Disclaimer: I do NOT own Shaman King, or Final fantasy. I however, do own a lot of money to my nana and granddad for the electricity bill, no thanks to all my time on the computer… Lol. Hope you enjoy! Reviews are welcomed with open arms. Flamers can get lost! End of disclaimer. God… it's getting annoying having to think of something witty for the disclaimers…
I'm afraid updates won't be possible around July. Maybe one or two, but I'm away for most of July so I'm afraid for then, my stories won't be going anywhere.
Hao's new destiny. Part 14.
At the Moonflow…
"Ouch…" Yoh mumbled, collapsing to the floor in agony. Anna just rolled her eyes and snapped; "I knew I should have kept you training after the Shaman fight! Look what's happened to you!"
Yoh winced and sat on the floor, soon to be joined by Manta and Horo-Horo, who both looked beyond capable of movement. Tamao and Pirika both watched from the comfort of the soft grass, obviously feeling extra sorry for the others. They'd only been there for less then 4 hours, and Anna had made them do what could have been a day's worth of running.
"God help me…" Jenn-Chan whispered, also collapsing to the floor, clutching her weapon, which was the charm around the chain of her necklace. She'd never run so far in her entire life! Even when she'd been travelling with the X-laws, walking had been much more enjoyable then this!
"What can we do?" A voice suddenly cried. Jenn-Chan yelped and jumped out of her skin, then went hyper when she saw who it was…
"Ayeka!" She cried, hugging her Shaman spirit. "How… is the barrier already broke or something?"
Her angel Shaman smiled cheerfully. "Not quite. Because there are now so many Shamans' in this world, the barrier is starting to weaken. Some Shaman spirit's can pass through now, like for example, didn't you notice that both Eliza and Li Pailong were here?"
Suddenly Jenn-Chan remembered. How come she never noticed?
"However," Ayeka continued. "We still cannot fight as one like we use to until the field is fully broken."
Jenn-Chan smiled. "The way Anna is pushing us, we'll be breaking that barrier before Sarah and the others get to Macalania temple! Speaking of which, I wonder how they're doing…"
Meanwhile…
"Um, guys?" Sarah called nervously. The others all turned to face Sarah, except Rikku, who was currently running round in circles with impatience.
"I need to talk about something. I was discussing it with Yuna before, so she knows what this is about, but I need to let you all now, before we get to the Temple." Sarah told the others. Hao's face fell in confusion, wondering if this had something to do with the sphere that he and Tidus had caught them both watching hours ago.
"We can't talk here." Auron said boldly. "Can't it wait until we reach Macalania?"
Sarah shook her head. "Please, it's important I say this now, before we go on."
The others all sighed. Hao spotted something that looked like an old Machina building, not far off in the distance. "Over there!" He yelled, pointing to the building in excitement, but anticipation also…
Soon…
"So, what's the problem ya?" Wakka asked, sitting on the fairly dry ground, seeing as where they'd stopped was within shelter from the rain. Sarah was silent and was slowly fiddling with her fingers as though nervous. She obviously just wanted to get this off her chest so that she wouldn't have to worry about it later.
"It's about…" She started, but froze. Then she started up again. "About the Proposal."
Hao felt a horrible sense of foreboding. He didn't like the sound of this…
"I… think I should go through with it… as long as Seymour let's me continue journeying with Yuna for the rest of the Pilgrimage." Sarah explained.
Tidus's jaw dropped. He felt silly, seeing as before he'd told Shelinda there'd be no wedding…
Hao, on the other hand, was clenching his fist again in anger. Suddenly…
"ARGH!"
Everyone jumped out of their skin and turned around just in time to see Wakka running around, trying to extinguish a fire that had somehow sparked to life in Wakka's hair. Hao wondered if his anger had somehow caused that. However, Lulu was looking at him in disapproval.
"Black mage's never loose control of their magic skills, even when they are frustrated." She claimed. "Therefore, you set Wakka on fire on purpose, didn't you?" Hao frowned at how she'd suddenly gotten so protective over Wakka. Could he sense a spark between Lulu and Wakka?
Sarah suddenly gasped. "The barrier! It's coming close to cracking!"
Hao looked shocked, and spun around in confusion. "Come again?"
Sarah grinned at him. "Don't you see? Now you can create fire without the need of your staff! You made that fire out of stress! This means that you seem to be able to use your Shaman powers again! The barrier stopping the Shaman Spirits from passing through is becoming weak!"
Hao looked amazed and stared up in wonder, before walking at into the open of the Thunder Plains. "You mean soon, I'll be able to fight with the Spirit of fire again?"
Sarah nodded. "Yes, but you won't be as strong as you used to be. Remember, it's been a while since you fought, and because you lost contact with the Spirit of fire, as well as the Furyoku you lost when you last had a battle, well, you're no where near as strong as you use to be."
Hao didn't really mind. He didn't need all that Furyoku again. He wasn't going to be stealing the Great Spirits again. There was no point. He'd already failed twice…
Back at the Moonflow…
"You're kidding right?" Manta cried in disbelief at Jenn-Chan. She nodded.
"Yes, the barrier between our world, and this world is starting to crack." She explained. "If we keep getting stronger, our furyoku will be too strong for the barrier to handle! It'll have to crack then won't it? It can't contain an amount of Furyoku it can't control."
Yoh looked a lot happier, then he frowned. "Wait… how did that barrier get there in the first place? Was it naturally put there, or was it put there for a reason?"
