Author's note: Well, first time writing an ACC fic. It's based mostly on my made-up characters but I think it will tickle the fancy of those who want only their characters as well.
A Tale of Black and Gold, Chapter 1, Black cat crossing the path
Chacha squirmed uncomfortably in her bed. Why was it she could not fall asleep? She had tried everything that was said to help people with insomnia. She drank milk (10 tall glasses too), counted sheep (she kept trying to grab the adorable sleep), ran around a while to get tired (Teacher Seravi got up in a daze and almost got her with a spell too) but none of them worked. Sighing, she flipped flopped around but still could not get to sleep.
'Oh! I'm so tired! Why can't I just fall asleep?'
She sat up for a while and looked outside her window and saw several trees at the edge of the hill. In one of the trees, she caught a sparkling glint.
'Gee, I wonder what's ZZZZZzzzz'
Suddenly, she fell flat onto her bed and started to snore along with Shiine (Shiine came for a sleepover), Riiya and Chiiky (okay, so birds can't snore but it did go 'cheep! cheep!').
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The next day, after breakfast...
"TEACHER! WE ARE GOING OUT TO PLAAAYYY!" Chacha shouted out to her Teacher who was in the kitchen, cleaning some dishes.
"All right! Be careful!" came the reply amidst the sounds of dishes clinking against each other.
Outside, the trio started to play around with a ball. Riiya had changed into wolf form and was chasing the ball with glee.
"Hee hee! That was a great catch Riiya!"
"Yeah, not bad for a dog."
"I'm not a dog! I'm a wolf!"
And Shiine and Riiya (in human form) started fighting again on which member of the canine species Riiya came from.
Chacha sweat dropped and tried to calm them down but it was no use. She was about to start crying when she a glint flashed at the corner of her eye.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to the apple tree the glint originated from.
Shiine and Riiya briefly stopped their fight and looked at the tree that Chacha had indicated. Right at that moment, the same glint appeared again.
"See? There it was again!"
"Hey! Let's go see what it is!" suggested Riiya, breaking away from a strangling hold applied by Shiine.
"Yeah!" agreed Chacha, all smiles again, and followed Riiya towards the apple orchard.
"Hey! Wait for me!" shouted Shiine and ran after them, for never in his life is he going to let Riiya be alone with Chacha if he could help it.
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"So this is the tree?" asked Riiya, looking up at the apple tree with his hands on his hips.
"Yes, I'm sure it is! See, it's right next to this big rock." answered Chacha, looking puzzledly up at the tree as well.
"Whew! Why did you have to run so fast?!" exclaimed Shiine who had just joined them.
A rustle in the tree brought their attention back from Shiine's arrival back to the tree. Suddenly, a apple dropped down onto the ground.
"AN APPLE! YUM!" shouted Riiya and (naturally) picked up the apple.
Just as Riiya was about to bite into the apple, there was a flurry of shining claws and a black creature. All that was left was Riiya with large scratch marks across his face and no apple. The large black creature jumped back up the apple tree and hid within the thicker branches.
"Riiya! Are you okay?" asked Chacha concernedly.
At first Riiya did not say anything but then...
"YAH! WHO TOOK MY APPLE!?!?!?"
"AARRGGHHH!" screamed Chacha and Shiine, blown back by Riiya's outburst.
"GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!" shouted Riiya as he rocked the tree back and forth in fury.
"YARGH!" shouted a voice from the tree.
A person promptly fell down but landed upright on his/her hands and flipped onto his/her feet. He/She looked coolly at the group though there was a glint of disapproval in his/her eye (one eye could only be seen, the other was hidden by hair). The person was at about the same age as Shiine or Riiya and weirdly enough, look a lot like...
"AH! TEACHER RASCAL, HOW DID YOU GET SO SMALL?" Chacha suddenly shouted.
"Huh? Teacher who?" asked the person, looking bemused.
"Chacha you're right! He does look like Teacher Rascal!" agreed Shiine, nodding.
"Look, I don't know who you're talking about but..."
A loud stomping sound and the crushing of trees along with the squawking and calling of various birds and animals stopped short the person's sentence. The person looked up, alerted.
"What is that?" queried Chacha, looking around.
Shiine and Riiya were just as confused.
"Whatever it is, it sounds big," said Shiine.
"And coming closer." added Riiya.
Suddenly, an enormous clawed foot slammed right down in front of them, crushing the tree the person fell from.
"ARGH!"
"ARGH!"
"ARGH!"
Everyone screamed and ran out of the orchard except for the mysterious person who just followed, rather unhurriedly, behind.
