Disclaimer: D.N.Angel is NOT mine… only Demi and Rayen and the parts of the plot that aren't familiar to you, meaning I must have made them up, meaning they're mine unless I say otherwise. Yeah. Woah… that's a serious disclaimer for once… Straaaange.
Author's Note: Gah. Highschool sucks.
Dark: It's really funny. Hotaru had been all excited to go to highschool.
Krad: "Finally I won't have to guess at what highschool-aged characters are learning! HOORAY!" she said.
Demi: But now that she sees how hard the work is, she's having seconds thoughts.
Daisuke: She doesn't even know what the normal classes are doing!
Satoshi: Hotaru-san has all honors classes for a freshman. Geometry Honors, Biology Honors, and Gifted English…
Hotaru: I hate it! We have all these extra assignments we have to do 'cause we're gifted! Take my advice: being smart is NOT all it's cracked up to be. Settle for the normal classes and do your best in those… Gifted/Honors isn't worth it.
Demi: Especially when you try to write fanfictions that have characters who take normal classes… then you never know what the normal classes actually do.
Hotaru: -sigh- So if it takes a while for me to write a chapter of any of my stories, it's because…
Daisuke: One, she's too busy to write.
Dark: Two, she's tired out from highschool and is barely staying awake while doing homework.
Satoshi: Three, she can't figure out what the normal classes are doing.
Krad: Four, she's too busy to find out what the normal classes are doing from her friends.
Demi: Five, … -blink- Wait a minute! There is no five!
Hotaru: Yup.
Demi: I see how it is. You give them things to say, but not me! Well fine! –stomps off-
Hotaru: Ah… -sweatdrop- Here's chapter three: Awakened Blossom
CHAPTER THREE START
Demi awoke with a start and sat up quickly, glancing around. Last night's events came rushing back to her, and she smiled groggily with pride shining in her hazel eyes. She had actually beaten Dark to an artwork. It made her giggle just thinking about it.
But she also remembered that light. She tentatively turned her eyes on the Trapped Blossom statue, slowly surveying the statue for any sign of abnormality until she came to the Forbidden Flower, where her eyes locked on it. Demi stood and walked over, hesitantly reaching out to touch it. When her hand was a few inches away, her fingers recoiled as she considered just leaving it be. Finally she tapped it, snapping her hand to her chest and ducking quickly when she did. She stayed crouched in this position, and glanced up after seconds of silence.
Nothing had happened.
Demi sighed with relief and smiled, standing up. She ran a hand through her hair as she went to her closet and got out fresh clothes. Then Demi retreated to the shower.
Fifteen minutes later she was out, dry, and in her towel in the bathroom. Demi moved to pick up her underwear when a vaguely familiar voice called loudly, "Goooood morning!"
Demi screamed in surprise and pulled her towel closer to herself, looking around the bathroom in alarm. She heard a rather amused laugh and the voice- feminine- said, "Here! The mirror."
The shaken girl turned to the mirror and stepped up to it, staring at the lady in the mirror. Well, not a lady, per se… she seemed only a year or two older than Demi. The girl had brown hair with darker brown streaks here and there, thick and thin. Her hair was extremely shiny and hung super straight to her midriff. Demi blinked, wondering how she had managed that. She'd have to straighten her hair with a Chi iron every single day or something… The girl's eyes were the exact opposite of Demi's: jade green with flecks of hazel. Her lashes were long and mascara-ed. The girl's lips were glossed with a color just a shade darker than Demi's own natural lip color, and they were full like Demi's, too. The major difference between the two was that the girl in the mirror was curvy without being a little on the chubby side, unlike Demi. Demi could not tell what she was wearing, for only her head and shoulders were visible.
"Wha… wha…" Demi managed to breathe out in dazed shock. She got a better grip on reality and snapped, "What the crap!"
The girl pouted slightly and Demi could see her move to cross her arms after flipping her hair over her shoulders. "Is that any way to greet your past self?" she asked in a mock-hurt voice.
"Past…?" Demi parroted, confused. Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Wait, … wait! I'm Christian! I don't believe in reincarnations!" She put her hands over her ears to block out sound and said for good measure, "LALALA! I'M NOT LISTENING! YOU CAN'T CONVERT MEEE!"
:You cannot escape…: Demi meeped and took her hands off her ears in fright. Her 'past self' had just talked in the freakiest voice a female could manage… inside Demi's head. The girl laughed and added in normal speech, "Besides, who said it wasn't the work of God that brought me back?"
Demi had been about to retort, but then she thought and shrugged. "Oh… Well, either He planned to reincarnate you into me, or He planned to make me go insane. I'm thinkin' he just wanted me to go coo-coo for Coco Puffs… if ya know what I mean." ((A/N: I do not own Coco Puffs… or that phrase.))
The girl in the mirror blinked and gave her a weirded out look. "Uh… riiight." She coughed and her face faded into neutrality. "But seriously, I'm you from a past life. My name is Rayen. I was a painting of a wood nymph… brought to life."
