El Hazard and it's characters are owned by AIC and Pioneer LDC.  The author 
owns only the writing.

Chapter 5: Floristica (various locations) 
Miz watch Machimichi practically ransack their home looking for his old sweats. 
Miz stretched, her arching back accented her middle and the child that grew 
within her. "Honestly, I don't know why you're looking for those things. What you 
have one is just fine." she said. 
"No one dresses this way on Earth. The fewer questions we have to answer, the 
better." he replied with his head buried in a trunk. 
"Oh like how you can be a dedicated bachelor one day then have a wife five 
months pregnant by week's end?" she teased. 
Machimichi shuttered trying to decide what to say. "I am going aren't I?" Miz 
asked getting a little upset. Her husband kept shuttering. "Listen here, we still 
don't know how the Eye of God works. It could be decades, centuries later when 
you return." she said sternly. Her expression softened, "I, we, just want to be with 
you." she finished by placing his hand on her womb. 
"But it will be dangerous. We're going there to fight, not sightsee." 
"No reason why we can't do both. Or are you worried about me finding out what 
kind of person you were before coming to El-Hazard?" she finished tongue-in-
cheek. 
"Well there's that too." 
"If I was worried about that. I wouldn't have married you in the first place." 
"You didn't seen me then." he thought wondering just how many open bottles of 
booze he left lying around his old, small apartment. "It's more than that. Earth can 
be a very dangerous place if you're not used to it. Shinonome has tens of 
thousands of people living in only a few square miles. The streets, even 
sidewalks, are dangerous to cross. Morons on mopeds darting about as they damn 
well please, gangs, petty criminals, crowds. I'm telling you Miz, it can be a 
madhouse sometimes." 
"We'll how much of a madhouse it is once I show them what I can do." she said 
raising her hand with the Secondary Lamp of Water on her finger. The true Lamp 
was passed on to the next Priestess, but the Theocracy gave her the Secondary 
Lamp for years of loyal service. 
"And what makes you think that will work on Earth?" Machimichi questioned. 
Miz paused, not knowing the answer. Mr.Fujisawa continued, "We don't even 
know if our powers will work. Going back could revert all us Earthers to normal. 
If all of us our powerless, I'd feel better knowing you were safe here." 
"What about me? How do you think I'll feel not knowing if the father of my child 
is alive or dead? Or when he'll return to us? Each day wondering if he decided to 
stay, or couldn't come back, or was tossed around in time itself? I know the risks 
and accept them. We have to stay together now more than ever." she finished with 
tears in her eyes. 
He hugged her close, as if he finally realized his responsibilities have increased 
tenfold when he became a husband and a hundredfold when he learned he would 
become a father. The job of Chief Palace Guard looked more and more attractive. 
"All right. Just promise me you'll be careful and don't do anything without 
knowing what will happen." 
In another part of town Hiashi and Shayla were having lunch from a push-cart 
vendor. Hiashi ate silently leaning up against a lamp post while Shayla ordered 
another shish kebab. He tossed her the few coins it cost when payment was 
mentioned. She barely looked at him as she grabbed them from the air and paid 
the vendor as she began eating. To say Hiashi was in charge of their finances was 
misleading. He merely carried it, shelling out cash on demand. Originally it was 
to help curb her shopping habits. Between that and repairing the damage her 
outbursts did was starting to become a strain even for the Church's large reserves. 
It didn't help much. Now her shopping trips were limited to how far and how long 
she could drag Hiashi around. Considering Shayla's strong will and insistence, 
shopping actually took longer because now she had an extra set of arms to carry 
stuff. "<munch> So looking forward to going <chomp> back?" she asked between 
bites. 
"Will be nice to see the old gang again. I'm just trying to remember only a few 
days have passed there as opposed to what, nine months here. Nothing new except 
I'll probably miss Movie Night. I think I got the club to show this Hollywood 
action movie." 
"What's it about?" 
"Trust me, you wouldn't like it. It doesn't exactly show fire in a positive light. 
Lots of big weapons being used indiscriminately, wanton swearing, blood and 
gore, and that's just the hero." 
"Ugh, why did you watch that stuff?" 
"Hey, it had good special effects, for a world without magic that is." 
"Don't you ever watch anything that doesn't involve human bodies exploding? 
Sometimes I wonder about you. You watch stuff like that then you get sick after 
crushing those Bugrom." 
