Yay! New story time. Like I said before, this is a little bit of a crossover and based upon the Swan Princess, one of my favorite childhood movies aside from anything disney, so... enjoy it!
Disclaimer: nope! I don't own Ghost Hunt or the Swan Princess
It had been three months since he left. And it was the exact three month anniversary that she got the call. One that told her to gather her things and the rest of the team; their plane was due to leave in two days.
Mai had thought the phone call odd, but who was she to question her mercurial boss? He had disclosed no real details about the case, only that he needed people he could work closely with; closely requiring they know his true identity and were trustworthy enough to keep their mouths shut about who he was. Apparently there was no team in England that came up to par. Mai sighed, her memories colliding with reality and she found herself thinking that he would never change. Nonetheless, she made her small carry-on ready for travel' packing a few choice articles onto the bag before scurrying off to confront the others.
Upon arriving at each and every location Mai found that all had received an e-mail with their itinerary and some traveling advice, courtesy of Lin no doubt, with collaboration on Naru's part. The message of each electronic correspondence was brief, curt, and to the point. So like the man they all knew, Lin had provided all other information. There was no reason not to go they supposed, nothing of any real importance was going on that would affect the plan and Naru obviously needed their assistance with whatever it was so they all agreed to meet at John's parish before heading to the airport.
Tokyo international, you don't have to visit to know what it's like. Strangely enough, everything went off without a hitch and they were seated comfortably in first class. The Davis', Martin and Luella obviously, were repaying them for coming by making their travel as smooth and welcoming as they could. Nearly all dozed off in the first three hours of the plane leaving the ground save for one short and bubbly brunette.
She was nervous, not only from never having been out of the country but also from the prospect of seeing her boss, the man she loved and was coldly rejected by again. Mai sighed when some small, self-loathing part of her rose and reminded her that if it weren't for her own abilities; which were useful for gathering information about the specters they faced, then she wouldn't be on the plane, in other words, he wouldn't need her at all and for some reason that cut Mai deeper than his rejection of her had. When the better part of herself rose to combat the darkness and slight contempt for herself Mai quickly smacked both cheeks, admonishing herself for even letting her thoughts go in that direction. Mai checked her cellphone, there was still another three hours to go, maybe just a little powernap wouldn't hurt…
It was the booming voice of the captain that woke Mai several hours later. Quickly she glanced up from the position she had fallen asleep in to notice that her friends were waking in much the same manner. Ayako and Masako having fallen asleep of their seat companion; Monk for the older woman and John for the younger. Mai suppressed a giggle; it was cute to see them like that. She took a glance at the empty seat next her and silently wished that Yasu had been able to come, but his grandfather –who the boy had been very close with- had died a couple days prior and Yasu's mother had insisted that he stay to attend the funeral.
Over the phone Yasu had joked that he might need SPR when he came back. Apparently this was the relative Yasu had inherited his mischievous side from, and said relative would get a kick out of scaring the pants off the family that had come to mourn him. Mai laughed remembering that, but reality sank in as she realized that Yasu; the man she thought of as one of her brothers –Gene being the other-, was not here besides her joking and teasing her. He was back in Japan, her home some odd -3,000 was it? - miles away, and she was here in England, trying to be if use to Naru and whomever else he brought along with them.
Upon getting through airport security, the team found a driver with their welcome sign written in kanji, only those who could read it would understand. They followed him and piled into his car, more of a van really, without a word. Upon arriving at the Davis Psychic Research Institute, their chauffer led them to a board room and instructed them to wait there.
Roughly ten minutes afterward, Naru, Lin, and Madoka strolled in along with two others. A man and a woman who looked slightly older than even Monk and Ayako. Naru's parents, they presumed.
"Welcome to England." The woman began in fluent Japanese. "I'm Luella Davis and this is my husband." She gestured to the man beside her. "Firstly I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time to come out here. I'd also like to thank you for taking such good care of our Noll while he was in Japan."
