Hello, everyone.  This is my first published El Hazard fic!  Let me
know what you think.  I'd like to give special thanks to Cav, Meg sama,
and most especially the Prince of Light for giving this fic a home.
El Hazard is the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.


El Hazard:  Advent
Part 1:  Day of Prophecy


		"And he who was chosen to be the great Advent came
		forth...and walked with him were the Chosen...Death
		...and Eternity."

						From the ancient Bugrom Prophecy,
						"The Return of the Elder Race."


	The woman placed the baby in the hollow of the tree and covered
its body with moss.  The child began to cry, and the woman caressed
its face with her finger, cooing her, practically begging her to be
silent.  She looked up at the temple nearby and hoped, once again,
that she was doing the right thing.  She removed the jeweled clasp
of her cloak and placed it on the child's chest.  She hoped that its
mystical properties would still work in this world.
	She caressed the child once more and looked up in fear.  She
could hear it.  Movement in the bushes.  She quickly covered the
child with moss and stood up, hurrying through the brush as fast as
she could.  They were coming for her.  She knew she wouldn't be able
to hide.  She made sure she made as much noise as she could until
she felt she was far enough from her baby to have led her pursuers
away.
	She stopped in a small clearing.  Her hand went to the sheathe
beneath her left arm and pulled a small dagger.  She tensed and
waited, straining her senses as far as she could.  Her pursuers were
exceptional when it came to stealthy attacks, and she knew it.
	She waited breathless for several minutes.
	Nothing.
	She released the breath she had been holding and replaced the
knife in its sheathe.  She turned back for a moment.  She could see
the plume of smoke from the temple's cooking fire.  She felt tears
well up and turned away again...
	The chitinous fist that struck her was as big as her head,
with enough power behind hit to launch her through the air.  She
hit a tree and slid to the ground almost fifty feet away.  She
blinked past the pain and looked up at the massive, dark brown Bugrom
that had hit her.  She started to crawl away as fast as she could.
The bug began walking toward her.  It clenched its fingers, and a
pair of serrated claws sprung from sheathes within its knuckles.
	The woman began to panic.  She rolled over onto her hands and
knees and continued to crawl.  The bug was getting closer.  She
screamed as she felt its hand grasp her throat from behind and pin
her to the floor.  She began to struggle beneath it.  She could feel
it tense behind her as it raised its claw above his head.  She began
to scream.
	The claw came down...
	And again...
	And again.
	The blood covered claw was pulled from the woman's back once
the Bugrom was certain she was dead.  It heard something and looked
up.  A young girl, no more than fourteen, with light purple hair was
staring at it from the bushes.  It stood up and regarded the girl
closely.  It raised the gore-coated claw and began to advance.
	"Get back!"  it heard as another woman appeared behind the
girl and pulled her away.   The woman, with dark auburn hair, pulled
something from a pouch on her thigh and attached it to her wrist.
She quickly pulled a cord on the object, and suddenly, rivers of
bright energy began coursing across her body.
	The large Bugrom paused for a fatal second...
	The auburn-haired woman screamed and pointed at the Bug.  Fire
leapt from her fingertips, and the Bugrom was soon bathed in fire.
It screached and fell to the ground.  It rolled about, trying to
put the flames out, but the holyfire continued to burn until the
bug stopped moving.
	The auburn haired woman rushed forward and began to check over
the cloaked woman.  The younger girl peeked out from behind a tree.
"Ms. Crayna?"  she asked.
	The auburn-haired woman's eyes were wide in shock.  The girl
took a step forward.
	"Stay back, Miz!"  the woman ordered.  The girl stopped in her
tracks.  The woman looked down at the woman again.  "Mother of God,"
she whispered.
	"Crayna Crayna!"
	The woman looked up and saw the Priestess of the Wind, Amara
Dayne approaching with a blanketed bundle in her arms.  Crayna Crayna
waved her over.  Amara handed the bundle to the girl and rushed over.
Miz looked down at the baby and immediately began making cooing
noises.  The baby smiled.
	"Take a look at this," she heard Priestess Crayna ask Priestess
Dayne.
	"Dear God,"  she whispered.
	"What is it?"  young Miz asked.
	"Stay back,"  Amara told her.  "Take the baby back to the
temple and ask Priestess Carvalho to come quickly.
	"Yes, Ma'am!"  Miz Mishtal, Elemental Initiate, turned and
started running back to the temple.
	"What is it?"  Crayna asked.
	Amara lifted one of the delicate gossamer wings protruding
from the dead woman's back.  "I don't know...I just don't know."

Seventeen years later....

	Quawoor Talus replaced the book on its shelf in the royal
library and began searching for another.  Her search had lasted for
most of four hours with no result.  She sighed.  Since returning
from Cretaria, she had been looking for a link between that world
and El Hazard.  So far nothing.  Even so, it couldn't be a
coincidence that the Eye of God existed in both worlds.  There had
to be some connection.
	She heard movement from the next row and paused.  Someone was
searching through the library as well.
	"Hello?"  she called out.
	"Miss Quawoor?"
	"Makoto?"  she asked, blinking in surprise.  She felt her
cheeks begin to warm.
	"Yeah," his response came back.  She still couldn't see him.
"What are you doing here?"  he asked casually.
	"Researching Cretaria.  You?"
	"Eye of God," he told her.  "I spend a few hours a day here."
	She blinked.  "You do?"
	"Yeah.  There's so many books here, it'd take me years to go
through them all.  I spend every morning here, hoping to stumble upon
something I haven't seen before."
	"I see."
	"Any luck on your end?"  he asked.
	"No," she said with resignation.  "I was hoping that there was
*something* linking the two worlds, but there appears to be nothing."
	"Well, don't give up.  Like I said, it'd take years to look
through *all* of these books."
	Quawoor smiled.  "Thank you, I won't."
	"Mind if I ask why?"
	She paused.  "Well, at the seminary I was taught that knowledge
was the greatest tool of a great priestess.  It's just too much of a
coincidence that the Eye of God could exist in both places.  I'm
hoping to find a connection between the two worlds."
	She waited for him to laugh or tell her she was chasing ghosts.
Instead, she heard, "Sounds like a reasonable hypothesis.  After all,
the Eye of God is a weapon that uses the dimensional barrier to
banish enemies to other worlds.  Perhaps in ancient El Hazard, the
two worlds coexisted."
	"That's what I think!"  Quawoor said excitedly.
	"Well, good luck, Quawoor."
	Her smile slipped.  She had been hoping to talk with him some
more.  "Thank you.  You too, Makoto."  With that, she resumed her
search.
	<Other worlds...>  she thought.   <If I'm right, then who knows
what kind of worlds El Hazard was once in contact with?>
	She paused as another thought struck her.  <Where did the Bugrom
come from?>  No one was quite sure.  It seemed as if they had always
been there, since the beginning, but what were the odds that two
races so totally different could evolve in the same world under the
same circumstances and remain so alien to one another?
	She opened another book and began searching.  She would have
to investigate further.  Perhaps...Perhaps the Bugrom came from
another world like the Phantom Tribe...or...
	She blinked.  <Could the Roshtarians be the aliens?>
	That would be something.

