El Hazard, Untitled at this moment.
by Key
Updated somewhat. Jump down to "New Section".
Otherwise, there haven't been any other changes yet.
Haven't had the time to proofread, yet.
Chapter 1: (4)
Shayla sighed as she arched her back and let the sun
warm her. Absolutely perfect weather, she thought to
herself. Indeed it was a good day, with not a single worry
on her mind. Princess Fatora was occupied elsewhere,
taking Alielle with her. Afura was not as harsh as usual,
and Miz was constantly doting on Mr. Fujisawa. That left
her all alone, for once.
That was when a scream literally shook her out of the
lounge chair.
"I can't believe you!" cried Fatora as she stared at Rune.
"How could you do this to me?" The news was most
shocking, something that Fatora had never expected.
"It's for the good of our country." Princess Rune
started.
" `For the good of our country'!?" mocked Fatora, who
wasn't up to the mood to hear her older sister talk on and
on about the "responsibility of royalty" and "how duty to
the country must be before our self-interests." She shouted
at Rune, her slim, smooth hands trembling. "I don't care
about the `good of the country.' If it's not good for me,
then I'm not doing it!"
Princess Rune looked downcast. This was why Fatora
would never be a good ruler. "Fatora, I'm asking you, for
me, for our parents. You remember how father was such a
good friend of his father, and they always dreamed about
uniting our kingdoms."
"Well I don't remember father or mother, and I wonder
why you aren't so eager at the moment to marry this
prince," Fatora retorted. Fatora was only 16 years old, way
too young to marry. In fact, she wouldn't mind if she never
married, then life could be just a stream of constant fun,
like Alielle, Shayla.
Princess Rune sighed, "He's not my age, and he has
voiced an interest in you."
"He's not my age either, that 14 year old brat," muttered
the distraught princess.
Princess Rune felt that her younger sister had to learn the
meaning of responsibility soon, and now was a good time.
"Fatora, keep your facts straight. He's 15. You will meet
with him tomorrow, and you will have to make a decision,
a responsible one. Don't make me force you."
"You wouldn't!" Fatora cried out. This was literally the
first time her sister had ever decided to stand up against
her.
"Yes, I would. Fatora, if you don't want to marry him,
then perhaps try a little diplomacy with him tomorrow and
work it out with him."
Alielle was doing her best to comfort Fatora, but not
even the most passionate touching, feeling, fondling
worked at all. Fatora was as angry at the end, compared to
the beginning. "Fatora, if you keep thinking about this,
you're never going to get some sleep," she muttered, after a
long, hard day of trying to please her lover.
It was past midnight, and the princess was sitting in bed,
staring at nothing, her thoughts no doubt focused on a
single goal: finding a way to cancel her obligations to the
prince. Alielle almost wondered to herself, how far
Princess Fatora was willing to go.
"I don't need sleep," muttered Fatora through her teeth.
Well it didn't matter. Alielle fell asleep before she could
worry any more about it.
* * *
"Presenting Prince Xavier of the Eastern Isles," cried the
guard who made a crisp salute to the princesses who were
sitting on the throne. In the case of the Fatora, sitting was a
rather general word to apply to her position. In fact, it
seemed that she was positively sleeping, her legs spread
wide, her arms hanging limping over the sides of her perch.
"Ladies," said the young prince as he bowed before
them. "It does me great honor to be in your country." He
looked up at Fatora who was lightly snoring away in her
chair. "Ah Princess Fatora, it has been such a long time
since we last met, and you are more beautiful than ever!"
"."
Alielle tapped Fatora on the shoulder. "Um, Fatora. He
just gave you a cheesy pickup line." But Fatora slept on,
only rolling to side and grabbing tightly onto Rune's hand -
a mere distraction for the ruling Princess, who managed to
free her hand with some effort.
The prince walked confidently up the dais and kneeled
graciously before Princess Rune. "Dear Fatora seems quite
exhausted now, perhaps I shall speak with her tonight." He
stood up, and looked around. "It has been a while since
I've last visited Floristica, and I take my leave to get myself
reacquainted." He bowed his head quickly, then left.
As he walked out the massive portal, he had the
misfortune of accidentally walking into two people who
were in vivid conversation. There was an exclamation of
surprise as books showered onto the floor. "You sniveling
servant! Watch where you are going!" cried the Prince
from the hall, obviously furious.
"I'm sorry, I was just sort of absorbed into the."
apologized Makoto as he gathered books left and right.