The Rock Priest tried to push back that memory. "OK, so trying out Bigby's 
Crushing Hand was a bad idea.--" 
"Oh no! The results were pretty spectacular." she joked. Shayla liked to tease her 
husband by reminding him when he destroyed a squad of Bugrom by creating 
giant stone hands that squeezed them into paste. While it turned the remaining 
Bugrom away, it also made everyone else nauseous, Hiashi more so than the rest. 
He wouldn't eat for two days after that. Fortunately time lessened the effect. The 
Elemental Council asked her to help get Hiashi to practice and improve the 
technique because of its obvious usefulness and the best way to do that was to get 
rid of him being squeamish about it. 
"But I knew those movies were fake. There's difference between watching a 
movie and living it. Besides, I'm really sure I like those movies anymore." he 
continued. 
"Tell ya what. When we get the chance we'll watch one of those movies together. 
If we don't like it, we won't bring it up again." 
He looked skeptical. She pressed, "Ever since I've known you, hardly a day has 
gone by when you didn't mention some movie or book or something that I can 
never learn about. I want to know where you came from, experience some of the 
same things that were a good influence on you." 
A slow smile spread over his face, "Shayla, you're the fire within my heart. I will 
be happy to show you what fires my imagination." 
"Well right now the fire in your heart needs some more fuel. We got enough for 
dessert?" 
Meanwhile at Nanami's Restaurant, The Lunch Box, Nanami was quickly trying 
to pack. Her apartment above the dining area looked like a disaster area as she 
tried to pick out the best things to bring back. Fancy dresses mingled with work 
clothes in piles around her room. Fishy banks were on a table, their contents 
spilled out into one big pile. Nanami was going home and she wanted to bring the 
best memories of El Hazard with her. Naturally that included money. At first, she 
wanted to bring all of it. But she realized it wouldn't be worth anything. At best it 
would be regarded as a curiousity. So reluctantly she took a little of each 
denomination of every form of currency she had and would leave the rest to her 
business. 
My business, she thought the words many times. Going home meant leaving her 
successful restaurant forever. She'd have to go back to school to prepare for a 
more cut-throat world. Returning meant surrendering what could very well be the 
most successful venture of her life. And what would she get in return? Questioned 
and laughed at for her story. Even with the Bugrom as proof there would be many 
who wouldn't believe her. How can she compete against fast food? Lunch boxes 
to students were one thing on Earth, but making successful a whole restaurant was 
another. Here she was her own boss, there she'd probably have to answer to 
someone, someone who might think less of her because of her gender. Sexual 
discrimination in management was still a problem in Japan. On El Hazard, having 
a matriarchy put those things in balance. Nanami feared that no matter what she 
did back home, it wouldn't compare to her own little eatery in Floristica. 
Her assistant manager knocked at the door. "So are you going away?" she asked 
timidly. 
Nanami didn't answer at first, "I don't know. I have so much here, but so much I 
miss back home. My parents, my classmates, my stuff. I guess I never realized 
just how much I missed them until after Makoto brought Ifurita back. I missed my 
first chance to return. Oh, how can I look my parents in the eye and tell them I'm 
going away forever because the economic climate is better here?" 
The assistant answered, "You taught me everything you know about business. I 
promise Nanami's Lunch Box will continue to be as good as it is today. The 
business is in safe hands with me." 
"I know. But I still love running it. I'm happy here, you might even say content. 
Oh I can't decide. Wait a minute, the others don't plan on staying on Earth. Maybe 
there'll be a way back here. Yeah, that's it. I don't have to make my decision now. 
I'll go back and if I like it better here, I'll return. Boy won't everyone be jealous 
when they look at all the neat stuff I earned." 
"Yeah, they'll be really impressed with the dirty apron." her friend teased. 
Nanami threw it at her, "No, silly. I mean with this other stuff. I'll bring some 
menus along too. Dad will be so impressed at how professional they look. He's a 
graphics designer you know. Oh and Ryoko will just love this dress. It might need 
some alterations, but where can you find hand spun silk in Japan that doesn't cost 
an arm and a leg? Tell you what, help me bring all this to the Stairway to the Sky 
and send back something." 
Nanami's friend looked resigned to her fate. Nanami had a way about getting 
others to do what she wanted. Her 'gift' would probably be nothing more than 
some candy. That is if Nanami remembered at all. If she did forget, then she'd 
dole out extra vacation days as an apology. She learned when she was first hired 
not to put too much stock in Nanami's promises. They often meant too much extra 
work for too little reward. 
