In 2016 (Part 2) (Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi)
| In 2016 (Part 2) (Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 08 May 2016 |
| Location: | Mitakihara Ward |
| Synopsis: | Terrible things have been done. Terrible things yet need doing. |
| Thanks to: | Fuyuko Yuuhi |
| Cast of Characters: | Kyouka Inai, Fuyuko Yuuhi |
| Tinyplot: | The Game |
Stellar runs down the nighttime street, rain pouring down around her in sheets. Her white-and-gold coat repels it, the water sliding down the fabric in sheets, though her red hair is plastered to her face. Her boots splash through puddles as she tears down a narrow alleyway, banging open a door in an otherwise nondescript brick wall and dashing inside. Up a narrow flight of stairs, and through another door and she halts, breathing hard. Staring in shocked horror at what she sees in front of her, her expression somewhere between disbelief and anger.
The room is dark and disordered. Some kind of storeroom, boxes and crates stacked around, several of which now lie knocked over or broken. The lights are off, but through the dim illumination filtering through the single window, the form of another girl can be seen standing amidst the wreckage, head bowed. It is Lacuna, her black dress rumpled and splashed with something darker. She holds something in her right hand. A bedraggled looking form, furry and pawed, half black and half white. It hangs motionless.
“Fuyuko..” The name escapes Stellar’s mouth on an exhalation. “What have you done?”
The girl in black does not look up. She’s facing off to one side, not looking at the newly-arrived redhead standing dripping in the doorway. “Put an end to the charade.” Her voice is low-pitched, hoarse as if she’s been crying. It is not angry, nor defensive, but rather almost monotone. “We’ll be the last Lux Tenebrae, you and I. Funny, isn’t it? Probably the worst he ever created.” A slight turn of her head as she looks at the still form in her grip.
“You.. killed Aurora?” Stellar likewise looks at the limp creature- it’s form obscured by the damage done to it, other than the vague impression of vaguely feline or ferret-like features. “Why would you do that?” Her tone is full of disbelief. “I didn’t.. Even know you could..”
Fuyuko turns her head, finally, and her expression is stoic, almost robotic. Emotionless in the extreme. “He was immortal, but not invulnerable. I asked him to give me the gems, but he refused to see reason. Ironic, that the magic he gifted to me would be what finally ended him and his inane quest for ‘balance.’” Quite abruptly, her expression shifts into a sneer, and she shakes the limp body in her grip violently. “He could never understand us. Never understand me. But that’s not why I killed him. I killed him because I needed his power.”
Stellar still appears to be in shock, standing in the doorway with water running down her form and dripping to create a puddle at her feet. Red hair is slicked to her face, her grey eyes darting, confused, as if trying to process what she was seeing before her. “But we already have his power..” She sounds unsure, “...is this about Kaito?”
In an instant, Fuyuko’s doll-like face shifts into incandescent anger, and she actually throws the body of the mascot to the floor as she wheels to face Stellar. “Of course it is!” She screams at the other girl, the hoarseness in her voice amplified at volume. “He died protecting this city, and it never deserved it. The people here don’t even know, and they’re all so… so repugnant. I hate them! They don’t deserve to live when he had to die!”
In the doorway, Stellar rocks backwards physically under the force of Fuyuko’s fury, eyes widening. “But.. they didn’t kill Kaito.” She just sounds even more confused than she did before, her tone almost helpless. “They didn’t even know-”
“That doesn’t matter.” Fuyuko is back to being emotionless, her passion melting off her face, her dark eyes leaden. “It’s about evening the scales. Isn’t that what Aurora would have said? His life was worth more than all of theirs’ put together. So recompense is due.”
“So you’re… what? Going to kill half of the port district?” Stellar scoffs, saying it sarcastically, but trailing off at the end, her eyes widening in horror as she observes the look on Fuyuko’s face. “Fu.. you can’t..”
