Chapter I
"How about we make a deal then?" asked a young girl`s voice.
"Deal?" asked the voice of a little boy this time.
"Yes, a deal." She said, and you could almost hear her smirk. "I'll use what is left of my powers to free you and your two friends, but then you have to help me with something."
"Help you with what?"
A small laugh, far from innocent, was heard, before everything faded into darkness.
Anna was looking out at the bright blue sky with bored eyes. She had absolutely nothing to do but wait until this stupid human ceremony was over. She loved watching the clash between the Pailongs and the Tao Clan. It was such an odd combination. Lee Pailong made his fortune with Kung Fu movies, and westernizing his life style as much as possible. Tao Jun was one of the only two Tao survivors, a traditional Chinese Shaman Clan, and lived her entire life based on tradition and the spiritual world. The two couldn't come from more different backgrounds, yet somehow, they feel in love and were getting married.
That did not mean their families were happy. The Tao Clan consisted only of Jun and her little brother, Ren. Needless to say, the young Chinese man was very unhappy with his sister's fiancée. She was, according to him, betraying their people. A shaman should marry a shaman, that's what he said. For her to marry a human, with the way humans treated them, it was… it was despicable! Unthinkable! And if that wasn't enough, Lee Pailong tried to hide from his family the fact that his future wife was a shaman for as long as possible! A disgrace! That was what Tao Ren thought.
And the Pailongs thought the same thing of Jun and Ren. While years ago shamans would be regarded with great respect, in these days it was almost a social crime to be seen with one. And their son, a great movie star, was marrying one! What a disgrace.
But that didn't stop the two lovers. They were getting married and their dear families just had to deal with. It took some time, but they finally agree with it. Of course, that didn't meant they stopped fighting. Ren wanted his sister to have a traditional Chinese Wedding, and the Pailongs wanted a modern western wedding. Somehow they found a wedding planner who combined the two ideas, to find something in between.
And it was because of that stupid wedding planner that Anna was stuck in that room, with a dress that was supposed to be a mixture of traditional Chinese dresses and Modern Western gowns, but looked like neither of those things. Because of all this stupid mess she had to sit there and wait until the ceremony, with nothing to do. Anna secretly hoped that Ren would enter in a fight with one of the Pailong family members, so she would be entertained. She loved watching them fight.
But luck was not on her side. Ren also had to wait in this stupid closed room, along with his best and only friend, Asakura Yoh. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
"You look fine, Ren." Yoh said smiling. "Really!"
"I look stupid, Yoh." Ren answered, frowning.
"You do not." Yoh said.
"Yes, he does." Anna said smirking.
"Anna, don't say that." Yoh frowned, giving Anna a disapproving glance over his shoulder "It's not nice."
"My kind is not supposed to be nice."
"And they are not supposed to be honest either, right?" Yoh smiled, and turned again to Ren. "Come on, Ren, do this for your sister."
"Do this for my sister?" Ren asked, sneering "I would be doing her a favor by killing the bastard she agreed to marry!"
"That's not nice." Yoh said with a frown.
"His specie is not nice, Yoh." Ren said, backing away from his best friend. Oh great, Anna thought. She knew what would come now. "Humans are dirty creatures!" Yep, she was right. He was about to rant "They are disgusting! Look at how they treat us! You are a shaman as well, Yoh! You know how it is to go out there carrying a Shaman Name."
"It's not easy for sure." Yoh agreed.
"Not easy?" he laughed bitterly "Not easy? You were almost stoned to death once, Yoh! Jun was almost assaulted!"
"But she wasn't…" Yoh said, smiling "Thanks to Pailong. He saved your sister Ren, you should be thankful for that."
"I am. But that doesn't mean I want him marrying her!" Anna rolled her eyes. Really, this speech was getting old. "He even tried to hide from his family the fact that Jun is a shaman!"
Anna looked out the window again. Jun was going to pay for locking her inside a room with her temperamental brother. She silently wondered if it would hurt too much to jump from the second window. She despised pain, but it's not like it would kill her.
"It was to protect her." Yoh said. "He didn't want them to treat her badly."
