part three
v e n i a
(forgiveness)
Kaitlyn padded around her apartment, shivering as she fumbled for the thermostat. She tried to turn on a light switch, but the electricity did not respond. Grumbling, she opened her door and stepped out to the hall, wondering if Etienne was having the same trouble. The door was already ajar when she arrived. Confused, she called into the dark apartment.“Hello?”
“Come on in..” Etienne’s voice answered softly.
“Is your electricity out too?” she said, crossing his threshold. A lamp turned on, revealing Etienne’s thin form.
“No..it’s working just fine,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“Oh.. well, that’s good,” she said nervously, having a slight flashback to when they had first met. She remembered sitting in darkness and then the room being flooded with light as he stood before her, taunting her with her henshin pen.
“Are you okay?” she said, wringing her hands. Etienne moved from his chair, drawing up near her.
“Better than ever,” he replied. He shut his door and leaned against it, folding his arms over his chest.
“Um, well, sorry to bother you,” she began. He turned on the light above him, and it was then that she saw the knife in his hand.
“You never bother me, Kaitlyn,” he was behind her suddenly, his arms pressing into her midsection.
“Guh.. E-etienne,” she coughed. “What are you doing?”
He pressed the knife into the flesh of her arm and whispered in her ear. “What I’ve always wanted to do…”
He ran his tongue across the knife’s blade, smiling as her blood covered his lips.
“No… no, this is a dream!” Kaitlyn forced herself awake before the nightmare could progress. “Etienne would never do that..”
“Mew?” Reve, who had been nestled comfortably on Kaitlyn’s stomach, hopped away as she suddenly sat upright. He was surprised that she had escaped the nightmare before it ended, but he supposed it did not matter—the fear in her eyes was evident. He jumped off the bed and trotted towards her bathroom.
“Evan?” she said weakly. “Evan, where are you going..”
She followed him, watching him sit at the foot of her sink. Glass shards surrounded his paws, and she raised her head, finding that her mirror had been shattered. Scarlet letters were painted over the broken glass, and Kaitlyn breathed sharply as she comprehended their meaning. Tears ran down her cheeks as she grasped the sink’s edge, trembling. Below her, Evan mewed and rubbed against her legs. She collected him into her arms and held him forcefully, sobbing into his back. She brought him to her bed, shaking as she continued to cry.
Reve licked her tears away, truly sorry for causing her pain. He dug his head into her arm and pressed close. He had but one more task to accomplish before he could reveal himself to her. He closed his eyes, allowing his body to fall limp in Kaitlyn’s arms. His mind searched out that of his final aggressor, but once arriving inside her subconscious, he found himself impeded by an unknown force. The outline of a young girl’s body manifested itself in front of him, and he gasped when he saw her in full light. She was not clad in her normal armor but in a ratted, blue tank-top and torn denim shorts. Combat boots covered her feet, and a white bandana poked out from her long red hair.
“Hello. I’m Lysistrata. What the hell do you think you’re trying to do?” she asked. “Do you think you can manipulate my dream?”
Reve trembled, fumbling for an answer. She continued speaking without his reply.
“I suppose it’s all well and good that you would come here,” she mused. “Now I don’t have to hunt you down.”
Reve’s pupils dilated with fear as the tips of his fingers twitched. He could not assert control of her subconscious, but worse, he found himself unable to leave. He was in her dream and he was at its mercy. Her lips parted in a smile as she savored the triumph. The sword that she slid from the sheath at her side was soon pointed at his heart. He swallowed, and in the silence of her dream, the nervous sound echoed.
“The destruction of the wicked is my dream…” she said, pressing the blade’s tip into the fabric of his coat. “and here it is being played out.”
“I’m not wicked,” Reve said. His voice was small and his words were spoken simply, as if he were a child meekly reciting a fact.
“Oh?” she said, her eyes burning into his skin as she stared at him. “What proof do you have of that?”
“…proof?” he answered. Reve was distracted momentarily by the fact that they were the only two existing in the dream. All that surrounded them was a quiet darkness that reflected every sound it met with a disarming, resonating quality. “I…I have no proof.”
“Then what’s to say that you’re not wicked? After all, most would classify kidnapping and then apparent mental manipulation as deeds of a fairly wicked caliber,” she said, driving the sword a bit farther. His coat tore, and he whimpered, but did not move away.
