Dreaming Knights 2040 - Awakened -------------------------------- ********************************************************************* This story is part of the "Dreaming Knights" series set in the world 2040. The name Bubblegum Crisis and characters here within are copyright of Artmic & Youmex and are used without permission. Other characters and themes within are copyright of Alexander Gray and are used with permission. This story and others in this series maybe freely distributed as long as this header is quoted, the author is referenced, and the contents are not altered without permission of the author. ********************************************************************* * * * * Location: Tokyo, Japan Time: AD 2039, 31 August, 06:26 Linna sighed. If she did not know any better she would have sworn that the damned accounting boomer appeared to be personally after her blood. No matter what the work was that she handed in, the bloody machine seemed to take an almost perverse pleasure in finding any little mistake possible, even if it was just a minor formatting error. It was bad enough that she was having to work these insane hours without some mad boomer as her only company. "Hope it rots," she muttered under her breath as she bought up the file on her monitor and started the latest corrections that the pedantic little android had pointed out. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Linna cursed as her watch started to beep urgently. "Damn," she swore. "Why does Sylia always choose times like this..." Muttering to herself she reached down, and touching the DNA sensitive front of the watch lifted it surreptitiously to her mouth. "Damn it, Sylia," she hissed. "Now is not..." "Be careful, Linna," a soft musical voice that was not Sylia's spoke out from the timepiece. "They are coming." "What?" Linna blurted out in shock, stunned that someone had been able to hack into this secure channel. "They are coming for you." "Who the hell are you?!" Linna exclaimed angrily. "What..." "You must not go to sleep, Linna," the voice replied. "No matter what, you must not go to sleep." "Eh?" Linna was... "Yamazaki!" The sound of her divine master's voice made Linna's head jerk sharply up. "Oh, fuck..." she swore as the machine was striding in her direction. She tapped the watch's front again - it had gone dead. The com signal... "Yamazaki!" the boomer exclaimed. "Get over here now!" * * * * At the same moment that Linna was mentally smashing her _beloved_ Master apart, another Knight Saber was also cursing her foul luck. "Damn!" Priss swore as the mournful wailing of the police siren started up behind her and red flashing lights were reflected in her wing mirror. "Not now!" she hissed angrily as she quickly considered what to do. Sylia's voice had been almost frantic when she had ordered Priss to get over to Nene's apartment. The woman, whom Priss usually regarded as an IceBitch, had been almost incoherent, and that, more than anything else, had told the singer that something was very, very wrong. "Fuck them!" Priss decided and opened the throttle out to full. She could almost hear the surprised curses from the occupants of the car chasing her when the "Motoslave" gave a growl like a bear in heat and lurched madly forward. She tightened her grip on the metal body between her thighs and lowered her head. The scenery suddenly blurred into a gray mass as her 'slave tore up the urban road like a hell hound on LSD. "Holy... SHITT!!" Priss yelled in a combination of fear and excitement as she struggled to hang onto the throbbing machine between her legs. GODS! This was what she _lived_ for! The wind... the adrenaline rush... She was _alive_... Priss had barely even acknowledged the almost insignificant presence of the young jogger crossing the road before her speeding beast had smashed straight through the teenager and driven over the remains. The jolt caused the 'slave to buck and with a savage scream of tortured metal, the bike and its driver crashed into the side of the road. Floating... Lights... Sounds... Voices... Pain... utter pain... With a vague feeling of disappointment at having failed Sylia, Priss fell gladly into the offered embrace of darkness. * * * * "Sleep..." Linna groaned as she finally opened the door to her apartment and slipped inside. After a week of working this insane shift she almost felt like some kind of wraith. Why, oh, why, had she been stupid enough to take the offer of this extra work. Sure, the increased money was good, but getting home at 06:45 every morning after a grueling night shift was killing her. "Lights off," she ordered the homecomp in a listless tone of voice as she stumbled towards her bedroom. "I'm going to bed, not getting up, you stupid machine." "You have three new messages, Linna," the calm voice replied, ignoring the brunette's insult. "Would you like to hear them?" "No, I wouldn't," Linna snapped as she worked to undo the buttons on her restrictive bank uniform. "I'm going to bed. You can damn well play them back later." "Very well," the voice replied simply. "Good night, Linna - sweet dreams." "Yeah, right..." Linna muttered finally ridding herself of her hateful clothes and slipping into her night shift. She yawned and almost with a sense of intense anticipation she slipped into the cool sheets of her bed. Finally... sleep... She settled down and almost immediately her breathing began to relax and get deeper. Linna sighed, and slowly let go of her consciousness. "Linna..." The nearly sleeping form started to twitch as a voice whispered in her ear. "You must not go to sleep, Linna..." The twitching form rolled over. "Linna, listen to me. You _must_ not go to sleep! They will..." "No..." Linna muttered as the urgent nature of the voice started to draw her back from her much needed sleep. "Come back, Linna. You _cannot_ sleep." "No... Go away..." Linna felt herself regretfully emerging from the seductive darkness of her sleep. The voice would not let her go. It would not let her be at peace. Her hand waved in the air in a vaguely dismissive motion. "Go away..." "LINNA-SAMA!!" "NANI KA?!" Linna bolted straight up as the voice screamed at her. "WHAT IS WRONG??" "Linna?" the artificial voice of the housecomp asked as it activated the lights back on. "What is wrong?" Linna rubbed her eyes and blinking in the sudden light looked wildly around. "Linna?" the housecomp repeated. "Are you all right?" "Who was just here?" Linna demanded glaring around the empty room. "Who was shouting in..." BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Linna raised her hand and looked down at the urgently flashing display on her watch. Her eyes narrowed, and then not exactly sure of what to expect, she touched the front of the display. "Hello?" she hesitantly said remembering what had happened only a few hours before. "Linna?!" Sylia's furious voice calling out her name made the brunette suddenly sit up. "Where the hell have you been? Why haven't you been in touch with me?! I was worried sick!" "Sylia?" Linna queried dumbly. "Listen to me, Linna," Sylia's voice sounded deadly earnest and had an edge to it that Linna did not remember hearing before. "Nene and Priss have both vanished. I..." "What?!" Linna burst out fully awake. "What do you mean they have both just vanished..." "Listen to me!" Sylia yelled. "You maybe in danger! I don't know what's going on, but someone or something maybe hunting us down! I had a call from Nene early this morning and she tried to warn me about something but was cut off in the middle of a sentence. I sent Priss to Nene's apartment to see what had happened and now I've lost contact with her too. Linna..." "Oh Gods..." Linna felt cold as Sylia's news washed over her. Both Priss and Nene... "Linna?" Sylia's voice anxiously broke into her revery. "Are you still there?" "Yes..." "Linna, listen to me. I want you to pack enough for a couple of days and get the hell out of there. Come over to my place immediately! Do you understand?" Sylia's voice had a tone that would brook no disagreement. "I..." Linna was still trying to process the news. "Linna! Do you understand?" Sylia's voice demanded again. "All right..." Linna nodded, all traces of her desire to sleep now completely gone. "I understand." "Hurry..." and with that Sylia's voice cut off. Linna quickly got to her feet and throwing off her night shift started to put together a small pile of clothes. She tried to push the thought of Priss and Nene from her mind. She kept repeating to herself that they were fine, that this was all just some kind of nasty mistake, or misunderstanding. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. "I'm on my way, Sylia," Linna said touching the front of her watch. "I'm just packing now. I should be over at Silky Dolls in less than an hour." "That would not be a very good idea, Linna-san," the same musical voice from before said. "In fact, it would be tantamount to suicide." Linna went deadly still and her heart leapt up into her mouth. "Leave this apartment and you are a walking target," the voice continued into the silence. "This place has been Warded. Leave here and you will suffer the same fate as your other young friend. The same fate that awaits all your kind unless the Guardianship is reinstalled and the gate closed." "Who..." Linna struggled to get words out of her dried up mouth. "Seven potential Guardians exist," the voice continued on as if Linna had said nothing, "and three have already been... disposed of by the Sleepers. I could not help them, but I can help you, Dreamer. If you want to live to see your next birthday then you will..." Linna panicked, and with a scream she threw the watch from her and rushed into the bathroom locking the door behind her like a little child. "This... This is crazy..." she gasped out loud. This _had_ to be some sort of insane nightmare, either that, or she really was going mad. "No, Dreamer," a soft voice whispered in her ear. "This is very much reality." Linna froze and something akin to dread shivered up and down her spine. This... this... "Time is getting short, Dreamer. A Guardian _must_ be chosen, and soon." Linna did not hear the rest of the statement as her mind was in the process of trying to shutdown itself down in a faint. "No! Dreamer!" the voice shouted and a jolt of _something_ ran through her body. A _something_ that caused her to scream in agony. "YOU MUST NOT GO THROUGH THE ENDLESS DOOR!" the voice screamed in her mind. "I WILL NOT LOSE YOU AS WELL!" A fresh bolt of agony tore through Linna's form and she screamed spasming on the floor. Another bolt followed, then another and Linna was lost in an infinite sea of pain. A sea that had no beginning or ending - only endless pain. * * * * Sylia looked down at her watch and