	Only a mile from the new base of Lord God Jinnai's Bugrom Army,
two Bugrom were guarding a fork in the road.  The green one, Margaret,
looked up suddenly as a lone figure approached.  Its body was wrapped
in a diaphanous cloak that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight.  It,
he rather, had aquamarine hair, cut short.  Two antennae protruded
from the top of his head.
	Rather than flee upon seeing the two Bugrom, as most humans
would, he marched right up to them.  Margaret stood in his path and
lifted his spear.
	"You will take me to your queen," the strange man stated.
	Margaret looked to Gummo in shocked amusement and said a few
words in the guttural, Bugrom language.  Gummo just shrugged and
lifted his spear threateningly.
	Before he could take a single step, there was movement from
behind them.  The bugs heard a sharp, "shnick" and felt something
being pressed against their throats.  Margaret looked down and found
two sharp, serrated, chitinous claws being held on him.
	"Allow me to rephrase," the man said, gesturing to the two,
now endangered Bugrom.  "Take me to your queen....now."
	Whatever held the two Bugrom turned them roughly around and
force-marched them down the road.  Margaret looked back and blinked
his insectile eyes in shock.  Standing behind him was a large,
dark-brown Bugrom.  A kind of Bugrom he had never seen before.  The
claws had appeared from sheathes in its forearms.  It saw that
Margaret was looking at it and hissed at him.  Margaret turned back
to the road.
	There was something terribly wrong.

	Queen Diva entered the main chamber of the newly built Bugrom
hive and made her way to her throne.  Her stomach was distended with
the latest new egg.  In human terms, she looked about seven months
pregnant.  In Bugrom terms, she was seventeen *hours* pregnant.
She sat down in her throne and looked out at her army.
	Hundreds of Bugrom worked on completing the hive.  She smiled.
She was proud of her new children.  They had proven themselves proud
and strong.  Much like their father.
	"Diva, what are you doing here?"
	She turned tiredly to her mate, lazily rubbing her stomach.  "I
wanted to watch my children play," she told him.
	Lord God Jinnai arched an eyebrow.  "Play?"
	"They enjoy doing our bidding, Mr. Jinnai," she told him.  "It's
what they were born to do."
	"Well, I must say, things are proceeding well."
	Diva wasn't paying attention.  Her eyelids were drooping.
	Jinnai looked down at her.  "Um...Are you okay?"
	Diva smiled, exhausted.  "Of course.  I am Diva, Queen, Ruler
of the Omnipotent Bugrom Empire."
	"Well...You should go back to the nursery,"  he told her.  It
was *not* framed as a request.  She was about to relent and leave when
the doors to the throne room opened.
	Two of her children were being marched into the room.  Behind
them were two large, brown Bugrom, followed by...
	She gasped.
	The man standing before her throne unfolded his insectile wings
and refolded them behind him.  He looked up at her and Jinnai and
crossed his arms over his chest.  He was a handsome insect.  Diva
could recognize an equal immediately.
	"Who dares to enter the fortress of the omnipotent Lord God
Jinnai!?"  Jinna demanded.  Groucho and four other Bugrom quickly
joined him.
	The insectile man stared at him in amusement.  "I am Zavran...
Advent of the Elder Race."
	Diva gasped.
	"Sent by the Gods..."  Zavran started up the stairs and
stopped before Diva.  "To bring victory to the chosen of the Gods."
	Diva shook her head.  "That is not possible," she whispered.
She threw a look to Jinnai, who was looking from her to Zavran and
back again in puzzlement.  "You cannot be the Advent," she whispered.
	He approached her kneeled over her.  "And why not?"  he asked
dangerously.  "Is it not as the legends stated?  Am I not here in a
time of crisis?  Have I not brought with me the chosen of the Gods
to assist me?"  He gestured to the two brown bugs still holding
Margaret and Gummo.  The brown bugs towered over her two children.
	"But...But...The Advent has already come," she told him
disbelief.
	His eyes narrowed.  "Who?"  he asked.
	"I demand you tell me who you are!?"  Jinnai shouted.
"Soldiers!  Soldiers!"
	Zavran looked at him in shock.  Shocked that *Bugrom* would
obey him.  "A *mammalian!?"  he asked, turning back to Diva in shock.
"You think the Gods would send a *mammalian* to usher in a new era
of gold for their children!?"
	"Groucho!  Zeppo!"  The two bugs advanced on Zavran, but before
they could take three steps, the two brown bugs were on them.  Diva
heard a sickening crunch as one of them snapped Zeppo's arm and
forced him to the ground.  Groucho raised his hands in surrender.
	Zavran turned to Jinnai.  "So...you claim to be the great
Advent?"
	Jinnai blinked at how quickly his two Bugrom had been subdued,
but recovered.  "Of course!"
	Zavran arched an eyebrow...
	Then brutally backhanded Jinnai, sending him flying across the
room.  The Lord God of the Bugrom struck a nearby wall and hit the
ground in a daze.
	"Will someone please tell this...mammalian...that he's no
Advent?"  Zavran asked.
	Jinnai got to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose.  The
eyes of more than a hundred and fifty Bugrom, including their queen,
were on him.  He straightened his tie and walked right back up to
Zavran.  He refused to be cowed by some usurper in his own fortress.
	"I *am* the Advent," he told Zavran.  "Have I not led the
Bugrom to victory!?"  he called to the bugs surrounding him.
Groucho nodded in eager agreement.
	"Has he?"  Zavran asked calmly.  He was staring right at Diva.
The queen blinked.  "Your children have been wiped out.  Your empire
is in ruins.  And you hide here like a mammalian."
	Jinnai stared expectantly at Diva.  Finally, she closed her
eyes and shook her head sadly.  Jinnai looked at her in shocked
betrayal.
	Zavran turned back to him, smiling.
	"I *am* the Advent!"  Jinnai screamed.  "When I first arrived,
I gave you victory after victory!  It was only due to the betrayal
of Ifurita that I was beaten!"
	Groucho cheered in agreement.
	"You're the Advent?"  Zavran asked.
	"YES!"
	"Then which of the Bugrom Gods sent you?"
	Jinnai paused suddenly.  Diva looked to him, the Bugrom looked
to him.  Groucho looked to him.
	"Well?"  Zavran asked.  "Surely the Advent would know which
of the Elder Race had sent him."
	Jinnai swallowed nervously.  Zavran smiled.

