Party at Five Chapter 1

[RedUmbrella]

Ah, you're still reading?! *boggles* Okay, I forgot to put up any warnings... there are none, really. You may find a little coarse language, but nothing worse than what you would find on TV.

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Chapter 1

Stealthily trudging through the rear aluminum doors behind her house, Mizugame tiptoed over the threshold and beyond the kitchen, avoiding any confrontation with the parental units or siblings, heading directly down the stairs to her bedroom located in a far corner in the basement. A peaceful sanctuary all of her own, tucked in the land dark, gloom, and the smells of fabric softener and laundry detergent from the laundry room is where her parents had decided to place her after numerous sleep walking incidences which caused a great deal of embarrassment for the family. As the young girl reached the top of the stairs, a sudden ?ahem? sounded not too far behind her.

?And where have you been young lady?? Her father, it appeared, has ruined the covert ops mission.

She stood up, straight, and waited? not even bothering to dignify the rhetorical question.

?Do you know what time it is?!
? It?s after dinner!
?You missed dinner!
?Mom was so upset.
?And what happened to your clothes?
?Did you get into another fight?
?That?s what you get for dying your hair green. I knew we shouldn?t have let you do that but your mother insisted on letting you make your own mistakes. Oh, you are going to get it. I think you?re due for two weeks without leaving your room??

He paced around the kitchen with his arms flailing. His face turned red with frustration with the help of a little vein popping out at the left temple. It appeared his tirade had just begun. He left a pause to catch his breath.

?Aw Da??

?Don?t ?Aw Dad? me. To your room? the older man stoically pointed to the stairs with a stern face, unconcerned whether she was hurt or in need to talk about her troubles, it was to her room, and to her room she went with her head held low and a fits balled to her side.

?Now let that be a lesson young lady. We have rules in this house?? Her father began to give a long winded speech which about rules and responsibility she simply did not need to hear, as she had heard it all too many times. Thankfully, once she had stepped off the bottom step, his voice was no longer heard.

Mizugame idly tossed her back pack onto the floor once she entered her room and flopped herself onto her 15 year old bed. A bed which tided her in good times and bad. That really well worn in kind of bed you couldn?t find in a furniture store.

?What an asshole.? She mumbled while roughly tugging her bloodied shirt off her body and tossing it onto the back pack which was on the floor, as Chin-Chin was poking his head out.

?Mfff mffm fffmmm?

?No peeking.?

Five minutes and a complete change of clothing later, Chin-Chin tore the shirt away and took a deep breath, exposing his face beyond the stuffy back pack. ?You know, there?s a thing called deodorant; maybe you should try it??

?Very funny,? she feigned laughter with a rough ?ha ha?, ?coming from a monkey who?s idea of grooming implies picking bugs out of his fur and eating it.?

They glared at each other for a long, silent, moment and decided to give a few chuckles to lighten the mood which was followed by a collective sigh.

??as I was saying earlier. You know, you?ll be out of this house in no time.? Chin-Chin hopped out and onto her lap. ?Besides, you have more important things to worry about.?

?Yeah.? Mizugame?s eyes fell onto her staff and shook her head. ?Guess I?ll have to take care of that shadow demon, huh??

Not too thrilled by the idea, her teeth ground a nice eardrum breaking sound followed by several sighs and thoughts about doing homework as it were more entertaining than disposing of a 1500 year old demon. However, she figured, her teachers were not to far off the 1500 year old demon idealism? ask any of her fellow students; they?d agree!

?Okay, so what do you know of this thing?? Mizugame pulled Chin-Chin onto her lap and stroked his furry head for the lack of nails to bite.

?Well?? the monkey?s face turned to an ecstatic grin, considering it was difficult to concentrate, ?from what I can tell, this one isn?t too bad to beat if you get him during the day-time. So tomorrow morning would be best.? He smiled as she scratched behind his ear.
?Oh gOd doN?t st-oh-op?. But make sure you arm yourself well and prepare to dodge. He?s quick, but not uh-oh-iii-indestructible. Think of him like a butterfly. Learn his moves, keep yourself alive, and get him while he?s coming at yOoOooou.?

The girl?s hand stopped as she seemed to ponder a moment or so. ?I think I can handle that.? She let her eyes fall onto the monkey who certainly seemed like he could use a cigarette.

?Ew.?

?What?!?

The next morning, a lovely Saturday morning, the sun shone, the birds sang, all was good, safe for Mizugame?s hand was curled around the handle of a coffee mug and massive black rings circled below her eyes.

?Now where did you say I?d find this thing??

She climbed rather clumsily over rocks while scaling a hill covered in stones of all shapes and sizes, particularly sharp, and a pain to climb.

Chin-Chin ignored her whining for the most-part as he held onto the back pack while rolling his eyes and feeling the need to pull out an entire roll of duct tape. It would be the only thing to make her be quiet, and this he was sure of.

?As I said three times, over the hill and there?s a grove at the far-east. Shadow demons tend to stay in SHADOWS for the love of Pete. Do you listen to me or just pretend??

Had the mini-monkey been within arm?s reach; he would have experience the long ride down the hill, solo, on his rear-end. Mizugame seethed with early morning sluggishness. ?Look, its not even 7 AM. Give me a break okay? There are tons of shadows around here; this is a tree and bush area. For all I know; the thing is hiding under that shrub!?

As if by command, near the crest of the hill, the shadow demon waited in a dark area nearby. It stood patiently and silently as it watched the young woman spit insults to her living stuffed animal. Dark smoke emanated and swirled calmly around the trees, leaves, and over-grown roots within the demon?s ?personal space? as its eyes fixated onto every of the girl?s muscles that moved.

?Don?t MAKE me use this wand on YOU!? she voiced while getting set to remove the back pack and fling it toward the rocky bottom, however before the second shoulder strap was off, the demon?s patience was ill-contained and ?leaking? every where.

Chin-Chin pointed to the trees which, granted, would normally be dark, but at the moment, was pure black. ?I?m thinking the demon is right over there.?

?To sound cliché…” she began to remove the back pack slowly and reach into the mystical nowhere where her wand would happen to be, ?no shit Sherlock.?

The wand?s energy vibrated with her heartbeat as she wrapped her fingers around it, the wooden, excessively long, and lacrosse stick shaped staff glowed happily, looking forward to breakfast.

?Remember DODGE!!? Chin-Chin shouted, while hopping about, to the long-gone girl as she dashed Brave heart-like into battle.
Within a few strafes and swoops, Mizugame shouted an omnipotent ?AKURYO TAISAN!!? (Demon be gone), within and handful of heartbeats, the hollow of the wand literally sucked the shadow demon into its hollow like a chunk of strawberry milkshake through a straw, and not emerging on the other side.

Flickers of light and energy spattered around the hollow and died out nearly as quickly as the demon?s lack of existence. The wand reverberated with satisfaction, as Mizugame placed a hand onto her hip and grinned in a most cocky way. The smile remained however her strength did not. Her ankles gave out first, knees to follow, and she landed with a smack onto the forest bed which was crawling with various insects.

?Chin-Chin!? the girl shouted as loud as she could while simpering in a heap of helplessness on the ground.

She sobbed painfully, hating every second her body refused to obey her desire to stand, and maybe go back to bed. No, every ounce of her energy was being spilled into the wand, which was sucking it up like an alcoholic at a free bar.

The monkey dashed quickly, shaking up dirt and gravel to get over to the girl, and protectively kicked the staff from her finger tips. He crouched low by her head, hoping she?d remain conscious.

?Sorry?? he whispered as her eyes flickered shut and she had succumbed to the fatigue aching at her soul.

Various rays of light blinding Mizugame?s aquamarine eyes made her blink a few times as she attempted poorly to familiarize herself with the ants crawling comfortably on her nose. Her last memory being with a large and smoky shadow demon, the temporary and partial paralysis of her body wasn?t quite fitting in with the big picture.

Blowing upward, managing only to disturb a few hairs away instead of a small ant colony, the girl wrinkled her nose uncomfortably while scanning the area for a pair of purple-ish boots she has fashioned for Chin-Chin a few days ago. The boots weren?t quite found, but a slashing tail wasn?t out of her hand?s grasp? so she grabbed it, roughly to which the monkey yipped loudly.

?Nice to see you too? he drawled sarcastically while nursing his tail a little ?too? passionately.

?What happened here?? With little sense of humor, Mizugame glared with the fire of hell at an angle which could be considered inhuman, it made Chin-Chin?s fur bristle uncomfortably.

?Why?. What would make you say that?? he replied rather innocently, whistling and kicking a random stone.

Earning a grumble or more like a mini earthquake, he chuckled lightly while plucking the ants off Mizugame?s nose and tossing them into his mouth.

?Mizu-chan, I don?t think I?ve been completely honest with you?, he began; feeling a little glad the girl was pretty much immobile. ?You weren?t chosen randomly amongst other girls your age, to start.
?You see. I?ve been dispatched by an alternate dimension, that part is true. The part about the demons finding the portal into this dimension is also true. I was put here to find you a few weeks ago, it was of no accident and I wasn?t looking for any volunteer.?

Chin-Chin sat onto the dirt, and appeared somewhat depressed.

