2005/11/29

Author's Note: Chapter Two… not much to say…
2005/12/06 edit: I fixed a storyline error... I had messed up on Yuu's profession a bit, haha.
Fatal Frame III & all characters herein are © Tecmo.

Eternal Memories
Chapter 02

By Kusabi

Five minutes elapsed. Her tears finally came to a halt. Eyes worn out, Rei merely sat on her bed, trembling. Thoughts consumed her.
Prior to Yuu's death, Rei had figured she would lead a normal life. She would live her life as a photographer, Yuu would lead his life studying anthropology, and Miku would stay with them until she finally got out on her own. But she had figured her and Yuu would be together, forever.
Then that happened.
Rei had begun to lead semi-normal life, before the Manor of Sleep incident. Of course, she had been swamping herself with work, in order to not have to think about it, but at least it took her mind off of him. She never planned on forgetting Yuu, and swore to stay faithful to him, even in his death.
"Rei…?"
Having been so lost in thought, she hadn't noticed her young assistant standing in her doorway. How long has she been there?
"Miku… you're fine…"
Cocking her head to the side, Miku looked at Rei with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean…?"
"Ah…" Rei quickly explained to Miku about how worried she had been, that night when she found Miku in a coma, with the handmaidens standing over her.
Miku was shocked, but she was so overwhelmed with worry for Rei at the moment. "But what about you? Are you all right? I heard you scream…"
Rei said nothing, but simply stared downward. Miku could see the sadness in her eyes. She took this to mean 'I don't want to talk about it right now'. She nodded at Rei, and then turned to leave.

Miku wandered down the steps, and plopped down on the couch. It was then that she noticed the black, soot-like mark on the long part of the couch. She had remembered seeing a mention of that happening to those who go into the Manor, after sleeping for quite awhile.
But… who…? She wondered. Who else could have been here?
"It's still there…"
Turning, Miku saw Rei standing outside of her room on the second floor. It seemed as though seeing that mark added to her sadness, and the look on her face reminded Miku of someone who hadn't sleep in weeks.
"Kei Amakura came…" she explained. "He was helping me out. When he went to seal the Priestess in the Chamber of Thorns, he was… taken…"
Unsure of what to say, Miku looked down. A small memory of Mafuyu talking about Kei came into her mind. Her brother had worked with Kei, and always had good things to say about him. She had hoped to meet him just once.
Rei seated herself next to Miku on the couch. "So… what are we going to do now?"
"Well," Miku said lightly, "there's only one thing to do. We have to…" she trailed off. Why was it so hard to say?
"We have to… move on…"