add. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gravitybuster) wrote2015-04-12 01:23 pm
gravitybuster) wrote2015-04-12 01:23 pm
(no subject)
1.
Hamel’s skies remain cloudy. In the rain, there was the scent of summer with the faintest bit of heat. It was no longer cold.
When the rain stopped, there was the sound of cicadas. Even though they were quiet now, one could easily imagine how loud they would be after the rainy season had passed.
The wind picked up, and the wind chimes hanging on the window jingled clearly, resonating with the pitter patter of the rain against the buildings.
Summer and Cicadas and Wind Chimes
2. Summer
A youth dressed in black slowly strolled through the streets. The rain freely pelted him, and the clinging of his tight clothes against his body finally forced him to look up, shaking his head free of rain. Drenched by rain, his shaggy hair now unresponsively clung to his face. His half-lidded eyes betrayed a spark of light.
Because of the fog from the rain, the surroundings were misty and distorted. It was so quiet he could only hear his own breathing and the sound of the rain.
The youth looked up at the low hanging sky and figured it was getting late. He squinted, deliberating for a moment before he finally turned around, thinking to go home. He only took one step when someone pulled on the tails attached to his clothes, he coughs, thinking that he was going to teach whoever it was a lesson— but the other held the umbrella over his head.
“Hm? It’s so late and you’re not coming home, are you trying to get out of doing work by getting sick? DE.”
With the hint of a laugh on his voice, the other reached out to stroke DE’s hair.
DE blinked, and turned around to face the other with some dissatisfaction.
“I just wanted to feel the rain, MM.”
As he said this, a look of guile crossed his eyes. MM helplessly reached over, pulling him out of the way and also wiping some raindrops off his face. “What kind of stupid reason is that? Take care not to get sick.”
DE tilts his head, thinking for just a moment before picking MM up in his arms, a small grin on his face. Before MM could protest, he slid with familiarity into the portal.
The rain stopped at night, and the bugs started making noise again. DE leaned against the window in the wooden house in Belder, boredly glancing into the distance. It was getting late, and in the distance there was a couple bonfires, causing some noise, probably because there were a couple small tournaments being held.
When MM entered the room with milk in his hand, DE was still leaning against the window sill. To MM, he looked incredibly like a curious kitten. Upon walking closer he saw there was a firefly resting on the top of Esper’s cowlick, glowing faintly with light. MM couldn’t stifle a chuckle as he reached out to carefully catch the firefly. Feeling MM’s presence, DE turned around to look at MM, who was softly smiling.
“Huh?”
“Summer is here.” MM suddenly said, then opened his hand, a single firefly flew out of his hand, wobbling all the while, “See?”
MM lowered his head towards DE, and then pushed the firefly out of the window.
“Did you catch that, MM?” DE, half-suspicious and half-trusting, asked, and then had a piece of chocolate shoved in his mouth. MM said nothing, and laughed.
The warm wind was another nonstop reminder that summer was coming, and the cicadas were multiplying as well.
3. Cicadas
DE leaned over, casually picking a cicada shell from the floor. It was a complete shell, brown and coloured like earth. He waved it gently towards MM.
“MM,” DE asked, “Do you know how long cicadas live?”
“How long ciadas live?” MM furrowed his brows, pondering for a second before responding, “If I recall correctly, they live in the ground for a year, and then they come out to shed their shell and sing, right?”
“Mhm.”
DE absently toyed with the shell in his hand, and said in a sing-songy tone, “Did you know, MM, that me and cicadas are the same?”
“When I was born, I was just like you guys,” He said, “But after witnessing my family get slaughtered, I crawled into the floor, no longer receiving the warmth of the sun.”
“For the power to travel across space and time, I went for the mineral at all costs. Every time I calculated, jumped across time, and tortured myself.. I thought I was wandering aimlessly in a maze, hoping that every dead end was another window towards the outside world.”
