http://clampfix.fanworks.net/kenichi/essen06.txt </head><body><pre> Ahhh... At this rate, I might get a reputation for having the most long-winded fics [or at least the fics with the most chapters] in CML... |) The sixth installment has quite a few twists, so many I'm afraid to lose track of them later on in the story. I hope you remember the Lewis Carrol stories... If not, Julie gives a little description of the term "Jabberwocky"... As usual, send reply to 09419055.s94.MAIL2.dlsu.edu.ph [I HATE that long address!!! |) ] Take Care! "And I proceeded to where things were chaotic. And I saw there something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible." Book of Enoch Chapter Six "Your'e kidding, right...?" For once, Richmond's skepticism made sense. It was almost contagious, Julie sat down, calm but visibly doubtful. Richmond was his usual skeptical self, and Charles and Anna had turned in; We wouldn't let them know until next morning. They probably won't believe it either. Then again, who would believe it? How many people would just jump off a cliff at nearly the middle of the night shouting the very words the spirits of a group of dead men spoke? "I know it sounds insane, but I know what I saw. I'm not drunk, and I swear..." I lifted an eyebrow as I looked at Richmond. "...I'm NOT making any of this up." Julie rubbed her forehead. From the rumpled sleeves of the silk Kimono she wore, she obviously had been roused from her sleep. "Drowsiness and the moonlight can play nasty tricks on your eyes. Maybe you were chasing an animal or something..." I shook my head. "That would have had to be a pretty large and fast animal to do that. No way. What kind of animal walks..no, RUNS on two legs, makes no sound at all while it's running, and makes those "tekli-li" noises as it jumps off of a 10-something storey cliff?" Richmond rose with a sardonic grin on his face. "Simple. It's called a Jabberwocky." He turned to his room and left. I was puzzled. "Julie... What's a Jabberwocky?" The professor smiled weakly. "Typical Richmond, alright." Her explanation cleared things slightly. "A Jabberwocky is an imaginary animal from Lewis Carrol's Poems. Richmond calls almost every sighting of a mysterious creature a Jabberwocky." "Funny. Very funny." Truth is, I could not find the humor in the statement. "Well, this Jabberwocky certainly has me curious. Goodnoight, Julie." She nodded consent and went off to her room. But just as I turned to my own room I heard her voice. "...Beware the Jabberwock, my son... Beware the Jubjub bird and the Frumious Bandersnatch..." I lay in bed but could not sleep. Was it curiosity or fear that was keeping me awake? I absentmindedly rested my arm on my forehead. Maybe Richmond is right; I must have dreamed it all up. Rattling. The sliding doors of each of our rooms. I roused my body off the bed, quickly but quietly made my way to the door. Kneeling, I slid it as quietly as I could, open enough only for a crack to see through. I held my breath. Richmond. The cynical gaijin was putting on his shoes... for what? A midnight walk? That was insane. Then again, almost everything about this little mystery was insane. Curiouser and curiouser... I stole quietly after him, not bothering to change to pants... My Gi would do, as I did not plan to go far. Apparently, that was not the case with Richmond. I stopped at the door, seeing him sneak off in the night. No sense in catching up to him now. Drowsiness had already gained upon me. I'd best keep this to myself for the moment... Iv'e had my share of chasing after specters in the night for today. I don't know how long it took for me to finally lose consciousness; Maybe immediate, maybe a little after that. But that then I opened my eyes to a horrid red/black landscape. Dream. Gotta be. Unless I suddenly gained the power to fly and became colorblind in the process. The surrounding looked like a red sky with black clouds all over the place. This must be the sickest idea of a dream I'd ever had. Voices. One cold, direct, commanding. The other I recognized as Ken's voice, but his voice raised in anger, no, frustration. I scanned the area to find the source for the voices, but found none. Wait... I found them... "Haven't you caused enough trouble already?!?!" Ken, truly at the end of his nerves from the exceptional stress in his voice... "I did everything for that planet Cephiro! I don't want to have anything more to do with that place..." "I did not come to request your services, Ken." The tall figure in the black cape stood motionless as he spoke. "I came to warn you of dangers to come for you. Two magicians will come for you soon. One shall be your lifelong enemy, the other may possibly be your friend. I merely ask of you to take care; you will experience a multitude of hardships before you reach your sixteenth year." "Sixteen...!!!" Ken's