Besarki: So I'm realizing that I have like, no consistency in this story whatsoever. First I'm like, we're going to Europe! Then I'm all Pacific Ocean! Then, you know what, forget the Pacific Ocean. Let's go through Europe. You guys probably have your eyes crossed. Heh heh heh. Sorry. I'm scatterbrained. I can't keep track of stuff.
I did go back and change some stuff like ages, and honorifics. So, little things fixed.
So random question (okay, not really all that random considering the content of this chapter): Where are you guys all from? I've noticed that Shaman King has fans all over the world. When I wrote Teen Titans stories, almost all of my reviewers were American or British. When I wrote Final Fantasy stories, again they were mostly American. Now, I'm noticing that most of my reviewers are from outside the US. That's so cool. Shaman King brings people together!
This chapter has a weird format, but that's because it takes place in so many different areas. Not as long as the last chapter, but the last chapter was crazy long, so yeah.
There was a lot more I wanted to say up here, but I'm tired and I gotta go. Groan.
Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary, please.
~Anything But Ordinary, Avril Lavigne
Russia
Kaa-san has a really weird sense of humor, but an even weirder sense of punishment.
When I woke up this morning and noticed that the ground seemed to be missing from beneath my feet, naturally I got a little freaked. Until I noticed the big, pink hand around me.
Naka, I realized. I thought that Kaa-san had gotten tired of carrying me and handed me over to her spirit ally. I had no reason to suspect her real intentions.
And then a cloud passed by.
"HOLY CRAP!" I yelled, flailing and screaming.
"Good morning, Hana," My mother greeted from somewhere above my "hang out". My head jerked up to stare dumbfounded at her.
Above me, Kaa-san sat cross-legged on Naka's back, looking perfectly content while her oni servant remained spread out like a one-winged plane. Had the situation been different, I would have found the fact that Naka could fly to be outrageously awesome.
"What's the big idea?!" I demanded.
She smirked. "You ran away and nearly got yourself killed. I can't just let you get away with that."
"So you hang me upside down from a demon's claw two hundred feet off the ground?! This isn't funny!"
"On the contrary. I find it hilarious." Oh nice!
"What if Naka drops me?"
"Then that would be very sad for you." I listened, but found absolutely no remorse or even a hint of fear in her voice.
"That's not very nice, Kaa-san!"
"Oh, I'm not a very nice person. Regardless, though, you'll learn something from this."
"I learned something when psycho-crazy-man tried to kill me!"
"Good, then this will just further the injunction."
"The what?" I responded, dumbfounded.
Her smirk merely widened. I screamed in fury.
"This is child abuse!" I argued.
"Don't even talk to me about child abuse."
"You weren't abused! You were abandoned!"
"Neglect, abuse. It's all the same in the end."
"I DON'T NEED A LIFE LESSON! I NEED OUT OF HERE!" The blood was rushing to my head and really starting to give me a headache.
"Will you leave without permission again?" She questioned.
I shook my head desperately. "No! Never again!"
"Do you promise...?"
"Yes!"
"On your life?"
"Yes!"
"And on mine?"
"YES! NOW HELP ME UP ALREADY!" I was flopping around like a fish out of water down here.
Kaa-san sighed contentedly, clearly happy with the way things had gone. "Very well. Naka-Oni, return him to me," She commanded, her tone no different from before.
"Rrrrrrrrr," Came Naka's answering growl. His rough, clawed hand suddenly moved, lifting me from the open sky and depositing me on his back, right behind Kaa-san.
I swiftly sat up, but immediately wished I hadn't. My headache from before increased ten-fold and a wave of light-headedness came over me. I wobbled slightly, then fell back on Naka's hide.
Even though I had just woken up, I could already feel myself slipping into unconsciousness once more.
I heard my mother sigh a quiet "Hana..." just before the darkness took over.
Belarus
"Wow! It's like one huge stretch of castles! Look at all the domes!" I exclaimed, absolutely thrilled by the makeshift fairytale landscape. The buildings had been similar in Russia, but there weren't nearly as many there as there are here. At least, not this close together.
I grinned and scanned over the castles again. "Ah! It's so cool! Don't you think, Kaa-san?" At first, I thought nothing of the fact that I received no reply, but after about five minutes of silence, I got a little suspicious. "...Kaa-san?"
"Zzzzz..."
I refrained from rolling my eyes. This was such an Anna thing to do. We were in this awesome castle world, and she was sleeping.
In the end, I couldn't stop myself from shaking my head before I went back to admiring the castle-littered land.
