**********************************************************************

Knights in Peril

This story is part of the 2090 BGC series.

The name Bubblegum Crisis and characters here within are copyright of
Artmic & Youmex and are used without permission. The name Silent
Mobius and associated characters are property of Kia Asamiya 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.

**********************************************************************


WARNING - This is VERY rough draft that I have not even read through
myself yet - thus grammer errors abound. It is made available as a
taster for the next chapter.


            *       *       *       *

Chapter Four - Pawns (Very Draft copy)


Location: Some city
Time: Some time

    Sam blushed as once more the girl who looked exactly like her and
her sister stared at her in frank admiration. She reached down and
taking a hold of her glass took a drink of water to try and calm her
nerves. Her sister was away getting some more drinks and Jazz was
sitting opposite her still fuming just because she had given him the
brush off. Well, it served him right. She had only come on this stupid
double date because her sister had asked her to. This Jazz friend of
her twin’s boyfriend however was a jerk. She had known he was a jerk
since she had first met him a couple of hours ago and he had tried
that stupid pickup line. But Samantha had asked her so Sam would have
to endure it. The four of them had been on their way to a local club
when they had come across this strange redhead girl who looked exactly
like her. And now... Well, things looked...
    "Hey!" the girl asked again. "Are you listening to me?"
    The girl’s voice startled her and Sam swallowed the wrong way. She
started to cough and the other girl flashed her a concerned look and
leaned across the table to pat her on the back.
    "I’m sorry, Sammy," the girl said rubbing the coughing redhead on
the back. "I didn’t mean to startle you."
    Sam coughed a few more times and looked up at the apologetic girl.
"Sammy?" she asked with a small smile. "Why did you call me that,
Samantha? No one calls me Sammy."
    The redhead who had the same name as her sister grinned, "Oh...
sorry. I just know someone called Sam - I usually call her Sammy.
Sorry."
    Sam shook her head, "Don’t be, I kind of like it. Sammy..." she
smiled approvingly. "It sounds sorta softer than Sam."
    Samantha smiled back, "Then Sammy it will be."
    "Drinks," Samantha, her twin, said reappearing with Simon in tow.
She had in her hand a tray with three tall glasses on it. She placed
the tray down on the table and passed one over to Jazz. "Your beer,
and..." she took the other two glasses and put them down in from of
her younger twin and the other girl, "...your two orange juices."
    Sam flashed her a grin, "Thanks, sis."
    The other redhead bobbed her head in thanks as well and then
turned her attention back to Sam. "So, is this incredible or what? I
mean the three of us looking almost exactly like each other. You would
think we were identical triplets or something."
    Sam giggled, "And you having the same name as my sister. If I
wasn’t sitting here talking to you I would say it was impossible."
    "You don’t think your parents had another daughter that they never
told you about, eh Sammy?" Samantha asked with a grin beginning to
enjoy the irony of this stupid Game.
    Jazz cleared his throat and tried to say something, but Sam and
the redhead did not even acknowledge they had heard him. He swallowed
and tried opened his mouth to try again.
    Sam leaned forward in a conspiratory manner towards her new
friend. "Not that I know of," she whispered with a look at her sister
who was oddly silent. "How about you, sis? Think mum and dad have a
secret they haven’t told us?"
    Samantha silently shook her head and gave her sister a pointed
look at Simon’s friend who she was completely ignoring. Damn it! Sam
was ruining everything. How were she and Simon going to slip away if
Jazz could not keep Sam occupied? She knew her talkative little sister
and if Sam suspected that Simon and her were lovers then mum and dad
would find out in no time. Gods! She had only bought along Sam tonight
as a favor to Simon and his friend. It would be ruddy Fingel’s luck
that they ran into a girl who looked exactly like them... She sighed
and sat down. Maybe there would be a chance to slip out later on.
    Simon looked on as the two girls began to get into an animated
conversation about each speculating about each other’s past and had a
sinking feeling that his plan about getting Jazz and Samantha’s twin
to hit it off was doomed to failure. He had had the sinking feeling
when Sam had first laid eyes on his friend, but now it was confirmed.
Well, he had tried, even Jazz could not blame him for that. He had
done his friend a favor but Jazz had crashed and burned and there was
nothing else to say on the matter.
    Sam laughed at Samantha’s latest wild speculation behind the
reason for them looking so much alike and reached out to grab at her
orange juice. However, instead of her grasp meeting with her glass it
met with Samantha’s hand instead.
    "Wanna dance?" Samantha asked her with a wink. "I’m a killer on
the dance floor and I sure would be interested in seeing how you move
about. In more ways than one..."
    Sam flushed at the not so subtle invitation in the girl’s voice.
Her flush deepened as she remembered the naked admiration she had seen
in the girl’s eyes earlier. Her lips felt dry and unconsciously she
licked them. She was too embarrassed to know how she should respond.
She took a deep breath and started to say no.
    "Fuck man!" Jazz suddenly exclaimed turning on Simon with an angry
expression. "You never told me she was a pervert, Simon! How can I
score with a bloody dyke?!"
    Sam’s eyes widened incredulously and her face turned white with
anger as she spun angrily on the boy.
    "Don’t waste your time, Sammy," Samantha said with a silvery
little laugh giving the hand captive in hers a small squeeze. "Little
vermin like him really just aren’t worth the effort. Come on, let’s
have that dance, eh? Let the vermin play with themselves."
    Jazz whitened at the sound of lazy contempt in the girl’s voice
and reached out to grab her arm. It was then that a strangely acidic
smell filled the space around him and he felt something warm running
down his legs.
    "Yuck!" Sam exclaimed and leaped out of way as the boy suddenly
seemed to wet himself.
    Jazz looked down incredulously at the growing stain running down
his pants. His eyes widened in a combination of shock and
embarrassment.
    Samantha smiled and pulled Sam to her. "See?" she whispered
putting her head close to the mortal’s left ear. "Just a little baby.
Not worth the effort at all."
    Sam shrunk back slightly at the warm breath playing over her ear.
"Hey, that tickles."
    "And this?"
    "Hey!" Sam blushed and felt a rush of sensation explode through
her all over her. "Don’t..."
    "Sam!" her sister exclaimed incredulously. "What the hell..."
    "So, do you want to dance, Sammy?" Samantha asked again pulling
the girl to her. "Do you?"
    Sam felt lightheaded. This was the first time that anyone had
seriously hit on her and she was at a loss at what to do.
    "Come on then," Samantha giggled and before Sam or her sister
could say anything to stop her the girl called Samantha had pulled Sam
into a tight embrace and guided her towards the dancing couples.
    "Sam!" Samantha called out and tried to follow after her sister.
She could not believe that this was happening. Her normally quiet
sister was... was... She shuddered, "It’s impossible..." She had to
stop Sam before it was too late.
    "Hey! You!" a voice said angrily as a hand caught hold of her arm
and pulled her around. "Are you with this fuckin’ jerk here?"
    Samantha was confused and it took her a moment to get with the
program. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded of the suited man who
had a tight grip of her arm. "Let me go!"
    "Shut up," the man stated as he was joined by another who had
Simon in a similar grip. "Now, are you with this jerk here who just
pissed all over the furniture?"
    Jazz growled angrily, "I did not piss all..."
    "Shut it!" the man growled back. "You’re in enough bloody trouble
already. Arek, take them to my office while I get someone to clean up
with fuckin’ mess. And while you’re there get hold of Dsert do at
South side and tell him we’ve got a couple of punks here who are
causing trouble."
    "Hey wait a minute," Samantha said not liking where this was
going. "My sister is..."
    "You can tell it to CF Security, when they arrive," the man said
jerking his head to Arek.
    "But my sister..." The rest of her statement was lost as Arek and
another bouncer pulled the three youngsters away.
    "Damned bloody kids..." Gerit swore looking at the mess that had
been made. Who the hell did they think they were playing with?

    Sam held onto Samantha’s waist and tried to keep up with the girl
as she proved that she was indeed quite a killer on the dance floor.
Sam had never been light on her feet and her dancing skills were now
being push to the extreme. Fortunately, Samantha had the lead and was
a considerable enough partner to guide her when she run into
difficulty. Isshari! She hated these fast dances. Her feet always
ended getting all messed up when she lost concentration. And...
    "Whoa! Sammy!" Samantha laughed catching hold of her as her lapse
of concentration caused her to slip.
    "Ops..." Sam flustered as Samantha steadied her. "Sorry..."
    Samantha grinned, "Three legs?"
    "Something like that..." Sam muttered. "Can’t stand these fast
dancers..."
    Samantha raised an eyebrow, "Want to stop?" she asked.
    Sam pondered for a moment and then surprising herself she shook
her head. "No, I’m enjoying myself."
    "Good," Samantha said with a smile and reaching to place her hands
on Sam’s hips said, "Then let’s rock."

    "Where the heck is your sister!?" the man exclaimed loudly at his
daughter. "You were supposed to be looking out for her!"
    "I..." Samantha tried to make herself very small.
    "Well?" her father demanded.
    "I don’t know!" Samantha exclaimed bursting into tears. "I don’t
know..."
    The man scowled and turned to Simon, "Well? Do you know where she
is?"
    Simon shook his head, "Sorry, Sir. We met this girl. She looked
just like Samantha and Sam, I mean uncannily so. The last I saw the
two of them were dancing..."
    "What do you mean the last you saw?" the man said with a tone of
anger and increasing worry in his voice.
    "I mean that was the last I saw of her. Before... well, before we
were bought to Security South Central..." Simon’s voice faded away.
    "Excuse me, Councilman Arnmiel," a hesitant voice said behind the
man and he turned.
    "Well?" he demanded. "Is my daughter at this club?"
    The man in uniform squirmed, "No, Councilman. She..."
    "Then bloody do your job and fuckin’ find her!" Councilman Arnmiel
burst out. "Or I will have you and everyone in this entire force
transferred to the Northern Colonies - understand?"
    The man shuddered and with a rapid salute spun around and hurried
away cursing under his breath.
    "And as for you, _daughter_," her father said in a tone that made
Samantha quiver. "You and I are going to see your grandmother. I am
sure she will have some _very_ choice words to say about your lack of
family responsibilities..."

