El-Hazard is the property of Pioneer/AIC. This fanfic and all original characters are property of dooky. The lyrics to "Genocide" appear courtesy of the Offspring, and Melt-Banana's "Spathic!" makes a return appearance disguised as some prophecy or other... EL-HAZARD: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME The Shape of Things So Far- Sakura Tamaro has become part of the Bugrom forces. Nahato of the Phantom Tribe has entered into a strategic alliance with Jinnai, displaying knowledge of Sakura's abilities. Nanami has developed a system for translating the Heretic Prophecy, allowing Makoto, Qawoor and Shayla to decipher half of the text. King Fran, an old enemy of Fatora's, attends the royal summit and almost succeeds in passing a bill to expel the Opaques from Allied lands. As racial tension continues to rise, Afura spies on an anti-Opaque rally organised by Jennown Doht. Mari quits the restaurant to work for Alielle and Fatora, who find the seduction of their new 'personal assistant' to be surprisingly easy. Sakura visits Florestica and uses her zero energy powers to create a snowstorm in the middle of summer... THE FIFTH MONTH: "THE POWER OF NONE" Day 122 A lone servant headed down the corridor, pausing only briefly to acknowledge the bright sunlight that poured in through the windows. Two weeks had passed since that curious business with the snow. Plenty of theories had been offered, although none of them appeared to stand up to close scrutiny. No matter. It hadn't snowed since, and most people had simply accepted it as one of those things that occurred to remind them how complicated life can be. Freak weather conditions aside, it was an eventful time, the servant thought. Princess Alielle had been pregnant for over a month now. With the royal summit over, the visiting leaders had returned to their respective lands. Princess Rune was much better now. Apparently, the girl responsible for healing Princess Rune on both occasions was now in the employment of Princess Fatora, although this particular servant had yet to meet her. On the way into work today, one of the newspaper headlines had caught her eye. Somebody quite important had, it seemed, died, although in her rush she didn't get to see who. For a few seconds, the word 'death' lingered in her consciousness. By a remarkable coincidence, when she looked up that was exactly what she saw. The small, black-clad figure was staring right at her. "Repent, sinner!" the figure commanded. "For I am Death." The servant screamed, then turned and fled. Princess Fatora emerged from her hiding place and joined the figure. "Mari," she said, "that was without a doubt one of the funniest things I've ever seen." Fatora and Mari proceeded to collapse in a fit of giggles. "That was very immature," Alielle commented as she walked up to them. She shook her head in a largely futile effort to disguise the fact that she thought it was pretty amusing too. Makoto, Shayla, Afura, Qawoor and Miz sat around the table in silence. Nobody had said anything for over ten minutes now. Staring at the partially decoded prophecy, Makoto let the symbols drift in and out of focus. They had advanced no further with the translation. Makoto knew that he was really the key to all of this. After all, he was the only one who knew both Japanese and Ancient Roshtarian, so he was the only one who could make any meaningful progress. But somehow, he couldn't translate any more. It was as if something within him was nagging, distracting him from the job in hand. It wasn't surprising, really. Makoto had a very bad feeling about this prophecy. Every line he decoded seemed to reveal something worse. The night with the snow. That was when it really started to get to him. Oh, odd things had been happening for a few months- his strange dreams, the mysterious man in Ifurita's unconscious mind, the link between Ifurita and Qawoor... and now, this. After the snow, Ifurita came to him in a distressed state. She sensed- no, knew- that something was wrong. The way things were looking right now, this damn prophecy was only going to make things worse. But he'd promised to help translate it, even though the idea of knowing the future made him uneasy. Now, every time he tried to make a start on it, his mind froze. Deep down, he wished that this relic had been left buried. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I just can't seem to get any further." "We have to keep trying," Afura stressed. "I don't have to remind you how important this is." "And the Holy Order are getting impatient," Miz added. "They've already contacted me three times this week." "I know you're doing your best, Master Makoto," Qawoor said. Makoto shook his head. "I'm letting you down." For a second, he considered voicing his feelings about the prophecy. But before he could make a decision, Parnasse ran into the room with an expression of urgency on his face. "Please excuse me," he said, catching his breath. "But I have serious news. The Alpha Priestess, Yuusem Cartac, is dead." "What?" Shayla said, taken aback. "Are you sure?" "Pretty sure," Parnasse replied. "It's in all of the newspapers." "Damn press," Shayla complained. "Since when do the newspapers hear about stuff like this before we do?" "How sad," said Qawoor. "I can't believe she's dead." "Oh well," Miz said, "I never thought much of her anyway." Qawoor gasped. "Miss Miz... isn't that a little disrespectful?" "Probably," Miz replied. "But I'm retired. I'm allowed to be opinionated. Hopefully, she'll be replaced with someone competent." Makoto sighed inwardly. Yet another tragedy. The Alpha Priestess was the most senior religious figure in El-Hazard. She had ultimate authority over the many varieties of El-Hazard's common religion. This effectively gave her more power than the ruler of any one country. So when an Alpha Priestess died, everyone felt the consequences. "How will the successor be chosen?" Makoto asked. "I don't think this has ever happened in my time here." "The next Alpha Priestess is chosen by a specially selected panel. Who are, themselves, chosen by another panel. It's a complex system." Miz paused. "Now that I think about it, there's no obvious choice for a successor. It could be anyone, I suppose." "There was something else," Parnasse said. "They're sending someone to check on your progress with the prophecy." "I see," Afura nodded. "I expected we'd get this sooner or later. Did they say who's coming?" "Yeah," Parnasse replied. "Some guy called... what was it? Oh yeah. Doht." "Jennown Doht?" Shayla and Afura cried in unison. Miz looked puzzled. "That's odd. He's not very senior. Maybe everyone else is tied up after Cartac's death." "Doht's a racist," Shayla frowned. "And this prophecy- at least, what we've seen of it- is not good publicity for the Opaques. The last person I'd want to see it is him." "It's a problem," Afura agreed. "We'll have to think of something. Meanwhile, I suggest we do our best to complete this translation. Perhaps the meaning will become clearer." In any modern society, there is easy money to be made via the medium of child psychology. There are two reasons for this. The first is that parents are a notoriously edgy bunch, easily convinced that bringing up a child is more perilous than it really is. The second is that the whole subject is about as exact a science as alchemy. Anyone can fake their way through it, although if you already have an important-sounding title, all the better. Fatora had found a total of two hundred and seventy eight books in the library on the subject of raising children. Basically, she wanted a book that would tell her how to ensure that her daughter didn't end up as screwed up as she did. But all she found was a collection of personal theories by academics from unrelated fields. It seemed as if every doctor in the country was having a go these days. She read a short passage from 'Your Child and What's Wrong With It' by one Doctor Schtalubaugh. 