with a sinking feeling concluded that Linna must have fallen victim to whatever it was who was attacking her other Knights as well. She did not know what to say or do. She just felt very cold within. The thought that Linna, Priss and Nene might be dead had great difficulty in sinking into her head and she hoped to God that it was not true. The question was however, what was she going to do now? She took a deep breath and slowly got to her feet. The first thing she had to do was fight down the emotions that were beginning to rapidly build up inside of her. The rage and fear that were pressing at her reason could serve no useful purpose. She had to focus on what she could do to find out what had happened to her friends. She had to control herself! That was the only way she could help them! "Control..." she muttered as she clenched her fist - hard. The pain from her nails as they bit into her flesh helped to restore something of her objectivity. She moved over to the console on her desk and sat down. Christ! She felt like she was almost some kind of inhuman ice bitch, trying to callously dismiss the pain that she knew her friends... no, her sisters might be going through right at this very moment. She knew however, that this was the only way that she could cope. Priss, Nene and Linna _were_ her family, and she had to find them - no matter what. Intellectually, Sylia knew that Linna, Nene and Priss might very well be dead already, but that very notion made her feel sick and with a brutal effort she suppressed it completely. They _had_ to be alive! They just _had_ too! If... if they were not then... then... "Stop it!" Sylia told herself. "They are alive and they need me. Pull yourself together." She took a couple of deep breaths and then punched a few keys on her console. The machine beeped and the screen flashed to life as Sylia called up the tracking program that would tell her the truth regarding her sisters. She had designed the software to piggy back on the network of private advanced surveillance satellites that GENOM had circling the Earth for their own nefarious uses. Her program could get the satellites to scan virtually the entire surface of the planet if she so desired. She started to configure it to scan for a very particular and unique signal, a signal that Sylia had designed especially for this purpose. The signal itself was generated from an undetectable piece of biotech that Sylia had surreptitiously infected into each of her sisters when they had first joined her. Originally, she had designed it as a method of ensuring that she knew where her recruits were, where ever they were. It also had another less benign purpose, as a safeguard - a fatal one. However, that was not the purpose for which she invoked the system now. "Come on, come on," Sylia muttered biting her lip as she waited for the program to work its way through GENON's ICE and infect the satellites control systems. If her sisters were still alive then the satellites would find them. The biotech she had used remained functional as long as the host in which it had been planted remained alive. The only reason it would not be able to find her sisters was if they were dead. Seconds dragged into minutes as her virus finally worked its way undetected into GENOM's control systems and started to feed her the information that she so desperately needed. The tension in her body slowly built as the satellites began to scan for the signals of her sisters. The console bleeped as Linna's signal came through almost immediately and Sylia just about swooned in relief at the news that Linna was still alive. A moment later a second bleep sounded and Priss's signal was confirmed as having been detected as well. Sylia almost felt a smile threaten to creep onto her face as she breathed a deep sigh of relief and waited calmly for Nene's signal to appear as well. It did not. Sylia bit her lip and rose to her feet as the reported scanning range of the satellites confirmed that Nene's signal had not been detected in Japan nor in the majority of Asia. Ten minutes passed and still nothing. Finally, the console gave a quiet bleep and reported that no presence of Nene's signal could be found on the planet. Sylia stumbled and had to grab onto the back of her chair to steady herself. Her mouth worked but no words came out as the full impact of Nene's missing signal hit her in the gut like a small fist. She felt a hot tear run down her face and uttered a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob. "Nene..." Sylia forced her emotions into a cold dark ball that she then pushed to the back of her mind. Linna and Priss needed her! Besides, the scanning process was not infallible and if Priss and Linna were still alive, then her fears about them being hunted down was obviously a paranoia mistake on her part. Nene _would_ be all right. "Linna is alive," Sylia told herself as she punched up the coordinates where Linna's signal was coming from. "And so is Priss. There is no reason why... What?!" Sylia's argument with herself suddenly stopped as she was struck dumb with surprise at where Linna's signal was coming from. Linna was still in her bloody apartment! Why the hell then was she not answering Sylia's calls? Sylia shook her head, and then turned to looking up the coordinates for Priss's signal. The answer that the console gave her stopped her cold. "Kotori