| Douwa no Gendai; A Modern Fairytale | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 30 2009, 01:35 PM (275 Views) | |
| Miki Mayhem | Aug 30 2009, 01:35 PM Post #1 |
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A little note - So I have yet to write anything that inspired me as of late; in the past year or so I think mostly what I have written is mindless dribble. However, this is the first piece I've written where I actually fell I may have something, for the first time in a very long while. This is the first chapter to a novel I'm working on, though this chapter is rather short lol.Title: Douwa no Gendai (A Modern Fairytale) Type: Fiction Genre(s): Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Action, Adventure Rated: M16+ Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language. Verse I – Girls Are Troublesome It was a comforting feeling. The sounds of cheering and shouting from the crowd, the heat of the stage lights on his face, the bead of sweat that trickled down the nape of his neck; he was truly in his element. Nothing felt more comfortable to him than the feeling of his guitar in his hands; it was still trembling from the last chord he had played. The crowd roared in approval and he couldn’t help but look over his shoulder and smile at his bandmates. Their set had ended, and they were a hit; the turnout was more than any of them could have hoped for. “AKIRA!!” “AKIRA!!!!” The crowd shouted. “AKIRA!!!” “HEY! AKIRA!!! Wake up already would you?!” A girl’s voice shouted. It could only belong to his sister, Yumi; he would recognize that tone anywhere. “I’m up, now would you can it please? You spoiled a perfectly good dream” he muttered, rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eyes. “It’s just like you to be more worried about fantasies than reality,” the older girl sighed tossing her hands up. “Did you forget that you have school today and that if you don’t hurry up, you’re going to be late?!” “Like I’m going to take that from some lousy arts school student” Akira muttered under his breath as he got out of bed. “What was that?!” Yumi snapped. “Nothing nee-chan,” he sang, striding towards the door. “Now excuse me, but I have to change” he smiled then closed the door before his sister could get another word in. From the other side he could hear her mutter something incoherent before striding away down the hall. Letting out a sigh, he walked towards his dresser and pulled out his school uniform. Taking a quick glance at the clock, he let out another sigh; it looked like he was going to have to go without breakfast this morning. It was already twenty to eight and he was going to have to run to make it to school. “Man, why is Yumi always so damn cranky?!” Akira thought to himself as he ran down the streets. “I mean, she doesn’t even have to be to school until nine!! What the hell does she have to be cranky about to begin with?” he fumed, sprinting past a group of girls. “Oh… AKIRA-KUN!” one of them called out. “Hey, Akira-kun, where are you off to in such a hurry?” “I’m going to school, isn’t it obvious?” he replied coolly. “Oh, but classes don’t start for another hour…” the girl said surprised. “Bu- … Nee-chan…” Akira growled under his breath realizing that his sister must have changed the time on his clock while he slept. “Thank you for telling me” he grumbled, turning around and began towards the school once more. “Well- ummm, that is… If you’re not doing anything, why don’t you come to the library with us?” the girl continued desperately. “We could-“ “No thank you” he replied curtly then sprinted off once more. It had always been Akira’s opinion that girls were nothing but trouble. So in order for one to avoid trouble, was just to avoid trouble all the way around. Granted Yumi was really the only girl he had to compare others to; on more than one occasion he had thought to himself that perhaps he should re-evaluate his perception on women, “but why bother?” he would then think. “What if I find that women are WORSE than Yumi?” That thought alone drained all motivation of continuing that plan any further. When he looked up, Akira realized that he had wandered into a small living complex that he had never been to before. Not that it was the first time something like this had happened. He often found himself lost in thought, and finally when he would come to; he would be somewhere and not know where that somewhere was, or even how he got there. It was a troublesome habit that he had been meaning to break himself of. But it turned out that the more often he thought about NOT doing it, the more he ended up doing it. In the end he gave up on that ambition as well. There wasn’t anything spectacular about the area that he was in. It looked like any other living complex that he had seen; large, lots of windows and stairs. All in all… Boring. He poked around the area a bit, just to be sure that he had never been to this place before. After a few minutes he had confirmed with himself that he had never been there before today. It struck him as odd because he was certain that he knew the entire area fairly well, and had been to each area at least once at some point or another. The wind abruptly began to pick up in an eerie fashion. The trees were old and rickety, only adding to the atmosphere. Akira held himself against the wind. He had goose bumps running down to the bottom of his spine. There were no words to describe what he felt, but for a brief moment it felt as though he wasn’t alone. Gradually, Akira scanned the area. He looked around on all sides, but could see no one in sight. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid” he thought to himself. “I’ve really got to lay off the Koontz books” he chuckled nervously. “At least there was no one around to witness this… Sheesh! What would the guys think if they had been here?” he sighed, picking up his bag when the wind had begun to die down. SLAP! The loud sound came from behind. Akira let out a yelp that could have matched his youngest sister, Takara’s screams easily. “Just nerves” he kept telling himself; though he could have sworn that there was the faintest echo of quickened footsteps that lingered on the dying wind. Afraid to look, Akira slowly turned in the direction from which the “slap” sound had come from. He looked around and was drawing towards the conclusion that there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary when something on the ground caught his eye. There lay a graphic novel, though it he was sure it hadn’t been there moments before. Curious, Akira walked over and picked up the abandoned book. He looked around once more, only to find that there was no one in sight as he fearfully suspected. Looking down once more, he examined the book’s cover. The title read, Douwa no Gendai, a Modern Fairytale. Examining it further, the book appeared to be brand new, and one that he had never heard of. The cover depicted a girl with flame and chocolate colored hair defiantly staring at a taller, darker woman with flowing black cherry hair. The taller woman, in turn, glowered back at the other girl with a dark more sinister look of her own. Akira had a few friends from class that were into such things as manga, anime, and cosplay. He, himself never paid too much attention when they started talking about it. It didn’t really interest him in any shape or form; it hadn’t since grade school, however, never once had he heard anything about the series which he held in his hand. “Just because they’re into such things, doesn’t mean they’ve read them all” he reminded himself. He looked over the graphic novel one last time. “It looks like one of those… Shoujo type of books anyway…” he muttered. “Gross.” BONG! BONG! “SHIT, I’m late!” The third year junior high student exclaimed. Absentmindedly, he stuffed the book into his bag and took off running towards the school. “Mom’s going to kill me” was all he could think. * * * * * * “What reason could you possibly have for being late this time Akira?!” his mother shouted. “I even woke you up early this morning Akira!” his sister added. “I mean, really… Get your head out of the clouds for once and get your act together!!” “Shut up Yumi!!” Akira snapped back. “Waking someone up early, and setting their clock an hour ahead are two TOTALLY different things you hag! For once in your life, would you PLEASE mind your own damn business!?” “WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOU LITTLE FUCKING TWIRP?!” his sister screamed in reply. “YOU ARE THE MOST UNGRATEFUL-“ “Enough! Please, I can’t take much more, “their mother shouted in a desperate tone. “Akira, Yumi, please!! You’re brother and sister, stop fighting, you’ll frighten the twins” she pleaded. “She’s not my sister” he shouted. “He’s not my brother” she shouted. “Geeze, women are so meddlesome… Every last one is nothing but trouble; can’t stay out of anyone’s business if their lives depended on it. Tsch.” Akira spat, irritated after hearing his and his sister’s voice in perfect sync with one and other. “THAT’S ENOUGH!!” A male’s voice roared. “FROM THE BOTH OF YOU” he added in Yumi’s direction causing the smug smile she had plastered on to fade. There was only one man in the entire world that could possibly shout like that. “Can’t you see that you’ve gone and upset your mother enough?” the voice said more soothingly than it had been a moment before. “Ah… Masakazu… Darling…” Their mother tried to interrupt in a gentle voice. “No Nozomi, it’s unacceptable. You’ve raised them both to be better that this” Masakazu replied, cradling his wife into his arms and glared back into the faces of his children. Akira stared back at his father and knew that he was defeated. He stole a quick glance in his sister’s direction who wore her own similar expression of guilt and defeat. Once their father had his raised his voice, the discussion was over. It had been like that since Akira could remember; there was no point in trying to drag it out any more. “Forgive me… Ottosan, kaachan,” he bowed. “I was being selfish. I didn’t mean to hurt you or seem ungrateful in any way. I have no excuse for being late for school earlier today, I will try harder in the future” he bowed lower, stood, and then turned on one heel