Comments? Critism? Please?

*****************************************************************

The Great Holy Wars
Part One : First Arrival
An El-hazard fanfic and
also a Wonderings of Reality Story
written by Jenny 'Android18' Chan
android18@hotmail.com
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/jerningham/333/index.html

*****************************************************************

	The blue sky and peaceful weather masked the true state of
turmoil that the world of El Hazard was in. For the past five
generations, the world had been in an on-going world war. 
	Twenty years ago, the current ruler had a chance to end the
war, by firing off a large nuclear war head at the offending
country, Necromia.
	And, due to public pressure, the ruler had done so, 
devastating the land to the North of the River of God. At once,
a treaty of unconditional surrender had been signed.
	And, for the first time in five generations... there was
peace... sort of.
	Even though war heads were no longer being fired off, and
no armies marched across the land... all the countries of 
El Hazard could feel the tension between the countries of the
North, and the countries of the South.
	Necromia was recovering despite the terrible lost and, any 
moment now... the treaty would be broken, and the great wars 
would resume once more.
	Even now, twenty years after the temporary peace, all of
El Hazard could be destroyed. During the past two decades, Necromia
and Kor (Kingdom of Rhoshtaria), the two leading countries in this 
war, had been not-so-secretly developing new weapons, each more 
fearsome than the last, in hopes of getting the upper hand from 
the other.
	If the war should resume, which it undoubtedly would, and
the weapons were used, which they undoubtedly would, then
all that could be left of the once beautiful world of El Hazard,
would be random asteroids, floating in space.
	Despite this tension, which was thick enough to choke a
city, the people of Kor were out and about, going around
everyday life. 
	To them, war had become a way of life. It was such a large
part of their lives that it had become their life. They believed
that the great war was here to stay, forever. The Great War was
a one constant in their lives. It was considered sacred. It was 
considered holy. Many people called it the Great Holy War.
	There was nothing holy about it.
	The ruler, whom had become a national hero, had just 
passed away. He had died of a heart attack, and that was it, but
the rumors were flying and most people of Kor believed that
somehow, the Necromia had killed their leader, and made it seem
like a heart attack.
	War would happen very soon.
	But it was just day to day life to the people. They no 
longer cared, nor feared of war. In fact, many of the young
people thought that war was glamorous.
	One of these people's name was Muldoon. She was sixteen 
years of age, and currently, she was at the River of God with her 
three sisters.
	She was a maid at the royal palace, and it was her day
off, which was why she was at the River, watching over her
sisters frolic in the water.
	One might question the wisdom of bringing children to play
by the river which was the border between two rival countries,
but Muldoon knew nothing would happen.
	The Korish and Necromian armies were playing a game with
each other. Both knew the other would attack, but refused to make
it obvious. That was why there were no tanks or armies by the
river, and it was still open to civilians.
	The country which attacked first, would be viewed as a country
with lack of self control and thus would loose a lot of face, and 
neither countries would allow this. Thus, they sat back, always 
watching what the other side was doing, and responding, but never 
making it seem obvious.
	So, for the time being anyway, the River of God was still
safe.
	Muldoon sat back in a beach chair and took in a deep breathe.
Suddenly, one of her sisters poked her in the arm.
	Muldoon turned to see Ifurita, her smallest sister, and not
one by blood. Muldoon only had two biological sisters, but Ifurita
had no parents and had lived with her and her sisters for so long 
that she had become a sister.
	Ifurita smiled up at Muldoon. "Mully, can I bury you in the
san'?" She asked, blue eyes wide and shining.
	Out of all of them, Ifurita was the youngest at three years
of age, and she knew how to use this fact to her advantage.
	"Pleeeeeeease??"
	Muldoon sighed. "Alright, 'Rita."
	Ifurita clapped her hands and pulled her oldest sister
out of her chair and got her to lie in the sand.
	"How long will this take?"
	"Not long," Ifurita promised. "Shay'a 'n Arla help me!"
	On cue, Shayla, who was nine years old, and Arlamond, who
