Eleventh Night:
			  A Tale of El-Hazard.

			  by C. Richard Davies.


        Shayla-shayla, the youngest of the three Chief Priestesses of the
Muldoon Temple, woke up groggily as she became aware that someone was
crawling into her bed.  Since there was absolutely no way that the one
person she *wanted* to come to her bed was going to do so, it was rather
likely that it was someone else, and Shayla was relatively sure of that
person's identity.

        "Alielle," Shayla muttered in a sleep-thick voice, "get the heck
out of my bed.  I've told you before, I'm not "that way", got it?"

        The small figure who had laid down in Shayla's bed said nothing.
Nor did she move.

        "Have you gone deaf or something?" Shayla yelled, and pushed at
the little body.  It moved, but not out of the bed.  Shayla was about to
get up and bodily eject Alielle from her chamber when she realized that
something was not right.

        Her hand, the one that she had shoved Alielle with, was wet.  But
whatever the liquid was, it wasn't as clammy as sweat.  Shayla raised her
hand to her nose, and sniffed.

        Her hand smelled of blood.

        Shayla-shayla instinctively ignited the lamps in her room, and
yanked away the covers that Alielle had wrapped herself in.  The small,
purple-haired imp was naked, and her back was a mess of blood and welts
. as from a ...

        "Oh ye immortal gods ..." Shayla whispered.



        Some time therafter, as Shayla washed and bandaged the girl's
injuries, the wall of silence that Alielle had erected became too much to
endure.  "Will you please tell me what the hell happened?" she asked.

        Alielle remained mute as a stone, except for her occasional
whimpering noises whenever Shayla touched the wounds on her back.

        "Please, Alielle ... I want to know who did this to you ..."  <So
I can beat the living CRAP out of her ...>

        Alielle just shook her head.

        "Come on, Alielle, it's *me*, Shayla-oneesama, remember?  You like
me.  You like *everybody*, or at least every reasonably attractive female
of the same species, but you *really* like me.  Can't you trust me?"

        At the very least, this got a reaction out of her.  Alielle
appeared to consider this statement.  For a moment, she looked like she
was about to start crying ... then she shook her head, and whispered,
"Would it be okay if I slept here tonight, Shayla-sama?"

        Not "oneesama".  Just a respectful honorific.  Shayla felt herself
wither a little inside, even as she nodded.



        <What am I gonna do?> Shayla-shayla thought as she wandered
aimlessly through the Palace that morning.  <This is not the sort of
thing that they teach you to deal with when you sign up to become a
warrior-priestess!>

        The Temple of Mount Muldoon had become a refuge for women across
El-Hazard, and Shayla was pretty sure that at least some of her "sisters"
had experienced the sort of thing that Alielle had gone through ...
although more probably with *men*, although that failed to make the
situation seem any better.  Worse, probably.

        <The only strategy I've got for this sort of thing is to burn
Fatora to a crisp!  But I don't think that would really improve matters
.. I need *help*.  Miz is busy trying to get married to Fujisawa-sensei,
or I'd ask her what to do ... this is probably her department after all.
I could ask Afura ... if not for the fact that I'd rather eat glass than
admit to any kind of incapacity to her.  How am I gonna get Alielle to
open up to me?  I'm a warrior, not a counselor!>

        She passed Makoto in the hallway.  "Good morning, Makoto-san,"
she said absently.

        He grunted in response, apparently lost in thought.

        <Now if I were as pleasant as Makoto is ... or at least, as he
*usually* is, I'd have no problem getting Alielle to open up to me ... she
really likes him ... even though ...>

        That's when the Idea struck her, and she spun on her heel.  Makoto
was turning the corner, and Shayla dashed off in pursuit.

        She had almost caught up to him when Nanami stepped out of a
doorway, still in her nightshirt, with some sort of stick in between her
teeth.  The two slammed into each other, and went crashing to the floor
. the noise of which collision apparently failed utterly to distract
Makoto from his thoughts.

        "Would you *please* watch where you're going?!" Nanami yelled at
Shayla.

        "I'm really sorry, Nanami, but ..."

        "You're sorry?!  Do you have any idea how long it took me to make
this thing?" Nanami continued, holding up the two pieces of the now-broken
stick, one of which had some sort of wet bristles on the end.

        "What the hell is that?" Shayla-shayla asked, curious despite
herself.

