[Exalted/SMT] Shard of a Broken Sun
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
This. Write write write~
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Alright, so, about the follow-up questions. Anyone object to being honest and more in-depth once Amu isn't dead on her feet?
Quantumboost
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- Location
- Ensemble Space
I'm all for her being honest about it. I mean, these are her parents, and they're clearly rather competent at 'our kid is a supernatural warrior of justice' scenarios compared to the stereotype.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Not really, but it'd work for roughly the same reasons that chara transformations work, except that it wouldn't. It would have been hilarious, though; I may add it as an omake at some point, if I'm having trouble writing.ticktrick said:
Aww~Alectai said:
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
We're a fighty Exaltation, not a SCIENCE! Exaltation.
We've been Moonlighting (Heh) as a Twilight for pretty much the entire thread since Sameal already.Winged One said:
Why would we think that's possible in the first place. I can honestly say that my reaction was "What!? ... Why would we do that?" Where would even get the initial idea to try that anyway?Baughn said:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
SCIENCE!ShadowAngelBeta said:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I will neither confirm nor deny.ticktrick said:
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
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A very deep, dark part of me wishes we'd done that.
That's also the part of me that suggests keeping mermaids, periodically cutting off parts of their flesh, and regrowing it in order to mass-produce immortality, though, so I'm iffy on listening to it.
That's also the part of me that suggests keeping mermaids, periodically cutting off parts of their flesh, and regrowing it in order to mass-produce immortality, though, so I'm iffy on listening to it.
While we're considering more out there ideas, how about 'befriending' Kagutsuchi and getting it on Amu's side? 
How hard could it possibly be after all?
How hard could it possibly be after all?
Well, depends on what you mean by "befriend". If we're talking Nanoha Befriending, remember that he's a final boss in an SMT game. We couldn't take on Samael, only kick him out of the universe; even with E4, we can't take on Kagutsuchi just yet. If you're talking about normal befriending, then bear in mind that he's a) a literal force of nature, and thus not something that changes its mind or takes sides easily, and b) we're not spec'd for social-fu.Quickshot0 said:While we're considering more out there ideas, how about 'befriending' Kagutsuchi and getting it on Amu's side?
How hard could it possibly be after all?
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
Indeed. It might even require... SNUGGLING. And AFFECTIONS.ticktrick said:
Yet.tq343 said:
The main constraint for all Exalts is time. We have time to train up our social powers and make alliances and new friends. Oh and training up potential meat sponges.
Sunday's Melancholy 17
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Sunday's Melancholy, 14:55
She was lying on top of Utau, in the middle of a room with all her friends and, oh yeah, her parents, and with her own spare body lying next to Utau. Given that last time they'd seen her, she and Utau had kind of been enemies, that kind of situation was…
"Amu? Who's the other girl?" Mom asked again. Her footsteps were coming closer.
Amu squeezed her eyes shut and dug herself a little deeper. Frankly, Utau was warm and comfy enough that she wouldn't have minded going to sleep right there, leaving the explanations - and mortification - for later. That was the kind of logic that only made sense when she was sleepy, she thought, but in other words that meant it was fine for it to make sense right now. But Mom had already seen that something was going on, and she didn't want to outright lie…
Before she had a chance to make any decisions, Utau took matters into her own hands and started wriggling underneath her, throwing off her attempt to think.
"Ah, geez! Amu-chan, get off me!"
She heard the guardians whispering in the background, Tadase uncertainly wondering about the suffix. Unfortunate, that. One of the less convenient features of the language, at least at times like this, Utau's extremely familiar choice of appellation meant everyone could immediately tell something had changed - and she was woolgathering again.
Amu rolled off onto her back, leaving Utau sandwiched between her and her. Having finished narrating that offence to the Japanese language, she subsequently opened her eyes to find herself staring Mom in the face.
She smiled weakly. "I can explain…"
Amu nodded. "Uh huh."
