Chapter 7: Mystery
A/N: Thanks for the reviews again, I forgot to say in the last chapter. And to Moo (?), thank you so much for reviewing.
I don't really have more to say except… here's Chapter 7! Enjoy!
(unknown place)
"Master, I've completed my mission," the green-haired girl said as she knelt on one knee and bowed her head to the silver-haired girl sitting on a rock with her back faced to her.
The cold night wind blew gently, making the girl's silver hair sway swiftly. A smile crept on her lips as she nodded her head in satisfaction. She opened her eyelids, revealing her bloody red eyes. "So? How did it go?" She asked in a nice voice.
"It goes correctly just as you said. I've had a bit of a hard time dealing with her. I saw her powers flowed through her sword, destroying everything on its way the moment she waved it."
"That's… interesting. I've been waiting for years to make her improve herself. Okay, you're free to go. Thanks for the work." She smirked afterwards.
The green-haired girl raised her head and smiled at her. "Yes, miss." She immediately disappeared from her spot like she teleported.
The silver-haired girl is left alone in the place. Once again, the wind blew and she took a deep breath and let it out. She put her hands behind her and leaned on her arms as she stared at the starry night sky. Then the silence was broke by a voice behind her.
"You've really got a nasty way of getting into people's way," a boy said who's leaning on a tree with his arms crossed. He was standing a few meters away from her.
"Oh? That's nasty? Don't forget that that's what you also did to others… onii-chan," she replied with a smirk, not looking back.
"Don't call me that, whitey. I'm just telling you my opinion about you."
"Really? So you're criticizing me about my own ways of doing things? I only tried your ways of butting into people's business to see if it's interesting."
"I don't want to hear that from you." He stood straight and faced her. She looked back and gave him a smile.
"Oh, I guess… you regretted doing that to innocent people because you learned your own lessons?"
"What did you say?" he asked as he's starting to get irritated with her.
"Don't tell me you're starting to stand up for him because you admitted your defeat? Now you're starting to act like a real elder sibling."
His eyes narrowed as she's starting to get in his nerves. He gave her an 'I'm going to kill you' look but she completely ignored it.
Her smile turned into evil as she looked at his eyes. Then she continued to tease him. "I bet you feel bad to yourself for not… avenging her… right?"
His eyes widen in chagrin after hearing that from her. He didn't want to hear that at this time, especially from her. He clenched his teeth and fists in anger. "Shut up…" he murmured softly.
"I was right after all… But, what does it feel to possess something precious to you and lose it afterwards?" She said teasingly as her eyes narrowed in amusement while watching his reaction.
"Shut up…" he muttered again.
Her smile widened and tried to say something to amuse herself. "Your… sweet little…" she began.
He raised his head, his eyes flashing in anger and yelled, "SHUT THAT IMPUDENT MOUTH OF YOURS!" The silver-haired girl's body suddenly set into fire by his power. Then the fire became larger, burning everything surrounding it.
"That's hot, you know?" He heard the girl's voice said much to his surprise then the fire slowly rose into the air and gathered into the girl's palm until it shrunk into a ball's size. She remained unharmed. Her skin is still completely white, her dress and hair unburned. He was not the least surprised for he already knows her ability but that makes him disappointed.
"Feeling down for being powerless? Well, since you lost your so-called famous power that even adds to your disappointment, right?" She said with a smirk and the small ball of fire on her palm vanished. Then she jumped off the rock and walked towards him. He closed his eyes and nodded his head in frustration. She went to his side and whispered to his ear, "I'm going to eliminate everyone who gets on my way… especially that little brother of yours who's with her this time."
He didn't react and remained standing. She continued walking and went pass to his side with her smile still on her face. Then he said softly to her while not looking back, "You can't defeat Yoh and his friends, remember that."
She stopped walking and looked up above. "I would say opposite to you. Useless emotions don't work on me unlike you who lose because of that."
"I know Yoh. He doesn't give up in doing anything if it's for his friends. You can't beat him," he replied confidently.
"Is that so? Then if I kill first those surrounding him, he will give up because he won't have anyone to protect, am I right?"