"You impetuous page! Be gone before I have you
flogged!" Everyone winced as they heard the sounds of
Makoto frantically collecting books left and right. But not
fast enough for the Prince's tastes. Clapping his hands, he
called out for his Royal Attendant. "Attendant! I need my
hunting crop right now!"
Luckily for Makoto, he had finished gathering his notes
and books in a blink, and was running down the hall at a
breakneck speed. The prince laughed, giving Dr.
Stalubaugh a hard smack on the back, as if he were an old
friend. "Look at that page go! Doctor, sometimes you
have to really show some discipline to see some results."
* * *
Nanami and Shayla sat next to Makoto, who was
somewhat uneasy. It wasn't the fact that he didn't
appreciate the company. It was quite the opposite, he
completely appreciated the fact that Nanami and Shayla-
Shayla were good friends.
However, being sandwiched tightly between two people
like peanut butter in a sandwich proved to be quite
distracting for him. He just couldn't focus on the tome in
his lap, some crusty old book, written in such a way that
Makoto felt that watching ten gallons of water evaporate
would be infinitely more interesting.
And the worst part, was that Shayla and Nanami always
had these negative vibes. "So, Makoto, I was
wondering." started Shayla, only to be rudely cut off by
Nanami.
"So, Makoto, what are you reading?" But before
Makoto could even begin to respond, Shayla, in her
eagerness to cut off Nanami, spoke out of turn.
"Nanami, it's obvious that he's busy right now, so why
don't you just leave?"
Nanami gritted her teeth as she glanced at the book and
then at Shayla. "And what about you? I doubt you could
help him on the subject of `Advanced Parallel Qualities of
Ether.'"
Sparks showered from Shalya, as she took Nanami's
insult to her heart. "Are you implying that I'm dumb?" she
shouted.
Nanami crossed her legs and sat calmly. "No, but for a
person who's clearly sensitive about that, you must be
pretty stupid."
"That's it girl, you're toast!" cried Shayla as she stood
up to deliver the mother of all punches to Nanami, only to
have a wine glass placed into her hand.
"My, my," said a mellifluous voice. "What do we have
here, a dispute between two women?" Both Shayla and
Nanami paused in their argument to see Prince Xavier,
standing there with his overconfident grin.
He gazed at Makoto, who was the only person not to
acknowledge his presence. Unknown to the girls, Makoto
had a special ability of being able to focus so intently on
something that he could mentally block out the noise of
their fighting. And each girl thought he had been on her
side throughout the argument.
The prince sneered somewhat, as he slapped Makoto
across the face with his gloves. "Page! Leave this place
for your stuffy study at once! How dare you try to ignore
royalty!" He gave Makoto another token slap, which
served to motivate him to leave.
Nanami gave Makoto a strange look, perhaps still
frustrated that he had never made the first move. She
spoke a bit loud so he could hear. "Why thank you prince.
Those bookish type always bore everyone."
The prince settled down, his attendant kneeling down,
holding a tray of wine and glasses at a height at which the
prince needed the least amount of effort to refill his glass.
"Ah, admirably spoken," said the prince as he offered a
glass to Nanami. Shayla had already drained her glass,
which had been filled with wine of the utmost potency.
Her mind already clouded over by the potent liquor, she
rudely grabbed the bottle of wine from the prince after he
poured a glass for Nanami. "Excuse me, but I must go
right now." Nanami gave the prince a winsome smile and
as his attention was distracted by Shayla's sudden behavior,
she calmly emptied the glass over her shoulder into the fish
pond.
She couldn't help noticing Shayla filching a glass from
the attendant as she left, clueing her into the priestess's real
intent. She stood up as if to follow, but found something
grabbing her like a vice. "Oh don't worry, I have more of
that," he said, indicating Nanami's empty cup.
The attendant scrambled about a bit and produced a new
bottle for His Royal Highness. He filled Nanami's cup to
the rim, and sat there, as if expecting some comment from
her regarding his beautiful countenance. No comment ever
came as she stood up, her eyes locked on the unfair
advantage Shayla had.
"Oh no thank you, no need to trouble yourself," Nanami
said as she broke free of the prince's grasp, her face
reddening with rage as she followed on Shayla's trail.
The prince sighed contently, and spoke to his servant.
"See her, she must be blushing. My beauty must have
overwhelmed her."
"Certainly."
"Did I ask you to answer!" cried the prince.
