Supernatural Similarity

[mistysakura]

This isn't my first fic, nd after you read what I have written, you will probably start to doubt the truth of that statement. I don't know, because I don't judge my own work very well. That's why I need someone else to judge it for me. So, please give some criticism. The things I already know about are;
- Shortness of paragraph (nothing actually goes on in the prologue, that' swhy it's short)
- Either overdone or not enough description, can't tell which (aren't I bad?)
- Title has next to nothing to do with the plot, but I couldn't think of a beter one.
This is a non-Pokemon fic. Chapters will be posted fairly irreguarly, as my stock pile literally doesn't exist - yet. Without further ado, here's the prologue. Enjoy!

Prologue
Birds chirped, sitting on a tree just outside the windowsill. A girl, originally floating in the world of her dreams, struggled to open her hazel eyes. Another day, Kristin thought. Another boring History lecture. At least we’re working on illusions in Advanced Charms. That was a comforting thought.

Kristin loved her Advanced Charms class. It was the one time of the day she could fiercely concentrate on accomplishing a seemingly impossible task. She adored the feeling of magic seeping through her veins, how she could control the rays of azure light shooting out of her fingers in order to form a sphere of concentrated power, or a light blue veil so faint it didn’t seem to exist, or simply a single light beam, almost bright aqua, aiming straight for its goal. The top of her class, the junior student took pleasure in weaving a web so complicated, its fragile threads glimmering in the sunlight. Yet it would act exactly as the fourteen-year-old commanded it to, from generating such a gentle breeze that a candle barely flickered to making whole walls seem invisible. She had played some interesting pranks on people who considered her a show-off – the ability came in handy then. For even though sometimes Kristin did behave like a know-it-all, she was actually quite immature for her age and totally self-unconscious. Her intentions for performing difficult feats were merely to satisfy herself.

This particular morning, while still lying on her bed with its light green blanket, Kristin stared past the half-open blinds, through the glass window and gazed at the rising sun. the glowing globe of energy illuminated the sky. Clouds glittered, whether ruby, crimson, golden or peach. Each individual fluffy mass of natural phenomena dissolved and merged in such a way that would have attracted passersby and urged them to forget their monotonous working lifestyle and gasp in wonder. Nobody was out this early, but Kristin knew that the sight dazzled at least one person.

Isn’t this just amazing? She thought. I wonder who else is looking at this. It’s astonishing that people from all over Sonara could be surveying the same sight. Imagine – someone is probably getting up right now, getting ready for work. Someone else in a different country might be inventing a new spell. Another person could be planning a kidnapping, the side of her that loved mystery and adventure said. Or maybe, someone is falling in love right at this instant – that was the romantic side of her. Somebody might be changing the entire world – and we would not notice, but just stare at a building outside their window! Kristin pondered her thoughts.

Little did she know exactly how truthful her imagination was.
__________
As I said before, please give criticism... please?

[*shadow*]

oohhh!!!! sounds cool! I like the way you've described everything mistysakura, Kristin sounds really interesting! and they way you've described her using magic sounds reaaally cool! yeay! next chappie please! :D ;) :)

[mistysakura]

Thanks shadow, and the next... oops I meant first chapter should be up on Thursday at the latest.

[mistysakura]

Chapter 1

“Morning dad!” Felicity shouted, rushing down the stairs. She was dressed in a violet T-shirt and fluorescent green track pants, both looking a bit crumpled. Her ankles were covered by one white sock and one red sock. Thankfully, her trainers matched, but one shoelace was left untied.

“Argh!” That shoelace had gotten stuck in that annoying gap where two steps met, where years ago she had kicked the wooden step in frustration, forgetting that she was wearing spiked shoes. Today, Felicity was every bit as careless as she had been in sixth grade. She had fallen forwards suddenly, and if not for her quick reflexes she would have fallen flat on her face. Her long brown hair was now a mess, since she had given it a rough tug – the fourteen-year-old had been using an elastic to tie her hair back at the time of the incident.

Felicity quickly brushed herself off and raced down the rest of the staircase.
“I forgot gym training was on, gotta fly!” she yelled, annoyed at the fact that nothing seemed to be going right that morning. She grabbed her plain navy bag containing her school books and her shimmering silver and black leotard, and ran out of the door.

Luckily for Felicity, her school was just three blocks away from her house. It was quite a prestigious college, located in the “rich kid” neighborhood. Although looking at her, or the interior of her house, no one would ever guess she came from an extremely well-off family, her father was in reality a millionaire. He simply believed in keeping things simple and plain. The middle-aged man had experienced poverty, and knew better than to waste anything. As a result, the Damon residence was not considered an adequate house in the wealthy neighborhood. Nothing but weeds grew in the garden. The staircase, as mentioned before, was not fixed for years. Since there were only the two of them, many rooms were left untouched except for an occasional dusting to keep cobwebs away. Their bathroom did not sparkle; nor was the floor made of marble.

However, the one thing Thomas Damon was most extravagant on was Felicity’s schooling. He knew how important education was in the modern world. He wanted his daughter to have only the best in that particular area.

I guess I won’t have to warm up today, Felicity thought as she ran her second block. She had gotten out of shape over the holidays, and was already puffing and struggling. At least she wouldn’t run into anyone – the streets were empty.

Or so she thought. A man and a woman were hiding behind a neatly-trimmed rabbit-shaped shrub. They had been there for quite a long while. The man held in his calloused hand the basis of a strong sleeping charm – what looked like a simple glass marble with a green swirl in the middle. However, if you studied it closely, the swirl of colour floated within the hollow sphere. The change from a yellowish grass green to something more like the green of shallow seawaters at midday, and back again, was extremely subtle. The vortex of colour rotated slowly, on its own axis.

The man grinned, clean white teeth showing, as he remembered how he had gotten the convenient charm. He was the owner of Brilliant Ideas, a local charms store. He had become great “friends” with the supplying companies, and when he asked for this certain item, although it was not meant to be for sale to the public, the company had let it go. Of course, they had assumed that he had good intentions. No one would be suspicious of the intelligent-looking shop owner in his thirties.

The woman, on the other hand, was infamous for conducting disappearing acts on objects and humans alike. Her long, rusty orange hair had once made her stand out, but now it was cropped and brown, the colour of bark in spring. In addition to that, her grey eyes were now disguised as a radiant blue, the sort like those of supermodels who did close-ups of their faces for coloured contact advertisements. Aside from the unchangeable cunning, calculating look, nobody would ever recognize her as Reneé Dusafe, criminal mastermind.

The man spotted Felicity coming down the street, which was still unbelievably silent. Here was his only chance. That should have been half an hour ago, the man thought impatiently. But there was no time for this now.

Aside from the startled look the woman had on her porcelain face when she took in the extent of Felicity’s fashion sense, neither of them ceased concentrating on the task at hand. The man grasped his source of power tightly. He envisioned a scene in the early hours of the morning, when everyone was in their beds and everything was at peace, except for a couple of owls hooting. The area surrounding his clenched fist darkened, as if blackness was streaming out from the slits between his fingers. The glass ball started vibrating, softly at first, then gradually increasing its intensity until the strong-minded fist was obliged to vibrate along with it. The man knew that this was the hardest part of all, maintaining his vision whilst trying to ignore the quivering movement of his hand. The darkness spread until his whole being was surrounded by it. Then, the thinnest, whitest light beam emerged from between his index and middle fingers. At this point, he switched his attention from the serene nightscape to the girl who was his mission, with her green eyes, tangled hair and innocent appearance.

A light seemed to be flashed in his direction once, and then again, but much weaker this time. The man was surprised, since there was only supposed to be one flash, but he quickly dismissed the thought, figuring that his eyes were playing tricks on him. He peered over the bush that was his hiding-place. Felicity had collapsed onto her knees, and was just closing her eyes to begin her travel to Dreamworld. Great, everything was going according to plan. He signaled his partner, who crept out from the shrubs, agile as a cat-burglar, and dragged Felicity’s body over to where a beaten-up red car was waiting. The last thing felicity took in before she fell asleep was the almost half-detached license plate – HKPS03 printed in bright blue. The woman lifted Felicity with surprising ease, opened the back seat door, dumped the unconscious body onto the scratched seat, then jumped in herself and closed the door. The man naturally sat up the front, turned on the ignition, and started to drive to their destination.

“Why couldn’t we get a nice, comfortable car, with all that money we’ve got?” the woman complained as she tried to adjust the malfunctioning air-conditioning.
“Reneé, we can’t get anything flashy like you want right now. We have to be careful. I promise after we finish this and get out of here, we’ll get the best convertible you’ve ever wished for, okay sweetheart?”
______________

All of a sudden, Kristin felt drowsy. Magic, she realized almost subconsciously. She glanced at her alarm clock. 6:15, it read. Forty-five more minutes until she had to get up. It was decided that she would go with the flow, regardless of the mystery surrounding it.
______________

Felicity dreamed. Someone, a spirit, a fairy, floated in the air. Although she could see through the young man, Felicity could tell he had dark eyes with bags under them. The rest of him was a strange purplish-grey sort of colour.

He skillfully maneuvered his way over to another of his kind, who was a girl in her twenties. She was looking through the sooty window of a clothing shop, with a feeling of nostalgia.

“Hi,” the boy said, appearing to be nonchalant about it.
“Yeah?” the girl replied warily. This boy was dangerous, she knew.
“I was just thinking…” Without warning, he fired a beam of orange light at he woman, hate blazing in his eyes. He could tell she expected this, so there was no point in putting up a pretense.

