Disclaimer: Eternally disclaiming Gakuen Alice.
E-Note: REVISED. Originally, this story was supposed to be a one-shot. But when I wrote this the first time, all the elements I was thinking couldn't fit into one, which resulted into me planning it to be a 3-chapter story. However, I doubt I could truly achieve my original goal for this story-that is to make it a one-shot that will comprise Yura's not so detailed life-so I revised it and classified this story, mainly, as a recount. I hope you enjoy reading this! :)
YURA OTONASHI, THE NECROMANCER
"Eternally..."
"A pact made between a living person and a deceased one comprised of three wishes. When a pact was made, both of the participants must submit themselves to the other one for eternity. While the living received benefit from the three wishes, the deceased would take the life of the living person each time a wish was granted..."
Her story was not much of an adventure. The peculiarity of her actions gave way to the palpable absence of so-called friends around her. In her times of adversaries, she'd sit alone in her room, her eyes fixed on the door, waiting for someone to knock and tell her its fine; but at times, she would stare at the wrinkled cover of her bed, finally coming to her verdict that not one soul would have that much of interest to pay attention to her.
On much worse days—those lingering moments when she'd been surrounded by the people who cared the least for her—she'd hide the fact that she knew how they snickered behind her back.
It was one Alice Festival when she realized that no matter how much she fabricated the truth that she was invincible to their badgering; she was still a human, capable of being susceptible to distressing matters. They made fun of her gift once again, like they always did. It caused her to be called urgently by her seniors, telling her that she need not to continue her foretelling, because after all, it was only making their class look low.
So she directed herself to the library and sought for comfort there. The librarian showed her a smile. A smile that was supposed to steal a chance to comfort her turned out to have another effect on her; which was, at that point, made her appreciate how marginalized she was from the majority.
Who would go to the library while everyone was counting their couple of hours before the last dance?
A tear trickled down her cheek as she answered that question herself. She wiped it with the sleeve of her white cloak that was supposed to be her costume for her small contribution to her ability class.
She walked further on the second floor of the library, completely aware of her deserted surrounding. The lack of companion for over so many years had built her a strong foundation of self-reliance; included on the package was being attached to the invisible forces around the academy—minus the barrier created by the Middle School Principal.
"Yura, why don't you come play with us?" invited the voice beside her; came next was a whispering of a repetition of the said question.
She shook her head with less fervour as she pulled a chair tucked under a long mahogany table. She didn't see who that was. She never had the chance to place her eyes on him (she thought it was only fair to classify him as a male because of his voice) or to his friends.
"It would be fun. Trust me," he persuaded in an almost mocking tone.
She promised to never 'play' with them, for the kind of play they wanted asked for another definition. It would mean that she would allow the twin of her Alice to come to life. It was a foul method of grasping things; long since been used by her ancestors, who didn't want to live the customary life.
They—her ancestors—were ostracized from the society. They had been rumoured to do the work of the evil; something they barely denied.
Several hundred years ago, in the witch hunt, her ancestors had to hide from the eyes of the law for the reason that Alice of Divination was directly related to witchcraft. They led an unfortunate life from the scavengers who were promised of an opulent life after they have captured the late members of her family. Very few of her ancestors managed to blend in with the shadows, while the remaining had suffered the punishment for being acquainted with witchcraft.
"You know what happened to them," Yura whispered to the being beside her.
Their conversation ended there. The being stayed in silence, and although Yura couldn't see him, she knew he was just there, waiting for the right time to lure her into doing what she hadn't done before.
Three months had passed before the being finally got what he wished for—a pact.
Yura had been tricked into entering into a relationship with her senpai. She fell in love... fell hard and deep. Turned out, their relationship was nothing but a bet her senpai's friends and him made. On the third week of their relationship, her senpai dumped her in the cafeteria while they were eating. He pushed her out of her seat, thus she fell on the cold floor, along with her orange juice that was spilled on her uniform. She ran out of everybody's sight; her clothes drenched in the sweet liquid and her face with her tears.
Before, she could not understand how that kind of cliché scene in the films she had seen made girls bawl. Now she did.
"Come out wherever you are," she called out to the being as she found her solitude in the middle of the Northern Forest.
A gush of strong wind blew on her direction. She gazed up at the late afternoon sky and saw the vague presence of the moon.
"I wish to make a pact... with you, being," she declared; her voice was rising with determination and anger.
She felt two invisible strong arms encircled her from behind. "Say it." A voice droned.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Hear me, O nature.
Hear the plea of this soul.
The song of my heart,
I offer to him—
Eternally."
A few seconds after, she heard an answer.
"Thus her heart
was offered to mine.
Time shall not ruin
the truth of this pact.
I give unto her
eternity."
