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The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ying tossed and turned under her thick cover of quilts and sheets, unable to sleep. Every time she came close to dreamland, something would tug at her mind, bringing it back to reality with an unfomfortable bump. After the third time it happened, she slid one hand out of her tent of blankets and grabbed her glow-in-the-dark alarm clock. It took several seconds for her eyes to adjust enough to read it, but when she did she blinked and slammed the clock back down on her nightstand. The fact that it wasn't even midnight yet was nothing short of obscene.

A noise from the floor made the Jumi girl peek her head over the side of the bed at her roommate. Rinsei, who always slept soundly, was naturally fast asleep on her futon. Ying couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt; she had offered to take the floor in the beinning, but Rinsei wouldn't allow it. Still, it couldn't be very comfortable down there.

Her eyes darted to the clock again. All of that and it STILL wasn't midnight. She had no excuse to wander the house, and if anyone caught her she'd be scolded for not being in bed. After all, Santa only came when everyone was asleep, and Ying knew it was in her business to give it another shot. She yawned, pulled all her limbs back under the covers so only a tuft of purple hair was visible, and rolled onto her side.

Unseen by Ying, a pale green shadow floated above the foot of the bed, long fingers curled around one of the girl's long pink hair ribbons. It was only a matter of time before that pest of a bond fell asleep, and when she did, Tsavorite would finally get to have her fun. Santa might prefer good little girls and boys, but Savvy didn't care what an old codger in a tacky suit thought. Besides, coal was, among other things, messy. Not to mention flammable. Imagining all the ways she could use such a very big lump of coal, for she wouldn't settle for a small one, kept Savvy occupied until she heaed the delightful half-snores she'd been waiting for. Finally, Ying was asleep, and the fun could begin.


Ying walked through Etansel with her friends. It was a nice warm day, if a bit overcast, and she felt positively radiant. And why not? She was spending time with two of her best friends in the whole world, and was going to pay a visit to another. Maybe they would have a tea party, or else play some sort of game in the chambers, like tag or hide and seek. A picnic would have been even better, but Crystal had responsibilities as the Clarius, and needed to stay close to her chamber where she could be found if she was needed. Still, as Ying chatted with Mesmerelda and stopped to smell the flowers with Rinsei, she couldn't help but feel that it was a truly remarkable day. Even the dark clouds collecting above didn't dampen her mood at all.


Ugh, thought Savvy, pausing in her work. Even without focusing, she could feel the intense joy pour out of Ying, completely unchecked. The girl had no sense of self control. And why must all her dreams be so happy? Doesn't she ever have nightmares? Sulkily, Tsavorite tightened the ribbon around Ying's ankles with a little more force than necessary, not really caring if the Jumi awoke. It doesn't matter, Savvy reassured herself. At least she'll have something to worry about when she wakes up.


"Now."

Ying turned, not sure which of her friends had spoken. That was strange, since bold Mesmerelda was so different from softspoken Rinsei. And stranger, when she turned, neither were there. There was no sign of them. "Guys? Where'd you go?" Ying called. Her voice didn't even echo in the courtyard. It was as if something out there was swallowing up all evidence that she was there, and threatened to swallow her too. "G-guys? This isn't funny!"

No one answered. The air grew colder, and the cloud cover thicker, amassing mounds of dark gray fog that threatened to split the sky open. Shivering, Ying started rubbing her arms with her hands. She hated the cold, it made her feel so stiff and empty. And she definitely didn't want to be caught outside if it started to rain. The natural decision was to head inside, which she did with as much speed as she could muster.

The inside was, if possible, colder and darker than the outside. The torches that usually lit the halls were nowhere to be seen. Ying's shoes clacked against the stone floors, her heart beat rapidly, her breath was quick. There were dozens of sounds to be heard now: her own body, the rustle of cloth as she moved, the dripping of the rain outside, the occasional creaking of a door as she opened them, working her way through the chambers. But none of these noises were made by people, except herself. The rooms were as deserted as the courtyard outside.

As Ying ascended, even the louder sounds of thunder, and her clacking shoes, grew quieter. It was as though she had suddenly put in earplugs that steadily muffled more and more of what she heard, until she couldn't hear anything at all. Finally she tapped her ears, wondering if she had gone deaf. "Hello? He-"

Well, if she could hear her own voice, that was a good sign that she wasn't deaf. But even that sounded weird, like she was hearing herself from far away.

