Where chaos stops and more chaos ensues. Where Filia plays the electric keyboard.
Where anything goes.
-//o_O\\7 *Home of the Awful, Mediocre and Pathetic* -//u_u\\7
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Where chaos stops and more chaos ensues. Where Filia plays the electric keyboard. Where anything goes. -//o_O\\7 *Home of the Awful, Mediocre and Pathetic* -//u_u\\7 |
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - The Wayward, Part X - "So, it seems like you're enjoying yourself here now, eh?" Alternating between the gleam of Io Aoi's polished (and indelibly stained, it appeared) teeth, and Aei's perpetual (and irascibly permanent, it seemed) grin, I felt like mumbling something to the contrary but found little pleasure in its utterance, deciding to focus instead on soothing my shattered hand, blowing over it, wrenching it lightly, resisting the temptation to lick the bruised soreness to apply a coat of saliva. The mischievous little lout, whose irresponsible actions were the cause of my misery, noticing how I stubbornly refused to reply to her 'Uncle Io's' question decided to venture a few words for herself. "Hey, Charlotte, I ... well ..." she murmured uncertainly, not so much insincere as uneasy, "Well, I'm sorry if you're really hurt. It was just a slight action from me and sometimes I'm not aware if I hurt others so ... (no response from me) ... I'd like to say that I'm really sorry, okay?" "Humph. Why should I believe you ..." I muttered resentfully like a wounded animal, having received a blow that was not fatal but would definitely leave a scar, "You'll just leap on me the next time I'm not paying attention, or when I've got my back turned or something. I don't see why I should take anything you say seriously." "Having me around should teach to to keep on your toes, then!" she sniggered cruelly, a gesture which was not repeated on my part as I instead simply turned my head, glancing away from the infernal little creature, "But really ... really, Charlotte! I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, or something like that ..." Yeah, right. Judging from her callous attitude, and inherently devious nature, I did not see any reason to accept her apology. "Oh, come on now, Charlotte! You know the kid's sorry ..." interjected Io Aoi on behalf of his little ward, "No hard feelings, you understand? It's all child's play! Let me assure you, I'll promise you that as long as I'm around, I'll ensure that this kid here doesn't pull any tricks ..." "You? How can you promise to prevent her from playing tricks when you yourself join in half of the time?" I snapped as I whirled about to give the guilty pair a burning glare. Well, empirically, he didn't join in exactly half of the time, in fact much much less than that, but the fact that he seemed to approve of and even appreciated the majority of the brat's shenanigans seemed to justify the exaggeration. "I'm fed up of having the mickey taken out of me! Are the two of you in cahoots over this or something?" Despite noticing that I was not in a jovial or remotely humorous mood, the two of them seemed to see no reason to let off harassing me. "Hehehe ... I guess that's only part of our xenophobic tendencies , as people of Va World ..." noted Io Aoi rather guiltily as he scratched the tuft of hair at the back of his head which peeked out beneath his hat, "It seems that we're always at war with another hostile race, so its only an extension of our nature to poke fun at foreigners." Quite an interesting observation there from one who couldn't perceive any further than his next (hopefully free) meal ... but there was a flaw in it. A very severe, almost blatant flaw. "That's an excuse! You're just picking on me because ... because you just need an outlet for your sadistic urges, both of you! That argument is utter nonsense!" I protested vehemently as I reached into my pocket to pull out the damning evidence I had in my possession, and promptly folded it as I retrieved it and placed it on the table as it was meant to be used, "Look, you're the one who said I look like your very own Princess! Are you saying that your country's own royal family are foreigners?" At the producing of the framed portrait of the Princess Uaeouue of Va World, Io Aoi fell silent as he folded his arms and dipped his hat, attempting to come up with some witty rebuttal to my counter-accusation. Aei, however, was quicker to react. Almost in awe, she peered deeply into that lovely portrait, almost trying to make eye contact with the Princess' seductive gaze, before turning to glance at my waist, probably searching for those immensely roomy pockets where I had concealed an entire picture frame and the leather-bound book currently peeking out of it, before finally rising from her seat, and staring right into my eyes like a overzealous optician. "You ... don't tell me ... you're really ..." she stammered as she edged backwards, practically falling into her seat, and still eyeing me with a piercing stare, "You don't mean ... you ..." That same stare, with a mix of wonderment and bewilderment I had observed when we first met. I had it in me. "No, darling, for the last time ..." I