The Next Generation 21

Magicman: I'd say something right now, but it's too early in the morning. (Yawn)



Dalet walked down the halls of Millerna's castle, thinking some rather perverted thoughts about her. 'It's too bad she's married. She's the kind of woman that'd make a man cry.' He got an idiotic grin just thinking about...things. 'That'd be fun.'

His sick thoughts were interrupted by the crash of steel. Curious, he followed the sound. If someone was practising he might just join in. It would kill some time anyway.

He arrived at the practise room and the sounds grew proportionately louder and more resonant. He discerned two voices shouting and grunting at each other. Without hesitation he stepped forward and threw open the door.

"Hi Dalet!" Setto said cheerfully.

"Hi Setto. When did you get here?"

"The same time as mom and dad did. I just hate overly cheerful hellos. Don't worry" Setto added, seeing the look on Dalet's face, "They know I'm here. I talked to them earlier."

Dalet nodded, looking around casually. He could have sworn that he'd heard another voice in here. 'Ah well, I guess I must be hearing things.' Aloud, he said, "So you're getting ready for the fight?"

"What fight?"

"What do you mean 'what fight'? Everyone in the city knows about it! That Basramian guy, Veers, is going to attack us soon! The scouts say that he's already invaded everyone else!"

Setto dropped his sword in shock, nearly cutting off his toe. "What?! Are you sure?"

"As sure as hell. I've seen the troops massing on the border. Folken's got us out and about running scout patrols. I think it'll happen any day now. You'd better get ready."

Setto seemed to think for a moment. Then he brightened. "I suppose a few high powered explosives would help the battle?"

Dalet snorted. He'd had all too much experience with Setto's explosives. "They'll help alright."

"Good. I'll head out later and plant a few surprises."

"You do that." And with that Dalet had turned around and left the room, his thoughts once more preoccupied with the Asturian queen. He sighed. 'Van, you're a lucky bastard.'

***

Setto watched as Dalet left and breathed a tiny sigh of relief. He looked up to the top of the door where Sabrina had jumped a moment before. "You can come down now."

Sabrina dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch. Straightening gracefully, she wiped her long black hair from her forehead. "That was a close one." She said. Setto nodded.

"It's a good thing he was too horny to look up."

Sabrina chuckled and for a moment Setto admired her. Dressed in plain brown training clothes that accented her figure, Sabrina held a short sword loosely in her right hand. For the past couple of days, Setto had been drilling her in positions and stances and various manoeuvres. Today he was testing her skill and they were both getting sweaty. All the sweat made her clothes tighter still.

Setto blinked out of his thoughts in time to block a surprise attack by his protégé. He grinned in pleasure. "Nice try Sabrina! Nice try!" She blushed at his compliment.

And within seconds the two were back to their fight. Darting and whirling figures leaped and dived around the room, all the while dodging blades and blocking assaults.

Setto blinked sweat out of his eye and ducked Sabrina's twirling blade. He back-flipped himself onto a bench and paused for a second. 'Damn it, she's good!' he thought. 'And to think that not that long ago she was a helpless court lady. She's simply incredible!' He jumped up, flipping over her head and came down beside her. Their blades swung at the exact same moment and, with a metallic flash that seemed to rip open the air, a short sword and a ninjato flew off to the side. Sabrina caught Setto with a sweeping circle kick as he locked his arm about her shoulder. They both fell to the floor, punching and kicking. Time seemed to stop.

Neither of them ever figured out what happened after that. One moment they were struggling wildly, trying to gain the upper hand.

The next moment found them rolling on the floor of the training room lips locked in a hot, passionate kiss with their hands entwined in each other's hair. Sabrina moaned loudly as Setto licked at her lips, parting them slightly. His tongue dove in, exploring and tasting ground where it had never gone before. She stretched like a cat, pressing her body up against his, heating his blood past the boiling temperature. His hands found their way under her shirt, caressing and pinching what they found there, drawing forth squeaks. Her hands in turn stroked his hardened manhood. They suddenly squeezed tightly and Setto groaned. As they broke apart for air, their eyes met for the briefest of seconds.

It was then that they realised what they were doing.

They continued to stare at each other, each trying to banish the lust and desire that had risen up in their hearts. Slowly and painstakingly they rose to their feet. Sabrina self-consciously straightened her shirt while Setto preoccupied his hands. They looked at everything but each other.

Inwardly, Setto analysed the past few seconds vigorously, trying to find some reason for it all. He came up with one simple conclusion. Sabrina was hot as Hell.

Meanwhile, Lady Veers was undergoing a similar torture. She had never been kissed before, let alone had any kind of romantic relationship with anyone. But now she found herself longing to... She blushed at the thought.

The two teens finally looked up at each other, and quickly looked away again. Neither spoke for what seemed like decades, though it was probably only a few minutes.

Setto still felt Sabrina's warm, eager lips pressed against his, heating his blood and speeding up his heart rate. He beat himself down with the thought, 'She'd never go for you.'

Finally he couldn't take the silence anymore. He sighed gustily. "I'm sorry".

Sabrina blinked. "What for?"

