Chapter 8
The day was hot, and the sky was clear of any clouds, which made the people on the ground curse the sun right now. Even though it was hot outside, most people were working hard to get enough food for the entire village. It was summer in El Nido, and currently, there was a true heat wave surging over the isles, though they never lasted very long. A lot of children, who had nothing better to do, took long relaxing dips in the sea, enjoying the coolness of the water. The waters never seemed to heat up for some unknown reason. Arni was a very famous village, known for their amazing fishers there, and the huge catches they always had there. The biggest catch of the day was always shown on the market square, where people came to admire it.
Twenty-five percent was exported to Termina, a large city to the northwestern shore of the main El Nido continent, whom traded the fish for rare Elements, exotic fruits, and weapons only used by the Acacia Dragoons. The Acacia Dragoons worked for General Viper, whom was the leader of Termina, and they resided in the Viper Manor. The highest rank of Acacia Dragoons, were the 4 Devas, four of the strongest fighters in the Acacia army.
This included the youngest son of General Viper, whose name was Vegeta. Vegeta was a young teenage boy, yet a stronger fighter than anyone else. His best friend, Elvor Crono Greadon, a mere fisher's son from Arni, also belonged in this group of fighters. The two eldest Devas, Voler and Sardack, passed away a few years after the two children became members of the Devas. Now there were two open spaces for Devas, and it was hard enough finding suitable Dragoons.
It was on Vegeta's thirteenth birthday, that the third and fourth members were finally recruited, three years after the demise of the last two Devas.
Into his chamber, walked a girl around his own age, if not a little bit younger, with golden colored hair, and lovely sapphire blue eyes. She was partly limping, but was doing her best to keep her pace normal. She wore a dark red dress, which indicated that it came from Guldove, a village that lay on an island to the west of Termina. Her hair hung loose on her back, and she was a beautiful girl, but in her eyes, one could see both the gaze of a beauty, and a beast.
"So, ye're Vegeta, eh?" she asked with a pure Zenean accent, which indicated that she had either grown up there, or her parents were from Zenan.
Could be both as well, but he didn't really bother. Vegeta stood up from his bed where he had been seated, and nodded politely at her.
"Yes, I am. And why is it that a wondrous lady such as yourself would come to see me?" he asked.
"Aw cut the crap!" the girl said exasperatedly, folding her arms across her chest and tapping one foot in annoyance. "Flattery ain't gonna help with me. And anyway, I didn't wanna be here, but ye're pa tol' me ta ask ye ta gimme a tour around the isle. Me and me folks came here to escape them Porre losers, and me folks wan' me ta know the entire place inside-out. I tol' 'em I coul' take care o' meself and didn't need anyone ta help me, but they woul'n't listen."
Vegeta was a little surprised by the girl's guts, and he noticed the girl stood like a guy, and not in the least like a girl.
"For a girl, you act very much like a guy," he stated.
The girl snorted, and said: "Yeah, well I don't care. I like bein' the way I am and I ain't gonna change it in a lifetime!"
Vegeta knew he was gong to like this girl. If she could back up her words with actions, she would make a great Deva.
"Might I inquire for your character?" Vegeta asked.
"Wha?" the girl said, quirking an eyebrow at him. "Oh! Me name! It's Milaya Laze Milen, but me mates call me Laze, so I guess ye can too."
Vegeta nodded.
"Yes, well, if you wish, I could show you all the secrets here in El Nido. I'm sure there are places you wouldn't get to see if you took anyone else as a guide."
Laze suddenly seemed to get interested.
"Oh really now?" she asked with a curious undertone.
A little later, Vegeta was walking toward the stables, where he would wait for Laze. Laze had said she had wanted to take her harlequin with her, whom was her best friend since childhood. At the stables, he met up with Elvor, who was wearing his usual out-fit.
"Hey Vegeta!" Elvor said once he noticed him. "Hey, who's that blonde girl that came to the manor a few hours ago? She came with her parents and siblings, I could tell, but why was she here?"
Vegeta was about to answer, but he never got it out.