"Mother, refrain from saying things like that." Naru muttered under his breath. Mai hid a silent giggle behind her hand and looked back to Luella.
"Oh Noll, don't be so uptight. Now," she turned back to SPR. "Noll and Lin have told me about you, but would you mind introducing yourselves for us?"
"Certainly." Monk stood up. "I'm Takigawa Hoshou."
"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki." The shrine maiden stood.
"Masako Hara." The small medium stood.
"John Brown." The blonde priest gave a smile.
"And I'm Mai. Mai Taniyama." Mai stood nervously.
Luella looked at her for a moment, and then broke into a grin better fitted on the Cheshire cat. "Really? So you're the infamous Mai. Martin and I have heard all about you."
"What? Really?" Mai started blushing and fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
"Oh yes." Luella affirmed. "Noll's barely talked about anything else since he got home. In fact-"
"Mother that's quite enough!" Naru cut in. obviously he was not pleased that his mother had divulged that information, truth or lie it may be. "Now if we could please get to what I had all of you come here for." He brought out a case file from some hidden compartment in his black coat. "The case."
"Well, what's the deal?" Monk asked when Naru made no move to start explaining it.
"Recently a group of our researchers discovered the remains of a medieval castle, one that's in oddly good condition considering how long it's been standing there and how long it's been abandoned." Naru began; taking out pictures the explorers had taken of the castle upon its discovery to illustrate his point. Mai had to admit, the castle looked breathtaking, and also slightly creepy and ominous. "Upon gaining entry into the castle the same thing had been observed as the outside. The tapestries and furnishings appear to be untouched by time, very unusual don't you agree." Nods from the group were his answer. "Delving further into the corridors footsteps were heard, none coming from the researchers, and when they followed them they would always catch sight of a shadow disappearing behind a corner. However, when following the direction the shadow had gone in, they were met with a completely empty hallway."
"Wow." It was all anyone could say.
"So what exactly do we have to do with this?" Ayako asked.
"I need a team I can work closely with, and the employees here simply do not fit those qualifications." Naru replied. "Can I count on your assistance for this case?"
"If you couldn't, do you honestly think we'd be here?" Monk asked with a grin.
"Very well." Naru affirmed, snapping the file shut and nodding towards his parents. "I believe my mother has volunteered to show you all where you'll be staying for tonight."
"Wait… For tonight?" Mai asked as everyone stood.
"Of course Mai." Naru replied in his usual you're-an-idiot tone. "The castle's bedrooms should be more than adequate, especially since we're unaware of what happens during the nighttime hours." Gesturing to his mother the older woman smiled and motioned for the others to follow.
The next morning everyone piled into a gigantic van that thundered down the main roads of London before heading out to the countryside. Once deep into the English dirt roads it pulled alongside a deep wood. Even the foliage of the trees looked ominous and Mai was a little frightened to be going near it.
"Alright everyone." Naru said opening the door and sliding out. "The paths from here on are too narrow for the van to travel on and the roots in the trees stick out too far for us to clear a path humanely. So each of you must grab a box and carry it with you."
Everyone groaned in response but complied. Following Naru and Lin single file down the path that supposedly led to the castle they were to investigate. Mai was surprised to see even Masako was carrying something. Granted the box was full of wires only but she was still pulling a little weight.
They walked for what felt like hours to those carrying the heavy equipment. In reality it was only twenty minutes at the most when it came in to view. An old castle considering the style in which it was built, yet it looked as Naru had said; untouched by time. Silently, they carried equipment into the court, rather this huge room where two grand chairs that had once belonged to the lord and lady of the castle sitting high on a slightly elevated platform. Naru had dropped his box that contained parts for the shelving unit and began to unload it. The others took this as a sign that this room was to be the base.
After setting up all the equipment, a rather fast twenty-five minutes thanks to everyone's collaboration, Naru had split up the rest into teams to set up the cameras in certain locations where multiple reports of paranormal phenomena had occurred. He and Lin stayed behind to monitor the progress on the set-up.
