It took all of Mirra’s strength to shut her eyes tight and resist the urges within her.
“No.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?” Mimic screamed.
Mirra shook her head, “I won’t do it. I love her… you can‘t… won‘t… make me hurt her. Never.”
“SHUT UP!!” (kicks Mirra again) “YOU DON’T KNOW LOVE!! DO IT!!”
“Hikaru-chan--- don‘t look.”
“STOP IT!! PLEASE STOP IT!!” Hikaru screams, “Please! Take me if you must but stop hurting Mirra-chan!” (Mimic looks at her) “I don’t care! I can’t stand watching her be hurt! Please!!” (with that Hikaru takes her legs, presses them beneath Mirra, and kicks her away gently but firmly), “Just get it done with already!”
“You don’t understand!” Mimic rants, walking back to Mirra, “It’s because of her I lost the sense of myself! I lost myself trying to chase a dream which she ruined by sleeping with the man I loved!”
Mirra - “I didn’t---”
“SHUT UP!!” Mimic kicks Mirra again, knocking her into a tree, “I hate you! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!!!”
“N-no!” Hikaru rasps.
Suddenly Mimic spins around to face her, eyes burning. “You… if Mirra can’t live without you then I want to be your first then--- make her watch your deflowerment. Break you…”
SHAK! SHAK! SHAK! SHAK! SHAK!
Mimic shudders, looking down as blood dampens her clothes, her attention spinning back to Mirra, who (bloodied and bruised) is slowly pulling herself to her feet. “Don’t… touch… her you BITCH!!”
“You don’t have the guts to kill me.” Mimic scowled, pushing the glass shards out of her form with sheer willpower. “While I have total control over my form. I’ll just push the shards out of myself…” (smiles) “But the thought is tempting. Even you can’t watch her forever. One night she’ll wake up with me over her, her dainty legs spread as I take her virgin…”
A new sharper pain slams through Mimic as razor sharp glass slashes through her arms causing her to stumble backwards. “NEVER!! I’ll… kill you… first!!“ Mirra hissed.
Mirra - “Slut. You… don‘t have the…”
More shards rain at her but Mimic already is ready, mimicking Shield’s defensive ability to protect herself while she changes her form to water, extracting the shards in her. “You don’t have the guts to kill me.” she repeats.
“I won’t let you hurt her!” Mirra repeated, her rage building, “I’LL KILL YOU!!”
Mimic - “Your still a bitch, Mirror.”
“Mirra!”
Mimic - “Whatever--- I’m still going to make your little girl my whore even if I have to come straight through you, you little freak!” (snarls at her) “She’s going to be my…”
“MIRRA-CHAN!! HIKARU!!”
“No!” Mimic spins about, “I’m not ready for---” suddenly Mirra comes barreling out of nowhere, slamming into Mimic (her shield down from the distraction) and knocking her into the ground. Mirra, raging beyond anything she felt before, pummels her fists into Mimic
screaming again and again “I’LL KILL YOU!!” as she lashes out. Finallytwo strong arms wrap around Mirra and pull her off, Mirra’s arms and legs swinging like mad as she tries to get at Mimic.
“Mimic! You’ve gone too far this time!” Sakura threatens, wand at the ready.
Mimic laughs, “Not far enough by far. Not far enough.”
Suddenly the wind picks up to hurricane gust, stunning everyone but Mimic as they stumble beneath the onslaught. Seconds later Mimic is gone.
“NO!!!” Mirra screams, “She can’t get away! Mimic you bitch COME BACK HERE!! MIMIC!!”
* * * * * *
Mimic, a good distance away, listens to the wind as she hears Mirra’s screams.
“Now we’re even.” Mimic whispers, her clothes mending as she turns her powers from her now healed body towards mending her Clow created dress.
* * * * * *
Nina & Eliza hold Mirra down, her rage burning hotly. “Mirra-chan, calm down!”
Hikaru - “Let her go.”
The two turn, as Hikaru walks up to Mirra and holds her arms out. “I won’t hurt you.”
At first Mirra is still in a rage, and comes at Hikaru hard with fists swinging. Hikaru ignores the blows and grabs onto Mirra fiercely, wincing at each blow but holding her tight. “Please stop it, Mirra-chan! I won’t hurt you. Please stop it--- please---”
Long seconds pass until Mirra’s blows become weaker and weaker, until she at last collapses into Hikaru’s hold crying. For the longest time the two hold each other, nothing else mattering but the two of them, as the others watch. Sakura turns and storms off into the woods.
* * * * * *
Tomoyo finds Sakura pounding her fists into the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Sakura-chan?”
For long seconds silence, but finally (as she stops hitting the ground with her fists)---
“She hurt our daughter, Tomoyo!! I hate her! I HATE WHAT SHE DID TO HER!!”
“Sakura-chan…” Tomoyo whispers, drawing Sakura to her knees and hugging her tightly.
“She… she hurt our… our precious… goddess, Tomo-chan she hurt Mirra-chan…”
Tomoyo - “I know. I know.”
Tomoyo gently rocks Sakura in her arms, feeling her shoulder grow moist from Sakura’s tears. “She means a great deal to you, doesn’t she. Our daughter.”
“We can never have children of our own… she was like a gift from heaven to us. Our precious daughter… the one we could never have…”
“Sakura---” Tomoyo raises Sakura’s head so they could stare into each other’s eyes. “I need to tell you something. The reason I can’t give birth---”
“Shh---” Sakura puts her fingers to Tomoyo’s lips, “It’s alright. I don’t need---”
Tomoyo - “But Sakura---”
“Shhh---” (Sakura smiles) “---I can’t give birth either, remember? I can only conceive with another powerful mage ever since we came here--- but I don’t want another man or woman’s child--- I want your child. I want to feel the labors of OUR love growing inside of me! I want to--- I want to give you a child born of our love.”
“Sakura-chan.”
The two talk for awhile, until all the words are spent and all they have left is their love holding them together.
* * * * * *
Back at the Daidouji Estates
“Breakfast!” Hikaru cheerfully called out, entering the room pushing the cart as she did.
Mirra frowned, “I could have came downstairs.”
“No you don’t! Nina’s doctor friend said you have to rest for the next few days. Teachers gave me your work anyway so I’ll help you with your studies so you don’t fall behind.”
“---I’m sorry, Hikaru-chan---”
“For what, Mirra-chan?”
Mirra lowers her head, “I lost control. I hurt you--- I swore I’d never---”
Hikaru - “You were angry. It happens.”
Mirra - “But---”
“No buts, Mirra! Here--- but first---”
Mirra - “First?”
Hikaru smiles. ‘Would you--- be yourself again--- for me? The real you?”
For long seconds Mirra says nothing, but finally she reluctantly changes her form back to the original Mirror form. As she laid there, looking so sad, Hikaru couldn’t help but reach out to touch Mirra’ face and whisper “Your beautiful, Mirra-chan.”
Mirra - “---I am?”
“You are.” (Hikaru sticks a bit of pancake into Mirra’s mouth) “Now eat your fill and let’s get started with your studies! Oh, I asked and Umi-papa said I could stay over until you were back on your feet.”
Mirra - “Like a sleepover?”
“More like a loving nurse taking care of her favorite patient!” Hikaru chided, feeding Mirra another piece of pancake. “And if you behave we’ll share a bath!”
“HIKARU!!”
“I’ll wear a bathing suit! Don’t worry!” (smiles) “Your serious about saving our virginity until we’re ready, aren’t you little Mirra!”
Mirra-chan nods her head meekly. “Like Tomoyo-mama & Sakura-papa. When we make love for the first time I want it to be every bit as special as their first time.”
Hikaru nods her head, “That’s OK with me. Though we’re dreams right? We’re not completely flesh and blood--- maybe we can speed the process up and be 16 tomorrow.”
“What?”
The two talk about it over breakfast, letting the subject sit for the time being as they start on Mirra’s studies. Still, it’ll be a topic that’ll return one day---
* * * * * *
“Chocolate cheesecake? Now there’s a new recipe I never saw Sakura help make before!”
“Is ie edible?” Nina asks suspiciously as Eliza belts her one in the arm softly, “I’m complimenting the two on their creation. Don’t be a killjoy.”
“Sorry, sorry.” (Nina mutters, looking at cake again) “Can we have some?”
“Yes, there’s plenty.” Tomoyo assures the green haired girl, slicing pieces as she does.
“I WANT SOME TOO!!”
“You too, Kero. You too.”
Nina suddenly becomes serious, “I did some checking. There’s some notes in the multi dimensional archives about Mirror training under Mimic when Clow Reed created the Mirror card. May go a long way to explaining her hatred for Mirror now.”
“So they’re teacher & pupil?”
Nina - “Not so much that, Sakura, as they’re different versions of each other. Mimic being the first and teaching Mirror to be her replacement. Mirra also told me what Mimic accused her of, reluctantly at that mind you.”
“You mean about her stealing Clow Reed from Mimic?” Tomoyo asked.
“Yeah (nice to see she tells you just about everything), that. I can’t believe innocent little Mirra could even be accused of such a thing.”
“Maybe it’s from the dementia?” Kero remarks offhandedly, “Mimic isn’t exactly playing with a full deck of cards, you know.”
“Sure, Kero, but there must be some reason she accused Mirra of stealing Clow Reed from her. Hell, there must be a reason Mimic’s dead set on thinking she and Clow Reed were an item to begin with!”
“It doesn’t matter why Mimic did it.” Sakura began, her resolve set and locked, “I’m going to stop her once and for all, and do my best to capture all the cards and change them once again back into Star cards. Stop the madness before it gets worst. So that there’s no more
suffering like Mirra-chan.” (frowns) “Rebecca is right, we can’t let anyone suffer because of the cards. Not anyone.”
“Your going to do it!” Kero chips in, “You did it before, and you’ll do it again. Don‘t let pouty faced grumblers like Rebecca get you down!”
“Sounds like a war jingle.” Nina notes.
Kero - “Hey! This is a war! And Sakura’s going to roll over that witch Mimic like a Sherman tank, believe you me! Mimic‘s going to wish she never crossed Sakura Kinomoto, Mistress of the Cards!!” (drools) “Is the dessert ready? I‘m starved!”
“It’s ready.” (Tomoyo finishes the settings and motions to the door) “Let’s take these to Mirra’s room, then we’ll eat ours in Sakura’s room.”
Nina sighs as she moves to open the door, her thoughts echoing in her head as she does.
‘Looks like Keiko was right on the money. She can do it! Save us all and capture the cards again.’
“Nina! We’re going to my room!”
Nina suddenly realizes she’s been left holding the door.
“I know! I know! Sheesh! Don’t start with---” (door closes behind her)
“Now we’re even.” (Mimic)
* * * * * *
Mirra shivered as she rolled over in bed, feeling abit awkward for some reason.
Something felt wrong and she didn’t know why.
Suddenly the door to the huge walk in closet opens and out steps Mimic.
“There. That makes us even now.”
With a slight gasp Mirra jumps out of bed, running to the closet. As she reaches the door she nearly trips over Hikaru’s pajama top, her foot feeling a slight puddle of wetness as she beholds---
Mirra wakes up screaming.
“It’s alright! It’s OK! Mirra-chan! Mirra-chan!!”
It takes a few seconds for Mirra to register Hikaru’s presence, her strong arms wrapped around her holding her tight. “I’m here--- I’m here--- please Mirra-chan--- I’m here---”
Mirra collapses into Hikaru, her head against the other girl’s strong shoulders as she cries.
Three nights. For three nights Mirra has been plagued by dark tormenting visions.
Unshakable images of Hikaru being brutally raped by Mimic.
As Hikaru rocked Mirra in her arms, she comes to a conclusion.
* * * * * *
Three days has passed since the incident with Mimic.
Tomoyo left one day ago on a business trip concerning her anime company, but she kept in touch with Sakura using a long distance holo-system Nina helped her install in her hotel room to link to the holochamber beneath the house so she could spend time with Sakura even
over a long distance.
Sakura, for her part, moved into the holochamber downstairs and slept there so she could be with Tomoyo during the time they were in contact, which was nearly a day apart by waking terminology.
As for Mirra & Hikaru?
“Your moving in?” Mirra asked puzzled, “But I’ll be better in a day or two.”
“I want to.” (Hikaru reaches out and touches Mirra’s face) “I can’t stand it, knowing your suffering because of me. I want to be here to chase your nightmares away--- my love.”
“---I don’t deserve you sometimes---” Mirra sighs painfully, looking as if she felt ashamed.
“Don’t do that. I don’t like it when you pout. Now smile---” (Hikaru pokes at Mirra’s cheeks bringing out a smile) “That’s one of your best traits----” (pauses) “----and thank you.”
“For what?” Mirra asked.
“For spending time with me in your true form. For letting me get to know you better as yourself.” (passes a hand through Mirra’s long hair) “You’re a very beautiful young woman, Mirra-chan, like a pretty china doll.”
“Hikaru-chan.”
“Well---” (Hikaru kisses Mirra softly on the lips) “---I have to go to school. I’ll be home later with your studywork so get your rest.”
Mirra - “I will. And thank you.”
Hikaru - “For what?”
Mirra - “For putting up with my childish-ness. You shouldn’t have to---”
“Shh---” (Hikaru places two fingers on Mirra’s lips) “---that’s what lovers are for.” (steals one more kiss) “See you later.”
“Bye.”
As the door closes Mirra leans back on her pillow, touching her lips. “My precious---”
Kero - “Is she gone?”
“She’s gone, Kerberos.”
“YA-HOO!” (flies out from hiding spot) “I asked Light to help me put you on the couch so we can play video games! Yeah! Another day of movie theater screen sized video game fun! Al---”
Door opens, Kero quickly freezing up to do his stuffed animal act as Hikaru pokes her head back into the room. “Oh, and Mirra-chan?”
“Yes?”
Hikaru - “Tell Kero he can’t monopolize your time all day because you have studies to do when I get back home, alright? And my parents are dropping off some luggage for me so please let me unpack them. OK?”
Mirra - “OK.”
Hikaru leaves the room again.
Mirra - “Hikaru said not to monopolize my---”
Kero - “I heard! I heard! Sheesh---” (slumps) “---you told her about me, right?”
Mirra - “Lovers don’t keep secrets from each other.”
Kero - “---oh, right---” (sighs) “---I’ll get the game warmed up while we wait for Light---”
* * * * * *
Meanwhile, in Holochamber 00 (beneath the house)
“I’M LATE!!” Sakura tumbles through and over Eliza, dressing and prepping so frantically that it knocks the older woman onto her back as Sakura blows past her. Around them was a sim of Sakura & Tomoyo’s bedroom where Sakura slept only a few hours ago in the arms of
“Tomoyo” (or her holographic counterpart as the real Tomoyo held “Sakura” in realtime across the ocean in her own holo-suite, both “holding” the other though a long distance separated the two lovers.)
“Now that’ll leave a mark---” Eliza sighs as she stares up at the ceiling, “---I did try to wake you up, Sakura, several times as a matter of fact.”
“STOP REMINDING ME!!! (Even the holographic bed felt too good to want to wake up from!!)”
Eliza - “Maybe we should put a pea under it or something. Anyway, you better hurry or you’ll miss going to school with Mirra’s girlfriend Haruka, and---”
Sakura - “THAT’S HIKARU!!!”
“----” Eliza, frozen in place, stared on shellshocked as Sakura runs straight into the holochamber doors (not remembering that the doors take a few seconds to hiss open) before she scurries out and up the stairs to ground floor. “She scares me---” she finally manages to whisper.
In the kitchen, Nina finishes plating Sakura’s breakfast as she comes barreling into the room.
“WAHHH!! I’M LATE!! I’M LATE!! WHERE’S---” (sees Hikaru aleady eating breakfast) “--oh.”
“Your ALWAYS late, Snoozer.” Nina remarks glumly as she sets Sakura’s food down, “Tell me of a time when your NOT oversleeping.”
“Morning, Sakura-chan.” (Sonomi smiles as she regards Sakura)
“Morning!” (her grumpy “I hate Nina” face dissolving back into her usually cheery demeanor).
Sonomi - “Better hurry or you’ll be late. Tomoyo might not be here but she wanted me to make sure you got to school ontime each day she was away.”
Sakura nods her head quickly as she shoves her food down.
“I’m off. Come on, Eliza! We’re going!” (looks at Hikaru) “Ready?”
“Ready. Let’s go.”
Sakura - “Shanks for sha fud!”
Sonomi - “But Nina made it, not---”
Sakura - “Sya u liter!”
“---me---” (Sonomi shakes her head) “---goodbye?”
Sonomi looks around the silent kitchen and sighs. “How did she ever manage to get to school on time while she lived with HIM--- sigh.” (Sonomi eats another bite of her food) “Tomoyo’s a certified miracle worker to get Sakura out of bed every morning.”
To Be Continued Next Week
Friday : Sailor Moon Remastered
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Azkaban 8
(NOTE - This week was a busy week, so I didn't get any fanfic writing done. Sorry. I'll try again next week.)
Azkaban Episode 8
It was at that moment, after the first class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, that Alicia formed a differing opinion from the others she usually agreed with.
As expected, Defense Against the Dark Arts zoomed into the stratosphere and became most people’s favorite class… with the exception of certain Slytherins, and one very unimpressed Alicia Spinnet.
“Look at the state of his robes,” Malfoy grumbled in a loud “whisper” as Professor Lupin passed. “He dresses like our old hou--” (FWACK!!) “--!!!”
Alicia, passing by Malfoy in turn, sneered at him. “Blah blah blah.”
Her dislike of the class seemed to grow once she went to the second class and got a taste of Redcaps.
These creatures, goblinlike entities that haunted places of bloodshed, briefly broke free during the class only to get a good hard look at Alicia, and promptly look as if they were about to cry (before being “caught”).
“I’m not that violent.” Alicia muttered, her eyes wandering over towards the rather ravenous Hermione who seemed to be more intent on eating lunch than talking. “Is it time for your flea medicine yet, Hermione dear? Otherwise your coat seems to be nice and shiny… matches your wolf-like appetite.”
Nothing. She continued to eat without either stopping or looking up. “Is your nose moist? You’re in good health if you have a wet nose…“ Silence. Nothing she said seemed to rouse the slightest reaction from Hermoine as of late, the story of Alicia’s life lately it seems.
When she wasn’t eating she was studying like crazy, and when she wasn’t studying like crazy she was sleeping or doing disappearing acts or something. Weird. She’s been weird ever since she came to school this year and her oddness hasn’t stopped for a single second. Disappointing.
If anything the discouraging turn of events with Hermione seemed to make her hate Defense Against The Dark Arts all the more, if only to the fact that it was something that made other people happy (which she presently didn’t feel like being right now). Third class didn’t help her change her opinion about the class as she continued to lose interest in the class the moment she entered the third class and Kappas was the topic.
Most of the class got the very normal cranky gripey pissed off reaction as the Kappa looked at them, watching each and everyone pass by with a look of total hate. But as Alicia went up to it it stopped looking cranky, and… started singing in it’s mind. For a thing that enjoyed long walks on large lakesides and strangling wandering people it sure had a bad habit of latching onto the wrong people… like Alicia.
“I blame Animal Crossing for it’s ill attempt at courting.” Alicia grumbled, knowing that she was effectively talking to herself now. Ron and Harry were reading the latest Quidditch Quarterly while they were eating, and nobdoy else was nearby to listen to her complain. How wonderous for Alicia (she said to herself).
Potions was easier for her, and everyone, since Alicia had a conversation with Snape right after the whole Boggart incident. At first Snape fumed and flared at the mention of the class, but she knew he would so she went right to the throat and said “Guess having an old class bully as an associate sucks, eh?”
That silenced his complaints dead on, and no more was heard from him on the topic.
It was no coincidence that Lupin picked out Neville for the first go with the Boggart, or for the finale. He knew that Neville had problems with Snape (who didn’t know that) and he used it just for the results that happened. “Despite the fact he is supposed to be so “mature” he still seems to get his jollies off mocking you.” Alicia muttered, leaning back in the chair next to Snape’s desk staring at the ceiling, “Childish, eh?”
Snape did not respond, but he wasn’t grumbling either now so she knew he agreed with her.
“By the way got turned down for that transfer, eh? Always the birdesmaid and never the bride.”
“You have no idea.” he finally muttered, still working on the paperwork before him.
But the point was reached. Snape didn’t give anyone the time of day who tried to draw him into the whole Boggart thing, and if they did they soon found themselves with sufficent “reason” to “drop it” (though nobody would say what “reasoning” Snape used to convince them of the error of their ways).
‘Just as well,’ Alicia thought to herself, ‘Not interested in the inner workings of the socially insecure considering my own social life seems to be in the toilet lately.’
If only Divinations was as easy…. Too bad it wasn’t.
Between trading an endless stream of “I know the future better than you” retorts with Trelawney, she was puzzling over the confusing and very Rube Goldberg styles of divination that Trelawney seemed to love to make them learn. Some of the girls like Parvati Patil and Lavendar Brown became so obsessed with the class that they spent their lunchtimes in there, but Alicia just couldn‘t see the appeal in that kind of obsessive compulsive behavior. One time Angelina & Katie said they wanted to go to these lunchtime divinations, until Alicia shook her head and said “They’re not making out in class during lunch, you know. Just so you know.” and that silenced that from the two. Too bad that was the only “silence” from them.
Otherwise they were all about the school like newlyweds, holding hands and giggling together and sharing food and what-not. They traipsed around the school like girls in love, and yes they were girls in love… but still, that was abit much for Alicia who wished it was her on cloud 9 like they were.
Now if she could only convince her “keeper” May that class wasn’t for making out despite the fact she seemed to do nothing but fawn over Neville in class a lot then she‘d be happier, especially since she had no more respect for Divination than the often uptight and irritated Hermione (who had a hate of Trelawney that was even worst than Alicia’s own dislike of the teacher) that would be a sense of progress for her.
Anyway at least, thankfully, she wasn’t Harry Potter. Trelawney keeps staring at him expecting him to drop dead at any moment… or self destruct… or drop dead and self destruct. Whatever floated her crystal ball.
The most interesting class, for all the wrong reasons, was Hagrid’s. It didn’t rate quite as high as Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it had it’s rabid followers since a certain somebody quickly moved in to keep Hagrid from becoming discouraged after the events of his first class.
Somehow May convinced him to carry on, and while the class lineups sure looked interesting enough, the entire class was all smoke and mirrors with much flash and bang and no substance.
The creatures now appearing in the class looked fierce enough, and for all intents and purposes they seemed hot blooded and hard core to the unknowing students… but that was all a lie.
It all started with the second class and the appearance of the Greywall SaberBlades, Elfin wolves that supposidly ran into battle with battalions of elfin warriors, that the “gig“ was effectively “up“ for Alicia. They looked the part and were quite impressive, but were as much real wolves as Alicia was straight. The Greywall SaberBlades were, in fact, shapeshifters who performed nightly in a Edenina version of Las Vegas (based in the same location as Vegas on Terra, the Earthian dream moon). They looked cool, did their thing fine, and seemed genuine… but were faker than Malfoy‘s “personality“ (which was truly fake) if only to Alicia who had actually seen their act when she was -- well, when she was her other self in the past.
The rest, as expected, came from the Las Vegas Primetime Show Revue after that, totally cool to look at but with very little actual threat. Obviously this was a win-win for Hagrid : He won because the creatures were impressive and class favorites, and he won because the creatures were also quite safe to work with and guaranteed no more incidents like the first day. Nice but really… at this point Alicia almost expected May to import a batch of white tigers from the Siegfred & Roy catalog soon and pass them off as rare elfin housecats… it had to happen, especially since the last batch looked like they came from the Barnum & Bailey Dream Circus performing over at the NekoDrome nightly (thrice on weekends).
At the start of October, however, Alicia began to find a new thing to trouble her already worry plagued year (if her year couldn‘t be anymore troubled than it already was). It wasn’t bad enough that she was having a hard time bonding with Hermione, while runaway romance couple roommates Angelina & Katie were going all out in their romance, now something else had to bite into her time and take up more of it than she was willing to give up : Quidditch practice.
The time had come for the Quidditch season to begin, and this year would be a hardship since they had a basketcase of a “fearless leader” who, after spending months stalking each and every one of them, was ready for his nervous breakdown. That day came one Thursday as he called everyone into the locker rooms on the Quidditch pitch near the school.
The room was ghastly cold. It was as if the spectre of doom hovered in the room, mocking Wood, chilling him to his very soul… along with everyone else unlucky enough to be in the same room with him at that exact moment and that exact time.
“Damn his Demon Lord of Terror.” Alicia hissed beneath her breath, wishing she had worn her cold protected battle uniform beneath her usual robes. “I’m going to die of frostbite and haunt Wood forever.”
Oliver Wood, pacing about, looked like he was about to start crying. The burly 17 year old had this rather obvious (though still creepily silent) desperation about him as he paced about like a caged animal, his voice strained a little as he finally addressed everyone in the chilled room (the light from outside fading fast as night began to fall over the land).
“This is our last chance -- my last chance -- to win the Quidditch Cup,” he told them, pacing up and down in front of them nervously, “I’ll be leaving at the end of this year. I’ll never get another shot at it.”
An errie silence fillled the room briefly as he gathered his thoughts, before forging forward with his pre-prepared and pre-rehearsed speech (that Alicia has already been victimzed by four hours prior as he had caught her in an empty class and made her listen to it).
“Gryffindor hasn’t won for seven years running. Seven years… sure, we’ve had the worst damnable luck in the world it seems, what with injuries and the tournament being called off due to the whole thing over the Basilisk…” Wood spoke, swallowing hard as he remembered that incident with particular bitterness. “But despite all that we also know that we’ve got the best -- damn -- ruddy -- team -- in -- the -- whole school!” he hissed, forcing each words from his lips one at a time, swinging his fist hard punching it into his open hand, as if to punctuate that statement.
“We’ve got three superb Chasers.”
Alicia nodded absently, her eyes glancing over towards the attentive Angelina & Katie, almost muttering “Two lovesick Chasers” but thinking better of it.
“We’ve got two unbeatable Beaters.”
“Stop it, Oliver, you’re embarrassing us!” Fred and George chorous together, to which Alicia almost wanted to hiss “Not likely.”
“And we’ve got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!”
Finally Alicia’s eyes spun to Harry, who sat attentive without any remarks like the Weasley brothers.
“And me,” Wood finally completed, almost as an afterthought.
“We think you’re very good too, Oliver.” George said, finally focusing on someone other than himself.
“Spanking good Keeper,” Fred chimed in.
“The point is,” Oliver continued, not wanting for a second to be thrown from his speech (as if he was afraid he would not be able to continue if he stopped even for a second), “the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the team, I’ve thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven’t got it, and this year’s the last chance we’ll get to finally see our name on the thing…”
‘Sure it’s not going to be just your and Harry’s name on it?’ Alicia thought to herself, almost sighing as she leaned back, hands automatically rubbing to keep herself warm.
* * * * * *
At that the team started training three evenings a week.
The weather only got worst. It got colder and colder, and wetter and wetter, with the evenings growing darker and darker… and yet that didn’t stop them from training three days a week, even if it killed Alicia (which it didn’t). While the mud, wind, or rain didn’t diminish some of their dreams of the cup, Alicia didn’t seem particularly hot on it despite the fact she was giving her 100% every practice.
And so Alicia returned to the Common Room one night wasted, eyes abit bleary as she stumbled in only to find everyone up and excited over something. Barely falling into the couch near the two fireside chairs now occupied by Ron and Hermione (nearly missing Harry as she did), Alicia flopped over the side of the couch and muttered “What’s up…”
“”First Hogsmeade weekend coming up,” Ron said excitedly, trying to copy Hermione’s Astronomy chart whenever she turned her back to talk to Harry (only to get his hand smacked everytime he tried). “End of October. Halloween.”
“Excellent,” Fred said as he filed in seconds after Alicia, “I need to visit Zonko’s. I’m nearly out of Stink Pellets.”
“You stink enough on your own.” Alicia muttered, feeling the depression only growing at the announcement. So it had finally come, the trip to Hogsmeade, wonderous. She couldn’t get her paper signed and had dreaded this moment that was to come… and now it has come. That means Hemione would be able to go, which means she would FINALLY get out of study mode… which Alicia couldn’t exploit since she couldn’t go with her… talk about a disappointing turn of events!
Hermione, misreading Alicia’s glum features, said “Alicia, I’m sure you’ll be able to go next time.”
Talk about being the queen of wishful thinking… waitaminute!
“I think I got an idea.” Alicia muttered, eyes glittering abit as a thought occurred to her. A nasty wonderful brilliant little thought.
Suddenly, before Hermione could inquire, Crookshank appeared and leaped on her lap, a dead spider dangling from it’s weird little mouth. That was gross.
“Does he have to eat that in front of us?” Ron muttered, scowling.
“Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?” said Hermione, almost cooing over the gigantic furball sitting on her lap. “I’m going to throw up all over it’s fur.” Alicia muttered, closing her eyes tight.
As if to end the night Ron did the taboo thing of offering to allow Harry and Alicia to copy his already partially copied star chart, and then the fuss he kicked up when Crookshanks tried to add Scabbers to the menu as an after dinner snack… spider and rat, not yummy.
Obviously Alicia didn’t have much of an appetite for chocolate after watching that.
* * * * * *
It was bad enough that Ron and Hermione seperated on a bad mood last night.
Ron, true to form, clung onto his bad mood as he would a prized Quidditch collectible when the sun rose on a brand new day, chosing to wallow in his own bitterness rather than even try to get over last night.
The bitter little pill was a pain during Herbology, which was a pain since he, Hermione and Harry were working together to take care of the same Puffapod. Alicia fared no better since she got stuck with Quidditch teammates Angelina and Katie as partners.
Angelina sighed a near breathless giggle, her finger deftly tickling the top of Katie’s hand as they slowly worked on pulling the stripped fat pink pods from the puffapods. Katie smirked and returned the motion, alternating between playing finger tag and pulling pods. Alicia, the very visage of annoyance, pulled her pods mindlessly as she worked. “Can you at least wait until lunch before you two make out?”
“We’re not making out.” Angelina muttered, her goofy grin never leaving her face once.
“Careful, Weasley, careful!” Professor Sprout cried from behind, nearly causing Alicia to spill her beans onto the floor (adding to the mess already caused by Ron). “…I need my very own sexfriend.”
The rest of the class was spent in moody silence, stuck with watching her teammates make goggily eyes.
“P.S.” Alicia muttered, “My practice Quaffle isn’t your sexaide, please stop tribading with it…” (silence) “…at least pay me rent for it everytime you mount it dammit… or make me a home vid sphere for private use… something.”
Transfiguration was boring, especially since Alicia’s plan had nothing to do with Professor McGonagall.
She waited for Potions, because her plan was to go straight to Snape and get him to do the deed for her.
A good idea, especially since she had sufficent “pull” to get him to bend… didn’t she?
The moment she had a free chance to grab him she did just that. She quickly went straight to Snape, jumping into his free chair as she looked at him intently. “I need you to forge me a permission form.”
Snape, barely looking up from his work, narrowed his eyes abit at the thought. “I didn’t think you were so hot and bothered to go to a place like Hogsmeade.”
“What can I say, my love life is dead (you know THAT situation all too well don‘t you).” she answered honestly, “Gimme a break.”
His pen began scratching on the parchment he had before him, slowly writing on it as he barely glanced up at Alicia, “I’m afraid not, Spinnet. Maybe you should have spent more time “buttering” up the head of your own house if you were planning on using your “charms” to gain favors, because I can’t help you since you are not of my own house.”
“Never stopped you before from meddling in the affairs of other houses.” Alicia shot halfheartedly, trying to widdle away at his iron clad defense, realizing immediately that she really wasn’t as interested in Hogsmeade as in just finding time to get close to Hermione.
“The form clearly states that only a parent or a guardian may give permission, and I am most certainly neither of those.” Snape remarked coldly, continuing to write as he spoke. “But leaving the castle should be no real problem for you. All you have to do, after all, is have your Dementor friends cover your retreat.”
“Which leaves me screwed when I get back though.” Alicia countered.
“Ah…” Snape hissed in a rather unpleasant way, “…my point exactly.”
She hated it when he was so damn smug. Though, for once, she conceited that he had a reason to be so.
She sucked sinking this low even if it was for her waning love life.
* * * * * *
And that, as they say, was that.
Deciding to call it a failure, Alicia conceited that she wouldn’t be going to Hogsmeade this year and thought it was (after all) for the best. “Not like I can’t go to London if I really really need something.” she noted, which she (in fact) could (secretly of course). “So I’m not exactly missing out.”
Ron, however, didn’t take the news of Harry’s failing so well. In fact he kind of lost it.
He began to call Professor McGonagall everything under the sun and stars that he could think of, and when pressed to “duty” it seemed that he was capable of thinking of quite a few unpleasant things to say (half of which met with great displeasure from Hermione).
Hermione, in her even toned way, assumed that this was all “for the best” which, well, really didn’t do anything to cheer up either Harry or Alicia in the slightest bit.
Ron, as expected, got only angrier at Hermione’s easy going attitude… all the while Harry & Alicia had to endure the endless rattling on from classmates about their well-laid plans for Hogsmeade weekend.
“The best laid plans of overplanning people.” Alicia sighed, not caring anymore to count the amount of people who were going to go into a sugar induced coma while in Hogsmeade as compared to the people who were going to try and “score” while away from school.
“There’s always the feast,” Ron said cheerily, trying to muster his own level of even going attitude in light of the dim chance of McGonagall changing her mind about Harry (or Alicia though he labored in misconception about Alicia asking her in the first place). “You know, the Halloween feast, in the evening.”
“Thank you ever so you great glowing sun of conformity.” Alicia muttered, staring blankly at Ron. “I think I liked you better when you were ranting like a lunatic.”
‘Face it.’ Alicia thought as she leaned back in her seat, ‘I have about as much interest in Hogsmeade as I do in working at the local SpellMart as a greeter.’ (bleah) ‘I just want to be near Hermione the moment she snaps out of her study fixation and becomes normal again… if such a thing was inhumanly possible.’
Dean Thomas, who was good with quill and hand, offered to forge Uncle Vernon’s name and the name of Alicia’s parents, but it was way too late for that by now… pity he didn’t offer that a month ago.
Ron tried to suggest the invisibility cloak only to be reminded about the Dem-- suddenly Ron jumped at Alicia and tried to make her “escort” Harry through the Dementors only for her to shoot it down right off. “They’re hot on Potter for some ungodly reason.” she noted with a slight bit of irritation in her voice, “They’ll be drawn to him like flies to liquid sugar! We wouldn’t get five feet outside of the school before they rush him, which would end in a failing firefight running battle right back to the school in defeat!”
Percy, bless his evil soul, had the worst thing to say to them when he said “They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you two that it’s not all it’s cracked up be…” (then he stopped) “…alright, there is the sweetshop which is rather spot on good, then there’s Zonko’s Joke Shop (which I introduced Fred & George too no matter what they say), and yes, the Shrieking Shack’s always worth a visit, but--”
Alicia clamps her hand onto Percy’s mouth to silence him.
“Please stop. We can’t take anymore good cheer and positive commentary from you.”
* * * * * *
Finally the day came. Halloween day.
On Halloween morning Alicia slowly dragged herself out of bed, abit worst for wear all things considered.
‘Well,’ she silently mused, ‘It’s not like I have any reason to wake up early today.’
So, with that she decided to stay in bed (after going down for food and packing enough in one of her tesseract jewels to keep to the room all day).
Hermione made a promise to deliver sweets to her and Harry, which kind of cheered her up… though not really since she was only beginning to thaw from her relentless bookworminess, with the full meltdown happening out of her range. Bummer.
She didn’t accompany them to the entrance, but eventually she did leave the girl’s quarters to wander the school if only to stretch her legs from her longer than normal bedstay. It was during this wandering that she ran into Flitch abruptly, who regarded her with a strange expression. He didn’t say a word, but he seemed to have something on the tip of his tongue that he wouldn’t… or couldn’t… spit out.
“Whatever.” she sighed in resentment, waving him off as she walked off. “Life sucks for us misfit humans.”
So intent on getting away from Flitch, she wandered aimlessly until he walked right into the opening door of the last person she wanted to see at that moment… Lupin. Shocked, he nearly stumbled out of the doorway towards the now stunned Alicia, who took the door full on in her face and was now on her butt looking about in a confused manner. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. What are you doing here?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice, “Where are Ron & Hermione?”
“Don’t you want to know where Harry is?” she asked, to which he said “Harry told me they went to Hogsmeade.”
“If you knew that already…” Alicia hissed in response, “…don’t ask me what you already know.”
And, with that, she pulled herself to her feet as Lupin looked on, “I was only trying to…uh…” (slight sigh) “How about a drink? I just got a grindylow for our next lesson, maybe you’d like to see it.”
‘Maybe it’d like to see me more like it.’ Alicia pondered silently, but relented to being taken in.
As she followed Lupin into the office she noticed the gigantic water tank, and the sickly green creature staring at her from inside the tank. The creature, with sharp little horns, had it’s face pressed tightly against the glass of the tank, making faces and flexing it’s long long fingers… until Alicia bolted forward and nearly slammed her face into the tank, giving the creature a dreadful fright and sending it flying into the weeds in the corner of the tank.
“Uh… that might be a water demon, but you don’t need to give it a heart attack.” Lupin remarked, motioning towards the tank as he passed Alicia. “You really shouldn’t have much difficulty with him, not after tha kap--” (Alicia’s face turns ashen) “--oh, right, the amorous Kappa. Uh… anyway --” (cough cough) “-- the trick is to break it’s grip, it’s fingers is very long but also very brittle… see?” (motions to his hands now filled) “Cup of tea?”
“No thanks.” Alicia declined, “I’m set.” she said as she pulled a bottle of soda from a tessaract.
“By the way, just out of curiousity…” Lupin asked, fishing… “About your Boggart confrontation…”
“Fear of being alone.” Alicia responded, getting a bit of a nod from Lupin, who said no more on it.
An awkward silence filled the room between them as Lupin struggled to find a common ground with the morbidly silent Spinnet. “I better get going.” Alicia announced suddenly, standing up. As she did she noticed the strange smoking potion on Lupin’s desk, “You’re taking up liquid pot smoking these days?”
“It’s from Severus… Professor Snape.” Lupin answered, pulling another long (distasteful) drink from the goblet as he spoke, “I have never been much of a potion brewer, and this one is particularly complex.”
Alicia - “Yeah, it must suck that the only person capable of making it is the guy you treated like shit when you were both schoolmates, eh?”
Lupin’s eyes narrowed, his face froze, and not a word came from his lips.
“Your silence speaks volumes.” Alicia finished, walking out without another word, leaving Lupin alone.
“Apparently so.”
* * * * * *
“There you go!” Ron cried out, shoving a giant goody bag into Alicia’s arms as she returned to the common room, nearly knocking her over as she returned. Apparently they all returned while she was spending “quality” time with Lupin in his office. “We got as much as we could carry.”
Alicia reached into her robes and pulled out a fistful of gold, giving it over to Ron in turn, “Thanks.” (Hermione tried to make Ron return the gold, but Alicia sternly refused to the point that Ron accepted happily… if only not to get on Alicia’s bad side as opposed to getting on Hermione‘s bad side).
After that it was off to the verbal races as everyone told their tales as quickly (and as loud) as they could. With everyone going on it was no problem for Alicia to find a quiet spot in the room, sit down, and quietly pursue her bag of goodies while casually listening to the others talk. So much for warming Hermione up, as she was already going back to her uber talkative focused self already.
Eventually it was time to head down to the meal, Alicia tagging along at the rear of the line as they all headed down towards the Great Hall (their small group growing larger as they picked up other groups of students on their march to the Great Hall).
Once there Alicia’s mood improved, especially once they began to eat.
Maybe it was the décor, what with the hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins filled with burning candles (which somehow prompted Alicia to mumble the lyrics to Disco Inferno for some odd reason).
Maybe it was the strange cloud of live bats (thoughts of Batman occasionally poked into her mind).
Maybe it was the flaming orange streamers (thoughts of fire code violations also poked into her mind should the flaming pumpkins and the many streamers meet) which set the “sky” ablaze in color even as it was cloaked in darkness as a storm raged about the castle even as they sat down to eat.
But still, something about that night made the food just taste that much better for some reason.
The food was delicious, the company was pleasant, and even those who gorged on sweets from town managed to find room to eat… still, Alicia pondered, she wondered if there would be enough bathrooms on campus to handle several hundred chocolate overdosed hyperactive kids with bladder problems… she thought it best not to ponder it any further than that one inquiry, and to leave it to “nature” to sort out.
Professor Lupin looked his usual cheery self, a departure from his sudden moody swing as they talked earlier in the day. He was having a lively conversation with Professor Flitwick from Charms, who hopefully wasn’t one of his confidantes in teasing Snape when they were younger. ‘Does the headmaster ALWAYS like to put volitale teachers together in the same school…’ Alicia thought briefly, pondering why these two former enemies were put into this situation in the first place.
Snape, as par the course, was always glancing at Lupin. That didn’t surprise Alicia in the slightest, after all they had history so it’s no question that Snape still fostered lots of pent up aggrivation towards him (and for good reason no doubt since she didn’t know the details of his past with Snape).
The feast came to an end with entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts, but that was all the entertainment Alicia was in the mood for as she silently sneaked out without a word to anyone.
On the walk up to Gryffindor Tower she had time to ponder what was going on.
She was being slowly stalked by an Assassin Guilder for reasons only he/it knew, which probably had to do with her ascension in power last year after claiming herself a new amulet and Heart core to channel her powers through.
She had these ghastly Dementor things who occasionally reported in to her as if she was their den mother or leader or whatever, which didn’t look good for her seeing how the school’s headmaster had a mad-on against the whole Dementor thing.
And she had to complete the year while trying to salvage any attempt at a romantic relationship with the intellectually burdened Hermione who seemed to only loosen up in Hogsmeade (which did Alicia no good because she couldn’t access Hogsmeade because she couldn’t get her paper signed)!