Demi raised her eyebrows, disbelieving. She had to have gone crazy. She was about to tell this Rayen girl that she was done being insane and was going to get mental help, but then she remembered.
The man looked away, and, in the moonlight, his eyes shimmered with a thin layer of tears. "I'll always love you, Rayen… even if I'm supposed to love another…" With that, he spread his wings and took off.
Demi gasped and jumped back, her right index finger lifting to point in an astonished manner at Rayen. "You- you're…" Rayen nodded. Demi let her hand drop back to her side, staring blankly at Rayen for a moment. Demi knew you don't just get dreams about people you don't know and then suddenly go crazy and meet them in a mirror. Demi had been perfectly sane just yesterday. Okay, so a freshman femme going after an artwork wasn't exactly sane, but she was mostly sane. "A painting…?" she questioned. "But how is that possible? Have you always been in my body? Why are you here?" she asked quickly, eyes wide with curiosity and a need to know the answers to her inquiries.
"Yes, a painting," Rayen replied, looking rather bored. She explained to Demi, "When an artist puts effort, determination, and positive emotions into an artwork, the artist gives it enough power to somehow interact with the outside world. Because the emotions were good ones- like love and happiness, for example- the artwork isn't evil… Well, unless something happens to the artwork while it's in the real world to change its side. You know, the sides of good and evil?" She didn't wait for Demi to respond before continuing on, "If negative emotions- hatred, sadness- are channeled into the artwork, the artwork uses its power to wreak havoc on the world. Unlike 'good' artworks, these artworks cannot become good." She finished with a firm nod to herself.
Demi stared blankly for a moment, going over all that in her head. It wasn't too hard to understand, but it was strange to understand. She didn't want to understand. Part of her still thought she was going crazy, and that this Rayen girl was merely a product of her insanity. But a bigger part of her felt that she had to understand. That part was the one that had control. "Woah… that's… wow." She blinked. "Strange."
Rayen nodded with a shrug as she replied, "Kinda. Yeah."
Demi shook her head, still a little disbelieving. "What about my other questions?" she asked, examining the tile floors of the bathroom. The longer she looked at Rayen, the weirder she felt, so she determinedly kept her hazel gaze on the floor.
"Oh, right. Uh… no, I haven't always been in your body. I'm here-"
Demi interrupted without looking up, "How'd you get in, then?"
Demi heard her incarnation sigh irritably. "If you had some patience, I would have already told you." Rayen 'tch'ed and continued, "My soul was seeping into your body from the moment you saw my statue. I was completely transferred from the Forbidden Flower to you when you were hit by that beam of light… my soul."
The younger of the two nodded in understanding, and then looked up to glare at Rayen. "That hurt, you know… being slammed seven feet away." Rayen gave her a slight sneer and rolled her eyes. "How'd you get into the Forbidden Flower, anyway?"
Demi could've sworn she saw Rayen's expression falter, but she seemed to regain composure so quickly that Demi wasn't entirely sure. "You ask too many questions," she said firmly, narrowing her eyes at Demi.
The plain girl held up her hands in defense. "Sor-ree. Geez." She rolled her eyes at her past self. "You'd think I'd be allowed to know this stuff… I am your reincarnation, after all."
Rayen sighed and Demi crossed her arms. "Fine. I suppose I can tell you… when I feel like it."
Demi growled a little. Well, she made a sound as close to a growl as she could. It came out more like a gurgle. "Fine. Whatever." She muttered.
Rayen ignored her annoyed attitude. "Anyway, I'm here because-"
"Please don't tell me I've broken some jewel or whatever and I have to find all the pieces. I hate that plot!" Demi groaned, crossing her fingers. ((A/N: No, I don't own InuYasha. xD Just a little anti-InuYasha humor. If you like InuYasha, good for you… but I dislike that plot. A lot. So yeah.))
"No!" Rayen protested, looking horrified. "Thank God, no," she breathed, sounding very relieved.
Demi blinked and smiled slightly, also looking relieved. "Oh. Carry on, then." She shifted her weight to one leg as she waited.
"I'm here to help eliminate Dark Mousy."
Demi blinked, unmoving. After a long pause of complete quiet, Demi said slowly, "I thought you were the good kind of artwork…"
Rayen furrowed her eyebrows and her mouth hung open, looking extremely insulted. "I am!" she shouted, throwing her arm out to the side in an angry gesticulation.
Demi tried to raise one eyebrow, failed miserably, and settled for raising them both. "…Killing someone isn't something good people go around doing…" she said, as if she were talking to a slow child.
Rayen made a sound that was a mixture of displeasure and anger. "What! He steals! He's stolen so much over the years that he might as well be on death row!" Demi opened her mouth, and then closed it and nodded. Rayen sighed and ran a hand through her hair, still looking peeved but glad that Demi saw it how she did. "I assume you've met Krad?"
Demi nodded. "Yeah… so?"