“But there was no way I could catch up to you two, you guys are bright like the sun, and I’m just a cicada comfortable with the darkness and living underground. When I was Time Tracer… I was angry, and I blamed you guys. Even though I had the power to travel across time and space, why couldn’t I be on the same level as you two?”
“The first time I used this twisted power to destroy a small village, I realized I had a terrifying power. Through destruction and chaos… I used peoples’ fear to support myself and stand by your side. Just like the cicada who crawled out the ground to shed their old, ugly shells… but I forgot one thing.”
“Cicadas can sing like that…. for only two months.”
“Just like that, for the power to travel across time… I paid the same price, using my life in exchange… but my lifespan isn’t infinite. Someday it’ll run out and expire, just like cicadas after summer.”
Esper clenched his first, shattering the shell in his hands. He turned towards MM, and wisfully smiled.
After that day, MM couldn’t forget what Esper had said, including the somewhat helpess, regretful, and lonely smile he had worn. Like an invisible tendril, it tightly squeezed against MM’s heart. It was impossible to breathe.
He must be lonely, MM thought.
DE skipped, carefree, on the path randomly arranged by rocks. The shade of the trees and dilapidated sunshine reflected on his dark skin-fitting clothes, a thin glow of lavender emanated from his chest. The cicadas chime continued incessantly in the light. DE suddenly bent down to pick up a shell, charming and complete, turned around and carefully tucked it into MM’s hand.
MM stared blankly at the shell in his hand, and then threw it somewhere under a tree like garbage.
“Why won’t these damned cicadas go with you,” He mumbled under his breath.
4. Wind Chime.
DE arrived at MM’s house with a small wind chime. MM directed his attention on the jingling bell in his hand, completely unaware of what DE way saying, until DE held his wrist and passed the wind chime over did he violently snap out of his trance, awkwardly scratching his head, embarrassedly saying thank you.
Most of it was pleasantries anyway, MM thought, and decided not to let DE repeat what he had said.
He picked up the wind chime to investigate it further: About half the wind chime was forged using Hamel’s water crystals and white porcelain. The transparent, blue bells and chimes had a simple golden inscription. The chimes overlapped with the bells, forming a hanging layer that smelt faintly of the ocean. The bells on the inside of the chimes were actually small, shimmering but harder than steel mermaid shells, dangling in the wind and making a unique noise.
“It’s so beautiful…!” MM hung the wind chime on the window sill, unable to contain how impressed he was.
“As long as MM likes it,” DE said, but somehow ended up complaining, “But making it was such a hassle—I had to gather all the materials myself… … Ah… MM?” DE waved his hands in front of MM’s face, forcing MM's attention back. He hopelessly stared at MM, and then tugged on his cheek.
“Listen to people when they’re speaking, MM.”
“Ah, sorry?”
MM apologized, and touched Esper’s fingers with a soft smile, but his eyes were directed towards the wind chime again. It really was pretty.
MM thought, and began to grin.
DE gazed towards MM, but finally only lowered his head to kiss the back of his head before letting go, then bid farewell to MM and disappeared into the space crack.
After DE had left, MM couldn’t help but bat at the wind chime with his hand, he felt himself completely enchanted with it.
MM stood in front of a pile of rubbish, staring at the twisted scene before him. Everything was destroyed. The mountain behind him had become flat ground, and the houses had completely been flipped upside down and stuck against the ground.
… This much damage… He only knew one person who could do this.
“DE?!?!!!”
But, unlike usual, DE didn’t smile and materialize out of the space crack to hug him from behind, asking him, “Did you miss me, MM?” This time, DE was completely silent.
“DE? DE? Asshole… Answer me… Damn it…”
He stood in front of the rubbish pile, calling his loved one’s name in futile. There was no response.
MM returned home with a heavy look on his face, pulling down the wind chime and hurled it against the opposite wall. Ceramic isn’t as strong as crystal, so a couple pieces chipped against the wall. MM collapsed on the sofa, dejected. He didn’t understand why would someone who was so gentle suddenly became so violent and destroyed everything. In a moment all those lives became nothing.
