1.1 --- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/noir-althena.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,378 @@
     1.4 +title:Althena
     1.5 +anime:Noir
     1.6 +author:Immo (pronounced eye-moe)
     1.7 +e-mail: immo@hamena.org 
     1.8 +rating:uh... R? Rape of small child, a little slashy slashy of the femmey femmey.
     1.9 +specifically, Chloe and Kirika, hints on Kirika and Mireille.
    1.10 +
    1.11 +I don't think there's enough Noir fanfics out there, so here's one right at'cha! ;P
    1.12 +R/R, give me feedback: comments, complaints, critizism, compliments (hopefully). And
    1.13 +please, no flames. I'm a delicate person LoL. This is all from Althena's POV. Go
    1.14 +psychotic Kind Mother! Go! :D Oh yeah. Especially dedicated to my friend Talia. All
    1.15 +the yuri slash in here is to make her squirm. :D Go LiA!
    1.16 +
    1.17 +
    1.18 +The sun baked the already dry and cracked earth. Gunfire ripped the silence in the air,
    1.19 +punctuated with occasional screams. The girl was oblivious to everything. She was probably the
    1.20 +only survivor of this village, born of the original Soldats blood and ideals. Her parents had
    1.21 +hidden her in the basement, far, far below, underneath a secret compartment, so when the soldiers
    1.22 +raided and burned, she was safe. She had food, and clean water. And a book...
    1.23 +She could remember the book by heart, each word engraved into her memory by her parents,
    1.24 +religiously reciting each word to her. But now, she can't seem to remember... couldn't seem to
    1.25 +remember.
    1.26 +Her name was Althena.
    1.27 +That was it. Even though her eyes were blank, filmed over by pain and hunger, there was
    1.28 +a flicker of an unnatural will to survive could be seen if you looked closely. That was why she 
    1.29 +was clutching her doll and walking. She had run out of food days ago, and water... there was no 
    1.30 +more water. Not since the morning. How could she be so thirsty now?
    1.31 +Noir...
    1.32 +Something she read in the book. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up into the
    1.33 +leering face of a man. He picked her up. It was no hard feat, she was light as a feather.
    1.34 +"Who are you?" She managed to get the words past her dry, chapped lips.
    1.35 +The man grinned, "Soldats."
    1.36 +And she learned what Soldats was. An organization that was so deeply integrated into the
    1.37 +world, a hidden society that gave power to the ones that headed it. But that was wrong. Wrong.
    1.38 +How did she know it was wrong. Something in the book...
    1.39 +Her thoughts were more urgent now as the man lay her on the bed. How had they gotten into
    1.40 +a house? Can't think about that, must concentrate. Something about the book. She studied the man.
    1.41 +Barely a man, his face had just started getting scratchy like papa, when she sat on his lap, her
    1.42 +papa's cheek brushing against hers as he read from the book.
    1.43 +The man kissed her roughly, her damaged lips cracked agan, bleeding.
    1.44 +She turned around to look at the nightstand beside her. He had left his gun there. The
    1.45 +man was oblivious as he fumbled with her dress, pushing it up, pulling her underwear down. She
    1.46 +might be able to reach the gun... she reached out, then pulled back when she felt an excrutiating
    1.47 +pain down there.
    1.48 +"You're dry, it hurts more." He grunted.
    1.49 +Was it her fault? She didn't know what he was talking about. She was just a girl named
    1.50 +Althena. She blinked with pain, each thrust more painful than the next, pain mixed with fear when
    1.51 +she saw blood leaking out of her. Was she going to die?
    1.52 +Noir...
    1.53 +The pain left when she thought of the book.
    1.54 +Noir was important. Noir stopped the pain. With that thought in mind, she reached out for
    1.55 +the pistol, touching it with trembling fingers, her tiny hands barely wrapped around the barrel
    1.56 +of the gun. She had it. That was all that mattered. And she knew how to use it, because she was
    1.57 +part of Soldats too. She was Soldats, the original form. Everyone else had died, so she had to
    1.58 +continue the legacy.
    1.59 +NOIR. 
    1.60 +
    1.61 +The word designates the name of destiny from a distant time. 
    1.62 +
    1.63 +The two Virgo reign over death. 