Before too long Ying found herself at the door to the Clarius' chamber. She hesitated for several moments, then scolded herself for doing so. What did she have to be scared of? Mes and Rin had probably gone ahead of her while she was standing like an idiot, and they were probably talking with Crystal even as she stood there. Teasing her for being such a slowpoke. That was something she could definitely picture. And they would tease her for standing like a statue outside, if they saw. Ying forced a laugh; she really was being silly.

Nonetheless, she made sure she had a few deep breaths under her belt before opening the door.

"Ying!" Crystal was sitting on the throne like she usually was, playing with her her long black braid absently. When Ying entered she perked up considerably. "What brings you here?"

Ying let out a sigh of relief. "Just visiting!" she replied with false cheer, looking around the chamber. Except for the two of them, it appeared to be empty. "Didn't Mes and Rin come too?"

Crystal frowned, confused. "No. You're the only one I've seen today."

"Oh. Then they must be somewhere else!" It wasn't really possible to laugh something like that off, but Ying had to give it a try anyway. She hurried over to Crystal, pelting the Clarius with silly questions and idle comments. She was so engrossed that she didn't notice anything wrong until Crystal's expression began to change.

"Crystal?" Concerned, Ying waved a hand in front of her friend's face. The Clarius looked petrified, as if she was seeing something just behind Ying that scared her to death. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Crystal raised her arm. It was quickly turning gray, clothes and all, as if someone had dipped it in stone-colored paint that crept up her arm and onto her shoulders, then over the rest of her body. It had the decidedly un-paintlike effect of hardening the girl's body, so that she couldn't move.

Ying stared, trembling all over. "What in the-"

"Help!" Crystal sank to the floor, just before her legs were rendered useless. All that was left unstoned was her left arm and her face. Her neck was slowly stiffening, but she still managed to speak. "Ying, help me!"

"Wh-what can I do?" Ying stammered, putting her hands on Crystal's shoulders. "Tell me what to do! I c-can't..."

"Ying, please help me!" Crystal cried. "Pl... ease..." Her face turned gray, flashed, and became still. A peal of thunder crashed in the distance, and the concurrent lightning illuminated the chamber enough to reveal exactly what had become of the Clarius of the Jumi.

She was a statue.

"Crystal!" Ying screamed. "Crystal! Oh my god... Crystal, no!"


Tsavorite jerked awake. Something cold was gripping her from the inside out. It was uncomfortable, and she put one hand to the stone in her chest, the way Ying sometimes did, looking inside. She was feeling something alien, something she had never felt before, and it was paralyzing. Strange.

A moment's reflection was all it took to trace the source of the feeling back to Ying, which was even stranger. And then the strangest thing of all- Ying's mind, while not aware of it, identified the feeling as fear. And quite strong fear at that.

Well, it's about time she had a nightmare, Savvy thought with amusement. Even the timing was perfect. Of course, she would have rather inflicted that kind of fear herself, but if the dream saved her the work, it made no difference. It just left her time to work more in the real world. Everything was more perfect than she had hoped for.

So then, why did she feel so uneasy?


Ying was bent over the statue of Crystal, her friend's last pleas echoing in her ears. The stone underneath her was damp from her tears. "Crystal... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!"

What had she done? Or rather, what had she not done? Crystal had asked, begged for Ying to do something. And all she could do was watch, frozen in place, as her friend was turned to stone. Some friend she was. She was useless, worthless, and had let Crystal down.

"You're next."

That voice again. Now that Ying was alone, she realized that it never belonged to her friends. There was something darker in it, something sinister, a tone or an inflection or something else that chilled her to the bone. She looked around for the source, but again, saw nothing. Her eyes were full of tears. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she looked around again. What she saw froze her from the inside out.

The statue of Crystal was still in front of her, but it wasn't alone. There were others behind it, more of her friends, faces frozen in stony expressions of fear and agony.

"Mes! Rin!" Ying touched the statues of her two friends, feeling like someone had laid hands on her heart and was squeezing it tightly. But there were more. "Em-chan! Verde-chan! Tsumi, Kameko, Arc..." All of them were there, stiff and gray and cold. And there were more Jumi, some faintly familiar, some not. Ying wondered if there was an end to it. If there was one Jumi that this curse, or whatever it was, hadn't taken yet.

And then she realized that there was one Jumi left. Herself.


