I'm under the Sakura Trees in the Sakura Empire. Laffey is in front of me, bandages over her eyes, and Mom is behind her, her tails staging on end. Mom's blade is at her neck, and she is crying. Laffey looks none the wiser.
I go to move towards her, but the blade begins to press into Laffey's neck when I do. "Mom, why?!"
She looks at me with a look of regret. "I'm sorry, but I need to put her out of her misery. She's not her anymore, and never would want to be like this."
My bad eye flares up, the fury of the sun visible within, despite the eyepatch. I swing my arm out in front of me, my blade appearing in my hand. "You know nothing! She's happier than ever, and loves me more than ever! Right, Laffey!?"
Laffey nods, letting out a hollow "yes" in response.
Mom shakes her head, digging the blade into her throat, "Sorry, but this is for her own good. For your own good."
I rush at her, my blade poised to kill. "DON'T DO IT!"
"DON'T DO IT!"
I shoot up in my bed, looking around frantically. 'What... what was that? A nightmare? Must've been, though it felt too realistic to be just that.'
I go to the bathroom, running cold water over my face. 'That was terrifying. I'm glad it was just a nightmare, but why did it feel so real? And it made no sense, either!... Wait, what didn't make sense? I thought there were some things that didn't add up, but I can't remember now. Well, that's for the best.'
I take a shower, clearing my head from the nightmare, before going to visit Purifier again.
'I've taken to doing this on some weekdays when I'm off and Laffey is working. She's surprisingly good company, although I've yet to shake this sense of deja-vu regarding her.'
__
I step through the portal, entering into a black and yellow room, with some posters for a band named Naoki placed around the room, a floating screen above a desk, and a bed in the corner.
Look at that, the bed has a little fox plushie, cute.
I walk to the exit of the room, only to hear footsteps rapidly approaching from behind. I try to dodge, only to be tackled and pinned to the floor.
"Why?" I choke out.
"Because you just appeared in my room, and I wanted to have some fun!"
'That voice...' "Is that you, Purifier?"
"Yep! Here, get up." She offers me her hand, which I gladly accept.
I dust myself off, "I just came to check out the library, why am I in your room?"
She shrugs, mumbling something about Tester. "Well, are you off today?"
I nod, "Yeah, I wanted to grab a book to read until lunch."
"Well, in that case, wanna hang out?"
"Sure, but after I-" "Great! Let's go!" "Wait I-" I protest, but she either doesn't hear me or doesn't care, as she drags me out of the room to her destination of choice.
__
We stop at a large blue room filled with water, something she calls the simulacrum.
"So, what's the Simulacrum for?"
Purifier walks up to a platform, messing with a few buttons on it before pressing a big red button in the middle. "Oh, it's for training in various scenarios against AI. It's like fighting robots in human skin!"
"Oh okay- wait what!?"
"Let's start!" She jumps into the arena with me, where at least 20 Mass production Siren ships have spawned, surrounding us. 'God, what did I do to deserve this?'
A shell fires at Purifier, who turns into a smoke, going through the projectile, and ending up perfectly safe on the other side. 'What the heck was that?'
___
It's been a few hours now of running between various scenarios with Purifier, and I'm convinced the one that was just two Entys was just there to make me hate my life. 'I only barely made it through that, damn.'
"That's the last round. You did really well Reprisal! Most people can't keep up with me past the first ten rounds, and you've reached twenty!"
Purifier is still moving as if she didn't just fight twenty hordes of enemies, "How do you... still have... so much energy?"
She smiles at me, "I have regeneration. That's why I'm so impressed you could keep up!"
I shake my head, "Regen... of course. Why didn't I think of that?"
She smiles even prouder, "Because I'm the only Siren that has it."
I give her the meanest glare I can muster, 'which isn't much, I'm fucking exhausted', but she seems unbothered.
"Do you want some water?'
"YES!"
She hands me a bottle before grabbing one for herself. "So, wanna learn how I did that?"
I nod, and she starts to teach me the art of quickening.
...
She hands me another bottle, saying that "Using it will drain you quickly, so try not to use it carelessly."
She drinks a bottle herself, before asking "Anyways, why did you want to go to the library again?"
After I finish chugging the bottle, I respond. "Well, I was curious to learn more about wisdom cubes. After all, mine aren't blue like everyone else's, and you guys are all about data. I figured you'd have something on it, if anyone."
"Then let's go." She walks out the room, and I follow behind.
"So, Reprisal."
"What?"
"How do you aim so well?"
"As I told Laffey, you only need one eye for the scope."
"No, not that. It's the waves. They should be making your shots miss at least once in a while, yet I've yet to see you miss."
"Oh, that's... uh... shit, I don't know. I never really thought about the waves before."
"You should think about it. Now then, we're here!"
She opens the door, revealing a grand library. Not even the word grandiose could truly capture its depth, holding bookshelves taller than even a full shipgirls' ship laid vertically. 'It's beautiful.'
She walks in, holding her arms out wide, "What do you think? Grand, right?"
"Grand doesn't even come close, it's amazing! All the books, the knowledge, the things I could learn, it's amazing!"
