Everything he tried to see was pitch-black, nothing above, below, or beside him could be seen.
He struggled to open his eyes as if he were in some dream where there was nothing but amiss black.
He heard voices inside his head, a strange familiar voice he heard above all, the voice of a girl.
'I wonder if he's dead. *giggle* impossible, dead people don't snore. I wonder why I can't read his mind. Should I wake him up? Well I'll just come back another day when he's not so tired. In the meantime I'll wait for him…'
The daydreaming brunette forced his eyes opened he sat up, and placed his head on his right hand.
'What was that?' he pondered '…Anna?…!!!...Anna!'
He jerked his head up and saw he was no longer in the warm, soft meadow of lights inside the Great Spirit.
He was inside a room, laying on a soft futon that was in the middle of the vast wooden room.
"Ah, I see you're awake." a strong male voice said from behind him.
Yoh quickly turned towards the voice, in a corner he saw a very muscular man in a brown leather shirt in a corner, his hair seemed like a black-hair-colored version of Marco's, which came a little above his shoulders.
Yoh blinked the male in front of him reminded him much of-
"Shilva?" he asked in a questionable clueless tone.
The male raised a brow at him then a smile formed on his lips. 'so he knows Shilva... this may not be as awkward then.'
Yoh shook his head. Did he just hear this guy's thoughts? Impossible only Hao, Anna, Annaka, and Opacho were able to do that, but not him. Then how…
"I am not Shilva." The male told him, the smile not leaving from his face, "My name is Cadm and you are…Asakura Yoh I presume?"
Yoh stared at this so-called Cadm in shock "H-how do you-"
"Know your name? Lucky guess. You look a lot like an older version of the Asakura Yoh from the Asakura Clan. Though he's only seven years old."
Yoh's dumb-founded expression didn't change a bit; he stared at the black-haired male for a while.
Yoh heard a small chuckle from thin air, then before his eyes a figure appeared at Cadm's side. Yoh had to narrow his eyes to see the familiar shaped features of a demon.
"Ohachiyo?" he said in shock at the small demon that wore a long Patch uniform, and stared at him with a smirk.
The demon walked, with his arms crossed, over to wear Yoh sat, he examined Yoh closely looking at him from every angle. After a few minutes he paused and said "No doubt you're an older Asakura Yoh."
"Um…yeah, but-wait I shouldn't be here!" Yoh proclaimed, he stood up and moved his foot to begin to walk- "I should be inside the Great Spirit with An-!" -his foot got caught in the futon and he fell the ground-.
Ohachiyo shook his head, Cadm walked over to the brunette that lied across the floor.
"Are you okay?" he asked in a strong voice.
Yoh scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly as he got up. "Yeah. For some reason I don't feel any pain."
Ohachiyo put both his hands behind his head as he walked around the futon as Yoh finished getting up.
"It seems you don't feel any pain due to the fact you're a spirit." He told Yoh calmly.
"I'm a what!" Yoh shouted out.
"A spirit" Cadm repeated in the same tone as Ohachiyo "But not a regular spirit you're sort of a solid spirit I guess you could say, that can only be seen by people that are important to the reason you are here. You're a very unique kind of spirit."
"How can I be a spirit?" Yoh asked himself, not noticing he spoke loud enough that both Ohachiyo and Cadm were able to hear him.
They turned to look at each other, both raising a brow.
Yoh began to walk out the door; he turned towards Ohachiyo and Cadm with a small grin.
"Thanks for trying to help, but I don't really understand what's going on. Hehehe."- He scratched the back of his head- "*sigh* maybe what I need is to think alone for a bit."
Cadm nodded, "If you need anything you can come back here if you wish."
Yoh smiled and nodded "Thanks."
With that said he walked out the door, his thought coming along with him.
'What is going on?'
----------------
"What is going on?" Hao asked out loud as the others came through the oversoul of boulders.
As each on came through they asked the same question in their head.
Ahead of them were millions of houses and temples lined up close to many stands of food and other necessities.
"It's a hidden village." Horo said out loud, the others for once nodded in agreement.
"But why would there be such a village hidden behind the oversoul of rocks?" Lyserg inquired.
The others shrugged, thinking as hard as they could to find a reasonable answer; their thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice.
"Hey guys! Over here!" Chocolove called out, waving his arm in the air, signaling then to walk over to him.
They all turned to one another and shrugged, what did they have to lose; it wasn't as if finding the hidden village had answered any of the questions that had them up to their necks.
They walked towards the stand where Chocolove was leaning on, each one looking around the village searching for anything that could help them find out where to start looking.