MM bit his lip, turned around, and buried his face in his arms.
The next morning he received a notice.
There was a faint purple glowing fluid crawling towards the depths of the forest that MM needed to investigate. So MM turned his Dynamos up to the best setting, and naturally set off, following where the liquid had touched. In the beginning he thought it was simply a red-purple liquid, but as he went deeper, the liquid became crystal fragments. MM found it suddenly hard to breathe, he recognized these shards… They were the substance on DE’s chest.
Suddenly remembering this, he became alarmed and jumped on his dynamos, dashing forward. At the center of the forest, his eyes widened, and the drained Dynamos collapsed on the ground, taking MM with them, kneeling on the grass.
DE sat in front of him, leaned against a rock. The crystals from his chest have penetrated his body, and purple-red liquid pools underneath him, spreading farther in the grass. DE doesn’t move. His eyes are closed tightly, jet black “tears” rolling down his cheeks. Even though Esper is no longer breathing, expression is soft and quiet, like he’s enjoying a satisfying sweet dream.
MM clutches his mouth, coughing. The shock of the impact nearly sent him into a breakdown, tears streaming endlessly from his face until he was bawling.
This was the price DE talked about.
MM hung up the wind chime that was missing a couple pieces. Since seeing DE’s corpse, every night he had nightmares. It was only until he moved in with LP did these symptoms face, but taking their place, MM would frequently remember the things DE did when he was still alive.
“MM. Look, there are words in here.” Said LP one day when he randomly investigated the wind chime. He suddenly called MM over to show him the inside.
In the chime that hadn’t chipped a bit, MM saw a single row of words.
“For my beloved, MasterMind, one last gift.”
MM froze, suddenly remembering DE’s words that he had overlooked when DE gave him the gift.
“I might have to go soon… MM, this is a small gift for you from me; I hope you’ll like it.”
Summer and Cicadas and Wind Chimes
T/N: for fun the ‘and’ could also be translated as 'with’, so the title could just as validly be 'summer with cicadas and wind chimes’ or any other variation. Since it’s one part per heading, I kept the conjunction as 'and’
Hamel’s skies remain cloudy. In the rain, there was the scent of summer with the faintest bit of heat. It was no longer cold.
When the rain stopped, there was the sound of cicadas. Even though they were quiet now, one could easily imagine how loud they would be after the rainy season had passed.
The wind picked up, and the wind chimes hanging on the window jingled clearly, resonating with the pitter patter of the rain against the buildings.
Summer and Cicadas and Wind Chimes
2. Summer
A youth dressed in black slowly strolled through the streets. The rain freely pelted him, and the clinging of his tight clothes against his body finally forced him to look up, shaking his head free of rain. Drenched by rain, his shaggy hair now unresponsively clung to his face. His half-lidded eyes betrayed a spark of light.
Because of the fog from the rain, the surroundings were misty and distorted. It was so quiet he could only hear his own breathing and the sound of the rain.
The youth looked up at the low hanging sky and figured it was getting late. He squinted, deliberating for a moment before he finally turned around, thinking to go home. He only took one step when someone pulled on the tails attached to his clothes, he coughs, thinking that he was going to teach whoever it was a lesson— but the other held the umbrella over his head.
“Hm? It’s so late and you’re not coming home, are you trying to get out of doing work by getting sick? DE.”
With the hint of a laugh on his voice, the other reached out to stroke DE’s hair.
DE blinked, and turned around to face the other with some dissatisfaction.
“I just wanted to feel the rain, MM.”
As he said this, a look of guile crossed his eyes. MM helplessly reached over, pulling him out of the way and also wiping some raindrops off his face. “What kind of stupid reason is that? Take care not to get sick.”
DE tilts his head, thinking for just a moment before picking MM up in his arms, a small grin on his face. Before MM could protest, he slid with familiarity into the portal.
The rain stopped at night, and the bugs started making noise again. DE leaned against the window in the wooden house in Belder, boredly glancing into the distance. It was getting late, and in the distance there was a couple bonfires, causing some noise, probably because there were a couple small tournaments being held.
