Disclaimer: I own no part of Love Hina, but Sean is me, though I wish that wasn't the case right now.
* * * Chapter XXVII: Powerless * * *
Sunday, 10/21 8:31 AM
Keitaro woke up to a startling sight. Sean looked like he was sleeping peacefully in his bed, but what caught his attention was Motoko laying on the floor next to him. It looked like she had prayed and cried herself to sleep. Concerned, he walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Motoko, are you alright?" he said quietly.
Motoko slowly stirred from her sleep, looked up and saw Keitaro's worried expression. "Huh? Oh, I must have fallen asleep." Her gaze quickly turned to Sean. "He still hasn't moved, huh?" Her expression betrayed her concern for him.
"Not since I woke up," Keitaro responded. "What happened last night?"
"Around midnight, I was woken up by an immense power. I went out onto the roof and found Sean. It looked like he was getting ready for a battle--a bad one."
"Are you sure he was preparing for a fight?"
"He doesn't use that much energy to clean, Keitaro!"
"Alright, alright, I believe you. Did he win?"
"The fight never happened. Instead, a strange blue mist started coming off him, making him weaker and weaker until he collapsed."
"I'm sure he'll be alright, Motoko. He always bounces back from stuff like this."
"I'm not so sure. I can't sense any of his energy like I used to. It's completely gone. I fear that he might be… might be…" Motoko, not able to finish her sentence, broke down crying.
"Motoko, I'm sure that whatever happens, he'll be alright. Just give it time."
"If only I knew what was going through his mind so I could understand why he was acting that way."
"Hmm, I think I may know how you can do just that."
"How?" She sniffled.
"Suu."
"Yes, that's it! We'll just get Suu to make a machine that can tap into his mind and look at that last dream he had before all this happened!"
"I'm glad you agree. I'll go talk to her. You stay here and look after Sean until I get back. Don't do anything rash, now."
"I won't," she said as she watched him leave. After he closed the door, she slowly looked at Sean's still form. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you in your time of need. If only you could have told me about it, I would have gladly fought alongside you." She pounded her fists into the floor. "Please don't die on us, Sean!"
---
Keitaro made his way to Suu's door and knocked on the door. After a few moments of silence, the door opened to reveal Suu, who looked like she had just woken up. "Whadaya want, Keitaro?"
"I'm sorry for waking you, but I have a job for you."
"Huh?"
"I need you to make a machine for me."
"What kind of machine?"
"One that can look at dreams."
"I've already got one of those."
"Not the fantasy one. I want to see the dream that made him freak out yesterday."
That got Suu's interest. "Don't got that. I'll get right on it. I'll be just a bit. Take him to the living room. I'll meet you there."
"Thank you," Keitaro said as Suu closed the door. Strange noises could be heard from inside. Quickly, he made his way back to Sean's room, which contained a strange scene.
"I'm so sorry, Sean!" Motoko sobbed as she held a still catatonic Sean close to her. "Why couldn't I have helped you while I had the chance?!"
"Calm down, Motoko," Keitaro said. "From what you told me, I don't think you could have done anything if you tried. Now, go downstairs and get some rest. After what happened, I think you need it."
"No, I won't leave his side!"
"Then at least help me get him into the living room; Suu's working on something that should shed some light on this whole thing and she told me to get him there."
Motoko already had Sean in her arms and was walking out the door. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
"Dang," Keitaro thought as he followed her out. "This has gotten her so rattled. I don't think I've ever seen her like this before." As an afterthought, he added, "I hope I don't ever again."
The two made their way downstairs in a way that looked like a short funeral procession. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they could hear Shinobu making breakfast. She turned for a moment to great them.
"Hello, how are you this--" She stopped mid-sentence when she recognized the motionless figure in Motoko's arms. "What are you doing to Sean?!"
"We're taking to the living room," Keitaro said. "Suu's making something that will let us see that dream he had."
"Why not wait until he wakes up?"
"I'm not sure if he will."
"What?! How did that happen?!"
"All will be explained later," Keitaro answered, glancing at Motoko, who was struggling to hold back tears. "…I hope."