gasp startled me, as well. "I'll be sixteen in a week from now! What do you mean by that, Sol Zagato?" The dark figure seemed sorrowful. "I am sorry that I cannot help you. I for one do not envy what you will eventually face." It bowed low to Ken, something I found most odd. "I thank you again for saving the planet my beloved cherished. I wish I could help you, but... This is the last time you will ever see me, Kenichi Kaeda, Earth-warrior and First Sword." The dark figure's cape rustled and he vanished. Through it all, I was a mere casual observer, not knowing what had transpired... All I know is that the Kenichi Kaeda I saw here did not in the least act as cheerful or gentle as the Ken whose mother I became friends with. This Ken was deep and brooding. As if he had recieved news of imminent doom. Which is what the dark man Ken called Sol Zagato seemed to deliver. "Pleased with the view, Subaru...?" Seishirou. I turned and faced the voice, but all I saw was a falcon. No. Not a falcon. THE falcon. "Why did you bring me here, Sakurazukamori...?" The falcon's right eye glowed. "Do you really wish to know Kenichi Kaeda's deepest, darkest secrets? All of the things his casual exterior hides?" The falcon rustled it's feathers. "The boy isn't as innocent as you make him out to be, oh no..." I stood with stony silence. "...He kills..." The Shiki-falcon seemed almost smiling. "... Almost like me..." I felt a stream of hate grow into river. "I don't care about that. You're my target, not him." "Even if he may kill you eventually...?" The bird exploded in a hail of sakura petals. "SAKURAZUKAMORI!!!!" A chill rose in my backbone. With fear comes horrible knowledge... I turned to see Ken... his face twisted in cheerful malice. Twisted in an almost psychotic glee. Hand...? "I'm going to kill you, Subaru-Kun..." I froze as Ken's right fist punched a hole through my chest. I didn't realize I was screaming until I opened my eyes to see Julie and the rest of her team gathered around me. I blinked and looked at their astonished faces. Richmond, as expected, was absent. I propped myself up to a seating position. "Its.. alright.. just a nightmare, is all." Anna was babbling something which I had no means of understanding. All this time putting a hand to my forehead, apparently checking my temperature. "I said not to worry... I'm perfectly all right..." Julie shook her head good-naturedly. "Anna just won't let her darling Subaru go, I guess..." "What...?" The dream was furthest from my mind. Julie smiled. "Wev'e found something new." As the vehicle rumbled on, I debated telling Julie of Richmond's night walk, but decided against it; I had no proof of what happened, and I doubt that my story of the other night would have added to my credibility. It was with great surprise that I noticed Richmond at the site we came to. Even greater was my surprise that he was waiting for us with an unnatural cheer... Unnatural for Richmond, that is... Surprise, surprise. It was the cliff I nearly fell off of last night. Is that where youv'e been all this time, Richmond? I stepped out of the car and walked to the tree. "Nope. No occult. It was definitely someone human." Richmond kicked the stump of a nearby tree. I nearly choked as I saw the carcasses of mutilated small animals fall rolling out of the tree crevice. Each one had their hearts torn out by some depraved surgeon. "Get this..." Richmond pierced one of the squirrel bodies with a pointed stick. Anna by now was retching in horror; Julie and Charles looked on, but had pale looks on their faces. The stick was withdrawn, but it was dry as a bone. In spite of the fact that the carcasses looked fresh. "No blood. Just like the previous team's corpses." Richmond tossed the stick away and scratched his head. "Damned if I'll ever be, This was definitely no animal; No carnivorous animal would take out the heart but leave the innards... And no animal has the means to suck the blood completely dry. This was done on purpose." The wry caucasian smirked as he turned to me. "Maybe you DID see someone up here, after all." I returned the compliment. "Maybe... But that dosen't explain why or how whoever it was did it. And I'm not so sure that only one person is involved; One person can't have been able to overpower and kill the entire Miskatonic team all by himself." Julie and the others nodded. Richmond seemed visibly impressed. "Good observation. Maybe your'e not so useless after all." "I think I'll take that as a compliment... coming from you." Julie folded her arms as she too, had to admit that Richmond had a point in this discovery. "Don't swell your head, Rich. Wer'e no closer to finding out the solution than we were at the beg...' We were cut short by the arrival of three U.S. military vehicles. Julie groaned audibly, and I could hear Charles muttering what I think was a curse to the