Utena finishes her breakfast and waves her hand idly to make the dishes as
if they never were, while gazing idly at the restored main viewscreen in
Ops. Things are quiet, which .. bothers her. A LOT, now. She's getting
used to Order constantly poking at her.. she doesn't want to admit how
close he got to beating her LAST time. He's too quiet. She sighs. Well,
it's not like she WANTS him to appear again. Give her her way, she'd never
see him again... but no such luck. After a moment, she stands, brushing
some crumbs from her lap. "Well.. I can't keep sitting around here
waiting."

Ops is just about done.. Not-Ops is quieter than ever, with most of the
crew moving back to the dorms and rooms. The only people left are
yourself, Xelloss, and Anything-chan, who is busying herself tidying up
the house... happy and content. She hasn't made a move to return to Ops.

Utena looks over toward the little one. "Hey, Anything? You want to help
me with something real important?"

Anything looks up from her sweeping of nonexistent dust with an imagined
broom. "Ara? Hai, Utena-sama?"

Utena smiles to her. "You feel like getting out of here for a while? I
can't keep waiting around for the next crisis.. I've got other things to
do. I need to go find the wingless, and make sure they're okay... But if
you want to come along, I'd like the company." She'd take Xel, but
honestly, let the poor guy rest after their last encounter with Order..  
besides, someone should stay here and look after things.

Anything-chan takes her apron off. "I guess so.. where are we going?" She
puts the broom aside as well, and walks over to join you.

Utena smiles quietly. "Out of dreams, for a while. I need to feel some
real air. We'll start in Darra, I guess... I know at least Love and
Loathing should be there." She reaches her hand for yours, a soothing
smile, and her wings glitter momentarily a lambent yellow.

Anything-chan smiles, and takes your hand.. confident in you. And she
likes your wings. ^_^ "Okay!" A bit more excited, now.

*Xel? I'm heading out. We need to stop reacting to Order and get ahead of
him.. I'm going to check on the wingless. You can find me if you need
me...* Then she picks up Anything with a grin. "Hold on, okay?" Wings
spread out full, she takes a step forward and walks straight out of
dreams, into reality. Effortlessly, a faintest glow around her that fades
when she's clear; her wings fold up and away. She came out a short walk
from Darra; it wouldn't do to just pop out of midair, even if -some-
people think that's okay. n.n

Well, Xel has never been known for his limitless tact and discretion. It's
probably a good idea; winged people arriving from nowhere tend to send the
peasantry into conniptions. Darra's fairly quiet today; it's too cold to
worry about going from place to place.

Anything-chan brrrs.

Utena nods. "Cold... Hang close. Love's place is nice and warm." Having
gratefully ditched whatever insane outfit that transformation device
dumped on her in dreams, she's back to her black and white outfit... hugs
Anything. "Geez, I should have checked the weather first..." It's not too
far a walk though, and she moves briskly, happy to carry the little girl
with her. As she draws nearer the familiar alley she frowns slightly to
herself. Remembering Reiko. And then she frowns a little MORE when she
thinks about how Reiko was in Order's last skirmish.. and then walks a lot
faster than before.

Anything-chan is more than happy to be carried.. she's not used to walking
a lot. She'd usually turn into a ball and bounce, or turn into a bird and
fly, but that's not an option when going through a public place. "Boy, you
can run fast!" she comments. In the alley... Love's shop is gone! It's not
where you remem... oh. Turn around. -.- There it is.

Utena sighs, muttering to herself, "I wish she wouldn't do that.." and
then sets Anything down. "Here we are.. just right through the door." She
puts her hand on the knob and opens the door, entering.

The shop... it's a mess. Broken shelves, things littered on the ground,
most things broken.. anything fragile (read : almost all of it) destroyed.
In the back, the only motion.. Love stands, sweeping up pieces into a
dustpan quietly. Not noticing your entrance.

Utena winces and runs in. "Love!" Dammit, dammit, she waited too long...

Love looks up.. you can tell she's been crying. But it's stopped, by this
point. "Hello," she says quietly. Still brushing up shattered glass
figurines and music box parts.

