Disclaimer: I WISH I owned it, does that count?
^*^AN^*^ Thanks to Katrina B Terrence, Eria- Don't worry, LOTS of suspense THIS chapter! :), miLady, Viette Adele- Thanx for being understanding, I'll try to update more often! Oh, and thanx for helping me keep my secret! ^_~
Warnings: Sodom's being a jerk again. -_-;
Chapter 17
"I'm sure your friend is fine." Sodom reassured Allelu, turning his head towards the three people who had walked in the door. In the center was the girl, Lana, and on either of her sides were Engetsu, head of the staff, and one of the palace warriors, Chimi. Sodom blinked. Schola and Marisa had told him Lana was unable to walk! But here she was, her face set in determination. She nodded respectfully to everyone, before sitting gratefully in a chair Chimi had lead her to.
"You okay?" Marisa asked, worriedly, and Lana winked with a grin, and said, "It was either walk or be carried by that guy over there, and I'd sooner keep my pride."
Chimi rolled his eyes, but grinned at the girl's attitude. "Che, she's almost as stubborn as Engetsu." he commented to the emporor, looking like he was trying not to laugh.
"Indeed." Sodom said, grimacing as Kami and Allelu shot him a glare. Everyone was introduced to Lana afterwards, and she greeted them all cheerfully.
"So what are we all here for?" Lana asked, getting straight to the point.
Sodom shot her a dissaproving look before he realized what he doing, but Lana just smirked back at him, saying, "I'm not FROM this country, Buddy. The only person I'm gonna listen to is Serena-chan, and maybe Engetsu. I don't fall under your list of subjects."
***********************************
Kami and Allelu both gave silent cheers, and grinned after Lana's little speech. Sodom looked surprised to say the least, but muttered a short, "Hai." before answering her question. "We are all here because Kotou has been threatening Konan again. Though we have had peace for many years, they recently made a mysterious man their leader. As soon as they declared him emporor, he broke all treaties with Konan, and began building up the armies. All other countries that have tried to oppose him have suffered disasters, such as dieseses and fires that cannot be stopped.
"We have hope, however, that if we summon Suzaku we can use the wishes to bring peace again. It shouldn't take too long, we only need one more warrior. Though the Ancient scroll we need was destroyed a long time ago. Some of my advisors have suggested we seek out Taiistkun. Then the ceremony will take place." Sodom looked around the table, but no one seemed to have any questions. Lana looked strangly troubled, however.
"So what happens to all of them AFTER Suzaku is summoned?" she asked, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. "Pardon?" Sodom asked, narrowing his eyes.
Lana glared back at him, and said, "What's going to happen when the country is back to being peaceful? Serena and Allelu weren't doing to good before I came along. Are you just going to let them go back to living the way they were before? Or do you have some plan for all of them now that you know who they all are? And how do I fit into all of this? I'm not Suzaku no Miko, how am I supposed to help?"
Sodom raised an eyebrow, and said, "You are Tamahome, are you not?"
Lana looked confused, and said, "No, Tamahome was my Grandfather."
"The mark appeared while you were fighting those men back home." Allelu said cheerfully. Lana nearly fell out of her chair.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?!" she cried, looking doublely worried. "Great. Now not only do I have to defeat the black fire, I have to help this jerk summon a big red bird." Lana thought, slightly annoyed. "Anything else I need to know about myself before we continue?" Lana asked, sighing.
"Nope. I think you're about caught up." Marisa said with a grin. Lana rolled her eyes and sighed.
"We will head for the Hermits home in three days time." Sodom said, standing.
"Hai." Rouin, Schola, and Marisa all said, and Kami gave a curt nod of his head.
Allelu, Lana an Serena all looked at eachother, when Sodom left the room, and Allelu pointed out, "He never answered you, Lan-chan."
"No, he didn't." Lana sighed, and then tried to stand, but ended up falling down.
"Kuso!" Lana cried, frustareted.
