CHAPTER 4: THE ENCOUNTER
“State your business, vampire. Are you here to suck my blood or something?”
Raziel was quite impressed at how spunky and down-to-earth this girl was. She didn’t even flinch when he proceed to walk nearer to her. He stopped in his track when he had a whiff of her aura. So strong, so powerful, so…deliciously tempting.
“Who are you?” Raziel asked. “Why do you have such a strong aura in you? What kind of human are you?”
“Unfortunately, I do not consider myself a human,” Melissa flung her long dark hair with flourish. “I consider myself as a being. Those people who come asking for my help are humans. I’m not as degraded as they are.”
“Your aura is very strong. Almost as strong as the beings of Nozgoth, but much lower. Who are you?”
“If you must know, vampire, my name is Melissa Celestial, your resident witch from the East,” Melissa said with an air of pride in her.
“A witch?” Raziel was surprised.
“Yup, a witch, and the most powerful at that,” Melissa replied as she sat back on the swing. “I’m the odd one out of all my family of witches. I’m the strongest and the most powerful among my siblings and relatives. It’s very rare in my family to see a witch that has powers exceeding all records of life.”
“I can see that. You say that your family is a whole bunch of witches,” Raziel sat on the base of the merry-go-round.
“That’s right, including my father. In my family, even men are considered witches. They are all in the East, training and meditating their whole life through.”
“Then why are you not training like the rest of them?” Raziel asked, his hand behind his back, materializing the silver sword.
“Because I hate that kind of life!” Melissa snapped. “Just because I have powers stronger than everyone else, doesn’t mean they can deprive me of my freedom and keep me in the house training and meditating where there is a big world out there for me to explore! So I ran away from home, taking a few things with me and came here to the Big Apple.”
“You mean those little fox elves?” Raziel said, pointing at the chalk-like pens in her purse.
“Yup, totally. Aren’t they cool? Fox elves have been in my family for generations now, and I’ve learnt a long time ago on how to control them. I wanna be the greatest witch in the world and earn big bucks, ya know.”
“All the reason why you should just stay back at the East to train,” Raziel got up, his sword ready to cast its first blow.
“Forget it! I’m not going to waste my life there like my family did for generations! For this generation,” Melissa pointed to herself proudly, “I’m making my own life and my own rules! Who are you anyway? Are you one of my family’s new slave or something, sent here to bring me home?”
“Unfortunately, I’m no one’s slave,” Raziel sneered as he revealed his silver sword. “You should’ve stayed home, because I am here to take your soul!”
Raziel charged towards Melissa with splitting speed. He didn’t think that she would be able to keep away from his incoming. He raised his gleaming sword high above his head and brought it down towards Melissa’s vulnerable skull. Surprisingly, Melissa didn’t even as much flinch. She just sat there without even a small expression on her face while he brought his sword closer and closer towards her skull, slashing her beautiful head into half.
Suddenly, the same force field he saw when he first met this girl engulfed her body. It countered Raziel’s sword and bounced it away from his hand and onto the earth, slashing the tip of a bush in the process. Raziel was taken aback for a second there but he decided to end her life with his own hands. Again, he was bounced back by the force field and was sent flying towards the wall. His whole body popped with static as he tried to get up. He did the same thing again and again, and yet his every attempt resulted to serious playground damage.
“Looks like I have to find a new place to do my business,” Melissa sighed nonchalantly as the force field subsided. She picked up her stuff and got off the swing as if none of this had ever happened. Raziel growled as he got up painfully to charge at her with the sword but was stopped in his tracks by Melissa’s warning, “I wouldn’t do that again if I were you.”
“Why?! Why can’t I get close to you?! That’s impossible for a human to have this kind of power!!”
“I told you, I’m no degraded human. I am a being. An ultimate being. A witch,” Melissa smirked as she turned around to face the Soul Reaver. “By the way, FYI, I’ve developed this force field at birth. All of us witches have this kind of protection, but my family only developed it after long training and meditation.”
She cat-walked boldly towards Raziel, who fell on his knees in fatigue over his countless attempts to kill her, and pushed his forehead lightly with a scorn in her voice, “Told you I am powerful.”
He growled and reached out to grab her when he had the chance, only to be thrown away again by her force field. He had learnt the hard way that her force field was very sensitive to sudden movements that might threaten Melissa’s life. He watched painfully and grudgingly as she walked away from him with an air of pride in her steps.
“I’m going to get you!! Your soul is mine!!” Raziel snarled before she disappeared out of sight. Melissa waved him away like he was some kind of insignificant piece of shit. He slowly got up and picked up his sword. He angrily stabbed the sword onto the ground, venting out his anger at such defeat before dematerializing it back into his hand.
As the sun began to set and the night closed in, he tore off the old ragged robe he had on him for the whole day and walked towards the direction Melissa went, tracking down her aura.
His vow just became stronger.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Undying Love-Chp3
CHAPTER 3: THE GIRL
Raziel sat on the balcony stairs all night until the sun rose at the east. He was quite grateful that he was sun-tolerant, or he would’ve turned into dust straightaway. He heard the girl with the strong aura awoke from her sleep by the ringing of her alarm clock. He looked in and saw the girl walking groggily towards another room. He sat there and watched. He really wanted to know what this girl was doing.
A few minutes later, she walked out of the room fully dressed in a black long-sleeved dress. She had a ‘Peace’ pendant hanging around her neck made out of fake silver. She gathered her books and walked out to the front door.
Raziel climbed down the stairs in a jiffy and waited behind the wall of the apartment. He saw her walking out of the building and towards the bus stop which was a few feet away from the building. Raziel decided to follow her. He grabbed a very old and very torn robe from somewhere near the big trash bin and wore it in haste. He grabbed the rear of the bus and had his feet on the bumper of the bus, ignoring the surprised look of passers-by. The bus took him to a tall building that said ‘Yonderland High’. He saw the girl got off the bus and he followed suite.
He waited outside the gates of the building until every human around the area has entered the building before passing through the gates with ease and flew up to the tallest, densest tree available. He saw the girl at one of the windows, sitting among a whole bunch of humans listening to a man teaching in front of the room. He realized that this was a school. He continued sitting up at the tree, watching and waiting, not wanting to lose sight of the girl.
Finally, in the afternoon, school time was over. The humans all rushed out of the building to do their own stuff. Raziel saw the girl walking swiftly towards the bus stop to catch the next bus. He got off the tree and followed suite. Again, he grabbed the rear of the bus and let it take him to where it might take him. When he saw the girl got off the bus, he didn’t think twice.
That was when he realized that he was in the big city, filled with humans here and there. All those potential souls around him. It was like being taken into a land where food was abundant. But the girl was still his first priority. He wanted her soul no matter what—she could be beneficial to his existence. He followed her all the way down to a…playground?
She sat on a swing as if waiting for somebody. Her darkly dressed attire made her look mysterious and sleek among the people in the playground. Everyone cowered away when they saw her, as if they, too, felt her aura.
“Melissa! Melissa Celestial!”
The girl turned around to face the person who called her. Raziel began to comprehend.
“So,” Raziel said under his breath, “her name is Melissa Celestial. Interesting.”
“What are they doing here? I told you I don’t like too much exposure,” the girl whose name was Melissa grumbled. Her voice had a lot of spunk, like she had been around the big world long enough to make herself street-smart.
“Sorry, Melissa, but they didn’t believe me when I said I passed my test with your help. I hate being called a liar for nothing!” A girl no older than 12 years old complained. Behind her was her gang of friends consisting of another girl and 3 boys.
“Alright, alright. It’ll earn me more bucks anyway. So what are your questions for today?” Melissa waved away her complaint and got right into business.
“I wanna know about tomorrow’s science test!” the girl announced quickly.
“I wanna know if my crush Lavender has the hicks on me!”
“I wanna know about today’s weather, ‘coz I got a football game later.”
“I want to know if Patricia is still angry with me.”
“And I wanna know when our Social Studies teacher is going to ask the Home Science teacher to marry him!”
“Oh yeah, that’s a good question!” the rest of the gang agreed.
“OK,” Melissa said as she took 5 chalk-like pens. She opened the covers of each pens and out came 5 little fox elves no bigger than her own palms. It was obvious that only Raziel and she could see those elves, judging by the confused looks on the children’s faces. She explained to the children about the fox elves and their ability to see things normal people don’t see.
“I’m using these fox elves because they see things like what people are thinking, pass through walls, flying higher than a Concorde and other things. I know you can’t see them, because it takes a person like me to be able to see them. Go, my pets, seek for the answers these poor souls need.”
Raziel saw the fox elves flying out of her hands and out into the street. One of the fox elves passed by Raziel and it shrieked like a frightened puppy before rushing away to do its job. Raziel decided to follow it to see what it was doing. The fox elf led him to a girl with ebony-black hair and the purplest eyes you’ve ever seen. It actually flew through her body without as much as making the girl flinch. It was as if it didn’t really exist at all. Moments later, Raziel saw the fox elves gather together at one spot before returning to the playground.
One by one they approached Melissa and told her the answer. She took out a notepad and scribbled something before handing it to the girl who asked about the test.
“Here you go. You’re lucky it’s a multiple choice question kind of test. These are all the answers.”
“Thank you so much, Melissa!” the girl grinned in delight.
“You’re in luck, boy,” Melissa turned to her second customer. “That Lavender you were talking about, well, she definitely has the hicks on you. She wished that you would ask her to go for that latest horror movie ‘Revolution’.”
“Her wish is my command!” the boy jumped with glee, blushing like heck.
“It’s gonna be rainy today, boy, so I guess you should cancel your football plans for today.”
“Oh, man! That is so not good!” her third customer groaned.
“Patricia is not angry with you anymore, girl,” Melissa turned to her fourth customer. “She thinks that maybe you were just joking about her grades after all.”
“Thank God she understands!” the girl sighed in relief. “I keep forgetting that she’s very sensitive about her grades.”
“And you, little boy, your answer won’t be so satisfying. Mr. Norbert is still contemplating whether to propose to Ms. Rita. He even thinks that maybe it’s not worth it because she might have a boyfriend of her own.”
“Oh man! Mr. Norbert thinks too much!” the children groaned. “We gotta give him a piece of our mind tomorrow!”
“Alright, people, pay up! 10 bucks for each request!” Melissa brought them back to reality. The kids complained about it being too expensive but they paid it in the end, thanking her before they left. As the day went by, there came more and more customers of all ages young and old. Again the fox elves spread themselves finding the answers for their mistress and whispering them to her. They were actually doing all the dirty work for her. By the end of the day, her money jar was pretty much full.
Then something unthinkable happened. When the mystical Melissa got off the swing and patted herself off the dust, she looked towards the wall where Raziel was hiding and said, “Alright, you vampire. There’s no use hiding. I know you’re behind there. State your business.”
Raziel didn’t expect her to know that he was there watching her. Could it be that the fox elf that saw him had told her? It could be. Anything’s possible now.
Soon Raziel found himself standing face to face with aura-filled Melissa Celestial.
Raziel sat on the balcony stairs all night until the sun rose at the east. He was quite grateful that he was sun-tolerant, or he would’ve turned into dust straightaway. He heard the girl with the strong aura awoke from her sleep by the ringing of her alarm clock. He looked in and saw the girl walking groggily towards another room. He sat there and watched. He really wanted to know what this girl was doing.
A few minutes later, she walked out of the room fully dressed in a black long-sleeved dress. She had a ‘Peace’ pendant hanging around her neck made out of fake silver. She gathered her books and walked out to the front door.
