"Move those arms!" Dagget roared in his loud voice as he waved his long, curved sword in the air like a banner. Below him, his loyal bandits were busy hacking wooden poles, flipping through the air, or running along a large circular track.
Looking down at his minions, Dagget laughed hoarsely. "Step lively, boys! We're going to show them what it means to offend the mighty," Dagget struck his heroic pose as seven trumpeters quickly blew their trumpets in the background, "Dagger Bandits!"
Down in the training field, the bandits all looked up with exasperation at their leader. A short, stout man whispered to his large, muscle clad companion, "The boss is at it again."
"Uh?" The large man asked at they both stared up at their leader who's still posing. The trumpeters behind him tightly shut their eyes; their faces bright red in their efforts to keep the note as long as possible in the air. Many of them looked ready to explode any second now.
"Thought boss normal." He grunted out. Still looked at leader of the bandits, he added, "Horns sound nice though."
High up in his chair, the recently self-crowned bandit King Dagget finally moved. Behind him, the trumpeters all collapsed, gasping for air like seven fishes out of water. Their instruments hit in the floor with loud clinks and clanks, forgotten.
Oblivious to the fact that his subjects had all stopped moving and was staring unbelievingly at him, Bandit continued to roar out, "Keep up the good work boys! At the rate I'm training you, we'll be able to beat those two miserable, nosy kids in a few days." Pausing to strike another pose, he continued, "We'll going to give them the beating they deserve!!" The trumpeters, still exhausted from the King's last speech, struggled to lift themselves up. It was futile, however. Most of them fainted from overexertion; the rest was already in a deep coma.
Dagger's right eyebrow started to twitch as he waited and waited for his trumpeters to start blowing. Finally, he could wait no longer. Opening his eyes, he turned away to stare at the unconscious musicians behind him for a long moment before roaring out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING ASLEEP!?" Shaking the trumpeters, one after the other, Dagget attempted to wake up the weary musicians. "I've paid for you all to work for me until the end of the month!" Dagget cried out as he shook them. Now furious at his trumpeters, Dagget roared a howl of frustration that scared off all the animals for several miles around the fortress, "WAKE Uuuu... !"
"Uncle!" A voice interrupted from outside the fortress getting louder and louder as the seconds ticked away. "Uncle Herbert!"
"Uh?" Puzzled, Dagget walked over to the front of his fortress and glazed down. A twig-like young man dressed in a brown shirt and pants continued to yell out to his Uncle Herbert.
"What do you want, nephew?" Dagget demanded from the young man even before his nephew reached the front door of the fortress.
The nephew stopped in front of the gate huffing and puffing as he tried to get enough air in to start breathing normally. "Un-uncle," the man gasped out, "Uncle Her-bert, A-Auntie said t-to come home, NOW."
"Missy?" Dagget gasped, his face suddenly very pale. All traces of his pervious outburst were gone from his face, leaving only terror.
"Y-yes. She says you better come this time or she'll have to come get you with an ax." The nephew stood up and looked at his uncle curiously in the face, "Are you alright, uncle? You look a little pale."
Dagget roughly jerked his head up, his arrogance once again shone through his face. "I am King Dagget the Great! The leader of the most fearsome band of bandits that ever lived in Zephilia! I'm afraid of nothing! NOTHING, yea hear!!!"
The sheer volume of Dagget's reply sent his nephew tumbling backwards. When the man finally recovered from his fall, he asked wonderingly, "When were you crowned King, Uncle? Why didn't you send word to Auntie, Uncle? She's going to get mad at you again, Uncle. Say, uncle, who crowned you? Where are your servants, houses, wealth ..."
Dagget's eyebrow twitched with every question his nephew threw at him. The endless string of questions might have never stopped if Dagget hadn't exploded right then and there. "QUIET!!!"
Staring wide-eyed in fright, the nephew froze in mid-question when suddenly... "WAAAAAAA!!"
Now it was Dagget's turn to stare wide-eyed in shock at his nephew's shockingly childish behavior. A sweat drop appeared on the side of Dagget's head. He waved his arms and pleaded with his nephew to stop crying. However, his pleadings only seemed to make his nephew cry harder and louder.