Tsavorite clutched her chest with both hands, mind screaming. What WAS that awful pain? It completely immobilized her, flooding her veins with ice and her heart with stone. If she had veins, that was, and her heart wasn't already a stone. But Savvy barely had time for her sarcastic thoughts before the pain, if possible, worsened.

What IS this? she wailed. She's the scared one, not me! I have- I have nothing to be scared of! Nothing! But each silent cry was fainter, more drained than the last. Every ounce of strength was being leeched out of her, sapped by the petrifying force that had already stilled her body. Now it had come for her mind.


"Now you."

Ying felt cold breath on the back of her neck. How she felt it through her own frozen body, she couldn't say, but it made her want to run and not stop until she was at home in bed. The more she wanted to run, the more she found that she couldn't. Some force was keeping her planted in place.

But she could, and did, turn her head very slowly.

Under other circumstances, Ying might have found the creature somewhat pretty. It did, after all, sparkle attractively, various parts of its body shining in different jeweltones. That, however, was its only redeeming feature. All in all, it was a monstrosity, part spider, part crab, part snake, with four pointed, splayed legs that crawled towards her, and a long, grotesque neck with spikes on its back. Its head was more like a large claw, snapping open and shut noisly. But most frightening of all was the relief that appeared where its neck met its body. It looked like a human head and torso. And more frightening still, the image of the human looked eerily familiar...

"Stay back!" Ying yelped, trying to move. But she had locked eyes with it, and had falled under its spell. She was nothing but a toy, and it could take its time with her. The others had been rushed, but she was the last one, and a weakling at that. She wouldn't be turned to stone.

"No!" screamed Ying, fighting the force that held her in place, but it did no good. "Someone, please help! NO!"


Tsavorite could feel it too. Every scream, every pain as she realized she was alone, every icy stab of knowing that she could have done something, and didn't. Finally she couldn't take anymore. She faced Ying, whose body was contorted, her face furrowed and damp, and smacked the Jumi with a hand she barely managed to make solid in time.

WAKE UP!

With screams still echoing in her ears, Ying awoke suddenly, blinking away the wetness at her eyes. It took her several seconds to realize that it was just another bad dream- the third that week. Since the incident at Christmas, Ying had been troubled by similar nightmares. While at first she didn't think too much of it, now she noticed that they were coming more and more frequently. Furthermore, it felt like they were getting worse, but since she didn't always remember exactly what each dream was like, there was no way to be sure.

At least, she rationalized, she hadn't screamed that time. If she had, Rinsei would have woken up and been worried about her. Since her roommate was still asleep, it meant she must have been quiet. Which was a mixed blessing, she supposed.

Yawning more from boredom than tiredness, Tsavorite slipped in through the wall. She'd finished swapping the salt for the sugar in the kitchen, and tying the laces of everyone's shoes together when she felt Ying wake up. Small stuff, since she'd been leaving the big machinations for later in the night. Hopefully there would be enough time.

Savvy knew, of course, about the recurring nightmares. She even considered telling someone, knowing that it would be the last thing her bond wanted. But that would mean a bunch of sympathy and pity for Ying, which would only make Savvy feel ill. At least the nightmares didn't bother her as much as they used to. While the first one had downright immobilized her, subsequent ones were far less serious, and she only felt a twinge of discomfort, as though someone was looking over her shoulder, that nothing could shake.

Now, she decided, it was time for her to do the shaking. Oh dear, awake already? she asked Ying, the words practically coated with syrup. You should really get your beauty sleep. You need it.

"Leave me alone, Savvy," Ying grumbled. She would have liked to make a more biting comment, but three things prevented her from doing so. One, she rarely liked to speak harshly and barely knew how. Two, it would only encourage Savvy, which wouldn't help anything. And three, it would wake Rinsei. Ying wasn't sure which reason was really holding her back.

Savvy rested her elbows on the bed's railing, with her tail drifting up towards the ceiling. Touchy, hm? Don't look at me like that. It's not like I woke you up.

Frowning, Ying threw on her robe and stormed out of the room, into the empty kitchen. There she could air her feelings without anyone bothering her. "Are you sure about that?" she asked the air, speaking in a more normal voice. "I'm still not convinced you're not the cause of all this."

Little old me? Savvy acted hurt, but they both knew it was just an act. If I wanted to scare you- and believe me, I do- I'd rather have you be awake for the experience. She was still in the bedroom at that point, but decided it would be best to face Ying about this issue, so she followed her into the kitchen in time to stop her bond from turning the lights on.

