The Powers of Music and Other Things...
The musical continues! Chapter summary: Shute and the triplets go through a couple of tests to find out just how magic they are. No song in this chapter, I couldn't find one that fit.
Captain, Bakunetsumaru, and Zero watched as Prince John floated across the throne room, Princess Aresia tripping after him faithfully. Shute, Coah, Doah, and Noah all stood in a little line behind him, standing like obedient little soldiers. Shute shot Captain a glance from a little ways away; Captain gave him a "bravery smile", relieving the boy of some building tension.
"I've been meaning to do this with the triplets for a while now," said Prince John, moving from his throne to the four boys standing before him. "Seeing the... Odd traits that this little whatever-it-is has shown, I've decided to do this with... Um..."
"Shute." The eldest boy hissed with a tone of disdain. Prince John literally waved off the comment and stepped forward.
"Yes, that name. I've decided to test you alongside my nephews for magic."
"You think Shute might be magic?!" Zero jumped, brimming with excitement, his hands clasped. Baku and Captain had very different reactions; they both jerked violently backwards, Bakunetsumaru showing his usual fear of the paranormal.
"It's a big maybe," said the substitute king. He pulled a small crystal the size of a taco out of his sleeve. "This is an essence crystal. This proves whether you have magic powers within you and how powerful it is, but it does not tell us what it does. Are you following?"
Coah's voice faltered. "Uh..."
"Just say yes," Noah nudged his brother. "Keep us out of trouble.'
"Okay!" Doah stood at attention. "We're good!"
"Alright, then, we-" Prince John stopped suddenly. "You're... Good?"
Doah pointed to Shute. "I heard him saying it."
Shute shrugged in defeat. "Guilty as charged."
John sighed and handed the crystal to the boy on his farthest left; Noah. As it sat in his hands, it eventually began to shine a dim blue and brighter until it was glittering like the moon on a clear night. He barely took notice of the warm sensation in his palms. "It's glowing!"
Shute applauded, prompting Coah and Doah to do the same. Prince John shot them a threatening glare and snatched the essence crystal away from Noah. "There's no need to applaud. Noah may have magic, but it's very weak. We'll move on to Coah."
Shute frowned and looked downward. "Bully."
Coah was the next to palm the strange gem; it too glowed, taking no time to warm up as it did with Noah. However, its light was just a bit lighter than Noah's, and its surface was cold to the touch. Coah sighed and put the crystal back in his uncle's hand. "Sorry, Uncle John."
"Don't apologize, Coah," Shute whispered. "It's not your fault."
"Quiet!"
Doah, a bit jumpy after his uncle snapping at his brothers and Shute, was almost afraid to take the gem; "Uncle" John had to force it into his chest. Doah was in for a surprise because although it took a minute, the light shone so brightly that it nearly lit up the whole room! A sharp tingling ran all the way up his arms and into his shoulders. He could barely squeeze out his joyous laughter as everyone in the room (minus you-know-who) began to clap for him.
"Good job!" he heard Zero cheer. Doah blushed in his ears.
"Aw, shucks."
"Very good," Prince John actually smiled as he took the gem from Doah, and he meant it! He patted his nephew on the head. "There's a good Doah." He turned to the last one, Shute. "And now for you."
Shute gulped and held out his hand. Prince John dropped the gem into Shute's open palm-
FLASH! As soon as it made contact with Shute's skin, it burst into a light brighter than the sun! Shute held it for a few seconds, trying to shield it from his eyes but failing; Bakunetsumaru and the princess were screaming. He panicked and threw it to the floor, recoiling backwards. The triplets were all huddled into each other, cringing in fear. Bakunetsumaru was his usual bug-eyed scared-y-self, Zero and Aresia copying. Captain had his hands up from apparently trying to shield himself. Prince John had conjured some kind of glowing ball around himself and was powering it with his staff.
