Okage Densetsu - Lookit the Fancy Japanese

Chapter 20 - Strawberry Heaven at Last

"I... think my scalp is bleeding..." Ari had just been released from Rosalyn's nearly-lethal noogie attack and was on the floor, gingerly feeling his VERY sore head... She had stomped off to a corner and looked extremely unamused- didn't help his case any, however. "Ow..."

"Ugh! You should have fought back, Slave!"

"I tried!"

"Not good enough, evidently! Stupid slave!"

"Aww..." Rin walked over, watching as Ari sat up, "Don't be mean, Grampa."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"Whee!" Linda giggled, "All this action and excitement- it inspires me to sing!"

"Please don't..." Ari got up, sighing, "What were we doing again?"

"I believe..." Fayth was beside Epros, making sure he was REALLY okay, it seems, "We need to find our next Evil King? Did... you not mention Hidgeway?"

"Hidgeway! Of the Strawberry fame?" Epros was surprised, "Corona, I believe, was her name? She still exists- what a treat! But... now an evil king we must defeat?"

"They changed her classification before I could rescue her." Ari's eyes fixed on the metal floor, a guilty look splashed across his face, "I could've done something more..."

"Ah, but remember!" Kisling tried to sound cheerful, "You cannot go back and undo what has been done! All you can do is fix the things to come! We'll all go and find her and set her back to rights as a team, as we've done since the beginning. Just no self-mental abuse! Hah!"

"I guess..."

"Where is she?" Linda scooted close to Ari.

"...Linda... promise you won't hurt me."

"Uh, okay!"

"...Back at that village we just left."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" She SCREAMED, suddenly taking him into a headlock, hitting him sharply a few times, "YOU BASTARD, YOU MEAN TO TELL ME WE HAVE TO CROSS THE DAMN DESERT AGAIN? OOOOOOOH!"

"AAAH! Let me go!"

Linda suddenly dropped him, crossing her arms, "I'm not going across that again."

"Alright," Rosalyn walked past, picking up Ari and dusting him off, "Then you can stay here without any water or food all by yourself."

"...well... maybe it isn't THAT bad... I mean, the exercise is great!" Linda giggled weakly, "Yeah... slimming..."

"Now that's the ticket, Sister Linda! Focus on the body-building, YEAH! We'll be buff in no time!"

"Oh dear..." She sighed, "Now I don't want to come again."

"Suit yourself, come on, guys!" Rosalyn led everyone out, smirking a bit since Linda stayed behind as they all headed back down the ladders... As they got outside, Rosalyn continued to lead since Ari was apparently slowed down in order to recover from his recent beatings, and kept quiet, only to count under her breath: "Three... two... one..."

Linda suddenly shot out the door behind them, "I'm coming! I'm coming! Don't leave your Linda behind!"

"I shouldn't be able to predict these idiots' moves..."

"I heard that!" Both Stan and Linda yelled at her.

"Hehe..."

So again the party was increasing their chances of skin cancer by plodding across the sands, everyone trying to forget how him or her was miserable. Of course, halfway through the trip, Linda started up, cursing the desert's mother's maiden name. When everyone finally reached Chantal, they all immediately seemed to have their heads in the stream, mostly trying to make up for all the liquid they shed on the way. After everyone had more water than they should have, they decided it was time for a plan of attack.

"Alright... The Map O' Evil Kings says the Enigma Evil King is in the school building, obviously," Rosalyn still had the map, knowing it was annoying the hell out of Stan, "But where oh where inside will we find an evil drool-producing factory?"

"Well... I don't like those terms..." Fayth frowned slightly, "But she would probably be near the top floor. In her... natural form, she preferred being up high, hence the fact she haunted the Momijiian Mount-"

"Y-yeah!" Ari tried to cut in between Fayth's words, hoping against hope Rosalyn hadn't heard that, "We'll he-"

"The Momijiian Mountains?" Clearly, she had heard, "You mean we've been carting around a demon for most of this adventure and nobody said a word? You!-" She suddenly caught Ari by his shirt, "You knew, didn't you!"

"N-no! Not until later! I t-thought I told you!"

"If I hadn't gone looking for that bitch I would have never found HIM!" Rosalyn pointed an accusing finger at Stan who was unaffected, "I'm MURDERING that thing! Forget restoring her!"

