"No one asks to be a hero. That's what makes them so, the uniqueness of whatever situation they are thrust into. When men and women step up to the challenge before them and fight for love, honor, whatever it is they believe in... when doing so without being asked, because, deep down inside, they know it is right... it is situations such as this that will make or break an individual. Do you stand for your ideals instead of backing away, knowing that you run the risk of losing everything if you fail? That, my young friends, is what makes a hero..."

   "'So Mani, how did you spend your day?' 'Oh, I just picked up the remains of several rotting corpses from a temple we recently acquired from some crossdressing mage, how about you?'"

   Some would say that talking to yourself is a sign of mental illness, but Mani wasn't particulary interested in what some would say. He, like his friends, had been cleaning out the temple for most of the day now, himself being drafted for the heinous task of corpse removal. Who would have known that Eric would have picked 'Scissors' to his 'Paper'...?

   That wasn't the worse part. After fighting with a dragon and several undead denizens of the stronghold on the previous day, his clothes weren't exactly spring-time fresh. Fortunately for him there was a stream nearby for him to wash them in. Unfortunately, as he had discovered after going through the mage Kareth's belongings, the closets of the stronghold were filled with nothing but women's clothing. Grumbling and swearing all the while, he had found a pair of baggy red pants and a black vest, which he currently was wearing along with his ninja slippers as his normal attire dried off. <I look like a damn gypsy girl...>, he grumbled as he continued sweeping away pieces of zombie. Mani admit to himself that it WAS pretty humorous, but if any of his friends back home saw him, they'd die with laughter.

   Mani's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a lewd whistle from down the corridor.

   "Whoo, SEXY!!," came Corina's taunting voice from the darkness. "You're really wearing that outfit, baby!"

   Corina's laughter was suddenly replaced by a shrill scream as she was forced to dodge the zombie hand Mani flung at her from the darkness.

   Nightfall.

   It had been a long day of hard work, and Mani felt that he deserved a rest. As he slowly made his way into the bedroom that formerly belonged to the mage Kareth, his eyes fell upon the large (and terribly comfortable looking) bed in the center of the room. He and Eric had graciously given the bed to Cori and Tina, while they took to sleeping on the floor. Sure, it was the gentleman's thing to do, but now...
He thought for a second. Corina was out near the stream... Tina and Eric were upstairs cleaning off several of the weapons they had found... and of course the Imp wasn't around, having returned to where ever it is summoned creatures came from...

   <They won't mind if I just take a nap here...>

   Mani smiled as he jumped into the massive bed, nearly sinking within the depths of softness within. <Last time I'll ever be a gentleman ,> he joked as he made himself comfortable. He suddenly paused as he found himself face-to-face with that stuffed... creature... Cori was carrying when they first met back in Harlequin. He had no idea what this pudgy-little white bat-winged single-antenae glassy-eyed thing was, and it had been bothering him since they met. He looked closely at the stuffed animal before he jokingly poked it in the stomach.

   "KUPO! KUPO! KUPO!"

   He nearly jumped out of the bed as the stuff creature went into a fit of Kupoing before finally shutting up after a couple of seconds. Mani looked around to make sure no one had seen him jump, then quickly put the offensive stuffed creature on the other side of the bed. There was no need for something like that happening again, he reasoned. He slowly curled up in the blankets of the bed, careful to keep a watchful eye on the infamous little winged teddy bear, lest he break out in another fit of Kupoing...

   "Kupo...," Mani remarked to himself with a grin. Moments later, his thoughts left the stuffed creature, along with the very plane of consciousness as he slowly drifted to sleep and into the land of dreams.

