"Take me..." she murmured. Sheena kissed her gently for a sweet, everlasting moment, and then obliged.
"Don't go so fast, son. You're liable to trip and break a leg." Lepant cautioned.
Dammit. Sheena thought, coming swiftly back to reality. His father even intruded on his fantasies! He'd certainly have rather been by a warm, cozy fireplace with some vixen who was eager to get it on with him, but instead he was trudging through the rocky highlands of Matilda, hiking up the accursed Mount Rakutei in search of someone he really didn't even care to save.
"Adventurers must be ready for any circumstances." Lepant lectured. "Any terrain, any creature! Versatility and vigilance, Sheena!" Sheena rolled his eyes.
"Right, dad. I'm not going to fall. We're not even to the foot of Rakutei yet." Did his father always have to be so...embarrassing? So...intrusive? So...insane?
Sheena sighed and trudged alongside his friends, Osmond and Haley. Lepant took the lead, and Giovanni brought up the rear, most likely so he could rifle through everyone's packs.
Mount Rakutei reared up ahead of them like a monster. Fog obscured a great deal of it, but they could see the jagged summit sticking out of the clouds, rising up to meet the sky. Somewhere on that peak, they knew, was Osmond's whiny girlfriend, Zelda. As they followed the road that led up to the foot of the mountain, Sheena began to wonder if all of them were even capable of handling the giant Harpy that had snatched her. Sheena, Osmond, and Haley had minor fighting experience---something his father had tried to amend with his wacky fake 'monster'. Lepant had plenty of experience, and he would surely talk their ears off describing it all, but it had been a long time. Giovanni, Sheena had no idea.
"All right, party members." Lepant said grandly, pausing. "You all know what foe we're up against. The dreaded Harpy, and dooms unknown, anticipate us at the top of Rakutei. But we must not flinch! Destiny awaits."
"Is everyone ready? Sheena?" Giovanni checked. He handed the teenager the family sword, Kirinji, which he had obviously stolen from him earlier anyway. Sheena strapped the sheath to his belt and nodded. Osmond tapped his swordbelt confidently, and Haley shrugged.
"Let's hurry, before something bad happens to Zelda." Ozzie urged.
"We sure wouldn't want that." Haley remarked. Lepant, lacking a sword, held a large stick up valiantly.
"Onward!" he shouted.
If there really are any psychically boobalicious Matilda babes out there watching in their crystal balls... Sheena thought, Take notice! I, Golden Man-God Sheena, shall claim victory!
He had no idea how close he was to the truth.
******
Old Mrs. Lidoll was tending her garden in Highway Village as she usually did. She pulled out a few weeds, and admired the fair blooms of the flowers she had nurtured so well. Gazing over her picket fence at the main road through Highway, she smiled as a familiar face passed by.
"Good day, Helena." she greeted as the woman walked past, carrying a basket filled with white bottles.
"Oh, hello, Mrs. Lidoll." the woman replied. "Gardening?"
"Yes, indeed." Mrs. Lidoll answered cheerfully. "And I suppose you're picking up your milk again. Young Kent didn't deliver?"
"Oh, boys will be boys. I don't mind it." Helena said, going on her way. Mrs. Lidoll returned to her gardening, and after a few moments, she saw another familiar face.
"Good day, Gallo." she greeted, waving. "What are you up to this fine day?" The man called Gallo tipped his hat.
"Hello, Alisa." he called back. "Just going for a stroll." He continued down the road. Mrs. Lidoll returned to her gardening. Soon, yet another familiar face stumbled down the road.
Her long blonde hair frazzled, wildly swinging her staff back and forth, with a traveling pack on her back, a woman hurriedly made her way down the road to the west.
"Good day, Eileen." Mrs. Lidoll greeted with a wave. "Going to the restaurant?" Eileen paused.
"No, actually, I'm on a mission of absolute mercy! By the Fourth, may it succeed, the powers help us all! I must save my son from that devilish fate which has been thrown in his path like a leaf from the Tree of Black!" Eileen puffed. "I must hurry!"
"Oh, how nice. Well, have a good time." Mrs. Lidoll said with a neighborly smile. Eileen nodded, and turned to go on her way, but paused, reaching into her robes. She produced a handful of powder, which she flung over the flower garden.