"Mai, move that camera a little more towards the left." She heard over the walkie-talkies given out to everyone as they left the base.
Mai grumbled a bit about the narcissistic perfectionist but did as she was asked, muttering something about why they were here if Masako couldn't sense anything. It was the truth, upon entering Masako had said that there was a rather odd aura emanating from the building but nothing she could identify as a spirit.
"That's better, point the lens at the corner." She heard Naru's voice again as she adjusted the machine once more. With the last of the cameras for her and Monk, they returned, more than happy to be out of the dark hallways and seemingly endless hallways the edifice possessed.
However, Mai's relief was short-lived as a curt "Mai, tea." was called out in her direction. Off she went muttering about 'stubborn, arrogant, chauvinistic, narcissistic, tea-addicted' bosses as she went.
No sooner had she gotten to the kitchens of the building when she heard the sound of laughter ringing out at her. She turned around and saw a small boy, no older than nine years old standing in one of the many doorways out of the room. He had red hair, and dark, almost black eyes. He looked as though he was playing pretend, fitting the castle's time period in attire with a loosely clasped cape flowing behind him. Wait a minute… Hadn't Naru said something about this place being closed off to the public until it was given the all clear? Then why was this boy playing in it.
"What are you doing here?" Mai asked. The boy just continued laughing, though he turned around and ran out the door in response. "Hey wait!" Mai called as she ran after him, easily following him as he turned corner after corner after corner. "You aren't supposed to be here!"
Still the boy ran on and still, Mai followed him. However, she lost track of him in what looked to her as the castle dungeons.
"Hey little boy?" she called, desperately hoping to hear his voice as reassurance that he was okay, or that she wasn't crazy and had just imagined the whole thing. "Where are you?" she called, but silence met her voice in response.
The dungeons, as it so happened, were located beneath the castle, and there also happened to be a lake nearby. So the water dripped in making this realm of the castle dark, dank, and bitterly cold. Mai wrapped her arms around herself, despairingly wishing she had brought a sweater or at least some form of communications because she had no idea on how to get out of the labyrinthine abyss she'd gotten herself into, and it would most likely some hours before anyone was sent down here to look for her. Mai slid down and sat in a curled up position against one of the walls. With every second it got harder and harder not to fall asleep. The cold was so sensation numbing, and the steady drip-drip of the falling water made for a soothing beat. Mai felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier, but she willed herself to stay awake. Fear. She was afraid that if she closed her eyes now she'd fall asleep and never wake up. Though Gene would welcome with open arms no matter the situation, something told her he'd tell her she needed to wake up, that she wasn't going into one of her dreams which help figure out what the kind of spirit was causing the phenomena and why they were still on earth in the first place.
"No." she told herself slowly, struggling to stand in the process. "I can't fall asleep now."
No sooner than the words had been said, Mai felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull. Like someone had bludgeoned her over the head with a rather hard, thick, and dense object. Her eyes involuntarily closed, and the blackness started fading in.
How long did it take one girl to make a cup of tea and come back? Surely not as long as it was taking Mai to return with his tea Naru mused. She'd been gone ten minutes and nothing was off with any of the machinery they had put up. The sightings of the specter or whatever this thing was hadn't shown any signs of being violent. So where was Mai?
"monk," Naru said without breaking gaze with the monitors before him. "Go and see what's taking Mai so long."
"Sure thing Naru," The jovial monk replied. "Do you want me to bring a walkie with me? Mai left hers here."
Naru glanced up at the mention of what Mai had done. Didn't he tell everyone not to wander around alone in the castle without some way of contacting the others? Oh right; Mai had been assisting Lin with carting another box back at the time and had so missed. He had just assumed one of the others had filled her in on never leaving the base alone without the handheld device. Inwardly he cursed himself for not making the fact perfectly clear to Mai but to be fair his mind had been preoccupied at the moment she came back. Mostly with how to deal with the situation involving Mai his mother had put the both of them in the night before. So what if it was the truth, the damn aggravating woman didn't need to blurt it out to the heavens. Sighing Naru massaged his temples, tracking Takigawa's progress on the screens.
