Bolero
Chapter Four If it's not the end of the world...
Kamui stared at Trent. "You're...you're not going to join us?"
Trent shrugged tolerantly. "Nope. Don't get me wrong, I certainly agree that saving all of humanity is important, a completely worth goal. I just don't think that any of you are doing the right thing."
Daisuke glared at him. "And you can do better?" He snorted in disgust.
Trent turned to arch an eyebrow at him. "You know, I don't really mind that you tried to kill me anymore. But I won't hesitate to kill you if you don't shut up."
Hinoto turned pleading eyes on him. [You showed us such power mere moments ago; with you at our side, the survival of humanity would be assured. Please, give us your aid.]
Trent looked at her for several moments in silence, carefully choosing his words. "That is precisely the thinking that is going to destroy the civilizations of this world." Turning away, he began strolling idly towards the door, completely ignoring the telepathic pleas still being flung after him. He paused at the door, turning back to smile ingratiatingly at Daisuke. "Nice attempt, really. But I control the wind, and to a degree that you couldn't possibly imagine. So don't waste your time or energy; your powers won't even function without my say-so." With that, he left.
Hajime turned to Daisuke curiously. "You tried to kill him again?"
"I haven't the faintest idea what he was talking about," Daisuke returned irritably.
"You're a terrible liar," Tsuzuku remarked unconcernedly. Snapping his book shut, he calmly transformed it into a leather wallet, pocketing his Artifact. "Well, we should be going. You no doubt want to decide things among yourselves, and we should hardly be considered the ones you want to hear your plans."
Yuzuriha frowned, biting at her lip as the three brothers followed Trent. "Should...shouldn't we try to stop them?"
Sora shook his head, smiling easily. "Don't worry. I don't think that he's going to try and murder us in our sleep. He's got to make his own choices." He sighed, chuckling lightly. "Just like the rest of us." For once, he allowed his face to turn serious. "Besides, you saw what he was capable of. Even if we wanted to try and stop him, there's not a great deal that we could do."
--------
Trent looked up as Tsuzuku arrived. "Do you mind if I use your book for a minute?"
Tsuzuku blinked in confusion. "You haven't seen us in three thousand years, and all you can ask is 'can I use your book?'"
Trent sighed. "We're not with the dragons of heaven, but we still live on this world. So whether we like it or not, we're stuck trying to deal with the mess they managed to make. We don't have much choice but to try and keep them from destroying the planet and all pertinent life on it." He shrugged helplessly. "So not to put to fine a point on it, I have work to do, and I need to know what I'm up against if I'm going to do it properly."
Tsuzuku shook his head as he handed over the red-bound tome. "I don't remember you being this duty-bound in the old days."
Trent's eyes turned guarded. "Things change. I remember too many things that should have been different."
"What?"
Trent ignored him as he began leafing through the pages of the book. For almost half an hour, he did nothing but read silently. Finally, he closed the book. "I was afraid of that."
Hajime frowned as Trent returned the book. "What's going on?"
Trent turned to face west. "Things are happening. Today, the world starts to end if those idiots keep acting the way they have."
Hajime sighed. "So what do we do?"
Trent frowned in confusion. "What, you're giving me command?"
Hajime chuckled dryly. "Better you than me."
Trent paused, then nodded quietly. "Alright. Amaru, you need to come with me. Tsuzuku, I need research from you. Get me all the information you can on the seismic and meteorological conditions of the planet. If you get that done in a hurry, get me biographical information on the seven harbingers and the seals." He paused. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Find a woman named Kanoe; she's Hinoto's younger sister. Do that BEFORE you worry about the other harbingers." He turned to Hajime. "I want you to go to Sunshine 60. Poke around the ley lines and such; you should feel something...off, if nothing else. Just try and clean up any problems with the earth energy of the area."
Amaru looked askance. "Um...what are we going to do?"
Trent smiled. "We're going to go and play around with Kamui's family life, and in the process see how badly we can louse up everyone else's plans for his destiny."
--------
Tokiko smiled fondly at her nephew as she felt herself rise above him. "Today is the day, Kamui. What happens now must happen, or it can never do so again. I'm sorry I didn't have any more time for this, but we can't fight destiny." Her smile turned sad, tender. "Good-bye."
" 'I don't know why you say good-bye, I say hello.' "
Kamui stared as some kind of white...thing slithered across the floor, cocooning his aunt. "What the - "
Trent ignored him as tendrils of his cloak finished tying off the seals currently trying to slaughter his school nurse. "Tell me Amaru, would you consider the administration of a cesarean of sorts to fall within the bounds of your staff's healing abilities."
Amaru gave him an odd look. "Yeeeeaaaaahhhh, but what does that have to do with the situation here?"
Trent smiled at the currently goggling Kamui. "Well, at the moment there is something inside Miss Magami's body that is trying rather desperately to get out, something her body has been protecting and nurturing for quite a while. It's not a baby, but I think it's close enough."
Amaru shook his head as he approached the bundle. "You know, six months ago something like this would have struck me as just plain weird, if not impossible. Now..." he sighed. "You'll need to open a relatively small section of your cloak for whatever it is that's supposed to come out, or there's no way to do it." He frowned as the cloak's folds slid open, the only space revealed to be a slit two inches wide and a foot long. "Seems a bit small, but...you know what's supposed to come out, I'll assume you know what we're doing."
Kamui stared in horrified fascination as light from Amaru's staff began to shift...well, something inside his aunt. The horror content increased somewhat as Trent reached inside the slit to grab something. Horror lessened to be replaced by wonder and confusion as it proved to be the hilt of a second sacred sword.
Trent regarded the weapon for a few moments, then tossed it idly into Kamui's numbed hands. "Three men are going to show up sooner or later to talk with you. I'm not sure what about, but don't arbitrarily kill them for it." With that, he and Amaru leapt back out of the room, leaving (in this order) a dumbfounded Kamui, a slightly hysterical Kotori (she'd just come in and demanded to know what had happened), a thoughtful if somewhat creepy Fuma, and a thoroughly exhausted (not to mention naked) Tokiko.
As such, when the predicted three men arrived, it was to a scene that took a lot longer to explain than they had originally planned.
--------
Fuma smiled, and it was not sane. "So be it, Kamui. You're choice has been made, as is mine."
Kamui stared as his one-time best friend casually threw him into the wall. Gasping through his pain, he could only stare as windows shattered around them, shards of glass lancing down to pin him to the wall.
Fuma grinned as he lofted Kotori into the air, steel I-beams pulling themselves from the Clamp Academy's buildings to form a crucifix, Kotori spread on the cross. "I am your twin star, you must understand. I exist solely for your sake. Whatever choices you make, I am bound by our twin destinies to make the opposite." He grinned devilishly as the sacred sword flew into his hands as he poised it over his sister's chest. "Thus when you chose to protect Kotori, my choice was clear. Her death."
The downward plunge was interrupted rather spectacularly by a hardened wisp of cloth. It abruptly slithered and flowed, splitting into a cat 'o nine tails of white material, each lash easily severing the cables binding the girl to her iron cross. Further flaps of the white cloak gently drew her down, the last of the cloak flaring outwards to shield her. The final extended tendrils attacked Fuma himself.
He was Kamui's twin star, his equal. While Kamui had power equal to his, Fuma was using it with absolutely no fear of loss, no need to check his destructive force. The telekinetic storm of raw power broke against soul- woven mantle as the energies were whisked away to form a massive cyclone of destructive power.
On the one side stood a mad force destined to wipe out humanity. On the other stood a living, breathing elemental force of nature.
The battle lasted only moments.
Trent smiled grimly as he floated down towards a currently bound Fuma. "You seem to have a knack for making my life difficult."
Fuma smiled back. "What you have done changes nothing. What is to be has been set down by forces far greater than you or I. The fated day will come, and nothing can stop it."
Trent shrugged unconcernedly. "I've found that fate is the mistress of 'what if.' She has control over events, but I think you'd be amazed at how little it takes to derail what 'is to be.'" He sighed as he turned to Kamui. "The problem with schools these days is that learning teaches people that you don't have to think, the formulas are all you need."
Amaru approached, but stopped as Trent lofted Kotori towards him. "Heal her first. Kamui's tougher than you think, and something tells me that he's going to be a lot less happy if he gets better before her."
Turning to the currently impaled 'hunter of god,' he crouched next to him. "So, you've heard at least a tiny bit of what Kanoe has to say, and you've heard what Hinoto has to say. Interested in a third party?"
Kamui turned glazed eyes on him. "Why?"
"Why what?"
Kamui stared listlessly as Amaru approached, Kotori still wrapped in the layers of Trent's cloak. "Why me? Why did God decide that I'm the one who has to decide the fate of the world? Why am I the one stuck with having to weigh all of humanity against the people I love?"
Trent's smile faded slowly into sympathetic respect. "I think you need to hear what I have to say." He turned to Amaru. "Is he okay?"
Amaru shook his head concernedly. "I don't know. I've done everything I can, but it might not be enough." He turned helpless eyes to Trent. "My staff can heal bodies, and minds to some degree. Hearts and Souls are a bit beyond my reach."
Trent sighed as he began to build a small, private room from the expanding layers of his cloak. "Think you can hold down the fort for a few minutes?"
Amaru grinned weakly. "If I can't, Tokyo's going to be reduced to a crater."
Trent winced. "Good point. Try not to get nearly-killed." Slinging one of Kamui's arms over his shoulder, he began dragging him into the room. "Sorry about this, but you really do need to know what your choices are. ALL of them. At least somebody needs to tell you."
--------
Kamui looked around, some slight amount of life returning to his eyes. "Cool." The room wasn't much; just a cube of white, roughly four meters across. The only other features were the chair-like extensions on the floor. "How much can your cloak do?"
Trent shrugged as he sank into one of the seats. "I can affect the wind in human form, but most of my powers are in this." He smiled. "Though it's probably more useful. I can form the cloth into just about anything I want, within some size limitations. It's virtually indestructible, and it protects me from almost any environmental condition you could think of, from the bottom of the ocean to hard vacuum to the middle of the Sahara."
Kamui smiled wanly as he sank into his own chair. "Handy." Looking around, he chose to break the silence. "So, what are you going to tell me that I haven't heard yet? Am I supposed to also bring back everyone after I kill them trying to protect them?"
