Date sent:      	Sun, 25 Mar 2001 14:13:25 -0500 (EST)
From:           	"Philip J. Moyer" <pmoyer@jurai.net>
To:             	John Biles <ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu>,
       	"Amy \"General Chaos\" Borden" <aborden@soltec.net>,
       	Chris Angelini <frobozz@eyrie.org>
Subject:        	[Amber/TAMD] Mikage -- A Dream on the Wings of the
Wind

Moriya asks, "Need logging?"

Mikage plays Reminisence in sonique.

Thoric says, "Epilogue first."

Moriya says, "And when's Nausicaa's writeup going to be on the page? :)"

Mikage says, "I'm logging already, but it'd be okay if someone else
logged."

Moriya says, "Will do."

Mikage says, "When this epilogue is done."

Mikage says, "Because the epilogue determines her origin."

Moriya OOCly is logging, then.

Lucien says, "I don't get a write up until I make it to Amber. :/"

Shaft gets the trump gate to the whirlpool ready. 
*grumble*grumble*grumble*

Kanna OOCly says, "hey, we -need- him."

Kanna OOCly is logging too.

Thoric turns into Anthy

Jacqueline of Amber says, "OOCly Mikage served his purpose.  He can die
now :)"

Anthy ooc checks the Mike.

Anthy says, "OOC Okay, I'm ready whenever you are, TR."

Mikage asks, "OOC Oooh, I'm nervous about this... ^^; I'm game. Don't need
to know where we left off, huh, John?"

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

When last the curtain fell, Mikage had just gone to see Anthy. It is the
evening of the Day of Darkness.  Amber has triumphed, but Anthy doesn't
look so triumphant, perhaps because of having had her arms cut off (even
if they have been healed) and having to watch her brother die.

Anthy's glasses are off, her hair is down, and she's shivering slightly in
the mostly dark room, though the window is open and starlight shines in.
You can just make out the full moon shining brightly.

Mikage catches himself staring at Anthy as the candles flicker, their warm
light beginning to fade.

Mikage says, "Anthy..."

Very softly, Anthy says, "I always hoped that somehow...that he..."  Her
face is one of the bleakest you've ever seen.  "Even after he
had...had...I always believed that somehow I would get through to him.
Make him understand..."  She shudders, and her flesh literally ripples.
For a moment, she is a pillar of wind instead of a person, and then flesh
returns.  "He was my brother, and I loved him."

Mikage falls slient at this. "I'm sorry."

Mikage says, "He was here all along, right next to me, and I didn't
know. I am so sorry." He stares at his hands, at his rings.

Mikage chuckles, softly, painfully. "I lost my father today for the
second time. I really believed..."

Mikage swallows, and his expression darkens. "Well, that's my fault, I
guess. I was a fool for trusting so blindly."

Anthy reaches over and takes your hand.  "You saved my life today," she
says softly.  "You and Nagisa.  If you hadn't come down with me, I'd be
dead, I think, whether from my brother or the Outsiders coming through."

Mikage says, "It was nothing, your Ma... Anthy."

Mikage says, "..."

Anthy squeezes your hand.  "I trust you, Mikage."

Mikage looks down at her hand. "Do you? Why? Why would anyone trust me?"

Mikage does not meet Anthy's gaze. "I can barely trust myself."

Anthy says, "You risked your life for mine," she says.  "You could have
fled, or offered to help him, or tried to wrest control of the gate from
him, but instead you protected me."

Mikage suddenly turns to face her. "But... that's only because I..." The
words escape him, and he falls silent again. He takes a deep breath and
stares at their interlocked hands again.

Mikage says, "..."

Anthy says, "If we cannot trust in love, what can we trust, Mikage?"

Mikage draws a breath, sharply. "Love...?"

Mikage looks at Anthy, sadly. "Sometimes I think I'm fated to only find
love in another world."

Mikage says, "OOC 'www.thekeep.org/~trunner/reminiscing.mp3' for the
music I'm listening to right now."

He squeezes her hand tighter, though.

Anthy says, "Love in any world is a wonderful thing, Mikage.  If I could
go to another place and have my brother back as he once was, when he was
Dios, I would.  But it is my job to open the dreams of others, not to
grant my own.  But I need...I wish..."  She has a desperate look.

Mikage asks, "What is your wish, my lady?"

TimeRunner pages, "Got the song?" to you.
You page, "Dlded it earlier." to TimeRunner.
You page, "Oh, wait, I didn't. :/" to TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "Different song. That was faraway promise. ^^;" to
you.

She says faintly, "I cannot give you what you want in the long run,
Mikage.  I am your aunt.  And it is not wise for beings like us to do such
things.  But I do not wish to be wise tonight. I cannot bear to be alone. 
Not tonight. I know..."  She sighs.  "I am selfish to ask such a thing,
but..."

Mikage says, "Please, say no more." He raises her hand to his lips, and
kisses it. "For however long we have, however long it is allowed to be...
I am yours, if you will be mine."

