* FEY: la belle dame sans larmes *
a tale oF jusEnkYo
[begun] 06/02/01
[ended] 07/01/01
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
< . . . announced at 10:55 this morning that they
will attempt to initiate peace talks with
Councilman Herb of the United Federation of
Qing-Hai. Beijing officials believe that this is in
the best interest of civilians living in the area
around UFQH. In the other news, Prime Minister
Abiko . . . >
I hit the radio again, trying to clear the static.
Didn't work very well the first time, but it
cleared up a bit after a few harder hits.
You know, the noise does sound kinda like the
cicada after awhile. Always present, and always
loud. Eventually, you just don't notice it
anymore.
< . . . Fey sightings in the Greater Tokyo area.
Witnesses say that . . . >
Dunno, I don't notice a lot of things. The tatami's
gotten quite a bit blacker since I moved here, but
it's not as if I ever actually see it getting black.
Tried to clean it up a few weeks ago, but I didn't
know how.
Tanaka-san hasn't gotten back to me about that
yet. Hope she does soon.
God, the fucking sky. The fucking beautiful
sky . . .
I like that window. I really do. Got Shiro-san to
come up here from the town and help me with
the carpentry and everything. It took a bit of
work, but the result was a hell of a lot better than
the dinky little window Tanaka-san's husband
put in back when they were building the house.
The view's excellent, but . . .
< . . . Yokohama Hourly, on FM 97.8.
Information provided by the Central News
Network and Denzu Incorporated. Additional
funding from Anaheim Electronics. Now for a
brief . . . >
Well, that's my opinion.
Tanaka-san says it's pretty plain. She's right, of
course. You can't see anything but sea and the
hills descending to the beach. They say the water
used to be lower, but that's before I was born.
You can still see the tops of the buildings in the
water.
Early in the evening, the lights in the sunken city
turn on. Don't have any idea how that works, but
I do know that the electric lines are still powered
by the generator out east in old Shinjuku. It's . . .
it's like looking at stars, you know?
And if that ain't worth it, the sky is.
< . . . Watanabe Shinichi Productions! The
newest motion picture, featuring the leading
actress, Ayanami . . . >
Back when in Yokohama, I never looked at the
sky. Life's way too busy for anyone to have that
kinda time. Then . . . well, then . . . umm, I got a
bit of money after my father died. Never really
knew him too well, but I can't say I was happy.
I put some of the stuff in the stocks, and I'm
making a bit each quarter. The rest is in the bank.
It's a living of sorts. Not a very good one, but
enough to get by if you're living on minimal
expenses.
5:44 PM.
Wonder if that girl'll be there again?
***
F those+who+are+fated+to+die
= * la belle | a tale . . .
E * dame | of . . .
= * sans larmes | jusenkyo . . .
Y those+who+are+fated+to+cry
by SeventhOne
***
"I met a lady in the meads
Full beautiful, a faery's child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild."
-- John Keats
---
fey adj 1: slightly insane [syn: touched (p)] 2:
suggestive of an elf in strangeness and
otherworldliness; "thunderbolts quivered with
elfin flares of heat lightning"; "the fey quality
was there, the ability to see the moon at
midday"- John Mason Brown [syn: elfin]
-- WordNet 1.6. Copyright the Princeton
University, 1997.
***
[Red Side: 1998]
Tendo Nabiki
*** Rejoined channel #skeptics
*** Topic is 'I want to believe.'
*** Set by GrassyKnoll on Oct 29 10:18:32
<nabs> found some more docs on the topic
<Xman> Oh?
<nabs> the stronger he gets, the stronger the
influence of the summerlands in the outside
world
<nabs> he's a gate
<Xman> The stronger he gets in martial arts?
<nabs> that isnt really martial arts anymore
<nabs> that's magic
---
"The gates to the Country of a Thousand
Summers are numerous, and they appear as they
will wherever they wish."
-- Shinto manuscript, circa 1670.
---
<Xman> Is your sister well?
<nabs> she's worried about him
<nabs> his 'friends' are pissing him off too much
<Xman> I suppose that he'll get even stronger if
this goes on.
<nabs> probably
---
"In the western mountains, they speak of a pass
marked on no map, and seen by no living man.
Through it is the trail to the country known in
the tales of our fathers as the 'Land of Summer,'
or the 'Soft Lands.'"
---
<Xman> Any signs of change from her, though?
<nabs> my sis? no. i doubt the influence on her
is as strong as it is on him
<nabs> not by a lot. he's high fey at the least
<Xman> How far is he along?
<nabs> he beat the phoenix back in '85, but thats
old news
---
"It is said that, in that place, the descendants of
the wise folk of Kun Lun live still. The legends
are not but mere words, but pages of history. The
creatures of yore are alive . . . "
---
<nabs> new news ...
