He was dying.

Dying, and there was nothing he could do about it if he 
wanted to save the other.  There was only enough for one, 
after all.  And...

/It would be better if it wasn't me./

As the High Priest drew back for a final blow, Healer 
clutched the vial in his hand, marshalling what little 
strength he had to keep the little bottle safe, to be able 
to keep enough consciousness to instruct the other's 
friends when they arrived.

/It would be better if--/

"Your selfless act is worth nothing if you are dead when 
the Blades arrive," the High Priest commented, looking on 
with disgust at the mangled body beneath him.  "I will give 
you one more chance to repent and return to me."

It couldn't be much longer.  It wouldn't be all for naught.

"As you wish."  The blow landed.

+ + +

Arcana
   started by Scott Schimmel
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Ashes, Ashes
   written by Erin Ellis

+ + +

It had been four days since the end of the trial.  Her 
family had understood when she deferred returning to school 
until classes began again in September.  They thought she 
was stressed, and behind in classes.  That was true, to a 
point.  In actuality, whenever she thought of school, 
whenever she thought of going outside, Natsu felt sick to 
her stomach.

She was free.  The government had named her innocent.  
However.. she didn't -feel- innocent; if nothing else, the 
pardon had made her feel more guilty.  Even if she hadn't 
really meant to do it or not... to lose control like that, 
to have no conscious decision over her actions... did she -
deserve- to be loose on the streets?  And then, to just go 
back and pretend nothing had happened?  How could she face 
them?  All she could think of was the group of girls, 
calling her a freak.  Shiho's face, streaming with tears.  
And her hands, broken, but steeped in blood...

"Natsu!"  Her mother's voice wafted up the stairs.  
"Hotaru's here!"

Natsu sighed.  She really didn't want to see her erstwhile 
best friend right now.

"Natsu-chan!"  Hotaru bounced into the room, a hopeful 
smile on her face.

The blonde returned a weak grin.  "Hey."

"How's it going?  You want to go shopping or something?  
The new SMAP album is out," she offered shyly.

Natsu grimaced, and the brunette looked markedly 
uncomfortable.  "Uh, anyway, let's just go out somewhere.  
It's such a beautiful afternoon --"

"Shouldn't you be at drama club or something?"  Natsu's 
gaze was harsh, and not unexpectedly, Hotaru's fled from 
it.

"I...  I had missed so many practices that I thought it was 
better if I drop for this semester."

"You're lying."  The blonde grabbed her wrists, forcing 
Hotaru to face her.  "They made you quit because of me, 
right?"

"I..."  She said nothing, but the miserable expression on 
her face was more than enough answer.

Natsu loosed her friend, walking to the other side of the 
room.  "Leave me alone, Hotaru.  You don't need me anymore.  
I won't stand in your way, so don't let me hold you down."

"What?"  The voice was stunned.  Natsu refused to turn and 
see her face.  "I thought we were best friends!"

"As a friend I'm telling you to stay away from me."  

"Why are you so selfish?  You're not the only person who's 
been having a bad time!  What about your family?  Tetsuya, 
Keisuke and the others?  Shiho?  Me?  We were all strong 
for you, and now you're just giving up--"

"I'm not--"  Natsu broke off her reply.  The steel in her 
voice faded, leaving her tired and deflated.  She finally 
cast a look in Hotaru's direction.  "Don't do this.  I 
don't want to see you hurt anymore because of me."

The Magician trembled slightly, eyes luminous with unshed 
tears.  "You've certainly failed in that."  Biting back 
further reply, she turned and fled down the stairs.

It took almost all of Natsu's willpower to not follow.  
But, it would be better this way, right?  If only...

She buried her face in her arms.

+ + +

Sumire turned the corner and almost ran into Arisa, pausing 
just centimeters away from where the Knight had paused in 
the middle of the dark alley.