--- (10 minutes later…)
Suu arrived in the living room, her modified VR helmet in her hands. "Well, I'm done, now where's Sean?" Everyone had gathered there already, and they all, with the exception of Motoko, pointed to the couch, where a lifeless Sean rested. "Oh my, what happened to him?"
"We don't know," Naru said. "Motoko saw what happened, but won't tell us."
Suu looked at Motoko, who sat in a chair, her legs pressed against her chest. She had never seen her that scared before. "Looks more like she can't. Anyway, let's probe his mind and see what made him the way he was yesterday." Suu placed the helmet on Sean's head and walked over to the television and started connecting something to it.
"What's that?" Kitsune asked.
"A wireless receiver, so we'll all see what's going on." After she finished, she moved back to Sean. "Now, who wants to do the honors?"
"I think I should--" Shinobu started to say.
"No, I want to," Motoko said, standing up. It came as a shock to the others, since it was the first time she spoke in quite a while.
"Um, go ahead."
"Thank you," Motoko said as she got up, walked over to Sean and pressed the button Suu pointed out. Suddenly, the television displayed what they all had been wondering about for the last day.
They all watched as the dream progressed. At first, it was nothing special; just Alicia walking through a forest, but things got more interesting when she reached the temple and encountered the being who resided therein.
Motoko flinched when she heard a certain line from the demon. "'Your world will be plunged into darkness,'" she thought. "That's what he said right before…" She continued watching in silence as the demon picked Alicia up and was just about to rip her apart when the screen went black.
"So that's why he acted so weird," Shinobu said, her eyes wide at what the monstrosity was about to do; also realizing that she shook and slapped Sean back to consciousness and how close that last part of the dream was to that.
"No kidding," Kitsune added. She happened to glance at Motoko, who had a look of pure, unadulterated fear in her eyes. "Motoko?" When she didn't get a response, she moved closer to her and waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello?"
"That's it…" Motoko whispered, apparently not aware of Kitsune trying to get her attention. "What that thing said before about his life plunging into darkness. Sean said the same thing right before he… he…" she gave Sean one last look before she made a dash for the door, but she was caught by the arm by Keitaro. "Please, let me go! I don't deserve to be in the same room as him. I saw the whole thing happen last night and I didn't do anything! I let him down, Keitaro, I did!"
"Motoko, cool it!" Keitaro said, followed up with a slap to Motoko's face. "Now you know that's not true! Sit down!" Motoko quickly obeyed; she didn't have the strength of will not to. "You didn't let him down. He didn't want anyone of us to get involve out of fear of what would happen to us. He felt he had to deal with this thing on his own. Besides, what could you have done, anyway? What could any of us have done? According to you, his strength just got sucked out of him by some unseen force."
"Well, yeah, but--"
"But nothing! If you couldn't see what was affecting him, how would you expect to stop it?"
"I don't know, I just don't like the fact that I couldn't sense any of his energy since then."
"Like I keep telling you, I'm sure he'll be alright, he just needs to rest."
"Uh, guys?" Shinobu said. Her face was getting really pale.
"What's wrong?" Naru asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"L-Look!" Shinobu pointed at Sean, who during the conversation had regained consciousness. He sat up with a look of great confusion on his face.
"Sean…?" Motoko could hardly believe her eyes. As the reality sunk in, Motoko had another uncharacteristic emotional outburst as she ran over to him and held him in another close embrace. "I'm so glad you're still alive! I thought you had left us forever!"
"Motoko?!" Sean said, completely caught off guard.
"How do you feel?" Shinobu asked. Sean only responded by giving another confused look, but what caught Shinobu's curiosity was the fact that even though his eyes were open, he didn't look right at her, just in her general direction. "What's wrong, Sean?"
Sean closed his eyes and placed a hand on his forehead, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.
"Do you have a headache or something?" Naru asked. "Maybe you need to rest or something."
Sean opened his eyes and looked in what could only have been a random direction. "Keitaro, why is everyone speaking gibberish?" Everyone was shocked by this, as he hardly ever spoke English, or at least not around them.
