Chapter 1: Butterfly Effect
The afternoon was glorious! She strode through the city, smiling slightly, stopping to listen to the curious conversations people were having. A shame she wasn't staying longer, but that was that, wasn't it. She prayed the city she was heading to was as lively as this. She wondered what the people there were going to be like, what school would be like.
Not that it matters to you, said the snide voice inside her mind, Does anything truly matter to you?After all, no one else sees that hour.
She closed her eyes, brushing a hand through her short, auburn hair. She ignored the voice, focusing on the music in her ears, and she sang along softly to herself.
"Wiping all out, I won't go, until it's over," she grinned at the words. They were good, vivacious lyrics, with a damn catchy tune. She flicked the repeat button on her mp3 player and listened to the song again, and smiled at the beginning beat, and moving in time to the rhythm of the song. She enjoyed the ambience of this place, remembering with slight annoyance how her previous school hadn't been quite so warm and welcoming.
She checked her watch and her good mood almost evaporated.
"Crap! The train!" she sprinted, eliciting come cat calls from a group of boys across the street. Probably from the tightness of her shirt. She ignored them, focusing intently on the train. She flashed her card over the turnstile, ran straight through and saw the tail end of the train screaming away from her. She exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders, making a show of her annoyance.
"Ah," she shrugged, "Might as well have a look around." The next train was almost an hour and a half way, at ten. She found her mind wandering to think of the people she was going to meet, as she wandered along the station, and blinked as a tiny shimmer of blue landed on her shoulder.
"Well, I've never seen anything like you before," she murmured at the butterfly. It seemed to shiver, then turned and waltzed away through the air. She followed it's path, watching the sapphire coloured creature disappear in the sky.
She turned the tap on, splashing cold water on her face. She felt the anxiety build up in her, threatening to overcome her. She fell to her knees, the tap still running. She sat back, her breath heavy. She raised it, the thing causing such distress, her eyes taking in the details in horrified fascination. The intricate little decoration on the side plate of the device, the beautiful work of the handle.
She shook, and raised it, levelling it against her temple. She felt the metal slip against her brow. She almost activated it. The paroxysms of fear in her caused her to drop it, and she shook. How could they look down on her for not being able to do! They surely must have seen what it looks like?
She sobbed, despairing at her weakness, her curse, her inability to use this... thing.
The train rattled along the tracks, slowing to a halt. She glanced up at the tannoy, the faint rasp of static heralding the announcement.
"The Train is now pulling into Iwotodai Station. We apologise for the delay, and hope you have a pleasant day."
There was a delay? She thought, checking her watch. Almost midnight.
The train finally stopped, the doors opened, and the last passengers, commuters finally returning home after a long day's work stepped off, yawning, practically asleep. She strode along, watching the second hand tick away on the clock of the station. It was reaching midnight just around now, and she watched the monitors around the station. She stood, unmoving for a few seconds, listening to the final bars of music that would play today.
The station's main clock ticked, the thin bar of the second hand inching ever closer to the...
"So write me an-"
The lights in the station died. The screens and monitors gave a final flash of light, then sputtered into darkness. The air seemed to haze over with black mist, and the moonlight took on a green, dead glow. It looked like a photo negative. She sighed, moving amongst the coffins that inhabited the hour. They were an obsidian black, edged in dark gold, inscribed with thin, spidery script. Their bases glowed crimson, as if covering over a hellish light. She tapped it experimentally, and shrugged. It sounded hollow.
The clock, now stilled, was half covered in crimson, and the numerals were illegible beneath the blood that flowed freely down it's face, and dripped loudly on the tiled floor. Reflected in the rapidly growing lake of red, the moon was visible, glowing yellow.
The dorm was a short way away, definitely within walking distance, according to the tattered map she held. She edged around a pool of blood, frowning at it, eager not to touch it bump into the coffins. She always wondered why she could move during this hour, why no else could. It was always so lonely. She sighed, perking herself up, trying to make herself think positively. It was only for an hour, wasn't it? That wasn't too long to bear.
She reached the tall dorm house. It was a tall, four storey building, a little old fashioned, but homely enough. She opened the doors, stepping through into her new home, and smiled.
She looked around, taking in the main lounge. The darkness shrouded the further reaches of the room, and it seemed quite large. She wondered how much longer it would be til the hour faded into real time.
"You're late." She blinked in surprise, not expecting to hear a voice in this hour. She turned, looking at a pale, thin child sitting at the desk. He looked bored, leaning his head on his hands.
"I've been waiting a long time," he continued. He had short, messy blackish-blue hair, that almost hid his eyes. They were twin, concentric circles of blue. His irises were pinpricks, as if he was staring into a bright light. He was watching her intently.
She frowned at him, "What? Do you live here as well?" The boy shook his head, smiling.
"If you want to proceed," he snapped his fingers, and he was standing beside her, holding a black pen out to her, "Then please, sign this contract." She looked at the red sleeved paper, containng a single page of thick, cream coloured paper with three lines of text.
All that I do, I do of my own free will.
I choose my fate, of my own free will.
No other entity, mortal or not, corporeal or disembodied may decide it.
She looked at him. He grinned, "Don't worry. All it means is that you will take full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff." He seemed cheerful at the prospect of having her sign this contract, but sounded extremely sinister, as if he had some deeper meaning. She flicked the sole page over, glancing at it to see if there was any fine print. Nothing. Just those three lines.
She shrugged, took the pen, and wrote her name, whispering it softly to herself.
Reiko Arisato.
In the night air, a pair of blue wings landed on the fingers of a pale, tall gentleman. A crooked finger gently stroked the butterfly, before it dissipated in haze of blue gas. The three figures standing opposite the table glanced nervously at him.
"Are you sure that your choice was wise, sir Philomen?"
The figure smiled. It was icy, dead. The smile of a man who knew the motion, but forgot the feeling that went with it. This far into his war, with this many loses of his beloved mankind, why would he know actual joy?
"An altered element in a narrative can drastically alter the scenario's results and outcome, Igor. I want a better result than what we saw with him. I want total victory this time."
"I wonder how Nyarlathotep will react. He will see this as deliberate intervention, in direct conflict with the rules," asked the male, who was inspecting the rows of keys embedded in an ebony case, "he might say you're cheating."
The immaculate hands clenched into fists. Gold eyes, gold from lid to lid, narrowed. Blue flames lit along his arm, a visible indicator of the man's rage. The porcelain mask that covered half his face imperceptibly cracked around the edges.
"He doesn't play by the rules. He constantly interferes. I tire of it. I will win this war. By all means," he stood, raising his voice, "I despise him. I despise his deceits, how he tries to ensure Mankind's destruction. They must enlighten themselves, and if I have to give a soft nudge in the right direction, then so be it."
He glanced at all three, azure flames subsiding and a soft, neutral expression on his face returning. The mask healed.
"Give her more power than he had," he murmured, "As my proxies, do everything you can. She must access her potential faster than he did." The three bowed.
Author's notes:
Well. This is going to be fun. This is not going to be a copy paste job of the male story, because of the way that Reiko Arisato (my name for the female protagonist, using the Arisato surname and a Japanese name which means 'Lovely Child') will interact with the others, her mindset (more positive than Minato's, despite my Minato being quite cheerful and open). This will Update rarely, because I don't have P3P. I simply wanted to write this. By the way, there will not be Answer Fic for this story, because It would be essentially the same as Minato's version, just with minor alterations.
Yeah, I'm including the experiment between the two Higher Powers in this fic. But it's now gone further than a simple experiment. It's about to be a war now, with Humanity as its pawns.