?Before I was transferred here, your part was played by a girl who looked just like you, acted like you, thought like you, heck, I would think you were her? but you?re not. She was killed by a demon that was too strong for her? and I don?t mean physically.?

He played with the sand between his fingers and sighed heavily.

?You may not remember but you just did a battle with your third demon, this time it was the shadow demon, as you most likely recall that. You are in partial paralysis, which is a little normal. It goes along with WHY you are special. You can survive it. Most girls cannot. The paralysis goes down right to the core.?

Mizugame quirked an eyebrow, ?you are making NO sense.?

?Sorry.? The monkey fidgeted nervously with his ears and tugged sub-consciously at them. ?I?ll try to be more specific.?

?You see, you were chosen because? well? the energy the demons emit when absorbed also is inflicted onto you, the wand really doesn?t know when to stop, and we?ve been doing a lot of studying. We figured my girl, Aquarius, could take it. She?s strong, I mean, really strong, and the wand absorbed her energy but she seemed like her?s was limitless. Weak demons didn?t affect her and she could absorb them like no one?s business, kinda like you. You handled the shadow demon like a pro.

?But there?s more to it than just that? I don?t know how many demons have escaped over here, and I had hoped there wasn?t many. I was quite nonchalant about the whole ?demon smiting? ordeal because frankly I didn?t see much urgency since you handled the first two without any issues, and the wand seemed just fine. This last one, the shadow demon fight, made you pass out and I was genuinely afraid.

?I should have told you to expect the energy to be sucked out of you. The wand is actually a living entity and thirsts in the same respect that a spider is a predator; it will eat so long it?s being fed? even if endlessly. The wand responds with the demon, basically it knows it is bringing in a heavy demon; it?ll suck harder, and your energy will most likely go along with it.

?You were chosen, not only because you are a mirror version of Aquarius, but you have a LOT of energy to give, even if you don?t realize it. I was told to find you, and find you I did. I knew Aquarius well, let me just say the job wasn?t hard. I know you?re probably thinking that letting go of the wand will help, but it doesn?t. You?ve summoned the power, basically awakening the wand, and it really doesn?t stop until you stop it? which I have no idea how. I think she knew how, but it was really too late to test the theory once she was faced with Chiron, the demon that killed her.?

He took the moment to pause, and look towards the sun, hoping the brightness would be the right excuse for his eyes to water.

?As I said when we first met, you don?t need to find the demons; they?ll find you where ever you are. I don?t know why, but they hate you like hell?s angels hate God.?

The air seemed to get more and more dense as the monkey stood and pretended like nothing really had happened. He didn?t lie, oh no? he gave a lesser elaboration of the truth. As far as Mizugame was concerned, she had assumed he was some magical being from another world to bestow funky magical powers to the girl and she?d turn into a real-life Sailor Moon. Sure, she knew there?d be dangers but nothing to the extent of even dying. Mizugame was still young, only seventeen and in high school. She had never kissed a boy, and never bothered with dating; she figured she had a lot of time to go through with that. Death was a big deal, regardless of the bargain basement price she put onto her existence. The girl didn?t want to die when there was so much to live for!

With a snort, she shot the only retort her brain could put out ?I bet your name isn?t even Chin-Chin.?

?Actually it isn?t.? The monkey said while flashing a harmless peace sign. ?My name?s Samuel.?

He looked down to her with a smug grin, there would be no way for her to know if he was still in ?lying mode? or not, ?Don?t look so shocked! How was I to know that animals don?t talk here?! ?Chin-Chin? seemed to be the right thing to say at the time considering YOU walked into the room while I was singing to myself. You couldn?t have knocked could you? nooOOoOoOoo?.?

Mizugame chuckled lightly and somehow expected that. How could she trust anything a talking monkey would say? Really, she thought herself daft and in need of therapy or some hard drugs.

?You didn?t choose me because you thought I was cute in a skirt?? She figured she may as well ask considering there wasn?t much else to say as her face was in close quarters with the forest floor.

?No,? the monkey walked away without any facial expression worth mentioning. ?You still look cute in a skirt, but that wasn?t why I came to you.?

?HEY!!? she grasped a fistful of dirt and sloppily tossed it in the air. ?Where do you think you?re going?! You?re my side-kick or something, right? Shouldn?t you stay here with me??

The monkey said nothing and continued walking at a relatively fast pace for something only two feet tall.

?Hey!! HEY!!? the girl?s throat grew hoarse and she slammed her fist repeatedly on the ground. ?Dammit STOP!!?

Chin-Chin halted, dead in his tracks. ?In case you don?t feel it, you?ll be fully ambulant soon, and I want the best head start I can get.?

On the next time of ?Party at Five??

[Chapter 2 on the way... soon... it is already partially written]