    1.64 +
    1.65 +May the Black hands over the green field
    1.66 +
    1.67 +Please protect the newly born peace.
    1.68 +
    1.69 +A single gunshot, and the man slumped against her, oozing blood from the tiny neat hole
    1.70 +in his temple, she pushed him off with what little strength she had left. Noir. The book. She
    1.71 +remembered. She had a mission. Climbing off the bed, she grimaced, the pain there... it hurt. 
    1.72 +But she had to keep walking. Her life wasn't worth as much as that book, the ideals it held. 
    1.73 +She knew her role in the book now, she was going to give birth to Noir. She would be the mother 
    1.74 +of Noir. The Kind Mother. The Garden. The book. Rations were found in the house, the soldier had 
    1.75 +put this place to use for his own good, and she benefitted from it.
    1.76 +'Not unlike a whore being paid for her services,' Althena thought wryly. Finally, she 
    1.77 +was thinking clearly. With strength renewed from the food and water, she packed up what she 
    1.78 +could, making only one stop in the village, to her house, back to the secret room, to pick up 
    1.79 +the book that held those precious ideals of her family, friends, and villages. It was the origin 
    1.80 +of the Soldats, the true meaning of Soldats. And the way would be shown her, to the green Garden, 
    1.81 +where everything, everything would come to pass. And Noir would be born, and the corrupted, 
    1.82 +rotting, ambitious part of Soldats cut off, so the body could live again, better off without that 
    1.83 +limb. Her journey was fuelled by her hate, her survival was thanks to her hate. Her family had
    1.84 +loved her, and it had almost killed her to be stuck in the darkness, alone. 
    1.85 +If you can kill people with love, Hatred could save them. And she hated. And she
    1.86 +survived, collapsing in the inner sanctum of the Garden.
    1.87 +
    1.88 +
    1.89 +The children came to her at night, one with the look of a hardened criminal, the other,
    1.90 +clinging to the criminal like a frightened child. Chloe had been hand-picked and named by 
    1.91 +Althena herself to become the one half of Soldats that was needed. Chloe was only three when she 
    1.92 +started her training, a year had passed since her first day here, and Chloe still lacked the 
    1.93 +coldness, the detachment, and the efficiency of the assasins, the two that made up Noir.
    1.94 +"Chloe?" Althena raised an eyebrow. Only seventeen years old, ten years Chloe's elder, 
    1.95 +she was her 'mother'. The purple-haired girl cringed behind the newcomer. Now Althena looked at 
    1.96 +this new one.
    1.97 +"Where are your parents, child?" Althena asked, not unkindly. "It's late, shouldn't you
    1.98 +be going home?"
    1.99 +Althena, seldom surprised, *was* surprised when the russet-haired child walked forward,
   1.100 +shaking herself free from Chloe's grip, and wrapped her arms around Althena's waist burying her
   1.101 +face into the valley of the blonde's blossoming breasts. She took a deep breath, as if trying
   1.102 +to inhale as much of Althena's scent as possible, her eyes closed.
   1.103 +"I *am* home."
   1.104 +All the girl knew was that she was Noir. And Althena saw, that this girl was was very
   1.105 +much the same as Chloe and herself. All three of them did not have any parents anymore. Althena 
   1.106 +could imagine this girl, sitting on the lap of a man, reading from the book. Now Althena, older
   1.107 +and wiser, knew that it was called Langon's Manuscript.
   1.108 +"What is your name?" Althena tilted the girl's face upwards, and stared into the coffee-
   1.109 +brown depths of those eyes.
   1.110 +"I have no name."
   1.111 +"But we must have something to call you, no? I shall name you now, poor lost child." 
   1.112 +Althena kissed first one side of the dark-eyed girl's face, then the other. She moved her face so
   1.113 +she was looking down at the young girl again, then smiled.
   1.114 +"Your name is: Yumura Kirika." Althena bent down, pressing her lips against this young
   1.115 +one's, briefly, softly, imparting the name onto the child.
   1.116 +"I am Noir." Kirika insisted.
   1.117 +Althena motioned Chloe forward, took both their hands, and placed them onto each other.
   1.118 +"You two are the True Noir. Never forget that."
