North South East West
-by minted*candi
A/N::
Wahooo~ I know this is a really really really late update, but for some reasons all my ideas died. I'm so utterly sorry! *bows*
Mist: And, of course, you were lazy?
_ Shut up. Either way or another, I felt that I just simply couldn't put all my lovely lovely reviewers down and thusly! ^_^ Yep, an update. Finally moving into Phase 2! Banzaaaaiii!!! Hopefully everyone still remembers me... X3
Doing my best to improve my writing style – my english teacher says I have terrible paragraphing and what not... I'll work hard!~
Review replies, as usual~ Since everyone's reviews are what keeps me going!
Tina-sama: Here's the update~ Rei and Max? =D Soon, soon...
Kiina-sama: *dies* *revives* There. Now that I'm writing I'm alive again!!! Mwahahahaha!!! *mallet twacks her* Right. Back to where I was. China sucks bad too... Blocks too many fansites – good ones too... *sighs* I have to make- do till I get back to Singapore... *patpat* At least there's fanfiction.net! With wonderful wonderful fanfic writers!!! *worships them all* They keep me alive... ^^
PinkDevil-sama: I'm so sorry I didn't update earlier too!!! *faints* I guess I just make them both pretty daft yea? (Taking that both of them are chosen, they should already guess who the other two are, but...) I will make sure that this ending ain't corny!!! X3 Hee hee... but I'm not promising anything. Mwaha.
Mandy-sama: I love you too... XD Thanks for all your reviews nyu!~ And I'm not the best KaiTaka writer out there!!! *takes out list that unrolls and goes on forever* They are!!! XD Hee hee~ Here's the next chapter... No ritual suicide for me – yet.
D.G-sama: Yep, no action basically screamed "boring" at me while I was writing it, but thank you so much for the review~ Am glad you liked it.
Amara-sama: Glad you liked it. *sniffles* I feel so flattered... ;_; *sends an e-mail over* Wahaha...
Assassin of the Shadows: ^0^/ Thanks for the review! Fourth chapter ish up! (Finally)
Losingmymind-sama: Aheh... confusing? X_X; I'm sorry! Will try to simplify it sometime when I get the time to... but perhaps as the story goes on everything will click?
Fallen1-sama: XDD An update from me to you! *hugs* Oooo... make-out scene? =D ... Heh... maybe later... ^^ *mentally notes it down* X3 Yay! Go Takao-chan! Kai-sama!!! SAVE THE WORLD! ^0^ Then you get to make out. Mwahahaha...
RedCountess-sama: Eh? Japanese? In that story? O_O? Where? The '-sama's and '-san's? I'm sorry! Just can't stop it... all the conversations in my head are japanese! (Even when I hardly know any...) U_U; I'll do my best to make it plain english this time~ ^^
TeamTyKai-sama/TechnoRanma-sama: m(_ _)m! You flatter me yet once more! (Mist: If she keeps getting praise from all her idols like this she will hyperventilate. _) Ooh, and Kai protecting Takao?... I'm just more comfy with writing Takao as an Uke... XDDD It's fun to get him hurt!!! *gets twacked by Dranzer* Sorry, Kai-sama... U_U;
Mystic-sky-dragon-sama: ?? What did Takao say that wasn't right? O_O?
SHF-chan: o_O I officially thank you for eating my ending. X3 Here's the fourth chappy!
Goddess-of-Nature-sama: No problem on forgetting to comment!~ Am glad that you dropped by anyway!
Kyoko-chan: Heheh... Thank you once again for your flattering review!~ Chapter 4 – from me to you~ Chux.
FeelinGlayish-sama: Thank you once again! *bows down* Guess the information chappy is pretty classic... X_X; One day, one day I shall find a way to escape that information chapter... (Mist: That one day will be a pretty far away 'one day'... _)
I feel that I'm overdoing the reviews... But meh... I love you all too much to NOT drop a message personally!!! *grabs every reviewer and gives them a hug* ^0^/ Right... disclaimer...
Mist: If minted*candi ever owned Beyblade... Beyblade will not exist, since the idiot never finishes up anything.
Flattering, Mist.
Mist: My pleasure.
++++++++++++ [Phase 2][Part 1][World of Darkness] One needs no eyes to truly see...
Aoi wrinkled up her nose, kicking at the remains of what was – or used to be – the Mud Gnome they had just felled. It was already the 3rd day since she had left Jyuukei along with the two Seijyutsukai of Fire and Water. And throughout those 3 days, they had been continuosly fighting monsters non- stop.
Of course it was tiring. She sighed, wiping her brow and looking at her companions, she pondered on about their quest. It was basically the same thing as signing a death contract, since Ragiel was a god, and of course, amazingly strong.
The three of them now stood no chance of winning her. She herself wielded the wind of the Silver Wolf, which was basically useless in the face of Ragiel's Seijyuu; Kai was amazingly strong and seemed to be completely bonded with his Seijyuu, but the Fire Bird was not yet Suzaku at all, and was worthless against a god; and Takao...
Her eyes wandered over to the midnight-haired Water user. He was, afterall, a rookie Seijyutsukai that had only managed to master 2 weaker attacks of the Blue Dragon. Throughout her observation of him during the past few days, he had yet to show any of the strength he had shown during the Scorpion-beast battle. Did Raimei's attack affect him? Or perhaps...?
"Where next?" She blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, staring into two large orbs of innocence and curiousity.
"Well, I'm sure that so long as we keep going in this direction, the Seiryu shrine would be sighted in less than a week, Takao-sa...n..." She blurted out the last syllable, changing "-ma" to "-n" just in time as Takao gave her 'the look'.
'The look' faded into a wide smile as Takao continued, "Well, are we stopping anywhere? Like a town? For food? I mean, it's like, ages since we've had some decent food..." Takao's eyes sparkled, and the message that he wanted to convey got through.
"Is that all you think about?" Came Kai's snort, not meaning to be an answer to that particular question, and was ignored by Takao anyway.
"Weeeeellll..." Aoi started slowly, revising her mental map and scanning it for nearby towns, "There is a town nearby..."
"Wahoo! Food! Banzaaaiii!!!" Takao leapt up at her reply, cutting her sentence short and very subtly forcing her to agree to his next plan – to eat. Kai sighed.
Aoi dusted herself off slightly, before turning around, a finger pointing meaningfully at a small rocky path that lay in front of them. Takao laughed, but stopped his antics and hurried after her, Kai following them shortly.
It was not long before their surroundings began to change. Lush green vegetation became wilted brown corpses of trees and bushes, and the soft ground cushioned with green grass became hard, dry and crusty – with no sign of green grass.
"Ew... Is it just me, or is it that something smells bad?" Takao wrinkled up his nose, tripping slightly over something that greatly resembled an animal bone.
"Something smells bad," Came Kai's quiet reply.
