Deep in The White Rabbit's Hole End Part.
Guess who owns Rave Master? NNNOOOOOT MEEEE!
"Aw. Is the little rich girl far from home?" The strange man mocked. He looked like a total punk. His slick blue hair was tied back into a ponytail and he gave the girl, whose wrists he now held captive, a mischievous smile.
It seemed like every time Elie managed to get away from trouble, she would just run into more immediately. This man didn't look like one of Lucia's goons. He wasn't wearing a uniform like the others. She was able to pull her hands away from this thug and take a few steps back; she backed right into another man.
"Heh heh. You going somewhere sun shine?" This new man snickered. He had a green Mohawk and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes.
Elie didn't answer. She looked all around her, only to find more vicious looking thugs coming out of the bushes. Some of them were holding weapons. It was an ambush and she was surrounded!
Plue jumped up and down in an attempt to get the new threatening looking gang of thug's attention, but they weren't interested in him, not when there was a pretty little girl all alone in a fancy dress here.
"W-who are you people?" Elie finally managed to speak. She was very afraid. At least with Lucia's men she had an idea of what they were going to do with her. These creeps appeared to be much more unpredictable and threatening. Her thin frame began to tremble, knowing there was no escape in sight.
"You mean you haven't heard of us? How rude of us not to introduce ourselves." Came a new voice. Suddenly a path opened up for a new face to walk in. The way he was able to get these thugs to make way for him was like Moses parting the Red sea. They stepped aside without question or signal for them to do so. It was obvious that this man was their leader.
He was a tall man with short, spiky, dark hair, and three piercing in his left eyebrow. His clothes resembled something between a knight and a gangbanger, and he had a silver skull necklace hanging around his neck. He gave Elie a cocky smirk.
"Well it seems as though your out of luck now lady. You're dealing with the Silver Rhythm gang." He told the girl as he towered over her. "Now if you don't want things to get scary for you, why don't you just give us your money."
"I- I don't have any money on me right now." She stuttered in fear, but stood her ground nonetheless.
"Ha! Yeah, right! A peasant girl just decided to put on your best clothes for a walk through the forest. Don't lie to us girly, we know you just came from that castle." One of the thugs spoke up in a mocking tone of voice.
"Yeah, and we know the only kind of people hanging around castles have dough to spare, so start sharing!" Another added.
The gang leader took a long glance at this girl very closely. Of course she was wearing a very expensive looking silk gown but it looked very torn up and had dirt matted at the bottom. It probably got that way from her running through the forest so fast, which led to another question. Why would she be running in such a dress? It was hardly the kind of clothes one would want to break a sweat in, and from her expression she looked as if she was just running for life. Finally he had to wonder why she was running all-alone. If she was a rich girl she should have a bodyguard, or an escort or at least have somebody with her, besides a Plue dog.
The more he stared at this girl the more he felt like they were making a big mistake. Thing weren't adding up. She didn't seem anything like the rich, upper class snobs they usually robbed. The poor girl was looking even more frightened by the minute under the gang leader's silent gaze. She waited anxiously for him to do or say something to her.
"What's your name?" The leader asked quietly so that only Elie could hear. She didn't answer. It was obvious she was still very nervous by the scary situation they had put her in and did not want to say anything that could make things worse for her. He knew if he wanted her to open up, he had to get her to calm down and trust him.
"Look. We're not gonna hurt you." He said in a surprisingly assuring tone. Elie wasn't sure if he believed him. She kept her guard up, but at least decided to answer his question.
"I'm Elie." She answered never breaking eye contact with the gangbanger.
"Okay, Elie. My name is Musica, I run this gang. Sorry if we scared you." He took his eyes off of her and turned all around to his men. "Okay guys, weapons down. Some thing's off here, and there's no reason to be scaring the girl!"
The men looked at their leader confused, but did as they were told.
Musica's gaze went right back to little Elie. He was a little worried for her. It was clear something was up. If she was in trouble, there was no way they would try to mug an innocent girl, even if she was rich. It just went against his moral fiber to do anything to a person who was already suffering. He had to get to the bottom of this mysterious girl.
"Elie, are you in trouble?" He asked concerned.
His question was answered by what happened next. A small group of men in uniform suddenly ran towards them. They came from the same direction that Elie had just come from and they looked mean.
"There she is!" one of the uniformed men yelled. "Grab her!"