    Sam slowly opened her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Wow..." she
whispered as she felt a warmth like nothing she had encountered before
rush through her. "That was..."
    "Good?" Samantha replied with a giggle at the rosy red expression
on Sam’s face.
    "Mmmm..." Sam agreed leaning towards Samantha to try another kiss.
"Very."
    "Wait," Samantha whispered pulling back slightly and pulled the
girl’s head to rest on her shoulder instead. "Let’s take our time.
After all, we have the whole night you know."
    Sam sighed with contentment and nuzzled Samantha’s neck. "Some
might think this a bit perverted you know," she commented. "You look
exactly like my sister. If anyone I know saw me now they would
probably be sick."
    Samantha laughed, "I’m the Corrupter," she said. "Corrupting
people is part of the job description."
    "No, Lady Samantha," a young voice suddenly announced as the young
man who had had Loria quivering in her shoes strode from the darkness
beyond the light of one of the periodic lamps that lit the waterfront
where the two girls had been walking. "That is my job actually."
    Sam gave an indignant squeak and pulled herself away from the
other girl and straightened herself up. "Who are you?" she exclaimed
in a voice that was far higher pitched than normal.
    "An old... friend," Samantha said with a small sigh turning the
face the young man and gave a slight bow.
    The young man smirked and Sam felt a shiver pass up and down her
spine for some odd reason. Something about this man scared her in ways
even her grandmother had not been able to. She pulled slightly closer
to Samantha and watched the man with wide eyes.
    "An interesting choice of amusement, my Lady," the young man said
looking at the young girl next to the Corrupter.
    "A gift from an admirer," Samantha replied with a casual smile.
    "Or maybe a trap?" the young man commented. "I meant what I said
about an alliance, my Lady. No matter what our goals maybe the two of
us have a common enemy, and I do so hate to see wasted efforts when
pursuing the same goal."
    Samantha shrugged, "A trap or a gift does not particularly matter
to me, my Lord. It is still amusing."
    "Tell me, my Lady. Why have you abandoned your amusements with the
Council? I found that diversion most interesting."
    Samantha snorted, "Michael needs allies. Some of the Council maybe
little more than cannon fodder, but some of them will prove useful. I
just intended to teach them a little lesson, my Lord, not cut Michael
off at the knees."
    The young man sighed, "I feared it might be something like that."
    Samantha ruffled Sam’s hair, "How so, my Lord? Do you wish the
Council to be removed?"
    "It would help some of my plans along," the young man admitted.
"But if you need them..."
    "I would appreciate it," Samantha said with a winning smile as she
gave Sam’s neck a nuzzle that made the girl gasp.
    "Very well, my Lady," the young man turned. "If you need them,
then they are yours. However..."
    "Yes, my Lord?" Samantha said nibbling Sam’s ear.
    "Watch yourself, my Lady," the young man said seriously. "I know
what you are capable of, Lady Samantha, but our mutual opponent is
stronger. And..." the young man frowned. "Recently, I have heard
rumors of other... Beings moving in the background that may be just as
dangerous."
    Samantha stopped nibbling Sam and looked up with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean?"
    "Ah, I have your interest at last."
    "Don’t try my patience, Lucianther," Samantha said with snarl.
"Tell me."
    The young man smiled and his eyes glittered dangerously. "Come to
my Realm sometime, Samantha, and we can discuss it."
    Samantha’s smile pulled back over her perfectly white teeth.
"Maybe I will some day, my Lord. I need a worthy..." she let it drop
off and the two ancients stared at each other.
    "I look forward to it, my Lady," the young man said with a bow and
started to walk away. "Enjoy your amusements, but just remember what I
said - watch your back."
    Samantha said nothing until the young man had left altogether.
"And you, my Lord," she whispered. "And you."
    "Gods, Samantha!" Sam suddenly said with a exhale of air she did
not realize she had taken in. "Who the hell was that? He scared the
willies out of me!"
    "Just a very old acquaintance of mine," Samantha reassured the
girl. "No one you need to worry about."
    "But..."
    Samantha put a hand to Sam’s mouth and smiled. "Now, where were we
with that kiss?"
    Sam shut up.

