Okay...I have no idea what happened at the bottom of my post, but here
is a completely _readable_ version so it doesn't confuse you like it
confused me....it starts where the message went funny...
~murasakikaze
.....begin fic
"Mirai...Goddess of the Future! Why that little-!" Xellos clamped a
hand down
over her mouth and grinned.
"We have young viewers, Lina," he scolded jokingly. A muffled and
angry reply
came through his gloved hand and he turned back to the crystal ball.
"Now back to
our little tale. So the great Goddess/Child of the Future hid the
crystal where she
thought they would be safe, inside someone."
The picture changed and showed a fuzzy image of a young girl on a
bed. Her
long red hair fanned out from behind her and then she suddenly curled up
into a ball,
an expression of pain on her face. Lina squinted and when the image
focused, she
gasped in surprise.
"No way! MIRA-CHAN?!" The small inverse lay on the bed, crying out
in pain.
Mirai leaned down over her and smiled as a white light engulfed her.
When the light
faded, tears were streaming down Mira-chan's face and then Mirai spoke.
[Forget all that has happened, Lina Inverse. When the day comes you
will be
called upon to serve the world once more. Be wary of those you make
deals with...]
"She thought my inverse was me...I was supposed to have that thing
in me?!"
Lina touched the surface of the globe and it blurred. "So Mira-chan has
Dolphin's
Tear inside of her? The whole thing?"
Xellos shook his head and laughed slightly. "Lina, Lina,
Lina...even you wouldn't
be able to hold the full power of Dolphin's Tear, silly! Since one
person can't handle
the power all by themselves, the gods split the Tear in half and Mirai
had to wait to
find the second person."
Inside the crystal ball, the Tear reformed and was broken into two
pieces.
Mira-chan appeared behind one crystal, her arms crossed in front of her
chest and
her head bowed while a flowing white dress cascaded off her body.
"Mirai had a hard time finding someone else with a power level as
high as yours.
You are a rare person, Lina, to have all that energy rolled into one
single human
being. So Mirai waited a very long time and finally realized her new
host was right
under her nose!" Xellos clapped once and a flash of light engulfed the
ball.
A new image zoomed in and Lina was once again given the opportunity
to be
shocked. Now standing behind the other half of Dolphin's Tear was a very
familiar
person. Her long blue hair was left to fall freely down her back and she
was looking
at Mira-chan with a mixture of hatred, fear, understanding, and
determination.
Xellos laughed at Lina's shocked expression. "Yep, you guessed it!
Naria has
the second half of Dolphin's Tear in her! That's why she feels so
strongly connected
with Mira-chan and why she doesn't want anyone to know about her or
Mira-chan.
You see, it was kind of Naria's fault that Mira-chan has that piece in
her. She
suggested that Mirai find the person with the most power and give it to
them. At the
time, Mirai didn't tell her what it was, but she figured it out when she
saw Mira-chan
this time around. Mira-chan was told to forget, but Naria has been able
to
remember due to the fact that she's also connected to Mirai.
"Once she saw Mira-chan, the memories came back to her and she knew
that a
very powerful and potentially dangerous object was placed in both of
them. Now
she feels like its her fault that Mira-chan may end up dying because of
her stupid
comment! So she's vowed to keep Mira-chan alive even at the expense of
her own
life. Do you get it now?" He ended his long explanation and enjoyed the
rather
stunned expression on Lina's face. This was what he lived for.
"I understand everything except where you come in," Lina replied,
eager to turn
the tables and take advantage of his giving nature.
Xellos smiled again and closed his eyes. "That is a secret. All
you need to
know is that I'm being a neutral party. Time to go back!"
Lina suddenly found herself back in the clearing with everyone
staring at her.
Gourry ran up and did a quick examination of her, thumping her on the
back to
make sure she was still alive.
"Are you okay? What happened?" he asked worriedly. He looked down
into her
red eyes, his brow knitted with concern.
Lina shook her head. "Something very weird. Xellos _volunteered_
information
and told me everything that's going on. Mira-chan has just become our
number one
priority to protect...her and Naria. Zel!"
Lina looked around and discovered that he was gone.
"Zelgadis-san, Mira-chan, and Jeze-chan went off to find something
to eat,
Lina-san," Amelia reported. "And Naga-san went with them, I think."
"We have to find them and have Zel find Naria. She always seems to
hang
around him anyway. Let's go!" Lina began to trudge off into the forest
and heard
Amelia calling to her. "What is it?"
"Lina-san, it's this way! Besides, what's so important?" The
Sailoon princess
pointed down the trail and waited for her to catch up. Gourry was
already halfway
down the path and yelling for the others. "Lina-san?"
"The world, Amelia...the world is important," Lina grumbled. She
hated being so
cliche, but that was all she could think of at the moment. "Come on."
The two sorceresses ran down the pathway and called out for their
friends along
with Gourry.
"I'll have to talk with Naria about renewing our contract...perhaps
now she'll be
more willing..." Xellos watched the trio run off and turned back into the
shadows.
"..And you, Kako...you won't get to her first, you half-breed."
___________________________________________________________________
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