Dionysus was in a state of shock. All he could do was stand there, staring at where the events of the past had replayed themselves before his eyes. Tortured memories. A happier time. A tragic fate. How... why... why had his Ce-ko revealed their sorrowed past to everyone? It was the secret they had kept between themselves. No one, except for the closest of their family, had even known that they had been married, however briefly. But now, now, the deepest secret that bound them together had been thrown out to be scattered by the winds. And even now, the memories replayed themselves in his mind, no matter how desperately he tried to block them out. The memories of the times before, when Ce-ko was his and he was Ce-ko's. When... when they were in love. But now all of that was shattered because he had a *bit* too much sarcasm in his blood.

He frowned. "Snap out of it, Dionysus," he muttered to himself. "Get a grip on yourself."

His eyes focused beyond the fight occurring ahead and to the left. He focused beyond the chaos to the still body lying on the cobblestones of Main Street. A young woman with ebony hair, dressed in black and silver sailor fuku. She lay in the street, pale... unmoving... forgotten. Dionysus' heart mourned the sight while his mind was taking out its weapons. It might not be Ce-ko! his mind screamed. It could be her otherself, Terra. With all the fighting, there's no way to know for sure who that girl really is! But what if it *is* Ce-ko? Lying there in the street? I should be with her! No! Yes! No! Yes! No! Yes!

Dionysus finally made up his mind. He couldn't take the chance. He was about to dash across the street through the fighting when something slammed into him from behind. Dionysus whirled around and barely caught Orion as he slipped into unconsciousness. "Na--nani?!?"

Dionysus looked up and saw Roger standing with his arm still outstretched, his hand in a fist. All sorts of dark emotions rolled out from the Guardian and he was eyeing Dionysus with the same sort of malice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Roger?!?" he growled out, laying Orion carefully down on the ground.

"I'm putting my fist back down to my side," Roger said snidely as he lowered his arm. "I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I do know that his," he stabbed a finger at the unconscious Orion, "Otaku betrayed mine, that your Otaku nearly killed mine, and that *my* Otaku is suffering the worst of all! What kind of game are you trying to pull here?!"

Dionysus growled low in his throat. He desperately wanted to go to his Ce-ko, but Roger was too dangerous. And unstable. Very, very unstable at the moment. Dionysus swore under his breath before confronting Roger. "Your Otaku is suffering the worst of all?" He paused to look at the fighting, where Susanne was clearly holding her own. "She looks like she's pretty good condition to me. Nothing a bit of rest and some iodine and aspirin couldn't fix. If you haven't noticed, Ce-ko is the one at death's door over there!"

"She deserves it! The two of you are the same! You do whatever you can to further your own desires, not caring whose hands you have to step on!"

"Well, you're the one who sent Susanne to me when you should have taken care of Christopher on your own! You couldn't even stand up for yourself!"

"KISAMA!!!" Roger screamed, his fist lashing out. Dionysus moved swiftly, grabbing Roger's arm and executing a shoulder throw. Roger flew through the air, hitting the ground heavily but going into a tuck and ending up in a crouched position facing Dionysus.

The two men sized each other up warily... and pounced.

The fighting between the two Guardians was fast and furious, both of them taking out their frustrations on the other. On the other front, the Otaku were mixing it up something awful as the fight had degenerated into a melee, a free-for-all against enemies. Their auras blazed brighter than the setting sun, battle and fighting singing in their blood spurning them on. Yes... this... this was what the Otaku were for. To fight. To fight, to win, and hopefully, not to die.

"The four constellations in the heavens, and the four directions of the Earth..."

Time seemed to slow down.

"Strengthened by law..."

Dionysus abruptly pulled back his punch and Roger put down his crossed arms. "That's..." Dionysus whispered.

"... truth and goodness..."

Susanne let the hold on her glaive loosen, until it fell from her hands with a slight clang on the street. "I know this," she murmured.

"Please tell the protectors of we Otaku..."

Mercy's lightsaber flickered off and she seemed to remember these words. "... the Sacred Words..."

"... that I will now speak the words."

