The air was bitter cold. So cold that a light coating of frost covered the green grass and glazed windows and buildings.

[If ya want to know the music I was listening to during this chap, then here's the address.] http://www.lemmykoopa.com/lk2/lk2-353-4.html
[there is a story on that page, but I was just listening to the music. Some of you might reconize it from the game, Zelda and the Majors Mask.]

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     Raven was at the town clock tower. She stood on one of the ceiling support beams, looking at the giant clock tick.

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[Although she was looking at the backside of it since she was inside the clocktower instead of outside.]

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She eventually started meditating.
Rika appeared in a blur next to her a second later. She had changed into her dress but wore a small shawl over her shoulders. Karisuto was next to her, sitting on the beam. Kari wore a small cape-like coat.
Rika stared up at the clock. Then, without looking at Raven, she said, "You been here all this time?" "Yes." Raven answered. Rika paused for a while, "It's.......calm." "Yes, it is." Raven agreed with her eyes closed and still in her meditation position and floating in the air. Rika closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Kari looked up at the clock, "When the present is ticking by, the past is being relived, and the future is being told." "You got that from one of my books." Rika said, looking at the clock. "Or one of mine." Raven said. "Kari likes to poke around in my books...as well as yours, Raven." Rika said. "So I enjoy literature. Rika likes clocks. Especially pocket watches." Karisuto said. "You do?" Raven questioned Rika. "I like to watch time." Rika said. "Does it have something to do with your past?" Raven asked. Rika paused for a long moment, "Yeah...When I was locked away, the guards would carry a standerdized pocket watch. One day, a guard walking passed my cell, his broke off and fell. He didn't notice so I picked it up and opened it. I found it facinating to watch the pointer tick by the roman numeral signs." Rika explained, "But that's not the only reason..." "Then what is the other reason?" Raven asked and Kari looked up at Rika with her ears down. "I'm not sure....It's hard to explain but I just like clocks." Rika said. "Guess I know what to get you for your birthday." Kari said as though joking around. Rika ignored her. Then everyone's attention turned to the clock as giant bells rang, indecating nine o' clock.

Meanwhile Ed was at the bottom of the tower, in the celler. He wore his red coat and had his hands in his pockets.
It turned out that a small stream was flowing through the celler and a water wheel turned, bringing water up to other moving, wooden parts like buckets and such, that eventually lead out of site in a hole to the next floor up.
He stared at it for a moment before walking over to another area of the celler. It was a platform with two small steps going up. He walked up them and walked to the middle of the platform and stared at the wall that was only about a foot or two away. There was an incription all over the wall. Strange letters and symbols filled it. He could read part of it and it said something, something a bit weird. He read it aloud, "'The key to stopping the dark lies in the numbers.'" He tilted his head to the side, not understading what it ment. Not to meantion the fact, that that was the only part of the whole incription he could acctually read. "What the hell does that mean?" A voice said from behind. Ed turned quickly, but only to find Yusuke standing in the far door. He wore a coat that lead down, just below his waist and it was a grayish-black. Then he wore his green pants with his black shoes, and an off-yellow shirt.
"I'm not sure." Ed answered as Yusuke walked over. "I can only read a part of it." Ed finished. "'The key to stopping the dark lies in the numbers.' Sounds like something from one of Rika's or Raven's books. SOunds weid too..." Yusuke said as he gazed up at the incription. Then Vivian rose up from the shadows next to Yusuke, "Here you ar-What's that?" She asked, pointing to the incription. Viv herself wore a black jacket. "Some kind of incription." Ed answered, "But we can't figure everything out." he finished. "Oh..." Viv stared, then she gripped her arms with her hands, "BRRR! It's cold!" "What do you expect, it's fall and we're in a clocktower." Yusuke said. "It feels more closer to winter now..." Viv said. "Yeah..." Ed said. Then he thought for a moment, "Hey, don't you think it's weird?" "'Bout what?" Yusuke asked. "That a few mounths ago we were getting attacked almost everyday, and then suddenly it stopped." "Yeah, it's really weird..." Vivian thought. "Yeah...But that stuff happens all the time." Yusuke said. "True." Ed addmited with his eyes closed and a shrug. Vivian moved over to the incriptions, "They look fimiliar. Maybe something related to the Thousand Year Door." she turned and said. "Thousand Year Door?" Yusuke questioned. "It was what Mario, me, and some friends were looking to....keep closed on our journy before we came here." Viv explained. "Oh, yeah, you told us back then where you first came to the house." Ed said.