"May your plants be blessed with Life and Happiness!" Eileen chanted, tripping over her robes as she ran off down the road.
"Such a sweet girl." Mrs. Lidoll said to herself, happily going back to her gardening. It was another normal day in Highway Village.
Indeed, nothing that Lepant or Eileen did seemed to surprise Highway residents anymore. Which is why as Eileen rushed down the street to the west, ranting about mystical energy fields and quests of mercy, no one blinked, except perhaps when she fell asleep in the middle of the road as a carriage from Rockaxe was coming right at her.
The carriage veered off to the side, and a burly man in a black cap pulled her off the road, and all was well again. After a few minutes, she revived, sitting up in the man's lap.
"Oh! I nodded off again, didn't I?" she murmured.
"You should be more careful, Eileen." warned the man. "You nearly got run over this time around." She glanced at him, and smiled.
"You're always looking out for me, Clark. Thank you." she stood up and brushed herself off. "But I mustn't dally."
"I can at least have Kent walk you home, Eileen." Clark offered. She shook her head.
"Sorry, I'm not going home. I must hurry to the west!" she insisted. "Lepant and Sheena are---"
"Is something wrong?" he asked in a lowered voice.
"Yes! They are in grave peril!" Eileen announced loudly.
"Ssssh!" Clark warned, but alas, he was too late. Out of his house bounced a vibrant young boy. He was around twelve or thirteen, wearing a blue sweater underneath a brown coat, and equally brown pants and boots. He had a cap like his father's, only, well, brown. His brown eyes shimmered with excitement, and a wide grin was spread across his freckled, red-headed face.
"Did someone say dragon?" he blurted eagerly.
"No, Kent. No dragons. Go back inside, please." Clark said condescendingly. "This is daddy's business."
"Worry not, young Kent." Eileen said with the air of Glinda the Good Witch, "There is naught but peril and death afoot. Go on, go back inside." Clark slapped his forehead.
"Dragon!!!" Kent exclaimed joyfully. "Which way????"
"Nothing, Kent, now listen here---" Clark said.
"I must be off, to the west. Farewell, Kent, Clark." she said, turning and leaving. Now, it was well-known in Highway Village, except to Eileen apparently, that Kent was a hyperactive, impulsive kid with a one-track-mind. He wanted to see dragons, adventure, and peril. Eileen had a vague idea of the reason WHY Clark had forbidden Lepant and Kent to ever meet---they would both leap off and never return. But her mention of utter peril was all Kent needed.
"Dragons! All right!" Kent cried, dashing after Eileen.
"Kent, you come back here!!" Clark shouted after him, to no avail. His wife emerged from their house.
"...Oh, no, he didn't run off again, did he? I thought you tied him up, Clark." she moaned.
"Sorry, Lois..." Clark sighed. "But it's much worse this time." His wife's gaze went from one of fatigue to worry.
"What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously. Clark gulped, trying to suppress the guilty look on his face.
"...Eileen and Lepant are involved." he murmured, barely audible. Lois' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Grab the axes. We're going after them." she ordered.
******
Lepant, Giovanni, Sheena, Ozzie and Haley stood at the entrance to Mount Rakutei pass, puzzled. A thick fog stood right in the way, and it seemed to be no ordinary fog. At least, according to Lepant.
"Aha!" he crowed. "I see it now! This is an enchantment to keep us from gaining entry to the peak and liberating the damsel!" Sheena peered into the mist.
"Looks normal enough to me. Why don't we just walk through it? I don't know why you stopped all of a sudden." he protested. Ozzie nodded.
"I agree. Let's just go." he said, striding forward into the fog. A second later, he fell backwards, disoriented.
"Hah. Let that be a lesson to you, boy." Lepant chuckled.
"Okay...so it is a magic fog. What now?" Haley asked. Lepant frowned, sizing up the mist. He paced back and forth at its edge, attempting to grasp it in his gloved hands as if it were a solid substance.
"I hate to admit it, but..." Lepant said gravely. "I'm afraid there's no way we can pass through this barrier. It is strong magic of an unknown origin! Undoubtedly, only the power of one of the 27 True Runes could dissolve this evil." Sheena frowned skeptically and poked at the fog.
"You're sure, Dad? There's no other way? C'mon, it's not like you just find True Runes everywhere..." he said uncertainly.
