From another world

Chapter 2: The white magician

"Will someone explain to me what this was all about?" asked Aikyo.

"We don't know ourselves. We were caught in this just like you two," Shin told her.

"And he kept giving you dirty looks! That pervert!" said Rin before slamming her fist into a tree. "Next time I see him, he's going to regret that."

"How can you know? We couldn't see his face," asked Shuu.

"I can tell when a guy gives a dirty look to one of my friends."

"Overprotective a bit?" questioned Shuu with a teasing tone.

Rin looked at him then grinned back. "Nah. Just making sure they won't get into trouble with stupid guys."

The group was now out of town. They ran until they reach the forest and were now resting near a river. The guys still had their sub-armor on, just in case. Rin was on her guard as well, sitting on a branch in a tree while Aikyo removed her shoes and immerged her feet in the water, thinking about what happened. None of them had any ideas of what really happened or what saved them. Touma was sitting under a tree, staring at the sai.

"Did you find something?" Shin asked him, sitting next to him.

"At first, I thought it was Kayura's but this sai is very different from hers."

"Didn't she give them up after she regained her will? She uses the staff Shuten had."

"I know," he answered to the Suiko bearer. "But it was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw it. Someone saw everything and stopped him. However, why this person didn't interfere earlier?"

"Maybe he or she was waiting for a good opportunity," said Aikyo, turning her head toward them.

"Whoever it was, we were lucky this person was there and helped us out," replied Rin from her tree. She looked down at the group. "I think we're safe for now." She jumped down and landed between Seiji and Shuu gracefully and stood up proudly. "We should plan our next move."

"Wait wait wait… Before planning and everything, I think we should introduce ourselves," proposed Shuu. He pointed his thumb toward himself. "I'm Shuu. And this is Ryo, Touma, Shin and Seiji," he continued, pointing to each Trooper respectively. "What about you two?"

Rin blinked, a bit surprised. True, it was awkward to not know the names of those with whom you work with but she felt so comfortable around them that she completely forgot she didn't introduce herself. Maybe it was also because of the situation they were in: act quickly and ask questions later.

"Ah yes," she said, apologizing. "I guess the whole situation made me forget we didn't know each other. I'm Rin. My friend over there is Aikyo."

Aikyo waved at them, smiling.

"Hi," she said cheerfully.

"Now that's done, any idea where we should go?" Rin asked to the Troopers.

The guys looked at each other. Where to go when you had a strange magician guy after you? That was a trick question. There was no safe place to go and none of them knew how that magician worked. And with no magician friend in their relations, this was going to be hard.

She used that time off to appear in front of the group but on the other side of the river to avoid startling them too much. Jumping down from the tree top to the ground, she made enough noise to make sure they would hear her and hopefully start a dialogue.

Big mistake.

Barely landed, she lifted her head to see the braided girl quickly stood up and used the river's water to strike her. Cursing, she did a back flip, grabbed a tree branch above her and swung herself back into the tree. The water struck the tree so hard it that the tree was partially uprooted. Loosing her balance, she fell down and caught a glimpse of someone with a sharp object glued to his right hand crossing the river. She rolled on herself to avoid the first strike but the person quickly struck on the other side of her side and she saw the beautiful and yet fearsome claw which was coming out of the hand.

I wouldn't want that through me, she thought.

She blocked the punch the person tried to give her and notice it was a rather handsome looking person. As she grabbed the clawed hand to avoid another punch, she stared at the face to finally realize it was another girl dressing up as man. It wasn't very hard to notice at this very close range but from afar, anyone could be fooled.

"Can't we talk?" asked the white magician.

"You're not going to fool us twice!" said the girl, glaring at her.

Great, now they think "I" am the bad guy. I hate it when that happens.

