Les jeux mystèrieux: The Mysterious Games
Later, Anne will mention "Teishoku." This is Japanese for a meal of a nice variety.
Nick: Well, Chris, I hope you learned your lesson.
Max: Yes. Because of your failure to protect her, Anne is going to die.
Jeff: She is going to die a horrible death.
Luna: And it will all be your fault.
Chris: WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT??? She's not going to die!!!
Kat: Right. Even if she does survive her grievous wounds, it will be you who deserted her in her time of need.
Chris: What? I did all I could!!!
Janna: Don't worry, Chris. I'm pretty sure her injuries won't be anything more than permanently disabling.
Chris: WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP???
Anne: Maybe we should leave him alone and get my dying on already.
Episode 6: Kakimashita yo, Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho ni. "Written in the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho."
(The sun rises above the horizon like a giant spot on the sky, marring its blue serenity. Chris rises above Anne's bed like a giant as well, rubbing his eyes as he sits up from the floor. He looks around; he somehow fell asleep last night despite worrying about Anne.)
Chris: She hasn't woken up yet…
(Chris goes into the horse's saddlebags, now stashed inside the house, looking for some new clothes. He finds some, and then goes to change into Sailian clothes. When he returns, the old woman is up, and is holding a cup to Anne's mouth.)
Old Woman: Good morning.
Chris: Good morning…
Old Woman: Don't worry, it's just tea.
Chris: No, it's not that. I'm really glad you're doing all this for her, really.
Old Woman: It's nothing. Anything to break the monotone of our lives, and also, we don't have any grandchildren of our own. It's nice to talk to young people again.
(Chris smiles, and then turns his head away to try to break the conversation. His gaze moves over to the saddlebags; the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho is poking out of them.)
Chris: Hm…it's worth a shot. Maybe it'll have some answers in it…
(Chris moves over to the saddlebags and pulls out the white scroll. The woman looks at it briefly, and then goes back to feeding Anne. Chris opens the scroll, and blinks at the multitude of Chinese characters.)
Chris: God…talk about a waste of effort. There's no way I'm going to be able to read this.
(As he looks at the characters, they seem to almost form words…and then mysteriously gain meaning.)
Chris: Whoa…this is really odd. It's like I can read it. But I can't read Chinese! How am I reading this??? Maybe my mind is making this up? Let's try reading it…
(Chris scrolls the scroll a bit forward, skimming through the lines of characters. Sure enough, there is their encounter with the soldiers. And he does seem to be able to read the writing.)
Chris: This is really cool…I wonder if this'll carry on when I get home? Home…huh…
Old Woman: Yes?
Chris: Oh, did I say that out loud? My bad. Talk about a lapse in thinking. I wonder if we're ever going to get home. This teleportation thing is cool and all, but this getting wounded thing is gonna get old real fast. We'll never get to Mt. Taikyoku at this rate. What am I saying? The important thing is for Anne to get well! You know what, I'm going to go take a walk. I need some air.
Old Woman: Go ahead. I'll make sure nothing happens to her while you're gone.
*************
(A blue tent. A man in very fancy armor sits on a large chair, puzzling over maps. Three soldiers in blue armor enter through the tent flap.)
Soldier 1: Um…Commander, sir?
Commander: Yes? Who is it?
Soldier 3: Um…we're Squad D, sir…we're here to make our report.
Commander: Squad D…how long has it been?
Soldier 2: Two weeks, sir!
(The first and third soldiers elbow the second in the sides.)
Commander: Yes…did you three get lost or something?
Soldier 1: No sir. We were sidetracked.
Commander: Really. So, report. I don't have much time for idle banter with you idiots.
Soldier 3: Well, there is something important we found, sir!
Commander: Do tell.
Soldier 3: See, we ran into this girl and this boy, sir.
Soldier 1: Yeah! And they seemed defenseless, but the boy ended up kicking our asses!
Commander: …
Soldier 1: …Sir!
Commander: Much better. Now…I have one question for you three.
Soldier 2: Ask away, sir!
Commander: WHY DOES THIS INTEREST ME AT ALL???
Soldier 1: Sorry, sir! Just about to get to that, sir! We believe that the girl is the Priestess of Byakko!
Commander: …what?
Soldier 3: Like he said! The girl is the Priestess of Byakko, and the boy was one of the Celestial Warriors.
Commander: Well. This certainly is interesting, coming from you three. Tell me more about this…Priestess of Byakko.
*************
(Chris walks through the streets of the little village, a little bit despondent. He slowly meander his way between houses, not bothering to really look at anything.)
Chris: God…why am I so listless all of a sudden? It's not like Anne's dead or anything…
(Chris turns a corner and continues walking slowly down the street, hands in the pockets of his robe. Suddenly, the thing that he least expected to happen happens.)