   1.119 +Chloe smiled at the girl, and gripped her hand firmly. Then they parted, and Chloe began
   1.120 +the well-known, almost-prayer. Her hand, like a gun, over her heart, Chloe closed her eyes.
   1.121 +"Noir; a name of destiny that has been ordained in the past. Two women who reign over 
   1.122 +death. The dark spirit, please guide the lost child." The prayer was also a prophecy, so it
   1.123 +seemed. The lost child had come home. "Lead the child back from the edge."
   1.124 +Kirika closed those soulless eyes, and mimicked Chloe's movements. "A name of destiny
   1.125 +that has been ordained in the past. Two women who reign over death," Now Chloe mixed her voice in
   1.126 +with Kirika's, in a beautiful harmony, the way it should be said, as two become one: Noir. "May 
   1.127 +the Black Hands over the newborns please protect the peace."
   1.128 +Althena didn't insist on silence at the dinner table. After a prayer sent to The One Who 
   1.129 +Provided, Chloe dug into her meal enthusiastically. She had been down to the village, she 
   1.130 +confessed guiltily to Althena. That was how she found Kirika, when Chloe had been ambushed by
   1.131 +wild dogs.
   1.132 +"The Child came to my rescue," Chloe beamed at Kirika, who looked down at her plate, and 
   1.133 +continued that slow thoughtful chewing. "Althena, could I stay up a bit longer?"
   1.134 +"Chloe, you have to get your rest. Tommorrow, you will continue your exercises. Alone."
   1.135 +Althena stated calmly.
   1.136 +"But Kirika-chan is here--"
   1.137 +"She has a test set out for her. She will deliver a letter to the Boquet family."
   1.138 +Althena's eyes hardened. Her influence in Soldats had greatly arisen since she stirred the embers
   1.139 +of Noir, claiming she will bring Noir to the use of Soldats. If only they knew... The Boquet 
   1.140 +family had refused to give their child into her care, had refused calmly. One more chance, one 
   1.141 +more refusal, and their family, including their precious daughter, would cease to exist forever.
   1.142 +Kirika was shown her room after she had a bath, and the girl climbed into bed obediently.
   1.143 +Althena tucked the girl in, with Chloe standing beside her. When the blonde turned to leave, 
   1.144 +Chloe pulled on her robe, protesting.
   1.145 +"You didn't give her a kiss goodnight!" The innocence was laughable, but Althena only
   1.146 +smiled fondly at Chloe, before moving back and placing a kiss on Kirika's forehead. After tucking
   1.147 +Chloe in, and surrendering a hug and a kiss to the insistant girl, the teen hurried to her study.
   1.148 +Taking out her ink bottle, and a quill, she quickly started on the letter. The elegeant writing 
   1.149 +spun out into words that pressed the point, and hid a threat, like a sheathed sword. When Althena
   1.150 +was done, she read it over, satisfied, and waited for the ink to dry. Then, she folded the paper,
   1.151 +and tucked it into an envelope. Dropping a bit of wax on it from her reading candle, she stamped 
   1.152 +it with the seal of Soldats. Tommorrow morning, Kirika would be sent off to Italy. The way would 
   1.153 +be made clear.
   1.154 +"Are you ready?" Althena asked the child. She nodded solemnly, dressed in over-sized
   1.155 +overalls, and a white t-shirt. One strap of the overall kept slipping off. The sky was a gray
   1.156 +blurr, not really sunrise, not really night.
   1.157 +"Sinners never regather after death, while the sin itself never fades away, Love too,
   1.158 +shall never disappear. The recluse has once again given in. Soldats' blood is absorbed by the
   1.159 +wilderness, and flows into the body. Both hands of Soldats are two Maidens. The hand of love
   1.160 +which can carry the sin. The hand of darkness which can be held out. Noir." Kirika said solemnly.
   1.161 +"Good." Althena nodded, again stunned by this girl. Chloe only remembered a little bit 
   1.162 +of that. She bent down to fold up Kirika's pant legs for her. There was no time to hem them, one 
   1.163 +of the villagers would come to pick her up soon.
   1.164 +"Where is Chloe?" Kirika's voice was soft.
