~ Part 10 ~

Return of Gelel

~.~.~

She woke before the sun. A chilled wind drifted through the window, making the young woman shiver. She dressed in the dark, carefully pulling on the blue and white attire that would make up her priestess gown. She left the chamber that was more her prison than her room, and quietly made her way down, down, down. Down to the giant chamber that held the spirit of Gelel.

"Lady Nanami," spoke one of the soldiers that guarded the sacred chamber, "it has been restless without you."

"Yes," she replied softly, "I could feel it. I'm sorry. I will try to calm it."

Nanami could tell he was relieved by the drop of his shoulders. The nameless sentinel bowed. "We thank you, Lady."

She nodded to him, her short brown hair swaying with the motion. The immense double doors that led to the chamber were opened, and she made her way in.

She stepped into the cerulean glow and gazed at the entity above her. It held no primary shape. Sometimes it would appear as an eel, or a dragon-like creature, and other times it would be a chimera – a mixture of many creatures.

She squinted. The only distinct shape Nanami could see apart from the glowing gelel fluid was a pair of otherworldly eyes, hidden deep within. The waters swished and contorted angrily. Nanami felt she was watching something akin to a bird trying to stretch its wings in a cage that was entirely too small. Of course it was restless. It was more than restless. It wanted out, just like Nanami wanted out.

She felt, rather than heard, a presence enter the chamber behind her.

She stiffened, stopped breathing. Who was it – what were they thinking? The chamber was forbidden to most, and for good reason. To enter it now when the spirit was agitated? They must be insane.

Nanami kept her eyes on Gelel, waiting in dread for its reaction.

Then a hand was placed on her shoulder and a certain man whispered her name. The tension left her immediately once she realized who it was.

"Rikuto!" She whirled and threw her arms around the red-haired man. "Where were you?! You've been gone for so long, I –"

He put his fingers to her lips, his cyan eyes gleaming as he cast a cutting glare up at Gelel. "I can hold my own on the battlefield, don't worry about that. I was summoned back to deal with Gelel."

At the mention of its name, the spirit went wild. Though it held no physical form Nanami could feel it thrashing like a caged animal, and the invisible barriers keeping it in place rippled like water, activated by the great energy that was trying to push its way out.

Rikuto pulled Nanami behind him. "So they weren't exaggerating – it really is getting out of control!"

Nanami pushed at his back. "It's only doing that because you antagonized it!"

He threw her an incredulous look over his shoulder. "How…?"

Nanami shoved her way past him and raised her hands up high to placate the raging spirit. "It's okay, friend. It's okay!"

Eventually it responded to her and simmered down. The moment it did, Rikuto seized the opportunity to reinforce the barriers. He put his palms together, then crouched and slammed them to the stone floor. His power flowed like a current through the ground and up through the barriers. The entire time he did this, Gelel did not cry out. It only stirred in barely concealed distress, its attention focused on Nanami.

Nanami stared at Rikuto with hard eyes. He had changed during his time away. His hair was longer, shaggier. His dark clothes were torn in places. But more than physical appearance, he was colder, steelier.

He watched her watching him as he stood back up to his full height. "I'll never understand how you can calm it like that."

"Because I do not treat it as a thing to be used," she gave him a sad look, "but as a friend, just like you."

The two humans stood, regarding each other silently as the spirit beast waited in its confinement – as that was all it could do.

"What do they want, Rikuto? They always send you when they want something."

He sighed and looked down, unable to meet her gaze. "Yeah…"

Each in their own way, they were prisoners. Gelel was captured for its energy, Nanami was taken from her family for her ability to soothe the spirit, and Rikuto was born and raised to serve the Royal Family. He never even had a name until he met Nanami. She had to call her guardian something and so she'd thought long and hard about a name that would suit him. When presented, Rikuto did not object to the name.

Things weren't so bad when it all started. Nanami had been a lowly cleaning servant when she wandered into the spirit's chamber. The guards weren't so great then. But Rikuto was still one of the best. He and his master caught her talking with the spirit – actually speaking with it! They had not known it could imitate the tongue of man. Rikuto and his master stayed within the shadows, watching as Nanami came back to the spirit almost every day to talk with it. They allowed it, and when the master was sure Gelel was attached to the young woman he seized her by order of the Royal Family. She was not allowed to go home anymore…

But the empire was prospering. The waters of Gelel brought lush prosperity to their once dry and brittle land. Harvests were bountiful, never ending, and the livestock grew faster and healthier than ever before. Starvation was no longer a problem, nor was thirst.

