ALIELLE: You came back? Wow! Hey, Fatora! They came back!

THE ADVENTURES OF ALIELLE AND FATORA
Featuring Fatora (she asks the questions) and Alielle (she gives the ego-
building answers).

FATORA: Hey there, loyal subjects. How did you like Fatora Day?
ALIELLE: I liked the stripper.
FATORA: We all did! Ah, my birthday... A chance for mere nothings
like yourselves to reflect upon the true greatness that is myself.
ALIELLE: Oh, Fatora. For me, every day is Fatora Day!
FATORA: Now, it's no misconception that I'm popular. As somebody
with tens of thousands of fans in Japan, and literally tens of fans outside
Japan... I'll never understand Westerners, will you?
ALIELLE: We are close to hitting the one hundred mark.
FATORA: Anyway, my point is that you don't become as popular as I
am without suffering along the way. And yes, I've had my share of
suffering. Of course, I've also had more fun than most of you peasants
ever will!
ALIELLE: Yeah! You said it! Fatora, can we...
FATORA: What? Oh... not yet, you have to introduce the story first!
ALIELLE: But Fatora... I've been waiting minutes, I'm not sure I can
hold on much longer...
FATORA: Just... introduce it really quickly and we can get down to
business!
ALIELLE: Okay, um... Hi everyone, here's the next story in our
exciting... uh... okay... start reading now!
FATORA: Okay, go!
ALIELLE: Here I come!
CUT!!

CHAPTER FOUR: "THE BLUE AND THE GAY"

A beam of light hit the far wall of the dark, wrecked chamber, the first
light to enter the chamber in many months. It illuminated the banks of
highly sensitive equipment, all but destroyed by a massive rock slide. A
large section of the room had flooded, and the panels and strip lights that
once lit up the area had long since burned out or fused.
The light grew brighter as two large men gradually removed the rocks
and boulders that blocked the entrance. This whole section of caverns
had been sealed off by an earthquake- a side effect of the Eye of God's
recent use against the Bugrom.
A smaller, thinner man climbed through the newly created entrance, and
surveyed the damage.
"It's not quite as bad as anticipated," he called to the others. "A lot of
this equipment could be salvaged."
"Later," came the reply. "We have our orders. Find the probe."
The man nodded, and took out a key. He bent down to study the
markings on a row of lockers. Finally he used the key to open the last
one, and took out a long metal cylinder.
"It's here," he called over his shoulder. He opened a small panel on the
cylinder, and peered through the gloom at the inside. "Looks like the
power core melted. We'll have to clean it up, but it should work once the
core's replaced."
"Good. The master will be pleased."
The man climbed back over the rocks and rejoined his colleagues. They
walked silently away from the flooded section, the artificial light
shimmering on their blue skin...

Londs stood in the doorway, and cleared his throat as noisily as he
could, in order to attract the attention of Princesses Rune Venus and
Fatora. The servants applying their makeup broke off from their task.
"Your majesties," Londs stated, "the royal delegation from Styrenia has
arrived. They await your presence."
"Can't wait," Fatora commented with more than a hint of sarcasm.
"Thankyou Londs," Rune nodded. "We will be along shortly."
Rune turned to her sister as Londs left. "I am looking forward to meeting
Princess Formyka. The last time we met, we were still children."
"I met her last year," Fatora replied. "She's... well, she's changed."
"I hear she leads an interesting life," said Rune, intrigued.
Fatora raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you could say that." Formyka was
indeed a rare character. For one thing, she was one of the only people
still capable of making Fatora feel insignificant. And if there was one
thing Fatora couldn't stand, it was feeling insignificant.

Alielle wandered through the conference hall with a look of excitement
on her face. The visiting Styrenian delegation was so large that it had to
contain at least a few pretty girls. While searching with a rigorous
process of deduction through the new faces, a hand on her shoulder
made her jump.
"Hey, little girl," said a female voice. "And what do you do here?"
Alielle turned around to face the voice, and was confronted with a tall,
stunningly beautiful red haired woman. Behind her stood two young
servants, one male and one female.
"My name is Alielle," she greeted the visitor. "I'm a servant here, but
I'm also..."
"Fatora's girlfriend, right? I've heard a lot about you. I can definitely see
the attraction. You're quite a beautiful young lady, Alielle."
Alielle's eyes widened. Things were clearly looking up.
"By the way," said the woman, "you're probably wondering who I am,
right?"
"Well," Alielle pondered, "your face does look familiar."
"Of course it does!" she laughed. "I am the crown princess of Styrenia!
Ruler of the dependency of Caustica! The most celebrated royal bisexual
in El-Hazard's history!"
The two servants squealed with joy and grabbed the princess in unison.
She smiled down at Alielle. "But you can call me Formyka."
Alielle giggled. What a woman!
The main doors swung open. Londs strode in, followed by Rune and
Fatora.
"Honoured guests," he announced, "I present to you her royal majesty,
Princess Rune Venus, commander in chief of the armed forces, ruler of
Roshtaria and leader of the tribes."
There was polite applause. Meanwhile, Fatora was scanning the room in
an attempt to locate Alielle. She gasped as she found her- staring
lovingly at her arch enemy, Princess Formyka. Londs continued with his
introductions.
"Her royal majesty, Princess Fatora, protector of..."
He didn't get the chance to finish, as Fatora angrily pushed past him and
marched towards Alielle and Formyka.
"Alielle," she demanded, "what are you doing with... that woman?"
"We're just talking," Alielle replied innocently. "Oh, Fatora, have you
met Princess Formyka?"
Formyka put her hand on Fatora's shoulder. "Of course she has. Me and
Fatora go way back. Don't we, Fatora?"
Fatora frowned back. "Hello Formyka," she said through gritted teeth.
"I've just been speaking to your little companion," Formyka continued,
leaning heavily on Fatora in her customary manner. "She's really cute.
Of course, I've brought my own servants along." She waved in the
direction of her two followers. "It would have been nice to bring my
entire harem along, but... there wasn't nearly enough room on the
transport! Anyway, Fatora honey, where's yours?"
"My transport?"
"No, stupid, your harem. I'll bet the famous Princess Fatora has just
hundreds of girls at her beck and call, right?"
"Very funny, Formyka," Fatora frowned. "But I'll have you know I
could seduce any woman in this room!"
"Now, Fatora, try to calm down," Formyka smiled, somehow managing
to be courteous and condescending with the same facial expression. She
yawned, and turned to her followers. "I hope there'll be alcohol at this
party. I haven't had a drink in hours."
"Miss Formyka," Alielle offered, "I'm sure if you ask Londs we can get
you some wine from the kitchen."
"Thanks, Alielle," Formyka replied. "I'll do that. Will you join me in a
glass, Fatora? Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't drink, do you? Owing to your
weak constitution."
"No," Fatora corrected, "it's because I don't WANT to drink. It's a
matter of principle."
"Right, sure," Formyka nodded. "It's okay, Fatora. Being a lightweight
is nothing to be ashamed of."
Fatora grabbed Alielle's arm and narrowed her eyes at Formyka. "I...
don't like you," she hissed, before marching out of the room with Alielle
in tow.