Trent raised an eyebrow. "You've watched Evangelion, I assume." At Kamui's failure to respond, he shrugged it off. "Have you ever played a video game called Soul Reaver?" At Kamui's puzzled look, he continued. "It's a game about a man named Raziel, who similar to you is being put through all kinds of trials and such by people who claim to know what it is he really wants, and who claim that he's destined to do it." He shrugged as he dug a quarter out of his pocket. "Anyway, there's a quote from there I'd like you to think about. 'Toss a coin, and it will always land heads or tails. But, if you flip it long enough, what do you do one day, when it lands on its edge?'" He flung it into the air.
Kamui watched in detached interest, as the coin indeed landed on its edge. "You did that."
Trent smiled. "Of course I did. While in theory it's possible for a tossed coin to land on its edge, the precise amount of force necessary to keep it there is damn near impossible to attain. So in real life, you never find completely legal coins doing that."
"What does this have to do with me?"
Trent shrugged as he leaned back into his 'chair'. "Let's say that coin was whether or not you chose to be a dragon of heaven or a dragon of earth; heads for heaven, tails for earth. Now, as neither choice has been presented by the coin, what would you do?"
Kamui snorted. "I'd toss it again, and then choose."
"But what if the coin KEEPS landing on edge?"
"I'd choose a different way to make my choice."
Trent sighed. "Alright, let's try it this way then. Fuma just told you outright that whatever you choose to do, he's going to do the opposite. Remember that?" At Kamui's wince, he continued. "Let's try a math analogy. If you choose a positive number, then Fuma is required to choose the exact same number, though negative, and vice-versa."
Kamui glared at him. Kotori was safe, He was fairly sure that Fuma was back to normal, and was getting there himself. "What does this have to do with anything?"
Trent closed his eyes, silently counting to ten. "The definition of a real number any whole number, positive or negative, and all other possible values in between those numbers. However," he added, "is every number either positive or negative?"
Kamui groaned. "Will you please just get to the point?"
Trent glared right back at him. "There is one number that is neither positive nor negative. What is it?"
"Infinity?"
"NNNGGGGGGGG! WRONG! YOU FLUNK! Infinity can be either positive or negative." Trent leaned forward. "The only number known to mathematics that is neither positive nor negative is Zero."
Kamui rolled his eyes. "Okay, now what?"
Trent silently counted to ten. Then again. And again. And silently asked why the fate of humanity rested on the shoulders of an imbecile. "You know, I've been trying to be an advisor. Dropping hints so that you could make a decision for yourself. Apparently, that's not going to work. Fine. I'll spell it out." His hands shot out, yanking Kamui out of his chair to within inches of Trent's face. "What. If. You. Choose. Not. To. Be. A. Dragon. Of. Heaven. Or. Of. Earth."
Kamui blinked in confusion. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
Trent was about to just go ahead and slap him when he paused. Slowly releasing Kamui he dropped back into his seat. "Of course...I didn't realize. Your entire life, you've been told that you had a destiny, and now you can't even think about an alternative." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been short with you." Composing himself, he gazed Kamui in the eye. "As I understand it, you chose to be a dragon of heaven because you thought that would be the best way to protect Kotori. So tell me, what does one have to do with the other?"
Kamui blinked. "If I save humanity, then I'm obviously going to save Kotori."
Trent snorted in disdain. "Why do you care about humanity?"
Kamui stared at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Of COURSE - "
"Who's humanity?" Trent interrupted. "Let me tell you something. There are six and a half billion humans on this planet. Thousands have died from cancer, food poisoning, random bullets, old age, and drugs in the time its taken us to have this conversation. Does that make you feel sad?"
Kamui frowned. "Well..."
Trent snorted. "No, it doesn't, does it. And why should it? Sure, if one of those thousands happens to be someone you know, you'd care. But six billion people? No one on this planet knows six billion people, and neither do you." He shook his head. "There's a saying; a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are just a statistic. Do you know why they say cheesy stuff like that? Because it's true. If all humanity is wiped out, then everyone will be sad because they lost at least one person they care about, but will they ever stop to think about the other six billion people who are suffering? I doubt it."
"So what are you saying?" Kamui bit out. "That I shouldn't care?"
"What I'm saying," Trent said, "is that if you want to protect Kotori, then do so. But don't think that you have to protect every man woman and child on this planet in the process. And you don't have to kill them either; you don't have the right to decide six billion fates. I sure as hell don't."
Kamui looked at him as the room began to unweave. "Hold it."
Trent turned to look at him. "Yes?"
Kamui frowned. "Is that everything you know?"
Trent clucked his tongue. "You don't trust me?"
Kamui's eyes narrowed. "I trust you more than I do Kanoe. And more than Hinoto. But not too much."
Trent gave him his most earnest look. "That, young Shiro, is the most intelligent thing I have heard from you since we met. I personally feel that you shouldn't join the dragons of heaven OR the dragons of earth, but that's my choice and opinion, and you have to make your own." He idly straightened the cuffs of his jacket, unnecessarily so one might add. "There are any number of things I know that I'm not saying, many that would effect your choice. However, there is one in particular that I withhold. One that would cause you not to choose, but to simply do precisely as I want." He smiled, and sketched a bow. "If you want to talk more, I'm going to be somewhere along the coast, I think. Amaru will be able to find me.'
--------
Trent idly looked out across the waves. It hadn't been easy to find a stretch of completely deserted beach, let alone one that he felt suited his mood properly. He'd ended up all the way in Kyushu before he found one he wanted; a shear cliff overlooking the sea, cedars behind him.