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[I don't want to give too much away about the game, Paper Mario 2: The Thousand-Year-Door]

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Viv nodded with a smile, "I'm happy to be here now. It's so peaceful.....at times...." she said and frowned. "Yeah, then all the demon's come and attack us again. Then they go and throw the town into chaos." Ed said as he turned his gaze downward. "Yeah, then we kick their butts and teach 'em a lesson!" Yusuke said with his fist raised in the air. "Don't sound so confident..." Ed said with a stare and Yusuke nearly fell over. "What do you mean?" Vivian asked. "I'm not sure, but this time it feels different. There haven't been any attacks for a while. The last time we were attacked it felt like someone was controling the whole thing. Why stop? We weren't having an easy time beating the demons back then." Ed said. "Yeah, that's happened before..." Yusuke said. "So if the demons are hard to beat, then how do we beat their master?" Viv asked. Everyone stood still and said nothing as the clocktower rang again, indicating ten o' clock.

A few days later, Ed had consulted Rika and Raven about the incriptions, but they couldn't find anything in their books. Not even a single translation page. As you might know, this made Rika angry and curious. She began researching different books on the subject and pulled a few highsts at museums to get some other books, but none had what she wanted. Raven optained other books form different dimentions, still nothing though. Ed, Yusuke, and Vivian went to the librery to reserch about it. Nothing still. They were left in wounder and mystery.

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    A mounth later, a cold winter had arrived and it would very often snow. Pilling the roads with snow and blocking them off.
A few people had left Miss. Tamika's house. Goombella went back home on her arceology trips. Maddam Flurrie went back to her mansion. Duke went back to his game shope. Talim went back to the castle. Miyuki went back to the fetal era to check up on things and she took Shippo with her. Rena went back to Atlantice. Beastboy and Cyborg went back to man the T-tower.

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Kagome had gone out to town just for a walk and to get something, but everything was deserted. There wasn't a soul around. "I guess the snow has blocked out all the roads..." Kagome sighed as she trudged through the deep snow herself, holding her little brown bag that had a green trim to it. Then she paused and looked around as the snow continued to gently fall. That's when Mayumi ran up to her, "There you are." "Mayumi, what are you-" "Lookin' for you." Mayumi intrerupted, "It's cold, are you sure you want to go for a walk?" "Uh...hehe, well I guess not." Kagome said with a sweat drop. Mayumi looked at her bag, "What's that? I thought the stores were closed." "Oh...Mr. Jonson always keeps his bakery open, remember?" Kagome said, then she dug through the bag and pulled out a pastery. She handed it to Mayumi, "Here. I know it's your favorite." Mayumi looked delighted as she took it, "Thanks!!" Mayumi ate the delicious treat with a smile. "I got one for Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku, too, and one for myself." Kagome laughed and so did Mayumi. They walked back home after a bit.

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Karisuto, Ed, and Rika had gone back to the clocktower that day.

  Rika and Karisuto went to the bottom of the clocktower. At the right side of the room there was a turning wheel holding buckets of water and pouring them into a flum that went up by means of buckets being pulled up by machenery, then pulled up to the next floor. A, nearly hidded, wooden, spiral staircase was by the corrner. It travled down to the celler, and up to the next few floors. To the left side of the room were a few platforms that went up and down.

Rika and Kari looked around a bit when Ed came up, "Find anything on the incription yet?" he asked. "No. I've also been looking into that...Philosiphers Stone of yours, I can't find any evidance of it being in the immediant area." Rika said. Ed sighed, "Ah, it's ok." Rika sighed, "It's annoying me that I can't find anything on that stupid incription!" Ed smiled, "Well what should we care? It doesn't look like it could be anymore important than finding the demons." "Your right." Kari said, "Rika, we should be more concerned on the demons, not that stupid incripion." Rika then glared at her. "Uhh....maybe not..." Kari shrunk behind Ed. Ed giggled a little. “Wanna head back?” he asked. Rika sighed, “There’s nothing else to do….I’m wondering where Hiei is anyway….” “Of coarse, all you think about is Hiei and steeling…” Kari said as she turned and began to walk away. “Watch it you oversized rodent.” Rika glared back at her. “I take it you two don’t get along much.” Ed said. Rika mumbled to herself and Ed couldn’t quite hear as they walked out of the clock tower.

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>> Snowy Christmas

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