-sigh- new AU, pretty much same pairings, and...er...YEAH. Read on. Probably non-sequitur...but let's ignore that fact, shall we? 'Hao's dead, yes. But he's back, as a demi-god of the Great Spirit! Which god, exactly? Cupid! Watch as our dear akuma wreaks match-making havoc on the Mankin gang! But can a god fall in love, too? YohxAnna, RenxPirika, HoroxTamao, LysergxMillie, HaoxJeanne' Heehee...I make Hao think about his hair too much...ANYWAYS, apologies to Christians (I'm one myself in fact), just...think of the Great Spirit as God or something. -sigh- or is that only making more blasphemy?
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Disclaimer: Owning Shaman King is not a thing I do.
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Cupid
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Chapter One: The Reward
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somewhere between the second heavens (space) and the third heavens (the land of the great spirit)
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Hao was floating in darkness. Floating, and being quite dead. And bored. Floating, dead, and bored. What a dangerous combination.
The akuma would have very much preferred to become a ghost and pester his "other half"--twin--for the rest of his lifetime, but obviously the Great Spirit wouldn't let that happen. Boredly twiddling with his hair (his very pride and joy, which, thankfully, at death hadn't gotten damaged or anything), Hao waited for something to happen.
And waited.
After waiting a few more years, in Earth-time (but actually just five minutes in death-time), Hao began thinking of committing suicide in death so maybe it'd somehow reverse everything and speed up his revival, a choir of white, pretty, shining angels on wings descended near him. 'Reminds me of that French girl Jeanne,' Hao smirked mentally, sitting up in air at sight of them.
One in the front with a eternal look of smelling dung on his face flew towards the fire devil. He gave Hao a derisive look, who derisive-looked him right back and threw a fireball at him.
After the angel stopped screaming and trying to put out flames that quickly disappeared after a few moments (Hao propped his face up with one of his hands and snickered), he composed himself and glared at the evil twin, unrolling a fancy-looking scroll in one pompous movement. "'You have been summoned,'" he read (glaring at Hao again), "'Asakura Hao (intentionally pronouncing Hao wrong and earning another fireball in the face this time), to the third heavens, realm of the Great Spirit, to converse with the god of all gods, ruler of all the heavens and earth, creator of cosmos...also known as the Great Spirit.'" The angel coughed. "You will come with us and no fireballing," he snapped, pursing his lips and making his face look even more grotesque. Hao shrugged and conjured up a small ball of fire, illuminating everything in a five-foot radius around him. 'Maybe I'll be able to map the route to the "third heavens,"' he mused.
Not much hope in that. There was a gust of wind (Hao would bet all of his possessions, including his hair, that the angel had made it on purpose) that blew out his fire and, then, they had entered a tower and were standing in the chamber of the Great Spirit (as Hao presumed).
The chamber was round and was seemed immensely larger than the slender tower could possible encompass. Built entirely of white marble, there were no support beams, no columns. The room soared upwards hundreds of feet to create a dome at the very top of the tower where a beautiful mosaic was inlaid, glittering tile portraying the blue sky and sun on one half; the silver moon and stars on the other half, the halves separated by a rainbow.
There were no lights in the chamber. Cunningly built windows and mirrors focused sunlight into the room, no matter where the sun was located in the sky. (How could the sun still be here, in the third heavens?) The streams of sunlight converged to the center of the chamber, illuminating a rostrum.
But Hao wasn't very impressed. "I wouldn't suppose this is the chamber of the Great Spirit, would I?" he asked a female angel with long silver hair next to him. She gave him a look. "Obviously not," she snorted in a very un-angelic way (then again, all the angels are being twisted in this story, so forget I said that). "This is the waiting room."
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the first heavens (sky)
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Amidamaru floated listlessly on the winds, staring up at the third heavens sadly. That was where Mosuke was. And Tearsong, of course. Tearsong. The samurai snorted. How could he fall in love with one he had only met for a moment? He hadn't ever actually gotten to know her, let alone speak to her.
Tearsong had been one of the orphans that had lived with Amidamaru and Mosuke when they had been younger (around...630 years ago, oO). But, she had only bound one of his wounds after he had broken Harusame a second or third time (it really happened in the anime! Really!). Then, Mosuke and him had gone off to get a job. Which had resulted in disaster. And Tokageroh, Amidamaru and Mosuke's untimely deaths...which weren't so untimely, were they?
Amidamaru sighed. Tearsong was definitely dead, and there was no chance she had become a spirit ally of a shaman...
Was there?
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---- (don't you think that was a useless interlude?)
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the third heavens
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Hao had been lead up to the rostrum by the silver-haired angel (who really reminded him of Jeanne this time -why was he thinking of Jeanne so much?-). The rostrum turned out, not to be a stage, but an elevator. Hao frowned. If the angels could fly, what was the point of it?
The rostrum-elevator thing finally stopped rising at a warp portal in the middle of the air. Hao grinned at the angel, who looked at him. "Ladies first," he said.
"I'm not coming with you. Hurry up, convict," she answered sharply, shoving him into the portal. The last she heard of him was a sarcastic "What? So now I'm a criminal?"
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chamber of the great spirit
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Hao found himself standing in front of a huge throne surrounded with light. Hao looked at it bemusedly while the light slowly dimmed, then faded, revealing...the Iron Maiden Jeanne?
"It's about time you're here," she said, folding her hands behind her back. "Were the angels being spiteful again?"
Hao stared. "...What are you doing here?"
The girl stared back. "I'm the Great Spirit, and this is my realm."
"Is it possible for a dead person to go insane?"
Ignoring the comment, Jeanne began pacing. "You must be talking about that charm I have on me. If you actually ever looked at my real form, you wouldn't have a chance of being reincarnated again. So, I assume the form of whoever you want to see the most." She paused, frowning. "Who am I, anyway?"
Hao put his finger on his chin. "...One of my legitimate wife-to-be if I had lived longer," he finally said thoughtfully. 'Why DO I keep thinking about that French girl?'
The Great Spirit cocked its head to one side. "Who, that itako chick? Asakura Kyouyama Anna?"
Hao sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, no, but she was one of my possible wives. Too bad my twin took her. What gender are you, anyway?" he asked, skillfully changing the subject.
The Great Spirit stared. "Male. Obviously. Then again, it changes every now and then, so I'm not too sure," it mused, placing its finger on its chin.
"No wonder such a deep voice was emitting from Jeanne's voicebox," murmured Hao, snickering silently. "Would you mind if I made your image as...my father, instead?"
The Great Spirit shook its--er, his--head, and the image flickered to Mikihisa, bird mask and all. Hao smiled, half-patronizingly, half-balefully. "So, let's get down to business, shall we?"
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Hao delicately placed his fingers on one another, forming a peak. "So...you think I've been behaving good enough ("besides the fireball incident," the Great Spirit intervened)...besides the fireball incident, and you want to reward me."
The Great Spirit nodded. "What do you want?"
"To be revived and torture my twin brother for the rest of his days?" Hao said hopefully.
The Great Spirit frowned. "That could actually be arranged, you know."
A vase spontaneously combusted and fell to the floor with a crash, as Hao was oh so surprised. "Is there a catch?" he inquired suspiciously.
"Would you mind becoming Cupid?"
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tzusuku
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There ends the first, and uneventful chapter. Don't ask why the Great Spirit was rewarding him. Don't ask why Amidamaru has a lost love person thingy. Don't ask why Hao is so...so. My inspiration petered out around the part that Amidamaru started angsting. All I liked was the beginning. Just leave me alone and review...I don't know how Hao has his fire powers without his furyoku...and, oh yeah, review or DIE.