"Well, I'm afraid that's just the way it is. It's a shame." Lepant said, bowing his head. "Zelda will be missed."
"WHAT?!" Ozzie exploded. "You'd just give up on her?? We have to save her!" He jumped to his feet and charged at the mist. Lepant shot forward and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"You fool! You'll awaken its fury!!!" he shouted.
"Fury...? It's fog..." Haley said with a frown.
"Take it from someone who knows!" Lepant raged. "This is powerful magic, not to be taken lightly, and you can't just---"
"The Shredding." Giovanni remarked, thrusting his fist upward, where the shimmering symbol of a Wind Rune burned a hole in the air. Suddenly, furious gusts picked up and several whirlwinds ate through the fog, dissolving it quickly. The path ahead of them was suddenly clear. Sheena smirked at his father's assistant--he may have been a lowdown, dirty kleptomaniac, but he knew how to get things done. Osmond didn't spare a moment before charging eagerly up the path, followed by Haley at a less eager pace. Sheena grinned and went after them. Lepant gaped.
"G-Giovanni! You never told me you had the True Wind Rune!" he gasped, recoiling. "And what timing! What an incredible coincidence! What luck!" Giovanni sighed.
"It's just a regular Wind Rune, sir. Nothing more." he said, walking slowly forward onto the path.
"Nonsense, Giovanni! Tell me, what is immortality like?" Lepant asked curiously.
"I wouldn't know." Giovanni said dully as he walked after the teenagers. Lepant shrugged.
"Oh well. Say, speaking of runes, Giovanni...do you know what happened to that Killer Rune Crystal I had in my pack earlier today?" he asked his assistant.
"No..." Giovanni lied, walking faster.
******
Eileen parried the wild boar's charge with her staff as she attempted to make her way to Mount Rakutei. Confound it, she was on a mission of mercy! Her family was at stake, and these beasts had the nerve to get in her way? Certainly the Black Tree was at work here. Eileen sighed, she would have to resort to a spell.
"Spirits, aid me---Whispering Wind!" She waved her staff, but unfortunately, not only did the 'whispering wind' not appear, but what wind there was suddenly died out. "Rats." The boar backed up and charged again.
"DRAGON!" yelled a young boy enthusiastically, leaping onto the animal's back and riding it like a horse.
"...Kent?" Eileen said uncertainly. The boar certainly seemed surprised as well, obviously not used to being rode. It came to find that it did not like the sensation, and began wildly attempting to throw Kent off its back.
"Yaha!" Kent exclaimed. "I've never seen a wingless dragon with tusks before! I shall call you Tusky! Fly into the sky, Tusky!" Eileen blinked.
"Kent? Shouldn't you be at home?" she said nervously. The wild boar proceeded to throw Kent clear, and ran off before anyone else could try to mount him. Kent landed with a resounding crack on the grass a few feet away. Eileen let out a scream, and ran over to help the boy.
"K-Kent! Spirits! Are you okay?! Oh, please, be okay..." she murmured, praying to the spirits of the 'Fourth' level of existence according to her religion. Though she was mostly a holistic healer with remedies of her own invention, she was at least sensible enough to carry a few conventional Medicines. She pulled one out and attempted to pour some in Kent's mouth. He coughed and sputtered a few times, but regained consciousness.
"Bwuh...? Where's the dragon? Where's...Tusky??" His wide eyes filled up with tears. "He didn't...leave me, did he?" Eileen wasn't sure whether to 'break his heart' and tell him the 'dragon' went away, or give him a dose of reality by telling him it wasn't a dragon at all.
"Uh...he...was killed by a dark Sorceress. I'm, uh, sorry, my child. I'm sure he would've stayed with you if he could have. But, er, I don't recommend trying to ride anything else that looks like 'Tusky' in the near future, all right?" she lied. Kent sat up, rubbing his head. He stood, taking off his hat and putting it over his heart.
"I'll always love you, Tusky..." he murmured tearfully. "From East to West, South to North, with all my Heart. You will always be...my dragon." He then replaced his hat and turned to Eileen, who was stifling tears herself (it was obviously nonsense, the whole dragon thing, but she tended to get sentimental about such matters).
"Uh, well, if you're all right, Kent..." Eileen said gently, "You should go home now. I'm sure your folks are worried, and...I have something important to take care of, at Mount Rakutei..."