Finally the reached Chocolove, he grinned and allowed some of them to seat on some of the tall stools that that stood before the stand.
"This place has something out of place," murmured the Tao under his breathe loud enough for only the ones close to him to hear, "Everyone is way too calm, there doesn't seem to be one upset or serious person in sight."
"All too strange," Faust agreed, carefully examining each passing group of people, taking in their joyful expressions one by one.
"Well," –Chocolove perked up, standing up from his seat—"we shouldn't worry about these sort of things…while we're here how about we order something to eat?!" –He sat back down on his stool-"Ryu let's start with you, what do you want? They have hamburgers, pizza, miso soup, soba…"
The dark shaman kept on scrutinizing the menu, going on with the endless choices of dishes.
Ryu though was somehow able to ignore Chocolove's constant discourse, his mind being on the girl who stood behind the stand, waiting for them to announce their order.
He watched her every move as she walked back and forth getting needed ingredients for the customers' orders.
At last Ryu sighed. "What a hot tamale." He said under his breathe as his hair boinged into the shape of aheart.
Still scrutinizing the menu, Chocolove shook his head. "No tamales, Ryu. But if you prefer Hispanic food they do have tacos!"
Horohoro punched the table in annoyance. "If you keep it up, Chocolove you're going to be swimming with the fishes." He angrily stated pointing to a nearby river which flowed through out the whole village.
"Thanks, but I didn't bring a bathing suit!" he laughed out patting both Ren and Horo hard on the back.
"That's it!" they both yelled before throwing themselves on Chocolove pummeling him hard.
Marco rolled his eyes at the three. "Maiden-sama, I refuse for you to be around such horrible influences for a such a while." He told her.
"I don't see any bad influences around here, do you?" Hao asked jokily towards Marco.
He, Opacho and Ohachiyo all lay under the cool shade of a nearby tree. Annaka stood, leaning against the tree for support, as so did Luchist on the other side.
"YOU'RE THE WORST INFLUENCE OF ALL!!!" Marco shouted pointing at Hao in rage. "HOW CAN YOU JUST STAND THERE AND WATCH SUCH UNCIVILIZED BEHAVIOR TAKE PLACE?"
Hao opened one eye to look at the angered blond who didn't bother to lower the finger that pointed to him. Then he looked over at Team Ren, who were still in their dispute. He smiled to himself and closed his eye.
"Easy," he said, now even more relaxed, "I enjoy a good fight."
"YOU'RE MAD!" the blond in uniform proclaimed.
Hao laughed gleefully, grinning all the way. "If I wasn't then I wouldn't have any fun."
A little bit more farther away than the others stood Manta and Tamao, with Hana in her hands, eying as Marco kept on shouting at Hao, Ryu flirting with the girl from the stand, Team the Ren kept on in their fight, and Faust and Eliza staring into each others eyes repeating each others name in a love-sick tone.
Above the two floated Ponchi and Konchi who waved flags in the air, shouting as they watched Team Ren fight in total entertainment.
And a hopeless Amidamaru, who looked on at his friends saying, "We'll never be able to help Yoh-dono at this rate." -In a desperate tone of voice.-
Tamao sighed, she looked around and after a while decided to turn around and start walking to look around.
She didn't take two steps before she bumped into someone, making them both fall to the ground.
Tamao rubbed her bottom; finally her senses came to her as she looked at Hana who was fast asleep in her arms as if he had never felt the 'bump' when he fell down with Tamao from the collision.
Tamao sighed in relief then sat up and looked worriedly at the person who she had bumped into, an apologetic look all across her smooth pale face.
She looked at the person on the ground to see what their expression was. To her surprise she could not see a face. She looked closer with better vision and had saw why.
The person was in a long brown cloak that covered every skin of their body, but judging from its figure she could only guess he was male.
Tamao began to slowly stand; making sure Hana wouldn't fall out of her arms as she did.
She laggardly held her hand out so that he could have something to pull himself up from the ground.
Manta watched her as she, in a peculiar motion, came closer to the boy on the ground.
"A-ano…"-she hesitated-"I'm terribly sorry!"- She continued with a slight bow of her head.-"I didn't mean to-I just wasn't looking ahead so…GOM---"
Before she could finish she was suddenly yanked away, spinning as she tried to balanced herself. Annaka stood protectively in front of her with a strong and stiffened position.
Tamao looked over Annaka's shoulder, her eyes growing big when she saw the reason Annaka acted in such way.
A big ball of gray fur stood where her hand had been, it's giant wolf-like body standing fixed and frozen as it growled at the blonde.
