Mikau: Hello everyone! I'm very sad about this chapter! It is the final installment of American. I hope you like it! I think it turned out very well. Please don't scream 'SEQUEL' at me, for I have nothing left to give this fic. It Tippy wants to write a sequel, that's her business.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King, The Tempest, or the ocs (Except Evell) the ocs belong to Tippy-chan.
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Death, Like Misery, Seeks Company
"Anlita, you must listen closely to what I am about to tell you. Understood?" The blasted little raven instructed Anlita.
"I'm listening. What do I need to know tonight, Evell?" Anlita asked back.
If that stupid bird told her anything, I would ring her ungrateful, scrawny, little, neck. "Just that when you get out with the Divine Crown and Sinopa's Jar, your father will be waiting for you over by those bushes. Do not attempt to resurrect Cassidy before you talk to your father. You won't be able to anyway, seeing as I still have Cassidy's item that we are going to use."
"What item?" Anlita asked stupidly. That girl was never good for anything…except bringing back her beloved sister that she murdered in cold blood!
"This." Evell pulled out the gorgeous necklace that's beauty was only rivaled by the elegant Cassidy.
"Cassidy's necklace…it was a sort of signature of hers…" Anlita looked sad as she beheld her sister's stunning trinket. I knew it was feigned though. That despicable girl was glad that she had killed her perfect sister! She was so perfect, and I loved her! Why couldn't Anlita be the one dead instead!
"Yes…I'll keep it until it is time for the ceremony. Your father will assist you when it's time. Go Anlita dear; you have a sister and mother to save." Anlita oversouled with Liger, becoming cat-like at once. The girl cut through a skylight, and flipped down the entryway.
'Evell.' I telepathically called to the bumbling birdbrain.
She fluttered her wings wildly in fright. "Who's there!"
'Me idiot. I'm in the bushes. Come here at once. I seek conference with you, you useless little twit.' I insulted the pathetic weakling.
"OH! At once!" She dove downward instantly to my side. "Master! I didn't think you would be here so early! Anlita just went inside! She should be out in a good fifteen minutes, My Liege!" The flustered raven sputtered in fear.
"I know, you useless sniveling, insect. I've been watching." I glared at my lowly servant. "Is everything set for the sacrifice? You didn't tell her did you? If you did, I will—"
"I didn't! I swear it Master! I would never tell her anything that you didn't specifically instruct me to!—" Evell babbled fearfully.
"—Stop. You're giving me a headache." I commanded the incoherent bird. "Go up to the roof and wait for that treacherous snake to come out with the prize." I instructed.
"Yes, Master, I live only to serve you. "All hail, great Master, grave Sir, hail: I come to answer thy best pleasure; be it to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire: to ride on the curled clouds: to thy song bidding, task Evell, and all her Quality." Ariel's lines from The Tempest. It's Shakespeare, Master. I but do your will." While the silly bird recited, she perched on my shoulder. I didn't notice, but she stole back the single pearl I wore around my neck on a piece of twine. It belonged to her before she came into my service. I had taken it from her. She took flight, but swiftly plucked a strand of my hair.
"Damn bird!" I called after her. I had no idea what she thought she was doing, pulling MY hair. I didn't notice that she tied the solitary pearl she had snatched from me to Cassidy's necklace with my strand of hair.
Evell flew off to the roof to wait for Anlita when she came out with the two artifacts. Anlita oversouled Evell into some sort of cape, poncho thingy and used it as wings to glide down to the clearing. She landed lightly at my feet and stood up offering me the treasure.
"Hello, Asuka." I greeted with a deadly cold voice. "I see you got what we came for. Now, let's begin and bring back my dearest Cassidy!" I took the items from her rather roughly, even I admit that, but she deserved it. I chanted a simple summoning spell, and Sinopa's pot filled with water. Anlita gasped softly at the sudden appearance of the water.
"Evell. The necklace." I sternly ordered my slave. "Asuka will be doing the honor of resurrecting Cassidy tonight."
"Yes Master." Evell chuckled evilly as she dropped the necklace into my palm. "CAWWWW!" Evell gave a shrill cry.
I ignored her and stretched out my hand to give the death-baring necklace to my younger daughter. Anlita reached out to take it from me, but suddenly drew back her hand when someone from the bushes cried, "STOP!"
