Curse of the Kitty
I think I was thinking of adorable kitties when I came up with this idea. Probably not the first story of the Esca Cast being turned into adorable cats, but hey, it's hard to come up with an original idea. So anywho, enjoy!
Warnings: Millerna acting like a ditz, People being turned into cats, Allen being a smart-ass, some mild swearing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, and I didn't invent kittens.
~***~
"WAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm a genius!" The old woman cackled madly as she tossed some more objects into her pot of bubbling…something. She danced around in a circle and tossed an eyeball into the pot. The pot flashed a dark green when the eye hit the brew and a trail of smoke erupted from the surface soon after. She rubbed her hands together eagerly, watching the pot-o-something bubble and boil. She nodded and walked over to a shelf, grabbing a glass jar and a long metal spoon. She dipped the spoon into the brew and poured a few spoonfuls into the glass jar. She stuck a cork in the neck of the bottle and put it on the shelf. She then repeated the procedure for several other bottles. "Wait until the world gets a taste of this…" She cackled while filling her tenth bottle.
~***~
Hitomi literally bounced from shop to shop, leaning over the sides and looking at everything for sale in one quick glance. Merle and Van walked at a steady pace behind her, showing much less enthusiasm about the dirty marketplace and its merchandise. Hitomi stopped bouncing around for a second to look at a rusty old hut. It looked like no one had used the thing for years. The wood was rotten and falling apart, and it was darker than the rest of the shops. Not the color, but it looked like it was covered in shadows, even though the shops next to it were in the sunlight. Hitomi blinked and walked up to it.
"Van, do you think anyone owns this shop?"
Van walked up next to Hitomi and wrinkled his nose. "I don't like this shop. Something isn't right about it…"
"Oh, lighten up a little. It's just…run down…" Hitomi picked up a piece of cloth hanging down from the top of the shop and laughed nervously. "Or, maybe it's more than a LITTLE run down…"
Hitomi gasped suddenly and dropped the piece of fabric. She clutched her head tightly and moaned, slowly sinking down to her knees.
"Hitomi!" Van yelled, and caught Hitomi from behind just as she lost her balance. Merle ran up to Hitomi and was about to talk to her when she felt eyes on her back. She slowly turned around and met nose to nose with a very old, very ugly old lady.
"AAAAHHHH!!!!!" Merle screamed as she dove behind Van. Van unsheathed his sword and looked around, trying to spot the enemy. All he saw was an old lady with a smirk on her face, standing behind the old worn-out shack. Van sweatdropped and turned to glare at Merle.
"Well, she's scary looking!"
"Merle! That's rude!" Van scolded, shaking a finger at her. Hitomi moaned and stood up, rubbing her temples. "Hitomi? Are you okay?"
Hitomi nodded slowly "Yeah, I'm fine Van. I just had a weird vision about cats."
The old lady chuckled and held out a jar filled with green liquid. "Cats? You like cats, do you?"
"Err…I guess so." Hitomi raised an eyebrow at the jar. "What's that?"
"It's nothing, really. Just a jar of soda pop."
Hitomi lit up. "Soda pop?? Really???"
Van and Merle exchanged clueless glances "What's 'Soda Pop'?" Merle asked, scratching her head.
"It's a really tasty drink from my world, I can't believe you have it!"
The old lady nodded and chuckled again. "It's very tasty, the best Gaea has to offer. It's yours for free."
"For free? Really!?" Hitomi's face was practically ripped apart by her huge smile. When she saw the woman nod she grabbed the jar and dances around in circles, hugging it. Van looked at the woman suspiciously. He turned and grabbed Hitomi's arm, causing her to stop spinning in circles. She wobbled around a bit and then stopped and looked at Van.
"I Don't think you should take it, It's way too suspicious. Why would she give something this rare out for free?"
"Oh common Van, don't be such a spoil sport. She's just a kind old lady that's all."
Merle sniffed the jar and wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "It smells awful!"