When MM entered the room with milk in his hand, DE was still leaning against the window sill. To MM, he looked incredibly like a curious kitten. Upon walking closer he saw there was a firefly resting on the top of Esper’s cowlick, glowing faintly with light. MM couldn’t stifle a chuckle as he reached out to carefully catch the firefly. Feeling MM’s presence, DE turned around to look at MM, who was softly smiling.
“Huh?”
“Summer is here.” MM suddenly said, then opened his hand, a single firefly flew out of his hand, wobbling all the while, “See?”
MM lowered his head towards DE, and then pushed the firefly out of the window.
“Did you catch that, MM?” DE, half-suspicious and half-trusting, asked, and then had a piece of chocolate shoved in his mouth. MM said nothing, and laughed.
The warm wind was another nonstop reminder that summer was coming, and the cicadas were multiplying as well.
3. Cicadas
DE leaned over, casually picking a cicada shell from the floor. It was a complete shell, brown and coloured like earth. He waved it gently towards MM.
“MM,” DE asked, “Do you know how long cicadas live?”
“How long ciadas live?” MM furrowed his brows, pondering for a second before responding, “If I recall correctly, they live in the ground for a year, and then they come out to shed their shell and sing, right?”
“Mhm.”
DE absently toyed with the shell in his hand, and said in a sing-songy tone, “Did you know, MM, that me and cicadas are the same?”
“When I was born, I was just like you guys,” He said, “But after witnessing my family get slaughtered, I crawled into the floor, no longer receiving the warmth of the sun.”
“For the power to travel across space and time, I went for the mineral at all costs. Every time I calculated, jumped across time, and tortured myself.. I thought I was wandering aimlessly in a maze, hoping that every dead end was another window towards the outside world.”
“But there was no way I could catch up to you two, you guys are bright like the sun, and I’m just a cicada comfortable with the darkness and living underground. When I was Time Tracer… I was angry, and I blamed you guys. Even though I had the power to travel across time and space, why couldn’t I be on the same level as you two?”
“The first time I used this twisted power to destroy a small village, I realized I had a terrifying power. Through destruction and chaos… I used peoples’ fear to support myself and stand by your side. Just like the cicada who crawled out the ground to shed their old, ugly shells… but I forgot one thing.”
“Cicadas can sing like that…. for only two months.”
“Just like that, for the power to travel across time… I paid the same price, using my life in exchange… but my lifespan isn’t infinite. Someday it’ll run out and expire, just like cicadas after summer.”
Esper clenched his first, shattering the shell in his hands. He turned towards MM, and wisfully smiled.
After that day, MM couldn’t forget what Esper had said, including the somewhat helpess, regretful, and lonely smile he had worn. Like an invisible tendril, it tightly squeezed against MM’s heart. It was impossible to breathe.
He must be lonely, MM thought.
DE skipped, carefree, on the path randomly arranged by rocks. The shade of the trees and dilapidated sunshine reflected on his dark skin-fitting clothes, a thin glow of lavender emanated from his chest. The cicadas chime continued incessantly in the light. DE suddenly bent down to pick up a shell, charming and complete, turned around and carefully tucked it into MM’s hand.
MM stared blankly at the shell in his hand, and then threw it somewhere under a tree like garbage.
“Why won’t these damned cicadas go with you,” He mumbled under his breath.
4. Wind Chime.
DE arrived at MM’s house with a small wind chime. MM directed his attention on the jingling bell in his hand, completely unaware of what DE way saying, until DE held his wrist and passed the wind chime over did he violently snap out of his trance, awkwardly scratching his head, embarrassedly saying thank you.
Most of it was pleasantries anyway, MM thought, and decided not to let DE repeat what he had said.
He picked up the wind chime to investigate it further: About half the wind chime was forged using Hamel’s water crystals and white porcelain. The transparent, blue bells and chimes had a simple golden inscription. The chimes overlapped with the bells, forming a hanging layer that smelt faintly of the ocean. The bells on the inside of the chimes were actually small, shimmering but harder than steel mermaid shells, dangling in the wind and making a unique noise.
