---

Weary traveler, enter the Gulf Temple. Unravel the great secrets it holds from birth, and console your mind in the surrounding beauty. The Pillar of water will one day be destroyed; admire it while the opportunity still stands....
Michael, Gulf Temple Guardian

---

While the group of Harsemhin, Cirra, Dan, and their host Raltise had just arrived in Moonside, Ness had been in Fourside for quite some time. Feeling the Mani Mani's warped pulse inside of his mind, he had run through the maze of shining buildings to find his enemy. Oddly enough, no adversaries had appeared on the way. Which was fine with Ness.... he only wanted to fight Mani Mani.
The throbbing in Ness's head had reached its pinnacle. He stood in front of a very spacious, but sealed off, building. He waited patiently, and was rewarded when part of the wall phased away, revealing the interior.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ness strided down a long hallway. He didn't notice that the wall was phasing back into place, but if he had, he wouldn't have cared. The hallway seemed to go on longer than it should have in relation to the outside of the building, but finally Ness reached an end. A single door lay in his way. He reached for the knob....
The room opened up as the door did, and giving off a dizzying golden shine was the horrible demon that Ness so loathed.
Welcome, Ness. I was waiting for you. It was sweet of you to come all this way just to see me.
A red-faced Ness only glowered at the statue. "Why couldn't you have just called me here? It wouldn't have taken as long."
But it's so much fun to cause this much suffering, said Mani Mani, not directly giving away his true intention.
Ness didn't reply. He just drew his bat, and waited for Mani Mani.
Ness............. I have something to show you. The sword-holding statue's form shimmered and rippled. It blurred together and became darker. Then it resolved itself. Standing where the statue had been was what looked like Jackie Boruhesu.
"It's...."
The stupid owner of that café? Indeed.
"What did you do to him?! Why him too!!"
Ha ha. Don't get TOO emotional. He's not dead, he's well and alive in Fourside. I just absorbed his power, and used his physical body as a guise. However, he's not the type that has much power to lend me. It should be enough to help me kill you, though.
Ness waited for Mani Mani to make its move using Jackie's body. Mani Mani just gave Ness a piercing stare, Jackie Boruhesu's eyes going unnaturally wide and bright. But Ness hardly noticed, only concentrated on Mani Mani's actions.

The bright red lips of the Kiss of Death closed in on TsuramiSea. It was coming so fast that Tsurami barely had time to catch the lips and hold them a mere inch away from his face. That saucer must watch too much Sailor Moon! What a Dead Moon Circus ripoff! I can't believe I'm fighting a Lemure.... or is that Remles?
Kyle and Matt both leapt forward with their own attacks, but the Kiss of Death zipped out of Tsurami's hands and waggled its tongue at them disturbingly. "OOOOOO! Kissykissykissy! Hehehehehehe!"
I thought you said that only a very strong power could break that seal, communicated Matt warily.
TsuramiSea swallowed. "Ah... well.. I must not've focused well enough. Also, maybe they weren't weak enough for it to work properly."
Kyle barely rolled out of the way as the Kiss of Death flew at him. "Well, never mind, what do we do NOW?"
We beat this thing and continue to look for Cyan. We may have lost the UFOs, but we can still tell the others all we know. Next time, we'll have to destroy them.
I can't believe it, thought TsuramiSea miserably. This is my fault. I should've just finished them. But I thought that seal would hold.... He realized that the battle with the Kiss of Death had already started. No! No more self-pity. You've caused them enough trouble, so you'd better do things RIGHT this time, TsuramiSea! TsuramiSea joined the fray, and all three people did their best to dodge the monster's frantic attempts at stealing a kiss, and the life, from its targets.

Cirra stared at Harsemhin, and smiled softly. "I was on Altus...so long ago, it seems. But those days are behind me now."
She looked down into her lap then. She pulled something out of her pocket, and Harsemhin looked at it suspiciously.
She held it out for him to see. "Here. This is the Niveous rod. This is what brought me safely from Altus. It's all I have left..."
Something triggered in Harsemhin’s brain at that point, and he could recall another flashback.

---

The next instalment of Harsemhin's Memories, with your host, Harsemhin Aberfydd!

---

I waved to Cirra.
"Watch the dragon armor medallion for me!" I walked along the path away from the castle, wiping a tear from my eye. Suddenly, I remembered something in my bag. I ran back to Cirra, who was crying lightly.
"Cirra...I found these during my travels one day. I never got to give them to you before, but they're said to inhabit stellar power. Columba Blizzard and Vulpecula Tornado, respectively. Here..." I held out my hand, and handed her two scepters. "The Niveous and The Gelid rod. My last presents to you, dear."

