Les Jeux Mysterieux: The Mysterious Games
Luna: Last episode, we went up north.
Max: North from where Janna was, anyways.
Nick: The city was Xizhou…and it was occupied by Kutou's soldiers.
Anne: We had to free Jie Da's uncle from jail in order to save Janna.
Chris: And now we're heading back, to break out Quan's mad healing skills!
Jeff: At least, we hope he has mad healing skills.
Kat: With any luck, Janna is about to join the group.
Janna: Or, we might have to wait for ONE MORE MADDENING EPISODE!!!!! (exhales loudly)
Episode 15: Soinasai, ryokou ni. (Follow me on my journey)
(It's still night-time, but the group is riding through the night with Quan in tow. Needless to say, it takes quite a stretch longer.)
(At about one hour before midnight, the six reach the temple where Janna is currently at rest. The temple is open, but nobody's there.)
Tatara: It's so empty…and dark…
Subaru: THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S NIGHTTIME!!!!
Anne: Subaru, don't shout. It's too late for loud noises.
Tokaki: Come on! We've waited too long to save Janna already!
Karasuki: I'm getting sorta tired…
Subaru: We all are, but Janna's getting sorta dead as we stop moving. Let's go!
Quan: Where are we going?
Tatara: We told you! We're going to heal our friend the Byakko Celestial Warrior.
Quan: Oh. OK.
(The group quickly walks through the temple. Janna is still lying on the sacrific- I mean, marble altar, but instead of a ray of sunlight illuminating her, a ray of moonlight is.)
Anne: Wow…how…picturesque.
Tokaki: OK, Quan, what's wrong with her?
Quan: Hmm…she looks like she's unconscious.
(everybody falls over)
Tatara: (getting up) We could have told you that!!!
Quan: Well, let me work.
(Quan walks over to Janna, and then places his hand on her mouth.)
Quan: Still breathing…
(Quan puts his hand over her…heart.)
Quan: Slow pulse…
(Quan puts his hand on her head)
Quan: High fever. I'm surprised. With a fever this high, she should be dead.
Karasuki: Apparently she's put herself into a coma.
Quan: Ah, temporal stasis? I see. I've heard of this, but never seen it.
Anne: Temp…ura what?
Quan: Temporal stasis. It's a temporary form of stasis.
Subaru: That tells us absolutely nothing.
Quan: Oh, come on, what do they teach you in those schools? Stasis is elementary fifth-dimensional physics! Come on now!
(Everyone is completely stymied)
Quan: It's when the modulus of the r-axis undergoes telescopation.
Subaru: Oh! I get it now. The way you said it before was just an odd way of saying it.
Tokaki: Wait…you understand what he just said???
Subaru: Of course; it's what I do every time I use my powers.
Anne: OK, nevermind what Janna's doing, can you fix her?
Quan: Well…I've never heard of a disease that causes temporal stasis…
Tatara: It doesn't. She did this herself. We heard from Da that she needed to otherwise she would die.
Quan: Hmm…that opens up a few options. But I still can't tell what it is unless I can see how she got it, and then what the symptoms were.
Karasuki: I can try to show you…
Quan: Oh, really? How wonderful.
(Karasuki pulls out the mirror and sits down, closing his eyes. His symbol glows white.)
Quan: How fascinating…
Karasuki: Ok…this might take some effort. "Spirits of the distant past, channel through this mirror white, show diseases that came to pass, so Quan can diagnose her right!"
All: …
(The mirror instead begins to blacken. Karasuki is visibly sweating, but the mirror is slowly turning black. After minutes of agony for Karasuki, the mirror flashes…black, and shows Janna entering a restaurant. The waitress pours some green powder in her food, and then the mirror flashes black. Janna walks down the road, then grasps her stomach. Black flash. Janna is shown throwing up. Black flash. Janna grasps her head. Black flash. Janna stumbles into the temple, lying down on the altar. A white glow surrounds her, and
the mirror turns reflective again, cutting off the vision. Karasuki falls backwards, and his symbol stops glowing.)
All: Aaah! Karasuki!
