if I seem too enthusiastic, but I love Chobits and I wanted a fresh twist on it (adding in a few other CLAMP stories of course). Sorry in advance for all the gratuitous foreign phrases, but hey, now you'll have some fun trying to figure out what it all means, right? If you haven't noticed it's extremely AU.
First poem is a translation from a song that I'll (hopefully) upload soon to YouTube, and the second is original.
Everything is connected by
A single, blue wire
It hovers above us like a giant spiderweb
Please don't get caught in
In your face, there is no complaints,
We are both trapped here in this…
Wired Life
Chapter 6: Unwoven
"The dream will soon end."
Those words will forever haunt me. Why should it end? Maybe life is a dream that we keep on dreaming, and only when we die, we'll wake up? No, I don't want to believe that! I refuse to believe this lie you've spun in your silken web. I can't possibly be you, can I?
Can I really be you? Can you really be me? Who are we?
Maybe the answer sounds like "new" and "key", or maybe not. A key to my heart. A new key to my heart.
Why did you wait for so long for me, the one you dragged you into slavery?
Did lips painted with poison come into my room? Or was that me who drugged you into delirium? Somehow I think it was a joint effort. There are many ways to become immortal, and that man died because the strain on his sanity was far too much, knowing the secret that he uncovered.
I know now why I am to be your successor. Why "The Game" must be played. You are the referee from the other side, guiding me in this life.
I was meant to find…
...
Chii had the day off today, which, she had to admit, had been great so far. That meant she could go to the bookstore with Hideki after work. It was Saturday, but he didn't have to work that night if they had enough people to handle the weekend overflow of patrons. Though, right now she was keeping busy by folding up the clothes she had just finished washing. Ms. Hibiya had taught her how to do so about a month ago, and Chii was excited to learn all the specificities.
Oh, it was easy, just sort the clothes, add the soap, and turn on the machine. 1 2 3, easy as that. The drying part was even better, because the clothes came out nice and warm.
Chii held the stacks of clothes in her arms, ready to put them in the closet. Still, she stopped outside the window when something odd caught her eye. A girl with bright coral pink hair was sitting on a roof in the distance. She was dressed in a red and black striped trench coat and looking upwards at the sky. Her hair cascaded backwards, shining in the sun, and reached nearly to her feet, with two oujo ringlets near her cheeks.
A pair of white ears that resembled those of a rabbit's stuck out of the top of her head.
"Hi!" yelled Chii outside the window. "Is it fun up there on the roof?"
The girl noticed Chii and her caramel eyes seemed to light up. With a giant leap from the rooftop, she disappeared from Chii's line of sight.
The Chobit searched for her outside the window, but the girl was already gone.
...
Miimii and Fiifii continued to attack Garrett, spinning and swinging with their limber arms and legs. It was futile, though, considering how fast his reaction speed was in comparison. No matter how many models Kupari had upgraded their memories into; the twins never could quite get ahead of the determined Chobit. It was always cat-and-mouse with them anyways.
"Stand still so we can—," began Miimii, giving a bloodthirsty grin.
"Chop you to bits, ja!" finished her sister, who had the same murderous smile.
Behind them, Kupari was preparing for his next attack; in his hands was an open leather book with yellowing and frayed pages. Even after he started hunting down Amber and her Partner, the man hadn't bothered to memorize any of the attacks he planned to use against them. On the pages before him, he couldn't help but snicker at the glowing declaration in the S-Registry:
PACTOR MAGUS- Amber-Nicole Lee-Young
ASSERTOR FAMULUS- Garrett Smith
SOCIUS PACTIO – Active
He flipped through the pages and found exactly what he was looking for. He hoped the twins would keep her bodyguard busy long enough for him to complete the capture. One hand he stretched forward over the pages and chanted in a low voice:
"Unam sagittam tenebrae caperet virgo," he said as a black ribbon burst forth from the air above his hand. It shot across the room, which distracted Garrett for a millisecond, allowing Fiifii to push him away long enough for her to bolt toward Amber. "Et ligare eius ad mea voluntas!" The dark ribbon morphed into an arrow, which came very close to grabbing the girl.
'Tuokaa minulle sydämesi,' thought Kupari, nearly giggling from his giddy mood. He had been so terrible in those fights against her before, but that was years ago and he had practiced so often since then. To think he had lost before to mere children! Unthinkable now, really.
Or so he thought.
Through the tears, she could still make out the dark shape of his attack streaking toward her. It had taken a moment to break through her internal restraints, but eventually the power came flowing out, almost too much for her to control.
"Flore flante ventus incidere!" shouted Amber, waving her hand in front of her face before the darkness could reach her. A strong wind slashed at the ribbon and tore it to pieces, fanning out for a few meters. It even stretched to Fiifii, who had been trying to attack her directly. When the Persocom realized it was headed for her as well, she leaned to the right sharply. Part of her dress was caught in the spell, and was quickly morphed into a shower of black rose petals.
Fiifii wasn't deterred that easily, however. She still found a way to bound up the steps and try to strike Amber off-guard. Her hands fastened around the girl's neck, which, coupled with Amber struggling against her, caused both to eventually tumble down the stairway.