"That's just because your not used to it. Let's go back to Millerna's palace and try it out!" Hitomi beamed. She grabbed Van's wrist and ran through the marketplace, Merle running behind her trying to keep up.
~***~
Hitomi set the bottle down on a small table and backed up, smiling at it. Allen raised a slender blond eyebrow and coked his head, eyeing the glass jar. "And…this stuff is what, again?"
"Soda Pop!" Hitomi beamed, leaning on the table with both elbows. She smiled up at Allen who was still eyeing the bottle suspiciously.
"It looks poisonous." Allen commented, poking at the jar while keeping a safe distance away from it.
Hitomi scowled and shook her head. "It's not! It's a drink. It tastes sweet and…fizzy!"
"You want us to DRINK that stuff!?" Merle shouted. " NO WAY am I going to try it! I'm not just gonna drink something some weird lady gives us for FREE. Your crazy, Hitomi."
"I am not crazy! And if you don't want to drink it than that's fine. Me, Van and Allen will have it. Right, guys?"
Van and Allen coughed and looked at each other. They laughed nervously and smiled their best smiles at Hitomi. "Errr…"
Hitomi's mouth fell open as she scowled and folded her arms over her chest "I can't believe you two! Fine, I'll drink it by myself." Hitomi grabbed the glass jar and ripped the cork out of the top. She went to take a sip, but the bottle was violently snatched from her grip. "HEY!"
Allen backed away, the bottle firmly clenched in his hand. "I'm sorry Hitomi, but there's no way I'm letting you try this without trying it myself. If it's really poison, I should be the one to die, not you."
Van snorted and shifted in his seat. Allen glared at Van before putting the bottle to his lips and taking a quick sip. He swallowed, blinked, and waited.
"Well…?" Van asked, pulling his chair a little closer to Allen. He wanted to get a good seat if he was going to turn green and blow up or something.
Allen shrugged and tossed the bottle back to Hitomi "Well, nothing seems to be wrong. It doesn't taste all that great though. Your right about one thing, it's really fizzy."
Hitomi grinned and took a swig of the green substance. "See, I told you. Want some, Van?"
Van cocked his head to the side and eyed the bottle. "I don't want anything from a dirty shop."
Allen snickered "Aw, what's the matter Van? Afraid of a wittle drinky poo?" Allen teased in a baby voice. Van snarled loudly and snatched the bottle from Hitomi.
"I am NOT afraid!" He hissed, and took a long taste of the liquid. She slammed the bottle back onto the table when he was done and sat back down on his seat. "See."
"Well, there's a little left, who wants it?"
"I'll have it!" Merle shouted, jumping up from her seat next to Van and snatching the bottle. "If Van-sama had some, than it has to be okay!" She grabbed the bottle, took a plate off a shelf and poured the green 'Soda Pop' into it. She then kneeled on the floor and began to lap up the fizzy drink. Hitomi scratched her head and blinked at Merle. Allen just looked disturbed and Van shrugged.
"Guess she's a little more like a cat than I thought…" Hitomi concluded.
Allen suddenly jerked violently. Van looked up at him and raised an eyebrow "What's wrong with you?"
Allen shook his head "I have no idea, I just suddddenly started to shuttttterr…" Allen said between jerks.
Hitomi started to get worried. "Oh my! What if he's having a seizure??" Hitomi started to bite her nails and pace franticly.
Allen shook his head "Don't be silly, I'm not having a seizure". Allen suddenly winced and scratched behind his hear. Hitomi didn't look satisfied
"What if your illergic to the pop? It'll be all my fau- Allen, what are you doing???" Hitomi stoped pacing to stare at Allen. Van looked up at him and dropped his sword, and Merle looked offended.
Allen was squatting on the floor, scratching behind his ear, with his leg. Hitomi, Van and Merle stood there staring at Allen with their eyes the size of dinner plates. Allen stopped scratching and cocked his head at them "What? What are you all looking at?"