<Xman> Yes?
<nabs> well ... his hair is beginning to turn
colors, and his face is changing slightly
<nabs> hope this doesn't continue
<nabs> the old witch says that when his powers
get to the max, the sleeping fey will awake
<nabs> then, supposedly, there's gonna be hell
on earth
<nabs> not sure if i can trust her, but what she
sez feels pretty sound
---
"Once touched by the magics of that place, one
is bound to it forever . . . Those bound are
known as the 'Inhuman,' -- the Fei Ren Rei. They
are also known as the 'Children of Summer' . . ."
-- excerpt from Folks Legends of Xi Ning,
Transliterated and compiled by James
Carter-Chen, 1982. The original manuscript
appeared in a traditional almanac published in
1923. Author unknown.
---
<Xman> Does your sister know yet?
<nabs> no
<nabs> is there any way to make them normal?
<Xman> If they're fey, then they were fated to
become fey from the moment they were born.
That's the way is works
<nabs> ...
<nabs> this is going to be painful, isn't it, fox?
<Xman> Nothing we can do about it.
<Xman> I'm sorry.
Quits: nabs (nabs@ppt0945.nexusnet.co.jp)
(QUIT: Connection reset by peer.)
---
"Do not eat of the fruits in the Summerlands, for
if you do, you shall not be able to leave."
-- Irish folklore.
---
<Xman> I hate this.
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
Hmm, on with the radio. Keeps me a little
company, this does. Now, markers, pad . . . there.
< . . . states that the PRC hopes to earn the
support of President Jack Lysias. As of this
morning, Washington hasn't made a public reply.
Experts believe that . . . >
I have this odd habit.
Like, every now and then, I write down the little
stray thoughts that go through my head. I don't
really keep a diary. Tried to do one when I was
in junior high, but . . . it's really just a burden.
Not a good thing at all. Instead, I just keep a
notebook, and I add dates when I remember to.
There's little sketches in it, and stuff. I'm pretty
good at doing that. I use ballpoint pen and
notebook paper, and maybe some markers if I
happen to be carrying them. If not, I sketch first
and color later. Nothing really big and artsy, and
most drawings aren't any wider than my finger.
< . . . sightings have ceased in the Greater Tokyo
Area. Spokesman Kuwabara Kazuma of the
JSDF indicates that a curfew might be enforced
in the next few days. There are suspicions of
terrorist . . . >
Content-wise, the drawings aren't really very
special. I just take down a few of the things I
notice here and there. Maybe the way some grass
looks, or the folds in the sleeves of somebody's
clothing. Depends on what I happen to feel like
doing at the moment.
I am not an artist. I am not a poet. I find my
attempts at art and poetry to be clumsy and quite
rude. I'm afraid of showing my notebook to
people, because I'm afraid they'll say I'm
shallow. It's a form of denial, since I know I am.
Some people seem to like what I've done in it,
though . . .
Tanaka-san thinks that my drawings are cute.
She magnets them to her refrigerator door when
I give them to her. I'm under the distinct
impression that she's trying to marry me off to
her daughter, who I haven't met yet. Don't know
what the girl looks like. She's around two years
younger than me, and she works in Yokohama.
Heard she was pretty, but I haven't met her
myself.
< . . . Enix-produced Dragon Quest XXXV will
be released on December 13th . . . >
Then again . . .
. . . You can't really trust Tanaka-san's idea of
"pretty." She thinks that most things are "pretty,"
but can't understand why I like the view from my
window. She's not that bad a person.
5:52 PM, on the pier, drawing another sunset.
Using blues today, though I wonder if I can
produce a blue sunset. It's . . . well, definitely not
natural, for one. Sunsets are red and orange and
golden, and blue only appears at the rim of the
sky . . . When the sky turns blue, it's not sunset
anymore. It's night.
The girl I'm waiting for still isn't here yet, but I
think she'll come. Wanna do a portrait of her
sometime, if she stays long enough for me to do
one. Red hair. Probably part gaijin. She seems to
travel around a lot.
I think she's Fey.
< . . . commemoration of the soldiers who died
in the Great War of '27, the Japanese Veterans
Society will be holding a dinner at the
Yokohama Landmark Tower on November 1, the
anniversary of the end of the Fey . . . >
Horrible word, that. Heard they're shape-sifting
monsters, and that they can dodge bullets and
whatnot. Some of them are probably out there
killing people right now.
But . . .
Am I scared?
Nah.
I dunno if she's really Fey or not, but it doesn't
really matter if she is. She's just a little girl . . .
couldn't be any older than sixteen. What harm
could she do?
