Amber-Roderick says, "Since I was going to have them get to you pretty
much at the beginning of this session, there wasn't much to do before they
got to you."

Amber-Roderick says, "So, I'll just declare Hiko hideously air sick and
let people who are actually around do something :)"

Corrine arches an eyebrow.

Shizumaru says, "Heh."

Amber-Roderick says, "A variant of the old 'missing player PC vanishes
into the magic bag' routine. :)"

Shizumaru says, "Then let's roll."

Keiko says, "Have her concussed by bedpans.  :)"

*** Shizumaru goes IC. ***

Corrine OOCly says, "What the hell.  Let's game.  IT was a several day
trip, ANYWAY.... and prolly extended a bit given the need to stop by
islands for resting at night."

Amber-Roderick says, "OOC And birds aren't the most smooth of rides :)"

Corrine OOCly says, "(since -she- was the one who convinced the doves and
such that they could carry us if they'd have frequet breaks.)"

Corrine OOCly says, "Oh yes.  Especially through Hellrides."

Corrine OOCly says, "[Dove] We're Union, man.  Coo.  I say, Coo."

===============================================
===============================================

Later that afternoon (later from last time Shizumaru played), you are down
at the docks, where some of Rimu's relatives are showing you how they
build boats.

Shizumaru watches them attentively, trying to dredge up his memories of
the local boatbuilders at his village.

Their methods are rather different.

Shizumaru sighs and decides to stop trying to recall what he saw earlier,
then.

Keiko exclaims, "OOC:  They build their boats from the SOULS OF THE
LIVING!"

As they are working, someone looks up at the sky and points off towards
the horizon.  "What a strange cloud."

Amber-Roderick OOC LAAAAAAAAAAGS
Corrine OOCly declares the lag a feindish Chaosian ploy.

Several others turn and look.  "Eh, I don't see anything," one man says.

Shizumaru looks up as well and peers in that direction.

There's some sort of irregular white mass flying along, moving in a
different direction than the wind.

Not exactly a cloud, though about the same color.

Corruptor ROd unidles

Shizumaru frowns slightly, and reaches for his newly made umbrella.

One of the men says, "I hope this isn't another frost dragon."

Shizumaru glances around for Rimururu.

The other man nods.  "Crazy things."  He frowns.

Shizumaru OOCly says, "...or is she back at the temple?"

Rimururu is off up at the temple doing priestess things.

You page, "When we get in range... is there any sufficently large
clearings for Doves to land?  Town squares, courtyards, etc?" to Akemi.
Akemi pages, "There's a beach and an open plaza by the temple." to you.

Shizumaru OOCly drats.

One of the men runs over to the nearby storage shed.

The man returns with a spyglass.

He stares up, then blinks, puts it down, rubs his eyes and looks again. 
"Well, I'll be damned."

Shizumaru quietly walks up near the man with the spyglass. "What did you
see?"

The man says, sounding uncertain, "It's a flock of giant doves."

You page, "[Corrine] Guys?  I spot two places to land... there's a nice
beach by the water, or we can head closer in towards that open plaza near
that big tower-thing.  Opinions?" to Akemi and Kima.

Kima pages, "[Juri]  Probably best to land at the beach and move in on
foot.  Landing giant doves in the middle of town might cause a panic." to
you and Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Roderick says, "Beach is better; some towns might panic at
people land...as Juri said."" to you and Kima. "With people riding them."

You page, "[Corrine nods, and starts calling out commands and guiding the
doves towards the indicated beach, using her Mad Animal Skillz.]" to Akemi
and Kima.

Shizumaru blinks, and nods very slowly. "...really?" Hm. "May I take a
look?"

The man hands the eyeglass to you.

Shizumaru accepts it with a bow of thanks, and then looks through it at
the approaching 'cloud'.

It looks like a flock of giant doves, some ten times the size of ordinary
doves or more, with people riding on them.

Corrine OOCly says, ""It's the Five Doveriders of the APOCOLYPSE!!""

Shizumaru attempts to focus on the faces of the riders.

Corruptor ROd exclaims, "OOCly it's the Goodfeathers from Animaniacs!"

You can recognize your Aunt Corrine, your Aunt Juri, and your cousin Hiko,
who looks rather ill.

Corrine OOCly breaks at Rod.

Shizumaru gapes for a moment, then hands the spyglass back to the man. "I
think...I know them." And abruptly, he dashes off, to find Tsuwabuki
and--if she can leave her duties--Rimururu.

Shizumaru OOCly says, "John? I only have about 20 minutes left here at
work." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Trish said she thought she wasn't
expected until 8 pm her time, which would be 10 my time and 11 Drew's."
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC She just called." Shizumaru OOCly facepalms.
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC So that answers that.  " Corrine OOCly
facepalms.  Miscomm, yaaay. Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Anyway, let's move
on for now." Shizumaru OOCly nods. :P Corrine OOCly says, "Honest mistake,
tho." rodm asks, "oocly on with the show I guess?"

You find Rimururu and Tsuwabuki about the same time the doves land on the
the beach.

Corruptor ROd says, "OOCly 'on the wings of the dove', where've I heard
that...."

A fair number of people, attracted by the quite unusual sight head down
that way as you do.

Shizumaru quickly tells them, "Aunt Corrine, Aunt Juri, and Cousin Hiko
are here! Come!" And then sprints back toward the beach to lead them
there.

Corrine dismounts from her dove, and helps the others, looking with
concern at the airsick Hiko, and figures she best stay in the back right
now.  Instead, she pulls out a sheet of paper that she had prepared a
night or so before, unrolling it.

Shizumaru waves to them, grinning widely, as he draws near.

Keiko swings off her dove and watches the sprinting figure of Shizumaru
approach.

Shizumaru OOCly says, "That should be AvJuri, right?"

"Corrine," she asks quietly, "whose child is he again?  I don't believe
you told me.

Keiko impresses the masses with Rabies's keen ability to lag.
Keiko says, "Bleah."
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Reset Nick, Alan :)"

A muscular red haired man nimbly dismounts from one and moves over to
Juri, while a blue-haired woman gets off her dove and quietly kneels and
dry heaves for a few seconds, then bounces back and moves over near
Corrine protectively.

Corrine blinks, and grins.  She smiles, and hands the paper to AvJuri. 
"Guess won't be needing this.... eh?"  She blinks.  "Oh... well, we
oeiginally thought that Shizumaru was Touga's son and a woman out in
shadow... but now we think he's a Shadow-Touga's son, and Utena's.  At
least, according to Dr. Washuu.  And yes, I do admit the resemblance to my
touga, but he's -very- nice."

Juri mutters, "Touga's son..."

Juri looks at the paper.

Foxtrot has arrived.

>> A portal opens up and out pops a fox-woman.
Juri says, "Hey, Trish."
Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Waves."
Corruptor ROd says, "OOCly wave"

Corrine waves to shizumaru, taking several steps forward, smiling. 
"Shizumaru!  You're all right!"  Okay, so Corrine, while still wearing her
usual warden's uniform, now has the god-given tan of tans....

Hiko the Firechilde OOCly  waves too. 
Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Will explain later, only John's wearing
the Hat of Shame for this..." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC You get the hat
for not listening to me tell you when we'd be starting and telling me no.
:P"

Shizumaru, Tsuwabuki, and Rimururu all reach you.  Tsuwabuki looks vastly
relieved. [spoofed by Akemi]

Juri walks behind Corrine, watching Shizumaru, looking neutral and vaguely
interested.  She spots Tsuwabuki and does a brief double-take.

Shizumaru skids to a halt in front of them, composes himself, and then
bows. "It is good to see you again," he says. "Yes...I managed to get
through it all more or less unharmed." He barely blinks at Corrine's new
tan, having seen stranger things lately.

Hiko the Firechilde looks vastly relieved as well, especially at seeing
everyone alive.

The paper has a expertly rendered head/shoulders shot of Shizumaru, with
"Have you seen this man?  SHIZUMARU, Prince of Amber.  If Found, please
tell Corrine, Queen of Ember, Princess of Amber." In thari, English,
french, and a few other languages.

Corrine Returns the bow, precisely... and then, to Hell With It's, and
HUGS Shizumaru.

Shizumaru urmphs as he gets hugged, and then happily hugs back.

Corrine says, "Good Pyricorn you're safe you're alive, Hiko barely got out
of the Keep -alive-, we were so -worried-...."

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Darlin, You get the hat for messing up
the time zones... and not letting me specifically know." Amber-Roderick
says, "OOC I did." Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Did not!  Will talk
later." Shizumaru OOCly says, "Trish, I get off work at 11pm EST."
Shizumaru OOCly says, "Whatever, game on." Amber-Roderick says, "OOC As
everyone else knew exactly when, so I don't see how I told them and not
you."

Juri just watches the reunion, smiling faintly.

Hiko the Firechilde clutches her stomach, and manages to smile, also
sporting a bodacious tan.

Rimururu smiles at all of you.  "Hello again."

Corrine hugs for a while longer, and then releases Shizumaru, glancing at
Rimururu, and Tsuwabuki.  "And oh good, Nanami has no reason to kill Hiko,
this is a good thing...." She then counts head, and looks around.  Her
lips purse.

Hiko the Firechilde lurches off to be violently sick on the beach.

Juri turns a speculative glance to Shizumaru.  "You are Shizumaru?  I am
pleased to meet you."

Tsuwabuki blinks.  "Why was Nanami-sama going to kill Hiko?"

Shizumaru gasps for breath once out of Corrine's embrace, but is still
smiling. He glances back toward the others, smiling to Rimururu, before
turning back. He gives a concerned glance toward Hiko, but is intercepted
by Juri. "Yes, I am...Aunt Juri?" He frowns. "...but you have already met
me."

Corrine composes herself for a moment, ready to cut off the ineviatble
questions.  "Shizumaru?  This is Juri of Avalon.  Not a shadow, not a
shapeshifted duplicate."

Corrine says, "It's also a damn long story." She smiles a bit.

Juri waves vaguely.  "I hear you had a run-in with Version 2.0 of my
brother Venir."

Roderick says, "And I am Prince Roderick of an Amber which is not yours."

Shizumaru nods slowly, only recently having really started to get a grasp
on Shadow metaphysics and such. "I see...." He grimaces at the mention of
Venir. "VENIR? Yes...that was, ah, an unpleasant experience." Pause.
"Brother?"

Corrine says, "Oh, and the other lady beside me is Misaki, my bodyguard."
she smiles, wry.

Hiko the Firechilde waves her hand, and suddenly her face turns a more
normal (if tanned) color.

Misaki smiles and bows to all of you.

Shizumaru looks around and bows politely with each introduction, though
looking faintly puzzled.

Hiko the Firechilde gets up and returns, greeting Shizumaru and the rest. 
"I'm glad to see you all alive.  Especially you, Tsuwabuki-san."

Corrine looks at Tsuwabuki, wry. "Well, not -kill-, per se, but make her
life a Living Hell if you and the rest weren't brought back alive."

Tsuwabuki says, "I would have perished if not for the bravery of Prince
Shizumaru of saving me."

Shizumaru colors faintly. "I barely made it out of there with
Tsuwabuki-dono. I think I was lucky, really."

He continues, "As some group of insane cultists was about to sacrifice me,
I think, when he found me."

Juri says, "The original Venir--I think--was my brother in the universe I
come from.  I would like, if I have a chance, to talk to you about your
experience with VENIR 2.0"

Corrine raises her eyebrows.  "Insane cultists?"

Corrine asks, "At the Keep?"

Tsuwabuki shudders and looks troubled.  "Thirteen people at the Keep,
yes."

Shizumaru nods readily to Juri. "Gladly. I do want to know a little bit
about VENIR myself."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I managed to get one alone, and was going to
bring her back as a prisoner."  She grins wryly.  "In a nutshell, she
kicked my ass just as I was about to teleport her to Amber."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Which thirteen?"