Karasuki: (lying on ground) Oooohhh…the mix of past scrying and being blocked…
Quan: But I saw the symptoms, and I think I know what she's suffering from.
Tokaki: Really???
Quan: Of course. I'm the healer here.
Anne: Humble, aren't we?
Quan: And what's better, I can heal it.
Tatara: That's great! How long will it take?
Quan: About a week.
Anne: We don't have that time!!!
Quan: Her body needs a week to heal.
Tokaki: Well, we have no choice.
Subaru: Wait, yes we do! I can age her body one week forward!
Quan: You can alter the r modulus?
Subaru: Of course! It's my Celestial Warrior power!
Quan: Fascinating…all right. I'll get to work here, preparing the cure. You five should get some sleep. I'll wake you up when I finish.
Tokaki: Oh, thanks!
Quan: This is what I do for a living, after all, and I am so good at it.
Tatara: I'll take that as a "no problem."
*************
(The five take a well-deserved nap in the temple's entrance-room. The night passes as Quan works on the antidote, and in the morning Anne wakes to Jie shaking him)
Jie: Hey, wake up! Quan's done!
Anne: Hmmm…Jie?
Jie: Yeah, it's me. I found you guys sleeping in here, and then I found Quan. He explained the situation to me, so I let you guys sleep. But now he's ready for you.
Anne: Oh, all right. Let me wake everybody up.
(Anne wakes the group up. A bit sleepily, they enter the main temple room. Quan kneels next to Janna, watching her vigilantly. Jie stands a ways off, watching Janna worriedly)
Karasuki: You're done, Quan?
Quan: Yes, I have finished and given her the antidote.
Subaru: OK, so now it's my turn?
Tokaki: You know it!
(Subaru walks over to Janna's body, and places her hands on Janna's bare upper chest. She closes her eyes, concentrates, and a white glow shines through her blouse. Janna's body is suffused with the same white glow, and in a moment, Subaru opens her eyes.)
Subaru: There. It's done. She's aged a week.
Anne: And you aren't tired?
Subaru: I can age a person 100 years without breaking a sweat now.
Tokaki: Oh, yeah, about that…sorry for underestimating you.
Subaru: Come on, don't apologize. I forgive you; just don't do it again.
Karasuki: Sorry to interrupt the group hug, but will Janna be waking up anytime soon?
Quan: If it's been a week, she should wake up. The antidote will have worked…
Tatara: Wait, if she's sleeping…all she needs is to wake up.
(Tatara reaches over to Janna and starts shaking her)
All: TATARA!!!!!!!!!!
Tatara: (stopping shaking) What?
Subaru: She's sick! You don't shake a sick person!
Tatara: Oh…yeah. Whoops.
(Suddenly, Janna's body moves. Instantly, everybody looks at her. Janna opens her eyes, and slowly sits up. Her Celestial symbol slowly fades.)
Janna: Urrr…hi.
Anne: Janna! You're up!
Janna: (rubbing eyes) Aren't we perceptive. Wow, I feel great. (looking around) Whoa, where did all you people come from?
Tatara: Well, we've been journeying around Sailo for a few weeks now, and we just found you. You're the fifth Celestial Warrior of Byakko, right?
Janna: Oh, yeah! That! I'm the Celestial Warrior Amefuri!
Karasuki: Cool! That makes only two more to locate.
Tokaki: So, you put yourself into temporal…st…sta…station?
Amefuri: Stasis.
Tokaki: Yeah, whatever. So your power is over time too?
Amefuri: Not really…wait, "too"?
Subaru: Yeah. I can change the flow of time with respect to people's bodies. Nick, or Tatara, can command plants. Max, or Karasuki, can see into the past or future, or over distance. Chris, or Tokaki, is good at unarmed fighting and can teleport. Anne is just the Priestess of Byakko.
Amefuri: Oh, I get it. I heard about the whole "Priestess of Byakko" thing from some priest. I was wandering around Sailo, trying to find you guys, but I got poisoned on the way.
Da: That would be kinda bad.