"Well, it's nice to see you getting along with my WORST ENEMY! I
can see I'm clearly outclassed in this situation. Go on, if you love her so
much why don't you go off to Styrenia and join her little troupe of
sycophants and lovers?"
"Fatora, I..." Alielle's first instinct was to apologise, to try to make
things better, as she hated seeing Fatora upset. But her voice trailed off
as she realised that Fatora was being totally unreasonable.
"Fatora, calm down. Now, firstly, I had no idea there was some sort of
feud going on between you and Formyka. Second, I don't recall you ever
seeking my approval of any of the women you seduce."
"She was insulting me!" objected Fatora, "and you just stood there and
let her! I would have appreciated some support!"
"Oh, so you wanted me to talk back to a visiting princess?" Alielle
challenged. "I am a servant, you know. I have to be nice to visitors even
if I don't want to. Besides, you don't usually need any help sticking up
for yourself."
"Tell me," Fatora snarled, "do your duties as a servant extend to looking
up adoringly at any visiting dignitary that catches your eye?"
Alielle turned her back on Fatora. "For somebody who's forever
extolling the virtues of free love, you have one serious jealous streak. I
know you're upset, but you're just acting stupid. I love you Fatora, but I
won't let you take this silly grudge with Formyka out on me."

Fatora and Alielle were conspicuously silent at the banquet. They made
continuous efforts to avoid eye contact with one another, a difficult task
considering they were seated next to each other. Alielle sneaked a glance
at Fatora. She didn't like this. It was very unusual for the two of them to
fight, and already she was missing the feeling of security Fatora gave
her. Right now, she wanted nothing more that to curl up next to the one
she loved and forget about their dispute. But Fatora had been wrong. She
had to stand her ground. The last thing she wanted was to be regarded as
a pushover.
At the opposite end of the table, a servant carrying an enormous jug of
wine gradually worked her way along the row of seated guests, filling
each one's glass in turn. She reached Princess Formyka, who glanced
over her shoulder and grinned.
"Thanks, baby. Don't mind if I do!" Formyka happily took the still half-
full wine jug from the confused servant's hands and set it down next to
her plate. "How kind," she smiled, waving at Fatora.
Fatora groaned inwardly. It wasn't fair. Formyka was so much better at
debauchery than she was. Formyka's seemingly insatiable sexual
appetites covered both sexes, while Fatora was strictly girl-only.
Formyka's drinking ability was such that she could drink a distillery dry
(and, on one occasion, reportedly had), while Fatora, apparently, lacked
an important enzyme necessary for alcohol digestion.
She raised her glass, and, glaring at Formyka, took a sip of wine. All
things considered, it was quite a big sip. For Fatora.
It took Alielle a few moments to realise that Fatora had completely
frozen. Her glass still in her hand, not blinking, apparently not even
breathing, she seemed to be staring intently at something at the far end
of the room.
Alielle started to panic a little, as others stopped their conversations to
look at Fatora.
"Miss Fatora," she whispered. No response.
"Miss Fatora!" She passed her hand in front of Fatora's glazed eyes.
Suddenly Fatora blinked. Then she began to shake.
"Get... him... AWAY!" she screamed, trying to back up. In her
desperation, she toppled off her chair.
"Wow," said Formyka. "This stuff must be good." She picked up her
wine jug and took a large swig,
Meanwhile, Alielle, Londs and Doctor Schtalubaugh had clustered
around Fatora and were trying unsuccessfully to determine the nature of
her distress.
"He's come to kill me! Hasn't he?" her eyes flitted nervously between
the faces.
"Fatora," Alielle said softly, "who do you mean? We can't see
anybody."
"That's because he's STANDING BEHIND YOU!" she cried.
Alielle threw a quick glance over her shoulder, but as expected, there
was nobody of a remotely threatening nature to be seen.
"Well? What are you all, blind?" Fatora urged, breathing erratically.
"Don't you see him? It's him! Galus!"
Rune Venus, already making her way over, increased her pace
noticeably upon hearing the name.
"Princess," Schtalubaugh tried to calm the near-hysterical Fatora. "Galus
is dead."
"Well, of course he is!" Fatora snapped, almost as angry as she was
afraid. "If he wasn't then how could he have walked through the table
like that?"
Londs and Schtalubaugh parted to allow Rune through. Rune was saying
something... Fatora couldn't make out the words. Couldn't she speak up?
The voices around her were blurring, merging into a single, uniform,
deafening noise. And the faces, they were starting to blur too. All apart
from one. Galus, who had at first seemed like an apparition, his form
vague and indistinct, was now the most real thing in Fatora's universe.
In fact... the only real thing.
"Princess," Galus smiled. "What a pleasure. It's been too long since we
last met."
Fatora tried to speak, but found herself unable to.
Galus continued. "And how is your lovely sister? I wish I could have
stayed in touch, but it wasn't possible. I've been a little dead recently."
He laughed quietly at his own joke. "But these surroundings... are
inappropriate, wouldn't you say? Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
Galus disappeared, and Fatora now found herself staring at Princess
Formyka. What was she doing here? It took her a moment to work out
that she was, in fact, witnessing a memory. This was her recollection of
the conversation they'd had less than an hour ago.
As suddenly as it had appeared, the image changed. Now she was with
Alielle. It was night, and they were in the forest outside Florestica.
Another memory- this time of that ridiculous caper with her would-be
protector, Ibon. That confirmed it. She was experiencing past events.
Except...
Now she couldn't remember what the previous memory was. In fact, she
couldn't seem to recall anything much after the memory she was seeing
now...
Another change. Now it was her birthday, and she was addressing  the
crowds from the balcony. Again, she seemed to have forgotten what the
previous memory was...
She realised to her horror what must be happening. Her memories were
systematically being taken away, layer by layer, starting with the most
recent and working back.
Back, back. Back now to the Eye of God, receiving the faulty telepathic
archive that had resulted in her brief infatuation with Makoto. The
images were moving faster now. With Alielle again, fleeing the Trigger
of Destruction. Being held in an armlock by Kalia. Kissing Shayla.
Activating the Eye of God. Being reunited with Rune and Alielle after
she had been rescued from...
Uh oh.

She couldn't move. At least, not by herself, although she was aware of
her arms moving slowly, involuntarily. She was kneeling, and her arms
were suspended. Two voices in the background conversed in hushed
tones. This was a Phantom Tribe laboratory, and it was fairly obvious
what the test subject was.
Galus appeared out of the darkness.
"That's much better, wouldn't you say?" he asked casually.
"I don't understand..." Fatora replied. Every one of her memories after
this point had gone. This was no longer the past. This was now.
"Of course you don't understand," he laughed. "But you will. Or...
maybe you won't. It really doesn't matter. I am simply here to finish
what I began."

