Haru carefully explained her dream in every detail to Jon. She wasn't sure what any of it meant, but she worked through each event step by step. Half way through her explanation though, Karyn decided they needed a pen to write all this down. It amazed the oriental girl they were taking her seriously. So Haru had started again, trying to convey everything. What was odd to her was how... Jon seemed to take this in stride. Was she expecting her in some way? Was she able to accept there was something weird going on with her specifically?
Though indeed, everyone had their own issues to deal with, and maybe the slug girl was used to weirdness... but still, if Haru herself had heard someone talking about dreams she would have thought them completely mad.
"What else can you remember?" Pressed Karyn.
Haru glanced around. "A young girl held in vines... Everything just turned to blood... Then the woman she... she took the girls skin."
"You sure it wasn't because of that horror movie we watched?" Asked Ken. He was here to support her, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to help find a simple answer to what might just be a bad dream. Indeed he wanted to offer that comfort.. he liked Haru, and it felt horrible to see her distressed like this.
"N-No. Those things didn't happen in the movie." Haru blushed just a bit recalling the enjoyable evening. She hoped they could go out again. "But- I was seeing something really weird. I couldn't piece it all until after I woke up. I was seeing two things at the same time."
"What do you mean?" Asked Jon concerned. She didn't know what any of this was about.
"I..." The three eyed girl paused. "I-It's- It's hard-" She clutched her head, unable to express just how hard it is to see things that aren't really there. But in some way are there. It wasn't that her third eye was special, it was part of a triple vision system, not a redundant organ... all her eyes were part of that same whole. A picture that her brain struggled to put together with the same mindset she always had. It made looking at things distracting at times, as she usually just tuned out the extra sense. Except for those times when it just couldn't be tuned out.
But now that sense had invaded her even in her dreams. When she wasn't looking at anything. Even with her eyes closed, she was still seeing things! She couldn't stop it..
"So this woman," asked Karyn. "Did she look like Brittany?"
"Not her face. Just the clothes she wore. But a lot finer." It certainly had a refined nature to it from what she remembered. Though it could also be the way she carried herself. "she wore a circlet with a.. shape." Haru drew the shape onto the paper. It looked like a swirl of half circles, inlaying onto a central cross. Haru was actually amazed she was able to recall something like that.
Jon looked at it. The symbol meant nothing to her...
Brittany arched an eyebrow as she drew it. "That is the personal insignia of Keeper Morgana le'fey," she said remembering.
"Morgana?" Jon asked turning to her. "You mean that wicked witch from the story of King Arthur?" Jon wasn't too sure on the story having only a vague understanding of it. There was something in the story of Morgana attempting to usurp a throne?
Brittany shook her head. "Morgana is not an evil witch. She... was... you may call her a radical I suppose. Though I was not privileged to all the things she and Merlin discussed. Perhaps the only truth in that story was how, the land and a person could be considered one. However, which person would you choose?" That was one thing she did remember... very clearly. Who would be King? Who would decide the nature of reality?
Ken squeezed her Haru's hand. Right now she was so glad he was here...
Jon noticed the girl's distress feeling terribly guilty. "It's okay Haru," said Jon trying to be calm. "You want to take a little break?" She was starting to feel the need again for one herself. This was just starting to become too much.
The three eyed girl shook her head. "I'm fine. I remember something else. My dream, kept on shifting between two places. Like I was looking at two things at once."
"You mean like a photo shop image?" asked Ken.
"Y-Yeah. A bit like that. But it was also going backwards. I'm trying to remember it... There were things going on somewhere else at the same time. "I- um- I saw a slimey thing crawling down trees and became a girl."
"What?" asked Jon leaning closer. "Say that again?"
"A- A slimey.. thing turned into a girl. It was all scattered around then sort of.. pulled itself together."
Jon glanced at Karyn. They had never told anyone what happened to Zoe. This definitely showed Haru had some kind of strange sense. Was it a warning?
"I-it was too much," said Haru. "I saw too many things going on at once. I saw a church, the Angels- and other things it was like I was overloaded. I can't concentrate easily on any one of them." Finally the three eyed girl broke down and sat on a chair, clutching her head on the desk. She felt herself tearing up again. She didn't want this... she didn't want them to think she had gone crazy.
Karyn placed a sympathetic hand onto Haru's shoulder. "Believe me Haru... you're doing well. You used to be a boy too.. right? Like Jon?" Her heart went out to the poor child. it was very fortunate she had Ken with her.
Haru gave a short muffled yes. "Do you think I'm crazy?"
"No... I think you're doing really well given everything that has happened." She meant it.
Brittany gave it some thought. "Morgana is one of the most cleverest people I have ever known. It shouldn't be possible for her to come to our time without Merlin's power... not as anything more then a ghost even with it. But if she has found a way, she could change the entire nature of the world even further. Worse, she could bring things from previous ages just by her presence. Her knowledge is second only to Merlin himself in matters of magic." She paused a moment as she gave it further thought. "Indeed she was in some ways superior with certain aspects of the art..." She glanced to Jon tensely. "I have no reason to doubt Haru's vision to be a warning. Keeper Morgana is exceptionally dangerous without someone to hold her in check. She was always looking for ways of reinventing the wheel of reality itself. In such a chaotic early stage of a new age, she could actually create her own vision."
