Date: Sun, 03 Jul 2005 03:25:49 -0700
From: Darc Blackwind <arboc969@hotmail.com>
Subject: TRANSGENDER ARCHIVE Fallen Angel by Darc Blackwind Chapter 8

I apologize for the lateness ov this chapter. A lot of thing have happened.
Anyway, here she is! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

Darc

Chapter 8: Vincent Fenway, the Amorous Demon Slayer

The two sat on Cal's bed five minutes later, each very naked. Cal wrapped
his arms around Althea as both leaned against the wall for support, the
gentle light from his bedside lamp illuminating the room nicely. Althea
massaged Cal's right thigh gently, luxuriating in the feeling of Cal's love
pulsating through her. "Tell me about the war on the Astral Plane, Calvin
of the Divine Soldiers. . . ." she whispered lovingly to him as his hands
held her tightly. A clap of thunder sounded from outside, and several large
pellets of rain splattered against Cal's window.

Sighing, Cal thought about where to begin. "I suppose you could say that
Evan was the man to blame for my involvement in the Battle of Aukos...
This all started some four years ago, when Evan and I first met at the end
of eighth grade. See, I'm in twelfth grade now, and it's been about four
and a half years since we knew each other. . . ."

Althea nodded silently, enraptured by Cal's gentle voice. "Ahh. . . ." she
said, nodding. Sighing, she snuggled up to him and closed her eyes, wanting
to use her mind's eye to picture this.

"Anyway, during the first week of summer, I went over to his house and met
his parents, Duane and Giselle. . . . Nice people, they are.  Anyway...  I
found out Evan was also a martial artist, in the martial art of Tae Kwon
Do. We had several sparring matches, but that first one proved that he was
out of practice, for I countered every move he could throw at me, even
going so far as to catch one of his kicks and throw him into a large and
spiky pile of sticks ten feet away. . . ."

"Ooch! I bet that hurt!" Althea said happily, despising Evan with her
entire being.

"That's what he said after he crawled out of the sticks. . . . Anyway, we
continued to come over to each other's house, training and sparring
together until one day, when a renegade spirit possessed me and sent me
after him, trying to kill him. . . ." Cal said, thinking about how he had
regretted that day ever since. "Well, anyway, the spirit called himself
`Menteseiko', and he was never able to defeat Evan. However, Menteseiko did
manage to inflict quite a bit of damage to Evan, even dislocating his left
ankle. Evan managed to defeat Menteseiko by firing a blast of his negative
ki energy at him, putting him down. He then channeled his holy energy into
his punches and kicks, beating the demon out of my body. The creature fled
and left us with our lives.

"That is when, after Evan dragged me into his room for I was unconscious,
paralyzed, and very beat up, he told me about what happened. At first I
didn't believe him. I thought he was just some crackpot who didn't have
anything better to do than fantasize about stuff like this. You know, being
involved in a war between Heaven and Hell. He had somehow unlocked me or
some latent energy within my soul. But then, I started to believe it. I
don't know why, probably because I wanted to be involved in something
greater than my own pathetic existence. To this very moment, the answer to
this question still seems to elude me."

Althea nodded, knowing where he was coming from. "I see. . . . I've always
wanted to be involved in a big adventure like that which you're involved in
too. . . ."

"Yes. That's the problem with reality, isn't it? It's too real," Cal said
lightheartedly, smirking and looking down lovingly to Althea. She returned
the gaze. "Anyway, several months later, I believe it was during Christmas
Break in my freshman year, Evan and I went up onto the Astral Plane. That
is where I learned the depth of my abilities. That is why I'm able to jump
up so high in this plane, because I keep a constant link with my astral
self. That means that I retain several abilities down here that I have up
there. Whereas up there I can fly, down here I can jump really high. I can
also channel my energy and power my attacks, heal myself of minor injuries,
et cetera. But, most of that is Haragei, or using one's energy to help or
destroy people. Not necessarily the type of attacks I use up on the plane."

Althea nodded. "I can use magic. I just don't know how to use it all
yet. It's sort of a reflex as of right now. . . ."

"Yes. You used telekinesis to rip Monosaya out of Evan's
grasp. Thanks. . . . Anyway, around the beginning of my tenth grade year, I
met Aria. She and I went to biology together, and she was the one to break
the ice, rather sardonically, if I do say so myself. . . ." Seeing Althea's
questioning look, he added, "See, we were dissecting worms and I wasn't
saying much. I'm the quiet type at school. And, well, she asked me to hand
her the scalpel, which I replied, `I would in a second.' She growled and
said, `Stop being condescending, Cal.' Eventually, I got through with the
incisions I had to make and I let her have the scalpel. She thanked me and
began carving up the worm. Later that day, I caught up with her and asked
her what she meant, me to quit being condescending.

