2018-04-20 - ... Dreams
| Title: ... Dreams | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Obsidian. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Mitakihara General Hospital | |
| OOC - IC Date: 2018-04-20 - 04-07-2015 | |
Soundtracker: The Bravery - Bad Sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPS0wH8zUqs
To the tune of mechanical beeps and distant footsteps, Mikoto dozes, fitfully, close to waking. Her lips shape a word, whispered in the dark: "Miroku." As the sword returns to her side, dreams become memories, old things from long ago and far away.
...
... and the little girl called 'Mikoto' drags a sword behind her, still too clumsy to carry it properly. They are going up, up, up, further up the mountain than she has ever gone before! She's excited, because today she will become a real warrior. She's wanted to come here ever since she was old enough to understand her duty. But it's only now that the rituals she can't quite remember have all finished, only now she has been purified by black glass, that she can make the journey. Today she will make her family proud!
It's chilly, this far up. It's cold on her skin, but she doesn't mind. Her Lord Brother doesn't mind, so she doesn't mind, either! Dutifully, she tugs Miroku over root and vine. It gets stuck, sometimes. She pulls. She is getting better at it. Her Lord Brother tells her she's getting stronger every day.
They come to an altar, built into flat mountain stone. A broad black spike emerges from it. Obsidian has flowed over the sigils in arcane patterns, though Mikoto doesn't know what they mean. She's a fighter, so she doesn't have to know that stuff. But she's seen these patterns before. They're old, she thinks. Her Grandfather, ever her careful and wise teacher, calls them old vows, and tells her not to worry about them.
Her Lord Brother steps back, now. "You have to do this yourself," he says. "You have to make this choice, Mikoto."
"But - how?"
"Trust yourself. You'll know."
Mikoto frowns, because she doesn't know. But she does feel drawn to the altar, so she approaches, tiny step over tiny step. She reaches out, touches the spike - and pulls her hand back, instinctively, as the spine pricks her palm. "Ow!"
The blood drips down. For some reason, Mikoto feels compelled to reach back out.
The pact is power. The pact is a promise. The pact has a price. Call. It will answer.
"I..." Mikoto's hand curls, fear entering her heart. How does she know that?
"So, that's the setup this time, huh...? Geez, it's always the runts." There's a voice, from above. It's a white-haired boy, standing on a tree-branch so high up, with a mischevious smile which makes little Mikoto bristle. He waves, friendly, when she glares at him. "Yo. Having trouble, Mikoto-chan?"
Mikoto frooowns, grasping Miroku and bringing it to bear. It's a struggle. He laughs, even as Miroku's red sigils look up at him. "You're so scary~! That means you're doing a good job, huh?"
She looks to her Lord Brother, who stands casually with arms behind his back as he looks at the stranger, and then she turns back to the boy. She glares a lot, but if her Lord Brother isn't attacking...
"Don't worry, don't worry," the boy waves her off with a casual hand, tapped against his head. He looks to her Lord Brother for a moment, and then turns back to Mikoto. "We've all got our roles to play. The great Minagi family knows that much, right~? Mikoto-chan, you get to be the big scary warrior - well, little scary warrior, let's be completely honest with ourselves. And as for me, well... I'm just here to tell you..."
A big shadow rises, behind the tree the boy is sitting on. In the darkness, his pink eyes almost seem a harsh and demonic red.
There's a mean edge to his voice, now. "... you'd better get a move on, or else I have this awful feeling something terrible might hurt your Lord Brother."
When Mikoto looks back to her Lord Brother, he feels more nervous. She can see he's trying to hide it with anger, hands gripped behind him and shoulders squared, but he's her Lord Brother - she can tell. "Give her a chance, Nagi!"
Mikoto squares her shoulders in a perfect black mirror of him, grasping her sword in both hands. "Lord Brother, back!" She won't talk to a stranger, but she'll talk to her family.
The boy smiles, cheeky. "Aya, aya... but you can't even lift that old thing yet, can you? Maybe if you'd done this later..." Something crashes through the trees, and he flips off of his branch, coming to rest on the ground beside the stone. "- oop!"
She hates to admit it, but he's right. Even as the beast charges, like a deer with knife-scales and big huge horns, she can barely lift Miroku's weight. She's just too young. And yet - even though she's only a kid - she knows her duty to home, to family, to Lord Brother.
Call, Mikoto!
"All you've gotta do," the boy explains, gesturing with a hand to the altar, "is reach out, and grab unimaginable power. After all, Mikoto-chan, you're a HiME, and Miroku here is a Child! You two suit each other perfectly!" He snickers to himself, as if sharing a private joke. Those lips stil curve upwards as he quiets, tilting his chin up. "Of course, you'll have to put what's most important to you on the line... but you're already being trained for that, so it should be no problem, right?"
Call out, Mikoto!
Muscles tense, Mikoto turns from the monster. "MIROKU!" She yells, grabbing the spike tightly as her sword clatters to the ground. The altar groans, and a terrible beast emerges from the stone behind the sigil, shouldering its way out as the boy yelps and jumps away. It's huge! Mikoto screams as even the ground under her is pushed aside, in favour of broad red armor and blackened spines. She's caught up with it, as it rises. It towers over the treeline, and Mikoto feels very, very small as she looks down. "Mi...ro...ku...?"
Grasp your sword, Mikoto. It is pact and promise. Stand with Miroku.
"O-okay," Little Mikoto stammers, grasping Miroku's hilt with her tiny hands as she stands. Miroku is so big that it doesn't even feel like she's on something moving much! Miroku's tassles tickle at her face as she looks down over Miroku's side to the monster, advancing towards her Lord Brother protect him always. It doesn't feel strange, that Miroku is sword and Child both. They're both her weapons. It makes perfect sense.
