Chapter 1: The Magic goes away

The Magic goes away

Disclaimers:

The title is really the property of Larry Niven.

The Demon X(A/N)th is the property of Piers Anthony.

All characters contained within this piece of writing belong to Ken Akamatsu, and this piece is written purely for enjoyment. No gains financial or otherwise have been made through the publishing of this fanfic.

What happens if Naru's Atomic Punch is no longer atomic?

What happens if Su's hardware has to follow the real laws of physics?

What happens when Motoko's sword skills act the very same way as every other skilled sword-master does?

What happens if Mutsumi stop fainting all the time?

Moreover, what happens if Keitaro Urashima is no longer immortal?


Deep underground in his favourite lair, floating in the back of his mind, the Demon X(A/N)th slowly was coming to the realization that his latest discomfort was caused because he was missing something. A certain something that should always be present as it was a piece of magical protection that should always be nearby looking out for danger to the Demon as he thought quietly in his refuge undisturbed.

In a short time, a sub-mind of the demon was created and it launched a questing probe of magical energy that danced around the Demon X(A/N)th, seeking out the missing protective ward. Further and further the magical probes searched for its target, and finally after a long time the probing found its goal and reported back to its creator/master.

"Japan! Why so far", the sub-mind was surprised. It probed some more to find the reasons why before reporting back to the demon's over-mind. There it found an annex situated on the intersection of multiple Chi-lines. The power of the annex was limited, but to fulfill promises made on its grounds thru the innocent hearts of multiple of children it had enough ability/drive to seduce/modify/corrupt (there are no proper words in the English language to explain the magical interactions that had taken place) the demon's warding spell to extend its power to said children. Nevertheless, as always there was a price to be paid, and one child instead of being protected found itself suffering severely, weaken in health.

Quickly, the sub-mind released this info to the demon's over-mind, and as soon as the thought flowed into the demon's consciousness, the demon's desire flowed back to its sub-mind ... 'RETURN IT NOW'.

And as fast as the thought was expressed the magic ward was pulled back from a simple hot springs hinata in Japan, and unknown to the young residents presently sleeping there, their lives were about to under-go major changes.


Early Morning on the roof deck:

As always, Motoko was up before almost everyone else to practice her swordsmanship. However, today it felt different; she found it was harder for some reason. The movements were the same, the precision of her stokes as well. Nevertheless, aside from practicing her forms Motoko like to treat any falling leaves as surprise tests inside the forms practice. Usually it took a just a quick effortless swipe of her bokken to slice a leaf in half. But not today, instead she was finding that if she did not concentrate on channeling her Chi into the wooden blade any leaf tended to be batted aside instead of being divided in two.

Even the handling of the bokken felt different, normally swinging the wooden blade was effortless no matter how long she practiced. Today the sword seemed to grow steadily heavier the more she worked out.

"It is almost like my first years of learning the sword." Motoko thought to herself. "Well, not as bad, by now I would have been drenched in sweat and aching in every muscle. Still I am really feeling this workout, more than I ever had in a long time." she noted.

As she left the roof to prepare for breakfast, Motoko was lost in thought about what made today's workout so different from previous ones.


In the kitchen below:

At the same time below in the kitchen Shinobu's knifes continued to move with their usual speed and skill. Quickly she prepared breakfast, well aware of the two eating machines Su and Sarah that would clear a table in seconds if not held back.

With them in mind, she already had started on individual plates for the other residents to ensure all would have a proper meal to be presented to them. But one plate in particular received as much loving care as all the other plates combined.

Just the thought of a certain person eating this meal sent shivers down her spine, and she knew that any praises given would cause her to blush all over, and still she poured her love into the creation of that meal.


In Naru's bedroom:

Naru awoke from a dream that she refused to even admit to herself represent her own internal desires. Glancing at her Liddo doll that guarded the entrance to the manager's room, she confirmed to herself that the dream was only a dream, that what she remembered of it had not really happened.

"It's all that baka's fault!" Naru fumed to herself as she prepared to leave for breakfast. "Baka!" she exclaimed to herself once more as she gave the doorway a light punch as she left her bedroom.

PAIN ... PAIN ... Naru grasped her fist in surprise with her other hand, massaging it she could tell nothing was really damaged but she had not felt pain like this in years.

"I don't know how, but I am sure it is Keitaro's fault somehow." she had to blame someone who was not herself. She continued her trip downstairs to prepare herself before going to the dining area, while all the time rubbing her knuckles. They were still smarting a-lot.


Somewhere in a small jungle:

Su awoke to a dark forest-scape.

"The reactor must be down." she said to herself while leaping down to a control panel, even in the dark she knew where everything she had built was located. A quick look (the control panel is self-lite) confirmed the nuclear plant was dead as a door-nail. Repeated attempts to restart it were all met with failure; even the stand-by nuke was equally as dead.

"I'm getting hungry." Su admitted to herself as a growl from her stomach rumbled loudly.

"Let's try the stand-by-stand-by batteries." she said, wanting to get something to eat. Su engaged a massive power switch that in turn leads to an amazing large array of batteries buried beneath the Hinata. An array of batteries so large that if any of the other residents had seen them they would have been stunned that Su could sneak so many units in without anyone noticing.

Lights once more blazed down on a jungle that needed the raw energy to survive.

"Well, I now have two weeks to find out what going on." Su pondered about her unresponsive nukes. Her stomach growled again.

"I hope there is banana-rice today." she hoped as she too headed for the washroom and then breakfast.

Sarah had woken in time to intercept Su in the wash area. She could not help but notice how quiet Su was this morning; however, she just took this as an opportunity to fill in the quiet with her own words and plans.

Mitsune awoke to her usual hangover. Grabbing a-hair-of-the-dog that bite her, she headed first to the washroom to wash the gunk out of her eyes and then off to breakfast.


An apartment above the tea-house:

Mutsumi awoke refreshed and feeling better than she had in years. In-fact she found herself full of energy and thinking very clearly. Schoolwork, what she needed to do on her part-time job, her future life plans, Keitaro. Keitaro!

"Clearly, aside from Shinobu-chan (and she is too young) I am the only one who has Kei-kun's best interests in my heart. He is wasted on those other girls, time for me to properly enter the game and win." Mutsumi smiled to herself as she looked into the mirror applying light touches of make-up and adjusted her blouse just right.

"But what to do about Naru-san?" she wondered not realizing how much healthier she was and how much weaker Naru's punches had become.

Mutsumi also left to go to the Hinata for breakfast.