Crystal Magicians
By: Anime's Angels
Part Eighteen
She... knew him. She KNEW him. Before Cat had even introduced him, Cherri
had recognized
this man.
Heero Yuy.
He was different, his eyes were colder than most and he looked like the word
'comb' wasn't in his
vocabulary.
Then Ariel had dashed in, claiming that she had fallen asleep not once, but
twice in the woods.
The coms were back, but the two weeks they were out... the Queits had taken
over most of the
back of the solar system.
Saff had told her. And Opal. They were who should have dealt with Morkela
before it got out of
hand. But, she cared about her allies...Opal could come back soon, if she
could reach her
maximum power.
Looking at the stranger again, she was surprised to find him starring at
her. It was... unnerving.
And the fact that if Ryo caught him... it was true that Heero was the
perfect solider, but she had
seen Ryo in action... and she doubted Mr. Yuy would have a big chance of
survival if Ryo took it
the wrong way.
"So, how's your wife? Er... girlfriend, you won't get married... oops...."
Cherri realized, stopping
before she could mess up the time continuum too much, though thinking, *Why
bother, I'm here
now, so it's basically screwed anyways.*
No answer.
"Figures" she replied. "I never got what Relena saw in you anyway. If coms
are back, why can't
we leave? I've got a friend who may die, and I KNOW our signal here isn't
enough to stop her."
Heero glared again, got up and walked out.
"Hey! Where are you going?" she asked getting up and sliding to her door,
watching the pilot of
01 walk down the hall.
"To get a shuttle. Make sure everyone's ready in 2 hours. Bye, Cherri."
Cherri blinked. Twice. Then shook her head, smiling. Well, if she was
correct about Relena,
she'd be spitting fire... and she'd be there when they got picked up.
Better pack up now.
************
Joe went flying from the small woman's powerful kick and landed hard on his
side, the air
rushing from his lungs. His eyes rolled around in his head for a while then
came to focus on the
smug look of the woman.
JJ smirked leaning down and looking at him. "You were saying?" she asked.
Joe got up some and shook his head. "So you're not weak because you're
small," he muttered,
his ego bruised. *Well small in height, not in other respects,* he thought.
JJ was wearing a long, loose maroon skirt with high slits in the sides and a
tight, slightly midriff
top, with a normal neckline and sleeveless with a dragon going up the side.
Her hair was pulled
into a half pony tail with the front inch loose to hang in her face.
She grinned. "Good!" she proclaimed standing back up and tossing her hair
over her shoulders.
It had been two days since she had nearly died saving the base, two days of
doing nothing except
sleeping. Now she was awake, better, and wanting to do something. So she
did, proving to some
great fighters that she was as good as them.
With a bounce to her step that some of the men appreciated she walked to her
bag and gathered
her things up.
"Where are you going?" Siegfried asked walking up to her.
She smiled up at him. "To do some reading," she said. "I still have to
figure out how to
teleport." She smiled at him and Kilik and moved past them and out of the
gym to her room.
Siegfried watched her go and sighed. He looked over at Kilik and the other
Soul Calibur fighters
questioningly. They nodded.
He turned to the others in the gym. "Well?" he asked simply.
"Take her with us," Joe said rubbing his shoulder.
"Take her with us," Lei said nursing a bruise on his chin.
The others agreed, some of them nursing bruises on various parts of their
anatomy.
The Soul Calibur group grinned at each other.
"Then lets go and talk to Mia," Seung Mina said bubbly.
~~~~~~~~
JJ pulled out the second book of the three she had, a journal with a purple
cover, a large book in
thick brown leather, and the book she had been researching her powers in.
Written on the front
was the title: Crystal Magician Volume Two - Amethyst.
"Probably my great-grandmother," she muttered to herself. She ran her hand
over the gold
calligraphy and then opened it. On the front page was the figure of an
Asian dragon, like the one
on her pendant. Beneath it was a word, 'Taisanth'. She shrugged and turned
the page. At the
top corner was a small portrait that was obviously of Amethy. JJ marveled
at how much they
looked alike. Next to it was written: Amethy Hunter Born: November 9th
Died: Unknown (27
Years of Age)
JJ blinked. "Huh." She continued reading.
"This is what was said about me from other sources. Most of it is true, but
like most writers who
get their information from outside sources, some of it is wrong. All of my
comments will be in
parentheses. -Amethy Hunter
She was born a royal lady to the Hunter family of great renown. (We were
always an honorable
bunch, with loud mouths of course.) At age 2 her father, Lord Eric, was
killed."
"ACK! That was my dad's name!" JJ shrieked. She continued reading.
"(Actually he was murdered, but did anyone listen to me?) Her glorious
mother, Lady Anila-"
"Okay that's not my mom, but it is my middle name....."
"-remarried. He was Sir Tristen, a knight of great honor. (He was at
that!) He loved his wife's
daughter and only child and was kind to her."
"Okay not like my life."
"He could see in her her desire to learn defense and taught her how to
fight. (He was a good
teacher and I believe I was worthy of his teachings.)
Eventually war came to the land and he was called away to fight. (I cried
so hard when he left,
but that was when I was alone, I wasn't going to act helpless before my
mother and our people.)
The war was over a mysterious artifact that had fallen from the sky. The
mages of the world
could sense the power of the artifact, and how it surpassed a combination of
all of their powers
five fold. (Ah yes, the asteroid that carried the jewels....)
