The 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.
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Chapter 5
-----
The World Long Forgotten
-----
The rolling sand dunes of the desert of dead white bones provided the
backdrop of the scenery for miles around. Nothing but sun baked fine
tempremental sand for all the eyes could see. The only bright spot other
than the big hot glaring noon sun was the thought of seeing Arlimon again.
The holy bath place of all the religious people of El Hazard was only a few
more miles ahead, the tall cascading corridor of stone pillars announced
their arrival at Arlimon.
"Are we there yet?" Nanami said out loud, she was hiding underneath a
makeshift tent she had setup in the middle of the flyer deck. She popped
her head back inside, just as they flew past the first of the pillars.
"Ooh! We must be there. I can see the . . ."
"Aw, shut up, will ya. I'm trying to read here." Shayla said from within
the little campsite. The only other person with them was Afura, who was
also busy reading all the textbook she had brought with her on this trip.
"Say, Afura, what's this mean?"
"That would be saying..." Afura stop short when she realized Shayla had
just been decked to the floor with a large old book Nanami-style. "Oops."
"Hey, what's the big idea?!"
"I will let you know that I'm your landlord, and at anytime I can kick you
out for no reason at all, alright?!" Nanami placed the book down and
snotted at Shayla.
"Why you?!" Shayla was about to grab a larger book than the purple diary
she held when the flyer came to an abrupt halt.
"We're here, you guys!" The voice came from the outside.
"Great, now try kicking us out, little miss profit!" Shayla crawled out of
the tent relieved that they've finally reached Arlimon. "Yeah, smell that
warm...dry...air?" Shayla blinked a few times but to her surprise the
baths of Arlimon didn't great her.
"Where are we?" Nanami said as she finally came out of tent, packing most
of the borrowed books in her backpack. "Where's Arlimon?"
"Obviously in the opposite direction." Afura said as she surveyed the
surrounding ruins, a virtual hilltop full of ancient buildings and remnants
of a certain ancient civilization. Most of the others had already
disembarked and were heading up the stone steps. "I never thought we'd ever
go here."
"Keepers of the Light, this and all that encompasses the mystical powers of
the chosen ones must take this journey at least once." Nariko said as she
slid down a pillar of earth that had popped up from below. "Come on,
sisters. There is little time to spare from here on."
Afura just nodded in agreement and used her own powers to cradle her descent
down the anchored flyer.
"What the heck was she talking about?" Nanami asked as she folded up the
tent.
"This, Nanami, is the ancient ruins of Avalus. This was were I was first
initiated into becoming a priestess of Mount Mouldoon." Shayla was about to
jump off, "But that was a long time ago. I never thought I'd see this place
again." She leaped out, a trail of fire followed her.
"Avalus? Another forbidden island, perhaps?" Nanami headed for the nearest
stairs and climbed down.
-----
"Like I said before. Avalus is a holy place, and only the chosen ones are
allowed to enter it's sanctuary. Please understand, Masamichi my love."
Meez said as she tried to hold her darling Fujisawa from his adventurous
urges.
"But, that place looks dangerous. I want to see for myself what's inside."
Fujisawa said.
Makoto just stood at the edge of the hilltop veranda, the temple like
oriface capped the entrance inside the sanctuary of Avalus. He already
heard the story from his mother, but the reason still eluded him.
"Makoto, wait up!" Nanami was breathing hard from all that climbing up the
stone steps with a heavy bag on her shoulders. "What's the rush?"
"I'm not going anywhere, Nanami. All the priestesses are going in there,
though." Makoto pointed towards a stone like enclosure that resembled some
sort of gateway. "I believe we have to wait for them."
Nariko was already in front of the gates, wiping the dirt off the huge ring
handlebars. "I can't believe how much neglect you've suffered my friend."
"Mrs. Mizuhara." Afura joined Nariko.
"Call me Nariko, sister Afura."
"Um...sure, Nariko." Afura thought about it, being treated an equal was
usually her taste, but this situation was sort of uneasy for her to adjust.
"Are we here to summon the ancient sages?"
"Yes, that will be one of my primary reasons for stopping by Avalus."
