"I warned you to stay away from her," a distinctly masculine voice cut 
through her daze.  Allile found herself in one of the many halls of the 
palace.  She looked up seeing the noble standing before her.  Others would 
have dismissed him as an arrogant noble, but she could see the cold 
calculating features behind his eyes.

"Varic," she seethed, "You have no right..."  A look of amusement crossed his 
face.

"No right? I have every right.  Now you know why I warned you about her.  I
can see it in your eyes; you still love her no matter what injustices she
serves you."  

Alliele clenched her fist as the scars of the past seemed to be torn open.  
"Then why do you seek her out?"  She accused, "Stay out of my life and away 
from Fatora."  She spun on her heel and walked away.

"I've chosen my path, Alliele.  I have my own reasons for seeking her out."  
Varic shook his head in pity at the girl.  "Trust me once more, Alliele, 
Fatora is dangerous.  Stay away from her."

She responded with a rude hand gesture.  "Is that anyway to treat family?" He 
mused to himself.

"Family?  Family!?  I have no family!!  They died in my heart long ago!"  She 
shouted and continued walking away.

-Have they died? Or you only wish they died in your heart?-  Varic turned 
pushing off the incident to the back of his mind.  He had other business to 
take care of. 
----

Sheyla wandered the palace trying to find a center, her thoughts wandering 
through the chaotic events of the last day or so. Nanami and Fauric, two 
phantoms in their midst. The battle with the Bugrom, and her new appreciation 
of Ryoko's power. The nightmares that came from that day and night that she 
and Ryoko had fought. And finally, Miz's pale and drawn face as they fought 
to keep her alive on the trip back to the palace. Fuji's blank look, like he 
was lost without a hope of finding his way back.

She looked up at the sky, it was thankfully empty of the Eye of God. She 
didn't need it as a reminder of their failure. -We were so damn close, we 
should have won after all we went through.- She was about to turn off onto a 
side path 
when she heard a sound ahead. Something made her move forward and 
investigate. 

Ahead she saw a small form huddled in a sheet on the grass. Even in sleep, 
she could see the pain in the curled form. Moving closer, she recognized the 
girl on the ground. 

"Alliele?" She whispered as she knelt beside her. A small sob cam from the 
girl as Sheyla picked her up. -What happened to you Ali?- 

"Fatora.." Alliele whispered in her sleep, the mournful tone explaining 
volumes to Sheyla. -I knew it.- Sheyla thought angrily. -It's about time 
someone set her `highness' straight on a few things.-
----
Sheyla opened the door with her leg as she balanced her bundle carefully in 
her arms. The room was as big a mess as it had been when she left, but her 
visitor wouldn't care. She placed her on the bed and pulled the covers over 
her. She 
took a seat beside the bed and looked at the sleeping girl in the bed. -So 
much pain in the last year, mine and all the others, what I wouldn't give to 
make it all go away.- She brushed a stray lock of hair out of the sleeper's 
face, and 
almost wept at the sight of her pain.

"You `re a pain in the ass, always trying to cop a feel or jump me at the 
most inconvenient times," She said as she pulled the cover back and tucked it 
under her chin, "but what that bitch did was wrong, I have had it." She 
turned and walked away, resolute in settling this matter once and for all.
---

Fatora slid back into the tub with a sigh, savoring the heat of the water and 
the slow burn of alcohol burning through her gut. She had been whisked off by 
her loyal servants the moment the force had returned to the palace..

"I don't care what you or she wants." Fatora turned at the angry sounds 
coming from the entrance as it burst open, and Sheyla-Sheyla stormed in 
radiating an angry aura that was visible  in a very real way. The two guards 
that had been 
standing watch at the door were laid out on the floor, senseless for sometime 
to come from the look of it.

"Sheyla, what is the meaning of all of this?" Fatora said, pulling all the 
regal posture and poise she could as she stood up, hoping to enjoy the 
embarrassment to come as the priestess would see her body come clear of the 
water. 

Only to be surprised as Sheyla paid no mind to her state of undress and 
immediately started tearing into her, using language and details that were 
course even for Sheyla's normal language.

