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The Durem Train Station (pt. 4) ---name change!!--- |
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---Author's Note: I changed Kaya's name to "Kem". I remembered while writing this story that "Kaya" was always suppose to be "Kem". Sorry for any confusion.---
It's 11:15. We missed our train.
“I am soo sorry!” Vikari felt so bad she won't stop apologizing. She even bought us our tickets for the next train, which, by the way, isn't until 12:03 pm.
We decided to stop for lunch at one of the cafés in the top floor. The crowd’s starting to build up. Vik says it’s rush hour around 12. Even that new reporter was here, asking seeming random questions to the passer-byers. Walking along, I noticed something from the corner of my eye. It looked like a person, but it didn’t have a definite form. It was more like a shadow or something. I turned around slightly, taking a quick glance, but I didn’t see any one … or anything. The crowed was building and I thought I was seeing things. Then I noticed it again and that it’s following us. I spun around to see what it was, but it was gone.
“What’s wrong?” Chiaki asked. I scanned the crowd, looking for the shadowy figure, hoping that I wasn’t just seeing things. Whatever it was, it was gone now. “Nothing;” I finally said to her “everything is fine.”
…
11:25pm
Like so many of the cafés around here, this one was small. The aura of sweets and coffee was very inviting but the café was strangely empty. I guess most Gaians would prefer going to a bar or something. Well, at least the food was good. I even tried the strawberry muffin Chi told me about earlier. It was pretty good. It’s strange how they can so much like humans. The whole time was nothing but jokes, laughs, and giggles. I have to admit, I did enjoy their company. For a moment, I forgot they were demons…
Suddenly, I felt a slight vibration on my leg. I pulled out my cell phone and saw who was calling me. So I answered the phone “I’ve never heard of anyone sleeping as long as you do.”
Kem was giggling on the phone. “I saw you guys on T.V walking passed Cindy Donovinh, the news reporter.” The name sounds familiar. Was that the reporter who covered the bar fight with Drake, the dog demon…or was that someone else? “What happened? I thought you left for Barton already?”
“Yeah but something got in the…Wait a minute, I was on T.V….?”
Just when I was in the middle of speaking, Vik looked at me with widen eyes. “Is that Snow?” She asked “Oh! Gimme the phone real quick!”
“Huh? Who’s that?” Kem asked. She could hear Vik in the background and was getting a little confused. “What’s going on?”
I told her my story.
“Vik is there!?” Kem exclaimed, completely ignoring how we missed the train. “How is she? Can I speak to her?”
Vik was just as excited as Kem was. So I put her on speaker phone. Vik, Chi and Kem were talking for a while. Then we all told Kem to come with us to Barton. We would buy her ticket and she would meet up with us at the train station.
Chi and Vik were excited. I guess their happiness kind of ribbed off on me. For the first time since I’ve been at the train station, I’m happy that I’m going to Barton. With my friends, that is.
….
11:30pm
The crowd is getting bigger and it was harder to stick closer to Vik and Chi. The three of us thought is was a good idea to hold on to each other’s hand so we won’t lose the others. It was working for the most part, until some jerk ran through our holding of hands. I tried to grab Chi’s hand again, but everyone was pushing to the docking area I couldn’t get through. I was separated…
The crowd kept pushing me backwards. I found myself under the lights and cameras of that news reporter…uh…What’s her name?
“That’s it for today’s current events. This is Cindy Donovinh reporting live at The Durem Train Station…” She signals the camera man to turn off the camera but he doesn’t. Still smiling, Ms. Donovinh gives the signal again but he still continues shooting.
“Luc! What is wrong with you? Turn off the damn-”
Luc cuts her off mid sentence. “Look behind you.”
She turns around. Our eyes meet for about ten seconds. I told tell she recognized me from the bar fight. She started to open her mouth to say something to me, but something else caught her attention…
I thought I heard someone call to me. Or, rather, I felt it…
He was tall. His hair was a dark blue-ish purple color. His eyes told me he was a dog demon looking for trouble. Oddly, his eyes are so familiar…
“Ay” he whispered. “So you’re Iris. I guess Kem has to be somewhere around here, huh?” From then on, I knew what he wanted and it was him who was following us. He’s eyes were the same as Drake’s, the little brother of the dog demon Guild leaders. His aura…I can’t put it into words. It’s dark, most definitely, but so numbing strong…I could move.
It didn’t take long for someone to recognize who he was. It was something like dominos. One person saw who he was…then two…then ten…then thirty-three…
Just then a crowd of about a hundred people began to scatter. People were screaming and jumping over themselves to get out of the way. I wanted to look for Chi, but my body couldn’t move. It was like he was looking at me, at my soul. I could feel. His stare gripped me. It wouldn’t let me move. What kid of spell is this? Was it a spell?
He walked-up to me in a graceful, almost gliding matter. “Allow me to introduce myself” His voice was soft, yet cold. The voice of a true back stabber. “My name is Gaus, leader of the Cubes and Diamonds guild.”