Fatora had stopped moving and speaking now, but her eyes continued to
flicker. She now lay on a bed in the palace surgery, her body limp and
her face twisted into an expression of great distress. She was clearly
hallucinating, so Doctor Schtalubaugh had proclaimed, and whatever she
was experiencing couldn't have been pleasant.
The doctor, who had enlisted the help of Makoto and Afura, searched
through the racks of medicine while barking instructions at his two new
assistants. Princess Rune, Londs, and various concerned servants
remained near the door, a respectful distance from the bed. The only
figure at the bedside was Alielle, kneeling, her hand clasped tightly
around Fatora's, and her head bowed.
Princess Formyka, flanked by her two servants, fought her way into the
room and walked over to the bed.
"Whoa," she said, and looked down at Alielle. "Does she do this a lot?"
"Of course not," came the reply. Alielle did not look up.
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"I don't know!" Alielle looked up angrily at Formyka, revealing a face
soaked with tears. "I don't know! I don't know!" Then, remembering her
place, she relented. "I don't know, your majesty."
But the usual carefree expression had left Formyka's face. She placed a
hand on Alielle's shoulder.
"It's okay, kid. I'm sorry."
Formyka and her servants walked slowly away. Makoto and
Schtalubaugh quickly approached the bed. Makoto was holding a bottle
of liquid.
"We will have to inject it," Schtalubaugh told him. "A significant dose
may be enough to bring her round."
Afura made her way over to Alielle, who looked up expectantly.
"We should leave now," she said. "You can come back later. I'll
explain."

Afura and Alielle entered the small room. Afura beckoned for Alielle to
sit down. She quickly did, then looked back at the priestess, impatience
in her eyes.
"We're not absolutely sure what's wrong with Fatora," Afura said softly,
"but we have a theory. She mentioned Galus before she blacked out. She
may be experiencing flashbacks to her time with the Phantom Tribe.
You have to understand, what Fatora went through was extremely...
painful, for want of a better word. She did seem to be dealing with it
very well, but there was always a chance that something like this might
happen."
The words continued to echo through Alielle's head that night as she lay
in bed. The bed had never seemed quite so big, so empty.
She might have to get used to this.

Three days later, something extraordinary happened.
One of the Phantom Tribe, a woman by the name of Amiri, was
apprehended in Florestica by the royal guard. As far as anybody could
recall, no member of the Phantom Tribe had ever been successfully
captured by any of the Allied Nations. But that wasn't what made it
extraordinary.
What baffled everybody was that the woman was captured while
walking casually down a street, making no effort to disguise herself, and
reportedly bidding the terrified Roshtarians good morning. When
approached by the guards, she politely gave herself up. And between
than and now, she had not created a single illusion.
"It sounds as if she wanted to be caught," Shayla commented as she
descended the steps to the dungeon.
"We are as confused as you are," Londs replied. "Her actions defy all
logic."
The two stepped into the dungeon, followed by Makoto, Nanami, Afura,
Alielle and about twenty guards. In a situation like this, everybody
would have been more comfortable if Miz and Fujisawa were around,
but Miz had been summoned to the seminary earlier in the week to
discuss the next water priestess, and Mr Fujisawa had gone with her.
The prisoner stood up and, to everyone's surprise, waved.
"Hi," she acknowledged. "That's a lot of guards. They're really not
necessary."
"We're not taking any chances," Shayla said, suspicious. "You have
powers. You could use them at any time."
"That's right. I could, couldn't I? I could blind you all with a flash of
light, and probably be out of here before you knew what was
happening."
"But... you haven't," Shayla observed. "Why?"
"Why indeed," she smiled, looking at their confused faces. "The
Phantom Tribe... aren't illusioners by nature, you know."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shayla challenged.
Amiri looked directly at Nanami. "Nanami Jinnai. When you were
transported to El-Hazard, you gained the ability to see through Phantom
Tribe illusions." She turned her gaze to Makoto. "Makoto Mizuhara.
Upon your transportation, you gained the ability to manipulate ancient
technology. When the Phantom Tribe's ancestors were sent here, they
gained the very ability that defined them in your eyes. The ability to
create illusions."
"The Phantom Tribe got their abilities from the dimensional crossover?"
Afura considered this. "It does sort of make sense..."
"The Phantom Tribe weren't always the people you consider them to
be," Amiri continued. "And things are changing. Most members of the
Phantom Tribe inherit their illusory technique from their parents. But for
a long time now, there have been those of us who are born without those
abilities. They are beginning to fade."
"Are you one of them?" Nanami asked.
"Maybe," she replied. "It doesn't really matter what I say, you'll draw
your own conclusions. I'm not to be trusted. One of the evil Phantom
Tribe. Inherently bad."
She paused.
"Or," she added, "maybe we're not all lunatics like Galus and Nahato.
Maybe those of us without special abilities are seen as a lesser race,
treated as outcasts. Maybe we want out, and maybe, just maybe, the
chaos following Galus' death has given us that opportunity."
"That doesn't explain why you're here," Afura said.
"Maybe we need your help."
"Don't make me laugh!" Shayla responded, incredulous. "Roshtaria,
help the Phantom Tribe?"
"We are NOT the Phantom Tribe!" Amiri insisted. For the first time, she
seemed upset. "Phantom means illusion. We don't have that ability, and
apparently are unworthy of the name. We have no name. That's because,
in the eyes of our leaders, we are nothing."
There was a long silence.
Amiri gathered her emotions, and calmly said- "How's the princess? Has
her condition worsened?"
There was a collective gasp. "How..." Alielle started, "how do you know
about Fatora?"
"Princess Fatora is my reason for being here now," she explained. "Her
current state is no accident. She is being manipulated."
"A-HA!" Shayla cried. "So YOU'RE responsible for this, huh? And you
want our help in return for..."
"Oh, Shut UP, Shayla-Shayla! What's wrong with you? Why do you
want so desperately to believe that I'm your enemy? Do I challenge your
bigoted notions of good and evil? You leap to your ignorant conclusions,
when in fact I am here to help!"
Silence again.
"I'm sorry," she offered. "I realise you have no reason to trust me. But
you must. For the sake of your princess."
"Very well," sighed Afura. "We'll talk to Princess Rune."

Rune listened intently to Afura's account of the meeting. Then she
turned to Nanami.
"Nanami, do you trust her?"
"Me?" asked Nanami, surprised. "Why do you want my opinion?"
"You can treat this matter more objectively than the rest of us. Besides,
if we were to let Amiri go, we would have to rely on your abilities to
keep watch over her."
"Well," Nanami hesitated, "other than her being blue, I can't really see
any reason not to trust her."
Alielle took hold of Nanami's arm and stared pleadingly up at Rune.
"Please, princess. We have to do something to save Fatora."
Rune nodded. "We will release the prisoner. But I am increasing palace
security as a precautionary measure."
Alielle smiled up at the princess, not with her usual smile of affection,
but with one of genuine relief. "Thankyou, princess," she whispered.

Upon her release, Amiri requested two things: to be taken immediately
to Fatora, and the return of an object which was confiscated from her
during her arrest.
She and Makoto looked down over Fatora, who still appeared to be
asleep. Nanami hovered behind them, feeling slightly awkward.
"And you haven't been able to wake her?"
"No success," Makoto sighed, shaking his head.
"Didn't think so," she said, trailing off as she noticed Fatora's eyelids
flicker slightly.
"REM sleep," Makoto noted.
"Yes," Amiri agreed. "She's dreaming, alright."
Makoto shifted a little. "Actually," he offered, "there was something I
noticed about that which seemed unusual. I'm no expert, but... isn't
REM sleep supposed to happen in short bursts?"
"Usually," she confirmed. "Why?"
"Well, as far as I can tell, Fatora's been in more or less constant REM
sleep ever since she collapsed."
Amiri looked alarmed. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure. What does it mean?"
"The item I requested. I need it as soon as possible!"

