I'm going to be busy next week...I'll likely hammer out another chapter, but it won't be posted as quickly as the past few have been. I'd like to thank ice73 for beta reading (♥♥♥); I promise to get back to you as soon as I can! I'm just very distracted right now.
I was planning to post this chapter tomorrow but I rushed it for today. Why? Because tomorrow is my birthday! Go me! I'm a Rat in the Chinese horoscope; I'm sure you can figure out how old I am. But even better is that I bought myself a website and domain name! Go me again! It's where I archive any fanfiction I write, along with a second series which vies for my muses. You can visit my author-page-thingy for a link. (I tried to put a link here, but it just wouldn't work!)Go visit it! I like it when my hit counter starts going up! And it's not because of me!
I'd like to talk more, but I'll just footnote it all at the bottom and let you start reading. ::fights Yomiko for the story and runs like hell when The Paper attacks her with it::
Chapter Three: Memory
Yomiko sighed as she shut the door to 'her' bedroom. The idea of having a stranger sleep in it didn't seem right. Yomiko had visited this house once since the incident, and that was only to make sure it was still upright. She had hired some work on the structure and cleaned up the kitchen and sitting room, but the house had otherwise stayed untouched. Everything in 'her' room bore a faint layer of dust.
Yomiko went around the room, looking at things. The desk, with all its papers and pens, were still the same way she had left them. She knelt to clean up the scraps of paper on the floor and place them in the wastebasket. Going to the closet, Yomiko opened the door to be caught by the smell of cedar and the sight of several plain suits.
Yomiko shut the closet door and scanned the room again, now uneasy. Somehow it didn't seem right to sleep in this room. She wanted to preserve this room as much as possible, like Donny would be coming back any day now and she didn't want him to find out that she had been snooping around. Of course, the missing diary would be hard to explain...
The Paper shook her head free of that thought as she left the room. Yomiko closed the door behind her and listened. Hisaki was in the main room; by the sound of the pages and the words the book whispered Yomiko knew that it was one of the tomes she had taken from the library downstairs. Hisaki was what STN-J called a Witch, without a doubt - her power worked better with spells and gestures - but Yomiko had assigned some history for tonight with a short quiz tomorrow. Yomiko herself had already read the book and didn't need to review it.
Quietly Yomiko went downstairs. The stairs opened onto a large underground library, with thousands of whispers surrounding her. At the end were three plush armchairs and a low round table; the fireplace was cold and unlit.
Yomiko wondered if Hisaki would like books. Would it be a good idea to bring someone with fire magic down here? This place felt special to Yomiko - all those quiet and happy moments with Donny came from this room, as opposed to the hanging silence that hung over his bedroom.
Yomiko shook her head as she went back upstairs. She'd have to find a spare blanket and buy a cot tomorrow; this room would make a nice place to sleep for now.
"...Lagu: water, moon, psychic, flow, women's cycles," Hisaki recited, peering at the flashcard Yomiko held up. She rolled her eyes. "Why do I need to know this?"
"You are a Witch," Yomiko explained. She put away the cards. "Your powers are focused on these runes."
"I'm no witch," Hisaki argued.
"Yes you are. You have the genes. What do you think your fire magic is?"
"What about about you? Your power didn't need any writings."
"Runes," Yomiko automatically corrected. "I was trained by someone who had the same power as I do. Runes and spells are a more roundabout way for you to cast your spells, but they're the easiest thing to teach."
"Why not teach me your way?" Hisaki prodded.
"Fire and paper do not mix," Yomiko explained. The tone of her response told Hisaki that Yomiko was close to her irritation limit. The girl shut her mouth.
"You'll practise your fire-throwing ability today," Yomiko said when she heard no complaint from Hisaki.
"You're not teaching me any spells?" Hisaki asked.
"No. You need to work on your range and control. There's no point in teaching you a spell if you can't control it to do what you want."
Hisaki took her first good look at where they were. Yomiko had cleared a large dirt field for Hisaki to work with. The pair of them stood in the centre; a ring of twisted paper encircled them. All around the field, at varying heights and distances, were index cards. Some lay on the ground, others on metals stands or suspended from wires.
"Light what you can on fire," Yomiko instructed. "Completely burn them. Use whatever method you want, as long as you don't leave this circle." Yomiko gingerly stepped over and out of the circle.
"What happens if I do?" Hisaki tried to step out but a part of the circle lifted and caught her leg. Try as she might, Hisaki couldn't pull free.
"It's to make sure you don't cheat." Yomiko gave a bright smile when Hisaki was able to shake off her shackle by re-entering the circle; the girl glared. "Have fun, Hisaki-chan!"
"I am not your friend, you weirdo! We hardly know each other! Hey, when are you coming back? Didn't you - " Hisaki attempted to run after Yomiko but the paper circle caught and tripped the girl.
Hisaki snarled and, without thinking, focused her power and shot it at the rope. The paper caught fire, but burned without actually destroying it. It didn't take long for Hisaki to realize that her leg was still attached to the rope. Frantically she beat out the fire with her hands; when it was out Hisaki collapsed in the middle of the circle, relieved.
