Summary: AU Two boys separated at birth…a princess caught in a war…a spirit rebelling against his master…one person to bring them all back together… TameoxHao, AnnaxYoh, PirikaxRen, LysergxJeanne
Rating: K+ (PG)
Chapter Notes: Prepare to have your mind blasted.
Pairings: TameoxHao, AnnaxYoh, PirikaxRen, LysergxJeanne
Disclaimer: It's not mine. If I owned it, Fox Kids wouldn't have been allowed to stop showing it half way through the series. –Kicks the people in charge of Fox Kids-
Key: Anything in italics is something that happened in the past (i.e. this whole chapter takes place in the past).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It had been thirteen years since Hao had come to the Mistress's hideout, and thirteen years since he had ever gone outside the building. Thirteen years had passed since he had ever had a full night's sleep, and thirteen years since anyone had ever said anything nice to him.
Thirteen years can seem like a long time when all you do is train.
The Mistress had found him a spirit when he was five years old. He was impressed that she managed to get one of the Great Spirits, but was secretly a little afraid of the Spirit of Fire. To an adult it was big, but to a five-year-old it was huge.
He had quickly learnt to work with and control the Spirit of Fire. There would have been a beating waiting for him if he hadn't. At the age of seven he had mastered Hyoi Gattai and could control a perfect Oversoul at eight. The next three years saw him easily defeat many Shamans older than him. In the two years following that, he had fought some of his previous trainers, and won.
The Mistress became a motherly figure to him. She was the only one who said anything vaguely complimentary to him, not that he would include that in the 'nice' category. The Mistress was not his trainer. Hao had had many instructors over the years, and he was never once told any of their names. The most any of them had stayed was two months.
But today was Hao's birthday, or so he had been told. At the Mistress's hideout, you accepted everything you were told, or suffer the consequences. Today should have been special to Hao. He had reached his teenage years after thirteen long years of training; but no one gave him a second thought.
Hao himself didn't realise until the afternoon. He felt his heart wrench but pushed the feeling down. He had been taught from an early age that emotions would only get in the way of becoming a great Shaman.
He was in his quarters when he realised that it was his birthday. It was technically his bedroom, but Hao had decided that it wasn't nice enough to be called that. He only knew that there was something nicer because the Mistress's room, which he had been to many a time, was better than his.
A bell rang in one corner of his quarters, signalling that the Mistress wanted to see him. Tiredly, as always, he got up and walked along the maze of corridors, finding his way flawlessly to the Mistress's door. He knocked, it opened, and he went inside.
The Mistress's room was the nicest in the hideout. She was in charge, so she had everything she wanted: a soft bed, a clean floor and other things that most people would take for granted, that Hao never had.
As he went in the room, the Mistress was sitting on her bed. Hao was motioned to sit next to her, which he did, savouring the softness of the duvet. He looked at his feet, at the floor, at anything but the Mistress. That was something he had been taught, too: never look your superiors in the eye.
Hao had often wondered exactly how old the Mistress was. She looked quite young, about in her mid-twenties, but seemed to have a personality that exceeded that by far. So it came as no surprise when she looked him up and down, saying, "You look stronger than you did a few days ago, Hao."
The thirteen-year-old gave no reaction, but the Mistress was used to that. Nearly everyone who worked for her was tired by the afternoon. It was a way of life for her.
"Hao, you're probably wondering why I called you here. The thing is, I'm getting concerned about you. You are winning your matches easily, and I fear it will make you slack off on your training if you find it too easy."
Hao looked up. You were allowed to look your superiors in the eye when you were spoken to directly. "Mistress, I don't-"
"Of course you don't want extra training, Hao, but you must! Don't you want to become the most powerful Shaman? Even if you don't, I want you to, and you must not go against what I say. You need extra training."
Hao looked once again at the floor. "Yes, Mistress."
The Mistress stayed perfectly still. "Hao, how would you like to continue with some different training, outside the hideout? I have a special job for you, which would improve your skills greatly."
Hao looked up once more. "Mistress?"
"I need you to go to Tokyo and find a person called Mikihisa. Fight him. It will test your skills to the limit, but will make you stronger if you succeed. Go and see your trainer now. He will give you instructions."
Hao nodded and left the room. The Mistress sat silently on her bed for a while; staring at the door he went through.
"Do you really think he has a chance, Mistress?"
A green-haired man older than the Mistress walked out of the shadows at the back of the room. This was the Mistress's Advisor.
"Of course he does, Leam. After all, wasn't it prophesised that that Keiko Asakura's son would become the strongest Shaman ever? I have full confidence in Hao."
"But he does not have your skill."
As the Mistress turned towards Leam, a bubble appeared around her and she transformed into Hao. The bubble came again, and she was back to normal. "Hao does not need to shape-shift to win against his father. But I think he might need a spur, in case he finds out that Mikihisa is his father."
The bubble materialised around her once more and when it disappeared, a small, eight-year-old girl stood in her place. Smirking, the Mistress looked at herself in the mirror.
"Just call me Iron Maiden Jeanne."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teehee. Alright. Let's have a show of hands. Who guessed that Jeanne would be the baddie? Go on, admit it. You had no idea, did you?
Daedal: Thanks for your comments. I'm glad it's making more sense now I'm getting into the flow of the story.
Nonesofar: Here's your update!
Andrea Nefisto: Well, you know who the Mistress is now I'll change the thing about Mikihisa and Keiko in the last chapter, and add their ages in the next one.
As always, please leave a review!
Xbakiyalo
