Hello, hello.
It's chapter 12...and yeah, this definitely won't be finished by May 11th.
It is now looking like I have another nine chapters before this story is
finished. I hope this is a good thing. I'm also considering writing a
third part to explain some of the randomness in Crystal Toyko. We'll
see. At least at the end of this story, y'all will be a little less
angry with me...I hope.
Disclaimers are still in effect. Thanks for reading.
~December
Chapter 12: Bitter Hope revisited
She was staring into the abyss again. She could feel the disappointment
in herself, the fear. Like always, all she could see in front of her
was darkness. But she knew what was on the other side of the darkness...
and she knew what she pointed in the direction of the darkness.
"Do it, Bitter Hope," a voice said next to her. That dangerous voice that
still conjured up images of destruction, mayham, and evil. It spoke again,
"Do it. Become one of us. You belong here. They don't want you. Make
them pay!"
And she looked into the abyss and raised her arms...and felt it again.
That moment where she almost did it...where she almost did that awful thing.
That moment...passed and a voice that didn't sound like her, but was
her said, "No."
"Alanis?"
That gave her pause. No one there knew her by that name. Why would anyone
call her-
"Alanis? Answer me! Are you okay?"
Irony blinked a couple of times and looked out of her cell. In front of
her was her lawyer. Shrugging of the last of the daydream, she said, "I'm
fine. I'm sorry. Where you standing there long?"
"Are you sure you are okay?"
Irony snorted, "I just said I was." 'But I'm not,' she thought to herself.
It had been at least 14 years since 'the moment' had appeared to haunt.
15 since it had haunted her in daylight hours. She figured her relaspe
was due to seeing Kali. Purposely pushing that out of her mind, she
looked again at Tenchi. "So, how does the bail hearing change our
plan of action?"
Tenchi stared at her for a moment. Irony held her breath, hoping he
didn't ask again if she was okay. He obviously didn't believe she was,
but she didn't want to talk about. "Okay," he finally said. Irony
sighed in relief...but had the breath knocked out of her when he said,
"I need to know about your history with Kali and why and when people
called you 'Bitter Hope'."
"Hell no."
"Alanis-"
"No. It's not important-"
"Alanis, were you not in that courtroom with me?" Tenchi exploded. "Did
you somehow miss the look that passed from the judge to the mayor...who
is hanging out with a gang leader that you have a past with? You did
notice that they brought up the name Bitter Hope; I heard you swear about
it. If they have the name, they probably have everything thing else!
I can't defend you if I don't know what to defend against!"
"No." Irony turned away from her lawyer. She wasn't sure why she was
fighting this so hard...except that she knew that Tenchi would probably
turn away from her in disgust if he heard about that part of her past.
And, upon reflection, so would Mamoru, his bunny, Makoto...and almost
everyone in her life. The thought pained her, especially the thought of
losing both Tenchi and Mamoru. She smiled in her head. Of course it
would hurt, she'd be losing the one man who was quickly becomming "the
one" and she'd lose the man who was like the son and little brother she
never had. She blinked and then turned back around, "It has nothing
to do with this case. Just object when they bring it up."
"Damnit, Alanis-"
"You would have to be fighting with your lawyer," said Toge as he and
the others approached the cell. "Do you know how much yen you just cost
me?"
Irony laughed, "Serves you right. What have I told you about gambling
on my nature?"
Toge adopted an innocent little boy look, "If I win, give you half?"
Irony rolled her eyes, "You are such a lost cause."
"Enough chit-chat. We have a problem," Anrui broke in. She turned to
Tenchi, looking almost angry and said, "How are you going to protect
Alanis from that viper?"
Irony sighed. Anrui and Nintai were the only people who knew her whole
history with Kali and how dangerous Kali was; Nintai from personal
experience. Of course Anrui would be worried, which was obviously by
the way she was now fighting with Tenchi.
As Irony surveyed the crowd, her eyes widened as she noticed four people
who she wouldn't have expected to see.
Tsukino-san stood in Mamoru's arms, leaning on him...hugging ChibiUsa.
