Disclaimer – "Default Chapter" saids it all ^^*
As usual…characters' thinking are all done in BOLD…enjoy!! XD
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~*~ The Day the Dream Ended ~*~
Chapter 11 ~ Stage
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The blue flames of magic were coming for her. Feeling the intense heat reaching towards her with its hungry fingers, Chihiro put up her arms as if to shield herself and closed her eyes, expecting the worst. Haku…I wonder if you know…if you'll ever know…that I came here to find you. I hope you're all right. I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet with you…
Daring to squeak one eye open to watch her doom, Chihiro braced herself to be engulfed by the ravenous flames when suddenly, a strangled voice shouted out, startling the girl.
"Stop!" the being who held Haku's image yelled. Tears were streaming down from the young man's face as he struggled with himself. The blue fire disappeared into thin air, barely inches from her face. Surprised and relieved that her brush with death had been just that—a brush—the exhausted girl fell on her knees. Haku's fake was taking quick, sharp breaths in attempt to steady his nerves.
What the hell am I doing?! He thought, frustrated and pained by his own internal struggle. I should be glad to be rid of her…and I just saved her life! Why?! Why can't I kill her?! Why can't I stand to see her hurt?!
"Wha…" he rasped at the astonished girl, not far from where he sat on the cold ground. "What…what kind of power do you have over me? What…what did you do to me?! Why…why can't I kill you?!"
Watching him claw at his own head and scream made her heart ache. Determined to help him for reasons beyond herself, Chihiro picked herself up from where she had dropped on the ground and began to walk towards the boy again.
"Don…don't come near me!" he cried, frightened at himself and at her. Seeing that she wasn't going to listen to him, he prepared to throw his magic-fire at her again—but found that he could not even begin to make an attempt to hurt her. An immortal sorcerer—more powerful than any other spirit in his time—and he couldn't even hurt a single insignificant mortal?! The idea itself was outrageous! Yet, as the nameless being looked towards the still-approaching girl with a determined expression on her face, he found that he honestly could not bring any harm to her.
"I'm not going to hurt you." She said evenly, her eyes soft and gentle. "Please…let me help you…let me help ease your pain. Just tell me what I can do to help…"
She knelt down before him, holding out her empty hands in a giving gesture, smiling gently. He stared at her hands, and then her face…and found himself trusting this strange mortal whom he had captured and intended to use as bait to lure his other target into falling into his trap. Reaching out hesitatingly, his eyes locked on her warm honey-colored ones, he suddenly screamed in pain and agony as a voice screamed in his head, making him freeze. A voice so terrible that he could not have ignored it even if he had tried—his own inner voice…his inner being.
Time seemed to stand still for the two figures sitting on the cold glass roof as the young man's eyes went blank under his clutching arms—blank, and staring into himself.
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The times have certainly changed greatly. Thought Kodama grimly as he took in his surroundings. It has been years—no, probably centuries—since he last set foot in the Majou no Sekai. The many buildings that had been set up over the said time period, drenched in rain and ruined as most may be, were still far more than what he had expected to meet his eyes—than what he remember existed.
Looking around the empty flat surface where he now sat, Kodama realized that he was alone.
Now that can't be right. The old spirit thought with a touch of worry. If I made it back here, then young Kohaku must have also come back…but where is he?
Could it be possible that whatever or whoever had left me here had brought him to a different place? One where he is supposed to be?
Perhaps then…that means I also have a reason for being here.
Wincing as he got up from where he had apparently been dumped onto the cold and rain-washed hard ground, stiff and worried for the young river spirit, Kodama heard his own breath catch in his throat as he realized where exactly it was that he stood—and suddenly felt weak and faint.
He was on the roof of the Aburaya: the one place where he most wanted to be, and the one place where he was least prepared to be.
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"Yu-Baaba, what's the matter?" Rin asked, trying to keep the worry she felt for the suddenly pale witch out of her voice. However, quiet though the room may be, the owner of the Aburaya bathhouse did not seem to hear her.
The others, having noticed the lack of response, also turned in the witch's direction, concerned. Yu-Baaba stood at one of the many large windows in the luxurious room that was her office, staring unblinkingly out into the darkness.
Getting more worried, the young woman decided to speak again, hoping to get an answer. "Yu-Baaba?"