=New Section=
* * *
Makoto sat hunched up, with determination never to see
the prince again whatsoever. Sighing, he dropped the tome
on the table and settled down to study. Perhaps in the
isolation of the library he wouldn't have to endure any
more interruptions. A few minutes, the embarrassment he
had suffered in front of the prince was long forgotten as he
gradually became more and more interested in the book.
So interested, he didn't realize Shayla had settled next to
him. "Hey Makoto," she said with a touch of slurring. He
could smell the puissance of the alcohol on her breath.
"Shayla, you haven't been drinking, right?" If there was
thing he wished he could change in his friend, it was her
drinking habit. It seemed that periodically Shayla had this
need to hit to bottle, so to say.
Her flushed cheeks turn even redder as Makoto actually
closed his book to pay attention to her. In a way, it made
her feel special - Makoto was actually willing to put down
something to pay attention to her. He sighed and stood up,
taking the bottle and glasses from Shayla's hand only to put
them on the table. "Come on Shayla, let's go to the
kitchen, shall we?"
She allowed Makoto to grab her hand and lead her.
"How come?" asked Shayla, whose clouded mind was
jumping to conclusions. "Do you like to have fun in the
kitchen?" she asked innocently, making Makoto groan and
slap his head.
"No! We're just going to get a lot of water for you and
then off to bed," said Makoto. (1)
Shayla seemed confused. "Off to bed?" she said slowly,
before realizing the most logical thing Makoto wanted to
do. He most definitely wanted sex, and she started to
stammer, somewhat overwhelmed.
He was surprisingly patient, and yet urgent at the same
time. "Shayla, are you alright?" he asked. When there was
no response, he just grabbed her hand and gently led her
off.
* * *
Fatora grumbled as she looked down at the frilly dress
she wore. It seemed that just because an asshole had
decided to pay the castle a visit, everyone else had to
change, breaking from the routine that she was used to.
Even her ladies in waiting were preinstructed to stick her
into a dress, something that she really didn't relish.
She preferred to be in clothes that were easier to play in,
clothes that were better suited for her to chase down that
sexy Shayla Shayla. As she walked to the dining hall, she
frowned slightly as she saw Makoto struggling as best as he
could carrying, half dragging a plastered Shayla down the
hall.
If she were in his shoes, she'd know to take advantage of
this great situation. But no, her sister had ordered her to be
on time in the Great Hall, or for the next month, oversee
the Treasury, a task that was not fun at all.
She stood outside the grand portals to the hall, when she
heard a cry from behind. "Fatora! Wait for me!" it was
Alielle, in a rather fetching dress, which just managed to
nearly show off all of the essential parts. "Fatora! You're
going to the party without me?"
The princess, knowing quite well that no one was around
her, allowed herself a genuine smile at Alielle. Taking a
step to her beloved, she smacked her forehead,
remembering one of the ground rules set by her older sister.
Alielle was not to come into contact with her, or else. Of
course, considering how bitchy her sister had become
recently, she didn't relish the idea of finding out what Rune
meant by "or else."
"Ok Alielle, I really can't get close to you, so find
someone else to play with? Ok?"
Alielle pouted. "Aw shoot, how come you have to be
such a party pooper?" With a dejected sigh, the girl walked
off. "I'll just stay in our room until the party is over."
* * *
Makoto groaned as he carefully held the door open with
his foot and dragged Shayla, who was snoring (2)
peacefully by now, into the room that the priestesses
shared. Struggling hard with the priestess, he miraculously
managed to drag her across the room to her bed and
summon the energy to place her on it.
With a tired sigh, he turned around to leave when he
literally walked into Afura, who seemed to be in a state of
partial decency. Immediately, his face turned flush, and he
immediately looked away, lest he be accused of being a
pervert.
"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Afura asked,
somewhat annoyed. "What would have happened if I were
totally naked?"
Makoto answered, still looking away. "I did knock, but I
couldn't hold Shayla any longer."
"I didn't hear you," said Afura as she finished buttoning
her dress, apparently ready to head to the dinner party.
"But, I guess I can forgive you," she said, nodding towards
Shayla, who was definitely in no shape to be anywhere
except for her bed. Besides, it wasn't as if he had
intentionally came here for the purpose of seeing her
naked.
Running his hand through his hair, Makoto just shook his
head as this wasn't turning to be one of his better days. "I
guess I'd better leave before I do something else stupid," he
mumbled as he tried to leave the room.
"You aren't going to the party?" asked Afura.
Makoto seemed perplexed, as recently he had been
spending a great deal of time in the library, somewhat
detached from the world. "What party?"