"YIPE! Sorry! Ididn'tmeanforittodothat!" Shute bowed to Prince John hurriedly. "Gomen nasai!"
"YEAH!" Coah clapped loudly for Shute. "Go Shute!"
"Here here!" Noah and Doah joined in their applause, along with all of the Gundams. Captain whistled his admiration, making Shute blush.
"What- how did- you, boy!" Prince John picked up the essence crystal. "Okay, so you have a lot of power. What matters is what the power does. Next test!"
The boys cheered and ran out of the room, the Gundams following. Princess Aresia shuddered, a tight feeling welling up in her chest, but she shook it off and followed her uncle without thinking.
&&&
The prince led them next into a small room with nothing but a few windows, a low ceiling, and a huge pile of sand."I remember this test!" Zero whispered into Bakunetsumaru's ear. "This is the test I passed! I'm a natural wind elemental."
Baku raised an eyebrow in a way that he didn't really, but it still looked like he did. "And that means..."
"Well, all of the magic you see me use was taught to me; they're spells anyone could use. But as a wind elemental, I can do wind-based spells without reciting anything. It all comes naturally."
"Ooooohhh.... Kaaaaay." Baku looked the other way. "That explains all the prissy tornado spells that do absolutely nothing-"
"WHAT!? YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
"NO!"
Shute looked away from the fighting and snuggled his face into Captain's arm. "Captain, I don't trust this place. I'm scared."
"Don't be. I'm right here." Captain nuzzled Shute's cheek with his mouth plate. "There's nothing to worry about."
Princess Aresia, seeing this, suddenly felt a jolt of jealousy; she didn't know where it came from, and it scared her. She thumped her chest and pretended to cough, covering up her blush.
"Okay..." Shute noticed that the triplets were hovering especially close to him and Captain. "Are you guys okay?"
"Uh...." they all hummed in unison.
Shute wrapped an arm around Noah's head and pulled him into a hug. "Captain says we've got nothing to worry about."
"Do you see that pile of sand over there?"
The three boys walked forward and looked at the large pile of sand in the middle of the small room. "Yes."
Prince John pointed to the pile. "I want you to concentrate on that sand and picture the wind blowing it all away."
"Okay!"
"I'm not finished!" the prince growled. "You have to go one at a time or else we don't know who did what! Noah first!"
Noah bowed and stepped forward, standing before the sand dune. He stared at it intently for a minute or two before backing away. "Nothing happened."
"Then you're not a wind element. Come back over here." Princess Aresia gave her poor brother a pat on the head and watched as Coah went forward. He shivered and looked down towards the floor.
"Coah?" Prince John tapped his scepter against the floor. "Come on, Coah, let's hurry it up!"
"It's okay, Coah," Shute interjected. "It's not like we're gonna laugh at you if you get it wrong!"
"You're among friends!" Baku reminded the small boy.
Coah smiled weakly and pointed his hands at the sand dune. His small face twitched in concentration, but not even the smallest breeze filled the hallway. "Aaah!"
Coah ran into Shute's stomach in anger and gripped his stomach tightly, not letting go. Zero rubbed Coah's back. "Shh shh, it's okay."
"But I wanna be magic!" cried Coah.
"You are magic, Coah, you're just not a wind elemental," Shute tried his best hand at comforting his friend. "Or whatever your uncle said."
"We're still at the very beginning of the magic tests," Zero whispered softly. "It's all right."
"COME ON!" Doah stomped to Shute's stomach and, again, latched onto him and wouldn't let go (ever been around one of those clingy 7-year-olds? It hurts after a while (rubs ribs). "I didn't get it either!"
"Maybe it doesn't run in your family," Shute suggested. "Like I've got this thing my hair does-" He prodded his tuft of gravity-defying hair. "But my sister doesn't."
"Shute! It's your turn!" Prince John poked Shute sharply in the middle of his shoulder blades. "Get!"
"OW!" Shute stumbled forward, rubbing the stinging spot in his skin where the scepter had touched him. "You don't have to zap me, geeze laweeze!"