   Dreams are very strange entities. Most of the time, they are nothing more than the imagination working overtime, while on other occasions they can be profound and prophetic in nature. Often times they were just memories, passing thoughts of what has once taken place. Such was the current situation with Mani as he found his thoughts drifting back to the garden within the courtyard of Avalon, the name he and his friends had given the towering stronghold that served as a base of operations back home. It was a clear and warm evening, not a cloud visible in the Destratian sky. A sea of midnight black, dotted with the celestial presence of the stars and twin moons of Second Realm, it stretched far and wide over the sand dunes of the desert. While it could be unbearably hot during the midday sun, nights in the Destratian desert were often warm and held an almost hypnotic charm over the senses.

   There were two figures in the courtyard. The first was Mani, sitting down beside the pond in the center of the garden. He could still remember the scene as if he created it himself, standing over and watching his work unfold before his eyes. He had just finished his training for the day- he still wore his garb from the drills, the loose, dark pants, the black slippers and the slightly worn black tanktop. He didn't have his mask atop his head like on most occasions- there was no need of it while training, so for once, his short, dark hair could be seen. Master Renee had worked him pretty hard that day, which showed from the sweat covering his wiry frame. He had cleaned up most of it earlier, but there were still some light traces, mostly on his brow. Having done most of his drills in the unforgiving Destratos sun, his skin was a little darker than usual, baked to a nice light shade of brown.

   With a sigh and a smile, he regarded the young lady sitting on the rock beside him. In his current state, she was almost his exact opposite. She wore a light robe, a delicate piece of clothing with several purple flowers embroidered into the lapels. Her black sandals rested beside the rock on which she sat, her bare feet dipped into the cool pond water. Long, black hair cascaded down her back, flowing like a stream of midnight waters. Her skin was a smooth, even shade somewhat lighter than Mani's, giving it the appearance to the untrained eye that she was of Oriental decent. The fact of the matter was that she wasn't, in fact she wasn't even human. The fact became a little more apparent when looking into her eyes- they were somewhat larger and more rounded than a human's, but not to the point where she could not pass as one if need be. Not that it would be necessary, the Humans and Nixen got along remarkably well with one another. She looked towards Mani, her expressive brown eyes regarding him as she smiled. Mani felt his heart skip a beat as she did so...

   "You're so beautiful..."

   He had made the comment to himself, but it was loud enough to catch her attention. "What was that?," the girl casually wondered, a smile escaping her lips. Mani grinned.

   "You're beautiful," he repeated. The smile on the girl's lips widened as she quickly turned away and began to blush. "Geez Lily, you're too modest," Mani teased. "You embarrass easier than anyone I know."

   Lily turned back towards him, her complexion having returned to normal. "You just caught me off guard," she admit. "I mean, c'mon, you're usually cracking jokes if you're not training..." She smiled once again. "Sometimes it surprises me that you even have a sensitive side..."

   "Tis' not manly to show emotions," Mani joked. "We ninja have reputations to uphold."

   Lily laughed at little at the comment. Mani felt his heart jump again- he loved to hear her laughter. Regardless of how bad of a day he had just gone through, to just hear her sweet voice was enough to brighten it.

   "Were you like this back home?," she wondered offhand.

   Mani paused for a moment, slowly nodding his head after some thought. "I guess I've always been a loner," he admit. He gazed away for a moment, his eyes finding the pond before them. "Most people just thought that I was antisocial, but the truth is, I'm usually happiest when I'm alone..."

   There was a moment of silence between the two. Lily slowly looked down at the pond, watching the ripples her feet made in the clear, blue water as Mani gazed out into the distance, his focus placed on nothing in particular.

   "No room for another," Lily finally remarked, sighing deeply.

   The comment caught him off guard. His head popped up quickly, his focus redirected on Lily.

   "You're probably right... I really don't think I have room for anyone else." Lily immediately looked down at him, her eyes filled with confusion. Mani grinned slightly. "There's no room for anyone else because you've already taken that place, Lily. You're all that I need."

   The expression on Lily's face slowly began to shift from her previous look of confusion to a humungous smile that threatened to consume her entire face. And of course, as Mani had anticipated, the blushing began again. This time he couldn't help but laugh. After a moment or two, Lily stared intently at him, one of her brows raised.

