"Shut UP, Palom! You're always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong! Who I choose to see on my free time is my business, and you have no right to comment!"

"All I'm saying is that I don't think this guy is a very good influence on you. He's weird. I mean, he's always wearing that evil-looking black cloak, and I don't think I've ever seen his face! He gives me the creeps..."

That did it. Porom was already in a miserable mood, having woken up that morning to find all her jewelry and charms missing. All except for the medallion that Fritz had given her, which was still safely hidden under her shirt. Not only that, but she had also accidentally botched her Cure spell, and had spent most of the morning in the form of a very angry toad. Now, Palom was going to get it.

"DON'T JUDGE HIM!... He's a very sweet person, once you get to know him. You just haven't given him a chance."

"Yeah, right. Just like his friend Kit is a sweet person too. I caught her trying to steal that ring Father gave me! That wench could take a GP from your underwear, and you wouldn't know till it was too late!"

Kit. Porom now knew exactly who had stolen her possessions. But she was very curious as to why she hadn't taken the pendant as well. Heaven knew she was capable of it. Whatever the reason, Porom knew that the conniving little elf was up to something, and she was determined to find out what.

Porom continued to ponder on what to do about that fiend Kit.

"Maybe I could hang her up by her pointy little ears..." she thought.

"Fritz told me he was heading to Mysidia this afternoon. I bet Kit's gone with him. What say we drop in on them?" she asked Palom.

"I don't know, Fritz scares me... but Kit's awfully cute!"

"So it's settled. Let's use Twin to teleport there... uh, well, I, yeah. I think that'll work."

As the two began to casts the spell, Porom felt her pendant beginning to get warmer, and she knew that it was beginning to get its familiar glow.

"Uh, oh..." she commented just before the two siblings slipped into darkness.

"Aaaaah! Fritz, what have you done to me? And I thought you loved me!"

Between her sobs and bawls, Porom didn't even notice the whining of her brother.

"Sister! My arm! I landed on my arm! It's cut! Owww!"

"Oh, Fritz My love! Oh, boo hoo!"

"Sister! Ouch! Help me!"

Through blurred tears, Porom finally brought herself to look at her brother, whimpering and pouting over a scratch on his elbow.

*Sniff!* As Porom desperately tried to forget her beloved (and Palom wailed incessantly), she prepared to cast a Cure spell to heal her ailing brother. She chanted the words and went through the motions, but all she got was a single misguided spark from her fingertips which fizzled out as it drifted to the ground.

".....?"

"What's wrong, Sister? Why didn't it work? My arm still HURTS!"

"... I... I don't know. Usually if i try to cast a Cure I'll at least get an Ice3 or or an Imp or something... thanks to this damn amulet. It must be something with this new world; magic just doesn't seem to work."

Palom, still in "agony" but determined to test his sister's theory, started to aim a hefty Fire3 spell at a nearby tree. The spell proved to be as much of a dramatic failure as his sister's, but his spark did succeed in lighting a corner of his cloak aflame.

The thought that he could no longer perform magic struck Palom just as Porom finished putting out hte fire on his cloak.

"We have to get back. NOW!!!"

Porom slapped Palom on the back of the head.

"We don't even know where we are. We can't just 'go back' - especially if we don't have any magic. Now, let's try and find a town or something."

While the two walked along the edge of the forest, Palom set himself to thinking: If he couldn't be an all-powerful mage - then he'd be... a ninja! Great! He'd be a powerful ninja, an unstoppable fighter! No problem.

"Oh, dear! Now I'll never see my beautifl Fritz again! *sob*"

"Don't worry, Sister, I'm sure we could find what's left of him somewhere - he's only been dead for 900 or so years!"

Impressed by his own wit, palom began to laugh uncontrollably.

"That's not funny!" Porom yelled at her brother while smacking him squarely on the back of the head. This not only had the effect of stopping Palom's laughter, but also caused his jaw to close sharply enough on his tongue to draw blood. Porom felt a little bad about it, especially since she now had no magic to help him, but she was relieved to know that she had been spared from his rambling for at least a few minutes as he sucked on his injured tongue.