Musica and the rest of his gang's confusion only deepened at the sight of these new figures swiftly approaching them, but Elie's eyes went wide in recognition immediately. Lucia's goons had caught up with her!
The men just pushed right past some of gang members, paying them no mind as if they were just part of the scenery. This made the gangbangers very vexed but they weren't ready to just charge into a fight with them just yet. They watched these new men to see if they could learn anything about this girl and what they had to do with her.
Elie tried to move away, but one of the uniformed men reached out and roughly grabbed her forearm hard enough for the girl to let out a small cry of pain. "This time we'll lock you in the dungeon, brat!"
Before anything else could happen, the one who had just grabbed the girl was smacked over the head loud enough for the sound to resonate all throughout the forest. Musica had just knocked him out cold with a large, thick, silver staff.
Elie looked up at him confused for a moment as she collected herself. She didn't see where he had just got the silver weapon from and was surprised by its sudden appearance, but she was more surprised by what she witnessed next.
Musica glared angrily at the uniformed men including the unconscious one. "I don't know who you guys are or what the situation is, but your momma would be pretty ashamed to know how her kid treats a defenseless girl!"
Musica would not hold back or hesitate anymore. It completely went against every fiber of his being to just sit back and not help a damsel in distress. He'd take care of these jerks and find out the story from her after that.
Suddenly Elie found herself being pulled back and staring at the backs of some of the gang members. They circled around her closely, not to trap her like before, but to form a protective barrier around her to separate her from danger. The ones who trying to mug her only a few minutes ago, were now trying to help her.
Four other uniformed men, besides the unconscious one, still stood ready for the gang leader. They refused to be intimidated by him.
"Alright men! Attack!" The middle one yelled. They ran charging at Musica with the intent to do serious damage, but he didn't look scared and neither did his gang. They knew Musica could handle it.
Before the men got even close, Musica's staff melted itself into a long chain. As if by a miracle, the silver chain launched itself at the closest uniformed flunky, nailing him square in the ribs. His eyes went wide as all of the air was knocked out of him and he fell to his knees trying desperately to catch his breath.
The silver chain flew back to Musica's side as if the weapon had never even heard of gravity. Musica didn't react to this. He was in complete control. Once again the silver weapon began to melt, this time morphing into a long pike. The remaining two goons had no time to react. They were still in shock from the gang leader's last display of taking their comrade down. In one shot, Musica swung the pike so hard across their skulls; he knocked them both out at once.
"I love it when he does that." Elie heard one of the gang members behind her say.
It was all clear to her now. Musica was a silver claimer, a skilled alchemist who could control and manipulate silver to be shaped and moved however he wanted. Elie had read about these kinds of people before in books but this was the first time she had ever seen anybody performing silver claiming in person. It was quite a terrific sight to behold.
"Y-you…" One of the men was still conscious and tried to get up. Musica didn't look worried though. This time he would stay down. Before anything could occur however, the same straggler let out a pained yell. The little dog, Plue who everyone had forgotten about just stabbed him in the side with his yellow horn. It wasn't a powerful enough of an attack to kill or even draw blood, but the sharp, unexpected jab caused the man to finally pass out.
Elie took a deep breath that she didn't even know she was holding until just then. She was out of that castle and away from danger now she just had to-
"Come on! Let's move it!" Musica yelled ruining her train of thought. He took Elie's hand and ran, guiding her along. The other members of the gang followed after them. Elie ran with him, still holding Musica's hand. She did her best to keep up the pace with these guys and not slow them down but it was still pretty difficult to move so fast in her dress, so she used her free hand to pick up some of the fabric off the ground so she wouldn't trip over it.
Elie stared back at Plue to make sure he was still there, following her, but Musica's voice once again jolted her out of her train of thoughts.
"They won't stay down forever. Stick with us and we'll protect you!"
She didn't argue. After watching him kick those jerks butts for her own protection she believed she could trust these guys.
Once they were at a safe enough distance away from those uniformed goons and far from even the castle's sight, the gang of boys gave Elie her space as they waited patiently for her explanation. This woman, who they were at one point trying to mug had peaked their interest, and they were too curious. They had to find out her identity and the reason why she was being pursued.
Musica was the first to speak up. "Okay Elie, would you please mind telling us who you really are?"
The girl looked at her feet, trying to decide where to start. Finally she made up her mind and mumbled out just loud enough for them to hear, "I am Grand Duchess Valentine, she who rules the state of New Elie for the Symphonian government."