        *       *       *       *

Location: Tokyo, Japan (alt)
Time: AD 2032, 29th July, 01:02

    "NO!!!"
    The heart anguished scream filled the corridor as the man
collapsed crying into the arms of the young woman who was desperately
trying to comfort him. The woman who had just given him the news
shifted uncomfortably while the young woman tried her best to comfort
him.
    "NOOO!!! LEIAA!!"
    The other man standing next to the young woman turned to the
female doctor turned and stared at her. "Was it quick?" was the only
thing he asked.
    The woman’s mouth tightened and she gave a curt nod. She did not
expand on how the insane Leia had killed herself and from the haunted
look in the woman’s eyes Aru was not sure he wanted to know. He just
nodded his thanks and turned back to stare with a cold expression at
his wife.
    "Damn her..." Aru said quietly clenching his fist and looking both
at Yuki and the quiet figure of Lebia sitting opposite him. "Damn
Samantha to Hell..."
    Yuki heard the curse but was too concerned with trying to comfort
the sobbing form of Keiji to say anything in Sam’s defence. Even she
was no longer sure what the heck was going on. In the space of less
than three weeks her entire world had been thrown completely mad.
Katsumi was little more than a gibbering wreck, Linna was missing
supposed dead, and Sam... Sam was wanted by the police as an insane
murder and worst. It was just like some entire sick nightmare, a
nightmare that just continually got worst.
    "Keiji! Keiji!" a male voice suddenly called out as the door to
the small waiting room they were in smashed open and the slightly
scruffy looking form of Roy entered. He stopped dead and taking in the
sight of Yuki and Keiji his face went white and he started to shake.
"Oh Horus..."
    "She’s dead," Aru turned to stare blankly at the shaking form.
"Leia killed herself..."
    Roy took a step towards his ex-partner and old friend. He
hesitantly held out his hand and awkwardly patted the sobbing form on
Keiji on the back. "I’m... sorry..." His voice faded as he pulled
back. He turned to look at Aru and then back at the form held
protectively in Yuki’s arms. He did not know what to say. What could
he say? Sorry, just seemed so, well, pathetic.
    "Roy, I’m sorry I took so long. I..." The attractive young woman
who had just entered through the door stopped dead as Roy had before
her. "Oh..." Her face looked uncertain and she looked like she was
going to pull back when Roy took a step towards her and held out his
hand.
    "It’s alright, Yoko," he said trying to force a small smile onto
his face. "It... Well..."
    The woman that Roy had called Yoko looked uncertain for a moment
and then she took a few hesitant steps forward. "Is everything
alright?" she asked softly.
    Roy shook his head and gestured for the young woman to sit down.
"No," he replied softly. "Things are very wrong, very wrong indeed."
    "Oh..." Yoko said and quietly as possible sat herself down out of
the way. Yuki turned her head and gave Roy’s companion a quick once
over. This Yoko was quite an attractive figure and although she seemed
to be a bit nervous at the scene she had walked into the young woman
was doing her best to hide it. Yuki wondered just who this Yoko was
and what her relationship to Roy was. Keiji had called Roy’s
communicator over an hour and a half ago when the hospital had first
rung Yuki’s house where Keiji was staying currently, and the fact that
Roy and this Yoko had turned up together made Yuki slightly worried.
Even with Katsumi in her current state Roy was still a married man
with a young daughter. Why had he...
    "Leia..." the man in Yuki’s arms sobbed again and Yuki broke from
her speculation back to the very real problem of Keiji.
    "Hush... Hush..." she whispered as like a mother she tried to
comfort the distraught figure clutching so desperately at her. The
question of who and what this Yoko was would have to wait for later.
    Yoko watched the scene of the humans’ grief with little interest.
These vermin lived and died in the blink of an eye. What did interest
her however was why Samantha had suddenly decided to come out of
hiding  and go on a rampage. Samantha had not behaved in this sort of
fashion for Ages and Yoko was mystified as to why she was doing it
now. What she did know however was that somewhere within this group of
Samantha’s pets was the answer, or at least a clue to where the answer
could be obtained from.. Information was power, and Yoko knew that the
Families of the Council would be most generous if she, Yoko/Luc, could
provide the answers that they themselves so desperately sought.
    Samantha’s sudden and brutal attacks on some of the Great Families
of the Council had come as something of a very nasty shock to the
infighting members of the Council. Oh, the old tales of Samantha, and
what she was capable of where well known, but the Corrupter had been
inactive for so long that those stories had mostly been dismissed as
mere exaggerations - now it was clear that they were not. Already two
of the smaller Families had had their ranks thinned significantly by
Samantha and she showed no signs of stopping. The more powerful of the
Great Families had so far been spared Samantha’s ire, but it was easy
to see that they were even more worried than the smaller Families. Not
only did they had more to lose in the way of position and Power if
Samantha attacked them, but it was them who had been originally
responsible for the attempted attack on the Corrupter in the first
place. The fact that Samantha had deliberately left them alone seemed
to imply that she had something particular unpleasant in store for
them and that was the thing that frightened the Inner Holding more
than anything. Yoko however knew that there was more behind their fear
than simply just a rogue Samantha going on a killing spree. There was
a subtler and more dangerous element to their worries, a worry that
concerned their own "children".
    The Great Families were extremely old, and like most long
established structures they had become very rigid in the roles and
hierarchies that made each Family up. The Great Lords of the Council
had been the undisputed rulers of all the various Multiverses for
Cycles beyond counting and the sheer unchanging nature of their rule
was beginning to chafe on the skin of the younger generations of the
Nobles, as well as on the Others. That chaffing had over the long Ages
slowly crystallized into a smoldering resentment that was beginning to
make some of the members of the Council worried. The younger
generations wanted change and the Great Lords were incapable of doing
that. As a result of this the youngsters were beginning to look
towards those who few Beings who had the Power to force that change,
and one of those Beings was Samantha.
    Personally, Yoko was surprised that things had remained stable for
so long. Nobles were a race that thrived on conflict and apart from
each other there was no one against whom they could fight. The horror
that the Nobles had felt when they had seen the results of the
Rebellion had long faded into obscurity, and the younger generations
who had been created long after that time were itching for a level of
conflict that was far beyond the strictures of the Treaty. Like the
Council, Yoko dreaded to think what would happen if such a thing ever
occurred. It had taken Cycles beyond counting for the Nobles to heal
the damage that they had caused with their bitter fighting during the
time of the Rebellion, and Yoko would do whatever it took to stop that
insanity from happening again. Luc had just about been old enough to
see the tail end of the Rebellion and the thought of going through
that again... Yoko shuddered.
    The threat of that insanity, of a resurgence of that conflict,
that was the true threat that Samantha had always represented, and
always would for as long as she lived. Samantha had never formally
agreed to the terms of the Truce and the Great Lords of the Council
knew that what HE had forced her to go through was something that she
would never ever forgive or forget, just like HE would never forget.
The Terms of the Truce had bought an ending to the symptoms of the
disease, but it had not been a cure. The Council had always feared
that one day the sickness would flare up again and once more the utter
insanity of that time would repeated. That was why they could not,
would not, ever-let go of the reigns of Power that they had held onto
for so long. If they ever did then...
    "Excuse me."
    The soft voice made Yoko dismiss her roaming thoughts and focus
back on the situation in hand. She looked up and smiled at the young
woman who had just spoken to her. "Yes?"
    Lebia looked down at the attractive young woman and repeated her
question. "Your name is Yoko, is it?"
    Yoko nodded in reply and held out her hand, "Shintoyama Yoko, at
your service."
    Lebia looked at the offered hand but made no movement. Yoko’s
smile wavered slightly and then slowly she pulled her hand back.
    "What’s your connection to Roy?" Lebia asked bluntly eyeing the
girl straight in the face.
    "None of your business," Yoko replied equally bluntly staring
right back at the other woman.
    Lebia scowled and opened her mouth to say more when Roy came over
and put his hand on angrily on Lebia’s shoulder. "Yoko is a friend,"
he said in a terse voice. "And I don’t think that now is quite the
time to discuss it, Lebia. There are slightly more pressing issues
that must be dealt with." His voice trailed off as he glanced back at
the still weeping form of Keiji.
    Lebia followed his gaze and her mouth tightened. "Very well," she
said with a look that indicated that this was not the end of the
matter, but she pulled back and returned to stand near Aru who was
doing his best to help Yuki.
    Roy sighed and turned to look at Yoko, "Sorry about that," he
said. "Lebia is a close friend of my wife, and I don’t think she has
learnt to accept the reality of Katsumi’s... condition." As he said
those words his face cracked slightly, and Yoko reached over and
patted his hand reassuringly.
    "That bitch..." Roy suddenly said with a voice that was filled
with a deep loathing. "Damn her! I hope she burns!"
    "Roy!" Yoko hissed quietly getting quickly to her feet. "That’s no
way to talk about your wife. She..."
    "Not Katsumi," Roy corrected the prostitute. "Her - Samantha! All
of this, everything. It is all her doing..." He raised his fist and
clenched it as his face showed something of the pent up rage and hate
that was burning in his mind. Yoko said nothing but simply watched as
the human gave vent to something of the emotions that were threatening
to overwhelm him. It was slightly surprising the amount of energy that
these mortals could generate when they really wanted to.
    Lebia turned from watching Roy and the strange woman he was with
and turned her attention back to Yuki and Keiji. The usually hard-
bitten detective was still holding onto Yuki like a man who was
clinging onto life itself. Lebia felt a faint wetness on her cheek and
raised a hand to wipe away the tear. She had not really known Leia
personally, but from the few times she had met her Lebia could imagine
why Keiji was so shattered.
    "Three weeks..." she muttered to herself. That’s all it was -
three weeks in which so much had so abruptly changed. It was almost
impossible to take in. Sam, Linna, Katsumi, Leia... It was just so
impossible...
    "Lebia," Aru said quietly as he came over to sit by her. "How are
you holding up? Are you alright?"
    "Impossible..." was the young woman’s reply.
    Aru frowned, "Sorry?"
    "It’s all so impossible," the young woman repeated staring up to
look in his eyes, her face so confused. "It’s just so impossible..."
    Aru ‘s mouth tightened as he finally caught the drift of what
Lebia was trying to say. He held back the words that were threatening
to spill from his mouth and settled instead for awkwardly patting her
on the shoulder. He was unsure what he could say or do, so he just
continued to pat her awkwardly on the shoulder. His mind whirled over
the insane events of the last few weeks and thought about what was
going to happen next. This whole bloody mess had started the day that,
according to Yuki, Katsumi had tried to... well, assault Sam. That was
about the only clear fact that Yuki had been able to tell him about
that day. What she described next as having happened when Katsumi had
hit her and rushed to attack Linna sounded like it had come out of
some sort of horror story and yet Yuki had sworn it had happened.
Katsumi had started screaming and sounds like something unholy had
followed right after those screams.
    "Demonic..." Aru whispered as he remembered the words that Yuki
had used when trying to desperately explain things to the police. It
had been demonic. Aru did not know what to believe, but the facts were
clear. When the police had finally been able to open a door that had
somehow been fused into the very frame all they had found was a
catatonic Sam and a completely insane Katsumi in the bedroom. Of Linna
there had been no sigh whatsoever.
    He sighed, there was little else he could think of doing at the
moment. He did not know what was going to happen. He would just have
to wait until the police found Sam... And then... Then things might be
able to make some sense. As for Linna, well, Aru was certain she was
around somewhere. Even if Sam had for some insane reason killed her
lover, where the hell was the body?
    Demonic... Aru thought about it for a moment. Why had Yuki been
convinced that something unholy had happened in that bedroom. He knew
his wife and she was some of the strongest, sane person he had ever
met. He could not believe that she would come up with a statement like
that for no reason. What if, well, "something" had happened. Could
that explain what had affected Katsumi and Sam? Aru frowned and for a
moment suspended rationality as he considered things. The priests of
Horus spoke of evil as a living thinking force, so just for arguments
sake suppose something evil had manifested itself in that bedroom.
Would that explain things better than anything else? After all, when
you have considered all the most likely options then that is the time
to start on the unlikely ones. Aru knew that he was mostly likely an
idiot for considering this, but perhaps it was time to call one of his
old friends, Selene Othman, this sort of weird shit was up her street.
She was after all a Priestess of Set. Maybe she might be able to shed
some light on what was happening. Hell, it was worth a try - nothing
else was getting them anywhere.

    Selene finished her coffee and placed the last crumb of cake
daintily into her mouth. "You have an interesting story, Aru," she
said. "But it doesn’t sound like something that is my realm of
expertise. Sounds more like a job for the police than anything else.
What makes you so sure that this was some sort of supernatural event?"
    Aru shrugged, "I admit it’s a bit of a long shot but my wife is
adamant that something unnatural happened to her friends and she is
not the kind of person to may up stories."
    "That maybe so, but I still do not see what you think I can do
about it?" Selene said looking at her old college friend with an
intense stare.
    "Well," Aru looked slightly embarrassed. "I was just wondering if
you might be able to shed any light on the matter. You know with..."
    "With me being a witch?" she said with a laugh. "I’m afraid a
title doesn’t give me access to instant knowledge and power, Aru. I
can perhaps ask around and see if anyone maybe knows anything that
might throw some light on your problem, but I wouldn’t hold out any
great hopes. Even if ‘something’ as you put it did happen there is not
much I can do about it. Your best answer is to wait until the police
locate that girl. Then, maybe, you will get the answers that you want.
Sorry, but that is the best I am able to do."
    Aru sighed and then nodded, "I didn’t expect any miracles," he
said. "But thanks for taking the time out to talk to me and for the
effort of asking around. I appreciate it - I own you one."
    "Forget it," Selene said with a smile. "I’d just be interested in
hearing about your wife. I’m surprised anyone was able to capture your
heart. If I remember correctly you were always going to be a confirmed
bachelor."
    Aru smiled and ordering another cup of coffee began to speak of
Yuki and the life that they had made for themselves.

    It was evening by the time that Selene got home and one of the
first things she did, after switching on the lights of course, was to
go to the vidphone and contact her partner.
    "Come on, come on," she sat in front of the machine waiting for it
to contact at the other end. After a number of rings the vidcom
flickered to life and a shabbily dressed man stood on the other end
blinking as if he had just woken up. He stared at her a bit as if his
brain was still half asleep and then he smiled. "Yo, Selene. Do you
know what time it is? Why ya want to call me at such an unearthly
hour."
    "Because I have a report of something I though might interest
you."
    "Oh? And just what might that be?"
    Selene smiled, "It seems three weeks or so ago someone caused a
small dimensional intrusion that may have released a minor Entity into
our world. It also seems that this Entity may have possessed a young
girl called Samantha before going on a small rampage."
    "Let me guess," the man said with a yawn. "This Samantha wouldn’t
happen to be the one that the cops seem to be so interested in
finding. The one who has been on the news for the last week or so."
    Selene nodded, "Bingo! I’ve just spent the last couple of hours
talking to an old friend who surprisingly enough happened to live with
the girl, and from what he describes it has the usual Entity MO."
    "Ah, bollocks," the man said. "It would be won’t it? And it would
be a female that it has to possess."
    "A Breeder," Selene nodded. "That’s what I thought as well."
    "Okay, you know the drill," the man said with a sigh. "I’ll get
hold of the Watcher on duty and tell them the situation. Do you think
we will need any back up?"
    Selene shrugged, "No idea, but if it is a Breeder then we may have
Childer to worry about as well."
    "Fun," was the man’s only comment. "Okay, let’s get this show on
the road, Selene, before the blood bath begins. We don’t want another
mess like we had with Cheyenne Industries, now do we?"