Running further out, they turned, saw, and screamed some more at the thing that made the noise.
"ARGH! WHAT'S THAT?" screamed Chacha, pointing at the monstrosity in front of them.
She spoke for everyone there (well except for the mysterious person who was still keeping his/her cool).
The creature was so big and tall (even bigger than Riiya's grandpa!) that it covered Chacha and the others in its shadow, completely preventing the sunshine from reaching them. It had the most horrible, pig-snorted, toothed face you would have ever seen. Two huge canine tooth sprung up from its lower jaw. Saliva dripped from its lower lip and fell, steaming, onto the ground or any poor thing between it and the ground. It had huge arms that were thicker than any tree trunk known to Chacha (or to anyone else for that matter) which ended in powerful looking claws. It had gigantic, hairy legs and feet with rotting toenails at the ends. It was of a reddish brown colour and had a long, toothed tail swinging behind it, knocking down any ill-fated tree that wasn't crushed by it's entrance.
The monster lifted its head and let out a guttural roar, spraying its saliva into the air. The ground shook almost as much as it had when the monster stomped there.
"Huh?" said the person immediately, almost as if he/she had realised something.
'Afose? What is he doing here?' the person thought, a sudden surge of hope overcame him/her at what this could mean.
The monster finally ended his powerful roar and looked down on the group.
"Oh no! He spotted us!" shouted Shiine.
"Let's get out of here!" screamed Chacha and quickly summoned her broom, got on and sped off.
Shiine did the same and Riiya transformed to wolf form and went on to Shiine's broom. They sped off in the blink of the eye, leaving behind the person.
Chacha looked behind her and realised her mistake.
"Oh no! We left Teacher Rascal behind!"
Chacha quickly turned her broomstick around and headed back.
"Chacha!" shouted Shiine and Riiya.
"TEACHER RASCAL!"
The unknown person turned around at the shouting and saw an incoming Chacha zooming on her broom.
"I'M COMING, TEACHER!" shouted Chacha with a look of absolute determination on her face.
A look of absolute horror crossed 'Teacher Rascal''s face as he/she realised that Chacha was not stopping.
DONG!
"~Yah~!" the person moaned pitifully as he/she balanced precariously on Chacha's broom.
Chacha tried to spin around to get away from the monster but of course we know Chacha's skill with a broom when someone else was on board.
"ARGH!" yelled Chacha as her broom came to a clumsy and quick crash, flinging she and 'Teacher Rascal' off onto the ground.
The monster, seeing that Chacha was the closest, sucked in a large amount of air and opened his maw, sending a huge ball of white energy streaking at Chacha and the person.
"CHACHA!" shouted Shiine and Riiya. Shiine had already spun his broom around but he could not reach them in time.
"ARGH!" screamed Chacha, shielding herself from the imminent blast.
The mysterious person did likewise.
But the blast never reached them. Chacha looked up and smiled brightly.
"TEACHER SERAVI!"
Seravi stood in front them, throwing up a magical barrier that stopped the fireball.
"Chacha, are you okay?" he asked over his shoulder, looking worriedly at Chacha.
'Seravi?' the person thought, turning to look at him.
Immediately, a gnawing hunger started in his/her stomach but he/she tempered it. However, he/she could not help salivating a little.
Slowly, the fireball lost power and Seravi could prepare an attack.
The mysterious person saw him and quickly started to emit very low frequency 'growls', that no one could hear. Except the monster.
*Go back, you fool! The magician is preparing to destroy you... And so am I for that matter.*
The monster shuddered and immediately turned around and fled, much to the surprise of everyone, except the M.P (sorry getting tired of writing that over and over again).
In a flash of black, yes, black, the monster disappeared.
Seravi stopped his spell and looked at Chacha.
"Chacha are you all right?" he asked again, looking concernedly at her.
"Yes, Teacher! Thanks to you!" she answered happily.
"Teacher Seravi!" said Shiine in greeting as he alighted from his broom. Riiya jumped down to.
"We're all right Teacher, but I think you should take a look at Teacher Rascal!" said Chacha, pointing at the M.P.
"Teacher Rascal?" queried Seravi in astonishment.
"But he's so small!" said Seravi, observing the person.
"Chacha thinks he shrank." said Shiine.
The M.P looked annoyed and said, "This 'Teacher Rascal' business again! I tried to tell you before, I'm-not-Teacher-Rascal!"
"Oh no! Maybe he has ammi...amhe..."
"Amnesia." Shiine said helpfully.
"I do NOT have amnesia!" said the M.P, glaring angrily.