Raziel climbed down the stairs in a jiffy and waited behind the wall of the apartment. He saw her walking out of the building and towards the bus stop which was a few feet away from the building. Raziel decided to follow her. He grabbed a very old and very torn robe from somewhere near the big trash bin and wore it in haste. He grabbed the rear of the bus and had his feet on the bumper of the bus, ignoring the surprised look of passers-by. The bus took him to a tall building that said ‘Yonderland High’. He saw the girl got off the bus and he followed suite.
He waited outside the gates of the building until every human around the area has entered the building before passing through the gates with ease and flew up to the tallest, densest tree available. He saw the girl at one of the windows, sitting among a whole bunch of humans listening to a man teaching in front of the room. He realized that this was a school. He continued sitting up at the tree, watching and waiting, not wanting to lose sight of the girl.
Finally, in the afternoon, school time was over. The humans all rushed out of the building to do their own stuff. Raziel saw the girl walking swiftly towards the bus stop to catch the next bus. He got off the tree and followed suite. Again, he grabbed the rear of the bus and let it take him to where it might take him. When he saw the girl got off the bus, he didn’t think twice.
That was when he realized that he was in the big city, filled with humans here and there. All those potential souls around him. It was like being taken into a land where food was abundant. But the girl was still his first priority. He wanted her soul no matter what—she could be beneficial to his existence. He followed her all the way down to a…playground?
She sat on a swing as if waiting for somebody. Her darkly dressed attire made her look mysterious and sleek among the people in the playground. Everyone cowered away when they saw her, as if they, too, felt her aura.
“Melissa! Melissa Celestial!”
The girl turned around to face the person who called her. Raziel began to comprehend.
“So,” Raziel said under his breath, “her name is Melissa Celestial. Interesting.”
“What are they doing here? I told you I don’t like too much exposure,” the girl whose name was Melissa grumbled. Her voice had a lot of spunk, like she had been around the big world long enough to make herself street-smart.
“Sorry, Melissa, but they didn’t believe me when I said I passed my test with your help. I hate being called a liar for nothing!” A girl no older than 12 years old complained. Behind her was her gang of friends consisting of another girl and 3 boys.
“Alright, alright. It’ll earn me more bucks anyway. So what are your questions for today?” Melissa waved away her complaint and got right into business.
“I wanna know about tomorrow’s science test!” the girl announced quickly.
“I wanna know if my crush Lavender has the hicks on me!”
“I wanna know about today’s weather, ‘coz I got a football game later.”
“I want to know if Patricia is still angry with me.”
“And I wanna know when our Social Studies teacher is going to ask the Home Science teacher to marry him!”
“Oh yeah, that’s a good question!” the rest of the gang agreed.
“OK,” Melissa said as she took 5 chalk-like pens. She opened the covers of each pens and out came 5 little fox elves no bigger than her own palms. It was obvious that only Raziel and she could see those elves, judging by the confused looks on the children’s faces. She explained to the children about the fox elves and their ability to see things normal people don’t see.
“I’m using these fox elves because they see things like what people are thinking, pass through walls, flying higher than a Concorde and other things. I know you can’t see them, because it takes a person like me to be able to see them. Go, my pets, seek for the answers these poor souls need.”
Raziel saw the fox elves flying out of her hands and out into the street. One of the fox elves passed by Raziel and it shrieked like a frightened puppy before rushing away to do its job. Raziel decided to follow it to see what it was doing. The fox elf led him to a girl with ebony-black hair and the purplest eyes you’ve ever seen. It actually flew through her body without as much as making the girl flinch. It was as if it didn’t really exist at all. Moments later, Raziel saw the fox elves gather together at one spot before returning to the playground.
One by one they approached Melissa and told her the answer. She took out a notepad and scribbled something before handing it to the girl who asked about the test.
“Here you go. You’re lucky it’s a multiple choice question kind of test. These are all the answers.”
“Thank you so much, Melissa!” the girl grinned in delight.
“You’re in luck, boy,” Melissa turned to her second customer. “That Lavender you were talking about, well, she definitely has the hicks on you. She wished that you would ask her to go for that latest horror movie ‘Revolution’.”
“Her wish is my command!” the boy jumped with glee, blushing like heck.
“It’s gonna be rainy today, boy, so I guess you should cancel your football plans for today.”
“Oh, man! That is so not good!” her third customer groaned.
“Patricia is not angry with you anymore, girl,” Melissa turned to her fourth customer. “She thinks that maybe you were just joking about her grades after all.”
“Thank God she understands!” the girl sighed in relief. “I keep forgetting that she’s very sensitive about her grades.”
“And you, little boy, your answer won’t be so satisfying. Mr. Norbert is still contemplating whether to propose to Ms. Rita. He even thinks that maybe it’s not worth it because she might have a boyfriend of her own.”
“Oh man! Mr. Norbert thinks too much!” the children groaned. “We gotta give him a piece of our mind tomorrow!”
“Alright, people, pay up! 10 bucks for each request!” Melissa brought them back to reality. The kids complained about it being too expensive but they paid it in the end, thanking her before they left. As the day went by, there came more and more customers of all ages young and old. Again the fox elves spread themselves finding the answers for their mistress and whispering them to her. They were actually doing all the dirty work for her. By the end of the day, her money jar was pretty much full.
Then something unthinkable happened. When the mystical Melissa got off the swing and patted herself off the dust, she looked towards the wall where Raziel was hiding and said, “Alright, you vampire. There’s no use hiding. I know you’re behind there. State your business.”
Raziel didn’t expect her to know that he was there watching her. Could it be that the fox elf that saw him had told her? It could be. Anything’s possible now.
Soon Raziel found himself standing face to face with aura-filled Melissa Celestial.
Undying Love-Chp2
CHAPTER 2: THE AURA
Raziel walked along the lonely night road, the rain falling mercilessly at his body. Not that he cared. He won’t have a cold or pneumonia like the vulnerable humans around him. He’s already an undead anyway.
He tried to gather some strength to shift back to the Spectral World, but still no use. He didn’t find himself anywhere near spectral. He growled in frustration and continued walking. If he didn’t find a place that could access him a gateway to the Spectral World, he would definitely go mad, regardless his usual sarcastic ways and cold attitude.
Suddenly he felt an aura in the midst. He swung round, trying to locate where the aura came from. Was it the aura of the gates to the Spectral World? Was it that the Elder God has sent his henchmen into this Material World? Was it the aura of Kain? Neither. It was something else. Something…
“Human,” Raziel’s voice rumbled down behind the scarf across his face, his yellow eyes blazing dangerously murderous. It was a much more comforting sight than having to see him without a bottom jaw.
He raced quickly towards the source of the aura. The rain was getting heavier. Thunder was crashing and lightning was flashing like hell, but he couldn’t care less. Besides, why would he be worried about catching death? As he raced further and further down the bleak city, he found himself standing below a tall building—an apartment, to be exact—towering up the night sky. This building also had seen better days but it wasn’t as wrecked as Raziel’s cape. Somewhere in the building, the aura was getting stronger.
“What kind of human would have such a strong aura?” Raziel thought as he spread his wings to fly up. “No ordinary human I have ever met has such strong aura.”
Of course, as limited the strength as his wings were, he could only bring himself up to the 3rd floor. The rest of the way he went up by climbing the balcony stairs. The aura was getting pressingly strong the higher he went up. Finally at the 10th floor, he could feel the aura emitting itself strongly at his face. It came from one of the windows to his right. Raziel flew slowly towards that window and tried it. It wasn’t locked, lucky for him. He opened it and crept in as silently as possible.
There inside the room, he almost suffocated by the pressure of the aura hitting on him. It came from someone who was sleeping on the canopy bed. He walked towards the bed to see the owner of the aura and was surprised to see that it was a girl no older than 20. She had long flowing black hair that spread decoratively on the pillow. She wore a black turtleneck long-sleeved shirt and a pair of body-fitting black leather jeans. She looked like someone who just came home from a joyride. It seemed that she was so tired she didn’t bother to change.
‘Who is this woman?’ Raziel thought. ‘How would a normal human like her have such a strong aura? What kind of human is she?’
When he held out his hand to touch her cheek, an electrical force suddenly engulfed the sleeping girl, forcing Raziel to back away. Raziel gasped silently as he held his three-fingered hand that was popping with static electricity.
‘What the hell…? She’s no ordinary human! She’s a hybrid! Her soul is perfect! I must have it!’
Raziel materialized his silver sword and held it high above the girl, ready to strike. He aimed the sword dangerously at her throat and was about to embed it swift and quick when all of a sudden, he couldn’t do it. It was nothing to do with her protective shield—she didn’t do anything; she just remained sleeping peacefully. It was also nothing to do with the fear of destroying himself after sucking her soul—he had sucked stronger souls than this and still lived through the day, like Zethon’s soul, for example. It was looking at her face that stopped him. Her face was so serene and calm, like she didn’t have any care of the world. It was as if she wanted him to kill her. This didn’t feel right. Usually when he was about to kill humans and suck the souls out of them, they would cower with fear and begging for their lives not to be killed. This totally didn’t feel right.
Again he raised his sword, higher this time and sent it swiftly down. He wanted to do this quick and silent and have her potential soul inside him as soon as possible but he stopped abruptly. The tip of the spiky sword was pinned on her throat just right, but he didn’t stab her through. Her chest was still rising and falling, indicating she was still asleep—and alive.
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t figure it out. So what if this human doesn’t beg for mercy? It’ll still be the same. He would get her soul all the same. But he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. Something was still not right. Somehow everything seemed way too simple. He wanted to kill her there and then but he couldn’t. It just didn’t feel right. He sighed and took the sword away from her throat and ran his fingers through his bluish-black hair. He will come back for her. Someday he will have her soul, one way or another.
He dematerialized his sword and stepped back from the bed. He hissed, “You’re lucky this time.”
As he crept back to the window and climbed out into the rainy open, he made a vow to find out who this girl really is.
Raziel walked along the lonely night road, the rain falling mercilessly at his body. Not that he cared. He won’t have a cold or pneumonia like the vulnerable humans around him. He’s already an undead anyway.
He tried to gather some strength to shift back to the Spectral World, but still no use. He didn’t find himself anywhere near spectral. He growled in frustration and continued walking. If he didn’t find a place that could access him a gateway to the Spectral World, he would definitely go mad, regardless his usual sarcastic ways and cold attitude.
Suddenly he felt an aura in the midst. He swung round, trying to locate where the aura came from. Was it the aura of the gates to the Spectral World? Was it that the Elder God has sent his henchmen into this Material World? Was it the aura of Kain? Neither. It was something else. Something…
“Human,” Raziel’s voice rumbled down behind the scarf across his face, his yellow eyes blazing dangerously murderous. It was a much more comforting sight than having to see him without a bottom jaw.
He raced quickly towards the source of the aura. The rain was getting heavier. Thunder was crashing and lightning was flashing like hell, but he couldn’t care less. Besides, why would he be worried about catching death? As he raced further and further down the bleak city, he found himself standing below a tall building—an apartment, to be exact—towering up the night sky. This building also had seen better days but it wasn’t as wrecked as Raziel’s cape. Somewhere in the building, the aura was getting stronger.
“What kind of human would have such a strong aura?” Raziel thought as he spread his wings to fly up. “No ordinary human I have ever met has such strong aura.”
Of course, as limited the strength as his wings were, he could only bring himself up to the 3rd floor. The rest of the way he went up by climbing the balcony stairs. The aura was getting pressingly strong the higher he went up. Finally at the 10th floor, he could feel the aura emitting itself strongly at his face. It came from one of the windows to his right. Raziel flew slowly towards that window and tried it. It wasn’t locked, lucky for him. He opened it and crept in as silently as possible.