        *       *       *       *

Location: Tokyo, Japan
Time: AD 2041, 28th December, 21:29

    Helia cut the power on her suit’s thrusters and gently cruised the
Tokyo skyline looking down at the six other silent dark siloets of her
sisters as they climbed gradually up to match her height. Helia turned
her attention to the glowing Christmas tree that was the pyramid of
Genom Tower and also their target for this evening’s raid. Even after
all the, ah, excitement of the last few months there was still the
matter of the Culture, and their payment for the deaths of Elina and
Leina. Helia was slightly ashamed with herself that she had been so
caught up in the events of discovering who and what she was that she
had almost completely forgotten about the girls who had died in the
bomb all the way back in July. And she was even more ashamed of the
fact that it had taken Sylia to reminder of that fact. Six months was
far too long a time to leave her sisters unavenged and that was
something she intended to put right.
    Thanks to their new "gifts" tracking down the backers behind the
Culture had been surprisingly easy, but both Helia and Sylia had a
weird sense of deja-vu when they discovered that it was none other
than their good old friends at Genom. It seemed almost surreal. So
surreal that Sylia could not shake off the feeling that this was
either a put up job, or that Genom was being manipulated by some other
force. Helia had to admit that she had her suspicions as well. Was
this just Genom being Genom, or was this just a facet of some deeper
plot - something involving her own kind? She did not know, Sylia did
not know, and that was why they were tackling this as the Knight
Sabers, rather than as members of Samantha’s Family.
    "Sis," Reina’s voice came over her comlink. "You’re drifting a bit
too far off the approach vector. Correct your approach angle by
0.275."
    Helia grimaced, "Sorry, Rei," she replied and made the correction.
"My mind was drifting."
    Reina made no comment and Helia took that as a small caution.
"Alright, in 90 seconds we will be within the Tower’s parameters.
Remember to engage Stealth mode only after you have landed. The
stealth field consumes too much power to use whilst in flight."
    "So, why don’t we just use the Power?" Celine asked. "I mean it’s
not like we need to both with all the technology - not now."
    "Because we don’t know what we are up against," Sylia’s voice
interrupted the conversation. "If we were just dealing with...
humans... then it would not matter, but we may be dealing with more,
perhaps, some of your kind. And if that’s the case then we are best to
conceal our, I mean your, real nature until they display theirs. Going
in announcing that you are Nobles is just asking them to react as
Nobles. Of course, it might make no difference whatsoever, but..."
    "I think we get the general idea, Sylia," Arline muttered in a
bored tone.
    "Hey! Arline! Watch your language!" Helia hissed sharply.
    - Enough! - Reina sent furiously. - We’re landing in 70 sec...
Shit! Check your sensors! We have incoming boggies! Lots of them! -
    - Boomers! - Helia exclaimed as her suit identified the incoming
targets as combat models 939-SMD, the latest and most advanced battle
boomers to date. The most obvious choice for the defense of Genom’s
central point of power.
    - Let’s consume them, sis! - Arline said with a giggle as she
invoked her Power. - Let’s consume the warmth of this city and... -
    - Arline! Stop being silly! - Helia scowled her younger sister. -
Just activate your ECM and head for the Tower. When you land activate
your stealth field and head for the rendezvous point. With the stealth
fields engaged no one will be able to fine us -
    - But they already know we are here! - Reina put in. - Are you
sure this is the right time to continue? We could... -
    - Withdraw? - Helia finished. - Yes we could, but we would still
face the same problem is we came back, only they would expect us more
and have time to prepare. No, we are going in now and that is that -
    "As you command," Reina commented sourly and then hit her
thrusters to maximum.
    "Okay, sis," Rina stated. "I’m right behind you. Hey, Helia,
should we have anyone run diversion?"
    "No, just get past them and landed. It is not the boomers that
concern me, but more likely what we will find in the Tower," Helia
growled.
    "You mean you think we up against other Nobles?" Arline said with
an expectant shiver in it that made Helia roll her eyes.
    - Rina, do you think you can control Arline when she lands? I
think it was a mistake bringing one of Priss’s children on this
mission - she sent to Linna’s daughter.
    - Done - Rina replied. - I thought you should have bought someone
slightly more sensible like Ireine. She can fight, and has brains as
well -
    - Fine, well that’s for later - Helia said. "Contact with boomers
in 20 seconds. Activate ECM now, and good luck!"
    The next 30 seconds was spent in intense silence as seven dark
slim figures weaved an insane evasion course between and around the
larger and heavier cyborgs. Lights flared in the sky as the boomers
opened fire on the intricately weaving figures. Some of the lights
came perilously close to hitting the smaller figures, but they were
only boomers, what they were fighting against was seven members of a
Family whose Mistress was one of the oldest and most Powerful Beings
still in existence. It was no contest.
    Helia lighted to her feet and immediately activated her suit’s
stealth field the moment she landed. She looked around and observed as
the boomers who had attacked been attacking them only a few moments
before landed on top of the Tower and looked around confused trying to
determine where their opponents had gone.
    - Wait for it! - Helia sent to her sisters. - Let them... -
    All the boomers suddenly wavered as if they had just passed
through a heat haze and then they just vanished in a soundless
implosion.
    - What the... - Rina exploded. - Arline! What the... -
    - It wasn’t me! - Arline cried out. - I didn’t do anything! I... -
    "You silly children," Kelly said with a sigh as she appeared on
the roof. "We are Nobles of the House of De’Naimenaishara! We don’t
sulk in the shadows against human vermin, or other Nobles! When I told
Sylia that she had access to more Power than she could imagine, I mean
it!"
    Helia went stiff in a combination of outrage and fear. As she
looked up at Kelly she felt a surge of coldness and Power slowly build
up inside her. It was almost as if the Darkness within her were
reacting to Kelly’s words, encouraging her to put aside the ideas of
her limitations and accept just who and what she was. It was a weird
feeling.
    "Kelly..." Reina’s hushed whisper sounded through the comlink and
Helia was surprised by the emotion that was carried in that one word.
Was there something going on between Kelly and Reina?
    "Get rid of your suits, girls," Kelly said in an authoritative
tone. "Let our opponents look on our faces and know who we are."
    "Kelly, that’s stupid!" Helia exclaimed sharply. "If these are
Nobles we are up against then announcing our presence..."
    Kelly giggled and made a gesture. A smell like something that
Helia did not like to imagine suddenly filled the night air and the
roof on which they had landed was populated with no just themselves
but...
    "Holy..." Rina began to say and then her voice cut out as she
collapsed in a faint. None of her other sisters rush to help her, they
were just staring in fearful disbelief at the... things... that Kelly
had called forth.
    There were ten of them. They were... Helia’s eyes bulged as she
forced herself to remain very still and remain sane as Kelly walked
slowly towards the... things... and start to speak to them in a
guttural, hissing language that no human throat could possibly utter.
What Kelly said, or how long she spoke for Helia did not know. She
just could not drag her eyes away from the... whatever they were that
Kelly had summoned.
    Kelly made a final gesture and the ten large, vaguely humanoid,
clawed and dripping slime _things_ gibbered and vanished. Kelly’s face
twisted into a smile and she looked over to the still invisible form
of Helia. "See? There are much more demonstrative ways of dealing with
dealing with Pawns than flying around in pretty suits. Don’t worry, my
little playthings will soon determine if we are dealing with anything
other than vermin."
    Helia felt sick and her stomach was more than wanting to prove it
to her.
    "Helia?" Kelly asked. "Are you listening to me?"
    "Wha... What... have..." Reina’s voice whispered out as she was
the first to recover something of her ability to speak.
    "Done, Reina-chan," Kelly chuckled. "The word you want is done."
    "Done..." Reina finished at the other woman’s prompting.
    "Well done," Kelly congratulated the girl with a warm smile. "What
I have done is simply sent a number of minor denizens of a plane not
far from here to scout out territory so to speak. If they come across
any serious resistance from those within then we will know something
about what we are walking into - simple really." She shrugged, "I
would have thought it was obvious."
    Helia could not believe what she had just heard, was not sure she
wanted to believe what she had just heard. The young woman smiling in
front of her had just casually unleashed... whatever... on the
inhabitants of the Tower beneath her just as a little test to see what
they were capable of.
    "Helia, this is Sylia, come in please..."
    Helia blinked and the small voice of Sylia squawked again several
times before Helia found to state of mind to respond. "Mother..."
    "What the heck are you playing at, Helia?" Sylia’s annoyed voice
said. "My readings still have you on the top of sector 12. You are
supposed to be infiltrating through corridor 32F by now. What..."
    "We’ll be going there in about 15 minutes or so, Stingray,"
Kelly’s voice spoke cheerfully over the comlink Helia had with Sylia.
"We’re all just waiting for a little scouting mission to finish -
that’s all."
    "Kelly... What the hell are you doing there?!" Sylia’s voice
exploded loudly in Helia’s ear and she winced. "Helia! What IS going
on?!"
    "Kelly, you have to stop this!" Reina suddenly exclaimed. "Please!
We came here to..."
    "Revenge your sisters," Kelly finished. "And that is exactly what
we shall do. But we will do it in a fashion that is in keeping with
_our_ Family’s traditions."
    "But..." Reina tried again.
    "Oh, little one, don’t worry so much," Kelly said in a kind voice.
"Vermin die sooner or later, and a possible Challenge has been issued
against our Family. It is only right that we respond. When you have
seen a couple of worlds come and go you will realize how transitory
such things are. Only the Family matters, Rei-chan, only the Family
matters."
    Reina made no further comment. She had lost sense of the context
after Kelly had called her ‘little one’, and was currently floating in
a warm happy cloud. Although her Bonding attempt to Kelly had given
her a nasty shock about just how deeply Kelly felt for ‘Sam’ the fact
that Kelly was calling her things like ‘little one’ made her all gooey
inside. All other things went completely out of the window of her
mind.
    "Helia! Answer m..." Sylia’s voice cut off in mid stream.
    - That woman can be so irritating at times - Kelly commented with
a sigh.
    "You didn’t..."
    - Harm her, Helia? - Kelly snorted. - Of course not. I just cut
the communication between us. I want us to do this as a Family unit,
and we don’t need some silly mortal telling us what to do -
    "Helia, we... We have to do _something_" Darline exclaimed
furiously. "We just can’t let innocent people die for nothing! We have
to stop this!"
    "Kelly, please... Call them back! You must stop this!" Helia
turned and deactivating the Stealth field begged the Noble. "Please!"
    Kelly laughed, "Me, Helia? Ha! Why should I?"
    "Please!"
    Kelly sighed, "Really, Helia. You have a lot to learn about
things, haven’t you?"
    "Kelly, please just call them back!" Helia exclaimed.
    "Do it yourself, Helia," Kelly said. "You need the practice."
    "What?!" Helia demanded slightly stunned by what Kelly had said.
"Are you mad?!"
    Kelly looked at her and blinked. "No, I am not mad. You have more
than enough Power to do it, you just lack the confidence. Go on, it’s
simple, just extend your senses and send them away. They don’t have
anything like the strength necessary to stop you. Hey, you can even
destroy them if you wish - makes no difference to me."
    Helia held out her hand. "Please, Kelly, don’t kid around. You..."
    With a giggle Kelly vanished and Helia was left talking to thin
air. Helia blinked a few times and then swore. "Kelly! Kelly, please!
Come back!"
    Nothing happened and Helia swore viscously.
    "Helia!" Darline exclaimed. "Please snap out of it! You have to
stop this madness from happening! Please!"
    "I... I don’t know what to do!" Helia snapped back. "I..."
    "Well, if someone doesn’t do something soon then it’s going to be
a fuckin’ blood bath!" Darline shrieked in a hysterical voice. "I can
_feel_ the people’s terror! They’re dying in there! They’re..."
    "Alright!" Helia yelled breaking into Darline’s shrieking. Taking
a deep breath Helia closed her eyes and taking a moment to steady
herself _reached_ for her "Power". It was like opening herself to a
frozen liquid of irresistible bliss. It slowly filled her like a sweet
sickness that made her shiver with delight. Helia groaned in ecstasy
as the frozen corruption flowed into her. She opened her black eyes
and smiled. She could _feel_ the pain and terror of those... warm...
living... vermin in the structure below. She shivered with delight and
savored the mortal agony of those warm toys below. The coldness slowly
filling her was so sharp that it was almost painful and she felt a
deep almost faint gnawing desire consume her.
    "I’m hungry..." Helia whispered as she gave a name to that faint
desire.
    "Helia!" Darline shouted. "Do something - they’re dying! Please!"
    Helia blinked, "Of course..." she whispered and reaching out with
that frozen sweetness she tentatively sought out the... flavor of the
essences in the building below. Her mind touched briefly on faint
flickers of warmth. She wondered what they were but as soon as she had
sensed them those flashes of warm were gone. She reached out further
as she exploded to see if she could find those things that Kelly had
released. As she did so she encountered yet more of those brief
flickers of warmth. She pushed on trying to find those creatures that
she sought. More and more flashes of warmth touched upon her mind and
she began to feel that faint hunger that she had noted earlier begin
to build. Helia clasped her hands together nervously and licked her
lips. She tried to ignore the growing hunger as pushed her mind out
further trying. The faint warmths flickering in her mind grew and grew
until they were like a flicker torrid of warmth flowing into the
coldness of her mind. The hunger grew and...
    "HELIA!!!" a voice screamed and screamed as a hand slapped at her
face again and again. "STOP IT!! STOP IT!!"
    Darline lay on the ground sobbing as Arline hit Helia again and
again. The pain of the countless deaths that had just happened howled
through Darline’s mind and the only thing she could do was sob at the
senselessness of their loss.
    Helia yelled in shock and pain as Reina’s hand struck her face.
"Arline! What..."
    "Helia... Why... Why..." Darline sobbed clutching at herself.
"Why..."
    Helia grabbed Reina’s hand as it descended on her face once more.
"Reina! What the devil are you doing to me?!" she exclaimed angrily.
"I..."
    "You _killed_ them..." Darline wept out. "All of them..."
    Helia looked up at Reina and at the other forms of her sisters
leaning over her and the sobbing form of her sister. "What... Reina...
What is going on here? What is..."
    "The Tower," Reina said in a toneless voice. "You... you..."
    "What?!" Helia looked confused up at the white face of Reina.
"What about me?"
    "You killed them..." Reina whispered looking down at her shaking
her head.
    "What... Who..."
    "All of them..."
    "Who..."
    "The Tower, Helia," Reina said looking down at her sister. "You
killed everyone in the Tower - they’re all dead... All dead...
Dead..."