"I can't see without those," Ying scowled. Ever since she had met Savvy- or rather, Savvy had leeched onto her life force- she had found herself becoming more and more irritable. It was maddening to realize, especially since Ying was a naturally cheerful person. But with a spiteful fiend after her during the day, and nightmares at night, it was impossible for her to stay the way she was. And that only made her angrier.

For these times, she needed something sweet. Sighing, she shuffled to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of lemonade, pouring herself a glass. It was cold, so it didn't need ice, but it did need some extra sugar. While she added some from the bowl on the table, she murmured aloud, "that wasn't an answer, you know. You could still be behind all this."

So the girl was cautious now. It had taken long enough. Savvy twirled a strand of hair around her finger, wondering how to answer. I could be behind it, she admitted. But I'm not.

Ying snorted. "Right. Why should I believe you?"

Because when you feel the way those dreams make you feel, it affects me too. And I don't like it. It was a blunt, selfish answer, which was the only kind of honesty Savvy had. When I bother you, it makes me giddy. And it makes you angry. When this scares you, you freeze- and so do I. I don't like the cold.

"So you only care because you're a little hurt, is that it?" Ying asked scornfully, stirring her lemonade with a straw. "My heart bleeds for you, Savvy. Such shining honesty."

Shrugging, Savvy sat in the chair opposite Ying, propping her head up on her hands. Of course. The only way you'd believe me is if I had something to gain. If I told you it wasn't me because I think dream magic isn't fair play, you'd laugh in my face, and I wouldn't blame you for it.

That gave Ying pause. What was Savvy saying there exactly? "Wait a minute... so does that mean you were telling the truth, or not?"

You decide, the fiend answered airily. And have your drink so you can go to bed.

Tilting her head, Ying puzzled over it for a moment, then shrugged and shook her head. "You're so weird, Savvy," she almost laughed, leaning forward to take a sip of her lemonade. Approximately two seconds later, she spit it out and almost howled with rage, while at the same time running to wash the taste of salt out of her mouth. "SAVVY!"

But by that time, Savvy had retreated to pantry, to do what she did best- plot dastardly deeds.

Ying sat by the window, staring blankly into space. The only muscles that appeared to be moving were her heart and lungs. Occasionally she would blink. Aside from that, she was as still as a statue, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, the largest paperweight in the house.

Tsavorite was fascinated. She’d been experimenting with the strange things she’d felt moving inside Ying for the past couple of weeks, and the results were hilarious. It was as if Ying was the puppet and she was the puppeteer, a refreshing change from being the one forced to go in directions she hated. Now Savvy was in control, and if Ying realized it, she didn’t care. Maybe she had already removed Ying’s pride, or her originality, or something. Since this was all new and she had no idea what she was doing, the best she could do was guess what she was taking away, which made the game even more fun.

But it wasn’t all about entertainment. She had learned several valuable things already, aside from the fact that she could reach inside her bond and muck around with her feelings. Not that she succeeded every time- far from it- but she made up for her large number of failures with a slightly larger number of attempts. Even then, whatever she took didn’t stay gone forever, which made Tsavorite feel all the more justified in her dabbling. It wasn’t like what she did had permanent effects, so there was no reason for her not to do it. The feelings she took came back, but not at the same rates. She couldn’t figure out why, nor could she aim for a specific feeling, but as she practiced she started to feel slight differences as she pulled them out, one after another, like a child pulling all the toys out of her toybox just because she could.

“Because she could” was the main reason Tsavorite continued to experiment. Education was all well and good, and some of the ways that Ying reacted were absolutely hysterical, but on the whole, the Fiend was simply bored. She had been presented with a new game and was determined to get the most out of it. She was even being gracious enough to let Ying play with her, though perhaps not in the most fun or glamorous of roles. No, Ying probably wasn’t having much fun, she admitted, looking at the Jumi again. But considering the boredom was all her doing, Tsavorite didn’t have much sympathy for her bond right then.

Others, however, did. As Ying continued to stare out the window, seemingly devoid of any emotion at all, Eriol watched her from the kitchen. “Tha’s jus’ not normal.”

Karan had been concentrating on holding the mixing bowl as Eriol added ingredients, but he looked up to see what the fuss was about. When he saw Ying, he wrinkled his nose. “Girls. They’re all weird,” he said dismissively.