'In the early years of their lives, children are only aware of their own feelings. They cannot take into account the opinions of others, because they have not yet learnt that such things exist. Eventually, most children will come to realise that other people may have differing opinions. There is, however, a special class of children, who never make this transition, and grow into adults who still refuse to acknowledge the feelings of others. This is not a total disadvantage, as such people usually have very successful careers, often in the media, even though nobody really likes them.' Possibly a definitive example of this sort of person was Japan's Favourite Solo Artist, Sakura Tamaro. Jinnai had adored Sakura, right up until the point when he actually met her. Even the most patient of people would have had difficulty in tolerating her. And Jinnai was anything but patient- especially when she insisted on asking such inappropriate questions. "Are you gay?" "Wha... WHAT?" "It was just a hunch," Sakura justified. "I mean, a lot of my male fans are gay." "Well, maybe," Jinnai said, still reeling from the shock. "But that doesn't..." "Plus, you seem really quite obsessed with that Mizuhara boy," she continued. "Know what I think? I think you're channelling your repressed homosexual desire for him into emotions like anger and hate..." Jinnai covered his ears. "Shut up! Shut up! I am not gay! And if I was, Mizuhara is the LAST person I'd..." "Ooh! That sounds like an admission to me!" Sakura interrupted. "Stop it! I'm not gay!" Jinnai objected. "I don't have to listen to this! I'm the commander of the Bugrom forces! Go on, get out of here! Beat it!" Sakura shrugged and walked away, passing Nahato as she went. She stopped, leaned into him, and said- "He is SO gay." "Did you hear that?" Jinnai complained to Nahato. "Did you hear what she just called me?" "I couldn't be more disinterested," Nahato said testily. "Mr Jinnai, we, or should I say you, have a serious problem. The Alliance knows you're rebuilding your forces. They're already fortifying their own defences as a result." "I see," Jinnai nodded. "Well, any suggestions?" "You should strike as soon as possible. Gain a foothold before they're ready." "Now, just a minute," Jinnai frowned. "For weeks, you've been telling me we're not strong enough to win a war." Nahato began to pace. "Not the sort of war you fought last time. You don't have the power to take the whole Alliance in one go. But, if you were to attack just one nation at a time, taking advantage of political tensions between the Allies... with a little help from us, El-Hazard could be yours." "What about the Eye of God? As soon as the Alliance know we mean business, they'll use it." "That's not necessarily true," Nahato said. "The Roshtarian royal house were understandably shaken after using the Eye last time. This time, I doubt they'll be so quick to use it. As for a longer term solution... we're working on it. Now, to business. Sakura." Jinnai sighed. "What about her?" "As depressing as it may sound, she is your greatest single asset. But we need to find out exactly how powerful she is. A test of some sort..." "I know exactly how we can test her," Jinnai smiled. "Leave it to me." A disturbing thought crossed his mind. "Listen," he said. "What do you hope to gain from all of this? I mean, assuming you're not helping out of the goodness of your hearts." Nahato smiled. "I want to see the Alliance fall as much as you do. And, when the war is over, I want... the Opaques." "What the hell are Opaques?" Nahato's expression suddenly became quite manic. "Traitors. Inferior members of our society. They defected to the Alliance. More than a fifth of our total population! Our infrastructure was crippled. And, as most of them can see through our illusions, our spies have been having a hard time lately. They betrayed us, and they deserve to die. I'll kill them! Every last one of them!" "Fair enough," Jinnai said, raising an eyebrow. "That seems reasonable." At first, he'd had his doubts about Nahato. But now, it appeared, he was his sort of person. Mika sang happily to herself as she played. "Dog eat dog, every day, on our fellow man we prey..." "Um... Miz?" Fujisawa asked. "What the... what IS she singing?" "Oh, I think it's a song called Genocide," Miz said brightly. "She learnt it from Mari. That girl's really quite a singer." "But... well, do you really think it's appropriate for our daughter to be singing something like that?" "Come along, Masamichi. Lots of the songs children sing have a sinister subtext. But she doesn't understand the meaning. It's harmless. At least this way she expands her vocabulary. How many children her age know the word 'genocide'?" Fujisawa shook his head. "Well, I don't like it. I may have a talk with Mari..." "Well now, THAT would be a first," Miz said, folding her arms. "You haven't shown the slightest bit of interest in that girl ever since she arrived. Do you know where she is at the moment? Working for Fatora and Alielle!" Fujisawa gasped. "One of my students? With them?" "Oh, suddenly you seem to care. Masamichi, that poor, innocent girl is probably being corrupted as we speak!" Mari lay between Alielle and Fatora, staring up at the ceiling. "Well," she said, "that was really very enjoyable. Want to go again?" "My God..." Fatora moaned. "I've never known anyone with such a high sex drive. Where do you get your energy?" "I blame years of sexual frustration," Mari replied. "Back home, nobody even knew I was gay." "Were you embarrassed?" Alielle asked. "No, no," Mari said. "Nobody ever asked me. They weren't interested. Why should they have been?" "You don't talk about Earth much," said Alielle. "Don't you miss it?" "I doubt anyone there will miss me," Mari sighed. "My parents probably won't even realise I'm gone until they get a letter telling them I didn't show up for my exams." "Bad parents, huh?" Fatora sounded unusually sympathetic. "I can relate to that." "As long as I did well at school, they didn't care. They were desperate for me to land a prestigious, probably very stressful job at some corporation or other. I had my own plans." "And what were they?" "It was my secret ambition," Mari recalled, "to become a shrine maiden. Not that I was religious, but the clothes were nice, and it would've really pissed off my parents. Especially," she smiled, "considering they were Christians." "So you don't miss anything about Earth?" Alielle asked. "Oh, there's stuff I miss. I miss the music. Going to some tiny venue to see some band nobody's ever heard of, where the music's so loud that you can just scream your heart out and not even be able to hear yourself. I miss Saturdays. When the city's so packed that you can just melt into the crowd... it's just like being invisible. It's the only time I didn't feel self- conscious. And I miss Sailor Moon. I miss Hotaru." "I've heard you mention this Hotaru before," said Fatora. "Who is she?" Mari smiled. Fatora couldn't have asked a better question. "Hotaru," she began, "is the greatest and most tragic figure in the whole history of Earth fiction." Day 130 Afura walked wearily in through Makoto's front door. Shayla and Qawoor were already there, along with Makoto, Ifurita and Ura. "Please," she sighed, "tell me you've at least made some progress with the translation." Makoto went to speak, but Ifurita interrupted him. "Yes! Last night, Makoto made a very exciting breakthrough." "Well... well, I wouldn't call it a breakthrough as such," Makoto added quickly. "Now, Makoto, there's no need to be so modest about it," Ifurita said. "What did you find, Makoto?" Afura asked. Makoto did his very best to lower her expectations. "It's not much..." Ifurita interrupted