The resistance Schuldig faced when trying to enter the girl's mind was stronger than he had expected. Her consciousness seemed to be completely surrounded by this strange barrier that did give a little when he tried to force his way in, but nevertheless remained unbreachable to any of his attempts. He shoved and pushed, he tore and cut and even tried to bite his way through, but nothing worked. Exhausted he leaned onto the barrier, embraced it like an old friend and muttered, "Why won't you let me in? I will help you, I promise. I'll bring you back to your brother and you will be reunited like...like...siblings. Please, let me in."
He waited, but there was no reaction. Nothing but the faint echo of thoughts that were to vague to distinguish. He sighed, leaned against the wall with his back to it and closed his eyes. Maybe they should just take her blood and leave her be. He would have died to get in there, but as it was impossible he might as well return to the real world. Suddenly he felt the resistance fade and before he knew it he fell backwards. The world became whirl of colors, up became down, something knocked him on the head and when he opened his eyes again, he was once more covered in red fur. A bushy tail waved behind him and his face was a slim nuzzle with a pointy nose.
"Oh great!" Schuldig shook his head with the annoyingly large ears. "Now I can't even contain my human form in my mind." He thought about it. "Or maybe it's because it's not my mind."
He looked around and discovered himself sitting in a patch of green grass. When he lifted his gaze it fell upon a forest surrounded by a light blue sky with feathery white clouds. Schuldig would have sworn it had not been there before, but as it was now, he could as well explore it. Maybe he would spot some clues where to find the girl.
Schuldig got up and set foot on a sandy path that suddenly stretched under his paws.
"Well, it seems that I have some control here. So let's see. I want to be at the edge of the forest."
The words had just left his mouth, when he nearly bumped his nose on a nearby tree. He smirked. This was easier then he thought. Now where was the girl...?
He stepped back and spotted two ways leading into the woods. One of them was dark and full of lurking shadows. Things with too many eyes seemed to move in the murk and there was a constant whisper of threats hiding in an unfriendly wind that made the black leaves of the trees rustle and shiver. Their branches stretched far into the gloomy alley and their twigs looked like clawed hands. The other one was a friendly path with warm sunlight painting golden patterns on the floor and white flowers decorating the side of the road. It was invitingly even while the other was full of potholes and stones and thorny vines creeping around like snakes waiting to tangle whoever dared to come near them. The richness of details was rather surprising. Normally inner worlds tended to be a bit more simplified. This one made him imagine even the smell of the grass and flowers and the sensation of the wind ruffling his fur.
Schuldig set down and looked to and fro between the two alleys. "Which one should I take?" he said to himself.
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," a purring voice answered him. He looked up and discovered a big tabby cat sitting on the branch of an old tree. A grin nearly split its face in two and showed more teeth than should have been possible.
"And you are?" Schuldig said, not sure if he could trust the smiling feline.
"I am unlost unlike you," the cat said and turned over to lie on her back. "Do you want some tea?"
"I want to meet the creator of this world," Schuldig said and tilted his head. He had now recognized the cat and did not want to trigger any more quotes.
"Then you can take either way. Only one is long and one is short."
"And which is which?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." The cat's silhouette started to fade leaving just a intangible outline and the grin still turned upside down. "Are you sure you don't want any tea?"
"Yes I am sure," Schuldig confirmed and the cat finally disappeared. He watched the spot where the grin still seemed to be lingering in the air.
'I wonder what other creature I will meet. I have a feeling that the Cheshire Cat was just the beginning.'
The fox turned to the two pathways again. He was pretty sure what they meant. He was, after all, a trained telepath. Psychics like him and Crawford were taught to erect inner worlds like this. He often used a modified version of it to create a link between the members of Schwarz to communicate and exchange information without other people noticing. Schuldig had never liked those lessons, though. His inner world was a place he did not really want to visit. It mostly contained a horrific amusement park where the carousel horses tried to bite of your fingers and the ghost train was a trip with no return. Not to mention the murderous clowns and poisoned cotton candy. Even the balloon animals could tried to wrap themselves around your neck and strangle you. Besides, other people's heads provided so much more fun and entertainment.
