To reply, post publically or e-mail the author at hitomi@ndirect.co.uk
Enjoy!
The FFML Refugee List
"Dreaming Knights 2040" is a series I started a while back, but has
been on hiatus until now.
It is a story which focuses on Nene and crosses over with elements from
my BGC2090 series. As with most of my stories it involves
dark/fantasy elements, so it is not "pure" BGC.
Any C+C/flames welcome.
Cheers
Alex
============================================
E-mail - mailto:hitomi@ndirect.co.uk
WWW home - http://www.geocities.com/alex_gray255/
ICQ#: 106361193
Visit 'The Penultimate Ranma Fanfic Index' at
http://www.rakhal.com/ranmalst.html. Synopsis/teasers, author
information, crossover information, sequel/prequel status and length
information for most Ranma fics in the RAAC and TASS archives.
Complete up to 12/08/99, approx 50% complete for later fics, more
added every 2 weeks.
============================================
Dreaming Knights 2040 - Awakened
-----------------------------
*********************************************************************
This story is part of the "Dreaming Knights" series set in the world
2040.
The name Bubblegum Crisis and characters here within are copyright of
Artmic & Youmex and are used without permission. Other characters and
themes within are copyright of Alexander Gray and are used with
permission. This story and others in this series maybe freely
distributed as long as this header is quoted, the author is
referenced, and the contents are not altered without permission of the
author.
*********************************************************************
* * * *
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Time: AD 2039, 31 August, 06:26
Linna sighed. If she did not know any better she would have sworn
that the damned accounting boomer appeared to be personally after her
blood. No matter what the work was that she handed in, the bloody
machine seemed to take an almost perverse pleasure in finding any
little mistake possible, even if it was just a minor formatting error.
It was bad enough that she was having to work these insane hours
without some mad boomer as her only company.
"Hope it rots," she muttered under her breath as she bought up the
file on her monitor and started the latest corrections that the
pedantic little android had pointed out.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Linna cursed as her watch started to beep urgently. "Damn," she
swore. "Why does Sylia always choose times like this..." Muttering to
herself she reached down, and touching the DNA sensitive front of the
watch lifted it surreptitiously to her mouth.
"Damn it, Sylia," she hissed. "Now is not..."
"Be careful, Linna," a soft musical voice that was not Sylia's
spoke out from the timepiece. "They are coming."
"What?" Linna blurted out in shock, stunned that someone had been
able to hack into this secure channel.
"They are coming for you."
"Who the hell are you?!" Linna exclaimed angrily. "What..."
"You must not go to sleep, Linna," the voice replied. "No matter
what, you must not go to sleep."
"Eh?" Linna was...
"Yamazaki!"
The sound of her divine master's voice made Linna's head jerk
sharply up. "Oh, fuck..." she swore as the machine was striding in her
direction. She tapped the watch's front again - it had gone dead. The
com signal...
"Yamazaki!" the boomer exclaimed. "Get over here now!"
* * * *
At the same moment that Linna was mentally smashing her _beloved_
Master apart, another Knight Saber was also cursing her foul luck.
"Damn!" Priss swore as the mournful wailing of the police siren
started up behind her and red flashing lights were reflected in her
wing mirror.
"Not now!" she hissed angrily as she quickly considered what to
do. Sylia's voice had been almost frantic when she had ordered Priss
to get over to Nene's apartment. The woman, whom Priss usually
regarded as an IceBitch, had been almost incoherent, and that, more
than anything else, had told the singer that something was very, very
wrong.
"Fuck them!" Priss decided and opened the throttle out to full.
She could almost hear the surprised curses from the occupants of the
car chasing her when the "Motoslave" gave a growl like a bear in heat
and lurched madly forward. She tightened her grip on the metal body
between her thighs and lowered her head. The scenery suddenly blurred
into a gray mass as her 'slave tore up the urban road like a hell
hound on LSD.
"Holy... SHITT!!" Priss yelled in a combination of fear and
excitement as she struggled to hang onto the throbbing machine between
her legs. GODS! This was what she _lived_ for! The wind... the
adrenaline rush... She was _alive_...
Priss had barely even acknowledged the almost insignificant
presence of the young jogger crossing the road before her speeding
beast had smashed straight through the teenager and driven over the
remains. The jolt caused the 'slave to buck and with a savage scream
of tortured metal, the bike and its driver crashed into the side of
the road.
Floating...
Lights...
Sounds...
Voices...
Pain... utter pain...
With a vague feeling of disappointment at having failed Sylia,
Priss fell gladly into the offered embrace of darkness.
* * * *
"Sleep..." Linna groaned as she finally opened the door to her
apartment and slipped inside. After a week of working this insane
shift she almost felt like some kind of wraith. Why, oh, why, had she
been stupid enough to take the offer of this extra work. Sure, the
increased money was good, but getting home at 06:45 every morning
after a grueling night shift was killing her.