Utena says, "... What happened...?"

Love looks down.. at all her broken treasures. Mourning them. "I don't
know.. I came in this morning, and this had happened. I thought.. I
thought the talents I used in making the shop could stop people from
wanting to damage it or steal anything, but..."

Anything-chan looks scared.. she stays behind you.

Utena moves over, kneeling down to pick up some large fragments still on
the floor... looking up toward you. "..." Then carrying the bits to a bag
she sees nearby and .. sighing. "But no one was hurt.. you're not hurt,
right?

Love considers the question. "..not in a manner of speaking," she says.
"But this.. this breaks my heart." She walks over to a chair, and eases
herself into it gently.. aching, a bit.

Utena approaches you, and kneels down on the floor in front of you, her
hands reaching for yours. "I'm -so- sorry this happened." She shakes her
head. "I think I may know why.. but... if it's the case, then it's a
little my fault." She sighs. "I stayed away too long.."

She takes your hands.. squeezing them, for support. "You didn't come here
and destroy my beloved treasures. It's not your fault." She smiles a bit..
"I love you, Utena, like a daughter. Don't blame yourself for the
universe."

Utena squeezes her fingers around yours, sighing, her head hanging. "Maybe
not. But it is... Love, there's so much I have to tell you, so much I need
to do." She looks over. "For the moment.. Have you met Anything-chan?" She
looks beside herself to the small girl. "Anything-chan, this is Love.
She's a very very kind person who didn't deserve this bad thing to
happen."

Anything-chan ums. She steps out a little, and curtsies.
"Pleasedtomeeyou." Then steps back behind you.

Love smiles.. "Hello, child." A warm, motherly smile.

Utena sighs. "Uhm... Reiko's... home, right? She's safe?"

Love nods. "Anshi visited to get some things in town, and picked her up
then. She was very relieved to be going home." Stern. "You know, you
shouldn't leave a child with relatives for that long. She still needs to
bond to you."

Utena uhms softly. "... It's... I know. It's complicated though. And..  
there's a reason why."

Utena closes her eyes a moment.. making sure Anything's clear.. and then
relaxes... enough that the chaos wings appear visibly, unfolding and
opening with a gentle radiance.

Love's eyes widen. To say the least. Fear, apprehension, joy, confusion..
"What... where did you get those?"

Utena looks up. "I've been chosen by the Lord. She's made me her
Knight..."  her voice very soft, as if to soften the shock of the wing's
appearance.  "... I didn't. I don't want to scare you. But... she asked me
to keep track of her children."

Love reaches out.. to touch one of those wings. But loses her nerve, and
retracts her hand before reaching it. "..I had wings, once..." She nods.
"Yes.. the knight would have them. I suppose she would."

Utena sees the hesitation. "... It's all right..." Leans forward a little.  
"They won't bite."

Love shakes her head. "They're not intended for me. That's alright."

Utena folds them away quickly, sighing, with a nod of her head. "Love... I
don't think it's safe for.. for any of us, now. Order has made an attempt
to destroy this world... I don't understand all of it, but... he has
Nightmare."

Utena says, "I've already fought him back.. three times. This was the
first chance I had I was able to move freely enough to come away.. but
it's no excuse for not trying."

Love nods.. taking that in. "Of any of us who would ally with him.. I
would suspect Nightmare. I know the others distrust Paradox or Loathing
more, but Nightmare is the one who is quicker to sell his soul."

Utena says, "I don't think Nightmare had a choice... I think Order's
holding him against his will. But that's not... the point is... I think we
need to gather the wingless and.. and find somewhere safe for them."

Utena says, "The Lord is in mourning for Dios. She won't surface from her
pool. It's.. it's bad.. she's in a lot of pain."

Love thinks. "That may be difficult to do. They do not usually listen to
orders, except from mother -- and even then, there can be resistance.
Plus, where would be safe? If anything, the real world is safer, because
all of Order's attacks have been through dreams, yes?" She nods... "I
could feel it. Mother had a lot of love for Dios. Unusual, considering he
was a god of order himself, but.."