Sir Triste died in that battle and soon her mother died in child birth,
giving birth to their child, a
son named Christophe. (He was a sweet and honorable brother....)
The war ended when the mysterious artifact vanished.
Amethy was 13 and was expected to take a husband soon to pass on the title
of Lord of Crenshib
on to. (Like hell I was! Damn whining and proud bastards! Please forgive
me if I have offended
anyone.) She refused. (Ha! I basically told those old stuff shirts to
stuff it!) When one was
chosen for her (I punched out the man who told me) she ran away, abdicating
her position and
leaving it for her brother.
She began wondering around the lands and soon came upon an old man who was
being attacked.
(I hate bullies!) She saved him and drove the bullies off. (I made sure one
of them would be
speaking soprano for a while!) As a gift of thank you he gave her an
amethyst pendant with a
silk pouch with a jade dragon figurine in it and disappeared.
Amethy continued traveling learning through her dreams how to use her
powers. (When a large
dragon appears in your dreams and you get into arguments about how to do
things, it can get a
little weird....) She eventually met up with Sapphirine and eventually
others with stones until
they numbered 21.
Within the 21 there was a man with the jewel turquoise, Quo Wolkd. (I hope
I never see him
again! The sniveling fool!) They fell in love and were to be married.
(Liar! Liar! Liar! Damn
historian get your facts right!!!) Some thing happened and they drifted
apart. (He was a sex-
crazed maniac who turned out to have a hidden harem!!! I'm glad I nearly
turned him into a
girl!)
Eventually conflicts arose regarding the marriage of the leader of the Nine,
Sapphirine to a man
most of the council did not approve of. The Nine separated and fighting for
control over the
jewels broke out. (And me telling Morkela to take his whining and shoving
it where the sun
doesn't shine didn't help much either....)
Five men from another dimension came to help them, Hariel being one, and a
young man Odin
Schtauffen. (Honorable, handsome, romantic, and with a temper and
stubbornness to match
mine (but he had more control over it then I did....). He also had a
calming affect on me.)
They fell in love. (I've never been so happy....) During the battles he
was killed saving her. (My
heart broke and my soul and dreams shattered.) She disappeared from the
battle field with the
body and was never seen again.
"Now it's my turn to fill in what happened. I'm sorry for abandoning my
friends, but I couldn't
go on. I teleported myself and Odin to his world where I was about ready to
kill myself to be
with him. I nearly succeeded when a kind old woman found me and healed me,
and told me I
was with child. I had a son, Trenton Hunter. I raised him to be honorable
and strong like both of
his parents. After he was born I banished my jewel to the Four Winds and
the Continuum, never
to see it again. And this is where I leave off. If you have this book, you
probably have the jewel.
Don't turn away from it, accept it my blood relation, and use it for good.
Amethy Hunter"
JJ stared and closed the book, not really feeling as if she could go on.
She sighed and rested her
head against the wall, sitting cross-legged on the bed the book in her lap.
A knock sounded on her door.
"Come in," she answered absently.
Siegfried opened the door and closed it after him. He looked at the girl on
the bed and cleared
his throat, waiting to be acknowledged.
"Hello Siegfried. What is it?" she asked looking at him. She suddenly
became very aware of his
eyes, his shining blue-green eyes.
"I have good news. Mia says you can come with us to Earth."
************
Cat just stared at Cherri for a moment. What was with her? She had been
really rude to Heero
and he'd done absolutely nothing to her. And had she meant when she'd said
that her best-friend
could die? She hadn't told any of them anything of the sort. Cherri turned
to looked her in the
eyes then, seeming to sense the red-head's gaze.
They both stared for a moment, neither looking away, neither blinked, both
refusing to give in to
the other.
"Well, guess that means we should go pack!" Aurora said brightly breaking
the unnoticed staring
contest between Cherri and Cat.
They both blinked. Once. Twice. They both looked away and made they're way
up to their room
to gather they're stuff.
~~~~~~~~
Heero was glaring at the ground as he made his way towards his Gundam. His
mind was
spinning. *Why had she done that? Why had she felt the need to rile him by
bringing up Relena
in the first five seconds that they'd met?* his brain pondered as he flew
the bird shaped Gundam
back to the base.
~~~~~~~~
Cat packed in silence as the others chatted happily. She was still fuming
about her incompetence
this morning. She wanted to punch something.
She looked down at her hands. Her knuckles were scrapped raw and were still
bleeding a bit. The
skin was torn pretty deep. She gave a little half smile at the sight and the
thought that had
accompanied it. No one had noticed the wounds on her hands or on her bare
feet for that matter.
She clenched her fist, letting the pain of the movement flow through her.
She kinda liked the feel
of it. Clenching her hand had caused the skin to rip a bit more and reopened
some of the small
wounds that had started to heal already. Blood started to shimmer in the
cuts and she unclenched
her hand, now stretching it to relieve the kinks in it. She had small
delicate hands with long
fingers, the hands of an artist as her grandmother used to tell her. Not the
hands of a fighter...She
clenched her fist again and glared at the hand before returning to her
packing.
~~~~~~~~
Two hours later, Heero returned. Everyone was packed up and ready to go. He
glanced around
the group picking up the little differences.
Everyone had changed out of they're pyjamas and two of the girls had tied up
they're hair.
Cherri's long locks were now tied in a ponytail and Cat's red mane was tied
into two braids. Cat
also now had bandages on her hands and feet.
"Ready to go?" the blue-eyed soldier asked.