Hospital... Oh, no... Priss..." Sylia shuddered, and with a sick feeling she hacked her way into the central registry of Kotori hospital. Once in, she rapidly ran a check for the answer which she feared she already knew. It did not take her long to confirm it. Priss had been involved in some kind of road accident. The details that she could scrap together were unclear, but it appeared that Priss had been speeding over to Nene's apartment when she had hit and subsequently killed a young pedestrian. The accident had caused Priss to lose control of the bike and crash, half killing herself as well. Sylia finished reading the police report and slumped back disbelievingly in her seat. She could not accept the stream of disasters that had happened in the space of a few short hours. First Nene, then Linna and now Priss... She did not know what to do. Everything was collapsing before her very eyes and she could do nothing to stop it. Her head was pounding. Too many things had happened, too many things needed her attention. Nene missing, Linna... Priss in a critical condition... What the heck was she to do? What _could_ she to do? Sylia simply sat there and looked at the blinking light of the console screen as it waited obediently for her next command. Mackie walked into the room and saw his "sister" staring blankly at nothing. For a moment, he wondered what she was doing. He frowned and almost said something, but opted instead to clear his throat. The sudden sound made Sylia blink and she looked up. "Mackie..." Sylia focused on her "brother" and bought herself back to the world of reality. She pushed herself away from the desk and slowly stood up. The question of what she had to do was still unclear, but it was obvious that Linna and Nene were her first priority. Priss was... Priss was not going anywhere, and although Sylia hated herself for looking at it in such a cold and practical way she had no choice. She swallowed, and forced her emotions to one side. She would have to deal with them later. In the meantime she had to find out what had happened to Linna and Nene. That was the most important thing. Once she had done that, then, and only then, could she turn back to her emotions and face what had happened to Priss. Sylia took a deep breath and then turned to face her brother. She took another deep breath and slowly released it. "Mackie," she said in a calm voice. "Go and get Neil, I need his help." * * * * Nene screamed with fear and once more scrambled to her feet and started to run. The _things_ that had been pursing her ever since she had been dragged into this horrifying place gibbered in insane delight and renewed their efforts to reach her. Their piecemeal bodies were like the insane creations of a tormented mind and only their sheer strength and determination enabled them to keep pace with Nene's panicked flight. Each of the things looked like they had been thrown together out of bits and pieces then somehow given a semblance of life. Fur, claws, scales... Nene's terror focused her mind like nothing else could. Gasping great gulps of cold air into her lungs Nene forced herself onto even greater speeds. She had no doubt whatsoever what her fate would be if those... things... caught up with her. She _had_ to escape! Running across the treacherous ground as fast as she dared Nene suddenly snagged her foot on some unseen obstacle and shrieked with pain as her ankle abruptly gave. White hot agony flooded through her left leg and she collapsed to the ground. The force of the impact sent fresh pain shooting through her body and she sobbed as she tried in vain to recover and get back to her feet. The things that had been pursuing her howled in demented triumph and bounded towards her as fast as their tortured bodies could manage. With a strength born of sheer desperation Nene dragged herself to her feet. She tried to ignore the pain shooting through her leg and began to run. However, as soon as she tried her first step she shrieked and fell back to the ground. Her left leg had completely given out. Sobbing with terror and pain, Nene rolled onto her stomach and desperately tried to crawl away. She dug her nails into the ground and pulled with all her strength as the gibbering insanities, whining with hunger, were nearly upon her. Nene heard the awful scuffing of their bodies and screamed. Her mind tried to shut itself down as she sought in vain to seek some form of escape from her fate. She closed her eyes tight, and curling up into a fetal position wished with everything that she was that she could die right there and then. As the first claw touched her bare legs Nene screamed with terror. Terror like... "Enough." The voice was softly spoken but at the sound of it the things looming over the screaming girl shivered and then suddenly dissolved like mist before the wind. The dead cold air _moved_ and a slender figure in an old fashioned dress walked over to stand by the still screaming blond. The figure stood for a moment, looking around at the barren rocky landscape and sighed. At the sound of her sigh the scenery softened and wavered. The grayness began to slowly leech away and was replaced by a sunny, sandy beach. The girl pushed her hand through her long unbound dark hair and smiled. She glanced down at the still screaming form of Nene and a look of surprise passed over her face. She seemed uncertain for a moment and then