He held out his palm facing the ceiling. “Now, hold still, ” He then said something out loud in a language I’ve never heard of. Blue sparks danced on his palm. The sparks grew until streaks and circled his hand wildly.
“If you move your death will be more painful. So, try to move as much as much as you like.”
 Astre_Kyrs · Tue Jul 24, 2007 @ 03:55am · 1 Comments |
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“My face not pretty Brown” |
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This isn't part of my story at all. However, this is very important to me.
Brianna is only 3 years old with an amazing ability to bring a smile on anyone's face. She's curious, friendly, and energetic, just like any child her age. She’s an adorable little girl and I love her and I only met her a few months ago.
Today, she comes over my house with her grand mother and my uncle. As usual, we play around (The game of choice today was “Ring around the Rosy”), laughing and giggling and tickling each other. Since we were on our best behavior, we got to be “big girls” and sat down to eat some ice cream in the living room and not in the kitchen. We talk about nonsense for a while. She loves my dogs and normally the dogs would be the focus to our conversations. Suddenly she said something that came out of nowhere:
“My face not pretty Brown”
I was crushed. I don’t even think she fully understood what they told her. She said some of the kids at school said that to her. I pray she met to say “one kid” instead of “some kids”. I asked her why they said that and she shrugged her shoulders. What she said made me very upset but, in a way, it doesn’t surprise me. Hate runs deep. Ignorance is bliss. Mix them together and you got an ugly sin. These are 3-4 year old kids, so they most likely had gotten that from their parents or someone else who’s older. Media plays a roll in this as well. We’re being told what’s beautiful and what’s not.
Before some of you start get too angry, think about it. How many commercials do you see? How many of those commercials are about beauty or beautiful people? How many of those people have dark skin? And no, I don’t mean tans. I’m talking about dark, natural, African skin. Prove me wrong…Someone please?
My God, I wish I was better with words. I’m so angry right now. My thoughts are all...over the place...
I told her they were jealous their face wasn't as brown as hers. I pray to God it won't be the other way around...
Astre_Kyrs · Mon May 14, 2007 @ 12:37am · 1 Comments |
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Durem Train Station (pt 3) |
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“You don’t know? What do you mean you don’t know?”
Chiaki looked dark. That’s the best way I could describe it. It was hard for me to tell whether she was sad, confused or angry…or maybe all of the above. I couldn’t help but feel a little responsible for her emotions. If I never brought up her past, she wouldn’t feel this way.
She was silent for a while…then spoke very slowly.
“My first memory...well, my earliest memory for that matter…was Tutsumi.”
“What do you mean he was your first memory?” I asked. Her face lightens little as she spoke.
“Just like I said, he was my first. My earliest memory was waking up and seeing his face. He was so nice to me. He told me I was sleeping in the yard and he was getting complaints from the other guild members. When Tut realized I had no memories he offered me to stay. Even though we never met, he treated me like a friend. “
I sat in silence listening to her story. She seems to like this Tutsumi guy a lot. How much I’m not sure…
“I don’t remember my mother, my father, where I was born, or any of that. Back then, Tutsumi and the rest of the guild was my family.” She continued, “We had so much fun. God, I miss some of them.”
“Some? Why not all?”
“Some of them were really fun to be around with. The others were just jerks.”
“Really? Like who?”
“Like—“
Before Chi could finish, there was a loud cry for help. A boy was running down the stairs, into the boarding area with a young woman chasing could after him. The boy had to be about 10 and he was carrying a bag that, from the design, belonged to a woman. The woman looked to be in her late teens, early twenties. I couldn’t be sure. Her fox like ears and tail led me to believe she was a Demon, perhaps a Kitsune. She could well be over 100 years old. “Stop! Gimme my bag back!” The woman cried. This confirmed my suspicion, the boy stole the bag.
Before either I or Chiaki could do something about it, the woman mumbled something under her breath. With both of her hands, she did a circular motion in the air as if she was doing a dance. From within the circle sparked crimson light and a crackling of a flame. The woman stopped and let the light float a few inches from her chest. The light looked bizarre. It resembled a fire, but because of the single bright red color and the settle white flares, it had a mystical feel to it.
At once, with both arms loosely extended, she led the flame with her finger tips and launched it toward the child. The flame was as fast as lighting and had a direct hit on the child back, leaving him unconscious.
All this happened in under a minute. The whole boarding area watched the scene from their seats, but they didn’t move. Magic attacks are common place in Durem. People get attacked all the time.
The kitsune walked over to the boy and her bag. Her fox like ears flinched. She frowned and grabbed her bag. “Kids today, I swear. No respect.”
They ought to have a law against using magic in public, especially against humans. Of course, it doesn’t matter to her how hurt the poor boy. Who cares about the well being of others as long as she got her bag. Demons make me sick.
“I don’t believe it.” Chiaki cried. “Vikari-chan?” The woman quickly spun around. “Who called my…Chiaki-chan!” Vikari ran towards Chi and Chi did the same. The two meet each other in the middle and embraced in a warm friendly hug. Hold up, they know each other?
