El Hazard: Forum Remix
An El Hazard/AnimeAddiction Forum fanfic
written by: Kendai
starring:
crossoverfanatic as G.Y.
Laina Inverse as Rain Aoi
Shadow Cat as Asmodeus Lotte
Chou Gotenks as Dan Tsim
Sphabmixay as Paul Sphabmixay
AKKomodo as Komodo Kalichnikov
-------------------------------------------------

Episode 3-B: Elements of Surprises

"Good evening, dear one.  Did you speak with your mother concerning your
troubles at school?"

"Excellent.  And how did she react?"

"Did I not tell you that she would listen?"

"That is marvelous news!  Your teacher is a wonderful and caring man.  I am
certain that he will endeavor to do everything he can to help you in this
matter."

"I take it that you will want to hear the next half of the tale I began this
afternoon, correct?"

"I certainly would not want to disappoint you.  Very well, you continue to dress
for bed and I will begin."

***

It was a clearly disappointed group that congregated on the expansive balcony of
the Muldoon Citadel.  After having climbed treacherous heights, crossed dizzying
canyons and survived a Jinnai-led Bugrom assault, the entourage from Floristica
had finally reached the Citadel of the Priestesses.  Hoping to gain an audience
with the priestesses to convince them to unseal the Eye of God, they instead
were completely brushed off as the two women simply up and left, flying from the
Citadel into parts unknown.  The group could only watch the rapidly disappearing
Priestesses in silent dismay.

"I don't fucking believe this shit!!"

Well, almost silent.

Komodo Kalichnikov, a young teenager who was more than used to speaking his
mind, was demonstrating his immense displeasure at the apparent futility of his
trip up Mt. Muldoon by bitching up a storm while pacing back and forth behind
the others.  "After all the shit we had to go through just to get here, they
just up and leave?!  ARGH!!"  He reached up and grabbed two fistfuls of his hair
and made a motion to rip it out by the roots.

In the meantime, the rest of the group was ignoring him in favor of watching the
rapidly disappearing speck that was the two Priestesses.  For once, no one, not
even Fujisawa-sensei, told Komodo to pipe down, quite possibly because all of
them shared his sentiment to a certain degree.

"Flaming fish guts," Paul muttered beneath his breath.  He shook his head sadly
and turned to look at his teacher.  "For the first time in my life, I almost
want to join Komodo and scream a bit."  He let out a disappointed snort.  "This
just isn't my day."

Makoto was still on his knees where he had fallen in shock.  "They just... left.
After we came all this way..."

Alielle looked as disappointed as the others but blinked as she began
remembering something mentioned earlier.  "Afura Mann said something about
'purification.'  Maybe it's that ceremony."

Taking a long drag from his cigarette, Fujisawa glanced down at the small girl.
"I guess I wasn't paying attention.  What did she say?"

"I think it's something I heard about once."  Her eyes widened in remembrance
and she turned to face the others.  "That's right!  There's a holy spring called
the Fountain of Arliman where all the holy people go to.  They go there once a
year, for meditation and purification.  It's beyond the Desert of Bleached White
Bones."

Makoto sagged a bit at the news.  "It would have to be called something like
that."

"Once a year?" asked Paul.  "So, it's a religious holiday?"

Alielle nodded.  "Something like that.  The holy ones go there to study strict
aesthetics according to ancient commandments."

"Y'know," stated Fujisawa, "it sounds to me like they rushed off to some kind of
water hole or some place like that."

"No better place to hang out in a desert, I guess," Paul added with a small
shrug.

Makoto turned to face his teacher.  "So, we head back to Roshtaria?"

Taking a long puff on his cigarette, Fujisawa gave the question some thought.
"I guess we're going to have to follow them into that bone desert."

"Ooooooooooh, noooooooooooo!!"

To say that Makoto and Alielle were less than pleased about their new travel
plans would be something of an understatement.  Still, their wailing was just
enough to finally snap Komodo back to the real world.  "What?  What's going on?
What happened?"

Turning, Paul replied, "We're going to chase down those priestesses, Komodo, and
we're going to go through the Desert of Bleached White Bones to do it."

Komodo blinked at the news, thought about the dangers involved in such a trek,
and said the first thing that came to mind.  "Well, I've been meaning to work on
my tan anyway."

Paul rolled his eyes.

***

The next day found the group onboard a small sand skiff headed into the Desert
of Bleached White Bones.  The skiff was operated by three less-than-sanitary
individuals who charged the group an outrageous sum of money to ferry them
across the desert.  It was only thanks to Alielle's bartering skill that the
five of them were able to afford passage, though they were forced to leave
everything else behind with their caravan escort.  Komodo complained that the
price was pure extortion but as this skiff was the only one willing to travel
into the desert, the group had little choice but to pay the fee.

After travelling through the desert for nearly two hours, everyone was feeling
the effects of the oppressive heat.  Fujisawa was busy mumbling to himself,
fantasizing aloud about drinking a tall, cold beer.  Paul, who had long stripped
himself of his jacket, was thankful that he always wore his sunglasses.  The
brightness of the sun would be positively unbearable otherwise.  Komodo, who had
no such eye-protection, settled for leaning against the railing of the so-called
deck of the skiff with his eyes shut.  It looked to the world like he was
sleeping.  Makoto and Alielle had collapsed on one another and were sweltering,
making no illusions about hiding this fact from the others.

Everyone's personal musings were abruptly cut off when the sand skiff lurched to
a stuttering halt.  The sudden stop caused most of them to roll forwards on top
of one another.

"Ugh."  Alielle lifted herself from atop Makoto.  "What happened?"

Recovering his balance, Paul glanced at one of the men who stepped over to the
group.  "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong," the man replied, a sinister-looking grin on his face.
"You just ran out of money, that's all."  To the group's surprise, the man
withdrew a large, menacing spiked club from beneath his cloak and hefted it
against his shoulder.

"That's right," agreed the second man, pulling out his own weapon.  "For the
little bit you paid, this is as far as you go."