Aoi stopped short, cerulean eyes flashing, "Alright. I know you're out there."
Both Takao and Kai seemed to be surprised by her sudden command, though Takao's reaction was a little bit more exaggerated than Kai's. "What? Who? When? Where? Huh?"
Kai cursed mentally. Was there someone else here? Why hadn't he felt anything?
Aoi dodged toward her left, and something that looked like a large ivory spike crashed into the ground behind her, purple smoke seething upwards accompanied with the sound of sizzling.
Takao swallowed, and readied his battle stance, trying very hard to remember how it was like to cast his water shield, while Kai instinctively stepped in front of the Water user, eyes flashing.
Aoi frowned, muttering a few words under her breath, and Takao could feel the slight gusts of wind across his face as two wind currents were sent toward a somewhat large mud-rock. It shattered, and there was a sudden flicker of a shadow as someone leapt away.
The next spike came shortly after the rock shattered, and Takao gladly put up his shield, a current of water circling Kai and himself protectively. He grinned, "Hey... I remembered the spell!"
Kai snorted something that sounded to Takao like "idiot", and he pouted in response; the shield fading as the water current disappeared slowly, droplets hitting the dry and crusted ground.
Aoi sent yet another attack towards her target, her eyes scanning every single square of barren dry land in front of her as she calculated the target's speed, matching her wind to the nearly invisible shadow. This time, it hit.
Clouds of dust whirled upward as whatever Aoi hit skidded to a stop, followed by a string of curses, then a few spell words before a few spikes were sent in their direction.
Crimson eyes flashed, and each of the spikes burst into balls of flame, falling to the ground as fine gray powder. Kai smirked – the same trick never worked on him more than twice.
The next attack came not in the form of spikes, but as a large creature, claws and fangs bared. The three of them leapt backward as the creature crashed onto the spot where they were standing previously, and Takao's eyes widened as he recalled the creature from one of the storybooks he had read a few weeks ago before coming to Mekaiina.
Three pairs of glowing purple eyes stared into three directions, and another pair of eyes snaked forward, it's owner hissing fiercely. The lion's head roared, the dragon's arched majestically above it's counterpart, and the goat's head bent forward, horns toward them. The snake, that seemed to be it's tail, hissed again as the tail flailed around. [1]
"Chimaera..." Aoi frowned, "A seijyuu."
Her words confirmed Takao's wild guess, and he watched as the legendary three-breeded-creature stood in front of them, it's paw-like-hooves pressing dents into the ground, "A seijyuu? That means...?"
"The seijyutsukai's nearby." Aoi finished for him, as the Chimaera leapt backwards, the wings on it's back that looked somewhat like those of dragon wings spreading and flapping in the air, allowing it to levitate next to a figure who dusted herself off.
The figure shook black locks out of her eyes and threw her hair over her shoulders, brown eyes glinting in annoyance, "Aaaaa... I know Ragiel-sama said that you guys were a troublesome bunch, but I never expected three kids to be this troublesome..."
Aoi grinned, "Reknowned troublemaker of Jyuukei, I was..." She nodded, while Takao sweatdropped. The grin faded from her face almost immediately as she continued, "Didn't expect Ragiel to be on us so soon though... Sending one of her higher ranked Seijyutsukai too... Honoured I am..."
The woman smirked, her Chimaera landing in front of her, "Well, it isn't wise fighting with me, rookies... You don't want to die like your surroundings."
"You did all that?" Takao gaped, staring at the barren landscape that lay in front of him.
She nodded, a smile that did not reach her eyes tugging at her lips, a glaze going over her eyes, "Yes... all this destruction... Poison is such a powerful force..."
Aoi backed away, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she muttered a spell under her breath, a large silver wolf appearing behind her, wisps of zephyrs swirling around it.
"Aoi Kutamaki of the Silver Wolf... I have heard much about you and those elders of yours... Always starting rebellions against Ragiel-sama... Well, at least I get to kill you with those two chosen ones..." As she stopped her sentence, her Chimaera leapt forward, tail swinging toward Aoi, the snake's beady eyes bright, ready to strike.
Aoi warded the attack pretty successfully, her Wolf leaping forward, and swiftly 'slapping' the snake with its tail, before howling, causing wind currents to rush forward, pushing the Chimaera back, and off balance. It skidded to a stop, paw-like-hooves digging into the ground and once again sending dust clouds flying.
Takao blinked dumbly, feeling rather lost. Partly he was thankful that the woman did not go for him, and partly he was insulted that he didn't get to do something.
Kai crossed his arms, studying the battle before him, his mind calculating the odds. Aoi was bound to lose. Sure she had more speed and a great capacity for magic energy. But the fact that her element was hardly what one would call offensive...
The next attack from the Chimaera was stronger – the Silver Wolf struggled slightly, before pushing it backward once more with a growl. Aoi wiped the sweat from her brow, her breathing ragged.
The woman smirked, and her Chimaera leapt forward once more. This time, the Wolf whimpered, and backed down. Aoi squeezed her eyes shut and braced for compact.
A jet of water and a rather large fireball sent it flying as Takao and Kai ran forward, finally realising that they did not even take the advantage of three to one.
"You okay, Aoi?" Takao asked the Wind user, who nodded weakly, her Seijyu fading away with a last whimper before she sank to the ground,
"Whoaaa... First time my Seijyu actually got tired so easily..."
Takao gulped, suddenly feeling insecure.
The Chimaera leapt back to its owner, who was now eyeing Kai with great distaste. "Chosen of Suzaku. Hmph. Probably the strongest one for now. Guess I'd have to finish you first."
Kai raised an eyebrow, "Try?"
She frowned, spat, and her Chimaera leapt forward once more as she muttered a few words under her breath, and spikes materialised and took aim.
A swift kick sent the Chimaera off course, while arrows of fire burned down the spikes. Kai looked bored.
The woman fumed. Spitting a few more spell words out under her breath as the dragon's head opened its mouth, smoke like purple mist seething out of its mouth.
Kai frowned, trying to figure out the attack, while Takao leapt forward, water currents springing up around him.
The woman cursed, Takao cursed, Aoi blinked.
The dragon let out a howl as a blue dragon clamped its jaws around its throat, and Takao sank to the ground, blinking furiously. The seijyutsukai of the Chiimaera raised a finger in the air, and a large ball of red energy was blasted out of the lion's mouth, dispersing the dragon and sending droplets of water everywhere.
Apparently all that was too much distraction even for three heads, and when the Chimaera saw a large arrow of flame speeding towards it, it could hardly dodge. After a whirl of smoke and dust, it backed away behind its owner, one wing limp by its side while the woman tightened her grip on her own limp left arm, droplets of blood trailing down her hand and dripping onto the ground. She growled something about revenge, before disappearing.
Takao blinked somemore.