And for a while things stayed that way. Perhaps it would've stayed that way forever. But the people pushed their luck too far, pushed it right off a cliff and into a never-ending chasm.

More, more, more. It was never enough to satisfy them. The west of the empire wanted more, the east wanted more, the south, the north… they all wanted more. Fights broke out, turf battles, and then full out wars.

Rikuto had been Nanami's guardian, and also keeper of the barrier. His bloodline held a special power, and his family had been owned by the Royals for generations. But their numbers dwindled, as they were used in combat. They were powerful, but not invincible. When their numbers went down to single digits, Rikuto was removed as Nanami's guardian and sent into the battles.

When he was solely her guardian Rikuto spent almost all his time with Nanami. At first it was awkward. It was like there was a wall between them. That wall was the Royal Family. He worked for the people that took Nanami from her family. But he was drawn to her kindness, and also to her surprising mischievous and playful natures. He became a rock in her uncertain world. He kept her safe, he listened to her talk about the family she missed…and he once held her when she cried. They grew to love each other.

"Can we leave," she once asked, "can't we just run? I want to go home. I want you to come with me."

He avoided her eyes. "No…"

"Why?" He could hear the breaking in her tone.

Because they'd fine them. Because they'd probably kill her family when they did. And because he'd been trained to obey them since his birth, took an oath to serve them.

He tried to make her understand, tried to make himself understand, but that did not stop the ache in his chest when he saw her face drowned with sorrow.

"Rikuto? I asked what they wanted."

He blinked, brought himself into the present. He took in the sight of her, deprived of it for too long. She was much the same, but paler, melancholy falling from her in invisible waves. "They want… more."

"Of course," she spat darkly. "Not like they're already sucking Gelel dry."

His eyes traveled up to the ceiling, where thousands of thin trails of Gelel's life blood was being extracted and stored in the Vein – the center of what was like a mine, or a heart. The gelel energy was harvested, stored in the central vein, and then dispersed throughout the empire through the shafts. The Royal Family controlled how much went where, and what it was used for. Right now the North, South, East, and West Rebels were fighting for it, fighting for control of the Vein… and the spirit, Gelel itself.

"I am only doing what I was ordered to do."

She glared. "Tell me, do you love me or the Royal Family?"

He grimaced, his voice strained, "Don't start this again… I have no choice. Please, Nanami. Keep it calm while it's being done. We just… need a little more. We need to win the war."

She turned away from him. "At this rate I don't think anyone is going to win…"

Her words hung in the cold still air.

He took her lack of outright refusal as acceptance. "I'm sorry," was all he could say, and then, "They need me back out there."

"No!" she yelled, and Gelel swished violently. "You've fought enough! Let the other soldiers handle it!"

He looked at her sadly. "I can't do that."

"They all have powers taken from Gelel –"

"So do the Rebels."

"You don't have to go!" Her voice was high with strain.

"I do." His tone, and the answer, was absolute.

Her lip trembled, and he couldn't stand to watch her cry. Not again. So, without another word, he turned and started for the door.

"You're always leaving," he heard her say. "Always making me wait."

He kept going. He knew if he turned back, if he saw her leaking eyes he wouldn't be able to leave. And he had to. It was his duty.

Gelel was reflecting Nanami's sadness; Rikuto could feel it as if it stabbed him. Even contained, Gelel could still reach out in some way.

Suddenly that sorrow turned to rage. The cold blade turned hot.

"One day!" Nanami screamed at his back. "One day it will be me who leaves you behind! One day you will be the one waiting for me!"

The door closed behind him.

It was the last time he heard her voice. If he'd known, he would've stopped. He would've run back to her and told her he loved her, heard her say she loved him, and not leave with her cursing at his back. It became his biggest regret.

The war claimed him, but not in the way most thought. He was reported dead, though in reality he survived the blast and was found among the debris and captured by the enemy. The Rebels had hoped to use him, as he was one of the last bloodline users who could successfully contain Gelel. They never got the chance.