"But you said you could take us all the way," Makoto protested, not really
registering the danger he and the others were in.

"Hey, hey, hey," the driver snarled as jabbed his own club towards the group,
"we're in charge of this boat, not you.  And unless you can pay us more, we're
throwing you off right here."

"What?"  Alielle sat up in shock.  "You're kidding!  If you let us off out here,
we'll die of thirst!"

"At least then we wouldn't have to listen to your annoying mouth!" the
second man stated, punctuating his comment by slamming his weapon against the
railing.

Makoto and Alielle cried out in surprise and jumped into each other's arms.
Komodo shifted his position slightly to face one of the men head-on while Paul
leveled a dangerous glare at the other.  Both teens were nervous and tense,
neither one wishing to start a fight but both perfectly willing to end one,
especially in defense of their friends.

The two men on the deck observed Komodo's and Paul's reactions and didn't like
them one bit.  Tightening their grip on their weapons, they prepared to beat
some sense into the two.  If these children wouldn't be cowed by a show of
force, then perhaps some actual physical violence would do the trick.

The driver, seeing that his partners had the situation under control, turned to
Fujisawa and began yelling.  "Hey scum-rat!  Got any money?"

This was probably the worst course of action the driver could have taken.
Fujisawa, a man who was as hot and as irritable as any of the others, had placed
himself in charge of this group of young people.  As a teacher and the only
adult in the group, it was his duty to protect the children from any and all
harm, even the two foolish ones planning to fight toe-to-toe with the burly men.
However, what was most important was the fact that Fujisawa was a man who had
not imbued a drop of liquor in about twenty-four hours.

An hour and a half later, the still hot and thirsty group of travellers lurched
forward once more as the sand skiff came to another stuttering halt.  Being more
prepared than the last time, the group managed to grab a hold of the railing and
not spill over one another onto the deck.

Komodo turned and looked at no one in particular.  "Now what?"

Fujisawa, who had been keeping diligent watch over the men, turned to glare at
the driver.  "What's this?  You dare taste Fujisawa's Fist of Justice again?"

The driver, sporting a number of heavy bruises, nervously shook his head.  "No!
Look!" he whimpered as he pointed ahead.  The group looked to the horizon and
saw only the strangely shaped monoliths that had suddenly appeared in the sand
and seemed to stretch on forever.  They turned back to the driver right as he
continued speaking.  "Even if you beat us up again, it's better than going
further.  Only the holy people are allowed to travel beyond this point."

The second man, also sporting some bruises and a black eye, nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that place is big trouble!"

Fujisawa hardened his glare at the men.  "Are you telling me we have to walk the
rest of the way?"

The driver nodded his head reluctantly.  "As I fear for my life, Mr. Justice."

Komodo whirled around to face his teacher.  "Don't tell me you're going to
believe this guy.  He's probably yanking your crank."  He ignored the three
beaten men who were shaking their heads in disagreement.

"Much as I hate to say it," Paul replied, "I think he's telling the truth."  He,
too, ignored the three beaten men who were now nodding their heads in firm
agreement with him.

Komodo watched, incredulous, as Fujisawa let loose a long sigh and stood to
depart from the sand skiff.  Muttering a curse or three beneath his breath, he
stood and prepared to follow the others as they carefully disembarked from the
vehicle.  He paused at the railing, though, and turned to one of the other men.
"Well, if we gotta walk, then you can at least give us some water to make up for
the fact that you can't take us the entire distance."

The man blinked at the request though Komodo couldn't see it behind the eye
shielding he wore.  "Uh, we don't have any water."

Komodo snorted.  "Bullshit.  You're talking about a seven-hour round trip
through the desert and you're telling me you don't have any water on the crate?"
He crossed his arms.  "No one's that stupid, not even you guys."

The man twitched slightly.  "I said we don't have any water," he stated, his
voice gaining a bit of its former strength.

From the ground, Makoto was giving him a nervous look, worried that Komodo was
about to start something rather unnecessary and unpleasant.  "Komodo..."

"Look," Komodo continued, not hearing Makoto's attempt at diffusing the
situation, "first you price-gouge us for the trip, then you attempt to rob us in
the middle of the desert while threatening to dump us overboard if we don't pay
you more money, and finally you claim that you can't even take us the whole way,
forcing us to walk the rest of the way in this heat."

From the ground, Paul was giving Komodo an incredulous look.  "What are you
doing?" he hissed beneath his breath.

"All I want," continued Komodo as he uncrossed his arms and tightened his glare
on the man closest to him, "is some water so we don't wind up croaking on the
way there.  I know you have some.  Cough it up."

Several tense moments passed as the man glowered at Komodo, then at Fujisawa,
then back again.  Finally coming to a decision, he knelt down and grasped at a
ring that was set in the floor.  Lifting the metal hatch, he reached inside and
withdrew three large, gallon-sized gourds tied together with rope.  He thrust
them towards Komodo with a highly annoyed, "Here."

Taking them without comment, Komodo draped the ropes across his shoulders so
that the gourds hung on both sides.  He then carefully hopped from the skiff to
the desert to land next to Paul.  "Let's get the hell away from here," he
muttered to the others and began walking towards Arliman.  "We'll divide this in
a second."

Everyone fell in step on either side of Komodo with Fujisawa hanging back a
couple of steps.  They continued to walk even as they heard the sand skiff start
up and turn back the way they had come.

Glancing back, Komodo saw that the skiff was well on its way and stopped
walking.  "Well, thank God that's over," he sighed as he lifted the gourds from
his shoulders.  Now that he was no longer on the skiff squaring off against the
men, his entire demeanor had changed.  "We've got three jugs here," he commented
as he began untying the ropes that held the gourds together.  "Paul and I will
share one, Makoto and short stuff will get the other and Sensei will get the
third."  He handed one of the gourds to Makoto who was standing nearby.  "That
sound good to you?"

Makoto blinked and looked down at the gourd in his hand.  "Um, okay."  He
looked back up.  "Uh, thanks, Komodo."