“I can’t.” Fuyuko confirms, with a nod, “I don’t have the power. But with this..” She glances down at the body of the mascot. “I will.” She bends, picking it up again. “Did you know that there are a finite number of Lux Tenebrae gems? Aurora was given them when he came to Earth. He told me this once, a long time ago. I was always more interested in the history than you were, Kyouka.” Her tone almost chiding.
“He’s been here for centuries, but there’s only even two Lux Tenebrae at a time. One light and one dark. Because Aurora’s people believe in balance, and the two halves working together. And marshaling resources. I asked him once how many generations were still to come after us, and he said “Oh, a dozen or so.””
Her hollow black eyes look up at Stellar again. “A dozen more power gems, still waiting to be used.” She moves suddenly, a cloud of liquid darkness appearing at her right hand. It quickly forms into the shape of a spike, protruding from her fist, gleaming with star-like pinpoints of light. She swipes it across the mascot’s limp form, and it separates cleanly as if cut with the sharpest of knives. No blood, but instead- gems. Small, oval jewels, about the size of a 100 yen coin fall to the ground. Half gleaming with golden light, half pulsing with seething darkness. They clatter as they hit the floor, scattering into a small spread.
Stellar’s eyes widen at the sight of them. “Are those..?”
“Our nascent kouhai.” Fuyuko’s eyes are fixed on the spilled gems littering the floor. “Another twelve generations of Lux Tenebrae before Aurora’s mission was complete. Now never to be. But they have a different purpose now. My purpose.” Her hand extends. Tendrils of darkness flick from her hand, spearing downwards to intersect each of the dark gems. Pulling them up. As they get close to her body, the gems begin to crackle and leak dark smoke. “This won’t be stable. Each gem is meant for one person. Using them all at once… they won’t last. But it will be long enough. I’m sure of it.”
The twelve gems float up, little crackles and smoking strands of darkness linking them to each other, and to Fuyuko. They begin to orbit her head, forming themselves into a small crown around her brow, in constant motion. Her eyes are pits of darkness as she looks up at Stellar, who stands yet in the doorway, unmoving.
“Lacuna..” Stellar whispers, her brows drawing together. “Fuyuko. I can’t.. You know I can’t let you do this. I’m sorry Kaito had to die, you know I am. But murdering innocent people isn’t going to bring him back. They didn’t do anything.”
“They existed.” Lacuna whispers in response. “And because they existed, he had to defend them. And he died. But he was better than they were. He meant more, at least to me. And so they don’t deserve to live when he didn’t.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Stellar bursts out, sudden anger in her voice. “You’re not making any sense, Fuyuko! I know this isn’t you, you’re not like this!”
“People change.” Comes the flat-toned response. The dark-clad girl begins to move, heading towards the door. She stops, face-to-face with Stellar. She stares into her eyes, her own like the void of her namesake. “Stay away from the port tonight.” And then she’s gone, moving past Stellar and down the hall, exiting the building.
Stellar stands where she is for long moments, staring after the other girl. Her other half. Her best friend. She seems in shock, frozen by indecision. Slowly, however, hands hands ball into fists at her sides. And her grey eyes glance towards the twelve glowing, golden stones still scattered on the floor of the room.
“A greater purpose..” She murmurs, extending a hand towards them. Little arcs of golden lightning crackle around her fingertips, then leap out towards the inert gems on the floor. They begin to rise upwards, floating in the air just like the dark gems did for Lacuna.
Bright arcs snap between the gems as they get closer to Stellar, hissing and popping. Her eyes are fixed on them. It’s slow, gentle, until quite suddenly, all of them fly towards her at once as if pulled by a giant magnet. Six go to each arm, embedding themselves against her flesh on the back of her hand, wrist, and forearm. Six gems on each arm.
Stellar lifts her newly adorned arms and looks down at them. Each is suffused in light, miniature bolts of lightning racing back and forth across her flesh, between the gems embedded there. Her expression is grim, but her grey eyes smoulder. “If we go, we go together.” She whispers to nobody. “We’re a pair, and there can’t be darkness without light, nor light without darkness. But I won’t let you hurt those people.”
And then she’s off as well, running down the hall in pursuit of the other girl.