Shute sighed and pointed his hand towards the pile, as he did when the hero did something magical in that movie he watched. He ignored the inquiries from the annoying king-while-the-king-was-out and concentrated on the air around him, imagining a huge invisible fan pushing the air towards the sand-
The sand suddenly jutted forward in a huge gale of wind, curling back along the back wall and curving back towards Shute and the others! Shute gasped and, thinking so fast that he didn't realize it at the moment, curled the wind back around and around until he had created a self-contained tornado within the room.
Zero's eyes were wide in amazement; Baku couldn't be seen as he was hiding behind Zero. Captain was staring in amazement while the triplets were yelling about how unfair it was that Shute had cool powers and they didn't. Princess Aresia had her hand held over her mouth, and Prince John...
He was fuming.
"I TOLD YOU TO BLOW IT AWAY, NOT MAKE A BLEEDIN' SHOW OUT OF IT!" He smacked Shute away repeatedly with his scepter and tamed the raging tornado, gathering the sand in a tight ball and placing it against the wall of the room. "Have to make a spectacle out of everything don't you!?"
Shute paid no attention; he was too busy getting a coddling from Captain, who was making sure he wasn't burnt seriously. Prince John growled and enveloped Shute in a blue magic field, pulling him away from Captain Gundam. "This test isn't over! You still have to move the boulder!"
Shute twitched uncomfortably in midair. "Boulder?"
"Oh, there's a big boulder in the middle of the room!" Coah pointed out.
Prince John threw Shute down at the foot of the boulder. "You have to try and move it."
As the triplets rushed down to take their turns, Captain turned to his fellow Gundams. "I am getting annoyed by Prince John's behavior."
"You're what?" Baku mumbled.
Zero nudged his friend. "It's because he's hitting Shute." The Winged Knight address Captain Gundam. "Look, people are rarely more than one element; Shute will fail this test and we can leave Lacroa, if you wish."
Captain looked to the floor. "I do feel like nothing's really getting down here."
"Are you sure you'd have to leave?" Aresia interrupted, lifting her skirt a bit so she could walk. "I mean, Shute would have to stay here to train."
"Train?" Captain looked at Baku, hoping he would know. The samurai Gundam shrugged.
"And what of you, Zero?" the princess asked again. "You were away from home for two years! Wouldn't you rather stay?"
Zero felt the guilt rushing over him. He turned his eyes away. "Um..."
"SHUTE DID IT AGAIN!"
Captain turned about quickly to see not Shute, but the boulder, glowing with a magical blue light. Shute too was illuminated, as well as ecstatic. He was giggling airily, butterflies running livid in his stomach. The triplets were clapping, Prince John was once again livid about being a show off, and Aresia was blushing again.
She was barely able to squeeze out the words "Such... Powerful..." before Baku pushed her out of the way, ran up to Shute and smacked him on the back. "THAT'S TWO! Zero thought you'd fail this test, but you proved him wrong! Omedetto!"
Despite being slapped by a Gundam (which hurts), Shute kept his concentration and kept the boulder in the air. Along with that, he blushed his thanks. "Domo." He suddenly felt water against his feet. When he looked down, he saw that the entire room was suddenly two inches deep in water. "YIE!"
"GAH!" Baku grabbed Shute's arm and pulled him to the far wall, where the rest of the group was pushed up against. Zero held the princess in his airs so she would not get her gown wet; the triplets were all bunched together. Captain reached out to Shute and pulled him into his arms.
"What's going on, Zero?" Doah asked the blue knight.
Zero shook his head. "I don't know! I never made it this far!"
"You've opened up an underground stream by moving the boulder!" Prince John explained. "You now have to find a way to keep the water from drowning you!"
"That's it?!" Shute found he needed to shout to make himself heard; the water was rushing in at an alarm rate, as it was now at his knees.
