By TempestXtreme
Disclaimer: I own only my own characters. Lashana owns Tvashtar, Kadrith, the Dragons, and Rryslan. The Harem members belong to whoever created them.
It was a peaceful Sunday morning in the Land of the Harem, and Lashana had only just woken up and was getting her first cup of coffee. After taking a sip of the precious brown liquid, she sat down at the island counter and looked over at Tvashtar as he walked into the kitchen.
"Mornin' Bro," she said. Tvashtar waved at her, still half asleep it seemed.
"Morning 'Shana," he mumbled. "My father is supposed to be coming today. I just hope he's not late again."
"If he is, I'll just send Xellos to find him," Lashana smirked. "That'll get him here in a hurry."
Tvashtar chuckled. "Like the last time he was late," he said. "No, he'll be here on time."
He went to the fridge and grabbed the orange juice, slamming the door before the Thing could grab him. "We have to figure out how those Things keep on growing in every fridge we get," he said, grabbing a glass and pouring himself a cup of orange juice. He looked up at the sound of the door swinging open as Duncan walked into the kitchen.
"Morning you two!" he said. Lashana sipped her coffee again before looking at the immortal.
"Where have you been? You're usually singing here and waking everybody else up."
"Funny, Lashana," Duncan said. "Actually, I was checking the inventory of all of my antiques and artefacts that I've collected since I started living here."
Lashana raised an eyebrow. "Why? Did something go missing?"
"No. I just do a check once a month to make sure that everything is there," Duncan said. "And everything IS there, which is good because that stuff cost me a bundle to collect."
"I'll bet," Tvashtar said. "I've seen some of the things you have in there. Impressive collection."
"Thank you," Duncan said. "Now, to get breakfast started!"
Lashana rolled her eyes. "Just don't put cheese sauce on the French Toast this time," she said. "That was disgusting."
"What? It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Duncan replied.
"Hai, but it didn't turn out to be a good idea!" Lashana said, standing and stretching. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower before Blackwargreymon uses all the hot water."
"Is he awake?" Tvashtar asked her as she walked to the door.
"No, but I still want to have a nice hot shower!"
*-*-*-*
Ten minutes later, Lashana walked back to the kitchen dressed in a black tank top, black jeans, and black boots with her snow-white hair tied up in a ponytail. Duncan looked up at her as she walked into the kitchen.
"You hungry?" he asked. "I've made us some breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast…"
Lashana blinked at the large amount of food he had prepared. "You did all this in ten minutes?" she asked. "How?"
"I had help, actually," Duncan said.
"Hi Lashana!"
Lashana turned at the voice, grinning when she saw Rebecca standing behind her dressed in dark blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and blue boots. Her dark brown hair was braided and her dark green eyes seemed more alive than usual.
"Becca!" she said, standing up and hugging her friend. "It's been a long time! How've you been? How's your family?"
Rebecca hugged Lashana in return and smiled at her when she pulled away. "They're fine," she said. "Tempest is in the Library. Eve's here too, along with Phoenix. I believe you've met her?"
Lashana nodded. "Yeah, she's a nice kid."
"She is, isn't she?" Rebecca said. "A good student, too. She's already mastered many spells and her sword training with Tempest is going well. She'll be a fine warrior when she grows up. Oh, and I heard you also met my younger brother, Kyle."
Lashana nodded again. "He's…interesting. Reminds me of one of those Z-Fighters. We let him loose in our Danger Room while he was here. Took out ten Sentinel Robots by himself!"
Rebecca smirked. "Well, he IS a Chi Master. His skill in the martial arts is incredible, granted that he has had over 700 years to hone his fighting style into what it is today. He doesn't use magick, either. Well, not pure magick like you, Telca, or myself. All his spells and a few of his attacks are Chi-based. Not as powerful as pure magicks, but powerful in the right hands."
"That would explain that weird whirlwind thing he did," Lashana said. "He picked up the last five Sentinels and slammed them against the ground in a whirlwind. They hit the ground so hard that they were crushed!"
"Ah, yes, the 'Whirlwind Slam'," Rebecca mused. "One of his most powerful attacks. Not much can withstand that attack."
"Hiya, Lashana!"
Phoenix walked into the kitchen, smiling happily and waving at Lashana. "Hey, Duncan! You mind if I have some of that egg? I haven't eaten yet."
"Sure, go ahead," Duncan said. "Have some sausages and bacon too."
"Thanks!" Phoenix said, grabbing a plate and dishing up some food. Rebecca looked at the mound on her plate and chuckled.
"Been practicing the energy-draining spells again, I see," she said. "You only eat that much after letting off a Dragon Slave or two."