He thought back to what he'd learned within the cloak, comparing to what he knew now, what he felt now. Turning to watch the sunset, he began quietly speaking.
"It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know,
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought,
Than to love and be loved by me."
"I was a child, and SHE was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love--
I and my Annabel Lee--
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me."
"And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, killing
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came,
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea."
"The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me--
Yes!--that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and Killing my Annabel Lee."
"But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we--
Of many far wiser than we--
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down by the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee-"
"For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling--my darling--my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea
In her tomb by the sounding sea."
"Did you write that?"
Trent turned towards Kamui's voice, smiling slightly. "Of course not. It was written by Edgar Allen Poe, after the death of his wife." He shook his head as he turned back to watch the sunset. "Did you know, he convinced his widowed aunt to have an affair with him? He later ended up marrying his fourteen-year-old cousin." He shook his head. "He was a twisted man, Poe. A genius, but twisted nonetheless."
Kamui strolled over, watching the sunset for a time. "Fuma doesn't remember what happened, and Kotori's convinced that it doesn't mean anything."
Trent nodded. "I figured as much. Your choice has been thrown into turmoil, and now theirs are as well."
Kamui nodded quietly. "I've been giving it a lot of thought. Talking it over with the people at the Clamp Academy, the other dragons, with Tokiko..." he paused. "I never did thank you for saving her life, come to think of it."
Trent waved it off. "It needed to be done."
Kamui smiled sadly. "Thank you." At Trent's silence, he sighed and continued. "I've given it thought, but I can't decide." He turned to face Trent. "What didn't you tell me? What's so important that you knew it would completely follow your advice?"
Trent sighed. "I don't like to alter people's choices."
"Bit late for that," came Hajime's voice. "You've effected our choices, the dragons of heaven AND earth, and a great many others."
Tsuzuku chuckled warmly. "Kanoe and Hinoto are both on the edge of insanity; their dreams of the future refuse to stay consistent. Between you effecting what was to be and Hajime's geomancing, the fated day seems to be on hold."
Trent smiled. "Good. Fate shouldn't be like this in the first place."
"Tell me," Kamui interrupted. "I have a right to know."
Trent looked at the set of his shoulders, the focus in his eyes, and sighed. "What I've been doing is a combination of things. Part of it involves just basic knowledge, part intuition, part of what my senses as Fungsahn tell me, and part of it is my experience in past lives. The bulk of it though is from Tsuzuku's Tome." Stooping, he flicked a pair of rocks off the cliff. "You see, all of our artifacts have some limitations. Amaru can't heal souls or hearts; my cloak can only protect me, not the people around me; Hajime's sword can only cut and destroy; Tsuzuku's book can only tell him information pertaining to the past and the present." He smiled. "At least until we figure out how to justify things. You see, a dream-seer sees what is most likely to come, and then has their attendants go around and work themselves to death making sure things happen as the dream says it should, and it all seems really coincidental. However, their dreams are taking place in the present." His smile turned impish. "As such, Tsuzuku's book, though it can't tell the future, CAN tell us what dream-seers think the future will entail."
Kamui was silent for a moment, digesting that. "So what do they think My future entails?"
Trent's smile wavered and die. "Their visions, at least until I garbled them up, all revolve around whether or not you become a dragon of heaven or earth." He sighed. "What I didn't want to tell you involves Fuma. You've already seen what the first thing he'll do is if you choose to be a dragon of heaven. Kotori, dead crucified." He remained silent for a time. "That is the consequence of your choice to be a dragon of heaven; Kotori or the rest of humanity. What you aren't aware of is what will happen if you choose dragon of earth."
"Please," broke in Kamui. "Just tell me."
Trent sighed. "Dragon of heaven, and you watch in horror as your twin star murders the woman you love. Dragon of earth, and it's vice-versa." He turned an unblinking gaze on Kamui. "If you choose the Dragons of Earth, YOU are the one who's going to murder Kotori."
Kamui stared at him in shock, shock that slowly subsided into hardened resolve. "And what about your choice? If I do neither?"
Trent shrugged. "Unlike the other two, my choice isn't written in stone. "It's not even supposed to exist." He shrugged helplessly. "We don't know the future, and I for one prefer it that way. It simplifies things greatly. So while I can't tell you that choosing neither side will ensure Kotori's safety, I can at least tell you that you have a MUCH better chance of her getting to live."
Kamui watched him for a moment, then turned to look over the ocean. "That poem I heard you recite; you lost someone you cared about?"
Trent turned to him. "It's not something I recommend."
Kamui smiled wistfully. "You were right. It would color my choice." Reaching into his uniform jacket, he pulled out a pair of letters, and let them drop into the sea. "The murderer of God's will is dead, as is the herald of his will." He smiled as he watched the ocean. "All that is left is I."
Trent smiled. There was a chance to save this poor world, but he only hoped that he would be allowed to do it.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: I realize that I glossed over quite a few of the details of X, but as I think I mentioned before, this isn't really ABOUT X/1999, this is about Trent and the dragon kings. As to why I decided to do this? I'm on book eleven of the manga and have seen the movie, and both struck me as being just plain disgraceful. I mean come on, the movie spends an hour and a half developing characters just so they can all be slaughtered alongside the rest of humanity to prove some as yet unclear metaphysical point. Tell me that this doesn't need to be rectified. And mean it.
