Flash!

Mistress of Lightning, Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi, Soi!

Episode 20

Lina clambered up the rope towards the ship. Down below, Nuriko held onto the rope tightly, keeping it taut and prevent Lina from falling into the waves. It was a dangerous task - as the waves rose and fell, the pressure on the rope did as well. He wouldn't be able to hold it for long...

"Go, now!" he said to Tamahome. "I'll hold onto it as long as I can, and..."

"But -" Tamahome started to protest. Then he saw the look of absolute determination in the Shichi Seishi's eyes. "Hai... ganbatte, Nuriko." He grabbed the rope and started climbing up.

The pressure was changing. The rope was growing slack. Nuriko couldn't hold on to it much longer... His arms flashed... no, his bracelets, given to him by Taiitsukun, flashed bright red. They changed shape, becoming longer and encompassed his hands and his lower arms. The rope grew taut again as new strength poured into Nuriko.

Lina hopped over the railing with Tamahome not far behind her. They waved to Nuriko. "Hurry!"

Hurry, he did. He started climb the rope as the Shichi Seishi on board began hauling it up. Before long, everyone was back, safe and sound, on the ship's deck.

Lina watched as the bracelets shone again and reverted to their previous form. "Nuriko..."

He looked at them. "I don't know... but when I was holding that rope, and I was thinking that... that someone had to make sure you were all safe, and then... they did that. It gave me more power and..."

"It's Taiitsukun's magic, no da. She gave us all special items to help us in our quest, na no da."

He looked at Chichiri. "Ha...hai," he agreed.

It took a little while to get everything sorted out, but after a long discussion (below deck, where it was much more difficult to be swept away), everyone felt better about the whole incident. Outside, the storm continued to rage, and lightning periodically lit up the cabin with bright flashes.

"Now, about this storm," said Chiriko. "It's not natural; the weather at this time of the year is much calmer than this. And it came up very suddenly, which was very unusual."

"How'd you know all that, Chiriko-chan?" asked a slightly amazed Tasuki.

"I was studying for the civil officer's exam. You have to know a lot of information about things like that," he answered.

"It's not natural. I felt the ki of a Shichi Seishi... a Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi I think, right before the storm broke, no da. It couldn't be coincidence, na no da."

Lina rubbed her chin. "You know, the lightning seemed to know just where to hit... it was like it was following us while we were taking refuge on that rock. A Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi..." Lina was reminded of the powerful Nakago, and then of the cheerful Amiboshi. Why did Amiboshi have to die when Nakago was most surely alive somewhere in Kutoukoku, feeding Naga his slimy lies? And the eyes... the vision...

Lina stood up suddenly. "I need to get some fresh air," she mumbled as a feeble excuse, pushing her way up the stairs.

"Fresh air?"

"In this weather?"

She gripped the railing tightly. The storm was diminishing in its fury, and waves no longer pounded the decks, although she made sure her footing and her grip was secure. The ship was rocking less as well. Lina let out a big sigh.

This line of thinking would lead her nowhere. Everything lately had been so glum, and nothing had penetrated the gloomy atmosphere that was hounding her. The weather seemed to match this. It was gray and misty and cloudy and everything was muted and slightly unreal.

This line of thinking would lead her nowhere! Lina told this to herself fiercely, clenching a fist. Happy thoughts, remember the good times, think of all the great things that she could do with three of Suzaku's wishes... okay, with at least one of Suzaku's wishes...

Now that was an idea... what would she do with the last of Suzaku's wishes? Wish one was to protect Konankoku from Kutoukoku. Wish two, if wish one didn't take care of it, would be to get Naga out of Nakago's influence and bring her back to her senses. Wish three... now there she had room for ideas...