The terrible kirin advances on her Lord Brother. His sword is out, but it's way too big for him to fight, and it knocks him to the ground with one awful charge as he barely jumps out of the way. It turns around, pawing at the earth, clearly meaning to run her Lord Brother down. That cannot happen. "Miroku!" Mikoto calls, again, desperately, and the holy beast brings down its greatclub. The earth craters and shakes, and the monster is defeated in a single hit! "Miroku," Mikoto murmurs, her cries about its amazingness stuck in her throat as she realises how close her Lord Brother was to getting really badly hurt. But it hears her.
Though she looks - and she's very high up, so she can see a lot - she can't find the mysterious boy any more. He's gone.
Soundtracker: Jethro Tull - Rare and Precious Chain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i4ki1uwPag
Miroku's broad hand reaches up, and when she steps onto it, it lowers her safely onto the ground next to where her Lord Brother has fallen. He straightens to his knees, and throws his arms around her. "I'm so proud of you, Mikoto!"
"I did it, Lord Brother! I did it!" Mikoto grins broadly.
Her Lord Brother laughs, full of the joy Mikoto loves so much, but he quickly calms to something more serious. "Now, Mikoto... I need you to listen closely. You must always protect Miroku, and you must survive for my sake. Do you understand? You and Miroku both serve me. You are my most valuable instruments of destruction, and I need your strength. You mustn't use your power carelessly." It's strange to hear him like this. The rest of her family might be cold - but not her Grandfather, and never her Lord Brother. They've always been so warm, so kind.
With a nervous gulp, Mikoto nods. "I understand."
"And, Mikoto..." He reaches around her neck, holds the black glass bead which hangs there in a hand. It's just like the one which hangs down over his chest. "You must remember, you can't remove your necklace. Not ever. It's an important link between you and Miroku. It will guide you to me if we ever lose each other. It's important you keep it with you always, just as you keep Miroku by your side."
"I won't ever lose necklace, or Miroku!" She makes a promise.
"Good. Now, do you want to know a secret...?"
Mikoto nods, and her Lord Brother leans forward and whispers something into her ear - the words forgotten, by ineffable dream logic. Her eyes widen, and she feels scared for herself, but relieved, too.
... it's weird, she starts to feel something else, too. It's more like triumph. It's a weird thing to feel after hearing such a big and scary secret.
The real secret, of course... is that there were no mistakes this time. You are my crowning achievement. You will never disobey your Lord Brother... will you, Mikoto?
"Lord Brother is everything," Mikoto insists, automatically.
Of course. I am far too close to you this time. I am wrapped about your mind, your heart... your very soul. I have even given you my most ferocious servant. I won't let anything unexpected happen now... everything will go as I wish.
Mikoto frowns, shaking her head, reaching for the only explanation which makes sense. "... Miroku..?"
... hmph. Perhaps... yes. For all to go forward as planned, that would be best. Yes, Mikoto. Call me your greatest weapon, Miroku.
"Miroku's scaring me..." Mikoto's quiet voice wavers.
In time, you will not even realise I am here. Our wills shall perfectly align... after all, we are both your Lord Brother's tools. After all, Miroku is yours, and you belong to your Lord Brother. Are we not in accord?
"... yes, Miroku." A slight nod.
Good. We both share an obsidian heart, Shrine Maiden of Minagi. Listen well, even as my voice fades into yours. I shall inform your instincts, and guide you through uncertainty and into triumph.
Mikoto realises her Lord Brother has a hand on her shoulder, and she startles, looking up at him. "- Lord Brother!"
He's looking down at her with concern, but it's a different type of concern than she's used to. It's almost like he did something bad. But that can't be right, because her Lord Brother would never do anything bad. "Is... Miroku talking to you, Mikoto?"
"Yup," Mikoto nods, frowning a lot. "Miroku's... formal. Like elders. And scary... like I'm thinking... but not thinking at all!"
"... then it's decided..." Mikoto's Lord Brother doesn't finish his sentence, and he just looks past her. "... well, all is the will of the sword. I'm sure you'll heed those words, Mikoto. You're a good girl, after all."
"Feels weird, Lord Brother," Mikoto fidgets with the hem of her robes.
"Don't worry, Mikoto. You'll get used to it. You know, that's why you've been named 'Mikoto' in the first place." Mikoto knows her name comes from 'word-holder', that it means she has a special connection with the God of their shrine. She understands why, now.
"... yeah!" Eventually she won't even realise it's there. "My duty, right? To bear prounc- pronom- pro-nounce-ments?" She stumbles over the very complicated word.
"Right!" Her Lord Brother smiles to her. "That's a very important part of your duty. And your duty is the most important thing, Mikoto. Let's go back and tell everyone the good news, okay?"
"'Kay," Mikoto grins, rising with her Lord Brother, holding the sigiled Miroku as she always must. The mountains are tough, but she can do it!
When she gets back, her Grandfather is proud of her. The others find her efforts... acceptable, in that distant manner they have, as if they're wearing dark glasses on their souls as well as their faces.
But she's only ever needed the love of her Grandfather and her Lord Brother, after all. She'll be whatever those two most precious people need.
Shrine maiden, warrior, tool... HiME...
... she'll be anything for those two people.
Because those two people will always be there for her.
And they both want the same thing.
The dream fades, and in the way of obsidian dreams, it is so difficult to remember on waking. It comes to her in pieces, with great effort. She was meant to survive - meant to listen - meant for the people she loves...