Makoto was practically swallowed into the machinery and circuits which made up 
the Stairway to the Sky. It was hard for him to tell what was sabotaged and what 
was original. The plans Gyronai provided were good, but incomplete. He had 
learned one thing. There was preexisting link between El Hazard and Earth. 
Between El Hazard and several other worlds in fact. And they were all linked up 
here, in the heart of the Stairway. The Eye of God had the primary function as a 
weapon, a means large scale transport where the condition of the cargo didn't 
matter. That was why everyone the Eye transported was also thrown through time, 
the original four Earthers, Ifurita, and the Bugrom. And that why it proved so 
difficult to get her back. A part of the Eye's programming shut down these other 
links until El Hazard 'caught up' with Earth time-wise. When Makoto was first 
transported to El Hazard, he and the others were also sent back one year. When 
the Eye was used against the Bugrom, they were sent to Earth the same number of 
days as was Makoto spent in El Hazard. But when Makoto rescued Ifurita and 
Hiashi hitched along for the ride, time was messed up again. Three months 
compressed into thirty-six hours. Only now, as time was being straightened out, it 
was conceivable there could be easy traveling between the two worlds, without 
the Eye of God. 
During his first time here, his special power alerted him to another use for the 
Eye. As a secondary purpose, the Eye acted like massive radar dish, collecting 
and transmitting signals and energy. It might take some work, but Makoto had 
seen enough to suspect he could program the Eye to pick up Earth television and 
radio stations. He could only hear the natural static, but it was littered with words 
he recognized. This time there were more words, though there was still much 
static. 
"Makoto, do you require assistance?" Ifurita mind-spoke as Makoto emerged 
from the wire jungle to a circular room lined with dull, full-length mirrors. 
"I could use your opinion on something. Have you seen this room before?" he 
returned broadcasting what he saw to her. 
"It looks like some kind of viewing location, but the glass is too large. Could it be 
the transport nexus?" 
"Exactly what I was thinking. This could be the room we're looking for. Think 
you can clear some of these fallen circuit tubes?" 
"I will try." 
Makoto could hear Ifurita lifting and pushing aside the metal vines in an effort to 
form a path. The pattern of the floor was that of a regular hallway. Either by time 
or deliberately, pieces of the Stairway to the Sky had fallen here, hiding the path. 
The tubes were heavy, but no problem for a Demon God in her top form. 
Unfortunately, Ifurita was not as strong as she use to be. Ever since she returned, 
her powers were weakening. Wind-ups didn't last as long as before and were 
slowly growing more painful. She no longer had the endurance or raw power she 
used to have. Recently Ifurita cut herself on a broken piece of glass in Makoto's 
lab. She bled human blood. Somehow she was becoming human. Why it started 
and how far the transformation will go was not known. 
Makoto suspected it had something to do with her long imprisonment in limbo. 
With her circuitry damaged, her repair mechanism did the only thing it could do, 
change the broken electronics into flesh. Ifurita knew of no such ability, but the 
evidence was obvious. It could be a hidden function or an ability granted by the 
Eye of God. But through it all, her power-key staff and her link to Makoto 
remained strong. There had to be answers, but where? Makoto hoped that he 
could find a clue in the Stairway. 
While he was waiting for Ifurita to finish he walked to one of the mirrors. The 
wall between the mirrors was embedded with wires and controls. He felt drawn to 
this one for some reason. When he touched a panel, his power took over, 
revealing a vision or perhaps a memory. 
He was suckling at his mother's breast. His eyes were closed, but it felt cold. He 
heard footsteps then his mother's voice. A deeper voice spoke back. He was 
unable to understand the words, but the tone of the voices took a turn for the 
worse. He looked up and started to cry. His mother's face looked down with a 
warm smile before she handed him to the other person. The man smiled 
reluctantly as he took Makoto. Somehow he knew the man was his father. 
Father spoke and passed him back. Mother put him in a basket and tucked him in. 
The mirror started to glow. Makoto opened his eyes wide in awe, then squint them 
as the light became too bright to look at. Mother and Father spoke again in loud 
words. Then Mother screamed. Makoto tried to turn his small head to see Mother 
fall backwards into one of the glowing mirrors. Father tried to catch her, but 
wasn't fast enough. Mother vanished and the mirror went black. Father touched 
the wall in many spots as he wept. 