There inside the room, he almost suffocated by the pressure of the aura hitting on him. It came from someone who was sleeping on the canopy bed. He walked towards the bed to see the owner of the aura and was surprised to see that it was a girl no older than 20. She had long flowing black hair that spread decoratively on the pillow. She wore a black turtleneck long-sleeved shirt and a pair of body-fitting black leather jeans. She looked like someone who just came home from a joyride. It seemed that she was so tired she didn’t bother to change.
‘Who is this woman?’ Raziel thought. ‘How would a normal human like her have such a strong aura? What kind of human is she?’
When he held out his hand to touch her cheek, an electrical force suddenly engulfed the sleeping girl, forcing Raziel to back away. Raziel gasped silently as he held his three-fingered hand that was popping with static electricity.
‘What the hell…? She’s no ordinary human! She’s a hybrid! Her soul is perfect! I must have it!’
Raziel materialized his silver sword and held it high above the girl, ready to strike. He aimed the sword dangerously at her throat and was about to embed it swift and quick when all of a sudden, he couldn’t do it. It was nothing to do with her protective shield—she didn’t do anything; she just remained sleeping peacefully. It was also nothing to do with the fear of destroying himself after sucking her soul—he had sucked stronger souls than this and still lived through the day, like Zethon’s soul, for example. It was looking at her face that stopped him. Her face was so serene and calm, like she didn’t have any care of the world. It was as if she wanted him to kill her. This didn’t feel right. Usually when he was about to kill humans and suck the souls out of them, they would cower with fear and begging for their lives not to be killed. This totally didn’t feel right.
Again he raised his sword, higher this time and sent it swiftly down. He wanted to do this quick and silent and have her potential soul inside him as soon as possible but he stopped abruptly. The tip of the spiky sword was pinned on her throat just right, but he didn’t stab her through. Her chest was still rising and falling, indicating she was still asleep—and alive.
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t figure it out. So what if this human doesn’t beg for mercy? It’ll still be the same. He would get her soul all the same. But he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. Something was still not right. Somehow everything seemed way too simple. He wanted to kill her there and then but he couldn’t. It just didn’t feel right. He sighed and took the sword away from her throat and ran his fingers through his bluish-black hair. He will come back for her. Someday he will have her soul, one way or another.
He dematerialized his sword and stepped back from the bed. He hissed, “You’re lucky this time.”
As he crept back to the window and climbed out into the rainy open, he made a vow to find out who this girl really is.
Undying Love-Chp1
Started: 05-21-03 Completed: 07-06-03
CHAPTER 1: THE WEIRD WORLD
Raziel cowered in a small secluded corner of a squatter’s area, thinking of what went wrong for the whole day. He remembered being chased by the Elder God’s henchmen sent to get him to throw him back to the Lake of Death, and in haste, he shifted into the Material World. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was in the middle of a big Material city with lights and loud music and lots and lots of people.
Everyone passing by looked at him like he was a freak. Well, technically, in everyone’s eyes, he was a freak: with a body built of either bones or muscles, his arms freakily wrapped up in brown, almost-tearing-apart bandages or some kind, his legs wearing rusty metal boots with his giant talon-like toes sticking out, his three abnormally large fingers—claws, to be exact—and his complexion, woah! He is bluer than any other people who had just been to the North Pole! What’s more freaky is that he travels around with a cape that had seen better days and his eyes were a glowing set of yellow.
Anyway, as I was saying, he was walking around the human-filled city like a total freak show. Some girls screamed at the sight of him and some teenagers looked at him and thought he was shooting a movie or some sort. Raziel was in total confusion. How did he get into this Material World? How did this happen? How could this happen? In the Material World, humans are supposed to be extinct! They’re not supposed to be around here! What was going on?
So therefore, our vampire undead hero had to find some place secret and people-less to sort things out. He tried to contemplate the meaning of all this when Ariel appeared beside him.
“You seemed troubled, Raziel.”
“What is this forsaken place? Why are there so many humans?!” Raziel snarled, spitting the last word like it was some kind of grotesque disease.
“I have come to a conclusion that you have fallen into the Material World of the past,” Ariel looked around her. “It seems like we are now in the 21st century state of the Material World.”
“How have I come to end up in a place like this?” Raziel banged his fist onto a rusty trashcan.
“I have to assume that it is due to your haste in shifting to the Material World. I suppose you were too anxious to get out of the Elder God’s henchmen and didn’t have time to coordinate where you want to go.”
“I am not anxious about that Squid! I don’t care about those henchmen! I was just…”
Raziel’s complaints were cut short by Ariel’s sudden announcement, “I see a problem.”
“What problem?” Raziel looked up at the ghostly figure of Ariel.
“Try to shift back to the Spectral World.”
Raziel tried. He found out in horror that he couldn’t shift back to the Spectral World, no matter how he tried. He gathered lots of strength and aura to shift himself into the Spectral World but to no avail. He slumped suddenly to the floor, panting like a dog.
“This cannot be happening. This cannot be happening!”
“It looks like there is no Spectral World in this dimension. Maybe there isn’t a Spectral World to get into unless you find a doorway or a vortex through. It seems that you’ll be here for quite some time,” Ariel said before disappearing into thin air.
The rain began to pour. Raziel could see all the humans, all those filthy little humans he wished he could sink his teeth into running around to find shelter. He was unlucky that there weren’t any squatters around, or he would’ve sucked the soul out of them. He remained sitting at his spot near the trashcan glaring at all the humans, all those potential meals running about away from his fatal grasp.
Finally, disregarding everything around him, he let out an angry, exasperated howl at the dark rainy sky above.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Mulan: A Parody-Chp Finale
CHAPTER FINALE – A SUPRISINGLY HAPPY ENDING
Mrs. Sakuragi sat alone near the goldfish pond, staring at the goldfishes that were way past their mating season. The juvenile late bloomer has finally mated with the females, and boy, was he the most outstanding of all. She was right—if given time and patience, anything is possible. She wondered if this was a sign that her son was alright.
No sooner she had that thought than her tall and handsome redhead son stood before her. She was at lost of words at first because his presence came to her as a shock. She didn’t even dare to acknowledge him. She was afraid that he would be an illusion, a dream she had often had ever since he had left home out to the dastardly dangerous war.
“Mom,” Sakuragi broke the ice and knelt in front of her. “Don’t be angry with me first, Mom. I have gifts from the Primal Castle and from the Queen herself. See, this is the token of war—the Primal Sword. And this,” Sakuragi said as he removed the necklace Queen Ayako has given him and put it around her neck, “the necklace from Her Majesty to honour the Sakuragi family. Gomenasai, Mom. Are you…still mad at me?”
Without warning, Mrs. Sakuragi let the Primal Sword she was holding fall out of her hand and wrapped her arms around her tall, built son. She wept happy tears as she finally realized that the Hana-chan kneeling before her was real. Between sobs, she whispered, “The greatest honour of all, my Hana-chan, is to have you for a son. My son.”
“Of course…” Sakuragi replied softly, finally having a feeling of belonging in his family. “I’m a tensai, remember? I will prevail…He he he he…”
Sakuragi Hanamichi couldn’t hold back his tears for long. To be perfectly honest, he had truly missed his mother the most ever since he left for war. He hugged him back and cried silently too. This touching scene was witnessed by Mr. Sakuragi and the basketball sifu Sensei Ansai, who had heard news about Sakuragi’s return.
“I am so glad your son is finally back from harm’s way,” Sensei Ansai let out a sigh of relief.
“Yeah,” Mr. Sakuragi agreed. “Although he did bring a sword home instead of a woman.”
“Gomene,” Mr. Sakuragi and Sensei Ansai turned to see Rukawa standing behind them with Sakuragi’s helmet in his hands. “May I know where’s Sakuragi Hanamichi?”
“Oh, you must be his captain,” Mr. Sakuragi smiled as he noticed the armour he was still wearing and pointed at the direction towards the goldfish pond. “He’s just right there.”
“Arigato,” Rukawa replied and stepped into the front yard and down the garden. He saw the mother and son still in embrace and cleared his throat to be made known that he was there. Sakuragi and his mother tore themselves away from each other.
“Kitsu…I mean Rukawa! What are you doing here?” Sakuragi asked, blushing.
“I came to return your helmet,” Rukawa said. “Or should I say, your helmet, Mrs. Sakuragi.”
“Arigato,” Mrs. Sakuragi said as she took the helmet, eyeing from Rukawa to her son and back again. She smiled and said, “I’ll be inside the house to help your mother with dinner. Do you want to stay for dinner, Captain Rukawa?”
“Sunimase, Mrs. Sakuragi,” Rukawa replied. “I’ve got other things to settle later.”
“Suit yourself. Let my Hana-chan know when you change your mind.”
With that, she left her son alone despite Sakuragi’s awkward-looking face. He stared at Rukawa in silence and the silent treatment hung in utmost awkwardness for about 5 minutes or so. Mido and Noma, who were looking at them from the ancestral pagoda along with the other ancestors, were grinning slyly, hoping for something great to happen and quick. Sakuragi finally decided to break the ice.
“So, uh, aren’t you going to go now? I mean you did say that you have something else to settle.”
“Actually…” Rukawa scratched his head a little before saying, “I, uh, I came here for another thing.”
“Hait? What thing?” Sakuragi asked, curious (A/N: For this scene, for those of you who heard it, imagine the background music is the piano theme of Genzomaden Saiyuki’s song ‘For Real’. It does have a catch to it).
“You see…” Rukawa hesitated before putting on a serious face and said, “You pretended to be a girl with whatever method you’ve used and you have betrayed my trust. You lied to your girlfriends and you lied to my whole troop and you even lied to me. I trusted you. I believed that you were going to be a great warrior when you became the first person to climb up that pole and retrieve the arrow. I believed that you were going to be the best among the troop when I see you improving in all my training routines. I believed that you were ready to fight for the island when that Hikoichi said otherwise. I believed you would be a permanent member in my troop and be the mightiest, wisest and wittiest soldier of the entire island when you destroyed the entire Shirogane Clan and saved my life at the same time. And I believed that you would take me as your husband as soon as this war was over. Do you know how it feels to be shattered of all those beliefs by just finding your scam out? Do you know exactly how it feels when all your hopes and dreams go down to the dumps when you discovered that you have been betrayed and lied at?”
“Go…Gomene…” Sakuragi shrank, his heart going sour all over again, just like that fateful day when he was being busted and found to be a man.
“Do you have any idea that one small scam can lead to a whole hoard of trouble?” Rukawa continued, gaining closer and closer towards the redhead. Mido was annoyed and wanted to just pounce at the blue-eyed fox but Noma stopped him. “Do you have any idea that you have betrayed my trust? Do you have any idea that you have betrayed my love for you? Do you have any idea that you have broken my heart? Do you? Do you?!”
“Gomenasai!! Gomenasai!!!” Sakuragi had his hands on his ears as tears fell out of his copper-brown eyes, his heart filled with guilt and sorrow. “I didn’t know! I didn’t know that any of this would lead to so much trouble! I didn’t think that a small lie could hurt so many people! I’m sorry!! Gomenasai!! Gomenasai~!!!”
Suddenly he felt a pair of strong arms around him, hugging him close to a broad chest where he could hear a steady heartbeat. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in Rukawa’s embrace. He could feel Rukawa’s breath near his neck and his slightly trembling body as he hugged the redhead close to him, not wanting to let go.
“Don’t you ever do that again, you do’aho. You hear me? Don’t you ever, ever do this to me again,” Rukawa hissed at his ear, sounding more like a desperate urge than anger. Sakuragi nodded and hugged him back.
“Gomene…Gomene…I will never do it again…I promise…” Sakuragi whispered, his tears continue to flow out of his eyes, but this time it wasn’t of sadness or guilt, but of happiness, for his love was just right there, holding him in his arms. How he wished that time would just stop for them.