He was answered by nods and 'yes's so he nodded in return and exited from
the door he had just
entered. The group followed.
They made they're way to the small shuttle that had been landed near the
mountain pass they'd
visited the previous day. They all entered the small craft and Heero took
the pilot's seat. They
took off and headed in the direction of the base. Most of the group was
chatting happily about
anything and everything but a few stayed quiet, choosing to gaze out the
small port-hole windows
along the sides of the craft.
Two pairs of green eyes stared at the expanse of land below them. One pair
had hazel mixed in
with the olive green while the other pair was a deep forest green with
flecks of emerald in them.
~~~~~~~~
Forty-five minutes later, the group landed on the runway in front of the
large base. They all got
out and were led to they're respective rooms. Since the girls were the only
ones who didn't have
rooms already, they were taken to two empty rooms, each one had two beds.
Cat went into one of
them and looked out the window. Cherri followed her.
"I like this one," Cat said.
"Me too," Cherri said as she looked around the spacious dorm.
"Okay then, we'll take the other one then," Ariel said with a smile as she
and Aurora walked into
the room beside them. All of the men, with the exception of they're guide
Heero, had gone off to
report back to Relena Peacecraft and, in Kenshin's case, Kaoru Kamiya.
"You guys are free to look around until six. That's when you meet with Ms.
Peacecraft. Just ask
anyone you see for directions, they'll take you straight to her," Heero said
in a flat monotone
voice before also going off to report back to the unofficial leader.
The girls unpacked and within five minutes, all four of them were sitting in
Cherri and Cat's
room.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Aurora asked as she sat beside Cherri on
her bed. Cat was
sitting in the window looking outside and Ariel went to sit on Cat's bed.
"I'm going to the gym. I want to get some more working out done today, I
haven't practiced my
kick boxing or boxing for that matter in a while and I'm getting rusty."
With that she got up from
her spot and grabbed her small gym bag from her larger school bag.
"I told Ryo I'd meet him in the fencing room. He said I need to learn some
moves in case I get
caught in another sword fight," Cherri told them, also getting her gym
clothing.
"I was hoping to just look around for a while. This place is so big and
imagine all the stuff they
must have," Ariel said her eyes lighting up at the prospect of adventure.
"Sounds good. I'll go with you Ariel, I also want to get a better look at
this place," Aurora said.
The four girls made they're way towards the door. Cat and Cherri went right,
following the signs
that let towards the workout rooms and Ariel and Aurora went left in search
of adventure.
~~~~~~~~
Cat and Cherri reached the gym and went into the changing rooms. Cherri
emerged wearing a
loose, white tee-shirt and a pair of blue shorts with white running shoes on
her feet and her hair
tied in it's usual ponytail and made her way towards the fencing room. Cat
came out wearing a
pair of spandex shorts and a sports bra. Her feet, fists and forearms were
wrapped in boxing
gauze and her hair was tied into a tight bun. She made her way towards the
punching bags,
Stretching out like a cat before taking on the heaviest one.
************
"What have you to report?" Morkela asked coldly as Tourm entered the room.
"They seem to have gone to a large base not too far from the inn. It's well
armed and protected.
We would have to do a full scale attack to even get in there, let alone get
the four girls. We still
have not located the fifth girl," Tourm said in a low voice.
Morkela pounded his fist on his chair. "Damn it! They move too fast! Is
there any way that you
can use your powers to slip in unnoticed?" Morkela asked angrily. Tourm
nodded.
"My invisibility spell can get me in, but it can't last for that long. I
have another plan though. I
can stage a fight between some Queits and I and win, but it turns out to be
quite costly. They will
take me in, thinking that I'm an ally. Then I can get the girls and be back
here as soon as I can,"
he said, hoping Morkela would agree to it.
"Fine, just as long as you don't hurt the girls. Especially not Cherri,
that is the job I want to do
myself," he said evilly, smiling. The smile sent chills down Tourm's back.
"I'm off," he said, and he turned away from the evil smile quickly. He
headed out to his ship, and
took a few Queits with him.
~~~~~~~~
"Wow, this place is huge," Ariel breathed as Aurora and her began to wander
through the base.
"I agree. I bet no one ever gets bored here," she said, smiling at some hot
guys going through
fighting drills. They walked along for a good couple of hours, just
looking. Finally, it was 5
o'clock.
"Well, I'm heading back to our room and may head to the gym then take a
shower before meeting
Ms. Peacecraft at six. Care to join me?" Aurora asked, yawning.
"Nyah, but thanks for the offer. I may head out and take a quick walk
around the base. Don't
worry though, I'll be back in time to meet with Ms. Peacecraft," Ariel said,
grinning.
Aurora grinned back. "Alright. Don't go finding trouble!" she shouted over
her shoulder as she
headed back to their room.
Ariel began to walk to the gates, and walked outside of them after passing
through security tests.
She begin to head to the nearby trees, hoping that she would be able to see
birds or something.
~~~~~~~~
Tourm landed his ship far away from the base and slipped into the forest,
the Queits following
him. He found a clearing not far from the base inside the forest, and
stopped.
"Make it quick. Don't hurt me too badly, or otherwise this plan will fail,"
he told the Queits.
They surrounded him, then began to attack. He shouted in pain and fell to
his knees.
~~~~~~~~
Ariel was walking along, listening to the sounds of the beautiful birds when
she heard it, a shout
of pain.
*What was that?* she thought. She heard it again. *I think that's trouble!
