Chapter 2: Lurking in the Shadows
When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying in dew covered grass. The feral girl was lying on top of me. The grass around us was depressed into a circle, and there was a trail of destruction along the ground, including a concrete walkway that had been shattered by some unknown force. I was quickly made aware of the presence of people around me, and I saw quickly that they were all wearing the same uniform as myself, the uniform of the prestigious Fuuka Academy. I noticed the strange obsidian blade that had accompanied my strange companion through our journey now imbedded beside us in the circle of grass.
A young woman wearing a lime green blazer approached us. She introduced herself as Haruka Suzushiro, head of the Disciplinary Committee. She was accompanied by a couple of young men in white uniforms. She asked them to escort us to the school's infirmary. The school's nurse, a woman named Yohko Sagisawa, confirmed that I was in good health, at which point I was instructed to go to the Student Council Room.
I was greeted at the room by a tall young woman with long, tawny hair, and the most eerie, haunting eyes. They were crimson as blood, and made all the more unsettling due to the strangely serene smile on her face.
"You're Miss Tokiha, yes?" She spoke with a gracious tone, and an unfamiliar but soothing accent, "I'm the Student Council President, Shizuru Fujino. We'll begin shortly. Please sit at that desk there. Miss Suzushiro, head of our Disciplinary Committee, would like to ask a few questions. Don't you worry, though. I'll rein her in should she get too exuberant."
Exuberant is certainly an apt word for describing Haruka Suzushiro. She tore into me immediately, demanding to know how I had created the "crop circle" on the front lawn of the school, as well as accusing me of being responsible for the strange weapon that the girl from the ship had brought with her. However, before the interrogation could drag on further, the door to the Student Council Room opened, and none other than Mr. Tate announced that I had a visitor. I was relieved to see my brother, Takumi, being brought in. He was so relieved to see me alive and well, after we had been separated by the sinking steam ship,
While Takumi was tearfully expressing his relief at my survival, President Fujino was as good as her word, somehow quelling the fires of Miss Suzushiro's fiery temper. I was also introduced to her Vice President, a tall, dark-haired young man named Reito Kanzaki. He was strikingly handsome, and had an air of confidence and warmth. I felt myself drawn to him.
We were escorted from the Student Council Room by Mr. Tate.
"Everyone has been so on edge lately," He explained, "There have been strange goings-on. Shapes lurking in the darkness. Students attacked by strange animals. Noises coming from the buildings, like rats in the walls…It's all just so odd. And when we investigate, there's nothing there. And then you show up perfectly fine after the ship went down…"
Mr. Tate and I, as it turned out, were in the same class together. However, I was fortunate to also make some friends among the female members of the class. Particularly a bespectacled tomboyish girl named Chie Harada, and cheerful young maiden named Aoi Sennoh. They offered to show me around the campus after class, and familiarize me with the layout.
"Fuuka was actually designed by a man named Erich Zahn. He was also responsible for our sister campus overseas, Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. We have one of the best libraries in the Eastern Hemisphere. You should really check out the rare books section."
"I'll be certain to do that," I replied gave a noncommittal reply. Then I spotted someone across the quad from us. I'd only seen her once before, but those delicate feminine features, that midnight blue hair, those sparkling emerald eyes, she was unmistakable.
"Who is she?" I inquired.
"Natsuki Kuga," Aoi Sennoh replied.
"It's not often you see her on campus," Chie agreed.
I realized, all too well, that she was moving in the direction of the school's infirmary. The strange girl who had been fighting her before was there, and this Kuga woman had already demonstrated a willingness to murder her with a frightening casualness. Indeed, she'd already taken a deliberate shot at me, and it would have been my death had some strange force not protected me.
I couldn't allow her to complete her objective, if her objective was to murder the young girl in the infirmary.
I excused myself from the company of me peers and tried to make my way to the infirmary.
I didn't make it that far, though. I was suddenly waylaid by the very person I sought. She was on top of me in an instant, preparing to strike, when there was a sudden rumbling of her stomach, and she collapsed on top of me.
I took her to my dorm room, which was, fortunately enough, equipped with a kitchen. I quickly prepared a small meal for my impromptu guest, who informed me between ravenous bites of food that her name was Mikoto Minagi. And then, having finished her meal, she declared me a good person, and then leapt from dorm window, three stories up!
No human should have been capable of making that landing unharmed. At the very least, multiple bones should have been broken. And yet, Minagi was unharmed. Her body, from what I'd seen of it, was almost entirely muscle. She had little to no fat to speak of, and her strength was undeniable.