"For kissing you against your will". Setto sighed again. "We're friends and I don't want to jeopardise that. I don't know where all that kissing came from, but I promise that it'll stop."

Sabrina shook her head. "For someone so smart, so can sure be naïve. Answer this. Did you feel me try to stop you at any time?"

Now Setto blinked. "Um, no?"

"Exactly. With your only crime against me out of the way your record looks pretty harmless."

"So...what now? I don't think we can go back to being teacher and student."

"I don't want to Setto!" Sabrina finally couldn't take it anymore and started to spill her innermost thoughts that Setto's kisses had jarred loose. "I care about you. I don't know what love is, or how it's supposed to feel, but I want you to be the one I do fall in love with. You've been my only friend ever since my mother died. You got through my arrogant indifference to the world and treated me like a normal human being. You've comforted me in my unhappiest moments. You made me laugh. I want to love you and it could happen so easily." She sighed gustily. "I've been thinking about this long and hard, and that's the God-honest-truth. I can't get you out of my thoughts and I don't want you to leave my heart either."

Setto listened and understood. As if in a dream, the young ninja lifted a hand to her cheek. He didn't say anything for the moment. He just stroked Sabrina's soft skin. He understood how she felt. He had wondered why he'd been thinking of her lately, and now he thought he understood why.

Finally he spoke two simple words. "I won't."

Sabrina looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You said you didn't want me to leave your heart. I won't."

A slow smile crept across her face. "Thank you."

They embraced tightly, not wanting to break their new special contact.

"Will you marry me?"

Sabrina's face faulted. "What???"

"Not right now", Setto hastily added, "I mean if you do fall in love with me. I know it might not happen and all, but it would be nice to have some reassurance."

Sabrina stared at him for a minute. Then she laughed. You're not the most romantic guy out there, are you?" Setto shrugged. "Alright. I promise that I'll marry you the same day that I fall in love with you.

Setto made a face. "Now who's the romantic one?"

"Shut up and kiss me". Setto was only too happy to oblige.

Their kiss was a gentle promise sealed in the sweet sensations now coursing through their bodies. This was right.

***

It's funny how quickly a day can change from good to bad.

For example, one minute Hitomi, Dilandau, and Folken were going over maps of the area with infantry general Zara with Mark and Yukari sharing some 'private' time at the end of the room. Dilandau still wasn't too pleased with Yukari's would-be suitor (the sounds of making out were rather loud) but he couldn't find anything to swear at about the map. The city's defences were set up and the only way that an invading army was going to get through them to the castle was either a lengthy siege or a bloodbath.

That all changed in the next few seconds, however.

Zara was explaining to Dilandau for the fourth time how to set up a hedgehog manoeuvre when suddenly a black blade slammed into his back and out through his chest. The lucky bastard didn't even know what hit him.

The others, however, weren't so lucky.

A trio black clothed assassins materialised in the war room and, without hesitation, threw themselves at the good guys. One leapt straight for Hitomi, but Dilandau decapitated it before it was halfway there. A second tried to gut Yukari and wound up skewered on Mark's sword. Meanwhile, Folken had grabbed the last one around the neck and slammed it up against the wall. The impact broke its body and it joined its predecessors as sandy dust on the floor. Folken swore.

"Damn it! I wanted to question it!"

Dilandau sheathed his sword and helped Hitomi to her feet. "You'll get your chance. There's more around here."

Mark was now glaring suspiciously into the shadows of the room. "How do you know that?"

Dilandau snorted. "Because, you simpleton, that was too easy! There are more of them killing other people. We were being distracted. Or were you too wrapped up with my daughter not to notice?" Hitomi smacked Dilandau in the head. "Ow!"

Yukari frowned but Mark smiled disarmingly. "I can't help it if I'm drawn to your daughter's incredible charm and beauty." He leaned over and kissed her neck even as she blushed and giggled. Dilandau looked disgusted.

Folken cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should try and find these assassins?"

Hitomi nodded. "Yes, that would be the wisest choice." She suddenly smacked a hand to her forehead. "Oh God. I sounded just like the Brain!"

Nobody knew what she was talking about and, wisely, nobody asked.

***

Millerna was calmly brushing her hair and running over the whole situation in her mind when there came a knock on her door. "Come in" she called out.

The door broke down, and Millerna whirled to see a man standing there. A sword was in his hand and he was clothed head to foot in black cloth. He lunged at her, sword extended. Startled, she dove to the floor. The sword missed her by a foot, shattering her mirror.

As she scrambled away from the assassin, she yelled out for her husband. "VAN!" And she ducked again as another sword slash sliced the strands of hair on her head. She stared in horror at the large clump of long blonde hair that had fallen to the ground. She looked at the assassin, who still slunk toward her.

All of a sudden, she was incredibly pissed off.

With a scream of rage, she jumped at the bastard who'd cut off her hair. The would-be assassin seemed startled that his intended prey was attacking him. He stepped back and tripped over his own feet, sprawling on the floor. Millerna grabbed the closest weapon she could find and started stabbing wildly.

When Van finally burst into the room a minute later he was struck by the unusual sight of his wife...stabbing insanely...with a hairbrush...at a pile of sand.