Three meals a day for the rest of her life? Not good enough... enough food to satisfy her hunger for life? And good food at that. That would be a big order, smirked Lina. A bigger and better body? Never hurts, she smiled. Stronger magic? Lina shrugged, thinking that once she returned to her own world, that wouldn't be a big consideration. Make Gourry smart? Um... highly doubtable... Shut up Naga's annoying laughter? Duct tape would probably work just as well. More money than she could think of what to do with? Actually, that would be more of a Tamahome wish, Lina grinned. Aaaah... the possibilities were endless. She smiled. This was actually pretty fun! What else could she do with an unlimited third wish? It made her feel like a child in a candy shop, with endless rows of special treats just for her.

A claw of lightning crashed down from the sky.

Lina leapt backwards as it smashed into the deck in front of her. She sized up her new opponent. Cloaked in a brown robe, it was rather difficult to tell anything about him, but Lina was betting her money that this was the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi Chichiri had mentioned. It must have been the person who was attacking them before. After all, lightning may strike the same place twice, but it certainly hadn't been documented as following people around.

Okay, so maybe the cloak wasn't a problem. The Shichi Seishi threw it off, revealing that, oh, she was a woman. The character for 'chamber' glowed blue on her left thigh. If Lina's bet had been real, she would have raked in the dough. But this wasn't the time to worry about such things because the Shichi Seishi began throwing bolts at her.

Lina evaded each one easily, zigzagging from side to side.

"You dodge well, Suzaku no Miko."

"I've had lots of practice," she shrugged. "So, since you know me, who are you?"

"I am Soi, one of the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi, and I've been ordered to kill you."

Lina got a sweatdrop. "Like I couldn't tell," she commented, rolling her eyes. "All right, all right, let's get on with the big battle and whatnot and whatever-all-else."

"Lina!" The door burst open and the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi spilled out.

Soi smiled. "More spectators, ne?" She snapped her fingers and pointed at them. "Hakuujin Raihou!"

Sparks of lightning flashed from the sky and enveloped the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi.

"Uwaaah!"

Lina spun around. "Minna!"

Only to barely dodge another of Soi's attacks.

Soi smirked again. "I must say, you are good," she admitted grudgingly. "But you still cannot defeat me."

Lina's bad temper raised its ugly head. Veins popped on her forehead and fume marks punctuated the area. "Oh yeah?" she challenged. "Wanna bet?" (It seemed like a good day for betting, for some reason.) Lina drew Hotohori's sword and dropped into a fighting stance.

"Oh, but you'll have to defeat me quite quickly, or your friends... well... won't be in any position to help."

Lina didn't bother responding. She was beyond angry and well into her famous lets-destroy-the-village-with-a-dragon-slave-just-because-I-feel-like-it mood. When Lina got into this mood, there was only one way out of it. Major destruction. Venting her anger meant the big kaboom. The kaboom-to-obliterate-entire-dragons/cities/countries kaboom.

"HAKUUJIN RAIHOU!"

"LINA!" screamed Tamahome, reaching out towards her.

Lina dodged the bolt of lightning and leapt onto the railing. From this added height, she leapt towards Soi, swinging the deity sword...

... To find Soi not there...

"Aoi den!" *

The blast of blue lightning blasted her on the shoulder, and she slid to a halt several feet away, facing Soi once more. "Not bad," winced Lina. "I'll have to keep my guard up around you, I see."

Thus began a series of attack and counter-attack, dodging, ducking, and swift maneuvering, in which both participants gave as good as she got. They ended rather where they began at, which made Lina wonder at the futility of it all. There had to be some other way to go about an attack but she wasn't about to use magic. One spell and she was out for the count and if it didn't work, it meant Soi could attack at her leisure.

"Lina..." The symbol for ogre flared brightly on Tamahome's forehead. He fought the electricity that crackled around them, the static making his hair rise on end... or was it merely charged air particles? He could feel the power surging around him as he gathered his ki into his hands, making them glow a fierce red. He slowly began stand, ignoring Soi's attacks and everyone's surprise. Before long, he broke off the lightning altogether, and summoned all the power within and around him. "Lina!"