"She sarcastically laughed and said, `Well, you are condescending, Cal.' I
then asked her how she knew my name. She answered, `I knew your brother,
Cloud.' And thus, we became friends from that day forward, until well, you
know. . . . And we made amends tonight. . . ."

Althea nodded happily. "I'm glad you two are friends again. Some of your
pain went away with this new bond you two formed tonight. . . ."

Cal kissed her on her forehead and smiled lovingly at her. "Yes, I'm glad
we're on friendly terms again too. . . . But, you'll still be the closest
to my heart." Althea sighed and gently brushed the side of Cal's face with
her wings, a loving gesture that could only be experienced by having a
demoness for a lover. He hugged her around her waist tightly. "I'm never
gonna let you go! I love you too much!"

"I'll never abandon or betray you, lover. I love you so much it hurts!"
Althea moaned as she passionately kissed him on the nose and then the
lips. Cal kissed her back, equally as passionately.

Smiling, Cal gently pulled back. "I love you too. . . . Anyway, back to the
story. Roughly around early December of my sophomore year, things started
happening to me. I'd get these outbursts of rage that I couldn't
control. Eventually, I think around December tenth, these outbursts started
to gain sentience. It eventually manifested in school when I got in a fight
with this bastard named Larry. This new sentience of mine called itself
`Darkside', and it was all I could do to keep this demonic presence from
killing the poor bastard.

"Darkside's power is unimaginable when he gets pissed off. From what Evan
told me when he first encountered Darkside, he had the power to lift up
vehicles and use them as weapons. I'm not talking bicycles or anything. I'm
talking vehicles like my jeep or even buses! Evan told me he lifted up the
local citifare bus and swatted him with it multiple times, each time
sending him at least through one or more of the buildings from downtown."
Seeing her shocked expression, Cal added, "I was arrested for this
incident. The only reason I was let out was because Evan wasn't killed and
my father paid for my bail."

Althea gasped. "Good lord! What happened to Evan?" she asked breathlessly,
anticipating the answer.

"He crashed into a secretary in one of the office buildings he caromed
through, breaking his back and her hip. Oh well, shit happens when you're
fighting in a holy war, neh?" he asked happily. Althea smiled
sheepishly. "Heh. Yeah, I was the hot new story amongst the people in the
Juvenile Detention Center. Needless to say, Dad was pissed at my behavior
and wanted to leave me in there to rot. But he didn't. He dragged me back
to mom, because at that time, they were still living together. I did get
the lecture of my life for this incident, though. . . . I found out in
early January that Aria too was involved in this war. She had been involved
in it involuntarily for six years, reflexively projecting up to the Astral
Plane almost every night to live her secret life as a demon slayer up there
with Evan and I. Then we met James. He too was involved in this, but he was
a demon knight. He switched sides after fighting Evan in a very grueling,
exhausting battle that nearly killed both of them. Because of their formed
alliance, I became James's friend as a byproduct of his and Evan's
friendship.

"Because of Darkside's sudden appearance, I kept getting possessed and sent
after my friends. I even tried to kill Aria with Monosaya. Luckily, Evan
stopped me. It's one of the few instances where he was actually a true
friend since the end of ninth grade. . . ." Cal added as an
afterthought. "That is when they discovered that I was a dark Divine
Soldier with the innate energy signature of Shadow. This is rare because
nearly all Divine Soldiers, or D.S.'s for short, have innate energy
signatures of Light, Fire, Ice/Water, Thunder/Wind, or Life/Earth. Hell,
even Jim the Demon Knight has an innate signature of Fire, not darkness or
anything like that. And he used to work for Satan!"

"Say, what's the difference between a Darkness energy signature and a
Shadow energy signature?"

Cal thought about this for a second. "The difference between Darkness and
Shadow is, with shadows, they are invisible and not completely black with
evil. Darkness is nearly evil. It is the middleman between simple anger and
apocalyptic hatred. All dark D.S.'s to date have become minions of Satan. I
used to be a dark D.S., until they classified me as having a Shadow energy
signature, not a Dark one."