He was able to escape during the catastrophe that Gelel had wrought after breaking from its confinement.

There was only one thought on his mind after he realized Gelel had broken free and destroyed the Empire. That thought: Nanami. Where was she? What happened? How did Gelel escape? Nanami had always been able to placate it, slow it down and convince it to stay with her even when the barrier grew weak.

Was she not able to stop it? Was she…?

Rikuto rushed back to the Central Empire.

He came back to a land in ruins. Nearly everyone was dead, and there was no sign of Nanami…

Nanami… she couldn't be…

He refused to accept it.

"Tell me, do you love me or the Royal Family?"

Rikuto did not seek out the Royal Family. Instead he searched for Nanami – an answer to the question he should have verbally expressed.

Tales of Rikuto's search were passed down through a dwindling generation – a scattered generation that once hailed from the powerful Empire of Gelel. Each tribe told their stories a little differently, some saying he sought her all over the world, while others even say his powers created gateways to other worlds, which he also scoured, looking for his beloved.

But no matter what version of the tale was being told, they all ended the same: Rikuto never gave up.

He searched until he died.

~.~.~

She tilted her head in confusion. Or, rather, she tilted its head. The creature that carried Katherine, that she controlled, was made of ice and snow and water and even a little gelel fluid. Katy was protected and unseen within the creature's belly. She rested there, curled up like an unborn fawn. It was wet and cold, so cold, but the gelel stabilized her in the same way Calypso did. It made sense – Gelel and Calypso were one and the same.

The gelel that had leaked into Katy's blood over her lifetime usually caused her suffering, made her sick. Katy could not handle it without Calypso's help. When the spirit finally reawakened, it took control. It washed the pain away, it gave her strength to move, and it broke her free from her imprisonment. No more would she be called Kawako. Calypso would make sure of that, the spirit had promised gravely.

But then Katy was reminded: Calypso was not with her at the moment, therefore she had a limited amount of time before the power of the gelel unstabilized and contorted her body in agony the way it used to.

Katy made the ice creature tilt its head again, along with its ears. Sound was the only thing guiding her. It was Calypso's supreme sense and now it was hers, too. But she was not skilled like Calypso, and so deciphering what she heard was difficult.

Calypso had used its ears to learn of the shinobi war that was happening. It informed Katy, informed her of her Geliebt's likely involvement. Of course he'd be involved, Katy had thought bitterly, he's a ninja after all.

What Katy wanted more than anything was to go home, home to Haven, to her family. But thoughts of Mae and Anna prevented her from running straight to a portal. And… she'd be lying if she said the visions of Nanami and Rikuto hadn't influenced her decision to stay. She'd seen through Calypso's – then known as Gelel's – eyes. She saw Rikuto leave Nanami to fight a war that could not be won.

Katherine vowed not to end up like Nanami, who died of grief after she believed Rikuto had fallen in battle. Her heart spat the vow bitterly, angrily. Then she went to find her Geliebt, Gaara.

Now she'd found him. She still needed to find Mae and Anna.

But what she heard Gaara say had her frozen. The creature that held her was standing rigid, its ears twitching at Katy's command. She prayed she heard wrong. He did not – he did NOT just call her Gelel. He did not just call Calypso Gelel. If he did… then that would mean he knew gelel still existed. That the battle between Haido and Temujin was not the end of it. And if he knew, if he figured out what, who Calypso really was, then who else had also come to the same conclusion?

The Nara, Katy thought anxiously. Mae must have kept the Book of Gelel safe. But Shikamaru's no idiot. He wouldn't need that to connect the dots. Meddling Naras are too smart for their own good!

Shinobi were greedy, like most humans. The last thing they needed was to know of the powers of Gelel, else history would repeat itself. The result could be a war worse than the ancient Empire's strife, or worse than the war they stood in now.

She could not use her voice through the ice creature, so she utilized body language and made it tilt its head again, this time in a blatant manner of confusion.

"What's wrong?" Gaara's voice. A voice she had not heard in years. Katy's body trembled, and with it, the creature's.

She heard him get to his feet, heard the air move as he raised his hand. The sound of his palm gliding down the creature's snout was loud in her ears.