	"FASTER, YOU IDIOT!  FASTER!!"  Jinnai screamed from atop
Groucho's shoulders as the purple Bugrom ran for all he was worth.
He could hear the mass of pursuing Bugrom gaining on them from behind.
	As Groucho ran, he thought about what he had done.  He had
watched his Lord Jinnai flounder for an answer to the Advent's question,
and when he couldn't come up with one, Diva herself gave the order
that he be taken into custody.
	Groucho couldn't let that happen.
	Lord God Jinnai had given him something whether the human had
realized it or not.  Since his arrival, Groucho had stayed close to
Jinnai, had watched him.
	He had learned from him.
	Bugrom, as a rule, did not learn.  They were born with all the
knowledge necessary to accomplish their set tasks.  Anything else
that was needed was provided by the queen, but Jinnai had taken the
time to "teach" him.  Granted, the lessons were usually unintentional
and accompanied by insults and swift kicks to the backside, but it
didn't change the fact that Groucho had learned to think.
	Jinnai was his sensei.
	And he wouldn't allow his sensei to be ritualistically gutted
for Zavran's pleasure.  So, when the order had been given, Groucho
had acted.  He had lashed out and caught the bug guarding him
unprepared.  His guard hit the floor, and Groucho leapt forward,
picking up Jinnai and leaping to safety.  Within seconds, they
were out of the hive and running down the road to what the hoped
was safety.
	"RUN!!!"  Jinnai screamed at him.
	Groucho continued to run.

	Zavran watched the pursuit from one of the hive's windows.
"You have a lot of explaining to do,"  he said softly, not bothering
to turn to Diva as she kneeled before him.
	"Advent...I..."
	He raised a hand to silence her.  "You allied yourself with a
mammalian....You *mated* with him...I'll come up with some way to
punish your transgressions later.  Right now, there are more important
things to worry about.  The future of our empire for one."
	"Yes, Advent,"  Diva said submissively.  She could already tell
he was who he claimed to be.  She could tell by his very way of
speaking, his appearance, his knowledge of her and her children.
Jinnai had fooled her when he first arrived.  She had never seen a
male member of the Elder Race, so she just assumed that his ability
to communicate marked him as one.  Now she knew what a true male of
the Race looked like.
	He looked frightening.
	"I want detailed descriptions of everything that has happened
to cause...this," he said waving to the room around him, their
situation.  "I want to know how many Bugrom you have left.  And I
want detailed maps of the countryside."  He turned to her, his
aquamarine eyes seemed to flash in anger.  "We are taking our world
back from the mammalians."
	Diva remained on her knees as he walked out of the throne
room, flanked by two of the Bugrom he had brought with him.  Once
gone, she rose unsteadily to her feet, the weight of the egg...the
bastard child...within her, causing her to sway to one side.  She
looked out the window and gasped.
	More of those brown Bugrom were approaching the hive.  There
were at least fifty of them.  Her own Bugrom moved aside, allowing
the larger creatures through.
	"He truly has brought the Chosen with him," she whispered.
Her hand trailed to her stomach.  "Damn you, Katsuhiko Jinnai," she
growled.  "You have ruined everything..."

	"It certainly sounds like a...new...hypothesis," was the best
Afura Mann could say to the young priestess sitting across from her
at Nanami's Shininome Diner.
	"I know it sounds farfetched, but what if?"  Quawoor asked.
"You saw the Eye of God in Cretaria.  They must have had the same
designer.  But where did that designer come from?  He must have
traveled to Cretaria as well as El Hazard.  And if he could do it,
who's to say others couldn't?  For all we know, Cretaria and El
Hazard are just...just colonies of a more advanced civilization."
	Afura smiled.  "I sincerely doubt that, Quawoor.  There are
records going back thousands of years.  Artifacts from the Great
Holy Wars."
	Quawoor sighed.  "I know, but isn't it *possible*?  What if
the Eye was a weapon given to each new colony to help suppress the
native population?  Miss Afura, we don't know enough about the Great
Holy Wars!  For all we know, it wasn't a holy war at all!  It may
have been an invasion!"
	Afura gave her another patronizing smile, and Quawoor knew right
then that the most scholarly of the chief priestesses was merely
humoring her.  "Quawoor, what you're talking about is science fiction.
It would make a great story, but I'm afraid not much else."  Afura
took a look at the clock on the diner's wall.  "I'm sorry to have to
cut this short, but I promised Miz to have tea with her today.  You
know how she likes to show off little Yosho."
	Quawoor only nodded dully.  Afura got up and left the youngest
priestess alone with her thoughts.
	"Penny for your thoughts?"  someone asked from behind her.
She turned and saw Nanami smiling at her, a kettle of tea in her
hand.  "You look like you could use a refill,"  the diner's owner
told her.
	"Thank you,"  Quawoor said, allowing Nanami to refill her tea
cup.
	"So what's wrong?"  Nanami asked, sitting down in the chair
Afura had just vacated.  "You look upset."
	Quawoor sighed again.  "It's nothing really.  Just..."
	"Just what?"  her friend asked.
	"I have this...idea...and I can't find anyone to take me
seriously!  Well," she said wistfully, "Makoto seemed intrigued..."
	"Moving along..."  Nanami prompted darkly.
	"Huh?  Oh, right.  Anyway, everyone else I've talked to has
either laughed at me or patronized me.  I feel like a five-year old."
	"'Laughed or patronized?'"  Nanami asked.  Understanding flashed
across her face.  "You've been talking with Shayla and Afura!"
	"How did you know?"  Quawoor asked.
	"No offense, Quawoor, but you're talking to the wrong people.
Where I come from, the clergy is usually the last to accept new ideas.
You need to ask people with a scientific mind like...Makoto...or
Mr. Fujisawa!"  she said.  "Maybe you could talk to
Dr. Staloughbough."
	"Hmmm...Maybe.  What about Ms. Miz?  Maybe she'd..."
	"Pat you on the head and tell you what a funny girl you are?"
Nanami finished with an arched eyebrow.
	"You're right,"  Quawoor admitted.
	"Hey, what is this new idea you have, anyway?"
	Quawoor looked up at her.  "Promise not to laugh?"
	"Sure."
	The priestess took a breath.  "I'm...not sure we were the
first people to live in this dimension."

