Besarki: Insanity. It's a new freaking record. Normally, I get about seven or eight reviews per chapter, but you guys really came through this time. 16. SIXTEEN! INCREDIBLE! I love you guys XD
Oh, and it turns out that your review wasn't deleted, Junky. That's pretty weird. I've been writing fanfics for six years and I've never seen a review stay after the chapter was deleted before. Hmm. New FFNet format, perhaps? So, if you count yours, it was seventeen reviews. Which is only uber amazing. (...Uber? What kind of word is uber?)
Oh, and if you want to be a nut and count, one of them is on chapter one for some reason. That's okay, though. complicatedmind21 is just complicated like that XD *Found that funny for some reason*
If you asked a question in your review and it was signed, I almost definitely answered it. I was seriously high off all the reviews. It was an epic win.
Oh, and I promised to clear this up so I guess I will now:
Chapter 21: Prelude: "Because Hana's life wasn't something I'd give up so easily."
-----This was a trick. It was Anna dying from the very beginning, but I wanted to throw everyone off so I stuck this in here. However, now that I put it in, I had to deal with it and make up a story for it, so I'll share:
-----The vision Anna had divined foretold that both she AND Hana would die. She didn't waste time looking for a way to save her own life, but she was desperate to save Hana's. She found one, but by using this outlet, she dooms herself. No matter what happens, she'll die. The only way to escape is not to go, but that's not an option. She cares too much for Yoh. By allowing Naka control at the very last minute, she was able to change the shock wave's direction in order to not hit Hana, but its intensity increases near the middle--where she is. Because of this, her body is ripped apart inside and any chance of survival she may have had is revoked. It's a very sad story. :(
So, I got an email from Grazere (if you don't know who that is, see my profile) a few days ago about a DVD set for an anime called "Eureka Seven" He's apparently obsessed with it, and is demanding that I watch it as soon as he gets the box set. Has anyone seen it? Is it any good? Or will I be clawing my eyes out watching this? x.x
Random Mysteriousness:
I was looking through Mantarite and SK KZB Vol 27 and I noticed that adult Anna's left--looks like right to the reader--hand is never shown close up. Doesn't a wedding ring normally go on the left hand? (I should know this, but I don't. This is embarrassing because my dad is a jeweler. Okay, I just checked. Americans and Asians wear it on the left, Europeans wear it on the right. Woo! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! *Kills self for quoting Grammar Rock*) Hmmmmmm! Random unimportant detail or plot point? Let us contemplate!
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Cause If one day you wake up and find you're missing me
and your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be
Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet
And you'll see me waiting for you on the corner of the street
So I'm not moving, I'm not moving
Going Back to the corner where I first saw you
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move
~The Man Who Can't Be Moved, The Script
Yoh
My eyes opened slowly as the light faded from around me.
My arms fell and feeling returned to my limbs for the first time in seven years.
My eyes met only blurry objects at first, and I could just barely make out my son crying over my wife's broken body.
"Hana..." I whispered, approaching his quivering form. He didn't seem to notice me.
The fog that clouded my mahogany eyes begin to lift then, and, for the very first time, I really saw him. My son of almost eight years.
"Hana," I repeated. My hand reached forward to touch him, just to be sure that he was really there--that this was all real.
Just before my hand reached him, his head turned the slightest bit. I froze as I found myself staring into Anna's ocher eyes.
He punched me in the jaw.
For a moment, I could only stare in shock. My little Hana stood glaring at me with a face more hateful than any I had ever seen before.
"YOU'RE TOO LATE!" He cried furiously, tears flying from his eyes. "SHE'S ALREADY DEAD!"
At that instant, my twin brother stepped up next to me. Hana backed away.
"Hao..." He breathed, shaking and staring with a leery expression.
Hao rolled his eyes. "What a lovely child you have, Yoh."
I shot my brother a reproving glance, then looked back to my son. "Hana, come here."
"No," He growled, standing firmly at Anna's side. "If I move, that psychopath will incinerate Kaa-san's body. I know he's done stuff like that before."
"What difference will it make? She's dead," Hao stated. Though his words sounded totally serious, I knew just how false they were. He wouldn't dare.
After all, I was the real Shaman King, not him.
Regardless, I couldn't contain the enraged glare that my eyes directed at my brother.
As we began our silent debate, Hana stared--distrusting and furious.
---0---0---0---0---0---
Hana
I couldn't get over just how different my father looked from the way he used to.
Besides the hair, which was several times longer than it used to be, his face seemed so much...older. That may have seemed like a dumb statement because he was older, but it made no difference to me. If I hadn't recognized his voice, I wouldn't have known it was him, to be honest.
Oh, and his clothes were ugly. Big orange pants--which were dumb-looking even if they were orange--and a sloppy white t-shirt. He looked as much like a hippie as Kaa-san did. They probably collaborated their outfits.
