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 Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:27 am
Jilan rummaged through his wagon, looking for his Anthology of High Priests' Writings. How could it be missing? Maybe it fell out? But it was in his book bag, last he checked, and at the very bottom, too, because it was heaviest. He had been most looking forward to getting his zither back so he could play for Kumoru and the other Gaian kids, but the book definitely ran a close second.
He thought back on where it might have ended up as he went to bed, and concluded by morning that it must have gotten misplaced at Setsushi's house. Perhaps Setsushi had wanted to read it, seeing as how he had been really interested in hearing about the Silver World Jilan had visited. He would not hold it agains the older Porcelain, by any means, but still, if nothing else, Jilan just wanted to know where it was.
He set out on the bus to go back to the udon-ya, and found the place exceedingly quiet. Perhaps he had shown up at the wrong time? He knocked softly at the door, and nearly jumped with surprise as he sensed a sleepy greeting from within. It was not Setsushi.
Cautiously, Jilan pushed the door open and stepped inside. Hello?
If the visitor is here for udon, this leaf is afraid he cannot cook. However, Setsushi will be back eventually, if the visitor would like to wait.
Kouyo reclined on his makeshift bed, propped up on one elbow with his eyes closed. The screen was in the way, though, so he could not see who was there anyway.
Jilan explains that he was not there for udon, but he is missing one of his books. He steps up to the screen and peeks around the end of it, immediately recognizing the napping stranger. Setsushi had said it was....
"Kouyo?" he inquired softly.
At hearing his name, the High Priest opens his eyes and sits up straight, flicking at the folds of his robes to smooth them out a little. Yes, this leaf is the High Priest Kouyo. And the visitor must then be, "Jilan?"
This one who seemed to know so much about some of Kouyo's deepest thoughts.... The High Priest masks his mistrust, and waits to hear what he had to say.
Jilan is not at all sure how to react. After a moment, though, he doubles over in a bow. He is definitely honored to meet the High Priest!
Jilan is just wondering if... if High Priest Kouyo has seen a very thick book about all the High Priests lying around here? Hopefully that was not too strange; he remembered with a pang of guilt how Setsushi had reacted at finding out how much time had passed between when his book was written and when Setsushi had been alive.
Kouyo could have easily lied to the boy and he never would have known. But for some reason, he did not. Still, he wants to make sure he held the upper hand in this conversation, to find out what he needs to know. Just who is this child?
The High Priest is borrowing the book, and will return it when he is finished. He would also like to know why Jilan rewrote a few of Kouyo's poems in the book.
Wringing his hands nervously, Jilan shakes his head a little. He is actually not sure. He is terribly sorry if he offended the High Priest, though. He... he just had this crazy notion one day that they sounded wrong the way they were written somehow, and Jilan thought he was kind of... fixing them.
He bows again, feeling distinctly embarrassed and upset. He finally meets his favorite poet, and makes an utter fool of himself....
Kouyo stands and strides forward, quickly closing the distance between himself and Jilan. Is the young one saying Kouyo's words were wrong before and needed fixing?
But- but- but- they were not Kouyo's words! The person who reconstructed the poems... did it wrong. Jilan just knew it! He has no idea how!
The boy shies away as the High Priest reached towards him.
The intensity fades from Kouyo's eyes, and he touches Jilan's forehead lightly with one finger, tracing the character for "water" upon it. Kouyo is sorry, but... Jilan seems to know something that are impossible to know. Those poems have many secrets that no one but Kouyo should know. That is why the High Priest tried to burn them before....
Well, no matter. The parts of the book that are wrong - Jilan should not speak a word of them to anyone.
The boy nods slowly, opening his eyes as he feels that the High Priest is backing off. As Kouyo touches his face, Jilan notices the same character marked upon the older Porcelain's forehead, though the lines have been smeared somewhat.
Jilan forced a small shy smile and nodded. He can keep secrets. Also, he hopes the High Priest can see the woman he misses again. The one from his poems.
Kouyo steps back and turns away.
He will return the book when he is finished with it, not a minute before.
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:16 am
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 6:53 pm
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:28 am
Kouyo had trouble sleeping that night. His usual anxieties aside, he found himself still deeply disturbed by what Setsushi had told him about some of the human mages. Theft of souls was such a terrible thing and then... to take away an elemental Name? Could that even be done?
Perhaps he would be better off not thinking about it.
