annotate old/stories/shatteredmirror.txt @ 4:69f0191c9016 moonlitnights tip

added error.log and access.log
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:42:35 -0400
parents fc00894c1d4a
children
rev   line source
rlm@2 1 This is a tribute to my personal favorite of the Witches 5, Viluy Yuri. ^-^ Sure,
rlm@2 2 she only got one episode and got talked down to by Ami while nanites where
rlm@2 3 ripping her body apart. Sure she fell prey to the BSSM anime rule that a villain
rlm@2 4 must have a lame death at their own hands or at the hands of their employer or
rlm@2 5 peer. Sure, she made me wonder just how deep Ami’s egomaniacal obsession
rlm@2 6 with being the smartest went if she could bitch at a girl that’s getting killed by
rlm@2 7 her own devices (who needs that? I mean, c’mon, she was –dying-. You’d think
rlm@2 8 that’d be bad enough without a self serving speech from Ami. Odd how the
rlm@2 9 nanites merely wracked the Senshi with pain, but killed her. But I digress.). But
rlm@2 10 she was great for the less than half an hour we got of her. ^-^ So thanks, Viluy,
rlm@2 11 for being such a cool villain. ^-^
rlm@2 12
rlm@2 13
rlm@2 14 Shattered Mirror
rlm@2 15 By Amazoness Duo
rlm@2 16 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
rlm@2 17
rlm@2 18
rlm@2 19 My name is Viluy Yuri. I’m the top student at Mugen Gakuen and
rlm@2 20 possibly in the entirety of Tokyo. That is, with the possible exception of Ami
rlm@2 21 Mizuno. She’s amazing. Quiet, thoughtful, shy, all trussed up with beautiful blue
rlm@2 22 hair. Her eyes seem to be ever searching for more, wanting so much to
rlm@2 23 understand that which she never possibly could. She is perfect. At least from all
rlm@2 24 of the data I’ve collected on her. Obsessed? Maybe. I have her picture up as my
rlm@2 25 desktop. I’ve been teased quite often by some of my ‘teammates’ here with the
rlm@2 26 Witches 5, but I ignore them. Cold logic will win against any of their outlandish
rlm@2 27 schemes. I never could understand what Tellu hoped to accomplish with plants.
rlm@2 28 But if that’s how she wants to do things, who am I to argue?
rlm@2 29 I can almost hear Eiko’s soft voice chiding me to get some sleep, but
rlm@2 30 she’s not there when I swivel around in my chair. I can’t hold back the pained
rlm@2 31 disappointment that wells up despite my normal control. She’s the only thing
rlm@2 32 that can hurt me anymore. Or the lack of her presence, as the case may be. She
rlm@2 33 was.. She is the driving force behind all that I do. I was going to add some safety
rlm@2 34 systems to my nanites, but I can barely concentrate anymore. I miss her even
rlm@2 35 more than usual right now. I’ve been so empty since she left. I’ve been all alone
rlm@2 36 for so long, fighting just to stay alive. I had lost my sense of purpose until
rlm@2 37 Professor Tomoe came to me with an offer I could never reufuse.
rlm@2 38 Picking up the single framed picture by my desk, I remember with
rlm@2 39 crystal clarity the girl standing with me in it. I was only nine when the picture
rlm@2 40 was taken. She must’ve been nearly six. My sweet little sister, Eiko. She was my
rlm@2 41 best friend when no one else wanted to be near me. She was my light at the end
rlm@2 42 of the tunnel when things seemed to dark to go on. She made me laugh when I
rlm@2 43 was being too serious for my own good. Even when mom and dad would argue,
rlm@2 44 she tried to cheer me up, even though I knew it must have been eating her away
rlm@2 45 inside. I wouldn’t let dad hit her whenever I could help it. Which meant he had
rlm@2 46 to hurt me all the more when I’d get in the way. When someone who’s supposed
rlm@2 47 to protect and love you can inflict such pain upon a child, all hope is quickly lost
rlm@2 48 in the world. How anyone can do that, I still don’t know. I will always hate him
rlm@2 49 for that. And I will always hate my mother for standing by, doing nothing as
rlm@2 50 he’d hit one of us again and again. Sometimes life was wonderful. Eiko and I
rlm@2 51 would stay up all night in the living room on the weekend while my parents
rlm@2 52 slept, telling each other stories and playing. But sometimes life became
rlm@2 53 unbearable. We would be too afraid to breath, afraid that the slightest movement
rlm@2 54 would evoke our father’s wrath. Many times we didn’t even have to do anything
rlm@2 55 to bring out his rage. And as time went by, it became that way more and more
rlm@2 56 often.