Utena flinches. "... What..?"

Love hmms? "Dios was a god of order. After all, his goals consisted of
sitting in one place, taking part in a ritualistic code of duelling cycles
and with an overall goal of world revolution, to reorganize it to a new
state.. you didn't know?"

Utena brushes her hand over her face. ".. No, I didn't know." She feels
things clicking and connecting around her, in her mind. That WOULD be why

Order appeared suddenly. Dios's death put things out of balance. Damn it..

Love blinks. "But it's obvious. His modus is clearly in opposite to chaos.
That's Akio's domain. Good and evil issues aside, chaos and order are
opposing forces."

Utena shakes her head again, biting at her lower lip. "It wasn't obvious
to me." Her shoulders sag a little. "Then it was my fault." A quick look
away.  "Anyway... You may be right. He may be waiting for me to BRING the
wingless back into dream. Maybe I shouldn't. But.. I can almost guarantee
he was the one who did this to your shop."

Love is confused. "How is this your fault? Again, you did not directly do
anything wrong.." She looks around the shop. "Utena, gods like Order can't
act alone in this universe. They can't will things to happen, not without
unbalancing much. Humans did this."

Utena sighs. "Maybe. I like to think that they couldn't... but maybe.  
There's enough forces out there that can make people do horrible things, I
guess." She shakes her head. "I know you've lost a lot. But... I still
feel.. maybe your mother would listen to you. I couldn't persuade her.  
She's buried herself away..."

Love sighs. "It's not the first time. She can be very tempermental. It
comes with being a god of chaos. Give her time.. she'll come back when she
feels ready. To stay in any one state forever would be too ordered."

Utena says, "Yeah, I guess so." She looks around. "I hoped I could bring
you good news, but I guess I haven't. Do you know where the others are?
how I can find them? I promised to look after everyone..'"

Love thinks. "Loathing left a long time back.. he never likes to stay in
one place. He might be headed to Evilania, he always feels at home there.
Drama is in Sailoon with a travelling theatre group, and Myth is with
him... they're trying an alliance for the time being, but it rarely works.
You know how artists can have creative differences. Reason is in Darata,
she lives there at the university. Paradox.. I have no idea. He's
everywhere, really."

Utena says, "I'm not too worried about him. He taught me just a couple of
tricks, and he's better than I am." She nods, and stands, reaching down to
give you a hug. "I've got to keep moving and check on the others. But I'll
come back. I hope you'll think about having the family get together. She
misses you... all of you. I know that she does. If she were to see you
again, maybe it could help get her out of her loss.""

Love seems reluctant. "I'll consider it. For now.. I have a lot of repair
work to do." She sighs. "Recreating all these loved items is going to take
time."

Utena says, "If you took the shop into Dream, it'd be much easier..."

Love shakes her head. "Nobody can love a dream more than they fancy a
notion, Utena. These things need to be real."

Utena mms. "I understand. I'll come back to visit again soon.. maybe I can
help." She glances away, before reaching and picking up Anything-chan
again, nuzzling her cheek with her nose. "Hey, kiddo. We're going to go to
Darata next, okay?"

Anything-chan nods. "Okay. It's a big city, though, so don't lose me.."

Love resumes her task. "Call again anytime, Utena." Sweep, sweep.

Utena says, "I'm not going to lose you." She walks to the door, carrying
the little one, and pauses at the door, looking back. "I'm sorry." She
whispers under her breath. Sorry for the fact this was done, sorry for the
fact she couldn't make it better.. sorry for being a reminder of something
lost. And then she steps out, into the cold, with a sigh, the door closing
behind her."

Utena steps out of Love's ruined shop, with Anything beside her.. sighing
as she glances up into the grey sky, cold rain dumping down... she looks
to Anything and says softly, "Can you change into something small? I'll
carry you in my pocket, and then you won't get soaked..."

Anything-chan nods.. "Okay." She hops into the air, and Pop!s.. changing
into a.. pog.

