And… another chapter

I ought to put in a disclaimer for the entire series… so I don’t have to keep putting it down.

Pairings: Ash x Lance, Ash x Hotaru, Syaoran x Yue (Both Ash and Syaoran will have their own harems!)

Chapter 45 – Ash

After landing on Karamja, Hotaru stocked up on bananas – about fifty of them, and pineapples. After all, free food was always good. I’m just glad I don’t have to carry it! I went fishing for a bit, and caught twenty lobsters.

That’s enough food for a while!

Since Hotaru’s an item, anything she carries doesn’t count as what I carry, and she can carry a lot… almost 1000 pounds worth.

Heh. I guess this explains why adventurers are so self-reliant, if they have a good partner. Now we’re trekking into the jungle…

Scyther’s come with us. I like to rely on pokemon cards I trust. He’s cutting through all the undergrowth. I have Coral and Crystal each wrapped around an arm, just in case. After all, there might be poisonous snakes…

Or giant green poisonous spiders! But they don’t have any nests or eggs! Hotaru’s screaming, she’s running from three of them.

Bugs should be afraid of fire. Or birds. “Moltres, use Flamethrower!”

Well, that put an end of them fast… ack! Now the jungle’s caught fire! I swear, this adventure is just getting more and more convoluted…

“Kyogre, I choose you! Rain Dance! Moltres, come back!”

But it is a good magic workout… I have to admit that. I wonder how Yuki’s doing? We did split up…

Nah, he can take care of himself. He’s got a set of cards and all that. Plus, Yue will protect him like Sabrina protects me.

Everything will work out fine… I hope!

Well, now we’ve discovered that there’s a giant lion in this forest. Fighting it doesn’t seem like a good idea…

Oh wait.

“Avada Kedavra!”

I completely forgot about that… surprisingly, it doesn’t drain much energy. I guess that’s because I have a rather large supply of magic compared to most wizards. I didn’t even need my wand. That’s part of the good of having the cards and staff as part of you, I suppose.

Well, it’s fun.

Wait… this tribe of black-skinned men in loincloths and with red painted faces are surrounding us.

Eek!

Must not panic, must not panic…

No! I’m panicking! We could teleport away! They’re not pointing their spears at us though, is that a good sign?

… I cannot understand a word of their language.

Well, we might as well go with them… and soon, we reach a village. An old man comes out of a hut. And he’s speaking English. Good. This I can understand.

“You killed the Sphinx?”

That was a sphinx? I couldn’t tell… “Yes?”

“Oh! You are a valiant warrior! To defeat it with no weapons!” Right… I’m only wearing leather and regular clothes. No weapons, nope, just magic. “We shall make you an honorary member of our tribe then.”

“Er…” What do I say? I’ll go for polite. “Thank you.”

Maybe this isn’t so bad…

So they did some chanting ceremony that lasted ten minutes… and now I’m a member of the tribe.

I’ve noticed several girls staring at me. Oh no…

“Hotaru?”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Just a question… how many wives can a man have here?”

She blushes prettily. “I know. A normal man can have seven wives. But you are a great hero! You can have as many as you like.”

Oh man… now those girls are really staring…

I’m too young to get married! I don’t care how old I look! This is wrong! I’ll just pray that everything works out.

Right… well, it’s just a game, right? No… I can make Hotaru a card before I leave. She’s a good friend.

Well, that’s settled.

Why are there suddenly golden wings on my back? I’m not using Pidgeot or any other bird… and now people are pointing at me again!

Was it a side effect of killing the Sphinx? I think so, because my clothes have just changed into a white kilt that goes to my knees and there are gold bracers on my arms and a gold circlet is on my head and there’s a gold falcon necklace chain-thing on my chest. At least I’m not freezing…

Hmm…

It doesn’t look bad, with my darkish skin… I look Egyptian. Yes, that’s it! Well, the ancient Egyptians had lots of magic… maybe I can learn some of that?

“You are the incarnation of our God Ra!”

Um… what? “No! No I’m not!” Hotaru looks ever so pleased, though… and everyone’s bowing. This is not a good situation.

I’m just a magician!

Still… I’ve got more power than they seem to do… and after a few minutes of my frantic arm waving, they get up.

The shaman stands next to me. “My lord, we are honored by your presence.”

Okay… I can deal with that. “How are your people faring?”

“Well, now that you have killed the demon Sphinx, there remains only one enemy to us. The witch Giselle in the north is a great danger... Her undead army draws ever closer to our lands.”

Ah…

This I can deal with too.

“Very well then.” I say. “Come on, Hotaru. Let’s go.” She’ll be handy when I fight undead…

Hotaru blushes as she follows me. She is pretty cute. Large, innocent violet eyes, short black hair, and I’ve changed her brown peasant’s dress to a cute lavender jacket and skirt. She didn’t mind at all…

Besides, they’re made out of silk, much better than whatever coarse material she was wearing earlier.

I try to be nice… even if it’s a game. She’ll be a card spirit, so before that happens, I ought to earn her trust. I’ve learned something through all my lives, maybe…. Be kind to your allies.

Now… which way was north? I guess my direction sense hasn’t improved. The man helpfully points the way, and off we go!

Light beats dark… and now we’ll see….. how these things work. Wait, I can fly now. No more walking! Fearow’s carrying Hotaru, and I can hear cheering as we fly away. It’s nice to be popular.

Now… there’s a large row of skeletons and zombies. Well, I guess that’s where we dismount. No! why fight the little ones?

Better go straight for the serpent’s head, as Crystal says…

Hmm… speaking of which…

Crystal, dear, are you hungry? I hiss.

She looks delighted. Yes…

Then let’s hunt… we soon reach a castle. I drop Crystal off, and she grows to full size and slithers away…

Pity the witch. Nothing she has will stand up to Crystal… she comes back pretty soon licking her lips, and there’s a girl riding on her back?

Uh-oh…

“Hi, I’m Setsuna.” She grins. “ I had a vision of your arrival, lord Ashura. Thank you for saving my life.”

Oh no! Not again!

End Chapter

Completed 4/7/05

Yep, lil’ Ash is collecting a harem…