Chapter Four If it's not the end of the world...
Kamui stared at Trent. "You're...you're not going to join us?"
Trent shrugged tolerantly. "Nope. Don't get me wrong, I certainly agree that saving all of humanity is important, a completely worth goal. I just don't think that any of you are doing the right thing."
Daisuke glared at him. "And you can do better?" He snorted in disgust.
Trent turned to arch an eyebrow at him. "You know, I don't really mind that you tried to kill me anymore. But I won't hesitate to kill you if you don't shut up."
Hinoto turned pleading eyes on him. [You showed us such power mere moments ago; with you at our side, the survival of humanity would be assured. Please, give us your aid.]
Trent looked at her for several moments in silence, carefully choosing his words. "That is precisely the thinking that is going to destroy the civilizations of this world." Turning away, he began strolling idly towards the door, completely ignoring the telepathic pleas still being flung after him. He paused at the door, turning back to smile ingratiatingly at Daisuke. "Nice attempt, really. But I control the wind, and to a degree that you couldn't possibly imagine. So don't waste your time or energy; your powers won't even function without my say-so." With that, he left.
Hajime turned to Daisuke curiously. "You tried to kill him again?"
"I haven't the faintest idea what he was talking about," Daisuke returned irritably.
"You're a terrible liar," Tsuzuku remarked unconcernedly. Snapping his book shut, he calmly transformed it into a leather wallet, pocketing his Artifact. "Well, we should be going. You no doubt want to decide things among yourselves, and we should hardly be considered the ones you want to hear your plans."
Yuzuriha frowned, biting at her lip as the three brothers followed Trent. "Should...shouldn't we try to stop them?"
Sora shook his head, smiling easily. "Don't worry. I don't think that he's going to try and murder us in our sleep. He's got to make his own choices." He sighed, chuckling lightly. "Just like the rest of us." For once, he allowed his face to turn serious. "Besides, you saw what he was capable of. Even if we wanted to try and stop him, there's not a great deal that we could do."
--------
Trent looked up as Tsuzuku arrived. "Do you mind if I use your book for a minute?"
Tsuzuku blinked in confusion. "You haven't seen us in three thousand years, and all you can ask is 'can I use your book?'"
Trent sighed. "We're not with the dragons of heaven, but we still live on this world. So whether we like it or not, we're stuck trying to deal with the mess they managed to make. We don't have much choice but to try and keep them from destroying the planet and all pertinent life on it." He shrugged helplessly. "So not to put to fine a point on it, I have work to do, and I need to know what I'm up against if I'm going to do it properly."
Tsuzuku shook his head as he handed over the red-bound tome. "I don't remember you being this duty-bound in the old days."
Trent's eyes turned guarded. "Things change. I remember too many things that should have been different."
"What?"
Trent ignored him as he began leafing through the pages of the book. For almost half an hour, he did nothing but read silently. Finally, he closed the book. "I was afraid of that."
Hajime frowned as Trent returned the book. "What's going on?"
Trent turned to face west. "Things are happening. Today, the world starts to end if those idiots keep acting the way they have."
Hajime sighed. "So what do we do?"
Trent frowned in confusion. "What, you're giving me command?"
Hajime chuckled dryly. "Better you than me."
Trent paused, then nodded quietly. "Alright. Amaru, you need to come with me. Tsuzuku, I need research from you. Get me all the information you can on the seismic and meteorological conditions of the planet. If you get that done in a hurry, get me biographical information on the seven harbingers and the seals." He paused. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Find a woman named Kanoe; she's Hinoto's younger sister. Do that BEFORE you worry about the other harbingers." He turned to Hajime. "I want you to go to Sunshine 60. Poke around the ley lines and such; you should feel something...off, if nothing else. Just try and clean up any problems with the earth energy of the area."
Amaru looked askance. "Um...what are we going to do?"
Trent smiled. "We're going to go and play around with Kamui's family life, and in the process see how badly we can louse up everyone else's plans for his destiny."
--------
Tokiko smiled fondly at her nephew as she felt herself rise above him. "Today is the day, Kamui. What happens now must happen, or it can never do so again. I'm sorry I didn't have any more time for this, but we can't fight destiny." Her smile turned sad, tender. "Good-bye."
" 'I don't know why you say good-bye, I say hello.' "
Kamui stared as some kind of white...thing slithered across the floor, cocooning his aunt. "What the - "
Trent ignored him as tendrils of his cloak finished tying off the seals currently trying to slaughter his school nurse. "Tell me Amaru, would you consider the administration of a cesarean of sorts to fall within the bounds of your staff's healing abilities."
Amaru gave him an odd look. "Yeeeeaaaaahhhh, but what does that have to do with the situation here?"
Trent smiled at the currently goggling Kamui. "Well, at the moment there is something inside Miss Magami's body that is trying rather desperately to get out, something her body has been protecting and nurturing for quite a while. It's not a baby, but I think it's close enough."
Amaru shook his head as he approached the bundle. "You know, six months ago something like this would have struck me as just plain weird, if not impossible. Now..." he sighed. "You'll need to open a relatively small section of your cloak for whatever it is that's supposed to come out, or there's no way to do it." He frowned as the cloak's folds slid open, the only space revealed to be a slit two inches wide and a foot long. "Seems a bit small, but...you know what's supposed to come out, I'll assume you know what we're doing."
