"That spell..." His fangs were no apparent anymore, indicating his mitgating the anger, "I think I know you."

"I do not know you." She said.

"No, I doubt you do." He got up, "What are you doing here? Walking around the fields at this time doesn't seem very reminiscent of the Gilmans I knew."

"But attacking girls is very reminiscent of vampires. Though, I wonder how your Master would appreciate knowing the news of a servant aggressing against unsuspecting helpless females. If I recall correctly he is bound steadfastly by the codes of honor."

"What do you want?!"

"It shall appear in due time. And I am hoping you will not be here when it does."

"Is that so..."

Vampires are a curious breed indeed. They are so predictable in their mannerisms, yet fancy themselves as surprise attackers. But after studying their habits, even if it be a short fleeting moment, it was easy to prophecy their timings of attack.

And send a specific wood element spell directly to the direction of their hearts.

Watch the nuisances turn to dust. Rare is the vampire that actually takes sound advice.

"Well thanks a lot Lydia, now we're going to be late."

There was still ten minutes left.

Leave it to Jennifer to exaggerate things. The two rushed down the crowded halls and wasted no time opening the locker. Of course, when you hurry up that means you can only do a half assed job of things.

Just like Jennifer's hair.

The girl shrieked at the sight of her own reflection in the mirror, complaining about how her messy hair. Lydia noticed nothing, as usual, her sister tended to go over board with these things. She continued to mutter curses under her breath and comb violently.

"Calm down, there's still a good eight minutes left."

As if her sister could calm down, "Well, I still need to do these things over here. And ummph...."

Lydia shrugged and leaned on her locker, inspecting the others scrambling around to get their stuff ready. Seven minutes and nothing better to do. You'd think with all the drama about being late they'd actually be late for once. Rummaging through her own books and past the poster for Dracula, she took out the first book and waited for the bell to ring.

"Better than a blue skinned zombie," She said nonchalantly.

The locker next to hers slammed shut.

Uh oh.

"What did you say?" Asked Jennifer, fully serious.

"Well uh...it's nothing, forget it."

"No, what did you say?!"

"Never mind!"

"Lydia..."

"Ok ok. It's nothing, just a dream I had last night. I'm sorry. Geezus, no need to go off the deep end at the drop of a hat."

Jennifer nodded, "Let me guess, and you were some sort of magical priestess?"

She slamed her handle. "Okay, now it's my turn to ask.."

"Looks like you've been entering my dreams at night."

"Or you mine."

Her sister smiled, "Don't flatter yourself sister, you're always borrowing my stuff."

"Hey!" Lydia laughed. She then noticed someone behind her."What are you looking at?"

The brown haired sister saw the rude starer right behind her. The misfortune of having everything so close to one another is that people next to you think it's an invitation to listen in on private conversations. Case in point, the brown haired boy right next to her evesdropping on their current conversation. Strange, considering Jimmy's usually the silent type that comes in, gets out.

"I'm sorry," Jennifer smiled teasingly. "We must be boring you with this talk. Mind to input any other topics?"

The boy raised his thick black eyebrow. "Huh? Wha?" He shrugged and left "I mean...whatever."

"Is he always like that?" Lydia's sister almost frowned.

The other sister shifted her vision to more important matters. The school bell rang over their ears, literally. She hated having to have a locker so near to the bell. But even now as the students rushed to their particular classes, fearing the teacher's anal time keeping, she gathered her books and went half-dragging to her first lesson.

Jennifer was still fiddling with her strangley natural blue hair, trying to smite every split end and hair on end that was not visible to us mere mortals. Still going on about how there's never enough time in the morning.

"We're going to be late," Lydia said, carrying her books and dragging her sister away from the mirror. "It'd take x-ray visions to be able to see anything wrong.."

Before she had to protest the teacher's approaching classroom pacified her attempts at arguments and prompted the duo to hurry up to class.

Enter the old wooden door into Biology class just a few seconds to spare before the wrath of their bald teacher's wrath could get to them. Jennifer still continued playing with that short hair and seated herself in the front, while Lydia took her usual reserved space in the back.

So. Dream sharing?

The teacher's constant droning was drowned out by her rare trains of thought. The blabbering of hormones and genetics and whatever had no relevence to the blue haired girl at the moment. After all, it's not everyday that something as unusual such a dream sharing happens to someone she knows, let alone herself. Does that even exist?

Scribblings on the blackboard and more ramblings. Yawn. She pretended to write as to not get on the teacher's bad side. Jennifer checked back to see her sister, sitting half asleep as usual.

The usual check up, it's was a twin sister thing.

And look at that, she appeared to have attracted a certain admirer. Good, poor girl needed some company, she was always so...alone.

