Quote:One portion of introspective half-coherent babble-speak, coming right up.
So what are you waiting for? Exposit! Inquiring minds want to know...
HiME.
High-energy Materializing Equipment. Not the smoothest of acronyms ...
Sigh
I was sitting in the middle of what had once been the living space of my apartment, and was now the temporary roof of the building, and meditated.
Or rather, pondered.
Heavy thoughts? No, really? I mean, finding out that you're a small piece in something some being out there had planned out, at least to a certain extent ... happens every other day, right?
Yare yare.
More concerning was the story Fujino-san had told me about the so called Festival of the HiME. Hell, by the acronym alone, I realized there was a connection. What bits and pieces I'd put together about Garderobe technology in general, and their Otome in particular, with no little input from Miyu, outright stated that they used something called Z-Type-HiME to Materialize their Robes. Precious little recorded history from before the War of the Twelve Kingdoms existed, and records of the colonization of Earl itself were ... one might as well try looking for a needle in a haystack, so there was no way of being sure but the Festival could have taken place in this timeline's past. Or another version of it ...
"Oi, boss, you okay? You've been up here for four hours."
"Ren? Mm. Suppose so," I blinked. Oh. Well, that explains the starry sky, I guess. "I'm a little concerned."
"With that ...?" he pointed downwards.
"Eh ... partially," I shrugged. "Hey, Ren ... do you ever get the feeling you're just a pawn in a game somebody else is playing?"
He gave me a very un-Ren-like dry look. "Gee, I don't know, let me think ..."
"... oh, right," I mumbled. "Sorry."
"Right," he shook his head. "Are you going to be out here all night?"
"Maybe."
So, Fujino had died. Killing, and killed by, the person she cared for most, which apparently happened when a HiME's Child - a sort of summoned creature from another plane of existence - died. The bit about the HiME's most important person dying when their Child is killed, I mean ...
Did somebody in the past of this world figure out the mechanics, scientific or mystical, of that bond and used it to create the first Slave summonings? It does sound very similar, only with the Lord offering up their own life if the Slave failed.
... which would make that person Kuga Natsuki, who - if I had my facts straight, was the counterpart of the local Garderobe Headmistress Kruger. Only younger.
Considering the dynamics between Kruger and Viola, this wasn't too surprising.
The White Guardian, or at least someone playing such, had placed his piece. Fujino-san was revived and put here, sans power and connection to her Child severed. Still, she remained a resourceful individual, and even from our conversation I could see that she was also extremely intelligent. From her own account, she'd been found by an Aries border patrol, and immediately brought to the attention of their superior. And further up. Apparently, it had been kept very quiet, and in a few days she'd found out why. Haruka Armitage, Yukino Chrysant ... she'd known those faces, though the names had been different and ...
Kikukawa, wait, didn't kiku mean ... Chrysantemum? Yes, I think it did. Once is chance, twice is coincidence, thrice ... well, we were already well _past_ number three.
I placed the time of the events at roughly around the time of Mashiro blan de Windbloom's coronation, meaning I'd just found a likely reason for Yukino and Haruka's rather abrupt departure after our meeting back then. Or at least a likely reason.
I already knew she was the likely reason for the message from Aries in which we were asked to keep a closer eye on Shizuru Viola.
As for Fujino-san's competence? She hadn't said anything about her time in Aries other than that she'd become impatient with waiting and left. Since I doubted she hadn't been under watch during her ... residence ... there, and since she'd almost made it to Windbloom while avoiding becoming reacquainted with her hosts' hospitality ... resourceful, to say the least.
In contrast, the White Guardian's opposite number had placed into this little game his own piece.
I'd jumped to conclusion about the black armored figure whom I'd trailed from Lutetia to Aries, but apparently this once the jump had been justified. In part, I'd done so because while said figure's ... powers ... also made use of a Materialization signature, said signature was very much unlike anything I'd ever sensed on Earl in the last few years.
How, if this was indeed Kuga Natsuki, the Black Guardian had managed to have her here, working for Schwarz, and obviously still in possession of some warped version of the original abilities described by Shizuru despite the fact that under their so called rules both Guardians' degree of intervention was supposed to be about equal ... that was something that still needed to be figured out.
I'd shown Fujino-san the recording of said figure's combat against Aswad taken by my binocs, and while there was little over reactionon her part I could almost feel how troubled she'd been by the image.
Despite all these revelations, in and of themselves, they weren't the ones that made me come up here and worry.
Alright, in some small way they were part of the reason, but my real ponderings were directed towards another matter.
Fujino had been informed about me by the White Guardian. Who knew me well enough, it seemed. Knew how I'd react. Knew what I'd been trying to do these past few years ... namely, go back to the place I'd started to consider home.
And simply putting me there, or easing my way at least, seemed very much within the scope of his ability.
Which, bluntly speaking, made Fujino the bearer of the carrot. The enticement, the proof of his existence without the need for direct interference.
Help her, the indirect message seemed to say, and I'll make sure you at least get sent the right way when there is a next time. Otherwise, take your chances.
If, the paranoid little corner of my mind - as opposed to the slightly less paranoid rest of it - had poked at me, this really was the White Guardian, and not some other force pretending so that it could pull at my strings for one reason or another.
Did I dare take the chance that it was true?
More importantly, could I afford not to?
I stood, taking a deep breath and looking up into the starry sky above. Then turned around.
Apparently, the deliberations hadn't taken all too long this time, since Ren was still there.
"I'm done," I said, as much to myself as I did to him. It snapped him out of some sort of reverie of his own.
"Oh. Good. Any earth shattering decisions made today, oh glorious leader?"
"Mm. Not really. I think I was just sleepy, but decided it's about time to wake up."
"Katz ... that made absolutely no sense."
"Say that again when you know where the wild things are, Ren."
"..."
I really couldn't resist putting in that last bit. I'm a sucker for a bad pun.
So, no, I'm not saying anything about the Festival, other than that it had gone about how the canon version had until Shizuru's and Natsuki's deaths.
And, no, Fujino-san didn't mention M.I.Y.U. at all. Neither did Katz. ^_^
Orphans ... hmm ... how about one that's catlike and can phase through stuff. Y'know, sort of like Pixel, only not as cute. Call them Schrdingers, maybe? *snicker*
Also, you need some flying ones, just for variety's sake. A nice dogfight above the Academy would be interesting. Since I'm currently watching Karin, my vote's for a swarm of techno-organic bats that can recombine into a bigger form ... say, one vaguely similar to FF8's Diablos?
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm