Fire. The original power, feared by cowering neanderthols centuries ago. Fascinated by mankind ever since, as they all tried to harness, bridle, and control it...but with only a minute level of success.

The green flame flickered with Kit's barely exhaled breath, and a pair of matching green eyes blinked just once behind the safety goggles. Then she slowly, reverently straightened her back and took one step away. A slight tug alerted her that her shoelaces weren't tied. With a faint noise of annoyance, she bent down to remedy the situation--

*BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!*

She flinched just slightly, nearly bowled over by the force of the blast, and looked instinctively at the windows. "Kee hee...still in tact! Doing better," she noted, standing to her feet and shaking a light dusting of ashes from her frizzy burgundy ponytail. "Sulphur-chromium compound...prolongs...the...detonation," she recorded on her notepad.

Xander stood at the door watching his sister work tirelessly at her desk. He grinned, wondering how long it would be before she finally noticed him. Already he had been standing there for about 5 minutes, she hadn't stopped to even look up. The house could fall down around her and she wouldn't stop...actually, Xander wouldn't be suprised if she made the house fall down around herself. As he stood there he felt a small twinge on his right arm. So small, in fact, he didn't even stop to take notice...a fly or something that had gone on about its business already. *Boom* "What in the hell Kit?" Xander asked in a hurry, moving quickly to her side and reassuring himself that she was alright. "You're trying to blow us up, aren't you? Actually, Kit, why ARE you building explosives in the house? Actually, why are building explosives?" Xander shook his head from side to side, while pulling his sister up to her feet. "You scared me."

She grinned at him, shaking some ashes from her pale blue labcoat. "Oh, c'mon, I've been studying this compound for weeks! New fuel source... a little goes a long way! More reliable than solar energy, and lasts at least ten times longer than water ounce per ounce." She paused, then flicked a few gray flecks from his shoulder as well. "And how are you, hm?"

"I'm fine sis; I'm not the one that almost blew her head off, remember. But I will be a lot better if you tell me that this is the fuel source the new bike is going to use." He laughed slightly at the prospect of an actual running hoverbike. Xander reached for a pair of googles and grabbed a stool. He sat next to where Kit was, looking at her work.

"But of course!" she laughed, dumping her randomly scribbled notes into his lap. "But I have to find a way to make it more heat-resistant. Maybe if I could find a way to combine some sort of coolant in there to prevent it from getting too hot... Thoughts?" she leaned against the table, extending her palm.

"Ice?"

"Dilutes the formula," she shook her head.

"I was joking." Xander shifted through the notes, he knew a bit about it already, but he caught up on what he could. "The compound isn't stable enough. Have you studied the chemical structures of any coolants yet? What happens if we combine the two? We just need a chemical that won't change the effectiveness of the fuel."

Xander pushed off and slid across the room beginning to bring up some information on coolants.

"Well, the liquid nitrogen worked pretty well...problem was, it didn't last long enough for extended runs. If you ran the bike more than 15 minutes, ka-boom." She pulled the goggles away from her eyes and set them on her head, wiping at the smudges on her face. "However, it NEVER froze the fuel into solid form, so that's a plus."

"What if we just redesign the entire engine. Make the engine more than an engine, it has to be a cooler as well. Why use nitrogen when the bike can use its own energy from the fuel to keep it cold? Thing is, if the freezer on the bike breaks, we're in trouble. So we have to design it well." Xander shrugged his shoulders at his own thought, waiting for a response.

"It'd put a lot more work on your shoulders," she moved her gaze from the notes to his pale blue eyes. "Think you can handle it, Alex?"

"Hell, I've already put together that engine about 10 times now. It won't be a problem...I was planning on building in a cooler for my beer anyway," Xander smiled at his sister, already pulling out a drawing pad and sketching the improvements to the engine. "By the way Kit, I'm going down to the Neon Underground tonight, I'd love for you to go."

Her smile weakened, and she rubbed at her cheek. "Well...I'd like to go too, but ah...well, I've already got a reputation there," she looked away. "But you go and have a few for me, eh? I've gotta clean up this lab anyway and run some more tests, not to mention turn in my physics homework. TONS to do!"

"Kit," Xander said with a slight hint of anger. "You can't live in your lab. What is the point in knowing everything about the world, if you don't live in it? Besides," he continued, "I saw Miguel looking at you last time he came over here. It will be a lot of fun, I promise."

Kit busied herself, moving to the sink to wash off her hands. "Yeah, well...it's just not my thing." Her shoulders were slumped faintly. "And besides, I like my lab. It might not like me too much," she cackled, "since I blow it up so frequently. And I honestly do have tons of homework to do. And...some reading," she started to grin, her finger making circles on the countertop as she snapped off the water flow.

Xander rolled up behind his sister, wrapping his hands around her waist. "Pleeeaaaseee," he begged his sister. "Just this once, and if you have a horrible time, I'll never ask again. All you do is go to school, and hang around here. It'll be good for you. And I want you there. You barely even have met Tess, I'm sure she'd love to sit and talk with my sister." Probably not, actually, but Xander would say what he had to say to get his sister out of the lab and out of the house.

"I-I don't know, Alex," she sighed, moving away from him to dispense a paper towel and dry off her hands. "You remember what happened LAST time. And that black eye of yours was so... Well, it healed faster than the doctors said it would, but still!"

"That guy was an ass, Kit. It wasn't your fault. Besides, he got a lot worse than I did." Xander pushed the stool aside as he stood to address Kit. "We will just go, have a few drinks, and enjoy ourselves. You can dance some...I know you say you hate dancing, but you couldn't stop smiling last time..." Well, she couldn't stop smiling until that jerk caused a scene, but that was over and in the past.

Kit chuckled, blushing faintly. It was true, she *loved* dancing, almost as much as she loved loud music. "I don't drink anymore either. Granted, hangovers are fascinating, but perching over a toilet gets somewhat old."

"If I don't make you drink, then will you go?" Xander asked, a grin stretching across his face, assured of his answer.

"Aleeex!" she whined, trying not to snicker. "Why do you want me along so badly? Has there ever been a time where we went out and I didn't cause a minor disturbance that ruined everything, in the tamest cases?"

"All the time, sis. You're not as much of an attraction of disaster as you believe yourself to be. And it's not healthy to study all day. I mean, work is great and I love it too, but every once in a while you need to unwind. Besides, I've found that letting your mind wander opens up an entirely new set of ideas. Problems I couldn't solve before....well....the solutions will just pop into my head if I stop thinking about them. Plus it is simply more fun when I have you around."

"Relaxing for YOU, maybe, not for me!" she grinned, flipping her hair in mock egotism. "And don't invite Miguel, you know I've got enough room in my heart for only one man!"

Xander couldn't stop himself from laughing at his sister. "You can tell me about it AFTER you've actually met this man. I've read his stuff sis, it's not as great as you think. You're smarter than that guy."

Kit gasped, putting her hands to her face. "Blasphemy!!! It's not just science with Umatsu, it's *poetry*! Didn't you read his passage on the thermal nucleic properties?!"

"Ha ha ha. Whatever hon," Xander responded at last, knowing better than to argue with her about Umatsu. "You should have a crush on someone you know. Aren't there any guys in those classes of yours?"

"Hmph," she folded her arms crossly and glared at the wall. "Muscle-headed idiots, the whole lot of them. More interested in football and bench-pressing. I can't *talk* to them like I talk to you!"

"Have you ever really tried?" Xander seemed to be shaking his head a lot today. "So you are telling me that in all those advanced science classes you have, the only guys in there are jocks? I don't believe you."

"Or insufferably RUDE and caught up in their own brilliance. Or gay." She smirked. "I don't want a crush on anyone, it's not worth it. I mean, look at..." She stopped before she said it. "It never turns out like it's supposed to."

"Ohh no you don't," Xander responded, caught up in the 'discussion', "Go ahead and say it Kit."

She flinched, her stubborn look fading into a look of sadness. "No, I don't want to."

"Ignoring it does no good. Say it!"

Kit inhaled...then exhaled her words with a sigh. "I don't wanna end up like Mum."

"Nor will you sis," Xander told her comfortingly. He pulled her tight in an embrace. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure what happened with mom, but I know that the same will not happen to you. I won't let it. Kit," he took her head in his hands and looked her in the eyes, "I promise you, I will protect you. Besides," he continued, "I don't think that whoever our dad is had a lot to do with Mom's 'problems'. They happened so far apart, I don't know how they could be. So don't let what happen to Mom stop you from being happy... Or going out with me."

The left corner of her lip twitched, and she sighed...looking down for a moment before meeting his gaze again. "You're not going to let it drop, are you?"

"Have you ever seen me give up on something before?"

"Heh... No, but there are times when you should," she poked his chest with her finger. "All right, fine... I guess I owe you. How much time do I have before we go?"

"I was thinking of leaving at about 9ish? So about an hour and a half. I'll clean up here, you go take a shower and get ready..." Xander began to look around for the broom.

She smiled up at him. "All right...thanks." She stood on her toes and kissed her twin's cheek. "Closet on the left," she pointed as though reading his thoughts.

Xander went for the broom, hoping he didn't accidentally trigger another explosion while he cleaned...

Xander was dressed in black pants and a fine, red, sleeveless shirt. A long black overcoat fell to his boots, sleeveless as well. Xander was wearing that widebrimmed black hat he bought not long ago, and silver glinted in each ear.

Kit hovered closely behind him, darting anxious glances in every direction of the darkly lit club. Everything was bathed in black light, giving Kit's hair a strange and unearthly glow.

"You know Sis, with that purple hair I think you will fit in more here than you ever had," he grinned widely at his own joke.

"Who said anything about wanting to fit in?" she muttered, inching away from the dour look that the barkeep was giving them. Indeed, the Walkers had a reputation for attracting trouble.

"Good point, I suppose," he replied absently, already ordering this world's version of bourbon. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"

"Ugh...no," she made a face. "I'm afraid of Malcolm slipping something unpleasant into it. Like laxatives."

"You could use some re'lax'ing." Xander stood on his tiptoes looking over the crowds for his friends...and Tess. "Come on, let's see if the guys are here and get a table."

"Har har, you're hilarious," she jabbed his ribs, but she had her own neck craned for a glimpse of Xander's friends. "Heh...there's ol' Polly, you'd better get out of view quick before she waddles over here and whines about getting hooked up with you again!"

Xander looked at Kit suspiciously, thinking she was joking back, then took a look in the same direction to see for himself. Assuming she really was coming, Xander took just enough time to grab his glass in one hand, and his sister's hand in the other, before pulling her onward towards the upper part of the club. "Whew...that was close."

"You're telling me," she sniffed, putting her hands on her hips. "She's gross, always going off on how BIG and STRONG her little Xandy is... I honestly don't know what enticed you to go out with her in the first place!"

Xander laughed out loud, "I'll tell you when you're older...let's just say she does have one or two decent skills. At least I date. I swear Kit, if you don't date someone soon, I will hook you up with Miguel...or somebody."

"I don't WANT to date, geez," she stuck out her lower lip faintly, crossing her arms. "What's the appeal? You kiss and drool all over each other. I think I can live without that."

"Why don't you try it first," Xander told her, "Then decide on that. Its really not as bad as you think. Quite nice, usually. Hold on a sec sis," Xander told Kit as he held his arm out in front of him and placed a call to Tess. If she was in the building, he was going to find out soon enough...

"When I find someone that's interested in science, and not for the money, we'll see. 'Til then, they all think I'm crazy anyhow, so what's the point?" She stared at him for a moment longer. "Did you absorb any of that, or are you too busy waiting for...heh heh...TESS?"

"I heard you. You said you haven't found a man worthy of you yet...and YOU be nice to her. She's a sweet girl, Kit."

She raised her hands innocently. "It's not MY fault they're indimidated by your intelligence!"

It was a discussion that the two of them had been through many of times, and Xander did not feel like going through it again right now. "Enough," he asked softly, "Let's just enjoy the evening for what it is...I'm sorry I keep bringing it up. I'm just worried about you..."

"Start getting worried when I bat my eyelashes at anything male," she winked. "'Til then, I'm just not ready for 'romance.' And that's that. And that's Tess," she nodded to the pretty dusky-skinned woman, smiling as she weaved through the crowd. She was part Native-American, and had straight, shoulder-length black hair cut neatly in a way that let it swing with her steps.

"Hey baby," Xander said standing to embrace the incoming woman. "How are you doing?" he said in that 'almost' baby voice.

Xander led Tess to the table, and seated her next to him.

Miguel, Sy, Warren, and Yuri soon approached as well, taking seats around the table with Xander, his sister, and Tess. "What took you guys so long?" Xander asked, greeting each in turn with a handshake and a his own private toast.

As he finished off his first drink, Xander called over a waitress and ordered another round for him and Tess. Letting the guys order on their own.

She giggled, and Kit looked faintly annoyed from where she stood just barely in the corner of Xander's vision. Tess slipped her fingers over the back of Xander's neck and kissed his cheek teasingly. "We were waiting for YOU, Dr. Walker," she winked. "You're late!"

"Me late? I've been up here sitting down waiting for you..."

"We must have crossed wires about the meeting place," she giggled again. Kit snorted, and Tess pointedly ignored her. "Not important, though, got any plans for the weekend?"

"I don't know," he replied, running his hand across the side of her face, and pushing her hair behind her ear. "I was thinking that we could rent a cabin in the woods this weekend. It is about an hour and a half away, but there isn't a soul around. The stream creates a small waterfall about a 2 minute walk from the cabin..." his words trailed off as the two of them entered their own little world for a second.

Kit's disgust grew more difficult to contain, and she folded her arms tightly with a few wry glances at the others.

She took time to look around at Xander's friends. Miguel looked more white than Mexican, but his family held on to their Mexican roots. He was tall, handsome and well dressed - his family owned a chain of Mexican restaurants. Sy was a weasel of a man, sharp in wit, and quick into a fight. Xander loved him. Warren was a redhead who worked his butt off at school. He didn't have Kit's intelligence, but he worked for every grade he got. He also partied harder than about any of them. Then there was Yuri...who was probably more bear than man. He was a large boy, 300+, curly brown hair, and everyone loved him. A big teddy bear.

Kit liked them well enough, but she certainly wasn't about to start getting gushy with them like Tess and Xander did. The waitress came by to take orders, and Kit muttered something about an ice water when prompted.

Xander kissed Tess slightly on the cheek before ordering more bourbon and lighting a cigarette.

Before long, Tina and Krystal joined the group, smooshing the others more firmly around the table. Kit looked uncomfortable as her shoulder brushed Warren's, but she didn't say anything and merely toyed with the bobbing ice cubes quietly.

Tina was blonde and pretty, her hair shortly spiked ever since she'd joined one of the punk rock bands. Krystal, an African-American with long black hair curling past her shoulders from the topknot she habitually wore, was more interested in international studies and cultures. It was easy to see that she would be continuing her years as a diplomat. "There they go again," Krystal teased, glancing at Tess and Xander.

"Ahh," Xander rebutted, "You're just jealous."

Krystal and Tina both chuckled. "When are you going to realize that not EVERY girl on campus is begging to date you, my silver-haired friend?" Tina pointed a finger at him, her wrist jingling with several loud metallic bracelets.

"They're not!?" Xander retorted, heavy in sarcasm. "How dare they...who would not want do date me?" he asked almost rhetorically towards his sister.

Kit just looked at him, then back at her glass.

"Sy doesn't want to, at least," Tina grinned wolfishly at the thin man.

"As far as we know, anyway," Krystal joined in with the joke.

Xander laughed, letting his problems float away as he enjoyed time with his friends. His smile fell a bit though, as he noticed his sister's apparent lack of enthusiasm.

She glanced at him and caught his look, then faked a smile so he could go back to enjoying himself.

"Anyone up for dancing?" he asked everyone at the table. He hoped that maybe if Kit got out there she would start to enjoy herself. But either way, he wanted to dance with Tess a while.

"You bet!" Tina stood up abruptly, and after a quick scan, snatched at Yuri's arm. "You're mine tonight, babe!"

Krystal just nodded once. "Sounds like fun," she said, a bit more casual than Tina's spontaneous response.

"Um...that's okay, this glass of water is telling the most interesting stories," Kit grinned crookedly. "And I'm not feeling so hot, so I'll just stay out."

"I don't believe you," Xander told her point blank. "Come'on. You know you want to." Xander looked questioningly at Tess. "Don't you think Kit should go out on the floor and dance?"

"Come on, Xan, she *does* look kind of pale. It could be the lighting," she said more quietly, so as not to embarrass his sister. "Push her too hard and she'll resist all the more stubbornly, anyhow," she said with a gentle smile.

Xander looked between Tess, then Kit, then Tess again, then Kit again. "Well, if you change your mind, come on out," he waved outward toward the dance floor. Finally he let himself be pulled along with Tess towards floor.

Kit smiled, looking relieved, and relaxed as she sipped more complacently at her water.

"You care a lot, don't you? I think that's sweet," Tess smiled up at Xander while they danced.

"She's my sister. She's the only family that I have. I would die for her. And I really wish the two of you would get along a little better. Have a conversation, go shopping, do something together."

"I try, Xan...I really do. But you of all people should know just how hard it is to get her out of the house...and you she likes!"

"Yeah, maybe...I just don't know what to do. She knows more about life and the world than anyone I do...but she couldn't live in it to save her life."

"She's still young...like us," she caressed his cheek with a smile. "She'll come when she's ready."

"Yeah, I guess..." he replied before letting his worries drift away again. He pulled Tess close, snuggling his face next to her and dancing...

"That's my boy," she chuckled with a purr. "Now tell me more about this cabin."

"Well you see, its far from anything and anyone else. A crystal clean stream and a bear rug next to the fireplace...."

"And it will be just you and me? For how long?" she said, intrigued by the notion.

"Of course silly. I want you all to myself." He kissed her again. "All weekend, if you don't have anything planned. We can leave Friday..."

"Darling, you know I *always* rearrange my plans for you. Especially if we're going to be so...isolated," she grinned, tracing her finger over his jaw.

"You think Kit will be alright by herself," he spoke before his mind could stop him. Already his thoughts had drifted back to protecting his sister.

Tess sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. Look, she's a big girl, she can handle herself just fine! She might even appreciate the solitude for a change, you know?"

"Yeah...I know. I'm sorry... Look, I promise, once we are down there, I won't mention her all week. It'll be just you and me and mother nature."

"Hmmm," she raised an eyebrow with a pleased grin. "And you know as well as I do that Mother Nature should always take precedence." She embraced him more tightly, and gently touched her lips to his.

Xander tried to extend his lips into a smile, but before he got halfway they were enveloped by Tess's own.

She held them there for a long moment, keeping the movements of her mouth soft and sensual. Then she pulled back with a secret smile. "More where that came from this weekend. MUCH more."

Xander tickled Tess slightly before sweeping her down into a dramatic dip. "You're too good to me woman..."

"You're worth it," she smiled up at him, resting one hand on his strong arm.

"I'm sure I am," he said with a wink.

Tess laughed. "We'll find out Friday night, won't we? Now pull me up, all the blood is rushing to my head!"

Xander laughed, pulling Tess up and close, very close...for no real reason than to hold her. "You are such a tease..."

"Oh really? I haven't had any complaints yet," she smiled, and laid her head on his shoulder as she exhaled contentedly, her arms slipping around his torso.

****

"Kit?" Miguel asked quietly. He wasn't really attracted to her like Xander had lied earlier. He more or less saw her as a sister. He had 4 of his own, it was only natural. He did enjoy her company though, she was kind and smart...when he could get her to talk. "What happened to your hair?"

"Hm? Oh...that was a few months ago. I thought I told you about that!" she glanced at him briefly before looking back at the table.

"I guess I haven't really seen you lately. It has stayed that color for months now," he continued.

"Yeah, it's more or less permanent," she shrugged, still looking down at the table uncomfortably. "Um...so...how's school?"

Warren met Krystal at the end of the table, leading her off towards the floor...already stumbling a little. Sy, however, was quick on the trail of a passing blonde, leaving Miguel and Kit alone at the table.

"School...it's fine. I have pretty much known since birth that I would get a business degree and take control of the restaurants."

"That's pretty cool... I can't cook at all, so they're a big help to me and Ale-- Xander, I mean."

"Yeah, but I am the oldest, with four younger sisters....what can I do? I'm not even sure I want to run the business...I've never had a choice otherwise. You're so lucky..."

She squirmed uncomfortably. "I guess..."

"Really now Kit, the world is your oyster. You are not only intelligent but beautiful as well. When you are out of college you can get a job anywhere you want. No pressure to do any specific thing...and enough money not to do anything if you don't feel like it. You're strapped down with less chains than anyone I know...next to your brother of course."

She started to reply otherwise...that he couldn't possibly understand what it was like. But instead, she smiled. "Yeah. Xander's good to me...more than he should be."

"Yeah, your brother's an alright guy."

She slumped her cheek onto her hand with a sigh. "So what would you do if you didn't have to run the restaurants?"

"I don't know... travel the world maybe. I always wanted to visit the little town my great grandfather was from. To tell you the truth," he nearly whispered, "I really think that I want to be an architect. Ohh the houses I could build..."

Kit pursed her lips. "And none of your sisters are even remotely interested in taking the restaurant business over?"

"They wouldn't know where to begin if they wanted to. Father raised them to be married off, not run the business. It IS my responsiblity. Whether I feel like it or not...you know?"

Kit shrugged. "But it's YOUR life. Will you be happy if you go along with what he wants you to do?"

"No, its more than that. I have a responsibility to my family to take over the business. My parents took care of me, now I will continue what they started and take care of my family in return. You love Xander...you know you would do what you had to do to support him. Happy or not, it is my duty. Besides, I know I can be successful in the restaurant business. What happened if I did decide to be an architect and failed...where would my family be then? The weight of duty..."

"Sucks, huh?" she glanced up at him for a few moments, then back at her glass. "Xander's good to me now, but... There's gonna come a time when he'll have a family of his own. I wish he'd understand that I'll be okay without him. I cramp his social life."

"I doubt that. All he ever does when he is here is talk about you. Besides, we love having you. You should come out with him more often...you might like it.

"It's not me," she shook her head with a faint smile. "Don't think it ever will be, either."

"Well I know you like to dance...Xander has said as much. Kit," he asked again, probably more soft than when he initiated the conversation. "I know you said you didn't feel well...but are you sure you don't feel like dancing?" Miguel rose, and extended his hand.

"Wellllll..." She shifted her jaw from side to side indecisively, biting her lower lip. "I suppose...one couldn't hurt...but I'm not good at it!"

"Ha ha, if you say so. But I was here last time, I remember..." He took her by the hand gently, and led her out towards the floor.

Kit followed with a slightly goofy grin as she tried to contain her excitement. Already she was walking in time to the rhythm... Slow...slow...quick, quick, slow... slow... "All right, but don't say I didn't warn you! Kwah ha!"

Kit crouched next to Xander, grinning as she watched him work on their hoverbike, and pushed an iced glass of lemonade towards him. "Here you go!"

Xander turned around and leaned against the bike he was working on. He sipped on the lemonade and looked at Kit. "Thanks. And thanks for going last night. I had a blast."

"I bet you did, you pimp!" she laughed, and sipped at her own glass. "Haven't seen you make a play like that in a long time, you must really like her!"

Xander shrugged, no real expression on his face. "She's fun, yeah. I don't know how serious it is...not very. But we have a good time together...and that's all I'm really looking for right now."

She snorted, rolling her eyes with a silent expression of 'yeah right' written plainly over her face.

"But what about you and Miguel huh?" Xander said poking at his sister. "I think you danced with every one of my friends last night actually. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Dancing's fine," she shrugged. "I don't mind it at all. It's the dating part I don't like."

"Yeah, well, at least you're one step further along." Xander sat the glass down and picked up the wrench he was just using. "Speaking of Tess, Sis, I believe that she and I will be gone all weekend. Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Of course I will!" she said with an odd smile. "I'm only going to stay here and order takeout, what kind of trouble could I get into?"

"I don't know...but those sound like famous last words," he told her as his eyebrows went up.

"I've got plenty to keep me busy," she grinned, sitting back on one hand and taking another gulp of lemonade. "I got Umatsu's newest text in the mail this morning."

"Umatsu, Umatsu, Umatsu..." Xander replied mockingly. "All he is doing is writing texts of physics priciples that have already existed. So he may write them 'poetically'," sarcasm drips from his tongue, "But he isn't putting out any new ideas. You will make a big discovery before he will. Hell, you probably already have Kit."

"Quit making fun of him!" she sulked. "I don't make fun of YOUR crushes! And I didn't ask for your opinion anyway!"

"I'm sorry," Xander continued after taking a moment to think about what he said. "Anyway," he went on, changing the subject, "I couldn't sleep after we got home last night. I've been working on this bike since about 3 this morning. I had to redo everything I worked on in the first hour because I was drunk, but I think I've got it figured out now. The fuel powers the engine, but I also have a sub-zero cooler built into the engine. It's not perfect yet, but I don't think we will explode...at least, not from overheating we won't."

"Great!! So that means we'll have the most fuel efficient AND technologically advanced vehicle on the... Well, not on the market, kee hee... We'll be the envy of everyone!"

"Now, you know...that's not a bad idea. Think Harley-Davidson would buy the rights to a hovercycle? We could make...well, a lot of money. Who knows, maybe even Umatsu would come have a look at it, huh?" he nudged his sister slightly.

"Forget Harley Davidson, we could make our OWN line and give our family name a lot of-- Eh? Yeah, you think so?" she grinned widely with a blush coloring her cheeks.

"Yeah...I do." Xander enjoyed seeing his sister so happy. He doubted Umatsu would give a shit about their cycle...but all the same, she looked ecstatic. "Walker Hover-Cycles...everyone who was someone would have to own one. But maybe we should put off the company naming until we get the prototype actually flying, huh?"

"Right!" she laughed, and tipped the glass back until she'd drained all of the lemonade. She crunched on a piece of ice cube. "You'd better fly it...I made the last one explode."

"Is the hover flight engine working correctly this time? I mean, I added the cooler to it, but it is still your baby...I don't know a whole lot about the actual flight engine though."

"Oh, well...the fuel's not quite finished yet. Do you think our fuel will revolutionize the oil industry?"

"Kit," Xander told his sister, "I don't doubt that we will be the next Grondal family."

"Good... I don't want the publicity. You handle that bit," she laughed. "Want a refill on that glass?"

Xander tossed back the rest of his own drink before handing it to Kit. "No thanks, I'm fine. Actually, I've got to take a shower here in a sec and get to class," he told her while looking at his watch.

"You going to be all right?" her brow furrowed in concern. "I mean, you said you haven't slept, maybe you should stay home."

Xander laughed at her. "I'll stay home if you want me to, Kit. But I can go days without sleep...you know that."

"Yeah, it's just...finals are coming up soon! I don't want you to miss anything vital from the teacher, you know? You have what it takes to really go far!" she chewed her lip.

"What's wrong?" Xander asked bluntly. Kit was weird sometimes...but he wasn't sure what this was about.

She shook her head. "Nothing! Why?"

"Don't lie to me missy," Xander told his sister. He sat down next to his sister, and took her hand in his. "You're acting strange..is something bothering you?"

"No, just worried about you... Even though you CAN go for days without sleep doesn't mean that you SHOULD."

"I don't think you're really worried about me sleeping or going to class. You know that no matter what I will do well in school. If I only go to take the final exam, I'll still get an A. Now really, what else is wrong?"

"That's it," she shrugged, blinking as she looked up at him. "Honestly."

"If you say so..." Xander stood up and kissed his sister on the forehead. "I'm going to take a shower, and then you and I are going to go get something to eat. It can be a day for just you and me, since I'll be leaving tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay!" she agreed, looking vastly relieved. "After your classes, of course... I'll go with you down to the campus, I want to get in some fencing practice."

"Great."

****

Kit was waiting for Xander outside the building, and looked happy to see him. "There you are! How'd it go?"

"Long and boring...just what I was expecting. How about you...win any duels while I was completely bored out of my mind?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," she winked. "So what do you want to do? Work on the bike some more?"

"When you think of fun you think of work, don't you?"

"Just as your idea of fun is making out with Tess," she punched his shoulder with an evil smile.

"Isn't there anything else you'd rather do?"

She shrugged, still smiling. "Hang out with my evil twin?"

"Well, I guess it's working on the bike then, huh? Until I think of something more interesting though...which is doubtful. Come'on then," he motioned to her and walked toward his two seater sports car. "How much work do you have left on the fuel source? I thought that since we were using the coolant, we didn't need to change the structure of it?"

Kit grinned even more widely, slipping a mini-disc out of her pocket. "I've got the tunes covered," she winked, and hopped over the door of the convertible. "Fuel should be finished...I worked on some notes while I was waiting for you."

"Great, I've got to put a few things back together...then I want you to check the bike and we MIGHT get it flying today. But every nut and every bolt has to be tight...going at the speeds that this bike can go...well, any faults in it are likely to make the whole thing fly apart." Xander raced homeward.

"Good, I can't wait!" she rubbed her hands together as Electrasy blared from the speakers.

"Good Lord Kit, what is this racket you have on now?!" Xander asked as the speakers blared.

"Cosmic Castaway," she grinned, regarding him out of the corner of her eye as she tilted her head. "I made a new mix last night."

"I don't understand how you can listen to it. Wait until we get home...just wait."

"For what?" she laughed. "More of that NeoClas you're so fond of?"

"Exactly! You can hear real what real music sounds like when we get home." Xander laughed slightly at his sister.

"Not interested," she sniffed, tossing her head as her hair fluttered wildly in the wind. "I like MY mix, it gets the blood pumping!"

"Your blood pumping, what?" Xander reponded sarcastically. "I didn't know anything could get that ice out of your veins. It is proven that people who listen to NeoClas will do better on tests and think better."

"Gosh, you're mean today!" she pouted. "Ice in my veins... You're still mad because I wouldn't date that one friend of yours...what was his name... Rufus? Rufus the Dufus?"

"Ahh, I'm not mad. I just like messing with you." Almost as a side note he added, "What was wrong with Rufus?"

"He was dumb...and acted like he was smarter than everyone else." She shifted in her seat. "Hey, why don't we go grocery shopping? You're gonna need some stuff for your trip, right?"

Xander pushed the brakes on quick and made the sharp turn towards the grocery store that had sparked Kit's comment. "Thats why I'm glad I keep you around...I hadn't even thought about getting any food for this weekend."

"Well you can't live on s--kisses alone!" she laughed.

"You'd be amazed how little else you need if you have...kisses. Rufus only acted that way because you intimidated him. He's probaby the smartest of all my friends, and you completely dwarfed him in that department. He was trying to keep his dignity in your eyes. But I agree, it is hard work...I'm sure I'll get hungry." Xander smiled.

"Again, not my fault...he wanted to see the lab, I showed him. He asked what stuff did, I told him. I was never demeaning to him, I mean, am I ever?"

"I know, it's not your fault, and I wouldn't have you any other way. But you have to find some common interests with guys besides only intellectual matters. You're too smart for most of them. You don't think that I can really have a discussion about physics with Tess, do you? But we still love being around each other..."

"That is why I want to marry Dr. Umatsu, because he CAN discuss that stuff with me. It's what I love!"

"Kit seriously...you're like a little kid having a crush on a band member...."

She poked his shoulder. "And it was YOU who said no one was too good for me. Umatsu's who I want!"

Xander pulled into a parking spot and threw his hands up, exasperated. "Fine! You're going to marry Umatsu." In a different tone of voice entirely, "Want to get some groceries?" he asked quickly following his last statement.

Kit looked at him oddly, slowly unbuckling her seat belt. "Yeah..."

"Can I ask you someting about Tess?" Xander asked as the two went into the store.

"Yup!" she nodded, wheeling out a cart and pushing it along. "Go ahead and shoot."

"Why did you keep giving her 'looks' last night? You two are pretty curt towards each other. I don't understand it."

"Because she acts too different when she's with you," she replied, moving immediately to the frozen foods section. "She giggles a lot, makes a lot of gooey looks...it's like she's lost her brain completely. And I've seen her otherwise, she doesn't act like that at ALL around anyone else!"

"So what are you saying?"

"She's kinda two-faced is all. But then again, maybe that's who she truly is and she just feels comfortable around you," she said, gathering some frozen dinners and dumping them in the cart. Kit couldn't cook to save her life despite repeated efforts. "Got an oven up at this cabin?"

"Yeah, it has a gas oven...so I can cook about anything." Xander shifted back to the other point at hand, "Do I act different when I'm with her and when I'm not?"

"Not as far as I can tell," she said honestly, looking back at him. "Here you go, Salisbury steak... No, men always act the same as always when they're with girls that like them. They don't have to try and remake themselves."

"Salisbury steak? Maybe we WON'T eat this weekend," Xander laughed again. "So if that is, she just acts differently with me?"

"That's a good thing...you wouldn't want her batting her lashes at anyone else, would you?" She dumped in some beef pot pies as well. Then she wheeled the cart around to pick up some concentrated orange juice from the adjacent aisle. "Want some trail mix too?"

"I'm not going to be on any trails...this, however," Xander said as he tossed in about 5 cans of whipped cream, "will be useful."

"Oh yuck! Like I needed THAT mental image in my head!"

"It was your idea to come shopping."

"Whatever..." She pushed forward to hide the enormous red blush that had covered her face, pausing to grab some tortilla chips and salsa to the load.

"You know, Kit," Xander said absently, "With your IQ, I would think that you could figure out how to cook. Just imagine that the recipe is a chemistry formula. I bet you could be a master chef..."

"I'm the only person I know that can blow up bacon," she snickered. "You know how it always turns out!"

"Maybe I'll get Tess to teach you one day?" Xander led the cart and Kit towards the alcohol isle, making sure to load up a few bottles of wine and champagne. "Think they sell candles here?"

"Aisle way down at the end," she pointed, leaning on the bar. "And that's all right, I don't want any lessons... Now the thought of that whipped cream is branded into my innocent little mind, and I won't be able to separate her from that."

Xander looked into space for a moment then back to Kit, "Yeah, I can't get it out of my mind either. Exquisite, isn't it?" he chuckled as he went towards the last aisle.

"Yuck," she grumbled again, dragging her feet along as she skated with the momentum of the cart.

Xander loaded a few candles into the cart, got a few packs of cigarettes, then checked the cart one last time. "Anything else you need Kit?"

"Chocolate milk," she beamed at him. "Ugh, why do you insist on getting *those*?" she pointed at the cigarettes. "Those things will kill you!"

"Ehh...I blame it on those guys back from the orphanage...besides, I don't think I have ever coughed since I've been smoking them. I must be immune or something," Xander said jokingly, pushing off his sister's concerns.

She frowned, clearly not liking it. But she'd made her opinion known, and that was all she could do about it. "You want some of this TOO?" she waved a bottle of chocolate syrup at him with a look of disgust.

"Actually," Xander replied as he put a bottle into the cart...and then a second one. "Thanks, I almost forgot that. I would have had to drive all the way back to town to get it."

"...ick..." She hefted up two gallons of chocolate milk, along with a gallon of 1%. "That should do it, then."

"Great, let's get home then..."

Xander pushed the cart up through the front lane.

Kit walked beside him. "You know, Miguel's a nice guy. He's not into me like you said he was, though."

"Ohh yeah?" Xander replied innocently. "He's not? I thought for sure...."

"Buttmuffin," she chuckled. "Why did you say he was?"

"I couldn't convince you to go out, so I did what I could. And you never know...he could have been."

"Psh, whatever. Pop the trunk," she said, picking up two gallons of milk and carrying them around to the back.

Xander pushed the pop trunk button on his keychain.

Kit pushed them towards the back, and straightened to get more.

Suddenly a large, black SUV roared to life and swerved crazily towards the convertible. Xander's red tattoo abruptly bit into him with fierce pain as Kit stumbled out of the vehicle's path.

Xander ran towards Kit, pulling her back and as far out of the street as he could. "What the hell...."

The door to the vehicle swung open, and three large, masked men jumped out, one of them holding a white cloth. Kit's eyes went wide. "We've gotta run! They're gonna..." She clutched onto Xander's arm, suddenly bolting away from the men.

"What do you want?" Xander yelled at the men. "Kit?? Where are you...?" Xander was really confused at the moment. Then he was side by side with Kit, trying to stop her. "Where are you going. I want to know who those b@$^%s were."

The three men immediately gave chase, and they heard the shrieking of tires as the vehicle moved around in an attempt to cut them off. "They were in my dream...! They're after me...to get to you!"

"Wha...? What dream? Is that why you wanted me to stay home today?"

She nodded, gulping for breath. Suddenly another vehicle screeched to a halt just in front of them, and Kit started to jerk back as the door slid open. A strong arm snaked out, seizing her wrist and yanking her inside. "HEY!" she protested, struggling as the car lurched forward.

Xander was already running to hold pace with the new car. "KIT!!" He made a flying leap at the car... There was NO ONE that would seperate him from Kit. NO ONE!

To his astonishment, he jumped a lot further than he thought he was capable of and landed on the top of the van. The door was still open on the side, in the process of being closed. Kit was cussing violently, and he heard someone grunt with pain before her voice suddenly became muffled. The door slammed shut, and the van veered sharply around a corner.

Xander tried to inch his way up to the front without falling off. Assuming he made it, he wasn't taking any prisoners. His fist came down at the driver's window, as he intended on pulling the man right on out!

The man squawked, leaning far back into his seat as he suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Xander slid forward, off the top of the van and onto the concrete. Adrenaline kicked in, he assumed, and he ignored any injuries. Already he was back on his feet and running back at the van and the window he had busted out.

He saw a masked man violently jerking the wheel to the right to get away from the crazed albino. What was most troubling, however, was that there were no more signs of a struggle beyond him.

Xander grabbed the door with one arm, holding himself up, the other hand reached for the head of the man at the wheel...slamming it into the steering wheel. He had no clue what was going on besides the fact that Kit was in trouble and he was going to save her!

The van spiraled violently, then rushed forward to slam against another car as the driver lay slumped unconscious in the seat.

Xander viciously pulled the door open, his strength practically ripping it off. The driver was pushed aside as Xander turned into a fury of swings, attempting to take out anyone else in the fan. "KIT?!?!" he yelled.

He caught a glimpse of her, held tightly in the arms of a large masked fellow who was pulling a white cloth away from her face. She wasn't moving. A fist suddenly slammed into his jaw as one of the men leaped forward.

"Mother...." Xander was the imbodiment of rage. The man that came at him, Xander threw against the side of the van, followed by a foot to the head. "Who are you?" he demanded of the man holding his sister. He did not really expect an answer, nor want one at the moment. It didn't really matter because that guy was about to be in a lot of pain.

The man's mouth twisted angrily..the only part Xander could see revealed by the mask. "Back off freak, or I'll crush her windpipe!" he said, wrapping his fingers around Kit's throat.

Xander's progress held for a moment as he took time to process the situation. "What do you want!?"

"You'll find out," he sneered, opening the back door and retreating with the unconscious Kit in tow, keeping a wary eye on Xander. The SUV was on the other side of the parking lot, but swinging around again.

Xander's hands searched quickly for something to throw, but came up with nothing. He followed the man and his sister out of the back, staying a few steps away. "Who are you?" he demanded again...

"Stay where you are!" he snapped, his fingers tightening.

When the man turned to look at the SUV, Xander's own fingers found his keys in his pocket. Milliseconds later, he let them fly as fast and as accurate as he could - directly at the face of the attacker.

The man shrieked with pain as the keys hit him a lot harder than both he and Xander had been expecting. One of the keys had lodged, disgustingly, in his eye. Kit was dropped as he staggered back in pain. The SUV was racing more frantically towards them now.

Without time to think, Xander covered the few feet between him and the attack almost instantly. He punched the man hard, driving the key farther into his brain. He wasted no time looking at the SUV before he picked up his sister and began to run. He wasn't really sure where to...but he had to run!

The rim of the parking lot was surrounded densely by thick trees. There was no way the vehicle was going to get through them easily.

And into that rim of trees was where Xander went. He wanted badly to make the men in the SUV pay for what they had tried to do...but could not bring himself to leave Kit. He looked quickly for a good place to hide, bushes, something...and wait for them to leave.

Almost miraculously, a thick stand of bushes came into view, a perfect place for concealment.

Xander laid Kit down, kneeling beside her, and holding her head in his hands. As he tried to disappear into the bushes, he also tried to keep sight of the current activities of those men in the SUV.

Distantly he thought he heard noises...but his speed was much greater than theirs. He knew they were safe for several good minutes.

After checking Kit's pulse and making sure they didn't kill her, he whispered, "It will be okay," while stroking her hair.

Her brow twitched, and he noticed that her teeth were tightly clenched. But she was definitely out cold.

Xander could do nothing more but wait and watch and hope. Surely police would be by soon...he had caused a lot of commotion.

The noises faded, disappearing far off... And the only sound echoing in his ears was that of chirping crickets.

Xander took the opportunity to stand up and check out the situation. Maybe he could make it back to his car...even without the keys he could hotwire it....he was pretty sure.

After a quick survey...as dark as it was...Xander saw nothing out of the ordinary. He had escaped peacefully, and they were safe.

Kit grunted faintly, her brow twitching again along with her fingertips.

Xander's tattooes had stopped throbbing for the moment. Throughout the entire fight they both went off like mad... "Come on," Xander told Kit as he picked up his sister and began to walk. How'd it get so dark? he wondered.

The sound of his voice seemed to bring her around, and he felt her stir in his arms. "Alex...?" she croaked hopefully.

He walked slowly to where the car should be. "Shhh, it's alright now. You're safe. We're going home."

Kit blinked a few times, then coughed. "Ugh...my head hurts...what happened?"

"I...I don't know. Those guys tried to take you...so I stopped them. I ran and we got away. I don't know what happened to them."

Xander looked around for the men and the van he attacked earlier...more so, he would haved liked to find his keys...

"Thank you," she said quietly, and tapped her hand lightly on his shoulder. "I can walk."

Setting her feet down first, Xander helped support his sister. He extended his arm to her, lending what strength he had left to her. "As soon as we get home, you're going to tell me about this dream of yours."

Kit flinched. "I had no idea it would be real. I'm sorry...I just didn't want you to laugh at me."

Xander and Kit finally reached his car. He helped her in, before sliding into his own seat and pulling off the panel under the dash. A few seconds work had the car hotwired and running. Xander headed home. "No, I can't wait until we get home. Tell me about your dream now."

She passed her hands over her face, taking in a deep breath. "It was like we saw...only you know, in dream terms. Two black chariots, and a horde of masked warriors. I-I'm not sure what they wanted exactly," her voice cracked faintly. "Just that I knew it was something they wanted from you."

"From me? What do I have that anyone would want?" On a side thought he added, "Do you think they know about the bike? Well I have a confession as well," Xander continued. "Theses tattooes..." he flexed his right arm for effect, "Are the result of a dream. I don't remember much about it, but I remembered these patterns. When I woke up I HAD to tattoo them...it just felt right. What's more...whenever you are in trouble, I know it. I can feel it through the tattooes. Whenever something is about to happen to me...I know that too. It is so weird that I never told you."

She paused, looking at him for a long moment. "If I hadn't just witnessed it myself, I would never have believed it." Kit smiled shakily, the fear still glinting in her eyes. "I, uh, guess we can call it even then, huh?"

"Yeah, but from now on...no more secrets... Can you remember anything else about the dream? Why or who or...so many questions," he trailed off.

"I don't know," she shook her head, staring down at her knees. "I just wish I did."

Xander sped on in silence towards their home. Needless to say, his weekend plans just got cancelled.

"We forgot the groceries," she squeaked, glancing over at him.

"It doesn't matter...I'm staying home this weekend. We can go shopping tomorrow."

"Tess isn't gonna be very happy," she slumped in her seat. "Would it be okay, um, if you didn't tell anybody what happened to me?"

"I won't, don't worry...not until I know why this happened. Reach into the glovebox and hand me the comm (videophone thing)."

She nodded mutely, swallowed a hard lump in her throat, and fished out the comm to hand it to him.

"Actually, I lied, we aren't going home Kit. We can get some groceries on the way. Looks like you and I are spending the weekend at the cabin."

"Now Tess REALLY isn't gonna be happy!" She slumped further. "I'm sorry, Alex, I should've told you about this earlier!"

"It's not your fault...don't ever think this was your fault, Kit. I dont know what those guys wanted, but whatever it is...they can't have it." Xander quickly dialed Tess's number, not sure how she was going to handle it.

It rang several times. When she finally picked up, he noticed that she had covered the visual part of the phone. "Xander?" she murmured sleepily. "What's wrong? It's...ugh...3:37 in the morning."

"Why is your videolink off?"

"I have a face mask on, silly," she giggled. Kit grumbled faintly, and looked out the window.

"I don't mind. I need to see your eyes when I talk to you." Mask? Xander was a curious, and therefore suspicious person by nature. He trusted Kit, but he didn't like masks...not one little bit...not anymore.

"Xander, I look like crap right now," she replied, somewhat irritated. "Where are you? Why are you calling anyway?"

"Tess...Look, something has come up...and no, I can't explain. Please, just trust me on this. But I wanted you to know that I will be out of town this weekend and I have to cancel on our plans. I'm really sorry and I will make it up to you."

She was quiet for a long moment. "Okay, Xander... But where are you going to be? Is everything all right?"

"No everything definitely is not okay...and I can't tell you where I am going. But I'll get in touch with you soon...I promise."

"Xander, what's wrong? What happened?" Fear edged into her voice. "Are you all right? Do you want me to tell Kit?"

"No, Kit is safe and she knows what is going on. Just hang tight and I'll be back. I love you..."

"I love you too...call me when you get there, okay?"

"I'll call you when I can. Goodbye."

Xander hung up, then immediately dialed up Miguel's number.

Again, it took several rings. Kit looked over at Xander suspiciously. "Who are you calling now?"

"Miguel."

"Miguel, why?" she whined.

"Don't worry, this has nothing to do with you..."

"Better not be..."

One of Miguel's little sisters picked up the phone. "Hola...?" she greeted sleepily.

"What are you doing up?" he asked, not expecting an answer, "Is your brother home?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping...can he call you back?" she yawned.

"Not really, I'm sorry to call so late, but I really need to talk to him now."

"Okay, okay, geez..." She toddled away, and he saw her image disappear. Several long moments passed.

Miguel walked to the phone in his boxers, wiping his eyes. "Do you know what time it is Xander?"

"Miguel, look, I'm going to be gone for a few days. I need you to do me a favor...get the guys, ALL of them, and go over to my house tomorrow. Check it out and lock it up for me. I don't have time to explain, just please do this for me. I should be back next week. You're a good friend Miguel."

"Did you get in trouble again?" Miguel asked.

"Sort of, but not really. I really don't know, to tell you the truth. Just check out the house and be careful, please?"

"I have no clue what is going on, but I'll take care of it all for you. Where's your sis?"

"She's with me."

"Well you take good care of her. Adios mi amigo."

"Adios Miguel."

Xander closed the connection then handed the comm to Kit. "Take the power supply out of that and put it back in the glove box. I don't know who those guys tonight were, but I don't want them tracking me by my comm."

She blinked, frowned, but complied. "Miguel is a nice guy," she noted.

Xander smiled, "Thats why he's my friend. It will be about two hours, we'll stop in an hour or so and pick up some food. You can sleep until then," Xander told her.

"You lied to Tess," she said, still surprised about it.

"Lied? What do you mean," Xander said, his head darting back and forth between the road and his sister.

"Well, you told Miguel that I was with you. You only told Tess that I was 'safe.' Don't you trust her?"

"I don't trust anyone I can't see right now...expecially someone who said they had on a 'mask'... I trust Tess," Xander told his sister, "But you know as well as I do that communications can be intercepted and voice is extremely easy to replicate. Those guys looked well financed and trained. I have no idea what they're capable of... And you should be just as careful, you hear me? No one should know where we are going. We can't hide up here forever, soon I will have to find out what just happened. But for now I just want to get away."

Kit was quiet for a long moment, then looked at him again. "Does anybody know where your cabin is, besides me?"

"No...I've never told anyone before and you're the only other person that has been out there. Tess would have known...but that is unlikely for now. It is the safest place I can think of... The only way for anyone to find it is if they find the land deed for it. But there is so much other land around it would take a week for them to search it all anyway."

"Oh. Okay, good." She smiled faintly, though she still looked a bit shaken up. "How did you do it, Alex?" she finally asked, turning fully in her seat to face him. "There were a lot of guys!"

"I...I don't know, really." Xander quickly recounted what happened, almost as accurately as he could. He made it a little less gory, and was humble about it - but for the most part it was an accurate retelling. "And then I ran and hid. I guess I lost track of time, because when we came back it was dark. I don't know how long you were out...it seemed like only minutes."

"Wow..." she whispered, her eyes wide. "I mean, you... WOW! You're like some kind of superhero! How on earth did you jump on top of the van?!"

"Adrenaline. I know you've heard of people lifting cars and running on broken legs when adrenaline kicks in. You were in danger, so I did what I had to do. I just wish I knew why."

"That's amazing," she shook her head, still in awe. "And I know you're not lying, either. Mum would've been so proud of you."

"You haven't been working on anything you shouldn't have again?"

"No!" she gasped. "Just the fuel! I was drawing up some designs for hover skates, but nothing more than drawings...and I only started those last night!"

"They aren't after us for hoverskates. The bike or the fuel...maybe. Still, that is rather extreme for any corporate operation. In the daylight, in a busy parking lot? Who would have the nerve to try and kidnap you...us, there? If they were after something I have, why did they take you?" Xander asked after a minute.

"Maybe it's the fuel," she shrugged. "I knew the formula...you've got access to the bike...plus I'm a girl, so who's less likely to put up a real fight?"

"Maybe...but no one even knows we are working on it...do they?"

"Miguel and Sy both know...and didn't you tell Tess? I thought you did..."

"She's not interested in that type of stuff. I'm sure she'll enjoy riding it once it works, but I never wasted my time telling her about it. Still, that's just the bike, not the fuel?"

"Oh...well, I submitted it to my teacher for extra credit. He was really pleased with it and showed the class," she blushed. "I'm sorry."

"Ohh, well then, I guess it could be the fuel. Still, you couldn't have expected this. When we get back, I fear your lab may have been ransacked. Too late to deal with it now I guess. What do you want to do?" Xander asked his sister. He had really run out of thoughts and ideas for the moment. Everything was happening so quick...it was all so weird and no answers really presented themselves.

"Spontaneously combusting sounds good to me," she hunched into herself. "Let's try the cabin... Your tattoos will warn us if there's any sort of danger in there, right?"

"I suppose. You probably know as much about how they work as I do."

"Worth a shot," she sighed. Then she leaned against his shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me? I wasn't the one that was almost kidnapped." Xander leaned over to kiss his sister on the top of the head, and kept driving.

He felt more than saw her smile. "And I'm not the one taking out legions of kidnappers." She yawned, and gently patted his arm. "Wake me when we're there."

Xander drove on for a while, taking time to stop and get a few supplies from a general store, then flew through the old country roads, to dirt roads, all the way to his secluded cabin by the stream. "Kit," Xander shook his sister lightly, "We're here."

She jerked awake immediately, glancing around as though in a daze. Then she remembered, and stretched her right arm out to the side. "Thanks...hope I didn't put your shoulder to sleep, kwah ha..."

"Were your dreams peaceful?" he asked.

"Um...well, more weird than peaceful. A snake in a bowtie rolling this big donut." She shook her head. "I hate psycho dreams." She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door to the car, moving out to stretch her legs. "I bet you're exhausted by now...I forgot that you didn't sleep last night either."

"Days, remember," he smiled a reassuring smile, and kept on working. He opened the trunk and carried in the bags of groceries. "I don't have a refrigerator, but there is a small shelf behind the waterfall, it stays pretty cold back there...so anything needing refrigeration goes behind the waterfall."

Kit pawed through the bags, looking for anything that needed to be kept cold. She took out the package of hot dogs, cheese, milk, and other items. "Is the waterfall close by?"

"About a minute or two. Hold on and I will go with you. I don't want either of us to wander off by ourselves for a while." Xander finished carrying in all the food, then lit up a cigarrette and walked down a small path, up stream. They soon reached a beautiful clear blue pond. It almost looked like a beach, with the sand around it, and at the other end of the clearing, a crystal blue waterfall fell into the stream.

"There is a path to the right of the pond that will take you up behind the waterfall without having to get wet," Xander told his sister as he led on down the path.

"Wow... Now I know why you wanted to bring Tess out here, this place is beautiful!" she said in awe as she carefully picked out her path. "I didn't realize how ugly the city was 'til now."

"After I got my license I got really mad about something one day. Do you remember when I went missing for two days...that's when I found this place. Well, not this exact place, but the forest. I drove up here and got lost, just wandering around, enjoying myself. I finally happened upon this small cabin and bought it not long after. The state owned it at the time, the guy that used to live here died about 20 years ago."

"So THAT'S where you went to! You still haven't told me what made you so mad," she teased with a smile, pausing to poke his ribs with her finger.

"To tell you the truth, I don't even remember any more. But I'm glad I did get angry about whatever it was, because now I have this place."

"I'm glad too...what a relief! And you don't have to show any ID to stay here, either!" She clapped his shoulder with her free hand. "I'm so proud of my widdle bwother!"

"Ahh, be quiet," Xander said blushing slightly. He put the food away behind the waterfall, and slid a rock in front of the shelf to hopefully keep animals out. He really should install a door on it sometime. He started back towards the beach. "So," he asked, "What do you want to do all weekend, Kit?"

"Sleep?" she grinned. "No, I don't know... Whatever it is, I just like spending time with my brother. Maybe we can go fishing...if you know how to cook them, that is," she added quickly.

"I know better than you...and whatever I don't know...well, I've got all weekend, at least, to figure it out."

"We can figure it out some other weekend," she waved her hand, and started back down the path. "I just remembered we'd have to gut the suckers too. Yuck."

"I'll cook em, you clean em," Xander added as he begian the short walk towards the cabin. "What about this," he began, "If you can actually catch a fish, then I'll cook it."

"NO!" she laughed. "I don't want to pull some poor thing's guts out! I'd rather feed chipmunks."

Xander was full of life again. It was nice to be able to forget the day's earlier problems, if only for a minute. "Alright then, if you catch a chipmunk, I'll cook it too."

"ALEX!" she laughed loudly. Kit tripped over a root, but caught herself before she could fall flat on her face. "Whatever we do, let's not go hiking at night. I can't see a thing out here!"

"Agreed," Xander told her, helping Kit to her feet. "Maybe you do need some more rest?"

She nodded. "Yeah...that stuff they had on the cloth is still making me sort of dizzy and thick in the head. You should sleep too, I mean it!"

"Come on." Xander led her into the cabin, and quickly scanned the room to make sure no one else was there.

The cabin was quiet, and the tattoos on his arm didn't even so much as twitch. "You picking up anything?" she asked him quietly.

"Nothing at all." He pulled the sheet on the bed down before searching in the drawer for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Xander tossed her the clothes and turned around.

"Heyyyy, nice!" she said gleefully. Then she paused. "There's another bed here, isn't there?"

"No, but I'll sleep on the couch..."

"No way, I've got dibs!" she cackled.

"Don't argue with me on this, the bed, now!" he ordered.

"Aw, c'mon, I want the couch..."

Xander smiled and shook his head. He pointed to the bed, showing her where she was sleeping.

"You suck," she pouted. "But we're switching tomorrow night, it's only fair!"

"We will see, hon, we will see..." As Xander waited for his sister to get into bed, he started to put some of the groceries away in the cabinet and straighten the place up.

Kit kissed his cheek affectionately. "If you don't promise right now to take the bed tomorrow night, I'll cook breakfast."

"Alright, alright, I promise...just please don't burn our cabin down."

While he did, she hid behind the bed to change into the more comfortable clothes. When she was finished, she pulled the elastic band from her wildly disheveled purplish hair. "Anything I can help with?" she offered, padding into the kitchen.

"Not really, I am about done here. You can go ahead and go to sleep."

"You're going to sleep too, right?" she looked at him worriedly.

"I'm on my way," he lied.

Kit frowned at him, her hands on her hips. "Alex..."

"Seriously," he told her, "I'm going right now... I just have a couple more things to put away."

"While you do, I'll build the fire!" she trilled joyfully, practically skipping across the room to the fireplace.

Xander shook his head and grinned. What would he have done if he had lost his sister? He couldn't imagine. The last thing left in the bags was a bottle of whiskey. It wasn't quite wine, but Kit was far from being Tess. He popped the cap while Kit was building the fire, took a big swig, then slipped that into the cabinet as well.

Kit hummed happily to herself, hovering back and forth in front of the fireplace as she loaded it up with wood. Once it seemed in good order, she struck a match and tossed it in.

*BOOOOMMM!!!!*

"ACK!" Kit tripped over the carpet, landing on her butt as the flames flared bigger than life for a moment, then went back to normal. "Kee hee hee hee hee! You didn't tell me it was a gas fireplace!"

"Well, it's both...you can turn it off or on depending," Xander pointed to a valve to the right of the fireplace. "I don't know how full it is right now, so go ahead and turn it off. The wood should be sufficient enough for now."

Xander laid back on the couch and watched Kit build the fire. He didn't have any intents of going to sleep, just sit here and rest and keep watch. Kit said that these guys were after him or something he had - but the only thing valuable that he had was Kit...and they did try to kidnap her, not him. He wasn't going to be that careless again.

Kit turned the squeaky valve, and the fire crackled merrily enough with the supply of wood. "Blankets in the closet?" she asked, halfway there.

Xander nodded needlessly.

Kit reached up, pulling a few of them down. Then she grinned at Xander as she laid them out over him in an almost motherly fashion. "Are you going to be warm enough?"

"Ha, Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks." He resisted the urge to comment on how much she DID remind them of mom. She would only get worried unnecessarily.

"Now you go to bed too, little one."

"Turd," she laughed, making the word sound like more like an endearment. "Good night...sleep well, okay?"

"Goodnight." Xander leaned back, his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. He'd keep watch all night, he had to.

Xander leaned back, put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Slowly his eyes drifted shut, and he was powerless to stop them.

------

Xander's eyes suddenly snapped back up, but it wasn't the ceiling he was looking at now. All around Xander was a dense and heavy fog. It took over all his senses, and he could not make out anything else. Far from the left, however, he began to hear the soft beat of a drum.

No, wait, that wasn't a drum...it was the gallop of horses...a lot of horses. As Xander strained to see where the noise was coming from, it continued to get louder. And louder. And louder yet. And when it finally sounded as if he would be run over by whatever was coming, Xander saw it: Two black chariots, each with a team of black stallions. A man in a mask waved his whip wildly, snapping it skillfully about the horses.

Xander didn't take anymore time to watch the chariots as he ran and dove out of the way of the incoming men. He jumped, closed his eyes, and prayed for the best. Suddenly the sounds were gone, and Xander looked back to where he was standing.

Now only had the chariots disappeared, but the fog as well. Xander now stood in a large open area. It looked almost like a park, but there were no people around. Or at least there weren't when he first looked. On second glance, Xander saw a woman approaching. She was beautiful and dark skinned and as she got closer Xander realized it was Tess.

"Tess," his voice rang out clear. "What took you so long," he asked. His mind had already moved on from the weird situation that had occurred only moments before and he was positive he belonged right where he was.

"Traffic," Tess responded with a shrug of her shoulders. She leaned up and kissed Xander passionately, and everything felt right. Xander took Tess's hand in his own and the two began to walk down the trail. They walked quite a while before Xander felt the urge to speak again.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. I didn't know what else to do."

"That's alright baby," Tess told Xander, with a slight giggle. "I understand."

Tess stopped to look at Xander. "I just want you to know that no matter what, you can always trust me...trust me...trust me..." Tess's voice began to echo and become louder and louder.

Xander started to question her about the voice, but before he could, sweet and innocent Tess began to change. Her face became entirely black. No features, no color, just a pure mask of black. Her body mutated fiercely into what could only be described as pure Hell spawn. The looming demon above he spoke with that same loud, echoing voice. "Xander..." it told him, "I love you."

"NOOO!" Xander yelled back at the creature. Then he ran.

Not sure how long he ran, or even if his running was getting him anywhere, Xander kept pushing himself. He did not take time to look at his surrounding; didn't take time to think; didn't care, truthfully; he just ran. About the time when Xander's legs began to burn, he tripped and fell over a branch in his path. His trip sent him rolling down a huge hill, hitting every last rock along the way. At the bottom of hill he staggered into a crawling position. Everything hurt. Everything.

Xander crawled forwards, finding himself on the bank of some sort of lake. One of Xander's eyes was swollen shut, but he still looked out over the lake. As far as his one good eye could see, all Xander saw was pure silvery water...the glare nearly blinded him. Pulling himself ever closer to the water, Xander saw his own reflection in the water. He tried smiling, but it was a grotesque sight.

But, despite his decision to not smile any more, his reflection apparently had other plans. The image in the water kept smiling, and Xander saw his face change. The water swirled around slowly from the image of Xander, into a reflection of Xander with his father's face. The face on Xander's body was faded and fuzzy, just like the one picture he had seen of his father. The image kept changing, though. Soon what had been Xander at one time was a huge demonic form of pure black with his fathers face on it.

Pure terror took over Xander's body and mind. He couldn't control it, he couldn't fight it, it just 'was'. Xander pushed himself to his feet, fighting the terror caused by his own reflection and called out to the heaven. He didn't exactly say words, just yelled, but his emotions were heard clearly. Xander then toppled forward into the lake. The icy, metallic water slid across his skin as Xander merged with his reflection. Then darkness...

"Alex?" Kit's voice cut through the darkness. A sliver of light appeared, and she was looking up at him. "Alex? There's more of them...we're in over our heads." The darkness split apart completely, and it showed her standing before him in, of all the ridiculous things, an elegant gown trimmed with gold and rubies. A diamond tiara rested on her brow. She growled at it and threw it away...but it only appeared again and again. "I can't get rid of it...help me get rid of it, Alex..."

Three demons rose up from the shadows...one bore the face of his father, the other the guise of Tess' foulness from earlier. And the third...the third he had never seen before. Only the one with his father's face wasn't bearing claws. Kit turned around with a gasp, and fled past her brother with a shriek of dismay. "Uwaaaaaaa!!!! Where's Umatsu when you need him?!"

For some reason, the demons didn't even seem to know he was there...the pattern of his tattoos formed a translucent image...a shield of sorts...and through it they could not see him.........

Xander snapped up from the couch, drenched in a cold sweat. He felt his body checking for the injuries he sustained in the dream. Nothing. Xander doubted he would ever sleep again.

Kit was still sound asleep, she hadn't stirred the whole time.

All of a sudden, both tattooes flared up in terrible pain.

As Xander's tattooes on his arms warned him of danger, he leaped from the couch and to the side of the bed. "Kit, wake up. Please, Kit, wake it up," Xander whispered and he shook his sister. Kit's eyes flittered open, then widened. Xander was not sure if Kit had the same dream he just had, or anything similar, but he didn't have time to ask her about it either. "Someone or something is here. Hide, quickly," he ordered and made his way quickly towards the firewood. Grabbing a piece of wood as a weapon, he positioned himself beside the door and waited for whatever was out there. On a side note, he checked to see if Kit really was hiding, hopefully she understood the urgence of his order. What HAD they gotten themselves into, he wondered?

Kit was gone...vanished quickly and silently, he noticed...then he caught a glimpse of her peering at him from beneath the bed. She looked worried, and was gnawing at her lip.

The deck creaked with the sound of footsteps...very light footsteps, without the click of boots. Sneakers, perhaps. The doorknob turned slowly... And then noiselessly it swung open, admitting a cold breath of wind that sent a few dry leaves skittering over the doorstep.

Xander, despite an urge to simply knock out this intruder, kept his cool. He knelt low and waited. Hopefully he would not be noticed by the entering man…and if he was, Xander could always knock him out. He hoped. Mostly, though, he wanted to identify this person before he leveled him.

He caught the faint fluttering glimpse of a white cape, just before an enormous man-shaped silhouette entered...with two antennae protruding, one above each thick, rectangular brow. In the darkness it was difficult to discern colors, but the skin was not that of a caucasian.

Xander waited patiently for the man to walk in and look. When the timing seemed right, Xander moved. He sprang to his feet, dropping the log as he rose behind the intruder. His right arm went around he stranger's neck and his left braced the first one. Xander used his momentum to push himself foward and drive the man, head first into the ground...hopefully having enough of a grip to decapacitate him.

The man's neck was thickly corded, and he heard him snarl. "Get off of me, human!"

"Got him, Guru," came a *second* voice, and a clawed hand suddenly grabbed Xander's collar, ripping him backwards and throwing him clear across the cabin where he crashed (luckily) into the couch. "Tell us where the Amberite resides, and no further harm will come to you!"

The one he had attacked stood up, coughing, and dug some sort of device out of his pocket that he hooked onto his ear, a blue panel covering his right eye. Slowly he began to scan the cabin.

Xander decided to not give the man time to scan the room. Jumping and leaping at the man he had already attacked one, Xander decided to hit the man with the full force of his jump direcly in the eye with the communicator. He wasn't really sure what was going to come next, but more or less his primitive instincts were taking over and he was fighting with everything he had. He wouldn't do it any other way.

His target grunted as the object flew off his head, skidding into a corner with a slight crack across the pane...but otherwise, it was still in tact. The other man appeared from behind, capturing Xander in a nelson hold. The one he'd punched rubbed at his face, and he saw the semblance of fangs. "Stupid human...we warned you," he growled, and slammed his fist into Xander's stomach.

Xander recovered as quickly as his body would let him. He could NOT lose this fight. Not if he was going to protect Kit. Once he was not stunned from the blow, Xander jumped and kicked as hard as he could at where this man's valuables SHOULD be.

Unfortunately, whatever he was fighting didn't seem nearly as affected as most normal human males should have. He grunted with the pain, yes, but came right back at him.

His other foot followed, pushing back on the man's stomach. At least, Xander hoped it all worked that way. Using his momentum, Xander pushed the man holding him backwards and hard, trying to knock them both into a wall, and hopefully be able to use his head to slam into the man's holding him.

The man stumbled slightly, but kept his grip firm and tightened it even more. Now his hold was becoming unbearably painful, and he pressed his cold palms against the back of Xander's neck, forcing his head down with powerful strength.

"Kill it," his captor growled. "THAT will bring out the Amberite!"

"Gladly, the other man snarled, and brought up a hand. His fingers hooked, and Xander caught a glimpse of black talons gleaming from the firelight.

A sudden shriek from Kit startled everyone, just before a thick, heavy book slammed into the back of his captor's head, just at the base of his skull.

"URGH!" he grunted, and his arms went limp...releasing Xander. He toppled to the ground, unconscious.

"There you are," the last remaining man sneered nastily, but his eyes returned to Xander. "I'll deal with you first, human!"

"Ohh, please do," Xander snarled back at his attacker. Then he charged. So far all Xander had done was charge fiercely. That hadn't been working so far. But he charged anyway, hoping to lure the man into thinking Xander was going to do what he had done already. Instead, right as Xander reached the man, he dropped and slid, sliding the man's feet out from under him. Hopefully Xander could end up in an advantageous position. He stood and dropped onto the man, a fury of fists, and hopfully gaining enough of an upperhand, to put this beast into submission. "Find some rope...or something stronger," Xander asked Kit.

Kit was panicking, running back and forth with her hands clasped over her mouth. "What rope?! Where at?! I-I-I'm conFUSED!"

One last vicious blow sent the man completely unconscious...and all was still in the cabin again. Except for the rapid thumping of Kit's feet as she ran about in erratic patterns.

"There is an old rusty chain on the north side of the building," Xander told his sister. "The old man that was here before left it and I've never thrown it away. Hurry, and BE CAREFUL," he warns at last. Xander quickly pulls the two men up side by side and retrieves the slightly damaged scanning device. While he waited for Kit, Xander quickly searched the men's pockets and really took a look at them. He lit some candles, got the fire going again, but the whole time he watched the two men. If either of them breathed heavily, he received a kick to the head. When Kit returned, Xander set about chaining the two men, TIGHTLY, to the back of his bumper. Their arms were tied in place, their behinds dragging just barely on the ground. "What do you think Kit," Xander asked, showing her whatever he found in their pockets...and vehicle if there was one.

Oddly enough there was no vehicle, nor any sign of transporation. The only thing in their pockets was a small bag which contained three foul-smelling beans. Who knew what THOSE were for.

The men were strange looking...as though they were part dragon. Their skin was green, though unscaled except for the area just along the backs of their four-fingered hands. Black talons tipped each finger instead of nails, and a three-inch antenna protruded at the left and right temple, just above the corner of the eyeridge. Both were dressed oddly with brown, pointed shoes...the taller, thinner one was dressed in purple pants and a purple, sleeveless tunic, with a sash of blue around his waist. Around his shoulders was a white cape, and a strange purple and white turban on his head. The other was a more squat fellow, almost fat, wearing a thick white robe with a ruffled red collar around his neck.

Kit was trembling violently, staring at them with horror. "Wh-wh-what ARE they?!" she sucked in her breath.

"I have no idea Kit, but we will find out soon enough." Xander put the scanner over his ear, and flipped the screen in front of his eye, attempting to discover the use of the mechanism. Xander stepped inside the door to the house for a second, then came back handing Kit the log he dropped earlier. "If they move, hit them." He quickly headed inside and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, a bottle of water, and a cup. He didn't have smelling salts...maybe whiskey would work.

When he returned, he saw Kit glowing a bright, golden color through the device that he wore over his eye. The others remained as they were without any glowing effects whatsoever. Kit was staring at them suspiciously, clutching the log so tightly that her fingers and knuckles were pale. "Don't wake them up...we could just leave them here...I don't want them to look at me, they're CREEPY!"

Xander flipped the device back, then on again, making sure of what he saw. He looked around the area, himself included, trying to make sense of what was going on. He checked through the menu system or whatever was available to see if any more information was available (glowing or not might be all it did). "Don't worry about them, I think its under control. Either way, though, I want you to sit in the driver's seat. If I can't get them to talk, we will just drag them until they answer. To start the car, just spark those two wires," he added.

Xander pulled up another log and sat it in front of the prisoners. Checking to see which one was in a lesser sleep, he poured a bit of the whiskey on the man's head. "Wakey, wakey," he said, taking a shot for himself. He poured a little of the water into the cup and threw that in the dragonman's face if he did not wake up.

Xander sat down on the log, out of the reach from the men, and lit a cigarette. The taller dragonman suddenly grimaced, his face contorting, and he opened his eyes to GLARE at Xander. "Dirty human," he spat.

Kit sat anxiously in the driver's seat, looking at the controls with worry. She'd never driven a CAR before...

"I'm glad you decided to join us," Xander told the dirty reptillian. "Now," he continued, "Who, and what are you?" he demanded.

"I am Namekkian...and that is all you need to know!" he snarled in a low, deep voice. "If you do not release us, the Dragon God will come and smite you with his wrath!"

"Not good enough!" Xander told the Namekkian. He poured a little bit more whiskey into the glass, then tossed it into Namekkian's eyes. "I am not joking around here. WHY ARE YOU AFTER MY SISTER!?" Xander raged and kicked the man in the stomach. "Answer me," he stated the ultimative forcefully.

"Sister? Bah, you know nothing... YOU are not of Amberite blood!" he spat, blinking the liquid out of his burning eyes. "We go where the Dragon God commands us to go! We are loyal to him alone!"

"Amber?" Xander asked the dragonman. "What in the HELL is an Amberite...that's several times you've mentioned that?"

"What you're not," he sneered nastily. "Ha ha ha..."

Xander stood up long enough to punch the man as hard as he could across the jaw. "Why does the dragon god bastard want her then? Why not just ask for whatever it is?"

"Fool," the man wheezed, and spat his disgust to the side. "Namekkians do not question the will of the Dragon God! It is blasphemy!"

Kit chewed her lip, her hands clenching the headrest of the carseat tightly as she watched Xander's angry face with worry.

Xander didn't know what else to do. He was getting quite frustrated. He didn't want to take more extreme measures but things were looking that way. "How did you get here, then?" he asked, hoping he could get some sort of information from these guys.

"We followed the Black Dragon Road," he snarled angrily. "The sensor picked up the Amberite and alerted us when she was close."

"Black Dragon Road?" Xander asked questioningly. Then, "I still don't understand how she is this...'Amberite' you speak of..."

"Ugh..." the squat Namekkian grunted, coming to. "We don't know...only that an Amberite is another type of god."

"God," Xander responded with a questioning look towards Kit. "Where are you supposed to take her once you captured her," Xander asked to both of them.

Kit looked pale...only her eyes were peering over the seat at him, as she'd sunken lower.

"To the Dragon God, of course," the taller man sneered contemptuously.

The shorter one continued. "He promised that the Yammen trees would grow once again if we did."

"And where is this dragon god? Down the black dragon road I assume? And where would that happen to be?" Xavier asked, assuming answers to his first questions.

Both of them smirked, and lifted their eyes heavenward.

Xander heard Kit gasp with a quiet squeak as she jumped. Up above in the clouds was a thin black ribbon...writhing silently in the patches of moonlight.

"You fly?" Xander asked the dragonmen...and why not, he told himself. They were dragons. Now, if he just had that damn hoverbike!

"We fly, human," the thin one sneered at him. "But YOU do not."

"Hush..." the other one bumped him with his shoulder. "If you wish, we can bring you back to our land. You will have your questions answered, and we will have accomplished our mission."

"Like hell that is going to happen," Xander told the dragonmen. "I am not that stupid."

Kit looked relieved, and wiped a hand over her brow. She'd been afraid that Xander had been intending to go with them!

"How can you contact your god for instructions?" he asked.

"We cannot," the squat one shook his head. "He told us what to do. That is all. We will not speak to him again until we return."

Xander wished he had time to comfort Kit, he was sure she needed it...he wouldn't mind some reassurement himself. "And if you never return?" he asked.

"Then the Namekkians are doomed," the tall one narrowed his eyes at him. "I hope you are satisfied, human."

"Maybe if you had asked politely back at the grocery store, we would have just followed you."

"Grocery store?" The two exchanged a strange look. "We know not of what you speak."

"You didn't attack us earlier today?" No, Xander guessed not. If they could fly, why would they come in an SUV. What in the world had Kit done, he wondered.

She caught his look, and hid behind the seat again with a squawked 'eep!' "I didn't DO anything!" she cried.

Xander motioned Kit over to him, and stepped away from the dragonmen for a second. "If I call Miguel, do you think he could get the bike flying? And if so, how long do you think it would take for him to get here?"

"No! No, Xander!" she pleaded, grabbing his sleeve. "We CAN'T go there! If this guy is more powerful than a whole land of these people, then we're no match for him!"

"Do you have any better ideas on how to find out what is going on? I am up for suggestions, but I've run out of ideas. These guys aren't offering much, I'm not even sure they know much. I'm at a complete loss Kit."

"I don't know what to do!" she sobbed. "But we can't go there! What if he KILLS you?!"

"Better we die finding out why than waiting here fearful the rest of our lives."

"I don't want you to die..." she cried, tears running down her cheeks. "I couldn't bear it! Please, please don't go!"

"Kit..." Xander said softly. "We have to..." Xander ran his hand along the side of his sister face, and pulled her eyes facing his. "I have to..." he kissed her gently on her forehead and held her tight for a second.

She threw her arms around him, crying into his shirt. "Please, please, please... It's not going to be good! I can FEEL it!"

Xander let go of his sister, having closed the matter in his mind. He opened up the glovebox and repowered the comm device. He called Miguel yet again.

Kit burst into tears and ran into the cabin, not even bothering to shut the door behind her as she fled.

Xander pushed aside his want to rush to her and stayed to call Miguel and watch their prisoners.

Someone would pay for this...ohhh yeah, someone would pay dearly.

"Hey man, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to hear from you again after last night."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Look, are you at my house right now?"

"I sure am, the other guys are on their way over here right now. Can you explain this yet?"

"Not really. But I can tell you this...you're going to get to drive my bike before I ever do."

"Huh?"

Xander quickly ran down the directions on putting the finishing pieces on the bike. It was all ready to go, it just needed a few more screws. He led Miguel through his sister's lab where he found an entire gas can of the new fuel, and loaded it into the bike.

"Bring my toolbox, more chain, and the combination to the safe is 18-36-48-6. Bring my gun with you as well."

"Is it that serious?" he asked.

"Worse than you could imagine. And hey Miguel," Xander called.

"Yeah?"

"Go real easy on the bike...I'm not really sure how stable it is."

"I gotcha. Be there as soon as I can."

Xander gave him the rest of the directions to the cabin, then signed off.

He took up his seat in front of the dragonmen and looked in curiousity. "Tell me about this so called 'god' of yours. What does he look like, how does he act...why do you follow him?"

"He is the greatest dragon of all time...he stretches over a mile long from head to tail, with rows of sharp teeth...eyes that glow with crimson fire that flares from his very breath... He is power incarnate."

"If he is so powerful, why doesn't he just come here himself? If he is so powerful," Xander demanded, "What does he need Kit for?"

They shrugged, and shook their heads. "Maybe he seeks a Dragon Bride...?" the shorter one suggested, not really sure.

Xander snorted in frustration. "Where is your home? I figured that if a mile long dragon lived on Earth, I would know about it. From where do you hail? Where does that dark streak in the sky lead to?"

"To Namek, human," the tall one glared at him. "You would NOT be welcome among my people."

"Well you are not welcome among mine!" Xander shouted back. "How is it," Xander said taking a good look at the dragonmen, "That you are able to fly without wings or propulsion?"

"Chi," the shorter one answered. "A power gifted to us from the Dragon God long, long ago."

"So if she," meaning Kit, "Is a god, can she fly also?"

They blinked. "We...do not know."

"Tell me more about Namek...is it an island, a state, a mountain? Where on earth is it?"

"What is this Earth you speak of, human?" He narrowed his eyes.

"This planet you are on now. The Earth is where you are at...you aren't from this planet," he asked, fearful of the answer.

They both laughed loudly. "How many Namekkians do you SEE here on a regular basis? Stupid human..."

"So that thing in the sky is a rupture in space? That is how you traveled here?" The last part was more of a thought to himself than a question.

"It is the road of the Dragon God." The tall Namekkian was looking exasperated. "Do you dare to suppose that we know the ways of the gods?"

"If you dedicate your life to him, you had best know what he stands for and what he is capable of. Or do you follow any god as blindly as you do you own. If so, I'm sure Kit will be glad to have you as worshipers!" Xander spat in disgust.

"Blasphemer!" the tall one snapped, struggling against the chains. "He is all-powerful! It is not our place to question him!"

"Nothing is all powerful...and if it was all powerful, it would have simply transported Kit into his lair. It is an impossibility that he is all powerful because he has to rely on two twits like you!" If pain didn't work, maybe he could talk them out of their beliefs enough to get some answers.

"How dare you...filthy cabbage maggot!" he snapped. "This was to be a test of our faith! And we WILL endure to the end!"

"Endure what? Sitting there looking stupid? Have fun, because that is the only place you will be going for a long time. Looks like you just failed your god, huh?"

"And our people..." the smaller one sighed, looking dejectedly at the ground.

"Don't worry, Guru," the taller one reassured him. "We will find a way."

Xander stood and walked away from the Nameks. He stayed outside to watch them, but looked inside the cabin to check on Kit. "Kit," he called, hoping she was not as upset as she was before.

His response summoned forth a shuddering sob. He saw her hunched over close to the fire, sitting down and rocking back and forth as she hugged her knees.

"Kit, come here," he begged of her.

"I'm not going," her voice cracked, and she lifted her hand to wipe at her face.

"Ohh, you're not?" he asked. "Why not?"

"Just...just 'cause," she sulked, refusing to turn around and look at him.

"Kit I need you. You saved me tonight...you saved us tonight. Without you I will most assuredly fail. What is it that scares you so much about this...besides the obvious, of course," he chuckled softly.

"Isn't the obvious enough!?" she exclaimed. "You're all that's left, Alex! Mom is gone, we never even knew Dad...I don't want to lose you too! I'd DIE!"

"You are plenty strong enough to survive on your own. But what's more important is this: I'm NOT going to die. I promise. Especially if I know that I have you on my side, backing me up."

"Oh yeah, right, like a fat load of good WE'RE gonna do against a mile-long DRAGON GOD!"

"Again, Kit, I am open to suggestions. Maybe they're lying. Maybe they're friends," he laughed at that one. "I don't know, but we have got to find out...and quickly."

"I'd rather run and hide. Facing it will just get us killed." She'd reverted back to sulking hopelessly, still staring at the fire. "I'm not going. You can't make me go."

"Nor will I. If you want to stay here and hide and be afraid, by all means, stay. But that will only assure one final ending, and you know it. Where would we hide anyway? This is the safest place I knew of and look how long it took then to find us."

"How is that any better than running straight into their hands? I don't wanna be a Dragon Bride!"

"You won't, I won't let that happen. Besides, where is the ONE place they would not think to look? Why, in their own home...wherever that is. We can get in, look around and figure it out before they even know that we are not here any more."

"Oh yes, we'll hide SO well, with those little...devices...they have to look for Amberites! That's why I can't go, I'm a danger to you! And you shouldn't go, he'll KILL you! Or worse!"

"Look Kit, this is pointless, we keep going around and around in circles. You are not now, nor will you ever be a danger to me. And I DO want you with me. I'm going to be out here questioning the Nameks. If you'd like to come contribute, I could use the help."

"They're innocent and clueless," she hunched down further, so that her cheek rested on her knee. "They're not evil, Alex...just misguided."

"So what do we do?" he asked.

"We get as far away from them as we can!" she sighed. "Anything else would just get us killed quickly!"

"And where do we run to?" Xander asked.

"Who knows...who cares...if we don't know, they won't know either." She continued rocking...her voice had a funny tinge to it also, he noticed.

"Amber?" he said sarcastically, "If you're an Amberite, where is this Amber you are supposed to be from?"

"I don't know..." she said quietly. "I know just as much as you do...you're my twin, why aren't YOU an Amberite too?"

"You're asking the wrong person..." Xander trailed off for a second, and Kit could watch him through the opening in the door. He approached the dragons and kicked them lightly to get them up and paying attention. "Where is Amber?" he demanded of them.

"We don't know," they growled at him. "Why do you keep asking stupid questions?"

"Because I could not imagine people so entirely idiotic as to follow directions blindly without ANY details about what they were doing. Sure your 'god' has described it or spoken of it. THINK!"

The tall one straightened. "We know nothing more. We are as good as dead anyway...so go on. Destroy us."

"I may yet..." he told them coldly.

In the sky a streak suddenly appeared racing for Xander's location. He could tell by the humm that it was Miguel. The bike passed them over, then swooped closer and closer until Miguel finally set it down.

"How was the ride?"

"Xander that machine is sweeeet...what in the hell!" Miguel yelled at the sight of the chained up dragonmen.

"They attacked us this morning. I won."

"What are they?"

"They call themselves 'Nameks', I don't know a lot more. But whatever they are, they are after Kit. We are going to have to leave for a while, and I don't know how long."

"Wha..where are you gonig?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but far, and fast."

"Follow me," he asked Miguel. "I need you to take care of some things for me. These...beasts...you can leave at a police station, or a zoo, or whatever you want to do. You can let them go if you want, but be careful, they're dangerous."

"I'm also not sure Kit's going to come with me. If she does stay, she is your responsibility. Watch her, make sure she stays safe, okay?"

"I promise." Miguel extended his arm and Xander clasped it. "I don't know what is going on," Miguel continued, "But I don't think I want to. This is a very, very strange situation...but I will do what you ask."

"Somehow, someway I will repay you, Miguel."

"Thats what you said about the drinks two weeks ago."

"Kit," Xander yelled, "Miguel has arrived. If you aren't going with me, could you at least help me look at the bike?"

"If you leave me here, more will come!" she threatened from inside. "If you go there, there will be tons more! Why don't you be sensible?!"

"Kit I am being as sensible as I can. You cannot stay in hiding all your life. You can't run forever. Thats what Mom did and look what happened to her! Kit, if you never stand up for something, if you never live your life, it will pass you by and disappear. All you will remember is anquish. I refuse to let that happen to me. We are left no other choice...why do I go to find them?" Xander's emotions were held in check no longer, he spoke with passion, "Because I care too much for you to do otherwise. Losing you would be worse than my death, Kit. For whatever reason these guys are after you, so I WILL stop them. I MUST. But I do it all because I love you. You know good and well that running will get us no where. We really don't even have the option of running. I couldn't begin to understand the forces at work here, so I must seek the out and learn. That is why I need you with me...Please, Kit. We both know that without the two of us together we will both most likely perish!"

Another rack of sobs emerged from the cabin. "We're not gonna...*sniffle* make it...we'll never find Mum again..."

"We WILL make it Kit, we just have to stick together, thats all."

"Please stay with me..." she pleaded.

"Kit, I must go, for your sake. I don't understand why you won't come with me. Whatever we will face, we will face it together, brother and sister. I will protect you, and, if need be, you will protect to me. Together has there ever been anything we could not do?"

She sniffled again. He then saw her diminutive shadow close to the side of the doorway. "There's always a first," he saw the movement of her arm, still wiping at her dampened cheeks.

"Not if you don't think negatively, there doesn't have to be. I know we can figure this out Kit. I KNOW IT! Just, please trust me...please?" Xander extended his hand towards his sister. He didn't have any more time to waste, either she was coming or she wasn't. Time for talk was gone, he had to move.

He saw her shoot a nervous glance at Miguel, then back at him. She had bitten her lip so hard, there was blood there. Then, slowly, she inched forward. Her hand was clammy and trembling as it found his, and clung tightly to it as though her life depended on their grip.

Xander sighed a huge sigh of relief and held his sister's hand tightly. "We fly. Miguel, the car, the house, the cabin, will you take care of it all."

"Don't worry about it a bit, its all under control. Call me when you can..."

"I'll try."

Xander led Kit towards their hoverbike and took about a minute to fix anything Miguel did wrong. "You take care of them alright?" Xander asked Miguel.

Kit latched tightly onto Xander's arm, turning her face away from Miguel so he wouldn't see her red puffy eyes.

"Not really, but the boys were following me in their car. We should be able to handle them. I'll make up a good story for you...don't worry."

"Thanks."

Xander cocked the pistol and slid it into his coat pocket and he left the chain Miguel had brought. He swung his leg over the bike and waited for Kit to follow suit. "You ready?" he asked.

"No," she pouted, holding onto him tightly.

"Well hold on anyway, here we go..."

Kit nodded mutely, shivering, and her thin arms constricted more tightly around him.

The bike flew straight up and Xander glared one last time at the vile Nameks. He kicked it in gear and eased on the throttle...the bike took off instantly. He made for the black ribbon and whatever was beyond.

****

Time flowed on. The sun rose slowly, and much to Xander's surprise, the landscape seemed to flow and shift. Seasons came and went, and unfamiliar birds became more and more frequent in the air.

Kit's grip was beginning to lessen, and before long he felt her cheek pressed into his back as she lay slumped there, exhausted mentally and physically.

Xander positioned himself so that the two of them were held firmly on the bike. It would be horrible if Kit went to sleep and ended up falling off the bike. Xander continued to drive onwards, flying through the air. It was quite exhilarating, he just wished he was flying the bike for fun. As far as the landscape changing, Xander knew it should have surprised him...but it didn't. After dragonmen, men in masks, and completely psychotic dreams little was going to suprise him.

The scenery became more and more strange. Hours fled, and soon it was dark. Kit had woken up by this time, and was shifting uncomfortably behind him. Several times her stomach growled loud enough to be heard over the noise of the bike, but she didn't say anything at all.

Xander heard his sister's stomach and his own began to sound the same way. "Well," he said, turning to look at Kit, "Do you want to risk landing and finding something to eat? I suppose we could even find somewhere to sleep if it looks safe. I'm just worried about what we will find down there. What do you think?"

"I'm more worried about what's up ahead, heh..." she said with a weary smile. "Yeah, let's...get something to eat. I think the last thing I had was that lemonade."

Xander slowed the bike down and began a downward sprial towards the ground. He slowly circled outwards looking for some signs of civilization. And, assuming he found anything at all, he began to look for a restaurant, a hotel, or something.

"There," Kit pointed, and standing tall and proud was a very familiar sign.

A pair of golden arches.

"Nice to see not everything changed," she grinned, hugging Xander from behind.

"Now let's just hope that they take our money," Xander told his sister as he raced foward towards the McDonalds. He set the bike down gently, removed the keys, and goes to get a Big Mac.

"What if they don't?" she whispered, sticking as close to him as she could without being too clingy. "Maybe I could offer to wash dishes or something..."

"Or maybe I'll just offer to steal it?" Xander responded to his sister's mention of washing dishes. "But let's not make any decisions until we know for sure, okay?" While they walked, Xander tried to take in the local area as well, seeing what else was close by, remembering the layout...just in case. Xander patted the gun in his pocket making sure that it still was there. He hoped he didn't have to use it...but who knew how many more dragonmen were around.

Right on cue, his tattooes began to itch. It was not at all painful like it was during the attack in the parking lot, or the battle with the Namekkians. Nevertheless, there it was, and out of the shadows three thing, young men emerged...all of them appeared human, but their style of dress was strange to say the least.

"Hey, pops...we're taking up a collection. Care to donate?" the lead punk chuckled, a glint in the moonlight revealing a switchblade.

"Pops?" Xander asked questioningly. Xander placed himself between the punks and his sister. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You have picked entirely the wrong person to mess with tonight. Run, now, or you WILL regret it." Xander told the punks. He knew kids like this, he used to be a kid like this. He was pretty sure that if they could really fight, they wouldn't have the knife. They were all show. At least, that's how they were when he was a young punk. He prepared to be attacked...just in case.

They cackled, and advanced further. "We'll regret it? Yeah...I'm sure. Hand over your money and nobody gets hurt. Nice 'n easy..."

Xander's left hand held his sister behind him, protectively. As the kids started to walk fowards, Xander's right hand darted into his pocket, pulled out his gun, and he cocked it. "I told you to run, didn't I?" Xander told the kids. "Now, drop the knife!" he ordered. A smile almost formed across his face, but he supressed it, looking angry and dangerous. "Now I want YOUR money," he told the kids. It was a convenient solution to his money problem...and he DID warn them. It was their own fault. "All of it!"

Their mouths opened and closed, looking for all the world like a trio of brainless fish. The knife clattered to the ground. "Take it easy, mister, we wasn't meaning no harm!"

"Too late now, sonny," he said with a bit of sarcasm on the last word. "Now I'm serious, if you don't drop you money right now I will do to you, what you meant to do to us. And I will feel no remorse about it...just an act of defense. You have until I count to three. One..."

Three wallets simultaneously hit the pavement, followed shortly by the stomping of feet. The three punks fled madly into the night.

"That...worked pretty well," Kit stammered, staring.

"I agree," Xander said with a smile. He bent to pick of the wallets and quickly pulled out their money. He tossed the wallets back to the ground, then slipped his gun back into his pocket. He decided to keep the switchblade...just in case. "Let's get something to eat!"

Kit snickered, and stuck close to him once again. "Good...I'm really starving! Lead on, I trust your instincts better than mine!"

Xander led her into the McDonalds and they looked at the menu...exactly the same. The money was different, the computers were different...even the uniforms were different. But there it was, a good ol Big Mac, at least one thing seemed constant in this every changing universe. "What do you want?" he asked before he ordered. The twins soon got their food and were seated and chowing down. After Xander had enough time to curb off the immediate hunger, he spoke. "Kit, from a scientific point of view...what do you make of all this?"

"It's insane," she grunted around a mouthful of french fries. "And I'm not talking about 'kwah ha ha, kee hee hee' insane. I'm sure once the reality of it sinks in I'll have a nervous breakdown or something." She drinks thirstily from her orange-flavored drink. "How are you holding up?"

"I've found that it is easy to deal with when I focus on just the situation. It is weird and my mind keeps racing over what is going on. I haven't come to any conclusions yet. But the only way that I can even believe what is going on is to suspend reality...suspend what I knew about my life and science before this, and focus on this problem. We are going to find out who is doing this and why...what all I know." Xander took a sip of his Coke (yes, they had Coke) and continued. "At first I thought that the black road was just a rip in time and space. We would enter it and it would take us directly to the other planet. Apparently not...we haven't moved through the stars at all yet, but the climate, the season, the landscape keeps changing. Some of it look normal...and some of it makes me sick to look at it. Wha exactly is this 'black road' Kit?" he asked. Kit had done a lot of study on obscure scientific theories...maybe one of them applied here. Either way, he had no clue what was happening.

The little woman just shrugged helplessly, pausing to peel out the pickles and onions from her hamburger and laying them aside. "It's interesting...things keep changing as we go. It's like..." She paused for a moment to chomp down another fry. After she'd finished, "It's like our world is metamorphosizing into this world that they spoke of."

"But how is that possible," Xander wondered. "It shouldn't be...by all physics that I know...this shouldn't...this is...this is just weird!"

"And four-fingered green men with antennae isn't exactly normal either...kwah ha..." The comfort food was definitely having a positive influence on Kit. Then she suddenly looked depressed. "I wish I would've brought one of Umatsu's books with me!"

"No, Kit, green dragon men is NOT right. I just wish I could figure it out," Xander told her. "As for Umatsu's book...I'm sure similar crappy writitng exists in every world," Xander smiled, hoping to get some sort of joking reponse from Kit.

A french fry bounced off his nose. "Be nice to me! I'm a *god*, remember?"

"That's something else I don't understand. How come you get to be a god and I don't. We are twins after all. I couldn't imagine what you have that I don't. I mean, come on, look at me," Xander mock-posed for his sister, flexing his bicep. Happiness seemed rare lately, so he lived it up when he could.

Kit grinned, looking at his arm. Then she leaned forward, laying her fingers on his tattoo. "Maybe you DO have it...but they can't see it!"

Since he had woken up, he had little time to think about his dreams. But as Kit touched his arm, the memories flooded back to him. "Kit, did you dream last night?" he asked her.

"I don't...remember..." she searched her mind. "I know there was something there, but I can't remember anymore."

"Well I remember mine, or at least the end of it, perfectly. You were in an elaborate gown and you kept trying to get rid of your tiara...I don't know why," he responded before she could ask, "but you were. You said that we were 'in over our heads'. Then there were three demons and one of which was our father. For whatever reason they didn't see me. Yes," he said as he remembered even more of the dream, "The tattooes created some sort of shield and they never saw me...but was just a dream, wasn't it?"

Kit stared at him, and her hamburger dropped from her hands onto the tray. "I remember that...running from three demons, and the crown that wouldn't go away... And those horrible skirts kept tripping me!!"

Xander really had no comment for once in his life...he just looked at Kit, part in terror and part in bewilderment.

She started chewing her lip. "I think," she swallowed, "I'm really freaked out."

"Yet again something else that is impossible happened. Maybe everything I thought was impossible really isn't, huh?"

Xander cleared his throat and continued, "I have heard stories of twins being telepathic? Not that I believe them...but what else could it be?"

"Maybe it's someone else," she looked at him, and slid down in her seat so just her head was visible above the table. "Maybe someone is trying to help us."

Xander raised his eyebrows wondering where Kit got that from. "Someone helping us? That would be a change," he rebuked.

"I suppose you're right," she lowered her eyes again. "Maybe someone's messing with our heads. I hope we're not on crack."

Xander stopped her before she can finish. "I don't know Kit, maybe I'm not completely right. I DID recieve the visions for these tattooes in a dream...as well as the fact that you saw our first attack in a dream."

"I still think it's a bad idea to go all the way out to this dragon guy. It'd be safer to stop somewhere in between, you know? Start going left or right, away from that black line."

"We will see, Kit. I want to check this guy out, then we can run if we have to...but running from shadows is stupid. I don't want to run from something when I don't know what it is. Something else, also to keep in mind is that there appears to be more than just one person after us. The guys in the masks AND the green guys. Who knows if there are anymore. We need to be very, very careful."

"And that's why I think we should avoid him at any cost!" she sat up again. "I mean, who knows how powerful he is, but a dragon a mile long that THOSE guys were worshipping?! That's more than *I* can handle!"

"Let me just check it out first, then we can run and hide until your heart's content."

"But what if we can't run, Alex?" she whispered fearfully, leaning forward across the table. "If it can make these black lines extend across worlds, what else could it do?"

"If that is the case, then it doesn't matter if we run now, or go to this Namek place and check him out, does it?"

"I think it matters," she folded her arms in a grumpy mood. "Like you said, he didn't know *exactly* where I was. He had a general idea, and then he sent people out to look for him. But if we run to this place, he'll know *exactly* where we are, not to mention we'll be up against a lot more of those dragonmen!"

"The road has to end at this world. So once we find the end, you can hide and I'll continue on. If we are right about this, he won't even know I'm there. I'll check it out, swing back and get you, then we can decide what we need to do."

"I think you'll stick out like a sore thumb," she furrowed her eyebrows.

"I can blend in," Xander pleaded, "I can mingle with the best of them." He laughed softly, "Trust me, I do not plan on getting caught. Nothing they could do would keep me from returning to you. Nothing."

"Death would stop you!" she slammed her hand on the table, drawing a few stares from other customers. "Alex, it's not worth the risk! I'm begging you, DON'T GO!"

"Look Kit," Xander said at almost a whisper, "I am going, I have to. And until I get some answers, nothing is going to change my mind. Now," he said crumbling up his trash, "Are you done?"

She looked stonily at her tray, and her lip trembled. "I-I'm not hungry anymore."

Xander threw his and Kit's trash away and led Kit back out to the bike. "I am going to find somewhere for us to stay tonight," he said matter of factly. Xander and Kit sped off from the restaurant and began to look for a hotel.

They found one...Motel 10. It wasn't exactly a two-star hotel...run-down, dirty, and cheap. But at the moment, cheap was just what they needed. Kit was quiet the rest of the way there, unable to summon forth any words.

Xander laid down the money for the room and again took the lead up to the room.

He took the time to take a shower before propping the door shut with a chair. He placed a glass very carefully on the top of the door handle. If someone opened it, he would know. He hoped.

Room 37 was small and cramped, but at least it had two beds. Kit curled up in the corner of her own, turning her face to the wall as she huddled up in the blankets.

"Kit," Xander began towards his sister. She was ignoring him and there wasn't much he could do...but he knew he was right in this. He would NOT live in fear. "I'm sorry," he said at least before climbing into his own bed. He was exahusted and if the bad guys wanted to kill them tonight, let them. Xander was going to sleep.

He heard Kit whimper, and the creaking of bed springs as she shifted faintly.

Xander didn't know what to do or how to comfort her. He ached to do something, but he assumed he would just make it worse. So he laid there and listened to her cry.

* * * * *

When Xander awoke the next morning, Kit's bed was empty. He could hear the sound of shower water running in the bathroom, however, absent of singing which she was normally inclined to do when showering.

And yet...the chair was definitely not close enough to the door as it had been last night.

Xander leaped out of his bed and rushed to the bathroom door. Knock...knock...knock. "Kit, are you in there?" he asked. He quickly decided that she was not and pushed, quite forcibly, the door open. Either he was right and Kit was gone, or he was about to catch an eyefull.

Fortunately, it was NOT the latter. Kit was gone. The steam on the mirror had long since faded, and the water was running cold. A letter lay folded neatly on the counter, written on the hotel stationary.

Xander ripped open the letter, scanning the contents of what was written. He actually had no clue whether Kit was kidnapped or if she just left...it would be like her to leave since she believed she was the cause of all their problems. And he doubted that kidnappers would leave a letter. Well, he would know soon enough. He read on.

He recognized Kit's handwriting...surprisingly neat and easy to read, in contrast to her personality and spontaneous attitude.

Alex,

I'm sorry I had to leave without telling you. But I'm guessing that you knew I was gonna do this sooner or later! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I can't let you go to Namek. I took the cooler components, so please don't try to use the bike to follow that ribbon. I'm hoping beyond hope that the thing fades before you can get a replacement, or at least you'll be able to really reconsider. I don't want to lose you, so that's why I had to go. I love you tons, you know.

Sincerely,
Your Evil Twin

P.S. That signature makes more sense than ever now, doesn't it? Kee hee hee!

Xander now had a sister that had run out on him, and a bike worth millions in r&d that was useless. This definitely was NOT happening as he planned. More than that, however, was the danger that Kit was facing. Different money, different society, different world he believed. If the ribbon DID fade, they would be stuck on whatever backwards world this was. He knew they shouldn't have stopped! He knew it!

Xander threw on his clothes, ran his hand through his hair, and took off like a bat out of hell. He stopped long enough at the desk to ask if they had his sister, he was almost positive the answer would be no. Next, he took time to check out the bike. She may have taken part of it out, but he didn't know what part of the coolant system. Hell, some parts could be gotten out of a common refrigerator...some he had to make on his own. But it was worth checking. If that didn't work...or even if it did, how would he know which way to go and where to look? Kit had put her brother in a complete bind. And he couldn't wait long! They were being chased. "Damnit Kit!" he said in frustration, slamming his fist into anything that was near.

He dented the car that was parked next to the bike, which elicited a muffled yell of surprise from within.

The driver's side door opened, and a large...VERY large...man stepped out. He did not look pleased at all, the door slamming shut behind him with a vengeance. His small eyes moved to the dent, then to Xander. "What do you think you're doing to my car, punk?!"

Xander looked at the man, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He really wasn't a violent person, but of all things that upset him - his sister's safety was number 1. Xander did not have time to mess with this guy...he was on a mission. "Look man," he said, "I'm sorry. I'm just pissed. Now, if you don't mind," he said, still the fierce look in his eye, "I have better things to do than stand around here." Xander made a move as if he was leaving, watching the man out of the corner of his eye.

"No you don't!" the man growled. "That dent of yours is going to cost me Þ500! Either pay up now, or I'm taking you in to the Guardians!"

Xander turned around long enough to raise an eyebrow and smile. It wasn't that he thought he was stronger or faster or quicker, he was just a confident person. "Do whatever you have to do...I couldn't pay you if I wanted. I told you I was sorry...just leave it at that old man." Xander really couldn't afford to take time to mess with this man and definitely couldn't go to jail...which is what he assumed the 'guardians' were going to do. He began to walk away. Not quickly, but not slowly either. He believed that he would cause a lot more crime before this whole thing was over...already he was running over the plans to steal a car in his mind.

He felt the collar of his shirt tighten in a meaty hand as the man yanked him back, and shoved him up against a tree with purple leaves. "I don't think you understand," he narrowed his eyes. "If you don't have the money, you shouldn't dent people's cars. Either pay up NOW, or I'm taking you in."

People on the sidewalks were beginning to pause and stare now, whispering amongst themselves.

Xander really wasn't planning on getting in a fight...not with anyone besides those who had his sister. But apparently whatever god existed had decided that Xander was constantly going to be battling with EVERYONE! Ohh well, at least it was one way to get out his frustation with his sister. Xander turned and brought his fist up into the man's gut, followed almost immediately by one to the face, and a knee in the groin. "I warned you didn't I?" Xander spat back at the man, hopefully as the man fell to the ground.

"HEY!" bellowed an angry voice. A man in a black uniform, parts of it glistening in the sunlight (body armor, perhaps?) started moving forward. There was a weapon in his hand. "Stay where you are! Hands up!"

Xander marveled at his own strength, but only for a second. Images of the movies and of Xander throwing the limp man's body at the cop flashed through his head...but he decided against it. Instead, Xander turned and ran. And he didn't just sprint and hide, he took off, letting his feet fall into a natural groove and just kept going. There was nothing left back there for him anyway. He picked the closest and most likely direction that his sister went and followed. He didn't have a lot of information to base it off of, but there was a cop chasing him for godsakes. Xander stayed out of the public eye, and just kept running. Dear Lord, he wondered, will I ever be safe again?

The Guardian gave chase, but thanks to some skillful maneuvers through the streets, alleyways, and people, Xander soon lost the man quite a ways back. When he paused to assess the situation, he found himself in the downtown area of the city. There were cars moving sluggishly through the congested streets, strange pigeon-things begging for breadcrumbs, and even a few transients staggering with outstretched palm.

Kit should be as lost as Xander was in this place, so hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find her. She probably was at some place somewhat familiar to her...assuming she didn't just keep on running. Xander made his way to a phonebooth, or whatever was similar in this world, and quickly ripped out pages listing fencing gyms and libraries. He would check the fencing schools first...she probably had some aggression she needed to let out...something she could lose herself in - and that was her swordplay. If not, then she was probably trying to learn anything she could. Xander began a systematic search of all fencing schools and libraries within a close radius of the hotel. If she was not there, he was going to have to rethink everything...but he put the future aside and hoped.

There was, luckily, only one fencing gym and one library. He went to the fencing gym first, but it was closed, and the sign posted said that it wouldn't be open until at least 4:00 p.m. At least, that's what Xander assumed. Who could tell how things worked in this world?

The library, however, was quite open. Everything was silent within, odd for a city library. It was a magnificent place, however, with several rooms dedicated to certain kinds of books. A blue room contained books on history and civilization. A gold room housed mysteries, romances, science fiction, and fantasy novels. There must have been at least twelve different colors of rooms.

Xander quickly scanned the library's map and searched for the room with all of their technical writings. Kit was a science buff, she didn't read a lot of flowery novels, she was more interested in knowledge. Whichever room held their books on science and math was where Kit would be...if she was here. Xander made his way towards that room.

The room seemed awfully quiet, strangely so in comparison with how silent the other places were. Slowly he moved, scanning row after row of books. He thought he caught a glimpse of purple scruff, moving in the opposite direction at the far end of the bookshelf rows, but the glimpse had been so brief, it was hard to be sure...

Xander ducked low and began to move quickly and quitely between the rows of books. He tried not to make a sound, sure that anything, probably even his breathing, would make a loud 'crash' in this deadly quite building. All the same though, he was going to find and catch Kit. As he scanned the room, he followed the flash of purple and snuck up behind whoever it was. In a single leap he was out and confronting this person. Either it was going to be a very awkward moment with a stranger, or a reunion with his sister.

The person squealed, and a few books flew up into the air.

It was definitely Kit.

She turned on her heel and bolted, jumping over the fallen novels and running for the stairs.

Kit was quick, Xander did not doubt that. But he knew his sister well and he was pretty sure that he could follow her for as long as she had it in her to run. He leaped after her, trying to grab her, but if he did not get a hold, he was still going to follow her. Slow (but fast enough to at least keep up with her) and steady, he figured, and he'd be able to grab a hold of sooner or later.

Kit might have been slower, but she was also small and made a tough target. Whenever Xander got close, she suddenly dodged to the side. "Alex!" she panted, and nearly bowled over some poor innocent bystander. "Don't...be...mad!"

She burst out of the doors...and disappeared into the crowd of people that flooded the sidewalks.

Alexander followed into the crowd, standing on his toes, trying to make out the path his sister had followed. "Kit, I'm not mad...now STOP RUNNING!" he yelled after her. "Stop right now! Kit?!?..."

He looked left and right. People of just about every variety streamed past. And Kit was so short, he couldn't spot her at all.

"#@%*@@%*#&$!%#!&*$@!*&!" Xander yelled in frustration.

Xander stopped and rubbed his hand through his hair, ready to pull it out. He paced a few minutes up and down the street trying to think of what to do. Xander let the crowd pull him down the sidewalk until he found some sort of coffee shop. He stopped and sat at one of the tables outside, watching all the people pass by. He used what money he had to buy some extremely strong, and...orange?...coffee. It was good, and strong, so he didn't complain too much.

Xander lit up a cigarette. He only had three left. "F^*%," just another thing going wrong. Now, all he had to do was figure out where Kit went this time.

Later...

As Xander finished the last of his cigarettes and finished his second cup of coffee he stood up and brought his palm to his forehead. How could he have been so forgetful. He pleaded not enough sleep and too much stress, still not a good excuse. Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out the green guy's eye piece. He put in on his head, and switched it on. He scanned the area he last saw his sister for some sort of trace...the he looked around in a circle for some signal...he really wasn't sure how the device worked, he was just trying to figure it out. If nothing gave an indication, this still made his search a lot quicker - he hoped.

A small light blipped in the northwestern corner of the eyepiece. A few alien numbers popped up next to it, probably an indication of distance. Wherever she was going, she appeared to be moving fast.

Xander took off at a fast pace. "Run Kit," he said softly to himself. "I'll be there soon." Xander really wished she had not have run to begin with. He knew she was opposed to the whole idea of going down the black road...but truthfully, he did not see any other way to find out what was going on. He kept his fast pace as long as he could and just followed his sister.

He was headed deeper and deeper into the city. Her bleep of light seemed to slow, and he realized that she had headed into a large, tree-filled park that was green and lush...at contrast with the harsh lines of the city. Even as he stepped onto the pathway, he could feel the peace that it exuded.

Xander followed the paths on into the park. He walked slowly, sure that he would find Kit soon. He followed his meter all the way until he saw her, then slipped it off and put it into his pocket. He walked slowly towards his sister, really not wanting to run anymore.

Kit didn't seem to notice him. She was slumped on a bench, elbows on her knees, and was watching the movement of small ducks that were half their normal size. Judging by the rise and fall of her shoulders, she was catching her breath after a long and strenuous run. He only caught a brief glimpse of her profile, but she looked sad, and guilty.

Xander watched the weird man show up and talk to his sister. Xander stopped, a safe distance away from them. He didn't really know what to say, anyway, so he just watched and waited. The two talked awhile, then Kit rose and they went walking. Xander tailed them until they finally reached McDonald's. Kit sure did love that place. They ordered and sat down. Xander waited a minute before finally entering himself... Hopefully Kit wouldn't run this time and he could talk to her. For the most part, he didn't really care about the other man... some random person of no importance.

Kit caught a glimpse of Xander's white hair, and immediately flinched. Drat...why did McDonald's only have one exit?! "Um..." She slid off of her chair and stood awkwardly, avoiding Xander's gaze. "Hi, Alex," she muttered.

"So," Xander asked as he sat at the table. "No food for me?" he said with a smile. He looked at Kit and shook his head, then pointed his thumb at the other guy. "So who is he?" he questioned of his sister.

Mael'Lan looked over to where Kit's attentions were directed...at Xander, food hanging from his mouth. "Who's this guy?' he asked Kit.

"Ah, well..." she cleared her throat, slowly easing back into her seat as though afraid Xander would suddenly jump up and down on her. "This is my brother Alex," she gestured at Xander. "But everyone calls him Xander. And this," she gestured to the tall, thin man, "is Mael'Lan. He knows about Amber and what we're dealing with."

"You know...." Mael'Lan began as he peered at Xander. "You remind me of someone I know in Chaos, buddy."

Xander's head darted quick towards the man at the table. "What?!?" Xander had not expected that response at all. Xander's hand rested on his pocket with the gun. "What do you know?" he asked...quite seriously.

Mael'Lan jumped back a bit and looked genuinely startled. "I know all kinds of things. But..."

"Where are you from?" Xander began. "What is Amber?" he demanded. "Why do the dragonmen want my sister...do you want my sister? How do I know you aren't with them?" the questions just poured out. About halfway through his list, he remembered he was in a restaurant and quieted down a little. Just a little, mind. "Where is Chaos? What is the black dragon road?..."

Mael'Lan snatched up a stray fry and stuffed it hungrily into his mouth. "MMMMMMM...." He huddled over the remaining fries, shoveling them into his mouth as he talked. "I am a Chaosian. Chaos is at the end of the Black Road. I'm a God...not a dragonman. And you look like Mandor to me... so... I don't think I should talk to you anymore...."

Xander's eyebrows went up as he began to understand what he was dealing with here. "Who is Mandor? What is a Chaosian?" he asked, slowing down his questioning.

Kit squirmed uneasily in her chair, still afraid that Xander would be mad at her once he was done with his questioning.

Xander let out a small exasperated sigh. "Please?" Xander asked, now wondering if this guy really did do anything. "I'm not this...Mandor guy, and if you know something to help me save my sister and myself, please tell me?" Why did Xander always get stuck with the weird ones?

"Weeeeeeelllllll...." Mael'Lan rubbed his chin. He nodded his head a little as he pondered...something over in his mind. "OK. Mandor you're not. We should look for your father. Ehh?"

"My father? What do you know of my father?" Xander asked? "Actually," Xander said wondering, "What is your name?" Xander held out his hand to the man...confused as all hell.

Mael'Lan shrugged. "Nothing. But he's probably an Amberite, since you're both Amberites. He'd have a few answers...and I'd like to go there and get some holes filled in myself." Mael'Lan looked at Xander's hand skeptically.

"Now, what is Amber again," Xander asked, trying to get the man to talk.

"Mael'lan. My name is Mael'Lan.The God of Chaos.....Primal Chaos incarnate...." Mael'Lan was rambling. "And Amber is the other end of the spectrum. Amber is structure....Chaos is, well, chaos...and everything in between ... shadows of either reality."

Ohh Lord! Xander thought, this guy was really gone in the head. Why was Kit hanging with this crazy man? Pity? "You're a god, huh?" Xander asked with some sarcasm.

"Like the dragonmen said that I was," Kit piped up...and then shut up again.

"Oh yes." Mael'Lan got excited....he smiled broadly, "Wanna see me turn into my God form?"

Xander turned to look at his sister, an eyebrow going up. "Ohh really now? Do you know this other god that is hunting us?" Xander asked Mael'Lan. "Is it you? God form?" What in the heck was going on? Xander had no clue what this guy was talking about, he was sure the guy was crazy. Or would have if not for recent events? "Maybe later?" Xander asked, wanting to ask more questions. "Tell me about my father? How would we find him?"

"You could start in Amber." Mael'Lan said lazily as he searched the table for more food. "I'd abandon the idea of following the Black Road. Chaos is a......tricky place for the experianced. For the ignorant...deadly. I like Kit. I'd hate to see one of the lords get their hands on her. They all suck, anyway. Only Merlin is cool. SOOOOOO COOOOL."

"I still don't understand how everything changed so drastically when I traveled on that road," Xander said. "Where is this Amber?"

Mael'Lan sighed and rolled his eyes. "You were travelling through shadow, duh. Didn't your parents ever tell you anything about shadows or the like? Geeeesh...!" He sighed again. "Amber is at the opposite end of shadow than Chaos."

"Our parents never really taught us anything," Xander replied. "I really have no idea of what you speak. What is shadow?"

"We only just found out we're from Amber," Kit added, looking at Mael'Lan imploringly.

"If this place even exists," Xander added.

Mael'Lan leaned over towards Kit and whispered, "Do we have anything else to eat?" Then, he looked at Xander. "Well...we could Trump to Amber. I don't have a Trump of the place...just of Chaos...." Mael'Lan shrugged. "Otherwards, it's a walk through shadows....and that means we need to find someone who knows how to get there."

"You mean, you don't know how to get to Amber?" Xander asked. Crap! "What's a trump?" he added as a side note.

Kit took out the last remaining bills from her pocket and started to hand them to Mael'Lan... Then she thought better of it. He ate plastic wrap after all. "I'll get you some," she smiled, and went to go stand back in line.

"This!" Mael'Lan took out a card and shoved it in Xander's face.

Xander took the card and studied it.

Mael'Lan smiled wide, "Yaaay! Foooood..."

Kit grinned over her shoulder at him as she waited...the tray was filled with cheap hamburgers (which were on sale), and she brought it back. "Have you eaten yet, Alex?"

"Here," Xander said, handing her the rest of his money as well. "Just get me whatever," he told her, then looked back at the trump, trying to figure out what was special about it? How could you "Trump" somewhere?

"Mmmmm...cow..." Mael'Lan purred happily.

Kit skittered away to pick up some Big Macs for her brother. She, herself, wasn't feeling too hungry anymore.

Mael'Lan raised his eyebrows in skepticism. "You don't know how to use Trumps." He sounded doubtful. "Well....I'm not gonna give you a demonstration with THIS Trump. No way. I just escaped Chaos. I have no desire to return so ... unprepared. How 'bout an example of other powers."

"What kind of powers? I don't understand," Xander was in waaaayyyyyy over his head, apparently. If this guy was for real, that is.

"Weeeeeeellllll.....!" Mael'Lan rubbed his hands together happily as he thought a bit on it.

Kit returned, looking at Xander with puppy-dog eyes as she timidly pushed his food in front of him.

Mael'Lan stood up from the table, a focused look on his face. There was something...off about his face. As a matter of fact, his entire body seemed to be...shifting; expanding and retracting as the air about him became hazy. Mael'Lan's body became engulfed in a strange fogginess as the air took on an electric charge. Anyone looking at the eccentric young man would notice that it seemed like there were two entities within the mist. One...Mael'Lan's frail form, twisting and contorting. The other, a bizarre collaboration of man and demon...with scaly skin and claws shining in the sickly light of the fastfood joint.

"Ohhh @$*()^Y@(@$#!(*)^$&@^!!" Xander jumped back from the table, grabbing his bag of food in one hand, and his sister's arm in his other. "Kit!" he asked, "What is going on?" He made ready to run from the building.

Kit pulled back, staring in morbid fascination at Mael'Lan's transformation. "Hey, do you think *I* could learn how to do that?"

Only moments passed before what once had been Mael'Lan...and was now some unworldly concoction of man and dragon...stretched its arms and smiled with a fangy grin, standing before Kit and Xandor. "This is my God form." He growled merrily. His wings unfurled and he lifted from the ground. "Cool, huh?"

"YEAH!" Kit squawked, clapping for him as if he'd put on a wonderful show. "See, Alex? It's okay! He won't hurt us!"

"Why? Don't you like Gods?" Mael'Lan looked hurt. He turned to Kit and looked pleadingly at her. "You think it's pretty cool...don't you?"

Xander looked at Kit in disbelief. How could she be so calm about this...no, enthusiastic about this?

"He can help us, Alex! He knows what's going on!" she clasped her brother's hands excitedly.

"Well I don't," Xander retorted.

"Exactly!" she tapped his nose with a wide grin. "So we should follow him to this Amber place...that's where our answers lie!"

Xander was struggling to believe and be logical.

Mael'Lan laughed to himself a bit more, obviously quite pleased with the terror he had caused the patrons of McDonalds. "Can we get outta here? I'm tired of this shadow. Besides....I have a place in mind that harbors people who know how to get to Amber."

Kit glanced around, and realized that the restaurant was now completely empty. "Em... I think you scared them away!" she pointed out to Mael'Lan with a wince. "I think we should go."

"Do you have a vehicle?" Xander asked, looking outside.

"We do!" Kit grinned at him. "And he can fly in that form!"

"What did you do with the part?" Xander asked his sister.

She blushed with a big smile. "I didn't take anything, I just said I did."

"I am NOT a THING!" Mael'Lan stated. He was quite offended. "And I have a horse. Darling.............Fly....Alright. I'll find Darling later."

"Damn it KIT!" Xander cursed. "You and I will talk later about this whole thing," he finally supressed his emotions..for the moment. "Horse?"

Kit flinched, jumping back from him. "I had to! It's all I could do to keep you from going there!" Then she glanced at Mael'Lan, and forced a smile.

Mael'Lan simply smiled. "Yes. Darling. She's not REALLY a horse...."

"I don't even want to know," Xander told Mael'Lan. "And I had no choice at the time," Xander responded to Kit. "But not now, we have to get out of here."

"Yes. To Avalon!" Mael'Lan interjected.

"I thought we were going to Amber?" Xander asked.

Mael'Lan latched onto Kit's arm. "Yes yes. Quickly." ...and began dragging her towards the door. "Coming?"

"Wait, Alex is right...we should go to Amber. What's Avalon got to do with it?"

Xander's hand hit his forehead and he wondered what exactly he had gotten into here. Xander ran after them.

"Amberites. That's what. I don't know how to get to Amber. I've never even been there."

"Oh... OH!" she nodded sagely, understanding. "There are Amberites that live there!"

"Dingdingding!" Mael'Lan smiled at her. "You ARE smart. Cool."

"Kit, let's not ask any more questions until we are underway, please? I want to be out of here before their cops show up."

In the distance, they could hear sirens. Kit shifted gears and surged forward. "Yah, we should be going now."

Xander ran after the two. "Which way to the bike," he yelled.

"Alright..." Mael'Lan grinned wide.... "Is all that noise because of me...?"

"I'd assume so...that's why we have to go NOW."

Kit nodded at Mael'Lan, and paused as she turned around for a few moments to regain her sense of direction. "Um...at the hotel...?" she offered meekly. "I don't remember which way, I was too busy running."

"WOOHOO! I'm popular at last!" Mael'Lan decided to let them guide him...but, first, to transform.

"Umm, I think it is this way," Xander guessed...errr, estimated. He ran, looking for something he recalled.

As if by magic, they turned down the correct streets time after time. The Motel 10 sign suddenly loomed up, and Kit squealed happily. "There it is!"

"There what is?" Mael'Lan was lost.

A transient was circling the bike, looking as though he was searching for parts to steal.

Xander ran quickly towards the man. When the guy looked up, Xander jacked him in the jaw, knocking him out. Then, he jumped on the bike and turned the ignition. "Get on, now." Xander looked at Mael'Lan, "We are flying, can you transform back into that flying demon thing?"

"Ehhh...hold on..." Mael'Lan focused .... and moments later, he was flying above them. "AND IT'S GOD FORM!"

Xander flew straight up, and gunned it. "Fine, god form. Now, you lead...where to this Avalon place?"

Kit climbed on the bike behind Xander, holding quietly and casting her eyes down at the ground in shame.

"I saw the road back over there...." He pointed straight ahead and smiled. Then took off full speed. "Follow me..."

Xander set in a fast pace, right on Mael'Lan's heels.

Xander flew on at full speed behind Mael'Lan...the demon. He wasn't sure why he was following him, or even who he was. But right now he had no one else, and he might as well follow the guy with the power, huh?

"Kit," he asked while they were flying, "Do you have any idea what is going on here?"

"Kind of..."

"Care to give your old brother a hint?" he asked with a bit of sarcasm.

Kit flinched...he felt her arms stiffen. "I like Mael'Lan. I think he's going to help us."

"Help us?" Xander questioned. "He can barely even keep a coherent thought in his head, Kit. I don't know if he is all there," Xander whispered to his sister. "But he can change into a demon, so I'm not going to piss him off any time soon."

"Well some people say that *I'm* not all there," she huffed defensively. "It doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing."

"I've never heard anyone say that of you," Xander retorted. "And if I had, they wouldn't have ever said it again!"

She remained quiet, and didn't move. "You're still mad at me."

"Yes, I am, but there is nothing I can do about it now, can I? I don't believe you ran away...not once, but twice, Kit. What were you thinking? Someone could have found you, these dragon guys, and kidnapped you. Or even worse, killed you. What would I have done if you died Kit?"

"That's what I was thinking that whole night at the hotel," she replied sadly. "It was the only thing I could think of to stop you from going into the heart of enemy territory. Would you have done differently if our positions were reversed?"

"If our posistions were reversed, I would have already left and been at the end of the black road with you still back at home."

"But since it is you that is in trouble, I refuse to stand around and wait...I WILL protect you - but not by hiding. By facing whatever it is after you. We don't even know why yet!"

"Well, whatever reason it is, it's not good if they're trying to take me by force," she muttered darkly. "And I'm going to protect you too, see if I don't!"

"I just wish I understood what he was talking about...Amber and the Courts. Avalon. Order and Chaos...its all like a fairly tale."

Kit sighed. "I guess we'll figure out what it all means soon enough. And he's a nice guy, just...kinda hungry is all."

"As long as he doesn't eat me."

She cackled. "Kwah ha...I don't think he will."

"Doesn't Avalon sound like something from old English legends? And this guy did mention Merlin, didn't he?"

Kit shrugged. "We've seen dragonmen, too...Avalon sounds a lot more believable to me."

"This is all just too weird, and none of it is possible by any science I have ever studied. If I could just understand, I could believe."

His sister hugged him gently. "It's okay... I'm sure it'll be all right."

"Do you think you are really a god?" he asked almost timidly of his sister.

"KWAH HA HA!" she laughed out loud. "No, but if other people think I am, let them!"

"Very good point," he replied, believing her answer.

"That would make you one, too, if that's what I really am," she mused aloud.

"If these tattooes really do hide it. I could just be mortal. Wait," he stopped what he was saying, "I'm not a god and neither are you. This is crazy! Both of us are mortal."

"I know...we bleed and bruise...but gosh, we are..." She trailed off, furrowing her brow as she thought deeply.

"What, we are what, sis?" he asked in wonder.

"Well...have you ever noticed that we're...well...smarter than everyone else? And faster, and we can run a lot longer...things like that?"

"Not everyone else? I mean, yeah, we have always been smart and fast and stuff... But," surely not everyone had always been slower than him. Xander thought back through his past, his childhood. And truthfully, he could not summon up one person that had done better then he had. Ohh sure, a few times he just didn't even try, or didn't care. But any time that Xander had tried, he had always done better than everyone. "Kit, has anyone ever, besides probably me, ever beaten you at anything that you can remember? Anything you tried to do well at?"

Her silence was more of an answer than any words could have given.

"How can that be? Surely someone was better than one of us at some point? Haven't you ever lost a fencing match?"

"At the beginning when I was first learning... But now that I know what to do..."

"Ohh god. I don' want to think about it any more. I can't believe this."

Kit removed one arm, and patted his shoulder soothingly. "Hey, it's all right...we'll be okay."

"If you say so..." Xander looked ahead at Mael'Lan (what a weird name), "How much farther?"

While flying along, they suddenly came to a junction in the black road...what was once one road was actually an off-shoot of several that floated off in many different directions.

Mael'Lan came to a halt and hovered, shooting a glance back at Xander and Kit who pulled up to a stop as well. He rubbed his chin, his eyes darting to either side, and he realized that he liked Kit. Xander was...all right. A little *slow*, but altogether he liked the two of them. Yes, yes he would definitely help them. Although he realized that he was *quite* hungry again, he decided it would be best if they made haste to Avalon.

He turned back to them again, and pointed down one of the offshoots. "If we follow this, it will lead us to Avalon." Then in response to Xander's question. "It will take, however long it will take." Almost indignantly he added, "I am, after all, the God of CHAOS, not the god of TIME." And he shrugged, rolling his eyes, and started off again.

"What exactly is this highway in the sky, anyway, Mael'Lan," Xander asked looking down each of the black forks. He wondered where each of them led...a different world, a different planet, a different reality? Everything was moving too fast and his mind wasn't handling it very well. He wanted...no, he NEEDED to understand his situation. If not the reasons behind Kit's attempted kidnapping, at least he needed to understand why the worlds were changing around him. Everything he had learned or thought about reality and physics was being challenged. Challenged! You can't debate laws of physics...it just didn't happen. They were proven and tested...weren't they?

"It's called a blaaaaaaaack chaaaaaaannel, actually. And it is an extension of the Logrus...if you must know. Any *other* questions?" he added with a snotty tone.

Kit leaned forward like she wanted to ask some questions, but silenced herself when Xander began to speak again.

"What's a Logrus?"

Mael'Lan came to a dead halt, arms shooting out to the sides as he choked and gagged. "WHAAAAT?! WhatWHAT?! You don't know what the LOGRUS is?! OY!" he slapped his palm to his forehead. Then he flapped his wings, coming back to the bike as he shook his head in disbelief. "Kit...I'm sorry to say this...but I think your brother...is retarded. Slooooow, if you catch my meaning," his finger circled his temple.

Kit frowned, furrowing her brow. "No he's not," she protested.

"Look, I'm sorry I don't know these things...but I don't even know how you are able to change shape...how a black channel can exist in the sky...what the Logrus or Chaos or Amber is. I don't know anything!" he told Mael'Lan passionately. "But I'm trying to figure it all out. Why SHOULD I know what these things are anyway?"

"You ARE an Amberite, aren't you?!" Mael'Lan began, slightly agitated. Then sighing, calmed himself, put his hands on Xander's shoulders, looked into his eyes, and started anew. "Look. You are from Amber, I am from Chaos. It's kind of like the north and south pole," he held up two representative fingers. "This is Amber," he shook his left finger, "this is Chaos," he shook his right finger. "Everything between...Shadow."

"I thought where I was from was called Earth?" Xander asked curiously. "At least, that's what we have always called it," Xander nodded at Kit.

"Yeah," Kit agreed.

"That's a Shadow," Mael'Lan responded quickly.

"So are you trying to tell me that I am not from Earth anymore?" Xander laughed slightly as he said it.

"Your parents...or one of your parents...is an Amberite. Which by MY standards...makes you from Amber." He paused for a moment. "Only Amber and Chaos are real."

Xander looked hard and long at Mael'Lan. "Real?" he asked trying, struggling, to understand. "Why are these two places the only real ones and nothing else? It seemed pretty real to me."

Kit leaned forward, squinting her eyes. "You mean...everything that isn't Amber or Chaos, is like an alternate reality of Amber or Chaos. Is that right?"

Mael'Lan began clapping his hands enthusiastically. "Yeeeessss! That's right, Kit! You're SO smart!" Then he turned to Xander and said, "The Logrus is the primary power of Chaos. And Pattern, which was created by your great-grandfather Dworkin, is the primary power of Amber."

"Power? So the Logrus is something like a power plant? Better than fusion?" he asked, not really curious, but wanting something to compare it to. "But I don't understand what makes Amber or Chaos 'real'. Because they have these power plants or something else?"

"It's more like a supernatural force, not a kinetic type of energy," Mael'Lan responded. "Think deity."

"God!?" Xander exclaimed laughing to himself. "I don't really believe in that stuff anymore. So they have a 'god', huh? We have those on earth too... I still don't understand what would make this Amber place more real. You can walk on the ground the same as in Earth, right? You can drink the water and eat the food in both places?"

"The place you call home is merely a reflection of either end of reality. It's like a mirror image within mirror images, and it gets more and more structured the further you are away from Chaos."

"Chaos and Order?" Xander asked, more to himself than anyone around. "And reflections...'shadows' between. Far from what they teach you in school."

"Kee hee," Kit cackled. "This opens up a whole new field of science! We'll be entrepeneurs! How cool is that," she muttered to herself and Xander, overly pleased.

Xander ignored Kit for the moment and kept questioning Mael'Lan. "So this...power makes a place real...then it casts shadows, right? So how does the Logrus or the Pattern thing operate? What gives them the singular right in this universe...no, I guess it would be more than one universe - it would be an infinate number of them... Anyway, how do these 'things' have the ability to make something 'real'?"

Mael'Lan shrugged. "Nobody's really certain. The Logrus is a mystery. Even to me...the GOD of Chaos." Then he shrugged again. "The one thing that IS known about the Logrus is if you walk it, it grants you the powers needed to manipulate the Logrus." He pointed to the road. "And that's how you make those!"

"Wait, wait, wait. I thought you said that the Logrus and the Serpent are deities? How do you 'walk' a deity? And if the Logrus is a god, how can you be one too?"

Mael'Lan growled and BIT him. "I will suffer no more foolish questions!" Then he jerked back, looking intimidating.

"You BIT me!" Xander yelled. "You just #%$^ BIT ME!" Xander was in shock. What the hell did this guy just do? What diseases did he carry? "You're not a god, are you?" Xander asked angrily.

Kit's hand tightened on Xander's shoulder. "I don't think we should be questioning that...he seems a might testy."

"Shhh."

"I *am* mighty testy!" he mumbled under his breath.

Xander spat to show his disapproval of Mael'Lan before turning his bike, and heading down the path to Avalon. Let him follow if he wanted. Xander held his hand wondering if there were doctors in Avalon.

"HEY!" Mael'Lan went chasing after them, hands outstretched with panic written across his face. "Wait for *me*!"

Xander did not speed up, but he did not slow down either. He continued on at his pace, regardless of Mael'Lan for the moment. "He BIT me Kit," he complained.

"PleEeEeEeEeEease!" Mael'Lan boo-hooe'd.

"I know, that wasn't very nice!" she nodded her head in agreement. "Maybe he's hungry again?"

"Doesn't matter. He bit me!"

"GUYYYYYS! AAAAAAAA!" Mael'Lan whimpered pathetically.

Kit glanced back, seeing Mael'Lan's hands clutching at the air. "But...he knows more than we do about all this, we *have* to keep him around!"

"Do we?" Xander asked. "He said this would take us to Avalon. From there we can find someone going to Amber. I would appreciate his knowledge...but," Xander looked at his hand, "At what expense?"

"It's just a little nip," she hugged him. "I'll bandage it up when we get to...um...wherever we're going."

"It's the point. I bet he has rabies."

"I do not!" Mael'Lan yelled indignantly.

"Not that you are on my best side right now, either, missy," Xander told his sister while they flew, keeping just a pace ahead of Mael'Lan.

Kit winced again, and looked back forlornly at the winged demon man. He waved at her with a grin, so she grinned right back and flapped her hand back and forth in return.

Xander ignored them all, pissed off that he was out of cigarettes.

The bike suddenly started to sputter and shake, coming to a jerky halt. Kit's eyes suddenly became huge. "Oh...ohcrapohcrapohcrap..."

"Umm...Kit," Xander asked. "I thought we took care of all these problems."

Xander turned the key several times, pumping gas, flipping switches...anything to get the bike to start up again.

Kit squealed. "I did I did I swear! We shouldn't be out of FUEL yet!" Gravity was no longer on their side, and began yanking them down to the ground. "AAAAAAAAA!!!"

Oblivious to the problems of the bike, Mael'Lan continued at a regular speed and nearly ran smack dab into Xander and Kit just as the bike sputtered and died. Two scaly arms shot down, grabbing each by the back of the shirt. Slowly he came to a landing, gently setting them down. He released his hold on Xander and shifted his grip on Kit to her arm...and smiled coyly. "My friend!"

"My BIKE!" Xander yelled as he walked towards the fallen wreckage. Both his hands went to his head as a frown took over his face. "My poor bike," Xander said with some remorse.

After realizing that he could NOT fix this problem, Xander came back towards Mael'Lan and his sister. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

She nodded with grin/frown that flickered...as though she couldn't decide whether or not she should be happy or sad. She didn't want Xander to be mad at her anymore. "Um...yes?"

Xander looked at Mael'Lan's arm on his sister, then glared into Mael'Lan's eyes. "What happened," he asked, not quite blaming Mael'Lan for the accident...but almost.

Kit patted Mael'Lan's hand, assuring him that it was all okay now.

Mael'Lan shrugged. "Sometimes advanced technology doesn't work in certain shadows. Besides, there's an inn over there and I think they've got some pretty good food. We should take a break anyway!" He rubbed his hands together. "Foooooood..."

Kit's brow creased with worry. "But...what if we don't have the right kind of money?"

"Money?" Xander asked. "Who cares about money. Why wouldn't technology work in different places? You can't change physics...can you?"

"The laws of physics vary from shadow to shadow...not all planes of reality apply to the same laws." Then he turned to Kit and took her hand. "As far as money, I'll simply make us some! Enough for food, shelter, and GAMBLING." He smiled widely.

Kit beamed, comforted. "Make money? How do you do that?"

Xander really wasn't that interested in money at the moment. "Up is up, down is down. Mass has gravity. Electricity will follow the path of least resistance, an object in motion..." he stated the very basic laws of physics as he knew them. "How can that change? That defines how...well, how EVERYTHING works."

Mael'Lan just shrugged. "You've gotta be a little more flexible, man! Come inside and have a drink! It's on meee," he urged with a smile, and ushered Kit into the tavern while expecting Xander to follow.

"Oh, I don't drink, I get craaazy..." Kit was explaining as she went inside.

Xander watched Mael'Lan leave, his unanswered questions forming on his tongue. "Flexible?" he asked of the wind. "You can't be flexible with the law of nature." Xander shook his head and followed Mael'Lan into the tavern.

It was smoky and dimly lit, like a piece out of the medieval past. None of the occupants looked savory, to say the least. Their faces were twisted, sometimes scarred, and the laughter was loud and raucous. Kit shrank back the moment she entered, her fists hiding under her chin. Immediately she retreated back to Xander, hovering at his side like a duckling returning to its mother. "Eeeee..."

"Where are we now?" Xander asked of Mael'Lan. "Are we close to Avalon?"

"I don't like it..." Kit frowned.

"Whaaaat?" Mael'Lan held his hands up. "I go to these places ALL the time, I never have any problems!" Then he added under his breath, "it's usually the OTHERS who have problems..." He looked at Xander. "We should rest for the night. And I'm HUNGRY."

Xander looked at his hand, then agreed. "Yes, get something to eat, please."

Xander found a table towards the back of the room and gestured. "Shall we?" he asked, more to Kit than Mael'Lan. But he was sure Mael'Lan was going to come too...

Kit immediately dropped herself into a chair in the corner, her eyes darting around nervously. Mael'Lan sidled up to the barkeep and ordered a round of drinks (two ales and a virgin cider), returned to the table, plopped the two mugs down in front of them, eyeballed a shady-looking card game in the corner, then headed in that direction. He left a small sack of coins dumped on the table in front of the brother and sister.

"Waitress," Xander called, waiting for the woman to arrive. He sipped on the ale, testing it first...then realizing that it was very good, took a big swig of it.

A barwench showing a considerable amount of cleavage meandered her way to the table. "Yes?"

"Can you bring me out a rag, some water, and bandages," he asked, quickly showing the bite marks on his hand. "And I need something to eat, as well. Two of your best," he ordered...hoping that the money was the right kind.

The woman looked at him, sizing him up for a moment...then at the bag of coins...and smiled slowly. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, not even close. How did you know?" he wondered.