---
We only had 5 minutes until our train arrives. The kid who took Vikari’s , or Vik’s, bag was just some pick pocket. Some lower levels from The Gaian Security took him away. Meanwhile, after Vikari convinced Chi 5 minutes were plenty of time, the three of us went back upstairs to talk. Vik and Chi bought some tea, but I didn’t bother. I knew I had to save my money to buy another train ticket since we are going to miss our first one. “I just came back from Aekea. When I heard you and Snow were here in Durem, I had to come over and see you!” Vikari said. She was telling me who she was and how she knew Kaya and Chi. Vik lived in Barton for most of her life, after she moved over from Theta. She joined Tut’s guild a little bit after Kaya did. Ever since then, the three of them had been best friends. “I can’t believe how fast I ran into you guys.” Vik said “Where’s Snow?”
Chiaki shook her head “You know her, she’s sleeping in…again.”
“Ha ha! Good ol’ Snow!” Vik laughed “She hasn’t changed at all.”
“I bet she didn’t…” I said under my breathe. Chi must have heard me because she shot me a look. Turning towards Vik, she asked “What were you doing in Aekea, if you don’t mind me asking?” Vik smiled “Oh, I don’t mind at all. But you might laugh if I tell you.”
“Oh go on, tell us.” I said “We won’t laugh.” I lied. I was in the mood for a good laugh. Aekea is Gaia’s capital for weirdoes. Vik let out a small sigh. “Ok, I’m looking for the Philosopher stone.”
---
The philosopher stone:
There is a popular fairy tale that speaks of a stone capable of breaking the laws of science and the rules of magic. The stone was called many names throughout the ages, but today it’s called Blood Diamond or, the more commonly use, Philosopher stone. The Philosopher stone was said to be created by a woman who was a powerful witch and a talented Alchemist. According to the legend, she created the stone with her own blood, which is why it was given the name Blood Diamond. A few decades after the Philosopher stone’s creation, she vanished, never to be heard from again. However, the woman’s disappearance could have caused the lost, or perhaps destruction, of the stone. In the past the Philosopher stone was thought to be real, ignoring the possibility of its destruction. More valuable than gold, the Philosopher’s stone had been sought after for centuries by both human and demon alike. Most have risk their very existence for this stone believing it would give them a better life. Today, historians still argue about the exact purpose of the stone and whether or not it was actually real.
---
My eye widen when she mentioned the word Philosopher’s stone. I remember people talking about the Philosopher stone in my village. The adults believed it was real and took it very seriously. I heard a bunch of stories about its power and what it could do. Even I believed it was real. There were serious talk about finding it and using it to “cleanse the world”, whatever that means. I remember a rumor going around that some people even went out to go find it…
….Now that I think about, that’s around the time Kaya left us.
Chiaki giggled “You can’t be serious.”
“No wait listen!” Vik exclaimed, excited to explain herself “Scientist are finding more evidence that the stone could have actually been real. They found several pots and chairs made out of pure gold containing bits and pieces of wood. Like splinters. The pots and stuff dated back over one hundred centuries ago.” Vik finished her cup of tea in one gulp. “They believe the pot was original made of wood and someone turned it into—“
“Gold? And you believed that?” Chi asked. Vik put her head down. Wow, it didn’t take much for her to back down.
“Why do you want to find this stone anyway?” I asked.
“To study it” She said “ I'm a bit of a philosopher myself anf I love things like this. I know that the Philosopher stone is priceless, but I want to know how it was created. Alchemy interests me a little.” I rasied an eye brow "Really? Most demons won't find Alchemy interesting."
"Why?" She asked "Because I'm a demon I can't find Alchemy ineresting or powerful? Not every demon hates things that comes from humans. That's a stereotype. Personally, I think it's pretty smart how humans use science the same way we use magic."
I didn't know what to say after that. Breaking the silence, Chi laughed “Well, if there was a stone like that, maybe it’s best if no one finds it. Can you image how powerful it would be?”
Astre_Kyrs · Fri Apr 06, 2007 @ 09:47pm · 1 Comments |
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Durem Train Station (pt 2) |
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It’s easier to get into Barton Town by train. The Barton area is quite famous for its country sides and farm lands and Barton Town was the first city in Gaia. It’s so old, there really isn’t a highway leading to Barton Town.
Even in the morning, the train station is busy with people, but then again, Durem is always busy. On the plus side, its not as bad as it would be around noon. Now, it was 10:30 am, and our train doesn’t leave for Barton until 10:56. Great, 26 minutes to kill. What could we do, talk about plants? She has this weird obsession with gardening and herds. I hate gardening. Suddenly, I wish I would have stayed home.
“Want to walk around the station a little bit?” Chiaki asked. At first I wanted to say no, but what else could we do for almost a half a hour? I nodded and followed her around the station.