They looked at each other. Utau had, after much complaining, crawled upstairs and was conked out on the bunk bed above her, so it was just the two of her on the bed, Mom sitting on the edge, and every single other person in the room (except Ikuto, who was also resting) waiting to see what would happen.
No pressure.
"You know," Mom started hesitantly. "I think I would have preferred more than ten words for the explanation. If you think you can fix it, that's good, but how did it happen in the first place? Why didn't you fix it earlier? And…" She took a deep breath before continuing, stuttering slightly. "Exactly what does it mean, for you to fall out of your body? You look - quite a bit younger than your - body."
Lots of questions, though.
"Well, um…"
She'd gotten younger?
No, that didn't seem right. She was precisely the size she was used to, and - never mind, that wasn't even important. Mom had asked a lot of other questions she could answer first.
She hesitantly started speaking, trying to pick her words carefully.
"I'm not… quite sure how it happened, but it had something to do with the end of the world, so… I don't think it's going to happen again. That it happened at all was a fluke." God, she hoped that was true. "I didn't fix it right away, because… for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I was worried I'd end up asleep and wouldn't be able to go anywhere. The elevators were broken, we were stuck at the bottom of the base, and it took us this long just to get back up here…"
Now that she thought of it, it seemed strange that Fumi had just let them go, but Fumi had also been completely overworked. Hopefully it hadn't caused any problems; she wasn't sure what she could have done anyway, not with Miki unconscious.
She didn't want to tell any lies, but carefully slanting the truth was a skill she'd gotten a lot of practice with over the last few months, keeping Ran, Miki and… well, everything to do with them secret. It made her feel dirty, but the alternative would definitely worry Mom, and she didn't want to be a bother. Not right now.
"So, once we reached the surface I could probably have fixed myself, but if I'd fallen asleep… I wanted to see you first." She attempted to smile. It came out a little sickly, but it was the best she could do.
She had wanted to see Mom.
She also hadn't wanted her to know about her language problems, not until she'd found a fix. She wouldn't, couldn't tell her, it'd definitely make Mom cry. If she'd fallen asleep, that would be bad, but if she hadn't… that might have been worse.
"Oh, Amu," Mom sighed. "You know you can tell us anything, right? You didn't need to hide it."
And now she felt about five centimetres tall. Ran-sized.
Everyone else was there too, though. If they hadn't been, if it had been just her and Mom - and maybe Dad - then maybe she could have told her everything, but since every single one of her friends was there as well… no. Couldn't. There had to be a way she could avoid it.
To buy time, she took a closer look at her body. Mom was right, actually; it was a bit taller than her. Maybe ten centimetres or so. Not enough to be completely obvious, except probably to everyone but herself, but Mom was apparently right that she'd made herself younger. Funny, and a little annoying - she'd put in the hours, she ought to get the centimetres - but probably completely temporary. It was also very, very asleep; she could feel it breathing, but only slightly.
That was the solution, then.
Amu looked pleadingly at Mom, willing her not to object. "I'm really sleepy, and I'd like to fix things quickly, but like I said… I'll probably fall asleep if I do. Is that okay, though? Can we talk later?"
Mom took a few seconds to respond. Then, "Of course, sweetheart. I'll be right here."
"Okay…" It was a shock to realise that the lonely-sounding voice was hers. She didn't have any reason to feel lonely.
Never mind. Time to fix herself. To do that, she'd need to un-merge with Su first, which meant she wouldn't be able to understand anyone. It was a frustrating thought, and a little scary; she wouldn't be able to tell what Mom was saying, or even if anyone was talking about her. She hoped she'd at least be able to recognise her own name, but she definitely wouldn't be able to respond.
Of course, she'd planned to be asleep, something that sounded like a better idea the longer she stayed on the bed; she wasn't that tired, not yet, but it definitely wouldn't be hard to get some rest.
"I'll see you later, Mom." She found that her voice was wavering slightly.