Mamoru's friend stood a ways off...present, but not actually associating
with anyone. And Makoto stood there as well, near Tsukino and company.
She looked a little upset, so over Anrui's loud demands of Tenchi, Irony
turned to Makoto and said, "Makoto, ca va?"
At the question, Makoto looked over at Alanis. "Oui...Non...Je ne sais
pas." At that, she made her hands into fists and looked for something to
hit.
Noticing the distress in her friend, Usagi went over to Makoto and put
a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. While doing this, she shot
Irony a look of surprise. 'I guess Makoto neglected to mentioned that
she paid me a visit,' Irony thought.
"...Look the only reason we hired your ass is that you promised to protect
our Alanis and prove her innocence. Now if you can no longer do this-"
'Time to save Tenchi from Anrui,' Irony thought. "Anrui, leave him alone.
He is doing his job to the best of his ability. No one failed me in there.
And anyway, I'm safer here. Now, take a deep breath...and let's talk
calmly about what we are going to do in two weeks."
Realizing that this was probably his only opening, Tenchi launched into
a discussion about their plan of attack for the trial. As he talked, he
looked over at Alanis often. 'Why won't you trust me Alanis? I won't
leave...but I can't help until you tell me.' Tenchi mentally shook
his head. 'My lady Alanis, don't you realize you have a devoted knight
now? A knight who can't defend you until you trust him. Trust me Alanis.
Don't try to fight this all by yourself.'
- to be continued -
Yes, I know this is short, but I'm working on opening statements for the
next chapter...which, hopefully, should be longer. But there was a lot
going on here, right? And the little piece of irony that was unintended,
after all of her lectures to Mamoru, Irony seemed to be treating Tenchi
and others like Mamoru does Usagi. Maybe someone should tell her to
stop protecting and share, huh?
Oh yeah, the French:
Oui = yes
Non = no
Je ne sais pas = I don't know
ca va? = a causal How are you?...Oui, ca va is a causal I'm fine.
In other words, Makoto starts to say she's fine, and then says she's not
and then says she doesn't know.
It's chapter 12...and yeah, this definitely won't be finished by May 11th.
It is now looking like I have another nine chapters before this story is
finished. I hope this is a good thing. I'm also considering writing a
third part to explain some of the randomness in Crystal Toyko. We'll
see. At least at the end of this story, y'all will be a little less
angry with me...I hope.
Disclaimers are still in effect. Thanks for reading.
~December
Chapter 12: Bitter Hope revisited
She was staring into the abyss again. She could feel the disappointment
in herself, the fear. Like always, all she could see in front of her
was darkness. But she knew what was on the other side of the darkness...
and she knew what she pointed in the direction of the darkness.
"Do it, Bitter Hope," a voice said next to her. That dangerous voice that
still conjured up images of destruction, mayham, and evil. It spoke again,
"Do it. Become one of us. You belong here. They don't want you. Make
them pay!"
And she looked into the abyss and raised her arms...and felt it again.
That moment where she almost did it...where she almost did that awful thing.
That moment...passed and a voice that didn't sound like her, but was
her said, "No."
"Alanis?"
That gave her pause. No one there knew her by that name. Why would anyone
call her-
"Alanis? Answer me! Are you okay?"
Irony blinked a couple of times and looked out of her cell. In front of
her was her lawyer. Shrugging of the last of the daydream, she said, "I'm
fine. I'm sorry. Where you standing there long?"
"Are you sure you are okay?"
Irony snorted, "I just said I was." 'But I'm not,' she thought to herself.
It had been at least 14 years since 'the moment' had appeared to haunt.
15 since it had haunted her in daylight hours. She figured her relaspe
was due to seeing Kali. Purposely pushing that out of her mind, she
looked again at Tenchi. "So, how does the bail hearing change our
plan of action?"
Tenchi stared at her for a moment. Irony held her breath, hoping he
didn't ask again if she was okay. He obviously didn't believe she was,
but she didn't want to talk about. "Okay," he finally said. Irony
sighed in relief...but had the breath knocked out of her when he said,
"I need to know about your history with Kali and why and when people
called you 'Bitter Hope'."
