A/N: Hello, guys, people, friends from all over the world! XD And I mean this world. The one that we're on now! Welcome to CCFA chapter 26! Why am I so happy? I'll tell you why. Because this chapter was silly! Silleh! Yeah, this is a filler-chapter, sure, but it was the most fun I've ever had writing a filler-chapter in my life. XD And the Sayuri flashbacks are back! ^_^ I just love them too much to let them die. And speaking of letting someone die... XD
Addy. Stop it. Sayuri and Isleen are partners, and they have that sisterly bond. XD I hope.
... That is all. XD
Sayuri knows what she wants, and she did not come all this way to fail. With her teammates walking behind her, she eyes the man standing in front of her with his arms in the air. The man looks up towards a statue, smiling from ear to ear. His fingernails are sharp and dirty, which makes her own fingers twitch. Still, she disregards that. There is an anagram on the ground that is lit a bright purple. She looks to her left and sees Jessica laying on a nearby table. Isleen takes two steps forward, her fangs showing.
Isleen's wolf ears twitch in anticipation as she starts to growl. Sayuri puts her hand up behind her and The Summoner of Change seems to calm herself down. The man turns around—his blue eyes wide and his pupils enlarged. He smiles at the group of girls, his hands still suspended in the air. "It is a pleasure for all of you to come today! Come, let us offer our prayers to Agathangelos!" Sayuri stares at him for a moment with determination, not once faltering to his hand movements towards her. "Come, and we shall witness Lord Agathangelos' resurrection together! And together we shall be destroyed so that a new world should emerge!" The whole team is taken aback by those words—all except Sayuri—who takes her stance.
"We aren't here to worship Agathangelos," she says, sternly. "We're here to save our friend!" The man looks at Sayuri, confusion written all over his face.
"Friend?" he says, leaning his head in towards her. "Oh... You must mean the lovely young woman who is of holy blood..." The man looks over to the table, which makes Sayuri tense up.
"You can worship any archfiend you please!" Sayuri says, fire in her eyes. She nods her head to help further indicate her claim. "But only after you've righted your wrongs!" The man looks up at her, confused again. He appears to not know what Sayuri is talking about, but she sees through it. Right now everything is riding on her and the only things she has to hope on is her Summoner's intuition. And right now it is telling her that this man... This man standing in front of her was not in his right mind.
"I must confess," he says, bringing his left hand up to his head. He rubs his temple, shaking his head. The anagram behind him starts to flicker. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Don't play dumb," Leyiko says, stepping up. "We already know how you kidnapped Jessica and planned on using her 'holy blood' to resurrect Agathangelos. We already know that you were spreading around the rumors in order to formant unrest."
"Hmm. But I ask you. Where exactly is the sin in that?" the man cooes, looking right into the Summoner of Fire's robotic eyes. Sayuri grits her teeth.
"Wha?!" Sayuri utters, taking a step forward. The man smiles at her reaction.
"The world is slowly but surely heading on the path of destruction! Our activities merely serve it to help it along to its ultimate destiny. Your friend shall have the honor of becoming that world's cornerstone!" And with every word he says, Sayuri's lower-eye begins to twitch. Everything he says is getting to her. The man tilts his head back, putting his arms in the air. "Why would you... Her friend... Not rejoice in the honor that she has been granted? I do not understand you—"
"Nonsense!!" Sayuri yells. "The destruction of the world? Give me a break! That's not what Jessica wants—"
"My my. You speak foolishness my daughter," the man says, looking towards Jessica once more. "That is exactly what she wants." Sayuri almost falls over when she hears that. She is stuck between standing where she is and rushing towards the man, but she knows that she must not do anything rash. The man looks back at her, appearing to be smiling even harder. "I know it to be true. Yes... I know very well," he says, tilting his head back. Everyone behind Sayuri gasps. "Even if she may not, I know it!"
"Sayuri," Leyiko begins. "What is this creature that stands before us?"
"He's creepy..." Nina says, stepping back. Sayuri does not take her eyes off the man.
"Taking this form... Allowed me to truly understand the appetite of human beings is insatiable! Humans are never satisfied for what they have for very long! They endlessly seek new and exotic pleasures! But the reality of this world is not compatible to supporting such an appetite! It has limits, you know," he says, pausing. Sayuri scowls. He acts like he's telling her something she really needs to know. He puts his hands up towards his mouth. "Thus, you see, I am unsatisfied... Land, glory, money!!! No matter how much I obtain, I have completely exhausted the world's resources of such things! But still I want more, more, more!" He raises his arms higher into the air. "Yes! Even if my mortal body should decay and burn! Now you see just how unstable the human body really is!!" he declares, closing his eyes towards the ceiling. It is then that Sayuri starts to shake.
"You... You bastard!" she says, raising her hand up. "You... You miserable bastard! You'd kill Jessica for something so stupid?!" She balls up her fist, arching a brow. "Everyone who lives on this planet?! Your entire world?!" Her wand appears in her clutched hand as everyone and everything around her starts to glow a bright purple.
"So... This is Sayuri's power?" Isleen says, staring in awe. "The power of time..."
"Such heat..." Leyiko mumbles, looking at everyone else.
"The light!" Nina exclaims, smiling. "It's so pretty!"
"People, it's time!" Sayuri shouts, tensing up. "I may be insignificant, but now I found something that I'm capable of! And I'm going to see it through!" The man only smiles at her outburst. Her wand disappears as she unsheathes her sword. "This world... This world doesn't want this kind of death! We're stopping this resurrection, and we're getting Jessica back!"
"Very well," the man says, his hands still in the air. "For the sake of a new world... I bestow upon thee... The sake of destruction!"
-: Chapter Twenty-Six: Ha, Yeah It Got Pretty Bad :-
I'm begging for your hand, screaming at your face.
Come with me kid we'll leave this place.
I'm all yours because I hate this house
and how sad it makes you in the morning,
that I'm hoping will never come.
I just want to watch this sky and some,
stars, are out I do believe.
And this winter came I think we made it through the freeze.
Someday we'll drive away.
And we'll cut up my face 'cause it's too plain.
You are this!
