Spirit within II: First night: Battle field of confusion 2.

	Makoto and Fujisawa walked into the room after Ryo chan was
dressed on robes for her impersonation. "Owoooo! Hey baby how about a
little date?!" cried Fujisawa jokingly. Makoto was rolling on the floor
in hysterics.
	Ryo made a small disapproving noise and shot a small ki blast at
the pair. They stood silently looking singed as Ryo casually walked by
muttering angrily. "Jerks." she growled under her breath as she passed
them. The ladies in waiting scurried around her nervously wanting to be
very far away from what they saw. 
	"Gods, she even acts like her." said one of them. Ryo smiled.

	"You look very pretty." said Rune Venus with a giggle as Ryo
walked in. 
	"I thank you, you did make sure that there will be no hot soups
or liquids at this ceremony, did you not?" said Ryo with a serious gaze.
	"Yes, as you requested but, why?" asked Lanz.
	"Because the curse turns me into a water magnet. It will activate
at the most inconvenient time if at all possible." said Ryo with a frown.
	"I see, then we must be most careful." said Rune.
	A tall arrogant looking man with long white hair waltzed into the
room and smiled at Venus charmingly. "Ah, princess." he said to her.
	"Galus you know that only the royal house is allowed in here."
said the princess with a smile.
	"Oh, can't you bend the rules for your own fiancee'?" he asked
jokingly. His gaze shifted to Ryo and he almost gasped in suprise.
	Ryo grinned at him. "Well hello its nice to see you Galus." she
said with a knowing stare.
	He quickly regained himself and frowned. "I heard about your
ordeal yesterday I was so worried that I rushed here at once." said Galus
politely to the princess.
	"Your thoughts are very much appreciated dear Galus." said Rune
to her fiancee'.
	Ryo had enough. "Well Galus perhaps you can tell them what
happened to me while I was away?" he said to him with a malicious grin.
	"Damn, it is her! How did she get out?!" thought Galus as he
backed away.
	"What are you doing?" yelled Rune Venus angrily at Ryo.
	"I will not take these lies from you any more." said Ryo to
Galus. "Tell me why I cannot see your aura! How are you hiding it from
me?!" yelled Ryo as he lept at Galus in a kick.
	"What?!" cried Galus in shock as the girls eyes began to glow. He
shifted and she slammed into the wall creating a crater. 
	"Princess what has happened to your sister?" cried Galus in mock
fear.
	"Stop this at once!" yelled Rune standing between Ryo and Galus,
forcing the martial artist to back down.
	"No! Princess!" cried Lanz stepping before her, he relaxed as Ryo
did not press his attack.
	"I will not, only a most powerful illusion has the ability to
hide an aura from me. He is at the very least a dark Sorcerer." said Ryo
threateningly. He was really enjoying the role he was playing right now.
	"What?" cried Rune.
	"He looked suprised to see me here, as if he knew me to be
somewhere else. Why is that Galus?" said Ryo to the man who pretended to
cower in fear.
	"What does she mean Galus?" asked Lanz with a hard gaze.
	"The princess is not well surely you don't believe her
fantastical story." said Galus as he stood behind Rune.
	Ryo jumped into the air and almost landed on Galus. He would have
had the man not rolled away. "Lets see how well your illusion holds up to
this! Moukou Takabishi!" cried Ryo as she unleashed her blast at Galus
who slammed against the wall and shifted forms on impact as he browned
out from the shock.
	"Galus!" cried the princess as she rushed to his side, almost.
She stopped cold several feet away and backed away in horror. "My god!"
she gasped as Galus stood and looked at her coldly.
	"Well it seems I've been discovered." he said weakly as he
struggled to his feet. "Pity." he said as he faded into invisibility.
	Makoto burst into the room and looked at the mess before him,
Fujisawa came in after him breathing hard and looking winded, in his hand
was a bottle of whine and he was blushing slightly. "What happened I
heard a chi blast!" Makoto cried as he entered.
	"Is he still here?" asked Lanz in shock.
	"No, his presence is gone." replied Ryo as he looked out at the
balcony.
	"I for one never liked him." said Stalumbau.
	The princess looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Come we must
go to the meeting. It has been delayed long enough." she said standing
tall.
	"I admire your strength." said Ryo as he walked beside her.
	"Princess?" said Lanz in concern.
	"We will deal with this later." she said to him calmly.
	