"WAAAAA!!" The endless wailing echoed throughout the forest. The animals living in the forest all quickly packed up and left to escape the horrible sound. The bandits, like the animals, started to run. However, unlike the forest animals who at least have some sense of direction, the bandits ran around in circles within the fortress wondering why they haven't escaped the continuous sound yet.
Finally, it occurred to them that if they cannot run the sound, they can hide from it. Unfortunately, this thought occurred to all of them at the same time. Suddenly, the mad scramble to get away from the sound turned into a mad scramble to get the blankets, hay, and other things that would provide some protection from the sound before their fellow brothers take them. The search quickly degraded to an all out war.
A bandit, hiding underneath some blankets, lost them to a short guy who ran away with his prize with a crooked grin on his face. A large burly man later ambushed the short guy as he ran toward a shaggy, run-down hut. Another bandit did a double spin in the air before diving neatly into a large pile of hay. Of course, this would have worked if someone hadn't stole the hay while he was flipping in the air. Yet another victim, clutching two earplugs tightly to his chest, ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Behind the unfortunate man was a group of bandits of assorted sizes and levels of intelligence all eager and ready to beat up anyone standing in the way of the prize.
Dagget turned his head back and forth between his bandits and his nephew. After a few minutes of doing this however, he was getting a HUGE headache and VERY annoyed. He shouted and roared, "QUIET, YEA HEARS!? QUIET!!" as he jumped up and down in frustration.
Unable to yell above the sounds of fighting below him and his nephew's unceasing cries, Dagget grabbed the nearest item on hand - a chair - and threw it at his nephew.
With some seventh instinct, the nephew took a step to the right - still wailing loudly - as the chair clashed onto the spot he was previously kneeing on with a resounding thump. Pieces of the chair broken off during the impact with the ground flew wildly in all directions. Another chair fell and again the nephew moved out of way. A table flew out followed by a lamp, a box, a chair, a pole, a ...
Yet each time Dagget threw something, his nephew would move out of the way before the item crashed onto the ground. Howling, Dagget screamed, "WILL YOU HOLD STILL!?" as he threw his sword at his nephew who avoided it - again. Running into the nearest building in his fortress, Dagget brought out more items to throw at howling nephew.
All around him, his bandits continued to ambush, fight, and steal from each other. The trumpeters, however, still lay on the ground with no clue as to what's taking place around them.
At about three feet away from the thundering fortress, a talking bush was waving its branches madly. Uh, that is the two figures hiding in the bush were arguing causing the bush to look like its waving its branches and sounding like a talking bush.
"Must me hide in such a ridiculous bush? This is so stupid! We should pretend to be ... to be a oak tree or something, not a bush!" One of the shadowy figures said crossly to her companion.
"Why? Is there is difference?" The companion said in a resigned tone of voice.
"Of course, only bandits and other bad guys pretend to be a bush when trying to spy on someone unnoticed!" The first person protested. "And we aren't bad guys." The person paused before continuing speculatively, "At least, I'm not a bad guy. I don't know if you're a bad guy though."
"Why me?" The second person mouthed silently in prayer. Signing she snapped irritably, "Do you want to do this?" Watching her companion's eyes lit up in anticipation, the second person quickly added, "NO!"
Sulkling, the second person angrily muttered, "I don't see why we must wait. They're finally all gathered in that pile of wood and run-down shacks that they call a fortress. So why aren't we trashing them? How long must we wait here? It's past lunchtime! I'm STARVING!!!"
A soft sign escaped Amy's lips, as she explained patiently, "We want them to think they can beat us. It's much more satisfying that way." Seeing Lina's attention was starting to wonder from her boring speech, Amy quickly got to the point, "Besides, what's the point of scaring off terrified humans? We want to scare away bandits, Lina, not spineless idiots." Looking at the chaos within and outside the fortress, Amy added in a conspiring whisper, "Now be quiet. We don't want them to know we're here so soon."
Lina glared at her companion unable to think of a good retort. "Well, I still think we should have moved in now. They're so busy fighting that they won't know what hit them. I'll win before they stop serving lunch at the restaurant. It's the perfect time to strike!" Lina complained. However, the two of them continued to watch the drama unfolding before them.
Silence. There was nothing but blessed silence. It hung sweetly in the air. Undisturbed. Untouched. A prefect, peaceful silence that hasn't been heard since Lina had first come into the forest to cause destruction - uh, I mean to practice her magic.
"Can we attack them now? I'm sooooo HUNGRY!"
"Will you be quiet?" Amy muttered irritably. Glancing suspiciously around for any intruders, she said in a soft whisper, "Do you want to give them our position, Lina? Lina?" Amy searched around wildly for her companion. She gasped in fright when she finally spotted the undersized sorceress walking boldly toward the fortress without the cover of a bush. "What are you doing!?" Amy cried out forgetting the need to be quiet in her haste to run over to Lina.
However, she miscalculated and fell face down into the bush with a startled yell. Lina paused to turn to look at her fallen companion. "Come on, Amy!" Lina said cheerfully as she beckoned Amy to follow her.
Crawling out of the bush on her hands and knees, Amy stood up and brushed off the leaves that clung to her cloak. Crossing her arms, Amy looked at Lina angrily, "What are you doing? I told you to wait!"
"Why wait?" Lina retorted back. She was clearly in a good mood. "We can start now." Noticing Amy was about to say something, Lina quickly cut her off. "We saw what's been happening. They've been quiet for about an hour now. They've had their rest and now is the time to attack."
Amy looked carefully at Lina noting the air of confidence she was radiating. "Well." She said doubtfully. It's certainly not the way I would have done it, Amy thought to herself. "We'll try it your way," Amy decided a split second later.
"Thanks for your permission, O Great Leader," Lina replied sarcastically.
Amy looked sheepish. "Father always said I'm too commanding."
Lina smiled knowingly. "Neesan says the same thing about me." Holding out her hand to Amy, Lina said a broad smile on her face, "Come on, it's time for the bandit to wake up."
FIREBALL!
Dagget and his bandits - plus one nephew - woke up to the sound of an ear-shattering explosion. The front gate of his fortress was incinerated in the bast. The explosion kicked up a large dust storm that made him sneeze while the bright light that came with it painted his vision with blue dots of all sizes for a few minutes. He barely had to think about all of this before yet another explosion occurred.
FIREBALL!
This time the explosion was in the middle of the fortress. Several buildings collapsed du e to the force of impact and the power of a fireball spell. The bandits dragged themselves up trying to get out of the way of the debris. The nephew unable to deal with u n expected situation, he ope ned his mouth to cry. However, not a single note came out; he was still so sore from his crying earlier. Defeated, he fainted on the spot not noticing the two figures walking calmly past him toward what's left of the front gate.
The bandits ran steadily toward the front gate to escape when the dust storm slowly parted. They saw the outlines of two figures framed by the smoking hole that used to be the front gate.
"Going somewhere?" The taller of the two asked. Without waiting for the their reply, the speaker shouted:
FLARE ARROW!
As the flaming arrow approached them, the bandits hurriedly got out of the way. Several of them collided into one another in their haste while rest ran madly about unsure where they should go now that their escape route is blocked.
Lina looked calmly at bandits who were yelling and screaming in fear. "Guess I'm first." Lina said to Amy even as she started her spell.
MEGA BRAND!!
A column of flames swept up the sky. The force of the blast caused the earth within the circle to break up leaving a freshly exploded hole. The bandits, dirt, and debris within the circle, on the other hand, took a one-way trip into the sky. "Mommyyyyyyyyyy!" One of the bandits cried as he boldly went where no bandit has even been before.
"Victory," Lina cried happily as she held up her right hand in the sign of a V.
"Ha!" Amy laughed. "Is that the best that you can do?" Pointed at Dagget who stood next to one of the few remaining buildings within his fortress looking too shocked to move, "Your spell missed the most important target."
"WHAT!?" Lina screamed as she pushed Amy out of the way to stare at Dagget with disbelief. How could she have missed him? He wasn't even hiding!?
Dagget stared wide-eyed back at the two of them. His brain wasn't functioning properly - not that it had ever worked right in the first place. Still, was disconcerting to hear two girls who consistently refer you as "the target."
Amy smiled triumphantly as she continued, her voice raising dramatically with very word, "Now you're see the most frightful spell in the world." Staring menacing at Dagget who cowered in fear under her intense gaze, she shouted, "Dra…."
"HERBERT!"
Amy paused in mid-spell as she turned to look at the intruder. "What do you ..." She stopped as she stared in shock at the large woman with bright red hair and lipstick wearing a white apron over her blue dress. The woman held a rolling pin in her right hand and waving it threateningly at ... at Dagget? Or is it Herbert now? Amy thought with amusement. She let the spell dissipate away and lowered her hands.
"Herbert!"
"Uh, Missy," King Dagget cried out in a small voice. "How are you doing dear?"
"You lousy, no good husband," the wife yelled as she walked toward him. Stopping just a few inches in fro nt o f Dagget she, then processed to curse more and more colorfully.
Dagget cringed at her curses as if each word was a sharp knife stabbing him. His face was deathly pale, and he was sweating like a pig. Through out the tirade, he would utter, "But, but."
Lina and Amy watched this with a large sweat drop on their heads. "Wow, she's good." Lina whispered quietly to Amy.
"Yes," Amy whispered back, "I didn't even know there were so many curses in the human language."
The rest of the bandits have stopped running about. Instead, they watched the scene between their boss and his wife with interest. A few of them, however, looked nervously at the scene. Their brows netted with worry and fear as they remembered their wives. A few seconds later, they quietly slipped away from the fortress and back to their homes to placate their wives before they come searching as well.
After the verbal assault, the wife switched to threatening her husband with her rolling pin. Waving it high over her head, she brought it soundly down on his head. Dagget managed to dodge just in time. The wife got her balance back and raised her arm for a second pass when ...
"Akhum," Amy coughed politely before interrupting the husband and wife reunion. "Excuse me, ma'am. But could you beat him up after I'm though with him?"
The wife looked suspiciously at Amy. Her pin was still hanging in the air.
"It's a very fitting punishment I have planned for your husband." Amy continued.
"Well," the wife considered as the bandit king looked back and forth between the two women wide-eyed, unsure which one he's more afraid of at the moment. "Alright," the wife suddenly decided, "If you're certain it'll be very painful on that miserable lout."
Amy smiled, "I'm a woman of my word, and if you aren't satisfied, you can always beat him up afterwards."
"I intend to," the wife replied as she glared at her husband. Dagget cringed in fear. His eyes were as big as dinner plates, and his short hair stood up like a hedgehog in his fear. "He's got a lot to answer to."
Dagget's eyes started to water as his knee shook violently with fear of his impending doom.
Amy smiled. Raising her hands dramatically into the air, she said, "As I was saying, Lina. Now you're see the most frightful spell in the world!" She muttered something quickly for a few seconds before shouting in a loud, clear voice:
DRAGU SLAVE!!!
The force of the bast left a large, football-sized crater with several dozen over burnt bandits - Dagget included - sitting in it with dazed looks on their faces. The buildings within range of the blast had totally been incinerated.
Amy dusted her hands and turned to the wife, "He'll all yours."
No sooner than those fateful words were said before the wife charged down the crater with her rolling pin in hand. Dagget seeing his doom charging toward him managed to find some strength left to bolt away like a terrified deer with a wolf hot on his heels.
"I'm teach to not come home," the wife screamed as she chased her husband out of the crater and out of the forest. The bandits stared after their fleeing King and newfound Queen. Shouting at the tip of their lungs for their king to come back, they ran after Dagget as well - those that could still move that is.
Amy smiled happily. What a wonderfully day this turning out to be, she thought cheerfully as she turned toward Lina. However, there was someone who's realized just how bad the day was becoming ...
Lina stared unbelievably at what Amy's spell did. She rubbed her eyes again to make sure what she saw was true. It was. The large crater stood silently on the spot where the Dagget's fortress once stood. Only a few houses on the outskirts of the fortress were still standing although the walls were blown away. There was no question in her mind as to who had won the bet.
"How could I have LOST!?" Lina screamed in her frustration. She felt a great urge to do something with her anger, but she wasn't sure what.