skies. I too, groaned, as I recognized two of the soldiers as the two Military Police who had accosted me yesterday afternoon. No illusions on how those two are going to act. Julie walked forward, and from one of the jeeps emerged a short, slightly paunchy man in his late forties, attired in a dark green uniform which was a bit more formal than the others around him. He had a rather stately yet bossy aura to his gait; He must be the one in command. The Commander's voice bellowed out to us. His voice further enforced the tension in the air. It was almost like the Kiai or shout that a Karate or Kendo practicioner would use to terrify his foes. Julie stormed straight at the man and almost immediately the two engaged themselves in a shouting match. Richmond was content to lay back against the tree and watch the fireworks, while Charles and Anna stood behind their leader. I hardly took a step forward when the black MP came forward and blocked my way. He had a look on his face that seemed to convey an I-told-you-so expression. Somehow I didn't think he was happy to see me, either. The tension opened up some insecurities for me. My hand began to feel for my cigarettes. That was a mistake. No sooner did my hand reach into my coat pocket when I felt something hard slam into my skull. Rifle butt or something... Cigarettes... Falling like great white sticks from my coat into the soil... Obachan said these things would kill me someday... I didn't think it was going to be THIS way... I heard screaming as I dropped to the ground... Julie-San... Is that you...? I could hear... Her voice screaming... Phrases in English... I somehow understand... Moron... Just cigarettes... Some other things...I... I... Hurt. I came to in the back of the RAV4. Julie's face expressed a benevolent, almost maternal quality as she looked over me. My head felt like it was trampled on by a horde of elephants. "Welcome back to the land of the living..." I nursed my head and felt a painful bump swelling over the area where I had been struck. Rifle butt, definitely. Whatever humor I had in me was noticeably lacking for the moment. "...What...in the world... did they do THAT for?!?" I heard Richmond's voice. "You have to understand the Military mind, Sumeragi. When you went for your smokes, the big guy thought you were pulling out a weapon..." Richmond's face peered in from the outside. I found it odd to see him look at me without his trademark sneer. "...The typical Mark One Mod Zero Military Neanderthal. Shoot first and ask questions later..." He patted the right side of his head. "...Believe me, Iv'e been through it a lot of times before." Julie smirked as she replied. "At least they were hitting the right idiot the last time..." I could see Richmond's face grow red as he stormed away. Enough clowning around; I needed to get back on track. My head still felt like spinning as I tried to get into an upright position. Julie's help was very much appreciated. "Julie-San... What was that thing all about...?" Her eyes sharpened. "Sometimes I think that this investigation is cursed. First we get Richmond on our team and subsequently on our backs, then that... That..." She vailantly struggled to find words for her outrage. "... Overbloated Military Hippopotamus General Hass..." I couldn't help but chuckle as she pulled out a descriptive of the portly US Military officer. "...tells us to butt out of what he calls 'Military Business'!!! That Overweight Jabba the Hutt Wanna-be thinks that he can order everyone around like he does his soldiers, that..." Julie soon sank into a gibberish of English which I think would take very little imagination to decipher what she was saying. Personally, I found it amusing to see the normally more reserved and traditional Professor McCarthy in a totally uncompromising rant. And I admit, it was that kind of humor that helped me get over the pain. Anna helped pad my hat as we rode back to the house. I felt a bit of spite come oer me. Ha. And Americans call JAPAN Militaristic. As if I didn't have enough enemies already. One is a former friend who should have killed me but dosen't, because he finds it 'fun'... He'll either kill me or I'll kill him first. A possible enemy in Ken Kaeda... I hoped that were not true. Now, I have a World Power's military forces blocking my investigation with a rifle butt to the head, to boot. I looked outside to see a Military jeep behind us. Escorting us home, no doubt. So the military wants us out of the investigation. For what reasons, they did not mention. Maybe it was something they wanted kept hidden. Maybe they were too paranoid to let us continue. One thing was sure. Julie McCarthy had made up her mind; no one and no thing would keep her from finding her dead husband's killer. Not even the entire United States Marine Corps. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>