"Hey, no prob."

"Komodo."

Blinking at the no-nonsense tone of voice, Komodo turned to face his history
teacher.  "Yeah, Sensei?"

Fujisawa jerked a thumb back in the direction the skiff had long since
disappeared.  "That was probably the most foolish thing I've ever seen you do."

Nodding, Komodo handed him one of the gourds.  "'Seen' me do?  Probably."

Shaking his head in mild exasperation, Fujisawa popped the stopper on the gourd
and inhaled several gulps of water.  Smacking his lips, he took a deep breath,
released it and gave Komodo an even stare.  "Never do that again."

"You got it."

Turning away, Fujisawa began walking in the direction of Arliman once more.
"All right, then, let's get a move on," he called out in his usual jovial tone.
"That fountain isn't getting any closer!"

"Okay, Mr. Teacher!"  Alielle, who had been helping Ura get a long drink of
water, stood once the cat had her fill.  She, Ura and Makoto began to follow
Fujisawa down the desert path.

Taking a long drink himself, Komodo lowered the gourd from his lips and grinned.
"Heh.  Thought for sure I was going to get more detention that time."  He turned
and handed the gourd to Paul.  "Here.  Drink up."

Paul didn't take the offered gourd.  Instead, he leveled his own glare at
Komodo.  "Just what in the world were you thinking back there?  Were you trying
to get yourself killed?"

Komodo snorted.  "Oh please, against those morons?  Especially after Sensei
cleaned their clocks?"  He waved a hand in the air as if brushing aside
something unimportant.  "They were just a bunch of bullies.  Cowards.  They
wouldn't have done anything."

"And what if they did?"  Paul countered.  "Were you expecting Sensei to come to
your rescue?"

Komodo suddenly leaned right into Paul's face.  "I don't expect anyone to 'come
to my rescue.'  I take care of myself.  Always had.  Always will."  He shoved
the gourd into Paul's stomach, causing him to reflexively wrap his arms around
it.  "Here.  Drink up and stop whining."  Not waiting for a response, Komodo
turned and began following the others towards Arliman.

Paul watched him walk away for several moments, doing his best to reign in his
own anger.  He had never gotten along with him before, always finding his
supposedly amusing commentary annoying, but now he could barely stand to be in
his presence.  Perhaps it was the strain of being in this alien environment or
perhaps it was because Guy wasn't here to act as a buffer.  Whatever the reason,
he had to try his best not to let Komodo get to him.  The last thing anyone
needed was a major throw-down between the two.  He remembered what happened the
last time he was in a serious fight and he refused to do something like that
ever again.

Not even to Komodo.

Taking a long, cleansing breath, Paul finally took a drink from the gourd and
started off after the others.

***

Some time later, the group finally crested a sand dune near the end of the
marked path to see what could only be the Fountain of Arliman in the distance.
It wasn't what the group was expecting.  Instead of large buildings that rang of
religious importance, this place resembled a hot springs resort, albeit a large
one.  A thick forest of trees completely surrounded a circular area that held
two large pools, though there were undoubtedly smaller pools scattered among
the Fountain.  The forest, itself circular in shape, was surrounded by a wide
moat of crystal clear water.  The moat, of course, was circular in design and
was trisected by large pathways that led from the desert to the forest,
presumably to smaller paths that couldn't be seen at this distance.  A number of
buildings dotted the area and the group could see dozens of people milling
about.

"Well, it's about damn time," Komodo groaned while running his hand through his
hair.  "For a while there, I never thought we'd make it."

"You're telling me," Makoto replied.  "I'll just be glad when I can finally
finish up with this and get out of this outfit."

"I can only imagine just how hot you must be getting beneath all those layers of
clothing," Paul said as the group began walking the final distance to the
Fountain.

"I'm just glad that the water we had held out as long as it did," Alielle
stated, glancing back the way they had come.  "I'd hate to think of how thirsty
we'd be if we didn't have those."

Fujisawa took a last swig of his gourd and let out a satisfied sigh of relief.
"I'll be happy when I can get another glass of wine."

Paul rolled his eyes.  "Really, Sensei, you should try to stop.  Drinking isn't
exactly healthy and as far as desert survival is concerned, alcohol is probably
the worst thing you could possibly consume."

"Oh?  Why's that?" asked Makoto.

"Alcohol dehydrates you," Komodo interjected.  "Because of the way the body
works to get rid of alcohol, you wind up losing a lot of water in the process."

"Although you can," continued Paul, "if you have no other source of water
available, heat the alcoholic beverage or, in the case of this heat, simply
leave the container open for a few hours.  Since the alcohol will evaporate
before the water, doing so will leave behind drinkable water, more or less."

"Wow.  That's pretty neat."  Makoto was impressed to say the least.  "How did
you guys know all of this?"

Komodo and Paul glanced at one another and, in a rare display of solidarity,
shared a grin.  "There was a special week-long series on TV, on the Learning
Station, I think, that dealt with wilderness survival," Komodo answered.  "Each
day was dedicated to another environment.  Desert survival was Wednesday's."

"Thursday," Paul corrected.

"Thursday?  I thought that was tropical rain forest survival."

"That was Tuesday's."

"Then when was forest wilderness survival?"

"Monday.  I think they played that one first since Japan has a lot of forest
wilderness itself."

"Ah.  So that means Wednesday's episode must've been winter survival then,
right?"

"Yup.  And Friday's was mountainous survival.  It covered some of the same
things as winter and forest survival but had its fair share of interesting
tidbits, especially concerning sudden shifts in weather conditions."

"Too bad I missed it," Makoto replied after a moment.  "It sounded useful."

"I think my roommate might've taped a copy," Komodo stated.  "If we get back,
I'll have him make you a copy."

"Um, I have a question," Alielle stated.

"Sure, go ahead."

"What's 'tee vee?'"