She smiles at you.  "I am the Keeper of Dreams. And we both know that one
can dream a lifetime or three in a single night."

Mikage smiles back. "Then be mine, if only for a lifetime in the span of a
single night."

Anthy giggles for a moment at that, then kisses you on the lips, and
things begin to turn both X-rated and surreal.

A dozen lifetimes flow by, from the comic to the tragic.

>From the one where you and Anthy live out the Takahashi version of
Utena.

Jacqueline of Amber says, "OOly Anthy 1/2 o.o"

To the one where Gendo hunts you down and kills you for sleeping with his
wife (Think Arthurian Amber with you as lancelot)

Mikage says, "OOC OW. ^^;"
Kanna OOCly says, "Hey, you sleep with the dreamqueen, you take your
chances..."
Mikage says, "OOC I don't mind, don't mind at all. :)"
Gideon . o O ( OOC Just enjoy the show, and be happy. ;) )

The joys and the pains ebb and flow.  Some of the lives are nearly
incomprehensible, like the one where the Pattern never existed and you are
a shapeshifting mathematical equation.

And others strike too close to home, like the one where Embra-Corrine shot
you in the throat with her crossbow and you died.

And slowly, the dreams begin to shift.

Perhaps you are simply diving deeper into the world of dreams.

Worlds where you never met Anthy, never found Amber, where you lived out
your life as a student in Nemuro Hall forever.

Worlds where you opened the Gate of Revolution, only to be devoured by
what lay beyond.

And worlds where you found other women, other loves.

You page-pose, "Aerianne now listens.  Ooo." to TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "Fitting for the scene at hand, huh?" to you.
You page-pose, "Aerianne nodnods." to TimeRunner.

Galadriel, Lucia, Morgan, Talia, Eowyn...

You can see a piece of Anthy in each of them...or perhaps there is a
piece of them in her. Or both.

An Mikage wonders if Anthy's dreams have a piece of himself in them as
well...

And then one of the dreams solidifies.  Perhaps it is more real than the
others.  Or perhaps it is just the one you are currently in.

You are a child again, the youth you can remember only in the most tiny of
fragments.

It is a lonely spring night, and you are in your dorm room, studying.

You are perhaps ten years old.

And then the most hideous banging of your life begins in your closet.

Mikage asks, "...w-who's there?"

You can hear the clash of metal, and a woman's voice shouting. It sounds
almost familiar.

Mikage stands up, grabbing a broom handle and peeking into the closet.

You page, "I'm trying to imagine Mikage as a 10 year old, and failing.
*wl*" to TimeRunner. TimeRunner pages, "All I need to do is imagine the
young touga, and change the hair." to you.

You page, "Oh, okay." to TimeRunner.

Mikage asks, "...I said... who's th-there?"

The back of the closet seems to now open into a forest.  A woman with long
pink hair in dark blue armor is doing battle with something rather
werewolf-like.

Mikage asks, "what's going on? why are you in my closet?"

The woman says, "I'm your mother, and I'm trying to kill this damnable
thing."

And then her sword comes down and its arm falls off.  It howls, turns, and
flees.

Mikage asks, "m-mother?"

Mikage says, "...I thought only other children had mothers..."

She kneels and wipes her blade clean on the grass, then sheathes it. "I've
been trying to find you for ages."  She turns and smiles at you, kneeling
down.  "You were taken away from me when I was very little, Mikage.  But
I've come to take you home."

Mikage says, "home? but I have to study..."

Moriya OOCly waves out. Continuing to log.
Mikage says, "OOC Ja, Droo."

She says, "Oh, there will be lots of things for you to study at home, if
you want to," she says.  "But you'll be with family, there."

Mikage asks, "where is home?"

She says, "Amber, the Eternal City."  She holds out a hand to you.  "My
name is Utena, and you are my son, Prince Mikage of Amber."  She smiles at
you.

Mikage asks, "Prince? who are you, lady? are you a Queen?"

Mikage says, "Utena... pretty name..."

Mikage smiles at his mommy.

Utena says, "I am Princess Utena."  She picks you up and kisses your
cheek, then sets you back down.  "You'd better pack, as we need to
hurry."

Mikage blushes at the kiss. "pack? oh! I have so many books I need to
pack!"

Mikage asks, "could you help me, mommy?"

She nods.  "Of course I will."  She closes the closet door, then opens it
and it's a closet again.  She taps a brooch on her armor, and it
transforms into her usual blue jacket and pink shorts.

Mikage claps his hands. "wow!"

She smiles, and then you go to work.  And time blurs by...

Five years have passed, and now you are fifteen.

You are in your tower, trying to perfect a spell you've been working on,
that keeps going wild and wrecking the lab.  Birds sing outside the tower,
filling it with music.

TimeRunner pages, "I love my solo scenes..." to you.
You page-pose, "Aerianne hehs." to TimeRunner.

Mikage says, "Careful, Mikage, steady..."