Amiri held aloft the cylindrical object which had finally been returned to
her. She was addressing a small gathering of people- Princess Rune,
Shayla, Afura, Nanami, Makoto and Alielle. Formyka and her servants
had also tagged onto the group, and the trio now stood at the back,
observing, just in case something interesting transpired.
"This object," Amiri explained, "is a neural interface probe. One of only
two in existence. They were used on the princess during her time with
the Phantom Tribe. I happened to procure this one some time ago. We
all thought the other had been destroyed. Unfortunately, the Phantom
Tribe leadership managed to retrieve it, and they're now using it to
affect Fatora's thoughts."
"What does it do?" Makoto asked.
"The Phantom Tribe were looking for a way to control the Eye of God
through Fatora. Now, as you know, control of the weapon isn't just
genetic, it's also telepathic. It requires the willing participation of the
princesses. So they inserted a small chip into her brain, that allowed
direct interface between the probe and her thought processes. With the
probe, they were able to insert themselves into Fatora's dreams and
memories, in the hope of creating a set mental illusions so compelling,
that Fatora would be tricked into giving the mental command to fire the
weapon. As you know, that didn't work. But now they've retrieved the
probe and they're using it again."
"And just how do YOU know all of this?" Shayla challenged.
"I happen to be a scientist myself," Amiri replied, giving Shayla a glare
that could melt tungsten. "Not that I was connected to the tests on
Fatora. A degenerate such as myself would never have been allowed
near such a critical operation. Besides, my speciality is embryonics. But
I got to hear about Fatora through my scientific contacts."
"What are they trying to achieve?" Nanami enquired. "What's the point
of reactivating the chip now?"
Amiri shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine. I don't even
pretend to understand what motivates our new leader, Nahato." A look
of poorly disguised resentment crossed her face at the mention of the
name. "It could be that he's just out for revenge. He's trying to torture
her, drive her insane. If the chip really has been active for three days,
that's probably the case. Which is why I brought along the other probe.
This also allows interaction with Fatora's thoughts. It might provide a
temporary way of keeping the princess sane. I can use it to send
somebody else inside her head. Ideally, it should be someone she really
trusts..."
"Well," said Nanami, "we have Alielle. She should be ideal." She placed
a hand on Alielle's shoulder.
"Alielle, yes, I've heard of you." Amiri looked down on the girl with
curiosity. "Aren't you Princess Fatora's sex slave?"
Alielle gasped. The other occupants of the room glanced at each other
with hushed embarrassment, and then glanced at Formyka and her
servants, who were desperately trying to suppress their amusement.
"Or... was that propaganda/" Amiri considered. "I'm sorry, my sources
of information are limited. Often what our leaders tell us is all we have
to go on."
Alielle frowned back at Amiri. "Fatora LOVES me! And I love her!"
"I apologise, really," she reaffirmed, desperate to pacify Alielle. "Now,"
she continued, addressing Miz and Afura, "to permanently release Fatora
from the Phantom Tribe's influence, it will be necessary to find Nahato's
probe and shut it down. I know where he is, but getting to him won't be
easy. He's not the trusting type. That's where you come in."
"I see," mused Afura. A mission into Phantom Tribe territory. This
could be tricky. "You said you wanted our help with something in
return?"
"That's simple. Those of us without special abilities are planning a mass
evacuation. We make up nearly a quarter of the total Phantom Tribe, but
our leaders would rather see us die than let us leave. You see, although
we can't create illusions, we can still see through them. If we were to
defect to your side... their special abilities would no longer be quite so
special. Basically, we need a diversion. The presence of two elemental
priestesses should create enough confusion to let us get away."
She looked at the faces before her. Each one of them was contemplating
her plan. She hoped she'd convinced the, because she certainly hadn't
convinced herself.

The Glorious Fatora II, one of Fatora's private fleet of transports, took
off with Afura at the helm. Makoto was staying behind to monitor
Fatora's condition, and had been provided with a two-way
communication device by Amiri.
"This is Makoto. Can you hear me?"
Amiri spoke into her communicator. "Loud and clear. Makoto, I want
you to keep this channel open at all times. Report any visible changes in
the princess."
She realised that the other occupants of the craft were transfixed by the
tiny communication device.
"What? What are you all looking at?"
Alielle, Shayla and Nanami all went to reply, but Nanami got there first.
"That thing you're using. I mean, we have similar technology on Earth,
but I've never seen anything like it in El-Hazard."
Amiri blinked. If they were amazed by low-tech equipment like this,
they were in for a few surprises. "Much of the Phantom Tribe's
technology was developed in complete isolation from the rest of El-
Hazard. When our ancestors first arrived here, their primary objective
was to try to return to their own dimension. That was what began the
accelerated development in Phantom Tribe technology."
"Oh, I get it," Shayla replied. "You developed incredible technology
then kept it to yourselves."
"We had no desire to be outcasts! It was your ancestors who..."
"Will the two of you please calm down?" Afura sighed, glancing back
from the controls. "Shayla-Shayla, you should know better than to talk
politics with a member of the Phantom Tribe. Nothing is going to be
achieved by arguing over whose ancestors are to blame for everyone's
problems."
Shayla backed down. Afura was probably right, as usual. But this wasn't
easy. Co-operating with any member of the Phantom Tribe, however
polite, just felt wrong. What if they were being tricked? Even if they
weren't, they were still taking one hell of a risk. Afura, though, seemed
confident, and certainly appeared to trust Amiri. Not too surprising- the
two seemed very similar.
It wasn't that Shayla didn't want to trust the newcomer: in fact, just the
opposite was true. It was more that she was afraid of being wrong. After
all, if this did turn out to be a trap, she wanted Amiri to know she was
prepared.
Alielle was crouched next to Amiri, as the pair studied the neural probe.
"We should try this now," Amiri decided. "Now, Alielle, I'll be here to
supervise, but I can't predict what the exact effects will be. Are you
certain you want to go through with this?"
"I'd do anything to help my dear Fatora," Alielle replied, her eyes
growing even more concerned.
"Well, if anybody can help her now, it's you. You have to keep her sane;
if possible, try to convince her that what she's experiencing is an
illusion. If the emotional attachment between you is sufficiently strong,
you should be able to get through to her and let her know help's on the
way."
Alielle hesitated, then looked quizzical. "Emotional attachment?"
"Well, you do love and trust each other, don't you?"
"Umm... yes..."
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Amiri pressed a small pad on the probe,
and a green light came on. She placed the device in Alielle's hands.
"Now, concentrate on the light."
Alielle stared closely at the spot of light for a few seconds. "I don't feel
anything."
"Try letting your eyes drift out of focus."
Moving her head closer to the object, Alielle tried to relax her eye
muscles. She was suddenly aware of a second set of images around her.
Yes, by altering the focus of her eyes, she could shift between the two
worlds.