"And she had to hide who she was!" he said, crossing his arms. "Humans are disgusting."
"There was a time when you felt the same way about Anna." Yoh said, gaining Anna's attention. The brown haired shaman walked towards her, and placed his arm around her shoulder, smiling brightly "Now look at you two! You are like best friends!"
"Hardly." Anna said, moving away from Yoh "I wouldn't call us best friends, Yoh."
"Or friends." Ren added.
"But you tolerate each other. That's good!" Yoh says, laughing "Compared to before, when we first started living together, you two couldn't stay in the same room!"
"I only tolerate her because of you Yoh." Ren said.
"You don't mean that." Yoh said, still smiling.
"Yes, I do."
"Well… Then tolerate Pailong for Jun!" he concluded "You can do that, right?"
Ren did not answer, making Yoh smile even more.
Anna just shook her head. Leave it to Yoh to persuade the stubborn Chinese boy. It always worked. When they first met, 8 years ago, Ren tried to kill Anna. He despised her with every fiber of his being, yet because of Yoh he allowed her to live with them. And now they could tolerate each other… It's funny to think how things changed.
"Nii-chan! Nee-chan!" a childish voice coming from the door called. They all looked in the direction and found Redseb, frowning, and behind him was Seyrarm, looking indifferent as always.
"What is it Redseb?" Yoh asked, sitting down.
"I want to change my clothes." He said, crossing his arms.
"Why?" he asked blinking.
"We look like idiots!" and then they stepped in the room. Redseb stepped in, and Ren smirked. Well, at least he wasn't the only one who looked stupid in those clothes. The boy looked like a ventriloquist's doll, with the mini suit making his head look huge, and the messy blonde hair sticking out everywhere. Seyrarm was wearing a miniature version of Anna's dress, and with her long hair and the beads around her head she looked like one of those Victorian porcelain dolls.
"Welcome to the club." Anna says. "None of us are happy with these stupid outfits. Take it with the bride later."
"I will!" the young boy answered, puffing his cheeks. "I can't believe she's making us dress this way!"
"I can't believe she is marrying that idiot!" Ren said.
"And I can't believe you guys can't be happy for Jun." Yoh said, frowning. "Come on guys, she is a big sister to us all! Be happy for her!" then he smiled "Besides, I think Seyrarm looks adorable."
"Of course she does." Anna replied. "Seyrarm is small, young. She will look good in anything."
"Don't be jealous, Anna." Yoh said, getting down on his knees and helping Redseb fix his tie, and then patting Seyrarm on the top of the head. "If you wanted you could look cute and small like Seyrarm."
She sent him a glare.
"I'm like this so things won't be as weird between us, Yoh." She said, and then turned her head to the side "When you started to grow you said it was weird that I was still the same."
"I know." He smiled and then looked at Anna "You always do anything to please me. I'm really thankful Anna."
"She better do anything for you." Ren said "After what she does to your body, and what you promised to do for her, being nice is the least she could do."
Anna just glared at Ren, and then sighed. Really, he was such a troublesome boy. Did she always need to remind him that she never forced Yoh to do anything? He accepted her offer and this is the result. Simple, they were both keeping their side of the agreement.
Time passed, and soon they were all ready for the ceremony. Anna never really understood the point of weddings. What makes two humans vow to spend their lives together? What happens if one of them doesn't keep their end of the bargain? And most importantly, what makes sure they keep such vow?
When she asked Yoh those questions he smiled and answered it with a simple word: Love. Love, he explained, is what makes them want to spend their lives together forever. What they gain of it is the eternal companionship of the partner, and what they give is their undying devotion. What binds them together is something stronger than Shaman spells. Love, he said, is a strong power that can drive humans to do almost anything.
But Anna still couldn't understand. It all sounded stupid in her ears. Her contract with Yoh was much certain. She couldn't back down from it, and neither could Yoh. They were bound by powers stronger than their own, stronger than love, and if any of them tried to betray the other, there would be heavy consequences.
Love…. Such a stupid human concept.
"Nee-chan…" Redseb called, as they waited for the bride, all guests already there. They were mostly the groom's guests since Jun's only friends were the 5 of them. "When can we eat the cake?"