Anne: So, what's your power…and how did you put yourself into tendril taxis?
Amefuri: Temporal stasis. Basically, I'm good with my chi. I'm best at shields, though, and I just created a shield against time.
Tokaki: Ohhhh…I get it! So time wouldn't affect you!
Amefuri: There you go! Exactly. Oh, by the way…how am I still alive now?
Quan: Oh, that was me. I, Jie Quan, healer extraordinaire, healed your poisoning. The poison was quite powerful, a very expensive poison, but nothing is beyond me!
Amefuri: Oh…um…thanks?
Quan: All I ask in return is that you save Sailo.
Anne: Oh, we've got that covered.
Karasuki: So, Amefuri, you want to go?
Amefuri: Sure! I feel ready for anything!
Tatara: Oh, Da…and Quan, thank you.
Da: Oh, no. You're going to save Sailo; we should thank you.
Subaru: Yes, please! Thank us!
(all fall over)
*************
(The cult headquarters.)
Person 1: Is there any news?
Person 4: Liao, come on now! We always know that if the council is called, wasting my time, that something must have happened.
Liao (Person 1): It is just formality. I would not expect you to understand it, but-
Person 2: Now, now, there is no need for fighting. Ren, darling, what was it that you wanted to report?
Ren: My agent near the Celestial Warrior Amefuri tells me that she has recovered from her poison.
Person 5: What? Recovered? I thought you said that the poison was potent enough for her to die!
Person 2: It was…how did this happen?
Ren: Apparently the Priestess and her Warriors are more resourceful than we thought. They found the legendary healer from Xizhou.
Liao: So you have failed me again.
Person 4: We've failed you? We? How did we fail you? We've just politely and calmly followed your orders, and when some of them fail you automatically blame us.
Liao: Of course I blame you all! I had nothing to do with these failures.
Person 4: Exactly! You did nothing! All of this work is left up to us, while you sit back and watch us fail!
Liao: So now this failure is my fault.
Person 4: Yes!
Person 5: Please! Why are you two fighting?
Person 4: He's treating us as his lackeys!
Liao: Without me, none of these plans would exist!
Person 4: Without my money, none of the plans could exist!
Ren: We all have important strengths to contribute to this order, and if you two would settle down, I have some more news.
Liao: Hopefully, it will be good this time.
Ren: The previous Guanjun is almost ready to complete his part of the plan. And furthermore, the final Celestial Warrior is already headed towards Kutou, where the execution will commence. And the Priestess is heading for a large amount of soldiers, who will definitely find her.
Person 2: See, we are fine as it is. There is no need the point fingers, whatever faults or successes we have belong to all of us or none.
Person 5: And we mustn't forget our main purpose in this world.
Liao+Ren+Person 4+Person 2: To revive Senri-e from her imprisonment in the Void.
Person 5: Exactly. So, we must not fight amongst ourselves, lest we fail in our weakness. This deserves a few hours of prayer.
*************
(The group rides south through the day. It's getting rather late, but nobody's noticing. They've been talking with Amefuri the whole time, getting her up to date on what's been going on in their recent lives)
Amefuri: Question; where are we going?
Karasuki: South, to find the closest Star.
Amefuri: So how do we know where the Warriors are?
Anne: Karasuki's power is scrying; he can see over distances.
Amefuri: Oh, so he could see what's happening at home?
(there is silence)
Tatara: Home…I almost forgot about it.
Subaru: It's been weeks, hasn't it? Our parents are probably worried sick.
Tokaki: Yeah, it would be kinda scary to have eight kids disappear from the Metropolitan Museum of Art…
Karasuki: Actually, you'd have to not have a life to kidnap kids from an art museum. But, I've tried to see our home. I can't find it; it's like it doesn't exist in this world.
Anne: Maybe it doesn't. Maybe we're actually in another world.
Tatara: But…the metaphysical implications! (hits head several times)
Amefuri: And teleportation, magical aging, creating shields, and other things like that don't have odd metaphysical implications?
Subaru: You have a point…
(The group espies a large city on the horizon)
Karasuki: Look! I espy a large city on the horizon!
