Alright, this is for you guys that think this list is all about Ranma and
friends...well, ok so it is...so what...
Thanks goes out to Matt Lewis, Robert Morrison, and this guy who knacked me
into writing more on El Hazard. What you will read though, will probably
scare you....^_^
Legend of El Hazard
-----------------------
by Florencio B. de la Merced, Jr. (fmerced@pworld.net.ph)
(http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/3641/index.html)
A fanfic inspired by the anime El Hazard, created by AIC.
----------------------------------------
Chapter 4
-----
The World of Forgotten Promises
-----
The crack of dawn in Roshtaria was a mystical sight to behold. Not only was
the evening mist receding back into the outlands and country sides that
surrounded the capital city of Floristica a breathtaking view, the warm
luxurious rays of the morning sun help ward away the evening doldrums and
cast away the shadows of yesterday. Helping usher the new day, a fresh
start for everyone.
For one soul, however, the events of a day's gone couldn't escape his mind.
Makoto shook and trembled as he tried to rise off his bed. He
had not the privelage of the sandman's curse all night, staying awake
worrying. What was he worried about? He kept asking himself. His father
and mother suddenly showed up in El Hazard, his mother was at least fifteen
years younger. No, more than that. Seventeen, as he recalled. His age was
the gap that separated this El Hazard from the one his parent's knew.
"Arrrgh! This has got to be a bad dream!" He cried out in pain, shaking
off his head the callouses of his weary thinking throughout the evening. "I
can't possibly be . . ." He blinked, unexpectedly, as if a new idea formed
in his head. "a son of a priestess of Mount Mouldoon?" He fell back in
bed, a pile of pillows imploding their stored air around him. "And, what
about Ifurita?"
-----
"Good question, what about her?" Professor Schtalubaugh asked as he stood
beside a moving ladder that was a main fixture inside the Great Library of
Roshtaria. Nariko Mizuhara was sitting on one of the high steps, a book of
the ancients in her hand.
"You have told me about a demon god, by the name of Ifurita." Nariko skimmed
the pages of the book, her finger travelling the creases of the leaves
concurrently. "Yet, the Ifurita that I know is not who you speak of."
"Really?" Schatalubaugh carresed the beard on his face. "This is quite a
quandry. We've only known of Ifurita, the most terrifying demon god that
destroyed thousands of civilizations." He looked at Nariko's glassy eyes,
"Yet, you insist of a different person."
"The Ifurita that I know of was the princess of Roshtaria, back then a small
kingdom compared to what it is now." Nariko closed the book and toss it at
a nearby table. A pillar of dust rose from the debris. "I sure wish to
know what happened." She grabbed another book at random. "Argh! More
history books..." She tossed it aside.
"Wouldn't those help us in our search?" Schtalubaugh said.
"Nope, they're from my time...I already know most of it." Nariko randomly
selected another archive, "What I'd like to see is a newer history book.
>From the time we made that trip to the Eye of God, till the Holy Wars." She
opened the old parchment cover and started reading what it could possible
reveal..
"I must say, you've got to help us decipher most of these text you've
bypassed. So far, you're the only one who is able to read these text, Mrs.
Mizuhara." Schtalubaugh grabbed the book Nariko had recently just tossed
aside, and tried his best decrypting the acient title. "The . . . Legend of
. . ."
"El Hazard," Nariko said, finishing another book and tossing it aside. "I
believe that would be one of the oldest in this Library, Professor
Schtalubaugh."
"Is this some sort of children's book?" Schtalubaugh said after browsing
through several pages, most of it filled with bright and colorful but mostly
faded illustrations.
"Huh?" Nariko paused for a moment, "Well, not really. It talks more of
prophecy, more on the fantasy side." She reopened the dusty book and
skimmed further than when she did a while ago. "It's one of El Hazard's
most enraging fairy tales. No one really knows who wrote this story. But
there is quite a classic love story in there."
"A love story?" The voice said from atop the planks, the connecting
walkways that interconnected the upper levels of the library. Nanami and
Alliele had just arrived and that question from Nanami announced their
presence.
