AMATERASU Chp. 3: "Conversations with the Goddess."
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Passing thoughts crossed her, the kind that strike you like a thunderbolt.
She laid across her full-size bed thinking of many things that havecome and gone with times march. The many small incidents where they would solve a mystery and nothing mystical came of it.
Why?
Why not a single ghost? A dragon? A gremlin! A spy? Nothing...
"I have not seen a single little leprechaun or vampire. Why?"
Why is there nothing of meaning in this world?
POMF against her pillow was her fist. These were the thoughts that insulted her, demeaned her, ridiculed her every night. She may have shown the world that she was a creature of exotic fantasy, attempting to search for the supernatural and the conspiracies, but they were wrong.
She was a realist. A stark blank realist who knew inside tha these things DID EXIST. She did not have any idea why, she just sensed it.
When she wished it, the feeling grew stronger. If she was upset, she could sense the world coming down. It fed her melancholy, creating a cycle of doubts and troubling emotions.
If her heart got what it desired, her very soul rose, and the world around her became truly a better place.
She thought about why everyone seemed to want her to keep hoping for these things, but never could find them.
It's like the world is changing to suit her, and doesn't want to at all. "Hmmpf."
She turned to the side to look at a picture frame. It held a newspaper clipping. It was the Tanabata Incident. She remembered that night so vividly, regardless of the darkness. She was punished most severely for the crime. A probation, being forced to take up a whole bunch of soap and wash it herself, and a nearly permanent grounding from an over-controlling set of parents. Of course, someone else actually put it there, she was only supervising. If only he could have taken the blame.
And then she thought of the name of the one thing that gave her hope,
that weirdo with what he said was his sister...
John Smith. That strange man who came that night.
John Smith. The one who reached out to her when no one else would.
John Smith. The reason she persevered for the unknown.
A budding desire started to coalesce from in her chest. She wanted
to find him, and it lead to a fateful moment.
She asked the world itself aloud.
"I wish I knew where he was."
And it struck her, harder than any other thought.
Not with a word. An image.
That boys face, that troublesome one. The fool.
"Kyon."
She had always known that despite his undying disdain for anything she came up with, he still supported it. That moron, that idiot. What does he do to remind her of that man?
But this image screamed. "He means more to this..."
and she fell from this world to sleep, one goal to accomplish tomorrow.
She would make Kyon tell her the truth.
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My eyes slip away, and I breathe in.
It was funny, I could see clearly. And what I saw amazed me.
I was in a magnificent palace bigger than any other that I had seen. Even the ones Haruhi owned were no match. I step forward. It goes on and on, like a temple built for the study of greater things. Ionic columns everywhere. I could imagine there were as many here as there were in Greece. I look down a hall where I hear a noise to the left.
I come to a foyer, a great hall. Its ceiling rises so high as to house a Michelangelo's David or some adventurous avant-garde monstrosity.
I walk toward it, and sense a presence.
"You! Traitor! Why did you do what you did yesterday?"
What in god's name are you talking about?
"Don't you lie to me! I heard about that hussy coming on to you and planting one on you!"
It was a platonic kiss on the cheek, not some passionate affair like some (YOU) would think.
If you could not tell who it was, it was our resident goddess, Haruhi Suzumiya, dressed in some thing that looks a good deal like a toga. her scowl was boring into my core like an Abh smile.
"And another thing, why do you look like that?"
What in gods name are you talking about...again?
I turn to an all-too-conveniently placed fountain and look down.
Hooves? Great, how irritating.
I'm a bull again. what the hell is this?
I turned to Haruhi and asked, "well my goddess, could you fix this?"
A smirk, "Ha! Why should I? You treacherous pig, you dog."
Hey, I'm a bull! If you want a horn in your bottom, keep talking!
Epiphany, and mild bewilderment strikes me to ask, "hey where are we?"
"Can't you tell?"
It seems she expects me to know something that I normally wouldn't.
As I turn my head, Its obvious as I look closer at this exquisite estate, that
it really is not. "Let me guess...Closed Space?"
"I felt like going into one and forming my own great house of worship, but I thought it would be great to prototype it first. What do you think?"
It would be impressive to imagine this place, being like Rome, is something you could never build in a day, but I'm not stupid enough to think you could not. I don't know architecture, but I think you did just OK. I don't think my opinion matters when it comes to this.
"Idiot! This place is a magnificent work of art! I wanted to show you first. I would have figured you could at least appreciate the thought that went into this."
What about the human touch? You said before that you'd much prefer to not show off your power...wait, you know, that definitely is out of character for you.
"Hey, I'm a goddess, I have to save the showboating for the time I'm flexing my spirit power in front of the masses." That's so not like you. Even YHWH shows off.