Looking startled, the old witch turned around smiled, answering in a carefully guarded tone. "I'm sorry, Rin. Did you say something?"
"Is something the matter, Yu-Baaba?" it was Kamajii who spoke that time, sounding calm for their benefit. Her mind obviously elsewhere judging from the distant look on her tired face, the old witch shook her head once, simply, and turned her back.
The concern evident on everyone's face grew as they stared at the witch. It was Zeniiba who decided to question her twin about it.
"Yu-Baaba," she began. However, at the sound of her voice—and to everyone's surprise—the mistress of Aburaya suddenly spun around to face them with hints of fear as well as guilt in her eyes.
"He's back." she whispered, looking worried. "After all this time…he found a way back. Zeniiba…what am I going to do? I can't…I can't face him—not like this…not after what I did to him!" Looking as if the sky had just fallen on her, and, to her shame and to her friends' astonishment, tears began to make their way out of the witch's eyes. The rest of the great room's occupants could only watch, helpless and too stunned to begin to process exactly what was going on, as the old witch buried her face in her quivering hands.
Zeniiba went to her twin sister, worry on her face. "Kodama…?" she ventured, not wanting to upset her suddenly fragile-looking sister any further. At the mention of thee forest spirit's name, Yu-Baaba turned to face the windows again, her back towards worried expressions.
An almost inaudible sob in the silence that followed was all the answer the witch needed. Sighing, and looking even more worn than she already was, Zeniiba found that she was at a loss of words.
There's nothing I can do… The witch thought as she stared at her twin, feeling as helpless as the other looked. I cannot undo something they had done in the past; cannot untangle the mistake she had made, blinded by her own vanity. It seems lately that there hasn't been much, if anything, I could do to help with the situations at hand.
Coming to a conclusion—the only one she could come up with—Zeniiba made her sister look at her.
"If he is here, then there's no avoiding him: he will come look for you." she said firmly. "And when he does…you must talk to him."
"I can't…" was the reply, spoken uncharacteristically softly.
"You must." Zeniiba repeated firmly, aware of the stares they were getting from the rest of the room's occupants, uninformed and unaware of what they were talking about.
"He wouldn't understand…"
"Perhaps that is only because you never gave him the chance to understand." came a new voice, male and low, yet gentle and silky at the same time, like the soft sound of a swaying willow.
All heads but one in the quiet room turned towards the new voice, surprised that someone had walked into the great room unnoticed. Curious as they were—and not to mention confused about the situation—they kept their wits about them and kept silent, giving this strange man room to explain himself—and to deal with whatever he had obviously come to do…or finish up.
Yu-Baaba kept her gaze on the window, staring at it but not seeing it at all. "But what is there to…understand? What is there to explain other than the fact that I had acted selfishly?" Swallowing visibly, taking several staggered breaths, the witch willed herself to continue. Would you…be willing…to listen to me? To…forgive…me…even after…"
Kodama closed his eyes and smiled—a slow, soft smile that brought relief to Zeniiba's face. Nodding to his beloved's sister just once, the forest spirit began to walk softly towards the one standing at the window as her twin proceeded to gather the room's staring audience and make for the door with them. Hearing the soft "thud" of a great door closing behind him, Kodama stopped, just an arm's reach from his long astrayed wife, he spoke again, softly.
"I'm always willing to listen to you, my dearest one…if you would give me to chance to."
Relief flooded into the old witch's heart and brought a smile to her face as tears swarmed her eyes; gladness overtook her worry for all that was wrong with her world, dawning on her like a long-hidden sun suddenly regaining its light. The mistress of the Aburaya took a deep breath to steady herself as she prepared to apologize as she turned around to face her husband. However, even as she opened her mouth to apologize, the words seemed to be lost on her lips as she gazed deeply into her husband's eyes—and found a degree of love and understand there that warmed her as she drowned in it.
And suddenly, she was in his arms, sobbing on his chest as she breathed in his refreshing smells of green leaves and grass. Amidst all her tears, she realized just how much she had missed this man who now held her—this man who was comforting her when she was supposed to be apologizing to him for all her past trickery and lies.
Her sobbing subsided enough for silence to reclaim the room as its dominion. The two long-separated spirits stood there, holding onto one another, oblivious for the moment to the currently dying world around them.