Van cleared his throat and coughed "What were you doing?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Allen said, while he licked his palm and rubbed it all over his face. Van's jaw dropped as Allen began to 'clean' himself.
Merle laughed. "That's it, he's finally lost it- Hitomi? HITOMI!!!" Merle squeaked and jumped up as Hitomi began to sniff at her. "Stop it! That's not funny, damnit!"
Van was a little too busy trying to figure out what Allen was doing to notice Hitomi's strange behavior. Hiotmi stopped sniffing Merle as soon as she saw Van. She lit up and crawled over to him. She purred and started to nuzzle Van's leg with her head.
Van sighed when he felt something warm rub against his leg. "Merle, I told you to qui- HITOMI!?" Van jumped up when he saw that it was Hitomi who was nuzzling his leg. He turned a deep shade of crimson as she rubbed the side of her body against Van's legs, purring like mad. "H-hitomi, wh-what are you doing??"
Merle looked over at Hitomi and saw red. She growled and balled her fists, the fur on her tail frizzing.
Hitomi smiled and lay her head in Van's lap. Van gulped and turned even more red. "Eh…are you feeling okay?"
Merle was about to claw Hitomi's face off when she felt something on the back of her leg. She turned around and saw Allen start to nuzzle her as well. She glared at him and kicked him square in the face. "BACK OFF!!" She screamed as Allen flew into the wall.
Van looked up at Merle as she stormed over to Hitomi, grabbed the back of her shirt and literally dragged her away from Van. Van frowned and snapped his fingers.
When Merle finished dragging Hitomi she dropped her and stomped her foot "What the hell did you think you were doing!?"
Hitomi just looked up at her with a blank expression. She yawned and turned away from Merle, crawling back to Van slowly. Merle hissed and her left eye started to twitch. "HEY! I'M TALING TO YOU!"
Hitomi looked back at Merle, blinked, then crawled away again. Merle let loose a shriek and extended her claws, launching herself at Hitomi. She felt a violent jerk on her shirt and was suddenly tossed back in the other direction.
"EEEEeeekkkk-SMACK-" Merle collided with the table and all went down in a tangle of wood and limbs. Merle sat in the rubble with little stars swimming around her head. Allen looked down at Merle triumphantly and crawled away with a smug smirk.
Hitomi jerked up when she heard a loud crumbling sound. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Merle's condition, but ignored it and turned back to Van –Err, wherever he is-. Hitomi looked around franticly when she saw that Van wasn't in his chair. She huffed in defeat and lay down on the floor, sulking. Her eyes widened suddenly and she jumped up, whipping around to face her 'attacker'. Van was sitting in a cat-like fashion behind her, grinning from ear to ear. Hitomi 'meowed' happily and pounced him.
Merle groaned and sat up, rubbing her head "If I find out who did that I'll-" She stopped when she saw a small, blond kitten staring up at her. She blinked, and it blinked. She crawled over to it, and it got up and crawled closer to her. She glared at the kitten and moved in closer to look at it, her nose practicly touching it's nose. "How did you get in here?" The cat looked at her like she was the stupidest thing it had ever seen.
"How the hell did you think I got in here???"
Merle yipped and jumped back "You can talk!?"
It sighed "Of course I can talk, since when have I not been able to?"
Merle blinked. "Wait, that voice…ALLEN!?"
"Ding ding ding! Can we get a prize for the genius?"
Merle glared hard at Allen. "Well, no wonder you were acting so…weird. It was probably that stupid drink."
"Well DUH."
Merle growled at Allen "I think it made you a smart-ass too!"
"Well I'm sorry, but I just DON'T want to be a friggen KITTEN!"
Merle stood up suddenly "Oh man! If you're a cat than that means…" She turned around slowly and groaned at what she saw. A small black kitten was lying on the floor looking shocked, and a cute little light brown kitten was lying on top of with a similar expression. Merle scratched her head "So, if you all turned into kittens, then why am I still me?"
"Probably because you ARE a cat."