"How dare you talk to me in that manner. I could have you whipped from the 
palace for talking to me in this manner. What right do you have..:" Fatora's 
tirade ended as Sheyla burst into flame with such heat and fury that she 
could have sworn that she felt the hairs on her arm shrivel from the radiated 
heat.

"You can't touch me princess, I am a priestess of Mount Muldoon, and a 
guardian of the past. My authority is outside your own. As for my `right'." 
Sheyla leaned forward, forcing Fatora backwards and she fell back into the 
tub with a small squeal. "I think that your treatment of Alliele merits a 
little `commentary' on her behalf." Fatora pulled herself out of the tub, 
anger burning away the fear in her gut. She met the rage in Sheyla's eyes 
with her own.

"That, priestess, is none of your business. What I do with others is my 
business alone." She walked over to one edge of the room and wrapped a towel 
around her. She stopped at the door and looked back at the steaming 
priestess, "You might have had the right to say something if you had accepted 
my offers of `companionship' Sheyla. Too bad that you didn't, I fear that I 
will be lonely tonight. Tomorrow, I am sure I can find someone `suitable'.

Then she was gone, leaving Sheyla grinding her teeth in frustration.
----

"Have you finally taken complete leave of your senses?"" Afura asked as she 
caught up with Sheyla, the younger priestess had taken off as soon as she was 
sure that her guest was taken care of. Afura had only caught the tail end of 
the conversation.

"No, I haven't." Sheyla spun around and faced her friend. "You haven't seen 
what type of mess she turned Alliele into. We both know that Fatora is a 
spoiled brat, and is capable manipulator. She crushed Alliele tonight because 
the girl 
stood up to her. About something, SOMEONE, we should have been there for. 
Nanami didn't ask to become a phantom, anymore than Makoto or Fujisawa asked 
for their powers. Instead of understanding what happened to her, and give her 
some support, we drove her away. She was the only one who said anything, and 
then we walked away when she spoke up." Sheyla's voice died down and she 
stood in the hallway clenching her fists. Afura placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, I have a bottle in my room. For medicinal purposes, of course. I 
think we both have some pain to dull." Sheyla nodded and followed her down 
the hall.

"Never you drank, Afura?"  Sheyla mused.  
"Hmmph, unlike you, I can control it."
"HEY!!!"

Rune stepped out of the shadows as the two priestess walked down the passage, 
like Afura she had heard what had been said in the bath. She had heard the 
entire conversation however, since her unseen arrival occur almost the same 
time that Sheyla had stormed in on Fatora. In 
fact, she had intended to do something similar to what the priestess had 
done. -This will have to be handled before it gets out of hand.- She told 
herself,  the tensions of the current situation had driven everything out of 
proportions. Now 
it was far too possible that the very alliance could be disrupted if things 
continued. 
----

Nanami sniffled as she sheltered under a tree, watching the nighttime drizzle 
in disgust. She was miserable and confused. Things had gotten out of hand, 
she couldn't see a way to get a handle on it. She pulled the bundle out from 
her belt. Even through several layers of cloth, she could feel the pulse of 
the Key. Seemingly in time with a heart. -Tenchi's?- she asked as placed it 
back in it's place and settled back into a more comfortable position.

Only to shoot upright with a scream of shock as something dropped from the 
foliage above her into her lap. She bolted upright and rolled over into an 
upright position, her knife up in a guard position. The creature rolled back 
up onto it's paws, shook itself vigorously and looked at her with the most 
soulful eyes she had seen.

"Miyah?" It wailed miserably, and Nanami smiled at the miserable gaze it gave 
her. She lowered and sheathed the knife. Something that small and cut was 
just too impossible to picture as dangerous. She settled back against a trunk 
and beckoned to it.

"Come on." She said as she pulled out one of her last packs of rations out. 
"Care to share a ration bar?"

"Miyah!" The strange creature cried as it lept into her lap and eagerly bit 
into the offered bar. It chews thoughtfully for several seconds on the orange 
bar before looking up with a disappointed look in it's eye. Nanami examined 
it, and the only way she could describe it was as a `cabbit'.

