Mana's Mind
by Duran the Gladiator

Chapter 3: Mischief thieves

*AN: I'm still waiting for that second pairing... Kevin/Lise or Kevin/Carlie? To tell the truth, I'd very much fancy writing a K/C because those are scarce... Well, anyways, here's the new chapter. Inspirational music may be mentioned this time: Duran Duran's "The Reflex" and "Wild Boys" - my music roots since I was 2 when I first heard those and they kinda stuck to me... Enjoy reading! Seeya!*

Flammie had dropped them off near the entrance to the valley of Flames, where they could find Salamando - or so they hoped. The heavy rainfall made Duran curse himself for putting on his armor since it wasn't comfy at all to move around in the humid environment. Hawkeye, however, seemed to be oblivious of the heat and skillfully led them through the maze of grottos, past lava pits and over fragile stone bridges to the place where they had defeated Xan Bie. But the Elemental wasn't there, much to the frustration of Duran and Angela.
"Damn it, where is he?" Duran then uttered words that made even Hawkeye blush in shame.
"Duran! Have you no shame?!", said a thoroughly shocked Carlie. After all, she hadn't traveled with him, and hadn't grown used to Duran's language.
"Cool it a bit, Duran...", said Lise seriously. Duran blushed a bit.
"Uh, sorry. But I'm just so frustrated! Where is he when you need him...", he said in a more timid fashion. Suddenly, they heard wailing coming from behind them. They headed back to the source of the sound and ended up where they had begun - the entrance. Hawk shook his head in disbelief, and the others were even more deprived of hope: if a Ninja Master didn't know where to find Salamando, then how would anyone else ever know? Kevin, however, didn't give up that easily.
"Hey, we didn't check place where we first found Salamando! Maybe he there!" He rushed off to the road they first took, followed by the rest of the group who were struggling to move on because the ground of the way there was turned into one big mudpool: Kevin didn't seem to bother and moved with a - for the others - supernatural speed. When they arrived at the bridge spanning the gap between them and the platform, another wail sounded, but this one was louder and filled with pure agony. The heroes shivered because of it, but were too concerned with Salamando's wellbeing to be stopped. Hawk ran ahead and was the first to see the poor Fire Elemental.
Salamando was lying half-conscious on the lava rocks that made up the floor, clutching himself, crying. Hawk ran to him and touched his arms: they were cold as ice.
"H-hawk, my friend... I can't believe you chose to be a Wanderer... always thought - aah - you'd become a Ninja Master..."
"Sal, buddy, you're delerious, and freezing cold goddammit!", whispered a shocked Hawkeye, unable to comprehend the situation the Elemental was in.
"I'm burning... too warm... need to cool down... headache..."
"You, my dear friend, sound like you have a bad case of the flu", came Angela's voice from behind Hawk. The others had reached the platform as well and they, too, were obviously shocked by the terrible state the Elemental was in. "We need your help: Undine is sick as well and needs to be given "a sword of hope heated in flame and fight"... we have no clue how to accomplish that!"
"S-simple... just cast Flame Saber on Duran's sword and spar. Oh, by the way, congratulations Duran... finally back together, eh?"
"How come everyone just notices that out of nowhere!!", grumbled said warrior, but he blushed as he did. He enjoyed being with Angela, and to show that to Salamando, he wrapped his arms around her. "But so true", he spoke as he smiled and planted a kiss on Angela's nose.
"Say, we didn't come here to see you cuddle!", Lise broke the lovely scene. "Come on, let's go to Altena..."
"Wait a minute... don't forget to feed the animals there!", Salamando shouted as they left, and winked as Angela turned around. She got the hint and gave Salamando a thumbs up before running back to the group.

The company decided to eat lunch and dry up in the Sand Fortress as Hawkeye suggested. Jessica immediately dragged her husband with her as they walked inside, after telling the rest that they should probably go and see if they could find Nikita, the only cat-ninja in the fortress, since he had been to Altena several times in the past, and probably knew a great deal about Sahagin. Just as they sought for a kitchen so they could grab a bite to eat, they found Nikita plundering the supply room.
"Aha! Gotcha, cat-person!", shouted Carlie after sneaking behind him. Nikita dropped everything he was holding and turned around to see the heroes instead of the bossy cook.
"Phew, thank goodness you're not our chef de cuisine! He'd have my head in a cooking pot if he caught me again... so, what brings you here, guys?", he said after wiping a bit of flour off his clothing.
