TROUBLEMAKERS

Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.

In the Desert of Destruction, a portal opened in the sand like a black wound. A solitary young man emerged from its swirling depths. Phobos took his first steps into the world of humans, scanning the boundless expanse of barren dunes with blood-red eyes. He was finally free. God knows how long he had waited for this moment. The sound of his laughter echoed across the dark, desolate landscape. The situation was rather ironic, really. The gate to Hell had been reopened only by the appointment of a new Hellmaster.

Not that it mattered. Phobos had already decided that she wouldn't last long. Appointing a human to the highest-ranking position under Shabranigdo was simply a disgrace to the Mazoku race.

Poor Phibrizzo, so quickly forgotten after his destruction at the hands of the Lord of Nightmares herself. He had been wise not to rely on his peers to carry on with his mission. They've all lost sight of their true purpose as Mazoku. They had feared him, the only one among them who understood. The other lords were perfectly content in their roles as pawns in her eternal game. The bitch. If it's chaos she wants then it's chaos she's going to get.

Phobos turned his gaze to the heavens. Myriad stars glittered in the nighttime sky. He stared transfixed, having never seen stars before.

The sound of sand shifting behind him caught his attention. He turned to see a lovely woman standing near. Soft wind played with her long violet hair. She looked at him with eyes like gold, warm and lustrous. "I've been waiting for you," the strange woman said softly. Her voice was beautiful.

Something about this woman seemed very familiar. His misgivings melted into curiosity. "What do you want?"

"I know who you are," she said, "The others will try to kill you if they find you. I want to help you. My name is Charybdis."

The annual bazaar at the desert city of Rubai always attracted lots of merchants, tourists, and thieves. One of the latter casually meandered through the crowded plaza, trying to conceal the rather conspicuous bulge created by an ill-gotten brown leather shoulder bag tucked securely in her vest. Her keen cerulean eyes had a mischievous look about them that complemented her childish demeanor. She looked no older than twelve years of age. Her butter-colored hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and trailed behind her like a flag. As soon as she made her way to a side street she broke into a run.

Breeze ran down the winding alleys until she was satisfied that she had put enough distance between herself and the scene of the crime. She then plunked down in a nice, shadowy, deserted spot and pulled the brown leather purse out of her vest. It felt heavy.

Breeze felt confident that she had not been followed. The guy she had swiped the bag from had been walking around with his eyes closed. The stupidity of people never ceased to amaze her. A distraction had been provided when a red-haired girl got in a fight with a vender. Then another girl somehow got up on a flagpole and started spouting a speech about the evils of unreasonably high prices. Bunch of freaks, all of 'em.

Breeze grinned with anticipation as she began opening the purse. Then she heard a noise that made her pause. It was a sound so obviously not 'just the wind' that it made her shiver. She jumped up and flattened herself against the wall, trying not to make any noise. It was hard to tell what direction that weird echoing 'whoosh' sound came from, so she looked all around. She saw the shadow of guy with a funny haircut, a cape, and a staff.

The guy had followed her after all. He looked like a priest, but from the way he was levitating, Breeze guessed that he must be a sorcerer or something. She swung the bag around by the shoulder strap a couple of times for momentum and hurled it at him, then quickly turned and ran like hell in the opposite direction.

She looked behind her to see if the guy was tailing her, but she didn't see him. When she looked back he was standing right in front of her. Breeze braked and skidded to a halt. The guy had his eyes open now. They were quite possibly the creepiest pair of peepers that Breeze had ever seen. They were lavender and they had slit pupils like a cat's and they were glaring at her really mean. He smiled as he shot a ball of black energy at her.

It was too fast. She couldn't dodge it. It hit her. And then something weird happened.

Xellos's smile disappeared when he saw the girl transform into a massive black and white shape that vaguely resembled a butterfly. She was a Mazoku, there was no mistaking it. And a very powerful one at that.

The girl obviously was not used to taking on this form. Best to kill her now while she's still vulnerable. One more attack should do the job. He fired another ball of energy at her.

The attack didn't reach her. Someone had cast a barrier. Someone who had a vested interest in this girl.