An SD Anything-chan pog, but a pog, nevertheless...

Utena snatches gently and slips the pog into her lapel pocket, sighing
faintly as she holds her hand above her eyes to keep the rain out...
Darata next.. that's where Reason is. Which would be great.. but she has
NO CLUE where that IS... she can't visualize it. Dammit. She stands there
inside the doorway frowning.. trying to make up her mind.

Ever consider.. you know.. a map? Love's gotta have one somewhere in
there.

Utena eheh's. Given the mood Love was in... she doesn't want to be in the
way or depress her any further.. there's another, normal store around..  
she'll head for that instead. Briefly thinking that there were of course
plenty of maps back in the sanctuary.. .but that place might as well be
radioactive and a smoking crater as far as her ability to enter or access
it... she sighs and darts quickly out from the covered porchway of Love's
shop toward the normal general store.

Ah, yes. The Item Store. (Nobody knows why it's called that, but any
passing adventurers usually drop by it to buy potions and small bits of
armor and food stocks and so on...) It's loaded with a little of
everything, and a pleasantly ordinary shopkeep. "Can I help you, miss?"

Utena smiles over... "Uhm. I just need a..." She pauses. Wait. She doesn't
have any MONEY. Dammit. -.- Her shoulders slump a little. "Never mind...  
I'm running broke.".. links her hands behind her back and glances around
for a few moments.

That is a problem, isn't it. The Lord of Nightmares has a slippery grasp
on the concept of money, as you know, and hasn't paid you a dime. Well..
there is Love's shop, still. Or you could beg for change on the street or
something..

Utena isn't going to do THAT. She sighs and moves toward the door. "Sorry,
never mind." Steps out, and gets rained on again... pink wavelets hanging
into her eyes, and darts back over to Love's. Sigh. Of course, asking the
parents for money is a timehonored tradition even in THESE ages.. but...

Love has resumed her cleanup of the store.. there's still so much to do.
She looks up. "Hello again.."

Utena sighs sheepishly. "Uhm.. I forgot to ask you.." Steps in, shutting
the door behind her. "Do you have a map of the area? I have no idea where
Darata is.."

Love thinks. "Well.. there should be one in the first aisle. Near the
baking tools and so on. Assuming it's not destroyed." She seems to be
okay.. perhaps a bit tired and worn out from this experience, but your
presence did help her, it seems.

Utena looks over, nodding. She approaches the aisle to check, while also
looking back toward you. "Would you like me to stay and help? I can, if
you want."

It's a mess, of course. A bag of flour ripped and spilled on the ground,
as did some wooden spoons and so on.. there's a map hanging on the wall.
Torn, but Darata is visible on a penninsula... There are footprints in the
flour.

Love shakes her head. "You have things to do, dear. I'll be fine."

Utena frowns slightly, kneeling down and looking at the footprints when
they catch her eye... temporarily forgetting about the map. She looks
along the floor.

It's hard to say. Boots, definitely, but a kind that's largely flat with
only a wavy bump for traction.. but the weird thing is that there are
several sets of footprints of various sizes, all with that same bootprint.
A group?

Utena hms softly. The tread isn't a familiar one; she's no tracker. But
the obvious multiple nature of the prints bothers her. She straightens,
looking down, and frowns. "Mom? Did you see this?"

Love looks up, across the aisles.. then ducks back and walks over.
Blinking. "No, I hadn't.." She puts in a pair of reading glasses, and
leans in closer. "I don't recognize it, but.. more than one person.
Similarly outfitted."

Utena nods. "Some kind of group. But I can't.... I didn't know of any
group that was like that here in Darra apart from the constabulary, and I
really doubt they came in here to smash up things..

Love thinks. "And bandits never have uniforms. An organized bandit group
that has identical boots is called an army."

Utena stands back, gazing at it again. Now, she looks along the floor for
the highly unlikely aspect that something else might have been left
behind.. anything that might be another giveaway, now that the flour's
tipped her off. A group? Who moves in a group that has the same kind of
outfitting? She just can't think of it. Mercenaries are usually thrown
together from all kinds of places... same with hired goons... nodding as

Love speaks, coming toward that conclusion herself.