As you wave a rowan wand and draw the twelfth rune, the door opens and
your younger brother sprints in, crashing into your legs from behind.
"Hiko's cat is after everyone again!"

You page, "... o_O Oh My." to TimeRunner.

Mikage exclaims, "Good grief, Ota, look what you made me do!"

The sacred circle boils and a shape forms inside it.  It's a 6 foot long
plush squid.  It shouts, "I am GIDEON THE RAVAGER BEAST!  NOW YOU ALL WILL
PERISH!"

Mikage asks, "What the...?"

It leaps onto Ota, clamping onto his head.

Then you hear the sound of frenzied running.  "Mikage-san, the cat is
angry again!" you hear your younger brother Shizumaru shouting.  "Help!"

Mikage says, "Hey you! Let go of my brother!"

The squid falls off Ota looking disappointed.  "I can't find any brains to
eat in this one."

Mikage says, "Shiz, could you get this thing off of Ota? He's gone and
gotten himself into trouble again."

Mikage says, "Oh. All right, then, mister Gideon."

Shizumaru charges in with a housecat the size of a mountain lion after
him.  Behind the huge cat, you can see your little sister Hiko, shouting,
"No, Sparkles, bad kitty!  Bad kitty!" [spoofed by Akemi]

Mikage clicks his tongue. "One moment, Sir Gideon."

The squid sees Hiko.  "Ahah!  She has a brain, right!"

Ota says, "Not really, Mr. Squid."

It looks very, very frustrated.

Mikage says, "Sparkles, come here, kitty."

Sparkles bounds over to Mikage and tries to rub against his leg.  This
nearly knocks him down.  Hiko pounds on Sparkles with one of those
prayer-ribbon wands.  "Bad kitty!  No biscuit!"

Mikage asks, "Yaaagh! Now, Sparkles, I want you to go play in the
courtyard. Okay?"

Sparkles nods, and turns, running over Hiko on his way out.

Mikage asks, "Hiko, are you all right?"

Then the squid looks at Mikage.  "Ahah!  YOU HAVE A BRAIN!"  And then it
leaps onto your head, wrapping plush tendrils around your upper torso.

Mikage rolls his eyes. "Yes I do, Sir Gideon, but I'm rather attached to
it."

Hiko says, "I'm okay, big brother," she says, sitting up.

It tries to crush you, which doesn't work well for a huge plush toy.

Mikage says, "Well, go play outside, and take Ota with you."

And then there's a giggle from the doorway.  You see your brother
Nagisa, leading Princess Eowyn of the nearby kingdom of Harad by the
hand.  Eowyn is about your age, and you've known her for the last five
years, as Harad and Amber are both adjacent and allied.

Nagisa himself is about eleven.

Nagisa says, "They're in here, I think."

The squid asks, "Does she have a brain?"

Mikage says, "Yes, and it's a rather lovely brain, so please leave her
alone."

The squid grumbles. "I think I'll go eat Ember, then." It leaps out the
window, sprouts wings, and flies away.

Mikage says, "Er... Oh, never mind."

Mikage begins to clean up the lab.

You page, "Waaaaa! [Princess Corrine sniffles.]" to TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "It's just Gideon. ^^;" to you.

Eowyn comes over to you, smiling broadly.  "Need some help?"

Ota drags Nagisa off.  "Let's go play Cimbri and Amberites, Nagisa!"
Nagisa tries to protest but is dragged away.

Mikage turns to face Eowyn, and blushes slightly. "Er, uh, Princess! No,
it's okay, I--" He drops a lead pentacle onto a beaker, resulting in yet
another breakage.

Mikage sighs, sweeping up the pieces... muttering something about
'savoir faire' to himself

She sits down on your stool by the spell book, looking over the spell. "So
what will you do with the west wind once you get it into the bottle?"

Mikage gives a start, and then tries to compose himself. "That's not the
point. The point is if it can be done or not."

She says, "Winds don't like to be contained.  They like to fly free,
though they'll come if you call."  She gets out a flute and begins to play
a tune, and a breeze blows in the window, beginning to circle the room
gently, then faster. You can feel its power, but it doesn't rifle the
pages, or blow away your valuable ingredients.

Mikage asks, "I see... But what about the knots in a sailor's wind rope?
Don't they bind the wind?"

She finishes the tune, and the wind dies down, except that her hair
continues to flap in the breeze you can't feel.  "Well, you can enslave
the wind, but sooner or later, it will turn on you when you most need its
help.  But if you let it carry you where it will, it will carry you where
you need to go."  She smiles at you, then shakes her head.  "I'm not
getting too philosophical, am I?"

Mikage smiles. "No, it's all right. Unicorn knows I don't get much
philosophical discussion with my siblings."

She laughs.  "Oh, they're not old enough to even know what philosophy is,
yet."

Mikage asks, "I know, I know. So, what brings you to my... chamber of
ruin, Princess?"

Mikage motions around him, smiling sheepishly.