The Durem Train Station is rather huge, one of the biggest in all of Gaia. That’s because its part Train station, part shopping center. It has three main levels. The top level it like a mall, with stores and restaurants and even a movie theater. This makes up a big chunk of the station because its where the station makes the most money. The ground level is where you would buy your train tickets and maybe a newspaper or two at the small corner stores. The lower area, the boarding area, is under ground with tunnels leading to the surface.
We went to the upper level. It was gorgeous, with soft lights gently reflecting off the golden titles. Everything was so clean you could see your reflection off from anything: the titles, the glass windows, and the steel escalators. I wanted to explore but then I heard something. “What was that?” I ask Chi. She looked down and blushed “I’m sorry…I’m kind of hungry…”
“You should’ve eaten before we left.”
“Did you eat?”
“No”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
As a matter of fact …I was.
Chiaki and I went to a bakery and bought a giant buttermilk muffin to ease our hunger. It was so big I had to carry it with both of my hands. We were walking along the mall eating the muffin together. We were talking about all the different kinds of flavor of muffin there were: blueberry, cinnamon, corn…and I never heard of a strawberry muffin, but Chiaki said it was good.
It’s so weird. I’ve never really been alone with her. Yet here we are eating a muffin together. It’s something me and Kaya would do. She seems…almost human. I would think she was if it wasn’t for those yellow eyes.
It was 10:40, and we had just made it down to the boarding area. Compared to the other two levels, this one was rather depressing: cold, dark, quiet and damp. The tunnels were particularly dark. There were just enough lights to see through the tunnels, but the darkness stretched further than the light could touch.
We sat on one of the benches waiting for our train to arrive. “Have you ever been down to Barton Town before?” Chiaki asked me. I shook my head “The only spot of Gaia I’ve actually been in was Durem.” I said. “Is it nice down there?”
“Barton Town? Oh it’s really nice.” She said “I’ve been there for as long as I can remember.”
”Really? Were you born there?” I asked. I never put much though into Chiaki’s family or her child life. However, she didn’t look like herself.
“I don’t think so…” She said slowly
“Ok, So where were you born? Where did you grow up?” Chiaki looked so grim. Her expression matched the darkness in the tunnels. I was so confused. It was such a simple question, which came with a simple answer . The answer she gave me wasn't so simple:
“ I don’t know… I really don’t know…”
Astre_Kyrs · Fri Feb 16, 2007 @ 01:28am · 1 Comments |
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Durem Train Station (pt 1) |
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For as long as I can remember, Kaya has always been there to protect me. When ever I get scared, or threaten, or anything like that, she always come to save me. I never have to worry about fear, because my older sister will be there to keep me safe. That’s just how she was. Always looking after her loves ones, making sure they were protect and far from harms way. She was always responsible and I can depend on her for anything…
It was about 2 in the morning when Joe dropped me of. “You’s sure you’s gonna be alright?” he asked. I gave a small nod and got out of the car. He and I both knew Kaya was going to be pissed off. “Well, I guess that’s it then.” He said, while taking the car out of park “You take care.” I watched him pull away and drive off back into the city. Amazing how that old man can see in this dark night…or early morning I should say.
Slowly, carefully, and quietly, I opened the door to my house. It was dark and a bit cold. Chiaki and Snow must be upstairs asleep. Great, that means I’m going to get it later in the morning. It never accrued to me that Kaya should have been awake and waiting for me to get home. Oh well, at least I got in the house without them noticing. I was tiptoeing toward through the living room, being careful not to make any sounds….
The door started opening from behind me.
I froze. Crap. I can’t believe I forgot to lock the door. I started to panic and dove behind the couch. The door knob clicked just as soon as was fully hidden. Who could this be? Must be someone from the D. Akuma guild. Of course, they would attack at night My heavy breathing made it hard for me to keep quite. I held my breath and moved up a little bit closer to the couch’s edge just to see who it was. The figure was wearing all black and its face was hidden under a black hoodie. The figure let out a heavy sigh and reached for the light switch. Then pulled down his hood…her hood… it was Kaya. Kaya took off her
Hoodie and threw it on the couch. It almost hit me. She slowly walked across the room and went up the stairs. She looks so tired. What was she doing up so late? Where did she go…and better yet, what was she doing?
-----
It was around 10 am when I woke up surprised. Ever since Chi moved in, she kicked Kaya out of the kitchen saying her cooking is a bio-hazard to our health. Chi has been our cook every since, and normally she would be up making breakfast, but I didn’t smell anything.
I got dressed pretty quick and went down stairs. I haven’t eaten all of last night and I was starving. I made my way to the kitchen and I saw Chi writing a note. She looked up at me and smiled “Oh, you’re up. Good morning!” I smiled back “Morning,” I said, “What’s with the note?”
“Oh, this?” She said holding it up “I was going to run down Barton Town to pick up some supplies. We’re out of eggs and milk. The note was going to let you know where I was.” I nodded. That explains why there’s not breakfast. Using a GPin Magnet, Chi hung the note on the refrigerator. “Barton Town is a bit out of our way, don’t you think?” I asked“ Durem is a lot closer with plenty of shops.”