“I know it, little man,” Eriol laughed, dumping a cup of dried cranberries into the bowl. “But Ying’s not usually that sorta weird. She’s more th’ peppy, perky, in-ev’ryone’s-face-all-the-time-whether-they-like-it-or-not sorta weird. Staring into space is more Lin’s gig, or Rinsei’s, or... well, or yours.” He poked Karan in the chest with the measuring cup. “I dunno, somethin’s not righ’ there.”

Startled by the sudden jab, Karan let the bowl slip, splashing a few drops of batter onto the counter. Frowning, he licked his hand and resumed mixing. “You’re definitely right about the peppy thing.” The more he thought about it, the more he agreed that something was off. But what? “D’you think it’s those bad dreams she’s been having?”

It was no secret that Ying had recurring nightmares, since she woke half of the house up with her screaming at least once a week. “Could be,” Eriol said thoughtfully. “Man, if things’re that bad, I think she needs more help’n we can give ‘er. That’s some serious problems there.”

“You think so?” That sounded awfully ominous to Karan, who was, as Eriol reminded him, prone to bouts of vacant staring himself. But he was never peppy or perky or in anyone’s face, so hopefully nobody would think that he needed that sort of treatment.

Eriol shrugged. “I’ll see wha’ Mom thinks, ‘course, but somethin’s really off ‘ere. Ev’ryone’s got diff’ren’ sorts o’ normal, an’ people change all the time, but when you act like yer not you anymore, that’s wrong. Really wrong.”

The boys continued to look at Ying for a moment, then went back to their cooking. Oblivious to their discussion, Tsavorite reached a long ghostly hand into Ying’s back and felt around, finally coming out with another wisp of something. So far she hadn’t been able to use what she took for anything, even though she had the nagging feeling that she could. But she wasn’t worried; Ying still had a lot to offer her, and would continue to entertain her for a long time to come.

“Another dead end.”

Ying shut the book she had been reading slowly, careful not to damage the pages. Just because the contents hadn’t been useful to her didn’t mean they couldn’t help somebody else, and she wasn’t about to destroy that chance just because she was frustrated. She put the book back on the shelf beside her, and only then did she start to show how upset she was. The staff in her hand tapped an uneven pattern on the floor as she paced. “I was so sure that the answer would be in Geo. It felt so... right.”

You keep saying this is a long shot, but you’re upset every time you fail. Which makes little enough sense on its own, but then you find a new lead and start all over again. Tsavorite shook her head. She wasn’t angry or mocking, simply puzzled by Ying’s behavior. If anything, she should have been the one who was upset, dragged all over another world searching for something they weren’t even sure existed, while Ying simultaneously hoped for success and cautioned against that hope. That Tsavorite still wasn’t entirely sure what they were looking for was also frustrating, but this task was apparently one that her bond wanted to accomplish on her own. Which also made no sense whatsoever to Savvy.

If this is so important to you, why don’t you ask others like you for their help? I’m sure they-

“No.” Ying’s tone was sharp, but her venom was mostly directed at herself. “I can’t do that now. Maybe if we’d started that way... but now this is something that I have to see through. It’s because it’s so important to me that I have to do this on my own.”

Not that Ying was really on her own. When she’d first announced her goal and her methods of attaining it to Savvy, the fiend had been wholly unenthusiastic. Ying couldn’t really blame her, either. They had been away from everything they knew and loved for so long that she could barely remember what was waiting for her at home. They were constantly on the move, or holed up at remote locations, so that their only company was each other. Ying and Savvy had never been on the best of terms, and being stuck together under trying circumstances didn’t help matters much. But after a lot of fighting and pranks gone awry and tears and shouting and misunderstandings, they had come to a sort of truce. Ying knew that Savvy was bored and, though she never would have admitted it, lonely. Savvy knew that Ying was determined to do whatever it was she was doing, and that it was important, though she wasn’t sure why. So Savvy eased up on her torture, and Ying didn’t ask too many questions when Savvy disappeared for short periods of time.

Geo had been a nice change of pace for both of them. At first their relative peace was threatened by Savvy’s overwhelming desire to test a few of her new ideas on the unsuspecting populace, and Ying was afraid they’d be run out of town before they could look into anything. Somehow they’d managed to come to an agreement. Savvy focused on stealth over grand plans, so their stay wasn’t threatened, and Ying didn’t worry too much if the Fruit Parlor’s specialty signs were mysteriously rewritten at night, or if the students at the Academy of Magic all lost their hats. They had enjoyed the more vibrant atmosphere, not to mention the comforts that weren’t available to them in the field. Ying had been exploring the vast resources of the city with a more relaxed attitude than she’d had in a long time, while Savvy used her creative limitations to challenge herself. For several months they’d casually explored the libraries, the shops, and the vast Palace of the Arts, and Ying had been certain that somewhere in this city was the answer she had been searching for.

It seemed she was wrong. After months of searching, Ying was sure she had checked every possible lead in Geo, and had come up with nothing. “It was all meaningless,” she said bitterly, driving her staff into the floor again. “We might as well not have come here.”

That sounded rather ominous to Tsavorite, who had been living it up in Geo and had absolutely no interest in heading back out into the hinterland. I’m sure you’ve learned something worthwhile here, so it wasn’t meaningless. Even if Ying hadn’t, she had, but that she wasn’t the one that needed convincing. There’s so much still we haven’t looked at- that Academy, for starters. I still think-

“Stop trying to tell me what to do! You don’t even know what I’m looking for!” Ying snapped, turning her back on Tsavorite. She hated feeling this way, helpless and hopeless and like she’d invested her life into this for a fool’s errand.

I don’t know because you won’t tell me! All of the pent-up anger that Tsavorite had swept under the rug came bubbling out. Not that I want to help you, when you act like this, but you won’t let me do anything! I don’t care how you spend your time, but I’m sick and tired of letting you dictate how I spend mine just because this is important to you.

There it was, the guilt trip. A small part of Ying still felt bad for changing the course of their lives so suddenly and thoroughly, but she knew that it had to be done. For the most part, they had made it work. She even enjoyed herself, when she wasn’t upset over the latest false lead, and she knew that Savvy did as well. Had she been thinking clearly, this would have been the time to back down, to apologize for her outburst, to offer some sort of compromise.

But Ying wasn’t thinking clearly, and more anger rushed forth instead. “It’s not just important to me, it’s important to my people! Which is more than I can say for any of your selfish plans that only aim to please yourself! I won’t apologize for prioritizing something that could affect the fate of an entire culture over your playtime, Savvy.”

I’m selfish. So what? Tsavorite shrugged. She never pretended to be altruistic, but just because her motive was self-interest didn’t make her goals any less meaningful in her mind. At least I don’t pretend to do things for the good of others when I’m really just doing them for my own sense of self-importance.

“You don’t even know what selfless behavior looks like. You don’t have a charitable bone in your body.” Well, Tsavorite probably didn’t have any bones in her body, but that was beside the point. “Just because you don’t know what I’m doing doesn’t mean I’m not doing it for someone other than myself.”

Then why do this all by yourself? If it’s as important as you say it is, to as many people as you claim, why not let them help you rather than stumble around on your own? Ying flinched and tried to turn away, but Tsavorite was on a roll, and she wasn’t finished yet. She put herself in front of the girl, hands where her hips would be if she had any.You’re the one who’s always yammering on about teamwork and that some things can only be managed with a group effort, but you’re the one out here on your own. You’ve been doing this for years- years!- and you keep saying you haven’t made any progress, but you keep insisting you have to do it alone. I’ve been wondering about that for ages, but I think I finally get it.

If it’s results you care about, only good things could come from getting help. So if you refuse that, then what you’re really after isn’t the product of what you’re looking for, but what comes along with it. Fame, prestige, whatever. Savvy pointed an accusing finger at Ying. ‘There goes Ying, the person who did whatever lofty thing you’re trying to do.’ You’ve said that I’m an expert on selfish motives, and you’re right. I know one when I see one, and being so intent on the glory that you’d sacrifice what you’re supposedly looking for is as selfish as it gets.

Ying froze, but Tsavorite had one more thing to say. You keep saying that I don’t understand, I don’t know what’s happening, I’m too self-centered. But you’re the one who doesn’t understand, and you’re willing to drag me all over a world that isn’t even mind because you’re so convinced you’re right. There’s nothing wrong with being selfish if you’re upfront about it, but you’re lying to yourself, and that’s worse than anything you say I do. Finally finished with her denouncement, Savvy tossed her hair over her shoulder, turned, and left through a bookcase so that Ying couldn’t follow her. The last word was hers, and she was keeping it that way.

