Elvengirl: Hey all. I'm back from vacation. I would like to apologize for leaving for two weeks and making you wait even longer for the already anticipated Megumi arc.
Sain: On a lighter note, she had a great vacation.
Elvengirl: Thanks Sain. And now to bring you all up to speed: I will resume weekly updates, like normal. On my vacation, I managed to get well in to the Raijuta arc and am about two chapters away from the Kyoto arc. I'm very happy about this.
Sain: You also learnt something, did you not?
Elvengirl: Yes, and that is that I must lower my expectations. I took Kenshin manga volumes 5-9, and only managed to finish five and barely start six. On another note: I am looking for suggestions for Soujiro...so if you have any ideas, please help. It can be from both Fire Emblem Seven and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. Thanks. On with the fic.
Cast:
Takani Megumi: Limstella
Takeda Kanryu: Marcus
Besshimi: Denning.
Shinomori Aoshi: Jaffar.
"Hey Guy, where's Karel?" asked Lyn.
"Hector came and took him right after lunch, don't you remember?" Guy replied, with a swing of his Shinai.
"Oh yeah...did he say why?"
"Man, you're dense. I think there's gambling at some resturant today."
"Gambling..."
"Yahoo! I win again," shouted Hector as he punched the air. Karel just sighed.
"Come with me, you said. It's an emergency, you said. Hector, we're gambling. It's illegal."
"Realx Karel, you really need to loosen up, you know. These guys are all friends of mine, we'd never cheat each other. Now then, what's the next one going to be?"
"Odds, four and five."
As in the last tne throws, Karel was correct.
"Yes!" said Hector.
"Aww...c'mon Hector, let us win at least once," laughed his friends.
"No way...I'm going to send you all home in your underwear!" Hector grinned, taking the money. "By the way, where's Yoita? I haven't seen him around lately. It's not like him to miss out on gambling." Hector's friends went quiet.
"Didn't you hear Hector...Yoita...died."
"WHAT? How?"
"Opium. He overdoesed on opium."
"Opium's an expensive drug. Who could've been selling it at such a low price that ordinary people could by it?" asked Karel. Hector sat there, trembling with anger. There was a silence, then suddenly the door slid open. A beautiful young woman stood at the door, breathing hard as if from running. She was of average height and had long black hair. Her most striking feature was her gold eyes that were now full of fear. She wore a blue kimono, with a blue doctor's robe overtop. Nervously, she glanced around the room, until finally she laid eyes on Karel.
"Please...help me," she gasped, running over to him, "I'm being chased. I'll reward you."
Hector picked up a packet that had fallen out of the women's sleeve.
"With this opium?" he glared. Karel looked up at the woman, confused. Suddenly two thugs showed up at the door.
"We've found you Limstella. There's no hope for escape now..."
"I told you...I'm not going back to Marcus."
"Hey, who are you?" asked Hector.
"Who we are's not important. We're just here for the broad."
"Yeah, you're messing with Takeda Marcus's private army here," sneered the other.
"You guys came at the wrong time. I already have a pretty bad mood going and you just made it worse." Hector punched both of the thug's lights out.
"Who is this Marcus?" asked Karel.
"He's an industrialist who lives outside the city. His outward reputation is good, but he's done alot in the shadows. He's gained power and recruited many Yakuza into a private army. I'm guessing you're one of his women?" Hector looked at Limstella dubiously.
"I've never heard of this Marcus," replied Limstella.
"You shouldn't tell lies...tell lies...Limstella," came a monotone voice, from behind them. Everyone turned around. A small man sat in the corner. He appeared unarmed and had a small tuft of black hair. His gold eyes gleamed maliciously at Limstella.
"We've been watching you, Takani Limstella, every move that you make...you make."
"I'm not Marcus's woman and I will keep running from him." Two dart-like objects flew past Limstella, embedding themselves in the arms of Hector's friends.
"Spiral darts. Now I'll take your legs." The man shot out the darts. Limstella stood motionless, paralyzed by fear. Karel then leapt in front of her, slamming his hand down on the floor, flipping up the Tatami flap, blocking the darts.
"I'm not sure what's going on, but I suppose that this one must help."
"How dare you hurt my friends!" yelled Hector. The strange man was stuck between Hector's fist and Karel's sword. The said items collieded with the man in sudden fury, breaking his nose and knocking him out. Limstella blinked, impressed.
"So, will you two please protect me from Marcus's men?"
"Not before you answer our questions," replied Hector, dragging her out of the resturant, with Karel following behind.
"We're home, Lyn-dono," said Karel as they walked through the dojo doors.
"Oh Karel, you're home..." Lyn stopped dead when she noticed Limstella. "Wh-who is that?" she asked nervously.
"This is Takani Limstella. We-"
"Won her. Some guy wouldn't pay up so he took her instead."
"Hector!" Karel said in a low voice.
"We can't let her know about the opium. This is the only way. Just play along."
"Karel, is this true?"