Noticing she couldn't compete with the girl's strength, the magician used a wind spell to throw her in the water. She looked at the guys on the other side of the river who geared up but didn't make any move to attack. She saw the dark blue one with her sai. She had little time to react. The girl with the claw was getting out of the water and the other one was getting another dangerous wave ready for her. She stared at the dark blue Trooper and when she knew he noticed her staring, she ran into the forest behind her. Not too fast to make sure they will all follow but not in plain sight to avoid anymore fighting.

"Why did you attack her?" Shin asked to Aikyo.

"She startled me. Sorry," answered Aikyo a bit embarrassed. "I didn't want another glue thing on me."

Shin looked at the tree she nearly knocked down and took good notes to never make her mad. In the meantime, Shuu tried to help Rin out of the water but she refused his help.

"We got to go after her!" said Rin. "Maybe she's with that guy!"

"No, she's not," replied Touma, stepping forward. "I think it was the person who saved us. Let's go after her before we lose her."

"Oh great. Couldn't she show up in a more NONE stealth-like way?" complained Aikyo. The remark made Shin chuckled a bit.

"Maybe that was the point of making such noise to appear before us," said Ryo, starting the chase. "But we were all so nervous that it had the opposite effect."

"If she appears before you, don't attack her! Let's see what she wants first," ordered Touma.

The group stayed together and tracked the girl. She left an obvious trail behind her, another sign she wanted to be found by them. They didn't pursue her for long as she was waiting for them in a small clearing. At her sight, they stopped dead on their tracks and waited for her move. The sun was behind her, its light passing through the branches and leaves of the tall trees. Some leaves slowly floated around her as if she just jumped down from a tree branch not long ago. A couple of birds could be heard, singing not too far away from them. All those elements were giving to the clearing and the magician a calm and serene atmosphere. The members of the group felt their worries vanish but still had their mind very alert.

The girl noticed they were less tense and, as she looked at Touma, she held out of her slowly.

"May I have my sai back please?" she asked gently.

"How can you prove us it's yours?" asked Touma in return. He saw her reached to her left thigh and took out another sai. It was identical to the one he was holding. He walked slowly forward and gave the sai back to its owner. She put them away, her eyes still locked on Touma and the group behind him.

"My name is Azhure. I'm sure you have many questions to ask me. Mostly about what happened and why this man is after you." She saw everyone nodded. "This place is not really the safe but I can answer a few questions before we go somewhere else."

"Well you could start with who and why," said Aikyo who was standing behind Rin. She wasn't scared of the young lady but without any water around her, she didn't feel safe and thought that running into more trouble when you can't defend yourself wasn't the brightest of ideas.

Azhure didn't know where to start. That was the part she hated the most: explain the reason behind this man's attacks. She never knew how to resume well the whole story since it was long and complicated. Or so she thought. Moreover, since the story was concerning her, she didn't want to share confidences and secrets with them.

"Here's the short version. His name is Silver…"

"Silver? What kind of name is that?" asked Shuu. He received a few glares. "Ok sorry… But it's still a weird name."

"He's been traveling between worlds to steal the powers of others and make himself stronger. When he comes in a new world, he cast a spell that isolates those with powers in another dimension and uses his original power, darkness and shadows, to attack and get what he wants."

"So you managed to break his spell and free us?" asked Touma.

"It's not that simple. More like I broke his concentration and he ran away," she told him.

Ryo frowned. He remembered how the magician acted when the sai arrived and it was more like he wasn't expecting it. He started to wonder if he thought Azhure wasn't around. He'll discuss this matter with the others later.

"I'll protect you until I can chase him away from your world and right now, I need a place you can all stay so I can put a spell that will make you invisible to his eyes until I can make you amulets that will protect beyond the barrier. Do you have any place in mind?"

"I think there's only one place that will fit," said Shin. "It's not too far from here and we know the person who lives there."

***

The eight of them were standing in front of a mansion by a lake. Rin and Aikyo were speechless. After the boys removed their sub-armor, Ryo went to the door and ran the bell. After a few seconds, Nasuti came to the door.