towards the hall. “Oh, Akira-kun," his mother protested in a concerned voice. “I apologize, but I will be retiring to my room for the rest of the night. I have a math paper due tomorrow morning. Excuse me” he breathed without turning around again. Before his parents or sister could get another word in, Akira briskly walked down the hallway and had closed himself into his room. He felt ashamed to have disappointed his parents. Sure, they had their moments and often hung all over each other like a scene out of some cheesy romance flick, but all parents did embarrassing things, didn’t they? “It’s been almost ten years since that rainy April afternoon,” he thought to himself with a pained smile. Ten years ago, his parents had found him standing alone out in the rain. According to them, the only thing Akira had known at the time was his name. Or rather, the word “Akira” was all he could say. Without a second thought, the couple took him in and raised him alongside their little girl, Yumi, who was only eight at the time. While it was true that Masakazu and Nozomi weren’t his biological parents, but even so, they were better parents than the boy could have ever asked for. Akira let out a small groan as he walked over to his bed and emptied the contents of his school bag out. Two books and some loose sheets of paper freed themselves out across the blanket. One was a math textbook and the other made the boy’s blood run cold. Atop his textbook lay the book entitled, “Douwa no Gendai”. He shuddered recalling the memories from earlier that morning; the reason he was late for school, why his last conversation with his parents had just ended in an argument just minutes before. “Even if I had told them the truth, who would honestly believe me?” he clenched his teeth, “Oh yea ottosan, kaachan, I was late for school because I somehow landed myself in an alternate dimension and this graphic novel appeared out of thin air… WHO WOULD BELIEVE THAT?!” he shouted. “Who would believe what?” a young girl’s voice rang. “Who would believe what?” a young boy’s voice rang. Akira looked over his shoulder to see two small identical faces staring back at him. The faces belonged to the youngest members of his family, the twins, Takara and Taku. Standing in his doorway, the twins continued to stare at their older brother with blank expressions; they were identical in every way with the exception of a few minor details. For example, Takara’s hair was much longer than her brother’s hair. Takara idolized Yumi, Taku idolized Akira. Though, Akira seemed to be the overall favorite when it came to the twins. “Haven’t you two ever heard of knocking?” the older boy asked. “We did,-” Takara stated. “-you were too busy shouting” Taku finished in the same even tone as his sister. “Oh,” Akira mumbled. “And I hate when you two do that!!” “Do what?” The twins retorted in unison after looking at each other briefly. “THAT!” Akira exclaimed pointing at the two. “That right there, you know it drives me crazy” He was answered by matching blank expressions that gradually faded into two sets of lips curling up in the corners, followed by a flash of teeth. Both Takara and Taku giggled then ran out of the room, allowing the door to close behind them. Akira was only sure that he was alone again when he heard the twins down the hall in their own room, probably plotting some kind of new prank to pull on someone, but not before they tested it out on their favorite guinea pig. Letting out a sigh, Akira strode over to the door and clicked in the button to lock it, then walked back over to the bed. It was never that he minded the twins, but they were notorious for keeping him from getting his school work done, and after the argument with his parents, he couldn’t afford to get into any more trouble. Douwa no Gendai continued to stare back into his face, right where it was left when it had tumbled out of his school bag. Truthfully, he had half-hoped that the book would have disappeared as quickly as it had come when his back had been turned. Without much thought, he carelessly tossed the book into a corner of his room and picked up the math book that had lain beneath it. Plopping himself down at his desk, Akira opened up his math book and pulled out two clean sheets of paper. On the first sheet, he wrote his name and class at the top, and then copied each problem faithfully from book to paper. On the second page he wrote out the problems a second time and closed his textbook. Hasa, Taku - 3B 01.) (x+3)2 02.) 6x+2+2x = -2+4x+8 03.) (1+x)(3+2x) 04.) 3+2*5x(y+1) 05.) 21x2y, 7xy3 06.) x3+x2+x 07.) 5x2+15x2 08.) 5u2+-11uv+6v2 09.) x2 - 49 10.) 