After finding the rogue Muse, Deona decided to travel about the European continent. She had traveled to Spain during the yearly festival, to Portugal and explored the cities of Genoa and Lisbon, to Germany and saw the remains of what had been the Berlin Wall, to France and saw the Eiffel Tower and the Arc d’ Triumphant.
Although she certainly enjoyed seeing so many historical world landmarks, she couldn’t find anything on either the Secret Lair’s location or the rogue Muse’s owner.
Now, it was the beginning of December, and that month found the trio in Tokyo, Japan.
The young woman looked out of the window in her hotel room, sighing to herself. When this search had begun, it had been mid-summertime, in Africa. True, she had seen many things since, but the fact that the trail had grown cold felt, at the least, a bit discouraging.
“Rogue,” she said, “Are you sure that you can’t tell me anything about where your master is?”
Having tired of calling the new journey mate as “the rogue, runaway or stray Muse”, she had settled on a temporary name for her: Rogue.
The Muse chattered that Deona’s information was correct.
“And you have no idea where the Lair is?”
Another affirmative sound came from Rogue.
“Just great,” she said and walked back to the bed. She turned on the television and changed the channel to one of the stations that she knew (by now) broadcasted Anime. It was one of the great things about Japan, home of Anime: There was plenty of that media playing on the TV. The only downside was that those that didn’t know the language were up the creek.
From the looks of the opening scenes, she had accidentally found a new Anime she had not seen before: D.N.Angel. She had heard of it before and had been interested in watching it.
Rogue and the other Muse looked at each other, then made some disgusted noises, ones that Deona knew meant that they already didn’t like the show.
“Oh, come on! Don’t knock it until you see it, there’s even a critter that looks a bit like you guys.”
Her original Muse looked at her and made an inquisitive sound.
“Yes, I’m sure! The character’s name is With.”
Both Muses chattered then scrambled onto both sides of the foot of the bed, settling in, while Deona carefully sat up in the middle.
“Hey, I thought of something... can you two understand Japanese?”
Both nodded.
She laughed quietly, “Of course.”
The episode was apparently the first one, which was a lucky thing for all three viewers. If it had been in the middle or near the end, she would have had a lot of trouble explaining what had happened before.
“I’ll just say this much: That young man, Daisuke,” she said, “Has a little secret that shows up in his family when a male turns 14 and even then, under a certain circumstance. You’ll have to see what it is.”
The two nodded, this time making shushing noises.
She smiled and shook her head, for more than one reason. She thought it was funny, but also, her head was starting to feel a little heavy...
Right as Risa rejected Daisuke’s love-letter on the show, the two Muses were chattering and didn’t notice their mistress slumping in the bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~ “Hey, come on...”
Huh...?
“Come on, wake up, already.”
Hm? Leave me alone; I’m sleepy.
“Hey! Do I need to make a loud noise or dump cold water?”
Ugh! Ok, ok...
Deona groaned as she opened her eyes and found that she definitely was not in her hotel room in Tokyo.
The room she was in was metallic, and definitely futuristic. There was a large window that showed the stars flying by—
Stars! She thought, What the hell?
“Finally!” she heard a testy, female voice say from the far wall, “I was wondering if you’d ever wake up.”
The young woman turned her head, slowly, then her eyes widened.
Standing against the wall was another young woman. Her hair was also strawberry blonde, but it was shorter than Deona’s, ending just at the start of the neck. Her bangs were brushed to the side, with the edge sticking up like something she would have seen from Nina in the Breath of Fire games. She was the same height, but somehow thinner. This woman wore a body-length uniform that was gold, with a red, diamond insert at the midsection. On her chest was a very recognizable item: A Starfleet combadge.
“No, what’s going on? Who’re you?” Deona asked.
“Oh, you know who I am,” the other woman replied, voice now quiet, yet enigmatic.
“Maybe I don’t. My head is a little fuzzy.”
She shook her head, chuckled, then replied, “Alright then…I think you know the language, so I’ll introduce myself that way: Dena Omaghia Covenaint, Chronosa A’be’an ni Enterprise.”
Deona’s eyes widened and she gasped in shock. Yes, she knew what that translated into.
“Dena,” she replied, “of the Covenant Strain. A’be’an, or Guardian of the Ship, assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Guardian Omega.”
