Oh! Important tidbit! These #########
signify flashback breaks. ^_^
Reminiscing the Harem - How they
ended up with the Snake
Brunch. It's that meal between breakfast and lunch that lets people eat whatever they want and get away with it. Hence the fact that Kang was eating tacos while Tvashtar was eating chocolate chip pancakes. Not that I should talk, I'm eating leftover Chinese food....
"M'lady?"
She blinked and looked at her Guardian, frowning slightly.
He smiled sheepishly, ears twitching. "I mean Lashana. What's the matter? You look....far away."
"Just thinking, s'all."
"There's a first."
"Shut up, Kang. Don't make me reach over and thwack you with a taco," she smirked as she skewered an egg roll on a chopstick and took a bite out of it. Ugh, cold egg roll..... Grimacing in disgust, she threw the half eaten eggroll onto the plate and hopped off the stool, sighing as she shoved the entire plate into the microwave. "Cold Chinese food is not a good thing."
"Do I detect the scent of tacos?"
Bottomless pit.... "Morning Malcho."
The quetzacoatl smiled as he slithered into the Kitchen and looked over at the Elf, raising a wing to wave at her cheerfully, the feathers effortlessly falling into place to mimic a human hand. "Hola, mi amiga! You're up early, is your amor snoring again?"
She chuckled. "No. Tvashtar came and woke me. We logged a few hours in the Danger Room."
"Where she proceeded to remind me why it's a good idea for me to let her sleep in," Tvashtar winced, reaching back to rub at a sore spot on his back where she had whacked him with the pommel of her sword.
"Ah. I would have thought you had learned that long ago, amigo. A sleep deprived Elf is not a good thing to behold on any day," Malcho chuckled, expertly avoiding the glare said Elf was sending his way as he coiled himself into the room, making sure not to block any doorways.
"Don't make me get out the frying pan, amigo," Lashana growled, though there wasn't any real anger in her voice. This was somewhat of a tradition now, this playful exchange of retorts. He was the only male who could match her in a verbal argument, granted he was nowhere near Telca's level, but still, it held some form of perverse enjoyment.
"Oh? You get that frying pan and I'll go find that spider I saw in the attic."
She grumbled and relented, letting him win this match. "Hai." The microwave beeped, and she quickly grabbed her plate, going back to her seat at the island counter.
"I'll be damned, she lost," Kang gaped, ducking the thrown chopstick that she sent his way.
Tvashtar looked from the Elf to the huge snake, recognising the deep friendship between the two as Malcho shifted so he was settled a little to the right of the Avatar, his outermost coil mere centimetres away from Lashana's back. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," Lashana muttered in between bites of steaming egg roll.
"How'd you two meet? I mean, I know how most of the others got here, Mewtwo told me how you tricked him, but other than that, it seems like you've known some of the guys around here much longer than just a year."
"Eh?" Malcho blinked and looked at Lashana as she casually took a drink of her 7up. "You never told them?"
She shrugged and glanced at him. "They never asked."
"Like that's ever stopped you before. Ack! Watch where you're aiming!" The draconian grumbled lowly and wiped steaming rice off his lap, very aware of the Elf's very audible snickering. "Bitch."
"Flattery will get you flattened, Kang."
Tvashtar rolled his eyes and elbowed Kang in the ribs, stopping him from opening his big mouth and getting himself into more trouble. "Eat your tacos," he muttered before looking over at the duo in front of him. "So?"
"Did you want the abridged or unabridged version?" Lashana asked as she pushed her plate away and grabbed her soda again, leaning back against Malcho's side.
The two males exchanged looks, shrugged, and turned their gazes back onto the Elf. "Unabridged."
"Yare yare, does the unabridged version have all the nasty trimmings, Lashana-chan?"
Gah! "Go away, Xellos," she growled, glaring at the Mazoku that was hovering upside-down above her, his face centimetres away from her own. "And don't call me 'chan'."
"Aw, why ever not?" He opened his eyes fully, meeting her dark blue gaze as he pouted. "You're so mean to me, Lashana-sama!"
Tvashtar saw the signs first. The shimmer of the air around her, the narrowing of her eyes, the slight baring of her fangs.... it all pointed to one thing : it was time to take cover. "Down!" he yelled, dragging Kang along with him as he threw himself to the floor.
"My tacos!" Kang wailed, reaching up to grab his plate before ducking down again.
"You.... you.... you godsbedamned namagomi!!!!!" The Elf leapt onto the counter top and rose her hands, an aura materializing around her as Xellos chuckled and casually flew backwards.
"Mmm. Your anger is so tasty Lashana-sama!"