This was nothing but bad news for her.
It got worst when she approached the portrait of the Fat Lady and heard a scream.
She went into a quick run right away, ignoring all common sense as she ran right towards the sound of the scream without a second thought. There, she was quickly confronted by a looming figure of a man, cutting impliment in hand as he angrily slashed as the portrait trying to gain entry. The painting was torn open, and the barrier beyond was superficially damaged with the decorative wood broken apart and sticking out like a sharp wooden barrier against intrusion (the solid spell enhanced door itself standing fully intact from the assault).
As she stared at him something perculiar happened… she hesistated, allowing him enough time to move first. He quickly turned, and charged at her bringing her senses back into action. She dodged to one side, aiming up to fire at him, but he was too quick. Grabbing her outstreched hands he quickly swung her about, sending her flying into the damaged painting.
Her body was wracked with terrible sharp violating pain as she slammed headlong into the barrier blocking the entryway into the tower, a loud reverberating through her body as she hit with force into the obstruction.
Her mind struggled to pull herself together as she felt him quickly rush her. Blood must have been coming from her head as she felt a hot wetness, but she was certain it also came from her body as well.
Did she get impaled with wood shards? It felt as if her body was wracked with a terrible pain which was robing her of her senses, and perhaps even her life. A new scream filled her pained ears, but this time it wasn’t a woman’s… it was a man’s, and it sounded as if he was panicked about something.
But this was a minor thing to the all consuming pain that enveloped Alicia’s being. She struggled to stay awake, but the pain was too much for her to bear, the warmth of her own blood seemingly coaxing her body shutting down as every sense failed her. A few seconds passed, and then her mind and body betrayed her, shutting down from the excruciating pain that beat into her skull relentlessly. The last thing she remembers is the figure on top of her, and being held in his arms as he wretched her robes open.
* * * * * *
Harry, Ron and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to the Tower, being the tail end of a long chain of students, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady they found it jammed with students.
“Why isn’t anyone going in?” Ron asked, curiousity tinging his voice as he strained to look over the traffic jam of people that piled up ahead of them. Harry, also curious, peered over the heads in front of him, as of to confirm with his own eyes that the portrait was indeed closed (which it was).
Percy, pushing his way past, began to forge his way forward into the group in abit of a huff, “Let me through here, please,” he called out, pushing and shoving his way past, an air of self imposed “importance” beaming from him as he made his way through, “What’s the holdup here? You can’t all have forgotten the password -- excuse me, I’m Head Boy, excuse me…”
As he reached the front, however, silence reigned once again. Even his demanding voice ceased once he came to the sight that everyone beheld at the head of the line. Suddenly Percy screamed “Somebody get Professor Dumbledore, QUICKLY!!”
Everyone’s heads turned, as if waiting for the person behind them to do the deed, but not one moved from their spot. “What’s going on?” somebody (Ginny) asked as she joined Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Several long moments passed until somebody finally managed to get Professor Dumbledore, his robes sweeping dramatically as a “hole” was cleared into the crowd to allow him access. As everyone quickly moved to either side of the corridor to allow him access, the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione moved forward to get a better look.
“Oh, no!” Hermione choked, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked towards the painting.
The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed viciously to the point that “debris“ of the painting lied scattered about. The decorative door covering was broken and shattered, with several shards of it lying about the floor. But it was the floor that drew the most attention. There, lying on top of her own robes, was Alicia Spinnet. Her body was face down, legs spread and arms sprawled up as if she was on all fours and fell over in a heap. Her back was scarred with several large wounds (magically healing as they watched), with several wooden fragment to one side stained in her blood.
Her breathing was slow, labored but slow. She was in no pain now it seemed, and her wounds seemed to have been cared for as she was in no immediate danger of dying. Still, the condition she was left in left little to the imagination. Dumbledore quickly took her into his arms, pulling her robes over her body as he held her tightly in his strong grasp. His eyes somberly turned towards the approaching Professors McGonagall, Lupin and Snape as they hurried towards him. Snape, at first stone face, went pale as he saw her in his arms.
“We need to find the Fat Lady,” Dumbledore said gravely. “Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Flich at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady.”
“A wasted effort.” a dark grim voice called out. All heads quickly looked towards the end of the corridor to notice that they were being watched by a reptilian thing with shiny metal technology grafted to it’s head and spine. It stared at them with it’s emotionless face, silence reigning as they watched him… until a burst of robes whirled past Harry, Ron and Hermione with a yell of “KILL IT!!”
Spell shots rang out, hitting the reptilian dead on, only to cause it no damage. It flickered, showing a glowing sphere within the translucent “form” of the creature. “If you are quite done…”
Dumbledore grabbed ahold of Snape, pulling him back as the Galerian watched them. Several students, who pulled their wands at the cry of “KILL IT” slowly put their wands back, looking awkward.
“With all of you spell throwers I had to adjust my tactics in an environment like this. This holo-drone usit is now protected against energy attacks -- it’s only weakness being a pure all out physical assault on the “heart” which, I am assure you, none of you are capable of delivering. Now, if we are done flinging power shots about… you are looking for the amply built fascimile woman known rather non P.C. as The Fat Lady, I take it.”
Silence. He knew they were all paying attention to him, and he was carefully and skillfully working the crowd to his advantage. “She is abit… distressed. She doesn’t want to be seen, oh no, she’s in quite a bit of a mess she is. Last I saw of her she was running through the landscapes on the fourth floor of this complex, dodging between the fascimile trees as she did. She was…” (it spreads it’s claws outwards drawing his already rapt audience’s attention tighter onto him) “…crying something fierce. Very emotional for a faux humanoid most certainly.”
(No attempts by Ron to get Hermione to tell him what “fascimile” and “faux” was seemed to work.)
“Did she say who did it?” Dumbledore asked quietly, his eyes boring down solidly on the Galerian.
“Oh yes, I did see that seeing how it was my drone unit who saw her just minutes ago, while I myself witnessed the whole affair down here…” (motioning towards Alicia) “…he did get quite angry when the Fat Lady refused him entry, but I guess prison life made him hungry for the finer things in life since he did take time after saving her to… “save” her.”
The Galerian holo-image began to back away, towards the exit, never looking away for an instance from it’s audience. “But I guess prison life does that to people like Sirius Black… now, if you’ll…”
It said no more. A large hand grabbed it, and crushed the protective shell shield about the holosphere shattering it in his hand. Hagrid, brushing the metallic remains from his hand, looked at the crowd with a bit of a frown marring his usually jovial features. “Guess being all muscles have it’s advantages now and again, eh?”
To Be Continued
Azkaban Episode 8
It was at that moment, after the first class of Defense Against the Dark Arts, that Alicia formed a differing opinion from the others she usually agreed with.
As expected, Defense Against the Dark Arts zoomed into the stratosphere and became most people’s favorite class… with the exception of certain Slytherins, and one very unimpressed Alicia Spinnet.
“Look at the state of his robes,” Malfoy grumbled in a loud “whisper” as Professor Lupin passed. “He dresses like our old hou--” (FWACK!!) “--!!!”
Alicia, passing by Malfoy in turn, sneered at him. “Blah blah blah.”
Her dislike of the class seemed to grow once she went to the second class and got a taste of Redcaps.
These creatures, goblinlike entities that haunted places of bloodshed, briefly broke free during the class only to get a good hard look at Alicia, and promptly look as if they were about to cry (before being “caught”).
“I’m not that violent.” Alicia muttered, her eyes wandering over towards the rather ravenous Hermione who seemed to be more intent on eating lunch than talking. “Is it time for your flea medicine yet, Hermione dear? Otherwise your coat seems to be nice and shiny… matches your wolf-like appetite.”
Nothing. She continued to eat without either stopping or looking up. “Is your nose moist? You’re in good health if you have a wet nose…“ Silence. Nothing she said seemed to rouse the slightest reaction from Hermoine as of late, the story of Alicia’s life lately it seems.
When she wasn’t eating she was studying like crazy, and when she wasn’t studying like crazy she was sleeping or doing disappearing acts or something. Weird. She’s been weird ever since she came to school this year and her oddness hasn’t stopped for a single second. Disappointing.
If anything the discouraging turn of events with Hermione seemed to make her hate Defense Against The Dark Arts all the more, if only to the fact that it was something that made other people happy (which she presently didn’t feel like being right now). Third class didn’t help her change her opinion about the class as she continued to lose interest in the class the moment she entered the third class and Kappas was the topic.
Most of the class got the very normal cranky gripey pissed off reaction as the Kappa looked at them, watching each and everyone pass by with a look of total hate. But as Alicia went up to it it stopped looking cranky, and… started singing in it’s mind. For a thing that enjoyed long walks on large lakesides and strangling wandering people it sure had a bad habit of latching onto the wrong people… like Alicia.
“I blame Animal Crossing for it’s ill attempt at courting.” Alicia grumbled, knowing that she was effectively talking to herself now. Ron and Harry were reading the latest Quidditch Quarterly while they were eating, and nobdoy else was nearby to listen to her complain. How wonderous for Alicia (she said to herself).
Potions was easier for her, and everyone, since Alicia had a conversation with Snape right after the whole Boggart incident. At first Snape fumed and flared at the mention of the class, but she knew he would so she went right to the throat and said “Guess having an old class bully as an associate sucks, eh?”
That silenced his complaints dead on, and no more was heard from him on the topic.
It was no coincidence that Lupin picked out Neville for the first go with the Boggart, or for the finale. He knew that Neville had problems with Snape (who didn’t know that) and he used it just for the results that happened. “Despite the fact he is supposed to be so “mature” he still seems to get his jollies off mocking you.” Alicia muttered, leaning back in the chair next to Snape’s desk staring at the ceiling, “Childish, eh?”
Snape did not respond, but he wasn’t grumbling either now so she knew he agreed with her.
“By the way got turned down for that transfer, eh? Always the birdesmaid and never the bride.”
“You have no idea.” he finally muttered, still working on the paperwork before him.
But the point was reached. Snape didn’t give anyone the time of day who tried to draw him into the whole Boggart thing, and if they did they soon found themselves with sufficent “reason” to “drop it” (though nobody would say what “reasoning” Snape used to convince them of the error of their ways).
‘Just as well,’ Alicia thought to herself, ‘Not interested in the inner workings of the socially insecure considering my own social life seems to be in the toilet lately.’
If only Divinations was as easy…. Too bad it wasn’t.
Between trading an endless stream of “I know the future better than you” retorts with Trelawney, she was puzzling over the confusing and very Rube Goldberg styles of divination that Trelawney seemed to love to make them learn. Some of the girls like Parvati Patil and Lavendar Brown became so obsessed with the class that they spent their lunchtimes in there, but Alicia just couldn‘t see the appeal in that kind of obsessive compulsive behavior. One time Angelina & Katie said they wanted to go to these lunchtime divinations, until Alicia shook her head and said “They’re not making out in class during lunch, you know. Just so you know.” and that silenced that from the two. Too bad that was the only “silence” from them.
Otherwise they were all about the school like newlyweds, holding hands and giggling together and sharing food and what-not. They traipsed around the school like girls in love, and yes they were girls in love… but still, that was abit much for Alicia who wished it was her on cloud 9 like they were.
Now if she could only convince her “keeper” May that class wasn’t for making out despite the fact she seemed to do nothing but fawn over Neville in class a lot then she‘d be happier, especially since she had no more respect for Divination than the often uptight and irritated Hermione (who had a hate of Trelawney that was even worst than Alicia’s own dislike of the teacher) that would be a sense of progress for her.
Anyway at least, thankfully, she wasn’t Harry Potter. Trelawney keeps staring at him expecting him to drop dead at any moment… or self destruct… or drop dead and self destruct. Whatever floated her crystal ball.
The most interesting class, for all the wrong reasons, was Hagrid’s. It didn’t rate quite as high as Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it had it’s rabid followers since a certain somebody quickly moved in to keep Hagrid from becoming discouraged after the events of his first class.
Somehow May convinced him to carry on, and while the class lineups sure looked interesting enough, the entire class was all smoke and mirrors with much flash and bang and no substance.
The creatures now appearing in the class looked fierce enough, and for all intents and purposes they seemed hot blooded and hard core to the unknowing students… but that was all a lie.
It all started with the second class and the appearance of the Greywall SaberBlades, Elfin wolves that supposidly ran into battle with battalions of elfin warriors, that the “gig“ was effectively “up“ for Alicia. They looked the part and were quite impressive, but were as much real wolves as Alicia was straight. The Greywall SaberBlades were, in fact, shapeshifters who performed nightly in a Edenina version of Las Vegas (based in the same location as Vegas on Terra, the Earthian dream moon). They looked cool, did their thing fine, and seemed genuine… but were faker than Malfoy‘s “personality“ (which was truly fake) if only to Alicia who had actually seen their act when she was -- well, when she was her other self in the past.
The rest, as expected, came from the Las Vegas Primetime Show Revue after that, totally cool to look at but with very little actual threat. Obviously this was a win-win for Hagrid : He won because the creatures were impressive and class favorites, and he won because the creatures were also quite safe to work with and guaranteed no more incidents like the first day. Nice but really… at this point Alicia almost expected May to import a batch of white tigers from the Siegfred & Roy catalog soon and pass them off as rare elfin housecats… it had to happen, especially since the last batch looked like they came from the Barnum & Bailey Dream Circus performing over at the NekoDrome nightly (thrice on weekends).
At the start of October, however, Alicia began to find a new thing to trouble her already worry plagued year (if her year couldn‘t be anymore troubled than it already was). It wasn’t bad enough that she was having a hard time bonding with Hermione, while runaway romance couple roommates Angelina & Katie were going all out in their romance, now something else had to bite into her time and take up more of it than she was willing to give up : Quidditch practice.
The time had come for the Quidditch season to begin, and this year would be a hardship since they had a basketcase of a “fearless leader” who, after spending months stalking each and every one of them, was ready for his nervous breakdown. That day came one Thursday as he called everyone into the locker rooms on the Quidditch pitch near the school.
The room was ghastly cold. It was as if the spectre of doom hovered in the room, mocking Wood, chilling him to his very soul… along with everyone else unlucky enough to be in the same room with him at that exact moment and that exact time.
“Damn his Demon Lord of Terror.” Alicia hissed beneath her breath, wishing she had worn her cold protected battle uniform beneath her usual robes. “I’m going to die of frostbite and haunt Wood forever.”
Oliver Wood, pacing about, looked like he was about to start crying. The burly 17 year old had this rather obvious (though still creepily silent) desperation about him as he paced about like a caged animal, his voice strained a little as he finally addressed everyone in the chilled room (the light from outside fading fast as night began to fall over the land).
“This is our last chance -- my last chance -- to win the Quidditch Cup,” he told them, pacing up and down in front of them nervously, “I’ll be leaving at the end of this year. I’ll never get another shot at it.”
An errie silence fillled the room briefly as he gathered his thoughts, before forging forward with his pre-prepared and pre-rehearsed speech (that Alicia has already been victimzed by four hours prior as he had caught her in an empty class and made her listen to it).
“Gryffindor hasn’t won for seven years running. Seven years… sure, we’ve had the worst damnable luck in the world it seems, what with injuries and the tournament being called off due to the whole thing over the Basilisk…” Wood spoke, swallowing hard as he remembered that incident with particular bitterness. “But despite all that we also know that we’ve got the best -- damn -- ruddy -- team -- in -- the -- whole school!” he hissed, forcing each words from his lips one at a time, swinging his fist hard punching it into his open hand, as if to punctuate that statement.
“We’ve got three superb Chasers.”
Alicia nodded absently, her eyes glancing over towards the attentive Angelina & Katie, almost muttering “Two lovesick Chasers” but thinking better of it.
“We’ve got two unbeatable Beaters.”
“Stop it, Oliver, you’re embarrassing us!” Fred and George chorous together, to which Alicia almost wanted to hiss “Not likely.”
“And we’ve got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!”
Finally Alicia’s eyes spun to Harry, who sat attentive without any remarks like the Weasley brothers.
“And me,” Wood finally completed, almost as an afterthought.
“We think you’re very good too, Oliver.” George said, finally focusing on someone other than himself.
“Spanking good Keeper,” Fred chimed in.
“The point is,” Oliver continued, not wanting for a second to be thrown from his speech (as if he was afraid he would not be able to continue if he stopped even for a second), “the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the team, I’ve thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven’t got it, and this year’s the last chance we’ll get to finally see our name on the thing…”
‘Sure it’s not going to be just your and Harry’s name on it?’ Alicia thought to herself, almost sighing as she leaned back, hands automatically rubbing to keep herself warm.
* * * * * *
At that the team started training three evenings a week.
The weather only got worst. It got colder and colder, and wetter and wetter, with the evenings growing darker and darker… and yet that didn’t stop them from training three days a week, even if it killed Alicia (which it didn’t). While the mud, wind, or rain didn’t diminish some of their dreams of the cup, Alicia didn’t seem particularly hot on it despite the fact she was giving her 100% every practice.
And so Alicia returned to the Common Room one night wasted, eyes abit bleary as she stumbled in only to find everyone up and excited over something. Barely falling into the couch near the two fireside chairs now occupied by Ron and Hermione (nearly missing Harry as she did), Alicia flopped over the side of the couch and muttered “What’s up…”
“”First Hogsmeade weekend coming up,” Ron said excitedly, trying to copy Hermione’s Astronomy chart whenever she turned her back to talk to Harry (only to get his hand smacked everytime he tried). “End of October. Halloween.”
“Excellent,” Fred said as he filed in seconds after Alicia, “I need to visit Zonko’s. I’m nearly out of Stink Pellets.”
“You stink enough on your own.” Alicia muttered, feeling the depression only growing at the announcement. So it had finally come, the trip to Hogsmeade, wonderous. She couldn’t get her paper signed and had dreaded this moment that was to come… and now it has come. That means Hemione would be able to go, which means she would FINALLY get out of study mode… which Alicia couldn’t exploit since she couldn’t go with her… talk about a disappointing turn of events!
Hermione, misreading Alicia’s glum features, said “Alicia, I’m sure you’ll be able to go next time.”
Talk about being the queen of wishful thinking… waitaminute!
“I think I got an idea.” Alicia muttered, eyes glittering abit as a thought occurred to her. A nasty wonderful brilliant little thought.
Suddenly, before Hermione could inquire, Crookshank appeared and leaped on her lap, a dead spider dangling from it’s weird little mouth. That was gross.
“Does he have to eat that in front of us?” Ron muttered, scowling.
“Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?” said Hermione, almost cooing over the gigantic furball sitting on her lap. “I’m going to throw up all over it’s fur.” Alicia muttered, closing her eyes tight.
As if to end the night Ron did the taboo thing of offering to allow Harry and Alicia to copy his already partially copied star chart, and then the fuss he kicked up when Crookshanks tried to add Scabbers to the menu as an after dinner snack… spider and rat, not yummy.
Obviously Alicia didn’t have much of an appetite for chocolate after watching that.
* * * * * *
It was bad enough that Ron and Hermione seperated on a bad mood last night.
Ron, true to form, clung onto his bad mood as he would a prized Quidditch collectible when the sun rose on a brand new day, chosing to wallow in his own bitterness rather than even try to get over last night.
The bitter little pill was a pain during Herbology, which was a pain since he, Hermione and Harry were working together to take care of the same Puffapod. Alicia fared no better since she got stuck with Quidditch teammates Angelina and Katie as partners.
Angelina sighed a near breathless giggle, her finger deftly tickling the top of Katie’s hand as they slowly worked on pulling the stripped fat pink pods from the puffapods. Katie smirked and returned the motion, alternating between playing finger tag and pulling pods. Alicia, the very visage of annoyance, pulled her pods mindlessly as she worked. “Can you at least wait until lunch before you two make out?”
“We’re not making out.” Angelina muttered, her goofy grin never leaving her face once.
“Careful, Weasley, careful!” Professor Sprout cried from behind, nearly causing Alicia to spill her beans onto the floor (adding to the mess already caused by Ron). “…I need my very own sexfriend.”
The rest of the class was spent in moody silence, stuck with watching her teammates make goggily eyes.
“P.S.” Alicia muttered, “My practice Quaffle isn’t your sexaide, please stop tribading with it…” (silence) “…at least pay me rent for it everytime you mount it dammit… or make me a home vid sphere for private use… something.”
Transfiguration was boring, especially since Alicia’s plan had nothing to do with Professor McGonagall.
She waited for Potions, because her plan was to go straight to Snape and get him to do the deed for her.
A good idea, especially since she had sufficent “pull” to get him to bend… didn’t she?
The moment she had a free chance to grab him she did just that. She quickly went straight to Snape, jumping into his free chair as she looked at him intently. “I need you to forge me a permission form.”
Snape, barely looking up from his work, narrowed his eyes abit at the thought. “I didn’t think you were so hot and bothered to go to a place like Hogsmeade.”
“What can I say, my love life is dead (you know THAT situation all too well don‘t you).” she answered honestly, “Gimme a break.”