"Maybe, he really isn't Teacher Rascal, Chacha." Seravi told her.
"But he looks so much like him!" argued Chacha.
A look at the M.P and you would have thought that too. He/She had black hair that covered his/her right eye in exactly the same way as Rascal's hair does and is long in the back in the same way. He/She wore a short-sleeved gray T-shirt and black pants that reached to his/her ankles. The only thing that wasn't like Rascal's was probably her eyes which gave off an unfriendly glow.
"Hm. Still, that doesn't mean he's really Teacher Rascal." said Seravi, still unsure.
"I'll sniff him and see if he's Teacher Rascal."
Riiya ran up to the 'Teacher Rascal' and sniffed a few times.
"He's..."
Riiya paused for a dramatic effect.
"What, Riiya?" asked Chacha with anticipation.
"Hurry up, you dog!" said Shiine impatiently, jealous that Riiya had gotten Chacha's attention so well.
"I'M NOT A DOG! AND...HE'S NOT TEACHER RASCAL!" Riiya finally announced.
"Finally!" sighed the M.P with a note of relief, crossing his/her arms.
"Wow! Riiya! You're so great!" praised Chacha.
"Yeah, not bad for a small dog." murmured Shiine.
"I'M NOT A DOG!" shouted Riiya and pounced on Shiine.
Their routine fight followed.
"Well, if you're not Rascal, may we ask who you are?" asked Seravi politely, standing up.
"Thank you. My name is Rua. And by the way."
"I'm a girl."
"Aoh! I'm sorry!" cried Chacha, apologising over and over again.
"Fine." said Rua, looking impassive 
"What were you doing in that apple tree?" asked Chacha, remembering what she, Shiine and Riiya were doing before the monster buisness.
"I was just plucking some apples to eat."
"IN a tree?" asked Chacha, puzzled.
Rua shrugged her shoulders.
"I like it better up there."
Chacha suddenly realised she forgot courtesy 101.
"Oops! I almost forgot! I'm Chacha," Chacha introduced, pointing to herself.
"And he is my Teacher Seravi. And that's Riiya and Shiine."
Riiya and Shiine continue fighting. Chacha, with tears in her eyes, shouted,"STOP FIGHTING!"
Riiya and Shiine promptly frozed.
"Hey! Oof!" shouted Riiya, trying to pull Shiine off him.
"How did you manage to do this to me?" he asked angrily, turning to a boy and pointing to his scratched face.
"Your fingernails could not have done that to Riiya's face." said Shiine, getting up and dusting off some dirt on his robe.
Rua smiled.
"You're right, I couldn't do that with my fingernails but I can do this,"
"TRAAANNNSSSS-FORM!" spoke Rua.
She disappeared in a puff of smoke much like Riiya during transformation. When the smoke cleared...
"YAH!" shouted Chacha, Riiya and Shiine, backing up. Seravi looked surprise but definitely not afraid.
"REWARR!" growled the large and very feocious looking full grown black panther in front of them.
It unfurled its claws and mocked slashed to demostrate how she could have slashed Riiya's face. Then, transformed back.
"That answer your question?" she asked in a bored tone.
For a while no one said anything. Then...
"WOW! THAT WAS SO COOL! DO IT AGAIN!" shouted a starry-eyed Riiya and Chacha.
Rua looked shocked and nervous.
"If you can transform into a panther, then that means the glint we saw must have been your eyes reflecting light!" said Shiine matter-of-factedly.
"Wow, Shiine! You're so smart!" said Chacha happily.
"You really think so Chacha?" said Shiine, blushing at her praise.
"Then that means the glint I saw last night was you too?" asked Chacha, turning back to Rua.
"I did come here last night. I was in panther form too. It was safer up a tree." answered Rua, in monotone.
"Well, why don't you stay with us today then instead of a tree?" asked Seravi, the first time he had said anything in a while.
He had a friendly smile on but Rua seemed not to take notice.
After some time, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay."
"Hurrah! A new friend!" shouted Chacha and Riiya in glee and started dancing around and singing the "A new friend" song.
Seravi started walking back into the house.
"I think you should all come in now. Rua must be hungry since all she had were apples so I'm making fried rice for lunch."
"FOOD!" shouted Riiya and quickly ran towards the little cottage.
"RIIYA! Wait for me!" shouted Chacha and ran after him.
"HEY! Wait for me too!" exclaimed Shiine, realising he was being left behind.
Rua just walked and was left far, far behind. She did not mind. She had a lot on her mind. One which involved what Riiya had said but it was not the fried rice she was after.
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VERY much elsewhere...