Aoi let out a sigh of relief as she stood up shakily, looking at Kai with newly found admiration. The woman had been right. He was the strongest among the three of them – to have casted such an attack.
Kai, however, didn't seem that relieved.
Takao was still blinking, his midnight blue eyes out of focus as he looked around, searching for something that wasn't there.
"Kinomiya, what's wrong?"
Takao blinked a few more times, and turned towards his left, grinning, "Nothing, Kai..."
Kai tapped his foot on the right of Takao, crimson eyes worried, "You can't see."
Takao sweatdropped, "N-no... I think I've just got some dust in my eyes..."
Aoi jumped up, and stood in front of Takao, her face right up to his – receiving no reaction from the chosen of Seiryuu – her eyes scanning his face, she frowned, "The purple mist thing just now... I think it was some kind of poison powder... Part of its harmfulness has been basically eliminated by Takao-san's shield, but I think it's affected his eyes."
Kai cursed, and Takao fell silent.
"Well..." Aoi shook her head sadly, "It's pretty bad, but if Takao-san hadn't leapt in, Kai-sama might be..." She trailed off, and the other two knew what she meant.
Takao was relieved, in some way or another – except the fact that everything was black for him now – though he couldn't really put a finger on what he was relieved about.
Kai, on the other hand, was not that happy. Why had Takao done that stupid thing anyway? It was not like he needed that idiot to save him anyway. He could've very well stopped the attack himself. He growled, but kept quiet, gritting his teeth. He wouldn't let his temper get the better of him this time. It was just that seeing Takao like that because of him...
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to worry. "Is there any way we can get his eyes healed?"
Aoi frowned, seemingly deep in thought.
There was a moment of silence, and Takao looked lost, as well as extremely worried.
It felt as if a black cloth was suffocating him. He just wasn't used to not seeing anything except black. He looked around pointlessly. Was Aoi worried? Was Kai angry? Why wasn't he able to feel their emotions? It was much easier when he could see... Or were they in danger? Was there another enemy out there?
Panic rose like a flame in his chest, and he swallowed the lump that had somehow or another got up his throat and stuck itself there.
Silence.
He couldn't stand silence. At least when there were some sounds he could still more or less feel less empty. But when there were no sounds at all.
He felt alone. "Speak."
Kai raised an eyebrow at his request, "What?"
Takao breathed in shakily, "Just speak. I don't like it silent."
Kai's mouth shut and stayed shut. It was hard speaking just to stop silence. For him anyway.
Takao sighed, then closed his eyes – or did he not? It felt the same – and his mind wandered off. At least if he talked to himself in his mind he didn't feel as suffocated or strangled.
A sharp clap caused him to shoot up, suddenly all ears, "I remember! The nearby town has this famous doctor known as the Butterfly Oracle! She's said to be able to heal all kinds of injuries! We could go there and ask her to look at Takao-san's eyes for us!"
Takao looked gratefully at Aoi – or tried to. Was he looking in the right direction? – grinning, "So I won't be blind for long?"
"Exactly so, Takao-san," Aoi smiled, and helped him up.
"Where's this town?" Kai asked, looking less pressurized than before.
"Just a few hours from here, toward the North."
Takao nodded. Walked a few steps forward, then paused, "Where's North?"
Aoi laughed, and guided him in the right direction.
After walking for five minutes, he strayed off the path again, crashing against a tree.
"Ow!" He backed away, very nearly tripping over a rock, rubbing his head and cursing slightly. Aoi sweatdropped, and steered him back on the path.
No sooner than later he tripped over a rock.
"Argh. I'm never going to abuse my eyes next time..." He grumbled, trying to sit up, "At least I know how bad it is without them..."
Aoi looked worried, "If we continue like this though, a few hours will become more than a day... And I don't really like the sound of camping out here at night.
Takao looked puzzled, oblivious to his surroundings, but Kai nodded in agreement, understanding why Aoi was worried. They were attacked before, and there was no guarantee that the woman and her Chimaera wouldn't be back for them. Worse still, she might have brought back up this time.
Takao was blind, Aoi was drained.
If they really were to get attacked, they were doomed.
With a sigh, Kai stepped forward, raising an eyebrow at the Blue Dragon's chosen one, "Kinomiya, how heavy are you?"
Takao frowned, "Now isn't the time to tease me about my weight, Kai. And for your information, I'm very light now."
"Good." Came the simple reply as Kai bent down, slipped an arm below Takao's legs and another around his back, before standing up.
"Uwa!" Takao could've sworn he suddenly lost his balance, and the darkness in his head tumbled around topsy turvy. "Kai?"
"If I let you walk, we're going to be stuck out here, thanks to your clumsiness." The reply.
"Clumsiness?!"
Aoi sweatdropped, before laughing lightly, "If Kai-sama's carrying Takao- san, then we'll be reaching town soon..."
Kai nodded, then looked down at Takao, who was awkwardly trying to find a place to put his arms that were hanging down rather uncomfortably due to the way Kai was carrying him.At first he decided to leave them as they were, but after five minutes, he changed his mind. His arms were getting cramped.
Apologizing mentally to Kai, he looped his arms loosely around the older boy's neck, keeping silent and awaiting a response.
Kai seemingly tensed, but he said nothing and did nothing.
Takao let it be, burrying his face in the Fire user's neck, dozing off.
He was so tired... ...
Aoi blinked, looking back at Kai, who had suddenly gone rather stiff, "Kai- sama, are you okay?" She got no response. She repeated her query once more, this time louder, "Kai-sama? ARE YOU OKAY?"
The dual-coloured-haired boy's head snapped up, eyes suddenly alert, "Yes?"
"Uhh..." Aoi sweatdropped, suddenly feeling awkward, "You're all stiff and that... are you tired? Is Takao-san too heavy?"
Kai blinked, looked blankly at her, then shook his head, "No, it's alright..." He shifted his arms slightly, easing Takao's weight closer to his chest while his arms found comfortable positions to slide in.
He was trying very hard to keep natural. Not when he had a very warm Takao in his arms. He looked away from the midnight-haired boy, making sure he looked down to hide the faint blush that somehow or another found its way across his cheeks.
"Alright! We're here!" Aoi grinned, waving wildly at a large wooden gate, "Chou Village!"
Kai let out a sigh of relief.
"We'll get Takao-san's eyes healed in no time!" Aoi assured, stepping into the village.
+++
"And even though I said that..." Aoi looked to Kai apologetically as he set an awakened Takao on the wooden floor of a crowded inn. "I'm sorry! I really don't know where to find her!" She put her hands together as she bowed, flustered.
"It's okay, actually," Takao waved a free hand at Aoi, "It's not like my eyes are in pain or not..."
Kai snorted, "We can start looking for her, you said the Butterfly Oracle stayed in the village."
Aoi nodded, "Well, true enough... We should."
Takao blinked.