I swear it's this town I'll never see again.
If I have my way and time, just to sing.
I swear it's this town I will not see.
Ha ha, ha, ha ha, I tricked you again.
— "Laugh Before You Grin" — Lydia
They had a kitchen here! A bright wonderful kitchen with stoves and tables and chairs and silverware and it was everything I imagined a kitchen in a castle to be like! Oh, this was so awesome! I grabbed three spoons and hugged the dear life out of them. The castle was so wonderful and prettyful and delightful and beautiful and—and—"It's heaven!" I said, looking at the ceiling and drooling a little. Only a little bit! Sayuri was standing next to me with her arms crossed, giving me a weird look. I loved Sayuri! I loved her so much that she made me want to spin in place and keep spinning and spinning and spinning~.
"Um, Chio?" Sayuri said, putting her hand out in front of her. "Are you okay?" Yes I was okay! Why wouldn't I be okay? I was so happy right now! Miyuki was in the hallway with Kokoro and they were talking to some of Aysel's people—talking about really important stuff. I didn't know too much about this place, so I wasn't going to put my nose into anything. I exhaled, dropping all of the spoons on the counter.
"I'm..." I said, smelling the smell of the kitchen in Aysel's castle! Squee! "...Fine Sayuri! Honest!" Sayuri took two steps away from me. Ever since that fight Sayuri and Kokoro hadn't looked at me the same way anymore... I wondered what was wrong with them. Oh well, it couldn't be helped! I couldn't stay in one place thinking about what was wrong! I had a whole kitchen to explore in! A whole kitchen! That was twice as much as I had before I walked into the kitchen! I took one last look around—and that was when I saw Lucrecia walk in, just as confused as Sayuri.
"What are you...?" Lucrecia said, pointing at me. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing~!" I chimed, hopping towards the sink. That's when I got a bright idea. "Say, Lucrecia! Come and make cookies with me! Doesn't that sound like a good idea? Making cookies with me? Making cookies at anytime for any reason is always a good idea. Then we can give them to everyone in the castle for working so hard. It'll be awesome, won't it? And I can teach you how to make them!" I paused when I saw her face. For some reason Lucrecia got angrier and angrier with me.
"No I'm not making Goddamn cookies with you!!!" she growled, her mechanical fingers twitching. I jumped back and hid behind Sayuri. She didn't have to be so mean about it! She could have just told me no, y'know? "That's the most fucking childish thing I've ever heard in my life! Do you Summoners have brains or do things in your head never make much sense?!"
"Sayuri!" I mumbled, touching her shoulders with the tips of my fingers. Aww, she could save me from the evil dragon lady! "You're nothing but a meanie!" I said, pointing at her. Lucrecia's frown disappeared and it turned into a rye smile.
"I'm a... Meanie?" she said, amused. "That has a nice ring to it. Maybe I'll go around calling myself 'Lucrecia the meanie'."
"You're nothing but a bully!" I said, pointing a finger at her. She just twisted her nose and started laughing... Like she didn't even care! "A bully dragon lady who goes around destroying things for no apparent reason!" I let go of Sayuri's shoulders and put my left hand on top of my chest. After that, I saluted. "Because in the colors of red, white and blue! Underneath the stars...! We slay dragons!"
"That's America, Chio," Sayuri said, sweatdropping. Oh yeah. That's right. America... Silly me.
"That sounds even better!" Lucrecia said, chuckling evilly to herself. "'Lucrecia the meanie bully dragon lady'. People will fear me even more across the land." She stepped closer towards me and I started shaking. Then she leaned over because she was so much taller than I was... She was like a tower! But now she was looking right at me—agahafah! "Thanks, girl. What was your name again?" she paused, tilting her head with a leer on her face. "Chio?"
"Waaaaah!" I cried, running towards the other side of the kitchen. "She's scary, she's scary, she's scary!" And Lucrecia just cackled, putting her hands on her waist. Her laughter got so out of control that I thought she was going to fall over!
"Har, har," she said, folding her arms. "Yes, I'm so fucking scary, aren't I?" I wasn't going to answer her! Big fat meanie! Lucrecia turned around, facing the giant cabinets with all of the food and things inside. "You want to show me how to make cookies? Ha, you're funny. I like you." I perked up, even though she was mocking me. Laugh-mocking me. Sayuri was standing there, looking at us. I glanced at Lucrecia again and she had a big, scary knife in her mechanical hand! She looked so weird and demonic! I hid behind Sayuri again, shaking.
"Ah, okay Lucrecia, you've got your kicks, could you leave the girl alone?" Sayuri said, sighing. What...? Was Lucrecia doing all of that on purpose...? Lucrecia would never say all those mean things to hurt me, would she? "Yeah, I'm sure you've had your fun. You can stop now Lucrecia because I've watched this for far too long." Sayuri didn't sound like herself! She sounded kind of sad and even Lucrecia knew that. She threw the knife in the air, caught it with precision, and magically the refrigerator behind her opened up. How was she doing that? It was amazing! I stared at the fridge for a while, my jaw dropping from the blue magical mist surrounded the door of it. Was that Lucrecia? I wanted her to teach me how to do that! But I knew that was something only people from her world could do.
"Sayuri?" I said, turning around. "There's something I have to tell you."
Sayuri shook her head for a moment, turning around. "Yeah. Sure. What is it that you need, Chio?" Yeah, she didn't sound like herself all of a sudden. What was wrong with her? Something was up—and I was sure Kokoro could get it out of her! But I needed to tell Sayuri something really important! Something that I had forgot to tell Morta, Kokoro, and Miyuki when I was staying with them! I put an index finger in the air and blinked.
"I... I don't know what world I come from."
"WHAT?!" Sayuri said, her jaw dropping. She started poking me for no reason, narrowing her eyes at me. "What do you mean you don't know what world you come from, Chio?! You come from Japan, right? That's what your name would suggest! And you knew what America was, which would suggest you came from where Morta, Kokoro and I came from! You're from Earth, born and bred! Don't say anything like that ever again! You are with us. You're one of us." My lower lip started to quiver.
