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The Disappearance Of The Great Priestess Of Water: A new day dawns on El-Hazard. The scene it dawns over is hardly tranquil, however. A mysterious girl speeds down a river on a water craft. She is searching for someone, and pretty desperately. It is a search destined to fail. A shadowy figure climbs out of the river and onto her rapidly moving boat. She demands that it identifies itself, but it does not reply. Instead, two more figures leap aboard, knocking the girl off of her feet. Finally, she gets a good look at her attackers. Her expression turns from anger to horror, as the invaders are revealed to be Bugrom soldiers! She loses control of the boat, and it quickly capsizes. Elsewhere, in Makoto's home at the Royal Palace of Roshtaria, Nanami Jinnai pays Makoto Mizuhara a visit, to wake him for the day and present him with a delicious homemade breakfast! She marvels at the large amount of junk Makoto has built. Makoto awakens, and Nanami presents him with the breakfast, coyly remarking that the scene makes the two of them look as though they are married. Makoto is made slightly uncomfortable by this, but accepts the breakfast, only to learn that it isn't a gift. It is 30% off, though, just for him. In another home on the palace grounds, Shayla-Shayla and Afura Mann tiredly try to pay attention as a giddy Miz goes on and on about the new piece of jewelry that has been added to her collection: A shiny new wedding ring! Afura tries to distract her momentarily by complementing Miz on her beautiful home. It almost works. Miz changes the subject and starts to chatter about her and Mr. Fujisawa's upcoming honeymoon, instead. While Miz remains off in her own little world, Shayla begins to worry. Miz's successor still hasn't shown herself. Afura cautions her not to worry Miz as Afura doesn't want to spend her break time searching for the girl. Miz suddenly notices that her audience isn't paying attention and confronts them. Reluctantly, the two prepare for the next barrage of secondhand wedded-bliss. In Makoto's room, Makoto warns Nanami away from touching a device that he's been working on. It is an experimental dimensional transporter and it doesn't work properly. Nanami brushes another device away in her panic and it falls to the floor. Makoto reassures her that the new object is harmless. It was found at an excavation and Makoto doesn't know what it is. As if to challenge Makoto's evaluation, the object suddenly shifts, a crystal at its center whirls to point in a direction. As it does so, Nanami notices that Makoto's dimensional transporter has mysteriously activated by itself... At the Fujisawas', Masamichi has finally arrived and he, his wife, and their guests sit down for some tea. Shayla mischievously asks Mr. Fujisawa how married life has been treating him and he nervously responds. Shayla notes that he's no longer referring to Miz formally. After the exchange, Miz finally starts to worry about Miz's successor, a girl named Qawool Towles, who still hasn't shown up. Shayla and Afura desperately attempt to distract Miz from her worry and it works for a time. But as time passes, and Miz grows more and more impatient, the two ask Miz to describe the girl. Miz tells them that she was at the top of her class at the monastery and is the descendant of an unknown tribe. Also, and Miz delights in telling the two this, she is only seventeen, making her the youngest that anyone has ever been raised to the title of Great Priestess. Miz wickedly remarks that now Afura and Shayla are the old maids. Shayla asks about her abilities and Miz tells them that they are flawless. On top of that, she's sweet and charming, the perfect replacement for herself, if Miz does say so herself. A little tired of hearing Miz praise Qawool, Shayla notes that she's awfully late for someone so "perfect." To Shayla's and Afura's horror, Miz jumps on the opportunity to ask them to go and look for her. Quick-thinking Afura barely manages to deflect her attention again and the conversation once again turns to Miz's honeymoon. In an unknown locale, Katsuhiko Jinnai helps to oversee some construction. It seems that the Bugrom have finally found a new home and are building a new hive. Some bungling results in the destruction of a pillar and a wall, just in time for Diva to arrive and remark on the lack of progress. Jinnai assures her that things are well in hand, though they would run a bit more smoothly, if only he had a few more Bugrom workers to help out. A Bugrom interrupts the conversation with a report: A Bugrom patrol attacked a water cruiser earlier. Jinnai excitedly asks what they plundered from it, only to learn that they forgot to do any plundering. Enraged, Jinnai demands that they return to the scene of the crime and come back with some booty. Once there, the Bugrom search party is surprised to see a beam of light flash through the forest alongside the river. It is Makoto, carrying the mysterious object Nanami had knocked to the floor. The beam seems to be becoming brighter, the closer her gets to whatever it is pointing at... Makoto follows the beam to a river, where he finds the girl from the boat clinging to a wooden plank. He sheds his shirt, swims out to her, and starts to pull her to shore. Makoto sets up a campfire to dry the girl's clothes and remarks on how unusual the clothes look. The girl finally awakens to see Makoto watching her with concern. She first wonders where she is, and then bashfully clutches her blanket, which is Makoto's oversized shirt, to herself when she realizes that she doesn't have any clothes on. Makoto explains that he removed her clothes to dry them and she thanks him for that and for saving her life. She introduces herself as Qawool Towles and Makoto introduces himself in return. Makoto asks her how she ended up in the river and Qawool suddenly remembers that she's very late for her meeting. At the Fujisawa home, Miz finally puts her foot down. They can't afford to wait any longer for Qawool. It could put all of her honeymoon plans in jeopardy if they have to wait another day for her to show up. To everyone's consternation, Miz reveals that she's made all kinds of reservations and they all revolve around Qawool's inauguration taking place the day after next. In the woods, Makoto leads Qawool, who is dressed in Makoto's shirt while Makoto carries her still-damp jacket, to Floristica. Qawool humbly apologizes for being a burden. Makoto notices that the artifact he was carrying is still pointing at Qawool. Before he can think about it further, however, the Bugrom search party finally gets up the courage to attack! Qawool, apparently frightened even more than would be reasonable, screams and the artifact in Makoto's hand glows brightly. There is an explosion and when the smoke clears, Qawool is gone, leaving Makoto alone with her jacket. At the Shinonome Diner, Nanami's restaurant, Princess Fatora and Alielle dig in, complementing Nanami effusively on her delicious cooking which appears to be a welcome change from the sumptuous banquets at the palace. Fatora remarks that they'll doubtlessly be visiting quite often, a prospect that doesn't really sit well with Nanami, since it's quite likely that they're far more interested in sampling the cook than they are the food. Alielle seems distracted. Fatora notices and Alielle explains that she's waiting for a sibling to show up. Nanami asks if it's a sister and Alielle informs her that he's actually her little brother. Fatora instantly loses all interest, once she realizes that it's a boy who's coming. Alielle is worried, though for it seems that her brother is very late. At the partly constructed Bugrom hive, a battered Bugrom search party returns to report their failure. Jinnai is enraged to discover that Makoto has what appears to be another secret weapon to use against him. Jinnai decides that he must come up with a counter strategy. Then, Diva appears, and Jinnai asks to have a private word with her. Curious, Diva agrees. Jinnai explains that it is difficult to maintain a Bugrom Empire with so few Bugrom to populate it and so, as delicately as he is able, Jinnai asks Diva to... lay some eggs. Diva stares at Jinnai for several moments, her heart pounding. Finally, she agrees and, to Jinnai's confusion, tells him that she will need his cooperation. Puzzled, Jinnai agrees to pledge his full support. Diva invites Jinnai into her tent, and only then does he start to catch on to what the Bugrom Queen is implying... That evening, a weary, dirty, and very, very hungry Qawool finally arrives outside the Palace. She decides that, before going to meet Miz, it wouldn't hurt to stop for a quick bite to eat. The restaurant she chooses is Nanami's. After a large meal, she thanks Nanami. Nanami notices that Qawool's clothes look a lot like Makoto's. She asks Qawool for payment and the girl is confused by the request. Eventually, Nanami realizes that Qawool doesn't understand that she has to pay for the food. At Makoto's house, Makoto collapses into bed, exhausted by his ordeal. Ura the Armor Cat happens to notice Qawool's jacket and asks Makoto about it. Makoto asks her not to touch it and wonders to himself what became of the unusual girl. Ura notices Makoto blushing, but Makoto shrugs it off as just being the result of worry. At the Shinonome Diner, Qawool, very embarrassed by her misunderstanding, apologizes as she cleans dishes to pay off her tab. Nanami isn't really angry, but that doesn't mean that she's going to let her get away with a free meal. Miz and Mr. Fujisawa walk in then, along with Shayla and Afura. They've decided to grab a bite to eat before continuing the search for Qawool. Miz is in a bad mood and her gaze is drilling a hole in the floor. It is unfortunate that her gaze wasn't directed at their waitress, instead, or she would have recognized the very girl they were searching for. Qawool takes their order and Miz becomes more and more irate. Finally, she looks up at the waitress to give her own order and the two of them each instantly recognize the other. Fast asleep, Makoto dreams. The one he dreams about is none other than Ifurita, the lost love of his life and whose rescue is the focus of all of his experimentation. In his dream, he runs toward her, only to watch her become engulfed by darkness. She cries out to him and begs him to hurry, but it is no use. The darkness closes in, takes the form of first a strange pattern and then an old man. Makoto awakens to find that Ifurita's staff has fallen to the floor. The ancient artifact is glowing again, as is his dimensional transporter. Qawool's jacket appears to be blowing in the wind, even though there isn't any and the clasp on the jacket's collar matches the strange pattern in Makoto's dream. Makoto wonders what it all could mean... In the Royal palace late that night, Fatora searches high and low for Alielle. Finally, she finds her, fast asleep in a bed. Intent on some sweet, sweet, lovin', Fatora crawls in next to her, and begins to feel her up. As she reaches between Alielle's legs, however, she finds some equipment that definitely should not be there. Fatora's scream echoes throughout the palace... The Door To The Future Opens: Fatora's late night romp takes her into the bed of Alielle. To her horror, while feeling up the person she finds there, her wandering hand happens across an organ that simply should not be there... Fatora watches in horror as the person in the bed sits up. It certainly looks like Alielle, but there's no denying the evidence her hand found. Fatora's confusion grows further when a second figure picks herself up from a cot to the side of the bed. A figure who also bears a strong resemblance to Alielle. While Fatora stands in shock, wondering if there's some kind of sorcery afoot, Rune Venus and a pair of guards enter the room, drawn by the commotion. She addresses Alielle and the one on the floor answers. The figure on the bed, though, immediately rushes up to Rune, complementing her on how beautiful she is. This immediately earns Alielle's wrath. She whaps her clone on the head and demands that he introduce himself properly. Chastised, the boy introduces himself as Parnasse Ralielle, Alielle's younger brother. With that out of the way, he quickly attempts to hit on the elder princess again and again earns a chunk of Alielle's wrath. Fatora then demands to know what Alielle's brother was doing in Alielle's bed and Parnasse takes the opportunity to gratefully thank Fatora for the... erm... "royal favor" she bestowed upon him only moments before. Fatora is horrified, disgusted, and all she can think about is how... squishy it was. Parnasse takes advantage of her inattention to glomp onto her, and once again receives retribution from Alielle. Annoyed, the two siblings grab Fatora in a tug of war, each staking a claim on her and eventually sending them all to the floor in a tangled pile. Rune Venus, for her part, merely bemoans her troubled fate. In a bedroom of the palace, Qawool awakens to a brand new day, grateful in knowing that she finally made it to her destination. Miz walks in to rouse her and teasingly informs her that she slept until noon. Qawool is briefly worried that she is in trouble, but Miz reassures her otherwise. Meanwhile, Mr. Fujisawa arrives and presents the girl with her breakfast. Still slightly embarrassed, Qawool asks if Mis has heard any news of Qawool's lost attendant, a boy named Parnasse. Miz tells her that there's been no word and that no one had even been aware that Qawool hadn't been traveling alone. While still troubled at the fate of Parnasse, Qawool notices a picture of Mr. Fujisawa standing with a number of young men. At her query, Mr. Fujisawa explains to her that it is a picture of he and his class during a camping trip. Qawool recognizes one of the boys as Makoto, surprising the other two with the fact that she knows him at all. At Makoto's lab, Makoto explains the strange reaction that occurred between his dimensional transporter and the artifact to Dr. Schtalubaugh. He also admits that the dimensional transporter malfunctioned during an experiment a few days before, blowing a hole in the roof. Fortunately, Ura saved him from harm, but she had become rather wary of Makoto's experiments from that point on... Skulking around outside Makoto's house, Shayla tries to gather up the courage to ask Makoto to lunch. Her plans are foiled, however, when she notices Nanami walking cheerfully toward his house with a bouquet of flowers and a picnic basket. Obviously, something would need to be done and quickly. She confronts her, and the two begin to argue. When the conversation begins to reach topics close to the heart, however, Shayla backs off and Nanami accuses her of backing out before getting to the important parts. Shayla, in turn, challenges Nanami's claim that she's simply providing food for a friend. The argument starts anew and almost comes to blows, when Nanami is distracted... by Qawool entering Makoto's house! A truce is immediately formed and the two combatants move in to get a better look. Inside the house, Qawool bashfully returns Makoto's shirt, and apologizes for the trouble she caused him. Makoto assures her that it was no trouble at all and Qawool seems to be quite taken with his friendly manner. Makoto then mentions her clothes and, after a brief misunderstanding, explains that he was intrigued by the crest on her jacket. Qawool explains that it is the crest of her family and has been handed down for generations. Makoto then goes on to mention that a dream has led him to believe that there might be a connection between the artifact and the crest on Qawool's clothes. He hands the artifact to her and Qawool examines it curiously. In Qawool's hands, the crystal suddenly starts to spin. It flashes, startling Qawool and causing her to grab Makoto in fear. And this, of course, is exactly the moment that Shayla and Nanami barge in. Certain that Qawool and Makoto are up to something, they immediately confront Makoto. Makoto denies that he was doing anything, but, with Qawool still wrapped around his arm, the two are unconvinced. The discovery of Qawool's jacket hanging on the wall is further evidence of his foul treachery. As the two attempt to strangle Makoto, Qawool begs them to stop. The other two snap at her to butt out and Nanami throws her bouquet at her. Then, a tiny bee lands on one of the flowers in the bouquet... Qawool notices it and in much the same way that she had when the Bugrom appeared the day before, flies into a total panic. She throws the bouquet away and tackles the other three, knocking them to the floor. The artifact, for its part, begins to glow brightly again and Shayla and Nanami stare at it in wonder. Then, their attention is drawn back to Qawool, who has again glomped onto Makoto in fear. Thus it all begins anew... Later on, Shayla speaks with Miz and Afura, telling them that she doesn't approve of Qawool. The other two take this in stride and inform her that her approval is not needed; Qawool has already been selected to be the next Great Priestess of Water and Shayla's feelings on the matter will not change that. Shayla insists that she will not be able to work with her and the two ask why. Shayla, grasping for a reason, mentions that Qawool hates bugs. The two are not impressed and Miz even mentions that a dislike of bugs is a common and natural thing. In spite of the fact that her argument has flopped miserably, the topic of bugs has given Shayla an idea... On a balcony of the palace, Makoto learns from Qawool that she is going to be the next Great Priestess of Water, though she does not hold the position yet. The ceremony is going to take place the next day, something that should make Miz quite happy. Qawool confesses that she is uncertain if she is deserving of the position, though. Makoto reassures her that she'll do fine and Qawool's spirits are greatly lifted. Then, Parnasse and Alielle enter the scene. Parnasse is eager to see Qawool again, but Alielle knocks him aside to get a better look at the cute young Priestess. She asks Parnasse to introduce her, only to find that she's knocked him out cold. Qawool, mistaking Alielle for Parnasse, embraces her, much to Alielle's delight. Parnasse comes to and is indignant, both at his own treatment and at Alielle's closeness to Qawool. All this is forgotten, though, when he lays eyes on Makoto. Mistaking him for Fatora, he immediately glomps onto him. Afura comes upon