There is a loud chime and a woman appears.  She is tall and curvy, with
long white hair, wearing a tiger-striped dress.  "Oh, hi, Juri," she says.
 "So there you are!"  She glomps onto Shizumaru.  "It took me FOREVER to
find you!"

Autolyca has connected.
Autolyca exclaims, "Howdy!"

Shizumaru falls over.

Rimururu twitches.

Shizumaru asks, "...help?"

Corrine asks, "Erm?"

Hiko the Firechilde LOOKS at Shizumaru.

Juri blinks at the woman.  "Excuse me, have we met?"

The woman says, "Hi, I'm Shizumaru's wife, the Goddess Urd."

Corrine looks between Shiz and the newcomer.

Corrine says, "Erm."

Shizumaru has, more or less, frozen up solid. "...help?" he repeats.

Shizumaru . o O ( ...that voice...Urd? Oh, noooooooooo. )

Urd waggles a finger at Juri.  "Not as such.  But I'm the Goddess of the
Fut...no, wait, I'm the Goddess of the Past.  Sorry, I'm new at this."

Juri smirks at Shizumaru.  "A fan of older women, eh?"

Rimururu just STARES.

Corrine says, "Ah.  Huh.  Er, right." She shakes her head.


Hiko the Firechilde looks at Shizumaru on the floor, cuddling with a
Goddess, and blinks.

Urd tickles Shizumaru's chin.  "I spent two weeks chasing this one very
cute Shizumaru, but he turned out to be fake.  But I didn't find out
until...well, anyway, we're finally reunited!  Isn't love grand?"

Tsuwabuki just stares.

Shizumaru struggles feebly in Urd's glomp. "Rimururu...." He reaches a
hand toward her, doing his best to ignore Urd.

Corrine looks at Shizumaru, and Urd, and looks over at Rimururu.

Juri cocks her head sideways at Urd, frowning.  "Who _are_ you?"

Corrine purses her lips, and speaks up.  "Um, miss?  Lady Goddess Urd? 
I'm afraid there's been some misunderstanding..."

Rimururu finishes blank staring and strides over determinedly.  "Urd-sama,
he is courting me now," she says.

Shizumaru nods frantically. "See? I wear her ring. And she wears mine!
Yes."

Urd says, "I am Urd, goddess of the Past, since the time of the Grand
Reconfiguration.  Shizumaru and I met due to a misunderstanding when we
sent Keiichi to recover our stolen Wood Jewel, but silly Keiichi took
Shizumaru's magic bean instead."

Hiko the Firechilde reaches in tries to physically disentangle the two. 
"Hang on... no glomping until we get this straightened out."

She shakes her head, "But love conquers all, so once it was all
straightened out, we got married."

Shizumaru . o O ( Frostspire, please smile upon your priestess and
me...please! )

Juri begins to snicker uncontrollably.

Rimururu says, "It was the Seed of Hope, not a magic bean!"

Corrine glances at Shizumaru and Rimururu again, getting the feeling the
young ones are more likely in love than Shizumaru and this newcomer.

"You're a goddess, and you... you..."  Juri gestures at Shizumaru.  "I
mean, yes, he looks like he's a very nice boy, despite being the son of a
Touga, but... I mean, he's a _boy_."

Urd looks at Juri, then at Roderick, then back at Juri and grins broadly. 
"Well, I'll be..."  She shakes her head.  "Anyway... c'mon Shizumaru, we
need to go take our delayed honeymoon."

Corrine coughs.

Shizumaru resumes his attempts to escape. "...helpmehelpmehelp! Aunt
Corrine!"

Corrine asks, "Urd?  Is Forced love, truly Love?"

Urd looks at Corrine.  "Hey, didn't Juri kill you?"

Corrine smiles slightly at Urd.  "You have me mistaken with another,
miss."

Hiko the Firechilde steps in and removes Shizumaru.  "Pardon me, madam,
but I think we've got a misunderstanding here."

Juri is still snickering and shaking her head.

Corrine says, "I am Corrine, Queen of Ember, Princess of Amber, Warden of
Arden and the Lady of Taurost.  Plus a few other titles that really don't
matter right now."

Urd blinks.  "Fascinating."

Hiko's efforts to seperate the two have not had much luck; Urd seems quite
strong.

Rimururu says, "Let go of Shizumaru now!"  She seems to be starting to get
mad.

Shizumaru starts whimpering at this point.

Juri manages to compose herself a little.  "Goddess... Urd... I mean,
really.  How old are you, Shizumaru?"

Roderick watches, amused. [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine asks, "And again, I ask... is forced love, truly Love?  For it
does not appear that this is fully by Shizumaru's agreement, even if by
word.  But then again, I came in here on the second reel." She smiles a
bit, and sighs.  "Please, release Shizumaru for the moment? "

Corrine says, "I assure you, for the moment, while we settle this, he
won't run away."

Shizumaru says, "Um. Ah. Sixteen years now. Close to seventeen."

Corrine OOCly says, "After all, Shizumaru is not Shinji."

Shizumaru keeps struggling.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yes, do?  Because with all the confusion here,
I'm not allowed to let my cousin marry some strange woman... no offense,
Rimururu-san."

Corrine says, "Besides, if you keep holding him that tightly, you may
break a bone or three."

Juri shakes her head.  "I don't get it.  He's barely out of the cradle. 
Don't you want someone with more experience?"

Hiko the Firechilde BOGGLES at Juri-san's reactions.

Juri tests, "Lag?" Rabies poikes the monitor, which choses to ignore
Rabies.  "Lag."

Shizumaru's pride would react badly to that, were he paying more attention
to Juri.

Urd says, "Oh, I'm only twenty one since the reconfiguration.  So all that
older stuff doesn't matter.  And, he proved he is the man for me."

Shizumaru now attempts to dig into the ground, out of Urd's grasp.

Corrine asks, "Who or what were you before the reconfiguration?"

Autolyca OOC counts down to Rimururu's slap

Rimururu points at Urd.  "Let go of him NOW!"

Juri shrugs.  "Age is only part of it.  I frankly don't think the boy
would be a suitable lover.  Look at him.  Your tastes are questionable."

Juri smiles at Shizumaru.  "I mean, I'd be more inclined to pinch his
cheek than take him into bed."

Hiko the Firechilde puts her hands on Urd's and tugs.

Urd jumps and her eyes widen.

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Let go, please?"

You page, "Does it look like Corrine, perhaps, could seperate them?" to
Akemi.

Urd glares at Hiko.  A multi-colored wheel opens under Hiko and she
vanishes.

Corrine pauses.

You page, "WAs that trump Energy?" to Akemi.
Akemi pages, "Yes, it was." to you.

Urd lets go of Shizumaru.  "I do not appreciate violence."

Juri sighs.  "Now that was just rude.  And she's almost my daughter, too. 
Look, can't you find a better defense for your cradle-robbing than abuse
of your phenomenal cosmic powers?"

Corrine looks at Urd.  "Neither do we.  That was unnecessary."

Urd says, "She attempted to electrocute me."

Shizumaru leaps away, grabs Rimururu, and hides behind Corrine.

You page, "[Corrine attempts to trump Hiko.]" to Akemi.

Urd says, "I do not appreciate being eletrocuted."

Juri blinks.  "Oh, well... sorry to hear that.  She might have had it
coming, then."  She walks over to Urd and begins pacing around her,
looking her up and down.  "You're not injured, are you?"

Corrine says, "And I doubt Shizumaru appreciated being near-strangled. 
And we did ask."

Urd shows off a bruise where Hiko was touching her.  "I got rid of her
before she could finish me off."

Shizumaru peeks out from behind his Aunt with wide eyes, still holding
onto Rimururu tightly. "..."

Rimururu holds onto Shizumaru and glares at Urd.

Akemi pages, "You make the contact, Corrine" to you and Foxtrot.

Juri reaches out and begins probing delicately at the bruise.  "That
doesn't look pleasant at all.  You must have very delicate skin to bruise
like that from a mere touch."

You page, "[Corrine] Hiko!  Where are you?" to Akemi and Foxtrot.

Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "HELP ME! 
FALLING!" (to you and Akemi)

Shizumaru quietly murmurs, "I had forgotten about her."

Corrine gets a slightly unfocussed look.  

Urd says sharply, "It wasn't a touch.  It was her using her spikard to run
electricity through my body."

You page, "[Corrine reaches out her hand.  "GRAB MY HAND!"]" to Akemi and
Foxtrot.

Foxtrot lowers the cattle prod gingerly and grabs! (to you and Akemi)

Urd flinches a bit from your touching the bruise.  "Anyway, if Skuld's
projections are correct, this universe will cease to exist in a few days
anyway, so I could hardly wait for him to get any older."

You page, "[Corrine grabs and pulls Hiko through the contact!]" to Akemi
and Foxtrot.

Corrine reaches out and suddenly is holding Hiko at arm's length.  They
both fall onto the sand.

Hiko the Firechilde glares up at Urd.  "That was highly unnecessary."

Corrine rolls with Hiko as she falls, helping to absorb her fall.

Corrine then helps Hiko up, and brushes off the sand from her own clothes.

Shizumaru stiffens, then scowls darkly. "This universe will not be
destroyed, if I can.... Cousin Hiko? Are you all right?"

Urd says sharply, "Running electricity through my oh-so-perfect body
wasn't necessary either."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I'm fine... neither was strangling my cousin to
death."

Juri says, "Well, I certainly hope they aren't correct.  We were just
beginning to get to know each other.  But seriously, Urd... look at the
two of them."  She gestures to Rimu and Shiz.  "They're so perfect.  Like
two little lambs.  It would be aesthetically and morally incorrect to come
between that."  She puts a companionable arm around Urd's shoulders. 
"Don't you agree, Urd-san?"

Corrine says, "Destroyed?  Not on my watch.  And please, no violence from
each oth...." She pauses, taking in the sight of Juri putting the Mack on
Urd.

Shaft says, "OOCly GO JURI"

You page, "[Corrine] HEy, if Juri's happy....." to Akemi.

Shizumaru blinks a few times, now that Juri's words finally have a chance
to reach his brain. "Lambs?" He looks at Rimururu. "Are we like two little
lambs?"

Roderick stares in shock. [spoofed by Akemi]

Roderick twitches. [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine murmurs under her breath, "Peace, Roderick.  Please?  For now?"

Juri nods to Shiz.  "Of course you are, dear.  You're both as pure as the
driven snow.  Innocence personified."

Rimururu says, "What's a lamb?"

Urd looks thoughtful.  "Hmm, so you're saying I ought to trade him to
Skuld?"

Corrine says, "Take a goat or some other small quadriped, and give it
curly white fur.  That's a sheep.  A lamb is a younger that that.  A baby
sheep."

Shizumaru says, "A young sheep." He pauses. "A sheep is a...never mind. We
can explain later. Er. No. Not Skuld."

Corrine says, "I can draw you a picture if you want."

"But just look at those muscles."  Urd licks her lips.  "The innocence
thing can be fixed, anyway."

Juri says, "No, no.  I'm saying you should look for other alternatives.  I
mean... I think we're starting to understand each other, yes, Urd-san? 
We're both women of a certain character, and we have certain needs... and
he seems like a nice boy, but I don't think he could provide for them.  No
offense, Shizumaru."

Shizumaru shrinks back. "...she looks like a cat who has just spotted some
prey," he mutters, nervously.

Shizumaru just blinks a bit cluelessly at Juri.

Roderick's fingernails keep lengthening and shortening spontaneously.
[spoofed by Akemi]

Juri smiles benignly at Shizumaru.

Hiko the Firechilde blinks up at Urd, getting to her feet.

Corrine looks at Urd again.  "So." She positions herself once more with
the others, protectively in front of Shiz and Rimu.

Hiko the Firechilde ranges herself next to Corrine, lips twitching in a
smile, but trying to hide it, watching Juri.

Urd looks at Juri and her eyes widen a bit.  She twitches slightly. 
"Father would get angry."

Juri sighs.  "Your father, eh?  Is he the one pushing you towards a
marriage with this young man, even though he's so clearly unsuited?"

You page, "[For those who can pick up those things, corrine seems to be
emotionally shifting between strong amusement at Juri putting the mack on
Urd... and severe distaste at Urd forcing herself on Shizumaru.]" to
Foxtrot. You page, "(it's fluxing,t hough.  As long as Juri BS's good
enough, the latter emotion is being relatively repressed.)" to Foxtrot.

Shizumaru now looks at Rimururu, and shrugs helplessly. His expression
says, I do not understand.

Urd begins to sweat.  "No, no, you don't understand what I mean.  But I
guess you didn't mean what I thought you mean, so I guess that means that
I don't have to worry about Father getting mad."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "How did this happen, anyway?"

Tsuwabuki . o O (My brain hurts.)

Juri blinks.  "What... did you think I... Oh!"  Laugh.  "Well, I don't
know.  What did you think I meant?"

Corrine says, "I do admit curiosity as to that, myself."

Shizumaru leans close to Rimururu and whispers in her ear. "Maybe we
should try to sneak off? Now that the attention is off of me."

Urd says nervously.  "Nothing, nothing at all.  Ha.  Ha.  Ha."  She
flutters her hand in front of her mouth.

Rimururu whispers, "But your friends just got here."

Shizumaru nods and sighs. "I suppose so."

Corrine glances back at Shiz and Rimu at their whispering, and smiles
reassuringly at them.  She then returns her attention to the stuff between
Juri and Urd.

Juri smiles pleasantly at Urd.  "Nothing?  Quite a lot of fuss for
nothing."  She glances towards the others.  "Look, Urd-san, all I'm really
saying is... you can do better.  Far better.  You're a _very_ attractive
woman.  I--the men, I mean, they should be all over you wherever you go,
yes?  And you're a goddess.  So why this... well, boy?"

Juri tightens her arm around Urd slightly, so that Urd's elbow is pressed
against one breast.

Urd says, "Anyway.  I am glad that Shizumaru is no longer in deadly
danger, as I wouldn't have shown up in time, as he _misplaced_ our wedding
ring.  And if you see Michelle, please apologize to her for me giving her
such a shock.  Assuming she doesn't die horribly when your universe dies. 
But anyway..."  She looks around.  "Where is, oh there you...oh!"

"Oh?" echoes Juri innocently.

Hiko the Firechilde blinks.  "OUR universe dies?"

Urd looks at Juri VERY nervously.  "This sort of spontaneous marriage
thing and all that is part of my job, you know.  Sort of."

Ever so slowly, Shizumaru finally starts to relax. Good thing all this
innuendo just flies completely over his head. Until Urd starts looking for
him again.

Juri asks, "Mm... and what job is that again?"

Shizumaru slightly tightens his hold around Rimururu in reflex.

Corrine quirks a slight smile.  "I'm sure she likely referrs to whenever
Annadil attempts to Open the Gate of Revolution, release the Outsiders,
and all sorts of other nastly stuff.  Which I'm curious as to how she
knows about that."

Shizumaru mutters something about purposely keeping that ring away from
himself.

Juri looks at Corrine.  "That can wait until later, Corrine.  We're
talking about important things now, like... love.  Pleasure."  Glance to
Urd, lick lips briefly.

Corrine says, "For, a funny thing about universes.  Before you know it,
things that affect one, cross over to ano-- ah, right.  My mistake, Juri."
She smiles.

"Well, my sisters and I had gotten into somewhat of a rut, so we decided
to start over, you see.  Of course, we needed a Wood Jewel to make
ourselves a proper Yggsdrasil, since the first one fell into the swamp,
and the second one fell in the Abyss, and the third one...let's not talk
about that."

Shizumaru nods determinedly at Juri's words, completely missing the point.
"Yes. And I love Rimururu," he declares. "...not you, Urd-sama. My
apologies."

Hiko the Firechilde nods...

Urd seems blissfully oblivious to what Shizumaru said.  "Anyway, so I
became Urd, the goddess of the Past, as I was the oldest.  The others are
Belldandy for the Present, and Skuld for the future."

"You see," Juri says quietly.  Again, a slight tightening of the arm.  "It
wouldn't be right to come between them, even barring the issues of the
boy's probable total inadequacy as a lover."

Hiko the Firechilde guffaws silently.

Hiko the Firechilde whispers to Corrine.  "Does she always do this?"

Juri sighs and closes her eyes briefly, looking really sad.  "You must be
terribly disappointed.  I know what it's like to have an unrequited love. 
It tears at you.  But... there are ways to heal it."  Lick lips again.

Urd says, "Oh, I could take him to a fast time shadow and get him 'up to
speed', fast enough.  It's sometimes more fun if you can mold them to
taste.  Plus, he's the Child of Wood, and wood is what we need."

Urd looks at Juri again and sweat begins to pour down her brow.

Shizumaru again shrinks back from Urd. "Maybe we should run for it," he
comments nervously to Rimururu.

Roderick kneels down and begins making a sandcastle, very deliberately NOT
looking. [spoofed by Akemi]

You page, "Good question, -is- Juri-Av like that all the time? :) I know
Corrine knows Juri-TAMD is lesbian, but she's not, well, as expressive.
:)" to Akemi and Kima. Akemi pages, "I'd wager you've likely never seen
her act like this :)" to you and Kima.

Juri pulls away from Urd suddenly, taking her by the shoulders, and leans
in until their foreheads touch.  "Listen," she whispers, "why don't we two
girls go somewhere and have a drink.  Or two.  Or three.  Or more.  Drown
our sorrows.  And then, well..."

Urd's eyes widen.  "But that would be incest!"

Shizumaru blinks. And then he blinks again.

Corrine murmurs back to Hiko.  "Well, she's a little more... expressive
than sis's preferences... alright, more than that.  Lots.  Lots and lots. 
So I can't be the judge..."  She quirks a smile. And then arches an
eyebrow at Urd.

Juri just smiles.

Corrine glances at Juri.  Then at Urd.  Both eyebrows go up.

Kima pages, "Corrine has definitely never seen Juri-Av do this before. 
:)" to you and Akemi. You page, "Righto. :) I guess that answer corrine
gave was all right. *wl*" to Akemi and Kima.

Juri says, "Or you could just take a few days more to think it over.  Of
course, since I seem to have become the official negotiator in this
'marriage', as you called it... well, any future claims to Shizumaru on
your part will have to go through me."  Brief pause, wink.  "Ne?  I look
forward to it, Urd-san."

Urd gulps, then turns her head and looks at Shizumaru.  "I'll come talk to
you...later.  But before you die.  When we can be in...private.  Without
any...any...umm...ahahahahha!"

Shizumaru shakes his head slowly. "I feel like this is completely over my
head," he confesses.

A flaming wheel opens under Urd's feet and she drops into it and vanishes.

Shizumaru sweatdrops.

Corrine lets out the breath she was holding.

You page, "Magic, Pattern, Trump for that wheel?" to Akemi.

Shizumaru sags against Rimururu. "...she is gone. Finally."

Hiko the Firechilde turns on Shizumaru.  "Explain?"

Juri undoes the top buttons of her jacket and fans herself with her hand. 
She looks rather flushed.

Shizumaru looks at Hiko, and starts to redden. "Um. Ah. To retrieve the
Seed of Hope, I had to overcome three challenges, issued by Urd-sama and
her two sisters."

Corrine raises her hands.  "Ooooooookay!  Right.  Ah, Juri?  Clearly, she
knew you enough to be baited like that, and had her hands on Venir, and
mistook me for Darako... so who in the four heralds -was- she?"

Roderick quietly works on his sandcastle.  Looks like he's in his quiet
space.  Although it looks more like a sand bust. [spoofed by Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde shudders, thinking about Juri doing THAT, and
realizing that it's her mother's analogue and SHUDDERS.

"Haven't the foggiest," Juri says.  "But wasn't she sweet?"

Corrine glances at Roderick, and makes a 'go help Juri blow off steam'
headnod towards Juri.

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Juri-san?  Please don't do that again around
me?"

Shizumaru continues, nervously, "And, er, Urd-sama's challenge was to...."
He swallows. "Give her...'pleasure'."

Juri glances at Hiko.  "Did it work, or didn't it?"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "It did, but you're my MOM... sorta."

Corrine says, "Ah.  Right." She sighs, and rubs her brow.  "So, where the
hell were we?  Perhaps think of her as a twin Aunt, or something, Hiko?"

Corrine smiles, slightly.

Hiko the Firechilde BLINK at Shizumaru... "You didn't..."

Juri shrugs.  "Young love is a beautiful thing," she says solemnly.  "When
it's open and truthful, nothing must be allowed to interfere with it."

Rimururu twitches a bit.

Shizumaru suddenly starts babbling. "But I said that I could not do such a
thing to a woman I was not married to, so she declared herself married to
me, and then I had to kiss her to win the challenge, but I did not do
anything more than that really!"

Shizumaru takes a breath.

Hiko the Firechilde sighs with relief.

Corrine . o O (At least there's snow here.  If neccessary, we'll dunk Juri
in the snow.  That'll cool her off.)

Corrine smiles slightly.

Corrine says, "Right."

Corrine says, "Now, you and Rimururu make up.  It's been stressful for you
both."

Juri finally glances to Roderick's sand-castle.  "Nice castle, Rod."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Well, now that she's gone, we can leave and get
back to Amber."

Shizumaru nods. And looks at Rimururu, sheepishly. Then blinks. "...leave
for Amber? So soon?"

Roderick starts and looks up at Juri.  "Thank you."  He stands up, looking
very calm.  Very, very calm. [spoofed by Akemi]

Shizumaru . o O ( But I was going to spend a few days with her...awww. )

Hiko the Firechilde says, "We need to make preparations for how to prevent
the Gate from opening."

"Well, you do have to stop your universe being destroyed," Juri points
out.

Shizumaru nods morosely. "I understand," he says, sounding rather
dejected.

Corrine says, "Things are moving at an accellerated pace, Shizumaru. 
Everybody's worried about you, and Rimururu, and Miki....."

Shizumaru looks over at the others again. Then back at Rimururu.

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Where is Miki-san?"

Rimururu says, "I will miss you, Shizumaru.  But you must do your duty. 
And I...I know you'll come back to me."  She squeezes your hand.

Juri looks concernedly at Roderick.  "Rod, is something wrong?"  She comes
over and puts her arm around him.  "You look a bit flushed."

Hiko the Firechilde blinks rapidly.  "Do you know where he is?"

Rimururu suddenly pales.

Shizumaru cringes.

Rimururu says very faintly, "I think he's dead."

Shizumaru hangs his head.

Juri goes pale at that and closes her eyes.  "Miki..." she murmurs.

She continues, "The winged octopus ate him."

Corrine sucks in a quiet breath. *quietly* "Oh hell."

Hiko the Firechilde grabs Rimururu...  "WHERE IS HE?  And most
importantly, WHERE'S THE PATTERN BLADE?"

Hiko the Firechilde is the picture of flaming fury.

Rimururu immediately begins to cry and babble incoherently.  "I'm sorry,
I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Shizumaru reels. "...Cousin!" he barks. "Leave her alone! No!"

Corrine jumps at Hiko's outburst.  "HIKO!  STAND *DOWN!*"  She puts all
her Queenly impact into it.

Juri pulls Hiko off Rimuru.  "That's enough!"

Shizumaru steps in protectively, in front of Rimururu, glowering at Hiko
darkly.

Corrine exclaims, "Throttling people, as much as it may be desirable, is
NOT the answer!"

Rimururu falls to her knees and cries, every tear turning to an ice
droplet.

Hiko the Firechilde puts on her calm face.  "I'm sorry... but Miki had a
Pattern blade, and it's one of the Keys to open the Gate."

Corrine takes a deep breath.  Then two.  More calmly.  "Clearly, Rimururu
has been through a lot in all this."

"Everyone died, and all I could do was run away.  There were too many of
them, and I was scared and..."

Juri asks, "How many does he need?"

Shizumaru immediately turns away from Hiko, and kneels next to Rimururu,
hugging her fiercely. "It is not your fault. Do not blame
yourself...please...."

She sobs quietly.

Corrine . o O (Winged Octopi?  That ain't normal sea life.)

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Two Pattern Blades, two Logrusfoils, which I
believe he already has."

Roderick says, "Sounds like Chaosians to me.  House Jesby uses winged
octopi, I think." [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine says, "Damn. Annadil'l have the whole set now.  All he needs is a
full moon...."

Juri hangs her head.  "He had Drake's Patternblade at the Keep, and two
Logrusfoils."

Tsuwabuki says, "And Miki had Derith's blade with him."

Corrine mentally calculates how long it should be until Full Moon in Amber
now, given their travel time.

Juri clenches her fist.  "Oh, Miki..." she murmurs quietly.  "In every
universe, it seems, you and I..."

One week to the first day of the Full Moon.

Hiko the Firechilde turns away, stalking down the beach, her footprints
making angry dents in the sand.

Shizumaru says nothing, hears nothing, with his attention fully turned to
comforting Rimururu.

Tsuwabuki stares at the sand.  "Maybe it's a good thing Kozue ran off so
she won't hear of this for a while."

Hiko the Firechilde sits down heavily, looking out onto the Ocean.  

Juri sighs.  "Talk to her, Corrine," she says quietly.  "I'm no good at
dealing with her, mother analogue or not."

Rimururu stops crying and just leans against Shizumaru.

Corrine says, "Why would have Derith given it to Miki, though?  That still
puzzles me..." She frowns.  "And dammit.  One week to the full moon."  She
pauses, and nods.  "Stay here, Tsuwabuki."

Corrine heads over to Hiko, and sits next to her.

Akemi pages, "You get hit by a WAVE of depression." to you, Kima and
Shizumaru. You page, "... gaaaaaah." to Akemi, Kima and Shizumaru. Akemi
pages, "It's being pushed on you from the outside." to you, Kima and
Shizumaru.

Shizumaru shudders, and clings to Rimururu.

Tsuwabuki sits down and stares at the sand.

Corrine shudders, and summons her psyche and pattern defense within her,
out of refelex.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "It's all my fault."

You page, "And gee, Corrine's near ground zero for this. *wry look*" to
Akemi, Kima and Shizumaru.

Juri suddenly puts her face in her hands and begins to, very quietly, cry.

Hiko the Firechilde whispers softly to Hiko.
Hiko the Firechilde ER...

Hiko the Firechilde whispers softly to Corrine.

Roderick puts his arms around Juri and begins to sob as well, mumbling
something about his father. [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine closes her eyes, the corners tearing.  "Is it?" She then leans
closer to Hiko, struggling to hold back tears given her proximity.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I screwed up... I *led* her to where he was
hiding..."

Rimururu begins to cry again, as if she had all the misery of the world.

Juri clings to Roderick and begins a stream of incoherent babble about
Mikel and Tomas and Darako and Venir and Shiori and Ruka and a whole bunch
of other names.

A single tear makes its way down her cheek.  Hiko bites her lip hard
enough to draw blood.

"Please, Rimururu...do not cry," Shizumaru pleads, though his voice
wobbles terribly.

Corrine moves her arms, carefully, around Hiko's shoulders.  *q* "Did you?
 you said yourself, somebody else was trying to trump you, and it was
confusion all around."

Roderick clings to her, babbling as well, something about trains and Tess
and Otho and Theresa and Rose. [spoofed by Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I thought I was doing right... bringing back a
prisoner... despite the warning about using Trumps... we were far enough
away universe wise, I think...."

Rimururu babbles, "We're all going to die before we can even be married. 
You should have gone with Urd so at least you'd live to remember us."

"No one is going to die," Juri says forcefully, looking up from Roderick's
shoulder at Rimu's words.  "We're going to go back to Amber and stop
Annadil from opening the Gate."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "We were home... my home... in my hiding
place... my place of strength..."

Shizumaru shakes his head vigorously and answers, hoarsely. "NO! No,
Rimururu, no...never. I will not let it happen. I will not!" He takes a
ragged breath, and stares up at the sky. "I swear I will not let that
happen!"

Corrine lets out a shuddering breath, holding Hiko.  "the entire
situation, from beginning to end, has been one of timing and circumstance.
 you did not know, as far as you DID know, it was safe.  And yes, bringing
back a prisoner would have been sound..." She blinks at this, tears
falling, her expression one of confusion....

Hiko the Firechilde says, ".... i want to make my mother proud of me...."

Akemi pages, "Heavy Angst wave, incoming :)" to you, Kima and Shizumaru.

Corrine murmurs, in her ear.  "... you do.  you are.  I'm proud of you,
and if -I'm- proud of you, then your mother, Juri of Amber, is tenfold
times as proud."

Juri hesitates, then says to Hiko, "If she is anything at all like me,
then she is already proud of you."

Hiko the Firechilde whispers....  "...momma..."

There is a flash of light in the sky, and for a moment, a beam of light
shoots down and engulfs Shizumaru as he speaks his oath.

Shizumaru OOCly says, "...whoa."

You page, "Goiiieee.  Cripe, Demijewel tap time.... oip?" to Akemi, Kima
and Shizumaru.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Wish much, Shizumaru?"
Shizumaru OOCly says, "No. o.o;;"
Juri says, "OOC:  10 minute warning, I'm already up way later than I
should be." Shizumaru OOCly says, "Gotcha, Alan. Sorry about this. @.@"
Juri says, "OOC:  Nahh, most of it was me macking on Urd.  :)" Shizumaru
OOCly says, "Heh." Juri says, "OOC:  T'was worth staying up a little later
for.  :)"

Hiko the Firechilde looks up, her demeanor changed.  "What's that?"

Shizumaru shuts his eyes against the flare of light, taken by surprise.

Juri blinks, wondering what the hell is going on.

Roderick leans against Juri, pulling himself together. [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine looks up, her eyes blinking, one hand rising to clear away the
tears.

You hear a soft feminine voice.  "The contract is sealed."  And then the
light is gone.

Shizumaru OOCly grins.
Corrine OOCly says, "... So was this."
Corrine says, "... oh my."

Shizumaru wavers slightly, and then opens his eyes. "What was that?" he
asks, dazedly.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "GO, Shiz... now go make nice nice with
Urd okay?"

Tsuwabuki stares up at the light, then quietly pulls out a trump card and
glazes.

Hiko the Firechilde blinks.  "What in the world?"

Juri says, "OOC:  Tsuwabuki's light chocolate glaze makes him extra
scrumptious."

Corrine glances at Tsuwabuki as he pulls out a trump.  She glances at
Shizumaru.

Rimururu's eyes flutter and she stares up at the now clear sky.  "The
Kamis heard," she says softly.

Roderick's eyes widen slightly. [spoofed by Akemi]

He whispers something to Juri.

Shizumaru nods slowly, and now strengthened by a new resolve, stands up,
gently pulling Rimururu to her feet. "Yes. It must be."

Corrine asks, "Cooould -somebody- tell me what the heck happened?"

Corrine blinks.  Cutely.

Juri says, "The voice... sounded a little like Tess."

Misaki says, "The gods shot Shizumaru with a laser?"

Hiko the Firechilde wipes the lone tear away and gets up.

Corrine helps Hiko up.

Corrine blinks.  "Huh.  Y'know, I think you're right."

Shizumaru looks into Rimururu's eyes. "I must go now...I must fight to
keep our universe safe. But I will return. And when the spring comes...."
He smiles slowly.

Tsuwabuki reaches out with a hand, then vanishes in rainbow light.

Akemi pages, "Trump use.  You heard a faint discordant chime when it
happened." to you. You page, "Shit.  Sleeper." to Akemi.

Corrine blinks.  Again.  "GABRIELLE, BLOCK HIM!"

Juri looks at Tsuwabuki.  "Where is he--"

Corrine says, "FUCK!  What the hell was THAT?  That was no normal
trump...."

Hiko the Firechilde pulls out her trump of Tsuwabuki and tries it 

Shizumaru stops and stares. "What...."

Corrine says, "He had a trump on him, and trumped out, but no trump -I-
use or grandfather's has that... discordant sound to it...."

Gabrielle pings in Corrines ear. "Block who?"

Hiko the Firechilde curses.  "Shizumaru!  What happened when you and
Tsuwabuki were alone at the Keep?"

Corrine sighs.  "Too late, dear.  One of our associates whom you haven't
met yet.'"

Juri says, "OOC:  Okay, I really gotta sleep now.  Go on without me if you
want, but I'm outta here." Corrine OOCly says, "No probs." Amber-Roderick
exclaims, "OOC Okay, g'nite, Alan!" Shizumaru OOCly waves. Amber-Roderick
says, "OOC Once we get off the beach, I can do some stuff we won't need
Juri for automatically."

Shizumaru says, slowly, "We were suspended in the Fount for a few seconds
before I managed to get free."

Corrine blinks.

Corrine's voice drops to a whisper.

Corrine asks, "... you... were IN .. the Font?"

Shizumaru nods, just as slowly.

Corrine says, "... son of a bitch god damn."

Rimururu says faintly, "Why don't we all go back to my temple so we can
sit down and...get the sand off."  She tries to brush the sand off her
clothing.

Hiko the Firechilde curses yet again.  "He's gone over... he's one of the
enemy now..."

Shizumaru closes his eyes tightly, vibrating with rage. "I felt my brain
start to get picked apart by its power, but was able to resist."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "And he KNOWS about the second blade... 'one by
trickery'...."

Corrine looks at Shizumaru. "When we get back, YOU are getting your brain
checked over, nine ways to sunday.  AND you are walking a Pattern. 
PERIOD."

Hiko the Firechilde grabs Shizumaru, and LOOKS.

Corrine says, "... or we can do it right now."

Shizumaru opens his eyes, his voice deathly soft. "And he lost his trumps;
I checked him for them afterward...." He twitches, and suddenly reaches
for Hiko's throat, a snarl on his face.

Corrine intersperses herself between Shizumaru and Hiko, rapidly.

Corrine says, "STAND *DOWN!!!*"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I need to LOOK..."

Shizumaru shouts, "You hurt that innocent priestess, you, you BITCH!"

Rimururu stares in shock.

Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "She stabbed me in the EYE and was going to
take me prisoner, WHELP!"

Corrine manages to successfully interpose herself, as she is very strong,
although it isn't easy.

Juri helps to pull them apart before her player collapses into bed.  :)

Corrine whistles.  A peircing whistle, that cuts through the ears, the
kind she uses in the middle of Arden when she needs assistance.  "Quiet,
BOTH of you!"

Shizumaru roars, "Your death will atone for what you did to her!"

Hiko the Firechilde gets a deadly look on her face.  "Corrine, Juri...
grab him."

You page, "Does Gabrielle know Mia's Mindstun spell?" to Akemi.

Shizumaru ignores Corrine's whistle completely, and continues to struggle
against his aunt, trying to reach Hiko.

Juri moves in to help grapple Shizumaru.

Hiko the Firechilde touches his face, his arm, anything, and LOOKS.

Corrine continues helping to Grapple.  She's good at that sort of thing.

Roderick watches for the moment. [spoofed by Akemi]

Mercutio pages, "{Gabrielle} Mom, need some help?" to you and Akemi.

Shizumaru twitches again, and concentrates on the clothing that they're
wearing. Cotton. Flax. Plant fibers.

Akemi pages, "You don't know." to you.

You page, "[Corrine] Gabrielle?  Do you know Mia's Mindstun spell?  If you
do, could you knock out Shizumaru?" to Akemi and Mercutio.

You suddenly all find your clothing rebelling against you.

Akemi pages, "Yes, you do know it." to you and Mercutio.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Innocent priestess my ass... she is NOT
anything like Rimururu."

Mercutio pages, "I can try! *zapzap*" to you and Akemi.

Corrine merfs!  Half her clothes are leather, but the other part....

Hiko the Firechilde says, "She was the ENEMY..."

Shizumaru froths. "She must be avenged!"

Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "She's got her hooks in YOU!"

Autolyca OOC Hah! Corrine wears silk! That's worm goo!

Your clothing begins climbing into your mouths.

Hiko the Firechilde rips off her clothes.

Shaft says, "OOCly ..."
Autolyca OOC goggles
Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Stand down, hentai..."

Rimururu says, "Shizumaru, stop!  What are you doing?"

Shizumaru screams in pain, suddenly. "Fire! It...it burns!"

Roderick nosebleeds at all this and begins chanting. [spoofed by Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde reaches in and grabs Shizumaru.

Corrine snarls, and trumps away the clothes that are trying to go into her
mouth.  Okay, so that might also remove her -remaining- clothes....

Shizumaru weakly reaches his hand toward the ocean, even as he spasms in
pain.

Akemi pages, "You hear a hideous discordancy as you trump away your
clothing." to you.

Leaving her manifestations there, of course...

Corrine then -winces- at a sudden discordancy.

Mercutio pages, "The spell didn't work, Mom. Would you like me to dump
Shizumaru in a snowdrift somewhere? There's a really COLD looking patch
north of town." to you and Akemi.

Hiko the Firechilde probes at the living fire she sees in his brain.

You page, "[Corrine] Bring it here, instead?  And are you picking up any
bizzare discordancies while trumping?" to Akemi and Mercutio.

Mercutio pages, "(Gabreille) Right! Giant sno-cone, on them!" (And do I,
John?)" to you and Akemi.

Mercutio pages, "Nope! I'm trump-tastic, trump-riffic, ANd trump-licious!"
to you.

A giant sno-cone, cherry flavored, falls from the sky on Corrine, Juri,
and Shizumaru.

At any other time, in any other reality, Juri might appreciate this.   But
not here.

Corrine . o O (splrfl.)

Oh, and Hiko too.

Hiko the Firechilde shivers, and continues the mental combat.

Corrine . o O (At least we're still all together...)

You page, "[Corrine] And gabrielle?  If Hiko needs the assistance, -give-
it." to Akemi and Mercutio.

Weakly, Roderick takes out a spoon and takes a bite of the snocone.

Mercutio pages, "Right! Oh, you see me now the veteran, of a thousand
psychic waaaarrrssss....." to you and Akemi.

Rimururu gestures and the snocone shatters, exploding everywhere.  Mostly
onto her and Roderick.  She sighs.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "With ice and snow melting down her
nekkid body... cool." Corrine OOCly says, "Yup.  Literally."

Autolyca has disconnected.

Roderick sees all the naked ladies and nosebleeds again.  He closes his
eyes and tries to get a grip. [spoofed by Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "On what?  ^_^"
Corrine OOCly says, "Misaki?  She's still clothed and out of range."
Corrine OOCly says, "Or a dove."

Misaki just stands and stares at all this, which is just a little too
weird for her.

Shizumaru just continues to writhe in pain.

Shaft exclaims, "OOCly PHIL!  SKETCH THIS!"
Corrine OOCly says, "Um.  Not likely, sorry."

And then hundreds of sea weed monsters pour out of the ocean onto the
beach.

Corrine OOCly facepalms.
Shizumaru OOCly says, "Well, argh. o.O"
Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Yes, this is baaad...."
Corrine OOCly says, "-THANK YOU-, PLANTBOY!"

Rimururu, Roderick, and Misaki turn and stare.  The villagers stare.  The
doves whimper.

Hiko the Firechilde screams.  "HEAR ME, SHIZUMARU!"

Corrine OOCly says, "Can Corrine see the Seaweed monsters?"
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Yes, you can, Corrine, since you and Juri have
Shiz physically restrained pretty easily." Corrine OOCly says, "Righto. 
She's keeping Shiz restrained, and can't let go, but if those monsters
start getting within range, time to have Gaby torch the things.  not YET,
wait to see if Hiko gets through to the boy."

Rimururu shouts to the villagers, "Run to the town, get torches!"

Corrine allows herself a slight smile, still gripping Shizumaru tight.

She begins erecting an ice wall to block some of the onrushing creatures. 
Misaki and Roderick start fighting some of them hand to hand.  Juri sees
Corrine has Shizumaru physically restrained and begins to attack the
seaweed creatures.  Every one she strikes begins to burn as her Pattern
Blade Flashes.

Hiko's flesh begins to ripple.

Hiko the Firechilde curses and screams in pain, but DOES NOT LET GO.

You page, "[Corrine] Gabrielle?  Help out the folks on the beach. 
Patternfire the seaweed creatures.  Avoid the defenders, the doves, and
ourselves.  Torch them, don't let them get further on the beach." to Akemi
and Mercutio.

More of the seaweed creatures pour out of the sea, and Juri dances through
them, every blow fatal.

Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "GET OUT OF HIS HEAD!"

The villagers run screaming, and some of the monsters begin piling up
against the ice wall.

Mercutio pages, "(Gabrielle) Can't burn. Fighting evil force of nature
from beyond time in Shizumarus head." to you.

You page, "[Corrine] .... Ah.  Well, you keep on doing that, then, dear. 
Hiko and Shizumaru need all the help they can get.  Top priority." to
Akemi and Mercutio.

Hiko the Firechilde lets go, then as Shizu's screaming, still in pain,
goes for a knockout.

Roderick goes down under an ever growing tie of seaweed monsters. [spoofed
by Akemi]

Corrine holds Shizu in place so he can't dodge.  If Hiko's blow doesn't do
it, she'll follow up.

Juri begins cutting her way through to him.

Gabrielle exclaims, "OOC: A HA! THIS is why she's attracted to Roderick!"

Hiko punches Shizumaru full force in the forehead.  OWW, now her hand
hurts.  He wobbles, but isn't out...and then...

A sigil glows upon Shizumaru's head, and a beam of light explodes up from
it towards the sky, where a flaming wheel opens.

Corrine . o O (Uh?)

And then you see Urd with wings of flame dive down the conduit...into
Shizumaru's head.

Corrine . o O (??!!??!!)

Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "KNOCK HIM OUT!"

Corrine does this thing, knowing just how much force to use without, say,
shearing his head off.

You page, "Iiiiiii have NO CLUE what's going on here, anymore.  Not one
clue.  *wl* Merp." to Akemi.

Hiko the Firechilde grits her teeth against the pain of feeling a thousand
ants under her skin and shakes her hand.

Plants begin sprouting from Hiko's pores.

And then Shizumaru gets a nice solid whack to the head.

And then a triumphant march sounds, and all the seaweed monsters collapse.

Corrine OOCly says, "Shoulda tried to knock him out -first-, I suspect?
*wry look*" Gabrielle says, "OOC: May I say, ew. Ewwewweww." Hiko the
Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Very ew..." Corrine OOCly says, "Ewwwwwwwww."

Roderick stands up and dusts himself off as Juri reaches him. [spoofed by
Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde SCREAMS.

Urd steps out of Shizumaru's head.

You page, "... well, who should Corrine get to help Hiko with -this-?
*wl*" to Akemi.

Urd frowns very deeply.  "This is not at all good."

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Wanted to see what was really up inside
his head."

She turns and kisses his forehead.  His eyes open.

Hiko the Firechilde abruptly bursts into flame.

The flame burns for about five seconds... then goes out.

Shizumaru blinks, then sits up. Then stands up. He faces Urd, and bows to
her deeply. "Thank you, Urd-sama," he says, rather blankly.

The plants burn off Hiko.  New ones sprout.

Shizumaru turns toward Hiko, and nods to her, telling the plants to stop
growing.

Corrine has the look of somebody who is trying to parse what the hell
happened the past ten minutes, and is past out of her leauge.

The plants in Hiko all die.  Hiko starts bleeding.  A lot.

Corrine is also naked and sandy and covered with melted cherry snowcone,
but....

Hiko the Firechilde casts a healing spell, and falls over.

Corrine asks, "..... check please?"

Shizumaru stiffly turns, looks for Rimururu, and walks over to her.

Hiko the Firechilde says, " no no nonooooo"

Gabrielle nicely trumps her Mom a bunch of fresh clothes.

Corrine hopes there's a towel in that, too.

Hiko the Firechilde chants at herself to heal.

Roderick conjures a pile of towels, and Juri distributes. [spoofed by
Akemi]

Corrine starts getting changed, slowly, almost blankly, after getting
cleaned off.

Rimururu looks around at the dead sea monsters, shudders, then turns to
Shizumaru.  "How...are you?" she asks.

Shizumaru bites his lip. "I am...better, now."

Shizumaru looks over his shoulder, briefly, at the others.

Juri comes over to Corrine.  "Are you alright?"

And then, suddenly, Shizumaru whips his umbrella open with one hand,
holding it between himself and the others. With his free hand, he engulfs
Rimu in a hug, and kisses her deeply behind the umbrella.

Corrine is now, fortunately, clothed. "... i just want to know what the
fuck started happening after it all went boom..." She shudders, looking
ill.  "... I don't know?"

Corrine blinks at the action of Shizumaru.

Hiko the Firechilde is still lying on the beach, blood seeping into the
sand.

Corrine finally gives into the stress, adrenalin, and bleedoff energy.

Misaki moves over to Hiko and pulls out a HUGE roll of bandages and begins
turning Hiko into a mummy.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Fresh bandages, sir?"

Corrine starts giggling, then laughing, and falls down on the seat of her
butt at the sight of Shiz and Rimu.  She doesn't see Hiko, yet.

Corrine OOCly says, "Great.  Fastttime for Ember.  AGAIN.  That is if
Hiko's -that- damaged..." Corrine OOCly says, "Otherwise, Beach visit."
Corrine OOCly says, "Or something.  Brain is going.  But hanging on
there."

Hiko the Firechilde GROANS....

Rimururu kisses Shizumaru desperately.

Misaki says, "You just relax, Princess Hiko.  I'm good at this."

She expertly bandages your small army of wounds."

Hiko the Firechilde murmurs through bandages, "Thanks."

Roderick turns and begins another spell. The tide comes in and washes away
the dead seaweed monsters. [spoofed by Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde (PAINOWPAINKILLREIPAIN)

Shizumaru holds the kiss until the two start turning blue. He finally
breaks off, and smiles brightly at Rimururu, lowering the umbrella.
"There. Much better." And then he falls on his face.

Corrine continues to laugh, almost hysterically... okay, it -IS-
hysterical laughter... though it finally starts to subside.  She takes
several gulping breaths, somehow managing not to hyperventalate.

Corrine asks, ".... so... ahah.... how.... heehee!... is 'vryone... else?"

Hiko the Firechilde says, muffled, "Hurt, but still alive... and naked. 
You?"

Shizumaru mumbles, through the sand, "I love you, Rimururu."

Corrine asks, "... clothed... eheh... sandy.... and need of a serious
shower or three."  She sighs, and flops back, looking up at the sky.  "...
somebody get hiko some clothes?  or a robe?  Or something?"

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "And the moral of the story is: DON'T
DRINK THE TEA!" Corrine OOCly says, ".... Ah HAH!" Dancing Ed OOCly says,
"I thought the mummy look was 'in' this year. ^_-"

Roderick says to Urd, "Do you know what happened?" [spoofed by Akemi]

Urd nods.  "He has been ridden by the Black Goat of the Woods.  I will not
let it happen again."  Her jaw clenches.

Corrine looks up and over at Urd.  "... that... doesn't sound good at
all."

Corrine says, "no, it's not good, period.  Forget -sounds-."

Hiko the Firechilde muffled, says, "One of the Outsiders, I imagine..."

Corrine says, clearly, "Well, -Fuck-.  Damn.  Other swear words."

Hiko the Firechilde falls back to lay on the sand.  "Thanks, Gabrielle..."

Shizumaru weakly rolls over onto his back, staring up at the sky. "Ow."

Urd nods.  "Beyond the twofold guardians they lurk, waiting to reclaim
what once was theirs.  But they will not have what is _mine_."