"Rakutei! There's sure to be other dragons there!" Kent said excitedly. "Dragoooon!" He sprinted off towards the peak off in the far distance.
"N-no, Kent! Come back!" Eileen cried, running after him.
******
"We're nearing the summit! I can practically hear her tender screams, men! Prepare yourselves!" Lepant proclaimed as the group climbed ever higher up Mt. Rakutei.
"Zelda! We're coming!" Ozzie said, more to reassure himself than anyone else. Sheena braced himself for the coming onslaught, hearing the terrible screech of the Harpy. He had never thought he would be thrusting himself into danger of such obvious physical harm just to impress a girl he didn't even like! Is that what being a Knight would be like? He shuddered at the thought. Maybe he should just rescue one particularly busty damsel and quit while he was ahead...
Oh well, no time to think about it now. Time to fight.
"To arms!" Lepant shouted, charging up the path.
******
"Faster, Clark! I found more tracks!" Lois shouted, whisking down the road brandishing a far-too-large axe.
"A-are you sure it's Kent, honey??" Clark puffed, following closely with an axe of his own.
"Yes, I'm sure." Lois confirmed. "And...it looks like there was...a struggle! We'd better hurry, before it's too late, dear!"
In the bushes next to the road, a munchkin-sized figure cackled with glee, patting the head of his equally miniature winged-steed.
"Mwaha! Here they come. Time for the magic." He produced a vial from his grubby robes, and tossed it into the road in front of the frantic parents. Upon contact, it exploded into a noxious purple smoke, choking Lois and Clark.
"Ack! What the--?" Clark sputtered, collapsing. His wife soon followed. The figure cackled again, before being tapped on the shoulder by his silent, winged counterpart.
"Mwahahaha--eh? Oh, drat." he said, pouting. "It's the wrong ones!"
******
Sheena was, unfortunately for him, the first to the top of the path, to the summit. A wide open plateau of rock spread out before his eyes, plain and unassuming for the most part. Then there was a gathering of branches and twigs and other various articles--the Harpy's nest. Within the center of the nest was a translucent pink crystal, beautifully shimmering in the sunlight. The only bad thing was that Zelda was trapped within it---well, it might be a good thing, depending on how one looked at it. Hovering over the nest, with wings flapping angrily, was the Harpy itself. It did not looked pleased. Sheena did have time, however, to note its toplessness, which he grinned at naughtily.
Heh. Topless monster. That's the kind I'd pick to fight. he thought to himself. After a moment, Ozzie shot up the hill, followed by Lepant, then Haley, then Giovanni. The Harpy screeched in protest.
"Dastardly beast!" Lepant swore.
"Release Zelda!" Ozzie said. Zelda, looking quite irritated, banged on the side of the crystal from within it.
Sheena, feeling valiant, ran up to the circling birdwoman and slashed at a gnarled talon with Kirinji. The Harpy did not enjoy being attacked, and returned the favor, attempting to slice and dice Sheena into mincemeat. Sheena cried out, diving onto the ground, covering his head with his arms in a feeble attempt to defend himself.
"Hey, leave him alone!" Haley shouted, invoking her Boar Rune and unleashing a series of furious blows on the monster that left her dizzy and disoriented. She stumbled towards the edge of the cliff.
"Whoa, there." Giovanni said, correcting her course and stealing her bag of coins at the same time. Ozzie made a marvelous effort of attacking ceaselessly with his blade, but the Harpy proved too manueverable for it to do much damage. Hopping up, Sheena remembered his Earth Rune just in time--it appeared the monster was gearing up for some kind of magical attack.
"Vengeful Child!" he cast, the Earth emblem blazing into the air before coating his body with a temporary magic-proof shield. He loved that spell. Lepant sought cover behind a rock outcropping.
The Harpy let loose with a blast of wind magic. Cyclones and dust-devils ripped through the monster's attackers. Sheena stood his ground, protected; Ozzie, Haley and Giovanni weren't so lucky. The gusts knocked them backwards into the rock wall behind them, which the path back down the mountain cut through to reach the summit.
Sheena's magic barrier faded with the wind spell, and he resumed hacking away at the Harpy with his sword. Enraged, the monster slashed his arm violently with its talons, drawing blood. Man, why couldn't he have been hit in the face or something? Not that he desired his man-godly good looks to be marred by disfigurement, but the least the monster could have done was give him one of those little cross-scars on his cheek, like those tragic heroes always had.