was eight years old, suddenly appeared, wide grins on their
faces.
	Muldoon laughed. "Hey, you guys had this planned out,
didn't you?!"
	"Maybe..." Shayla said, still grinning. "But you already
promised 'Rita."
	Muldoon sighed again. "Oh... alright." Muldoon laid down.
She guessed that it would take her sisters about 30 minutes to
bury her completely, but she also realized that the three of
them combined didn't have an attention span half that length.
	Thus, Muldoon predicted that she would only be half buried
at the most before her sisters got bored and left her alone.
	And, she was right. 15 minutes later, Ifurita sat back
and looked longingly at the river.
	"I don't wanna bury anymore." She said. "I wanna go play
in the wa'er." She looked at Muldoon. "Can I go play in the
water?? Pleeeeease?"
	Muldoon sighed. "Alright. Just... wait for me to come
with you okay? You shouldn't go into the water without someone
else, 'Rita. It could be dangerous."
	Muldoon tried to move her limbs... but suddenly realized
that she couldn't. Much to her surprise, her sisters had packed
the sand on her much more concretely that she had thought they
had.
	"Uh..."
	Shayla laughed. "Take your time, Mully. We'll go with 'Rita
to the water, okay? Bye!!" With that, the nine year old stood
up and grabbed Ifurita's left hand. Arlamond grabbed Ifurita's
right hand and the three of them ran to the river, giggling and
laughing.
	Muldoon couldn't help but smile at the sight for a moment
before she tried to free herself.
	Straining, she managed to get her arms free and pushed 
herself upright.
	That was when lightning suddenly struck. Muldoon jumped
a little and looked up at the sky... but there wasn't a cloud
up there amongst the endless blue.
	Muldoon frowned and squinted. That was when she saw a
little ball of light in the sky... and the ball was growing.
It grew and grew until it became painful to look at it.
	Then, suddenly, the ball disappeared, leaving spots in
Muldoon's eyes. 
	The girl blinked a couple of times and finally, her eyes
focused. That was when her eyes went wide as she saw a figure,
floating in the sky.
	The figure was suspended in the air and gradually and
gracefully floated down to the ground.
	When her feet did touch the ground, she was only a couple
of meters away from Muldoon, separating the oldest sister from
her siblings who stared at her from in the river.
	Muldoon freed her legs from the sand and stood up. She
eyed the girl who was also eyeing her. Muldoon suddenly didn't
like this girl. She was unlike anyone she had ever seen before
and she didn't look like anyone from South of the River of God.
	And that was when Muldoon jumped to a conclusion that made
a lot of sense (in her mind). This girl had to be from up North!
She was from Necromia, the enemy of her country!
	Muldoon got into a defensive position. Whoever this girl
was, if she was from the North, then she was her enemy.
	"Who are you?" Muldoon demanded. "What do you want?"
	The girl looked at Muldoon, a confused expression on her
face.
	"I'll ask you again," Muldoon repeated, her voice full of
suspicion. "Who are you and what do you want?!"
	The girl opened her mouth to speak... but Muldoon didn't
understand a word she said. Her voice was harsh and the language
she was speaking in was fast and rapid... unlike anything 
Muldoon had ever heard before.
	"Are you from Necromia?" Muldoon asked.
	The girl looked at Muldoon, a helpless expression on her
face. Then, she took out a wicked looking sword from it's
sheath and held it so that the blade was pointing at Muldoon.
	She started to speak in that strange language once
more, and waved the sword around. She started to advance towards
Muldoon.
	Muldoon narrowed her eyes. ~She drew a weapon and she's
walking towards me while waving it... I think that's a threat.~
She concluded. ~Well... if she wants to threaten me, she'll find
that I don't take threats very well.~
	Muldoon gave a cry and flew towards the girl. The girl had
a look of obvious shock on her face as Muldoon knocked the sword
out of her hand and then punched her in the face with her other
fist.
	The girl fell and watched in horror as her sword sailed
across the beach... and shattered when it crashed onto the sand. 
	She looked up at Muldoon a look of shock on her face, then
back to the broken sword, then back to Muldoon again. She got to
her feet and shock was no longer on her face. She was furious.
	With a cry she flew towards Muldoon and punched her hard,
in the stomach.
	Muldoon lurched back a few steps, gasping. She looked at
the girl who was still advancing, a snarl on her lip. 
	~I'm not going down without a fight!!~ Muldoon thought to
herself as she swung at the girl wildly with her fists. The