The girl immediately put up a shield, attempting to deflect his attack. However, he was too quick – half of the beam had hit her arm. It was scalded and bleeding, with blisters popping up everywhere. Fortunately, it was her bad arm. She managed to cast a healing spell on her arm with her good hand. Pink light surrounded the wounds as they healed in a matter of seconds, leaving only a couple of scabs. This was the power fairies had. She got ready to fight, this time offensively. She had underestimated the man’s power. A ball of light started to form in her pale hands, shimmering and revolving.

The man felt arrows of energy cruising along his left arm. He aimed and fired them at the bubble of deep pink light, at the same time as it was released, aiming straight for where his heart would be if he were alive, where his life force was kept now that he was dead. It was a matter of who was stronger. The arrows penetrated the sphere, but the girl’s concentration was hard to beat. The sphere did not shatter, as the boy had hoped. It did not even go off course. The arrows and the sphere both headed for their target’s source of being. This time, the man and the girl both dodged the attacks.

The woman’s eyes were shut in deep concentration as she created a mist that came out of her fingertips. The vapour started to fill the area, and it was impossible for either of the battlers to locate their opponent. Felicity herself could still see clearly how the fierce boy waved his hands around in the air. Everywhere his fingertips touched, orange threads trailed, forming a sort of spider web. As his movement accelerated to the point where it was almost a blur, the gaps in the net filled up. The man’s lips frowned without him noticing. Although he was ghostlike in appearance, Felicity could feel his seriousness and his anger.

As the last tiny gaps were filled, it was clear that the man had formed a bright shield against the mist, which was still increasing in its volume. He manipulated the shield so that it moved forward, pushing the mist back. The girl fought hard to defy the movement of the large square of light, but her face showed that the task was hopeless. He was much stronger. Nevertheless, she went on defending herself. She knew that there was always hope. Better to die with a struggle than to end your life as a quitter, her mother had once told her.

The force moved towards the girl inch by inch. Felicity could see the tears of frustration on her face. Her strength was nearly drained, yet the boy did not show a single sign of weakness. He smirked in triumph as if the battle had cost him nothing at all.

Then, the shield reached the girl and passed through her slowly. She felt the magic penetrate her body, and she was surprised to feel only the slightest trace of evil. At that time, she completely let down her guard.

The man seized the moment. He called up a beam of energy and loaded all his strength into it. He knew it would take just one blow.

The beam was fired. For an instant, Felicity could only see light everywhere, pink with streaks of violet and orange. She had never heard an explosion before, but the deafening noise and the rumbling of the ground convinced her. After the initial shock, Felicity thought she heard the sweet tinkling of chimes. Her ears searched for the sound frantically, as if knowing it was of importance, but it had gone.

Felicity could see the streets again. People were coming and going, doing their jobs. A snail slowly crawled along the road, only to be squashed by a car coming along. The innocent creature splattered against the tyres and the asphalt, but Felicity noticed none of this. She saw only that the girl was gone.

Comments: I should try to achieve a balance between dialogue and description, rihgt? Weird how it's usually the dialogue that's oerdone.

And lots of criticism please.

[*shadow*]

:P no criticism! just compliments ;) *beams* I loove your fic! The way you describe your characters.....their so......real. I like how you describe things, and detail them, especially the magic parts. It kinda make you feel like your there! Keep it up Misty! are you a really good writer? 'cause thats what this looks like.....and you've only gotten i chappie and a prolouge done! I can't wait to see what the rest is like!! :D :yes: :wave:

[mistysakura]

Chapter 2

“Ring Ring…”

“This is Thomas Damon speaking,” a man sitting at his desk answered exasperatedly. He had been pestered by calls from his employees all day. It seemed that half the world did not possess a functioning brain.

At this time, Thomas Damon’s desk was cluttered with various documents and contracts for his performers. He was the head of a movie company, Seastars. It had been ignored by the world until five years before, when a desperate writer had come to their doorstep. To cut a long story short, the script Ariane Lorr offered to the company was made into the most successful movie of the year. Seastars received thousands in profit, but more importantly, it gained fame.

That was the reason why Mr. Damon was now sitting in a well-furnished office, courtesy of his partners. The desk was of the finest cedar wood. An expensive spell ensured that no matter where and how hard the large glass windows were hit, they would never break. Thomas Damon considered this the only thing that was worth the cost, but his interior designer obviously thought otherwise. Therefore, he was now forced to live with a computer equipped with all the latest spells, a lamp that changed color on command and a phone which automatically switched to answering machine mode when he stepped out of the room. Of course, all of this worked under the cycle of magic – power was reused over and over again.

“This is Matthew Dias from Akshiner College. I’m Felicity’s form teacher. I just wanted to ask if everything’s okay,” the steady voice asked.

“And why wouldn’t it be?” Mr. Damon inquired. Apart from a few problems with cast members being injured and one refusing to work because a rat was seen on the floor, nothing much had happened today. He knew that that was not what Felicity’s teacher was asking about.

“You see, Felicity didn’t come to school today. We’ve asked all her friends and no one recalls anything.” The masculine voice was sounding more worried now. Thanks to communication systems, whenever someone had to have a day’s leave, a button only had to be pressed in order to send a message to the appropriate authorities. Every person knew the routine off by heart since they could read – it was almost second nature.

“Well, I know Fi went to school today…” Thomas Damon imagined al scenarios where his daughter would be all right. Maybe she had decided to take the day off; the “bad teenager’ side of her might be emerging. Perhaps she had become engaged in some other matter, forgotten the time and then thought it was not worthwhile to go back. He tapped his fingers on the desk.

“But she never got here.”
___________________________

Felicity woke up amongst a dirty sock, a spider and a lot of dust.

“What the heck am I doing here?” she asked herself aloud, but it came out as a muffled noise. Yes, a thick cloth was bound firmly to her mouth. It was quite dark and felicity could not make out anything five centimeters away from her. She tried to sit up, but a couple of inches into the act she felt something solid above her. She ran her hands across the surface; it felt like unpolished wood. In between what must have been wooden strips was something soft and cushiony. When Felicity put her feet against it, since her limbs were bound but her feet could still move when tied to each other, she heard the creaking of springs.

I must be under someone’s bed, Felicity realized. All that had happened since going out the door that morning came back into her head as separate images. There was the flash of white and the blurred image following its owner’s eyes as she collapsed. Then there was the dream. Some parts of it were still vivid; others were swirls of colors. The boy’s eyes haunted her. She didn’t ponder what the dream meant; she figured that it was a side effect of the sleeping charm.

She had to get out of here, she knew instinctively. Well, if I can’t walk, I can still roll… She maneuvered herself so that she lay straight, and then rolled to one side. She hit a solid wall. So, she tried the other side, knowing that her clothing would b covered with dust. She it a wall again, felt a small but existent surge of power, and cursed. This place was protected; her kidnappers were not fools. Who designs their rooms like this? Felicity thought, annoyed.

There was only one thing to do. She bent her knees so that she moved forward by a few centimeters, then straightened herself again. She repeated the action for what seemed like a billion times, bumping into weird objects along the way, until she was finally out.

Felicity was in a room with its walls painted a drab grey. A desk sat by the bedside. The dust covering the originally white surface, and the fact that a chair was nowhere to be seen, told her that this room had not been occupied for a while. At least not by non-kidnapped people, anyway.

There was a small window on one wall, the side that Felicity had tried first. That side was perfectly normal, void of any mysterious magic. Felicity deduced that it was to avoid being detected. Peering out the window after wiping at the dust with her wrists, Felicity discovered, much to her dismay, that she was no less than ten floors above the ground. Looking downwards, protruding parts of air-conditioners and pipes ran along the walls.

Felicity heard a sudden creaking and made her way back under the bed. Her ears told her that the door to “her room” had been unlocked and opened. Footsteps came nearer to her location. When Felicity turned her head, she saw a pair of velvet slippers, made out of Prussian blue material. The person spoke.

“Having a nice time?” she asked sarcastically. “Oh yeah, you can’t talk, can you,” she continued. Felicity wished to give this person a mighty kick.

“Well, we’ve contacted Mistress Damon’s precious daddy, so…” Renee stopped, unable to come up with another sneering comment. Instead, Felicity heard her footsteps fade away just the slightest bit, probably walking towards the window. A prolonged silence followed. Damn, she must have seen the marks! She frantically thought. She could only lie there, unable to scream or yell, aware that it would be a bad decision to whine or whimper anyway.

Dim light was reflected from the perfectly trimmed deep purple fingernails that tapped on the windowsill. Renee Dusafe liked toying with her victims – it made her feel strong. She was a manipulator of minds who appeared too be emotionless, cruel and even inhuman. That’s what she liked to think of herself.

So much for classifying me as a nerd, she mentally scorned while fantasizing about being asked to all the high school proms, each time by a different boy, then turning each and every one of them down. Girls would copy her hairstyle, clothes and asking for fashion advice. She would play with innocent boys, pretending to be hopelessly devoted to them and them only, only to embrace and passionately kiss another in their presence. She imagined bragging all about it to her “clique”, as jealous “wannabes” would call them. Well, look who’s cool now!

She snapped out of her imaginings, “Like bravery counts for anything,” Dusafe mimicked one of the most popular girls when she went to school while putting two more padlocks on the window.
_________________________

“Hey, haven’t seen you around before,” a boy of nineteen commented.