him. "Makoto discovered that the next word is 'before'," she said proudly. "That's it?" Afura replied. "One word? That's as far as you got?" "Well," Ifurita said, just a little bit deflated, "it seemed like a real achievement at the time." Afura shook her head in frustration. "Doht will be here in a matter of minutes. I'd have preferred to have a slightly clearer idea of what this prophecy is about." "This prophecy," Shayla frowned, "is turning out to be nothing but trouble. And if that bastard Doht thinks I'm gonna kiss his ass just because the Holy Order sent him..." "Sister Shayla," Qawoor said meekly, "please try to be polite when Mr Doht comes. I know you don't like him, but you won't achieve anything by arguing with him." "Oh, I'm not going to argue with him," Shayla mumbled. "I'm gonna fricassee him." "Qawoor's right," Afura said. "Doht does carry the authority of the Holy Order in a case like this. However much we may dislike him, let's all at least try to be civil." The noise of a transport's engine became audible, followed by the noise of the driver performing an excruciatingly bad gear change as he attempted to park. A few moments later, a tall, middle aged man strolled into the house. "Your holinesses," he said. "Good morning. I have come here at the request of the Holy Order, to discuss the Heretic Prophecy." He noticed Makoto and Ifurita. "I... did not realise there would be outsiders present." Makoto and Ifurita looked at each other uncomfortably. "This is Makoto Mizuhara," Afura pointed out. "He's been instrumental in the translation of the prophecy, so it seemed sensible to let him attend. Besides, this IS his house." Doht turned his attention to Ifurita. "And her? Is this the Demon God? What is her reason for attending?" "Miss Ifurita lives here as well," Qawoor said. The man looked between Makoto and Ifurita. "Yes... I see. So, that's how it is..." "Excuse me?" Makoto responded, unsure whether Doht was trying to be insulting. Shayla picked up Ura and turned to Doht. "Are you going to object to the cat's presence as well?" she asked angrily. "Very amusing, Priestess Shayla," Doht said, at the same time making it quite apparent that he wasn't amused in the slightest. "Now, if we can please move on to more serious matters..." "The Heretic Prophecy," Afura acknowledged. "Yes," Doht said decisively. "We want all of the information you have. Where you found it, how you unsealed it, how it's encrypted. And, of course, what it says." "Your majesty..." Londs hurried into the royal conference chamber. Princess Rune looked up. "Yes? What is it, Londs?" "The ambassador of Dorusland is here to see you." Rune looked puzzled. "I wasn't expecting her." "No, I realise that," Londs sighed. "However, she is rather insistent. She says it's urgent." Rune was just about to ask Londs to show the ambassador in, when the ambassador showed herself in anyway. "May I help you?" Rune asked politely. "In light of recent events, his majesty King Fran wishes to suggest various additional defensive measures to deal with the Opaque problem." This turn of phrase annoyed Rune, and she didn't disguise it. "I wasn't aware," she frowned, "that there was an Opaque problem." "Begging your pardon, majesty, but it is possible, indeed likely, that there are Phantom Tribe spies amongst the Opaques. This is the problem that the king seeks to address." Rune sighed. "We will not uphold a bill for the expulsion of the Opaques. I thought that had been made clear already. If King Fran wishes to keep Opaques from entering Dorusland, then that is his decision, and in the interests of diplomacy I respect it. But we are committed to welcoming these refugees into Roshtaria, and we will continue to do so. The ambassador didn't allow herself to be put off. "The king does not consider expulsion to be the only option. He has a number of more... liberal proposals which your majesty might find more palatable." "Such as?" "To minimise the risk of Phantom Tribe spies intercepting sensitive information, it might be prudent to bar Opaques from certain professions. Law, medicine, the sciences..." "That would be unfeasible," Rune interrupted, "and the concept is frankly offensive." "Or perhaps some sort of registration system. So that we can keep track of..." "You will thank King Fran for his interest," Rune said sternly. "But the Opaques resident in Roshtaria are citizens like any others. I will not infringe their basic rights, or anybody else's. Good day, madam ambassador." Mari was feeling unusually happy as she walked through the palace courtyard. The last time she had been this happy was an incident two years ago, when she was cosplaying as Hotaru and a girl dressed as Michiru had called her cute. For the first time in her life, Mari had friends. Real friends. At least, she assumed that was what they were, not being an expert on this sort of thing. They were interested in her. They asked her opinion, and listened to what she had to say. They had sex with her too, but that, she suspected, was just a bonus. Alielle was genuinely one of the nicest people she'd ever met. Fatora was... well, not always as nice as Alielle... but Mari liked her anyway. It was enough that these two people were prepared to give her the time of day. Her heart sang. And the song it sang was called Genocide, which may, to the casual observer, have seemed rather nihilistic, but Mari was nothing if not a bundle of contradictions. She found herself singing. "Dog eat dog, every day, on our fellow man we prey, Dog eat dog, to get by, hope you like my genocide..." It was then that she heard a voice which she hadn't had the pleasure of hearing for nearly three weeks. "Mari? Is that you?" Parnasse ran across the courtyard towards her. "Mari, I haven't seen you in ages. Is it true you work in the palace now?" "Yeah," Mari nodded. "It's a great job." "Well, you look a lot happier," Parnasse observed. "What is it you do, exactly?" Mari went to answer, but was stumped by the fact that the amount of actual work she did was minimal. "Oh, Mari! There you are!" Alielle called, running over. She grabbed Mari around the waist. Parnasse looked at the two of them, and then made a statement which, he would soon be alarmed to discover, was quite incorrect. "Alielle! Leave her alone! She doesn't like it!" "Of course she does," Alielle laughed. "Right?" "Well, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a pleasant experience," Mari said. "Don't fall for it," Parnasse urged. "She's not as innocent as she looks, Mari. Next thing you know, she'll be trying to sleep with you." "Ha!" Alielle mocked. "What do you think we've been doing for the last three weeks?" The realisation hit Parnasse with force and impact akin to a ballistic missile striking an egg. At least, this was the analogy that popped into Mari's head; but, as previously noted, her mental state is really rather complex, and this analogy should not be regarded as having any significance whatsoever. "Mari!" Parnasse challenged. "Surely you haven't been... with... my sister?" "And Fatora," Alielle added unhelpfully. "How could you?" he continued. "How could you do this after leading me on like that?" "I led you on?" Mari responded, bemused. "How? When?" "You know, that whole 'acting like you're not interested' routine," he reminded her. "But I really WASN'T interested!" Mari insisted. "Well, how the hell was I supposed to tell the difference?" Parnasse cried. "Look, I'm sorry if this upsets you," Mari offered. Really, I am." "Upsets me?" Parnasse echoed. "This is the single most crushing blow I've ever experienced in my life! I may never recover emotionally! And you..." he turned to his sister, "are an evil, conniving seductress." He stormed away. Mari glanced nervously at Alielle, who shrugged. "He's right, you know," Alielle said. "I am an evil, conniving