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NOTES
Another warning of innuendo, much less subtle this time. Mild squick.
Nii isn't the only one who likes to build up the suspense.
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A moment before the darkness took her, she asked herself, Will I have the same dream again?
The image was different this time. Colorless light and leaves remained, but the familiar priestly figure was not alone. A similarly dressed man stood with him, veiled in white and green and gold. His hair was grey. They both were smoking.
An odd detail, said the voice, almost apologetic.
With a silent laugh that danced through the air, the light-haired man lifted a hand and pointed at the summer sun. His sleeve slipped down his arm as he turned to speak quietly to the man at his side. He smiled, and his face glowed with joy and peace, radiating a pure light brighter than the sun he spoke of.
The dark-haired man was much the opposite. His intensity was frightening. He carried the same casual grace as his friend, but his smile was that of a hunter, and his gaze was like a bird of prey. Longing and worry, jealousy and desire, and many unnamed emotions bled from his skin. They grew behind him into a black torrent, and swept away the light and happiness, and carried her into a river of fevered nightmares.
Because, the voice said, I always get what I want.
She didn't hear the clock this time.
-----
It was well past noon when Yaone came to check on her, and even then Ririn didn't get up. She simply told the worried woman that she wasn't feeling well, and that she would eat later, and yes, tell big brother that she's fine.
After Yaone had closed the door, she shivered under her covers. Strings of nightmares still tugged at her.
Ririn bit her lip and waited until the footsteps outside had faded away, then she pulled back the sheets and opened her pillowcase. Inside was the Seiten Sutra, neatly packed in feathers.
Nervously she closed it again and stuffed it beneath her cushions and stuffed toys. She pulled herself out of bed, and went to her wardrobe, stripping from her pajamas on the way.
What a scary dream, she thought, yanking a yellow t-shirt over her head. It didn't seem so bad in the beginning. There was someone new. She pulled the tangled mess of hair back into a ponytail and tied it off with a bell-adorned ribbon. I wonder what he said when he pointed to the sun.
People would start getting suspicious if she didn't show her face around the castle.
A typical boring day.
-----
At sunset, Ririn went for a walk around the outskirts of the castle. The air inside had been absolutely oppressive. The researchers in the lab had discovered the absence of the Sutra, and though her mother had told her court there was nothing to worry about, an undercurrent of panic ran beneath the skin of everyone she met.
Strangely, the situation didn't fill Ririn with glee, as she had thought it would, but she simply shrugged it off as a product of the nightmares.
She was passing by several intricately carves statues on one of the high balconies of the castle, scaring away flocks of angry crows, when the scientist caught her arm. The first thing she noticed was the rough skin on his fingers, perhaps jagged from too much nail-biting, before surprise could even take effect. She turned to glare up at him, and the bells in her hair jingled.
"Wayward daughters should come home." He was smiling his usual, familiar smile, something she had never really taken the time to look closely at. It was wide, and curved up on one side, not really mocking, but playful at the very least. "I was rather sad that you didn't come to visit me today."
She didn't feel like playing. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Ah, that's right. You can take care of yourself. A strong woman."
Ririn wasn't sure what that meant, so she said nothing.
Did he say I'm a woman?
"I suppose you've heard that the Sutra is missing." His head tilted in a thoughtful way, lost strands of hair falling over his eyes. He was still holding her arm.
"I have," she said coldly.
"Nn.... I wonder where it could have gotten to. Rather messy of me, don't you think?"
She was tempted to slap him away, annoyed with a conversation that wasn't going anywhere, and he was poking at a touchy subject, but two things stopped her. The fact that he bothered to talk to her, casually, making small talk the way adults do, filled her with a subconscious joy.
The other reason was the look on his face, something she had become distinctly aware of as she stared at him, and it froze hard in the pit of her stomach. It said, simply, I already know the truth.
Behind his glasses, the doctor's eyes crinkled as his smile broadened. He spoke mildly, as if he was asking about the weather. "Why don't you come to the lab later? I'm sure we can find something to do." Then he let go of her arm as if to allow her to make the choice on her own.
She hesitated. He smiled.
"We'll see." Turning on a heel, Ririn stomped off down the balcony to the stairs, bells ringing with each step.
"I guess we will," was the reply at her back.