“True” She said, while grabbing her jacket “But the food over at Barton Town are more fresh and a hell of a lot cheaper.” She finished zippering her jacket when she asked “Want to go?”
“Go where?” I asked
“To Barton Town.”
“By myself?”
Chiaki laughed “No, with me silly!”
I raised an eyebrow “Me? Why don’t you go ask Kaya?”
I realized how harsh I sound when Chi’s smile faded a little “Snow…I mean Kaya is still asleep. I didn’t want to bother her…”
I’ve never been to Barton Town before, mostly because there are a lot more demons there. Plus, Chiaki never ask me to go with her anywhere. It’s normally just her and Kaya. But Chiaki…well…I guess she’s ok…for a demon anyway…and I have nothing else to do…
“Uh…I guess I’ll go.” I said rather quietly.
Astre_Kyrs · Sat Feb 03, 2007 @ 04:07pm · 1 Comments |
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The following 10 seconds of silence was the most award 10 seconds of my life. I stared into an empty space next to Joe’s body. I wasn’t even paying attention to what he was saying next.
“It’s sort ova surprise, though” He said, scratching his chin “Snow and Dragon were close. I wonder why he didn’t come ova to say hi. I mean, he could’ve at least say hi to me. No that I think about it, hardly anyone comes over the bar to say to good ol’ Joe, besides from you three. Tsh, you kids today, no respect for your –“
“He’s alive?” I said, cutting him off. “I thought he died”
He looked at me puzzled. “What made ya believe that crap?”
I started to think about it. I started to remember the day I found his picture. I remember feeling a certain way, the same way I feel now and back when I was at Joe’s bar. Kaya told me about him and that he…no wait…what did she tell me?
“What happened to him?” Kaya looked away from me. I think I know what’s going on. My once tense body loosened a little. “Did he die…?” I asked slowly. She finally looked up at me and smiled. Suddenly, I felt heavy and rather stupid. “He was…a good friend.” She said. “Kaya,” I said taking small steps towards her, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” but she didn’t say a word.
I remembered she never really said he died. Then again, she didn’t deny it either. Why did she lead me to believe he died?
It was getting late. The street lights from outside shined through the window in the bar. The once crowded streets are empty and quite. It’s almost as if Durem died.
“You should get goin’ young lady” Joe said while turning off the lights in the bar. “Snow’s probably worried about yous. Come on, I’ll give ya a ride home.” I checked the time on my watch. It’s almost 1:30 in the morning. Kaya is going to kill me. Joe reached inside his pocket to pull out a long key chain with about ten different keys hooked on. He made his way locking the windows and the front door when I asked
“How ‘close’ were they?”
Joe doesn’t stop to turn and look at me "What? You mean Snow n' Dragon?"
"Well, Yeah." I said
“Why does that matter?” He asked
“Ooh, I just wanted to know.”
“Didn’t Snow tell yous?”
I paused. “She…really doesn’t tell me much….about anything anymore.”
This time Joe turned around and motioned me to follow him. We head to the back of the bar where his car was parked. After he locked the back door, Joe got in and started his car. Joe didn’t start driving even after I got in. “Why do want to know about Dragon so much?” He asked. I looked up at him and I couldn’t give an answer. It’s not just Dragon, but then again it is about him. I don’t know. Every time I learn something new about “Snow” I get this uneasy, sadden feeling I can’t explain in words just yet. I feel like I have to solve a puzzle to get rid of this feeling. Each person is like a missing piece in this puzzle…Chiaki…Tutsumi…Dragon…
He sighed and said “You know, sometimes people do crazy stupid things to protect the one they love. They do this the best way they know how and sometimes their actions can their love one’s badly. It may not always make sense at the time, but in the end, it’s the best way to go.”
That had nothing to do with what we were talking about...
Astre_Kyrs · Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 02:39am · 1 Comments |
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*Ho-hum. This one is so sloppy. I wanted to fit so much in it so the story can move along faster...so sloppy... ho-hum.*
10-19-06
After that day at the bar, I tried to ask Kaya who the guy in the hood was. When she told me she didn’t know, I asked why she was so worked up when he left. She didn’t answer. I asked Chi and she said he sounds very familiar, but…
Two days ago, we received a letter from the D. Akuma guild, Drake’s guild. Kaya read the letter out loud to me and Chiaki while the three of us were in the living room. Chi was laying on the floor and I was sitting on one of the couches. Kaya was the only one standing. The T.V was turned down low so we could hear Kaya. It was written like this:
---
You bitches ******** with the wrong guild..
You hurt my brother and now it’s time
to return the favor. You will face the wrath of the guild.
I am Death. You’re blood will be splattered all over Durem.
You’re last breath will be a scream.
You’re days are numbered, prepare to die.