"Lights off," she ordered the homecomp in a listless tone of voice
as she stumbled towards her bedroom. "I'm going to bed, not getting
up, you stupid machine."
"You have three new messages, Linna," the calm voice replied,
ignoring the brunette's insult. "Would you like to hear them?"
"No, I wouldn't," Linna snapped as she worked to undo the buttons
on her restrictive bank uniform. "I'm going to bed. You can damn well
play them back later."
"Very well," the voice replied simply. "Good night, Linna - sweet
dreams."
"Yeah, right..." Linna muttered finally ridding herself of her
hateful clothes and slipping into her night shift. She yawned and
almost with a sense of intense anticipation she slipped into the cool
sheets of her bed. Finally... sleep...
She settled down and almost immediately her breathing began to
relax and get deeper. Linna sighed, and slowly let go of her
consciousness.
"Linna..."
The nearly sleeping form started to twitch as a voice whispered in
her ear.
"You must not go to sleep, Linna..."
The twitching form rolled over.
"Linna, listen to me. You _must_ not go to sleep! They will..."
"No..." Linna muttered as the urgent nature of the voice started
to draw her back from her much needed sleep.
"Come back, Linna. You _cannot_ sleep."
"No... Go away..." Linna felt herself regretfully emerging from
the seductive darkness of her sleep. The voice would not let her go.
It would not let her be at peace. Her hand waved in the air in a
vaguely dismissive motion. "Go away..."
"LINNA-SAMA!!"
"NANI KA?!" Linna bolted straight up as the voice screamed at her.
"WHAT IS WRONG??"
"Linna?" the artificial voice of the housecomp asked as it
activated the lights back on. "What is wrong?"
Linna rubbed her eyes and blinking in the sudden light looked
wildly around.
"Linna?" the housecomp repeated. "Are you all right?"
"Who was just here?" Linna demanded glaring around the empty room.
"Who was shouting in..."
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Linna raised her hand and looked down at the urgently flashing
display on her watch. Her eyes narrowed, and then not exactly sure of
what to expect, she touched the front of the display.
"Hello?" she hesitantly said remembering what had happened only a
few hours before.
"Linna?!" Sylia's furious voice calling out her name made the
brunette suddenly sit up. "Where the hell have you been? Why haven't
you been in touch with me?! I was worried sick!"
"Sylia?" Linna queried dumbly.
"Listen to me, Linna," Sylia's voice sounded deadly earnest and
had an edge to it that Linna did not remember hearing before. "Nene
and Priss have both vanished. I..."
"What?!" Linna burst out fully awake. "What do you mean they have
both just vanished..."
"Listen to me!" Sylia yelled. "You maybe in danger! I don't know
what's going on, but someone or something maybe hunting us down! I had
a call from Nene early this morning and she tried to warn me about
something but was cut off in the middle of a sentence. I sent Priss to
Nene's apartment to see what had happened and now I've lost contact
with her too. Linna..."
"Oh Gods..." Linna felt cold as Sylia's news washed over her. Both
Priss and Nene...
"Linna?" Sylia's voice anxiously broke into her revery. "Are you
still there?"
"Yes..."
"Linna, listen to me. I want you to pack enough for a couple of
days and get the hell out of there. Come over to my place immediately!
Do you understand?" Sylia's voice had a tone that would brook no
disagreement.
"I..." Linna was still trying to process the news.
"Linna! Do you understand?" Sylia's voice demanded again.
"All right..." Linna nodded, all traces of her desire to sleep now
completely gone. "I understand."
"Hurry..." and with that Sylia's voice cut off.
Linna quickly got to her feet and throwing off her night shift
started to put together a small pile of clothes. She tried to push the
thought of Priss and Nene from her mind. She kept repeating to herself
that they were fine, that this was all just some kind of nasty
mistake, or misunderstanding.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
"I'm on my way, Sylia," Linna said touching the front of her
watch. "I'm just packing now. I should be over at Silky Dolls in less
than an hour."
"That would not be a very good idea, Linna-san," the same musical
voice from before said. "In fact, it would be tantamount to suicide."
Linna went deadly still and her heart leapt up into her mouth.
"Leave this apartment and you are a walking target," the voice
continued into the silence. "This place has been Warded. Leave here
and you will suffer the same fate as your other young friend. The same
fate that awaits all your kind unless the Guardianship is reinstalled
and the gate closed."
"Who..." Linna struggled to get words out of her dried up mouth.
"Seven potential Guardians exist," the voice continued on as if
Linna had said nothing, "and three have already been... disposed of by
the Sleepers. I could not help them, but I can help you, Dreamer. If
you want to live to see your next birthday then you will..."
Linna panicked, and with a scream she threw the watch from her and
rushed into the bathroom locking the door behind her like a little
child.
"This... This is crazy..." she gasped out loud. This _had_ to be
some sort of insane nightmare, either that, or she really was going
mad.
"No, Dreamer," a soft voice whispered in her ear. "This is very
much reality."
Linna froze and something akin to dread shivered up and down her
spine. This... this...
"Time is getting short, Dreamer. A Guardian _must_ be chosen, and
soon."
Linna did not hear the rest of the statement as her mind was in
the process of trying to shutdown itself down in a faint.
"No! Dreamer!" the voice shouted and a jolt of _something_ ran
through her body. A _something_ that caused her to scream in agony.
"YOU MUST NOT GO THROUGH THE ENDLESS DOOR!" the voice screamed in
her mind. "I WILL NOT LOSE YOU AS WELL!"
A fresh bolt of agony tore through Linna's form and she screamed
spasming on the floor. Another bolt followed, then another and Linna
was lost in an infinite sea of pain. A sea that had no beginning or
ending - only endless pain.
* * * *
Sylia looked down at her watch and with a sinking feeling
concluded that Linna must have fallen victim to whatever it was who
was attacking her other Knights as well. She did not know what to say
or do. She just felt very cold within. The thought that Linna, Priss
and Nene might be dead had great difficulty in sinking into her head
and she hoped to God that it was not true. The question was however,
what was she going to do now?
She took a deep breath and slowly got to her feet. The first thing
she had to do was fight down the emotions that were beginning to
rapidly build up inside of her. The rage and fear that were pressing
at her reason could serve no useful purpose. She had to focus on what
she could do to find out what had happened to her friends. She had to
control herself! That was the only way she could help them!
"Control..." she muttered as she clenched her fist - hard. The
pain from her nails as they bit into her flesh helped to restore
something of her objectivity. She moved over to the console on her
desk and sat down. Christ! She felt like she was almost some kind of
inhuman ice bitch, trying to callously dismiss the pain that she knew
her friends... no, her sisters might be going through right at this
very moment. She knew however, that this was the only way that she
could cope. Priss, Nene and Linna _were_ her family, and she had to
find them - no matter what.
Intellectually, Sylia knew that Linna, Nene and Priss might very
well be dead already, but that very notion made her feel sick and with
a brutal effort she suppressed it completely. They _had_ to be alive!
They just _had_ too! If... if they were not then... then...
"Stop it!" Sylia told herself. "They are alive and they need me.
Pull yourself together." She took a couple of deep breaths and then
punched a few keys on her console. The machine beeped and the screen
flashed to life as Sylia called up the tracking program that would
tell her the truth regarding her sisters. She had designed the
software to piggy back on the network of private advanced surveillance
satellites that GENOM had circling the Earth for their own nefarious
uses. Her program could get the satellites to scan virtually the
entire surface of the planet if she so desired. She started to
configure it to scan for a very particular and unique signal, a signal
that Sylia had designed especially for this purpose. The signal itself
was generated from an undetectable piece of biotech that Sylia had
surreptitiously infected into each of her sisters when they had first
joined her. Originally, she had designed it as a method of ensuring
that she knew where her recruits were, where ever they were. It also
had another less benign purpose, as a safeguard - a fatal one.
However, that was not the purpose for which she invoked the system
now.
"Come on, come on," Sylia muttered biting her lip as she waited
for the program to work its way through GENON's ICE and infect the
satellites control systems. If her sisters were still alive then the
satellites would find them. The biotech she had used remained
functional as long as the host in which it had been planted remained
alive. The only reason it would not be able to find her sisters was if
they were dead.
Seconds dragged into minutes as her virus finally worked its way
undetected into GENOM's control systems and started to feed her the
information that she so desperately needed. The tension in her body
slowly built as the satellites began to scan for the signals of her
sisters.
The console bleeped as Linna's signal came through almost
immediately and Sylia just about swooned in relief at the news that
Linna was still alive. A moment later a second bleep sounded and
Priss's signal was confirmed as having been detected as well. Sylia
almost felt a smile threaten to creep onto her face as she breathed a
deep sigh of relief and waited calmly for Nene's signal to appear as
well.
It did not.
Sylia bit her lip and rose to her feet as the reported scanning
range of the satellites confirmed that Nene's signal had not been
detected in Japan nor in the majority of Asia.
Ten minutes passed and still nothing.
Finally, the console gave a quiet bleep and reported that no
presence of Nene's signal could be found on the planet. Sylia stumbled
and had to grab onto the back of her chair to steady herself. Her
mouth worked but no words came out as the full impact of Nene's
missing signal hit her in the gut like a small fist. She felt a hot
tear run down her face and uttered a small noise that sounded
suspiciously like a sob.
"Nene..." Sylia forced her emotions into a cold dark ball that she
then pushed to the back of her mind. Linna and Priss needed her!