His pen began scratching on the parchment he had before him, slowly writing on it as he barely glanced up at Alicia, “I’m afraid not, Spinnet. Maybe you should have spent more time “buttering” up the head of your own house if you were planning on using your “charms” to gain favors, because I can’t help you since you are not of my own house.”
“Never stopped you before from meddling in the affairs of other houses.” Alicia shot halfheartedly, trying to widdle away at his iron clad defense, realizing immediately that she really wasn’t as interested in Hogsmeade as in just finding time to get close to Hermione.
“The form clearly states that only a parent or a guardian may give permission, and I am most certainly neither of those.” Snape remarked coldly, continuing to write as he spoke. “But leaving the castle should be no real problem for you. All you have to do, after all, is have your Dementor friends cover your retreat.”
“Which leaves me screwed when I get back though.” Alicia countered.
“Ah…” Snape hissed in a rather unpleasant way, “…my point exactly.”
She hated it when he was so damn smug. Though, for once, she conceited that he had a reason to be so.
She sucked sinking this low even if it was for her waning love life.
* * * * * *
And that, as they say, was that.
Deciding to call it a failure, Alicia conceited that she wouldn’t be going to Hogsmeade this year and thought it was (after all) for the best. “Not like I can’t go to London if I really really need something.” she noted, which she (in fact) could (secretly of course). “So I’m not exactly missing out.”
Ron, however, didn’t take the news of Harry’s failing so well. In fact he kind of lost it.
He began to call Professor McGonagall everything under the sun and stars that he could think of, and when pressed to “duty” it seemed that he was capable of thinking of quite a few unpleasant things to say (half of which met with great displeasure from Hermione).
Hermione, in her even toned way, assumed that this was all “for the best” which, well, really didn’t do anything to cheer up either Harry or Alicia in the slightest bit.
Ron, as expected, got only angrier at Hermione’s easy going attitude… all the while Harry & Alicia had to endure the endless rattling on from classmates about their well-laid plans for Hogsmeade weekend.
“The best laid plans of overplanning people.” Alicia sighed, not caring anymore to count the amount of people who were going to go into a sugar induced coma while in Hogsmeade as compared to the people who were going to try and “score” while away from school.
“There’s always the feast,” Ron said cheerily, trying to muster his own level of even going attitude in light of the dim chance of McGonagall changing her mind about Harry (or Alicia though he labored in misconception about Alicia asking her in the first place). “You know, the Halloween feast, in the evening.”
“Thank you ever so you great glowing sun of conformity.” Alicia muttered, staring blankly at Ron. “I think I liked you better when you were ranting like a lunatic.”
‘Face it.’ Alicia thought as she leaned back in her seat, ‘I have about as much interest in Hogsmeade as I do in working at the local SpellMart as a greeter.’ (bleah) ‘I just want to be near Hermione the moment she snaps out of her study fixation and becomes normal again… if such a thing was inhumanly possible.’
Dean Thomas, who was good with quill and hand, offered to forge Uncle Vernon’s name and the name of Alicia’s parents, but it was way too late for that by now… pity he didn’t offer that a month ago.
Ron tried to suggest the invisibility cloak only to be reminded about the Dem-- suddenly Ron jumped at Alicia and tried to make her “escort” Harry through the Dementors only for her to shoot it down right off. “They’re hot on Potter for some ungodly reason.” she noted with a slight bit of irritation in her voice, “They’ll be drawn to him like flies to liquid sugar! We wouldn’t get five feet outside of the school before they rush him, which would end in a failing firefight running battle right back to the school in defeat!”
Percy, bless his evil soul, had the worst thing to say to them when he said “They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you two that it’s not all it’s cracked up be…” (then he stopped) “…alright, there is the sweetshop which is rather spot on good, then there’s Zonko’s Joke Shop (which I introduced Fred & George too no matter what they say), and yes, the Shrieking Shack’s always worth a visit, but--”
Alicia clamps her hand onto Percy’s mouth to silence him.
“Please stop. We can’t take anymore good cheer and positive commentary from you.”
* * * * * *
Finally the day came. Halloween day.
On Halloween morning Alicia slowly dragged herself out of bed, abit worst for wear all things considered.
‘Well,’ she silently mused, ‘It’s not like I have any reason to wake up early today.’
So, with that she decided to stay in bed (after going down for food and packing enough in one of her tesseract jewels to keep to the room all day).
Hermione made a promise to deliver sweets to her and Harry, which kind of cheered her up… though not really since she was only beginning to thaw from her relentless bookworminess, with the full meltdown happening out of her range. Bummer.
She didn’t accompany them to the entrance, but eventually she did leave the girl’s quarters to wander the school if only to stretch her legs from her longer than normal bedstay. It was during this wandering that she ran into Flitch abruptly, who regarded her with a strange expression. He didn’t say a word, but he seemed to have something on the tip of his tongue that he wouldn’t… or couldn’t… spit out.
“Whatever.” she sighed in resentment, waving him off as she walked off. “Life sucks for us misfit humans.”
So intent on getting away from Flitch, she wandered aimlessly until he walked right into the opening door of the last person she wanted to see at that moment… Lupin. Shocked, he nearly stumbled out of the doorway towards the now stunned Alicia, who took the door full on in her face and was now on her butt looking about in a confused manner. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. What are you doing here?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice, “Where are Ron & Hermione?”
“Don’t you want to know where Harry is?” she asked, to which he said “Harry told me they went to Hogsmeade.”
“If you knew that already…” Alicia hissed in response, “…don’t ask me what you already know.”
And, with that, she pulled herself to her feet as Lupin looked on, “I was only trying to…uh…” (slight sigh) “How about a drink? I just got a grindylow for our next lesson, maybe you’d like to see it.”
‘Maybe it’d like to see me more like it.’ Alicia pondered silently, but relented to being taken in.
As she followed Lupin into the office she noticed the gigantic water tank, and the sickly green creature staring at her from inside the tank. The creature, with sharp little horns, had it’s face pressed tightly against the glass of the tank, making faces and flexing it’s long long fingers… until Alicia bolted forward and nearly slammed her face into the tank, giving the creature a dreadful fright and sending it flying into the weeds in the corner of the tank.
“Uh… that might be a water demon, but you don’t need to give it a heart attack.” Lupin remarked, motioning towards the tank as he passed Alicia. “You really shouldn’t have much difficulty with him, not after tha kap--” (Alicia’s face turns ashen) “--oh, right, the amorous Kappa. Uh… anyway --” (cough cough) “-- the trick is to break it’s grip, it’s fingers is very long but also very brittle… see?” (motions to his hands now filled) “Cup of tea?”
“No thanks.” Alicia declined, “I’m set.” she said as she pulled a bottle of soda from a tessaract.
“By the way, just out of curiousity…” Lupin asked, fishing… “About your Boggart confrontation…”
“Fear of being alone.” Alicia responded, getting a bit of a nod from Lupin, who said no more on it.
An awkward silence filled the room between them as Lupin struggled to find a common ground with the morbidly silent Spinnet. “I better get going.” Alicia announced suddenly, standing up. As she did she noticed the strange smoking potion on Lupin’s desk, “You’re taking up liquid pot smoking these days?”
“It’s from Severus… Professor Snape.” Lupin answered, pulling another long (distasteful) drink from the goblet as he spoke, “I have never been much of a potion brewer, and this one is particularly complex.”
Alicia - “Yeah, it must suck that the only person capable of making it is the guy you treated like shit when you were both schoolmates, eh?”
Lupin’s eyes narrowed, his face froze, and not a word came from his lips.
“Your silence speaks volumes.” Alicia finished, walking out without another word, leaving Lupin alone.
“Apparently so.”
* * * * * *
“There you go!” Ron cried out, shoving a giant goody bag into Alicia’s arms as she returned to the common room, nearly knocking her over as she returned. Apparently they all returned while she was spending “quality” time with Lupin in his office. “We got as much as we could carry.”
Alicia reached into her robes and pulled out a fistful of gold, giving it over to Ron in turn, “Thanks.” (Hermione tried to make Ron return the gold, but Alicia sternly refused to the point that Ron accepted happily… if only not to get on Alicia’s bad side as opposed to getting on Hermione‘s bad side).
After that it was off to the verbal races as everyone told their tales as quickly (and as loud) as they could. With everyone going on it was no problem for Alicia to find a quiet spot in the room, sit down, and quietly pursue her bag of goodies while casually listening to the others talk. So much for warming Hermione up, as she was already going back to her uber talkative focused self already.
Eventually it was time to head down to the meal, Alicia tagging along at the rear of the line as they all headed down towards the Great Hall (their small group growing larger as they picked up other groups of students on their march to the Great Hall).
Once there Alicia’s mood improved, especially once they began to eat.
Maybe it was the décor, what with the hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins filled with burning candles (which somehow prompted Alicia to mumble the lyrics to Disco Inferno for some odd reason).
Maybe it was the strange cloud of live bats (thoughts of Batman occasionally poked into her mind).
Maybe it was the flaming orange streamers (thoughts of fire code violations also poked into her mind should the flaming pumpkins and the many streamers meet) which set the “sky” ablaze in color even as it was cloaked in darkness as a storm raged about the castle even as they sat down to eat.
But still, something about that night made the food just taste that much better for some reason.
The food was delicious, the company was pleasant, and even those who gorged on sweets from town managed to find room to eat… still, Alicia pondered, she wondered if there would be enough bathrooms on campus to handle several hundred chocolate overdosed hyperactive kids with bladder problems… she thought it best not to ponder it any further than that one inquiry, and to leave it to “nature” to sort out.
Professor Lupin looked his usual cheery self, a departure from his sudden moody swing as they talked earlier in the day. He was having a lively conversation with Professor Flitwick from Charms, who hopefully wasn’t one of his confidantes in teasing Snape when they were younger. ‘Does the headmaster ALWAYS like to put volitale teachers together in the same school…’ Alicia thought briefly, pondering why these two former enemies were put into this situation in the first place.
Snape, as par the course, was always glancing at Lupin. That didn’t surprise Alicia in the slightest, after all they had history so it’s no question that Snape still fostered lots of pent up aggrivation towards him (and for good reason no doubt since she didn’t know the details of his past with Snape).
The feast came to an end with entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts, but that was all the entertainment Alicia was in the mood for as she silently sneaked out without a word to anyone.
On the walk up to Gryffindor Tower she had time to ponder what was going on.
She was being slowly stalked by an Assassin Guilder for reasons only he/it knew, which probably had to do with her ascension in power last year after claiming herself a new amulet and Heart core to channel her powers through.
She had these ghastly Dementor things who occasionally reported in to her as if she was their den mother or leader or whatever, which didn’t look good for her seeing how the school’s headmaster had a mad-on against the whole Dementor thing.
And she had to complete the year while trying to salvage any attempt at a romantic relationship with the intellectually burdened Hermione who seemed to only loosen up in Hogsmeade (which did Alicia no good because she couldn’t access Hogsmeade because she couldn’t get her paper signed)!
This was nothing but bad news for her.
It got worst when she approached the portrait of the Fat Lady and heard a scream.
She went into a quick run right away, ignoring all common sense as she ran right towards the sound of the scream without a second thought. There, she was quickly confronted by a looming figure of a man, cutting impliment in hand as he angrily slashed as the portrait trying to gain entry. The painting was torn open, and the barrier beyond was superficially damaged with the decorative wood broken apart and sticking out like a sharp wooden barrier against intrusion (the solid spell enhanced door itself standing fully intact from the assault).
As she stared at him something perculiar happened… she hesistated, allowing him enough time to move first. He quickly turned, and charged at her bringing her senses back into action. She dodged to one side, aiming up to fire at him, but he was too quick. Grabbing her outstreched hands he quickly swung her about, sending her flying into the damaged painting.
Her body was wracked with terrible sharp violating pain as she slammed headlong into the barrier blocking the entryway into the tower, a loud reverberating through her body as she hit with force into the obstruction.
Her mind struggled to pull herself together as she felt him quickly rush her. Blood must have been coming from her head as she felt a hot wetness, but she was certain it also came from her body as well.
Did she get impaled with wood shards? It felt as if her body was wracked with a terrible pain which was robing her of her senses, and perhaps even her life. A new scream filled her pained ears, but this time it wasn’t a woman’s… it was a man’s, and it sounded as if he was panicked about something.
But this was a minor thing to the all consuming pain that enveloped Alicia’s being. She struggled to stay awake, but the pain was too much for her to bear, the warmth of her own blood seemingly coaxing her body shutting down as every sense failed her. A few seconds passed, and then her mind and body betrayed her, shutting down from the excruciating pain that beat into her skull relentlessly. The last thing she remembers is the figure on top of her, and being held in his arms as he wretched her robes open.
* * * * * *
Harry, Ron and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to the Tower, being the tail end of a long chain of students, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady they found it jammed with students.
“Why isn’t anyone going in?” Ron asked, curiousity tinging his voice as he strained to look over the traffic jam of people that piled up ahead of them. Harry, also curious, peered over the heads in front of him, as of to confirm with his own eyes that the portrait was indeed closed (which it was).
Percy, pushing his way past, began to forge his way forward into the group in abit of a huff, “Let me through here, please,” he called out, pushing and shoving his way past, an air of self imposed “importance” beaming from him as he made his way through, “What’s the holdup here? You can’t all have forgotten the password -- excuse me, I’m Head Boy, excuse me…”
As he reached the front, however, silence reigned once again. Even his demanding voice ceased once he came to the sight that everyone beheld at the head of the line. Suddenly Percy screamed “Somebody get Professor Dumbledore, QUICKLY!!”
Everyone’s heads turned, as if waiting for the person behind them to do the deed, but not one moved from their spot. “What’s going on?” somebody (Ginny) asked as she joined Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Several long moments passed until somebody finally managed to get Professor Dumbledore, his robes sweeping dramatically as a “hole” was cleared into the crowd to allow him access. As everyone quickly moved to either side of the corridor to allow him access, the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione moved forward to get a better look.
“Oh, no!” Hermione choked, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked towards the painting.
The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed viciously to the point that “debris“ of the painting lied scattered about. The decorative door covering was broken and shattered, with several shards of it lying about the floor. But it was the floor that drew the most attention. There, lying on top of her own robes, was Alicia Spinnet. Her body was face down, legs spread and arms sprawled up as if she was on all fours and fell over in a heap. Her back was scarred with several large wounds (magically healing as they watched), with several wooden fragment to one side stained in her blood.
Her breathing was slow, labored but slow. She was in no pain now it seemed, and her wounds seemed to have been cared for as she was in no immediate danger of dying. Still, the condition she was left in left little to the imagination. Dumbledore quickly took her into his arms, pulling her robes over her body as he held her tightly in his strong grasp. His eyes somberly turned towards the approaching Professors McGonagall, Lupin and Snape as they hurried towards him. Snape, at first stone face, went pale as he saw her in his arms.
“We need to find the Fat Lady,” Dumbledore said gravely. “Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Flich at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady.”
“A wasted effort.” a dark grim voice called out. All heads quickly looked towards the end of the corridor to notice that they were being watched by a reptilian thing with shiny metal technology grafted to it’s head and spine. It stared at them with it’s emotionless face, silence reigning as they watched him… until a burst of robes whirled past Harry, Ron and Hermione with a yell of “KILL IT!!”
Spell shots rang out, hitting the reptilian dead on, only to cause it no damage. It flickered, showing a glowing sphere within the translucent “form” of the creature. “If you are quite done…”
Dumbledore grabbed ahold of Snape, pulling him back as the Galerian watched them. Several students, who pulled their wands at the cry of “KILL IT” slowly put their wands back, looking awkward.
“With all of you spell throwers I had to adjust my tactics in an environment like this. This holo-drone usit is now protected against energy attacks -- it’s only weakness being a pure all out physical assault on the “heart” which, I am assure you, none of you are capable of delivering. Now, if we are done flinging power shots about… you are looking for the amply built fascimile woman known rather non P.C. as The Fat Lady, I take it.”
Silence. He knew they were all paying attention to him, and he was carefully and skillfully working the crowd to his advantage. “She is abit… distressed. She doesn’t want to be seen, oh no, she’s in quite a bit of a mess she is. Last I saw of her she was running through the landscapes on the fourth floor of this complex, dodging between the fascimile trees as she did. She was…” (it spreads it’s claws outwards drawing his already rapt audience’s attention tighter onto him) “…crying something fierce. Very emotional for a faux humanoid most certainly.”
(No attempts by Ron to get Hermione to tell him what “fascimile” and “faux” was seemed to work.)
“Did she say who did it?” Dumbledore asked quietly, his eyes boring down solidly on the Galerian.
“Oh yes, I did see that seeing how it was my drone unit who saw her just minutes ago, while I myself witnessed the whole affair down here…” (motioning towards Alicia) “…he did get quite angry when the Fat Lady refused him entry, but I guess prison life made him hungry for the finer things in life since he did take time after saving her to… “save” her.”
The Galerian holo-image began to back away, towards the exit, never looking away for an instance from it’s audience. “But I guess prison life does that to people like Sirius Black… now, if you’ll…”
It said no more. A large hand grabbed it, and crushed the protective shell shield about the holosphere shattering it in his hand. Hagrid, brushing the metallic remains from his hand, looked at the crowd with a bit of a frown marring his usually jovial features. “Guess being all muscles have it’s advantages now and again, eh?”
To Be Continued
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Sailor Moon Remastered Episode 1 (10)
Sailor Moon Remastered 1
Hotaru woke up surrounded by green liquid.
Her eyes blurred as she found herself floating in water, tightly packed
into a narrow cylinder with one window looking out into a dimly lit
room. Her hands pounded the case in a panic, each blow impacting the solid glass over and over again until the act began to drain away at her strength level by level, until she could no longer punch the glass.
"Nooooooo---" she thought to herself, panic gripping her, "It can't be!!
It can't be!!"
Her eyesight cleared enough so she could see outside -- that is when realization set in, she was back in hell again.
The cylinder was a suspension pod, and she was being put in hypersleep
against her will. She pounded her fists against the canister, feeling
steadily sleepier and sleepier. "NO!! CHIBI-USA!! GODDESS!! SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF---"
What she saw before her stopped her heart cold.
The scene before her was too carnal and perverted to even bring to
words, but what she saw scared her.
Chibi-Usa laid in a pool of her own blood, bloodied and beaten, as she was being tortured and raped by her friends and family, the other Sailor Soldiers. They were naked, bruised and beaten, themselves, yet they looked downright demonic as they lashed out with wicked glee. She couldn't hear their words, but it scared her nevertheless.
But fear turned quickly to hate… and hate into anger… as her eyes narrowed and turned red, and her fists clenched before her now rage filled eyes. Before she could lash out at the unbreakable glass again, however, two arms wrapped around her, and something behind her whispered in her ear, "Why don't you love me anymore?"
Pink hair floated into her eyesight, and a hollow face with empty eye
sockets stared at her from the glass.
Hotaru screamed in rage, and shattered the glass with one strike sending shards of glass, gushes of green liquid, and driplets of blood flying.
* * * * * *
Hotaru woke up in a cold panic, her sheets gripping her nude form as she
held herself tightly. She wasn’t a young girl anymore, she was 17 years old now, she had to get that through her head and grip to that tightly. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was older now.
She had thought that was behind her. Year after year had passed since
that world, that pain she left behind when her and the other Soldiers
were rescued from their personal hell. Only ChibiUsa didn't make it,
because she was killed and dumped into a shallow grave, her soul ripped
from her body and cast to the four winds unable to be "reborn" ever
again. But yet there was a ChibiUsa waiting for her here, even if she was not the one she fell in love with that age long ago which seemed to have been another exstience ago.
"Why am I dreaming about that now -- why --?" Eve whispered to herself,
her eyes glancing over at ChibiUsa's side of the bed. The loud pink fireball of emotions and spunk slept quietly, her face at peace when she often would sport a mischevious look on her features when awake. She didn’t even seem to notice that Hotaru was wide awake, and that (in Hotaru’s estimation) was for the best. She carefully got out of bed, shaking off the “dust” of sleep as she went into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, locking herself in, she started to wash her face absentmindedly. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she stared at her reflection in the mirror, with Former ChibiUsa’s eyeless hollow tortured face behind her, blood flowing down like tears across her cheeks. “Don’t you love me anymore? I miss you…“
With a yelp of panic Hotaru spun about, only to find nothing behind her. With a stifled groan she turned back towards the mirror, almost expecting to see ChibiUsa’s dead face again only to find herself staring at her own reflection alone once again. With a resentful sigh she shook her head, bending down to splash water onto her face a few times in a futile effort to convince herself that she was still sleeping.
"What the hell was that.“
There was a knock at the door. "Hotaru? You OK? What's wrong??"
Hotaru dimly turned her gaze back to the door, a small smile on her face, “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just…“ (sighs) “…tired.“
"Tired people stay in bed if they’re tired.“ ChibiUsa counters, knocking again as if by knocking X amount of times on the door it would open magically. “Come on, this isn't funny. Don't lock yourself in there, what's going…"
Hotaru opens the door and takes in ChibiUsa‘s nude beauty as she stares at her, "Just getting to see you like this makes waking you up all the more worth it, ChibiUsa.“ (kisses ChibiUsa on the cheek) “I’ll be along shortly, I have to go to the toilet first.“
"Oh." ChibiUsa responded, head lowered abit. “You’re right though, it is worth it just to see you naked like this.”
