Chapter 17 - The Three Minxes - Part Five - The Faeries
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to KOEI TECMO, TECMO and Team NINJA. I am not Yosuke Hayashi.
A/N: I'm going to make this A/N short. I want to thank everyone who has been reading this. Please review!:P
Yokosuka
Kasumi's scream pierced through the cave, echoing against the walls. She fell to the floor, her back leaking blood. Hayabusa ran to her pulling her into his arms. She was trembling in them, refusing to open her eyes.
"Kasumi, don't do this. Open your eyes, please." The Dragon Ninja whispered. She did not do so.
"Kasumi..." He whispered again, pulling his mask away and setting it on the floor. Kasumi whimpered.
"Watashi wa dekimasen. Sore wa amarini mo itai... " I can't. It hurts too much... She replied faintly. Blinded by rage, he turned around to meet the hooded faces of his opponents. All of them wore white and were looking down.
"Who are you?" Hayabusa growled. The four figures did not respond, merely looking down on the translucent floor. "I said, who are you?!" He yelled again, anger possessing him.
"Tu non es scire." You are not to know. One of them hissed. Hayabusa drew out the Dragon sword, to which the four figures gasped, then huddled talking between themselves. Hayabusa let his guard loosen slightly, as his brows furrowed. Kasumi's whimpers were louder now, and it took all his willpower to not attack the bastard who did this to her.
When the four figures finished talking, they turned back to the two ninjas,
"You are the Dragon Ninja. And she is the Kunoichi Of Destiny. You are both involved in The Prophecy, but where is The Electus?" They asked simultaneously. Hayabusa frowned.
"Who is this Electus you are speaking of?" He asked, his hold on the sword tighter. The figures gasped again.
"They have not joined her yet! That means... the demons are faster than we thought. Oh, no..." One of them said, trailing off. The others nodded in agreement, while Hayabusa stared at them in confusion.
"We must heal the Kunoichi Of Destiny and bring them to the Electus immediately!" They disappeared and reappeared in front of Kasumi who they started to undress.
"Don't touch her!" Hayabusa yelled, enraged, but it was as if they were protected with a force field. They ignored Hayabusa's yells of protests and rolled Kasumi onto her stomach. The gash was deep enough for blood to leek out, but not as deep as they thought.
"O dominorum universi. Filia tua benedic hoc munditiam, quae perturbant animam eius Repelle cicatricem pessima. Huic stare vis et potestas est dimicare, ut quoniam partes iter erit molesta. O, dominorum universi benedic hoc filia in omnibus tuae!" They said, simultaneously. Kasumi let out a screech of pain, twitched, then glowed in a blinding white light. Afterwards, they proceeded in redressing her, and after one of the shadows clicked its bony fingers, her eyes opened. She stood slowly, almost stumbling in Hayabusa's open arms.
"Are you fine?" He asked softly, stroking her hair.
"I'm fine," She smiled tiredly. The shadows watched them wearily, as Kasumi grasped her wakizashi from the ground. She glared at the four shadows, who only looked away in shame.
"We apologize for our behavior. We did not know that you were part of The Prophecy." One said, tonelessly.
"The Prophecy?" Kasumi questioned, brows furrowed.
"We cannot tell you more. Only the Oracle could reveal it to..." It trails off, realising its mistake. The three other light shadow hiss at him. Kasumi and Hayabusa blinked at each other, then blinked at the shadows. Then sharply, Kasumi turned to see the Electus statue. She blinked at it, brows furrowed, before it clicked.
"Hitomi," She whispered, "that's the girl that came second in Dead Or Alive tournament!" She said, a little louder, getting their attention. Their body language showed that they were not happy.
"How do you know?" They asked simultaneously.
"I...I've met her before, and news spread around quite quickly in Tokyo." She replied, her voice biting, startling Hayabusa.
"Calm yourself, we meant no harm. Anyways, if you may please make your way into the pond." They said again, simultaneously. Hayabusa and Kasumi gave each other a glance. The kunoichi frowned and glared at them.
"That pond is not deep enough for a person to jump in." She said. The Dragon Ninja grabbed his mask and placed it on his head, nodding in approval.
"She's right, we would not even get to our waist level." He said. The shadows made noises of disapproval.
"It is not your choice, though." One said coldly, stretching its bony arm, and lifting it in the air, just as both of the ninjas were now floating in the air. They yelped in surprised and glared at the shadows. Then suddenly, they were dropped in the cold water. Kasumi sneezed, repeatedly before glaring at them.
