well, it seems to be the day for El-Hazard, doesn't it? here's something
that came to me over the vacation. i'm not really satisfied with this
draft. somehow i think i can do better than this... but maybe i'm just
nitpicky. i don't mean grammar and spelling. i'd never release something
if it wasn't throughly checked and rechecked. not that i didn't miss
something. tell me if i did. please. and tell me what you think of the
content. be open, be brutal.
more author blather follows the story.
(El-Hazard is property of... ah, you know already.)
*****************************************************************
There's nothing worse than waking up in an unfamiliar place. Well, I
supppose waking up in an unfamiliar place with your hands bound above your
head and a concussion could be considered worse.
Oh, what a day.
"Well, well, my worthless sister is awake. How charming."
Okay, add "--with your loser brother gloating over you" to that.
"Katsuhiko, what the hell are you doing?" I grumbled.
He grinned that obnoxious grin of his. "Implementing my plan to take
over El-Hazard, of course."
"Of course. What else would you be doing?" I said causticly.
"Why you little... I should have had you killed right away, but no, they
said we had to have you alive. Maybe they won't notice if you had a
little... accident." He rubbed his hands together. "What do you say to
that, Nanami?"
"I say that would be going against your orders, Jinnai," a smooth voice
spoke from the shadows. "And that wouldn't be good, now, would it?"
"Galus..." I breathed. But how? We'd killed him, months ago, on the Eye
of God. And if he'd teamed up with my psychotic brother...
"So nice of you to remember me, child. Now, Jinnai, what exactly did I
say when we discussed this before? She is to be left unharmed until this
is over."
"Right, right." He sighed, defeated. "But how about if I--"
"No."
"Then what if--"
"No."
"But if I--"
"No already!" he roared.
I shook my head. "Never did know when to quit, did you?"
Numerous veins popped out on Katsuhiko's forehead.
"Careful, Jinnai, you don't want to hurt yourself," Galus smirked from
his hiding place half in the shadows.
"Hey, you two," spoke another voice from the darkness. Out of the
shadows stepped the Shadow assasin Miz had killed in Arliman. What, were
these people immortal or something? "Are we going to do this or not?" she
said impatiently.
Katsuhiko's jaw dropped to the floor. "You... you look just like her!"
"Just like who?" I asked.
"Of course she does," Galus replied haughtily. "The Shadow Nation always
does everything to the fullest extent."
"Does what? What's going on here?" I *hate* being ignored!
All three turned to face me. Galus and Kiriya just smiled. Katsuhiko
looked confused. "I'd think it'd be like looking in a mirror..."
"Idiot!" Galus cried. "Don't you remember, this is why we kidnapped
*her*! She can see through our illusions!"
"Oh yeah..."
Then all the gears clicked into place. "Wait a sec, she looks like *me*?
You're replacing *me* with some shadow clone?"
Galus smirked. "Precisely."
***
"Man, there's nothing to do here!"
"Shayla, are you complaining *again*?"
I sighed. "Well, if I had something to do, I wouldn't be bitching about
it."
"So why don't you read a book or something?" Afura said, turning back to
her own book.
"Read? Are you nuts?! Only geeks read books!" Oops. Wrong crowd to be
addressing like that. "Er, um, that's not exactly what I meant... I
mean..."
Afura turned her back to me and didn't say a word.
"Oh, whatever," I mumbled, leaving the room.
The palace was next to empty. Princess Fatora was off doing some royal
PR things in the southern countries of El-Hazard, which meant Alielle
wasn't around to glomp me (thank God!), Makoto was off studying in the
libraries with Schtalbaugh (how boring!), and Miz and Fujisawa were...
In the courtyard.
Making out.
Or maybe not.
I snuck up behind them, hiding behind a vine covered statue. They seemed
to be in the middle of a conversation. More of a monologue, really.
Fujisawa couldn't seem to get a word in edgewise.
"So then we'll go on our honeymoon together! It'll be great, Fuji-chan,
you'll love it sooooo much!" She snuggled up against his chest. He
looked positively mortified. I choked back laughter.
"And then, after we get back, I'm sure we can--"
I cut in. The look on Fujisawa's face said he needed to be rescued.
Soon. "Hey, Miz, Afura's looking for you."
She snapped out of her reverie. "Huh?"
"Yeah," I continued, "Something about the funding at Arliman. Turns out
our budget won't cover new towels this year. And the big fuzzy cleaning
guys said they're going on strike if we don't give them health benifits.
I'd help her with this, but you know how *I* am with money matters..." I
trailed off convincingly.
Miz put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I didn't know things were that bad!
I'll go talk to her right away!"
Fujisawa nearly collapsed with relief when she left the room. "Whew! I
don't know how I'll ever thank you for this!"
I smiled. It's always good to take advantage of a situation. "Well, I
do. Get your mounatineering gear. Meet me by the back entrance in ten
minutes. And don't let Miz catch you."
He mulled over my words for a second or two. Then the reality sandwich
bapped him in the noggin. "Oh! Right! Be there in ten minutes!" He
tore off like a starving man after a plump turkey.
I walked back to my quarters at a more dignified pace. Finally, there'd
be something fun to do around here.
***
so short, so short. *sigh.* what i plan to do with this: Shayla and
Fujisawa go out mountaineering and meet some mysterious disaster (i know
what it is, but i don't want to spoil it), Nanami tries to find a way to
escape from her prison, and Makoto gets to wander aimlessly around the
palace, wondering about the sudden change in "Nanami"... or something
like that.
C&C welcome. more than welcome, actually.
elsetime,
nem0
Mr. O'Neil: Let's all pledge to help make Daria's dream come true!
Daria: You mean the one where people walking down the street burst into
flames?
visit the newly renovated DreamLand!
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