Really lame random disclaimer skit thingy:
AeroSynn: Urby, Urby, guesswat!
Urby: Whut?
PyroSynn: It's December, dood!
AquaSynn: And you know what that means!
Urby: Again, whut?
TerraSynn: ..., ...!
AeroSynn: Aka, Advent Calendars!
Urby: Oh yeah! Let's get our prize for the day...
Seldom: Yellow Hello! (smacks Urby and the Synns with the frying pan) Write, durn you!
Urby: Waiii! This is a Christmas gift?
Seldom: From me to you. NOW WRITE!
Urby: Uhm...
No own TOS I do, neither this crazed bee-yach.
Seldom: A crazed what?
Urby: Naughtin'.
"Here we go," Corrine beamed, pointing a paw at a place in the page. "Finally!"
Finally indeed... I looked over to the pile of books we looked through and found nothing.
"Let's see..." he scanned the text, reading it aloud. "Some Resident Souls are caused when the True Soul leaves unwillingly. When this happens, the True Soul is housed in a special room called a 'Soul Room'. Each Soul Room varies from person to person..."
Wait...wha? Soul Room? What's it look like? I yawned so loud he turned his head to see what the noise was. Was that really weird room Colette was in a Soul Room?
Corrine snorted. "It says it's different for every person."
I shook my head to clear it; I was getting tired all of a sudden. Is...there any way to get someone out of a Soul Room?
Corrine looked over the passage. "Possible Location of of Rooms...Opening a Room...maybe that's what we want," he flipped to the appropriate page. "Once the location of a Soul Room has been identified, opening it simply a matter of finding what the door needs to open. Sometimes, the Soul Room is located somewhere within the body, but there have been cases where the Room was in other places, such as a prized doll, valuable possession, random rock they seemed to fancy..."
...Uhm...do you get it? That opening the door thing?
Corrine shook his head, which caused his bell to ring gently.
I yawned again, nodding off.
"Shadow, you okay?"
I wondered f the open book would make a good pillow.
"Hello? Shadow? Are you alive?"
I decided it was taking too much energy to keep my eyes open and let myself fall.
Corrine pulled on the girl's hair, trying to get her to wake up.
"Awww, man, Shadow, why'd you have to fall asleep on the book, now I can't read," he mumbled.
He tried rolling her head off the book, but it was determined to stay put.
"I'm...gonna need a bit of help," he thought to himself.
He trotted off to the inn where everyone was staying.
"Come again," the librarian said airily.
Corrine wandered across the street, dodging a few local children who wanted to tape him to a firecracker and "See what happens". He looked at the night sky, realizing how late it was.
Jumping through an open window, he found himself in a room where someone he knew was staying. He could sense the aura, it was one he recognized. It was radiating from a chair that wasn't facing him currently, but rather a crackling fireplace.
"Hello?" he called out. "Anyone awake?"
A shape shifted in the chair and it turned to look at him. Corrine gaped in fear.
"Noooo!" he screamed, dashing away.
"So you came!" Raine shouted. "I didn't think you'd come willingly...thought I'd have to get you..."
Corrine tried to leap out the window, but Raine caught him in a butterfly net.
"Waiii!" Corrine cried. "Wh...what are you going to do with me?"
"Oh, just a few harmless experiments, I assure you," Raine cackled, a mischievous glint in her eye and mad grin on her face. "Genis!" she called over to a shape lying in the bed, grabbing Corrine out of the net. "Get me my scalpel!"
"Naw. Threw it 'way," the shape answered, making a vague throwing, or perhaps a "go away" motion with his hand.
"You WHAT?!" she roared.
"Dun want you runnin' 'round with sharp objecks," the shape continued, too tired and too asleep to care pronouncing anything properly.
Raine looked as if she could swallow swords and spit out nails. "Stupid, good-for-nothing brother...raise him all these years and this is the thanks I get?"
"Ahem," Corrine coughed.
"Oh, right, you," Raine said in a calmer tone, regaining her composure. "I guess I'll just have to improvise," she sighed, taking a fork off the table.
Corrine bit her hand, unable to do anything else.
Raine yelped and nearly dropped him. "Okay, what do you want?"
"Shadow and I were at the library and she fell asleep, need you to get her."
"Shadow?" Raine asked.
"Named her Shadow," Corrine smiled.
"No, who is she/he/whatsit?" Raine shook the little Summon Spirit gently.
"The person in Colette!" Corrine said frantically. "And I prefer stirred, not shaken!"
"Oh..." Raine put him down. "Lead the way."
Corrine trotted off, the Professor on his tail.
"She's over there," Corrine indicated.
Raine put a hand on her shoulder, checking to see if she was really asleep. "Well, let's get you somewhere more comfortable, then," she sighed, picking her up.
Shadow mumbled and reached for the book she was using as a pillow.
"Huh?" Raine asked more to herself, picking it up. She scanned the page and looked at Corrine questioningly.
"We're trying to find a way to bring Colette back," he explained.
Raine shrugged and took the book to the librarian.
"That'll be all?" he asked, still scribbling away.