But... it made sobering sense to him now why the humans had been driven from the Golden World. Or perhaps Kouyo had always seen it, but not been willing to admit it. Humans were simply not as empathetic as the Porcelain, and likely could not see how abhorrent their behavior at times truly was.
Kouyo pushed himself to a sitting position, resting his head in his hands. He could distinctly remember the pain from a few days prior, when Setsushi had asked what wife could have possibly betrayed Kouyo. He could never tell his friend that it had not been Porcelain cruelty at all, but human cruelty. What sort of creature could possibly show such love and such coldness in the same touch?
Still, Kouyo knew deep inside that he wanted to see her again more than anything. He needed her to love him just like any other Porcelain man who had mated.
Biting back a sob, Kouyo hugged his knees to his chest and closed his eyes. He hated her and yet he loved her more than anything else. Not for the first time, he wondered if he would be one of those poor men who died of heartbreak, wondered why he had not yet died.
Part of him still clung to the possibility of breaking his bond to her, but his previous vision had given him pause. Did she still care for him? If she did, Kouyo might never know. Yet... it was obvious the Name had spoken the truth to him - they were not together, and so she was as alone as he was. And regardless of what she had done to him, Kouyo could not bring himself to hurt her.
Feeling the ache of his unfulfilled bond to her again, Kouyo closed his eyes, quickly formulating another prayer and inquiry of the Name. He had to remember the moment she left - part of a large space in his memory that he could neither recall nor explain. And now, did she still care for him? He had to know. He could not consider breaking the bond unless he was certain that she did not love him.
The High Priest drifted off into fitful sleep, sitting up with his back to the wall. Within a few moments, he slumped to one side, and finally onto the floor.
Images appeared in Kouyo's mind: he was standing outside his tower; the one who was guiding him through this vision looked... much like Kouyo himself, dressed in the sleeping robe he had left behind in the tower. After following himself through a window and into the tower, he comes across himself yet again - the Kouyo of two years ago, clinging and sobbing to Ranko. In spite of his tears and his tugging at her clothing, the woman's appearance remains perfectly immaculate.
She had to leave, and so she wanted to see Kouyo once more. Gently, she took his hands in her own, crouching beside him and keeping a firm and comforting grip until he started to settle down. Then she took the comb from her hair and placed it into his hands - it was his now, so he will always remember her. And in return, Ranko wants something of Kouyo's....
Kouyo Who Was Watching shook his head. No, this was not right. The room was the wrong size. There was no window where he came in. Ranko could not speak to him as a Porcelain did. And the comb had been his long before the moment she left. This is no vision.
Backing away, he glanced to Kouyo Who Was Guiding again, and found the figure changed.
Kouyo Who Was Guiding met the eyes of the dreaming High Priest with his own now-blood red eyes, and a savage grin spreading across his pale features as he hissed to Kouyo Who is Watching that yes, he is a fool!
Fearfully, Kouyo Who is Watching tore his gaze from that of the guide and looked back to where Kouyo of Two Years Prior had been clinging to Ranko. This time, the woman stood calmly, but somehow seemed less pristine and perfect in spite of her beauty. Kouyo of Two Years Prior sat at her feet, his head resting against her legs but turned away; his eyes were closed and she did not even look at him as he cried.
"Give it to me. Give it to me," she repeated.
Was this correct? Kouyo Who Was watching wanted clarity - he could not touch the memories in his own mind. Were these his memories? Were they his fantasies? The first, perhaps, but what of the second? Was this a vision or a dream?
With a sudden dizzying lurch, Kouyo Who Was Watching felt himself falling away in a hundred directions. Fading away above him, still standing beside him, plummeting downwards far below him - he could see Kouyo Who Was Guiding holding his head in his hands as though troubled with a headache.
Other visions swirled before the eyes of Kouyo Who Was Watching - hundreds of images of Ranko's face, some of which he remembered and some of which he did not; her body, both clothed and naked; Kouyo himself as her lover, but also as a child, lying on a grave mound and watching as soldiers started pouring from the clouds above; human solders? Porcelain soldiers? The soldiers of the First Empress, gathered around Kouyo's tower to lay seige to it; his mother Tenkyou - gods he could scarcely remember her face - holding him and carrying him as she walked through a sea of dying fish; a Porcelain girl and boy, holding hands - the girl holding a wildflower she had picked, and looking off towards a whitish light shining from the top of a hill; two other girls, humans this time, who look similar to each other and sit together on a porch surrounded by fireflies as they chat together and eat sweets; then three people - a woman with no face, another thing like a person that has no soul, and ... his dearest friend Setsushi, his eyes gouged out, struggling alone against shadows....