	Ryo was lead to a great room where many people sat around a
square pool of water on pillows with servents attending to their needs.
She followed Rune Venus and kept silent. They were lead to the head of
the pool and sat Next to each other with Ryo sitting on the left.
	"Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for coming so far. The reason
for this meeting is to address the potential threat that El-Hazard and
its allies face. Bugrom forces advance towards us. But we still maintain
the upper hand. So long as we control the eye of god Victory is assured."
said Rune calmly.
	"Your majesty do you truly intend to use such a lethal weapon if
provoked?" asked one of the men sitting around the pool.
	"Yes I do. I am well aware of the eye's destructive capabilities,
and the past consequences of its use." said Rune in answer.
	"But some Bugrom divisions are already close at hand. Villages
and small towns are falling at an alarming rate. We need proof that you
will use it if necessary." said the man.
	"I agree with him. You should give us proof that you will use the
Eye of god if the circumstances call for it." said one of the men
opposite him.
	"Yes, you should unseal the shield surrounding it as proof of
your intent to use it." said a woman a few seats down.
	She is right this will appease all sides." agreed the man who had
been speaking before.
	Stalumbau nodded to her and the princess sighed. "Very well then,
I will send my sister Fatora to the three holy sages and have the seal
removed." said Rune.
	Ryo looked at her and nodded. 
	"Excellent, she is a perfect candidate for this mission." said
one of the men.
	Ryo sat calmly and nodded again.
	The rest of the meeting went uneventful.

	Afterwards Ryo walked with the princess for a short time. "This
was not part of our agreement. I will do it, however, You must promise me
that Makoto and any one else who becomes involved will be well provided
for and that he will have access to all the records and knowledge that
you can provide for him when this is all over." said Ryo calmly.
	"You are in no position to make demands." said Lanz angrily to
him from behind.
	"I am in the perfect position to make demands. You will give me
your word princess or me and my companions will leave on our own. We are
not your subjects and bow before no master. Perhaps you could have Lanz
tell you of what he saw in the dungeon when we were kept in there over
night. What I ask of you is not difficult nor beyond your power. I also
ask that you not tell Fujisawa or Makoto of our agreement. I believe you
would have done so any way but I want to be sure." said Ryo to the
princess.
	"I will do as you ask. I thank you for your help." said Rune to
him.
	"I will help in any way that I can. You will understand why when
the time comes. I know my destiny in this place." said Ryo.
	"Come along, we have appointments to keep." said Lanz as he
pulled out a list of things and places Fatora had to be.
	"Oh man." grumbled Ryo to himself.
	"You must attend a review of the military, then you have a
luncheon date with the general of the army, after that you have a lesson
scheduled to teach you about El-Hazard etiquette and Protocol, then this
evening you must attend a reception royal ball." read Lanz as he tried to
make it sound existing.
	"Go away." whined Ryo.
	"Well the princess certainly enjoyed these things. To think a
young girl like you would get to experience the life of a princess." said
Lanz glaring at Ryo.
	"What did you call me?" said Ryo gazing at him coolly.	

	"Did you just here someone scream?" asked Fujisawa as he placed
his cards down on the edge of the fountain.
	"Nope." said Makoto as he looked at his own hand thoughtfully.
	"Maybe the bars closed, it's getting kind of late." said Fujisawa
as he poured himself another glass of wine.

	Off in a distant part of El-Hazard...

	 Jinnai stood atop one of the giant insect transport bugs and
called out to his army. "El-Hazard will be ours for the taking! March on
my legions!" he cried as they advanced. He began his Hysterical laughter.
	
	Miles away in the desert region of the land...

	Foot prints could be seen for miles behind her as Nanami Jinnai
walked on in the desert. "Water, I need water." she murmured as she
walked on. She spotted a small tent with a man sitting between some pots
in it. She walked up to him and handed him a Yen bill. He took it looked
at it and frowned. He crumpled it up and blew his nose with it before
throwing it over his shoulder. "Why must my life be so hard in every
world!?" she cried and fell to her knees.
	