Besides, the scanning process was not infallible and if Priss and
Linna were still alive, then her fears about them being hunted down
was obviously a paranoia mistake on her part. Nene _would_ be all
right.
"Linna is alive," Sylia told herself as she punched up the
coordinates where Linna's signal was coming from. "And so is Priss.
There is no reason why... What?!" Sylia's argument with herself
suddenly stopped as she was struck dumb with surprise at where Linna's
signal was coming from. Linna was still in her bloody apartment! Why
the hell then was she not answering Sylia's calls? Sylia shook her
head, and then turned to looking up the coordinates for Priss's
signal. The answer that the console gave her stopped her cold.
"Kotori Hospital... Oh, no... Priss..." Sylia shuddered, and with
a sick feeling she hacked her way into the central registry of Kotori
hospital. Once in, she rapidly ran a check for the answer which she
feared she already knew. It did not take her long to confirm it.
Priss had been involved in some kind of road accident. The details
that she could scrap together were unclear, but it appeared that Priss
had been speeding over to Nene's apartment when she had hit and
subsequently killed a young pedestrian. The accident had caused Priss
to lose control of the bike and crash, half killing herself as well.
Sylia finished reading the police report and slumped back
disbelievingly in her seat. She could not accept the stream of
disasters that had happened in the space of a few short hours. First
Nene, then Linna and now Priss... She did not know what to do.
Everything was collapsing before her very eyes and she could do
nothing to stop it. Her head was pounding. Too many things had
happened, too many things needed her attention. Nene missing, Linna...
Priss in a critical condition... What the heck was she to do? What
_could_ she to do? Sylia simply sat there and looked at the blinking
light of the console screen as it waited obediently for her next
command.
Mackie walked into the room and saw his "sister" staring blankly
at nothing. For a moment, he wondered what she was doing. He frowned
and almost said something, but opted instead to clear his throat. The
sudden sound made Sylia blink and she looked up.
"Mackie..." Sylia focused on her "brother" and bought herself back
to the world of reality. She pushed herself away from the desk and
slowly stood up. The question of what she had to do was still unclear,
but it was obvious that Linna and Nene were her first priority. Priss
was... Priss was not going anywhere, and although Sylia hated herself
for looking at it in such a cold and practical way she had no choice.
She swallowed, and forced her emotions to one side. She would have to
deal with them later. In the meantime she had to find out what had
happened to Linna and Nene. That was the most important thing. Once
she had done that, then, and only then, could she turn back to her
emotions and face what had happened to Priss.
Sylia took a deep breath and then turned to face her brother. She
took another deep breath and slowly released it. "Mackie," she said in
a calm voice. "Go and get Neil, I need his help."
* * * *
Nene screamed with fear and once more scrambled to her feet and
started to run. The _things_ that had been pursing her ever since she
had been dragged into this horrifying place gibbered in insane delight
and renewed their efforts to reach her. Their piecemeal bodies were
like the insane creations of a tormented mind and only their sheer
strength and determination enabled them to keep pace with Nene's
panicked flight. Each of the things looked like they had been thrown
together out of bits and pieces then somehow given a semblance of
life. Fur, claws, scales...
Nene's terror focused her mind like nothing else could. Gasping
great gulps of cold air into her lungs Nene forced herself onto even
greater speeds. She had no doubt whatsoever what her fate would be if
those... things... caught up with her. She _had_ to escape!
Running across the treacherous ground as fast as she dared Nene
suddenly snagged her foot on some unseen obstacle and shrieked with
pain as her ankle abruptly gave. White hot agony flooded through her
left leg and she collapsed to the ground. The force of the impact sent
fresh pain shooting through her body and she sobbed as she tried in
vain to recover and get back to her feet.
The things that had been pursuing her howled in demented triumph
and bounded towards her as fast as their tortured bodies could manage.
With a strength born of sheer desperation Nene dragged herself to her
feet. She tried to ignore the pain shooting through her leg and began
to run. However, as soon as she tried her first step she shrieked and
fell back to the ground. Her left leg had completely given out.
Sobbing with terror and pain, Nene rolled onto her stomach and
desperately tried to crawl away. She dug her nails into the ground and
pulled with all her strength as the gibbering insanities, whining with
hunger, were nearly upon her.
Nene heard the awful scuffing of their bodies and screamed. Her
mind tried to shut itself down as she sought in vain to seek some form
of escape from her fate. She closed her eyes tight, and curling up
into a fetal position wished with everything that she was that she
could die right there and then.
As the first claw touched her bare legs Nene screamed with terror.
Terror like...
"Enough."
The voice was softly spoken but at the sound of it the things
looming over the screaming girl shivered and then suddenly dissolved
like mist before the wind. The dead cold air _moved_ and a slender
figure in an old fashioned dress walked over to stand by the still
screaming blond. The figure stood for a moment, looking around at the
barren rocky landscape and sighed. At the sound of her sigh the
scenery softened and wavered. The grayness began to slowly leech away
and was replaced by a sunny, sandy beach.
