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<TITLE> Shoki and the Sanctuaries, Part 2</TITLE>
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<BODY>--Chapter 3, Time to Save the World Again?--

Kristie wandered into the household, and she suddenly heard something in her mind, ‘I’d fight you and bite your leg, but my owner let you in, so I guess I’ll let you off the hook.’ She was used to hearing things in her mind, being a Lokon made it second nature. Soon she realized that it wasn’t coming from another human, (she didn’t know if humans in this world bite people’s legs to challenge one another) it came from the dog! As she stared down at the black and white dog, she leapt back a few inches. Ness’ mother just stared at Kristie.

"Is something wrong?" She asked the strange newcomer. Kristie still was gasping as she stared at the dog, sweating profusely. Now she could read into the minds of animals! This world was getting stranger by the minute. Soon she noticed that the owner of the house was still staring at her.

She tried to keep her surprise focused on something on value to her, "Oh!" She cried, "That couch is a perfect complement to this house!" Ness’ mother still stared at her, wondering why she needed to sweat because of a couch. She then shrugged and decided not to investigate any further.

As Kristie settled down on the couch, Ness’ mother decided to strike up some conversation, "So, what kind of job do you have?" She wondered. Kristie went cold. What kind of job did she have to make up to get her to understand? What if the job she thought up didn’t exist on this planet? Would she have to beg forgiveness and tell her everything? She suddenly remembered that when she was traveling with her friends around the world many people from around her planet called her, "A treasure hunter." She answered.

"Ah, like Liar X. Agerate, then, right?" Ness’ mom asked.

Kristie had no idea who this Mr. Agerate was, "Yeah, just like him," She answered, "So, do you have any children?"

This was the part Kristie wanted to hear, "Yes, I’ll have them come down and meet you, you know, my son is about your age, and he doesn’t have a job at all." The woman giggled a bit, then shouted, "Ness! Tracy! Come down here for a second!"

Kristie smiled. She was sure whoever she was looking for was a boy, but a problem stuck in her mind. In her land, Tracy was a boy’s name, she guessed that Ness should be of the opposite gender, either that or another male. Then who would be the one she was looking for? As the children came down the stairs, she sighed happily to herself, obviously Tracy was the boy she was looking for, and she always had this thing for black hair…

"Kids, this is Kristie, she’s staying here until she finds a house to live in. She’s a treasure hunter, like Mr. Agerate, so she’ll be paying the rent." Ness’ mother explained the intrusion.

Ness smiled, "I know a certain seaside shack she could live in." He said, smirking.

Kristie smiled, and remembered the run down shack that she had left behind when she first came to this world. She was glad that Tracy had such a sense of humor. Perhaps being here wouldn’t be so bad, although she would miss Lyana, Ryan, Char, Startia, and Ron. She decided to see what Tracy thought of her, and she used her newfound PSI ability to look into his mind. What she saw sent her mind reeling back.

"Uh, can I speak with your son for a moment?" Kristie asked the woman. Tracy and Ness’ mother both looked at Ness, and he shrugged. Kristie immediately snatched him up, and with a quick thanks to his mother, she nearly dragged the boy to his room.

When Kristie was sure they were alone, she slammed the door and cried, "You’re Ness?"

Ness shook his sleeve of any dirt Kristie left on him off, "Yeah; and you know PSI, isn’t that a coincidence?" Ness said, obviously being able to detect Kristie’s defiling his mind.

Kristie ran her left hand through her hair, catching a few tangles as it went along her scalp. What she didn’t want was an argument, so she just sighed and sat down on his chair, and began to speak, "I am Kristie, a Half-Lokon, and The Apple Of Enlightenment sent me here to tell you that your world is in danger of destruction."

This caught Ness’ attention, and he just sat down on his bed and began to listen. Kristie dragged her chair up to him and sat down the wrong way, her hands sprawled from the back of the chair, and said, "I’ll go back to the beginning, when our world was peaceful, and nothing could destroy the happiness of the land. It was only fifteen years since my mother gave birth to me, and I was different form my other people, for I was half-Lokon. Lokons are great people, who think and learn faster than any other species of humanoid alive. Unfortunately, they are also timid, and keep themselves away from other intelligent creatures. I was born with my father’s sense of adventure and happiness, and my mother’s sense of knowledge and intelligence. While I was away hunting, and awful man came and killed everyone, apparently looking especially for me. The only Lokons alive now are the Princess Lyana, and me. We swore to find the man and destroy him for what he did. We met many others along the way, Ryan, half Black Shoki Mage, almost like me, Char, a Summoning Elf, Startia, the Shoki Time Mage wonder, and Ron, a sneaky little Bounty Hunter, who almost made the mistake of killing me.