Kouyo Who Was Guiding came back into Kouyo Who Was Watching's field of view, now looking Quite Unlike Kouyo. He was nearly black and white, frail as a corpse, androgynous. Then, Kouyo Who Was watching noticed that the figure's limbs were scarcely attached, and that Quite Unlike Kouyo was only held together with string and nails.
Overwhelmed, Kouyo Who Was Watching could watch no longer as sights continued to swirl past his eyes. He could hear Ranko's voice suddenly, however, and clear as a day:
"Please, give it to me, so we'll never be apart..."
"What is it?" he asked in reply, reaching out into the chaos like a blind man for something tangible.
There was a reply, but he could now scarcely hear it.
"... gave back to you."
Closing his eyes, Kouyo staggered forward. "What is it? I don't know. I don't know...."
Quite Unlike Kouyo addressed him then. What did she want? What does she want? Kouyo Who Was Watching could just look and see....
Kouyo Who Was Watching could no longer see anything at all?
That was because the humans did not have name.
At least, not any longer.
The High Priest did not awaken the next morning. He remained slumped on the floor against one of the chairs on the other side of Setsushi's house.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:06 am
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:40 pm
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:50 pm
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:15 am
Kouyo awoke early the next morning and tried to avoid the powerful urge to measure Setsushi's house again for as long as he could. The anxiety made his hands shake as he neatly folded his blankets for perhaps the first time since Setsushi had given them to him. As soon as he was finished, he gave in and started his pacing, but tried to do so as quietly as possible. He could not wake Setsushi.
When he was finshed making his measurements, Kouyo returned to what had been his nest of a bed and finished tidying it up as best as he could, and took his belongings to the other side of the screen. He tucked Ranko's comb away in his robes where he kept it almost all the time he was not sleeping, and then took one of the blank sheets of paper from the notebook Tsubei had given him and set it out on the table.
He took the bag of Gaian clothing his friend had given him into the bathroom, but ultimately decided to wear his robes for the day. When his face was painted, Kouyo returned to the sheet of paper and penned a quick note in Porcelain, and left it upon the table as he took his things and left the udon-ya.Quote: If I am to learn to fly, I think I must ultimately do so myself. I am free of my birdcage now, so I should try. I worry that all I have done is take from you, and my troubled mind sometimes demands that I take more. This leaf is still shattered from its fall into Gaia; I must mend myself now so that I can be a better friend to you, as my freedom has changed our relationship. I also feel as though I must step up to become a different kind of High Priest here, for all of the Porcelain in Gaia. I accomplish nothing locked away and hidden.
I will miss you dearly; trust me when I say I will visit as often as possible. Please make sure the water in my hyacinths stays fresh. I left them outside in the back yard.
Forever your Kouyo
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:30 am
Once outside, Kouyo put his notebook with the rest of its pages into the shopping bag along with his Gaian clothes and jacket. It was chilly, but also still morning; it felt like the day would actually get quite comfortable as time went on. And he did not have far to walk - perhaps a block or two.
Kumoru caught sight of Kouyo when the High Priest arrived outside the bookstore, and unlocked the door to let him in though the shop was still not open.
The Porcelain's behavior still seemed a bit strange to the mage. He was still unsure of the relationship between the High Priest and Setsushi, but it struck him as distinctly odd that Kouyo had suddenly asked him the night before if he could stay in his home for a time to further study his magic. The Porcelain man was ordinarily so quiet, and Kumoru could tell by the way he always stood behind Setsushi or huddled against the wall that he was quite uncomfortable with being around strangers. On top of that, Kouyo had not seemed to want Setsushi to know at all that he was leaving, likely why the priest had instructed him not to react when he had posed the question over dinner the night before.
"Thank you for agreeing to this," Kouyo said softly to the mage as he stepped inside. Truth be told, he was scared to death. He had his own magic if Kumoru decided to attack him, but would that be enough? Setsushi would have certainly been able to overpower the human, but Kouyo was so much smaller....
He had to jump from the nest, though, and spread his wings and hope for the best.
"Perfectly alright. I have an extra room cleaned out for you. I hope you do not mind something a little small."
Actually Kouyo did, but he just chewed his lip a little as he shook his head. "That will be fine."