sighed, unsurprised, as I planted my elbow on the table and leaned on my smarting fist, "No, I am not a boy, who can't tell the difference between a robe and a dress, who enjoys long flowing hair and bound feet, who suffers from a severe malady of the endocrine system ..." "I knew that already!" she snapped, annoyed for a moment, before relapsing into that awestruck stare, "It's just that ... I never would have guessed ... you're a girl, who likes other girls?" "..." Good heavens. I smacked myself audibly on the side of my head with my injured hand. Io Aoi, who had been absorbed in some thought or another until this point, proceeded to glance toward me rather nonchalantly and murmur. "You do?" "I ... hate ... my ... life ..." I groaned as I promptly proceeded to fold my arms on the table, then whack my head rather forcefully into them. It was not until after an undue amount of coaxing ("So you've got a boyfriend, then?" "Why should I tell you?!") that I was finally coerced into lifting my head from my hands, to glare resentfully at the leering faces of miscreants both young and old. It was an even more arduous task, however, to explain to them, especially that little reptile Aei who was bent on thwarting me at every turn ("So who do you like better, boys or girls?" "None of your business!") of the difference between simply appreciating, and favouring someone, read, to 'like', and actually desiring them romantically, read, to 'love', and I explained that it was only natural to be favourably disposed toward someone who not only appeared very similar to oneself ("So, you're in love with yourself, is that it?" "Shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!") but presented themselves to be a far superior specimen, to the extent of inciting envy ("So, you really do love her!" "Whatever *sigh*.") and jealousy. It was upon the conclusion of that explanation, full minutes later, which found Io Aoi reclining against his chair, smirking rather bemusedly, an abhorrent Aei now not so much enlightened on the nature of the differences in affection as aware of other people's knowledge of them, and a capitulating Charlotte now given up on the idea of wrenching the brat by her throat and throttling her hard, not because she no longer felt the desire to, but because she was now so exhausted she could barely summon the energy required to do so. It was just at that opportune stalemate, however, that Aei's mother, whose cooking we had the pleasure of partaking of, arrived to lay out some cutlery and share some small talk with us. "Oh my, Charlotte ..." exclaimed the matronly old lady brightly as she caught sight of the portrait standing strategically beside me as she placed a plate and a set of utensils for me, "Not only do you have a royal name, but you do resemble the royal Princess Uaeouue herself! What a remarkable coincidence!" I was about to smile politely at the compliment when who should butt in with an unnecessary comment but Aei herself. "Yes, but only in the face ..." she interjected sneeringly, "She's so rough and argumentative, so stuck up and prissy that nobody would ever think she was a princess! And ... compare her with that picture! She's so underdeveloped, with that washboard chest of hers ..." Honestly! I mean, I didn't need anyone to tell me that, let alone a disrepectful little prattler. Where did she learn such language, anyway? "Aei, that's not very nice! I want you to apologise to Charlotte, now!" scolded her mother, raising a finger of reprimand, having laid out all the cutlery. She was about my height, with frizzy grey hair that only covered her ears, complemented by several wrinkles of substantial length and depth stretching about her face like vines. She seemed to radiate the essence of old age, which struck me as strange considering that Aei was far short of her teens. Is this what Aei meant by ... by having no name? "But mammy!" Aei complained, waving a hand in the air energetically to signal her insistence, "It's all true, you know! And it's not wrong to say things that are true, is it?" "No, darling, it's not wrong ... but sometimes it's not very nice, and you'll hurt people's feelings. Now go on and apologise to that poor girl ..." As Aei yelped a few more words of protest, Io Aoi, still reclining in his chair all relaxed, wore a satisfied grin, and noticing that he had caught my eye, winked cheekily as his grin deepened, as if to say 'I told you so'. More aware of the social function than that babbling young rodent and too lazy to speak up on my own behalf, I simply leaned further more on my sore hand and smiled the smile of tolerance ... a half-smile, at best. "Oh, and Charlotte, a good morning to you. I'm sorry for not greeting you earlier," Aei's mother smiled pleasantly as she noticed me watching her expectantly, "Just be a dear and give me a few more moments, and I'll have some breakfast on the table for you. Please forgive my dear daughter for her unkind words ... she does tend to speak her mind. Try to get along with her, all right? I'll be right back!" With that long series of greetings issued, she proceeded to turn and wander back to the kitchen without waiting for my thanks or my reply, and