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Ch. 4: Disturbing Thoughts
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Part II:
Sairen appeared to be in a dark, unfamiliar chamber, lit only by smokeless torches. And yet, it all seemed familiar somehow.
Something told her to turn around. She did--and immediately wished she had not. With her heart caving in on itself, she whispered the name she had tried to forget.
"Mitsu? Mitsuno?"
Mitsuno's motionless form was on some sort of altar. Someone in a robe was walking around in a circle, leaving a trail of a bright red something. Soon, the entire altar was surrounded.
|Is everything in place?| a detached voice asked. It seemed to come from the hooded figure who made the circle.
|Yes, Cydius. Are you sure this will work as planned?| this came from a second man, which she couldn't see at the moment. He sounded pretty tough, though. 'But who the hell is Cydius, and what's he doing with Mitsuno's body?'
Sairen found out soon enough. The man in view removed his hood, revealing a very handsome, spiky-haired Asian youth. Normally, she'd say he was a hottie. Now, though, she'd say he's her new anatomy test-subject. Stopping herself from locating the nearest meat hook, she steeled herself so she could somehow watch what she knew she wouldn't want to see.
|Excellent. Bring me the scroll, Jiri. And make sure no one interrupts; you know how much I hate to silence people I need.|
|Or, you could just blind them...|
The young man appeared to think this over. |No. Too gory, and I don't need any Oedipus Rexes running around when I'm busy. It's too distracting.|
The second man, who, for some reason, remained a shadow, handed something to the other, who apparently was his leader, since he bowed afterwards before walking out.
After hearing a large door shut, the one called Cydius got to work. He scanned through the scroll, and then looked over another sheet of paper next to him. Setting both aside, he disrobed and moved inside the circle.
|Ah, Mitsuno...if I didn't screw this up, you can begin paying me back for past damages. If I did, well...I didn't, so you'll just have to deal with it. Now, watch closely and regret the day you crossed me and the lucky bitch that you met your end by.|
Sairen chuckled. That "lucky bitch" met his own end a few hours after. This time, though, she didn't think she'd let her sword do all the work. She needed to repaint her nails, anyway.
Extending her fingernails to their full six-inches, she walked a little closer. No sense in being cautious, since this was only a vision and she couldn't change anything. Not that she wouldn't mind running her claws down his face a few times...
Muttering in some strange language--which sounded like a corrupt version of her own, making her even more eager to empty his veins--he had began the incantation. No sooner or later than this, the circle around the altar began to glow red. Then, a wall of fire appeared around both him and the body.
Sairen could still see through the flaming wall, but she decreased the distance between her and Cydius, anyway. 'All the easier to kill you, my dear.'
The youth stepped up the speed and volume of his chanting. Soon, his own body started to glow, followed by Mitsuno's, which emitted a dull, sickly red aura. The lights pulsated, at first out of rhythm, that of her friend starting out much slower, but gradually picking up speed. As soon as they matched, the light from Cydius began reaching towards Mitsuno's body, as if he was transferring his own life energy to her. Before long, though, the transfusion ended; however, the wall of flame began to gather and drain into her body as well.
The room was darkened once again. "What the hell...?" Sairen trailed off.
Mitsuno opened her eyes, letting out an inhuman shriek that lasted for around ten seconds.
|Welcome back| a weakened Cydius muttered sarcastically from the floor. Down on one knee, breathing and sweating heavily, he looked only a fraction of as bad as he would after Sairen got hold of him. In fact, she walked right up to him and took a swing.
"Sonic Swipe!" Of course, it went right through him, leaving an air current in the form of an arc. That didn't stop her from picturing his head carried along with it.
|Where am I? What's going on?|
Sairen swallowed, unable to speak at all. 'No way. That is NOT your voice, Mitsu. Then again, that's probably not you at all.'
Mitsuno sat up, looking around. The hollow voice that came from her throat was only an inexpressive shadow of her own, with a sort of echo. Her face held no expression, either. |And just who the hell are you?|
'Well, THAT sounds like her' Sairen thought wryly.
|You...have no memory, do you, Mitsuno?|
|No memory? Of what?|
Cydius stood up, |Nevermind. Don't worry about it, though. This is where you belong.|
She turned towards him. |Where...I belong.|
|Yes.| He walked over and stood next to her. Then he looked dead at her friend. |Isn't that right, Sairen?|
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The first thing she did was scream, loud and long. A year of pent-up pain, sadness, and frustration was finally let out in that one moment. She also did not bother trying to stop her power from responding. A deadly gust of wind spun around her room, knocking things off her shelves and glass figurines off the dresser. She didn't even try to catch Mitsuno's hairbrush as it slammed into the mirror, shattering glass everywhere.
"What was that?"
