Terra continued her life as it was for the next few weeks. She
never really gave any thought to the unusual earthquake, or to the strange
army that was residing in the town that she learned was Doman. She also
never bothered to even look at the pendant that stayed undisturbed in her
bureau. Her days were pleasant and life was good. She still couldn't get
over the empty feeling that gnawed at her day after day. She managed to
put it out of her mind, however.
	This wouldn't last long, though. One afternoon as she returned
from her deliveries, she felt a strange presence. It was like the feeling
she had for the past weeks, but stronger. She felt compelled to take out
the pendant.
	When she took it out, it had changed. It was pure black. Unusual.
	"Yes, but you don't have a very usual life, now do you?" came a
voice from behind her. She whirled around and saw a strange black creature.
It looked like a big ball, except with wings and a giant eye in the center.
"That pendant you have is mine."
	"Umm... I'll give it back?" Terra said, wondering what to say.
	"No need. I desire not the pendant. Rather, I want you."
	"Me?" Terra glanced around, wondering what this thing was. It
rushed straight at her suddenly. She was right in front of it now. It
stared her straight in the eye.
	"I am Shade, Elemental of Darkness. I desire a human to imbue
directly my mystical power into you. You see, I'm arleady helping two
beings, but I desire a slave to overcome Sithon."
	"Slave? Sithon?" She was too paralyzed with fear to react.
	"Yes. You being once a powerful being of magic, you would be more
susceptible to my control. Now, I need you to destroy a being of darkness
so that my two masters can take his place. I tried to trick you, but
obviously you are not so easily fooled. Now, if you do not succumb to me,
I will be forced to..." Shade continued on, but Terra stopped paying
attention. She had regained control of her senses, and was thinking of a
way to break loose. This Shade was magical, no doubt. A being she had
never encountered before. Now, it looked as if it would kill her. So, she
could only think of one thing to do, and hoped these were something like
Espers.
	She quickly brought her fist directly into the thing's eye. Its
wings covered the eye and it backed up. She jumped away and grabbed her
bow and an arrow, nocked it, and fired it in the general direction of
Shade in almost one movement. She missed.
	"You will pay for that, green one!" Shade said, and suddenly a huge
doorway of evil opened in the middle of the room. It was spinning, and she
had to grab the edge of the bureau to keep herself from being dragged in.
	"Shade! You never know when to back down!" Another voice said.
Terra glanced but could only see a big fiery ball of light shooting a light
beam. Suddenly, the force stopped and Terra fell. When she came up and
glanced around, nothing was there. But she knew that evil still existed.
Whatever this Sithon was, or these two "masters" Shade served, they were
evil. She also knew that she could fight again.
	'Let's review my life,' she thought, sitting down. 'I'm born of a
human that was sucked into the esper world and an esper, kidnapped by a
tyrant Emperor who abused magic, had my mind sucked away by a psychotic man
who later destroyed the Earth, became amnesiac,  met up with strange people
who led me to fight for a cause I wasn't sure of, regained my memories
after turning into a strange pink monster, opened the gate protecting my
own kind from humans, watched as the Espers I unleashed were destroyed,
watched as the madman who took away my life destroyed the world, lost my
will to fight and lived with children - quite contently, might I add - was
led again to fight for a cause I still was not sure of, destroyed the man
who took away my life, and then watched as my father, my kind, and a part
of me was desroyed. I wake up to find my closest friend was an evil
emperor, somehow fell into the ocean, and woke up to stumble to a town that
no longer existed. I go to another town, miss my friends completely, and
show up here only to be nearly seduced by a strange magical being. Oh yeah,
and my emperor friend is dead. Boy, I'm just your average twenty-year-old
woman.'
	Now what? Terra sat thinking of what to do now. Maybe she'd join
the Domans in whatever they were doing. She'd talk to them tommorrow
then...