Kai looked at him, then sighed, "Kinomiya, you sit here and wait, Aoi and I will go and look for the Butterfly Oracle."
"Eh? Why?" Takao pouted, facing the source of Kai's voice, "I want to go too!"
"You'll only slow us down, idiot." Kai grunted, but softened up when he saw Takao's hurt face and added, "Besides, it would be faster if you just sat here and rested..."
Takao sighed, but nodded, "...Okay, I get it... I'll stay here and wait... Aoi, you can leave your belongings here with me."
Aoi grinned, "Thanks, Takao-san..." She smiled, putting a small bag down on a nearby chair while she guided Takao onto another one, "We'll be back soon!"
Takao cocked his head to one side as the footfalls of his companions slowly faded into the distance. He sighed. For a long time, nothing else but the busy hustle bustle of the people in the inn. Chatting, eating, making merry...
"What do you mean you lost your wallet? Are you trying to eat a free meal?!"
"I said, my wallet is missing! Probably robbed!"
"Enough excuses! Do you think I would let you go off just for that excuse after you've eaten so much?!"
"But what can I do?! My wallet is really gone!"
Takao blinked, his head turning in the direction of a heated quarrel between a girl and a man, most probably the shop keeper. All in all, though he didn't understand the situation much, the conversation made him feel like doing one thing. Digging around in the bag Aoi had left with him, he brought out a small pouch-like-bag, standing up and walking over in the direction of the quarrel, "Uh... How much do you need?" [2] He clumsily dug his hand into the bag, and drew out a gold piece.
Silence.
"Oh, my my... Dear sir, that is definitely enough... Do you want to order anything else?" The shopkeeper's voice came as Takao felt him take the coin away delicately, suddenly extremely sweet.
"Uh... I'd do with some more hot chocolate..."
"Yes yes, at once..."
The shopkeeper scurried away, and Takao looked blur, cocking his head to one side.
The girl came forward, her footsteps trailing over to his table as he sat down, and her voice came, rather clearly with a certain ring to it that made her sound louder and clearer compared to Aoi, enquiring, "Is it okay if I sit here?"
Takao nodded, "No problem."
"Are you a lord or something? You're really rich..."
Blue eyes blinked in confusion, "Really? But that was just one coin..."
"One gold coin... do you know how much those cost? You could buy every single item on the menu here with that!"
"Uwaaa... I didn't know it was worth that much!" Takao blinked, amused. Elder Rashii had given them at least three large bags of those coins! They were rich! Filthy rich! Like Kai was! Shaking his head of the sudden train of thoughts, he grinned, "Naa, I didn't hear about your name yet..."
"Aa! I'm Akane! Akane of the Flame Hawk! I'm a Seijyutsukai!"
"Oh," He nodded, "What happened to your wallet?"
"Got stolen," he could hear the slight ruffling of a cloak as she shrugged, "I was eating, and when I reached for it to pay, it was gone... This poor village, too many corrupted men nowadays..."
Takao nodded once more, though he really couldn't see any corrupted men.
"Your eyes... What happened?" Akane suddenly asked, probably due to his unfocused stare into the distance – he didn't really know where to look to maintain eye contact.
"That got affected by this poison gas kind of thing..."
"Oh dear, that's pretty bad... I could help heal you, you know... For helping me with the money..."
Takao grinned, "Naa, it's okay... Kai and Aoi had gone looking for a doctor anyway..."
"Kai? Aoi? Who are they?"
"My friends." He decided to keep it at that. Elder Rashii had said that there were some people that were prone to bashing up a person who suddenly said that they were the chosen ones of the four gods if they heard so. Going that far in an introduction with a stranger he could not see was rather stupid too. Kai would scold him pretty bad if he did that.
"Aa... They're looking for... a doctor?"
"Un, they said that they were looking for the..."
He trailed off as familiar footfalls came his way. Very nearly knocking off the hot chocolate that the shopkeeper had just put down on his table. "Kai! Aoi!"
"Takao-san..." Aoi's voice came, rather breathless and sounding quite upset, "I'm sorry!"
"What's wrong?"
"We couldn't find the Butterfly Oracle. At all," Kai sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
Takao's face fell, but he grinned again, "Oh, never mind... We'll find her soon... let's just rest for today..."
"You're... looking for the Butterfly Oracle?"
"Who's that?" Kai's voice was edged with caution, and Takao hurried to explain,
"Aa... this is Akane... Her wallet got stolen and all that, so I helped her pay the bill, and..."
"Yes, we are," Aoi answered politely, cutting off Takao's sentence, "Why did you suddenly ask?"
"Aa!" Akane laughed, "When Takao here told me that his friends were looking for a doctor I was rather confused at which doctor you were looking for... but if it's the Butterfly Oracle you're looking for..."
"You know who she is? Where is she?" Aoi asked, suddenly excited.
Laughter once more, and Kai scowled, "Why are you laughing?"
"The Butterfly Oracle? That's me!"
------+------ [To be continued!]
Um... yea... O_O As I said, I was changing Akane and Aoi's roles around pretty bad... ^^; I know this is an update that took a long long long time! *bows in apology* I'm so sorry! But... at least it's up? XD
I was stuck around the middle of the story... my vocabulary and grammar is suddenly clogged. All my sentences are choppy and weird. Yes, I'm sorry. U_U;
Yea, and Takao was very... uke-ish naaa... In the beginning I wanted the entire thing to be in Takao's point of view, but it was rather hard for me to go about it in the beginning, so I left it at that.
Yes, we have the classic 'bad guy working under stronger bad guy' appearing and all, but heck, I didn't even leave her name! ^^; Since it would be rather weird to have her announcing her name like all bad guys usually do, and that's cliché, and I'm trying not to make anything cliché... (though I most probably did...)
The 'carrying Takao' scene? *bursts into tears* When I get my grammar and vocab back I'll make sure I rewrite it! So hard to describe!!! ____! So sorry to everyone!!!
Please do R&R, especially if you have something to point out~ ^^ Compliments work well too!!!
Mist: *twacks her*
Yes, I'm sorry.
Side notes, nonsensical stuff, and author notes:
[1] Chimera? Chimaera? I've seen all kinds of spellings everywhere! ^^ Don't mind me if I spelt it wrong, just treat it as a made up name... *laughs* Followed the descriptions of a Chimaera in Devil Children~ ^^
[2] *shrugs* I don't know... just the train of thought that Takao would most likely do that... I'm weird, yes I know...
I wanted Takao's blindness to last for two chapters in the beginning, but I felt that I was going to send the fic into a long lag, and since most of the people are waiting for the action as well as the main plot, I decided to get going. This chapter purely existed for me to get Akane into the plot. *laughs*
Max and Rei fans, I'm SORRY!!! *bows down in apology* But it's gonna be a while till they come in~
Once again, till the ideas start running once more! -minted*candi yori!