Anaera's head whipped around and she held Eurydice's arm tightly. "It... it can't be..."

"From your dwelling in the heavens to the earth, reveal yourself to us."

Nyx tucked her swords back inside her trenchcoat and her eyes darted back and forth, looking for the source of the words.

"For the good of mankind, please make extinct every kind of evil."

Kristsi pulled herself up from the prone position she was in before. Everything was horribly confusing, but the words seemed to make some sort of sense to her.

"By using your divine powers, protect us."

Remy gasped as she remembered the phrase she had seen in the Handbook. "Celly...?" she said hopefully.

"I ask only this... grant this request."

Meredith silently pointed and all eyes turned to the fuku-clad girl who stood in the middle of the street. Pain seemed etched in every inch of her body, yet still she stood, repeating these words.

"Descend from the heavens..."

Her blue eyes blazed with unknown power and her aura blazed around her. This is why I am here, she thought to herself. This is my purpose here.

"... and stand before me!"

The fuku-clad girl thrust her arm up into the air and a blast of energy shot down, engulfing her in its brilliant brightness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A young, dark-haired man walked slowly home after a long day of classes. Then he gasped in a mixture of pain and surprise. Someone... something powerful was calling him. The pull was intense and he couldn't break free of it. The siren song called him, beckoned him, and he was useless to resist. He did not *want* to resist. A blast of power engulfed him, pulling him to a new place. Only his textbooks, lying on the sidewalk, marked his passage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell is this?" the man said out loud in wonder as he found himself in a place of light and warmth. A figure manifested itself in front of him. A young woman, her ebony hair tangled and extreme weariness in her eyes. She collapsed. Without a moment's hesitation, he was at her side, cradling her smaller body against his. This all felt horribly familiar for some reason.

The young woman's eyes flickered open, and she tiredly and painfully raised her hand to touch his cheek. "... ‘nii- chan..." she said in a raspy whisper. "... ‘nii-chan, I tried... I tried to be strong... ‘nii-chan... don't leave me again..."

"... ‘nii-chan," he repeated, tears streaming down his cheeks. "...‘nii-chan won't leave you anymore!"

"... ‘nii-chan..." Her voice cut off. Probably because she had stopped breathing. He screamed in pain and sorrow. Oh, kami-sama! His sister! His sister was dying in his arms again!!! He kept screaming as the tears fell unbidden from his cheeks and he was carried through the light to a new place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the pillar of light had dissipated, the screaming replaced it. Where the fuku-clad girl had stood before, an impossibly handsome young man stoodinstead, cradling her body in his arms.

Bishounen.

This fact hit all of the girls immediately. This man, holding the fuku-clad girl's body in his arms, was Bishounen.

His dark eyes focused on his surroundings and he angrily stared down at all of the people assembled. "Who?!?" he bit out harshly. "Who did this to her?!?"

Everyone winced from the tone.

"‘Nii-chan." The voice was soft, but carried through the air. The man looked down at the bundle he carried in surprise, happiness across his features. "‘Nii-chan, don't get carried away. Put me down."

"Imouto," he said hesitantly.

"‘Nii-chan, I'm a big girl, put me down."

He did as the fuku-clad girl asked, but quickly supported her as it seemed like her legs would collapse beneath her. "Imouto, are you sure?"

"Of course." The fuku-clad girl took a deep breath, gathering strength and courage. She turned and actually seemed surprised at the number of people watching her. She felt nervous. It was as if they wanted something from her. From the depths of her mind, words rose up and she didn't hesitate to speak them.

"I represent the One who has been forgotten by you." For some reason she didn't know, she gave a few girls (a brunette, an Asian girl, and a blonde) particularly cold looks. "He who was abandoned for others. I am Otaku for the One that I have the most loyalty to. The only Bishounen I could even have true loyalty to." She gave the man beside her a shaky smile and faced the crowd again."

Watashi wa... Endymion no Otaku!!!"

Everyone stared at her in shock, and she fidgeted with the hem of her fuku. "Umm... who are all of you people anyway?" she asked innocently.

TBC...