‘Yeah, I just died yesterday. Life sucks. Or rather, death sucks.” She held out her hand. “Clare Peresson.”

“Xavier Salsmore, nice to meet you.” He shook the young woman’s hand in response. The tingle that was felt when a fairy touched a ghost was discovered by Clare. She immediately withdrew her hand in surprise.

“Sorry about that, I should have warned you.”

“It’s not your fault,” Clare argued. “By the way, are there any nice places I could visit? I’m bored.”

“Follow me,” Xavier responded as he got an idea. He glided along the gravel path, past the shops and people to whom they were invisible.

“Do you want to know where we’re going?” He heard no response, but went on anyway. “Well, too bad, it’s a surprise…” Sensing that Clare was being very silent, Xavier turned around, disturbing a few bird spirits in the process. He spotted Clare perched on a bench, facing a grocery shop in the world of the living.

Xavier expertly made his way over to her.

“Hello?” he asked. As Clare turned her head, he noticed that her blonde eyelashes were damp, with pale yellow light being reflected off them. In comparison, the rest of her face seemed dull and uninterested in anything. Her eyes glanced towards the ground, and then her eyelids shielded her vision.

All around the two young adults, passersby made their way to their various duties. A little boy of about five cradled a newborn in his arms. He stroked the baby’s few strands of blonde hair as he sang. “Someday we’ll all be gone but lullabies go on and on; they never die, that’s how you and I will be…” their mother had sung to them. As the not-so-innocent boy controlled his voice in such a precise manner that had to be natural talent, people started stopping to watch. Poor boy, I bet he never thought he’d be gone so soon, a person in the growing audience thought.

The boy was oblivious to all the people crowded around him. He let his voice rise and fall melodically. The baby closed her eyes and stopped whimpering.

Clare’s eyes were now also focused on the boy. A trickle of tears flowed down her face. She blinked and wiped the tears away, hoping Xavier wouldn’t notice. He did.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned. He sat down beside her.

“What do you mean?” This boy had no business in her personal matters. Who was she, a crybaby whining to anyone she met? She tried to keep smiling and pretending that nothing had happened. Her efforts were in vain.

“I mean it. I’m serious.” He knew that his stern tone nearly always worked. Even his “toughie” friend back in the old world had broken down once. He didn’t take pleasure in listening to people’s woes, but he knew how important it was to talk.

“Shut up.” Clare didn’t care if she was being rude; so was he. Xavier realized that he wouldn’t get anywhere with his strategy – this girl wasn’t as weak as he had imagined. Instead, he just made himself comfortable on the wooden bench that real, living people were walking through that very moment. Xavier thought that Clare would find it weird and uncomfortable, even though he himself had gotten used to it.

He looked straight into her eyes, and glimpsed his own reflection in them. He saw messy blonde hair that partially covered his brown eyes and a neutral expression on his face. Why do I look so normal when someone’s crying?

Nevertheless, he concentrated on his present task. What looked like two identical lightning beams connected Clare’s eyes and his. Clare gasped as the world of the living slowly faded away into nothing, leaving only the dead spirits and their world.

The connection disappeared, but the “real” world stayed invisible.

“What did you do that for?” Clare was furious and shocked that Xavier had such powers. Her pupils darted around frantically, as if doing so would restore her vision.

“I thought you wouldn’t like people walking through you every other second.” Xavier smiled, knowing that he was finally getting somewhere. At the same time, he found himself feeling sorry for the girl beside him – he could guess what she was so upset about; he’d been through it himself. Everyone here had.

“I don’t care; I want the real world back! I hate it here!” The tears that she had held in for so long burst out into the open, streaming down her crimson cheeks. So much for pride, she thought, angry at herself. Now I’ve given in to Mr. Psychologist. She raised her hand and slapped Xavier’s face, ignoring the supernatural quiver that was felt once again.

“I’m not a Christian, but here you are,” Xavier spoke as he turned his head the other way, preparing himself for another hit. Luckily for him, her blow weren’t hard. He endured about ten consecutive slaps before she stopped. He raised an eyebrow.

“You asked for it,” the girl said matter-of-factly. “I suppose you want an explanation.” She resigned. “I saw my mother. She was just standing there, buying our dinner as usual. I heard her working out how much she needed, minus my portion… she looked so sad.” She wept silently now. She longed to stop, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry to tell the truth, but you’d better get used to it. I’m sure you wouldn’t like crying for another five years until you vanish.” Fairies and ghosts alike had only five years of prolonged life. Afterwards, they simply disappeared. No one knew what happened to them. Perhaps they were reincarnated. Maybe there was another afterlife. They might be just reduced to nothing, evaporated like puddles on a hot day.

Clare decided it was time to get real. She straightened, wiped her tears with her sleeve and said, as if she were an obedient student, “I will.” The two friends smiled at each other.



___________
My comments: Was there too much dialogue in the second part?Do my characters seem one-sided, because I have a feeling they do? And how's my villianess?:P
The usual, please, heaps of criticism. If you don't want to hurt me because you've got too much thrashing to do, just throw it at me. If you're not posting because you don't have criticism (as if!) just say hi. And if you just can't be bothered, say hi as well... please? I want to know how many people actually read this. Thanks.

[2ra]

You rated mine, so I'll rate yours! ^_^ I like it, its original, especially on here with all the Pokemon fics, the description and length are great, keep going ^_^ And don't worry, you only have a few chapters up, more people will post as you post more chapters ^^

[The Silver Storm]

Realy good, to me though, it doesn't seem to be your first fan fic, it seems like you've done many fanfics before this. I can't get over how discriptive it is. :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :D :D

[mistysakura]

Originally posted by The Silver Storm
it doesn't seem to be your first fan fic, it seems like you've done many fanfics before this. I can't get over how discriptive it is. :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :D :D
I said it wasn't.

PEOPLE!!! YAY!!! Thanks everyone, if you've got any comments I'm listening. Next chapter should be up... who knows when? I've got so much stuff lately, what with all those tests and thinhgs. So sorry if I don't update for like two weeks... But I should be a bit better than that. Hopefully. :yes:

[mistysakura]

Chapter 3

“Hey Amber!” Kristin exclaimed. Amber had messaged her last night, saying that she had some important news. She had not seen her until now, late afternoon, with school finished and hockey training starting. “So, what is it?”

Amber grinned. She was wearing a black skirt that went down to her knees and a silky blue shirt that was not particularly revealing, according to Amber’s usual tastes. A slight hint of mascara outlined her dark brown eyes. In her next-to-raven-black hair, the usual “outrageous” ornaments were nowhere in sight, replaced by a simple lilac butterfly-shaped hairclip.

“Okay, evil twin, what have you done to the real Amber?” Kristin could only stare. In the eyes of adults, teenagers were either immature or very immature. Amber would definitely fall under the second category. On first sight, she seemed to be a typical boy-chaser – always escorting “hot guys” to their lockers, chattering and fluttering her eyelashes on the way. At any given time, there was bound to be at least one person craving for her attention. Amber, however, didn’t bother refuting others’ opinions of her; being “cool” had its advantages.

“Shane likes mature girls, Cass told me… he just asked me out last night, just like that!” Unable to contain her excitement, Amber started pacing in circles around her best friend. “We’re going to see Moulin Rouge, then he’s taking me somewhere else… he won’t tell me, he says it’s a surprise. How sweet!” she adoringly said, not even trying to keep her voice down. Her imagination was already running wild. Lovesick, as Principal Haford would call it. Amber dreamed of lying on the sands of Ivory Beach, while Shane presented her with the most exquisite bunch of roses. “For you,” he would whisper…

As Amber’s body continued to circle Kristin, who didn’t know what to do or expect, a hand tapped her shoulder. Amber, startled, stopped in her tracks and whipped around.

“For your information, I was having a perfectly nice reflection on the most important things in the world before you…” She fell silent, realizing who it was.

Maintaining a perfect stance, she said coolly, “Hi.”

I’ll never understand that girl, Kristin mused as the two walked off, forgetting about her existence.
____________

As night fell, Felicity finally thought to somehow loosen her bindings. First, she attempted chewing through the ropes, but soon realized that if she went on chewing the extremely solid bindings, a tooth or two would be chipped. She stopped trying then.

She felt around with her fingers to find something sharp to cut with. Absence of light was quite a serious handicap, the girl realized.
“I’m such an idiot!” she silently yelled at herself. With those words, a faint lime green light shot out of her fingertips. She shone the measly beam around; hunger had a major effect on your magical capability, as well as physical strength. No, there was nothing but bits of junk here and there, along with a few spiders. Spiders were the bane of Kristin’s life. When she was three, locked in her room for something she had long forgotten, a tarantula had spotted her. It leaped straight for her eyes, brushing her face. Felicity had screamed, frozen to the spot. The spider, seeing an opening, crawled to it, trying to get in. Felicity closed her mouth quickly, but still made contact with one of its legs. The spider twitched for the longest time Felicity ever remembered, trying to get free. It was apparent that nobody had heard her frightened shriek and come to her rescue. She dared not open her mouth again for days after the creature was finally dead and disposed of.

Tasting arachnid legs on her tongue, Felicity quickly zapped the spiders out of oblivion.
_____________

“Welcome to Sonara’s one and only phantom concert hall,” Xavier announced. A row of padded seats lay before them, most of them already filled with people of various ages. There was even a pet kitten sitting obediently next to its owner.