At this, Makoto, Paul, Komodo and Fujisawa all shared a long look.  "Hoooo-boy,"
sighed Komodo.  "Let's see, easiest way to explain this one..."

Whatever explanation he was going to attempt was interrupted by a very loud,
piercing shriek of feminine origin.  Everyone in the group shared a perplexed
look before hurrying in the direction of the scream which, coincidentally,
happened to be in the same direction as the Fountain.  Crashing through the
brush that surrounded the main grounds, the group, with Fujisawa in the lead,
came to a halt, finally peering into the actual Fountain area.

What the group saw gave Komodo an industrial case of the willies as he was
suddenly assaulted with flashbacks of his initial arrival to El Hazard.  This
place was obviously a bathing area of some sort, as was evidenced by the number
of nude females present.  Several paths led to and from the bathing area to
other parts of Arliman not yet visible to the group.  And right next to one of
the pools, a nude woman was cringing before a very large, furry beast, shrinking
back when the creature raised its arms towards her.

"Dear God!"  Not wasting a moment, Fujisawa dropped from his perch to the floor
below and charged the sizeable creature, a battle cry escaping his lips.  It was
apparent to the others that he intended to knock the thing to the moon.

Komodo's panic was momentarily suspended as something occurred to him.  "Hey
Paul," he mused aloud.  "You notice something odd about this whole situation?"

Tracking their teacher who had just leapt an impossible distance in the air,
Paul replied, "What, the fact that the creature doesn't really seem to be
attacking that woman at all?  Or the fact that the other women here aren't
freaking out about said creature?"

"Both, actually."  Komodo hummed in thought.  "I wonder if Sensei has noticed
this or not."

*WHAM!!*

"Guess not," Paul muttered as he and the others watched the creature sail over
the treetops, a pained wail trailing it.

"Poor guy," Alielle whimpered as the creature came down through the canopy of
leaves.

"Well," Komodo sighed as he crouched down to gauge the distance from the ledge
to the ground below, "we better get down there before Sensei manages to make a
fool of himself."  Getting a solid grip on the ledge, he lowered himself to hang
from it and dropped to the floor.  "Again."

"At this point," grunted Paul as he climbed down after Komodo, "it's more along
the lines of damage control rather than preventive measures."

Komodo laughed.  "Hey, that's pretty good.  I guess even you're entitled to a
show of humor once in a while."

Paul rolled his eyes.  "Whatever."

Both gave the other two a hand climbing down the wall.  Alielle had some
difficulty due to her size while Makoto nearly got hung up thanks to his dress,
something that caused Komodo to snicker rather loudly.

The group was just about to rejoin with Fujisawa when the attractive woman he
had just "rescued" leaned towards him excitedly.  "You're a government
employee?" she squealed in obvious delight.  "Income!  You are a hero!"

Komodo snorted.  "Teacher?  Income?  Shh-yah, right," he mumbled beneath his
breath.  He and the others stood by patiently for the woman to notice them.

Realizing she now had a much larger audience to entertain, the woman finally
turned to address the entire group.  "I'm extremely sorry the sudden intrusion
gave me no chance to introduce myself.  I am Miz Mishtal, priestess of Muldoon."

The entire group blinked in shock, jaws hanging from each and every one of them.
No one in the group had expected to suddenly meet another of the priestesses so
quickly.

Mistaking their shocked silence for awe, Miz giggled.  "Please, come this way.
You have obviously travelled quite some distance so the least I can do is give
you a short tour."

***

About a half-hour after Miz had begun her tour, both Paul and Komodo found
themselves placed in the general waiting area of Arliman with explicit
instructions not to wander around.  With the majority of the woman at the
Fountain in less-than-full attire, leaving the waiting room would be a
potentially bad idea, not to mention a painful one.  Curiously enough, Fujisawa-
sensei was allowed back into the bathing area (being personally escorted by a
Muldoon Priestess apparently had its perks) but he was made to wear a blindfold
at all times.  He considered it an even trade, especially when Miz offered him
wine.

Paul kicked back and relaxed on a divan, a loud yawn escaping his lips.  "Well,
here we are at the Fountain of Arliman, which is basically a giant bath house
for women only and, as luck would have it, it is completely full."  Paul turned
to gaze at Komodo who was currently reclining on a small couch opposite of him.
"I'm surprised you aren't trying to sneak a peek."

Komodo, leaning back in his own chair, rotated his head to look at his
companion.  "Paul, I admit to being a great many things, some of which I'm
actually proud of, but the one thing I am not is suicidal."  He looked away to
stare at the ceiling.  "I remember what happened to me the last time I was
caught in a woman's bathing area and I don't care to have a repeat performance,
thank you very much."

Paul blinked in surprise.  "You got caught peeping or something?"

"Not exactly.  Y'see, when I first got teleported to El Hazard, I somehow
managed to get my butt dropped right next to the servants' bath at Floristica.
I didn't know where I was.  I assumed I was in some kind of forest and the
running water I heard was some kind of stream.  I thought maybe I could find
someone if I just followed that stream."  He snorted.  "Well, I found someone
all right.  Pretty damn quick, too.  The ladies there weren't too happy about
providing me a free show.  The palace guards didn't appreciate it either."

"Well, since you're still in one piece, I take it they didn't have you
executed."

"Don't sound so disappointed," Komodo replied.  "No, I wasn't executed.  I was
thrown into a dungeon.  Makoto and Sensei wound up joining me a bit later.  We
swapped stories and the next morning, we were all released.  I found out a bit
later that the dungeon treatment was to convince Makoto to go along with their
cross-dressing scam."

Paul shifted so he was facing Komodo again.  "So Makoto really does look like
this Princess Fatora, then."

"Saw the family portrait myself.  They could've been twins."

"Hmm."  Paul fell silent for a few minutes, mulling over recent events.
"Anything else of importance I missed?  I mean, you know where I was when I got
teleported.  I wasn't in any position to see or hear anything."