Utena asks, "But why would an army want to damage this place... and WHOSE
army?"

The older woman shakes her head. "I don't know. I don't offend anybody, I
don't have enemies.. I just.. I just keep to myself." Sighs. "I'd better
resume cleanup. I'm afraid I'm not much of a detective, dear."

Utena nods. "Neither am I. But it doesn't add up." She frowns. "Maybe I'd
better stick around here anyway." She walks over and picks up a broom
sitting against a wall.

Love fetches the broom before you. "No, you really do have things to do.
I'm FINE, dear." She smiles. "I am a wingless. I don't use my talents
often, but I can protect myself."

Utena looks extremely unhappy about this prospect. "What if they come
back?"

Love shrugs. "If they come back, I'll know who did this. And I'll stop
them this time. I wasn't here when they came... but I will be next time,
if there is a next time."

Utena sighs, shaking her head. "I don't like the idea of just leaving you
here like this. I've been bad enough about not keeping in touch." She
frowns and draws down the map from the wall, holding the scroll in her
hands. "I really don't want to just leave you."

Love nods.. "But I don't want to leave my shop. I can still save it, if I
work. If I leave, and they do come back, I can't do anything. And you HAVE
to leave eventually, you know, you have a fiance and duties.. so what can
you do?"

Utena sighs. "I suppose so." She tucks the scroll under her arm and moves
over, kissing her adopted mother on the cheek, before drawing back with
her eyes dark and worried. "Be careful, all right? I know you love the
things in this shop, but things can be replaced, and you can't." She turns
to go again...

Love smiles.. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about mum, dear." Politely waves,
then resumes her work.

Utena waves. "I'll bring the map back later..." and walks out again,
glancing at it.

Darata is a very, very small country. Almost a city-state, on a
penninsula. But there it is, and it's only.. a few hundred miles away or
more.

Utena looks around... the rain's nasty, but... she should be able to.. no,
dammit, she'd probably pass out from exhaustion trying to get there if she
tried to use her wings. She carefully tucks the scroll away.. walking for
now, she guesses. But that'll take DAYS... and she's not prepared for a
long journey, either...

Wait. How did you get from the world of dreams to here? Why not use it as
a transitional space? Hop, hop.

That's different, Utena can VISUALIZE Darra.. which makes it possible to
transition from one to the other. She's never BEEN to Darata.

Hmm. So now what?

Utena scratches her head. Back to square one, she supposes... back to the
World of Dreams to gather up things for the journey, drop off
Anything-chan.. it wasn't really smart to leave without being prepared
anyway. And THAT she knows how to transition to.. just a small effort and
a single step can move her forward and back to not-Ops.

Utena returns to not-Ops, not intending to stay too long, and moves
directly to gather some things from her bedroom. Quietly, she takes care
of needed things: drops off Anything-chan with a promise to bring her a
present from Darata if she can find something nice, gathers a nice sturdy
bag, food, cloak, etc. And sets off, walking out of Dreams again, sighing
a little. It WILL be lonely, but she's prepared to make the journey the
old-fashioned way; she's been doing too much flying and flitting and
dreamshifting, and not enough WALKING like a normal person. So... while
the trip takes her several days, and is rather boring, it's REAL, and so
Utena finds pleasure in that, sleeping under the real world's weather and
walking with her real legs, and breathing real air. Several days or so
later...

...you arrive in Darata. In the rain. It rains in Darata 80% of the year,
but it's fabled for its intellectuals, efficent public transportational
system and coffee. Now, according to Love, Reason was at the University..
although she didn't mention where, she did say Reason is on staff, so
finding her wouldn't be TOO bad.

Utena's soaked through, but at least that means she's CLEAN- rather like
being showered on.. the only problem is it's COLD rain. She sneezes as she
crosses into the city and looks around for signposts or something that can
show her the way to her destination.