"After this stupid ceremony is over." She answered, shrugging.
"And when will that be?" he asked, impatient.
"I don't know Redseb." She sighed "You have lived a long time already, a few more hours won't seem like much."
"It does when I'm waiting for cake." He said, frowning "I mean, have you seen the size of that thing? It's huge! And it looks so good!"
"You'll just have to wait." She said "Be patient, or else you won't eat cake at all."
"Fine." He said, crossing his arms.
Anna shook her head. Why again did they agree to take care of the two little devils? As if Ren, Yoh and Jun weren't enough of a pain.
She looked around and soon saw Yoh and Ren, not that far away. Yoh was with his arm around Ren, smiling and saying something Anna's sharp ears could barely hear. Probably still trying to cheer up the Chinese boy. She sighed again. It was going to be one boring day.
But, much to her surprise, she was wrong. She was talking with Yoh outside, Redseb and Seyrarm stuffing their faces with cake by their side, and Ren arguing with the Groom's family about some stupid issue that Anna couldn't care less about. Anna was just talking to Yoh about the next step on their plan, when she felt s hiver run up her spine. Redseb, whose hands were full of cake, stopped eating immediately and looked around frenetically. Yoh frowned and also started to survey the area, looking in Ren's direction and noticing he also had sensed.
Jun was the first to run towards them, asking if what she was really feeling a presence of another shaman close by or if it was just her nerves.
"We can feel it too." Yoh said, standing up "He will probably be here at any second."
"Oh no…" Jun said "I hope he won't cause trouble."
It was useless to hope, and Anna knew it. Whoever was coming knew about her and the Munzer siblings. Things were about to get messy, everyone knew it.
"Don't worry about it Jun, I'll handle things." Yoh said, giving her that trust-me smile. "You just continue enjoying your day as if nothing is happening."
"Are you sure Yoh?" She asked "I don't want you to get hurt or…"
"We'll be fine!" he assured her with a laugh "Right Anna?"
She couldn't help but smirk.
"But of course." Standing up she looked at Jun "Everything will be fine."
They didn't wait for her reply. Soon enough the four of them were leaving the place where the ceremony was being held, trying to get as far away from the humans as possible. If there was going to be a fight, it would be best if happened far from those beings. Ren caught up with them eventually, saying he would not let Yoh and Anna fight without him.
"I don't want you to fight, Ren." Yoh said. "Our first priority is to make sure everyone is safe."
"You want me to stand back and watch you risk your life?" Ren said, disgust clear in his voice.
"No. I want you to stay by your sister's side during her wedding day." He frowned "I shouldn't have to tell you that."
"I'll politely refuse your offer Yoh…"
"It wasn't an offer." Yoh interrupted.
"But I'll fight." He continued, ignoring Yoh's comment. "Besides, it's been weeks since I've had a good fight."
"Weeks?" Anna asked, smirking "I never thought I had seen you fighting for real. Seems like you are weaker than I believed."
"Shut up you demon!" he yelled at her, angry.
"Calm down you two!" Yoh said, finally stopping "Ren, if you want to help, then take Redseb and Seyrar somewhere safe." Of course, such request was not received without protest, coming from both boys "Redseb and Seyrarm may be strong, but we don't know how strong this Shaman is. And wanting or not, they are half humans. I don't want them to get hurt. Go hide them somewhere, while Anna and me stay here and wait for him."
"Why don't you do it, Yoh?" Ren asked.
"You know Anna and I can't fight without each other, and if we leave, he will most likely follow Anna's energy, and it will still end up finding Redseb and Seyrarm." Yoh explained "I'm not trying to keep you from fighting Ren. I just want them to be safe."
He hesitated, but after a loud sigh, the purple haired boy finally agreed.
If only he had agreed a few minutes before, then things would have turned out just like Yoh wanted. But luck was not their friend, in fact, Anna was quite sure luck despised them and went out of it's way just to make things harder for them. Ren and the Munzers had not even taken three steps before a blast of snow came in their direction.