"Naru," he heard over the receiver. "Mai's not in the kitchens. There's a teapot here so she must have come here first but then something happened though it doesn't look like there are signs of a struggle, paranormal or otherwise…"
Naru bit his lip in order to keep his groan of frustration from coming out. Of course, danger-prone Mai strikes again. If only there was some way to find out where she'd gone. The last frame he'd seen her was at camera thirteen, which happened to be right by the kitchens. One of the better models bought in the last few weeks with better audio quality and… Naru abruptly halted his inner monologue. Of course! The camera picked up a wide range of audio and the kitchen was a large sparsely decorated room, any sounds out of the machine's range would eventually echo into it. He replayed the audio from a few seconds after Mai had vanished from the screen. At first he heard the usual bustling sounds that accompanied Mai while she got the necessary ingredients to prepare the tea. Shortly after they started though, they stopped. The camera picked up laughter that definitely was not Mai's. Then he heard the question Mai posed to whoever it was that was there while they were not supposed to be and then the clatter of running feet over the stone floor. Oddly enough, there was only one set sound, Naru guessed to be Mai's which meant that she had been tricked and whomever it was she'd been chasing was not living.
This time, however, he let out the word with a hiss. "Dammit!"
Slowly, slowly, slowly until they were fully opened. Mai felt consciousness barging in on her black oblivion. She yawned and stretched her arms; they felt like lead, and longer? than usual. Mai rolled her head around to loosen up her neck and noted that it felt longer too. She looked down to see a white-feathered chest poking out where hers was supposed to be. That and the fact that she was floating on water instead of lying on some stone floor like she should have.
"What the- where am I?" she cried out, though it came out as more of a squawk. Luckily there was enough light for here to peer at her reflection, she saw a pure white swan with dark brown eyes staring back at her. "Ah!"
She heard that familiar laughter, the one that had gotten her into her first mess in the first place. She saw the boy standing there at the edge of the pond, or whatever it was that she was in and paddled over to him. As she drew closer she saw the boy's youth melt away to that of a bitter old man, one who kept his coloring surprisingly well.
"Glad to see you awake princess." He sneered.
"Who-who are you?" Mai asked, voice quivering.
"Me?" the man asked in reply. "I am Rothbart, master of this castle. Welcome to Swan Lake my dear." He ended the sentence with an evil curl of his lips.
"Swan Lake?" Mai asked, looking at the scenery around her. She recognized that the building behind her was the castle she and the rest of SPR were investigating. "Wait, how did you make yourself a little boy?" she asked.
"A little help from the Dark Arts my dear." Rothbart replied. "The same reason you're a swan at the moment."
"At the moment?" Mai repeated.
"Yes, look up at the sky." Rothbart ordered.
Mai did as she was told and caught a glimpse of the nighttime sky; the moon was almost directly above her.
"I don't get it, what's so special about the moon in the sky?" Mai asked.
"Let me explain how the spell works." Rothbart began. "You see every day you will be a swan. But every night when the moon reaches the middle of this lake…" he trailed off as the moon had done so.
A bright light formed a circle where Mai was floating. The water rose up and around Mai as she rose up with her wings. The water formed a bubble around her with light pouring out of it. Suddenly, the water dropped, and there Mai stood. Actually stood. The spell had affected her physically so now her once short pixie-cut bob was now a flowing river of cinnamon waves ending at her waist. She had a pure white satin shoulder-less slip that ran into the water. Another slip of pure white lace hung over it, intricate designs showing some bits of flesh in the tiny holes between the gauzy fabric running down her arms and ending with a trail of the cuffs, the rest of the lacy slip ran with the satin into the water. Other than that, she was still the same girl.