	Groucho held out the fish he had caught from the nearby stream.
Jinnai looked up from the fire and scowled. "Well!?  What are you
waiting for!?  Cook it!  I can't eat raw fish!"
	Groucho quickly nodded and tossed it into the fire.  Jinnai
growled.
	He turned to scream at his Bugrom companion but stopped.
Whether he liked it or not, Groucho was all he had now.  Yelling
wasn't going to help him now.  "Lousy traitors," he grumbled.
"Betray *me* will they?  I'll show them.  I'll show them all."
	Groucho only murmurred his assent.
	"I'll crush them like little ants!"
	Groucho muttered again.
	"No offense."
	Another gurgle.
	"All I need to do now is wait for opportunity to..."
	"Freeze!"  Five Roshtarian soldiers stepped out of the forest
around them, their rifles pointed at them menacingly.
	"...knock,"  Jinnai finished irritably.

	"Miss Nanami, you didn't have to come with me, you know,"
Quawoor told her as Nanami dragged her down the street toward the
palace.  It was mid afternoon in Florishtica.
	"It's no problem,"  Nanami told her.  "I have to bring Makoto
his dinner anyway, and I really think your theory's cool!"
	"You do?"  Quawoor asked.
	"Yeah.  I think it's interesting."
	"Um...Why?"  Quawoor asked.
	Nanami stopped and turned.  "Well, back on Earth, you always
hear about some new theory about aliens or government conspiracies,
or stuff like that.  I mean, if I went back to Earth and tried to tell
someone about what happened to me here, they'd call me crazy.  So I
just like to think that anything's possible."
	"Oh...I suppose you're right."
	The two girls entered the palace and made straight for the
library.  Nanami made  beeline for Makoto.  Quawoor gave a minute's
thought to going with her, but then she caught sight of her true
target, Dr. Staloughbough.
	The Dean of the Royal Academy was considered the most scholarly
man in the world.  If she could get him to so much as admit there
was a half of a percent of a chance she was right, she'd feel better.
	"Ah, Priestess Talus, is there something I can do for you?"
the elderly academic asked.
	"Yes, Dr. Staloughbough, I wanted to discuss something I'm
researching."
	"A religious matter?"
	"Historical, Doctor."
	"I wasn't aware you were a historian, Priestess Talus.  You
should have come to me before.  History is one of the areas where I
excel."
	Quawoor took a breath and quickly outlined her idea.  She used
what she and the others had witnessed in Cretaria as evidence, stated
the facts as she saw them, and waited for him to laugh.
	Staloughbough did nothing of the sort.
	"Intriguing," he said, stroking his beard.  "Admittedly, far
fetched....but intriguing nonetheless..."
	"You really think so?!"  Quawoor asked excitedly.
	"Don't get me wrong, I think you're off the mark, but it does
bring up some interesting possibilities."
	"So will you help me?"  Quawoor asked.
	Staloughbough nodded.  "I will.  Unfortunately, if you're
looking here, then your search really is hopeless.  In historical
terms, the books here are new.  The palace sustained a fire let's
see....three, four thousand years ago...The library was completely
destroyed."
	"You mean these books are worthless!?"
	"No, not worthless.  There may be one or two in here with some
limited information, but what you're looking for would predate even
the Eye of God."
	She sighed dejectedly.  "Then it really is hopeless."
	"Not necessarily."
	Quawoor looked up hopefully.
	"The library of Dorosland is ancient.  It's said to have been
around since even the holy wars.  If there is anything to help you,
it is there."
	"Thank you, Dr. Staloughbough!  Thank you!"
	"It's no probl..."  He broke off as he saw three guardsmen run
past the door, obviously in an excited rush.  Another was just
running by when he called out.  "You!  Boy!  What's all the
excitement?"
	The young guardsman stopped.  "Jinnai!  It's Jinnai!"
	"Another attack!?"  Nanami asked in amazement.  "He just doesn't
know when to quit!"
	"No, Ma'am!"  the guards said quickly.  "They caught him!  One
of our patrols *caught* him!"