        "It's a toothbrush, what does it look like ... say, what are you
doing, charging around the palace this early ... running after ..." Nanami
looked down the corridor just as Makoto turned another corner.  She then
turned back to look at Shayla with pity written all over her face.  "Oh,
Shayla ... you've got to get over him ..."

        "What?" Shayla asked, incredulous.

        "It's just the way things are, y'know?  We both lost.  Worse, we
both lost to Ifurita.  That makes it worse, I think; I mean, if it had
been somebody who was still around, like the Princess, then it'd be
easier; one of us would have a chance, at least ... but she's gone, and
he won't ever be able to forget her ... uh ... is something wrong?"

        Shayla had made several attempts to interrupt Nanami's monologue,
and had finally been reduced to staring at her, feeling her face get
redder and redder in mixed anger and embarrassment ... until finally, she
shrieked, "YOU IDIOT!  This isn't about me and *Makoto*!  This is about me
and *Alielle*!"

        Nanami stared, wide-eyed, at Shayla for several moments, her mouth
moving silently.  "Oh," she said at last.  "You finally let her seduce
you, huh?"

        Shayla collapsed to the floor, slamming her face into the ground a
few times, before springing back up.  "No, you ... you ... bakayarou!  I
don't have time to explain it to you!  Get your head out of the gutter,
dammit!"

        She resumed the chase, leaving Nanami in the dust.



        Finally, she caught up to Makoto as he was standing in the Palace
gardens, staring up at the Eye of God.  <Of course, where else would he
wind up,> she thought savagely, then got her temper under control with
difficulty.

        "Makoto ... -san?" she said, quietly.

        He turned, a bit startled.  "Oh ... good morning, Shayla-shayla.
How are you?"

        "I'm fine ... but I have a little problem."

        "Oh?  Anything I can help you with?  Right now, I'd do just about
anything to be useful to *somebody* ..." he finished, suddenly sounding
bitter.

        So she explained to him what had happened the previous night.  He
was shocked and stunned.  "I knew that Fatora was nasty, but to *beat*
someone who's as dedicated to her as Alielle ... that's terrible!"

        "I have a funny feeling that it went a little further than a
beating, Makoto."  She shared her suspicions with him.

        Makoto was now outraged.  "That's horrible!  That's worse than
Galus!  That's worse than *Jinnai*!"

        "So ... will you help me talk to Alielle?" she asked, hopefully.

        Makoto suddenly seemed to shrink in on himself.  "I ... I'm sorry,
Shayla, but I'm kind of busy ... maybe if you talk to the Princess ..."

        "No, dammit, you're *not* busy!  You just said that you'd do
anything to be useful to somebody!  Be useful to Alielle!"

        "But ..."

        "Your attitude sucks wind, Makoto!  For the past three days, all
you've been doing is wandering around in a funk, staring up at the Eye of
God, and leafing through old books!  Your obsession with Ifurita is really
starting to piss everybody off!  We *realize* that you're in love with
her, even though I don't see anything lovable about that ... thing!"

        "That's not fair!" Makoto shouted.  "She helped save the world!"

        "Before which she wreaked havoc across El-Hazard, including the
destruction of a city and all its populace!  Makoto, just because she
turned good at the end doesn't wipe away the horrible things she did, now
and in the ancient times!  Don't you understand that?"

        "Yes," Makoto said softly.  "I understand what she was ... more
than any other being in the universe could, Shayla ..."

        "That link of yours ..." she muttered.  "Yeah, maybe your power
was what let you open her heart ... but it was your compassion that made
her fall in love with you!"  <Just like me ...> she thought, as she turned
away.  "And that compassion hasn't been in evidence a lot lately ..."

        Makoto stared at her as she stalked away.  Before she stepped out
of the gardens, she turned to look at him once more, with a strangely
pitying expression.  "Think about it Makoto:  if you keep on this way, if
you find Ifurita ... there may not be anything left of the man she loves."

        And then she left.

        Makoto turned back to gaze at the Eye of God.  <They don't
understand.  None of them.  It wasn't just a "one-way" link.  In pouring
all my humanity into her, I had to accept some of her ... coldness.>

        <It hurts.>

        How many thousands of lives had she snuffed out in the ancient
war?  Even she hadn't known, but it had begun to wear on her.  Her makers
had never intended for their creation to develop a soul, let alone a
conscience ... but she had.  She hadn't known that what it was, of course;
she'd thought it was only weariness ... not the guilt and shame that it
actually was.  And the loneliness ...

