MÄR ζ (Zeta)
AKT 6. 不思議な声
Fushigi na Koe (The Mysterious Voice)
by Sanzaki Kojika
Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own MÄR (as much as I'd like to)…I am not Anzai Nobuyuki or Hoshino-sensei! I do however own Akazukin, Hisoka, and any other characters that are of my creation (well, no dah XD ). The time period this story falls into is the 6 year period after MAR ends and before the beginning of Omega (though I will have some Omega-related storyline bits in here. So, you have been warned…MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!
ALSO: Joe and his background are owned by Joe. Zekk is owned by Zecarius. Akili is owned by Baze. Clochette is owned by Embla. This is just my take on their stories, and their characters, with permission.
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Zekk continued to peer back at the group before him. He didn't understand why no one was responding. He shrugged slightly, taking the unsaid invite as such, and jumped into the courtyard, landing just between Akazukin and Alviss. He ignored the former and peered up into the eyes of the girl standing before him.
For a moment, no one said anything. Zekk and Akazukin had a sort of stand off, just staring blankly at one another. Alviss fidgeted behind them, worried about the safety of the clueless girl and annoyed by the fact that the boy had all but ignored him. Alan and Gaira stood off to the side, monitoring every detail they could. A person who was capable of breaking through the Cross Guard barrier was not someone to take lightly.
Zekk finally took a step back and almost smirked as he calmly remarked, "You're not too bad looking, but I want to see what that ÄRM of yours can do!"
Before anyone could say anything, Zekk pulled an ornate bracelet off his wrist and shouted out, "Scythe of Shadows!"
The bracelet started to glow and the light engulfed the field. As it cleared, the bracelet had transformed into a deadly scythe, which the boy now held, juggling it in both hands. The blade was large and there was no doubt about it that it was deadly. He charged at Akazukin without warning, and Alviss was barely able to move quick enough to intercept it with his 13 Totem Pole.
"Leave her alone!" he hissed, managed to force the boy back a couple feet. Zekk seemed impressed, but he said nothing to indicate his emotion. Instead, he just shrugged slightly.
"I just want to see that ÄRM, is all. It looks strong. I like to fight and conquer that which is strong," Zekk stated dryly as he lashed at Alviss, annoyed by the younger man's interference. Alviss met his attack easily, now that he was prepared, and sent the boy hurtling several feet into the air. Zekk landed just outside the arena with a loud thud.
Zekk quickly climbed to his feet, wiping the side of his mouth where a spot of blood had trickled out when he bit his tongue. There was a new look in his eye, one of almost lust. Alviss narrowed his eyes at the boy. Just who was this person!?
"I like to fight those who are strong," Zekk said almost robotically as he swung his scythe about his head. He charged towards Alviss again, this time hitting him with such force that he was the one who slid back. Alviss cursed silently and put his weight behind his weapon, locking it in place with Zekk's scythe. There was a harsh metallic sound as the two collided, and the two men pulled back their weapons and jumped back a couple feet to add some distance between them.
Zekk glanced beyond Alviss, taking note that the girl with the ÄRM he was so interested in was still standing in the arena. It was a rather lowly tactic for Zekk's usual repertoire of attacks, but sometimes, situations called for drastic measures. He swung his scythe at the ground and soon a trail of black flames went hurling forward. Alviss caught his trick just in time.
"Dammit!" he cursed aloud as he flung himself at Akazukin, knocking her to the ground. Together, the two tumbled across the arena and into the soft grass that surrounded it. Alviss slowly lifted himself off of the girl and glanced over his shoulder. There was a deep pain seared across his back, and he somehow doubted that horrendous odor was a good sign.
"Hey!" Akazukin shouted as she managed to recover herself enough to sit up. She knew what that odor was in an instant, and her nostrils curled against it. She gently moved to Alviss side to examine the damage. The whole of his back had been burned, tearing away his clothing and much of his skin. He winced as she touched it and slapped her hand away.
"Are you alright?" he asked, glanced over at her. She frowned at him and nodded her head slightly.
"It's you who should be worried about yourself!" she reprimanded him as she helped him to his feet. He clung to her support, not trusting himself to be able to stand against the pain. Fortunately, even though Akazukin was smaller than him, she was able to withstand his weight.
"What the hell do you want!?" Alviss shouted over at Zekk. Zekk gave him a bored look then started to move closer to them. Alan and Gaira were quick to intercept him.
"Enough," Alan glared at Zekk, showing no sign of mercy in his eyes. It was bad enough that this strange had managed to intrude onto their territory, but then he had tried to attack a helpless girl and ended up injuring Alviss. Alan didn't care what the story was; he wouldn't put up with that, not from anyone.