"Oh, Nanami. Good Morning." Nariko said from below.
"What's this about a legend, Mrs. Mizuhara?" Alliele asked as the two
climbed down towards Nariko and Schtalubaugh's level.
"Well, El Hazard was pretty much divided in my time into separate kingdoms
that often were in constant disagreement with each other." Nariko turned a
leaf over from the book, as if directly quoting from the text.
"This book has two parts, there is the begginning." Nariko stoked throught
several pages. "Which tells of El Hazard's mystical beginnings. How a
wonderer from another place and time found himself on this world. It was a
beautiful place, with the evergreen scenery never breaking from the horizon
on one end, to the other. But he was all alone."
"That's is sad. Some people would go nuts if left all alone for even a
day." Nanami said as she pulled up a chair to listen.
"Speaking of alone, I just remembered. I have to wake my princess."
Alliele bade everyone goodbye, leaving a promise to return.
"Who was this being?" Schtalubaugh asked.
"The story never said anything. Though everyone back in my time suspected
that little old hermit that lived at the end of the Holy River of God."
Nariko's voice trailed off, somehow reminiscing her past muddled her
storytelling expertice.
"Hermit?" Schtalubaugh and Nanami both asked?
-----
Hinosuke squinted, the sunlight waking him that morning. He tried to find
his balance, still accustomed to the rocking motion of the seas and his
floater. Surprisingly enough the deck felt stable. That's when he realized
where he really was that morning. "Land?" He looked over the starboard
side and, sure enough, sand greeted him with the light truffle of white foam
of the calm sea abound. "I must have reached landfall last night." He
gathered what was left of his things and headed inland.
The vegetation around him had not changed, he sighed with relief. "At least
that''s one thing that hasn't changed over the years." He looked up towards
the canopy of the forest top, the morning sunlight's slanting rays should
point him where he needs to go. "That way." He told himself.
The flora was breathtaking, he knew that much. So much like Earth's own
rainforest, and not a single logging company in sight. He chuckled,
recalling an old joke he was suddenly reminded of by his surroundings. "I
wonder if he's still alive?" He asked himself.
He picked up a fallen tree branch and fashioned himself a innovative walking
stick. Finally, after half an hour of trekking through the underbrush he
found himself at the edge of the forest, a cliff face leading toward a huge
rift valley right in the heart of the vast island at the end of the Holy
River of God. He sat to rest, scouting the landscape at the same time.
"Hmm. Now, how am I suppose to get down there without a flyer?"
-----
Makoto was lead inside Princess Rune's quarters by a couple of the royal
guards, still unmindfull of the fact that he was indeed a different person
from that of the second princess of Roshtaria. He figured they should have
figured it out by now, but to his dismay he's still treated like some sort
of royalty. He didn't like it, but that was a subjective conclusion,
considering how much he had learned from his alter ego. They are truly
different, Princess Rune and Fatora. Even he had doubts of Fatora's
upbringing.
"Yes, Makoto. I heard you were looking for me." Princess Rune had come out
of the terrace overlooking her palace from her inner room. She had her cat
protector with her and it scurried away at Makoto's arrival.
"Did I frighten him or something?" Makoto crudely asked as he was lead to a
nearby pillow seat.
"Oh, no. Aramis is always like that whenever Fatora is around." A slight
hint of laughter in Rune's reply helped break the ice between the two. "So
what is it you seek of me, Makoto?"
"I..." Makoto shyly stirred his head away, afraid to see Rune's reaction.
"I'd like to ask permission to visit the Eye of God, your highness."
"Makoto." Rune's subtle voice helped shoothe the tension between the two
further. "I know how much you miss Ifurita, dear Makoto. But we've talked
about this before."
Makoto's heart sank, his nimble head stirring back into fore.
"I...know...but."
"Makoto. You should be happy right now," Rune's hand crept up to touch
Makoto's face. "You're parents have come to El Hazard to return you to your
wonderful Shinonome High, remember. Or have you forgotten already?"
