Lucas and General Makepeace... two people that could not be more opposite, were wondering about in an alien forest. The strange tunnel or portal long vanished behind them. Lucas felt the strange difference of an artificial machine doing what she had done by magic... and there was something unsettling about the how the military acomplished their acts. It certainly used the same energy as magic... but the artificial and mechanical component made the 'magic' aspect so... cold.
Before the two, they could see a forest that was pretty much identical to any normal coniferous forest found on Earth... but the sounds itself seemed different. It was a lot more quiet for one. There were no bird sounds, just the rustling of the trees on a gentle breeze... yet it was empty somehow. Almost... artificial?
It was a relief to find two teenagers from earth, that had also ended up here. One even an animal changed, and well suited for this environment.
Lilly and Stacy, looked about the forest. The lack of sound was not lost on the squirrel teenager. There was also a feeling of something more personal missing. A connection to the force of magic she often felt. Then there came a flash of insight, as she saw it for what it was. "This... place isn't real," she said suddenly.
At this moment there was a curious flicker, as the world dissolved around them.
Very good little one, said a lightly high pitched voice.
Lucas looked about, her halo flaring. "Who's there?"
"Judgement will now commence" said another voice, a darker brooding one.
Lucas had her sword ready, not quite sure what was going on. It was as if someone was changing the channel around them. It was surreal, and worrying (though to the angel, probably exciting). This was not the rainbow road, which is how everyone else had travelled... instead it was a chessboard, filled with black and white squares... as far as the eye could see.
Lilly and Lucas stood on white squares, while Makepeace and Stacy stood on the black squares. They seemed unable to move for the moment, their feet stuck on the board. They were moved as a line, like a set of pawns.
Two creatures stood in front of them... humanoid much like the rainbow guardian. But while that one was composed of many colours, these were monotone. One Completely black, the absence of all colour... while the other was shining a brilliant white. Neither could be seen directly by the eyes, only off centre from vision.
"We are the penalty judges," said the beings at the same time. "We are summoned when the rules are broken... and you have broken the rules of this reality."
"What rules!" said Lucas.
"They do not apply to you Angel, Lucas." said the white figure. "Indeed, only two of you have entered have come here without a Token... and did not play the game of the Guardian."
The Black shadow looked to them each as they stood on each square, like pieces on a chessboard. "General Makepeace... present your token."
"What?" Said the general, confused. "Look- I'm not intent on causing some... interstellar war, I'm an explorer. We came here seeking new magic and technology for our people and to safe guard our planet."
"Then why did you bypass the Guardian?" asked the White being.
The general frowned. "It was deemed hostile... we wanted to explore... but no harm was intended. I'm here to capture two rogue agents, lost on your world. Agents... Black and White. They got turned into... skunks." The general groaned not quite able to say 'girl' on top of that. In a way he felt quite sorry for them.
The black guardian inched closer. "Why do you refer to the core reality as 'our' world? It is as much yours..."
"It is?" asked the general with greater confusion.
The two guardians looked to each other for a long while. "... we are aware of the two others," they both said cryptically. "Both will pay the price for breaking the rules of Reality as well..."
The general saw this as a possible means of negotiation. "Then will you let us back into the M-Dimension? We will remove them. You need not punish them, we can do that."
"The rules have been broken... by you as well, General and your engineered contraption. Therefore, you will play the same game as them..."
"game?"
The beings regarded Angel Lucas, and gave three cards. "You will pick for him. He does not get to choose his own..."
"Is that supposed to scare me?" demanded the General. "What does it matter if he gets to pick my sentence, intead of myself? I've seen the other Guardian do the same, and its hardly any different. You call this civilised?!" The general looked livid. He had seen trials where the condemned had to pick his own sentence... in some ways, this is excatly what the rainbow guardian did. So now it was to fall for Lucas to do it for him?
"...what if I don't pick anything?" asked Lucas.
"Then he will be erased." said the white guardian. "It will be as if he was never born."
The Black Guardian looked to Lucas then to the general. "Ignorance. You do not understand." It gestured to the various cards implements on its possession.
"The difference is... that this was not your true fate... all transformations you have seen thus far, ultimately belonged to you... but not this one. That doesn't mean you can't make it yours... If you can... Lucas... will you decide?"