Tokaki: Way to restate that whole thing again.
Anne: Finally, we can rest in a real bed.
Tatara: Bed?
Karasuki: YES!!!
(The group rides hard for the city. The city is large and rather populated, and the group has no trouble finding a nice inn.)
Anne: (entering the room) Wow, finally we have an equal amount of girls to boys.
Amefuri: Was it really that tough?
Subaru: YES.
(The girls get ready for bed, and then tuck themselves in. Amefuri stirs in bed for a while, and then gets out of bed.)
Subaru: (tired) Amefuri?
Amefuri: I gotta go to the bathroom.
Subaru: OK…(head goes back down)
(Amefuri leaves the room. She heads to the bathroom. At the same time, Tatara is returning from the bathroom…when he hears a crash from the girl's room.)
Tatara: What was that?
(Tatara knocks on the girl's door. The response is more noise. He shrugs, and opens the door a crack. Inside the room is not what he expected; Three soldiers are holding Subaru and Anne immobile. The window is open as well)
Tatara: Subaru! Anne!
Anne: (muffled) TtTtRr! Rnnn!
Soldier 1: Oh, look, another one. Let's get him.
Tatara: Let them go!
(Tatara holds out his hand, and his symbol starts to glow. But the soldier throws what appears to be a piece of paper at him…and he suddenly can't use his powers.)
Tatara: What? I…I can't use my powers!
Soldier 2: You haven't seen the power seals, have you? They seal your power.
Tatara: Oh, shit.
(Tatara jumps for Anne, but one of the soldiers grabs him.)
Soldier 3: Pretty good; we got three. Let's go.
Tatara: Idiot! The others will come for us!
Soldier 1: I doubt that, for some reason. You're coming with us now.
(The three soldiers leave through the window with their prisoners in tow. When Amefuri returns to the room, she finds the door open, the window open, and the others gone.)
Amefuri: Oh, helllll no.
(Amefuri runs into the guy's room)
Amefuri: Wake up! Wake up, now!
Tokaki: Mmmm…Tasuki…
Amefuri: Wake up! (shakes Tokaki and then Karasuki)
Karasuki: What? It's like…one in the morning.
Amefuri: Subaru and Anne are gone!
Tokaki: Wha…gone?
Amefuri: I don't know! I left the room…and then when I came back, their beds were empty and the window was open!
Karasuki: No…where's Tatara?
Amefuri: I haven't seen him…
Tokaki: Could it be…the assassins?
Amefuri: That cult? Oh, no. Can you scry?
Karasuki: Of course! The sooner we find them, the better!
(Karasuki whips out the mirror, and closes his eyes. Without an incantation, the mirror brightens. Tatara, Subaru and Anne are sitting in what appears to be a wagon, apparently all unconscious. Karasuki opens his eyes.)
Karasuki: This is NOT good.
Tokaki: You…didn't rhyme!
Karasuki: It's really optional. Just helps a lot.
Amefuri: So, what are we waiting for? Let's find them!
Tokaki: We don't know exactly where they are!
Karasuki: Let me scry again, then.
Amefuri: Wait. I have a better idea.
(Amefuri closes her eyes, and her Celestial symbol on her chest glows. For Amefuri, the world narrows to a black void with thousands of little specks of light in it.)
Amefuri: Ok. Now to find Anne, Tatara or Subaru.
(Amefuri's mental consciousness flies past the glowing mind-specks of this world's population, searching for those with heightened chi. Only a few specks are larger than others, and finding three large specks together is no hard task. She picks the smallest one, and sends her chi towards it.)
Amefuri: [Anne! Anne! Wake up!]
Anne: [Huh? Amefuri? Wha…what's going on?]
Amefuri: [Oh, I'm so glad I found you! I'm using my chi to speak to you. What's happened to you three?]
Anne: [Three soldiers entered our room just after you left. Tatara tried to help us, but they blocked his chi somehow and took all three of us.]
Amefuri: [Blocked…his chi? Nevermind how. Where are you now?]
