SatoriSama: Not much of a beginning thought, but, yeah… So here is the return of the famous "dream sequence" and stuff… Blah blah blah… teenage mutant ninja sophomores, blah blah…and now to the reviewers!!! HUZZAH!!!
Da'bomb peeps:
Spork: As always, thanks!!!
Kitsune Kit: Beautifully Crafted? LOL, I wouldn't say that, but thanks!!! I am starting to read your stories, and so far, what I see I like.THANKS!!!
PainfulxRecovery: Kurama is talking about somebody is his past. YOU"LL SEE (giggles)!! About my ending note, I was washing clothes and I was reading the warning label on my wash machine, and I went whoa. This can spontaneously explode, and then I was like, my life is like the washing machine, always under pressure to make things perfect again. THANKS!!!
Sesshys Punk Gurl: Daja is quite the character, if you know what I mean (wink wink). But I do know what's going to happen, and it's within Part IV, so… yeah… THANKS!!! By the way, are you an Inu-Yasha fan?
IntoTheWakingDawn: O.o? I was your first shout out? That… is… so… COOL!!! And here's another for yah!!! THANKS!!!
Rahasia: THANKS! 'bout the portrayal of the story, I felt as if I should bring up the fact that not only Daja has a skeleton or two in the closet. Its sorta strange, but it works… so… yeah…
Baka Hanyou Rahvin: Hanyou!?! OOO!!! Very nice, are you an Inu-Yasha fan maybe too? That wasn't quite relevant to T&T, but… yeah…
Poppy: DUN DUN DUN!!!! (the suspense)!!! Anyway, THANKS!!!
Chapter 20: Bound in Blue Leather
Daja:
Daja's Dream Sequence:
My eyes… they hurt from the bright, colorless light around me… so white…
Where am I?
My hands are so cold… I can't move them…
Come on, Daja girl, you can find your way out of this white maze. You've done it before, you can do it again…
Darkness, swirling with the white, now gray…
Pick up the pace, something's wrong…
Get going, don't stay here…
RUN!!!
They're… They're following me…
No, I don't want to run any more… I wont...
I wont run any more…
The steal edge gleams in the bright light.
Cant... look… directly… at… it…
No… wait, they've stopped…
My hands are so cold, the numbness spreading to my arms…
Keep going, get out of this place. Get somewhere safe…
I can't feel my limbs…
No… where's the light… I can't see…
But I can… what… what is this magic?
Blazing, a flame… the fire…
These flames play with the shadows…
Warmth…
A mirror? What is a mirror doing here?
So smooth, smoother than glass… like the surface of a lake…
Rain from above… the fire will go out…
CRASH!!!
NO, THEY ARE HERE!!!
I won't… let them…
STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!
I feel my body change… no… I wont become that murderer again…
Green eyes…
Blood everywhere…
AHHH!!! My stomach… no… so much… so much… blood…
Is this the end…
The monster grows and sends a small beam of energy at the fire…
No…
The fire shrinks as it turns an acidy green and dies out…
No…
It's picking me up…my neck…
CRACK!!!
So… SO MUCH PAIN!!!
My body… I can't move my body…
The monstrosity smirks and throws me away… away towards the mirror…
Glass pierces my back… blood rushes down and gathers around me in a puddle on the floor…
So hard to breathe…
The embers of the once great fire die out…
End of Dream Sequence.
I wake up not feeling refreshed as I should have after a long rest like I have just had. I feel surprisingly calm, almost too calm after having such a dream as I just had. I rub my eyes and block out the room around me. This night cannot possibly get any worse.
Every night for the last few weeks, the same dream. The same light, the same fire, the same mirror, the same monsters… the same pain... But why? What are these nightmares trying to tell me?
Opening my eyes, I look around the darkened filing room with its tall bookcase like shelves. My prison…
Sighing, I slowly lift myself up off the makeshift cot I set up in the corner of the room behind the small, sturdy wooden desk. Cold sweat has formed in beads on my back and arms, and the cool air of the room is not helping me warm up any faster, so I quickly snatch up my light, floor length black coat with its polished fastenings that glisten even with the lack of light in the filing room. It's new, so the sleeves and the liner aren't worn down yet, but I wish for my old, trustworthy cloak, with its ratty, frayed sleeves and its crumbling, thick liner. The safety it once provided me with is once again greatly needed.
The thick file on the desk is open, the contents spread out on the desk in a messy pile that is somewhat organized. The thick, blue leather-bound book is propped open with an index card marking a page covered with hundreds of intricate symbols in lines across the pages. Symbols so ancient, that many have forgotten. Yet… I have not.
I gaze at the book, the symbols registering lazily as words while my eyes continue to adjust to the darkness. Sitting down at the desk, I find the papers I was examining before I decided that I might as well sleep and get the dream over with. I continue where I left off earlier.
"The Vaev'shaj, pronounced vauve/sage, are as old as the demon world itself. They are not specifically one species of demon, but actually comprised of many varieties. Each member of a Vaev'shaj court or fold worships the artistic, the beautiful, the sensual aspects of the world. Each is a master of song, dance, or both, and is able to weave magic into each word and step. Though the Vaev'shaj are perhaps the most tolerant of the demons clans, humans are rarely accepted into their folds and courts.
"It is common fro the Vaev'shaj to band into groups, more globaly known as "folds" or "courts", in order to protect themselves from the harsh world around them. Since their language is as old as themselves are and is also quite the code to translate, much of what the Vaev'shaj learn and their history is a secret to even the most learned of scholars. Some of the historical writings found in abandoned courts and folds has been translated into the common languages of the Demon World, however, the riddles in which the knowledge is written is perhaps as confusing as the language it self to decipher."