But I couldn't allow her to run off without ensuring her safety.
I was following her into the forest behind the Academy, when I had an unexpected encounter.
Natsuki Kuga was sitting astride a motorcycle, fastening a leather helmet to her head and lowering her goggles.
"You! I should go to the police and inform them about you!"
She looked at me, and scoffed, another mirthless smile on her face.
"Feel free," she said with her husky voice, "The police couldn't do anything. They're powerless against the forces lurking in the shadows of Fuuka Academy."
"She's right, you know," a voice called from the trees. I looked up to see the albino from the ship, his body bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun. He was looking away from us. His eyes turned to regard us.
"Nagi!" Natsuki hissed the name with utter disdain. Did that make him my friend, or was she the enemy of my enemy?
"There's a lost one nearbye, Natsuki-Hime, Mai-Hime," he smiled that unsavory smile of his, "Can't you feel it?"
"An orphaned shoggoth?" Natsuki looked concerned.
"Shoggoth?" I repeated.
"This concerns you, especially, Mai," Nagi tossed something in my direction. I caught it.
It was the bottle of nitroglycerin pills. Takumi's nitroglycerin pills.
"I'd hurry if I were you," Nagi stepped off the branch, and was gone.
"Takumi!"
Natsuki fired up her motorcycle. It was clear that she had every intention of investigating this shoggoth thing she'd spoken of.
I stood in the path of her motorcycle.
"Get out of the way," She commanded.
"No!"
"Move it!"
"I said 'No'!" I stood my ground, "I need to save Takumi!"
I saw something spark in her eyes, and she smirked, then nodded behind her, "Get on."
I did as she instructed. I had never ridden a motorcycle before and it wasn't considered particularly ladylike. I wondered if Kuga's driver's license was legitimate or if she was flouting the laws of the land. But for now, all that mattered was getting to Takumi, and saving him. And Kuga seemed willing to aid me in that endeavor, so I would have to trust her, whether she comported herself with ladylike grace or not.
Takumi was in a clearing beside a cliff, and he was surrounded by three dark forms. They were shifting and writhing. Masses of gelatinous flesh, innumerable eyes, multiple mouths full of long, needle-like teeth, and amorphous tendrils and tentacles wriggling in all directions, all advancing on my brother. There was a strange noise coming from them, "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
I was horrified by these things that were preparing to attack Takumi.
"Orphans," Natsuki growled.
"Orphans?" I mused, "I thought you said Shoggoth. What are they? How do we stop them?"
"Shoggoth are creatures from before the dawn of man. They were made eons ago by some force that predates man, but they rose up and destroyed their masters. Shoggoth will respond to any will stronger than their own," Natsuki flexed her hands, and a pair of pistols appeared. She fired on the shoggoth advancing on Takumi, which drew their attention to us, "Some shoggoth have no masters. Those are Orphans."
"But what about an Orphan that has a master?" I asked, cringing as the things advanced now on us.
She gave me a smile, a genuine smile, then motioned for me to step back.
"Duran!" Natsuki called.
There was an explosion of ice and mist, and the wolflike creature I had seen aboard the ship. He seemed to be inherently hostile to the creatures that were preparing to attack us.
"A shoggoth that bonds with a Hime is called a Child," Natsuki said, "And Duran is mine. A Child represents the heart and soul of the Princess he's bonded to."
Somehow, I could see the connection between them. This beast of ice clearly reflected Kuga's personality, but while cold, he was clearly loyal, and he put himself between his mistress and the unnatural aberrations, which were now merging into a singular form.
One of them launched out with a tendril, aimed at me. I screamed. I remember screaming. And then…the pseudopod which had lanced out against me was gone, smoldering in flames at my feet. I opened my eyes to see a set of strange ornamented rings spinning around my arms and legs. They produced a high-pitched whistling noise as they spun, and then began to glow, until fire erupted from them. There was a stream of fire, which lashed out against the joint creature attacking us like a whip.
"I thought so," Natsuki smirked, "You're a Hime, too."
"That's your Element," I heard Nagi's voice, "It's the proof that you have the power of a Hime. But it won't be enough if you want to save your precious brother."
There was a sudden commotion, and then I saw Mikoto, still now wielding her obsidian blade, which glistened in the moonlight, as she leapt from the top of the cliff, bringing the sharp edge of the sword down on the amorphous thing which was attacking us. Seemingly by instinct, I felt myself rising into the air and I snatched Takumi in my arms and held him to me. My dearest little brother, the only blood relative I had in the world, the person who I owed my very life, as the injury to his heart was borne of my own negligence. I would allow no harm to befall him. He was precious to me.
The Orphan thing which Mikoto sliced with her blade split cleanly, foul smelling black ichor spewing forth from the breach in a violent jet, covering everything in its path in the toxic liquid. Plants that were struck by it began to hiss and smoke as they quickly dissolved. What must such a vitriolic fluid do to human flesh? I dared not find out.
"You're pretty strong, Mai," Mikoto was enthusiastically cheering me, "Your Element is almost as powerful as Miroku here."
She indicated her blade.
"I'm not sure what's going on," I replied, weakly. Strong? I certainly didn't feel strong. I felt overwhelmed. This madness was threatening to consume my sanity.
"You two…" Natsuki sighed. Was her tone threatening or exasperation? I'm not certain, but Mikoto, seeing the woman who had previously attempted to kill her, took an aggressive posture, bringing her sword to bear once again.
"Stop!" I shouted, "Whatever is going on, please just stop! I won't see the two of you hurt each other."
I had become convinced that despite her earlier actions, Natsuki was not inherently evil. An evil person does not aid someone in need, as she did me. And I had spent the afternoon with Mikoto, feeding her. She struck me as naïve, childish, but certainly not a monster. Surely their quarrel was the result of a misunderstanding?
"She's right," Nagi was prancing about carelessly atop a boulder, his demeanor surprising and shockingly light, though his tone remained mocking and snide, "The Hime aren't allowed to fight one another. Besides, I believe you ladies are celebrating a might bit too soon."
He was correct. The wounded creature suddenly reformed itself into two beasts, and I remembered that it had been formed by the merging of three of these shoggoth monstrosities. The linking one in the middle had been killed by Mikoto's attack, but the other two organisms had survived, and were now regrouping to renew their attack.
One started flying, having generated some sort of appendage for that purpose, and was advancing on me as I carried Takumi, mercifully unconscious, in my arms. The other sprouted several extra limbs and had backed Mikoto and Natsuki into a corner. Duran was still by Natsuki's side, growling at the beast, but it was far larger than he, and if Duran's artillery posed any threat to it, the mutant aberration gave no indication of fear.
Backed against the face of the cliff, I felt something. A strange, almost calming presence. Some force was reaching out to me. There were crystals glowing and a sword impaling the rock.
"This is yours. Your Child. Kagutsuchi. He's waiting for you, Mai-Hime. But his power comes at a price. If you contract with him, you will have to risk what is most precious to you. To save a life, you must risk a life."
I nodded in understanding, "My own, yes? A blood contract to allow me to be able to protect my brother. I accept."
There was a sharp heat within my womb* and I called out the name, "Kagutsuchi!"
I was engulfed immediately in a pillar of fire, though I felt no heat, save for in the center of my body. There was a sharp pain, which I imagine was analogous to the pain of giving birth. Then he was literally to be my Child, then?
And then he emerged from the flames. Natsuki said that these creatures conformed themselves to the feelings in our hearts? If hers was a noble and majestic wolf that reflected her innate loyalty and fierceness, then what did this thing say of my soul? It was a beast with wings of fire, a strange songlike voice, and a mouth filled with rows and rows of daggerlike teeth. Was my soul truly so monstrous as to produce such an abomination? The very sight of it chilled my heart.
It turned to face the beast attacking us, and it hissed, serpentlike, at the thing. I sensed somehow, perhaps some psychic link between myself and my newfound progeny, what he intended to do. I called out a dire warning to Natsuki and Mikoto, begging them to flee. There was a strange whirring noise, and Kagutsuchi's throat bulged, like a frog or toad thrumming in the pond. Only this was not some mere croaking of communication. That bulge was my "offspring" building something up in its throat, and as Natsuki and Mikoto turned to run, Kagutsuchi expectorated a ball of liquid fire that consumed all that it touched. There was a look of alarm and fear on the face of the creature in front of me, and then it was gone, consumed by the blast. It's sibling was in the path, whether by design of Katgutsuchi's or mere fortune I know not, and it was similarly engulfed in flame and perished. As were all of the trees in the path of the onslaught, which carved a mile long gash in the vegetation on the hilliside where we'd found ourselves.
When the dust settled, there was only an swath of ash, from which Natsuki and Mikoto emerged, mercifully unharmed.
"Hey, Mai…" Natsuki looked at me with a strange concerned smile. That's the last thing I recall before all was merciful blackness.
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Author's note: The prequel novel, Natsuki no Prelude, mentions Natsuki feeling a heat in her womb when she first summons Duran, and so this idea has precedent in the Mai-HiME universe.