"Don't hurt your dress!" Engetsu cried, and checkd over her to see if she had ripped anything.
"Will you be able to leave with us, Lana-san?" Schola asked concernedly, offering a hand to help her up.
Lana accepted his help, and steadied herself against a chair when she was up, saying, "I think I should be fine by the time we have to leave, don't worry about me."
"Lana-chan, don't push yourself." Serena ordered when Lana tried to walk again. Marisa bit her lip as Lana suddenly winced when she put weight on her legs.
"Just sit down, Lana. Don't make it any worse." she begged.
"Do you know what's wrong with you? I've never encountered this type of thing before." Rouin asked her, eyebrows knit in confusion.
"I said don't worry about me, and I meant it. I'll be fine, Rouin-san." Lana said, smiling at him.
"You say that pretty confidently for a person who can't even walk, no da." Schola commented drily as he had to catch her to keep her from falling again.
Lana muttered a few quiet curses, and glared down at her legs, as if blaming them. "Well, how are we gonna get you around?" Kami asked.
"I can carry her if it'd help." Chimi said cheerfully.
"Show off." Schola thought darkly.
"I don't NEED help. I'm gonna walk on my own." Lana insisted, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She concentrated for a second, willing her body to accept Faia quicker, and then opened her eyes again.
Serena and Allelu looked worried, as Lana, eyes determined, let go of Schola and the chair. Lana refused to acknowledge the pain in her body, and focused on keeping her balance. "Why don't you show me where the gardens are? I heard some people talking about them earlier." Lana asked Marisa, grinning a little.
"Hai." Marisa sighed, knowing Lana would go looking for them by herself if she didn't show her where they were.
As the two girls walked out of the room, Schola looked over at Kami, and asked, "Is she always this stubborn?"
Kami shrugged, and said, "I've only known her for a few days. Ask my Mom and my Sister. They're who she's been living with all this time. But for as long as I've known her, yeah. This is how she's acted."
"Lan-chan just doesn't give up. She thinks it makes her look defenseless if she accepts help too often." Allelu sighed.
"Maybe one of us should follow them." Serena suggested.
"I nominate Schola!" Allelu said at once.
Schola went chibi, and exclaimed, "Why ME, no da?!"
"Because you can teleport, so if Lana gets in trouble, you'd be able to get her to Rouin the fastest." Allelu explained matter-of-factually.
Schola sighed a "Hai." and took off down the halls after the girls.
Kami grinned at his little sister, and asked, "Did you plan that?"
"Nope. It was right off the top of my head." Allelu admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.
"What's going on?" Rouin asked. "If you were worried about Lana's health, wouldn't it have made more sense for ME to follow her?"
Allelu sweatdropped, and said, "You're right. I'm glad SCHOLA didn't think of that."
Schola was keeping a safe distance behind the two friends as they entered the garden, and teleported up a nearby tree when they stopped to rest near the small pool he had used to contact Lana with.
"So what do you think of this world so far?" Lana asked Marisa, looking at the water.
"I haven't had time to get homesick yet, so ask me when I do." Marisa laughed, but stopped when she saw the look on Lana's face.
"Home." Lana repeated, and pulled her legs to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees. "Tell me what it's like. I've almost forgotten." Lana begged quietly.
Marisa bit her lip, looking like she wanted to cry. "You've.... forgotten what OUR world is like?"
"Not completly. I just feel like it's slipping away from me. Please, just.....remind me." Lana whispered. Marisa gulped back her tears, and began to tell her anything and everything that came to her mind when she thought of the place she had just recently come from.
"It's not nearly as clean as this place though." Marisa sighed after a while, looking up at the blue sky, untainted by pollution. "I think the thing I miss the most is indoor plumbing." Marisa said, smirking.
Lana threw back her head and laughed, exclaiming, "Yeah right! I'll let you complain about plumbing when YOU'VE had to bring buckets of water up from a well at least five times a day for what seems like FOREVER!" Marisa giggled with her friend, who seemed to be in a much better mood now.