"Get out of here before we kill you!" Gaira snarled, bringing forth a weapon ÄRM he had been carrying on him. Zekk just stared blankly at them, no fear or remorse, not even resentment, registering in his eyes. He frowned slightly as he let his scythe revert back to its usual bracelet form.
"You people are boring," he stated as he folded his arms across his chest, like a stubborn child. Alviss shot him a glare from his perch between Akazukin's arm and body, seething with rage. He couldn't believe he had let himself get so careless!
"Get out of here!" Gaira barked again, brandishing his weapon at Zekk. Zekk just remained motionless and stared back at him. Gaira got irritated by the lack of response he was getting from the boy, so he started to charge forward.
"Stop it now, you guys! Aren't we more civilized than this!?" a sharp voice broke through the air. All five heads in the courtyard turned their gaze on the little girl who was standing on the balcony overhanging the courtyard. She frowned down at all of them, treating them as if they were children.
"Hime-sama!" her little dog servant barked about at her feet, scurrying this way and that. His little santa-like hat flopped around as he moved about. She gently grabbed his shoulder to calm him down before facing the others again.
"As long as Cross Guard is under jurisdiction of my kingdom, I will not have senseless violent. Sure, this boy has wronged us, but shouldn't we give him a chance to talk it over with us before we resort to such barbaric acts!?" the girl continued on. Akazukin blinked up at her, recognizing her as the girl who had snuck into her room before.
Alviss saw her confusion and whispered to her, "That's Snow, the princess of Levasta, and most of MÄRHeaven falls under the kingdom."
Akazukin stared up at the little girl, seeing her in a new light. She had heard stories about things like princesses and castles, but this was her first time ever coming close to one in anyway. It was like she had stepped into a land of fairytales. If she hadn't been so distraught over everything that had happened, she would have been awed by Snow-hime even more.
Silence fell over the group, as the little princess looked them down upon.
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Inga hovered just outside the window, peering inside to the best of his abilities. He was still small though, and even on the tips of his toes he couldn't quite see over the bottom of the window ledge. His tiny fingers clutched at the edge as he tried himself up into a better position.
As he managed to get his head into the window, he was able to catch a bit of the echo from the conversation going on down the hall. The words drifted to him, sounding like the whispers of spirits from the after life.
"And this little blond-haired boy…"
"So, he has the one of fire, then?"
"What of the others…"
The conversation was too broken for the little boy to make any sense of it. He scrambled through the window the rest of the way and dropped himself down inside. Those stupid guards! They never thought to guard the windows lower down! He chuckled to himself as he crept down the hall.
The tall doors loomed before him, and he pressed his ear against them, hoping to catch more of what they were saying. The doors were thick though, and now that he was so close, even the echo was nearly inaudible. All he could hear was lines of murmurs that had no coherency. He frowned and started to back away.
Suddenly, he could hear a line clearly. It was Dorothy's voice, "And, we now have a visitor!"
Before Inga could escape the hall, the door flew open. Fortunately, he had moved quickly enough to avoid getting smashed against the wall. He fell hard onto his behind, and he tried to scramble to safety. Dorothy stopped him by stepping on the edge of his robe.
"Tsk, tsk, Inga!" Dorothy waggled her finger at him. He knew he would be in deep trouble later, but for now, he was glad it was Dorothy he was dealing with. She always went a little easy on him.
"Is something wrong?" a voice from behind her floated out. She waved it off and stepped back, giving Inga a clear view into the room. He instantly spotted the elder and turned his eyes away, feeling more than a little embarrassed. He glanced up just ever so slightly to catch sight of the traveler who had arrived in Kaldea earlier. He blinked over at Joe.
"Ah, Inga-kun…" the elder frowned, spotting the little boy just below Dorothy's foot. Inga felt his face flushed and he turned his gaze entirely into the opposite direction.
"Who is he?" Joe aksed, worry creasing his brow. Dorothy waved him off again and helped Inga to his feet.
"Oh, he's just a curious brat! Still, now that he's here, we might as well let him hear it for himself, right? It will be all over Kaldea shortly enough as it is," Dorothy frowned, dragging Inga in by the collar of his robe. He didn't fight it; instead, he let the older girl do as she pleased. Dorothy stopped in a bit between Joe and the elder and let Inga come to a rest at her side.
"Right…" the elder frowned. He wasn't sure that was the right choice, but he let Dorothy have her way. For a moment, the room fell silent as the door clicked behind them. Finally though, Dorothy gave way and began to speak.
"You've heard of the clans of old that split away from Kaldea, right? We've lost many of our people during our ancestry, to things like greed and our own blind stupidity. Well, there was one clan that took a special treasure with them. It consisted of four parts," Dorothy paused, looking down at Inga. She urged him to answer.
"Er, that was the Elemental Children set, right? There were four shurinken, each one possessing a different element. Alone, they were fierce but not anything special. Together though…they were deadly," he finished for her. She grinned at him and ruffled his hair, proud that he was actually starting to pay attention in school. He had a lot of potential and she didn't want to see him waste it by burdening himself with the past and his lineage.