Althea nodded, understanding what he was saying. Thinking about it for a
moment, she then asked, "Say, Cal, what would you say my energy signature
is?"

Cal put his hands on top of her head gently and closed his eyes,
concentrating on sensing her energy. It was heavy and vibrant, sort of like
being submerged in ice-cold water. He opened his eyes and looked down at
her, smirking. "If I'm not mistaken, I'd say your energy signature is
possibly either Water and Ice, or something I've not encountered
before. . . . I'll have to look into this. Water and Ice signatures are
never that heavy. It's like a cross between Water/Ice and
Life/Earth. Anyway, with Darkside's manifestation, he kept getting me in
trouble. I've almost killed a lot of people. I probably would have, had I
not known what was going on.

"Finally, around May in my sophomore year the beast Aukos appeared. It was
very weak and we didn't notice it until about late June.  And not a moment
too soon, because we had to train almost nonstop the entire summer for the
final battle against it."

"Cal? Why didn't you kill it right away if it was so weak?" Althea asked
curiously, leaning back into his embrace happily.

Cal reached over to grab his water bottle. Chugging half of it down in one
gulp, he then said, "Well, love, if we tried to break its chrysalis too
soon, we'd have been no match for it. It was feigning its weakness through
the chrysalis. If it hatched too soon, we would have been powerless to stop
it. But, I think that's what it wanted us to do: set it free earlier than
it was able to hatch. So, we let it mature. Meanwhile, we trained our arses
off because we had to be in tip-top shape. Basically, the only time we
stopped training was to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. Evan and I sparred
up on the plane nightly, and Aria and I sparred down here when we could see
each other. I'm sure the six hundred thousand others that went into battle
with us did the same, but still they died against Aukos' onslaught of
blood. Over five hundred thousand of us were killed against him. Evan,
Aria, James, and myself plus about five thousand other lucky survivors made
it out of the battle. The majority of those killed were killed because Evan
wouldn't stop to help heal them. Aria and I saved all that we could, and
that was about three thousand of them. All of them, lying on the
battlefield up on the plane, bleeding and either screaming for a quick
death or already dead. . . .

 "Evan led the final charge into Aukos' territory and together, he, James,
Aria, and myself slew Aukos. I was the one to deliver the final blow that
killed the beast, though Evan says he was the one to do it. And since then,
my friends and I were relatively close, all until about a month, perhaps
two months ago, when the shit hit the fan between Evan and I. Aria left a
month later and that brings us up to right now."

 Althea nodded contemplatively, assessing the situation she and Cal were
both involved in now. "Evan is a demon, a creature of darkness now, right?"
she asked as she cuddled up into his loving embrace.

 Cal shuddered at the thought. "Yes. . . . He is my new enemy, now that
he's revealed himself. . . . If you hadn't ripped the sword from him like
you did, Althea, I probably would be dead. . . . Not that I'm afraid of it,
but I don't want to be killed by Evan's hand. If anything, I'd want either
you or Aria to do it. . . ." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Now,
it is time for sleep. We've both had quite a shock, neh? You need to rest
to rejuvenate your strength. . . . We have a big day tomorrow."

 "Why is that?" Althea thought, putting what he had just said in the back
of her mind to brood on later.

 "Because I'm going to go train for this new threat tomorrow, and I want
you to come with me. I could use your company. . . ." Cal said
truthfully. He then snuggled up to Althea and sighed contentedly. "I'm
anxious about what this could bring. Evan is a formidable enemy, and I know
that in my present state, I can't kill him. . . . I'll need to train to
slay this new demon." Cal rested his head gently on Althea's right breast
and closed his eyes. He turned out the light with a click from his
fingers. "I want to train to protect you and Aria and all the ones I love
that Evan now threatens. With my sword, I'll defend everyone if I
must. . . . I love you too much to let that swine strike you down."

 Althea smiled and looked out the window as she gingerly stroked Cal's
head, which rested on her chest. A fork of lightning was visible outside
and then the tumultuous claps of thunder that made the very ground shudder
cracked through the air. Gems of rain then started showering down from the
heavens, splattering against the windowpane quietly. Cal's slow breathing
soon became hypnotic, and she sighed contentedly against the silken
bedclothes and pillows, holding Cal tight to her. I don't want to be killed
by Evan's hand. If anything, I'd want either you or Aria to do it, she
echoed in thought as she thought about what Cal told her. Cal, I'd never do
it. . . . I'd join you rather than kill you. .  . Another crack of thunder
and lightning illuminated the windowpane and reverberated throughout the
predawn ambience. Althea closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, too
tired to think any further about what was going on.

