Saffir remained in McAnnaly’s for a while longer after Harry left, enjoying the sandwich.  Truly, food tasted better when raised on a planet so close to the sun – though he was certain Gaia’s – Earth, he needed to call it Earth now that he was here -- lack of a dark taint assisted the sun in making tasty food.

He palmed the ring subtly as he at last rose from his seat, tucking it into his pants pocket as he strode out into the night of Chicago for the second time in as many hours.  Despite his words to the Gai—Earthling wizard, he highly doubted that Jaspis would have followed him back so far in time.

Why do that, when he could just wait back at Saffir’s laboratory on Nemesis and attack when… he was… weakened…

…

Saffir didn’t often indulge in bursts of swearing, but this seemed a more than appropriate time to do so.  He therefore coloured the air blue with imprecations in his native language, English, and Japanese before he ran out of words and phrases.  This was not good.  He’d managed to outsmart himself and give Jaspis a perfect target in the process.  Deep in thought, he let his legs lead him around the city while he attempted to figure out a solution to this that wouldn’t end with him being blasted into oblivion.

And one that won’t cause a paradox, he mentally added.  Which was the problem with just teleporting to Japan to make use of its overabundance of magic and then going back home.  Just finding out if the Sailor Senshi were still around even fifteen years beyond his intended destination could potentially cause a inconsistency in the time stream that would either trap him in a continuous loop, or destroy the universe.

Saffir rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine coming on.  I should have listened to Rubeus, he thought with a sigh.  Time travel is little more than a giant migraine.

Seconds later, he realised that he needn’t have bothered with thoughts of retaining his strength.  He had just come face-to-face with the heir of the Darkstar clan.

He scowled as he noticed that his rival had again gained height on him, and he openly carried his sword.  Subtle was not Jaspis’ defining trait, Saffir reflected, his eyes roving from the purple-streaked green hair to the black star prominently displayed on his forehead to the black cape trailing dramatically behind him.

“Fancy meeting you here, erbeprinz,” Jaspis drawled lazily.

“So you did follow me,” the Heir-Prince growled, stepping back so that he was out of sword’s reach.  Thank the Three Goddesses that this street was fairly abandoned.  If it came down to a fight of magic between them – which it would, if Saffir had his way – nobody would be killed.

Well.  Except for Jaspis.

The Darkstar heir smirked as he unsheathed his sword.  “Don’t give me that face, erbeprinz.  You know full well I can’t kill you without that damned brother of yours knowing.”

Saffir hadn’t known that.  And the last time he’d faced down the older man, neither had Jaspis.  Which meant someone had told him.  But who?  He leapt back as Jaspis swung at him.  “However, that doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you,” the Darkstar added with a smirk.

“Bastard,” the blue-haired man growled at him. 

Jaspis laughed at that.  “Language, Blue Prince, language.  One might think you were a common worker, and not the heir to the throne.”  That said, he spoke a word in the Old Tongue, then slashed his sword at Saffir once more.  To the Blue Prince’s surprise, a long crescent of green energy splashed with purple shot out at him.  He was barely able to get a shield up to protect him from the worst of the blow, and what little that did get him threw him to the ground.

Impossible!  How did he get so powerful?  Saffir bounded to his feet, but Jaspis was behind him, unleashing another energy burst from his sword.  The Blue Prince wasn’t able to get a shield up, or even completely turn around, taking the brunt of the attack on his left arm.  He hit the pavement hard, taking most of that impact on his shoulder.  Before he could rise this time, Jaspis kicked him in the gut, knocking the air out of him and rendering the young man helpless.

As the Heir-Prince struggled to pull air into his lungs, Jaspis grabbed him by the front of the collar and hauled him partly off the ground.  “Since I can’t kill you,” he all but purred, “I’ll just make sure you can’t get back.”

