Suggested changes: {before : after}
On Tue, 04 Mar 2003 18:12:58 -0800 Christopher Olsen
<christopherolsen28@hotmail.com> wrote:
A moment later the wrenching sensation ended, leaving Hotaru feeling
incredibly drained, just in time to reappear into the real world, landing in
a heap between her guardians, thankfully still holding hands. Groggily she
glanced around her and was relieved to note that Setsuna, Belldandy and Urd
were there as well, also still holding hands, although, like her, they had
all fallen to the floor of whatever place they had ended up at. There {was : were} a
number of groans, and everyone slowly started to sit up and look around in
confusion.
Haruka gently disengaged her hand from Hotaru's and stood up, raising an
eyebrow at their surroundings. "Now this is an interesting place, {Setsuna."
She : Setsuna," she} commented, gesturing at the decor. "Where exactly in Copenhagen are
we, anyway?" Everyone was now looking at the room in interest. It seemed
like a gigantic{: ,} palatial bedchamber of some kind, with a huge circular bed
(at least 20 feet in diameter) set into a large depression set in the floor
on the left side of the room and covered with fluffy looking pillows. There
was an ornate looking fountain in the room's center, with statues of nymphs
and fawns cavorting forming the base of it. Several well done marble
statues of naked or scantily clad women framed the corners of the room, and
comfortable looking sofas and pillows filled the entryway to their right,
which was framed by a pair of ornate but sturdy looking wooden doors. There
was even a recessed hot tub in one corner of the room, with steam faintly
rising from it.
It was already too late, panicking as she felt the very air start to close
in on her, Hotaru called upon the full force of her Silence Wall in an
effort to stave off whatever was attacking them. The energy she was pouring
into trying to erect her Silence Wall, however, were drained away like all
the others powers, and the much higher level of power she was producing
caused the air to thicken about them ten times quicker than before. In
moments they were all caught, like {fly's : flys} in amber, in the thickeningair.
Slowly, however, the air around them started to solidify and shrink, the
effect, whatever it was, centering on each of their arms, leaving their
bodies increasingly free as the solidified air shrunk and transformed. Air
had, thankfully, rushed in from outside the room to fill the void, and they
could all breath, although none of them could move far from where the now
hardened air was solidifying now further, holding their arms in place.
It appears that your text converter is joining some words, but not as
many as in previous files.
There was a great flash, and in moments it was all over. Hotaru, Urd and
Haruka, being unbalanced, all fell over as the air around their arms shrunk
around their wrists and suddenly vanished. Setsuna sank under the surface
of the hot tub for an instant, then came up with a sputter, {which :} Belldandy
and Michiru simply wavered a bit before regaining their balance, then went
to check on the others.
"Did you meet an actual Genie?" Hotaru spoke up quietly, looking slightly
{wondrous : wondering : in awe}.
Skuld glared back at her older sister indignantly. "What was I supposed to
do? I couldn't let something happen to Belldandy or the others, could I?"
"I wasn't trying to follow you, I was trying to get to a Yggdrasil
terminal."
Skuld turned to Belldandy, nodding slowly and trying not to cry. "Alright,
{big sister : Big Sister}... but...."
Belldandy gazed compassionately into her younger sister's eyes. "It's very
important, Skuld. Urd was in about to explain before you arrived, so
perhaps we should let her continue?"
Skuld took a deep breath and sighed, but finally nodded. "Alright,
Belldandy. If you say so."
Urd finished helping Haruka to her feet and made a show of brushing herself
off. "Well, I believe I was about to answer Michiru's question?"
Michiru hesitated, then nodded. "I was wondering what you meant exactly by
{" : '}the one that we are bound to.{: '}"
"Die you old freak!" Haruka yelled in fury, swinging for the youthful
appearing man with a powerful but out of control {Haymaker : haymaker}. Skuld didn't
even bother speaking, simply pulling her mallet off her back and lining up
for a whack at his head as he dodged away from Haruka was a laugh.
Setsuna nodded a faint smile coming to her face. "It is... just slightly
dull, watching the gates of time for all eternity. I've tried my hand at,
well, just about every profession known to man or woman in the last few
centuries." She shrugged. "Well, I've never been an {astronaught : astronaut}." Setsuna
wrinkled her nose in thought. "At least not a conventional one.
Skuld looked impressed. "You used to travel through space back in the {moon
kingdom : Moon Kingdom}?"
Setsuna nodded matter-of-factly. "Naturally. We had commerce throughout
the entire solar system, and we had sent scouts out toward the nearer
stars... before the end came." She looked thoughtful. "I wonder what
became of them, those scouts. Some of them wouldn't have returned until
long after the {White Kingdom's : kingdom's} destruction...." Setsuna shook her head.
"Enough of this reminiscing. We follow Urd's plan. I'll stay here in case
Happosai returns, the rest of you go and search this place for clues.
Perhaps there will be something that will give us some insight into his
mind."