Tadase and the others were whispering to each other. She couldn't quite make it out, but it was something about her charas. Right, Ran and Miki were… she felt a sting of panic. Where were they?
Oh, right. Upstairs, with Utau, who'd grabbed them when she was climbing. That was fine, then.
To un-merge…
She found herself flinching away from the act. Last time she'd done that it had hurt, so of course she was now worried about what would happen. That was probably also part of why she hadn't fixed herself yet, but it wasn't something she could put off forever. Any longer, and Mom would get concerned. More concerned. So do it quickly, then?
Amu and Su thought of each other, or the conglomerate imagined they did, mentally joining hands and pushing away. Not the best analogy, but the best she could come up with on short notice. She could feel her mind tearing in half, splitting along the fault lines remaining from their original merger, barely an hour ago; some force (dream-affirming projection, she remembered) was preventing that from happening anywhere else, but she needed to apply a lot of force, her mind didn't seem to want to split along those lines. Wasn't it just a day ago that cancelling a transformation was as simple as neglecting to deliberately hold it together?
An explanation was forthcoming, when a particularly stubborn segment tore open like velcro and their minds practically exploded apart, like a pair of springs under too much pressure.
Su found herself tumbling in mid-air, futilely trying to right herself and wondering about the number of the car that just hit her. Before she could fly too far off, she was deftly caught by Mom and straightened out, giving her a chance to watch a wincing Amu whose hair was - still green, huh, for the few seconds before she evaporated into thin air.
She was still tired, but to her consternation she realised she was happy she'd turned out not to be Amu. Right then and there she resolved to make her the best breakfast ever.
At the same time, she found the Guardians' whispers degrading into nonsense. Not quite all the way, but -
"Am͡u?̴ Are͡ y͠ou —͏-͠-̡?"
Amu winced. She'd understood some of that, and Mom's concern should be heartwarming, but thinking about it hurt. Part of her mind - the part that had "stuck" - felt tender, almost sore, and it got sorer when she tried to understand Mom. It didn't quite fit, like she'd jammed a square nut in a round hole, but so long as she let the conversations flow over her without trying to understand she felt fine.
She nodded to Mom, hoping that was the right response, and turned her attention to her body. Same basic principle as a character transformation, right.
It felt empty. When she transformed with one of her sisters there was always a sense of life, but the body she was touching was nothing but a shell. It also felt… nostalgic?
More or less like she'd expected, then. She just had to push her way in, using the Humpty Lock to ease the way. It felt more like Ran's memories of transformations than her own, but it didn't seem very difficult either way, so…
Between one eye-blink and the next she felt herself dissolve into nothingness, only to pour into and fill out her body. An indeterminate amount of time passed.
She felt strangely cramped.
Mom softly stroked her hair, working to flatten out what was probably an epic mess. There was something she wanted to say, but she didn't know how. As her eyes fell shut, though, Su was there to speak for her.
"Sh̢e'l͡҉l̵̢ ̡̨͞b̴̵͢e̸̕ ̕͏f͏i͢n͢e̛͢.̵͝ ͘͟D̵́o҉̡n̢'t̴͠͡ ͏ẃ̸̛o͜ŕ̀ry҉͢,̴̧͢ ̵̀͡M͠͏o̴͜͡m̴̛͝.҉"
Exhausted by parsing that sentence, she fell into a deep sleep.
[] …
She was lying on top of Utau, in the middle of a room with all her friends and, oh yeah, her parents, and with her own spare body lying next to Utau. Given that last time they'd seen her, she and Utau had kind of been enemies, that kind of situation was…
"Amu? Who's the other girl?" Mom asked again. Her footsteps were coming closer.
Amu squeezed her eyes shut and dug herself a little deeper. Frankly, Utau was warm and comfy enough that she wouldn't have minded going to sleep right there, leaving the explanations - and mortification - for later. That was the kind of logic that only made sense when she was sleepy, she thought, but in other words that meant it was fine for it to make sense right now. But Mom had already seen that something was going on, and she didn't want to outright lie…
Before she had a chance to make any decisions, Utau took matters into her own hands and started wriggling underneath her, throwing off her attempt to think.