She snarled, flecks of gold appearing in her eyes as she pulled her sword out of a portal and tensed, seconds away from attacking. The sound of a loud whipcrack jolted her out of her bloodlust, and she blinked at the sight of Xellos, who was now deeply embedded into the wall. A low angry hiss drew her attention to Malcho, who had uncoiled and risen to his full height, his head brushing the ceiling as he levelled a violent glare at the Mazoku and tensed, ready to deliver another blow with his tail.
"You are seriously beginning to try my patience, gringo," he hissed, his voice deepening even further with anger. "Leave mi amiga alone."
Xellos pried himself out of the wall and spat out a piece of plaster. "Oh? Who's going to make me? You?"
"Malcho, look away, this is going to be bad." Lashana took a deep breath to steel herself, then gave Xel a sugar sweet smile and beamed chipperly, clasping her hands in front of herself as she let out a happy squeal. "Xelly! I just love what you've done with your hair! Are those highlights? Oh, it makes you look just so adorable!"
"Ack!"
"Did I mention that you're my bestest best best friend in the whole wid--"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
The moment he teleported from the room, Lashana chuckled evilly and casually rested her sword on her right shoulder. "About time. I was making myself sick." She glanced over at Malcho and smirked at his stunned look. "What? It worked didn't it? Granted if I ever have to force myself to be that cheerful again I think I'll rupture something."
"I think I've lost my appetite."
"Oh, hi Kang. Didn't see you down there."
"Muchacha, promise me you will never do that again," Malcho shuddered, meeting her gaze when she turned to look at him in amusement. "Por favor?"
She chuckled softly. "Yeah, okay," she grinned, taking a moment to toss her sword into her storage portal before stepping to the edge of the counter and looking down at the two cowering on the floor. "Big bad warriors, ha! Telca's cat is more intimidating."
"Oh shut up," Tvashtar muttered as he got to his feet again and sat down again, looking up at her where she was still standing on the countertop. "And you owe us a story."
"And get off the counter already, would you?" Kang said as he got up and shoved her off her perch, leaving her to fall backwards into a panicked Malcho's wings.
"Gee, I can so feel the love in this room," she growled sarcastically, tilting her head back to look up at Malcho. "Thanks. Um....either put me down or tighten your hold, but hurry up before I fall again."
The quetzacoatl blinked, then rearranged his coils and set her onto his back. "The audience is restless."
"That's nothing new."
"True," he chuckled, turning from her to look at the two who were scowling at them. "You wish to know how mi amiga and I met, hmm? Then I suppose I shall have to tell you a bit about my past. You know of my immense hatred for the parrot, Iago, si?"
"Oh yeah," Kang chuckled.
"Didn't you tell me a little of that, M'lady?" Tvashtar frowned. "In that list of 'Things never to say around the Harem'?"
She chuckled. "Yup," she smiled, patting Malcho's arched neck. "Hearing that name'll set this guy off faster than a firecracker."
Malcho winced. "You don't have to put it that way, amiga..." he muttered plaintively before returning his attention to the others. "My hatred of Iago is not unjustified, amigos. I do not wish to delve too far into the details, but at one point I had tried to take over reign of my homeland Rainforest via a magickal amulet that allows the wearer to control all weather around the world. The bearer of that amulet is another bird by the name of Thundra. She had foolishly fallen in love with Iago, and had entrusted him with the job of taking care of the planets weather while she went for an extended vacation." He smirked slightly at the memory. "It took little effort to steal the amulet from the flying rat, Iago. I had thought my new position as Ruler would never be taken from me.... But at the time I hadn't realised just how devious that flying rat could be. He tricked me into believing that he was my lackey, and in doing so, he and his friend the Genie trapped me in the Frozen North."
Lashana felt a shudder of disgust travel down his spine at the memory, and lightly rested her hand against the spot between his wings, smiling slightly when he relaxed somewhat.
"That would explain why you hate the parrot and the cold," Kang nodded. "But that's not all, is it?"
"No, amigo. It is not. To say that it took me a while to free myself of my icey prison would be a farce. I truly do not know how much time had passed by the time I had managed to free my wings, enabling me to take to the air. Even then, I was forced to carry a large portion of my prison with me until I eventually reached Seven Deserts. Once the sun had melted the block of ice enough for me to completely break free, I set about hunting down the pest only to discover that he was seemingly friends with the Sultan of that city. I failed many times to exact my revenge, each time I was thwarted by the Sultan - who I would later learn was merely a 'stand in' for the real Sultan - and the Palace Guards. In the end, they sealed me into a volcano, which, while not as uncomfortable as the Frozen North, was not one of my favourite places to be."