She says, "Well, I had this sort of...umm...crazy idea I've been
thinking about for a while, and you're the only person I know who could
help me with it.  And I'd rather spend time with you than listen to father
ramble on about the Cimbri wars with your father again."  She sighs.  "You
know how they get."

Mikage asks, "Yes, I do. Do let on. What would you like me to help you
with?"

She says, "Well, you see, I was thinking about all the lessons we've had
about Shadow and how it works, and why magic works in some places, and not
in others."

She continues, "And I was trying to think of something that goes just
about everywhere, that maybe you could use to carry magic from somewhere
it worked to somewhere it doesn't."

Mikage asks, "I've heard of those. Wait... you're not suggesting we make
a..." He glances around, nervously. "...a spikard, do you?"

She twines a lock of her long red hair around one finger like she
always does when she's thinking.  "So, I was thinking, maybe we
could..."  She smiles at you.  "See, I knew you'd understand!"

Mikage exclaims, "But, that's insane! There are only so many spikards in
existence, and to actually decide to make one is..." He pauses." ...the
most brilliant idea I've ever heard!"

You page, "I thought Eowyn was a redhead, unless this alternate-eowyn had
an alternate-history... :)" to Akemi. You page, "nevahmind! *wl*" to
Akemi. Anthy says, "OOC Doh, GM Idiocy moment :)" The universe quickly
retcons in the correct hair color for Eowyn :) Mikage says, "OOC Eheh...
note to log editor: Eowyn has red hair." Kanna OOCly hehs.

She says, "Of course, it'll be years before you'll be ready to walk the
Pattern or for me to be initiated into the Haradian Mysteries so we can
journey across shadow to find suitable locations, but we can make plans in
the meantime.  And it's not like we won't have plenty of time to do it
in."  She smiles and holds out her hand to you.

Mikage blushes slightly at the touch of Eowyn's hand, but then smiles.
"True. We have all the time in the world."

And then time passes...

Twenty years has passed.

Fifteen years ago, you walked the Pattern.

Ten years ago, you and Eowyn began your quest into Shadow.

And today, the two of you are riding on Eowyn's Wing, a small flying
platform for two people that resembles a sort of boomerang with a small
railing in the middle to hand onto.

The wind whips past you, but Eowyn's hair is concealed under a blue
flying hat with goggles; your own head is protected by a similar hood.

The moon hangs high above you, but it's a twisted and warped nightmare
with a hideous face, spitting down death upon the unfortunate land below
it.

Mikage says, "The Chaos Moon..."

Eowyn turns to you.  "I think we lost the Byakhee."

Mikage asks, "That's good. Now what?"

She's older now, in the full maturity of her beauty, looking both
worried and determined.

"We have to close the gates in the wastes we found, the ones that are
corrupting the north wind," she says.

Mikage asks, "Brilliant. And we have to do this on our own?"

She sighs.  "Unless you've become more able to get us out of here today
than the last week.  I think it's something beyond the gate which is
barring this shadow to our powers."

Mikage asks, "Well, then, let's get that gate closed." He flashes a
smile. "You aren't mad at me, are you?"

She laughs, then leans over and kisses your cheek.  "It's a woman's
prerogative to change her mind as the winds take her."

The winds shift, and you turn northward.

Mikage grins wryly, and chuckles to himself.

Days pass, and you fly over forest and hills, across settled lands and
wilderness.

Until finally, you pass beyond the last settlements, beyond the cold
forests, into the surging wild lands that seem to surround this shadow's
northpole.

It is a strange land of twisted ever changing beasts.  Most,
fortunately, cannot fly, but the winds are wild and full of dangerous
energies.

And then you hear a distant piping on the winds.

Something is coming.  You can't see it, but the wind whispers to you of
danger.

Mikage says, "Eowyn, be ready."

She nods.  "I can hear the idiot flautings..."

In the distance, you can see the aurora borealis, the random discharge of
energies from the gateways on the horizon into the flux of chaos.

With the second sight given you in your initiation into magic, you see
them, winds mutated and turned dark, made into strange flying amorphous
jellies, full of ever changing pipes through which untainted wind rushes,
producing the mad piping of these strange creatures.

There's eight of them.

Mikage asks, "What are those things?"

She says, "Winds twisted by the chaos gate, I think."  She tries to
twine a lock of hair around a finger, but her hair is all tucked away
where she can't reach it.  "I don't want to hurt them, but I don't think
they'll leave us a choice."

Mikage nods. "How shall we deal with them?"

She says, "I'm going to arc to port, then dive.  See if any of your
attack spells can hurt them.  And I'll see what happens when they get too
close to those...things...down there."

Mikage says, "All right." He begins calling up lightning spells.

Lightning blasts four of them to pieces.  Three more get grabbed by
strangely warped five limbed humanoids and eaten. Two more give up and run
away.  Despite the fact that nine are gone and you started with eight,
there's now three more chasing you from behind as you rise up into the sky
again.

And one more rises up from the ground.  Eowyn draws a six shooter and puts
a bullet in it.  It bursts into purple flames and burns away.  She
holsters the pistol.