Soon he gave up and picked up Makoto's basket. He looked down at his son and 
whispered something before passing him through the mirror. He felt as if he was 
falling then suddenly his basket was in grass. There were strange noises and 
unfamiliar trees around him. He cried because there was nothing else he could do. 
A hand on his shoulder halted the vision. "Makoto, what is it? I lost contact with 
you for a minute." 
"Thanks, Ifurita. I don't know what happened. I saw, no remembered something. I 
need my pencil and writing tablet. Now, before I forget." he said rummaging 
through his pac. 
Quickly, before the memory faded he drew their faces. They came easier than the 
expected. Rough sketches became more detailed in minutes as the pencil etched 
out his biological parents. Satisfied he had captured all the details possible, he 
stared at the drawing. Who were they? He asked himself. Were they really his 
parents or was the memory he relived another's which was trapped in this place 
for who knows how long. The parents who raised him never said he was adopted, 
but he occasionally had some suspicions. His blood type, AB-, was very 
uncommon. It was one of the rarest of blood types. His parents were A+ and B- 
and while it was perfectly possible that the two could combine to be his, it was 
unlikely. Plus they were older than most parents. If he was not adopted, his 
mother would have to be in her late thirties when she gave birth to him. Part of 
him didn't care. Family and parental love does not depend on biology. On the 
other hand, he had a right to know his past and if he did have a legitimate link to 
El Hazard. 
His thoughts were interrupted when an attendant came looking for him. "Time is 
almost up. Have you found what you were looking for?" he asked. 
"One moment." and Makoto touched the area again. This time there was no 
vision, but he understood what the device was and how it worked. On his way out, 
he asked the attendant if he recognized the people in the drawing. He did not. 
When he exited the Stairway to the Sky, everyone was in a group and looked at 
him expecting the answer they wanted to hear. Makoto was not one to disappoint. 
But when he spoke it sounded as if saving Earth from the Bugrom wasn't as 
important than it was before. He looked over his friends. Each tried to at least 
look like normal Earth people. It was easier for some. Fujisawa had his sweats, 
Makoto and Nanami had on their worn school uniforms, Hiashi wore a red and 
blue fire style shirt his wife gave him that could reasonably pass as an Earth t-
shirt. The El Hazardians had a tougher time since they had no experience or first 
hand knowledge. No doubt about it. They were going to draw attention to 
themselves. Afura looked a bit nervous. She looked different than before to 
Makoto. She came the closest of the priestesses to wearing Earth-normal clothes, 
but there was something else. Nanami noticed it too and figured out what it was, 
"You're wearing make-up?" she said in disbelief. 
Afura coughed in embarrassment, "Well isn't it normal for girls my age to wear it 
on your Earth?" she responded over-defensively. 
Nanami said, "Well it is but- Wait! I got it. You're going to look for a boyfriend 
when you're there. Afura, shame on you." She teased Afura a little more trying to 
get her to admit it. The more Afura denied it, the more obvious her body language 
said otherwise. Finally Nanami turned away and sighed saying, "I should have 
known. Shinonome High School: meat market for the powerful women of El 
Hazard. Maybe we should introduce Rune to the vice-principal." 
Fujisawa took the joke seriously, "Now wait, it was bad enough being employed 
by him as a teacher. But that is too much." 
The banter lightened Makoto's mood somewhat as he explained the situation. 
"The Stairway to the Sky has stable links to Earth and other dimensions. Using 
the Eye of God has short-circuited these links until now. Once we activate the 
portal on our end, the corresponding one on Earth will activate. I believe there is a 
two way connection. If this end is shut down somehow, we should be able to turn 
it on from Earth." 
"Should Makoto? You'd better make sure we can get back or you're going to have 
some very unhappy people wanting to barbecue your butt." Shayla said. 
"Speaking of which, what about our powers? Our Lamps and abilities granted by 
the Eye?" Hiashi asked. 
"They will work as well on Earth as they do here. Remember Ifurita used her 
power there to send us to El Hazard. The Stairway and the Eye are linked to 
multiple dimensions. Even though not all the links are active, we will be able to 
use our powers there. As for the abilities of us Earthers, the Eye of God 
transformed us. We'll have all our powers regardless of where we go, though 
some powers won't be as effective." 
"So how did you come by this?" Miz asked curious. 
