Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Jun 9, 2012 21:29:37 GMT -5
"The princess, yeah," Ian nodded, reminded that Sonra was royalty. He still thought of her as just another student, like him, albeit a beautiful girl as well. Were these nymphs her subjects? Ian wanted to ask but could hardly get a word in edgewise, they spoke so fast. Ian knew all girls loved to chat, but this was ridiculous.
"Yeah, I know her," he said again, by way of catching the briefest of pauses in the nymph's chat. "Don't you? This place isn't," the boy hesitated and struggled to choose how to explain what had brought him to their pond. "I was.. I was in Sonra's garden just a second ago. But I have no idea how I got here. Some sort of vortex and... And a statue that talked."
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Post by Ninmast on Jun 9, 2012 22:06:13 GMT -5
The seafoam girl nodded, but looked around when nobody else seemed inclined to address the guy's issue, so she quietly put in, "That's mum."
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Jun 10, 2012 21:28:46 GMT -5
As many times as Ian told himself not to be surprised by the mythical madness of this new world he'd been introduced to, ever after all the strange things that had happened to him, he couldn't help but be taken aback by how things only seemed to get stranger and stranger. He blinked, boggled, and asked the seafoam-colored nymph, "The statue was your mother?"
A naughty thought struck Ian. If the statue really was a depiction of their mother, then there could hardly be any doubt that the otherwise underdeveloped nymphs would grow to be just as curvy as they matured. Ian had seen it happen before in junior high. The transformations puberty could work in the space of a single summer vacation were astonishing. Really, to Ian, adolescence seemed like a force of nature that was more than potent in human beings. He hesitated to think what it was like for these mythical species, the nymphs in particular; a race of female demi-goddesses who were the namesake of a rather amorous disorder…
He shook his head to clear it. Get a grip! And he was sure Ayako-sensei would slap him for thinking such things. That is, if he could find her again. Ian still didn’t know where he was, but he did know where he had been and that was where he wanted to be now.
“Um, listen girls,” he began to interject. “It’s nice that your mom wanted you to have someone to play with,” whatever that meant. “But I think I should try to figure out how to get back as soon as I can.” Besides being nervous in the presence of such pretty girls, it was the fear of another scolding from Ayako-sensei that motivated Ian to get back to the manor in a hurry. Getting himself lost in the garden and then getting sucked through a vortex into a realm of nymphs seemed like something she’d take a dim view of. Ian had done less than that before and still offended her on some way.
Time was of the essence. “So,” Ian said resolutely. “I’d like you to send me back, please. Maybe some other time?”
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Post by Ninmast on Jun 10, 2012 21:40:01 GMT -5
That got their attention and they looked hurt.
"Aww, but we wanna play!" the sunset-headed girl proclaimed and latched onto his leg with enough momentum to drag him under.
Others, not wanting to miss out on the fun, promptly joined in to dogpile the poor boy, as well, and he could hear their innocent laughter even under the water as they rolled him rather, he might relate, like crocodiles did their prey, completely unaware that their newfound "friend" couldn't actually breathe underwater.
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Jun 13, 2012 0:16:59 GMT -5
Ian opened his mouth to offer an apology, but a startled yelp came out instead as he was seized by the girls and pulled under. One of his sandals flew off, though he didn't miss it. All he could see were swirls of bubbles and girlish giggles penetrating the water like no human sound could. Rolled over and over, he could hardly put up a fight. Every push and pull only excited the nymphs in their playfulness and did nothing to halt their inadvertent drowning.
Desperate, and with withering lungs he fought harder to escape them. His hand lashed out and caught something. It went taught and resisted but quickly gave way. Ian didn't know how, but he caught a glimpse of what it was he'd take hold.
A broken bikini top, now broken and twisting away in the current.
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Post by Ninmast on Jun 13, 2012 23:04:35 GMT -5
If the girl noticed the runaway swim top, Ian couldn't tell in all the swirling chaos. His vision was darkening, he was losing control over his ability to hold his breath. Any moment now, the air would burst from his lungs as his body betrayed him in its desperation for oxygen, only to suck in nothing but water.
Something grabbed his wrist and suddenly, he broke to the surface, wonderful, beloved oxygen returning to his lungs as he gulped it down as if it were the most precious manna.
The girls surfaced soon after, intent on playing more, but they stopped short, freezing in their tracks as if suddenly afraid. If Ian's mind could focus long enough, he'd notice the bikini top had apparently belonged to a girl with a beach's complexion and ocean blue hair, though that seemed to be the absolute last thing on her mind at the moment.
If Ian noticed that it was not him that had them afraid, but something standing behind him, something still holding his wrist, and looked back to see what it was, he would see a young man about his same age in an unmarked Japanese uniform. The boy had dark red hair that was in a semi-spiked disarray and had his left hand stuck into his pocket. The water was up to the middle of his lower legs where he was standing, but he ignored it. His right hand was firmly closed around Ian's wrist and his gaze was set on the nymph girls.