Coah, Doah, and Noah began to panic. "We don't know how to swim!"
"Do something quick or you'll drown!" Prince John quipped.
Bakunetsumaru gasped. "Joudan janai!"
The triplets stood on tiptoes to keep their heads above water. Coah squeezed his eyes together as the water reached his mouth. "Prince John, help, please!"
"You're helping yourself!" he answered back.
Coah's eyes shot open. "Huh?"
He gasped (happy that he could breath air) because the water around him and his brothers had magically been pushed back! They were sitting in a physics defying "crater" in the water! "Did I do that?!"
Shute cheered. "That's all you, Coah!"
"There's no time to be happy now!" Prince John floated above water level. "You others try, now! We don't have forever!"
Noah and Doah reached out their hands and tried to stop the water, but they once again failed. Shute dunked himself underwater (it was at his neck now) and held out one hand. It moved smoothly back towards the other side of the room, forming a wall of water that was slowly rising higher and higher.
And so Shute sat there wet while the others ran up to investigate the water. He breathed deeply and tried to concentrate, because for whatever reason, this was harder than anything else he had done at this point. He really had to think about what he was doing.
"Uso darou konna... Masaka..."Baku poked the wall of water and watched it ripple. "SUGOI!"
"This thing is sooo cool!" Noah splashed the water wall, hitting all of his siblings. "Congratulations, Shute!"
Prince John noticed that the auburn-haired one was starting to sweat despite his being wet already. He waved his hand and ordered the water back into the stream, placing the boulder and the sand back where they belonged. "Very... Good, Shute, my boy. Shute?"
He had fainted.
&&&
"This is stupid, making him take more tests like this!" Bakunetsumaru called out to Prince John. "He's tired! Let him rest!""Daijoubu." Shute rubbed his eyes wearily. "I'm okay..."
"I know a thing or two about children, Baklava, and I think Shute can stay alive for the rest of the magic tests, thank you very much."
Bakunetsumaru's eyes twitched in anger. "Bakunetsumaru..."
Prince John cupped a hand to his ear. "What was that?"
"BOKU NO NAME WA BAKUNETSUMARU DESU!"
Shute yawned and sat down against Captain's leg, the Gundam's hand resting on his hair. The triplets handed Shute a candle. "Dream candle?"
Captain cast his gaze downward. "What is a dream candle?"
"You sleep with it next to your bed, and it burns the nightmares that try to get into your soul," Noah explained.
"That sounds like a night light." Shute stared at the candle flame. "Pretty..."
"What, the candle?" Coah studied the crude candlestick holder and lumpy purple candle. There was nothing special about it.
"No, the fire." Shute leaned in closer. "I went to a psychiatrist when I was younger, and he classified me as a pyromaniac."
The three boys stared dumbfounded. "Uh..."
Captain felt laughter tugging at his throat. "It means he's crazy about fire."
"I had a cousin who set a tire on fire once," Shute remembered. He kept staring at the fire, watching it twist itself into odd shapes. "He got arrested."
"Why's the flame going all weird?" Doah asked.
Shute just then noticed that the fire had stopped moving entirely; it was light a Christmas light, completely still. It was like you could poke it and knock it off the wick. As he pictured it in his head, the fire tilted sideways until it was parallel to the floor! The triplets jumped.
"Yeepes!" squealed Coah.
"UNCLE JOHN! Shute's doing weird magic stuff again!" Doah shouted.
"Lemme try!" Noah held his hand on either side of the fire and squinted. The flame began to twist itself into a knot. "Cool!"
"Wait, watch!" Shute wiggled his finger twisted the fire into a tight ball. Two small strings of fire shot out from the sides and formed circles around the central sphere, orbiting it in a familiar fashion.
"It's my Soul Drive!" Captain interjected.
"Yep!" Shute and Noah clapped their hands in sync and took turns forming the flame into different shapes.