girl dodged her strikes effortlessly and was going to punch
Muldoon once more, but Muldoon suddenly jumped back.
	The girl muttered something acidic as she stared at Muldoon.
	That was when Muldoon realized that she wouldn't be able to
beat this girl in a fist fight. It was time to bring in some
higher level martial arts.
	Swallowing, Muldoon raised her fist in the air and
concentrated. A column of water suddenly raised up from the
river. With a scream, Muldoon flung her hand at the girl and the
water suddenly came to life and sailed towards her.
	The girl looked back just in time to be blasted in the face
with water. It pinned her to the ground for a moment before the
girl managed to roll out from under the attack. She started to
jump away but Muldoon kept moving her hand in the general pattern
the girl was jumping and so the water followed the girl around,
not letting her stand still long enough for an attack.
	The girl jumped around for a while longer, before she realized
that it was Muldoon who was controlling the water. Thus, the girl
jumped into the air, floated there for a minute before flying
towards Muldoon, with the water following her.
	Too late did Muldoon realize what was going on as the girl
flew out of the way just in time to narrowly miss a collision with
Muldoon.
	Unfortunately, the water wasn't nearly as agile a the girl,
and collided into it's master with the force of a tidal wave.
	Muldoon lost her concentration, and the water reverted back
into it's normal self, splashing onto the sand, after flinging her 
through the air. She was now completely drenched and her back 
hurt from landing so hard.
	The girl went up to Muldoon, her middle and index finger
stretched out. She tapped Muldoon in the neck with these fingers
and suddenly, Muldoon realized she couldn't move anything
under her neck.
	"What did you do to me?!" Muldoon bellowed. She shook her
head but try as she might, she couldn't move her arms or legs.
"What did you do?!"
	The girl was breathing hard and looked down at Muldoon with
what looked like respect in her eyes.
	~Respect?!~ Muldoon thought. ~Wha???~
	That was when a cry for help suddenly broke through the air.
	Muldoon turned toward the direction of the noise, and
her eyes went wide when she saw that it was Ifurita screaming for
help.
	When Muldoon had called the water from the river up to her
command, she had pulled up Shayla along with it. When Muldoon had
lost her concentration, the water had fallen onto the sand and
seeped into the ground, depositing Shayla on the sand roughly.
Shayla was lying on the beach now, thoroughly soaked and quite dazed.
	The rest of the water in the river had to respond to Muldoon's
commands so had created large waves as part of it had suddenly came
to life and attacked the girl.
	The water had thrown Arlamond and Ifurita in opposite 
directions so that Arlamond was thrown closer to the shore but
Ifurita had been thrown out towards the middle of the river. Arlamond
had hit her head on the ground and was unconscious at the moment.
	Ifurita was screaming for help but all of her sisters couldn't
do anything. She was splashing wildly, screaming. Her head went 
under the water a few times.
	"No!!!" Muldoon shouted. "'RITA!! Hang on, I'm coming!!" She
thrashed her head around a bit but still couldn't move. Muldoon
started to panic and she looked at Ifurita helplessly.
	The girl frowned at Muldoon's thrashing. She looked out to
the river to see what had her opponent so agitated and saw Ifurita.
Then, she looked back at Muldoon, and saw the fear and panic in
her eyes. 
	The girl didn't think anymore before she ran out towards the
river... and ran along the top of the water until she reached
Ifurita, who had just gone under once more.
	The girl splashed down into the water, disappearing, before
her head broke the surface once more as she treaded the water...
with Ifurita crying and sobbing wildly in her arms.
	Ifurita clung wildly to her savior and the girl slowly
swam back to the edge of the river and onto land again.
	The girl walked up to Muldoon, dripping wet and tried to put
Ifurita down beside her, only Ifurita refused to let go of the
girl.
	Tired and confused, the girl didn't know what to do. So,
she poked Muldoon in the neck again and Muldoon could move once 
more.
	Once Muldoon felt her limbs respond to her command again, she
instantly stood up and reached for Ifurita.
	"'Rita..." Muldoon said softly. "Shh... it's me. Muldoon...
calm down... everything will be alright..."
	Ifurita was still sobbing wildly but she released the girl
and reached for Muldoon. Muldoon quickly scooped Ifurita into her
arms and hugged her tightly, her heart pounding.