Kamui stared in horrified fascination as light from Amaru's staff began to shift...well, something inside his aunt. The horror content increased somewhat as Trent reached inside the slit to grab something. Horror lessened to be replaced by wonder and confusion as it proved to be the hilt of a second sacred sword.
Trent regarded the weapon for a few moments, then tossed it idly into Kamui's numbed hands. "Three men are going to show up sooner or later to talk with you. I'm not sure what about, but don't arbitrarily kill them for it." With that, he and Amaru leapt back out of the room, leaving (in this order) a dumbfounded Kamui, a slightly hysterical Kotori (she'd just come in and demanded to know what had happened), a thoughtful if somewhat creepy Fuma, and a thoroughly exhausted (not to mention naked) Tokiko.
As such, when the predicted three men arrived, it was to a scene that took a lot longer to explain than they had originally planned.
--------
Fuma smiled, and it was not sane. "So be it, Kamui. You're choice has been made, as is mine."
Kamui stared as his one-time best friend casually threw him into the wall. Gasping through his pain, he could only stare as windows shattered around them, shards of glass lancing down to pin him to the wall.
Fuma grinned as he lofted Kotori into the air, steel I-beams pulling themselves from the Clamp Academy's buildings to form a crucifix, Kotori spread on the cross. "I am your twin star, you must understand. I exist solely for your sake. Whatever choices you make, I am bound by our twin destinies to make the opposite." He grinned devilishly as the sacred sword flew into his hands as he poised it over his sister's chest. "Thus when you chose to protect Kotori, my choice was clear. Her death."
The downward plunge was interrupted rather spectacularly by a hardened wisp of cloth. It abruptly slithered and flowed, splitting into a cat 'o nine tails of white material, each lash easily severing the cables binding the girl to her iron cross. Further flaps of the white cloak gently drew her down, the last of the cloak flaring outwards to shield her. The final extended tendrils attacked Fuma himself.
He was Kamui's twin star, his equal. While Kamui had power equal to his, Fuma was using it with absolutely no fear of loss, no need to check his destructive force. The telekinetic storm of raw power broke against soul- woven mantle as the energies were whisked away to form a massive cyclone of destructive power.
On the one side stood a mad force destined to wipe out humanity. On the other stood a living, breathing elemental force of nature.
The battle lasted only moments.
Trent smiled grimly as he floated down towards a currently bound Fuma. "You seem to have a knack for making my life difficult."
Fuma smiled back. "What you have done changes nothing. What is to be has been set down by forces far greater than you or I. The fated day will come, and nothing can stop it."
Trent shrugged unconcernedly. "I've found that fate is the mistress of 'what if.' She has control over events, but I think you'd be amazed at how little it takes to derail what 'is to be.'" He sighed as he turned to Kamui. "The problem with schools these days is that learning teaches people that you don't have to think, the formulas are all you need."
Amaru approached, but stopped as Trent lofted Kotori towards him. "Heal her first. Kamui's tougher than you think, and something tells me that he's going to be a lot less happy if he gets better before her."
Turning to the currently impaled 'hunter of god,' he crouched next to him. "So, you've heard at least a tiny bit of what Kanoe has to say, and you've heard what Hinoto has to say. Interested in a third party?"
Kamui turned glazed eyes on him. "Why?"
"Why what?"
Kamui stared listlessly as Amaru approached, Kotori still wrapped in the layers of Trent's cloak. "Why me? Why did God decide that I'm the one who has to decide the fate of the world? Why am I the one stuck with having to weigh all of humanity against the people I love?"
Trent's smile faded slowly into sympathetic respect. "I think you need to hear what I have to say." He turned to Amaru. "Is he okay?"
Amaru shook his head concernedly. "I don't know. I've done everything I can, but it might not be enough." He turned helpless eyes to Trent. "My staff can heal bodies, and minds to some degree. Hearts and Souls are a bit beyond my reach."
Trent sighed as he began to build a small, private room from the expanding layers of his cloak. "Think you can hold down the fort for a few minutes?"
Amaru grinned weakly. "If I can't, Tokyo's going to be reduced to a crater."
Trent winced. "Good point. Try not to get nearly-killed." Slinging one of Kamui's arms over his shoulder, he began dragging him into the room. "Sorry about this, but you really do need to know what your choices are. ALL of them. At least somebody needs to tell you."
--------
Kamui looked around, some slight amount of life returning to his eyes. "Cool." The room wasn't much; just a cube of white, roughly four meters across. The only other features were the chair-like extensions on the floor. "How much can your cloak do?"
Trent shrugged as he sank into one of the seats. "I can affect the wind in human form, but most of my powers are in this." He smiled. "Though it's probably more useful. I can form the cloth into just about anything I want, within some size limitations. It's virtually indestructible, and it protects me from almost any environmental condition you could think of, from the bottom of the ocean to hard vacuum to the middle of the Sahara."
Kamui smiled wanly as he sank into his own chair. "Handy." Looking around, he chose to break the silence. "So, what are you going to tell me that I haven't heard yet? Am I supposed to also bring back everyone after I kill them trying to protect them?"