seductress." "I feel awful," Mari said. "I didn't want to upset him." "Don't worry about it," Alielle replied. "He gets like this all the time. He'll be over it in twenty minutes." A man ran into the clinic and up to the desk. "I need a doctor!" he demanded to the receptionist. Amiri, who had just left her office, overheard this and walked over. "Yes? Can I help you?" "It's my mother," the man said. "She's fallen. I think she's broken her hip. Could you come?" "Of course, right away," the doctor replied. "Please, take me to her." Amiri followed the man along the street. "Down here," he said, gesturing towards an alley. Amiri hurried down the narrow passageway. "Where is she?" she called back. She noticed that the man's concerned expression was gone. In its place was one of calm, passive menace. "I'm afraid I haven't been completely honest, doctor," he said. "You see, my mother isn't really here." A second man stepped out into her path. Looking around, she realised her way back was blocked. Damn. "We want you out," the second man said. "Is that all Opaques, or just me personally?" she asked. "You're not one of us," the man continued. "You don't belong here." "And you're taking our jobs!" the first man added. Amiri responded in mocking surprise. "Am I really? I'm sorry, I had no idea. It's just that the two of you don't look like doctors to me." She had been expecting one of them to make a move at some point, but somehow, the first man still managed to catch her by surprise. She flew backwards into the stone wall, striking her left arm on a handrail as she went, and fell painfully to the ground. "Bastard!" she hissed, obviously in pain. "I hope your mother DOES break her hip..." The two men moved closer. Now that she was down, they would continue to beat her until she lost consciousness, at which point they would make their escape. They wouldn't kill her. Well, they'd try not to. They did not expect her to get up. They didn't know that Amiri had played a critical role in the Opaques' escape from the Phantom Tribe, and they didn't know that the mild mannered doctor was one hell of a lot tougher than she looked. But then, in all fairness, they were the sort of people who didn't know a lot. Amiri caught the first man in the jaw with a high kick, which was most impressive, had anyone else been around to witness it. Pausing only briefly to reflect upon the thought that she hadn't done this sort of thing for ages, she kneed the second man in the testicles. A cheap shot, but by all accounts a classic. She followed it up with a headbutt for good measure, but, as a doctor, she was careful not to put too much pressure on the upper vertebrae. The man glanced at his companion. They had made a dangerous underestimation. "Come on, let's go," he said. The pair turned and ran. As they left, Amiri thought she heard one of them asking the other if they could legitimately have her arrested for assault. For a few brief moments, she felt quite triumphant. Then she remembered how much her arm was hurting, and slumped back down to the ground. "God, I hate days like these." "...he tells me which way to flit. He's too tiny and just clicking wings split. Where's my false eyes? Next ones could be mine. Watch your head, it's heading straight to you." Doht looked at Qawoor in astonishment- partly in response to the gibberish she'd just recited, and partly due to the fact that she'd obviously learnt it by heart. "Anyway," Qawoor continued, "that was what the untranslated text said." "Yes, yes, very interesting," Doht said impatiently. "Now the translation, please?" Afura looked nervously at Qawoor. "Go ahead, Qawoor." Qawoor hesitated. "Maybe... maybe you should read it, Sister Afura." "Allow me," Shayla said, taking advantage of the indecision. "Here goes... Bear witness to the shape of things to come. When the time of the Holy Apocalypse is past, the Shadow Nation will become two, and..." "And?" Doht prompted. "And that's as far as we got with the translation." Afura and Qawoor tried to disguise their shock at Shayla's audacious lie. Doht just looked confused. "I was led to believe," he began, "that you had translated rather more than that." "We're still working on it," Shayla replied. "As soon as we're done, we'll let the Holy Order know." "You'll forgive me for saying this," Doht said quietly, "but your lack of progress seems surprising. Perhaps even... suspicious." Ifurita, who had been silent for some time now, suddenly looked up in horror. "She's here!" Everyone in the room looked around simultaneously. "Who's here, Ifurita?" Makoto asked, concerned. "I... don't know..." she replied, clearly disorientated. "But... I can feel her. I know she's here!" Ifurita ran for the door. Makoto tried to stop her, but he was too late. By now she was already out of the house and flying towards the city centre. "What the hell's wrong with her?" Shayla asked, getting up. "We should follow her!" Qawoor said. She, Afura, Shayla, Makoto and Ura all ran out of the house after Ifurita. Jennown Doht stayed sat down, wondering what exactly had just happened. "First she takes Lady Fatora from me, and now Mari too!" Parnasse moaned. "She's doing it on purpose, I know it!" "Now, Parnasse," Mycea reassured, "you're better off without her. I've told you before." Nanami passed them on her way to serve more customers. They'd been at it for half an hour now- Parnasse stressing, then Mycea comforting. "She doesn't deserve you anyway," Mycea continued. "Why don't you go for somebody more normal, more fun?" Suddenly, a group of people sat near the window began to panic. Parnasse and Mycea didn't notice, as he was too busy being miserable, and she was too busy trying to chat him up. Eventually, Nanami went to investigate the source of the consternation. Through the window, she could see a woman floating in mid-air. She immediately walked out into the street to confront the airborne woman. "Hey!" she called angrily. "You up there! What's the idea, scaring my customers?" The woman frowned back. "Have some respect! Don't you know who I am?" To Nanami's surprise, she realised she actually did. "Wait, I know!" she replied. "You're that idol, right? Sakura Tamaro?" "Yes! That's me!" Sakura said, delighted. Obviously she was more famous than she thought. "You suck!" "What?" Sakura demanded, horrified. "God, I really hated you," Nanami elaborated. "You were always so into yourself. You pretended to be nice, but anyone with a brain could see what a bitch you were." She suddenly realised what it was that was different about Sakura. "Hey! When did you learn to fly?" "I'm a very different person now," Sakura smiled. "I can do all kinds of things I couldn't do before." "Can you sing?" Sakura tried to contain her anger. "Listen, you little person of no consequence! Do you have any idea what I am now? I'll tell you, shall I? I am a Demon God!" "Whatever," Nanami replied, unimpressed. "Pop stars are always reinventing themselves. I consider it to be a sign of paranoia." "Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm a Demon God! Demon God!" "Of what class?" somebody asked. Sakura looked around. Ifurita was hovering nearby, holding her Power Key Staff. "Um... Absolute Zero or something." Ifurita looked puzzled. "I'm not familiar with that model. You were obviously constructed after I was sealed away. I am also a Demon God." "Yeah, yeah," Sakura said, her mind clearly on other things. "Can I ask you about your breasts?" It isn't easy, all things considered, to shock an Ultimate Weapon. But on this occasion, Sakura managed without actually trying. "My... breasts? What about them?" "Are they enhanced?" Sakura probed. "I... don't understand the question. Enhanced in what respect?" "You know. Are they real or artificial?" Ifurita blinked. "Well... I'm one hundred percent artificial." "That makes two of you!" Nanami