Disclaimer: I own nothing! I own nothing! (Sing along!)
A/N: Wow, this thing is about ten thousand times longer than I ever thought it would be. I used to see those fics with 40 chapters and wonder what the heck was wrong with those authors! Now I understand them, but I'm wondering just how crazy the readers are! Oh well, I've always liked crazy people. On that note, thank you to Lysia Croft (it's about time you guys noticed the new attacks:-P) cardcaptor eternity (ah, just go with it) IssaLee (yeah, I kinda forgot about Makoto for a little bit, too. Oops!) kuyaga, ( you got a sick sense of humor! I like it!) and, as always, aiisha. But if you don't send in a review for this chapter, no more thank you's for you, girlie!
Stumbling over the curb, the Creature fell to Its knees. Its head fell forward, and It wept.
Who am I? What am I? Am I a monster? Am I anything?
Hands flexed, and claws appeared.
Are these mine? Where did they come from? They have not always been there, have they?
It ran Its hands over Its face, claws opening fragile flesh, golden blood mixing with tears.
This is not my face! These are not my hands! This is not my body!
Black hair was ripped from Its head, some still attached to bloody, glowing pieces of scalp.
"Not mine! Not me!" It wailed. "WHO AM I?"
"Mother?"
"No!" It moaned.
"Mother? Is something wrong?"
"No!"
"Mother, what are you doing? Mother? Mother!"
"NO!"
Handfuls of flesh splattered the walls of a building. The shadows fled from the radiance as Its blood ran in rivers. It dug deep, trying to rip out Its soul, rip out the pain.
"PLEASE!" It screamed. "Please! Not my daughter! Not my sons! Not my babies!"
"Mother, stop! I'm frightened!"
"Sh!" It crooned, sinking to the ground, arms around Its tattered body as if It held a child. "Don't be frightened! Mama's here, and she'll take care of you!"
"MOTHER!"
"Hush," Inanna whispered, rocking back and forth. "Don't cry. Your mother is always going to be with you. She would never harm you. So sleep now, and be safe, my darlings, my precious ones, my beautiful children."
Wrapped in memories dark, terrible, agonizing, and precious, Inanna did not care if the Abyss found her. She wanted only to be with the echoes of her children, to remember what it was like before she became something to be feared and hated. She stroked her own face the way she would have touched her children, and she began to sing.
All over Tokyo, restless sleepers stilled. Frightened children calmed, and their tears dried. They smiled and rolled over in their beds, warm, as though their mother held them. Nightmares changed into dreams strange and wonderful, that left the dreamer peaceful, though sad in the morning that they could not remember what they had dreamt. Rage cooled, sadness stilled, and somewhere in the dark of a city and a grief-maddened mind, a tiny flicker of hope began to burn.
yra: Okay, I've got a challenge. With finals and a lot of other, stressful things going on, my brain is not poetic enough to write Inanna's lullaby. So who wants to do it for me? If you come up with something pretty, e-mail it to me, and if it fits, I'll use it! It has to have the words: stars, beautiful, and children. Otherwise, go nuts.