Luckily, Keitaro knew English pretty well, even though he wasn't that experienced in actually speaking it in everyday occasions--of course, this isn't exactly an everyday thing. "What are you talking about?" He responded.
"Exactly what I said."
"Apparently," Keitaro said, translating for the others, who didn't know the language as well. "He doesn't know how to speak Japanese right now."
"But that's crazy!" Shinobu said, refusing to believe that. "Even yesterday, he could talk like he was born here!" Keitaro relayed that back to Sean.
"Yes, that does seem odd…" Suddenly, it dawned on him, but he was unwilling to think it could happen. "No, it can't be," he said. After a few curious gestures, he returned his hand to his forehead and laid back down on the couch. "Oh, this is just great."
"What's wrong?" Keitaro asked.
"It seems all my magic has somehow left me. That would explain why I can't understand Japanese, why I can't see, and why I feel so hungry right now." Keitaro's jaw went slack when he heard that. "So that's what that demon meant by my life plunging into darkness," he muttered to himself while Keitaro told the others what he heard. "Though I would rather have that thing rip me apart than go through this."
"No!" Shinobu cried. "His magic can't be gone! It just can't be!"
"But it must be true," Motoko said. "Even now, I can't sense any ki within him."
"But how can he function here if he can't see anything or even speak to us directly?"
"I don't know, Shinobu," Naru said. "I just don't know." As an afterthought, she added, "I can't believe we have to go through this whole blindness thing all over again, and the language barrier just makes it that much worse."
"You said it."
"So let me get this straight; he can't understand us at all, right?" Kitsune asked, placing a hand to her chin.
"So he says," Keitaro answered, curious as to what she had planned.
"Hmm, that plus he can't see worth a darn means we could do quite a bit without him realizing it. Things he wouldn't normally allow." Kitsune started to unbutton her shirt.
"Kitsune, you are not going to take advantage of him in his condition!" Naru said.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Naru." Kitsune broke her attention away from her blouse and redirected it towards Naru's.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Naru yelled.
"Aw, come on, even though Sean can't see us, there's another guy here who can. Now that I think of it, would you like to join us, Motoko?"
"What?!" Motoko said.
Sean could hear Kitsune, Naru and Motoko arguing about something. Even though he had no earthly idea as to what they were saying, he did know from experience that two of them had short fuses and the third had honed her skills at being a match, and that was more than enough for him. He got up from where he was seated and slowly made his way to what he hoped was the stairs, but more importantly away from the angry voices. Before he could get to anything he could recognize by touch, something found him and he ended up sprawled out on the floor. "Oh, just my luck," he muttered. "I try to find the stairs and I end up ramming my head right into Suu's foot."
Suu's latest friendly attack got everyone's attention away from Naru's and Motoko's struggle to retain their decency and Keitaro's struggle to prevent a nosebleed. "Suu, why did you do that?!" Shinobu asked.
"Aw, it wasn't that bad."
"But you know he doesn't heal like Keitaro does and considering that he can't use magic, doing that puts him at serious risk!" Shinobu went over, knelt at Sean's side and rested his head on her lap. "I know you can't understand me right now," she said, "but I will always be here to help you until you can see me and talk directly to me again."
Granted, Sean had no idea what Shinobu said, but he found her tone of voice comforting. He smiled at her, signifying that, even in some small way, her message was received. His face quickly turned from a grin to a painful grimace when Shinobu touched the bump on his head.
"Don't worry, you're going to be fine." Shinobu prepared to administer the magical healing process, but as soon as she tried to apply the spell to Sean's wound, a backlash of energy ran through her arms.
"AH!" Shinobu yelled, jerking her hands away; it felt like she was being given a mild electric shock.
"What happened?" Naru asked.
"I'm not sure. When I tried to heal him, my spell got sent back or something."
"It's bad enough when he isn't able to use his own spells, but not being able to accept the spells of others?" Motoko thought out loud. "Whatever did this to him made sure all the bases were covered, but what I don't get is how did it know there was another wizard in the house?"
"Well, it knew about Sean, apparently, so why wouldn't it know about Shinobu?" Naru asked.
"Point taken, but why was Shinobu left alone, while Sean was sucked dry?"
"You got me on that one."
"We'll figure all that stuff out later," Shinobu said. "For now, we need to decide what to do about Sean."
"Um, Keitaro?" Sean said. That got everyone's attention.
"Yeah?"
"Could I talk to you for a bit?"
"Sure. Do you want us to be alone?"
"It wouldn't make that much difference to me, now would it? If they keep quiet, I wouldn't even know they're here."
"Alright," Keitaro said as he and Shinobu helped him to his feet and guided him back to the couch.
"Thank you," Sean said, going over what he had to say. "I just want to apologize for what I did yesterday," he started. Keitaro proceeded to act as translator. "I just thought I could deal with this whole thing on my own."
"Just because some demon threatens you doesn't mean you have to go into isolation, you know," Naru said.
"How do you know about that?"
"Suu modified that dream helmet of hers," Motoko said. "We saw everything."
"Oh. I wasn't even sure whether it was just a dream or something more, but I didn't want to take any chances. With that in mind, I didn't want to put any of you at risk should it attack this place like I feared it would."
"You thought you could take that thing alone?" Kitsune asked.
"I was certainly going to give it my best shot."
"I know," Motoko said. "I saw you on the roof last night."
"You did?!"
"Yeah. Even in my sleep, I could sense the energy you gave off. I only wish I could have done something when I saw what happened to you."
"Don't worry about it. If I had seen you, I would have told you to leave anyway."
"And I would have refused. Nobody should have to face their demons alone, even if it's, well, a demon."
"Which reminds me," Naru said. "next time you have nightmares, for heaven's sake, tell us about it! I don't want to find you under my kotatsu again!"
"I don't think you have to worry about that," Sean said with a smile. "Next time I have to hide from everyone, I'll find a place not so confining; and one that doesn't require me to shrink down to the size of a cockroach." After he said that, he heard everyone gasp. "Oh, come on, it wasn't like that!" Moments went by in a eerie silence. "Guys, this isn't funny!" More silence. "Uh, guys…?"
* * * End of Chapter XXVII * * *
Ooh, another cliffhanger. See you next time. Please R&R!
* * * Chapter XXVII: Powerless * * *
Sunday, 10/21 8:31 AM
Keitaro woke up to a startling sight. Sean looked like he was sleeping peacefully in his bed, but what caught his attention was Motoko laying on the floor next to him. It looked like she had prayed and cried herself to sleep. Concerned, he walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. "Motoko, are you alright?" he said quietly.
Motoko slowly stirred from her sleep, looked up and saw Keitaro's worried expression. "Huh? Oh, I must have fallen asleep." Her gaze quickly turned to Sean. "He still hasn't moved, huh?" Her expression betrayed her concern for him.
"Not since I woke up," Keitaro responded. "What happened last night?"
"Around midnight, I was woken up by an immense power. I went out onto the roof and found Sean. It looked like he was getting ready for a battle--a bad one."
"Are you sure he was preparing for a fight?"
"He doesn't use that much energy to clean, Keitaro!"
"Alright, alright, I believe you. Did he win?"
"The fight never happened. Instead, a strange blue mist started coming off him, making him weaker and weaker until he collapsed."
"I'm sure he'll be alright, Motoko. He always bounces back from stuff like this."
"I'm not so sure. I can't sense any of his energy like I used to. It's completely gone. I fear that he might be… might be…" Motoko, not able to finish her sentence, broke down crying.
"Motoko, I'm sure that whatever happens, he'll be alright. Just give it time."
"If only I knew what was going through his mind so I could understand why he was acting that way."
"Hmm, I think I may know how you can do just that."
"How?" She sniffled.
"Suu."
"Yes, that's it! We'll just get Suu to make a machine that can tap into his mind and look at that last dream he had before all this happened!"
"I'm glad you agree. I'll go talk to her. You stay here and look after Sean until I get back. Don't do anything rash, now."
"I won't," she said as she watched him leave. After he closed the door, she slowly looked at Sean's still form. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you in your time of need. If only you could have told me about it, I would have gladly fought alongside you." She pounded her fists into the floor. "Please don't die on us, Sean!"
---
Keitaro made his way to Suu's door and knocked on the door. After a few moments of silence, the door opened to reveal Suu, who looked like she had just woken up. "Whadaya want, Keitaro?"
"I'm sorry for waking you, but I have a job for you."
"Huh?"
"I need you to make a machine for me."
"What kind of machine?"
"One that can look at dreams."
"I've already got one of those."
"Not the fantasy one. I want to see the dream that made him freak out yesterday."
That got Suu's interest. "Don't got that. I'll get right on it. I'll be just a bit. Take him to the living room. I'll meet you there."
"Thank you," Keitaro said as Suu closed the door. Strange noises could be heard from inside. Quickly, he made his way back to Sean's room, which contained a strange scene.
"I'm so sorry, Sean!" Motoko sobbed as she held a still catatonic Sean close to her. "Why couldn't I have helped you while I had the chance?!"
"Calm down, Motoko," Keitaro said. "From what you told me, I don't think you could have done anything if you tried. Now, go downstairs and get some rest. After what happened, I think you need it."
"No, I won't leave his side!"
"Then at least help me get him into the living room; Suu's working on something that should shed some light on this whole thing and she told me to get him there."
Motoko already had Sean in her arms and was walking out the door. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
"Dang," Keitaro thought as he followed her out. "This has gotten her so rattled. I don't think I've ever seen her like this before." As an afterthought, he added, "I hope I don't ever again."
The two made their way downstairs in a way that looked like a short funeral procession. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they could hear Shinobu making breakfast. She turned for a moment to great them.
"Hello, how are you this--" She stopped mid-sentence when she recognized the motionless figure in Motoko's arms. "What are you doing to Sean?!"
"We're taking to the living room," Keitaro said. "Suu's making something that will let us see that dream he had."
"Why not wait until he wakes up?"
"I'm not sure if he will."
"What?! How did that happen?!"
"All will be explained later," Keitaro answered, glancing at Motoko, who was struggling to hold back tears. "…I hope."
--- (10 minutes later…)
Suu arrived in the living room, her modified VR helmet in her hands. "Well, I'm done, now where's Sean?" Everyone had gathered there already, and they all, with the exception of Motoko, pointed to the couch, where a lifeless Sean rested. "Oh my, what happened to him?"
"We don't know," Naru said. "Motoko saw what happened, but won't tell us."
Suu looked at Motoko, who sat in a chair, her legs pressed against her chest. She had never seen her that scared before. "Looks more like she can't. Anyway, let's probe his mind and see what made him the way he was yesterday." Suu placed the helmet on Sean's head and walked over to the television and started connecting something to it.
"What's that?" Kitsune asked.
"A wireless receiver, so we'll all see what's going on." After she finished, she moved back to Sean. "Now, who wants to do the honors?"
"I think I should--" Shinobu started to say.
"No, I want to," Motoko said, standing up. It came as a shock to the others, since it was the first time she spoke in quite a while.
"Um, go ahead."
"Thank you," Motoko said as she got up, walked over to Sean and pressed the button Suu pointed out. Suddenly, the television displayed what they all had been wondering about for the last day.
They all watched as the dream progressed. At first, it was nothing special; just Alicia walking through a forest, but things got more interesting when she reached the temple and encountered the being who resided therein.
Motoko flinched when she heard a certain line from the demon. "'Your world will be plunged into darkness,'" she thought. "That's what he said right before…" She continued watching in silence as the demon picked Alicia up and was just about to rip her apart when the screen went black.
"So that's why he acted so weird," Shinobu said, her eyes wide at what the monstrosity was about to do; also realizing that she shook and slapped Sean back to consciousness and how close that last part of the dream was to that.
"No kidding," Kitsune added. She happened to glance at Motoko, who had a look of pure, unadulterated fear in her eyes. "Motoko?" When she didn't get a response, she moved closer to her and waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello?"
"That's it…" Motoko whispered, apparently not aware of Kitsune trying to get her attention. "What that thing said before about his life plunging into darkness. Sean said the same thing right before he… he…" she gave Sean one last look before she made a dash for the door, but she was caught by the arm by Keitaro. "Please, let me go! I don't deserve to be in the same room as him. I saw the whole thing happen last night and I didn't do anything! I let him down, Keitaro, I did!"
"Motoko, cool it!" Keitaro said, followed up with a slap to Motoko's face. "Now you know that's not true! Sit down!" Motoko quickly obeyed; she didn't have the strength of will not to. "You didn't let him down. He didn't want anyone of us to get involve out of fear of what would happen to us. He felt he had to deal with this thing on his own. Besides, what could you have done, anyway? What could any of us have done? According to you, his strength just got sucked out of him by some unseen force."
"Well, yeah, but--"
"But nothing! If you couldn't see what was affecting him, how would you expect to stop it?"
"I don't know, I just don't like the fact that I couldn't sense any of his energy since then."
"Like I keep telling you, I'm sure he'll be alright, he just needs to rest."
"Uh, guys?" Shinobu said. Her face was getting really pale.
"What's wrong?" Naru asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"L-Look!" Shinobu pointed at Sean, who during the conversation had regained consciousness. He sat up with a look of great confusion on his face.
"Sean…?" Motoko could hardly believe her eyes. As the reality sunk in, Motoko had another uncharacteristic emotional outburst as she ran over to him and held him in another close embrace. "I'm so glad you're still alive! I thought you had left us forever!"
"Motoko?!" Sean said, completely caught off guard.
"How do you feel?" Shinobu asked. Sean only responded by giving another confused look, but what caught Shinobu's curiosity was the fact that even though his eyes were open, he didn't look right at her, just in her general direction. "What's wrong, Sean?"
Sean closed his eyes and placed a hand on his forehead, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.
"Do you have a headache or something?" Naru asked. "Maybe you need to rest or something."
Sean opened his eyes and looked in what could only have been a random direction. "Keitaro, why is everyone speaking gibberish?" Everyone was shocked by this, as he hardly ever spoke English, or at least not around them.
Luckily, Keitaro knew English pretty well, even though he wasn't that experienced in actually speaking it in everyday occasions--of course, this isn't exactly an everyday thing. "What are you talking about?" He responded.
"Exactly what I said."
"Apparently," Keitaro said, translating for the others, who didn't know the language as well. "He doesn't know how to speak Japanese right now."
"But that's crazy!" Shinobu said, refusing to believe that. "Even yesterday, he could talk like he was born here!" Keitaro relayed that back to Sean.
"Yes, that does seem odd…" Suddenly, it dawned on him, but he was unwilling to think it could happen. "No, it can't be," he said. After a few curious gestures, he returned his hand to his forehead and laid back down on the couch. "Oh, this is just great."
"What's wrong?" Keitaro asked.
"It seems all my magic has somehow left me. That would explain why I can't understand Japanese, why I can't see, and why I feel so hungry right now." Keitaro's jaw went slack when he heard that. "So that's what that demon meant by my life plunging into darkness," he muttered to himself while Keitaro told the others what he heard. "Though I would rather have that thing rip me apart than go through this."
"No!" Shinobu cried. "His magic can't be gone! It just can't be!"
"But it must be true," Motoko said. "Even now, I can't sense any ki within him."
"But how can he function here if he can't see anything or even speak to us directly?"
"I don't know, Shinobu," Naru said. "I just don't know." As an afterthought, she added, "I can't believe we have to go through this whole blindness thing all over again, and the language barrier just makes it that much worse."
"You said it."
"So let me get this straight; he can't understand us at all, right?" Kitsune asked, placing a hand to her chin.
"So he says," Keitaro answered, curious as to what she had planned.
"Hmm, that plus he can't see worth a darn means we could do quite a bit without him realizing it. Things he wouldn't normally allow." Kitsune started to unbutton her shirt.
"Kitsune, you are not going to take advantage of him in his condition!" Naru said.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Naru." Kitsune broke her attention away from her blouse and redirected it towards Naru's.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Naru yelled.
"Aw, come on, even though Sean can't see us, there's another guy here who can. Now that I think of it, would you like to join us, Motoko?"
"What?!" Motoko said.