"As if you can."
Her smile disappeared and stared at him. Then she let out a small giggle, getting his attention. "You've really changed too much than your usual self. Well, let's just find out sooner or later." She walked away, leaving him standing alone there.
He let out a sigh of exhaustion and calmed down. Then he whispered softly, "Please don't leave her alone... Yoh…"
His voice echoed through an unknown darkness.
****XX****
"Why? You would never do such a thing, yet… why?" a boy's asked in disbelief in the darkness.
"Humans are so easy to trick… I guess that's their weakness…" a girl replied coldly. Different voices are suddenly heard around the darkness. Some are crying, some are laughing, and some sounded sad and depressed.
"I always wanted to stay with all of you… but I can't do it," a crying voice of a girl said. Then another one cut in.
"We're going to hold her back from doing it. Until that, please don't die on us!" a voice of a boy said.
"Please watch over her and see her smile… for me. I'm counting on you… for her…" a girl's smothered voice said.
"Yoh… Yoh!"
****XX****
Yoh opened his eyes in a second, meeting the ceiling. He stared at the ceiling blankly for a few seconds then he sat up as he felt the cold wind blew inside the room. He realized that the window was open, letting the wind blow inside.
He looked to his side and a satisfied smile appeared on his face as he saw his friends sleeping and snoring loud. Morty was sleeping beside him while being used as a pillow for Trey's foot. Acrein was next to Trey, snoring loud, while the last one was Ren, who's lying with his back faced to them and his head on his arm. He couldn't tell he's asleep at his position. Yoh stood up and went out of the room, thinking that he needed some water and left them alone.
Ren irritatingly covered his ears because of the person snoring right next to him. "Tch, damn it. Why won't he stop snoring? If only I could stuff his mouth with a pillow…" he mumbled to himself as he grabbed a pillow.
Suddenly, Acrein sat up with eyes still closed, making him surprised. Then he suddenly said, "Where did my pillow go?"
A nerve snapped on Ren's head and shoved the pillow he's holding into his face angrily, making him lie on the floor hard. "Just shut your mouth and sleep quietly, you metal freak!" he yelled angrily. Suddenly, Acrein fell asleep again and started snoring loud, making him to get irritated more. "I said… shut your mouth!" he yelled and pushed the pillow harder.
****XX****
Yoh went out of the kitchen after getting what he needed and slowly headed back to the room. A confused look appeared on his face as he thought deeply. What was that weird dream about? I feel like many people are calling me but I couldn't hear them clearly. Plus, that weird presence I felt earlier and Eri's injuries… what was that all about?
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the wind blow inside the living room through an open door. He stopped and saw something behind the curtains. The curtain gently flew and he saw a black-haired girl sitting on the porch quietly, looking at the sky. What's Eri doing outside?
He took a step back and stepped on a piece of paper, creating a soft cracking sound. This caught Eri's attention and turned her head and saw him standing.
"Ah, I was just passing by… S-Sorry I disturbed you…" Yoh said nervously as he waved his hands in front of him.
Eri stared at him blankly then returned her gaze to the sky without a word. Yoh stared at her curiously. Then he spoke up. "What are you doing here? It's still night."
"Can't you tell what I'm doing with your own eyes?" Eri asked emotionlessly, not looking at him. Yoh felt a sweat drop from his head.
"S-Stargazing?" he replied with a sweat-drop.
"So you can guess."
"It's the middle of the night. Can't you sleep?"
"I can hardly sleep in an unfamiliar place. Plus, the skies are clear and it's a starry night."
There was a short moment of silence between them then he broke it. "Can I… join you?"
It took a few seconds before Eri answered, "Go ahead."
Yoh went to the porch and sat down a meter away from her. He smiled as he looked up above and saw many stars shining in the sky. "Hey Eri, can I ask something?"
"What?"
"Did you join the Grand Shaman Tournament?" he asked without any hesitation.
"I did, but I failed at the first try." She replied without any trace of depression in her voice. Yoh was a bit surprised at her answer.