A/N::
Wahooo~ I know this is a really really really late update, but for some reasons all my ideas died. I'm so utterly sorry! *bows*
Mist: And, of course, you were lazy?
_ Shut up. Either way or another, I felt that I just simply couldn't put all my lovely lovely reviewers down and thusly! ^_^ Yep, an update. Finally moving into Phase 2! Banzaaaaiii!!! Hopefully everyone still remembers me... X3
Doing my best to improve my writing style – my english teacher says I have terrible paragraphing and what not... I'll work hard!~
Review replies, as usual~ Since everyone's reviews are what keeps me going!
Tina-sama: Here's the update~ Rei and Max? =D Soon, soon...
Kiina-sama: *dies* *revives* There. Now that I'm writing I'm alive again!!! Mwahahahaha!!! *mallet twacks her* Right. Back to where I was. China sucks bad too... Blocks too many fansites – good ones too... *sighs* I have to make- do till I get back to Singapore... *patpat* At least there's fanfiction.net! With wonderful wonderful fanfic writers!!! *worships them all* They keep me alive... ^^
PinkDevil-sama: I'm so sorry I didn't update earlier too!!! *faints* I guess I just make them both pretty daft yea? (Taking that both of them are chosen, they should already guess who the other two are, but...) I will make sure that this ending ain't corny!!! X3 Hee hee... but I'm not promising anything. Mwaha.
Mandy-sama: I love you too... XD Thanks for all your reviews nyu!~ And I'm not the best KaiTaka writer out there!!! *takes out list that unrolls and goes on forever* They are!!! XD Hee hee~ Here's the next chapter... No ritual suicide for me – yet.
D.G-sama: Yep, no action basically screamed "boring" at me while I was writing it, but thank you so much for the review~ Am glad you liked it.
Amara-sama: Glad you liked it. *sniffles* I feel so flattered... ;_; *sends an e-mail over* Wahaha...
Assassin of the Shadows: ^0^/ Thanks for the review! Fourth chapter ish up! (Finally)
Losingmymind-sama: Aheh... confusing? X_X; I'm sorry! Will try to simplify it sometime when I get the time to... but perhaps as the story goes on everything will click?
Fallen1-sama: XDD An update from me to you! *hugs* Oooo... make-out scene? =D ... Heh... maybe later... ^^ *mentally notes it down* X3 Yay! Go Takao-chan! Kai-sama!!! SAVE THE WORLD! ^0^ Then you get to make out. Mwahahaha...
RedCountess-sama: Eh? Japanese? In that story? O_O? Where? The '-sama's and '-san's? I'm sorry! Just can't stop it... all the conversations in my head are japanese! (Even when I hardly know any...) U_U; I'll do my best to make it plain english this time~ ^^
TeamTyKai-sama/TechnoRanma-sama: m(_ _)m! You flatter me yet once more! (Mist: If she keeps getting praise from all her idols like this she will hyperventilate. _) Ooh, and Kai protecting Takao?... I'm just more comfy with writing Takao as an Uke... XDDD It's fun to get him hurt!!! *gets twacked by Dranzer* Sorry, Kai-sama... U_U;
Mystic-sky-dragon-sama: ?? What did Takao say that wasn't right? O_O?
SHF-chan: o_O I officially thank you for eating my ending. X3 Here's the fourth chappy!
Goddess-of-Nature-sama: No problem on forgetting to comment!~ Am glad that you dropped by anyway!
Kyoko-chan: Heheh... Thank you once again for your flattering review!~ Chapter 4 – from me to you~ Chux.
FeelinGlayish-sama: Thank you once again! *bows down* Guess the information chappy is pretty classic... X_X; One day, one day I shall find a way to escape that information chapter... (Mist: That one day will be a pretty far away 'one day'... _)
I feel that I'm overdoing the reviews... But meh... I love you all too much to NOT drop a message personally!!! *grabs every reviewer and gives them a hug* ^0^/ Right... disclaimer...
Mist: If minted*candi ever owned Beyblade... Beyblade will not exist, since the idiot never finishes up anything.
Flattering, Mist.
Mist: My pleasure.
++++++++++++ [Phase 2][Part 1][World of Darkness] One needs no eyes to truly see...
Aoi wrinkled up her nose, kicking at the remains of what was – or used to be – the Mud Gnome they had just felled. It was already the 3rd day since she had left Jyuukei along with the two Seijyutsukai of Fire and Water. And throughout those 3 days, they had been continuosly fighting monsters non- stop.
Of course it was tiring. She sighed, wiping her brow and looking at her companions, she pondered on about their quest. It was basically the same thing as signing a death contract, since Ragiel was a god, and of course, amazingly strong.
The three of them now stood no chance of winning her. She herself wielded the wind of the Silver Wolf, which was basically useless in the face of Ragiel's Seijyuu; Kai was amazingly strong and seemed to be completely bonded with his Seijyuu, but the Fire Bird was not yet Suzaku at all, and was worthless against a god; and Takao...
Her eyes wandered over to the midnight-haired Water user. He was, afterall, a rookie Seijyutsukai that had only managed to master 2 weaker attacks of the Blue Dragon. Throughout her observation of him during the past few days, he had yet to show any of the strength he had shown during the Scorpion-beast battle. Did Raimei's attack affect him? Or perhaps...?
"Where next?" She blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, staring into two large orbs of innocence and curiousity.
"Well, I'm sure that so long as we keep going in this direction, the Seiryu shrine would be sighted in less than a week, Takao-sa...n..." She blurted out the last syllable, changing "-ma" to "-n" just in time as Takao gave her 'the look'.
'The look' faded into a wide smile as Takao continued, "Well, are we stopping anywhere? Like a town? For food? I mean, it's like, ages since we've had some decent food..." Takao's eyes sparkled, and the message that he wanted to convey got through.
"Is that all you think about?" Came Kai's snort, not meaning to be an answer to that particular question, and was ignored by Takao anyway.
"Weeeeellll..." Aoi started slowly, revising her mental map and scanning it for nearby towns, "There is a town nearby..."
"Wahoo! Food! Banzaaaiii!!!" Takao leapt up at her reply, cutting her sentence short and very subtly forcing her to agree to his next plan – to eat. Kai sighed.
Aoi dusted herself off slightly, before turning around, a finger pointing meaningfully at a small rocky path that lay in front of them. Takao laughed, but stopped his antics and hurried after her, Kai following them shortly.
It was not long before their surroundings began to change. Lush green vegetation became wilted brown corpses of trees and bushes, and the soft ground cushioned with green grass became hard, dry and crusty – with no sign of green grass.
"Ew... Is it just me, or is it that something smells bad?" Takao wrinkled up his nose, tripping slightly over something that greatly resembled an animal bone.
"Something smells bad," Came Kai's quiet reply.