I shook my head. This wasn't what I should be focused on.
I don't know what Tou-san and this creep were doing, but I didn't want to sit around and watch them argue. I was grieving, and having them here wasn't exactly helping. Tou-san, fine. But not Hao.
And Matamune's glassy eyes were really starting to annoy me.
"Isn't there something you're supposed to be doing?" Tou-san suddenly asked, though it didn't sound like he wasn't actually asking, more ordering. If Asakura Yoh was capable of that. I looked up, thinking he was talking to me.
"Ah," Hao realized. "I suppose so. Can you watch your runt for five minutes while I go take care of this?"
I frowned. I hadn't noticed before, but Hao was definitely carrying something and it didn't appear to be something I was allowed to see as it was wrapped up in a big white towel.
"Don't be a jerk."
"I wasn't. I was being entirely serious. You don't exactly have any experience with children, Yoh-kun."
Did they not notice that I was standing right here, or were they just plain rude? I grunted in annoyance. Hao glanced my way, and smirked.
"You know what, Yoh-kun, I don't think we should risk it." He flicked his fingers at the air in front of me and I suddenly fell back against the battle-worn ground, unconscious.
---0---0---0---0---0---
Yoh
"Hao!" I fumed. This was the second time he'd knocked Hana out!
"I was doing you a favor," He replied, indifferently.
"How is this a favor?! You knocked him out...AGAIN!"
"You're so naive. I'll just let you thank me later."
I could almost hear Anna yelling, "ARROGANT BASTARD!" and then slapping Hao across the face. The thought made me laugh for a second, but then soon melted into a sigh and a small, sad smile.
My eyes trailed down to my wife's empty corpse. There was little left to her, and even though she had only just died, her soul was already completely gone.
Dejectedly, I kneeled down to pick her up.
When I found out that this was going to happen, I did everything in my power to try to prevent it, but there wasn't enough time and I found that, as Hao had said, there was nothing I could do.
After searching for days, I regretfully returned to the Hao and Ohachiyo.
Hao laughed at me and told me that I should have listened to him. For hours I endured his constant verbal torture, but I really didn't care. I felt like hell, and there was little Hao could do to worsen my feelings. I simply sat there and burned.
However, after the teasing finally stopped, I found out that Hao had another plan. I had another option.
And those words were sweeter than any I had heard in a long, long time.
"You can resurrect her, right?" I asked, cradling my wife to me.
Hao shrugged. "Probably. The outer body is fine, but it's a wreck inside. The genius all but imploded upon herself with that last maneuver. Caved lungs, burst heart. To be brutally honest, it's not looking like virtually any of her organs are intact." An strangely sadistic look crossed his face then. "Hit her in the stomach. She'll spew blood everywhere."
My stomach flipped. I had I feeling that I was going to be the one puking, not her.
Hao laughed at my face.
"You're such a little boy, Yoh. You're lucky I knocked Hana out. You'd have to suffer through the embarrassment of knowing that he was the one taking care of you. And he's your son."
I muttered curses under my breath. I had more potential than that.
"Well, I suppose that's it for now, little brother. Take your kid and Anna back to that house I showed you. You do remember where it is, right?"
"Yes, Hao," I grumbled. All he'd done was tease me all these years. For crying out loud, I wasn't that much younger!
"Good. Well, I have some spirit hunting to do," He said dismissively.
I sighed. "She's going to lose it when she sees you."
Hao laughed knowingly. "That'll be nothing. Just wait to she sees what I have planned."
"She'll flip."
"She'll do more than that."
My face grew graver by the minute. "I know."
He smirked. "I'll tell her it was your idea."
"Yeah--What?!" I shrieked. He had to be joking!
"I'm not," He replied, fire burning in his eyes.
"Hao," I growled, my voice rattling with warning.
"Oh no, don't send your spirit on me, Yoh," He said sarcastically.
"HAO!" I was surprised that steam wasn't pouring out my ears. He was really on my last nerve.
"Relax, Yoh-kun," Hao snickered. He patted me once on the back then turned to the north. "I doubt she'll be hard to find. There's no way in hell she moved on, not with all she left behind."
"Yeah, it doesn't seem like something she'd be able to do." Her soul was probably tortured. She'd left her son alone and heartbroken on the battlefield. It would cut her like a knife. I just hoped Hao found it before all those negative emotions turned her into an evil spirit.
"It isn't. Did you see how unhappy your kid was to see you? That would break her heart." Then he snorted. "Both figuratively and literally."
I glared. I didn't find any of his antics to be at all funny or even slightly amusing.
He flashed his teeth. "I'm going to look before she gets too far."