The men stared at her for a few seconds with their mouths hanging open, until one by one they all broke out into laughter, mistaking her explanation for a joke. "You're pulling our legs!" one of the exclaimed. "Our state's Grand Duchess went MIA years ago."
They continued to laugh hysterically until Musica noticed her somber expression. He slowly halted his laughter when realization washed over him. The Grand Duchess disappeared because she was being pursued, he remembered, and she would be about her age too, not to mention the names match.
"Oh my God, you're telling the truth." He muttered wide-eyed, mostly to himself, but the rest of his gang caught it and one by one their own laughter subsided and their faced turned into an expression of disbelief.
When no one was able to say anything, Elie continued. "The king had sent me into hiding for six years after the murders of my mother and father. Just recently the people I believe are the killers caught up with me and locked me away in my own castle. I was able to escape and that's when I ran into you guys. Please tell me, what happened to my state?"
The gang was still in shock. They couldn't believe that the missing Noble woman was sitting right in front of them.
The girl looked at them desperately. Well if you won't tell me what happened here; at least tell me how to get to the Symphonian capitol. I have to speak with the king.
Musica stared at her for a few more seconds then all of a sudden an idea just hit him. It was a great, ingenious idea and he was proud of himself. "We'll do more than just tell ya, Madame, we'll give you a personal Silver rhythm escort."
Her eyes light up. "You will?"
"We will?" His gang asked the same question immediately after, but not with the same expression.
"We will, but on one condition." The gang leader added confusing the girl. "Anybody who rolls with us has to be one of us. You want us to take you anywhere, you've got to become a member of the Silver rhythm gang."
Everyone was just blown away by Musica's request of her, including Elie herself. "But boss, She's nobility! I thought we hated the upper class, all of the rich snobs and aristocracy!"
"Shut up!" Musica snapped. "We didn't create this gang out of hatred, we did it out of survival. Jp, when you were living on the streets, eating out of the garbage, who took you in without question?"
The thug he was addressing looked down at his feet ashamed. Everyone knew the answer. He didn't need to say anything.
"And Hebi, when you lost your parents, who made you feel like you had a family again?"
The thug Musica was addressing now sniveled at the sad memory. "Sniff. The Silver Rhythm gang did."
"That's right! All of us have had a pretty hard knock life! We've been pushed around and we want to be able to push back! Now here we see another poor soul who has had her own share of heartbreaks and tears and you just want to send her away for something so stupid as the family she was born into? Is this the gang of mutts I know and love? "
Suddenly all of their looks changed into that of determination and at the same time they all yelled "NO!"
As Elie listened to Musica's speech she couldn't help but feel her own heart breaking at that very moment. Their stories of poverty in her own state were so devastating. New Elie wasn't this bad before that it had gangs of mistreated young adults forming. How far had New Elie fallen since she was gone?
As she was mowing things over and the rest of the gang was rallying together, Hebi pulled Musica aside to speak with him. "Yo Musica, are you sure this is such a good idea?"
The gang leader smirked at him. "Hebi, the government my technically and legally owns the state, but come on, we run this place, huh?"
Musica was referring to their exploits and disregard for the laws with the ability to get away with it. "Yeah, man." Hebi answered.
"Well wouldn't you want to change that so we can run it in every way?" Hebi wasn't quite following so Musica explained it to him. "Dude, if we can make her into one of us and distill our values and all that into her, then when it comes time for her to take her place, we'll have a Silver Rhythm gang member running the show."
Hebi smiled at the thought. One of us in power? I like it. Way to think politically, Musica."
At that moment Elie stood up. She had made her decision. She had to get to the capitol safely and after what they did for her, she felt she could trust them. Traveling with them was her safest bet. "Okay, I'll do it! I'll join your gang!"
Musica beamed. "Alright my men! Say hello to our newest family member!"
All of the men cheered. She was the first female member of the gang ever.
"So what do you guys do?" She asked. If she was going to be a member, that was a pretty important thing to know.
"We steal." Hebi answered.
"Only from bad people who have loads of cash to spare." Musica added.
Elie didn't like the thought of stealing from anybody, but it seemed like they weren't the type to let anyone get hurt in their capers, whether they were on their side or not. Not unless they were provoked, and from how they had treated her, it seemed like they only wanted to rob bad people.