"Die you bastard!" she screamed. "Do you know how hard it is to take care of that hair?! You mother fucker!" Van looked again and saw most of Millerna's hair on the floor in a neat clump. What was left barely came down to the nape of her neck.

Van decided to wait for her to calm down and sat down patiently.

***

They had no sooner left the war room than it became clear that this was no isolated incident, oh no! People were running through the halls, screaming, and weeping. Occasionally one of those sonuvabitch assassins would jump out, kill a couple of people, and jump back into cover before anyone had figured out what had happened. This only added to the confusion and it was a difficult task just wading through the crowds, much less killing the bastards.

Forced away from the mainstream by terrified people, Yukari lost sight of Mark and her parents. She managed to keep track of Folken, however, and the two made progress through the halls of the castle.

The big cyborg looked around. "Is it just me or are we alone? Where are the people?"

Yukari blinked out of her vengeful thoughts and looked around. To her surprise they actually were alone. They had apparently come down a side hall and lost the crowd. "Doesn't this lead to the library?"

Folken nodded. "Yes. And if I'm right then that's where we'll find Kasar."

Yukari stared at him for a moment. "How would you know that?"

"Because Kasar was one of Dornkirk's top sorcerers, second only to me, and I was forced to work with him for a while." Folken shook his head. "He was never promoted because he too ambitious. The emperor didn't trust him. I thought he'd been killed in the war, but when you told me about him I knew we were in trouble. He's the only one of Dornkirk's sorcerers who could use magic while the rest of us 'fiddled with machines' as he put it."

Yukari snorted. "Well he's beginning to bug me! I'll have to do something about that."

Folken would have answered her but they'd finally arrived at the large library doors. Without a second thought Yukari kicked open the doors and burst inside.

Kasar sat at a table peering into a crystal. He seemed to be directing his assassins and apparently didn't notice their arrival immediately. When he did he smiled. "What took you so long?" he rasped. "I thought I'd have to look for you myself." He nodded to Folken. "It's been some time, hasn't it my fellow sorcerer?"

Folken put on an icy glare. "Far too long. What do you want this time? Power?"

Kasar chuckled as he held his crystal. "You know me far too well old friend."

"I suppose you're after the Basramian throne then."

"Oh Heavens no Folken! Kings get the short end of the stick, what with being overthrown and having their heads cut off. My ambition is to be the voice in the dark that guides and disappears when the angry mob comes." The sorcerer laughed unpleasantly. "The general can try to unify Gaea until the end of time but I'll still be around to see him do it. Speaking of which", now he spoke to Yukari, "Now that you're here I should really get down to the business of killing you. We can't have that prophecy ruining our plans. 'Fate can change for those with Sight' and all. It's nothing personal. Okay, so it is." He snapped his fingers and a dozen assassins leapt into view from behind bookshelves and whatnot.

Yukari drew her sword and stood back to back with Folken as the attackers surrounded the pair. She smiled and attacked; after a moment, so did Folken.

Sword clashed against sword in the brief exchange. Yukari slammed her blade between one assassin's ribs and felt it turn to dust. Whirling, she decapitated another and kicked a third in the head. A hot slash of pain ripped into her side and she stumbled for an instant. Concentrating, she force-lashed the bastard to pieces. By her side, Folken was dealing with the last few assassins easily when twin bolts of lightning struck him in the chest. Folken was hurled from the room, the smell of burnt meat following.

Yukari whirled and glared in pure hatred at a smirking Kasar. "Sorry" he said, "But he was in the way." His smile left his face and a hideous frown replaced it. "As much as I would like to draw this out, I have other things to do. Give my regards to the inferno."

Suddenly Yukari felt an icy-black hand wrap around her mind. Exquisite pain filled her entire being and groaned in agony. Kasar chuckled and increased his magic until Yukari was screaming in pain, her cries echoing off the walls of the library. Finally she stopped all together and the sorcerer smiled cruelly.

Suddenly he cried out in pain as a thrown knife embedded itself in his arm. Whirling in anger, he saw the girl's parent and her lover, weapons out and ready to slice him to bits. 'Time for a quick exit' he thought. Ducking another knife, he created a portal and hurled himself through. As he travelled through the nether mists, he smiled to himself. 'Not a bad day's work'.

***

Mark gently lifted Yukari's head in his hands as Hitomi felt her heart and Dilandau took out his frustrations on helpless bookshelves. She looked up suddenly. "She's still alive. We've got to get her to the healers fast!"

Dilandau came out of his destruction and gently picked up his baby girl. Then he ran like hell to the healers' quarters. Mark still sat on the floor, looking helpless. Hitomi patted his shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself." She said gently. "There was nothing you could do."

For a long moment he said nothing. When he finally spoke his voice was quivering with barely suppressed rage.

"Maybe, but there's something I can do." He looked up at Hitomi and she saw fire in his eyes. "I can rip that bastard's twisted heart right out of his chest!"





Magicman: YUKARI! What has that bastard DONE to her!

Smokegirl: Wouldn't you know? You wrote it!

Magicman: Oh yeah. Heh.

Smokegirl: *sigh* Amyway, we'd appreciate any and all opinions and reviews.