Fatora's full memory had returned, and she was now addressing them in full speech mode. "All of those who participated in my rescue. I can't possibly remember all their names, but..." "Hey!" Shayla objected. "Don't give us that, you know EXACTLY who we are!" "Quiet, you. I'm done thanking for today. But I would like to give a special mention to all those ex-members of the Phantom Tribe who've struck out on their own under the common values of not torturing, kidnapping, murdering and sneaking around. Hopefully they'll be useful allies against those blue bastards..." Alielle nudged Fatora, embarrassed. "What? Oh yeah, no offence," Fatora added, realising that Amiri was, technically, blue as well. "Damn, race relations are tougher than I thought. One less eloquent than me could really screw up. What I meant to say was... um..." Alielle handed Fatora a piece of paper, which she quickly consulted. "...that I look forward to a day when our two peoples can live together in harmony. Is, uh, that okay?" Alielle and Fatora lay curled up in bed after a lengthy and satisfying reunion. "I missed you so much, Fatora," Alielle smiled. "Let's never fight again." "At least we'll be rid of that bitch Formyka soon," Fatora replied. "How DARE she try to come between us." "Now, Fatora," Alielle reassured, "you know I'd never choose anybody over you. Although, there are some women I wouldn't mind having alongside you..." "As it should be," Fatora agreed. "Hello?" a voice called. "I hope I'm not interrupting." Formyka wandered into the bedroom and waved at the couple. "Aw, look, monogamy. How sweet." "Shut up!" Fatora snarled. "We can be just as debauched as you! What do you want, anyway?" "I came to tell you the good news. Our parliaments have agreed to call a trade conference, so I'll be staying here for a while." "No!" Fatora insisted. "I don't want you here!" "Can't handle the competition?" Formyka mocked. "Just consider my presence here as a learning experience for you." She sauntered back to the doorway, then looked over her shoulder. "See you later, Alielle." With that, she danced out of the room, leaving Fatora in a state of advanced fury. "That... BITCH!" Can't she leave me alone? If only, just once, I could get one over on her..." "Don't worry, Fatora," Alielle said as she put her arm around her beloved. "I'm sure you'll think of something." TO BE CONTINUED Fatora's moral of the story: "Feed your ego, make it strong! One day, it might be your salvation." NOTES: Wow, that took forever to write... (I know, I know, you wouldn't think so looking at it ^_^). I introduced Formyka (Fatora's rival/double) in this chapter to create a bit of tension between Alielle and Fatora- her real starring role is in the next chapter, "The Fortnight". Meanwhile, Amiri will be back in the parallel series, "The Shape of Things to Come"- yes, there WAS a point to all that stuff with the Phantom Tribe... =dookychan= (spookydooky@hotmail.com) 25th March 2001
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