"Don't look at me," she giggled, "I don't think that the army knows how to 
make an edible ration bar." -Or at least that was what father once said.- she 
reminded herself.

"She was expecting it to be a carrot." Nanami jumped at the sound of another 
persons voice. She glanced up, a tall slender woman sat a few feet away under 
a nearby tree. Before she could move, the stranger spoke again. "I mean no 
harm, be at peace child."

"Who are you?" Nanami said as she settled back with the cabbit in her lap, it 
reluctantly went back to eating the bar and looking at the stranger.

"A traveler of sorts, you are a long way from the Lastic Warren, child. Won't 
those of your clan be looking for you?'

"I am..an orphan." Nanami said quickly, "and have no family to speak of. 
Truth be told, till lately I didn't even know what I was." The stranger 
smiled.

"I see, so you are looking for a way to find the tribes? I know a way to the 
warrens, though I think it wouldn't be the best time to return to them. 
Gallus' shadow, Nahto, is preparing the phantoms for war. I fear that he 
might even try to assault the Palace in an attempt to seize some artifact 
that he is obsessed with." The stranger sighed and shook her head. "I had 
been a hearthguest many years, till of late when Gallus and his kind stirred 
the phantoms against all 
`paleskins'. I wish that the tales were true and Fauric would return."

"Fauric?"

"He is a great scholar and sage, as well as a skilled warrior. He was once 
their greatest leader, till he turned from the violent paths that the phantom 
follow now. It is said he accepted exile and imprisonment rather than turn 
his blade 
against another of his kin. A shame, he or his hearthkin could possibly end 
this madness that Nahto plans before it is too late." The stranger's words 
triggered the seed of a plan in Nanami's mind, a possibility of her avenging 
Fauric.

"Could you show me the way to the Lastic Warren," she asked guietly as the 
plan grew in scope and the image of Fauric's killer appeared in her mind. The 
same monster that had held a dagger to her throat. -Nahto-

"I could give you a map and directions, but like I said, my kind are not 
welcome at this time." The stranger rummaged through the pack and quickly 
explained the way to Nanami. As the girl stood, after gently placing the 
cabbit on the 
ground, she said one last thing. "I hope that one day, I will again be able 
to visit the warrens in peace."

"So do I, maybe then I will be able to repay you for the debt I owe you for 
the directions." Nanami yelled as she dashed off to the entrance of the 
Warrens. The stranger watched her leave and stood quietly for several 
minutes, before she 
reached into her cloak and pulled out a bundle. The tip of the Key appeared 
from the loose wrappings.

"No need, I think it is safe to say we are more than even," said Harbinger as 
her features wavered from those of the old woman that had confronted Nanami 
back to her own.  Her gaze shifted to the creature.  Shook ripped
her through the core.  "You do not belong here!"

The cabbit hissed rearing back onto its paws.  She could see temporal edies 
swirling around it.  Her hand shot out to snatch up the creature only to see 
it in a different position.  -How?-  She mentally shook herself.  It was a
simple animal; it possessed no baring for the future.  The darkness enclosed 
her as she faded into the night. 

The cabbit watched the figure disappear a look of worry crossing its 
features...
-------
-How could she dare do that? Say those things to ME?- Fatora funed as she 
tossed aside her robe and settled in her bed. -A mere priestess shouldn't be 
allowed to say such things, immunity of the order or not.-
"Ali.." her voice trailed away into silence, the memory of a moment hours 
 ago coming to mind. For the first time since then, Fatora almost regretted 
 her words. Anger at her lover's betrayal warred with her need and 
loneliness. 
 Memories warred within her. The sight of Alliele standing there with a look 
 of outrage in her eyes at harsh words Fatora had spoken. The heartrending 
 realization that the woman she loved was somehow short of what she should 
 have been, as if Fatora had failed to be the person that Alliele had seen. 
 Guilt rose as an acid burn in her throat as Fatora recalled the look of hurt 
 and betrayal in her lover's eyes. She closed her eyes and recalled the times 
 that Alliele had held her, keeping the pain away, when the nightmares 
 overwhelmed her.