Rimururu says, "I have some medicine for pain back at the Temple.  Would
it help, Shizumaru?"  She sounds very worried.

Gabrielle appears on the beech in a puff of logic. "Oh, no problem, Hiko."
For those of you who've seen her before, you note that she's now a good
twenty years older, with curves that make you wanna hug the road.

Hiko the Firechilde turns her head briefly to look at Urd.  "Thanks,
Urd... and I'm sorry I tried to shock you, but you're very useful..."
Clearly, she is starting to babble.

Juri says to Urd, "How do we keep them out?"

You page, "Corrine and Hiko have seen her before like that. :)" to
Foxtrot. Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "Whoo
hooo!" (to you) You page, "Mommy's little baby grew up! :)" to Foxtrot.
Foxtrot stops prodding inn--- guilty authors and says, "Yep!  Now she can
go get Shaft, and find out he's married to Kasumi!" (to you)

Shizumaru nods slowly. "That would be nice, Rimururu. Yes, please. Thank
you."

Rimururu stands up to go to the temple, then vanishes through a flaming
wheel.  A few seconds later, she appears again holding a jar and a cup.

Urd smiles a tiny smile and says, "Well, in this universe, the main flaw
in the defenses is the Gate of Revolution, but I assume you already knew
that."

Hiko the Firechilde mumbles, "Medicine would be nice... or healing
magic..."  Her head drops with a *thunk!*

Misaki finishes bandaging Hiko.

Corrine nods.  "Yes, we've noticed.  We're thinking of ways to try and
prevent that."

Corrine says, "I sincerly doubt nuking Tir'na-nog would resolve the
problem to any degree.  At all."

Gabrielle trumps Misaki some painkilers to give Hiko.

Corrine says, "Anthy would complain, for one."

Rimururu shakingly pours a glass of blue fluid which smells of blueberries
into the glass and hands it to Shizumaru.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Oh sure... I do all the work and Rimu
gets the kisses, and Urd gets the credit..."

Corrine is still lying down in the sand, looking up at the sky.

Gabrielle says, "I could try and destroy the moon." She's not kidding.

Shizumaru sits up slowly, and looks at Rimururu. The expression on his
face takes on a measure of guilt. "Rimururu...." He accepts the glass, but
does not drink it yet. "I...had to promise Urd-sama something, for her
help."

Corrine says, "Last resort, dear."

Corrine says, "Last Last Resort.  We still have some things to try first."

Hiko the Firechilde OOCly  giggles.  "Oh shite... poor Rimururu..."
Corrine OOCly whaaaaaas. *sniffle*

Urd glances over at Gabrielle.  "You remind me of Skuld."

Shizumaru's lips twist in a wry smile. "During the year that I am courting
you...I must give her a chance to court me."

Rimururu drops the rest of the medicine on herself.

She stares blankly.

Gabrielle beams. "Does she build things and make them go to?"

Corrine smiles up at Urd, a proud look in her eyes and lips.  "She's my
daughter, Urd.  My beautiful, wonderful daughter...."

Gabrielle blushes to the roots of her long, red hair. "Mooooommmm......"

Urd nods.  "You could almost be sisters."  She laughs.  "Anyway, from what
I understand, the five Icons can be used to close the Gate if it opens."

Shizumaru continues, quietly, still staring at the cup of blue liquid. "At
the end of the year...I will have to choose. When I choose you," he says,
a faint emphasis on 'when', "she will leave us be."

"Unfortunately, assuming I traced the connection correctly, one of them
seems to be bobbing up and down in the Font of Power right now."

Hiko the Firechilde sits up...  "Damn... that hurt."  She takes the
painkillers gratefully, and starts unwrapping the bandages.  "Look, see,
all healed now..."  She finds her clothes in shreds....  "Whoops."

Shizumaru decides to leave out Urd giving him a final kiss.

Corrine asks, "'s true!  And yes, that's our understanding, but the
question is -how- since Hiko's looked and my sages have scried and ....
erm?"

Corrine OOCly says, "JEEZUS, Those Icons just keep being so damn WELL
TRAVELED...."

Hiko the Firechilde blinks.  "He left it in the Fount... but how?  He
didn't take it with him to the Keep."

Corrine asks, "... which one?"

Gabrielle asks, "You mean that... -thing- in the Keep that's a perversion
of everything Trump stands for?"

Hiko the Firechilde blinks, confusedly.

Hiko the Firechilde also lists to one side as she walks over to Corrine.

Corrine says, "At the base of the Font is 'the center of the universe',
where the Outsiders are, like Gideon said...."

Corrine is still lying there.  She doesn't look particularly inclined to
move.  "... which one, Urd?"

Urd says, "The important one.  The Seed of Hope."

Corrine shudders.

Urd . o O (The only one I know the signal for, but I won't mention
that...)

Hiko the Firechilde flops down next to Corrine.  "I knew it... need to get
that boy to a pattern fast..."

Corrine OOCly says, "[Seen on the Seed of hope, when recovered: 'YIG'
'ASGARD' 'KEEP OF THE FIVE WORLDS' 'SCHENECTEDY']" Hiko the Firechilde
OOCLY says,  "Shizu lost his Seed to Rei?  <giggles>"

Urd waves her hands, "You need to get the Seed out of the font first, or
they'll use it to blow up the Pattern he walks."

Rimururu just stares at Shizumaru.  Obviously she's had too much of a day
today.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Which means back to the Keep... <sighs>"

Corrine says, "... fuck.  it's like the false Jewel all OVER again. 
damn."

Gabrielle frowns prettily, and flickers a bit.

Shizumaru suddenly downs the medicine all at once and slams the cup down.
Well, slams it as well as one can slam something on beach sand. "I hate my
life," he mutters.

Hiko the Firechilde turns to Corrine, a crazed look on her face.  "Hey,
what's so bad about letting the Outsiders in?  We'll be their psychic butt
toys, and then everything will be peachy..."

Urd says, "Of course, if someone hadn't given away his wedding ring to his
cousin, I could have prevented this, but..."  She shakes her head.  "What
is done is done."

Hiko the Firechilde falls backwards.  "This is not good."

Corrine says, "That's it.  Seige time.  Juri, I'm going to need tactical
advice.  Given an Amber-class military.... I've been a psychic butt toy
too many times in the past few months, I'd rather not spend the rest of my
life that way..."

Juri says, "I will gladly advise you."  She looks thoughtful.

Corrine reaches over a hand to Hiko.

Roderick says, "But how did the seed get INTO the font?" [spoofed by
Akemi]

Hiko the Firechilde lets Corrine take command now, and takes her hand.

Gabrielle stops flickering. "Problem with that, Mom. I don't think i can
dump the Army anywhere near the Keep."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Yeah, how?  He didn't take it with him to the
Keep?"

Urd shrugs.  "Not a clue.  I've been busy trying to just find Shizumaru."

Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "He left it... IN THE VAULT!"

Corrine asks, "I wanted to help Amber and Rebma as well.. and I daren't
leave Ember defenseless.... oh hell?  What's the range look?"

Corrine glances over at Gabrielle.  "Trump -and- pattern gating blocked?"

Hiko the Firechilde turns to Corrine.  "The Jewel!  and now the Seed!"

Roderick says, "Sounds like the vault needs new locks." [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine 's eyes widen. "-SHIT-."

Shizumaru OOCly says, "John, you're fscking evil. -.-"
Corrine OOCly says, "He's a GM."
Corrine OOCly says, "It's in the job description."
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC It's my job."
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Good will triumph in the end, but not easily :)"

Gabrielle says, "Not good." She flickers again. "Two days march. Annadil
learned to block me when I rescud you that one time, I s'pect."

Gabrielle says, "He's getting SUCH A BURNING....."

Corrine says, "Right.  That's better than nothing at all."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "...foot up his arse?  I agree, Gabrielle."

Corrine says, "I want his clothes burned.  I want every damn atom of his
body accellerated at lightspeed across Shadow."

Corrine says, "In seperate directions."

Shizumaru stands up, taking Rimururu's hand, squeezing it gently. Then he
turns to face the others. "Urd-sama," he calls out. "What is the risk of
me using the power of the Seed of Hope while it sits in the Fount of
Power?"

Hiko the Firechilde crawls over to Shizumaru.  "I'm sorry, Shizumaru..."

Rimururu frowns, then says to Shizumaru, "Alright."  She squeezes your
hand.  "Just promise me...Just..."  She glances over at Urd and frowns
more.  "I wish I could go with you."

Corrine asks, "... how much were you able to clear out of Shizu's mind,
Hiko?"

Hiko the Firechilde turns to Corrine.  "Nothing at all.  She was too
strong for us."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "But perhaps Urd here...?"

Corrine says, "Oh Hell."

Urd looks thoughtful.  "Hmm.  I think you could safely use it to affect
where it is...the danger would be that if you had to draw the power
through yourself HERE."

Hiko the Firechilde sits in front of Shizumaru, formally.  "May I take a
look again, please?"

Corrine asks, "remote control, just not use Shizu as a route?"

Gabrielle flickers a bit more. "Hiko?"

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Wheee!  I'm glad I didn't go to karaoke
tonight..." Dancing Ed OOCly says, "I'll bet, Trish. :)"

Shizumaru nods to Urd, and smiles...a slightly frightening smile. "That
should be sufficient, I imagine, for our assault on the Keep." He
subsides, then turns to Hiko, and bows to her. "Very well." He gives one
glance back to Rimururu, looking slightly apologetic.

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Yes, Gabby?"

Urd nods.  "So Shizumaru could probably safely use it to try to disrupt
the Keep."

Corrine OOCly says, "Oiiii."
Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "She asking me?"
Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Yes, Gabby"

Gabrielle asks, "Did the Keep USED to have a horrible Trump Musical coming
out of it?"

Corrine asks, "Trump... musical?"

Corrine says, "What's it sound like?  replay audio, please...."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "You mean the discordant music?"

Shizumaru OOCly says, "Um. Phil, it's almost 2am. Should you still be up?
o.0;" Dancing Lowen says, "OOCly hey, let'em enjoy the show. it's a good
one." Corrine OOCly says, "same goes for you, I think.  I can stretch for
this. *wl*" Hiko the Firechilde OOCly  dances about at 11am PST. Shizumaru
OOCly chuckles. Okay. Well, I'm the one who goes to work at 3am, so.... ;)
Anyway.

The music plays.  It would almost be spritely if it wasn't so hideously
discordant.

Juri's eyes widen slightly and her fists clench.

Corrine OOCly says, "Any familiar veins/threads of music in there?"

It sounds vaguely familiar to Corrine, but you can't quite place it.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "That's the music I heard when I tried trumping
Tsuwabuki-san after he trumped out."

Roderick says, "That makes my ears hurt." [spoofed by Akemi]

Corrine frowns.

Corrine says, "It sounds... familiar.... somehow."

Corrine says, "I don't know how."

Juri says softly, "I know that tune."

Corrine says, "And yes, I heard that too when he left."

Corrine looks up at Juri. "... eh?"

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What is it, Juri-san?"

Gabrielle says, "The Music is carrying the Trump Energy. It's bad and evil
and icky, and I'd burn it all down and then invent a NEW way of bruning
thigns and burn it AGAIN. But I can't."

Gabrielle says, "So I won't."

Juri says, her voice tightly controlled, "Miki wrote it.  It was one of
his favorites."

Corrine BLINKS.

Corrine shudders.

Dancing Ed OOCly says, "Oh, sh*t."

Corrine then curses, for about 30 seconds, in a Darakoish fasion.

Juri's teeth audibly grind.

Corrine then stops.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "So he has all the blades now..."

Corrine says, ".... they've got miki."

Hiko the Firechilde starts to weep.

Shizumaru closes his eyes, and sighs.

Hiko the Firechilde cries into the sand.

Corrine takes a deep breath.

Corrine asks, "Gabrielle?"

Rimururu begins to cry softly.

Gabrielle says, "Mmm?" She cocks her head while listening to the music.