"To tell you the truth, Sayuri... I—I only knew what America and Japan were—because I wanted to be just like you all. There are thousands of books on where you all come from on my home planet. I—I guess you can say when I learned that you guys were all from Earth I didn't want to be the odd one out. I wanted to be just like you guys so I lied a little." I was really sorry for lying to Sayuri. I didn't think telling her I wasn't from Earth was a good idea anyway; it just made her frown some more. Lucrecia was minding her own business for the first time, chopping up the cookie dough in front of her. Wow, she had such a way with chopping things. She must have been really dedicated. She must have loved cooking more than I did. "So will you... Will you help me find my home world? And my parents? I don't know what happened to them—all I remember was that I was cold. I was lost, and I couldn't wake up. Things were touching me all over and I didn't know what to do... And then you all saved me!"
"Tch," Sayuri said, holding her right arm with her left hand. "There are a lot of worlds out there, Chio. You think I can find your world out of them all? I can barely find myself in this world. It's all... Too hard and too much for me, okay? Let's focus on what we need to do here, and then as time goes by, we might find your parents and where you come from, okay?" Even if Sayuri wasn't smiling, she sure made my day just by saying she was going to help me. I nodded my head, holding my hands behind my back. Sayuri didn't know this but... I really looked up to her, Kokoro, Morta, and Miyuki. They all went around helping other people who needed their help! And they didn't want anything else back in return! They were all so brave! And just being able to come with them—we could all be brave together!
But there was something about Sayuri that made me a little sad. Just the way her eyelids started to droop down made me feel kinda sad... I took two steps around Sayuri and walked towards Lucrecia. "You really know how to handle a knife, Lucrecia! How long have you been cooking for?" She glanced at me from her right eye—snarling almost. I tried to hold in the 'meep' I wanted to let out! I didn't understand! What was Lucrecia mad at me for this time? I didn't yell at her or look at her the wrong way! I just asked her a question! She picked up the knife and swayed her arm across the air. She wasn't even paying attention to how she was holding it! She was just—the knife was just—she was ignoring the fact that she was holding a knife! That was so dangerous!
"How long have I been cooking?! I've been fucking cooking for as long as I can remember!" she yelled, stabbing the counter. I jumped, holding my breath in. I think she would have gotten mad if I even decided to breathe in her presence! "I like to cook! You can think of it as a hobby! But you know what I love to do more than cook?" She paused, looking at me. I—I don't know... Was she asking me a question? I had no clue! "Well, are you going to answer me?! Even if you don't know the answer to my question, you should at least try to make some shit up and at least sound intelligent, Chio."
"Um..." I said, poking my two index fingers together. "Flying kites?" Lucrecia seemed like a kite person so me! And the weather outside was nice for kite flying. I hope I was right... But I didn't know anything about Lucrecia! How could she have expected me to know something about her?
"Right," Lucrecia cooed sarcastically, stabbing the counter even more-so. "I like kite flying. Get your head out of the fucking clouds; do I look like a teenager to you?! I don't fuck with nature and all of that stupid shit. I don't get my precision by cutting up cookie dough and putting it in an oven."
"Really?" I said, my eyes twinkling. She must have had a secret technique! I had been cooking ever since I was little! If she taught me everything she knew, I would be a professional in no time flat! "What is your secret then, Lucrecia?" Before she answered me, she let out a laugh before positioning all the slices of circular cookie-dough on the cookie sheet. She wiped her lips with her flesh-hand—I don't know why she did that—and stuck her knife into the counter. Then she left it there, I guess.
"I kill people!"
"You... You what?!" I shrieked. There was that look in her eye again... The same look that I had ran away from earlier! Where was Sayuri?
"I'm going to bed..." Sayuri said, zombie like. She was hunched over, her arms dangling to her sides. She looked like she wanted to cry.
"Sa-ayuri!" I called, holding both of my hands. "Where are you going?"
"No one cares about me..." Sayuri mumbled once more. I cared about her! More than she would ever know! I cared a lot about her, so she couldn't just leave me here with Lucrecia! If she left, I would have no where to go! "I'm a failure. A pathetic failure that shouldn't even be called your leader. Just let me die." Why was she acting like that? It didn't matter anyway because she had walked out of the kitchen and I couldn't see her anymore... After Sayuri disappeared, I turned back around to see Lucrecia smirking at me. Waaah~ Sayuri, come back!
"I kill people! How much more can I break that down? You know, you can't depose of a body as it is—you have to chop it into a million itty-bitty pieces. Per se... If you ended up dying today, Chio, I would have to cut every part of you up. Doesn't that sound like fun?" I thought I was going to have a heart attack! I—I didn't want to die! I wanted to live and find out what was wrong with Sayuri! I crashed down on the ground and made sure my skirt didn't float up as I did it. I wish Lucrecia would stop being so scary! When she wasn't scary, she was a meanie, and when she was scary, she wasn't a meanie! I—I couldn't make friends with her even if I tried to!
"You monster!" I shrieked, crying a little.
"What? How can I be called a monster if it's what I get paid to do—hahahahaa!"
"They... They pay you to do that?!" I tried to hide behind my hands, backing up into a wall. Lucrecia nodded her head, throwing the cookies into the oven. She slammed the door really, really hard with her mechanical arm. What monster would pay another monster to chop up other people's body?! What did they deserve to have their body chopped up like that? Did Lucrecia have no feelings? Did they at least give those people proper funerals? That was insane! No one should have their body messed up like that after they die...
"Of course they pay me to do it. Why else would I do it?"
Maybe I was thinking about it too much. All that mattered was that she was getting paid to do her job and that she was doing it, right! I'm sure she was doing it for a greater good! This was Lucrecia I was talking about! She helped us with Cecelia! There had to be some good inside of her, right? "Do you... Do you like your job then, Lucrecia?" I wiped my tears away, standing up. She snorted, taking three steps towards the door. I bet her feet hurt walking around in those heels of hers. Ouch. I couldn't image walking and fighting in those things! She must have been really strong!