She's pretty . . . frighteningly so, if that's
possible. The kind of grace she possesses is . . .
well, inhuman's the best word. She comes and
leaves without a sound, and unless I happen to
be looking in her direction, I don't notice her till
she's almost right next to me.
< . . . found dead in his home early this morning.
Investigators say that this crime may have some
relationship with Ikari's actions during his term
as the Minister of Education . . . >
Ahh, she can kill me before I notice it. Heh.
Ain't exaggerating one bit . . . though I get the
feeling I sound like one of those horrible Gaijin
novels they used to sell in town. Ha-ru-ku-en,
was it? Dunno.
All this could be just me reading too much into
something simple. Like I said, I don't notice a lot
of things. I might be overreacting, and she could
just be some perfectly normal girl, traveling with
her parents.
(Or all of this could just be me getting infatuated
with a minor, and going through the processes of
self-doubt, guilt, and whatever else human
psychology has to throw at me.)
< . . . JASA hopes to hurl a new climate research
satellite into orbit over Nemesis' north and south
poles, and another to a soft landing in the
Nemesian antarctic. There are concerns that
mission success may be influenced by the fact
that Nemesis exists at least partly within the
Summerlands. Dr. Meiou . . . >
Still . . .
I don't really care if my suspicions are right or
not. The stuff they say about the Fey don't really
seem all that real to me. Haven't seen a real Fey
for myself, but I do know that they exist. There's
reports about them on the radio all the time,
about how dangerous they are and how we
should report them in if we see one of them . . .
Doesn't feel real to me. It's like people talking
about the war between the PRC and the UFQH.
It's distant, remote. Doesn't touch on anyone's
lives around here. And so what if the Chinese
soldiers are fighting the Fey army night and day?
Do we feel pain? Do we die?
No.
Course, it's cruel to say that, but it's the truth.
The farther things are from you, the less real
they are. And . . .
< . . . a remake of their twentieth century hit,
Tokimeki Memorial . . . >
Gods.
"How you doing, Yoshimitsu?"
"Er, hi."
The closer things are to you, the more real they
are.
***
[Red Side: 2025]
Saotome Ranma
"Hello," he said.
. . . tori yo . . . kumo yo . . . ima, oshiete . . .
<birds . . . clouds . . . please tell me now>
"I've come to say goodbye, child."
. . . nami yo . . . kage yo . . . ima, kotaete . . .
<waves . . . shadows . . . please answer me>
"I know," he said.
. . . tooku . . . tooku . . . haruka, tooku . . .
<far . . . far . . . far in the distance>
He put a flower into the holder before the
gravestone, and looked at the speaker.
. . . tabi no hate ni nani ga aru no?>
<what is at the end of my journey?>
"It's coming for me soon," he said.
. . . yami yo . . . ame yo . . . ima, oshiete . . .
<darkness . . . rain . . . please tell me now>
The speaker nodded, unable to meet him with
her eyes.
. . . tsuki yo . . . kaze yo . . . ima, kotaete . . .
<moon . . . wind . . . please answer me>
"If you wish," she offered hesitantly, "you can
come back with me."
. . . tori yo . . . kumo yo . . . ima, oshiete . . .
<birds . . . clouds . . . please tell me now>
"No," he said. "This is where I belong."
. . . nami yo . . . kage yo . . . ima, kotaete . . .
<waves . . . shadows . . . please answer me>
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I . . . "
. . . tooku . . . tooku . . . haruka, tooku . . .
<far . . . far . . . far in the distance>
"Yes, Cologne," he said, cutting her off.
. . . tabi no hate ni nani ga aru no?
<what is at the end of my journey?>
"I'm sorry about this," she said. "If I'd known, I
wouldn't have . . . "
. . . tooku . . . tooku . . . haruka, tooku . . .
<far . . . far . . . far in the distance>
A raindrop wet the gravel, followed by another,
and another, and another . . .
. . . tabi no hate ni nani ga aru no?
<what is at the end of my journey?>
" . . . my grandchild . . . "
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
Turned the radio off. It's great company, but now
ain't the time.
Definitely not.
"Yeah, those guys were huge. No match for my
superior martial arts skills, though." She's
laughing, and I nod.
I can't help but wonder if I'm becoming a
disgusting old man. Can't sit next to her for a
minute without noticing just how perky she is.
I'm only twenty-two, dammit.
Seriously . . . I'm just hoping I'll be able to
control myself. Don't really fancy being thought
of as a cradle robber.
"Just love summer," she said, leaning back
against the concrete block. Her breasts . . .