"Huh? No, I haven't really." He looked straight into Rune's eyes,
"I...I..." Her hand receeded.
"Come now, Makoto. As Professor Schtalubaugh had explained to me, you'd
need only to wait for your father's arrival into Floristica and no sooner
than that, you'd be in your...What was it called again?" Rune tried
recalling the right words.
"Japan?" Makoto sighed. "It's more than that, I'm afraid."
"Really? What else could possibly be troubling you?"
-----
Afuraman had reached Mount Mouldoon last night and had eversince then been
digging around their private library for hours now. She had piles of books
stacked away like as if she had gone through them already. She was resting
her back in one of the easy floating chairs around the room and had a book
opened up in front of her. "Oh, my. How could I have missed reading all of
these books?" She asked himself. Her eyes closed and a glimpse of her
conversation last night with Nariko filled her head.
"Mrs. Mizuhara. I was wondering, how come the library of Mouldoon never
mentioned about you or your acquaintance with Mr. Mizuhara, Makoto's
father?"
"Hmm. Can you keep a secret?" Nariko softly whispered in her ear.
"Huh?"
"Makoto's father wasn't really that popular with my other sisters."
Nariko winked back at her. "If however I know my sisters well there
should be a record of his first appearance in El Hazard in the Great
Book. Right?"
"Great Book?" Afura had to ask.
"Yes, the one were we keep our diaries. It's still the custom for
priestess of Mt. Mouldoon to keep records of their daily lives, right?"
Afura eyes opened, in front of her were the diaries of her predecessors, a
huge pile of phamplets and notes that occupied the whole room named
"Antiquities and Monetary" in one remote section of their palacial home.
"So that's what this room was holding." She tossed the book she was reading
and got another one from the pile in front of her. "I always thought this
room was for keeping 'old' stuff in.
"Yeah, like Sister Meez." Shayla said as she tossed a notebook from the
other side of the room and started reading on another. "Geez, its a good
thing we priestess don't do these things anymore. I'll get bored of just
writing day after day of nothing."
"You shouldn't blame Meez. In fact she's keeping a diary herself, mind
you." Afura said.
"Really, now that's something I didn't know." Shayla found a dainty looking
purple notebook and started opening the pages. "How in the world would we
know if it's Makoto's mother's diary anyway? These text are foreign to me."
"She always sign her entries with her ..." Afura said.
"Her lovely flower caricature with all sorts of happy faces scribbled
around?" Shayla put up the purple notebook she had. "Found it."
"At last." Afura stood up, stretching away the numbness of hours of sitting
around. "Well, let's get back to Floristica, before Meez notices we're
missing."
"Too, late." Meez was at the doorway, dragging a dead tired Masamichi
Fujisawa behind her. "What are you two doing in here? You know that this
place is sacred and was not to be disturbed." Masamichi just oggled some
silly thing about being dragged off his bed so early in the morning just to
come here in a commandeered flyer from the royal palace.
"I need a very good explanation." Meez shouted.
"Hey, calm down, will ya. We were just looking for something." Shayla
said, waving a conspicuous purple notebook in her hand. "Ooops." She tried
to hide it.
"I don't suppose that belongs to a certain fourth priestess of Mt Mouldoon,
now is it?" Meez said, collaring Masamichi under her arms in a head lock
position.
"I don't see the big deal, sis." Afura said as she sat at the corner of a
table. "Mrs. Mizuhara herself said it was alright to peek into her diary.
It wouldn't give her any clues either of what had happened after she had
left El Hazard, those many years ago."
"Make that ten thousand years ago, sis." Shayla said. "Check out the date on
this entry." She handed the diary to Afura.
"Indeed." Afura began browsing the unfamiliar text.
"Even if Mrs. Mizuhara gave her permission, I certainly did not give mine
for you two to open the Great Book Archives!" Meez shoved everybody out of
the room and closed the door behind her. "There!" The key locked the door
shut. "I'll be keeping this key from now on."