called. Makoto, Shayla, Afura, Qawoor and Ura finally caught up with Ifurita on the ground. Makoto saw Sakura and gasped. "Ifurita! That's Sakura! Remember, the one I told you about?" Ifurita looked at Sakura. "Impossible..." "Who's Sakura?" Afura asked. "She's a celebrity from Earth," Makoto explained. "Last month I had a dream where a Demon God was attacking the city, but the Demon God... was Sakura. I thought it was ridiculous..." "Well," Shayla shrugged, "there's only one way to find out. Hey, you!" she called. "Are you going to attack this city?" "That sort of depends," Sakura called back. "I'm looking for the Holy Priestesses of Muldoon." "That's us!" Qawoor replied. "Oh, perfect," Sakura said, satisfied. "You're the ones I'm supposed to kill." "Kill?" Qawoor responded. "Why?" "Oh... he did give a reason, but I can't remember what it was now. He probably just doesn't like you or something." "Who's he?" Afura urged. "The skinny boy. Katsuhiko Jinnai. I think he's gay." "Jinnai?" Shayla echoed, shocked. "My God... hmm, gay, huh? Well, I guess you never know..." "Anyway," Sakura said, "I'd love to talk further, but unfortunately I'm going to have to kill you now. And maybe some other people as well, if the mood takes me." Sakura lifted up the Power Key Unit to attack, but Shayla was already ahead of her, releasing a volley of fire that would have transformed any normal human into a collection of disordered and very surprised atoms. Unfortunately, Sakura was anything but normal. Reacting immediately, she called a small black bubble into existence a few feet in front of her. The fire spiralled into it like water down a plug hole. "What the hell was THAT?" Shayla gasped. "I'm afraid I can't remember what it's called or how it works," Sakura said, "but it's good, isn't it?" "You're crazy!" "No!" she objected. "I'm a celebrity. That means everything I say and do is right. Don't you read the papers?" Sakura pointed her Power Key Unit at Shayla, and fired a stream of the black bubbles towards her. Shayla managed to cushion the impact with one last burst of fire. Although she didn't realise it at the time, the heat of the flames reduced the effectiveness of the bubbles to the degree that, when they hit her, they didn't kill her. They did, however, leave her collapsed on the ground and unable to move. "Stop!" Makoto called, running rather stupidly towards Sakura. "Don't attack us just because Jinnai tells you to!" "I'm not," she replied. "I'm doing it because I like the feeling of power it gives me. Can I carry on now?" She fired a bubble at Makoto, who was only saved at the last second by Ura leaping in front of him. Ura absorbed the blast safely, but didn't like it. "Nyaaah! Cold! Cold! Cold!" Ifurita had stayed out of the battle up to now, because she had assumed that, were she to participate, she would probably kill Sakura with a single attack. She didn't want to kill Sakura, or indeed anyone. But the threat to Makoto was enough to spur her into action. "I'm sorry I have to do this," She said, "but you leave me no choice." Incidentally, Ifurita's earlier ethical crisis was quite needless, because, as will become clear, she would not have been able to kill Sakura. This miscalculation was not due to arrogance. Though Sakura was strong, Ifurita was much stronger, and in a one-on-one battle Ifurita would have prevailed without a doubt. But in this particular case, there was a rather unexpected complication. Ifurita and Sakura faced each other, each with their weapon at the ready, waiting for the other to make a move. Sakura went to fire. Ifurita responded straight away. This was when the unexpected complication arose. Neither weapon would fire. Ifurita tried again, and received an unhelpful error message from her central processing unit: 'TARGETING ERROR- SUBJECT IS NON-VIABLE TARGET. PLEASE SELECT NEW TARGET TO CONTINUE.' Had Sakura's brain been fully integrated with her Demon God half, she would have received the same message. But her brain was, more or less, independent of her artificial systems, so there was no message. Instead, she just assumed there was something wrong with the Power Key Unit. "Damn it! Piece of crap... Excuse me?" he called to Ifurita. "Could we stop the fight for a minute? I think this thing has a flat battery." Makoto, Nanami, Afura and Qawoor exchanged confused glances. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen," said Nanami. "Hold on," Sakura called. "Let me just try something." Without warning, she fired a bubble at Afura. The shock from this single pocket was enough to send the priestess flying halfway across the square. "Weird," Sakura said. "It works on her." Ifurita, who was still trying to tempt her central processor into letting her shoot at Sakura, was unable to retaliate. Qawoor realised, with a feeling of impending catastrophe, that she was now the only person remaining who could mount a realistic challenge to Sakura. Her only chance, she decided, was to use her most powerful attack and hope to God that it caught Sakura unaware. The sight of Qawoor summoning the water molecules in the air around her, and forcing them to condense and order themselves into continuous streams of flowing, crashing liquid, was an impressive one indeed. Sakura, however, was busy fiddling with her Power Key Unit and failed to notice. As a consequence, she was totally unprepared for the torrent of water that hit her with remarkable force and sent her crashing into a nearby wall. "Hey!" she objected. "That wasn't fair at all!" Qawoor shuddered. Her attack had been surprisingly effective, but unfortunately, Sakura was far from beaten, and was now very, very angry. "How dare you!" Sakura screamed. "You little bitch! You're for it now!" Sakura prepared to fire a volley of zero energy intense enough to bring down a jumbo jet. But, luckily for Qawoor, she was prevented from doing this by a second unexpected complication. Something was stopping her from shooting at Qawoor. Something unpleasant. At first, she thought she could fight against it, but the more she struggled, the stronger it got. And then, for a second, she saw it. It was a man. Screaming, incoherently, uncontrollably. "Shit!" she said, holding her head. "What did you just do?" One last time, she tried to attack. But again, the strange man stopped her. Frustrated, she glared at her target. "Well, it looks like I can't attack you for some reason..." she said, confused. "I'm going to... aw, crap, this is making me dizzy." She backed away a little, flying distinctly unevenly. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to kill you some other time. I need to lie down." With that, Sakura flew away. "What an unpleasant woman," Qawoor observed. Shayla tried to climb to her feet. "That attack... I've never seen anything like it." Afura nodded weakly. "No... although, come to think of it, it was oddly reminiscent of the Eye of God's firing mechanism." "That was really her... Sakura," Makoto said in disbelief. "She's nothing like I expected. She always seemed so nice. I even bought one of her albums once." Nanami stifled a giggle. "You did? Makoto... you know what they say about Sakura's male fans..." "What?" he asked. Then it dawned on him. "Oh, come on, Nanami. I'm not gay. You know I'm not." "It's okay," she teased. "We understand." "Aw, lay off, will you?" As the children filtered out of the school building to meet their parents, Mr Fujisawa noticed something different. As always, amongst the line of parents outside the gates, there stood a lone Opaque woman. But today, the lone Opaque woman was not Amiri. Confused, Cerev walked over to her. Fujisawa followed him, curious as to this woman's identity. She looked younger than Amiri- a relative, perhaps? "Hi, Cerev!" the woman said, wearing the sort of fake smile that children can see through in an