No bra. She doesn't seem to realize exactly how
female she is. Doesn't detract much from her
attractiveness. It emphasizes it. Wish it didn't,
just slightly. Any more and I'm willing to bet that
I'd alienate her with my raging hormones. Really
don't want that to happen. Really don't.
I haven't talked with that many girls. Women?
Talk to them all the time. Girls, though . . .
especially the kind within the age range I'd
accept as reasonably close to my own, and
potentially approachable . . . haven't talked with
too many of them.
None of the ones I did talk to were quite this
open. It's one of the reasons I'm still a virgin.
"You've been coming down here every day for
almost two weeks," I said. "I haven't asked
where you're from yet."
She smiles that smile of hers again, and says,
"Oh, here and there."
6:25 PM. The lights in the water begin to turn
on.
***
[Red Side: 2024]
Saotome Ranma
He pushed the wheelchair forward, careful of the
bumps in the path. It was dark, but the fireflies
lit the surrounding grass like stars, turning the
field into a dim reflection of the skies above.
"Ranma?"
He halted his push.
"Yes?"
She looked up at him.
"Am I still beautiful?"
He reached down and brushed aside her white
hair, touched her face . . . felt the smoothness of
the skin. She still looked as she had, back when
they were children, for she too had been touched
by Jusenkyo . . .
Her youth, though, was only in outwards
appearance.
"Ranma?"
He looked down at his own braid, hanging in
front of his shoulder. Once, it had been fully
black . . .
"Yes," he said. "Yes you are, Akane."
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
"Am I beautiful?" she asks me.
I look at her a bit, since she'd gone silent as the
sun started setting, and the sea lit up. Her face is
illuminated from below, and she's not smiling
anymore.
Expression's peaceful, though . . . a bit less
energetic than I'd seen her in the past two
weeks . . . a whole lot more thoughtful.
Thinking about her past, maybe?
"No," I say.
Her expression becomes a little dejected as she
processes my teasing.
"But you're pretty and you're cute, and that's
enough," I say, and she raps me on the head,
breaking into giggles moments later. "Why do
you wanna know?"
"It's nuthin," she says, smiling. "I'm just getting
a little deja vu."
6:43 PM. I look back out into the glowing sea.
There's a breeze building, and our clothes flap a
bit.
"Helped Miss Habuki with her kid the other
day," she says. "Kyotaro's real stubborn if you
try to give him stuff to eat. Give him anything he
doesn't like, and he spits it right back out."
She loosens the ribbon in her ponytail, and lets
her hair blow back.
"No good with children?" I ask.
"Nope. Never really been around them a lot.
Wish I had, 'cause I really like kids. I used to
have a . . . "
She trails off, and I decide not to push it.
"Being a single mother isn't easy," I say.
She nods, as if eager to change topics. It doesn't
really show up on her face, but I think she's
kinda relieved. What'd she used to have? A
brother? A sister? A friend with a kid? Or . . .
Nah, she's way too young for that.
"You rooming with Miss Habuki?" I ask. "Hadn't
heard you mention it before."
"Yeah, I am . . . She's an alcoholic, you know?"
Didn't know that . . . It kinda fits Miss Habuki's
personality, now that I think of it. She's not that
old . . . twenty-something, maybe . . . Real loud,
and she has this nasty temper . . . She does have
a nice sense of humor, though. Basically a good
person . . .
But . . .
"Does she . . . you know? Hit him?" I ask.
"Nah, don't worry about that," she says. "Miss
Habuki's afraid she'll hurt him. Treats him like a
little prince."
I chuckle a bit, feeling dumb for asking.
"I think she spoils him too much," she says. "If I
had a . . . "
Second time. Her face is downwards, and I can't
see her eyes. Not good.
"Something wrong?" I ask.
She shakes her head, and now I'm really worried.
(If you're alright, you don't just shake your head
when someone asks you what's wrong. Ain't
good at all.)
"You haven't told me where you're from yet," I
say, trying to change the topic again.
She mumbles something in reply, and it drowns
in the sound of the waves rolling in.
"'Scuse?" I ask.
"Family's from Tokyo," she says. "Nerima,
though I haven't actually lived there myself."
Tokyo? I look down into the glowing waters.
"It's gone now," she says. "Used to live with a
relative in a town near Hakone, but she died a
while ago, and I've been traveling since."
"What are you doing 'round here?" I ask.
"I have a relative who lives near here . . . forgotten the address."
Ahh . . .
Sounds like she's making bits of it up, though
that part about the relative in Hakone . . . that
part's probably true. A grandmother or an aunt,
maybe? Someone really close . . .
Another wave.
"It's that time of the year again," she says.
***
[Red Side: 2027]
Saotome Ranma
< . . . has temporarily lifted regulations on the
distribution of firearms all over the country.