In the deep demon realm where demons, Daimarou being a very good example, dwell, a certain demonlord was not happy.
"YOU FOOL!"
The whole carvenous-like underworld shook dangerously. Aforse knelt before his master, trembling.
"YOU LET DIAZ ESCAPE?!!?" roared the cloaked lord, his bird-like mask covered his face but the eyeholes lit up in fiery red.
The lowly, kneeling demon shuddered.
"Master, I...I...didn't mean to...to..."
"SHUT UP YOU FOOL! WHAT CONCERNS ME MORE IS THAT YOU REVEALED YOURSELF TO AND ATTACKED MY ULTIMATE WEAPON!" roared the furious lord, his dark cloak shook as well as the entire realm.
"Si...si....sir, it was an accident, I did...di...didn't mean to attack her! I didn't see her!" Aforse said meekly, cowering before his lord.
"ATTACK HER? HA! SHE WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU FAR MORE EASILY THAN A THOUSAND OF MY FINEST TROOPS COULD EVER HAVE, AFTER THE, 'CONDITIONING' SHE HAD! BUT YOU REVEALED YOURSELF! SHE KNOWS YOU ARE DIAZ'S KEEPER! SEEING YOU WILL LET HER KNOW DIAZ IS FREE AND MY CONTROL OVER HER WILL BE GONE!" roared the greater demonlord.
Aforse curled up and wimpered in fear. The demonlord stood up from his throne and swept towards the cowardly lower demon. The demonlord was truely nothing BUT cloak, with not even feet, save for the bird-like mask that was to pass off as his face.
He stood far higher than the pitiful creature before him and he towered menancingly over him.
"You have disappointed me, Aforse." he said quietly, energy charging up in the eyes of the bird mask.
"My Lord, please forgive! My master, no, please! LORD IRULIOSE NO!!!" screamed Aforse before taking his last breathe.
Nothing was left but a scorching hole where Aforse once stood.
Iruliose took his place back on the twisted throne and summoned up another of his lackeys. A small, dark, red-eyed demom stepped forth and bowed.
"Rua will have to feed tonight, she will get rid of Seravi no matter what. However, my concern is that she will not carry out the plan to dispose of Seravi's apprentice, Chacha, unless she is very hungry. Nonetheless, we cannot take such a chance. SEND FOR OUR BEST TRACKERS AND FIND DIAZ!"
The lower demon bowed and left the throneroom.
Now alone, Iruliose stayed in his throne and thought for a while then stood up and went through a door next to his throne.
Inside, it was bare except for a large transparent coffin-like case in the middle of it. The coffin gave off a strong, red glow which was the only light source in the room. Iruliose walked up to it and looked into it.
"Don't worry, me dear brother, you will have your revenge!"
Inside, the still form of Daimarou did not stir.
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"Excuse me sir!"
"Huh?" answered the baker, turning away from some loafs of bread he was baking.
A young, golden-haired boy with a bright smile looked up at him.
"What is it, you want son?" he asked, taking a liking to the boy immediately.
"I wanted to know where Mochimochi mountain was, sir." answered the boy, looking up with pleading eyes.
'What a nice boy he is!' thought the baker, pleased at being refered to with such respect.
"Well, son, it's just dead ahead. Right there!" said the baker, pointing towards the mountain.
"Really? Oh, thanks, sir!" said the boy and was about to skip along.
"Wait a minute son! If you don't mind me asking, are ya a tourist?"
"Why would you think that sir?" asked the boy with innocent eyes.
"Well, for starters, stop calling me sir! You're embarrassing me that's what it is! Just call me Tom. And I thought you're a tourist cause you don't look like anyone in these parts and plus Mochimochi mountain is a famous spot!"
"Why would Mochimochi mountain be a famous spot?"
"Ah! Don't you know, boy? That's where Seravi, the World's Greatest Magician lives!"
"WHAT? REALLY? OH NO!" shouted the boy in dismay.
The baker looked confused.
"Uh...I mean I can't believe I nearly missed that! Sorry but I must be getting along now!" said the boy and very hurriedly started to run towards Mochimochi mountain.
"Wait son!"
"Yes?" asked the boy tensely. He was always game for conversation but he really must be on his way!
"What's yer name? I told ya mine!" shouted the baker.
"Diaz!" shouted the boy and quickly ran off.
"Such a nice boy! Good looks, good attitude and a nice name to boot! Would have loved to have my Julia marry him!" said the baker to himself happily.
"Hey, what's that smMY BREAD!" he cried and quickly tended to his burning loafs.
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Well, how was it? Please send all comments to sherekhan88@hotmail.com