---

Shortly thereafter, Dan came walking/staggering back towards the parkbench. "So, what were you two discussing while I was being chased by old women?"
Both sweatdropped.
"The weather!" Cirra shouted.
"Goals in life!" Harsemhin offered.
"Goals in weather?" Dan smiled. "I seeeeeee. Actually, you're both from Altus, city in the clouds, advanced peaceful little place, I must say."
"How did you...?"
"I couldn't help but overhear; I thought Altus was just some place a guy on the net made up."
Cirra squeaked. "They have it...on the internet!?"
"Oh yes. They have eeeeeverything on the internet. Don't worry, though. No one believes the guy, as he also claims to have an advanced civilization of micro-aliens living inside his shirt pocket. Go ahead and continue whatever you're discussing, although I would stop sitting on the bench, which thanks to Moonside's lack of physics, just disappeared."
Both Cirra and Harsemhin instantly fell through what was once a bench, and stood near what appeared to be a "Go" sign.
Raltise quickly saved them some trouble. "That sign will most likely turn into a large pit within a few seconds. Take my advice and do not stand near anything that appears to be solid."
"So, Rita..." he started again, standing in the middle of a neon field with the three others in the group. "When was Altus' government overthrown...?"

"Now where to?" asked Siris.
"Yes, we found the source of your signal, so where are we off to now?" added Luna.
"I don't know, I really don't know," said Cyan with more uncertainty than he'd shown before. "It looks like Anthadd doesn't even exist in this world!"
"Maybe we should rejoin the others," suggested Skulryk.
"Good idea. Ready to go, Cyan?" queried Siris.
"Yeah, I'm all right..." sighed Cyan.
They started walking back to Fourside. When they got closer to the outskirts of the city, a newspaper blowing in the wind caught itself on Cyan's leg.
"What's this?" wondered Cyan as he pulled the peper off his leg and spied a picture of Jeff on it.
Boy Genius Dies in Lab Massacre, read the headline.
"Jeff's dead too...?" muttered Cyan.

All was well, inside Burglin's Park, where Everdred enjoyed his time watching over the locals; checking to make sure no crooked cops came along and shut them down...
Then it happened. A cold wind blew in from the east, ran down Everdred's spine. He shivered with anticipation. He looked eastward, toward the park's entrance, to see what he was about to welcome to his beloved park. A boy, in a black leather jacket, stepped forth. His face was quite menacing and evil... his eyes were dark... very dark. The boy brushed back his hair and pointed at Everdred. Confused, Everdred walked over to the boy and said, "You're asking for me? I don't see anyone else behind me, so you must be asking for me."
The boy chuckled and said, "Cut the bull, old man. Mani Mani sent me to give you this message."
Everdred jumped back at the mention of Mani Mani, the evil statue which almost claimed his life back in 199X. Everdred pulled on his neck collar and said, "Heh, I don't know what you're talking about. Whatever you're taking, drop it."
The boy looked up once again and said, "You will listen to this message, or I will personally kill you."
Everdred squinted his eyes through the sunglasses and noticed that he wasn't joking around. He growled, "Respect your elder, boy. What does he want?"
"He wants you to do a small job for him... although he should have chosen me, Rockwell, in the first place," the boy growled, "But it's my master's wish... I must obey it. He wants you to assassinate Mrs. Polestar."
Everdred stared at Rockwell and thought he must be joking. He refused, "Forget it. She's a good woman. Why does Mani Mani wants her dead?"
"He... has her own reason. Since you refused, I must engage you in battle. Prepare to die." Rockwell smiled, showing a small glimmer of his left canine tooth.
He drew his Sword of Shadows and jumped backward, getting ready to fight. Everdred chuckled, "That little toy? You're on."

They quickly ran into the building.
"Don't move!" screamed a few policemen.
They seemed to know what they were up to.
"Do I get my shooting mission now Mike?"
"Go ahead, but only shoot things besides humans. I'll meet up with you after I get what I need." After that, Mike ran up the stairs.
Meanwhile, RG was having the time of his life. He was scaring the police half to death. They obviously didn't know how to shoot.

Mike was rummaging through a large bin in the corner of the office.
"Here we go!"
Mike had found a faded brown envelope that read, "Operation Starstruck."
He quickly walked over to a large desk. The drawers were stuck, so he forced them open with his crowbar.
He discovered the bag of pellets. He scooped them up and quickly headed to the next room; the research and development room. He saw a large weapon on the table. It was labelled, "SKX 395 Destroyer."

Mike ran back to where RG was.
The room was so shot up, you could see through the walls.
"Wha..." Mike started, but RG grabbed a green and black envelope, along with a strange looking weapon, and pulled Mike out the door.
"There, we're out!" cried RG.