---
What the hell was that? Was that supposed to be scary? We all looked at each other, and from their faces I could tell they wanted to laugh…so did I. In all most an instant, the room was filled with laugher for about a good 5 mins straight. Afterwards Kaya crumbed the letter up. “Some threat,” She said “I thought it would be a lot more fierce than that. What is this? ‘I am Death?’ How much of a dumb a** can you be?” She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. Chi, still giggling, sat up scratching her head. “I guess but…It’s still a threat. We should be careful.” She said. I gave her a look and said “It’s not much of a threat. There’s nothing to fear.”
“You haven’t lived in Gaia long enough. It’s peaceful now, but before, it was crazy…” She said, “You’ll be wise to not underestimate your enemies.”
For some reason, I had a feeling of satisfaction at this point. I’m not sure whether it was because of her small but apparent fear or my hint of courage. Either way, I gave a sarcastic smile and said.
“Yeah, your right. We could be in danger from getting even more bad threatening letters. Maybe we should move…” I looked her in the eye with the same sarcastic expression. “What? Are you scared?” I was half expecting her to get mad and yell at me but she didn’t. She just looked at me and sighed. I must have gotten to her because she kept to herself for the rest of the day.
I fear nothing. What is there to fear? I am human. So what? I am a woman. Is there a problem? Many people look at me and see weakness. They see a human, a women, and think I’m easy pray for the so called “strong”. What makes a person strong or weak? Is it how they look? They way they were born? No, it’s about power, and using that to crush your opponents. The power of the mind is so much stronger than the power of muscle. To use your enemy’s weakness, to get into their heads and crush their spirit, is true power. It’ something I’m pretty good at. Like I said, I fear nothing. Whether Man or Woman, Human or Demon, I back down from one.
No one.
The next day was pretty slow. Kaya was napping, as usual, while Chi was up and about cleaning. For some reason, I couldn’t get the threat out of my mind, and I had so many questions I need to ask. Getting an answer out of either Chi or Kaya is starting to feel like pulling teeth, so I decided to go to a different source. Joe seems like he knows a lot about those two and the guilds so…
“I’m going out!” I yelled as I headed out the door. It was evening and the sun was starting to set. Chiaki was right behind me, going to take out the trash. I hoped I could’ve made it out the door before she saw me. “Where are you going?” She asked.
“Just out” I said. I don’t have to answer to her. But she was still following me outside lugging the sack of trash behind her.
“When will you be back?” She asked. She sounds so innocent and sweet…Blah.
“I don’t know.” I answered back harshly. “Late, I guess.”
“Maybe I should go with you.” Chi said putting the trash down next to the curb. “We shouldn’t be by ourselves especially when we had been threaded. Shall I go with…?”
Suddenly, I was getting annoyed. “Look, I just want to get out the house and be by myself for a while. Is that too much to ask?” When I finished talking, I knew what I said came out a little too harsh. Chi just smiled. “As you wish” she said and walked back in the house.
On the way to Joe’s I felt bad talking to Chi that way. Why? She’s only a demon; I could talk to her however I please. Besides, I couldn’t have her come with me. It’ll ruin everything. I did what I had to do…right? Argh! Whatever!
Joe was surprised to see me walk in by myself. I lied and said “Snow” had the flu and Chi was taking care of her. I said I had to get out of the house because I was afraid of getting sick. It was a weak lie, but he is so soft hearted and gullible, he was easy to fool. It wasn’t until long before I asked him about the threat and the D. Akuma guild. Apparently, it’s one of four major Dark guilds: D. Akuma, Cubes and Diamonds, Black Heaven and Lucky Jinx…the last one made me laugh a little (Who came up with these names?).
“The guilds are run by Dog demon Brothers, Gaus, Enrico, Nills, and the oldest King. Drake is the baby of the bunch, n’ Snow kicked his a**. So you can expect pay back.”
“Should we really be afraid of them?” I asked. Joe looked at me like I was headless
“Four major Guilds on your a**, trying to kill ya? Yeah, I thinks its somethin’ to be afraid about.”
“Wait…Four?” I asked. “I thought it was just one?”
“When yous mess with one, yous mess with them all.” Said Joe, as he wiped down the counter. The bar was almost empty and was starting to clean up. He continued to speak “Even with one, yous still need to be on the defense.”
“But why all four of them?” I asked.
Joe led out a sigh “Cause the guilds are run by Dog demon Brothers, Gaus, Enrico, Nills, and the oldest King. Drake is the baby of the bunch, n’ Snow kicked his a**. So you can expect pay back from all four guilds.”
The bar was empty now. I began to help Joe clean up, wiping down the tables, putting up the chairs, and other small things.
“These four brothers are bad enough without the guilds. If you thin Drake was strong, each one of them are stronger than that, and the oldest?!...Almost god like. They practically run the crime in Durem, but they neva got caught.”
“Geeze, Let me tell ya” He continued “Things are gettin’ pretty bad around here. Back in my day…”
I sat on one of the stools at the bar quite with my thoughts, while Joe was going on about how bad Gaia was with all the new Dark guilds. Four guilds, huh? I turned to the side to look at the area where Kaya flew through the wall. Only about have of the hole was covered now. It was taking them longer to full in the brick wall as predicted. Suddenly, I felt a chill down my spine. I could have sworn there was a gust of wind in that room. I was rubbing my shoulders, trying to stay warm, when I heard Joe say something about “…Tutsumi n’ his crew.”
