Games We Play Six
By Chash
I know the difference between awake and dreaming. I am awake. My heart can't beat like this in a dream, I can't feel this in a dream. I can't bite my lip and feel pain and taste blood unless I'm awake. And no game ends with the character waking up. That's stupid. More than that, though, I know I am awake. Cogito ergo sum. I think therefore I am. My dreams don't try to convince me I'm dreaming. My dreams don't think. Cogitunt ergo sunt. Something like that. I'm not very good at Latin. They think, they are. We are. I'm not dreaming.
Trowa. Trowa is not a dream. Duo, Heero, Wufei, they aren't dreams. Quatre isn't a dream. He's ahead of me, running through the building. Henry is running after me. Quatre skids to a stop.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Read the door," he nods to it.
"Wait until you're both here. Then you can come," I read aloud. Below were the wings of the save point. Henry stops.
"Maybe you aren't dreaming…" he murmurs.
"He's not," Quatre says. "Let's go."
Together, Quatre and I push open the doors. A girl runs up to us.
"You're here! Great!"
"Who are you?" asks Quatre.
"You can call me Yume! Welcome!"
"All signs point to a dream, Quat," Henry whispers to me. I raise my eyebrows. I never did get the hang of raising just one. "Yume means dream in Japanese."
"I didn't know that," I reply. "How could my subconscious have given that clue if I was dreaming?"
Henry shrugs. "Maybe it really doesn't mean dream."
"Give it up, boy, he's not dreaming. You're just in denial," Yume comments. Henry blushes dark red.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Now, Quatre" Yume smiles, "what must always happen in a game between two life long friends? Think now."
"Who are you?" I ask, ignoring her question in hope of answers.
Yume sizes me up. "A long time ago, there were five little boys. Those little boys lead five very different lives. The first boy was trained to kill, to never feel and to be a perfect destroyer. The second boy was raised on the streets, stealing to eat. When nice people took him in, they were killed. He too learned to kill. The third little boy was lost from his parents when he was very young, raised by mercenaries, lacking even a name. The fourth little boy was raised with riches, but was unhappy. He ran away. The fifth little boy studied, he was a scholar. When he was still a little boy, he was married. His wife was killed and he fought. These five boys changed the world, a very long time ago."
"So?" asks Quatre, sounding bored.
Yume continues, as if he hadn't spoken. "These boys' souls were always meant to be together. Destiny moves in mysterious ways, though, and time flows strangely. Four of the boys could not escape their past. Only you could, Quatre."
"Only me?" I ask. She nods. "How do you know all this?"
"I am the angel assigned to protect you all. Yume is a falsified name designed to make Henry suspicious. I am the angel Wing, at your service," she bows.
"Wing?" Quatre and I glance at each other.
"Yup! And I'm glad you two found your way here," her expression changes to sadness. "Yo, step forward."
"Hm?" Quatre steps toward her, interest and confusion mixed on his face.
"I'm sorry, but you are not Quatre. You are… an echo. I had hoped that you and Quatre would turn out more similar, so that the two of you would get along and once you reached here, could be merged into one being. That is not the case, though. You two have evolved on different paths, and I don't know what to do with you."
Quatre bows his head. "I suspected something like this. I knew he was the one who would shape the future."
"You did?" I ask. He smiles.
"I'm smarter than I look."
"What the hell is going on?" asks Henry. Wing smiles.
"You never answered my question, Quatre. What must always happen between two life long friends in a game?"
I know the answer, of course I know the answer. One is always in love with the other. I won't say that, though. "This isn't a game, Wing."
"No. But it shares some aspects. In any case, that is neither here nor there right now. The two of you want to see Trowa."
"Yes," Quatre and I say at the same time. She nods and gestures for us to follow. A back room is labeled 'private' and Wing opens the door and gestures me through. Quatre smiles and stands back next to Henry. As I turn away, the two begin to play Rock Paper Scissors with no apparent cause. The door beckons me, another invitation. Just as tempting as the first was. And mom told me to never turn down an invitation.
Inside is dark, but Wing switches on a light. There are four tables, each with an unconscious body lying on it. Heero, Duo, Wufei… Trowa. I run to him, his eyes are closed and move beneath his eyelids as if dreaming. Wires and cables feed into him. I touch his face and turn, rage filled, on Wing.
"What have you done to them?!"
"I have saved them," she replies. Another switch turns on a large screen, and it shows the game. "They could not escape their time. They were born into this world asleep and dreaming of the past. Here, I took them in and designed the game world for them to dream into. I made the echo of you to save your place until you bought the game. Even if you weren't an RPG player, you would have had to buy it. Only you can wake them up. I don't know how."
"Come on, Quat, it is your destiny…" I hear the amused voice of Quatre behind me. Turning, I see he's smiling, and Henry is too. I smile in return.
"Are you supporting me, Quatre?"
"Don't get used to it. Just wake them up, come on. Toss me your hat and backpack, it doesn't look right," he holds out his arms and I throw them over. Putting the hat on crooked, he turns to Henry. "What do you think?"
"It's so you, Yo."
"Yeah, I know it. Go, Quat!"