Civilians are generally encouraged to remain
within their district evacuation shelters for the
duration of the . . . >
Watch his face (her face).
< . . . gathering of Fey within the Nerima district
of Tokyo. As of 11:30 last night, all streets and
trains accessing the area have been . . . >
See the eyes, reddened from fall of tears.
< . . . that the Fey have the ability to disguise
themselves as normal human beings. No
admittance to the shelters should be granted by
any officer, except under the condition that
authorized personnel . . . >
Watch as the stones thrown by his townsmen
(her townsmen) tear through his clothing (her
clothing), scratch his skin (her skin). Watch as
the lines of blood form. Watch as his black (her
red) hair blows in the autumn winds.
< . . . civilians living within districts still
designated green should report any suspicious
or . . . >
The townsmen speak. Some scream. You are no
man, they say. You have never been, and you
shall never be, and you do not belong.
< . . . international news, outbreaks of violence
have occurred in major cities all around the
world. The United Nations has agreed to provide
a remedial Fey elimination unit to aid the
countries . . . >
There are shots, and tombstones are shattered.
He (she) does not move from where he stands
(she stands).
< . . . cult suicides in western Nevada.
Associated sources say that members view the
coming of the Fey as a sign of the . . . >
These are the Fey. They are the mighty. They are
the great. They are the unaging . . . They are
those who are forever on the outside. They hail
from the Summerlands, long chased off the maps
by the explorers and the cartographers. They do
not belong . . .
< . . . the Fey-controlled United Federation of
Qing-Hai has declared independence from the
PRC. Councilman Saffron . . . >
"Yes, Akane . . . yes . . . "
It is the year of the Great War.
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
6:52 PM.
For a moment, I catch the reflection of the full
moon in the wetness of her eyes, and I begin
studying the blue pools, searching for tears or
some other indication of her feelings. She turns
towards me slightly as I look at her, and,
realizing that I'm staring, I turn away. She
doesn't seem to notice. Time for a break . . .
Gods.
Intense, that was. She occupies every last
moment of my imagination . . .
Gotta remember to keep myself from being
entirely absorbed, else I'll go lovesick.
Lovesickness is for fools, I think. Should focus
myself elsewhere for now.
How 'bout the weather?
Well . . . hmm . . .
It's not entirely cloudless tonight. There's a few
puffs of white, way up next to the moon. High
clouds . . . not the low sort we tend get around
here during the spring. It's "normal" weather.
Meteorologists call it something like "post-war
weather stabilization."
Read that, way back during the Great War, the
Americans pulled a "final weapon" or some
other trash to win a scuffle the history books call
"the Battle of Mount Markham." It began a
twelve-year process that melted off a good bit of
the Antarctic icecap. Seriously messed up the
weather patterns.
That was . . . er, six, seven years before Nemesis
came into orbit, I think? They call it the Fey
Moon, because neither the biosphere nor the
planet's motion was influenced by its presence.
Another big weather disruption, though.
Typhoons, hurricanes, tornados . . . whole
bunches of nasty stuff that I'm glad I didn't hafta
witness. The weather that Nemesis brought with
it is one of the reasons the JASA named it
Nemesis, they say.
Geez . . .
Forty or fifty years of weather stabilization, and
it's still in the process of returning to normal . . .
Gotta thank destiny that I was born in this
particular day and age. I hate bad weather. I don't
think I would've liked having to live through all
those storms and . . .
"The Feast of All Saints," she says, interrupting
my train of thought.
Hmm?
"Halloween . . ."
Heard that name somewhere before . . . a gaijin
holiday. Not familiar with too many of those, but
I've heard of this one.
Wait . . .
Didn't she say something about the time of the
year earlier? I mean . . . hmm . . . If that was a
gaijin holiday, the earlier one probably was too,
and . . . it could be getting near the day of the
holiday or something . . . Don't know its
significance to her. How does she know about
these things, anyways? She part American or
something? It'd explain the hair and the eyes . . .
"Samhain."
Oh dear . . .
She's leaning a bit closer to me. Not touching,
but . . . I think my pulse just got a bit quicker . . .
***
[Red Side: 2028]
Tendo Nabiki
"Hello," he said, silhouetted against the skies of
the dawn. "Haven't seen you in awhile."
---
samhain (n) : the day upon which the
Summerlands is closest to reality [syn: Samhain,
Feast of All Saints, All Saints' Day, Allhallows]
-- WordNet 2.8. Copyright the Princeton
University, 2019.
---
"Is that . . . Fox?" she asked, unbelieving. "I
thought you were . . . "
---
"They ain't human. They're monsters . . .