without waiting for that apology she had demanded of her daughter. A little absent-minded, perhaps, but definitely well-meaning, the ideal kind of parent that any devious, impish child could ask for. As the delightful, delectable smell of browning batter waftd in from the kitchen doorway, however, I quickly began to forget my worries and my displeasure, even over as personal a question as my gender preferences, as pacifying the savage beast which growled and clamoured for food within me became the top priority. As I sat up straight in the chair, the book in my pocket thumped against the side of the chair as if to make itself known ... seeking maximum comfort in leaning forward to gorge my face full of breakfast I decided to retrieve it, placing it on the table next to its own companion the portrait of the Princess. "Say, Charlotte ..." inquired Aei curiously as she glanced at the ornately designed objects I had been carrying in the depths of my pockets, things were most unlikely to be in the possession of a foreigner, "Where did you get all that stuff from? It looks kind of expensive ... and old ..." "Huh? Oh, I got it from ..." I was about to reply when a glance from the hitherto unattentive Io Aoi cut me short as he spoke on my behalf. "They're part of, um, some stuff I picked up this morning. They're supposed to be delivered to someone else, and Charlotte, well, she ..." What, did he mean that all that stuff was still top secret government property, even after they had gone through the hands of an individual completely unconnected with the country itself, let alone the government of Va World? It was a pretty pathetic attempt to cover up, anyway, him being unable to come up with a suitable reason for those items in particular being in my possession ("Oh, she had room in her pockets ... room for a few, um, rectangular things ...") when he had a whole carriage full of belongings with more than enough room left over for them. This inadequacy, as with any weakness left open in her presence, was quickly noticed and capitalised upon by the opportunistic little Aei. "Oh, don't bother, Uncle Io! I know the Palace sent you to salvage stuff from the ruins ... why else would you be in this area, in the middle of nowhere?" she remarked observantly, effortlessly dismissing his futile attempts to conceal his operation, "It was terrible, for us country folk living out here ... imagine seeing that strange building the government built, just standing over the horizon, exploding into a billion pieces and burning for hours, with lots of smoke rising into the air like a cloud to block out the sun. Thank goodness we live far enough away from that place, and the wind carried the smell out to the sea. I'm surprised that you actually managed to get anything out of that place, especially something like a book, and a ... hey!" "Hey, what?" I asked, jolted out of my attempts to visualise the scene of that building near the marsh exploding and burning to the ground, or, for that matter, to visualise what the building might have looked like in the first place, "Is there anything wrong?" "This portrait you've got of the Princess ..." Aei gasped, wide-eyed and astounded, "Isn't that the signature of the Princess herself? You can even see the imprint where the ink was written into the paper, that fine, light scrawl. That portrait ... it's authentic! It's valuable!" It's also government property, unfortunately. Where did she learn how to appraise objects of value, living on a farm, anyway? "And what's it to you, anyway? You're not going to try to sell it off, are you?" I snapped, suddenly protective as I gripped the carved wooden frame in my free hand, "For your information, this portrait belongs to m ... to someone who works at that government building, and it's not for you to auction off for a profit." For that matter, the portrait and the book might very well be my property now, since Io Aoi did not see fit to bring them along with the stacks of papers and files that he retrieved from the metallic office, and I could have well been a scavenger who found her way there later and appropriated them for myself. "Well, the thought of selling it off did cross my mind ..." she rolled her eyes and giggled zanily, inducing an unpleasant taste in my throat, "But the point is ... didn't you read the news papers earlier this morning?" What? That's convenient, news papers. Unfortunately, however, earlier this morning I didn't have the slightest clue as to where I was (and I still don't) and reading the news papers was the last thing on my mind, and an impossible task due to my inability to comprehend the local written language. "No, why? What was in the news papers?" I asked, feigning an awareness of the fact that news papers existed but making no pretence of the honest truth that I hadn't the faintest idea what was on them, "Was it something important?" "Important? Are you unaware? Didn't I tell you about it earlier? This is one of the most terrible disasters ever to befall Va World!" exclaimed Io Aoi, formerly content to lean back and listen to the chatter between children but now startled into speech by my confession, "Well, if those wars with the horrible