Yuri
"Moshi moshi?" A grating voice sounded on the other line.
"…Did it work?" Yuri asked shortly.
A pause on the other end of the line. She sensed that the old woman who was distantly acquainted with her dead mother, was smiling.
"…It work beautifully. Erasing a spirits memory is something I haven't done before, but doesn't mean I can't. The little dragon no longer remembers anything." She cackled. Yuri's grip on the receiver was still, unflinching.
"Unfortunately, I've let the little dragon go." She suddenly added, dropping the bomb. Yuri thought her world would shatter right now and then.
"WHAT??" she almost shrieked into the phone.
Shazi cackled even more crazily.
She was just about to hurl the accusations at her when she spoke again.
"Don't worry girl; he doesn't remember anything. He's without a purpose now, wandering outside. I'm sure that with your own powers, you will able to find him, yes? Or have you fallen back so much since the last time I saw you with your mother?"
At the mention of her mother, Yuri's eyes hardened. Hate boiled in her as her deceased mother's image flashed in her mind.
"…She's dead now, thanks to you." She said icily. "And I'm confident about my powers, for your information. But why didn't you give him to me in the first place? It would be so much easier."
"Easier?...there's no such word in our world, I'm sure you know it better than anybody in this field. Handing it over to you would be too easy…and since you're not paying the full fee, I don't see the reason to let you off so easily." She said slyly.
She was silent, gripping the receiver tightly.
"It hasn't been exactly easy to do that, since the last time I stole from him. I was almost caught, and Father's beginning to get suspicious."
Shazi laughed again.
"…That isn't my problem. My job was to do what you wanted, including providing the lessons for the past years, and your job was to pay me, no more, no less. And I regret to say that you haven't been on time lately."
Her mind felt like fireworks had gone off.
"…I'll come over now. I'll pay my part, and you better make sure yours did."
Shazi snorted.
"You can relax, girl. I did my part, and the rest is up to you. You know, just a tip,--" she paused here. "—from teacher to student, say, you always have to be flexible. Based on your level from the last time I saw you, you were quite amazing. If you're interested in developing your powers, why not try it on a third party?"
"…Third party?" she echoed.
"…say…your father?"
Her eyes narrowed before widening in shock. She looked around to see if her father had come down yet.
"I will not hex my father. Fuck you." She hissed fiercely.
Dry laughter on the other end.
"I knew you couldn't do it. You're still too soft for your own good. I had imagined after you paid me to finish your mother off, your heart had turned completely black. Looks like I'm wrong."
"What has the man done to make your heart so soft? Kindness? Love? Or merely compassionate and pitying?" she added.
Her heart lurched. She looked around again before answering.
"Maybe I should take a look at him first. It is a complete miracle." Shazi was saying.
"You dare touch him, Shazi, and I will kill you." She hissed venomously. Her body went hot and cold, and her head pounded. "Like you said, my job is to pay, and yours is to do only what I want you to do."
"Kill me? Do you have any idea what you are saying, girl?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm coming over now." She clicked and the phone went dead.
She closed her eyes and sighed quietly. Her father came down just that instant and she quickly faked a smile.
"To-san, I need some money to buy a book at the shop. It's the one about occult and stuff." She beamed.
Haku
The room was dark. On the four walls, ancient symbols were scrawled all over it. Musty old curtains that had lost it's once bright colors was pulled over the window, and thirteen small black candles weaved a circle around the old woman and the glass bottle. In the centre, where Shazi sat cross-legged, eyes closed, the glass jar was set in front of a statue.
The statue itself looked old and antique like the rest of the objects in the room. It showed a man, with snobby nose and bald, eyes small and alert like a hawk, grinning. On it's right hand it had a decapitated human head by the hair, which by the features looked like a woman, on the left hand it held a small bloodied scythe, raised and looked about to strike.
I stared out of my prison at the surroundings. This room; was different than the rest. It felt so. Shazi sat with her eyes closed, her mouth moving in a chant that was not audible.
Minutes passed; then whatever chant the old woman had got louder, until it got so loud it was ringing off the four walls. The candle flames flickered crazily; as if some wind was blowing in the room, despite the closed windows.
The old woman continue chanting; by now, her body was convulsing, shook by some unknown tremors. She looked to me to be in a trance.
"…Take him! Take his memories! As an offering!! Then by the great powers bestowed in you, make him mine forever!" she suddenly chanted, and I felt sick.
With a final shudder, her head dropped down, hands upturned, and became still.
I looked around franticly; uneasiness stirring. The atmosphere had changed noticeably; the candle flames stopped flickering; and rose high in the air. Everything in the room had stopped and became still.
Suddenly, Shazi raised her head. She turned her head around her, seeming to see the four walls and the room for the first time. Her feet unwind from under her, and leg came up, to rest one arm on, and the other curled under it.
She smiled viciously. I saw that all her body actions had betrayed one thing: it wasn't the old woman anymore. When she spoke, it was a man's voice, hard and deep.
"My servant has called upon me. She has an interesting offer for me." Her eyes swept the room, and rested on the glass bottle.
"…This is interesting." A hand reached forward to grasp the bottle, and another opened the lid. I flew out of the cramped space, and meaning to get as far from whoever it was in the old woman's body as possible.
With a flick of her hand, I realized with a lurch that I was pulled back in front of the old woman, and she gaze directly at me.
"My servant…has an offering for me. Your memories…are mine." She closed her hand, and I felt the hands closing in me, holding me in place. She sucked, her nostrils flaring.
At first I felt nothing happen; then it started with a prickling feeling at my head, that evolved into the most unimaginable pain I had ever felt. My memories were being sucked out of me dry, like a vacuum, except it hurt a lot.
Out of instinct, I struggled vainly in the grip; meanwhile trying to salvage whatever memories I still had. I created a wall between me and whoever it was in the old woman's body, and it worked. The pain decreased, and I retained my memories, through in some parts it seems vaguely empty.
But it was short-lived. Shazi's sucking was halted in mid-way, and she glared at me. The next instant, her hand tightened into a grip that almost hurt in it's own way, and the mental wall I created shattered. The pain started again, and I couldn't hold on to it.
I tried to grab on unto the few precious scattered bits and pieces. Aburaya. Rin-san's teasing. Me, in dragon form. Chihiro. I cut through it all and reached those memories of Chihiro, my most treasured of all. I cannot forget her. I cannot lose her.
Chihiro's frightened face when she was slowly disappearing; how she cried when I re-discovered my true name; holding her hand and watching her retreating back…
My mind was empty, sucked clean of everything. Only memories of me and Chihiro remained. I fought with all my will power; I disappeared. Now, I had lost myself. I couldn't recall who I was, or why I was here.
I focused on the sole memory left—Chihiro. In the back of my mind, Shazi was also focused on it. I will not give it over. I cannot . I don't remember why, but I just can't.
It was a struggle between who had the strongest willpower. Neither of us was holding back anymore.
Then it was all light. A white light, surrounding me and everything around. I floated along, unaware of sensations; no pain, no control of willpower, no sadness, no happiness…
It was light everywhere.
Exhausted after the entire struggle, I fell limp, into unconscious.
What was it…that I had lost? Or retained??