“Just take a seat,” Xavier invited. They walked to two adjoined violet chairs and settled in them. Clare looked at the stage with its typical scarlet curtains. A countdown sign told her that the show would start in fifteen minutes. Clare kept on seeing people walk past the stage; real, living people, she knew. They would block her view of the happenings on the stage soon.

Clare decided to consult her new friend. “Hey, any way to make these guys who obviously don’t know we exist invisible?”

Xavier thought back to when he was a “newbie” himself. He would get extremely annoyed with the contradicting scenery; it was not a pleasant thing to get blinded now and then when someone walked straight through him Three years later, his memory told him that it was a hard job for someone who didn’t “know the ropes” to concentrate on making half a world disappear and actually do it.

“Well, what happens is you focus on the spirit world. Look at the sky.” Clare followed his instructions.

“You see, that is the colour of this world. Imagine a rainbow and make all the other colours disappear…”
___________

Felicity was not successful with freeing herself. After what she thought was an hour, nothing much had happened to her bindings. Yet she had to get herself out of this place – her father could not be worried about her. Should I just go for it? Felicity thought. She made her way over to the window again; it was the only link to the outside word\ld. In front of her was a normal city scene; she was directly opposite a shopping centre with all its lights still on and blazing. Looking out of the gap between the blinds that were installed to ensure that nobody saw the victims of kidnapping, Felicity saw, with some difficulty, a dull green lawn at the side of the building where she stood. Nobody was walking on it now as it was Friday night and everyone stayed out late.

Felicity drew back the lemon-coloured curtains. She propped her elbows on the window-frame, trying to decide whether to attempt to escape tonight, or wait until it might be safer. If she was to try, how would the girl get out, considering her immobility?

She put her hands against the windowpane and pounded at it in frustration. If Felicity was any good at some sort of magic, maybe it would help her get out of this dilemma. The only thing she would do better than anyone else was gymnastics – sports acrobatics, to be precise. Showing off her somersaulting skills and doing handstands on other people’s shoulders were her specialty. Not that that would help her escape from the duo criminals who depended on imprisoning herself to “earn” their keep.

She tried to press the palm of her left hand against the glass again, but was surprised to be met with empty air. The girl looked down, her eyes following the path of the rapidly descending glass pane, her reflection disappearing from its surface.
____________

Meanwhile, Clare tried to focus on an image of the spirit world and it only. At times the “real” world, Sonara Major as it was called here, would vanish for a few seconds, but to Clare’s annoyance it would always reappear before her eyes.

“This is seriously not working,” Clare whispered. L The show had already started, with eight-year-old little girls trying to act cute and dance at the same time. So far, not worth watching, she thought privately to herself. She did not want to hurt her only friend’s feelings by standing up and leaving, even though that was exactly what she felt like doing.

Suddenly, something crashed through her from above. Before she could express her surprise and draw unwanted attention to herself, the large object shattered, with shard flying into the air. If she was still alive, a deafening blast of noise would have been heard; not to mention being killed, or at least seriously injured. As it was, splinters of glass that gained momentum from the fifty-metre fall bit into the walls of the apartment building, the perfectly trimmed lawn and the weak spot between the road opposite ad its curb. Clare shuddered, wincing at the thought of someone living standing anywhere near the site.
__________________

“Right” Felicity muttered to herself. That scene had given her the jitters, but more importantly, an opportunity to escape out of the window.

Even without the inconvenience of not being able to separate her arms or legs, Felicity thought it would be a bit crazy to climb out and scale the wall. There were plenty of footholds, as Felicity could see out of the hole where the window pane had been. Yet, after witnessing the fate of the aforementioned missing object, even the “school acrobat” was not too eager – especially when she knew that her crash mat was a bed of spikes.

However, this could be my only chance, she reflected. Now that she recognized her kidnapper’s voice, freedom was slipping from her fingers. The principle “Better safe than sorry” was known worldwide; Madame Criminal probably followed it more than anyone else. When, if at all, would she get another chance? For “safety precautions”, it was very likely that Felicity would never return to the outside world to tell the tale.

An owl flew by and landed on the drainpipe of the apartment. It glanced upwards, its yellow eyes a warning. Insanity, it seemed to glare accusingly. You can’t find sensible girls on this planet anymore – ones who don’t commit would-be suicide by scaling building walls and listen to what their brain tells them. The owl turned away in impatience and flew off, spreading its wings wide into the sky.

“It’s right about the insanity bit”, Felicity muttered. I’m imagining conversations with owls, of all things. Of course I’m not going to put my life on the line. That’s stupid; I’m not in a circus.

She kneeled back down on the floor, ready to go back under her newly-cleaned living place, but could not bring herself to do it. “What the heck,” she grumbled. The adventurous side of her brain had won the tug-of-war; however stupid the decision was, it was made.

Felicity pulled her legs onto the windowsill, which was not such a hard job. She turned to face inside in a squatting position, her shoes the bane of her mission. They would have been left behind, but Felicity reasoned that the sloes of her feet would be protected from sharp objects. Injured feet were not easy to climb with, especially when tied together.

She gripped the dusty edge and lowered her feet down, locating her first foothold. Clinging onto the curved surface with her old runners, Felicity reluctantly let go of the ledge. Must not look down, she thought while concentrating on where pipe met wall. Heights, although manageable, were not her favourite thing – at least, not when she knew nothing, no one would be there to break her fall. A few metres were one thing, and few storeys another.

Ignoring the pathetic pleas in her head, she slowly crouched down on the pipe. Covered with dist, the pipe looked rusty, but safe enough to support her weight. There was a minor crack in the surface, and the droplets that leaked out dripped onto a ledge that jutted out metres below her. Felicity had underestimated the distance between footholds. She knew she could not risk a jump down – the thin strip needed much accuracy to lad on. She shivered at the thought of falling, steadily accelerating, and hopelessly knowing that a mere pair of shoes would not cushion her fall…

Get a grip, she reprimanded herself. You need to get out of here right now. Looking for n alternative escape route, the girl spotted a vertical drain, perfect for her purposes. Keeping her body low, she crept silently towards her quick exit from this nightmare. Occasional creaks kept her alert to the danger of her support collapsing, or, put not-so-nicely, scared her out of her wits. The first one or two times, the escapee had almost let go of the pipe before she was jolted back to reality. Close call, she thought in shock.

At last, she reached the junction where the pipes net and joined. Sliding her hands towards the vertical in what she thought was pretend bravery, but in reality looked like a bad actress putting on an act of being frightened. Felicity found an empty spot to hand onto. Hey, there’s still an option of going back up, the shaking, jelly-like side of her attempted to persuade. Felicity quickly pushed back the thought, both her sane and daring sides resisting the idea. Though it was actually easier to go downwards than upwards, felicity still had the words ‘crazed idiot’ in her mind, along with “Here goes nothing”, as she took a deep breath and swung her feet onto the ‘pole’.

It was impossible for her feet to grip onto anything because of the roped tying them together. Trying to stay level-headed, Felicity did a bit of impromptu planning. When the next horizontal step came, she would firmly plant her feet on it, to avoid flying off due to the impact. Then she would repeat the process of relocating her hands so that they were under the junction, and slide to the next floor.

Felicity was impressed with herself. That was some quick thinking, she thought, still concentrating on the next horizontal pipe. As it came by, she put her feet to the side, getting ready for her landing. I hope this works, she prayed.

Her shoes hit the surface of the drainpipe, but slipped off the curved edge. She only had time to think “Damn” before her bound hands, unable to keep a steady hold, connected with the solid object. As a reflex action, her hands released the only thing that kept her from falling.

All efforts to keep a clear mind fell apart instantly. Reciting all the swear words she knew, only one other thought was present. I’m going to die, Felicity realized, panicked, as the world whizzed past her senses.
_____________

Clare clutched Xavier’s wrist until her knuckles turned white.

“What is it?” Xavier asked, annoyed. The girl was seducing Mr. Ignorant Protagonist; totally clichéd, but still not to be missed.

Clare, shaking, could not say a word, but pointed at the sky, seemingly following an object’s flight. Xavier immediately let his invisibility guard down, to catch sight of a person rapidly descending to her death. Suicide or not, he had to prevent her from landing on the lawn with its shattered glass, a sign of certain death.

He hastily produced a sheet of orange light through his fingers. Its shimmering substance grew thicker and thicker as it drained Xavier’s energy. The unknown girl touched the magical product and stayed there. She was confused by the fact that she had not died, and was resting on some platform that was clearly supernatural, as magics of this intensity had to be controlled from nearby, but nobody was to be seen.

Felicity decided that she did not care; she was free. Hope began to rekindle in her dazed heart. She silently thanked her mysterious life saver and ran in the direction of her home, the soles of her shoes pounding on safe, solid ground.
____________

My comments: not my best work, but I thought since I hadn't updater in almost a month, I'd better get something done. Sorry about the long wait guys (I don't think there was anyone waiting anyway).
Do you think that my writing style is too impersonal? I think so. The characters seem so far away and lifeless/ video-game-character-like to me... what do you think?
I'll apologise in advance if I don't do anything again for months.

[Mickoz]

Wow!!!

I think I've found what I'm looking for! A well-written, long, intriguing NON-POKEMON fic!

You've got the multiple plots working well, now we have to wait for them to clash at some point, I imagine.

I'm guessing Harry Potter might have been an inspiration for part of the story........?