"Sure thing. We originally got it from you anyway." Shayla mocked, getting
a quick jab in her stomach from Afura immediately after. "Ooof.."
"Dispicable! I can't believe it." Meez dragged her half conscious
companion toward the end of the hallway, Shayla and Afura following closely
behind.
-----
Hinosuke had fashioned himself a sturdy rope made from the wild vines he had
scrapped off the jungle floor all morning. He tested it's strength and was
convince that it would hold his weight. He started his descent, spelunking
down the valley cliff face ever so slowly, using the innovative rope he had
made along the way. He'd hook one end into a tree stump jutting ouf the
cliff face, using a climber's knot so he'd retrieve the rope when he landed
on a lower ledge.
"Easy does it. Easy does it." He said to himself, while whistling a tune
from his younger years. Half a day later he reached the valley floor. A
mountain brook offered him relaxation from his ardous journey down into the
valley. He opened a lunch pack, some fruits again, he sighed. "Now, I'm
beggining to miss Nariko's lima beans stew." He chuckled.
"So you've returned, Mizuhara." A voice interrupted his brief luncheon.
"Are you ready to journey back to El Hazard?"
Hinosuke jumped up, looking behind and seeing a short old man, with a staff
as a walking stick. The strange looking man looked frail and weak. The
outline of his contour almost looked transparent somewhat. A ghostly image,
was it? Soon, the spirit's image resolved into a more solid figure in front
of him. He walked towards him, his staff guiding him. The staff was a tall
stick, with two blue orbs and a rough fashioned head on top. Immediately he
calmed down though, he finally realized who it was he was facing. An old
friend from long ago. "Nice to see you again, sensei. I knew you'd still
be alive."
"Don't mock my curse, Mizuhara." The hermit stopped over the stones where
Hinosuke had left his bag. "I see you travel lightly this time, Mizuhara."
"Lightly?" Hinosuke sat down, continuig consuming his food. "I was
wondering if you could help me, sensei." A light bap on the head was his
reply. "Ouch." Hinosuke instinctively grabbed the staff away from the
hermit.
"You must come with me. Now. Back to where you left off, Mizuhara." The
hermit walked away, forcing Hinosuke to pack his bag again.
"But, I need to find..."
"Your son, right?" The hermit turned around, almost at a complete stop.
"How did you know?" Hinosuke asked.
"I know everything, you should know that by now. The future, the past, the
present...all I can see. You remember now?" The hermit continued down the
lonely path through the undergrowth of the think jungle. "If you are
looking for your son, look no further."
"What? You mean he had wandered here in your temple?" The hermit grabbed
the staff from Hinosuke and bapped him again on the head, offering the
carrying of the stick back to Hinosuke as he grimaced in pain.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"You talk to much. Ask to many questions. You're son is not here. But he
will join you shortly." The hermit walking into a clearing and stood in a
middle of a grassy open and clapped his hands non-chalantly. Soon after the
meadow faded away, revealing a hidden temple of the ancients. "Come,
Ifurita is waiting."
"Wait a sec." Hinosuke couldn't move. "Ifurita is in there?"
"Where do you think that staff you are holding came from?"
Hinosuke just looked puzzled and worried, his eyes dropping towards the
staff he was holding, then gradually glancing at the temple entrance up
ahead. His old friend was waving for him to hurry up. And so he did.
-----
Makoto left Princess Rune Venus' chambers a bit dissapointed. He didn't
succeed in getting permission to try again his experiments with the Eye of
God. But he did found out about something else. Some kind hearted support
from the first princess of Roshtaria, and a revelation. He walked down the
corridor, his mind racing with conventional thinking. "I shouldn't have
said that to her. I never knew she lost her parents while she was young."
A slap on his back surprised him.
"Yo! Makoto. What were you doing in my sister's room, eh?" Fatora, the
second princess of Roshtaria asked him, commanding an immediate answer.
Alliele was just behind her, adoring her like no other. "Well?"
"Um, Fatora. I'm sorry about that. I never knew you lost your parents
while you and Princess Rune were still young." Makoto head tipped a bit.