"Son of a-...!" She gasped as she felt herself sink in the water. She desperately grasped Hayabusa's hand, who was trying his best to pull them up, but after a while, the fatigue came, and he slowly let himself sink, eyes closed.
"Hayabusa! No!" But her words came out as bubbles. Tears sprung into her eyes, but it was not the water that was doing it. Her hold on his hand tightened as slowly, everything went black.
Hitomi was normally filled with bravado. She never feared anything, whether it was a spider the size of a shoe or a snake. She'd never been scared of anything until now. Right now, she was terrified of letting go of Hayate's arm. Not only did she not recognise these parts of the Black Forest, but she also never heard that howl. It was a wolf's, but it sounded tortured. Disturbing scenes flashed in her mind on how he could be. She shuddered, and not because of the biting cold. Even if she had gotten her clothes back, absolutely did not mean that she had fully transformed back into herself. There was still a halo on her head, and she started to miss her pink headband.
Light giggles made the group freeze in terror.
"What the hell was that?" Jann Lee asked.
"The Faeries." Andra replied, toneless. They simultaneously shuddered. It was a good thing that Mingyu was found only at the edge of the forest. Who knew what could have happened...
"Budai, where the is Mei Lin?" Eliot asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Ayane pulled his wrist.
"We'll find her. Don't worry, I mean, how horrible can these Faeries be?" She asked, squeezing it affectionately. She didn't know why the need to comfort him was so strong. She barely knew him. Eliot admitted that he loved the attention. He couldn't believe how close they have gotten in such little time. He squeezed back, sending electric currents in the kunoichi's hand. Ayane blushed and restrained herself from grinning. She would never admit that she loved his touch.
They walked for a few more minutes then arrived near a pond, relieved to find some water. They greedily drank each, thank goodness for Andra's analyzing powers on the water. They rested slightly more, before hearing bubbles.
"What in the name of Freya...?" Hitomi said, just as the water turned blindingly white. Water sprayed them, they covered their faces with their arms, now soaking wet. As Hitomi opened her eyes, she heard frightened gasps from Hayate and Ayane.
"Kasumi?!" Hayate exclaimed.
"Master Ryu?!" Ayane cried in disbelief. Kasumi coughed water as Hayabusa gently clapped her back, and stood with her. Hayate ran to her stumbling form.
"Are you okay, Kasumi?" He asked, ignoring Hayabusa. She nodded weakly. Hitomi watched them, her eyes shining green in jealousy. She vaguely remembered Hayate calling out her name while he was unconscious. They had the same eyes, but yet looked close. Too close, she thought grumpily.
"Ryu, what happened to you two?" Hayate asked his friend. Hayabusa shook his head.
"Not right now, Hayate. Patience is a virtue. Right now, Kasumi is very weak. We need someone to help her get better and-...where are we?" He asked, noticing the beauty of the replica of the forest.
"The replica of the Black Forest." Hitomi responded, "we're looking for a little girl." She nodded, and smiled sadly at Eliot's expressionless eyes.
"Why so, you may ask," Andra continued, "because evil beings captured her. Don't laugh because their Faeries. They're fucking vicious. If you're not careful, you could die." She said. Hayabusa nodded his head understandably. Eliot walked to Kasumi.
"Are you alright? How do you feel?" He asked. Neither Ayane, nor Mingyu liked the way their faces were centimeters apart.
"Nauseous. I can't feel my limbs...ah!" She yelped as she felt Eliot's hand touch her shoulder. Hayabusa angrily stalked towards him.
"What have you done?" He growled. Eliot bravely glared back into his emerald green eyes and spat a, "nothing."
"Stop, Hayabusa. I feel better. In fact, I feel great." Kasumi said, standing. Her legs did not tremble, like expected, and she smiled at Eliot thankfully, "thank you. I have no clue what you have done, but I feel so much better." Her sweet smile made a blush creep to Eliot's cheeks.
Andra gaped at Eliot, mouth open.
"You don't realise what you've done, right?" She asked him. Eliot frowned and turned to her.
"What?" He asked.
"You have healing powers! You're the..." She trailed off, waving her hand dismissively, "never mind."
"What?" Eliot asked again.
"Nothing!" The Huntress snapped, "you just have healing powers. I don't know where they come from." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the tree behind her. Eliot opened his mouth to say something, but sighed and dropped it.