“You mean the ‘Swordsmen of Light” guild?” I asked, suddenly looking up
Joe stopped swiping the floor “…Well, yeah…but…”
“Could you tell me more about them?” I was getting a little excited.
Joe looked at me uncertainly.
“ ‘Them’? …like who?”
“Like…the members. You know. Tell me more about them…and Tutsumi…and Dragon.”
This was my change to finally figure out who these people are. Joe shouldn’t have no problem answering my questions. Joe walked over slowly and sat behind the bar. “Well,” he started to speak “His name is Hybrin Tutsumi and one of da strongest Kitsumi’s I know. Very noble with morals. I can’t remember when he was ever drunk…” and he kept going on and on. From what he tells me, Tutsumi seems like one of those strong quite types. All I could hear was blah, blah blah. I was interested in one person only…
“What about Dragon?”
Joe’s smile got a lot bigger “Oh, he knew how to have a good. I swear he could drink a ton of beer n’ not get drunk. Hahah! I love da kid! He cracks me up! ”
“So what was he like?”
Joe scratched his head “He acts like a bad a**, but when he was with Snow…”
This is it. The thing I’ve been dying to know “Did they had feelings for each other or something….?”
Joe looked at me straight in the eye “Shouldn’ yous know? Didn’ Snow tells ya?”
I blinked a couple times ”Well… yeah. Sort of. I mean…”
“She didn’ tells ya, didn’ she?”
I paused. “…No.” I said quietly
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” I shouted “It’s driving me crazy. She always tells me everything and now she doesn’t tell me anything…I think it has something to do with Dragon’s death.”
Joe eyes gotten big. “He Died!?” He cried out “When? That’s impossible.”
“I’m guessing he died….Wait, how is this impossible?”
“Cause. I just talked to him today.”
My jaw dropped “…What?”
“Yeah. He came back from a trip just a few days ago.” Joe relaxed but I was still in shock. “He was in this bar on his first day back to Durem. You was here, right?” Joe said/
I stared at him blankly. He wasn’t making any sense.
“You know,” He said “The guy with the hood that one day, a few days back. Remember the guy who scared the crap out of you?…that was him.”
Astre_Kyrs · Sat Nov 04, 2006 @ 03:47am · 1 Comments |
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What a stupid name...(Part 2) |
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The man in the hood was drinking from his glass, still not looking up but listening to our conversation. Something told me to keep an eye on him. Kaya must have thought he was specious. She was also watching him.
Joe let out a sign and leaned against the bar table with his arms. “I really don’ care what the name is now. I just wish it was back up.”
“It closed down?” I asked “Why?” Joe shrugs and looked at Chi and Kaya. Those two didn’t look like they were giving an answer. Joe continued on talking “Anyway, after that guild closed down, others like it did the same. Evil guilds then had gotten more powerful and started to do whateva they wanted. People don’ mess with ‘em nowadays. Those who do end up dead.”
Chi looked down, deep in though while Kaya leaded back on her bar stool. “Interesting.” She said “And I suppose Drake and Fang are members of one of the Evil guilds.”
Joe smiled “You two were the first in a long time do to anything. Explains the news a little, doesn’ it?”
“Are they going to try to come after us?” Chi asked. Joe nodded and turned grim. “I know you two could handle yourselves but…they might come after ya’s with the whole guild.” Joe looked at her with concern in his eyes. “I don’t want none of you to be getting hurt. Snow, I know you’re strong but… I wish Tut or Dragon was here to help” He paused a little and then asked “Where are they anyway? Have you heard from them?”
Chi replied she didn’t talked to Tutsumi awhile but not to Dragon. Kaya didn’t say a word. Poor thing, I felt bad for her.
It was then when I noticed the hooded man walking towards us. His black hood made it hard for me to see his face. He put his hand inside his jacket as he walked faster towards us. I thought he was pulling out a gun or something. I started to have images of the last bar fight. What if this was Drake and he wanted to get even? What if this was another of his guild members who wanted to kill us. I panicked and screamed…a little. Kaya and Chi turned around fast, stopping the man in his tracks. He slowly pulled his hand out of his jacket and pulled out 35 pieces of gold.
Yeah, I was going to be killed by a handful of gold. Needless to say, I felt stupid.
He walked over to the counter and placed the money there. Without looking up, he heads towards the door. Joe counts it and adds up the total amount he send on drinks. “Hey buddy! Your math is off” Joe shouted to the hooded man. He stops right at the door. “You gave me too much buddy. I don’ want ya to think I over charge here.”
The man doesn’t turn around to speak. He voice was young, but at the same time mature. “Keep it. I owe the money anyway. Remember Joe?” With that said, he walks away.
Everyone expect me sort of stopped what they were doing. Chi and Joe looked at each other, both of them looked a little confused. After a few moments of what seems like shock, Kaya springs up from her stool and jogs over to the door. I followed her outside to see what was wrong. No one was there. The young man was gone.