	Jinnai walked forward, his hands tied behind his back, guards
standing just behind him.  Next to him, his hands locked in steel
shackles, Groucho looked from side to side.  He had never seen
Florishtica in the daytime.  Neither had Jinnai for that matter, but
he wasn't going to give the Roshtarians the satisfaction of thinking
he was in any way impressed.  One of the guards gave him a push with
the butt of his rifle, and Jinnai and Groucho started forward again
down the crowded main street of Florishtica.
	"Keep your head held high, Groucho,"  Jinnai muttered to his
companion.  "Don't give them the satisfaction."  Groucho muttered
his agreement and mimicked his master.
	The noise level on the street gradually quieted down as more
and more people began to realize who the guards had with them.  They
stared in shock as the guards marched their prize down the street.
Jinnai stared dead ahead, his chin set, his head held high.  For a
moment, it seemed that the crowd was stunned into silence.
	Then a woman holding a young child's hand spit in his face.
	Jinnai paused for a moment and continued walking.  However,
that woman's act seemed to be the trigger.  Within seconds, fruit,
garbage, spit, and angry shouts were being hurled at Jinnai and
Groucho en masse.  Jinnai was forced to turn his head and flinch
away from the multiple objects thrown at him.  His Shinonome High
School uniform had gone from a deep blue to a disgusting mishmash
of fruit, spit, and mud.
	From somewhere in the crowd, a rock flew out and struck him in
the face.  Jinnai dropped to one knee and the crowd cheered.  Groucho
immediately jumped between him and the crowd, trying to shield him
from further attacks.
	The guards made no move to protect him.  Jinnai rose unsteadily
to his feet, still being pelted by garbage despite Groucho's efforts.
Suddenly, the crowd's attention shifted to a nearby fountain.  The
water was churning and spinning.  Suddenly, a funnel of water shot
out from the fountain and surrounded the would be warlord.  Jinnai
looked up and found that a wall of water separated he and Groucho
from the mob.  He could just make out a woman's shadow on the other
side.

	"STOP THIS!"  Quawoor shouted to the mob, her hands
outstretched as she stood between them and the wall shielding
Jinnai.  "This isn't the way!"
	"Get out of the way!"  someone shouted.  "We want him!"
	"NO!"  Quawoor shouted back.  "He's not an animal!"
	By now, Mr. Fujisawa and Miz, who had been carrying their
young son down the street, arrived.  Fujisawa stood next to Quawoor
while Miz hung back with Yosho, out of danger.
	"He killed my son!"  one older woman shrieked, pointing at
the wall of water.
	"And he'll stand trial for it!"  Quawoor shot back.  She cried
out a second later as a rock hit the left side of her face.  Her
hands flew to her face as she fell to her knees.  The water wall
disapeared.
	"Quawoor!"  Makoto shouted.  He ran and up and knelt beside
her, checking over her injury.
	"WHO THE HELL THREW THAT!?"  Fujisawa shouted, enraged.  He
found one man trying to run away and grabbed him by the back of the
shirt.  He turned the young punk around and held him up by the
collar.  "You like throwing rocks at little girls, huh?!"  He looked
mad enough to shatter the punk's skull with a flick of his finger.
Fujisawa was an exception to a very important rule.  He was more
dangerous sober than drunk.  He felt Miz place her arm on his.
	"Darling, he's not worth it," she told him, balance baby Yosho
in her other arm.
	"Quawoor, are you okay?"  Makoto, now joined by Nanami, asked.
Quawoor blinked back tears of pain and grit her teeth.
	"I said, LEAVE!"  she screamed at the crowd, climbing back to
her feet.  "It's not a request!"  The water lamp on her finger
flashed, and suddenly, more water from the fountain shot into the
air, coalescing directly above her and taking on the humanoid form
of an angry water god!
	The crowd backed up a pace in fear as the twenty foot water
apparition roared at them in fury.  Nanami offered Quawoor a
supporting arm, but the young priestess refused it.  Instead, she
walked back to where Jinnai was crouching and helped him up, allowing
him to lean on her shoulder.  The fruit, blood, and spittle that
coated him rubbed off on her own beautiful clothes, but she didn't
care.  Groucho supported him on the other side, and the two began
to walk him toward the palace.  In the heat of the moment, Quawoor
didn't even realize that she was standing barely two feet from a
Bugrom and wasn't hysterical.  She was simply too angry at the mob
to be concerned about it.
	The water demon floated in front of the group as Quawoor,
still bleeding from where the rock had hit her, helped Jinnai down
the road.

	"I wanna do it!"
	Rune looked at her sister from the royal throne and blinked
in shock.  Fatora *never* volunteered for any stately duty.  "Why?"
	"Because I finally get to stand in front of him and let him
know that I own him,"  Fatora said with a bloodthirsty grin.  "I want
to look through the bars of his cell, tell him about the execution
we have planned for him, and then wave like this..."  The second
princess smiled and waved at Rune.
	Rune sighed in resignation.  "Very well, Sister.  If it will
make you happy."
	"Damn straight, it will!"
	"Then go,"  Rune told her.
	Fatora giggled and practically ran from the throne room.
	"Princess Fatora, wait for me!"  Alielle squealed as she ran
after her.
	"And me!"  Parnasse added, in pursuit of his sister.
	Rune watched them go and sighed.  "The last thing I want is
for this to turn into a circus..."

	Miz wiped some alcohol on Quawoor's cut cheek and began to
silently apply a bandage to it.  The young priestess stared at the
floor, silent as Miz worked.
	"I'm sorry," she said finally.
	Miz blinked.
	"I...I just got so mad when I saw....They shouldn't have been
doing that to him...No matter what he's done..."
	Miz didn't say anything.  She packed up the first aid kit and
stood up.  Quawoor bowed her head sadly.  Miz walked to the door and
stopped.  "Quawoor..."
	The young priestess looked up at the back of the woman she had
replaced.  "Yes, Ms. Miz?"  She braced herself for a lecture.
	"What you did today...was very courageous...and very noble."
Quawoor blinked in surprise.  "And I want you to know that I'm proud
of you."
	"You...You are?"  Quawoor whispered.
	Miz sighed.  "You never lost sight of your vow of mercy.  You
were a better priestess out there than I would've been."
	Qwawoor didn't know what to say.  Finally, she just whispered,
"Thank you, Ms. Miz."
	Miz turned back and offered her a smile before leaving the
room.  Quawoor took a breath and stood up.  She still had a lot to
do today.  She had to find Parnasse and...
	As if thinking of him made him appear, Parnasse walked by the
door, following closely behind Princess Fatora and Alielle.
	"Parnasse!"  she called out.
	Parnasse stopped and blinked when he saw his mistress.  "Lady
Quawoor!  Are you hurt?!  What happened!?"  He ran up to her and
checked her injury.
	"It's nothing,"  she assured him.  "I need you to do something
for me."
	"Of course!"
	"First, pack our things.  We're going on a trip.  Then, please
ask Captain Londs if we can borrow a flyer.  I don't know how long
we'll be gone."
	"Where are we going?"  Parnasse asked her.
	"Dorosland."  She smiled.  "Don't worry, it's a simple research
trip.  I'll be in the library, and you can take some time off for
yourself."

