"I asked you where Neko-chan is!" Mi-chan yelled at Jasper.
He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for a long expected assault from Mi-chan. "I don't know. They weren't here when I got back."
"Dammit!" She punched the rock by his head and released him. She closed her eyes and concentrated on something.
"Michiru-san?"
"Shut up! I need to connect to her, and I'm having trouble. All I need is any connection�." He stood silently, watching her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Tenshi!" Neko screamed as the force with which the blonde hit the cliff knocked her out. Neko didn't care how much her shoulder hurt from her own impact with the rocks, she just cared for her friend. "Tenshi-kun, wake up!" she cried as she kneeled by her side. "Don't leave me alone again. I need you!"
She shook the older girl, but still Tenshi remained unconscious. "Tenshi-kun, please open your eyes. Please!" She couldn't go through a repeat performance of the fear she had felt when she had been separated from everyone before. She was scared to be alone and scared that Tenshi wouldn't recover. "Tenshi-kun!"
She was relieved when Tenshi's eyes flew open. But the relief lasted only a second before Neko realized how deadened those eyes were.
"MIZUNO NEKO." The booming voice that passed through Tenshi's lips definitely wasn't Tenshi's. "PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE THIRD TRIAL."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan finally got fed up, and began to run up the path.
"Did you get her?" he asked, as he started after her.
"What part of 'shut up' didn't you understand?" she retorted, not bothering to slow down a bit.
"Look, we don't know where she is or what's happening to her. I don't want to waste time going in the wrong direction when they could be somewhere else, needing our help. I don't want to take that chance, do you?"
"Oh, I'm sure you're just the epitome of worry. Where was all of this concern two months ago?!" She stopped and glared at him, challenging him to answer. "You think it'd be better to stop? To wait 'til we know where we're going? I'm her twin sister, Jasper-san! But I'm sure you think you could find her more easily."
He looked down. "No. But I care for her. I don't want her to be hurt anymore than you do. Yelling at me isn't going to save her. Maybe I can help."
"Give me one good reason why I should even consider trusting you!"
Jasper faltered. He said slowly, "Because all I want out of this life is to have a chance to protect my princess."
"You have got to be kidding me! Don't even try to play the martyr. Poor suffering, Jasper!" she mocked him. "Neko-chan saved his life and now he can't stand to be near her or stand to be away from her."
He looked up at her, unable to answer her charge. Her eyes flashed at him. "Don't think I haven't seen the way you look at her. 'Don't cry. It'll break my heart,' please! Don't get any ideas, Jasper-san. She and Tenshi-kun are made for each other, and nothing, especially not you, is going to break them apart. The only reason she hasn't distanced herself from you by now is that she's too na�ve to realize you like her and too nice to hate you for what you did to her. But she's way out of your league. And any soft spot she might have for you is a speck compared to the feelings she has for Tenshi-kun. Get that into your evil head!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko didn't hesitate to confront whatever had possessed Tenshi's body. "Give me back Tenshi-kun!" she demanded of it.
"SILENCE! YOU DARE SPEAK TO A KAMI THAT WAY?! YOUR QUEST DISTURBS MY REST SO I HAVE CHOSEN TO SPEAK TO YOU THROUGH THIS SLEEPING VESSEL."
Almost immediately more submissive, Neko replied, "Please forgive me for disturbing you, but please give me back my friend."
"YOUR QUEST REQUIRES THE PERMISSION OF THE MOUNTAIN BEFORE IT CAN BE GRANTED. I WISH TO KNOW IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DESIRE BEFORE YOU BOTHER ME FURTHER."
The mountain kami? Neko tried to figure out what he had to do with her quest. "You give me back my memories?" she asked hopefully. If so, he could help her out, couldn't he?
"I HAVE A HAND IN IT. YOUR REQUEST REQUIRES CALLING UPON THE GUARDIAN OF YOUR SOUL. IT TAKES MUCH ENERGY TO RETURN WHAT HAS BEEN LOST. DO NOT TAKE THAT MAGNITUDE OF POWER LIGHTLY."
"Is that what the challenges are for? To prove ourselves? Are you going to challenge me?"
"THE NEXT TRIAL BELONGS TO YOUR REFLECTION." Neko hoped she was right in assuming he meant Mi-chan, not her literal reflection, as she wouldn't know what that entailed. "THE TRIALS TEST THE WILL OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE RITUAL. WHAT I WISH TO KNOW IS IF YOU, MIZUNO NEKO, ARE READY FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE RITUAL."
"Consequences?" Neko asked timidly. Consequences were how she got here - consequences from the potion, consequences from ticking off Amethyst.
She stared the invaded shell of her friend, praying that he wasn't asking her to trade Tenshi's life for her own. "You're not going to take Tenshi-kun from me, are you?"
"THIS HOST ONLY SERVES AS MY VESSEL. YOU WOULD BEG FOR HER/HIS LIFE? YOU CALL THIS HOST YOUR FRIEND, YET YOU KNOW NOTHING OF HER/HIM. WOULD YOU FORFEIT YOUR GOAL FOR HER/HIM?"
Neko nodded tearfully. She couldn't imagine trading her memories for Tenshi's life� for any of her companions' lives.
"FOOL! YOU STILL DO NOT APPRECIATE THE SERIOUSNESS OF YOUR VENTURE! THE OTHERS
GAVE UP THEIR LIVES TO THE QUEST ALREADY. ONLY YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. ONLY YOU ARE UNWILLING TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING, INCLUDING THEM, TO THE QUEST."
"No," Neko whispered.
"YOU CLING TO THEM DESPITE ANY SACRIFICE THAT MAY BE NECESSARY. DESPITE YOUR IGNORANCE OF THEIR CHARACTER, OF WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO YOU?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As Mi-chan turned to go, Jasper grabbed her wrist. "I'm not evil."
She responded with a backhand. "Don't ever touch me!" she warned him. "You say you're not evil? You tried to kill her! To kill your precious princess! You tried to take over another people's planet, and you were willing to kill for it!"
"And you were willing to kill to keep it! Someone isn't evil just because they're on the opposite side of a war from you. Maybe Team Eclipse didn't always work with the best methods," he admitted, remembering the mind control Amethyst had used on Tenshi, "but they� we were just trying to find a home. And maybe I shouldn't have threatened Neko-chan. And I'm sorry! But that doesn't make me evil!"
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