Porom began to cry, thinking that not only would she never see her beloved again, but the entire world in which she had existed had disappeared 1000 years ago! Meanwhile, Palom paced silently, fretting. He didn't like this new time. It wasn't fair that he couldn't use his magic, but rotten people like that wench and her big lug could. And Porom wouldn't let him have any fun at all. He had to find some way to get back to his own time...

*****

Until they found some way to get back to their own time, the twins had no idea what to do. The only man in Thamasa who would actually talk to them was that stranger they met outside the town (apart from a few brief words from the elder), and as he was so kind to point out, Thamasa was surrounded by water. The only way out was to take a boat, and after following the two jerks to the dock, they didn't think that two innocent young adolescents would be very well treated there.

"I know!" exclaimed Palom, as soon as his tongue was sufficiently healed to speak. "We can dress you up as a streeetwalker - and I'll be your pimp! We'll have no problem hitching a ride then!"

Porom gave her brother a look that told him his suggestion was totally out of the question. The boy looked his sister up and down, noting her simple dress and practical grey travelling cloak.

"You're right, you probably wouldn't be able to pull it off."

"Palom!" Porom yelled as she turned a vivid red.

Not only could they not leave the place, they couldn't stay either. Just one night in the inn cost twice what the twins were carrying between them. The twins decided their only hope was to try and find that man, who for some reason sounded strangely familiar, and ask him how he arrived here, and how they might leave. (Obviously, he was not a native - he actually TALKED to them.) After all, Porom didn't at all like the thought of going along with Palom's idea. The two, their spirits raised a little at the tought of a feasible plan, headed back out the door of the somewhat frazzled elder.

"Come ON, Sister! It's getting dark, and I want to go explore the rest of this new world! This town is dullsvi-..."

Palom's sentence ended abruptly as his jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out of his head, making him look rather frog-like. Standing in front of the twins, complete with full dark armour, as if he had just teleported from their last encounter 1000 years ago, was their arch-nemesis turned good:

"Golbez!" Porom exclaimed.

"Hello, children."

Palom did not seem happy to meet his old acquaintance. "You, you'd better not mess with us, you big meanie. I'm a master ninja, and Porom... she's, uh, a-an unbeatable archer!"

Golbez couldn't help himself. He burst into hysterics. He could barely hear Palom's next threat over his own laughter.

"That's it. You're going to get it now, you big jerky old rotten guy!"

An ear piercing "Japanese" war cry burst from Palom's throat as he took up a stance that vaguely resembled David Carradine after having one too many.

"Haiyyyy-AOUCH! Sister!" came the concluding whine.

Porom had decided that this was a good time to stop her somewhat impulsive brother from getting into any more trouble, and, with a firm grip on both his ear and his ponytail, was dragging him as far away from Golbez as possible. Porom whispered something harshly in Palom's throbbing ear.

"Oh, come ON, Sister," Palom responded. "You don't really buy that 'mind control' garbage, do you? Zeromus was such a wimp, he couldn't rack up enough power to mind-control a fly! I betcha I could have beaten him single-handed, if I'd had the chance!"

Porom's eyes virtually shot icicles at her twin.

"Be good!" she warned, and she walked back to where Golbez was standing, chuckling.

"I'm sorry about that, Mr. Golbez. My brother can really hold a grudge sometimes. Don't mind him, he's still young, he'll learn. But, um... if you don't mind my asking, you don't exactly look 1000 years old... how did YOU get here?"

"Hmm. It's getting late, and I'm rather tired after my exploits... why don't we go and talk about it at the inn over some hot cider, so I can sit down."

So the group proceeded to the inn, where Golbez recited, in summary (with a couple of glorifying hyperboles) the adventures of Rydia, Golbez and friends while the twins listened intently - even Palom was relatively calm. The three decided that they would plan how to leave Thamasa tomorrow - as Golbez neglected to mention the fact that an airship would, to the best of his knowledge, be picking him, at least, up - but that for now, they would retire for a much needed rest, Golbez' treat.

The next morning, Porom was awakened by her even more hyper than usual twin.

"He's gone!" Palom screamed repeatedly.

Once Porom regained enough consciousness to speak, she managed an insightful, "What do you mean, he's gone?"

"Golbez! He's missing! I went to his room to wake him up, and he had just disappeared!"