Nariko lifted one of the rings. "But I also must prepare the three of you
for the journey ahead."
"Journey?" Shayla showed up, her gems on her forehead and hands glowing
with fire. "Where to?"
"Shayla. Remember those horror stories I've been telling you about? About
this place." Afura said as the gates started parting with a single
knock from Nariko.
"I thought you said there were no real goblins and demons in there. That,
that was all a spook Meez told me when I was here last." Shayla said,
backing up a bit.
"Well, I lied." The gates parted and Nariko motioned for all three
priestess to enter before her. "Just keep you wits with you, ok."
"What the hell are we gonna come up against in there anyway?" Shayla
-----
"No doubt about it. It's that damn Makoto again." Katsuhiko placed his bug
fashioned binoculars down as he fashioned a fist from his other hand. "He's
not gonna take my ultumate weapon from me again!"
"There's nothing there but the old ruins of Avalus, Jinnai." Queen Diva said
from atop her carriage driven by her loyal bugs. "The holy people still
regard this place as some sort of holy shrine, but it's mostly deserted
now."
"But don't you see?" Jinnai stood up, "there must be a weapon inside there,
something evil that the holy people must have locked up in there. Makoto
wouldn't be here if not for that. And I intend to get if from him."
"How are you going to do that, I heard only the holy people are allowed
inside?" Diva reiterated.
"Rubish, that's just all talk to keep power hungry mongers like me from
getting to this weapon. Just like that forbidden island." Jinnai threw his
binoculars to his assistant bug. "We'll let those three priestess go in
first. Then we'll sneak in and follow in behind them."
"Hargh, num uhm."
"What do you mean four?" Katsuhiko got the binoculars back from Groucho and
focused on the parting gates of Avalus. "One, Two, Three...and a new one.
I thought it could be Ifurita but...Say, Diva. I thought there were only
three priestess of Mount Mouldoon."
"Yes, there are only three priestesses," Diva held up her own bug fashioned
binoculars and saw four women at the gates of Avalus. "Can't be?"
"What? You know who's the new girl with them, Diva?" Katsuhiko asked.
"Yes," Diva trembled in her voice," but, she's....Nariko."
"Nariko? Sounds familiar..." Katsuhiko said, "Well, anyway, four
priestesses don't stand a chance against our bugrom troops. Right boys?!"
The bugs around them all yelled out in chorus.
-----
"Aren't we suppose to chant some song or something while we're in here?"
Shayla nervously asked, breaking the silence of their foursome.
"That's only when we're initiating someone, Shayla." Meez replied. "We're
here for a different reason."
"Which reminds me," Afura said. "I don't think I'd like to see our
ancestors just yet. Do you?"
Nariko momentarily stopped. "Afura, I know you have doubts in you. But
trust me. Your ancestors won't hurt you when we summon them."
"Whoa! Are we doing the Incantation of the Ancients now?" Shayla asked out
load.
"You suprise me, Shayla. So you know about the Incantation?" Meez asked
back.
"Of course I do. It's a priestess job to know what her duties are...but,
isn't the Incantation of the Holy only performed when...well, you know."
Shayla motioned her finger across her kneck.
"True, our ancestors must past judgement on those of us chosen ones once we
have lived out our lives to the fullest. They are then responsible for
judging the lives of priestesses, graduating all their deeds if indeed they
are worthy to join them in the afterlife." Nariko said.
"Eek, talking like that gives me the creeps." Meez shuddered.
"Like I said, I don't think I like to be evaluated now since I haven't done
anything yet in my life." Afura said to them, "You know what I mean?"
"I'm sorry to put you three through all of this, but we must talk to our
ancestors. For they hold the key on what we do next in our journey. They
have the key of the past that will unlock our own future."
Shayla just stared in space for a second, as the foursome dissappeared into
the darkness. They immediately came back for her though, for she was their
torch of light that lit their way as well.
-----
"Princess, why did you come anyway?" Makoto asked as he sat near a stone
bench where Alliele and Fatora was too. "You really didn't have to come."
"But, I do." Fatora replied.
"Fatora?" Alliele muttered
"I mean, It was boring around the palace, Makoto." Fatora folded her arms
in front of her and looked the other way. "Besides, I might find something
I'm looking for on this trip."