	Jinnai touched the tender part of his face and winced again.
He scooped some water from the small basin in his cell and used it
to wash his face.  He took a breath and growled.  She was really
beginning to bother him now.
	She just kept standing there...staring at him, with that
stupid grin on her face.
	He hated that face.  He had *always* hated that face.
	"You could show a little gratitude," he finally growled.
Standing outside his cell, Fatora's smile slipped.  "I *did* have
Ifurita rescue you from the Phantom Tribe, after all."  He grinned
at her, satisfied that he had managed to insult her.
	Fatora grit her teeth and growled.  "Sure, just so you could
hold me for ransom!"
	"I don't recall torturing you," Jinnai told her, dabbing at his
face with a towel.  "Groucho, did we torture the prisoner while she
was our....guest?"
	Standing in the next cell, Groucho muttered and shook his head.
	"No, I didn't think so,"  Jinnai said.
	Fatora was shaking in rage.  Standing next to her, Alielle
backed up a pace.  When Fatora did finally speak, it was softly, but
with a razor's edge.  "Know now that you are being charged with
crimes against the Roshtarian people,"  she said.  "You *will* stand
trial for those crimes, and you *will* be executed for them."
	Jinnai took a breath and tried to hide his fear.  He laughed
at her.  That annoying laugh that *everyone* hated.
	"C'mon, Alielle!  We're leaving!"  Fatora stalked out of the
dungeon, leaving the two war criminals alone.
	Jinnai watched them go, his laughter trailing off.  He leaned
against the bars of his cell.  "Groucho,"
	Groucho gurgled his answer.
	"We are so screwed."

	"The question is:  What do we do now?"  Rune asked as she
poured a cup of tea and handed it to Makoto.  The sun had gone down
over Florishtica an hour ago, and Princess Rune had called a council
of war to determine what to do with Jinnai.
	"I think it's obvious,"  Fatora said.  "We chop off his head,
stick it on a pike outside Bugrom territory, and burn the body."
	The rest of the group looked at her in utter horror.
	"Don't you think that's a little...excessive?"  Afura asked
with a frown.
	"How do ya figure?"  Fatora asked innocently.
	"We cannot simply kill him out of hand,"  Staloughbough pointed
out.  "Then we are no better than he is."
	"So what do we do?"  Miz asked.  "He has to stand trial for
what he's done, but that leaves the problem of how to go about it.
Who in Roshtaria could be impartial?  Who has *not* been touched by
the war?"
	"You're right,"  Afura pointed out.  "A jury trial would be a
waste of time.  We'd never find one impartial enough."
	"Excuse me,"  Fatora interjected, "But so the fuck what?  He's
guilty!  The end!  This whole conversation is pointless!"
	"Nanami?"  Rune asked.  "You're awfully quiet.  Have you
anything to add?"
	Nanami, who was standing near the window, looked back at her.
"I'm sorry, Princess Rune.  I hate my brother, and I know what he's
done, but I can't support executing him."
	"That's new,"  Shayla Shayla remarked.
	Nanami turned on her.  "How am I supposed to feel, Shayla?!
You want me to pull the switch myself!?"
	Makoto put a hand on Nanami's shoulder, but the brunette wasn't
finished yet.
	"Throw him in prison until he rots, for all I care, but how
would I ever be able to look myself in the mirror or my mother in
the eye if I just let him die!?"
	"He will have his day in court,"  Rune assured her.  "For good
or ill, justice will be done."
	"Once again, how?"  Staloughbough asked.  "A jury trial won't
work."
	"There's also the political fallout,"  Rune told him.  "I've
already had six ambassadors from the outlying Alliance nations come
to me *demanding* that he be turned over to them."
	"In other words, a Roshtarian judge won't satisfy anyone,"
Fujisawa remarked.
	"How about a tribunal?"  Makoto asked.
	The all looked to him.
	Makoto elaborated.  "Let's choose three judges who can be
considered neutral and impartial and try him on behalf of the
Alliance."
	"Judges?  Like who?"  Shayla asked.
	Fatora opened her mouth to volunteer, but Rune beat her to
it.  "I'm sure no one would object to the three priestesses of
Mt. Muldoon presiding over this hearing."
	Afura and Shayla blinked.  "Us?"  Shayla asked.
	"Sure.  Why not?"  Fujisawa asked.
	"Well, I suppose it would be more fair than anything else,"
Afura remarked.
	"Yeah,"  Shayla said with a gleam in her eye.
	Makoto raised his hand nervously.  "Um...Ms. Shayla?"  Shayla
turned to him.  "I'm not sure you should be a judge."
	Shayla blinked.  "WELL WHY NOT!?"
	Makoto stood toe to toe with her.  "Look me in the eye and
tell me you can say the words, 'I find Katsuhiko Jinnai not guilty.'"
	"Are you kidding?!"  Shayla cried.  "He's obviously..."
	"I think I see your point, Makoto,"  Rune said.  "I want this
to be a *fair* trial.  No offense to you, Priestess Shayla, but you
*do* have a rather...hostile history with Jinnai."
	Shayla grit her teeth.  "Fine!  If you don't want me, then why
did you bother to ask!?"  With that, she stalked out of the room.
	"There she goes again,"  Afura said.
	"Well, we have one judge,"  Fujisawa said.
	"Mrs. Fujisawa,"  Rune began, "Would you consider filling in
that spot?  As a former priestess who fought in the war, I can
think of no one who would object."
	"Of course."
	"That's two,"  Afura said.  "Think Quawoor will agree?"
	"I'm sure she will,"  Miz said.
	"Then it's settled,"  Rune said.
	"Not quite,"  Makoto said.  "There's still two positions that
have to be filled.  Prosecutor...and defense counsel."
	"Finding someone who wants to prosecute Jinnai shouldn't be
hard,"  Fatora said.  "I could do it."
	"Just about *anyone* could do it,"  Afura said.  "I doubt it
would be hard with the evidence."
	"There is plenty of time for that,"  Rune said.
	"Now who's crazy enough to defend my brother?"  Nanami asked.
	Dead silence.
	"I will."
	Everyone turned in shock.  Makoto nodded and repeated himself.
	"I'll be Jinnai's attorney."