"Don't even think about running!" said a voice coming from high above. They looked up and saw a blue haired boy falling from the sky, a snowboard on his feet. "I'm here to do my job and will not leave until they are dead!"
"Well, that's going to be a problem." Yoh said, smiling as the boy finally reached the ground "I don't plan on letting any of them get hurt."
"Are you insane? You are a shaman! You shouldn't be protecting them! It is our duty to destroy every single member of their species!" the blue haired boy yelled.
"That's not a shaman's job, and you know it." Yoh said "We were put on Earth long ago to keep balance and…"
"And everything changed eight years ago!" the boy yelled "We can't afford to let them run free!"
"Redseb and Seyrarm are not hurting anyone." Yoh said, now serious. "You have no right to hurt them."
"And their kind had no right to hurt my sister! Yet that never stopped them!" and without saying another word the boy attacked.
It didn't take long for Anna to react. She was right by Yoh's side in less than a second, and Yoh put his hand forward, closing his eyes. The blast of snow seemed to hit an invisible shield, and flew everywhere. Ren put himself in front of the siblings, and did the same thing as Yoh, only in a smaller scale.
The boy looked shocked, not able to move for a second. Yoh put his arm down and looked straight at him, his voice carrying an authority Anna almost never hears.
"If you want to hurt them, then you'll have to fight us."
The boy nodded with his head.
"Then I'll kill you, and then the two brats you are protecting."
"We'll see." Anna said, smirking. This was going to be fun. Definitely better than the stupid wedding.
The boy ran in their direction, screaming a battle cry while doing so. Anna had to hold back a laugh. Really? A battle cry? Did the boy think they were part of a Shonen Anime or something? How ridiculous.
But Yoh didn't seemed to be as amused. He put himself in a defensive stance and got ready for the hit. Anna closed her eyes and put her hands in prayer, breathing in and out, blocking out every sound around her.
It happened faster than usual. She could now see things like Yoh, and the two were fighting side by side. Yoh's body moved with his own will, blocking every punch the blue haired boy threw at them. He was calm, and after 10 consecutive blocks, Anna finally said the spell words, and Yoh hit the boy with amazing speed and power.
The boy flew about 30 feet and hit a wall. He looked up, eyes wide and gasp escaped his lips as he finally realized what type of shaman he was facing.
"You… You are not normal." He said, and then looked at Anna's body, still frozen in prayer "So that's why you protect them."
Yoh said nothing, only stayed in his stance, waiting for the next attack. It didn't take long for it to come. In a few seconds the boy was already on his feet and screaming another battle cry, this time fury burning in his eyes.
They evaded easily, turning the left feet slightly and then stepping off to the side. They were now behind their opponent, and Yoh reached out, grasping his shoulder and throwing him down. Without missing a beat Yoh's body moved over the boy's, and he held down, two fingers hovering over the boy's face.
Anna said the spell words again, and Yoh's fingers released an energy beam. The boy struggled, and was able to save himself from a possibly critical hit, although the side of his face now had a scratch, blood now running down his cheeks.
"You are good, I'll give you that." He said, smirking.
"Thank you." Yoh said, smiling, panting slightly.
"But your energy gets drained quickly, does it not?" the boy said "Your body is weak." Yoh's smile fell "I may not be strong enough to defeat you, but I can wait until your body gets tired, then I can get to the other two easily."
"If that is the case, then I'll have to win with my next move." Yoh said.
"Aren't you going to kill me?" the boy asked.
"I don't kill people." Yoh said, smiling. "I'm Yoh, by the way."
"Horo-Horo." The boy, now named Horo-Horo, answered.
No other friendly words were said. This time Yoh was the first one to attack, running towards Horo-Horo, no stupid battle cry required. Yoh extended his hand, and Anna started saying the spells. They missed the first few attacks, but then finally they hit his foot, making Horo-Horo fall on the floor.
Yoh ran faster, but just when he was good enough to get a good aim, Horo-Horo disappeared and then reappeared behind him.
"Surprise." The ice shaman said, with smirk. With quick move he was able to send Yoh to the same wall his back was facing not too long ago.
