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A/N: oh my! I've gotten to Chapter eight! Wowziers! (that's not a real word, I know) **grins** And now, since I'm sugar high from all the lollipops I've been eating, here's Chapter eight! (as if you haven't noticed…)
Disclaimer: sure, as if I'd actually own Exiles. No, I don't, so please don't sue me.
Chapter Eight: Only Daughter Mageborn(Zika meets Melanie Rawn's Exiles)
Givin Powerstorm was not happy. He rested his head in hands, and looked gloomily on the discussion. He had just recently joined with the victimized Guardians, and was a little disturbed by the massive damage.
"Master." A quiet whisper around his knee made him pay attention. His little sprite, Dalai, was staring wide-eyed at him. "Master, what're they yellin' about?"
He straightened, and pulled her up into his lap. "Nothing much, really." He said softly, stroking her fluffy short hair. "It's just that the Dark Angel seems to be getting more and more powerful as she's allowed to move on."
"Why do you allow her to move around freely of you know what trouble she is?"
He sighed. "We pretty much have to, since she's a direct creation of Guardian Aamina. There's been a lot of resentment from when Aamina made Zika, mostly between Delilah and Aamina. So Aamina has stirred up everyone by letting Zika loose."
"Why do you say 'let her loose'? It looks to me that she's acting under her own accord." Dalai's deep green eyes were full of curiosity.
"Hm? Well, remember that Zika's personality has basically been programmed. Aamina always is involved with the behaviour of her creations. She likes to see what they actually do."
"Oh." Her questions satisfied, she curled up like a cat in his lap and fell asleep. He smiled briefly, and then, stroking her hair, paid attention to the meeting.
'Hmm, seems to be like we're going to be rallying all our strength for this one.' He thought. 'Sounds interesting.'
~*~
'Remember Zika, deep breaths and count to ten.' Zika inhaled deeply and slowly began to count. 'Why does it always have to be some kind of FOREST?!!!' Abandoning her attempts to calm down, she decided that what she thought was a forest was really a cleverly planted grove of trees and shrubs. Following an all-too-neat path, she found herself in a large maze-like garden park. As least, that's what she thought it was.
Emerging from the trees, she looked around at some children playing nearby. Frowning, she watched them closely. 'Something doesn't feel right.' Examining their play, Zika thought that she found it. The girl was always the dominant, while the boy always followed what her lead. 'What an interesting change of social structure!'
Confident as ever, Zika continued walking down the path which led to a street. A very busy street. By watching people come and go, Zika found that her theory was correct. She smiled to herself, and quickly scanned the area for any obstacles, physically and magically. The results came back to her, and she frowned at them. 'No, something's not right at all. I'm getting two different power spheres, and they seem to be at conflict with each other.' She concentrated and sought to find the focus points of the spheres. 'And there I'll find the source of the conflict.'
She totally ignored the life around her as she stepped into a light trance. The people on the street blurred so that they became globs of colours. After a few seconds, Zika blinked and smiled not very pleasantly. As quick as lightening, she darted through the street, not bothering to take to air. Feeling the need for privacy, she slipped into an empty alley to work her spell. She marked her targets with her mind, as well as the location that she chose. Mentally, she began to weave the transportation spell.
Cailet had been relaxing in her office at the Academy. She had just closed her eyes for a few precious moments, and there had been the red marks of flashing light from behind her eyelids. When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the Waste, too far away from civilization. And that wasn't the worsest part. Standing a little ways away and facing her was Glenin.
"Now then, since we're all here." A feminine voice with a slight accent that was unfamiliar said. It was coming from her left; she turned and saw a strange girl there. A strange wind picked up and tossed the girl's short silver-white hair. She was thin and petite and looked almost delicate. Her skin was smooth and extremely pale under the unforgiving sun.
"Now, I understand that the two of you are sisters." The girl said. "And I just can't belief that two sisters, obviously mages both, would fight such petty squabbles. I mean, you two have so much in common, do you have no shame?" She went on about this, lecturing them about sibling wars. The two just stood there, staring shocked at her.
At one point, Glenin looked at Cailet that said, 'who is this person?' Cailet wished she knew. She was getting very strong feelings from the silver girl, and quite frankly, it scared her.
Not about to take much more of the girl's ranting, Glenin raised her voice. "Just hold it, girl!"
Amazingly, the white-haired girl stopped and looked curiously at the elder sister. "Yes?"
"I want some answers here. Who are you? Where are you from?" Glenin ordered.
"And how did you do that transportation spell?" Cailet added.
"Oh, the usual set of questions." The girl remarked. "Well, for your information, I am Zika Silver the first, from some place you've never heard of, and most likely never will again, called Olympia. If you had been on the world that I know, that name would probably have some kind of meaning for you, but alas! It doesn't here. As you how I got you here, which is a trick of mine that I don't tell. It has to do with what I am, and I'm not bloody likely to tell you that either." She smirked. "After all-" She stopped suddenly with a slightly queer look on her face.
"What is it?" Cailet asked.
Zika cocked her head in one direction, as if locating and listening to something. "Interesting. Two things, dear. Number one is how this world REALLY does not like me, if I'm guess the intent of those clouds up there."
They looked up to where she was pointing. Very large black clouds were gathering above Zika's head. Cailet could feel the hair on the back of her neck rising. There was a lot of energy in those clouds. "They don't look like the usual Waste acid rain." She muttered.