        *       *       *       *

Location: Tokyo, Japan
Time: AD 2089, 25th June, 15:43

    Helen held up the dress to Kiyomi and nodded. "Yip, this is the
one. This is one I want you to wear."
    "Why, this one particularly?" Kiyomi said looking at it closely.
"It doesn’t seem any different from the others."
    Helen grinned, "I think it looks cuter on you, that’s all."
    Kiyomi shook her head, "You’re a hopeless romantic, Helen, you
know that, don’t you?"
    "Hai," Helen said nodding her head. "Hopeless."
    "So, why do you want to go to this club anyway?" Kiyomi asked
taking the dress off Helen.
    "Got an invitation from an old friend," Helen replied looking
through the rank of dresses to try and find something for herself.
"Shay seems to know the owner from somewhere."
    "Shay?" Kiyomi frowned. "Whose that?"
    Helen smiled at the expression on her lover’s face. "No threat to
you, love. Shay’s one of the few, no, only friend that I have left
from my time on the moon. I knew her at Uni... Hey, Kiyomi, are you
listening to me?"
    Kiyomi ignored her and continued to look down the isle to
something that was at the other end of the store.
    "Hey! Kiyomi!" Helen tapped her friend on the shoulder and the
young woman turned and smiled at her.
    "Sorry, Helen, but I think I see someone do there that I know."
    "Eh? Where?" Helen peered passed Kiyomi and followed her pointing
hand. At the bottom at the isle a teenager in her late teens and a
young woman in her mid twenties were sorting through what looked like
jeans. Helen turned to look at Kiyomi. "And just who are they?"
    "Well..." Kiyomi began but Helen was already walking off towards
to met them. "Helen!" Kiyomi called out. "Hey, hold on!"
    "Well, which one do you think?" Priss asked showing Mayline the
two pairs of retro-style jeans. "Which one is me?"
    Mayline looked at the two that Priss was holding up to herself one
after another and took a moment to think. "Well, I think black is more
your..."
    "Hello," a young woman suddenly came striding up and held out her
hand. "I’m Helen Shannon, a friend of Kiyomi..." Helen stopped and her
face registered confusion for a moment as she felt an odd sensation
pass through her body.
    Priss looked at the young woman and then at Mayline. "Kiyomi?" she
said with a questioning expression on her face.
    "She’s a partial Chosen," Mayline said looking at Priss. "A bit
more sensitive than you, Chosen. When the Bond is complete she should
be quite strong."
    "Eh?" Helen pulled back slightly. "What are you..."
    "It’s nothing," Kiyomi said finally coming over and standing next
to her Chosen. She stood and stared at Mayline and her eyes closed as
she bowed her head slightly.
    "Welcome, Kiyomi-chan," Mayline held out her hand. "Is this your
Chosen?"
    "Her name’s Helen, Mayline-san," Kiyomi said taking the offered
hand. "And is she yours?"
    "Hey, I’m not property you know," Priss snapped angrily putting
her hand onto her hip.
    "Yeah," Helen echoed Priss’s tone. "What are you talking about,
Kiyomi?"
    Priss looked over at Helen and sniffed. "So, you’re a Chosen as
well are you? Welcome to the freak show."
    Helen stiffened at the uncalled insult from the other woman and
looked at her angrily. "What did you mean by that, you jerk?"
    "Hey, you two," Mayline said with a smile. "Give it a rest." She
looked over at Kiyomi and the two of them shared an amused look.
    - Chosen can be like children at times, can’t they? - Mayline send
to her sister.
    - But you gotta love them for it - Kiyomi replied with a laugh.
    Helen looked at the amused expression on Kiyomi’s face and then
over at the chestnut haired girl who seemed to be silently laughing
along with her. "Alright you two, what is going on here? What’s so
amusing? And while you’re at it what the heck is a ‘Chosen’ anyway?"
    Priss snorted, "You’re a complete innocent aren’t you, girly? You
really don’t know anything."
    Helen turned on the rude woman with the weird hairdo and raised a
fist. "Look, you 1960’s freak artist, what exactly is your problem?
Are you just rude by nature or is it me?"
    "Touchy aren’t we?" Priss said with a grin and held out her hand.
"Priscilla Asagiri, at your service."
    "Priss, you’re forgetting again," Mayline broke in as Helen took
Priss’s hand. "We’re Bonded - it’s Priscilla Mayline S. Asagiri, now."
    "Picky, picky," Priss muttered shaking Helen’s hand. "Just call me
Priss, Helen-san."
    "Helen, please," Helen replied wondering what all this Bonded
stuff was about.
    Priss nodded and looked over at Kiyomi. "You don’t look like one
of Mayline’s sisters," she said. "Who exactly are you?"
    "Samantha’s work," Mayline said looking at Priss. "She’s one of
Samantha’s Claims."
    "Oh," Priss replied and fell silent.
    "So, are you going to tell me what is going on her?" Helen stated.
"Or is this going to be twenty questions?"
    "About what?" Kiyomi asked innocently and got a filthy look from
Helen.
    "What all this ‘Chosen’, ‘Bonding’ and other nonsense is about of
course."
    "It’s not exactly anything special," Kiyomi replied with a shrug.
"It just means you and me are a hot looking couple, that’s all." She
wrapped her arm around Helen’s waist and gave her a quick kiss.
    "Yeah, right," Helen said with an expression on her face which
said she did not believe a word of it. "Come on, Kiyomi, tell me what
this is all about. Who are these people, and where do you know them
from?"
    "Kiyomi’s a relative of mine," Mayline spoke up. "We’re members of
the same extended Family. I’m pleased to met you, Helen." Mayline held
out her hand and smiled in welcome as Helen hesitantly shook it.
    "Ah, hi."
    "Chosen’s just a term of affection that our Family uses for
couples," Mayline replied with a disarming smile. "We tend to be
rather informal about relationships in our Family so Chosen is a term
that we just to describe a couple who have a rather more permanent
Bonding. There’s nothing sinister about it, it’s just the terminology
that we have. Chosen tend to be rather rare so we like to
differentiate it - to make it special."
    Helen looked thoughtful. "I’ve never heard of that practice
before."
    Mayline nodded, "It’s quite common where our Family comes from."
    "Oh," Helen’s eyes crossed over to Priss. "So, she is your
‘Chosen’ is she?"
    Mayline gave Priss a look that made the brown eyed woman blush.
"Oh, yes," Mayline replied in a sultry voice. "Priss and I are very
much Bonded - or married you might say. We have been for quite some
time."
    "Stop that," Priss looked flustered. "You’re embarrassing me."
    Mayline’s only answer was a warm chuckle that bought a smile to
Helen’s face.
    "You could have just told me that," Helen turned to Kiyomi. "I
would have understood you know - 'Chosen'."
    At the use of the word Kiyomi eyes widened and her pupils dilated.
Helen was surprised by Kiyomi’s reaction.
    "You mean that?" Kiyomi asked stepping forward and taking a grip
on Helen’s shoulders looked deep into the woman’s eyes. "Do you really
want to be my Chosen, complete the Bond?"
    Helen felt slightly nervous by Kiyomi’s intensity and she realized
that the word had a much more deeper meaning than the casual term she
may have implied. She flushed and swallowed, "Kiyomi... Are... are you
proposing to me?"
    Kiyomi’s grip on her shoulders tightened and she looked nervous,
"I... I... Yes. Yes, Helen I am. Will you? Will you been my Chosen,
and Bond with me? I..." Her voice faded slightly as she began to lose
her courage.
    Helen felt her heart begin to pound like drum. Her thoughts were
whirling and... "Yes." The word slipped out before she even realized
she had said anything.
    Kiyomi stopped dead as her mind processed what Helen and just
said. "Yes..." she whispered almost as if she did not believe it.
Helen smiled shyly at what that simple word did to her lover.
    "Yes, Kiyomi," she said again pushing forward and looking
intensely into the young woman’s eyes. "I will be your Chosen."
    Mayline cringed at the great "whoop" sound that suddenly came from
her "sister" as the two young women tried to squeeze the life out of
each other. She smiled and looked at Priss. Her Chosen was looking
annoyed like she always did and Mayline reached out and took her
Chosen’s hand in hers. "Chosen..." she whispered.
    Priss tried to pull her hand back from Mayline, but the girl
simply stood there looking at her with those wide expressive eyes of
hers. Oh, no... Not the eyes, Priss just about managed to think as she
felt herself getting lost in the bottomless deeps of the Chosen’s
adoring look. She tried to rally her senses but Mayline’s eyes always,
always, always, won.
    Mayline sighed contently as Priss dropped the jeans she was
carrying and pulled Mayline to into her arms. The Noble embraced her
Chosen and let herself get carried away in the love and warmth that
her Chosen filled her with. Priss... she thought desperately trying to
mold herself tighter against her Chosen. Oh, my Priss...
    "Well, well, well..." a voice said in an amused tone. "It’s nice
to see that spring isn’t the only time when love blooms."
    Priss took a sharp breath and with a face that looked like a
tomato reluctantly broke her kiss with Mayline - just as it had been
getting to an interesting stage as well... She took a second to calm
her rather impassioned nerves and keeping an arm wrapped around her
Chosen turned to face the woman who had spoken. "What... What do you
want?" she asked pitching her voice to react the other two woman still
currently trying to suck each other’s life out.
    The speaker was an attractive looking teenage redhead with blue
eyes and a faint amused look on her young face. Her hair was just past
shoulder length and there was something about her face that Priss
thought was vaguely familiar.
    "Can I help you?" Priss asked trying to place where she had seen
that face before.
    The girl smiled and kneeling down picked up the jeans that Priss
had dropped. "Not really," she said passing the jeans over to Priss.
"I just find it..."
    "Raina Stingray," Mayline suddenly said as Priss took the jeans.
"You’re Raina Stingray."
    "Stingray..." Priss mouth dropped open and she stared dumbly at
the redhead.
    Raina looked at Mayline and frowned, "That’s right - do I know
you?"
    "Not exactly," Mayline replied holding out her hand. "But I’m a
friend of Li..."
    "Stingray!" Priss suddenly burst out surging forward to grab the
redhead’s shoulders and look intensely at her. "You’re Raina
Stingray!"
    Mayline sighed, "Don’t worry about Priss," she said reassuringly
to the confused looking redhead. "She’s harmless - usually."
    Priss did not even hear the comment as she stared down at a
connection to her past she did not even know had existed. "You’re
Raina Stingray!" she repeated yet again and shook her head. "Raina
Stingray..."
    Raina looked even more nervous and Mayline reached out and pinched
Priss’s waist.
    "Hey! Priss! Your brain finally checked out?"
    "Ouch!" Priss exclaimed and turning on her companion gave the girl
a small thump. "That hurt!"
    Mayline grinned evilly and then looked back at Raina. "Linna
Yamazaki told me about you, Raina. Tha..."
    "Linna?! You’re a friend of Linna’s?!" Raina raised a hand to her
chest. "Do... Do you know where she is? Please... I need to talk with
her! I..." her voice faded away and Mayline was surprised to see the
girl was almost in a state of distress.
    "I do, yes," Mayline replied. "I..."
    "You must be Nene’s granddaughter!" Priss burst in again much to
the annoyance of both speakers. "Aren’t you? You..."
    "Priss! Please!" Mayline snapped and flashed her Chosen a _look_.
"I’m trying to talk here."
    Priss flushed and grumbled something under her breath.
    "You too, love," Mayline said with a small apologetic smile and
gave her Chosen’s arm a squeeze. "Just give us a moment, eh?"
    "Where is she?! Please!" Raina asked again and Mayline almost
winced at the desperation in the mortal’s voice.
    "Why do you..."
    "Please! Just tell me!"
    Kiyomi and Helen looked at each and waited to see what would
happen. Neither of them knew who this Linna was, or this Stingray
person so they remained silent.
    Mayline sighed, "You still want Linna that much do..."
    "Linna?!" Priss exclaimed shocked. "But Linna loves Sama..."
    "Priss! Shut up!" Mayline exerted her Power and Priss went slacked
face.
    "What was that..." Raina said in a small voice. "About Linna
and..."
    "Nothing," Mayline said with a compassionate smile on her face.
"Priss is a bit, you know, ‘funny’. She doesn’t know anything. I do
know where Linna is, Raina-san, and if you are willing to come with me
I can take you to her - if that is what you really want..."
    "Take me to her now, please!" Raina begged. "I must see her!"
    Mayline lowered her head and nodded, "As you wish, Raina-san. As
you wish."