There were the dreams, the positive motivations, the goals in live they wanted to achieve and all those happy feelings. And then there were their fears, their hate, their grieve, their sources of shame and guilt, of envy and despair. Schuldig absolutely loved those areas. The gave him the ammunition he needed to get people to do as he pleased.
"Normally I would take the dark way to find out about her innermost fears, but I guess I'll have to use a different technique here. I don't want her to fear me, I want her to trust me. To see me as a friend. At least until I found out how useful she might be. So let's see what little girl Aya dreams about."
Schuldig started to walk the well-lit path and soon got to a meadow with big cherry trees. The trees were in full bloom and the light pink blossom petals made them look like brides in richly embroidered evening gowns. There were, however, some dark and bold trees. They looked like morbid skeletons between the richness and liveliness of the other trees. Suddenly Schuldig saw an old man walking between the trees. The man waved his hand at one of the leafless trees and a moment later the tree sprang to life bringing forth the most beautiful blossoms. The man smiled and went to the next tree.
'Weird Japanese fairy tales' Schuldig thought to himself and avoided a crab staring up at a tree where a monkey was holding out a ripe fruit.
"Give it to me," the crab said. "This is my tree."
"Well I was the one who picked it so it is mine," the monkey argued back and bit into the fruit, the juice squirting into every direction.
As Schuldig watched the two animals fight a girl appeared at the edge of the forest. She was framed by two giant white wolves. Schuldig instinctively ducked down. Those wolves did not seem to be very friendly and he did not want to have to answer to the questions that his presence would surely evoke. He was sure that this girl was something similar to a guardian to this inner world. He had to watch out for those...
He used the long grass to crawl around the girl and continued his path until he reached another clearing. Two figures were standing next to each other admiring a beautiful rose. One was a little blond boy and the other one was...a fox!
The red-furred animal just lifted his head and said, "People have forgotten this truth. But you mustn't forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you've tamed. You're responsible for your rose."
Schuldig smirked. Now that was something he could work with. Perhaps it was not so bad that he had had to come here as a fox after all. All he had to do was to find the girl. He was just about to get up, as a shadow fell over him. He turned and was faced with a boy who was carrying a big club. On his right was a little dog and on his left a monkey. Schuldig was just about to open his mouth to greet them as another animal appeared. It was a brown bird with a long tail, a green head and a large red spot on either side of it. A pheasant.
"Who are you?" the boy wanted to know. "Are you lost?"
Schuldig thought quickly. Perhaps he would need some help to find the girl. "Yes, I am lost. I am looking for my owner. Her name is Aya."
The boy frowned. "I did not know, Aya-chan had a fox."
"Well, she tamed me just recently. Would you take me to her, please?"
Schuldig tried to look as harmless and innocent as he could. Of course this boy was from another, probably Japanese story, but as he and all the others were a product of the girl's mind they would eventually share the same knowledge. But even if he didn't it was very likely that he, who had so many animal companions, would take it as granted that the girl had an animal friend, too.
The boy scratched his nose. "All right. I will take you to Aya-chan. But if you are lying and if you are a monster instead, I will kill you."
"That's fair enough," Schuldig said and hoped he would be able to avoid the killing part.
The boy took Schuldig to a pond. A large willow was standing beside it, the long branches nearly reaching the floor. In the shadows a small silhouette was huddled on the floor. When they came closer, Schuldig saw a girl with dark, braided hair. She lifted her head and a smile lightened up her features.
"Momotaro," she said to the boy. "Did you find a new adventure? Please, tell me everything about it."
The boy shook his head. "No, but I found this fox. He says that you are his owner."
Her eyes went wide. "Really?" She quickly got up and took a closer look at Schuldig. He sat down and smiled.
"Hello Aya."
"I have to leave," the boy said. "I have to go out and be brave and fight the monsters."
Aya nodded absently. Her eyes were fixated on Schuldig. She sat down and reached out her hand to touch his head. Just inches away from his ears she paused and frowned.
"You are not my fox," she said with determination. "Who are you?"
Schuldig bowed his head. "My name is Schuldig. I came here from a far away land to see you. I bring news from your brother."
For a moment her eyes flickered, but then she closed up her face. "My brother is dead. He died long ago and I do not want to talk to you about him."
She turned and stared into the water. Schuldig didn't say anything. Instead he sat down beside her and looked into the water. Colorful fish were swimming by sometimes touching the surface of the pond causing little circles to break the smoothness of the water before sinking back into the depths.
"Are you sure you do not want to tame me?" Schuldig said after a while. "We could be friends."
She pouted. "Friend don't lie to each other."
Schuldig drew up his eyebrows. "I didn't lie to you. I never lie."
She suddenly stood, her fists clenched at her sides. "You said, Ran is still alive. But that cannot be true. I saw him and he is dead."
She turned around and ran of towards a little house and went inside. Schuldig followed her carefully and found her kneeling in front of a little altar. White flowers stood in a small vase and a plate held some dumplings. Smoke rose from a incense bowl not leaving a trace of smell behind. Three stone plates displayed the names of the dead, one of them 'Ran' as she had called her brother. Aya had closed her eyes and he saws traces of tears glistening on her lashes. For being in her happy place this girl was rather sad.
He sat down and thought about a solution. It was quite obvious that she was stuck in here and did not even want to get out. The outside world offered nothing to her and so she wanted to remain in the relative safety of her dreamland. She made it neat and clean, decorated it with figures from stories she knew and waited...waited for what? What would drive her from her listlessness?
A smile parted his lips when it stroke him like a lightening bolt. Of course, it had to be a story. A fairy tale. But which one? Which one would give Aya the courage to face the outside world again and the obstacles that would await them on the way there? He was not used to telling bedtime stories, so he would have to come up with something from his own childhood. His smile widened into a smirk when he thought just about the right story, his own five-year-old voice echoing in his mind.
"Mama, liest du mir etwas vor? Biiiitteee!"
He remembered his mother's sighing before asking him, "Was möchtest du denn hören? Ein Märchen? Hänsel und Gretel? Oder der Gestiefelte Kater? Oder vielleicht die Geschichte vom Tischlein deck dich?"
Sometimes he'd let her get away with it. Took one of the offered stories or even let her pick one she wanted to read. Usually she tended to read one of the shorter stories so she could go back to work sooner. But when he was in a foul mood, which happened quite often, he chose another story. It was about seven brothers who were cursed by their mother because they were wild and wicked. They were turned into ravens, flew away and left the mother with only her youngest child, a girl. When the girl had grown up she went out to search for her brothers and finally found them on top of a glass mountain. They recognized their sister and brought her home together witch all the treasures they had gathered while they were ravens. In the end the mother forgave all their evil deeds and they became humans again to live happily ever after.
He had his mother read this story over and over. Not because he liked it so much, oh no. It was because of her reaction to a special part of the story. When facing the glass mountain the girl caught a goose, cut of its wings and feet and attached them to her own body so she could fly or walk up the mountain without slipping. For him this was just a minor part of the story, but his mother was deeply appalled by that violent act against the innocent animal every time she had to read it to him. He always watched his mother's face, the thin line that appeared between her brows, the hard edge to her mouth, the tiny narrowing of her eyes. He drew in her disgust, her repugnance and enjoyed how he could make her do it anyway. Sometimes she tried to skip the part, but he always cried out until she read it properly. And he always watched her suffer while doing it.
Schuldig sneered and sat next to Aya. He leaned in to her and whispered, "You are so sad, little Aya. But I can make it better. Come her, let me tell you a story. It's called 'The seven Ravens' and I'm sure you will like it."
Music: "Come Little Children" - Erutan