Trent raised an eyebrow. "You've watched Evangelion, I assume." At Kamui's failure to respond, he shrugged it off. "Have you ever played a video game called Soul Reaver?" At Kamui's puzzled look, he continued. "It's a game about a man named Raziel, who similar to you is being put through all kinds of trials and such by people who claim to know what it is he really wants, and who claim that he's destined to do it." He shrugged as he dug a quarter out of his pocket. "Anyway, there's a quote from there I'd like you to think about. 'Toss a coin, and it will always land heads or tails. But, if you flip it long enough, what do you do one day, when it lands on its edge?'" He flung it into the air.
Kamui watched in detached interest, as the coin indeed landed on its edge. "You did that."
Trent smiled. "Of course I did. While in theory it's possible for a tossed coin to land on its edge, the precise amount of force necessary to keep it there is damn near impossible to attain. So in real life, you never find completely legal coins doing that."
"What does this have to do with me?"
Trent shrugged as he leaned back into his 'chair'. "Let's say that coin was whether or not you chose to be a dragon of heaven or a dragon of earth; heads for heaven, tails for earth. Now, as neither choice has been presented by the coin, what would you do?"
Kamui snorted. "I'd toss it again, and then choose."
"But what if the coin KEEPS landing on edge?"
"I'd choose a different way to make my choice."
Trent sighed. "Alright, let's try it this way then. Fuma just told you outright that whatever you choose to do, he's going to do the opposite. Remember that?" At Kamui's wince, he continued. "Let's try a math analogy. If you choose a positive number, then Fuma is required to choose the exact same number, though negative, and vice-versa."
Kamui glared at him. Kotori was safe, He was fairly sure that Fuma was back to normal, and was getting there himself. "What does this have to do with anything?"
Trent closed his eyes, silently counting to ten. "The definition of a real number any whole number, positive or negative, and all other possible values in between those numbers. However," he added, "is every number either positive or negative?"
Kamui groaned. "Will you please just get to the point?"
Trent glared right back at him. "There is one number that is neither positive nor negative. What is it?"
"Infinity?"
"NNNGGGGGGGG! WRONG! YOU FLUNK! Infinity can be either positive or negative." Trent leaned forward. "The only number known to mathematics that is neither positive nor negative is Zero."
Kamui rolled his eyes. "Okay, now what?"
Trent silently counted to ten. Then again. And again. And silently asked why the fate of humanity rested on the shoulders of an imbecile. "You know, I've been trying to be an advisor. Dropping hints so that you could make a decision for yourself. Apparently, that's not going to work. Fine. I'll spell it out." His hands shot out, yanking Kamui out of his chair to within inches of Trent's face. "What. If. You. Choose. Not. To. Be. A. Dragon. Of. Heaven. Or. Of. Earth."
Kamui blinked in confusion. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
Trent was about to just go ahead and slap him when he paused. Slowly releasing Kamui he dropped back into his seat. "Of course...I didn't realize. Your entire life, you've been told that you had a destiny, and now you can't even think about an alternative." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been short with you." Composing himself, he gazed Kamui in the eye. "As I understand it, you chose to be a dragon of heaven because you thought that would be the best way to protect Kotori. So tell me, what does one have to do with the other?"
Kamui blinked. "If I save humanity, then I'm obviously going to save Kotori."
Trent snorted in disdain. "Why do you care about humanity?"
Kamui stared at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Of COURSE - "
"Who's humanity?" Trent interrupted. "Let me tell you something. There are six and a half billion humans on this planet. Thousands have died from cancer, food poisoning, random bullets, old age, and drugs in the time its taken us to have this conversation. Does that make you feel sad?"
Kamui frowned. "Well..."
Trent snorted. "No, it doesn't, does it. And why should it? Sure, if one of those thousands happens to be someone you know, you'd care. But six billion people? No one on this planet knows six billion people, and neither do you." He shook his head. "There's a saying; a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are just a statistic. Do you know why they say cheesy stuff like that? Because it's true. If all humanity is wiped out, then everyone will be sad because they lost at least one person they care about, but will they ever stop to think about the other six billion people who are suffering? I doubt it."
"So what are you saying?" Kamui bit out. "That I shouldn't care?"
"What I'm saying," Trent said, "is that if you want to protect Kotori, then do so. But don't think that you have to protect every man woman and child on this planet in the process. And you don't have to kill them either; you don't have the right to decide six billion fates. I sure as hell don't."
Kamui looked at him as the room began to unweave. "Hold it."
Trent turned to look at him. "Yes?"
Kamui frowned. "Is that everything you know?"
Trent clucked his tongue. "You don't trust me?"
Kamui's eyes narrowed. "I trust you more than I do Kanoe. And more than Hinoto. But not too much."
Trent gave him his most earnest look. "That, young Shiro, is the most intelligent thing I have heard from you since we met. I personally feel that you shouldn't join the dragons of heaven OR the dragons of earth, but that's my choice and opinion, and you have to make your own." He idly straightened the cuffs of his jacket, unnecessarily so one might add. "There are any number of things I know that I'm not saying, many that would effect your choice. However, there is one in particular that I withhold. One that would cause you not to choose, but to simply do precisely as I want." He smiled, and sketched a bow. "If you want to talk more, I'm going to be somewhere along the coast, I think. Amaru will be able to find me.'
--------
Trent idly looked out across the waves. It hadn't been easy to find a stretch of completely deserted beach, let alone one that he felt suited his mood properly. He'd ended up all the way in Kyushu before he found one he wanted; a shear cliff overlooking the sea, cedars behind him.