Mikage says, "More being corrupted almost as fast as we defeat them. We
need that gate closed."

She nods.  "I know."  She points. You can see a great gaping maw in
reality from which a slow steady stream of twisted, burbling flesh and
rock mingled together pours forth.  It's a good ten miles away and drawing
closer.  "Keep shooting.  I'm going in."  The wing speeds up.

Mikage nods and unleashes a shard whirlwind on the pursuing creatures.

They are ripped apart by shards of power, and the remaining winds keep
their distance from fear now.

You charge towards the gate.  Beyond it, you can see an ever changing
field of chaos, ever shifting, ever changing.

Strange demons wander in and out through the gate, and a powerful
discordant symphony bellows forth, made of random notes.

Mikage asks, "How do you propose to close this thing?"

And there's this hideous bagpipe music...As you draw closer, a huge
being shimmers into view, a man a thousand feet tall clad in spiked
armor coated with blood.  He roars something at you incoherent. 
"KHORNE!"  Whatever that means.

She says, "Use the Powder Aunt Wakaba gave us and tell me what you see
with it."

Mikage says, "OOC Damn. Khorne."

Mikage takes out the pouch and sprinkles it, looking through the
resulting cloud.

You can see massive ropes of magic flowing out of the gate; you've seen
ropes like these before in your quest; it means there's someone with a
spikard on the other side of the gate, almost certainly, drawing in power
and using it to spew this chaos stuff out.

Mikage says, "Eowyn, there's a spikard being used on the other side."

Eowyn frowns.  "All the glories of creation drawn through a great wheel
and he chooses to use it for THIS?"  Her face hardens.  The huge man
you're approaching bellows again, waving his weapons about.  "BLOOD FOR
THE BLOOD GOD!!!!"  He stomps on some smaller demons without even noticing
them.  Eowyn's foot comes down on a lever, and a compartment pops up,
revealing a repeating rifle and a small case of bullets.  "Use the Elder
Sign bullets, my love.  But save one for the man with the spikard."

As he waits for you, Khorne idly grabs a flying demon and eats it.

You page, "You definitely get the winning dreams, don't you." to
TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "^^;" to you.

Mikage takes the rifle and fires at Khorne.

Khorne laughs at you, bellowing, "BLOOD FOR THE BLOO..."  And then the
bullet penetrates his eye slit.  There is a moment of silence, and then
his head explodes.

He topples down into the surging chaos and begins to melt into it, some of
the twisted monstrosities feasting on him.

And then you are through the gateway, into an endless surging sea of
everchanging madness.

The landscape constantly changes, when there is a landscape.

Mikage says, "One bullet is all it takes." He smiles at Eowyn.

At times, you see places you know, before they melt into slime and eat
your childhood pets.

You follow the ropes of magical energy, ever more of them.

You may have flown for a million years, or only a second, but finally, in
the distance you see a mountain, or perhaps it is a man, or a puddle of
slime, or a strange conical being with tentacles.

A single arm like that of a man never changes upon it, though it shrinks
and grows.

Mikage asks, "What... is that?"

And two never blinking eyes which constantly change color.

And upon the hand, you can see a ring...or a braclet...or knuckle
dusters...or a necklace twined round the fingers.  And all the ropes of
magic stretch forth from it.

Mikage raises his rifle. "Steady. I'm drawing a bead on it."

PUNY PRINCES OF AMBER

Mikage says, "Steady..."

Eowyn shouts, "I'm a princess, dammit!"

WHATEVER

DO YOU THINK YOUR PUNY GUN CAN HURT ME?  I AM TZEENCH, THE BRINGER OF
CHANGES.

AND SOON I WILL BE THE VOICE OF THE ONLY POWERS WHICH MATTER.

Mikage says, "Stop making me laugh, it's hard to aim while I'm
laughing."

You page, ".... "The great mutator brings changes"" to Akemi.
You page, "Aaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhh!" to Akemi.

The gun turns into a potato.

Mikage asks, "What in the...?"

You can see the bullet sticking out of one end of it.

THIS IS MY REALM.  MY WHIM IS LAW.  BUT YOU WILL SERVE ME WELL IN DEATH,
FOR I NEED SACRIFICES.

Mikage says, "We should've brought an elder sign gun. Never mind." He
starts to levitate the bullet. "Ballistic attack," he says, pointing at
TZEENCH's finger.

Eowyn begins to arc to one side around him, frowning deeply and staring at
the every changing jewelry around the single human-like limb upon the
ever-shifting bloated monster.

The bullet roars at Tzeench, who gestures.  The bullet is deflected by
howling winds.

NATURE UNDERSTANDS.  ALL THE WORLD IS NAUGHT BY CHANGE, EVER CHANGING AND
MEANINGLESS.

NAUGHT BUT CHANGE.

AND ALL THAT CHANGES IS MINE TO COMMAND.  FOR I AM THE BRINGER OF
CHANGES.