"How are you feeling?" Marisa asked after they calmed down.
Lana shrugged, and answered, "Okay I guess. Want to hear what I'VE been doing?"
Marisa looked suspiciously at her friend's almost evil grin, and said slowely, "Okkaaayyyy."
Schola had been listening to Marisa talk about the other world in awe for about fifteen minutes, and was relieved beyond belief when Lana laughed, and seemed to be cheerful again. It had pulled at his heart when she had seemed desparete to even HEAR about her own world again. Though he felt a selfish part of him hoping she WOULD forget her own world, and just stay in his forever. "That's not only selfish, it's also plain dumb. She's not going to just forget her own world." Schola thought to himself darkly. Suddenly a breeze came by and shook the tree, and Schola lost his balance and fell.
"Itai." he groaned, and looked up, right into the concerned face of Lana, and the 'near tears of laughter' face that belonged to Marisa. "Are you alright?" Lana questioned, carefully helping him up.
"Hai." he said sheepishly, looking embarrased.
"Schola, what in the world were you doing UP A TREE?" Marisa said between giggles. Schola looked annoyed, and said the first thing that came to mind.
"I was sent to check on you guys but, uh, kind of misudged the distance when I teleported."
Lana and Marisa both gave a few giggles, before Lana said, "Sorry, but it really IS kind of funny. Anyway, if you're okay, why don't you join us? We're just talking. I'm not doing anything dangerous. Promise." Schola agreed, and they all resumed their sitting positions by the pond, Lana in the middle, Schola on the left anf Marisa on the right.
"So what've you been doing since you got here?" Marisa said, returning to their earlier conversation.
Lana smirked, and leaned back, shrugging, and saying, "Oh, not much. Got adopted, visited the hideout of the infamous Mt. Leikaka bandits, walked out without a scratch, fought some Seiryuu scum, found out I'm some freaky sort of warrior, you know. Nothing too unusual." Marisa sweatdropped, and gave a weak laugh.
"So as soon as we call Suzaku, you're going back to your world, no da, right?" Schola asked, trying to keep the the saddness out of his voice.
Marisa immediatly chirped, "Hai!" But Lana remained silent, and leaned forward to look int the depths of the pond.
"Lana? You're coming home, right?" Marisa asked, starting to panic on the inside. Lana lifted up her head, and looked around her, at the beautiful garden, at the clear blue sky, and at the cool, pure water.
Suddenly she stood and turned away from her two friends, saying softly, "I'm not sure, Marisa. I'm just not sure." And ran towards the palace gates, breezing past the guards, and running out of the palace.
"Lana-chan!" Marisa screamed, jumping up.
"I'll get her, no da!" Schola said and quickly followed after her.
Marisa bit her lip as he dashed away, and said quietly, "Hurry Schola. If she doesn't stop soon, she might get even more hurt than she already is."
Lana could feel every fiber of her body burning, but she couldn't stop. She just wanted to get back to her brook to think. She didn't care where her long-strided run took her, just as long as she could think there. She had lived in this world, and had grown to love it. She didn't feel like she belonged in her world anymore. She felt like she COULDN'T go back.
Suddenly, her body couldn't take the fast pace anymore, and Lana collasped. She had managed to get out of the city, and lying underneath a large tree beside the road. Lana gave a defiant growl, and began to struggle to get back up, when a gentle hand on her back made her still.
"You really shouldn't push yourself so much, no da." Schola told her softly, and helped her into a sitting position. "How am I supposed to get better if I don't?" Lana replied indignantly.
Schola chuckled, and told her, "I agree that you shouldn't be lazy, but pushing yourself to the point of collapse won't help anything, no da." Lana gave a small pout, but said nothing. Schola studied her face for a minute, and then asked, "What did you mean by 'I don't know'?"
Lana groaned, and before she could think about what she was saying, she blurted, "I think I want to stay HERE."
