Kichi!

Episode 2-- Toto, I Don't Think We're In Tokyo Anymore!

   "Ow..."  Samantha's head was spinning like a top.  She attempted to 
stand, but the waves of dizziness and nausea were too much, and she sank 
back to her knees.  What happened?  She was fighting.  She won, she 
guessed.  Then-- she was falling.  Now she was here.  Where was here?
   She opened her eyes.  'Here' was not the hallway outside of class.  
Nor was it the nurse's clinic.  'Here' was a huge chamber, decorated 
like a palace or temple of some sort, with the main feature the two 
whopping huge doors behind her -->the Gate<-- whatever.  'Here' had a 
girl prostrate before her.
   "What?!?!"
   The girl in front of her raised her head nervously.  "Is this wrong?" 
she asked.  "I've never summoned anyone before."  The girl had long, 
green hair, an oval face, piercing blue eyes... in short, she was 
beautiful.  She was dressed in a flattering yet functional dark suit of 
clothing-- more suited for sneaking around than maintaining a temple.  
   And of course, Sam couldn't ignore the large pointy ears that poked 
out from the girl's head.  Interesting.  She might as well play along 
with the dream, so...
   "Who are you?" Sam asked.
   The girl stood.  "I am Kichi Kengo, of the town of Elyria, of the 
realm of Gokashi."
   Okay.
   "From New Jer-- Tokyo, in the 'realm' of Japan," she added 
derisively.  "I'm--"
   "STOP!"
   The two girls turned at the new voice.  Entering the chamber was a 
figure about six feet tall.  He wore a heavy cloak of a deep maroon that 
obscured his face and body.  No other features could be determined 
except for a shock of silver hair peeping out from the hood.
   "What _now_?" Samantha asked.
   "A Red Mage..." Kichi gasped.
			*	*	*
   Gokashi was not a land without magic.  Conversely, it was full of it.  
Kichi's race, the Elves were magical, the Temple was magical, the 
fairies and merpeople were magical, and the spring a mile from Kichi's 
house that turned people to stone, that certainly was magical.  So there 
was no shortage of magic.  There was just a shortage of magic users.
   Most wizards, mages and sorcerors had died in the FireWars a few 
years before.  To be sure, magic using had in no way died out, but 
finding people proficient enough in magic to be an actual mage was not 
an everyday occurance.  And Red Mages... no one had seen them since the 
great wizard Amaro disappeared three years ago.  So one can understand 
Kichi's surprise at the man's entrance.  That and the fact that Kichi 
knew she had no official business in the Temple, and so nowhere in her 
plan did anyone ever see her inside.
			*	*	*
   "What are you doing here?" Kichi asked, trying not to sound as 
frightened as she felt.
   "Trying to stop you," the mage replied, his voice hard and 
controlled.  He glanced at the other girl.  "However, it seems I'm too 
late."  He approached Kichi, yellow glinting from beneath his hood.  "Do 
you realize what you've done?" he growled, getting much farther into her 
personal space than she would've liked.
   Kichi swallowed, saying the only words that came to mind:  "'When the 
Gate opens at the time of most need, the Legendary Hero will come to 
purify the world with Light.'"  She stared fiercely into the dark space 
where his head should be.  "Now that our darkest hour has come, the 
Goddesses have given us a savior."  She pointed to the chosen one, who 
looked confused.
   "Me?  I'm a 'Legendary Hero'?"  She gave an unbelieving chuckle.  
"Okay," she muttered.  "Aren't I egocentric today.  Sorry Lady Spock, 
I'm afraid you've got the wrong dream.  Please wake me up and try 
again."
   Kichi frowned.  What did she mean, not the Legendary Hero.  Who else 
would come from the Gate?
   The mage seemed determined to find out, as he released her and moved 
to the other girl.  He waved his hand, a blue sparkle surrounding his 
fingers and reaching to her forehead.  After a minute it ceased.  "It's 
not her," he said, relieved.  "There's still hope."
   "She's not Lexus?" Kichi asked, very confused.
   "Hold on," the girl said.  "I'm Samantha Kouketsu.  That's who I've 
been all my life.  Now you're telling me I'm supposed to be some 
legendary hero chick named after a luxury car?"  She threw up her hands 
in annoyance.  "What have I been smoking?!"
   Kichi ignored the Samantha's ranting.  Everything she had done... was 
all for nothing?  How could the Goddesses have done something like this?  
"Lexus was to come... but the legend..."
   "Be happy the legend isn't coming true," the man answered.  "When 
Lexus comes, she will destroy all life, leaving a barren, 'pure' world.  
I'm Tenzil Ravensbourne, the last of the Red Mages.  I've been working 
to make sure she doesn't return."  He changed to an apologetic tone.  