Great! Sorry Aurora!*
she thought as she rushed towards the sound.
She entered the clearing, and saw three Queits attacking a young man, who
could no longer
defend himself. "Get away from him you demons from another world!" she
shouted.
They turned to look at her, firing their lasers, almost hitting her. She
jumped out of the way just
in time as they began to attack again. Ariel gasped in pain as she was hit
in the arm. It wasn't
that bad, but it hurt badly. It made Ariel mad. "You're getting it now!
Eat flames demons!" she
shouted as she got to her feet. She raised her hand over her head, then
drew a huge circle with it
in the air.
"PHOENIX FIRE WALL!"
A wall of flame, five feet high, surrounded the three Queits, burning them.
They made a horrible
noise of pain, then disappeared.
Ariel rush over to the man, lying on the ground bleeding. She helped him
up, and they slowly
headed back to the base.
************
*I am a rock, I am and island.....
and a rock feels no pain
and an island never cries....*
The simple songs filter through her head. She enjoyed the rock of the
seventies and late sixties,
despite what her friends thought.
*At least they knew how to play,* Cherri scoffed, thinking about Ariel's
hang up on boy bands.
*Tell her to find me an acre of land
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thime*
Simon and Garfunkle, the Moody Blues, Rolling Stones, CCR, the Beatles...
sure, she loved
modern, pop, 80's, everything -but rap and really heavy metal, but she loved
the older stuff.
Goes from having older parents, she guessed.
Cherri worked out on one of the ski machines, the pace leaving her
breathless, but working some
of the kinks out of the work out she just had.
Fencing was hard. A samurai sword was easier to work with, but until she
could do them
*perfectly* with a foil, Ryo wouldn't allow her to move up.
*Ah....* she thought, *Led Zeppelin!* She started to mouth the words,
silently as the music
played on, each of her silent words exactly in time with that of the
vocalist.
*And Matchbox 20 is next up!*
She was the original music addict.
~~~~~~~~
Relena paced. This... this memo... from one of the girl had been sent,
secretly, to her - asking her
to stop Mia's shuttle at the Lunar Base. It was enough to peak her
curiosity, and so the Vice
Foreign Minister had them land.
The girl had mention a possible crash due to landing failure.
And sure enough, most of the landing equipment had been cut - by some
one on board. It had to of. So whom.
She didn't know the girl, but she would meet them - minus one - at six. She
hoped that they
could band together. Heero said one was rather edgy, and had used on of the
terminals on the
plane. Relena assumed that it was the one who sent her the info.
Over all, Heero trusted them, though he wondered what had happened that made
that one girl so
eager to move.
It was only four 'o clock. The meeting was a six.
This was going to be a long wait.
~~~~~~~~
"I'm just a girl.
I'm just a girl, in the world.
That's all that you let me
BBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
Cherri sang - her voice not as bad as her friends claimed, and better when
she wasn't
concentrating about it - her head bopping up and down as she went around her
closed room,
alone since Sano had swept Cat somewhere, picking up.
She transferred her mp3 plug in chip into the GREAT stereo system that she
had. It took... like...
everything! CD's, records, tapes, mp3's... EVERYTHING!
"I'm just a girl
Lucky me!
Tweedle dumb,
there's no
comparison"
Ryo knocked.
"WHHOOOAAAAAHHH!"
He knocked louder.
"OOOOOOAAAAHHHH"
He banged on the door
"I've had it up to... here...."
Cherri ran over to the door, sweeping it open, just as Ryo banged again,
effectually hitting her on
her head.
"OWWW!" she exclaimed, rubbing her head.
"Sorry, baberella. Ariel's got some guy she wants you to meet before we all
boogie over to see
Relena. Jeeze, I'm talking like YOU do. You're a bad influence," he said,
flopping over to her
bed, as she cranked her WONDERFUL stereo down. "So, you going?" he called
after her as she
went into the changing area of the bathroom.
"Probably...." she said with a grunt. "After all, ugh... I mean, I kind of
have to, no?" she asked,
coming back out, her hair brushed and braided for a change, her jeans and
yet another of *his*
shirts.
"Where do you keep getting those from with out me noticing?"
"*I* don't. Kento gets them for me!" she said with a grin. "Come on, I
want to talk to Rora first,
see if she's going."
~~~~~~~~
Aurora continued to look around amazed. She had met up with Cat and Sano,
only to let them
alone.
WHY did she seem to be the only one alone? It was a little frustrating...
now she knew how
Cherri felt back on Earth, their Earth, when they all had boyfriends.
Spotting Cye, she suddenly didn't feel so alone. He was a friend, and a
friend was better than no
friend at all.
Cye looked over, spotting Rora. "Hey!" he called, running up. "Cherri's
looking for ya! Turns
out that Ariel found some guy out there and she was wanting to get ya all
together."
"Kay. I have no idea where Cat went though."
Cye gave her look that said 'yah, we don't know WHERE they are but we know
WHAT they are
probably up to' "Ahw, I'm sure they are fine. Probably in *capable* hands.
Of course, we don't
know that."
His facial expressions, in combination with his words and accent, made Rora
laugh.
He stuck out his elbow, and thickening his accent, "Well, I think we should
be off. Right, right,
Cheerio, Cheerio!"
Her eyes watering from laughing so hard, she linked arms, explaining somehow
that Cheerios
where cereal, where Cheerio was a greeting. Somehow, life wasn't so boring
anymore.
