The Legend of El Hazard
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by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr. (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)
A fanfic inspired by the anime El Hazard
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Chapter 2
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The World of Magic
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El Hazard
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Within the borders of Roshtaria, just beyond the horizon from the capital
city of Floristica lies the great and treacherous mountains of Muldoon.
These assembly of rock faces, cliffs, and mounts are well known all over El
Hazard for the dangers they hold, and the certain legend that any weary
traveler must have heard of when ever he dubiously finds his way through the
narrow cut valleys and gorges within the crystal mounts and caves. The
legends says that this place, the mountains of Muldoon, is holy land. It
holds great mystery and wonder, and that up there, somewhere near the peak
of the tallest mountain was the place where the priestesses of Mount
Muldoon lives. The holy protectors of El Hazard, and keeper of the Eye of
God, these priestess hold immeasurable influence on the elements. Thus it is
said that no wind, no water, no fire and earth was beyond the priestesses
control. This is the mystical affinity of El Hazard and that who the ancient
have recognize to have secular supervision on the passage of time in the
world of El Hazard.
The palace of Muldoon was empty now. All three priestess, Mizu Mishtal,
Afura Mann, and Shayla Shayla have traveled on a quest to the palace of
Floristica, on the request of the born rulers of all of El Hazard. In the
past days, these priestess had accomplished a lot of their duties, those
that were handed to them from birth, and those that came with the territory.
Makoto Mizuhara, a foreigner from another world sought out their help, and
succeeded in preventing the total annihilation of the new El Hazard
civilization. Thus the prophecy had come true, El Hazard was safe again. And
all had only to thank the three priestesses, Makoto and the two other people
from his world that timely intervened in preventing the plot of a ruthless
legendary tribe of El Hazard from succeeding. But the adventure still
continues, especially with the arrival of the new visitors to Mount
Muldoon.
Within the palace of Mount Muldoon, a lone soul was stalking the dark
corridors, looking for the inhabitants maybe. "Um, Hello. Is anyone home?"
Nariko Mizuhara checked every room within the palace of Muldoon. It had
been quite a while since she had last been here. The place was clean,
though. So she thought that those she had left behind must have made decent
maintenance to the place. "I wonder where my sisters are?" She looked down
from the inner mezzanine that encircles the great hall that was in the
center of the palace. Down below, slumped in a sofa with a damp cloth on his
head was her husband. "Oh, dear. Hinosuke, are you sure you're going to be
all right?" Her husband waved his free arm, telling her not to worry. "There
seems to be no one home, Hinosuke. I guess my sisters are over at Arlimon,
this must be that time of the year." Hinosuke slapped his head, instantly
grimacing in pain. "Oh, don't do that. You'll need to rest just to get that
mind of yours back on line."
"Thanks. Maybe you could call for them from here?" He pointed to the far end
wall were a glass mirror was embedded on the column post. "Isn't that what
you use..for...arrrgh!"
Nariko ran over to Hinosuke, taking the washcloth and dipping it in the
basin of cold water again. "Now, now. No thinking, ok. Just like the first
time, it'll take you a half the day to control that migraine." Her husband
knew she was right, it was just like this when he first 'accidentally' found
himself in El Hazard. When was that? He tried to remember. "I'll see if this
thing still works." Nariko wiped the mirror clean, and placed her palm on
it. "Huh? Hmm...no energy?" She turned around, seeking some kind of switch
within one of the panels on the wall. "There you are. You must have been
turned off by my sisters before they left. Though, that's kind of
strange..." She flicked it open and soon a low rumble could be heard beneath
her feet. "Yes, that's it. Slowly now. Slowly." Lights flowed from beneath
the floor spreading all over the room, and almost surrounding the hall with
cascades of light patterns. "Alright. This rocks!"
Hinosuke took a peek from beneath the cloth, it would seem that his wife was
reminiscing the time when she was still one of the priestess of Mount
Muldoon. She seemed happy though, being able to use her powers again now
that she had the whole planet for a power source. He even noticed the flair
and bounce in Nariko as she opened up a communication link to Arlimon from
the mirror. Something was strange though, it seems that she seemed younger
now. That's when it struck him, like a thunder bolt of images and thought.
"Um, Nariko." His wife turned around, asking what he needed. "Am I
hallucinating, or did you just shed ten years off all of a sudden." Her
reaction was a confusing stare, but she did turn to the mirror to see what
her husband was talking about.
"EEE! I'm...young...again. This must be because I feel the power from El
Hazard." She checked her skin, no longer the complexion and texture of a
forty year old woman, but some ten to fifteen years younger. "Oh, no.