Werewolves, demons, vampires . . . that kinda
thing. They're creatures from fantasy novels, and
they shouldn't exist. By all rights, they can't
exist. Wooden marionettes shouldn't be able to
walk or talk or . . . or eat human flesh . . .
Floating balls of energy shouldn't be smart
enough to *want* to kill. The existence of the
Fey is . . . It's all just so irrational . . . "
-- Interview with Lt. Jonathan S. MacHine of the
UNFEU-0936, 2027.
---
"Been kept in a freezer somewhere on Mars, I
think. They seem have a thing for Haagan
Daaz."
---
"If I may have your attention, ladies and
gentlemen. Today is October 31st, 2027. It's
currently 7:05 PM, and in a little less than five
hours, it'll be November 1st, the day of the
Samhain. The moment the second hand reaches
the twelve on the clock, we'll be able to breach
Fey security and access the Summerlands for
twenty-four hours. As human beings, it's our
duty to wipe the Fey from the face of our planet,
and when the moment comes, we begin what'll
hopefully be . . . "
-- Partial recording of a speech given by a senior
officer in the UNFEU, 2027. He refers to the
Samhain Counter.
---
"Why are you here?" she asked, a bit of anger in
her voice. "Why now, after all this time?"
---
"Reports from officers witnessing this
phenomenon seem to confirm the
aforementioned theory: Fey units possess the
ability to enter 'safe areas' inaccessible to
humans under normal conditions. Researchers
have dubbed the phenomenon the Summerlands
Effect . . ."
-- UNFEU General Brief 1138-2, 2027.
Designation: Analysis of Target MO.
---
"Your brother-in-law. You know? Cute little girl,
pigtail, martial arts? I wanted to talk about him."
---
"While the area the Chinese Fey refer to as
Jusenkyo (CHN-QH-0098) is currently obscured
from human observation by Summerlands
Effect, the capture of Subject 2308 has
confirmed its existence. It is postulated that
certain mechanisms still active at the above
location were once used to purify semi-Fey of
their humanity . . . <text illegible> . . . rituals
related to these mechanisms aid the creation of
the beings tentatively known as the High Fey.
The original (more natural) forms of the
semi-Fey that make contact with the
mechanisms at Jusenkyo are eventually lost,
replaced by a random morphic template entirely
unnatural in nature."
-- UNFEU General Brief 3562-6, 2027.
Designation: Jusenkyo.
---
"He's . . . gone," she said. "He left after . . . after
she . . . "
---
"The Fey are simply those who have been
touched by magic. They are not limited as we
are, and they are not human. There is no need to
treat them as humans, for they are not real. They
are born of the imaginations of mortals, and
they are mere constructs of fiction."
-- A page in an otherwise blank notebook, found
in a store in downtown London, 2027. Author
unknown.
---
He let her embrace him, let her cry into the cloth
of his coat.
---
"Folklore scholars have studied both Aztec
mythology and European folklore (e.g., the
German Die Weisse Frau, the White Lady) in
order to pinpoint the origin of the legendary La
Llorona (the Wailing Woman, or the Weeping
Woman). Various Aztec goddesses have been
proposed as the original model. The most
frequently mentioned is Cihuacoatl (Snake
Woman). Dressed in white and her entire body
chalked in white, she broke the silence of the
night with her wails of despair in anticipation of
war. She carried an empty cradle. Inside it was a
sacrificial knife . . . "
-- Folktales from the Los Angeles Mexican
Barrios of Canta Ranas, La Mision, and La
Colonia - Introduction, by Alfred Avila. 1996.
---
" . . . watched him tear himself up. I hated it . . .
hated it . . . "
---
"Studies show that, between 1985 and the
beginning of the Great War, known instances of
Fey activity in the Asian region rose steadily.
The number of recorded events influenced by
Fey involvement in Japan alone increased
exponentially with each of the years during the
period. It has been speculated that the 1985
Explosion of Upper Qing-Hai (often compared
with the 1908 Tunguska Explosion) is somehow
related to the start of this trend, but no
correlation has been confirmed as of yet."
---
" . . . He can't die . . . that's what killed him . . ."
---
"Even at the turn of the century, public
knowledge of the existence of the Fey was kept
at a minimum, as governments around the world
were concerned that revealing this information
would result in mass hysteria. As a consequence,
it was not until 2021 that the public was made
aware of the Fey. Access to the information
continued to be limited to the scientific
community."
---
" . . . he can't follow her . . . he cried for . . . he
cried for so long . . . "
---
"By 2025, Fey activity had spread across the
globe. The increased numbers of malevolent
encounters with these beings encouraged a sense
of fear and paranoia in the general populace.
Combined with the stress associated the
economic depression that had plagued the world
market since the 1990's, the popular insecurity
bred social decay."