instant. "Miss Tenax?" the boy said. "Why are you here? What's happened?" "Oh, nothing, nothing," Tenax bluffed. "The Doctor... I mean, your mother... is busy today. She's still at the clinic." This last statement, at least, was true. "But she ALWAYS comes to pick me up!" Cerev affirmed. "Why isn't she here?" Fujisawa could see that Tenax was ill-trained to deal with a panicking child, so he decided to step in. "Hey, Cerev," he said. "You know what busy lives doctors lead. And she is one of Roshtaria's best doctors. I expect she's had to stay behind to do something important." Cerev considered this carefully. It did seem logical. Tenax smiled at Fujisawa. "Hi. I'm Tenax, Doctor Amiri's student. You must be Mr Fujisawa." "Yeah, hi," he nodded, then, making sure Cerev couldn't hear him, added- "Everything's okay, isn't it?" Tenax glanced from side to side. "The Doctor's fine. She just... um... had an accident. So she says." "What sort of accident?" "The sort of accident that doesn't look the least bit accidental to me," she replied. "Oh..." Fujisawa replied. "I see... at least, I think I do. I'm sorry." "These things happen," Tenax shrugged. Fujisawa shuddered. The idea that people could accept such things so casually made him very uncomfortable... but if what he'd been reading in the papers recently was anything to go by, the Opaques really had very little choice in the matter. "Well, I won't keep you any longer," he said. He looked down to Cerev. "You be good, now." Fujisawa returned to his office feeling depressed. Opening the door, he saw somebody standing by the desk, waiting for him. Absolutely the last person he would ever have expected to find in his office. "Good afternoon, Mr Fujisawa," Mari said. "Oh... um... hi," Fujisawa panicked. "I didn't expect to... um..." "Hey, it's okay," Mari said calmly. "I just came here because, well, we've been avoiding each other for months now. There's no reason we have to carry on like this. I mean, we just had a little argument, that's all." Fujisawa half-smiled in relief. "Well, that's a very mature attitude, Kurai. And I'm glad you came here. I've been meaning to speak with you for a while, now." "Oh? About what?" "Well, I notice you're not working at the restaurant any more." "No," Mari smiled. "I've got a better job, at the palace. I'm the personal assistant to Princesses Fatora and Alielle. Not bad, huh? They're very selective about who they employ." "So I hear..." Fujisawa said, not wanting to burst her bubble. "But, you know... those two do have something of a reputation." "What kind of reputation?" Mari asked, faking ignorance with remarkable authenticity. "A general reputation for... well..." Fujisawa struggled to find the words. "...misleading, shall we say, any innocent, na‹ve young girls in their service." "I'm okay, then," Mari said. "I'm not innocent or na‹ve. You know, Mr Fujisawa, I really don't know what you're worrying about." "So... they haven't harassed you in any way? Forced you to do anything... unusual against your will?" "Not at all," Mari replied. "How often I have sex with them is basically up to me." Fujisawa's expression remained unchanged, but, concealed from view, his brain had descended into chaos. Parts of it had committed themselves to finding a way of interpreting Mari's statement so that it didn't mean she was having sex with Fatora and Alielle. Other parts had decided that the last few minutes had, in fact, been a hallucination brought on by stress, while a further enclave of brain cells had simply resigned themselves to the fact that the world had ceased to make sense. "Mr Fujisawa? You've gone very quiet, are you alright?" "You're h... ha... having sex with them?" Fujisawa forced the words out. "Well, I don't like to show off about it. I consider it a personal matter." With some considerable effort, Fujisawa managed to order his feelings on the subject into logical speech. "Listen, Kurai. Now, I may not be your teacher here in El-Hazard, but I still consider myself to be responsible for your welfare. And I really don't think it's appropriate for a girl your age to be participating in such... well, depravity." "Depravity?" Mari raised her voice slightly, which didn't often happen. "What's so depraved about it? I do it because I enjoy it. For the first time in my life, I'm having fun. Is that a problem?" "Life isn't all about fun, Kurai. You achieve things by hard work. You won't get anywhere just messing around, sleeping with princesses." "Alielle did." "That's not the point! I don't know what's got into you! You used to be such a hardworking student." "I'll tell you what's got into me!" Mari hissed. "For years and years I laboured under the illusion that working hard would somehow make everything better. That it didn't matter if my life was hell, because one day all my hard work would pay off and I'd be happy at last. But it's not true, is it? I worked and worked, but nothing got any better. That's why I stopped. I've changed. Unlike you. You haven't changed a bit." "Meaning what?" "Meaning that you're still determined to make me miserable, because you're convinced that it's better for me in the long run. Well, I've got news for you, sensei. I've been miserable all my life, and has it made me a better person? No. It's made me bitter and so screwed up that not even my own teacher knows how to deal with me." Mari turned and marched out of the office. Fujisawa, somewhat reluctantly, let her go. The mysterious 'incident' which occurred between Mari Kurai and Masamichi Fujisawa shortly before their transportation to El-Hazard was the subject of much debate between those who knew them. Neither were really willing to talk about it, so most people had come up with their own theories, all of which were several thousand metaphorical kilometres wide of the mark. Nobody guessed that the incident was actually the result of a childish prank, some misplaced good intention and an extreme case of vertigo. The story went something like this- Mari stood alone- as she usually did- in a corridor in the East Wing of Shinonome High. Most of the students were currently voting for their new president. Mari, however, was abstaining, on the grounds that all of the candidates had been in some way unpleasant to her at some point during this semester. All eleven of them. Something on a notice board caught her eye. At first, she wasn't sure why, until she realised it was her name. Her name was on a list of some sort. She walked up to the notice board and examined it. "Oh, crap." She finally found Mr Fujisawa sitting in a deserted classroom. Cautiously, she leaned in through the doorway. "Excuse me, Mr Fujisawa? May I talk to you for a minute?" "Certainly, Kurai. Come on in, sit down." Mari didn't really want to sit down, but she did it anyway. "Um, sensei, there's a problem. You see, my name is on the list for the mountaineering expedition next week..." "Yes," Fujisawa smiled. "I'll admit it surprised me, but it's just great to see you taking an interest in this sort of activity." Mari shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. He wasn't making this easy. "Sensei, the thing is... I didn't put my name on the list." "Oh?" Fujisawa frowned. "Well, that's odd. Your name's definitely there..." "I know," she sighed. "Somebody else has obviously put my name there as a joke." "What? Why would they do that?" "Well, because I expect it's very funny, from their perspective. The idea of me, wheezing my way up a mountain..." Fujisawa frowned. "Do you know who might have done this?" "It could be anyone. Absolutely anyone in this school," she sighed. "Look, I don't really care who did it. I'd just like you to take my name off the list." "Well, that could be tricky..." Fujisawa began. "You see, everything's more or less finalised. Kurai, why don't you come with us on the expedition? I'm sure