3q2+-12q+12 The goal of the practice was to solve ten problems at about the pace of two minutes each. After hearing the assignment, Akira already knew that he was done for. Math was his worst subject, and it was the only class he managed to keep a steady failing grade in. It wasn’t a lack of effort, he really tried to study, but the basics had never seemed to stick. Math was just such a “black & white” subject; it wasn’t like any of the other classes where the “shade of grey” was an endless possibility. He liked the idea of “possibility” it was the freedom to make dreams reality. As he continued to stare blankly at page in front him, his mind began to wander into various directions. He wondered what kind of lyrics he should write for the next song that he and the guys were working on. He thought about how annoying it was when the girls would try to talk to him during free period. And then, he thought about what had happened earlier that morning; the strange wind, the sound of footsteps, the graphic novel that mysteriously appeared. “It’s probably cursed,” Akira muttered to himself eyeballing it near the closet where it had landed. “It’s probably some crappy love story that ends in tragedy, then some kind of female corpse comes and kills you three days after you read it” he scoffed, but was still unable to take his eyes from where it laid. “Maybe just a little peek,” he thought getting up from his desk. “Stuff like that doesn’t really happen after all; and still, it beats math homework” Long ago, a war waged between the kingdoms of Mengetsu and Mikadzuki; ancient and proud lands of magick lore, each powerful in their own right. The end of a seven year hell was near; both sides had suffered incredible losses and neither could go on for much longer. In a final desperate act of hope, each kingdom sent forth its’ princess and three of their strongest warriors to face each other on the battlefield. “I hate to say it, but so far it doesn’t seem half bad. I don’t get what’s up with the whole magick thing, but it’s a lot more interesting than I thought it would be anyway… For a girl’s manga” he shrugged and read on. According to prophecy, the victorious army will be granted the right and power to rule both nations until the end of days. Victory would be decided by a higher being that would make itself known when the time was right. The defeated would defer from that point on to the victors, and swear an oath of fealty and allegiance or surrender their lives. The conditions of victory conditions were that: The princess MUST find her Guardian Warrior, a prince from another realm. Both companies must find and gather five sacred objects. Both companies must obtain four ancient spells of summoning. Each warrior must fight two battles. The princess must survive to perform the ceremony and have one warrior at her side. In order for the ceremony to be completed, the final warrior must be sacrificed… Akira continued to read the graphic novel from front to back. The story was simple enough to follow and was told from the perspective of a girl name Hotaru, the princess of Mengetsu. In the novel, a woman called Tsubaki; the princess of Mikadzuki and Hotaru were engaged in a heated battle. The panels flowed together seamlessly with greatly detailed pictures of a battle and an impressive display of what Akira guessed as “magicks.” What caught his eye was the manner in which spells were cast. The spellcaster would form a various display of “seals” with their hands then recite an incantation. It reminded the boy much of the shonen ninja type novels he had read as a child. The memory brought a smile to his face as he continued to graze through the pages. When he finally flipped to the last page, Akira found that there was a diagram showing several “seals” and an incantation at the bottom of the page. “Summoning of the Fire Goddess” Akira read aloud the “incantation’s” title. The boy looked over his shoulder embarrassed, and then self-consciously formed the three symbols with his hands. The first seal pressed the knuckles of his pinkies to his middle fingers together, his pointers in a chapel shape; his thumb pointed straight up. The second required him to point his thumb, pointer, and middle finger up and hold the right side in this left. The final seal was cupped both hands, making an orb shape, the right hand over the left. “Oh beautiful lady beneath the embers, the goddess of the fire; Graceful phoenix born from the ash and ignited into flame, I reject” he whispered. A golden flash sprung forth from the book, knocking Akira back several feet. The room lit up with a blinding red light and a shriek that made the boy cover his ears. His body grew hot, it became unbearable, and then the room flashed once more, all there was was white. The light began to dim and once again his room became viable. “Purified by flame” a voice whispered in his ear. When at last he could see again, the book lay motionless on the floor where he had dropped it. There was no longer any light be emitted like before, the loud shrieking had ceased; there was silence. No, not silence; the sound of soft breathing caught his attention forcing Akira to reluctantly drag his eyes towards the source. The young junior high student’s mouth dropped. On his floor lay a girl with hair the color of flames underlying a layer of chocolate; fast asleep on his floor. A girl he would most certainly recognize, for he had just seen her moments ago… It was Hotaru, princess of Mengetsu. Edited by Miki Mayhem, Aug 30 2009, 01:36 PM.
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lol.




8:00 PM Jul 10