She giggles, wrapping me in a hug, "You look cute when you get excited about books! Little stars in your eyes and everything!"
I break out the hug, "Yeah yeah. Although... it does make me question something... why do you need more data, if you have all of this? Shouldn't this be more than enough for power purposes?"
"Well, I don't know about all that stuff, you'd have to- oh, didn't you say you needed to be back by lunch? It's already 1 o'clock."
"Oh crap! Bye Purifier, next time I get back here, we'll do some more training, after I get a book on my birth!"
"Here, catch!" I catch a hefty book thrown by her, the lack of dust showing the cleanliness of the library. "I figured you'd need it, so I sent a drone to find it. Don't worry about returning it, just bring it back when you're done."
"Thanks a bunch, I owe you one!" I run out the door, taking a portal back home.
__
I enter the cafeteria, seeing Hornet looking at me impatiently, "Took you long enough!"
"Sorry, I got caught up in a new book. I should've checked the time."
I sit down at the table, where Hornet and Enterprise are waiting for me. Enterprise scans my book quickly, before looking back up to me. "So, what are we doing this friday, Hornet?"
'I'm glad Hornet thought of this. It'll be a nice way to relieve some stress from the week, while spending some much needed bonding time with family. I'm sure Enty feels the same, too.'
"...then we'll watch some movies until bed, alright?" 'Ah crap, they're talking to me.' "Is it alright if I leave before 6? I have to take care of something."
"Oh no, Raffy, you can't back out now! Besides, Vestal said you had to show up!."
I hang my head in disappointment, "*sigh*, fine. Wait, did you just call me Raffy?"
She looks at me with a big grin on her face, "Yeah! SInce you spend so much time with Laffey, you might as well be the same person. So, I combined your names. What do you think, Enty?"
Enterprise smirks at me, "I think it's dumb. Although... seeing the blush on her face, I think I might change my mind on that."
"W-what? I don't know what you're talking about." I look down to hide my face, but it's too late.
Hornet lifts my face up, "Oh no, you can't hide from me. Why are you blushing? It's almost like you- you do! You have a crush on Laffey, don't you?!"
Enterprise flicks Hornet on the back of her head, "Hornet, leave her alone. Although I would be led to think the same thing."
I look even further down, letting out a whiny "I don't..." 'Great, I sound like a kid again. But I really don't! We're just great friends!'
Hornet looks up at me seriously, like she saw something in me just now. "Oh, so you don't think you do?"
I look at her incredulously, "How the heck could you tell that?"
Her grin grows even bigger than it was before, "I didn't. You just confirmed it."
I drop my head onto the table, sighing "Goddammit."
Enty flicks me on the forehead, citing "Language!" as she does.
"Sorry."
She turns towards my other aunt, "And Hornet, leave her alone. This is supposed to be a day of relaxing, not picking on our niece."
"You're right, sorry."
On that note, we begin our day of festivities.
___
The three of the Yorktown class have arrived at the pier, just in time to listen to San Diego's performance.
'So a performance first, huh. I wonder what she'll be singing. Probably something bad.'
"I didn't know San Diego could sing."
Hornet was quick to respond, "Of course you didn't, you never spend any time away from work. Everyone knows Sandy can sing, even Reprisal knows!"
"Yeah-wait hey!"
"Shush up Reprisal, she's starting!"
"Wow, that was..." "Really..." "Good."
"You like it Enterprise?" "Yeah, it was really good! Back me up here Reprisal!" "Yeah, I think it's really good!"
Hornet turns away, hanging her head down in being the odd one out. "Well... whatever. Let's get onto the next activity... Nails-!"
"NO!" "NO!" Both me and Enty interrupted, derailing that train of thought as soon as possible.
"Fine, fine. I had to try. Regardless, onto the actual next activity..."
__
"Painting!"
Enty looks surprised, looking at me, "This is unexpected. Did Reprisal put you up to this?"
I look at Enty, offended "Hey, of course not!"
We are in an art room, with 3 small boards set up for each of us to paint at, with a border between each station to prevent peaking.
I look at Hornet, "So... what do we paint?"
She smiles, saying "Anything! We get 1 hour to paint, and when we finish we have to share them with one another. Ready?"
Enterprise looked worried, "Not really sis, I haven't painted since-" But Hornet was having none of it. "Great! Let's start."
___
*Briiiing. Briiiiing. Briii-* Hornet's voice sounds out just after the alarm, "Is everyone done? Good, because regardless we're sharing now."
Enterprise asked "So who's first?"
"Well, since you volunteered, you can go first."
Enty rolled her eyes, but pulled the covers from around her painting. It shows a small white figure on a pier, with many fish caught in a basket behind her, all of various colors and sizes. However, one black and purple fish is seen sinking into the ocean, at least if the bubbles are anything to go by.
"Is that purple fish... supposed to be me?"
"Yeah, it is. I felt guilty about that day, so I wanted to vent about it, and use this as an opportunity to apologize again." She's tearing up, threatening to let tears fall.
"It's alright, I don't fault you for that one bit. After all, you did try, and that's all that matters." I reach towards her, wrapping her up in a hug. I feel her shock in her reaction, with her arms stiffening up for a moment, before relaxing into it, hugging me in return.