"Dark is also Krad's nemesis," she said matter-of-factly. "Krad told me he didn't want to be real. He was happy as a piece of artwork. But Dark wanted to steal. Dark was his other half- the other half of the artwork, too- and he, unlike Krad, was born from negative feelings." Rayen's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Demi wondered if Rayen just really liked Krad or if she really hated Dark for her own personal reasons. "He was evil, but a sucker for women." Demi thought she saw the glint of tears in Rayen's eyes, but when Rayen blinked again, it was gone. "Anyway, Krad wants to put an end to him before he does something really horrible… something much worse than stealing."
Demi blinked, her jaw dropping, and sat on the edge of the tub, fearing that if she stood any longer, the new knowledge she'd just gained would cause her to fall over. "Wow… I never even imagined… He's so popular at school…" Demi then gasped and stood quickly. She almost lost her balance, her legs still feeling a little weak from taking all this information in at once, but she gripped the sink and steadied herself. "What're we gonna do? How come Krad hasn't stopped him!"
Rayen sighed sadly and answered, "He hasn't had enough power. That's where you and I come in. You're to gather the artworks with power."
Demi nodded in understanding, but then stopped in mid-nod and blinked confusedly. "Ah… shouldn't it be you?"
"It would…" Rayen looked off to the side, as if afraid that Demi would be angry with her for saying this. "…but I can only take over your body when you feel unrequited love. So… unless you like anyone who doesn't like you back…" she trailed off.
Demi smiled sheepishly, not at all angry with Rayen, but rather a little disappointed in herself. "Uh… not… really. Sorry…"
"Thus is must be you who does the stealing." Rayen said. Demi sighed and hung her head. Her fingers tingled with excitement at the idea of having little adventures every night or so, but she also knew that this late-night thieving would put a major dent in her grade, due to all the homework that would probably go unfinished.
"But wait…" she muttered, looking back up to the mirror. "Aren't we being just as bad as Dark?"
Rayen shook her head calmly. "No… because we're doing the world a favor by getting rid of him."
Demi thought for a moment, still having scruples about all this. "Hm…" she hummed, thinking.
Rayen, to keep Demi from feeling guilty by thinking of all the criminal things she'd be doing, said, "Hey… aren't you late for school?"
CHAPTER THREE END
Hotaru: xD I love that ending.
Demi: I don't. I'm gonna get chewed out because of your sadistic sense of humor.
Hotaru: Which makes it all the more enjoyable.
Dark: Well, readers… today we're doing something different.
Daisuke: We're responding to your reviews! YAY!
Satoshi: Except Liz's. Hotaru responds to her reviews when she sees her at school.
Krad: O-kaaay… so, alchemistangel thinks the story is cool and asks to write more.
Hotaru: Thanks and already doin' it. –smile-
Dark: Chaki Chu says that Hotaru puts us all in-character and says we're funny. –blink- Hey, what's so funny!
Demi: Dark, calm down! Geez. –peers- She also says she loved my "Phantom Thief Demi" thing. Heh. –grins and claps once- So did I! Funfunfun.
Dark: I don't want competition! I want my Forbidden Flower! –pout-
Daisuke: -sweatdrop- I don't know him. –reads a review- nightchild00 says that the story is really good. Thank you! -bows-
Satoshi: kc loves this story, and says Demi isn't a Mary-
Hotaru: HEY!
Satoshi: …an M-S…
Hotaru: -gives a thumbs up-
Satoshi: …is smart, and funny. Oh, and cool. –nods-
Demi: -cries with joy- I've never felt so appreciated before!
Rayen: Don't get used to it. Soon they'll all be worshipping me.
Demi: -twitch- Anyway… Nameless (all they put was a period) wants to know what an… M-S… is. Well, they're basically 'perfect characters' or 'author insertion'… like a character based on the author.
Hotaru: I must admit, Demi is mostly based off of me in personality and slightly in appearance. Her hazel eyes are my friend's, however, and my hair is only straight when I straighten it with a Chi iron. Although, I don't understand why I can't base my characters off myself… when people ask to make my character more 'real'. How more 'real' can you get than an actual person? And what actual person do I know better than myself?
Demi: That 'author-insertion' crap is an oxymoron.
Dark: And perfect characters are basically good-looking with intelligence, money, members of the opposite gender fawning over them constantly, and are friends with everyone. Oh yeah, and they hate the bad guys. Sometimes they have overly-tragic pasts. Sometimes they have perfect lives. M-Ses come in many flavors.
Hotaru: I try very hard not to make my character M-Ses nowadays.
Krad: Anyway, Sakuya-chan says she can sympathize with Demi for being plain and ordinary, and asks for Hotaru to write more soon.
Hotaru: Hee hee. You 'n' me both, sister. Although, I think I may have become less plain… -shrug- I'm getting a little more attention from the male population this year.
Demi: -grumbles- Lucky.
Hotaru: Anyways, I hope this chapter was written soon enough for you.
Dark, Krad, and Rayen: -spread their wings-
Krad: -picks up Demi-
Dark: -picks up Hotaru-
Hotaru, Krad, Demi, Rayen and Dark: See ya next time! –flies away-
Satoshi and Daisuke: HEY! –runs after them-