Girl's voice: OH MY GOD!!! CHRIS!!!!!!
(Chris turns around, recognizing the voice. Standing behind him is none other than…)
Chris: Luna?!?!?!?!?
Luna: Chris!!!!
(Luna runs over to Chris, who is literally struck dumb. Well, struck dumber than he normally is.)
Chris: Luna! What are you doing here?
Luna: I was about to ask you the same thing!
Chris: Well, Anne and I came to this village yesterday.
Luna: Anne and you??? You mean, she's here too?
Chris: Yeah, that was what I said.
Luna: Idiot! Where is she now?
Chris: Um…unconscious, and sleeping in this person's house.
Luna: What? She's unconscious? How did this happen???
Chris: Long story. Why don't you come back to the house? I'll fill you in.
Luna: Yeah, great! I can't believe I found you guys! I have so much to ask…
(Luna and Chris return to the house. The Old Woman is still tending to Anne, and her eyes widen as Luna enters the house.)
Old Woman: What…who are you?
Chris: Just a friend of mine. She won't be staying here, don't worry.
Luna: Wow…this is where you've been staying? It's so cozy!
Old Woman: Why…thank you.
(Suddenly, Luna sees Anne lying motionless in the bed.)
Luna: Oh my god…Anne!
(Luna moves over to her, placing her hand on Anne's mouth.)
Old Woman: Don't worry, she's alive. She's just not responding to anything I've tried.
Luna: This looks pretty bad…what happened to her?
Chris: These soldiers punched her in the stomach pretty hard. It was enough to get her out of commission.
Luna: When was this???
Chris: Yesterday evening.
Luna: Yesterday...I've never tried it so far back yet…
Chris: What?
Luna: Well…how can I explain this? I have this power, you see…
Chris: What? You too?
Luna: Yeah, I—what?
Chris: Does that mean…you're a Celestial Warrior too???
Old Woman: !!!!!!!
(Chris looks at the Woman, whose eyes are wide open in sudden understanding. She suddenly bows to the floor, face rubbing the dirt.)
Luna: Um…what are you doing?
Old Woman: You two are Celestial Warriors of Byakko! There is no worship high enough for you!
Chris: Hey, get up. Don't act all braindead. We're not the people you should be worshipping.
Old Woman: (still prostrate) No! This is nothing!
Luna: Honestly, get up. In fact, why don't you get some tea? I'm parched.
(The Old Woman gets up in a flash and runs into the other room.)
Luna: What was that?
Chris: She's revering us because we're Celestial Warriors.
Luna: Celestial Warriors? I've heard that somewhere around before.
Chris: Ok, here it is in a nutshell. The god Byakko rules the Western Country of Sailo. When Sailo is in trouble, a Priestess of Byakko comes from another world and gathers the seven Celestial Warriors of Byakko, who are characterized by the white character on their bodies. Like, mine is on my left cheek.
Luna: Oh, I see. I think I know where mine is.
Chris: Oh? Where?
Luna: (points to a point on the left part of her chest) I'm not gonna show you; it's kinda obscene.
Chris: (blushing) Oh. I get it. Do you know what it says?
Luna: Yeah. It says "rise."
Chris: Cool! Mine's on my left cheek; I think it says "stride." I also heard the Emperor refer to me as "Tokaki."
Luna: The Emperor?!?!? You met the Emperor???
Chris: Um…yeah?
Luna: Wow…if we were in Ancient China you'd be executed for laying eyes on him!
Chris: Well…we are sorta important.
Luna: Oh, yeah. You were talking about the Celestial Warriors.
Chris: Yeah. So, the Priestess of Byakko has to run around and find the seven Celestial Warriors of Byakko, right?
Luna: How should I know?
Chris: Shut up! So when she does, she holds the summoning ceremony, and Byakko comes and grants her three wishes.
Luna: That sounds REALLY corny.
Chris: That's how it goes. After all…Anne thinks we're inside the Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho.
Luna: You mean that Chinese book in the museum???
Chris: Yeah. Look at this.
(Chris goes over to the pack and grabs the white scroll. He brings it out and shows it to Luna.)
Luna: Wow… "Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho"…
Chris: Yeah. And if you read it, it tells you all about our journey.
Luna: Um…I can't read Traditional Chinese, Chris.
Chris: Yeah, neither can I…but I can read this.
Luna: What?
Chris: Try it. You'll like it.
(Luna rolls her eyes and opens the scroll. She stares at it for a moment, and then her eyes widen.)
Luna: Oh my god! You're right!
(Luna scans the scroll quickly, reading as much as she can. She gets a bit farther than Chris went and then her eyebrows raise.)