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Jun 13, 2012 23:29:20 GMT -5
Ian coughed and sputtered, blinking to get the water out of his eyes. Nearly drowned he was breathing heavily, but summoned the spare air to shout "Time out!" once at the nymphs. Even the now bare-chested one with hair bluer than Ayako's. Wether they knew it or not, they'd nearly killed him; an upsetting thing, but Ian didn't have the strength to stay mad for more than a moment. He weakly repeated, "Time out..." and coughed again.
He looked up to the suave guy who'd come out of nowhere to saved him. The nymphs seemed paralyzed by the sight of him, as if he could at any moment pull put a gun and start shooting. This guy, whoever he was, seemed a little more level headed than that. Remarably calm, actually.
"Thanks, dude," Ian managed to say as he got to his feet to address the still stunned nymphs. "Okay, look, what just happened was SO uncool. I can't breath under... um..." He had to stop to address Ms. Ocean Blue. "Um... Sorry, but could you..."
Ian pulled a nervous half-grin and pointed to his own chest to bring the nymph's attention to her's. He did so with his free hand, and realized the wrist of his other hand was still in Mr. Suave's kung-fu grip. "Hey," Ian said to him. "It's all good. You can let go."
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Post by Ninmast on Jun 13, 2012 23:50:44 GMT -5
"Tch, idiot," the boy scolded Ian. The nymphs were staying put and not responding to Ian for fear of triggering whatever wrath they expected from the newcomer. "What in the world does she see in you?"
He didn't explain that, however, and simply slipped something into Ian's palm, some sort of hemp rope or vine. "Here, just hold this."
When Ian's hand closed firmly about the cord, the young man released his grip on the human's wrist, and the next moment, like some sort of bungee cord that had until that moment been stretched taut, Ian was yanked back under the water, but only briefly this time, as he just as promptly came back out the other side, flying into the air and springing right into Hanako's arms as she caught him, the vine apparently belonging to her.
Ayako was standing nearby, as well. "Well, that was fortunate. You wandered into a nymph spring. I had Hanako fish around for you in hopes you'd grab the vine, then pull you back out when she felt you grab on."
... Did that mean they didn't know about the boy who had assisted him?
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Aug 5, 2012 17:46:11 GMT -5
Ian coughed and cleared his eyes. He thought he'd landed in the arms of his sensei at first but both he and his rescuer blushed when the boy realized where he'd landed. Into the arms and cleavage of Hanako. The plant girl, it seemed, was just as strong and well endowed as her mother. If not more so. However, Ian was more shocked to see her blossom had somehow relocated it's self to the water's edge with Ayako in toe, or perhaps root.
"W-where's the other guy?" Ian had gingerly but quickly removed himself from Hanako, who promptly hunkered down behind her pedals and shivered from the smell of wet boy. Ian searched but could find him, that suave stranger who'd made that cutting remark. "Ah no, he's still on the other side! The nymph must have him!" He was worrying, but suddenly not so much when he recalled the reverence the nymphs seemed to show him.
He saw his sensei's look. "He wasn't with you?"
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 5, 2012 18:19:20 GMT -5
"What other guy?" Ayako asked, crossing her arms and adjusting her glasses. "To my knowledge - which, I shouldn't have to remind you, Ian, is considerable - you are the only male on the property."
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Aug 5, 2012 20:22:13 GMT -5
"I know I saw this guy," Ian insisted. "He had Hanako's vine, he put it in my hand, and he made those nymphs stop in their tracks. They couldn't have been more surprised if he came in with a gun, but..." Ian glanced back at the deceptive waters of the spring and saw how the statue, of "mother" was still there at the center. Smiling. Beckoning.
"Why is this even here?" Ian exhaled, still dripping wet. "I know, like you said," he admitted, nodding. "There are worse tenants than you around here sensei. I don't know who this guy was, but he seemed to know me."
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 11, 2012 0:28:10 GMT -5
But Ayako's tone was stern, keeping the boy on task. "What did he look like, Ian? If you saw this other boy, what did he look like?"
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Aug 14, 2012 22:51:46 GMT -5
"Same age as me, maybe," Ian told her. "He looked like he might use blood for hair gel. And wore a school uniform, too, but I don't know which school he could have been from."
Recalling no greater detail, Ian insisted, "I'm telling you, I never would have made it out alive if he hadn't show up." He glanced to where Hanako had seemingly replanted herself. "Not that I don't appreciate your help, too."
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Post by Ninmast on Aug 14, 2012 23:59:10 GMT -5
Hanako nodded meekly at his expression of gratitude.
Meanwhile, Ayako's expression was much darker, much more serious. This news didn't please her. "I see. Well, we'll look into it." She strove to change the subject. "The princess wanted you to meet her in town today. You should head on in. You wouldn't want to keep her waiting."
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Alex-065
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Post by Alex-065 on Aug 16, 2012 0:31:42 GMT -5
Ayako was right, as usual. Sonra may have had much more patience with Ian that she did, but he knew he’d be better off not testing her. Because of the simple fact, he realized, that even as powerful and terrible as Ayako had appeared in her true form, the Princess was more so. Or perhaps at least she would be, someday, if her mother and grandmother were any indication.
Ian bowed to his sensei, smiled sheepishly once more to Hanako, and then departed. This time he was on what proved to be the true return path to the estate, which he reached with no more trouble.
Trouble, however, was already waiting for him on the back doorstep.
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