Xellos deemed it prudent to retreat for the time being. He didn't feel like messing with anyone powerful enough to nullify his magic.

Phobos materialized next to the girl. She had recovered her human form, but she was on her knees and coughing up blood. He reached out his hand to her. She tried to run. Phobos shot a black beam of energy at her. Just enough force to stun her. After all the trouble he'd gone to tracking her down he wasn't about to let her get away. The attack hit her in the back and she fell to the ground. He created a temporary portal in the air and dragged her through.

Breeze woke to find herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. She heard voices. She turned her head to see two people in the room. One was a lady with really long, wavy hair that looked just like an oryhalcon statue she had seen once. The other one was one freaky looking punk. His striped hair reminded her of a skunk. The lady apparently noticed that she was awake.

"Oh good," Charybdis said as she noticed the girl turning her head. "She's awake now."

"It's about time," said Phobos, who was standing with his arms crossed, leaning against a frescoed wall.

"Both of you stay away from me!" Breeze growled as she slid off the bed. She looked for a way to escape. There was only one door, and they were in the way. Ah ha. A window. She inched toward it to see how far she would have to drop if she had to jump for it.

Breeze found herself staring a large fish in the face through the glass. "What??? Where the hell am I?"

"You are in the abode of our fair benefactor," said Phobos, gesturing toward Charybdis, "which happens to be at the bottom of Demon Ocean. You are not going to get away."

"I suggest that you opt to behave yourself. I don't want to have to put a restraining spell on you," said Charybdis.

"The bottom of Demon Ocean? Nothing lives there but . . . Are you Deep Sea Dolphin?"

Phobos slapped Breeze across her cheek with the back of his hand with enough force to knock her onto the floor. He bent down and picked her up by the front of her vest. "Don't you ever mention her name around me," he hissed.

"Ow! What the hell is your problem?" Breeze shouted angrily in Phobos's face. His crimson eyes were much more scary than the purple-haired man's.

Phobos dropped Breeze roughly and turned his back to her. "You don't remember yet, do you?"

"What are you talking about? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!?!?!?"

"Would both of you please calm down?" A vein in Charybdis's forehead was beginning to bulge.

"I've been searching for you for quite a while, Breeze. It surprised me that our master hid you among the mortals. It was his will that his servants would be reborn in order to carry out his mission in the event of his demise. We were reborn after he was slain by the Lord of Nightmares."

"Perhaps this will jog your memory," Phobos said as he pulled a silver orb out of the pocket of his red leather jacket.

"So you do remember the Hellmaster," Phobos said with a smug expression. He let the orb fall to the floor and crushed it under the heel of his boot. "Oh don't worry. It wasn't real."

"If you'll excuse me, I have business that I really must attend to. I'll leave you two to get reacquainted. Try not to kill each other," Charybdis said as she left the room.

"Piss off. I really don't give a shit if the Hellmaster wants to be revived. What's he ever done for me?"

"He resurrected your worthless ass! You could at least have the freakin' courtesy to try to destroy the world like he wanted!"

"Don't have an aneurysm. I was just fucking with ya. I'm all for whatever Phibrizzo wanted us to do. So how did you find me, anyway?"

"You mean when I turned into that . . .thing? Who was that guy that attacked me anyway? Now that I think about it he seemed kind of familiar."

"The priest of Greater Beast Zellas Metallium. His name is Xellos. He's one of many that it would be wise to stay away from for the time being."

"You needn't worry about that. This the only place in the known world protected by wards specifically against him."

"The story she gave me is that Phibrizzo told her that he was going to resurrect us and asked her to help us. She's a nice girl, but I don't think she's told me all that she knows."

"Wait a sec. Resurrect? This implies that we were alive before and then died. I think that I'd remember that."

"Glad you caught on, but you're only half right. We were alive, but not as who we are now. Way back during the Kouma War, we died. Phibrizzo figured it would be safer to resurrect us in different bodies, so nobody would know who we are before we did. Some of your memories will come back eventually. It was months before I remembered my name."


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