-Gods. What should I do?- She wondered as she curled up in the bed, alone 
 for the first time in quite sometime.
 ----
 
 Nahato stepped into the cavern accompanied by one guard. "You have something 
 for me?" He addressed the shadows. One detached itself from the wall 
 materializing into the Harbringer. 
 
 "I serve fate, not you, or any master."
 
 "Of course," the phantom boy replied." Harbringer's hands reached into the 
 folds of the cloak revealing the simple sword hilt.
 
 Nahato let out a restrained gasp and whispered solemnly, "And the blood of 
 Kaizen shall open up the sky....GIVE IT TO ME!"
 
 "Where has your respect gone, boy?" Harbringer demanded, "Am I not the one 
 who consolidated your power? Pointed Gallus to you?"
 
 "Your parlor tricks won't disguise your mortality women. You are not the 
 god you believe to be." With a way of his hand a dozen phantoms appeared 
 surrounding the Harbringer. A snap-hiss revertebrated through the cavern as 
 the Great Key's blade ignited in Harbringer's hand. The attack came seconds 
 later.
 --------------
Fuji held the bottle in his hands, and it was so damn hard to not open it. 
 He closed his eyes and tried to forget the sounds of the battle. -The shriek 
 of pain as she fell down, with a shard sticking out her breast- Fujisawa 
 clenched his fists and tried to put the scene out of his mind. Only to have 
 another rise up and take it's place. -He struck the bugrom warrior with a 
 massive boulder, not caring what happened to himself as it shattered under 
 the impact, and then turned and slammed another into the ground. A fierce, 
 savage part of him enjoying the sound of the bugrom cracking under the 
impact 
 with the ground-
 
 There was a cracking sound, he looked down to discover that the bottle that 
 he had brought up from the kitchens had shattered under the crushing grip of 
 his hands. He looked over to the bed and tossed the remains away, it wasn't 
 time to 
 try and drown his pities. He took Miz's hand and held it like it was a 
 delicate piece of crystal.
 
 -It's all my fault.- He told himself as he looked at her pale and drawn face.
 At first he had hated the way she had entrapped him. But it was hard to 
 hate her, Miz had been the thing that had saved him from himself. -I could 
 have 
 saved her, but I never had much luck saving the women in my life have I?-
 
 A chill ran through him as a cold breeze blew through a window. He moved 
 quickly to the window and shut it. -I thought they shut this when they 
 brought Miz in from surgery.- He turned and froze in place at the sight that 
 awaited him. The old pain washed over him as once before.
 
 "I......" 
 
 The thought of life without her was unbearable. A tear ran down his cheek 
 and fell on her hand.
 
 Then another hand covered his and broke the terrible chain of thoughts that 
 were tearing through his mind. He looked down and saw her face, smiles 
intact 
 on the pale drawn face. She whispered to him, her throat parched from the 
 long 
 days without water.
 
 "We got to stop meeting like this Mazimichi, people will start to talk." He 
 didn't bother to reply, just grabbing her into a strong delicate hug and 
 enjoying the warmth of her body and the soft gentle scent of her skin.
 
 ----
 
 The last phantom fell screaming as he clutched at the cauterized stub where 
 his arm used to be. The hallow thud sounded his death. Harbringer strode 
 forward blood flowing from dozens of wounds. "Fool, Nahato thinking you 
 could best me with those mere soldiers."
 
 "Hmmm, for one so close to death you are arrogant. Look at you...would the 
 divine messanger of the apocalypse bleed like a stuck pig?" With a howl, 
 Harbringer rose the energy blade and charged. Calmly, Nahato withdrew his 
 derringer and unleashed a single shot.
 -----
 
 Nanami eased from one shadow to another, something deep within her guiding 
 her through the underground tunnels. She slid unseen past guards and traps, 
 her illusions allowing her to pursue her foe. -Soon, Fauric.- She promised 
 as she 
 fingered her dagger.
 ---
Harbringer watched her illusion slump to the ground. The Great Key 
 clattered to the ground its blade dissipating. Nahato pulled it into his 
 hands; the natural defenses of the key, which shocked Makoto, were gone.
 