As a thought struck her, Hisaki looked at her hands, reddened but otherwise unharmed from fighting the flames. Was she immune to fire or just her own magic? Her fire had also been a lot stronger than what she had shown Yomiko-sensei yesterday - was it just because she was frustrated?
Hisaki sat up, cross-legged, and sought out her first target: a piece of paper no more than an arm's length away from her, lying on the ground. She pointed. Golden flame curled from her fingertip to catch on the corner of the card and slowly consume it.
At this rate it would take Hisaki forever to burn things. Angrily the girl threw out her hand at the card. This time a stream of fire shot from her fingertips, burning the card up in mere moments. Pleased with the result, Hisaki got up and turned in a slow circle, burning any card within a few feet easily. She began to feel her limits stretched when she tried for a card about ten feet away, sitting on a metal stand. No matter how worked up she got, Hisaki couldn't throw her fire far enough to even touch it.
The Japanese girl stood there and growled to herself. Yomiko-sensei had told her to use any method possible to burn what she could. But what else could Hisaki do to throw fire? She certainly couldn't lose her temper; despite the fact that she was irritated about all these cards, it just wasn't enough for Hisaki to throw a righteous temper tantrum, especially if she lost control. What had she learned recently that would help her with her craft, as Yomiko-sensei had once referred to it?
The runes. Images of each rune that she had spent last night memorizing came up into her mind. Hisaki knelt and clumsily sketched a few in the dirt, trying to remember what each one did. Finally she dredged up a few that she thought would come in handy; Hisaki erased her mistakes and began to draw.
"Tiw," Hisaki said to herself as she drew what looked like an arrow pointed upwards. "Positive energy and success. Os." A slanted 'F'. "Tests. Ken." A pointed 'C'. "Fire." Each rune was was drawn along the edge of the paper circle, next to each other. Finished, the girl stood up and dusted herself off. She didn't feel different, but each of the runes gave her a new focus.
Glaring at the card in question, Hisaki threw out her palm. A golden fireball shot out of it, incinerating the card instantly.
Hisaki was thrilled. Three little symbols and she could throw balls of fire? Within minutes the girl had burned every card in her sight and wanted more, but the only paper left was the ring Yomiko had trapped her in.
Burn, Hisaki thought. She threw out her hand, releasing another fireball. However, on contact with the paper the fireball ricocheted back at Hisaki, who instantly threw up her arms in defence. She felt burning heat as her attack hit her bare arms, then nothing.
"Ano...that was interesting."
Hisaki spun around, surprised. Yomiko was standing behind her, adjusting her glasses.
"What did you do with this paper?" Hisaki demanded, more curious than really angry. "I can't burn it!"
"I'm more surprised that you can throw fireballs like that, actually," Yomiko answered with a faint blush. "But I'm a stronger ability user than you are. Why are you so surprised?" The bibliophile's gaze drifted to the three runes that Hisaki had drawn and her lips twitched. "Ano, I see that you followed my advice."
"Yeah," Hisaki said grudgingly. "It was pretty cool." She scuffed a foot over one of the runes, as though trying to hide evidence that Yomiko was right. "Can I go now?"
"Ano, of course Hisaki-chan!"
"Okay, no." Yomiko's eyes met Hisaki's defiant face. "I may be your student, but I've known you for only a few days. We're not exactly friends, Yomiko-sensei."
Yomiko let out a breath of exasperation. "Hai, Hisaki-san." She turned to walk away.
"Hey, don't just LEAVE me here!" Yomiko turned around, the familiar smile back on her face.
"You didn't say the magic word..."
"There's WORDS for magic?!"
Had it been a Yomiko-like thing, Yomiko would've facefaulted. Instead, she had to settle for a slumping of the shoulders and another exasperated look.
"Hisaki-san, what I meant was that as your teacher, you could at least be polite to me..."
"Oh!" Hisaki looked a little embarrassed. "Er, could you please let me out, Yomiko-sensei?"
From inside her vest Yomiko drew out a piece of paper with some kanji written on it. The paper in the circle unfurled into several pieces and flew to Yomiko's hand, the one holding the first piece of paper. When Yomiko had collected it all she tucked it back into her vest. Hisaki darted forward, curious.
"Are those runes as well?"
"Just some writing," Yomiko said with a smile.
"Now are you going to teach me some spells?" begged Hisaki as the pair walked back towards the house.
"Ano, you look like you already know some spells. I don't think you need my help..."
"Yomiko-sensei, please don't joke like that. You are joking, right?" No answer from Yomiko. "Ha - JOKING, RIGHT?"
I went out and looked up the three Aetts and their runes. It was the least I could do if I was going to keep referring to them, right? I'm not a witch in real life nor do I really know how they're used in Witch Hunter Robin, so please excuse if this 'spell casting' is a terrible bastardization.
omasuoniwabanshi: I think Yomiko's characterization is the biggest challenge for me to handle in this story. This story is meant to link with Ashes to Ashes and Yomiko's drawing on whatever experience she received from Donny when she was a student. This would be Yomiko's first time taking on a student; after what happened to her own teacher I think she'd be a little confused herself on what's the right thing to do.
I'll try to soften her up, but for now I'll blame any out-of-character-ness on Yomiko just not knowing what to do. Not me. Her.
Reviews liked. Constructive criticism loved.
Thursday, December 9, 2004