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You're falling for the human's little tricks again…don't you know, by now, that all this little witch wants is to hurt you, and take away the power that is rightfully yours?
The being who bore Haku's form saw himself sit, motionless, on that glass roof-top, his eyes glassed over, as the mortal girl he had held captive shook his physical shell, looking anxious for him. For a moment, his hard sky-blue eyes softened as he looked at the worried girl, staring in wonderment and feeling touched that she would be concerned for him. However, the moment did not last long. Shearing pain tore at his head, making him want to scream in agony at the mental pain he was inflicting on himself. His eyes flashed a demonic red as he felt his anger boil over within him, fueled by his pain. He opened his mouth to scream—but no sound came out. Clutching his own head as tears streamed down his face, Haku's fake could only watch on as wave after wave of the pain that was not physical hit him, seeming to tear him up on the inside.
Why are you letting this happen? A small voice asked him in his own head, its voice dripping with malice. The waves of pain seemed to stop…for the moment. Taking huge breaths as quietly as he could, the nameless being realized the voice he was hearing—the malicious voice that he found disturbing—was none other than his own. Shuddering at the cruelty in his own voice, he covered his ears in attempt to block it out…but found that he could not.
You know that you could overpower this…you know that she is the one doing this to you. The cruel voice went on, dripping poison in the shuddering boy's heart with each word it spoke. Before you let her speak…before she had bewitched you into believing she meant good…you did not suffer the way you are suffering now. You did not feel pain—no, you did not know pain, for there are none who could inflict pain upon you.
There were none who could threaten you…so why are you letting this…human…hurt you needlessly?
His hands began to grow numb; holding them out before him, he saw that his hands were soaked with blood—his nails had dug deep into his own flesh. Looking from his bloody hands to the girl, so far away below him, he felt his anger flaring into life once again—the very anger and hatred that had driven him to create the magical storm over the Majou no Sekai, to destroy it along with everything else he despised.
Along with everything else that brought detestable memories to his mind.
His breathing began to accelerate even as he felt the heat of his anger and hatred pour into his veins, blinding him, fueling his dark magic.
If you wanted it to be…your pain could end.
If you wanted it to be…you could be the most powerful sorcerer in both worlds, hindered by no one.
You just have to make sure that no one is there to hinder you with their lies.
Holding up his blood-stained hands, his eyes taking on the red coloring that was the demon within him, Haku's fake let out a full throated, animalistic roar as he fell into his physical body and grabbed the girl's throat with his clawed hands.
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Alrite…I'm not even down writing this chappie yet…but I wunt be happy unless I say this now, so here goes. If Yu-Baaba sounded wayyyy too whiney for ppl…like she did to me, at the beginning of this chappie…GO…GOMEN NASAI~! I didn't want her to be all "damsely in distressey" either…but it just turned out to be that way~! Maybe emotional stress took too much strain on her, and since she's so not used to it she cracked?? O_o A bit far-fetched for an excuse of an explanation…but that's all I could come up with. So again…I hope I haven't ruined the fic/her character for you~!! @_@
And while I'm at it…what an unlikely scene for this chappie~!! *shakes head* And why am I still dissing my own work?! x_X Oh well…I wanted to get the two of them lovely old ppl () back together before anything else happened…otherwise, what's the point of bringing Kodama back to the Majou no Sekai, ne? ^^ And besides…if I can't have some good o' Haku/Chihiro mush in here…I need it to come from a different source, and the two of them were just there, waiting on the sideline XP Oh yeah…I guess, for those of you that came reading this looking for the "Adventure/Action" genre, I should apologize for making so much of this chappie so mushy…but people, I *did* say "Romance/Action/Adventure" in my ficcy's "genre"…so no burns?? =^^=
Well…(reading word-count) it seems that lately the chappies have been getting longer and longer~! That's just cuz I can't seem to end them…and the fact that I can't guarantee when the next update is anymore XP I know, I know…sorry~! But I can't exactly do badly on my exams cuz of this, now can I?? *squeaks* Only 2 more weeks of skool left to go…and not to mention not very many chappies in this ficcy left to go either~!!!
On a last note: it will be finished before summer starts. I'll do it even if it kills me…so pls hang around with me and wait for it~!! XD
Crits n'
comments…always room for more~!
Bubai~!!
~Aqua Sunshine ^^*
