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Post By Anime Jason Sat Oct 01, 2005 at 12:31:02 pm EDT |
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Adventures In Parodyverse: The Path of the Righteous, Part 3 | |
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Adventures In Parodyverse - The Path of the Righteous, Part 3 Funny thing about prophesies. Someone like me, Faite, living for all eternity...even someone more brief and human...can spend every moment trying to understand just one. It is an excersize in futility - prophesies are abstracts, designed to give only the faintest of warnings, but never to be fully revealed before their time. Even the words they use can be abstract. Magics can be literal or not...could be intentional or not. Or could be something explained since by human Science but not understood by the scribe who put the prophesy into words. Or it could take on multiple meanings. Darkness could be visual or abstract. Darkness of vision, darkness of the soul. It could be very specific, referring to multiple levels of attributes, or very vague, referring to just one which is not obvious. Death could be literal or poetic. It's been said that to create a new life you have to contribute a piece of your own. There are many folk tales about abandoning your own soul, even about human sexual behavior sucking the very life from them in trade for pleasure and the chance to create new life. It is a lesson in abstract that have driven many insane, and one must take care while pondering the infinite possibilities of a prophesy not to become obsessed and allow it to consume you. Because that, ultimately, is how prophesies become true. --- "Good show," Sir Mumphrey told Lara Night after greeting her upon his arrival. He sat down calmly. "You did an amazing job protecting the Lair Mansion. I've been meaning to speak to you, though." "I think I can repair some of the damage to the front doors," Lara quickly asserted. "And I'll apologize to Flapjack." "No, not about that. Please, sit." Lara quickly sat down and folded her hands in her lap, trying her best not to seem too nervous. "I've known women with a heart as soft as yours," he spoke bluntly. "I'm quite worried about this tryst you've had with Dream." "Who tells you these things?" Lara asked angrily. "Tryst? It's a private matter. Someone should really be ashamed of themselves." "Nevertheless," Sir Mumphrey changed the subject back, "It worries me that you may be investing more in this than he is." Lara sighed deeply and calmed down. "I know I am," she whispered. "So don't worry about it, okay? I've come to terms with that already." "Good," Mumph emphasized. "I don't wish you to chase him like a love struck young girl. It will distract him from his work, what?" "Love struck young girl?" Lara looked at him sideways. "Look, Sir Mumphrey, I have a lot of respect for you but this isn't the seventeenth century anymore. I'm not a virgin maiden and I'm fully capable of understanding what I've done." Mumph paused for what seemed like an eternity, and then he smiled. "Just then you reminded me of Madge." "Madge?" she asked. "My late wife and...companion," he explained. "Soul mate if you would. Straightened me right out every time, she did. Had a way of shaking up a man who's seen everything." "Oh." Lara smiled. "She sounds wonderful." "She was." He sighed. "I miss her sometimes." He shook his head and looked directly at Lara. "Right, then. I only wanted to make sure you understood." "I do," she said. "Can I go back to reading in the library then?" "Of course." Sir Mumphrey couldn't resist standing as she did, and escorting her to the door. Some old habits would never die. --- Visionary was a complete nervous wreck as he lay in his room. His mind was spinning, filled with both scenarios of what he was going to say to Liu Xi, and the images the Hooded Hood left with him about her near future. Maybe he should get the help of the Lair Legion as well? Then again, what could they do? He nearly fell off the bed when he heard Liu Xi enter the room, still in the skirt from earlier. At least it would be easier since she was dressed more attractively, he though to himself for a moment. If he could have slapped his own brain immediately after he would have. "What's wrong?" Liu Xi asked, noting his pained expression. "The Hooded Hood visited," he blurted out. "Oh. That would do it." Liu Xi smiled. "No, let me finish." He sat up quickly. "He told me...no, he showed me that you're going to become very sick soon. Sick like I was sick." "What?" Liu Xi asked. "Did he tell you how to prevent it? Or fix it?" "Yes." Visionary fidgeted nervously and looked down as he answered her question. "I...have to get you pregnant." "How will that work?" she questioned. "He says the darkness in you will seek a prospect at new life, knowing that it's weakening you. The Hooded Hood will retcon the whole thing, and the darkness will go with it." Liu Xi was pale now too. She licked her now dry lips, she was so nervous she was becoming thirsty. "But...I don't like to be touched. I...trust you, but...Is there another way?" "I...thought about asking the Lair Legion," he admitted. "But I wanted to talk to you first." "That's very sweet." Liu Xi hugged him gently and closed her eyes. "Thinking of me first. If this is true and I become sick I'll always remember--" "Don't talk like that. I won't let you die." Visionary insisted. "No matter what I have to do. I just hope I don't have to. I mean...not that it wouldn't be enjoyable, but...it's not right." Liu Xi let go of him and nodded. "I will do whatever you wish," she