Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer and explanation.
Some of the responses to chapter one mentioned that it was thought that the Sorcerers used Western Magic, as opposed to Marron's Eastern Magic. Yes, a lot of the Sorcerers are very much rooted in Western folklore, but I've seen Eastern influences in many. Besides, it is never actually named "Western Magic", just "magic". In any case, I was planning on having Big Mama explain it, so just read what she has to say.
Chestnuts and Cherries By Annie-chan Chapter Two: Surprise EncounterMarron sighed as he leaned on the windowsill, watching Carrot, Tira, and Chocolat out on the grass. Carrot still hadn't given up his skirt-chasing, and the girls still hadn't given up on Carrot. Marron, whom many found hard to believe was the younger brother, still found this to be less than tasteful. However, he knew that interfering was like sticking his hand in a hungry bear's face. He'd rather keep all his limbs, thanks.
He wondered vaguely if it would ever be resolved. Logic said that this couldn't last forever, that something would have to change in the future, but it had been going on so long, it seemed hard to think of it ending. Perhaps Carrot would realize feelings for one of the girls, or one or both girls would realize Carrot wasn't the one for them, or what, Marron didn't know.
Wait and see, I guess, he thought. The next thought popping into his head startled him a little bit. I wonder if and when I'll find love…
He blinked. He wasn't love-starved, nor was he in a hurry to hook up with someone. He had his work, his friends, and his family; it's not like he wasn't happy. He didn't need to find companionship, and when it came to girls, he just couldn't see himself with someone he didn't truly care about. Carrot had once mentioned that, due to his looks and the fact that almost every girl who saw him blushed if he looked at them, he could probably have any girl he wanted. Marron had replied that he wasn't really interested in that, and that he barely noticed the girls staring after him anymore, as it happened so often. That had prompted Carrot to question if Marron had any hormones at all. Marron had replied that he'd rather be seen as frigid than act against his feelings.
A memory wormed its way to his attention, and he felt his eyebrows arch down just the tiniest bit. Tira and Chocolat had once asked him—when no one else was around, as to not embarrass him—if he was gay. Before he could answer, Tira had hastily said that, his seemingly total lack of interest in girls, especially considering he had them staring at him wherever he went, had made them wonder. Plus, there were his looks, which were rather effeminate, even considering that he got his looks from his mother. He had merely looked them both straight in the eyes, said "no" in a flat tone, and returned to the book he had been reading. They had left after that. It didn't really bother him, but it reminded him of another problem he had.
Gateau was very obviously bisexual. He had a healthy respect for beauty in both sexes, and though he was quite attracted to girls, the person he mostly focused on was Marron. Marron didn't have anything against homosexuals or bisexuals, but Gateau was rather tenacious in his interest in Marron. He hit on him often, usually embarrassing Marron to no end, prompting the black-eyed man to move away. In fact, that's usually what he did: simply walked away. No rebuff, no rejection, just walked away. On one hand, Marron regretted that, as he probably could have stopped this long ago if he had made it clear that the attention was unwanted, but on the other hand, he had always been hesitant to tell off those close to him about anything (unless it was Carrot being wimpy about something). This was no exception.
Either he doesn't know I'm straight, or he doesn't care, Marron mused, watching Carrot get beat by the two sisters. If he doesn't care, than it's likely it's nothing serious, and he's just playing around. He frowned, not happy with the direction of this train of thought. But, if he doesn't know, he could be very serious about wanting to…be with me.
Marron shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. It would ultimately end with Marron rejecting Gateau, no matter how long it took him to do so, and Gateau would be hurt. Marron loathed the thought of hurting one of his closest friends like that.
He was still thinking about it when Daughter came to tell him Big Mama wanted him and the other four in her audience room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Your mission is simple, really, since I thought you'd need a break after that unusually difficult mission I sent you on last," Mama told them, that ever-present smile on her face. "You will not be going after any Sorcerers this time, but getting an artifact for me. You are to go to a rendezvous point and receive the artifact from the one who meets you there, and bring it back to me."
"Who are we getting it from?" Tira asked.
"I do not know their name," Mama replied, "but I do know they are a member of the group of Western Magic users who found the artifact and thought I would be the best one to take care of it." She paused when she saw the Hunters' reactions. "It seems Marron is the only one who doesn't look confused," she said, still smiling.
"What else is new…?" Carrot muttered.
"Well, you all are very close to a practitioner of Eastern Magic," Mama said. "Surely, you can't be so surprised at learning of Western Magic users, could you?"
The Hunters, save Marron, all looked a little sheepish. It was a logical assumption. Mama continued.
"There is magic originating from all corners of this world," she said. "But, the strongest and most common magic originates out of the East and the West. Sorcerers tend to gravitate more towards magic coming from the West, but it is very rare that they don't use at least some magic coming from the East as well. There is a small minority that focus more on magic from the East than from the West."
"Lady Sha from Shang-Shanghai a few years back was one of them," Marron mentioned.
"Right," Mama replied. "In any case, nearly all Sorcerers use mixed magic, and to what extent depends on the individual. But, there are two groups of non-Sorcerers that tend to stay out of the Sorcerer-Parsoner conflict, and that specialize in magic purely from one region alone. Those are the Eastern Magic users and the Western Magic users. There are varying reasons why each member of these groups does so, but they have become experts at utilizing the strengths of their respective fields of practice without bringing in elements of the other to help. Marron is very familiar with this concept."
Marron nodded. He had trained for years in Eastern Magic, and knew how to fight extremely well without any help from the West.