She wasn't on the transport any more. It wasn't clear where she was
instead, as she was still trying to fine-tune her surroundings. One thing
was for certain, though; it was very dark.
There were some lights- at least, she thought they were lights. Spots of
purple and blue that did little to pierce the blackness. There was no
sound, save for the constant humming of what she assumed was
machinery. Nothing seemed to be moving either. It appeared she was all
alone.
There was a large object ahead. It was still too blurred to see clearly, just
a mixture of red, grey and black with a few light patches. It seemed to
draw Alielle in. She moved tentatively towards it. Suddenly the image
before her became crystal clear. Her heart skipped a beat. No, she wasn't
alone after all.
"Oh, Fatora, what have they done to you?"
It was Fatora, suspended in some sort of machine. Her eyes were shut,
and she looked unusually pale and thin. So this was what was going on
in Fatora's dreams. Alielle panicked. What could she do? There was no
obvious way of releasing Fatora from the contraption, and even if there
was, would it make any difference? After all, this was part of some
elaborate illusion. She decided the first thing she had to do was
communicate with Fatora.
"Fatora? Can you hear me?"
Fatora didn't respond. Alielle spoke louder.
"Miss Fatora! Please listen to me!"
Now, a result. Fatora's eyes opened, just a little. Alielle quickly
positioned herself in Fatora's line of sight.
"Fatora, it's me! I've come to help! Listen, this isn't really happening.
It's all an illusion, do you understand?"
Fatora's expression remained unchanged. Finally, she spoke.
"Who's there?"
"I... it's me, Fatora! Alielle! Can't you see me? Can't you hear me?"
"Is somebody there?"
No, it wasn't working! Alielle became frantic.
"Please, Fatora!" she screamed. "Please, say you can hear me!"
But clearly Fatora couldn't hear or see Alielle. And she knew why.
Slowly she let her focus drift back to reality.

Nanami, Shayla and Amiri were staring at her expectantly.
"Well?" Amiri ventured. "What happened?"
"It didn't work, I can't do it." Alielle hung her head in shame. "I could
see her, but she couldn't see me."
"There might be a problem with the probe's transmission," Amiri
pondered. "I've never used one before. I'll work on it."
Alielle didn't look convinced. She turned to Nanami.
"Oh, big sister, it was terrible. Fatora was stuck inside this big machine,
and I was yelling and yelling but I couldn't make her hear me. I couldn't
do it!"
"Hey, Alielle, it's okay," Shayla offered. "You heard what Amiri said,
you can try again when she's adjusted the probe thingy. You'll be able to
talk to Fatora then."
"No I won't," Alielle insisted, shaking her head.
"Umm... is everything okay, Alielle?" Shayla asked.
Alielle stood up and walked determinedly to the other end of the
transport. "I don't want to talk any more," she said, turning her back on
everyone.

That night, the Glorious Fatora II was at rest. Shayla was asleep in the
rear of the transport, while Afura and Amiri stood at the helm,
discussing a map.
"I didn't expect to be going this far west," Afura noted. "By my
reckoning we're heading away from Phantom Tribe territory."
"It'll become clear once we're there," Amiri reassured. "I realise you've
had to put a great deal of trust in me. I'm very grateful."
Nanami approached Alielle, trying and failing to look casual. Alielle
hadn't said a word for hours, and it was obvious something was
bothering her.
"Alielle," Nanami started, "is there something you're not telling us?"
Alielle just looked away.
"We can't help you if you don't say what's wrong."
"Nanami... I know why I couldn't communicate with Fatora. It's
because... I don't have a strong enough emotional attachment with her."
Alielle started sobbing, and grabbed onto Nanami with both hands.
"Whatever do you mean, Alielle?" Nanami asked, confused. You love
Fatora, don't you?"
"Yes, but... before she passed out, I was talking to Formyka, and Fatora
was upset because she doesn't like Formyka, and I said she was being
silly, and she said I was siding against her, and then we weren't talking
to each other and the next thing I knew Fatora had fainted and that's why
I can't get through to her!"
"That's it?" Nanami was incredulous. "You had a fight? Is that what this
is about?"
"I should never have got angry at her. And now I might never see her
again. What have I done?"
"Alielle, couples fight all the time. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't
matter."
Amiri, who had overheard the conversation, made her way forward. "I
don't think you thought you'd be able to communicate with Fatora from
the start, did you? You were already convinced you'd fail."
"She's right," Nanami nodded. "I know you, you're very dedicated to
Fatora. Maybe you just weren't persistent enough."
"But... she couldn't see or hear me. I tried everything!" Alielle insisted.
"I think you're approaching this problem from the wrong angle," Amiri
observed. "Going inside someone's mind isn't the same as just going up
and talking to them. It's possible Fatora is trying to block out some of
the stimuli around her. You'll need to develop some sort of strategy."
"How?"
"I don't know, because I don't know Fatora. You understand how her
mind works better than any of us do. Use your knowledge of her mind to
get her attention."
Alielle sat quietly for a while, letting this sink in. Then she stood up.
"I want to go back in," she said decisively. "And this time, I know I'll
succeed."

Having done it once before, Alielle now found it much easier to slide
between the two worlds. Fatora, still suspended in the apparatus, was
directly in front of her. She knelt down so that her face was level with
Fatora's. This time, instead of shouting, she spoke softly.
"Fatora, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm just here to tell you
that we're trying our best to save you. I've come into your dream
because... I thought you might be lonely."
Alielle attempted to make herself comfortable on the hard floor. The
illusion was indeed realistic, down to the texture of the floor tiles. She
pondered on what she could say to Fatora.
"I was thinking... about the night we first met. Do you remember? You
drank way too much that night. I had to carry you back to your room..."
Fatora made a little noise. Perhaps this was working... although it hardly
amounted to communication. How could she get Fatora's attention?
How did Fatora think?
Then it hit her.
"Do you remember," Alielle prompted with a little smile on her face,
"what we did the night AFTER we met?"
Fatora made the noise again. Only this time, it got louder. Fatora was
quietly laughing to herself. Then, quite unexpectedly, she spoke.
"I think, in all fairness, I was pretty damn good for a beginner."
She opened her eyes and smiled down on Alielle. "Oh, and you were
good too."
"Fatora!" Alielle squealed in delight. "You're okay!" She reached
through the metal framework of the apparatus to embrace Fatora. As she
did so, her sleeve lightly brushed against one of the metal brackets,
giving her a reasonably large electric shock.
"Ow! Owowow!" Alielle skidded backwards along the floor, eventually
colliding with a bank of monitors. Shaking her head to reorientate
herself, she saw that Fatora was being shocked as well. Strangely,
though, she didn't seem at all bothered by it.
"Alielle, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Doesn't that... hurt?"
"No, I'm not feeling any pain. It's odd, really." Fatora appeared
distracted for a moment, but then focused again on Alielle. "What are
you doing here, anyway? How did you manage to get so deep into
Phantom Tribe territory?"
"Well, um, actually Fatora, this isn't really..."
"Oh! Alielle! Listen, you have to warn my sister. You won't believe this,
but Galus is one of the Phantom Tribe!"
Alielle paused upon hearing this. At first, Fatora had seemed just like her
old self, but now it was obvious that all wasn't well. She was clearly
experiencing memory loss.
Fatora studied Alielle's puzzled expression and added, "I know, I
wouldn't have believed it either. But didn't I always say there was
something creepy about him?"
Then something occurred to Alielle. If this was taking place inside one
of Fatora's memories, then naturally she wouldn't be able to recall
anything that happened afterwards. As far as Fatora was concerned, this
was the present.
"Fatora, please listen carefully. None of this is real. You're in some kind
of dream, and this is all based on something that really happened months
ago."
"Wait... a dream, you say?" Fatora looked doubtful. "That would make
you part of the dream too, right?"
"No, I'm using Phantom Tribe technology to get inside the dream.
They're the ones who are doing this to you. They're making you relive
something they did to you some time ago. A lot of stuff has happened
since then that you can't remember right now. Galus is dead! The
Bugrom Empire is almost completely wiped out. There's some kind of
revolution going on within the Phantom Tribe. And there are two really
cute girls hanging around the palace."
Fatora took a few moments to absorb the enormity of what her girlfriend
had just told her.
"Cute girls, huh? Well, I'm sold. If this is a dream, that would explain a
few things."
"Like what?"
"Well, since I arrived her, I've been cut, stabbed, burned, probed, and
some really nasty stuff that doesn't bear thinking about..."
"Oh, Fatora, that's terrible!" Alielle went to embrace Fatora again, then,
remembering the shock she received last time, thought better of it.
"Well, it WAS terrible," Fatora continued, "until I realised that it didn't
hurt. Not at all. I haven't felt any pain since this whole thing started. It
really pissed Galus off, I can tell you. No matter what he tried, it didn't
hurt me."
Alielle was relieved, but also confused. "How could that be?"
"I have no idea. But when was the last time one of your dreams made
sense?"