Komodo thought for a moment.  "Well, not really.  You already know about Fatora,
we explained why we have to meet with the Priestesses and you, me and Sensei all
have 'superpowers.'  And we still don't know where the others might be."  He
purposely left out the bit about meeting Tasha as he felt it was none of Paul's
business.  "That's pretty much it."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"Well, I was just wondering, if you, Sensei and I all got these special powers,
even if we don't know how they work, I was wondering what the others might have
received."

"Good question, though there's no point in guessing.  I think the possibilities
are too limitless.  I mean, Makoto thinks he didn't get one but considering how
all the rest of us did, I think he did too.  He just hasn't found it yet."

Nodding, Paul replied, "You're probably right."

Komodo let loose a wide grin.  "Paul agreeing with me?  What's the world coming
to?"

"Komodo--"

"Boxed lunch!  Boxed lunch!  Get your delicious boxed lunch!"

A very familiar voice interrupted Paul's exasperated response to the smart-ass
comment.  Komodo blinked at the voice.  "Hey, isn't that..."  His brow furrowed
as he concentrated.  "Damn.  What's her name again?"

"I'll be a flaming goat," Paul whispered as he, too, recognized the voice.
Standing, he bolted to the doorway, disbelief on his features.  Glancing around,
he spotted Shinonome's near-infamous female student entrepreneur walking in his
general direction.  "Hey, Nanami!  Over here!"

Nanami, who was busy trying to sell her wares to the many women that peppered
the walkways, turned at the call.  Shock quickly gave way to relief and sudden
happiness.  Stopping in mid-transaction (which in and of itself was no mean
feat), she hurried over to the doorway of the waiting area where Paul stood.
"Paul!  Oh my God, it is you!"  She threw her arms around him and pulled him
into a hug that was made mildly uncomfortable by the carrying case she held in
front of her.

"Easy there, Nanami," comforted Paul as he gently held the young girl.  "It's
all right."

Pulling away slightly, Nanami knelt down and placed her carrying case of bento
to the floor and eased the strap from around her neck.  Standing, she gave Paul
another teary-eyed smile.  "It's so good to see you, Paul.  You wouldn't believe
what I've been through lately!"

"Oh, trust me," Komodo interjected as he rose from his seat.  "I think we
would."

Nanami blinked as she noticed Komodo the first time.  "You're from Shinonome,
too, aren't you?"

"Yep."  Giving a low and exaggerated bow, he introduced himself.  "Komodo
Kalichnikov at your service."  He rose and gave her a pleasant grin.  "I've seen
you around school but we've never met."

"Good to meet you, Komodo."  Turning back to Paul, Nanami gave him another
relieved smile.  "So, how did you guys end up here?  And where is here, anyway?"

"We still don't know that ourselves," Paul answered.  "We kind of ended up here
suddenly and without explanation, same as you.  Fujisawa-sensei is with us, too,
though he didn't start off with us.  We caught up with him eventually."

"Don't forget Makoto," Komodo added.  "He's here, too."

Nanami blinked, her eyes widening in surprise and, perhaps, something else.
"Really?  Makoto's here?"

"Uh-huh.  He's back that way," Komodo pointed in the direction where Sensei,
Alielle and Makoto were gathered.  "Can't miss him."

Without another word, Nanami bolted from the waiting room.

"Huh.  How 'bout that.  Didn't say goodbye or nothing."  Komodo glanced down at
the case Nanami left behind.  "Still, I guess it isn't a total loss.  I was
getting pretty hungry."  He knelt down and popped open one of the bento, taking
a deep breath of the delicious aroma that wafted forth.  "Man, this smells
great!"

Paul unclenched his jaw and glared down at the kneeling Komodo.  "And here I
though you might actually have a brain."

Replacing the lid with an impatient grunt, Komodo stood and looked Paul dead in
the eyes.  "What the hell's your problem this time?"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Paul demanded in a harsh whisper.

"Enlighten me," Komodo replied sardonically.

"I purposely avoided mentioning Makoto because he's currently in disguise, you
idiot," he hissed.  "You just sent Nanami in there and she's probably going to
blow his cover.  Just what in the world do you think is going to happen then?"

Komodo's eyes widened.  "Uh-oh..."

"Yeah.  'Uh-oh.'  If we're lucky, we'll just be thrown out.  If we're unlucky,
we'll be thrown in jail, or worse.  You said you've already spent some time in a
dungeon.  Did you really enjoy it so much that you want to do it again?"

"Actually, I think jail's gonna be the least of our problems," Komodo
interrupted.  Seeing Paul's incredulous stare, he moved to clarify.  "Shayla
will probably flash-fry his ass before anyone can get arrested."

This time, it was Paul's eyes that widened.  "Uh-oh..."

At that exact moment, a loud cry echoed throughout the Fountain followed by a
huge explosion that rattled the building the two students were standing in.
Rushing to the doorway, Paul and Komodo watched as another explosion sounded
out, accompanied by a huge gout of flame that erupted over the treetops.
Terrified women began running from the area, all of them too busy looking for
cover to concern themselves with the two men standing close by.

Paul hung his head.  "Burn me..."

Getting a cheeky grin on his face, Komodo said, "Well, if you really want--"

"Shut up!"  Paul ran out of the doorway and in the direction of the explosions.

Shaking his head, Komodo ran to follow Paul.  "Ah, who wants to live forever?"

***

The Fountain of Arliman was finally in sight.

"And not a moment too soon," Asmodeus muttered to himself.

After having spent the last twenty hours tailing the mysterious figure since the
confrontation on Mt. Muldoon the day before, Asmodeus was damn glad to finally
see the end of his journey approaching.  Taking another swig from his water
gourd, he wiped his brow with his sleeve and continued to follow the assassin as
he headed towards the circular forested area that surrounded the Fountain
proper.