	Ryo walked into the princess Fatora's room and fell into bed
looking weary. "Ug, If they ever found out I had to dance with a guy I'd
never live it down." she muttered as she collapsed into the bed. She lay
under the covers and started to drift off. Then she felt something
strange and looked to see something moving under the covers. "Alielle."
he muttered with a small smile. He frowned as she began to lick his
stomach. "Hey, cut that out, I'm tired." he muttered to her.
	"Oh, how I've missed you Fatora! Your lover has returned!" the
young girl gasped from under the covers. Ryo lifted them and saw
something was wrong right away. She reached for her wrist and threw her
into the wall hard.
	"Who the hell are you?" she growled at the small blue skinned
boy. He was holding a knife across his chest that was covered in blood.
He smiled at her and began to fade away.
	"Oh, no you don't! Moukou Takabishi!" yelled Ryo as he shot a ki
blast that knocked the young boy out of his illusion. He screeched in
suprise and fear as Ryo held him by his neck in the air. His neck seemed
to grow spikes which tore through Ryo's hand. She cried out in pain and
squeezed harder. "If you do not stop I will squeeze your little head off
boy." growled Ryo.
	"Wh-Who are you?" gasped the boy as the illusion faded.
	"That's my line kid." said Ryo as he calmly watched the boy
struggle in his grasp.
	"Where is Alielle?" asked Ryo calmly.
	"The boy's eyes went wide with fear as he pointed under the bed.
Ryo threw him out the window and turned the bed over effortlessly. He
looked as the terror stricken girl gazed up at her and smiled. It was
obvious she was wounded badly and had gone into shock. Ryo carefully
lifted her up after checking her for broken bones and wrapped her in a
blanket.
	"My princess..." she said before passing out.
	"Hang on kid." said Ryo as he ran down the hall with her.

	Lanz stood in shock as the young girl burst into the room with
the girl in her arms. "She needs help." said Ryo calmly as she set her on
the table.
	
	About an hour later...
	
	"She will be fine in a few hours, as good as new. Our healing
technology is great and her wounds while life threatening were minor. If
you had not rescued her so quickly my boy she would have bled to death.
It was wise of you to tie her wounds." said Stalumbau as he walked out of
the room looking weary.
	"What happened to your attacker?" asked Lanz in a worried tone.
	"I threw him out the window." said Ryo.
	Makoto stood nearby with Fujisawa and the princess. "He must be
dead then." he said.
	"Don't count on it. Thats how Galus escaped." said Ryo. "I
couldn't waste time on him until I got her to safety. It's a good thing I
saw her."
	The princess started for a moment but said nothing. 
	"I apologize, I wasn't thinking your highness." said Ryo calmly.
	"It is all right." said the princess looking at him with a small
smile. "I must thank you for revealing him to us." 
	"You should sleep in a different room." said Fujisawa to her.
	"Good Idea, but probably unnecessary. It's me they are after. I
think they were hoping that the Bugrom would notice your sisters absence
and attack." said Ryo calmly. "Still we should be careful."
	"But why not just kill her then?" asked Makoto.
	"Tighter security? or...No it can't be." said Ryo trying to look
thoughtful. "I think your sister is still alive princess." said Ryo
finally.
	"What?" she said looking hopeful.
	"Do tell." said Lanz with a gleam in his eye.
	"Both of you are needed to activate the eye of god right?" he
asked.
	"Yes." replied Rune.
	"What if they are trying to find or already have a way to do it
with just one of you? They could easily attack during a Bugrom invasion.
Maybe without being noticed." said Ryo.
	"Yes, it all makes sense now." said Lanz.
	"Then we should leave the shield intact." said Rune.	
	"But, Highness. We told the others we would release it, and what
if the Bugrom take that as proof that our princess is fake?" asked Lanz
warningly.
	"He's right." agreed Makoto honestly, but for his own reasons.
	"Well we should all get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."
said Ryo.
	"We do?" asked Makoto.
	"Yes, you are coming with me. Fujisawa too." said Ryo.
	"What?" cried the two in unison.
	"It's mountain climbing..." said Ryo and Fujisawa was begging to
go at his feet. "I already said you were going, geez." said Ryo.
	"Why do I have to go?" muttered Makoto as he turned to go to his
room.
	At that they all went to their rooms to sleep...
	TBC....
	Next:  The world of Beautiful girls.

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]