"Rosa- oof!" Ari was suddenly dropped, Rosalyn running off, "HEY! WAIT!"

"Impressive," Stan was momentarily off-balance as Ari shot off behind Rosalyn, but had managed to get 'upright' again, "She CAN hate other things. Hrhr."

Ari scrambled upright, ignoring Stan entirely. With his feet flying and his heart going nuts, he caught up behind Rosalyn and suddenly dived at her- the two connected and rolled across the cobblestone path a distance, Rosalyn's parasol being tossed off in a random direction. When they came to a halt, Ari had her pinned, the heroine struggling to get free.

"Rosalyn! Calm down!"

"UNHAND ME!" She shrieked, but she was more focused on the teensy fact that, of course, without that umbrella her shadow was its bright, piercing pink. "How DARE you tackle a lady!"

"Pssht!" Stan laughed, "You? A lady? You're going off to slay something smaller than you, one that has never done anything to you directly- now usually this is acceptable, (he smirked around this time) that is, if the target were male. 'Ladies' don't go and maul smaller ladies! Besides, you're the ugliest thing I've ever seen, so I'm not why you even try to pass yourself off!"

"GRR!" She fought even harder, almost knocking Ari off, "I FREAKIN' HATE YOU! I HATE YOU WITH A PASSION!"

"YEAH?" Stan stretched himself out dramatically, "I HATE YOU WITH TWICE THAT MUCH!"

"A... passion?" Ari was suddenly knocked off when he was distracted- he sat up to see Rosalyn scrambling for her parasol, and enough to see Stan towering over him from behind. Just as the two were to start it off again, Ari grit his teeth, shook his head, then shouted: "You know, to hate ANYTHING with a 'passion' it means you're BOTH using your heart!"

"!" Both of the targeted had seemingly frozen still. Rosalyn had just grabbed the umbrella, but had paused in the middle of opening it again. Though she had her back to everyone, it was clear that she was blushing for her ears were flushed with color. On the other hand, behind Ari, Stan had simply stopped moving entirely, and by now was slowly, silently shrinking down to his usual size. Rosalyn popped open her parasol, returned it to her usual place, then headed for the school, speaking darkly, "Shut up."

"Hmph." Ari got up, dusted himself off, then hid a bit of a smirk as Stan was no longer visible. He turned to the rest of the group, "...Come on, guys. Before Rosalyn slays Corona."

"..." Rin suddenly ran over and attached herself to Ari's arm as he turned, the rest of the group following. "Everybuddy's upset?"

"At least, that's what they want you to think..." Ari spoke so quietly this remark went unnoticed- but knowing how children will ask things over and over again until they get a good answer, he quickly added, audibly, "Aw, well, everyone gets upset once in awhile. They'll be okay again later."

"Okay! I don't like it when Grampa is upset! Hehehe!"

When they got inside, it was abandoned like it was before: with the lights off, the silence echoing through the halls, it gave off that forboding, haunting feeling. The dark halls, with all the doors closed, reminded one of a tunnel heading off into nowhere. Of course, right off the bat, they were all lost- instinctively, Ari turned and looked at Fayth.

"Well..." She knew what he was going to ask, so she walked to the head of the group, looking down the halls, (one should note Epros was never too far away, and was in fact just beside her at this point) "I have to believe she is upstairs. Living... where she did, she'd find somewhere high a comfortable perch."

"Got enough guts to lead us?" Linda was smiling away behind Ari, "Or will you be afraid of the darky darkness?"

"Nay, she shall not lead," Epros tried to look as grave as he could, but wasn't doing a wonderful job at it since he'd blush when Fayth would smile, "Alone, at least- the task will be shared in order to succeed!"

"Woohoo! Like, the Mystery Man will help the Pretty Miss! No doubt we'll get through now, yeah! Feel the LOVE!"

"Hehe." Linda smirked something terrible, "A knight and his princess."

"Come, this way!" Fayth headed off, faint giggles rising from her as she started down the dark hall, her red-faced companion just beside her. She paused once or twice to make sure everyone was following, and when she was content they were, she began moving a little faster. All was relatively splendid, heading past closed doors and a few potted plants, the stairwell coming into view, until everyone heard a loud shriek- she tripped over in surprise, but was of course caught and righted by her 'knight'. "Oh dear, everyone, get behind something, quickly!"