"Do I like my job? I love my fucking job—and I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world!!! And I wouldn't give it up for the any amount of money! Without this job... I don't think I would have a reason to live anymore, got it?!" Yes, I got it! I nodded my head. "Why don't you run off and go play while these cookies cook or some shit like that? I don't have much of a sweet tooth anyway." Why? She didn't like eating sweets or something?
"Don't you like cake and ice cream or things like that?"
"Nah, all of that shit is what little kids are into—I like bitter tasting things."
"Bitter things, like tea?" I asked, walking towards the door. Tea was okay in my books. It was something that you could drink and you would never get bored of it! And tea could sooth someone's soul. Ah, on my planet, I used to love tea a lot. It always made me feel good. Lucrecia cocked a brow, her smirk fading into her trademark leer.
"No, like blood, for instance. It's red, and it's bitter, and it tastes fucking awesome." That was... That was weird. I decided that I shouldn't mess with Lucrecia anymore so I walked into the hallway. Well, I didn't walk into the hallway. I kind of ran into the hallway because Lucrecia was weirding me out. I still liked her anyway. Anyone who was a friend of Sayuri was a friend of mine! And oh look! Kokoro and Miyuki were talking with Renata. Renata was beautiful! And she was a princess! She was a beautiful princess! I had never seen anyone else like her. She had snow white, radiant skin and her hair was long and golden... Her eyes shined whenever she stood in the light and her smile was big and white. Her voice sounded so sweet—like she could call thousands of animals to help her on all of her travels!
And she was nice! The total opposite of Lucrecia!
I almost thought she was an angel when I had met her! I stepped towards Princess Renata, clapping my hand together and smiling. Kokoro looked towards me and nodded his head. "Hi, Chio! You were just with Sayuri, weren't you? Where is she at anyway? I haven't seen her since we got back from fighting Cecelia! I just wanted to tell you that what you did out there was brave and the whole team appreciates every second you spent fighting along side us!" Aww, that was so sweet of him!
"Thank you, Kokoro!" I said with a smile on my face. Renata looked towards me, smiling just like I was.
"And you must be the Summoner that called Shiva down to our land, yes?" Renata said. I nodded my head. That was me all right! And I never knew I had that much power inside of me! I wasn't fully conscious, but I had called Shiva down here for a really long time! Longer than I could even think about!
"Yes, yes that's me! I'm so sorry Princess Renata for causing everything on your land to get all frozen! I was asleep and didn't know what I was doing, you see? So could you forgive me? At least this once?" Renata poked my nose, smiling.
"Of course you did not cause any trouble. You are actually welcome to stay as long as you want in my castle. You are a dear friend to me now; I could never think of staying angry at a person who risked their life to save me. You do not have to call me Princess Renata either. Renata would easily do." I was right. She was an angel, wasn't she? She was nice and pretty... And she was a princess! A person like her should have had wings to take off and fly with... "Miyuki, your Summoners are one-of-a-kind! Whenever I meet a new one, my emotions get tangled up inside of me and I can't contain my excitement!" Miyuki nodded her head, shuffling her deck of cards.
"Well, they do follow after their Guardian's example. But we need to talk about what we were chatting about before Chio came. I understand you need help. And we are ultimately here to grant help to anyone who needs it." See, what did I tell you? They were all great people! "Renata, please, you can tell us anything. The person who attacked you in the church... We think it may be the same person who controls Cecelia. As is—Cecelia is a robot like Lucrecia said. Robots are given orders that they follow. At least on my planet, Spectra, they are. Though they may not be beasts, they are easily controlled by words that should hold no power over them. If you remember something—anything about the person that hurt you, we could apprehend the person who dared to attack you and bring Cecelia to justice as well." Renata's smile disappeared and she looked like Sayuri did just a second ago. What was wrong with everyone being all sad today? The only happy people I saw today were Kokoro and Lucrecia...
"Guardian Miyuki, I—"
"No need for formalities," Miyuki said, her pink eyes moving towards Renata in an instant. Miyuki was really short—but who was I to complain? I was only a couple of inches taller than her! I was 5'2", so she must have been 4'9"! Renata's breath caught and her eyes softened.
"I am sorry, Miyuki, but I cannot allow you to know the name of my attacker."
"So you know who attacked you?!" Kokoro exclaimed. Miyuki grabbed the back of his shirt with her tail and pulled him down to the ground. Wow, did Miyuki just do that? Kokoro rubbed his head, looking up at her.
"Ouch... Why did you do that?! You're just as bad as Sayuri!" he said, standing back up. Maybe Miyuki didn't want everyone in the castle knowing about our conversation. I felt like a spy... Like I didn't belong here. But it was exciting and interesting to be a part of something no one wanted floating around the castle. And it was a big castle, by the way! This wasn't the average castle you read in books! It had a lot of windows and a lot of rooms! You could easily get lost in Aysel's castle and that's what I really liked about it! How did she build this thing? It was amazing...
"It is okay, Miyuki. You can let as many people know as you like," Renata said solemnly. "I just refuse to give my attacker's name out. It would only evolve into more violence around this kingdom, and that is the last thing I need. You three are not a part of my world... I do not want you all dying here—as it is not where you came from. I do not know what would happen if blood from another world was spilled here. The man I fought... Said I reminded him of someone." She paused, looking down at her hands. "The way I fought reminded him of someone. But I do not know how to put the pieces together! That could mean anything... I wish I could figure all of these things out myself. I wish I did not have to use you all..."
"You're not using us at all, Renata!" I said, smiling. "The only way you could make us sad is if you don't let us help you at all! We're Summoners! We are use to battling the impossible! I say you let us know who this person is so we can teach him a lesson! If you don't tell us who he is, he'll only go around and hurt more people! Please, you have to trust us!" I paused, gulping. I didn't want to look weak in front of Miyuki and Kokoro. "When I met these guys, I wasn't afraid of them. And I should have been because I woke up in another world. But I learned that they saved me, and..." A tear rolled down my cheek, but I couldn't stop smiling. I wasn't sad! How could I have been sad? "And now I get to journey with them! It's like a dream come true! You can trust them, just like I trusted them!"
"Well said, Summoner of Convene," Miyuki said, nodding her head. Miyuki complimented me! That made my day. Renata looked at me and started to smile.