"Ah, geez! Amu-chan, get off me!"
She heard the guardians whispering in the background, Tadase uncertainly wondering about the suffix. Unfortunate, that. One of the less convenient features of the language, at least at times like this, Utau's extremely familiar choice of appellation meant everyone could immediately tell something had changed - and she was woolgathering again.
Amu rolled off onto her back, leaving Utau sandwiched between her and her. Having finished narrating that offence to the Japanese language, she subsequently opened her eyes to find herself staring Mom in the face.
She smiled weakly. "I can explain…"
———————
"So you 'fell out of your body.'"Amu nodded. "Uh huh."
They looked at each other. Utau had, after much complaining, crawled upstairs and was conked out on the bunk bed above her, so it was just the two of her on the bed, Mom sitting on the edge, and every single other person in the room (except Ikuto, who was also resting) waiting to see what would happen.
No pressure.
"You know," Mom started hesitantly. "I think I would have preferred more than ten words for the explanation. If you think you can fix it, that's good, but how did it happen in the first place? Why didn't you fix it earlier? And…" She took a deep breath before continuing, stuttering slightly. "Exactly what does it mean, for you to fall out of your body? You look - quite a bit younger than your - body."
Lots of questions, though.
"Well, um…"
She'd gotten younger?
No, that didn't seem right. She was precisely the size she was used to, and - never mind, that wasn't even important. Mom had asked a lot of other questions she could answer first.
She hesitantly started speaking, trying to pick her words carefully.
"I'm not… quite sure how it happened, but it had something to do with the end of the world, so… I don't think it's going to happen again. That it happened at all was a fluke." God, she hoped that was true. "I didn't fix it right away, because… for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I was worried I'd end up asleep and wouldn't be able to go anywhere. The elevators were broken, we were stuck at the bottom of the base, and it took us this long just to get back up here…"
Now that she thought of it, it seemed strange that Fumi had just let them go, but Fumi had also been completely overworked. Hopefully it hadn't caused any problems; she wasn't sure what she could have done anyway, not with Miki unconscious.
She didn't want to tell any lies, but carefully slanting the truth was a skill she'd gotten a lot of practice with over the last few months, keeping Ran, Miki and… well, everything to do with them secret. It made her feel dirty, but the alternative would definitely worry Mom, and she didn't want to be a bother. Not right now.
"So, once we reached the surface I could probably have fixed myself, but if I'd fallen asleep… I wanted to see you first." She attempted to smile. It came out a little sickly, but it was the best she could do.
She had wanted to see Mom.
She also hadn't wanted her to know about her language problems, not until she'd found a fix. She wouldn't, couldn't tell her, it'd definitely make Mom cry. If she'd fallen asleep, that would be bad, but if she hadn't… that might have been worse.
"Oh, Amu," Mom sighed. "You know you can tell us anything, right? You didn't need to hide it."
And now she felt about five centimetres tall. Ran-sized.
Everyone else was there too, though. If they hadn't been, if it had been just her and Mom - and maybe Dad - then maybe she could have told her everything, but since every single one of her friends was there as well… no. Couldn't. There had to be a way she could avoid it.
To buy time, she took a closer look at her body. Mom was right, actually; it was a bit taller than her. Maybe ten centimetres or so. Not enough to be completely obvious, except probably to everyone but herself, but Mom was apparently right that she'd made herself younger. Funny, and a little annoying - she'd put in the hours, she ought to get the centimetres - but probably completely temporary. It was also very, very asleep; she could feel it breathing, but only slightly.
That was the solution, then.
Amu looked pleadingly at Mom, willing her not to object. "I'm really sleepy, and I'd like to fix things quickly, but like I said… I'll probably fall asleep if I do. Is that okay, though? Can we talk later?"
Mom took a few seconds to respond. Then, "Of course, sweetheart. I'll be right here."