"Well, it is that treasure that has been stirred up lately. According to this man here, Joe of the mountains, the one that he had guarded in his care has been stolen. It seems we were careless. It has fallen into the hands of one who will corrupt its power…" she let herself trail off. Inga looked up at her with fierce eyes, understanding exactly who she meant. He took a deep breath before he could speak.
"Ünwetter, right…?" he let his head drop, not even bothering to wait for her answer. He knew he was right. It always seemed to come back to that blasted man. She set her hand on his head before she continued.
"So, we need to find this boy who has it. Apparently, he hasn't turned it in yet; the ÄRM accepted him as its master and he has been using it. One is under the care of Cross Guard, but the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. We are going to have to team up with Cross Guard to find these and stop that man from getting his hands on anymore," Dorothy finished.
Joe had been relatively silent all this time, but he frowned at Dorothy's last remark, "Wait, Cross Guard has one, too? Why doesn't Kaldea have one of them in its care?"
Dorothy sighed and shook her head. She glanced over at the elder and this time, he was the one to answer the question.
"When the treasure was taken away, we lost track of it, as we lost track of our people. As the guardians of the treasure dwindled away, they were raided and much of their magic was lost. They were able to keep only one of them, the one attuned to earth, and it was agreed that it would be sent to Cross Guard instead of our care. The Kaldean council agreed to this arrangement," the elder spoke slowly, letting the words weigh down over the room as he spoke them.
Dorothy broke in, badgering the question right back at Joe, "So, tell me, how was it that you managed to get a hold of the one attuned to fire!"
Joe frowned and shrugged slightly, "It was just something I happened about in my travels. No one gave it to me; I simply found it on my own."
Dorothy folded her arms across her chest, "And, that is the main point here. If you can find it, doesn't that mean it's possible for anyone to find one of them? As of now, we know of only the locations of two of them, and one of them is no longer under our control. Our best strategy at this time is to seek out help and go after the remaining two while trying to get the stolen one back. If you see any other ways to handle this, I implore you, do tell."
"Do you have any idea where to even began to look for these!?" Joe snapped back. It seemed like an utterly foolish plan to him.
Just then, Inga spoke up, "Don't the ÄRMs only react to those with the blood of their creators running through their veins? Aren't these the kind of magic that chose their own master…?"
Joe glared at the smug look on Dorothy's face. He just shook his head and continued to contradict them, "But, even if that's true, you don't have someone from this clan, do you? So, how will that be possible?"
Dorothy chuckled slightly, "Oh, we will just have to play tag with our little friend who is holding the Hi no Ko. As of now, he's the only one we've known that has ever been able to use it. But, we are not powerful enough to handle all this alone when we have our own problems brewing."
Joe sighed and fell back, knowing that there was no way to convince them otherwise. Though the plan had some valid points, the fact that they had no concrete way of finding the others of the set bothered him. Using their enemy as a tool was no simple task. He had met the boy; he had even fought him. He knew that the boy wasn't going to be pushed over so easily.
"So, if you can get over yourself for a moment, I would like to request your help. I am heading out to Cross Guard later today, after we gather what we need. I can take you with me, using my Zephyrus Broom," Dorothy added as an after thought. Joe nodded his head.
"Alright, I'll go…but, we have to find a way to get this situation under control quickly. If this plan doesn't work, you will have to do as I say," Joe grinned over at her. She stuck her tongue back at him.
"Oh, that's no problem! 'Cause we're not going to lose! I've got a good feeling about this!" Dorothy chuckled.
The group then turned their conversation to what they would need to take with for their meeting with the Cross Guard. It had been a bit of time since they had needed anyone's help, and Kaldea was usually too proud to accept anyone's hand. This time though, they knew they were in for more than they could handle. They could use all the help they could get.
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Translation notes:
Hime-sama: formal way of saying "princess" and showing utmost respect
-hime: princess
-kun: an attachment given to younger boys showing a sort of affection
Hi no Ko: child of fire (Hisoka's shurinken)
Lookie, another chapter, and once again, another fight scene! Though, of course, this one is really abrupt. A haha! I know I haven't brought in Akali yet, but I have something a bit special planned for her. Or, if I don't do that and decide to throw her in early, she can join up in one of the next couple chapters. I'm still working out all the details, lol. I'm pretty much writing this as I go along…and, I am totally not trying to get out of writing certain words that I have to keep reformatting, lol! Ah, another chapter I'm not so happy with..sorry bout that, guys!
If you have a MAR OC who would like to make an appearance in this…contact me so we can chat it out! The best bet is AIM (UkyoTheOkoElf), but you can get my e-mail off of my profile and send me a PM that way, too.