Up ahead, Haruka had been opening each doorway as they headed down a long
ornate hallway. Belldandy couldn't help but admire the Greek architecture,
pillars lining the walls, mixed with {frescos : frescoes} of {idillic : idyllic} garden vistas....
She couldn't help but notice the predominate theme seemed to be scantily
clad or naked women, lounging or frolicking in woodland groves, swimming in
pools, posing for pictures. They were very aesthetically pleasing, at
least, nothing too tasteless or overdone. Belldandy glanced into the open
doors as she passed them, raising an eyebrow at the contents. The first
seemed to be a teenage girl's bedroom, complete with posters of a popular
boy band and a pair of pajamas nicely laid out at the foot of the bed.
There were several other bedrooms with various themes, making Belldandy
wonder exactly how many girls were supposed to be present. One bedroom was
all pink frills and lace, the next contained sports memorabilia, yet another
had a modern looking computer and looked remarkably similar to her {sister's : sister}
Skuld's room, and the next shared a resemblance to her own room at home.
Belldandy started to go over the numbers in her head and realized that there
was a bedroom for each of the Senshi and her sisters, with several to spare.
She did her best to guess at the likely occupant of each one and found
herself adding the Tendo sisters (all four) to her list, as well as the
Amazon Shampoo, Ukyo, and Ranko.
The total was rather dismaying, and Belldandy rushed forward to walk next to
Haruka and the others. "I believe these rooms are for all of us, and for
the other girls from {Nermia : Nerima} as well...."
"A gymnasium?" Skuld said incredulously as she followed the other inside.
"This looks like a high school gym, doesn't it?" Hotaru and Michiru nodded
in agreement, and Haruka headed for the far wall and a single door with a
sign labeling it the "Girls{: '} Locker Room".
The short haired blond opened the door to the locker room and walked inside.
"Plenty of lockers." She commented. "And showers." She wandered over to
one of the lockers and opened it. "Gym shorts." She said with a sigh. "It
figures." She rolled her eyes. "I hate girls{: '} gym shorts."
"Haruka no!" Michiru cried out in warning as her lover dived for her pants
with outstretched arms, but Haruka was already committed to the attack.
Happosai smoothly caught Haruka by one arm as she dived for him, whipping
her around much like he had moments before and pulling her right sleeve off
her arm at the same time. As Haruka spun away from him he gave a practiced
tug and the shirt came off entirely, whipping back around to him, where he
smoothly inserted his arms into the sleeves and was already buttoning it up
calmly as Haruka crashed to
the floor of the bath {admist : amidst} the other girls, wearing only her panties.
Skuld sniffed. "I'd believe it. I bet {Keichi : Keiichi} would love to get into
Belldandy's underwear drawer if I didn't have a tech trap on it."
Belldandy smiled at her younger sister indulgently. "I keep telling you
that's not necessary, Skuld-chan. {Keichi : Keiichi} would never violate my privacy
like that." She shrugged. "{And : Or} if he did, it would be for a good reason."
Michiru spoke up from where she was picking out a green silk bra in her
size, down the aisle. "Those are all places where women tend to wear skimpy
outfits and bounce about... two activities most men find utterly
fascinating... or so I understand." {Hotaru : Haruka} glanced at her lover with a
slightly guilty grin, and Michiru couldn't help but laugh. "Not to mention
Haruka-chan... who does an excellent job of imitating the appetites of the
male half of the species from time to time."
Minutes later the girls were all gathered once more in the hallway, once
again fully dressed. Setsuna had walked down to join them even as Haruka
made her way out of the gym in her gym clothes, and all of them looked at
the doorway to the baths with {verying : varying} states of apprehension.
"Happosai seems to have a number of fantasies to fulfill." Belldandy
answered first, glancing toward the hallway. "There is a girls{: '} gymnasium, a
restaurant with skimpy waitress outfits, a large indoor bath, and a lingerie
shop."
"Not to mention all the bedrooms." Haruka brought up. "There's one for
each of us, and all of the others as well. Obviously he wants all of the
Senshi here, and the other girls from {Nermia : Nerima} too."
Haruka looked a bit {nonplused : nonplussed}. "Oh." She brightened. "Hey! Why don't you
use that on Happosai? I mean, I know this isn't part of a contract or
anything, but I don't think anyone would mind if you used your powers, just
this..." She stopped, looking frustrated. "Never mind, that was stupid.
You can't use any of your powers now either, can you?"
Belldandy shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I wish that one of the other
versions of me had come... like the me with the curse to become a {Tiger : tiger}.
Then at least there might be something I could do."
The two of them soon found themselves in a small bedroom that closely
resembled the one they shared at their home and started to methodically
search it. The results of the search were not encouraging. Neither of them
had found anything resembling normal clothing, although there had been quite
a few "accessories" and "toys" that they had put right back where they had
found. There were even some outfits in the closet, but nothing either of
them would wear in public, consisting of more lingerie and some highly
perverted costumes, including everything
from a leather loincloth, bikini and tall leather boots, to a greatly
abbreviated version of a {french : French} maid's outfit.