As normal as it gets?

[gee]

Missed Vocal Sync’s

Alan

2542 6427 95

Where are you?

Sent Yesterday, 10:35 pm

Are you alright?

Sent Yesterday, 11:00 pm

Vocalize me, Gekk..

Sent Today, 12:00 am

Missed Vocalized Conversion

Alan - 6

Kay - 1

Moonlite - 1 - Vocalized Conversion

Great. I sat on the corner of my messy single bed and stared at the screen of my Vocalizer. Go missing for eight hours and suddenly everyone wants to get ahold of you.

Well, Scariest things first. I tapped the blinking Vocalized Conversion icon by the pic of a frightening red-eyed dark Man. Moonlite’s monotone deep voice spoke.

"Gekkou. They convenes at next full light. Your studies do you credit, but I must insist you attend. Your presence at meeting and at home has been missed."

A hint of warmth colored his voice on the last syllables, and I felt guilt for my earlier dread. Don't get me wrong, M was the scariest, bad ass-est guy I knew. He'd taken care of me, after the death of my parents. I'd no memory of what kind of leader my father had truly been, but M always did what he thought was fair and right, and he had taken care to see I never wanted for anything. Sure he was cold and abrupt 98 per cent of the time, but when you commanded a team of fighters who would tear your throat out at the first sign of weakness, I supposed you kind of had to be.

Well, onto the next scary thing. Which might actually prove to be worse. I tapped Alan’s picture, and held the phone up to my ear, listening to the ringing on the other end. My dear sweet Alan. In my life surrounded by strong.. Weak and human, he would be ripped apart in any kind of fight. That didn't worry me, I could protect the both of us, and Alan was so kind and eager to please. He did everything when he got a smile on my face. I'd never seen any male show such affection.

The Vocalizer went to vocal mail, so I assumed he must be in training. The realization jolted me, and I hung up quickly to check the time. Shit, fifteen minutes to be in sparring class across the way. Jumping up, I grabbed the first tshirt and jeans I could find and scrabbled through the mess on the floor Vocalized Conversing while I jogged, I sent a quick message to Alan.

Overslept. In tranning. See you tonight.

The curling link in the back of my conciousness touched my mind, seeming to object to my making plans with another male. I dithered over the send button for a moment, and thought about The guy from before. What the hell

[gee]

was this mess I'd gotten myself into.. After another minute, I tacked on 'We need to talk'. I hit send and silenced my phone as I slinked into the crowd heading for the training hall.

In his tunnel lair, He sat studying the scrolls they'd salvaged from their last raid on a Tenshi stronghold. Though Vick was dead, several of the elder council members had escaped. So far no clear leader had stepped forward to take Vic’s place, but that was the way of Tenshi, to skulk in the background and blend with the shadows; attack from behind and never when or where they were expected. He had a feeling that soon a time of peace was coming for his brothers- they'd accomplished a blending of the two races, victory and revenge on most of the Tenshi who'd held them enslaved for centuries. Only a straggling few were left, and once that was done.. well. What would a Tenma General do in his retirement?

Of course there was now the mystery of the young red banged girl. He'd heard nothing of this kind of creature before. She was fascinating, and beautiful. Spunky too. Brave, and strong. He found himself drawn to her in a way he hadn't felt since...

My mother.

Sorrow still came with the thought of her, but with Vic’s death, something of the indignant, revenge-fueled rage had soothed. With Justice, at last, perhaps the memories could rest in peace.

They were very different, the raven-haired blue banged Tenshi warrior princess and this shifty red banged Girl. She couldn't have been more than twenty. But they had the same strength, a courage and will that he admired. Women of such a calibre were rare treasures indeed.

But the mystery surrounding her would have to be unlocked. He poured over the ancient records of the descendants of Gibbous, looking for some reference to them, her kind. The Gibbous brothers, both Tenshi and Tenma, had mutated to become some strange hybrid of both races. Tenma had never been able to take pure Tenshi form, nor could Tenshi become Tenma.

