|
|
|
 |
Dream Open, Paradise In Heaven: Mr. Fujisawa and Miz run frantically down from the mountain peak, desperate to try to learn just where they are. They soon realize that nothing at all is familiar and it doesn't even appear as though there are any people around at all. Nevertheless, Mr. Fujisawa stands firm in his belief that they are at, or near Mountain Lilicoco. He decides that they should climb to the top of another mountain to get their bearings. He takes Miz's hand, takes a step and then plummets screaming down a shear cliff whose edge had been camouflaged by the thick underbrush. As they fall, Miz is irate, especially when Mr. Fujisawa attempts to shrug their imminent doom off as just another aspect of mountain climbing. She calls upon her priestess training to summon a torrent of water to save them and only gets a drizzle. Only then does she remember that she's retired and that the Lamp of Water is now in Qawool's hands. The two pass through some hearty trees growing out of the cliff face and Miz manages to grab hold of a branch. With the other hand bearing the weight of Mr. Fujisawa, it's obvious that she won't last long. Mr. Fujisawa begs her to let go. Her fingers will soon slip if she tries to support them both and the two of them will plummet the rest of the way to the ground below. Miz refuses. She will never let her beloved go! All of this is rather bewildering to Afura Mann, who is suddenly floating in the air next to them. Puzzled, she asks why Miz doesn't just let go. Both are shocked at her callous attitude. But then, Miz's grip slips and Mr. Fujisawa falls! All of the eight feet. A bit sheepish at the fact that the two of them had been making such a fuss over such a short drop, Miz drops down to join her husband. Afura wryly remarks that the two of them were simply made for each other. A little later, Miz and Mr. Fujisawa explain what they saw at the top of the mountain. Afura is aghast; mountains floating in the air? With the ability to fly, Afura decides to investigate the situation personally. Indeed, it is just as the two described. They are all on one of several gigantic, floating landmasses. She reports back and Mr. Fujisawa confidently waits for her to confirm that he and his wife were seeing things and that they were all on a perfectly ordinary mountain. He is thus disappointed when Afura confirms that what they saw is real. Afura takes off once more, this time heavily burdened with Miz and Mr. Fujisawa as passengers. They hope to survey the area and find someplace familiar to set down. Their surveying efforts are impeded by a thick bank of clouds which totally obscures their vision. A misunderstanding occurs when Mr. Fujisawa's grip on Afura slips to an inappropriate location and the ensuing argument causes Afura to spin out of control! On another of the islands, a hardworking farmer wipes his brow after a hard day's work. His quiet contemplation of his terraced fields is interrupted when he hears a crash behind him. It is Afura, Miz, and Mr. Fujisawa, who are sitting in a sizable crater in the soft earth of his field. The farmer reprimands them for digging such a large hole. The three tell their story and the man, whose name is eventually revealed to be Chabil, is surprised to hear that the three fell from the sky. He explains to them that this is his land, though visitors are always welcome. Speaking of visitors, he calls out announcing that they have a few and, to those visitors' shock, Rune Venus answers him! She is delighted to see her friends again. At the hive of the Bugrom-creatures, Jinnai and Groucho / Katsuo continue to stuff their faces, while Jinnai scowls at the dimensional transporter. He is irate that the device refuses to do anything useful or destructive. It won't even show him that weird old man who appeared within it before. He tries many things to get the device to respond: rubbing it, tickling it, hitting it, even talking politely to it, and then, when it doesn't respond, yelling rudely to it. Frustrated, he throws it into the air and it lands in Groucho / Katsuo's hands. The Bugrom dusts it off and suddenly it lights up! The face of the man calling himself the Ruler of the Universe appears once again and he addresses Jinnai as the Ruler of El-Hazard, a title Jinnai is happy to accept. The old man goes on to announce that he intends to make Jinnai the Ruler of the Universe and Jinnai exults. This, he decides, is the reason Makoto had the device: Makoto wanted to be Ruler of the Universe! Well, he missed his chance. Jinnai has the device, now! In the pit full of eggs, Shayla has finally broken out of the sphere she was trapped in and is soaking in the hot-springs-like warm liquid that the eggs are floating in. Hey, why not make the best of a bad situation, she reasons. Finally, though, she stands and fires a blast of fire into a wall, hoping to dig a way out. No good. She loses her temper and begins to fire with abandon. At Chabil's home, Rune Venus is humming a happy tune to herself as she loses herself in the domestic bliss of cooking dinner. The three visitors are pretty much aghast at this and debate amongst themselves whether or not they should ask just what Rune thought she was doing. Afura suggests that they just watch, for now. Chabil arrives home, then, with a basket of very large eggs. Rune Venus is overjoyed, and starts cooking them immediately. The topic of the three visitors' gossip turns to the princess's cooking and whether any of them have tasted it before. None had, but, judging by the smell, it would not be a chore to eat it. Chabil sits with the three and they ask him if Rune always does the domestic chores around the house. Chabil answers that she does. Afura, unable to restrain her curiosity, asks why the princess is living with him. His answer indicates that he has no idea that she's a princess at all. He explains the story of how he found her. It is exactly the same as the way the he met the three newcomers: He heard a crash after a hard day's work and there she was, lying motionless in a crater. He brought her home and was about to put her to bed when she woke up in his arms. Confused she badly mistook her situation and, after trying to wrestle free, ended up knocking him to the floor and falling onto his chest; a possibly even more compromising position. Blushing furiously, the two bashfully moved away from one another and finally had a chance to speak. Many apologies were exchanged and the two finally ended up laughing at their own awkwardness. In the present, Chabil suddenly notices that he's lost his audience. The three are talking with each other in hushed voices. They note that Rune Venus appears to be romantically involved with this common farmer! Such a scandal! At that moment, Rune yelps and Chabil is immediately at her side. It seems that Rune has accidentally cut her finger while chopping vegetables! Gallantly, Chabil takes her hand and sucks on the wounded finger, hoping to ease Rune's pain. The two of them gaze romantically at one another. Feeling left out, Miz grabs a cabbage, whacks it a few times with a knife and then announces her own grievous finger-wound. Gallantly, Mr. Fujisawa takes her hand and wraps a band-aid around the wounded finger, hoping to ease Miz's pain. It is not exactly the response Miz had hoped for. Mr. Fujisawa instantly becomes the target of Miz's physical and vocal ire, much to his own confusion. Afura just places her head into her hand, commenting that the two of them are hopeless. The next day, Chabil returns to work, this time with Mr. Fujisawa and his superhuman strength to aid him. Rune Venus calls him over for some tea. Chabil comments that he really appreciates the help and Miz encourages him to work Mr. Fujisawa as hard as he likes. Mr. Fujisawa comes over to join the conversation and brings along an interesting object: a big, fat, worm! Miz is horrified at the disgusting creature, but Mr. Fujisawa and Chabil chat about how wonderful they are and how much they help keep the ground rich and fertile. Chabil goes on to heartily thank nature for providing so much for him and Rune Venus is greatly moved by his earnest modesty. Miz and Mr. Fujisawa are touched, as well. The Kodak moment is spoiled when Afura notices an enormous cruiser flying by. Mr. Fujisawa and Miz seem to take it in stride and Afura is furious. The two of them seem to be starting to act as though they want to remain stuck wherever it is that they are. Afura, on the other hand, is determined to find a way home! The two are unimpressed with her tirade and an exasperated Afura flies off. Miz remarks that she's glad that their honeymoon turned out so wonderfully. That evening, Rune Venus and Chabil sit and watch the sunset. Or, rather, Rune watches the sunset, while Chabil watches her. Chabil compliments her on her beauty and asks that she stay with him in his home. Rune Venus is flattered and very tempted. However, she has her duties as a princess to think of. To Chabil's dismay, she refuses. The next morning, Rune Venus awakens to find that Chabil has arisen early. Concerned, she goes outside to find the man grimly chopping wood. Before she can say anything, though, a tremendous rumbling fills the air! Chabil urges Rune Venus to get indoors. Meanwhile, the other three awaken to the sound and rush outside. There, they all see the same giant cruiser coming in for a landing on Chabil's property! The cruiser's door opens up, revealing a contingent of armored Creterian soldiers. They announce their intention to collect the taxes that are owed. While Chabil looks on with clear, but carefully controlled anger, the soldiers march into his storehouse, and begin to extract a sizable levy. It is clear that they intend to leave nothing behind. Rune, appalled at the callous sanctioned robbery, grabs a soldier and begs him to leave some of it behind. The guard doesn't even glance at her before swatting her away and continuing on his way. Chabil rushes to her side as the cruiser departs. Afura notes that they've finally been shown the dark truth behind the apparent paradise they were living in. Bussiness Is Booming For The Messenger Of Love: Within the bowels of the palace of Creteria, steam pipes begin to burst. Gilda is quick to enter the control room, where she receives a status report. She quickly commands the technicians to switch to a backup system and patch the damage. Inwardly, she worries. If something isn't done soon, then the plan will be at risk... That morning, Makoto laments yet another cold meal. Nanami has little patience for his whining and remarks that he should be glad he's being fed at all. Qawool joins the two and they begin to talk about Makoto's research. So far, the books he's been reading have been telling him nothing. He won't be able to do more until they let him examine the Spring of Life firsthand. Qawool changes the subject to Miz and Mr. Fujisawa. She hopes that they are all right, but Makoto admits that they, too, may have been sent to another world. Qawool feels awful and blames herself for the mess they're all in. After all, it was her ceremony that appeared to have triggered the journey. Makoto reassures her that she doesn't have the ability to cross dimensions, so it can't have been her fault. Nanami crossly reminds them both that Makoto's stupid gizmo is to blame and then goes on to accuse Makoto of being suspiciously nice to Qawool. Embarrassed, Makoto tries to hide by chowing down on his food, but gets flustered when Qawool wipes a bit of food off of his cheek. This does little to ease Nanami's irritation. Gilda reports to Dall Narcis with the news that the Spring of Life is continuing to lose power. Soon, it may begin to become difficult to maintain castle operations. Dall expresses his frustration and asks how Makoto's research is coming along. Gilda restates her belief that Makoto cannot be trusted. Dall is not amused. He takes Gilda's mistrust of Makoto as a mistrust of his beloved Qawool and such an attitude cannot be tolerated! Gilda protests that this is not the case and Dall relaxes. Now that the ridiculous notion that Qawool's friend could be a spy has been dealt with, Dall orders Gilda to grant Makoto free rein in his investigations. The Spring of Life must be repaired as soon as possible! Gilda leaves to do his bidding. Once she is gone, Dall laments having to deal with such petty issues as the future of his kingdom when there are much more important matters at hand, like wooing the lovely Qawool! As his fantasies run wild, he becomes aware of a peculiar, yet delightful odor in the air... Nanami has somehow managed to open up a food stand in the palace and, as is always the case with the successful businesswoman, has become an instant hit! Guardsmen and palace staff alike line up in droves to sample her delicious cooking. Following his nose, Dall comes upon the stand and clears his throat. Instantly, all present stand aside for his greatness and he approaches a suddenly nervous Nanami. Coldly, he demands to know what she is doing. Nanami babbles out an explanation, telling him that his soldiers and staff looked like they could use a nice, hot meal and so she felt obliged to open her stand. Dall is intrigued by the food, but is concerned about where Nanami was getting her power from. Since she's actually swiping steam power from the already overtaxed castle, Nanami hastily attempts to deflect his attention. Dall easily allows his attention to be deflected. There's something he's been meaning to ask Nanami... Dall takes Nanami to a private room and demands to know her opinion as a woman: Is he hot, or not? Nanami is rather embarrassed to be put on the spot in such a way. Deciding on what is probably the safest answer to give the deranged emperor, Nanami agrees. Dall is satisfied with the answer, but still depressed. If he's so dead sexy, why won't Qawool give him the time of day? Nanami suddenly gets a scheming look. She tells the emperor that she'd be glad to ask Qawool what she thinks of Dall... She also tells him that Qawool likes people who are kind. Dall reassures her that yes, he is very kind. He's the most benevolent man alive! Hook, line, and sinker. Since Dall is so incredibly kind, there is this teensy, weensy little favor that he could do for Nanami... Dall, obsessed and self-absorbed, but no dummy, droops as he realizes that Nanami has him over a barrel. He quickly agrees to grant Nanami whatever she desires. In the control room overlooking the Spring of Life, Makoto examines the readouts with dismay. The power levels are definitely dropping, but there's little Makoto can do from there. He needs to get inside the Spring to see the problem firsthand. Gilda addresses Makoto then, with a concern of her own. She asks him what relationship he has with the two girls accompanying him. Makoto claims that they are both just friends, but Gilda is unconvinced. Qawool, in particular, seems awfully close to Makoto. Makoto protests, but Gilda waves him off, telling him to return to his quarters. Makoto informs her that he will need to get inside the Spring of Life and Gilda refuses, telling him that she still doesn't trust him, in spite of what the emperor thinks. She leaves Makoto with some rather cryptic parting words: It's always best to watch your back... if you're a man. Late that night, Nanami pays Qawool a visit and is impressed by the lavish accommodations she's been given. Qawool is happy to see the girl and asks why she dropped by. Nanami claims she was just looking for some company, which seems to delight Qawool even more. Nanami invites Qawool to the women's bath. While they soak, Nanami extols the virtues of Dall Narcis, who has been so nice to the both of them. Qawool agrees that they've been very well treated. Nanami then turns the subject to boys. What kind of guy does Qawool go for? Her answer? Nice guys, of course! Nice guys like Makoto. Nanami is not thrilled by this response, but tries to steer the conversation back to what a great guy Dall is. Qawool suddenly suggests that they bring Makoto in to bath with them! Nanami is totally flummoxed by the idea, and refuses, asking if Qawool is out of her mind. Qawool is confused by Nanami's harsh response. Doesn't Nanami like Makoto? Nanami begins to babble. Of