"We're here because there's something wrong with Salamando. He needs a pearl from a Sahagin's hoard to be cured, but we don't know a damn thing about Sahagins... and Jessica told us you knew a bit more about the ice creatures."
"Ah, yes... those good ol' Sahagins... They're feisty guys, collecting shiny material and using forks to protect their treasures. They build their hoardes in heaps of snow or in trees and are very, very protective of them. But no worries, there are ways to get inside an occupied hoard to "borrow" things. One is to defeat the Sahagin, but that is a hightly uneffective method since there are more hoardes in one area and they'll all feel threatened. Another method, and the most effective one, is to dare it to duel for its treasure. It'll always take a dare and when lost, will give up all it's treasure. Even their pearl!"
"Yeah, that sounds good... but how do we dare one to duel? I mean, we can't just go there, pick a Sahagin and say "Let's duel for your treasure!", can we?"
"Good point there... to dare a Sahagin for a duel, you place an object it will value highly, like an Angel Grail, in front of it, and you go and stand between the treasure and the Sahagin. It'll dare you to fight for it by raising its fork. When it's defeated, don't kill it or you'll end up getting the whole bunch of 'em mad at you! Let your weapon rest on it and let it squeal, that means it admits its defeat and is prepared to trade its treasure for its life. Good enough?"
"Yep, I think that'll do. Now, would you give us something to eat, we're starving!" Duran ostentatively rubbed over his growling stomach.
"'Kay... say, where's Hawk anyway? He hasn't come in to say hello yet..."
"Jessica dragged him off somewhere, poor helpless Ninja Master...", answered Lise with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
"Heh, those two, they're perfect for each other. Hawkeye's womanhunting instincts have been seriously stopped by Jess' proposal, and Jess is acting like a grown woman ever since Hawkeye and she got engaged. Yeah, he's helpless allright, but I don't blame him..." Nikita had, in the meantime, put a huge amount of food on the table and watched as the group assaulted the pile, led by Duran.
After their lunch - of which Duran and Kevin had taken the most - the group headed back outside and called Flammie to bring them to Altena. They landed in front of the castle where they were awaited by a very agitated villager.
"Princess Angela, I guessed it was you... Come quickly, we need your advice!", shouted the man before they had even set foot on solid ground.
"Okay, I'll assist, but can my friends at least come with me?"
"Surely, princess, I think this affects all of us... they might even be interested to know what exactly is going on."
The soldier guided them to a large meeting room in the castle, where most of the soldiers and a few of the villagers had gathered.
"Fellow Altenans, with Mana gone and this heat rising day by day, we must start to think of a way to re-stabilise our climate without endangering Undine's cave. People say they have heard a girl crying in the cave and presume that someone is lost in it... luckily princess Angela came along, she can help us."
"Well, for one thing, the girl isn't lost in the caves. It's Undine", said Angela in a serious tone, her expression and even her general composure changed to a queen's, "She is not dependant on Mana's powers to exist, but is vulnerable without it. Now she has fallen ill and we need to cure her. Once she is healed, the problems should end as well. But", she asked the soldiers, "has anyone of you noticed that she could use magic again?" Slowly, two of the girls raised their hands.
"I was wishing we had a swimming pool to cool down, and suddenly I unconsciously used Mega Splash on one of the basins!", said the first one, a pale girl with a dress that seemed to be a bit too big for her.
"I accidentally used Evil Gate to extinguish some candles...", spoke the other girl.
"Well, we're not sure is the power that grants us the ability to cast magic again is even Mana, so please be careful. But fact is that we couldn't even perform a Holy Ball for a year and now we're able to once again. I want you to inform my mother of everything about use of magic and what effect it has on the caster. Remember, although magic is gone from our land, reason is not!" And with that, she had closed the meeting. "Come on," she motioned for her friends to follow her back outside, into the snowlands, "we've got work to do, or Altena will become Kingdom of Heat instead of Snow!"

"What do we do first, help Undine or get the pearl?", asked Duran once they had left the castle behind. The heroes could easily see a few Sahagins hiding from them as good as possible.
"I think we should go cure Undine first... the Sahagins seem a bit agitated because of the burning sun."
"Okay, Undine's cave it is!", said Kevin as the group sought its way through the maze of ice and snow. The could hear Undine's sobs from afar, and when they arrived in Undine's cave they realised why she was crying. She sat with a makeshift blanket pulled around her, shivering as if she was freezing. They headed to her.