hesitantly, almost as if she were unsure of what to expect, she leaned down and reached out to touch the screaming young woman. As the first of the claws touched her shoulders Nene reacted instinctively. Giving a mad scream she savagely attacked the thing that had touched her. Calling on all the training that she had received from Sylia her terror was transformed into a hysterical anger. Her hands flew out and wrapped themselves around the small pasty white neck of the unholy thing touching her. Her mouth pulled back in a savage smile as she felt the soft flesh give beneath her strangle hold. She applied even more pressure and tried to squeeze the life out of her enemy. To kill it... The small hands slapping ineffectively at her face was what bought Nene finally back to some form of sanity. It suddenly dawned on her that the figure she was trying to throttle was a girl even younger than herself. Nene gasped and with a high pitched squeal abruptly let the girl go and fell over backwards. Released from Nene's strangle hold the young girl collapsed to the ground as well. She lay there, gasping and trying to drag as much air as she could into her tortured lungs. Her eyes were wild and her face was completely white as she continued gulping air like a fish. She stared at Nene with an expression on her face that was almost akin to fear. The two of them sat staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity and Nene was able to use the time to get something of her sanity back. She stared hard at the girl she had just tried to kill and struggled to get a grip on what had just happened. The dead barren land through which she had been fleeing only a few moments before had suddenly been replaced by a warm sunny beach. And what was even more crazy was that the insane fiends who had been trying to rip her apart had abruptly changed into a pretty junior high student who was currently watching her with wide scared looking brown eyes. What the hell was going on here?! Nene took a deep breath and watching the 'girl' warily slowly got to her feet. As she did so she was stunned to note that her left leg now seemed to be perfectly normal. She blinked and tested it - the leg held perfectly. Nene gasped and turned her attention back to the child. "Who... Who are you?" she hissed as she said the first question that popped into her head. The adrenaline high from her fear was still rushing through her body, and now that she had a target to focus on that fear began to rapidly change into anger. The girl's head jerked up at the question and she looked nervously over at the angry sandy haired teenager standing only a short distance away. "Remi. Remi Miyuri," she replied in a small voice as she got unsteadily to her feet. Nene took a few steps forward and put her hands on her hips. "And what the hell is this place?" she demanded angrily glaring at the girl. "How did I get here?" The reply to her demands was not quite what she expected. The girl gave a small whimper of fear and backed away as fast as she could. "Stay away!" she exclaimed shakily holding out her hands in front on her. "I won't let you hurt me, not again!" The look of fear on the girl's face made Nene freeze. The red marks from where Nene's hands had been clenched around the girl's slender neck were still clearly visible and Nene shivered, disgusted at herself. Closing her eyes, Nene took a moment to force herself to calm down. Threatening this child was no way to get answers, and answers were one thing that she desperately needed. "I... I'm sorry," she murmured in a forced voice as she took a deliberate step back and held up her hands in an attempt to show that she meant no harm. "I... did not mean to hurt you... I just..." The girl was still breathing heavily, but at Nene's words she stopped backing away and the look of fear in her brown eyes slowly softened. "Are... Are you all right?" she asked in a timid voice. "You almost fell victim to your own nightmares and.." "Where am I?" Nene asked in as calm a voice as she could. "What _is_ this... place..." The girl hesitated for a moment and then she seemed to come to a decision. Slowly lowering her hands she cautiously began to walk over towards Nene. "I wish I could tell you," she said with a lost look on her face. "I've been stuck here for what seems like weeks. You are the first real person I have met. I don't really..." As the girl said these words her eyes widened and she looked as if she had just realized something. "You _are_ real... _Real_..." Nene frowned as the girl suddenly shivered and clutched at herself. The young woman took a small step forward just as the girl's eyes lifted and locked on her face. Nene was surprised to see that the child's brown orbs were shining with tears and that the girl's face was white as a sheet. Abruptly, the girl burst into tears and with a heart broken sob she threw herself into Nene's arms. Nene was stunned at the girl's sudden breakdown and all she managed to do was just stand there while the girl clutched at her crying her eyes out. Uncertain of what exactly to do, Nene put her hands on the girl's shoulders and awkwardly patted her. "Shh... It's all right, everything is all right... Hush now..." The girl continued to ball her eyes out, all the time holding onto Nene as if she were the only rock left in the child's world. Nene did nothing more but continue to try and offer