Slowly he felt Rukawa’s hand on his chin. The blue-eyed fox turned Sakuragi’s face to face his. They both stared at each other deeply, the blue eyes boring deep into the copper-brown ones. Words need not to be said. They knew what they want from each other. Soon, their lips met, kissing each other deeply…
Suddenly Sakuragi felt a slight change in him. He knew this kind of feeling—it was the exact feeling when he had experienced the sex change done by Mido’s sorcery. Just like that fateful day, he felt a slight heat radiating from inside his body and it soared from his fiery red head down to the tip of his toes. This time the effect was faster, about 7 ½ or so. Right before Rukawa’s eyes, he had transformed from the male Sakuragi Hanamichi to the Sakuragi Minako Rukawa had come to know. Everything was exactly the same as before—a pair of D-cup women’s breasts, his Adam’s apple gone, his original broad shoulders shrunk a little to the size of an average workout woman, his waistline shrunk to fit a waist of a model, his arms and feet slender like a girl and his face a feminine look with a few itsy-bitsy traces of masculinity in it. Even his hair had grown back to the elbows’ length.
The two people were speechless for a moment there: Rukawa staring at Sakuragi and Sakuragi staring at his body change. What was going on here?! How did he turn back into a girl all of a sudden?!
“Um…Sakuragi, what’s going on here?” Rukawa finally found his voice.
“I…I have no idea!! I don’t know why this thing happened again!! Yada~!! Mido~!! Mido, what’s going on here?!” Sakuragi practically panicked his head off.
“Tell me you didn’t give him the no bloodshed sex change magic, Mido,” Ojisan Sakuragi, who saw everything, turned accusingly at the bronze-eyed neko. The other ancestors also did the same.
“Eh he he he he~! Gomene…” Mido replied awkwardly. “I needed him to really blend in with the troop. Guess I forgot to tell him that this spell is permanent and that even if he experienced bloodshed and turned back to his original sex, whosoever from whatever sex that truly loves him kisses him, he will become the other sex permanently. (A/N: Which means that if a girl kisses him, he would’ve stayed as a boy, but if a boy kisses him, he will turn to a girl) Well…at least he’s, I mean she’s with someone she loves…right…?”
Needless to say, he was kicked out of the ancestral pagoda by the angry ancestors and landed right in front of Sakuragi’s feet. Noma flew towards his master—now mistress—and perched on her shoulder. Sakuragi was taken aback for a moment before she picked the neko up and asked, “What just happened?”
“I’ll have to say that I’ve become your permanent guardian from now on,” Mido groaned, rubbing his aching head.
“What just happened?! Why did I turn back into a girl?! What’s going on here?!” Sakuragi shook Mido like a rag doll.
“It’s a long story. Believe me, it is.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” Rukawa’s voice came out of the blue, his face showing a demanding look. Sakuragi grinned sheepishly.
“Err…Are you still in for dinner then?”
And so he did stay for dinner and the rest was pretty much history. And as the story came to a close, wedding bells were heard in winter where the snowflakes that fell from the heavens made the perfect confetti for our newly wed Mr. Sakuragi Kaede and Mrs. Sakuragi Minako Hanamichi.
They lived, as expected, happily ever after.
Mrs. Sakuragi sat alone near the goldfish pond, staring at the goldfishes that were way past their mating season. The juvenile late bloomer has finally mated with the females, and boy, was he the most outstanding of all. She was right—if given time and patience, anything is possible. She wondered if this was a sign that her son was alright.
No sooner she had that thought than her tall and handsome redhead son stood before her. She was at lost of words at first because his presence came to her as a shock. She didn’t even dare to acknowledge him. She was afraid that he would be an illusion, a dream she had often had ever since he had left home out to the dastardly dangerous war.
“Mom,” Sakuragi broke the ice and knelt in front of her. “Don’t be angry with me first, Mom. I have gifts from the Primal Castle and from the Queen herself. See, this is the token of war—the Primal Sword. And this,” Sakuragi said as he removed the necklace Queen Ayako has given him and put it around her neck, “the necklace from Her Majesty to honour the Sakuragi family. Gomenasai, Mom. Are you…still mad at me?”
Without warning, Mrs. Sakuragi let the Primal Sword she was holding fall out of her hand and wrapped her arms around her tall, built son. She wept happy tears as she finally realized that the Hana-chan kneeling before her was real. Between sobs, she whispered, “The greatest honour of all, my Hana-chan, is to have you for a son. My son.”
“Of course…” Sakuragi replied softly, finally having a feeling of belonging in his family. “I’m a tensai, remember? I will prevail…He he he he…”
Sakuragi Hanamichi couldn’t hold back his tears for long. To be perfectly honest, he had truly missed his mother the most ever since he left for war. He hugged him back and cried silently too. This touching scene was witnessed by Mr. Sakuragi and the basketball sifu Sensei Ansai, who had heard news about Sakuragi’s return.
“I am so glad your son is finally back from harm’s way,” Sensei Ansai let out a sigh of relief.
“Yeah,” Mr. Sakuragi agreed. “Although he did bring a sword home instead of a woman.”
“Gomene,” Mr. Sakuragi and Sensei Ansai turned to see Rukawa standing behind them with Sakuragi’s helmet in his hands. “May I know where’s Sakuragi Hanamichi?”
“Oh, you must be his captain,” Mr. Sakuragi smiled as he noticed the armour he was still wearing and pointed at the direction towards the goldfish pond. “He’s just right there.”
“Arigato,” Rukawa replied and stepped into the front yard and down the garden. He saw the mother and son still in embrace and cleared his throat to be made known that he was there. Sakuragi and his mother tore themselves away from each other.
“Kitsu…I mean Rukawa! What are you doing here?” Sakuragi asked, blushing.
“I came to return your helmet,” Rukawa said. “Or should I say, your helmet, Mrs. Sakuragi.”
“Arigato,” Mrs. Sakuragi said as she took the helmet, eyeing from Rukawa to her son and back again. She smiled and said, “I’ll be inside the house to help your mother with dinner. Do you want to stay for dinner, Captain Rukawa?”
“Sunimase, Mrs. Sakuragi,” Rukawa replied. “I’ve got other things to settle later.”
“Suit yourself. Let my Hana-chan know when you change your mind.”
With that, she left her son alone despite Sakuragi’s awkward-looking face. He stared at Rukawa in silence and the silent treatment hung in utmost awkwardness for about 5 minutes or so. Mido and Noma, who were looking at them from the ancestral pagoda along with the other ancestors, were grinning slyly, hoping for something great to happen and quick. Sakuragi finally decided to break the ice.
“So, uh, aren’t you going to go now? I mean you did say that you have something else to settle.”
“Actually…” Rukawa scratched his head a little before saying, “I, uh, I came here for another thing.”
“Hait? What thing?” Sakuragi asked, curious (A/N: For this scene, for those of you who heard it, imagine the background music is the piano theme of Genzomaden Saiyuki’s song ‘For Real’. It does have a catch to it).
“You see…” Rukawa hesitated before putting on a serious face and said, “You pretended to be a girl with whatever method you’ve used and you have betrayed my trust. You lied to your girlfriends and you lied to my whole troop and you even lied to me. I trusted you. I believed that you were going to be a great warrior when you became the first person to climb up that pole and retrieve the arrow. I believed that you were going to be the best among the troop when I see you improving in all my training routines. I believed that you were ready to fight for the island when that Hikoichi said otherwise. I believed you would be a permanent member in my troop and be the mightiest, wisest and wittiest soldier of the entire island when you destroyed the entire Shirogane Clan and saved my life at the same time. And I believed that you would take me as your husband as soon as this war was over. Do you know how it feels to be shattered of all those beliefs by just finding your scam out? Do you know exactly how it feels when all your hopes and dreams go down to the dumps when you discovered that you have been betrayed and lied at?”
“Go…Gomene…” Sakuragi shrank, his heart going sour all over again, just like that fateful day when he was being busted and found to be a man.
“Do you have any idea that one small scam can lead to a whole hoard of trouble?” Rukawa continued, gaining closer and closer towards the redhead. Mido was annoyed and wanted to just pounce at the blue-eyed fox but Noma stopped him. “Do you have any idea that you have betrayed my trust? Do you have any idea that you have betrayed my love for you? Do you have any idea that you have broken my heart? Do you? Do you?!”
“Gomenasai!! Gomenasai!!!” Sakuragi had his hands on his ears as tears fell out of his copper-brown eyes, his heart filled with guilt and sorrow. “I didn’t know! I didn’t know that any of this would lead to so much trouble! I didn’t think that a small lie could hurt so many people! I’m sorry!! Gomenasai!! Gomenasai~!!!”
Suddenly he felt a pair of strong arms around him, hugging him close to a broad chest where he could hear a steady heartbeat. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in Rukawa’s embrace. He could feel Rukawa’s breath near his neck and his slightly trembling body as he hugged the redhead close to him, not wanting to let go.
“Don’t you ever do that again, you do’aho. You hear me? Don’t you ever, ever do this to me again,” Rukawa hissed at his ear, sounding more like a desperate urge than anger. Sakuragi nodded and hugged him back.
“Gomene…Gomene…I will never do it again…I promise…” Sakuragi whispered, his tears continue to flow out of his eyes, but this time it wasn’t of sadness or guilt, but of happiness, for his love was just right there, holding him in his arms. How he wished that time would just stop for them.
Slowly he felt Rukawa’s hand on his chin. The blue-eyed fox turned Sakuragi’s face to face his. They both stared at each other deeply, the blue eyes boring deep into the copper-brown ones. Words need not to be said. They knew what they want from each other. Soon, their lips met, kissing each other deeply…
Suddenly Sakuragi felt a slight change in him. He knew this kind of feeling—it was the exact feeling when he had experienced the sex change done by Mido’s sorcery. Just like that fateful day, he felt a slight heat radiating from inside his body and it soared from his fiery red head down to the tip of his toes. This time the effect was faster, about 7 ½ or so. Right before Rukawa’s eyes, he had transformed from the male Sakuragi Hanamichi to the Sakuragi Minako Rukawa had come to know. Everything was exactly the same as before—a pair of D-cup women’s breasts, his Adam’s apple gone, his original broad shoulders shrunk a little to the size of an average workout woman, his waistline shrunk to fit a waist of a model, his arms and feet slender like a girl and his face a feminine look with a few itsy-bitsy traces of masculinity in it. Even his hair had grown back to the elbows’ length.
The two people were speechless for a moment there: Rukawa staring at Sakuragi and Sakuragi staring at his body change. What was going on here?! How did he turn back into a girl all of a sudden?!
“Um…Sakuragi, what’s going on here?” Rukawa finally found his voice.
“I…I have no idea!! I don’t know why this thing happened again!! Yada~!! Mido~!! Mido, what’s going on here?!” Sakuragi practically panicked his head off.
“Tell me you didn’t give him the no bloodshed sex change magic, Mido,” Ojisan Sakuragi, who saw everything, turned accusingly at the bronze-eyed neko. The other ancestors also did the same.
“Eh he he he he~! Gomene…” Mido replied awkwardly. “I needed him to really blend in with the troop. Guess I forgot to tell him that this spell is permanent and that even if he experienced bloodshed and turned back to his original sex, whosoever from whatever sex that truly loves him kisses him, he will become the other sex permanently. (A/N: Which means that if a girl kisses him, he would’ve stayed as a boy, but if a boy kisses him, he will turn to a girl) Well…at least he’s, I mean she’s with someone she loves…right…?”