Anne: [In a carriage…I can't see out, and I'm tied up. We're heading east, if that helps.]
Amefuri: [OK…as long as you're safe. Don't worry, we're coming to get you. Just sit tight.]
Anne: [All right, I'll try. But…hurry up. This feels like…it could be the first day of…the last of my life.]
Amefuri: I know I've heard that line somewhere before. [Ok, I'm going. Don't worry; we'll get you out.]
(Amefuri retreats from Anne's consciousness, and then opens her eyes. Karasuki and Tokaki are sitting on their beds, looking bored. As she opens her eyes, they jump up.)
Tokaki: Amefuri! What happened?
Amefuri: What do you mean, "what happened"? I was talking to Anne.
Karasuki: Talking to Anne???
Amefuri: Yeah, using my chi. It worked pretty well; she's in a carriage heading east.
Tokaki: Wow…must have been a long conversation.
Amefuri: Not really…why?
Karasuki: You've been standing there for about half an hour.
Amefuri: Really? Wow…(has a flash of genius) Oh, no! We're wasting time! We have to find that carriage!
Karasuki: Yeah…and then kill those soldiers!
Tokaki: Oh, great. I have as my allies for this rescue mission the girl who makes shields and the guy who can see through mirrors. No other offensive powers! (holds head in hands)
Amefuri: Come on, quit griping! We have to go!
*************
(The three leave the inn in the dead of night, saddling up horses that are even more tired than they are. Riding east, Karasuki leads the way, scrying every hour or so. The trio rides through the night, not pausing at all. As dawn breaks, Karasuki calls for a stop.)
Karasuki: I'm going to scry again.
Tokaki: Aren't we getting close? It seems like we've been riding forever.
Amefuri: Well, they had about an hour's head start…but we're probably moving faster than them. Dunno. Scry again, Karasuki.
(Karasuki sighs, and sets the mirror on the ground. He kneels, closing his eyes, and starts the scrying process.)
Karasuki: "Carriage that we track, show us how far we are back!"
(The mirror flashes white, showing the trio and their horses. It shows the group, and then zooms out. After a moment, the carriage is shown, only about a mile away. What's better, they are camping.)
Tokaki: Great! We're really close!
Amefuri: Here, I'll contact Anne again.
Karasuki: Try not to take much time.
(Amefuri closes her eyes, and returns to the sea of sparkles. This time, it takes only a few seconds to find Anne's consciousness.)
Amefuri: [Anne! Anne?]
Anne: [Amefuri! What's going on?]
Amefuri: [We're about a mile away from you guys. What's your situation?]
Anne: [We're fine, if a bit tired, scared, jostled, aching, angry, violated, creeped-out, worried, anxious…]
Amefuri: [Oh. I see…so hold tight, we're going to get you out.]
Anne: [All right. We'll be ready to get out, trust me.]
Amefuri: [Good. We'll be right there.]
(Amefuri breaks the bond, opening her eyes. Tokaki and Karasuki are lounging around)
Amefuri: Ok, they're fine. How long did that take?
Tokaki: About five minutes.
Amefuri: Thought so. It didn't take as long to locate Anne the second time.
Karasuki: So, what are we going to do?
Tokaki: Go in there…kick some ass…take some names…and free Anne, Subaru and Tatara!
Amefuri: Works for me.
Karasuki: Wait, we just can't run in there and go get them!
Tokaki: Actually, we can. And we're going to. Let's go.
(Karasuki sighs, and follows Tokaki and Amefuri as they approach the soldier's camp. The soldiers have just taken a rest, and are sitting around a campfire. The carriage sits behind them, and the three horses are tied up as well.)
Karasuki: Ok, so who's gonna do what?
Tokaki: I'll do the ass-kicking.
Amefuri: I'll provide a distraction.
Karasuki: Then…I'll free Subaru, Tatara and Anne.
Tokaki: Good. Let's go.
(Tokaki instantly teleports out with a white flash, stunning Amefuri for a moment. As she gets over it, she stands up and walks towards the camp. Her symbol glows on her chest, and a translucent white sphere forms around her body.)