Hinosuke, what do I..."' Her husband stood up, finally able to withstand
most of the pain in his head. "Wait a second. I'm ... younger. Hmm..." She
jumped up and threw herself to Hinosuke. "Isn't this wonderful. I'm
practically back in the form when you and I first met."
"Yeah, I guess so." For that he got an immediate kiss, but that didn't last
long as the mirror suddenly glowed a brilliant flash of light, and from the
outside a single stroke of energy erupted from the tower of the palace and
it head out towards a far off place. Towards Arlimon, to be precise.
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Floristica
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"What is that?" Masamichi Fujisawa had just reached the top of the Stairway
to Heaven when he saw the light cutting through the morning sky in the
distant horizon. He laid down his equipment and blocked the glare of the sun
from his eyes. From what he could tell, it seemed like a path of light.
Coming from...those mountains in the far horizon. He sensed the wind picking
up and he felt the cold air through his jacket.
"Oh, my. This is so romantic, don't you think?. All up here, us two. Alone."
Miz didn't hesitate in grabbing Masamichi's arm. "Isn't it great." Fujisawa
could only scratch his head, wondering what he had done to deserve this
treatment. Especially from a beautiful woman like Miz, a priestess of Mount
Muldoon. "Masamichi, what is that?" She pointed to the same white line at
the horizon.
"I don't know? I was going to ask you, since it's seems to be coming from
those mountains." Fujisawa looked at the direction where the light was
originating from, something was familiar about those mountains, he noted.
"Hey, isn't that Mount Muldoon?"
"Intruders!" Miz's shocked expression didn't help in answering what the two
had stumbled upon. But it seemed the priestess had changed her mind about
the climb up the Stairways, because she had the sudden urge to climb back
down again. Fortunately for Masamichi, they used the elevator this time.
-----
Princess Fatora woke up alone in bed. Although the sun was already high up
in the sky, everyone was accustomed to the second princess of Roshtaria's
lateness in waking up. But what was the only silver lining in Fatora's
bizarre behavior was her early morning disposition. One would even say that
Fatora was best just right after waking up, then it was all downhill from
that.
"Good morning, Fatora." The voice came from behind her. Fatora had just
stepped out of her chambers, still sleepy and all, but retained enough
sense to greet the young man with the same enthusiasm.
"Morning, Makoto...or should I say, my twin brother." She laughed, hardly
resisting the joke she had been making to her look alike ever since she
finally met him. She guessed she was a little envious at Makoto. Though she
often wondered why would she. Makoto only took her place, made it look like
she was still around the palace when in fact she was being held captive by
Gallus and the Phantom tribe people. It must be because Makoto eventually
saved El Hazard, not her. She now had a new question in her head. Why did he
do it? He wasn't from El Hazard, and in fact he was trapped here in this
world as much as she was trapped in the hands of her captors. "I'm sorry,
Makoto. I was only teasing."
"That's alright, Fatora." Makoto walked past her, rounding the corner
towards the royal library. Again it was an all morning camp-in at Professor
Schatulabaugh's hall of knowledge for Makoto, or what was to Fatora as the
dreaded library of boredom. She still couldn't believe Makoto's
perseverance at finding those precious plan, the plans for the Eye of God,
when everyone already knew they were lost forever. She could only feel
sorry for him.
-----
Shayla was out on the terrace, the same one where Makoto had been lurking
out at night. It was a beautiful view from way up there, the surrounding
city was a magnificent atonement to the glory of Roshtaria and that of El
Hazard as well. It was even possible to see farther out the borders of
Floristica from where Shayla stood. She raised her hand, blocking the glare
from the sun, and looked at the horizon towards her own home. Mt. Muldoon
was her real home, though she would trade all of it for the chance to stay
here in Floristica. She was living that simple dream, although she won't
admit it. She was in Floristica, near to a special someone that had saved
her life once, and saved El Hazard as well. She guessed she owed Makoto
twice now.
"What are you doing out here, Priestess Shayla?" The first princess, Rune
Venus stepped out on the terrace and joined the red headed priestess of Mt.
Muldoon. Shayla told her a 'nothing' excuse, saying she loved the view from
up there. "Yes, it is wonderful from up here. You can see everything, from
almost as far away as Mt. Muldoon from here."
"Yeah, I guess I'm getting kinda homesick." Shayla knew better. She wasn't
homesick, not that it mattered anyway. She was only lonely.