Prince John walked away from his argument with Baklava (punch OW!)- I mean Bakunetsumaru, sorry!, and floated towards the boys with a candle in his hand. "Okay, boys, now I want you to..."
And that's when he noticed that Shute and Noah were prodding the flame of the candle into the shape of a sheep. A drop of sweat rolled down his head. "To come with me to the next room..."
&&&
"I like this room a whole lot better than the other ones," Doah told his sister. "It's a whole bunch bigger."
Aresia nodded vacantly, not responding to her brother. Doah sighed and walked into the middle of the room as he was instructed by his uncle. This room, unlike the sand-boulder-water room, was very big and spacious, but still without many windows. A large protrusion in the wall hinted to the fact that a chimney resided in the opposite room. Shute could here the birds whistling outside; oh man, did he want to go outside!
"Are we almost done here?" shouted the young boy. "'Cause I wanna go outside and play!"
"That depends," Prince John shrugged. "This is a test of raw magic power. Defend yourself!"
"Protect yourself?" Shute looked down to the triplets, who shrugged and made "I dunno" noises.
It didn't take long for him to figure it out, though, because not soon after a sharp sword shot out of the ceiling and zinged past his back!
"YIE!"
"AAA!" The triplets dove into each other's arms and cowered in fear. "Evil flying sword!"
Captain lunged forward, his hand on his beam rifle, before Zero grabbed him by the shoulders. "Captain, no! He has to do this on his own!"
"I agree fully," Prince John chuckled. He watched as the curved saber began to chase Shute. "Also, it's very entertaining."
"This isn't funny!" shouted the auburn. "Somebody help!"
The sword got close enough to touch his back; he panicked, turned around, there was a flash of light,-
And the sword was gone. Shute was standing there with an outstretched hand, his palm glowing and his face pale. He shuddered in fear. "Please tell me I'm dreaming now..."
Captain jumped down and pulled Shute into his arms. "Are you okay?"
Shute curled into a ball at Captain's feet. "I'm turning into a character from Dragonball Z..."
The little boy started to sniffle as the other two Gundams joined him at his side, the humans keeping their distance. Prince John wrapped a thin hand around Shute's shoulder. "There, there, I didn't mean to scare you that much. Come with me, I'll let you rest while my nephews take the rest of the magic tests."
"Thank you..." Shute let John help him up and lead him (well, drag him) to the chimney section of wall. Shute sighed and slammed his back onto the wall, hoping to drift off into a welcome sleep. The problem came when his back felt no wall behind it.
From Bakunetsumaru's point of view, Shute simply disappeared into the stone as if it were fog. It was about that time that a little ditty went through his head, and this went a little something like this:
"AA! SHUTE-SAN! WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE'D HE GO?! I KNEW YOU COULDN'T TRUST MAGIC USERS! I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!"
"SHUT UP!" Zero whacked Baku on the back of the head. "That's another magic test!"
Doah knocked on the wall; it seemed solid enough. "How come I'm not going through?"
Noah slammed his back into the chimney wall while Prince John narrated. "This test shows whether or not you can use magic to manipulate your own body. The wall triggers a response that makes his body pass through the wall."
Aresia nodded in agreement. "I had a cousin wh-"
"Ah ah ah, seen not heard, Aresia." Prince John tapped the chimney wall with his scepter; it opened into a small doorway with stairs. "Come on, this is the last test."
&&&
"Who's Camille?" asked Noah.
"I'll give you a hint; just keep your ears open!" Prince John pushed the Gundam's slowly backwards. "And remember, don't touch Camille!"
"Who's Camille?" Shute asked Doah.
Camille "introduced" herself abruptly; she jumped out of the archway, ramming herself against the fence, held back only by a chain. Camille, evidently, was a giant warg (Lord of The Rings style warg, look it up if you haven't seen the movies yet), standing 6 feet at the shoulder. A gaping mouth filled with jagged teeth snapped at the boys; two black, beady eyes flashed in anticipation. Her fur was muddy and matted, and he large claws were broken, yet sharp.