Amefuri: Hey! Bozos! What are you doing?
(The soldiers turn towards her, a bit shocked. As one, they stand up.)
Soldier 1: You've come to get your friends, right?
Amefuri: Wow, I'm surprised a thought that complicated could come out of a brain so tiny.
Soldier 2: What was that?
Amefuri: I just thought that you guys were complete dumbasses, looking at how ugly you three are.
Soldier 3: Why, you…
(The soldiers draw their swords, and there is a flash of white light. The second soldier goes flying from Tokaki's flying kick. Tokaki stops moving, and turns back towards the soldiers.)
Tokaki: Yes? You were saying?
Soldier 1: We were saying…this!
(The two soldiers jump at Tokaki with swords glinting in the morning sun. He teleports at the last moment, and appears behind them. With a single punch, he knocks out one of the soldiers from behind.)
Tokaki: Come on, you can do better than that.
(The other soldier slowly turns, and Tokaki watches him with a smirk. This would be his next fatal mistake.)
(The soldier throws something at Tokaki, and Tokaki's glowing symbol disappears. His eyes widen.)
Soldier 3: Can't handle me without your powers, can you?
(The soldier lifts his sword, about to bring it down for the killing stroke. Tokaki tries to move, but the soldier is already swinging.)
(Suddenly, there is a large white explosion in Tokaki's vision. He is thrown backwards, and when his vision clears of spots, there is a large charred spot where the soldier used to be. His eyes widen as he looks at Amefuri, who is wiping her hands off on her pants.)
Tokaki: A-Amefuri? You did that?
Amefuri: Yup. You needed my help.
Tokaki: But! But…you said shields are your specialty!
Amefuri: They are. But they aren't the only thing I can do.
Karasuki: (from the wagon) Got it!
(Amefuri and Tokaki turn to the carriage, where Karasuki is helping Anne, Subaru and Tatara out of their small wheeled prison.)
Tatara: Oh, god! We're free!
Tokaki: Tatara! Subaru! Anne!
Subaru: Yeah, that's us. Way to take a roll call.
Anne: Thanks for coming.
Amefuri: Like we had a choice?
Karasuki: So wait, what happened?
Subaru: So, they got into our room and grabbed us. I tried to fight back, but they put some piece of paper on my body and I couldn't use my powers.
Tatara: Yeah, same thing happened to me.
Tokaki: Oh, this thing?
(Tokaki peels a piece of paper off his arm. It's decorated with black symbols, all of which are too calligraphic to be legible.)
Amefuri: Wow…a chi seal. That's pretty potent magic. How do Kutou's soldiers all seem to have these things?
Anne: Creepy thought, and not one I want to know the answer to.
Subaru: (sitting down) So, now that that's over with, where are we going?
Karasuki: Well, there was a Star near to the south of us…but now that we've moved a long way, we're probably way further away.
Tatara: Oh, no…more traveling!!!!
Nick: Yes! Not a cliffhanger! Yes!
Kat: I'm so happy!
Chris: Hey, that Tasuki part was REALLY disgusting. I would NEVER have that kind of dream about Tasuki.
Max: Oh, we believe you.
Jeff: Why were you calling his name last night then?
Chris: Um…he was lost?
Anne: Ok, back on topic, the next episode is called "Tatakai no mokuteki."
Janna: Or, "The reason for fighting."
Luna: I wonder if the next episode's going to have fighting in it…
AN: Yeah, I made this episode longer. I think it worked out rather well.
Apparently last episode wasn't so great. I was tired when I read it, and annoyed for some of the time. When I re-read it, it seemed ok, if a bit devoid of humor. This chapter wasn't that funny either…sadly, the next chapter won't be very funny. Neither will the next…or the next…or the next. Sorry. The story's entering a serious part, so you'll have to live with it! Sorry!
And about Tokaki's Tasuki ecchi dream…it's sort of an inside joke. The person I based Tokaki on has a SEVERE obsession with Tasuki, so I just decided to take that obsession to the next logical step. It's not really happening…I think.