"H-h-hey friends, w-what brings you h-here?", she said through clenched teeth.
"We've come to help", said Hawk, "My, my, that's one heck of a cold fever you have! Salamando has the same as you, only he's feeling a bit warmer... What can we do to be of service? Maybe watching me and Duran spar a bit would help you feel better?"
"Yes! I'd very much like that, Hawkeye!", was the Elemental's enthousiastic response. Hawk knew that Undine loved to see Duran fight and that she very much fancied his sword because she had never seen a weapon like the Brave Blade.
Duran knew what to do: he put his sword under the Flame Saber spell and charged at Hawk, who barely had the time to defend himself and parried. Their movements were graceful as a dancer's, but deadlier than they seemed since both took the sparring session seriously. Duran delivered Hawk several burns, and Hawk had hit Duran's arm a few times. At long last, Duran's sword seemed to glimmer a bright red as he bowed in front of Undine saying in an overly sweet manner:
"I hope we have amused you, my dear lady in distress, with this overly show of physical power. Here, as a token of all our friendship: the Brave Blade. May it serve you as well as it has served me."
Undine, a bit hesitant, took the sword with one hand, then with two, and she clutched it as she noticed the warmth it gave off. Immediately her cold fell off her as she seemed to warm up herself: outside of the cave, the sunlight grew dim as snowclouds regained their rightful place in the Altenan skies.
"Thank you Duran! But how did you know what would heal me? And how will you fare without the Brave Blade?"
"Ah, this very special seed will grow into a Brave Blade for me, dear. You needn't worry, as long as my armor holds out, there's nothing that can bring me down to my knees!", said Duran, showing Undine his very last Weapon/Armor seed.
"Except for Angela!", said Carlie, and the whole group started laughing as both Duran and Angela blushed slightly.
"Yeah, so what if she's my weakness?!", said the swordsman while Angela hugged him, and he hugged her back.
"You'd make a good man for her, Duran... Did you guys say that Salamando is sick as well?"
"Yes... it's really scary! It's raining cats and dogs in the Valley of Flames. If it keeps up, it'll be the Valley of Water", said Carlie amused, but Hawk silenced the chuckles.
"It's NOT funny! He was cold to the touch, and yet he still thought he was on fire or something. Yes, I KNOW he's on fire, but he's never felt it before. We have to go and find that pearl, guys..."
"I wish you good luck. The Sahagin closest to Altena's castle have the most beautiful pearls. Wish Salamando the best on my behalf, and be sure to tell him to stop by sometime. Oh, and good luck to you, Angela, I'm sure it'll work out!", she said with a wink.
Once outside they headed back to Altena castle, as Undine had suggested, to get themselves a pearl.
"Here we go... let's split up. We each have one Angel Grail, so we can each try and beat one Sahagin. Be careful, don't kill it!"
The group spread out and went to search for the little snow dwelling creatures. Hawk got lucky first, but unfortunately the Sahagin was too fast and got the Angel Grail before Hawk could dare it. Lise couldn't find one because she had accidentally stepped on one's paw. Kevin had changed to werewolf form because of nightfall: he scared off the Sahagins he encountered. Carlie had problems after she had whacked one to death and the whole bunch of them came after her - Kevin helped her defend but barely got away himself. Duran was successful: he had hit the Sahagin's fork out of its hands with his shield, rendering it helpless and at Duran's mercy. Duran took his "emergency weapon", a small dagger he kept behind his shield, and placed it to the Sahagin's exposed neck. It tried to escape the warrior's grasp, but eventually saw he had no other choice than to defend and squealed - a high pitched whine that the other Sahagins despised deeply since they threw their forks at him. It led Duran to it's hoard and gave him a vast amount of things that sparkled - an Angel Grail, a few spare forks, some jewelry, and a beautiful pearl that seemed to be made of stardust. Duran took it all and prepared to leave when he heard the creature crying: it touched him so deeply, that he put down the spare forks and a few jewels in front of it. The Sahagin was a bit suspicious of the sudden generosity, but Duran bowed and immediately the Sahagin took it's treasures back. He squealed again - but this time a thankful and melodious squeal that was accompanied by the others as they gathered around him and started to rub his boots and the bottom of his shield. Duran petted them as well and they were still squealing as he went to the others to tell them he had what they needed. And as the heroes climbed upon Flammie's back and flew back towards Navarre, the squealing was still heard.