"How long has it been since you've given me a hug, Reprisal? Maybe 3 years now?"
I shake my head at her comment, "Hornet, what's your painting?"
Hornet freezes up at the words, "U-um, it's fine. You don't need to see mine, let's do yours next Reprisal!"
I give her a deadpan look, before resigning myself to my fate. I reveal my painting, which has two women on a path, both walking away from a clock. The woman further back is looking back at the clock, while the one further ahead is looking straight ahead.
"Could you guess what this means, Enty? Hornet?"
Enty takes the first shot, "Is the clock their time left, and it's a symbolism of how life isn't fair in how long each person lives?"
'Huh. That didn't even cross my mind, damn she's good.' "No, that was a pretty interesting answer though. Hornet?"
I turn to her, deep in thought. "Well?"
She snaps back to reality, "Oh! Right, I think it's two people trying to move forward in life, while one is constantly looking back and burning up time."
I nod my head, "Yup, you got it."
Enterprise has a look of realization on her face, "Is that part of why you started giving hugs? You're living in the present?"
"Huh... I don't know." "Boring."
Enterprise stands up, "Well Sis? What about your painting?"
Hornet quickly starts to look panicked, "Oh, um, see, the thing is- that uh... look, your paintings were really deep and stuff, and mine looks boring compared to it!"
Enty doesn't care, "Oh, is that it? C'mon, let us see."
We move the divider to see her painting. It's just us three, plus Yorktown, sitting at a bench and eating burgers. 'As Eagle Union as it gets.'
I nod my head, "Nice drawing!"
Enty does the same, "Yeah, it shows where your mind is."
Hornet smiles in appreciation, "Thanks you tw- hey! That was just plain rude!"
Enty responds, "Maybe, but what's the last activity?"
"Oh, it's just movies. Let's go!"
___
It was a cheesy romance film. We're sitting in our dorm watching movies together, which Mom joined us halfway through. 'Nice to spend time with Mom again. She's usually busy.'
I look at Enterprise two seats away from me, "Hornet, why are we watching a romance? Don't you hate these?"
Enty responds, "Well, it was Yorktown who suggested it. Don't ask me why, I don't really care either way."
I look at Mom, "Mom, why?"
She shrugs her shoulders, before saying with a grin, "Well I heard good things about it from some friends. Besides, I was hoping you would get some ideas from it."
I may not have responded verbally, but they could all tell by the look on my face that she shocked me. Enty is just chuckling to herself, Mom is laughing, and Hornet is dying laughing.
She wipes a tear from her eyes, "Sorry Honey. Ahhh, that reaction was priceless. Seriously though, do you like Laffey?"
"I don't. At least... I think I don't."
Mom seems to think of something at that sentence, clapping her hands together as she looks at me. "I know! You aren't sure, so we'll make it simple. Do you cherish your relationship with her?"
"Yes"
"Second; would you die for her?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Last but not least; would you kill for her? If it meant her life, would you?"
"Yea-wait a minute..." 'Do I actually love her? Then again, who else would I do all of this for?'
"It's fine Reprisal, you don't need to tell us. Now then, time for bed! Yes, even you Enterprise and Hornet. You need your rest, so get to it."
"Okay..." "Whatever you say." "Okay Mom."
_____
I read my book in bed, finding out things that are insane to think about. Basically, there are things that we can't quite see. Not just colors, or certain types of light, but beings. Like a small fish that swims through the air, that we can't see just because we don't know they're there. Our eyes can't perceive them, at least usually. Although it does say that those with intimate exposure to it may be able to see them, or at least be able to recognise when they're there.
Most people who can see these things are labeled as mad, as they see things most people don't. Such as this page, which says not to continue past without prior experience with these things, that you would know. Well I trust I can, given that Purifier gave me the book, and I turn the page.
Inside are various runes, unable to be seen without sufficient insight, and unable to be understood without even more. I don't understand most of them, but they all hurt to read. If you were to try and read them otherwise, without the necessary insight, you would likely go mad and tear your own eyes out, or perhaps only go insane, and suddenly start praising the sun everytime you see it, and cry when it's away from you.
One of the runes I understood was the Moon rune, as well as the Deep Sea rune. It was not something I understood through anything that makes sense, but it's a vague sense of feeling. (As the author, I will explain in human words.
Moon: "The Great Ones that inhabit the nightmare are sympathetic in spirit, and often answer when called upon."
Deep Sea: "Great volumes of water serve as a bulwark guarding sleep, and an augur of the eldritch Truth. Overcome this hindrance, and seek what is yours")
*****
If god modeled us after them, then why would we experience so much suffering? What about joy, why would we experience so much of that? Well, maybe it's neither. Maybe God has abandoned us long ago, and we simply make use of what's left. The worst idea, for a god's existence, is that they were human. It is rarely mentioned, although it's a terrifying thought, is it not? Imagine a cruel man ascending to godhood, or vice versa? They would be as flawed as any other animal. Perhaps, regardless of humanity or lack thereof... they are flawed. - Excerpt from Remission's Journal