   1.165 +"She isn't coming. She isn't ready for this."
   1.166 +The eyes flashed angrily. "Two are one. The Sword of Darkness which can be used by
   1.167 +Soldats. Both hands of Soldats. That is Noir."
   1.168 +Althena looked at the girl, bemused. Then she turned around, knowing that Chloe was
   1.169 +hiding behind one of the pillars. She had heard the girl stumbling about, her idea of quiet was 
   1.170 +not quiet at all.
   1.171 +"Chloe, come out."
   1.172 +Chloe stepped out meekly.
   1.173 +"Would you like to go with your partner?"
   1.174 +The furious nod of her head told her there was no seperating these two. Althena could see
   1.175 +someone approaching, the head of the village, walking through the vineyard towards the trio.
   1.176 +"Go then." Chloe was already running towards the man eagerly, her eyes bright with
   1.177 +excitement. Her first task! With her partner! Kirika made her way, not too slow, but not too 
   1.178 +fast.
   1.179 +"Child,"
   1.180 +Kirika stopped to turn around and look at Althena.
   1.181 +"Give them three days within the receiving of the letter. If they do not comply.."
   1.182 +Althena trailed off, knowing that Kirika would know what to do. The child was precocious, and 
   1.183 +alien to her. But she was her child now, and Althena could grow to love her, and care for her as 
   1.184 +she has for Chloe.
   1.185 +"Althena! Althena!" Chloe had run back, and flung herself into the woman's arm, trusting 
   1.186 +that the blonde would catch her, and wasn't disappointed. She looked up, her eyes were shining. 
   1.187 +"I'll be back soon!"
   1.188 +Kirika hugged Althena around her leg, so there was two children clinging to her, and the 
   1.189 +blonde finally let herself laugh, and loved her children.
   1.190 +
   1.191 +
   1.192 +After that first mission, it had seemed as if Chloe had miraculously grown up. Althena 
   1.193 +still couldn't believe how Chloe had blossomed into a young woman so quickly. The expectations 
   1.194 +put on her weren't difficult anymore, and the killer in her emerged. There was still that child-
   1.195 +like glee, that energy that was poured into her work. And Althena, smiling secretively, believed 
   1.196 +that Chloe might have a crush on Kirika. As if little blushing glances, and slightly touching 
   1.197 +hands, hadn't hinted Althena to this! Poor Chloe though, the blonde sensed that Kirika had no 
   1.198 +clue on the feelings and just loved her as a sister and a partner.
   1.199 +"Althena?" Chloe had taken to reading up on Landon's Manuscript, memorizing and eating up
   1.200 +every word, using her brain as much as she used her muscles when she trained. The girl was 
   1.201 +twirling a dagger in her hands, and Althena gave a disapproving look. Chloe grinned sheepishly, 
   1.202 +and tucked the weapon into her cloak.
   1.203 +"Now, what is it?" Althena came up behind the girl, placing a hand on Chloe's shoulder.
   1.204 +"When will Kirika come back?"
   1.205 +It had been a long time. But letters would come in today, the Soldats watching over her 
   1.206 +will report soon.
   1.207 +There was a brief silence, before Chloe blurted out, "I love her."
   1.208 +Some things that Althena didn't even know about was revealed by a furiously blushing 
   1.209 +Chloe. How the girl had, one night many years ago, snuck into the other girl's room. How Chloe 
   1.210 +would kiss her, how Kirika held her, how they slept so innocently together, and how much Chloe 
   1.211 +loved her.
   1.212 +"Have you told her?"
   1.213 +Chloe shook her head.
   1.214 +"Maybe you should. When she gets back."
   1.215 +Chloe nodded doubtfuly, then her eyes stared out the window, and she whooped with glee, 
   1.216 +springing out of her chair. A lone figure was making her way towards them.. Althena followed the 
   1.217 +purple-haired girl slowly, made her way to the front door to greet the brunette. Instead, she 
   1.218 +found that it wasn't Kirika at all. It wasn't even a she. The village leader was there with a bag
   1.219 +of letters, and Chloe was tearing through them like she was a demon on fire.
   1.220 +"Chloe!" Althena was alarmed by the lack of control that Chloe was showing.
   1.221 +"No! She's in trouble, she should've been back by now!" Chloe paused to say, then 
   1.222 +continued ripping through the letters. The villager bowed to Althena, before hurrying back to his
   1.223 +village, Chloe's wrath was apparent, and it was dangerous to all.
   1.224 +Althena let the young woman's grief and fear play out. Soon, she would stop. And she did.
   1.225 +At one letter.
   1.226 +"No."
   1.227 +Althena felt her heart stop at that one syllable. Something had happened to Kirika. What 
   1.228 +did the letter say?
   1.229 +"No!"
   1.230 +The piece of paper was flung down, and Chloe ran past Althena, back into the house. She 
   1.231 +knew no amount of calling would bring the girl to her side.
   1.232 +'Taken her... our better judgement... three... inner trees... different light and 
   1.233 +water... Mireille Boquet--' She stopped reading the letter now. The trial called for three. So, 
   1.234 +they were suspicious of her motives and were planning to throw a kink in her plans. No matter. 
   1.235 +Kirika was alive, and so was Chloe, and that was all that mattered. These two were the Chosen 
   1.236 +Two, blessed by the Kind Mother's hand.
   1.237 +"Chloe?" Althena searched the house, and finally found the girl in the chapel, sprawled 
   1.238 +in front of the altar, forcing words out between wracking sobs, and attacking the steps to the 
   1.239 +altar with a clenched fist.
   1.240 +"People--amongst people," Althena made out the words between the sobs and hiccups. "Love 
   1.241 +amongst... Love," At this point, Chloe raised her head and howled to the heavens, her tear-filled
   1.242 +eyes filled with absolute hatred for the ones who would steal her other half away from her. "Sin 
   1.243 +amongst sin... She is my sin! GIVE HER BACK TO ME!!"
   1.244 +She collapsed back on the steps, sobbing. Althena rushed to Chloe, gathering the girl up 
   1.245 +into her arms.
   1.246 +"Poor Chloe," Althena whispered, as the hot tears burned through the fabric of her robe. 
   1.247 +"Poor Chloe... my child, I love you so much."
   1.248 +"Althena!" Chloe clung tighter to the woman. "Althena!"
   1.249 +"My poor child," Althena squeezed her eyes shut, keeping her own rage tamped down, as 
   1.250 +memories flooded her, the war within Soldats, the murder of her parents, the dark place that she
   1.251 +hid in, how she was so afraid in there, so afraid. How she starved and thirsted. How she was 
   1.252 +raped. How she encountered so many deeds done by the hands of men to each other... and how she 
   1.253 +put all these instances away as fuel for her smoldering rage.
   1.254 +"Love can kill people, Chloe." Althena kept her voice even. "Hatred can save them." Her 
   1.255 +hate for Soldats, for people, for the things they stood for. To wipe them out with her hatred, to
   1.256 +cleanse the world with that pure fire and the two maidens that made up Noir. They shall be her 
   1.257 +sword of darkness. And her, Althena. She will be the body who has cut off the diseased hands, and
   1.258 +attaching the new pair of hands on, the two maidens that will make up the hands of Soldats, 
   1.259 +called Noir. She will be Soldats and bring back the lost origins of this organization.
   1.260 +
   1.261 +
   1.262 +Watching Kirika walk up towards her, she felt her heart open up again. There was a small 
   1.263 +smile on Kirika's face, a flash of guarded recognition in her eyes. This was what should've 
   1.264 +happened those years ago, too long, too long ago. Kirika should have walked up the path, instead 
   1.265 +of the man who carried the letter.
   1.266 +Chloe held her little dessert fork, the most precious treasure she had in her possession,
   1.267 +and she looked up, seeing Kirika walking through the grapevines. Too long. It had been too long. 
   1.268 +And she had found her way home. Chloe had barely gone inside the house since the day one of the 
   1.269 +villagers reported that Kirika had found the way. The Grand Retour.
   1.270 +Kirika stopped several good feet away from the steps up to the house. And Althena gave a 
   1.271 +smile, and descended slowly. Kirika still had that soft gentle smile on her face, and fell into 
   1.272 +Althena's arms, breathing in the woman's scent. Remembering her, yet not remembering. Althena 
   1.273 +felt the rage flare up, then tamped it down again. The Child would not remember everything that 
   1.274 +had happened here, the happiness that they shared together, the three of them.
   1.275 +"Welcome back." Althena stroked the top of Kirika's head.
   1.276 +Her voice was emotionless, but it sent a thrill of joy running through Althena's very 
   1.277 +being. "I'm home."
   1.278 +A tour of the household only brought her sorrow. Althena could see that Kirika wanted to 
   1.279 +remember, but whatever they had done to her... it prevented her from remembering. Chloe had, at 
   1.280 +first followed along, then got angry and left when Kirika didn't remember, or couldn't answer 
   1.281 +questions from the past.
   1.282 +"Are you Althena?"
   1.283 +Althena smiled to hide her sorrow. It was too much not to be remembered by her child. But
   1.284 +she couldn't blame Kirika.
   1.285 +"Yes."
   1.286 +Questions were asked, and Althena would answer lightly, truthfully, but every question 
   1.287 +weighed her down, made her sick with anger. How could they do this to Kirika?
   1.288 +What finally lifted her heart, was when Althena found Kirika in the library, poring over 
   1.289 +Langon's Manuscript.
   1.290 +"The Two Hands of Soldats are two Maidens." Althena broke into a smile. "The Dark Hand 
   1.291 +which can be held out with motherly love while carrying the burden of sins. Noir."
   1.292 +Althena walked forward to encircle Kirika from behind with her arms.
   1.293 +"If one can kill people with love, Hatred can also save people." Althena added. "That's 
   1.294 +how I believe."
   1.295 +"Yes." Unquestioning obedience.
   1.296 +"Thank goodness you've returned."
   1.297 +Althena looked at the picture in the book, knowing how much she loved this young girl 
   1.298 +like a daughter, looking at the picture of the Kind Mother, with both hands on the two Maiden's 
   1.299 +heads, the Maidens knows as Noir. Althena closed the book and put it back on the shelf, then 
   1.300 +lead the unprotesting girl to her room, where she was tucked in, and given a kiss goodnight. 
   1.301 +Althena talked softly about the ritual happening tommorrow, and got up to leave, when Kirika 
   1.302 +called her back urgently.
   1.303 +"Ah, Althena!"
   1.304 +There was more emotion in that voice then in the whole time since she had arrived. She 
   1.305 +turned to look at the girl, pausing to listen to what she had to say.
   1.306 +"Uh..." The brunette seemed to be at loss for words.
   1.307 +"What's wrong?" The blonde encouraged. Kirika looked embarassed, and stared down at her 
   1.308 +coverlet.
   1.309 +"Good night."
   1.310 +Althena smiled. "Good night."
   1.311 +Althena made her way to Chloe's room, to find the girl, just sneaking in through the
   1.312 +window. She smiled in that apologetic, sheepish way that she was bound to do.
   1.313 +"You were eaves-dropping?"
   1.314 +"I wanted to listen to you two talking again. The both of you did that a lot, back in 
   1.315 +the days when we were all together, when me and Kirika were small." Chloe 
   1.316 +
   1.317 +
   1.318 +Chloe was dead, she knew it as soon as it had happened, her childish spirit had come to 
   1.319 +say goodbye, blowing out the candle that symbolized herself. There were two left. But these two 
   1.320 +did not fit into the plan at all.
   1.321 +And Kirika had her gun pointed to her. A second time. And it hurt to have your child 
   1.322 +point the gun towards you, but she kept her calm resolve. She could still make this work.
   1.323 +"Go ahead and shoot." Althena said gently. "Or your friend will die. Yes, many lives 
   1.324 +have been lost, by your own hands. Are you now saying that you will make their deaths 
   1.325 +meaningless?"
   1.326 +People died to make Noir what it was, the training included spilt blood.
   1.327 +"You should know as well. You are Noir." Althena saw Kirika's hand quiver. 'Kill me, 
   1.328 +Kirika. Or else I would have worked for nothing. Be Noir.'
   1.329 +"Born with sin, raised with sin..." Althena closed her eyes and forged onwards. "A 
   1.330 +superior being who reigns over death. Your only way of life lies here."
   1.331 +She kept on talking. Saw Kirika hesitate and mull over her words...
   1.332 +"Now, pull the trigger. Kill me and live on as the true Noir."
   1.333 +Althena felt her moment of glory, when the brunette's finger pressed lightly on the
   1.334 +trigger, not enough to fire, just touching it. Then, the grip loosened, the arms slackened. 
   1.335 +Althena's eyes narrowed, knowing that Kirika would not shoot and she looked at Mireille. That 
   1.336 +girl. That was why her hate was now just a fire consuming only Althena, not the people who 
   1.337 +needed the cleansing flames. Her gun fired.
   1.338 +And Kirika flung herself in front of her friend. Denounced all claims to Noir. And 
   1.339 +accepted the name given to her by Althena, and the identity that Mireille gave her. She was, and
   1.340 +always will be an individual known as Yumura Kirika. And she charged at Althena, pushing her 
   1.341 +over, to the flames below.
   1.342 +'I've got a hold!' Althena's mind cried out in triumph. She had not managed to fall yet. 
   1.343 +She could yet pull herself, and the girl clinging on to her, upwards. But now the truth was 
   1.344 +told. She lived a lie, she hated and hated and scorched only herself and the only ones she 
   1.345 +loved. Chloe was dead. Kirika's wound, not treated quickly, would be a festering death wound. 
   1.346 +And in Kirika's eyes, she saw the philosophy that had been given to her, the opposite of what 
   1.347 +Althena had tried to instill into her young charges. 'Love certainly can kill people. However, 
   1.348 +don't forget: Hatred, can never save people.'
   1.349 +Her hand slipped. And Althena fell, Kirika stayed up, held up by the Boquet's only 
   1.350 +daughter. She admired Mireille. To be able to forgive the person who took away your family from
   1.351 +you must have taken a lot of strength. Althena let go of the fire that burned within her and
   1.352 +wished the two good luck in the future, blessing them for finding each other, loving, helping,
   1.353 +and never abandonning each other along the path. She wished that she could be forgiven, and one
   1.354 +day, she would go to that place where Chloe would be waiting for her, wherever death may take 
   1.355 +her, and one day, she hoped not soon, she would see Kirika there with Mireille. And she could 
   1.356 +learn what it was like to love without hate.
   1.357 +She could almost see, as if from a bird's eye view, the two girls weeping together,
   1.358 +clutching each other close.
   1.359 +"I thought I lost you," Merielle hugged the girl close. Kirika hissed in pain, and the
   1.360 +blonde loosened her grip. "Did I hurt you?"
   1.361 +"Don't hate me, I can't stand it if you hate me." The tears were from another pain,
   1.362 +poor child. Merielle looked at Kirika, incredulous. Then she rained kisses on her face, hugged
   1.363 +her tight again, the tears came down stronger now.
   1.364 +"I can't hate you. I never could. I don't think I ever would,"
   1.365 +Althena moved away from the scene, and she stood in the library, at her desk. Langon's
   1.366 +Manuscript lay open, and Althena reached out and tried to touch the book. She wasn't all that
   1.367 +disappointed when she couldn't.
   1.368 +'Hm. I forgot to blow out the candle here.' Althena leaned over, and with a puff of
   1.369 +ghostly air, the room plunged into darkness.
   1.370 +
   1.371 +
   1.372 +Notes: Well, hoped you like it, remember, an artist lives off the comments they get from their
   1.373 +readers. Well, they live off the money that the readers pay them for their best-selling book...
   1.374 +but I'm not at that stage yet. Soon, soon... let us all hope. Hamena.org has some of my work,
   1.375 +mostly Sailor Moon fanfics. (H&M slash. I like slash. Its fun.)
   1.376 +
   1.377 +P.S. Merielle is hot, Kirika rules, Chloe (I call her fork girl) is just too funny, and
   1.378 +Althena is, once again, the psychotic Kind Mother that everyone loves and would want to have.
   1.379 +
   1.380 +P.P.S Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is wicked cool! She is the only reason I watch BtVS, 
   1.381 +and she should be YOUR only reason too. ;) Five by five, everyone? Five by five.
   1.382 \ No newline at end of file