It was already midnight when they arrived at Navarre, and they headed immediately to the rooms Jessica had assigned to them. Duran grumbled a bit since Hawk had given Jessica the hint to put him and Angela as far apart as possible.
"Hey! I wanna sleep too, you know!", he reacted to both of their angry looks. Kevin supported him.
"Yeah, me wanna meditate! You two focus on each other and not on helping Elementals."
"Hey! That's not true, we're focused on helping the Elementals!", said Duran, although he kept his head down to hide his blush.
"Aha, caught. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have promised Nikita and some of the other guys to spend a little time among the comrades in Deen's pub. See ya tomorrow!"
With that, he turned around and went to the door where a group of ninjas was already waiting for him. The rest was too tired to stay up any longer and headed to their room. Apart from a few little disturbances throughout the night - Lise had to yell at Angela and Duran to stop fooling around and go to sleep, Hawk came in drunk in the early morning and sang a cheery song in words even Duran wouldn't use - they all slept soundly. But after breakfast, Kevin came to a shocking discovery.
"Hey, Sahagin pearl is gone!", he yelled as he came back from searching it.
"What?! Please say it isn't so... Who had it last anyway?"
"Hawk had", stated Duran, "I gave it to him after I got it."
"Oh, yeah, I had! Let me see...", he mumbled as he searched his pockets. "Now, it can't be in my purse, 'cause I lost that to some merchant in Deen last night while playing poker... oh no..."
"What? What is it?"
"Please don't tell me I had it in my purse! I didn't look what was in it when I staked it!"
"Hawk!!", shouted the others. They were all very angry, except for Angela. She seemed to be calm.
"Well, I could always try and get it back...", Hawk said before rushing off. After an hour, he came back - empty-handed.
"He said he lost it to someone else after I left... Shit, it's gone forever!"
"No it isn't!", said a voice behind them. They turned around to see Nikita standing there. "Guess who beat the crappy merchant at playing poker?"
"What'll it cost me, Nikita?"
"Oh, if you can get the cook to provide me a DECENT meal for once... I hate the tuna he always gives me."
"Aw man! The cook hates your guts, Nikita, he'll have me served for lunch if I ask him that!"
"If I get a decent meal this afternoon, I'll give you the pearl. If not, I'll keep it.", stated Nikita, and his tone made it obvious that that was his final offer. Hawk slumped.
"Okay... but I'll have you served to Flamekhan as dinner if you double-cross me - you know how he considers feline flesh a delicacy..." But the cat just grinned, totally confident of his victory. The group realised they'd have to wait until after lunch to go to Salamando, but it would be fun to see what trouble their friend would go through to get the pearl back.
When lunch was served, the cook brought up their food first. He didn't seem pleased at all. And then, they noticed as they ate, Nikita was served. He got sirloin steak, baked potatoes and iceberg salad with tomatoes. The cat, pleased as he was by being served something other than tuna, immediately dug in. He also got a dessert - vanilla pudding - and was served ale while the rest got plain water. After Nikita had done eating, Hawk came back from the kitchen.
"The pearl?"
"Here it is...", said Nikita as he threw Hawk his purse, which was empty except for the pearl. "Now hurry to Salamando... he'll be pleased to see that pearl..", said the feline ninja with a grin. Hawk didn't trust it, but had no choice - he had to help Salamando...
The heroes didn't take too long to reach the Elemental since they now knew where it was.
"You guys back - cough cough - with a pearl for me?"
"Yeah, no worries, Sal. Here you go", said Hawk as he threw the pearl at Salamando, but the Elemental couldn't catch it and it smashed to pieces on the rocks.
"Oh no!", shouted everyone except Hawk and Angela - they had noticed that something was wrong. A pearl wasn't supposed to break that easily...
"That damn cat double-crossed me again!", screamed Hawk in distress, "Now we have to..."
"Don't worry, Hawk, it's not lost... Here, Salamando, here it is.", said Angela while giving a pearl to Salamando.
"Oh, what a beautiful pearl, you guys... and it feels so cool, so soothing..." Salamando's flames bursted up again and the rain started to subside: the thunder and lightning grew distant and the heat started rising again. "Man, it's gonna take a bit of time to get the heat up a notch again here... Hey Duran, pal, where's that mighty sword of yours?"
