Disclaimer: After about two months stuck in a comatose state (a state brought by the realization that whatever I do, somehow hentai will always mess with my favorite anime characters) and a month of writer's block as far as Shaman King is concerned, I've finally recovered and has now posted the latest chapter of this fan fiction. And yes, I still don't own ManKin; I merely own my created characters.
Cheers. After three months, I'm back.
This chapter is dedicated to the girl who was once JSF and the girl who calls herself Jess-chan. May more fan fiction ideas flow continuously from them and continue to delight all of us readers.
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Previously, on "The Romancers"...
A swarm of Haro backing her up, Rione Asuka Hunter finally makes her move. Torn by dreams that could never be brought to rest, Jeanne makes a faithful decision to go with the mysterious interloper, breaking Lyserg's heart like never before. Will the two star-crossed lovers ever meet again? Will Lyserg fan girls and LysJean fans ever forgive me for making our favorite moody dowser cry?
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The Romancers
Set One: Shaman King
By: Sheo Darren
Iron Maiden and Dowser Knight
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Chapter Six: Sayonara Solitaire
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The almost-suffocating air of depression that hung as a pall upon the room was enough to halt anyone who entered, even one as angry as Marco was.
Italians were known for their seductive earthiness, but Marco Testarossa was more of a Sicilian: Easy to befriend but just as easily driven to enmity, outwardly collected but inwardly burning, a memory that forgot nothing, especially grudges. Meene had once compared him to the famous Mount Vesuvius of his homeland, an apt description save that Marco was far more volatile than the historic volcano.
Especially concerning a certain girl with sky gray mane who was almost his daughter.
When Rione had made her escape, it had been the signal for all of the Haro to break off from their respective targets and make their exits. The exceptions were the hundred Haro tasked to take on Marco: They had all as one unit bounced upon the X-Laws they were immobilizing –about half a dozen times per Haro– chorused one last "Marco no baka," as a parting insult and prudently vanished.
Yes. Everyone, even Haro, hated Marco.
Thus, Marco was not happy when he entered the room. He was bad enough when in a good mood, and scary when annoyed. To see him angry was a sight one would never forget; indeed, it would be literally branded into the witnesses' mind, the sheer vitriolic rampage of a man pushed too far. That is, it would be if Marco didn't kill you first, of course.
But his anger dissipated almost immediately into uncertainty as he literally ran smack into the dejected atmosphere of the room, as if melancholy was a wall and Marco had literally bumped into it. Thus, confused and unsure, he ground to a halt and regarded his teammates and leader with hesitation.
The most immediately noticeable example would easily have been Rune Minor, leaning beside the door when Marco entered but who did not even try to shoot a cold glance as way of greeting. That told Marco how grave the situation was. His archrival would never miss an opportunity to needle him, not for the world or for anything. The detestation between Marco and Rune was legendary; it had survived the demise of Asakura Hao and continued into the reconstituted X-Laws, a rivalry that wasn't too healthy for all concerned. Yet there she was, ignoring him in a way as if he never existed or had entered the room, withdrawing into whatever fortress it was that was her thoughts.
The same despondence was evident in the others. Usually a hyperactive kid who sometimes had trouble standing still, Millie was right now burrowed into one of the bedroom's comfortable armchairs, quietly seated there while she cradled her new pet, her eyes troubled and locked upon a spot of the floor from where her stare never moved. Her red Haro, the only one that had stayed behind, rocked back and forth gently in its mistress arms but forwent its usual chatter, certainly a striking change for the talkative toy.
But perhaps the most poignant reminder was of the youth who was dowser and X-Laws leader, the boy who stood before the vacated bed, staring at the spot where only minutes earlier he had been with the girl he loved, serene and contented. He stood still, not moving because he could not bring himself to do so, his inner being so torn apart that he wondered if he would ever be whole again like before. The gloved hand containing the dowsing crystal clasped tightly upon itself, trying to contain within it all of his sorrow. Trying –and failing.
Emerald eyes had stopped crying, but the heart and soul of Lyserg Diethyl still wept with the same strength.
And the frightening realization that came to Marco just then was that nowhere beside him or near Lyserg was Iron Maiden Jeanne D'Arc.
When Jeanne awakened at last from her faint, she found herself lying upon the soft cushions of a large bed, within a small but homely room. Cool fresh mountain air drifted into the room through the open windows. It was evening now.