"The usual acid rain?" Zika raised an eyebrow. "That's normal around here? Intriguing. Anyways, no, those are not acid rain clouds; those are the fury-of-God type 'o' clouds. Oh wait; you don't call them gods here, do you? Their SAINTS! Sheesh! Saints of who?" She shook her head, and then continued. "Well, it doesn't matter. Number two is amount of black energy coming from THAT direction." She pointed towards the Dead White Forest. "And I think that I'll go visit it."
"Are you crazy?" Glenin asked outright. "The angry Wraiths stay there!"
"I'm not afraid of ghosts." Zika stated.
"That's because you used to be one." Jova remarked.
"There's a difference, Jova, from reincarnation and staying dead. So would you please stay out of my conversations?" Zika rolled her eyes. Since there were no other comments from the digital creation, she, once again, continued. "As I was saying before my pain-in-the-rear so rudely interrupted, ghosts aren't a problem were I come from. Not much really is, now that I think about it. Anyways, I didn't come here to debate. I came here to destroy something."
"Destroy…something…?" Cailet frowned, Glenin looked worried.
"Yeah, so with that said and done, I'll say good-bye." Zika said, cracking her knuckles. She let loose the energy from the clouds around her, creating a barrier of electricity. The two sisters ducked and covered their faces with their arms. 'Vainness, major.' She giggled. The electricity sent up a wind of sand that covered her departure by air.
The two sisters were left to stare at the spot where she'd disappeared.
She flew over the desert waste. 'That was some fun.' Zika thought. 'Now, what about this dark energy I'm getting here. A little out of place, I think. I'm going to have to take care of it. Then perhaps I'll leave, there doesn't seem to be much interest here.'
"Zika?"
"What is it Jova?"
"Are we there yet?"
************R.A.O.I. Starring…huh?*****
Three girls left school after a rainy day. While they were crossing the football field, a girl piped up. "Oh look! The dandelions are up!"
********************** This has been a Random Act of Insanity. *********
"Why do trees never seem to like me?" Zika remarked as she stared up at the Dead White Forest. Twisted branches reached out to embrace her as one their own with coldness that chilled the soul. Except for hers. Nothing could ever chill her heart any more than it already was. "Maybe because I just don't like them. I'm Digital, for crying out loud!"
She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "This is weird. I seem to be acting totally out of character. Perhaps it's a result of dimension travelling."
Just then, an angry wind stirred the dark forest. It pushed against Zika, trying to blow her away.
"Now, now, none of that!" She said, frowning. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"
The wind howled its protest, and Zika shook her head.
"You're not scaring me." She said quietly, dangerously. The howling stopped and the trees groaned.
: Little girl, little girl, go away.: The Forest whispered. : You're unwanted here.:
"Well, I don't doubt that I am. However, it's not bloody likely that you're going to chase me away, rotten bark."
: We were warning you, child of worlds. But since you insist, you will face the penalties of entering the Forest. :
"Right." Zika stood, unmoved. "You and what army?"
There was no reply in her mind, but she sensed the Forest, and something deeper within, gathering its forces. It took a small probe, and she gave the deeper force a name.
"Anniyas, what a remarkable character you are."
: Vile child, I'll kill you where you stand. :
Zika closed her eyes and smirked. "Remarkable, I said you were, but you're weak." She lifts her hand, palm facing up, and began to shape a spell. The energy of the Forest shuddered as its magic was suddenly sucked away into Zika's control. She gathered the energy about her, like a close robe. "Tell me, have you ever heard of dragons?"
The Wraith of Anniyas choked and appeared in front of the Forest. A pale outline, the ghost of the women glared at Zika defiantly. The Wraith was shaking.
"I guess not." Zika said calmly, and opened her eyes. The spell was ready, like a pile of firewood, covered in gasoline, ready to burn. She, very gently, lit the spark. A flame of magic burst in her hand, and grew rapidly, moving towards the Forest and the Wraith guarding it.
A smile on her lips, Zika whispered the final word of the spell and let it erupt…
When the dust settled, Zika stood just outside of what had been the Dead White Forest. The smell of burned wood and charcoal reached her. She played with a long strand of her hair as she observed the destruction. Not much was left.
"Well, that was interesting. Don't you think so, Jova?"
Jova was silent for a moment. "That was a good thing you did, Zika."
"Really Jova! I'm always doing good things, it's just a matter of how they appear to people that makes it seem evil." She replied, and sighed. "It's time to go now."
Pewter knelt, and picked up a handful of burned soil. He let it run from his fingers, getting the feeling of the power behind the attack.
"There's no doubt about it, it was Zika." He said. "But then, there never was any doubt."
"She does sort of light up whenever she does something like this." Ikeda admitted. "I feel it too, you know."
"So, you're wondering the same thing I am?" He said, "How's she getting that much power?"
"Something along those lines."
Pewter was silent for a while. Ikeda recognised his mood, and let him be.
"I think," he said at last. "That she has found a way to get an internal tap into every dimension she goes to. It's something I suspect she's unaware of, but it allows her to gain a certain amount of power, and store it somewhere."
"So, she's getting stronger because of this link?"
"Every time she goes into a new dimension, the link grows stronger, which results in her getting more power. But for what purpose, I don't know. I could speculate, but she doesn't know exactly what she's doing, so she has no greater plan for that amount of power."
"You think it might Aamina?" Ikeda asked, frowning. "I don't like the sound of this."
"Either do I."
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A/N: Finally! I finished Chapter Eight! It took me how many months? Anyways, while I was drifting in the story abyss, Rainjewel has updated! Wheeee! And now that I'm done the chapter of no inspiration, I'll move along…
