"Give up Malon!" the attacking woman hissed as she hurled an energy blast towards her mother. "You're not worthy to be called an Otaku anymore! You've broken every rule in this Game, and I'm going to make you pay for it! Without your 'Guardian', you'd be dead already! Or should I call him your husband instead?"
Kristsi could see her mother was tireing as she became more clumsy, barely missing the blasts as they whizzed past her slim frame. Her father was blocking what blasts he could, but they were coming too quickly. Her mother stumbled and couldn't regain her balance soon enough. Her opponent laughed as a blast caught her mother squarely in the chest. The fierce light in Malon's eyes faded as she crumpled to the ground.
"NOOOOO!!!!" Kristsi's father rushed to his wife's side, gently cradling her still body in his arms. The attacking woman chuckled as she dusted her hands off, then turned and dissapeared as quickly as she had come.
The scene changed. Her father was standing in front of the Guardian's Council.
"...and further more, you failed to protect your charge. This is the first time in our honorable history that a charge has been lost. These are the charges that the Council has found you guilty of, Tavi. If you have anything to say before your sentence is passed down, now is the time to speak."
Tavi looked at the Council with hollow eyes. "I loved her. I'd never let anything happen to her. You must believe me!"
"You let your emotions cloud your judgement Tavi, and now you'll have to pay the consequences. Your daughter, Enelra, will be a replacement for her mother in the Game. Your son will be her Guardian. You are strictly prohibited to play any part in the Game, or their lives."
Kristsi had heard enough. It was all too much to absorb at once. She tore her attention away from the scene in front of her and closed her eyes, concentrating on getting out of Tavi's dream. When her eyes opened, she was sitting in the main room again, the prisms pulsating with light. She pulled her knees up to her and began to sob silently as the long-buried memories came boiling up to the surface. "Dang! I wish Meredith were here right about now!" Kristsi sputtered through her tears. "She'd know what to do about all this."
There was a flash of light, and a very blonde, very suprised girl appeared in front of her friend.
"What the freak!!!" Meredith shouted.
tbc...