“I was only doing what I needed to do,” he whispered.
“And why did you need to do what you did?”
“So I wouldn’t be lonely..” he was now barely audible. “I..I’ve been alone for so long…” he faltered under her continually unsympathetic glare. She would never understand, he realized. And he was going to die.
Kaitlyn, unable to return to sleep, had been prodding her cat’s side ever since he had closed his eyes. His lack of response caused her to grow increasingly worried, but she was distracted from this by a knock on her door. Unsurprisingly, the visitor was an insomnia-ridden Etienne. The sight of him disconcerted Kaitlyn slightly, as images from her nightmare flooded in from her memory. *
“I’m really sorry to bother you this late..” he began. She pushed her recollections away and shook her head.
“I can’t sleep either…I..I had this horrible nightmare..I think something’s the matter with Evan..and my bedroom mirror is all smashed up.”
“Oh,” Etienne blinked. “I just had too much coffee.”
She smiled weakly and led him to her room, where she then directed him to the mirror.
“Um…it looks fine to me…” he said slowly. Kaitlyn, not wanting to see it again, had been covering her eyes. She peeked through her fingers at the glass, shaken when she saw it was in perfect condition and free of any markings.
“Th..that’s impossible.. I swear…god..” she stammered, running both hands over the mirror’s surface. He petted her hair gently.
“Let’s sit down,” he suggested placidly, steering her to her bed, where Evan lay, limp as a felt doll.
“Evan doesn’t look especially healthy though, does he..” Etienne touched the cat’s head. The phone rang before he could say anything more. Etienne, watching Kaitlyn cuddle Evan concernedly, picked it up.
“Um..Sinclair residence,” he said.
“Etienne?” Azura’s British voice came over the line.
“Yep,” he answered dully.
“What’s going on?”
“I couldn’t sleep and Kaitlyn had a nightmare and her cat’s acting funny..well actually he’s not really acting at all since he’s limp but anyway..”
“You can stop there,” Azura said. “I had a nightmare too..and someone carved in somnis veritas into my window..but the carving is gone now.. I’m getting a little frightened, to be frank, and I thought maybe Kaitlyn could help.. I’m not sure why.. maybe I should hang up,” she rambled anxiously.
“Oh, don’t hang up..” Etienne said. “Just a sec..Here’s Kaitlyn.”
He transferred the phone to her hands.
“Hello? Azura?” Kaitlyn said. Azura related her story, to which Kaitlyn responded predictably.
“Oh my God! The exact same thing happened to me!” so loud that it started Etienne. He petted Evan’s fur as Azura and Kaitlyn spoke. Kaitlyn said goodbye about twenty pets later and hung up the phone.
“Azura’s coming over,” she announced.
“At one o clock in the morning?!” Etienne cried.
“Why not? You did.”
“Yes, but,” Etienne sputtered, “I live right down the hall…”
“Oh, calm down and go get her,” Kaitlyn said, snuggling Evan. “You can still teleport, right?”
“Well yes..but I’m not dressed..”
“I really don’t think she cares, honey.”
Etienne sighed. “Anything for you, darling.”
And with that, he disappeared. In his throat, Omnes made the sound of a whip cracking as he suddenly brought himself into view. “You’ve got him whipped, eh?”
“What do you want?” Kaitlyn mumbled.
“Just to offer a little advice,” he said in a singsong voice. “Don’t trust the cat.”
“Huh?” she looked at Evan. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
“Oh yes. He’s having a nightmare.”
“Well..well, wake him up!” Kaitlyn said insistently.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, my darling,” Omnes answered, hovering by her. “You see, I don’t believe he’s going to wake up.”
“And why is that, Omnes? What game are you playing now?” Azura spoke as she and a sleepy Etienne entered the room.
“Why, hello, friends,” Omnes smiled, his words laden with saccharine. “Perhaps I should explain.”
But before he could, another knock rapped against Kaitlyn’s door.
“Holy Mother of Christ, what is wrong with you people,” Etienne complained, going to answer it. “It’s in the middle of the bloody night!”
“Actually it’s the beginning of the bloody morning, but…” Azura began, only to be met with Etienne’s dismissive wave. She heard the sound of a door opening, and then a dismal,
“Oh, it’s you.”“Don’t sound so excited,” came the reply.
“Jigoku,” Kaitlyn smiled. He and Etienne glared at each other as they pushed themselves simultaneously into Kaitlyn’s bedroom.
