Rivalry, the Two Terrors of Zoana

The three friends hadn't gone far when they saw a pair of shadows coming towards them. One was a female, the other was male. It appeared as if they were over eight feet tall, and Noel panicked a bit. He ducked for cover behind Mina, who held her hands out to cast a spell as Sandi drew her sword, Wing Blade.

"Well, I never thought we'd meet like this," the girl called, "The Prince of Seyruun, out here with only a pair of children to guard him. Now, we will take him back with us to Zoana, and present him as an offering for Lord Zoamelgustar!" At that time, the ground seemed to rip open and the team jumped. But Mina could not sense any movement from the spirits that controlled Earth Shamanism. Rather, it appeared as if the spell was a curse of some sort. She landed right in front of her attackers, to see a very different picture.

The girl was about her age and height, with aqua hair and black eyes. She had on a skimpy black bikini with a gold star on the front of the bottom. Also, she had on black boots and gloves that billowed out in front and had a similar star pattern on them. In the center of the star was a good sized circular sapphire.

The boy seemed to be Noel's age, albeit taller, and had long curly black hair with one piece flopping over his face and blue eyes. He was wearing a long tan tunic with black breeches. Tan boots were on his feet, and on his head was a tan floppy hat with a black band. A golden belt with a sapphire clip was around his waist, with a sword sheath attached to it. In his hands, he held a long sword with a demonic emblem.

"And you would be?" inquired Mina. She let out a sigh; these wackos were no older than they were. Also, they had one less fighter. She could blow the two of them to hell and back with only the flick of her finger, and that didn't speak of what help Sandi and Noel would also be able to give. So what was with this?

The girl held out a creepy demonic pendant, shouting, "We are Princess Scarlet and Prince Blain of Zoana; servants of the Great Demon Zoamelgustar! In order to conquer the world, we need to eliminate the threat of Justice from Seyruun. So, we will sacrifice its entire Royal Family to our lord. Starting with the boy Prince. This encounter was divinely given by our Lord Zoamelgustar, and we must not let it go to waste!"

With that, Scarlet began drawing a circle on the ground with a stick. As the three watched her work in disbelief, Blain stole a possession of each. He got Noel's glove, Mina's pendant, and Sandi's favorite hair piece. Giving them to his older sister, she held the three articles up into the air. "Feel the infinite terror of the Monstrous Zoamelgustar, fools. Now, come forth lightning!" She threw her hands up in a welcome sign.

At first, nothing happened. But suddenly, the sky grew dark and a bolt tried to hit the three. Also, due to whatever mistake Scarlet had made, the attack came back on her and her brother as well. So all five kids were running all over the forest, doing their best to avoid the lightning. Noel got struck once, but his stone skin seemed to protect him. However, when Scarlet and Blain were shocked, they both felt the burn.

"You moron!" Mina yelled, "You should know that lightning strikes indiscriminately! What kind of a third rate sorceress are you that you summon a spell to attack your side as well as that of your enemies! Or else you serve a god that has no sense of direction!" She countered a bolt aimed at her with Mono Volt.

"Lord Zoamelgustar is always on our side. He craves blood, and by offering our own we make him aid us more. But he also longs for true human sacrifices. That is why we chose the Seyruun Royal Family, their Justice is an enemy to his power of destruction," Scarlet retorted. Then, she was struck by a bolt.

They ran for what seemed like hours; getting hopelessly lost in the process. By the time the storm ran out of steam, Scarlet and Blain had been shocked at least ten times. How they still lived to tell the tale was beyond me, but Mina thinks that idiots like them could never get killed. She proceeded to hit both of them over the head and take back the items. Noel put his glove back on and Sandi threaded her hair clip back through her hair. Mina held her pendant close as she thought about the parents who gave it to her.

Blain stated, "It appears as though Lord Zoamelgustar has fated you to live another day. Today was just a test of our powerful curse, and our abilities to help him in his divine mission. Now that you know the terror, you will be watching over your shoulder every moment in order to find out when we try to attack you."

Mina's hands began to glow. "I didn't think it was very funny. As for being afraid of your little curse, I won't be fooled the next time. You need one of our possessions to complete the spell; it's not simple like my magic. So next time, you won't even get the chance to steal our stuff. And speaking of that, how dare you brats take my pendant?! That was a gift from my mother and father! You are so dead now, Fireball!" The spell incinerated both Blain and Scarlet, leaving them smoking on the ground. Taking advantage of her foes' unconsciousness, Mina began leading her friends through the woods to find their way home. It wasn't long before Martina found both of her kids in that pickle though, and she vowed her revenge once again.

. . .

"Well, that was a bust," Sandi muttered, "I didn't even have to use my sword to fight them. Well, in any case, I'm grateful for your again Mina. You're so strong for one so young. No wonder someone with as much magical power as Prince Consort Zelgadis Greywers of Seyruun took you in as his first apprentice."

"He's not just my master at sorcery, he's my adoptive father. He found me in the forest as a little baby, abandoned. But something tells me that my birth parents are still out there, somewhere, and want to bring me home. Perhaps some sinister plot separated me from them. I usually don't talk about this with my family because Zel's a cynic and Amelia and Phil will just go into a speech about how any abandonment is completely un-Just. Noel's the only one who knows about what I felt when I hear the spirits," she replied.

Sandi exclaimed, "You hear the spirits?! That's so cool. I wish I could do something like that."

Noel looked at Mina, noticing her sigh. 'It is said to be a rare gift to communicate with spirits. Only those who are in the priesthood can develop such powers, and only really strong members of that group as well. But for normal humans to be born with the power is a one in a million shot. So why are both me and Mina able to use that skill? There is definitely something wrong with this picture, and I'll find out what it is.'

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

Oi, that was their best attempt? Remember whose kids they are. When did Martina and Zangulus ever do anything right? Well, unless it involved delay tactics. Gourry always kicked Zangulus's butt, and Martina usually messed her own trap up before Lina was able to blow her up.