Both my daughter and I snapped around to see the outsider who had stumbled upon our ceremony. "Who are you!" I snarled at the young man. He had long mahogany hair, and chocolate brown eyes.
"Someone who won't let you carry through with this, heinous act!" He angrily dodged the question.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I growled back. I didn't like this lad; he knew too much for his own good.
"Don't act like I'm stupid. I know exactly what you're doing. You force your own daughter to steal, then you trick her into this! I know the tragic legend behind Sinopa's Jar. I am an Asakura after all. The descendant of the shaman priestess from the legend." The Asakura boy walked forward toward us slowly for dramatic effect.
"Cut the drama crap, get your ass over here, and tell me who you are!" I screamed at the annoying youth.
"H-hao…" My daughter mumbled, shocked to see this boy here.
"Hao Asakura. I'm in love with your daughter, and I won't let you hurt her in any way humanly, spiritually, physically, insignificantly, or otherwise." Hao stepped even closer until he was within feet of me. He glared upward at me (he was noticeably shorter than me after all), determination burning in his eyes.
I laughed heartily at the boy that stood before me, claiming to be in love with that viper, Anlita. "That, my boy, is hilarious! You couldn't possibly be in love with that wench!"
"I shouldn't be, but I am. I love her more than myself. That's why I came. I don't want her to get hurt, so I'm volunteering myself in her place. Let her go, and take me." He didn't break eye contact with me for his little speech, and I had to admit I admired his determination and loyalty. I thought he was stupid for it, but admired it all the same.
Hao turned to Anlita. He took her hands in his, and looked her in the eyes. "Anlita…"
"What are you doing here? How did you find me? What are you talking about? What's going on? I don't understand…Hao…do you really…I mean…love me?" She started sputtering questions.
He ended all of the questions with a simple kiss on the cheek. "Of course. I'm so sorry, Anlita, but now is not the time. I do love you though. That's why I'm doing this. For you. I'd give up my life for you…I wish this could end some other way, but…that's not possible. Like I said, I'm so sorry Anlita, but this is just one of those things."
I almost gagged. 'Oh just tell her that you're going to sacrifice your life in her place because you 'love' her.' I silently mocked.
"Hao…I don't understand…I love you too…but, what's happening? Why do you have that look in your eye like you're going to do something and you're not telling me! And don't smile sadly at me either! What's going on!" Anlita desperately demanded as she clutched Hao's shoulders. Hot, salty tears soon streaming like banners down her cheeks.
"Hao." I called to the determined, love-struck young boy. "It's time, boy. Here's the necklace; you know what to do." I sneered at the foolish man.
He picked up the jar and reached out for the necklace, palm up. He made sure that the jar and his hand were aligned so that he could drop the necklace as soon as I placed it in his hand. "I'm so sorry, Anlita." He sadly smiled one last time at my daughter.
I dropped the necklace into his hand that was hovering over the pot. At least that's what I had intended to do. Hao Asakura had other plans, though. Hao's hand quickly changed positions from having his palm up outstretched, to like he was offering a handshake. The necklace never touched Hao's hand, but instead fell into the pot full of water below.
He had tricked me into dropping the necklace in the jar myself!
"Sorry, old-timer. Guess this really isn't your day." He smirked at me.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I screamed my lungs out as I felt the burning sensation of what I could only suspect was death overcoming me. "I'll get you, Hao Asakura!" I managed to yell before I blacked out.
Anlita's father screamed curses upon my name as the darkness overcame him. Anlita was scared to death, and still had no idea what was going on. She clung to me as she stared in horror at her father's limp figure on the ground.
"At the end of the legend, what happens? Evell never got to finish telling me." Anlita buried her face into my bare chest.
"Hakan gave up his life for Sinopa. That's how the jar works. A life for a life." I held her closely to me.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Another shrill shriek met our ears.
I glanced over at where Evell had been perched. The small raven was huddled up in pain, and a bright, almost neon, light was being emitted from her entire body.
Anlita gasped as she watched her bird friend become blurry as the white light engulfed Evell. Soon the light faded, and in the place where Evell had been, stood a 14 year old girl with long midnight black hair, pale white skin, navy blue eyes, and a floor length white dress.
The girl looked herself over, inspecting every inch to make sure it was to her liking, before screeching in Evell's voice, "OMG! I have my beautiful, gorgeous, lovely, elegant body back! I can walk! I can run! I can talk normally! I bet I can even hold objects! Oh, and I can tie things well again! I have fingers! I have legs! I have arms! I have a proper nose! I can dance! I can sing! I can fall in love with whichever boy I chose, and it not be impossibly awkward!" Evell now returned to her human body rejoiced. I think I would too if I had been turned into a bird for the past umpteenth years of my life.
"Oh. My. GOD. Evell is a human being." The fact floored Anlita, and soon that was where she ended up: on the floor in a dead faint. I caught her and gently set her down. I walked over to Evell who was spinning in circles, dancing and singing.
"Hahaha! I'm free! I'm free! Ariel is finally granted his freedom from the evil witch Sycorax! (A/N about Ariel at the end.) Oh, look at me! I have a body! And it's my body! I'm alive again! I have all my proper body parts, and now I can change back into a raven at will instead of being trapped forever! Speaking of body parts, I even have a chest! It's been so long since I've had a chest!"
I had to interrupt her at this point, "Yes, yes. You do have a chest, and a very nice one at that, Evell." I winked at her suggestively.
She came over to me and lightly smacked me on the cheek playfully, "Are you hitting on me, Hao Asakura! I thought you loved Anlita!"
"I do, but I can flirt with you all I want. It's not like we're engaged; though I plan to change that tonight. I love her." I smiled stupidly.
"You know what I also have, Hao?" Evell changed the subject back to her body.
"What?" I rolled my eyes at her.
"Lips." She leaned in and placed a butterfly kiss on my lips.
"Stop playing." I rolled my eyes again. "What if Anlita saw?" I teased the sky-eyed girl.
"Yes, I see now that you do love her. Very much. Oh well. My loss. I just want to thank you sooooooooooo much Hao for your help. I couldn't have saved Anlita, her father, Cassidy, and myself without you." Evell smiled that bird smile of hers, and I simply shook my head.
"I did nothing. What exactly happened anyway?" I admitted that I didn't have full knowledge of the situation.
"The jar takes a life for a life. You have to drop an item that belonged to the person you're trying to resurrect in the pot. The necklace was to bring Cassidy back from the dead. The hair from Anlita's dad was to erase his memory of Cassidy dying and him hating Anlita. It also was to bring back, or 'resurrect', his nice side. The pearl was to return me to my human state, and bring me back from the dead.
"When I came into the service of My old Master, I had been promised that I would be brought back to life. He transformed me into a raven, and stole my pearl earring. He wore it around his neck so that I couldn't get it back. That's about it for me." Evell calmly explained.
"So her dad will wake up and be okay since he dropped an item of his in the jar as well as Cassidy's necklace and your pearl earring?" I asked making sure I had the right idea.
"Yes. He'll wake up his nice and cheery self like he was before Cassidy's death." Evell confirmed my suspicions.
"So, Evell; what are you going to do first now that you're human and alive again?" I asked her playfully.
"I? I am going to go out on the town and get myself a man!" She responded.
"How did I know you were going to say that?" I hung my head and shook it at her predictable ness. Typical Evell. "By the way, where is Cassidy anyway?" I asked remembering that there was still a girl to be welcomed back into the world of the living.
"Behind you." A smooth, melodic voice called.
I turned to see an Anlita look alike in tighter, skimpier clothes. "Hello there, Hao! Evell! If been watching all this time, and know exactly what's going on, so don't bother explaining it to me. Thank you so much for your help. I'm glad that my family can be normal again, and that my little sis finally found a boyfriend! Hahaha! Anyway, thank you so much!" Cassidy greeted friendlily.
"Uh…sure thing." I replied.
"Hello, Cassidy!" Evell chirped, even when she was human, she chirped like a bird.
"Hi! Well, Hao, don't just stand there looking hott! Go propose to my sister!" Cassidy ordered.
Cassidy's word is law, so I walked over to the semi-stirring Anlita. "Anlita, are you okay?" I asked anxiously.
"Yeah…I think so." She replied, but she didn't get up.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"Anlita, you know I love you, and apparently you love me back, so I was wondering if you would…Well, you know…would you marry me?" I choked out. "I'm not much, but I love you." I confessed.
I could see her face light up. "I love you Hao! Of course I'll marry you! I've been waiting all eternity for you to ask me! I was going insane thinking that you didn't love me back!"
I laughed pleasantly at her mistake. "I thought that you didn't feel the same as I did!"
"I guess we were both too shy…" She trialed off.
"Yeah…let's not be shy anymore, I love you, you love me."
I leaned closer to Anlita, and she followed suit. "Yes. I agree." Soon our lips were locked together in a sweet, innocent but passionate, first kiss. Many more would follow…and so out of tragedy blossomed something as innocent and blissful as happiness and love. Such a beautiful flower from such wretched soil…
The
End
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Mikau: Okay, the whole Ariel thing is from The Tempest. Ariel is a spirit who works for the evil witch Sycorax, and Sycorax makes him do evil things. Ariel is freed from Sycorax by Prospero. It sounds a bit like Evell, so I had her say it. I really hope you guys liked this chapter. I'll be posting a little thank you to everyone who reviewed after this chapter, so everyone who reads this, review please. Oh, and the 'such a beautiful flower…' thing is a quote from Kurama from YuYu Hakusho. It was during the Dark Tournament, and Kurama had just killed Roto (I can't remember his name, but it was something like that…)
To Tippy-chan: OMG! I can't believe that it's over already! Kara starts bawling Thank you sooooooo much for letting me have this fic for you! I love it so much, and it's hard to let go, but all good things must come to an end, and so shall this! Thank you again, love ya!
To longbca: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter! It's all been fun, and I really enjoyed all the fluff, all the humor, and all the drama! I'll miss it, but I have my other fics to start on soon, and I don't think I have a sequel in me, unfortunately.
To MiStraLL: Thank you for the review! I hope you liked the ending!
To Shamanbabe: I can tell you were super hyper when you reviewed. Lol! I'll have to try peanut butter and cheese sometime. Thank you for your faithful reviews! I appreciate it! I hope the end goes over well. I really like the last few sentences.
To MaiValentinefan: There we go! A nice first kiss to end on! They make such a cute couple! LOLOLOLOLOL! The sad thing is that you're right, if Ivy was in this situation, this fic would be lime after lime after lime with maybe a lemon or two…though I do hate descriptive lemons…Anna (my cousin who looks freakishly like me only with longer blonder hair) said she wanted to read a really good fic to me the other day, so she started reading, and I had had enough after the first chapter. I swear, I have no idea why Anna gets a kick out of those…crazy cousin of mine is a wild woman…
To Jenn: I'm glad that I am so loved by all! Thank you much for your many reviews! My style has gone over really well, and I'm being called 'the best', 'a pro', 'my favorite', 'my idol', and Anna's nickname for me 'writing goddess', but I think she's mocking me. You can never tell with my cousin. You see, she has two different personalities, a wild slut (I mean that in the nicest way possible), or a cold, serious frost queen (think Anna Kyôyama). Oh well, I love my coz, and she seems to be the least bit fond of me…
To Neji wife: Thank you for your review! I love hearing from all my reviewers! How did you like the ending? I like the last couple sentences myself.
To Andrea Nefisto: Everyone loves Hao, it's just natural. I mean, how could anyone possibly hate HAO! He's Hao after all! I have a habit of quoting Shakespeare. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing…Oh well, I like that I can relate my present day life and literature to famous historic works. I so know what you're talking about, Zeke is lame. It does sound pokemon! Hao and hott just so go together! Zeke just doesn't! I have no idea what those idiot 4Kids translators were thinking! Thanks for your reviews! See ya later!
Mikau: OMG! Kara starts crying again I can't believe this is it! This is so sad! Well, this is really the end. Goodbye everybody…I'll miss you…What am I gonna do on Saturdays from now on? Oh, well…I'll get Anna to take me shopping. She's 17, so she can drive. I still have to get my permit…When I get time. Look at me! I'm babbling just so it doesn't have to be over! I love you guys too much! Alrighty, I'm really leaving this time! Goodbye! I love you all!
ALL WHO HAVE READ THIS FIC, PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WANT YOUR NAME TO APPEAR ON THE 'THANKS' PAGE THAT I WILL BE POSTING IN A MATTER OF DAYS.
PLEASE REVIEW!