The girl pushed her hand through her long unbound dark hair and
smiled. She glanced down at the still screaming form of Nene and a
look of surprise passed over her face. She seemed uncertain for a
moment and then hesitantly, almost as if she were unsure of what to
expect, she leaned down and reached out to touch the screaming young
woman.
As the first of the claws touched her shoulders Nene reacted
instinctively. Giving a mad scream she savagely attacked the thing
that had touched her. Calling on all the training that she had
received from Sylia her terror was transformed into a hysterical
anger. Her hands flew out and wrapped themselves around the small
pasty white neck of the unholy thing touching her. Her mouth pulled
back in a savage smile as she felt the soft flesh give beneath her
strangle hold. She applied even more pressure and tried to squeeze
the life out of her enemy.
To kill it...
The small hands slapping ineffectively at her face was what bought
Nene finally back to some form of sanity. It suddenly dawned on her
that the figure she was trying to throttle was a girl even younger
than herself. Nene gasped and with a high pitched squeal abruptly let
the girl go and fell over backwards.
Released from Nene's strangle hold the young girl collapsed to the
ground as well. She lay there, gasping and trying to drag as much air
as she could into her tortured lungs. Her eyes were wild and her face
was completely white as she continued gulping air like a fish. She
stared at Nene with an expression on her face that was almost akin to
fear.
The two of them sat staring at each other for what seemed like an
eternity and Nene was able to use the time to get something of her
sanity back. She stared hard at the girl she had just tried to kill
and struggled to get a grip on what had just happened. The dead barren
land through which she had been fleeing only a few moments before had
suddenly been replaced by a warm sunny beach. And what was even more
crazy was that the insane fiends who had been trying to rip her apart
had abruptly changed into a pretty junior high student who was
currently watching her with wide scared looking brown eyes.
What the hell was going on here?!
Nene took a deep breath and watching the 'girl' warily slowly got
to her feet. As she did so she was stunned to note that her left leg
now seemed to be perfectly normal. She blinked and tested it - the leg
held perfectly. Nene gasped and turned her attention back to the
child.
"Who... Who are you?" she hissed as she said the first question
that popped into her head. The adrenaline high from her fear was still
rushing through her body, and now that she had a target to focus on
that fear began to rapidly change into anger.
The girl's head jerked up at the question and she looked nervously
over at the angry sandy haired teenager standing only a short distance
away. "Remi. Remi Miyuri," she replied in a small voice as she got
unsteadily to her feet.
Nene took a few steps forward and put her hands on her hips. "And
what the hell is this place?" she demanded angrily glaring at the
girl. "How did I get here?"
The reply to her demands was not quite what she expected.
The girl gave a small whimper of fear and backed away as fast as
she could. "Stay away!" she exclaimed shakily holding out her hands in
front on her. "I won't let you hurt me, not again!"
The look of fear on the girl's face made Nene freeze. The red
marks from where Nene's hands had been clenched around the girl's
slender neck were still clearly visible and Nene shivered, disgusted
at herself. Closing her eyes, Nene took a moment to force herself to
calm down. Threatening this child was no way to get answers, and
answers were one thing that she desperately needed.
"I... I'm sorry," she murmured in a forced voice as she took a
deliberate step back and held up her hands in an attempt to show that
she meant no harm. "I... did not mean to hurt you... I just..."
The girl was still breathing heavily, but at Nene's words she
stopped backing away and the look of fear in her brown eyes slowly
softened. "Are... Are you all right?" she asked in a timid voice. "You
almost fell victim to your own nightmares and..."
"Where am I?" Nene asked in as calm a voice as she could. "What
_is_ this... place..."
The girl hesitated for a moment and then she seemed to come to a
decision. Slowly lowering her hands she cautiously began to walk over
towards Nene. "I wish I could tell you," she said with a lost look on
her face. "I've been stuck here for what seems like weeks. You are the
first real person I have met. I don't really..." As the girl said
these words her eyes widened and she looked as if she had just
realized something. "You _are_ real... _Real_..."
Nene frowned as the girl suddenly shivered and clutched at
herself. The young woman took a small step forward just as the girl's
eyes lifted and locked on her face. Nene was surprised to see that the
child's brown orbs were shining with tears and that the girl's face
was white as a sheet. Abruptly, the girl burst into tears and with a
heart broken sob she threw herself into Nene's arms.
Nene was stunned at the girl's sudden breakdown and all she
managed to do was just stand there while the girl clutched at her
crying her eyes out. Uncertain of what exactly to do, Nene put her
hands on the girl's shoulders and awkwardly patted her.
"Shh... It's all right, everything is all right... Hush now..."