She nodded.

Soi's attitude faltered. No longer faced with good odds, she stumbled back a step, but recovered swiftly. When in doubt: Attack. "Aoi honoo ryuu den!" **

The blazing blue fire that erupted from Soi's hands rivaled any of Lina's flare arrows, but the sorceress wasn't impressed. At the same time, Tamahome sent his own ki forward, the red power blazing forward. Lina was ready. She twirled the sword around and somehow caught Tamahome's blast. For some reason, this made the power only stronger, more charged. Lina swung out at Soi, sending the ki directly at her rival. The resulting, energy-rich flare blasted her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards.

Soi coughed, looking up and realized she had badly underestimated the enemy. Despite the hardships and the storm, they had gotten through her attacks and sent an even stronger one against her. It was time to use discretion and leave the battle... for now...

For now.

The lightning died away as Soi vanished, leaving the others to mumble feebly.

"Tamahome..." Lina blinked at him. And started laughing, "Your hair! It's standing on end! You look so silly like that!"

He didn't pay her any attention, instead, he looked at his hands. "That power... I've never had that much power before..."

"It's because of Taiitsukun, no da," Chichiri patiently explained. "When everyone got power upgrades, like Hotohori's deity sword... and you didn't... that was because this was your power upgrade, no da."

"Power upgrade?" Tamahome blinked. "Whoa..."

"Dammit!" Tasuki had sufficiently recovered to swear up a whole new storm, which wasn't much by Tasuki's standards. "Who the %$@&* was that woman? And what did she think was doing to us?"

"Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi... Soi... This is getting bad. How could they know we were here... or what we were doing? They must be trying to stop us from getting the Genbu no Shinzahou. We must be more careful. If they get the Genbu no Shinzahou, and call Seiryuu..."

Nuriko nodded. "Bad stuff happens," he summed up, if inelegantly.

"Exactly," agreed Lina. "So let's hurry up. We can't afford to slip up at this point. There's too much riding on this."

Nods all around.

"Minna!" Chiriko pointed eagerly over the railing. "Look! That's got to be Hokkankoku, ne?"

"Hontou ni?" gasped Mitsukake. "Already? But we couldn't have been that close... could we?" He looked a bit confused.

"I have a feeling we were near here already, na no da. But the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi, Soi, prevented us by calling on that storm and by attacking us outright. Still, it's good to know we're here, no da."

Lina smiled for the first time in what seemed to be much too long of a period. "Finally," she said happily, "Things are finally looking up." She pointed her finger at the approaching land and leaned a foot on the railing in an overly dramatic pose. "Watch out, Hokkankoku! Lina Inverse is here on a special mission - to get the Genbu no Shinzahou! And we're not letting anything you throw in our way stop us!"

"Ano..." said Nuriko. "The ones who were trying to stop us were the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi, and they live in Kutoukoku..."

"Ne, what in the world are you doing?" Tasuki scratched his head as he watched.

Lina got a sweatdrop. "Oh, nothing," she said quickly. Actually, she was working off an unexpected bout of genkiness. Major destruction (well, she had to take what she got during the battle with Soi) and finally reaching the destination had lifted her spirits, and her optimism was refueled. "Who cares? Come on, everyone! We're off to find the Shinzahou!"

"The wonderful Genbu no Shinzahou!" agreed Chiriko.

"Because, because, because, because, becaaaaaause!" chimed in Tasuki.

"Because of the wonderful things it does, no da!" *** finished Chichiri.

"Yatta!" said Tamahome.

It seemed everyone was in good spirits. And it was about time.

* aoi: blue, den: lightning

** aoi: blue, honoo: flame, ryuu: dragon, den: lightning...

*** Sung to "We're off to see the Wizard... The Wonderful Wizard of Oz..."

Continue: Episode 21: Land! We've Finally Made it to Hokkankoku!