"Dear gods," Arisa murmured, gaze fully on the figure at 
the end of the alleyway.  It was badly beaten, perhaps past 
what could be saved.  Sumire said nothing, but gritted her 
teeth, face ashen.  They were too late.

"This is..." the Ace began.

"The Page of Cups," the figure rasped, barely moving within 
the pool of blood it sat in.

+ + +

The Fool gyrated yet again as strange ghost-shapes spun 
about behind him.  Then, the crystals set in front of him 
seemed to multiply ten-fold and he let out a pathetic 
whine.

"Got you now," Atsuko announced as the Magician pulled a 
rose out of nowhere and threw it at the exploding crystals 
in front of him.

"Not... just... HA!" Chris exclaimed as a chain reaction 
set off in front of the Fool, destroying the wall of 
crystals and setting the Fool into a series of spins and 
shouts.

The Knight of Pentacles let out a slight wail of her own as 
her screen went gray, the long-haired sprite of the 
Magician weeping at his loss.  "I hate this game.  How 
could you beat me with the Fool of all characters?  His 
drop pattern sucks."

"Some people have the touch, others..."  Atsuko rolled her 
eyes, but still smiled.  Chris grinned in reply.  "So, you 
wanna go again, winner buys dinner?"

"Playing for money now?" she asked, perking up.  "Now 
there's no way I can lose."

"Oh yeah, let's just see about that!"

The redhead shrugged, put in another 100-yen piece and hit 
continue.  This time, she chose Temperance as her 
character, and Chris chose the Magician.  The Magician 
almost immediately started crying out "Baka na!" while 
Temperance announced for several seconds that she thought 
she was feeling happy before Magician's screen went blank.

"But..."  The boy wore an almost comical look of shock.  
"My controller... it just... it broke..." Chris complained.

"Told you.  When cash is on the line, I always win.  Now, I 
believe you owe me a meal now."

Chris hung his head in defeat briefly, then straightened.  
Offering his arm, they set off to find some food.

+ + +

Sagara Aoi's condition was quickly worsening.  Her husband 
closed the door to her hospital room slowly, feeling 
drained.  He had not wanted to put her back in the 
hospital, but...  Dammit, he hated this.  A policeman's 
salary just wasn't sufficient to afford her treatment.  And 
even with the "charitable contributions" he was 
receiving...

"Uncle Sagara," a singsongy voice rang through the 
corridor.  Speaking of the devil...

"What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.

Maki gave a mock pout.  "Now, dear uncle... you are so 
unkind.  I just had a few questions..."  She crept up, 
grabbing the man by the arm.  "Tell me about the pardon of 
the Forrester girl, and the escape of Usono Ishido."

"Not much to ask about.  The pardon went over our heads.  
Take it up with the Diet.  As for Usono, he fell into the 
river and died."

"A body was never found."

"This-- that's official police business.  We are sure that 
the body will turn up downstream soon.  Case closed."

"Is it?"  The teen's smile was cruel and piercing.

"I think it's time for you to leave," Sagara said through 
clenched teeth.

"I think it's time for you to realize who is in charge 
here.  I believe your wife needs an operation soon, no?  If 
you want to be able to hire an actual surgeon, then I think 
you had better do something about what I need."  She handed 
him a slip of paper with a few words written on it.

"What's this," he growled.

"While you're looking for Ishido-kun, I need you to 
eliminate this man."

Sagara blanched, reading the name on the sheet a second 
time.  "How in the hell do you expect me to do something 
about him?"

The girl shrugged unconcernedly.  "Stage an inquiry.  Sex 
scandal.  Taking bribes," this last part was quite pointed.  
"All of which would be sufficient for sullying his 
reputation.  The how is your job.  I'm sure you can think 
of something."

"No.  No way."  The policeman shook his head vehemently.  A 
sergeant like him take on someone so highly ranked?

"Then maybe you should start saying your goodbyes to your 
wife."  She whirled, stalking away.