        So alone ...

        Only in those handful of hours after they had rescued Fatora from
Jinnai's citadel had either of them known peace.  They had sat in the bed
chamber set aside for her, neither saying a word.  Words would only have
gotten in the way.

        And then ... she had been gone.  Taking his place as the
sacrifice to prevent the Eye of God from firing.  He'd sworn to come after
her even as he felt the staff -- her staff, her link to him -- grow cold
in his arms.

        He could only rarely stand to touch it now.

        <Did you hear me, Ifurita?> he thought, suddenly.  <Do you know
that I'm coming to find you?>

        <Do you know that I love you?>

        <What if Shayla's right?  What if I'm letting my quest to find her
poison me with guilt?  How can I fight something like that?>



        When Shayla came back to her room after her unsuccessful talk with
Makoto, she found Alielle curled up on the windowsill, staring at the
clouds.  Again she felt the surge of anger when she looked at the wounds
on the girl's back.  <Gods.  What kind of monster would do such a thing?>
But since the anger wouldn't help matters, she beat it down (not easy, for
one so used to letting her rage have reign over her thoughts), and tried
to draw Alielle out of her shell once more.

        She stuck to safe, nice topics, but no matter what she said,
Alielle only replied in monosyllables, if at all.  It was one of the most
frustrating things she'd ever experienced.

        After a while, she heard a knock at the door.  She went and
answered it.

        "Hi," said Makoto.  "I'd like to talk with Alielle?"

        Shayla blinked, and stared at him for a few moments, before she
stammered out an affirmative, and stood aside to let him in.

        "Hi, Alielle-chan!  How are you today?"

        Alielle turned to give Makoto a weary smile, and her eyes bugged
out and jaw dropped.

        It had been, Shayla mused, something of a shock to see him in his
old disguise as Fatora, complete with wig and flower in his hair.  He
hadn't worn it since that night that Galus had exposed his identity, as
there really hadn't been a need ... but nonetheless, he was a remarkably
beautiful woman ...

        "Makoto-chan!" Alielle gasped out.  "You shouldn't be wearing
that!  Fatora-sama will be ..."

        "Angry?" he asked.  He gave it some thought.  "You're right.  It
was just a bit of nostalgia, I guess."  He took off the wig, and pulled a
chair up to the window.  "Fatora-sama can get pretty mean sometimes, when
she's angry, can't she?"

        Shayla-shayla began to slip outside the door.  "Well ... only a
little ..." Alielle answered, almost whispering.

        "That's okay, Alielle-chan ... I know what it's like to have
someone you love angry at you."

        "You do?"

        Shayla stood outside the door, not wanting to listen in on the
conversation, but not wanting to leave them unsupervised either.

        "Oh yes.  Ifurita was terribly angry with me the first time I
synchronized with her, remember?"

        "Well, yes ..."

        And so they talked.  And in the fullness of time, Alielle admitted
that what Shayla had believed had gone on between her and the Princess had
actually taken place ... although she assured Makoto that it had been all
her fault, and that it would never happen again.  Makoto gently pointed
out that even once had been a very bad thing.

        By the end of their talk, Alielle was crying into Makoto's robes,
and neither Makoto's nor Shayla's eyes were dry ...



	"She's sleeping," Makoto informed Shayla a little while later, as
he stepped out of the room into the corridor.

	"What are we going to do?" Shayla asked quietly.

	Makoto was silent for a long moment, gazing at the wig that he
held in his hands.  "I'm going to have a talk with Princess Rune ... she
trusts me, I think, and I hope I can convince her that this sort of
behavior can't be tolerated, not even in her sister."

	"I'll come with you," Shayla offered.

	Makoto flushed.  "I would ... appreciate that.  I'm not looking
forward to repeating ... the details."  He looked up, then, and smiled,
hesitantly. "And I want to apologize to you, too."

	Shayla blinked.  "Whaffor?"

	"For having been such a jerk lately.  You were right, in the
garden.  When I go to find Ifurita ... I want to be the person I was when
we met.  Or as close as I can get, at any rate.  Thank you for pulling me
back from the edge, Shayla-shayla."

	Shayla smiled broadly, not letting her own disapointment show.
<I hoped ... oh well.  There's still a chance.>  "You're welcome,
Makoto.  You wanna go see Rune now?"

	"Oh God, no.  I have to get changed first, I can't go to see her
in *this*!"  He gestured down at his dress.

	"Right," Shayla said, her smile genuine now.  "I think the black
dress is a little more ..." she got out before descending into giggles at
Makoto's spectacularly ugly expression.



	"You aren't upset about my telling Rune, are you?" Makoto asked
Alielle later that evening, as they lay in bed.

	Alielle stared up at the ceiling.  "I miss her."

	Fatora had announced, not long after Shayla and Makoto had paid
their visit to her older sister, that she would be going on a goodwill
tour of all the kingdoms of El-Hazard, which was expected to take about a
year.  She had departed immediately.

	Rune Venus usually gave people the impression of being a reed in a
swift flowing river, buffetted and barely able to hold herself together.
Like many surface impressions, this didn't begin to scratch the depths of
the personality and strength of will that the elder figurehead ruler of
El-Hazard posessed.

	"Maybe when she comes back, things will be ... different between
you two," Makoto suggested.

	"Nope.  Probably not.  She never changes ... but it's good to
hope.  Anyway, it's nice of you to let me sleep here, Makoto-chan."

	"You can stay here as long as you want, Alielle-chan."

	"Don't get ANY ideas, though."

	Makoto smiled, despite himself.  "I wouldn't think of it.  Sweet
dreams."  He turned onto his side, and was asleep in moments.

	Alielle waited until she was sure that Makoto was quite completely
unconscious, then slowly slipped out of bed, and began to pad across the
floor and out the door.



	<How DARE they.>

	Princess Fatora stared at the slowly receeding city of Roshtaria
as the caravan to which her private airship was attached started its
journey towards Barsantia, a city state about two days distant.

	<How DARE they interfere in my right to punish her for her
misdeeds!  She is mine!  Mine to reward, mine to chastise!>

	"Mizuhara Makoto ... you will PAY for the insult you have given
me," she hissed.

	Dark plans began to form in Fatora's mind.  <With the Bugrom
threat gone ... perhaps there is no longer a need for there to be *two*
princesses who can fire the Eye of God ...>



	The door slammed open.  Makoto jerked awake.  "Huh?"

	"Makoto!"  Shayla-shayla roared, clad in an almost translucent
nightgown, carrying Alielle under her arm.  "She tried to sneak into my
room again!"

	"Huh?" repeated Makoto, who was not fully conscious.

	"I'm sorry, Shayla-oneesama ... I was just lonely and ..."

	"Well, by the gods, it's not going to happen again!"  Shayla
marched over to the bed, dropped Alielle on it, and marched back to the 
doorway, where she proceeded to drop down to a sitting position, keeping
the bed in her view as she did.  "I'm going to stay right here and make
SURE she doesn't sneak into my room ANYMORE!"

	Makoto stared at her, his eyes agape.  "You are staying ... IN MY
ROOM?!"

	Shayla nodded forcefully, her eyes hard.  "It's the only way!"

	"Wow!  What fun!  Maybe we should invite Nanami-oneesama to the
slumber party too!"

	Makoto groaned.

				The End
			       (For Now)


Author's Notes

	After some harsh but fair criticism from the Magical Girls Fanfic
Review Team, I decided to review this story to see if I could improve the
ending.  In doing so, I realized that I had fallen into the classic
writer's trap of *telling* what happened, instead of *showing* it.  While
that's not completely eliminated in this revision (i.e. the confrontation
between Fatora and Rune), I'm a bit happier with this version.  Thank you
to Mika, Akiko, Natsumi, Ferris, Akira, Penko and Bernard Ward for their
suggestions.  (ESPECIALLY Natsumi.  She's dreamy. ;)

        Before anyone asks, yes, I know that appearing to a rape victim in
disguise as her rapist is probably not the wisest thing under any
circumstances.  But these are *very* unusual ones, okay?  (And I'm not
saying that Alielle was raped, but I will say that it wasn't much
different ...)

        How long will it take for Makoto to figure out the workings of the
Eye of God so that he can go and get Ifurita?  994 days from the end of
the series.  This gives me lots of room for my stories.  (Many kudos to
those of you who have guessed what I'm referring to. ^_^)

        The Magnificent World of El-Hazard, and various characters both
native and foreign to it, were created by Hiroki Hayashi and Ryoe
Tsukimura, and brought to North America by Pioneer LDC.

        Nobody Sue Me Okay?

Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-Time Champion of Light.
"I am not a very nice person anymore." - Rand al'Thor, "Crown of Swords"