"Look out, Sheena! Stand back, or you'll be hit again!" Lepant cried, jumping into the fray. Hurt, Sheena dropped the sword and stumbled backwards as he was told. Lepant took up his old sword and resumed the onslaught.
Again, the Harpy let loose with a blast of wind, this time knocking everyone back with it.
"We'll never win this way!" Ozzie cursed.
"Face it, as adventurers, we just can't cut it." Haley wheezed.
"Guess Zelda's Harpy-chow." Sheena said with a shrug.
"Never give up, you fools! Never---" Lepant shouted, still battling, before a kick in the face from the Harpy shut him up.
"We can't just give up on her, guys!" urged Ozzie. "Giovanni, can't you bait it or something??"
"Oh, of course." Giovanni remarked. "I'll just put myself in harm's way for the good of that noisy bit--"
"Great!" Ozzie said happily, shoving the servant forward.
"G-ack!" Giovanni exclaimed. He glanced nervously upward at the Harpy. "Er, hello there. Nice, uh...nice....uuhhh..." He searched vainly for something to compliment the monster on.
"Tits." Sheena offered honestly.
"Yes, tits. Nice---what?! No, no! Not that!" Giovanni cried, reddening. The Harpy became infuriated, and lunged towards Giovanni.
It was suddenly (Sheena could've sworn it said 'urk') jerked to the side as a young pre-teen boy jumped eagerly through the air onto its back, knocking it off-course. It slammed rather gracelessly into a rock wall, having lost its equilibrium.
"Dragon~!" the boy sang joyously, waving his brown cap in the air as the Harpy confusedly bucked him around. Sheena was even more surprised to see his mother run tiredly up the path after the boy, who he recognized as the neighborhood problem child, Kent.
"S-stop..." Eileen said futilely, falling to her knees. She suddenly looked around, blinked, and smiled.
"...Lepant! Sheena! I've found you!!" she said happily. Then she frowned.
"But you're in grave danger!" Then her frown got frownier. "And I have terrible, terrible news!" She proceeded to fall asleep.
"Uh...hi, Mom." Sheena said uncertainly. Haley lost no time in subduing the beast, however.
"Quickly, Giovanni--sedate it with a spell!" she cried.
"Wind of Sleep!" Giovanni cried, pointing his hand at the Harpy and Kent. A warm, relaxing breeze gently swept around the pink feathers of the monster, swirling fragrant flower petals about its eyes. It slipped off into a peaceful slumber. Kent followed suit.
Realizing the battle was over, Lepant rushed over to his wife.
"Wake up, Eileen...what's the matter?" he urged gently. Eileen suddenly awoke.
"Ahhh, Lepant...I had such a terrible dream. I dreamt..."
"Don't do that bit, dear, it's a tad overrated. It was all true, you didn't dream it, etc." Lepant interrupted suddenly. "A more classy bit would have been the 'I can't believe you're alive, let's make passionate love' bit. You know I love that one."
"You do, don't you?" Eileen giggled. Hearing a sudden retching sound from Sheena, they realized they were all being stared at.
"Dude, your parents gross me OUT." Ozzie said with a look of disgust on his face. Sheena shook his head in humiliation.
"Oh! Sheena! Now I remember, the terrible news!" Eileen cried, jumping up. She rushed over to her son, hugging him stranglingly tight.
"Mom...can't...breathe..." he choked.
"Oh, Sheena, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" she sobbed.
"What's this about, Eileen?" Lepant asked. Eileen produced the letter she had received.
"...I admit...I was naive and irresponsible in my youth, and I made more than a few mistakes..." she said regretfully. Sheena looked at her suspiciously. Naive? Irresponsible??
"Uh...please don't tell me I have some kind of horde of stepbrothers from some other father. I can only handle one father, thanks..." Sheena said nervously.
"Why, thank you, son." Lepant said, taking it as a compliment.
"No, it's not like that...I'm afraid it's worse." Eileen said, her lip quivering. "You see, I wanted nothing more than to be a great magician, a priestess! So...I...I went to a witch, and she gave me this great spellbook. The greatest spellbook that ever was! Unfortunately, I had to pay a price."