"It is complicated," she said, pausing between her words. "Before I tell you guys about the man that attacked me, I should be able to tell my guard. I do not know what it is that makes me trust them more than I trust you all... Just give me more time. I am not ready to tell you all such things." What did she mean she wasn't ready to tell us such things?! Renata was toying with my emotions! I extended my hand, my staff appearing in my hand. Kokoro looked at me like I was insane, but I knew what I was doing! Everything would go according to plan... Just like the villains in the books! Except... Except I would not fail and I would not let anyone down! I pointed my staff at Renata and she jumped almost.
"Chio... You shouldn't kid around like that!" Kokoro said, grabbing my staff and stepping in front of me. "You could really hurt someone like that! You have to be careful with what you point your staff at! You could even hurt yourself if you're not careful!" I didn't care about what Kokoro had to say! His smile meant nothing to me! Miyuki took another long look at me. She even stepped right up close to my face! I could smell the scent of cat litter falling from her stale-smelling breath! I didn't like cats and she was a prime example of why I couldn't stand them! All cats smelled really bad and they needed to be locked up in a jail cell.
"Chio, is there something wrong?" Miyuki asked.
"Get out of my face, you stupid, silly cat!" I hissed, pushing her out the way. "Renata, when you want to talk about something real and meaningful, you can hit up my line, mm'kay? You shouldn't work with these pansies; they're doing it all wrong! How do they expect to get something out of someone without using force! Smashing their faces in, you know? Jesus, have you guys ever heard of an interrogation? Rough up the princess! Apparently she likes it rough because she'll just let a random guy leave her in the bottom of a church on the floor, twitching in agony and despair—!" I didn't even get a chance to finish my sentence! I heard those annoying footsteps again... No! It was more like heels beating against the floor! I looked up and it was that woman Lucrecia! What the heck did she want? I was in the middle of telling a very good story!
Renata looked absolutely mortified! Like she was about to cry. Aww. "You want to cry, Princess Renata? Wah, wah, wah! Start crying then, you're wasting our time!"
"What's wrong with you, Chio?!" Kokoro growled, looking at me like he was going to do something.
"Hit me!" I challenged, jumping in his face. "Hit me with everything you've got and see if I don't tear your face off!" He stepped back like I knew he would! Everyone in this castle were a bunch of pansies! Except Kokoro. He was a man-pansy! I could even picture a skirt on him! But you had to admit... He looked great in a skirt! At least... The one I was picturing him wearing! Lucrecia stepped in between all of us like we had invited her to join the party! She was always being stupid. Who told her to ruin our fun?
"Chio, you're being really mean and there's no reason why you should say such harsh things to Renata..." Lucrecia said, her lip quivering. Renata stood there, dumbfounded. Kokoro seemed just as confused as Renata was and they both turned around to face her. Miyuki kept a straight face. Ha! That was my Guardian for you. A stuck-up snob that thought she knew everything! I didn't understand why Kokoro, Morta, and Sayuri liked her so much! I hated that stupid cat... "Renata, you don't have to listen to the foul things that come out of her mouth. You're a princess and you should be treated as such. I must say Chio, I'm disappointed in you. Didn't we just have a conversation about this in the kitchen?"
"I call bullshit!" I exclaimed, pointing a finger at her. "I was in the kitchen reading my stories! I asked you for new books but you wouldn't give them to me! You are just as bad as Renata here!" I felt fire swirling up inside of me! I had to state my opinion! I was being oppressed around here, what was up with that? "Just because I'm new doesn't mean you all can treat me like crap!" I stomped my foot on the ground, my earrings dangling! Hey, why did I even by earrings? They were nothing but annoying trinkets that irritated the living hell out of me! I wanted to rip them out of my ears but I had payed so much money for them. I needed to wear those earrings because I couldn't get my money back. Damn... "You denied me of my rights and started making stupid cookies! Who makes cookies anymore, Lucrecia?! Are we five now? And where the hell did you hide Sayuri?!"
"You hid Sayuri?!" Kokoro said, looking at Lucrecia. Ha! Look at him, not knowing where to look! He was so stupid! Betcha I could turn his mind inside out in an instant! You want to know why? Because he didn't have one! Lucrecia put her hands out, shaking them. Tears were forming inside her of eyes. Oopse! I'm sorry, her eye! Because Lucrecia only had one eye! Ha, I bet she was miserable!
"I can read minds!" Lucrecia said, almost close to tears. Her knees buckled but she managed to stand. Ha! She could read minds? So I bet she could hear what I was saying right now! But thinking of bad things to say about her wouldn't be too much fun. I needed to plan all of this stuff out. And besides, saying that she sucked in her face was much more better than thinking about it! "You shouldn't make fun of my eye, that's not very nice! I only have one! And I didn't hide Sayuri!"
"Urgh, God," I said, wiping my forehead. "I wish I only had one eye. So I couldn't see your ugly-ass..."
"Chio! You aren't acting cool!" Kokoro exclaimed. What was he going to do? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Because Kokoro was a scary-ass!
"You did hide Sayuri!" I shot, scoffing at her. I folded my arms. "You know, you aren't very funny. Your jokes suck too, Lucrecia! I tried to read but she kept telling joke after joke... You guys know how annoying that is? And then she kidnapped Sayuri! Anyone know where the hell she is? I think not! Because Lucrecia ate her!"
"Ate... Her?" Renata said. After that, Renata's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell out. BAM! Just like a gunshot! Why she fell out like that was beyond me! I liked Renata. Heh. Funny she decided to fall out on the ground like she did. Oh well! It wasn't anything that could be helped. Lucrecia was such a scary-ass. She flinched really hard at the sound of Renata falling on the ground. She tried to pick her up all by herself, but she was too weak. Lucrecia couldn't do anything right! She looked towards Kokoro and Miyuki—thinking that they could do something to help her! They were weak too!
If it was up to me, I would have created my own team full of the best evil villains in all the lands! That way—that way nothing could stand in my way! Not even useless sacks of life like Lucrecia! Kokoro walked up to Lucrecia, helping her hold Renata's bod up. "Something's... Definitely up with Chio..." he said to Miyuki. Miyuki nodded her head wordlessly. My God, do you know how annoying that is? It really got on my nerves. Lucrecia didn't even say anything! She just dropped Renata's whole body all together and put her hands up to her mouth.