Aoi stopped short, cerulean eyes flashing, "Alright. I know you're out there."
Both Takao and Kai seemed to be surprised by her sudden command, though Takao's reaction was a little bit more exaggerated than Kai's. "What? Who? When? Where? Huh?"
Kai cursed mentally. Was there someone else here? Why hadn't he felt anything?
Aoi dodged toward her left, and something that looked like a large ivory spike crashed into the ground behind her, purple smoke seething upwards accompanied with the sound of sizzling.
Takao swallowed, and readied his battle stance, trying very hard to remember how it was like to cast his water shield, while Kai instinctively stepped in front of the Water user, eyes flashing.
Aoi frowned, muttering a few words under her breath, and Takao could feel the slight gusts of wind across his face as two wind currents were sent toward a somewhat large mud-rock. It shattered, and there was a sudden flicker of a shadow as someone leapt away.
The next spike came shortly after the rock shattered, and Takao gladly put up his shield, a current of water circling Kai and himself protectively. He grinned, "Hey... I remembered the spell!"
Kai snorted something that sounded to Takao like "idiot", and he pouted in response; the shield fading as the water current disappeared slowly, droplets hitting the dry and crusted ground.
Aoi sent yet another attack towards her target, her eyes scanning every single square of barren dry land in front of her as she calculated the target's speed, matching her wind to the nearly invisible shadow. This time, it hit.
Clouds of dust whirled upward as whatever Aoi hit skidded to a stop, followed by a string of curses, then a few spell words before a few spikes were sent in their direction.
Crimson eyes flashed, and each of the spikes burst into balls of flame, falling to the ground as fine gray powder. Kai smirked – the same trick never worked on him more than twice.
The next attack came not in the form of spikes, but as a large creature, claws and fangs bared. The three of them leapt backward as the creature crashed onto the spot where they were standing previously, and Takao's eyes widened as he recalled the creature from one of the storybooks he had read a few weeks ago before coming to Mekaiina.
Three pairs of glowing purple eyes stared into three directions, and another pair of eyes snaked forward, it's owner hissing fiercely. The lion's head roared, the dragon's arched majestically above it's counterpart, and the goat's head bent forward, horns toward them. The snake, that seemed to be it's tail, hissed again as the tail flailed around. [1]
"Chimaera..." Aoi frowned, "A seijyuu."
Her words confirmed Takao's wild guess, and he watched as the legendary three-breeded-creature stood in front of them, it's paw-like-hooves pressing dents into the ground, "A seijyuu? That means...?"
"The seijyutsukai's nearby." Aoi finished for him, as the Chimaera leapt backwards, the wings on it's back that looked somewhat like those of dragon wings spreading and flapping in the air, allowing it to levitate next to a figure who dusted herself off.
The figure shook black locks out of her eyes and threw her hair over her shoulders, brown eyes glinting in annoyance, "Aaaaa... I know Ragiel-sama said that you guys were a troublesome bunch, but I never expected three kids to be this troublesome..."
Aoi grinned, "Reknowned troublemaker of Jyuukei, I was..." She nodded, while Takao sweatdropped. The grin faded from her face almost immediately as she continued, "Didn't expect Ragiel to be on us so soon though... Sending one of her higher ranked Seijyutsukai too... Honoured I am..."
The woman smirked, her Chimaera landing in front of her, "Well, it isn't wise fighting with me, rookies... You don't want to die like your surroundings."
"You did all that?" Takao gaped, staring at the barren landscape that lay in front of him.
She nodded, a smile that did not reach her eyes tugging at her lips, a glaze going over her eyes, "Yes... all this destruction... Poison is such a powerful force..."
Aoi backed away, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she muttered a spell under her breath, a large silver wolf appearing behind her, wisps of zephyrs swirling around it.
"Aoi Kutamaki of the Silver Wolf... I have heard much about you and those elders of yours... Always starting rebellions against Ragiel-sama... Well, at least I get to kill you with those two chosen ones..." As she stopped her sentence, her Chimaera leapt forward, tail swinging toward Aoi, the snake's beady eyes bright, ready to strike.
Aoi warded the attack pretty successfully, her Wolf leaping forward, and swiftly 'slapping' the snake with its tail, before howling, causing wind currents to rush forward, pushing the Chimaera back, and off balance. It skidded to a stop, paw-like-hooves digging into the ground and once again sending dust clouds flying.
Takao blinked dumbly, feeling rather lost. Partly he was thankful that the woman did not go for him, and partly he was insulted that he didn't get to do something.
Kai crossed his arms, studying the battle before him, his mind calculating the odds. Aoi was bound to lose. Sure she had more speed and a great capacity for magic energy. But the fact that her element was hardly what one would call offensive...
The next attack from the Chimaera was stronger – the Silver Wolf struggled slightly, before pushing it backward once more with a growl. Aoi wiped the sweat from her brow, her breathing ragged.
The woman smirked, and her Chimaera leapt forward once more. This time, the Wolf whimpered, and backed down. Aoi squeezed her eyes shut and braced for compact.
A jet of water and a rather large fireball sent it flying as Takao and Kai ran forward, finally realising that they did not even take the advantage of three to one.
"You okay, Aoi?" Takao asked the Wind user, who nodded weakly, her Seijyu fading away with a last whimper before she sank to the ground,
"Whoaaa... First time my Seijyu actually got tired so easily..."
Takao gulped, suddenly feeling insecure.
The Chimaera leapt back to its owner, who was now eyeing Kai with great distaste. "Chosen of Suzaku. Hmph. Probably the strongest one for now. Guess I'd have to finish you first."
Kai raised an eyebrow, "Try?"
She frowned, spat, and her Chimaera leapt forward once more as she muttered a few words under her breath, and spikes materialised and took aim.
A swift kick sent the Chimaera off course, while arrows of fire burned down the spikes. Kai looked bored.
The woman fumed. Spitting a few more spell words out under her breath as the dragon's head opened its mouth, smoke like purple mist seething out of its mouth.
Kai frowned, trying to figure out the attack, while Takao leapt forward, water currents springing up around him.
The woman cursed, Takao cursed, Aoi blinked.
The dragon let out a howl as a blue dragon clamped its jaws around its throat, and Takao sank to the ground, blinking furiously. The seijyutsukai of the Chiimaera raised a finger in the air, and a large ball of red energy was blasted out of the lion's mouth, dispersing the dragon and sending droplets of water everywhere.
Apparently all that was too much distraction even for three heads, and when the Chimaera saw a large arrow of flame speeding towards it, it could hardly dodge. After a whirl of smoke and dust, it backed away behind its owner, one wing limp by its side while the woman tightened her grip on her own limp left arm, droplets of blood trailing down her hand and dripping onto the ground. She growled something about revenge, before disappearing.
Takao blinked somemore.