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
He smirked and nodded. "See you later, then." He paused as he glanced down at the starstruck Matamune. "Oh, Matamune, why don't you come, too? It's been quite a while. I'd like to catch up."
Matamune nodded, completely speechless.
"Alright, Mappa. We gotta go. She's probably half-way back to Japan by now," Ohachiyo pointed out.
"You're right. Ohachiyo, Matamune, come on." He waved his hand as a gesture, and then the three of them departed.
Matamune...
I was happy for him. Even though Hao had long been our enemy, Matamune hardly ever lost faith in him. He always wanted to see his former master again, and I was glad he got the chance.
I felt myself sigh.
"Why are you still here?" I asked quietly. "You've made amends, and you can finally move on. Isn't that what you wanted?"
My head turned to an awkwardly shaped rock where a man with long, black hair and lost cobalt eyes sat wordlessly. He wore an old black shirt and baggy black pants, though his attire didn't matter much.
The man stared at me with death written on his face. He was a ghost, and his depression was slowly overwhelming him. As a shaman, it was my job to help him.
"Hana called you Naka, right?"
"Yes..." The man answered. "And Anna called me Naka-Oni. They were the only names I had as my old one was lost to the dust."
"Well...Naka-Oni brings back bad memories. I'm going to call you Naka, too."
"If you wish."
I smiled and strutted over to him. "Well, Naka. You're looking pretty down."
"My master is dead. I failed her, and I still get to move on? That isn't fair."
"You didn't fail her. She gave her life to save her son. The blast you conjured eliminated all her enemies and helped her save him. It's not your fault that she ran out of mana and tapped into energy she couldn't spare. That's just Anna. She would have done that with or without you."
Naka didn't seem convinced. "And the recoil? That's the reason her insides were reduced to almost nothing."
I knew that, too. The heavy expulsion of mana and inner spiritual energy all at once was what killed her, but it was the recoil, the shock wave that went off afterward, that destroyed her body. Hana didn't know it, but he had only narrowly missed the attack. Had a single bit of it touched him, he would have been torn apart like his mother and his opponents had been.
"That wasn't intentional. You even downplayed the intensity which saved her from being completely eradicated. The damage that was inflicted can be undone thanks to your restraint."
His face brightened the slightest bit, but then fell again. "What difference will it make? She's breathed her last."
I grinned. "We're going to resurrect her. If I hadn't been sure of that, I'd be as gloomy as you are."
For the first time, I saw hope on the spirit's face. "She will live?"
"Yeah. She and Hana will be fine. Our entire family is indebted to you, Naka."
He stared, like I had just said something wonderful, which I knew I had.
"She will live?"
"Yes."
And he relaxed. "Then it is I who owes you." He stood from the rock, a small smile on his face. "If your words are true, then I will move on. However, I will forever been in the debt of the Asakura family for helping me to redemption. If my help is ever again required..."
"We'll call you," I agreed.
He nodded. "I may even take up my old guise again if it is required of me." His strange excitement was mindboggling.
"We'll see," I chuckled.
Naka took a step forward and took my hand, shaking it firmly. "I will never forget what this family has done for me," He promised, "and never will a day pass where I do not express my gratitude."
"It's nothing, Naka. This is our job." I couldn't suppress the laughs that had been threatening to spill for such a long time.
He stepped back and smiled, and then, slowly but surely, he began to fade. Then, in a matter of seconds, he was gone. Returned to the Great Spirit, gone from the mortal plane.
Finally at peace.
Besarki: Awwwwwwww! Naka's gone!!! But I just solved one of the problems I had from earlier! The sequel is becoming more likely again... Awkward ending, but it was cute. :D
Kinda a gruesome chapter (and considerably plotless and dumb)--it even made my stomach churn--but I wanted Hao to show that he was still sadistic as always and that bringing back you-know-who won't be just a walk in the park.
Yoh is severely OOC in this chapter. He's depressed and I can't write him depressed. Next chapter he'll be happy again, though. Guess why. ;)
So, Hana's comment about Yoh's clothes being ugly, I didn't mean it. Hana did, I didn't. ;) It was super dark last chapter so I wanted to shine a light on things (I mean this as in, making things happier, not clearer as the saying is usually used for). Next chapter will be blinding, then. Hahaha. Everyone's favorite Itako is back!
Random person: Kino?
Besarki: NO!
Random Fun Fact: Naka's true identity was at one time going to be Hao, but as Hao made an appearance, this was changed. Ta da! You learned something today!
So, my site crashed just after I added the new section for the Living For Tomorrow (take a wild guess what that is), but it's up again. Hooray! Check if you're interested, and let me know if what you'd rather see: sequel or spinoff!
Lastly, I STILL haven't got the new Mantarite files up, but I SWEAR I WILL! I just got a scanner, too! So they'll be good quality and everything! Hooray!
Toodles, Munchies.