course she likes him - they've been friends since childhood - but to invite him into a bath... Qawool then drops the bomb that truly floors Nanami. She confesses that she loves Makoto dearly, that he's the kindest, most wonderful man she's ever met. Nanami simply doesn't know what to say in front of Qawool's open feelings. To be sure, she's starting to feel a bit guilty about her self-appointed mission to set the girl up with Dall. The next day, Nanami, with the backing of the emperor, opens up a new branch of the Shinonome Diner in what used to be Dall's personal quarters. It is just as popular as her food stand had been. Nanami takes a fresh order to the kitchen, where a shanghaied Makoto is helping out. Makoto whines that he has other things that he needs to do and wants to quit, but caves in to Nanami's puppy-dog eyes, begging him to stay and help, just for today. Dall Narcis soon makes a personal appearance and Nanami realizes that she hasn't actually asked Qawool about her feelings toward the emperor just yet. While the emperor obsesses over the soft 'n cuddly Ura, who is posing as a good luck token at the cash register, Nanami comes up with a flimsy excuse about how matters of the heart should not be rushed. Dall swallows the excuse whole and Nanami is granted a reprieve. Meanwhile, the ever-paranoid Gilda watches from the shadows... Gilda turns to leave and collides with Qawool. Qawool hastily apologizes. Gilda gazes sternly down at her, informs her that she is correct to apologize and then stalks off. Qawool gazes after her with concern. Qawool enters the restaurant and Dall Narcis immediately starts to gush over her and her cute waitressing outfit. Nanami insists that she can handle matters without Qawool for a while and urges her to go spend some quality time with the emperor. Makoto looks on in bewilderment as Nanami hustles the two "lovebirds" out the door. Gilda steps into an elevator, and begins the long descent to the Spring of Life. In a rare moment of weakness, she allows her stern facade to evaporate. She ponders Dall's foolish antics, and sighs wistfully, eyes full of sadness. By the time that the elevator reaches its destination, she's all business again. The technician on duty reports that things are stable, but that the generator is outputting some unstable readings. Gilda agrees that it should be checked out, at once. As it happens, Dall Narcis is, at that moment, giving Qawool a tour of the generator area. Qawool thanks him for the tour, but insists that she really needs to be getting back to her room. Dall is dismayed as he was hoping to spend more time with her and tells her so. Qawool is suddenly distracted by some kind of movement near the generator, but Dall assures her that it is just the shadows playing tricks on her. Dall steers the conversation back to spending more time with him and Qawool half-heartedly agrees. Meanwhile, in the shadows of the generator, red eyes begin to appear in the darkness... In Makoto's library, Makoto unsuccessfully tries to study, while Nanami exults in the profits she made that day. Makoto remarks that Qawool is awfully late in getting back and Nanami reluctantly agrees that he's right. Suddenly, the power goes out! Makoto leaves to investigate the problem, asking Nanami to stay behind. In the generator room, Qawool is made nervous by the blackout. Dall, reassures her that it is only a temporary problem, and that he's safe with him. Qawool comments that she thinks a lot better of him than she used to. She used to think that he was intimidating, but now she sees him as kind. Score! Dall remembers Nanami's words about Qawool liking kind people and assumes that he's finally won Qawool's heart! Reduced to nothing more than a raving animal by his lust, he reaches out for the unsuspecting girl... Meanwhile, Makoto has almost made it to the power control room. He almost makes it, when a pipe bursts, causing his footing to give way! The boy plummets into the darkness. Qawool hears the sound of breaking pipes and curiously steps toward the sound, just in time to avoid Dall's attempt to grapple her sweet, tempting body. Hearing the man collapse to the ground, Qawool asks if he's all right. Dall, managing to barely contain the beast of love within himself, grabs Qawool's hands and prepares to ask her to be his wife. Before he has a chance, though, the pipes in the ceiling above buckle and break and Makoto falls to the floor. To Dall's dismay, Qawool immediately rushes to his side, to see if he's all right. Dall looks on grimly as Qawool obsesses over Makoto's light injuries, and Makoto reassures her that he is fine. Dall stalks off, finally aware of where Qawool's heart currently lies... After he leaves, Qawool screams. Makoto asks what the matter is and glowing red eyes begin to appear among the pipes of the ceiling above... At the gates to the city, three weary travelers finally arrive. Fatora, Alielle, and Parnasse have somehow survived the snowy wasteland and have reached the city proper. Tired and hungry, they are, nonetheless, convinced that this is where Shayla-Shayla and the others are. After all, Shayla's flames had come from this direction. The three wonder how to get in through the imposing gates. Alielle tries knocking and the gates swing open! Their celebration is short-lived, however, as legion upon legion of armored, axe-wielding guards wait on the other side, glaring at them grimly. |