Trolleys roll by, every now and then.. pausing at stops to let passengers
on. Luckily, one arrives, with a destination sign rolled around to
UNIVERSITY. Um... there are no horses pulling the trolly. That's spooky.
But the people on board (most of which have cappuchino in paper cups)
don't seem to mind.

Utena blinks a little, but quickly darts over to hop into the trolley. o.o

The trolley moves off... with no driver and no horses. Eeeee. It's a
smooth ride, though. A young person, perhaps only a little older than you,
sits nearby.. sipping coffee and reading a newspaper. Technology must be
pretty impressive in this town if mass-printing is a reality. But the odd
thing.. he's dressed like a businessman would be. At his age? Where ARE
you, la-la-land?

Utena scratches her head. It reminds her.. rather a LOT.. of the future
worlds she's seen.. the other-Anshi and Utena's world, actually. Vehicles
that move without horses and so on... Funny, she doesn't REMEMBER crossing
any time barriers while walking here... shakes her head and peers around
some while waiting for the trolley to come to its destination. Watching
out of the windows, generally admiring what she sees..

Oh, it's the right time period. The right dress (mostly) and the same
sanitation conditions, but.. everything is.. spiffier. Technology is more
widespread, what technology is available, and it's an urban area that's
totally developed. Few slums, not too many peasants.. this isn't an
agricultural country. It's one formed on business and industry.

The man looks up. "New in town?"

Utena nods. "Visiting a friend at the University." She smiles a little,
pushing back her soaked pink bangs with her fingers, a sigh, bag off her
shoulders and resting over her feet.

The man ahhs. "I was just up there attending a conference on
thaumatological computational devices. I'm in practical mathematics at
Microverse." Smiles. "Hope you like it here. Hey, make sure you stop by a
Harbuck's. We're famous for them."

Utena smiles a little, nodding. Didn't understand more than a few words of
that, but that's okay... "Thanks." Wishing she had a TOWEL more than
anything right now, waiting for the trolley to finish its run... quite a
place. She can imagine there'd be a .. well, reason, that Reason would
like it here.

The trolley eventually gets to its destination, the University....... eek.
It's larger than 1.5 of Darra put together, you'd hazard. How are you
going to FIND Reason? True, the Administration building would be a good
place to start, and it's near the main gate, but.. on a positive note..
it's not raining over the campus. It's a sunny day. o.o Students rest out
on the quad and study in small groups.

Utena is... quite surprised by that. But welcomes the feel of the sun,
letting it dry her out- she smiles and holds her hands out before her a
moment, eyes closed.. then resumes, walking to the administrative
building, letting the signs lead her along. Infinitely grateful that she's
actually picked up the ability to read after all this time, not just a few
letters but comfortable literacy. This would have been HELL otherwise.

This town is BUILT on literacy. Indeed it would have been. Inside the
building is a stately information desk, of marble.. a few student staffers
behind it. Right now they're busy telling dirty jokes, though.

Utena approaches, her bag over her shoulder, one hand resting lightly
along the strap, the other at her side. Smiles brightly. "Hi, I'm looking
for an instructor in residence here..." Pauses momentarily. Would Reason
be CALLING herself Reason here? Instead of trying to make random guesses
at a name, she gives a brief but clear description of Reason as she
remembers her looking.

One of the students ohs. "You mean Professor Logos. She's in the applied
mathematics department... um." Points at a building on the campus map.
"Here, third floor."

Utena looks up. "Do you have a copy of that map? I think I'd get lost
otherwise." Another smile.

A small printed copy is handed to you. Man.. paper and printing must be
pretty widespread here. o.o

Utena tries not to show her surprise. But is suitably impressed.. she
reaches over and takes a small writing pencil she notices nearby, making
an X on the building that got pointed to on her copy of the map.. "Thanks
a lot." Hm. Administration... *marks with a circle* here... okay. She'll
just follow the map.

The map's accurate. It leads you to another large stately building,
Mathematics... inside, a stairwell leads up to the third floor. All the
doors here have names.. one is labelled LOGOS, indeed.