Merle turned back to look at Van, who was sitting up looking at himself "Just peachy…" He turned and gave the brown kitty a tiny glare. The other cat pouted.
"Well I'm sorry! But I just miss my world so much and…" Her eyes welled up with tears as her lip started to quiver. Van-kitty looked panicked.
"Err, don't cry! I like being a kitten, really!" He stood up and fell back down again. Hitomi-kitty looked at him and a tear fell down her cheek. Van-kitty 'meeped' and started to crawl around. "See! Wow, I sure do love being a kitty! Woo! This is great, isn't it Allen?" He whipped around and gave Allen kitty a 'if-you-don't-play-along-I-WILL-kill-you.' Look. Allen-kitty sighed and started to run around in circles.
"Oh yes! This is just friggen great! Look at me I'm the size of a rag doll!"
Van snarled at Allen as Hitomi started to cry. Van ran over to her and tried to quiet her down "Shhh! It's okay, Allen's an idiot no one cares about him!" Van ignored the death glares he was getting from Allen and continued to try and cheer Hitomi up. Merle had had just about enough of everything.
"SHUT UP!!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and raised their –wait, do kitties have eyebrows? Err, k, they just eyed her than. Yes, everyone eyed Merle as she stood up and kicked a chair into a wall. "EVERYONE just STOP. Okay, okay, we're calm, we're all calm…"
"Yeah, we are calm . You're the only one that's freaking out."
Merle glared hard at Allen and tossed a piece of wood at him. Allen squeaked and ducked. The wood sailed over him and hit the wall, causing tiny splinters of wood to rain down on him. Allen shut up.
"Okay, let's get everything straight. You guys ALL had that drink, and now your all kittens. So it's obvious that that's what's causing all this. So all I need to do is go over to that stupid old lady and strangle the antidote out of her!" She hissed through clenched teeth. She raised her hands and gripped the air, pretending to strangle the old lady. The three kittens all exchanged glances.
"Merle, I don't think that would be best. If that stuff was meant to turn us into kittens than I hardly think she'll turn it over that easily. You might have to torture her."
Allen snickered and Hitomi gasped at Van's suggestion. "Van! How could you say that??"
"Well it's true! She obviously meant to put us through this hell and I want to make sure she pays for it!"
"I'm with Van, go get her Merle!" Allen cheered. Hitomi hissed at him and walked calmly up to Merle.
"I hardly think all that's necessary. Just ask her nicely for it. And if she doesn't hand it over then just steal it or something."
"Oh, right, so now you want me to steal? I thought you were all with the goody suggestions."
Hitomi looked offended "They are not 'goody' suggestions. I just don't like seeing people hurt that's all!"
"Sure Hitomi, sure. Just admit that you're a pussy." Allen teased. Van hissed loudly and scratched Allen across his face.
"SHUT UP."
Hitomi gasped and backed up as Allen got a very psychotic look in his eye "You…you hurt my face. You hurt my beautiful face!!" Allen roared and tackled Van. Hitomi squeaked and tried to get between them, but the two kittens were rolling around on the floor, scratching and biting at each other. Little pieces of blond and black fur were flying all over the place. Merle yelped and grabbed Allen by his scruff. She wound up and tossed Allen right through the window.
"EEEEEeee -*SHATTER*-eeeeekkkkk…*PLOP* "
Hitomi ran over to Van and started to lick his face. "Van? Van are you okay??"
Van stood up all wobbly. He had bite and scratch marks all over his little kitty body "Just…peachy…"
Merle squeaked and scooped Van up "Van-Sama! Look what that priss did to you!" She clutched Van like he was her favourite rag doll and began to huggle the hell outta him. Van tried to breath but found his air supply choked.
'M-merle…" Van coughed. His head started to expand and turn bright red. Hitomi gasped and started clawing at Merle's feet. Merle looked down and kicked Hitomi away "Stop that!"
"MERLE! LOOK AT WHAT YOUR DOING TO VAN!!"