 "El-Hazard is mine.
 
 ----
"Tonight, we take the palace!" Nahto yelled to the assembled troops. "The 
 earth humans have the secret to the Eye of God, and without the traitor or 
 their human watchdog, now is the time to take it from them."
 
 "Hold!" The voice came clear across the common, Nahto looked to speaker as 
 she approached his stand. The slender girl had a determined look on her face 
 that made him uneasy. "I challenge you Nahto in single combat. For the blood 
 that you have shed 
 and the evil that you plan to do. It will end now." She pulled a dagger from 
 her belt and stood ready. The troops pulled back and formed a circle.
 
 "Your death fool." Nahto said evenly as he pulled his own knife and stepped 
 down into the ring. "Before I kill you, what is your name. So, the 
 taletellers can get the name of a dead fool correct." 
 
 "Nanami, K'chara ip Fauric." She said evenly as she took a guard position. 
 The gasp that rocked through the crowd was echoed by his own shock, as Nahto 
 took position across from her. -The heartchild of Fauric, this couldn't come 
 at 
 a worse time.- He thought his chances through as he circled one way and she 
 the other. -I know her.- 
 
 With a gesture, he conjured an explosion of light that should have blinded 
 her. She gestured and it died before the glow had expanded much beyond his 
 hands, and a ripple of light and shadow radiated outwards. All the illusions 
 withing a 
 circle of a dozen yards collapsed. -A seer, the same one that was with 
 Fauric.- That was when he recognized her.
 
 "You're the human watchdog." he said as he slashed at her.
 
 "Nanami was my name, monster. How could you gun him down in the back." She 
 met his blade with her own, drawing sparks as they clashed.
 
 "Simple girl, it was open to me. Did you expect me to simply stand by and 
 let him stand against my forces?" Nahto pushed her backwards, and was 
 impressed as she recovered her balance and danced out of the way of his 
stab. 
 "Consequences of war, simply that."
 
 Nanami's lips tightened into a grim smile as she lunged at the small boy and 
 drew blood, and spun out of the way of his return thrust. She hissed as his 
 follow up slash drew a line of fire down her left side.
 
 Nahto smiled as his foe stepped back, checking her wound. It wasn't deep, he 
 knew from experience such a wound would only slow a fighter, it would be 
 hours before it drained them of all their strength. -If it was the last 
wound 
 of a 
 fight.- He reminded himself as he circled her. With the wound, she was 
 slowed and Nahto knew he had the advantage.
 
 A feint here, a lunge to one side only to spin out of her counter and slash 
 at the other side. A nick here, and small prick there. Nanami knew he was 
 playing with her, but what could she do? -He's so much better than I am, 
what 
 was I 
 thinking? He knows just how good I am.- She frowned, as he clipped her on 
 the thigh and danced away. -Remember, when fighting a master who knows all 
 you are capable of.- came the memory of her Sensai, from the short time she 
 had an interest in Kempo. -That's it.- 
 
 Nanami smirked and bent her will to the task at hand.
 
 "I tire of this game girl, would you relent Seer? Your blood and power is 
 too rare to waste. You will be assured of good treatment." Nahto smirked as 
 his blade clipped a lock of hair. "Perhaps you would even come to enjoy your 
 future."
 
 "Never!"
 
 "Pity, you aren't uncomely." Nanto said as he lashed out for her throat. -
 What!-
 
 Nahto's blade passed through her throat and in that second of surprise, she 
 had him. A quick split second of indecision that left him open for a right 
 hook that sent him flying. The rough impact of his landing knocked the 
breath 
 out of him. The next thing he knew she was on him.
 
 "What's the matter Nahto? Did you think I wasn't capable of illusions?" His 
 response was cut off by the pressure of a blade at his throat. -Now you are 
 avenged Fauric.- Nanami thought as she worked up the resolve to finish her 
 foe. The flood of memories rushed over her as she struggled to finish it.
 