*****************************************************************

	It was a few hours after the ordeal. The sisters and the
girl, were inside the Palace of Kor, in a room that was 
assigned to the sisters in the servant's living section.
	Muldoon had felt very bad about the girl saving her little
sister's life right after she had attacked the girl so she took 
the girl home with her. 
	It was a small but homely and comfortable room and right
now, they were all drying themselves off with towels.
	Muldoon handed a towel to the girl who sat in the middle of
the room. The girl accepted the towel, said something Muldoon
didn't understand, and started to attack her hair with it.
	After the drying, the sisters sat around the girl. Ifurita
sat in Muldoon's lap, half asleep.
	There was an awkward silence as everyone just sat and
stared at each other. Finally, someone spoke.
	"Hey, what's your name?" Shayla asked. "How come you don't
talk?"
	The girl looked at Shayla, puzzled. Shayla pat herself on
the chest. "Shayla." She said. Then, she pointed to Arlamond.
"Arlamond." Last, she pointed at Muldoon and Ifurita, stating
their names.
	Then, she pointed at the girl and looked at her expectantly.
	The girl looked at Shayla's finger, then pointed back to
her. "Shayla." She repeated in a heavily accented voice. "Arlamond.
Muldoon. Ifurita." Then, she paused and pat herself on the chest.
"Jene Shock."
	"Jeneshock?" Shayla asked.
	"Jene." The girl said again.
	"Jene."
	Jene nodded.
	"Jene?" Muldoon asked.
	Jene looked at the oldest sibling.
	Muldoon cleared her throat. "I... I'd like to thank you for
saving Ifurita." She said softly. She stroked Ifurita's hair. 
"I... don't know what I would have done if you didn't save her. 
Thank you."
	Jene just looked at Muldoon. She looked confused but she saw 
the genuine relief and thanks in Muldoon's eyes so she just smiled.
	That was when Ifurita yawned and stretched. She moved
around in Muldoon's lap before drifting off.
	Muldoon smiled and looked at Jene. "Excuse me..." She got
up and looked at Shayla and Arlamond. "Come on you two. It's time
for bed."
	Arlamond nodded and went off to her bed in the corner. Shayla
looked like she was going to refuse but suddenly decided that she
was too tired so she trudged off to bed as well.
	Muldoon put Ifurita into her own bed and kissed the little
girl on her forehead, tucking her in. Then, she went back to Jene,
who still sat where she had, a twinkle of amusement in her eye.
	Muldoon went to the kitchen section and got two cups of tea,
one of which she handed to Jene, who accepted and sipped.
	Muldoon looked at Jene who was sipping the tea, but had
one eye on the broken sword on the ground beside her. 
	Muldoon set her cup on the floor slowly and reached openly
to the sword. Jene watched her the entire time, but didn't voice
any complaint.
	Muldoon picked up the sword and looked at it. There wasn't
anything very special about it. She looked at Jene. "I'm sorry I
broke your sword. I... I thought you were going to attack me with
it. I'm very sorry." Then, Muldoon paused. "What is so special
about this sword anyway?"
	Jene looked at Muldoon. She didn't understand what Muldoon
had just said, but she realized the basic concept of what Muldoon 
wanted to know.
	Jene took the sword and stood up. She put the sword into her
belt and used her hands to mime what looked like a box around her.
	Then, she took the sword out, sliced once, put the sword
away, and stepped out of the imaginary box. She looked at Muldoon
with an expression that asked if she knew what she was talking
about.
	Muldoon smiled impishly and shook her head. "I... I'm sorry.
I don't understand what you mean."
	Jene sighed. She looked outside a window then looked back
at Muldoon. She held one arm horizontal and then made a fist with
her other hand. Slowly, she moved her fist towards the horizontal
arm, until it was lower than it.
	Then, Jene put her hands under her head and curled up in a
fetal position, as if she was asleep. After that, she put one arm
horizontal again and moved her fist so that it was above the other
arm again. 
	Jene pointed to herself, then pointed to Muldoon and opened
and closed her mouth.
	Muldoon thought about Jene's actions once more before she
realized what the other girl wanted.
	"We'll talk tomorrow! I see!" Muldoon said. "I guess you're
right. It is late now. Okay. We'll talk tomorrow."
	Muldoon went to one corner of the room and brought a spare
pillow and blanket for Jene. 
	Jene accepted them with a smile. She said something to 
Muldoon in her own language.
	Muldoon nodded and went to her own bed to sleep.

