HAIBANE RENMEI:

DER

AUSFALL

DES

FLUGES

A fanfiction.

By

Micheal Gioe

(This is a Fanfiction, so I claim no ownership of the Haibane Renmei Title or any of it's original characters or names, except my own)

-- Okay, this is where my train slowed to a gentle chug. Uh, yeah, it gets a bit eerie, but a lot will be explained later. Hang in there! Oh, and thanks for reading so far!--

4 -- Halo

Flames

Encounter

The man motioned for Ren to follow him down into the temple. As they progressed, she passed many rooms. Some where colorful and bright, and some were so dark she couldn't see into. All the rooms were made of stone, and resonated a sense of age, but of nobility and quality. They climbed several flights of stairs, and came upon a dark room with a large wooden shaft in the middle. Two other masked men, or the Toga, as the man had corrected her, stood beside it in silence. They cranked a huge handle and a squeaky wooden platform rose up from the floor.

"This is the elevator." The man said abruptly, and motioned for Ren to step on it.

Ren nodded and carefully manuevered onto the slat. The man stepped onto it next to her, and made a motion to the two men standing by. They began to crank, and the slat slowly lifted. It was amazing it could even go up at all since they were standing on it, thought Ren.

Slowly they were lifted up and up, every now and then passing a window, although Ren was too far away from them to see outside. All she could make out was hazy white and grey. Finally they reached the top, and shimmied through a small opening. Ren's eyes opened wide.

The top room wasn't really a room at all. It was a circular roof surrounded by tall walls cut by windows. The sky above was grey and ominous, and a sort of fog hung around the place. In the middle, lit by a kind of surrealistic gold hue, a tall spire reached up to the sky. All kinds of structures jutted out from it's sides, and it was covered with strange symbols and distrurbingly realistic stone eyes.

With a small breath, the man pointed to an object projecting from the middle. Ren walked onto the roof, and cautiously approached the thing. As she passed the windows on either side of her, she shot a glance out them. But, just as the sky overhead, all she could see was blank white and gray, swirling around in slow soupy globs. When she got closer to the object, she discovered it to be some kind of handle. She grabbed it and pulled. It slid out of a dark slot, and revealed itself to be some kind of pan, with a hole in the middle. It was made of some kind of lightweight stone, but it was warm to the touch.

Ren walked back to the man who now had produced a pair of tongs. He slowly took the object and pried it open. Within it was a round and glowing object. The man held it high with the tongs, and carefully lowered it to Ren's head. As soon as it came about six inches above her head, he released the tongs and stood back. Ren looked up. The ring was bright and brilliant, and slightly warm.

"The halo signifies you as a Haibane, and means you must uphold your duties as such." He rattled off.

"Why do some Haibane have halos and some don't?" Ren quietly asked.

"Please do not speak to me unless instructed to do so." The man's voice didn't change.

"I'm sorry...oh, uh, I mean...um..." Ren trailed off, unsure of how to apologize.

"You are forgiven. To answer your question-" The man started as their elevator began to go down. "- There is no such thing as a Haibane without a halo. Once you put it on, it cannot be removed. The ones you say do not have halos must have never come to the temple at all.

"So we can never take these off?" Ren realized she spoke to him again.

The man groaned slightly, and realizing that she would probably never respect silence, answered.

"Not unless you become sinbound. Then your halo would be destroyed, along with your wings."

"But I thought if your wings were black then you were already..." Ren trailed off again.

"When your wings are black, you still have a chance at salvation. However, if the wings begin to rot, then they are dead, and so are you, in a sense."

"Dead?"

The man nodded slightly.

"In a sense. You have no chance of salvation, and your days from there will not be pleasant."

"What...what are you?" Ren suddenly asked, not sure why herself.

"What do you mean?" The man looked down at her.

When Ren said nothing, the man looked back at nothing.

"I am the Haibane Renmei Communicator, I speak with outside Toga and regulate the temple."

"So...you're ...the ruler of this town?"

"Uhm-hm" The communicator gave a little chuckle, then shook his head.

"Why does it seem like the Haibane are treated poorly?" Ren stared off into the distance.

"They are not." He replied gruffly.

"But it seems like everyone dislikes them...somehow.."

"The Haibane seem to think this, but it is more of a disapointment."

"Huh?"

"The Haibane are supposed to be upstanding, hardworking creatures who exist to learn from past mistakes and improve the quality of their own lives, along with those around them. They are not supposed to be sinbound, and if they are, they are supposed to fight to break from its plauge. However, when part of the wall was destroyed, it let in a small amount of evil from the outside. This evil influenced the Haibane, and made them lean towards sin. After a while, they stopped working, and began becoming rowdy. They soon became disliked."

"So it's the evil's fault." Ren contemplated.

"No, it isn't."

"Huh?"

"Tell Essen you will be fine as long as you stay off your feet for a few days."

Ren hadn't noticed that they were now at the entrance to the temple.

Ren was still contemplating her talk with the communicator while she and Essen walked the long road back to the Old House. Her back was throbbing a bit, but she kept fondling her halo, so it distracted her a bit.

"Wow, you really like that thing." A small smile cut Essen's face.

"Yes...it's really neat."

"Hey, look, the wall!" Essen grabbed Ren's arm and pointed.

Sure enough, a long dark line ran across the horizon, splitting the sky and land. From here the walls didn't look that large, but Essen assured Ren they were huge. When Ren asked where the hole was, Essen sighed and responded that it was on the other side of town, near Traurigkeit.

As they neared the Old House, the sky was turning a gloomy shade of blue. When they at last entered the big doors into the common room, it was almost deserted. A few somber Haibane stood here and there, milling around.

"Where is everyone?" Ren leaned over to Essen.