what support she could, and finally, after what seemed like an age, the girl's crying was replaced by a small set of hiccups and then gradually by nothing at all Nene gently pushed the red faced girl back and with a kind smile looked down at the cried out brown eyes. "Better, Remi-chan?" Remi slowly nodded her head in reply. "Sorry..." she said in a tight voice. "It's just that I have been here alone for so long that... that..." She sniffed and fresh tears threatened to roll down her face. "Now, now," Nene said gently and raising her hand carefully wiped the excess moisture away from the girl's red face. "You're far too pretty to go ruining yourself by crying like that. It makes you look like a tomato, you know." Nene winked. Remi hiccuped and her face broke into a small smile. "That's more like it, Remi-chan," Nene said as she put a winsome smile on her face and patted the young girl's cheek encouragingly. "Now, why don't you dry off your eyes and we can see what is what, ne?" Remi's eyes brightened at Nene's words and she nodded as her face became slightly more animated. Reaching down to her sleeve she pulled out a small white hanky. Raising it to her face she gave a most unlady like honk as she blew her nose. Nene grinned even wider and for the first time since she had been dragged into this nightmarish place she actually felt happy. She waited until Remi had dried her eyes and then carefully re-approached the issue of where the hell was this place. "Remi-chan?" Nene began. Remi looked up and her brown eyes locked on Nene's face. "Yes?" "What... What is this place? Am I going mad, or does this place really exist? Please... Do you know... anything?" "What's your name?" Remi abruptly asked looking straight into Nene's eyes. The girl's desperate need for someone to talk to made Nene almost want to weep. What had this poor child been through? "Nene. Nene Romanov," Nene answered holding out her hand with a reassuring smile. "And I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Remi Miyuri." Remi politely, and with a broad smile on her face, took the offered hand in her own and gave it a warm shake. "And I you, Romanov- san." "Nene, please." Remi nodded happily."Nene-san," she corrected herself. "I am so pleased to meet you. I... You don't know how long..." Her eyes began to mist up again and Nene gave the girl's hand a small squeeze. "I am here now," she said softly. "You aren't alone anymore, okay?" "You won't leave me, will you, Nene-san?" Remi asked looking up at the older teenager with eyes that were suddenly very intense. "Please, don't leave me! I don't want to be all alone - not again!" Nene felt her heart go out to the girl and she wondered just how long the poor child had been alone in this nightmarish world to make her this desperate for company. She reached out with her other hand and reassuringly stroked the girl's long hair. "I'm not going anywhere, Remi-chan. I..." "Promise? Please! Promise me you won't go!" Remi clutched at Nene's hand even tighter and Nene smiled as reassuringly as she could. "I promise. I will never leave you. I..." "Swear it!" Remi begged. "Please, Nene-san..." Nene's throat tightened at the girl's desperation and she slowly nodded, "I swear it, Remi-chan. I will never leave you - no matter what." At Nene's words the girl almost seemed to shake with relief and then she started to cry again. "No more tears remember, Remi-chan," Nene gently scolded the girl and Remi sniffed, but then nodded her head. "Sorry," she said giving Nene a warm look. "I will try." "Good girl," Nene gave Remi's chin an affectionate rub and then tried once again to approach the issue of what was going on. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Remi-chan?" she asked attacking the issue from another direction. "Who are you? Where do you come from, and how did you get here? I would _really_ like to know." At Nene's questions Remi's smile faded slightly, but then she slowly nodded. "Of course," she said and then gestured towards the warm. "Do you mind if we sit down? My legs are beginning to get a bit tired." Nene grinned and sat down on the soft warm sand. After a brief pause, Remi plonked down next to her. Taking a deep breath she moved closer to Nene and then she began to softly speak. "Well, Nene-san, my name, as you already know, is Remi Miyuri and I am 14 years old. My blood type is AB-, so I tend to be rather serious by nature," Remi's eyes shone and she grinned as if thinking some private joke. "But then so is the rest of my family, so I can't be held accountable for that. I was born in Tokyo on June 12th, 1983. My parents..." "1983?!" Nene suddenly exclaimed jumping to her feet and Remi pulled back slightly afraid that she had done something wrong. "Nene-san?" the girl asked timidly. "Did I... Did I do something..." "But that's impossible!" Nene exclaimed staring sharply down at Remi with an expression of shock on her face. Remi was utterly confused by Nene's reaction. However, the expression on Nene's face for some reason made her feel cold and she shivered. "Nene-san? What... What is wrong?" "You're 58 years old?!" Nene blurted out unthinkingly. "But that's insane! You can't be!" Remi felt the cold feeling slowly fill her entire body and she looked over at the sandy haired teenager in disbelief. "What... What do you mean... 58 years old... I don't..." Nene's mouth was now working entirely independently of her brain and she exclaimed, "But it's 2041! You can't have been born in 1983! I'm older than you for Heaven's sake, and I was born in 2024! It's utterly impossible!" Nene's words passed over Remi's head for a moment, but then as the older girl kept on repeating that one fact, it slowly sank in. "2041..." she repeated dumbly. "How... No... I've only been here for a few weeks... It can't be..." she began to shiver and that cold feeling returned with avengeance. She raised her hands and clutched at herself. 