Ness continued staring at Mani Mani.
Why does he remain so still? Ness thought.
Then he sensed a slight movement. He whirled in that direction. It was simply Mani Mani's hand.
He stared harder.
It flickered.
"He tricked me!" Ness exclaimed angrily. "It's a hologram!"

"I'm surprised he didn't catch on earlier," Mani Mani muttered as he ran towards a secondary base. Even the UFO's didn't know where this one was.
He slowly drew energy from the hologram and began to transform into Ellen Boruhesu.
"I'm not in favour of transforming into women," he mused, "but I'll do anything to elude Ness for now. It would be detrimental to achieving my Zenith to be destroyed at such a crucial phase in the plan."
He continued running.
"Therefore," he amended, "I need another wariror to do my work for me. Rockwell's done well, as it is. However, I think he needs some aid."
He threw himself into a rather non-descript building and locked the door.
"But who should I use as my second soldier? This Aberfydd would be promising. If he wasn't so lacking in weapons. Yet I've temporarily disposed of him, Raltise, Princess Cirra and Dan. Moonsides are so efficient in removing pests temporarily."

Ness slumped to his knees.
"Where'd he go?" he whined, and began to trek back towards the way he had come in.

"Hey, staggering mailboxes! I'm coming!"
"You idiot! They're walking parking metres!"
Harsemhin looked at Cirra and Raltise.
"Let's go!" Dan commanded.

The two infiltrators left the building. It was early in the morning, around the time that various morning talk shows came on. Mike and RG ran around the corner just as a whole slew of policemen arrived. They entered the building with weapons drawn. After a short wait, news trucks arrived, ready to capture anything that happened while the police were searching the building. Mike sighed.
"How much ammunition do you carry? That room was shot up totally." Mike looked at RG. He couldn't see where RG stored his extra rounds.
"That's a secret. Besides, it's not the amount of ammunition that you have, but how you use it." RG grinned.
"Right. I suppose that that's true. Anyways, I got what I needed. All we need to do now is meet up with somebody."
"Yeah, I know. He should have been outside of the building, but the only people who are there are cops and reporters." RG looked at the large crowd that had assembled in front of the previously raided building. "I don't see Skulryk there, though."
Mike nodded slowly. He was assessing the current situation. "Perhaps this person that we have to meet up with is-" He couldn't finish his statement. To his surprise, four people who looked very similar had materialized out of nowhere.
"Hello, Mike."
Mike blinked. He was astonished to have seen people come out of nowhere. He studied them closely before saying anything. Squinting, Mike looked at each of their faces. To his surprise, they all looked... like him. One was in a uniform. "Hello. Are you the ones who I am to meet up with?"
"Yes. Hand over the plans, pellets, and weapon." The person in the uniform held out his hand. RG stood still, hiding the packages that he had grabbed before leaving the building.
Mike looked around, then obliged. Slowly, he reached for the three items. As he got to each one, they disappeared and reappeared in the outstretched hand. "There."
"Ahh, yes. Very well. Now, for your payment..." The three people behind the uniformed person seemed to meld into one person. That one person then joined with the uniformed Mike look-alike. "You are to come with us." Just as the uniformed person said that, a strong light engulfed Mike and his look-alike. They then disappeared.
RG blinked. "Wow. Now what?" He sat down and pulled out his gun. He took it apart and cleaned it. He figured that Mike would return eventually.
Mike reappeared in what appeared to be an interrogation cell. "Where am I?"
"That is something that I will get to eventually." The Mike look-alike smiled.
Flabbergasted, Mike shook his head. "Wha? What is going on?"
"Maybe this would be easier if your... associate were here too..." The look-alike pressed a button in the table, and to Mike's, and RG's, surprise, RG materialized in the room. "Now, if you'll let me explain, you're beyond the reaches of YOUR own reality. Freaky, eh?"
Before either Mike or RG could answer, an aide walked into the room with a plate of cookies and a mug of tea.
"I suppose that we could enjoy our refreshments before we go on. You can use this time to adjust to what I told you."

The lips flew at TsuramiSea again. He dodged.
"Stupid Kiss of Death," said Kyle as the lips tried to give Matt a big *smack*. "PSI End of the World Alpha!"

Cyan stared at the newspaper for a second - catching the attention of the others since he stopped - when something clicked in his head.
First Paula, then Poo and now Jeff ... someone has been taking out Ness' friends one by one. Each was unprepared to defend themselves. Just like when ... No!, I can't let these thoughts do that to me again!

