I've finally been pulled out of retirement, by a nice young girl named Jessica Anders no less. I found her on my MSN list and decided to talk to her, and lo and behold, I held a soft spot for the 17 year old and she is the one person who inspired me to write again. So I dedicate this story to Jessica, thanks for bringing me back.
Souls in Motion
"Tashaneri."
Large almond shaped eyes hidden under closed eyelids moved around. The heavy lids crinkled and long, dark eyelashes pressed tightly together. A small, pert nose wrinkled cutely. Full pink lips pressed together in a pout.
"N-nani?" a very rich alto voice whispered softly, as the female appeared to be half asleep, half awake.
"Tashaneri…"
The disembodied voice called yet again, but the young 19 year old Japanese girl only stirred in her sleep.
"Kasa," she grumbled. "Ori-wa-"
"I'm not your mother, Tashaneri."
Whatever words she meant to say next froze in her slender throat and those long eyelashes parted as heavy eyelids opened, revealing large almond eyes with dark, very deep pools of brown within them. Those same full lips parted slightly in shock, and a slender hand with long fingers placed itself on a modest chest.
"Nani?" she cried in panic. "Doku wa…?"
She had every right to be panicked. It seemed as if her body was not in her bed in London but was instead floating in an incredibly vast white beyond. She wondered if she had somehow died in her sleep.
"You are not dead child, but if you do not take action, you, and the future of this world, will be."
Long, statuesque legs kicked around feebly as her free hand gripped her tiny waist. Her almost doll-like face had an angry look on it.
"Why… Where am I?" Tashaneri demanded. "Who are you?"
From the everlasting infinite came a figure. Walking tall and gracefully, a middle-aged man dressed in a white tuxedo walked up to Tashaneri, who was still floating around helplessly. He looked very handsome, with long blonde hair slicked back neatly with a handsome, well-groomed face. He carried with him a pocket watch, which he held in one lace-cuffed hand. He flicked it open and paid the young woman no mind as he frowned at what he saw.
"Not good at all, no, I fear that I have left this world unattended for too long," he murmured.
"Um, hello?"
He turned to see Tashaneri hanging in the abyss. With a wave of his hand, she floated to her feet on his level.
"My apologies. I suspect that you want some answers?" he asked. She nodded.
"My child, I am a man of fortune, and a man of stakes," he introduced, conveniently omitting his name. "One may call it my specialty, for I am very good at it."
Seeing the young girls' confusion, he continued on.
"You see, I bet on fortune, and I stake on bets!" he explained. "And as luck would have it, or should I say, unluck would have it, my fortune has lost, and in losing fortune, I lose my stakes, and in losing my stakes…" His handsome face turned dark. "I lose my bet."
His face suddenly became cheerful again. Snapping the ornate pocket watch closed, he slipped the timepiece into his breast pocket and took Tashaneri's hands into his own.
"Now you can imagine that I do not like losing, not one bit and I suppose you can call me dishonest because I would very much like to cheat to win," he said with a smirk. "That is where you come in."
"Me?" Tashaneri asked, beginning to get wary of this strange man. "What can I do?"
The man, who had begun to pace around eagerly, stopped mid pace, his hands still in the air. He spun his head back towards Tashaneri and gave her a queer smile.
"Why my dear, you can do a lot more than what you accredit yourself for," he said, still smiling that odd smile. "Why, your family is descended from the great Jubei Yagyu, are they not?"
Tashaneri bristled. "How did you…?"
The man waggled his finger at her. "I know all my dear, never pretty your – well – pretty face about it. Yes, yes, you're Yagyu's descendant, by many times removed. Of course you would know the Yagyu Shinken style quick draw, no?"
"I do," she answered suspiciously. "What does that have to do with you?"
The man clasped his hands together deviously. "Well in order to explain the why, I must explain the when."
"When?" Tashaneri repeated.
"Sit, sit!" he motioned. "You see, the time now is 2098. My, how humans have progressed! I digress, I'm sorry. But this story, no, this story begins in the summer of 1996. You see, the story, like all good versus evil story begins with…"
He paused in mid speech. "Oh my, then this story should begin in 1943! Yes, as I was saying, in 1943 there was a boy. Oh, but he was no natural boy, and even in the wizarding world, he was no normal boy either."
"Wizarding world?" Tashaneri asked incredulously.
"His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle," the man continued on, as if he hadn't heard Tashaneri's outburst. "And this story begins… and ends with him."