it'd be a positive experience for you." "But, sensei, I don't like that sort of thing. I'm not designed for it. I've spent years avoiding physical activity in PE class. The last thing I'd want to do is volunteer for it." "How do you know you won't enjoy it if you've never tried it?" Fujisawa challenged. "Because people will laugh at me! I know I don't enjoy that." "What if," Fujisawa countered, "you proved them wrong? What if you were able to climb that mountain and make a valid contribution?" "With respect, sensei, that's not at all likely." "Well, I think you have to have more faith in yourself," Fujisawa said. "I've got a feeling that if you apply yourself fully to the task, you'll surprise them, and yourself. Trust me." And, to her infinite regret, she did. Precisely one week later, Mari stormed into Fujisawa's office. "That was the single most hellish experience I've ever had!" she snarled. "Although I'm glad the other students enjoyed it. Some of them still haven't stopped laughing." "Well, Kurai..." Fujisawa started, taken slightly aback by Mari's aggressive tone, "I wasn't to know you suffered from vertigo." "Neither was I! As you pointed out beforehand, I'd never climbed a mountain before. Still, I suppose at the very least I must have been a source of entertainment for everybody." "The kids were just joking around. There's no need to take it so personally." "Twenty students laughing at one person- me- and I'm not supposed to take it personally?" Fujisawa sighed. "Look, there's no point moaning about not fitting in if you don't at least try. And frankly, Kurai, you don't try. You don't make the effort to socialise with other students..." He trailed off. It suddenly occurred to him that his last statement might have sounded a little bit insensitive. Perhaps, he thought, he could have chosen his words more carefully. "I see," Mari said quietly. "So what you're saying is, it's my fault people don't like me, because I don't try hard enough to pretend I'm like them?" "That's not it... not exactly..." "Just what sort of a teacher do you think you are anyway?" Mari shouted. "What kind of a teacher tells his students to pretend to be someone they're not, because the person they really are isn't good enough? Did it ever occur to you that maybe the people who were victimising me were at fault? No, I don't suppose it did. I bet you were laughing right along with them!" "Now look, young lady," he replied, trying to sound authoritative, "I don't like your tone of voice..." "Good! Now we're finally getting somewhere! Why don't you tell me what you really think of me, Mr Fujisawa? Come on, everyone has an opinion!" "I have no opinion!" Fujisawa insisted. I treat all of my students equally!" "Do you? Really? If twenty other students had ganged up on Mizuhara on that mountain, would you have sat back and done nothing?" Fujisawa sighed. "Obviously this expedition was a bad idea." "Yes, it was," Mari nodded. "Just like I said it would be." "Well, if you were that opposed to it, why did you bother coming?" Mari remained expressionless. "Because you said 'trust me.' And then you betrayed that trust." So that, more or less, was the origin of the animosity between Mari and Fujisawa. Perhaps it was not quite as grand an incident as some may have expected, but it was one that left Mr Fujisawa feeling guilty, and Mari feeling deeply betrayed. Of course, disagreements between students and teachers are relatively commonplace, and it should be remembered that not all of them are borne out of anger. For a rather more encouraging display, one need look no further than the prep room of a small clinic in Florestica's fashionable East End. "Why don't you tell me what really happened?" Tenax urged. Amiri frowned. "I already told you. I fell down some steps." "That would explain the broken arm," the student conceded, "but not the bruising on your upper back. Bruising which is consistent with, well... a physical attack of some sort." "Damn it," Amiri sighed. "I'm too good a teacher." "So how many were there?" "Two. And no, I don't know who they were. I suppose it's just an occupational hazard," she shrugged. "You're blue, you deal with the consequences." For a short while, they were both silent. Then Amiri spoke up again. "You've never regretted coming to Roshtaria though, have you?" "Hell no. I haven't forgotten what it was like back with the Phantom Tribe. As bad as things can get here, it could still never be as hard as it was back then." "I know," Amiri nodded. "You and I put up with life here because we know we're better off. But my son doesn't remember the Phantom Tribe at all. All he's ever known is Roshtaria, and all the hate and anger that surrounds us here. When he grows up, and looks back on what we did, breaking from the Phantom Tribe... will he thank us?" "Hey," Tenax replied. "That's just downright depressing." "I feel so weak..." Shayla complained. "And I don't like it. I don't like it at all." "Oh, stop moaning," Afura replied. "The effects seem to be wearing off. Ifurita, do you have any idea what sort of attack she used on us?" "It seemed consistent with something called the zero energy principle," Ifurita commented. "It was theorised during my active time in ancient El- Hazard, although by the time I was sealed away, it had still not been fully developed. I believe the principle involves the use of ultra-low energy pockets to drain surrounding molecules of kinetic activity..." Shayla, Afura and Qawoor stared back blankly. Only Makoto seemed to be following. "Well," he said, "at least we know Sakura has some weaknesses. She didn't seem able to attack Qawoor or Ifurita." "And something else we proved conclusively," Afura added, "is that whether you like it or not, you have the ability to see the future. You've predicted two events now." Makoto sighed. "I suppose it's possible. My second journey between dimensions may have given me extra abilities." Miz ran into the room. "Girls! Girls! Oh... and Makoto. The new Alpha Priestess has been chosen. I just heard!" "Really?" Qawoor responded. "Who is it?" "Manserati Serati." "Who?" Shayla, Afura and Qawoor asked in unison. "My thoughts exactly," Miz replied. "I've never heard of the woman. Nobody outside of the selection panel seems to know much about her." "Oh well," Qawoor said. "Let's all hope she does a good job." Miz nodded slowly. "Yes. Let's hope." Day 148 On the planet Earth, in a minor nation state known by the rather unimaginative name of the 'United Kingdom,' it was once famously said that "a week is a long time in politics." Obviously, in El-Hazard, nobody was aware of this statement, but it was just as true here as it was on Earth. In the arena of international politics, a week was indeed a long time. Two weeks was an absolute age. Eighteen days was close to infinity. It was eighteen days since King Fran of Dousland had, through his ambassador, made a number of 'suggestions' to the Roshtarian royal house. Since these ideas were diametrically opposed to the sort of thing Rune Venus was trying to encourage, they were politely dismissed. Fran however, had not given up. As the days turned to weeks, suggestions turned to demands and demands turned to threats. Nobody took the threats seriously, because nobody took Fran seriously. The Roshtarian princesses had been quick to reject his rants. Rune Venus had described him as 'unreasonable and irresponsible.' Alielle had described him as 'stupid.' Fatora had called him something too, but her comments went unpublished in the media as they violated six separate obscenity laws. The truth was that Fran had a reputation as a political coward, one who would instinctively follow the crowd and change his tune if he found himself in a minority. Though most of the Allied leaders were suspicious of the Opaques, Fran's increasingly hard line had put him at the