Shizumaru once more draws Rimururu into a hug, trying to offer some
measure of comfort...seeking some himself.

Urd says, "Please stop the music, Gabrielle."  Her voice is somewhat sad. 
"We know what it means now."

Corrine says, "One, turn off the music reproduction.  Two... Gideon once
hypothesized a way of creating... a 'trump black hole', a 'trump siphon'
of some sort, to drain off the energy in the Logrus Squid to keep it from
moving around so much."

Corrine says, "We need to research this, and quickly.  We also need to
heal, marshal our forces, and prepare to be the light to hold off the Day
of Darkness.  Period."

Juri says, "And we must prevent the gate being opened."

Shizumaru murmurs, into Rimururu's ear, "We will rescue them. We will stop
Annadil."

Hiko the Firechilde nods, gaining a little bit of strength listening to
corrine's words.

Juri stares out across the sea.  A sea breeze begins to blow in off the
ocean.

Corrine says, "exactly."

Rimururu nods and leans against Shizumaru silently.

Gabrielle says, "You mean Trump Gate, Mom? We do that all the time." One
opens and deposits a confused-looking white rat on the beach.

Corrine says, "As I reckon time, we have a week.  This is not
insurountable.  And no, not quite, Gabrielle."

Corrine says, "The way Gideon was speaking, it would siphon the Trump
Energy from an object, redenring it unable to access the power anymore."

Urd holds out her hand and a small wheel of flame forms which settles down
into a ring made of copper which just looks like it's made of flame.

Corrine says, "Making trumps burned out, etcetera."

Corrine says, "Now.  Postulate that same technique being used against
people who have been Made into Living Trumps."

Gabrielle also turns off the music. "Well, the only way you ever taught me
to get rid of it was to re-route it somewhere else. and you told me not to
do that anymore after I destroyed those planets."

Urd walks over to Shizumaru and holds it out to him.  "Don't give this
away to your cousin this time.  If I have to spend this long finding you
next time, the universe won't exist any more."

Corrine says, "This is a point.  We need to consult with Gideon on this. 
He had more insight than I."

She says, "I don't want to spend eternity mourning your death."

Shizumaru turns to Urd, and smiles, a bit sadly, a bit sheepishly. "Yes,
Urd-sama." He takes the ring, and puts it on. He bites his lip at that
last comment.

Corrine lifts a hand, slowly, and uses it to rub her brow.

Gabrielle asks, "Was Gideon the one who built my plaything?"

Hiko the Firechilde wants her Mommy... and sleep.

Corrine says, "It occurs to me, that this has been a long day."

Shizumaru blinks a few times, then nods to Urd.

Hiko the Firechilde nods floppily.

You page, "Does Corrine know which plaything Gabrielle referrs to?" to
Akemi and Mercutio. Mercutio pages, "Asked and answered." to you and
Akemi.

Gabrielle says, "You know, the Eva." She smiles at Hiko. "You and me had
some fun in that thing when we were little."

Corrine blinks.  "Oh, right.  No, that was Ishmael, dear."  She smiles
slightly.

Urd gestures and flames dance over her hand, forming a five pointed star
with an eye of flame in the center.  "You must remember this, Hiko."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "I'm still little, compared to you, Gabrielle." 
She sits upright.  "Urd...?"

Corrine giggles as a thought occurs.  "..... that'd be neat... run it over
the walls of the keep.... ooo.... Touga and Misato wear those things...."

It looks rather like the amulets Misato and Touga wear.

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "What is it?"

Corrine says, "Wonder where they got those...."

Gabrielle says, "'If brute force isn't working, we just aren't using
enough of it.'" She giggles.

Urd says, "It is the Elder Sign.  The Elder Gods are mostly dead or fled
or sleep, but their sigil retains its strength.  When the time comes, you
must use it to shut the Gate."

Corrine says, "Five points... five Icons.  Coool."

Corrine says, "sorry... I think I'm babbling now."

Shizumaru sighs again, heavily, as most everything right now is stuff
flying right over his head.

Gabrielle says, "Ooooo.... pointy." Lots of little Elder Signs star
orbiting Corrine's head.

Hiko the Firechilde sighs heavily, too, because she is in the same boat.  

Corrine bats idly at one of the elder signs.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  She may LOOK older....

Urd says, "I do not know the proper cycle for your universe, but you must
find the right wheel and use it to align them.  Otherwise, the seal will
be impotent."

Corrine blinks.

Hiko the Firechilde struggles to pay attention, figure out its components.

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "The Fire Sigil, Corrine... remember?"

"If they align correctly, the eye will open and the Gate will close. 
Otherwise...I don't know if you'll live long enough to have a second
chance."  She sighs.  "I am sorry, I never bothered to study this universe
until I met somenoe from it."

Corrine nods, slowly, her eyes somewhat unfocussed. "' The elements are a
circle which cannot be broken.  Do not forget that.'"

Corrine says, "'Water douses Fire, Fire burns Wood, Wood bursts through
Stone, Stone contains Air, Air ripples the water.'"

Juri says, "Do you know where Annadil is?"

Hiko the Firechilde nods at Corrine.  "Yes..."

Urd shakes her head.  "I don't even know what the man looks like."

Hiko the Firechilde pulls out her Trump of him.  "Here ya go."

Corrine says, "... could that be the sequence?  but that was also the
destruction cycle..."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Don't touch it..."

Corrine says, "... be -damn- careful with it."

Urd studies it intently.

A wheel of fire spins round the trump, sparking brightly.

Shizumaru OOCly says, "Well, at least Shizu'll get a chance to use one of
my favorite phrases, soon." Finn OOCly says, "Where are you going to get a
Logrus Squid at this hour?" Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "I actually
used 'I suppose we'll have no choice but to revolutionize the world' in a
posting to a MB."

Her eyes widen slightly.  "I should have expected this, knowing he's
associated with the Font."  She shakes her head.  "Although I suppose you
already know he's a living trump."

Corrine OOCly says, "Oh my."
Shizumaru OOCly says, "Nope, not those. :)"

Corrine says, "Yes, he is."

Corrine says, "Hence my thoughts on 'trump black-holing' earlier.  Knock
him down a peg."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I didn't know, but I'm not surprised... nothing
about him can surpirse me now, even the idea that he's my father."

Gabrielle flounces. "-I'm- made of Trump, and I'm not evil."

Corrine says, "NO Power is Foolproof. I've learned this the hard way."

Corrine says, "We know, dear." She smiles up at Gabrielle.

Corrine says, "No Power is fooolproof, and each power itself is (usually)
neutral... it's the mind behind it that makes the difference."

Shizumaru shakes his head, and looks at Rimururu again. "I really, really
wish I could spend more time with you." His voice is wistful.

Corrine says, "I'm making an exception on the Outsiders on general
principle."

Mercutio pages, "Been a big night for the d'Emrelle family." to you.
You page, "Eeeeeeeyyyyup.  Corrine could use 24 hours of sleep, but I
don't think she can afford that. :)" to Mercutio.

Rimururu nods and sighs.  "Well, if you don't go, we won't have any more
time to ever be together."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "She's got a point."

Shizumaru smiles wryly. "Too true." He pauses, thinking for a bit, then
turns to Corrine. "Aunt...I heard something about your new Kingdom. Er,
Queendom. That you were able to speed up time within it?"

Corrine nods.  "I've done so at least twice in the past several months,
Amber time.  I -was- going to have you walk its Pattern, to clean your
mind, but with Urd's warnings... hrm, still.  It would give some time to
recopuerate, and deployment across the gradient -itself- would not be
hampered."

Hiko the Firechilde flops downwards again.  "Wonder if King Tylor's
recovered yet...?"

Corrine says, "A year in an hour.  Or less, if need be.  Catherine'll want
to give me a noogie though for playing fast and loose with things some
-more-, but..."

Corrine says, "we can check once we decide where we're going.  I seem to
not wish to be moving much right now."

Urd suddenly flickers like a TV that has been kicked.  She frowns.

Gabrielle says, "The Ambassadors were all mad at you for messing up trade,
Mom. But then I dipped one of them in Plasma. they stopped complaining."

Corrine looks at Urd.  "You okay?"

Shizumaru nods. "It may be best to do that," he says, quietly. "Ah...yes,
that is quite a lot. We probably do not need _that_ much time." He glances
at Rimururu again. "Rimururu...you would not be missed for an hour or so,
here, would you?"

Corrine says, "A warning, though, Shizumaru.  Ember is... ah... warm.  It
-is- survivable, but.... "

Urd says, "I believe Skuld just made another programming error in our
latest version of Yggsdrasil, and now I must go before fluffy bunnies
devour ten hundred thousand shadows."  She steps over to Shizumaru and
says, 'I will talk to you later, after my sister has had her spanking."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Very warm... hence our tans."

Shizumaru's face falls. "...and it would undoubtedly be even more
uncomfortable for Rimururu."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "This is true..."

Rimururu shudders.  "I respond very poorly to heat."

Gabrielle eyes Rimururu, the looks up at the Frostspire. "I'm not sure
he'd approve."

Shizumaru blinks at Urd, and nods slowly. "Er...ah. I understand." He nods
to her. "Good luck."

Corrine nods.  "I'm afraid so.  Mia, our Court Magist, is capable of
casting Ice Magics in the Heart of Ember, but she has walked a Broken
Pattern."

Hiko the Firechilde is reduced to parroting what people say, and stuff, as
she's DEAD exhausted, and still slightly in pain.

Corrine says, "It would be best for Rimururu to stay here, I think. 
though...."

Urd frowns, "Oh yes, drop zombies on the bunnies...I think not."  She
seems to be talking to the air.  And then a wheel of fire opens and she
drops into it.

Corrine says, "Gabrielle?  Rimururu needs one of my spare decks, and one
of yours."

Gabrielle says, "Well, here." She gestures at Rimururu.

Shizumaru blinks.

Gabrielle says, "That's what Ember's like."

Rimururu begins to sweat like a pig in seconds.

And turn very pale.

Corrine says, "... gabrielle.  that's enough."

Rimururu says faintly, "Bad."

Shizumaru acks, and tries to mop up Rimururu's sweat with his sleeve. "Not
a good idea at all," he says, rather disappointed.

Gabrielle says, "Oh, decks? Sure." A pair of them appear in sparkly
flashes.

She takes the decks.

Corrine smiles slightly.  "Use these in good health, Rimururu, if you need
find us in Amber.  I've included Gabrielle's in case you need to contact
myself in Ember, or my staff.  Just -don't- get Gabrielle's deck wet. 
They go poof, otherwise."

Corrine quirks a slight smile.

Rimururu nods.  "I will keep them carefully dry."

Gabrielle looks up at the Frostspire again. "How does he LIVE like that?"
She asks Rimururu. "It's so.... static."

Shizumaru mutters to himself for a few more seconds, then draws himself
upright. "Well, Aunt Corrine, we should probably go to Ember, then, and
begin our preparations."

Corrine says, "And I promise, before too long, I'll make a trump of
Frostspire for Shizumaru, here... as well as give him a new deck, and a
card of you, now that I've met you... and once I feel like moving again."

Hiko the Firechilde nods, wearily... (Sleeeeeep....)

A giant sno-cone falls on Gabrielle.  Blueberry flavored.

Corrine nods.  She then giggles.

Hiko the Firechilde OOCLY says,  "Trying to evacuate bad guys from your
cousin's skull is HARD work."

Juri nods.  "We must plan and swiftly."

Gabrielle digs herself out. "That wasn't--- well, actually, that was
preety damn good." She snickers. "You win this round, Iceman."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "...don't forget Ota-san..."

Corrine says, "Gabrielle?  Prepare to gate myself, Misaki, Juri of Avalon,
Hiko, Shizumaru, Roderick, and the Doves... to the Castle Ember Silver
Spire Platform."

=======================================
=======================================

Amber-Roderick says, "OOC And I think we can cut here."

Shizumaru OOCly whews. x.X

Amber-Roderick says, "OOC As I must sleep, and Phil REALLY must sleep."