Raine noticed a tattered leather volume and picked it up. "What's this?"
"Oh, that," the librarian looked up, and then back down to his book. "It's a book of spells in the Elvish Old Hand. We can't read it."
"Can't all elves read Old Hand?" Raine put some hair over her ears hastily.
"Well, yes, but this is the old Old Hand, you know? The really old kind. The one that only them crazy good archeologists can read," he continued, making some fiddling motions with his fingers.
"I see," Raine flipped through it, reading the first few pages. Spells...?
"Have it if you want," the librarian waved a hand. "Old, some pages are torn or missing, can't read it, and what we can makes no sense. I was about to throw it into the fireplace and be done with it, but you seem to be interested in it."
Corrine began to gnaw on Raine's robe to get her to move.
"Alright, okay, I'm coming!"
I opened my eyes slowly, hearing a voice.
"Shadow, Shadow, wake up," Colette whispered.
"WhereamI?" I screamed, bolting up.
"You're back in my place," Colette assured.
I blinked, remembering.
"I have to get out," I said, getting up.
"Why?" Colette asked carefully.
"I have to bring you back," I shouted, trying to claw my way out by attacking the wall. "Get you out of this stupid Soul Room."
Colette stared into the pool, not saying anything. I gave up trying to make a hole in the wall, my hands bleeding slightly.
"Why did you die?" I gasped.
Colette looked at me in a confused way.
"I mean, why did you sacrifice yourself?" I corrected hastily.
Colette gazed out over the pond, gathering her answer.
"If not me, then who?" she finally said.
"Don't you want to go back, see everyone again?" I questioned in a tone a bit more sour than I'd intended, wiping my hands on the grass.
"Of course I do," she said softly. "But if I do, then you'll die, won't you? I...I don't want that."
"I don't care if I die!" I yelled, tearing to grass underneath me to pieces. "I've served my purpose; it's time you've returned!"
Colette stared blankly at me in shock. The water in the pool rippled violently. "I...can wait a little longer," she breathed, her eyes glistening.
"What the..." I backed up, afraid. "What's in that thing?"
Colette shook, using her hands to cover her face. She tried to answer me but it came out a strangled sob.
"Run, fool!" I cried, grabbing her and fleeing from the tidal wave that was rising from the water.
Colette tore herself away from me.
"What are you doing? You'll drown in that thing!"
"It doesn't matter!" she shrieked. "We'll both drown anyway, there's no way out of this place!"
I opened my mouth to say otherwise, but the wave crashed down upon us.
Blegh...it's salty, but not as salty as seawater should be...
I tried to remember what could be salty and not be saltwater. I clawed at my head, hoping it would make me think faster. I was blacking out, running out of air. What a pathetic way to die...
It didn't matter, because I woke up, back in the inn.
What happened to Colette? Is she alright? If she drowns in the Soul Room, does her soul die?
I sobbed quietly, tears running freely. I tried to get them to stop, but they ran down my face, a few dribbling into my mouth.
Wait...salty, but not so salty...the water must have been...
I buried my face into the pillow, crying tears that weren't mine. I cried the tears of a girl who was tired of lying to herself, to others. My heart ached, but I couldn't figure out why, as I didn't care about my outcome, I just wanted the true owner to come back.
She spent so much time crying it accumulated into a lake-it sounded farfetched but it was true. Now that I thought about it, it was kind of funny.
I shook my head to clear it, wiped my eyes roughly with a hand, and collected myself. Colette was still alive, because she was channeling her emotions through me. But how long she'd last, I didn't know. I had to open the Soul Room and get her out.
"Once the location of a Soul Room has been identified, opening it simply a matter of finding what the door needs to open."
But where is it? I screamed in my head. It could be anywhere!
There were a lot of things in the room I was currently in that I would of like to rip out of frustration, but there wasn't any time.
I began crying again, this time tears of utter hopelessness. They were partly mine, and partly hers, both of us truly believing that there was nothing we could do. There was that heartache and dark.
"Heart." Something, someone, said. The voice didn't sound like anyone I knew, but the word brought me to my senses. Yes, it must be! Colette's feelings were strongest there, that was where she had to be.
Now all I needed to do was "figure out how to open it", whatever that meant.
Unable to keep still, I left my room, wandering. Another door was slightly open, and I could hear some chattering. I poked in nervously.
Fortunately, it was just one of the half-elves sleep-talking. No one was awake. I was about to leave when I saw something glowing in a corner.
What's that...?
I procured the item from its hiding place. It was the unicorn horn, and it shined like mad. It glowed even brighter when I held it.
Open the door...with this?
You coward! You wouldn't!
That voice from Cookie Day. That nasty, terrible voice.
The unicorn horn vibrated, as if encouraging me. I held it, emboldened.
I will do it!
You will not! The voice shouted in my head, sending a jolt of pain throughout my body. My hands flew to my head, trying to stop the pain, but it didn't work. The unicorn horn dropped to the floor, making a small chime sound.
"Shadow!" Corrine whispered urgently. "What's wrong?"
I reached for the unicorn horn weakly, blacking out from the pain. Corrine picked it up and plopped it in my lap.
"Shadow, what are you going to do with that?" he asked fearfully.
I petted his head, stroking his ears. I really don't know myself...but I have to...
I picked up the horn from my lap, steadied my trembling hands, and drove the thing into my chest.
There were two screams that night-both seemingly from the same person, at the same time. One was of pain, of shock. The other was one of triumph.
"Shwaaaa?" Lloyd groaned, rubbing his head. "That voice...sounded like..."
"Colette!" a feminine voice cried.
He bolted instantly out of his bed and ran to the scene, the breath catching in his throat.
"No..." he breathed, crumbling beside the still shape.
Raine stood beside him, her hair conveniently covering her face. "She's still alive...miracle, isn't it?"
"Who could have done this?" Lloyd choked, gathering her in his arms.
"She must have done it herself," Raine said slowly, as if doubting her own words. "If someone wanted to kill her, they wouldn't drag her all the way to our room."
"That damn Resident Soul!" Lloyd growled.
"No," a petite shape piped. Corrine stepped out from his hiding place, wagging his tails. "She was only trying to help!"
"Come to think of it...the unicorn horn can't hurt anyone, even if used as a weapon," Genis commented.
Everyone turned to him, thinking he was asleep.
"I mean, its purpose is to heal, right? Even if it was stabbed through someone, it heals as soon as you pull it out and purifies the wound. However, it doesn't guarantee it heals properly. Might heal wrong, be weaker than it was."
"Where'd you get all that?" Lloyd inquired dumbly.
"Magic," the little mage replied, too lazy to explain, and feel back to sleep, forgetting the whole incident.
"Whatever, wherever, he has a point. We don't know why...Shadow did this, but all we can do now is take the horn out and hope she recovers."
"Doctor!" a blue-haired student cried, bursting into the library. "The Chimaera...she's..."
"Say no more," the librarian, and apparently also a doctor, said, putting his quill in the ink pot and grabbing his coat. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
"No doubt you have, doctor," the student agreed.
They arrived in the room that housed the captive Chimaera.
"Here's the little one," a red-haired undergraduate whispered, holding out a small bundle.
The doctor examined it. "It's not breathing. Do something!"
Before anything could be done, a small, still wet, blackish-grey paw rose up, almost defiantly. A meow, squeaky and raspy, came from the bundle.
"It's alive!" the doctor cackled, and a strike of lightning flashed.
"Where'd the lightning come from?" the blue-haired girl asked her friend. "It's a clear sky."
"You, what're your names?" the doctor whirled on the two students.
"Uhm, I'm Azure, sir. This is Garnet." The blue-haired one answered.
"What do you two do here?"
"We're assistants in the Potentially Dangerous Creatures wing," the redhead replied. " Lot of grunt work-putting away files, quite boring."
"I place it under your care until it grows to its proper size," the doctor commanded. "Dismissed!"
Colette twitched, stretching. She had the impression she had been sleeping for a long time.
"Colette!" a weary voice exclaimed, and the next thing she knew she was wrapped in a hug by an ecstatic and relieved Lloyd.
"Lloyd, you're hurting me," she said softly.
"I can't help it if I'm glad to see you," he chuckled, untangling himself and looking into her eyes. "Colette, it's really you, thank god," he hugged her again.
"What happened?" she noticed she was bandaged up across her chest.
"Well, you got stabbed in the heart with the unicorn horn, Corrine said something about someone trying to bring you back, and apparently it worked," Lloyd answered.
Colette shifted, disrupting a small black and grey shape near her.
"What's this?" she asked, picking it up. It looked like a wild kitten, with small ebony wings sprouting from its back. On its head was a golden mane that looked amazingly like a girl with her hair down, but the most prominent feature on the beast was its eyes, a dull shade of blue that shined with a humanlike understanding.
"You're awake?" Raine smiled, entering the room.
"Hello, Professor," Colette waved. "What is it?" she asked, holding up the kitten.
"The university said it was a Chimaeracore, some Chimaera and Manticore crossbreed," Raine explained, kneeling beside the bed. "As soon as it opened its eyes it rushed over to be with you, for some reason."
Colette caressed its head, stroked its feathers, and watched it purr and wriggle around with delight.
"Does it have a name?"
"It's not an 'it'," Raine took the creature and examined it. The poor thing struggled a little, nervous being...looked at. "Girl."
"You're going to see if your naming magic works on cats too?" Lloyd laughed.
"Yes, I have the perfect name," Colette held the kitten up, looking into her eyes, which looked back with that unanimalike intelligence. "This one...is Shadow."
Author's parting notes:
Huzzah, ph33r me goofing up the storyline. Muhaha.
Can't seem to imagine Shadow as a Chimaeracore through my description? (which isn't surprising, I mean, I can't describe for beans) then just waltz over to my profile, go to my homepage, slap the icon that says "Pics", and view the "Visual Aids". You can mess around some other parts of my site, run around, look and see what's in that crazay mind of mine, eh? You know you wanna... (If you can find Cookie Man, I'll let you eat him, heheh! Nah, I was thinking of doing that...)