Saffir attempted to snarl an insult, but his comment turned into a scream as Jaspis laid a tanned – tanned!? – hand on his cheek and began to drain Saffir of his energy.  It was difficult to think beyond the pain, but the Blue Prince managed to trigger his Clan’s unique power – the Third Eye.  While he couldn’t use it as adeptly as his brother, Saffir could still use it offensively.  He did so now, launching a direct assault on Jaspis’ mind.  The older man yelled, releasing the Blue Prince and clapping his hands over his Clan mark before vanishing.  Exhausted, Saffir fell limp.

 

Karrin Murphy heard the screaming and rounded the corner at a dead run, her gun out. “Stop! Police!” she shouted, at the man standing over a prone figure, just before he vanished.  She couldn’t decide whether it was a good or a bad thing that she didn’t freak out when he did vanish. Whatever. She holstered her gun and bent down to take the other man’s pulse.

It was weak, faltering, but there.  Though it might not remain much longer if he kept bleeding like that from his arms and chest.  The blood was startlingly bright red against the near-alabaster of his pale skin.

Murph swore quietly to herself and phoned an ambulance, then crouched back down and snapped her fingers several times in front of the man’s face. “Hey. Look alive in there. You pass out, you might not wake up.”

Strangely intent blue eyes focused on her, and he moaned something in what sounded like German.

Murphy blinked. “Hello? Do you speak English? Stick with me. Help is coming.”

“Murphy… he called you earlier.”  The man’s eyes swam out of focus for a moment, then regained their sharpness as he drew in a deep breath.  “Need you… to call Harry Dresden.  Tell him that… there’s a dark star in town.” With that cryptic comment, he ceased all further conversation and passed out.

Murphy hated cryptic comments. With a passion. It was only with great effort that she restrained herself from shaking the man awake and demanding that he explain himself, and only by reminding herself that he was, in fact, injured. She stayed with him until the ambulance arrived, then went to call Harry and get him to explain. Somehow.

 

—‡—‡—‡—

 

Far above, a slim pale girl with azure blue hair watched, her eyes wide.  “Erbeprinz…” she whispered.  Without hesitation, her mind reached out, searching for the thoughts of the strange tall Gaian that Saffir had spoken to before.  As soon as she’d locked on, she began heading in his direction, running until she gathered enough energy for a teleport of her own.

Lapis Lazuli didn’t have much magic of her own, so teleporting wasn’t an easy task for her.  However, she didn’t expect to be lashed with sudden, mind-numbing agony and deposited outside her destination.  Sobbing in pain, she curled up on the stairs, trying to regain her bearings.  What had just happened?

Harry jumped up from his couch, rubbing his eyes. It felt like something had just bashed up against his wards, but nothing seemed to be around. Shrugging, he laid his head back down. The forces of darkness could wait five damn minute.

After two minutes, Harry sighed and decided that now was not a time for lounging. Getting up and grabbing his staff, Harry walked over to the door and opened the peephole.

Through it  he could see a young girl curled up in front of his door, breathing heavily and generally looking as though she’d fallen afoul of his wards.  The thing that attracted his attention was her alabaster skin – it was as pale as that Saffir kid’s had been.

Harry sighed. Great, another one. This is going to be one of those weeks.  Wrenching the door open, he approached and stood over the girl, clutching his staff.  She jerked and stared up at him with wide grey eyes, the now-visible black star on her forehead framed by blue bangs.

Harry, seeing the star, let a bit of energy flow into his staff, causing the runes to glow faintly. “I received a very peculiar warning a few hours ago,” he said flatly. “And now here you are. Have the Star-Headed Sneeches begun arriving already?”

She cringed away from him, said something in the language Saffir had spoke in occasionally, then shook her head and tried again, “You… you’re the man Heir-Prince Saffir was with, ja?”

“Ja.”  A word caught Harry’s ears by surprise.  “Prince?!”

“O-only technically,” she stammered.  “H-he’s the heir…”

Harry buried his face in his free hand. “There is a such thing as karma and it hates me.”  Regaining himself, he cleared his throat and asked “And who might you be?”