*** Foxtrot goes OOC. ***

Shizumaru OOCly says, "And I should get to bed too. x.x"

Dancing Lowen says, "drat"

Corrine OOCly says, "Righto."

Amber-Roderick says, "OOC Sorry, Rod, but I have to get up at 8 am."

Dancing Lowen says, "such is life."

Hiko the Firechilde laughs.  "that was friggin' amazing."

Gabrielle says, "DAMN good sessin, John."

Amber-Roderick says, "After KUGAR, hopefully, I can finish your pattern
drawing, Rod.  Tomorrow night."

Corrine OOCly says, "Ditto. *wg* I think the next scene we play we can
have them recovered, fasttimed in Ember, a few days later, with Corrine
FINALLY TELLING HER STORY."

Shizumaru sags.

Dancing Lowen asks, "john, you available between 6-9pm tomorrow?"

Dancing Lowen says, "it seems that that's my quiet time in the office"

Amber-Roderick says, "Unfortunately, I have KUGAR 6-10 tomorrow, Rod."

Hiko the Firechilde flaps a hand.  "I already heard it, remember?"

Dancing Lowen says, "doh."

Corrine says, "(few days Ember time, that is.)"

Hiko the Firechilde laughs... 

Corrine says, "-you- have... but Shiz hasn't. :)"

Dancing Lowen says, "it's not important.  some other time."

Corrine says, "And I wanna type it out at -least- once.  Wanna see
reactions on Shiz's face. :)"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Endgame soon, Rod... draw your pattern later."

Dancing Lowen says, "oh, and check yer mailbox."

Amber-Roderick says, "Well, we should be able to do it hopefully after
KUGAR."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Oh, okay... ^_^"

Corrine says, "If Hiko wants to be around and make pithy commentary, she
can do that too. ;)"

Shizumaru says, "Heh."

Dancing Lowen says, "trish... i was kinda in themiddle of it n.n;;;"

Hiko the Firechilde giggles.  "Drew, you okay?"

Dancing Lowen says, "and quite frankly, well, shaft's got nothing better
to do."

Shizumaru says, "I'm in slight shell-shock. This is not at all what I
expected."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Oh dear... ^_^  I thought you were just
fillingou the paperwork?"

Corrine says, "Nor am I.  This is a MAJOR right turn curve."

Hiko the Firechilde exclaims, "Shizu lost teh seed AGAIN!"

Shizumaru says, "I know. >.<"

Dancing Lowen says, "he keeps on blowing his seed....."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "But not through his fault... someone waltzed in
and took it."

Mercutio pages, "Damn, this was a GOOD session." to you.

Amber-Roderick says, "Well, you wanted to play, Drew...:)"

Corrine says, "Well, Miki I figured would have been taken over.  But Shiz
getting Mindscrewed THAT badly."

Amber-Roderick says, "Y'all already knew the vaults had been rifled
through to get the JoJ."

Hiko the Firechilde giggles.  "Why do I get to do all the brain cleaning
around here?"

Corrine gives Shizumaru a button.  It reads "Member of the Psychic Butt
Toy Club"

Hiko the Firechilde facepalms.

Corrine says, "Argle."

Shizumaru says, "I expected a brief farewell to Rimu (I'd been waiting to
do that umbrella thing for a while, now), and then a quick trip back to
Ember to walk the Pattern, a short convo with Nanami to get the magic seed
bag, and that would be it."

Corrine says, "Well, in her favor, Corrine -didn't- know that the Seed was
in there.  Had been in there.  Whatever."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "And he gave us a hint/clue..."

Amber-Roderick says, "The key thing is the 2 days Shizumaru spent asleep
on the Ice."

Corrine says, "Ackpth."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I knew it was there.  Mea culpa."

Amber-Roderick says, "As he drifted towards Frostspire."

Dancing Lowen asks, "hm.  mistakes/missed chances summary, john?"

Shizumaru says, "Ah, yes. :P"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yes, summary..."

Corrine says, "Hey, Corrine BARELY caught that the JoJ was false JUST in
time, and THAT was after Gaby got zapped."

Dancing Lowen says, "it's always fun to find out things that make you go
'DOH!'"

Gabrielle says, "I had no idea it owuld try to kill her like that. "

Corrine says, "Nor did I. *wry look*"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I was giving you what I had to go off of...
vague hints and all."

Corrine says, "Well, at least Ember didn't go Boom."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Okay, recap for this session, John?"

Corrine says, "If it did, Amber would likely no longer have its -sun-."

Gabrielle says, "I only twigged on the Miki thing by accident. The Keep
was ALWAYS bad, but then it started being MUSICALLY bad."

Dancing Lowen says, "points to Shiz for getting chicks nekkid."

Amber-Roderick says, "Basically, Shiz ate food laced with High Compelling.
 Not much, but enough to ensure when he slept, there would be trouble. 
And he had tea laced with High Compelling too."

Shizumaru says, "Dammit. I'm too polite. :>"

Amber-Roderick says, "And the Great Mother got a finger into him when he
talked to her at the Keep."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "That's what I said to Merc... ^_^  YOu and your
courtesy."

Amber-Roderick says, "On the flipside, though, you got some useful
information from that vision if you can figure out what it means :)"

Hiko the Firechilde giggles.

Amber-Roderick says, "the biggest mistake this session was not physically
punching out Shiz as soon as you grappled him, though :)"

Shizumaru says, "That is true. Going to spend some of that time in Ember
trying to figure it out, talking it over with the others."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I'll email you the Prophecies thing I got from
the Book of Fire, Drew."

Shizumaru says, "Thanks."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "With Corrine's annotations."

Corrine says, "Sorry... *wl*"

Gabrielle says, "Like most prophecies, they make PERFECT sense if you
already know what they mean."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yep... which is why I went ballistic when you
said Miki'd died..."

Gabrielle says, "Miki, at this point, probably yearns more than anything
for the sweet release of death."

Shizumaru asks, "So wait...was the real JoJ stolen, now?"

Corrine asks, "Oh yes.  A thought I just had.  John?  Droo?  I know you
(john) aren't going to be here tomorrow evening... but would it be all
right for us to play through dinner in Ember, with Corrine/Shiz exchanging
stories, and Juri/Hiko/Gaby appearing if they wanted to?"

Amber-Roderick quotes 'Mirror 8':  "Even the purest of hearts can be
fooled, and ill come of it."

Shizumaru grumbles.

Hiko the Firechilde groans. 

Amber-Roderick says, "This has been fulfilled :)"

Corrine says, "Since it'd be fasttime (several weeks or months in less
than amber minutes....) "

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yep... I think I remember that one..."

Corrine GROANS.

Shizumaru says, "Sheeeeeyoot."

Amber-Roderick dances around.  "I AM the man." :)

Corrine says, "That's it.  We need ALL THE PROPHESIES collated."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Yes, the real JOJ was stolen.  And I have
them."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "the prophecies... in a group log somewhere."

Corrine says, "Even the ones back from the beginning of campaign?  Oh,
cool."

Gabrielle says, "Keep in mind that the Prophecies being fulfilled is
largely dependent on John.. well, John being The Man."

Amber-Roderick says, "Yes, it would be fine with me if you play through
the dinner in Ember while I am at Kugar and log it for me."

Shizumaru says, "Will do, John."

Hiko the Firechilde asks, "Um, what time, fellas?"

Amber-Roderick says, "As it's something you don't need me for."

Shizumaru says, "Hopefully, it won't be too busy at work."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Not unless tempers flare.  ^_^"

Corrine says, "Okay, cool."

Amber-Roderick notes the Mirror 8 quote is on the Settings page.

Corrine nods.

Amber-Roderick says, "And that yes, all that stuff from the Prophecies IS
relevant :)"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I needed one when I talked to Mikage."

Corrine asks, "H: when do you get off work?"

Dancing Lowen says, "pity the island boys are out of the loop."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Six thirty my time... could be late."

Gabrielle is, unfortunatly, quite busy tommorrow night, but Gabreille
simpy won't be around.

Corrine says, "No problems."

Corrine says, "Really, it's 'as available'."

Shizumaru says, "I'll be on all day, although I probably couldn't RP until
after 7pm EST, just to be on the safe side regarding work."

Corrine says, "If Hiko arrives in time for dessert, hey, then she gets
there in time for dessert."

Corrine says, "That works for me.  7-8 EST, since tomorrow's Comics day."

Shizumaru says, "Mostly, this'll be just Corrine and Shizu talking, I
guess. The others might be busy doing other things."

Dancing Lowen says, "yes, they are"

Dancing Lowen says, "days behind or in blissful ignorance"

Corrine says, "There's lotsa things to do!  But, we have Time.  Well,
kinda.  In a relative sense."

Amber-Roderick says, "Shaft's off working HIS big project :)"

Gabrielle gives Dancing Lowen a Patternfez.

Dancing Lowen says, "it's not like anyone's looking for him :)"

Corrine prepares himself to summarize this entire night tomorrow.  Good
lord.

Shizumaru says, "Whee."

Corrine imagines Corrine's reaction after this.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Oi... lotsa work..."

Dancing Lowen says, "what, shit's flying left and right, shaft's having
nice little quiet time......"

Shizumaru says, "Anyway, further wrapup should wait. x.x Need sleep,
several of us."

Dancing Lowen says, "ain't his fault everyone has problems"

Corrine imagines Corrine going to Utena and asking permission to spank
Shaft.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "I want shaft in on the dinner, and the
planning."

Amber-Roderick says, "Hey, Shaft needs quiet time after what he's been
through :)"

Dancing Lowen exclaims, "spank?!"

Corrine says, "Planning can be negotiated later.  The dinner bit is more
striaght shiz/Corrine I think."

Dancing Lowen asks, "oi!  is it my fault you people don't consult the War
God when you go out to whoop ass?"

Corrine says, "If it warrants it, Shaft.  We shall see."

Shizumaru snorts.

Corrine says, "Anyway.  Bed.  Really.  I mean it."

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Night fellas."

Shizumaru waves. And sleeps as well. z.z

Dancing Lowen snorts.  

Hiko the Firechilde kisses Drew on the cheek.

Amber-Roderick says, "G'nite everyone."

Dancing Lowen says, "ciao, kids"

Corrine says, "Niiight, everybody."

Shizumaru says, "Sheesh. x.x"

Corrine waves, and thuds.

Hiko the Firechilde kisses John on teh cheek.

Shizumaru says, "It's all gone fruit-shaped."

Hiko the Firechilde kisses Phil on the heek.

Amber-Roderick says, "Cool! :)"

Corrine blushes.

Gabrielle exclaims, "Good night, ev-ery-body!"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Er, cheek..."

Corrine says, "We know. *^_^*"

Hiko the Firechilde kisses Merc on the cheek.

Akemi has disconnected.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Great gaming, fellas."

Shizumaru says, "Yeah."

Shizumaru sleepidles. Ugh.

Gabrielle asks, "finally got some use out of Gabby, eh, Trish?"

Hiko the Firechilde says, "Finally did, and thanks."

Corrine exclaims, "Yup.  Night.  Yay, Gabrielle!"

Hiko the Firechilde blows kisses at Alan from afar.

Hiko the Firechilde says, "What good it did, but still... thanks."

Corrine waves and shuts down, and will forward this log to Alan so he
knows what Juri's done.

Dancing Lowen says, "i'd say keep gabby away, but at this point, it
doesn't matter anymore...."

Corrine says, "oh, wait, he's 'here', just idle.  but anyway."

Corrine says, "Night.  Finally."

Hiko the Firechilde flexes her mental muscles...

Philip Moyer----------------Qapla'-------------pmoyer@jurai.net 
"To boldly go where no one has gone before!"-Capt. J. L. Picard
"Roads? Where we're going we don't NEED roads!"-Dr. E. L. Brown
   "If it can be dreamed, It can be done."- ReRob Mandeville
"Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection, The Lovers,
---------- The Dreamers, and Me."- Kermit The Frog ------------