 ::Fauric looking up from his table with a smile, eager for the simple 
 pleasure of company and conversation.::
 ::Fauric showing her with pride, the simple window box of flowers that he 
 had grown between the bars of his cell::
 ::Listening in fascination as he spun hours of tales concerning his 
homeland.:
 :
 
 "No! I won't do it" Nanami screamed as she stood up and looked around at the 
 assembled crowd. "I won't sully the memory of the best man I ever knew with 
 your blood." She stood and started to walk away, stopping at the entranceway 
 by some impulse. She looked back at the assembled phantoms, tears in her 
 eyes. "I will never understand how a people capable of creating someone as 
 good and honorable as Fauric could follow such. evil.. as that. Genocide isn'
 t the answer, you can't think that is the answer?" Nanami shook her head, "
 Fauric had such hopes, he told me of the Phantom tribe, of how honor and 
clan 
 meant so much. I see that he saw something that no longer existed. Shame, 
had 
 I found some of what he told me of, I would have wanted to stay." She turned 
 away and vanished into the shadows the entrance. Her soft low voice boomed 
 through the warrens.
 ----
 
 "I want you to kill her! She cost me the support of an entire Warren, their 
 council is split." Nahto paced back and forth, dabbing his face with a damp 
 cloth. "Damn Fauric and his heresy!"
 
 "No." said his companion with no emotion in his voice. Nahto spun around and 
 took the cloth off his eye.
 
 "You swore an oath to me, Revin!" He screamed in rage, only stopping short 
 of striking the man. It was only the knowledge of what the man was capable 
of 
 that stopped him. 
 
 "And I have stood by it, as I did with Gallus before you. I was your shield 
 and protector, not the blade in the night like Kiriya. I swore I would be 
 your K'mari till you failed to prove your worth as Gallus' successor."
 
 "I can still succeed, Revin. Give me time, I will prove my worth. I haven't 
 failed." To lose a K'mari of Revin's stature was a blow that Nahto knew he 
 couldn't afford.
 
 "You have to me." Revin said as he walked away. Nahto watched in stunned 
 silence as he vanished into the darkness. Long minutes passed in silence as 
 Nahto stood there looking into the darkness. 
 
 "Damn!" He swore, as he turned away to plan his next move
 
 "Milord? I have a message for you." Nahto turned to look at the trooper who 
 was walking towards him. Something told him that this was important. 
 ----
"I don't care what you think is going to happen, we have to figure where she 
 went with the key." Tenchi said.
 
 "We're not even sure she has it." Makoto said evenly.
 
 "I don't know this Jinnai guy as well as you do, but from what I do know, he 
 would have let us know if he had it by now."
 
 "Makoto! Tenchi!" Sasami yelled as she entered the library. "She's come back!
 "
 
 "Who?" They both said in unison
 
 "Nanami! She's come back." Sasami motioned for them to follow. "She appeared 
 in the throne room but she was wounded and passed out. Princess Rune ordered 
 her taken to her rooms. She's got the palace doctors looking after her right 
 now."
 ------
 
 Nanami opened her eyes and was surprised to see Tenchi and Rune by her bed, 
 along with Fuji and Makoto. She smiled weakly.
 
 "Hey. Sorry it took so long for me to get back."
 
 "Are you going to be okay, Nanami?" Makoto asked.
 
 "I think so...just tired...didn't have to properly patch myself up...had to 
 give you guyes word." Nanami said as she tried to keep her eyes open and 
 failing. "Before it's too late."
 
 "What Nanami?" Fuji asked as she faded out again.
 
 "Nahto has the key.."
 
 "Nanami!" Makoto yelled as he shook her.
 
 "Go easy boy, the doctor's said she would be fine. It's just that she ran 
 herself ragged and lost a lot of blood. Give her some time and she will be 
 fine."
 
 "We have bigger concerns at this moment." Rune said quietly as she stood, "
 if Nanami is to be believed, Nahto has the Great Key."