the scene and is rather bewildered by it. Nevertheless, she sternly informs the Qawool that the current Great Priestesses would like to have a word with her. Inside, Qawool stands before a smug Shayla, and a serene Miz and Afura and asks what they wish of her. Miz makes a subtle signal and a Bugrom suddenly attacks Qawool! Only, it's not a Bugrom. It's just Mr. Fujisawa in a cheesy Bugrom outfit. And he's not really attacking, so much as looming over her making vague, Bugrom-esque sorts of noises and pretending to claw at her. Qawool stares back at Mr. Fujisawa and finally greets him. Mr. Fujisawa sheepishly greets her in return. Miz and Afura are as unimpressed as Qawool and patronizingly chide Shayla for the unnecessary experiment. Shayla is livid and insists that it just wasn't realistic enough. Miz and Afura will have none of it, though. Eventually, Shayla confronts Qawool directly and tells her that she doesn't trust her. Then a grasshopper lands on Shayla's shoulder... Qawool screams and panics, grabbing Shayla and throwing her into a wall. Miz and Afura are amazed and dazzled by Qawool's show of strength, and all without the Lamp of Water, too! Shayla's attempt to show Qawool's weakness has only convinced them of her strength. And they didn't even have the compassion to check if Shayla was okay after hitting the wall. Shayla continues to rant about how she doesn't think that Qawool is Priestess material and shouldn't be given the position. She probably would have gone on ranting if Miz hadn't slapped her across the face. Miz proceeds to scold her sternly. The real blow, though, comes from Makoto, who also scolds her. Dismayed that Makoto would take their side against her, Shayla runs from the room, eyes beginning to flood with tears. Qawool asks if they should go after her, but Miz and Afura assure her that she'll be fine the next day. Nanami, watching from the hallway, feels a little more compassion for the Fire Priestess. The next day, before the sun has risen, Qawool's ceremony is about to begin. Everyone is in attendance... except for Shayla. Afura and Miz are disgusted by her childishness, but no one moves to stop the ceremony. Finally, Qawool makes her appearance, rising out of the floor through a glowing rectangle of light. With Dr. Schtalubaugh presiding, the ceremony to elevate Qawool to the position of Great Priestess of Water begins. At Makoto's house, Jinnai and Groucho / Katsuo, his favorite Bugrom, are on a mission to retrieve the artifact that apparently defeated them when they tried to capture Qawool, now knowing that Makoto has carried that object with him to the ceremony. Someone approaches and the two hide. At the ceremony, Dr. Schtalubaugh asks Miz to present the Lamp of Water. In a very sullen and grouchy mood, Shayla waltzes into Makoto's house and plops down on his bed. She's annoyed that they decided to proceed with Qawool's ceremony in spite of Shayla's misgivings about Qawool and tosses Ifurita's Power Key Staff across the room in a fit of pique. Shayla folds her arms across Makoto's dimensional transporter, which, to her surprise, begins to glow as do the orbs on Ifurita's staff. At the ceremony, Miz passes the Lamp of Water on to Qawool, slipping the ring onto her finger. Shayla stares into the glowing dimensional transporter and shadows on its surface swirl into a pattern resembling a crude, bug-eyed face. The face speaks, introducing itself as the Ruler of the Universe and congratulates Shayla for summoning him. Shayla insists that she did not call him and he addresses her by name. At her shock at being named, the face reminds her that it is the Ruler of the Universe and knows all and sees all. At the ceremony, Dr. Schtalubaugh begins the final stage of the event by informing Qawool that she has been recognized as the next Great Priestess of Water. All she must do now, is use her power to complete the ceremony. Utilizing the water within the large pool in the audience hall, Qawool summons an enormous waterspout. The dimensional transporter glows brighter and Shayla wonders aloud what the Hell is going on. The face assures her that Hell is not the right term. She is witnessing the holy light that will encompass their world. The face fades from view, and the light glows even brighter. Jinnai, for his part, is now convinced that he can take control of the dimensional transporter and use it to conquer El-Hazard. At the same time, Qawool begins to emit a bright light, as does the artifact in Makoto's hands. A rapidly expanding sphere of light grows from Qawool, enveloping everyone and everything. Then, the light fades into darkness... |