...
When he moved into the room that evening after Kumoru brought him home from the bookstore, Kouyo found it a bit bigger than he was afraid it would be. After the bus ride, anything was huge. Still shaken from being packed on the bus with so many people, Kouyo paced the dimensions of his new living space perhaps a dozen times, then flopped down on the air mattress he had been provided.
Downstairs, he could hear the one called Bhel causing trouble with his older brother, and the High Priest caught snippets of worried feelings belonging to Jilan as the Porcelain apparently tried to diffuse whatever situation was unfolding. It was insane here, and he had been insane for deciding to come. It would take at least an hour to get back to the udon-ya on foot, and that was assuming Kouyo did not get lost. Setsushi was not there to hold Kouyo as he began to cry a little. Why had he left the comfort of his friend's presence?
He had to do this. Kouyo had to become involved to truly be a High Priest. He could define the role for himself here, outside of the Golden World and the walls of his tower. And he had decided that he had to be sure this human mage would not be a threat to the young Porcelain in his care. It sounded like what a priest should do - protect the souls of his people in the face of those who may try to steal them.
Kouyo just had to find the courage to do so.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:11 am
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:59 am
~Easier Said Than Done~
Jilan tapped on the door to Kouyo's room, a small tray of food in his other hand. When he received no answer, he knocked a second time, then finally opened the door himself.
He was sorry for intruding upon the High Priest, but ... he really should eat something....
Kouyo was sitting up in bed, but was slumped against the wall with his back to the door. He was in his sleeping robes, his hair in a messy braid, as though he really had been doing nothing but sleep for the last few days since Setsushi had come to check on him.
When Jilan entered, he did not turn, or really give any indication at all that he knew the boy was there. He remained seated, eyes half-closed, staring off at nothing in particular.
Jilan set the tray down on the nightstand and walked around to stand in front of Kouyo. He leaned down hesitantly to see if the older Porcelain would react at all, radiating a feeling of worry.
The High Priest's eyes focused momentarily on the boy, but then he looked away again, without really communicating anything. His face was streaked with his makeup from crying, but for the moment, his eyes were dry.
The boy felt tears welling up in his own eyes, but quickly wiped them away. He fetched a hairbrush from the bedside table and crawled onto Kouyo's bed behind him. Carefully, he took the tie from the priest's hair and worked on undoing the long braid.
... Why did High Priest Kouyo come here? Jilan wondered. When Setsushi had come to visit a few days ago, it looked like Kouyo had a reason. Jilan did not know what it was, but it seemed to satisfy Setsushi, and Kouyo seemed quite confident. But then Kouyo had not left his room.
Jilan started working on brushing the older Porcelain's hair, trying to be as gentle as possible. There were a bunch of knots; Kouyo had obviously not been taking care of himself.
It must have been very difficult for him to decide to come here, Jilan went on. The High Priest had wanted freedom from his tower for so long, and now he had it, but the world around him was not his home. Did Gaia feel hostile to him? It could be a rough place, but... Kouyo would be safe here, under Kumoru's roof. Jilan could promise that. And Lucretia, too, had promised Setsushi that she would keep intruders out. She would keep watch from the outside, and Jilan would keep watch from the inside. Kouyo should not have to worry about anything.
He was quiet for a while then, and gradually worked his way up the length of Kouyo's hair with the brush. When all the tangles were finally out, the boy set the brush aside and set to braiding the priest's hair again.
Jilan staved off another sniffle. This would not be the best braid, but hopefully the High Priest felt a little better. ... If he felt anything at all right now. He thought Kouyo should try to stop acting like this soon, though, so he could see Setsushi again. Kouyo's friend probably misses him. And what about that cooking party they were going to have someday?
If only Kouyo had never left....
Jilan jumped a little, and fumbled the tie back around Kouyo's finished, if slightly lop-sided, braid.
Please eat something. Jilan promised that it would help. Surely he had not told Setsushi that he was here to waste away with hunger.
Kouyo closed his eyes and slowly shifted to lean the other way, against Jilan. Alright, in a minute....
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:37 am
Kouyo remained in a state somewhere between asleep and awake for another few days, only moving when he really had to. Even then, he was slow and stiff, and did not seem to notice anyone else who happened to catch him outside of his room. He ate the food that Jilan brought him, but never very much, and he never really tasted it.