Merle blinked and looked down. She yelped and dropped Van. Van's head was now two times as big as it was before. His yes were literally popping out of his head and his face was bright red. As soon as he hit the floor, air started to come out of his mouth, and he zipped around the room like a balloon that had the air let out of it. Merle ducked as Van flew above her head, doing weird loopdy-loops. When Van was out of air he stopped, and fell to the floor with a light 'plop'. Hitomi and Merle rushed over to him.
"Van!!"
"Van-sama!!"
Hitomi reached Van first, and clawed at Merle's hand when she reached down to grab him "You've done enough!"
"Wha-!? How dare you!"
Van slowly got up and rubbed his head. Hitomi pounced him and started to lick him all over his face "Van! Van are you alright?"
Van was just lying back while Hitomi licked him, a goofy smile on his face. "Yeah…"
Merle narrowed her eyes at Hitomi. "I'm going to go get the antidote from that stupid old woman. Don't do anything to Van while I'm gone, Hitomi!" And with that, Merle stomped out of the room.
Hitomi shook her head at Merle's retreating from. "I don't think I'm the one who's a threat to you…"
Hitomi and Van's heads both shot up at the sound. They looked around the room but saw no one. "Who was that?" Van asked, straining his ears to hear the sound again.
"It came from outside…" Hitomi jumped up onto the chair Van had once occupied and jumped up onto the window ceil, Van following her.
They both popped their little kitty heads up to look through the window, and their jaws hit the ceil when they saw who made the noise. Millerna was kneeling beside a very terrified looking Allen-kitty. Allen had backed up against the brick wall, and was trying to claw his way through it frantically.
"Awww, aren't you an adorable little kitty?"
Allen shook his head vigorously and tried to run up the wall, but ended up falling onto his face.
Millerna squealed and scooped up Allen. Allen yelped in protest and tried to pry himself from Millerna's deathgrip, but failed miserably.
"Aww, I'm gonna take you home and love you forever and ever!"
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" Allen shouted. He saw a brooch in Millerna's dress and a look of sheer happiness swept across his face. He ripped the brooch off her dress, extended the pin part and put it to the side of his head. He clamped his eyes shut and prepared to end it all when the brooch was snatched out of his grip. Allen sulked and looked at his empty hands with a sense of loss.
Hitomi and Van exchanged glances. They looked at each other, looked back at Millerna and Allen and started to crack up. They fell onto the ceil with laughter. Allen heard them and looked up. When he saw how hard they were laughing he growled and shook a little kitty fist at them. This just made Hitomi and Van laugh harder. Millerna turned to see what Allen was looking at and smiled widely.
"AWWW! More Kittens!!"
Hitomi and Van stopped laughing immediately and looked long and hard at each other. They both shot up to look out the window. Millerna was pointing and giggling at them. They looked at each other, looked at Millerna and took off. They ran out of the room with a speed that would make Super Man jealous. Millerna frowned and left to go find them.
~***~
Hitomi and Van slumped against the wall, panting for air. Van closed the closet door as much as he could with the little power that he had, and fell to the floor in exhaustion.
"I…think…w-we lost…her…" Hitomi breathed. She looked over at Van, and blinked with confusion. Van was sitting in front of her, a look of pure terror on his face. Hitomi scratched her head and turned around. "Van, what's the matter with yo- OH DEAR SWEET MOTHER!" Hitomi backed up so far that she hit the door. Inside the little closet that they had chosen as a refuge, was Millerna. Allen was held firmly in her left hand. He was giving them a 'We-are-all-gonna-die' look. Hitomi clinged to Van with fear, and Van happily clinged back. Millerna smiled down on them. "Now it's time to have some fun!"
Van and Hitomi began to scream blue murder as Millerna's hand descended towards them.
~***~
End of chapter one! This will be my first Escaflowne Multi-Part fic. I hope you guys like it, I'm really trying my best. Anywho, next part should be up soon!
Ja.