"Your clothes... Let me just take out the cost of those things," she grinned, picking out a handful of gold coins. Far more than was necessary, of course, but neither Kit nor Xander knew that. Kit just looked anxious, and kept shooting nervous glances over at Mael'Lan's corner.

Occasional bursts of laughter sounded from the man's direction.

Xander more or less assumed that she took too much, but Mael'Lan was paying. For all he cared, she could have it all. He waited for the buxom waitress to return...maybe this would turn out to be halfway interesting, he thought to himself. He didn't even notice Kit's anxiety. At least, not yet...

Two plates of steaming slices of meat and roasted potatoes were placed before them. Kit looked down at it suspiciously, looked at Xander, and then at the food again. "Smells good..." she admitted.

"I agree. Waitress," he asked, looking to the lady. Well, more like looking at her, but it's all the same. "Do you have any cigarettes here?" he asked, saying the name slowly. "Tobacco?" he continued if she didn't understand.

"I don't know what you're talking about, darling, but it sounds...intriguing," she smiled, looking him up and down and arching an eyebrow. Kit stared at her, and then shot her brother a sideways glance.

Xander smiled widely back at his sister, then at the waitress. "You know," he continued, "You smoke on it," he made an imitation sucking and blowing. And he did it just slow enough too... "Don't you have something like that around here?"

"Haven't heard of anything like it...perhaps a pipe, you mean?" Her hand spidered delicately across his shoulder, tickling his chin with shameless flirtation.

"Well," Xander told the waitress, taking her hand is his, "I suppose that will just have to do for now. Think you can dig something up for me?" he asked softly. Xander kissed the woman's hand, finally, before dropping another stack of coins into it.

"Tell you what...I'm off in about half an hour. Give me the rest of those coins, and we can smoke it together," she murmured in his ear, moving closer to him.

"I may be cute," Xander whispered arrogantly into her ear, "But I'm not stupid. Now," he pulled back, his hand gently falling down the side of her face, "That should be plenty. And we will see about what we can do afterwards." Xander made sure the bag of coins was out of her reach...just in case, and took a large whiff of his food. "Smells wonderful."

She frowned, narrowing her eyes. "We'll see." And she stalked away to answer the loud and obnoxious demands of another customer.

Kit looked at him, somewhat disturbed. "That was...gross."

"You didn't have to watch. Besides, *I* enjoyed it," Xander smiled at his sister before nudging her with his elbow. "Better than watching you and Mr. Mael'Lan over there, though."

She peered at him, clearly not understanding. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry about it," Xander said, changing the subject. "Eat."

Kit sampled the potato...chewed...swallowed......... and grinned happily. "This is the best food I ever had!" she exclaimed, and started digging in.

Xander had to agree. He thought the beer was good, but the mutton and the potatoes were even better. He was going to have to ask Mael'Lan how he found this place.

The two ate with vigor, and Kit put away more food than she ever had.

Mael'Lan rushed over to their table. "Food. Upstairs. Room. NOW." He grabbed the money and started heading up.

Kit blinked, and looked at Xander with one of those 'uh-oh' expressions.

Xander looked around quickly before shoving the last piece of meat into his mouth, and carrying his ale with him. "Whaammvvss gooonnnmmmggg ovvvnmm?" he asked, his mouth full.

Picking up her food, Kit followed behind Xander. Whatever was going on, it didn't look good.

Xander was just beginning to enjoy his peace and quiet...he had found a greedy, beautiful waitress. A pipe was on the way - now this. "What did you do?" Xander asked, finally swallowing his food.

"Me?" Mael'Lan said over his shoulder. "Why do you think *I* did anything?"

"You're the one that told us we had to leave and I know that all I did was sit and eat."

"Maybe you were eating too loudly," Mael'Lan remarked as he jumped up the stairs.

"Besides, you're the one that randomly turns into demons in the middle of crowded restaurants!"

"GOD FORM!" he yelled as he wrestled with the door knob to the room, practically tearing the door down. The door swung open, revealing two beds and an easy chair. Standing aside, he pointed with one finger. "IN."

"What is the big rush?" Xander said, almost refusing to enter. But whatever made this guy run wasn't something to wait for.

Kit peered around suspiciously, then crept into the room and took refuge behind the easy chair.

Mael'Lan stepped behind the door, stuck his head around the corner to peer out into the bar, then quickly closed the door and locked it. "Can't be TOO safe." Then he went over to the bookshelf and put it in front of the door with little effort.

"What is going on?" Xander demanded, standing in the middle of the room, looking at Mael'Lan.

He walked over to the easy chair, casually, eased himself into it, and peered into the empty fireplace as if simply by looking at it would will a fire into being.

Kit watched with high hopes that he would succeed.

"Don't ignore me Mael'Lan," Xander said. "I want to know who we are hiding from and why."

"Eh." He looked back at the fire...embarrassed.

"Ohh, that clears it up," Xander continued sarcastically. "We are hiding from Eh, huh?"

Mael'Lan just gave a short, rapid nod of his head as he tried to disappear into the chair. "...so embarrassed..."

It wasn't long before they heard an angry shout over the muffled din of tavern noise from the floor below...and the pounding of feet thumping up the stairs.

"Mael'Lan?" Xander asked, rather worried. "Really now, what happened?"

Kit was looking more than just a little scared. "Oh no..."

Mael'Lan shrugged his shoulders with an 'I don't know!' vocalization that had no words. "Ehhhhhh!"

"Then why did you rush us up here?" Xander quickly began to look around the room for a way out. The window? How high up were they?

"Let's just say...I had a misunderstanding with my fellow gamers," Mael'Lan explained nonchalantly.

"You sneaky little cheat. You cheated, didn't you?" Xander asked, outraged. "You could have just left us downstairs, you know. Or you can pay them, you have that whole bag of money." Xander still wasn't quite sure where that money came from.

"That's not the principle of it! I did it just because I could! Shadows aren't supposed to be able to figure this out! After all, I am a GOD, I'm vastly superior to THEM... They're not even real! So why should I pay them back?" he folded his arms. "As if the money was the big issue anyway...mumble mumble..."

"You should pay them back so that we can stay here tonight...or have you forgotten that is why we are here?"

"But I don't wanna!" he said petulantly, sulking.

"Now," Xander said, treating Mael'Lan almost like a kid. Xander walked to the door and pulled on the bookcase, suprisingly, it moved rather easily. "Now, pay it all to them, PLUS some extra."

"EEEEEEEEEEE!" Kit jumped back as sudden pounding...the sound of bodies being flung against the door...began to sound.

With a girlish shriek, Mael'Lan dived under one of the beds. "Gotta hide gotta hide gotta hide!"

"Kit," Xander said, holding out his arm. He waved her to him, waiting for her to take his hand. "Mael'Lan. I'm going to let them in here very shortly. I'd suggest having the money ready. Ha," he laughed at the man. "What kind of god hides under a bed. You are more girl, than god." He hoped that would provoke him to do SOMETHING besides hide.

Mael'Lan shrank even farther back under the bed. "Darkness, protect me! I wanna go home!"

Kit clenced Xander's hand tightly. "Alex, I don't know about this..."

"It's not us they are after, I'm not worried about it. If all he is going to do is sit there and hide...well, they can have him. Xander picked up the bag of money and dumped it over the bed Mael'Lan was hiding under. He backed up behind the door and pulled Kit close behind him, getting ready to unlock it.

"Alex! No! They'll kill him!" she protested, widening her eyes.

"I doubt it...but he deserves it if he doesn't get up."

All they saw were two little eyes staring out from under the bed. "They'll never find me...never find me..."

The door, unlocked, burst open and nearly fell off of its hinges with the force of the first brute plunging into the room. Kit hugged Xander tightly, growing more fearful.

All they heard from Mael'Lan was a strange 'eek' sound and the noise of nails scrabbling against the floor as he tried to back up against the wall...disappearing into the darkness under the bed.

Xander stood back, holding his sister's hand tightly. He hoped they would go directly for the bed and he could just leave. But if they saw him, he was ready to give up Mael'Lan's position easily.

Before they knew it, six men stormed into the room...and they turned wicked smiles to the bed with the money on top of it. "There's more stuff in here to be had!" one of the ruffians voiced. "Shut the door...wherever he is, he's not gettin' past US!" The door was slammed shut, and in the open stood Xander and Kit.

"EEP!"

"The bed," Xander pointed towards Mael'Lan. "I don't know what this is about...but, if you don't mind," he said, taking a hold of the doorknob...

"I think we're gonna mind, silver-hair," the closest thug slapped his hand away, muscling in. Two other thugs moved to the bed and hoisted it up, throwing it back.

"I'M GONNA DIEEEEEE!" Mael'Lan screeched as he jumped to his feet.

Xander wasn't sure if he was going to get out of this without fighting. It really sucked that he hadn't caused any of this, but he had to deal with it.

"Seriously now," Xander repeated himself, "I believe we will be leaving." He reached for the doorknob again...and if anyone made a move against him, he was throwing that person right out the window.

The thug's eyes suddenly glowed...not widening, but actually GLOWING...and he seized Xander's wrist with a powerful grip as he shoved him back. "*I THINK NOT,*" he growled, and his voice was inhuman. Four of them were advancing towards him and Kit, cracking knuckles and chuckling wickedly.

"Shit," was all that Xander had to say about the situation. How did he get himself into these messes.

Xander let his hand slip from Kit's as he wasted no time going into combat. Kit was scared stiff, Mael'Lan was useless. Time to save the day or die. He took off full force at the closest man, hoping to surprise him.

The man moved so that Xander's move glanced off of him. Immediately one of the thugs surged forward and seized Kit. She squealed, pounding at him with her fists and kicking wildly.

The other three surrounded Xander, grinning...and then all at once they began raining blows from their fists.

The other two, who had cornered Mael'Lan, were chuckling. "Cowardly Chaosite...we will rip your puny head off and shove it down your throat!"

Mael'Lan's eyes bulged as he tried literally to push himself through the wall. "EEEEK! Stay away from me! I *know* you're from my family!" he pointed.

It had been a while since Xander had really had to fight a lot...and now he did it every day. Xander actually laughed as the punches rained down upon him. What a life... He pushed himself as hard as he could to withstand the blows and fight back...somehow. He HAD to save Kit.

One of the men suddenly punched Xander in the side of the face, knocking him hard enough to snap his head sharply to the side and floor him. "ALEX!" Kit screamed, sobbing. "Leave him alooooone!"

The thugs ignored Mael'Lan's crazed ramblings, and jumped forward. They grabbed at his scarf and yanked him into their midst...one held his arms out to the side while the other drove his fist into Mael'Lan's vulnerable stomach.

"Run, Kit," Xander yelled, blood dripping out of his mouth. "Cough...cough...Mael'Lan...cough....godform...cough....cough..."

Xander pushed himself to his knees again, or tried. Once there, it was just one more step until he could try to fight back.

Kit struggled in vain, the man clutching both of her wrists in one meaty hand as he laughed at her. "We've got the Amberite, finish these two idiots off quickly."

Now Mael'Lan was mad. They were manhandling him. He was a GOD. Panic-stricken and angry, the air around him began to charge with static, covering his body in a type of electrical mist as he molded himself into his god form. "I am a GOD! You will PAY!"

He lifted his arms suddenly to throw his way free. He wriggled and shook, shoving one away into the other.

Xander used the distraction to get to his feet and attempted to throw SOMEONE out the window.

The man stumbled back as Xander grappled at him, growled at Xander, and charged again as he slammed his elbow down onto his shoulder.

Xander responded as best as he could to the attackers. Truth be told though, he just saw them all as pesky bugs...it was the man holding his sister whose neck he wanted. "I WILL NOT GIVE UP!" Xander responded, fighting for his sister's life. He could care less about his own.

One of the men still clinging to Mael'Lan's arm suddenly got his face raked by some sharp claws. But instead of crimson blood, thick blackness oozed from the man's face, dripping rancid gore. The other thug threw a punch at Mael'Lan's face.

"Pitiful demon!" Mael'Lan snarled. "The audacity of thinking that you could do battle with a lord of Chaos, let alone a GOD of Chaos...perhaps I shall eat you for my breakfast!..." He continued to maul him, oblivious to any other struggles in the room.

No matter how many times the large men were hit, struck, and injured, they seemed to be feeling no pain at all. Each blow jerked their bodies unnaturally, and they kept coming. And coming.

That left only one option for Xander. In the heat of battle, it did not really bother him too much...normally, he would have considered himself as insane as Mael'Lan. All the same, it looked like the only way to kill these guys was to remove the head. And since there were no knives or axes around...it seemed like blunt force would have to work.

"REVAN!" someone suddenly shouted above the din. The six men all shrieked simultaneously, smoke eeking out of their eyeballs that sunk into their heads. The smoke swirled, dissipated, and all that was left was the foul stink of rotting corpses. Kit made a frightened noise of disgust as the man holding her suddenly fell on *top* of her, pinning her down with his lifeless weight.

Xander was the first one to Kit's side, throwing the body off of Kit and helping her up before embracing her. "Are you hurt?"

"No, no, I'm okay," she stammered, shaking. "Oh Alex, you're bleeding!" she sobbed, touching his mouth with a trembling hand.

Mael'Lan was still snarling and snapping, shredding up the body of his attacker.

Standing out in the hallway was a thin looking man, who watched all three of them with a somewhat curious and bemused look. "Power words. Don't leave home without them."

Xander looked at the man, then to Mael'Lan, then back at the stranger. "Who in the hell are you?"

"I? I am Lumos. And you are welcome," he smirked faintly.

"Mael'Lan," Xander asked, referring to the crazed man.

Mael'Lan glanced up, an arm in his mouth. "Mmmm?" Then his eyes trailed to the stranger standing in the doorway. He raised one eyebrow, dropping the limb as he opened his mouth to say, "Who's that guy?"

"Says his name is Lumos...Said he saved us. Which, I guess he did. But I was hoping you'd recognize him." Xander just acted as if the man wasn't standing in the doorway.

"I see you're busy...perhaps I will come back later," Lumos withdrew with a strange smile.

Mael'Lan rushed over. "No no no! Let me buy you some ale! Thank you thank you!" He wiped the blood from his face.

Lumos looked amused, and stopped his retreat. "I could never turn down a free ale...certainly."

Xander wasn't a very trusting person at the moment...but he followed them down to the bar. "Do you know, Mael'Lan," he continued, "that you brought us to a place that doesn't even know what cigarettes are?"

"Eh! Make do!" Mael'Lan withdrew a pipe from his pocket and passed him some tobacco. "Here...remember, be flexible."

Mael'Lan peered at the stranger intently, his finger shooting out and poking him in the arm. "How'd you do that...back there?"

"Power words," Lumos replied with a pleased smile. "A quick burst of magic, designed to offer a boost. The one that I used offered a brief aura, dispelling of the spirits that were inhabiting the undead. And once expelled, they could not enter back in."

"Oooooooo...." Mael'Lan seated himself as he waited for a waitress to take their order.

"Magic? You're serious?!" Kit stared in wide-eyed fascination at Lumos. He smiled back at her, and gave her a pat on the head.

"It worked, did it not?" he replied.

"Power words?" Xander asked, spitting some more blood out of his mouth. "Magic? I don't understand. Magic isn't real. What is magic?" Xander asked, quite generally to Lumos.

Lumos looked at Xander disapprovingly. "Don't tell me you've never heard the term before...every shadow should know about it."

"I know what it is considered to be. It is in fantasy books and old myths and legends. Magic does not really exist though...not other than parlor tricks or entertainers."

Mael'Lan guffawed at Xander. "You have to excuse him...He's a bit slow."

"Ahhhh," Lumos inclined his head, and steepled his fingers. "Sorcery...cantrips...you know, magic. Mystical powers imbued in those born with the gift. You have it...I see it in your eyes," he smiled.

"I have it? Phawww!" he told Lumos at the thought. "I am a man of science. I do not believe in things like magic."

"Have you been paying attention AT all?" Mael'Lan asked in a huff, inching his way closer to Lumos.

Xander raised his eyebrow a bit at Mael'Lan's comment. "True, a lot of other stuff has happened...I suppose magic is real. But how? It doesn't make sense."

Lumos grinned, reminiscent of a Cheshire cat. "I'm going to teach you an important lesson... Are you ready? Here you go... 'That's just the way it is.'"

"WHERE'S MY BEER, BARWENCH!" Mael'lan bellowed over the ruckus, waving one hand in the air. "Of course magic makes sense. More sense than logic..." he mumbled. "MY BEER PLEASE?!"

"Like, yeah yeah, I hear you already!" huffed a blonde woman, tossing her head arrogantly as she pushed and shoved her way through the tap room.

Xander smiled back, his teeth still pink. "I'm sorry," he told them, "but that is not enough. I can't accept something because 'it is'. There HAS to be a reason for it."

Lumos turned back to Mael'Lan. "Where are these pups headed? I hope you're taking them to Amber, this one needs a book."

"It's getting so that a GOD can't get decent service anymore!" Mael'Lan sulked. Grinning toothily, scooting even closer to Lumos. "Well...yes........" He looked at the man oddly... "...You're from there?..."

"Why, that it is your homeland," Lumos replied. "For you and your sister. Your tattooes cannot hide this from ME." He glanced at Mael'Lan. "I have visited the place on occasion, but I find that it no longer suits me." A mysterious smile crossed his face. "You, too, will find what you seek in Amber."

Xander looked at his own arms then back to Lumos, more questions on his tongue. But he stopped himself, long enough to light the pipe that Mael'Lan had handed him. "What can you tell me of these," he held his arm forwards.

Mael'Lan's eyes focused upon something on Lumos' cloak... ".....shiiiiiiinnnnyyyyyy.......hmmmmmmm..." his hand shot out as he grasped the clasp and smiled crazily. "MINE!"

Lumos somehow managed to elude Mael'Lan's clutching hand, appearing in the seat between Kit and Xander. Kit stared, and then beamed in wide-eyed wonder. "They contain a powerful magic...one that will hide you from enemies with weak minds. However, they will become stronger the longer they have to search for you. The closer you put yourself to Amber, the better the chance you have to escape."

"Do you know the path to Amber then? Mael'Lan here does not, so we have to go to another place first. If you could just but set us upon the road, I'm sure I can find it."

Mael'lan sulked. "Phooo..." He shook his head and looked about. "I told you someone in Avalon would know of Amber.....Merlin talked of it often." He put a hand to his mouth, not sure why he had said that.

"I cannot assist you," Lumos shook his head, "for I am no longer welcome in that area. However, my young friend," Lumos unfastened the clasp of his cloak, and passed it to Mael'Lan, "you will soon cross paths with someone who can."

"But how do you know that?" Xander asked Lumos. Things were getting weirder and weirder as time went on.

"A gift...a curse...perhaps both." He steepled his fingers, breathing a deep sigh. "All I can do is caution you to stay away from the black roads. There are dangerous travelers...and they search for you, daughter of the king," he looked at Kit.

Kit looked as though she'd been shocked by lightning. "Um...what?"

Mael'Lan...oblivious to the conversation, put his hand into his vest pocket and withdrew a card. He sat staring at it for a moment, than rested his hand on the table, looking over at Kit.

Xander almost asked the same thing, but Kit beat him to it, so he waited for an answer.

"...King..." Mael'Lan didn't appaer too fazed, "...That explains it..." He trailed off, returning his gaze to the card.

"You all have the blood of royalty," Lumos smiled. "Yes, even you, Mael'Lan. However, it is your father," said while looking at Kit and Xander, "who wears the crown. Be wary of him...be wary of all who would seek to abuse your innocence."

"Crown? Crown of what? Amber? Avalon? England?"

"Phaaaah!" Mael'Lan waved Lumos' comment away. "I am a GOD. I have no need of parents." He looked at Xander and smirked, "Retard!"

Kit furrowed her brow, and reached for Xander's hands. She looked nervous and excited all at the same time.

"What?!" Mael'Lan huffed, "I can't help it if he's slow..."

"Amber, naturally." Lumos restrained a smile at Mael'Lan's comments. "That would make you the heirs."

Xander let Kit hold his hands and he looked at her. "Not only are we gods," he told her jokingly, "we are the Prince and Princess of the Gods. And why is it exactly that you are not welcome in MY country?" he asked Lumos.

"YOU????" Mael'Lan began incredulously, "YOU a GOD?! Kit...I can see the possibility there...BUT...No GOD's that stupid." He pointed at Xander.

"At least I didn't get caught cheating at a card game, huh?"

"I let them catch me. I was bored." He sulked. Mael'Lan set the shiny clasp he had 'won' from Lumos on the table and stared at it affectionately.

The barmaid returned with four mugs of ale. Kit looked at hers with disappointment, and pushed it over to her brother. "Questions for another day," Lumos smiled at Xander...his eyes were tired, and his ageless countenance suddenly seemed very old indeed. "For now, let us drink and relax...you will find that moments like these are rare, and to be treasured, in the days to come."

"What do you know of...my family...?" Mael'Lan inquired.

Lumos chuckled. "Of Chaos blood, and not of Chaos blood... You will find your heritage and your sanctuary in the days to come."

Xander almost pushed the man...almost...but then the aches and pains from the fight took his attention. He whistled loudly calling a barmaid. "Hardest thing you've got," he told her.

She murmured something about ingrates and pushy people, but swept away with a rustle of skirts.

"They all want me dead, anyway." Mael'Lan snorted... "Useless as they are. And what do you mean, not of Chaos blood. I'M the GOD af Chaos, doncha know."

Lumos laughed loudly. "Oh...oh yes, you do remind me of someone I once knew... But, a tale for another time. You, my boy, share the same heritage as these two. Another father, of course, but you still possess the blood of order in your veins."

"WWWHHHHAAAAT!" Mael'Lan stood up in a fit, his hands going to his hair spasmatically. "RRRRRrrrrrr. I HATE order. It's soooo boring."

"We share a similar person in our family tree?" Xander asked Lumos. *Please, of all things good and holy, don't let me be related to Mael'Lan,* Xander thought.

Kit shrank back, staring at Mael'Lan. "I'm sure it can't be THAT boring... I mean, Alex and I are definitely NOT bored right now."

"True, this is not boring, but I would consider it far from entertaining."

"Ooooooo," Mael'Lan huffed as he swept his beer from the table, "Blast it all! That just CAN'T BE RIGHT! Whoever heard of a God of Chaos having order in his veins!" Mael'Lan pointed a finger at Lumos accusingly. "YOU'RE TOYING with me..."

Lumos blew the foam from his mug and took a few graceful gulps.

Kit got up from the table. "Um, I'll be right back." She didn't wait for a protest, and quickly vanished in the haze and din of the tavern.

"Your choice," Lumos shrugged. "May as well start mulling it over now...it would have been harder once you found out from your father. Now that would be a chuckle..."

Xander stared after Kit, about to follow, then stopped, deciding against it. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the trump.

Mael'Lan growled... "It's my home, duh. I showed you earlier." He glared at Lumos..." I don't like people playing with my mind. After the Brain Fever... do you think I'd let some crusty vagabond like you sway my opinion of who I am? " He snarled. "Besides... my... 'father' is an insignificance to me. Unless he can serve some useful purpose..."

Again, Lumos shrugged and drank from his mug. "It is your choice."

Xander wasn't really involved in this conversation anymore. He figured that it was really Mael'Lan's business anyway. Rising slowly, he followed the path his sister took before.

"Yes.....yes it is." Mael'Lan mumbled, "I'd probably hate him anyway. He's most likely BORING."

Lumos chuckled, and glanced up as Kit ran into her brother with a squawk. She smiled at him, and guided him back to his chair. "I got some banadages and water!" she gestured proudly with her hands.

"Thanks mother," he said sarcastically.

"His wounds will have healed by tomorrow afternoon," Lumos murmured, casting a glance in their direction, and turning back to his drink.

Mael'Lan sulked in silence.

Kit looked at Alex with a hurt expression. "Fine..." She shoved the bandages away, slumping her chin onto her arm.

"Ahh Kit, I was just playing with you," he said softly to his hurt sister. "Please, I'd love it if you could bandage me up. These wounds really do hurt. But," he continued, "let me find my drink first," Xander looked around for the barmaid.

"Okay!" She looked happy to be of use, and scooched her chair to his with three short thrusts, and started gently cleaning the blood from his skin...ignoring his request for strong drink. Luckily, however, the barmaid approached with a very dark ale, almost pitch black in color.

"So," Xander said to Lumos, "What else can you tell me about...well, anything really." Xander tried to accept things as they were, instead of needing answers for everything. "So," he asked, "If magic IS real, what can you tell me about it? You said I could learn it?" Xander couldn't believe he just asked that...ohh well.

"You can," Lumos nodded, and finished off the rest of his ale. "But not from me. There will be others who can teach you...try to find someone younger, as they will be less likely to ask for a hard fee."

"Fee?"

"Learn magic from someone too learned, and they might try manipulating your mind with a geas...send you on urgent missions that they themselves don't wish to accept or risk."

"I am surprised you would warn me of such."

Lumos smiled slowly. "I don't strike you as the selfless hero?"

"I don't trust most people, no offense. Even if you do strike me as the wise sage type."

Lumos sighed. "I'm wounded, but I take no offense. Keep your suspicions sharp. It is better in the long run, for trust can be deadly."

"So have you met this man that is supposedly my father?" Xander asked.

"Yes. Many times. And his moods change quite swiftly," Lumos nodded, and reached across to the two untouched mugs of regular ale. "May I?"

"Please." Xander motioned to the glasses. "What else can you tell me about him?"

"That your mother is not his wife." He shrugged. "The rest is best left up to you when you meet him."

"You know a lot but are unwilling to share most of it. Why is that?"

Lumos smiled. "Force of habit. Knowledge is valuable."

"I suppose. So how is it that you even knew that we were Amberites, or whatever they are called? Are you related as well?"

"I know, because I can feel the reality of your beings. After your first 500 years, you may in time grow sensitive to the presence of other beings of reality also," he replied. "That is to say, if you're cautious enough to survive that long."

"You are 500 years old?" Xander stammered in disbelief.

"MUCH older," Lumos laughed.

Lumos's answer was followed quickly by a large drink of the ale by Xander.

"Understandable, take your time... You're handling it better than some of the other newbies."

"You are much more helpful than Mael'Lan. I think he is sort of...you know. Anyway, explain this Chaos/order thing to me. Mael'Lan mentioned it, but all it sounded like was gibberish. Amber, and Chaos, order, Pattern, Logrus, just a bunch of names that mean nothing to me. I almost understand the concept of this shadow thing...but understanding the idea of it and understanding it all are two different things."

"It's difficult to explain... So I recommend the Amber library when you arrive. There, you will find all the information you need."

"Again, you're not open very much to questions. What about Avalon?" Xander tested, "It is just another shadow like earth or...here I suppose?"

"Correct," Lumos nodded. "And highly favored by one of the Amberites, who keeps the Shadow. But, alas, he is not present at the moment. There are two others heading this way, however. You will meet them in the morning."

"How do you know this?"

Lumos just smiled. "I listen well."

"Not the answer I was looking for... So," Xander said, his mind racing, "Do we trust the ones arriving in the morning, or will we have another incident like earlier?"

"Their hearts are relatively untainted," Lumos answered. "With kindness and a smile, perhaps they will agree to guide you onward."

"You can read into their hearts as well? You have to be joking with me...how can anyone know these things."

Lumos just sighed and shook his head. "My friends, I am weary and have a long journey ahead of me. Rest this night. Our paths may cross again." He paused next to Mael'Lan as he rose. "The clasp in your hand...you may use it to contact me if you are ever in danger. You are familiar with Trumps...it has that power within."

"I'm not familiar with trumps," Xander added, more to Kit than to Lumos.

Kit just smiled at him, winding the gauze around his arm. "S'okay, Mael'Lan is. That's why he gave the clasp to him!"

"Yes...I am familiar with Trumps." Mael'Lan aroused from his sulk. "Perhaps I shall ask you how you know my father..."

"Because we've met," Lumos grinned. "He is not aware of your existance. Not yet."

"Who ... what is he?"

"You'll see," Lumos chuckled.

"Thank you Lumos," Xander said without any title. "I wish you would stay and answer more questions...but your help has been appreciated."

To Xander, he bowed respectfully at the waist. "It has been my pleasure."

"Take care!" Kit called out with a happy smile. "And thanks!"

"Then...good night......."

Lumos saluted Mael'Lan, and walked out of the tavern with his hands in his pockets.

"Aren't you done yet?" Xander asked of his sister once Lumos was gone.

"It takes time, quit rushing me! You're making me all nervous..." she mumbled.

Mael'Lan smiled vaguely at the clasp. "Strange..." He looked at Kit. Then to Xander. "It appears that...I wasn't listening to your conversation with Lumos. Was he of any help?"

"Yes, a bit Mael'Lan. So what did you think of that man, sis?"

"I'm not sure...really mysterious, but I think he's honestly trying to help us." Her eyes flickered up to him, then to Mael'Lan. "And he DID save our lives."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that opening the door thing earlier Mael'Lan."

"Children of a king. That can be a very ...tricky thing. Perhaps ... one of Merlin's friends will give you more answers. Merlin had mentioned a Corwin...and he...seemed ... arrr, I can't remember. My mind's a mess these days." Mael'Lan shrugged, "Sorry for calling you slow. I imagine not all Amberites keep their children informed..."

"You think that all of our family intentionally loses their children out in shadow?" Xander asked. "That's horrible. Why would they do such a thing? Why did our father do such a thing?"

"From talk in the Courts of Chaos, your family tends to HIDE their children from one another. To protect them from being manipulated. It's much the same where I'm from..." Mael'Lan sighed. "Your father is probably trying to keep you from harm."

"Why would I have to be hidden from my own family?" Xander looked wonderingly at Kit.

She shrugged. "I don't know...if there's a king, maybe it's a political thing?"

"Mael'Lan?" Xander asked.

"If the Amberites are anything like Chaosians....they tend to be ruthless in politics...using family members as leverage, blackmail.....even killing off one another to get the throne. Though, I'm sure they're not ALL like that."

"Ohh what a grand family we have entered," Xander shook his head, almost wishing he would just wake up and everything would be a dream.

Kit gently patted his hand with a sympathetic smile. "Least you've got a crazy sister for company!"

"I imagine that your generation is a bit better; not so .... twisted."

"I hope so. I hope so," was all Xander said in response. He tossed back the dark ale, finishing the drink off.

Kit yawned, and blinked wearily. "Let's go to bed...I'm really tired, don't know about you guys."

"Lumos said that two other Amberites will be here tomorrow Mael'Lan. I don't really want to stay here, I'm not sure it is safe, but if we are going to meet someone helpful..."

"It is getting late...but, after my ..... trip-up ... I think we should move on, as well."

"How will we find those others tomorrow?"

Mael'Lan paused, "We can always return. But, from my memories of how Merlin spoke of Corwin.....Perhaps we should stay....." He looked conflicted. "I would hate to see harm come to my new friends. Maybe there's an inn across the way."

"Let us find out...and we will take turns, Mael'Lan, staying awake."

"I'll take turns too," Kit offered, piping up.

"No, you will sleep."

"But--!"

"I could see if there is another inn close by that isn't filled...the one three houses back appeared promising. And there's one across the street...Better than losing sleep.....and we'll still be able to keep an eye on this place," Mael"lan offered.

"I agree, let's go," Xander agreed. He just ignored Kit's whine and looked towards the waitress. "You got the bill, Mael'Lan?" he asked.

"No sweat off my back. Money is never lacking when you have the Logrus on your side." Mael'Lan waved the waitress over.

"You are going to teach me how you do that," Xander insisted, seeing the usefulness.

"Only if you walk the Logrus....that's how I got the power to do that." The waitress came over to the table, pausing. "Here you go, love." Mael'Lan dug the appropriate funds from his pocket, "I wish Merlin were here with us....I do miss his face..." He handed her the money and stood.

"Merlin? You have spoken of him before. He is a legend where I am from. A great sage and wizard. Are you saying he is a real man and still alive?"

"He's the King of Chaos. And...he's my *hero*...." Mael'Lan smiled childishly. "He IS a great man."

"Another King? What is Chaos's relationship with Amber?" Xander asked...already assuming the response. Diametrically opposed worlds - of course they weren't going to be friends.

"I...sometimes have the strangest...feeling...when I think of him. Like a memory....oh well." Mael'Lan sighed sadly. "Chaos is change, Amber is order. They are two kingdoms standing in opposition of each other. But, they are tied to one another in a struggle for harmonious exsistence. A Chaosian actually created Amber....so Chaos is considerably older. But, I believe both would fail if either was completely destroyed. Each kingdom is a twisted mirror image of the other...distorted if you will. And, though at first, they would seem at odds... they are one and the same."

Xander nodded at the response. It was more like a philisophical belief than a political answer. Mael'Lan was either repeating what he was taught, or had learned much in his life...maybe he wasn't so crazy...maybe he was more so. Only time and experience, Xander decided, would bring him an answer to that question.

Xander stood from the table, taking Kit softly in the arm. He looked at Mael'Lan, "Well, I hope to meet this Merlin you admire so much sometime soon."

"Shall we away to another inn,now?" Mael'Lan inquired as he tucked his trump back into his vest, and pinned the clasp onto the high collar of his vibrantly yellow shirt. "When Chaos is ... less troubling for me, I shall take you there to meet him. He may be able to offer some protection from whoever is troubling you and Kit."

"Hopefully my father, the King can take care of it. You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Xander asked. He didn't really believe their father was the king, it was just something funny he could quote. He thought back at Lumos...at the time he seemed very wise, but really now, how could he know all that stuff. Xander pushed thoughts of Lumos out of his head - why was it that everyone Xander met seemed somewhat crazy?

Mael'Lan strode out of the inn at a slow saunter, the cold of the night hitting him with a blast. "We better hurry. I'll FREEZE out here!"

"He can turn into a demon, but he can't grow fur..." Xander wondered to himself on his way out of the building. He held Kit close for protection and warmth. "Lead on Mael'Lan."

Kit huddled in close to Xander, throwing her arms around his middle as they scurried after Mael'Lan.

Mael'Lan peered up and down the street...quiet. "Let's try next door first. Crossing the street is so much faster than walking down it for nearly a block...." He shivered, "Brrrrrr, cold. Chaos is so much nicer, no cold." He took the street in seven long strides, his lanky legs looking more like twigs than limbs. He looked up at the inn's sign 'The Wandering Minstrel.' "Fitting..." And entered.

Xander and Kit came right in on his tail.