I look down at Trowa and then up at the screen. In the game, I don't think they've seen us. Trowa sits in the corner, looking downcast. Duo is talking non-stop at Heero, who grunts on random occasions as he types at his computer. Wufei is polishing his sword.
"Trowa…" I murmur. Unsure what to do, I touch his face, poke the soft bangs.
"Whenever sang my songs…" I turn at the beginnings of Eyes On Me. Quatre and Henry appear to have found my diskman. I had forgotten about it, I never removed it from the front pocket.
"Eyes on Me?" Henry wrinkles his nose. "Cliché, FF8 used it. Try the next one."
"Namida ga ato kara afuredashite…"
"What the hell is that?" asks Quatre. Henry shrugs.
"I dunno, it sounds cool, though. Go, Quat, we got you a soundtrack!"
/saigo no egao ga nijinde mienai no/
I have to do this. If I don't get them to wake up, then I'll never be with Trowa. I'll never hear him talk again, never see him again, he'll just be lying here, lifeless.
/ikanaide ikanaide koko ni ite/
/sora e hikari kakanuketeyuku/
I want to see Heero happy, just once. I want to hear Duo laughing. I want to know why Wufei is so sad. I want to see Trowa smile, I want to hear his voice…
/konna ni shiisana watashi dakedo/
/anata wa dare yori seiippai ai shita/
I slam my hand down against the table, it hurts. Didn't they get hurt too? They're only dreaming. No one's been able to wake them up. Trowa's sleeping face stares up at me, pure and calm.
/arigatou ikutsu mono taisetsu na kimochi/
/te watashi kureta yo ne/
Would he know what to do? If I were the one lying sleeping, would he be able to wake me up?
/"sono toki zutto, watashi wa kiekaketa hikouki gumo wo miteita..."/
Maybe, maybe not. They're all trapped in memories. Memories of a war fought very long ago. I wonder what it was fought over? Did we win? I want to be able to ask all those questions.
/wasurenaide/
/hitorijanai/
I trace his face. All this stupid inner dialogue isn't getting me anywhere. I lean down and kiss him, unable to think of anything else to do.
/hanaretemo te wo tsunaideiru/
/hajimete no koi hajimete shitta/
/konna kanashimi wo aru koto/
"Cliché, but I like it," says Quatre. "It has good feeling."
"I'm not sure. It's been done so may times," Henry shrugs.
"Only question now is whether or not it will work."
/nanika ga shoumetsu shitemo nanika ga futatabi yadotte/
/wakare ni kureta hohoemi wa tsuyoku ikiyou to iu anata kara no meseeji/
Trowa opens his eyes, but they stare unseeing. On the screen, the word "Quatre?" has appeared from his mouth, but it doesn't do anything.
/itsuka kitto aeru/
/futari naraba/
He's still in there. Of course he's still in there. I push past Henry and Quatre and run out of the room.
/tookutemo hitomi mitsumeau/
/kibou to yume no subete kakete/
My house is far, but I can run fast when I try. Inside, I can see my family having dinner, black shapes in a golden window. Flinging open the door, I can hear their questions of where I've been, what the hurry is, but I don't answer. My bedroom's so close. I see the signs on the door, warning against turning off the Playstation. Pushing through the door, I switch the button to off and watch the screen go black.
Trowa told me later that waking up was the most amazing thing he'd ever done. He'd never appreciated real sensations, he'd never had them. Waking up, though, was like living at long last. I ran back as fast as I could, I was exhausted, and I found them all awake. Duo was hugging Heero and laughing, Heero was smiling and hugging Duo back, Wufei had the air of sadness about him that never seemed to clear or lighten, but his face smiled, even if only a little. Trowa was looking for me. As soon as I ran in, he embraced me, and I hugged him back. I could hear Quatre making gagging noises from behind me and Henry laughing.
"Together again," said Wing, smiling as well. She had just come in and Wufei stared at her. She smiled back at him, pushing a lock of black hair back towards her pig tails. Recognition in his eyes, Wufei ran towards her, embracing her as well. Although I could hear him repeating something over and over under his breath, I don't know what he was saying.
"So, what are we doing with me?" asked Quatre, clearing his throat. Wing disentangled herself from Wufei.
"I can't merge you two like I wanted, you aren't the same. I don't know what to do," she shrugged.
"Why doesn't he just stay?" suggested Henry. "Not like he'll do any real harm. Besides, I get the feeling I'm going to need someone to hang out with now Quat's got a boyfriend."
"Everything will work out one way or another," Wing shrugged. "No one really stops to think about after the ending sequence anyway."
Overall, Wing was, without a doubt, the most interesting RPG I have ever played. It had twists, turns, and the most amazing audience participation. I can say that I've gotten good things out of RPGs before: satisfaction, new information, useless trivia, people with which to share interests… but Wing blows them all away. Thanks to this RPG, I have the love of my life. Not only that, I have six new friends, one of whom is my clone and another is my guardian angel, and my best friend is on his way to getting himself a boyfriend (just as soon as Duo finishes setting them up). Wing had such amazing graphics that they even looked real towards the end. The plot was strange, and I found the ending to be high enough quality. I enjoyed the soundtrack, game references and unlike most games, it has changed my life.
I give Wing four stars. Too bad no one else will ever play it.
Owari.