The twins searched Golbez's room, and then scoured the rest of the town, but he was nowhere to be seen, and no one had noticed him leaving, as far as they could gather, seeing as they couldn't manage to get many words out of the townspeople.

"Oh dear!" said Porom, once she had given up hope of finding Golbez. "I guess we'll have to resort to Plan A..."

Porom shuddered, and Palom grinned from ear to ear, as the two set off to find suitable clothing and makeup for Porom's new 'occupation'...

"Great! NOW how're we gonna get off this island?"

Palom began to march around the outside parameter of the village, wearing his most pensive look.

"Palom! Quit pacing! You're bieng a pain!"

"I'm coming up with an ingenious plan to get us off here, sister! Do you mind? There is a genius at work here!"

"I thought you were a 'master ninja'."

Palom ignored his sister's comment and continued to pace around the village, arousing the attention of several children, some of whom began to follow him on his parade.

"I've got it!" Palom yelled, sharply turing to face his sister, and causing an impressive collision of 5-year olds, who, after picking themselves up, disappeared back into their homes from where they had magically appeared - as if they had heard someone yell 'Free candy!', Porom thought.

"Well?" Porom asked insistently.

"We'll just hijack a boat, and sail off into the sunset! Owwww! Sister!"

Palom sat down, pouting and rubbing his head, looking more hurt than a wet puppy.

"Come on, Palom, cut it out! Did you SEE the size of those sailors? They'd cut us to pieces! Now, stop pouting and help me find a REAL solution to our problem, ok?"

Palom took a brief pause from his "Feel bad for me - I'm too cute to have done anything wrong but am getting abused anyway" pout to offer an insightful piece of advice. "So why don't we just book passage on a boat? They seem to be the only way off this stupid island, and it's really starting to get boring. I mean, we're in a whole new age, and I haven't even gotten any yet!"

"Palom!" Porom managed to blurt out as her face turned a deep crimson. "Don't talk like that! Anyway, we can't get on that boat. You saw those people, they were all criminals and prostitutes! There's no way they're going to let two teenagers go on a pleasure cruise!"

As Porom was talking, Palom's eyes began to light up with a wonderful idea. Palom watched her brother as he began to rub his hands with excitement.

"No! No way, no chance, n-uh-unh! We'll never get away with it! Palom, stop looking at me!"

Palom's grin hadn't faded one bit. He was still staring his sister up and down, thinking of ideas on how to change the homely looking teenager into a realistic-looking prostitute.

"Anyway, how do YOU know how prostitutes dress? It's not like you have much experience with them... DO YOU?"

"I happen to have been around a bit. Just stay here. I'll be right back!"

Porom tried to catch her brother before he darted off, but he was determined to get away, and paid no attention to her running behind him, or her piercings screams:

"Palom! Get back here! Right now! I mean it!"

He quickly lost her in a croud and ran off to find her some appropriate clothing and makeup. Which was an ordeal, seeing as noone in the town wanted to sell him anything, but he coaxed enough children into finding him bits and pieces until he was satisfied he had enough for Porom's "makeover".

Meanwhile, Porom was frantically searching the town for either her brother, Golbez, or some way out of the mess they were in. Eventually finding none, she headed back the the elder's house, looking for Palom. She finally found him and immediately burst into hysterics.

"What ARE you wearing, Palom? You look like a circus clown!"

Suprisingly, she managed to say at least that between peals of laughter, because Palom really DID look like a circus clown. His topknot ponytail was covered in oil and slicked down to the back of his neck. He was wearing some kind of black trekking boots that were at least three sizes too big, his regular colthes were replaced by mismatched black and navy blue attire, adorned, of course, by thick gold-colored chains, and to top it off, he was wearing an open, army-style trenchcoat that was trailing five or six inches behind him due to its length.

"I'm going to be your pimp!" he exclaimed as he pulled a cigar from the pocket of his oversized coat, and stuck it in his mouth. "And you're going to be my star prostitute," he said, revealing a large bag of clothes from behind his back.

Porom groaned, but, curious, made a motion to look in the bag.

"Ah, ah, ah! No peeking! You just stay there and I'll get you dressed up. I guarantee, when you see the finished product, you'll be very impresssed!" Palom said confidently as he strode towards his twin.