Clearly the girl, Gekkou, was from a completely different genetic line. There was an air of world about her, and magic- this psychic link that seemed to bind them was also new to Him. Tenma and Tenshi were able to pass thoughts and memories through battles and blood, but this was different. It was a constant connection to her, that if he reached for it gave him access to her emotions, bits of thought, and a constant slight pull in her direction. He was quite sure he could find her with no more help than that, wherever she was, whenever he wished.

And that would be quite soon.

After an hour and a half lecture on proper guard and attack philosophy in modern fights, I escaped. There was a party saturday night, and I'd promised not to miss this social event of the season. Couldn't miss that impressive spectacle, now could we?
.

Yes, I decided. I would continue as if nothing had changed, and then in time, hopefully before the meeting next month, it would all be back to normal.

With a lighter heart and humming 'Smile', I pulled out my VC and called Alan. We would go to the volcano party tomorrow night, and have an excellent, power-free date!

The amount of training going undone was atrocious, and my feet hurt before I'd gone three steps in my four inch heels. But they were sexy- black sandals with red ribbons that crisscrossed halfway up my calf. That was another attraction Alan offered; he was tall enough for me to wear such hazardous footgear. In these, I was over six feet. A little smile stole my lips as I thought how he would stand a good inch shorter than I if I were to wear these with him. The badass Tenma commander had such a strong presence, that one very rarely thought of him in terms of height. The idea amused me

Without realizing it til too late, I sent that mental image and laughter down our subconcious link. Suddenly an answering rumble of amusement filled my mind, along with a feeling of smug promise that seemed to mean Go ahead and try it. I stumbled a bit with surprise, and did the equivalent of a mental blush and utter brain silence as I walked the rest of the way to the party. Kay, at my side, could be counted on to fill any silence. We were meeting the boys at the party; Alan and Kay's flavor of the week, James.

[gee]

We spied them at the bar and made our way over. Alan's eyes traveled appreciatively up from my sandals and the red dress that swished as I walked, to my hair curled and bouncing on my bare shoulders. He offered me my red plastic cup and slid his arm around my waist with a grin.

"Total knockout, Gekk."

I grinned up at him and toasted him, clinking the plastic beer-filled cups. "Round 1 to me, then?"

He winked and kissed me on the cheek. "You know it." He leaned in closer to speak softly in my ear. A growl in my mind answered his intimacy. I ignored it. "How are you, Gekk? What's up with the disappearing act?"

I brushed him off with a smile and ran my hand up his arm, earning me another mental reprimand, which I also ignored. "Nothing at all, too much training not enough sleep. It catches up with you at the most inconvenient times. Now, who's Kay's latest honey trap victim?"

Alan gave me a suspicious look, but let it slide. He escorted me over to the couple who were happily slurping each other's faces off, and we began the introductions.

The party was a raging success, a half an hour and four more drinks later, the tiki torches were suddenly doused, and hawaiian music and chanting started, drums coming closer as grass-skirt clad frat boys wound through the crowd, bearing their ceremonially dressed 'women' on a litter. There was laughter and applause from the crowd as they made their way to the top of the enourmous paper mache volcano. The chanting and music swelled to a crescendo as they reached the top, and prepared to dump the girl in the volcano's mouth. A great frothing and bubbling sound erupted from its innards, and liquid poured out the sides. The crowd cheered and picked up the chant, encouraging the girl's 'sacrifice'. I laughed and clapped along, turning to grin up at Alan, and see his reaction to the play.

I never did see them throw her in. I was suddenly struck to my knees with the force of a blow that didn't actually hit me. A blinding pain tore through my shoulder, and for a moment I looked up through eyes that weren't my own, and saw a bright blue-eyed Tenshi with a fanged smile rip back his sword, and His blood sprayed from it.

I screamed, and blacked out.

[Gray Callahan]

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