Needless to say, he was kicked out of the ancestral pagoda by the angry ancestors and landed right in front of Sakuragi’s feet. Noma flew towards his master—now mistress—and perched on her shoulder. Sakuragi was taken aback for a moment before she picked the neko up and asked, “What just happened?”
“I’ll have to say that I’ve become your permanent guardian from now on,” Mido groaned, rubbing his aching head.
“What just happened?! Why did I turn back into a girl?! What’s going on here?!” Sakuragi shook Mido like a rag doll.
“It’s a long story. Believe me, it is.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” Rukawa’s voice came out of the blue, his face showing a demanding look. Sakuragi grinned sheepishly.
“Err…Are you still in for dinner then?”
And so he did stay for dinner and the rest was pretty much history. And as the story came to a close, wedding bells were heard in winter where the snowflakes that fell from the heavens made the perfect confetti for our newly wed Mr. Sakuragi Kaede and Mrs. Sakuragi Minako Hanamichi.
They lived, as expected, happily ever after.
Mulan: A Parody-Chp11
CHAPTER 11 – THE TENSAI WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL
Once inside, they all tried to blend in with the surrounding. They came across some male concubines who were hiding in their own chambers trying to keep out of sight from the Shirogane Clan members who were walking around in search of any intruders. Sakuragi hushed them and whispered their plans to them. One of the male concubines, Anta, offered them some of their rich garments for them to wear. After wearing the clothes, Haroko, Fujii and Yuki really sell out like a true man. Sakuragi grinned at the sight of them.
Soon they put their plan into action. First they come out chattering as if they had no idea about the sudden invasion. They passed by our famous Sendoh and Kyota and almost immediately, Sakuragi’s red hair and tall figure stood out from the rest. Sendoh and Kyota approached him as quick as a flash.
“Hello, my little redhead,” Sendoh said with a charming smile on his face. “Fancy seeing you here among the Queen’s male concubines.”
“Yeah! Aren’t you afraid that the Queen would have your beautiful little redhead hung at her trophy room?” Kyota said as he started to undress the horrified Sakuragi. They still think that he was a girl. Well, Kyota’s lust-filled face immediately changed into horror when he found that Sakuragi was a flat-chest instead of the D-cup sized woman he met at the snowy mountains. Sendoh noticed it too.
“You’re…You’re a man?!” Sendoh exclaimed softly, looking back and forth from Sakuragi’s face to his chest and back again.
“What do you think I am, you hentai, Venus the Goddess of Love?” Sakuragi replied in disgust.
Sendoh and Kyota stared at Sakuragi for a long while before the tall haired man grinned and said, “No biggie. I’m a bisexual anyway.”
“Well, I don’t mind being a bisexual just for once,” Kyota scratched his chin. “Come here, you lovely piece of art!”
Sakuragi was way too overwhelmed to give the signal for attack as these two hentai-s ‘attacked’ first. Haroko and the gang didn’t need any signal. They immediately jumped onto the men’s back and try to beat the lights out of them but they were too strong and trained a lot to be beaten by mere sex-changed women. Without warning, Rukawa came in between Sendoh and Kyota, glared at them possessively and angrily before taking out his twin daggers he inherited from his mother and stabbed their shoulders.
“Nobody takes my redhead,” Rukawa hissed at the two bleeding Shirogane members before Haroko and Yuki hit the lights out of them. Sakuragi thought he heard him say that but there was no time for sappy overwhelming feelings. They have to get to the leader of the Shirogane Clan, Uozumi. While Sakuragi and his girlfriends fought their way towards the balcony of the castle where Queen Ayako was held captive, Rukawa raced his way through. The Queen was his first priority. Sakuragi was the most desperate to get rid of all the Shirogane Clan members because they were approaching him with those lust-filled eyes and calling him “My redhead darling” and all. He head-butted all of them without a care in the world.
“Looks like you’re really everything a man wants in their life, whether you’re a man or a woman,” Haroko said.
“Urusai!” Sakuragi growled. He had enough of being somebody else’s dream partner.
At the balcony, Uozumi dragged Queen Ayako to face her people and, with the knife still at her jugular, threatened, “You will denounce your title as the Queen of Amazon Island and give all your riches and your throne to me in front of all these pathetic fools below you! Now bow down to me!”
“I will not!” Queen Ayako said sternly as she hit her paper fan onto Uozumi’s head. “You may have my throne and all, but you’ll never have the hearts of my people! I will not allow the sacredness of the Amazon women to be corrupted by the likes of you!”
“Then you die by your own foolishness!” Uozumi growled as he raised the knife high to stab the Queen’s heart. Queen Ayako didn’t have time to react. She may be a great fighter but she definitely had no power against this foreign man who was 2 meter tall and had the strength of 20 cows. She closed her eyes and tried to protect herself with her paper fan.
Just when Uozumi was about to stab her, Rukawa appeared just in time and threw one of his twin daggers at Uozumi’s hand, making him drop the knife. Uozumi glared venomously at the blue-eyed, fox-faced man and flung the Queen aside. While Haroko, Yuki and Fujii led the Queen towards her safety by sliding down the pole while holding the Queen in their arms, the battle between the giant and the kitsune started. Blows after blows were hit at each other, but it was evident that Uozumi had the upper hand with his abnormally large sword. He soon kicked the twin daggers out of Rukawa’s hands and sent him crashing on his back onto the castle floor. He raised his sword above his head and growled, “I’ll teach you for sending my worthy men down to their graves and mess with my victory!”
“STOP!!! It is me that you want!!” A loud yell was heard and a bowl was thrown at Uozumi’s thick head. He turned to see ours truly Sakuragi standing there with his eyes full of anger and challenge with his red flowing hair blown under the wind. Uozumi widened his eyes at the sight of him.
“The beautiful redhead!” Uozumi muttered under his breath and charged after him. Sakuragi split and ran back into the castle. As he ran, he dodged the blows from Uozumi’s huge sword. Once in a while he gave Uozumi a punch or a kick in the butt or a head-butt or two, but the 2 meter giant remained standing. Mido and Noma came out of their hiding place and ran after Sakuragi.
“So, you got any ideas how we’re gonna get out of here?” Mido asked, trying to catch up with the sprinter Sakuragi.
“Uh, not entirely,” Sakuragi said sheepishly.
“You mean to tell me you have no plan at all??”
“Hey, I’m working on it was I go, OK? I’m no Einstein!” Sakuragi said. Soon he saw from the window the tower where the castle members put out their fireworks. He turned to Mido with a smile and Mido winked, putting a thumbs-up. With great leaps, the cat jumped from one roof to another with the mynah following close behind until he entered the fireworks tower. From there, he scared the workers into coming down the tower with his glowing bronze eyes and his exaggerated scary voice and smuggled a huge rocket.
Meanwhile, the fight between Uozumi and Sakuragi has led them up to the high roof of the castle. Uozumi swung his sword again and again at Sakuragi, barely missing his hair. He looked at Sakuragi with his lust-filled eyes and said, “Seems like you’ve run out of bright ideas now, haven’t you? Well, after I’ve defeated you and place myself as the rightful king of Amazon Island, you are going to be my wife and we’ll certainly make beautiful music together, that is, if my men doesn’t do it first before me.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Sakuragi replied with a disgust look on his face, “but I’ve already been taken. Besides, I’m a man, and I bet you’re not interested in men now, are you?”
Uozumi kept silent for a while before chuckling and replied, “Well, in that case I can make an exception now, can’t I?”
Sakuragi grimaced. He didn’t expect men from other countries could be so lenient and just do whatever they want to do with people. He was even surprised to see that these hentai-s are willing to be gay just for the sake of having him. ‘Now that’s seriously demented,’ he thought.
Soon he caught sight of Mido at the opposite end of the roof with the rocket he smuggled strapped onto his back. He smiled and said to Uozumi, “Actually I still have another gig under my sleeve.”
With that he jumped high and landed hard onto Uozumi’s shoulders, forcing his feet halfway through the roof, taking Uozumi by surprise. As he struggled to get his stuck feet out of the hole, Sakuragi whistled at Mido, giving him the signal. Mido nodded and pointed his claw at the string, lighting the rocket. Within seconds, the rocket was soaring towards Uozumi and hitting him in the gut. Sakuragi caught the bronze-eyed neko just in time as the rocket carried Uozumi all the way towards the fireworks tower. The rocket exploded and so did Uozumi with it. The whole firework tower was alight as the other fireworks inside the tower were lit and they whizzed and fizzed and burned throughout the evening sky. Uozumi, needless to say, was fried beyond recognition and he surely couldn’t survive this one.
Sakuragi cheered and gave Mido a high-five before sliding down to the stairs of the castle using the rope that hung the lanterns with flourish. He came up to his girlfriends who were now back into their original sex again and gave them a group hug. Rukawa has come out of the castle and rushed over to him and also gave him a hug, much to the girls’ amazement and Sakuragi’s surprise. When he finally let go, he was actually blushing as red as Sakuragi’s flushed face. The girls giggled and oohed at them.
Hikoichi then suddenly appeared looking very battered and dirty indeed (obviously he got a little taste of fireworks) and was fuming mad. Behind him was the Queen, who looked less charismatic and majestic than before, but more or less a-OK. The Queen’s counselor stomped towards Sakuragi and began ranting and raving at him.
“You imbecile! You rogue! You inconsiderate, crazy fool! Look what you have done to the Queen’s castle! You have practically caused a serious riot over the whole Primal City! You should be locked in the dungeon for this…”
His angry words were cut short by the Queen’s hand. She stepped towards the redhead and said in a leveled voice, “I’ve heard about you too, and I know your mother. You’ve stolen your mother’s armour and sword. You impersonated a woman and infiltrated the training camp. You entered the war when you know that you are no high-ranked officer’s son and that men are not allowed at all to join the war. You caused a great confusion in your troop and even ruined my castle.”
Sakuragi shrank. He didn’t think that he had done so much damage just because he wanted to help his mother and help the Primal City.
“And,” Queen Ayako continued, “you have saved us all from the Shirogane Clan. For that, I thank you.”
With that, she curtsied to Sakuragi, something only a royal person with high gratitude would do. At upon seeing this, Hikoichi went onto all fours on the floor. Rukawa went down on one knee gracefully and with suavity. Haroko, Fujii and Yuki also did the same. Sakuragi was shocked. They were actually bowing down to him? But…But all he did was just trying to help his mother and save the Queen. In fact, all this adventure started when he wanted to save his mother’s life. He turned around and saw that the rest of the citizens of Primal City also did the same—going down on one knee or on all fours as gratitude. This was too much. Sakuragi felt awkward all over.
“Come on, man! Stand up! Please, don’t do this! It’s too much!” Sakuragi said. “I may be a tensai, but this is too much! Nya ha ha ha ha ha~!!”
Everyone slowly got up. Queen Ayako smiled and called Hikoichi using her paper fan to get up on his feet before saying, “Hikoichi, make sure that…what’s your name again.”
“Hanamichi, Your Majesty,” Sakuragi replied. “Sakuragi Hanamichi.”
“Yes, well, make sure that Sakuragi Hanamichi here gets a post in the castle.”
Hikoichi almost choked when he heard that, but he regained his composure so as not to show his disapproval in front of the Queen and said, “But, Your Majesty, there’s no position here suitable for him. It’s practically full.”
“Fine,” Queen Ayako said humourously while pointing her thumb at Hikoichi. “You can have his job, Sakuragi.”
That immediately sent Hikoichi into a total blackout. The girls giggled behind Sakuragi’s back. Sakuragi tried to hold his. Rukawa secretly smiled to himself.
“Thank you very much, Your Majesty,” Sakuragi replied. “I would be honoured to be part of the castle, but for the record, I think I’ve been away from home for too long. I gotta go back home and see my mother before she thinks that I’ve been decapitated.”