Nanami, Afura and Amiri watched closely over Alielle who was sitting,
entranced, staring at a fixed point in the middle distance. Resting on her
lap was the probe.
"She's been like that for a long time," Nanami observed. "Should we do
something?"
"I think we should leave her for now," Amiri replied. "This is probably a
good sign. She may have got through to Fatora at last."
Something caught Afura's attention. The light on the probe was
flickering. "Should it be doing that?" she asked urgently.
Amiri immediately grabbed the probe and looked closer.
"Oh dear."
"What?" Afura demanded. "What's 'oh dear'?"
"The signal is fluctuating. I think... the other probe may now be in use."
"You mean one of the Phantom Tribe has just entered Fatora's dream as
well? What happens if they run into Alielle?"
"I don't know," Amiri admitted. "But I'm pulling her out as a
precaution."
Nanami and Afura watched with growing concern as Amiri desperately
fiddled with the controls of the little device, to no avail.
"Sorry, sorry," she said with a hint of exasperation. "Maybe I should
have studied this thing more closely."

"If this is a dream, why can't I wake up?"
"We're, um... working on it," Alielle replied, trying to ignore the fact
that her beloved was still encased by a scaffold of unpleasant looking
machinery.
"Ssh!" Fatora suddenly hissed. "I think I hear someone coming!"
There was no obvious place to hide in the chamber, so Alielle simply
crouched down next to Fatora. A small figure seemed to melt out of the
darkness before them.
"Galus," Fatora sighed. But to Alielle's eyes, it most certainly wasn't
Galus. The figure was a small Phantom Tribe boy.
The boy did a remarkably authentic double take as he saw Alielle in
front of him.
"What... what are you doing here? You are not part of the dream!"
"Go soak your head, Galus," Fatora gloated. "My love has come to help
me."
"Fatora, that's not Galus," Alielle whispered. "It's just some kid."
"Looks like Galus to me," Fatora responded, unconvinced.
"I am not merely 'some kid', fool!" the boy exploded. "I am Nahato,
ruler of the entire Phantom Tribe!"
"Told you," Alielle whispered back to Fatora.
"If you can see through my illusion," Nahato continued, "then you must
be... well, well, well, you found the other probe. I'd be most interested to
know how you came across it."
Without warning, Nahato lurched forward into Alielle, twisting her right
arm behind her back and pushing her up against the nearest wall.
"Alielle Ralielle," he smiled. "Age sixteen. A Dorusian national. And
Princess Fatora's plaything."
"Hey!" Fatora called over her shoulder. "I object to that description!
Now let her go or I'll tear your head off... after... I get out of this
thing..."
"I suggest you keep your mouth SHUT, princess," Nahato sneered. He
pulled Alielle's arm further back, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Ow! That hurts!"
"Does it now?" he asked with mock curiosity. "Well, that is music to my
ears. You may be interested to know that so far I haven't been able to
make your beloved Fatora feel pain. However, I notice you aren't
similarly afflicted."
Alielle didn't like the way this was going one bit. In desperation, she
tried to exit the dream as she had done before, but for some reason that
tactic no longer worked.
"Four long days," Nahato continued. "I've tried every single thing I
could think of to torture Fatora. But I failed. Inside her own mind, I can't
hurt her. But now, I wonder... how might she react to seeing her friend in
pain?"
He didn't get to find out. For at that moment, Alielle vanished from the
dream.

"Huh? What happened?" Alielle found herself surrounded by the startled
expressions of Nanami, Afura and Amiri.
"I only just managed to pull you out," sighed Amiri, wiping the sweat
from her brow. "The signal indicated someone else inside the dream."
Alielle nodded vigorously. "It was this kid, he said he was the leader of
the Phantom Tribe..."
"Nahato," Amiri guessed.
"That's it. But Fatora saw him as Galus. And... oh, this could be
important- Fatora isn't feeling any pain. I'm really tired."
"You haven't slept in a while, Alielle," Nanami acknowledged. "Maybe
you should try to..."
Before she could finish the sentence, Alielle had pre-emptively taken her
advice, and was now fast asleep with her head in Nanami's lap.

It was mid-morning when the transport finally reached its destination- a
mountainous patch of desert on Roshtaria's western tip. It was quite the
most lifeless setting imaginable, yet Amiri was adamant that this was the
place. Alielle, Nanami, Shayla and Afura watched closely as she
climbed down from the vehicle and walked cautiously into one of the
nearby caverns.
"I hope Fatora's still okay," Alielle pined. "I feel terrible knowing she's
stuck in that dream, all alone."
"Try to relax," Afura reassured. "I'm sure she's fine. You already found
out she can't be hurt. I wonder why that is..."
"It's obvious enough if you ask me," Shayla casually offered. "This is
Fatora we're talking about. She has way too high an opinion of herself to
ever accept she could be harmed in any way."
"You know what?" Afura gasped. "I think that might be it. It is still
Fatora's dream, after all. Could it be her ego that's protecting her?"
"Of course!" Nanami agreed. "Nahato can't break Fatora... not because
she CAN'T be broken, but because she doesn't BELIEVE she can be
broken... right?"
"I always thought Fatora was an egomaniac," Shayla sighed, "but I
never expected her to be quite THAT self-deluded..."
"Wow!" Alielle beamed. "My Fatora sure is amazing, isn't she?"
Amiri emerged from the cavern with a rather nervous looking Phantom
Tribe man. She signalled to them to come down from the transport.
Nanami, Shayla and Afura descended the steps of the large vehicle.
Alielle was just about to do likewise when she noticed the probe. The
last thing she wanted was for it to fall into the wrong hands while they
were gone, so she picked it up and pocketed it, before following the
others down the steps.