The girl continued to ball her eyes out, all the time holding onto
Nene as if she were the only rock left in the child's world. Nene did
nothing more but continue to try and offer what support she could, and
finally, after what seemed like an age, the girl's crying was replaced
by a small set of hiccups and then gradually by nothing at all
Nene gently pushed the red faced girl back and with a kind smile
looked down at the cried out brown eyes. "Better, Remi-chan?"
Remi slowly nodded her head in reply. "Sorry..." she said in a
tight voice. "It's just that I have been here alone for so long
that... that..." She sniffed and fresh tears threatened to roll down
her face.
"Now, now," Nene said gently and raising her hand carefully wiped
the excess moisture away from the girl's red face. "You're far too
pretty to go ruining yourself by crying like that. It makes you look
like a tomato, you know." Nene winked.
Remi hiccuped and her face broke into a small smile.
"That's more like it, Remi-chan," Nene said as she put a winsome
smile on her face and patted the young girl's cheek encouragingly.
"Now, why don't you dry off your eyes and we can see what is what,
ne?"
Remi's eyes brightened at Nene's words and she nodded as her face
became slightly more animated. Reaching down to her sleeve she pulled
out a small white hanky. Raising it to her face she gave a most unlady
like honk as she blew her nose.
Nene grinned even wider and for the first time since she had been
dragged into this nightmarish place she actually felt happy. She
waited until Remi had dried her eyes and then carefully re-approached
the issue of where the hell was this place.
"Remi-chan?" Nene began.
Remi looked up and her brown eyes locked on Nene's face. "Yes?"
"What... What is this place? Am I going mad, or does this place
really exist? Please... Do you know... anything?"
"What's your name?" Remi abruptly asked looking straight into
Nene's eyes. The girl's desperate need for someone to talk to made
Nene almost want to weep. What had this poor child been through?
"Nene. Nene Romanov," Nene answered holding out her hand with a
reassuring smile. "And I am very pleased to make your acquaintance,
Remi Miyuri."
Remi politely, and with a broad smile on her face, took the
offered hand in her own and gave it a warm shake. "And I you, Romanov-
san."
"Nene, please."
Remi nodded happily."Nene-san," she corrected herself. "I am so
pleased to meet you. I... You don't know how long..." Her eyes began
to mist up again and Nene gave the girl's hand a small squeeze.
"I am here now," she said softly. "You aren't alone anymore,
okay?"
"You won't leave me, will you, Nene-san?" Remi asked looking up at
the older teenager with eyes that were suddenly very intense. "Please,
don't leave me! I don't want to be all alone - not again!"
Nene felt her heart go out to the girl and she wondered just how
long the poor child had been alone in this nightmarish world to make
her this desperate for company. She reached out with her other hand
and reassuringly stroked the girl's long hair. "I'm not going
anywhere, Remi-chan. I..."
"Promise? Please! Promise me you won't go!" Remi clutched at
Nene's hand even tighter and Nene smiled as reassuringly as she could.
"I promise. I will never leave you. I..."
"Swear it!" Remi begged. "Please, Nene-san..."
Nene's throat tightened at the girl's desperation and she slowly
nodded, "I swear it, Remi-chan. I will never leave you - no matter
what."
At Nene's words the girl almost seemed to shake with relief and
then she started to cry again.
"No more tears remember, Remi-chan," Nene gently scolded the girl
and Remi sniffed, but then nodded her head.
"Sorry," she said giving Nene a warm look. "I will try."
"Good girl," Nene gave Remi's chin an affectionate rub and then
tried once again to approach the issue of what was going on. "Why
don't you tell me about yourself, Remi-chan?" she asked attacking the
issue from another direction. "Who are you? Where do you come from,
and how did you get here? I would _really_ like to know."
At Nene's questions Remi's smile faded slightly, but then she
slowly nodded. "Of course," she said and then gestured towards the
warm. "Do you mind if we sit down? My legs are beginning to get a bit
tired."
Nene grinned and sat down on the soft warm sand. After a brief
pause, Remi plonked down next to her. Taking a deep breath she moved
closer to Nene and then she began to softly speak.
"Well, Nene-san, my name, as you already know, is Remi Miyuri and
I am 14 years old. My blood type is AB-, so I tend to be rather
serious by nature," Remi's eyes shone and she grinned as if thinking
some private joke. "But then so is the rest of my family, so I can't
be held accountable for that. I was born in Tokyo on June 12th, 1983.
My parents..."
"1983?!" Nene suddenly exclaimed jumping to her feet and Remi
pulled back slightly afraid that she had done something wrong.
"Nene-san?" the girl asked timidly. "Did I... Did I do
something..."
"But that's impossible!" Nene exclaimed staring sharply down at
Remi with an expression of shock on her face.
Remi was utterly confused by Nene's reaction. However, the
expression on Nene's face for some reason made her feel cold and she
shivered. "Nene-san? What... What is wrong?"
