Just as he said, Sean was able to move freely the next morning.  This was about the only good thing that happened all day.  After I had dressed for school, I went down for a quick bite to eat and was surprised to find that Necavi and Alistair were not yet milling about.  Against what I later knew to be my better judgment, I walked into the guest bedroom.  The two of them were curled up, utterly naked, in each other's arms.  Alistair's face was pressed into Necavi's long, two-tone hair, his arms warpped around Necavi's waist.  Necavi was stroking Alistair's cheek.

"What the hell?!" I said fiercely, closing the door behind me before Mom or Dad or -anyone- saw.

"Good morning," Necavi said lazily.

"I thought you two hated each other!"  I exclaimed.

"Well, we had a nice talk last night," Necavi said.

"Looks like you did more than that," Sean poked his head in.

"Gay men!  Cool!" I heard Kai's voice from behind him.

"Nothing's making s-sense again," I moaned, clutching my head.  Why was Kai here?  As if to answer my question, she pushed past Sean and into the room.

"I just came from school," she explained.  "Something...um...odd is going on."

"Oh?" I said carefully.  My heart beat with wild anxiety. "What's that?"

"It's not there anymore.  The school, I mean.  There's some other building, and we can't get in.  No one can," she said, though she was staring at Necavi and Alistair as she talked.  Alistair was awake now, and the two were engaging in a very deep good morning kiss.

"S-so what d'you want me to d-do about it?" I said, annoyed by her fascination with the bedroom goings-on.

"I thought maybe one of these could.. do something about it.." she trailed off distractedly. "I wish I had a camera."

"You're si-sick," I muttered, pushing her out.

"Hey, no touching!" she shrieked, straining to see Necavi and Alistair.

"Argh," I said, and called back into the room. "Get dressed, you two!"

"Are we going to school?" Sean asked excitedly.

"Yes," I said. "Or wh-what's become of it, anyway."

When we arrived at the site where my school usually stood, we found a tall, almost blindingly white building instead.  It almost seemed to shimmer in the morning mist.  The building lacked windows of any kind, and it was abnormally thin in width, almost like a short skyscraper.  A chrome door that was at least twice my height served as the structure's entrance, and a great number of people were clustered around it, talking and staring puzzedly.

"Hey, Claris!" Alexis said, trotting out from the crowd. "What do you think of this, huh?"

"I'm trying not to," I answered numbly.

"This is not from Septerra," Alistair proclaimed.  Necavi shook his head in agreement.

"Beautiful," I grumbled.

"I think it is," Sean said. "Shall we go in?"

"Good luck on that," Alexis said. "Door won't open."

"All doors bow before me," Sean answered pompously, and he strode up to the building's shining entrance.  Everyone watched as he set his hand around the knob and pulled, and they gaped when the door opened easily.

"See?" he grinned.

"Show off," Miriam said bitterly.  Sean bowed, holding the door open.

"Ladies first.  That means you, Necavi."

"Tee hee," Necavi glared at him.  I came in last, and, predictably, the door closed itself behind me.  It locked, and I heard the sound of Kai and the others shouting and pounding, the echo of their fists against chrome bouncing in my eardrums.  I was resigned at this point, but this feeling was was dissipated by a sudden onslaught of anxiety, which came crashing through my stomach as the path ahead alit.  The place was arranged in a way that reminded me of a museum I had been in once.  We were standing just outside of a circular plaza, and three doorways labeled 'Here,' 'There,' and 'Elsewhere' were situated to the north, east, and west sides.

"Somebody thinks he's funny," Sean muttered.  The plaza was painted in a blue, criscrossing pattern that looked like a latticework--I found myself staring at it intently, remembering the its resemblance to the floors of Nonluna while also trying to avoid being burdened with the decision of which path to take.

"So, Claris, where to?" Sean said.  I cringed.

"U-um.."

"How about we split up?" Alistair asked.

"N-no," I said, in as firm a tone as I could muster.  Whenever p-people sp-split up s-something horrible happens and everyone always dies.  N-no sp-slitting up."

"OK then," he responded cheerily.  "So where do we go?"

I squirmed.  I wished the doors had been marked with clearer labels, such as "Escape" or "Impending Doom."  Finally I fell back on a tradition.  I closed my eyes and pointed randomly.