    "How are you feeling now, love?" Linna leaned down and kissed the
coldish pale forehead of her mate.
    The redhead smiled and moved her head on the pillow. "Better,
still a but tired, but better than I was."
    Linna stroked the pale face and looking at the peaceful expression
on the redhead’s face decided now was the time to asked the question
that had been burning in her mind for the last month or so. Now that
the redhead was in a relaxed mood the time was right. "Sammy, love..."
    "Hmm..."
    Linna continued to stroke Samanaimethea’s cheek and taking a small
breath knelt down and nibbled the redhead’s right ear. "What’s the
story with Celeline, Sammy? Please..."
    The redhead’s eyes opened and the peaceful look on her face
hardened. "Linna," she said sitting up. "I told you. I want you and
Celeline to get along. I love both of..."
    "NO!" Linna exclaimed angrily and pulled Samanaimethea’s chin
around to face her. "You are _my_ mate, Samanaimethea - mine!"
    Samanaimethea’s lips curled slightly for a moment, but she rapidly
got her anger under control. "Yes, Linna. _We_ are mates, and we will
always be. But there are others who mean a lot to me as well, Linna.
Celeline, Kelly, Llothelianis - each of them hold a place in my heart
as well, Linna. I..."
    "But you kissed her!" Linna hissed angrily. "You were KISSING
her!"
    "So?" Samanaimethea asked. "Kissing is just an expression of love,
Linna. It does not change how I feel about you - nor will it ever.
Stop thinking like a human, Linna. You are not that petty anymore. I
do not begrudge you the time you spent with Raina do I?"
    Linna snarled and turned away, "You’re impossible at times," she
said as she walked out of the small room leaving Samanaimethea staring
after her.
    Samanaimethea sighed, "So are you, Linna-chan," she muttered to
herself pulling back the blankets on her bed and began to get up.
    "She treats you like property, Sam," a voice said that made
Samanaimethea freeze dead still as Kelly suddenly appeared standing
over her. "How can you stand it?"
    Samanaimethea took a moment to collect her wits and with a glad
cry bolted to her feet and throw her arms around her... no, Sam’s old
lover/Consort. "Kelly! Oh, Kelly!"
    Kelly pulled the redhead to her and tried to fight down the
emotions and needs that were rushing through her mind at that point in
time. She just concentrated on holding the... slightly changed form of
her lover to her and filling every sense that she had with the warm
fragrant presence of her Sam. "Oh, Sam..." she whispered into the
redhead’s long hair.
    Samanaimethea pushed all her worries and concerns over Kelly and
how she might react to Linna to the back of her mind as she just held
the familiar figure of her... Sam’s... whatever... lover to her.
"Kelly," she whispered.
    The two of them continued to hold onto each other for how long
they did not know. Samanaimethea was afraid to break the embrace for
fear of hurting Kelly’s feelings even more than she already had, and
Kelly just did not want to. But finally, Kelly pulled back and
reluctantly let her Sam go. She had thought she was ready to cope with
this, but her eyes were misting up and the sheer presence of her Sam
in her arms was affecting her more badly than she had planned.
    "You... You have changed, love," she finally managed to get hold
enough of her wits to say. "And I _like_ the improvements..."
    Samanaimethea swallowed and lower her eyes slightly. She had
dreaded this moment since the very beginning of the latest stage in
her life. "Kelly I so so so so sorry. I really did not want this to
happen this way it just did. I became what I am how and things just
sort of happened and..." It all came out in a bit of a incoherent rush
and Kelly put a stop to it by placing her lips on the mouth that was
blabbering and kissing it very hard.
    For Samanaimethea the kiss of her old friend was something that
took her back deep into the memories of her past life. The taste of
Kelly, the smell of Kelly, the way Kelly held her, they all
overwhelmed her with memories of her past. She could not help but
react to those memories, they had been a part of her life for a long
time as had Kelly and it was like falling into an old familiar role -
a role that sucked her in completely.
    Kelly knew the kiss was a mistake the moment she tried it. She was
getting lost in the emotions that she had so desperately tried to
repress. Her resolve, her plans, everything - it all went out of her
mind the moment she first pressed up against those warm salty lips.
She inhaled and the flowery scent of the young woman in her arms
filled her senses. She instinctively tightened her grip as the
memories of the first time she had met Sam flooded her mind. The
memories of the cold dark nights they had spent shivering in the
wrecks of the great cities of her once proud homeland. She ran her
hand through the long silky hair and pulled the head of her lover hard
against her as her tongue parted the lips of her beloved and entered
the warm wet recesses of the Immortal’s mouth.
    For a moment, the redhead seemed to be startled at the urgent
demanding of Kelly’s desires, but Kelly forgot everything but the
sweet smell and the warmth of her lover’s mouth. Her tongue boldly met
and entwined itself around the redhead’s as the emotion Kelly had held
back for so long burst forth. Her free hand cautiously and then with
greater courage slid under the young woman’s loose top and explored
the cool perfect silk of her lover’s skin. She repositioned her head
and pushed her hand up to cup the full endowments of her Sam. At this
point the smaller woman started to squirm and Kelly had to tighten her
hold.
    Linna’s eyes were like two perfect black orbs as she held out her
hand and unleashed her Power against Enemy. The small ball of utter
darkness drifted lazily across towards the brunette. Held within its
constraints was Power enough to destroy stars, enough Power to
annihilate matter itself. She dare not unleash more than that or she
might cause Samanaimethea to react dangerously.
    Kelly marvelled at the changes that had happened to the body that
her fingers were exploring. It was like nothing she had ever dared
imagine. It was perfect, more than perfect. It seemed as if had been
made for her and she could not help but explore every crevice that she
could reach. She was just moving her hand down to explore the more
forbidden secret places when her Power reacted to the presence of a
childish wrought ball of DarkBane. Her eyes flashed black with rage
and still holding her lover she glared at the ignorant child who had
tried to act her. Her face curled in an almost unholy smile of
pleasure when she saw who it was.
    "Linna..." she hissed in dark delight as she saw the startled look
of the woman’s face. "You have come."
    Linna was half caught between her rage at Kelly and her shock at
how easily the woman had shielded herself the DarkBane. She had
difficulty accepting that Kelly had that much Power. She steadied
herself and raising a hand defensively took a hurried look at the
redheaded form held tight up against the ex-Consort. The young woman’s
face was flushed red with desire and the mouth hung slackly down.
Linna’s rage grew as she saw the way Samanaimethea was daring to touch
the ex-Consort. Her body slowly began to glow with a faint black aura
as the Darkness within her surged in response to her emotions.
    Kelly looked at the child in front of her and almost laughed at
the pathetic Power the brunette was summoning. The smile on her face
grew and she deliberately leaned down and ran her tongue over the
redhead’s flushed cheek.
     "Sam is mine," she said in glee as she watched how the brunette
stiffened in reaction to her movement. She had not originally planned
to take back Sam yet, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.
Linna had initiated the Challenge and according to the Rules of
Ascension the one who won this conflict would be the new Consort. This
would be so easy, Kelly would shred Linna to pieces and once more
Claim the position that was hers by right.
    Samanaimethea was warm and content in the supportive embrace Kelly
held her protectively in. Her mind was lost in the intense emotions
and sensations that her old lover aroused in her. The smell of Kelly
and the sensation of her familiar everyday touch against her skin made
Samanaimethea feel so serene, so cherished that nothing else at that
point in time mattered.
    Kelly shifted the redhead’s body slightly as she prepared to meet
Linna’s Challenge. The redhead sighed and the smile on her face almost
made Kelly forget all about Linna. "Soon..." she whispered as she
touched the young woman’s cheek. "Soon, my beloved." She looked up and
smiled at Linna. "Come, child. Amuse me."
    "STOP IT!"
    Kelly and Linna both looked up in surprise at the heavily
breathing girl that was standing in the entrance of the small room.
The pale slender girl looked at the two of the older women with a look
of fierce determination on her face.
    "STOP IT! PLEASE!"
    "Celeline..." Linna whispered and turned her attention away from
Kelly to focus her attention on the latest arrival.
    Kelly’s face curled. Linna had started this Challenge and Kelly
was not going to stop now, especially not for a little child. She
gestured in annoyance and the teenager screamed in agony as a black
aura briefly flared around her body. She collapsed in a heap on the
ground and lay still. Linna took a step back in shock. Celeline was
dead! Kelly had killed the young Enforcer with little more than a
gesture. Her face went white and shaking slightly the brunette turned
to face the grinning ex-Consort.
    "Say goodbye, Linna. It's time to die."

    "Celeline... Celeline..."
    Darkness. Floating. Sensation.
    "Celeline... Celeline..."
    Darkness. Floating. Sensation.
    "Celeline... Celeline..."
    The soft voice insistently calling her name slowly reached through
the blackness that she was gently floating in and with an eruption of
pain the blackness exploded into light. Celeline blinked and with a
groan of pain tentatively opened her eyes to stare at the worried face
of her Chosen staring down at her. Celeline blinked again and with an