“Well, now that we’re all here..” Omnes said. He leaned against Kaitlyn, but his eyes were focused on Jigoku’s enraged face. “I suppose you all remember that lovely man we contended with a little while ago?”
“Reve?” Kaitlyn blinked.
“Yes, that was his name. Charming lad,” Omnes said. “Or rather, charming cat..”
“What..? You mean..” Kaitlyn’s mind worked quickly as she stared at the animal in her lap. The fur that was as blue-green as the sea, just like Reve’s long, straight hair. The eyes of lavender, and the maroon markings on the nose and cheeks.
“Reve.. it’s Reve..” Kaitlyn said, hugging him suddenly.
“I.. I thought we killed him,” Azura spoke without thinking, and Kaitlyn’s eyes narrowed.
“What? You tried to kill him?” she snapped.
“Omnes said he was evil…” Azura bit her lip.
“Oh, sure, it’s all my fault…” Omnes said, and then stopped, rubbing his chin. “Oh wait. It is all my fault. Fancy that.”
“What have you done? What are you doing?” Kaitlyn cried. “Why won’t he wake up?!”
“He’s in your friend Sailorknight’s dream. And she’s going to kill him,” Omnes responded cheerfully.
“No..” Kaitlyn said. “I won’t let you!”
“So don’t. Want me to take you there?” he offered. Taken aback, Kaitlyn nodded.
“Hold on just a second over here,” Etienne said. “I still don’t understand this..”
“Let me break it down for you,” Omnes said. “Kaitlyn met Reve in her dream, he decided he wanted to keep her in the dream, I sent everyone in to kill him. They failed, he’s still alive, he broke out of the dreamworld and attempted to take revenge upon the lot of you. He succeeded on all counts except for Lysistrata—whom you know as Sailorknight—and now she intends to finish him off herself.”
“Oh. That doesn’t sound very good,” Etienne said.
“God, you are clueless,” Jigoku smacked his forehead.
“Hey, shut up,” he muttered. “It’s late.”
Meanwhile, Kaitlyn had already transformed into Sailormana.
“Let’s go!” she said. “I won’t let her do this again…this time I won’t be weak..”
Omnes smiled. “Shall I fetch your friends?”
“Wouldn’t they all be asleep?” she said as she set Reve on her pillow.
“Considering the dreams your friend gave them.. I highly doubt it,” Omnes said.
“Well.. okay then…” Mana glanced over at Azura, who had transformed to Undine.
“I guess now it’s time to reverse our strategy,” she said. “I felt a little unnerved about attacking him anyway… something just seemed to come over me…”
“Yes, well, let’s not think about that now,” Omnes said hastily, avoiding Jigoku’s dark look. “We don’t have much time, after all…”
Reve braced himself for the death blow, but he found that it never came. Lysistrata lowered her sword, her expression puzzled. *
“Why don’t you defend yourself? Are you just that weak?”
“N-no… I..I don’t want to hurt you..”
“Just want to give me an excruciating nightmare?”
“Well.. well yes…” he mumbled. “You tried to kill me.. you hurt me… I want to hurt you too.”
“At least you’re honest,” she said, leaning on her sword. “I’m afraid I can’t forgive you for this infraction, however…nor can I forgive the fact that I thought you were dead when, in actuality, you are quite alive.”
“Stop right there!” Sailormana interrupted.
“Hmmmm?” Lysistrata swiveled around. Sailormana and the rest of her group stood in a cluster behind her, each with their own intimidating pose. “What a lovely surprise. Are you going to going to help me eliminate him?”
“No,” The Mana Sword formed in Sailormana’s hands. “We’re going to stop you.”
“Um.. we are?” Lumina said. Mana face-faulted.
“Well, at least I am…” she mumbled. The others exchanged looks.
“He gave us some pretty terrible nightmares, Kaitlyn…” Lumina said, playing with the end of one of her bows.
“You tried to kill me,” he said tremulously.
“Hmm..” she said. “Well..yeah, I guess that’s true.”
“Besides..” he said, picking at his hands. “I didn’t really give you the nightmares. They were mostly reflections of doubts and fears you already had.. well..except for yours, Kiera, I kind of made up most of that one..”
She rolled her eyes.
“I won’t let you hurt him,” Mana said firmly, stepping in front of Reve. “Any of you.”