They rested a bit longer, with Hitomi shooting glares to Kasumi, who was taking all the attention from Hayate. It's not like her, but her feelings have quite grown stronger from the beginning of her adventure. So a girl from Hayate's past coming to ruin that is just...resentful. Kasumi did not show it, but noticed the glares, and just smiled at them. Although, she couldn't quite believe that she was the woman from the cave.
At night time, they decided to laze a bit more, and it was a chance for Kasumi to speak to her.
"I've noticed that you don't really like me." She said. Hitomi looked away, ashamed.
"Just know that I'm Hayate's little sister. I know you have feelings for him, it was in your eyes." Kasumi continued smiling. Hitomi turned her head around, returning an apologetic smile.
"I'm so sorry. I just thought...I got jealous." She said sheepishly. Kasumi chuckled.
"It's alright. Many people told me that I look like his lover." She said. A pregnant pause settled, before Hitomi's eyes shone white.
"You're pregnant." She said simply. Kasumi gasped.
"That's not-..." Hitomi cut her off.
"You are. I can see it." She said. Kasumi tried to protest, but slowly, she sighed and petted her belly subconsciously.
"I can't lie to you, can I?" She laughed bitterly, then looked over to Hitomi, "please don't tell my brother. He would be out for blood if he knew who the father was." She muttered quietly. Hitomi nodded in understanding.
"I won't tell a soul." She said, but then her stomach started to cramp. She cried out in pain as her eyes shown bright white, and Kasumi backed away. The giggles could be heard in the distance, as another screech of pain, but not from Hitomi. It was a little girl's. Eliot stood up looking around wildly, as small little girls, taller than a pointer finger, with multicoloured hair, pale skin and skimpy dresses floated around them. Not wanting to forget their insect-like-wings. One that roughly looked like Leifang settled on Eliot's hand. She giggled like a little girl before a set of fangs replaced her perfect front teeth. She bit the Apprentice Of the Iron Fist's hand, to which he howled in pain, shaking his hand violently. The Faerie pouted, then laughed. What caught the group's attention was the bloodied body that was running to Eliot.
Mei Lin.
"Méi lián! Nǐ méishì ba?" Mei Lin! Are you okay? He asked, ignoring the blood and pulling her into his arms. She yelped in pain, and all the blood that was on her body vanished. She smiled at him, then started to cry.
"Shh," He cooed, "it's okay, love. It's okay." He rubbed her back soothingly. The Faeries screeched in protest, directing themselves to Eliot. He closed his eyes and pulled Mei Lin closer, trying to ease her impact, but magically, the forest disappeared, only leaving them in white fog. They all blinked.
Acantha sent a glare to Mei Lin, who had started to bury her head in the crook of Eliot's neck. Hitomi was asleep, safely nestled in Jann Lee's arms, who received a glare from Hayate, not missed by Kasumi.
"Well, you saved her and made new friends," she said tonelessly, then pouted, "no fun at all. But, whatever. Here's your damn parchment." She threw a piece of sepia paper to Leifang, who caught it with one hand. She then connected it with the piece Adara gave, as it glowed blue, but it was still blank. She frowned.
"Why is it still blank?" Leifang asked. Acantha rolled her eyes.
"How should I know? Go ask Achlys. I just know that she'll know." She smirked, before disappearing into thin air. Leifang quickly hid the Map, just as Hitomi stirred, then blinked at everyone else.
"I really have to stop sleeping when we get here." She said, rubbing her eyes, sending a sweet smile to Jann Lee and pushing herself off him.
"We have to get out of here," Andra said, "the lack of colour of this place is making me sick." The group nodded in agreement. Ayane approached Kasumi and Hayabusa.
"Do you need someone to fill you in on...you know...this?" She said, shuffling her feet awkwardly. Kasumi's eyes softened even more, and they nodded. They listened attentively, sometimes grimacing, sometimes frowning, sometimes chuckling. When Ayane had finished, you could imagine Hayabusa's expressionless face and Kasumi's shocked one.
"So somehow, we are part of this...Prophecy." Kasumi whispered. Hayabusa sent her a knowing look, and nodded wordlessly. Ayane shrugged, slightly uncomfortable with her half-sister's gaze on her.
"Well, time to meet Achlys," Leifang said, smiling wryly. And with that, they walked blindly into the fog, unprepared on what to expect.
A/N: Hello!
This chapter was pretty long. Yay! Kasumi met Hitomi! And they're getting along pretty well! Eliot has the healing powers!X) Who will have the telepathy?
Question: What do you think Achlys looks like? And no one has answered who is Sanatore and Mors...(even though I know you won't have a clue, just give it a try!)
Don't forget to R&R!:)