---
"I'm here for you," he said. "I won't leave again."
---
"On November 1st, 2026, Fey-related violence
escalated to a level never seen before. Finally
given an excuse to release its hatred and anger
on a common enemy, humanity declared war . . . "
-- Introduction of 'A Brief History of the Great
War,' by Michael A. Gallahan, 2028.
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
Found a box of books hidden in the shelves
while I was cleaning my room several months
ago. Really well-preserved antique stuff,
probably a bit less than a century old.
I originally thought it was Tanaka-san's, but she
said she'd never read anything like it. Could be
the property of the previous tenant . . . Dunno for
sure, as I've never met her myself.
Eighty or so years ago, I gather, this particular
type of book was quite popular among the
Japanese teens and adults. (A *lot* of volumes
in that box . . .) Shoujo manga, they called it.
Semi-repetitive romantic plots, and really, really
cutesy art. Lost popularity big-time after the war.
There was this one . . . scene . . . in one of the
books I flipped through. Didn't read through it
entirely, because I was afraid the book would fall
apart. There's this boy in it, sitting next to a girl
on a bench in the park, and there's some kana
written at the side:
doki-doki, doki-doki . . .
I don't think the author intended for the scene to
reflect real life. But . . .
Fact is, the scene's accurate. *Damn* accurate,
even.
She's leaning back now, supporting her torso
from behind with her arms and staring straight
up into the stars. They're strewn about the sky
likes drops of dew on some invisible spider's
web, glowing in the moonlight. Behind the moon
there's a shadow that barely fails to blend in with
the blackness of the night: Nemesis.
"Once upon a time," she says, "I lost someone."
She kicks her legs against the cement of the pier
a few times, and I look at her. She continues
staring upwards, unblinking, as if holding back
tears. The reflection of the moon is there again,
wading in the surface of her eyes.
"I cried," she says. "I cried for weeks. Didn't eat
very much, and I slept only a little."
She sniffles, but no tears fall.
"I spent almost every waking moment crying.
My eyes hurt like hell, but I didn't stop . . .
couldn't."
There's a pause, and I wait for her to continue,
but she's silent.
"What happened?" I ask. Tell me your story, tell
me why you've lost your smile.
She sits up, slouching her shoulders forward.
"The anniversary of her death is in a few days,"
she says.
***
[Red Side: 2026]
Saotome Ranma
Such is the tale of the La Llorona, as blue fades
to red, and red to nothing . . .
---
UNGEHIRN: Unofficial Status Report
Report Date: October 31, 2026
Subject Acquired On: June 13, 2022
Subject Designation: 2308
Alias: Saotome Genma
Sex: M
Age: 83 (approx.)
Associated Area of Operation:
CHN-QH-0098
---
In their dreams, the sleeping ones saw the lovers
leaving their home for a new place, where
familiar faces did not wander, and the memories
of pain did not haunt the streets. The faces of the
ones they had thought their friends had contorted
into masks of anger and envy over the years they
had spent together, and finally, the lovers could
bear it no more.
---
Notes:
"The current institution received the subject
from Research Division 157 of the UNFEU on
October 23. While many of the details
concerning the tests previously executed on the
subject have not been disclosed to this
institution, the UNFEU has presented a censored
informative folio for our viewing . . . "
---
In the new place, no faces met them, and streets
existed only as paths amidst the woods and
fields. The lovers were happy, and they spent
their days in the bliss of each other's company.
Together they grew old.
---
". . . the subject was acquired by the Kanagawa
branch of the UNFEU on June 13, 2022. The
method of capture is not specified in the folio,
though it is mentioned that the subject was
moving west at the time of capture . . . "
---
At the end of the summer of their lives, the girl
was still girl, but had hair of purest white, and
the heart of a woman who has known love. The
boy was no longer a boy, but a young girl with
the heart of a tired old man.
---
" . . . is noted that the humanoid appearance of
the subject is intimately related to certain parties
or mechanisms residing within the restricted area
referred to by the UNFEU as Jusenkyo. As
further information concerning this area has not
been released, the current institution refrains
from speculating . . . "
---
When summer came to pass, the girl smiled and
said to the boy, I love you . . . I hope that we will
meet again, sometime, somewhere . . .
---
" . . . a classic example of morphic fusion,
wherein physical traits of the Ailuropoda
melanoleuca (commonly known as the Giant
Panda) are combined with the more sapient traits
of the human species . . . "
---
She smiled, and then she was gone.
---
" . . . further analysis reveals that, contradicting
the hypothesis presented by Dr. Fuyutsuki
Kozou, no conflict arises of the interaction
between the two gene sets during cellular
replication. The process by which this . . . "
---
The boy cried.