A lock of Mana’s green ringlets brushed against Reve’s cheeks.
“Kaitlyn..?” he said, touching her hair.
“Priestess, he kidnapped you. He was going to keep you there in that dream you were having forever,” Lysistrata said patiently. “He must be punished.”
Mana turned her head so her eyes were on Reve’s face.
“You were…?”
He withdrew his hand, shaking.
“W..well.. yes.. I.. I just didn’t want to be alone…”
“Reve, you don’t have to be alone.. but you know you can’t keep a person locked away like that…” she said quietly.
“You’re not mad?” he whispered. “Because they were all mad…”
Mana gave Omnes a sideways glare.
“I think they were operating under influence.”
“I wasn’t operating under influence,” Lysistrata snapped. “Get out of the way, Priestess.”
“No,” she insisted. “You killed Riordan…I won’t let you kill Reve. He didn’t know what he was doing.”
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it,” she returned. “I don’t want to do this, but if you want to stop me, you have to fight me.”
“Fine. I will,” she said, hoping she sounded braver than she felt. Her nails scratched against the metal of her sword as she clutched it, drawing in a deep breath. "But first, Lysistrata...why are you so merciless?"
"I'm afraid that story is too long to tell here.." she answered, her voice losing its edge for the briefest moment. "But let's just say that I've never had any mercy shown to me."
Mana nodded. "Fair enough.."
“Kaitlyn!” Sylphid moved to her side. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? I thought you were a pacifist?”
“N-no… but I can’t let her kill him…” Mana breathed. “And I am.. but.. I understand now that while you don’t always have to kill.. sometimes you have to fight..”
“Do you even know how to use that sword, Priestess?” Lysistrata said.
“Well. No. But I can give it a shot,” she said earnestly. In an instant Lysistrata’s sword was at her throat, and she jumped back involuntarily, striking her blade against the sword’s tip.
“N-nice try,” Mana breathed, holding the Mana sword steady. Lysistrata withdrew her weapon.
“I wasn’t trying. But I guess you’re not as slow as I thought.”
Mana didn’t answer.
“Now, Priestess…” she said. “Let’s fight.”
Their swords clashed against each other as they struck simultaneously. The air shook with the resonance of the metallic clang, and all present stood still as they watched the battle unfold. Lysistrata lunged quickly, but found her attack deflected by a hard parry from the side of Mana’s sword. Mana’s hands shook as she defended Lysistrata’s advances. She had the feeling that she wasn’t entirely in control of what she was doing—when had she become this fast? Their two blades slid against one another as Lysistrata tried to defend herself from Mana’s sudden counter-attack.
“Impossible!” Lysistrata cried, holding her sword up to block Mana’s lunge.
“I know!” Mana said, slashing at Lysistrata’s arm. She whirled, disengaging the attack with a circular motion of her sword. Breathing heavily, Mana jumped off her right foot, slashing blindly at Lysistrata’s mid-section. She passed her, missing by a few inches—but Lysistrata caught the mistake and slammed her sword against Mana’s grip, almost slicing her fingers. She fell to her knees out of shock, but was back on her feet when she realized that no blood had been drawn.
“Jesus Christ,” Lumina said. “This is starting to make me dizzy..”
Mana sucked in air, staring down at the sword. Its hilt seemed to pulse in her hand, as if the weapon were alive. Lyistrata raised her own blade as if to strike, and Mana prepared to parry the blow, but instead Lysistrata backflipped behind her, sweeping her foot beneath Mana’s legs. She fell to the ground, crying out. She swung the sword out in front of her before Lysistrata could attack again and struggled to her feet.
“Nice trick!” she said. She lunged again, striking with the sword over and over as if she were using her fists to punch air. The sword’s tip moved too fast for the others to see, and the surprise of it disengaged Lysistrata’s balance. Mana’s sword was suddenly everywhere at once as she advanced, striking with what seemed to be blind desperation. Lysistrata found herself struggling to stop the attacks, however, forcing her to accept that it couldn’t be anything but solid precision. The blaze in Mana’s eyes burned feverishly as she continued to push Lysistrata back. Seeing this, Lysistrata knew that she couldn’t stand for much longer.
“Stop!” she said, dropping her sword. Within seconds, Mana’s fire ceased. Sweat poured down her face.
“H…had enough?” she coughed.
