Memory
[Forward-dated slightly to Oct. 24.]
Their time was almost up.
Yamazaki sat cross-legged on his futon, his journal open on his lap. Open to Renee's recent entry. He read through it, and through all the responses, repeatedly and thoughtfully... but that one thought was what it all kept coming back to. Not much longer... Fugue was waking up, and when he did, his dream would vanish.
He'd taken the dog to the Wilderness. Whether he'd retreat there as well or stand and face whatever end was coming... he hadn't decided yet. The notion that they had all just been someone's dream... Yamazaki didn't believe that, not for a minute. He was real, everyone here was. But that Edensphere itself was a dream, one that they had been pulled away from their lives to become a part of, seemed more and more undeniable. Renee appeared to believe that the outcome of the dream reaching its end would not be so bleak for them as Locke had insisted, though. She said they would have another chance, that she would not be the only one to gain her freedom... and Yamazaki knew that about all he could do at this point was hope that she was right.
Locke... that thought had Yamazaki's gaze drifting over to his dresser, to the drawer wherein that memory crystal sat unused. The one Locke had given to him, some time ago. Yamazaki had been hesitant to use it, hesitant to trust a gift from a man he held no trust for whatsoever. But... there seemed to be little left to lose, now. The end was upon them, whatever it entailed, and he may not have another chance to learn more about himself. Before he could second-guess himself, Yamazaki stood and crossed the room purposefully, opening his dresser and reaching for the crystal.
---
The disorientation of being unable to feel anything was what Yamazaki became aware of first, and coupled with an inability to see, it was quite an unsettling sensation. He could hear, though, and smell... and everything that met those two senses struck him as alarmingly familiar. The muffled sounds of shouting and hurried footsteps above him, and the damp, musty scent in the air, faintly tinged with blood... this was the place from his birth dream. The basement room.
There were a few sets of scrambling footsteps nearby, which came to an abrupt halt. A dripping sound, very close, was all he heard for the next few moments... and then, his own voice. Calm, measured and soft... dangerously so.
"The way she died... was brutal. To make such a sport of beating and raping..." there was a harsh tch sound from one of the other occupants of the room, "...the body was covered in cuts and bruises."
Footsteps, suddenly, running towards him. The sound of a sword being drawn, and a coarse shout. "Outta my way!"
The attacker reached him, there was the sound of a violent impact... and Yamazaki's voice continued, every bit as steadily. "...In the pouring rain..." The harsh clang of a sword hitting the floor then, immediately followed by the dull thud of a person doing likewise. "You discarded her with less care than your trash. One eye put out, the side of her face crushed and swollen..."
"Damn!" Another man's voice in front of him was immediately followed by a swift rustle of movement... and then the sound of something small and light landing on the ground between them, and the unmistakable smell of blood. There was a harsh breath from the man...
"Her left arm ripped to shreds... the ends of the broken bone sticking out," Yamazaki continued.
And the man began to scream. "Wah?! Waaa--aaahh?!! My fingers!!"
Scrambling footsteps again--escaping footsteps. Only one set. They halted abruptly. All was silent for a moment... the screaming man had perhaps lost consciousness. Then Yamazaki spoke again, his tone cold and unfeeling.
"You'd rather get caught than be killed... is that it?"
"I... was only following orders from above to deal with the spy!" It was a voice Yamazaki recognized from previous memories--Masuya. He was panicked, breathing hard. "You people do the same thing!"
There was a loud crash then, as the man and something more fell to the floor, followed by Yamazaki's slow, quiet footsteps approaching him.
"Not yet. You're not nearly there yet." He spoke evenly, deliberately. "It's far too early... for you to beg for your life."
Sudden movement from Masuya, the sound of a blade scraping against the floor... and Yamazaki's running footfalls. There was an impact, flesh striking flesh and someone hitting the ground with a considerable amount of force. Another impact then, a much more violent one, followed by the audible splatter of what Yamazaki's sense of smell told him was blood.
Another strike, and another, and another, until they became interspersed with pained choked-off moans from Masuya. Yamazaki spoke then, his voice still frigidly emotionless, but with the faint edge of a strain that hadn't been there earlier.
"I'm not really supposed to kill you. Forgive me. I... can't be patient anymore."
One more impact, one more splatter, and the memory faded.
---
Yamazaki sat back on his futon, his journal forgotten for now, and set the newly dulled crystal aside. His sister... he still recalled the image from his birth dream with perfect clarity, her pale body discarded in the rain... Masuya had been responsible. He had 'dealt' with her. And Yamazaki felt a grim sense of satisfaction in knowing that the man had, in turn, been dealt with. If this memory fell in where he thought it might, before the one he'd seen on the fourth floor, then that meant he hadn't killed Masuya... but that was all right. He hadn't just sat and sulked and cried on the roof with Peacemaker--with Tetsu, either. He'd done something. He'd avenged her.
She had died so that he could live, so that he could become a strong shinobi. Had he become one? Would she approve of the choices he'd made, of the path he'd taken here in Edensphere? What would she want him to do now? Calmly, Yamazaki stood, and began to gather together his essential possessions--everything he'd need in the Wilderness. He owed her his life. To throw it away recklessly would be to dishonour her sacrifice.
[From Shinsengumi Imon Peacemaker chapter 20, here. This crystal had no punishment attached.]
Their time was almost up.
Yamazaki sat cross-legged on his futon, his journal open on his lap. Open to Renee's recent entry. He read through it, and through all the responses, repeatedly and thoughtfully... but that one thought was what it all kept coming back to. Not much longer... Fugue was waking up, and when he did, his dream would vanish.
He'd taken the dog to the Wilderness. Whether he'd retreat there as well or stand and face whatever end was coming... he hadn't decided yet. The notion that they had all just been someone's dream... Yamazaki didn't believe that, not for a minute. He was real, everyone here was. But that Edensphere itself was a dream, one that they had been pulled away from their lives to become a part of, seemed more and more undeniable. Renee appeared to believe that the outcome of the dream reaching its end would not be so bleak for them as Locke had insisted, though. She said they would have another chance, that she would not be the only one to gain her freedom... and Yamazaki knew that about all he could do at this point was hope that she was right.
Locke... that thought had Yamazaki's gaze drifting over to his dresser, to the drawer wherein that memory crystal sat unused. The one Locke had given to him, some time ago. Yamazaki had been hesitant to use it, hesitant to trust a gift from a man he held no trust for whatsoever. But... there seemed to be little left to lose, now. The end was upon them, whatever it entailed, and he may not have another chance to learn more about himself. Before he could second-guess himself, Yamazaki stood and crossed the room purposefully, opening his dresser and reaching for the crystal.
---
The disorientation of being unable to feel anything was what Yamazaki became aware of first, and coupled with an inability to see, it was quite an unsettling sensation. He could hear, though, and smell... and everything that met those two senses struck him as alarmingly familiar. The muffled sounds of shouting and hurried footsteps above him, and the damp, musty scent in the air, faintly tinged with blood... this was the place from his birth dream. The basement room.
There were a few sets of scrambling footsteps nearby, which came to an abrupt halt. A dripping sound, very close, was all he heard for the next few moments... and then, his own voice. Calm, measured and soft... dangerously so.
"The way she died... was brutal. To make such a sport of beating and raping..." there was a harsh tch sound from one of the other occupants of the room, "...the body was covered in cuts and bruises."
Footsteps, suddenly, running towards him. The sound of a sword being drawn, and a coarse shout. "Outta my way!"
The attacker reached him, there was the sound of a violent impact... and Yamazaki's voice continued, every bit as steadily. "...In the pouring rain..." The harsh clang of a sword hitting the floor then, immediately followed by the dull thud of a person doing likewise. "You discarded her with less care than your trash. One eye put out, the side of her face crushed and swollen..."
"Damn!" Another man's voice in front of him was immediately followed by a swift rustle of movement... and then the sound of something small and light landing on the ground between them, and the unmistakable smell of blood. There was a harsh breath from the man...
"Her left arm ripped to shreds... the ends of the broken bone sticking out," Yamazaki continued.
And the man began to scream. "Wah?! Waaa--aaahh?!! My fingers!!"
Scrambling footsteps again--escaping footsteps. Only one set. They halted abruptly. All was silent for a moment... the screaming man had perhaps lost consciousness. Then Yamazaki spoke again, his tone cold and unfeeling.
"You'd rather get caught than be killed... is that it?"
"I... was only following orders from above to deal with the spy!" It was a voice Yamazaki recognized from previous memories--Masuya. He was panicked, breathing hard. "You people do the same thing!"
There was a loud crash then, as the man and something more fell to the floor, followed by Yamazaki's slow, quiet footsteps approaching him.
"Not yet. You're not nearly there yet." He spoke evenly, deliberately. "It's far too early... for you to beg for your life."
Sudden movement from Masuya, the sound of a blade scraping against the floor... and Yamazaki's running footfalls. There was an impact, flesh striking flesh and someone hitting the ground with a considerable amount of force. Another impact then, a much more violent one, followed by the audible splatter of what Yamazaki's sense of smell told him was blood.
Another strike, and another, and another, until they became interspersed with pained choked-off moans from Masuya. Yamazaki spoke then, his voice still frigidly emotionless, but with the faint edge of a strain that hadn't been there earlier.
"I'm not really supposed to kill you. Forgive me. I... can't be patient anymore."
One more impact, one more splatter, and the memory faded.
---
Yamazaki sat back on his futon, his journal forgotten for now, and set the newly dulled crystal aside. His sister... he still recalled the image from his birth dream with perfect clarity, her pale body discarded in the rain... Masuya had been responsible. He had 'dealt' with her. And Yamazaki felt a grim sense of satisfaction in knowing that the man had, in turn, been dealt with. If this memory fell in where he thought it might, before the one he'd seen on the fourth floor, then that meant he hadn't killed Masuya... but that was all right. He hadn't just sat and sulked and cried on the roof with Peacemaker--with Tetsu, either. He'd done something. He'd avenged her.
She had died so that he could live, so that he could become a strong shinobi. Had he become one? Would she approve of the choices he'd made, of the path he'd taken here in Edensphere? What would she want him to do now? Calmly, Yamazaki stood, and began to gather together his essential possessions--everything he'd need in the Wilderness. He owed her his life. To throw it away recklessly would be to dishonour her sacrifice.
[From Shinsengumi Imon Peacemaker chapter 20, here. This crystal had no punishment attached.]