Lucas looked over the cards. How much thought should she give it? The pictures didn't mean much to her... it could be anything. One was a picture of the general, as he was... yet somehow she knew, it couldn't be that simple.
The white guardian then went to Stacy and Lilly. It approached the squirrel girl and gave her three cards. "Choose one... for your sister."
Lilly swallowed as she looked at all the pictures. Her magical training seemed to let her feel... strange images. Almost an empathy for how each picture would change the future between herself and her sister, though it didn't give a lot to advise.
Stacy looked at Lilly sadly. "I trust you Sis," she whispered.
"But what if I pick something bad?"
"I trust you!"
Lucas gave a little smile. "Go ahead Lilly. Whatever this is, we'll get through it. So we have to play a little game... and I get to pick one for Makepeace here. Hey, what does the zombie card do?"
"Don't you dare!" Said the general annoyed. "Just choose the one that looks like me so nothing happens!"
Lucas rolled her eyes. "I can't stop 'something' from happening, so obviously this card is a trap."
"Unless that's what they want you to think," Said Makepeace.
"...you military people are so paranoid." Lucas flipped through the various cards.
Lilly looked over the pictures she had been given... the pictures meant nothing to her. Symbols of arcane insights... curious runes... what could she pick. She sat down on the ground, and turned them over, like she was playing a card game. She shuffled them.
The white guardian seemed a little... stunned by what was happening. "Is your choice random? Will you condemn your sister to a random draw?" it asked.
Lilly looked up at the white guardian. "No... not random." The squirrel teenager ran a hand over each card. one seemed to burn like fire on her fingertps... and she discarded it. She drew her hand around each one, feeling it carefully. At a sudden flash of insight, she started to draw the two cards together, fitting them like a puzzle. As she did so, she felt curious energies as the shapes on the other side joined together. It was... soothing. An image came to her... and she saw her dear friend, magic girl four.
"...Jenny..." she whispered. A magic girl would know what to do. Lilly was just a girl with some magic... not a full fledged magic girl like Jenny, or even Lucas. Even so, after so many years studying what they could... dare she place her sister's fate, on a magic she can barely understand? Still this card... gave her a pleasant feeling. It was connected to the number Four... and if Jenny was Four... then she had to trust it. Four was a power of good... and one she helped shape.
"...This one." said Lilly holding it up the combined card for the Guardian to see.
"...interesting. The interesting force is with this one." Said the white guardian to its black counterpart.
Stacy was suddenly overcome by a strange feeling running down the sides of her body. Her clothing seemed to adjust and meld, as an extra pair of arms shot out from underneath. Stacy's hair changed from their normal colour to a light blue.
Stacy looked at her extra pair of arms in some shock. "Uh... this... is weird. But I- I think I can manage with this. Thanks sis." It was an odd transformation... but nothing too difficult.
The square lilly was standing on suddenly shone white, as it engulfed her in strange light. She could feel herself changing... getting smaller? "What's happening!"
The white guardian nodded. "Balance. When you use magic to inform your decision, so will the magic reflect onto you. Now Lilly Gordon... your journey... will start... in the Forest of Dreams. You will be amongst the beasts...but they will do no harm to you. Teach them, if you can... and resist their nature... and you will be as you are again."
The black guardian looked to the other siebling. "Stacy Gordon, you will be sent to the forest of Dreams as well... perhaps the two of you can survive, if you find each other."
Lucas watched somewhat wide eyed.
Both guardians turned to the angel and the general. "You will be returned to the Forest of Dreams as well, once you choose your card." both said at the same time.
Jen stared at the chess board and at the four figures, as one of them changed. "I hope I did this right," she said. "I'm so proud of Lilly... she always did the best she could."
"But all she could ever do was sacrifice herself and her own power," said the shadowy figure.
"She did what any person would do... she used the seed of magic to heal one that died."
"And yet, her decision caused a magical stagnation... that seed could have flowered into an entire garden on a world of magic. Why are you so proud of that?"
"I would have done the same thing," said Jen. "Any decent person would have."
The shadowy player at the other end made another move. "Your daughter... and the child of Julian were friends... in this reality, as they grew up..."
Three more were on the field. A little doe girl, and two slug girls... and behind them, a larger doe-woman.
"So... that's what happened. Can't you leave my family out of this?" Asked Jen annoyed.
"I can not... your family is crucial... you know this too."