Makoto thought before answering. He really didn't know where or how he learned 
this. He just knew it when Ifurita snapped him out of his vision. "Through my link 
to the devices of the ancient El Hazardians. Granting powers to unwitting 
dimensional travelers must have been a way to help them survive in a strange 
land." 
"Have to admit ours came in handy." Fujisawa mumbled. 
"Hey, does that mean we'll get powers from going to Earth?" Shayla said 
enthusiastically. 
Makoto couldn't resist smiling at her hopeful expression. "Don't bet on it. We're 
not exactly unwitting this time. We know where we're going. The Eye only gives 
powers to anyone who came by accident. But you should be able to speak and 
read Japanese just as we were able to speak and read Hazardian when we crossed 
over." 
"Then what are we waiting for?." Shayla said pulling Hiashi behind her. Ifurita 
led them to the chamber as Makoto approached Princess Rune. 
"What is it, Makoto? You look perplexed. Do you have doubt's about your 
mission?" she asked with sincerity. 
"It's not that, Princess. Do you know who these people are?" he said showing her 
the drawing he made. 
Her eyes showed an instant of recognition, then her face took more sterner 
features. "How did you come by these people?" she demanded. 
"Who are they?" he pressed avoiding her demand. 
"It is none of your concern." 
"How do you know that?" 
"That was an unpleasant failure of a great man." 
"Tell me. I have to know." 
Since his arrival in El Hazard, Rune has come to rely heavily on Makoto for 
advice. Dr.Schtalubaugh had served the court for decades, but he felt his time to 
retire was coming. With Makoto's intelligence and unique perspective, Roshtaria 
had benefitted in several ways. She knew him well enough to know he would not 
let the matter drop. If she did not answer, he would find another and another until 
he learned the truth. She knew it would happen because he used the same tone of 
voice when he was working to rescue the Demon God. He would not ask unless 
he thought it was important. 
"The man was once King of Roshtaria. He was Fatora's and my father. The 
woman was a powerful sorceress who came to Floristica nearly twenty years ago. 
The two were ... close. After a little more than a year, her public appearances 
became more and more infrequent before she vanished completely shortly after 
Fatora was born. I knew it bothered him, but was too young to understand why. 
Father wasn't the same after that for a while. There were rumors surrounding him 
at the time of the accident which took my parents' lives. Rumors about regret and 
anguish over that woman which might have caused a fatal moment of distraction. 
Now tell me, how did you come by this?" she finished with a harsh demand. 
Makoto had to pause to digest what she said and what it could mean. "It was 
something I saw in the Stairway. The sorceress ... went into one of the portals and 
I saw your father there. I felt it was important to find out." 
Rune detected the tone in his voice and narrowed her eyes, "You may have 
stumbled upon a dark secret of my beloved parents. Do not investigate further." 
she said with an uncharacteristic threatening tone in her voice. 
"Yes, your Highness." he replied. It might have been something in his body 
language or a misinterpretation on Rune's part, but she was convinced he would 
indeed continue. The questions that remained was, "Are her suspicions correct?" 
and "If they are, what must I do?" She was still contemplating this when Makoto 
left to follow the others inside the Stairway to the Sky. 
Everyone was already there by the time he arrived. The hidden hallway had been 
cleaned by attendants and looked more like it was meant to be there instead of a 
newly discovered secret. "This is it. Is everybody ready? Wait, where is Gyronai? 
I thought she would be coming with us." he asked focusing on the mission at 
hand. 
"I don't know. She left after the meeting ended. Have you seen her Nanami?" 
Fujisawa asked. 
"No, sorry. I'm just ready to go home!" Nanami said grabbing two of her many 
suitcases. 
"Let's go kick some bug!" Shayla cheered. 
"This is a bug hunt man, a bug hunt!" Hiashi followed. 
Makoto's serious mood from earlier faded somewhat at Hiashi's joke. He noticed 
the change in his long-time friend. A bit of Shayla has infected him and it was a 
definite improvement from his earlier, quiet, introverted personality. Makoto 
placed his palm on the panel and the portal glowed a strong white. Bright, but not 
blindingly so. Nonetheless Fujisawa, who was standing directly in front of the 
portal, reflexively shielded his eyes and looked through. A nod signaled the 
portal's readiness and Fujisawa stepped through, returning to the world of his 
birth, returning to a world he could no longer call home.