Hotaru huffs her breath, playfully pushing ChibiUsa out as she closes the door behind her, “If you’re so needy then wait in bed and I’ll take care of all your “needs” when I’m done!“
“Alright!“ she calls out as the door shuts, “Come to bed when your done, I‘ll be waiting!"
"OK!" Hotaru called out, sighing as she walks over to sit down at the toilet (“Might as well cover this while I think about what I’m doing.“ she quietly whispers to herself). Her hand picks up the cellphone from her clothes (she left in the bathroom before bedtime hours ago), her hand absentmindedly dialing a number by memory.
* * * * * *
The first thing Haruka thought when she heard the phone ring was whether
or not she could get away with killing the telemarketer on the other end
if she claimed it was self defense.
Then she thought it was probably Ami-chan with yet another awkwardly
embarrassing question about her sexual relationship with Mako-chan. It
seemed that even though they've been an item for a few years she still
called her, being that they was the only "real" lesbians Ami-chan knew
personally, and riddled either her or Michiru with embarrassingly
intimate questions since Mako-chan apparently had too much pride to
admit that she needed help in those situations. True, in recent years
two new couplings had sprung up yet somehow Ami-chan has yet to feel
comfortable asking for advice from either coupling.
The first, Minako and Artemis, have been a pair ever since he became
human, though since two years ago when he became a "she" Minako had
been flaunting their relationship as now being lesbian in nature
(mostly in a vain attempt to take Ami under her "wing" and become the
"wise role model figure" she felt Haruka/Michiru were to her... though
technically Artemis was more Amazonian than human female considering--
at this point Haruka clenches her teeth and shivers abit, the rest
Haruka usually blocks out since she's about as apprehensive about
thinking about Amazonian sexuality as Hotaru was.
Couple #2 was one that even Haruka thought would never happen. Usagi and
Rei, with Rei filling the void in Usagi's life since Mamoru disappeared.
Apparently while they seemed to be working out rather well, it seems Rei
felt just as irked as Minako since Ami didn't take her advice to heart
as she didn't take Minako's advice to heart. Just as well, considering
Rei often came to Haruka/Michiru for advice herself and had no real
advice of her own to give other than what she got from the two and
"claimed" as her own "advice".
The last time the phone rang it was Michiru who answered, and after a
few affirmative answers and a few nods of the head, she simply replied
"Tell Mako-chan the taste will eventually go away and she didn't damage
her taste buds for eternity by giving you a --" (Haruka's pissy
expression gave Michiru a clue to cut it short) "--bye." (smiles at
Haruka) "Wanna know what she did?"
Haruka rolled over and covered her head in response.
"Guess not."
Minako and Rei, it seems, were the least prepared for the way their
hearts turned, but moreso for Minako since she had the double twist of
falling in love with a very humanoid Artemis, then having him turn into
a "her". But this all happened in the span of five years.... Five years.
Of all the Soldiers, only Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna remember the
horrors of the world before the Realm of Dreams, and each year that they
lived there the horror became less and less until it faded into a
footnote in their past and nothing more. Eventually they moved on with
their lives, and for these two the chance eventually came to fulfill a
dream of theirs that they only had once they found peace in the Realm of
Dreams.
Haruka/Michiru had a Winterian style wedding two years ago, finally
becoming one in an official sense. They even kept a photo album of the
event, with pictures of everyone who attended.
Highlights of the ceremony included Usagi volunteering to eat the high
priced leftovers (and costing Rei 1000 Credits because she bet Usagi
could never eat all the leftovers), Minako stealing the spotlight at the
reception afterwards by dancing up a storm with every Priestess in the
room, and the pre wedding "last night" ritual (a Winterian ceremonial
ritual where it's believed that all temptations to wander from one's
appointed love can be swept away with a last "night" of sex with the
priestesses of the temple) which left a dozen priestesses exhausted and
wiped out physically from the ordeal of the ritual (substitute
priestesses had to be brought in just for the wedding ceremony). (As a
side note of the event now the two have standing invitations at several
Winterian temples in Japan in case they ever want to "renew" their last
night vows.)
Also, by the way, this is how Artemis became female. The story goes that
Minako wanted to sneak Artemis into the bachelorette party because she
heard it was going to be a blowout orgy and wanted her lover there. She
convinced him to take these pills that made him into a woman so he/she
could go, but during the party Artemis kept hitting the drink table,
which turned out to be a mistake. Bad planning had put blue Gatorade and
Winterian Blue Ice on the same table and Blue Ice was a strong drug used
to keep Winterian body temperatures lowered (as the wedding was held
during the hot summer the Winterian guests needed it to keep their body
temperatures at a comfortable lowered rate). In short Artemis hit the
Blue Ice more than the Gatorade, and the two chemicals (the sex altering
one and the temperature one) screwed his DNA up and made him permanently
"female", with a few minor--- well, you get the point.
As Haruka picked up the phone, ready to tell Ami, Rei, Minako or
whoever off, she heard a wheezing soft cry and a voice whisper in her
ear "---mama---"
Haruka froze for a second, her hand finally moving to nudge Michiru
awake as she spoke in a hushed whisper, "Hotaru? What's wrong?"
"I… I think I‘m going… c-crazy."
Haruka - “Hotaru? What are you talk…”
"I saw ChibiUsa, the dead ChibiUsa from before… she was calling out to me, asking me why I didn’t love her anymore… it was so real, as if she was really standing right behind me, broken…“
Haruka - "But she’s de…“
"I know! I know!“ Hotaru countered, “I know but -- if you saw what I saw you’d have doubts too -- dammit I know the difference between a dream and reality but this…“
“You’re beginning to sound like that Yamanaka woman.” Haruka whispered, but that was it as Michiru takes the phone from Haruka, overhearing the conversation, and begins to sing in a soft melodious tone. Slowly but surely Eve calms down on the opposite end, and begins to relax.
“She’s going bathroom now.“ Michiru announced.
Haruka - “I didn’t really need to know that.“
It takes a few minutes but as she calms she eventually settles down enough to confide in Michiru the rest, including her dream, before hanging up. Before the phone disconnects Michiru makes Hotaru promise to visit in the morning. As she hangs up she's greeted by Haruka's frowning visage. "Something’s wrong, isn’t there. Hotaru suddenly seeing dead ChibiUsa visiting her… something’s up.“
"She doesn't need speeches,” Michiru replies, turning to face Haruka as they laid back down in bed, “It still eats her up on the inside that she let ChibiUsa die like that. She’s still not over her guilt, no matter how much she tries to kid herself otherwise. She needs to find inner peace with herself before she can truly put it behind her.“
"I thought she was over it already. She seemed as if she was finally putting that part of her life behind her.“ Haruka sighs, rolling over in bed much to Michiru's dismay. "Obviously your not going to listen to a word I have to say on the subject, so I won't bother trying to defend myself Haruka."
"It's wrong." Haruka countered, eyes narrowing, "She was recovering just fine, and all of a sudden she has a bad dream? That doesn’t mean she hasn’t gotten over her feelings, it’s just a bad dream.“
A mischievous smile crosses the mistress of water's lips, "Hypocritical
since you're not entirely all of your hang-ups yourself."
"That's different, it’s not like I have some dead former lover hanging over our heads or anything," Haruka shot back, feeling Michiru's persistence wearing her down. "Is there a point to this?"
"When she's ready she'll learn to live with what happened, and forgive herself for what wasn’t her fault to begin with. When that happens she'll find the new ChibiUsa to be far more understanding and accepting of her past than she gives ChibiUsa credit for."
"We'll see, Michiru, we'll see."
As the lights shut off Haruka grumbles beneath her breath, "The phone
better not ring again or so help me..."
The phone rings.
"---argh---" (answers phone) "WHAT?!?" (silence) "It's way too early in
the morning to even think of such an absurd thing! Go to bed! Or let
nature take it's course! Just shut up and leave me alone!" (slams phone
down and rolls over in bed grumbling)
"Who was it?" Michiru asks, to which Haruka growls "Go to bed."
Michiru - "Mako-chan is having a hard time getting Ami to go along with
it, isn't she. And after you went through all the trouble to buy the
right one that fit Mako-chan like a glove and---"
Haruka - "---I don't care--- go to bed."
Michiru - "You were the one who recommended that to them but you know
how Mako-chan is so overtly energetic when she's---"
Haruka (rolls over and gives Michiru a dirty look) - "I don't care! Now
GO TO BED!"
Michiru lies down and closes her eyes. "You started it."
The frustrated yelp from Haruka side convinces her not to push her luck
any further.
* * * * * *
In the dimly lit room he paced about his associate, watching the sitting
man as he did. With every step his armored boots clanked against the
metal flooring, making an odd click-clack-click-clack noise as he
walked. Holocaust regarded his "associate" as he spoke.
"Everything is in flux, up in the air. The situation has changed since before but we seem to have the same “lot” in our lives as before.”
“The darkness beyond our reach teems with the restless dead, and a threat far beyond even the Clow itself lays just out of reach, teasing us with possibility and risk.“ he smiles as he continues to pace, eyes never leaving his still silent companion.
"But somethings never change. Bringing us Assassin Guilders' together and offering us just about anything imaginable just to retrieve your little Sailor Soldier girls so you and your remaining associates could once again enjoy their "company" was quite an proposal. We take them down, you have the fun of making babies with them and putting them in little tubes to freeze until you wanted to make more babies in them -- or was it just the sex and torture that was the fun? I could never tell. I know you would emphasis all the joys of whipping, beating, slicing and raping young women --" he said, walking forward to stand next to the man as he plucked his head from his limp shoulders, "If you weren't already dead. But that's what you get for being sick retarded bastards who thought more with their penises than their heads."
He held the head aloft, staring into the shocked _expression on the
face at the moment of death. "I wonder how it must have hurt you so to
realize that we only went along with your lovely schemes if only to
gather you all together. But, then again, you did believe that nothing
is more valuable than a den full of 12-14 year old girls stripped naked
and willing to please."
He spins on his heels, chucking the head back into it's body which
knocks the whole ensemble into the flooring with a loud thump. "Strictly
speaking I'm not a loliconer, even if Code 8 forbade rape. But just
between you and me? I think it was the 1 million credit's a crotch
reward by the Winterian forces that purged your world of your filth that
made all the difference to me." (smiles as he looks at the body) "Fun is
fun, but money makes the galaxy rotate."
With a slight salute he taps a button on the wall, and makes his exit.
As he does the floor slowly yawns open and drops the body into the
darkness below. "Well I have work to do. Our advance units have been on
the ground for a week now and have been receiving resistance from a very
interesting source (again). That I should check on, but you be a good boy and feed the sharks, will you?" (as the body falls away, plummeting towards the ocean below, Holocaust waves slightly as the lift doors closes behind him). "Now there's a good lad."
* * * * * *
Rei woke up to find herself sitting in the middle of a destroyed Tokyo,
with a familiar face staring at her.
"Lazarus."
He looks at her as if hurt, if only in jest, and taps her shoulder,
"Lazarus. Is that all you have to say? I bring you out to see the end
of Tokyo and all you can say is "Lazarus"?"
Rei smiles a little bit, if only to get Lazarus to get to the point,
which he does. "Things are all up in the air, juggled and mixed up. If I was not so certain about what I said to you the first time we talked (which I know you don’t remember but bear with me) then you most certainly won’t like what little I have to say now.“ (sighs) “Feel free to make insulting comments anytime now.“
"Is it that bad.” Rei mutters.
"It was all in threes once, now it’s jumbled and messed up. CLAMP School is suddenly gone, the powers of darkness and light are in flux, salvation cannot be guaranteed as we need to know what brings destruction before we can estimate what will bring salvation.“
Behind them loomed a building Rei had never seen before, with the words
"WISEMAN IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE ENDLESS CIRCLE!!" written in red scrawled across the face of the building. "I see."
"Not yet. But you will--- (me too I guess)"
With a gasp Rei wakes up, sweating abit as she caught her breath.
"That wasn't a dream." Rei muttered, eyes working hard to focus in the
dark room.
It wasn't hard to do a fire reading. From experience she knew that
Usagi could sleep through anything and everything, so her crawling out
of their bed and doing a fire reading was the easiest thing she could
do. In fact she could set half the house on fire to do her reading and
still not wake Usagi from her slumber.
Inside her private shrine room, one she had built just to meditate and
get away from Usagi's occasional "Get on Rei's nerves until she snaps"
days she read the fire. As she read the flames she felt a presence
nearby, and sighed. "Why don't you just come out with it and tell me
already?" she whispered, eyes turning to face Jack Lazarus, the Raven.
"If I could, I would." he admitted, the fire illuminating his black
uniform as he looked straight at her, "But I can't because what
information I have is now really and truly hearsay. If what I had before was bits and pieces of reliable info, now I have bits and pieces of next to nothing to go on… short of one thing, the so called “Endless Circle” mentioned in the blood written message on the wall.”
"Then what does it all mean? What is “The Endless Circle“?"
"You tell me." he countered. “But since you can’t let’s just leave it that I’ll have to get back to you on that at a future date.”
With that he vanished, leaving her behind to ponder his words.
* * * * * *
The one thing Rei hated the most was mornings. Especially when it came
to rousing Usagi from sleep.
"USAGI WAKE UP IT'S EIGHT O'CLOCK!!" she yelled one final time, hitting
Usagi in the head which finally jolted her from slumber. "We have to get
to classes!!"
Usagi, already up, rushed to get ready. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WAKE
ME?!?"
"Why did I have to feel sorry for you anyway---" Rei mumbled, walking
into the kitchen in a really bad mood. "We'll miss our first class at
this rate."
"That's because Usagi never changes. She's ALWAYS going to be a child."
ChibiUsa shot, chewing on her toast as Hotaru watched her from her place
next to her, "I HEARD THAT YOU PARASITE!!" Usagi screamed from the next
room. "WHY'D YOU LET HER IN?!?"
"She brought hot food for breakfast, which is more than I can you do
when it comes to meals!"
Usagi screams again as the shower comes on, leaving Rei to chew her
food as Hotaru turns the TV on (mostly to calm the air between the two.
ChibiUsa had grown, the Realm of Dreams being a positive thing to her
physical development. She was now a fully grown healthy young woman
physically, as was Hotaru who now resembled young woman of 17 (same as
ChibiUsa). The two had been lovers ever since they can remember, though
that was for five years -- what came before they did not know, and
somehow felt that they never really wanted to know.
The news was on, and filled the room with talking that didn't concern
Usagi/ChibiUsa insulting each other.
"Once again our top story--- yesterday unexplained graffiti was found scrawled onto King Penguin in New King Penguin Park, the words “WHO DRAWS THE ENDLESS CIRCLE?“ written in a red substance discovered to be cloned blood product etched for all to see.“ (silence as the reporter listens into her earpiece) "This just in. Reports of attacks on children near the King Penguin slide are coming in -- yes, it appears to be another Clow Card attack. Camera crews are now on the way as we continue to cover the late breaking events."
* * * * * *
Somehow Tina could only pray that the morning would be easy on the both of them. As she took cover, as per Nina’s orders, she could only watch as the card was confronted. She felt abit bad for Nina, because if she was hoping for a lax day then she was sorely disappointed.
Keiko jumped back, backpedaling as she slashed at the shots of sand
coming straight at her, taking as much sand in the hair and face as she
reflected away with gusts of wind.
The huge King Penguin slide shook as the sandy ground beneath it
liquefied and began to suck it in. Sakura barely had time to leap onto
the back of the huge slide and climb up to the two trapped kids on the
top. Eve, hands full protecting three young girls with a shield spell,
turned her attention towards Nina. "Nina we need some help here! Give Sakura some cover fire!" she yelled, continuously fortifying her NovaShields spell with her willpower as it came under continous attack.
Nina, lugging her pulse rifle upwards, carefully took shot after shot,
clipping each sand tentacle as it tried to latch onto Sakura to drag
her down, all the while slowly dragging the huge penguin slide downward
into the now liquid sand beneath it. "Nina! Behind you!" Tina suddenly
yells out from her vantage point, just as two sand tentacles attack Nina from behind. She barely manages to dodge them as the whoosh over her, her rifle firing blindly upwards as she tries to nail them.
Tomoyo, filming Sakura's heroic acts, cringes inwardly as she watches.
'All the trees are too far away.' she thinks to herself, 'I can't use
Gaia's ring to help Sakura-chan -- but maybe --’
Tomoyo's free hand raises upwards, Gaia's ring pulsating with energy,
"Trees! Use your roots to cut down Sand's tentacles!"
Almost instantly long strings of roots shoot out from the ground near
the trees, whipping through the air hacking into each sand tentacle that
rises from the ground. As the tree roots keep Sand occupied, Sakura
reaches the two children and grabs onto them, using Windy's ring to give
her a boost over Sand and onto the grass in one long jump from slide to
safety.
As she sends the children to Eve for protection, she turns and regards
Sand, her hand bearing the Water ring rising into the air. "Umi! Give me
your strength in the form of a waterfall to restrict Sand!"
From above a shimmering disc of blue begins to form, the air growing dry
as moisture is drawn into the circle and condensed. From that circle a
powerful blast of water shoots into the sandy ground, soaking it through
and through making the entire sandy pit into a dense clump of sand. From
the quagmire, Sand's true form appears, covered in the sandy gunk and
bogged down by it's weight. Quickly Sakura rushes up and slams her staff
down, "CLOW CARD RETURN TO YOUR POWER CONFINED! SAND CARD!!"
Tendrils of energy shoot out, encapsulating the card's physical form,
transforming it, and turning it back into a card. It shoots into the
air, and lands in Sakura's hand.
Nina, dazed and dirty, turns and claps from her resting position on the
ground, "You did it!"
As everyone gathers around Sakura, whose blushing, Tomoyo taps her on
the shoulder, "Now all we need to do is retrieve King Penguin, maybe clean off the graffiti while we‘re at it."
"What?" Sakura asks, confused, "What do you --" (stops and looks)
"-- hooooeeee!!!"
King Penguin rested half trapped in the sand, tilted at an awkward
angle. Nina, putting her rifle down, moves in a mock stumble towards the
slide and screams "Damn you!! You finally went and did it! Damn you!! Damn you all to hell!!"
"Yeah, yeah, Planet of the Apes. Figures." Keiko grumbles, annoyed by
Nina's antics. "Get a life."
“But I do have a life.” Nina retorted, “My life is to bother you.”
Keiko - “Up yours.“
It takes a little effort, and the tech shuttle of Nina's which she
summons to the park via remote, but eventually the penguin is dug out
and set upright again. By the time the news crews arrive everyone had
already left and the situation was resolved.
To Be Continued
Hotaru woke up surrounded by green liquid.
Her eyes blurred as she found herself floating in water, tightly packed
into a narrow cylinder with one window looking out into a dimly lit
room. Her hands pounded the case in a panic, each blow impacting the solid glass over and over again until the act began to drain away at her strength level by level, until she could no longer punch the glass.
"Nooooooo---" she thought to herself, panic gripping her, "It can't be!!
It can't be!!"
Her eyesight cleared enough so she could see outside -- that is when realization set in, she was back in hell again.
The cylinder was a suspension pod, and she was being put in hypersleep
against her will. She pounded her fists against the canister, feeling
steadily sleepier and sleepier. "NO!! CHIBI-USA!! GODDESS!! SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF---"
What she saw before her stopped her heart cold.
The scene before her was too carnal and perverted to even bring to
words, but what she saw scared her.
Chibi-Usa laid in a pool of her own blood, bloodied and beaten, as she was being tortured and raped by her friends and family, the other Sailor Soldiers. They were naked, bruised and beaten, themselves, yet they looked downright demonic as they lashed out with wicked glee. She couldn't hear their words, but it scared her nevertheless.
But fear turned quickly to hate… and hate into anger… as her eyes narrowed and turned red, and her fists clenched before her now rage filled eyes. Before she could lash out at the unbreakable glass again, however, two arms wrapped around her, and something behind her whispered in her ear, "Why don't you love me anymore?"
Pink hair floated into her eyesight, and a hollow face with empty eye
sockets stared at her from the glass.
Hotaru screamed in rage, and shattered the glass with one strike sending shards of glass, gushes of green liquid, and driplets of blood flying.
* * * * * *
Hotaru woke up in a cold panic, her sheets gripping her nude form as she
held herself tightly. She wasn’t a young girl anymore, she was 17 years old now, she had to get that through her head and grip to that tightly. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was older now.
She had thought that was behind her. Year after year had passed since
that world, that pain she left behind when her and the other Soldiers
were rescued from their personal hell. Only ChibiUsa didn't make it,
because she was killed and dumped into a shallow grave, her soul ripped
from her body and cast to the four winds unable to be "reborn" ever
again. But yet there was a ChibiUsa waiting for her here, even if she was not the one she fell in love with that age long ago which seemed to have been another exstience ago.