   "So you think it's funny seeing me like that, I take it?," she wondered.

   Mani nodded. "At least I'm honest about it."

   Lily stared at him for another second before a wicked smile began to curve along her lips. She slowly slid off of the rock she was on and began to make her way towards Mani, sitting on the ground. Her hand slowly slid across his shoulder as she got down beside him. As she did so, Mani could feel his body temperature rise a few degrees. "Mani?," she asked, her voice so sweet that it would drive most anime girls insane with jealously. She slowly put her head down on his shoulder. "Mani... do you love me?"

   "Um... of course I do...," he managed to stammer.

   Lily giggled at the response. "Then why don't you say so?," she wondered, her voice dripping with so much sweetness that Mani could feel his blood sugar level rising. "I mean, it's only three little words... you can say those three words for me, can't you...?"

   "...of ...course I could say... those three words... um..."

   He suddenly fell silent as Lily looked right into his eyes. Those expressive, beautiful brown eyes of hers... it was like she could peer into his very soul with them... <If she knew how much control she had over me now, I'd be in trouble...>

   Mani knew that it was over when she sat down on his lap, her arms wrapped lovingly around him, and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek.

   Lily immediately broke out into a fit of laughter as her boyfriend turned a bright shade of red, his ears practically glowing because of it. No matter how hard he tried stay cool, Lily would always have that effect on him whenever she was being this sweet. Eventually Mani began to snicker, then before they knew it, the two of them were laughing outloud within the courtyard. "Now," Lily began once she was able to speak again. "...we're even."

   The two sat in each others arms for a while, neither wanting to ruin the moment by speaking again. They sat in silence, each content with the company of the other, for what seemed like an eternity. A strange sense of calm had overtaken the garden; the entire stronghold was quiet, save the gentle lapping of the waves of the pond before the two.

   "I love you," Mani whispered, his hand gently brushing the face of his beloved. Lily sighed deeply as she snuggled in closer, feeling an overwhelming sense of security in his arms.

   "I love you too," she whispered back, her gaze slowly rising to meet his. Slowly, their faces began to inch towards one another. An instant later, their lips met in a tight embrace of their own, a deep kiss that would not be forgotten by either side anytime soon.

   "KUPO! KUPO! KUPO! KUPO!"

   Mani's dreamtime rendezvous was interrupted by the loud Kupo-ing that came from his little stuffed neighbor he had accidentally hit with his hand while sleeping. As he groggily stared at the smug little glassy-eyed... thing, he slowly began to reach out in order to send it on an airborne trip into the next room...

   ...had Corina not been standing there grinning.

   "Rise and shine, sleepy-head!," the Caller greeted with a smile from her position at the room's entrance. Mani mumbled several unintelligible words as he sat up in the bed, casting a long, hateful glance at the little stuffed demon that had woke him up.

   "What...," he wondered, his voice raspy from having just woke up. "...the HELL is that thing?"

   Corina raised a brow curiously as she walked into the room, eventually sitting down on the bed beside him. "What, you've never seen a Moogle before?"

   <My God, those things have names...>

   "Would you be surprised if I said no?," he wondered.

   Corina paused for a long moment. She stared at her friend curiously for a moment, turning around to make sure no one else was at the door listening. "You're... not from around here either, are you?," she whispered. Mani shook his head as he sat up some more. There was a key word in Corina's question that had immediately caught his attention.

   <Either...>

   "Second Realm, by way of Earth," he clarified. "If that makes any sense," he added with a grin. "What about you, Ms. Corina?"

   "Mist..."

   Mani couldn't help but notice the change in Cori's expression as she mentioned that name, so he figured that he wouldn't press the issue any further. "Perhaps it would be best if we didn't mention this to Eric," he quickly remarked. "There's no telling how he'd react..."