Aoi let out a sigh of relief as she stood up shakily, looking at Kai with newly found admiration. The woman had been right. He was the strongest among the three of them – to have casted such an attack.
Kai, however, didn't seem that relieved.
Takao was still blinking, his midnight blue eyes out of focus as he looked around, searching for something that wasn't there.
"Kinomiya, what's wrong?"
Takao blinked a few more times, and turned towards his left, grinning, "Nothing, Kai..."
Kai tapped his foot on the right of Takao, crimson eyes worried, "You can't see."
Takao sweatdropped, "N-no... I think I've just got some dust in my eyes..."
Aoi jumped up, and stood in front of Takao, her face right up to his – receiving no reaction from the chosen of Seiryuu – her eyes scanning his face, she frowned, "The purple mist thing just now... I think it was some kind of poison powder... Part of its harmfulness has been basically eliminated by Takao-san's shield, but I think it's affected his eyes."
Kai cursed, and Takao fell silent.
"Well..." Aoi shook her head sadly, "It's pretty bad, but if Takao-san hadn't leapt in, Kai-sama might be..." She trailed off, and the other two knew what she meant.
Takao was relieved, in some way or another – except the fact that everything was black for him now – though he couldn't really put a finger on what he was relieved about.
Kai, on the other hand, was not that happy. Why had Takao done that stupid thing anyway? It was not like he needed that idiot to save him anyway. He could've very well stopped the attack himself. He growled, but kept quiet, gritting his teeth. He wouldn't let his temper get the better of him this time. It was just that seeing Takao like that because of him...
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to worry. "Is there any way we can get his eyes healed?"
Aoi frowned, seemingly deep in thought.
There was a moment of silence, and Takao looked lost, as well as extremely worried.
It felt as if a black cloth was suffocating him. He just wasn't used to not seeing anything except black. He looked around pointlessly. Was Aoi worried? Was Kai angry? Why wasn't he able to feel their emotions? It was much easier when he could see... Or were they in danger? Was there another enemy out there?
Panic rose like a flame in his chest, and he swallowed the lump that had somehow or another got up his throat and stuck itself there.
Silence.
He couldn't stand silence. At least when there were some sounds he could still more or less feel less empty. But when there were no sounds at all.
He felt alone. "Speak."
Kai raised an eyebrow at his request, "What?"
Takao breathed in shakily, "Just speak. I don't like it silent."
Kai's mouth shut and stayed shut. It was hard speaking just to stop silence. For him anyway.
Takao sighed, then closed his eyes – or did he not? It felt the same – and his mind wandered off. At least if he talked to himself in his mind he didn't feel as suffocated or strangled.
A sharp clap caused him to shoot up, suddenly all ears, "I remember! The nearby town has this famous doctor known as the Butterfly Oracle! She's said to be able to heal all kinds of injuries! We could go there and ask her to look at Takao-san's eyes for us!"
Takao looked gratefully at Aoi – or tried to. Was he looking in the right direction? – grinning, "So I won't be blind for long?"
"Exactly so, Takao-san," Aoi smiled, and helped him up.
"Where's this town?" Kai asked, looking less pressurized than before.
"Just a few hours from here, toward the North."
Takao nodded. Walked a few steps forward, then paused, "Where's North?"
Aoi laughed, and guided him in the right direction.
After walking for five minutes, he strayed off the path again, crashing against a tree.
"Ow!" He backed away, very nearly tripping over a rock, rubbing his head and cursing slightly. Aoi sweatdropped, and steered him back on the path.
No sooner than later he tripped over a rock.
"Argh. I'm never going to abuse my eyes next time..." He grumbled, trying to sit up, "At least I know how bad it is without them..."
Aoi looked worried, "If we continue like this though, a few hours will become more than a day... And I don't really like the sound of camping out here at night.
Takao looked puzzled, oblivious to his surroundings, but Kai nodded in agreement, understanding why Aoi was worried. They were attacked before, and there was no guarantee that the woman and her Chimaera wouldn't be back for them. Worse still, she might have brought back up this time.
Takao was blind, Aoi was drained.
If they really were to get attacked, they were doomed.
With a sigh, Kai stepped forward, raising an eyebrow at the Blue Dragon's chosen one, "Kinomiya, how heavy are you?"
Takao frowned, "Now isn't the time to tease me about my weight, Kai. And for your information, I'm very light now."
"Good." Came the simple reply as Kai bent down, slipped an arm below Takao's legs and another around his back, before standing up.
"Uwa!" Takao could've sworn he suddenly lost his balance, and the darkness in his head tumbled around topsy turvy. "Kai?"
"If I let you walk, we're going to be stuck out here, thanks to your clumsiness." The reply.
"Clumsiness?!"
Aoi sweatdropped, before laughing lightly, "If Kai-sama's carrying Takao- san, then we'll be reaching town soon..."
Kai nodded, then looked down at Takao, who was awkwardly trying to find a place to put his arms that were hanging down rather uncomfortably due to the way Kai was carrying him.At first he decided to leave them as they were, but after five minutes, he changed his mind. His arms were getting cramped.
Apologizing mentally to Kai, he looped his arms loosely around the older boy's neck, keeping silent and awaiting a response.
Kai seemingly tensed, but he said nothing and did nothing.
Takao let it be, burrying his face in the Fire user's neck, dozing off.
He was so tired... ...
Aoi blinked, looking back at Kai, who had suddenly gone rather stiff, "Kai- sama, are you okay?" She got no response. She repeated her query once more, this time louder, "Kai-sama? ARE YOU OKAY?"
The dual-coloured-haired boy's head snapped up, eyes suddenly alert, "Yes?"
"Uhh..." Aoi sweatdropped, suddenly feeling awkward, "You're all stiff and that... are you tired? Is Takao-san too heavy?"
Kai blinked, looked blankly at her, then shook his head, "No, it's alright..." He shifted his arms slightly, easing Takao's weight closer to his chest while his arms found comfortable positions to slide in.
He was trying very hard to keep natural. Not when he had a very warm Takao in his arms. He looked away from the midnight-haired boy, making sure he looked down to hide the faint blush that somehow or another found its way across his cheeks.
"Alright! We're here!" Aoi grinned, waving wildly at a large wooden gate, "Chou Village!"
Kai let out a sigh of relief.
"We'll get Takao-san's eyes healed in no time!" Aoi assured, stepping into the village.
+++
"And even though I said that..." Aoi looked to Kai apologetically as he set an awakened Takao on the wooden floor of a crowded inn. "I'm sorry! I really don't know where to find her!" She put her hands together as she bowed, flustered.
"It's okay, actually," Takao waved a free hand at Aoi, "It's not like my eyes are in pain or not..."
Kai snorted, "We can start looking for her, you said the Butterfly Oracle stayed in the village."
Aoi nodded, "Well, true enough... We should."
Takao blinked.