"None o' yer damned business, ya bastard," a familiar voice hissed angrily.
"Mademoiselle Laze! Pleaze! Calm down!" a young girl said, the bells on her hat jingling as she moved her head.
The girl was obviously Laze's harlequin.
She wore the traditional hat with two golden bells, and some cotton bolls at the ears, a gold and red bodice with a lovely blue gem on her tummy, and golden spirals on her breasts, along with a small green bell around her neck. Also, she wore some see-through blue pants, showing off her slender legs, she had a small V-shaped cape, had red gloves, and some shoes that were curled at the noses, and held cotton at the ankles. Her young face was painted white and a red tear was painted on her right cheek.
"Don't tell me what ta do, Ancha!" Laze said angrily to the girl. "Ye ain't the boss o' me!"
The girl stumbled back.
"Mon dieu!!" she said. "Moi is just trying to help!"
Laze seemed to calm down.
"Yeah, ye're right. Sorry I yelled at ya."
"Zat iz okay. Moi can live with your anger long enough to stay alive!" Ancha said, smiling gently, and Laze laughed lightly.
Laze turned to Vegeta.
"Sorry we're late, but me folks had ta have a word with us."
Vegeta nodded understandingly.
The calm of the Hydra Marshes was rather soothing, and the group of four rode through the waters on their dragons. The dragons they rode were actually just evolved forms of true Dragons, for these were quite a few times smaller, and were easy to tame.
"Ooh-la-la!" Ancha said, smiling as she took in the scenery. "Zis iz a lovely plaze, non?"
"Yeah," Laze said, leaning on her dragon's saddle. "We don't have things like this on Zenan."
Elvor looked at them in confusion.
"Oh, you're from Zenan? Why did you come here then?" he asked.
"Ze Porre Army iz trying zo kill everyone on ze Zenan Continent, don't know why," Ancha said.
Laze suddenly blinked and asked: "Hey, wha are those?"
She was pointing toward a bunch of pint-sized creatures, looking like walking buckets. Vegeta groaned.
"Ah no!" Elvor mumbled. "Dwarfs!"
Ancha blinked in confusion.
"Nains?? Why iz zat zo bad?" she asked.
"Besides the fact that they hate humans and kill all of them if they see them, nothing at all," Vegeta said, a little pissed off.
Laze looked at him, and looked a little shocked.
"Ya mean they're gonna fight us?!" she asked, almost excitedly.
Elvor was about to respond, when the Dwarfs noticed them.
"Hi-ho!! Humans!!!" one shouted.
"Hi-ho! How DARE you enter these Marshes unbidden!? HI-HO!!!" another screamed.
Laze rolled her eyes.
"Se taire!!! Shut up and go 'ome from work or somet'ing!" Ancha said with annoyance in her voice.
Laze laughed about that one, and Ancha joined her friend pretty soon.
The leader of the Dwarfs growled and shouted: "Hi-ho! GET THOSE HUMANS!! HI-HO-HO!!!"
Laze chuckled.
"Santa Clauz!" Ancha suddenly said, and the four humans burst out laughing.
However, they stopped when the Dwarfs began their assault. Laze's playful expression vanished in an instant, and a sneer unlike anything appeared on her face as her dragon staggered back. She jumped from her dragon, and reached behind her back. One Dwarf screamed out, and ran toward her, only to meet the reaper. A sharp curved blade whooshed through the air, and cut through the Dwarf's armor, flesh and bones. Laze stood like that for awhile, holding a deadly scythe in her hands, which was now dripping with sticky blood.
Vegeta and Elvor looked at the young girl in shock and amazement, but also in admiration. The two looked at each other, both thinking the exact same thing. Laze watched another Dwarf storm toward her, but green sparks arose from around her, and she focussed.
"BUSHBASHER!!!" she shouted, and large bushes arose from the ground around the Dwarf, who found himself locked in.
When he realized what was going to happen, he gulped and said: "Uh-oh."