"We both failed, didn't we? We couldn't protect her." He shifted, and she felt a change in his demeanor, however slight. "Though I have to wonder," he spoke darkly, "where she'd be if not for your influence."

Once Katy realized what he was saying, her shaking was stopped with steely anger. Dead, she spat mentally, by your hand. Or have you forgotten how you were during the Chuunin Exams?

He sighed. "Doesn't matter now, does it? She's gone." His voice broke slightly on that last word, and Katy finally realized why no one had come for her.

Dead… You think I'm dead.

A shiver went down Katy's spine. This seemed… entirely too familiar.

"But I'm glad you're here now. We need your help."

~.~.~

"Stay within range!" Oreo shouted as she dodged yet another Zetsu clone. A quick hand sign and a blast of fire from her hand took care of it, but there were thousands more waiting to take its place.

"I am!" Mae stopped a bunch of Zetsu straight in their tracks; vines shot up from the ground and tangled around them. "Now!"

Oreo's fire engulfed the pack. "Great," she huffed, "now we just have a million more to go."

The entire conflict was a complete mess. But weren't all wars? Regardless, Oreo and Mae had no clue what to expect when it was first announced the Shinobi Nations were going to war against Akatsuki. Oreo and Mae were assigned to the mid to close range fighter unit, the Third Battle Division under General Kakashi Hatake.

"At least this is easier than the zombie Swordsmen of the Mist," Mae supplied helpfully.

Oreo grimaced. "Seriously? There were only, like, seven of those freaks, and Kakashi and the others did most of the work!"

"Anna!" Mae shrieked as she covered her head with her arms, bracing for impact. A jetstream of fire prevented the Zetsu from connecting.

Oreo sighed in relief. "That was close…"

Mae shook unsettlingly. "Maybe I r-really should've been in Division Four."

Oreo frowned at that, biting her lip. Mae was originally assigned to the Long Range Fighter Division, but Oreo didn't want her separated. So she threw a fit to Neji, then went straight to the Hokage and begged her to let Mae join the Third Division. Tsunade was a headstrong woman for the most part, but she had her soft spots, and there were times when she could be a pushover. Oreo wanted to keep an eye on Mae, protect her, and so she persisted, telling Tsunade Mae was like a younger sibling. The Lady Hokage used to have a younger sibling. So she relented after that statement, and allowed the change. But now Oreo was lamenting… maybe she should've left Mae with Gaara.

I thought I could keep most of them far enough away that she'd be fine. Oreo ground her teeth. How stupid! she scolded herself. She had no idea it was going to be like this. There're too many!

"Rotation!"

He was a blur as he sped in, a glare of chakra as he used his technique. Zetsu were knocked back.

"Neji!" Oreo gasped.

"We need to keep moving," said the Hyuuga. "Come on, Naruto needs our help."

She nodded, smiling in relief. I guess I can stop kicking myself about Divisions, now that we're all together like this.

Oreo, Mae, and Neji rejoined the stampede of shinobi, all headed to the battlefield where Naruto fought. Any hordes of Zetsu that stood in the way were demolished. Their footfalls were deafened by the roar of the thunder as rain fell from the sky.

All of them were determined that the trail of their muddy footprints would become a road that led to victory.

~.~.~

They were supposed to show up and help Naruto save the day, but honestly, Mae had no clue what the heck was going on. She hoped that was what they were doing, but it was really hard to tell. They were fighting a giant plant… thing, which was apparently the Juubi, the freaking Ten-Tailed Beast. Mae thought there were only supposed to be nine.

Nope, she thought grimly. Did anyone explain this earlier? I don't know. I don't know anything!

At the moment she was just trying to stay alive. Actually, that was what she'd been doing the entirety of the war. She didn't really feel useful at all. She was trying to keep it together, but it seemed like panic would forever be boiling inside her. It didn't help that Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka kept talking inside her head. How was anyone okay with that? She knew it was necessary, that that was how they were communicating the strategy with everyone, but it still freaked her out. Mae wondered if Ino was capable of telepathy like her father. She kept an eye out for her pony-tailed mentor, but did not see her. She hoped she wasn't up at the front.