Luna: Odd.
Chris: What?
Luna: Well, two things. One, it seems to refer to me as "Subaru."
Chris: Well, you do sorta resemble an SUV…
(Luna hits Chris. Hard.)
Chris: No, seriously. I think that's your Celestial Warrior name. The emperor said all seven of them…I forget the rest, but Subaru and Tokaki were definitely in there. What else is wrong?
Luna: Well, I get to a certain part, which talks about us talking…and then I can't seem to understand anything else after that. It's just Chinese that I can't read.
Chris: Here, lemme see. (Chris takes the scroll.) Hey, you're right. Darn, I wanted to know the future.
Luna: Smart. So these soldiers punched Anne, and she's been unconscious since yesterday evening…
Chris: Yeah…you already asked that!
Luna: Oh, I did? Sorry.
Chris: Yeah, and then you started talking about some power of yours…
Luna: Yeah! See, I've noticed something odd. I can make things age.
Chris: Um…what?
Luna: I'm serious. I can make things become a few hours older, or erase things I did to them by making them a few hours younger.
Chris: What, you look at them and then they wither or something?
(Luna hits Chris again.)
Luna: No! I just will it to happen, and it does.
Chris: Cool! That must be your Celestial Warrior power.
Luna: What?
Chris: Well, Anne told me about how the Celestial Warriors have magical powers…
Luna: Whoa…COOOOOOL!!!! So does that mean you have one too?
Chris: Yeah.
Luna: Darn it- I mean, what is it?
Chris: (eyes narrowing) It's teleportation.
Luna: Teleportation…WHAT???
Chris: Um…like this.
(Chris blinks and in a single instant much like the instantaneous velocity represented by a tangent line, his body flashes white and he is gone.)
Luna: AAAH! Chris??? Where are you???
Chris: Over here, smart.
(Luna turns around. Chris is sitting directly behind her.)
Luna: WHOA!!! That is so cool!
Chris: I know.
Luna: I'm so jealous…
Chris: So wait. If you can make things younger…
Luna: Oh, yeah! I was thinking that if I try can reset Anne's clock back to before the soldier punched her, she'll be fine. But I've never tried it on humans, or for this long of a time span before.
Chris: Yeah…I get it. It's our best chance we have right now though…
Luna: Ok, I'll try it.
(Luna moves over to the bed and lays her hands on the center of Anne's chest. As she does this, the Old Woman quietly shuffles in, holding a teapot and three cups. Her eyes widen as Luna closes her eyes and concentrates. Anne's body is surrounded by a white glow, which slowly intensifies until it is too bright to look at. Chris and the Old Woman close their eyes, and there is a flash of light (which turns into red light due to their closed eyes). They slowly open their eyes to see…Anne sitting up on the bed, a little consfused.)
Anne: Urrgh…LUNA?????
Luna: Hi Anne!
Anne: Luna? What are you doing here?
Luna: Oh, well, I felt this tugging, pulling towards you, I guess, and I followed it. I happened to meet Chris on the way, and the rest is history.
Anne: Chris…what happened? The last thing I remember is talking to you…and then my stomach hurt REALLY bad and I blacked out.
Chris: Yeah, that happened. So I picked you up, put you on a horse and rode to the nearest town; this one. I met this old woman (gestures to the happily smiling old lady) and she let us sleep in this house…and then I met Luna, who used her Celestial Warrior power to heal you.
Anne: What? She's…a Celestial Warrior?
Luna: The name's Subaru. Nice to meet you.
Anne: Whoa…so we have two now!!! I can't believe it! I didn't even expect to find one before we got to Mt. Teishoku!
Chris: That's Taikyoku.
Luna: Wait…what's this Mt. Taikyoku now?
Chris: The emperor said we should go there to meet the creator of the world or something.
Anne: That's where we're headed.
Luna: Oh…I see. OK, I guess I'm coming with you then.
Chris: Yup yup yup!
Old Woman: Oh my…as much as I would love to, I do not think that this tiny house can support three people.
Anne: Oh, no. We weren't planning to stay. We've already used up our welcome.
Old Woman: What are you talking about? You are the Priestess of Byakko. It is an honor to meet you, much less help you. Now, would you like some tea?
Nick: Finally! An episode ending that isn't a cliffhanger!
Janna: That depends. The tea could be poisoned.
Max: Bum bum BUM!!!
Chris: Such a climatic sound effect.
Jeff: Like you can do better.
Anne: Hey, doesn't anybody care that I'm healthy again?
Kat: The next episode is called "Kikasenaide! Kami'tte ja arimasen!"
Luna: But you could also say "You can't make me listen! I'm not some sort of god!"