"What's going on?"
Sairen also didn't bother to answer, or get up. She just sat in bed while four other people hauled ass down the hall, making enough noise to wake the dead.
'Wake the dead...'
Someone was banging on her door. Sounded like Kuwabara. "Hey, lady, I don't know what in the world you're trying to do, but we weren't TRYING to wake you up--"
"Out of the way, moron! Sairen, open the door. Oh, to hell with it." Hiei decided to simply knock the door down.
"It was open, stupid."
"Sairen, what's going on? This place looks like--"
"Hiei, back the hell OFF!" the last word was shouted, stopping him in his tracks and causing one of the two remaining glass figurines to shatter.
"Sairen..."
"Don't come any closer," her eyes took on a light blue color, glowing eerily in the dark room, "or there's no guarantee that I won't cut you down."
"Sai--"
"Just get out. All of you. Please." Sairen's eyes slowly turned back to normal on that last, pleading note.
"Let's go, Hiei," Kurama placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. He allowed himself to be lead out, offering no physical or even verbal resistance. After the two of them left, Kuwabara and Botan followed. The latter, however, held back.
"You, too, Botan," was the soft command from the other side of the room.
"Oh. Sorry about the door, but I'd shut it if it were still on the hinges."
Sairen did not respond. Before leaving, Botan cast a simple spell over the door. Similar to WitchLight, it made the room look how she wanted it to (clean and empty), but it also went a step further and canceled out any sound before it could leave the room.
Silently thanking her friend, Sairen covered her face with her hands and did something else she had been meaning to do for a while.
For the next hour or so, she cried. Just like she had when Mitsuno died a year ago, on the very day the night before when her vision had occurred for real.
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Author's note: WitchLight is something i came up with; it's a spell that changes the appearance of a person or area to the way the person casting the spell wants it or him/her to look. I came up with Sairen's attack as well, though it was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing, not something i've had for a while. I didn't really expect this chapter to end up in two parts, though, so it surprised me, too. I thought it would sound better if the two parts were separated instead of being together, since they have totally different tones. Enough technical talk. I need to start on ch. 5, since this is something i actually WANT to write **balls up school assignment and tosses it over shoulder**.
Oh, btw, the meat hook idea came from one of the Jenifers i know. Everyone SHOULD know that the Oedipus Rex thing isn't mine, either. What IS the plural form of "Rex", anyway? Hmmm...
Ch. 4: Disturbing Thoughts
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Part II:
Sairen appeared to be in a dark, unfamiliar chamber, lit only by smokeless torches. And yet, it all seemed familiar somehow.
Something told her to turn around. She did--and immediately wished she had not. With her heart caving in on itself, she whispered the name she had tried to forget.
"Mitsu? Mitsuno?"
Mitsuno's motionless form was on some sort of altar. Someone in a robe was walking around in a circle, leaving a trail of a bright red something. Soon, the entire altar was surrounded.
|Is everything in place?| a detached voice asked. It seemed to come from the hooded figure who made the circle.
|Yes, Cydius. Are you sure this will work as planned?| this came from a second man, which she couldn't see at the moment. He sounded pretty tough, though. 'But who the hell is Cydius, and what's he doing with Mitsuno's body?'
Sairen found out soon enough. The man in view removed his hood, revealing a very handsome, spiky-haired Asian youth. Normally, she'd say he was a hottie. Now, though, she'd say he's her new anatomy test-subject. Stopping herself from locating the nearest meat hook, she steeled herself so she could somehow watch what she knew she wouldn't want to see.
|Excellent. Bring me the scroll, Jiri. And make sure no one interrupts; you know how much I hate to silence people I need.|
|Or, you could just blind them...|
The young man appeared to think this over. |No. Too gory, and I don't need any Oedipus Rexes running around when I'm busy. It's too distracting.|
The second man, who, for some reason, remained a shadow, handed something to the other, who apparently was his leader, since he bowed afterwards before walking out.
After hearing a large door shut, the one called Cydius got to work. He scanned through the scroll, and then looked over another sheet of paper next to him. Setting both aside, he disrobed and moved inside the circle.
|Ah, Mitsuno...if I didn't screw this up, you can begin paying me back for past damages. If I did, well...I didn't, so you'll just have to deal with it. Now, watch closely and regret the day you crossed me and the lucky bitch that you met your end by.|
Sairen chuckled. That "lucky bitch" met his own end a few hours after. This time, though, she didn't think she'd let her sword do all the work. She needed to repaint her nails, anyway.
Extending her fingernails to their full six-inches, she walked a little closer. No sense in being cautious, since this was only a vision and she couldn't change anything. Not that she wouldn't mind running her claws down his face a few times...
Muttering in some strange language--which sounded like a corrupt version of her own, making her even more eager to empty his veins--he had began the incantation. No sooner or later than this, the circle around the altar began to glow red. Then, a wall of fire appeared around both him and the body.
Sairen could still see through the flaming wall, but she decreased the distance between her and Cydius, anyway. 'All the easier to kill you, my dear.'
The youth stepped up the speed and volume of his chanting. Soon, his own body started to glow, followed by Mitsuno's, which emitted a dull, sickly red aura. The lights pulsated, at first out of rhythm, that of her friend starting out much slower, but gradually picking up speed. As soon as they matched, the light from Cydius began reaching towards Mitsuno's body, as if he was transferring his own life energy to her. Before long, though, the transfusion ended; however, the wall of flame began to gather and drain into her body as well.
The room was darkened once again. "What the hell...?" Sairen trailed off.
Mitsuno opened her eyes, letting out an inhuman shriek that lasted for around ten seconds.
|Welcome back| a weakened Cydius muttered sarcastically from the floor. Down on one knee, breathing and sweating heavily, he looked only a fraction of as bad as he would after Sairen got hold of him. In fact, she walked right up to him and took a swing.
"Sonic Swipe!" Of course, it went right through him, leaving an air current in the form of an arc. That didn't stop her from picturing his head carried along with it.
|Where am I? What's going on?|
Sairen swallowed, unable to speak at all. 'No way. That is NOT your voice, Mitsu. Then again, that's probably not you at all.'
Mitsuno sat up, looking around. The hollow voice that came from her throat was only an inexpressive shadow of her own, with a sort of echo. Her face held no expression, either. |And just who the hell are you?|
'Well, THAT sounds like her' Sairen thought wryly.
|You...have no memory, do you, Mitsuno?|
|No memory? Of what?|
Cydius stood up, |Nevermind. Don't worry about it, though. This is where you belong.|
She turned towards him. |Where...I belong.|
|Yes.| He walked over and stood next to her. Then he looked dead at her friend. |Isn't that right, Sairen?|
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The first thing she did was scream, loud and long. A year of pent-up pain, sadness, and frustration was finally let out in that one moment. She also did not bother trying to stop her power from responding. A deadly gust of wind spun around her room, knocking things off her shelves and glass figurines off the dresser. She didn't even try to catch Mitsuno's hairbrush as it slammed into the mirror, shattering glass everywhere.
"What was that?"
"What's going on?"
Sairen also didn't bother to answer, or get up. She just sat in bed while four other people hauled ass down the hall, making enough noise to wake the dead.
'Wake the dead...'
Someone was banging on her door. Sounded like Kuwabara. "Hey, lady, I don't know what in the world you're trying to do, but we weren't TRYING to wake you up--"
"Out of the way, moron! Sairen, open the door. Oh, to hell with it." Hiei decided to simply knock the door down.
"It was open, stupid."
"Sairen, what's going on? This place looks like--"
"Hiei, back the hell OFF!" the last word was shouted, stopping him in his tracks and causing one of the two remaining glass figurines to shatter.
"Sairen..."
"Don't come any closer," her eyes took on a light blue color, glowing eerily in the dark room, "or there's no guarantee that I won't cut you down."
"Sai--"
"Just get out. All of you. Please." Sairen's eyes slowly turned back to normal on that last, pleading note.
"Let's go, Hiei," Kurama placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. He allowed himself to be lead out, offering no physical or even verbal resistance. After the two of them left, Kuwabara and Botan followed. The latter, however, held back.
"You, too, Botan," was the soft command from the other side of the room.
"Oh. Sorry about the door, but I'd shut it if it were still on the hinges."
Sairen did not respond. Before leaving, Botan cast a simple spell over the door. Similar to WitchLight, it made the room look how she wanted it to (clean and empty), but it also went a step further and canceled out any sound before it could leave the room.
Silently thanking her friend, Sairen covered her face with her hands and did something else she had been meaning to do for a while.
For the next hour or so, she cried. Just like she had when Mitsuno died a year ago, on the very day the night before when her vision had occurred for real.
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Author's note: WitchLight is something i came up with; it's a spell that changes the appearance of a person or area to the way the person casting the spell wants it or him/her to look. I came up with Sairen's attack as well, though it was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing, not something i've had for a while. I didn't really expect this chapter to end up in two parts, though, so it surprised me, too. I thought it would sound better if the two parts were separated instead of being together, since they have totally different tones. Enough technical talk. I need to start on ch. 5, since this is something i actually WANT to write **balls up school assignment and tosses it over shoulder**.
Oh, btw, the meat hook idea came from one of the Jenifers i know. Everyone SHOULD know that the Oedipus Rex thing isn't mine, either. What IS the plural form of "Rex", anyway? Hmmm...