Phoenix grinned. "Well, I've got to practice if I'm ever going to be as good a sorceress as you, Lashana, or Telca!" she said, taking a bite out of a sausage. Rebecca raised an eyebrow.
"Phoenix, you've already mastered more spells than I had when I was your age. Your skills with magick have surpassed mine," she said. Phoenix looked at her.
"I have?"
"Yes."
Phoenix blinked. "Wow…that's cool!"
Rebecca chuckled and glanced at Lashana. "What's with that look of shock, Lashana?"
The Elf looked at her. "Phoenix has surpassed you in skill already?"
"Yes. I'm proud of her," Rebecca said.
"You're fine with her surpassing you?" Lashana asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Rebecca said. "I'm not obsessed with power, Lashana. I have enough power to protect myself and my family. I don't need anymore."
Duncan, who had been listening, spoke up. "You're a very sensible person, Rebecca. You know, you'd probably make a good Chaos Knight."
Rebecca and Lashana blinked. Rebecca found her voice first.
"Umm…no, I don't think so," she said. "I'm not interested in that kind of power. Even if I were, I could never bring myself to kill anybody just for power – ESPECIALLY if the person I had to kill was my friend."
"I guess you have a point," Duncan conceded.
"And who said that I'd even CONSIDER fighting Becca?!" Lashana said, glaring at Duncan. He winced.
"I didn't say that you would!" he said, suddenly wishing that he had kept his big mouth shut. "Um, I'm going back to my cooking now…"
"Lashana, put the Fireball away," Rebecca said. "He doesn't deserve it."
"Humph. I think he does," Lashana muttered. "What made him think that you and I would EVER fight?"
"I don't know," Rebecca said. "Um, Lashana, could you put that Fireball away please? You're liable to set the kitchen on fire if you throw it."
"Alright, alright," Lashana said, banishing the fireball. "But I still say he deserved it!"
Rebecca chuckled. "Maybe," she said. "But you wouldn't want to accidentally let that…Thing out of the fridge, would you?"
"Ugh, no."
"Exactly."
"Hello, Elfy!"
Tempest walked into the kitchen, grinning. Lashana smirked.
"Heyla, Chicken-boy."
"Har, har," Tempest said. "Hey, where's Telca? I haven't seen her since I got here."
"She's either still asleep or in the Danger Room with Kadrith."
"I thought I heard explosions, so I'm guessing the Danger Room," Tempest said, walking up behind Rebecca and hugging her from behind. Lashana made a gagging motion.
"No PDAs!" she said.
"Like you and Black are any better," Tempest smirked. "'Sides, we have a right to do this. We're married."
"Yes, well, you don't have to do it in front of me," Lashana said. "Hey, Phoenix, you're pretty quiet. What's on your mind?"
Phoenix shrugged. "Just thinking," she said. "Hey, no PDAs you two!"
Lashana laughed when Tempest glared at Phoenix. Rebecca snickered and turned around in Tempest's arms, flinging her arms around his neck. "You want a PDA? I'll show you a PDA," she said, and kissed Tempest. Phoenix rolled her eyes while Lashana made another gagging motion.
"Gees, would you two get a room?" Eve said as she walked in on the scene. Tempest and Rebecca stopped kissing and looked at her.
"Like you and Robert are any better," Rebecca said, smirking.
"That's true," Eve grinned. "Hey, Lashana, Duncan. How're things with you two? And Lashana, Tvashtar is in the Danger Room. He's waiting for you so that you two can start your daily training."
"Hai, hai," Lashana said. "Breakfast before training, though."
She grabbed a plate and dished up some eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast and then got some more coffee.
"By the way, has Tvashtar eaten?" she asked as she sat down.
"Yeah, he had some of the leftovers from last night for breakfast," Duncan said.
"Oh. Well, good."
*-*-*-*
Two hours later…
Tempest glanced up as Lashana walked into the library. "Ah, so the Knight returns from her training!" he said. "How was it?"
"Exhausting as it always is," Lashana said, practically falling down onto the couch. "Tvashtar's become a tougher teacher lately, ever since Dark Storm attacked two weeks ago."
"DARK STORM!?!"
Lashana blinked. "Um, yeah. Dark Storm. You know him, don't you?"
"He's an alternate universe version of me," Tempest deadpanned.
"He's WHAT?!"
*-*-*-*
Five minutes later, Tempest had explained to everybody about how Dark Storm was, well, an evil version of himself from another universe.
"You mean to say that there's an evil, egotistical, black-hearted version of you?!" Telca said, groaning when Tempest sighed and nodded. "Wonderful…"
"Relax, he's not that powerful. He's actually quite…weak…" Tempest trailed off at the looks that he was getting from them. "What?"
