Warning: Rated 'M' for horror-genre violence, adult situations and adult language.
The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
Certain characters have been adapted from 'The Stand,' by Stephen King, and he is the copyright holder of these.
Certain characters are based on 'Hikaru No Go' by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata. I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
Brief references are made to a character from 'Watership Down,' by Richard Adams, and he is the copyright holder of this character.
Friday
Yumi stared down at the goban(1). Upon its grid were black and white stones arranged in a pattern that told her she had lost the game.
"I resign," she said to her father.
"Hmm, you haven't been playing you best recently. Is everything alright, or are you just cutting an old man a break," her father replied, smiling.
"Its nothing, I'm just not into the game today," she replied back.
"Well, your mother and I have noticed you moping around the past few days. It doesn't even seem like visiting your friends at school helps. Are you sure there isn't something wrong?"
Yes, there's something wrong, but you'd think I was crazy if I told you, Yumi thought to herself. The End is coming, that's all.
"Would a change of scenery help? I got a letter from my sister in Tokyo on Monday. Your cousin Kichi is an insei(2) at the Nihon Ki-in(3), and studying with Toya Akira. Kichi said he might be able to get you an opportunity to play at the Nihon Ki-in, maybe even get you a short session with Toya-sensei!"
Yumi perked up a bit at that comment. She had heard of the boy prodigy, Akira Toya. He was one of the youngest professional go players in Japan. His father had held the Meijin(4) Title for many years, and would probably still hold it if he hadn't retired due to health problems. Akira was tutored in the game of go exclusively by his father, and started winning national titles right and left the first year he turned pro. An opportunity to take a lesson from him, even a short one, would be priceless.
Except she would have to return to Japan. That's probably when The End would come.
"It would be nice, father, but I really don't think I should leave."
"Nonsense, it would be good for you to go home, even for a short visit. I'll contact my sister and see if it can be arranged. You'll feel better about it come next week, I'm sure of it."
"Yes, father," Yumi resigned herself. She got up from the board, and went to her room.
In her room, she undressed, put on her pajamas, and crawled into bed.
Laying down upon her pillow, her last thought to herself before she fell asleep was, it would be nice to see home just once more, before The End...
Yumi was standing in a cornfield in the dark. She had no idea how she got here, and had no idea where she was.
She looked around, trying to get her bearings. There was a full moon overhead when she looked up. When she looked down, she noticed that the ground looked like it was undulating. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw that it wasn't the ground, but big, black rats running all around the base of the corn stalks. They had beady little red eyes and big, sharp teeth which they were using to gnaw at the stalks of corn.
Yumi startled, took a quick look around her, then started running down the corn row.
Somewhere, a man spoke, "where are you running to, missy?"
Yumi abruptly found herself in a small clearing in the cornfield. At the other end stood a man. He was tall, well built, with shoulder length brown hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a denim jacket over a white crew-necked tee shirt. He stood there, absently kicking the ground with the toe of his cowboy boots.
"I said, where are you going," the man asked again.
"I really don't know, I'm lost," Yumi replied.
"Yes, I know that," he said back. "I can help you with that. I've been watching you, you know. Being dragged all around the world just so your old man can scratch out a pittance. Putting your mother through all that grief. Its ridiculous!"
He's right, a voice inside her whispered. If your father hadn't been dragging you all over the place, you wouldn't have to worry about the world ending. You might even be studying at the Nihon Ki-in as an insei yourself!
"I can help you out. I can arrange it so your father could have more money that he ever dreamed possible. You could return to Japan and live happily ever after. You could do whatever you wanted. Just let me help."
"I don't know..."
"Why do you want to stay in France anyway? Those boys?" He said the word boys with a sneer. "All they've ever been looking for is a chance to get in your pants, girl. I bet if they had the opportunity, they'd all fuck you and pass you around like a cheap bottle of wine. The only thing you are to them is an easy lay, ready to take another load!"
Yumi blushed and took a step back.
"Or, maybe you'd like that... Or, maybe you want to be the one doing the using? I could arrange that, too. Think of it, men, women, girls, boys, whatever you felt like, doing whatever you desired. I'll bet that little pink-haired girl would be a real squealer..."
"I don't think so!" Yumi shouted, then turned and ran back into the cornfield.
As she ran, she heard is laughter echoing behind her.
"Go ahead and run, bitch! When we meet again, I'll have my way with you! And I'll make certain your family and friends have a front row seat when I do!"
Yumi kept running, with the man's laughter chasing on and on, until she ran out into another clearing. The moment she broke out of the cornfield, the laughter stopped.
She found herself standing in a small yard, with an old ramshackle house sitting in the middle. There was no light in it, except for an old oil lamp hanging on the front porch.
Sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch was an old black lady. She had deep dark, wrinkled skin, and her hair was as white as winter's snow. And her eyes...
Even from where she was standing, Yumi was drawn to the woman's eyes. They had the look of ageless youth in them, like a child that had never grown old, just aged.
"Its about time you got here, Yumi. I was starting to get worried," the woman called to her, "come up here and sit a spell."
Yumi walked towards the front porch, mounted the single step there before the front door, and sat down in a rocking chair next to the woman.
"Don' pay much mind to what that fella out there tells you," the woman said, "most of what he says is a lie, he just knows how to mix in the littlest amount of truth in to make the lie palatable."