"There it is," Sean said, opening the darkly tinted door.  A bright shaft of warm, white light poured over his body.  Taking this as a good sign, I hesitantly crept through the doorway.  The light was harsh as I stood beneath it, but it faded gradually, revealing that we were in what appeared to be an elevator.  Soft music filtered in from a hidden speaker as we crowded around, staring at the buttons on the back wall.  While it had been my experience that elevator controls were next to the door, I did not really have the energy to question.  The buttons were white and round, with tiny, black capital lettering across each of their surfaces.  The labels were, respectively, 'HERE,' 'THERE,' and at the bottom, 'ELSEWHERE.'   Before a word could be spoken, I hit 'THERE.'  Might as well be consistent, I reasoned.  No conversation took place as the elevator's gears began to move, and this continued as it propelled itself upwards.  I wrapped my arms around my chest.  The music silenced abruptly, followed by a harsh ping.  I supposed  that this meant the ride was over.  A second later the door swung open, and we stumbled out, glad, at least, to be free of the cramped space.  Two other elevators flanked the first, and the hall extended far beyond all three.  Sean frowned and said, annoyed,

"These other two are labelled 'here' and 'elsewhere'.... they all led to the same place."

"Well, that makes things simple," Necavi said.

The lighting in the corridor was bright, and the overbearing whiteness of the walls and floor reminded me of a hopsital.  I rubbed my throat nervously.  I'd never liked hospitals.  Sean touched the top of my head in what I expect he thought was a reassuring manner.  I let out a shaky sigh as our party moved slowly down the hall.  I did not realize that we had been walking for almost ten minutes until pangs of ache shot through my feet.  I was tempted to ask 'are we there yet' even though I knew no one would be aware of the answer.  At length we reached the hall's end, which happened to be quite dead indeed.

An enormous wall with a screen stretched over it greeted us, as opposed to the usual door.  Curious, Sean went right up and tapped it. The lighting around us dimmed as the screen brightened, and began to play a movie of sorts.  The picture was in color and flawless, but mute.  It was of a somewhat younger and smaller Sean, lying flat on a black slab, strapped down at his throat, legs, midsection and arms by thin, criss-crossing wires.  A few were also pressing against his mouth, which was opened wide like his helpless, terrified eyes.  The despair radiating from the image was almost palpable.  I knew that if the picture had sound, his scream would have ripped the screen.  Blood, dry and almost blackened from prolonged exposure to the atmosphere, was spattered across his bare chest, and shining needles protruded from his flat, open palms.  His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and the way his skin clung to his ribs as he sucked in air sickened me.  Sean stood in shock and then pulled back quickly, staring at his hand as though it had suddenly burst into flames.  I held my breath, afraid to speak.  Sean's body shook violently.

"Sean--" Necavi said, reaching for his shoulder.  Sean pushed him away roughly, and Necavi hit the screen.  It cleared, now showing a different picture.  This was of Necavi, looking not much younger than he did now, holding the hand of a young, pretty woman.  Her hair and skin were dark, and she had almond-shaped brown eyes.  Frozen, Necavi stared up at the image, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.  The little movie played on, showing Necavi offering the girl flowers sheepishly and then cutting to them walking through a garden, with the flowers adorning the girl's hair.  Then there were images of a wedding.  At these Necavi drew his sword and slashed it across the screen, crying out as he used the blade to tear it to shreds.  When his energy was spent, he fell, dropping the sword and cradling his head in his arms.  Behind the screen was more of the corridor, but none of us had really noticed that yet.

"What is that thing?" Alistair said hoarsely, kneeling beside Necavi, who was murmuring to himself maniacally.

"Ajah... Ajah..." he said, his voice unnaturally high.  Alistair took his arm and pulled him up gently, hugging him.

"Who's Ajah?" he asked carefully.

"She..she..she was my wife," Necavi said thickly.  "She's..dead, now.."  his voice broke and trailed off.  Alistair held his hand.  I took this as a cue, and wrapped my arms around Sean, who was still trembling visibly.

"I'll kill..." he whispered. "kill...whoever made that..."

He slammed his fist through one of the few pieces of the screen that Necavi had missed and screamed,
"I'LL KILL THEM!"

I cowered, biting deeply into my lip.  Sean inhaled sharply and stepped through the tattered, papery pieces.

"Let's keep going," he said.  Hearing this, Necavi managed to collect himself, and we moved on.  The next room was covered in thick, leafy green vines.  They hid the white walls and ground, and their stalks were so thick that I almost tripped.