"He took all of us on and nearly killed us!" Lashana said. "How can you say he's 'not that powerful'?"
"Psh, I can easily beat him," Tempest said, waving a hand. "I don't understand why you all couldn't, though. Maybe something about this dimension was making him stronger?"
There was a collective groan from the group.
"JUST what we need! A psychopath that gets stronger when he's in this dimension!" Telca said.
"Uh, actually, Dark Storm is more of a sociopath…" Tempest began, blinking when they groaned again. "What did I say?"
"I already explained to them that my father is more of a sociopath than a psychopath," Phoenix said from where she was sitting on the couch. Tempest blinked.
"…Oh."
"Hello?"
Lashana blinked and looked at the clock on the wall. "It's already one 'o clock?!"
"Why? What happens at one?" Rebecca asked, looking at Lashana. "Nothing bad, I hope."
"No, nothing bad," Lashana said. "Just that Tvashtar and Kadrith's father comes to visit every second Sunday at one. I guess time just slipped away from us today. Rryslan! We're in the library!"
Rryslan walked into the library moments later, stopping at the sight of Tempest, Rebecca, Phoenix, and Eve. "I didn't know you had guests," he said.
"Rryslan, I'd like you to meet Tempest, Rebecca, Eve, and Phoenix. They're friends of ours," Lashana explained. Rryslan looked them all over, his gaze lingering on Rebecca for a moment.
"I know you…" he said. "You're that sorceress who stole the Talisman of Life! What are you doing here?!"
Rebecca glared at him. "I didn't steal anything!" she said angrily. "That Talisman was a gift from a friend of mine!"
Rryslan snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "You mean Danierra, that Night Elf who was caught trying to steal spell books from a Gaia Temple? Please, if you're a friend of hers, then you're obviously as dishonest as she-"
He was cut off quite suddenly by Tempest's fist slamming into his face, sending him staggering backwards. He recovered and glared at him. Tempest had a look of pure rage on his face."Insult my wife like that again and you'll regret it," he said, a battle aura growing around him and exuding enough power to cause the lights to flash on and off before the bulbs blew. Rryslan growled.
"It was the truth," he said. "But if you want to fight…"
"Stop it!!"
"Stay out of this, Lashana!" Tempest snapped. "This is for Rebecca's honour! It has nothing to do with you!!"
"Like hell it doesn't!" Lashana snapped. "I'm not about to watch you two beat each other senseless over words!"
"Lashana." Rebecca walked up to the Elf and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let them sort this out in their own way. Tempest is a man of honour. If he doesn't do this, then he'll never forgive himself."
"But–" Lashana began to protest, but she was cut off when the windows exploded outwards as Rryslan tackled Tempest, sending the both of them crashing through the window and out to the deck. "HEY!!"
She was about to go after them, but Rebecca stopped her. "I can sense that Rryslan is powerful," she said softly. "He's just as powerful as Tempest. They'll tire out before they do any real damage to each other."
Lashana sighed. "Fine," she said, folding her arms over her chest and fuming. "But you're paying for the repairs."
"Fine by me," Rebecca smirked. "Want to go and watch a movie?"
Lashana blinked at the other sorceress. "Your husband is busy fighting outside and you want to watch a movie?"
"Um…yes?"
Lashana smirked. "Sure, why not?"
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
Lashana winced. "Easy, Bro," she said, looking over her shoulder at him. "Yes, Tempest and your father are fighting. Don't worry. Becca says they'll tire out before they kill each other."
Tvashtar blinked at the brown-haired sorceress. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty much. They're at the same level of power. I'm surprised you didn't sense it."
Tvashtar frowned. "…This is going to be a long day…"
"Why is Tempest fighting our father?!"
Tvashtar glanced at his brother. "Actually, I don't know. Why ARE they fighting?"
"Your father accused Becca of being in cahoots with a thief," Lashana said. "Tempest got pissed, punched your father, and then they took the fight outside."
Kadrith blinked. "…Oh."
*-*-*-*
Tempest blocked Rryslan's lighting-fast punches with effort, even though he had already powered up to full power, his black bladed wings spread wide as he and Rryslan fought their way around the front yard. Tempest had seen shock in Rryslan's eyes for a few seconds when the Draconid had seen him transform into his Omni-Arch-Angel form, but it had passed quickly.
One of Rryslan's punches got through Tempest's defense, slamming into his jaw and forcing him backwards. Tempest countered with a fiery uppercut, which Rryslan dodged and countered by hitting Tempest with a Rune Flare. Tempest growled and backhanded the spell right back at Rryslan, who dodged it (Lashana hastily rose a shield to protect the library from the explosion).
"You're powerful," Rryslan said. "For a Human."