"...What price?" Lepant asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"I promised her my firstborn child!" Eileen blurted.
"MO-OM!" Sheena cried, appalled. "How could you do that to me? You sold me into SLAVERY?!"
"It's not like that, pumpkin. You hadn't been born yet---I hadn't even met your father, in fact. I...I'm so sorry. I forgot about it, all these years, and figured the witch did too. Unfortunately...it appears she's coming to collect." Eileen said, tears running down her face.
Well... Sheena thought with a sigh, leave it to MY mother to promise me to some walking wart-factory and then forget about it. But...it was more than that, he realized. This was more than his parents' usual bumbling. He found his feelings...genuinely hurt.
"S-so...is that it, then? You're telling me this so I can go off with this witch?" he said, hurt.
"No! Never, Sheena!" Eileen said with determination. "I came to warn you. You must never let this happen! You must flee, at once! I'll cover for you when she comes. But...you have to get away. You just have to." Sheena smiled, reassured. His mother would never let him down. Even if she did make mistakes---okay, that was a pretty darn big mistake---she still tried to make up for them.
"O-okay, then. I'll leave as soon as we get off this stupid mountain." Sheena promised. They suddenly heard a loud, irritated rapping on glass.
Turning, they saw Zelda screaming at the top of her lungs---which no one could hear---from within the pink crystal.
"Oh yeah, Zelda." Haley remarked.
"We'd better get her out!" Ozzie cried, rushing over. He began attempting to hack away at the crystal with his sword. It wasn't accomplishing much other than making Zelda more angry.
"Hmmm. Not working well, I see." Lepant remarked, thinking. "Well, perhaps if you lifted it with your magic, Giovanni, and slammed it against the wall?" Giovanni nodded, much to the horror of Zelda, who could apparently hear what they were saying.
"Wind Rune...The Shredding!" Giovanni commanded. The whirlwinds generated, hoisting the crystal into the air, tossing it like a salad, and slamming it into the rock wall repeatedly.
"Tell me something." Sheena remarked. "Are her panties really pink like that, or would they be white and just LOOK pink because of the crystal's color?" He pointed upwards. Ozzie's eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his friend's face.
"Don't look at that!" he said, ignoring the fact that he himself was staring eagerly.
"You pigs." Haley sighed, sitting over on a rock near Kent and the sleeping Harpy. Finally, the crystal landed on the rocky ground, with a sizeable crack down the middle. Lepant stepped forward and gave it good 'whack' with the handle of Kirinji. It broke into several pieces, and Zelda tumbled out amongst them. Ozzie ran over to hug her, but she shoved him away.
"Zelda, what's wrong?" Ozzie asked.
"Why, I never!!!" she sputtered. "I have NEVER been so sloppily rescued in my LIFE! What took you bozos so long?!! And then, while I'm sitting here, rotting away in that ROCK, you all IGNORE me! I've never been more insulted!!"
"B-but Zelda..." Ozzie pleaded.
"We are THROUGH, Osmond! This is all HIS fault, and you're his friend, and, and, I NEVER want to see any of you AGAIN!" She stomped away, picking up her not-so-perfect purple skirts as she went.
"Excuse me? That's all the thanks we get?" Sheena blurted. "We saved your LIFE, you know. At risk to our own." Zelda glared at him.
"I've never seen such shoddy work. I wouldn't call it much of a save, you riffraff. If your blundering father hadn't come along, this never would have happened to ME!" she said haughtily.
Haley, however, was tired of keeping her cool.
"Listen here, you little bitch." she exploded. "We all came after you because we're decent people, which seems to be a quality foreign to you. Ozzie actually--for reasons beyond my thinking, believe me--LIKED you, and this is how you thank his dedication? I'm tired of watching you boss him around like some kind of queen! It's time you got knocked down a peg or two." Zelda inhaled sharply.
"Excuse ME? Who are YOU to be talking, you--" she began.
"Shut. Up." Haley said, punching her in the face and sending her reeling. Tripping over her many skirts, she tumbled head over heels down the path, screaming the whole way.
"Save yourself next time, you snotty whore." Haley called after Zelda. She turned to find herself being applauded by Sheena and Giovanni, as well as Ozzie after a few moments. She reddened.
"Sorry, I...just can't stand that girl..." she said quietly. Ozzie quickly tore off the cape he had been wearing---the one Zelda had sewn him.