It was at this exact point that the boys couldn't take it anymore.
The all slammed against the back wall, squeezing as far away as they could from Camille the warg. They all cowered in fear for their lives, but Shute especially put some effort into trying to keep away.
"NO!" Shute's small eyes darted about the room. "NO! GET IT AWAY FROM ME! PLEASE!"
"Oh no, I forgot!" Zero met Prince John's eyes. "M'Lord, Shute can't do this test. He is deathly afraid of dogs. You have to get him out of there!"
Camille barked again, scaring all four of the boys and making them bunch down again. Princess Aresia ran to the guardrail of the balcony and shouted, "Shute, hang on! Don't be scared, just blast her!"
"Aresia!" Prince John pulled the princess back by her collar. "Behave yourself, you're starting to sound like him (he pointed to Shute)!"
Camille growled threateningly at the boys, her lips twitching in agony, but she made no move to attack. The triplets heard snarling, but Shute began to hear words...
Meanwhile, Captain was trying to talk Prince John into letting him go and get Shute. "Sir, his magic performance will be hindered by the fact that he is scared out of his wits, now will you please let him do something else?"
"This is the only sure-fire way to know," answered the not-quite-king. "Notice anything yet, boys?"
Noah, Doah, and Coah shook their heads, but Shute actually nodded. "Who took her puppies away?"
Baku's eyes bugged out as the answer went through his head. How did he know?
Zero wasn't sure he heard right. "Wait, what?"
"She said someone took her puppies away!" Shute continued, ignoring the stares of the other boys. "That's why she's acting so crazy; she said so! Didn't you hear her?"
Prince John lowered his head. "And so he is..."
In a flash of light, Camille disappeared, leaving the boys alone in the room. Prince John pulled Zero aside to talk to him, and Baku followed out of curiosity. Captain reached down to grab Shute's hand; the triplets got to him first, so they had to be pulled up into the balcony. Captain reached down again and Shute grabbed his hand.
"Are the tests done now?"
"Yes, you don't have to do any more." Captain squeezed Shute's hand warmly. "Are you okay?"
A bit of color escaped from Shute's face. "I'm tired, and I'm scared, and I wanna go home."
"If I had known that they were going to pull a dog on you, I would have never agreed to this test. I'm sorry." The Soul Drive started to purr pleasantly, and a small light made Captain's chest glow from the inside out.
"It's okay, Captain, it's not your fault." Shute was pulled upwards and into Captain's arms, where he promptly fell into a deep sleep.
&&&
Captain tucked Shute into bed (a guest bed that John had provided for him) while Prince John explained his performance to Zero and Baku. "Shute passed all of the tests; he might a supreme magic being like myself.""Is that good?" Baku asked Zero, who remained cool and collected during the conversation.
"Most people who have magic can only do one thing with it. Noah could only do fire, Coah could only do water, and Doah..." He placed a hand to his cheek. "Oh no, poor Doah didn't pass any of the tests."
"So Shute doing more than one thing means...?"
"That he might be able to do everything," Prince John spit, a chill running up his spine. "Me and my brother Davis are the only supreme beings in Lacroa."
"So, what's going to happen to Shute?" Baku questioned with a fearful tone. He looked behind him to Shute and Captain, the latter stroking the former's hair.
Prince John gulped. "I don't know..."
DONE! Notes, notes, uh...
Baku says a lot of stuff in Japanese in this fic. "Joudon janai" is something like "You've got to be kidding". "Sugoi" is "cool". "Uso darou konna" is "You've GOT to be kidding me" (different stress). "Masaka" is "can't be, impossible". Anything else can be looked up.
For those who didn't catch it, Shute blew up the sword with a blast of pure magic energy, not unlike those generic energy attacks in "Dragonball Z".
Didn't have a song because this section of the story came out longer than I thought. I'll have a song for the next chapter, though!
