Author Topic: Non Ens; Esse; Tabula Rasa  (Read 4006 times)

Wylfred

  • The Black Knight.
  • The Eternally Bored Butler
Non Ens; Esse; Tabula Rasa
« on: April 09, 2010, 01:14:57 AM »
*See attachments for the optional BGM*

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"So I guess this is good bye miss Hakurei...", whispered a short black haired kid as he looked back at the shrine maiden. His whole lower body was engulfed in blue flames as he waved the shrine maiden goodbye. Reimu Hakurei said nothing as she watched his soul burn away. She showed no emotions as she sat there staring at the kid disappear. The kid meekly smiled as he said, "Maybe now... People will know... That... I..." Reimu can't make out the last words that he said to her over the roaring blue flame that engulfed him. She bent her head and sipped her tea. The black and white witch that was stood besides Reimu stared at the shrine's courtyard and then back at Reimu. She then noticed how solemn Reimu's face was and asked, "Whats the matter Reimu? Nothing has ever phased you before and there is nobody except us this whole time." Reimu kept staring at her tea not looking up. In the reflection of the tea Reimu could still see the kid's face. Why should she care if nobody could see him? Why would she care for a nobody like him? She is the current keeper of the Great Hakurei Barrier. The Barrier that allowed all the youkais to live apart from humans and sheltered them. Her job is a demanding one and she can't be bothered to care for hurt feelings. Yet why does she harbor these uneasy feelings inside her heart? Reimu got up and walked over to the spot where the kid burned away in blue flames. She knelt down and examined the spot where the kid stood. There was no traces of any fire at all but she knew that he was there. Marisa Kirisame walked up to her friend and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

    "Hey Reimu, you okay?" said the Marisa with a concerned face. Reimu touched the floor with her index and middle finger. A memory flashed across her head."

    Reimu Hakurei stared at the kid as he tried to crawl up the stairs leading to the Hakurei Shrine. He was wearing ragged and torn clothes with holes everywhere and his hair was unruly. He held determination eyes though.

    Reimu retracted her fingers slowly as she continued to stare at the spot. Marisa sighed to herself and said, "Sometimes I just don't get you Reimu. You always keep everything to yourself." Another memory flashed across Reimu's head.

The kid looked up at Reimu's face with a meek smile and whispered, "Why do you always keep everything to yourself?" Reimu contemplated for a second before replying, "Because my job is already hard enough as is."

    Reimu stood there staring in front of her not particularly focusing on anything. Marisa shakes her head and sighs and starts to walk down the steps leading to the human village. Just before Marisa took the second step a memory flashed in Reimu's head.

    It was the season of spring and cherry blossom trees were blooming all around the steps leading to the human village. The kid stood there in the middle admiring the beauty that was all around him. Reimu couldn't help but smile as she watched him. A village man with his wife and kids walked up the steps. The man's daughter tripped on the boy's shoes but her father caught her before she could fall all the way. The man stared directly through the boy and blamed the accident on the steps as if the boy wasn't there. The man greeted Reimu and asked her if he could use the shrine to pray. Reimu nodded and showed the family the way.

    Reimu snapped back into reality and saw that her friend was leaving. She didn't go after her. She just stared at her as she walked down the steps. She went back inside the shrine. Reimu decided that she was thinking too much and decided to get some sleep. As she walked through the shrine to her room she couldn't help but noticed the guest room. It was the room that she had allow him to sleep in. Reimu entered the room out of instinct. As she stepped her foot inside the room another memory overcame her thoughts.

    Reimu walked into the guest room holding a tray of tea cups and tea. The boy was sitting up staring at Reimu with his deep red eyes. Reimu placed the tray down besides his futon and handed him a cup of herbal tea. The kid smiled at her and whispered, "Do you want to know...? Why is it that only you can see me...?" Reimu furrowed her brows and replied, "Not really, I don't care either way." The kid put his cup of tea besides the futon and whispered, "I'm... not real... I... don't exist..." Reimu bopped him on the head and bellowed, "Of course you exist! Your talking to me right now!" The kid rubbed the spot where Reimu whacked him and grinned at her. Reimu then sighed to herself and took the empty teacups and trays back to the kitchen.

    That was the first time that he mentioned it. After that day Reimu noticed that his presence grew more and more faint. Why did he come here of all places? Why didn't he go out and enjoy himself somewhere else? He could've done so much more then just coming here. Reimu exited the room and closed the door. She went to her room and laid in her futon. Images raced through her mind lulling her into a deep sleep. Before she fully went to sleep she heard a faint voice. She couldn't make out what it said but felt like she understood it.