*****************************************************************

	The next morning, Ifurita jumped onto Muldoon as she laid
asleep in her bed, rudely awakening the oldest sibling.
	"Ooff!!"
	"Mornin' Mully!" Ifurita said happily. She seemed to have
forgotten about yesterday's little incident completely. 
	Muldoon blinked and yawned. She ran a hand through her light
purple hair. "Oh... good morning 'Rita." Then, she blinked as she 
remembered what happened yesterday. ~Did that really happen?!~ 
She wondered to herself. ~Where's the girl?!~
	Muldoon got out of bed and stretched. Ifurita happily 
skipped away from her and into the kitchen area. A sweet smell
was in the air and Muldoon realized that it was the smell of
breakfast cooking.
	But since it wasn't Muldoon who was doing the cooking, there
was only two other people who could be.
	"Shayla!! Arla!! How many times have I told you not to 
play with the stove?!"  Muldoon ran after Ifurita, "you could 
get... hurt?"
	It wasn't Shayla or Arlamond who was cooking. It was Jene.
The girl was at the stove, expertly flipping some eggs. When she
saw Muldoon, she smiled.
	"Morning Good, Muldoon." She said.
	Muldoon stared at her.
	Jene frowned. "I say greeting wrong?" She asked. "Sorry. Long
time since I last speak this tongue. I think to self last night,
tongue Muldoon speak in sound familiar, so I try remember. You
understand, yes?"
	Muldoon swallowed and nodded slowly. "I... I understand 
you... sort of..."
	Jene smiled broadly. "Good." She pointed at the bathroom.
"Go get ready. You wake late. Ifurita and Arlamond tell me all go 
work today. So I get food ready. You go."
	Numbly, Muldoon walked over to the bathroom to get ready. 
When she got out, she saw four sets of breakfast on the table.
Shayla was busily gobbling her's down while Jene was attacking
the nine year old's messy and unruly red hair.
	At the same time, Arlamond was brushing out Ifurita's wavy
white hair.
	Shayla grinned when she saw her oldest sister. "Hey Mully!
Guess what, Jene's attempting to comb my hair!" She snickered.
	Combing Shayla's hair was a joke between the four sisters.
Shayla's red hair was impossible to comb. Muldoon had attempted 
to comb it a while ago, and after going through 5 combs and 
three brushes, she had wisely given up.
	Jene gave a cry of surprise when the wooden comb in her hands
snapped in two. 
	The sisters all laughed while Jene looked at the comb,
confused.
	"Eat, Mully!" Ifurita said, pointing at the food beside
her.
	Cautiously, Muldoon sat down and poked at the egg a bit 
before taking a bite. The food was delicious. After breakfast,
Muldoon looked at Jene.
	"Where did you learn to cook like that?!" She asked. "I
make eggs all the time, but they never taste like that!"
	Jene laughed. "I tell you later. I think you all go work
now, yes?"
	Muldoon suddenly blinked when she realized that what Jene
had said was correct. 
	"Hey that's right! Come on guys, we have to get going! Our
shift begins in five minutes! Uh... Ifurita, remember that it's
your turn today to serve Princess Rhoshtaria and Floristica and 
Arlamond, you and Shayla are on kitchen duty. There's a summit 
meeting today and all of the other rulers will be coming so 
everyone has to be on their best behavior. Ifurita, be good!!"
	"I 'member!" Ifurita promised.
	"Okay, we have to go now!!" Muldoon rushed all her sisters
out to the when she realized that they had a guest with them. She
turned to see Jene looking at the sisters with amusement in her
eyes.
	"Uh... what will you be doing...?" Muldoon asked.
	"Hm? Oh, you no worry about me. I be fine. Your home be
fine too." Jene grinned.
	"Right..." Muldoon slowly walked out the door, all the while
looking at the stranger standing in the middle of her home. ~Is it
a good idea to leave a stranger in the house??~ She wondered.
	"Come ON, Mully!" Arlamond called.
	~Can't think about that now!!~ Muldoon thought to herself as
she remembered that she was gonna be late.

*****************************************************************


Notes:
	Okay, so what did you think of it? A little note. Since this
part was completely in the past, none of the original characters
in the anime appear, except for Ifurita. So, I tried to find 
landmarks in El Hazard which could have been named after a person
and began with the same letter as some of the names in the anime 
to correspond some of the characters here with ones in the anime.
	Muldoon = Miz
	Arlamond = Afura
	Shayla = Shayla
	Floristica = Fatora
	Rhoshtaria = Rune Venue
	I tried to find a landmark in El Hazard that began with an 
"S" which could have been named after a person in the past to
correspond with Shayla, but I couldn't find one, so I just used 
the same name.
	A bit of an explanation with the names of the two countries.
	'Necromia' came from the prefix 'Necro' which meant death,
corpse, dying etc.
	'Kor' stands for Kingdom Of Rhoshtaria

Thanks to Lord Talon for his input and comments! I am forever in
your debt, M'Lord!

Comments? Cristism? Please?

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com