"I'm sorry I had intruded." He was about to leave when a hand held him
back.
"What were you doing exactly?" Fatora facial expression was a mixed feeling
of anger, angst and saddness. "How did you...? Why?"
-----
Nariko closed the book almost in shock when he heard Lond's rough cut voice
coming from the upper levels of the library. "Oh, my. Who was that?"
Londs and a few of his guards had entered the chambers. "Forgive me, Mrs.
Mizuhara. But the princess had asked for an audience." He bowed
courteously as Nariko climbed up the stairs.
"I wonder why. Londs, do you know?" Nariko asked as she was led away by
the guards.
Londs only said, "It must be about your son, Mrs. Mizuhara. He was in her
chambers this morning."
Instantly, a thought occured inside Nariko's head. "Could it be?"
"What is it, Mrs. Mizuhara?"
Nariko could only smile, "Oh, nothing. But tell me Londs. The princess is
still available, right?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand..."
"Silly, maybe my son has got the hots for your Princess Rune Venus, don't
you think? I wonder..." Nariko held a finger under her chin, "But what
about Ifurita...Or Nanami." She sighed. Londs on the other hand had the
biggest bewildered look on him.
"I'm afraid I'm at a lost, Mrs. Mizuhara." Londs said as the two walked
down the hallway towards Princess Rune's chambers.
"Oh, nevermind, Londs. It's probably something else." Nariko to herself,
"Damn, Makoto had become such a playboy here in El Hazard. Just like his
father." " Hmmph."
-----
"Say, Professor. Can you possibly continue reading the rest of this book?"
Nanami held in her arms the book Nariko had been telling about that morning.
"I'm very interested in knowing how it ends."
"I'm sorry, Nanami. But I'm afraid the text in this particular book is from
an ancient tongue that may take some time learning." Schtalubaugh replied.
"Then I want to learn a new language." Nanami slammed both of her hands,
with the book and all, on the nearby desk. "Teach me the ancient language
of El Hazard!"
"What?" Schtalubaugh didn't know how answer Nanami's question. "Are you
sure, Nanami?"
-----
Alliele stayed with Fatora, even though she could hardly get a word through
her princess while she was crying in bed. She had awakened her a minute
ago, promising a beautiful day to her beloved. Unfortunately, things turned
for the worse as it seems when they met up with Makoto that morning.
"Fatora, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"I was...too young to remember." Fatora tried to clear her eyes. "I can't
even remember their faces, Alliele. Only the paintings around the palace
reminds me of my parents." She cried again.
"I...guess you miss them." Alliele slowly crawled out of bed and headed
towards the door. "I'll leave you alone, my princess. I nor anyone else
can help you right now." Fatora just buried her head in a few more pillows,
wailing in return. Alielle sighed, "But maybe I know someone that can help
you. See ya later, Fatora."
"Mama, Papa..." Fatora cried for the memories she no longer holds.
-----
"Mrs. Mizuhara, thank you for coming." Rune said as her guest entered her
chambers. "I hope you are having a pleasant stay here in Roshtaria." Both
women, looking like they were the same age, proceeded to sit down.
"I have to thank you, princess," Nariko said in reply. "You've taken care
of my son so well this past few days, I don't really know how we could show
our appreciation."
"Think nothing of it, Mrs. Mizuhara. Without Makoto, El Hazard would never
have been saved from out enemies. That is more than enough payment for our
hospitality." Rune offered her guest some tea. "I hope you won't be
offended by my next quesiton, Mrs. Mizuhara."
"Call me Nariko, please." Nariko said as she sipped a cup of tea. "We're
about the same age, right?" She giggled a bit. "Anyway, is this about
Makoto?"
"You are perceptive, Nariko. I wonder how you knew." Rune said as she
placed her cup down on the tabletop, "Yes, Makoto came to see me this
morning, Nariko."
"And, did he say something that bothered you?"
"Yes," Rune said.