By: Anime's Angels
Part Eighteen
She... knew him. She KNEW him. Before Cat had even introduced him, Cherri
had recognized
this man.
Heero Yuy.
He was different, his eyes were colder than most and he looked like the word
'comb' wasn't in his
vocabulary.
Then Ariel had dashed in, claiming that she had fallen asleep not once, but
twice in the woods.
The coms were back, but the two weeks they were out... the Queits had taken
over most of the
back of the solar system.
Saff had told her. And Opal. They were who should have dealt with Morkela
before it got out of
hand. But, she cared about her allies...Opal could come back soon, if she
could reach her
maximum power.
Looking at the stranger again, she was surprised to find him starring at
her. It was... unnerving.
And the fact that if Ryo caught him... it was true that Heero was the
perfect solider, but she had
seen Ryo in action... and she doubted Mr. Yuy would have a big chance of
survival if Ryo took it
the wrong way.
"So, how's your wife? Er... girlfriend, you won't get married... oops...."
Cherri realized, stopping
before she could mess up the time continuum too much, though thinking, *Why
bother, I'm here
now, so it's basically screwed anyways.*
No answer.
"Figures" she replied. "I never got what Relena saw in you anyway. If coms
are back, why can't
we leave? I've got a friend who may die, and I KNOW our signal here isn't
enough to stop her."
Heero glared again, got up and walked out.
"Hey! Where are you going?" she asked getting up and sliding to her door,
watching the pilot of
01 walk down the hall.
"To get a shuttle. Make sure everyone's ready in 2 hours. Bye, Cherri."
Cherri blinked. Twice. Then shook her head, smiling. Well, if she was
correct about Relena,
she'd be spitting fire... and she'd be there when they got picked up.
Better pack up now.
************
Joe went flying from the small woman's powerful kick and landed hard on his
side, the air
rushing from his lungs. His eyes rolled around in his head for a while then
came to focus on the
smug look of the woman.
JJ smirked leaning down and looking at him. "You were saying?" she asked.
Joe got up some and shook his head. "So you're not weak because you're
small," he muttered,
his ego bruised. *Well small in height, not in other respects,* he thought.
JJ was wearing a long, loose maroon skirt with high slits in the sides and a
tight, slightly midriff
top, with a normal neckline and sleeveless with a dragon going up the side.
Her hair was pulled
into a half pony tail with the front inch loose to hang in her face.
She grinned. "Good!" she proclaimed standing back up and tossing her hair
over her shoulders.
It had been two days since she had nearly died saving the base, two days of
doing nothing except
sleeping. Now she was awake, better, and wanting to do something. So she
did, proving to some
great fighters that she was as good as them.
With a bounce to her step that some of the men appreciated she walked to her
bag and gathered
her things up.
"Where are you going?" Siegfried asked walking up to her.
She smiled up at him. "To do some reading," she said. "I still have to
figure out how to
teleport." She smiled at him and Kilik and moved past them and out of the
gym to her room.
Siegfried watched her go and sighed. He looked over at Kilik and the other
Soul Calibur fighters
questioningly. They nodded.
He turned to the others in the gym. "Well?" he asked simply.
"Take her with us," Joe said rubbing his shoulder.
"Take her with us," Lei said nursing a bruise on his chin.
The others agreed, some of them nursing bruises on various parts of their
anatomy.
The Soul Calibur group grinned at each other.
"Then lets go and talk to Mia," Seung Mina said bubbly.
~~~~~~~~
JJ pulled out the second book of the three she had, a journal with a purple
cover, a large book in
thick brown leather, and the book she had been researching her powers in.
Written on the front
was the title: Crystal Magician Volume Two - Amethyst.
"Probably my great-grandmother," she muttered to herself. She ran her hand
over the gold
calligraphy and then opened it. On the front page was the figure of an
Asian dragon, like the one
on her pendant. Beneath it was a word, 'Taisanth'. She shrugged and turned
the page. At the
top corner was a small portrait that was obviously of Amethy. JJ marveled
at how much they
looked alike. Next to it was written: Amethy Hunter Born: November 9th
Died: Unknown (27
Years of Age)
JJ blinked. "Huh." She continued reading.
"This is what was said about me from other sources. Most of it is true, but
like most writers who
get their information from outside sources, some of it is wrong. All of my
comments will be in
parentheses. -Amethy Hunter
She was born a royal lady to the Hunter family of great renown. (We were
always an honorable
bunch, with loud mouths of course.) At age 2 her father, Lord Eric, was
killed."
"ACK! That was my dad's name!" JJ shrieked. She continued reading.
"(Actually he was murdered, but did anyone listen to me?) Her glorious
mother, Lady Anila-"
"Okay that's not my mom, but it is my middle name....."
"-remarried. He was Sir Tristen, a knight of great honor. (He was at
that!) He loved his wife's
daughter and only child and was kind to her."
"Okay not like my life."
"He could see in her her desire to learn defense and taught her how to
fight. (He was a good
teacher and I believe I was worthy of his teachings.)
Eventually war came to the land and he was called away to fight. (I cried
so hard when he left,
but that was when I was alone, I wasn't going to act helpless before my
mother and our people.)
The war was over a mysterious artifact that had fallen from the sky. The
mages of the world
could sense the power of the artifact, and how it surpassed a combination of
all of their powers
five fold. (Ah yes, the asteroid that carried the jewels....)