2041... It had to be a joke, or a lie! It just had to be! Remi fought to retain at least some semblance of calm as she kept telling herself that this was some kind of sick joke on Nene's part. She tried to look anywhere but up at Nene’s face. She had seen the look of utter disbelief on the older teenager’s face when she had first said she was born in 1983 and... and... As the younger girl suddenly started to shake uncontrollably Nene’s brain finally caught up with her mouth and she abruptly realized what it was she had just done. "Oh, fuck..." A small pained whisper emerged from Nene’s mouth as the girl’s shaking began to become even more pronounced and something like the sound of a heart broken sob came from the hunched up figure. "No... no... Mother..." Nene began to move towards the girl in an attempt to comfort her and repair the damage that her big mouth had done. However, she had not even taken her first step when she suddenly stopped dead and looked around her in utter disbelief. The sandy beach and warm day were _changing_. Nene's eyes opened wide with shock as the sea and sky began to blur in a most unnatural way. The wind began to pick up sharply and Nene was forced to raise her hand in order to shelter her face from the stinking sand. Slightly blinded by all the sand Nene tried to make her way over to where she could just about see Remi. The girl was sobbing hysterically, and even though the wind muted some of the sound, the pain in the girl's voice cut Nene to the soul. "Fuck it!" Nene exclaimed and fighting against the wind she slowly made her way over to where the girl was crouched. All around her the laws of reality seemed to have taken vacation as the landscape dissolved into a mad chaos of riotous color and sound. Nene forced herself to ignore all the insanity and focused exclusively on the sobbing girl just ahead of her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Nene reached the sobbing form of Remi. Amazingly, up close to the girl the wind seemed to be almost nonexistent and Nene began to get a nasty feeling about just what had caused this sudden insanity. She stood for a moment uncertain, then, taking a deep breath to calm herself, Nene knelt down and threw her arms around the crying girl. "Remi-chan, please! I'm here like I promised I would be! Please! You're not alone anymore... Remi..." Nene put as much warmth and feeling into her embrace as she could. She remembered what the girl had said about being here for what seemed like just a few weeks and cringed. Nene could not even begin to imagine what it was like for the girl to suddenly be told that over 55 plus years had passed instead. The only thing she could think to do therefore was just to hold onto the child and attempt to comfort her. It was pretty pathetic considering, but it was the best that Nene could do. "Hush, Remi, hush..." Nene repeated again and again gently rocking the girl back and forth while the child cried her eyes out. In return, Remi clutched onto Nene like she was the girl's only real contact with the world. Nene felt a warm protective feeling begin to bloom deep within her and she held the sobbing girl even tighter. The poor thing had been through more than Nene could even comprehend, and Nene wanted desperately to reassure the girl that she was not alone anymore. That there was someone who would protect her, someone who would watch over her and keep her safe. Finally, after how long Nene did not know, the sobbing began to fade away as Remi literally cried herself out. Even so, Nene continued to hold the small form and rock her reassuringly back and forth until at last, exhausted by her emotional outburst and comforted by the protective embrace of Nene, Remi slipped into a fitful sleep. Nene looked down at the sleeping form still half cradled in her arms and blinked to clear the tears of her own that had been threatening to break forth. How could she have been so stupid as to inflict such pain on someone who had already been through so much? Nene's mouth tightened and she held her sleeping burden closer. She would make it up to the child, somehow she would make it up. "Oh, Gods..." Nene whispered to herself as she wondered how the hell she was going to get out of this one. Remi had been stuck here - wherever the hell "here" was - for years, and there was no way that Nene was going to accept the same fate. She was going to get herself and Remi out of this nightmare, whatever it took. Nene closed her eyes and swore an oath, both to herself and the child she had promised to never leave. She would get them both out of here - no matter what the price. * * * * Sylia cautiously watched Linna's apartment from the street to see if she could detect any sign of activity. She had been sitting here for over ten minutes now and had driven down the small street several times over the last two