“Very well,” Queen Ayako replied as she removed the priceless necklace off her neck and put it around Sakuragi’s. “Then take this Primal Sword so that your mother knows what you have done for me, and this necklace so that everyone knows what you have done for the Amazon Island.”
Sakuragi stared in awe at the sparkling necklace before him and, out of his overwhelming heart, he reached out one hand and with one swipe, he hugged the Queen close to him. Queen Ayako was taken by surprise at first before chuckling and hugging him back. The girls were surprised to see that Sakuragi dared to have direct contact with the Queen. If it weren’t for Queen Ayako’s good nature and humour, his head would be rolling on the floor by now.
After hugging the Queen, he turned and hugged his girlfriends again, bidding them goodbye and good luck. As he walked towards his horse Oukutsu, Rukawa stepped in front of him, staring at him with his blue eyes.
“Hait? What do you want, kitsune?” Sakuragi asked.
“I just…want to say that…you…” Rukawa said hesitantly, scratching his head before saying briefly, “You fight well. Congratulations. Arigatogozaimas…”
“Oh,” Sakuragi replied, a trace of disappointment on his face. He was expecting him to say something more than that, but he guessed that Rukawa might be still touchy about the fact that he pulled such a big hoax onto the troop. He sighed and got on Oukutsu, riding off down the castle stairs and towards the direction of his village. Rukawa stared at his disappearing figure in surprise: what did I say wrong?
“You know, you’re missing out something very precious,” Queen Ayako said suddenly to his ear. “A pinch of salt might be insignificant-looking, but they are the best among all spices.”
“Your Majesty?” Rukawa turned to Queen Ayako, looking confused. As a result, he was hit in the head by the Queen’s paper fan.
“Baka! I know you like him and you’re letting him get away! If I were you, I would bang my head on the wall for being such an idiot! He may be a guy, but you don’t get to meet this kind of people everyday, you know!”
Rukawa didn’t know what else to say.
Once inside, they all tried to blend in with the surrounding. They came across some male concubines who were hiding in their own chambers trying to keep out of sight from the Shirogane Clan members who were walking around in search of any intruders. Sakuragi hushed them and whispered their plans to them. One of the male concubines, Anta, offered them some of their rich garments for them to wear. After wearing the clothes, Haroko, Fujii and Yuki really sell out like a true man. Sakuragi grinned at the sight of them.
Soon they put their plan into action. First they come out chattering as if they had no idea about the sudden invasion. They passed by our famous Sendoh and Kyota and almost immediately, Sakuragi’s red hair and tall figure stood out from the rest. Sendoh and Kyota approached him as quick as a flash.
“Hello, my little redhead,” Sendoh said with a charming smile on his face. “Fancy seeing you here among the Queen’s male concubines.”
“Yeah! Aren’t you afraid that the Queen would have your beautiful little redhead hung at her trophy room?” Kyota said as he started to undress the horrified Sakuragi. They still think that he was a girl. Well, Kyota’s lust-filled face immediately changed into horror when he found that Sakuragi was a flat-chest instead of the D-cup sized woman he met at the snowy mountains. Sendoh noticed it too.
“You’re…You’re a man?!” Sendoh exclaimed softly, looking back and forth from Sakuragi’s face to his chest and back again.
“What do you think I am, you hentai, Venus the Goddess of Love?” Sakuragi replied in disgust.
Sendoh and Kyota stared at Sakuragi for a long while before the tall haired man grinned and said, “No biggie. I’m a bisexual anyway.”
“Well, I don’t mind being a bisexual just for once,” Kyota scratched his chin. “Come here, you lovely piece of art!”
Sakuragi was way too overwhelmed to give the signal for attack as these two hentai-s ‘attacked’ first. Haroko and the gang didn’t need any signal. They immediately jumped onto the men’s back and try to beat the lights out of them but they were too strong and trained a lot to be beaten by mere sex-changed women. Without warning, Rukawa came in between Sendoh and Kyota, glared at them possessively and angrily before taking out his twin daggers he inherited from his mother and stabbed their shoulders.
“Nobody takes my redhead,” Rukawa hissed at the two bleeding Shirogane members before Haroko and Yuki hit the lights out of them. Sakuragi thought he heard him say that but there was no time for sappy overwhelming feelings. They have to get to the leader of the Shirogane Clan, Uozumi. While Sakuragi and his girlfriends fought their way towards the balcony of the castle where Queen Ayako was held captive, Rukawa raced his way through. The Queen was his first priority. Sakuragi was the most desperate to get rid of all the Shirogane Clan members because they were approaching him with those lust-filled eyes and calling him “My redhead darling” and all. He head-butted all of them without a care in the world.
“Looks like you’re really everything a man wants in their life, whether you’re a man or a woman,” Haroko said.
“Urusai!” Sakuragi growled. He had enough of being somebody else’s dream partner.
At the balcony, Uozumi dragged Queen Ayako to face her people and, with the knife still at her jugular, threatened, “You will denounce your title as the Queen of Amazon Island and give all your riches and your throne to me in front of all these pathetic fools below you! Now bow down to me!”
“I will not!” Queen Ayako said sternly as she hit her paper fan onto Uozumi’s head. “You may have my throne and all, but you’ll never have the hearts of my people! I will not allow the sacredness of the Amazon women to be corrupted by the likes of you!”
“Then you die by your own foolishness!” Uozumi growled as he raised the knife high to stab the Queen’s heart. Queen Ayako didn’t have time to react. She may be a great fighter but she definitely had no power against this foreign man who was 2 meter tall and had the strength of 20 cows. She closed her eyes and tried to protect herself with her paper fan.
Just when Uozumi was about to stab her, Rukawa appeared just in time and threw one of his twin daggers at Uozumi’s hand, making him drop the knife. Uozumi glared venomously at the blue-eyed, fox-faced man and flung the Queen aside. While Haroko, Yuki and Fujii led the Queen towards her safety by sliding down the pole while holding the Queen in their arms, the battle between the giant and the kitsune started. Blows after blows were hit at each other, but it was evident that Uozumi had the upper hand with his abnormally large sword. He soon kicked the twin daggers out of Rukawa’s hands and sent him crashing on his back onto the castle floor. He raised his sword above his head and growled, “I’ll teach you for sending my worthy men down to their graves and mess with my victory!”
“STOP!!! It is me that you want!!” A loud yell was heard and a bowl was thrown at Uozumi’s thick head. He turned to see ours truly Sakuragi standing there with his eyes full of anger and challenge with his red flowing hair blown under the wind. Uozumi widened his eyes at the sight of him.
“The beautiful redhead!” Uozumi muttered under his breath and charged after him. Sakuragi split and ran back into the castle. As he ran, he dodged the blows from Uozumi’s huge sword. Once in a while he gave Uozumi a punch or a kick in the butt or a head-butt or two, but the 2 meter giant remained standing. Mido and Noma came out of their hiding place and ran after Sakuragi.
“So, you got any ideas how we’re gonna get out of here?” Mido asked, trying to catch up with the sprinter Sakuragi.
“Uh, not entirely,” Sakuragi said sheepishly.
“You mean to tell me you have no plan at all??”
“Hey, I’m working on it was I go, OK? I’m no Einstein!” Sakuragi said. Soon he saw from the window the tower where the castle members put out their fireworks. He turned to Mido with a smile and Mido winked, putting a thumbs-up. With great leaps, the cat jumped from one roof to another with the mynah following close behind until he entered the fireworks tower. From there, he scared the workers into coming down the tower with his glowing bronze eyes and his exaggerated scary voice and smuggled a huge rocket.
Meanwhile, the fight between Uozumi and Sakuragi has led them up to the high roof of the castle. Uozumi swung his sword again and again at Sakuragi, barely missing his hair. He looked at Sakuragi with his lust-filled eyes and said, “Seems like you’ve run out of bright ideas now, haven’t you? Well, after I’ve defeated you and place myself as the rightful king of Amazon Island, you are going to be my wife and we’ll certainly make beautiful music together, that is, if my men doesn’t do it first before me.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Sakuragi replied with a disgust look on his face, “but I’ve already been taken. Besides, I’m a man, and I bet you’re not interested in men now, are you?”
Uozumi kept silent for a while before chuckling and replied, “Well, in that case I can make an exception now, can’t I?”
Sakuragi grimaced. He didn’t expect men from other countries could be so lenient and just do whatever they want to do with people. He was even surprised to see that these hentai-s are willing to be gay just for the sake of having him. ‘Now that’s seriously demented,’ he thought.
Soon he caught sight of Mido at the opposite end of the roof with the rocket he smuggled strapped onto his back. He smiled and said to Uozumi, “Actually I still have another gig under my sleeve.”
With that he jumped high and landed hard onto Uozumi’s shoulders, forcing his feet halfway through the roof, taking Uozumi by surprise. As he struggled to get his stuck feet out of the hole, Sakuragi whistled at Mido, giving him the signal. Mido nodded and pointed his claw at the string, lighting the rocket. Within seconds, the rocket was soaring towards Uozumi and hitting him in the gut. Sakuragi caught the bronze-eyed neko just in time as the rocket carried Uozumi all the way towards the fireworks tower. The rocket exploded and so did Uozumi with it. The whole firework tower was alight as the other fireworks inside the tower were lit and they whizzed and fizzed and burned throughout the evening sky. Uozumi, needless to say, was fried beyond recognition and he surely couldn’t survive this one.
Sakuragi cheered and gave Mido a high-five before sliding down to the stairs of the castle using the rope that hung the lanterns with flourish. He came up to his girlfriends who were now back into their original sex again and gave them a group hug. Rukawa has come out of the castle and rushed over to him and also gave him a hug, much to the girls’ amazement and Sakuragi’s surprise. When he finally let go, he was actually blushing as red as Sakuragi’s flushed face. The girls giggled and oohed at them.
Hikoichi then suddenly appeared looking very battered and dirty indeed (obviously he got a little taste of fireworks) and was fuming mad. Behind him was the Queen, who looked less charismatic and majestic than before, but more or less a-OK. The Queen’s counselor stomped towards Sakuragi and began ranting and raving at him.
“You imbecile! You rogue! You inconsiderate, crazy fool! Look what you have done to the Queen’s castle! You have practically caused a serious riot over the whole Primal City! You should be locked in the dungeon for this…”
His angry words were cut short by the Queen’s hand. She stepped towards the redhead and said in a leveled voice, “I’ve heard about you too, and I know your mother. You’ve stolen your mother’s armour and sword. You impersonated a woman and infiltrated the training camp. You entered the war when you know that you are no high-ranked officer’s son and that men are not allowed at all to join the war. You caused a great confusion in your troop and even ruined my castle.”
Sakuragi shrank. He didn’t think that he had done so much damage just because he wanted to help his mother and help the Primal City.
“And,” Queen Ayako continued, “you have saved us all from the Shirogane Clan. For that, I thank you.”
With that, she curtsied to Sakuragi, something only a royal person with high gratitude would do. At upon seeing this, Hikoichi went onto all fours on the floor. Rukawa went down on one knee gracefully and with suavity. Haroko, Fujii and Yuki also did the same. Sakuragi was shocked. They were actually bowing down to him? But…But all he did was just trying to help his mother and save the Queen. In fact, all this adventure started when he wanted to save his mother’s life. He turned around and saw that the rest of the citizens of Primal City also did the same—going down on one knee or on all fours as gratitude. This was too much. Sakuragi felt awkward all over.
“Come on, man! Stand up! Please, don’t do this! It’s too much!” Sakuragi said. “I may be a tensai, but this is too much! Nya ha ha ha ha ha~!!”