Matt stopped in his tracks. He stood there, dazed.
"Maaaaaaaaattttttttt..." whispered a twisted voice in his head. "How'd you like to help me out?" The voice let out a demented laugh.
Kyle turned towards Matt and looked him over.
"You okay, Matt?" he asked. Matt just stood there, frozen.
"Wh-who are you?!?!" stammered Matt. Well, what the telepathic equivelant of stammering would be.
"It doesn't matter, Matt" laughed the voice. "All that matter is that you're under my control now, and you're going to merciless kill you friends! This was followed by another hideous laugh.
"Um...Matt?" stuttered Tsurami, hesitantly. He looked over Matt, who had become pale and motionless.
Matt forced himself to turn his head towards the two and mutter one word.
"Run..."
The two stared at him, nervous and confused. But within moments, they both paled. They saw the transformation occuring.
Matt kneeled on the ground. He screamed in pain, cringing as his muscles contorted. Fur grew all over his body, but different from normal; it was shadow black. His hands morphed into vicous claws, and his eyes turned a glowing red colour.
"I serve Mani-Mani," growled the shadow-black werewolf. He saw the two in front of him, petrified. "It is his will that you must die."

Siris was troubled. He had never seen this side of Cyan. From his aura, Siris could sense an energy of darkness.
"Cyan..." Siris began, extending an arm to touch his shoulder. Cyan roughly pushed Siris's hand away, and Siris took a step back.
Cyan was much different now, Siris could tell. As if the drastic change in the color of his armor was not enough of a hint, the thick aura of darkness that now surrounded Cyan was a dead giveaway. Cyan seemed to be acting much differently now, as if taken over by some dark power. Siris's mind delved more deeply into Cyan's aura.
Something else brought this out, Siris thought. Cyan must have this power, but it shouldn't be brought out unless there was some feeling strong enough to bring it out. Cyan hasn't been particularly stressed, I don't think... I think he was caught unaware by some outside power.
Siris took a deep breath. I need to keep a strong will, he thought. I should not want my power... to be brought out...
While Siris was in thought, Cyan had begun to walk away. Siris didn't notice; he was too busy staring at the ground.
"Cyan!" Skulryk called. Siris looked up to see Cyan walking away, and Cyan turned to look back at the group.
"Where are you going?" Luna asked. "Aren't... don't we have something to do?"
"Leave me alone!" Cyan called back harshly. "I have unfinished business to take care of."
"Maybe you should talk to him," Skulryk said to Siris. "You seem to know him better than we do."
"I don't think I should," Siris responded, as Cyan walked away. "There's something wrong with his aura."
"What...?" Luna asked.
"He's been consumed by a dark power," Siris said softly. "He's not himself anymore. I'll keep track of him while we go our separate way, but I think it's best not to bother him for now..."

The four misplaced parking meters broke into a sprint down a straightaway. The two arguing old women, not daring miss the opportunity to correct the other, gave chase. Luckily, the four were fast, as far as inanimate objects with a habit of staggering go, and managed to lose the two on a turn. They ducked into a rather run down looking warehouse, where they came upon what appeared to be a door that led into...nothing?
There it stood, in the middle of the room, a door hinged to thin air. Harsemhin carefully walked toward it, and touched the knob. He turned it slowly. with an audible creek, it opened to reveal a mirror. The rest of the group edged closer.
"What the..." Dan raised an eyebrow. "Well, who's gonna walk into it?"
Silence. "Now I do hope you don't expect ME to go in first!" Dan said weakly.
"Well..." Raltise said, his strange face grinning. "You did suggest it..."
"But I..." Raltise edged closer. "I...don't have 'Doors hinged on nothing that open into a mirror' insurance!" Raltise waved, and tapped Dan lightly into the mirror. The door disappeared, and the mirror image fell to the ground, where it remained.
Dan shouted from below. "Hey, come down here, I think it's a basement of some sort..."

RG just stared. He didn't know what to make of all this. He had only one question on his mind. He decided to ask it aloud.
"Can I shoot some stuff?"
He was just stared back at.
"What?"
"RG, I think you should just give it a rest for now. We may be in over our heads right now." Mike whispered.
"What exactly are we doing here?" asked RG.

"We will tell you when the time comes."
RG began to empty out his ammunition. He needed something to do, so he was sorting it. He had a lot to sort.
"Whe- Where did you get all that from? It's almost impossible to carry that much at one time!"
"Don't worry. I have my ways. When I said I had protection, I meant it. Let's just wait and see what's going to happen here, okay?"
"Fine." was all Mike said. He even wasn't sure what was happening... or what is going to happen...
RG put on his walkman. He was done, and needed something else to do.

"Heh. One, two... three little puppets. How nice of this 'Cyan' to fall into a state in which he is open to suggestions. I can't believe how easy it was to tap into the dark sides of those other weaklings. Now I can ki...." Mani Mani, in Ellen Boruhesu's guise, paused. "Wait a minute. That boy.... he has inner darkness as well. Both boys do. Although the other one uses it as part of his element? Well, no matter. Maybe I WON'T kill them after all. My power actually seems to be growing with each puppet I string, contradictory to what I had thought would happen."