"Ryo!" She looked over his shoulder. "And everyone! That's a nice surprise! Come on in!"

"Hmmm… Can we come too?" shyly asked Aikyo.

"Of course you can. Don't be silly," Nasuti replied with a smile.

Azhure ignored the curious look Nasuti gave her and asked Touma to explain the situation while she was putting up the magic field around the mansion. He nodded and closed to door when everyone was in.

"What about that girl in white outside?" asked Nasuti.

"We need to talk about that actually," he said, taking her in the living room with the others.

They told her about their situation, introduced the girls to her and asked her about a possible stay. Of course, Nasuti told them they could stay. Living in a big house like this by herself was getting to her sometimes and having people around would make it more lively. She looked outside to see Azhure drawing something on the ground and reciting something. It was unreal for her to see someone practice magic like that but after all the things she saw since she met the Troopers, it was not that surprising.

After she left to get some refreshments, Ryo shared his thoughts about Azhure to the others.

"Yes, I have the feeling she's hiding something too but I think she will tell us eventually," said Rin. "We are strangers to her, remember? She can't tell us everything right away."

"True but we need to know all we can in order to know what we're up against," explained Seiji. "I'm the only one among us who can defend himself and I have to admit it won't be easy to protect all of you without her cooperation."

"Awww… I hate that kind of situation," whined Shuu as he let himself fall on the couch. He blinked as an idea crossed his mind. "Hey, do you think flashlights would work on this guy?"

"Flashlights? You got to be kidding me," said Aikyo.

"Think about it. If the guy is all dark and everything, a flashlight could be a good weapon."

"Hmmm… It would be an odd way to fight but I think you're not totally wrong, Shuu. We can always ask Azhure about it," said Touma.

"Considering she knows technology," replied Rin who was leaning against the wall.

They keep chatting about the subject, Nasuti came in with some fruit punch and joined the conversation. She highly doubted she could be of any use but she was glad the Troopers didn't shut out of the conversation and shared their thoughts and hypotheses with her. She agreed with Touma that flashlights might work and proposed to go buy some for them if Azhure could confirm them it would work.

As she proposed that, Azhure walked in. She looked drain but did her best to not make it too obvious. She felt their gazes on her and that made her uncomfortable for some reason.

"The spell has been put around the house. You're safe for now." She turned to Nasuti. "I'm sorry for this but is there a room I could work in peace? I need to build them amulets before tomorrow."

"You don't have to—" started Ryo

"The sooner the better. I don't want this to affect your life more than it has already."

"Oh, you are NOT going to be this way with us, miss," said Aikyo. She stood up and gently grabbed Azhure's hand. "We're in this together, right? We'll help out anyway we can. You're not going to face that maniac alone."

"I agree," said Touma. "Besides, if our protector drains herself too much, she won't do much protecting, is she?"

"Right!" said Shuu and Rin together.

"But—"

"No objection. Besides, I want to apologize for attacking you but you need to be less stealthy on us. That will help a lot," continued Aikyo. "Now, sit down and rest a bit. Nasuti, let's cook her a little something from Earth. She needs to know our culture more."

"But I—"

"Actually, let me help you. Nasuti, things haven't move much in your kitchen since last time, is it?" asked Shin.

"No. You two go ahead. I'll go buy the flashlights. It's worth a try."

"Good. Azhure, you stay right here and rest up. We'll take care of your stomach," said Shin with a smile. He and Aikyo left for the kitchen, followed by Nasuti who grabbed her purse and, after checking that no one needed something particular, left for the store to buy flashlights.

"Well," started Azhure after a few seconds of silence, "hmmm…anything else you want to ask me? We're safe in here so we can elaborate more if you want."

"Let's just make this clear," said Rin. "I'm sorry for attacking you but I still have my doubts about you. However, I feel you're not a bad person so please, can you tell us all the other things you haven't told us yet?"

"Since you've been honest with me, I'll return the favor," said Azhure. "I'll tell you everything."