Jon looked gravely shaken and even a little sick. Was this it? Was Morgana the threat she dreaded? She had been drawn into this... struggle to decide the fate of not just life, but reality itself. She didn't want it! But... if she didn't fight to keep that power now, then it might go to someone else. What vision did Morgana have?
The slug girl then looked at Haru feeling terrible still. The pain Haru had gone through was because of her own wish. Any suffering she was going through was her own fault. Because of her wish... she didn't want anything like this to happen!
Ken gave Haru a hug. "Come on, you're doing fine. We all agree to that."
"I saw things going backwards.. I saw you Jon. The sun was yellow and in the palm of your hand," she wasn't sure quite what it meant. If it was backwards did that mean the new sun came from Jon's hand?
Jon at this point was sweating. Her slug body had started to really put out a lot of extra mucus. This was bad! Haru had found enough to piece together exactly what happened! Without even doing anything! Was this.. magic? How soon before others find out?
"It- it's not your fault," said Haru as she looked at the terrified slug girl. Again the words just came out from her lips. She didn't even mean to say it. They just slipped out.
"W-Why do you say that?" Jon asked worried. Was she a mind reader too?!
Haru looked confused a moment. "I- I don't know. I- I just know it isn't your fault..."
Lilly wasn't really concentrating at school. Artemis had ignored her all day after their initial encounter. What was worse was her unusual ability seemed to 'extend' to Jenny in some way. It was like...
... ever time she thought she knew where they were, they were not there. It was strange, but the young child knew it had to be a form of magic Artemis employed. If Artemis didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found. Not by anyone.
She couldn't blame her for being evasive now. Most of the squirrel-girl's anger was directed at the moon-girl. It might take a while to make up... if they ever did.
On the times she had watched them they seemed to get on better without her... she had a vague memory of this happening before. This was just like the gangs... When she had been older? What happened... why is it so hard to remember?
She shook her head. It was almost time for them to do dance. She had brought her leotard as before. There was a small part of her looking forward to it. Her body had a lot of energy to burn.
It was just going to be awkward to change there again this time. Maybe she should wait for everyone else first.
Jon had felt so shaken by Haru's insights that she had to crawl away. She found a small room, normally used for quiet reading in the school. There were not any students here. She glanced around some of the books, and various magazines... all old ones, with human pictures on them.
How long until they might seem... alien to people? Would that be possible?
How could anyone say it wasn't her fault. It was! All this was her fault... if only she could do real magic. She wasn't sure why but she looked at the various magazines, just to calm herself down. Finally she just snapped and tore one of them throwing it into the bin.
Not her fault? It all was her own fault! She had to fix this somehow! Now there was some strange woman... who apparently could be some kind of threat? But what kind of threat? What was the warning?
She concentrated on the table, the one thought in her head. Magic.
She was wondering... how would one do magic? Without the protection of the stone, she needed real magic to fight a witch! It was perhaps a little silly, but she placed a candle she found on the window-sil on the table... she then drew on a piece of paper a simple pentagram. Her goal was simple. Make the candle burn... if magic was possible, this had to be the simplest thing right?
"Hi there," said a strange voice.
Jon turned to see... a witch-girl? How come she had never seen her in the school? "Hello," She said back. Jon couldn't quite believe that the young girl looked remarkably human. She regarded the slug girl back with an air of curiosity.
The witch-girl giggled seeing Jon's little drawing. "Watcha' doin?"
"Um- Nothing" said Jon quickly. She then noted the curious clothes of the girl. Was she a witch? did that mean she knew magic? "I- I guess I was trying to do magic," she admitted.
The childs grin grew broader. "Ha! I knew it. But you're doin' it all wrong," chided the young witch-girl. She then pointed to a little matchbox near a windowsill. "You can use that to light it."
"That defeats the point of it though doesn't it?" asked Jon taking the matchbox.
"I don't think so," said the witch-girl with a vague grin.
It was at that point Jon realised something... why didn't she notice the matchbox there before? Maybe it was there before and she didn't notice? Urgh... this witch was just playing some weird game with her. The slug girl shrugged. "You look like a witch... can you do magic?" She asked hopefully.
"Magic? I'm not that kind of witch, as I keep reminding people" She giggled.
Great so her look was just for show. Was it for Halloween maybe? Who knows. She seemed awfully young though to be here... but she could be one of those students that were older in mind if not in body.
"Got a coin?" asked the witch-girl suddenly and rather randomly.
Jon blinked... and took one out of her purse. "Well.. yes... you going to do a magic trick for me?" She didn't really have time for games.
The witch girl placed her hand onto Jon's, as she gripped the coin. Jon felt something a little... strange.
"Flip it... heads or tails?"
"Tails I guess," said Jon. She flipped it as requested and the coin came out tails.
"Do it again," said the witch-girl quickly.
Jon did so... the coin came out tails again. She repeated the process ten times over... and the coin was still coming out as tails. Then again... and again... She had to make sure it wasn't a double sided coin. It didn't feel weighted... what was going on?
and... why was she flipping a coin? She glanced around at the empty room. There was a vague memory of someone being here before, but she quickly dismissed it. Nobody was there...