“Incredible,” Lysistrata breathed. “It must be… it’s got to be the Mana Sword..but it’s not even in its true form.. so how could you..?”
“I.. I told you..” Mana said. “I won’t let you kill him…”
Lysistrata bowed. “I understand, Priestess. I’ll let you have him.”
Then, they woke up.
“Congratulations, everyone,” Omnes said, as their physical bodies came to inside Kaitlyn’s apartment. “You have successfully amused me.”
“What do you mean, amused you? This was all for your amusement?” Lani snapped. “Did you orchestrate this?”
“Of course,” he said. “And in doing so, Reve is no longer lonely, Lysistrata was defeated, you all realized your own doubts about your friends, and Kaitlyn learned she can fight when she needs to. I think it was quite a character building experience.”
“You’re a sick bastard,” she hissed.
“Yes. It’s rather fun,” he smiled. “But I guess now we understand each other?”
“Psst..” Kaitlyn nudged Jada. “What are they talking about?”
“No clue..” she blinked. Lani just glared.
“Kaitlyn..” Reve, who was now back in his true body, tugged on her sleeve plaintively. “Kaitlyn, can I stay here?”
“Um, no,” Etienne interjected before she could reply. “No way.”
“What if I stayed as a cat?” he asked, his lower lip trembling. “Please? I don’t want to leave.. I don’t want to be lonely again..”
“It’s fine with me, Reve,” she said, hugging him. Etienne glowered in annoyance.
“Jealous, Negaboy?” Jada grinned.
“Shut up,” he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Etienne, he’s like a son,” Kaitlyn said, petting Reve’s hair. Reve purred in response.
“Umm.. hey, Reve..” Jada said. “So.. all the stuff that happened in those nightmares.. it hasn’t got any basis in reality, right?”
He blinked. “Well, it was just a dream..”
“Yeah, but..” she bit her lip. “Um. Nevermind. What time is it?”
“About three in the morning,” Etienne yawned. “Thank God it’s Sunday, eh..I suggest we all go home and sleep in… in fact.. I’m going to do that now..”
He pushed past Omnes, slinking out of Kaitlyn’s door. “See you in the morning, Kaitlyn..”
Reve turned into a cat and hopped onto Kaitlyn’s shoulder. She looked down at herself, realizing that she had been standing in front of them all in her nightclothes, and blushed.
“Uhh..maybe I should get to bed now too..” she stammered.
“Hey, we’re all girls here,” Roan grinned maniacally. “Well, I’m not sure what Omnes is, but I guess he’s close enough.”
“You’re so endearing, Roan,” Omnes said acidly. “But since I’m so kind, I’ll take you all home anyway.”
Lani resisted the urge to comment. Omnes snapped his fingers, and the assembled disappeared, leaving Kaitlyn and Reve alone together in the apartment. She brought him to her bed and curled up inside it, stroking his back.
“Reve.. why did you give me a nightmare, too?”
“I was trying to turn you against Etienne…” he answered, his tail twitching nervously. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright…I was just wondering..” she petted his fur.
“You’re so forgiving, Kaitlyn..” he murmured, tucking his head beneath her chin.
“It’s not something I can help, I don’t think..” she said. “It’s like I don’t have the capacity to stay angry..”
“Well, thanks for staying angry long enough to defend me,” he said, pawing at her throat. Kaitlyn yawned, letting her head sink into her pillow.
“You’re welcome..” she mumbled as she drifted to sleep. Reve pawed her face as he watched her breathe. He had been saved and he had been forgiven, and he was no longer alone. Warmth and happiness flooded into him like a wave, and he curled into a ball. His life had at last begun.
Well that's it XD ISV is oovveerr... Yes, I know Kiera's dream was lame-ass. I just couldn't think of what to do, obviously. But how was the rest of it? I worked really hard on the other dreams (I worked hard on Kiera's too, it just sucked because the idea was dumb and short x.x;;) and on the duel between Mana and Lysistrata/Knight. I actually like how this ended better than the Clarity series I ending..maybe cause no one died and Kaitlyn got to kick some ass XD
And yes, I realize that Omnes is several yards different from THEM, but this is really what I intended THEM to be all along--a self-righteous, manipulative, hypocritical bitch. ^^;
And finally, I hope all this writing was worth the long wait I put y'all through. Feedback, feedback, feedback. ^^;;