http://clampfix.fanworks.net/kenichi/magi4-3.txt </head><body><pre> "Often are things remembered when they should be forgotten." ---Anonymous Chapter Three My eyes popped open of their own accord. Daylight greeted me, with its laughing white clouds. Wasn't it dusk just a minute ago...? I felt the ground beneath me. Funny...I don't recall there being grass at the base of Tokyo Tower. I should be dead...Or dying, at least. Yet I could feel every breath I took. Every twittering of the birds. The washing sound of the surf crashing on the waves... Waitasec...!!! This isn't right...The blasted tower was too far from the bay for me to hear the waves! I sat bolt upright. The sea, with its sapphire-blue curls lapped at the shore a few meters from where I lay. Only then did I notice my wet clothes. How did I fall into the sea? Where did the Tokyo Tower go? For that matter...Where did the city go...? I turned around, searching for a city that should be there. .....But wasn't. As If the city of Tokyo, and its thirty thousand-something inhabitants, never existed... Standing up was a challenge. My wet clothes felt like lead, and the annoying squishing sound that my sneakers made signalled succeding spurts of water that nurtured the grass I was walking on with each step I took. Where the hell am I...? I looked to the sea. There in the sand lay a pair of tracks leading to my position. I didn't recall crawling out of the sea... Interestingly, my clothes were wet, but there wasn't a trace of sand on them. My sneaker's heels were caked in them, however. My only supposition was that someone carried me out of the sea. My eyes were striving to take in the entire sight. Ahead of me was a forest of temperate-class trees. I always thought that trees near the shore would be palms or some other kind of tropical plant. What else is weird here, I wonder? The sky darkened slightly as I threw my head back to curse. I choked on my own expletives. A huge object that looked like a mountain came into view. Only it was upside-down. It was also floating. "This can't be happening to me..." I babbled. But it was. It was staring me in the face as surely as the floating object above. The land of floating islands. Of the Sapphire-blue sea. Even without seeing the great volcano I knew there was no other place I could be. Only one land looked like this; A land I knew only from my dreams... Cephiro!!! No matter how I rubbed my eyes, how hard I pinched myself... It absolutely refused to go away. To no one in particular, I began to complain. "Great. Now what do I do?" I dragged my jacket off and squeezed hard. A continous stream of water excreted from the cloth and dove into the grass. The dark shadow cast by the island subsided, like the end of a solar eclipse. My hands flew instinctively to my face as the sun struck a blow across my face. As my pupils got accustomed to the light, I noticed a small robed man standing ahead of me. The two most notable things about him were an odd- looking staff---Like a helmet on a stick. The other was the odd light-purple hair color. Some memory...Zagato's perhaps? Memory told me his name. "Guru Clef." The sureness of my own voice surprised me. If the Guru was surprised, he did his best not to show it. The only thing that registered in his strangely ancient blue eyes was curiosity. All things considered, he was going to ask questions I had no answers to. "Greetings." Clef delivered a formal tone that seemed to emanate a kind of animosity toward me. "I do not know who you are. But the way your clothes are designed, I would say you hail from the planet Earth." It was almost too tempting to be snide. However, I was in a world I had absolutely no knowledge of. If there was anyone who could help me out, it had to be Clef. "My name is Kaeda Kenichi." What do I say next? Ah. "Thank you for fishing me out of the water, Clef-San." His mouth softened, but his eyes maintained that questioning stare. "I'm sorry. I am not the one you should thank for rescuing you." The Guru turned around and started to walk away. Maybe I was being too direct? He had taken quite a few steps when he stopped. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Feeling like an idiot, I slung my jacket over my shoulder with a wet splat. I took a few steps forward and joined him in his stroll. "We really should get you some warm clothing, Ken." "As if it wasn't obvious enough..." Guru Clef didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. "...Guru Clef, if you weren't the one who saved me..." "Mira went ahead to fetch me." Clef let his lips form a lopsided grin. "She is at the palace of souls now." Palace of Souls? That was something I hadn't heard of. Clef went on. "I know of your dreams, Kaeda Kenichi..." So my arrival wasn't a surprise at all. Clef was expecting me. I winced slightly as I pinched my arm. Dosen't feel like a dream. Hikaru. Be careful what you wish for. I followed Clef into the mists of my coming destiny. Minutes later we came to a halt in front of a large blue circle. I didn't recognize any of the writing; It was definitely not Kanji. Clef stepped into the circle and motioned for me to do the same. I worried for a second about my wet clothing, but curiosity got the better of me. I stepped inside. At the same instant, I found myself looking at walls of a sort. Marble? No, it didn't look like any material I knew of. Clef was already yards ahead of me, walking down a hallway I only now knew existed. How could someone so small, and in those robes, move so fast? I broke into a trot behind him, squishing sneakers all the way. The Guru stopped at a large door. A wave of his staff, and the mighty doors swung silently open, as if by magic. It IS magic, I reminded myself. Everything in Cephiro is based on magic of one sort or another. Zagato's voice came to my mind once again. "You must understand, as well, that the physics of your world do not apply to mine." How silly it seemed in my dream. Yet it was no laughing matter right now. I read the seriousness in Clef's eyes. I followed him slowly into the hall that sprawled within the doors. My throat felt something sharp touch it. Blade. A large sword in the hands of a master swordsman. I turned to see a tall man in armor. His blonde hair was streaked with white, and wrinkles creased his face, but I knew this man. Stern eyes set in a firm face. Knew him well enough not to kid around with him. Dal Rafaga. Captain of the Guards, Masterswordsman of Cephiro. His voice was tinged with a cold hatred that chilled me to the bone. "Zagato..." </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>