"Hmph." She stepped away from me. "Be ready to awaken."
Huh?
The entire scene turned white as a wave of light came across my eyes.
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My eyes opened. I'm back in the apartment. The sky is turning a light blue in the window. I hear only the sounds of an AC and fan running next door, no shuffling or anything. I lift my head from the pillow.
Well, she's not here, the witch.
FWACK! What the hell? OW!
"You do remember that I can read your mind when I'm close to you right?"
She floated above me, her fist tight and an expression between rage and amusement. Why, who would give these powers to someone like this?
.
She ordered me to make her a meal. I ran to a local market and returned with eggs, butter, bread, and milk to go with the cinnamon and maple syrup I had in stock. When I got back, the others were awake and gathered at the table. Asahina was fiddling with the teapot and turned to smile at me, Koizumi put his creepily positive gaze against mine, the weirdo. And Nagato was Nagato, her subtlety masking her inner moods of joy at my appearance. It's nice to have our peaceful times. Until...
"You're late! Penalty!" You just demanded I get you a bite to eat. Don't mess with the chef.
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4 and 2 make French toast for 5.
"Bah! Can't you be more creative?" I'm not Gordon Ramsey. Be gracious!
"Hmm." She starts chewing, munching, and finally succumbing to her hunger. With a glass of milk on stand-by, she took in an entire plate, alternating from little nibbles to whole pieces at once.
I sat there with my plate, slowly eating. As I did, I could not help but notice the one particular thing I think I truly loved about her: her hair, in that astonishingly long ponytail. If her body was a sculpture and her face was a painting, her hair must be...
Fine black silk, dark as night.
"HMF?"
Apparently I said it aloud so everyone could notice. "Its nothing."
I saw in the periphery Asahina had her face turned away with a hand to cover her amusement, and Koizumi basked in his own soft smirk. Nagato was curious, in that same way that she could be confounded by the simplest things.
It's interesting to note that she is not wearing that toga like in the closed space,
but a beige short sleeve shirt and black pants with the length to her mid shin. "You changed?"
"Yes." She quacked from the side of her mouth.
She narrowed her eyes, then returned to her meal, maple covering her cheeks.
As the last piece of food disappeared, she pushed her plate back and turned.
"Huh. You're not bad at this." Well its not hard.
"Well, now that I've had my nourishment, I must ask about the business you had with the tramp." Her name is Sasaki, and she's never been bad to you or into me.
"You do know I could destroy her."
She has the same power as you. She's immune to anything you can do for that reason. Plus she does not want to rule the planet, unlike you, Miss Suzumiya, the glorious goddess or living goddess or what ever your title is now. You deserve to have that power taken away from you, Miss Irresponsible
"Hey, I've been very responsible. I saved millions. I got all the nations together and stopped the famines and the violence between all of them."
And in return, there are a billion people who want to take a knife and slit your throat. You traded away the peace we could have had as just some kids in Japan. Instead, you made this massive house of cards we have to live in. You have your power, but if it were togo away one day, you may find yourself in a sudden crushing situation.
"That's why I haven't gone and done anything ridiculous."
The spinning sun trip? A hot Russia? The 6000 executions? The zombies and magical creatures? The fact you run the place? Haha, I love playing with you. But really, nothing makes sense with you, you crazy woman you.
"Oh yeah. But those things were all fair since I could change them back."
Now you get it, you think you get it. Do you?
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She decided to drag us around the city of New York. We were moving with a hidden identity, but
people were noticing us as we moved along the length of Madison Ave. Haruhi wanted to shop, and was using Asahina as a dressing doll, while I ended up with a massive number of bags. Koizumi loitered off to the side with Nagato, trying to discuss various things about architechure.
Everything she purchased was hand-made, the finest that could ever be created without some mystical sense or a robot. Being around this stuff made it clear: You can teach me about all sorts of high class things, it won't make me high class, though I don't think I'm low class.
Macy's was then our next target. Not just an average Macy's but the most famous of them all, the one on 34th street. If we waited till the holiday season, the floats would be here with the snow and ice behind it, really crowded by tourists.
She continued to shop until we had enough to leave me a few straws short of a broken camel.
Why do you push me so hard?
"Hey you owe me, you left a day early and that bimbo came on to you."
First of all, I wanted to catch that lecture. He might die soon. It was important and I had a ticket to go back, I wasn't gonna waste it.
"You could afford to take another plane, and I could have just manifested you back."
But you would not let me go. Don't be so clingy. And Sasaki doesn't see me that way, so stop saying shes a bimbo!
"Uhh!..." and she stomped off.
With the loads of goods in (MY) tow, we walked to a vendor on the street. Now some may think that its a bad idea to buy anything from a fat Italian guy with a dirty cart, but an informed person will know that you're more likely to find a Cuban, Egyptian or a Bangladeshi guy these days and the law is extremely tough on them to keep clean. Ours was selling kebab and hot dogs. Haruhi, Mikuru and Itsuki took a kebab, Yuki and I took a hot dog.
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We made it back to the apartment by the late afternoon after riding the sub. Asahina does not belong in a place where grabbing hands will grab all they can. Where's a cop?
As we came back, I walked in and I put the stuff down on the couch. Fortunately, the room was clean enough to put everything down. Thank god I don't get a lot of stuff these days. Just some old figures and a bookcase of a few movies, shows and games, a couple dozen CD's and a single vinyl.
Haruhi pushed my stereo button and she put on a song of her's on. We don't listen to the same music, and we don't expect to agree. Sometimes though, we do agree.
She then decides to connect an MP3 player to the machine and picks a ridiculous song, that one where the guy sings over the same instrumental line over and over. Its the part where the cop's running home.
Haruhi sat on a seat near mine in the living room. She seemed pensive. Not like her.
She turned to me.
"Kyon, I wondered about something. If we had been born into different lives and I had the same power, would it have been right of me to maybe make our lives like they are now?"
That's a very deep question. I think I would be fine.
Koizumi chimed in, "I think shes wondering if it would be at expense to the future and to our other possible selves."
I'm sure it would be fine. As for all our incarnations in the E8 or the vanishment, god bless them all.
"You intended that pun didn't you?" pumps an annoyed Haruhi.
OH. YEAH.
And the radio blares!
"Now pause the movie cos what I'm about to say to ya'll is so damn twisted,
Not only is there a man in his cabinet, but the man... is a MIDGET!"
Pffft, HA HA HA! Everyone yelled (Except Nagato) in uproarous laughter. Even our most held together esper was holding his side. That line took him by surprise.
"Oh...Pfffftt, HA! Ahhhmmm." He let his head down, barely able to contain himself.
Yuki stared at us in that same manner that she always had going. She probably got it, but yet no.
Somethings never change.
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Haruhi bugged Mikuru about trying on a gown she had bought for herself. Yuki was in front of a powerbook, trying to chat with someone on the web. She seems to have grown into a more open girl,
but she was still the same acquiescent, ambient little woman I always trusted. As I walked out the door to the balcony, I saw her stare at me, then return to the screen. Hmm?
I looked at the street 50 feet below. The street was busy, with small number of people making their way as twilight crept on the city.
A small Klack radiated from behind.
"Kyon." A smile greeted me. Koizumi, you try too hard.
"Hah, indeed I do."
Doesn't your security team know where you are?
"Oh, they always know where I am, and another one follows you right?"
Yeah, its good no one noticed. Even I didn't.
"Over the past few years, you've grown accustomed to your place at Suzumiya's side. I once thought that you would forever hold up a cold front, but you warmed up. Not as brightly as she has but, enough to where you're probably a new man."
Well, it's not like I'd change for just anybody but...
"I get that."
I almost remembered...the weird dream? Should I tell him? Ah, maybe another time.
We settled into a moment of silence, and business talk started.
Hmm. I wanted to ask, what have you learned about the other factions taking power?
"My Esper defense team tracked where the break in power came from, and we believe that Sasaki was ordered by her superiors to cut some more of Haruhi's strength away."
It figures that Sasaki would only do such things if someone else said to. She does seem to enjoy teasing me now. She knows how Haruhi is, less of an Amaterasu and more of a Hera. Instead of sitting in a cave, she'd definitely curse the hell out of, or just kill, everyone who touches me.
So, she'll still able to manifest of course like she did today?
"Yes. She is still able to use a great deal of power in a short span. We have found a problem: for one, we estimate that 40 percent of the force she carried disappeared and found that Sasaki only adds to about 30 percent. Someone out there is floating around with a good fraction of a god's power."
But shouldn't such power be infinite?
"You'd think that, but it seems to be less of an energy issue and more of an ability issue. Haruhi can still
do many things. She can track at short distances, read minds if she touches someone, and manifest as long as she knows where to go. Just as well you saw she has complete control over any closed space she forms. Of a few things she can't do anymore, she can't use precognition on large spaces or time tracks, she can't jump in time, and she can't revive people."
Hmm. So, for all intents and purposes, she really is not entirely a god anymore.
"Not quite. She still has an almost infinite effect on very short distances. This basically says she's neither omniscient nor omnipotent like before. She can't bend the world like she did a year ago. That sun event only happened once. When she told me she'd try again about a month ago, it did not happen. She also did not sense when Sasaki was with you, we told her."
Maybe things like that bugging her now are why she's been so particularly odd to me lately, like she has something to prove. A lot of information but I get it.
"Its good you've finally learned to understand my words when I talk. You used to glaze over almost every time. We can discuss the finer details another time."
Maybe its something Haruhi did. Something is bugging me. Koizumi...
When did you exactly plan on finally telling me that Haruhi was almost powerless?
The esper made his trademark smile. "When I was certain it was time." The sides of his cheeks darkened and in that second, a message sprang out, like a white bat out of a frozen hell.
Something weird is going down.
I turned my head to look into the window. Haruhi was agitated, bothering Mikuru. No changes ever.
The stereo was still on. It was out of my collection.
She was not paying attention as I stared.
She turned in my direction for a moment and I looked away.
.
Koizumi and Asahina were off to the side conversing, while I was trying to stop Haruhi from playing a ridiculous album of hers. Why you like it so much I don't get it. I stopped trying and walked off to the side to do something else.
Haruhi thought it would be funny to try to levitate Nagato's chair while she was in it. It was all fun and games until it bumped the ceiling.
"Ow." was the entity's response as a knock emanated from her skull.
Haruhi, could you tone it down?
"Why, is Mr. Wet Blanket afraid of some fun?" and a dartboard flew at my head, darts included.
You brat! That thing could kill me!
I had to act!
And before she knew it, my hands wrapped around her torso, her arms caught in my embrace, my legs tangling up in hers. We tipped onto the carpet and a wrestling match started. The longer it lasted, the more embarrassed and flustered she became as the other three looked on. If we were little kids, it would be good clean fun, but this was a pair of grown adults, with people watching. If only no one was there.
Haruhi managed to get a leg free and kick me in the ass. As my grip loosened, another leg was loose and she started kicking like no tomorrow. I let go and she let one fist loose on my face. I caught it in time, only to be humiliated when she got a picture frame to fly and smack the back of my head.
I was down, and Haruhi won another match. She proudly marched around the room. "HA. I am queen of the ring! Bow before me!" Whatever.
I laid on the floor for a moment and got up. One day Haruhi, victory will not be yours. Probably won't be mine anyway.
I took my bruised sorry ass to the kitchen and checked to see if there was a single works pizza slice left. Thankfully, it was still there. It disappeared and was washed down with a glass of a half drunk bottle of something I didn't right there recognize. As I finished up, I sat myself down and watched Haruhi in her hyper state, I started to nod off, the throbbing of my head a strange hypnotizer.
"Kerrang! Pum! Bur, bur, bur-bur-bur, bur-bur-bur-bur-bur-"
My cell phone ring tone. I check to see who it was.
The number reads...Hmm?
Imouto? Sister?
I open, "Hello?"
I hear a faint cry. This is not the sound I expected.
"Kyon...mmmffff" A sniffle. What was this?
What's wrong?
"I...I..got something to tell you..."
And words I did not expect to hear, or ever want to, entered my mind.
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I was catatonic. It seemed that I was making a show despite not moving. Haruhi noticed my expression first and her face changed.
"What's wrong? Kyon?"
It's nothing.
"No wait, tell us"
I can't tell you. My mouth to the phone, "Wait for me, sis!"
"Huh? Kyon. What is it."
I told them what had happened. Haruhi's mood completely switched. Everyone heard what I said.
I'm going. Now.
"Hey hold on-" "Kyon!"
I ran out to the street and called a taxi. It took a moment and one rushed to me. I got inside and pulled out my wallet. Get me to JFK!
My head was rushing as we were, moving street to street, across the Brooklyn Bridge. As we made it all the way over, I pulled out my cell.
I called the hotline for a plane to go and get me home as fast as I could. They had a plane being checked out. My seat would be ready for me as soon as I got there.
I could not trust Haruhi with a situation like this. She'd probably do something irresponsible.
Someone had to be there for my sister.
Who else would be there with my parents dead?
.
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In this chapter there was a gigantic set of authors notes that I felt just couldn't be here. Heres what they said in a few sentences.
A list of rules I set for myself. I think I might stick them on my profile.
Removed line that JB criticized.
Some stuff about music. I cut most of that out cause I felt it was unnatural.
I'm leaving these so people get somethings.
Refs:
-"YHWH" is Yahweh from hebrew, which turns to Jehovah in latin and means god.
-"Abh smile" refers to in Crest of the Stars when Lafiel freaked Baron Atosryua with a smile/glare that Abh are known to have and are feared for.
EDIT: Removed lyrics to follow guidelines.