"Always be a good loser," Amy said smugly. She glanced at the steaming Lina. The child has quite a temper, she thought with amusement. "Now, Now." She said tisking like an annoying nanny.
Lina grew even angrier at those words.
"Anger should be let out, not penned up." Amy said slyly. "Now, let out those nasty, negative feelings, and you will feel all better." Amy watched as the anger expression on Lina's face turned into seething rage. She smiled with satisfaction. We're going to lots more of these moments over the next seven years or so, Lina, Amy thought slyly to herself. And best part of all of this is that she doesn't even what she's gotten herself into, Amy laughed out loud.
Lina's mind was blank with rage when she suddenly thought of something. A sudden smile touched her lips. She straightened her back and walked cockily toward what remained of the fortress. Stopping a few feet away, Lina raised her hands and repeated Amy's spell:
Darkness from twilight,
Crimson from blood that flows...
Buried in the flow of time...
In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness!
Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess!
DRAGU SLAVE!!"
The power of the Dragu Slave turned the small crater into a steep valley. Lina grinned happily at her handy work. Behind her, she could hear small choking sounds from her companion.
"Well, you certainly learn fast." Amy managed to choke out as she tried to gather her wits about her. Who is this girl? She wondered again. No matter. I can control her, she thought. "I won't guarantee that everyday very will as exciting as this but I'll try my best." Amy grinned - it was just too good a chance to pass up. "I'm a fair master as you will soon find out." Amy added off handily.
"MASTER?" Lina spun quickly to face the grinning Amy.
"'If I win, you're become my apprentice'." Amy quoted. "That's what apprentices do my dear Lina. They obey their master." Amy smiled sweetly. "From now on, you shall refer to me only as Master." Amy said stressing the last word to see Lina's reaction.
The tiny redheaded girl screamed.
"So what you do want me to do, " Lina demanded crossly when she finished yelling and stumping her feet in the unfairness of it all. Her defeat was still fresh on her mind.
Amy only looked at expectedly.
"What do you want?" Lina glared at Amy. Grudgingly, she added in a low tone of voice, "Master."
Amy smiled. That will do - for now. "You can go home."
Lina almost tipped over in surprise. She stared at the still smiling Amy. "But ...But aren't you going to make me do something?"
"No." Amy watched with delight at the look of profound confusion and shock on Lina's face.
Lina struggled with this new situation for a few moments. I thought she was going to make me clean the dishes, serve her meals, or something. Suddenly, she grinned. "Whatever you say, MASTER," Lina replied mockingly. She even did a little bow to complete the effect.
Amy laughed. She's so like him, she thought. As Lina turned to go, Amy added, "I'll come back later to collect your seven years of servitude to me."
She watched with delight as Lina frozen in mid-step. As the redheaded girl slowly turned to face Amy, her face was very pale and filled with apprehension. She really doesn't think I'm going to pass off such a good chance? Amy thought. There aren't that many powerful sorceresses within this barrier.
"Before that happens though, I'll teach you all the spells as I promised. You must, however, " Amy stopped smiled. Grabbing the tiny girl by the front of her cloak, Amy looked seriously down at Lina and said, "You must not tell anyone, ANYONE at all, about our deal, you hear? Believe me. I'll know the minute you so much as breath this to anyone." Amy stared into Lina's widening ruby eyes.
Lina shivered under Amy's intense gaze. Amy suddenly seemed to be more threatening than her neesan. For once in her time, Lina was quiet - almost serene. Wordlessly, she nodded.
At Lina's nod, Amy smiled again. She released Lina onto the ground. Lina landed hard on her bottom mumbling about mistreating little kids. That's the old Lina I know, Amy thought as she laughed out loud. Always complaining about something. "Good. Now I won't have to kill you. Here!" Throwing an old dusty book in Lina's direction, "Try those spells first." With that Amy turned to leave. Turning to take one last look at her new apprentice, she said, "Remember our deal, Lina," over her shoulder before sliding into the blackness that suddenly appeared in front of her.
Lina looked look up wonderingly from the dusty book in her hands. There was no trace of her master except the book and a crater still sitting on the spot where the Dagger Bandits once lived. Master, uh? We'll see about that. Lina thought as her master left without so much as a hint to where she's going and when is she coming back to ...