Though confused, the party did as told, now all slighty worried about the fact they hadn't seen head nor tail of Rosalyn since entering.

"This way, please come!" Epros tried to tug Fayth to her own hidey-corner, but found it impossible and was about to stay beside her.

"No," She moved to the center of the hall, "Please, hide yourself as well."

"..." He slimply glid backwards into a shadow, keeping a worried eye on her, probably prepared to maul anything that would even THINK of touching her.

Another shriek was heard, but it clearly wasn't human. The sounds of claws tapping against the floors began to echo about, and soon a large gryffon came into view. Its long, whiplike tail was swinging behind it casually, but the creature froze and lowered its bird-like head to get a better look at Fayth, who suddenly spread her arms out. Taken a bit off guard, it shrieked, spreading its wings out and rearing up onto its back paws.

"..." Fayth stepped forward, arms held out, "...Do not be afraid... nor angry... I know who you are... you know who I am..."

The gryffon set itself back down and looked at her, scanning over her figure. Then it took several quick steps forward, just in front of her. Everyone suddenly flinched as a large paw was swept out- in an instant, Epros was there, prepared to blow the creature up, but he had to pause and stare down in amazement.

"Hehe!" Fayth was being held down and was being gived a friendly nip here and there and some nuzzling, "Cut it out, cut it out!"

The gryffon sat down beside her, looking rather content as she stood up. It now had a friendly glint to its eyes, the tail happily twitching about.

"...Cool!" Ari was the first to venture out, with Rin attached, looking at the critter, "I've never seen anything like this!"

"He's the school mascot," Fayth explained with a smile, petting the thing's feathered head, "His name is Sir George. He usually patrols the classes after hours and is somewhat of a watchdog. He's actually really friendly," She laughed as George began nibbling at her dress, "See?"

"Astounding," Kisling walked over and patted the creature, "A very healthy Mountain Gryffon. I'm surprised he's tame."

"Hehe! He's funny looking!" Rin spread her arms up, which made George extend his wings in the same direction. She burst into laughter and suddenly latched onto his puffy chest in a hug, the two looking as if they had known each other for years, "He's all soft, too!"

"Cool! A symbol of pure power, yeah!" Big Bull jumped up and down, "Will George lead us? Will he?"

"Whee!" Linda cheered, "If he does, I want a ride!"

"Me too, me too! Me and Linda!" Rin looked back, still hugging George tightly.

"I'm sure he would," Fayth looked at him, stroking the top of his beak, beginning to coo, "Do you know if there are people in here beside us? Can you lead us there?"

The gryffon actually nodded, but waited patiently as Linda and Rin were suddenly climbing onto his back. After they were settled, he tucked his wings around them as if to prevent them from falling, then let out a quick shriek. Everyone then followed the gryffe who walked tall and proud to the sound of the giggling from his two riders. He led them up the stairs (going up for him was an exciting venture, since he had to skip several stairs at a time, clearly not his preferred way of getting upstairs) and into the dark hall, then chirped loudly, causing the person down the hall to jump and whip around.

"Rosalyn!" Ari hurried over to her, noticing she was staring at the gryffon as if it were her mortal enemy, "Oh, don't mind Sir George. He's nice."

"...I see." She sheathed her sword, then sighed, "I didn't know where to go from here. I think I've circled these halls about fifteen times."

"Yay! Rosalyn!" Rin cheered, "Lookit me and Linda! We're havin' a ride!"

"How splendid!" Rosalyn gave a weak smile, heading over, "What a noble steed for such pretty princesses."

Both of the girls laughed as George puffed out his chest proudly and began purring deeply.

"Hehe, what a ham. He will lead us to Corona, so you can follow with us, Rosalyn," Fayth smiled warmly, "We would love your addition to our proud parade."

"I suppose..." She grumbled and merged with the crowd, but moved around to the other side when noticing she had mistakeningly parked next to the grinning Kisling. "Whenever you're ready."

"Okay George," Fayth patted the side of his beak, "Will you help us find the other girl here?"

He nodded again, suggesting he at least understood English. Moving his beak down, he sniffed about like a dog, then suddenly headed off in a sprint, causing his riders to shriek in glee. The rest of the party had to jog to follow, the gryffon clearly on a scent trail. He plodded down the hall at a good pace, taking a corner. He skidded to a halt before a door, his riders again shrieking in glee at the fast ride. When the rest of the party got close, he swung his whiplike tail at the door, knocking it clear off its hinges. Squeezing in, George led the party into the pitch-black room, shrieking and spreading out his wings in an effort to scare whatever was in the room. Ari quickly plucked both Linda and Rin off his back since he didn't know if George was about to attack the darkness. Everyone stared about the darkness uneasily, weapons being drawn.

Drip... drip... the haunting, echoing noise filled the room.

"Oh!" Ari moved up next to George, calming him down by patting the side of his head, "Corona! Corona, are you there?"

Drip... drip...

"Corona, where are you?"

Slowly two feet, encased in the usual oversized shoes came into view, drool dripping onto the floor before them. Her eyes were half-closed as they usually were, slouched forward slightly. Her blue uniform made her blend in with the dark background. She swallowed deeply, but continued to drip drool with seemingly no end. Everyone stared in silence at her as she remained still, her drool forming a puddle at her feet.

"...I don't like this..." Fayth's meek voice was slightly audible, "...There's no light... so Stanley cannot appear... Something's up..."

All went back to silence after this remark.

George broke the silence with a loud hiss, lowering his head to the floor in a defensive stance. Before Ari could calm him down, the sound of metal-against-bone was heard. Everyone dodged out of the way as Corona started to beat poor George senseless, moving so quickly the gryffon had no way of dodging- with an evil glint in her eye, she suddenly turned to Ari, about to raise that bucket. He yelped, suddenly drawing his sword up to block it, but before the bucket came down, there was a wet 'spurt'. Ari stumbled back, a few spots of blood on his clothes, staring at the glazed-over eyes of Corona. She had Rosalyn's sword sticking straight through her heart, blood splashed against the ground. Rosalyn suddenly removed her blade, then pushed Corona over who merely collapsed onto her face.

"That was easy."

"ROSALYN!" Ari almost broke out into tears, "WHAT'D YOU DO?"

"Hey! She was about to clobber you! It was either you or her, you ungrateful brat!"

Everyone flinched as a second 'spurt' sounded. But this didn't come from anyone standing.

"What...the?" Rosalyn began backing up as the pool of spit began expanding at a rapid speed.

Ari stumbled up and moved back, pulling the angry George back as best he could.

The puncture on Corona had stopped producing blood, but now an odd, black 'gel' was appearing at the surface. Instead of running off, it started gathering into an off-shaped orb. Everyone stared in disgusted fascination as the orb grew larger, extending up from her body- soon, the puncture was growing larger to make room for the gel to escape. She actually began going flat as the gel accumulated, as if her body was just some outer suit. When it seemed there was no gel left to make the orb expand, it suddenly disconnected with her body and rolled to the side, causing everyone to move back. This orb began changing shapes rapidly, then the figure of a woman rose up, entirely composed of the inky black gel that almost blended in with the darkness.

"What in the hell? Corona?" Ari was about to step forward, but stumbled back as Corona's now-elastic arm suddenly shot past him. Staring in panic, he just barely noticed the fact the arm was connected with something else- glancing over his shadow, he managed to catch glimpse of George- his face was entirely engulfed by the girl. However he held a defensive stance, he was still... slowly he collapsed to the floor, the gel snapping back and reforming into Corona's arm, the great creature now as dead as he could be. Ari started moving backwards, staring in horror, "HOLY SHIT!"

Everyone lunged out of the way as her arm suddenly shot at the center of the group, arm connecting with the floor. It snapped back to her arm after getting unstuck, the girl standing up tall, silent, her featureless face staring ahead. She then seemed to catch notice of Ari and shot her arm out at him, only to miss as he dived out of the way. Snapping her form back together, she seemed to focus on him.