Well okay, I guess I'm being way too obsessive but at least it's a good way to kill some time. It isn't bad enough it had to be so bizzare, but I had to have the same dream as Lydia did. Strange.

Vampires and dark worlds and evil priests and magical sisters and...what the hell is a Kuang whatchumacall it anyway?

She tried to stop her happiness from showing too much when bell rang. Finally!

That's it, she had definately interest in taking note of her dreams tonight.

Another day gone by, another time to kick her shoes in the room and stretch.

"Well...that was pointless."

Lydia smiled, "And when exactly was it extreme emergency life and death?"

"I guess so...Oh well, could be worse. Bitten by vampires can't be a very nice experience."

Lydia shrugged, "Looks like Mom and Dad aren't home".

"As usual. So, pizza tonight?"

"Again?"

Jennifer frowned, "What? Want me to make something, then."

Her sister grew wide eyed in horror. "Don't ever say that. Even as a joke."

"Pizza it is, then." Jennifer picked up the phone before her sister could reply. Not that she would reply anyway, after muttering something about her favorite show on TV she vanished before she could even react.

Lydia and her horror movies, no less. She was obsessed with them. Not that she ever had any streaks of morbidness, but it was just that particular aspect that creeped Jennifer out.  "Yea hello?" She began ordering the pizza.

Evening came and went as it usually did. There was nothing interesting of note that even made her remember anything. After she fought with Lydia for control of the remote- the top ten music awards were on tonight, after all!- their ordered  pizza arrived and Jennifer went headed straight for the phone for the latest gossip.

Night was a different story altogether.

"A dream diary? That's useful-"

Jennifer shrugged, "Got any better ideas."

"Yea..it's called sleep." Lydia smiled. "Number one proven method for dreaming." Usual sarcasm from her, it was never intended to be harmful and her soft voice when saying it made sure it never registered as such.

"Goodnight." Jennifer said drawing the covers to her neck before there could be anymore comments for now.

The wait was too much that she had started to give up hope.

Calculations and theorems were her fuel so far. But fuel can only burn for so long before needing to be refilled, and for now there was nothing encouraging to be considered refueling. Sitting under a lone tree in a supposed wasteland did little good for her ageing nerves.

And then they appeared, startled as she expected them to be.

"Sister-!" The creature she knew as Kuang Shi cried out.

The other clad in priestess uniform shrieked in pain before realizing that the attacker was blowing away in the winds right now.

So, they had no concept of time lost.

Interesting.

She drew up her cape once again. Even though they had no idea who she was, at least, there was no way of them knowing, the woman prefered concealment in public affairs. Eye contact and facial features tended to get into a battle of wills and dominance best left for fighters and warriors.

"Good evening," She said politely.

"Huh? Aaaaaaugh!" The Kuang Shi screamed and waved her arms franticly "It's the grim reaper!! He's come to get us!!! Heeeeeeeeelp!"

"What are you talkin about?"

She screamed once more as the woman in cloak tried to approach her. "She's come for me first!! Noooooo! Though.." she blinked, "I didn't think the grim reaper would have such...a shape."

The woman drew back, "I appreciate you did not stare, thank you."

"Ack! Sorry.." She blushed.

"Sister!!" The priestess cried out before turning to her, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I apologize, an introduction is needed."

She drew away her covers, no use keeping them on now. "I am Sierra. The current Lady of the Do Gillman house."

As if the floating up into empty space and having strange visions in the realm of sleep and falling down just to see a scary Death lady who isn't really death but a beautiful young girl (who was pale enough to be a contendor for the second Death) in European tight yet elegantly styled scarlet clothes and neatly tied blue hair wasn't confusing enough, Lei Lei had the misfortune of being the only one confused.

"The Do Gillmans?" Lin Lin bowed respectfully. "Forgive me, I did not know who I was speaking to?"

"Er...Sister. WHO are we speaking to?"

Sister blushed. Something was wrong. "Stop that! Lady Sierra is one of the Lords in this realm."

Lei Lei blinked and turned to the Lady. "Oh! I'm sorry!! Er...I would bow in respect .. if I could ... Sister?"

The Lady laughed, "I have no uses for such formalities, I assure you. Lord of this realm is a funny way to put it."

"Well..." Lin Lin walked toward her "The Do Gilmans are one of the masters, according to my research. Are they not?"

She smiled, "Research is an excellent thing, but they do not portray the full truth. We, who are not of the houses of Maximov Aensland or Ozuma, are merely Lords and Ladies by name. Power resides with those giant houses.

Which is a good thing. The dogs of war have already invaded Ozuma's territory."