"I told you I'd return with assistance." Amiri was doing her best to
reassure the man in the rather intimidating presence of Shayla.
"Amiri, are you out of your mind?" he hissed. "Muldoon priestesses?"
"They've promised to help us," Amiri insisted.
The man still wasn't convinced. "We asked for help, and you brought
us... Shayla-Shayla?"
"You've heard of me?" Shayla responded, curious.
"Y... yes..." he stammered. "You're feared throughout the Phantom
Tribe as a force of uncontrollable destruction."
Afura smiled. "Some things are the same the world over, eh, Shayla?"
The man turned back to Amiri and scowled. "We can't possibly trust
these people. We have no idea what their true motives are."
"Hey!" Shayla objected, insulted. "We came here in good faith,
intending to help, and after all our trouble you're still not prepared to
trust us!"
"Oh my," Amiri said, glancing back at Shayla. "What an awful feeling
that must b. I can only imagine." She turned her attention back to her
colleague. " I'm very sorry if you don't approve, but you'll just have to
live with it. We're out of time."

The inside of the cavern was a sight to behold. There had to be at least a
hundred members of the Phantom Tribe, of every conceivable age.
Stacked against the walls were stocks of food, supplies and even
machinery. In the centre of the cavern was a square metal plat from,
about ten feet by ten feet, with a control unit at one end.
"What is that?" Nanami asked.
"It's what we'll be using to get to Nahato, and to transport the rest of our
people here," Amiri explained. "It's a transience platform. One of the
Phantom Tribe's more impressive technological innovations. It allows
instantaneous travel- between one platform and another, that is. We built
this particular platform ourselves, in secret." She stepped up onto the
platform, and invited Nanami, Alielle, Shayla and Afura to join her.
She continued. "Already, as you can see, we've transported some of our
people here to safety, along with some supplies. But moving any more
people would arouse suspicion. The exodus has to be timed perfectly."
"To coincide with our diversion," Afura finished. "I understand."
"The moment anybody sees you in there, all hell will break loose. We'll
do our best to protect Alielle and Nanami, but I hope you priestesses are
prepared to defend yourselves."
Shayla and Afura nodded solemnly. Four armed men joined them on the
platform. Amiri looked over to one of her colleagues.
"Commence evacuation as soon as we're gone. Signal when you're
done."
Without another word, she entered a code into the control unit, and all
nine figures vanished.

Makoto had a very serious problem. Since yesterday he'd been watching
over the unconscious Fatora, occasionally contacting Amiri with updates
on her condition. Just a few minutes ago, he'd received a message from
Amiri, telling him to stand by.
Why now?
He really, really needed the bathroom.
How ironic. One of the first lessons he'd learnt here in El Hazard was
never to put something like this off, because you might not get the
opportunity later on. What had he done to deserve such a treacherous
bladder?
Okay, something had to be done, and fast. He estimated there was
around three minutes left before the point of no return. There was one
possible solution, though...
He began scanning the shelves for an empty bottle.
"Morning, kid. Why the long face?"
Makoto spun round in surprise. In the doorway was Princess Formyka.
"You do look a lot like Fatora," she smiled. "That must create some
interesting... possibilities."
Makoto was in even less of a frame of mind than usual to notice sexual
advances. He was, however, relieved to see somebody else.
"Princess! Boy, am I glad to see you!"
Formyka raised an eyebrow. "Well, somebody seems keen. I can't say I
blame you, though."
"I need your help!" Makoto continued, still oblivious. "I'm absolutely
desperate to... you know..."
"Hey, okay," Formyka replied, for once taken aback by his forwardness.
"Let's not make an issue of it. Just take your clothes off and we can
start."
A look of total bewilderment crossed Makoto's face.
"I... don't... understand..."
For a few moments, they stood staring at each other in confusion. Then
Makoto's nervous system discreetly reminded him that his bladder was
seconds away from explosion.
"Princess, I need you to look after Fatora for a few minutes while I use
the bathroom," he blurted out, making for the door as quickly as
possible. "I'll be back soon!"
Formyka watched him run. That had been disappointing.

Shayla deflected a volley of weapons fire and uttered an ancient swear
word so obscene, it was still technically a mortal sin to use it.
"Remind me again whose stupid idea this was?" she snarled.
Amiri glared back. "I thought you got a kick out of this sort of thing."
As Amiri had predicted, they had been spotted the moment they
materialised. They were close to Nahato's inner sanctum now, and the
area was heavily guarded. At least, Shayla thought, one of the two plans
looked to be going well. It seemed as if every member of the Phantom
Tribe was converging on the intruders- so the evacuation of the
dissidents was probably proceeding unnoticed.
Continuing blasts of wind and fire marked the group's steady progress
through the catacombs. The guards may have been heavily armed, but
they were no match for the combined might of Shayla and Afura.
A guard dropped from the ceiling, and aimed his weapon at Amiri.
Shayla casually flicked a firebomb at him.
"So tell me," she shouted to Amiri, "would you be so keen to help us if it
weren't for your little revolution?"
"I suppose not," she replied. Two more guards hurtled towards Shayla.
Somehow, her retaliatory fire blast only caught one of them. Quite
unexpectedly, Amiri whipped out a small handheld weapon and took out
the other guard.
"Now tell me," she countered, "if it wasn't for Fatora, would you be
helping us?"
It was a good question, although one destined not to be answered. At
that point they came to a huge door.
"We're here," Amiri announced. As Shayla and Afura covered her, she
punched a code into a wall panel. Nothing happened.
"Damn it! They changed the code!"
Shayla shook her head. "I suppose that's it. There's no way we can get
through that door."
"What?" Alielle and Nanami cried in unison.
"Just kidding," she laughed. "Stand back!"
Summoning all her available energy, she created a super-heated ball of
fire, which she hurled at the door. Rather than exploding, the door
simply melted, revealing a room in a state of hysteria. Amongst the
chaos, Nahato calmly looked up at the intruders.
"Amiri," he acknowledged. "I'm disappointed. For a degenerate, you
were very useful. And now it seems you're a traitor. Such a waste."
Turning to the others, he continued. "You should all be very proud of
yourselves. No outsiders have ever made it this far into our territory."
"Hey!" Alielle frowned, pointing at Nahato. "You're that nasty kid in
Fatora's dream, aren't you?"
"The very same," Nahato acknowledged, producing his copy of the
probe. "If you value the life of your princess, I'd suggest you surrender
now."
"We BOTH know you can't hurt Fatora," Alielle reminded him.
"Oh, I'll admit her inflated sense of self importance made it difficult to
inflict psychological damage. However..." He yanked an electrical cable
from a nearby by console and plunged it into one end of the probe. "I
can still kill her."
Alielle looked urgently to Amiri. "Will that kill her?"
"By exponentially increasing power to the probe... the chip in Fatora's
brain could short circuit. If her consciousness was still inside the chip at
the time..." Amiri looked back at Alielle with a worried expression.
What could they do? If Shayla or Afura made a move on Nahato, they'd
leave the others open to attack. Then Alielle remembered she'd brought
along the other probe.
It was dangerous, but she had to warn Fatora.

