A Certain...

"Hard work is what you do when it doesn't matter. When it does, you sit back and let all you planning and preparation take shape. You've come this far, so this should be the easy part."

The Silver-haired Nun turns from her companion and faces the scenic view before her. The pair are atop a skyscraper, directly facing a tall Windowless Building.

"It's time to take control of your world."

"Saten!"

"Your right 'hand' may reach the precise amount of power to achieve victory, but my right 'eye' shows me exactly which path to take. As opponents, our abilities cancel each other out."

The figure speaks to a man in red, clutching his chest while struggling to stand.

"Then again, I brought a baseball bat. What do you have?"

"Saten!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

The figure clutches what remains of the upper torso of a petite blonde girl.

"I'm sorry!"

"Saten!"

Finally coming to, Saten's vision is filled with the face of the very same blonde who died only moments before. Or saw die moments before. Or will saw dying, dead... Saten doesn't know! She's still getting used to this whole foresight thing.

As if it wasn't present before, the thunderous roar of automatic high-caliber gunfire wrenches at her eardrums. Numerous pains assault her at once, and in recoil clutches at her head. Some of which is actual physical pain.

"Where's my-"

Before Saten can finish, the blonde girl hands a green and blue ribbon. Taking it greedily, the former middle school girl uses it as intended; an eye patch to cover her right eye.

Impatient for reasons most obvious, "So? Did you see it? Did you see a way to get out of here?"

When Saten further lowers herself behind the rubble of the concrete pillar, the petite blonde does the same.

"It's hard to see just what I want, but yes Frenda-chan, I saw a path."

As the soldier-like killers in solid black tactical gear continue to rain upon their cover, tearing the concrete apart with their hundreds of bullets per minute, Frenda can be excused for being eager and scared. Saten herself was like this moments ago, at least before "seeing" what she wanted.

"Well?"

Putting up a finger, "Wait for it."

Suddenly the gunfire lessen considerably. Several soldiers have ran out of ammunition at the same exact moment and reload. At the coincidence Frenda seems eager to make use of the opportunity, but the strong arm of Saten keeps her in check.

"Not yet."

Bullets rattle in magazines while the soldiers reload. After inserting the container into the weapon, they have to pull back on the bolt handle to load a bullet into the receiver before they can fire. Saten waits for this "clack."

"Now!"

As the pair flee from cover just as the soldiers have prepared to fire once more, they're immediately aimed upon. Pulling their triggers, they assume to rip their targets to shreds with the impact of their bullets. What actually happens is they accidentally shot a partially collapsed and hanging segment of the floor above. The force of the gunfire causes it to completely collapse.

The ceiling falling on the path behind them, Frenda screams and runs faster all the while. Saten, however, doesn't even look back upon her good fortune. After all, she expected precisely this result.

Before they can get themselves crushed, the pair leap into the emergency exit. No sooner does the entire upper floor come crashing down. Their previous path is immediately chocked in rubble. There's no returning from the way they came. Likewise there is no following them.

Having fled from danger for the moment, the pair lean on the railing of the emergency staircase. The power's long since been cut, but the green glow from the radioluminescence exit signs make the stairwell visible. Here they take a breather.

"I can't believe that worked," Frenda exclaims between pants.

"I have trouble believing it too," being honest, Saten was more than a little scared. "But I think cheating in situations like this is forgivable."

"Where do we go from here?"

Pointing, "Up. They have the base of the building surrounded, so by default we have only one path."

Yes, but escaping to the roof of a building only corners a fleeing party all the more.

"Just lay it to me straight," Frenda asks, "in the end, is there a way to get out of this alive?"

Firmly nodding, "Of course. As long as you do exactly what I say."

Throwing her palms in the air, "Are you saying this is my fault? Shouldn't your All-Seeing Eye have prevented us from being cornered in the first place?"

Subconsciously Saten's fingers trace the patch over her right eye, "I can't see everything. Most of the time I don't see what I want to." Laughing, "It takes life or death situations like this before I can focus it at all."

Of course Frenda is not amused, "Well I'm happy you can use our peril as an opportunity to train. Basically, you're having the time of your life, aren't you?"

"I told you it's not like that!" though her voice doesn't sound all that apologetic. "It's just, we're pretty much all dead anyway. The entire world is I mean."

Sighing, "You're going to have to thoroughly explain all this once we get out of here."

"We will."

Frenda doesn't know what to make of her friend's confidence, but takes it albeit reluctantly. Having an adequate breather, she begins to climb the stairs.

"We're only going seven floors up," Saten informs her. "If you miscount we're going to be killed."

Tensing from the obvious shirking of responsibility, "Why don't you just count them then! Or better yet, just tell me what floor we're heading to!"

Perversely still in good humor, "My job is to provide the path, not do math. Now get counting."

Even further not being amused, "In the end, you really are having a blast."

Happy Cirno Day! And also, Surprise! Bet none of you expected this. Is this really what you think it is? Yup, a direct sequel to Never the Twain Shall Meet! I'd actually been working on this for a while, but if you've followed me before you should know I like my progress to be well ahead of what I actually post. That way I at least have a chance to go back and change things without confusing the readers who've already go over it. Though honestly I generally change little post production, so it might not make a difference if I dump everything I've written this very moment. But I'm the author and those are my rules, so there.

I'll be candid, I have no idea how I'm going to end Echo of a Lost World. Practically every project I start, I already have the ending in mind before I even create the word document (actually I use Open Office). With this one, however, I have no clue. So unfortunately I can't guarantee this will finish. Sorry, that's just the way it goes.

The Theme of this sequel will be vastly different than the original. The first was (supposed to be) a love story, but Echo will have far more action. Honestly, this is nearly the story I wanted to write about Saten. In Never the Twain Shall Meet, it was a key point that Saten would remain powerless. In this sequel however, that rule has been tossed out the window. Here we'll see a fully-powered Saten wrecking ****! Eventually, at least.

So I'll leave the teaser at this. My posting will likely be erratic as usual, but I'll try to post at least one chapter a week. No promises, but I don't think that'll be very hard for me to stick to. So, until next time,

~Kyle Castorena