Okage Densetsu - Lookit the Fancy Japanese
Chapter 15 – Demise of Dreams
They walked through the unforgiving silence of Triste, Ari occasionally glancing at the empty buildings and at the others who resided there, silent. The entire town was this way, except for the music station- yet music poured out its doors, no voices could be heard. The place was rolling with depression, but even more so as they headed to the end of town. Slowly, the sound of someone sobbing came into play- a voice Ari swore he had heard before was crying with all it's being. As they passed, he came to a halt, listening to the voice.
"Ari... I want Ari..." It slowly, quietly, and painfully sobbed out the words, "Ari..."
"Huh? Where are you?" He looked around, ignoring Fayth and Corona for a minute. "I'm right here- can you tell me where you are?"
"I want to see him..." The sobbing continued...
"Ari, let it go. That voice weeps eternally..."
"But when it's calling out my name, I tend to pay attention."
"Please, we can come back here later and see."
The sobbing was muted slightly as Ari sighed. "Alright..."
Fayth floated to the back door out of town, but was stopped. "Hello, K.T..."
"What the?" Ari suddenly blinked, "Weren't you... just..."
"You cannot go through here," She spoke flatly, "You are not ready."
"But we need to get Corona back to Chantal..." Fayth pulled Corona closer, "We don't know how long we have..."
"She can go. You two must stay."
"...I don't trust letting Corona disappear like that. Why can't we all go?"
"Well, try as you might," K.T. suddenly moved, "But... I do not believe you will be able to leave..."
"..." Ari suddenly walked through the door and suddenly hit what felt like a brick wall. Stumbling back, he blinked, since the path was entirely clear ahead. "What... in the..."
Fayth came over and rested a hand against the barrier, "...Why is this closed to me now, not before?"
"..." Corona suddenly stumbled right through without a problem.
"Wait, come back, Corona!" Ari ran as close to the door as he could, trying to grab her before she left.
"...it is calling..."
"Corona, come back!" Ari reached for her in vain as she started walking across the seemingly endless gardens ahead, "Corona!"
"...She has gone, Ari." Fayth sighed, "We cannot continue..."
"Grr... Why can't we go through! I have to get through! Corona can't go alone, she'll get destroyed!"
"Ari!" Fayth pulled him from the door, "There are some things we cannot change! Until we can do something in this situation, it does not help to scream out a door! Let us change what we can first: your status as an overshadowed."
"Grrr... What if I wanted to go to Chantal and become normal that way?"
"You mustn't!" Fayth nearly cried out the words.
"I will to fix Corona, and you only if you help me!"
"..." She slowly let him go.
"Alright," K.T. sighed, "Go on after her. However... I do not believe she is going where you think she's going."
"What?"
"Just go." K.T. looked down, "I thought you could be the one to end our silence."
"Hey, I'm not going to die. I'll be back." Ari suddenly found he could pass through the door, "Try to keep some hope, K.T."
"Yes..." Fayth drifted in behind Ari, who had paused to gasp at the huge gardens before him. There were pathways, bridges, streams, waterfalls, flowers, trees, brick buildings, swings, and a blue sky. It looked like a virtual heaven; however something to it felt extremely artificial. The town was lined by smooth gray rock walls, as if nature had purposely 'grew' the area just to imprison the town in. Farther on were more gates, but they stood wide open, showing off a sea of endless sands... "...It is as if they tell you... we will cradle you, and outside lies only death..."
"Ugh... Visual tricks like that are terrible." Ari suddenly spotted Corona, yelping, "Corona, wait up!"
"Huh?" She turned as he ran over, then she patted his head, "Nice Guy."
"Yeah... where are you going?"
"...it is calling me..."
"What is?"
"...It tells me... what I've become..." She began stumbling, extremely uncontrolled by now to the main building.
"Corona, are you okay?" He followed along quickly, trying to stop her, "What are you doing?"
"Ari!" Fayth caught up, gliding just above the stone path, "I should have told you, but I was afraid! Corona Hidgeway... she is.. is... the deviant Pollack's assistant!"
He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"
"She... she... before they tried to erase her spoke out against these... classifications. She came after Pollack had long disappeared, but was filled of the same determination as he! So they tried to make her disappear- it didn't work. She spoke loud and was soon heard by all living things. So they tried to change her classification- it had no effect, her free will undying. Then... then they tried to erase her mind and start her over... Ari, she's reverting back!"
"Yes... yes, go Corona!"
"But Ari!" Fayth stopped him, "She's... She's... She wasn't a human!"