Large thorns extended on the bushes, and Laze smirked in admiration of her work. A sudden sound behind her made her whirl around, but she wasn't fast enough to stop the incoming Dwarf. However, someone else was. Razor sharp pins pinned the Dwarf to a tree-trunk, and Ancha clapped the dust from her hands.
"Voila!"
After quite some killing by all four humans, the Dwarfs finally retreated.
"Mark my words! Hi-ho! You humans will pay for your evil deeds!! HI-HO!!" their leader screamed, before running.
"Oh yeah? Well I'll be happy ta take ye on anytime, anywhere, ya sore losers!!" Laze hollered back, smiling like a satisfied child.
"Zat waz fun!!" Ancha said, a smile on her face.
"Sure was! I wanna figh' some more!!" Laze said. "Too bad there ain't anyone 'round."
Vegeta cleared his throat, and the two girls turned to him.
"Oui?"
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering, how long do you plan to spend here on El Nido?" Vegeta asked.
"Ooh-la-la! When waz it again?"
"'Til Porre retreats from Zenan. Which they won't for a long time. So, we's are stuck here for a long time!"
Elvor and Vegeta looked at each other, nodded, and turned back to the girls.
"Then how about you two join the 4 Devas?" Elvor asked.
Laze and Ancha looked horrified.
"The 4 Devas?! Tha's the highest rank o' Acacia Dragoons on the whole isle!!" Laze said.
"We may be good, but not zat good."
"By the looks of your capabilities and Element Grids, you're very experienced in fighting. That's probably all that people will look at," Vegeta said.
Laze and Ancha looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces.
"Don't ya think we're a little yung ta be a member o' the Dragoons in the firs' place?" Laze asked.
"Oui, moi t'ought zat ze minimum age for Dragoonz waz twenzy-one," Ancha added.
"How old are you anyway?" Elvor asked.
"Hey! Don't ya know not ta ask a lady her age?!" Laze demanded.
"Just answer the question," Vegeta said.
"Zwelve," Ancha said.
"Twelve-and-a-half," Laze mumbled. "Why didja wanna know anyway?"
Vegeta smirked and reached inside his pocket.
"Mon dieu!!!" Ancha exclaimed when Vegeta pulled out the Terminan emblem, which was only given to Devas.
Laze was shocked by what she saw, and she looked up.
"No way! Ye're a Deva?! Ye're probably no older than we are!" she said, unbelievingly.
They were so lost in their conversation, that no one noticed the blue armored men sneaking around, until it was too late.
"SE TAIRE!! LAZE!! LOOK OUT!!!" Laze whirled around, and hurriedly ducked to avoid getting shot in the head.
"Bloody Hell?!?! Wha was tha?!" she asked as she stood back up.
"Porre solidierz!! Zat's what!" Ancha said, rather mad.
Vegeta and Elvor growled.
"What are those doing here?!" Elvor demanded.
They had little time to think about that, for they were surrounded.
"Zut!!"
"Damn!!"
"Great!!"
"Ah fuck!!"
Vegeta held his axe on his right side with both hands, Elvor was holding a sword in front of him, Laze had her scythe slung over one shoulder, and Ancha was simply rocking back and forth on her feet with her hands clasped behind her back, holding pins between her fingers. The Porre soldiers had now completely surrounded them, and their dragons were being held by a few others. This was going to be no easy escape.
Vegeta looked down at his Element guide, and it showed that all soldiers were of the White Innate Color.
"Okay, Black Elements only, got it?!" Vegeta asked quietly.
"Right."
"Oui!"
"Yes."
Vegeta was surprised that Laze was now talking without her accent, but didn't question it. Elvor raised his blade high above his head as black sparks encircled him.
"GRAVITONNE!!!" he screamed, and the gravity around the Porre soldiers increased, and black energy sent them colliding with the ground.
However, Ancha simply rolled her eyes, and made blue sparks surround her. Vegeta was about to scold her, when blue energy spiraled around a soldier. Immediately afterwards, Ancha fired a Fireball Element at that same soldier, who was thrown into a tree on impact.