extreme end of the political spectrum, and most people expected him to back down once he realised his support from other leaders was dwindling. So, it was a surprise to everyone when his ambassador made an uncharacteristically bold statement to the princesses. "His majesty King Fran regrets that the refusal of certain nations to take sensible security measures has left the Alliance vulnerable to infiltration by the Phantom Tribe. This places an unfair burden on the Dorusian people. For this reason, his majesty has decided to withdraw the nation of Dorusland from the Alliance until further notice." Fatora looked at Rune in shock. When it became clear that Rune was too surprised to offer an eloquent response, Fatora decided to voice her opinion. "He's insane!" "Excuse me, your majesty?" the ambassador said with an air of superiority not often used when conversing with a princess, least of all Fatora. "I said he's insane! Putting his whole nation at risk... to make a point?" "If that is his decision," Rune said quietly, "then we will respect it. Dorusland is free to withdraw from the Alliance." "Yeah, yeah," Fatora frowned. "Nuts to Dorusland." Today, Mari found herself drawn towards the school. Exactly why was a mystery. The only person she knew there was Mr Fujisawa, and her last encounter with him had been anything but pleasant. She sat down on the grass and casually observed the children as they played. Again, why she did this was a mystery. As a rule, Mari disliked children. Babies were okay. Babies were selfish, but they were totally unambiguous about it, so it didn't matter. Then, when children got older, they learnt how to lie. They learnt how to cheat and bully. And most of them stayed that way for the rest of their lives. Mari's train of thought was interrupted by the presence of somebody close by. She was a little surprised to see that it was Mycea, the girl from the restaurant. "Mari," she said. "Haven't seen you in a while." "No," she acknowledged. "I've been busy." "I've been busy as well," Mycea replied, a little harshly. "With Parnasse." Mari wondered what this might mean. There was one fairly obvious answer, but as this was mere speculation she decided not to pursue it. "How is Parnasse?" she asked cautiously. "Well," Mycea frowned, "once he recovered from your frankly heartless treatment of him, he turned to someone more appropriate. Me." She looked smug. "Too bad you rejected him, because he's going out with me now. Jealous?" "No," Mari replied flatly. "I don't find you sexually attractive at all." Mycea studied this statement for a while, then came to a common conclusion. "You're weird," she said, then walked away. Mari didn't mind this, not really. She had been called weird many times, and had rationalised this by assuming that, yes, she was weird. In fact, she liked to be reminded of this fact every now and again- if she was still weird, the universe was as it should be. Then she noticed something. The small Opaque boy, whom she had already noted was the only one of his kind in the playground, was now surrounded by a group of slightly older boys. Mari couldn't hear what was being said, but it was a situation she recognised immediately. The boy was being picked on. She should probably do something, she thought. Although even if she did, it wouldn't solve the kid's problems forever... She realised she was starting to sound like a teacher, so she terminated that train of thought and initiated a new one. She WOULD do something. Making certain that none of the boys could see her, she silently approached, until she was just a few feet away. Then, with as much menace as she could muster, she shouted- "I am Death! Look upon me and tremble!" In worked fantastically well. The boys scattered in terror. The only one who didn't flinch was the Opaque boy. He looked at her quizzically. "Thankyou, Death," the boy said. "I'm not really Death," Mari replied. "I'm just her lookalike. Those kids... do they tease you a lot?" He nodded. "Well, doesn't it make you angry?" she asked. "It used to," the boy said quietly. "But not any more. I'm used to it now." Mari sighed. "It should make you angry. I know people will tell you to ignore it, but it just makes things worse. In the end you just stop caring... about anything." She wondered if she'd gone too deep for the boy, but he seemed to understand. "Bad things happen to my people," he said. "We just have to put up with it. My mother broke her arm the other week. She says it was an accident, but I think some people tried to hurt her." Mari wanted to reassure the boy that it probably was an accident, but she suspected it wasn't, and this kid was obviously clever enough to have worked it out for himself. "I'm sorry, kid," she said finally. "That sucks." She stood up. "I have to go and talk to someone now." "Okay," the boy replied. "Goodbye, Death." Mari wanted to say something, but decided against it. Who was she to shatter a child's illusions? Mari had a lifetime's experience of trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Unfortunately, stealth wasn't the sort of thing you could switch off at will, and this often caused problems. Now, for instance, she was standing in front of Mr Fujisawa's desk, having entered the open office in her usual quiet way. Mr Fujisawa was sat working at the desk, some two feet away, blissfully unaware of her presence. In order to make him aware, she'd have to say something, which would no doubt give him the shock of his life. Oh well. "Hello." "Ack!" Fujisawa looked up in shock. "Where did you come from?" "The doorway. Look, I need to talk to you about something. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with me." "What? What is it?" Fujisawa asked, making sure his heart was still beating. "There's an Opaque boy in this school, yes?" "Yeah, Cerev. What about him?" "I'm... concerned. I was just talking to him, and, well, there's something not quite right. Kids tease him, and he just sits back and accepts it." "I see..." Mari shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "When I was his age, I was exactly the same. I really don't want him to turn out the way I did. Please, try and make sure he doesn't." Fujisawa wasn't sure what to say. Mari walked to the door, then turned back. "For what it's worth, Mr Fujisawa, I do think you're a good teacher. You probably just got to me too late, that's all." Jinnai and Diva strolled through the hive's command centre, occasionally nodding to the bugs that snapped to attention as they passed. "Diva, you seem distracted. Is something bothering you?" Diva remained expressionless. "The eggs which I laid last month... do not seem to be maturing as quickly as normal." Jinnai shrugged. "Maybe they're duds." Diva let out a small gasp. "What?" "Nothing," she said. "You can always lay more eggs, can't you?" "Of course." She quickly changed the subject. "You said the attacks will start soon. Where shall we strike first?" Jinnai didn't know, because Nahato hadn't told him yet, but he didn't want to admit that. "Good question," a voice said. Nahato appeared in front of them. He smiled. "I've just received a very interesting intelligence report. As of today, one Allied nation in particular is vulnerable." "Which one?" Jinnai urged. "Dorusland," Nahato replied. "Dorusland will be our first target." TO BE CONTINUED "The Power of None" featured- Makoto Mizuhara, Mari Kurai, Masamichi Fujisawa, Sakura Tamaro, Afura Mann, Shayla-Shayla, Katsuhiko Jinnai, Qawoor Towles, Parnasse Ralielle, Ifurita, Miz Fujisawa, Doctor Amiri, Tenax, Princess Alielle, Nahato, Nanami Jinnai, Jennown Doht, Princess Rune Venus, Princess Fatora, Mycea, Cerev, Londs, Queen Diva, Mika Fujisawa and Ura. dooky 17th August 2001 Proofreading courtesy of the magnificent Firebird... many thanks!
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