"Amber!" Garrett looked behind him to see the two girls fall amidst the broken glass.
Minoru and Yuzuki sat horrified at the sight before them. Both were wondering whether or not to try and find help, but how useful law enforcement would be in this situation was debatable.
"You will not escape," said Fiifii, tightening her grip. She had to keep the girl alive, of course, but she was having so much fun squeezing the life out of her pretty little throat.
Amber felt around desperately for something, since her legs weren't responding to kick off her assailant. There were only splinters of glass surrounding them, and she was very close to passing out. Somehow, though, when she reached out to find a weapon, luck was finally on her side. One dagger-sided shard had fallen to the ground without breaking completely, and she spotted it through the dark haze beginning to blur her vision. Without hesitating she grabbed it and thrust it into FiiFii's back.
It jarred the 'com for a moment, long enough for Amber to roll away. Glass dug into her palms as she tried to crawl away. Garrett took this opportunity to dropkick Miimii, which sent her flying into Kupari. He sprinted over to Amber and helped her to stand.
"You ok?"
"Peachy," she rasped, touching her neck gently. There were dark hand marks encircling it.
"Curse you!" said Kupari, spittle flying from his mouth. Pushing Miimii away, he pointed at Amber and Garrett, twirling a finger. "Ventus aqua alba caligo gradum, in ossa, eos somnum!"
In time with the twirling, the air began to dance, circling round and round. A thick white fog gathered in the middle of the whirlwind. It spread out in a blanket over the floor, rising steadily and diffusing with the air. Amber held her breath, fighting the wave of exhaustion saturating her bones.
Minoru wasn't so lucky; he fell unconscious once the air reached him, and Yuzuki had to catch him so he wouldn't fall head first into the wall beside them.
"Finish them already!" said Garrett impatiently. These three had bothered them enough.
Socius pactio, dimittere!
For a moment, the two of them glowed, but it faded quickly. The glare distracted their opponents long enough for Amber to unleash her final attack. "Aeternum et semper sol luceat in Elysium." she said to herself, quoting the words from her half-remembered dream.
Kupari and his drones all collectively shivered.
"Purgatio lux," she whispered. "Your cries for mercy will go unheard!"
Light cascaded from the space in front of Amber's palm, wrapping them in thick tendrils that shone with an untarnished white glow. Garrett took the still solid bands in one hand, and yanked on them downwards, crushing the three of the villains until…
Pop!
They seemed to explode into a colorful assortment of confetti.
But it wasn't quite that. At that moment, Minoru woke up, as well as the other Persocoms that had earlier been unresponsive. Yuzuki and her master climbed to their feet and watched the colors rain upon the ground and quickly disappear into nothingness.
"I don't understand," said Minoru. His eyes were resting on where Kupari and his Persocoms had once been.
"We banished them," said Garrett, "they're far away from us at the moment." The Chobit looked to the book Kupari had been holding. It was open on the ground at his feet and burned almost beyond recognition.
The girl was walking
In the garden, when
She found a black rabbit
With a sapphire circle
On its head.
A small jingling sound
Sent her tumbling to the floor
And she found she couldn't
Do much magic any more
Minoru sat down staring into the charred book within his lap, reading over whatever pages had managed to remain intact. Beside him Yuzuki also was examining the artifact, and inscribed whatever useful data she could into her memory banks.
"Let me get this straight," said Minoru, fighting back a dark chuckle. "You guys want me to believe that there's this war going on called…"
"I believe it is 'The Game' Minoru," said Yuzuki. "I've been researching it since they mentioned its existence." She drew the connector cables from her head and plugged it into the panoramic screen opposite his desk.
"This is the only relevant entry pertaining to this topic that match what we have seen."
On screen they saw explosions of light, and Garrett saw Amber flinch in the corner of his eye. She was leaned away from him on the couch, and staring at the action on the screen. Four people were on screen, all of them human by the looks of it. They were fighting obviously, and spells were cascading back and forth faster than a normal person could track with their eyes.
Minoru examined the exchange with an increasing curiosity. So this has been going on? Why would this site contain information on The Game if it was so secret?
And exactly how many players were there?
"For now," said Garrett, pointing to the tome, "I believe that book is all the explanation you will need."
"But how?" Minoru shook his head. "It's nearly impossible to read." Even if he could read what was in the pages, what was he to do with the information?
"Amber," said Garrett, "Do you think you can still circumvent the seal long enough to fix it?"
"Maybe," she responded, gripping her right wrist with her other hand and rubbing it with her thumb. "May I?" After a moment she held out her hands to Minoru and he gave her the book. "I didn't mean to damage it so badly." Her eyes scanned the cover, assessing the damage.
'Breathe, breathe, try and…'
Before their eyes the book began to grow lighter, the soot covering it receding slowly. Her hair was blown slightly by an invisible wind as the transformation took place, moving as if she were standing underwater.
'Just a little more…'
The book suddenly reverted to its original condition, and Amber slumped to the floor, dropping it as she did, landing on her hands and knees. Garrett calmly helped her up and let her lean on him for support.