 * * *

 Saturday morning came excruciatingly early for Althea as Cal woke up and
got his ninja gi on. He made a few calls and then came back to wake
her. Gently rubbing her side with his coarse, callused hands, he whispered
in her ear, "Althea, wake up! It's time to get your gear ready! We're
picking Miranda up and meeting Aria there. She says she met someone who can
help both of us at her party last night, so let's go!"

 "Mmf. . . . Wh, what ti, time is it?" she mumbled, sitting up and failing
to stifle a yawn.

 "Seven thirty!" Cal said enthusiastically. He tickled her taut
stomach. "Come on! We've a big day ahead of us!"

 Giggling at his manic enthusiasm for meeting his friends at wherever they
were going, she smiled and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Okay, lover,
I'm waking up, I'm waking up!" she said humorously, yawning and squinting
in the intense morning sunlight that filtered through the rain-shiny
window. Beads of dew glistened on the blades of grass outside, and birds
were merrily chirping their morning songs.  Yawning once more, she then
asked, "Say, where are we going?"

 Cal looked back and smiled pleasantly, "To the Devil's Backbone rock
strata. As I've said before, it's an ideal place to train. While preparing
for the Battle of Aukos, I spent most of my time there, training either
solo or with Aria or Evan."

 Althea nodded and got her black robe-toga on, tying her golden sash around
her waist tightly. Getting her boots on, she smiled to Cal as he tied his
belt around his waist and knotted it. "Ready when you are, love!" she said
happily, stretching out her wings.

 Sliding his katana through his belt, he looked back at her and smiled,
grabbing a headband and tying it around his forehead. His somewhat shaggy
dishwater blond hair fell over the fabric of the headband, partially
covering his eyes and giving him a very formidable appearance. He
smirked. "I'm ready!" And so, they walked up the stairs, Cal wrote his
mother a note saying where he'd be and when he might be back. That
finished, Cal grabbed two water bottles for them and they left for his
jeep.

 Miranda was waiting for them when they pulled into her driveway five
minutes later. She had quickly dressed herself in a pair of tight and
frayed blue jeans and a ragged t-shirt. She smirked when she saw the
two. "So, this is what one would call training clothes, huh?"

 "Yup! Saddle up, kid, we're going into the badlands!" Cal said happily,
motioning for her to hop in. She opened the door and hopped in, moving
Cal's katana over.

 "Say, Cal, when d'you expect we should be back? I told Mom I'd be home
around five o'clock tonight. . . ."

 "Yeah, that's roughly the time I expect we should be back. So, what say we
go meet up with Aria and get meals to bring into the badlands with us, neh?
You know, for lunch?" And so, they drove to the nearest McDonalds and
picked up their lunch and some extra food, in case Aria didn't bring
something along or if one of them was still hungry after his or her meal
was finished. They then headed out to meet up with Aria and this new person
at the Devil's Backbone.

 * * *

 The drive was surprisingly short, only about forty-five minutes
altogether. Aria waited at the entrance to the rock strata in her
cherry-red sportscar and a new face leaned against the steering wheel of a
tall, silver Ford F-150. He wore black insectoid-like sunglasses and had
unkempt, spiky black hair. Getting out of his jeep, Cal walked to the two
and hugged Aria. "Hi," she said happily, returning his hug. "How was your
trip?"

 Cal shrugged. "It was reasonably short. Miranda and Althea are in the
jeep. How was your trip? No trouble, I hope?"

 "No. Had a hard time getting Fen outta bed, but other than that, no
problems," Aria said, gesturing behind her at the man in the truck. "But, I
can't bring my car up this trail. The rocks would destroy her!" she said
exasperatedly.

 Cal smiled and chuckled. "That's what I figured. Don't worry, though. We
have plenty of room in my jeep for you." He then looked at Fen. "Why don't
we go talk to him?"

 Aria nodded. "Sure, he's the guy I told you about. You know, the one that
can help us against the demon we're training to slay."

 "Yeah. Evan's not going to last long against all three of us!" Cal
exclaimed.

 Aria sighed. "That creature isn't Evan anymore. It's an imposter. And, by
the way, don't you mean the four of us?"

 "No. I'm not allowing you or Althea to fight against him. I don't want you
guys to get hurt." Cal walked over to meet this Fen. "Hey, there. I'm
Calvin Lillehammer." He outstretched a hand to shake. Fen just looked down
at it and nodded. Cal withdrew it, slightly offended. "And you must be the
person Aria told me about, neh?"

 He nodded. "Yeah. Name's Vincent Fenway, but everyone call's me Fen. Aria
over there asked me to help you guys out against a pesky demon, so I said I
would." He looked Cal up and down, then said, "The hell're you wearing?"

 "It's his ninja uniform, Fen," Aria said, coming up to Cal and
smiling. "He's a martial artist. Didn't I tell you?"

 "Must've forgot. . . ."

 "Yeah. Whatever," Cal said, not really liking this Fen guy too
much. "Well, I know where we're going, so just follow me, neh?"

 Fen nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Who elected you to be my wet-nurse?" he
grumbled. Cal gritted his teeth as he resisted the urge to smack Fen in the
mouth with the back of his hand for saying that.

 Aria followed Cal and hopped into the back, next to Miranda. Cal looked
back. "Say, Aria, did you bring a lunch?" he asked.

 Aria shook her head. "No, I thought we would be back by noon. . . ." she
said testily.

 Cal laughed good-naturedly. "Ah, no worries. We bought you something in
case you didn't bring a lunch. Hope you like a couple cheeseburgers and
fries. . . ."

 Aria smiled. "Gee, thanks. Did you get something for Fen?"

 Cal scoffed sadistically. "Psht! You think I'd waste money on some
barbarous, rude cretin like him?! You know me better than that!"

 Aria smiled and nodded. "Hmm. . . ." She looked to Miranda. "Hey there,
kid. Why're you here?"

 Miranda said nervously, "I, I'm here be, because I want to help Cal take
down Evan . . . m, ma'am. . . ."

 Aria smirked. "You don't have to be frightened of me, you know." The jeep
went over a tremendous bump and Miranda quickly caught the McDonalds bag
that contained their food before it spilled its contents all over the
floor. "I won't bite." She extended her hand in a gesture of
friendship. Miranda meekly took it and squeezed it gently. "See, that
wasn't so difficult, now was it?"

 Miranda's face relaxed. "We're friends, then?" she asked happily.

 "You bet. We gotta stick together if we're gonna take Evan down, you
know?" she said lightheartedly. Another tremendous bump rocked the two in
the back seat, and for a moment, the jeep itself was airborne.

 Cal looked back at Aria and smirked. "So, Aria, tell me about Fen. Why the
blue hell does he want to help a ragtag motley crew like us anyway?"

 Aria shrugged. "He came up and tried to hit on me after you guys had
left. When I told him I was already taken, he shrugged and said that he saw
what happened outside on the front porch. That is when he introduced
himself as Vincent Fenway and offered to help us. He seemed very
good-natured last night when he explained that he was an Earth-Plane demon
slayer. . . ."

 Shrugging, Cal nodded. "Yeah, but what's he doing here in this backwater
settlement in northern Nevada?! I thought all the fun, powerful demonic
activity happened in the slums of large cities like LA or Las Vegas, or
something!"

 "He said that a lot of demons have been showing up around here, including
Althea and a demon he hasn't been able to track down and kill. This demon
has been eluding him for quite some time, and it's a demoness, like Althea
only in the form of a frail, innocent-looking fourteen-year-old girl."
Miranda looked away, preparing to dive out of the jeep if Aria continued
with assessing what this demoness looked like.

 "Yeah. . . . I'll have to interrogate him when we get there. Shouldn't be
long now. . . . Only about ten more miles along this trail and then we have
a teensy bit of a climb. But, if you wish, I'm sure we could beg Althea to
help us out. She can use some magic, and perhaps she can use a blast of
wind to hoist us up over the cliff." Cal looked pleadingly to

Althea, who grinned mischievously and nodded.

 Aria glanced once more at Miranda. "Say," she began. Miranda froze with
fear. "I never noticed this, but you have glowing eyes. . . ."

 "Yeah. . . . That's what everyone says," she said uneasily, a sheen of
sweat breaking out on her forehead. She didn't talk or look at Aria the
rest of the trip.

 Thirty minutes later, they had stopped at the base of a large cliff, the
same one that Cal and Althea witnessed their sunset at. Cal shut off the
jeep and got out, walking over and chivalrously opening Althea's door for
her and then walking over and getting his katana out. He tied it so it
clung to his back and then winked at Althea. "Say, love, hand me the ropes
there, please?" Althea handed them to him. Grinning, Cal looked at Aria and
Miranda. "I'll go up first and tie the ropes so you guys can just pull
yourselves up, okay?"

 Aria shrugged. "Man, this training spot is really out of the way, isn't
it?"

 Cal nodded. "Yes, it is. It's this way for a reason. I'm not telling you
why until you make an educated guess." With that said, Cal hopped up onto
the first of many outcroppings that led to the top. Using all of his
strength, he leaped up to an alcove in the cliff wall and grabbed the ledge
of it, sliding in. He then took a running start and leapt off of the ledge,
grabbing a tree root and swinging upward. At a height of about a hundred
and fifty feet, he would have surely died if he lost his grip and
fell. But, that wasn't the case, as would be proven when he swung over the
ledge of the cliff by this lone tree root and landed on the top. He looked
down and saw that Fen had shown up. Waving, he tied the ropes around the
base of the tree on top of the cliff, making sure it would stay tight. He
then threw the rope down. It fell short of the ground by about five or ten
feet.

 Down below, Fen walked up to Althea and eyed her both libidinously and
suspiciously. "Hello, ma'am," he said awkwardly. "Name's Vincent Fenway,
but you can just call me Fen. Everyone does. . . ." He extended a hand to
shake hers. She looked down at it and nodded, not touching his hand. He
withdrew it, somewhat awkwardly. "So, what's yer name?"

 Stretching out her wings, she knew this human had a thing for her, so she
decided to exploit it. She thrust her chest out obscenely to him,
stretching out her back and arms and wings. Moaning as if in the throes of
an orgasm, she looked seductively into his eyes and said, "My name is
Althea. . . . So, you and your big . . . sword . . . are going to help Cal
and I slay Evan?" She pouted her lips and shot him a pair of puppy-dog
eyes.

 Fen blushed behind his insectoid-like black glasses and biker vest and
gloves. "Uh. . . . Yeah. . . . So, Althea, how long you been on Earth?" he
asked, somewhat uneasily.

 "Well, my lover Cal found me along the side of the highway about twenty
miles that way," she said, pointing west. "Cal's such a nice man. . . . I
couldn't let him fight his once best friend alone, so I volunteered to help
kill the demon."

 Fen nodded. "Ah. . . . Me, I hunt demons all over the world. I've been to
places like New York City, London, Frankfurt, Stockholm, even so far as
reaching Beijing and Kyoto. . . . I'm here hunting a demon called
Yoko-Moriyokani. She's a demoness like yourself, but about perhaps four
years or so younger. Rumors say there's a freshman at your high school that
claims she's a demoness, and some high bidders wish to see her erased. So,
here I am. Your pesky demon problem is also on my list, so I decided that
I'd help ya!" He brushed the back of his hand against the side of her
face. "For a nominal fee, I could kill the creature if you wish. . . ."

 Aria walked up to the two and smirked. "C'mon, Fen, no harassing
Althea. We've gotta get up there. . . ."

 Miranda had already started climbing, but she wasn't very good at it and
it was tedious work for her. Sighing, she decided to use the rope as a
lifeline and bounded from outcrop to outcrop all the way to the top. When
she reached the ledge, she grasped it as hard as she could, but she wasn't
strong enough and the loose soil came apart in her hand. She began to fall
as Cal ran and caught her by the wrist, hauling her over the ledge to
safety. "You okay?" he asked as he brushed her off.

 "Yeah. Thanks, Cal. . . ." she said happily. Looking over her shoulder at
the drop-off, she shivered involuntarily. "Gosh, there probably wouldn't be
much left of me had I fallen, huh?"

 Cal chuckled quietly. "Nah, there wouldn't be enough of you to put in a
toothpaste tube!"

 Two minutes later, Althea flew up there, hauling Aria with her. Fen was
the last to get up to the top of the cliff, taking quite a while to scale
the cliff. However, when he crawled over the edge of the cliff, he was as
smug as ever, carrying a large knapsack that was strapped over his right
shoulder. He got up and brushed his hair out of his eyes and smirked.
Setting the knapsack down, he opened it and pulled out a four-foot long
steeply curved Persian Shamshir scimitar. He twirled it in his gloved right
hand and slid it in its scabbard, and then tied the scabbard to his thick
black leather belt. "Okay, now that I have your attention, let me get down
to business." His sunglassed eyes darted to Cal and he grinned. "You, ninja
boy." He motioned for him to draw his katana. "Show me what you got!"