Her fingers reached up to touch the star as she replied, “Lapis Lazuli – I-I know I’m a Darkstar, but I’m not like m-my brother, I swear!”

Harry rolled his eyes. “So you have a brother now, do you?”

She nodded.  “Jaspis.  He attacked the Heir-Prince…”

He rolled his eyes again. If he kept this up, he felt, they might just fall out. “Of course he did. You caught me in a bad time, so give me a decent reason to believe you or I’m calling 911.”

The girl bit her lip and looked down.  “I… I saw it happen,” she said softly.

Harry tapped his foot. He had heard the details of this from Murph. “Why should I believe you have no ill will toward me or Prince Charming? You were trying to get inside my wards just now, weren’t you. Not a very nice thing to do.”

“I was trying to warn you that J-Jaspis might come after you for being with Heir-Prince Saffir… I d-didn’t know you could ward against teleporting…”

I didn’t know I could either. Good to know, thought Harry. “You armed?”

She shook her head tearfully.  “I’m out of energy, too…”

Harry looked at her oddly. “You’re out of energy,” he repeated, deadpan.

“Ja.  I… I guess the word translates more accurately to magic.”

Harry sighed. “So how did you get here, anyway? Tall, blue and pale kind of implied it wasn’t easy. I don’t imagine it was, coming from beyond Pluto.”

She blushed.  “I, um… I couldn’t do it on my own, so I kind of… pig-a-backed when my brother followed Heir-Prince Saffir…”

Leaning down a bit, Harry said, “So what made you decide to check in on lil’ old me? Did our mutual friend lose his trans-galactic keys or something?”

She cast her eyes down as she admitted, “Jaspis drained the Heir-Prince almost completely,  He’s trapped here now.  I… I was hoping you might be able to help us…”

Harry sighed. Sure, she might potentially be ready to stab him in the back, but she was female and asking for his help. Drat.

“I can pay,” she added, almost hopefully.

Harry transferred his staff to his left armpit and offered her a hand. “I don’t know how much I can accomplish. His magic is… unlike anything I’ve ever heard of.”

She accepted his hand with a shy smile.  “That’s all right.  Saffir and my brother are prodigies – a lot of what they do is like nothing anyone back home has heard of.”

Harry smiled a bit. “I think you misunderstood me juuust a tad.”

“…what do you mean?”

“I mean, what you and Saffy do, it’s like nothing me or anyone I know has ever heard of.  It’s magic, yes, but… “

Comprehension dawned in her eyes.  “Oh, I see… you can’t teleport?”

This was too much. Harry actually burst out laughing. He had to lean on his staff for support.

“…what?  What did I say?”

Wiping tears from his eyes, Harry finally said “No, I can’t teleport. No wizard I have ever met can teleport.”

“Maybe it’s a Nemesian thing.  Like the Draining, and the Third Eye…,” she mused.

“I’ve got one of that last one. Kinda. Sorta. So Nemesian wizards have Wizard’s Sight too?

“…Sight?  I’m guessing you don’t just mean seeing things?”

Harry was less amused and more confused at the moment. “… same page, different playbook?” he asked, shrugging.  “What else could you mean by ‘Third Eye’?”

“Control,” she said simply.  “Though only Prince Demando can use it so well,  Saffir won’t even try.”

“Control?  Control what?”

“Minds.”

Harry coughed a bit.  “Minds?!  … I do hope he knows better then to try that here.  Least not if he likes his head where it is.”

She nodded hesitantly.  “Prince Demando can’t do it for very long, but it’s saved his life before… and Heir-Prince Saffir, like I said, won’t do it.”

“Good.”   How powerful are these freaks?

“I don’t know,” she said doubtfully.  “It may get him killed.”

“You’re right. Except for the ‘may’ part.”  Harry looked her up and down. “You’re awfully casual about this sort of thing. How old are you?”

“Seventeen,” she replied, blinking.

“… seventeen? As in a numeral one followed by a numeral seven?”

“Yes.  An adult.”

“Adult?  What planet are you fro- oh, right, sorry.”