"Overdoing it again, are we?" he said, smiling sadly.
"Shut up," she whispered, failing to push him away. Her arms felt numb.
"I think it's best we leave, Kokubunji," he said. Gesturing to the book, Garrett ran his fingers through his hair. "Consider it a gift." He grimaced. "Sorry about your windows, though."
…
When the two were outside of the manor's gates, Amber nearly collapsed. Even though she was being held up by Garrett, her legs buckled, nearly bringing them both down.
"Maybe I should carry you," said Garrett.
"Maybe you shouldn't," she countered weakly. At this point she had her Persocom ears back on, so at least their excuse could be that she was deactivated. It would be embarrassing, even if people thought she was just a computer. He scooped her up into his arms anyway, carrying her bridal style. She didn't have the energy to argue about it or fight him, really.
They arrived at the apartment a little after lunch, which, incidentally, was a little after Hideki's Saturday shift ended. No surprise that they met the young man when they got there.
"Oh, Smith-san," he said, noticing the two ascending upstairs. "You need help or something?"
"Help?" said Garrett. Whatever did he mean by that?
"Amber's not too heavy for you, is she?" he said rather bluntly. His face was quite sympathetic, remembering the first time he brought Chii home from the trash pile.
'Riiiight,' thought Garrett. He forgot that Persocoms weighed quite a bit when deactivated. And he wasn't even struggling with the unconscious girl at all, so it looked quite suspicious. Well, even if she were an actual Persocom, he wouldn't have any trouble. Considering the fact that all his parts were military-grade quality, he was capable of much more than this.
"Maybe a little," he said, making sure to try and put a little strain into his voice. "But I can handle it."
"You don't need to borrow a charger, do you?"
Was he nice or what? That was Hideki, always looking to help everyone.
"Nah, I'm good."
He hurried up the stairs faster than Hideki thought possible, but the boy didn't think much of it and continued on to his own apartment.
…
"Chii, I'm home!" said Hideki. He sauntered into the apartment with light, springy steps. Who else was there to meet him, but his Persocom-turned-girlfriend, Chii? She stopped whatever she was doing and went to greet him.
"HIDEKI!" said Chii, tackling him as usual. "How was work?"
Ignoring the possibly bruised ribs, Hideki laughed. "Great, today was an easy day."
"Really, Hideki? Chii thinks that's great!" She kissed him on the lips and gave him a tight hug. He hugged her back and tried not to blush too much as she laid her head against his chest. For some reason, she was over-occupied with listening to his heartbeat. When he would question her about it, she would say that it was a 'nice sound that Chii really likes'.
After a moment he held her at arm's length. "Ready to go the bookstore?"
"Yes!"
After a few minutes they were ready to go, and Chii was smiling from ear to ear, skipping beside Hideki. He wondered if her kawaiiko display of happiness would attract many busybodies, but it seemed the sidewalk wasn't very populated this afternoon.
When they arrived, Chii went straight for the picture books and Hideki headed for the Seinen manga.
It had taken only a few minutes of searching, but Hideki had found a few volumes that sparked his interest. Chii had strangely taken longer than usual to find something she liked, but he went to find her nonetheless.
Among the colorful covers, Chii stood and stared transfixed at one particular book. It had the picture of a small, doll-like figure. Her eyes were closed, with a tear descending from one of them, and her hands were folded as if she were begging for something. Her hair was long, and reached to her waist. The title read "The Broken Doll", and Chii tilted her head slightly as if confused. She wondered if Ms. Hibiya had written another series, but this obviously was not under the same pen name as before. It did have the same melancholy aura, though.
Chii already had a small cheery book called "Kirimi Dousen" pressed to her chest, but for some reason she was inexplicably drawn to the darkly illustrated tome.
"You found something that you like, Chii?" Hideki asked, trying not to stare at the sad-looking book on the shelf before him. He suddenly found a bright pink, yellow and green paperback hovering in front of his face.
"Wow," he said, trying to recover from the assaulting colors. "Okay, and it's not that much either."
"Chii also saw another book," she said, pointing to the one she'd been examining before.
"The Broken Doll?" said Hideki, looking it over. He picked it up and found the violet and azure book was nearly an inch thick. Flipping through the illustrations, he shrugged. On the back was a small blurb:
Once upon a time, I was whole, and once upon a time, I was a real person…I even had found love. But that was before Fate decided to step in.
Now that was what he called a dark children's book. Maybe he shouldn't buy this one; last time he bought something like this, freaky stuff had happened with Chii, and…
Chii somehow had mastered the puppy dog pout—probably from watching too much TV when he was away. Hideki looked for a means of escape but there were none. Her face was too adorable to fight off on his own. Hideki bought both books without dwelling much more on any possible future implications.
Little did he know that that itty bitty book would someday help save his life.
The World Tree binds us all
The Heart of Times Eternal
She is the gateway to such a place
Her sister became the barrier maiden
Long Ago, but her love drove her to embrace the role Fully
The Two are opposites, yet so similar
And the Butterfly Holds the Key to the Gates
Darkness must never dwell there, or else
Elysium will fall
Wild Mass Guesses are now being accepted!