"Why are you here? I-if you don't mind me asking, of course."

"It is your every right, Lin Lin."

Lei Lei blinked, "How did she-?"

"Research is an excellent thing." She drew back her cloack again "Would you please accompany me to my castle?"

A castle? The Kuang Shi didn't understand most of the things mentioned refering to wars and territories with the strange names, but shelter in such an extravagant places with famous people is a welcome releif from living as a wanderer.

She nodded as the spirit sister turned into a talisman and rejeuvinated her with vital energies. Finally, having a little control again, it's been a while.

Yet it seemed like she'd been doing things independantly the whole day.

Weird.
 

They arrived at the castle. More like a palace.

"This is the underappreciated lords?" Lei Lei blinked. "Wow...wow. I wonder what the big ones look like."

It stretched for a good three storeys high. The coloring was different from the rest of the houses and castles they passed by. They were grey streaked, and this one was white. And it's texture was smooth under her hands. And then it hit her.

The castle was made entierly out of marble.

Like those ancient maniscrupts the Englishmen who visited their villages used to show them. Ancient Grease, was it called? Or was it Greece...

Huh? Anyway.

Her sister called her into the house, following the echoes of footsteps of Lady Sierra as she made her way through the twisting stairway to the upper levels where the real room where. Lei Lei was in no way prepared for the vision that came in.

Marble. Lots of marble. Marble cieling, marble floor, marble table sitting right in the middle and marble fireplace at the extreme right hand corner. All well pulished and incredibly clean

And books.

This was the size of a public Library and it was only the main room. There was no seeing the walls surrounding the entire place because it had been replaced with bookshelves (marble, no less) When the doors at the end of the hall seemed to show even more books Lei Lei felt slightly dizzy at all of this.

The Lady was unfazed by her surprise and simply sat down on the cushioned chair, poured the dark crimson colroed bottle from the table into three cups and pulled back whatever bangs had appeared on her forehead back neatly.

"I have already invited you into my home" She smiled "What reason is there to invite at every menial task?"

The girl apologized and sat on the opposite end of the table, feeling the usual slight loss of energy as Sister unmerged herself and took the seat next to her.

"I cannot stress how much of an honor this is." Lin Lin raised her cup. She was trying her best at the whole English polite thing she loved to read about. Lei Lei couldn't help but giggle as she tried too hard.

"Please, enough of the honors. I have trouble enough digesting when the peasants throw around these false pretenses."

She finished her drink and coughed, "Now, save your questions till I finish my explinations, alright? To summarize it, you're experiencing a strange phenomena that, for some inexplicable reason, makes you literaly vanish out of this material realm for prolongued periods of time."

The Kuang Shi blinked, "Okay, how about unsummarized?"

"I thought so. I must admit honestly I have absolutely no factual ideas on these things. It was when I was forming my theory of dream scapes, that the vitality of person actually melts away into another reality during sleep, that I was out surveying the place.

"It was then I saw you, at the nearby village, beaten extremely badly that I noticed yours was a type I have never known before. When you were rejected from the inn you had collapsed down in the alley way, no doubt you do not remember, it seemed very harrowing. And that was when you simply...disapeared, during sleep."

Lin Lin gasped "That's...."

"Inexplicable for sure. Which was why I absolutely had to get all information I could possible, which was from very unreliable sources I was reluctant to use it, and get this opporunity," Lady Sierra pushed her lips together "If you have no objections, that is."

"I would also like to offer my humble home for you to stay in, if only for a little while. We do not have to do anything untill tommorrow where I can get more observations tonight, of course."

More reason to stay in this place longer? Lady Sierra was very very hospitable to be doing this, even if it is to ask questions. Lei Lei made sure that Sister would not disagree, she enjoyed this palce much much more than living in the streets of the dark realm, who cares if it was not the polite thing to do or whatever.

Surprisingly, to her anyway, the priestess made no objections whatsoever, which made both her and the Lady happy. She, of course, expressed it much more verbally, causing Sierra to laugh in that soft voice.

"Priestess" the Lady nodded to herself "And if I'm guessing correctly, a Taoist, correct?"

Lin Lin nodded too, "That's impressive, how did you know?"

"I make it a point to study all Philosophies available, both of Earth and Makai. Lao Tzu, The Way, Opposites in flux and change, Vitality Energy Spirit connection and Internal Alchemical arts. I just concluded reading the Chuang Tzu, an incredible read."

"The Chuang Tzu is a wonderful handbook" Lin Lin smiled, "So these are all the books you have read?"

The priestess sweeped her hand, showing the whole book filled room. Lady Sierra looked around twice and then shook her head. "Oh dear, no.

"These are all the books I wrote."