Allielle held on to Fatora's sleeve, "What are you looking for my princess?"
"Uhm...Alliele, go get me something to drink, will ya. This hot sun is
driving me nuts."
"At once, Fatora. Just don't get sad while I'm gone, okay." Alliele stood
up and left Makoto and Fatora alone.
"So what are you looking for anyway?" Makoto continued the question that
Fatora had avoided a while ago.
"It's not nice asking a princess those sort of questions, Makoto." Fatora
snotted. "And I'm ordering you not to meddle with royal affairs again."
"I'm sorry." Makoto humbly replied. "If it's about that....well, anyway."
Fatora calmed down, feeling the advantage she now has. Sympathy. She was
about to ask Makoto a question when...
"Here's your drink, Fatora." Alliele said, holding a cup of ice tea for the
princess.
Frustration was on Fatora's face. "Nice timing, Alliele. Back too soon,
eh."
Makoto had stood up to let Alliele sit and place the tray of snacks on the
bench.
"I've also brought you something to eat as well, Fatora."
"Where did you get these?" Fatora asked, and Alliele replied by pointing at
Nanami at the far corner of the hilltop. "She's quite an entrepreneur, this
Nanami."
"I know. But you still owe me 500 yen for the cake, Fatora." Alliele said.
"What? That's overpricing!"
"What did you expect? Cakes and tea don't grow on the ground, princess!"
Nanami shouted back.
Makoto couldn't help but laugh at the verbal tussle that ensued.
-----
"Good, while they're arguing over there. We'll sneak up on that gate this
way." Katsuhiko leaped down on the verranda, hopped on Groucho's back, with
a few bugs also with him in his assault. "If only Fujisawa sensei wasn't
here, we could have taken Makoto and that princess Fatora as hostages as
well."
"Mangra uhm, oah"
"I know, I know. Let's just hope they don't spot us. Quick, go through
that overhanging window up there." Jinnai pointed at an opening somewhere
between the lower terrace and the higher floor of the temple.
Groucho leaped high enough for them to land squarely at the upper terrace
without being noticed.
"Great, now let's get our weapon."
The group dissappeared through an archway inside.
Klang! A metal like claw grabbed hold of the pillars of the terrace outside
and locked into place. Some sort of rope hung itself downward from that
point. "Great, now I can climb up here without them noticing me." Fujisawa
began his ascent. "No perilous place shall stand against the powers of
Fujisawa!" He mockingly laughed as he too entered the temple via the dark
archway.
-----
The four priestesses slowly walked down a narrow corridor, their visibility
curtailed into a few meters ahead by the darkness. "Shayla, keep the light
up, will ya?" Meez said as she pushed Shayla Shayla forward.
"I...can't help it. It's too dark up ahead." Shayla jittered. Afura had
to hold on to Shayla's head to keep the light steady.
"Yeah, I've never been this deep into Avalus before. I wonder why they told
us of how dangerous this place can be?" Afura said.
"I heard their are spirits guarding this place." Nariko replied. Suddenly,
a huge misty cloud appeared in front of them, startling all three younger
priestess into a halt. "What?"
"Get ready!" Shayla shouted out. A ghost like figure reformed itself from
the mist and blocked their way. It was snarling and gnawing it's gritty
leech white teeth at them. "Hhmmph! Some guardian."
"Nariko, stay back!" Meez shouted as Nariko innocently walked on, unmindful
of the spirit that had appeared before them.
"Huh, what for?" Nariko said as she progress forward slowly, until she and
the ghostly figure were a mere breath away from each other. "What had
gotten the three of you so startled about? Do you see any ghost around?"
Nariko kidded.
"Quit fooling around and stand aside, Nariko. I'm gonna..." Shayla's hands
erupted into a fiery display and was about to unleash her fireballs at the
obstacle in front of them when something caught her eye. " What the?"
Nariko just walked through the floating monster, as if it wasn't there.
"Don't you see it?" Afura said as she too got into an attack posture.