Suddenly, Jenn-Chan looked stunned. Then she turned away from the group. "To be honest… I'm not sure… I asked Sarah this once and she didn't know herself."
Anna stood up and said firmly, "Maybe we should go after that Lady Yuna and see what happens. Along the way, we might end up breaking the barrier, and maybe learn more about this world."
Yoh smiled. "Well, I hope Amidamaru can get through the barrier soon…"
Anna nodded, and snapped impatiently, "Now, let's get going! Unless you'd rather stay and do more training…"
No sooner had she gotten the word 'training' out of her mouth, the entire group were running as fast as anything towards the entrance of Guadosalam…
Meanwhile…
"Yeah! No more thunder!" Rikku cried in delight as she ran up the pathway of Macalania. Hao looked around the forest with awe. It was glittering with diamond like trees and had a calming atmosphere that made Hao relax more then anything.
"Don't put your guard down, there are still fiends here you know." Auron told him as he walked past. Hao pulled a rather unkind face behind the Legendary guardians back, before following him through the branches that formed pathways.
Auron hadn't been wrong about there being loads of fiends. The group had only been walking for half an hour, and they'd already been held up by at least 20 fiends. Upon finally reaching flat ground, Hao noticed that Auron suddenly seemed preoccupied by something. By the time they'd reached the end of the pathway, Auron had stopped walking altogether. "Wait." He called as the rest of the group continued walking.
"It's around here somewhere…" Auron mumbled, looking around the trees to one side of the pathway. Hao started walking forward to see what it was Auron was looking for, but got a shock as Auron suddenly raised his katana and sliced through the trees. Auron easily picked up the tree with ease and threw it away, nearly knocking over Hao, who did the most sensible thing he could think of. He screamed in pain, as his foot wasn't quite quick enough to avoid contact with the giant tree trunk…
Auron just chuckled lightly under his breath, and walked through the gap in the trees. The others followed, though Hao was hopping, not walking.
Sarah smiled widely at the site around her. The water was practically glowing with magic and energy. The trees were practically whispering in the wind. The tree roots had grown along the surface of the strange water, allowing them to all practically walk on the water.
Auron lead them to the very end of the open area, towards the brightest glowing tree there.
"This… is not normal water…" Tidus mumbled as he looked down at his reflection.
Auron nodded, looking surprised that Tidus actually realised that. "This is what spheres are made of…" As he said this, something strange happened. The water in front of them started wriggling, and then lifted itself from the floor. Hao was funnily reminded of some type of see-through water balloon. Except water balloons don't come crashing down on your head…
"This is not my day…" He mumbled as Yuna quickly cast cure on him. Lulu quickly stepped forward and shot a fira spell at the fiend. The fiend hardly even reacted, then it started wriggling and suddenly changed colour.
"Its element has changed!" Yuna cried. Sarah frowned. "Which element is it now?"
She got an answer when Rikku screamed in fright as a thunder spell struck, only just missing her.
This carried on for about another half an hour. Tidus yelled in anger at Auron, "This better be for a good reason!"
Eventually the fiend gave a horrible shudder before exploding from the inside and falling to the ground, looking a lot like a flat pancake.
"Now… what's the fuss all about? Because of this, I've got a sore foot and a bruised back!" Hao said simply, rubbing his head in pain. Auron just smirked and laughed calmly, before picking up the only remains of the fiend. A sphere.
"It looks pretty old…" Wakka mumbled, peering at it. They all crowded in a circle around. Sarah grumbled and started jumping up and down in annoyance. Kimahri took pity on her and picked her up and placed her on her shoulders.
Rikku started fiddling with it. "It's a little rusty, are you sure it'll play back?"
Auron nodded, and switched on the sphere…
Sphere play back.
"What are you taking?" A voice asked from the sphere. The person speaking wasn't clear on the sphere.
Suddenly, another voice answered, "Well, you said this was gonna be a long trip. We'll be seeing a lot of neat things, right? So I thought I'd record it all. To show my wife and kid you know?" A voice called from behind the camera.
Tidus choked. "My old man?"
A young version of Auron walked into the screen. He snapped impatiently, "This is know pleasure cruise!"
Jecht just ignored Auron and called out to the other man, "Hey, Braska. Ain't this supposed to be a grand occasion? Where're the cheering fans? The crying women?"
Hao frowned. "Braska?"
Yuna sighed. "My father."
Auron rolled his eyes again. "This is it. Too many goodbyes. People think twice about leaving…" He explained shortly…
Hao sighed and stepped away from the circle. Sarah noticed this and quickly climbed down from Kimahri's back and followed him. Hao was walking out of the area and back onto the main pathway. Sarah silently followed him.
Hao had left, not because he was bored of listening, but because as he'd been listening to the recording, he'd had another flashback…
Flashback.
Hao found himself walking down the corridor again, but this time, instead of the room he was entering going dark, it stayed well lit. He noticed Sarah lying on the bed again, and this time, the person kneeling in front of her was recognisable. It was Seymour.
But before Hao could see what happened next, the image faded away…
When Hao told her this, Sarah looked highly nervous.
"Now I'm just worried…" She mumbled, sitting down on the floor, holding her head in worry.
Hao sighed. "Now do you believe me? That Seymour certainly has an evil streak to him?"
Sarah sighed also and didn't reply. At that moment the rest of the group walked out from the pool area, and continued walking up the path and out into the open cold snow…
Phew… I realised my mistake with my last chapter, so now I've sorted it out! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review! NO FLAMERS!