"Ugh," said Hiroshi Morisato as he heaved himself up onto a
stout branch not far from Corwin's perch.  "I thought I might find you
up here.  Phew!" he added, wiping sweat from his forehead with one
arm.  "Did you have to climb this far up?  It's not like most of the
people who'd be looking for you can't fly anyway."
	Corwin had to admit his cousin had a point.
	"Did Aunt Bell send you looking for me?  Whatever it is, I'm
not getting in the middle of it.  I already told Urd, one more hassle
out of either one of them and I swear we'll elope."
	Hiroshi chuckled.  "No, I think they actually took you
seriously.  I just figured you might want some company that -isn't-
obsessed with your impending nuptials.  When you left the temple you
had that preoccupied look.  What's on your mind?"
	Corwin gave Hiroshi a thoughtful look for a second, then
sighed.  "I'm not sure.  I feel... strange."  He blew out a breath.
"Something's going to happen, I think, but I don't know what."
	Hiroshi looked interested.  "You had a vision?" he asked, but
Corwin shook his head.
	"No," Corwin said.  "Not as such.  I don't have Mom's direct
connection to the future... when I touch what might be, it's always
involuntary, usually in a dream, and so cryptic that I can hardly ever
make any use of it.  This is different.  I... I'm not really sure how
to describe it.  I'm one of the Aesir.  I can't see the future, but I
can... -feel- the heft and swing and, and -momentum- of the universe."
	Hiroshi nodded.  "I think I know what you mean.  I never
wanted to be a god like you, so I let that part of me lie, but it's
still in my blood, and sometimes... sometimes it's like I catch a
glimpse of the... I dunno how to say it, the -circuitry-."
	Corwin's eyebrows went up.  He'd known Hiroshi all his life,
but he'd never known that.  Hiroshi caught his look of surprise and
grinned slightly.
	"Might just be my imagination," he said, playing it off.  "But
I think I can imagine more or less what you're getting at.  You feel
like something's in motion that wasn't before."
	Corwin nodded, encouraged.  "Exactly.  I think... I think some
fundamental shift in the order of things is in progress, has been
since... well, since just about last June.  Everything I've seen and
experienced and discovered since then feels like part of a pattern.
My instincts tell me it's all important, all connected, but... not
-why- or -how-."  He sighed again.  "That might just be -my-
imagination, but... "  He looked Hiroshi in the eye.  "I feel like
everything's about to change... and it makes me uneasy."

Light, the new avatar of chaos

For a minute I thought this might be the run-up to Day of Infamy; but this is about two years prior, so unless there's a lot of buildup, not so much. I suppose this is about the Black Rose Duelists, but so far they seem pretty small-time (anyone who would be subordinate to Akio, after all...). Oh well, at least we'll all enjoy finding out.

- Chad

Having seen the psychosis that sets in around wedding planning recently, I can only imagine how much crazier it'd be with Aunt Bell and Urd playing parts in it.

I wonder if Utena and Anthy will get walked down the aisle separately, or if they'll give each other away to Corwin?