"Why am I dreaming about that now -- why --?" Eve whispered to herself,
her eyes glancing over at ChibiUsa's side of the bed. The loud pink fireball of emotions and spunk slept quietly, her face at peace when she often would sport a mischevious look on her features when awake. She didn’t even seem to notice that Hotaru was wide awake, and that (in Hotaru’s estimation) was for the best. She carefully got out of bed, shaking off the “dust” of sleep as she went into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, locking herself in, she started to wash her face absentmindedly. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she stared at her reflection in the mirror, with Former ChibiUsa’s eyeless hollow tortured face behind her, blood flowing down like tears across her cheeks. “Don’t you love me anymore? I miss you…“
With a yelp of panic Hotaru spun about, only to find nothing behind her. With a stifled groan she turned back towards the mirror, almost expecting to see ChibiUsa’s dead face again only to find herself staring at her own reflection alone once again. With a resentful sigh she shook her head, bending down to splash water onto her face a few times in a futile effort to convince herself that she was still sleeping.
"What the hell was that.“
There was a knock at the door. "Hotaru? You OK? What's wrong??"
Hotaru dimly turned her gaze back to the door, a small smile on her face, “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just…“ (sighs) “…tired.“
"Tired people stay in bed if they’re tired.“ ChibiUsa counters, knocking again as if by knocking X amount of times on the door it would open magically. “Come on, this isn't funny. Don't lock yourself in there, what's going…"
Hotaru opens the door and takes in ChibiUsa‘s nude beauty as she stares at her, "Just getting to see you like this makes waking you up all the more worth it, ChibiUsa.“ (kisses ChibiUsa on the cheek) “I’ll be along shortly, I have to go to the toilet first.“
"Oh." ChibiUsa responded, head lowered abit. “You’re right though, it is worth it just to see you naked like this.”
Hotaru huffs her breath, playfully pushing ChibiUsa out as she closes the door behind her, “If you’re so needy then wait in bed and I’ll take care of all your “needs” when I’m done!“
“Alright!“ she calls out as the door shuts, “Come to bed when your done, I‘ll be waiting!"
"OK!" Hotaru called out, sighing as she walks over to sit down at the toilet (“Might as well cover this while I think about what I’m doing.“ she quietly whispers to herself). Her hand picks up the cellphone from her clothes (she left in the bathroom before bedtime hours ago), her hand absentmindedly dialing a number by memory.
* * * * * *
The first thing Haruka thought when she heard the phone ring was whether
or not she could get away with killing the telemarketer on the other end
if she claimed it was self defense.
Then she thought it was probably Ami-chan with yet another awkwardly
embarrassing question about her sexual relationship with Mako-chan. It
seemed that even though they've been an item for a few years she still
called her, being that they was the only "real" lesbians Ami-chan knew
personally, and riddled either her or Michiru with embarrassingly
intimate questions since Mako-chan apparently had too much pride to
admit that she needed help in those situations. True, in recent years
two new couplings had sprung up yet somehow Ami-chan has yet to feel
comfortable asking for advice from either coupling.
The first, Minako and Artemis, have been a pair ever since he became
human, though since two years ago when he became a "she" Minako had
been flaunting their relationship as now being lesbian in nature
(mostly in a vain attempt to take Ami under her "wing" and become the
"wise role model figure" she felt Haruka/Michiru were to her... though
technically Artemis was more Amazonian than human female considering--
at this point Haruka clenches her teeth and shivers abit, the rest
Haruka usually blocks out since she's about as apprehensive about
thinking about Amazonian sexuality as Hotaru was.
Couple #2 was one that even Haruka thought would never happen. Usagi and
Rei, with Rei filling the void in Usagi's life since Mamoru disappeared.
Apparently while they seemed to be working out rather well, it seems Rei
felt just as irked as Minako since Ami didn't take her advice to heart
as she didn't take Minako's advice to heart. Just as well, considering
Rei often came to Haruka/Michiru for advice herself and had no real
advice of her own to give other than what she got from the two and
"claimed" as her own "advice".
The last time the phone rang it was Michiru who answered, and after a
few affirmative answers and a few nods of the head, she simply replied
"Tell Mako-chan the taste will eventually go away and she didn't damage
her taste buds for eternity by giving you a --" (Haruka's pissy
expression gave Michiru a clue to cut it short) "--bye." (smiles at
Haruka) "Wanna know what she did?"
Haruka rolled over and covered her head in response.
"Guess not."
Minako and Rei, it seems, were the least prepared for the way their
hearts turned, but moreso for Minako since she had the double twist of
falling in love with a very humanoid Artemis, then having him turn into
a "her". But this all happened in the span of five years.... Five years.
Of all the Soldiers, only Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna remember the
horrors of the world before the Realm of Dreams, and each year that they
lived there the horror became less and less until it faded into a
footnote in their past and nothing more. Eventually they moved on with
their lives, and for these two the chance eventually came to fulfill a
dream of theirs that they only had once they found peace in the Realm of
Dreams.
Haruka/Michiru had a Winterian style wedding two years ago, finally
becoming one in an official sense. They even kept a photo album of the
event, with pictures of everyone who attended.
Highlights of the ceremony included Usagi volunteering to eat the high
priced leftovers (and costing Rei 1000 Credits because she bet Usagi
could never eat all the leftovers), Minako stealing the spotlight at the
reception afterwards by dancing up a storm with every Priestess in the
room, and the pre wedding "last night" ritual (a Winterian ceremonial
ritual where it's believed that all temptations to wander from one's
appointed love can be swept away with a last "night" of sex with the
priestesses of the temple) which left a dozen priestesses exhausted and
wiped out physically from the ordeal of the ritual (substitute
priestesses had to be brought in just for the wedding ceremony). (As a
side note of the event now the two have standing invitations at several
Winterian temples in Japan in case they ever want to "renew" their last
night vows.)
Also, by the way, this is how Artemis became female. The story goes that
Minako wanted to sneak Artemis into the bachelorette party because she
heard it was going to be a blowout orgy and wanted her lover there. She
convinced him to take these pills that made him into a woman so he/she
could go, but during the party Artemis kept hitting the drink table,
which turned out to be a mistake. Bad planning had put blue Gatorade and
Winterian Blue Ice on the same table and Blue Ice was a strong drug used
to keep Winterian body temperatures lowered (as the wedding was held
during the hot summer the Winterian guests needed it to keep their body
temperatures at a comfortable lowered rate). In short Artemis hit the
Blue Ice more than the Gatorade, and the two chemicals (the sex altering
one and the temperature one) screwed his DNA up and made him permanently
"female", with a few minor--- well, you get the point.
As Haruka picked up the phone, ready to tell Ami, Rei, Minako or
whoever off, she heard a wheezing soft cry and a voice whisper in her
ear "---mama---"
Haruka froze for a second, her hand finally moving to nudge Michiru
awake as she spoke in a hushed whisper, "Hotaru? What's wrong?"
"I… I think I‘m going… c-crazy."
Haruka - “Hotaru? What are you talk…”
"I saw ChibiUsa, the dead ChibiUsa from before… she was calling out to me, asking me why I didn’t love her anymore… it was so real, as if she was really standing right behind me, broken…“
Haruka - "But she’s de…“
"I know! I know!“ Hotaru countered, “I know but -- if you saw what I saw you’d have doubts too -- dammit I know the difference between a dream and reality but this…“
“You’re beginning to sound like that Yamanaka woman.” Haruka whispered, but that was it as Michiru takes the phone from Haruka, overhearing the conversation, and begins to sing in a soft melodious tone. Slowly but surely Eve calms down on the opposite end, and begins to relax.
“She’s going bathroom now.“ Michiru announced.
Haruka - “I didn’t really need to know that.“
It takes a few minutes but as she calms she eventually settles down enough to confide in Michiru the rest, including her dream, before hanging up. Before the phone disconnects Michiru makes Hotaru promise to visit in the morning. As she hangs up she's greeted by Haruka's frowning visage. "Something’s wrong, isn’t there. Hotaru suddenly seeing dead ChibiUsa visiting her… something’s up.“
"She doesn't need speeches,” Michiru replies, turning to face Haruka as they laid back down in bed, “It still eats her up on the inside that she let ChibiUsa die like that. She’s still not over her guilt, no matter how much she tries to kid herself otherwise. She needs to find inner peace with herself before she can truly put it behind her.“
"I thought she was over it already. She seemed as if she was finally putting that part of her life behind her.“ Haruka sighs, rolling over in bed much to Michiru's dismay. "Obviously your not going to listen to a word I have to say on the subject, so I won't bother trying to defend myself Haruka."
"It's wrong." Haruka countered, eyes narrowing, "She was recovering just fine, and all of a sudden she has a bad dream? That doesn’t mean she hasn’t gotten over her feelings, it’s just a bad dream.“
A mischievous smile crosses the mistress of water's lips, "Hypocritical
since you're not entirely all of your hang-ups yourself."
"That's different, it’s not like I have some dead former lover hanging over our heads or anything," Haruka shot back, feeling Michiru's persistence wearing her down. "Is there a point to this?"
"When she's ready she'll learn to live with what happened, and forgive herself for what wasn’t her fault to begin with. When that happens she'll find the new ChibiUsa to be far more understanding and accepting of her past than she gives ChibiUsa credit for."
"We'll see, Michiru, we'll see."
As the lights shut off Haruka grumbles beneath her breath, "The phone
better not ring again or so help me..."
The phone rings.
"---argh---" (answers phone) "WHAT?!?" (silence) "It's way too early in
the morning to even think of such an absurd thing! Go to bed! Or let
nature take it's course! Just shut up and leave me alone!" (slams phone
down and rolls over in bed grumbling)
"Who was it?" Michiru asks, to which Haruka growls "Go to bed."
Michiru - "Mako-chan is having a hard time getting Ami to go along with
it, isn't she. And after you went through all the trouble to buy the
right one that fit Mako-chan like a glove and---"
Haruka - "---I don't care--- go to bed."
Michiru - "You were the one who recommended that to them but you know
how Mako-chan is so overtly energetic when she's---"
Haruka (rolls over and gives Michiru a dirty look) - "I don't care! Now
GO TO BED!"
Michiru lies down and closes her eyes. "You started it."
The frustrated yelp from Haruka side convinces her not to push her luck
any further.
* * * * * *
In the dimly lit room he paced about his associate, watching the sitting
man as he did. With every step his armored boots clanked against the
metal flooring, making an odd click-clack-click-clack noise as he
walked. Holocaust regarded his "associate" as he spoke.
"Everything is in flux, up in the air. The situation has changed since before but we seem to have the same “lot” in our lives as before.”
“The darkness beyond our reach teems with the restless dead, and a threat far beyond even the Clow itself lays just out of reach, teasing us with possibility and risk.“ he smiles as he continues to pace, eyes never leaving his still silent companion.
"But somethings never change. Bringing us Assassin Guilders' together and offering us just about anything imaginable just to retrieve your little Sailor Soldier girls so you and your remaining associates could once again enjoy their "company" was quite an proposal. We take them down, you have the fun of making babies with them and putting them in little tubes to freeze until you wanted to make more babies in them -- or was it just the sex and torture that was the fun? I could never tell. I know you would emphasis all the joys of whipping, beating, slicing and raping young women --" he said, walking forward to stand next to the man as he plucked his head from his limp shoulders, "If you weren't already dead. But that's what you get for being sick retarded bastards who thought more with their penises than their heads."
He held the head aloft, staring into the shocked _expression on the
face at the moment of death. "I wonder how it must have hurt you so to
realize that we only went along with your lovely schemes if only to
gather you all together. But, then again, you did believe that nothing
is more valuable than a den full of 12-14 year old girls stripped naked
and willing to please."
He spins on his heels, chucking the head back into it's body which
knocks the whole ensemble into the flooring with a loud thump. "Strictly
speaking I'm not a loliconer, even if Code 8 forbade rape. But just
between you and me? I think it was the 1 million credit's a crotch
reward by the Winterian forces that purged your world of your filth that
made all the difference to me." (smiles as he looks at the body) "Fun is
fun, but money makes the galaxy rotate."
With a slight salute he taps a button on the wall, and makes his exit.
As he does the floor slowly yawns open and drops the body into the
darkness below. "Well I have work to do. Our advance units have been on
the ground for a week now and have been receiving resistance from a very
interesting source (again). That I should check on, but you be a good boy and feed the sharks, will you?" (as the body falls away, plummeting towards the ocean below, Holocaust waves slightly as the lift doors closes behind him). "Now there's a good lad."
* * * * * *
Rei woke up to find herself sitting in the middle of a destroyed Tokyo,
with a familiar face staring at her.
"Lazarus."
He looks at her as if hurt, if only in jest, and taps her shoulder,
"Lazarus. Is that all you have to say? I bring you out to see the end
of Tokyo and all you can say is "Lazarus"?"
Rei smiles a little bit, if only to get Lazarus to get to the point,
which he does. "Things are all up in the air, juggled and mixed up. If I was not so certain about what I said to you the first time we talked (which I know you don’t remember but bear with me) then you most certainly won’t like what little I have to say now.“ (sighs) “Feel free to make insulting comments anytime now.“
"Is it that bad.” Rei mutters.
"It was all in threes once, now it’s jumbled and messed up. CLAMP School is suddenly gone, the powers of darkness and light are in flux, salvation cannot be guaranteed as we need to know what brings destruction before we can estimate what will bring salvation.“
Behind them loomed a building Rei had never seen before, with the words
"WISEMAN IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE ENDLESS CIRCLE!!" written in red scrawled across the face of the building. "I see."
"Not yet. But you will--- (me too I guess)"
With a gasp Rei wakes up, sweating abit as she caught her breath.
"That wasn't a dream." Rei muttered, eyes working hard to focus in the
dark room.
It wasn't hard to do a fire reading. From experience she knew that
Usagi could sleep through anything and everything, so her crawling out
of their bed and doing a fire reading was the easiest thing she could
do. In fact she could set half the house on fire to do her reading and
still not wake Usagi from her slumber.
Inside her private shrine room, one she had built just to meditate and
get away from Usagi's occasional "Get on Rei's nerves until she snaps"
days she read the fire. As she read the flames she felt a presence
nearby, and sighed. "Why don't you just come out with it and tell me
already?" she whispered, eyes turning to face Jack Lazarus, the Raven.
"If I could, I would." he admitted, the fire illuminating his black
uniform as he looked straight at her, "But I can't because what
information I have is now really and truly hearsay. If what I had before was bits and pieces of reliable info, now I have bits and pieces of next to nothing to go on… short of one thing, the so called “Endless Circle” mentioned in the blood written message on the wall.”
"Then what does it all mean? What is “The Endless Circle“?"
"You tell me." he countered. “But since you can’t let’s just leave it that I’ll have to get back to you on that at a future date.”
With that he vanished, leaving her behind to ponder his words.
* * * * * *
The one thing Rei hated the most was mornings. Especially when it came
to rousing Usagi from sleep.
"USAGI WAKE UP IT'S EIGHT O'CLOCK!!" she yelled one final time, hitting
Usagi in the head which finally jolted her from slumber. "We have to get
to classes!!"
Usagi, already up, rushed to get ready. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WAKE
ME?!?"
"Why did I have to feel sorry for you anyway---" Rei mumbled, walking
into the kitchen in a really bad mood. "We'll miss our first class at
this rate."
"That's because Usagi never changes. She's ALWAYS going to be a child."
ChibiUsa shot, chewing on her toast as Hotaru watched her from her place
next to her, "I HEARD THAT YOU PARASITE!!" Usagi screamed from the next
room. "WHY'D YOU LET HER IN?!?"
"She brought hot food for breakfast, which is more than I can you do
when it comes to meals!"
Usagi screams again as the shower comes on, leaving Rei to chew her
food as Hotaru turns the TV on (mostly to calm the air between the two.
ChibiUsa had grown, the Realm of Dreams being a positive thing to her
physical development. She was now a fully grown healthy young woman
physically, as was Hotaru who now resembled young woman of 17 (same as
ChibiUsa). The two had been lovers ever since they can remember, though
that was for five years -- what came before they did not know, and
somehow felt that they never really wanted to know.
The news was on, and filled the room with talking that didn't concern
Usagi/ChibiUsa insulting each other.
"Once again our top story--- yesterday unexplained graffiti was found scrawled onto King Penguin in New King Penguin Park, the words “WHO DRAWS THE ENDLESS CIRCLE?“ written in a red substance discovered to be cloned blood product etched for all to see.“ (silence as the reporter listens into her earpiece) "This just in. Reports of attacks on children near the King Penguin slide are coming in -- yes, it appears to be another Clow Card attack. Camera crews are now on the way as we continue to cover the late breaking events."
* * * * * *
Somehow Tina could only pray that the morning would be easy on the both of them. As she took cover, as per Nina’s orders, she could only watch as the card was confronted. She felt abit bad for Nina, because if she was hoping for a lax day then she was sorely disappointed.
Keiko jumped back, backpedaling as she slashed at the shots of sand
coming straight at her, taking as much sand in the hair and face as she
reflected away with gusts of wind.
The huge King Penguin slide shook as the sandy ground beneath it
liquefied and began to suck it in. Sakura barely had time to leap onto
the back of the huge slide and climb up to the two trapped kids on the
top. Eve, hands full protecting three young girls with a shield spell,
turned her attention towards Nina. "Nina we need some help here! Give Sakura some cover fire!" she yelled, continuously fortifying her NovaShields spell with her willpower as it came under continous attack.
Nina, lugging her pulse rifle upwards, carefully took shot after shot,
clipping each sand tentacle as it tried to latch onto Sakura to drag
her down, all the while slowly dragging the huge penguin slide downward
into the now liquid sand beneath it. "Nina! Behind you!" Tina suddenly
yells out from her vantage point, just as two sand tentacles attack Nina from behind. She barely manages to dodge them as the whoosh over her, her rifle firing blindly upwards as she tries to nail them.
Tomoyo, filming Sakura's heroic acts, cringes inwardly as she watches.
'All the trees are too far away.' she thinks to herself, 'I can't use
Gaia's ring to help Sakura-chan -- but maybe --’
Tomoyo's free hand raises upwards, Gaia's ring pulsating with energy,
"Trees! Use your roots to cut down Sand's tentacles!"
Almost instantly long strings of roots shoot out from the ground near
the trees, whipping through the air hacking into each sand tentacle that
rises from the ground. As the tree roots keep Sand occupied, Sakura
reaches the two children and grabs onto them, using Windy's ring to give
her a boost over Sand and onto the grass in one long jump from slide to
safety.
As she sends the children to Eve for protection, she turns and regards
Sand, her hand bearing the Water ring rising into the air. "Umi! Give me
your strength in the form of a waterfall to restrict Sand!"
From above a shimmering disc of blue begins to form, the air growing dry
as moisture is drawn into the circle and condensed. From that circle a
powerful blast of water shoots into the sandy ground, soaking it through
and through making the entire sandy pit into a dense clump of sand. From
the quagmire, Sand's true form appears, covered in the sandy gunk and
bogged down by it's weight. Quickly Sakura rushes up and slams her staff
down, "CLOW CARD RETURN TO YOUR POWER CONFINED! SAND CARD!!"
Tendrils of energy shoot out, encapsulating the card's physical form,
transforming it, and turning it back into a card. It shoots into the
air, and lands in Sakura's hand.
Nina, dazed and dirty, turns and claps from her resting position on the
ground, "You did it!"
As everyone gathers around Sakura, whose blushing, Tomoyo taps her on
the shoulder, "Now all we need to do is retrieve King Penguin, maybe clean off the graffiti while we‘re at it."
"What?" Sakura asks, confused, "What do you --" (stops and looks)
"-- hooooeeee!!!"
King Penguin rested half trapped in the sand, tilted at an awkward
angle. Nina, putting her rifle down, moves in a mock stumble towards the
slide and screams "Damn you!! You finally went and did it! Damn you!! Damn you all to hell!!"
"Yeah, yeah, Planet of the Apes. Figures." Keiko grumbles, annoyed by
Nina's antics. "Get a life."
“But I do have a life.” Nina retorted, “My life is to bother you.”
Keiko - “Up yours.“
It takes a little effort, and the tech shuttle of Nina's which she
summons to the park via remote, but eventually the penguin is dug out
and set upright again. By the time the news crews arrive everyone had
already left and the situation was resolved.
To Be Continued
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II Episode 4 (10)
Wednesday (January 17th)
Sakura Blossoms - CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II Episode 4 (10)
CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II 4 (10)
Meanwhile, what Nina was SUPPOSED to be watching (Sakura’s class)
Sakura blushed when she thought about Tomoyo’s delicate hands gently cutting her hair.
“Tomoyo cut my hair. And then we watched movies--- sigh.”
“Yeah, it was fun.” Keiko noted from her seat at the front of the class (she was just bored so she stopped in and let her fake teacher ID do the talking for her to get her access to Sakura’s class) “We watched movies together and--- hey, isn‘t today badminton in gym?”
Tomoyo nods her head, “We’re playing badminton in gym today! That‘s right!”
Keiko - “Hey loser!“ (towards Rebecca who was sitting in the back of the class as she always did during study period when she didn‘t have any classes to teach) “Why don’t you two settle this on the court? Woman to Crazed Psychobitch?”