"Th-this is nuts," I moaned, pulling myself up.

"Welcome to my room," Donovan appeared, hanging off the trunk of a fat vine.  He grinned widely, the claws on his hand buried in the flesh of the vine. Wet sap trickled dwon the side of the vine, glistening as it flowed.  He was taking the lot of us in, given that he had never really seen any of us but me up close.

"I like plants," he said randomly, when no one answered him.  "They're so much easier to deal with than people...or animals, for that matter."

"That's..nice," Sean said, in the tone of one who is speaking to someone suffering from mental deficiency.  Donovan glowered and pulled his claw violently from the vine.  He jumped down, leaves crackling beneath his heavy boots.  He plucked a fully blossomed, crimson rose off the leaves covering the walls and walked purposefully over to us.  Bowing, he held out his cupped hand to me.

"A flower for the lady," he said, his grin hidden by his long, chocolate bangs.  I glanced at Sean, who was now glaring angrily.  Hesitating, I reached for it, and then recoiled when a painful bud of red swelled on my finger.

"Th-thorns," I winced, gritting my teeth.

"Not just any thorns," Donovan said softly, as I nursed my injury.

"Ngh?" I said, not even noticing when my knees buckled.  I heard Sean's yell before I realized I was blacking out yet again.

When I woke, I was lying flat on my back in a surprisingly soft bed.  The major issue I had with this bed was that it was very thin, and also that exit from it was blocked on all sides by unnervingly large thorns.  They looked more like organic, greenish-white spikes, and I came very quickly to the conclusion that touching them would not be beneficial to my health.  I ran my hand through my hair and touched the petals of a rose.  I let my fingers slide downwards and they felt the slick warmth of my blood.  Trembling, I pulled the flower from my hair and tossed it away from me.  It impaled itself on one of the spikes.

"Aw.  Did you not have a nice nap?" Donovan stood next to the bed, grinning between the thorns.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I whispered.

"Just conducting an experiment," he said. "That's what all of this is, you know.  A great experiment."

He paused.

"I wasn't really supposed to tell you that, but oh, well.  I do like you.  You're so easy to scare."

If I weren't on the verge of fainting (again), I probably would have taken offense at that.  As it was I simply lay still and stared at him, quaking.

"A-are you going to l-let me up?"

"Sure, you can get up," he said amiably. "Just don't move around any."

I made a noise of distinct unhappiness.  He grinned in catlike glee.

"You can leave any time you want to, Claris.  It's just an illusion, after all."

He stuck his hand right through the thorns, his fingers touching the blood on the side of my head.  I squeaked.

"Eehee..." he chuckled, his expression almost giddy. "This is far too easy."

He licked my blood off his fingertips and I shuddered.

"C'mon," he said. "They won't be real if you don't believe in them."

I swallowed thickly. It did not seem like I had any other viable option, so I drew myself to a sitting position.  Inhaling sharply and closing my eyes, I swung my legs quickly over the side of the bed, repeating Donovan's words in my mind.  I was relieved when my calves were not impaled as I lowered my legs, and when I opened my eyes, the thorny barriers were gone.

"Atta girl," Donovan patted me on the back. He helped me off the bed and directed me ahead to the room's exit. "Your friends are waiting."

I cleared my throat, my eyes shifting from him to the entrance.  I was having trouble understanding the sudden change in his demeanor.  Finally I said, lamely,

"You're weird."

He shrugged. "Yep."

I stood there awkwardly for a while after that, until I decided to let well enough alone and left.  Sean nearly knocked me down as I crept into the next room, his powerful grip almost crushing my ribcage.  I had a vague sense of deja vu.  I managed to hug him back weakly, my arms shaking slightly from the strain of his weight.

"What happened this time?" Necavi asked, after Sean had calmed down and let me breathe. I related the story breathlessly, rubbing my sides.  Sean gave me a chagrined, apologetic look.

We were standing in a cheerily lit bedroom. Wallpaper decorated with suns was plastered against its yellow walls.  The carpet was baby blue and soft beneath my shoes.  A tiny bed with cloud-patterned comforters and pillows was nestled in one corner.  If not for the fact that it was devoid of toys and starkly clean, I would have thought the place belonged to a child.  The only other furnishing was a small bureau next to the bed, with an enormous crystal lamp sitting on it.  It reminded me of my own, and I suddenly felt a pang of sickness for it.