The main thing I've noticed, however, is not to do with what's inside the story, but what follows it. You do realise that nobody has had ANYTHING bad to say about the fic, simply because there isn't anything to criticise - it's great! Why do you have to include a paragraph of self-criticism after every chapter :confused:
You should be happy you're produced such a great story, instead of trying to find every possible way to criticise yourself!

You'll enjoy writing and publishing the story much more without the self-negativity that, from what I can see, is not based on anything - I don't know what you see is wrong with the story. It's fantastic!

[mistysakura]

Well, there are two things that I'm obsessed about: I'm a health freak and a criticism freak. Valid answer?
And I like improving, it rules. :D and it's not like I think I suck or anything (have I given that impression?) (and by the way, when I say that epople aren't saying anything because there's too much to say, I'm just being desperate.)
Next chapter will not be coming along any time soon. IK'm annoying nyself with my laziness+writer's block, but... yeah. Thanks for reading. And there are many unnoticed (but good) non-pokemon fics out there. It's a shame that half of these disappear after about two weeks.

[Mystic Latios]

This is very good. The description is fantastic. I can't wait til you post the next chapter.:)

[Mew Master]

Keep writing, I rated it for you in the Reviewer's organization.

Just a few annoying things with your style, but that's only me.

Seperating thoughts and the action for one.... Sorry, but it's very annoying for me.....

Later!

~Mew Master

[mistysakura]

So, what is with everyone thinking this is my first fic? Considering I've already posted a couple of times just to say that it isn't... No apologies needed, just clearing things up.
Edit: Had o rush off to schoo (yeah, I know it's Sunday.) Thanks for revies\wing, and I appreciate the comments (first helpful thing I've heard in ages!)

[Kohdok]

Ever heard the phrase "You are your own worst critic"?

I'd apply it here.

Though somewhat hard to follow, this fic is pretty good. It also wants me to keep reading it since it is so riviting and there are so many unanswered questions.

It's pretty cool, though, like others have said, it sounds a little Harry Potterish.

[mistysakura]

Whoa, it's an update! Sorry, I kind of got uninterested, and besides, it was a busy term. Since it's term break now, here's a new chapter!

Felicity ran as quick as she could, her goal to get away from the 'scene of crime' as soon as possible. No police station was in sight ¡V maybe if she were a perfect logician, or had at least a tiny bit of common sense that was not knocked out of her, the phone would have come to mind. Yet, who could blame her? The average teenager was not skilled in emergencies, and Felicity had not experienced anything remotely close to one.

Her geographical sense was limited to a rough idea of where she was and the direction in which she had to go. Her purple-striped runners, pounding along the sidewalk, took the rest of her body along a route she vaguely remembered. All around her, windows were illuminated with pale yellow lights. They reminded Felicity that families were gathering for dinner, talking about normal things. Now and then, men and women returning from work would walk down the path, and upon seeing a strange girl in mismatched, dusty clothing, running as if to get away from something, they would give each other looks that plainly stated, "You see something new every day." Felicity envied them with their normal concerns and thoughts.

Not looking where she was going, Felicity ran into a girl, knocking her over. The handful of coins the girl was holding fell out of her grip, rolling everywhere. As she picked up the small brass discs, Felicity quickly apologized, then went back on her way. The stranger looked up to assure her that it was all right, but as she glimpsed the right half of Felicity's face, no words came out. The hazel eyes and light brown hair had caught her attention, as did her general complexion. She did not notice Felicity's quirky fashion sense or her hurriedness ¡V her eyes were focused only on her face.

Kristin stared fixedly at the rapidly diminishing image of Felicity dashing down the pedestrian path, as if she had seen her somewhere before.
_______________

Finally coming to her senses, Felicity's saner side told her that trying to return home without help, and alone at night, was not such a fantastic idea. She had no money to hire a flying service, and she was getting exhausted. Leaning against a tall lamppost, she concentrated hard on the image in her mind of a keypad. The smallest sensation went through the top half of her upper arm, and then dissipated. She tried again, attempting to clear her mind first as to not consume as much energy. Thought buzzed around her head; her father would be so worried about her. She could see herself being grounded for 'safety reasons' until the end of time. And that's what you care about? sensibility quipped. Quit thinking and shut up. Felicity clenched her fists, thoroughly annoyed at herself.
"YOU SHUT UP!" she yelled, frustrated. Her voice bounced off the brick wall she was facing, resounding. The pedestrians around her stared, but soon resumed going on their way, not caring too much about potential mental patients. A car honked.
____________

Inside a building with a professional-looking sign that said 'Sonara news Co. Ltd', a man handed an article and a photograph to a layout designer.

"This can go somewhere between middle to front," he said, "it's not half as important as the so-called 'mysterious magic influence' at Mahlien or the strike at Demiris Portal, but it might interest some ¡V Renee Dusafe strikes again, it seems."
"Hey, aren't I the layout guy here? I don't need your advice, so get out of here!" the man joked. He glanced down at his new task without much interest; when you worked in the publishing industry, news was no longer exciting.

However, this man's eyes widened in disbelief. He was startled by the colour photograph he held in one hand; a teenage girl smiled back at him, with sparkling hazel eyes and lips slightly parted, showing teeth that were not as perfect as the rest of her ¡V at least we know it's not computer modified, he thought absentmindedly. The girl's likeness had shocked him, at the very least. The hand in which he was holding the photograph quivered.

"What's Kristin doing here? But... this doesn't work!" His eyes scanned the article in his other hand. A sigh of relief was plainly heard as no Kristin Tanaka was mentioned. The missing girl was actually named Felicity Damon.

"Hey you, don't you know that Jester's Day was last month?"
__________________

"Could someone please lend me their phone?" Felicity asked aimlessly. It was not as if anyone had responded in the last ten times she had asked. A swarm of people now rushed up and down the street in the peak hour, all seemingly determined to ignore her pleas. Felicity decided that she was not getting anywhere.

Well, I'll just have to make them notice me then. She walked up to a random house and rang the doorbell, then waited for a response.

In the meantime, Felicity surveyed her surroundings. Tall trees were prominent in this neighbourhood; it must be Bennett Woods. She had memories of this suburb as a child. Back then, it wasn't an actual residential area, but a sparsely treed forest. Golden leaves fell from the treetops in autumn, swirling around in their journey to the ground, which was covered in dry soil. Squirrels raced from log to log in search of acorns, their bushy tails whipping around large, gray tree trunks.

Nowadays, although maple trees were still seen as a symbol of Bennett Woods, they were much scarcer. Buildings and houses had started to sprout in the area years ago, and now the suburb was filled with activity. For some, with activity came a sense of uneasiness, like neon lights creating heavy shadows. Felicity never shared in this view, though.

She decided that if nobody was even coming to see whether she was a salesperson or not, the house must be empty. She thought it was time to leave the doorstep of the unknown house. She turned away from the door and went down the wooden steps.

Then, the girl hesitated. In the distance, walking in her direction, her eyes perceived an image of a girl, her face an incredible likeness to her own.

The stranger approached, strolling along with a purpose. She had either not noticed Felicity's presence, or her appearance was a trick of the eyes. The other girl's facial features were almost identical to hers. Their eyes were reflections of each other, their irises the exact same hue. Their faces, standing out in the dark, were or similar complexion and shape ¡V as her father often joked, his child had inherited her mother's pure heart. Felicity was confused, thoroughly puzzled.

Kristin glanced at her destination, the ordinary white brick house on the corner. She stopped, hesitating. She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she was not seeing things once again. It is that girl. Their eyes made contact, and they were at once fixed in each other's eyes.

She looks exactly the same as me. It's like a mirror reflection, except she's wearing totally different clothes. But who is she? And what is she doing here? Kristin opened the gate and walked up to Felicity cautiously. She was a stranger after all.
"Um... you are?"

She lives here? This is becoming weirder and weirder! Felicity pondered whether to ask the strange girl for the phone, the whole reason I'm standing here in the first place, and I probably look like an idiot.

¡§I'm Felicity Damon, um... nice to meet you?" It was certainly strange circumstances for both of them, meeting this way. Neither of them knew what to do.
"Kristin Tanaka. Yeah. So, what are you doing here?" It was apparent that the other girl was as puzzled as Kristin was, and so she felt herself relax slightly.
"Um... could I please borrow your phone?" Felicity asked. The mystery of the girl's identity could wait...or could it?

As Kristin conjured up a keypad effortlessly, much to the envy of Felicity, Felicity's curiosity could not resist any longer. Well, I have to ask her sooner or later anyway, so I may as well do it now...

"So, who are you? Who are your parents? We could be related!" Felicity burst out. Then, realizing the full impact of her words, she blabbered on, "I mean, we look so alike and everything..." She trailed off, fidgeting with her hands. What a fantastic way to make an idiot of myself, she scolded.

Kristin had long since realized that Felicity was probably up to no harm, although she thought it a bit strange of her to not use her own phone. "Seriously, I wouldn't have a clue who I'm related to... for all I know, we could be sisters or something. I'm adopted, and I don't know who my real parents are ¡V don't care, either." She had stopped wondering years ago, when she was still too shy to ask about the truth. Now, Kristin just couldn't be bothered; it was just a fact of life, and she had better things to worry about.

Whoa, she's adopted too... why didn't I see that? She doesn't look a thing like a Tanaka. We could totally be related. We have to be, Felicity convinced herself. Kristin interrupted her.
"By the way, didn't you want to use the phone?" Still thinking, Felicity muttered a half-hearted "thank-you", and dialed.

"Hello? Dad?"
From the other end of the phone came a male voice. "Fi? Is that you? You all right? Where are you now?"
Felicity decided to barricade the endless stream of questions. "Dad, I'm fine, but would you come and pick me up from... wait a second." She quickly checked the address of the place. "It's 5 Mallory Crescent, Bennett Woods."
"I'll be there in a minute, stay safe," the voice of Thomas Damon said. His words were simple, but there was just a hint of emotion, of concern for his daughter in them. The line was disconnected.

"Come inside, it's getting cold," beckoned Kristin. 'What happened to you, anyway?"
"Hey... you sound kinda like Dad," Felicity experimented tentatively. Kristin giggled, both at the statement and the tone of voice that Felicity used.
"Just come in."

Over a mug of hot chocolate, Felicity explained the events she had experienced in the day. "And then I decided that if nobody was going to listen to me, I was going to bang on someone's door a million times until they got annoyed and just opened the door. I chickened out though, and I'm glad I didn't have to do that."

"What an adventure!" Kristin exclaimed, "Kidnappers, dusty windows, wall-scaling and mysterious rescuers all in one day! Whoa." She dreamed of all the possibilities, partly wishing that she had been part of it all. She had never been in anything halfway as exciting before.

'It's not as great as it sounds, you know..." Felicity's light-hearted tone started to diminish. "I mean, I'd probably be dead by now if it weren't for whoever it was with the orange magic. I only wish I had a chance to thank that person." An awkward silence filled the room, with neither of them knowing what to say.

The doorbell rang, much to their relief. Felicity ran for it, forgetting that the house was not hers and that it was bad manners. She flung the door open, revealing a man still wearing his suit, and looking as if he had been in a hurry. The man bore no resemblance to either girl at all, and Kristin was puzzled by his identity. On the other hand, Felicity had no doubts about that at all.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her father, not caring that it was a difficult feat for the man was quite a bit larger than her. Thomas Damon chuckled.
"Well, I'm glad to see that my little midget's all right." Felicity playfully punched him on the arm, while Kristin looked on, longing for a sense of genuine love in her family. Felicity's father did not notice his daughter's teasing comeback, but was staring at the other girl ¡V Kristin.
"Dad," Felicity asked before he could say anything, "Do I really have a sister?"
_______________

The trio was sitting at the table. Kristin had just presented a cup of tea, remembering her manners. The two girls were keenly waiting for his response to Felicity's question. Finally, Mr. Damon put his cup down, inspecting the row of birthday cards along the wall. Although instant greetings, where the receiver would see a quick note pop up in front of their eyes, were more convenient, birthday cards were still considered to be a nicer greeting.

"When was your birthday, Kristin?"
"5th April," Kristin politely replied. Felicity seemed far more excited about it.
"And how old are you?"
"Um... fourteen?" Kristin answered, not understanding why Felicity, like her father, was not concentrating on the more important matter at hand.
Felicity gasped. "But that means we were born on the exact same day! Is it just a coincidence?" Her mind was pondering for some sort of explanation, but none came to her. It was all so frustrating.

Kristin, on the other hand, only had one word in her mind: twins. But this is the sort of stuff in fairytales! This was too much, even for Kristin. For once, she felt that she was living in a practical, down-to-earth world. Imagination gone wild ¡V that's what it must be.

At that moment, a key rattled in the door. The door opened, and a man, her father, stepped in. "The night shift guy arrived early," he shouted, in explanation as to why he was home so early. Then remembering the two extra pairs of shoes and the car parked outside, he asked, "Kristin! Who do you have over?"

Not waiting for an answer, he walked in on the gathering at the dining table. He looked from Felicity to her father, then to Kristin. "What is going on here?"

"Uh... this is Felicity Damon and her dad," Kristin said, almost apologetically, gesturing to the two. Mr. Tanaka recognized the name from the article. Oh dear, they do look the same. It wasn't a joke after all. Wait a minute! Could she be who I think she is?
"Glad to see you're free, Felicity," he said. Felicity gave him a weird look, as she presumed that there was no way anyone else could possibly know about her kidnapping.

"And this is my dad." Kristin tried to think of a subtle way to bring up the topic, although she knew that her father was already thinking about it. No ideas came to mind, so she said simply, "I think we all want to know the truth about his whole thing." It sounded as if it were merely a side note. Kristin did not want to sound as if she was accusing anyone.

Mr. Tanaka was in deep thought for a while. "So, is that who you are? Clarissa and Harold Findlay's other daughter?" When Felicity nodded, he went on, "perhaps I should have told you guys earlier. You see, Kristin, your real parents were killed in a shipwreck years ago. It was a lucky thing that their two twin girls, still infants then, were in the care of their grandmother." Twins, Felicity finally realized. She longed to ask directly, "So, are we twins or what?" but she knew that it would be incredibly rude.

"The babies thrived on without their parents until their grandma got so ill that she had no choice but to hand the two girls over to the orphanage. She died soon after that, but she knew that her grandchildren, Kristin and Felicity Findlay, were in good hands."

Shock filled the two girls at once. It's just so sudden. You don't just have this girl materialize on your doorstep and have her turn out to be your sister. Your twin, Kristin thought.

Me? A sister? The truth had hit her right in the face. Felicity turned to her father with an accusing glare that said, "Why didn't you tell me?" Her father just nodded silently. I got kidnapped, saved and got myself a new twin sister all in one day ¡V I know things can get complicated sometimes, but this is just unbelievable!

Neither girl knew what to think, or how to act in this new situation. Mr. Damon, sensing the unease, made the wise move of taking Felicity back home and letting her have a good sleep. She'll get used to the idea after a while, he thought.

Both girls' new thoughts remained throughout the night. It was too sudden, too complicated for them to completely think through in one night. Time passed, and before long it was morning. Neither of them had slept at all.
~~~
Comments: Harry Potter? I'll have to think about that. And I do realize it's going down the cliched road, if you hadn't noticed the fairytale and "unreal" references. I'm trying for originality sometime in the next two chapters, I'll say. The plot doesn't exist yet, so far, so...
When I was typing this up (I hate typing things up!), I realized how badly I write on the plane. Everything i wrote then has practically been completely changed.
And this computer is annoying... had to fix up 's and "s and ...s. and thanks to you, Mew Master, I took some time doing the italics... if you're reading, don't worry, I've got heaps of time on my hands.

Next chapter hopefully sometime next week (I'm hoping to get at least 3 in over the break.)

[mistysakura]

This was meant to be up Tuesday, but whatever. i might actually combine this with the next chapter, depending on how it goes. At any rate, it'll be up next week... and the Harry potter comments are right. This soudns more and more like GoF by the minute, though Harry potter was in no way linked to my inspiration. Honestly, the main inspiration for this chapter are (of all things) the mod contest and when Destinies Collide; only the title, though, the content's totally different.

Chapter 5

In the busy land of Sonara, the hills of Mahlien were a true representative of nature. They were the only place completely free of magical technology contamination. Even the densest, least populated forests had a flying service booth or two. Yet, Mahlien's hills were only reachable on foot. This discouraged many would-be tourists from this place, and so it was the best image of the natural world Sonara could provide.

Now it was spring, and grasses sprouted from the slopes of the hills. Amongst the wild grasslands, flowers of all colours found their way to the open air. Most of them were still buds, not yet ready to show their face to the world. A few old trees dotted the landscape.

The slopes were also home to many native animals. Squirrels and rabbits, much more active after the cold of winter, chased around the tree trunks. Foxes got ready to jump onto their unsuspecting prey, and a couple of hawks circled the area.

Mahlien was a nice and relaxing place, or so most people thought until recently. A specialist had come to the hills, to see if human contamination affected the strength of magic - and in the meantime, tainting it himself. He tried a simple self-defense maneuver, sending a ball of crimson smoke towards the ground. It was meant to dissolve on impact, but instead it rebounded at full force.

After a lot of coughing and sneezing, he tried again, this time trying to drill a hole into the earth. A beam similar to a laser shot out from his index finger, but nothing else happened. The soil was in the exact same place as it was before.

This news quickly spread - Mahlien was not such a normal place after all. More people started getting in to investigate, but they had no answer.

The truth was something that nobody, save the most", had guessed. The hills of Mahlien were the secret meeting place of the Chosen, the equivalent of a government in the spirit world. They were the ones who kept the symmetry between good and evil, and manipulated fate. Generally, they tried to keep the world balanced-both Sonara Major and Minor. One could even say that they were the gods, the ones from above.

But then, even the strongest believer in fairies and ghosts would argue that they came from the heavens above and the underworld. They were wrong; they never knew that they shared their world with the dead.
_____________________

"Good job, Xavier. Though you have only recently been recruited, your handling of the 'mysterious influence' was excellent. Well done," a thin, frail voice intoned. Yet, the voice was one of maturity, having an apparent commanding tone.

The spirit who owned the voice was floating above a delicately carved throne. It was simple, but flawlessly made. Atop the back of the seat was a small fountain, spurting an illusion of water. The liquid appeared to be of all colours, with different shades cnverging and diverging. It luxuriously flowed down every surface, disappearing when it touched the ground. It gave the throne a shimmering glow.

The fairy himself had a much less mystical appearance, though by Sonara Major standards he could still be mistaken for the "gods' in ancient myths. His hair was of a greyish hue, almost translucent. His eyes, once said to be the mirrors of the unknown world beyond the galaxy, had now lost their sparkle. Yet, they had not given up their identity, for those eyes were always thinking, always calculating; but nobody could ever tell what he was pondering.

"Well, as you all know, I am nearing the end of my fifth year. Soon, I will arise, and this position will be free for anybody who wants it. I have to prevent any fighting, physically or verbally, over thisthroune, as whoever succeeds in taking it will face dangerous circumstances otherwise." A few high-ranking fairies, out of the hundred attending this important meeting, chuckled, but not out of cheerfulness; they were more amused. They knew that the real situation weould be far worse.

The second last Ruler's abrupt resignation, followed by his unaccounted-for disappearnace, had brought about a political war, with each and every one of the Chosen supporting either Bianca McRay or Stephen Ferde. For a while, magical regualtions no longer existed. Both parties tricked and bewitched members of the other, not caring about the consequences. One day, a Ferde would suddenly forget that the whole war was meant to be kept secret, and tell the whole of Minor about it; her "extermination" was justified by both parties. Another week later, James Guire, Bianca McRay's most trusted assistant, offered McRay a glass of wine; she collapsed and faded away thirty minutes later.

After Biance's disappearance, Stephen ferde took over -- only to find that his own time was up. He was, however, quite a bit wiser than his precedent. before his disappearance, or arising, as the spirits called it, he appointed a successor. His name was Trent Swasti, and had been a loyal Ferder follower -- up until then.

Straight after Ferde arose, Trent swasti subtly strayed from ferde's controlling schemes. He was intelligent enough to keep his rivals in the dark about the whole matter, as his right-hand woman revealed later when there was no longer any danger. Since then, trent haed been the near-perfect Ruler of legends, or as close as any fairy could possibly get.

his next words interrupted the Chosen's thoughts. "Natalie Giltwain?" Although the phrase had a rising inflection, it was more like a command than a question. The woman whom he was addressing stepped out of the semi-circle in front of the Ruler. She quickly turned to face him, standing to attention.

"Yes, my lord?" The voice was one of confidence and strength. The woman with short blonde hair was a favourite of the Ruler, and it was not without reason. She had done a lot for the Chosen and its welfare.

"I consider you to be my best successopr," the Ruler said, his voice projected, so that although his speech was soft, everybody could hear it. Natalie smiled and shrugged.
"That is for you to decide, my lord."
"Yes, it is, and although I have made my personal choice, I may turn out to be wrong." He paused, to let the meaning of his words sink in. "I will be hosting a contest, to decide who will be the next Ruler."

Murmurs started in the rest of the Chosen. This has never been heard of, thought a member of the group. It used to either be a vote or a direct naming... What's he up to? wondered another.

"Alex Saunders, Michael Lane, Caitlin Wright and Alianne Harson." The four of them also stepped out of the semi-circle, to join Natalie.

"But first of all, bring in our guests." The doors opened, and two girls and two boys stepped in.

The members of the Chosen started talking again. "Why, they're two sets of twins... and there's something different about them."
"Wait a minute. They look a bit transparent, don't they?"

One of the fairies took off his pair of spectacles, which happened to be bewitched, so that he could switch between the "Minor View" (blocking out Sonara Major) and the "Neutral View" (having Minor appear translucent, and Major being normal). He exclaimed loudly, without thinking, "They're from Major!"

As the rest of them nooded in surprise, believing his words, Ruler Trent spoke again. "Felicity and Kristin Damon, Raymond and Chris Sterling, you have been exclusively chosen to witness, and partially judge, Sonara Minor's competition for Ruler. As the Ruler can affect the fate of both Sonara Minor and Major, this is a very important task. We would not have asked four teenagers from Major to judge if it could be made sure that the members of the Chosen would not be biased. You have been given a very special chance here. Today, you and not needed to judge, but it will give you an idea of what the contest will involve. Please take a seat," he finished as he gestured to four chairs that had appeared by the side of the throne.

"But he still hasn't explained why he chose twins, and teenagers, not adults," someone whispered.

Kristin looked around. Where were they? This is so confusing. What's with this whole major and minor thing? I'm sure it's not music. She glanced in Felicity's direction; she wore the same puzzled expression.

"The opening of the contest requires you to swear the recruitment oath once again. As we all know, all five of you have had a great contribution to the Chosen, but still think over the words carefully. They symbolize your job and your responsibility here."

"Natalie Giltwain." Something in the woman's mind told her to step forward, and she did. Felicity surveyed her closely. She had temporarily been granted Minor vision, and so everything looked halfway normal. She guessed that the woman was about thirty. Natalie -- such an innocent, cute name; exactly what she isn't. Those navy eyes of hers look so serious, as if she's concentrating on something important.

"Alex Saunders." Alex smiled, not at all nervous. His eyes twinkled at the thought of this challenge, and being one of the best of the Chosen. At heart, the boy just out of his teenage years was probably still an immature, playful child.

"Michael Lane." As Michael stepped forward, his eyes strayed from Ruler Trent, and focused themselves on Natalie. Rumors were that he secretly fancied her. Michael was a quiet one, but a true friend, according to Alex. Kristin looked at him. Amber would call him hot, she thought. His face had an empty expression, but his features showed silence and determination all the same.

"Caitlin Wright," Ruler Trent announced. She gave the impression of an intelligent woman. In her forties, perhaps, Felicity thought. But what does that have to do with anything? I don't even know if this is real or not!

"And last but not least, Alianne Harson." Kristin's eyes focused on her. Definitely least in years, though. But there's something different about her; she's not like Alex at all. Her hair's just tied up ain a messy ponytail; she probably doesn't care for looks. She looks serious enough, but not afraid. She's pretty in her own way, too, even in a T-shirt and jeans.

Words appeared in Alianne's mind. "I, as a memver of the Chosen, swear to abide by its rules and our Ruler's will." The familiar words were chanted by all five, while the rest of the Chosen looked on. The four outsiders watched with particular interest.

The five of them did not seem to be conscious of the bright light that came from within them. In fact, I don't think they're conscious of the outside world at all, Kristin realized. But it doesn't matter, does it? I mean, this is cool and all, but after Felicity, i don't think this could be real.[/i]

"I will do my best to assist the Chosen in keeping the balance between good and evil," the five continued. "I will help the Chosen in the control of fate and destiny. most of all, I will strive for the welfare of Sonara, Major and Minor."

The spell of silence that all of them had been under broke. The fierce concentration that showed in the eyes of the challengers was released. A constant chattering and whispering filled the roiom once again. Somehow, Felicity sensed that everything was different now. They had left something behind; a new phase was beginning.

Krisitn was still too busy thinking about the oath. The control of destinies and fates? She herself didn not believe in that. Yeah, right. Like we don't get to decide what we become or something. Plain superstition. In spite of herself, she started to doubt her theory, but then she remembered. It's just a stupid dream. Get a grip.

Ruler Trent interrupted the talk. "Now that we have started the contest, may the first challenge begin."

[mistysakura]

Chapter 6

"The first challenge is easy. In fact, I would not even call it a challenge - but I had to call it something, you see." The ruler's followers groaned at his pathetic attempt of a joke. He was not usually interested in humor, much less the corny type. Alianne wondered about this sudden change.

"Order! You do know that by the Five Laws of Respected Places, a parson is not allowed to show any form of dissent in Mahlien? I believe that includes groaning," Trent addressed the Chosen sternly.