hours. Linna lived in a cheap block of flats that were right next to the road, and for the life of her Sylia could see nothing unusual at all. She looked down at the small signal tracker in her lap. According to the signal that it was still receiving Linna was in her apartment and the bio-data that came with the signal indicated that she was calm and relaxed. This situation was driving Sylia to grind her teeth in frustration. What the hell was going on here? Sylia looked down at the small weapon that she had brought with her. It did not look like much but it was quite capable of taking out a reasonably sized boomer. She bit her lip and picked it up. The situation was extremely risky, but with only herself to draw on she considered going into Linna's apartment herself. She knew that it might very well be a trap, but she had no other altern... Her chain of thought stopped dead as she saw a young couple walking down the street towards her car. Her eyes narrowed as a plan came to mind. Carefully putting the gun out of sight she waited until the two figures were within a few meters of the car and slowly rolled down the powered window. "Excuse me," she called out in a friendly voice. "But I was wondering if you could help me..." The couple stopped and seeing them from this short distance Sylia realized that they were not a couple as she had originally thought, but two young girls. The one she had originally mistaken for a boy just had a very short hair cut and was dressed in dark slacks. However, as the two came closer Sylia saw that there was no way a boy could look as attractive as this girl was. "I'm sorry," the girl with the short hair asked. "Did you just say something?" Sylia put a warm friendly expression on her face and nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you would be able to do me a very small favor. I was supposed to be meeting a friend here about five minutes ago, but she has not come down from the apartment where she lives and I can't seem to raise her on her mobile." "So?" the girl asked. "Well, this is a controlled parking zone, so I did not really want to leave my car unattended in case I get a ticket. I'm sorry, I know it's an inconvenience, but I was wondering if you might be kind enough to go and tell her that I am waiting for her." The other girl, who had much longer black hair, leaned down and gave Sylia's face a good look. After a moment, she smiled and then nodded. "Yeah, sure, we can do that," she replied giving her companion a smile. "Right?" The other girl shrugged. "Whatever," she said in a bored tone and the straightened. The brunette gave a small sigh and briefly rolled her eyes before she turned her attention back to Sylia. "So, where does your friend live?" Sylia smiled and pointed towards the entrance to the flats on the opposite side of the street. "She's in apartment 3a on the third floor. Thanks a lot for this, I really appreciate it." "Anyway, what's your friend's name?" the other girl suddenly said looking down at Sylia with a pair of intense green eyes that made Sylia shiver for some odd reason. Those eyes seemed to hold a bored contemptuous light in them, and Sylia felt as if the girl regarded her like some kind of annoying bug. Sylia swallowed and felt a faint anxiety, almost like an instinctive fear run through her. "Yam... Yamazaki Linna..." she said in a small voice. "Linna..." the short haired girl repeated slowly almost as if she were tasting the words and the lips on her pale face twitched. The other girl gave her companion an annoyed look and then turned back to Sylia. "And who might you be?" she asked curiously. Sylia mentally gave herself a shake and turned back to the brunette. "Hanabishi Meigami," she lied with a polite smile. The girl with the short hair gave a small snigger and her smile twisted in an expression of derision. "Of course," she said turning away and Sylia had the distinct impression that this might not have been such a good idea after all. "Sam," the other girl said with a piqued expression. "Stop it, now." The slender girl with the short red hair stuck her tongue out and smiled impishly. "As you wish, Kel-sama." The brunette gave another long suffering sigh and looked back at Sylia. "Sorry about Sam," she said apologetically. "We'll go and tell your friend that you are waiting for her, Hanabishi-san." And without waiting for a reply she turned around and laying a hand on the redhead dragged her off towards Linna's apartment. As the two of them left Sylia felt herself relax and gave a small sigh of relief. She did not know what it was, but something about that redhead seemed to make her scared. She chided herself and forced her mind back to the situation at hand. She had no time for such stupid flights of fancy, not now. Straightening up in her seat she turned to watch what would happen. She was not proud of using two innocent girls as bait, but she did not have much choice... And yet... Sylia remembered the look of bored contempt that the redhead had given her and found herself almost pitying those who might be holding Linna. Sylia had the cold feeling that that redhead was dangerous - very dangerous, and if suitably annoyed, might even prove fatal. She was not normally religious, but she prayed to whatever Gods might be listening that she would never be one of those poor souls. * * * * ** Dreaming Knights 2040 - to be continued...