"What in the hell WAS she then?"
"..." Fayth went silent, staring between Corona and the ground.
"FAYTH, TELL ME!" He took her by the arms and almost shook her as if to get the words out, "I NEED TO KNOW!"
By now, Corona had paused, staring up at the building. She closed her eyes; drool running off the side of her face. The occasional soon-to-be brainwashed individual passed by without much notice, her dull eyes staring up at the brick building. It seemed she was trying to remind herself about the building, but couldn't put her mind on it.
"She was the demon... of the Momijiian Mountains."
"...Of course..."
"The order... must be destroyed... they hide the door... strawberry heaven..." She spoke, wavering. "What... was it... why is this place... why have I come here?"
"Corona, you must remember..." Ari suddenly moved to her, "This place took your memories away... tried to destroy you... However, it's dangerous to have you here. Come on, we've got to head back and get you somewhere safe!" He suddenly looked up as two men were coming from the building, clearly teachers since they weren't wearing uniforms like the rest of the students, "Corona, come on!"
Corona refused to move, watching the men walk up to her.
"Yes, it IS her! It's Hidgeway- she left just before she could be fully recategorized!"
She suddenly began backing up as the big man continued to her. Ari suddenly got in front of her, shouting, "Leave her alone!"
"What's this? I've never seen this one before... clearly he has been sent for reclassification."
"Leave these children alone!" Fayth was suddenly in front of the two, holding her arms out like a barrier, "They have done nothing!"
"And our local spirit! What IS going on? Corona, come here!"
Corona simply clung to the back of Ari's shirt tightly, shaking her head no.
"...Alright, we'll need to detain her."
"I told you to leave her alone!" Ari yelped as the big man next to the one with the book suddenly ripped him away from Corona, wriggling violently to get loose, "Let me go! LET ME GO!"
"Is this one coming as well?"
"Let me see..." The man scanned the list, "Who fell out of classification last? Ah HAH! The Ordinary Boy, Ari, I believe?"
Ari suddenly went still, staring in shock. "H...How..."
"Ah hah... we know a lot about you. You're already enrolled in classes. Now if you come quietly, we'll get you set up with a room and a schedule!"
"No! I don't want to be different!"
The two men laughed, ignoring Fayth as she stared. Suddenly she hit the man, "Put him down!"
"Fayth! Why... why are you physical? You're slipping out of your category!"
"Our hearts are full of thunder!" She suddenly spoke loudly, her voice calling as if it was to be heard by all of the campus, "A storm of emotions that rains and shines eternal! Through flashes of pain we realize the blue sky is much more beautiful when the clouds clear! Through the endless rain we appreciate the rainbow that much more! You... you people tell us this thunder is wrong, that we should always follow the blue sky. But our hearts are full of thunder that must not be silenced!"
"FAYTH! What ARE you doing? This is so out of your character!" The man with the book suddenly walked to her, about to grab her. She slipped out of the way, causing the man to growl and suddenly throw the book at her head- she was hit hard and fell down in an instant, blood running from a deep cut across her forehead where the corner of the book caught her, "I hate to use force, but I had to!"
"Aiigh! Leave Fayth alone! Let us all go!"
Corona was still, however trembling in fear.
"CORONA, RUN!"
Before she could, the book was brought across her head, knocking her out. "Now come peacefully, Ari, or we'll use force on you!"
"If I could..." Fayth winced, unable to get up since she lacked the means to do so, "I'd make a deal with the gods... and switch our places... Ari," She closed her eyes, going out, a last word rising, "Switch..."
"LET ME G-"
THWACK! Ari's vision was instantly swallowed into an inky blackness, his conscious slipping away.
His eyes flit open. He was lying across a wooden floor, and he was staring up. Lights from a stage could be seen, as well as the top of a red curtain. Slowly sitting up, he felt as if he had a pounding headache. Raising a cold hand to his forehead, he winced as he touched a still-sore gash- he suddenly gasped. Looking at his hands, he found them to be quite feminine and pale. "...Oh...my...GOD..."
Meanwhile, Fayth woke up in the male dorm rooms, instantly being greeted. She did her best to pretend to be Ari, knowing he knew what he had to do while he was 'borrowing' her form.
"...I'm... A WOMAN!" He suddenly rose, finding he had on Fayth's dress and everything, "AIGH! I'M A FREAK! A FREAK!"
This wailing could be heard down the hallways, causing some confusion.
"...Okay, don't panic: She switched you so... so... you could get information! This must mean Fayth is in my body- oh my god, this is such an overused anime plot!" He held his feminine head, "I'm swearing off manga for the rest of my life! Ugh, enough of this, come on, we've got to go find Corona."