The others looked at it with deep outspreaded eyes, clutching their weapons tightly, ready incase they would have to use them for a fight.
Then another cloaked figure came among the other one. This one seemed more relaxed and cautious then the other one who was on the floor.
He looked at our entire shaman as if analyzing each aspect of their body, then he turned to the giant wolf-like creature, who was still growling away looking at Annaka in wild rage and thirst.
In the blink of an eye Hao suddenly stood -relaxed but protectively- over Annaka, looking at the cloaked boys with an unreadable expression.
The boy, who was analyzing them awhile ago, looked at Hao, starring at him so hard he could have bore holes through Hao's body.
Hao did the same, but instead he calmly searched through the boy's thoughts.
'Asakura Hao…' he heard him think. The tone of his mental voice sounded as if it had come with rage.
Annaka who was reading Hao's thoughts heard it as well.
'He's supposed to be dead…but I guess that could be his greatest talent, avoiding death.'
The boy took in a deep breathe in that second all his thoughts where whisked away, making the voices in both Hao and Annaka's head…silent.
"Jeikobu," he said referring to the wolf-like ball of fur "calm."
Then it occurred to the both of them as the wolf suddenly disappeared into a small ball that floated over his shoulder.
It was a spirit, the spirit of a great and humongous animal with the power to kill in one measly attack. But…it looked so real to them.
Hao did not let this cloud his thoughts, he had seen many spirits over the years that it didn't surprise him seeing probably what was a new…'breed' of spirits.
"Well gentlemen," –his voice and pleasant, on the surface- "Is the issue here resolved?"
The cloaked one on the ground quickly stood, looking at Hao as if he were trying to throw daggers at him with his eyes.
"No." he coldly replied.
Ryu and Faust appeared behind Tamao as the others joined in as well, each one gripping their weapons, ready to oversoul their spirits any minute.
"If it's a fight you want then we'll gladly give it to you." Ren menacingly told them; pointing out his Bâo-Lèi in their direction, his golden eyes glazing at the word, fight.
"Hardly. We'd just rather take this conversation to a more appropriate place." The boy's smooth voice whispered just as menacingly, his spirit Jeikobu, (as he had called him) glaring at Annaka and Hao with its crimsoned eyes.
"No shit." Horo replied glaring just as hard. "You bastards just want to catch us off guard so then you could-"
"Shut it Usui," the blond ordered him.
Horohoro did as he was told, but not without swearing at Annaka under his breathe.
The blonde relaxed her posture, and slightly pushed Hao to get by.
"If you're taking us to a better location, you take all of us. No exceptions."
"Heika wouldn't have it any other way." One of them had almost silently murmured under their breath, as they both led the group of shaman to a new location.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOH'S P.O.V.
This place is so…different. I've never been in such a peaceful town before; even with my eyes closed I can practically 'hear' the smile on peoples' faces.
What is going on? One second I was beside Anna, looking at her…beautiful, soft, perfect peach skin, and her amazing golden hair…
I shook my head. I couldn't think of how beautiful Anna was when I didn't even know what happened to us back there.
I sighed. I feel so useless right now, what am I suppose to do?
'I wonder if he's dead. *giggle* impossible, dead people don't snore. I wonder why I can't read his mind. Should I wake him up? Well I'll just come back another day when he's not so tired. In the meantime I'll wait for him…'
That voice. I opened my eyes, I've heard that voice before, I knew who that sweet melodic, angelic voice belonged to.
My vision was blurred but I could see a small gentle peach-colored face, with deep mesmerizing chocolate black eyes staring at me.
I also knew those eyes.
"Anna?" I asked as my vision became clearer. Clear enough to see the look of shock on her face when I said her name.
"You okay?" I asked her. I didn't get it, what was with the look of shock on her face.
"You know my name…" she softly said.
Yeah I knew her name…where was she going with this?
There was something else about her though, her voice was…childish?
That's when I got a good look at her, that edgy feeling that was bothering me.
She looked younger. She was shorter, probably only about half a foot taller than Manta, and her hair was…long. It came down to her waist line, but not losing its usual edginess that Anna's hair had.
Something, a thought or memory, came into my head as I stared at her waiting for her to say something.
'You look a lot like an older version of the Asakura Yoh from the Asakura Clan. Only he's seven years old.'
Seven years old? How is that possible? I looked at the girl in front…she looked about seven years of age.
"How do you know my name?" she demanded, and her voice shook a little.
I guess I must have scared her a bit. This made me feel guilty; this possibly seven year old Anna looks so defenseless compared to my Anna.
I laughed a bit, that seemed to calm her down a bit. I noticed before Anna would usually calm down after I would sheepishly laugh or smile.
"Sorry," I began, scratching the back of my head. "You kinda looked like someone I know, my mistake." I decided making it sound like a joke was safe.
"Oh." She seemed to have accepted that answer, letting it slide.
"So you're name is really Anna?" what a stupid question to ask if I already knew the answer, no wonder sometimes Anna would say my questions were idiotic.
"Yes, Kyoyama Anna. I'm new here so I don't really know my way around here…but I guess I'll be able to manage."
Call me crazy but this sort of defenseless Anna was a bit entertaining. She kind of amused me a bit.
"question." She asked her expression now more serious, more like my Anna.
"Sure thing." I told her. She could ask me what ever she wished after all probably sooner I'd be the one asking the questions.
"What exactly are you?" her expression didn't change as she said it, meaning she really wanted to know.
"I saw you sitting here"-she went on- "but it seemed that no one else around here has."
"How are you so sure they're just not ignoring me? After all I'm just a carefree person, there's no reason for them to notice me." I smiled my usual grin at her.
She seemed to have blushed, her peach-colored cheek slowly turning a rosy color, something I hardly ever saw on my Anna. It was kinda cute.
"Ano…" she seemed to be thinking of her reply to answer me, I wondered why I thought I was just making a joke about myself. Why was she taking my question so seriously?
'Should I tell him?'
She turned her face to my direction; I patiently waited for her response, my grin still planted on my face.
'For some reason I feel that I CAN trust him'
She let out a long breathe that I never noticed she had been holding in, then her whole body turned facing me.
"I am able to read peoples' minds…I believe I could tell you almost every thought that flies into my head from every person that has wishes or desires." –She turned to a salesman in a corner-
"'How can I improve my sales before I go into debt?'" – She looked at a women in a corner- "'I have got to do something better with my life than this.'"
I knew I had to believe it. I had known about Anna's ability for a while, it haunted her day and night when I had first met her.
But at this time she doesn't seem to mind it, could there be a reason that in the end makes her loathe that power which she possesses.
"Do you feel anything about that?" I asked her, I had asked Hao the same thing in my head back when we had coffee, though with him I was asking about a different situation.
She stared into my eyes, her tiny chocolate black eyes seemed to have gotten lost in my as her face features struggled, but calmed.
"I am not sure"-she raised her head up to look at the hovering clouds-"It's a strange thing, to hear peoples' thoughts, knowing the truth behind many façades that people place to keep one out,"
Her eyebrows came closer to each other, her face following along with a frown. "It keeps me up at night hearing all those voices, it gives me head aches that really angers me. But I always tell myself there must be a good reason why I have it."
I watched her face, but I was scared of what I might see, I'd hate to see sorrow on her, even if she was Anna.
But her face remained…calm.
'Just like Anna' I thought to myself.
"Are you…some spirit?" she asked interrupting my thoughts.
Possibly, she could have been going back to her previous question, she sounded eager to know, as if she wanted to ask me that ever since I… 'Woke up'.
I wanted to be honest; I never liked to lie, especially to Anna. I was always afraid that if I ever did lie to her I'd end up in my grave.
But, really, the truth was that I wasn't even sure what I was right now. Cadm and Ohachiyo's… 'Definition' of what I am here doesn't really help.
She looked at me waiting for answers.
And why not tell her? Her ability was soon to tell her anyway, it was actually an easy subject.
"I'm not really sure." I joked.
If it was Manta or someone else I was talking to they would have sweat dropped, maybe even fall to the ground in amazement at how clueless and carefree I could be.
But this, of course, wasn't just anyone. This was the girl whose destiny is to marry the shaman king, the one destined to marry me. So her reaction being different than anyone else's didn't surprise me.
She raised a brow at me which reminded me of Anna's are-you-really-so-dumb look she had given me a few…minutes ago?
"You see" – continued when I noticed the hint of interest in her eyes- "I kinda just…woke up here. I don't really know what I am right now."
Her little lips curved a bit, as if my cluelessness humored her.
"Do you at least know your name?"
"My name?"
She nodded. And I smiled.
"Yoh, Asakura Yoh."
"Yoh-kun." She softly whispered to herself, I wanted to smile, the way her soft childish voice sounded was…cute.
Then she smiled. I blinked hard to make sure I was looking right, that my vision was still 20/20.
It was. She was smiling, but not the smile I was use to. Not Anna's smug or smirks, but an actual contagious smile, which left me with no choice but to lightly smile.
At that moment I finally came to me. The reason I was here 8 years away from my current time.
'Her mask,' I though 'I sometimes wonder,' I looked down at her and placed one of my arms under my head, the other around Anna's sleeping body.
"Has there ever been a time where Anna would smile constantly? If so…then what happened to make her cover her true self?" I began to think out loud.
That's why I was here, from my own curiosity I wanted badly to see a time where Anna smiled without worry, wanting to know what had caused her to trust no one.
I turned to look at her as she watched the sun slowly set, her small tiny eyes reflecting the warm sunlight.
This is when her life becomes so harsh? At only seven years of age? So harsh that she dreads her abilities, and because of them she closes out everyone around her?
A sharp pain entered my chest, the same retched pain I felt back on Mu when I found out Anna's real identity. Her Shaman Queen self.
"It's getting late." She told me, her voice sounded sad. "I got to go home."
She turned to me and I tried hard to smile, saying it was fine.
"You'll…be here tomorrow?"
I nodded; I wanted so badly to know of Anna's childhood, because of that I would stay close.
"Sure! We'll play a lot next time, how about that?" as soon as those words were out of my mouth I regretted it.
This girl wasn't just a kid. Not like Rebseb and Seyram, this was Anna, I looked at her waiting for a cold "no."
To my surprise she said something else.
"Okay. We'll have fun then." She sounded very happy.
-She took a step back- "Well then, Ja ne, Yoh-kun!" she called out in a singing voice.
Then she turned around and began running joyfully back, her long golden hair swaying back and forth as she did.
I watched her go until she disappeared from my sight.
Then I let out a sigh, this was overwhelming. It was way too much for me.
But I know that everything will work out in the end. So why worry, right?
With my normal attitude back, I looked at the stores around me. There had to be something that could take my mind off of all of this, to keep me calmed and relaxed.
A place that had something that made me worry-free.
And there it was…the convenience store.
I got up and stretched, how long have I been sitting down? Oh well.
I gave one last stretch and yawn before I began making my way to the convenience store.
NORMAL P.O.V.
A girl with long dark, very dark blue hair stood at the counter. She looked carefully at an art magazine in front of her, her grayish green eyes skimming each picture.
She'd been at work for a while now, hoping desperately for her shift to be over.
The tiny bells above the entrance jingled as a teenage boy pulled the door open. The boy was wearing orange sweat pants and a white, short-sleeved shirt around his neck was a necklace which had some sharp figures hanging from it.
'Oh wow' the girl breathlessly awed at the boy, beginning to skim him as if he were a piece of art.
The boy wandered over to the CD racks and stood there for a few minutes, his eyes wandering over the different CDs. His eyes lit up as they landed on one particular CD. He reached out for the CD with his right hand and quickly walked to the cash register.
The girl's eyes glanced over the boy's orange headphones and then over the boy's face. The boy had the most relaxed expression she had ever seen in her life.
He possessed the laziest smile ever and a pair of eyes that lit up with childish joy after the boy found his favorite CD.
He made her want to smile at his wondrous features and relaxing attitude.
The boy handed the CD to her. She glanced over the front of the CD.
"Soul Bob, how old are you?" she asked him curiously. She then took another glance at the boy.
'He looks around fifteen, only two years younger than me.' She wondered why a boy around his age would want a Soul Bob CD.
Yoh laughed a bit. "15, he he, I like the classics." He told her, smiling his famous sheepish grin.
She could have melt from that smile. 'He's two years younger, two years YOUNGER." She mentally screamed at herself.
Yoh noticing this as the girl's thoughts were screaming in his head. He blushed a bit, when he realized why she was mentally screaming at herself, then he looked down at the CD on the counter.
The tiny bells of the door jingled, making the navy blue-haired girl return to her senses.
"Sorry."-She apologized while calling herself stupid in her head-"I just never considered Soul Bob among the classics for your age."
Yoh shrugged his shoulders in a carefree way.
"2,000 yen please."
Before he could reach into his pocket to check for money, a hand placed itself on the counter leaving some coins beside the CD.
Yoh looked beside him to see Cadm looking at him, a big smile on his face.
"Just let me pay for it, I don't believe you would have brought money with you from where you came from." He stated.
"He he, true."
Cadm smiled then turned to girl at the counter who eyes them curiously.
"Misaka-san, this is Yoh. A…member of the family, so to say, he'll be staying with me for a while, he seems to be on business here." He casually told her, not a hint of anything that would cause Misaka to be suspicious.
"Ah so you're his relative eh? Strange, you look nothing alike." She stated, now suspicion was getting the best of her.
Cadm grinned at Yoh, who was looking at a painting of a girl in a grassy meadow field, looking up at a clear blue sky, it hung over the art supplies which were beside of the music section where Yoh got his Bob CD.
Then Cadm turned back to Misaka leaning closer to the counter. "He's married to a special member of my family." He softly whispered.
Misaka's eyes grew huge; she stared at Yoh, eyeing the young childish lazy expression on his face, then she turned to Cadm who just kept smiling.
She opened her mouth but closed it after she heard the jingle at the door.
Cadm smiled at her, "Let me get a few things before I pay," he told her as he went over to the art section of the store.
Misaka nodded and went back to eying the water-colored pictures on the counter. A shoulder ended up on the counter "Is my order here?" asked a cold male voice in front of her.
Yoh turned away from the drawing to look over at the person who lay over the counter.
A tall, leaner boy with unruly, sort of like Redseb's, dirty blond hair stood there; his eyes frozen on Misaka with seemed to match the color of his eyes, blue.
He wore grayish-blue pants with a whitish-tan turtle neck shirt and a red half buttoned up jacket.
Masaki looked up from her magazine to look at the boy; her eyes grew huge as she stared into the boy's cold and starring eyes.
"Ah Edward-san!" she yelled in surprise, her hands whipped passed the pictures sending them to the ground, Yoh noticed the slight blush in Masaki's cheeks as she turned to look at him.
The blond named Edward rolled his eyes, "Masaki," he began in an annoyed tone.
Then a chuckle came from behind Yoh, all three of them looked behind him.
Cadm stood there chuckling, a bunch of supplies under his arm.
He looked toward the blond. "Good to see you again, Edward." He said to him cheerfully holding a hand up.
Edward glared at him, and nodded. "Cadm." He simply said and looked away from him.
"How's your mother, Akiko?" Cadm went on.
"She's well"
"Your father?"
"At ease"
"You're sister? Oh that reminds me, I haven't seen her in a while, I'd like to see her soon. Do you think Akiko will mind if I borrow her for a while anytime?" he added in a tone that made Yoh wonder at Cadm's reasons for asking those question.
He soon found out.
Edward clenched his fists and banged the table, then furiously he turned to Cadm "Stay away from my sister!" he ordered his thoughts pouring into Yoh's head.
'PERVERTED BASTARD, I'LL KILL HIM. HE LAYS ONE FINGER ON MY SIS AND HE'S DEAD! SHE'S SEVEN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!'
"Edward," Masaki warned. 'Gah he's too protective over his sister, but I can't blame him, she's cute for a kid'
Edward eased up a bit and then he finally noticed the lazy-looking brunette beside Cadm, his cold, ice-blue eyes freezing Yoh in place, Yoh stared back his face not losing its calm, his chocolate eyes never losing their warmth.
Edward turned away more calmly than before. "Family member Cadm?" he asked but to Yoh it sounded more like a statement.
"Good observation my friend." Cadm said nodding approvingly.
'I'm not your friend' The blond asked no more, he turned to Masaki "My package." He muttered to her.
Masaki immediately pulled out a box full of stuff, Yoh was able to see from where he stood, he had…art supplies?
Yoh raised a brow a Cadm who seemed to be laughing in his head at Yoh's reaction.
'Is that what everyone does around here' he wondered 'paint?'
He shrugged, 'no need to worry about it' he thought.
Edward got the box, placed it under an arm, and began out the door, glaring at Cadm before the jingle of the door sounded. Then he was gone.
Masaki looked at her watch, her eyes grew.
"Well, this is nice and all…but I'll be late for cram school if I don't go now, so…"
Cadm nodded and handed her the money, she quickly stuffed it into the register and gave them a receipt.
Then the two were on their way.
Yoh smiled as he took his Bob CD. He held it up in front of him admiringly and then slowly placed it into his pocket.
He then heard laughter beside him.
"Hahaha! Your attitude is quiet strange my friend." Cadm stated a bit humored by the fact.
Yoh smiled sheepishly "I just haven't heard a Bob CD since the Shaman Fight started in my time." He laughed.
Then something hit him.
"Cadm." He said his voice now serious.
"Yes?" the black haired man raised a brow at the brunette.
"Doesn't it affect the future in any way by you knowing I'm 'going' to be the Shaman King?"
Cadm looked at the young Shaman King then he laughed out loud leaving Yoh completely clueless.
"Is that what made you so serious all of the sudden?" he asked still laughing.
"Yeah?" Yoh replied. If it was a joke Cadm was laughing at, then he didn't get it.
Cadm's laughter slowed the he turned to Yoh.
"Ah my friend," –he began- "there's no need to worry about it. You are inside the Queen's head her hidden memories in the back of her mind. For all she knows, you're just part of her dream. And as for you…you can do what you wish in here and it won't affect the future, but it will affect what you want to know about the Queen."
Yoh slowly took in that information, 'it will affect what I'll learn about Anna' he mentally noted.
"One more thing." –He asked-"you said that only the people that are important to the reason why I am here. Then how-"
"-were Misaka-san and Edward able to see you? Simple they are connected to Anna-okami, Edward more I believe, but I am not allowed to tell you how. And what ever happens between them is unknown. For some reason I cannot remember what happened…or will happen."
"Oh."
They kept walking in silence as they headed on to where ever this trip would take them.
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"So you bring guests and decide not to tell me?"
The shaman who had followed the cloaked ones were now standing at the gate of a massive temple-like mansion.
After starring at it in total awe they saw another figure emerge as the gates had been opened.
Now in front of them stood one more "cloaked one" but this one's cloak did not hide her entire being.
They could see the girl with the brown cloak quiet well, she was pixielike, not to mention thin in the extreme, her hair was a dark deep black which was cropped short (like Tamao's) pointing in every direction.
In her golden eyes you could see the playfulness she hid with her serious, but calm face.
Out of the entire shaman in front of her, the Tao, the Anui, the Asakuras, the small ones, the cloaked ones, the strange ones in uniform, she seemed to be starring at one particular shaman, one that carried on his back a lovely maiden.
He did not seem to notice her though, as he was looking at the ground, taking in deep breathes from the long walk.
Lyserg then looked up when he felt her steady gaze.
That gaze was held until it was broken in 5 seconds by a desperately loving Ryu.
He ran up the steps until he was on his knees holding her hands in his.
"Young lady, won't you be my best place?" he said whole heartedly.
The pixielike girl looked at him for a while, starring, then she smiled. Ryu's eyes lit as she showed her glowing smile.
"Gomen, but I really don't believe I can."
Ryu froze then, as if he were stone, he fell to the ground, his heart breaking into a million pieces as he did.
The pixie girl just smiled on. Then one of the cloaked figures cleared their throat.
"Arisu, you don't mind do you? It's a request from Heika."
The pixie-like girl called Arisu kept smiling on as she spoke to the boy. She made an okay sign with her fingers.
"No problem."
The two cloaked ones nodded then took their separate ways. Then all the teams turned to Arisu.
She turned to the shaman teams, her smile never fading. Then she turned around after saying a small "follow me."
The shaman did as told, each one following.
"I don't trust this girl," Ren stated in a murmur, walking with his arms crossed in front of him "She's way too happy. No one can be that happy without thinking of some great evil."
"But is being happy not a good thing?" Lyserg asks he face full of exhaustion and confusion.
Marco pushed his glasses up his nose, his face giving a serious glare at the black haired 'pixie' in front of them.
"Lyserg," –he began- "some people smile of happiness, others" –he looked towards Arisu then Hao- "smile because their happiness is caused by something evil from deep within them."
Horohoro let out a laugh "Ha! I just think Ren is pissed at the girl because her happiness reminds him of that orange-haired girl he has!"
Hao's ears tweaked when he heard that, then looked back at the Tao, a wide smirk across his face.
"Is that so? Well I'll be sure to give her that message." He said smugly.
Ren's face crimsoned, he clenched his teeth together and stiffened, full of rage.
"I most certainly do not!" he yelled out causing everyone to look at him.
Hao smiled, "She's not your type?" he asked innocently but at the same time manipulatively.
"Of course not!" -He blurted out, before he realized- "she is an annoying child! I prefer someone who does NOT constantly annoy me!"
"Ouch." –Hao mimicked- "That hurts. But…if that's how you feel…I'll be sure to tell her."
That's when the Tao realized what he said; he mentally cursed himself, to Hao's amusement.
Annaka rolled her eyes.
"Don't kill yourself Tao you're about as heartless as Usui here is a genius."
Horo gripped his hands into fists. "Don't start with some pointless shit."
Annaka's face was impeccably blank. "Perhaps, for someone like you, it would seem pointless seeing as it won't give you much fruitful results."
"I never liked Anna's tongue and your tongue is not much different." he said darkly.
She shrugged. "You can deal with it as you had before."
"Lyserg, please place me down." Jeanne told him.
Lyserg did as he was told, placing the maiden carefully on the ground.
"Ah Maiden-chan! Do you wish to have someone else to carry you?!" Ryu hopefully asked her, his eyes glowing from the thought.
She shook her head. "Not at all, Lyserg just seemed exhausted, so I decided to back down."
"Jeanne-sama."
The Maiden looked at him, blinking. Lyserg was gazing at her looking troubled.
"I'm not tired Jeanne-sama, I can carry you till we get there, really." He stated.
"On the contrary," Faust began as he took a look at Lyserg "You look completely debilitated." Eliza nodded in agreement.
"No I'm fine, honest."
"Lyserg," Marco began in a warning tone, "you will not carry the maiden in the condition you're in."
Lyserg gave in; he looked at the Maiden who gave him a soft smile.
"You sure are a lively bunch aren't you?"
They all looked at Arisu they'd completely forgotten she was there.
Manta scratched the back of his head. "Hehe, usually."
She looked at Manta, blinking, then she slowly walked over to him and squatted (yes squatted) down to his level.
Manta completely froze; he looked up at Annaka and Hao who seemed to be looking deep into the girl's thoughts.
Arisu carefully examined the short boy, looking deep in his eyes, then she smiled and stood up.
"Sorry about that." –She apologized- "I just have never seen someone so small at your age, I find it cute."
Manta looked at the floor, he turned red, Hao laughed.
The coal haired girl smiled then she looked over at Lyserg and Jeanne.
"You two sure are cute together, are you a couple?" she asked them.
Annaka looked at the girl, raising a brow in disruptive suspicion; this girl seemed utterly familiar to her.
Lyserg blushed, Jeanne blushed, and everyone else turned to look at them.
But Marco was the one to speak up, "Madam, no such thing is at work here, Lyserg is just Jeanne's most trusted ally, after myself."
'So that means in the end, nothing happened between the two…wandering spirits'
Annaka and Hao narrowed their eyes as the girl's thoughts slowly began to access their heads.
'In the end the same thing will end up happening.'
Through the girl's eyes they saw her looking at Jeanne then slowly her clothes became brown and her silver hair lightened with a soft gentle blue. Under her dress of brown with many designs was armor, then the image burned.
Annaka took a step back her eyes wide with terror one name came through her head as she saw the image of the girl burned. 'Joan.'
"Oh. That's too bad." Arisu told them, her voice hinting pleasure. 'For what comes ahead for you'
Jeanne's eyes narrowed at her, she noticed it but paid no attention. Lyserg just looked back and forth between the two.
"That is enough out of you, Arisu." A voice came from behind her.
Hao saw the smile on Arisu's face vanish, her body completely stiff. 'There went my moment of happiness.' he heard her 'say'.
A new figure emerged behind the coal haired pixie-like girl, this one contrasted from her completely.
This one wore a similar brown cloak but the rest of her separated their only alike as if they were the colors black and white.
Ryu examined every inch of the lady. The women looked around Kanna's age, she was very statuesque, and had a beautiful figure, she had wine-colored hair which gently waved down to the middle of her back.
Ryu felt his mouth drop in awe, Horohoro and Chocolove just stared beside him.
Arisu turned her head and smiled at the wine haired dame behind her.
"Wilhelmina!" she said (though she pronounced it Wiruherumiina.) "Have you come to greet our guest?" she was obviously pushing her voice to make it sound cheerful.
Ren clenched the Bâo-Lèi sword in his hands as the woman looked him and his friends over.
"No." she simply said "Heika wishes to know why you must torture the guest with your unusual questions and cheerfulness."
"Excuse me madam," Matamune said as he suddenly appeared by Hao's side. "I'd like to know exactly who your Heika is, if you would be so kind."
"It only takes a nice gesture to get what you want." Said a voice from afar.
They all looked past the opened doors in front of them; they hadn't realized they had walked down the halls of the big palace.
There, in the middle of the room before them, sat a hooded girl upon a golden throne.
Her aura seemed familiar to all of them, her scent and power reached them within seconds of her voice.
Luchist and Opacho stared along with the others, Luchist carefully narrowing his eyes as Arisu and Wilhelmina walk to each side of her each one beside of what he guessed to be the cloaked males they had met before.
Tamao, Amidamaru, and Manta looked at each other they were thinking the same thing.
Though she was hooded something inside of them pulled them towards the aura of one person.
'Anna?'
HALLELUJIA CHAPTER 4 IS DONE!!!
NOW ON TO THE OTHERS!!!!! REMEMBER THE NEXT CHAPTER MAY TAKE A WHILE BUT I'LL DO MY BEST TO HURRY FOR MY READERS!!!!!
DON'T FORGET TO READ AND THEN RATE AND COMMENT!!!!!!!!
Crystel Hidalgo/YohAnna4eva