It was much quieter than the other establishment. Perhaps it was bad beer? Who could tell...at this point, beer was the last thing on Kit's mind. She stamped her feet, rubbing her arms briskly to dispel the cold. "Are we all staying in one room?"

Mael'Lan eyed the joint in distaste...too slow for his pallet, but it would be safer than a rough establishment anyway. He strolled up to the innkeep and grinned a friendly smile "Any rooms available, my good man?" he asked in a lordly voice.

The plump man turned to face Mael'Lan... "We have one room available, at this time...." His sweaty face jiggled as he spoke, rolls of pale fatty flesh making him appear more like a sickly pig, than a man.

"Shall we take it?" Mael'Lan asked Xander.

"Great," Xander said speaking up, "We will take it," he said directly to the innkeeper.

"Fine, fine." The man reached beneath the counter and withdrew a set of keys, his plump hands fumbling with them for a moment, then he handed a single key to Xander. "And you will be staying for how long?"

"Two days at most," Xander said taking the key from the innkeeper. "Pay now or pay when we leave?" Xander asked.

"Now," the bulbous man responded.

Mael'Lan tossed the innkeep some coins as he headed upstairs. Then, pausing halfway, he spoke, "Send up something hot to eat...and relaxing to drink....."

Kit smiled, glancing around at anywhere BUT the innkeeper. He was giving her the creeps.

Xander nodded in agreement, making sure the innkeeper knew they needed enough for all three of them. He followed Mael'Lan up to the room, and opened the door with the key. "Mael'Lan, can you just get money with the Logrus?" he asked, saying 'Logrus' very unfamiliarly.

They found themselves in a comfortably sized room at the far end of the inn. It was unprepared for guests, but the distant footfalls in the hallway announced the servants coming to make it ready. Mael'Lan mumbled a word "AFLAK!" and the dry wood in the fireplace sparked... then blazed to life. "Yes, I can have the Logrus find things that I need by sending out tendrils ....it is quite convenient."

"Anything?"

"Everything I've ever asked it to gather, it's brought me." Mael'Lan enjoyed talking about the Logrus. It made him feel warm and safe. Seating himself on a comfy looking couch, he peered at Xander. "Why, do you want me to find you something?"

"That is amazing. Why don't you find me an automatic shotgun with some shells?" he just thought of the most destructive gun he could and chose it. If someone DID come tonight, he would be ready. "So that I can offer some sort of protection in case we are attacked tonight."

Kit was yawning already, and toddled over to one the beds. She was able to kick off one sneaker before collapsing tiredly onto the mattress.

Xander sat on the side of the bed, still talking to Mael'Lan. He took off his sister's other shoe and her socks. He pulled the blanket over her and made sure she was comfortable enough. Not that it mattered, she was already asleep, but Xander was a sweet kind of guy.

The servants looked at the bed she was occupying in mild frustration, but shrugged it off and finished up. "Well...I suppose I could. I'm just not so sure how reliable a gun would be here. Sometimes... they don't work in certain shadows. How 'bout a sword. They're much more reliable."

"I can't use a sword. I can use a gun. Here, hold on," Xander said walking towards the window.

He opened it quietly, trying not to make any noise. He waited a second or two more before driving the servants out and telling them to hurry up with the food. Once out of the room, he pulled his gun out of his pocket, aimed out the window, and pulled the trigger...

CLICK!

Xander pulled the trigger again, then again...still just a click each time. "How can you change physics," Xander complained while throwing out random swear words.

"Welllll...." Mael'Lan sighed. "I tried to warn you. That must mean we're close to Amber. Maybe another weapon...one that doesn't require gunpowder or the like...?"

"Alright, get the sword...and a crossbow if you can find one," Xander stared out the window just thinking. "And if you happen upon cigarettes, bring them along as well."

"Anything else?" Mael'Lan snorted as he focused upon a well crafted, light-weight short sword...something practical for a beginner to use...made of solid, flawless steel....gilded in silver, cause you never know.

"No, I think that takes care of everything."

He handed the items to Xander...wary of the cigars. He hadn't really known what to look for. He didn't smoke...and he hadn't paid much mind to what they looked like. "That sword should do you fine. Not too heavy, well made....and the silver is a good defense against chaos creatures."

"Ha, like werewolves," Xander commented.

"Yes, actually. And vampires, griffons, lesser demons, and the such."

"I was kidding," Xander responded.

"I'm not. If you don't believe me," Mael'Lan warned, "The next time we're on a Logrus tendril, I'll stop from making non-chaosian travelers visits so pleasant."

"No, I didn't say I didn't believe you. I was just making a joke, it is quite disturbing that you say these things really do exist."

Don't piss off the crazy man that can turn into a demon, that was always Xander's #1 life rule.

"Well, if you can imagine it...it probably already exists." Mael'Lan purred, "I can't wait till I can make my own shadow world..."

Xander sat against the wall, directly across from the door. He laid the sword to his left, the crossbow to his right. He spent a few minutes loading the crossbow before opening the box. "Cigars," Xander asked almost complaining. But beggers can't be choosers. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pipe he had gotten from Mael'Lan earlier. He held one in each hand before finally deciding on the pipe and he set the cigars aside. He lit it and puffed on it for a while, just watching the door. "You can sleep if you would like, Mael'Lan. I'll wake you up for your shift in a few hours.

"Oh?" Mael'Lan grinned. "I'm not tired. I can last for days without sleep. Besides...my meal should be here soon. I'm famished."

"Alright, but I'm staying up too," Xander stated, watching the door, warily...

A knock came lightly and Mael'Lan's face lit up. "Foooood!" he answered the door, took the food, and settled in for the night.

* * * * *

Xander lazily strolled down the stairs. His hair was unbrushed and his clothing wrinkled...but he actually felt sort of good after a good night's sleep. Behind him strolled Kit, about as lazily as Xander.

She yawned, scratching at her hair. She smiled at Mael'Lan tiredly and waved at him, not quite sure who the man with the long, dark hair was. "Hi!" she beamed happily. "OOooooo, you're not gambling again, are you?" she looked apprehensive.

He simply said, "No, I'm not gambling, just talking to my new girlfriend! Gail!" He looked at Guile.

"Umm, Mael'Lan," Xander began, "I think that she is a he?" he said with a laugh.

"Well, I always DID say you were a little slow," Mael'Lan looked indignant.

Guile rose from the table, ignoring the comment. "I take it that you are Kit. My name is Guile, and, through some strange twist of fate, I believe we may be heading in the same direction." Guile shrugged at Xander. "I've tried explaining it to him. You must be Xander."

Xander's lazy stroll soon turned into what looked into a cat ready to pounce. He watched Guile warily, not sure what to make of him.

"Kwah ha! I see Mael'Lan told you about us! Are you from Amber too?" Kit tucked her hands behind her back.

All this talk of Amber in the open was unnerving. "Uh, yes. I am. But I've never met you or your brother before. What makes you think you're from Amber?"

Kit looked up at Xander. "You wanna tell him about all the attacks, or should I?"

"How do we know you are from...Amber?" he said the word unfamiliarly still.

Guile shrugged. "You don't, really. I won't be able to show you that definitively until we get underway. Suffice it to say that what your friend here does, and what I do are so different that it should be obvious once you see it.

"Do?" Xander asks, "You mean that summoning of money and cigarette stuff?"

Mael'Lan was mumbling inaudibly to himself, apparently arguing about something. He was oblivious to whatever they were saying, his hands clutching the lapels of his coat.

Guile nodded after a moment. "Something like that. We can do the same things, but in a different way."

"Can I see?" Kit requested, standing on her toes with a wide, childish grin. "I missed out last night."

"Perhaps we might want to talk about this more when you are all ready to travel?" Guile looked around at the people in the common room. This was far too public indeed.

"I think you are missing the point. I don't know who or what has been attacking us, but I can't be sure it wasn't you... My faith is about worn out these days."

Mael'Lan suddenly bellowed, "Cabbages and purple yamens! I SAID, CABBAGES AND PURPLE YAMENS!!!" Then he returned to his mumbling.

"I understand." Guile felt the pain of the recent attacks as well. "My companion and I have been under attack as well. It seems like those who want us aren't very subtle about it."

"Proof," Xander continued, "Something to inspire my trust. I would love to go with you...but truthfully, all this is really very strange and right now...well...I don't feel like trusting anyone very far."

Guile spoke more quietly. "I can give you proof, but not here in the common room."

"Hold," Xander told the people below, taking Kit by the arm. "I will gather my things." Xander raced upstairs, keeping an eye on Kit. Rushing into the room he handed her the sword that Mael'Lan had summoned the night before. Xander picked up the crossbow from the floor and his cigarettes before leading Kit back to the top of the stairs. "Go," he said, waving Guile out the door. "Let's see." He wasn't trying to threaten Guile, he was just being cautious

Guile noted the addition of weapons, but felt it better to humor them. He turned, and headed to the door, hoping that the Chaosite would figure out that he was meant to follow as well.

Kit paused to tap Mael'Lan's shoulder. She cleared her throat and smiled, jerking her head towards the door.

Mael'Lan looked at her with a pale face. "Darling is VERY upset with me..." Then he got up and followed her.

Guile glanced at them all as they exited the inn. "I'll start with something small, and a few observations."

"Go on," Xander ordered.

Guile moved to the nearest bush, reached behind it, and pulled out a pair of daggers, with scabbards. He carried them non-threateningly towards them. "You obviously aren't from a neighboring shadow. Kit carries that sword like she's never used one, and you carry that crossbow like a pistol."

Mael'Lan scoffed. "You could have hidden those earlier! Do something shocking! Start big's always been MY motto!"

"So you had daggers hidden in the bushes?" Xander said.

"And neither of you have daggers. So I think the first example should be these." He handed one to Kit and one to Xander.

Mael'Lan poked Guile. "Something big! Something BIG!"

"If you draw them..."

Xander declined the offer, stepping away from Guile. A switchblade flipped in his hand, snapped out, then back in. "I'm fine, thank you."

Guile sighed. "Draw it."

Kit looked at him for a moment, then glanced at Xander with a shrug and withdrew the dagger carefully. She gasped. "Hey, look! It's got my name on it!" she showed it to Xander.

"Even IF it has my name on it...that still only makes me want to use this," Xander nodded at his crossbow. "You could be the one following us." Xander almost...almost looked to Mael'Lan to support.

Mael'Lan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Simple parlor trick."

Guile nodded to Mael'Lan. "Exactly. A parlor trick. But a useful one. Did I know either of their names before I spoke with you?"

Mael'Lan just sighed again. "Child's play."

"You knew my name awfully quick when I came downstairs."

"That's because I *told* him who you were!" Mael'Lan spread his arms wide.

Xander's head darted to Mael'Lan. "Are you sure he did not know our names before you said them?"

"Mael'Lan told me. Anyway, if you want to see a better demonstration, perhaps we should mount up? I'll provide horses, if you don't have any, and I'll even let you pick the direction we set out in, so you needn't fear an ambush."

Mael'Lan looked pointedly at Guile. "I *told* you Xander was retarded. This is boring! How about I turn into my GOD form? THAT'LL be fun!"

Xander looked questioningly at Kit. Xander wanted desperately to trust this man...but could he? Would he just be following it into another trap. All of a sudden he was suspicious of everything and everyone.

Kit shrugged. "He's an Amberite, isn't he? I think Lumos mentioned something about our enemy not being from there..."

Guile scowled at Mael'Lan. "I can't imagine your God form would be in better taste. Perhaps you had better stay in this one for now?"

"But it's SO much BETTER! Besides, I don't need a horse when I travel like that! And Darling is mad at me anyway!"

"How do we know he is an Amberite? Hell, what IS an Amberite...I'm still confused on that one."

Mael'Lan rolled his eyes. "You're ALWAYS confused, Xander. The teachers had to take special time with you in school, didn't they?"

"If you trust me long enough to go on a short ride with me, I can show you a little of your heritage." Guile moved towards the stable. Solis would likely be ready to go quickly, and she would enjoy this demonstration.

"Maybe if any of this followed normal laws of science I would have had it all figured out. You try having to relearn and rethink the entire physics principles you were taught," Xander snapped at Mael'Lan.

"I'm a Chaosian! I *live* for change!"

"Science?" Guile asked, as he heard the comment. "How familiar are you with probability theorems?"

Xander kept his crossbow ready, but nodded towards Guile. He followed slowly and carefully. "Familiar with the theories...well versed in many. But they are theories...and even if one of them was true...well...it still doesn't make a lot of sense."

"Watch and consider them as you do." Guile made it to the stables and peeked inside, but did not enter. "Solis, can you ready the horses? One of our companions is very suspicious, and if he is kin of mine... I'd prefer to keep him happy for now. Although he's waving his crossbow around too much, in my opinion."

Xander rolled his eyes and kept going. "There is another one with you?" he asked.

"Of course," Solis smiled, and started adjusting the gear. She glanced at Xander out of the corner of her eye, then at Kit. Offering both a smile, she lifted a hand in greeting and continued about her work.

"It seems like my family is coming out of the woodwork these days," Guile commented, more to himself than anyone else.

"Another 'Amberite'? How convenient," Xander commented.

"Tell me about it," Guile said with frustration. Far too many Amberites in Avalon, and Guile was finding the proximity to his own family as frustrating and unpleasant as he remembered it. Guile looked to Mael'Lan. "You may wish to ready your horse as well. We'll be travelling by shadow, although why I'm taking you is beyond me."

"Because of my GOD FORM!" Mael'Lan shouted triumphantly. And in a shudder and a shiver, he erupted into his 'god form.' "Poo-WAH!"

"Shape-shifter!" Guile braced himself for onslaught.

"No no, he's harmless!" Kit rushed forward, staying Guile's arm. "He's just...unique!"

"Not as unique as you might think," Guile shook his head. "Chaosites are more numerous than Amberites."

Xander wasn't worried about it. Mael'Lan was too unfocused to do too much damage. He just walked past the shifting form. "Horse?" he asked.

"We'll pick up a pair on the way. What kind of horses do you like?"

"Ones with wheels and gas."

Guile laughed. "I'm afraid those don't work in Avalon or in Amber. Combustion doesn't function in these shadows."

"How can combustion NOT work," Xander said, even though he was being rhetorical. It just didn't make sense.

"Imagine each shadow as a possibility. Can you imagine a place where magic might exist, and science might not?"

"No."

"Ever read a book?" Guile asked the taciturn Xander.

"Yes, mostly math and science books. But such worlds are fictional. They could NOT exist. That is what makes them fiction..."

"Your home shadow is fiction. Avalon is fiction. Yet, they both exist. In a way."

"That's the part I don't understand. But I don't deny that maybe other worlds could exist. But shouldn't the physics exist the same?"

"It's not easy to understand." Guile had spent only a brief time in more modern Earths, but he did have an idea. "Have you ever read a book call The Cave, by a man named Plato?"

"Long ago, but yes, I have. What interpretation do you have for me?" But even as Xander had said it, his mind slowly opened to a few new posibilites.

"Amber and the Courts of Chaos are the ultimate reality. All other worlds are the shadows of those two pure truths."

What if physics that he knew was but a small part of something else. That could make sense...maybe. It was quite a shock to his world.

"Chaos is number one!" Mael'Lan interjected. "Without Chaos, there never would have BEEN an Amber!"

Kit shushed him with a grin. "No no...he's smart, understands these things, let him talk."

"Without Amber, there would never be shadow," Guile scowled.

"Who is King of Amber?" Xander asked, thinking back to what Lumos said.

"Right now? King Random. But it's not like most normal monarchies."

"How so?"

"Well, it's a long story, but to summarize, there was a bit of a war over succession, and birth order wasn't the deciding factor."

"It doesn't matter right now. Have you ever met King Random?" he continued.

Mael'Lan whispered to Kit, "They're talking about your father."

She nodded slowly, all of her attention focused on what Guile had to say.

"I have, although he probably doesn't remember me very well. I tend to spend most of my time in Shadow."

"What does he look like?" Xander asked bluntly.

He couldn't help it. Guile found himself being jealous. These two, who had never been to Amber, already knew one of their parents. He pulled his pack of trumps from his pocket, and drew out Random's. "He looks like this."

Mael'Lan drew in close. "Trumps..."

Kit moved forward as well, touching the card. "It's cold..." she noted with a smile.

Xander had not expected a picture of him, but at least something went his way. Xander stared into the trump trying to remember what the one picture he had seen of his father looked like. "Kit," he asked, "Do you remember that picture of mother's?"

"Barely, I... I'm not sure. It's been so long." She gently took the card. The man looked to be small, with a wide grin and kindly face. And he looked quite a bit like Kit.

Guile handed the trump to Kit and Xander. "I'll want that back. Let me help Solis." He glared at Mael'Lan. "Get your own trumps, god."

Mael'Lan just screwed up his face. "I wasn't trying to *take* it, I just wanted to see!"

"But is it HIM Kit? Is that really our father? Was Lumos right?"

Kit shook her head. "I really don't know, I don't. But I think Guile is a good guy, and someone that can help us."

"Well we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Xander asked. "Why do you have a playing card of my father?" he asked to Guile.

Guile reappeared in the stable doorway, leading his horse. "It's not a playing card. Can I have it back?"

Mael'Lan suggested to Kit, "I *could* ask Lumos with that clasp he gave me...IF that's your father."

Kit gave the Trump back to Guile with a little grin. Then she looked at Mael'Lan. "That might help..."

"Then what is it?" Xander asked, taking one last look at it.

Guile took it back, and placed it with the others. He fanned a few of them out for Xander to see. "That's more of our family. These are a rather esoteric way that we keep in contact. Like..." He struggled to remember. "Telephones." Guile finally recalled the word.

"These cards are telephones?" he wondered....but so many other questions needed asking as well. He just pushed it aside to be answered later. "I don't even want to know any more..."

"There's much more, but we should go."

The clasp grew cold in Mael'Lan's hand, and he could see Lumos' familiar visage, shrouded in a hood. "Is something wrong, Mael'Lan?"

"Nooo, I just have a question for you. This man," Mael'Lan described Random's picture, "is he the present king of Amber?"

Guile glanced over to where Kit and Mael'Lan stood. "What are they doing?"

"I have no idea."

"Currently," came the reply that only Mael'Lan could hear. "That is King Random."

"Is he saying anything?" Kit asked.

"Well, thank you for the information. Now that we know who we are looking for, we are off to Amber. I will talk to you later." And he broke the contact, then turned to Kit. "King Random is your father indeed."

Guile turned back to Xander, "You never told me what type of horse you prefered. Give me a description, if you're not sure."

"Big, black, and winged," Xander said sarcastically.

"You, too, Kit." Guile asked. "It may take a while to find that. You don't mind walking, do you?"

Kit looked elated. "I knew he looked familiar!" she clapped her hands together. Then she bit her lip, glancing over at Xander. "Hey, be nice... I've never rode a horse before."

"I know. Guile," Xander said turning, "I have no idea about horses...get whatever you can get...I won't know a difference."

Guile gave Kit a concerned look. "Learning to ride may make this trip a tad unpleasant. Perhaps you might wish to ride with Xander, or one of us? Pick a direction, and we'll leave."

"Well, I've never ridden either, but I'm not riding with you," Xander gave a slight look to Solis before looking back at Kit. "No, I believe we will both ride seperately?" he asked her.

Kit moved to Xander and looked up at him. "Well...I dunno... I guess I could ride with Guile, I don't trust myself."

"No, I don't think that you will. You can ride with me," Xander insisted.

"I don't want to inconvenience you..."

Xander just gave Kit a stare, he was done deciding. She was NOT riding with Guile.

Guile motioned to Kit. "You both seem indecisive. I intend to walk until we have a horse for both of you. Kit, I put you in charge of deciding what kind of horse or horses you like. Xander, you can pick the direction we go in. Mael'Lan..." Guile looked at him. "You need to pick your teeth..."

Kit shrugged her shoulders. "A white one?"

"To Amber, d#%@ it," he replied. "Where else would I want to go."

Mael'Lan looked embarrassed and turned his back to them, picking his teeth. Then he returned, his smile wide. "Better?"

Guile decided enough was enough. "You were the one afraid I was going to ambush you. Point and we leave, alright?" Guile looked at Mael'Lan's demon form and then shook his head. "I think I liked you better with the chicken between your teeth."

"But I don't know which way is Amber," Xander protested.

Guile shrugged. "Fine. Follow."

Mael'Lan was getting frustrated. "THAT way!" he pointed in a random direction.

Xander followed along, Kit in his gaze the whole time.

Guile took Mael'Lan's lead. "Thank you." He looked to Xander. "Remember the Cave. It doesn't matter where we head."

Xander just shook his head, not really understanding, and followed.

Solis brought out Guile's horse, handing him the reins. "All set?"

"Yes," he said, smiling sadly at her. Guile led them out in the direction that Mael'Lan pointed, and began to manipulate shadow around the group.

After a while they came upon a beautiful white horse with a silver star between her eyes. She was saddled, and seemed to be waiting patiently for them.

Kit squealed with excitement. "OOOOOO!!! Is that one...mine?"

"That is your horse, Kit. Do you want to ride with Xander, or do you want to tell me what his horse looks like?"

Xander did not question...he just watched, trying to figure it out.

Kit interlaced her fingers tightly, glancing over at Xander as she bit her lip with a smile. "Maybe...you'd like a really nice black one?"

Guile smiled at Xander. "With wings?"

"But of course," he said, not really expecting it. Who would? A flying horse?

Guile quickly showed Kit how to lead her horse, and then set off, still walking his own mount. He trusted that Solis would watch after Kit should she be in trouble. "Come along, then."

Solis smiled at Guile, sympathizing with his frustrations. She dropped her horse back to Kit's, giving her a few pointers.

Xander followed Guile slowly, curious.

Mael'Lan floated behind them, flapping his wings nonchalantly.

Guile led the group through the forest. As they walked, the forest gradually began to change. Larger deciduous trees gave way to gnarled, squat trees, and the terrain grew more rugged.

Time passed.

At one point they passed near a squat hut, square in shape, with stretched hide over the windows. Strange words could be heard from people talking inside. Nothing like the language in Avalon.

"What are you doing?" Xander watched and asked questions along the way, questions about Amber, and the Pattern, and trumps. Just very basics that he should know anyway.

Guile smiled at Xander. "I'm getting you your horse. It's only a few hundred worlds from here."

Mael'Lan was bored. "Just get him ANY horse!" he complained.

"You're the one who wanted to see something flashy." Guile shot back.

"How do you just change the world around you? No devices? No mechanisms? I understand the worlds are changing...How?"

Guile answered Xander. "I change it by walking. Myself and all Amberites who've walked the pattern can Walk Shadow."

"Just walk and it automatically changes?"

Mael'Lan's face crinkled up with concentration. After a long moment of concentration, he finally yanked a black, winged horse into their current reality with his Logrus tendril. The horse looked appropriately spooked. "Here's your stupid horse, Xander!"

Xander actually laughed. "Looks like Mael'Lan's power is greater?" Xander asked.

Both Kit and Solis froze where they were, staring at the beast in wide-eyed wonder. "Whoa..." Kit murmured.

Guile frowned at Mael'Lan. "This is the difference. Mael'Lan draws things to himself. I take myself to the thing."

"Nope, just faster," Mael'Lan brushed at his claws. "After all, I am a god. And she can get you to Amber...I can't."

"Very true, she can." Xander walked slowly towards the horse. "Did you find me a tame one," he asked Mael'Lan.

The horse bit at Xander's hand. "Of course not! Picky picky!" Then he looked at Xander, and back to Guile. "It's tame enough, isn't it my love?"

"Umm, not really, Mael'Lan," Xander said staring at his almost eaten hand.

Guile ignored Mael'Lan. "Now, the displays of brute power are over. Let's get you a horse and take you to Amber."

"Get on the horse, Xander, or are you going to be more of a baby than a man? Just exert your will, the beast will listen to you." Then he looked at Guile. "I don't need a woman to compensate for my oversights!"

Guile turned. He'd likely lose half a day because of this. But now he was returning with three lost children of Amber, and a mad Chaosite who might also have blood of Amber. "Stow the woman comments for now. We've a long way to go, and I don't have time for these games." Guile turned to Xander. "Unless you want that horse badly, I can get you another one that won't bite."

Xander looked around at the company of people he was with and sighed. Ohh well, couldn't be too much worse than his old friends. Xander reached for the horse, waiting for it to try and bit him again. When it did, Xander reared and punched it. His will had been exerted. "Got a saddle?" he asked in the general direction of Mael'Lan and Guile.

Mael'Lan smiled, much pleased. "I'll get that for you right now!"

Kit was horrified, but said nothing.

Guile mounted, and rode back to where Kit and Solis sat. He looked at them both with frustration. "I think I need a break from questions right now. I'm sorry we had to do this."

Kit nodded mutely, still pale. "Poor horse...it was so pretty..."

"Are you all right?" Solis asked quietly.

Guile nodded. "That's why I leave the exotic animals alone. Horses are so much more amiable, and easier to deal with. And..." Guile nodded to Xander, "your brother may find his mount isn't what he expected." Guile nodded to Solis. "My wound still hurts, and we've lost time on this foolish venture. I want to be home tonight, and that means we'll have to ride quickly for a stretch."

Xander waited for the saddle, then had Mael'Lan help him strap it all on. He took the reins up close and mounted. "I believe I am ready," he told everyone else. "I didn't really expect to see a winged horses, I was being sarcastic, you know."

Mael'Lan sighed. "Can we leave now? I'm tired. And I'm hungry!"

"You're part of our family now, Xander. All things are possible. Follow closely, and if you have trouble, let me know." Guile turned and lead them all back through shadow, starting slowly.

Solis stayed close to Guile, protectively keeping an eye on him. "Will this be a strain on you?" she asked with concern.

Xander rode up close to Kit, not saying anything, too confused and angry to really want to talk. He ride beside her in complete silence the rest of the trip.

"Probably. But we've got to get there. I'm sure we'll be able to rest once we arrive."

"Just...don't push yourself too hard," Solis said, concerned. "All right?"

Guile nodded. He turned to Mael'Lan. "When we get closer, you'll have to return to a human form, and ride with us. The hunstmen of Arden will kill you, otherwise."

Mael'Lan simply nodded. "Sometimes gods have to be subtle."

"Indeed." Guile slowly increased their speed, and lead his mismatched band through shadow towards Amber.

Guile scowled in the dusk light. "We're in Arden."

He glanced back. Solis seemed tired from the ride, as did Kit and Xander. Over the last hour shooting pains had started to lance through him when they rode on rough terrain, and he was looking forward to finding the road. Only Mael'Lan seemed pleased, although he was babbling quietly to himself again. The man had been dogging them for the last half hour about getting food, until Guile diverted them into a glade filled with half-tame quail.

Which, of course, put him offf course, and now they were entering Arden, not on the road, but through the forest. Which meant that they needed to find the road soon, or he would have even more to explain to a ranger.

"We're looking for the road. Arden is one of the natural boundaries of Amber, and is guarded by one of our Elder's and his followers. We need to show them respect and deference, if we all intend to make it through this." He looked pointedly at Mael'Lan with that last comment. "Let me speak for us, and respond only if asked a question. There's no need to aggitate them, and every benefit for us if we make no trouble."

Riding on slowly, he rubbed his wound. He should have rebandaged it between Avalon and Amber. He would need to have castle staff look at it, or possibly one of his cousins who was trained in medical care.

Drawing his little group in closer, he continued for a while a silence. Somewhere, far off, he heard a sound that chilled him to the bone.

"What's that?" Solis asked, with a whisper.

"Hellhounds. They're among the guards that protect Arden, and Amber. You normally don't hear them unless there's trouble."

"Trouble?" Kit asked, nervously.

"Not us. If we were the trouble, we wouldn't hear the hounds until they were on us." Guile was about to say more when Xander interrupted them.

"I see the road." He pointed to their right, and through the trees Guile saw that, indeed, the road was nearby.

"Thank goodness," Guile said with relief. "You don't know how thankful I am to see that." He smiled wearily at Xander. "Let's go."

By the time they made the road, the baying had stopped. "Must have found what they were looking for," Guile commented. A bird flew over head, and Guile waved at it casually. "Another of the forest's guardians," he explained. "We should expect someone to greet us shortly."

With the pain gone, Guile realized there were things that the others should know before entering Amber. "After Arden we'll make our way to Castle Amber. Normally it's a bustling castle, where our family tends to actively play at court, manipulate each other, and generally find ways to make our long lives interesting. But Corwin has called all of the members of our clan together for a meeting, so expect the Castle to be much worse. I would guess that there will be family members teaming, and you won't be the only ones who are coming to Amber for the first time. As well, the Elders and some of our cousins will likely see these events as fertile ground for nurturing new plots. If I had enough time, I would tell you about the recent wars in our family, so you could understand how twisted things can get. But needless to say, be careful with whom you trust. I can tell you from personal experience that you should always think two or three times before taking anything anyone says at face value. If you have any trouble, I assure you that you can trust me or Corwin. Your own parents may also be trustworthy, although that's not a steadfast rule. Xander, I know you don't believe in magic..."

"Hold!" A group of rangers materialized from either side of the road. One took the lead, and approached Guile.

Guile descended from his horse.

"State your business in Arden," the ranger said, formally.

"I come on the summons of Corwin," Guile explained. "I'm bringing four lost members of the family, who have only recently discovered their heritage."

"Can you identify them?" the ranger asked.

Guile put a name to every face, and the rangers seemed to intent to watch, weapons in hand but not at the ready.

"Can you vouch for them?" the ranger asked.

"I will vouch for them, and any actions of theirs will be my responsibility," Guile responded formulaically.

"Be aware that, should they perform any act against Arden or Castle Amber, you will be held liable," the ranger replied.

Guile nodded. "I accept that."

"Then you may pass through Arden, Guile." The ranger smiled briefly. "Is there anyone you wish to have contacted before you arrive?"

Guile shook his head. "I don't think so. As soon as we're established in the Castle, we'll make the rounds. Thank you."

The ranger nodded, and then waved to her fellow rangers, who disappeared into the forest again. "Have a good evening then, Guile."

Before she disappeared, Guile realized he had an opportunity to striked two birds with one stone. "Thank you, Guardian of Arden. Allow me to give you a gift."

The ranger stopped, frowning. "I'm sorry..."

Guile release a spell of Flower of Your Desire, and produced a simple poppy. But before their eyes it changed. The color changed to a deep scarlet, the color of evening flames, with a bright yellow center. Apparently, a poppy hadn't been too far off the mark and seemed to be the ranger's favored type of flora. "A guardian's work should not go unrewarded."

"A guardian's work should not go unrewarded."

"Th-thank you," she said, looking at her flower with awe.

"Have a good evening, guardian." Guile remounted his horse, and then lead them slowly up the road, past the guardian.

"As I was saying, Xander," Guile continued, after they were out of earsot. "You may not believe in magic, but that doesn't make it any less real. If you feel not yourself, or are concerned about your health or... or anything, feel free to talk to me about it. I've got a few spells that can either fix what ails you, or let me know what it is if I can't help."

"There's a lot to learn, and you've only just begun."

Xander glanced at Guile sideways, not quite sure what to make of the man. Xander already regretted being so rash in the past little while. He was still weary of everything, but it was all so magnificent. He WANTED to believe in it. Xander did not say anything in response, turned his head forwards and kept riding.

Torches were being lit along the road as Guile and his band approached the Castle. Servants approached as they neared the gate, and then lead the horses away, to be tended and cared for. Other servants took their baggage, and informed Guile of the rooms available to them. Guile smiled.

"We've rooms in an out of the way hallway. Let me take you to see the rooms, and then you may all decide what you wish to do next. I suggest, though, that we find Corwin as soon as possible. He called this gathering, and I think your stories will be important to share."

The castle itself was busy, and Guile lead them through hallway after hallway, until, at last, they came to a less busy wing, and then into a short hallway.

"All of these rooms are available. Pick yours, and a servant will take your stuff in, and help you get anything that you'll need to be more comfortable." Guile waited, knowing that he'd need to answer questions.

Xander made his way down the hall methodically. He opened the door to one and examined it quickly...not seeing what he wanted, he moved on down the hall. Towards the end of the hallway, Xander opened a door, peered in, and saw what he was looking for. He a set of rooms with an connecting doorway between them. They were large, but with little furniture. "This one mine," he stated, "And that one," he pointed to it's twin, "Is Kits?" he asked her questioningly - assuming she'd agree. "I don't have anything to leave here...I don't have anything I own with me," he laughed slightly to himself. "So...I'm ready to go now."

Kit kept looking longingly at her suite. She was tired, for the journey had been a long one. "Yeah...me too..." her shoulders rose and fell with her sigh.

Guile paused. "I'm sure there's an official dinner going on right now. The event will likely be busy, and complicated. Maybe you should get some rest, Kit, and if we need you we can send a page to fetch you? It's up to you, but I wouldn't want you to have to face that gathering unprepared." He turned to Solis. "If you wish to rest, as well, I understand. I'll need a moment to change my bandage and change to something less..." Guile looked down at his clothes, dusty and bedraggled. "travel stained."

Kit seems delighted by this, and utters a hurried thanks before running back into her quarters. Apparently, the suggestion is more than ideal.

Solis smiles at Guile. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to stay with you a bit longer. I have a few questions regarding protocol and such...and I want to see how your wound is coming along."

He turned to regard the other two men of their motley group. "If you wish more appropriate clothing, Xander, the servants may be able to provide you with it. What are your intentions, Mael'Lan? Do you want to socialize, or are you more interested in curing the brain fever?"

Mael'Lan looked at Guile perplexedly. "I was not aware that the fever could be healed." He said this more for the sake of saying, than for conversation."I am uncertian as to what to do now." He peered at Xander.

Noting the seeming indecision of the men, Guile shook his head. "Decide what you want to do."

Xander watched his sister head towards bed, followed by everyone else drifting off. Xander let himself fade back into his own room, actually kind of glad to be on his own for a few moments again...and safe. At least, he felt somewhat more safe here than anywhere else recently.

Xander fell back onto the bed for a moment, hoping sleep would take him...but it didn't. His mind raced over recent events...and he thought about his father more and more. He tried curling up in the unfamiliar bed, but to no avail. Finally, giving up, he decided his course of action.

"Umm...Servant?" he called into the hall looking for one of the many workers. Hell, if he really was royalty, he might as well use it. He searched a few moments before finally finding a skinny many with a sharp nose and glasses.

"Yes m'Lord, what can I do for you?" the manservant asked.

"I need a shower and," he said looking at his clothing, "Some new clothes. If you could direct me..." The servant didn't even let Xander finish before he spoke.