"Bingo!" Nariko said to herself. "My son's definitely in love with the
princess. Well, I guess it comes from his father."
"Mrs. Mizuhara?" Rune asked as Nariko was wandering off in thought.
"Oh, nothing. Did I say something out loud?"
"Um, Nariko. Makoto had asked me to _ask_ you to let him stay a few more
days here in El Hazard."
Stay? Nariko asked herself. "Well, it's not like we have a choice,
princess. His father would be the only one knows how we can get us back to
Earth now that I don't have any more crystals and yet he hasn't yet arrived
here in Roshtaria. Which is odd, btw."
"Yes, I noticed that too. Should I send out search parties to search for
you husband, Nariko?" Rune then realized. "What crystals?"
-----
"Nanami, these characters make up most of the ancient writings we've ever
logged into our database. They have been arranged in either numerical
occurence, or their usage over a certain period in El Hazard history." A
few dozen rows of caligraphic characters were displayed on a screen for
Nanami. "As you can see this is a summation of all the ancient text, and
not really a good way of learning the language at a particular point in
history."
"Can you bring up only those from Mrs. Mizuhara's time." Nanami asked.
"Of course. Let's see, anything before the Holy Wars, right?" Schtalubaugh
keyed in a few commands and the rows of characters suddenly mixed themselves
up, filtering the extraneous figures from the whole set. "That should be
it."
"Amazing." Nanami exclaimed.
"What? What do you see, Nanami?" Schtalubaugh asked.
"Well, I must be seeing things, but those characters sure look amazingly
like those from my world." Nanami stood up and grabbed the book about the
Legend of El Hazard. She leafed through several dull written pages until
she got to a page with a picture of a palace. "Let me see. This
says...Kingdom...right, that's got to be it...or maybe...hmm.."
"You mean to tell me you have also the powers to read ancient El Hazard
text, Nanami?" Schtalubaugh exclaimed.
"Well. it's either that, or your so called ancient language is heavy on the
Japanese influence, Professor." Nanami looked even closer, "the strokes are
all botched up or somehting, but defintely some form of it is partly
Japanese."
"Maybe Mrs. Mizuhara knows why?" Schtalubaugh said, at the same time Makoto
appeared at the upper rafters. "Ah, Makoto, will you be so kind to assist
us down here."
"Sure," Makoto shouted, "What is it that you need my help with?" He ran
down the spiral steps and met up with Nanami and Proffesor Schtalubaugh.
"Tell me." Nanami had covered most of the page of the book with scratches
of parchment, only the picture and the label was visible. "What does the
label say?"
"Hmm. Something like...nah...can't be." Makoto replied.
"Please, Makoto we'll accept whatever answer you can come up with."
Schtalubaugh reassured the young Mizuhara.
"Well, the label said 'Palace of the Kingdom of Roshtaria', but the palace
doesn't look like this palace at all."
"Fascinating." Schtalubaugh, grabbed the book as Nanami had let go and
hugged Makoto.
"Thanks, Makoto. You just confirmed our little experiment." Nanami held on
to Makoto a bit longer that she herself would ever admit.
"Gee, don't mention it." Makoto was about to break free when a yell came
from behind them.
"Nanami! What the heck do you think you're doing to Makoto?!" Shayla
Shayla yelled out as she jumped down from the upper level. "I leave you two
for just a second and this is what you do?"
"Do what?" Makoto shyly asked, avoiding more escalation of the
confrontation.
"Shayla, if you must know. Makoto here was just helping me read, okey."
Nanami stuck a finger under her eye and lashed out her tongue towards
Shayla.
"Ah, why didn't you tell us before that you were illiterate, Nanami."
Shayla teased.
"Not that, you idiot! I meant, reading ancient text..." Nanami hurled the
accusation back.
"Really, that's good news." Afura said, "Here." She gave Nanami the purple
book that they had retrieved from the Great Book Archives. "Please help us
read the contents of this little book, Nanami."
"What is it?" Nanami asked as she recieved the book from Afura.