"You too," Tempest said. "But I'm not Human."
Rryslan decided that he didn't need to know what this Tempest character meant by that just yet. No, right now he had to dodge the other warrior before he ran headlong into his chest, which he did, but Tempest's wing hit his arm…cutting him!
"What?! Those wings…they're like blades!"
Tempest smirked from where he was standing, a few feet in front of Rryslan. "My wings are blades," he said. "Not ordinary blades, though. These blades vibrate at the molecular level, allowing for very clean cuts. Impressed?"
Rryslan scowled. His power matches mine, and goes beyond even that of the Chaos Knight and the Gaia Avatar. If he wanted to, he could challenge both of them, and defeat them. But something tells me that he's not the kind of person who lusts for power…
"Impressed? A little. Your powers are intriguing. Why use them to defend a thief like her?" he said aloud.
Tempest snarled and sent a blast of pure power at Rryslan. The Draconid didn't even have time to dodge – the blast came so fast that he couldn't track it! It slammed right into his chest, the ensuing explosion sending him off his feet. He used his wings to stop himself from hitting the ground, and looked up in time to see Tempest flying at him, a scythe made of what appeared to be pure light in his hands. He ducked the hard swing that had been aimed at his head, focusing his powers for a moment before forming a blade of fire to block the next attack.
"A Light Scythe! How did you summon one?"
"None of your business!" Tempest said, swinging his scythe in an X-slash, gritting his teeth when Rryslan expertly blocked the attack and hit him with a Dark Claw spell. Oh, yeah, right. Like this'll be able to hurt me…
Tempest let loose with a shockwave of light that destroyed the Dark Claw spell before it could do any major damage. He growled and phased out of sight, reappearing behind Rryslan, his Light Scythe banished for the moment so that he could slam his fists into Rryslan's back in an axe-handle smash attack. Rryslan grunted and staggered forward, recovered, and twisted around, swinging the fiery blade right at Tempest's head. The blade struck the Arch-Angel's neck…
"What the?!"
…and broke into pieces before vanishing into smoke! Rryslan stared at Tempest, before realizing what he was facing.
"An Omni-Elemental…"
"Yes, an Omni-Elemental," Tempest said. "I suggest you apologise to Rebecca."
"I don't think so!"
Rryslan let loose with a point-blank range blast of magick, the explosion sending the both of them flying backwards in opposite directions.
Of course, what Rryslan didn't realize, was that when he had let off the blast of magick, Tempest had done the exact same thing. The resulting collision of power knocked them both out cold!
*-*-*-*
Several hours later…
"Ouch…"
"Ugh…"
Tempest and Rryslan woke up at the same time, both in Beast's lab.
"Ah, good, you're awake. You're both lucky to be alive. That explosion would have killed anybody else," Beast said, looking up from his notes when he heard them wake up. "And, Rryslan, Rebecca wants to talk to you."
Rryslan blinked as Rebecca walked up to him, smiling. "I was thinking about what you said earlier," she said. "And I think I know what you meant. You meant this, didn't you?"
She pulled something out from beneath her shirt. It was a talisman in the shape of a sphere with a tree in the centre of it, and the symbols for Earth, Air, Water, and Fire surrounding it.
"That talisman…" Rryslan breathed. "It's only given to…"
"Those who are considered to be closest to the four elementals in mind and body. Yes, I know. I received this as a gift from a friend of mine. She's the Shamaness of the Red Fir Tribe on my planet. Why did you think I stole it?"
Rryslan looked at her. "Because…" he said. "I saw your image carved into a wall in a Gaia Temple on a planet called…"
"Trivadia?" Rebecca finished. "Yes, that's my home. Tempest's too."
Rryslan looked down. "I-I apologise," he said. "I saw your image carved into that wall, and I assumed…"
"Don't worry about it," Rebecca said. "It was an honest mistake. Wasn't it Tempest?"
Tempest saw the look in Rebecca's eye. "I…guess so," he said. "Though he didn't have to…"
"Oh for the love of! I didn't take offence to what he said!" Rebecca said. "You are a stubborn, stubborn male!"
"But that's why you love me," Tempest grinned, walking up to her and pulling her close. "Right?"
"Well…yes."
Tempest chuckled.
*-*-*-*
"So, no more testosterone contests?" Lashana asked, looking at Tempest as he and his family prepared to go home.
"Uh, no," Tempest said. "Hey, Rryslan! It was good to meet you! Hope I get to see you again. I'd like to spar with you sometime!"
"So would I," Rryslan said. "I still want to know how you managed to summon a Light Scythe."
Tempest smirked. "Sore wa himitsu desu!"
That said, he, Eve, Phoenix, and Rebecca walked through the portal and back home.
The End! ^_^