Leaning over the blue covered book, I can only imagine what kind of demon was skinned in order to get the beautifully leather cover to bind the book with. Putting my finger on the uppermost, rightmost character, I begin to decipher the words running over the paper to the left page in straight lines, but my mind already knows what the book is about.
This book is known as the Chronicles of a Death Songtress, one of the more important books to the Vaev'shaj. How do I know about this book, let alone know how to read its complicated symbols and characters? Well, the answer is simple. I was in love with one of them.
The Vaev'shaj were kind to me when Damien brought me to the fold for the first time, trusting both his people and I to accept each others faults and find strength in each others fortes. We had already left Willow, Evander, and Archimedes, in favor for a better life, a freer life. We stayed with his fold, and I learned of their strange habits, their customs, their language, their way of life.
When I close my eyes, I can still picture Damien's fold's leader. A Vaev'shaj leader is almost always female, her powers of song, dance, seduction, and destruction surpassed by none in her court. She had long black hair streaked with gold, her eyes a deep ambery, gold color that was both orange with flecks of gold, but many shades from either color. She was a good deal taller than me, but shorter than Damien, perhaps five foot six inches? She wore reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows that set off her olive colored skin easily and with a certain flair that only the Vaev'shaj can accomplish..
The way she moved made it obvious that she was born and raised a Vaev'shaj women; she seemed to float, but slink, she seemed to weave magic into every step to make it appear as if she was dancing when she was not.
How I wished to be as beautiful as her…
My thoughts snap back to reality as something in my pocket vibrates against my thigh. Fumbling with the small, round communication mirror, I open it a see Koenma's face.
"Daja. I have to ask of you a favor."
"Oh no. Not again. I've already helped out enough with this case. I won't contact another old acquaintance to do more work for you." I say coldly, my eyes making the tired transition to a vivid green.
Koenma straightens in the chair, and looks almost thoughtful. "No, this is about something else. As you know, I spend all day pushing the papers that you file every afternoon. Today, Botan urged me to use some of the years worth of 'vacation' time I have 'stored up', and I decided to accept her proposal."
I raise my eyebrow to a simple arch that is both questioning and somewhat naughty looking at the same time.
"I get the picture." I commentasKoenma's face gets flustered around the edges and I smirk. Just the effect I was going for. It crossed my mind quite along time ago that perhaps those two's relationship was a little more complicated than just Prince and Soul Reaper.
"Anyway, as I was saying," Koenma continues. "George will be taking care of my work by stacking and organizing all my hard copy files. For Botan, however, to replace her for a few days could be challenging."
I cross my arms and lean backwards into the wooden chair. "I know where this is going. You want me to 'baby-sit' the detectives while they are on their case by being the one who answers the phone when they call, don't you?"
"Botan was the one who suggested you."
I sigh.
"This is not a choice, Daja. You will be the reference person the detectives will have rely on if they have any questions or need information since you are the first person I think of when somebody says the Zane Gensou case. You did assemble the notebook, after all, and by the way, Kurama sent his thanks to you for that. He said it was quite helpful to him."
Leaning forwards to emphasize my point, I ask. "One last question before you leave."
Koenma nods. "I take that you have accepted this new job, so you may go ahead."
"How in all hells did you get your father to agree with this spur of the moment trip?"
Koenma laughs. "My father has been doing this same thing for years. If he gets mad at me, I guess I'll take a leaf out of your book and retaliate like you did with those papers a few months back." When I give him a fake hurt look, he smiles and pretends to explain the situation I have an intimate knowledge of myself since I was the criminal, if not slightly crazy mind behind the little scheme. "You know the one where those important documents 'spontaneously' combusted. Need I say more?"
I shrug nonchalantly. "If this is what you want me to do, I'll do it. It's not like I have a choice."
"I'm glad you think about it that way. I'll see you when I return." He pauses. "Daja, please. Don't pretend this is nothing. I—"
"Understood."
I close the mirror, and replace it in my pocket. Vacation? What the hell? You have to be kidding me. At least I make an impression on the little guy; he's beginning to stand up to his father, even if it is in a small way. I guess that's kind of cool, but still…
I say out loud to no one in particular, just as I way to vent out all these unfamiliar feelings that are suddenly flooding my soul. "You have got to be kidding me. First the file, and now the case? What's next, is he gonna make me a flippin' reaper too? "
Make my way to the cot and groan into the pillow after I collapse on it. This is a dream, just a horrible dream. Now, not only am I responsible for the information the detectives are using, but if they die, it's my fault too. Just watch, some crucial piece of information if missing, and, oh no, they mess up and die. I can't be responsible for another man's death… I don't think I could handle it. The girl behind blues eyes would never come back if that happened…
I roll over and stare at the ceiling. After my dream, I thought the night couldn't get any worse. Well, I guess you could say that I was definitely wrong about that one.
SatoriSama: All right, how was that? I know this "vacation" thing is a little strange, but that will also make sense if it doesn't make sense right now. In other news, I'm performing in my high school's sophomore one act, and that's why this chapter took so long. I was at school till six every day this past week for rehearsals. But no worries, it's all good.
If this product is ingested, contact your local poison control and remember to sound panicked, SatoriSama signing out.
(I've decided to no longer do the REVIEW song o' the chapter in favor of my new and improving ending notes. I know, I know, I can't cope with the loss either. They (sniffle) just grow up so fast (hiccup)! )