effort managed to move her hand up to touch the beloved face looking
down at her.
    "Chosen..." she whispered as she tried to force a small smile to
her lips.
    Her Chosen’s face relaxed and the glorious green eyes misted over
with tears. Celeline moved her hand up and wiped the forming tears
away. "Chosen..." she repeated.
    Samanaimethea smiled and sat for a moment looking down at the
Enforcer who had Chosen her. She reached out and ruffled the girl’s
hair. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
    Celeline’s smile grew slightly lopsided. "I’ve felt better," she
replied truthfully. "Very tired for some reason. I just did not expect
Kelly to hit out at me like that. I was..."
    "You were silly to try and stop her, Chosen," Samanaimethea
commented with relief that Celeline was all right now. "Kelly is far
stronger than you can imagine. And you have not yet mastered your own
abilities as an Enforcer enough to overwhelm someone like her. You
need to think, Celeline, before attempting anything like that. I might
not be there to return you to life the next time."
    Celeline went pale. "Return to... You mean I was dead!?" she
exclaimed in disbelief bolting up to stare with wide eyes at her
Chosen.
    Samanaimethea just nodded in reply and helped the young girl to
her feet. Celeline wobbled slightly for a moment and then gasped again
and raised her hands in a defensive motion.
    "Celeline, please," Samanaimethea said raising her own hand to
cover the girl’s. "There is nothing to worry about."
    "But..." Celeline stared at the poised figures on Linna and Kelly
who were just about to attack each other.
    Samanaimethea followed her gaze and sniffed, "Do not worry about
those two idiots. They are not going to be going anywhere for a
while."
    Celeline frowned, "What have you done to them?"
    "Nothing," Samanaimethea smiled. "They are just inhabiting a
slightly slower time stream at the moment. I told Linna I did not want
anymore Challenges, but she seems to have forgotten that. And Kelly is
acting like an ass so I figured I would just leave them like that for
a while."
    Celeline swallowed, "Right..."
    "Oh, they will both be fine, Celeline," Samanaimethea commented
sitting down on her bed and indicating Celeline should join her. "I
love them both too much to hurt them. I just want them to both have
sometime to think. Their senses are still in this time zone, it is
just their bodies and their Powers that are affected. They can still
hear and see what we are doing - just not respond."
    "Oh," Celeline said as she sat next to her Chosen. "So, what now?"
    Samanaimethea raised an eyebrow in a suggestive fashion and smiled
teasingly. "Now, I am going to get some sleep. And you, my dearest
little Celeline, are going to join me."
    Celeline’s eyes bulged and her heart suddenly stared to beat
rapidly as she could not believe what her Chosen had just said.
    "No, not like that," Samanaimethea said with a laugh. "I just want
some simple company, nothing more. I am sorry, Celeline, but please
understand the only one I love in _that_ way is Linna... and Kelly. We
maybe Chosen, but..."
    Celeline schooled her face so the disappointment did not show too
much. "I... I accepted that the moment I first Chose you, Mother.
I..."
    "Shhh...." Samanaimethea gave the girl a light kiss on the cheek
and yawned. "We are Bonded, Chosen, and in some ways that can be far
more intense than anything you can imagine. The physical is only a
very small part of a Bonding and the older you get the more you will
understand that. But for now my ancient bones need their rest. My
Power is not quite as... stable at the moment as it used to be."
    Celeline frowned as the redhead pulled back the blankets and
climbed into the warm bed. "What do you mean?" she asked.
    Samanaimethea sighed and plumped up the pillow. "Ever since my...
change my Power has been, well, evolving is the best way I can think
of putting it. You remember when I went and fought Michael, well my
Power was significantly stronger at that time than it has been at any
other time in the past..."
    "Was?" Celeline asked with a yawn. "Is it weaker now or
something?"
    Samanaimethea rolled onto her side and shook her head. "No."
    Celeline watched as the movement caused Samanaimethea’s red hair
to go spilling over the white of the pillow like a fiery aura and
swallowed. "What then?" she asked flushing slightly with embarrassment
as she started to undress.
    "In some ways I wish it were," Samanaimethea commented closing her
eyes and lying back. "But it is still growing, still evolving..."
    Celeline folded her tee-shirt and shimmered into some nightwear.
"And..."
    "And it is beginning to frighten me slightly, Celeline,"
Samanaimethea adjusted to the change in the bed distribution as
Celeline climbed cautiously in beside her. She looked at the slender
Enforcer and opened her eyes to stare at the girl. "I am beginning to
be afraid that I will loose control of it... and the Darkness..."
    Celeline froze. She swivelled her head around to take a look at
the redhead. "Are you serious?" she asked.
    Samanaimethea nodded, "I wish I was not, Chosen, but I am being
deadly serious."
    "But... If you lost control of... that... then..." she shivered.
The consequences of Samanaimethea loosing control of the Darkness was
not something she ever wanted to consider. She moved closer to the
warm form of her Chosen and pulled the blankets around the two of
them.
    "Then things will get... interesting..." Samanaimethea finished
burying her head in the short chestnut hair of Celeline. "And that is
what worries me. If... if... what Sylvie... says about the Darkness
is... true... then... then... Oh, Celeline! What am I to do?"
    Celeline felt the hot tears of her Chosen fall into her hair and
run down her neck. She clenched her fists as Samanaimethea pressed
herself closer and the young Enforcer felt her restraint pushed to the
limit, but somehow she managed to control her urges. "Ah... Sammy..."
she said. "Please, everything will be alright - don’t cry. Hush, now -
go to _sleep_..." The last part of her sentence was edged with a whiff
of her Power and she used her Bonding to channel her command to her
Chosen and hoped that it would be enough. It was. Samanaimethea make a
sound like a small snort and then gently started to snore.
    Celeline sighed and with a small movement rolled the redhead onto
her back. "Rest now," she said as she placed Samanaimethea’s head of
her own chest and began to match her breathing with that of her
beloved. It was not long before she too followed the young woman into
a deep sleep.
    Linna ground her teeth in frustration, or at least she would have
done if she could have moved and watched as her loose legged
Samanaimethea and that bloody little hussy Celeline settled down for
the night in _her_ bed. She was more than mad, she was fucking
furious! And when she finally got out of this situation she was going
to ensure that the little redhead felt the consequnces of that fury.
Really! The redhead’s actions these last few weeks had been scandalous
and Linna had had enough! The other two issues of Kelly and Celeline
made her just as mad as she was with Samanaimethea. Celeline would not
be much of a problem, without the redhead to watch over her Celeline
would be easy prey and the time would come when Linna would get her
chance - it was just a case of waiting. Kelly however was a much more
different style of problem. Linna had experienced that today. The ex-
Consort was Powerful and vicious in a way that made Linna scared. If
she was going to be able to remove Kelly then she was going to have to
get some help. Loria was strong enough, but the Noble liked Kelly too
much so she doubted that Loria would help her. The issue therefore was
who could she find who would be strong enough to help her. Until she
had answered that question Kelly was going to remain a problem, and a
threat to her own life as well.
    Kelly started daggers at Linna and tried once more to break the
time eddy in which Samanaimethea had trapped the two of them. She was
not bothered about Celeline, the girl was nothing. Sam would get bored
of her in the same way that she had got bored of the others like
Celeline. It was Linna that concerned her.  Sam was too interested in
the woman for Kelly to dismiss her so casually as she did Celeline.
The brunette was not the _proper_ Consort, of that Kelly was
convinced. If she was, then Kelly would be dead - simple as that. No,
for some reason Sam had taken the Bond that came with the position of
Consort from her and transferred it to the brunette bimbo now in front
of her. Originally, Kelly had planned to be more subtle in how she
dealt with this threat, but when she had come here and seen her Sam
then all those plans had gone out the window. Now, she was paying the
penalty for her rash actions. She _had_ to steel herself, that was the
only way she was going to be able to convince Sam and... Linna that
she was no threat to their happiness. Patience, it would take
patience, but Sam would be hers again and when she was then would be
the time to deal with Linna.
    The two opponents stared at each other with frozen expressions of
rage in their two faces. Each of them contaminated by the corruption
of the Darkness and each of them with their needs and desires twisted
by that corruption to echo what the Darkness require of them. The
object of those desires and needs was currently sleeping peacefully
only a couple of feet away and each opponent was lost in their
individual plans on how to make that one theirs - permanently. The
Darkness had a reason for advocating such feelings in those whom Its
Mistress and Mother was attracted to. It helped to make them the
perfect form of bodyguard. The Darkness knew Its strengths as well as
Its own limitations. There were situations where It could not protect
Mother in quite the same effective way as could her 'Consort', and in
addition to that the Consort served a much more useful purpose, a
purpose for which Kelly was more than ideally suited for. And that,
more than anything, was the reason why Linna would ultimately have to
be destroyed.