said. "But perhaps first we should seek the Hooded Hood," she added. "Perhaps there is another way he neglected to tell you about. He does enjoy toying with people." "Good idea." Visionary took her hand. "I'll go with you. In case he needs another smack to the head." She laughed. "Of course." --- "Jay," Chaiki whispered as he lay in the hospital with his eyes closed. He opened them, and noticed that he felt refreshed after his long nap. He smiled at Chiaki. "How long till I can get out of here?" he asked. Chiaki presented him with neatly folded brand new clothing. "How about now?" Jay slid out of the bed and took the clothing, noticing that Chiaki turned away and folded her arms just as he left the bedsheets. He smiled at her respect for his modesty. "It's kind of nice having my own samurai bodyguard." She giggled at that, a sound that seemed rare outside of his exclusive presence. "Bodyguard? No, I'm only here to escort you home." "I hear that Gamona is still alive and probably holds quite a grudge." He finished putting on his clothing and tapped her on the shoulder to get her to turn around. "How about if we just watch each other's backs for a while, just until we know we're safe." "Count on it." Chiaki smiled and tapped the end of the sheathed sword she carried. She checked the hallway and then escorted Jay into the corridor silently. "You know," Jay pointed out suddenly, "For a samurai who carries a sword everywhere I've never seen you actually kill anyone." "Perhaps I'm a samurai who places a high value on life," she replied. "A lesson that ends with someone's death is a lesson wasted." "Ohhhh." Jay laughed. "So that's why you scare people with that sword." "Yes." She laughed too. "A near death experience is simpler and more effective. And requires less contact with law enforcement on my part." "No kidding." Jay opened a door leading to the exit and froze. At the opposite end of the room was the green skinned assassin known as Gamona. And she had definitely seen him. --- "Are you two hoping to intimidate me?" The Hooded Hood asked, seeming amused as Visionary and Liu Xi intruded on his Herringcarp Asylum sanctuary. "If necessary," Liu Xi told him. "I must discover how to avoid becoming ill." Visionary looked at Liu Xi, feeling frightened as he noticed that she had already begun to look more pale. "Are you afraid?" the Hooded Hood asked. "I know you are doing this to harm Visionary," she replied. "Even more than it would harm me. If I were to die...only Visionary would truly care. He would place the blame upon himself." "I can't be responsible for Visionary's obsessions." "You're the one who lives in a mental hospital!" Visionary pointed out. The Hooded Hood ignored him. "Very well. I'll give you a small hint, and perhaps the two of you can put your small minds together and come up with an answer." He paused for a moment before giving the hint. "The darkness which lives in each if you are like positive and negative. If you bring them together they will neutralize each other. While they will remain forever, they will be rendered harmless to you." "Is that why you suggested...?" Visionary asked, pausing before finishing the sentence. "Yes," he admitted. "The darkness can be neutralized with an intimate act." "But there has to be an alternative!" Visionary fumed. He headed toward the throne, intent on threatening the Hooded Hood...but he was gone. --- "Intimate act," Visionary whispered as he and Liu Xi returned to the Lair Mansion. He looked at her, and realized that she seemed to be more pale, and slowly weakening. She was even quieter than usual. "The Hooded Hood," Liu Xi spoke slowly, "He's...very literal. I...suspected something wrong with his suggestion from the start." "Which suggestion?" Visionary asked. Liu Xi seemed irritated at his question. "That you give me a child!" she snapped impatiently. "I'm sorry," she relented immediately after, "I'm not feeling well." "What's wrong with that suggestion?" Visionary asked. "I mean...aside from the obvious problems." She lowered her voice and leaned close to him. "Do you know how birth control works?" Visionary immediately turned beet red, but didn't reply. "It does not work like aspirin," she continued, dismissing his embarrassment. "It must be taken regularly." "Wait--" Visionary began to put it all together, and his embarrassment faded when he realized the topic behind what she said. "--he's trying to get me to...and it wouldn't work anyway?" He pondered that for a moment. "Maybe he doesn't know." "He's the Hooded Hood," Liu Xi noted impatiently. "Either he plans to retcon the medication or he simply plans to embarrass you." "Intimate act," Visionary repeated again. "What do you suppose he means by that?" Liu Xi didn't answer. She had fainted and fallen to the carpeted floor. --- Jay looked at the Psychic Samurai, steeling himself as if he expected her to immediately draw her sword and attack Gamona. But he was surprised when, instead, Chiaki simply stepped out of the hall, in front of Jay, with her sword still sheathed. "I thought you might have learned something from our last encounter," Chiaki said. Gamona stared at her coldly, but didn't reply. Chiaki kept her eyes fixed steadily on the career assassin, and her voice didn't waver in the slightest. "You learn from all your opponents," she said. "I know it. And I know what you've learned from me." Jay was completely confused by the conversation, but it seemed to be working. He noticed Gamona seem to relax, to release her tense muscles and stand idle. "Are you going to fight me again?" Gamona asked suddenly, only calm as if she were asking about the weather. "Perhaps someday," Chiaki replied. "But not today. I think you'd agree that the cost would be too high." Gamona frowned for a moment and glanced around herself before zipping out of the exit quickly and disappearing across the parking lot. "What was that all about?" Jay asked, feeling a little weary from the tension he felt over the whole situation. Chiaki smiled. "You've taught me to try and understand people better, even my opponents. I asked Grace, your nurse, to pass along a message to Gamona." "A message?" "Gamona was not paid to attack you, and certainly not to fight me," Chiaki told him. "She almost lost her life, and if the police would have been notified to her presence here at the hospital she would have lost her freedom. The message was simple...'was it worthwhile?'