"Oh, please don't be. I mean, Floristica is always open for you, and the two
other priestess of Mt. Muldoon." Rune Venus felt guilty, realizing her
hospitality was lacking in some way or another. Shayla though dismissed her
thoughts. Even thanking the princess for letting the three priestesses to
stay for a while, as if the short vacation to Arlimon had been slightly
extended and was now taking place in Roshtaria's capital.
"I'm rather ashamed that we're taking your kindness for granted, princess."
Shayla leaned over the railing.
"Nonsense. You are our guests, and we're just paying you back for helping
save El Hazard. You and Makoto and his friends helped Roshtaria and the
alliance in more ways than we could ever repay, for that we are eternally
thankful." Shayla turned to the princess.
"Don't mention it, Princess. What we did was only our duties. Makoto and
us." Shayla sighed. What would she give to say that to Makoto's face right
now? 'Makoto and me.' Her thoughts were deceiving her. She already knew
Makoto had another girl in his mind. That girl occupied his thoughts twenty
four hours a day, how could she compete with that? And also there was this
other red head in El Hazard that she had to worry about.
-----
Makoto was carrying a stack of old, rolled up plans when he finally sat down
in one, well lit corner of the library. As it was in the past few days, he
was all alone in the great hall of books. Dean Schatulabaugh never was the
nosy type, though Makoto would swear that he had his quirks, sometimes.
Often he would catch the dean sleeping after reading a book. He was a
bookworm, Makoto understood that, or perhaps the professor was just being a
good friend to him hence Dean Schatulabaugh was also burning the midnight
oil looking for the same clues he was seeking within the walls of the royal
library of Roshtaria.
He again prodded over the simple engineering plans he had discovered. These
weren't appliances anymore. More of building plans, probably that of the
palace themselves. He browsed through the drawing, noting the many
similarities it had to earth architecture. He flipped over several pages of
the plans, rather convinced of their unimportance to his quest. When he got
to the last page, he deftly heard a hissing sound coming from another corner
of the library. �Who could that be?� When he was finished, he returned the
plans back to were he got them, and investigated who was in the room with
him so early in the morning. He knew the dean wasn�t here since he was
attending a meeting somewhere else in the palace. He thought it could be
just Ura, his guardian cat may have stumbled around the room looking for
him. Surprisingly, it wasn�t who he thought it was. The red headed girl,
slumped and sleeping on the table, was his schoolmate and friend.
�Oh, Nanami. You must have stayed here all night.� Makoto rushed out of the
library to find some blankets. When he came back, he promptly covered
Nanami, fearing that she must have been feeling cold all over if she ever
slept in this room during the night.
-----
�Why don�t I come with you, Hinosuke?� Nariko helped her husband pack for
the long journey back to Roshtaria. It was a long trip, but both have been
back and forth from the palace to Floristica a few times in the past. Only
that it was more than a decade ago since they had last took such a journey.
�I would love to, dear. But I think I should go alone. I don�t think the
princess would be thrilled to see the two of us again.� Hinosuke grabbed a
few fruits and edibles for his journey.
�Hmmph. Why should I care what she thinks, anyway?� They walked
towards the gates of the palace. �It wasn�t me who refused her crazy
request.�
�Hey, what would you have done in my situation? Ifurita had to be stopped,
even if she was the princess. She almost destroyed all of Roshtaria, and
would have annihilated her own kingdom as well.� Hinosuke kissed his wife
goodbye. �I�ll come back in a day or two. If I get lucky, and I find a
hovercraft, I�ll be back before sundown.� With those last words, Hinosuke
waved goodbye as he trekked down the mountainside.
�Take care, my love.� Nariko walked back inside, thinking what she would do
while waiting for Hinosuke, or her son, Makoto to show up. �I wonder if the
music machine still works?� She was about to go up the mezzanine when she
heard a whirling sound coming from the mirror. �Oh, finally! I was hoping
they�ll finally return my call.� She touched the mirror and waited for the
light to recede.
�Moshi Moshi.�
-----
�Huh? What the hell is that?� Shayla looked over Afura�s shoulder, staring
at the image from the portable communication equipment the priestess Afura
Mann had with her. A while ago, Miz came barging into Afura�s chambers
crying about intruders inside their home back on Mt. Muldoon.
�Keep quiet, Shayla. I can�t hear what this intruder is saying.� Afura
turned up the volume, while Miz and Masamichi looked on nearby. �Um, hello.