^*^AN^*^ Thanks to Katrina B Terrence, Eria- Don't worry, LOTS of suspense THIS chapter! :), miLady, Viette Adele- Thanx for being understanding, I'll try to update more often! Oh, and thanx for helping me keep my secret! ^_~
Warnings: Sodom's being a jerk again. -_-;
Chapter 17
"I'm sure your friend is fine." Sodom reassured Allelu, turning his head towards the three people who had walked in the door. In the center was the girl, Lana, and on either of her sides were Engetsu, head of the staff, and one of the palace warriors, Chimi. Sodom blinked. Schola and Marisa had told him Lana was unable to walk! But here she was, her face set in determination. She nodded respectfully to everyone, before sitting gratefully in a chair Chimi had lead her to.
"You okay?" Marisa asked, worriedly, and Lana winked with a grin, and said, "It was either walk or be carried by that guy over there, and I'd sooner keep my pride."
Chimi rolled his eyes, but grinned at the girl's attitude. "Che, she's almost as stubborn as Engetsu." he commented to the emporor, looking like he was trying not to laugh.
"Indeed." Sodom said, grimacing as Kami and Allelu shot him a glare. Everyone was introduced to Lana afterwards, and she greeted them all cheerfully.
"So what are we all here for?" Lana asked, getting straight to the point.
Sodom shot her a dissaproving look before he realized what he doing, but Lana just smirked back at him, saying, "I'm not FROM this country, Buddy. The only person I'm gonna listen to is Serena-chan, and maybe Engetsu. I don't fall under your list of subjects."
***********************************
Kami and Allelu both gave silent cheers, and grinned after Lana's little speech. Sodom looked surprised to say the least, but muttered a short, "Hai." before answering her question. "We are all here because Kotou has been threatening Konan again. Though we have had peace for many years, they recently made a mysterious man their leader. As soon as they declared him emporor, he broke all treaties with Konan, and began building up the armies. All other countries that have tried to oppose him have suffered disasters, such as dieseses and fires that cannot be stopped.
"We have hope, however, that if we summon Suzaku we can use the wishes to bring peace again. It shouldn't take too long, we only need one more warrior. Though the Ancient scroll we need was destroyed a long time ago. Some of my advisors have suggested we seek out Taiistkun. Then the ceremony will take place." Sodom looked around the table, but no one seemed to have any questions. Lana looked strangly troubled, however.
"So what happens to all of them AFTER Suzaku is summoned?" she asked, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. "Pardon?" Sodom asked, narrowing his eyes.
Lana glared back at him, and said, "What's going to happen when the country is back to being peaceful? Serena and Allelu weren't doing to good before I came along. Are you just going to let them go back to living the way they were before? Or do you have some plan for all of them now that you know who they all are? And how do I fit into all of this? I'm not Suzaku no Miko, how am I supposed to help?"
Sodom raised an eyebrow, and said, "You are Tamahome, are you not?"
Lana looked confused, and said, "No, Tamahome was my Grandfather."
"The mark appeared while you were fighting those men back home." Allelu said cheerfully. Lana nearly fell out of her chair.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?!" she cried, looking doublely worried. "Great. Now not only do I have to defeat the black fire, I have to help this jerk summon a big red bird." Lana thought, slightly annoyed. "Anything else I need to know about myself before we continue?" Lana asked, sighing.
"Nope. I think you're about caught up." Marisa said with a grin. Lana rolled her eyes and sighed.
"We will head for the Hermits home in three days time." Sodom said, standing.
"Hai." Rouin, Schola, and Marisa all said, and Kami gave a curt nod of his head.
Allelu, Lana an Serena all looked at eachother, when Sodom left the room, and Allelu pointed out, "He never answered you, Lan-chan."
"No, he didn't." Lana sighed, and then tried to stand, but ended up falling down.
"Kuso!" Lana cried, frustareted.