"You said that those two groups usually keep to themselves," Tira said, "although people see Eastern Magic users often enough to know they are there. But, how come we've never seen any Western Magic users? I didn't even really know they existed until a few minutes ago."
The Western Magic users are a secret society," Mama explained. "It is said that they do it out of necessity. The fact that Sorcerers tend to gravitate toward Western-based magic has given magic from the West a bad name in the minds of many Parsoners, some of which call it "Black Magic". A practitioner of purely Western Magic could be persecuted, and the society doesn't want that. So, for most of their existence, they have been almost completely sealed off from the knowledge of the common man. Though they would happily accept anyone from "the Outside" as they call it, the inductee would be sworn to secrecy, and more often than not, they would leave wherever they lived before and take up residence in one of the many secret villages of the Western Magic users."
"I saw one, about a month or so ago," Marron said slowly. "She was undisguised, which caught me off guard enough to render me speechless. The only reason I recognized her as a Western Magic user was the staff in her hand and the pendant hanging from her neck. I had seen drawings of them in a very old library book, which was the only book with information about their society I had ever seen. The book was extremely sparse on details. She was wearing all black, but I don't know if that had anything to do with being a Western Magic user."
Big Mama nodded. "When in their secret villages, the Western Magic users all wear a gold pendant carved in the shape of their emblem around their neck. They also carry staffs, the color of the stone on top indicating how advanced in the field they are."
"The stone on this girl's staff was white," Marron said. "It was almost clear."
"Hmm," Mama mused. "I don't know if she is high or low, as I know nothing of what color matches what level."
"If these Western Magic users are such a secret society," Carrot asked, "then how do you know all this, Big Mama?"
"I am only giving you surface details," Mama replied. "I have had dealings with them—secret dealings, as they insisted—for many of them sympathize with our cause, and wish to help. Many times, they have given me some artifact they have found, like I am having you pick up for me, as I have other more important affairs to attend to right now. The artifacts usually can either help or hurt the Sorcerer Hunters' cause. The artifacts that can hurt the cause are given to me so I can seal them off somewhere, so they aren't dangerous anymore. Those that can help are given to me for obvious reasons. In any case, I only know a little bit about what the Western Magic users are and why they are a secret society. There is so much more that I don't know, and that I won't find out."
The Sorcerer Hunters didn't really respond, still digesting the recently acquired information.
"Now, off with you!" Big Mama said cheerfully as Daughter handed Carrot a small roll of paper with the rendezvous point and directions to get there on it. "You don't want to keep the emissary waiting!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Sorcerer Hunters had been waiting at the rendezvous point for about ten minutes now. They were about half a mile into a forest about two miles from Eden, and the moon was up. Chocolat and Tira had been speculating about Western Magic users (Marron had to remind them that they weren't to go spreading rumors), Marron was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, and Carrot and Gateau mostly looked bored.
"Hey," Carrot said, pointing down a shallow slope. "Someone's heading up here."
The all looked. A small figure was slowly walking up to them, and would be there in less than two minutes. They were fairly small and narrow-shouldered, suggesting it was a woman or girl. That was all they could make out, as the figure was wearing a black cloak that covered them from head to toe. Their face was hidden beneath the hood, and their hands were wearing black gloves. In one hand, they carried a staff with a straight, thin black handle, a cantaloupe-sized clearish-whitish orb sitting on top with seemingly no support. In the other hand was a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied with black thread.
Marron was reminded of the girl he had seen in the woods a few weeks ago.
Carrot stepped forward. Despite his lack of leadership skills, he was counted the leader of this group of five, for some unknown reason.
"Are you the one we were supposed to meet and receive an item for Big Mama?" Carrot asked, in one of his very rare moments of semi-seriousness.
The person nodded, not speaking. They were about to hand the package to Carrot when Marron straightened up from leaning against the tree and took a few steps toward his brother and the Western Magic emissary. The person froze, a gasp escaping their lips.
Marron tilted his head. "Is something wrong…?"
"You…" the person said. "It's…you!"
"What?" Marron asked, eyes going wide as he recognized the voice. It was the same girl he met in the woods! "What's me? You're acting as if I'm something you're afraid of…"
The girl shook her head vigorously. "No, no…that's not it…" She suddenly shoved the package at Carrot, turned, and fled down the hill.
"Hey!" Marron cried, springing forward. "Wait! Don't go! STOP!" It was too late. As soon she had gotten to the bottom of the shallow slope, she seemed to disappear into thin air as her black clothing blended into the deep shadows of the moonlit forest. Marron stopped and stared after her.
Chocolat and Tira didn't seem to know what to say.
"What the hell was that about…?" Carrot muttered, now staring down at the package as if it might have some kind of creature inside it.
"Marron," Gateau, who was standing a little behind everyone else, asked. "Who was that?"
Marron shook his head slowly. "I…I don't know…" He was positive that girl was the girl he met about a month ago. He didn't know how he recognized her voice, as she had said very few words to him both this time and last time, but he was sure beyond a doubt that they were the same person.
His eyebrows arched together. She seems afraid of me, or at least anxious to avoid me, he thought. His jaw tightened. But, why? Who is she…?
To be continued…Author's Notes: Argh…this should have been done a week ago. But, I was busy two weeks ago, so I started another chapter fic I'm working on a week late, making this update a week late…*sigh* Oh, well. That's how the cookie crumbles, I guess. Anyway, did you all like this? I hope so! I also hope my explanation about Western Magic was satisfactory! Please send me any thoughts or comments (no outright flames, please…they are the essence of rudeness) by way of a review or an email to mangareader@hotmail.com, onegai shimasu!