She smiled.  “We grow up quickly on Nemesis.”

Harry sighed. “Life draining. Mind control. This isn’t a can of worms, it’s a drum of vipers.”

“We don’t drain life,” the blue-haired girl objected.  “We drain power.”

“Be more specific next time, I’m new at this. This… uh, Jasper guy. Can he control minds?”

“Jaspis?  Thank Khaos, no.  He’s a Darkstar, as am I.  We’re the Drainers.  The Blackmoon clan has the Third Eye.”

“You guys should do a pamphlet or something if you’re gonna keep showing up. But anyway, I don’t know what it’s like where you come from, but that kind of thing is a biiig no-no ‘round these parts.”

“Oh.”  She looked crestfallen.  “I… I didn’t know that.”

“And now you know that. So what’s this other guy’s business here, and more importantly, does it affect me?”

“Jaspis?  It probably won’t, unless he finds out this city has other people of power besides him and the Heir-Prince.  Saffir trapped him here when he was blocked from going home.”

“… swell.”

“I… I can probably keep him in check until Heir-Prince Saffir is able to face him again,” she added hesitantly.  “I just don’t know how long.”

Harry sighed, once again. He was doing that a lot today, too. He was considering using it as a way to measure his bad days. “Need a hand?”

“Only if he finds out where my loyalties lie.”  She shivered.  “If he does, I’ll never go home.”

“There’s a Motel 6 just down the block.”

“A… what?”

“… never mind.” Digging around in his pockets, Harry pulled out another business card. The things were paying for themselves already.

She looked the card over.  “Harry Dresden…”  Those grey eyes turned back on him.  “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Seriously, don’t. Send blue boy my regards. I don’t suppose there’s a chance of y’all basting off back to a galaxy far, far away any time soon?”

“As soon as Saffir’s powers return, we can go back and never bother you again,” she promised.

“Excellent. I’ll hold you to that.”

“I wish people at home were like you.  Everyone is nicer in the past.”  That said, she vanished, promise and warning given.

Harry had started to turn back, but stopped in  tracks.  “…what… did… you… say?”  He was too late – the girl was nowhere to be found.  The wizard stood in place for a few minutes, as if frozen in time. 

Then he screamed.  Loudly.

 

—‡—‡—‡—

 

Jaspis Darkstar stood quietly at the top of one of this primitive city’s skyscrapers, letting the wind tug at his cape and send it flying dramatically around him.  “I could get used to this,” he commented as a flare of energy went off behind his back.

“Jaspis, are you sure this will work?” his younger sister asked him, stepping to his side.  “Saffir is the smartest man on Nemesis—”

“Which is why we have to outdo him,” he replied, putting his arm around the slender girl.  “And we have to do it without giving away what I learned in Crystal Tokyo.”  He gently put two fingers to his sister’s clan mark, stripping away the illusion he’d laid on her and leaving her as tanned as he was.  “And without mentioning too many details of the war,” he added.  “I’m personally more worried about Dresden.  Rumour on the street is that he’s been made a Warden, which means we can’t tell him we’re from the future.”

Lapis Lazuli coloured.  “Um…”

Jaspis sighed.  “You let it slip.  No matter.  We’ll just have to prove we have no intention of traversing time again.  Even if we have to get Sailor Pluto to vouch for us.”

The girl shivered.  “I hope not.  She scares me.”

He ruffled his sister’s hair.  “Don’t worry about it.  Even if this White Council comes for us, they’ll never be able to catch us.  Wizards don’t teleport.”

“That’s what Dresden said.  But we can’t go to him in his home,” Lapis reported.  “He has some sort of warding system set up.  It dropped me outside his door, rather than inside.”  She rubbed at her arms and added, “It hurt, too…”

Jaspis was instantly all concern, looking her over.  “You’re not injured, are you?  Is—”

“I’m fine,” Lapis told him tolerantly.  “Stop worrying about me.  You’re going to have to step twice as fast to play the erbeprinz and Dresden without getting killed.”