From what Asmodeus had gathered earlier in the day while bartering for supplies
at a tiny bazaar on the outskirts of the Desert of Bleached White Bones,
religious figures from all over El Hazard gathered to this Fountain once a year
to practice some sort of unusual meditation-communing-with-the-gods thing.  At
least, that was what the people at the bazaar had said.  They weren't too sure
about the specifics.  What they were certain of was that trespassers were
definitely not tolerated.  Still, that didn't prevent the merchants from selling
him some necessary goods for trekking across the desert.  It had cost him,
though: his silver pocket watch, a generational gift from his father, now lay in
the hands of a merchant with far too few teeth.  It couldn't be helped, though.
He had no native currency and nothing else of value that could be used to barter
for the goods he needed.  Plus, he couldn't dally long.  Otherwise, the person
he was tailing would get too far ahead and he couldn't afford to lose track of
him.

The lives of his friends were at stake.

Asmodeus took another long swallow of water from his gourd and nearly choked
when, without warning, a huge gout of flame exploded from the forest and shot
towards the desert perimeter, incinerating dozens of innocent trees in the
process.  After a second or two, the firestorm died down, though it was obvious
that the forest was now catching fire in several places.  He was again caught
off-guard when a miniature tsunami swelled into existence and swept through the
forest along the same path the flames had travelled, extinguishing all of the
fires in moments.

Thinking back to the fire priestess he had seen rescuing Paul and the others at
Mt. Muldoon, Asmodeus wondered if the waterworks were the result of another
priestess.  Noticing the figure continue on his way into the forest, he moved to
follow, thinking that he would most likely find the answer to his own questions
in a few minutes.

***

In the aftermath of Shayla's wrath, a sizeable section of the forested area lay
devastated, several charred holes were punctured into the ground and dozens of
scorch marks now decorated the walls and floors throughout the Fountain of
Arliman.  Thankfully, there were no fatalities and injuries were limited to a
few scrapes, bruises and, of course, some mild burns.

Despite the roundabout way they were forced to go about things, the group had
finally achieved its goal of speaking with the priestesses of Mt. Muldoon.
Explanations had to come quick, though, since none of the priestesses,
especially Shayla, looked patient enough to tolerate long-winded discussions.
Privacy wasn't an issue.  Thanks to the pyrokinetic display the fire priestess
provided only minutes earlier, all of the other holy people at Arliman were more
than eager to give the large group of strangers and sages wide berth.  Even the
most curious amongst the crowds knew it was better to remain ignorant of the
details than to risk getting her eyebrows torched from her face.

All of the women present were dressed in only bathing towels and, with the fire
priestess being the only exception, were wading in one of the central heated
pools.  Miz had somehow maneuvered Fujisawa into the pool with her and was
dabbing at his burns with a damp towel, eliciting an occasional hiss of pain
from him.  Shayla, who was seated at the pool's edge, was glaring at Makoto,
looking more than ready to try flash-frying him again.  Curiously enough, Nanami
was also shooting Makoto the occasional glare for reasons that Paul really
didn't want to think about at the moment.  Alielle looked torn, glancing between
Shayla and Nanami and trying to decide whom to snuggle with.  Makoto, at the
center of everyone's attention, apparently couldn't settle on any one single
emotion to feel and decided to look nervous, embarrassed and apologetic all at
once.  Komodo, to nobody's surprise, just looked amused.

After a few minutes of embarrassing details from Makoto, scathing commentary
from Shayla and inappropriate snickers from Komodo, things finally began to calm
down somewhat.  Afura, who was listening attentively, broke the relative silence
of the group.  "If you had explained to us from the beginning why you were
dressed as Princess Fatora, none of this would have happened."

"She's right," agreed the still-miffed Nanami.

"To be perfectly fair," interjected Komodo, "he never really did have a decent
opportunity to tell you guys."

"He had plenty of time!" countered Shayla.

Komodo cocked an eyebrow at the redhead.  "Oh really?  And I suppose the brush-
off we got at Muldoon was just your way of being attentive."  Sarcasm
practically dripped from his words.

Paul slapped his forehead with his palm.  "Nice work, Komodo," he muttered too
softly for anyone to hear.  "This'll really win them over."

Shayla growled an obscenity and rotated her body to face Komodo directly.  "He
could have said something earlier than now!"

"Hel~lo!"  Komodo's tone became one of exasperated annoyance.  "We were
attempting to keep things hush-hush.  Not everyone knows that the princess is
M.I.A. and we're trying to keep it that way.  This isn't exactly the most
private place in the world to talk, y'know."

The oval gem in Shayla's headband flared as her gaze narrowed in anger to
Komodo's utterly disrespectful tone of voice.  "Listen up, you--"

Afura raised her hand, motioning both Shayla and Komodo to quiet down.  "Shayla,
that's enough.  The Fountain has taken enough damage from your lack of control
already.  We don't need a repeat performance."

Seeing Shayla bite back what would probably have been a string of rather
impolite and unladylike phrases, Paul quickly surmised that this wasn't the
first time that Afura acted as the voice of reason for her group.  Still, he
felt he had to add something to the conversation to try and stay on the
priestesses' good sides.  "You'll have to pardon my companion, Shayla, Afura,"
he said, nodding to each woman in turn, "but as you can tell, he has yet to
learn the fine art of something called 'tact.'"

Snorting in irritation, Shayla turned to face her companions in the pool.  "He'd
better learn before he gets burned."  Fortunately for everybody's relative
safety, she didn't see Komodo mimicking her words the way a third-grader would.

"At least now we understand the full circumstances and I think we should help
Roshtaria to ready the wedding preparations."  Miz blinked.  "Um, I mean help
them by unsealing the Eye of God."

"Count me out," Shayla replied with finality.  "The legend clearly says a
'princess.'  It says nothing about a Queen."

Komodo slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his sudden burst of laughter.  He
wasn't entirely successful.

Makoto actually looked more than a little irritated for once.  "I told you I was
just trying to help people.  Do you think I enjoy dressing like this?"

Shayla just glanced at him.  "Quite possibly."

Alielle, finally making up her mind, sidled up to the angry redhead and tried
wrapping her arms around her.  "Sister Shayla, please don't be so mean."