The feeling of security vanished in an instant and she opened her eyes.
She looked at her left and found herself drowning in the handsomest orange pools she had ever seen. The owner of the eyes was a lad sitting on the stump of a tree, his legs were crossed and his chin was resting on his palm as his elbow was propped up on his knee. He had a smile playing on his lips, and she was sure that it was meant for her.
"Yura," he spoke. She swore she had heard of this voice before. "Why are you being distant? Aren't you happy to have finally seen me?"
And then it struck her—he was the one she had called being for so long. She was the only one who could feel his presence and see him as well.
He kept her company everywhere she went. She felt anew. The feeling of the lack of lacking a company in her everyday life was something unusual to her, but she loved every bit of it. Not only he was loyal to her—in such a way that no one else noticed of his existence—but he was also undeniably special.
She learned of his past. He never told her his name, but he allowed her to create a name for him. Regarding about his past, she found out that he was the spirit of a noble man who died in a war. He told her about his other friends, those she didn't see but felt. He confessed to her that it was only when she made a pact with him that he had the chance to look at himself; for when he was just a being, he was no more than but clouds of invisible air.
"Does this mean that I... I summoned you from the dead?" she inquired; a pint of fear inside her was starting to grow. This was the sister of her Alice of Divination—the Alice of Necromancy.
"I guess yeah," he cupped her cheek and pulled her into an embrace. "I haven't gotten your first wish by the way. When are you going to ask for it?"
She was inclined to ask for three wishes—that was the purpose of the pact she made with him. She knew of the whole agreement. She also knew of her slowly falling in love with the guy. But because of the twinge in her heart that reminded her of her experience not from so long, she wouldn't admit it, or at least consider it as a change.
A week after, she asked for her first wish—to my enemies, the people who have brought me pain, bring them terror in their dreams.
The week for those who have been affected by the spell was agonizing. No one could sleep, except for Yura and the others who didn't give her any anguish. Even the teachers were affected by the wish she made with him. However, she grasped the reality that her wish was no more than but a curse—a greedy request—and it's only but her first.
Her second wish was spoken the day after New Year.
Yura was invited in the Hana-hime den. Dressed up in her intricately-fabricated white kimono with gold and blue flowers, she hurriedly exited her room, only to meet an unfortunate incident on her way.
A group of girls, who claimed of how envious they were of her when she was chosen to attend the exclusive party, knocked her in the corner of their dormitory. They tore up the sleeves of her kimono, removed the pins holding her bun which she spent almost an hour of putting up due to her amateur skills, and threw her kicks and punches, all of which she felt how much their hatred for her gravely heightened.
He stayed with her through the long night. He tendered her wounds with the ghostly feeling of the strokes of his hand. He listened to her sobbing, and even held her in his arms as they both lay on her bed. He waited for her to go to sleep, but she never did.
She asked for her second wish—"release the evil inside those girls, and have them (the evil) avenge for me."
He answered with a smile full of sinister.
The heat of his body and the sadness she was feeling met at crossroads and a spark was lit, not so long after her second wish was made. That night, she gave in to the hunger she had been feeling. Famished of love and care, companion and attention, she threw the idea that this man beside had been long lost in this world; she only wanted to feel something other than misery.
And so, her third and last wish was completed, and the moon was their witness.
"Yura,"
She woke up to the peering rays of the rising sun through the back of the man who woke her up. His bare torso made her remember what happened that night and she blushed in an instant.
"They're dead." He whispered after giving her a kiss on her forehead. She felt a fuzzy feeling on her stomach, and just then after that the meaning of what he had said registered on her mind.
Those girls...
The horror of her wish left her unresponsive and shivering for quite some minutes. But he brought up something that defeated it.
"Are you ready to come with me?"
She gazed at the orange eyes above her and thought of how much she would miss those if she would decline, but that was just a thought after all. She had made a pact with him already. There was no turning back. And she knew she couldn't live after making her first two wishes.
She heaved a deep breath before she spoke, "Eternally..."
A lingering look to her room, which she knew would be her last, was made.
She would be happy, yes? She would be with him, whom she knew she truly fell in love with. Then, she shifted her eyes to him.
She didn't thought she'd have this kind of ending, of escape. Because, she had always thought she would be able to walk through the gates of the academy after two years, ready to face the world with her gift. But because she had used the twin of her Alice, she thought she had no right to lead a promising life; for she became a murderer.
When the sun finally rose up in the sky, she closed her eyes, with the memory of his face as her last one in the mortal world.
"We will be together, eternally..." the last she heard before her soul was taken.
-FIN-
E-note: I will be very slow in updating my other stories, given that school and some activities keep me busy. For the meantime, enjoy this one-shot of mine and consider reviewing it. Thank you!