"You're 58 years old?!" Nene blurted out unthinkingly. "But that's
insane! You can't be!"
Remi felt the cold feeling slowly fill her entire body and she
looked over at the sandy haired teenager in disbelief. "What... What
do you mean... 58 years old... I don't..."
Nene's mouth was now working entirely independently of her brain
and she exclaimed, "But it's 2041! You can't have been born in 1983!
I'm older than you for Heaven's sake, and I was born in 2024! It's
utterly impossible!"
Nene's words passed over Remi's head for a moment, but then as the
older girl kept on repeating that one fact, it slowly sank in.
"2041..." she repeated dumbly. "How... No... I've only been here for a
few weeks... It can't be..." she began to shiver and that cold feeling
returned with avengeance. She raised her hands and clutched at
herself. 2041... It had to be a joke, or a lie! It just had to be!
Remi fought to retain at least some semblance of calm as she kept
telling herself that this was some kind of sick joke on Nene's part.
She tried to look anywhere but up at Nene's face. She had seen the
look of utter disbelief on the older teenager's face when she had
first said she was born in 1983 and... and...
As the younger girl suddenly started to shake uncontrollably
Nene's brain finally caught up with her mouth and she abruptly
realized what it was she had just done. "Oh, fuck..." A small pained
whisper emerged from Nene's mouth as the girl's shaking began to
become even more pronounced and something like the sound of a heart
broken sob came from the hunched up figure.
"No... no... Mother..."
Nene began to move towards the girl in an attempt to comfort her
and repair the damage that her big mouth had done. However, she had
not even taken her first step when she suddenly stopped dead and
looked around her in utter disbelief. The sandy beach and warm day
were _changing_. Nene's eyes opened wide with shock as the sea and sky
began to blur in a most unnatural way. The wind began to pick up
sharply and Nene was forced to raise her hand in order to shelter her
face from the stinking sand. Slightly blinded by all the sand Nene
tried to make her way over to where she could just about see Remi. The
girl was sobbing hysterically, and even though the wind muted some of
the sound, the pain in the girl's voice cut Nene to the soul.
"Fuck it!" Nene exclaimed and fighting against the wind she slowly
made her way over to where the girl was crouched. All around her the
laws of reality seemed to have taken vacation as the landscape
dissolved into a mad chaos of riotous color and sound. Nene forced
herself to ignore all the insanity and focused exclusively on the
sobbing girl just ahead of her.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Nene reached the
sobbing form of Remi. Amazingly, up close to the girl the wind seemed
to be almost nonexistent and Nene began to get a nasty feeling about
just what had caused this sudden insanity. She stood for a moment
uncertain, then, taking a deep breath to calm herself, Nene knelt down
and threw her arms around the crying girl.
"Remi-chan, please! I'm here like I promised I would be! Please!
You're not alone anymore... Remi..." Nene put as much warmth and
feeling into her embrace as she could. She remembered what the girl
had said about being here for what seemed like just a few weeks and
cringed. Nene could not even begin to imagine what it was like for the
girl to suddenly be told that over 55 plus years had passed instead.
The only thing she could think to do therefore was just to hold onto
the child and attempt to comfort her. It was pretty pathetic
considering, but it was the best that Nene could do.
"Hush, Remi, hush..." Nene repeated again and again gently rocking
the girl back and forth while the child cried her eyes out. In return,
Remi clutched onto Nene like she was the girl's only real contact with
the world. Nene felt a warm protective feeling begin to bloom deep
within her and she held the sobbing girl even tighter. The poor thing
had been through more than Nene could even comprehend, and Nene wanted
desperately to reassure the girl that she was not alone anymore. That
there was someone who would protect her, someone who would watch over
her and keep her safe.
Finally, after how long Nene did not know, the sobbing began to
fade away as Remi literally cried herself out. Even so, Nene continued
to hold the small form and rock her reassuringly back and forth until
at last, exhausted by her emotional outburst and comforted by the
protective embrace of Nene, Remi slipped into a fitful sleep.
Nene looked down at the sleeping form still half cradled in her
arms and blinked to clear the tears of her own that had been
threatening to break forth. How could she have been so stupid as to
inflict such pain on someone who had already been through so much?
Nene's mouth tightened and she held her sleeping burden closer. She
would make it up to the child, somehow she would make it up.
"Oh, Gods..." Nene whispered to herself as she wondered how the
hell she was going to get out of this one. Remi had been stuck here -
wherever the hell "here" was - for years, and there was no way that
Nene was going to accept the same fate. She was going to get herself
and Remi out of this nightmare, whatever it took. Nene closed her eyes
and swore an oath, both to herself and the child she had promised to
never leave. She would get them both out of here - no matter what the
price.
* * * *
Sylia cautiously watched Linna's apartment from the street to see
if she could detect any sign of activity. She had been sitting here
for over ten minutes now and had driven down the small street several
times over the last two hours. Linna lived in a cheap block of flats
that were right next to the road, and for the life of her Sylia could
see nothing unusual at all. She looked down at the small signal
tracker in her lap. According to the signal that it was still
receiving Linna was in her apartment and the bio-data that came with
the signal indicated that she was calm and relaxed. This situation was
driving Sylia to grind her teeth in frustration. What the hell was
going on here?
Sylia looked down at the small weapon that she had brought with
her. It did not look like much but it was quite capable of taking out
a reasonably sized boomer. She bit her lip and picked it up. The
situation was extremely risky, but with only herself to draw on she
considered going into Linna's apartment herself. She knew that it
might very well be a trap, but she had no other altern...
Her chain of thought stopped dead as she saw a young couple
walking down the street towards her car. Her eyes narrowed as a plan
came to mind. Carefully putting the gun out of sight she waited until
the two figures were within a few meters of the car and slowly rolled
down the powered window.
"Excuse me," she called out in a friendly voice. "But I was
wondering if you could help me..."
The couple stopped and seeing them from this short distance Sylia
realized that they were not a couple as she had originally thought,
but two young girls. The one she had originally mistaken for a boy
just had a very short hair cut and was dressed in dark slacks.
However, as the two came closer Sylia saw that there was no way a boy
could look as attractive as this girl was.
"I'm sorry," the girl with the short hair asked. "Did you just say
something?"
Sylia put a warm friendly expression on her face and nodded. "Yes,
I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you would be able to
do me a very small favor. I was supposed to be meeting a friend here
about five minutes ago, but she has not come down from the apartment
where she lives and I can't seem to raise her on her mobile."
"So?" the girl asked.
"Well, this is a controlled parking zone, so I did not really want
to leave my car unattended in case I get a ticket. I'm sorry, I know
it's an inconvenience, but I was wondering if you might be kind enough
to go and tell her that I am waiting for her."
The other girl, who had much longer black hair, leaned down and
gave Sylia's face a good look. After a moment, she smiled and then
nodded. "Yeah, sure, we can do that," she replied giving her companion
a smile. "Right?"
The other girl shrugged. "Whatever," she said in a bored tone and
the straightened.
The brunette gave a small sigh and briefly rolled her eyes before
she turned her attention back to Sylia. "So, where does your friend
live?"
Sylia smiled and pointed towards the entrance to the flats on the
opposite side of the street. "She's in apartment 3a on the third
floor. Thanks a lot for this, I really appreciate it."
"Anyway, what's your friend's name?" the other girl suddenly said
looking down at Sylia with a pair of intense green eyes that made
Sylia shiver for some odd reason. Those eyes seemed to hold a bored
contemptuous light in them, and Sylia felt as if the girl regarded her
like some kind of annoying bug.
Sylia swallowed and felt a faint anxiety, almost like an
instinctive fear run through her. "Yam... Yamazaki Linna..." she said
in a small voice.
"Linna..." the short haired girl repeated slowly almost as if she
were tasting the words and the lips on her pale face twitched.
The other girl gave her companion an annoyed look and then turned
back to Sylia. "And who might you be?" she asked curiously.
Sylia mentally gave herself a shake and turned back to the
brunette. "Hanabishi Meigami," she lied with a polite smile.
The girl with the short hair gave a small snigger and her smile
twisted in an expression of derision. "Of course," she said turning
away and Sylia had the distinct impression that this might not have
been such a good idea after all.
"Sam," the other girl said with a piqued expression. "Stop it,
now."
The slender girl with the short red hair stuck her tongue out and
smiled impishly. "As you wish, Kel-sama."
The brunette gave another long suffering sigh and looked back at
Sylia. "Sorry about Sam," she said apologetically. "We'll go and tell
your friend that you are waiting for her, Hanabishi-san." And without
waiting for a reply she turned around and laying a hand on the redhead
dragged her off towards Linna's apartment.
As the two of them left Sylia felt herself relax and gave a small
sigh of relief. She did not know what it was, but something about that
redhead seemed to make her scared. She chided herself and forced her
mind back to the situation at hand. She had no time for such stupid
flights of fancy, not now.
Straightening up in her seat she turned to watch what would
happen. She was not proud of using two innocent girls as bait, but she
did not have much choice... And yet... Sylia remembered the look of
bored contempt that the redhead had given her and found herself almost
pitying those who might be holding Linna. Sylia had the cold feeling
that that redhead was dangerous - very dangerous, and if suitably
annoyed, might even prove fatal.
She was not normally religious, but she prayed to whatever Gods
might be listening, that she would never be one of those poor souls.
* * * *
** Dreaming Knights 2040 - to be continued...
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Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
anime fanfics available at
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