Ying stared blankly at the bookcase for several moments, trying to process what had happened. Some parts of what Savvy had said were things she’d had doubts about before, but other parts were nonsense. Just because she insisted on doing this herself didn’t mean her motives weren’t honest. Just because she wasn’t willing to get other people involved didn’t make her selfish. Just because she hadn’t succeeded so far didn’t mean she couldn’t do this on her own.

… did it?

Resting her staff against the wall, Ying curled up into a ball and stared at the floor, not caring that she was in the middle of a public library. In that moment, at least one aspect of Savvy’s rant was true: Ying didn’t understand what had happened, and she had no idea what to do.

Ying stepped out of the large tree in East Barton and took a deep breath. There was nothing substantially different about the air in Gaia when compared to the air in Fa’Diel, but somehow, knowing that she was home made everything sweeter. It’s really been far too long, Ying thought regretfully. I never meant to be gone this long. I never thought I would have to be. I let everything get to me, just like it did before I left- no, enough of that. “This is a good day!” she announced.

Tsavorite was inclined to agree, which was a rare event in itself. Now that she was back, she knew that her time abroad hadn’t been totally bad. She’d learned a few new things, gotten to mess with a slew of people she never would have met otherwise, and even taught Ying a valuable lesson. Still, she was grateful to be back someplace more familiar to her. Barton East wasn’t exactly home, but Tsavorite still took in the familiar sights: the tree that connected to Fa’Diel, the small shrine by the side of the road, the wall that protected Barton Town...

… the angry garden gnomes making a beeline for herself and Ying were new. She only just had time to notice them before one of the gnomes lunged right at her, pointy hat first. It sailed through her stomach and bounced off the tree behind her with an angry shriek. The other gnomes paused in their advance, considering this new development. Tsavorite frowned, whirling around to face Ying. What kind of welcome is this supposed to be?

“Your guess is as good as mine!” Ying was stumped and slightly horrified. She was used to having to protect herself from monsters in the wilder areas of Fa’Diel, but Gaia was supposed to be peaceful. How was she supposed to get any sort of vacation with magic lawn ornaments on her tail? Why did she bother coming back if she was just going to be assaulted? “No, this is a good day,” she reminded herself, pulling out her staff. “We just have to work for it, that’s all.”

“What are you, nuts? You can’t take on an Animated like that.” A tall man in bulky armor approached them from the Barton gate. “Haven’t you been to training?”

Ying made no moves to put her staff away, but she did raise her eyebrows at the question. “Training?”

Animated? Tsavorite asked at the same moment. Then she saw the speaker and rocked back and forth in midair, her version of hysterics. Who invited the clunker?

The man moaned something about newcomers, but Ying wasn’t listening. “Savvy, that’s not nice.” Then again, she couldn’t remember the last time the Fiend had been particularly nice. “This gentleman is a member of the Barton Regulars.” The man beamed, about to speak. “But I thought that the Regulars just patrolled the guild halls and came out for parades and stuff.”

“Not anymore,” the man said testily. “We’re at the forefront of the war against the Animated. Which is why I know that your little stick there won’t do a damn thing.” The gnomes, done with distractions, started to charge again. “What you need is one of these.” Time seemed to slow down as he spoke, allowing Ying and Tsavorite to see each of the next events as they unfolded rather quickly.

The man waved his hand lazily, revealing a number of odd-looking rings on his fingers.

The gnomes moved in closer, looking awfully savage for a bunch of diminutive lawn ornaments.

A machine gun appeared in front of the man, spraying the gnomes with bullets.

Screeching wildly, the gnomes fell over like dominoes, and did not get up again.

The gun vanished, and the man turned to his audience with a smug expression. “And that, ladies, is how you deal with the Animated.”

Tsavorite didn’t mean to gape, but she did. As soon as she noticed what she was doing, she picked her jaw up off the ground (metaphorically, of course) and stared rudely at the man. How did you do that? she demanded.

“What was that?” Ying asked at the same time. The two spared a moment to glare at each other, then their gaze was back on their apparent rescuer. “Please, um, what just happened?”

The man snorted. “What just happened is I saved your hides. Or at least your hide,” he corrected, eyeing Tsavorite warily. “Not sure that one has a hide to save.” The Fiend scowled and faded into the shadows, but his attention was back on Ying. “You, at least, should be better prepared. You must be living under a rock, not to know about the Animated.”