Mikage says, "Damn this." He pulls out another bullet.

Eowyn puts her free hand on your waist, and for a moment, you wonder
what she's doing, until you feel her pushing the hilt of your sword
against your side.

Eowyn shouts, "You can never enslave the winds!  They will blow free
whatever you do!"

Mikage takes the sword, and keeps it hidden as he propels another bullet
toward the bloated god.

You circle and rise.  Tzeench continues to idly deflect the bullets and
blathers on.  WHY DO YOU EVEN BOTHER?  I COULD SIMPLY TURN THAT SILLY
GLIDER INTO A LAWNCHAIR IF I SO DESIRED.  DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT ALL
EFFORTS TO RESIST FATE ARE FUTILE?  THIS GAME WAS DECIDED BEFORE IT EVEN
BEGAN.

Mikage whispers, "Bring the glider close."

She nods.  "Because unlike you, we aren't bloated tubs of lard!"

Eowyn .o O (That sounded much cooler when I was planning it out...)

Mikage asks, "Fates change, Tzeench. Or haven't you realized that?"

And then the glider dives like a hawk, soaring at the hand at high
speed. It now holds something that resembles the Headpiece of Frinn.

Mikage pulls out the sword and slices the hand off.

THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM DESTINY.  ALL THE WORLD IS BUT A MACHINE, ALL YOUR
VAUNTED FREEDOM AN ILLUSION, YOUR DREAMS JUST THE RANDOM MEANDERINGS OF AN
IDLING ELECTROMAGNETIC BIOLOGICAL MACHINE.

The hand flies off, and as it does so, Tzeench begins to scream.  His mass
loses coherency and begins to collapse into orange goo.

Mikage exclaims, "Fly toward the hand!"

Mikage says, "Consider yourself defeated by a random meandering."

The wing zooms and Eowyn jams her feet into special holders, as do you
seeing her do this.  And then the glider slips over, and the two of you
zip along, your heads inches from the surface of the goo.  The hand is
sinking into the mire, the headpiece now transformed into a pendant
dangling into the muck from the middle finger.  Where it touches, the goo
is burbling.

NO!  YOU CANNOT!  YOU CANNOT!  IA! IA!  FATHER...HELP ME!!!!

Even as his giant mouth collapses into pus and rot, it continues to
shout.

Mikage tries to grab the pendant.

You're coming closer...closer...Your hands snag it, pulling it away from
the hand as it tries to grip it.  The pendant shrinks in and turns into a
ring, a rainbow serpent swallowing its own tail.

NO!  FATHER!  WHY?  WHY?  I WAS TO BE A GOD...

And the voice falls silent, and the goo settles down into a great orange
lake.

Mikage exclaims, "Get us out of here!"

You turn and head for a great rip in the sky.  Two beings rise from the
goo to do battle, a twisted hermaphrodite armed with studded whips, and a
sort of hunched over, sore covered humanoid.  However, the hermaphrodite
suddenly realizes interesting things it can do to itself with the whips
and removes itself from the battle, so to speak, leaving only twisted sore
boy.

You can see the rip in the sky you're aiming for is slowly beginning to
close.

Mikage exclaims, "Almost there!"

Nurgle spews pus and rot at you, but the winds rise up and whip it all
away, landing on the hermaphrodite, which bursts out in sores and rot.
Enraged, Slaanesh leaps at Nurgle, and they begin to fight...or perhaps to
mate...maybe both.  You zoom past them out into the chaos wastes.

And behind you, the great gash in the sky seals itself.

Eowyn blinks, looks embarrassed, and turns the wing the right way up
finally.

Mikage asks, "Damn, that was close. Are you all right?"

She says, "I'm going to need a lot of sleep," she says, smiling at you.
"And then we can have a victory celebration."  She smiles impishly.

Mikage smiles as well. "Plus we got this." He holds up the spikard.

She smiles.  "We can study it and see how it works."

She kisses your cheek and then time zooms ahead...

Twenty more years have passed.  You've found all the shadows you wanted,
but now you're hard at work, laying the winds to connect them properly to
the ring you forged, mingling your blood with mithril and silver.

Your first child had just been born, barely more than a baby, and you were
on your way home to Amber for the first time in years, taking your child
to meet her relatives, even if she couldn't remember it.

Tir'na'nog shines high in the sky, but strange lights flicker in the
night, and high above Amber, you can see the Chaos Moon...

You page, "... ohhh my." to Akemi.

Mikage says, "Not again..."

Eowyn's eyes widen.  "The Gate of Revolution.  Someone's trying to open
the Gate of Revolution!"

Mikage asks, "No! How do we stop it?"

And then something rises out of the courtyard of Tir'na'nog, a great
howling circle of snow and winds, and in its heart is a humanoid form. And
down from the real moon charges a shimmering winged horse with a long
horn.

Eowyn says, "I...um...I always sort of left that sort of lore to
Corrine..."

You page, "o_O" to Akemi and TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "Likewise. O.o" to you and Akemi.