"Ari, keep moving!" Rosalyn shouted, then prepared herself as he did just that- when Corona tried to 'catch' him again, Rosalyn ran out and, dodging past the extended, stuck-to-the-floor arm, severed the arm causing Corona to stumble back in pain. The severed limb, on the floor, did nothing but spread out like a puddle- however, the half still attached to her began dripping black essence like blood. In what seemed to be a fit of anger, Corona refocused on extending her other arm out at Rosalyn, who dodged expertly. Patience being tried, Corona suddenly rolled into a ball and huge globs of black gel shot out in all directions. Miracously, everyone avoided direct contact with it, but people who got one or two drops on their clothes and weapons found them to be rapidly disintergrating.

"Soul sucking demon!" Rosalyn skidded to a halt when all the globs pulled themselves off the wall and bounced back to the center of the room, reforming into Corona, "You will not live to see a day past this!"

Rosalyn suddenly made a charge at the girl, sword extended- Corona looked over and suddenly swung her arm up, though Rosalyn continued her angry charge. In what seemed like the last second, Ari suddenly shot past, knocking Rosalyn out of the way. She came to a halt, throwing herself upright, only to be just a bit too late. Entirely encased in the black gel, Ari was staring blankly ahead, eyes slowly loosing their color. When the gel pulled off, he slowly, eyes still open, fell over face-first onto the cold floors.

"ARI!"

Drip... drip...

"Ah!" He suddenly shot upright. There was some water dripping on his head, so he scooted over, then noticed that the scenery had changed. It was a stairwell, complete with metal, grungy stairs. The only stairs led to doors, one below, one above. The rest of the stairwell, both up and down, was an endless black. The sound of the dripping echoed about the square 'room'- Ari watched as a drop from above fell down the open space... it never made a noise. "Where am I?"

Slowly righting himself, he felt a bit airy, as if he wasn't all together. Looking down, the door, blue and clean, had light pouring from underneath. Instinctively, he began to head that way, but then came to a pause, staring up at the second door. Slowly, everything began to weave back together, which caused him to blink- "Holy crap... I think I'm dead... so this means..."

He noticed there were signs on both doors- looking to the closest door, it read 'Exit'. Turning and heading back up, Ari found the door up here to be less welcoming: plain metal, scratched and dirty, with no light coming from under. However, a sign was crookedly taped onto its surface, reading in poor handwriting 'This is not an exit'.

"...Strawberry heaven?"

He put his hand on the handle, then slowly turned it and pushed the door open. Barely peeking in, he could see endless dark, but a red, distinct strawberry-colored light was shining far off. Slowly stepping forward, he was startled to find a section of green-colored stone appear. Stepping onto it, it proved to be sturdy- Ari began walking across the green, expanding path, heading for the strawberry glow.

"I hope this will bring me back... otherwise I'm screwed. I wonder if everyone's worried... or if they've even noticed. Huh. I don't feel dead... Can you even feel if you're dead? Who in the hell am I talking to?" He shook his head, continuing, "Mom would be so pissed if she found this out. (He grew a mocking impression of her voice, turning up his nose) 'Now son, what have I told you about dying?' 'Gee, don't do it?' 'That's right, you're grounded, honey.' Hmph. Annie would celebrate. Dad would think I had merely been misplaced... 'Don't worry, honey, he'll show up EVENTUALLY... after all, it is porkchop night...' Damn. Pork reminds me of that curse. Hey... if I'M dead... does this mean- WOAH!"

He suddenly fell over onto his rear end, finding the path to have stopped appearing. Now he was far out, so far he couldn't see the door behind him. Ahead, down, up, and behind was the dark with that strawberry tinge. Standing up, he looked around, "Oh, NICE, now I'm stranded here. Now what do I do? Plummet to my second death?"

"No," A voice giggled cutely.

"Ack!" He jumped, looking around, "Who's there?"

A little ball of light, coming from the strawberry glow, slowly flitted over. "Me!"

"Who's 'Me'?"

"Me, as in... you!"

"What ARE you talking about? Why am I talking to a glow of light?"

"Listen buster," The little dot bounced about, "There's something every single person has that lives. It's called a soul. Hey, glad to meet you by the way."

"...Uh... yeah... and why are you outside of me again?"

"You're DEAD, stupid," A tongue suddenly stuck out from it, but it disappeared quickly, "You've chosen the path to reunite with me. However..."

"There's a catch. Great. My own SOUL is turning on me."

"Oh, be that way and I'll just leave!"

"...Sorry. What is it?" He sighed, "I haven't ever been DEAD before."