	"You're an idiot!"  Nanami screamed at him as she followed
Makoto down the hall to the dungeon where Jinnai was being kept.
"Defend my brother?!  Are you insane!?"
	Makoto just sighed.
	"Wait!  I know!  It's Ifurita!  That mental connection with
her screwed up your mind!"
	He stopped and turned to her.  "Why is this so hard for you
to accept!?"  he asked.  "He's your brother!"
	"He's a psychopath!"  she shot back.
	"They're going to kill him!"
	"I know that!  And if they do, it'll be because he deserves
it!"  Makoto started walking again.  "You don't even know the first
thing about law!"  she told him.
	"I know that no one else is going to do it!"  he barked.
	"So why you?!"  She cried.  "He hates you!  Do you *really*
want to go against all the people who care about you for *him*!?"
	He stopped.  "Nanami, I have to do *something.*  If I don't
try to stop his execution now, I'll have to try to stop it later.
At least this way it's legal."
	Nanami growled.  "You are such an idiot!"  she cried and
stormed off.
	Makoto watched her go and sighed.

	Parnasse held up a pair of silk underwear and blinked back
tears of joy.  He held them to his cheek and closed his eyes in
rapture.
	"Parnasse?  Are you almost done?"  he heard Quawoor call
from the next room.
	He quickly put the panties in the travel bag.  "Um...Just
about, Lady Quawoor!"  he called back.  He finished up the last
of the packing just as he heard a knock on the door.  He went and
opened it, finding Miz standing there with little Yosho.  "Oh!
Good evening, Mrs. Fujisawa!"
	"Good evening, Parnasse.  Is Quawoor in?"
	"Yes, Ma'am!  She's in the next room."
	"Ms. Miz?"  Quawoor asked as she entered the room.  "Can I
help you?"
	Miz shifted Yosho around in her arms and nodded.  "I need to
talk to you, Quawoor."
	"Of course.  Parnasse, will you go make us some tea, please?"
	"Yes, Ma'am."
	Quawoor's young attendant left the room, and the water
priestess offered Miz a seat.  The older woman sat down and began.
	"Quawoor, I'm here to ask you for an important favor."
	"Yes, Ma'am?"
	"Jinnai's trial is going to begin within the next few days.
It has been decided that a three judge tribunal will be held to
determine his guilt.  We want you to be one of those judges."
	"*Me*, Ms. Miz?!"
	Miz nodded.  "We feel that..."  She blinked.  "Quawoor?  Is
something wrong?"
	Quawoor looked uncomfortable.  "Ms. Miz...I'm honored but...I
must decline."
	Miz's eyes went wide in shock.  "Why?!"
	Quawoor looked away.  "I'm going to Dorosland."
	"Dorosland?!"
	The young priestess nodded.  "The library there might have
information on..."
	"Quawoor!  This is a moment of great historical significance!"
	"I know!  But...I just can't let it go..."
	Miz waited for her to continue.  Yosho stirred in her arms,
and she began to rock him.  She looked up again and found Quawoor
staring sadly at her son.  "Quawoor?  What's wrong?"  she asked
softly.  "Why is this so important to you?"
	Quawoor sighed.  "Ms. Miz, did you have a mother growing up?"
	"Yes, of course,"  Miz told her.
	"I didn't.  I grew up in the seminary.  The priestesses found
me near one of their temples when I was just a baby."
	"I remember,"  Miz told her sympathetically.
	Quawoor fingered the jeweled clasp on her neck.  "This is all
I have left.  Not just of my mother...but my entire tribe.  The
priestesses couldn't even tell me *what part of the world* I'm from.
You don't know what it's like, Ms. Miz."  She looked at Yosho again.
"To look at every woman's face, searching for someone who looks
like you.  I...I know it sounds stupid, but even when I was in
Cretaria...I was searching."  She removed the clasp and handed it
to Miz.  "Do you recognize it?"
	Miz shook her head.
	"No one does.  Not a single person I've ever come across.
I've had it since I was a baby.  I don't know how I know...But I
know it was my mother who gave it to me."
	Miz continued to listen as Quawoor went on.
	"You know that space of time when you go to bed, when you're
asleep, but you're not dreaming yet?  Every night for as long as I
can remember, in that little space of time, I could hear a voice, a
kind, musical voice, whisper to me.  'Bugs are death.  Bugs are
death.'"  She paused and wiped a tear away.  "I...I know it's my
mother's voice.  But I don't know anything about her.  There are
answers out there, and if they're not in El Hazard...then maybe
they're elsewhere."  She looked up at Miz and looked at young Yosho,
squirming around in Miz's arms.  "I have to try."
	Miz nodded.  "Very well.  I understand, Quawoor.  You go ahead
to Dorosland."  She smiled.  "I wish you the best of luck."
	Quawoor smiled.  "Thank you, Ms. Miz."