Clearly freaked out by the young girl's antics, Shayla began shoving Alielle
from her lap.  "They're all weird!"

"Now that I think about it," commented Afura, who was tapping her chin in
thought, "it does say that we shouldn't unseal the Eye of God unless certain
protocols are followed."

"Fantastic," Komodo tossed in while rolling his eyes.  "Just what we need: more
red tape."

Makoto leaned forward, trying to impress upon the wind priestess the importance
of this task.  "But Roshtaria is in deep trouble!"

Changing her target, Alielle walked up to Afura and leaned in rather
close.  "Please, Sister Afura, you just have to help."

Blinking at the young girl's attention, Afura replied, "We'd like to help but
we--"

"--must agree," finished Miz.  "All three priestesses must agree before we can
unseal the Eye of God."  She then looked over at Shayla, clearly indicating that
it was the redhead's decision that had to be altered.

In an effort to help Shayla make the right choice (though she probably had more
intimate reasons for doing so), Alielle snuggled up to the fire priestess once
more.  "Oh, Sister Shayla, please agree."

Eyebrow twitching like mad, Shayla began prying the young girl from her waist.
Again.  "I said, back off, kid!"

Alielle's struggles against Shayla ceased abruptly as something else, or rather,
someone else, caught her attention.  Her inquisitive "Ooo," caused everyone else
to turn towards the newcomer walking in their direction.

This newcomer was a woman.  Not a girl, not a young lady but a Woman with a
capital "Wo!"  She was tall with the kind of body that made a person's eyes want
to explore every inch of it slowly and repeatedly.  A long, luxuriant mane of
flowing blond hair reached down to her waist and shone like silk in the
sunlight.  Her strapless top, which seemed to be held aloft by the power of
positive thinking alone, covered only what was necessary to remain decent while
doing nothing to disguise her ample bosom.  She held a portion of her floor-
length skirt in one hand, revealing just enough leg to further entice her
attentive audience.

In essence, she was "sex appeal" given mortal form.

The reactions of the were mixed, ranging from from ardent desire (Komodo,
Fujisawa, Alielle), to stunned awe (Makoto, Paul), to mild curiosity (Afura,
Nanami), to relative indifference (Shayla), to barely repressed jealousy (Miz).
These feelings were only heightened when the woman began walking forward, her
three-inch heels emphasizing her every graceful step.

"Damn..."  Komodo shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  This woman was the hottest
thing on two legs he had ever seen.

Makoto's cheeks flushed slightly as the woman approached, her hips swaying
provacatively.  "She's so beautiful..."  He didn't notice Nanami's annoyed glare
to his words.

"Yeah, you said it," Fujisawa agreed.  He, too, didn't notice the glare sent his
way, this one from Miz.

Irritated at the amount of attention Makoto was giving this strange woman,
Nanami reached forward, grabbed his cheek and tugged hard.  "Well, maybe Shayla
is right after all.  You've turned into some kind of big, sex-crazed deviant,
haven't you?"  Her antics caused everyone to look her way but their attention
was drawn back to the woman when she stopped almost within arm's reach of the
group.

Moving with a grace so elegant she seemed to be in slow-motion, the woman
reached an arm out towards Makoto, whose eyes widened at the gesture.  It looked
to everyone as if she was offering herself exclusively to the young man.  The
group fell silent once more as everybody waited with baited breath for what
would happen next.

Nanami broke the silence with a puzzled question.  "Um, excuse me, but may I ask
what you're doing with that?"

The woman blinked, seeming to be at a loss for a moment.  "Uh, it's a present.
A gift for your boyfriend," she clarified.

This time, it was Nanami's turn to turn red.  She took a surprised step back and
tried to stutter out a reply.  "Um, we haven't really had a chance to talk about
it yet.  What makes you think he's my boyfriend?"

Makoto let off a nearly inaudible sigh of what might have been disappointment.
Paul noticed this and barely repressed a sigh of his own.

The young entrepenuer brought herself back under control and turned her
attention back to the woman who had taken another step closer to Makoto.  "Maybe
they're right," Nanami finally said.  "Your skin is beautiful."

"You think so?"

"Yes," Nanami replied.  "I've never seen anything like it.  I mean, I've only
been here a short time but I haven't met anyone with blue skin before."

There was a collective gasp of shock from the priestesses and Alielle.  Afura
turned to Nanami.  "Are you sure she has blue skin?"

Nanami blinked.  "Well, yeah."

"Lying worm!!"  Shayla immediately leapt to her feet and sent a fist blurring to
the woman's face.  Her target, however, skillfully dodged out of the way of the
over-extended attack and gave the fire priestess a slight shove as she moved
past.  Shayla stumbled forward and tripped into the still-seated Komodo,
collapsing into a heap of tangled limbs and one lost towel.

In an instant, the woman's disguise melted away revealing her true form, that of
an athletic brunette with pale blue skin wielding a wicked-looking dagger.  She
dashed towards the shocked Makoto, her arm cocked back, ready to drive her
weapon into his defenseless chest.

Mere centimeters from its mark, the dagger stopped as the assassin's arm
suddenly jerked to a halt.  Makoto, still frozen in place with shock, watched
Ura wrap herself around his chest and lash out with her hind legs, kicking the
blue-skinned woman backwards several steps.  The force of the blow caught him
off-guard, sending him stumbling back into Nanami and into the pool.

The assassin regained her footing and flicked her weapon around in her hand.
Before she could attempt another attack, though, a loud attack cry sounded out
from her left.  Reacting quickly, she dove to one side, barely dodging out of
the way of Miz's spear of water.  A second attack came almost immediately,
forcing her to leap away from her intended target.

Shayla, having finally extracted herself from Komodo, saw Miz just barely miss
with her attacks and growled an obscenity.  With her gauntlet flaring with
power, she threw forth a gout of flame that formed a ring of fire around the
assassin, trapping her in place for a few precious seconds.  She gave a
satisfied smirk as Miz's third attack homed in on the target.

