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The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Omake: Otohime's New Mother
by Regina Magia
Port Orchard in Washington (twenty kilometres west of southeast from Seattle), the last day of September in 2012, dawn (Tōkyō time: An hour before midnight)...
Sitting by the bedside, the current incarnation of the Soul Hunter of the North, Uotum Yuoti ("Twilight Spirit"), gently stroked the long black hair of the sleeping pre-teen now tucked under the covers of her old bed. It hadn't been easy for the woman born Liim Ta on Yiziba's northern continent not far from Tariko Katabarbe's home near Kabe-koli to trace down the ghost of Samara Morgan despite the number of videotapes that had been bound to the child's soul. Fortunately, Liim had been able to remove the curse energy that locked several victims who had been targeted by Samara to her, then got the poor people to hand said tapes over. Removing the energy from those storage devices, she was able to lure in the vengeful ghost to her home and trap her in a soul crystal, which she then placed into a battle doll body that Kasuga Ayumu had been more than pleased to prepare for this particular instance.
The twenty-something eldest daughter of a couple among the Nameless from the village of Rimluolemro-koli who had become the current incarnation of a military nurse from the days of the Dawn of Power had learned about Samara from Rachel Keller, a newspaper reporter for The Seattle Times who had almost been killed by the curse. After hearing the child's tale from the other woman, the Soul Hunter of the North decided right then and there that someone who had suffered the way Samara had didn't deserve to face the likes of Margo Black no matter how much suffering she had inflicted...
"Mommy...?"
Samara just woke up; she was looking at Liim in confusion. The Yizibajohei started on hearing that before she recalled her resemblance to Samara's foster mother Anna, the child's first victim; the Morgan house located on a bluff overlooking Sinclair Inlet and the waterfront of Naval Base Kitsap had been abandoned three decades ago even if local pits of lomtumsam had kept it intact. "No, child," the current incarnation of the Northern Soul Hunter said with a calm tone as she squeezed the younger girl's shoulder. "I'm not her." A wry look crossed her face. "Besides, she wasn't much of a mother to you. Throwing you into that well...?!" She shook her head. "How could she do such a horrible thing...?"
Samara's eyes were as wide as saucers. "H-how do you...?!" she sputtered. "I never...!"
"I heard about your tape from Rachel Keller," Liim explained as she gave Samara a knowing look. "I assume you remember her?" Getting a wary nod, the Soul Hunter continued, "In my first life, I took care of people who were very sick. Many died." Quietly thanking the Fates that her many encounters with Tariko taught her how to use local Terran terms than Yizibajohei equivalents, the reborn military nurse sighed. "It broke my heart, especially when they were young. Seeing children die before their time...it wasn't fair." She took a deep breath before gazing once more at the reborn child. "That's why I work with those like you, frozen between life and death. To ease their pain and help them find peace."
As Samara's eyes teared, Liim then leaned over to kiss the child's forehead, making the girl blush. "Sometimes, however...I find someone who needs a second chance more than they need to move on.
"Like you..."
Yiziba, outside the city of Bamkuo Hutobo, a day later...
Nesu...UKOTE!
Liim smiled as the transformed Samara stepped out of the Great Crystal of Power, draped now in the dark sea blue uniform with the black trim of the Ocean Princess, Ukote ("Otohime"). As the newly-Gifted, battle doll-augmented hydrokinetic stopped to allow the memories of her past-selves to settle in her mind, the reborn nurse-turned-spiritual medium approached her with open arms. "You've been through so much..." she said, embracing the Washingtonian. "It may pale in comparison to the suffering endured at the Dawn of Power...but you didn't deserve to be betrayed by the one person you loved."
"All she ever wanted was me," Samara whispered. "She said so just before she...before she killed me..."
"All you wanted a mother. Anna wasn't a good mother. Not the mother you should have had...
"And that you will have."
Hearing that, Samara perked before a smile crossed her face.
Now she knew everything would be okay...
Downtown Seattle, the second day of October, suppertime...