Elie smiled a little. Musica sounded a lot like a man from a story that she heard in Outer world. It was about a leader of a gang of thieves who also only stole from rich, bad people, only Musica didn't wear green tights. Actually in the story, didn't the man also help out a noble woman in need? I guess that makes me Maid Marian, Elie thought.
"So do you give the money that you steal to the poor?" Elie asked.
"Hey. What do you think we are?" Musica replied.
I guess that's where they similarities end.
"Alright, come on, hit me with your best shot!" Julia shouted at Haru as she took a strong fighting stance. Haru mimicked her pose. He took a deep breath and swung his fist right at her with all his might.
In less than two seconds, Julia swatted his fist coming at her with her left hand, then jabbed him in the throat with her right hand. The boy fell to the ground gasping in pain, making it a short lived sparing match.
Julia made sure she didn't hit Haru too hard. She just wanted to shut him down. He'd be fine. At the moment the dragon woman was much more annoyed with him than sympathetic for him. She glared down at his mess of a body on the ground.
"If I told you once, I've told you a thousand times. You don't swing your fist, you just drive it in! And keep your head down enough so that they don't have a good a shot at your teeth, but enough to still look them in the eye!"
It had been a few days since they met Julia. After explaining the awkward situation and getting to know each other better, they asked Julia if she wanted to travel with them. They were going to need some muscle on this quest and Julia was the strongest person they had run into yet. She agreed to join on one condition. She wouldn't be anybody's bodyguard. She'd show them how to protect themselves.
"Alright Haru, take five. Your up Let." Haru crawled away from his spot to sit by Ruby and Belnika. While the two outer worlders were studying combat, they were studying up on their magic. When the duo expressed that they felt they could do better in the magic department than the fighting department, the others resisted the urge to roll their eyes.
Let stood up from his spot where he was sitting and reluctantly walked past the pained Haru to become Julia's next victim. He stood across from where Julia was now standing and took his fighting stance. The woman looked at him thoughtfully before strolling over to him casually.
"Hmmm. That doesn't look right." She said as she moved behind him and placed her hands gently on his arms to guide them to the correct position. "You have to keep your hands up a little higher to protect yourself."
Let blushed at the contact from her soft hands. "Where did you learn this?" He asked.
The woman smirked at him. "I'm from Makai! That state is famous for putting out the best fighters the Symphonian military has ever needed. Us dragon race's are born tough! No one knows that better than a Makai vassal's daughter!" She exclaimed proudly.
"You're the daughter of a vassal?" Belnika asked excitedly at overhearing their conversation.
"H-hey… Maybe Julia's parents could help you two get into the vassal business." Haru said to Ruby and Belnika as he rubbed his sore throat, the pain was starting to ease up though.
The duo looked at him like he was crazy. "How could a Makai vassal help us become New Elie vassals, poyo?" Ruby said.
Belnika explained. Each Symphonian state is famous for specializing in their own kinds of vassals. New Elie vassals are known for being skilled magic users. That's why we want to go there. Only the best of the best wizards can become New Elie vassals."
"And once we're vassals, poyo, we'll learn all there is to know from the other magic using vassals too, poyo." Ruby added.
Let looked at them funny from where he was standing. "So you're planning to become great wizards in order to become a vassal…. so that one day you'll be great wizards?"
They were about to answer Let's question when they suddenly realized that maybe there was a hole in their plans. They mouths hung open while they searched their brains for an answer.
"Well your right about how each state specializes in their own kinds of vassals. Makai is known for their worriers, but only my dad's a vassal. My mom's just a house wife." Said Julia. There was a hint of disappointment in her voice but no one caught it.
"That is so cool. I bet my dad would have loved that." Haru exclaimed, thinking once again about his dad's opinion on things.
"Is your father into that kind of thing?" Belnika asked.
"I'm not sure. He and my mom died in a car accident a long time ago." He replied. "But he was into cool things and that is defiantly cool!" Haru exclaimed
Ruby looked at him sadly. "My mommy died when I was too small to remember her, poyo. My daddy works so much, it's like he's never around any way, poyo. But he'll notice me when I'm a famous vassal, poyo."
"Oh Ruby." Belnika looked to her friend sadly. She could not relate. Both her parents were alive and working their mundane jobs back home. Still, she felt bad for him.