"See what?" Nariko looked back, suprised to see Shayla, Meez and Afura all
in combat stance, and was frantic about something. She looked at her left
and right, high above and timidly below but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
"What are you talking about?"
Just then, the flotilla of mist abobmination grew several tendrils of which
immediately launched itself towards the three priestess.
"Look out!" Shayla jumped high, avoiding the first tendril, and torching it
at the same time with her fiery display of fire balls. Meez summond a water
shield, easily deflecting the tendril that went after her, then crushed it
by collapsing the column of water upon it. Afura, on the other hand just
warded the serpent like form with a vacuum air blast that even went far
ahead than she anticipated.
"Hey!" Nariko summond the surrounding walls to close in and block the
wayward column of air from Afura. The walls quickly returned to form, with
a slight spiffy Nariko coming at them. "What are you three doing?! Are you
playing or what! I don't think we have time for this!"
Shayla landed and motioned at something peculiar. Meez too was confused at
the abrupt stop in the attacks. Afura nervously scratched her head.
"Fire, Water, Air." The voice came from the reforming spirit like ghost
that was apparently only visible to the three priestess. "And a fourth
one." The figure reformed into a human like, yet still vague in appearance,
of a man. "I only see three, yet I feel your power. Who are you?" It's
eyes opened, the white orbs were neither human like, nor did it resemble
that of normal eyes, but of that that can see further into the truth than
what is known. "I'm the spirit guardian of Avalus. Keepers of the Light
are only those allowed here."
"Who was that?" Nariko said startingly as she turned back, only to face a
blank and dark desserted corridor. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Um." Meez, muttered. "He's right in front of you."
"Who?" Nariko uttered in bewilderment.
"Ah, Ha!" The ghost slammed his fist into his palm. His cry however
startled everyone, frightening Nariko the most. "She must have returned!
It's that day already, I see it clearly now."
"See what, old man?" Shayla said as she picked Nariko up.
"I am that who test thee through the inquisition. Those that had passed
here before shall need not the inquisition again. To the one that I can not
see, please tell her." The spirit said.
"Inquisition?" Nariko muttered as she got up to her feet.
"I think you just did." Afura said as she walked up to the spirit. "We
seek an audience with our ancestors, Spirit of Avalus. We've passed your
test and now will you grant us this request?."
The spirit bowed graciously. "Only the three of you may enter. Nariko will
have to stay behind."
"How did you know her name?" Meez asked, a bit confused at the revelation.
Nariko finally understood what had just transpired. "That's because I've
been through his corridor before. Isn't that right?" She asked to the
spirit that she can hear, but cannot see. A deafening silence answered
her. "You three must go on from here. I'll wait for you."
"But," Shayla held on to Nariko's sleeve, not willing to let go. "I'm not
sure what you mean."
Afura calmly turned towards the dark corridor as the spirit held up a
ghostly torch to lead the way. "I guess we'll be seeing you at the end of
this tunnel, right?" Nariko could only nod. "Very well. Let's go."
Meez nodded, taking the lead this time. Shayla hesitated, only Nariko's
smile motivated her to move on.
- - - - -
"It's gotta be here somewhere!" Kastsuhiko warded the cobwebs that littered
the corridor he had singled out once inside the temple of Avalus. "I can
smell it. It's so close."
"Mikh, goo ohm."
"Not, you. You idiot!" Jinnai pushed Groucho forward into the darkness.
"Now, let's find that weapon and get out of here. El Hazard awaits it's
master. Ha ha ha ah argh ack!" He coughed out the cloud of dust he stirred
with his laughter. "Damn this place!"
- - - - -
"Nariko, you can hear me. I think I know what's going through your mind."
The spirit said as he floated high above Nariko. The priestess of Mouldoon
that stayed behind fashioned a seat of stone and clay with her powers.
There she sat waiting patiently, thinking.
"How long has it been?" Nariko asked, even though to her she was alone.
She knew the gaurdian of Avalus was with her. "Don't tell me..."
"Yes, this would be your third visit into the catacombs of Avalus."
"How can that be?"
"I don't know. Your powers seems rejuvenated. It's been a long time
since a priestess of the earth realm had graced this way."