"The cookies! My cookies! They're going to burn!!" And then she ran to the kitchen all distraught! I hope she fell over! Kokoro gave me the evil eye, looking at me all weird.
"What has gotten... Into you?!" he said as he tried to pick up her body alone. I chuckled at him. Nothing had gotten into me. At least I didn't think so... I started poking my skin. Nope! I was still Chio on the inside and on the outside! I was still me all over the world! "Chio, you better not be for real about all of this stuff! You're not acting like yourself at all!"
"Maybe it's you who should toughen up!" I shot back. "You're supposed to be a man! Why don't you carry yourself like one!? Better yet, why don't you carry Renata like you're a man so you can stop struggling! It's ridiculous! You're the most... un-guy I've ever met in my life! No wonder Sayuri doesn't like you—nobody could like you because you're so weak! You should be put in jail you're so weak!" Poor Kokoro! He only got madder and madder with every word that came out of my mouth! But he wasn't going to do anything because I knew his one pure weakness! He couldn't fight girls! But he should have made an exception with me! Because I was going to make his world spin in a minute!
"What are you talking about Chio?! I'm trying as hard as I can! And everyone likes me!"
"What, are you going to pull the whole, 'everyone likes me, for I am Queen Aysel!' stunt? Nicely done, Kokoro. For the Summoner of Fire, I thought you would at least have some originality to you! Sucks to know you're a part of the crowd, doesn't it? You might as well go kill yourself now!" I meant every word I said and it was really getting to him. "Everyone knows that you just suck and life and suck as a person! You can't even get Sayuri to like you, and that's why she left without telling anybody! She didn't want to look at your sorry-self crying and whining about how she left!"
"Miyuki! Do something about her, please?!" Kokoro complained, groaning.
"This is not for me to get myself involved in," Miyuki said, folding her arms. "You are a Summoner, after all. I don't know what's wrong with Chio—maybe this is just another one of those human phases she's going through. What is it called? A mid-life crisis? Celestial Beings don't have those. I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you."
"She's... About our age, Miyuki!" Kokoro said, struggling to hold up Renata's body. All of a sudden, I heard those heels again—the same ones that scratched the floor before. It was Lucrecia again, and this time she had two handfuls of cookies. Then she did the weirdest thing!
She started fanning Renata with them.
"Don't worry guys! She'll wake up! Princess Renata can't resist the smell of cookies!"
"Or maybe she can't resist the smell of how horrible your cookies are," I snorted, folding my arms. For a second, Lucrecia stopped fanning Renata with the cookies all together. She stood up straight, looked at me, and I honestly thought she was going to fight me! Oh oh. I couldn't fight Lucrecia! I was prepared to run for my life! Even though she was a sissy, I couldn't afford to get my hair tangled up! It takes a whole lot of my time and effort to get it this straight. Oh... And my... My nails! I couldn't break them! Heck, I just couldn't hurt anything else on my body! My body was a temple and I couldn't have it being thrashed around!
"You... You..." Lucrecia mumbled, growling almost. Oh hell! I really messed up this time! I messed up! I—I had to think of something! I couldn't just not do anything and have her beat me up in front of all these people! And then they would just think I was really weak!
"And besides!" I snorted indigently. "I just wanted to read something! Get the hell out of here with your cookies! Since when do they wake someone up?!" I folded my arms, scoffing. Lucrecia's gaze fell to the floor and I could tell I really hurt her feelings. She was going to cry! Yes, Lucrecia was going to break down and cry! I had been looking forward to this moment for such a long time I could hardly contain myself! But the best part about all of this was that I wouldn't get beat up! I was going to say something else but this book—this book just floated right in front of me... Right over my head. I didn't know what else to do, so I just grabbed it.
It was a really weird book—I couldn't read the title!
So I turned it around! There we go! I always seemed to read best when I turned to book upside down! That was the best way to read, you know! There was a man behind me who looked really stupid, but he stepped next to me, almost hitting me in the face with that stupid hat he was wearing! I sputtered, feeling things just sit on my tongue. What if it was a piece of hair?! That was my worst nightmare! Getting someone's hair on my tongue! That was the most nastiest thing that could ever happen to me!!! I started sputtering even more until I was sure I had gotten everything off my tongue.
But still I wasn't convinced!
I held my tongue out, glaring at everyone in front of me. "Wwht bluuu ya bink yaur bluin'?!" I said, holding my tongue. I looked back at the book and scoffed "Blee Blawas ov bay Tinous?" What kind of book was that?! Where were the fairy-tales?! The Sherlock Holmes? The Dragon Tails?! Waaaah~ I didn't want to read this! I blinked. Whoa, was that just me? Of course it wasn't! I had to pay attention to what I was doing! Phew, I could have lost a eye or something like that!
"Oh poor you, Doctor," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. Then he looked at Renata. "Interesting turn of events here... May I ask what happened?" Miyuki glanced at the guy, shaking her head. He then looked back at Lucrecia, amused almost. "Why do you look like you want to cry, Doctor? Why, I have never seen you so sad!" I kept turning the book over and over, trying to figure out what was wrong with it! Why couldn't I read it right? All of the words were in another language! That book sucked! It sucked for no reason at all and it kinda smelled funny! It smelled like wine! I didn't even like wine!!
"You must be in Aysel's guard!" Kokoro said, sighing. "Do you have any idea what's wrong with Chio? She's standing right behind you! Something's up with her and Lucrecia! They're acting... Really weird! Like they're copying each other—except it's more like Lucrecia is exaggerating Chio and Chio's a more 'calmer' Lucrecia. Renata fell out and... We need your help to figure all of this stuff out!" The guy kinda stood there for a second. Stupid! He needed to make a choice! What was he going to do! Was he just going to sit here, or was he going to do something about all of this!
I felt fine, but apparently the little lame in front of me didn't think so!
"Ah, my apologies," the guy said, tipping off his hat or whatever. This wasn't the damn medieval times. Or maybe it was. How the hell should I have known?! "My name is Zed. And correct, I am a part of Aysel's guard. Unfortunately, I do not excel in the field of fighting. Perhaps there is an Essence among you? That is what it seems like—there is no other explanation I can give you. Sad." Essence?
"What the heck is an Essence?!" I shouted, throwing the book at the wall. It almost hit Lucrecia—but she was so busy crying that she didn't even notice! Did I insult her that bad? Ha! She should have learned how to suck it up! Nothing in life was nice! At least, not to her! She was a waste of human life!
"An Essence?" Miyuki inquired. "You know what... You're right. An Essence could be doing something like this. But which one? This is the problem with Essences—a slew of them could be causing what is happening to these two. The personality Essence, the florescence Essence... I have no idea what could be doing this to them. But an Essence causing this hits the hammer on the head..." Again! What the heck was an Essence! I should know everything there is to know!
"Why isn't anyone listening to me?!" I growled, stomping my foot on the ground! "All you guys ever do is pay attention to Lucrecia! I've been here working my ass off and no one notices me! Instead you all are worried about her crying! Pay attention to me! Lucrecia is nothing! And her cookies suck! And they aren't even tasty!" Ha! That showed them! Lucrecia's cookies slipped out of her hands one by one... Until she only had about six left in her hand. "Wow, you have big hands for someone who calls themselves a girl!" I snorted. "Oh wait... One of your hands isn't even real! That explains it, at least a little bit! Sucks for you and your big hands, though!" That would teach her to mess with me! Lucrecia gave me one look before she buried her face into the sleeve of her lab coat. "Ha, look at you! You wear a big, dumb, stupid handkerchief!!"
"It's not a handkerchief!" Lucrecia sobbed, wiping her eyes. "It's a lab coat!!"
"Handkerchief!"
"Lab coat!"
"Handkerchief!"
"Lab coat!"
"Handkerchief!" I said one last time, smirking. "And your mother's an idiot!" Now Lucrecia was just crying! She didn't have anything else to say to me! She had lost this fight after all! Kokoro grabbed his face and looked confused at us.
"I don't know what life is anymore..." He muttered, sinking down to his knees. "Where the hell are Sayuri and Morta? They would help me out here..." Sayuri and Morta couldn't do anything to stop me!! What were they?! Girls?! So what! The only thing a girl could do better than Kokoro was actually fight me! "Chio, stop it! You're embarrassing us, as much as I don't want to say it!" I was embarrassing who? So Kokoro was three people now? Miyuki seemed just fine with everything I was doing! Kokoro was just weak! I quirked my nose.
"Someone get that girl to just SHUT. UP!!!" I yelled, pointing at Lucrecia. Yeah, her! I was getting tired of hearing her voice and listening to her cry over absolutely nothing! She was just so annoying! I wished she would end her life and just die! Zed walked up to her, stopping right in front of her and waving his hand in her face.
"Hello Doctor, are you still there?"
She was such a wreck that I don't think she could even form words! Ha! How pathetic could one person be? She looked up at him slowly and cried even harder. "Chio... Said... My cookies were horrible!" Oh wow. Yeah, I said her cookies were horrible! What was he going to do about it? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
"Doctor, do not mind me, but maybe your cookies are horrible," he smirked, standing like he had just solved life's greatest mystery. All of these people made me laugh! They were all so funny! So very funny! Who did they thing they were? Lucrecia dropped two more of her cookies, her legs shaking. She extended both of her arms out, bowing her head.
"Here! Here! They're not bad! You can't say they're bad until you try it!" I think the sad part was that she was really serious about giving Zed her cookie. I turned around and something ran past me REALLY fast! It looked like a purple blur.
"GAH!!! SOMEONE HELP ME! FOR GODSAKE'S SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"
"Sayuri!" Kokoro said, perking up. He looked behind him and Sayuri was backed into the kitchen's door, trying to turn the knob. Sayuri glanced at all of us, not even worried about what was happening. Her heart was beating out of her chest! I could see it! "Sayuri, what's the matter? We could use your—"
"Holy crap it's still chasing after me!! EVERYONE GET THE HECK AWAY!!" Sayuri clumsily twisted the knob and almost fell trying to run into the kitchen. Wow... Sayuri looked really afraid. She looked terrified! What was it that she was running from? Curious, I turned around and Aysel was running after her! She was making all kinds of kissy-faces, trying to hug Sayuri.
"You are so cute~" Aysel said, chasing after her. Sayuri looked like she wanted to hang on for dear life! Her eyes were really dilated and she fell on the ground, mortified.
"No no no no no no no no no no no no!!!" Sayuri said, backing up. "Holy crap someone save me! What did I do to deserve this?! All I wanted to do was sleep and be by myself and then this happens?!" Sayuri—in a frenzied panic—grabbed her wand with both of her hands, trying to fend off Queen Aysel. "I don't deserve this! No one deserves this!" Aysel kept smiling at Sayuri, aiming to hug her.
"You know what you did~" Aysel said, taking another step towards Sayuri. Sayuri frowns and tries to move away. Oh dear...
"No!"
"You saved my kingdom, I have to thank you!" Aysel batted her eyelashes, cupping Sayuri's head and pressing it against her chest. She almost had her! Sayuri looked out of the corner of her eyes, terrified of how close her face and Aysel's lips were.
"No, no, no, no, no!!!" Sayuri exclaimed as Aysel got closer. "Rape, rape, rape!! Someone save me!" Sayuri gripped her wand and it started glowing. She narrowed her eyes, and that's when I knew she had a plan! "So there's an Essence causing this stuff to happen to Aysel?! Why didn't anyone tell me that! Miyuki, what do I do?!" She tried to break herself free from Aysel's grip. Miyuki? Miyuki was here? Since when did Miyuki get here...? Where was I...? I looked around, curious, and I saw all of Lucrecia and I's cookies on the ground. I put my finger on my chin, trying to remember what happened.
"What... When... How..." I said, blinking. I saw Kokoro holding Renata—and then I looked up and I—I didn't even get a chance to speak because Lucrecia—out of the blue—she was holding out a cookie and then smashed it in the guy standing in front of her face. She looked really angry—angrier than I had seen her!!
"What the fuck is going on?!" She growled, taking a step forward. Miyuki kept paying attention to Sayuri.
"It's not a very wild Essence, but now I think I know which one it is, judging by the color your wand is giving off!" Miyuki said, standing up straight nonchalantly. "This is the yin Essence—the companion to the yang Essence. The one inside Aysel—which I'm judging was just infesting Lucrecia, is the yin Essence. This Essence, once collected, allows the wielder to see the good in the most evilest person. And if used as an offense, it can do what it's doing to Aysel if it's strong enough."
"I didn't ask for a definition!!" Sayuri said, worried about how close Aysel was to victory. I was still so confused! What was I doing? "Tell me how to get this thing off me!" While Sayuri was saying that, she broke free from Aysel and scampered to the other side of the room. "All right, I'm going to give this all I've got! Freeze!" Sayuri shouted, unkempt hair and all. She pointing her wand at Aysel and a really bright light shined from her—it was so magical—Aysel was glowing white... Even her eyes were glowing white! I stared at the light for a while before it went into Sayuri's wand. Aysel fell down on her butt, looking cross at everyone.
"Why am I, Queen Aysel, here of all places?!" Yep, Aysel was back to normal! Sayuri gritted her teeth, walking past her.
"You! ...You stay away from me!" Sayuri shouted, pointing at Aysel. Then she looked at Miyuki. "Ah, Miyuki. Wonderful, refusing-to-help-me-Guardian," she spat sarcastically. She even bowed down to her. "Won't you show me where the hell the other Essence is? Kokoro said you guys needed my help, so that must be the yang Essence is somewhere... Around... Here..." Sayuri dropped her wand down to her side. I looked behind me and Morta was standing there—her scythe in both of her hands. But now she looked scary. I thought Lucrecia looked scary but Morta looked really scary! I jumped, hiding behind Miyuki. Sayuri scowled, biting her lip. "And now the roaring flashbacks are all rushing back to me." She waved her wand to her side, looking at Morta. It was like a face-off now! They looked so cool!
"Thank you for capturing my annoying sister!" Morta hissed, grinning wildly. "She was a pain in the ass! Always thinking just because she comes first that she's number one all the time! No one likes a crybaby! And I'm going to take down this whole entire castle with this scythe just because I can! That'll teach her to learn that good doesn't do anything over evil, don't you think Summoner Sayuri?" What happened to Morta? She didn't sound like herself!
"Spare me the dramatics," Sayuri shot, pointing her wand at Morta. "All it takes is one word and you're gone. So you can get out of Morta now, or I can force you out. You've caused enough problems around here—you and your sister. You're both just as bad! Dammit, I was sleeping until I was rudely interrupted!"
Morta lifted a brow at Sayuri, putting her scythe at her side. "I—I didn't mean to make you mad, Summoner Sayuri! I just... Thought it would be cool to be a human for once! Don't hurt me!"
"Then walk!"
"Aww, okay..."
The same thing that happened with Queen Aysel happened to Morta, and then she fell on the ground too... And then we all looked at each other. Kokoro stood up, trying to hold up Renata the best that he could. "I err—I'm going to go make sure Renata gets some sleep." He started walking down the hallway, walking right past us... Morta looked really confused too, like she didn't know how she got there. I think what everyone needed was to just walk away and think about what just happened. Or... We could have all just forgotten about the whole thing... Lucrecia dusted herself off and walked behind him.
"Obviously the bastard doesn't know where the hell he's going," she spat, glaring at the back of his head and she followed him. Sayuri stepped out of the kitchen, lowering her head down in shame again. Her wand disappeared and she slowly walked the way she came.
"No one cares about me... I'll just go sleep my sorrow away..." she said in that zombie like voice. "So... Tired..." Miyuki stepped next to me, watching Sayuri from afar.
"There's something wrong with that girl," Miyuki said, walking in front of me.
"Wait, Miyuki! What are we going to do now?!" I asked, reaching out towards her. The man behind me just picked up his book and walked the in the opposite direction of the others. Actually, I think he was checking to see if Queen Aysel was okay. But Aysel stood up like she had so much energy... It was kind of weird... Like she had just eaten something really sweet. That's when I turned around, pointing at her. "Q-Queen Aysel!!!" I shrieked, making Miyuki stop. "Did you just eat that cookie from off the ground?!"
"It was on the floor?! N-Nonsense!" Aysel said triumphantly, getting the wrinkles out of her dress. "You do not know what you are saying, Summoner. My head is hurting... Da—Zed! Pave the way for me so I do not step on anymore of these... Cookies that are on the floor! Yes, that is right!"
"Of course, Mistress." And then they just... Disappeared. I turned around and looked at Miyuki.
"We wait," Miyuki answered, looking into the hall. "Another day marks another adventure and learning something new. Go on and do whatever you feel is necessary, Chio. I'll be watching over Sayuri, making sure she doesn't do anything stupid."
I guess Morta went to follow Miyuki. "Sounds like a plan. I'm going to need someone to fill me in on what just happened."
I bounced up. "I can do anything? Okay! I think I'll go make cookies!" And I ran to the kitchen again.
A/N: So let's talk about this little number! I wrote this because I was writing the Cecelia fight whatever or however long ago it was... And I was just thinking to myself... Where the hell is Sayuri's abilities?! XD Turns out, after that Shiva fight I must have forgotten about the Essences. Great job, readers, for making me forget all about them! This is the problem with CCFA: there's way too many things to remember. So I wanted to give Sayuri two new powers and I wanted to write people all OOC and stuff--if even for a second.
At first I was going to have the ink Essence come, but that was too boring. So I came up with the yin and yang Essences! :D
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. XD I think Aysel made my day though... She made my day the most. And so did Chio. XD Clap for the stars of this chapter. And if Sayuri doesn't pick up her face, I'll scream. =_=
Stop emoing, Summoner of Time~ D: XD;;;
You're making it hard to write you! XD So yes, we'll get back on track next chapter.