"I remember before my mother died, she was always pretty sick, but that didn't stop her from doing the job she loved." Said Let. Everyone had long forgotten about their studying and had gotten pretty wrapped up in share time.
"What did she do?" Haru asked curiously.
"She was a woman's rights activist." He replied.
The Inner worlders looked at him weird, not knowing the term her used. Haru asked "You mean a feminist? Did she have protests, and not shave, and talk about how evil men are?" Haru had never met anyone who had dedicated their life to feminism or any one cause in particular, however from what he had heard about feminists, they weren't pretty fun people for men to be around.
"That's an ugly stereotype. The feminists who act like that are extremists. There's some in every group. My mother taught me that true feminism is the belief in gender equality. If you believe that a person should not be denied anything just because they were born into a certain sex, than you are a feminist. That's all there is to the definition. No reason to add anything else to complicate it."
Haru didn't believe that anybody should treated differently based on the circumstances of their birth. Of course he still treated women a little differently than guys. He still didn't think they should be denied any opportunities that men had. Did that make him a feminist?
"Well if women aren't allowed to be denied anything, poyo, than men should be allowed to do girly things without being made fun of, poyo!" Ruby said with his flippers crossed stubbornly.
Let laughed at ruby's stubbornness. "That's fair. Feminism also believes in taking some of the pressures that society puts on men as well."
"Well I certainly don't have any problems with having woman take on more tough roles. After all, the strongest person in our group is a girl." Haru said.
"Awww. Thank you, Haru." Said Belnika.
"I don't think he meant you, Poyo." Corrected Ruby. Belnika's smile fell at his comment.
"So cool." The female dragon race mumbled
Julia smiled as she listened to her new friends explain this foreign concept to her. It sounded like such a wonderful thing to her. She was so lost in thought, she had failed to notice that the conversation topic had changed.
"Are you okay with that, Julia?...Julia?...JULIA!"
Haru's shouting of her name snapped her out of her stupor. "Huh? What? Run that by me again." She asked embarrassed about her daydreaming.
"We decided after looking over the maps that the quickest way to New Elie is to cut through Makai. At the rate we've been traveling we should be able to cross the state boarders by tomorrow and since you've lived in that state before you can show us the way."
"WHAT?" The dragon woman exclaimed as her eyes went wide enough to almost pop out of her head.
"W-we can't go through there! I-I just came from that direction! The whole reason I agreed to join you guys was so that I'd get to see a whole bunch of new lands!"
"Well this quest is kind of important, and this is the quickest rout to New Elie." Replied Belnika. She showed Julia the map. It was true. Makai was right in between the New Elie and the Green state they currently resided in. To go around Makai would waste a lot of time.
"Don't worry," Let said. You can just show us the quickest way through and then once we're out of there, we'll get to see New Elie." The eldest teenage boy was a little confused about the woman's reaction to going back to her home state. Why didn't she want to go home?
Julia thought it over. She already promised she'd help them, and she guessed if they acted stealthy and avoided her home village the best they could, then maybe they could just quickly cut through without being noticed by anyone in Makai. It was a serious risk, but she was willing to take it. For the sake of her friends and for the mission of rescuing the Grand Duchess they told her about. She wasn't ready to abandon this quest or her new friends just yet. "Alright, I'll lead the way, but you all have to promise to do what I say without question!"
They all nodded. It seemed reasonable.
"Alright!" She said. Then she gave Let a playful punch to the gut. It didn't hurt too badly, but he still let out a small grunt. "Now that share time is over everyone back to work! Let, take your fighting position!"
Let rolled his eyes, with her leading them, this was sure to be an exhausting trip.
And that's a rap for story arc 3! Tell me what did you think? Did you like it?
Did anyone guess what story Elie was comparing Musica to. Come on, leader of bandits, green tights, steals from rich, helps poor, maid Marian? Jeez come on people!
The last bit at the end when Haru's group was having share time, The talk of parents and the definition of feminism will all be linked to the next story arc, I didn't want you to think I was just making filler, it's important to the upcoming plot, but you'll have to read to find out what it is exactly.
Now last chapter we played 'guess that tune' and the winner is….Tehsecretador! Whoo Hoo! Everyone give her a round of applause. Or don't, we can't see or hear you. I was a little disappointed by the lack of people who played though. Come on people! I've read my story stats! I know there are more people out there reading! REVIEW!
Next time: A Woman is like a teabag.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE review for me. It'll make me smile!