"Yeah, it's an adjustment. Just to go back, you'll need a reason. Not something stupid like 'I have homework to do' or 'I'm bored'... you know, something with meaning!"

"Meaning? You mean I need a reason to live?"

"AH!" It bounced rapidly now, "Listen to yourself! 'You mean I need a reason' blah blah blah! I've put up with being surpressed for YEARS, boy! SIXTEEN of them! I don't know WHY you never connected with me, and I don't know if we ever will! I remember you out in the flower gardens- you'd look at a flower and see nothing BUT the flower. There is more to a flower than an image, but you refused to let me help you see it! Then when you are among those who use their souls... you grow quiet and shy away. Only since you have gone on adventure have you realized that people who use them are interesting!"

"Interesting? They're INSANE!"

"INSANE? That's it!" The dot grew red, "I didn't want to have to pull this up, but there is no other way! Tell me... that girl, Marilyn? M..."

"Marlene?"

"MARLENE! To everyone else that knew, she was a doll. So maybe they weren't as effected by her loss. But you..." It turned a somber blue... "You and I cried for her... we cried because we knew she had a soul... and that soul was lost. Do you remember that feeling, the deep connection we had with that soul? There is an emotion called love which is only triggered when we connect... Until this adventure... you hadn't connected with me at all... but now look at you... you can feel something missing in your emotions, right?"

Ari stared at the dot of light, stunned. "...I didn't know you had to TRY to use your soul..."

"Sure, kid. We're partners- we only get things done if we work as a team. Now... perhaps if we are one again, we will have a reason." The light suddenly faded, but the voice called out, "Alright, now let's give it our best shot!"

"...I want to go back..." Ari searched for the words... this time, he wasn't looking for big, fancy words, or just something simple to answer a question, but had decided to look deeper. Slowly, the words came to his mind, straight from his heart, and obligated to speak loudly, he did just that: "I want to go back to use my own soul and to protect others!"

"That's the ticket, kid! Well, off you go!"

"Huh? Off to where?"

"The deep end! Hehe!"

The path suddenly shattered below Ari, who began falling through the air. With a yelp, he found himself slowly turning in the air- he felt as if he had landed in a web of sorts after coming to a halt, then felt himself gently being lowered into a rested position on the ground. Opening his eyes with a gasp, he suddenly sat up, back in reality, sweat running off his head. "Holy Jujubes!"

"WHEE!" Rin suddenly caught him, off-guard, in a huge hug, "HE'S ALIVE!"

"OH MY GOD!" Rosalyn split from the group, staring down at him, "You little TWERP! You scared the SHIT out of me!"

"...Sorry- oh! Corona! Where is-"

Everyone stepped out of the way, allowing him to see the gel-figure to be limbless, pinned to the floor with Rosalyn and Ari's swords. It was twitching painfully, the black essence-like blood dripping out onto the floors. In an instant, Ari had shot upright and moved to the figure, avoiding being pulled back by his party. He spoke quickly to the creature as he took ahold of his blade: "Hold on, Corona, I'll get you out!"

"What are you doing?" Rosalyn was about to lunge at him when she was caught.

"Woah, Sister Rosalyn, wait. I have a feeling he knows something we don't!" Big Bull had her held securely, "Got the other side, Sister Linda?"

"Got her!" Linda kept Rosalyn's other arm held tightly.

"LET ME GO!"

Having removed the first blade quickly, Ari sheathed it and pulled out Rosalyn's blade, then jumped back. The wounded Corona twitched a bit, then tried to move, but found it couldn't. Quickly sheathing Rosalyn's blade into her own hilt (she was still fighting to get loose with no success) Ari then started to walk for the girl, slowly.

"Don't touch her!" Fayth called, but she remained at the rear, Epros faithfully right beside her, "She'll-"

"She can't." He shook his head, then knelt down beside her, "Because I have passed through her heaven."

Everyone stared in confusion as he slid his arms under her, then he rose and turned to them.

"She needs to have all of this essence removed. I'm going outside so Stan can do what he does, then I have to see if I can treat her. You can all stay here if you wish, or are afraid... but please, don't abandon us..." He slowly headed for the doors, carrying the bleeding Corona, silent as he headed down the halls for the stairwell.