"Hell no."
"Alanis-"
"No. It's not important-"
"Alanis, were you not in that courtroom with me?" Tenchi exploded. "Did
you somehow miss the look that passed from the judge to the mayor...who
is hanging out with a gang leader that you have a past with? You did
notice that they brought up the name Bitter Hope; I heard you swear about
it. If they have the name, they probably have everything thing else!
I can't defend you if I don't know what to defend against!"
"No." Irony turned away from her lawyer. She wasn't sure why she was
fighting this so hard...except that she knew that Tenchi would probably
turn away from her in disgust if he heard about that part of her past.
And, upon reflection, so would Mamoru, his bunny, Makoto...and almost
everyone in her life. The thought pained her, especially the thought of
losing both Tenchi and Mamoru. She smiled in her head. Of course it
would hurt, she'd be losing the one man who was quickly becomming "the
one" and she'd lose the man who was like the son and little brother she
never had. She blinked and then turned back around, "It has nothing
to do with this case. Just object when they bring it up."
"Damnit, Alanis-"
"You would have to be fighting with your lawyer," said Toge as he and
the others approached the cell. "Do you know how much yen you just cost
me?"
Irony laughed, "Serves you right. What have I told you about gambling
on my nature?"
Toge adopted an innocent little boy look, "If I win, give you half?"
Irony rolled her eyes, "You are such a lost cause."
"Enough chit-chat. We have a problem," Anrui broke in. She turned to
Tenchi, looking almost angry and said, "How are you going to protect
Alanis from that viper?"
Irony sighed. Anrui and Nintai were the only people who knew her whole
history with Kali and how dangerous Kali was; Nintai from personal
experience. Of course Anrui would be worried, which was obviously by
the way she was now fighting with Tenchi.
As Irony surveyed the crowd, her eyes widened as she noticed four people
who she wouldn't have expected to see.
Tsukino-san stood in Mamoru's arms, leaning on him...hugging ChibiUsa.
Mamoru's friend stood a ways off...present, but not actually associating
with anyone. And Makoto stood there as well, near Tsukino and company.
She looked a little upset, so over Anrui's loud demands of Tenchi, Irony
turned to Makoto and said, "Makoto, ca va?"
At the question, Makoto looked over at Alanis. "Oui...Non...Je ne sais
pas." At that, she made her hands into fists and looked for something to
hit.
Noticing the distress in her friend, Usagi went over to Makoto and put
a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. While doing this, she shot
Irony a look of surprise. 'I guess Makoto neglected to mentioned that
she paid me a visit,' Irony thought.
"...Look the only reason we hired your ass is that you promised to protect
our Alanis and prove her innocence. Now if you can no longer do this-"
'Time to save Tenchi from Anrui,' Irony thought. "Anrui, leave him alone.
He is doing his job to the best of his ability. No one failed me in there.
And anyway, I'm safer here. Now, take a deep breath...and let's talk
calmly about what we are going to do in two weeks."
Realizing that this was probably his only opening, Tenchi launched into
a discussion about their plan of attack for the trial. As he talked, he
looked over at Alanis often. 'Why won't you trust me Alanis? I won't
leave...but I can't help until you tell me.' Tenchi mentally shook
his head. 'My lady Alanis, don't you realize you have a devoted knight
now? A knight who can't defend you until you trust him. Trust me Alanis.
Don't try to fight this all by yourself.'
- to be continued -
Yes, I know this is short, but I'm working on opening statements for the
next chapter...which, hopefully, should be longer. But there was a lot
going on here, right? And the little piece of irony that was unintended,
after all of her lectures to Mamoru, Irony seemed to be treating Tenchi
and others like Mamoru does Usagi. Maybe someone should tell her to
stop protecting and share, huh?
Oh yeah, the French:
Oui = yes
Non = no
Je ne sais pas = I don't know
ca va? = a causal How are you?...Oui, ca va is a causal I'm fine.
In other words, Makoto starts to say she's fine, and then says she's not
and then says she doesn't know.