"You turn back into a human." Rothbart finished. "Well you do provided you're on the lake."
"And is there any way to break the spell?" Mai asked.
"Yes." the dark magician answered. "You marry me, and I can regain my human form. And we'll take back this castle and rule it legally, as king and queen."
"Yeah, one problem with that." Mai replied.
"And that would be?"
"This isn't the fourteenth century anymore Mr. Rothbart. You can't rule this castle the way you want."
"A minor inconvenience." Rothbart dismissed the excuse.
"Well there's also the fact that; you're outta your mind if you think I'm gonna marry some creep like you!" Mai was sure if words could be used to kill someone she would have preferred her to be made of the most toxic substance on earth as she spat the response in Rothbart's face.
"Oh. So you're in love too?" Rothbart questioned, though it sounded more as if only he was meant to hear it.
Mai felt her face heat. "So what if I do?"
Rothbart came back to reality and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Your choice is either to marry me, or remain a swan for the rest of your days!" he spat back as he disappeared in a cloud of dark purple smoke.
Mai sighed; "I'd rather be a swan than marry that guy." she murmured to herself looking around at the castle behind her.
Suddenly she noticed that there was an open hallway with spaces for people to come in and out of. This was perfect. She could get inside and find one of the cameras until someone came to get her and she could tell everyone what happened. She ran towards the open enclosure as fast as she could. But when she tried to go through the shaped, door-less entrances it was though there was a five foot thick wall preventing her from doing so.
"What the-" she started before hearing a soft chuckle emanating from the other side. She turned and saw a familiar black-haired, blue-eyed boy sitting against the base of a tree watching her antics.
"Gene!" she cried running over to him.
"Hello Mai." Gene replied. "It's been a while hasn't it?"
Mai nodded. "I've missed you so much. But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you have passed on or something?"
"And where would that leave you when reliving the memories becomes too much for your heart to handle?" Gene asked in reply.
"Good point." Mai conceded and sat down beside her friend. "So how come I'm able to see you awake now?" she asked.
"I'm not really sure myself. But at least you won't be alone during the daytime." Gene offered in response. "Besides, even if the others figure out what happened I'm the only one who can understand you until nighttime."
"You speak swan?" Mai asked, amusement and surprise evident in her tone.
"No, you only speak 'swan' because your outer body is a swan. Your spirit is still a human though." Gene answered her.
"That makes sense, but can I go into the castle as a swan?" Mai wondered aloud.
"I'm afraid not." Gene replied. "Rothbart put a spell on the castle so that only all humans can enter and leave the castle. And as of right now, you're not all human."
"Oh," Mai said studying the water. "I just wish there was some way to break the spell other than marrying that creep." She said bitterly.
"Maybe there is." Gene said cryptically. "Why don't you sleep on it and find out?"
"But-" Mai protested.
"I promise I'll still be here when you wake up." Gene assured her. "Now go to sleep."
"M'kay." Mai replied letting her eyes close and her consciousness drift away.
It was black, she couldn't see, she couldn't feel. But she could hear. Voices. All around her voice spoke, saying the same thing over and over again like a broken record or a song with a glitch in it.
"What must I do?" a male voice asked.
"You must make a vow of everlasting love… everlasting love…everlasting love…" a feminine voice repeated before the conversation continued.
"I make it." the male voice replied.
"Yes, but you must prove it to the whole world as well." the female voice told in response.
"Make a vow of everlasting love… prove it to the whole world…" the voice echoed one more time before blackness completely drowned out all sights, all sounds, all thoughts of being. And with the coming of the darkness Mai lost herself to oblivion once more.
well there you have it. also I know alot of you are waiting for chapter 11 of Let the Games Begin so how bout this; I'll post what I have so far every so often and you guys can review on that until I finish the whole chapter. Sound good? well.. tell me when you guys Review!