"We finally found the destroyer of my people, who was Ryan’s uncle, on the Black Shoki side. We defeated him, and it was then that I realized the importance of ones friends. They nearly died during that fight. It was then that I also saw how uncaring the earth was, and Lyana and I were of no part of it… Without family to return to when our group went our separate ways, we the only ones to go home to ruins. It took awhile to realize that nowhere on this planet was home, yet our home was everywhere on the planet, understand?"

Ness shook his head to signal he had no idea what Kristie was rambling about, and things were getting interesting until then. The half-Lokon sighed and continued relating the story to her new (yet not understanding) friend, "Anyway, the two of us decided to travel to the ends of the Earth together, it was there we met a woman named Kari. She was a loner, like us. She was also a scientist at her village before, (as she said) Mystra, a great goddess, blew her land to raging pieces. The only thing she had left to remember her heritage by was the flowing blood red cloak she always wore, and her studies she used to master the power of Shoki, without the extensive training one must go through to acquire it. We offered to take her to a great city, to continue her studies."

Kristie closed her eyes and shook her head, "We should have know that their people died because of the evil in their hearts. Kari did complete her work, and called it Mystech. Then one day, she went insane, claiming a great destroyer had called her to kill my friends and I. She called this destroyer Giygas, or something."

Ness looked aghast, "Yes," Kristie confirmed for him, "obviously he had called her too. Yet she didn’t go to see him first, until we defeated her, and she retreated to another planet, promising to kill all of us someday. Yet that’s not all, I found out who Mystra was," Kristie giggled a bit, "This great Mystra was and is, according to her people, The Apple of Enlightenment."

Ness nodded, actually understanding this terrible fate that was bestowed upon the entire universe, and he waited for Kristie to continue, "The Apple had destroyed Kari’s people because they were evil, but he hadn’t predicted Kari living, just like Pokey helping Giygas. Mystra told me that I had to find out what was cutting off his predictions, and stop whatever it was. He told me to find two boys and two girls, to help me in my quest, and you are one of the boys."

Ness held his breath, and slowly let it out, like Poo had taught him when he first meditated to let his PSI get stronger. He felt like he needed to meditate because he was deep in thought, as if he was still trying to take it all in. He still seemed a bit out of it. After all, he was finally finding out about his universe. People in her world seemed less advanced, but they had technology, it was really strange. He continued to sit there, completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Kristie had a feeling that would have happened, so she just sat back and waited for him to say something. Three minutes went by, when Ness finally sucked in a breath, and let it out again, returning to his original breathing. Kristie just smiled.

"You really need to leave that meditating stuff to your prince friend," She said, smirking, "You don’t do it as good as him."

Ness shot her a glance, and said in a rather annoyed tone, "Would you please stay out of my mind? I couldn’t feel you in my mind when I was meditating."

Kristie sighed, "How else should I know about your adventures?" She retorted.

"Would you try asking, instead of prying?" He asked sarcastically.

Kristie smiled, totally oblivious to his sarcasm, "Hey; that rhymed!" She said stupidly, obviously insulting him

Ness sighed, "So, Kari is going to attack my planet with her Mystech, then?" He asked, trying not to continue the bickering.

Kristie started playing with a lock of her hair, "No, neither of us can use any powers that don’t have relation to your planet, so I can still use PSI, but n Shoki," She answered. Ness settled down again, because he knew that this would start taking awhile too. Kristie stared at his bored face, but continued because of the urgency of her quest, "Okay, I’ll make it quick. PSI can be used, but when you beat that weird Giygas thingie, the planet lost lots of it’s energy. So, it doesn’t have that much power. The rest of it is being used to continue keeping the barrier that stops Shoki or Mystech from being used. Got it?"

Ness nodded his head, "Yeah, so this barrier is protecting our world from alien magics, like a protection from a virus in a computer; or in your body, right?" He related.

Kristie nodded, "You hit the nail on the head. Now then, let’s continue. With my mind, I can easily use and control PSI powers, but Kari gained her powers by cheating, she is most probably going to use the powers of my planet to destroy the barrier, thus wreaking havoc upon your world…"

Kristie couldn’t be more right, for as they were speaking, Kari was already planning an evil, uhhhhh, plan!

"All right, you Black Shoki Mages! Listen up and listen good!" She cried as she magically sealed the strange and faceless Shoki Mages within Mystech bubbles. "This is what you are going to do! You are going to be my new army. Anyone who opposes me shall be the cause of decimation, do you hear me?"