Everything was crazy. From the voices in her head, to the huge collaborated attacks by the Alliance, to the giant monster they were fighting. Mae was at the back with Oreo at her side, occasionally catching glimpses of Naruto as he fought at the forefront.

The Juubi was growing.

Its roar pierced the air. It started spouting off energy blasts. It didn't seem to be aiming at anything, just haphazardly firing like some crazed psycho. But the blasts reached far, and the explosion it caused was so huge Mae could see where it landed miles away.

"N-no way…" whispered Oreo, too stunned to even speak normally. Her nervousness was not helping Mae's. "Where's Neji? Neji?!"

"Up front," Mae tried to say, but found she could not even whisper.

The Juubi kept spitting out the blasts.

"That direction!" Mae heard a fellow shinobi exclaim, "That's going to hit HQ!"

Mae's wide eyes stared helplessly, watching the condensed chakra ball fly into the distance, waiting for the nuke-like explosion. The Juubi roared.

Another roar met it, a shrieking, deafening roar that was as loud as the sea and seemed to make even the clouds shudder.

The Juubi's chakra blast was hit with a cerulean globe, smaller than the Juubi's, but still effectively knocking the chakra ball off course. Both energies went up into the sky, detonating high in the atmosphere. For a few seconds it lit up the battlefield like daylight.

Mae was no expert sensor, but she was experienced enough realize that the cerulean globe wasn't chakra. She heard gasps and shocked exclamations around her, confusion and surprise coming from not just the Alliance but the enemy too. Instead of firing crazily, the Juubi was now intently focused on something.

A giant cerulean beast was coming over the horizon.

Mae immediately knew what it was, there was no doubt. Her eyes were wide and glazed with shock. She couldn't summon her voice, and only the smallest whisper escaped her throat.

"Gelel."

She saw Oreo nod slowly from the corner of her eye. Then the silver-streaked redhead nudged her. "Calypso, you mean. Don't let anyone else hear that other word."

"Shikamaru's not an idiot, Oreo. He went on that mission with Naruto and Katy, remember? There's no hiding it now." Mae watched as the spirit beast got closer and closer to their location. "I don't think it's trying to hide anymore, anyway."

"I didn't know it'd still be alive."

Mae glanced at Oreo, and saw that she was shaking. "The Tailed Beasts don't die with their jinchuuriki. Why would Calypso die with Katy?"

"I d-don't know, I just…" Her shock was understandable – a ghost was basically staring her in the face. Calypso was approaching at full speed.

"It's going to be okay." Mae reached out and placed a hand on Oreo's quivering shoulder. Funny, Mae was the one shaking throughout the entire war. Now she as the one offering comfort. Her gaze returned to Gelel. "We're not going to lose."

~.~.~

A/N: So, it's been a while… Yes, feel free to chuck balls of flaming poop at me. But first let me explain why I had such difficulty continuing with this story.

I've been following 'Naruto' for a long time now. In the beginning it was great. It was about friendship, dedication, and hard work. Naruto, the underdog, refused to accept a thing like destiny and pushed himself to be stronger, never giving up, in order to protect the people he loved. Recently – actually it's been happening gradually – I've lost the majority of my interest in 'Naruto'. The manga has been so boring to me. Prophecy Child. The Sage of Six Paths. Ever since these things popped in the story, my interest's been going downhill. The War Arc started out pretty exciting, but then… The Sage of Six Paths and Kaguya… *sigh* What can I say about them? I could handle Madara being the main villain. I could even handle and appreciate Tobi/Obito as a villain. There's connection to them. But Kaguya is just a rabbit pulled out of the hat. And this whole destiny plot with Ashura and Indra… Well, Naruto, it looks like you owe Neji an apology. He had a point. You're the Prophecy Child and you were destined for this crap.

Anyway, I'm rambling. This story here (OTSATS, Remembrance, and ADM) went along with the main plot of 'Naruto'. The focus is the friendship between Katy and Gaara and it went adjacent to the original storyline of the manga. With my interest in the main story taking a dive, so too did my interest in this story. And with work and family keeping me busy, it was hard to find time to work on this.

I'm sorry this took so long, and I want to thank those that encouraged me to keep writing. You know who you are. I will do my best to end this story satisfactorily.

You may now throw the fiery poop balls. *WS flees*