She had no idea why the name Relena Peacecraft and the words Endless Waltz suddenly came into mind. She did have a vague feeling that this had all happened before –or at least, it had all happened before with the Relena girl she was thinking of– and that about this moment, someone would ask–
"Did you get a good night's sleep?"
The girl who called herself Rione Asuka Hunter flashed her 'captive' a welcome grin from where she stood in the doorway. "And now you're supposed to say: 'If you think I'm going to ask if you were captured too, you're wrong.'"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Jeanne said levelly. Not to her surprise, her evenly-toned reply made Rione embarrassed for no immediately apparent reason.
"Okay, joke's on me. I should quit quoting other people and comparing them to the situation at hand." The beginnings of a blush were on the dark-haired girl's cheeks. "Soweee."
Sitting herself upon the bed now, Jeanne noticed that her 'kidnapper' seemed to look different. Then she realized the latter had a new change of clothes on: A big white tee-shirt reaching down to her hips and which had 'Romancers' printed on it paired with short pants. Certainly a large magnitude of difference from the all-black trousers, blouse, trench coat and Police shades she wore earlier.
Noticing the object of Jeanne's interest, Rione was even more embarrassed. "Hey, just because I wear black doesn't mean all my clothes are black." She began fiddling with her fingers again, a habit she digressed into whenever nervous or self-conscious. "I only wear black on the job. It helps impress the clientele in my line of work."
Just as levelly as before, Jeanne noted: "You line of work is kidnapping people for ransom?"
Rione looked horrified by the accusation. "No! I mean, it's the last resort we ever take! And we don't really kidnap people! We never even think of ransom! Honest!"
"I'd assume that I went along with you willingly?"
"Um, yeah…"
Jeanne raised an eyebrow judgmentally. Rione fidgeted under the scrutiny of those seemingly all-seeing crimson eyes.
And then the Iron Maiden began to chuckle.
"I guess you're right," brightly admitted the fair-haired girl, amused at her awkward 'captor' who was no captor at all and as much a captive as she was. When Rione broke into a sigh before joining the laughter, Jeanne was reminded of Millie, who was just as cute and self-conscious and cheerful as this girl.
And that was why Jeanne was here: Because Rione was not like any kidnapper she had seen before. She didn't fit the usual profile. She had asked for Jeanne to come with her; not exactly politely or well-phrased, but she did ask. Rione did not attack at all, and when she did defend herself she was careful not to hurt Lyserg very much. She kept on trying to convince them to let her take Jeanne even when it was pointless simply because talking just might work. And she had promised to help Jeanne resolve her private troubles.
And most of all, Rione was sad to see Lyserg unhappy.
Only a person innately good could be all of those. Rione was a good person, and that was why Jeanne trusted her.
"Do you mind telling me where we are, or you'd rather keep it secret?"
"Why'd I keep our location secret? I'm not a kidnapper, remember?" Rione was back to her usually happy state. "Not that Lyserg and company would be able to reach us just now. Heck, it takes even me some time to fly here without any passenger. I think I nearly got us lost about twice going here.
"Anyway, we're inside this nice cabin in the beautiful country of New Zealand, about a couple hours trek from where they shot The Lord of the Rings movies. The air is clean, the water tastes good, and here in New Zealand the cows eat fresh green grass and from their milk comes Anchor Milk."
Jeanne blinked. She didn't understand that last part.
"Sorry for that. Vague joke only we Filipinos who watched the Anchor Milk commercial from some time ago will understand."
"I see." It was apparent her new friend had an eccentric sense of humor. "Is this your home?"
"Nah, I don't really live here. The house belongs to a friend of one of my coworkers. Just a while off, she got married to the coworker of mine I told you about, and they're off on their honeymoon to the Lunar Terraform Project resort. They won't be back for some time."
"Lunar Terraform Project? What is that? I've never heard of any such project."
Rione blinked and then looked embarrassed again. "Oops. I kind of forgot to tell you. Jeanne, promise to be calm and try to understand what I'm going to say."
"Yes." She was curious what this was all about.
"Well, for starters, we're not in your dimension any more."
It was Jeanne's turn to blink. "I don't understand."
"I had the feeling you didn't. It's a bit hard to explain, but simply stated, your time and world is just one dimension out of many. There are countless separate dimensions aside from yours, dimensions that have different timelines and peoples and civilizations. A multiverse or multiple universe, if you will."
