Pokota was even more lost than the time Hibino had taken him skiing with her, but at least he could have told you what planet he was on then. He was able to see out the window from where he was, and he could see a mountain coming closer and closer. Just beyond it looked like a castle made of jewels and gemstones.
Rein poked him again. "You don't talk much, do you?" She was absorbed by the poking of Pokota.
Fine was too busy trying to make the balloon go up to talk. Poomo had a knack for flying the balloon, and usually made sure that they got where they were going without crashing.
So, because Fine was busy trying to make the balloon go up, and because Rein was watching him instead of the approaching mountain, Pokota had to actually say "Mountain!" to have them realize what was coming.
Unfortunately, by the time he had said it, Rein only had enough time to grab him before they crashed. Fine struggled to make the balloon go up, down, back, anywhere that wasn't forwards or down. She ended up making it go forwards and down.
They all landed on the mountain side. Pokota landed underneath Rein, who was then squished by Fine (who had held onto the controls long enough to tell it to go up and away).
"Ow ow ow! You're heavy!" ached Pokota, before remembering he was pretending to be a doll. Fine immediately panicked and started failing to run away screaming "AAAAGH! GHOST!", mostly because Rein had already grabbed Fine by the leg.
Pokota took this chance to try to escape, but Rein's other hand managed to grab him around the belly before he could get away. "I'm not going to let either of you get lost. Not when Jewel Castle is on the other side of this mountain."
Fine stopped trying to run away, and looked up. "Aaaaah!"
Rein sighed. "What, a ghost?"
"No, the balloon floated away!"
Rein looked up too, and then also went "Aaaaah!"
She dropped Pokota, and started to do a strange dance with her sister, saying "I hate hate hate this. I hate hate hate this..."
When they were done, Fine decided to carry Pokota. By the tail. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he "gave up on the silent treatment," as Rein had put it.
It was a long night, but they made it to Jewel Castle without further trouble.
------
The mysterious woman (whose name has not yet been mentioned) was placing calls.
Her headaches didn't usually last this long unless the future had been changed too much. But, every time she looked, it was the same as it should have been. Except for the blip that she couldn't locate.
"Hello, Mizuno residence."
"Ah, hello Dr. Mizuno. I'm a friend of Ami's. Is she home?"
"She isn't home right now. Would you like to leave a message?"
"Yes, tell her that her friends are meeting up at the shrine tomorrow afternoon. And tell her to tell her friends."
"Alright. Uh, will I be telling her which friend called her?"
"She'll find out tomorrow; I have a splitting headache."
"Have you tried taking Ibuprofen?"
"Yes, but it's too soon for it to kick in. Good night, Dr. Mizuno."
She looked into the future again. No change. Her head pulsed with pain.
Setsuna Meioh knew it was going to be a long night.
------
There was another explosion. Kamilu emerged out of a smoking laboratory with a blue face. Behind him emerged Robelia with a green face, and a strong-looking black haired boy with an orange face. They all coughed, and then laughed at each other's faces.
Kamilu sighed. "How much longer do you think it will take to find Pokota, Kanro?"
Kanro stopped laughing. His face was serious. "I'm thinkin' it'll take us until at least T'morrow t' find Pokota. Longer'n that if we keep blowin' ourselves up."
The odd trio sighed, and then went back into the laboratory.
Meanwhile, in the palace, there was another explosion. Ren, butler to the Princess, emerged from a smoking laboratory with a gray face. He was struggling to keep from smiling. He wiped off his face, and then knocked on the door.
"Erika-sama, I think we have another headache to deal with."
Erika emerged from the door with a purple face. Behind her was an explosion. "What?"
"Do you remember where Kobayashi Daichi said he was this morning?"
"No, actually, Himeko never told me where he was this morning..."
"Well then, let me suggest that you tell Himeko-sama and Daichi-san to keep a lookout for the cats he saw when he was in Juuban."
(Posted Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:13)
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