-----

Impressed she was. Shocked, in fact, so much that she was speechless as she stared into the water at her own refection, with Palom grinning on, very proud of himself. Well, to say the least, she was a sight. She looked like... like a combination of Patrick Swayze from 'To Wong Fu With Love', Frank Furter from RHPS, and something the cat dragged in, or something like that. Palom's 'expert' makeover, had done a wonderful job on Porom. Her hair was down from her poytail, and teased so that it now stood about a foot in either direction from the sides of her head. Her face, done in the most careful fashion, was decorated in brilliant hues of deep purple (for the eyeshadow of couse), vivid green, and a lovely shade of neon red smeared across her lips and half of her lower face. Her outfit, however, made her face look 'au naturel', almost. Some undescribable fushia-type colored fishnet stockings, stretched from her mismatched high heels to her nearly nonexistant blue miniskirt, but they sagged a little seeing as the former owner must have weighed at least 300 or so pounds. The skintight black top that she had on actually might have looked attactive on her, if she weren't wearing that fluorescent green fake fur wrapped around her neck and arm.

"Wow, sis, you look GREAT!" Palom confirmed.

Palom somehow managed to drag Porom down to the docks and reluctantly, Porom walked toward the boat.

"Well, hello madame!" The burly sailor who was posted as guard of the boat grinned at the 'new' Porom as she approached the boat. He waved her on, and reached for her derriere on passing by, just at the same time that Palom tried to squeeze between them and onto the boat.

"What do YOU want", the man said, turning to Palom and crossing his arms. Palom looked up at him. The man was twice his height and at least three times his weight.

"I'm her pimp!" Palom exclaimed confidently, again trying to move past him onto the ship. The man again blocked his path.

"We don't allow pimps on board," he said, looking Palom up and down, and chuckling quietly to himself.

"Please..." Porom gathered all her strength and swallowed her pride. She grabbed the sailor's arm, and stuttered, "He... um, h-he likes to watch," she blurted out, turning her face so the sailor couldn't see her blush. As the sailor reluctantly let Palom on, both he and Porom glared clodly and angrily at him. Palom shuddered.

The two found themselves a niche in a small corner of the boat where they stashed their belongings, and rested for a while.

"I HATE this.. " Porom repeated for the fiftieth time to her twin.

"Come on, Sister!" Palom said, ignoring Porom's complaints, "The boat's taken off, and I want to watch the ocean! Let's go on deck! Please?"

The twins proceeded to move up the stairs to the upper level of the boat when two burly sailors stepped into their path, looking at Porom in a way that could not have been mistaken for anything else but that they meant to 'Solicit her Services'.

"Um, hi guys!" Palom sputtered. "My sis, uh, I mean, employee is a little busy now, but if you come back later...."

He didn't have time to say anything else before the two men lunged at them. The twins managed to sqwueeze their way part them and darted out onto the boat where they looked for a place to hide. Finding a spot between the wall of the cabin and a few barrels, they crouched and didn't move until there was no one left in sight. Then they quickly ran out and made for what they thought to be a back way to their 'quarters'. They burst into the room, and found five men sitting at a table playing cards. Obviously word of Porom's inhospitability had gotten around, because the men immediately stood up and started walking towards the two.

"Oh, look Palom, poker!" Porom exclaimed with glee, looking around the room. She immediately ran past the men, dragging her brother with her to the table. The men shrugged, walked to the table, amnd dealt them in. Apparently, poker had been one of Fritz's favourite pastimes, and Porom won quite a bit of gold from the game. Palom, on the other hand, lost all his money, but amused the sailors nonetheless by his total lack of skill and subterfuge.

"Sometimes the line between life and death is oh-so-very thin.." One of the sailors muttered to his friends.

The rest of the trip went quite smoothly. Porom became good friends with a couple of the sailors, and Palom became the favourite punching bag and butt of their jokes. When the ship landed, Porom waved affectionately at the sailors and the ran for the nearest patch of forest to change back into her regular clothes and travelling cloak. Palom, happy with his "new look", went on to explore the town. He couldn't help but wonder why it seemed so rainy...