Begone the Dark


                                Such is the power of the power


When she was little, Priss used to hide under the covers of her
bed. She did not do this because she was afraid of the dark. On
the contrary, she _liked_ the dark. The dark helped her sleep,
and since sleep was an escape from the reality she so detested,
the dark was her friend. The tranquillity, the stillness darkness
offered was for her a relief in itself. In winter, when it was
cold and she got an extra sheet, the obscurity underneath became
so complete she could almost touch it. She used to extend her
hand, almost expecting to feel the pressure generated by what
seemed a tangible blackness. Yes, little Priss liked the dark
very much.

As she grew up, however, the magical quality of this ethereal
friend began to wane. Reality eventually improved. She stopped
hiding under her covers, no longer did she try to caress its
intricate nothingness.

Perhaps, she thought, that's why the dark was punishing her now.
For no matter how much she immersed herself in its blackness,
comfort didn't come, tranquillity eluded her, and sleep was no
longer an escape. And yet she didn't know what else to do, and so
she continued hiding in the dark...

---

    "Do you know what happens when a star dies, Nene?"

    "Don't flatter yourself, Priss!"

    "No silly! I mean the stars in the sky, you know what happens
to them in the end?"

    "Sure, it depends on their size..."

    "Ahem, well, yeah, I suppose _you_ would know. Anyway, I read
about it today. The small ones, like our sun, kinda just grow a
bit but later they simply collapse into a small planet..."

    "White dwarf, actually."

    "Whatever. The _really_ big ones," continued Priss, looking
upwards dreamily, "don't take crap from anybody. Those become
supernovae, and when one of 'em pops, the entire galaxy takes
notice. If worse comes to worse, that's the way _I_ wanna go,
Nene, with a bang..."

    "That's very humble of you Priss, and rather appropriate,
especially when you consider the star's _ultimate_ destiny. After
the largest of the stars go supernova, they become black holes!"

    "And why would that be more appropriate?"

    "Because you suck!"

    "Why, you little...!"

---

Priss woke up, crying, moist scabs of green mucous covering her
upper lip. Her bloodshot eyes vaguely managed to see through the
greyish darkness around her. It was day now. Day was grey, night
was black. The difference, however, was becoming more and more
blurred as time passed. Enclosed in her small trailer, door and
windows shut, curtains drawn, she hoped the difference would
eventually vanish altogether. How she hoped it would so be!

Somehow things went wrong. She was _supposed_ to go first, no?
Front line offensive, yes? Hot-headed big shot with the BFGs and
the kamikaze attitude, right?

Well, it didn't quite work that way. You see, when you're in a
team the "kamikaze" part does not (cannot, actually) limit
repercussions to that single member. Sometimes it doesn't affect
the hot-headed big shot at all, but the one guarding said
big shot's back. And when the big shot gets carried away and blows
up the power generator on which her backup is working on, well,
things get messy.

And now the dark didn't like her anymore.

One day, through the haze, she thought she heard Linna talking to
her, putting something to her mouth. The tea scalded her lips,
she instinctively swiped Linna's arm away, and told her to fuck
off. She couldn't recall very well what happened afterwards, but
she seemed to remember hearing someone crying. Linna must have
talked to Sylia, because sometime later she too came, but Priss
just wanted to fade away, and of course she told her to fuck off
also, because she too was disturbing the darkness.

But Priss didn't fade, and the dark refused to offer relief.

During yet another sleepless night, Priss decided she would not
be able to will herself away. True, she hadn't eaten in many
days, but she knew that when she became too weak they'd take her,
and would not let her be gone.

Wobbly legs carried her outside, where flickering street lamps
burned into her weary eyes. She got on her motorcycle, and drove
away, headlights off, in search of the dark.

---

Wind rushed through her hair, as she left the city and headed
towards the mountains. The sky was cloudy, and as she went up
little travelled roads she felt herself closer to the dark. Why
was it then, that the emptiness within her did not subside?

She finally reached her destination. She got off her motorcycle,
and headed towards the vantage point, at the edge of the cliff.
The energy-starved city before her weakly sparkled through the
foggy night. At her feet, far below, an abyss. She looked down,
and tightly clenched the bike's keys in her fist, drawing blood.

Perhaps if she went into the dark forever it would forgive her.
Maybe then the dark would again be her friend.

She inched towards the precipice.

Priss found herself the target of a bright ray. The motorcycle's
headlight illuminated her from behind. The bike must have budged
somewhat, turning the light in her direction. This time she found
the spotlight unbearable. It didn't seem to make sense at this
point, but she felt compelled to turn it off.

She suddenly realized she held the keys in her grip.

Slowly, Priss turned around, towards the city.

It was changing somehow, it was becoming... brighter.

The street lamps seemed more brilliant, their light more intense.
The headlights of the cars on the street were also radiant,
including, for some reason, the parked ones. The ships in the
harbour looked like fire flies against the black waters.

And the buildings. The buildings were glowing. Every house, every
apartment, every lamp in every single office seemed to be burning
twice as bright. Empty stadiums suddenly became incandescent
jewels, skyscrapers were now towers of pure light. Neon signs and
giant screens everywhere flickered to life, computer monitors and
televisions turned on, contributing to the brilliant flood. A
billion sources of light, shining in unison, as far as the eye
could see. MegaTokyo had become a dazzling earthbound sun,
burning through the fog, illuminating the heavens from below.

    "No, not a sun," thought Priss, tears blurring the light, "a
supernova."