Hiya! It's me again! How are ya'll liking the story so far? Please say good….I've gotten a fair number of reviews from ya'll, and I must say that I'm quite pleased! Thanks especially to Silver Pain and RenaeAurora. They have been faithful through it all! Just remember that it's okay to give constructive criticism. It's good for me!
"Damn you to hell! I said let me go!" Aya thrashed in Tokaki's arms. Her eyes were screwed shut and she beat his back with all the force of an enraged female.
"Ow!" Tokaki shot her a dirty look over his shoulder. "Stop that! We're here!"
Aya's eyes popped open and within seconds she had wriggled her way out of his grasp. "Where the hell is 'here' anyway?!"
Tokaki assumed an arrogant grin, "My home, of course."
Forest fires raging out of control could be no worse than the heat of Aya's gaze. "And what exactly are we doing here?" she asked sweetly.
Tokakinot knowing the proper signals for full Aya-ragecontinued blithely on. "We're here to let you meet Subarushe's my wifeand Tatara. They're warriors of Byakko, too, and"
"Shut. Up," Aya smiled sweetlyand dangerouslyin a calm tone of voice. "I'm sick of you. I'm sick of these stupid warriors. But most of all I'm sick of being in this stupid world. I want to go home where I can take a hot shower without having to wait three hours for the water to heat up. I want to be able to read a book that I don't have to unroll. I want to be able to wear clothing that no one sewed by hand." Aya was truly warming up to her subject now and, as she did, her voice began to gain volume. "I want to be able to eat food that hasn't been killed yesterday! I want to be able to sleep in a bed that doesn't contain any animal anatomy! And BY GOD I want to be able to get on the internet and chat until I can't stay up any more and fall asleep knowing I'm going to fail everything in school tomorrow because of it! And I've only been here TWO FRIKIN' DAYS!!!" Aya realized she was shouting and stopped still glaring fiercely if panting a bit.
Tokaki stood staring dumbly at her. "Uh…"
"Oh, Tokaki, hush!" The brisk feminine voice brooked no opposition. "What have you done to the poor dear?"
Aya started and glanced around her until she found the source of the voice. "Who are you?"
The beautiful woman blinked in surprise, "Me? Why, I'm Subaru, dearie. I'm Tokaki's wife."
Something made Aya suspicious of Subaru. Her figure and voice were both young enough for Aya to safely guess that this woman was her age. But like Tokaki, she had a wealth of snow white hair. And unlike Tokaki, she had a manner of speaking that reminded Aya of her grandmother. "How old did you say you were?" she asked including Tokaki in on the question.
"Physically or mentally, dear?" Subaru asked with a wistful smile.
"Um…both?" Aya asked hesitantly.
"Physically: I'm seventeen, and the idiot there is nineteen. Mentally: I'm 116, and he's 118."
Jaw dropping, Aya gaped at one then the other. "You've got ta be shittin' me!"
Tokaki let out a snort. "Not quite."
Subaru smiled with sympathy. "I know it's a bit much to believe…"
"A―a bit much?!" Aya gasped then paused, "Well, I guess it's no weirder than coming here in the first place…"
"That's the spirit!" Subaru smiled cheerfully. "Now, Priestess, there's one more―"
"Wait!" Aya snapped. "We still haven't quite covered the whole priestess bit. Now who in the world said that I had to be the priestess?!"
Subaru appeared surprised. "Didn't Tokaki tell you?"
"Tell me what?!" Aya threw up her hands in exasperation.
Subaru turned to Tokaki with a frown. "How in the world did you get her to come with you without explaining things properly?!"
"No! The only thing he told me was something about three wishes. In fact, he kidnapped me!" Aya smirked with all the satisfaction of one child telling on another.
"Tokaki!" Subaru exclaimed. "How could you?!"
Tokaki shrugged and grinned ruefully. "She was being uncooperative. I had to get her somehow. And her friend didn't want to go either!"
"That's right!" Aya gasped eyes wide. "Where is Rika?! What did you do with her?!" she ran to Tokaki and began shaking him.
"Chill out!" Tokaki forced through gritted teeth. "She's where we left her unless she took it upon herself to move!"
Aya paused. "You left her in the woods all by herself?! You idiot!!!" The shaking resumed with a passion. "You have the brains of a peanut!"
"I agree!" Subaru cried getting in on the lecture/torture session. "What in the world made you decide to leave the other one?!"
Tokaki had by this time wrestled himself from Aya's grip. He stood at a distance from the other two straightening his clothing. "I couldn't decide which one was ours so I picked one."
"DO WHAT?!?!" Subaru erupted. "You imbecile!! Thank goodness that the gods keep watch over fools! You somehow managed to choose the right priestess. Can't you feel the aura of power radiating from her? Now that she's angry, it almost overflows the senses!"
Tokaki stopped and seemed to stare in space, "Hey! You're right! I can feel it! Wow! It's really strong, too! That means…" He glanced at an enraged Aya.
Aya stood there with her hands clenched at her sides. "How could you do this?! How could you even think you had the right?!"
"Please understand, Priestess," Subaru pleaded. "You were all brought here for a reason, and we need to gather our warriors to fight that reason."
"You don't even know what's the matter?!" Aya burst in disbelief.
"Unfortunately, no," a new voice informed her. "We only know that a great darkness gathers on the horizon."
"Tatara!" Subaru exclaimed the name with relief.
Aya spun around to face the third member of this strange little party. "Tatara? Is that your name?"
The gentle looking young man smiled, "Yes, and you are Aya, correct?"
Aya could only nod dumbly. Tokaki was all muscles and sex drive. Tatara was different. He had a gentle feel about him that immediately put Aya at ease. It didn't hurt that he was sexy as hell, either. She stifled a giggle.
"We desperately need the help of the Priestesses, Aya," Tatara said gravely. "The warriors are here only to protect the Priestesses in their quest to summon the gods. Without you we are…less than nothing. You must understand that only you can bring out the full powers of the Byakko Seven and help us defeat this evil. Please." Tatara went to his knee directly in front of a very flustered Aya followed swiftly by Subaru and Tokaki. "Won't you help us?"
Aya spent a few moments in an uncomfortable silence. "Oh, dammit! I can't exactly say no when you ask like that, can I?" A weak smile crossed her face.
Subaru was all smiles. "Wonderful! I can't wait till we have assembled all the warriors once more!"
Tatara smiled softly. "Thank you, Priestess of Byakko. We are indebted to you."
Aya waved him off, "Nah! You guys are about to spend all your time protecting me, right? You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into!" She flashed him a wicked grin.
Tokaki let out a whoop, "All right! Traveling the country! Searching for adventure! And bedding every pretty girl on the way! What could be better?!" Subaru smacked him.
Aya sighed and rubbed her temples, "On second thought, what am I getting myself into..."