"Don't hurt your dress!" Engetsu cried, and checkd over her to see if she had ripped anything.
"Will you be able to leave with us, Lana-san?" Schola asked concernedly, offering a hand to help her up.
Lana accepted his help, and steadied herself against a chair when she was up, saying, "I think I should be fine by the time we have to leave, don't worry about me."
"Lana-chan, don't push yourself." Serena ordered when Lana tried to walk again. Marisa bit her lip as Lana suddenly winced when she put weight on her legs.
"Just sit down, Lana. Don't make it any worse." she begged.
"Do you know what's wrong with you? I've never encountered this type of thing before." Rouin asked her, eyebrows knit in confusion.
"I said don't worry about me, and I meant it. I'll be fine, Rouin-san." Lana said, smiling at him.
"You say that pretty confidently for a person who can't even walk, no da." Schola commented drily as he had to catch her to keep her from falling again.
Lana muttered a few quiet curses, and glared down at her legs, as if blaming them. "Well, how are we gonna get you around?" Kami asked.
"I can carry her if it'd help." Chimi said cheerfully.
"Show off." Schola thought darkly.
"I don't NEED help. I'm gonna walk on my own." Lana insisted, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She concentrated for a second, willing her body to accept Faia quicker, and then opened her eyes again.
Serena and Allelu looked worried, as Lana, eyes determined, let go of Schola and the chair. Lana refused to acknowledge the pain in her body, and focused on keeping her balance. "Why don't you show me where the gardens are? I heard some people talking about them earlier." Lana asked Marisa, grinning a little.
"Hai." Marisa sighed, knowing Lana would go looking for them by herself if she didn't show her where they were.
As the two girls walked out of the room, Schola looked over at Kami, and asked, "Is she always this stubborn?"
Kami shrugged, and said, "I've only known her for a few days. Ask my Mom and my Sister. They're who she's been living with all this time. But for as long as I've known her, yeah. This is how she's acted."
"Lan-chan just doesn't give up. She thinks it makes her look defenseless if she accepts help too often." Allelu sighed.
"Maybe one of us should follow them." Serena suggested.
"I nominate Schola!" Allelu said at once.
Schola went chibi, and exclaimed, "Why ME, no da?!"
"Because you can teleport, so if Lana gets in trouble, you'd be able to get her to Rouin the fastest." Allelu explained matter-of-factually.
Schola sighed a "Hai." and took off down the halls after the girls.
Kami grinned at his little sister, and asked, "Did you plan that?"
"Nope. It was right off the top of my head." Allelu admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.
"What's going on?" Rouin asked. "If you were worried about Lana's health, wouldn't it have made more sense for ME to follow her?"
Allelu sweatdropped, and said, "You're right. I'm glad SCHOLA didn't think of that."
Schola was keeping a safe distance behind the two friends as they entered the garden, and teleported up a nearby tree when they stopped to rest near the small pool he had used to contact Lana with.
"So what do you think of this world so far?" Lana asked Marisa, looking at the water.
"I haven't had time to get homesick yet, so ask me when I do." Marisa laughed, but stopped when she saw the look on Lana's face.
"Home." Lana repeated, and pulled her legs to her chest, resting her forehead on her knees. "Tell me what it's like. I've almost forgotten." Lana begged quietly.
Marisa bit her lip, looking like she wanted to cry. "You've.... forgotten what OUR world is like?"
"Not completly. I just feel like it's slipping away from me. Please, just.....remind me." Lana whispered. Marisa gulped back her tears, and began to tell her anything and everything that came to her mind when she thought of the place she had just recently come from.
"It's not nearly as clean as this place though." Marisa sighed after a while, looking up at the blue sky, untainted by pollution. "I think the thing I miss the most is indoor plumbing." Marisa said, smirking.
Lana threw back her head and laughed, exclaiming, "Yeah right! I'll let you complain about plumbing when YOU'VE had to bring buckets of water up from a well at least five times a day for what seems like FOREVER!" Marisa giggled with her friend, who seemed to be in a much better mood now.