rlm@2 57 When I got home from cram school one day and found her curled in a
rlm@2 58 ball in her room all battered and bruised, I couldn’t take it. Tears spilling down
rlm@2 59 my face and rage scalding me inside, I knew that I couldn’t stay there any
rlm@2 60 longer. That I couldn’t let that happen ever again to my little sister. I had called
rlm@2 61 the police before, but dad had a friend at the station so they never actually came.
rlm@2 62 He would tell my dad all of the awful things I told him, all the truth, and he
rlm@2 63 would come back into my room... And all the while my mother become more
rlm@2 64 and more a shell of her former self, watching it all behind glassy eyes as she too
rlm@2 65 took to the bottle. I ran away from home with onee-chan that day before our
rlm@2 66 parents could get back from the store. And I never looked back.
rlm@2 67 I promised myself long ago that I would protect my imouto no matter
rlm@2 68 what. I did whatever I could to make sure that she was safe. I would take care of
rlm@2 69 her better than our parents ever could. I had been the smartest one at my school,
rlm@2 70 but that just made people want to ignore me. They pretended I didn’t exist when
rlm@2 71 I was lucky, torturing me when I wasn’t. Eiko was the only one who hadn’t
rlm@2 72 abandoned me. And I would be damned if I ever abandoned her. So I did the
rlm@2 73 best I could to support the two of us. We lived in a small condemned building
rlm@2 74 that no one ever seemed to have any intention of tearing down. I stole from
rlm@2 75 honest people to get what we needed to survive. I took what I could from
rlm@2 76 wherever I could in order to provide for myself and for my little sister. When
rlm@2 77 she was sick, I even managed to fake signatures and other things to get her
rlm@2 78 looked at. I knew she hated doctors, but I had to make sure she would be okay. I
rlm@2 79 felt bad about the measures I had to take, but survival is a tricky thing at best. I
rlm@2 80 had to do what I did in order that we both may live.
rlm@2 81 And in that existence, Eiko and I spent happier times together than we
rlm@2 82 had living with our parents. For a while, I attempted to teach her. A child
rlm@2 83 teaching a child. I had always been advanced for my class, but my parents didn’t
rlm@2 84 seem to care. In fact, it was expected of me to do well. Anything less was met
rlm@2 85 harshly. And so I had learned to push myself to the limits of my endurance and
rlm@2 86 beyond. Eiko was a quick learner and she did well. But she missed going to
rlm@2 87 school, missed being around others. I was the only one in her life, alone in our
rlm@2 88 small building we called home. That was enough for me. She had been all I’d
rlm@2 89 had in my life for quite some time, after all. But she needed more. I faked the
rlm@2 90 necessary papers and managed to get her and myself enrolled in school shortly
rlm@2 91 afterwards. There was no more time for cram school for me, though. I had to
rlm@2 92 make sure there was food on the table for the two of us to get by.
rlm@2 93 My sweet little sister finally seemed happier. She was making friends
rlm@2 94 and enjoying herself. I, on the other hand, hated every moment of it. I once
rlm@2 95 again found myself deep into my studies in an attempt to have something,
rlm@2 96 anything, to grasp onto throughout the tumultuous times at school. My only
rlm@2 97 solace was back at our ‘home’ with Eiko. No matter how bad things went during
rlm@2 98 the day, it all seemed to melt away when I got home. We would talk late into the
rlm@2 99 night, far past when it grew dark out. Sometimes Eiko worried about the future,
rlm@2 100 but I assured her of a bright and sunny one awaiting the both of us. And she
rlm@2 101 would smile at me and agree the way she always did. And then we’d fall asleep,
rlm@2 102 huddled for warmth on the floor under the blankets I’d managed to steal while
rlm@2 103 they’d been out drying in some woman’s back yard.
rlm@2 104 But one fateful day, my happy slice of heaven, my little ray of life
rlm@2 105 amongst an otherwise bleak light, my tiny flame of warmth was snubbed out.
rlm@2 106 The streets had been curiously silent that morning as I’d filled up my backpack,
rlm@2 107 running a few minutes late. Eiko had already took off for school on her own,
rlm@2 108 despite my continued urgings for her to wait. She’d giggled playfully and told
rlm@2 109 me to catch up. But when I’d caught up, she wasn’t running anymore. It wasn’t
rlm@2 110 fair. I was supposed to catch her on the way. She wasn’t supposed to forfeit. The
rlm@2 111 cars had been curiously still as well. A man outside his car was going on and on
rlm@2 112 about how it wasn’t his fault. I hardly cared if it was or not. It didn’t concern
rlm@2 113 me. I had to catch up with imouto. But a sparkle of crimson caught my eye and
rlm@2 114 when I turned to look, our little game had come to a violent end. There she lie,
rlm@2 115 crumpled in the street like a broken china doll. Her small body was lying limp, a
rlm@2 116 pool of blood under her. Words cannot convey how I felt. Tears cannot wipe
rlm@2 117 away the stain that day has left on my mind. I held onto her for as long as I
rlm@2 118 could, trying desperately to hear anything more than the sickening gurgle that
rlm@2 119 came from what was left of my broken little sister. The rest of that day is gone. I
rlm@2 120 can’t remember anymore than her slowed breathing in my arms until it finally
rlm@2 121 stopped altogether, her life slipping out of my very grasp like so many grains of
rlm@2 122 sand. That was nearly two years ago.
rlm@2 123 I weeped, as most young girls do, but that the last time. My crystal tears
rlm@2 124 were the last of my warmth, the last I had of her. I became cold after that. This
rlm@2 125 life had no rhyme or reason. Nothing made sense. All I had was logic to try and
rlm@2 126 sort out what I could, to make some sense of this frigid world. From that day
rlm@2 127 forward, I put all of my faith into cold, heartless logic. Its icy touch was all I
rlm@2 128 could hold onto to keep me sane. I needed something to occupy my mind or I
rlm@2 129 would be consumed by my grief for her, lost in an endless night of pain. And
rlm@2 130 because of my drive to succeed and my achievements over my classmates, I was
rlm@2 131 invited to go to Mugen Gakuen for high school. After a short while, I was
rlm@2 132 approached by professor Tomoe. He said he had an offer for me. An offer I
rlm@2 133 couldn’t refuse.
rlm@2 134 He was right. I will help bring an unspeakable force into this world so
rlm@2 135 that I may have my little sister brought back to me. Taken before her time, I can
rlm@2 136 make up to her the promise I had made her that had been broken so suddenly.
rlm@2 137 Professor Tomoe’s own daughter had been brought back by this same force.
rlm@2 138 And so I bide my time, doing what is asked of me so that I will one day achieve
rlm@2 139 my goal. That she will one day be returned to me.
rlm@2 140 Not a day goes by when I don’t see her out of the corner of my eye or
rlm@2 141 hear her voice. I’m haunted. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. To shut out
rlm@2 142 those little pieces of her would be to deny what I’m striving towards. It would be
rlm@2 143 to deny what’s left of my soul inside this cold body. And so I continue,
rlm@2 144 waiting... and hoping.
rlm@2 145
rlm@2 146 Tellu laughed as she read the last entry on Viluy’s computer. Such
rlm@2 147 sentimental rubbish. Did she actually think her sister would be brought back like
rlm@2 148 that? The Professor’s child was merely a vessel for Mistress 9. Of course, it
rlm@2 149 didn’t matter one way or the other. Viluy had gotten killed shortly after that
rlm@2 150 entry. The green haired Witches 5 member paused for a moment before she
rlm@2 151 turned off the computer. “I hope you’re with your sister now, Viluy.”