"Okay…" It was a shock to realise that the lonely-sounding voice was hers. She didn't have any reason to feel lonely.
Never mind. Time to fix herself. To do that, she'd need to un-merge with Su first, which meant she wouldn't be able to understand anyone. It was a frustrating thought, and a little scary; she wouldn't be able to tell what Mom was saying, or even if anyone was talking about her. She hoped she'd at least be able to recognise her own name, but she definitely wouldn't be able to respond.
Of course, she'd planned to be asleep, something that sounded like a better idea the longer she stayed on the bed; she wasn't that tired, not yet, but it definitely wouldn't be hard to get some rest.
"I'll see you later, Mom." She found that her voice was wavering slightly.
Tadase and the others were whispering to each other. She couldn't quite make it out, but it was something about her charas. Right, Ran and Miki were… she felt a sting of panic. Where were they?
Oh, right. Upstairs, with Utau, who'd grabbed them when she was climbing. That was fine, then.
To un-merge…
She found herself flinching away from the act. Last time she'd done that it had hurt, so of course she was now worried about what would happen. That was probably also part of why she hadn't fixed herself yet, but it wasn't something she could put off forever. Any longer, and Mom would get concerned. More concerned. So do it quickly, then?
Amu and Su thought of each other, or the conglomerate imagined they did, mentally joining hands and pushing away. Not the best analogy, but the best she could come up with on short notice. She could feel her mind tearing in half, splitting along the fault lines remaining from their original merger, barely an hour ago; some force (dream-affirming projection, she remembered) was preventing that from happening anywhere else, but she needed to apply a lot of force, her mind didn't seem to want to split along those lines. Wasn't it just a day ago that cancelling a transformation was as simple as neglecting to deliberately hold it together?
An explanation was forthcoming, when a particularly stubborn segment tore open like velcro and their minds practically exploded apart, like a pair of springs under too much pressure.
Su found herself tumbling in mid-air, futilely trying to right herself and wondering about the number of the car that just hit her. Before she could fly too far off, she was deftly caught by Mom and straightened out, giving her a chance to watch a wincing Amu whose hair was - still green, huh, for the few seconds before she evaporated into thin air.
She was still tired, but to her consternation she realised she was happy she'd turned out not to be Amu. Right then and there she resolved to make her the best breakfast ever.
———————
An explanation was forthcoming, when a particularly stubborn segment tore open like velcro and their minds practically exploded apart, like a pair of springs under too much pressure.At the same time, she found the Guardians' whispers degrading into nonsense. Not quite all the way, but -
"Am͡u?̴ Are͡ y͠ou —͏-͠-̡?"
Amu winced. She'd understood some of that, and Mom's concern should be heartwarming, but thinking about it hurt. Part of her mind - the part that had "stuck" - felt tender, almost sore, and it got sorer when she tried to understand Mom. It didn't quite fit, like she'd jammed a square nut in a round hole, but so long as she let the conversations flow over her without trying to understand she felt fine.
She nodded to Mom, hoping that was the right response, and turned her attention to her body. Same basic principle as a character transformation, right.
It felt empty. When she transformed with one of her sisters there was always a sense of life, but the body she was touching was nothing but a shell. It also felt… nostalgic?
More or less like she'd expected, then. She just had to push her way in, using the Humpty Lock to ease the way. It felt more like Ran's memories of transformations than her own, but it didn't seem very difficult either way, so…
Between one eye-blink and the next she felt herself dissolve into nothingness, only to pour into and fill out her body. An indeterminate amount of time passed.
———————
Amu blinked, attempted to sit up (but failed), and rubbed her eyes with protesting arms. She was back in her body, she supposed. It didn't seem like very much time had passed.She felt strangely cramped.
Mom softly stroked her hair, working to flatten out what was probably an epic mess. There was something she wanted to say, but she didn't know how. As her eyes fell shut, though, Su was there to speak for her.