He moved what felt like a step forward but suddenly glided off the stage and almost crashed into the opposite wall. It took him a minute to get used to the gliding process, from plain moving to switching levels. He once crashed- or thought he would- against a wall but instead went straight through it, noting he was above the students. Clearly Fayth was usually out and about, for people paid very little attention, and those who did waved casually. He uncomfortably waved back, and then started down the hall above everyone. "Now where do I go?"
By this time, Fayth was in her first class, trying her best to fit in. It was a little hard as she had barely any experience as a male, but somehow she managed.
"Excuse me," Ari had caught someone in the hall, "Where is the... graduation room?"
"Upstairs, Fayth. I'm sure you can just rise up into it."
"Thanks!" He did just that, finding the upstairs to be silent. There were classrooms, but each were locked, the lights shut off inside. He slowly glided down the hall, silent, slightly scared of this hall. He took a corner, then suddenly drifted into the wall beside him, hearing voices. He was behind a bookcase, and inside, it looked like an office.
"So it was a success," The voice of the man with the book spoke, "We did as the Master asked... her classification was changed and he's in the process of it. I am still unsettled by the degree of corruption in the new one, however."
"Ah well," Another voice, belonging to the man in the desk rose, "We'll manage. There was only a small handful we could never convert- but those were easily erased. Corona Hidgeway, though... she spent too much time with that blasted Pollack man... she cannot be erased no matter what happens. But it seems we have weakened her enough, and that's why the classification was so easily changed."
"What did Hidgeway research, anyhow? I cannot recall a thing about it."
"That is because we were ordered to erase her teachings. Even I don't remember much about it. Though I do remember a snippet that was considered passable- something about the passageway between character placements (Ari figured this meant 'life') has two doors: one simply leads to renewal, but the other, as she dubbed it, 'is bittersweet as strawberries and allows the user another chance at his or her own life once more, but since it is so uninviting, very few pass there'. Hogwash, if you ask me, though."
"Strawberry heaven..." Ari gasped, quietly, "She was trying to get back to her old self..."
"Has he been placed in a class?"
"Yes sir."
"Very good. The Master will send new requests as they come along. Oh, did you take care of Fayth?"
"Yes, put her back on the stage. I'm sure she'll go back to normal: she has these fallouts every-so often and comes out just fine."
"Very good. You are dismissed." The man in the chair suddenly turned to face the wall, no doubt being the Headmaster.
"Yes, sir." The man with the book, apparently the one who did the process from being a student to a new, mindless person, left the room, not noticing Ari on the way out."
"Those bastards..." Ari didn't speak, keeping this internal, "They already changed her... Oh no, if they find Fayth..."
Hurrying back downstairs, he looked around. He felt he could probably get away with just drifting through the classrooms if he was quiet about it. He passed through a wall and slowly glided through the first one, not at all being noticed. Nobody in here was recognizable, so he continued on through. In the second room, he came to a dead halt, spotting himself- or, rather, Fayth, sitting at the front of the room. He glanced at 'himself', thinking, "Hey… I'm kind of cute…"
Fayth suddenly noticed him, and then raised her hand. "Teacher?"
"Yes?" She turned and looked at Fayth.
"May I use the bathroom?"
"Sure. Come back quickly!"
"Okay!" Fayth got up and left- Ari backtracked through the previous room before heading to the hall. Upon meeting each other, Fayth gave a soft smile, saying, "Hello."
"Hey, we've got a problem. They've already changed Corona, and they'll be keeping an eye on me. We've got to get out, I think we'll have to try speaking up and return that way, otherwise she won't be able to see us."
"I knew you would get the right information… alright, let's leave."
"And quickly- this place freaks me out. And, err, by the way… can I have my body back?"
"Oh, yes," She closed her eyes, instructing Ari to do the same. Then, letting out a sigh, she simply opened her eyes, now looking at the REAL Ari, "There."
"…That's… kind of cool. How do you do that?"
Fayth shrugged, "Just an advantage of being classified as a ghost."
"Oh. Right, let's go!"
The two headed out quickly, yet quietly to the main part of the town. Ari had the feeling they would be back, later, however that time with the rest of the party. That is, hopefully, assuming he could turn back. They managed to slip back through the gates through Triste…
"Oh, you did come back." K.T. blinked, "However, you lost the other?"
"Yeah…" Ari sighed, "But… we will get her back. Right, Fayth?"
"Right!"