Poland
"Hahahaha! What is that?" I attempted to point at the large and extremely furry animal below us, but my laughter shook me and made the action quite difficult.
Matamune peered down from beside me. "They are called wisent, Hana,"
"Ha! It looks a cross between a cow and a wooly mammoth!"
"It is not," Replied the nekomata.
"Doesn't stop it from looking that way. Hahahaha!"
"There could be wisent spirits around and they may take offence to your teasing."
I went abruptly silent as I eyed the big animal. I immediately decided that fighting with one of them was something I'd be okay with avoiding. Not that I couldn't take them. I just...didn't feel like it right now. That's all.
Czech Republic
"This place needs to decide on a landscape," I grumbled, lying across Naka's back with my head in my hands. "You agree with me, don't you, Naka?"
"Rrrrrrr..."
"...?"
"Rrrrrr..."
"...Really..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Okay, then."
Austria
"Are we there yet?"
"Does it look like we're there yet?" My mother aggravatingly replied.
"I don't know!" I yelled, throwing my hands up. "This is the first time I've been out of Japan."
"Have we crossed the Atlantic Ocean yet?"
"Uhhh. We cross an ocean."
"That wasn't an ocean, Hana."
"Then what was it?"
"It was the Sea of Japan."
"Oh gimme a break! That counts!"
"That was, maybe, a quarter of the size of an ocean."
"No way!"
"Sorry, Hana. The Atlantic is a lot bigger than that." Kaa-san looked over Naka's head and pointed to a big blue spot in the distance. "See that water there?"
"Yeah."
"That's not it."
"Then why--?!"
"Here," She cut me off, pulled something out of her bag, and shoved a small device into my hand. I frowned and glanced down at it. "You have a cell phone?"
"For emergencies, but I have no idea how to use it."
"What?!"
"Shut up and call Mari."
"Mari? The maid back at the onsen?"
"Yeah, and talk quick. Long distance costs a fortune, and I'm nearly broke."
"I can't believe you have money to begin with. Have you ever had a job?"
"Just call. Oh, and don't tell them I'm with you. I can't afford a long conversation."
"Whatever." I punched in the first few digits then paused. "Why am I calling, anyway?"
She thrust a notepad and a pencil into my free hand. "Tomorrow, we'll be in Italy. Mari is Italian, therefore, she knows the Italian language."
"Mari's Italian?!"
"HANA!"
"Sorry, sorry." I hit the end button then hastily dialed the home phone for the onsen. On the third ring, someone picked up.
"Hello? Funbari Onsen?" Oh shit! Tamao! I was rendered speechless while my 'former mother' ran off the jingle she had created to draw in customers. Even after she finished, though. I couldn't speak. "Hello?" She repeated.
"I..."
"Hello? Who's there?"
"Can I talk to Mari?" I asked in a rush.
"HANA?! IS THAT YOU?!" I heard Ryu blubbering something in the background. Tamao pulled away from the phone and confirmed to him that it was indeed me. When she spoke into the speaker again, her voice was unusually obnoxious. "Hana, where are you?" She demanded.
Kaa-san shook her head, but it didn't really matter. I didn't know anyway.
"Tamao! I don't have time to talk! Please put Mari on!"
"Not until you tell me where you are!"
"I don't know where I am! Get Mari!"
"Why? Why Mari?"
"Mari speaks Italian."
"WHAT?! Why does that matter?"
"Cause I'm going to Italy! Is Mari there or not?"
"Italy?! What's around you? Stop where you are. I'll come get you."
"No you won't! RYU! GO GET MARI!" I screamed the last part, hoping that Ryu would hear. By the shuffling in the back, I'm guessing he did.
"Hana! Please! I'll come get you then we'll look for Anna together!"
"No. I can do it by myself. Is Mari there yet?"
"Hana, please!" She desperately pleaded.
"No, Tamao. I'm doing this my way this time!"
Across from me, Kaa-san mouthed the words 'That was really corny.' So I stuck my tongue out at her.
Back on the phone, I could hear Tamao yelling at someone to stay away. I recognized the slightly psychotic voice that replied as Mari. Good.
"Tamao, I hear Mari. Put her on."
"No! Not until you agree to come home."
Kaa-san was starting to look irritated which was really bad for me, but also for Tamao, Ryu, and everyone else in that room.
"Uhhhh. Okay, I'll come home! Just put Mari on!"
"You're lying, Hana! I know you're lying."
"No, I'm--"
"I KNOW YOU ARE!"