"My last request..."

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    Reimu woke up fairly uncomfortably. She got up and saw that she had never changed out of her shrine maiden garb. She sighed a massive sigh to herself and decided to head to the kitchen to get herself something for breakfast. In the kitchen she walked over to the rice heater and opened the lid. She stopped halfway just as another memory popped into her head.

    Reimu starting to open the rice heater but stopped just as the kid tugged on her left leggings. He smiled at her and mumbled, "Do you mind if I cook your breakfast for you? Reimu shrugged her shoulders as she told him to do whatever. The kid took a chair and placed it near the edge of the counter that held the rice heater. He then took a white scooper and scooped a chunk of white rice into a bowl. He took the vegetables that Reimu had bought from the human village and chopped portions of it up. He then dumped the chopped vegetable pieces in a basket and poured water into it from the sink. The water slid through the vegetables and down the sink drain. He shook the basket while he did this. After that he set the basket down and scooped up pieces of vegetables with a ladle he had gotten from a cabinet. Watching him prepare Reimu's breakfast and lunch was astonishing to her. Especially since he was so short.

    Why was reimu having these flashbacks now? Why couldn't she get her mind off the kid? Suddenly Reimu didn't feel like eating breakfast. She walked outside onto the front porch to get fresh air. As she sat down on the front step of the shrine she caught a glimpse of a shadow in the horizon. She stumbled a bit over herself as she saw the shadow. When she looked at it again it was already gone. What did that kid want from her? Reimu ran to where she saw the shadow and saw that it was now at the bottom of the steps looking up at her. She ran down the steps to catch up with the shadow but it disappeared again. It was now at the entrance to the village staring at her. The shadow seemed to be leading her somewhere. She followed it anyways just wanting to get it off her shoulders. When Reimu reached the entrance of the village it reappeared on the other side of the village. The shadow was now staring at her from the entrance of the graveyard. Reimu quickly ran to the other side of the village to where it was. Reimu saw that it was a faint image of the kid that burnt away yesterday. She couldn't make out any definite features but she knew it was him. Suddenly one last memory entered her mind before the kid disappeared.

"It was Reimu Hakurei 8 years old. She was crying her heart out behind a tombstone because she just got scolded by the Hakurei elders. A boy came up to her and offered her a hand with a smile. She took it and smiled back wiping her tears. They played together in the graveyard chasing each other. They sat under a tree together looking at each other. The boy said with a meek smile, "Do you want to know what I would wish for if I had one wish?" 8 year old Reimu Hakurei shook and head and asked, "No, why?" The boy turned and stared at the tombstones and said with a distant smile, "I want to leave a mark in this world. Can you help me with that Reimu?" Reimu furrowed her brows in confusion and replied, "Help you with what...? Leave a mark in this world...?" The boy laughed to himself and Reimu pouted. The boy then took something from inside his pockets and handed it to her. It was a beautiful pendant. Reimu sat there admiring it but hadn't noticed that the boy disappeared. A Hakurei Elder came and snapped her out of her musings. She quickly tried to put the pendant away but dropped it and it had rolled down the slope. She tried to protest but couldn't get away from the elder to retrieve it.

    Reimu didn't noticed the tear that ran down her face as she finally realized what he had meant. Reimu quickly ran to where the pendant had rolled. It was stuck underneath a rock. She lifted the rock and pulled the pendant out. It was still as beautiful as before. The boy was only living on burrowed existence. In essence, he was never really real at all. Just an entity that was allowed to exist for a short time. But even though he knew that he wasn't real. He wanted to leave something of value in this world. He wanted somebody to know that he existed before. Reimu clutched the pendant close to her heart. She could hear a faint voice in the distant. This time she could faintly make out what it said. Reimu went home still clutching the pendant close to her heart. She went past Marisa who saw that Reimu had tears in her eyes. Reimu firmly shut the door not letting the witch inside and placed the pendant under her pillow. She then let Marisa inside and she put up are mask of coldness again.




"Thank you..."

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Non Ens; Esse; Tabula Rasa
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2010, 02:55:09 AM »
As opposed to your typical style of 'expostion, flashback, exposition, conclusion', you've taken a slight step sideways. I like how you're mixing it up a little more, now - actually breaking up the story with little bits and pieces of flashback, rather than slamming a huge chunk of it down our throats.

The story was pretty damned good, too; the only qualm I have about it are the few spelling/grammatical errors here and there, but those are minor. Everyone makes mistakes, of course, so you can't be faulted for that.