Samara — now calling herself "Carrie Denny" in tribute to the man who had led the first white settlers to Puget Sound in 1851 — smiled as she and Liim stepped off the bus. They just teleported themselves back to Port Orchid after spending a day on the shores of the Ring Ocean that surrounded Yiziba's northern polar continent. It wasn't the Battlezone by any stretch of the imagination, but the Northern Soul Hunter felt it was a much better way to help the reborn Washingtonian get over post-Gifting shock when she wasn't being made to fight with some loon FISS-type on the central equatorial continent.
Grateful to the very pleasant normal-born aurors working for the Washington state branch of the American Department of Magic for helping Samara/Carrie get a new identity and making her the heir of the Morgan family of Port Orchid (with help from those rather cute sames calling themselves "kobaloi" as a race), the adopted mother and daughter decided to spend a day exploring the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Already, Carrie had been taken away by things like the Space Needle. Tonight, they would attend a performance of The South of Music at the historic 5th Avenue Theatre.
But now, it was time for supper.
Stepping into Hanamasu — it had been recommended to Liim by Tariko Katabarbe thanks to a prior visit to the Emerald City three years ago by the current incarnation of the Trickster of the Show — the native-born Yizibajohei and her Terran-born adopted daughter were immediately greeted by the maître d'hôtel, who had an apologetic look on his face. "Forgive me, madame," he said with a polite bow. "We don't have any open tables at this time. They're all taken or reserved."
"Could we sit at the bar?" Liim asked as she indicated empty chairs near the bar. "I just got finished with adopting my child and we're famished. My friend Tariko Katabarbe recommended this restaurant."
That made the older man gape before he nodded in understanding, his face instantly brightening. "Miss Katabarbe?! Of course, miss! Come this way!"
Liim grasped Carrie's hand as they made their way over. The bar had been a recent addition to the Japanese-theme steakhouse given how popular it had become over the years with the crowd from Seattle University and Seattle Central College, both of whom had campuses within easy walking distance of downtown. Much to the surprise and delight of the nurse-turned-medium, a familiar woman was relaxing beside a boy about a year older than Liim's adopted daughter. "Ah! Rachel!" she called out, making the newspaper reporter look over. "Fancy seeing you here."
Confusion crossed Rachel Keller's face. "Excuse me? Do I know you?"
Liim smiled as Carrie sat next to the reporter's young companion. "We ran into each other a while ago," the Yizibajohei stated. "You were at the funeral of your...?" Confusion then crossed her face. "Your husband? Your boyfriend...?" she then wondered.
As the Seattle native's eyes widened in surprise and belated recognition, Carrie reached over to pull a menu closer to her, tuning out the grown-ups as she scanned what was being offered. After a moment, she gazed on the boy beside her, instantly recognizing him as Aidan Anderson, the child of one of the people she had "latched" onto during the years she had been effectively body-less. "Hey!" she hissed, making him look her way. "What do you think I should have?"
The blond boy, who appeared to be a year older than Carrie, shrugged. "What do you like? Rice? Sushi? Steak? Shrimp?" he wondered.
A cute scowl crossed her face. "I dunno. I've never tried any of these before."
"Go with steak," he said. "The ones here are pretty good."
"Thanks. I'm Carrie."
"Aidan."
Fin...
WRITER'S NOTES
Some Yizibajohei town names:
Kabe-koli — Analogue to Dodge City in Kansas; Tariko Katabarbe (Tuyuki) lives in a cabin outside town.
Rimluolemro-koli — Analogue to the twin cities of Kansas City in Kansas and Missouri.
Bamkuo Hutobo — Analogue to the twin cities of Niagara Falls in Ontario and New York; this is the de facto administrative capital centre of the Free Planetary State of Yiziba.
The Kobaloi (singular kobalos) is Fred's "politically correct" term applied to the goblins from the Harry Potter series. The term comes from Greek, meaning "rogue" or "knave"; it is from this word that the modern English term originates through medieval German and Anglo-Norman French.
