>How do you know she didn't? Maybe there was some reason beyond a
>personal liking for Utena that Skuld pitched in with Corwin to help
>draw the leys for the Thorn of the Rose... a person of such potential
>deserves a weapon that can match her, after all. Corwin did say that
>Skuld wanted the Thorn to be a weapon worthy of a Valkyrie. You can
>read that a couple of different ways...

Err. Well, my first response is that Skuld didn't do anything about a major magic power that blasts out more or less at random. But I do have to admit we don't know WHAT enchantments got put on that sword...

>Clef has no ability to sense anything in Midgard. The Veil of the
>Tenth World is too strong for him to pierce without an artifact, and
>he can't hang around near the Rose Gate (the thing he used to send
>Wakaba to Earth) - it's way too dangerous to loiter in that vicinity
>for long. (It's a pain to use the Gate as a scrying device anyway;
>it's not built for that. Nobody but the Master Mage could manage it
>at all, and it requires so much of his concentration - well, you saw
>what happened to him when he used it to contact Zoner... )

Well, I was kind of rushed for time when I was writting. One of my thoughts was that Clef knew it was Utena pulling people through, and then she stopped. This could be good or bad. As you say, he wouldn't know.
>
>Basically, he's being neurotic. Utena was pitched into Midgard and
>Clef, while he had the window of opportunity, used the Gate to grab at
>the nearest straw - the Chaoswalker. Since then he's been filled with
>doubt as to whether that was actually a good idea. He has as little
>information about the Norse gods and their minions as the Norse gods
>have about his world; all he knows for sure is that the Chaoswalker is
>powerful, and nominally good. "Chaos" doesn't imply very good things
>in Cephiro, but the little guy was desperate. As of Spring
>Semester Blues he's second-guessing himself, and Wakaba's
>appointment is the result.

I can see that. Well, as far as I know there's no deadline there, so he just needs to be patient. As long as your muse doesn't abandon you again, things will work out.

>If you've seen any of it, you've been watching too much.

Ahh, it grows on you.

Like a mold...

Captain Willard
Commander, Free Socorro Liberation Front