*Ok, much better* Susanne climbed to the highest, yet most stable branch of the redwood. This way she could monitor the progress of the Otaku while staying out of harm's way. There was still no sign of Nyx. She had vanished from radar. The Otaku had nestled in the most comfortable position possible with her back to the bark and her legs stretched out infront of her.

"Hey, chica." A female voice whispered in her ear simultaneously as a red blip appeared on the screen beside another red blip.

Susanne screamed and jumped a mile, nearly loosing her balance.

"Careful there, it's a long way down." Nyx was grinning.

"Nyx..." Susanne hissed. "Are you trying to get me killed? I told you not to sneak up on me like that!"

The trenchcoat figure shrugged. "But it's fun."

That was when Susanne's jaw dropped as she noticed that Nakago no Otaku was standing on thin air. She was levitating. "How...how're you?!?"

"Like Celly said before, we *are* Otaku after all, chica. Shed your mortal self and take advantage of what you've got. C'mon. Let's ditch this joint."

"Where?" Susanne fought the impulse to look down. It was the equivalent of a fiftenn story freefall should she plunge back to earth.

Nyx grabbed the lap top and tossed it into in the air.

"Hey--!" Susanne protested. But before she could finish the exclamation, the lap top vanished.

"You won't be needing that for now. I've got more toys." Nyx smiled.

Susanned didn't trust that pointy little smile. It was wicked. Heck, she didn't trust Nyx. But what could she do? She was literally out on a limb. Nyx held her hand out to Susanne. Warily, she accepted it. That was when Nyx yanked her off her seat and tossed her through the air.

"Agggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!" Susanne screamed as she sped to the ground. A split second before her body hit ground zero, she penetrated through the portal.

She was still scremaing when she landed on the high-back, crimson, crushed velvet chair, gripping the arm rests tightly. Her laptop was safe on the chair beside her. Susanne realized she was not going to hit the prairie, and opened her eyes. Nyx was standing on the opposite side of the large rectangular table, her arms crossed over her chest.

Nyx seemed to feed of the blank expression on Susanne's face. "Doko?"

-------

After giving Susanne the grand tour of the castle, the two Otaku stood in the midst of the garden's labyrinth, which uncannily resembled that of the animal maze in Stephen King's "The Shining."

"Nice," said Susanne.

"Yeah, it's my father's version of back child-support," the other grinned.

Once again Susanne was confused. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Never mind. It's way too complicated. Besides, I'm thirsty. I could go for a venti Rhumba Frappuccino. How 'bout you?" Nyx walked through the tall hedges and disappeared.

Susanne shook her head and followed. She set foot in a fully operational Starbucks. "You're kidding..."

Nyx was already settled in a comfy purple couch, sipping her drink.

Susanne hailed one of the un-named Otaku and ordered a lemonade smoothie. She peeked out the window to see hundreds of nameless Otaku wandering about the premises at work. Beyond the Starbucks looked more like Deep Space Nine's promenad [minus the funky aliens] than a 10th century Scottish castle. There was also a Tommy Burger stand, Penny Lane used record store and several other shops and resturants. She even thought she spotted a cina-plex.

"Where are we?" Susanne sat down on the other purple couch, stretching out her legs. "Don't tell me this is still part of Rayne Castle."

"Nope. We're on board Zeppelin Station. I told you I had toys." Nyx had taken the straw from her Frap and was licking it clean.

TBC..........