"Most likely eating dinner with their circle of friends." Essen sighed.

"Oh that's right." Ren agreed, even though she had no idea what time people did anything here.

"Laufen usually cooks dinner up early so she has time to go on her patrol before it gets too dark."

"Patrol?"

"Yeah. That's kinda her job, together with cooking." Essen nodded.

"She was the one with the halo that sparked, right?"

Essen didn't say anything.

As if on cue, Ren saw Laufen approach from one of the hallways, looking about nervously. At the same time, Essen noticed Felson standing by a decaying floor plant, motioning to her.

"Hey, Ren, I'll be right back." Essen mumbled.

"Um, okay."

Ren walked over in Laufen's general direction. She wasn't sure why, but later she would regret it.

"Uhm." Ren started when she got to Laufen.

Laufen said nothing.

"Uh."

More nothing.

"So...you...cook the food?" Ren struggled.

Laufen nodded minutely

"Okay..."

Ren heard a little coughing sound and realized it was Laufen clearing her throat.

"It's late." She started, her gunmetal eyes searching the floor. "I'm off schedule."

"Schedule?"

"Would you go with me?" Laufen looked up at Ren.

"Where?"

"Patrol." She almost looked like she was going to cry. "It's too dark now, the hallways will be deserted, and it's scary by myself. Would you come?"

"To do what? You're...not very specific."

When Ren said this, she was sure the girl would cry as she watched the turbulance of tiny emotions play across her face.

"I check the rooms. In the back of the house."

"Oh." Ren had been hoping for a better answer.

"Will you come?" Laufen produced a long metallic flashlight.

Ren had been hoping to see more of the house.

Ren had not been hoping to see the uninhabited wing. At night. But as things would have it, that's exactly where she found herself. The cold metal flashlight in her hands bounced an iris of light across the dark halls. It was all Ren could do to keep sight of Laufen, who seemed to be constantly pacing faster than her.

"Hey, what...what are we looking for?" Ren panted as she struggled along.

Laufen didn't answer.

"Hey?" Ren called out.

She had lost Laufen. She was alone. Something shifted just behind her, and she thought she could hear a faint, moist breath. This breath, however, was being sucked in, not pushed out, and it seemed to be struggling, gasping. Ren felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She couldn't move.

"Brennen?" It was Laufen.

"Uh...uh..uhya" Ren nodded, her hands shaking, making her flashlight beam dance.

"Don't wander off again." Laufen shook her head

"I didn't...I..." Ren shook her head, swallowing hard.

"Try to stay closer, okay?"

"Okay." Ren nodded violently.

As they walked on, Ren kept trying to figure out exactly what Laufen's job was without actually asking. She kept peeking into rooms and casting her flashlight across the empty spaces. Eventually they came to a balcony which overlooked a room similar to the front common room. It was incredibly dark, however, with only a pale blue light flickering and scaring away the shadows, which slinked back every time the light disappeared.

"This is where a lot of them come." Laufen mumbled to herself.

"Who?"

"The hopeless sinbound." She whispered.

"What's that?"

Ren was pointing across the large room to a dim outline on the far wall, just up the rounded staircase.

"That's the Illusion Frame."

"Oh...the..." Ren pondered.

"What is it?"

"It's a picture frame that looks into Hell." Laufen gave a little grin. "Or so Geschlachtet says."

It was the first time Ren had seen this girl smile. But it wasn't a pleasant smile, it was a knowing smile, maybe one of recognition.

They continued on for a bit until Laufen began to quicken her pace.

"What's wrong?" Ren called.

"My flashlight's running low." Laufen huffed as she paced along.

And then it happened. Laufen stopped dead. She slowly looked to her left, into a darkened hole of a room. She slowly stepped inside, motioning for Ren to stay. She was gone for a few seconds, and Ren didn't like being alone in these long, dim halls, so she creeped around the corner. Inside the dingy little room was a plain bed, what looked like a closet, and a large armoire. The walls were peeling badly, and the light was out. Laufen was bent over something Ren couldn't see. Ren stepped in a bit. Then it hit her. An overwhelming surge of fear and disgust for the little room.

The room eminated a sort of sick, mortal vibration one recieves when standing in a mosuleum, and Ren felt her stomach tighten. She imagined she could hear whispers, small scratching sounds and low creaks. She felt herself begin to tear up again.

"Lau...Laufen?" Her voice quivered.

Laufen picked something up off the floor and quickly rushed back to the doorway.

"Oh, sorry. It's your first time seeing a Rest."

Ren shook violently and hugged herself to keep from dropping her flashlight.

"Come on. We're done." Laufen gently put a hand on Ren's arm.

Somehow they managed to get back to the brightly lit hallways that hosted a few bustling Haibane, even though just a few. They found their way back to the little common room of their "Group" and Ren was overjoyed to see the now familiar faces. As they enjoyed dinner, Ren couldn't help but notice Laufen continually fingering a round object, turning it over and over, and gazing at it. It was dark and dull, but even New-Born Ren could recognize it. It was a halo.

-- Haunted things in Haibane Renmei? It was alluded to a bit in the actual show, so I decided to expand upon it. Graciously. Remember, this is a house filled with Sinful Haibane. You expect it to be pleasant? Oh, and no, Brennen and Laufen are NOT going to get together. Unfortunately, that's something I had to expand on from the original show too. The...ahm...excess of girls spending time together, and stuff. But there's boys in this one to even things out. Trunk. Hm. (Plus, that would stake my rating up to M anyways, then no one would be able to find this!) As for Updating...I'll see what you guys say. I'm not gonna do this if no one really likes it much. Waste of paper...er...files. Hopefully, I'll get some more chappies in later, if circumstances decide. Thank you all so far!--

Thanks for reading so far, and please stay tuned for updates!