"How are you feeling?" Marisa asked after they calmed down.
Lana shrugged, and answered, "Okay I guess. Want to hear what I'VE been doing?"
Marisa looked suspiciously at her friend's almost evil grin, and said slowely, "Okkaaayyyy."
Schola had been listening to Marisa talk about the other world in awe for about fifteen minutes, and was relieved beyond belief when Lana laughed, and seemed to be cheerful again. It had pulled at his heart when she had seemed desparete to even HEAR about her own world again. Though he felt a selfish part of him hoping she WOULD forget her own world, and just stay in his forever. "That's not only selfish, it's also plain dumb. She's not going to just forget her own world." Schola thought to himself darkly. Suddenly a breeze came by and shook the tree, and Schola lost his balance and fell.
"Itai." he groaned, and looked up, right into the concerned face of Lana, and the 'near tears of laughter' face that belonged to Marisa. "Are you alright?" Lana questioned, carefully helping him up.
"Hai." he said sheepishly, looking embarrased.
"Schola, what in the world were you doing UP A TREE?" Marisa said between giggles. Schola looked annoyed, and said the first thing that came to mind.
"I was sent to check on you guys but, uh, kind of misudged the distance when I teleported."
Lana and Marisa both gave a few giggles, before Lana said, "Sorry, but it really IS kind of funny. Anyway, if you're okay, why don't you join us? We're just talking. I'm not doing anything dangerous. Promise." Schola agreed, and they all resumed their sitting positions by the pond, Lana in the middle, Schola on the left anf Marisa on the right.
"So what've you been doing since you got here?" Marisa said, returning to their earlier conversation.
Lana smirked, and leaned back, shrugging, and saying, "Oh, not much. Got adopted, visited the hideout of the infamous Mt. Leikaka bandits, walked out without a scratch, fought some Seiryuu scum, found out I'm some freaky sort of warrior, you know. Nothing too unusual." Marisa sweatdropped, and gave a weak laugh.
"So as soon as we call Suzaku, you're going back to your world, no da, right?" Schola asked, trying to keep the the saddness out of his voice.
Marisa immediatly chirped, "Hai!" But Lana remained silent, and leaned forward to look int the depths of the pond.
"Lana? You're coming home, right?" Marisa asked, starting to panic on the inside. Lana lifted up her head, and looked around her, at the beautiful garden, at the clear blue sky, and at the cool, pure water.
Suddenly she stood and turned away from her two friends, saying softly, "I'm not sure, Marisa. I'm just not sure." And ran towards the palace gates, breezing past the guards, and running out of the palace.
"Lana-chan!" Marisa screamed, jumping up.
"I'll get her, no da!" Schola said and quickly followed after her.
Marisa bit her lip as he dashed away, and said quietly, "Hurry Schola. If she doesn't stop soon, she might get even more hurt than she already is."
Lana could feel every fiber of her body burning, but she couldn't stop. She just wanted to get back to her brook to think. She didn't care where her long-strided run took her, just as long as she could think there. She had lived in this world, and had grown to love it. She didn't feel like she belonged in her world anymore. She felt like she COULDN'T go back.
Suddenly, her body couldn't take the fast pace anymore, and Lana collasped. She had managed to get out of the city, and lying underneath a large tree beside the road. Lana gave a defiant growl, and began to struggle to get back up, when a gentle hand on her back made her still.
"You really shouldn't push yourself so much, no da." Schola told her softly, and helped her into a sitting position. "How am I supposed to get better if I don't?" Lana replied indignantly.
Schola chuckled, and told her, "I agree that you shouldn't be lazy, but pushing yourself to the point of collapse won't help anything, no da." Lana gave a small pout, but said nothing. Schola studied her face for a minute, and then asked, "What did you mean by 'I don't know'?"
Lana groaned, and before she could think about what she was saying, she blurted, "I think I want to stay HERE."