"Hii friends!" a high, familiar voice rang in my ears, and suddenly I was on my knees, with Lucius on my back. He squeezed me with only a little bit less force than Sean.  He was knocked off roughly by a kick to the side from Sean, who was glaring at him angrily.  Lucius was on his feet immediately, without so much as a hint of pain.

"I missed you!" he said, attaching himself to Sean's waist.

"I assure you the feeling is not mutual," Sean grumbled, trying to dislodge Lucius.  "Get offa me."

"So mean," he said, his lower lip fattening as he pouted.

"Wh-what's up, Lucius?" I asked gently.

"Nothin," he answered, his pout fading almost instantaneously. "'M bored."

"W-want to help us g-get out of here?" I prompted.  He was quiet for a minute, as though he were pondering the ramifications of such a thing.  After about three more minutes of this, he nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay!" he said, grabbing my hand. "Follow me."

Necavi and Alistair exchanged glances of suspicion, and from Sean's angry glare, I could tell that he was also suffering doubts about the honor of Lucius's word.  Meanwhile Lucius lifted his other hand and a section of his brightly painted wall melted, revealing that the building extended on even further.

"Y'know, it d-doesn't look th-this wide from the fr-front.." I said, half to myself and half to Lucius, who answered quickly,
"Nope!"

He pulled me through the deformed reamins of the wall, not even glancing back to check if Sean, Necavi, and Alistair were following.  Fortunately they were, albeit with still with doubtful glares.

"Just ahead is the exit," Lucius explained.  I had little time to wonder why the exit would be at the building's top, because in a sudden moment we were there.  I only thought this because Lucius had stopped and said,

"We're here!"

In fact, we were actually in a wide cul-de-sac, at the center of which was a machine. Oddly enough, it resembled a water-heater with a control panel. Transparent metal bars filled with light blue, bubbling liquid  protected a black, cylindrical core, which was humming quietly.  The thing was small, about three and a half feet.  I could have sat on top of it easily.  Cautiously, I examined the controls.  Imagine my amazement when I saw that there really weren't any.  True, there was  panel inlaid on the machine's top, but the sapce was occupied only by a rectangular button, imprinted with the words 'PRESS ME.'

"Press it," Lucius urged.  I turned my head, seeing that Sean, Necavi, and Alistair weren't with him.

"Where is everybody?" I asked faintly.

"They'll be along," Lucius smiled. "That button is the exit.  It'll transport you out."

"Oh," I said.  Perhaps the machine was a teleporter.  I'd seen those before.  Since I didn't seem to have any other choice, I accepted this and pressed the button.  The black generator's dark purple light enveloped the room, and I shielded my eyes as it slowly faded to a blinding white.  When it was gone I opened them again, shocked when I felt my bed my beneath my body.  I was in my room, in my pajamas, alone.  Nervous and confused, I trotted into the hallway.  My house was silent and dark.  I saw dawn arriving outside.  Suddenly my mom's yell exlpoded up the stairwell.

"Are you read to go yet?!"

I gulped.

"N-no!" I called.

"Hurry up!" Mom called back, consternation evident.

"Hurrying!"

I went back to my room and threw on the first clean outfit I saw.  I grabbed my bag off the floor and ran downstairs, wondering where Sean was.  I was able to glance into my backyard as we were leaving--his sheds were still there.  Both of them.  My stomach churned.

At school, I saw Kai and the others in the halls, but they did not talk to me.  I tried saying hello to Kai and she said hello politely, the way a person would greet someone they're not familiar with.  By midday I was still nervous and confused, and hurt as well.  As I was walking across the lawn, a young man stopped me.  I looked into his face and saw that it was Donovan.

"I still like you, but I must admit, I'm starting to question your intelligence," he said seriously.

"What?" I said.

"Don't you know what's happened?  You're in another world.  Or, more specifically, another reality of your world," he explained. "This is the world where Claris never met Sean.  You have switched places with her."

"W-well, I want to g-go back," I said, eyes wide.  But I couldn't help feeling sorry for this Claris.  I supposed she felt as lonely every day as I was feeling right now.

"No doubt," he said agreeably. "I'm sure you want to leave here. But do you want to go back there?"

I said nothing, only stared.  He took my hand.

"Let me show you."

As soon as he touched me, I was back in my house, in the foyer.  Donovan released me.

"Back in a minute," he said, and disappeared.