He had learned no more magic. He had hardly left his room. Jilan was taking care of him, so he was definitely not keeping watch over the boy or his brother. He had accomplished none of what he had told Setsushi he would do. How much more pain would his friend go through if he had to see Kouyo as he was now? Kouyo could not return to him as he was, only to continue to worry him.
Still, Setsushi would do his best to comfort him as he always did. Kouyo was not sure how he had managed in the tower between Setsushi's visits. He had been so much stronger then. Now, he was hardly a shadow of Kouyo at all.
Why had he been so stupid?
... Because that was just how he was. Stupid and... adorable. Ranko had always called him that. A tear ran slowly down the priest's cheek as he thought of her. If only he could see her again, too. Look, Ranko, he had given up hope and in doing so, was freed from his tower anyway. Then he had run off to try to take full advantage of his freedom, and ended up here, still shattered into a thousand pieces, still aching for her, still dependent upon his friend.
Kouyo lurched to his feet, his sleeping robe slipping from one shoulder. He needed a bath. Time to think somewhere else. The house was dark; no one would see him. And so he made his way to the bathroom and started filling the tub with warm water.
It was a shorter tub, but deep, and the room filled with steam as Kouyo stood there, a blank look on his face, as he watched it fill. He slipped out of his robes and left them in a pile on the floor, and climbed into the water, hugging his knees to his chest while the tub continued to fill around him. When the water level was up to his chin, and a few inches below brimming, he turned it off and sighed.
If he died here... Setsushi and the others might never find a way home. Xiao Huo would never see his mother again. Jilan would never know the Golden World. As the Name had suggested, Ranko might forever be alone. How many others depended on him? How quickly could they forget about him?
Kouyo stretched out a little, sighing and closing his eyes. The warmth was making him drowsy again, and he did not feel like he was thinking any better here than he had been in his room. Maybe he could just sleep a while down here and maybe the others would not worry in the morning and maybe Kouyo's head would slip below the surface of the water while he slept....
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:33 pm
~Learning to Fly~
Kouyo was awakened suddenly by knocking on the bathroom door.
"Kouyo, if you are dead in my bathtub, I swear I will never let your soul rest in peace," Kumoru called sternly from outside. "I don't want to call Setsushi to come get you and the trash man charges for special pick-ups." He was quiet for a moment, then rapped sharply on the door again.
The Porcelain shivered with panic (also perhaps because the water in the bath had cooled while he was sleeping to an uncomfortable shade of lukewarm) and got himself up out of the water. He should have been back in his room by now, where Kumoru had refrained from bothering him.
He sent out frantic feelings that yes, he was still alive, and would come out in a few minutes.
"Good," the mage said. Kouyo heard him walk away.
Once he was dry and clothed, Kouyo opened the door slightly and checked to see if anyone was around. By the low light in the hallway, it seemed it was still early enough in the morning that the other children were likely asleep. Kumoru was there somewhere, but Kouyo could not see him from the door; he dearly hoped the mage had gone on with his day.
As quietly as possible, Kouyo attempted to retreat back to his room.
Kumoru was waiting for the priest outside his door, dressed in his robes and standing steady, with his arms crossed. He fixed the Porcelain with what was perhaps a vaguely disappointed gaze, but said nothing.
Kouyo cowered visibly, clutching his towel closer to his chest. The mage had trapped him outside of his safe place.
"Stop staring at me, human," he growled.
"Kouyo, why did you come here?" Kumoru demanded, ignoring the Porcelain.
The Porcelain trudged towards his door, though still giving off a strong feeling of fear and anxiety, and attempted to shove the human out of the way.
Kumoru did not budge. Kouyo's rising panic was tangible in the air around him, and so he was not surprised when the Porcelain lashed out with a flurry of terrified magic. He inhaled sharply as he felt little invisible blades scratching at his face, but he did not retaliate with spells of his own.
Instead, Kumoru grabbed the priest around the arm with one hand and hauled him close, then attempted to hold him still when he started to fight back.
"Kouyo, stop this. Hold still and listen to me. I want you to tell me why you came here."
Radiating his distress, Kouyo resorted to attacking Kumoru physically. He had likely not heard the mage's question.
Kumoru was not exactly a paragon of physical strength, but it amazed him a little how weak Kouyo felt. The priest looked thin enough in just his sleeping robes. The mage held him to his chest, trying to get him to stop fighting, but the Porcelain man felt so tiny in his arms and was giving off such a feeling of fear.... Kumoru was doing his best not to manhandle him too badly.