        *       *       *       *

Location: Some city
Time: Some time

    With a warm bubbling giggle, Sam awoke from deep contented sleep.
She opened her eyes and a happy, joyous smile broke out on her face as
she shifted slightly in the bed. The cool sheets of the bed hugged her
body like a glove and she giggled as the fabric tickled her naked
skin. Rolling onto her side her hand encountered the soft satin like
form of the figure sleeping next to her and Sam's face filled with an
expression of tender love.
    "Mmmm..." she murmurred to herself as her eyes drank in the
perfection of the peacefully sleeping form next to her. Carefully, she
reached out with her hand and gently touched the soft cheek of her...
lover. Sam's face turned slightly red and her face filled with an
expression of wonder as she said that word once more in her mind -
lover.
    She had a lover.
    Sam felt a strange warm tingle fill her body as she repeated that
word again and again in her mind. It was a sensation of the kind that
she had never felt before. A strange excitement, and yet fearful
anticipation. She did not know how to classify it, but whatever it was
it made her feel wonderful! She moved slightly closer to the sleeping
figure and just lay there happily looking at the faint smile on her
lover's sleeping face. A warm feeling seemed to surfuse her whole body
and her finger lightly traced the high set cheek bones that gave her
lover's face such a fey like look.
    The close sensation of her lover's skin made her heart begin to
beat faster, and Sam swallowed as her throat suddenly seemed to become
dry. Her eyes could not help but to trace out the faint contours of
the sheets that hid the lower part of her lover's slender white body,
and the very act of doing so made her heart beat even faster. The
white sheets on the bed were almost the same color of her, and her
lover's skin, and Sam's hands ached to reach out and explore once more
the soft forbidden places of that elfin like figure. Only the fact
that she knew her lover had been tired after...
    Sam swallowed and regretably pulled back her hand. This was just
all so new to her! The small red stain on the pristeen whiteness of
the sheets could atest to that fact. The girl, Samantha, was Sam's
very first, and the experience had been... just... so...
    The naked girl lying next to her suddenly snorted and with a
contented sigh rolled over onto her back. The girl's movement pushed
her soft body up against Sam's and Sam almost fainted. Her heart was
thumping so loud she was sure that the sound of it would wake Samantha
up, and she was still slightly lost as to what she would say or do
when those oh so perfect green orbs locked onto hers. What would
Samantha do? What would she say? Was it possible that the girl would
just wake up and thank Sam for a wonderful night before walking out,
treating the night as a one night stand? Sam shuddered. The very
thought of it made her feel very afraid and vunerable. She... She
_loved_ Samantha! The girl could not just get up and walk out of her
life, Sam would... she would...
    Samantha opened her eyes to be greeted by the sight of a redheaded
girl sitting up in back beside her and quietly sobbing to herself.
Samantha blinked to clear some of the sleep out of her eyes and then
sat up saying, "Sammy? Are you okay?"
    The movement of the girl next to her and the sound of her
concerned voice calling her name made Sam freeze and slowly turned her
reddish wet face to look almost fearfully down at the moving girl. She
tried to put a brave face on it, and surpress her emotions, but the
words that she was sure Samantha was going to say were going to
devastate her. She did want Samantha to just leave her! She...
    "Hey! Sammy!" Samantha leaned over and gave the flustered girl a
long kiss.
    Sam's brain went all gooey and soft inside as she melted into the
warmth of Samantha's mouth. All thought about Samantha leaving her
disappeared as other more basic thoughts began to dominate her mind.
Wrapping her arms around Samantha's naked back she pulled the other
girl down once more only the soft pristeen white sheets and lost
herself in her newly discovered self.
    It was later, much later, when Sam decided to tackle the issue
that was worrying her so much head on. The two of them were walking
long the river bank hand in hand when Sam suddenly stopped dead.
Samantha looked back at her and there was a faint look of confusion on
her face.
    "Sammy?"
    Sam swallowed and raised her eyes to look into the face of her
first lover. "Samantha... I... I need to know something..."
    Samantha's look of confusion deepened and she pulled Sam over to
the guard rail that ran along the walkway to stop the more foolish
falling in. "Sammy?" she queried. "What's the matter? You've been
looking oddly at me ever since this morning. What's up?"
    Sam moved both her hands to cover Samantha's and then asked the
question that she had been dreading all day. "When are you going...
When will you be leaving me..." She felt her eyes go heavy with the
moisture that was threatening to spill from them, but kept her eyes
locked on her lover's.
    "Leaving you?" Samantha said in a surprised tone of voice that
made Sam suddenly be filled with a wild hope. "Why would I be leaving
you, Sammy? I just got here."
    Sam's face exploded with a smile that lit up her attractive
features like sunlight. "Oh, Samantha!" she burst forth throwing her
arms around the other girl. "I love you! I don't want you to ever
leave me! Please!"
    Samantha held the exuberant young mortal in her embrace and
smiled. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that, my little Sammy.
Things are much too interesting around here for me to be doing that!"
    Sam sighed in delight and buried her head in her lover's fiery
redhead. Oh, this was just perfect! At last she had someone just for
herself. Someone whom her could love and share everything that she was
with. She did not care what her grandmother or father might think of
this situation. All that mattered to her how was cuddled up against
her in the warmth of her arms, and she would never let it go. "I love
you, Samantha!" she exclaimed again in joy.
    Samantha looked down at the little redheaded mortal buried in her
embrace and her eyes slowly darkened. This Game was getting to be most
enjoyable! This girl, along with the rest of this world, had been
created just for her, and Samantha meant to enjoy it! The question of
why was not important at the moment. Like most traps or gifts the
reason why would become clear when the time was right. If this girl
was a trap and the trap was sprung, then Samantha was sure the result
would be fun. However, Samantha did not believe that this girl was a
trap, or at least not a trap in the literal sense of the word, and
that was what made this Game so exciting.
    Samantha pulled the girl closer and gave her a soft yielding lips
a passionate kiss. Yes, some traps were worth springing - no matter
what the cost.

        *       *       *       *