	Zavran looked down at the training field where the Chosen
were attempting to teach Diva's Bugrom new fighting techniques.
He shook his head sadly.  Already things were going wrong.
	"Xexis."  One of Chosen looked up at him expectantly.
"We'll have to begin now, ready or not."
	Xexis nodded once.
	"Diva."
	"Yes, Advent?"  Diva asked from her throne exhaustedly.
	Zavran went to the table where a map of Roshtaria had been set
up.  Jinnai had been fond of using it to show Diva and the Bugrom
his latest scheme.  "You have only one carrier, is that not so?"
	"Yes, Advent,"  she told him.  She yawned.
	"One," he muttered.  "Not nearly enough."  He stared at the
map a moment.  "Xexis, take two of the Chosen and some of...Her
Majesty's...children.  Divide up into squads and place yourselves...
here...here....and here..."  He pointed to three areas on the map,
trade routes and roads.  "Set yourselves up for ambushes.  I want
you to take anything that can fly higher than five hundred meters."
	Xexis bowed silently.
	"Leave no survivors.  I don't want the Roshtarians to know of
our existence yet."
	"What about Jinnai?"  Diva suddenly spoke up.
	Zavran smiled.  "Jinnai?  The Roshtarians want Jinnai dead
more than I do.  He's no threat.  No, what worries me is the thought
of the Roshtarians taking the offensive before we're ready."  He
looked up at Xexis.  "Go."
	Xexis bowed again and started for the door.
	"Do you think he can handle it?"  Diva asked.
	Zavran smiled.  "You've never seen a member of the warrior
caste, have you?"  Diva shook her head.  "They're highly intelligent."
He frowned.  "Had you not already mated with the mammalian, you
could be producing *them* instead of more workers right now."
	Diva took an unsteady breath.
	"Don't worry about Xexis.  He can handle himself."
	"And the Eye?"  Diva asked.  "You still haven't told me how
you plan to handle *that* particular weapon."
	"The Eye will not be a threat for much longer.  I've brought
along something that will take care of it."
	"A secret weapon?"  Diva asked.  "The weapons Jinnai has used
in the past have hardly..."
	"Weapons?  No.  Our goal should not be to top the threats facing
us, but to neutralize them."
	"Still," Diva began again...
	"Your Majesty,"  Zavran said frostily, "Your transgressions
with the mammalian have already jeopardized our entire future.  I
will salvage it, and I will do it without interference from *you.*
Your one goal in life right now is to produce workers.  Don't lose
sight of that."  He turned and glared at her.
	Diva gulped nervously.  "Yes, Advent."
	Zavran turned and walked out of the room.  Diva watched him
go.  Since she was young, she had known that the Advent would one
day come.  At first, she had thought that was Jinnai.  Now she knew
better.
	Still, she wished she had been right the first time.  At
least she could *talk* to Jinnai.
	Her fingers trailed to her stomach.
	No, she didn't like this Advent at all.

	"Is this some kind of joke?"  Jinnai asked.
	"No, it's not, Jinnai,"  Makoto told him firmly.  "You're going
on trial, and I'm defending you."
	"FORGET IT!"  Jinnai screamed.  "I won't hide behind the skirt
of my destined rival!"
	"You know,"  Makoto began, "I still don't understand what you
mean by..."
	"SHUT UP!"
	Makoto blinked and went silent.
	"This is exactly what I'm talking about!"  Jinnai screamed at
him.  "Your constant one-upsmanship!  No matter what happens, *you*
have to come out on top!"
	"Jinnai...What the hell are you talking about?"  Makoto asked.
	"I bet it feels pretty good,"  Jinnai growled.  "Captured,
defeated...You now extend a merciful hand to your bitter enemy...
just because you can..."  Jinnai pointed an accusing finger at him.
"I LOATHE YOU, MAKOTO MIZUHARA!!!"
	Makoto frowned.  "Look, Jinnai, starting the day after
tomorrow, you're going to go on trial, and if they convict you on
*half* the charges on the docket, Fatora's going to have her way
and your head is going to chopped off!"  Jinnai was silent as
Makoto took a breath.  "Now, I don't know why you hate me so much,
but I know that we *used* to be friends.  And because we were
friends, I don't want to see you die.  Now, it's your choice.  You
can either let me help you...or you can take your chances."
	Jinnai said nothing.  In the next cell, Groucho began speaking
in the Bugrom language.
	"WHADDYA MEAN, 'IT'S OUR ONLY HOPE?!'"  he screamed at his
Bugrom companion.
	"What do you say, Jinnai?"  Makoto asked.  "We don't have
much time."
	Jinnai growled.  "Fine,"  he muttered.  "Do whatever you
want."
	Groucho cheered.
	"AND YOU SHUT UP!!"
	Groucho sat down on the floor of his cell.
	"Okay,"  Makoto said, putting down the satchel he had carried
with him.  "If this is going to work, I need to hear *everything*
about what happened from the time you arrived in El Hazard to the
time you got here..."

	Shayla threw another rock and watched it disappear beneath
the water of the royal fountain, the reflection of the moon
distorting as ripples of water ran over it.
	"How dare they?"  she growled angrily.  "It was *their*
idea, and then all of a sudden they don't want me involved?
Hmmph!  It's a stupid idea anyway!"  She threw another rock.
	"Hey, hot stuff,"  she heard a sly voice call out behind her.
	The fire priestess growled, but didn't turn.  "Beat it, Fatora!
Can't you see I'm doing important priestess stuff!?"  She emphasized
this by throwing another rock into the pool.
	"That's okay, I'm here to do official princess stuff."  She
heard Fatora chuckle.
	"What the hell are you ranting about now?"  Shayla asked in
disgust.
	She felt Fatora's hand grip her shoulder and blinked as the
young woman turned her around forcefully.  The Princess was
standing right next to her, grinning.  "You wanna get Jinnai?"
she asked in a seductive tone.  "I can give you Jinnai."
	"Wha...What do you mean?"
	Fatora's grin got wider.  "Simple."  She placed a hand on
Shayla's arm.  "You can't be a judge...You're not impartial..."
	"Don't remind me,"  Shayla growled.  "That's why they kicked
me out."
	"But..."  Fatora went on, "A *prosecutor* doesn't even have
to *pretend* they're impartial."  She grinned triumphantly.
	"Prosecutor?"  Shayla asked.
	"Yup!  All you have to do is stand in front of the judges
and tell them why Jinnai's a horrible person.  Personally, I
can't think of anyone more qualified than you."
	Shayla thought about it.  Her eyes narrowed.  "What's in it
for you?"  she asked bitterly.
	"Nothing,"  Fatora assured her.  "You just happen to owe me
a favor..."
	"I KNEW IT!"  Shayla cried angrily.  "How many times do I
have to tell you!?  I'm not into that kind of thing!"
	"Relax!"  Fatora told her.  "I'm not an unrealistic person.
I realize you'd never agree to...that...Your loss, if you ask me,"
she muttered.  "So, I promise you that the favor will not involve
you and me.."
	"Or Alielle..."  Shayla prompted.
	"Or Alielle,"  Fatora finished.  "You get to keep your clothes
on, Shayla.  You have my word as a Princess of Roshtaria."
	Shayla thought for another moment.  "Prosecutor, huh?"
	"I can arrange it,"  Fatora assured her.  "What do you say?"
	Shayla smiled.  "I say let's fry the bastard."
	Fatora grinned.  "That's just what I wanted to hear."


Author's Notes:

Please send C&C to Davner at doscher009@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading.  ^_^