The doorbell rang.  I opened the door duly and saw Sean standing on the porch. He was dressed in khaki slacks and a blue, gold-buttoned blazer, with his hair pulled back into a neat ponytail.  The added polish in his appearance, while definitely attractive, unsettled me.

"Se-sean?" I said cautiously.

"How do I look?" he asked, bowing.

"Gr-great..." I said softly.

"Excellent.  Come on," he said.  A car that looked somewhat expensive was behind him, its driver's side dor wide open.  He opened the passenger side for me and I realized that it was his car.

"Sean..." I said slowly. "Where did you get that?"

"I bought it, silly," he said. "You were with me on the day."

"W-with what m-money?" I whispered.  He expression became concerned.

"You know I got a job at the theater right after we met.  I saved up money for years to buy this..and I did other jobs too...are you okay?  Why don't you remember that?"

I shook my head.

"Not really... I don't know.."

A door on the other side opened and Kai stepped out.

"Come on, Claris!  I'm starving," she smiled at me, offering her hand. "Look, I'll even walk you to the car."

"What the hell?" I thought.  "Kai would never do that."

I cast my gaze around for Donovan, who was suddenly behind me.

"This is another reality," he said. "Do you like it?"

"It all s-seems s-so perfect..." I said.

"It is," he said.  "You should see what your brother is like. It couldn't get any better."

"But..it's fake,"  I said.  Sean and Kai had stopped moving, as though they were in a freeze frame.

"Actually it's quite real," Donovan said.

"You know wh-what I mean," I mumbled. "It feels fake.  It's not mine."

"True," he admitted. "So do you reject this reality as well?"

I looked at Sean, who, here, was well kept and responsible.  I looked at Kai, who was open and bright.  I would be lying if I said I disliked them.  But they weren't the people  I knew.  They belonged to some other Claris.  Someone who was as ideal to them as they were to me.  I bet she didn't even stutter.

"Yes," I said, straining to keep my voice emotionless. "I do."

"As you like," Donovan took my hand again, and we returned to the cul-de-sac.  Everyone was there, and I was standing over the machine.  Sean was strangling Lucius.

"Bring her back!" he was yelling as he shook Lucius's tiny frame.

"I-I'm h-here, Se-sean," I said. He dropped Lucius.

"Claris?  Really?" he said, and our eyes met.  I nodded.

"Finally," he smiled.

"You said this was the exit," I turned to Lucius.

"It is," he answered, heaving for breath.  "But only if you destroy it."

"What does it do?" I blinked.  He gestured at Necavi and Alistair.

"It's what brought them here.  You know how people talk about a dimensional fabric?  Well.. what that machine does..." he paused, inhaling, "is it creates wounds.. tears.. in the fabric, and then it tries to mesh different dimensions together.  It can do the same with alternate realities."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"That's the point... the more wounds it creates, the more unstable each dimension becomes.  Eventually they will all collapse onto one another," he said wearily, as if he were relieving himself of a great mental burden by telling us this.

"Will the wounds heal if we destroy it?" Necavi said.

"Yes," Lucius said.  "All that it has done will be undone."

"Thank you," Necavi said. He smiled at Alistair.

"Looks like this is our ticket home."

"Yeah," Alistair pulled the huge sword off his back for only the second time since I had met him. "But what will I say to Aerina about.. us?"

"We'll figure it out," Necavi said, and I could tell from his voice that he was looking forward to it.  He turned to me.

"Goodbye, Claris, Sean. Perhaps we'll see you again sometime."

Then both he and Alistair raise their swords and slashed them sideways, slicing it into thirds.  The liquid in the metal tubes splashed onto the floor as the cylinder shattered, its pieces scattering and splashing into the liquid.  I was amazed by its frailty and the tired smile that crept onto Lucius's lips.  Necavi and Alistair waved as their bodies faded.  The building, too, was shifting, and in seconds I was in a second floor classroom in my school.

"Beautiful job!" Donovan clapped, appearing beside Lucius.  "Your friends destroyed BOTH of Samael's prototypes!  He'll be so pleased to hear it, along with all the data we've collected from studying you."

"WHAT?!" Sean cried. "Prototypes?!  Studying?!"

"Exactly," Donovan said. "You don't really think we're that stupid, do you?  I'm insulted."

"Data?" I said thinly, recalling Donovan's earlier speech.