"Sagara."  A hand clapped lightly on his shoulder, and he 
jumped.  Sagara felt slightly less ill-at-ease to find it 
was only his partner.

"Nakamura.  What is it?"

The dark-haired man's face was lined with worry.  "That's 
what I was going to ask you.  I was coming back from the 
Shirosawa boy's room, and saw you arguing with someone... 
is something wrong?"

Something wrong?  Only the fact that he was a policeman on 
the take, torn between his job and his family.  "No, 
everything's fine.  Any leads on the hit and run?"

Nakamura shook his head.  "There's no sign the boy's going 
to come out of his coma anytime soon.  It's looking bad for 
our case."

Sagara ground his teeth.  "Sounds like the new trend around 
here.  Any luck finding Usono?"

"Hm?  I thought you were a proponent of the idea that he 
was dead?"

"Well, sometimes even I am wrong.  Look, if you find him, 
let me know, all right?"  Jamming his hands into his 
pockets, Sagara left.  Lost in thought, he did not realize 
when the paper Maki had given him dropped to the ground, 
nor did he see Nakamura retrieve it and slowly read the 
name written thereon.  Oda Kazuhiro.

+ + +

The evening had been beautiful.  And that's why she had to 
act.

But...

She shouldn't do this.  Her Queen really would not 
appreciate her going against her orders a second time, no 
matter what the circumstances.

But...

He deserved better, no matter what his family's faults 
were.  And maybe... this wouldn't be so bad.

The Knight of Pentacles set off.

+ + +

"You are the Page of Cups."  The Ace's bald statement was 
somewhat tempered by the slight waver in her voice.

The figure made a barely detectable head movement signaling 
assent.

"We were told you were the Healer.  That you can save our 
friend."

"I could," he said, sounding more aloof than expected for 
someone in his position.

"How?"  Arisa asked frantically.  "Tell us how we can help 
you so you can help Shirosawa.  Now!" she ordered, roughly 
shaking the shoulder of the battered man and tossing him to 
his back.  Clear blue eyes gazed around swollen lids, 
almost pleading.  Then they flashed amber and the instant 
was gone, black eyes narrowing as he lifted a small vial to 
his cracked lips.

"There's only enough for one, and I..."

"What are you doing?"  The Knight automatically grabbed for 
the potion but was too late -- the draught was empty.  She 
started then paused as the man began to heal -- deep wounds 
closed, angry bruises faded, bones set and mended.  In the 
space of two minutes, the Page had almost fully recovered 
from the pathetic state the Blades had found him in, and 
solidly got to his feet.  The only evidence that the man 
had once been incapacitated was the soaked-in bloodstains 
on his clothes, and the sickly gray pallor to his skin.

"You cannot help me," he stated.  "And I can no longer help 
your friend."

Grimacing, Sumire slowly reached for her bokken.  Arisa 
simply leapt at him, arms pointed for a strike.  She 
bounced off a field just before reaching him.  Rolling back 
into a ready position, she glared daggers at Healer while 
he returned a slightly apologetic look.

"I am but a Page.  I can do naught but follow the will of 
my King.  Aren't you the same?"

And then he disappeared, the field closing behind him.

+ + +

Nakamura returned to his desk, intent on finishing up some 
paperwork before heading home.  Sitting on his desk was a 
young woman with reddish, chin-length hair and a pensive 
expression on her face.  "Excuse me, but--"

"Are you Sergeant Nakamura?"

"Well, yes--"

"I... I guess I have some information for you.  On a case 
you're working on," she further qualified.  She jumped from 
the desk, standing before him but only periodically meeting 
his gaze.  "That hit-and-run, with Shirosawa.  I can tell 
you who did it."

+ + +

tbc.

+ + +

Oops.

(and the game Atsuko and Chris were playing was 'Magical 
Drop', a puzzle game featuring the major arcana.)

eme 3.sept.01