"It is indeed Lyn-dono."
"Looks like you guys won big," said Guy, coming into the picture. Lyn was livid, but then got her rage under control. She turned to Limstella.
"I'm sorry Takani-san, he doesn't usually do this. You can go home now."
"I have no intention of leaving. I like this man, and besides, it's not like you're his lover...at least you don't act like it."
"GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!"
Limstella, Guy, Hector, and Karel all soon found themselves outside.
"Thanks alot Lasy. Why'd you have to keep saying things you didnt' mean?" asked Guy, with his typical rudeness.
"Oh, but I did mean it. Himura Karel was it? You'd make a fine bodygaurd. Will you protect me from Marcus?"
"I will, if you tell us your story."
"Yeah. Just who are you really? And does Marcus want you? And how did you get ahold of this opium? TALK, DAMN IT!" Karel and Guy held Hector back.
"It is rude to speak of a woman's past."
"Fine. But I won't rest until I know the truth. My friend was killed by your opium. It ends here."
"If you don't wish to speak of yourself, tell us of Marcus. One would assume that it is he who leads the opium ring."
"Hector!" A young man came running up the street. He stopped in front of the group, gasping for breath.
"Hey. How's everyone else?"
"They're okay. We made it to the doctor's in time."
"That's good."
"But...you gotta see this. Follow me." They followed Hector's friend to the river, where a large crowd of people had gathered. They jostled their way to the front only to gasp in shock at what they saw. The two thugs that had attacked Karel and Hector earlier on the bank on the other side. Dead.
"Drowned..." gasped Guy.
"Marcus disposes of failures quickly, it's his way," explained Limstella. Karel nodded and scanned the opposite bank. Three figures caught his eye. The strange man who had attacked them earlier, and older man in a white suit, and a third man in a trenchcoat with roan red hair.
"Denning...the swordsman who broke your nose...had brown hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek correct?"
"Yes...yes" Denning looked across the river. "It's him..him!" He exclaimed, "And that witch Limstella. I'll do it for sure this time...this time," He readied for an attack.
"Crowd incidents are not wise," said the older man in a gruff voice.
"Stop. You wouldn't stand a chance against him Denning. He is no ordinary swordsman. Nergal, are you here to?"
"Yes. I have followed him to his base, " came a voice from the crowd.
"Very well. Help Denning in recapturing Limstella, and inform Wallace as well. Denning, don't mess this up. You will not get another chance."
"I will take that to heart...to heart."
"A fine thing, to be able to give second chances. I'm to much of an industrialist myself. I can't feel satisfied till the waste has been disposed of. And then one feels so fresh."
"Limstella-dono, is everything alright?" asked Karel, concerned. Limstella pointed at the older man across the river.
"That's him...that's Marcus."
"There's no mistake," Hector confirmed through gritted teeth and a glare, which no one really noticed.
"Who is that next to him?" asked Karel.
"That's the Okashira. Marcus wanted something more than his private army, so he hired the former head of the Oniwabanshu. And prior to the revolution, at fifteen, became the Okashira, or leader...Shinomori Jaffar."
"Why would someone like him be working for a man like Marcus?" asked Guy.
"I'm not sure, but with the foes we're up against, we cannot abandon Limstella-dono now."
Elvengirl: Yeah, I know. Alot of talking in this chapter, but that was mainly to set-up the arc. I hope you all enjoyed it. Oh yeah, when you suggest people from Sacred Stones, please be aware that I am less than fond of Eirika, finding her a mary-sue type character. Will be a rant in the near future.
Reviews:
anomynos: Thanks.
PsychoSwordlady:
Chapter 2: I do agree that Karel would make a good Kyo (despite the fact that I don't really like Kyo...I prefer Yukimura) I happen to like Karel/Lyn and dont' really want to go out on to much of a tangent, as I already have plans for another. I do my best to keep character relations the same, but it gets difficult to do so. Also, if I put Lucious as Kamitari, he and Kenshin never meet and it would be difficult to arrange that.
Chapter 4: I am aware about Sozo, but personally I feel that Hector is closer to Oswin than to his brother.
Chapter 5: Thank you, I was rather proud of that arc.
Chapter 6: If you don't mind me saying, you are rather fussy about details. I am aware that Kenshin's eyes turn gold, the red was me playing around. I was kind of going off of Kyo there ( and a bit of the Redwall books serires as well). I prefer his eyes red, making the bloodrath seem more...real. Plus, it would confuse me in a later chapter. And while Kenshin might not speak Mandarin, I do. At least now I know how Watsuki-sama feels.
Wandering Cat: Thank you. I hope that this is to your liking.
Nightmare03: Thank you for pointing that Ki/Chi difference. Once again, I wrote that chapter late and night and was not in my right mind, probably. I believe I answered all your other questions in the email.
Authorofthedark: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Elvengirl: Hope you enjoyed it. Please review.
Next time: Attack on Kamiya Dojo.