Kai looked at him, then sighed, "Kinomiya, you sit here and wait, Aoi and I will go and look for the Butterfly Oracle."
"Eh? Why?" Takao pouted, facing the source of Kai's voice, "I want to go too!"
"You'll only slow us down, idiot." Kai grunted, but softened up when he saw Takao's hurt face and added, "Besides, it would be faster if you just sat here and rested..."
Takao sighed, but nodded, "...Okay, I get it... I'll stay here and wait... Aoi, you can leave your belongings here with me."
Aoi grinned, "Thanks, Takao-san..." She smiled, putting a small bag down on a nearby chair while she guided Takao onto another one, "We'll be back soon!"
Takao cocked his head to one side as the footfalls of his companions slowly faded into the distance. He sighed. For a long time, nothing else but the busy hustle bustle of the people in the inn. Chatting, eating, making merry...
"What do you mean you lost your wallet? Are you trying to eat a free meal?!"
"I said, my wallet is missing! Probably robbed!"
"Enough excuses! Do you think I would let you go off just for that excuse after you've eaten so much?!"
"But what can I do?! My wallet is really gone!"
Takao blinked, his head turning in the direction of a heated quarrel between a girl and a man, most probably the shop keeper. All in all, though he didn't understand the situation much, the conversation made him feel like doing one thing. Digging around in the bag Aoi had left with him, he brought out a small pouch-like-bag, standing up and walking over in the direction of the quarrel, "Uh... How much do you need?" [2] He clumsily dug his hand into the bag, and drew out a gold piece.
Silence.
"Oh, my my... Dear sir, that is definitely enough... Do you want to order anything else?" The shopkeeper's voice came as Takao felt him take the coin away delicately, suddenly extremely sweet.
"Uh... I'd do with some more hot chocolate..."
"Yes yes, at once..."
The shopkeeper scurried away, and Takao looked blur, cocking his head to one side.
The girl came forward, her footsteps trailing over to his table as he sat down, and her voice came, rather clearly with a certain ring to it that made her sound louder and clearer compared to Aoi, enquiring, "Is it okay if I sit here?"
Takao nodded, "No problem."
"Are you a lord or something? You're really rich..."
Blue eyes blinked in confusion, "Really? But that was just one coin..."
"One gold coin... do you know how much those cost? You could buy every single item on the menu here with that!"
"Uwaaa... I didn't know it was worth that much!" Takao blinked, amused. Elder Rashii had given them at least three large bags of those coins! They were rich! Filthy rich! Like Kai was! Shaking his head of the sudden train of thoughts, he grinned, "Naa, I didn't hear about your name yet..."
"Aa! I'm Akane! Akane of the Flame Hawk! I'm a Seijyutsukai!"
"Oh," He nodded, "What happened to your wallet?"
"Got stolen," he could hear the slight ruffling of a cloak as she shrugged, "I was eating, and when I reached for it to pay, it was gone... This poor village, too many corrupted men nowadays..."
Takao nodded once more, though he really couldn't see any corrupted men.
"Your eyes... What happened?" Akane suddenly asked, probably due to his unfocused stare into the distance – he didn't really know where to look to maintain eye contact.
"That got affected by this poison gas kind of thing..."
"Oh dear, that's pretty bad... I could help heal you, you know... For helping me with the money..."
Takao grinned, "Naa, it's okay... Kai and Aoi had gone looking for a doctor anyway..."
"Kai? Aoi? Who are they?"
"My friends." He decided to keep it at that. Elder Rashii had said that there were some people that were prone to bashing up a person who suddenly said that they were the chosen ones of the four gods if they heard so. Going that far in an introduction with a stranger he could not see was rather stupid too. Kai would scold him pretty bad if he did that.
"Aa... They're looking for... a doctor?"
"Un, they said that they were looking for the..."
He trailed off as familiar footfalls came his way. Very nearly knocking off the hot chocolate that the shopkeeper had just put down on his table. "Kai! Aoi!"
"Takao-san..." Aoi's voice came, rather breathless and sounding quite upset, "I'm sorry!"
"What's wrong?"
"We couldn't find the Butterfly Oracle. At all," Kai sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
Takao's face fell, but he grinned again, "Oh, never mind... We'll find her soon... let's just rest for today..."
"You're... looking for the Butterfly Oracle?"
"Who's that?" Kai's voice was edged with caution, and Takao hurried to explain,
"Aa... this is Akane... Her wallet got stolen and all that, so I helped her pay the bill, and..."
"Yes, we are," Aoi answered politely, cutting off Takao's sentence, "Why did you suddenly ask?"
"Aa!" Akane laughed, "When Takao here told me that his friends were looking for a doctor I was rather confused at which doctor you were looking for... but if it's the Butterfly Oracle you're looking for..."
"You know who she is? Where is she?" Aoi asked, suddenly excited.
Laughter once more, and Kai scowled, "Why are you laughing?"
"The Butterfly Oracle? That's me!"
------+------ [To be continued!]
Um... yea... O_O As I said, I was changing Akane and Aoi's roles around pretty bad... ^^; I know this is an update that took a long long long time! *bows in apology* I'm so sorry! But... at least it's up? XD
I was stuck around the middle of the story... my vocabulary and grammar is suddenly clogged. All my sentences are choppy and weird. Yes, I'm sorry. U_U;
Yea, and Takao was very... uke-ish naaa... In the beginning I wanted the entire thing to be in Takao's point of view, but it was rather hard for me to go about it in the beginning, so I left it at that.
Yes, we have the classic 'bad guy working under stronger bad guy' appearing and all, but heck, I didn't even leave her name! ^^; Since it would be rather weird to have her announcing her name like all bad guys usually do, and that's cliché, and I'm trying not to make anything cliché... (though I most probably did...)
The 'carrying Takao' scene? *bursts into tears* When I get my grammar and vocab back I'll make sure I rewrite it! So hard to describe!!! ____! So sorry to everyone!!!
Please do R&R, especially if you have something to point out~ ^^ Compliments work well too!!!
Mist: *twacks her*
Yes, I'm sorry.
Side notes, nonsensical stuff, and author notes:
[1] Chimera? Chimaera? I've seen all kinds of spellings everywhere! ^^ Don't mind me if I spelt it wrong, just treat it as a made up name... *laughs* Followed the descriptions of a Chimaera in Devil Children~ ^^
[2] *shrugs* I don't know... just the train of thought that Takao would most likely do that... I'm weird, yes I know...
I wanted Takao's blindness to last for two chapters in the beginning, but I felt that I was going to send the fic into a long lag, and since most of the people are waiting for the action as well as the main plot, I decided to get going. This chapter purely existed for me to get Akane into the plot. *laughs*
Max and Rei fans, I'm SORRY!!! *bows down in apology* But it's gonna be a while till they come in~
Once again, till the ideas start running once more! -minted*candi yori!