"Given to a damsel in distress", stated Angela as she gave him a playful nudge.
"Hey, Undine was well worth my sword, and besides... if it were you in distress, I would've given up my armor, my shield, hell everey last bit of clothing on my handsome body - and that in front of Carlie!", was his answer to that. Carlie laughed at that, and, much to everyone's surprise, Salamando laughed with her.
"Duran, you're a piece of work, you know that? The warrior stronger than steel turning to water in a mage's arms... But of course", said the Elemental as he eyed Angela, "I don't blame you... if only there was an Elemental shaped like her!"
"Try Undine", whispered Angela to the firey-shaped form. "She even said you could stop by sometime... Anyway, we'd better go back to Navarre to eat, I'm hungry and I don't think I'm the only one..."
"Yeah, and I want that cat's head!", shouted the ninja of the company as they walked back to the fortress, "But, say Angela, how did you get your pearl?"
"Well, there's more than one way to get a Sahagin to give its pearl. One of them is indeed to duel it, but you can also trade its pearl for food - Sahagins happen to love the Forcenan cuisine, and I can cook the best dish of Molebear stew ever served. One of the many assets of having a cook for a friend. And of course, thanks to King Richard's extensive sendings of Molebears and other food supplies..." She saw Hawk's amazed expression and continued. "Salamando knew that I knew, and he gave me the hint by saying "don't forget to feed the animals". I already thought that it was dangerous to keep an object of such value in a - pardon me for saying so - thieves nest. So, that's why I hid it once I got it and hadn't told anyone."
"Smart girl, ain't she?", stated Duran proudly as he took her hand, "Knows how to cook my fav dish as well... won't you cook it for me?", he said grinning as they approached the fortress. But his grin faded when he saw one of the soldiers under his command stand at the gates as well as a worried-looking Jessica.
"What's the matter, Jeff?", he asked the soldier in a serious tone.
"Sir Duran, you must go to Rolante immediately. Gnome is in Forcena!"
"Well, we were planning to go to Forcena first..."
"You don't understand!", shouted the guard exasperated, "Sir Duran, Gnome is attacking the castle! The soldiers can barely hold out, it's as if he's gone berserk! Please, sir, you're our only hope...", pleaded the guard as he saw Duran was obviously still hesitant.
"'Kay, well go to Rolante - after a quick meal - and get that feather. You go back to King Richard and try to hold out as long as you can. I'm trusting you to fight by his side while I am not." The guard nodded, bid everyone a good journey and sped off to the shore where Booskaboo was waiting to ferry him back. Duran turned to the others, suddenly having developed serious leader skills.
"Okay, we eat, and then we're off to Rolante - no buts, Forcena is in danger and the other places aren't. Besides, I don't know if the Peace Summit is still held, but the royalty of all the lands is gathered there." He guided them inside and told the cook to give them something within five minutes, while Hawk went to search Nikita. A scream could be heard from the corridor as Hawk came back with 50.000 luc and a broad smile.
"Told him that if he didn't pay me what that pearl had earned him plus interest, he'd have to do kitchen duty for a month. You'd be surprised what he'd do to get away from our cook!", he said while he took a big bite out of a sandwich. The rest ate quickly and quietly, all concerned for Forcena's welfare. They called Flammie and got on.
"Please hold on a bit longer, King Richard, I'm coming with the cure...", mumbled Duran as he leaned against Angela, who was comforting him.
"Shhh... don't trouble yourself like that, Duran...", said Angela.
"Yeah, I know, but he's like a father to me, and I'm like a son to him. We've been side by side from the day I was back from our adventure. He... he told me of what happened a long time ago, while he was in Altena for a diplomatic visit. You know too, I think."
"Mother hasn't told me directly who it was, but she did tell me of a meeting years ago that resulted in an alliance between two countries and a daughter for her. I had guessed already, since Forcena and Altena have been very supportive allies to each other..."
"He told me he was delighted to see you grown into the beautiful woman you are now: he loves you, and so he told me. I told him that I love you and he said it would be nice to see you and me together..."
"Now, Duran, that is flattery! C'mere...", whispered Angela as she pulled him to her for a kiss. She too was worried for Forcena's king, but she knew that he'd be safe. He and Duran had much in common, she could sense it. Both men were strong, very ambitious and they would both die for their beloved ones. Yes, he was safe, and so was her mother.