Finally, he turned the struggling Kouyo around and held him with one arm across his chest, and then placed his other hand over the priest's eyes. Kouyo resorted to trying to kick at his legs.
"Shhh.... Stop fighting and calm down," he whispered, then began quietly chanting a spell.
Kouyo had no will left to resist him.
Kumoru... Kumoru was trying to kill him. Kouyo could feel the human's magic slowing his breathing, slowing his heart, sapping the energy from his muscles. He tried to fight back, but over the next few moments, his body gradually stopped responding entirely.
"Shhh.... Now tell me why you came here." The mage's voice sounded distant even though Kouyo could still somehow feel warmth like he was still being held.
Didn't Kouyo tell him already...?
"I forgot. Please tell me again, Kouyo."
Kouyo had told Kumoru... the day before he had arrived.
"Tell me again."
This- this was like one of his visions. The same question over and over, and Kouyo could not answer it!
"Tell me, Kouyo."
No! He couldn't! Don't ask it again!
"Tell me why."
He was here... he was here... because he had to learn to fly.
The mage was not sure what exactly that meant, but it was enough of a sign that he had gotten through to the Porcelain, at least. Feeling distinctly bad for what he had done to get the response, Kumoru released Kouyo from the hold of his sleep spell. With any luck, though, the High Priest would not immediately go back to moping about his room.
Kouyo gradually felt himself returning over the next few minutes, and when he opened his eyes, found himself on the floor in front of his room. Kumoru was kneeling, arms still wrapped around him, and had been holding him more or less upright. The human released him as soon as sensed Kouyo was awake, and the priest fell forward a little onto his hands and knees.
Kumoru stood up and stepped away, allowing Kouyo some space to recover. He did not want to frighten the man any more than he likely had.
"Get dressed and come with me to work today, please," he said, watching the Porcelain carefully to make sure he would be alright. "You are behind in your lessons."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:37 pm
Kouyo sat on the floor in the corner behind the desk, dressed in his Gaian clothes but wrapped up in his drapes. He still felt like he had no energy - perhaps at least in part because of the residual effects of the sleep spell that had been cast on him - but he was out of the house for a change. And, if nothing else, the sedating effect of the spell had kept Kouyo from having a full panic attack on the bus on the way over.
He held Kumoru's old magic textbook open across his knees, reading the words on the first page aloud over and over. Kumoru coached his pronunciation when he had spare minutes, which was fairly often; there were only two customers all morning. When the human seemed satisfied with Kouyo's work, they moved on to the second page, then the third.
It was tough, working through learning the alphabet of Kumoru's magic. Over one hundred characters, introduced in handfuls at a time - and then Kouyo had to try to speak them. It got frustrating. Kumoru would correct him ten, twelve times sometimes on the difference between two letters Kouyo could not differentiate by sound. There were sounds he had never heard before in either Porcelain or Gaian.
In Kumoru's six-hour day, he got no further than the third page.
At the end of the day, Kumoru handed Kouyo a city bus pass and another one of the store's business cards with instructions for how to get home from the bookstore written on the back.
"You can come home with me if you'd like, or you can visit Setsushi," he told the High Priest. "And from there, you can return to my home, or not."
Kumoru turned to go. "I have to pick something up for dinner, and then I will be at the bus stop in maybe fifteen minutes. You are free to leave when you like. The door here is locked, so just pull it shut until it clicks when you leave." And then he let himself out of the store, leaving Kouyo within, alone.
Kouyo watched the mage leave, then turned to wander around between the shelves of books. He was not measuring but... he needed time to think. He could return to Setsushi - he wanted to so very badly, so his friend could hold him and give him confidence again - but what would he tell him? Kouyo had spoken with such confidence a week before, but what had he accomplished in that time? Setsushi had been worried enough about him, and what was Kouyo supposed to tell him today? That he had not gotten out of bed for a week, except to nearly try to kill himself?
"One of you is still here," a human male voice said from somewhere unseen near the front of the store.
Kouyo immediately froze where he stood. The store had been empty save for himself and Kumoru, and then Kumoru had departed. The bell on the door had not made a sound since the mage left. And yet someone was inside? Kouyo had no idea who it could be.
Boots walked slowly across the carpet as the man looked for Kouyo in the maze of bookshelves. Then he stepped into view, finely attired and neatly groomed, and watching Kouyo over the tops of his tinted glasses.