"The Gate opened early... I thought you were trying to bring her, and 
consequently the end of the world."
   "But... I was..." Kichi said unhappily.  "Gokashi must be restored 
from the corrupt land it's become.  But I needed help."
   "Except instead of the 'legendary hero' you get me?" Samantha 
confirmed.
   Tenzil shook his head.  "It must be some sort of mistake, or the 
Goddesses are playing a mean trick."
   Were they?  Kichi struggled with this.  She had always believed in 
the power of the Goddesses.  Could they do something that would be so 
blatantly trivial?
   "No," she stated decisively.  "She-- Samantha has come to us for a 
reason.  I asked for someone to save Gokashi.  Here she is."
			*	*	*
   Tenzil wasn't so sure about Samantha's worth as a heroine.  However, 
she *had* come from the Gate.  That counted for som--  He heard 
something...  "Wait-- listen!"  He turned towards the way he'd entered, 
head cocked.  "We've gotta get out of here."
   "Imperial guards?" Kichi asked.
   He nodded, heading for a different exit.  "Come on," he called back 
impatiently.  "Or do you want to get caught?"
   The girls shook their heads, following him.
   So they ran.  Tenzil led them through the mazelike hallways of the 
Temple, positive that he was going the correct direction.  After passing 
seemingly the same door for the third time, he wasn't so sure. 
   "Where the hell are we?" Samantha asked.  "Lost, I'd wager," she 
answered.  "Don't take the lead if you don't know where to go."
   He just growled in reply.  He did know where to go.  However, the 
Temple was different... stopping their progress, just as it had 
earlier...
   That was it!  The Temple was trying to protect them.  It was a 
magical place.. it had prevented him from stopping Sam from coming 
through the Gate; it must be keeping them from leaving by his route.  
"All right.  Let's go," he said, opening the door.  
   He emerged outside, on a ledge about ten feet above the main 
entrance.  "Damn," he commented as a crossbow bolt whizzed past his 
head.
			*	*	*
   Samantha paid little attention as she crossed through the door, lost 
in her thoughts.  This was all just too unreal, even for a dream.  If 
she'd known she had this kind of imagination, she wouldn't have paid 
that kid to do her creative writing assignments.  But then, what else 
could it be but imagination?  People just didn't see elves and people 
who could use real magic (like that guy, who had done *something* to 
her, without even asking).  'I guess I was hit a little too hard by that 
guy, or I ate some bad sushi or something,' she thought.
   She was jangled from her reverie by something hard.  It was Tenzil.  
"What are you doing?" she asked, irriated.  He pointed downwards.  There 
were little men.  They were running around and pointing at them.  "Is 
this supposed to be dangerous?" she asked.
   "Only if you don't like getting shot," he said darkly.
   "What do we do?" Kichi asked.  "The door is gone."
   "I'll take care of it," Tenzil said, beginning to chant softly.  
"Lord of confusion, master of illusion, hide us from our enemies.  
/MULTIPLE ILLUSION!!/"  They were suddenly surrounded by groups of 
themselves.  "Come on," Tenzil yelled, "Before they figure out the 
trick."  He ran up the mountainside, around a ridge and down towards a 
nearby forest.
   Kichi motioned for Sam to follow, but she was intrigued by the image 
magic.  Nearly mirror images, they moved as she did.  "Incredible," she 
noted.
   "There's no time for this," Kichi said, pulling the real Samantha 
after Tenzil.
   Sam halfheartedly followed, engrossed in the tiny men at the ground.  
They were running around even more now, and they waved little sticks, 
shooting wildly.  'What an intense dr--'  Sam stopped at a sharp pain 
across her shoulder.  Looking down, she saw she was bleeding.  
"Kichi..." she said breathlessly.  The elf looked back at her, worried.  
"This... this isn't a dream is it."
   Kichi soundlessly shook her head.
   "Oh God..."  Wide-eyed, Sam dropped to the ground, unconscious.
   
-------------------------------------------------
Ep. 2 by Erin Ellis

   This ep. needs massive reworking, I'm afraid.  Any help you can give 
me, please do... C&C please!  And yeah, I know this one's pretty slow, 
but there's so much exposition... Finding a concise way to explain 
motives is hard :(  (Maybe we shouldn't explain them?)
   Oh.  And if you want to see ep. 1, it's at 
http://members.tripod.com/~tina97/kichi.txt

Next Episode:
   More stuff... A chase, a fight, and we meet the evil(?) Emperor of 
Gokashi!  Plus: the point.  Don't miss it!
-----------
Kichi and Samantha belong to Elizabeth Lindhag
Tenzil belongs to Erin Ellis
(love that intellectual property! :)

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