Princess Fatora noticed, to her alarm, that the world around her seemed
to be collapsing. The environment was twisting and buckling, as if being
manipulated by some unseen force. This wasn't just disorientating; it
was also very annoying. Especially as she was still stuck in this stupid
machine.
A figure ran through the chaos towards her. Alielle! And she looked
very worried...
"Fatora! If you stay here, you're going to die! You have to leave now!"
"I see..." she considered. "Well, any suggestions?"
Alielle sighed. Fatora was stuck here. There was nothing she could do.
She was so tired. She just wanted to rest. Sitting down next to Fatora,
she wondered if she too would die when the chip overloaded. Somehow,
she didn't care. Fatora had kept her safe for this long, she thought...
And at that moment, she had a rather ingenious idea.

Formyka was bored. Standing around, keeping an eye on Fatora, she was
wasting valuable seduction time, And where was that cute boy who
needed the bathroom?
Looking at her unconscious rival, she was reminded of an old legend. It
told of a princess, cast into a deep sleep, who was awakened with a kiss.
A smile crossed Formyka's lips. Why not? Quickly, she glanced around
to make sure she was alone.

It made perfect sense to Alielle. In this environment- Fatora's mind-
Fatora could do no wrong, and her ego wielded great power. What if she
further reinforced it? If there was one thing Alielle was good at, it was
reinforcing Fatora's ego.
The constant twisting of the images around her made it tricky, but
Alielle managed to make it over to the console, which, she assumed,
controlled the machine.
"Miss Fatora," she called out, "you have such wonderful powers of
intuition."
"That's true," Fatora nodded in agreement.
"In fact, I bet you could guess the code for the release mechanism,
couldn't you?"
"Probably. Let's say... 0191."
Alielle quickly entered the numbers into the display. Sure enough, the
machine released Fatora.
"What did I tell you?" she grinned. "Come on, Alielle, let's go."
The pair ran towards the exit. Suddenly, the walls collapsed in on them.
This, however, didn't bother Fatora, who simply kicked them back. They
staggered through the doorway into a corridor. Where was the exit
anyway?
Alielle spied something familiar up ahead. It was a platform, identical to
the one they'd used to enter Phantom Tribe territory.
"Fatora! The Phantom Tribe use these to transport themselves from
place to place! Could this be the way out?"
They stepped up onto the platform and stared at the controls.
"I'm afraid I don't know how to work it, though," Alielle admitted.
"Aw, hell, how hard can it be?" Fatora smiled, pressing random buttons.
"I consider myself something of an expert when it comes to technology."
A bright light engulfed them as they dematerialised. "See?" Fatora
exclaimed triumphantly. "I'm never wrong!"

The situation in which Fatora awoke was infinitely more disturbing than
anything she had experienced over the past few days. For some reason,
Formyka's tongue was stuck down her throat.
"Oh my God!" Fatora panicked. "I've died and gone to Hell!"

Alielle, too, returned abruptly to reality, just in time to see Nahato's
probe overload and explode.
"There's no way Fatora could have survived that..." Nanami sighed. She
was unexpectedly contradicted by a voice from Amiri's communicator.
"Is this on? Hello? Where's Alielle? And who let this bitch in here?"
"Fatora?" Amiri asked, astounded. "Did you leave the dream of your
own free will? That's impossible..."
"My Fatora can do anything," Alielle beamed.
Something started beeping. It was another of Amiri's communicators,
signalling that the evacuation was complete.
"Retreat!" she urged.

As the group charged back towards the platform, Shayla clearing their
path with a sweeping carpet of fire, a strange conversation could be
heard over Amiri's communicator.
"Why were you kissing me, anyway?"
"It was... an experiment."
"You're sick! At least I wait for women to wake up before I..."
"No, no! I thought I might wake you up with a kiss... you know, like in
that legend?"
"I don't recall the legend mentioning anything about tongues."

"I feel I should thank... the little people."
It had been a few hours since Alielle, Nanami, Shayla, Afura and Amiri
had returned from their mission. In the meantime, Fatora's full memory
had returned, and she was now addressing them in full speech mode.
"All of those who participated in my rescue. I can't possibly remember
all their names, but..."
"Hey!" Shayla objected. "Don't give us that, you know EXACTLY who
we are!"
"Quiet, you. I'm done thanking for today. But I would like to give a
special mention to all those ex-members of the Phantom Tribe who've
struck out on their own under the common values of not torturing,
kidnapping, murdering and sneaking around. Hopefully they'll be useful
allies against those blue bastards..."
Alielle nudged Fatora, embarrassed.
"What? Oh yeah, no offence," Fatora added, realising that Amiri was,
technically, blue as well. "Damn, race relations are tougher than I
thought. One less eloquent than me could really screw up. What I meant
to say was... um..."
Alielle handed Fatora a piece of paper, which she quickly consulted.
"...that I look forward to a day when our two peoples can live together in
harmony. Is, uh, that okay?"

Alielle and Fatora lay curled up in bed after a lengthy and satisfying
reunion.
"I missed you so much, Fatora," Alielle smiled. "Let's never fight
again."
"At least we'll be rid of that bitch Formyka soon," Fatora replied. "How
DARE she try to come between us."
"Now, Fatora," Alielle reassured, "you know I'd never choose anybody
over you. Although, there are some women I wouldn't mind having
alongside you..."
"As it should be," Fatora agreed.
"Hello?" a voice called. "I hope I'm not interrupting."
Formyka wandered into the bedroom and waved at the couple. "Aw,
look, monogamy. How sweet."
"Shut up!" Fatora snarled. "We can be just as debauched as you! What
do you want, anyway?"
"I came to tell you the good news. Our parliaments have agreed to call a
trade conference, so I'll be staying here for a while."
"No!" Fatora insisted. "I don't want you here!"
"Can't handle the competition?" Formyka mocked. "Just consider my
presence here as a learning experience for you." She sauntered back to
the doorway, then looked over her shoulder. "See you later, Alielle."
With that, she danced out of the room, leaving Fatora in a state of
advanced fury.
"That... BITCH!" Can't she leave me alone? If only, just once, I could
get one over on her..."
"Don't worry, Fatora," Alielle said as she put her arm around her
beloved. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

TO BE CONTINUED

Fatora's moral of the story:
"Feed your ego, make it strong! One day, it might be your salvation."


NOTES:
Wow, that took forever to write... (I know, I know, you wouldn't think
so looking at it ^_^). I introduced Formyka (Fatora's rival/double) in this
chapter to create a bit of tension between Alielle and Fatora- her real
starring role is in the next chapter, "The Fortnight". Meanwhile, Amiri
will be back in the parallel series, "The Shape of Things to Come"- yes,
there WAS a point to all that stuff with the Phantom Tribe...

=dookychan= (spookydooky@hotmail.com)

25th March 2001