-----Author's note: This is not the next installment of Death To Darkside. That will come at a later date. I do not own Negima, but any other characters and ideas are my own. Enjoy...-----
Establishing com link... ... ... ... ...
Com link established
Mission Briefing...
- - -Objective 01 - Develop a melancholy Negima story in under 1,000 words.
- - -Objective 02 - Craft the story in the genres of drama and mystery.
- - -Objective 03 - Utilize the perspective of one Ayase Yue, but she may not speak.
- - -Objective 04 - Unable to use flashbacks.
Information acquired; Commence mission. - - -Contact Terminated- - -
Whatever it was that had snapped her out of her dim revery, Yue Ayase did not appreciate it. Her chin raised from her chest, forlornly eyes scanning the area around her for the source. Clean, metallic surroundings, large windows, Nodoka a bit to her right. Each librarian sat in their own leather armchair, each librarian seemed aware of the noise but not what had caused it, each librarian as deathly quiet as the other.
Slowly, Nodoka looked over the side of her chair to find that whilst dozing off, she had knocked the book she had been reading off of the arm. Thus, the culprit of the interrupting bang had been caught. Yue watched quietly as Nodoka started to get up to grab the book, seem to decide it unimportant, then sigh and leave it be on the floor. Yue couldn't blame her. There was once a time they would have been upset at such a thought as leaving a book on the floor, but not anymore. After everything they had seen and been through, something like a book on the floor was utterly insignificant. Losing nearly all of your friends brings things into perspective.
As her chin once again found its way down to her chest, Yue let her eyelids ease shut so she could try and get back to remembering everything she had once had, but lost. Negi's life, and hence Nodoka's life and her own life, was always a dangerous one. He had enemies and that meant that they had enemies. She couldn't even remember just how many times she had warned herself that any one of her friends or even herself could die at any given time. She wasn't sure how many battle scenes and strategies she had mapped out in her head to prevent such a thing from happening. It was for nothing, though, as some enemies are too overpowering for any strategy. Some enemies you don't realize are enemies until they take something away from you. Until they betray you.
The battle that Negi and his partners and friends fought was a long one. One by one, their enemy picked them off. It happened in such a manner that they watched it happen; saw the death creep upon each friend and leave them cold and empty. As the fight went on, it became clearer and clearer to Yue that they were all going to die. This foe was going to kill everyone she cared for and make her watch, then it would kill her.
It didn't matter how strong they were. Asuna, Setsuna, Kaede, Ku Fei, Mana, all of them. Strength didn't matter. It paled in comparison, growing weak and fragile. She often wondered why it was that the strongest of them had died, and yet Nodoka and herself had not. The fragile lived, the mighty died. It was so backwards...Negi should still be here. With her.
The demonic father that took Negi from Yue did not know that he had taken her life, that day, as well. That it let her live was almost insulting. Still, it was nice to be able to think of him. To think of the times they had with one another and with their friends. That's why she patiently waited everyday for the demon to come for her, sitting in this chair with her chin down to her chest. Reminiscing of the boy she loved was enough until the Fates saw fit to reunite them in death.
The sound of approaching footsteps clanking down a nearby hallway aroused Yue's interest enough that her eyes fluttered open. It gradually grew louder, and soon Chao Lingshen was walking right up to the two somber librarians.
"You dropped your book again, huh?" The Chinese Martian asked pleasantly. She knelt down to retrieve said object.
"Yes," Nodoka whispered, "I'm sorry."
"No, no, don't worry about it, it's no trouble!" The girl set the book back down on the arm of Nodoka's chair, then turned to Yue, who quickly glanced away out the window.
"The mountains really look pretty in this light, don't they?" Chao ventured to ask, beaming warmly at the rust colored hills off in the distance, "The view here is lovely."
"It is," Nodoka agreed.
"Anyway," Chao handed each girl a little cup, "Just bringing you these. Eat 'em up, ok? With all of the medicine we've got nowadays, you guys have still got a good hundred years left in you! Let me know if you need anything, I'll be bringing meat buns, later..." And with these words, Chao spun around and marched back from whence she came.
Nodoka glanced at Yue, and Yue back at Nodoka. Each looked at the little cup of pills they had been given, then each slowly rose from their seat. Simultaneously, they raised the cushions of their respective chairs, dumping the pills with the other pills and concealing them beneath the cushion.
"Another hundred years...sounds like too many, for me," Nodoka stated, picking up her book.
Yue nodded, then lowered her chin back to her chest. The previous hundred years had been too many for both of them. She wished Father Time would hurry up and try his hand at her.
Mission Analysis...
- - -Objective 01 - Completed
- - -Objective 02 - Completed
- - -Objective 03 - Completed
- - -Objective 04 - Completed
Mission status - Complete; Darkside awaiting further orders...