She laughs nervously.  "Isn't there something about Children of the
Elements or something?"

Mikage asks, "Something like that, though who would those children be?"

You page, "This.... this is ONE really twisted alternate history, TR." to
TimeRunner. TimeRunner pages, "You don't say. ^^; I'm still boggling at
it." to you. You page, "Then again, it was twisted all the way back when
you had Utena older than eowyn and stuff, and the other 4 kids younger
than you, and Harad and Amber just allies and Eowyn's sisters etc all
together..." to TimeRunner. TimeRunner pages, "The 4 kids ARE younger than
me. ^^;" to you. You page, "Well, this is true... but I mean in the 'we're
all running around together fasion." to TimeRunner.

The snowstorm humanoid and the Alicorn slam into each other and begin to
grapple in the air.  And other creatures stream forth from the castle. A
woman made of wood. A huge ball of fire like a second sun.  A black
sphinx.  And from the sea, a great green flabby beast with tentacles
around its mouth and huge gelatinous wings rises from the ocean.

Mikage says, "It's... too late."

Mikage says, "They're inside, now..."

Eowyn looks sad, then says, "It is never too late while we yet live. And
yet..."  She takes the uncompleted wheel of winds and slips it onto the
finger of your daughter, then embraces and kisses you.  "If they have come
inside, then we must go outside.  Take our daughter to safety, my love. I
will see if any of our family yet live."

Mikage exclaims, "But...!"

Mikage exclaims, "Come with me!"

Eowyn says, "I will come back to you, my love, with whoever I can save.
But our child...we cannot risk her in this battle.  It is too dangerous." 
She kisses you again.  "Whatever may happen, I will come. But you must go
swiftly."  She points at the endless stream of beasts pouring out of
Tir'na'nog, then holds up the ring she wears, which you won in battle so
long ago against Tzeench.  "You must go, my love, that the dream will
survive, even if I perish.  But even if I die, my ghost will come to dwell
with you forever."

Mikage says, "...I shall always dream of you, my love. Whatever happens.
If you survive, and I do not, dream of me. Farewell."

Mikage kisses Eowyn one final time, and then turns to go.

And then she gestures with the Wheel of Change, and the world explodes
around you.

And the sun beats down on your face, and you wake, naked beneath silken
sheets, with a baby curled up to your chest, clinging to you tightly,
almost as tightly as the sleeping Anthy cuddled up to you.

Mikage draws a breath, sharply. Then his face softens, and he sits up, and
kisses Anthy and his daughter.

You have rarely been so tired from sleeping, although remembering what
came before sleeping...

You page, "Yup.  This tops ther weirdness scale for conceptions and
births, man." to TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "Ayup. Told you guys. :)" to you.
You page, "So, Kanna's (cousin|Niece) is older than her!  Whee!" to
TimeRunner.
You page, "(niece via Mikage being Kanna's cousin.  cousin via Eowyn
being Kanna's aunt.  Or something like that.)" to TimeRunner.
TimeRunner pages, "Yup. On the Night of the Gate, no less." to you.
You page, "Heck, already older.  Though LIan was 5 when she was brought to
Amber.  Kanna was -conceived- around this time, but she wasn't born until
the next year, obviously." to TimeRunner. You page, "(no wonder Kanna has
Noteable Skill : Geneology.  She NEEDS it to keep track of THIS family..
^_-; )" to TimeRunner.

Mikage cradles the baby to his chest, and begins to hum a quiet little
tune.

Anthy smiles in her sleep, as does your daughter.  She already has her
mother's red hair.  Nausicaa lies against your chest, content in baby
slumber.

Anthy stretches, yawns, and wakes, sitting up.

Mikage lies back, cradling the child, and watching Anthy's face as she
sleeps. "'No matter what reality you're in, love is truly a treasure'." He
starts to laugh. "And here I am surrounded by it."

Mikage asks, "How well did you sleep, my love?"

Anthy says, "I stored a treasury of memories for the next dry spell of my
life."  She kisses your cheek, then pats Nausicaa on the head. "Hello,
little one," she says, then makes those cooing noises people instinctively
make at babies.

Mikage smiles, and looks at Anthy. "Thank you."

She smiles in a broad manner uncharacteristic of her.  "It was my
pleasure, Mikage."  She looks thoughtful.  "Now where did I store all
those diapers.  I'm afraid your little dream will likely be needing a
change soon."

Windir falls asleep.

And we fade out there, as it's getting late for me.

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

Kanna OOCly awwws.

Mercutio pages, "That was pretty darn freaky. ^_^" to you.

Anthy says, "OOC I'm afraid it's too late at night for me to view Anthy
explaining diaper changing to Mikage with equanamity :)"

Kanna OOCly says, "And watch now, as everybody wakes from the 'wrap
party' that morning, and wonder WHERE THE *BLEEP* DID MIKAGE GET A KID!"

Kanna OOCly says, "'There's doing things fast, but -this- takes the
cake...'"