"The one in honor of Prince Xavier and the delegation
from the Eastern Isles." Afura slowly said, hoping that
Makoto would catch on. Needless to say, he didn't. She
looked at his blank stare and shook her head. "Princess
Rune asked everyone to show up." she explained.
Makoto somewhat shivered as he thought about being
stuck with the snotty prince for the entire evening.
Definitely something to put at the top of the list of "Things
never to do," right above the entry, "Dying."
"Well anyhow, Shayla really wants to go with you, so I'll
sober her up just for you," Afura said, with a wicked smile
on her face. Makoto, on the other hand, was speechless as
he watched Afura grabbed the bucket of ice, that was so
conveniently on the nightstand, and dumped the chunks of
ice down Shayla's dress.
Screams of a chilled nature, bordered with silly laughter,
shook the room as the sudden application of cold made
Shayla fly out of bed, only to glare at Afura, who was
having a hard time trying to calm herself down. "Afura!
What in the name of the gods are you trying to do?" she
shouted.
Ignoring the ringing sounds in her ears, Afura replied
calmly, if not somewhat loudly. "Oh, Makoto wanted to
take you to the party tonight, so I had to wake you up."
Afura, completely nice for once? Shayla's couldn't quite
believe it as she always had this little rivalry with her.
But the mere mention of Makoto's name, was enough to
soothe the anger, and she gripped Afura. "Really? Makoto
wants to go to the dinner party with me?"
Afura nodded and pointed over her shoulder at Makoto,
who had been waiting patiently. "See, he's already waiting
for you." Words are hard to believe, but when reinforced
with concrete image, it becomes absolute truth. Well, that
was what Shayla, thought, as she grabbed Makoto's arm.
But then again, Shayla had this weakness of over
thinking, and as soon as she gripped Makoto's arm a bit too
forcefully, she released, worried about whether Makoto
would get an impression of her as a pushy type. She
laughed somewhat nervously, waiting for Makoto to make
the next move.
"Um Shayla?" said Makoto a bit meekly. However, with
her current state of mind, she completely misinterpreted the
situation, turning a nice hue of pink as she furiously figured
how to handle this situation before it got out of control. "I
think you should change your clothes."
A completely unexpected development. "Huh?"
"Isn't it uncomfortable having ice cubes in your dress?"
Makoto would have imagined so, having ice cubes pushed
into her flesh because of her super tight dress, which was
beginning to look a bit soaked. (3)
* * *
Fatora grumbled to herself as she danced with Prince
Xavier. Well, dance was such a light way of describing
foot-stomping fun. Rune, who walked alone amongst the
guests, frowned somewhat as she saw her younger sister
flattening poor Xavier's toes. She knew all too well that
Fatora was never a graceful person, but Fatora was
definitely not a klutz.
Rune sighed as she realized that Fatora had calculated
every step she made, making sure to be so slightly behind
Xavier that the instant his foot hit the ground, hers was
right there to grind it flat. Needless to say, it was
somewhat humorous to see Xavier, his polished dialogue
breaking every few seconds as Fatora ground her heel into
his foot.
"Princess Fatora, it has been Ahhh!. some time since
Ehhh!. we've last met!" he said, hoping that his toe
hadn't fractured.
The younger princess smiled winsomely as she stomped
down hard. "It certainly has been a." STOMP! ". long
time."
"Yes, Ahhh!. I remember the last time Owww!. that
we met," said the prince, who was no longer dancing at all,
instead choosing to hobble about as Fatora continued with
even more vigor.
"Yes, it was such fun," said Fatora, not forgetting to
press down hard. "I remember tying you to the tree and
leaving you outside for a whole night."
The prince's face blanched somewhat as he wished that
Fatora wouldn't continue leaking out the more
embarrassing episodes of his life to the other guests.
* * *
Notes:
(1) I've read somewhere that fluids help to mitigate the
effects of a hangover, because dehydration is a problem
during the morning after. So if you are drunk enough to get
a hangover, yet sober enough to be thinking clearly, try that
cup of water before you sleep off the alcohol. It'll help in
the morning.
(2) El Hazard OST 1. The priestesses snore in their sleep.
Track 2, off the top of my head :P Miz goes ballistic when
the two others don't wake up. J
(3) So I was writing Makoto's Harem while writing this
part. Multitasking mental tasks is not a good thing, as I
was, for a bit, imagining Shayla in a wet t-shirt in a
disreputable story of mine. Too bad I can't draw at all. :P
It would have been fun drawing it out into a manga.
(4) The old title "Royal Pandemonium" resembled
something out of wrestling.