"You… failed at the first preliminary?" he asked in disbelief.
"When one of the Guardians, Silva tested me. I failed at that time."
"So Silva was the one who test you? But… after seeing your power yesterday, I thought you can't be defeated."
"It's not like I actually failed. I did it on purpose."
"Huh? You… failed on purpose? Why? That was a great chance to…" he trailed off as he could hardly believe everything she said. He can't even see a trace of emotion on her face which confused him more.
"I don't have any reason to participate anyway. After all, there are so many shamans in the world to compete with. I'm already sure I won't be picked," Eri replied casually as she closed her eyes.
"W-Well… it's worth a try. Even Anna forced me into hell training just to become stronger to grab the title of the Shaman King…" Yoh said with a smile.
"But I went there. At Patch Village."
"Huh!?" Yoh exclaimed in disbelief.
"That's when I saw you and recognized that you are Hao Asakura's twin brother." She looked at him with serious eyes.
"H-Hao? You... met him? Don't tell me you ran into him?"
"Yes. I know everything about him from the other people. The great shaman who planned to earn the title of Shaman King to take the Great Spirits… and create a new world for only shamans… right?" She continued to stare at Yoh, making him feel nervous all of a sudden. "I've got to admit his idea is quite nice and crazy."
"E-Eri… did he… recruit you to join his team?" Yoh asked as he made a 'slight' gulp.
"Yeah, he did. But I simply refused and he left me alone. That's all."
"I…I can't believe you're still alive after that… Normally, he would kill anyone who acts against him. Yet… why? "
"Yoh, you mean you wanted me to die?" she asked in an irritated voice.
"Wha- of course not! Why would I want that? I was just surprised that you were able to handle his personality," he replied then laughed nervously while scratching his head. Eri remained staring at him with her dark-red eyes.
She closed her eyes and looked away. "Yoh, why do you think shamans or some people can see spirits?"
"H-Huh?" Yoh asked, surprised at her question. "T-That's because… according to my grandpa, only good people can see spirits…" he looked at Eri with surprised and confused eyes.
"To tell my opinion about him, he's not as bad as the people say about him. I know he's actually good deep down inside."
"That's what I thought at first too. But he has killed so many innocent people."
"Indeed. But he's quite a jerk too. Well, I don't really care about other people's business. That was just my point of view to him." Eri shrugged her shoulders and looked up to the sky. Yoh stared at her for a while then decided to ask again.
"Eri, why did you fail on purpose?"
She kept on staring at the sky for a long time. Then she replied, "I have my own reasons. Something that you shouldn't know."
"Why not…?" he trailed off as he saw Eri's serious expression. Well, I guess every people have their own stories.
"I'm going back home." She stood up from the porch and took her sword beside her.
"Eh? Now? In the middle of the night?" Yoh asked as he thought of the consequences.
"I can't sleep here for the next 6 hours. I feel much better when I'm at home. Plus, your friend snoring in your room is too loud that it reaches my ears."
A sweat dropped from his head as he smiled nervously. "O-Oh, is that so? Well, be careful in your way then. You might cause another explosion just because of a single dog snarling at you," he said jokingly.
"You bet. A dog is already snarling at me and he's sitting in front of me," Eri said with a glare and raised her sword.
"That was just a joke! Don't take it seriously!"
"Bye, then." She started to walk away while Yoh just watched her. He looked up above and saw a shooting star passed by. He stood up and headed back to his room. He slowly opened the door with closed eyes and…
"Stop your stupid snoring, you metal freak!" he suddenly heard Ren's voice. The moment he opened his eyes, a pillow came flying to him and hit him hard on the face, making him to lose balance and fell to the floor with his red face.
"Why… me?" he mumbled then passed out afterwards.
A/N: Done! Okay, maybe I changed my mind. Some SK characters had their names replaced by their English dubbed version by me in this story and I also said that I will also change Hao's but… I think it doesn't fit well in the story. But please don't flame me! If you have any suggestions, comments, and anything else, please drop a review. I would appreciate it.
Look forward to the next chapter!