"I've been gone..." Nariko paused, seeing how ridiculus she might have
looked talking to herself if someone was there to see her, "to another world
for a long time. I never dreamt of returning, if not for my son."
"Son? Did you say, son?"
"Yes. On this other world, I gave birth to a wonderful baby boy." Nariko
replied. "He's very special."
"I never thought the curse of being in the lineage of Moulddon priestess'
can be broken in another world."
"Huh? You mean that all our ancestors being from the fairer sex? Yes, I
too was surprised when I gave birth to him. But that's just Earth, I guess.
El Hazard is so much like it, yet so different in the same way."
"I wish I could have seen it." The ghost floated down. "I have served your
descendants for almost an eternity now."
Nariko smiled at the blank wall in front of her. "We're very grateful, you
know that. I don't think Avalus will be the same though." She looked
around, noticing a dim light coming from one end of the hallway. "Huh?
Someone's coming."
"He's not from your family, Nariko. Do you have company?"
"Masamichi. It's my son's teacher." Nariko said. "Don't worry, he's
harmless."
"Nevertheless. I should try to warn him anyway." The spirit left Nariko's
company and swooped down on an unsuspecting Fujisawa sensei.
- - - - -
"Listen, Nanami" Fatora waved her fore finger. "I still haven't forgotten
your dubious insults about me in regards to you hurting the feelings of
Alliele here."
"How many times do I have to tell you," Nanami shouted, "I didn't mean it
that way! Hmmph."
Alliele was pulling on Fatora's sleeve. "It's true, Fatora. I've forgiven
Nanami."
"Well, I haven't. And I wouldn't!" Fatora proudly announced.
"Well, don't count on me to ask for one!" Nanami retorted.
"Now, now. There's no reason for the two of you to hold such a grudge over
nothing." Makoto acted peacemaker, but wasn't doing a good job at it.
"Right, sensei?" He turned around, half expecting his teacher to be there
already, ready to break up the quarrel that's about to explode. "Sensei?
Fujisawa-sensei?"
"Where had he gone to?" Nanami realized what Makoto had discovered. "Could
it be?"
"In temple, Makoto. In temple." Uhra happily announced to everyone.
"Oh, no. And I was suppose to keep him out of there." Makoto ran towards
the gate.
"Makoto?" Fatora muttered, seeing Makoto running off in such a hurry.
- - - - -
Afura swayed her arms, removing the thick blanket of dust and cobwebs along
the path. Her powers had proven themselves again, as she stirred a slight
gale or two up ahead. "We should be there by now." She announced.
Meez held her hands, feeling the slight chill from her rising fear of such
darkness. Good thing Shayla was lighting their way. "Yes, the door to the
Chambers of Avalus must be somewhere around here."
"Look!" Shayla pointed up ahead, a dim bluish glow at the end of the
corridor. "That must be it." They slowly walked up to the end of the
corridor and found themselves at the threshold of rather large
architechtural monolith, paraded all around with scores of tall towering
pillars of various thickness and peaks.
"The catacombs. Our holiest of places." Afura whispered, as if afraid
she'd wake up the dead or something. "Let's take our places."
Shayla blew off her light and headed towards the center piece stage in the
middle of the cavernous catacombs. Meez and Afura were already in place, a
circle carved into the stone floor marked their spots. The whole altar had
numerous curved carvings similar to the ones etched on the canopy of the
stairway to the sky, the very control room of the Eye of God.
"O Light, O Holy. We have descended in to thee to seek thy audience. We
are the keepers of the light, and forever shall we stay into the path of our
ancestors before us. Listen and hear our words for the time for us to be
ascended into thy glorious heaven is upon us. For we are the keepers of
the Light." Afura, Meez and Shayla chanted out. The words echoed all
around the cavern, reverberating and resonating the very tombstones that
surrounded them.
Sure enough, a trembling hum resounded high above the chasm roof. A light
started burning bright from the middle of the altar stage and slowly rose up
and began to expand towards the three Muldoon priestesses.
"Ha.." Shayla gasped as the feverishly erie cloud of shimmering light
started approaching her. "I...I..."