Amongst all the Guardians, there were two that were the most important, called Primes. One was called Guardian Alpha, whose power could only heal or save lives. The other was Guardian Omega, whose power could only kill, in many different ways. The two of them, at a specific time and place, were the ones that brought about Judgment Day.
The woman, Dena, nodded quietly. “Not bad,” she said, “In your dimension, you created me.”
“Dimension? Did I cross into another dimension? How?”
“Don’t ask me,” Dena replied, shaking her head, “I’m not Millennia. You do remember her, right?”
“Yeah. The Governess of Time. Here, she is the daughter of Chronos, the originator of the Guardians, or the Chronosa.”
“Actually, did you think she was Chronos’ daughter in only this dimension? Or that the streams of time that she governs are only of this one?”
“Are you saying Millennia is real?”
“As real as you are,” was the reply, “You know, you tell and create many stories…even post them on that primitive thing called an Internet but you never told of me, my life, or about my people to anyone.”
“Hey, wait a minute. You’re human, just like me.”
“The Chronosa are my people! I trained as a Guardian while going through school in my original time, remember? Then, when I graduated, I left my old time for good and was Initiated. You know as well as I do what part of the Initiation was... that was, back when I was a Trainee.”
Deona gulped and nodded. “Yeah, your biosigns were altered. Normal Trainees that traverse the time streams via the tunnels die in a most nasty way the blood crystallizes. You had them changed before the dual training began.”
“Exactly. I even left a very dear friend behind. I wanted him to come with me, he even was invited but he didn’t believe me,” Dena’s voice saddened as she spoke, but only for a moment.
“Yeah, but... in my dimension, I only pretended that I grew up with him as a dear friend. We never met at all in any shape or form. It was only in my mind a way to cope with growing up friendless, abused at home and shunned by the world.”
Dena smiled, “Good to see you finally realize that. Yes, the friendship was real in my dimension, but not in yours.”
“Didn’t you find someone, though?”
“Yes, Spock. While I served on that ship, with the original crew, we had a relationship…one that ended with the Genesis Incident. Even though he was revived, he lost all memory of me. After then, I was given a choice: temporal exile or reassignment to a time that everyone I had known from then would most likely be dead. You know what I chose. I’ve been concerning myself with my duties since.”
“Dena, why am I here?”
“You were brought here. Don’t worry, you’ll be back in Tokyo in a little while. But I want to have a talk with you.”
“Why? Just because I haven’t told about you or the Guardians to anyone? Nobody would be interested in stories like that.”
Dena scoffed and replied dryly, “Is it really that nobody wants to know? Or are you just afraid to tell?”
“Hey! I never wrote you to be this rude.”
“Girl, get it through your head: this isn’t your dimension! To be honest, I don’t give a damn whether you write about me or my adventures here or not. If you do, fine, but don’t go exaggerating or changing details. I hate it when writers do that. If not, fine there, too. I have more important fish to fry with you.”
“More important fish to fry?”
“Come,” Dena said, “Get out of that bed and walk with me.”
“To where?”
“That’s for me to know.”
Deona spluttered, “Out there? Won’t the crew get suspicious, seeing two of us?”
The Guardian laughed and replied, “Nah. You know what they say about there being two of everyone in the multiverse. If anyone asks, you’re my twin sister.”
“Okay,” she replied and got up.
~*~*~*~*~*~ The two women walked down the corridors of the Enterprise. They did get a few odd looks, which would be curtailed the instant that the Guardian peered at them. Others would give Dena a cursory nod or a murmured greeting.
The two women would not say a word to each other (rather, when Deona tried to talk to Dena, she would ignore her), even when they entered a turbolift. Only when they reached a set of double-doors did the Guardian speak, and even then, only to the computer, to bring up a program.
“Program entered. Enter when ready.”
“Yow, they even have Majel’s voice down to a T here.”
“Hm? Who’s that? Well, never mind. Let’s go.”
The doors opened…and inside, the two women saw a large, grassy place…including a cliff that overlooked the ocean.
As they entered, Deona asked, “Is this...?”
“Yes. Ireland, back in the 20th century. It’s not like the one in the 23rd, but it’s close enough. Come on, there’s a great view of the ocean from the cliff.”