Who are you?�
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�Who am I? Who are you?� Nariko was quite irked seeing two strange faces
on the communication link-up. She was hoping to talk to her sisters, but
somehow these two women was able to intrude in her private correspondence
for her sisters. �Um, can you please leave this line open. I am expecting
a very important phone call.�
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�Why you? You�ve got some nerve trespassing into our home like that!�
Shayla was again told to shut up. �Shut up? She�s in our home, and you
want me to shut up?�
�Shayla, we can�t hear her.� Afura turned to her portable communicator
again. "Um, excuse me. But what are you doing inside our home, Miss...�
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�Mrs. That�s Mrs. Mizuhara. And this is not your home. It�s my home. What
are you talking about this palace being your home? Only the priestesses of
Mt. Muldoon lives here, and although I�ve been away for about seventeen
years now, it�s still my home.� Nariko was about to turn the link off.
-----
�Hey, you.� Shayla grabbed the communicator. �What are you talking about,
that palace being your home? That�s our home you ingrate, trespassing,
dummy. What do we look like to you? Chop liver? I�m a priestess of Mt.
Muldoon, and that place is ours. And if you don�t leave in the next hour,
I�m coming over to deal with you personally. Got it?!�
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�Really? You�re a priestess of Mt. Muldoon? I don�t believe it.
Although, I haven�t seen my sisters in years, I know what they look like,
and babe...you�re not one of them.� Nariko grinned, mocking Shayla and
further infuriating her. �Listen, give the communicator back to that
beautiful girl.�
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�Why you?! Who are you calling...� Afura finally wrestled the communicator
away from Shayla. �Hey, I was talking!�
�Oh, shut up, Shayla.� Afura finally had the silence she needed to hear the
person on the other side of the phone call. �Um, sorry about that. Shayla
can be annoying at times.�
�Gee. She only called you beautiful, and now you�re warm all over. Geez.�
Shayla muttered in the background.
�What was your name again?�
-----
�I�m Mrs. Mizuhara. And I�m a priestess of Mt. Muldoon. Well, I used to
be anyway, but I don�t think I�ve been cast out or something.�
-----
�Did you say Mizuhara?� Everyone in Afura�s room gasped. �You don�t
perhaps know a certain Makoto, would you?�
-----
�Oh, my. Yes, I know him. He�s my son. Do you know where he is? His
father and I have been worried sick. We�ve been trying to find him since
last night.�
-----
�Son? You mean you�re Makoto�s mother?� The response was hard to believe,
even if the woman on the phone was Makoto�s mother, she was really too young
to be who she claimed she was. �Are you sure?�
�Makoto�s mother? Oh, my...� Shayla fainted on the bed realizing her
mistake. A fatal one at that, calling Makoto�s mother a dummy.
-----
Nanami finally woke from her slumber. She was surprise to find a blanket
over her. Makoto was reading a book and was sitting across the table. She
was more than happy to find her friend there, looking over her while she had
slept. �Morning, Makoto.�
�Morning, Nanami.� Makoto took a breather from the book he was reading, a
language course of the ancient text that he was more than studying. �I
brought some breakfast for you.� There was a tray of toasted bread, some
newly manufactured jam, courtesy of Prof. Schatulabaugh, and some fruits for
Nanami.
�Hey, Thanks. I was kind of hungry.� Both talked a while, mostly on the
book Makoto was reading, and what Nanami had found out during the night. A
moment later, Alliele came rushing into the library looking for Makoto.
�Makoto, are you here?!�
�Over here, Alliele. What�s up?� Nanami too was intrigued by Alliele�s
entrance. Something important must be happening to make Alliele run like
she did.
�There is a phone call for you, Makoto. You have to go to sister Afura�s
room now.� Alliele�s excitement didn�t compare to the tugging and pulling
she did to Makoto.
�Alright, alright. Who is it, by the way?� Nanami and Makoto followed
Alliele out of the library in similar haste.
�I think its your mother, Makoto.� At that instant, Makoto and Nanami
tripped and fell on each other.
�Owww!�
�Come on Makoto. Your mother is waiting!� Makoto struggled to get up,
still surprised at what Alliele had said. Nanami struggled on her own,
being left behind by the little lesbian for once this time.
�Hey, wait for me!�
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End of Chapter 2
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Please C & C, MST, the works?
Special Thanks to...
Matthew "Maybeso" Lewis
Lord Talon
Jussi Nikander
Anand Rao
Christopher "God Boy" Angel
Chris Davies
Son Goku
Mark A. Biggar
Henry J. Cobb
Michael Dickenson
Barry Cadwgan
Adam "Tempest" Leigh
Radler, of Zu Productions
Andrew M. Petalik
The Wonderful People of the FFIRC, who I'll soon convert into El Hazard
addicts one of these days...unless Gary still thinks Ranma 1/2 rocks!
AIC, El Hazard 2 please.
Thank you.