"But what he said about my father, my friends..."
"He could probably do what he said he could do about your father, but if he did, you wouldn't like it very much," the old woman said. "As for your friends, sometimes a boy can get the wrong thing in his head and that could lead to trouble, but that's not the case with your friends."
"I know that," Yumi replied, "that's why I ran. But, where am I? Who are you? Who was he? How do you both know so much about me and my friends?"
"My name is Abagail Freemantle, and this is my home. He is someone you don't want to get to know. He goes by many names, none of them good. Them that call upon his name wind up regretting it forever."
"But Abagail, how does he know anything about me? And for that matter, how do you?"
"We both can see. And that brings me to the question you haven't asked yet."
"Why am I here," Yumi said.
"Right. Yumi, you have a problem. You've only had it for a little while now so you probably don't realize it. Your pump has gone dry."
"What?"
"Your pump's dry. You let it go and the water all dropped back into the well. You're going to have to prime your pump before you can get any more water out of it."
"Pump, water? What are you talking about?"
"Look over there."
Yumi looked where Abagail was pointing and saw an old hand pump sticking up out of the ground. The ground around the pump was bone dry, even though the ground in the rest of the yard looked rich in moisture.
"See? You've let it go so long its dry! You've got to pump some water back up into the pump to prime it again. So get over there and get to it!"
"How about I get a drilling rig and dig a new well," Yumi said back to Abagail and the older woman chuckled. Looking into Abagail's eyes, Yumi saw even more laughter than she was letting show.
"Would that you could, dear one, but that's not the point of the exercise. Git to it."
Yumi sighed, got up out of the rocker, and went over to the pump. When she got there, she grabbed the pump handle and started pumping.
She pumped and pumped and pumped, her arm raising and lowering the handle. With each down stroke, Yumi expected to feel the suction of the water being drawn up, but there was nothing. She kept pumping and pumping and pumping.
As she worked, Yumi's mind started wandering. She thought about her friends.
Odd was the prankster in school. Many times she was surprised that he hadn't been expelled from Kadic Academy for some of the things he did. On Lyoko however, Odd was something else. He was still a smart aleck, but he didn't run from a fight. A lot of times, you had to tell him to ratchet it back, lest he got himself de-virtualized. It didn't always help, but Yumi did it anyway. He was like a kid brother to her.
Jeremie was another thing. He was quiet and shy, too quiet and shy, Yumi thought. If you could get past his shyness, you found a true friend. They had talked many times, both of them, of things they wouldn't dare tell another soul. Several times, Jeremie had helped her through a rough time in her life. His quiet, soft voice would calm the troubled oceans of her soul, and help her find her way back to shore.
Ulrich, on the other hand...
When Yumi thought of Ulrich, it seemed for a moment like the pump had caught.
Ulrich, she thought again, and it happened again, the pump caught like it was ready to pump! She started pumping harder and faster.
Ulrich was a conundrum to her. One day she knew how she felt about him, another day she didn't. One day she just knew what he felt about her, another day, she wasn't sure if he wanted anything to do with her.
She had befriended some other boys over the year, hoping it would help sort her feelings out, or just get some kind of reaction out of Ulrich. Sometimes he would sulk like he was jealous, and that would give her a spark of hope. Other times, nothing. She...
Suddenly, the pump caught again. She slowed her stoke down, hoping to coax the water up and out. Each slow stroke of the handle held resistance as vacuum was drawing the water up and out.
Her mind jumped back to Ulrich, not only because it seemed to help the pumping, but because of the puzzle he presented.
The times they had together. The times they almost kissed. The times they almost told each other...
As she was pumping and remembering, tears started flowing down Yumi's cheek.
It wasn't fair! Why can't we say what we want to say?
The tears kept flowing, more now. With each stoke of her arm, the water kept rising in the pump. Finally, a trickle, then a small flow, then the water started gushing out of the pump's spout.
"You did it, Yumi!" Abagail Freemantle's voice came from directly behind Yumi, causing her to jump. "Good work! Now, turn 'round here."
Yumi turned to face Abagail. The old woman was smiling, her face beaming with pride. And those eyes, those eyes were filled with a joy that Yumi could almost not stand to look at it.
"Here, we need to make sure you're ready the next time you need to do this."
Abagail reached into a pocket in her dress and brought out a small glass vial. She removed the stopper, and held the bottle up to Yumi's face. She pressed the lip of the bottle to Yumi's cheek, and caught a teardrop in the bottle. Abagail then pulled the bottle back and replaced the stopper securely.
"There. Now you take this and keep it in a safe place. That way, when the time comes, you'll have it ready."
Yumi, drying her face, was confused. She took the vial, and asked Abagail, "but where am I supposed to put this. And what I am I going to use it for? One teardrop can't do much, let alone prime a hand pump..."
"Child, when the time comes, you'll know what to do and how to use it. Keep it safe 'til then. Now you'd better be running on home."
"But Abagail..."
Saturday
"Yumi!" her mother called from the base of the steps, "time to get up!"
End Notes:
(1) A goban is the board that the Japanese game of go is played on.
(2) An insei is a person studying to become a professional go player.
(3) The Nihon Ki-in is the headquarters of the Japan Go Association.
(4) The Meijin League is a professional go tournament, and the second most prestigious, in terms of prize money. The winner of this league holds the Meijin Title.