To Shayla's shock, the woman threw herself to one side at the last moment,
breaking through the flames that surrounded her as Miz's third attack missed by
a fraction of an inch.  The assassin screamed in pain even as she turned and
began running towards the small storage building near the pool.  She dove
through the doorway just as Shayla launched another attack, this one much more
powerful than the last.  The front of the storage building exploded as the
attack struck home, flames spilling out from the small windows that dotted the
walls.

"You're not getting away that easy!"  Shayla ran to the remains of the building,
ready to toast the woman again.  The jewel on her forehead flared as she peered
inside only to find burning towels and other singed miscellaneous bath supplies.
She slammed a fist into the shattered wall in frustration.  "Dammit!"

Everyone watched Shayla stalk back to the pool, anger clear on her face.  Komodo
cleared his throat.  "What the hell just happened?"

"Yeah," Nanami agreed.  "Who was that woman?"

"She was a member of the Phantom Tribe," Afura answered.

Shayla stooped down to pick up the knife the assassin dropped after diving
through her flames.  "We should have seen through the pretty disguise.  Here's
the proof."

Nanami blinked.  "What, couldn't you see she had a knife?"

"No," Miz replied.  "We couldn't."  She turned to Nanami.  "You somehow have an
ability to see through her illusions."

"You mean her blue skin?"

Miz gave a hard nod, looking uncharacteristically serious.  "The Phantom Tribe
live beneath El Hazard.  They are merciless."

There was a moment of silence as the Shinonome natives digested this
information.  The moment didn't last as a voice called out from a distance.
"Your Holiness!"

A messenger ran up to the priestesses and dropped to one knee, breathing
heavily.  "Please forgive my intrusion," she began as she tried to regain her
breath, "but we have just received word from beyond the desert that the Bugrom
forces have conquered Gannan and they are now heading for the Forbidden Island!"

"No!" Miz cried out, horrified.  "They couldn't!"

Afura leaned forward, speaking in a firm voice.  "Are you positive that this is
the truth?"

"Are you sure this isn't some kind of mistake?" Shayla asked.

The messenger shook her head.  "No, it is not."

"Then we've got to move," Shayla stated in a no-nonsense tone of voice.  "Now."

The priestesses ran out from the pool area, Miz dragging a confused Fujisawa
behind her.  The rest of the group quickly followed, sharing puzzled and worried
glances at the sudden tension and urgency that had formed over the three
priestesses.  Whatever was going on, it was deadly serious.

***

Kiriya winced in pain as she regained consciousness.  Gingerly, she reached
across her body with her right arm and probed her injured side, hissing as her
fingers came in contact with the tender flesh there.  Recalling her encounter
with the Muldoon priestesses, she took a hurried look at her surroundings,
expecting to find one of them standing ready to kill her.

No one was nearby, though.  In fact, nothing was nearby with the exception of a
tiny, solitary candle standing on the ground perhaps five feet away from her.
The light it cast was pathetic; it was barely strong enough for her to make out
the extent of her injuries and nowhere near powerful enough to reach the walls
or ceiling.

"Where am I?"  Her quiet query was swallowed by the inky blackness that
surrounded her on all sides.

"You are here."

A soft gasp of surprise came from her lips.  She wasn't expecting an actual
reply.  "Where is that?"

"Where it is."

Narrowing her eyes slightly at the evasive answers, Kiriya spoke in a firmer
tone of voice.  "Who are you?"

The voice, like before, was low and carefully modulated.  "I am... that I am.
And now, child, the questions are mine to ask...  And you will answer them,
accurately and honestly.  Otherwise, you shall feel the sting of my reprimand."

Now Kiriya was irritated.  This person had no idea who he was dealing with.  "I
answer to nobody," she stated, her voice proud.  "The only one who commands me
is Galus, Prince of Deep Shadows."

A soft chuckle surrounded her.  "'Prince?'  You follow the edicts of a mere
prince?"  The voice snorted, amused.  "How... droll."

Irritation blossomed into anger.  Kiriya took a step forward, her right hand
clenched into a fist.  "How dare you speak that w--"

A loud slap shocked her silent, partly because it was completely unexpected but
mostly because it was her own hand that did it.  Kiriya stared at her left hand,
her eyes wide in confusion and a bit of fear.

"If you normally follow the commands of a prince of the shadows," the voice
continued, "perhaps you won't be hesistant to obey their lord and king."

With that, Kiriya found herself stepping towards the candle.  Her eyes widened
in horror as she found herself an unwitting passenger in her own body, watching
as it moved without her consent.  She tried to fight it, tried to regain
control, but it was no use.  A moment later, she watched herself extiguish the
candle flame between her thumb and forefinger, plunging the room in total
darkness.

An icy touch fell upon her shoulder, her stomach, her arm, her thigh.  She
couldn't even flinch as she felt something caress her cheek, leaving it
momentarily numb.  The voice, low, controlled and disturbingly gentle, whispered
in her ear.

"Now, shall we begin?"

Her body wouldn't let her scream.

***

"Sometimes, dear child, life is not entirely fair.  The ordeals that Makoto-san
and the others encountered trying to reach the three holy sages is just one
small example of this fact.  Though they would eventually persevere, the
hardships they had faced were tremendous, almost beyond imagination.

"As the three holy sages and the others raced to the Forbidden Island, no one
had any idea that the worst was yet to come.  For it was Ifurita-sama who rested
on that island, she who was labelled as the most powerful of all the Demon Gods
of the ancient world.  Should she be unleashed, she could rain untold
devastation upon the world."

"Yes, child.  'Could.'  That did not mean that she would.  Ah, but that is a
tale for tomorrow, dear one."

"No complaints.  You have been patient thus far.  You should know that I will be
here to continue my tale tomorrow.  Do not worry.  I am not going to go away.
Afterall..."

"Nothing.  It is nothing.  Good night, child, and pleasant dreams."

***

Not much to say this time except it's finally done.  I hope this chapter doesn't
disappoint.

See you in the next one.