"We're no longer on Earth?"
"We are on Earth. Just a different Earth from yours, that is. This world we're in? The timeline here is After Colony 203, far off into the future. What's the difference here? This place's got space colonies and particle beam weapons and Gundams."
"Isn't that an anime? The Gundams, I mean?" Jeanne vaguely remembered that Millie liked to watch a show called Gundam Seed. The young X-Laws was a devoted fan of Athrun Zara.
"Well, yes, or at least in your world." Coughing because she herself was getting confused, Rione bravely went on. "A piece of friendly advice: I'd pick another topic to discuss. The entire concept of the multiverse might just be too much for you."
Although she was very much interested in all that she had just learned, Jeanne decided that it was wise to follow Rione's advice. "One thing," she did ask, a question that troubled her. "Where is God here?"
"Eh?"
"Where is God?" Her crimson eyes were honestly interested; the idea was the foundation of her existence as the Iron Maiden. "Where is God in this multiverse concept of yours, then?"
"Within us." Rione smiled meaningfully. "It's the only place He could be."
She was quiet for a while, reflective. "I'm sorry for prodding you too much."
"Nah, it's all right. Let's find some other topic to talk about. The entire multiverse thing also gets to me every now and then, you know."
"All right." Jeanne thought for a while of the things she wanted to know. The words printed on Rione's tee-shirt then got to her.
Romancers, it said. Romancers.
"Rione?"
"Yeah?"
"You keep mentioning your job, but I don't know what it is. It's not kidnapping, right? What is your job, then?"
"Oh. My job?" She grinned flamboyantly. "I'm a Romancer."
"A Romancer?"
"Yeah. Long story, but it's worth it. Want to hear what we're all about?"
"Why not?"
Smiling gaily, Rione went on to tell a story: A story of a Frenchman who wrote a love story, of a young Filipino writer who took inspiration from that story in order to make his own, of the three friends who bore both stories to heart and deed, and of the famous group that was born out of those three friends' lives.
The story of the Romancers...
The absence of the girl who was his Mistress and his daughter at the same time sent a wave of chill throughout Marco's whole being, a chill he had never felt before. Even at the very footsteps of Death in the hands of Asakura Hao, this kind of fear had never come in such force as it did now, sweeping through him in force as a tidal wave would clear away everything in its way.
It was fear, indeed, fear for the girl with fair locks of blue-grey and orbs of deep cherry who was the child he never could have.
He was afraid for Jeanne D'Arc, his darling little Jeanne, his Iron Maiden.
Lyserg found himself being roughly hauled up by Marco to face level, eye to eye with the burning blue-eyed demon who had cast away all regrets and concerns in the light of the reality. It was fear driving Marco, a fear born out of anger, a fear all fathers know when their beloved child is in danger.
"How could you?"
He could not answer, would not meet those fiery eyes.
"How could you let Jeanne be taken away, Lyserg? How could you?"
He could not answer.
"Answer me, damn it!"
"How else?" Green eyes found blue eyes, pity against fury, grief contending grief. "How else could I, Marco?"
"What kind of answer is that?"
"How, Marco? What else would the answer be?"
"Answer me! Tell me the answer!"
"That is the answer!" The boy was yelling now, not angry, not furious, but yelling all the same. "The answer is the same: How else could I let go of Jeanne-chan? Tell me that, Marco! Tell me that!
"Tell me how I could have let her go," he asked.
Marco's hands fell away then. The young dowser was barely standing, wishing he could fall down into an abyss of fire and brimstone as punishment for his failure. Yet somehow there was strength in him to continue on, to continue living on…
… Even without her…
"The answer," he said quietly, "Is if she told me to let her go."
Unable to refute the truth, driven by the fear coursing within him like wildfire, Marco could only look away.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Edmund Rostand. A Frenchman with the sense of noble romance all proper Frenchmen possess in abundance, he was a dreamer and playwright, writer of love stories. One day, he wrote a story about a boy and a girl who loved each other but who belonged to families that were the bitterest of enemies –or maybe not. The result was a story called The Romancers, a comedy and romance all at the same time. Because of this and other works, he became famous in literary circles, his works read by generations into the future…
Once upon a time, there was a young man who went by the penname of Sheo Darren. A Filipino with the adaptive fertility of the imagination that was the gift of God to all authors, he was a writer of fiction by hobby. One day, he was read for his English term exam a story called The Romancers. Piqued by the entertaining tale of two young people madly in love despite their feuding families –a feud that was not all it seemed– he conceived a story of his own, a story that bore the same title as the play, a story about three friends who would fight for love in a world that lacks it…
Once upon a time, there were three friends: Rune Minor, a cheery go-getter illusionist; Drake Western, a reservedly compassionate swordsman; and Fine Horizon, the charmingly diplomatic group manager. One day, while searching in old archives of tales from The Forgotten Past, they came upon a story called The Romancers. Inspired by the story of two lovers sundered yet united by their Fate, the three friends swore to uphold the ideals of romance in a world that had forgotten what it was like to be in love. They took the name of the story as the name of their group, and marked themselves forever in history and legend as those who fought for love.