“Rock, tree...” Ying shrugged. It seemed that things had changed more than she had expected while she was in Fa’Diel, and she didn’t like these changes one bit. Coming home was supposed to be soothing and comforting, not another course in Monster Self-Defense 101.

Shaking his head, the man pulled a card out of a gap in his armor. “For your own safety and that of your fellow Gaians, I advise you to attend a training session. The Barton Regulars run them in the Village Greens. Times and meeting points are on the card.” He sounded like he was reciting a speech, and was looking vacantly into space instead of at Ying. “The Animated are a real threat, and while we patrol the outlying areas as best we can, we can’t promise that someone will be there to save you the next time you get too close to a Gnome Encampment.”

That said, he gave a self-important nod, turned around, and fell over, accompanied by a series of clanks and bangs. As he was giving his speech, Tsavorite had tied his bootlaces together.

I thought that pile of scrap metal would never shut up. She tapped his helmet mockingly, then looked up at Ying. Well? Are we going, or do you want to wait for something even more annoying to show up? First crazy lawn ornaments, then a stupid suit of armor... I’ve had enough of this for one day.

Ying turned back to the tree. Tsavorite instantly worried that they were going back to Fa’Diel already, but in truth, the Jumi was hiding a smile. Even if the rest of the world was going nuts, some things would never change, Savvy’s behavior chief among them. While she couldn’t exactly approve, it was weirdly comforting to know that at least with one person, she would always know where she stood..

But what about everyone else? Ying thought about it as they made their way into town, to the transporters, and then towards the place she still fondly thought of as home. Would she still be welcomed there? How much had they changed, DS and Eriol and Karan and Linnea and everyone else? How would they react to the ways that she had changed?

I don’t think you need to worry about that. Tsavorite’s mental “voice” was unusually shaky, and she slowly raised one hand to point in front of them.

Dragging herself back to the present moment, Ying looked towards the top of the hill, and stopped walking. There was no house there. No garden. Not so much as a sign that anyone had ever lived there. She ran to the top of the hill, in case it was simply a trick of the light, but it was barren. She looked around, in case she had taken the wrong road by mistake, but the hill overlooked the entire area- she remembered the great views she had from her first floor bedroom- and the house was nowhere to be seen. Her family hadn’t just changed, they had moved on without her.

This was bad. Very, very bad. Ying’s anxiety on the way there had been bad enough, overpowering Tsavorite until she wanted to scream. Now, with fear and anger and sadness added to the equation, the Fiend was practically immobilized. For a moment she felt like she, too, had lost something vitally important to her. Ying had no control over her emotions when she was this upset, and Tsavorite couldn’t shut them out on her own. She buckled, grieving for people she had never really cared for, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation.

There was one way, but it was risky. Her last experiments had had resulted in a virtually catatonic Ying being hospitalized. The subsequent boredom and isolation, combined with bad reactions to the medications they had tried on her bond, had been horrible. So much so that Tsavorite had vowed never to play with Ying’s emotions again. But this was different, surely. This time, if she could manage it, it would be for Ying’s own good- not to mention her own.

It was an awfully big “if,” though. She hadn’t been particularly good at it before, and test subjects in Fa’Diel were rare, so she was out of practice. Still, it would be worth it, to not have those feelings imposed on her, to be able to think freely again-

Now that she thought about it, though, she was able to do a lot of thinking for someone who couldn’t think. Tsavorite opened one eye slowly. Ying was watching, her face uncharacteristically devoid of expression. The huge surge of negative feelings had slowed significantly; what came through their bond was bearable, and had been for several moments. Feeling quite embarrassed over the way she had overreacted, the Fiend brushed off her robe and folded her arms. That’s better, she mind-muttered. So, now what?

“We’re here, aren’t we?” Ying sounded a lot more confident than she felt, but it was either that or drown in misery again. “We have our agenda already. We relax, we shop, we research. There’s just one more thing to add to the list, that’s all.” Her eyes narrowed, and the smile she had tried fell away. “We find them. Got it?”

That was a better response than Tsavorite had hoped for. True, Ying was unhappy, but it seemed that she was always unhappy these days, even when she was happy. The main point was that she wasn’t letting her sorrow stop her from doing things. When she thought about it, Tsavorite realized it had been that way in Fa’Diel as well. Ying was growing stronger, bolder, more determined. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

At least they would be staying in Gaia for a while. That was a victory, if a small one, and for the moment, Tsavorite would have to be content with that.