Before we left, I asked Joe what was the name of Kaya’s Guild. He said it was called “Swordsmen/women of light”
Joe was right. That is a stupid name.
Astre_Kyrs · Fri Sep 29, 2006 @ 05:55am · 1 Comments |
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What a stupid name... (part 1) |
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((*Sigh* I know I'll have to edi this later. So many mistakes...but right now it's getting late and I'm tired...))
A couple of weeks had past since the Bar fight down in Durem. Talk about it spread around the city like wild fire. It was even on the news for about 30 seconds. I thought bar fights happened all the time in Durem. What makes this one so special?
Chi (Chiaki’s nickname) has been living with us for what seems like forever. At first, I admit, I was afraid of her, but now I guess I got over it. She took care of my wounds from the fight. It’s odd. She barely even knew me and yet there she was taking care of me. I even got to talk to her, Chiaki. Chiaki is a bubbly, happy, girl. She is very polite and likes to help people. I mean, she WANTS to help, like cook and clean and stuff. Not what I expected from a demon, especially a demon with such a dark aura.
How strange. I was set to hate her for no reason at all. Maybe this is what happened to Kaya when she first met Chi. Hating her seems pointless now. After a while, we were talking like the three of us had been friends for a life time. Chi says she’s a wander, which means she goes from place to place and…well, wanders. She said she wanted to wander some more, but…
Not to say I’m use to demons now. Demons are still number one on my s**t list. The only demon I partly trust is Chi…
The three of us had been going to Joe’s Bar for quite a while. The conversations we had were random. We had a conversation about which kind of cheese we were more like (don’t ask) which was extremely random, but we never really talk about anything serious. One day, the three of us went to the bar as we normally would. This time we went in the middle of the day, so the bar wasn’t that crowned with people when we got there. The people were just coming in to get a drink and to socialize a bit. At the time, I didn’t notice a man sleeping on one of the tables wearing a black jacket hoodie. The hood was covering his head.
Joe gave all of us the usual huge bear hugs. We order our drinks (I asked for lemonade, of course) and then we talked. The conversation was nothing different at first, then somehow the bar fight came up. Joe was giving praises to Chi and Kaya for their actions
“I’m so proud of ya’s. You guys whipped ‘em up good. They don’ even come ‘round here anymore.”
Chi reddened and thanked him. Kaya, on the other hand, scratched the back of her head.
“Well, it’s no big deal really.” She said “I mean we used to clear up bar fights all the time…”
Joe’s eyes widened a little and crossed his arms as he said “Yeah, back in the day. Your guild was one of the ones that helped kept this bar clean.”
I noticed from the corner of my eye the man who was sleeping before. He was up when Joe mentioned the word “guild”, but his hood was covering his face.
I looked up from my glass and glanced at Joe.
“Guild?”
“Wha? You neva heard of ‘em?” Joe said, and then stopped to think for a few seconds. “Yeah, that’s right. You’re new here. Basically, guilds are citizen ran clubs and there are bunches of ‘em. Quite famous in Gaia, actually. Almost each guild is different from each other. The more important guilds, however, are the ones which are more…let’s say “involved”… in Gaia.”
“Involved?” I said. I was a bit confused. Chi giggled at my confusion before Kaya explained futher.
“He’s talking about the Pure guilds versus the Evil guilds. Besides clubs, guilds can be created to become more organized in either persevering Gaia or destroying it. The Pure guilds are designed to protect Gaia, and maintain balance and peace. The Evil guilds are design just in the opposite.”
“But why would people join an Evil guild?” I asked “And why are they legal?”
“All guilds are viewed as the same in the eyes of the Gaian law” Joe said “If you banned one, you banned them all. Unfortunately, you got people who are bad, like Drake, who would join Evil guilds. Thank God for people like Snow and Chi, who join Pure guilds.”
I blinked my eyes. “You two were in a guild?” I asked. Kaya nodded silently. “At one point we were the strongest one around-”
“Ironically,” Joe said cutting in “You also had the weakness name…”
Kaya laughed but Chi pouted “Hey, it was a pretty name.”
“It was stupid”
“It was Tutsumi-kun’s money and his guild.
“He should’ve used some of that money to buy a better name…”
“He could’ve named it whatever he like.”
“It was stupid!”
While the two of them was arguing about that, I turned to Kaya and asked
“Who’s Tutsumi?”
“He was our guild leader” She said “One of the strongest Fox demons I know.”
“You’re friends with a Fox demon? Aren’t they mean and tricky?” Kaya looked up into space and started to laugh “Right! I can’t image Tut being “mean” or anything like that.”
I gasped little. Kaya changed a lot. When we were kids, she was always nice, but she still didn’t like demons. Now I hear she has been fighting along side of them. What could change her so much? Something doesn’t add up…
Astre_Kyrs · Fri Sep 29, 2006 @ 05:53am · 1 Comments |
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