You page, "Eyyyyyup." to Mercutio.

Kanna OOCly says, "(and somewhere Shaft twitches, fearing the worst...)"

Gabrielle says, "Anthy may, I think, rival Haruka for ' Most Lored-up
Queen of AMber.'"

Somewhere out there, Shaft picks up 'Cut-Mikage's-Penis-Off' from Bill
Vincent

Kanna OOCly nodnods at Merc.

Anthy says, "OOC Being a thousand years old or more...ya learn stuff :)"

Gabrielle says, "I just wonder how she went for so long with nobody
noticing she had Shapeshift and Logrus. Unless she doesn't have Logrus."

Jacqueline of Amber says, "thus setting off years of terrible horrible
teasing by mikage, causing ota to develop a facial tick whenever he's
near"

Kanna OOCly says, "I'm still amused at that line 'I always sort of left
that sort of lore to Corrine...'"

Kanna OOCly says, "Prolly 'cause likely not many had Pattern Sight, and
those who did, never thought to look?"

Anthy says, "With shapeshift, you just don't waggle it in front of
others."

TimeRunner has disconnected.

>> Timerunner gets swallowed up by a Corridor, leaving behind a mindless
Analogue.

Gabrielle says, "Well, Shapeshift is easy to hide."

Anthy says, "As for Logrus...when you have a DJ, it's easy to hide such
things :)"

Jacqueline of Amber says, "heh.  there's  a pickup line.  'baby, you're so
fine Patternsightin' you BLINDS me!'"

Kanna OOCly says, "OOoohhhhh.  True.  And she'd have possbily gained an
imprint through the DJ attunement..."

Gabrielle says, "In fact, SS is _the_ quintessential hidden power. "

Jacqueline of Amber exclaims, "aaagh, I'm not Shaft anymore!"

Kanna OOCly says, "Though in that case, you'd pick up the air thingie. But
it prolly was just too risky for an imprint for Anthy (imo) anyway."

Gabrielle exclaims, "'Fool! You're tied up and I'm about to open the
Gate of Revolutin! What will you do NOW?' 'Turn into giant dragon dragon
and devouryou whole?' 'Huh?' RRAAAAAARRRRR!!!!!!!"

Gabrielle says, "Anthy seems real nice. You can seewhy people like her."

Kanna asks, "And that, I beleive, is the last epilouge, John?"

Jacqueline of Amber says, "well, given that the week's over, i guess it
is"

Jacqueline of Amber says, "it's the last important one anyway"

Jacqueline of Amber says, "as it sets the stage for nausicca"

Kanna exclaims, "Whee!"

Gabrielle says, "She's Naus-tastic."

Jacqueline of Amber says, "trish wanted to do the handing of arden over to
hiko from corrine, but alas, time constraints"

Jacqueline of Amber says, "there's shaft's wedding, but..... we must
move on"

Kanna exclaims, "Whaaa!"

Kanna exclaims, "So did I!"

Kanna asks, "What sort of constraints?"

Gabrielle says, "It's good that you end, Phil. Really. The campign can
drag on FOREVER if you don't."

Kanna says, "Unless you mean rehersals."

Kanna says, "In which case, n'm."

Jacqueline of Amber says, "that and her weekends are still booked up"

Gabrielle says, "Had Mike let us, WR would have kept goingon for another
month. Although for Juri, it kinda did."

Kanna says, "^_^"

Kanna says, "She needed it."

Gabrielle says, "Yeah, well, Juri has been running nonstop ever since the
day she discovered the dead Shiori in her bathtub. And when she wakes up,
shell be dumped into the middle of Rake."

Kanna says, "Though, in that case, she'll be under GM NPC control."

Gabrielle nods.

Gabrielle says, "Once Rake ends, I'm going to pinion Mike for another run
at Horatio."

Kanna says, "And now, lil' silly colored image:
http://www.eyrie.org/~aerianne/dld/scans/katsu7/phil.aeri.cor.juri.party.c
c.jpg"

Gabrielle says, "Depending on what happens in Rake, anyway. I'm tired of
Horatio always getting the short end, even though I'm not playing him
anymore."

Gabrielle says, "Awwww. I remember when you drew this on a napkin."

Kanna nods, smiling. "T'was fun."

Kanna says, "I need to scout out good japanese steakhouses around
baltimore, in prep for Otakon, depending on who ends up coming."

Gabrielle shakes his head. "You're coming to Moes, my friend."

Anthy flashes back horribly to my last Japanese food experience.

Kanna says, "Hrm?" *shrug* "WEll, I needs must bail now."

Kanna says, "Well, the one we went to at Katsu was cool."

Kanna waves. "Night!"

Gabrielle says, "Moes is a small seafood/pasta place onthe harbor that is
far and awaythe single best restaurant I have ever had the privilege of
eating at."

Jacqueline of Amber says, "ciao, phil"

Gabrielle says, "Ah, night Phil."

Kanna says, "Ahhhh.  Righto."


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 ------------