"Lord Xander," he said with a smile, "A bath will be drawn in your room and a tailor will be sent shortly." Xander didn't ask how the servant knew his name or the room he had chosen, he just nodded his appreciation and turned back down the hall. A few moments of waiting found a group of woment attacking his room. His bath was drawn and an assortment of soaps, towels, and necessaries appeared in the bathroom.

The women refused to leave him alone until they had his old worn clothes. He managed to save the few possessions in the pockets and throw them out the bathroom door to the servants. A good half-an-hour of soaking did much to remove his stench and a little less at removing his bruises and sores. As he dried himself off, a knock came at the door.

"Enter."

The tailor was followed by 8 different men, each carrying a trunk of assorted dress and cloth. The man measured Xander, asked a few questions about color preference, then began to go through his trunks. "Now, I would rather just have new clothes specifically made for you," he began, "But considering that you don't have any," he made a gesture towards the towel, Xander's only clothing, "We will have to improvise."

The tailor picked out the gawdiest, most lacey thing that Xander had ever seen and he immediately turned it down. The next piece was just as formal as the first. It took nearly a lifetime, but Xander was able turn down each of the tailor's offers. "Don't you just have blue jeans?" he asked at one point.

Xander finally found himself in a pair of well made black pants, a red silk shirt, and a knee length black coat. In truth, Xander thought he looked like something out of the 17th or 18th century...but they weren't as torn as his older ones. Xander bid the tailor goodbye, agree to stop by in a day or two and pick up some more clothes.

Xander finished getting ready and stopped by his dresser just long enough to pick up the eyepiece that he had captured from the dragonmen and slip it into his pocket. Just in case. Taking a deep breath he headed determinedly down the hall. He asked the servants he passed which way it was to the throne room. First there, then to the King's headquarters. He was going to find his father...

The throne room was sealed off, and guarded by a trio of soldiers who told him in no uncertain terms that the room was definitely 'off-limits.' They shot him some nasty glares, waiting for him to move along.

Xander almost asked them where the king's bedroom was, since they wouldn't let him into the throne room. But then they would have probably locked him up in the dungeon. Instead, he let his feet take him through the hallways of the unfamiliar castle. Maybe he could find the king on his own...maybe not. Either way he knew that the servants would be more helpful than one of the soldiers any day. As he walked he tried to take in the alien environment. It was all magnificent and beautiful...he just didn't understand anything.

"Ohh well," Xander said with a sigh. He would just have to learn some patience or look harder. Xander say a short skinny man with food making his way down at the end of the hall he was in. He followed the man...maybe some small talk would give Xander the location of the King...maybe.

The man stopped abruptly in one of the corridors, and rapped on the door.

"Enter," came a faintly muffled and disgruntled voice.

The door swung open and the servant stepped forward just before the inhabitant of the room let out an ungodly bellow of dismay.

"I DIDN'T SAY I WANTED FOOD, DAMMIT! I just made a mess of the bathroom, do I look like I want to do that again?!"

"Beggin' yer pardon, Mr. Roth, but I was thinking you might take a bit of broth...?" the servant pressed...obviously under the command of someone with higher authority than whoever the resident inside might have.

Xander made his way forward slowly, inching his way to the door. He knew it was probably rude, first of all, and none of his business, secondly...but his curiousity got he better of him. Besides, one of the two had to know where the king's room was...

Within he saw a young man with long white hair spilled out over the bed. A cloth was pressed to his pale forehead, and when he moved his arm, Xander noted that his ears were delicately pointed...much like an elf's. And with that bit of information, Xander noted just how fine the man's features were, giving him almost a feminine cast.

The servant was speaking docilely, as though treating a small child. The man's face twitched with an ever-deepening frown. Then at last he frowned at the servant with piercing, pale blue eyes. "Anpow, away." There was an electricity to his voice...tinged with power and command. The servant blinked stupidly for a few moments, and then like an automaton, turned on his heel and slid into the hallway with a blank expression on his face.

The white-haired man spotted Xander lurking outside, and glared at him. "What?" he demanded sourly.

Ignoring the fact that this elven man was in a bad mood, Xander stepped into the room. "Was that magic you just performed there?" Xander asked. He had seen so much that should not be possible - why not an elf with magic? "I am Xander by the way," he said quickly.

"Alistor Roth," the elf replied, still eyeballing Xander with a look that came close to contempt...or was that his normal expression? "That was...magic, to use a cruder term. More specifically, a type of compelling. Why are you barging into my room?"

"No real reason except that the door was open," Xander said jokingly. He looked around the room and found a chest near the door to sit on...which he did. "Actually, I was looking for the King's bedroom...or even better the king. I was going to ask that servant there, but then I saw you. Then you did that compelling thing and my curiosity got the better of me." Xander had no idea why he felt like being honest or straightfoward with this man. It just seemed to be the best thing to do...besides, sooner or later he was goign to have to start his research into magic.

"Either you're someone of high political importance to seek out the king in his private bedroom, or a fool." His eyes narrowed. "And you don't look like any sort of politically important individual that *I* have ever met."

"Politically important...you're right, I'm not really. But I neither am I a fool. Forgot the third and worse option...I'm family." Xander laughed softly to his own joke. Tell me about that compelling thing please.

"Not now." Alistor rolled over on his side, turning his back on Xander. "My stomach is still roiling from the Logrus transport...oh, Oskar will pay for that."

"So are you a demon like Mael'Lan?" Xander asks bravely. Maybe this man doesn't even know Mael'Lan...but it was worth a try. Of course, if this guy DOES know Mael'Lan, Xander might just get shot. "He has that Logrus thing too I believe."

"If *I* had the logrus, I wouldn't be turning my stomach's contents out on a regular basis, would I?" he snorted. "No, I am not of Chaos OR Amber. And I know nothing of this Mael'Lan you speak of. Go away unless you have some Pepto Bismol."

Xander laughed slightly, rubbing his own stomach. "No I don't, but I sure wish I did." Xander stood, making his way back to the door. "I suppose you don't really know where the King's bedroom or the king himself would be, do you?"

"Don't be stupid. Family or not, you don't see Random unless he wants to be seen. And he hasn't wanted to be seen for...oh...two years now?" Alistor grunted.

Xander stopped dead in his tracks at the door. "What happened to my fa...to the King?" Xander asked almost slipping.

Alistor rolled his eyes before flopping onto his back. "Nothing. But his wife Vialle has been ill these past two years, so he's cranky and stressed and wants to be left alone. And I think I can relate!"

"I understand. And thank you Alistor Roth," Xander said finally before making his way back to the hallway. Well, back to finding a servant and directions; Xander headed down a random hallway.

He recognized his old room as he walked, and surprisingly, saw Mael'Lan curled up outside of Kit's door.

A tall buck-toothed servant caught Xander's inquiring look. "Can I help you, sir?"

"I am looking for King Random. If you would be so kind as to direct me to his room..."

"The king is in his study, I believe...strict orders not to be disturbed. But I think he will be in attendance at the banquet...perchance you have an invitation, sir...?" the servant looked at him expectantly.

"An invitation..." Xander responded while running his hands down his coat. "I guess I don't have one but Guile DID invite me to a banquet. I would assume you are referring to the same one?" Well, if he wasn't going to be able to find his father, he would let his father come to him.

"If Prince Guile invited you, then he must have good reason," the servant snickered. "All right, follow me, sir."

The servant led Xander through the hallways and introduced him to the herald. "How shall I announce you, sir?" the herald asked, crinkling his brow.

"Don't," was the only response that Xander gave the herald before entering the doors on his own. His eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for the face he would hopefully recognize as his father... unfortunately he did not see him. He did, however, make eye contact with Guile. Xander nodded his head slightly to the man that had guided him here. Xander found an empty seat alone towards the end of the table. He sat there in silence and listened and waited.

And with that, she walked off, choosing the nearest man, who just happened to be the white-haired one, to sit beside.

Xander turned his head slowly to look at the woman beside him. He took her in slowly, noting the ears and greeting her with a forced, somber smile.

Nachin smiled brightly at him, clunking her water glass down in front of her. "I'm Nachin," she said. "I'll leave if you'd like me to."

"No, you are welcome to stay," Xander said softly. "I am Xander," he continued with a little more confidence in his voice again. "What are we waiting on?" he asked.

"Well, I'm waiting on food," Nachin said honestly. "I suppose, though, we're all waiting for Prince Corwin to come and let us all know why he's brought us all here. Hopefully it's not just so he can sit somewhere and watch us all and laugh."

"He invited everyone here? Yes...Guile did mention something to that effect," Xander remembered. "Who are these people? I've met Guile...Prince Guile?" he asked, "Sir Guile? Something like that. But no one else really..."

"He's probably a Prince," Nachin said. "Well, the girl I was sitting with was Kryn," she said, not looking, but giving a dismissive gesture towards their former seats. "The elders are mostly gathered up there," she said, pointing to the other end of the table. "The man with long dark hair, that's Julian-- my father," she said, still unused to saying it aloud.

"The...the Elders?" Xander asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Oh, you're newer at this than I am," Nachin said, her smile genuine this time. "The Elders are Oberon's children-- the first generation of this family. Fiona, Gerard, and Flora are here, as well. Random, the King, he is an Elder, as well. As is Corwin, Dierdre, Brand and Eric were-" she trailed off. "There's a great deal of twists in this family tree, I'm sure you don't want to hear all."

"I suppose I will have to learn it all sooner or later. Start with your father?" Xander asked, interested in this family that was to become his now.

"Julian," she admitted, "is the elder I know most about, only because he is also my superior-- he leads the Rangers, who guard Arden, the forest around Amber. I'm one of his Shadow Captains. I think, though, that I truly don't know much about him, either. Certainly not what I thought I did."

"What is a Shadow Captain?" he wondered. "They don't sound very nice," he admitted as he finally cracked a smile.

"I'm not very nice," she said, smiling with him. "We're the highest ranked Rangers, beneath Julian himself. We work the hardest, have been with him longest-- apparently my being related to him may have something to do with it as well." She shrugged.

"Always nice to know people in high places." Xander looked up at the elders, "What about the king," he asked staring off into the distance in thought.

"I wonder about him, myself," she said. "He's very, very reclusive. He has been for a couple of years, since his wife got so sick. He seems to have a warm heart, to care about her so. It's a bit rare in these parts, or so I've always thought."

"I could be romanticizing what little I know of him, though," she said quietly.

"So the king is just a shell of the man he used to be?"

Nachin sighed, thinking for a moment. "I don't know about that. I think he's still all the man he's always been-- he's only retreated into his shell. Martin, his son," she said, pointing to him, "may be able to tell you more about him, if you wish to know from someone who really does know him."

"His son?" Xander asked with a thought. A slow smile crept up on his face, and died down quick. He had a brother...that would be interesting. "What of this Corwin we are waiting on? Why is he so important?" Xander asked, curiousity taking hold again.

Nachin watched him smile with interest, then turned her head slightly. "He's Corwin. He's considered by many to be one of the more likely to rule Amber-- if he could. He seems to always be involved in-- well, everything, from what I can tell."

"Everything?" Xander asked while shaking his head. "You forget that I am not here at all. I know nothing of history or goings on. I am not even really sure what IS possible to happen around here," he laughed...but it was an uncomfortable laugh.

Nachin clucked her tongue, putting her hand over his briefly. "Everything *can* happen here," she said before removing her hand. "Family killing family, old hatreds, rivalries, and Elders with wicked imaginations-- there are a lot of factors that make Amber what it is," she said. "I don't even know where to begin, besides to tell you that a common motto among the family here is to 'trust no one, especially family.'"

"In that case, what are you after?" Xander asked almost innocently.

Nachin shrugged. "A friend-- something to make this day better. Maybe a little apres-diner fun," she said with a gleam in her eye. "You decide. Maybe I just came over here because my previous company grew fiercely tiresome to me. Maybe some of it all."

"Well, I suppose that sounds innocent enough. Besides, who in their right mind would send away such a fountain of knowledge." Xander stared into Nachin's eyes for a moment, and his eyes flowed upwards towards her ears. As he looked, his hands absently moved to her pointed ears as well. He managed to stop them inches from touching. "Forgive me," he begged of her, "But may I?" he asked.

She flushed, but nodded. "Go ahead," she said. "I forget not everyone sees elves as often as I have to," she added, trying to smile nonchalantly.

Xander slowly caressed her ears, rubbing it slowly. "Magnificent," he said finally, almost embarrassed that he had actually asked to do that.

Nachin shivered, but tried her best to hide it. Clearing her throat, she said, "you might be careful about doing that-- most elves would see that as an invitation to-- well, something more," she said, knowing her ears were now flushed as red as her face.

"I...I...apologize," he told her with a wink. "Maybe," he replied quickly. It felt good to joke and flirt and talk with someone without feeling too confused. Almost like being back home.

"Then I accept," she said, winking back, "maybe." She looked at him for a moment. "How long have you been here? I think I'd remember seeing you before now."

"We arrived not very long ago...actually passed through Arden I do believe. Quite beautiful."

"It is an amazing place," she agreed. "My home is very near there. I'm sorry I wasn't on Guard when you passed through-- I could have eyed you up sooner."

"I see how it is," he responded to her.

Her brow furrowed. "How what is?"

"Nevermind," he responded, aparently something was lost in the language. "Have you always lived in Amber then?" he continued.

"No, my home is that place near Arden, on another border of it-- away from Amber." She was a bit more reserved as she spoke now. "There is an elf village there, where my mother raised me. Beyond that, I live in Arden. Amber is a place of 'sometimes.' This is my first time here in a great many years, though Julian has told me some of its history."

"Your mother?" he asked.

"My mother was full elf," she said, "a shadow person. In other words," she said sadly, "not real as you or I are considered to be."

"Ehh," Xander shrugged, "So was my mother. I really don't see much of a difference so far."

"I don't, either," Nachin said. "Though she loved me. I don't see how that couldn't be real."

"Where is your mother now?" he asked, hopefully not overstepping his bounds.

"She died a while back," Nachin said, looking down at her hands. "She'd always been a bit sickly, but as she got older, it only got worse."

"My mother," he whispered to the beautiful elflin beside him, "actually went crazy." He was beginning to understand why, too. "If I didn't start find some answers soon, I might go insane as well. If I went back from here and told people half of what I had seen, they would commit me to a hospital too. Either way," he continued, "She was taken away and my sister and I were left alone. I barely know my mother, and I have yet to meet my father," he waved outwards toward a random door."

"I'm sorry," Nachin said quietly. "I found out who my father is just tonight, but I've known him most all my life." She shrugged, then turned to look at him again. "What answers are you looking for? Can I at least try to help you?"

"Ohh, just simple things like: How is travel between shadows possible. What is magic and how does it work? Why my father left us so long ago. The meaning of life...you know. This whole existance of...shadows," the term was still new to him...the entire theory was new to him, "makes so little sense. It is just some stuff I will have to study and take my time with. Everything is just so different from the science I grew up with."

Nachin nodded. "I've taken for granted how strange this all is to someone who hasn't been at least near it like I have. Julian did teach me some about things, as well. The Pattern, for example. You have to walk the Pattern before you will be able to manipulate shadow on your own." She looked around at the people surrounding them as she took a quick drink of her water.

"What you have to remember is that there are two places considered 'real' by this family. The Courts of Chaos, where our family's progenitors hailed from before creating Amber, and of course Amber herself.

"Shadows, at least to my mind, are called such because they're seen as being cast by Amber, like a shadow onto a sidewalk. These shadows, though, are realities. It's as though instead of a grey patch of darkness hitting the sidewalk when you walk down the street with the sun at your back, you would see another Xander there, in his own world. He's created by you-- and you have the power, or you will, if you can walk the Pattern, to manipulate the realities cast about by Amber-- so much that you could step into one, and make it into a world all your own."

She cleared her throat slightly. "That is, of course, the Nachin version of history. Much abbreviated, and likely flawed."

"Guile told me something similar...but it seems as if much is missing and still much I don't understand. What gives the pattern its power?" he wondered aloud. "But I guess it will all come in time. What about magic?" he asked. "The elven man I met on my way here mentioned 'compelling'?"

"Well, compelling is something I can do," she said, "but to show you, I would need time to work with one. I can tell you, though, what it is. Hopefully that won't just be more confusing." She smiles at him. "I could create an extra glass there at the table for you to use, or a new napkin. If I had a great deal of time and concentration, I could give you a memory of something that never happened to you, or even create a link between my mind and yours. There are many types of compelling, it's sort of hard to explain them all, but I'll try, maybe just somewhere besides here, in the middle of everyone."

"You can create objects and memories from nothing?" Xander asked almost in disbelief. Almost, that is...he has seen so much stuff recently. "I am not sure if I want to be alone with you then," he confessed witha straight face.

"It's not from nothing," she said, almost hurt. "It's taken a lot of practice, and it takes a lot out of me to do it." She sighed quietly. "As for not being alone with me, that's your choice. I don't do compellings often, and I most certainly don't force them upon anyone."

Xander looked at his new dinner companion and grinned. "I see. I suppose that makes you less dangerous. Maybe you can teach me how it works sometime?"

"I can try," she said, and her smile widened as she looked at him with a gleam in her eye. "Maybe that makes me more dangerous. After all--" she paused, then leaned close to his ear, "I could make *anything* you wanted. It would make for some interesting days. Or nights."

Xander was in the moment, enjoying himself. As she leaned close to him, his arm slipped up from behind and lightly grazed her ear again. This time he was doing it on purpose. His fingers massaged the point and worked its way down. "We should definately find out," he said in agreement to her last statement. Realizing that someone may turn and look, he slowly backed away from her. He was not embarrased, just being cautious.

Nachin chuckled as he backed away. "You're a tease," she said, and he noticed her cheeks were flushed. She took a drink of water as she sat back as well, but after she'd set the water down, she brought her hand to rest on his thigh. "We *should* find out, though," she said more quietly. "Maybe after things here have settled down a bit, I can take you to see Arden."

"Yes, I think I would like that." Xander smiled, finding this banquet to be much more interesting than he had planned. His father was almost out of his mind and he had calmed down a bit. Xander looked about the room and raised his glass at the servant woman in the corner. She filled it quickly with a scarlet red wine, and he drank heavily from it before setting it down. His mind filled with questions again and looked to the elven beauty beside him. "Is Arden real like Amber?"

Nachin nodded. "It's one gateway to Amber. That's part of why Julian has always guarded it along with his Rangers. If people want to get here, Arden is usually the way they'll come."

"Gateway?" Xander asked. "Start with the basics...how does one actually change shadow?" he wondered. "And don't just say something about walking the pattern. I mean, do they just will it to happen?"

"Arden is just one way people can get to Amber, just as one could sail the ocean to get here. Shadow--" she paused, shaking her head slightly. "The Pattern is all tangled up with it, that's why they're always mentioned together. Shadow is manipulated within your own mind, if you're able to do it. It can be a slow process-- you change the sky, then the mountains to hills, the grass to gravel; or it can be a hellride, which Julian has told me is the process sped up as much as you can make it. I've never done either one, but that's what I know about them."

Xander held silent for a moment. His mind tried to piece together everything he had learned of the Pattern and shadow travel. He tried to remember Guile using his power and everything that occured. He nodded silenty for a few moments.

Xander finally seems to have some sort of epiphany. His eyes open wide and excitement rolls down his face, even though he tries to hide it. "Amberites are gods, then?" he asks slightly jokingly." He looked at Nachin, "It all sort of falls into place...I sort of understand what is possible but I don't understand the source of the power. But it is a start."

"The Pattern-- I know you hate for me to keep echoing this, but it's probably the key to your understanding. That, and a lot of learning from people besides me," she added, chuckling.

"Who is the foremost expert around here on the Pattern," he asks.

"Well, Dworkin created it," Nachin said, "but any of the elders would know a lot more about it than me. Maybe your father?"

"Maybe," Xander agreed. "Who is Dworkin?"

"Our great-grandfather," Nachin said, assuming his parent was one of the same generation as hers. "And it came to pass that he created the Pattern of his own blood, using the Jewel of Judgement," she said with false majesty. "He's currently in hiding, though, last I heard."

"He is still alive?" Xander said in amazement.

Nachin nodded. "We're a long-lived bunch, especially those crafty enough to keep preserving themselves. Dworkin is a bit of a legend. Or at least, it seems that way to me, from how others speak of him. He's above the status of family member because of all of this," she said, waving her hand at their surroundings.

"Understandable," Xander said agreeing.

"What about our grandfather?"

A thought suddenly entered Xander's head. Nachin was his cousin, if he had everything straight. He pushed it from his mind - he was having too much fun. He could worry later.

"Oberon," Nachin said, and paused in thought. "He's dead [OOC: Jim.]. He's had his share of stories told, as well. Just looking at his children, you can tell why."

"Oberon," Xander laughed, "That name is in story books where I am from. But nothing exactly like this..."

"Speaking of," he continued, "Did you say there was a Merlin here? The Merlin?" he wondered.

"Who knows, maybe it was inspired by the real thing," Nachin said, shrugging. "Merlin is Corwin's son. Considering his love of the shadow Avalon, I'd not doubt it. He's right there," she said, pointing to a dark haired man in a cluster of other people.

"Weird," was his only response.

"Yes, you could say that--" she said, turning in her chair to face him. "That would be putting it mildly, though, when talking about this family."

"So," he asked, "What else do I need to know to survive around here?"

Nachin sighed noisily, shaking her head. "I can't think of anything else right now," she said, "but if I do think of something, I'll be sure to tell you. I'd kind of like it if you could stick around a while."

Xander's hand slid down to his thigh where her hand sat. He rubbed it gently, below the table. He took it into his own hand as their fingers locked. "Maybe," he responded.

"Good," she replied, and squeezed his hand gently.

The herald suddenly stiffened, moving forward. "Announcing Prince Bleys, of Amber!"

Gerard and Flora ceased speaking, and Luke sat up a little more stiffly at his appearance.

The tall and muscular redhead appeared, his beard neatly trimmed, his hair shimmering like fire in the light of the chandelier overhead.

He was holding a glass of wine in his hand, his smile a cross between a grin and a smirk. He took his seat next to where Random's would be, reclining with the same half-smirk half-grin.

Just then, out of the middle of nowhere, a danish came floating through the air and smacked Bleys squarely in the side of the head. Rune hid a pleased smile behind a hand.

Bleys stood up. "Who threw...this delicious...creamy...elegant dessert...AT MY HEAD?!" His hair was matted with strawberry cream.

Rune quickly pointed a finger at Beowulf who was frozen mid- bite. "HE did it! Him him him!"

Beowulf's eyes darted about in panic. Litany just put a hand to her face and sighed. ~This is what I get for sleeping with their father... Difficult children.~

Bleys' face started to color with anger.

"I AIN'T!!!! I DIDN'T DO IT!" Beowulf shrieked.

Flora quickly intervened. "Come darling, no damage done..." She muttered a few lynchpins, cleaning Bleys up so that he appeared more immaculate than before. She directed a pointed look at Rune. "It was a fluke. It won't happen again."

Rune did his best to look innocent.

Two heralds swiftly appeared at either side of the door, and Fiona sat up straight with interest, shushing Julian who was still trying to tell her about his daring encounter against a pack of fire-breathing gryphon demons.

The second herald lifted a horn to his lips, blowing a brilliant fanfare.

"Announcing his maj--"

"Yeah yeah, shut up, they know who I am," Random grumbled, shouldering past him. His hair was uncombed and ruffled, his clothes gaudy and flamboyant. He plopped into his seat and lifted his glass, sniffed at it, and frowned.

"What is this @#$*? Bring me a gin and tonic!"

A servant darted forward to remove the offensive glass, while another sprang to the bar to mix up a gin and tonic and place it before him. Random slumped in his chair. "Welcome welcome, Corwin's got a big announcement which I'm sure we'll all just *love* hearing," he rolled his eyes. Corwin frowned. "In the meantime, eat. Drink. Be *merry*. All that @#$*."

Flora didn't look pleased. She cleared her throat and lifted her glass in a silent toast to Random. He just lifted his finger and shook his head, a tired, sad look on his face.

Cautiously, Flora led the way by serving up Random and then placing food on her own plate, encouraging everyone else to begin eating.

Corwin leaned over to mumble to Amalric. "Trust me, he's not always this cheery."

Xander looked up suddenly as the King was announced. His eyes locked onto the man that was his father, and he followed his every movement. Xander tried to place this man's face with the one picture of him he had seen before...but his memory blurred. Xander squeezed softly on Nachin's hand. "Is...is that the King?" he asked with a slight bit of disappointment.

Nachin turned her hand upwards at the sound of emotion in Xander's voice, and held his hand as she nodded. "That is King Random," she said quietly. "I'm told," she added, putting her other hand atop his, trying to reassure him, "that he has been in this ill temper for years, as I said earlier. Perhaps his true personality is still within him. And I'm told he was a much kinder man in times past."

Mael'Lan, almost like a spectral parasite, was suddenly there beside Xander. A devilish grin swept over his face. "Soooo!" He patted Xander on the hand. "How's my slow friend doing tonight?" But not waiting for a response, he suddenly noticed the strange-looking elven female before him. And visibly jumped.

"What is THIS that you're talking to?! Some weird pointed-eared freak?! Now that's a strange one..." He looked back at Xander. "Not so strange for someone as retarded as you though," he mumbled under his breath. With a sigh, "Well, it looks like the two queerest people in all of Amber are *mucking* it up! Carry on, carry on." Then he looked at Nachin, clucking his tongue in disapproval. "Hm."

Nachin's gaze was chilled. "I prefer 'point-eared hobgoblin,'" she said quietly. "I also prefer spending time out of *your* company, if you don't mind," she added, looking pointedly at the new arrival.

Xander tried to stop himself from laughing...and did so slightly. He reached quickly to his wine, hoping to wash down his laughing. He turned to Nachin with a grin still on his face. Maybe he really was in a good mood...maybe he was used to Mael'Lan...maybe it was the wine, but he really did not mind the intrusion. It was Mael'Lan. "Don't worry about Mael'Lan here," he said softly while spinning his finger beside his head. "He's just being friendly." Xander pulled out the chair beside him and offered Mael'Lan the seat. "Where is my sister?" he asked, ignoring the insults Mael'Lan had uttered.

Nachin raised her eyebrows at him as he talked about Mael'Lan, but remained silent, smiling to see Xander's grin light up his face. "You have a sister?" She then looked at Mael'Lan and the offered chair beside them, with no small amount of skepticism in her gaze. "Well, as long as he's friendly," she muttered.

Xander remembered that he had not mentioned anything really about his past or history at all to Nachin. "Umm yeah," he responded slowly, "Twin sister, actually." He turned back to look at Mael'lan quickly and raised an eyebrow, waiting.

Mael'Lan swooped into the seat in a flurry of scarf and hair, then casually crossed his legs. He stole the wine from Xander's hand. While he cast his gaze about the world, he said, "Kit is napping in her room, which is a shame because she's missing out on ALL the fun! But it's okay, she's a tired girl." Then he looked at Xander. "What did I miss?" he asked, sipping Xander's wine. He screwed up his face. "Bad year," he said, setting it down and pushing it away with his fingertips.

The Amberites and their guests talked and dined. Corwin ate little, Surya ate nothing.

Finally, when the appetites began to diminish, Random swiveled his head over to Corwin. He caught the look, nodded once silently, and stood. The conversation faded, and all was quiet.

He rested his hands on the table. "Friends and kin, it gladdens my heart to see so many gathered here at my request. There are three matters that I would like to speak about. The matter of trumps, of Delwin's disappearance, and where I intend to go come the morning.

"First of all, many of you have noticed that I have given a warning concerning trumps. I advise you not to move through person-to-person trump links, there is great danger involved. Some have gone missing through their use. So far, there have not been any problems with the place trumps, so you may use those.

"My apologies, Lady Pearl, for I know the disappearance of your father is a delicate subject," Corwin turned to the black-haired woman towards the end of the table. She gave a faint, expressionless nod of acknowledgement, gesturing for him to continue. "Delwin is one of the Amberites to have gone missing. He asked to come to Avalon. I reached out to pull him through, and he vanished. Thus, the reason for my warning about Trumps. I also feel that they are being closely monitored, so use them with extreme caution."

Random drummed his fingers on the table, frowning. His eyes narrowed in introspection, but as of yet he said nothing.

Bleys apparently didn't want to take that route. "Are you suggesting that we attempt a rescue?"

Corwin turned his way and nodded faintly. "Indeed I do, but not in the manner we rescued Bleys. If the threat is serious, that would jeopardize all of us. I believe we should go to the source. To Chaos."

Next to Guile, Merlin stiffened. "Corwin, you're not suggesting that the Courts are involved in this!"

"No, but rather a singular person or gathering of certain individuals. A foul conspiracy, but there it is. Furthermore, I have every intention of traveling to Chaos. Dierdre lives."

Nachin's thin eyebrows arched sharply at the thought of travelling to Chaos. She turned her gaze around the table, interested in how the others would react. As she gathered the entire table into her gaze, one of the last places she came to was where she and Kryn had been sitting.

Kryn was gone. Nachin's hand clenched around Xander's, and she looked frantically around the room, hoping that the other young woman had merely chosen to change seats. Not finding any sign of Kryn, Nachin's eyes then fell on Raith, and she remembered the wink he'd given her when he had been sitting back down at the table after being gone-- somewhere.

She nearly jumped out of her chair right then to strangle him, sure that he had something to do with her friend's disappearance, but she remained still. She was sure that after such an announcement, one of Amber's newly-informed descendants attacking one from Chaos would not be looked well upon-- by either side.

Looking at Julian, she wondered if he'd noticed that Kryn was gone. Corwin's daughter! Gone! And it had been Nachin's duty to watch out for her. Nachin's panicked thoughts went from remorse at letting her friend perhaps be harmed, to anger at her friend for placing herself in harm. After all, Kryn was one of Julian's rangers, as well. She received the same training Nachin had, less some information about Amber, but the fighting ways were taught to both of them.

Nachin's fingers drummed rapid-fire on the table as she tried to figure out what she would do next.

Alsandair turned slightly to look at Corwin. "Are you saying this as a good thing, or bad? Do you suspect she's is a prisoner as well? Or...?" He couldn't bring himself to even think of the other prospect. Surely he didn't think that. He held his stony gaze, waiting for the answer.

"I am not entirely certain as to my sister's well-being. But I know that she is alive! Surya is proof of that." He turned to the youth, who was staring down at his untouched and clean plate. "He is her son."

Florian then stands up to address the room.

"Excuse me Your Highness, Price Corwin, pray tell does the monitoring of the Trumps appear to happen with only the ones sumoned into our own personal decks? Or, if a new Trump is created, a private Trump, would that too be subject to this problem? I would assume that only ones that have casted shadows of themselves could be used for these foul deeds."

Having asked the question, he sits again and rests his and her hands on his knee under the table. He looks to Corwin patiently waiting his answer.

"I'm not certain how it's done, to be honest," Corwin shook his head, planting his hands on the table. "Only a precaution, to be careful what you say through a Trump contact. If you wish to ask any other questions," he addressed the room, "feel free to ask them. If any would accompany me to the Abyss where my sister fell, I plan to leave in the morning. Please meet me at the front gates...the more help that is available, the better our chance at success."

Zeph stood next to Merlin and looked serious for the first time all night, "You have my blade Prince Corwin," Zeph said sternly without flinching. He waited for any response from anyone, especially Corwin, Merlin, or Random.

A little grin paused on Merlin's face. A broader one remained on Corwin's. "It will be good to have your talents with us, Lord Zeph. Your company will be greatly appreciated."

Zeph nodded to Corwin and sat back down with a serious look on his face, contemplating the consequences of what he had just done.

Edmund follows Corwin's speech with interest. However, some of the important details, like who Delwin and Diedre are, lay beyond his knowledge of Amber. Edmund remembered that he was here in Amber at the moment, and not in the Courts of Chaos, only because of a snap decision. Edmund looked at Kieri's somewhat pained face. She seemed to be waiting for Edmund to react first. "I would like to consult with my father on this issue. I would like to see the Courts, and Dalt mentioned that he wishes to travel there as well. But arriving as part of an expeditionary force may not make for a warm welcome."

Fletcher turns to A-Nastrafiti and Silaqui, "Sound like fun, eh girls?" He then adds his voice to the growing roar of questions for Corwin. "Corwin, how do plan on traveling to Chaos, walk?"

"Indeed I do," he nodded. "Depending on the number who ride with me, it could take anywhere from three days to a week."

When Corwin was not talking else where or buzy. "I do not know your plans or opinions on what has been happening or what our own presence here means. I do know that we both offer our full support to you in your venture. It has came to our attention most resentally that we were probably place out of the picture for a reason. Upon helping you we may come upon once more information or knowledge that could be most helpful to you and your family." Aurelia spoke clearly to Corwin.

Corwin looked up at her, and at Garion who stood beside her. Then he appeared clearly startled. "Lady Ophelia...Lord Ashrem... I am glad to see that you are both alive and well, we'd feared for your safety. I understand your desire to find Deirdre," he smiled gently at Aurelia. "Fear not, we will rescue your mother."

"Ophelia ? Ashrem ?" Aurelia said looking at him with a questioning look. "I know things to us here are strangely familar, for reasons we know not. For even these names sound familar. We have been known as Aurelia and Garion, most recentally. They are all that at the moment we can remember."

"Really." Corwin narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps you would care to speak with me after the banquet, then."

"Of course we would be more then glad to meet with you where and when you see fit." Aurelia replied to Corwin.

Flora stood up out of her chair. "I would like to be included in that meeting, Corwin. We shall meet in the peach room." And that was that. She sat back down primly, indicating that she would brook no arguments from Corwin.

Aurelia stood awaiting a responce from Corwin before sitting down, or talking to Garion.

Garion sat down.

"Very well. I will escort you both to the peach room after this dinner is completed," Corwin nodded. Surya paused to whisper something to Corwin. He regarded Surya for a moment, and then inclined his head in affirmation. Surya smiled, and returned to his seat.

Aurelia nods politelty, sitting down next to Garion.

Fane has been quiet and subdued since his entrance. Quietly watching reactions that range from guarded to Foolhardy. "Forgive me Lord Corwin." He finally says quietly without getting up "I have not been in Amber long and I am not as old as many here. I do not mean to speak out of turn. I do not know the family history as well as I should. But I have heard songs sung and tales told of your sisters glory. In the incident where your sister was lost didn't you also loose a brother who was something special with Trump?" Fane lets the question hang and then blazes on "If she lives, does he? Didn't he have the backing of some of Chaos? Are the issues of your sister and the Trumps separate issues? If so what leads you to believe that the Courts have anything to do with it? There are enough people in this very room how could probably pull such a caper. . ." With that his eyes finally look up from his wine and look towards Corwin.