"Well, if you have to know...Ooof." Shayla got another elbow from Afura,
"Hey watch were ya stick that thing, will ya!"
Afura just motioned to a certain boy who was also with Nanami perusing the
purple book.
"Oh, this is some sort of diary, right?" Nanami got the clue right off the
numerous dates written in the top corner of the pages. "I wonder who's
diary is this?"
"Excellent, Makoto." Shayla said in an outburst as she drove herself in
between Nanami and Makoto. "You can now help with me with something too."
"Hey!" Nanami yelled out as Shayla dragged Makoto out of the library in a
hurry. "Makoto was helping me." The three dissappeared even before
Schtalubaugh could say something.
"Tell me, who's diary was it?"
"Mrs. Mizuhara, Makoto's mom." Afura said as she made her way out as well.
"I see." Schtalubaugh sat down, still with the book in his hands, "then I
must learn this foreign language from my fellow teacher, Mr. Fujisawa. He
is the only one left available."
-----
"Sister Nanami! Sister Shayla! Where are you?!" Alliele had covered a lot
of rooms and had even been to the library, but she only saw Professor
Schtalubaugh there. "Sister Nanami! Sister Shayla! Where are you, my
princess Fatora needs you very much."
"What are you blabering about, Alliele?" Shayla shouted out from the upper
terrace, "I ain't dealing with that freak Fatora remember!"
"Oh, there you are, Sister Shayla. Have you seen Sister Nanami?"
"I'm up here, Alliele." A hand extended out briefly from the terrace.
"Oh, wait for me sisters. I'm coming up." Alliele ran inside the palace
again.
"What could be Fatora up to again?" Shayla said as she sat back down with
Nanami.
"Nothing good, I bet." Nanami had the purple diary up her lap. "I still
can't get much of the words written here. Several toungue twisting ones at
that."
"Well, keep trying. We'll have to find out who Ifurita really was?" Shayla
said. "For Makoto's sake." She looked towards the other end of the terrace
where Makoto was standing silently, looking out towards the horizon.
"Hey, wait a sec." Nanami had to skip back a few pages to confirm
something. "From this point on the text had turned into purely japanese."
"Really?"
"Yeah, no kidding. But that's strange." Nanami replied.
"Well, read on." Shayla urged, "Maybe we'll finally learn something from
that damn book."
"Okey. The date is ... Ooof!" Alliele found the most unfortunate time to
lunge at Nanami. "Ack! Alliele! Get off me!"
"Oh, Sister Nanami. My princess Fatora needs help badly. She's been so
unhappy all morning. I don't really know what I can do to cheer her up?"
Alliele said as she carressed her head softly into Nanami's bossom.
"And you thought we could be of help?" Shayla picked the little purple
headed girl up. "Not in this lifetime." She tossed her away.
"Oh, you're so cute when your angry, Sister Shayla." Alliele replied, much
to Shayla Shayla's demise.
"Why don't you tell Fatora to go back to the basics, okay? Maybe she'll
find hapiness from a guy instead." Nanami said in anger.
"You don't really mean that, do you sister?" Tears were forming from
Alliele's eyes. "How could you be so cruel?!" She ran away crying, much
like the way her princess was when she left here. "Fatora!"
"Alliele, I didn't mean it that way!" Nanami had ran after Alliele,
carrying the diary with her.
"Hey, what about the diary?!" Shayla followed suit.
-----
"Here she has been sleeping for ten thousand years, Hinosuke Mizuhara. She
has been waiting for that long a time for the prophecy to be fulfilled. And
now, your arrival back to El Hazard only completes half of it." The old man
said from atop a pedestal. Hinosuke still can't believe it. In front of
him was a glass stasis coffin, something he himself build many years ago,
and inside was the spiritual glow of a woman he had once known as the
princess of Roshtaria, Ifurita.
"But, how come she looks so frail..."
"That's only her astral spirit in there, Hinosuke. You must know by now
that it is your invention that enabled her to seperate her spirit from her
body. Her tired and stricken spirit had come to rest here for many
centuries."