Kari’s new army gulped, "Yes, all of you. Cower before me! You think that the great Arch Magus Ryan got rid of me, didn’t you?" The BSM didn’t say anything, "Didn’t you?" She cried, and all of them nodded.

Kari’s lips broke into a large smile, "And I know you were responsible for bringing Kristie to the world she is now, so, I was wondering what sort of punishment I should bestow upon you." She thought for a while, "How about I steal all of your children away?"

A small female Mage screamed, "Mommy! Mommy! I want my mommy!" Kari stared at the young child, and soon her red face turned back to its original color.

"Well, I was just inspired to do another thing. I shall not harm your children, and you use your Shoki to teleport to that other planet, then use your Shoki to destroy that boy’s sanctuaries!" She began to cackle out loud, "Ahh! Perfection in its most beautiful form!"

"Um, If I may…" A BSM scientist started. The Mystech Mage stared at the scientist threateningly, but he cleared his throat and continued, "In my recent studies of the heavens, it seems that no one can use magics that aren’t related to the planet they are on. The only things that have Shoki that can are characters that are directly related to our planet."

When the scientist ended, Kari appeared deep in thought. Her brow was knitted, and she seemed to be hissing, as if angry that her plan was foiled. When the BSM thought that she might have given up hope, she snapped her fingers and laughed joyously. She turned to face the Chief of the Mages and said, "Well, you think that you’ve won, haven’t you; but I have a plan, and it involves the Element Summoning Elves." She laughed cruelly as she left the village. When she did, a large force field was set up around the village, and the individual fields dissipated.

Kristie paced Ness, explaining their situation, "When you fought and beat Giygas, your planet used much of her power to help you destroy him. Remember Magicant?"

Ness crossed his arms, "seeing as how you saw into my mind, how could I?"

Kristie’s smile was wiped completely off her face. She threw her hands onto her temples and rubbed; hard. Ness saw this and stood up, asking, "Hey, what’s this all about? Just cause I won doesn’t mean you have to be a poor sport."

Kristie looked on the verge of tears. She was still rubbing, and by the looks of it, it hurt. She continued, everytime answering his question in between sighs and presses, "Sorry… just punishing… myself… for not thinking… of that… sooner… ouch." She finally ceased her relentless assault upon her cranium, and looked at Ness. The two held their gaze for a second, and the half-Lokon turned away, "I’m sorry, I won’t see into your mind any longer."

Ness looked surprised for a second, but he shrugged, smiled, and answered, "If that the punishment your people had, then I’m kind of glad I’m not one." When he saw her apprehensive look, he decided to lighten the mood, and added, "You have to teach me that, then we’ll be even."

Kristie’s smile returned, and she smiled, saying, "Thanks, Ness."

Ness returned to his bed, "Well, continue, what about Magicant?" he asked.

Kristie began pacing, "Yes, when you left Magicant, the Earth gave you its power, now it hardly has any, just enough to protect itself from Shoki, Mystech, and any other magic from other planets. My plan is that I will use my Shoki, because it is absorbed by the Earth, and turned into PSI, at the Sanctuaries. If enough energy is given to the planet, then it shall give its new Shoki-PSI power to me, like you, and I’ll channel it to you, then the power of the planet shall return to its rightful owner." She turned and looked solemnly at Ness, pointing at him, "You,"

Ness sighed again, but didn’t go into a meditation, "Sounds like a plan, so I’ll collect everyone else, let’s teleport outside."

Kristie shook her head, "It doesn’t work that way. You have your PSI because the planet gives it to you when you rest. Let’s not use too much, so we don’t wear out the planet’s energy and the barrier, OK?"

Ness looked thoroughly disappointed, but he nodded, holding his head upon his thumb and forefinger, "Yes, it seems logical." He said the way Jeff always did.

Kristie laughed, saying with an air of happiness in her voice, "You sound like…" Her voice trailed off for a second, but she finished with, "Ryan…"

Ness looked at her face, which had gone slightly pink, and he smiled, "Yup, anyway, can we leave now? Saving the world is hard work, no real time for slacking, unless you’re too tired to continue," he concluded.

As the two heroes left Ness’ room, he said to himself, "It was the Sound Stone that recorded the melodies and helped me gather the energy of the planet, is she like her?"

Kristie looked at Ness, "What was that?"

Ness looked back, then muttered under his breath, "No… it’s nothing."

Kristie shrugged, but continued. Yet before the young adults could get out of the house, Kristie had to explain everything to Ness’ mother, apologizing for her deceptions.

And so, the two heroes left Ness’ house, and entered their new adventures.

--End Part Two, and Chapter 3, the Beginning of the Adventure--
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