"Sh̢e'l͡҉l̵̢ ̡̨͞b̴̵͢e̸̕ ̕͏f͏i͢n͢e̛͢.̵͝ ͘͟D̵́o҉̡n̢'t̴͠͡ ͏ẃ̸̛o͜ŕ̀ry҉͢,̴̧͢ ̵̀͡M͠͏o̴͜͡m̴̛͝.҉"
Exhausted by parsing that sentence, she fell into a deep sleep.
[] …
Omake: Utau branch
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Sunday's Melancholy, 15:00
Utau branch
A/N: This is, as they say, omake. Will it be continued? Um... don't bet on it. It is, however, canonical; think many-worlds interpretation.
Mom had just asked her something, but she couldn't quite understand it.
She nodded back, hoping that was the right response, and turned her attention (but not her eyes) to her body. Same basic principle as a character transformation, right?
There was a mind there, of sorts. Inactive? No, parts of it were active, but most weren't. It definitely didn't feel like her, or like any of her sisters; not much like anything she recognised, with her minuscule experience in such things.
She uncertainly drew closer, reaching out with the power of the Humpty Lock she'd gotten so used to borrowing. That mind… it didn't feel like a very good fit at all, like a sweater that was simultaneously too tight and too long. The more points she touched, the more uncomfortable she felt. Was this really her?
Midori didn't know what to do. She'd just watched her daughter disappear into sparkles of light, to no apparent effect on her daughter's… original body, or physical body, or whatever it was. She'd seemed too physical to be an astral projection, but couldn't you also say that about her three twins?
If Amu was just asleep, she shouldn't wake her, but if something was wrong…
Her eyes fell on Su, who had arranged herself on her shoulder. Wasn't medicine one of her specialties?
"That's not what I was trying to ask, Fumi. Can't you -"
Midori tuned out the conversation as background noise, preferring to focus on her daughter, Su and the doctor, Yanagiya-sensei. They'd already been at it for half an hour, with no results that she could see, and Su was getting increasingly agitated. She couldn't make head or tails of their conversation, but it didn't sound good at all.
Finally she saw Otome shake her head, get up and make her way towards her, leaving Su sobbing on Amu's chest.
Her blood turned to ice.
"Hinamori-san…" Otome's voice was sympathetic. "I'm sorry. Your daughter is… I'm not sure how to say this, it's not my field of expertise, but her mind seems to be missing. I don't know how. What I do know is that, unless there is a drastic change…"
Without noticing it, she'd gotten to her feet.
Otome continued. "Unless there's a drastic change, she will die within the next day or so. I'm truly sorry, but I need to attend to the other patients."
Why wasn't Tsumugu here at a time like this?
She found herself clutching Amu's body, her anguished cries mixing with the general noise of the infirmary without seeming out of place. Su's own sobs reminded her that she still had other daughters, other than Ami, but what would happen to them if Amu died..?
She didn't know. She hadn't wanted to imagine this could happen. She had no idea what to do now.
Dad…
Dad had gone away, forever. He couldn't help her. Why had he left?
But he was just here, wasn't he?
She ran, hurtling through the shadowy mansion, but no matter how fast she moved she could never get anywhere.
Every room was the same as the one she'd just left.
Mom… Mom, please…
Where had she gone? Why wasn't she here?
Mom would never betray me!
The shadow caught up, enveloping her from all sides. Her world went dark.
Utau? Is that you?
Amu?
Reality shattered, nightmare fragmenting into a mess of conflicting impulses, then faded to dreamless sleep.
In that case, maybe he should go check on Amu?
[] ...
Utau branch
A/N: This is, as they say, omake. Will it be continued? Um... don't bet on it. It is, however, canonical; think many-worlds interpretation.
Mom had just asked her something, but she couldn't quite understand it.
She nodded back, hoping that was the right response, and turned her attention (but not her eyes) to her body. Same basic principle as a character transformation, right?