Yoh struggled to open his eyes. Anna knew that his energy was being drained quickly, considering it was night and his body had already made much effort to stay up the whole day. Horo-Horo walked towards them, slowly and then kneeled down, right in front of them. He grasped Yoh's shirt and brought his face closer, the smirk on lips widening.
"And here I thought you would be strong." He said, with fake disappointment "We may have been friends, if only you weren't such a traitor."
"Yoh is not a traitor." A voice said behind him, and soon his face was kicked to the side by Ren's feet. Yoh's shirt was released as the blue-haired boy flew to the side. "You okay, Yoh?"
` "Yeah." He said, smiling "Thanks Ren."
Ren also smiled.
"No problem."
Horo-Horo stood up and looked at the two boys in front of him. Ren ran forward, ready fighting him with pure martial arts. Horo-Horo was a good shaman, Ren realized while watching them battle, but his physical fighting skills were seriously lacking. It would be easy for the Chinese boy to knock him out using simple moves that even humans know.
He struggled to block. A high kick on the right, then a high punch on towards his face, the Chinese shaman was a tough opponent. Horo-Horo hardly had time to say any spells, considering how fast the attacks were coming.
While Horo-Horo's eyes were occupied with the boy's hands, Ren took the opportunity to kick the boy's legs, making him fall on his back. Before the boy had any chance to react, Ren, just like a cat that just got wet, jumped to the side.
Horo-Horo looked up, only to see Yoh in front of him, his hands stretched towards him. The attack came fast, the ice shaman hardly felt anything before blacking out.
Anna then opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the fight. She walked towards them, calmly at first, then faster as she realized Yoh's body was falling. The blonde girl arrived just in time to catch the shaman's unconscious body and smile at his bravery.
No, I'm not dead! I know many of you are surprised, but you are stuck with me for a few more years! Sorry it took me so long to write another fanfiction! I really am sorry! It's just that… During the past year I had some personal problems that brought a lot of stress. The reason why I was still updating Silent was because I knew readers were waiting for updates, but if it wasn't for that, I don't think I would have written anything. Finally in August-September things started looking a little better, but my body was still very tired, and it still takes a lot of effort to do simple tasks. ^^" But finally I was able to finish this chapter! Hopefully everyone liked, and again, I am sorry it took me so long.
Oh, and please forgive if the writing is a bad or if there lots of spelling mistakes. Because I was taking so long to write something, as soon as I finished the chapter I published, without giving much thought while editing it. But it's going to be a onetime thing! Next chapter will be better, I promise!
Also, I want to tell everyone about the contest I want to make for this fic! I will chose the best review of the entire fanfic, and the winner will be able to request any sort of fanfic! I will write specially for the winner, and they may ask for as much as they want (going from "I only want a sweet YoxAnna oneshot" to "I want a multichapter fic where *insert long detail plot line* happens! Also, I want *insert scene* and *insert character* as well as *insert action*"). I'll first chose best review of the chapter and announce it on the next (so I'll announce best review of Chapter 1 at the end of Chapter 2), and then, once the fic is over, I'll chose best reviews out of those!
To win best review your review must be:
Creative. Not a simple "Liked it! Update soon!" must be creative… This is not a problem, in the past I received many reviews (and death threats) from you guys, so I don't worry about this one. ^^
Give a reason why they liked the chapter, and also include something that I need to improve on or something they did not like. I really want to get better at writing, and the best way is having constructive criticism! You guys could really help me by just pointing out mistakes or awkward parts on the fanfic. I want to be better, and you need to help me! Tell me the parts you liked, the parts I need to improve and WHY. Can't win if you don't tell me why. XD
Optional: What you think will happen next? Why do you think so? It really is not a requirement, but I always love reading reviews where the readers tell me what they think will happen next. It's always fun to see those who are right and those who are wrong.
Optional: Request a scene. This one is also optional, and I may not write the scene you requested it, but it would be nice if it happened, wouldn't it? I have the fic already outlined, but maybe I will be able to squeeze some requested scenes in the chapters if only you ask me to!
Thank you for reading! And again, I'm so sorry for not publishing before! Please, review! (You can win a fanfic if you do! =D)