"There you are," he said, striding closer. He grinned and tossed his head a little to get his pale blue hair out of his eyes.
Terrified, Kouyo sank to the floor as the man approached and tried to flatten himself back against the bookshelves.
"I'm Aodhagan Whitestone, the one who owns this place," he said, crouching in front of Kouyo to look him in the eye. "I see you're learning magic from Kumoru? Or trying to, at least?"
The High Priest nodded, visibly shaking. How? Where had the man been hiding? How had he gotten in? Had he been here the whole time?
"I have something I need you to do for me," Aodhagan went on, taking Kouyo's hands and hauling him to his feet. "I can pay you, and on top of that, I'll feel a bit better about letting you loiter around my shop with one of my employees."
He put one arm around Kouyo's waist and led him over to the door marked "Staff Only", then fumbled for his keys to open it. The Porcelain tried to resist being moved, but was scrawny enough that Aodhagan had little trouble shoving him along. He seemed almost too frightened to try to fight back. "You don't have to agree to helping, but I strongly suggest that you do."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:07 pm
Aodhagan shut the door behind them once he and Kouyo were in the storage room, and flicked the lightswitch. The fluorescent tube flickerd several times before lighting up, revealing a narrow room lined with more shelves down the sides and filled with old boxes. Just inside the doorway, there was the stack of books he had made the tall man with the long teal hair move about a week before.
He provided the Porcelain with a painter's mask and put one on himself before grasping him by the shoulders and slowly leading him down to the other end of the room and back.
"See, this room has gotten kind of dirty because people don't use it very often," he told Kouyo. "But I'm getting so many books that we might need to actually use this space now."
Kouyo nodded automatically, his eyes scanning the small room for some possible way to escape. Even then, the human was holding him firmly and he was not sure he could break free. But even when Aodhagan stopped in front of one of the shelves and released him, Kouyo could not make his feet budge.
The man dragged one of the boxes down off of one of the shelves, flinching away as it sent a small cascade of dust into his face. Then he brushed his hand over the books that were inside and tossed the resulting dust bunny aside.
"We can't sell them like this. I don't have time to clean up here, and neither does Kumoru." He turned to Kouyo and set the box down, stepping to the side a bit to trap the Porcelain physically between himself and the shelves again.
The priest tried to slip away to the side, but tripped over the box. Aodhagan caught him and pulled him to his feet.
"I'd like to offer you the chance to work here, but I know you don't like to talk much, so what would you say if I gave you this room to clean out?" he offered. "Get rid of all the dust, sort the books, put everything on shelves so that it looks neat. And in return, I can pay you, and I also won't mind you having your magic lessons here."
Kouyo glanced towards the closed door. Then he nodded again in response to the man's request. Anything to get Aodhagan to let him go. He had to get out. The room was shrinking around him, walls and all their shelves closing in. The man's presence was already driving the breath out of him.
He had to get out of the room now. "Yes," he whimpered again to be sure Aodhagan had understood. "I will start tomorrow."
"Good, thank you," the man replied cheerfully, releasing Kouyo and going to open the door. It had been even easier to convince him than the taller one. Aodhagan almost felt bad with how easy it had been to intimidate the red-haired Porcelain.
He removed his mask and tossed it aside, and held the door open for Kouyo. "I'll keep track of how long you work, and if and when you finish with the whole room, I can see about giving you a bonus. If you do a good job, of course." He brushed his hands on his brocaded coat and shuddered a little at the feeling of them still being dirty.
Kouyo took his mask off as well, but was apparently still too close to where they had been stirring up the copious dust. He shot out of the storage room and to the opposite corner of the store, coughing and sneezing.
He listened for Aodhagan as he cowered in the corner by the front window of the store, and heard him walking around. The footsteps stopped suddenly, though, and Kouyo tried to hold back his next sneeze for as long as possible in an effort to catch any other sounds the man might make in moving around. Either way, he had not left by the front door.
When he was sure he had heard nothing for a good five minutes, Kouyo curled up on the carpet and cried his fear out (which also worked quite nicely to get the dust out of his eyes). As soon as he could compose himself again, he could rush straight to Setsushi's house and tell him everything and stay with his friend again and never leave.
He could still not be sure of Kumoru, but Mister Whitestone was surely evil for doing such a thing. Had the human been unable to hear his terror? Did he enjoy scaring him like that?
...
...
...
Either way, Kouyo apparently had a job now.
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