---
". . . while there is no official method of
differentiating the various species commonly
classified as 'Fey,' the name Fatum hominis has
been proposed as a general term for the more
humanoid creatures recently sighted. Based on
observations, the subject appears to fall under
the 'subspecies' known currently as the Fatum
hominis altus . . . "
---
Why? he asked. Why does it have to be this
way? What have I done wrong, that I must be
punished so?
---
" . . . on records from the UNFEU, human traits
decrease significantly at the end of October each
year. Inversely, strength, speed, and access to
abilities thought physically impossible increase
exponentially. The current institution believes
that the subject's modifications have a definite
relationship with some yearly cycle that
governs . . . "
---
In their dreams, the sleeping ones knew pain.
Unable to sleep in the heat of the Samhain, they
woke, and sought to exert their pain as
vengeance.
---
" . . . sedation necessary for the safety of the
subject's attendants. The subject has
demonstrated severe negative psychological
reactions to his confinement, and has more than
once expressed that he must find his son
before . . . "
---
And the sleeping ones stalked . . .
***
[Blue Side: 2084]
Yoshimitsu Takeshi
< . . . Look at me, what do you see?
Am I real, or just a dream . . . >
She presses her cheek into my shoulder, and
shifts her weight slightly so that she's leaning
against me.
< . . . Am I something that you need,
Or just an image of me?>
"I received a letter a this morning," she says.
< . . . And if you stare into the fire too long
Is the flame as strong?>
I feel a warmth through my shirt, and in my ears
her voice is at once soft and heavy, pounding
into my chest with each heartbeat. With her
touch, what lust I had withered and died, and I'm
left with only a deep . . . sympathy.
< . . . Or if you're lost inside a fantasy
Does it end up real?>
I can't understand why . . .
< . . . So if you think that you're in love with me
Or is it just the whole idea . . . >
"Another one of my friends is dead," she says.
"In China. Her name's Gu Long . . ."
< . . . You must be sure that every single thing
Is what you believe in . . . >
I want to . . . do something for her . . . but, I
can't . . . can't think of anything appropriate.
Maybe . . .
< . . . If every drop of rain stayed in the sky
Would the world just die?>
"I can't cry anymore," she says. "She's dead, and
I can't."
< . . . Or earth revolved around a different sun
Would our lives have begun?>
The breeze grows stronger, and a wave crashes
against a rock a distance away. Foam is washed
back into the sea as water from the spray drips
off the stony surface.
< . . . So if you think that your in love with me
Can you still be free?>
"Can you . . . hold me?" she asks.
< . . . For on the surface of most everything
Something hides within.>
I nod, and I wrap my arm around her . . .
***
[Magenta Side: 2084]
Epilogue
In the man's room, curtains billow out above a
messy desk. Atop a pile of papers, there's a
drawing of a young girl with red hair and a
ponytail, smiling. There are words written beside
the drawing.
"When I awoke," they say, "she was gone. I had
been dreaming, and my eyes were wet. The
dream is already forgotten, but this smile
remains. I hope to remember it forever . . . ceux
qui sont destines pour mourir . . . "
***
Notes/Disclaimer:
Grats to people who finished reading the fic. It's
horrible, writing, I know . . . If the authors of the
stuff I'm basing this fic on knew that I was
mangling their stuff, I'd be dead and buried
somewhere. Don't tell them, m'kay? Thanks to
everyone on the FFIRC who helped me with the
details. Really appreciate it. :)
By the way, if you can count the cameos, you're
damn good.
Credits:
Tenchi Muyo belongs to Masaki Kajishima.
Sailormoon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.
Excel Saga belongs to Koshi Rikudo.
Compass Points belongs to Brian Randall.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou belongs to Hitoshi Ashinano.
Gundam belongs to Bandai.
Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to GAINAX.
The X-Files belongs to Chris Carter.
WordNet belongs to the Princeton University.
La Belle Dame sans Merci belongs to John Keats.
Slayers belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi.
Sandman belongs to Neil Gaiman.
Controversial Jack belongs to Yves Belanger.
Yuyu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.
Dragon Quest belongs to ENIX.
Tokimeki Memorial belongs to Konami.
"Second Mars Probe" article belongs to Frank D. Roylance.
Just Won't Die belongs to Jeff Wong.
She's Just Like Lightning belongs to Colleen Leah Morgan.
mIRC belongs to Khaled Mardam-Bey.
Independence Day belongs to Roland Emmerich
'Folktales from the Los Angeles Mexican Barrios of Canta Ranas,
La Mision, and La Colonia' belongs to Alfred Avila
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
Original concepts belong to Nanashi (chadjill@ms3.hinet.net)
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