Eloise Audition

PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTES BEFORE READING.

-Sixteen Years Ago-

Raphael had gotten back to the boat as fast as he could.  After what Maria had told him, he was worried about what may have happened to his beloved.  He went into his quarters, and found Violetta leaned against the wall in her human form.  Her usually glowing dark Indian skin was pale and sickly, and she had an unusually weak look all over her.

"I knew you weren't dead....." Violetta murmured weakly. Raphael hurried to her.

"Violetta?? What's wrong? Are you sick??" Raphael held her close.

"...." Violetta smiled. "I.... I gave in to my worst fear, Raphael..."

"Wh-What??? What are you talking about, pretess?" Raphael asked, worried.

"I-I'm.... Pregnant....." Violetta looked up at him gently, feeling like a wilted flower in his arms.


-Present Day-

"Eloise, wake up!"  Tira splashed some water on her half-sister's face.  "We've made land!"

"I slept in?" Eloise yawned and sat up.  "Where are we, anyways?"

"Spain, mis corazones!!" Maria purred as she came downstairs to them, her nekomata tail curling up happily.

"Cool." Eloise smiled, and flicked the tip of her snake tail, slithering out of bed.

Meanwhile, Avid (Tira's young-looking grandfather) and Raphael were already in port, looking in stores.

"Raphael, I think you've spent too much time around girls." Avid laughed, watching Raphael comb through shirts.

"Oh, come on." Raphael smiled, pulling out a shirt. "I have good fashion taste. It's a gift."

Avid chuckled, but then stiffened as he sensed danger.  He looked out the store window and saw some shady characters running into an alley.

"Raphael.  Let's go." Avid moved to the door, his eye contact with Raphael telling the seafarer his suspicions. Raphael nodded and followed Avid.

They followed the miscreants down the cobbled alley.  With his magic eyes, Raphael could see the acronym 'A.L.I.C.E.' written on their jackets.  However, before either of the men could react, they both lost consciousness.

-Seven Hours Later-

"Where's Raphael and Daddy?" Amity, Tira's mother and Eloise's stepmother, looked out at port as the sun was setting.  "They've been gone since noon!"

"Yeah, where could they have gone?" Maria agreed with a worried mewl, her adopted warlock son, Magnus, clutching to her legs.  Then, a messenger arrived on the boat a scant few minutes later.

"Letter for Eloise Kite." was all he said, laying down an envelope and running off. Eloise picked it up and read it.

"What does it say, Eloise?" Amity asked.

"... I-It says that this organization named 'A.L.I.C.E.'s kidnapped Avid and daddy... A-And.... They're experimenting on them...." Eloise answered.

"No! Not my Avid!!" Maria gasped.

"That's not all.  They'll give them back, but only if.... If I compete in this tournament in a nuked city.  Alone." Eloise turned to her family.  "They have a boat waiting for me now."

"You can't go alone, sis!" Tira objected.

"I have to! Don't worry," Eloise turned to leave. "I'll come back with them, and things will be just like before."

Magnus ran over to Eloise and hugged her around her scaled waist.

"Good luck, Elowise," Magnus squeaked in his three-year-old voice.  "You'll be back soon, wight?"

"Of course I will," Eloise smiled. "I'll be back before you know it."

With wishes of luck and hugs from her family, she left the pirate ship she called home and went into the unknown world of NUKE TOWN.