Laze scoffed and said: "Hey! He said BLACK Elements! Like this one!"
She picked up the tip of her scythe in her left hand, the other end with her right, while black sparks surged upward.
"GLIDEHOOK!!!" she hollered, then jumped up into the sky.
She twirled around sideways, and was down in a flash, in a crouch, behind one of soldiers, who was shaking momentarily, until his two separate halves fell on the ground in a bloody heap.
Vegeta blocked a soldier's hit, then sent him away. After casting TurnYellow, green sparks surrounded him.
"AXIAL-AXE!!!" he screamed out and hurled an energy disc away with his axe.
Laze was about to compliment him, when she saw something from the corner of her eye and turned around. It just… wasn't on time.
She received a blow to her jaw, and her scythe flew away, ending up somewhere up in a tree with the blade embedded deep into the wood. Laze was about to cast an Element, when somebody ripped her Element Grid from her arm. With wide eyes, she looked up. The pupils in her eyes shrunk as her eyes were glued to the shining green knife the soldier standing over her held. That could only mean one thing; Hydra poison.
The knife slashed down in a diagonal line, and Laze screamed as pain surged through her head, and the poison started to mix with her blood.
She lay, motionless, and the strange man looked down upon her. He got a small contraption from his pouch. Placing it between her teeth gently, he hoped she had enough strength to do as he asked.
"Here, try this, it won't stop the poison, but it will help you."
She looked up through half-glazed eyes, and saw that she could trust this man.
Laze breathed out, and sucked. The boll of the container vanished, and mixed with her bloodstream rapidly. He pulled the contraption from her mouth, and she carefully sat up.
"I… I feel better now," she said quietly as she tried to get out of bed, but the man stopped her.
"Get some rest, you had a rough day. I'll leave some extra medicine in case you need it, but you must only use it when you really need to. Understand?"
Laze nodded, and lay down on the bed, falling asleep gently.
YEAH!!! 75 reviews!! Thanks everybody!!! And I thought, if I put the Elements in it, as well as the out-fits, why not put the entire El Nido isles in it?! Well anyway, now you people know how Laze got poisoned, and what those containers were that she kept using. But, a question I got a lot was: 'Is she going to die?'
Did anyone remember the end of chapter 4? You fill in the blanks.
Reviews:
Hope: You're constantly first when it comes to reviewing, how's that? Anyway, yeah, she's poisoned.
Lauryn Stone: Okay, let me write that down! [picks up notebook] More Z-Fighters… don't think so! It's mostly Bulma and Vegeta anyway! [rereads review and stares] "Second romance between Goku and Laze"… What gave you that idea?! Hmm… Goku stronger than Vegeta… Nah! I want Vegeta to be stronger for once.
waterprincess: Thanks, short review, but that doesn't matter.
DarkAngelB: Thanks for the compliment, and I won't tell if Laze is going to die or not.
Paper-Thin: No sweat, but I should be thanking you and everyone else for reviewing my story!
The Crazy Cricket: Vegeta will be an asshole again somewhere in chapter… [skims story] 13!! So keep your eyes peeled!!
Ciria: [sighs heavily] Well, to speak with Belthasar's words: 'Only time will see where it all ends'. (from his book in Chrono Trigger, prequel to Chrono Cross) PS: I used your name in one of the upcoming chapters, hope you don't mind.
Venni: Yeah, well, Chrono Cross is a cool game, but it's a little confusing at some points, and that makes me frustrated (and that's not easy to do!!!).
Yue Lover: Sorry, but how did I scare you?
saiyankiyse: Nah, you don't have to finish FOTU anytime soon. It's not finished anyway. But anyway, thanks for trying it.
Aneets: Thanks!
Cherrygal3: Yeah, I know it's confusing. But, try to understand. And most things will be explained later on. If not, send a mail.
Wow! Thanks to all those reviews, the chapter's one page longer than it's supposed to be! Okay, next chapter won't be up until I have…… [counts for awhile] 85!! Yeah, I know I don't want much, but that's just the way I am!