Everyone slowly got up. Queen Ayako smiled and called Hikoichi using her paper fan to get up on his feet before saying, “Hikoichi, make sure that…what’s your name again.”
“Hanamichi, Your Majesty,” Sakuragi replied. “Sakuragi Hanamichi.”
“Yes, well, make sure that Sakuragi Hanamichi here gets a post in the castle.”
Hikoichi almost choked when he heard that, but he regained his composure so as not to show his disapproval in front of the Queen and said, “But, Your Majesty, there’s no position here suitable for him. It’s practically full.”
“Fine,” Queen Ayako said humourously while pointing her thumb at Hikoichi. “You can have his job, Sakuragi.”
That immediately sent Hikoichi into a total blackout. The girls giggled behind Sakuragi’s back. Sakuragi tried to hold his. Rukawa secretly smiled to himself.
“Thank you very much, Your Majesty,” Sakuragi replied. “I would be honoured to be part of the castle, but for the record, I think I’ve been away from home for too long. I gotta go back home and see my mother before she thinks that I’ve been decapitated.”
“Very well,” Queen Ayako replied as she removed the priceless necklace off her neck and put it around Sakuragi’s. “Then take this Primal Sword so that your mother knows what you have done for me, and this necklace so that everyone knows what you have done for the Amazon Island.”
Sakuragi stared in awe at the sparkling necklace before him and, out of his overwhelming heart, he reached out one hand and with one swipe, he hugged the Queen close to him. Queen Ayako was taken by surprise at first before chuckling and hugging him back. The girls were surprised to see that Sakuragi dared to have direct contact with the Queen. If it weren’t for Queen Ayako’s good nature and humour, his head would be rolling on the floor by now.
After hugging the Queen, he turned and hugged his girlfriends again, bidding them goodbye and good luck. As he walked towards his horse Oukutsu, Rukawa stepped in front of him, staring at him with his blue eyes.
“Hait? What do you want, kitsune?” Sakuragi asked.
“I just…want to say that…you…” Rukawa said hesitantly, scratching his head before saying briefly, “You fight well. Congratulations. Arigatogozaimas…”
“Oh,” Sakuragi replied, a trace of disappointment on his face. He was expecting him to say something more than that, but he guessed that Rukawa might be still touchy about the fact that he pulled such a big hoax onto the troop. He sighed and got on Oukutsu, riding off down the castle stairs and towards the direction of his village. Rukawa stared at his disappearing figure in surprise: what did I say wrong?
“You know, you’re missing out something very precious,” Queen Ayako said suddenly to his ear. “A pinch of salt might be insignificant-looking, but they are the best among all spices.”
“Your Majesty?” Rukawa turned to Queen Ayako, looking confused. As a result, he was hit in the head by the Queen’s paper fan.
“Baka! I know you like him and you’re letting him get away! If I were you, I would bang my head on the wall for being such an idiot! He may be a guy, but you don’t get to meet this kind of people everyday, you know!”
Rukawa didn’t know what else to say.
Mulan: A Parody-Chp10
CHAPTER 10 – TRYING TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT
The Primal City was filled with lights and happy cheers as Rukawa Kaede’s troop was paraded through the city. Everyone had heard about their victory in defeating the Shirogane Clan and soon everyone was looking forward to see those young heroines in person as word spread fast in Primal City. When the troops stepped into the Primal City, they were immediately greeted with cheers and congratulations and were showered with thanks for defeat another threat towards this sacred island.
Unfortunately, their happiness was not shared by Rukawa’s troop. They seem to look pretty gloomy and guilty for taking all the credit. Everyone has disregarded their sullen looks as a sing of fatigue after fighting a great battle, but if only they knew that all this victory was achieved by only one soldier, and a man at that. They didn’t know what to say or do to make themselves feel any better. They just silently let the crowd parade them.
By far, the most uncomfortable person among the troop was Rukawa Kaede himself. He looked at all the happy, grateful faces that were before him and had the slightest feeling that he didn’t deserve these thanks. These thanks were not meant for him; they were meant for the best soldier in his team Sakuragi Minako. He then realized that the Sakuragi Minako he knew wasn’t there at all, but a man named Sakuragi Hanamichi who put on a hoax to enter the team. He couldn’t believe that he actually had thought about Sakuragi taking him as a husband. He’s not gay! He’s as straight as can be! He likes girls just like other men do! But he had fallen in love with Sakuragi…His heart felt really confused and disturbed about all this. Did he like Sakuragi because ‘she’ was a woman or did he like Sakuragi for who he is…? He didn’t know what else to think.
Hikoichi, on the other hand, seem to be enjoying all the attention, though.
Suddenly, the ever familiar whinny of Oukutsu echoed along the way. Everyone turned to see Sakuragi riding his blonde mane stallion towards them, his face showing a trace of anxiousness and a little relief to see them all here. He rode past his girlfriends, ignoring their calls “Minako!” and followed along beside Rukawa. Rukawa glared at him with his usual cold blue eyes.
“What are you doing here, Sakuragi Hanamichi?” Rukawa asked with a grudging tone.
“I’m here to warn you guys,” Sakuragi replied. “The Shirogane Clan are not all entirely dead. There are some of the members still alive. I saw them! They came out of the snow and they’re heading this way right now to conquer Queen Ayako!”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m telling the truth this time! This is not a hoax! It’s true! I saw them with my own eyes!”
“Right, like I should trust you after what you have done to my troop. You almost made my troop lose its honour because you,” Rukawa said as he rode away from Sakuragi. Sakuragi scowled and brought his horse right in front of Rukawa’s.
“It’s true! I saw those men coming out of the snow. They are unstoppable and they will stop at nothing to take over Amazon Island and its women,” Sakuragi urged as he went closer towards Rukawa. “You baka kitsune! Baka, baka kitsune! You said you trust Minako, why is Hanamichi anything different?”
Rukawa stared at Sakuragi for a minute or two before looking away and rode off, obviously not wanting to have anything to do with him. Sakuragi let out a sigh. If talking doesn’t work, he might as well do things his way. As Haroko, Fujii and Yuki passed by him, he warned again, “Keep on a lookout, girls. They might be among us.”
He waited until the parade has entered the domains of the Prime Castle, the Queen’s home, before riding after them. He put Oukutsu at a corner and squeezed his way through the crowd to go closer towards the castle. He saw Rukawa’s troop walking up the steps of the Prime Castle towards the Queen who had just came out of the castle. If you had a digital camera and can zoom it towards Queen Ayako’s direction, you’ll see that she was a marvel to behold. Her dark curly hair ran down towards her waist and she was wearing great make-up. Her tiara sparkled under the moonlight and her royal black gown matched perfectly with the long gloves that ran up to her elbows. The gown was really long and as it dragged onto the floor, beautiful sparkling tiny beads and crystals the size of a pinhead twinkled like stars. She was wearing a beautiful necklace—which was obviously priceless—and the slightest light it caught immediately dazzled and illuminated her beauty even more. Many were fooled by her majestic look as they didn’t know that she fight as gracefully and strongly as she was beautiful. At the entrance of the castle door stood her first and second husband, namely Miyagi and Mitsui respectfully, also dressed as richly as she was.
Hikochi went up the remaining stairs quickly towards Queen Ayako and knelt down before her, taking her long skirt and kissing its beads as a sign of respect. Rukawa came later and did the same. The rest of the troop remained knelt before her. Out of nowhere, Queen Ayako produced a paper fan and hit Hikoichi lightly on the head with it.
“You have been away for so long, you naughty man!” Queen Ayako giggled naughtily as she hit him again. “Your replacement was so not reliable at all. I was thinking that if you stay away from this castle a little longer, I might consider throwing him into the gallows! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho~!”
Rukawa and his troop sweatdropped. Her attitude practically contradicted the charismatic look she had on her. They didn’t expect this from a very respectable Queen who made her way up to the top of the throne.
“Forgive me, my Queen,” Hikoichi replied with a smile, obviously used to Queen Ayako’s sudden humourous gestures. “May I present you, the heroines that have helped save the island from the Shirogane Clan.”
“Please, please, please, girls,” Queen Ayako said as she waved her hands upwards. “Stand, all of you. No need to be so formal and all. You are our saviour after all. Dozo, dozo!”
The troop did as they were told. The Queen then turned to the citizens and suddenly switched to the majestic mode and said, “My people! My children! We have lived in this island for many, many generations now and we are rest assured that we’ll continue to live here for generations to come! All thanks to our heroines of the Amazon Island!”
Everyone cheered, much to the troop’s discomfort. They still couldn’t help feeling that they didn’t deserve all this credit. Queen Ayako turned to Rukawa and handed the Primal Sword, a token of war from the castle, to him and said, “I know your mother well. She was a great general and a great warrior, and so are you. You have fought hard for this war and risked your life to save my people. Your mother would be very proud.”
Rukawa nodded, but somehow, deep inside him, he wanted to clear all this misunderstanding. He didn’t deserve this sword. He shouldn’t be the only one awarded with the Primal Sword and be the only one to honour the family. He had to say something—at least just something to make him feel better about himself. He turned towards his troop and they all had the same look on their faces. ‘This is it,’ he thought. ‘I’m going to tell Queen Ayako the truth!’
Before he could say a word, suddenly the huge parade caterpillar tore open. Out came the surviving Shirogane Clan members Uozumi and company. Without even breaking a sweat, Sendoh, Kyota, Fujima, Maki, Hanagata and Koshino beat the girls off and rushed towards Rukawa and asked simultaneously, “Where is the beautiful redhead??”
“Now is not the time, boys!” Uozumi yelled, grabbing the Queen Ayako by the throat, pointing a knife threateningly at her jugular. “Cover me while we all go inside the castle! There’ll be plenty of time to find that redhead!”
The men did as they were told. Firing arrows and using their strength, they barged their way through the people who tried to keep them out of the castle. As soon as they were inside, they barred the door shut and the troop was left outside banging in vain at it. They decided to try and get one of the statue of luck placed near the door and make a break in.
Meanwhile, Sakuragi was trying desperately to get people to listen to him and tell them to find help, but unfortunately, he was a boy and boys’ words are often disregarded. When he, Mido and Noma saw that the Queen has already been taken hostage and that the door was being barred, he began to worry.
“They’ll never get to the Queen in time!” Sakuragi groaned as he saw the troop banging the statue of luck against the door. “Time for some drastic measures!”
Holding Mido and Noma under his armpit like a rugby ball, he barged his way through the anxious crowd, knocking them over like bowling pins. He ran all the way up the castle stairs and towards the troop who was still trying to break the door open. He let out a loud whistle and Rukawa, Haroko, Fujii and Yuki turned to look at him.
“I’ve got an idea!” Sakuragi exclaimed. “If you wanna get inside the castle faster, you’ll have to come with me!”
Haroko, Fujii and Yuki looked at each other for a while, considering whether to go with Sakuragi or not. After a few seconds, they let go of the statue and followed suite. Like they have said, man or woman, Sakuragi Minako or Sakuragi Hanamichi, the redhead was still their friend and forever will be. They ran together with Sakuragi to one of the secluded walls of the castle where there were many poles for them to climb and be able to sneak in.
“First, you’ll need a disguise. You’ll have to pretend to be the Queen’s male concubines,” Sakuragi said, much to the girls’ horror.
“What?! Pretend to be a man?? How degrading can we go??” Haroko practically squealed in protest.
“You wanna go save the Queen or not?” Sakuragi asked. The girls nodded hesitantly.
“But how are you going to make us into men? Our faces look nothing like a man!” Yuki said.
“Leave that to me. Just close your eyes,” Sakuragi replied as he picked Mido up. He whispered to the bronze-eyed cat and asked, “Can you give them a sex change that doesn’t anything of that no blood shed crap?”