"That's correct.  We've been studying the both of you to see how you react in the situations we orchestrated," Donovan petted a quiet Lucius lightly. "Like I said, it was all an experiment."

"You bastard!"  Sean seethed, reaching for him.  Wings spread out of Donovan's back and he rose, Lucius in his arms.

"No, I don't think so," he said.  "We've got to report back now.  I'm afraid we won't see each other again for a while... the final versions of those devices your friends destroyed won't be ready for some time.  And there's so much else to do..."

Sean was red with fury.

"I'll kill you," he said, looking frantically for something to throw at Donovan's enormous wings.  I surprised myself with how well I was taking it, personally.  I thought it was because my mind was not prepared to handle this.  I expected a resolution, after all, and all I was getting was a new set of questions.  I figured I could at least have the answer to one of them now.

"Are you an angel?" I asked.  Donovan grinned a little.

"I am," he said, almost gently. "In a way."

"Oh," I said.  Lucius stirred in Donovan's arms and withdraw a folded piece of paper from his shorts.

"Right," Donovan said, taking the paper from him and giving it to me. "Lucius wanted you to have this.  I promised not to read it, but he said I could beat him for it later.  Isn't that nice of him?"

"Uh.." I said, pocketing it.  "Okay."

 He bowed his head.

"See you in a year or two."

And then he was gone.  Sean screamed with fury at this insolence.

"Sean," I said.  "Sean, calm down."

"I am unfuckingbelievably calm," he hissed, flexing and unflexing his fingers.  "Did you hear what he said?  It was all an experiment-nothing more!"

"But there's n-nothing we can do about it," I pointed out.

"That's why I'm so pissed off!" he cried, stalking out.  I followed him, and we left the school together.  It was midafternoon, and everyone had gone home.  I decided against calling mom, thinking that a long walk would calm both of our nerves.  Sean spent most of the half hour way on a violent, verbal tirade, which I listened to quietly until we reached my driveway.

"I'll tell you what," Sean said. "Whenever they do come back, they're dead.  Both of them.  I think I'll kill the little guy twice."

"Yes," I said.  "You do that."

He paused, studying my face.

"You're awfully relaxed, considering the way you were freaking out the other day."

"I don't think I can handle thinking about this anymore ri-right now," I answered honestly.  He nodded a little.

"I understand that..." he murmured, and he pulled me close, there on the driveway.  Surprised, my cheeks reddened.

"At least they didn't do anything to you."

"N-nothing major anyway," I said lightly.  He squeezed me.

"Claris... if that guy had done something... if he did anything.. I wouldn't forgive myself.  You know that, right?"

"Y..yeah," I mumbled.  "I know."

This was followed by an awkward silence, which I broke by taking out Lucius's note.

"What's that?" Sean said, leaning over me as I opened it.

"Lucius wrote it..." I said, reading it aloud. "'I really enjoyed the time I spent with you & Sean & everyone.  I really am looking forward to seeing you again and I'm sorry if I hurt you when I pushed you.  I forgot that humans can die and stuff.'"

It was signed with a little heart inside a sun.

"What a complete freak," Sean muttered, and started walking towards my house.  I trotted after, putting the note away.

"I thought it was kind of sweet," I protested.

"Sure," he said. "C'mon.  I want a turkey sandwich."

That's it for the first half... Like it?  Love it?  Hate it?  Mildly annoyed by it? Please tell me..what you think of the ending, what you think of the chapter, what you think of the first half as a whole.  I realize that there are loose ends enough to strangle a large farm animal, but if there weren't, why would I write a second half, eh? :B;

Now to explain myself...

...yes, I know I have a problem with anti climatic endings.  I suck. x__x But I guess because of the point of the first was to tell you -what- was going on.. The second half is about why.  No epic battles, there really can't be... Donovan and Lucius's orders were not to fight, in fact they were to avoid it at all costs.  Also, while Sean could kick a person's ass in a street fight, he would be dead against non human people like Donovan and Lucius.  At this point they would rip him apart without much of a problem. :B; I hope you guys liked it anyways.  The end of the next half (whenever that will be) will be Very Exciting, I promise.

And no, Metabug didn't disappear.  He doesn't like fighting either. :B;;

And yes.  Donovan and Lucius are both on crack. Lots of it.

And the turkey sandwich line is a reference to the very very beginning of the story, if you remember it. :B

And finally.  Aerina is a combination of the names 'Aeris' and 'Rinoa.'  I amuse myself. :B;