"Shayla...stop moving." Afura managed to spit out from one corner of her
lips just as the mist enveloped her. Shayla trembled as the same cloud
started touching her toes. All she could do was close her eyes before she
too was taken into the billowing fog of light.
- - - - -
"What was that?" Katsuhiko said, twisting and turning all around trying to
pinpoint the source of the sudden trembling echoes he can hear through the
corridor's walls. "Where is that coming from? It sounds like machinery."
"Marg nomm pot." Groucho slanted on a wall and then pointed at the spot he
had just checked on.
"Well, don't just stand there. Start digging!" Katsuhiko stompped his feet
and pushed Groucho and his other companions into hard labor. "And try not
making any sound."
Groucho just twisted his antanae in thinking about that last statement. He
just ignored it and started digging away.
"I said keep it down!"
- - - - -
"AAAAAAAAAAHhh!" Fujisawa was running. Running for his life, the scared
look on his face more that said his story and what he had just seen.
"Gh...Gho..." Smack! He ran straight into the far wall of a connecting
corridor. "Ah...I...see...Ghost." He fell down hard, and unconscious.
"Mister Fujisawa!" Makoto hurried down the corridor upon seeing his sensei
falling down on his back. "What happened?" He struggled to get his sensei
to his feet. "Did something scare you?"
"Must have seen a ghost." Nanami said as she tried picking up her sensei's
back pack. "What the...this thing is awfully heavy. What does he carry all
around on his back pack anyway." A slight tap on her shoulder went
unoticed. "Ah, ha. No doubt stolen from the Palace wine cellar." Nanami
said as she picked up a cannister of hard liquor from inside the bag.
"You are too young to drink young lady." The cannister suddenly floated off
Nanami's hand as the ghoulish voice faded.
"Eeeek!" Fatora screamed as soon as a ghostly figure of a hand appeared out
of nowhere and clasped themselves on the cannister. "A ghost!" She hid
herself behind Makoto and trembled in fear.
"Ha, ha ha...Nice try, ghosty-watsy. I've seen far scarier things at our
school's halloween dance than this." She threw her hand towards the
floating cannister and grabbed it out of mid-air.
"Sensei." Makoto, seemed oblivious of everything around him started shaking
his teacher. Then he realized he too was shaking profusely. That's when he
noticed someone had anchored her hands on his shoulder and was trembling in
fear. "Fatora? What's wrong?"
"Don't give me that crap, Makoto! Can't you see the ghost?" Fatora and
Alliele pulled his shoulders out and twisted his body towards Nanami. All
he saw was a flotilla of cannisters floating all around his schoolmate.
"Whoa! What do you think is causing all of that?"
"Makoto!" Nanami shrieked, her senses finally got a grip of her reasoning
and reacted to the numerous floating cans as a doing of the unseen evil that
had an amusing way of scaring her. "Help me!" The cannisters started
orbitting around Nanami and she found no place to run to. "Makoto!"
"Spirit, heed my bidding. They are friends." The voice emenated from the
dark corridor up ahead. No sooner had the voice echoed around the hallway
did the cans stopped their swirling chaos and fell abruptly down towards the
ground. "Thank you." Nariko resurfaced from the darkness.
"Mom, what's going on?" Makoto reached Nanami, who gracefully fainted into
his arms. "Nanami."
- - - - -
"Interesting." Katsuhiko inspected one of the pillars that littered the
room that he and his band of bugs just dug their way through. "They all
look like and feel like some sort of large crystalline stone." He rapped
his knuckles into the hard surface. "Yup, they're just plain stones."
"Hark, num."
"What is it?" Katsuhiko ran towards where Groucho was pointing at. It was
a bright glowing mist that rather hovered all around the middle of the
cavarn. "Ah, ha. That must be the weapon we've been looking for," he
slamed his fist on his palm, "I knew it. I can feel it's power even from
over here."
"Mah, num."
"How the hell should I know? But let's tale a closer look at our prized
weapon." He jumped into Groucho's back and ordered his troops to march
forward.
- - - - -
"Makoto, are you sure?" Nariko looked intently into her son's eyes and
found sincerity in the muddled confusion of his vision.
"Um, I'm pretty sure I don't see him, this guardian you're talking about."