“Well, I can lighten the magic a little and make them into men for about…say, 10 minutes,” Mido contemplated a little.
“That’ll do great!” Sakuragi said and held Mido close to their noses. “Alright, girls. Remember, don’t rub your nose. This sorcery is from that old friend of mine I mentioned. You won’t feel a thing.”
One by one, Mido licked their noses and made them sneeze. Immediately, their breasts shrank and their faces changed from that feminine look to a masculine kind of look. Their hair became shorter and they became slightly taller, with broad shoulders and flat chests. An Adam’s apple grew under their throat and when they open their eyes to feel their you-know-what, their faces screwed up in mixed feelings of horror and awe.
“My…My…it’s…long! I, uh, what is this sorcery??” Fujii was the first to say it.
“It’s a lighter version of my sex change magic. Don’t worry, it’s temporary, for about 10 minutes,” Sakuragi said as he tossed them some scarves. “Here, take these and we can go inside and fight.”
They obligingly and awkwardly took the scarves, still feeling a little out of place for being in an ordinary man’s body instead of the usual strong body structure of a woman. Sakuragi was impressed. He then took out a scarf of his ownand draped it around the pole, just like the way he did during training. The girls—now boys—did the same. A few minutes later, they saw Rukawa joining in. Words need not to be spoken. They were thankful that the captain has finally joined in their quest to save the Queen.
Together, the foursome and Rukawa inched their way higher and higher up the pole and getting closer and closer towards one of the castle windows.
The Primal City was filled with lights and happy cheers as Rukawa Kaede’s troop was paraded through the city. Everyone had heard about their victory in defeating the Shirogane Clan and soon everyone was looking forward to see those young heroines in person as word spread fast in Primal City. When the troops stepped into the Primal City, they were immediately greeted with cheers and congratulations and were showered with thanks for defeat another threat towards this sacred island.
Unfortunately, their happiness was not shared by Rukawa’s troop. They seem to look pretty gloomy and guilty for taking all the credit. Everyone has disregarded their sullen looks as a sing of fatigue after fighting a great battle, but if only they knew that all this victory was achieved by only one soldier, and a man at that. They didn’t know what to say or do to make themselves feel any better. They just silently let the crowd parade them.
By far, the most uncomfortable person among the troop was Rukawa Kaede himself. He looked at all the happy, grateful faces that were before him and had the slightest feeling that he didn’t deserve these thanks. These thanks were not meant for him; they were meant for the best soldier in his team Sakuragi Minako. He then realized that the Sakuragi Minako he knew wasn’t there at all, but a man named Sakuragi Hanamichi who put on a hoax to enter the team. He couldn’t believe that he actually had thought about Sakuragi taking him as a husband. He’s not gay! He’s as straight as can be! He likes girls just like other men do! But he had fallen in love with Sakuragi…His heart felt really confused and disturbed about all this. Did he like Sakuragi because ‘she’ was a woman or did he like Sakuragi for who he is…? He didn’t know what else to think.
Hikoichi, on the other hand, seem to be enjoying all the attention, though.
Suddenly, the ever familiar whinny of Oukutsu echoed along the way. Everyone turned to see Sakuragi riding his blonde mane stallion towards them, his face showing a trace of anxiousness and a little relief to see them all here. He rode past his girlfriends, ignoring their calls “Minako!” and followed along beside Rukawa. Rukawa glared at him with his usual cold blue eyes.
“What are you doing here, Sakuragi Hanamichi?” Rukawa asked with a grudging tone.
“I’m here to warn you guys,” Sakuragi replied. “The Shirogane Clan are not all entirely dead. There are some of the members still alive. I saw them! They came out of the snow and they’re heading this way right now to conquer Queen Ayako!”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m telling the truth this time! This is not a hoax! It’s true! I saw them with my own eyes!”
“Right, like I should trust you after what you have done to my troop. You almost made my troop lose its honour because you,” Rukawa said as he rode away from Sakuragi. Sakuragi scowled and brought his horse right in front of Rukawa’s.
“It’s true! I saw those men coming out of the snow. They are unstoppable and they will stop at nothing to take over Amazon Island and its women,” Sakuragi urged as he went closer towards Rukawa. “You baka kitsune! Baka, baka kitsune! You said you trust Minako, why is Hanamichi anything different?”
Rukawa stared at Sakuragi for a minute or two before looking away and rode off, obviously not wanting to have anything to do with him. Sakuragi let out a sigh. If talking doesn’t work, he might as well do things his way. As Haroko, Fujii and Yuki passed by him, he warned again, “Keep on a lookout, girls. They might be among us.”
He waited until the parade has entered the domains of the Prime Castle, the Queen’s home, before riding after them. He put Oukutsu at a corner and squeezed his way through the crowd to go closer towards the castle. He saw Rukawa’s troop walking up the steps of the Prime Castle towards the Queen who had just came out of the castle. If you had a digital camera and can zoom it towards Queen Ayako’s direction, you’ll see that she was a marvel to behold. Her dark curly hair ran down towards her waist and she was wearing great make-up. Her tiara sparkled under the moonlight and her royal black gown matched perfectly with the long gloves that ran up to her elbows. The gown was really long and as it dragged onto the floor, beautiful sparkling tiny beads and crystals the size of a pinhead twinkled like stars. She was wearing a beautiful necklace—which was obviously priceless—and the slightest light it caught immediately dazzled and illuminated her beauty even more. Many were fooled by her majestic look as they didn’t know that she fight as gracefully and strongly as she was beautiful. At the entrance of the castle door stood her first and second husband, namely Miyagi and Mitsui respectfully, also dressed as richly as she was.
Hikochi went up the remaining stairs quickly towards Queen Ayako and knelt down before her, taking her long skirt and kissing its beads as a sign of respect. Rukawa came later and did the same. The rest of the troop remained knelt before her. Out of nowhere, Queen Ayako produced a paper fan and hit Hikoichi lightly on the head with it.
“You have been away for so long, you naughty man!” Queen Ayako giggled naughtily as she hit him again. “Your replacement was so not reliable at all. I was thinking that if you stay away from this castle a little longer, I might consider throwing him into the gallows! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho~!”
Rukawa and his troop sweatdropped. Her attitude practically contradicted the charismatic look she had on her. They didn’t expect this from a very respectable Queen who made her way up to the top of the throne.
“Forgive me, my Queen,” Hikoichi replied with a smile, obviously used to Queen Ayako’s sudden humourous gestures. “May I present you, the heroines that have helped save the island from the Shirogane Clan.”
“Please, please, please, girls,” Queen Ayako said as she waved her hands upwards. “Stand, all of you. No need to be so formal and all. You are our saviour after all. Dozo, dozo!”
The troop did as they were told. The Queen then turned to the citizens and suddenly switched to the majestic mode and said, “My people! My children! We have lived in this island for many, many generations now and we are rest assured that we’ll continue to live here for generations to come! All thanks to our heroines of the Amazon Island!”
Everyone cheered, much to the troop’s discomfort. They still couldn’t help feeling that they didn’t deserve all this credit. Queen Ayako turned to Rukawa and handed the Primal Sword, a token of war from the castle, to him and said, “I know your mother well. She was a great general and a great warrior, and so are you. You have fought hard for this war and risked your life to save my people. Your mother would be very proud.”
Rukawa nodded, but somehow, deep inside him, he wanted to clear all this misunderstanding. He didn’t deserve this sword. He shouldn’t be the only one awarded with the Primal Sword and be the only one to honour the family. He had to say something—at least just something to make him feel better about himself. He turned towards his troop and they all had the same look on their faces. ‘This is it,’ he thought. ‘I’m going to tell Queen Ayako the truth!’
Before he could say a word, suddenly the huge parade caterpillar tore open. Out came the surviving Shirogane Clan members Uozumi and company. Without even breaking a sweat, Sendoh, Kyota, Fujima, Maki, Hanagata and Koshino beat the girls off and rushed towards Rukawa and asked simultaneously, “Where is the beautiful redhead??”
“Now is not the time, boys!” Uozumi yelled, grabbing the Queen Ayako by the throat, pointing a knife threateningly at her jugular. “Cover me while we all go inside the castle! There’ll be plenty of time to find that redhead!”
The men did as they were told. Firing arrows and using their strength, they barged their way through the people who tried to keep them out of the castle. As soon as they were inside, they barred the door shut and the troop was left outside banging in vain at it. They decided to try and get one of the statue of luck placed near the door and make a break in.
Meanwhile, Sakuragi was trying desperately to get people to listen to him and tell them to find help, but unfortunately, he was a boy and boys’ words are often disregarded. When he, Mido and Noma saw that the Queen has already been taken hostage and that the door was being barred, he began to worry.
“They’ll never get to the Queen in time!” Sakuragi groaned as he saw the troop banging the statue of luck against the door. “Time for some drastic measures!”
Holding Mido and Noma under his armpit like a rugby ball, he barged his way through the anxious crowd, knocking them over like bowling pins. He ran all the way up the castle stairs and towards the troop who was still trying to break the door open. He let out a loud whistle and Rukawa, Haroko, Fujii and Yuki turned to look at him.
“I’ve got an idea!” Sakuragi exclaimed. “If you wanna get inside the castle faster, you’ll have to come with me!”
Haroko, Fujii and Yuki looked at each other for a while, considering whether to go with Sakuragi or not. After a few seconds, they let go of the statue and followed suite. Like they have said, man or woman, Sakuragi Minako or Sakuragi Hanamichi, the redhead was still their friend and forever will be. They ran together with Sakuragi to one of the secluded walls of the castle where there were many poles for them to climb and be able to sneak in.
“First, you’ll need a disguise. You’ll have to pretend to be the Queen’s male concubines,” Sakuragi said, much to the girls’ horror.
“What?! Pretend to be a man?? How degrading can we go??” Haroko practically squealed in protest.
“You wanna go save the Queen or not?” Sakuragi asked. The girls nodded hesitantly.
“But how are you going to make us into men? Our faces look nothing like a man!” Yuki said.
“Leave that to me. Just close your eyes,” Sakuragi replied as he picked Mido up. He whispered to the bronze-eyed cat and asked, “Can you give them a sex change that doesn’t anything of that no blood shed crap?”
“Well, I can lighten the magic a little and make them into men for about…say, 10 minutes,” Mido contemplated a little.
“That’ll do great!” Sakuragi said and held Mido close to their noses. “Alright, girls. Remember, don’t rub your nose. This sorcery is from that old friend of mine I mentioned. You won’t feel a thing.”
One by one, Mido licked their noses and made them sneeze. Immediately, their breasts shrank and their faces changed from that feminine look to a masculine kind of look. Their hair became shorter and they became slightly taller, with broad shoulders and flat chests. An Adam’s apple grew under their throat and when they open their eyes to feel their you-know-what, their faces screwed up in mixed feelings of horror and awe.
“My…My…it’s…long! I, uh, what is this sorcery??” Fujii was the first to say it.
“It’s a lighter version of my sex change magic. Don’t worry, it’s temporary, for about 10 minutes,” Sakuragi said as he tossed them some scarves. “Here, take these and we can go inside and fight.”
They obligingly and awkwardly took the scarves, still feeling a little out of place for being in an ordinary man’s body instead of the usual strong body structure of a woman. Sakuragi was impressed. He then took out a scarf of his ownand draped it around the pole, just like the way he did during training. The girls—now boys—did the same. A few minutes later, they saw Rukawa joining in. Words need not to be spoken. They were thankful that the captain has finally joined in their quest to save the Queen.
Together, the foursome and Rukawa inched their way higher and higher up the pole and getting closer and closer towards one of the castle windows.
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