." "I guess it wasn't." Jay whispered to no one in particular. Chiaki nodded. "Even the most violent and dangerous enemy has vulnerabilities," she said. "I found two of hers today. Only one of them physical." "You're really getting the hang of this hero thing." Jay joked as she escorted him out of the hospital. "Maybe you should think about working with me sometime." "Perhaps." Chiaki replied. She said nothing else the rest of the way back to the Lair Mansion. --- "What are you doing?" Lara Night asked after being shocked by a loud crash in the Lair Mansion library. Visionary had entered the library quickly, crashing through a cart piled with books. "I need you," he pleaded. "I mean...I need to use you. I mean--" "You need my help?" Lara corrected. He nodded quickly, seeming out of breath as he grabbed Lara's hand and tugged her out into the hallway. He led her back to his quarters quickly. "Are you sure you didn't mean you need to use me?" Lara joked as he opened the door. "No," he replied quickly, humorlessly. "It's Liu Xi...she's sick, and she--" "Why didn't you call me earlier?" Lara scolded him as she noticed the unconscious Liu Xi lying on the bed, where Visionary moved her. The Chinese teen looked pale, tired, like she were in her last days. "I thought you might be with Dream or something," Visionary snapped back. He regretted saying that immediately, though, as he looked away from her and began fidgeting. Lara frowned. "We need to talk about that later," she said quickly. She then touched Liu Xi's hand and looked at her closely. "What happened to her?" "Some kind of darkness within her," Visionary told her. "The Hooded Hood told me about it, something about the antidote being in me. I'm supposed to...do some kind of intimate act to cure her." "Intimate act?" Lara asked. He nodded. "Originally he said I'm supposed to give Liu Xi a child. But later he clarified it as just an 'intimate act'." "Why don't you kiss her then?" Lara asked. Visionary seemed confused by that. "How would that help?" "Usually with viruses spit contains antibodies," she told him. "If this thing is similar--" "That's all I had to do?" Visionary asked. He sat down and began hyperventilating. "All I had to do was give her a finger full of spit." "Well, no, once it's exposed to the air the antibodies die." Lara told him. "Look, don't be embarrassed. It's like giving mouth-to-mouth to someone who's not breathing, Vish. You don't have to be afraid to touch her under any circumstances." Visionary looked at Liu Xi, and then at Lara, but still hesitated. "I'm right here, Visionary. And she's a friend to both of us. Trust me, you're not taking advantage of her. If I thought you were I would never allow it." "So all I have to do is spit in her mouth?" Visionary asked. He cringed at how disgusting that sounded. "Yes, Vish," Lara replied, wrinkling her nose, "But hopefully with a little more style." "We could ask Uhuna to transfer the sickness to me where it will be neutralized," Visionary pointed out. "We could," Lara echoed, "But that would be unnecessarily complicated and it would take too long to find her." "I...just don't feel right about this," Visionary whined. "For the last time," Lara scolded him, "It's like CPR! Would you refuse to touch her lips if she wasn't breathing?" She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "If I could I would do it for you, but I can't. It's up to you." Visionary nodded once and took a deep breath himself. He leaned over Liu Xi and closed his eyes, and touched his lips against Liu Xi's briefly...and realized that Lara was right. Liu Xi's lips were cold, clammy, more lifeless than lustful, enough to send a pang of fear through him as he wondered if he was too late to save her. He sat up slowly, watching carefully a string of spit that refused to break right away, feeling nauseated at the sight of it but also hopeful that it had worked. And then he began fidgeting worriedly when it didn't work immediately. "Give it a few minutes," Lara told him. She was holding Liu Xi's hand gently. "I'll do my best to speed things up." "Are you sure this will work?" Visionary worried. Lara nodded and smiled, looking down just as Liu Xi opened her eyes, and her face began to quickly regain some of its color. She seemed weak, but alive. "She needs to rest now," Lara told Visionary. "And we need to talk." Visionary wished he could be unconscious as well. TO BE CONTINUED -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be -- reprinted without permission. -- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow -- Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin -- Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin |
To the Spirit of the Night, I surrender...| Follow-Ups: |
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