Rebecca sneered at the thought, “Badmintion?!? Do I look hopelessly British to you?”
Yama - “Don’t you know?”
“Know what?” Rebecca asks, spinning about at the sound of his voice.
Yama - “Badmintion is a proper dueling sport that dates back to ancient Rome. The person who loses would have had to forfeit his life for losing!”
Rebecca looks around, gauging reactions as she watches. “Say what…”
Sakura - “Is that---”
As Sakura’s eyes spanned about she regarded her friends and loved one one by one.
Chiharu - “He’s lying!” (But secretly she’s thinking ‘what if---’)
Naoko - She couldn’t care less because it looks like there’s going to be a good show coming and she’s hyped about being there to watch it! (She still remembers the last time badminton was used to settle a grudge and that was years ago!)
Sakura - She couldn’t look at herself but there was about a 50/50 odds she might be a believer, even now.
Rika - She thinks he’s joking (again).
Rebecca - She can’t fathom it, but it seems plausible (she wasn’t around for the last incident so what did she know of it).
Tomoyo - She thinks it would be great if only it were true.
Keiko - “---not again.”
In a book she just opened on alternate universe history she’s now reading about the great Badmintion duel between Hamilton & Burr.
On the net she also finds an alternate universe theatrical poster for Russell Crowe’s Badmintoner. (Reviewed by Ebert to be “The Best Roman Badmintion Combat Movie to date!”) (“This book keeps getting heavier every time he opens his yap” Keiko remarks as she puts the book back where she finds it, entitled “Alternate Universes and their Quirks“ (a work in progress by Yama the Liar)).
Keiko - “Everytime he opens his mouth he creates an alternate universe with every idea of his and it continues to clutter up the space/time continuum archives.” (curses silently to herself) “It should be a crime against temporal nature for him to be alive.”
* * * * * *
“Analysis complete. Subject found.“
“Damn---” Nina groans as she leans back in her chair, “Show me.”
The footage plays out as what seems to be Mirra casually strolls up to the toys (in full view of the camera) and shoves them over, she then skates off leaving the girl from school (who talked to Mirra) confused in the incident’s wake.
Nina - “How many other people has accessed this file?”
“None. The file has been sealed by request. However, your clearance permits you access.“
Nina - “Sealed? Who locked this file?”
“Misho NamoCatCat.“
“That’s strange,” Eliza remarks as she looks at the video again, “why is Misho covering this up? Considering how much Sakura inconvienced her that last time you‘d think she‘d have a burr up her tail end about Sakura anything, let alone her child.”
“ALERT! Incoming realtime signal! Source - NamoCatCat Corp. HQ, TOKYO“
“Ask her yourself, we have company---” (switches to link) “---speak of the Neko. What can I do for you today, Neko.”
Misho went right to the point, “Skip the pleasantries, you know exactly why I’m calling you.”
Nina - “Then that’d be the topic of Mirra. Or, to be more precise, the thing that you don’t know about that’s impersonating Mirra.”
Eliza - “Mimic?”
“The one and the same.” Nina finishes for Eliza. “She’s baaaaaa-ck.”
* * * * * *
Gym class. Keiko’s running it today.
“Alrighty then! You all know the drill? Oh-kay, so who wants to---” (Rebecca snaps her arm to attention raised high over her head) “---figures. Your not even a student and you shouldn’t be in this class, but who am I to argue with a grown woman who wore her guns to gym class? (Shouldn‘t this Dream Tokyo have the same anti-gun laws as the real Tokyo?)“ (huffs breath) “Now (as if I didn’t already know) who---” (snaps her other arm at Sakura) “---oh bother.”
As the two face off, Rebecca scowls. “Just because your kissing Keiko’s fancy butt doesn’t mean your better than me. Fly should be mine already and you know it.“
“I don’t have a fancy butt!” Keiko remarks from the sidelines. “Mind your own arse, you arse!”
Sakura - “She’s a friend, that’s all. She has a right to visit.”
Somehow, from the look on Rebecca’s face that said “I’m going to kill you now and bury the corpse where you drop” look on her face, Rebecca wasn’t buying it for a second. Sakura swallowed hard, and braced herself.
“Sakura! Don‘t let the teacher intimidate you!!” Tomoyo yells out.
With that Rebecca moves and in a flash she sets and serves with a lightning quick accuracy that neatly causes Sakura’s shirt to flutter from the backwash of gust as it shoots past her mere inches from hitting her.
“That’s a pinpoint accurate shot! Can you boast that kind of control and accuracy?” Rebecca points out, “If I wanted to I could have crippled your good arm without even trying, but I didn‘t! Can you be that confident in your shooting abilities?”
“Sakura!” Tomoyo wants to move, but Keiko holds her back. “She’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“If she hurt Sakura---” Tomoyo gasps, watching now with abit of concern.
Everyone gasps at the power. Sakura, teeth clenched (but not visibly so) grips her racket tight. ‘She can’t do that in front of Tomoyo! I won’t lose to her!’
She watches Rebecca moving slowly, watching for her shot. As seconds pass Sakura watches Rebecca’s motions and remembers them as the same motions she uses when she’s wielding her guns to bring them to bear. With one quick motion she takes her hit and sends it across and right into the handle of Rebecca’s racket as she reacts, snapping the racket from her grip (catching Rebecca off guard as she lets her grip slip in shock) sending it skidding across the floor.
“What the---?!?” she gasps, her eyes turning to watch her racket come skidding to a halt a few feet behind her. “No way.”
“Yeah, Sakura!” Tomoyo cheers, as Keiko looks on. “You going to stand there looking like a deer caught in someone’s headlights or are you going to pick that up?”
“Lucky shot, Keiko, that‘s all that was.” Rebecca grouses, stalking over and quickly snagging the racket back into her hand, “Not happening again.”
Keiko - “We’ll see about that, this game has only just started.”
“Give me a break, Yamanaka.” Rebecca spits out as she returns to her position, “It’s over right now!”
Both combatants glare at each other, faces determined and their focus locked on the game.
As the game resumes Keiko nudges Tomoyo to catch her attention, “Looks like they’re going to be at it for awhile.”
Tomoyo - “Their rivalry really brings out their competitive spirit.”
Keiko - “Uh-huh---” (sighs) “---they’re not finishing anytime soon. Might as well get comfortable and do any studying you have to, looks like we got ANOTHER free period on our hands.”
Everyone sits down to watch the game, as Keiko takes her own PSP out and starts playing with it again. “Good thing I brought Valkryie Profile with me or I’d be bored to tears.”
“I HEARD THAT!!” Rebecca screams as she intercepts another volley from Sakura.
“Yeah, yeah, I know---” (sighs) “---no wonder nobody made Mario Badmintion yet even for the Wii...”
* * * * * *
After gym class Tomoyo helps carry Sakura’s stuff back to class (because Sakura stressed her arm out playing).
Later, after school, Tomoyo takes Sakura to a beautiful little dessert shop for ice cream.
As Sakura nips at her ice cream, she sighs as Tomoyo’s fingers work into her shoulders to ease the pain. “How does that feel, Sakura? Your arm feeling better yet?”
Sakura - “Abit, thanks.”
As Tomoyo sits back down, she smiles at Sakura, “That was wonderful! You played so well.”
Sakura - “But it never really ended. The bell had to ring before we finally gave up on the match.” (whines softly) “That was brutal!”
Tomoyo - “You just kept rallying, Sakura!”
Sakura frowned at the thought, “Rebecca was scary the whole game! I thought she was going to kill somebody when the bell rang.”
Suddenly Tomoyo leans closer, “Sakura, let me trim your hair next time.”
Sakura - “You already did, rem---”
Tomoyo - “I meant in an intimate way, Sakura.”
It takes two whole minutes for the idea to fully sink in, which is filled with Sakura laughing nervously and looking utterly confused. As realization sets in, along with a full body blush, something catches her eye. From one side of her vision she sees Mirra-chan, yet NOT
Mirra-chan, ghost past her. For a second it’s Mirra-chan. Then it’s herself.
As her “twin” passes, she raises a hand as if holding a gun and points it at Sakura, deftly motioning and whispering the word “Bang” as she passes them by. Tomoyo manages to look just as the other Sakura rolls off. “Wh-what was---?”
Two of Mirra-chan’s classmates run up to the two. “What’s wrong? You two seem panicked.”
“Mirra’s acting funny!” one girl yelps, “She kicked sand into some little kid’s faces!”
“She also pushed over a vase outside of a restaurant!”
“Mirra-chan didn’t do it!!” Sakura yells, “It’s a mistake!”
Tomoyo - “She couldn’t have done it.”
All turn towards the voice, which is a tall male dressed in a waiter’s uniform. “Your drinks.” (hands off the drinks) “I’m familiar with the girl in question and she’s been in here the past 15 minutes. Come, take a look.”
Inside, at one of the booths, is Mirra/Hikaru. Both sitting contently nuzzled close waiting for another large drink. As the new drink arrives they each take their straws and share the drink, occasionally stealing kisses when they think nobody’s looking.
Male - “They’ve been cuddled up like that for awhile now, so it couldn’t have been her.”
While that killed the argument that Mirra was guilty, it sparked worry in Sakura.
If it wasn’t Mirra, then it could only be one other card---
As the two girls go their way, and Sakura/Tomoyo start to talk, the waiter returns inside where he walks into the kitchen and into the owner’s office where Misho NamoCatCat is waiting.
Misho - “You did it?”
“Of course.” Jack remarks casually, shifting his clothes back to his Captain’s uniform, “Mirra’s off the hook for now, but that doesn’t change the fact that Mimic has an agenda to destroy Mirra’s rep in full swing and she’s not slowing for anything.”
Misho shakes her head distainfully at the thought, “There’s more to Mimic that meets the eye. From what I read of Nina’s report from the first incident it’s against Mimic’s ego ridden
personality to sudden shift gears like this--- unless Mirra’s someone she hates just as much as she hates the new Master of the cards (Sakura). But why?”
Jack - “Only Mimic knows that one.”
“Maybe for now--- but not for long.” Misho reaches into her desk and draws out a cell phone, “Not for long.”
* * * * * *
A short while later, the five meet in Sakura and Tomoyo’s bedroom.
“So we’re all in agreement from the evidence that Mimic is back, right?” Nina asks.
Kero motions to the Clow book, “Then let’s find out what she’s up to.” (as the book opens and the cards come out Nina notes something) “There’s more cards than I remember, Kero.”
“Your on the ball today, Nina. I had a few new cards crafted with the help of a friend.” Kero noted, “They’re replacements for the six that were lost when their original forms became human. Windy, Woods, Water, Mirror, Light & Dark. Add to that the cards Sakura caught and we have a nice tidy deck for a easy divination spell.”
“What friend?” Sakura asks.
“I’ll introduce you one day to my friend. But for now let’s go--- you remember, right?”
“I know. First I shuffle the cards---” (she stops without even touching the cards) “---wait, Kero.”
Kero - “What? Do you sense something amiss? What’s wrong, Sakura? Is it Mimic?”
Sakura - “Tomoyo has to get her camera.”
Kero faints.
A minute later Tomoyo has her camera rolling and Sakura begins.
Sakura goes through the motions slowly, as much for her own benefit as Tomoyo‘s so she didn‘t get it wrong after not doing this for the longest time. “Shuffle the cards--- split them into four piles with my left hand--- return them with my left hand--- and now chant---” (closes eyes) “Ancient Cards of Clow, give me vision now. Show me if you may, who is standing in our way.”
Energy gathers, swirls, and touches the cards as Sakura opens her eyes and reaches out.
Sakura grasps the card almost knowingly, “The first card should be Windy.”
It’s Dark.
Sakura - “What? What’s wrong? I thought---”
Kero - “That was before, Sakura. This is different--- but, Dark?”
“There’s a dark nemesis behind the scenes of all this.” Eliza notes. “Darkness in the SpellThrashing incantation “Foresight” often stands for a greater evil behind one being faced at the present.”
Tomoyo - “Then that means…”
Eliza - “There’s a greater force behind Mimic and the re-release of the cards.”
Silence reigns for a few seconds as the implications set in.
“That makes sense though.” Nina notes, “Remember Sword? Sword didn’t go after Sakura first, it took me out and cleared a path to Sakura. If it was just testing Sakura it would have found a way to get to her around us, not through us as it did by having Eliza attack me first. That makes this “dark nemesis” theory quite plausible in my opinion.”
Sakura - “What about Shadow? That wasn’t after me!”
“Shadow’s eccentric, remember? It probably wanted you to come after it.” Kero again notes, “It’s weird that way. Anyway, let’s find out what Sword & Shadow were up to. Flip that card next.”
It’s Sword.
“That---” Kero begins, “---means a Challenge or a Test.”
Eliza - “I’d say Challenge. If the first card indicates a darker nemesis, he might be challenging Sakura. This might be it’s way of telling Sakura it’s coming after her.”
Nina - “It might also be testing her skills and finding weak points to exploit later. Hence a test of her abilities.”
Kero - “Shadow is still eccentric. It probably let Fear talk it into attacking when it probably just wanted to stay out of Sakura’s way, or even return to Sakura. Shadow was always abit of an odd card.”
“Alright, Kero, we got all that---” Nina looks at the cards turned over with a slight scowl on her face, “---but what is this thing we’re going up against anyway?”
Kero - “Let’s find out. Flip over those three cards and see what they say about our enemy?”
Thunder, Illusion, Shadow.
Sakura - “What a strange combination. What could it mean? Could this nemesis use these three cards?”
“Or powers similar to it.” Eliza points out, looking at the cards. “It’s likely these three cards are a representation of the power behind Mimic.”
Sakura’s hand grip tensely, her body shivering as she tries to come to grip with what’s going on. Suddenly she feels Tomoyo’s strong warmth grip her as the dark haired young woman wraps her arms around Sakura to keep the chill of the moment at bay.
“Last card.” Kero points to the next card, “Let’s see what Mimic is gunning for now.”
Mirror, upside down.
Sakura - “Mimic’s after Mirra-chan?!”
“Wait, Sakura, look---” (Eliza points at the card) “---it’s in reverse. That means Mimic is after the opposite of Mirror. But---”
Kero - “Or maybe Mirror’s polar opposite, or her opposite. But what is Mirror‘s opposite?”
Silence. Everyone looks up, but the silence is quickly broken by a yell---
“HIKARU-CHAN!!!”
All eyes turn to the door, where Mirra was spying on them, as she dashes downstairs to the door in a blind panic.
“Oh no.” Tomoyo whispers, “Is she going to go after Hikaru?!?”
“She wants to hurt Mirra.” Eliza slowly whispers, “But she’s going to hurt her by using the person she treasures the most to inflict pain on her--- she’s going to hurt Hikaru to get at Mirra.”
Everyone quickly dashes out the door after Mirra-chan.
* * * * * *
She was barely down the street before something exploded in her head.
Mirra screams as she clutches her skull, reeling under the painful blast of pain. Seconds pass as she wobbles and spins disoriented under the assault before she is able to clear her head. But the point was clear. In her mind’s eye she saw a quiet grassy spot in a large set of trees. She was waiting for them at Hikaru’s favorite spot in the small wooded area called Vision Park. Mimic wasn’t even attempting to hide her location, she wanted Mirra there to see her hurt Hikaru! Mirra was quickly running again, headed to New King Penguin Park, head still
slightly reeling from the burst of pain. “I’m coming, Hikaru! I’m coming! Hold on!”
* * * * * *
A minute behind her was Sakura and the others.
As they left the house Sakura stumbles in pain, her blades sliding from beneath her and dropping her into Tomoyo’s arms. “Sakura what’s wrong?!? Are you alright? Sakura!!”
For a few seconds Sakura grips her head in pain, but finally the pain subsides leaving Sakura with a curious expression on her face. To everyone’s bewilderment she quickly gets back on her feet and starts madly running again, with everyone behind Sakura following her because
they didn’t know where she (let alone Mirra) was headed.
“SAKURA WAIT!” Nina yelled out as they ran, “How the hell do you know where she’s going?!”
“I feel her! She was in pain a minute ago! She’s going to Vision Park!”
Nina - “And you know this because---”
Sakura - “I JUST DO!! TRUST ME!!”
A few minutes later they arrive, climbing the stairs to the top, but Sakura stops. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t feel them any---” (Sakura grips Tomoyo tight, shivering in her arms) “I can’t feel her.”
“What?!?” Nina chokes, “You had it a minute ago!!”
Sakura looks about in a panic, “There’s--- oh god--- so many in here.”
“So many---” Eliza puts her hands together and begins chanting a spell.
Nina - “What do you feel?”
Eliza - “It feels like there’s a lot of people---” (Tomoyo holds Sakura tight as she shakes in her arms) “But I don’t see anyone. It feels like there’s something dark here too--- this place is supposed to be haunted.”
“It’s not.” (everyone looks at Eliza as she speaks) “This is Glass Space.”
Everyone - “What?”
Nina - “I heard that word before--- it’s a theory isn’t it?”
“It’s also a fact in the mystical world. Nina.” Eliza said softly.
“Wait, wait, what are you two talking about?” (Tomoyo)
Nina - “Glass Space. It’s where the dimensional barriers between two points in the same physical space are the weakest and anyone with a high degree of sensitivity can pick up what’s going on on the other side of the dimensional “glass”.” Eliza motions to their surroundings. “Sakura’s right, there IS a large gathering of people around us from
what my spell could gather--- at least, there is in Normal space.”
Sakura - “Normal space?”
Eliza - “The waking world, Sakura. We’re in fact surrounded by people in the physical counterpart of this park in the waking world. Probably some sort of event or maybe they’re filming something here. The sense of darkness though probably means the presence of a Darkling around here.”
“So the people in the waking world is covering Mimic’s presence.”
“Essentially that is correct, Kero.” Eliza finishes with a nod of the head.
“But what about the Darkling, Eliza? Isn‘t it dangerous?”
“That’s nothing, Tomoyo. Darklings tend to hang near glass space. They try to find “cracks” in the “glass” to slip into the waking world, but they never get very far with that idea.”
“But we have to find the girls!” Kero spits out, looking about for them in the mass of trees.
* * * * * *
Mimic smiles, holding Mirra down as Hikaru watches helplessly (bound as she was). Mimic reached one hand to Mirra’s neck, the other down to her rear. “Now, are you going to change back or should I snap your neck?”
For long seconds Mirra does not, but finally she changes back to her original form, a tear slides down her face as she reveals her true self.
“See? That wasn’t hard---” (holds Mirra’s head up to show Hikaru) “---isn’t that precious? Your little lover isn’t all she’s cracked up to be--- the liar she is.”
“I DIDN’T LIE!!” (Mirra gasps, another tear flowing down her cheek) “I love you--- please---”
Hikaru nods her head, “---I love you too--- I knew you were different--- it didn‘t matter---
I still fell in love with you---” Hikaru rasps before Mimic tightens her grip on Mirra‘s neck, slamming her hard into the ground.
Hikaru - “STOP THAT! LET HER GO!”
“I don’t want to!!” (Mimic throws Mirra face first in front of Hikaru) “It’s your fault I’m stuck like this!” Mimic screamed, walking over to the two. “What are you---”
“SHE DID THIS TO ME!!” Mimic screams, “CLOW REED MADE ME TO BE HIS
MISTRESS!! HE ONLY MADE YOU SO I COULD HAVE MORE TIME TO BE WITH HIM,
BUT YOU TRIED TO STEAL HIM FROM ME!! YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I CHANGED
FORM AGAIN AND AGAIN, EACH TIME LOSING A SHARD OF SELF TO ERASE THE
DAMAGE YOUR PROMISCUITY CAUSED? TO GET BACK WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY
MINE?? YOU DID THIS TO ME!!”
Mirra - “I didn’t--- he was like--- a father--- to me----”
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A FATHER IS!!” (kicks Mirra hard in the gut) “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS DO YOU???” (kneels before Hikaru, her hand reaching beneath her skirt as she pushes her towards Mirra)
“What are you---” (Mimic pulls her hand back with something in it) “---oh god---”
“I want to see you do her! TAKE HER!! LIKE THE EVIL THING YOU ARE!! THAT’S ALL YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SO GO ON!!” (shoves Mirra’s head beneath Hikaru’s skirt) “DO IT!!!”
Mirra shut her eyes, but so close to Hikaru’s intimate private spot she couldn’t help but shiver in shame.
Deep inside she felt something yearning to do what Mimic wanted her to.
No matter what, Mirra resolved, she wouldn’t harm Hikaru in any way.
She made a promise to her. She wouldn’t do this to her now, even to save herself.
No matter what she had to protect Hikaru. No matter the cost.
To Be Continued
Sakura Blossoms - CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II Episode 4 (10)
CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II 4 (10)
Meanwhile, what Nina was SUPPOSED to be watching (Sakura’s class)
Sakura blushed when she thought about Tomoyo’s delicate hands gently cutting her hair.
“Tomoyo cut my hair. And then we watched movies--- sigh.”