They entered, still saying nothing until they reached the grassy cliff, then sat down.
After a moment, Dena said quietly, “I know why you’re traveling the world back in your dimension…the Secret Lair.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been at it almost a half-year.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve quit looking for it.”
Deona’s head snapped to her, as she retorted, “No I haven’t! The trail’s gone cold more than once, but I’m still looking!”
“Are you?” Dean replied, “Are you really?”
“Yes, I am!”
“We might be from different places and had different lives, but the fact still is, I’m another ‘self’. I’m you in this dimension.”
“And your point is?”
“You can’t lie to me, that’d be lying to yourself.”
Deona peered at the Guardian, then said, “I am still looking…though I’ve been asking myself if I’m just wasting my time. It’ll be Christmas soon, and at this rate, it’ll pass, and so will New Years, before I do. And I don’t like the idea of being alone for either time.”
“Don’t you mean ‘away from everyone you know’?”
“I guess so.”
Dena sighed and said, “Maybe you’re just trying too hard.”
Deona looked puzzled as she repeated, “Trying too hard? I’ve been looking in just about every mountainous region that I know!”
“All of them on the Eurasian continent.”
“In Africa, too.”
“In Africa, too,” Dena allowed, “Deona, listen. We’re both smart women. You can find the Lair, if you think about it and not the way you’ve been searching, either.”
“I’m not as smart as you—“
“Oh, BS. Remember, you’re me, and I’m you. It’s good to be humble and modest, but you’re taking it a little much.”
“If you say so.”
“And I do. Now, what you need to do is sit here and relax…and watch…I love the ocean here because it lets my body and mind unwind. That’s why I have this holodeck program.”
The two women were quiet as they watched the raging ocean from the cliff. Deona loved to simply watch such a large body of water in action, and it appeared that Dena did, too.
She peered out, and after a moment, she thought, How will this help me find the answer?
“Nah, ah, ah! I didn’t say to beat your brain over your problem,” the Guardian admonished, “Empty that head of yours of all thoughts. Don’t think…just watch.”
She nodded and watched the ocean, letting any and all thoughts drain from her mind.
Dena watched the ocean with her, using the same method, although out of the corner of her eye, she was watching her dimensional double.
Almost half an hour later, she could see that the other woman was nodding off into sleep.
The Guardian smiled and kept quiet. She turned her head towards where she knew someone was watching and nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~ There was chittering.
Hm?
The chittering sounds had a worried tone to them.
Worried?
She felt poking and a small shaking movement, as one set of chitters turned pleading.
What? Something’s freaked the Muses out.
With that thought, she fought her way towards wakefulness, like she did when fighting away from a nightmare.
Deona’s eyes opened…and found her original Muse in her face, taking on the little-boy form.
“Huh? Hey, what’s wrong?”
The Muse turned to Rogue and chattered in their own language, then turned back to her and whispered at a quick speed.
“What? I passed out?”
They nodded.
Rogue then whispered in a worried tone.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Guess I was pushing myself too hard in the search.”
The male Muse nodded, relieved.
Rogue turned to him and began chittering in their language.
You didn’t tell her she vanished, then when she came back, she was barely breathing.
He replied, That would really frighten her. She doesn’t need to know that. That’s our little secret, all right?
All right, but you’d better know what you’re doing.
They turned back to her as she looked at the television, then at the time.
“Ouch, looks like I was out for three hours. Don’t tell me you were watching Anime for that long, were you?”
They both looked a little guiltily at each other, then at her.
“Ohhh! You two are just---! What if someone came in and found me like that?!”
There was laughter from both.
She’s normal, he chattered.
Definitely.
There was a pause before Deona’s face first clouded, then brightened in a way that he knew meant that she had an idea.
“Hey, wait a minute! We’ve been going about this the wrong way, guys. We’ve been going all over the mountainous places looking, right?”
They nodded.
“Okay, time to change the rules of this little game.”
They chattered, What do you mean?
Deona understood the tone and replied, “Well, if we can’t comb all the mountains and get any results... I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner.”
The Muses sounded exasperated.
“Get some rest, you two,” Deona said firmly, “Because starting tomorrow, we’re gonna be shadows…the shadows of a Lair inhabitant or character, that is!”
~*~*~*~*~*~