Consonance didn't count, that is, but still, it's a terrible thing altogether ..." "The Princess! The Princess, you silly ignoramus! Aren't you supposed to get smarter as you get older?" reprimanded Aei rather derisively, "It was all over the news papers this morning. The Princess, disappeared, and the Palace hasn't an idea where she is! What a scandal!" Oh, that! Io Aoi did tell me back at the ruins of the Princess' disappearance, however, he failed to emphasise it as much as he and Aei were doing now, like a headline blaring from the top of a tabloid, presumably because he thought that the affair was already common knowledge and there was no need to refer to it with such a degree of emphasis. They could have simply said that ... I knew that the Princess had disappeared, it's just that I didn't know that it was the cover story of the news papers which I never knew existed until recently. "Well, I knew that already! It's just that I didn't know that it made the headlines in the news papers!" Upon that utterance, the pair before me glared at me, so aghast, that it was only until I frantically attempted to avert my eyes that I realised that, given such an event, nothing else would be making it onto the front page of the aforementioned news paper, "Um ... never mind. You're not going to tell me that the price of anything linked with the Princess has gone up ever since her disappearance, are you, Aei?" Hey, it's a fair guess. "No, that's totally besides the point!" refuted the girl, though I could tell, from the pecuniary-inclined glint in her eyes, that she had already anticipated such an appreciation in price, "If you'd read the news paper yourself, you'd have known that what you've got there is really remarkable! Say, where is that news paper, anyway?" Aei glanced left and right, fervently searching for that news paper, before realising, glancing beside her, that Io Aoi had already retrieved it and was carefully inspecting the detail on the front page. Needless to say, he was not particulary pleased when his news paper was snatched right out of his grasp from in front of his eyes, and I, similarly, was no more happy to have a dusty paper covered with illegible scribbles thrust into my face by an overenthusiastic Aei. I unfolded the paper and shook it in my grasp ... it was a broad-sheet paper, the large kind used by most news papers as opposed to tabloids ... but staring into the paper to the extent that the printed scrawl swam before my eyes did little to enlighten me as to the paper's contents. The pictures, the most universal of media, however, were plain for me to see. From the centre of the page there gazed out that same flawless, silver-haired maiden, in a light, plain dress, whose lovely long tresses rested lightly on her shoulder, whose demure nose, persuasive eyes and alluring smile, as if to seduce the readers themselves, reminded me so deeply of that face in the mirr ... I mean, the portrait. If it was not for her rather ... how do I say ... pronounced figure, I could well have attempted to pass myself off as her with great success. "So, what do you mean? What's so remarkable about it?" I demanded, while folding up the news paper and setting it aside to give the impression that I had already read it, "It's just a portrait of the Princess, that has been signed by her. That's to be expected, isn't it?" "No, didn't you read it carefully?" Aei snapped as she seized the paper and pointed out a line of scribblings which made absolutely no sense to me, but probably referred to whatever she was talking about, "The Princess hasn't been seen in public for slightly less than a decade, about as long as I am old! We've seen portraits of her, but nothing else is available to show that she even exists! Not that I mean anything, of course, but that signature there, it's her name! And what that means, to save you the trouble of asking ("Hey!") is that whoever owned this portrait must have been someone really close to the Princess ... or maybe it was the Princess herself!" "So you're saying this portrait belonged to someone really important," I murmured, half in response to her observation and half in contemplation, of a nagging thought which had been badgering me since I first acquired the items, "Then, who does this book I found together with the portrait belong to?" Just then, suddenly heavy footsteps trudging closer from behind the wall indicated that breakfast was done, and was being brought to us as we spoke. Brushing the precious items aside to the space before the empty chair beside mine, I snatched up the fork and knife before me, suddenly forgetting the important artifacts and their incredible significance. ... hungry ... must feed ...must consume ... brains ... um, never mind. - NEWSFLASH! The top story, failure of commercial venture 'Ad' induces investors to seek immediate termination! - posted by Charlotte | 4:45 pm
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Disclaimer : The Slayers and Filia Ul Copt and all images thereof are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own any of them, although if I had a choice I would want Filia ... ~//n_n\\7 |
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