There was a mind there, of sorts. Inactive? No, parts of it were active, but most weren't. It definitely didn't feel like her, or like any of her sisters; not much like anything she recognised, with her minuscule experience in such things.
She uncertainly drew closer, reaching out with the power of the Humpty Lock she'd gotten so used to borrowing. That mind… it didn't feel like a very good fit at all, like a sweater that was simultaneously too tight and too long. The more points she touched, the more uncomfortable she felt. Was this really her?
I̶̕ku̢t͡o,̸ ̢͜͡h̵̶e͜l̶̀p͏!͘͞
A hundred tendrils reached out to grasp her. Reality shattered.———————
"Amu? Amu, can you hear me?"Midori didn't know what to do. She'd just watched her daughter disappear into sparkles of light, to no apparent effect on her daughter's… original body, or physical body, or whatever it was. She'd seemed too physical to be an astral projection, but couldn't you also say that about her three twins?
If Amu was just asleep, she shouldn't wake her, but if something was wrong…
Her eyes fell on Su, who had arranged herself on her shoulder. Wasn't medicine one of her specialties?
———————
"I know we owe her, but I can't, and that's final! Things may be calming down, but I absolutely cannot take two hours off to walk up a damned set of stairs, let alone back down! Bringing Otome here is already a significant investment, when she should be dealing with the larger group of Dubhe's victims!""That's not what I was trying to ask, Fumi. Can't you -"
Midori tuned out the conversation as background noise, preferring to focus on her daughter, Su and the doctor, Yanagiya-sensei. They'd already been at it for half an hour, with no results that she could see, and Su was getting increasingly agitated. She couldn't make head or tails of their conversation, but it didn't sound good at all.
Finally she saw Otome shake her head, get up and make her way towards her, leaving Su sobbing on Amu's chest.
Her blood turned to ice.
"Hinamori-san…" Otome's voice was sympathetic. "I'm sorry. Your daughter is… I'm not sure how to say this, it's not my field of expertise, but her mind seems to be missing. I don't know how. What I do know is that, unless there is a drastic change…"
Without noticing it, she'd gotten to her feet.
Otome continued. "Unless there's a drastic change, she will die within the next day or so. I'm truly sorry, but I need to attend to the other patients."
Why wasn't Tsumugu here at a time like this?
She found herself clutching Amu's body, her anguished cries mixing with the general noise of the infirmary without seeming out of place. Su's own sobs reminded her that she still had other daughters, other than Ami, but what would happen to them if Amu died..?
She didn't know. She hadn't wanted to imagine this could happen. She had no idea what to do now.
———————
A man was chasing her. She ran, but even his shadow was heavy enough to break the world, destroying every escape before she could reach it.Dad…
Dad had gone away, forever. He couldn't help her. Why had he left?
But he was just here, wasn't he?
She ran, hurtling through the shadowy mansion, but no matter how fast she moved she could never get anywhere.
Every room was the same as the one she'd just left.
Mom… Mom, please…
Where had she gone? Why wasn't she here?
Mom would never betray me!
The shadow caught up, enveloping her from all sides. Her world went dark.
Such a good girl. You'll help, won't you?
Always wanted to be an idol, didn't you?
Ikuto!Utau? Is that you?
Amu?
Reality shattered, nightmare fragmenting into a mess of conflicting impulses, then faded to dreamless sleep.
———————
Ikuto watched, smiling as Utau - for once - acquired some properly restful sleep. Both of them were well acquainted with nightmares, but he treasured the times he was able to see her sleeping like the child she was supposed to be.In that case, maybe he should go check on Amu?
[] ...
That Omake is just Beautiful. And really making me sad we didn't go with it. I guess there are some disadvantages beyond the obvious to only Moonlighting as a Twilight.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Already asked. Answer was:Lilithium said:
I think Baughn was expecting our SpaceBattles-ness to make up for the fact that Amu's only been Moonlighting as a Twilight instead of actually being one, but that fell through pretty hard so... meh.Baughn said: