The Eyes of a Child
A FFII story
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any portion of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly or any of its characters.
CHAPTER SIX: SAE'S VOW
Shizuka sat quietly as Mio and Mayu contemplated what their mother had just said. The twins had found their way out of the forest, but only to find horrible news waiting for them at home.
"I know this wasn't the best time to tell you," Shizuka said hoarsely, "but I had to tell you at some point."
Mayu simply stared at the floor. She didn't know what to say.
Mio felt her throat tighten and her eyes well up with tears. She squeezed her sister's tiny hand, and they both began to cry.
Mayu's injury was permanent.
Her leg would never get better.
So Mio and Mayu cried.
The girl watched.
The twins went to bed after a few hours of crying together.
Mayu woke up in the morning all tangled in her sheets and sweating. Had she had a nightmare? She could not remember.
No one else was awake. It was misty outside. Misty and cold.
Mayu dressed and went outside. The cool, foggy air felt good after being in a hot bed all night long.
Mayu looked around. Birds flew low overhead, their chirps and caws echoing in the misty forest. Wet droplets from the air clung to Mayu's clothes and skin. Dewdrops formed on the petals of flowers and blades of grass.
Everything was suddenly quiet.
The birds stopped chirping. The wind stopped blowing. Nothing moved. Everything held its breath and held on to this silent moment.
Startled, Mayu looked around. Why did the noise stop? she wondered. Mayu's eyes continued to wonder around the yard and over at the forest.
The crimson butterfly had caused the sudden stillness.
It rested on the trunk of a tree on the edge of the forest. It fluttered its wings now and then while everything else around it remained still.
Mayu looked at it. She stared at it for a long time. The butterfly had stilled Mayu, too.
Then, the butterfly vanished, and before the trunk of the tree appeared the girl. She was dressed in a white kimono with red stains on it. To Mayu, they looked like they might have been ketchup stains.
"Hello again, Mayu," said the girl in her softest voice.
Mayu smiled and waved. "Hello."
"...So...you found out about your leg, did you?" asked the girl. Mayu thought for a second that the girl sounded sympathetic, but then the thought was gone and Mayu began to speak.
"Yes..." Mayu said faintly.
There was a pause in conversation. The birds had begun to chirp again, but they sounded muffled, far away.
Mayu felt a question pushing to the front of her mind. It had been a question she longed to ask.
"...When you were a butterfly, why did you hurt Mio's hand like that?" Mayu asked, tears filling her eyes as the memory began to surface in her mind. She remembered Mio's terrified screams, the trickles of blood dropping from her hand, her eyes wider than they had ever been—
"I share my pain with others. It makes my unhappiness go away for a while..." said the girl. She sounded distant, as though she didn't really care about what Mayu was asking.
Mayu felt like the temperature had gone down several degrees. She was suddenly very cold and her breath felt heavy with the moisture and chill in the air.
"Are you saying..." Mayu began weakly, "that it makes you happy to hurt people?"
Inside the house, Mio's eyes opened. She sat up. She felt very cold. Had Mommy turned off the heater last night? Mio doubted it. Why would Mommy do that?
Mio got up and dressed herself. She peered outside her window.
There was Mayu.
Talking to a butterfly on a tree trunk.
A crimson butterfly.
Why? Why did Mayu like the thing that had left a permanent scar on Mio's right hand?? Why wasn't Mayu afraid?
Mio began to sob. She felt as though her sister told the butterfly to leave that painful scar on Mio's hand. Mayu had told the butterfly to leave those horrific memories of wretched voices and terrifying images in Mio's head. I saw you smile, Mio thought. I saw you smile when tears fell down my cheeks.
"Don't you like me anymore, Mayu?" Mio wondered aloud, crying.
"Yes, Mayu," the girl whispered. "Hurting others makes me happy."
Mayu just stood there, in the grass, petrified with fear. This girl, her so- called friend, had purposely hurt Mio. And the girl had thought it was something to smile about.
So she had made Mayu smile, too.
"You made me smile when I didn't want to. You made me follow you really far into the woods when I didn't want to. You're a very mean and bossy person and I don't want to be your friend anymore!" shouted Mayu.
The girl only smiled.
"You see Mayu," the girl began. As she spoke, thick black fog began to gather at Mayu's heels. "You have no choice but to be my friend. I will force you. We will be twins. Have you not noticed how alike we look?" The girl's voice became a whispery hiss. The black fog began to surround Mayu. She began to whimper as she looked around wildly.
"You and I will become one. You will feel what I feel, see what I see, hear what I hear. Each day, I will lead you farther into the forest and bring you closer to our secret village. And one day, a few years from now—"
The girl paused as Mayu thrashed her arms around, trying to escape the suffocating black fog.
"—you will finally reach our village and though your true sister Mio will follow...in the end...I will be your only sister."
Mayu collapsed in the black fog with those last words ringing in her head: "I will be your only sister."
A FFII story
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any portion of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly or any of its characters.
CHAPTER SIX: SAE'S VOW
Shizuka sat quietly as Mio and Mayu contemplated what their mother had just said. The twins had found their way out of the forest, but only to find horrible news waiting for them at home.
"I know this wasn't the best time to tell you," Shizuka said hoarsely, "but I had to tell you at some point."
Mayu simply stared at the floor. She didn't know what to say.
Mio felt her throat tighten and her eyes well up with tears. She squeezed her sister's tiny hand, and they both began to cry.
Mayu's injury was permanent.
Her leg would never get better.
So Mio and Mayu cried.
The girl watched.
The twins went to bed after a few hours of crying together.
Mayu woke up in the morning all tangled in her sheets and sweating. Had she had a nightmare? She could not remember.
No one else was awake. It was misty outside. Misty and cold.
Mayu dressed and went outside. The cool, foggy air felt good after being in a hot bed all night long.
Mayu looked around. Birds flew low overhead, their chirps and caws echoing in the misty forest. Wet droplets from the air clung to Mayu's clothes and skin. Dewdrops formed on the petals of flowers and blades of grass.
Everything was suddenly quiet.
The birds stopped chirping. The wind stopped blowing. Nothing moved. Everything held its breath and held on to this silent moment.
Startled, Mayu looked around. Why did the noise stop? she wondered. Mayu's eyes continued to wonder around the yard and over at the forest.
The crimson butterfly had caused the sudden stillness.
It rested on the trunk of a tree on the edge of the forest. It fluttered its wings now and then while everything else around it remained still.
Mayu looked at it. She stared at it for a long time. The butterfly had stilled Mayu, too.
Then, the butterfly vanished, and before the trunk of the tree appeared the girl. She was dressed in a white kimono with red stains on it. To Mayu, they looked like they might have been ketchup stains.
"Hello again, Mayu," said the girl in her softest voice.
Mayu smiled and waved. "Hello."
"...So...you found out about your leg, did you?" asked the girl. Mayu thought for a second that the girl sounded sympathetic, but then the thought was gone and Mayu began to speak.
"Yes..." Mayu said faintly.
There was a pause in conversation. The birds had begun to chirp again, but they sounded muffled, far away.
Mayu felt a question pushing to the front of her mind. It had been a question she longed to ask.
"...When you were a butterfly, why did you hurt Mio's hand like that?" Mayu asked, tears filling her eyes as the memory began to surface in her mind. She remembered Mio's terrified screams, the trickles of blood dropping from her hand, her eyes wider than they had ever been—
"I share my pain with others. It makes my unhappiness go away for a while..." said the girl. She sounded distant, as though she didn't really care about what Mayu was asking.
Mayu felt like the temperature had gone down several degrees. She was suddenly very cold and her breath felt heavy with the moisture and chill in the air.
"Are you saying..." Mayu began weakly, "that it makes you happy to hurt people?"
Inside the house, Mio's eyes opened. She sat up. She felt very cold. Had Mommy turned off the heater last night? Mio doubted it. Why would Mommy do that?
Mio got up and dressed herself. She peered outside her window.
There was Mayu.
Talking to a butterfly on a tree trunk.
A crimson butterfly.
Why? Why did Mayu like the thing that had left a permanent scar on Mio's right hand?? Why wasn't Mayu afraid?
Mio began to sob. She felt as though her sister told the butterfly to leave that painful scar on Mio's hand. Mayu had told the butterfly to leave those horrific memories of wretched voices and terrifying images in Mio's head. I saw you smile, Mio thought. I saw you smile when tears fell down my cheeks.
"Don't you like me anymore, Mayu?" Mio wondered aloud, crying.
"Yes, Mayu," the girl whispered. "Hurting others makes me happy."
Mayu just stood there, in the grass, petrified with fear. This girl, her so- called friend, had purposely hurt Mio. And the girl had thought it was something to smile about.
So she had made Mayu smile, too.
"You made me smile when I didn't want to. You made me follow you really far into the woods when I didn't want to. You're a very mean and bossy person and I don't want to be your friend anymore!" shouted Mayu.
The girl only smiled.
"You see Mayu," the girl began. As she spoke, thick black fog began to gather at Mayu's heels. "You have no choice but to be my friend. I will force you. We will be twins. Have you not noticed how alike we look?" The girl's voice became a whispery hiss. The black fog began to surround Mayu. She began to whimper as she looked around wildly.
"You and I will become one. You will feel what I feel, see what I see, hear what I hear. Each day, I will lead you farther into the forest and bring you closer to our secret village. And one day, a few years from now—"
The girl paused as Mayu thrashed her arms around, trying to escape the suffocating black fog.
"—you will finally reach our village and though your true sister Mio will follow...in the end...I will be your only sister."
Mayu collapsed in the black fog with those last words ringing in her head: "I will be your only sister."