"It is entirely possible that Brand lives. I certainly won't discount the idea." Fiona's eyes narrowed at that. Bleys looked away. "I am not certain if the two issues are related. The information we have is too vague to be absolutely certain. In any case, tread carefully. But I'm sure everyone here has learned that lesson already," he smiled grimly.

"Lord, I will go on your endevor though I doubt I can be much help. However I will ask what leads you to belive the Courts are involved in the Trump-napping?" As he speaks to Corwin he watches Fiona and Bleys more carefully.

"I never said that I believed they were involved," Corwin replied mildly. "But in order for Surya to be Deirdre's son, then somewhere there must be a father. Whoever that may be, I intend to discover the lad's roots."

Guile stood briefly. He addressed Corwin in a lull. "I'm sure you expected I would join you when you asked me to come with you here. It seems the pieces on the board are more than what you may have expected before we spoke, and now we have many here who need to be educated and informed of their heritage, and prepared for possible battle, if it comes to it. I hope to join you in your quest, but I may also be needed here. Know that wherever I end up, I pledge my cause to the defense and protection of Amber, and its scions."

"Then I guess my only question left is the same as everyone elses. How will we be travleing on this endevor?" With that Fane get's up, combs his fingers through his hair and starts collecting himself to be excused.

"On horseback, shifting shadow. No hellriding," he darkened his brow. "It's too dangerous, and I suspect we have ample time in our favor."

Then he turned to Guile, and sighed with a fond smile. Truly, Guile was like a son to him, though he'd never admitted as much vocally. "Being as that may, perhaps you're right, Prince Guile. Three days will be allowed for those who are new here to become acquainted with one another, and the meaning of their heritage. I am sure several will wish to walk the Pattern in order to learn shadow shifting for themselves. Well spoken. And I, personally, thank you for your pledge," Corwin smiled.

Guile nodded, greatful and unsure of what to say next. He sat, and then leaned towards Merlin.

As Corwin was answering another question, Rune suddenly piped up with an interjection. He felt the uncontrollable urge to share his opinion. He was quite certain *everybody* would find his words a golden gem.

He began laughing. "Retrieve her from the Abyss? It can't be done!" he scoffed. "Is it simply arrogance, or do you believe yourself to be the Unicorn? You--"

Flora immediately cupped her hand over Rune's mouth. Instant ecstasy filled his eyes. Litany just hid her face in shame while Beowulf burst into a fit of laughter.

Not to be outdone by Guile, Fletcher adds his own declaration, "Corwin, what about those of us who can provide our own transportation? May I suggest a second wave on the seas for those who feel as comfortable on a horse as a fish does on a bicycle."

"If it can be managed," Corwin shrugged. "And if you are able to find the first wave. I'm not talking about an assault on Chaos."

Merlin looked visibly relieved.

"However, arm yourselves as there may be confrontation. Refresh your spell racks while you can."

As he watches Corwin look fondly on Guile something small snaps inside of fane. Jealousy,not of Corwin or Guile but of a fatherless son looking on a father and son playing catch. He snatches up an ice bucket as he walks to the main door. "So three days hence we leave?" he asks Corwin as he moves.

"Unless something happens between now and then Lord.I will be there to help you if only with a song." Fane says as he dumps the ice out of the ice bucket.

Whisper watched Fane with a funny smile on her face, studying him with quietly intense introspection.

Fane shoots Whisper a mischivious smile and a wink. Then he flips the ice bucket over and yells "Conga line on the Pattern!" as he exits the door.Keeping the beat on the bucket like a drum.

Da-da-da-da dadadit! Da-da-da-da dadadit!

"Guess he's not gonna eat that donut," Gerard shrugged, spearing the pastry off of Fane's plate and devouring it.

Fletcher continues to play the smart aleck, "So, then what do you expect to do when you get there, go pit diving? And do you have an idea who's responsible for the Trump trapping?"

Corwin shook his head. "If I did, I would have made it known. As to what we shall do, I have a few speculations and ideas. Others are free to come up with their own as well."

When he was recovered, he recognized that banquet room once again. Everyone was looking at him. He was standing beside Bleys and Gerard.

Gerard paused. "You WERE finished with that donut, weren't you? Because I've eaten it, you'll have to find another."

"I don't care about the bloody dougnut!!!" he snaps at Gerard, then he almost faints when he realises who he just snapped at.

His mind races over what he knows of both of them to see who he is most like. This takes a moment befor he realises that won't matter a hill of beans because he didn't grow up with either of them. His tired mind and even more tired body try a desparate gamble. He steps back, removing the ice bucket from his head. He trys to look at each of them with looking like I he is looking at the other to one anouther and sucsees in making his eyes go cross. "I'm watching you! I know who you are and I know what you've done!" Not being spesifc and try to look at both of them. He back away slowly watching their reactions and leting the instrument change in his fingers from a hunting horn, to the acoustic guitar.

Gerard and Bleys exchanged glances. Bleys let out a low whistle and turned back to his meal. Gerard shrugged and did the same. "Stupid boy," he muttered.

"So Corwin," Gem says placing her water glass down beside her plate, "If Diedre lives, then there is a way out of the Abyss and if that is true then Brand is also free; because whatever Diedre could survive surely he could too. Do you think this is the reason for the trouble with Trumps?"

Corwin inclined his head. "I certainly wouldn't rule it out. We all know of his proficiency with trumps."

Fletch shoots his finger at Corwin, "So you'll be leaving in three days, eh. Well I, and anyone who wants to ride the waves and not a horse, will meet you at the Abyss." Fletcher then turns back to his conversation with Nastra and Silaqui, "So what do you think he's really up to?"

"Yes I'm stupid." Fane says as he turns to walk away playing (The Cat's n' the Cradle)"Stupid enough to walk the Pattern and ask it to take me to my Amber parent. It dropped me right between you two. I would say that one of you were probably my parent. But you can do the math. . ." He walks over to Wisper and asks "May I join you?"

Mael'Lan's fingers gripped about the wine glass... shattering the fragile thing. ~OH LORDY!~ He thought, ~NOT chaos! I'm not going back!!~ He peered and Xander. Then at the self proclaimed 'hobgoblin' and groaned. "You can take the courts and shove it!" he bellowed rudely. "You're all daft!" Hos face twisted up and his voice became a lilting childish feminine thing. "But, NOT as DAFT as YOU, 'Lan..." He stood abruptly, looking annoiyed...and his at Nachin. "NOW you've gone and done it!" He cast his accusing gaze about the room. Sparing NO ONE. "Go have you holliday in insanity! I'm going to bed!" He turned to Xander. "Kit would not approve of the freaky pointed-eared creature you're SHMOOOOZZZING with. SHAME on you!" And he was off.

Doniesta watched as Mael'Lan accosted the elf woman sitting at the table. She narrowed her eyes, looking at him, willing him to turn her way. After a long moment, she turned to Alsandair and whispered to him, looking towards Mael'Lan and Nachin. He turned to look in the same direction, his face becoming impassive, then nodded to her.

Doniesta stood and walked slowly and gracefully to where the two were. She fixed Mael'Lan with the most frightening gaze she could muster, something she'd seen her mother, Julia, do many times. She turned slowly to Nachin, her face softening. "My lady. Is this wretched creature bothering you?" She turned to stare at Mael'Lan again, then turned her back to him, effectively shutting him away from Nachin.

Nachin's face turned upwards, and Doniesta could see that her smile reached to her eyes. "He's certainly trying," she said. "Is he-- an acquaintance of yours?" She paused for a moment, then added quickly, "I'm Nachin, by the way, and this is Xander."

Doniesta nodded her head towards Xander, but didn't bother answering to him. She continued to ignore Mael"lan.

"No. He's not an acquaintance of mine, thankfully. Where I am from, the Courts, he is very well known, and avoided." She stressed the last word lightly. "I am visiting Alsandiar." She pointed down the table. "Would you like to join us?"

Nachin looked down the table where the other woman pointed. "I don't know," she began, "I mean, it would be very nice, thank you-- if Xander would like to come," she adds, looking down at her hand, which is still resting on his thigh.

Mael'Lan raised an eyebrow, looking at the hand on Xander's thigh. He looked pointedly at Xander, his face contorted with concern, but kept his silence.

Doniesta looked to Xander a moment, then back to Nachin. "Alright. The offer will be there when you are ready. Alsandair is very charming.. especially considering present company."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," Nachin said, "Lady--?"

"Lady Doniesta, of House Hendrake." She bowed her head slightly. "And that, as I'm sure you know, is Alsandair, son of Deirdre. We will soon be retiring to a more comfortable setting. Feel free to join us." She smiled at Nachin, then nodded her head again to Xander. She turned slightly to Mael' Lan. "Begone, pest." She said under her breath.

His eyes went wide with child-like astonishment. Suddenly in a childish, yet patronizing voice, he said, "Woooowwwwww! YOU'RE an IDIOT!" Putting his hands on his hips, he smiled a wide toothy grin. Belting out raucous laughter, he turned and walked away, casting one last glance of concern back at Xander. Then he was gone.

"Thank you very much, Lady Doniesta," Nachin says with a wry grin. "I will remember your kindness. If we don't join you tonight, perhaps some other time."

Doniesta nodded her head slightly and returned to her seat by Alsandair. He leaned towards her for a moment as he listened to what she was saying, then turned to look at Nachin, studying her. He smiled slightly, and raised his goblet to her, then turned back to Doniesta.

Nachin raised her glass in return, then turned back to Xander. "What do you think? Would you like to do anything after dinner?"

Nachin woke to the familiar feel of Xander's hand moving through the thick, soft waves of her brown hair. His eyes were still closed as he was vaguely stirred from his slumber by the brightness of the sun. It was well past noon, but neither had really spent much of the night performing such paltry duties as 'sleeping.'

"Morning," he greeted her with a soft, tired smile, entwining her hair around his fingers. "Sleep well?"

"Good morning," she said. "And sleep was good, once I got to it," she added, smiling as she leaned close to kiss his face just in front of his ear. "How are you doing?"

"Good," he smiled. "Great, in fact. Kind of worried about my father, though. He didn't really look too good last night, you know?"

"I know," Nachin said, snuggling close against him, laying her head against his shoulder. "I noticed that, too-- do you think that maybe knowing you and more about you might help him any? Maybe he just needs someone he knows he can trust." She sighed, putting her hand over his heart. "Of course, just because you're his son doesn't mean that here. It's no wonder he isn't doing well."

"I suppose," Xander said tiredly, letting the subject fall for the moment. The hand not in her hair slowly came up to hold hers which was resting on his chest. He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it softly. Before Nachin knew it, the hand in her hair had come loose and was gently sweeping her hair off of her face. He leaned foward and kissed her passionately for a moment. At the moment he was done kissing her, Xander rolled gracefully off of the bed and raised his arms stretching. "Want to take a shower?" he asked in his full naked glory.

Nachin's gaze wandered slowly up Xander's body, and she smiled as she looked into his face. "I'd love to," she said, rolling out of bed herself and walking to stand beside him. She put her arms around his waist and kissed him slowly, obviously enjoying herself. "Promise it'll be a nice, long shower?" She asked with a wicked grin.

Xander smiled down at her and held her close to his body. As his hand stroked her hair he wondered if she was always this playful...he seemed to remember he quite fired up about something the night before...he could not place his finger on what. "I promise," he responded, "The thing is...I am not exactly sure where to go. You lead," he told her while looking around

"Come on," she said, taking a gentle grip on his hand. "It's just over here," and she led him away from the bed to a door near the side of the room, in the wall that the bed's headboard was against. Her carriage as she walked was now more relaxed than he'd seen her before. The strides she took were long and languid, like a cat who's just awakened from a nap in their favorite spot in the sun.

Once inside the bathing room, Nachin let her hand fall away from his and slowly ran it down his side before moving to start the water going. "Tell me if this is hot enough for you," she said, gesturing to the now torrential flow of water which steamed from a high faucet down into the tub below.

Xander's eyes glanced briefly towards the water, and he dismissed it. Slowly his eyes took in Nachin's pure physical form. His eyes scanned down slowly, then gradually came back to look Nachin directly in her eyes. "It may be a little too hot," he confessed, not referring to the water, "But I think I can stand it." Xander winked quickly with a sly smile. "Ladies first," he ordered with a sweeping gesture of his hand.

Nachin chuckled, returning his smile before she slipped through the curtain and under the water. She wet her hair right away, standing under the coursing water, and held her hand out to help him into the shower. If she'd known this would be the way the dinner would have turned out, she knew she'd of been in a much better mood as she had endured it herself. She grinned slightly. A much better mood indeed.

Xander took her hand gently, sliding gracefully in behind her. He held her close for a moment, warming himself in the water.

Xander and Nachin quickly drifted back into their own world...full of each other. The water rained down on the two, neither paying much attention. It was quite a bit later when the two actually returned to their seperate physical bodies.

Nachin opened her eyes to find her face nestled against Xander's neck, and gently kissed his wet skin there before sitting back slightly to look at him. She murmured wordlessly, hugging him close for a long moment before she reached to turn off the water, which had turned her skin pruney long ago.

"You know," he told her while reaching out to find a towel. "There is probably some stuff we should be doing today." He carefully slid the towel along her curves, trying to dry her slender form.

"Probably," Nachin said quietly, reaching for a towel of her own to begin returning the favor and drying him, as well. "But I like this better," she said, winking at him.

"Maybe...but you know, I really need to find my sister, I haven't talked to her in almost an entire day. She is probably worried." Xander added, "Not to mention that you ripped up really the only pair of clothes I had."

Nachin tried to look sheepish-- but didn't do too well at it. "I don't think those clothes were sewn very well," she said, grinning. "At any rate, I'm sure the servants will be happy to get you something new. Then you'll be all dressed up to find your sister," she added, wrapping the towel around his hair.

"I think I am going to seek out my father and talk to him today as well."

Nachin nodded, a serious look crossing her face. "I know you were worried about him," she said, her eyes darkened, "I hope that he'll treat you well-- he doesn't seem quite the man he once was. Don't let things he says hurt you."

"I never said who my father was..."

Nachin looked down for a moment, then looked up at him with a truly sheepish smile. "I kind of assumed your father was King Random," she said, taking a deep breath. "You seemed more interested in him than anyone else at the banquet. More concerned with his well-being, as well."

"He is," Xander confirmed, not upset that she knew. He kissed her lightly on the forehead, "You just caught me off-guard. I'll have to watch how I act around you." Xander wrapped a towel around his waist and lead Nachin back into her bedroom. It took a moment for him to find the liquior, but surely enough he came upon the bar. He found a familiar Kentucky Bourbon and poured two glasses. He slid into a padded chair and lounged with his drink, watching Nachin and waiting for her to get ready.

Nachin dressed hurriedly, braiding her long hair, still wet, and tossing it over her shoulder before she walked to Xander and settled herself into his lap with her own drink. "You'd better get dressed," she said, kissing his neck hungrily, "or I won't give you another chance." She reluctantly stood, and walked to the door to summon a servant to fetch Xander some new clothes.

Xander sipped and stared at the graceful elfin beauty. If this was what Amber was like all the time, he had no problems. The truth of the matter, he was sure, was that once he was dressed, all the danger and drama would begin again. He could not let himself be too open with these people...he did not understand the situation. He had much to learn.

Xander let Nachin order the servants around and did as told giving measurements. "Something dark," was the only comment he added, letting Nachin pick out the clothing.

"Thank you," Nachin said brightly, closing the door behind the servant as they left. She held her arms out before her, a simple pair of slacks and a shirt offered to Xander, the slacks deepest black, and the shirt a dark grey, both made of a sturdy but soft fabric. "These are probably going to be loose, they said, but they should be very comfortable," she said to him, "and they'll make more that will fit you better during the day today."

Xander nodded, standing and letting his towel fall as he took the clothing from Nachin. He slipped the slacks on and pulled the shirt over him. He left the top open, and pulled on his boots from the night before. Those, at least, had survivied.

"Well?" he asked of Nachin, "Shall we eat, then find my sister?"

"That would be great," Nachin said, running her hand slowly down his chest. "You look wonderful," she added. "Shall we eat here?"

"No," Xander says with a slight shake of his head, "I would like to see some more of the palace. Is there a good place to eat around here?"

"Well, the cooks here are the best," nachin said, "and there are lots of great places around, too, we can wander until we find something we like."

"Then by all means," Xander replied heading towards the door. His stomach growled softly and he patted it reassuringly. He opened the door and gestured with his hand towards Nachin. "Some place outside I think?"

"That will be perfect," she said, slipping her hand into his after a moment's hesitation. "What kind of food is your favorite?"

"Right now," he confessed, "I could really care less. Anything sounds delicious."

"Alright, first place we see it is," Nachin said. She led the way through the palace, still unsure within its walls, but she knew where the most eateries were located once outside on the streets of Amber. There was a cafe not far beyond the palace walls, and she directed their path there, choosing to sit outside with him.

Xander lead off with coffee, a lot of it, and black. Nothing like caffine to wake you up. He ordered a heavy brunch, eggs, sausage, fruit, just about everything he could. He was on the castle account, what did he care. His hand rubbed Nachin's leg after he was done ordering.

Nachin smiled at him, putting her hand over his as she turned to the waiter. "Everything he had, except no eggs, I'd like cream in my coffee, and a glass of pineapple juice," she said, smiling sweetly until the waiter walked away. "You know, with your hand there," she said quietly, turning to Xander with a wicked grin, "you're tempting me to just throw you under the table right now."

"Frisky, frisky, frisky," Xander teased. His hand rose a little higher on her thigh, but he resisted any of her incomming attacks or kisses. He carressed her thigh before leading into his questions. "I seemed to remember you promising to teach me about something called compelling last night..."

"Naughty," she tsk'ed, putting her hands on the table again, "changing the subject like that." She sighed, disappointed.

"What would you like to know about compelling? Just basic what's what, or an object lesson?"

"Both," he grinned.

"Well," she said, "I have to admit, I'm not the person to show you. There are elders-- and even just other people, who will have all the knowledge of it you'll ever want to hear about. I don't use it regularly, and my mind is out of practice."

"Well then," Xander continued with a squeeze, "Just explain magic in general to me. Where I come from, nothing of the like exists. How is it powered? What is it?"

"Well, most everything Amberites, or even Chaosians do, magic-wise, is powered by our own minds," Nachin said. "There are those with high compelling powers who, given the time to prepare, can compel another person to an action or emotion. Others can compel objects and such. Shadow shifting-- the most common way to travel out of Amber-- is also in your mind, after you've walked the pattern, you'll be able to shift shadow to your whims."

"So the power of magic is within me? Or must I be converged with the pattern before I can use it?"

"It is within you, but it is latent until you walk the pattern. When that happens, you'll know exactly what's within you, and what you might do with it," she said quietly. "The pattern will awaken a lot-- memories included."

"Well, that, at least gives me an idea. My next question: I have noticed that everyone around here uses bladed weapons. I understand the the physics and chemistry is a little different here...but surely you have guns?"

"Some have them, I'm sure," Nachin said, "but they don't work-- neither do explosives," she added. "It's just something about Amber, you have to be far from it to use a gun or other explosive- type weapons."

"But fire burns here, no? Then surely something burns faster? I can't imagine no gunpowder. Swords just seem such an inefficient weapon."

"Nope, no gunpowder, either," Nachin said, "it just doesn't work, I'm not sure why." She thought for a moment. "Swords would be inefficient against guns-- but when you're fighting another with a sword, it truly is a test of which combatant is stronger-- not whose gun shoots faster."

"I'd rather just shoot someone quick and be done with it truthfully. I know crossbows work..I may have to look into that. How good are you with a sword?" he asked slyly.

Nachin's shoulders straightened, her pride obvious in her voice. "I'm one of Julian's Rangers in Arden," she said, "I'm one of the better swords you might find of the younger generation. Or so I've been told."

"I suppose there is no way out of it then, I'm going to have to learn soon. My sister isn't bad though," he said after a thought, "I bet she could take you..."

"Oh, could she," Nachin said, raising her eyebrows. "I'll have to challenge her, then, and we'll find out."

"So what else is important for me to know?" he asked. He was sort of worried about meeting Random and not knowing much about the man or the world he was in. "I want to be able to stand confidently when I meet Random."

Nachin put both of her hands over Xander's. "You have no reason not to," she said, losing her grin and becoming serious. "If he has a problem with you not knowing every last detail of Amber, then he should have brought you here long ago, so you'd know your heritage. Just be yourself when you see him. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Xander almost rolled his eyes...almost. He wasn't some child seeking comforting, just making a statement. He could handle his own fears without being caudled. But he held that back, it was not her fault. He kissed her on the cheek and forced a smile.

"Thanks, I know." Then, suddenly the food thankfully arrived. He turned from the conversation and dug in.

Nachin swallowed her own bitterness towards the elder generation of Amber, and began eating, as well, downing her juice in one gulp, nearly slamming the glass down onto the table. She cleared her throat then, and turned back to look at him. "SO when are you going to meet Daddy dearest?"

"I'mmm nrrroott shhhuuhhhhrre," he replied with a mouth full of food. He swallowed hard, then gulped down the rest of his cup of coffee. "Probably as soon as I can find Kit and," he looked at his clothes, thinking about changing...he decided he did not care. "Yeah, as soon as I find Kit I think."

"Good plan," Nachin said. "Any idea of where she might be?"

"I suppose I will look at her room first. My guess she is with crazy Mae'Lan, and if we ask, i'm sure someone knows his location. You can't miss that guy."

"That's true," Nachin said, nodding as she put a piece of melon into her mouth. "He can't miss me, either-- though I'm sure he'd like to, he doesn't seem to like me much."

Xander absently reached down and grabbed something that looked similar to a strawberry. "Of course he doesn't like you," he said softly, "He's jealous." He slowly lifted the fruit to her mouth, and stroked it across Nachin's lips. "He wishes he had a cute little hobgoblin of his own." He held the fruit at the tip of Nachin's tounge, waiting patiently.

Nachin smiled slowly, putting her hand on Xander's wrist. "Well, I'm sure there's an elf somewhere desperate enough," she said, then took a bite from the fruit he held to her mouth. She bit her lower lip before grinning at him again. "Ahem-- what were we just talking about? I've been completely distracted."

"I don't remember either," he responded, changing the conversation, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Hmm," she said, putting her hand against his face for a moment. "Is there anything else you wanted to know before you meet your dad?"

"Who is the clear successor to the throne if Random dies?"

He asked it suddenly, almost absently. He wished he had not after he asked. It wasn't that he cared about power, he was just curious.

"I'm actually not sure," Nachin said. She thought for a moment. "It may divert to one of his brothers rather than one of Random's children, though."

"What do you know about his other children," was his immediate response.

"Well, Martin was nearly murdered by one of his uncle's on the primal pattern," Nachin said. She shrugged. "I'm not sure even how many children he has, beyond that. Which may be for the best, in case someone has a grudge against Amber's fair King."

"These ideal world seems to come at a great price of safety." Xander reached into his pockets, not realize he was wearing new pants. "You don't have any cigarrettes do you?" he asked hopefully.

"I don't, I'm sorry," she said, "I'm almost positive I can find a place for you to buy them, though," she added.

"Hey, as long as they give me credit to the castle I can buy anything."

Xander stands, signed the bill, and held his hand out to Nachin. "Okay," he said giving up, "Lets look at part of the city quickly. It looks beautiful and I need cigarrettes. But, I am begining to worry about Kit."

"Just down this street," Nachin said, standing and pointing as she led them away from the cafe. "It'll just take a minute," she added, and practically dragged him to a shop a few doors down.

"Damn," he said while being forced to jog to keep up, "Slow down woman."

"I am not in that big of a hurry," he laughed while tickling her side.

Nachin protested loudly, but was laughing as she did. "It's right here," she said, still choking back laughter, "and don't tickle me again, it's not fair," she said, pouting, "especially after I bring you here. They have pipes and cigars, too, if you like that sort of thing," she added, pointing to the shop's door.

Xander wrinkled his nose at the notion of pipes and cigars. "Only if I have to, I'd rather a pack of camels." Xander went inside the shop and looked around. There was an ungodly assortment of tobacco and other similar tobacco plants. There was an entire wall of cigarrettes, more types than he had ever seen. He searched until he found something with a camel and writing that looked like Arabic. He charged them, then turned to Nachin, one already lit. "Not exactly like home..." he exhaled, "Better actually," he said with a suprised smile.

"Well, good," Nachin said, her head tilted as she watched him curiously. "Are they really all that good?"

"Not really, no cigarrette is really 'good' per say. However, it still as good as sex." Flashing a quick look at Nachin he changed his answer, "ALMOST as good as sex, I mean. Almost."

"Psh," Nachin whooshed, shaking her head. "Either I'm out of practice, or there's more than tobacco in that thing," she said, pointing at his cigarette.

Xander lifted the cigarette to his nose and smelled. "Hmm," was his only response before puffing on it again. "Yes, most definately better than sex," he decided, puffing on it again. Amber was nice... "To the apartments?" he asked.

Nachin folded her arms in front of herself. "Maybe I'll have to try my luck with someone who will really appreciate me," she teased, "Or you again, if you can stand someone less fulfilling than your smoke, there,"

Xander folled behind Nachin and pinched her sharply on her behind. "Ohh be quiet, dear. You're quite fullfilling. More than fullfilling, truly."

Nachin turned to face him, walking backwards, "I'd thought so, from your reactions last night-- and this morning," she said, walking closer to him so her words didn't have to be broadcast down the street. "I promise, though, we can practice more later," she added, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"You are incouragable," he professed, reaching for her sides again. "Are you never satisfied woman?" he didn't really care if anyone heard or not when he spoke.

She raised her eyes, putting her finger to her mouth as though in thought. "Well, not never," she said, and lowered her eyes to look at him again, "Though you knew that."

Xander just shook his head and reached foward, putting his hands softly to her sides. He kept walking, bringing her along. His hand slid from her sides to her hand and he kept going. "If I let you stand there and say temptatious things all day, I'll never get anything done.

"True," she sighed, "and we couldn't have that, now, could we?" She walked back towards the palace. "I need to find my friend I had been at dinner with last night," she said, "but when we're both done with our errands, would you like to come see me again? You can wait in my rooms if I'm not there. If you'd like, that is."

"What if I meet you a couple of hours before dinner? Maybe we can meet and I can have the first sword lesson?"

"That'd be fine," she said, nodding, "I can see if there are any better teachers for you around in the meantime," she added with a chuckle.

"I thought you were the best around?" "Or of the younger generation, no?"

"I didn't say the best, but maybe one of them," she said, her face flushing. "If you want the true best, it'd be Benedict. My father is a good teacher as well, if you can stand being around him that long."

"Ohh yes," he replied with a laugh, "When do I get to meet your father? Maybe we can meet in your dearest forest before dinner? Can you talk him into giving me a lesson?"

"I can try," she said, nodding. "You know, that's a good idea, maybe he'd actually do it. Maybe." She held up a warning hand, "Don't get your hopes up, though, he's-- well, you'll see. Let's do go to Arden this evening if he's there, but let's meet here before we head out."

"Here?" he asked looking around. "I'll meet you in your room..."

"Right, that's what I meant," she said, "here in Amber, rather than trying to find each other in Arden, you know?" She gestured to the gate back into the palace. "Here we are," she said, "I don't even know where in the castle your quarters are."

Xander laughed. "Maybe thats a good thing. Don't worry about it. Go and see about your friend." Xander stepped fowards and kissed Nachin passionately. He held her close even longer before stepping back confidently. "I'll meet you in a little while. Good day my dear." Xander then stepped back and headed on into the palace before he gave her much time to respond.

Nachin watched as he retreated, her hands on her hips. "Oh, well," she whispered, and turned to go to her own quarters before she headed back out to look for Kryn again.

Xander stepped out of Nachin's view and walked a bit quicker. He had enjoyed himself immensely, but that woman made him loose sight of things. She made him unproductive. He'd have to be careful around her. Xander darted off towards his room, hoping to catch Kit still hanging around hers. Today was the day they would meet their father. Xander would not be refused this right.

Mae'Lan and Kit did run into Xander quite soon. Literally. Xander was approaching an intersection about three halls from his room. He thought so at least. When right around a corner, Mae'Lan came pulling Kit along behing him ranting and raving. They plowed straight into Xander, leaving everyone on the floor.

Xander was the first back on his feet, staring down at the two. He offered his hand to help them each up. "What in the world have you two been into?" he asked, shaking his head.

Mael'Lan screech in overwhelming glee at the sight of Xander, eyes going wide. He released Kit's arm just long enough to wrap his arms about the white-tressed man, hoisting Xander off his feet. "Aaaahhh!" Mael'Lan bellowed. "I see you still have you...er...brains about you...ehhh.." He paused, tightening his squeeze breifly, then releasing the man to reclaim Kit's arm. "You have managed to escape the clutches of certain inhallation, I see!" The chaosite rubbed a hand over his face in relief and sighed. "Yes. Well. That's good." He patted Xander upon the head. "One as...mild minded as you would be easy meat for a succubus!" He grinned and ruffled Xander's hair. "Good to see you living. Where are you off to, laddy-boy?"

In a flurry of purple hair and pale blue labcoat, Kit had immediately attached herself to Xander with a happy sigh of relief, burying her cheek against his upper arm. "I hadn't seen you since last night! You scared the crap out of me!"

Xander brought his hand around and stroked Kit's hair reassuringly. "I know, I'm sorry...I should have come back last night." He truly sounded remorseful. He kissed the top of his sister's head and put his arm around her. "Thank you for taking care of Kit Mae'Lan," Xander spoke as if speaking to a child. "We have important business to take care of, we will see you later, I am sure." Xander hoped that would do for a dismissal. He doubted it, but hoped. "Let me tell you what happened at dinner last night..." Xander began, fading off.

Mael'Lan puffed out his chest and sucked in his breath sharply. "Of all the assanine behavior." Mael'Lan frowned. "Do you honestly think that I would be foolish enough to let you go running about Amber alone, Xander?" One hand on his hip, he reclaimed Kit's arm and continued his thoughts. "Even if Kit IS with you...I'm sure you'd get lost if the hairs on your arm acted as a compass." He harrumped. "I'm coming with you! I can't let you drag Kitty Kat all over heck and gone!" He gave Xander his sternest stare.

Xander turned with a sharp look in his eye. He was challenging Mae'Lan to push him. "No," was all he said before silence slowly set in. "We go to take care of business which does not concern you. I do appreciate your help, but do not overstep your bounds. I don't care how crazy you act, I know you have intelligence in there. Use that sense and do as I ask. Please." Xander did not look at Kit while he faced Mae'Lan. He had thought a lot since arriving in Amber and he really did not trust anyone very far. He wasn't sure if he could trust Mae'Lan more because he acted crazy...or less. If it is all the same, he'd be happy trusting the one person he had always trusted...and Kit was plenty for him.

Mael'Lan's face was the epitome of crushed spirits. His eyes were wide and wet with unshed tears. "Sometimes...people can be very cruel.." He turned his back to the man and crossed his arms. "FINE!!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Get OTTA here! GO ON!" He turned back to face them. "Go OOOOOoooooOOOONNN! I have secret things to do too, mister high and mighty!" His lip trembled and he sprinted off in an oposing direction.

"Hey, wait!" Kit called out after him, starting to move in his direction...but he'd already fled. Her shoulders drooped in disappointment. "I like him...he's fun."

"Be that as it may," Xander commented, "It is time to meet our father Kit. Mae'Lan has no reason to accompany us there." Xander walked slowly to the rooms of Kit and himself. He followed her into her room and took a seat in a padded chair. "Seriously though Kit," he continued, "that...man... isn't exactly right in the head. Be careful, very careful with him. I do not dislike him...but I have no idea what his intentions or actions are. This place is different, so very different from our world. You have to be cautious Kit. You can't trust anyone here...anyone but me. Not Mae'Lan, not Guile, not our father even." Xander shook his head...he really was a nice guy, he didn't like to yell at people, but Mae'Lan didn't seem to respond like normal people did. "I am wearing this," he said absently, "You can change if you like but then I hope to go and see our father. He is King here, but barely alive if what I saw last night is any indication."

Kit looked miserable, but shook her head. "No, I'm going as I am. If he doesn't like it, then it's just as well. He left Mum, you know, don't forget that."

Xander nodded confidently, "Ohh, I haven't," he assured her. As he stood he realized how upset Kit looked. He approached her and sat next to her on the bed. "What is the matter?" he asked.

"Nothin' important. Just thinking about things. About what's 'real' and what's not. Wishing I'd brought some of Umatsu's books to read...things like that," she shrugged, staring at her knees.

Xander rubbed Kits back gently. "It'll be alright Kit...just be patient. I think we will see our way through it all." Xander watched her a moment. "Are you sure there is nothing the matter?" he asked in a concern voice.

"Just tired I guess...a little tipsy. Maybe we should see Dad in the morning, it's pretty late. And there's that idiotic ball tomorrow, you know." She sighed heavily. "We never DID find that tailor..."

Xander's heart felt heavy and his face sank. He had actually been looking foward to meeting his father. However, he was not going to put Kit in a situation she was unprepared to enter. "Do you really not want to go today to meet this man?" he asked.

She folded her arms around his middle, leaning her frizzy head on his shoulder. "I'm scared to," she admitted in a quiet whisper.

"Ahh Kit," he replied, lovingly. "What is there to be scared of? You owe him nothing. His opinion should mean little to you. He left us Kit...and I am curious to know why. Maybe he really is a good man, but we will never know if we don't meet him. Don't fear the unknown Kit."

"I'll just bungle everything up, like I normally do," she sulked. "Can we please do it in the morning? I promise I'll be in a better mood!"

"Okay hon," Xander replied softly, kissing his sister on the top of her head. How could he fight that plea? "We will go in the morning." Xander took a step away from his sister and pulled her up with him. "Now then," he said, hoping the lighten the mood a bit, "What would you like to do? You can meet Nachin," he offered, "She says she is fairly good with a sword...maybe you can teach her a lesson." Xander laughed heartily. "And maybe tonight we can check out the library...see if we can't make some sense of this."

She thought about it, biting her lip as she gazed towards the door. "I don't really want to be around any people right now," she echoed in a hollow voice, sounding much like she had during their days of isolation at the orphanage. "Besides, there's a study here that's stocked with tons of books! I'll get plenty of reading done," she smiled tiredly.