Sir Triste died in that battle and soon her mother died in child birth,
giving birth to their child, a
son named Christophe. (He was a sweet and honorable brother....)
The war ended when the mysterious artifact vanished.
Amethy was 13 and was expected to take a husband soon to pass on the title
of Lord of Crenshib
on to. (Like hell I was! Damn whining and proud bastards! Please forgive
me if I have offended
anyone.) She refused. (Ha! I basically told those old stuff shirts to
stuff it!) When one was
chosen for her (I punched out the man who told me) she ran away, abdicating
her position and
leaving it for her brother.
She began wondering around the lands and soon came upon an old man who was
being attacked.
(I hate bullies!) She saved him and drove the bullies off. (I made sure one
of them would be
speaking soprano for a while!) As a gift of thank you he gave her an
amethyst pendant with a
silk pouch with a jade dragon figurine in it and disappeared.
Amethy continued traveling learning through her dreams how to use her
powers. (When a large
dragon appears in your dreams and you get into arguments about how to do
things, it can get a
little weird....) She eventually met up with Sapphirine and eventually
others with stones until
they numbered 21.
Within the 21 there was a man with the jewel turquoise, Quo Wolkd. (I hope
I never see him
again! The sniveling fool!) They fell in love and were to be married.
(Liar! Liar! Liar! Damn
historian get your facts right!!!) Some thing happened and they drifted
apart. (He was a sex-
crazed maniac who turned out to have a hidden harem!!! I'm glad I nearly
turned him into a
girl!)
Eventually conflicts arose regarding the marriage of the leader of the Nine,
Sapphirine to a man
most of the council did not approve of. The Nine separated and fighting for
control over the
jewels broke out. (And me telling Morkela to take his whining and shoving
it where the sun
doesn't shine didn't help much either....)
Five men from another dimension came to help them, Hariel being one, and a
young man Odin
Schtauffen. (Honorable, handsome, romantic, and with a temper and
stubbornness to match
mine (but he had more control over it then I did....). He also had a
calming affect on me.)
They fell in love. (I've never been so happy....) During the battles he
was killed saving her. (My
heart broke and my soul and dreams shattered.) She disappeared from the
battle field with the
body and was never seen again.
"Now it's my turn to fill in what happened. I'm sorry for abandoning my
friends, but I couldn't
go on. I teleported myself and Odin to his world where I was about ready to
kill myself to be
with him. I nearly succeeded when a kind old woman found me and healed me,
and told me I
was with child. I had a son, Trenton Hunter. I raised him to be honorable
and strong like both of
his parents. After he was born I banished my jewel to the Four Winds and
the Continuum, never
to see it again. And this is where I leave off. If you have this book, you
probably have the jewel.
Don't turn away from it, accept it my blood relation, and use it for good.
Amethy Hunter"
JJ stared and closed the book, not really feeling as if she could go on.
She sighed and rested her
head against the wall, sitting cross-legged on the bed the book in her lap.
A knock sounded on her door.
"Come in," she answered absently.
Siegfried opened the door and closed it after him. He looked at the girl on
the bed and cleared
his throat, waiting to be acknowledged.
"Hello Siegfried. What is it?" she asked looking at him. She suddenly
became very aware of his
eyes, his shining blue-green eyes.
"I have good news. Mia says you can come with us to Earth."
************
Cat just stared at Cherri for a moment. What was with her? She had been
really rude to Heero
and he'd done absolutely nothing to her. And had she meant when she'd said
that her best-friend
could die? She hadn't told any of them anything of the sort. Cherri turned
to looked her in the
eyes then, seeming to sense the red-head's gaze.
They both stared for a moment, neither looking away, neither blinked, both
refusing to give in to
the other.
"Well, guess that means we should go pack!" Aurora said brightly breaking
the unnoticed staring
contest between Cherri and Cat.
They both blinked. Once. Twice. They both looked away and made they're way
up to their room
to gather they're stuff.
~~~~~~~~
Heero was glaring at the ground as he made his way towards his Gundam. His
mind was
spinning. *Why had she done that? Why had she felt the need to rile him by
bringing up Relena
in the first five seconds that they'd met?* his brain pondered as he flew
the bird shaped Gundam
back to the base.
~~~~~~~~
Cat packed in silence as the others chatted happily. She was still fuming
about her incompetence
this morning. She wanted to punch something.
She looked down at her hands. Her knuckles were scrapped raw and were still
bleeding a bit. The
skin was torn pretty deep. She gave a little half smile at the sight and the
thought that had
accompanied it. No one had noticed the wounds on her hands or on her bare
feet for that matter.
She clenched her fist, letting the pain of the movement flow through her.
She kinda liked the feel
of it. Clenching her hand had caused the skin to rip a bit more and reopened
some of the small
wounds that had started to heal already. Blood started to shimmer in the
cuts and she unclenched
her hand, now stretching it to relieve the kinks in it. She had small
delicate hands with long
fingers, the hands of an artist as her grandmother used to tell her. Not the
hands of a fighter...She
clenched her fist again and glared at the hand before returning to her
packing.
~~~~~~~~
Two hours later, Heero returned. Everyone was packed up and ready to go. He
glanced around
the group picking up the little differences.
Everyone had changed out of they're pyjamas and two of the girls had tied up
they're hair.
Cherri's long locks were now tied in a ponytail and Cat's red mane was tied
into two braids. Cat
also now had bandages on her hands and feet.
"Ready to go?" the blue-eyed soldier asked.
He was answered by nods and 'yes's so he nodded in return and exited from
the door he had just
entered. The group followed.
They made they're way to the small shuttle that had been landed near the
mountain pass they'd
visited the previous day. They all entered the small craft and Heero took
the pilot's seat. They
took off and headed in the direction of the base. Most of the group was
chatting happily about
anything and everything but a few stayed quiet, choosing to gaze out the
small port-hole windows
along the sides of the craft.
Two pairs of green eyes stared at the expanse of land below them. One pair
had hazel mixed in
with the olive green while the other pair was a deep forest green with
flecks of emerald in them.
~~~~~~~~
Forty-five minutes later, the group landed on the runway in front of the
large base. They all got
out and were led to they're respective rooms. Since the girls were the only
ones who didn't have
rooms already, they were taken to two empty rooms, each one had two beds.
Cat went into one of
them and looked out the window. Cherri followed her.
"I like this one," Cat said.
"Me too," Cherri said as she looked around the spacious dorm.
"Okay then, we'll take the other one then," Ariel said with a smile as she
and Aurora walked into
the room beside them. All of the men, with the exception of they're guide
Heero, had gone off to
report back to Relena Peacecraft and, in Kenshin's case, Kaoru Kamiya.
"You guys are free to look around until six. That's when you meet with Ms.
Peacecraft. Just ask
anyone you see for directions, they'll take you straight to her," Heero said
in a flat monotone
voice before also going off to report back to the unofficial leader.
The girls unpacked and within five minutes, all four of them were sitting in
Cherri and Cat's
room.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Aurora asked as she sat beside Cherri on
her bed. Cat was
sitting in the window looking outside and Ariel went to sit on Cat's bed.
"I'm going to the gym. I want to get some more working out done today, I
haven't practiced my
kick boxing or boxing for that matter in a while and I'm getting rusty."
With that she got up from
her spot and grabbed her small gym bag from her larger school bag.
"I told Ryo I'd meet him in the fencing room. He said I need to learn some
moves in case I get
caught in another sword fight," Cherri told them, also getting her gym
clothing.
"I was hoping to just look around for a while. This place is so big and
imagine all the stuff they
must have," Ariel said her eyes lighting up at the prospect of adventure.
"Sounds good. I'll go with you Ariel, I also want to get a better look at
this place," Aurora said.
The four girls made they're way towards the door. Cat and Cherri went right,
following the signs
that let towards the workout rooms and Ariel and Aurora went left in search
of adventure.
~~~~~~~~
Cat and Cherri reached the gym and went into the changing rooms. Cherri
emerged wearing a
loose, white tee-shirt and a pair of blue shorts with white running shoes on
her feet and her hair
tied in it's usual ponytail and made her way towards the fencing room. Cat
came out wearing a
pair of spandex shorts and a sports bra. Her feet, fists and forearms were
wrapped in boxing
gauze and her hair was tied into a tight bun. She made her way towards the
punching bags,
Stretching out like a cat before taking on the heaviest one.
************
"What have you to report?" Morkela asked coldly as Tourm entered the room.
"They seem to have gone to a large base not too far from the inn. It's well
armed and protected.
We would have to do a full scale attack to even get in there, let alone get
the four girls. We still
have not located the fifth girl," Tourm said in a low voice.
Morkela pounded his fist on his chair. "Damn it! They move too fast! Is
there any way that you
can use your powers to slip in unnoticed?" Morkela asked angrily. Tourm
nodded.
"My invisibility spell can get me in, but it can't last for that long. I
have another plan though. I
can stage a fight between some Queits and I and win, but it turns out to be
quite costly. They will
take me in, thinking that I'm an ally. Then I can get the girls and be back
here as soon as I can,"
he said, hoping Morkela would agree to it.
"Fine, just as long as you don't hurt the girls. Especially not Cherri,
that is the job I want to do
myself," he said evilly, smiling. The smile sent chills down Tourm's back.
"I'm off," he said, and he turned away from the evil smile quickly. He
headed out to his ship, and
took a few Queits with him.
~~~~~~~~
"Wow, this place is huge," Ariel breathed as Aurora and her began to wander
through the base.
"I agree. I bet no one ever gets bored here," she said, smiling at some hot
guys going through
fighting drills. They walked along for a good couple of hours, just
looking. Finally, it was 5
o'clock.
"Well, I'm heading back to our room and may head to the gym then take a
shower before meeting
Ms. Peacecraft at six. Care to join me?" Aurora asked, yawning.
"Nyah, but thanks for the offer. I may head out and take a quick walk
around the base. Don't
worry though, I'll be back in time to meet with Ms. Peacecraft," Ariel said,
grinning.
Aurora grinned back. "Alright. Don't go finding trouble!" she shouted over
her shoulder as she
headed back to their room.
Ariel began to walk to the gates, and walked outside of them after passing
through security tests.
She begin to head to the nearby trees, hoping that she would be able to see
birds or something.
~~~~~~~~
Tourm landed his ship far away from the base and slipped into the forest,
the Queits following
him. He found a clearing not far from the base inside the forest, and
stopped.
"Make it quick. Don't hurt me too badly, or otherwise this plan will fail,"
he told the Queits.
They surrounded him, then began to attack. He shouted in pain and fell to
his knees.
~~~~~~~~
Ariel was walking along, listening to the sounds of the beautiful birds when
she heard it, a shout
of pain.
*What was that?* she thought. She heard it again. *I think that's trouble!