"Man...I think I feel a lot better now, actually. She was putting a real strain on me." he said, exhaling. "Thanks, Haley."
"Well, I have to say that that little scene broke a few of the standard practices, but I must say it was quite well done. Plus, you gotta love a catfight. Congratulations." Lepant said cheerfully. Haley reddened more.
"Never mind..." she mumbled.
It was then that Sheena noticed a problem.
"Uh, guys...the Harpy's waking up!" he cried. Indeed, the beast's eyes blinked open, and realizing that there were still intruders on its mountaintop, it became angry once more. Kent awoke with a start, still on the monster's back.
"Clay Guardian!" Sheena cast on the boy. Now he would be protected from too much harm if he happened to fall off suddenly. He wasn't a moment too soon, either---the Harpy bucked wildly, flinging Kent off. Luckily, Lepant barely caught him before he landed. In a fury, the Harpy buzzed around their heads, trying to attack them.
"No, Pinky! My dragon! Stop!" Kent cried. It swooped over towards its nest again, flying low so it could attack on the next pass.
"Oh goodness! I'd forgotten this!" Eileen cried, pulling a vial of yellow dust from her robes. Sheena recognized with horror his mother's homemade 'paralyzation powder'. The last time they had opened it, Sheena's left arm had been stuck in one position for a week. What a fiasco.
"Yah!" Eileen cried, throwing it haphazardly at the Harpy. Surprisingly, it made contact, freezing the beasts' joints and wings so it fell to the ground in a position it was unable to get out of. Unsurprisingly, a good portion also hit Eileen's lower body, freezing her in place.
"Go, Sheena, while you can! Take Kent and the others with you!" she urged.
"Your mother and Giovanni and I will take care of this! Go, now!" Lepant said. The others began to run, but Sheena glanced back uncertainly.
"Don't worry, son! This is what's known in the adventuring world as the Holding Off A Deadly Enemy So Your Allies Can Escape bit!" Lepant assured him. "We'll see each other again!"
"Either that, or we won't." Giovanni remarked sourly, drawing a dagger.
"Just go, honey! Don't let the witch catch you!" Eileen said, blowing a kiss with the portion of her arm that wasn't paralyzed. "May the Fourth be with you!"
"And with you...bye! I'll...see you later, then..." Sheena called back, running after his friends. Kent paused.
"Pinky!" he wailed.
"Come on, you lunatic." Sheena said, dragging Kent along behind him.
******
At the bottom of Mount Rakutei, Zelda was nowhere to be found, thank goodness. Sheena caught up with Osmond and Haley and found himself faced with a new dilemma. Not only were his parents facing some huge monster up there, but there was a witch who thought he belonged to her, and was out to collect her prize, evidently. He couldn't let that happen!
"Which way are we going, Sheena?" Ozzie asked at the foot of the mountain.
"...We?" Sheena said. He was surprised, but only partially. He supposed he had assumed he would be going at it alone.
"Of course, we." Haley said. "You idiot, you really think you're going to outrun some witch by yourself? We're coming with you."
"Uh, okay, I guess you are." Sheena said, trying not to sound as eager as he really was. He was glad his friends had decided to come with him.
"Well...uh...I'm not sure. Somehow I get the feeling that if this witch knows I'm in Matilda, then...she'd look in Rockaxe. But maybe we could lose her there. I'm not sure." Sheena theorized.
"Why don't we just go back to your house first, and come up with a better plan there?" Ozzie suggested.
"I'm coming too~!" Kent said giddily.
"Yeah, only back to your house, you crazed zealot." Sheena said firmly. Kent pouted.
"Then, let's go. Back to Highway for the time being." Haley said. She started down the road back to town. Ozzie followed.
"Coming, Sheena?" he asked. Kent removed his hat, and put it over his heart.
"I'll always love you, Pinky..." he murmured tearfully. "From East to West, South to North, with all my Heart. You will always be...my dragon." He then replaced his hat and nodded solemnly.
"You're creepy, you know that? Now come on, before I feed you to the wild creatures of the night." Sheena snapped, walking off.
"Dragons?!!" Kent cried.
"No. Not dragons."
"Dragoooon~~!" Kent shouted, barreling off down the road.
What a trip this was turning out to be...