   "He'd probably piss in his pants again," Cori responded with a laugh. "Why in the world are you traveling with him?"

   "Everybody needs a friend," he remarked with a smile.

   "Even you, Mr. Mysteriously Antisocial Ninja?"

   "But of course." And, as an afterthought added, "...and I'm not antisocial."

   Corina grinned wickedly as she turned around on the bed, leaning back on the headboard. "Oooh, the tough sensitive type, aren't we? The women must love you back home."

   "You like testing people's limits, don't you?"

   Cori shrugged. "Only my friends," she answered, grinning.

   Mani sighed as he slowly rolled out of the bed, pausing at the side to put his shoes back on. He was still wearing the baggy red pants but was devoid the vest. He slowly stood up and began to head towards the door.

   "Don't tell me I scared you," Corina teased from the bed.

   "Hardly," Mani answered with a grin. "It takes a lot more than that to freak me out."

   As he headed down the corridor, he could hear Cori back in the room.

   "Then I guess I'll try harder next time!," she shouted with a laugh.

   <Ok, so maybe I am just a little antisocial...>

   Seeing as he was sitting alone at the stream near the temple in the middle of the night, it didn't take a genius to come to that conclusion. So maybe he was a tad bit on the antisocial side at times. He sighed deeply as he watched the waters flow by, feeling the cool evening air against his bare chest.

   <Damn it's cold...>

   Regardless, he felt the need to be alone, just for the time being. There was a lot on his mind.

   What was going on back home slowly crossed his mind. That entire battle he and his friends were engaged in was crucial in their little war against Lord Paradox, and here he was in a whole other world due to one of the demon's portals. Perhaps it was destiny that he ended up here in this strange new world, perhaps to do battle with evil on another plane. Maybe this 'Mu' was a bigger threat than Lord Paradox ever was.

   Perhaps it was destiny. Either that or bum luck.

   And what about his new friends? Cori and her fiery temper, but caring heart deep down inside... Tina who, as far as he could gather, had learned maturity when she found herself alone and hunted for reasons she could not understand... and of course Eric, who may have gotten involved in more than he had originally bargained for...

   It was an ever-so-slight-yet-strangely-ominous rustling from the trees above that finally interrupted his thoughts as he immediately reached for...

   <Damn...>

   His katana was back inside. So much for that principle of 'Never travel without a weapon during a time of hostility'... he may have been devoid his main weapon, but he did have one of his throwing blades with him just in case... <Just in case of what, I get attacked by an evil bunny rabbit or something?!>

   In a blur of movement a figure leapt down from one of the trees and quickly darted past him. Mani suddenly winced as he felt the figure's nails leave a thin cut across his right shoulder. He immediately turned to retaliate, but just as suddenly as it had appeared, the figure was gone. He took a moment to look at his now-bleeding shoulder. The cut left from the assault was a thin one, more of a nuisance than life-threatening. Ignoring the stinging from his bleeding shoulder, he began to scan the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of who was out there with him.

   The next assault came from behind. It was another blur of movement, but Mani knew that he had been hit again as he felt a warm trickle of blood run down his back. Now this was getting out of hand...

   The stranger came back for a third time, but this time he was ready. This assault came from the front- the attacker came charging as Mani threw up the nastiest jump kick he could pull, a jump kick with the sole purpose of taking the head off of whoever this was cutting him. Much to his surprise, he passed right through the stranger...

   What surprised him even more was when he felt something snake around his ankles and lift him high into the air, leaving him hanging on a nearby branch, upside down.

   What surprised him more than anything else that had surprised him in this world thus far was when he saw the upside down face of who had done it.

   "No way..."

   It was a nightmare... he had been followed... and by Phantom, of all people.

   "Hiya Manikins, did you miss me?," his enemy taunted.

   "Like I'd miss a tumor." So she hadn't been sucked into limbo as he had hoped for. Here was Phantom, his sworn enemy, standing before him in all of her wicked glory. She looked like a wraith, standing there with her black and purple armor and her pale, deathly complexion pierced by the presence of glowing red eyes, emphasized by her dark brown hair.

   "Aw, is that any way to talk an old friend?," Phantom wondered, her voice full of mock-hurting. "And after I traveled all this way to see you..."

   Mani glared slightly as he crossed his arms across his chest (which was quite a sight, seeing as he was still upside down). "Would you mind cutting me down?," he casually wondered.

   Phantom only responded with a wicked grin. Mani took it as a 'no'.

   She began to slowly pace around her strung-up captive, smiling broadly the entire time. "Do you know why I'm leaving you like this?," she wondered, her voice full of spite for her enemy.

   Mani took a deep breath. Being upside down wasn't the most comfortable feeling in the world, yet he managed to keep his demeanor. "Because," he began, "you're an evil, black-hearted, soul-sucking, back-stabbing, cruel and heartless piece of twisted humanity." He thought for a second. "That, and the fact that you realize I'm gonna beat you ass-backwards when I get down."

   Phantom was taken back slightly by his boldness, but hid it well. She, in turn, reached out and grabbed Mani with one of her hands by his cheeks.

   "Look, JACKASS," she hissed. Mani could feel her nails digging into his face. "You're really not in a position to be threatening anyone." She suddenly let go of his face. "Actually, I have some news you might be interested in."

   "Let me guess," Mani interupted. "You've seen the error of your ways, and have come to beg me for forgiveness? I'm flattered." Mani's little joke came at the price of Phantom swiftly punching him in the stomach. HARD.

   "You know," he managed to wheeze, "you're the second woman that's done that to me?" Cursed evil women, he thought. "Ok, so what is so dang important that you've got to hang me up like some marlin to tell me? I seriously doubt that..."

   "Lily."

   Mani immediately fell silent.

   "Well, it seem that I have your attention."

   Mani sat in silence for a few moments more. "What have you done to her?," he immediately growled. "Dammit Phantom, if you've so much as LOOKED at her the wrong way..."

   "Relax, you overprotective simp, I haven't touched her." Phantom then smiled a smile that chilled Mani to his very soul. "But a little birdie told me that there's a chance that maybe, just maybe, she followed you... in fact, this same little birdie seemed to mention a town... oh, now what was the name of that place... ah, yes... Brightsand , was it?"

   "If you aren't lying," Mani interrupted, "why would you tell me?" Phantom grinned evilly once again.

   "Two reasons really," she answered. "One, I've been doing some looking around this strange little world you stumbled across. I can just feel power brimming from this place, so I decided to do some exploring. There's gotta be something here of interest. So, while I'm out and about, I really don't want to deal with your pathetic ass trying to track me down. By telling you what I've heard about your friend Lily, I'm sure that you'll be out of my hair checking that out."

   "And the second?"

   Phantom looked at Mani, locking her red-eyed gaze into his eyes. "If she IS here," she snarled. "then it'll make it a lot easier to kill both of you if you're together."

   With that, Phantom quickly turned around and began to walk away. "Until then, Manikins!," she shouted. "I look forward to our next meeting!"

   "Aren't you forgetting something?!," he immediately shouted back. "You know, I'm still upside-FREAKING down!"

   Phantom slowly turned around and smiled that same wicked smile. "You're a ninja," she remarked. "Act the part." With that being said, she suddenly vanished, having teleported away.

   Mani immediately began shouting obscenities in about three different languages as he reached for the throwing blade in his pants and began to hack away at the cord binding his feet to the tree. After a few seconds of hacking, he suddenly fell to the ground with a loud thud. Having been upside down for the past couple of minute really didn't make him feel too much better either. In fact, he felt a wave of dizziness begin to sweep over him, and moments later, he was unconscious along the stream's bank. Even in his unconscious state, there was one word that would not leave his mind.

   "Brightsand..."

   It looked like Waveshore would have to wait.