Great! Sorry Aurora!*
she thought as she rushed towards the sound.
She entered the clearing, and saw three Queits attacking a young man, who
could no longer
defend himself. "Get away from him you demons from another world!" she
shouted.
They turned to look at her, firing their lasers, almost hitting her. She
jumped out of the way just
in time as they began to attack again. Ariel gasped in pain as she was hit
in the arm. It wasn't
that bad, but it hurt badly. It made Ariel mad. "You're getting it now!
Eat flames demons!" she
shouted as she got to her feet. She raised her hand over her head, then
drew a huge circle with it
in the air.
"PHOENIX FIRE WALL!"
A wall of flame, five feet high, surrounded the three Queits, burning them.
They made a horrible
noise of pain, then disappeared.
Ariel rush over to the man, lying on the ground bleeding. She helped him
up, and they slowly
headed back to the base.
************
*I am a rock, I am and island.....
and a rock feels no pain
and an island never cries....*
The simple songs filter through her head. She enjoyed the rock of the
seventies and late sixties,
despite what her friends thought.
*At least they knew how to play,* Cherri scoffed, thinking about Ariel's
hang up on boy bands.
*Tell her to find me an acre of land
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thime*
Simon and Garfunkle, the Moody Blues, Rolling Stones, CCR, the Beatles...
sure, she loved
modern, pop, 80's, everything -but rap and really heavy metal, but she loved
the older stuff.
Goes from having older parents, she guessed.
Cherri worked out on one of the ski machines, the pace leaving her
breathless, but working some
of the kinks out of the work out she just had.
Fencing was hard. A samurai sword was easier to work with, but until she
could do them
*perfectly* with a foil, Ryo wouldn't allow her to move up.
*Ah....* she thought, *Led Zeppelin!* She started to mouth the words,
silently as the music
played on, each of her silent words exactly in time with that of the
vocalist.
*And Matchbox 20 is next up!*
She was the original music addict.
~~~~~~~~
Relena paced. This... this memo... from one of the girl had been sent,
secretly, to her - asking her
to stop Mia's shuttle at the Lunar Base. It was enough to peak her
curiosity, and so the Vice
Foreign Minister had them land.
The girl had mention a possible crash due to landing failure.
And sure enough, most of the landing equipment had been cut - by some
one on board. It had to of. So whom.
She didn't know the girl, but she would meet them - minus one - at six. She
hoped that they
could band together. Heero said one was rather edgy, and had used on of the
terminals on the
plane. Relena assumed that it was the one who sent her the info.
Over all, Heero trusted them, though he wondered what had happened that made
that one girl so
eager to move.
It was only four 'o clock. The meeting was a six.
This was going to be a long wait.
~~~~~~~~
"I'm just a girl.
I'm just a girl, in the world.
That's all that you let me
BBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
Cherri sang - her voice not as bad as her friends claimed, and better when
she wasn't
concentrating about it - her head bopping up and down as she went around her
closed room,
alone since Sano had swept Cat somewhere, picking up.
She transferred her mp3 plug in chip into the GREAT stereo system that she
had. It took... like...
everything! CD's, records, tapes, mp3's... EVERYTHING!
"I'm just a girl
Lucky me!
Tweedle dumb,
there's no
comparison"
Ryo knocked.
"WHHOOOAAAAAHHH!"
He knocked louder.
"OOOOOOAAAAHHHH"
He banged on the door
"I've had it up to... here...."
Cherri ran over to the door, sweeping it open, just as Ryo banged again,
effectually hitting her on
her head.
"OWWW!" she exclaimed, rubbing her head.
"Sorry, baberella. Ariel's got some guy she wants you to meet before we all
boogie over to see
Relena. Jeeze, I'm talking like YOU do. You're a bad influence," he said,
flopping over to her
bed, as she cranked her WONDERFUL stereo down. "So, you going?" he called
after her as she
went into the changing area of the bathroom.
"Probably...." she said with a grunt. "After all, ugh... I mean, I kind of
have to, no?" she asked,
coming back out, her hair brushed and braided for a change, her jeans and
yet another of *his*
shirts.
"Where do you keep getting those from with out me noticing?"
"*I* don't. Kento gets them for me!" she said with a grin. "Come on, I
want to talk to Rora first,
see if she's going."
~~~~~~~~
Aurora continued to look around amazed. She had met up with Cat and Sano,
only to let them
alone.
WHY did she seem to be the only one alone? It was a little frustrating...
now she knew how
Cherri felt back on Earth, their Earth, when they all had boyfriends.
Spotting Cye, she suddenly didn't feel so alone. He was a friend, and a
friend was better than no
friend at all.
Cye looked over, spotting Rora. "Hey!" he called, running up. "Cherri's
looking for ya! Turns
out that Ariel found some guy out there and she was wanting to get ya all
together."
"Kay. I have no idea where Cat went though."
Cye gave her look that said 'yah, we don't know WHERE they are but we know
WHAT they are
probably up to' "Ahw, I'm sure they are fine. Probably in *capable* hands.
Of course, we don't
know that."
His facial expressions, in combination with his words and accent, made Rora
laugh.
He stuck out his elbow, and thickening his accent, "Well, I think we should
be off. Right, right,
Cheerio, Cheerio!"
Her eyes watering from laughing so hard, she linked arms, explaining somehow
that Cheerios
where cereal, where Cheerio was a greeting. Somehow, life wasn't so boring
anymore.