Sean could hear Kitsune, Naru and Motoko arguing about something. Even though he had no earthly idea as to what they were saying, he did know from experience that two of them had short fuses and the third had honed her skills at being a match, and that was more than enough for him. He got up from where he was seated and slowly made his way to what he hoped was the stairs, but more importantly away from the angry voices. Before he could get to anything he could recognize by touch, something found him and he ended up sprawled out on the floor. "Oh, just my luck," he muttered. "I try to find the stairs and I end up ramming my head right into Suu's foot."
Suu's latest friendly attack got everyone's attention away from Naru's and Motoko's struggle to retain their decency and Keitaro's struggle to prevent a nosebleed. "Suu, why did you do that?!" Shinobu asked.
"Aw, it wasn't that bad."
"But you know he doesn't heal like Keitaro does and considering that he can't use magic, doing that puts him at serious risk!" Shinobu went over, knelt at Sean's side and rested his head on her lap. "I know you can't understand me right now," she said, "but I will always be here to help you until you can see me and talk directly to me again."
Granted, Sean had no idea what Shinobu said, but he found her tone of voice comforting. He smiled at her, signifying that, even in some small way, her message was received. His face quickly turned from a grin to a painful grimace when Shinobu touched the bump on his head.
"Don't worry, you're going to be fine." Shinobu prepared to administer the magical healing process, but as soon as she tried to apply the spell to Sean's wound, a backlash of energy ran through her arms.
"AH!" Shinobu yelled, jerking her hands away; it felt like she was being given a mild electric shock.
"What happened?" Naru asked.
"I'm not sure. When I tried to heal him, my spell got sent back or something."
"It's bad enough when he isn't able to use his own spells, but not being able to accept the spells of others?" Motoko thought out loud. "Whatever did this to him made sure all the bases were covered, but what I don't get is how did it know there was another wizard in the house?"
"Well, it knew about Sean, apparently, so why wouldn't it know about Shinobu?" Naru asked.
"Point taken, but why was Shinobu left alone, while Sean was sucked dry?"
"You got me on that one."
"We'll figure all that stuff out later," Shinobu said. "For now, we need to decide what to do about Sean."
"Um, Keitaro?" Sean said. That got everyone's attention.
"Yeah?"
"Could I talk to you for a bit?"
"Sure. Do you want us to be alone?"
"It wouldn't make that much difference to me, now would it? If they keep quiet, I wouldn't even know they're here."
"Alright," Keitaro said as he and Shinobu helped him to his feet and guided him back to the couch.
"Thank you," Sean said, going over what he had to say. "I just want to apologize for what I did yesterday," he started. Keitaro proceeded to act as translator. "I just thought I could deal with this whole thing on my own."
"Just because some demon threatens you doesn't mean you have to go into isolation, you know," Naru said.
"How do you know about that?"
"Suu modified that dream helmet of hers," Motoko said. "We saw everything."
"Oh. I wasn't even sure whether it was just a dream or something more, but I didn't want to take any chances. With that in mind, I didn't want to put any of you at risk should it attack this place like I feared it would."
"You thought you could take that thing alone?" Kitsune asked.
"I was certainly going to give it my best shot."
"I know," Motoko said. "I saw you on the roof last night."
"You did?!"
"Yeah. Even in my sleep, I could sense the energy you gave off. I only wish I could have done something when I saw what happened to you."
"Don't worry about it. If I had seen you, I would have told you to leave anyway."
"And I would have refused. Nobody should have to face their demons alone, even if it's, well, a demon."
"Which reminds me," Naru said. "next time you have nightmares, for heaven's sake, tell us about it! I don't want to find you under my kotatsu again!"
"I don't think you have to worry about that," Sean said with a smile. "Next time I have to hide from everyone, I'll find a place not so confining; and one that doesn't require me to shrink down to the size of a cockroach." After he said that, he heard everyone gasp. "Oh, come on, it wasn't like that!" Moments went by in a eerie silence. "Guys, this isn't funny!" More silence. "Uh, guys…?"
* * * End of Chapter XXVII * * *
Ooh, another cliffhanger. See you next time. Please R&R!