"But, why?"
"Why don't you ask her that question?" The old man waved his hands and a
column of pillars rose from the ground and halted up to where he was. This
message had been here for quite some time now, I hope this technology your
assistant was worth it. A flick of a switch and soon the lights inside the
holding chamber dimmed. A few rectacles of light dropped from the ceiling
and a crackle of electricity flowed out of the device. Soon, a flowing
holographic image presented itself infront of the stasis coffin.
"Amazing. True, Non linear hologram projection." Hinosuke said under his
breathe. "
A form of a woman, much like that of the person inside the coffin unfolded
infront of him. "Mizuhara."
"Yes."
"Mizuhara, you've returned. I'm so glad to see you. Even though I am
probably still asleep in front of you, I'm still glad." Ifurita spoke
weakly, as if tired. "I'm sorry you had to hear my story from me like this,
but I have resolved to sleep for all eternity."
"No."
"I know that you chose Nariko over me. I suppose I have learned to accept
that by now." Ifurita bit her lips, "I'm tired, Hinosuke. I've been
disillusion by this propechy for so long that I don't even know now if it is
really true. All my life, I've been waiting for an off worlder and when he
finally came...well, you know the rest of this story."
"Wait."
"I don't care now what happens to me. Your assistant had been so kind to me
these past few years, creating almost everything that I wished for. And,
what you are probably going to discover soon is what I've assured myself
would finally let me break free from this obssesion with you. Yes, did I
say that right? Nariko was so right about me when she and I fought over you
for years..." Ifurita sighed. "I'm sorry if you had to come back to El
Hazard at this time and age. I'm sorry, but I am to blame for you not
meeting the old El Hazard that you know and remember." She cried a little.
"Farewell, Hinosuke. It was fun knowing you. I just hope you can forgive
me for what I have done to all your achievements in El Hazard. From now on,
the Ifurita you remember doesn't exist anymore. Farewell." And the image
slowly faded away.
"What does she mean, forgive?"
"After she recorded that message, she gave the final permission to seperate
her spirit from her body."
"No way, how?"
"The technology you left behind was enough to let Rajin to complete your
trans-metaphysical experiments."
"He didn't...there was a reason I didn't finish that."
"No matter. You must now journey back to El Hazard, and stop Ifurita from
destroying this planet."
"What?" A shimerring light suddenly engulfed Hinosuke, "Wait a sec, where
are you taking me?"
"Hinosuke Mizuhara, when you awaken you will be in the midst of chaos of the
Holy Wars, and it will be up to you to stop the demon goddess Ifurita." The
old man chanted as the light regessed into nothingness, and Hinosuke was
gone too.
------
"Hinosuke!" Nariko cried out, as she watched the flyers heading out in
different directions. Everyone was there at the terrace, looking at the
search parties departure from the palace.
"Mrs. Mizuhara, is something wrong?" Schtalubaugh asked.
"Yes, I don't feel my husband anymore." Nariko lifted her arms up high and
soon a short of rumbling echoed around the palace. Soon a column of earth
sprouted from beneath the ground and elevated itself terrace high. "Makoto,
wait for me!" Nariko shouted at the last flyer waiting to depart from
Floristica.
"Mom?" Makoto and his friends were all on board the last search ship and
were doubfounded to see the column of earth receeding towards the ground,
with Makoto's mother riding it. "What are you doing?"
"Makoto, I feel the worst had come to your father. We must hurry and head
towards the Holy River of God."
"Why the Holy River?" Fujisawa asked as he tossed overboard the last
retaining ropes.
"Because that is were we must go." Nariko said and then fell silent.
"All right, Holy River of God it is."
-----
"Thank you, Nariko. I know I can trust upon you." The old man said as he
came out of a trance he'd use to communicate with the 4th priestess of
Mouldoon.
He walked over the coffin where the shadowy image of Ifurita illuminated
from. "Soon, you'll be back with us, my child. And then I would have
fulfilled the prophecy for us."
-----
End of Chapter
-----
Please C&C