“Yeah, it was fun.” Keiko noted from her seat at the front of the class (she was just bored so she stopped in and let her fake teacher ID do the talking for her to get her access to Sakura’s class) “We watched movies together and--- hey, isn‘t today badminton in gym?”
Tomoyo nods her head, “We’re playing badminton in gym today! That‘s right!”
Keiko - “Hey loser!“ (towards Rebecca who was sitting in the back of the class as she always did during study period when she didn‘t have any classes to teach) “Why don’t you two settle this on the court? Woman to Crazed Psychobitch?”
Rebecca sneered at the thought, “Badmintion?!? Do I look hopelessly British to you?”
Yama - “Don’t you know?”
“Know what?” Rebecca asks, spinning about at the sound of his voice.
Yama - “Badmintion is a proper dueling sport that dates back to ancient Rome. The person who loses would have had to forfeit his life for losing!”
Rebecca looks around, gauging reactions as she watches. “Say what…”
Sakura - “Is that---”
As Sakura’s eyes spanned about she regarded her friends and loved one one by one.
Chiharu - “He’s lying!” (But secretly she’s thinking ‘what if---’)
Naoko - She couldn’t care less because it looks like there’s going to be a good show coming and she’s hyped about being there to watch it! (She still remembers the last time badminton was used to settle a grudge and that was years ago!)
Sakura - She couldn’t look at herself but there was about a 50/50 odds she might be a believer, even now.
Rika - She thinks he’s joking (again).
Rebecca - She can’t fathom it, but it seems plausible (she wasn’t around for the last incident so what did she know of it).
Tomoyo - She thinks it would be great if only it were true.
Keiko - “---not again.”
In a book she just opened on alternate universe history she’s now reading about the great Badmintion duel between Hamilton & Burr.
On the net she also finds an alternate universe theatrical poster for Russell Crowe’s Badmintoner. (Reviewed by Ebert to be “The Best Roman Badmintion Combat Movie to date!”) (“This book keeps getting heavier every time he opens his yap” Keiko remarks as she puts the book back where she finds it, entitled “Alternate Universes and their Quirks“ (a work in progress by Yama the Liar)).
Keiko - “Everytime he opens his mouth he creates an alternate universe with every idea of his and it continues to clutter up the space/time continuum archives.” (curses silently to herself) “It should be a crime against temporal nature for him to be alive.”
* * * * * *
“Analysis complete. Subject found.“
“Damn---” Nina groans as she leans back in her chair, “Show me.”
The footage plays out as what seems to be Mirra casually strolls up to the toys (in full view of the camera) and shoves them over, she then skates off leaving the girl from school (who talked to Mirra) confused in the incident’s wake.
Nina - “How many other people has accessed this file?”
“None. The file has been sealed by request. However, your clearance permits you access.“
Nina - “Sealed? Who locked this file?”
“Misho NamoCatCat.“
“That’s strange,” Eliza remarks as she looks at the video again, “why is Misho covering this up? Considering how much Sakura inconvienced her that last time you‘d think she‘d have a burr up her tail end about Sakura anything, let alone her child.”
“ALERT! Incoming realtime signal! Source - NamoCatCat Corp. HQ, TOKYO“
“Ask her yourself, we have company---” (switches to link) “---speak of the Neko. What can I do for you today, Neko.”
Misho went right to the point, “Skip the pleasantries, you know exactly why I’m calling you.”
Nina - “Then that’d be the topic of Mirra. Or, to be more precise, the thing that you don’t know about that’s impersonating Mirra.”
Eliza - “Mimic?”
“The one and the same.” Nina finishes for Eliza. “She’s baaaaaa-ck.”
* * * * * *
Gym class. Keiko’s running it today.
“Alrighty then! You all know the drill? Oh-kay, so who wants to---” (Rebecca snaps her arm to attention raised high over her head) “---figures. Your not even a student and you shouldn’t be in this class, but who am I to argue with a grown woman who wore her guns to gym class? (Shouldn‘t this Dream Tokyo have the same anti-gun laws as the real Tokyo?)“ (huffs breath) “Now (as if I didn’t already know) who---” (snaps her other arm at Sakura) “---oh bother.”
As the two face off, Rebecca scowls. “Just because your kissing Keiko’s fancy butt doesn’t mean your better than me. Fly should be mine already and you know it.“
“I don’t have a fancy butt!” Keiko remarks from the sidelines. “Mind your own arse, you arse!”
Sakura - “She’s a friend, that’s all. She has a right to visit.”
Somehow, from the look on Rebecca’s face that said “I’m going to kill you now and bury the corpse where you drop” look on her face, Rebecca wasn’t buying it for a second. Sakura swallowed hard, and braced herself.
“Sakura! Don‘t let the teacher intimidate you!!” Tomoyo yells out.
With that Rebecca moves and in a flash she sets and serves with a lightning quick accuracy that neatly causes Sakura’s shirt to flutter from the backwash of gust as it shoots past her mere inches from hitting her.
“That’s a pinpoint accurate shot! Can you boast that kind of control and accuracy?” Rebecca points out, “If I wanted to I could have crippled your good arm without even trying, but I didn‘t! Can you be that confident in your shooting abilities?”
“Sakura!” Tomoyo wants to move, but Keiko holds her back. “She’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“If she hurt Sakura---” Tomoyo gasps, watching now with abit of concern.
Everyone gasps at the power. Sakura, teeth clenched (but not visibly so) grips her racket tight. ‘She can’t do that in front of Tomoyo! I won’t lose to her!’
She watches Rebecca moving slowly, watching for her shot. As seconds pass Sakura watches Rebecca’s motions and remembers them as the same motions she uses when she’s wielding her guns to bring them to bear. With one quick motion she takes her hit and sends it across and right into the handle of Rebecca’s racket as she reacts, snapping the racket from her grip (catching Rebecca off guard as she lets her grip slip in shock) sending it skidding across the floor.
“What the---?!?” she gasps, her eyes turning to watch her racket come skidding to a halt a few feet behind her. “No way.”
“Yeah, Sakura!” Tomoyo cheers, as Keiko looks on. “You going to stand there looking like a deer caught in someone’s headlights or are you going to pick that up?”
“Lucky shot, Keiko, that‘s all that was.” Rebecca grouses, stalking over and quickly snagging the racket back into her hand, “Not happening again.”
Keiko - “We’ll see about that, this game has only just started.”
“Give me a break, Yamanaka.” Rebecca spits out as she returns to her position, “It’s over right now!”
Both combatants glare at each other, faces determined and their focus locked on the game.
As the game resumes Keiko nudges Tomoyo to catch her attention, “Looks like they’re going to be at it for awhile.”
Tomoyo - “Their rivalry really brings out their competitive spirit.”
Keiko - “Uh-huh---” (sighs) “---they’re not finishing anytime soon. Might as well get comfortable and do any studying you have to, looks like we got ANOTHER free period on our hands.”
Everyone sits down to watch the game, as Keiko takes her own PSP out and starts playing with it again. “Good thing I brought Valkryie Profile with me or I’d be bored to tears.”
“I HEARD THAT!!” Rebecca screams as she intercepts another volley from Sakura.
“Yeah, yeah, I know---” (sighs) “---no wonder nobody made Mario Badmintion yet even for the Wii...”
* * * * * *
After gym class Tomoyo helps carry Sakura’s stuff back to class (because Sakura stressed her arm out playing).
Later, after school, Tomoyo takes Sakura to a beautiful little dessert shop for ice cream.
As Sakura nips at her ice cream, she sighs as Tomoyo’s fingers work into her shoulders to ease the pain. “How does that feel, Sakura? Your arm feeling better yet?”
Sakura - “Abit, thanks.”
As Tomoyo sits back down, she smiles at Sakura, “That was wonderful! You played so well.”
Sakura - “But it never really ended. The bell had to ring before we finally gave up on the match.” (whines softly) “That was brutal!”
Tomoyo - “You just kept rallying, Sakura!”
Sakura frowned at the thought, “Rebecca was scary the whole game! I thought she was going to kill somebody when the bell rang.”
Suddenly Tomoyo leans closer, “Sakura, let me trim your hair next time.”
Sakura - “You already did, rem---”
Tomoyo - “I meant in an intimate way, Sakura.”
It takes two whole minutes for the idea to fully sink in, which is filled with Sakura laughing nervously and looking utterly confused. As realization sets in, along with a full body blush, something catches her eye. From one side of her vision she sees Mirra-chan, yet NOT
Mirra-chan, ghost past her. For a second it’s Mirra-chan. Then it’s herself.
As her “twin” passes, she raises a hand as if holding a gun and points it at Sakura, deftly motioning and whispering the word “Bang” as she passes them by. Tomoyo manages to look just as the other Sakura rolls off. “Wh-what was---?”
Two of Mirra-chan’s classmates run up to the two. “What’s wrong? You two seem panicked.”
“Mirra’s acting funny!” one girl yelps, “She kicked sand into some little kid’s faces!”
“She also pushed over a vase outside of a restaurant!”
“Mirra-chan didn’t do it!!” Sakura yells, “It’s a mistake!”
Tomoyo - “She couldn’t have done it.”
All turn towards the voice, which is a tall male dressed in a waiter’s uniform. “Your drinks.” (hands off the drinks) “I’m familiar with the girl in question and she’s been in here the past 15 minutes. Come, take a look.”
Inside, at one of the booths, is Mirra/Hikaru. Both sitting contently nuzzled close waiting for another large drink. As the new drink arrives they each take their straws and share the drink, occasionally stealing kisses when they think nobody’s looking.
Male - “They’ve been cuddled up like that for awhile now, so it couldn’t have been her.”
While that killed the argument that Mirra was guilty, it sparked worry in Sakura.
If it wasn’t Mirra, then it could only be one other card---
As the two girls go their way, and Sakura/Tomoyo start to talk, the waiter returns inside where he walks into the kitchen and into the owner’s office where Misho NamoCatCat is waiting.
Misho - “You did it?”
“Of course.” Jack remarks casually, shifting his clothes back to his Captain’s uniform, “Mirra’s off the hook for now, but that doesn’t change the fact that Mimic has an agenda to destroy Mirra’s rep in full swing and she’s not slowing for anything.”
Misho shakes her head distainfully at the thought, “There’s more to Mimic that meets the eye. From what I read of Nina’s report from the first incident it’s against Mimic’s ego ridden
personality to sudden shift gears like this--- unless Mirra’s someone she hates just as much as she hates the new Master of the cards (Sakura). But why?”
Jack - “Only Mimic knows that one.”
“Maybe for now--- but not for long.” Misho reaches into her desk and draws out a cell phone, “Not for long.”
* * * * * *
A short while later, the five meet in Sakura and Tomoyo’s bedroom.
“So we’re all in agreement from the evidence that Mimic is back, right?” Nina asks.
Kero motions to the Clow book, “Then let’s find out what she’s up to.” (as the book opens and the cards come out Nina notes something) “There’s more cards than I remember, Kero.”
“Your on the ball today, Nina. I had a few new cards crafted with the help of a friend.” Kero noted, “They’re replacements for the six that were lost when their original forms became human. Windy, Woods, Water, Mirror, Light & Dark. Add to that the cards Sakura caught and we have a nice tidy deck for a easy divination spell.”
“What friend?” Sakura asks.
“I’ll introduce you one day to my friend. But for now let’s go--- you remember, right?”
“I know. First I shuffle the cards---” (she stops without even touching the cards) “---wait, Kero.”
Kero - “What? Do you sense something amiss? What’s wrong, Sakura? Is it Mimic?”
Sakura - “Tomoyo has to get her camera.”
Kero faints.
A minute later Tomoyo has her camera rolling and Sakura begins.
Sakura goes through the motions slowly, as much for her own benefit as Tomoyo‘s so she didn‘t get it wrong after not doing this for the longest time. “Shuffle the cards--- split them into four piles with my left hand--- return them with my left hand--- and now chant---” (closes eyes) “Ancient Cards of Clow, give me vision now. Show me if you may, who is standing in our way.”
Energy gathers, swirls, and touches the cards as Sakura opens her eyes and reaches out.
Sakura grasps the card almost knowingly, “The first card should be Windy.”
It’s Dark.
Sakura - “What? What’s wrong? I thought---”
Kero - “That was before, Sakura. This is different--- but, Dark?”
“There’s a dark nemesis behind the scenes of all this.” Eliza notes. “Darkness in the SpellThrashing incantation “Foresight” often stands for a greater evil behind one being faced at the present.”
Tomoyo - “Then that means…”
Eliza - “There’s a greater force behind Mimic and the re-release of the cards.”
Silence reigns for a few seconds as the implications set in.
“That makes sense though.” Nina notes, “Remember Sword? Sword didn’t go after Sakura first, it took me out and cleared a path to Sakura. If it was just testing Sakura it would have found a way to get to her around us, not through us as it did by having Eliza attack me first. That makes this “dark nemesis” theory quite plausible in my opinion.”
Sakura - “What about Shadow? That wasn’t after me!”
“Shadow’s eccentric, remember? It probably wanted you to come after it.” Kero again notes, “It’s weird that way. Anyway, let’s find out what Sword & Shadow were up to. Flip that card next.”
It’s Sword.
“That---” Kero begins, “---means a Challenge or a Test.”
Eliza - “I’d say Challenge. If the first card indicates a darker nemesis, he might be challenging Sakura. This might be it’s way of telling Sakura it’s coming after her.”
Nina - “It might also be testing her skills and finding weak points to exploit later. Hence a test of her abilities.”
Kero - “Shadow is still eccentric. It probably let Fear talk it into attacking when it probably just wanted to stay out of Sakura’s way, or even return to Sakura. Shadow was always abit of an odd card.”
“Alright, Kero, we got all that---” Nina looks at the cards turned over with a slight scowl on her face, “---but what is this thing we’re going up against anyway?”
Kero - “Let’s find out. Flip over those three cards and see what they say about our enemy?”
Thunder, Illusion, Shadow.
Sakura - “What a strange combination. What could it mean? Could this nemesis use these three cards?”
“Or powers similar to it.” Eliza points out, looking at the cards. “It’s likely these three cards are a representation of the power behind Mimic.”
Sakura’s hand grip tensely, her body shivering as she tries to come to grip with what’s going on. Suddenly she feels Tomoyo’s strong warmth grip her as the dark haired young woman wraps her arms around Sakura to keep the chill of the moment at bay.
“Last card.” Kero points to the next card, “Let’s see what Mimic is gunning for now.”
Mirror, upside down.
Sakura - “Mimic’s after Mirra-chan?!”
“Wait, Sakura, look---” (Eliza points at the card) “---it’s in reverse. That means Mimic is after the opposite of Mirror. But---”
Kero - “Or maybe Mirror’s polar opposite, or her opposite. But what is Mirror‘s opposite?”
Silence. Everyone looks up, but the silence is quickly broken by a yell---
“HIKARU-CHAN!!!”
All eyes turn to the door, where Mirra was spying on them, as she dashes downstairs to the door in a blind panic.
“Oh no.” Tomoyo whispers, “Is she going to go after Hikaru?!?”
“She wants to hurt Mirra.” Eliza slowly whispers, “But she’s going to hurt her by using the person she treasures the most to inflict pain on her--- she’s going to hurt Hikaru to get at Mirra.”
Everyone quickly dashes out the door after Mirra-chan.
* * * * * *
She was barely down the street before something exploded in her head.
Mirra screams as she clutches her skull, reeling under the painful blast of pain. Seconds pass as she wobbles and spins disoriented under the assault before she is able to clear her head. But the point was clear. In her mind’s eye she saw a quiet grassy spot in a large set of trees. She was waiting for them at Hikaru’s favorite spot in the small wooded area called Vision Park. Mimic wasn’t even attempting to hide her location, she wanted Mirra there to see her hurt Hikaru! Mirra was quickly running again, headed to New King Penguin Park, head still
slightly reeling from the burst of pain. “I’m coming, Hikaru! I’m coming! Hold on!”
* * * * * *
A minute behind her was Sakura and the others.
As they left the house Sakura stumbles in pain, her blades sliding from beneath her and dropping her into Tomoyo’s arms. “Sakura what’s wrong?!? Are you alright? Sakura!!”
For a few seconds Sakura grips her head in pain, but finally the pain subsides leaving Sakura with a curious expression on her face. To everyone’s bewilderment she quickly gets back on her feet and starts madly running again, with everyone behind Sakura following her because
they didn’t know where she (let alone Mirra) was headed.
“SAKURA WAIT!” Nina yelled out as they ran, “How the hell do you know where she’s going?!”
“I feel her! She was in pain a minute ago! She’s going to Vision Park!”
Nina - “And you know this because---”
Sakura - “I JUST DO!! TRUST ME!!”
A few minutes later they arrive, climbing the stairs to the top, but Sakura stops. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t feel them any---” (Sakura grips Tomoyo tight, shivering in her arms) “I can’t feel her.”
“What?!?” Nina chokes, “You had it a minute ago!!”
Sakura looks about in a panic, “There’s--- oh god--- so many in here.”
“So many---” Eliza puts her hands together and begins chanting a spell.
Nina - “What do you feel?”
Eliza - “It feels like there’s a lot of people---” (Tomoyo holds Sakura tight as she shakes in her arms) “But I don’t see anyone. It feels like there’s something dark here too--- this place is supposed to be haunted.”
“It’s not.” (everyone looks at Eliza as she speaks) “This is Glass Space.”
Everyone - “What?”
Nina - “I heard that word before--- it’s a theory isn’t it?”
“It’s also a fact in the mystical world. Nina.” Eliza said softly.
“Wait, wait, what are you two talking about?” (Tomoyo)
Nina - “Glass Space. It’s where the dimensional barriers between two points in the same physical space are the weakest and anyone with a high degree of sensitivity can pick up what’s going on on the other side of the dimensional “glass”.” Eliza motions to their surroundings. “Sakura’s right, there IS a large gathering of people around us from
what my spell could gather--- at least, there is in Normal space.”
Sakura - “Normal space?”
Eliza - “The waking world, Sakura. We’re in fact surrounded by people in the physical counterpart of this park in the waking world. Probably some sort of event or maybe they’re filming something here. The sense of darkness though probably means the presence of a Darkling around here.”
“So the people in the waking world is covering Mimic’s presence.”
“Essentially that is correct, Kero.” Eliza finishes with a nod of the head.
“But what about the Darkling, Eliza? Isn‘t it dangerous?”
“That’s nothing, Tomoyo. Darklings tend to hang near glass space. They try to find “cracks” in the “glass” to slip into the waking world, but they never get very far with that idea.”
“But we have to find the girls!” Kero spits out, looking about for them in the mass of trees.
* * * * * *
Mimic smiles, holding Mirra down as Hikaru watches helplessly (bound as she was). Mimic reached one hand to Mirra’s neck, the other down to her rear. “Now, are you going to change back or should I snap your neck?”
For long seconds Mirra does not, but finally she changes back to her original form, a tear slides down her face as she reveals her true self.
“See? That wasn’t hard---” (holds Mirra’s head up to show Hikaru) “---isn’t that precious? Your little lover isn’t all she’s cracked up to be--- the liar she is.”
“I DIDN’T LIE!!” (Mirra gasps, another tear flowing down her cheek) “I love you--- please---”
Hikaru nods her head, “---I love you too--- I knew you were different--- it didn‘t matter---
I still fell in love with you---” Hikaru rasps before Mimic tightens her grip on Mirra‘s neck, slamming her hard into the ground.
Hikaru - “STOP THAT! LET HER GO!”
“I don’t want to!!” (Mimic throws Mirra face first in front of Hikaru) “It’s your fault I’m stuck like this!” Mimic screamed, walking over to the two. “What are you---”
“SHE DID THIS TO ME!!” Mimic screams, “CLOW REED MADE ME TO BE HIS
MISTRESS!! HE ONLY MADE YOU SO I COULD HAVE MORE TIME TO BE WITH HIM,
BUT YOU TRIED TO STEAL HIM FROM ME!! YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I CHANGED
FORM AGAIN AND AGAIN, EACH TIME LOSING A SHARD OF SELF TO ERASE THE
DAMAGE YOUR PROMISCUITY CAUSED? TO GET BACK WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY
MINE?? YOU DID THIS TO ME!!”
Mirra - “I didn’t--- he was like--- a father--- to me----”
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A FATHER IS!!” (kicks Mirra hard in the gut) “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS DO YOU???” (kneels before Hikaru, her hand reaching beneath her skirt as she pushes her towards Mirra)
“What are you---” (Mimic pulls her hand back with something in it) “---oh god---”
“I want to see you do her! TAKE HER!! LIKE THE EVIL THING YOU ARE!! THAT’S ALL YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SO GO ON!!” (shoves Mirra’s head beneath Hikaru’s skirt) “DO IT!!!”
Mirra shut her eyes, but so close to Hikaru’s intimate private spot she couldn’t help but shiver in shame.
Deep inside she felt something yearning to do what Mimic wanted her to.
No matter what, Mirra resolved, she wouldn’t harm Hikaru in any way.
She made a promise to her. She wouldn’t do this to her now, even to save herself.
No matter what she had to protect Hikaru. No matter the cost.
To Be Continued
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