complicatedmind21- here's ur prize for letting me know ur actually reading the arc!!!!!!!
[A/N: one thing before i start, when Annaka or Hao try to see through someone's head the words they say are in italics because she hears them through that person's thoughts, but they're describing what they see so thats why the rest is in regular font.]
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YohxAnna Side Story: Shut Your Eyes and Dream
For the moment everything was dark, black, and lifeless. In the center of night's cloak was the Shaman King who looked around him, confused and partly scared.
"What's going on?" He asked, seeing nothing around him, "Where is everyone?" he began to frantically look around, "Hao?! Ren?! Lyserg?! Manta?! Chocolove?! Ryu?! Faust!" he began calling out like crazy, "Horohoro?!" then a new name came to him, "Anna? Anna, where are you?! Anna!"
A loud chuckle was heard in the darkness, a woman's, Yoh was startled as the chuckle stopped and turned into speech, "Why are you searching so hard for her, Asakura Yoh?" the woman sounding voice asked, saying his name with a certain disgust.
Yoh blinked and answered, not knowing who he was answering to, "Because I have to find her."
"You worry too much, psh, you're just like 'him'."
"Him?"
"Tell me something, Asakura Yoh," the voice began, "would you do anything for that girl, even give up the throne and possibly…your life?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"You saw what she did, you saw her true power, you saw her true self, the image of the Queen, you saw it. So do you still love her?"
"Why-"
"If I told you she killed much more people than you've seen today, would you still love her? Would you?!"
"Who are you?!" he shouted now in rage, "Show yourself, right now!"
The darkness began fading slowly, very slowly. And a new scene was appearing, it was a small red bridge, snow surrounding it and still falling from the grey sky. A figure was beginning to form on the bridge, a woman wearing a thin light pink hakama the long waist skirt that went over it was red. She had long waist-length pink hair that matched the color of her deep eyes, she smirked when her figure was now a clear and a perfect view and she took in his expression.
Yoh's eyes widened, then he became confused, "T-Tamao?" he asked, could it really be Tamao? When he last checked Tamao didn't have long hair, and those eyes…they seemed both deadly and hungry.
The Tamao-like figure smiled, then she raised her hand, touching her thumb and middle finger together. For a second Yoh saw what seemed to be a ring of burnt skin around both her wrists, the woman smiled once more before her expression became on of anger, "Let me tell you one think, Asakura Yoh," she said in deadly voice, "I am both you and your brother's worst nightmare. And you…will be the end of all the Kings and will surely end the life of your Queen." She snapped her fingers and Yoh quickly saw and felt fire come around him, burning him to ashes…
Yoh jerked his eyes open, his breaths coming to him a bit too fast to be considered normal breathing, sweat was dripping down his face and the rest of his body, he felt something beside him move and he turned his head just in time to see Anna rise from beside him.
She was naked, the lower half of her body being covered by the blanket that they both shared, but her upper half was bare, with only invisible air to cover it, "Yoh?" she asked in a sleepy manner, "Nani?"
The Shaman King felt his cheeks suddenly become hot, his ears burning as if they were on fire. To distract himself he slowly began wiping the sweat off of his forehead, "Nothing Anna," he responded in a whisper, "I…I just had a bad dream…"
Anna raised a brow, now pulling the covers over her upper half, "What are you, Yoh, a child?" she protested.
Yoh smiled and got closer to her, his body coming slightly on top of hers as he leaned in on top, he could feel her chest against his through the covers and he pulled the covers off of her, their chests now in full contact with each other. "Maybe I still am I child," he admitted, his head falling from her shoulder to her chest, laying his head on her bosom, "and a child need to hear a heartbeat to fall asleep."
She sighed and closed her eyes slowly, while Yoh began to relax with her smooth heartbeat at his ear, they stayed like that for what seemed like hours to them but to the time of life it was only five minutes. The Shaman King opened one eyes, his breathing synchronizing with Anna's beat, then he began to think and spoke aloud. "Anna…would you…like us to get married?"
Her eyes flew open, "Nani?" she asked, she looked at his face and saw the extreme seriousness that reflected in his eyes, she sighed and thought about it, marriage…
She opened her eyes, her thoughts rummaging on and on about the question Yoh had asked her. Did she want to get married? She opened her mouth, "Yoh, technically we are already married-"
"Being Shaman King and Queen doesn't count Anna," Yoh interrupted her, "Physically, you are mine, emotionally, you are mine, but…legally, you are not…"
Anna slowly turned her view to the ceiling, "I've thought about it…and yes, I've been wanting that for a while, but…"
"Then it's settled!" Yoh piped up happily, his eyes filled with joy, "As soon as we leave the Great Spirit then you and I can get married!"
The Queen rolled her eyes, his excitement was that of a small child waiting to go to his first trip to an amusement park, he acted like a child receiving the best present for his birthday, and it actually flattered her, "…baka…" she muttered to herself.
He chuckled and made himself more comfortable on her chest, "I'm your baka," he muttered softly, but loud enough for her to hear. She smiled and relaxed a bit more, but then a thought went through her head and she looked away.
"At least…you're my baka until Tamao decides to take you…"
Yoh jerked his head up off her chest and his eyes grew from what he had just heard, "Anna…" he said in a grave tone.
She shrugged, ignoring her husband's tone; he leaned closer to her and looked right into her eyes, "Don't ever say that again, Anna," he begged, "you know more than I that that won't ever happen."
She smirked, "I just wanted to hear you say that, make sure we were on the same level about that."
Yoh sighed and threw himself back on his side of the futon, why did she have to bring that up? But now that she mentioned it, that dream was coming back into his head, he turned around to face Anna but only saw her bare back, he scooted close to her and wrapped his arms around her, his chest touching her back. Anna winced at the sudden touch between the two and looked back at him, he smiled and placed his chin on her shoulder, "I remembered my bad dream," he whispered sheepishly.
Anna raised a brow and turned her whole body to face him, both of their chests now touching each other, she raised her head a bit off the pillow and brought her lips to his, she was about to pull away after about five seconds until she felt Yoh place his hand on the back of her head and pushed her lips onto his again. Soon enough Yoh grabbed her by the waist and pulled her on top of him, kissing her fiercely.
He finally pulled away and held her tightly, "Now I'll have sweet dreams," he said, a huge grin plastered across his face. Anna just rolled her eyes and then slowly closed them.
"Then shut your eyes and dream," she ordered as she drifted to sleep in his arms once more.
"Hai, Anna."
----
The shaman King opened his eyes for the second time, this time he saw that the room was lit with the sun's rays. He stood up and stretched, making his way towards the bathroom. Once he entered he began to think as he entered the shower. The dream he had last night was strange, very, very strange. Never once in his life had he ever seen such an expression on Tamao's face, the one he saw in his dream was deadly, vicious, the face of some kind of demon.
And what she had said had puzzled Yoh, and it also frightened him, because that Tamao looked like she could eat your soul. Yoh shook his head as the cold water of the shower fell on his head and woke him out of his day slumber. After his shower was over he got out and placed a new yukata on his body, then he went back to the bedroom.
Just as he came out of the bathroom, Anna stirred.
"Yoh..." She murmured as she looked over at her husband sleepily. "You're done?" She yawned.
He nodded, smiling. "Hai." He went over to her and gently bent down to give her a kiss. "Want me to help you with your shower?" He murmured as he stroked her cheek.
Anna shook her head, then yawned again. "You've had enough," She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and turned her head to receive his kiss. He hesitated for a moment but then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
This always happened. It was a weird, indescribable experience, their kisses, but he wouldn't give it up for the world, boy was he weak.
He had only intended on giving her one short, one of those kisses that were like the wind. But as soon as their lips closed all the space between them...he had given in to his greatest weakness...her.
As for her...how was it that she had been taught not to be weak? Yet here she was, actually being weak under his touch?
But she didn't give a damn. No one watched, and if Yoh ever said anything about this side of their lives then she wouldn't hestitate to torture him, but as I said before, she really didn't care right now. At any moment Yoh could chose to leave her, so she might as well enjoy every dang minute.
Yoh reluctantly broke the kiss. He looked over at his wife's face, loving every second that he looked in her face. "I'd better go. Cadm might be hungry at that hospital…"
At those words that reminded her of the events that happened yesterday, the Queen's face was no longer tired but it turned aware then it turned to stone. "Then you better go," she ordered as she instantly stood up and headed to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
Yoh sighed as he got up and walked over to the door, opening it and seeing Ohachiyo standing there with an impatient look on his face. "About time. What took you so long?" He asked, throwing Yoh a suspicious look.
Yoh grinned at his friend. "I was asking Anna's permission." He gave a cheerful shrug. "It took longer than I expected." Actually, it was the kiss that took longer than he expected...not that he was complaining...
The demon just rolled his eyes as he turned around and began to walk away from Yoh. "I'm sure it did." He said dryly, rolling his eyes in utter disturbance, "Well, let's go, then."
"Hai." Yoh nodded and followed his friend out of the main wing to the staircase. He had just suddenly remembered that they were no longer in Machiosore, but in Kyouto, they were no longer in Cadm's house, but in a hotel. And yesterday he had seen his seven year old self with Anna's, and before yesterday he never once remembered something like that happening. Until now he had NEVER even seen Anna-chan's young face, no younger than 10 years at least.
"Ohachiyo…why can't I remember…ever meeting Anna-chan as a kid?" he forced himself to ask, "I can understand Anna not remembering, she did hit her head…"
"I can't tell you right now but there has been a time where something like that happened 500 years ago…" the demon answered, "the queen at that time had lost herself in rage and one of the Patch members stopped her before she could do anymore harm."
Yoh gulped, "What did he do?" he dared to ask.
Ohachiyo stopped for a moment, "The Patch used an ancient sword, the 'Ryumon Sword Golden Sakura Folded Katana' I believe it was called. Anyway that sword had some sort of special shamanic powers, the ability to control your thoughts so that a person may think what you want them to. So in other words if the person wants you to cool your head then you cool your head. But there was a price in using its shamanic ability…you'd have to give your life."
Yoh froze, "So if someone were to use this sword on Anna-chan……Ohachiyo, who has that sword right now?"
"Cadm does, why?"
Yoh's eyes widened, and he then exploded out into a run, with Ohachiyo trailing behind. 'Cadm has the Ryumon Sword Golden Sakura Folded Katana, in my time he is not alive, and the city of Machiosore has never existed, meaning…Cadm…'
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"Cadm!" Yoh yelled as he entered the room assigned to Anna-chan at the Kyouto hospital. There Cadm sat on a chair beside Anna-chan's bed, where she laid pale, and still unconscious.
"Yoh-sama you're in a hospital, be silent." Cadm asked of him, he stood up and walked over to the shaman king, "Is there a problem?" he asked.
"The…golden…folded…Ryumon…sword…" Yoh said through harsh pants, he never wanted to run that fast ever again.
Cadm raised a brow, "You know about that?" he asked, handing Yoh a bottle of water. Yoh nodded and Cadm sighed. "I'm not planning to use it unless necessary. Only if she were to become out of control and if I cant do anything to help her…than I shall give my life to her."
"You shouldn't have to do that though, sacrifices…are never right…" Yoh whispered silently.
Cadm placed a hand on his shoulder, "Wouldn't you sacrifice yourself for her?"
"…hai…"
"Then don't tell me about sacrifices, cause the Patch tribe probably sacrifices more than anyone."
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Shaman King 300: Disaster of 500 years
Chapter 16: Hoshi no Kissu II
Normal P.O.V
Joan D'Arc slowly tapped her fingers on the counter one by one, she sat on a high stool, her back straight, and her legs perfectly crossed in a very lady-like form. Marcel sat beside her on a stool, his tiny hands polishing a huge wall gun that had obviously been painted white. Arrison was running up and down, serving to the guest at the Patch Café, she finished one of her table and walked over to the counter, placing the dirty dishes on top of it.
"Where could those two have gone off two?" Joan asked in a soft tone, looking rather bored, "It's extremely late…"
"If they ran away from you Joan-sama, I shall give them justice," Marcel said as he pointed his gun forward and pretended to aim. Joan placed her hand on the gun and lowered it.
"Such evil words, Marcel, are to be punished for just speaking them." Marcel raised his head and looked up as Joan continued, "'Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.' That seems pretty wide open to interpretation on it's own, as it's literal meaning implies that one may only speak if teaching, or ministering to some other listener. Now tell me Marcel are you teaching or ministering?"
The blonde haired boy lowered his head, "No Joan-sama, please forgive this Marcel…"
Joan D'Arc smiled, "Thou have been forgiven."
"You forgive too easily Joan," a voice said from behind. Behind them was a man with spiky pitch black hair, this man wore a Patch uniform and on his left shoulder was the spirit of a howler monkey.
Joan smiled, "Acts 3:19; 'Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.' I intend to also forgive those who cause trouble, but if they do not repent themselves…then justice shall be given onto them."
Marcel stood and held his gun up to the spiky haired man's neck, "In other words," the little boy spoke, "if anyone does anything to Joan-sama and does not beg, then they'll die right on the spot from being shot by me."
Arrison placed both her elbows on the counter, her eyes were on the spiky haired man, "Did most of your shaman pass your exam, Raiden?" she asked as she got another plate of food to take to yet another customer.
The Patch that Arrison called Raiden smiled, "They were tough but most of them were not Shaman King material. Only a handful got an oracle bell from me, on the other hand, I heard that all of Hao's followers made it, though no one knows who his followers are."
"Well you have been chosen for being the Patch commentator of the tournament, so you might be the first to find out, Raiden."
"And where are you going so late at night, Nagehiko?" Raiden asked, seeing the long haired Patch heading out the door, "Out to scout for Asakura Hao again?"
Nagehiko closed his eyes and smirked as he grabbed an orange from a nearby basket and began to peel it, "Nope. Tonight I'm scouting for pixie-like priestesses," he joked, taking a bite of the orange then wiping the juice off his neck.
Raiden sighed and swept his hand through his spiky hair, "Arisu-chan left again, huh?' he mused, then his expression turned serious, "You've been around that girl for quite some time, Nagehiko. Is there any particular reason?"
Nagehiko's face didn't falter, his lips just curved upward into a coy smirk, "Someone has to act like an older brother for her," he said coolly, his blue eyes shifting to where Arrison stood. The small kid glared at him, her hand reaching for an empty plate to throw at his head.
Joan sighed and rubbed her temples. Raiden frowned, "You're so harsh on Arrison-chan, Nagehiko. Of course she can't be an older brother she's a girl!" There was a pause that filled the café, although the customers were as loud as ever, between the four Patch members there was silence. Arrison lowered her head and grabbed the empty plate beside her and threw it at Nagehiko. The plate shattered against Nagehiko's chest but it didn't scratch him the least bit.
Now the whole café was silent, all the shaman customers were now staring at the Patch, there eyes wide and extremely curious. Joan got off her stool and gave the shamans a smile that stunned them all, "I'm sorry but we shall be closing now so if you may, please be at peace and head out."
Without remarking or opposing the idea, all the shaman contestants who had been eating at the café stood and began leaving, all seeming to be in some sort of a daze as they left. The silver haired Patch then turned to look at the other Patch members that were working. At the café was most of the male Patch officials each one having the same tan skin, pitch black hair, and clear blue eyes, this contrast in appearance used to make the priestess feel rather uncomfortable, for she had a soft pale color skin, crimson eyes, and silver hair, but now with her years, she had become used to it.
Her eyes darted over to Marcel's cautious look, his hands ready to use his gun at any time. Raiden was just looking back and forth between Arrison's look of rage, and Nagehiko's uncaring look. Joan opened her mouth to say something until Arrison interrupted her, "Don't say a word," she ordered the silver haired Patch, then she looked at Nagehiko who was now brushing off pieces of glass with his hand, "Just go and bring Arisu," she said before she turned around and went to pick up the unfinished plates of food that the customers were leaving behind.
Nagehiko began walking out the door, before Joan stopped him, her hand grabbing his shoulder, "Thou have been acting quire, Nagehiko. Is she Arisu?" she whispered questionably. Not many would have known of what the priestess was asking by that last sentence but Nagehiko knew well what she was asking. And all he did was chuckle softly.
"No, not her," was all he said before he went out and disappeared under the dead of night.
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Annaka's P.O.V.
My room was dark and I really felt at ease in the dark, twilight was approaching and I was planning on spending it in this room. To my left Ultimo was lying down on the floor, his back turned to me, his fingers tracing imaginary patterns on the wall, after a while he decided to speak, "Joou-sama, I doubt Joan-chan will be pleased by this…"
I sighed, I knew he was right, Nee-san was going to find a way to restraint me and she was going to kill Ultimo. "Nee-san is never pleased by anything, Ultimo. She's a stubborn woman."
"Joou-sama…"
I laid on the futon that they had placed in the center of the room, Arisu must've seen me spending the night. That girl…she didn't seem like a bad person…so why? "Ultimo, why does Nee-san hate Asakura Hao?" I asked.
Ultimo sat up, resting his head on his knees as he pulled his body close to him with his arms. "She just came back to church one day saying that she had a vision from Kami-sama. Later she began saying that she found the greatest evil, and that that evil was Asakura Hao. But he must be evil, I mean, he wants to annihilate all humans, no sane person can ask for that, right?"
I stayed silent thinking this through. What would cause such a man to want to kill beings that were similar to him? The only difference being their ability to see spirits? Were humans that evil? When I was younger I saw in Nee-san's mind that one of our officials got killed by humans, they called him a demon for talking to spirits one night, they killed him right on the spot, no hesitation. "Hmm, I wonder…"
Ultimo gave me a quire look, "Joou-sama, you know I can't read minds." I rolled my eyes at that. "But I wonder also," he added, "why are they keeping us here?"
"Hormones," I replied without thinking.
Ultimo fell back at my response, obviously he wasn't expecting that answer, "What?!" he yelled in shock, his eyes huge.
"Asakura Hao is attracted to me," I simply said, "but that's normal, men think with their-"
"-Joou-sama!"
I stopped, talking to Ultimo was like talking to a child, you couldn't say any words that sounded repulsive or anything that had to do with sex, or body parts. "You're such a child," I muttered, he frowned and I ignored it, "anyway, I wonder why…?"
"Why what?"
I forget that other people cant do as I do and read minds, "Why is he attracted to me?" I wasn't stupid or clueless, but I could never understand men, I've lived with no men in my life except for Big Chief and Ultimo, what was it in women that men got attracted to?
Ultimo made a strange face as he pondered that question, "Joou-sama…" he began slowly, "have you ever seen yourself?" I raised a brow, "I mean like really looked at yourself in a mirror."
"What the hell kind of a question is that?" I snapped. "Of course I've seen myself, but that never answers anything, I hate what I see! Nee-san completely ruined me with these hell fire eyes! If Asakura Hao has a harem with his female followers well then he can just drop me off at the next cemetery, because over my dead body shall I be displayed as some kind of living man-toy!" That was it, all I said, I hated this body made by the Great Spirit, every Shaman Queen has looked like this before me, but never once have they had my eyes…the eyes that caused me sickly shame. Ultimo sighed and just stayed quiet the rest of the time. Silence came into the room once more and I was hoping it would stay, until a female voice scared it away.
"Why the hell is that blonde here?!" a female voice hissed harshly from the other side of the paper thin wall.
"Hao-Nii-san brought her here," a high pitched voice answered her, I recognized the voice, Arisu.
"Why?!" the same female from before answered.
I hated when I knew not who was speaking so I entered the one head that I had entered before, Arisu. From her point of view I saw the pink haired female she was glaring at her, and she wanted to kill Asakura.
'Scary~~' Arisu shuddered in her head, yet she was able to keep her cheerful and carefree exterior. "She was being stalked by rapists, the same ones that murdered Savana."
"Savana had it coming," the pink haired snapped to herself aloud, "she was weak almost as if she was a human."
"Those rapists sound more like humans to me," another voice broke in. A door slid open to Arisu's left and there was the red headed Chinese female from before, her green eyes showed rage, but, unlike the pink haired, it was not towards Asakura Hao but towards the perverts. "All men ought to be killed for their damn lustful thoughts, they all think with their parts belonging to men."
"Not every man in the world is that evil," a male voice broke in, a soft yet strong and deep male voice that spoke polite but slower than most people, but not by much. It was when I first noticed that the unruly blonde male, also from before, sitting right beside of the pixie Patch.
The Chinese redhead turned to face the blonde, her curls bouncing as she did, her green eyes blaring hole with their glare, "But these men are evil," she countered. "Hao-sama had the chance to get rid of them and he left them alone, not caring of all his female followers that were being raped and murdered by them."
It was Arisu's voice that spoke next. "We don't kill just because we can. We don't have any right to take the law into our own hands. If Hao-Nii-san chose not to go after them then he has a reason, right?"
"I'm well aware of that, Ari," the pink haired one snapped, "but I would like to know why Hao just left those men alone. He could have at least taught them a lesson before, and he chooses to go after them to save that girl."
"You don't like her," the blonde male stated, his face showing his amusement of the situation.
The pink haired rolled her eyes, her face showing her answer. "She's in my way," she growled, "I don't care what happens to her."
"But I do," said that familiar voice which I have begun to loathe with a passion, I felt my eyes narrow themselves at Asakura Hao as he slid the door open and entered, his face containing the smile that I wanted to slap right off his face. "I find her very interesting, and I want to keep her. So when Ari showed those men going after her, what was I supposed to do?"
I want to keep her? What the hell does that man think I am?
The pink haired female's eyes went wide. "Fix it! You could have easily knocked some sense into those men long ago, killing them, and yet you left them alone until that girl was about to be raped by them?!?" she looked like she would eat anyone alive, and I believed she would.
Asakura closed his eyes and smirked, "What do you want to do about it?"
The redhead tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Help me teach them a lesson."
"……" Asakura stayed silent, finding amusement in the redhead's words.
"What? You don't think I can do it?" she snapped.
"No, I'm just wondering why you're so adamant that these men are taken care of."
She thrust her chin in the air. "Look at us for once, Hao-sama. Really look at us." She said, her hands pointing to the herself, Arisu, and the pink haired, "Every day we deal with men looking at us…thinking of us in that way."
"You enjoy it," Arisu stated.
"I enjoy my beauty, and I may use it to my advantage, but that doesn't mean I give every men permission to have lustful thoughts about me. It doesn't take mind reading skills to know when a human man is aroused. More than that, these particular kinds of men enjoy it when the woman is afraid. It's about domination for them and I would gladly teach these rapists a lesson."
"How would you handle them?" the blonde asked in his master's place.
"I think the best way to get revenge on them is to give them exactly what they want. Let them dominate me for a moment." Her voice was like silk. She smiled up at the pink haired – a twisted and dark smile. "Then I'll show them just how strong a woman can be."
Asakura Hao chuckled, "No need for that," he finally announced. I was wondering when the idiot was going to announce that the perverts were dead.
All three heads, minus Arisu's, jolted and turned to face their master, "What?!" the pink haired hissed, in exclamation.
Asakura turned his back on them, "Tao Rem got to them before I did, so no need to get revenge that was already taken."
"So you really did nothing," the pink haired added, her eyes filled with anger as she crossed her arms in front of her, "did you even think of killing those men, Hao?"
The blonde male stood up and began to dust himself off, "Does it matter? The men are dead, and Hao-sama is interested in the blonde, so leave it." With that said, he left the room, leaving the door open for any others who were about to leave.
The red head lowered her formally crossed arms and left, her face seeming a bit calmer than before. That just left Asakura, Arisu, and the pink haired, who was glaring bullets at Asakura, she dropped her arms and walked past Asakura, stopping a little ahead of him, "She's an eye sore to me, Hao, you better watch over her good," then she left.
I left the mind of the girl and looked over at Ultimo, he too had heard the whole thing, and he let out a long sigh, 'You really think he won't kill us?' he asked me in his head, worry filling all of the thoughts that came into him.
I turned to the wall and sighed, beginning to speak in a tone that only he would've heard me in, "I've heard it said, that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn, and that we are led to those who help us most to grow, if we let them and help them in return." He stayed silent waiting for me to add my opinion, "Well I don't know if I believe that's true, but Arisu was expecting us so there has to be some reason we are here."
'And what's the reason?' he asked.
I shrugged, and let him in silence to find his own theory of it.
When I got tired of all the questions in his head I stood and walked over to the door, I was planning on staying in the room all night but I needed some fresh air and I needed it badly. I placed my hand to door, until it slid open on its own; I blinked and saw Arisu grinning at me with her blue eyes twinkling with the moons reflection. This girl truly was a pixie, "What do you want?" I snapped, I was a little outraged and felt kidnapped at the moment, I could try running away, the only problem with that was that I didn't have any clue how to get back to the café. Dang karma, it's my island, the one I oversouled with my own furyoku and I didn't know a part of it. Damn it!
The girl just kept smiling, the smile not even faltering to the slightest movement, but when her blue eyes gazed over to Ultimo I saw her flinch. I understood why though, this girl was the one that saw that vision of Ultimo, the one where they were griping his wires, tearing out his circuits. I shook my head no way did I want to remind myself of that horrible picture.
"Nee-san," the small girl said, I raised a brow and looked down at her, noticing for the first time that the top of her head reached my eyes. Ultimo was right, her height made her and her twin seem much older.
"It's Annaka," I said coolly. I didn't want anyone calling me Nee-san, as far as I knew I didn't have any younger siblings, my only family is Nee-san, Okaa-san died after giving birth to me and the only father that the Shaman Queens have is Kami-sama. A Virgin Mary, that's what Nee-san had called our mother.
Arisu blinked and repeated the name over and over again in her head, then she smiled, "It's cute," she commented, then she grabbed my arm, "Annaka-nee-chan, we wish for you to come with us to eat!" she looked at Ultimo, "And your brother too!" I felt a drop of sweat on my forehead, Annaka-nee-chan? My brother? This girl… "Onegai~~" she said in a singsong voice.
I look over at Ultimo who was pretending to be asleep, Arisu followed my gaze, "Oh!" she said in realization, then she skipped over to him and began shaking him like crazy, "Oi, Nii-san!! Wake up!"
Ultimo jerked his eyes open, revealing his green, red pupiled eyes. The idiot couldn't pretend to be a heavy sleeper even if he tried, his gaze moved and met up with Arisu's eyes then he jumped and scooted away, "Kya!" he shouted, pointing at her in fear, "Y-you, you're one of Hao's followers!"
I rolled my eyes, but I just saw Arisu smiled, "Yes, I am!" she answered both happily and proudly, she blinked and before I could even protest she grabbed Ultimo by the arm and dragged him to the door, I saw her looking at him from head to toe before her eyes got really wide, "Wow~~ you're…you're really cute!"
…you're kidding me…
And the only thing that stupid robot did was blush…like the idiot he is. "Aho," I whispered under my breath. As the girl lifted Ultimo to his feet there was a rustle in the bushes and I heard laughter, unfamiliar laughter but the voice in my head was familiar.
"Ari-chan," the voice spoke up, "I really don't think Hao-sama would appreciate you torturing our guest," the voice laughed. I felt sick at the pit of my stomach, I didn't even want to turn around, I knew those thoughts. Those thoughts that were a strong memory in Nee-san's head, those thoughts that were filled with kindness and love for Nee-san, those thoughts…that belonged to Lysander Diethyl…
I lifted my head either way, and I saw his face for the second time in my life, no not the second, Nee-san's thoughts have always been filled with his face, she loved this man, but she'll never admit it, always saying that God is the only thing she'll ever love. Upon closer observation of the Lysander Diethyl's face, it looked like...he was male. A young English man, with bright green eyes and soft facial features, to be exact. If it wasn't for his voice, his stature, and the fact that he didn't possess anything resembling a swelling chest to speak of, a person who is not very observant would probably mistake him for a girl. But if you have keen eyes, by looking at him, you would say that he is, really, a young man.
His gaze got to my eyes, then his eyes widened, 'Those eyes…they remind me…of Joan…' as I thought…he likes Nee-san. His face recovered and he gave me a smile, Nee-san definitely chose the girlish looking ones, "Hello," he said, his smile not leaving his face, "my name is Lysander Diethyl, you must be tonight's guests, it's nice to meet you!"
I frowned, you really can't find any reason to hate this guy so easily, I should have known, Nee-san chooses them too well. "Arigatou," I replied, bowing. Until I found a reason to, I wasn't going to hate him…yet.
"Lysander-kun!~~~" Lysander looked down to see Arisu clinging to him in a tight hug, "Where have you been?! I had no one to play with!" she exclaimed. 'You were out looking at Maiden Joan again, weren't you…?'
Lysander looked down at the pixie girl that hung from him, "Gomen Ari-chan," he hesitantly said, "But Morphine wanted to see an old friend, that's all!"
The small girl narrowed her eyes, as she looked on the British boy's shoulder at the pink fairy that sat there, 'Liar…' she smiled, "Well if that's all then it's fine!" she turned to me, "Annaka-nee-san," she said, taking my arm, "we should go with the others now!" she began pulling me until, Lysander's hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Ari-chan I think they'll be more calm if I take them, your energy is scaring the kid over there," he said with laughter his finger pointing beside me, at Ultimo, who stared at the two shamans in front of us, knowing that this was wrong.
These two…they shouldn't be Hao's followers…
Arisu looked at Lysander before giving a smile and running off, I sighed, the only reason she left was because she was terrified of Ultimo…
I looked at my brother-like figure that sat on the floor beside me, he was confused, confused and really didn't want to know what was going on. Lysander Diethyl looked at both of us a smiled, "This way please…"
Ultimo got up and followed me as I walked behind Lysander Diethyl, we walk in silence for a long while, besides Ultimo's constant worry, 'Joou-sama, how are we going to tell Joan-chan? Lysander Diethyl is working for Asakura Hao! Ahh we're at Asakura Hao's property, Joou-sama what are we going to do?!'
I shot him a look that shut him up, I had an itch in my hand that wanted to slap him, I was about to until I heard Lysander Diethyl speak up, "Ano…could I tell you something…?" he began to speak slowly…and very shyly.
"Nani?"
"Your eyes…their color…reminds me of someone…someone whom I love…" I raised a brow, why would he say that to me? Why was he being honest? He looked back at me and blushed, "Gomen!" he instantly apologized, "It's just…I've been really worried of her for a while now and well I…"
'Dang, if Marcel heard him he would pull out his gun and aim it at his head…' Ultimo commented behind me.
I rolled my eyes, "If you love her as much as you say, then why are you siding with Asakura Hao?" I saw him lower his head and give a nervous chuckle, I smirked, "My guess is that, unless that girl you love is also a follower of Hao then, the girl wouldn't approve much of your leader."
He raised his head as I finished and his voice sounded a bit sad and lost, "Hao-sama really saved me, Annaka-san," he began, looking at the sky that was just now reaching twilight, covering the sky in its amazing blue and black, "I lived with my parents before anything, I had a little sister named Diethylamide, my former surname was Ergoline, Lysander Ergoline, my sister was Diethylamide Ergoline. My father was a detective and my mother a doctor. Everyone in our town hated us because our family was so successful, they thought that maybe we were stealing our clients' money. They were mostly all jealous of our family's prize crystal, which was our family heirloom. One day the town had enough of us and they decided to attack us. They walked through town with torches and swords, they barged in our house and began to fight. My father told my mother to take us away while he fought off the mob, instead, my mother forced us to go to the second story to wait while she helped our father. We stayed up there, hoping that our parents would be alright, but we heard two gun shots and then we began to feel an increase in temperature. The mob set our house on fire, and Diethylamide and I were stuck on the second floor. We decided to jump out the window, I was making my way out the window when Diethylamide remembered the Ergoline crystal, she ran back after I told her to leave it, but as soon as she left the room there was an explosion that caused me to fall out the window and black out."
I stayed silent as he trailed on, allowing to see the images inside his head, while Ultimo just pictured them as he said them.
"I was sure I was dead when I heard the mob coming closer to my unmoving body, I had hurt myself pretty bad when I fell, I couldn't move and I was sure I was about to die. But as I finally saw the faces of the men in the mob, I heard screams, ear-piercing, glass-breaking shrieks. I saw fire surround them, turning them all to ashes before my eyes, after they all became black dirt I saw a figure standing in the middle of all the ashes. I had never seen him before but his long brown hair and fiery brown eyes caused his face to be imprinted in my head. He looked at me and said, 'Humans will never understand us, we are much too different from them, we are much better, but they'll never accept it.' He turned his gaze away from me and walked over to a pile of ash, dusting it away with his hand, then a shiny object was in his hand and he walked to me, placing the object in my pocket. 'Your sister wants you to keep that, so be sure not to lose it,' he told me. I didn't understand at the time what he meant by that, but I didn't have time to think about it either way, because I blacked out once more."
I didn't have to hear anymore because I knew what would come next. I've seen the story plenty of times in Nee-san's head as she remembered it every once in a while.
"When I woke up I was inside a church and I saw her, she was able to heal me and she left me a present before she left me asleep and left me. When I woke up I changed my surname to Diethyl in honor of my little sister, and I went out in search for the boy that saved me and the girl that cured me. The present the girl left me was this poppy spirit," he added, pointing to the pink fairy sitting on his shoulders, "I named her Morphine because she practically numbed my loneliness with her friendship, she accompanied me in my search for Hao-sama. Also…she reminds me of my little sister, because Diethylamide also loved to dance over the grass from dusk to dawn…"
I eyed the fairy he called "Morphine", her whole appearance was pink, different shades of it but still it was pink. She appeared small and charming, and I could sense her high sense of sight, hearing, and smell. She was none other than a tracking spirit.
"Um…excuse-moi…could you tell us more about your little sister?" Ultimo asked from behind me. I smirked; I knew where he was going with this.
Lysander Diethyl paused for a moment before he continued to walk again, keeping up with his story as he did. "Diethylamide was only six years old, she was very shy but charming to other people, but when it came to me she was extremely over protective, and she was always concerned with my revenge on those who picked on our family. She loved to dance outside of the house, and she loved to see the way father would track people down, she said that she wished to track as great as him. She was a good kid so I'm guessing that when she died she instantly went to the Great Spirit…"
I saw Ultimo shift his gaze in my direction, he knew as well as I did what truly happened. I opened my mouth and spoke, "You don't seem like someone who would serve Asakura Hao, I heard that all his followers were heartless and non-hesitant to kill."
Lysander Diethyl turned his head back and smiled, "Only when Hao-sama gives the order," he turned his back so that it faced forward, "I'm the newest of Hao-sama's followers so I'm the weakest and I'm more likely to hesitate, even Ari-chan has more guts than me." He laughed and kept walking before adding one more thing, "Though you might not want to seem interested in Hao-sama…"
I raised a brow, "Trust me, I won't. But either way, why the warning?"
The honest idiot kept quiet. So I just dug into his head. 'I really shouldn't have said that…but I want to give her a heads up on-well first we'll have to see if she stays…' I sighed. His head was much too disturbed by other things.
We walked the rest of the way in silence, the place was big if I do say so myself, if most of Asakura's followers were dead then why the hell would the idiot need such a large residence?
Just as I was asking this we stopped in front of a door, where Lysander Diethyl knocked softly on it. The door slid open and there was the blonde male I had seen twice now in his native American pants. But now with such small distance between us I could see him better than before. The blonde male looked at Ultimo and I and gave a small nod, "Nice to meet you," he said in a slow but polite way. Lysander Diethyl gave him a nudge, and he blinked, "Oh," he added slowly, "I'm Emmetto Leiko, age 14…"
I felt myself raise a brow, this male of an idiot was 14? He looked older than I, physically and mentally, he was tall and lean, with a few scars on his upper body, faint but almost noticeable scars. He looked at me with a lazy expression, but yet his face did look mature, his eyes looked as if they were analyzing my every move, sensing, hearing, seeing everything I did. And despite that lazy but mature look on his face, his scars just screamed dangerous. And his spirit seemed just as dangerous as him, an enormous grey wolf with matching grey eyes that on his four paws was already taller than I.
"Emmetto-kun was Hao-sama's third follower," Lysander informed with a smile, then his eyes moved to gaze at the door across from Emmetto Leiko's room, "and Mina-san was his fourth." He added as he passed us and knocked on the door.
The redhead he called Mina didn't bow or nod when she saw us after sliding open her door, she just gave me a stern look and said, "Ming Wilhelmina, age 19." The way this stubborn girl said her age made her seem as if she was trying to tell me she was her superior, like hell if I would even think of thinking that way. Her green eyes shifted to Ultimo, who began to hide behind me, she raised a brow and then turned her attention to Lysander, "Bon fire?" she stated in a question that was not meant to be answered.
"Right," was all that Lysander Diethyl said in his kind but curt way. Ming Wilhelmina closed the door behind her and she stole one more look at Ultimo, her brows casually rising as he got a better view. 'Cute' she curtly stated as if giving him a rank in her head.
Ultimo scooted closer to me, obviously the stories Nee-san told him of Asakura Hao's followers frightened him dearly, and he wasn't taking any chances. 'They're probably going to rip me apart Joou-sama! I saw it Asakura Hao knows I'm not normal!'
I knew that Arisu knew Ultimo wasn't normal, Asakura also knew, the man can't block out the thoughts of others like I can, he has to put up with hearing the thoughts of everyone around him, something I could never do. But I wasn't going to tell Ultimo that I knew of this, the chicken would cluck back to Nee-san. I simply just pretended as if I did not hear his worries, I looked over to the three followers, "Don't waste my time," I ordered, "Take me to Asakura Hao."
A few brows raised themselves, and a pair of eyes narrowed, but hell, I wasn't about to be bossed by any of these lesser shamans.
"Such anger comes from this one…"
Three bodies froze in place, slowly and hesitantly they turned their heads to view the owner of the voice, I did the same. And there I felt my eyes grow…
It seemed as if I was staring into a mirror and looking at another version of my face, a version that consisted of short brown, silky hair and blank eyes that saw nothing…
I blinked and remembered seeing the orange clothing from before, she looks like you…and my mother, he said…so this was the girl he had been talking to before. Her blank eyes looked past me, for they could not see anything, then she lowered her head, "Wilhelmina," she called.
"Uh, shi-dei?" Ming Wilhelmina answered back.
The brown haired girl raised her head, "Let me see for a bit," she ordered in a stern voice. I raised a brow and I stared into her eyes, I saw as they slowly regained color and sense, and I saw a pair of chocolate brown orbs appear in the place of the blank sheets of white. Those eyes looked towards me and stared into mine, they looked from my eyes to my feet and back up. "Hmm, it's true," she said before the chocolate orbs disappeared into a sheet of white once more, she turned her back towards me, "These idiots are too busy chatting so I'll take you instead," she blankly said.
Leiko Emmetto turned to look at her, "Annai-sama~"
The brunette called Annai turned around, "No excuses, besides I wish to have a word with them." She her back to me once more before walking forward. My gaze turned to Ultimo whose wide eyes looked confused but yet it was him that took my hand and pulled me to the woods behind the brunette.
"Your friend is very strange," she spoke right after we were about in three feet of distance from her, "I sense no soul in him. He is a rather strange oversoul…or maybe…he could be something else?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Is that any of your concern?" I snapped. In reality this wasn't any of her business or Asakura Hao's, I just wanted to return to my quarters.
I heard her chuckle, a curt one but it was a chuckle none the less, "You'll be staying with us for a while so I'll make it my business," she snapped back, "Hao saved you-"
"And you expect us to stay here?" Ultimo asked his knees shaking as he walked.
"More or less."
"And who are you to tell us this?" I asked raising a brow, this girl had too much attitude to my liking it was as if I had found someone worthy of my snapping, someone who was a copy of me. A copy that I wanted to run away from.
"Oh?" she said innocently, an obviously fake tone that she was used to using, "You don't know? I was sure your red headed friend would've told you by now…or does he not have any info on me?"
Ultimo froze, completely stunned, he began to open his mouth, getting ready to say something stupid that would've proven her theory right. But I was ready to make her theory stay a theory. I placed my hand over his mouth, feeling him wince, noticing his eyes widening in realization of his almost stupidity. "I rather learn about a person from the person themselves," I calmly said, giving Ultimo one last glare before taking my hand off of his mouth.
The brunette stopped walking, a sudden stop, one that if it were a carriage in London it would have caused a wreck. She turned her body so that her front was facing me, a cold blank face stared at me, no expression leaving her perfect stone walls that was her visage. Her right hand was grasping a beaded necklace, a rosary, she pulled the rosary off her neck and large white orbs appeared around her…spirit orbs.
"I am Asakura Annai, the first itako of the Asakura household," she put her beads once more around her neck, the orbs fading into the oxygen and vanishing before my eyes.
"You're…married to Asakura Hao?" I asked although I knew the answer, the girl showed to much of a resemblance to Asakura Hao to not be his kinswoman, chocolate brown hair as fine as silk, tanish apricot for their skin, flawless faces…she was his descendent. But I found myself wanting to ask this, it seemed to me that normal people go about asking stupid questions, so why not do that to keep her a hypothesis just a small unproven part of her mentality?
"I could, but no I'm not," she replied curtly before adding something else, "I'd rather not view him in that way. Although, here, cousins can marry I'd rather not do such a stupid thing, it's disgusting."
There was something in her voice, a harsh tone, a tone that sounded as if she had gone through something similar before and although curiosity tugged me like a child asking for candy, I didn't invade my copy's head.
Strangers were not worth the headache I would get from trying to understand them.
"I see," was all I said. Silence hit us again, and it brought relaxation along with it, soothing my temper and all my other character flaws that I had had trouble with before. The outside was different at night, it was much more cautious, but yet it could calm you because you could hear things much easier in this way, though you could see nothing. Night time was the closest thing to being blind.
The only thing you could perfectly do at night was hear, and I heard all of night coming out of its slumber, and with it came a sound as soft as the wind a gentle breeze of warmth. Asakura Annai chuckled as she too heard the gentle blow of the sonority, "Hao seems to be happy again," she said aloud, "Maybe…" another curt chuckle left her, "baka…"
I saw smoke as we walked, it crept out from behind the trees as we made our way over to it, that high but gentle sonority still being heard, but only closer, it could be heard where the smoke could be seen, and soon enough we passed by the trees and I saw a large bon fire in the center of the grassy plains. And in front of the bon fire was Asakura Hao, blowing on a small and thin flute, beside him was Arisu dancing and twirling in the rhythm of the song, which I recognized to be the sakura song.
Both of them stopped when they heard us coming, Asakura Hao lowered his flute and brought it to his side, his back still facing us; Arisu twirled to face us, that innocent smile of a child plastered on her face, she skipped over to us, her movements were of those as if she walked on water or air, then she stopped and threw her arms around the brunette that had let us here. "Annai-nee-san!" she cheerfully said.
The Asakura girl pushed her away, "Don't touch me," she ordered sternly. Arisu pouted then put her arms around me.
"Annaka-nee-san is much nicer anyway," she said, then the pout left her and she smiled again, "So mina-san showed you, right?" she asked eagerly, "She's pretty, right?"
A drop of sweat rolled down Ultimo's forehead, and he cautiously took a few steps back, the idiot knew, I loathed compliments…
Asakura Annai walked over to Asakura Hao's side, snatching the flute out of his hand and twirling it around in her right hand. "She's not the least bit pretty…" she admitted. There was a sudden crack inside my chest, I felt the shock break through the composed mask on my face, followed instantly by the unknown feeling that I was sure was called hurt. Arisu let go of me and dropped her hands to her side, a snarl-like noise escaped her lips, Ultimo leaned forward, waiting to stop me if I snapped.
The female Asakura ignored the snarl that escaped the pixie girl's lips, "She's a blonde, red-eyed reflection of me," she added, "and in my opinion anything that looks like me is not attractive to the least."
I strangely felt better at once, the low self esteem of girls was a quire thing. "Oh," I said lightly, "self esteem issues," I mused.
Then he laughed.
He turned around and looked at me with humorous eyes, a smirk crossing his face, "To my knowledge, every female has that problem, I'm sure that maybe you do too?" he asked, raising a brow.
"Is that honestly any of your business?" I snapped.
"Honestly, I'm just curious, or you could take it as a rhetorical question and simply not answer it." His laid back character was annoying.
"Then I simply won't answer anything and leave," I said turning around, ready to disappear into the woods. But just as I took that first step, flames of fire rose in front of me and covered my path, Ultimo fell back to the ground and crabbed walked backwards to hide behind my cloak. I looked back to see Asakura Hao, smirk on his face, middle finger and thumb placed together as if he had just finished a snap, I narrowed my eyes then I felt a smirk appear on my face. I turned back to the flames and snapped my fingers, the flames disappearing with the friction that left my fingers. "If you want me to stay just give me a reason."
"Hao-sama!" a unison of voices yelled in worry. Through the bushes appeared Leiko Emmetto, Ming Wilhelmina, and Lysander Diethyl, all breathing deep huffs of air, most likely they had been running. I raised a brow as they all began to talk at once, their words just muffling and colliding with one another. Asakura Hao raised a hand and they silenced.
I turned back to face both Asakuras, Ultimo continued to hide behind me, his body shaking behind me in fear from the flames. "You know Asakura Hao there is no such thing as eternal life or eternal power, even if you were to become Shaman King you will only be him for 500 years."
He smiled and walked towards me, stopping only a few feet away from me. "You're very smart," he laughed, "not many people realize that in order to be the Shaman King one has to die during the ritual and be a powerful Kami-like spirit for the next 500 years of their rein. How would you know something like that I wonder?"
I narrowed my eyes, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I hissed.
"I've heard that a woman can only have either looks or brains, but never both. But you…" he smiled as he looked at my face, "you, on the other hand, are both beautiful and smart."
Ultimo's hand let go of my clothing and soft footsteps were heard behind me, I clenched my fist, "Don't play with me, Asakura," I warned.
He took the last few steps that caused space between us, and closed them, then his hand reached out and touched my cheek, "Who said I was playing?" he whispered.
"Hao!" someone yelled, before a plate of silver was thrown between us, Asakura Hao took his hand off my cheek and turned to look towards the woods beside us.
"Is there a problem?" he laughed as a figure approached and came out of night's cloak and appeared before the light of the bon fire. There stood the pink haired female I had seen before at his side, the pale girl with the long pink colored hair that reached her knees, and the dark eyes that matched it.
Asakura Annai appeared and stood in front of the pink haired girl, her back facing me, "Don't tell me you're jealous…Tamamura Tamao…"
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Okay took me a while and I didn't want to go any further than that last bum-bum-dah-dum name but I didn't get to the 31 pages only 26, oh well.
Now I'm really happy, I got 21 reviews [counting those who reveiwed more than once haha] so ya'll deserved the YohAnna part in this chapter!!!!!!!!!
Well idk if I'm boring you with the arc but oh well, my story.
Now for the reviews!!!!!!
Usui_Pirika~~~ updated!
I Am Tao Ren- Thank you & Tao Rem will be appearing in the next chapter so look forward to it!
Rosewell- hahaha here you go!
PinkanAngelTamao- absolutely right! How'd u guess? haha
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AnneCullen1- thank you hope u like the sidestory
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jade destiny- *sighs* very disappointing, but I really don't think ur the only one that does that…
djyxa- well if u review more than u can have more yohanna in almost every chapter of the arc
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Crystel Hidalgo/YohAnna4eva