Makoto answered. He looked toward the spot where he and her mother left the
guardian of Avalus and their friends for a moment. Nanami was clearly
giving a strong berating to someone, and even the princess was also giving
an earful of words, but to no one apparent to him. "This is wierd. They
all seem to be talking to someone over there."
"Don't you ever have manners, you!" Nanami shouted.
"I have perfectly good manners." The spirit like figure of a man said.
"I'm a princess of Roshtaria, and you should show more respect to me. It's
not really nice to scare people like that. Including women like me."
Fatora added into the squabble.
"I didn't know you were from the House of..." The voice stopped abruptly.
"Did you say Roshtaria?"
"Yes she did. My dear Fatora is the second princess of the royal family of
the Kingdom of Roshtaria." Alliele answered, with a slight lean on towards
the princess. "Isn't she something?"
"Yes..." The guardian just raised a hand up his cheek. "Something that is
she..."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Fatora snotted out.
"Well." The guardian suddenly got distracted. "Is that you, Nariko?"
Nariko and Makoto finally rejoined the group. "Yes, it is I, my friend."
"And your son?"
Makoto heard the calling, but hesitated in answering. "Um...I guess that
would be me."
"Makoto, is that your name?"
"Well, yeah."
"Oh, my head." Fujisawa finally awakened and got everyone's attention when
he let out a short scream.
"Mister Fujisawa, it's okay. This is just the guardian of this place."
Nanami held on to her sensei's backpack just to prevent her teacher from
running off again.
"A ghost?" Masamichi asked under his breath. "Really?"
"Makoto. I don't know the implications of this...chance encounter. But I
might be mistaken by your identity." The guardian said in a serious tone.
"Please forgive me if I can not explain why you can't see me, nor can I
explain why I can't see you." The guardian bowed and slowly started fading.
"Just a piece of advice, Makoto. Always follow your heart, dear friend."
And soon, the party of eight was less by one again.
"That guardian was wierd. Like he knew Makoto somehow." Nanami said as she
help gather all the cannisters lying around.
"Who was that old man again?" Masamichi asked, a bit stunned by everything
he had witnessed since waking up.
"He is a spirit, designate guardian of this holy shrine." Nariko said as
she pulled up a few pillars of earth as makeshift seats. "He protects this
place from would be intruders and thieves that dares even to enter Avalus'
sacred grounds."
"Oh, so that's why he came after me." Fujisawa sat down, hugging his
backpack on his lap.
"Then how come, Sister Nariko, that he seems to know you and Makoto?"
Alliele asked.
"Yeah, and how come he doesn't seem to see either of you, when he can see
the rest of us clearly." Nanami said, talking a seat.
Nariko closed her eyes, trying to put to words what she already knew or have
imagined from the clues all around her. "You see, the test of Good and Evil
is initiated only once." She opened her eyes, looking first at her son, and
then to everyone else. "Once you've gone through it, passage through the
hallways of Avalus on your next visit here would be...uneventful."
"You mean, meeting that guy was only on our first visit here?" Fujisawa
finally made sense of it all. "Then you two..." his finger pointing
towards Makoto. "Oh..."
"What? What?" Alliele yearned for answers. "Are you telling us, teacher
that..."
"I guess I must have been here in Avalus before." Makoto just looked at his
mother with concern. "Isn't that right, Mom?"
"I really don't know where you get it from, son?" Nariko said with a smile,
tapping Makoto's head the same, "I always thought you were as dull as your
father."
Everyone blinked in surprise.
"Just kidding." Nariko laughed heartily.
"Awww geez." Makoto sighed.
Everyone started laughing at his expense.
- - - - -
End of Chapter
- - - - -
Author's Notes:
Please C&C, I'm not really that good, but whatever feedback I get back, I
build on them.
Right now, this story is stopping...since I've got a major deadline to work
on (real world work). But, whatever happens next, it's probably the next
chapter of my Evangelion series that's I'll be working on next (besides
having most of it on my office PC, and not here at home) Also, I've
finished my Unit 02 PVC model, and it's awesome...I'll send pics when I get
them to anyone interested seeing both Unit01 and 02 I've built.
Thanks again...