He thought back to what he'd learned within the cloak, comparing to what he knew now, what he felt now. Turning to watch the sunset, he began quietly speaking.
"It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know,
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought,
Than to love and be loved by me."
"I was a child, and SHE was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love--
I and my Annabel Lee--
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me."
"And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, killing
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came,
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea."
"The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me--
Yes!--that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and Killing my Annabel Lee."
"But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we--
Of many far wiser than we--
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down by the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee-"
"For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling--my darling--my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea
In her tomb by the sounding sea."
"Did you write that?"
Trent turned towards Kamui's voice, smiling slightly. "Of course not. It was written by Edgar Allen Poe, after the death of his wife." He shook his head as he turned back to watch the sunset. "Did you know, he convinced his widowed aunt to have an affair with him? He later ended up marrying his fourteen-year-old cousin." He shook his head. "He was a twisted man, Poe. A genius, but twisted nonetheless."
Kamui strolled over, watching the sunset for a time. "Fuma doesn't remember what happened, and Kotori's convinced that it doesn't mean anything."
Trent nodded. "I figured as much. Your choice has been thrown into turmoil, and now theirs are as well."
Kamui nodded quietly. "I've been giving it a lot of thought. Talking it over with the people at the Clamp Academy, the other dragons, with Tokiko..." he paused. "I never did thank you for saving her life, come to think of it."
Trent waved it off. "It needed to be done."
Kamui smiled sadly. "Thank you." At Trent's silence, he sighed and continued. "I've given it thought, but I can't decide." He turned to face Trent. "What didn't you tell me? What's so important that you knew it would completely follow your advice?"
Trent sighed. "I don't like to alter people's choices."
"Bit late for that," came Hajime's voice. "You've effected our choices, the dragons of heaven AND earth, and a great many others."
Tsuzuku chuckled warmly. "Kanoe and Hinoto are both on the edge of insanity; their dreams of the future refuse to stay consistent. Between you effecting what was to be and Hajime's geomancing, the fated day seems to be on hold."
Trent smiled. "Good. Fate shouldn't be like this in the first place."
"Tell me," Kamui interrupted. "I have a right to know."
Trent looked at the set of his shoulders, the focus in his eyes, and sighed. "What I've been doing is a combination of things. Part of it involves just basic knowledge, part intuition, part of what my senses as Fungsahn tell me, and part of it is my experience in past lives. The bulk of it though is from Tsuzuku's Tome." Stooping, he flicked a pair of rocks off the cliff. "You see, all of our artifacts have some limitations. Amaru can't heal souls or hearts; my cloak can only protect me, not the people around me; Hajime's sword can only cut and destroy; Tsuzuku's book can only tell him information pertaining to the past and the present." He smiled. "At least until we figure out how to justify things. You see, a dream-seer sees what is most likely to come, and then has their attendants go around and work themselves to death making sure things happen as the dream says it should, and it all seems really coincidental. However, their dreams are taking place in the present." His smile turned impish. "As such, Tsuzuku's book, though it can't tell the future, CAN tell us what dream-seers think the future will entail."
Kamui was silent for a moment, digesting that. "So what do they think My future entails?"
Trent's smile wavered and die. "Their visions, at least until I garbled them up, all revolve around whether or not you become a dragon of heaven or earth." He sighed. "What I didn't want to tell you involves Fuma. You've already seen what the first thing he'll do is if you choose to be a dragon of heaven. Kotori, dead crucified." He remained silent for a time. "That is the consequence of your choice to be a dragon of heaven; Kotori or the rest of humanity. What you aren't aware of is what will happen if you choose dragon of earth."
"Please," broke in Kamui. "Just tell me."
Trent sighed. "Dragon of heaven, and you watch in horror as your twin star murders the woman you love. Dragon of earth, and it's vice-versa." He turned an unblinking gaze on Kamui. "If you choose the Dragons of Earth, YOU are the one who's going to murder Kotori."
Kamui stared at him in shock, shock that slowly subsided into hardened resolve. "And what about your choice? If I do neither?"
Trent shrugged. "Unlike the other two, my choice isn't written in stone. "It's not even supposed to exist." He shrugged helplessly. "We don't know the future, and I for one prefer it that way. It simplifies things greatly. So while I can't tell you that choosing neither side will ensure Kotori's safety, I can at least tell you that you have a MUCH better chance of her getting to live."
Kamui watched him for a moment, then turned to look over the ocean. "That poem I heard you recite; you lost someone you cared about?"
Trent turned to him. "It's not something I recommend."
Kamui smiled wistfully. "You were right. It would color my choice." Reaching into his uniform jacket, he pulled out a pair of letters, and let them drop into the sea. "The murderer of God's will is dead, as is the herald of his will." He smiled as he watched the ocean. "All that is left is I."
Trent smiled. There was a chance to save this poor world, but he only hoped that he would be allowed to do it.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: I realize that I glossed over quite a few of the details of X, but as I think I mentioned before, this isn't really ABOUT X/1999, this is about Trent and the dragon kings. As to why I decided to do this? I'm on book eleven of the manga and have seen the movie, and both struck me as being just plain disgraceful. I mean come on, the movie spends an hour and a half developing characters just so they can all be slaughtered alongside the rest of humanity to prove some as yet unclear metaphysical point. Tell me that this doesn't need to be rectified. And mean it.