The members of the Chosen were confused. Some were frowning, including Caitlin and Alianne. They, however, frowned for a different reason from the others; they doubted the Ruler's words. What on earth is he going on about? That's not right, Caitlin thought. Alianne was thinking of the same thing ¡V wait a second! She studied their leader's face closely; is it just me, or is there a mischievous glint in his eye that shouldn't be there?

Caitlin knew she could prove the ruler wrong if she tried, but she wasn¡¦t completely sure. Besides, it's probably safer not to ¡V

Her thoughts were interrupted by Alianne's speech. "Excuse me, sir. The last time I checked there were four Laws of Respected Places, not five. The rules were actually no littering, no dueling, no pets and silence where commanded; nothing about dissent. Besides, if dissent weren't allowed, then what about our arguments about rule amending and such? Wyseline Hall is a Respected Place too, and debates are held there every week."

What a show-off, scorned Natalie. That girl practically shines with confidence, Caitlin thought proudly on the other hand. It never helped her grades, being known for her "smart-aleck" attitude; not that her grades ever needed any assistance, of course. Now, some of us have to give her A's grudgingly; I personally think she's just a bit on the blunt side. Teachers weren't meant to have such opinions, but that was seldom the truth.

"Excellent. Twenty points." Now, everybody was truly puzzled, but Trent did not keep them in suspense for long. "That was the first question in our challenge. There are three sections each, with five problems to each section. The first part contains statements and snippets out of stories. You have to tell me what is wrong with each scenario." Very amusing, Alianne thought sarcastically.

The leader brought out five scoreboards, all displaying the number 0. He placed one in front of each contestant, then made a 2 appear in front of the 0 on Alianne's. Alianne smiled. On Alex's request, chairs were also provided for the five; "those two are just as disrespectful as each other," Natalie muttered disapprovingly. When I was a kid, I didn't even dare look the teacher in the eye. Nevertheless, the woman sat down, along with the others.

"The second question. This is also worth twenty points. 'That walk was hard,' said Lana. 'Well, it's up Valerie Peak. What did you expect?' retorted Tim. 'Whatever¡K nice place though, with all those cute winklebirds,' said Lana,--" Natalie started to think. What was it about the winklebird that I read today? Oh yeah, the new exhibit on their history.

"-- while she spread out some news printouts to sit on. 'Hey, are you sure we can use these?' she asked. 'Of course, they're from like 3087. Old,' replied ¡V Yes, Natalie?" he questioned, since she had put her hand up.

"The winklebirds have been extinct since 3085," replied Natalie calmly, sounding completely certain of herself.

"Right. Twenty points." Natalie looked pleased. Kristin noticed that Michael was trying to hide a smile himself. The twins were spending their time forming opinions on the contestants; after all, the questions meant nothing to the Major girls.

"That Natalie looks as if she does this every day. Seriously," Felicity whispered. Kristin completely agreed. Stuck in this weird place, she was glad that at least she knew one person. Felicity was just as confused, but she made herself much more at home, already expressing her thoughts on the strange people, who luckily seemed to have the same sort of personality as those closer to home.

Michael hesitantly put up his hand. "Um¡K I'm pretty sure that Minor magic cannot affect Major, unless authorized by the Chosen." You sure don't look like it, Felicity thought.

Trent nodded. "Fifteen points." Michael looked relieved. Alex glanced at him, and the two exchanged glances. This 'challenge' thing is a bit stupid, said Alex's look. He didn¡¦t know that what Michael had meant was more along the lines of "Good, for once I'm not last."

Kristin was starting to act more relaxed. "I know Caitlin's behind right now, but I'd bet on Michael losing the whole thing." Felicity disagreed, knowing that perhaps with the exception of Alianne and Natalie, anybody could lose. Still, it's nice just to have someone to disagree with. She's nice enough, and we've got no one else for company. Oh, except for these guys. May as well get to know them.

"Hey, bored?" she asked, just as Trent announced that the first section was over. So far, Natalie was leading, and Caitlin had not even answered a single question.

"The second section is comprised of academic problems. The knowledge of subjects such as English and mathematics will greatly assist the job of a leader. First question: list the factors of 573."

Caitlin put up her hand after a while, but still before anyone else. The others looked at her, snapping out of their intense concentration, except for Natalie, who thought that if Caitlin got it wrong, using the few seconds would give her an advantage. "1, 3, 191, 572," Caitlin exclaimed proudly.

"Correct. Twenty points."
Kristin herd somebody mutter, "She used to be a maths teacher. No wonder ¡V I couldn't have done it faster myself, even with a calculator.

The contest went on as Felicity began to fall asleep. She did alright in school, but was not very interested in it. Kristin, in the other hand, kept herself busy solving the problems posed and being impressed at the speed that some of them, especially Caitlin, worked out the answers.

Seeing that her twin sister was occupied, Felicity challenged one of the boys to a game of Thumb War.

"What's your name? I'm Felicity, and some people call me Fi, said the girl who was concentrating on evading her opponent's attacks.
"Chris, and he's Raymond," Chris replied, without averting his attention, although he had the upper hand. "Aha!" he exclaimed as Felicity, taking in the information, stopped for a split second, allowing him to hold her thumb down with his own. "One, two three, four, I've ¡V" he stopped as Felicity's thumb wriggled out of its captive space.

"Damn it!" Chris shouted loudly, annoyed. A few people turned to stare at them. Chris somehow felt the glares, and looked up. "Sorry," he apologized, but at the same time, Felicity took her chance.

"One, two, three four, I've won the Thumb war!" she exclaimed, catching Chris unaware, taking care to keep her voice low.

"Not fair, Fi," protested Chris, raising an eyebrow semi-seriously.
"Well, I won fair and square; you didn't get free, and that's that," retaliated felicity, grinning. At last, she was having some fun.
"You did not!" Chris stuck his tongue out at Felicity.
"Yes I did!" Felicity kicked him lightly near the ankle.

The mock argument continued for a while, as Kristin marveled at the casual way her sister interacted with this boy. It would be pretty hard to find someone at TSS who acted like that. TSS stood for Torant Secondary School, which was the school that Kristin went to. I don't know what's with our school, but the guys wrap the girls around their little fingers, don't care or get rejected multiple times. The girls there are either too shy to say anything to the guys at all, or flirt with every boy they see, except for those who get rejected, of course. I wonder where Fi goes to.

After a while, she interrupted the two, who had gotten tired of their act and started talking with Raymond about various subjects like school and music. Surprisingly enough, Chris played the viola, and he didn't act as if he were ashamed of it at all. "It's the last question now. I hope we get to go soon."

Natalie was speaking. "You check his breathing, of course." Then, in hopes of bonus points, she went on to say, "You put ¡V"
Trent firmly interrupted her. "That will be for the next contestant, thank you. Nevertheless, your answer was excellent. Thirty points."

"Huh?" asked Raymond, and Chris and Felicity were equally baffled.
"This guy's fainted, and they've gone through calling the ambulance and all that," Kristin filled them in.

In the meantime, Caitlin was describing the procedure of the much-feared Expired Air Resuscitation, otherwise known as EAR. "You give him two quick breaths, making sure to keep the person's nostrils shut and maintain a good seal over his mouth. Watch for the chest rising." She slightly reddened, and Kristin smiled, amused.

"Correct," announced Trent, clearly amused as well. "Then?"
"You check his pulse."
"Good; thirty points to you as well.

Alianne waited as Caitlin's point count went up on the scoreboard. She already knew what she would say next, whether the man had a pulse or not.

"Alianne, the man doesn¡¦t have a pulse. What ¡V"
Alianne didn't wait for Trent to finish. She replied, "You perform CPR; 2 breaths to 15 compressions. By the way, sorry; I should have let you finish first."

"It could have been more detailed, but that will do." Alianne was about to open her mouth to say that she could add more, but decided against it; he probably hasn't finished yet. And she was right, for he continued, "He's breathing now. What do you do next?"
"You put him in the recovery position," she answered confidently. I put him in the recovery position, Alex thought, trying to keep himself from getting bored.

"Sorry, but you're wrong. Five points." Alianne watched as her score increased by that infinitesimal amount. She couldn't believe it. She was sure; a hundred percent sure.

"Excuse me, sir," started Alianne. Most of the Chosen shook their heads, as they knew that she was going to argue with the Ruler yet again. I don't see the purpose; she isn't losing because of it, thought Michael bitterly. An old man murmured that she would never have gotten away with it with the last two Rulers.

Alianne's voice seemed to have a personality of its own: defiant and not caring about the crowd's opinions. "What exactly is wrong with my answer?"
"I should have known, Alianne the school debating champion. This time, you can't prove me wrong, though." Holding up a first aid book, he said, "It says right here that you should check for their pulse." He grinned. Alianne, although twenty years younger than him, had always won her arguments against him. Somehow, that girl keeps her mouth shut when she's wrong.

Alianne spoke again, to everyone's surprise. "But that's illogical. If they're breathing, you know they have a pulse."
Silence reigned as Trent was deep in thought. It was broken by a shrill voice that said, "She's right. I'm a doctor, and I know she is."
Trent eyed the woman. "Fine then." Five points were taken off Alianne's score.

For the third question, Kristin was asked to come forward. She obliged, puzzled. "Alianne, please put her in the recovery position." Alianne followed her orders, and the woman who had spoken before nodded her approval. Trent had the same opinion, as he gave Alianne twenty-five points.

"We will tally the scores now. Natalie, 180 points." Some clapped, but most of the onlookers felt that this was no ordinary show. "Alex, 150 points. Michael, 100 points. Caitlin, 185 points, and Alianne, 185 points."

Michael looked self-conscious, and his fears were confirmed. "In other words, Michael is out of the competition. Sorry, but only Natalie, Alex, Caitlin and Alianne will advance to the next challenge." Then came the words which the four twins had been waiting for. "We will now farewell our visitors." He gestured to a metallic green door, which was ajar. The four of them walked towards the door nervously, but gladly. Felicity was the first one to stop. She turned to the Ruler.

"But there's nothing there. Just pitch black. And I don't think there's a ground either." She was getting worried; was this some sort of trick?
"Don't worry, you'll be transported to Major.
Felicity made up her mind. Well, here goes nothing." She put one foot beyond the door. She hesitated, then lifted her other foot off the ground as well. From the others' point of view, she just disappeared.

Felicity was surrounded by darkness. There was no floor, but she did not fall. By then, she had stopped wondering. It was all too much to figure out. She just stood there, feeling that she was twirling around very slowly.

A point of lime green light caught her eye. It came to her from the distance, growing as it got closer. Then, the ball of light exploded, For a second, Felicity could only see a vast universe of green.

The light slowly faded, leaving her surroundings pure black again. Only string of words remained, and Felicity read them as she revolved.

Believe your eyes, for all you see is real, and not illusion.
A Purpose brings you to be manipulated by the forces of destiny.
It does as it wishes.

Felicity realized that she had gone around once already, but the words did not repeat themselves.

The citizens of the world are mere pawns,
as Fate is not, and will never be in their hands.

The next words stood out, as they were larger, capitalized and in a different font; not to mention that they rhymed.

TWO OF A KIND; FATE INTERTWINED.

The words shot upwards, and Felicity could no longer see them; or was it because she was falling?

The darkness whipped past Felicity as she longer floated. Rapidly, she descended into seemingly endless nothingness. Felicity tried hard to scream ¡V and then it stopped. All motion ceased. Empty silence.
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Chapter 7 up sometime next week. From now on, expect updates to be on Wednesday or Friday (more likely Friday.)