“It’s so beautiful…!” MM hung the wind chime on the window sill, unable to contain how impressed he was.
“As long as MM likes it,” DE said, but somehow ended up complaining, “But making it was such a hassle—I had to gather all the materials myself… … Ah… MM?” DE waved his hands in front of MM’s face, forcing MM's attention back. He hopelessly stared at MM, and then tugged on his cheek.
“Listen to people when they’re speaking, MM.”
“Ah, sorry?”
MM apologized, and touched Esper’s fingers with a soft smile, but his eyes were directed towards the wind chime again. It really was pretty.
MM thought, and began to grin.
DE gazed towards MM, but finally only lowered his head to kiss the back of his head before letting go, then bid farewell to MM and disappeared into the space crack.
After DE had left, MM couldn’t help but bat at the wind chime with his hand, he felt himself completely enchanted with it.
MM stood in front of a pile of rubbish, staring at the twisted scene before him. Everything was destroyed. The mountain behind him had become flat ground, and the houses had completely been flipped upside down and stuck against the ground.
… This much damage… He only knew one person who could do this.
“DE?!?!!!”
But, unlike usual, DE didn’t smile and materialize out of the space crack to hug him from behind, asking him, “Did you miss me, MM?” This time, DE was completely silent.
“DE? DE? Asshole… Answer me… Damn it…”
He stood in front of the rubbish pile, calling his loved one’s name in futile. There was no response.
MM returned home with a heavy look on his face, pulling down the wind chime and hurled it against the opposite wall. Ceramic isn’t as strong as crystal, so a couple pieces chipped against the wall. MM collapsed on the sofa, dejected. He didn’t understand why would someone who was so gentle suddenly became so violent and destroyed everything. In a moment all those lives became nothing.
MM bit his lip, turned around, and buried his face in his arms.
The next morning he received a notice.
There was a faint purple glowing fluid crawling towards the depths of the forest that MM needed to investigate. So MM turned his Dynamos up to the best setting, and naturally set off, following where the liquid had touched. In the beginning he thought it was simply a red-purple liquid, but as he went deeper, the liquid became crystal fragments. MM found it suddenly hard to breathe, he recognized these shards… They were the substance on DE’s chest.
Suddenly remembering this, he became alarmed and jumped on his dynamos, dashing forward. At the center of the forest, his eyes widened, and the drained Dynamos collapsed on the ground, taking MM with them, kneeling on the grass.
DE sat in front of him, leaned against a rock. The crystals from his chest have penetrated his body, and purple-red liquid pools underneath him, spreading farther in the grass. DE doesn’t move. His eyes are closed tightly, jet black “tears” rolling down his cheeks. Even though Esper is no longer breathing, expression is soft and quiet, like he’s enjoying a satisfying sweet dream.
MM clutches his mouth, coughing. The shock of the impact nearly sent him into a breakdown, tears streaming endlessly from his face until he was bawling.
This was the price DE talked about.
MM hung up the wind chime that was missing a couple pieces. Since seeing DE’s corpse, every night he had nightmares. It was only until he moved in with LP did these symptoms face, but taking their place, MM would frequently remember the things DE did when he was still alive.
“MM. Look, there are words in here.” Said LP one day when he randomly investigated the wind chime. He suddenly called MM over to show him the inside.
In the chime that hadn’t chipped a bit, MM saw a single row of words.
“For my beloved, MasterMind, one last gift.”
MM froze, suddenly remembering DE’s words that he had overlooked when DE gave him the gift.
“I might have to go soon… MM, this is a small gift for you from me; I hope you’ll like it.”
Summer and Cicadas and Wind Chimes
T/N: for fun the ‘and’ could also be translated as 'with’, so the title could just as validly be 'summer with cicadas and wind chimes’ or any other variation. Since it’s one part per heading, I kept the conjunction as 'and’