"OKAY, FINE! JUST GIVE MARI THE PHONE!"
"Say you'll come home, Hana."
"Fine! I'll come home!" This conversation was getting old.
"Really?"
"No. Give her the phone!"
"DAMMIT, HANA! YOU HAVE TO COME HOME!"
"I'll come home when I find them!"
"No! You'll come home now!"
"MARI! SCARE OFF TAMAO AND TAKE THE PHONE!"
"Hana, I swear--" But I didn't hear the end of the sentence as the phone was suddenly ripped out of my hands.
"PUT MARI ON THE PHONE NOW, TAMAO!" Kaa-san shrieked into the mouthpiece. Even I cringed as Tamao went silent.
"...Anna-sama?" She whimpered. She was scared, too. Ha. Who wasn't afraid of Kaa-san?
I heard a collective "ANNA?!" in the background of the conversation.
There was a little pause as Kaa-san fumed. Tamao hesitantly agreed, and handed the phone to someone else in the room. Kaa-san gave it back to me.
"Hello?" A shaky voice asked after a minute.
"Mari!" I said, relieved. Evidently, she was too.
"Oh, Hana-chan."
"Hey, so, we're going to be Italy."
"Oh? What business do you have there?"
"We have to pass through it to get to America."
"...Why didn't you just go through the Pacific Ocean?"
"Naka won't go there."
"Naka?"
"Kaa-san's spirit ally. But anyway, I called to ask if you could teach me some Italian." She was surprised, but she happily, or maybe fearfully, obliged.
Three pages, and a lot of repeating later, I had finally compiled a list of Italian phrases. As soon as I could, I said goodbye to Mari and told her to say hi to everyone and sorry to Tamao. Salutations said, I hung up and handed the phone back to Kaa-san.
"Sorry," I said quietly.
"It's not your fault. You tried."
I didn't say anything for a few minutes. The silence was awkward and calling home gave me a weird feeling in my stomach.
"Your phone bill's going to be ridiculous," I said after a bit.
She shrugged. "I'm going to make Manta pay for it. He's the one that suggested I get this stupid thing."
"Oh...who's Manta?"
"Yoh's best friend. He's our age, but he's only about as tall as you."
"Wow. He's short for an adult." She nodded in silent agreement.
Naka landed in a small valley for the night and Kaa-san gave me dinner. I don't know what it was, but I'm not going to ask.
Ever since the incident in Russia, I've never left my sleeping bag unless I had Kaa-san with me or stayed within her sight. Kaa-san didn't kill Turbine. He'll be back. Plus, he's not the only one after us.
I shuddered at the thought and wrapped my sleeping bag more tightly around me.
The next morning, Naka helped us onto his back and set off into the air.
Kaa-san didn't talk much, and neither did I. I found myself wishing that I had refused her order to call, though I'm sure that neither of us consciously expected what happened.
I didn't feel like talking. She didn't either. This was to be expected.
We flew in silence for six hours, each moment bringing us closer and closer to our goal--to the end of our journey.
Italy
Besarki: This chapter takes place over about two to three weeks. They stop several times a day to eat. Naka-Oni can fly, but not as fast as a plane or anything. Plus, they don't just fly. They also walk and swim a lot. Naka can't fly naturally either. He gains that ability when Anna adds mana to his oversoul so, since that requires mana, he can't go nonstop. They have to take breaks or she'll tire out. I was going to explain that in one of the chapters, but I doubt I'll get around to it so I'm just explaining it here. She already told Hana. You just don't see it. Compared to the last one, this chapter is pretty boring. Plus, I got a little weak around the end. I wrote pretty much this whole thing in one sitting. Meh. Beggars can't be choosers.
With the whole wisent thing: Hana didn't call it a buffalo or a bison because he has never seen either. As far as I know, there aren't bison in Japan.
Bah. More Yoh next chapter. He was supposed to be in this one, but it ended up being longer than I thought it would be and I didn't want to double it with Yoh. Plus, I have to babysit and don't have time.
So, I apologize for the crap ending. Here! You can have this! A preview for a future chapter! No, I don't know which one yet, but it won't be for a while.
Every journey has its ups and downs. Mine has just hit rock bottom.
:( Poor guy. Yeah, unfortunately, the story isn't all happy happy joy joy. There is some angst and tragedy. -Tear-
Next chapter will be softer than most. Virtually no action or hype, just peace. I'll also have what I've translated of the Shaman Files in the top author's note of next chapter. Sigh. Alright. Later guys.