Lashana smiled slightly and leaned back against Malcho's arched neck. "And that's where I found him. Granted, it was an accident.... See, it was way before Telca and I brought the Harem together. Actually, we were just fledgling sorceresses at the time....."
################
"Whaddya mean, 'stand over there'? Are you gonna use me as a target again, Telca? Cuz I still haven't repainted from the last time you tried one of those spells," Lashana growled from where she was sprawled on her couch, looking at her best-friend warily as she approached her. The way these 'practice spell' sessions were going, her landlord was going to end up raising her rent by another fifty bucks. It's bad enough that I'm paying almost seven hundred a month for a piddling one bedroom apartment, the last thing I need are holes and burnmarks on the walls....
"It's not my fault! My finger slipped!" Telca protested. "Besides, we stopped it before the flames did any real damage."
Oh yeah. Sure. I didn't need that poster of Gundam Wing anyway. Or that plant. "Yeah yeah yeah," the Elf muttered, tugging her tank top back into place as she got to her feet and headed for the small kitchen to get herself a Pepsi. "What spell are you studying anyway?"
"Portals."
She blinked and stuck her head out of the Kitchen. "You're shittin' me. Portals? Are you insane? You can't even make a fireball yet!"
"Maybe it's just not the right spell for me. Besides, if I need anything fried, I'll just come and get you and you can fireball it for me."
Gah. An inspection of her fridge showed that she was out of Pepsi and root beer. Ack! This is horrible! And what the hell is that? Ew.... I think it used to be cheese.... "You want a drink? I have...lemonade and.... lemonade."
"Ginger ale."
"Lemonade it is." She snatched the jug out of the fridge and grabbed two glasses before returning to the couch, freezing in mid step when she saw Telca tracing a symbol in the air in front of her. "Oh hell no! Not in the apartment!"
"Too late, I just finished the spell," Telca grinned, her good cheer fading moments later when nothing happened. "Hey! Where's my portal?! Stupid cheap spellbook! I knew I shouldn't have bought you at the Salvation Army! Argh!"
CRASH!
*sigh* I didn't need that plant either, I suppose. "Telca, stop throwing things in my apartment. My pay cheque can't cover these tantrums of yours."
"Shaddup," her friend snarled as she threw herself down onto the couch, folding her arms over her chest as she fumed."This bites. How can we do any spells if the books aren't worth gnat crap?!"
Lashana shrugged, knowing that her friend was annoyed that she had mastered some spells she had learned from her favourite anime 'Slayers' with little ease, while Telca constantly struggled to find her own 'forte'. She crouched in front of the coffee table and set the glasses down before pouring the lemonade. "Maybe you can learn spells like I did. What's your favourite series with spells in them?"
The burgundy haired woman sighed. "Harry Potter."
"Okay." The Elf stood and walked over to her bookshelves, skimming the titles for a moment. "Aha!"
"Ew! Not that one! That's the evil bastardized American version!"
Riiight. I forgot that the first volume I have is the crap one.... She set the first back and grabbed the one of the others. "Okay, here. Look through and find something useful."
Telca sighed and reluctantly took the book, leafing through some of the pages before getting to her feet and pointing a finger at Lashana. "Crucio."
By the time the Elf had stopped screaming in agony long enough to throw a VHS tape at her, Telca was nearly giddy with elation, clutching the book to her chest as she hopped up and down excitedly. "It worked! It really worked!"
"I'm so going to hurt you when I get off this floor," Lashana rasped, closing her eyes when an aftershock of pain swept through her. I'd fireball her, but I don't think I can lift my arm.... A bright flash of light made her open her eyes again moments later, and she blinked at the silver doorway in front of her. "You didn't..."
"I did! It worked! The portal worked!" Telca beamed, ignoring the muttered curses from the Elf as her friend slowly dragged herself to her feet. "Where should we go? New Orleans! Oh wait, we don't have enough money.... Hmm.... Oh! A bank vault! Hey, is that my Aladdin Movie?"
"No. I stole it from my parents," Lashana muttered sourly, eyeing the portal warily when it pulsed. "Uh... Telca?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it supposed to be swirling like that?"
"Uh....yes?"
Lashana sighed. "We're going to die."
"We are not going to--ack!" The last was due to the sudden beam of solid light that erupted from the portal and shot towards her. Pure instinct made her dance to the side, but she didn't realize that Lashana hadn't seen the danger until it was too late. Hence the fact that the glowing lasso had closed around the Elf's arm and pulled the shrieking woman into the portal before said mystical doorway flashed once, then closed itself.
Telca blinked. Blinked again. Then
sighed. "I am so going to get yelled at for this."