They were The Romancers.
We are the Romancers.
The Romancers are we.
We are only human
But we can dream, can't we?
We are all forever Romancers.
In bright splendor love will live
In the gardens we have sown
That is what we truly believe
Amen.
"That is what we truly believe," Rione intoned quietly, her spiel finished, tucking in the fast-asleep Jeanne into the bed that would protect her from her nightmares. "Amen. Amen indeed…"
It's because I love you so much
That's why we hurt each other
They all turned, then, to face the voice that had murmured aloud, breaking the spell of stillness as the first ray of sunshine that comes with the dawn shines a path down to mankind lost below. A voice that had held until, seeing the silence that was a false peace, the song coming to her lips in a slow march, awakening the emotions that were suppressed.
That's why we're confused
We put our cold cheeks close together
And our heart was thus born
She sang now, touching upon each syllable with a special favor to its own, bringing words to life and reality one by one. Her voice slid into the rise and falls of the song as if it was truly at home there, finding within the lilt and tone and pitch all that she had been looking for. She sang and fell in love and was heartbroken and rose up again to find the love that was hers truly.
I always want to see you at once
At any time I want
I love you so much, I'm driven mute
She had never sung like this before, had kept it all hidden. She had seen no need to sing as she was singing now; she had thought it all a bit silly and immature, the things people thought of her. She had sung before, but she had not put her heart into it, fearing she would lose it forever should it be denied.
I cannot put your kindness into words
Hold on to me, hold me tighter
I'll trust in your warm presence
Yet now she knew she must sing. Now she sung so, if only to bring a passing promise of a true peace into the world, if only to hold everyone together for one flickering moment. Now she sung as she should sing, her heart playing out its own melody, revealing who she was to those around her –to that boy whom she loved and longed for.
Farewell to loneliness
Towards tomorrow
Millie came to a pause, then, sighing deeply, losing herself into the song, unaware that all around her Marco and Rune and especially Lyserg saw her in a new light, a light that was faint and distant and beautiful.
Farewell to loneliness
Towards tomorrow
"Farewell to loneliness… for I now turn towards tomorrow…"
She looked towards them, her friends, her teammates, towards the boy she loved. "For we must have hope," softly pleaded Millie at last. "We must have hope."
"And we will," Lyserg affirmed for all the rest. "We will have hope.
"We'll get Jeanne back."
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Itutuloy…
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Sheo's Thoughts: I've only been able to find time to write ManKin again just now. Lots of things occupying my mind recently, and the Guilty Gear story I've been authoring, The Wedding Night 2 (sequel to the first The Wedding Night) demands weekly attention.
Anyway, here's a full list of disclaimers:
To those who have read my Gundam Wing fan fiction Reminiscent Memories, the cabin and scene should be quite familiar as I had lifted it from there. Yes, the cabin is Quaterine Winner's, the one where she kept Relena in as a hostage. And the New Zealand joke? Well, if you're Filipino and at least fifteen or sixteen, you should have seen the commercial I made the joke about.
The multiverse thing? Just an explanation of how a girl with the powers of the one could jump into the Shaman King world, take Jeanne and bring her to the Gundam Wing world. Trust me: The idea's better left alone.
The Romancers is the play of Edmond Rostand, creator of Cyrano de Bergerac. I developed an original story based on the idea of The Romancers, taking the name of the said play as the title and basing the characters upon the Cardcaptor Sakura cast. This is where the character Rune Minor is supposed to appear.
As usual, I plead for reviews. I highly doubt this story will ever be flamed; it's just too cute, I guess. Plus, ManKin writers and readers are on the whole highly lovable. Me included as well, I guess.
Anyway, read, enjoy and review.