Souzou Forest - II

Mary pouted, giving herself a mental facepalm. She should've been more careful about the teakettle! Now it was whistling like a maniac, and if a human heard its infamous screeching... what trouble would she be into? Then again, she could turn one to stone... but she didn't want to feel like a monster! What good would that do? And she didn't want anyone to die either!

     With a desperate flick of the switch, the quarter Medusae sighed in relief. The whistling died down. She took a reach for the handle, and yelped, sucking on her finger. She was such a clumsy child--she had forgotten how hot the kettle was. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Oh, well. It wasn't like she could help it. She was going to be this way, whether she liked it or not.

     "Pouring tea, pouring tea, I just love... pouring tea!" Mary sang to herself, watching as her green tea plopped into the cup. She blew on the liquid for a tad bit, and then took a sip. She squealed; it was still oh, so hot. But the warmth trickled down her throat and made a funny feeling in her stomach. It was as if her mother was right beside her and gave her one of the best hugs ever. Mom... the thought left Mary feeling slightly depressed. It was because of her own foolishness that her mother died. Or was it because of her father? Either way, she was going to blame herself.

~[***]~

"Daddy!"

     Mary's voice cracked, and she thrashed wildly about, though Shion held her back. Mary tried reaching out for her father's hand, though he wasn't facing her. He was facing towards the door. He was going to leave.

     "Are you really going to leave your daughter right now?!" Shion exclaimed, effortlessly holding her struggling daughter in place. "My gosh, she's only 5 years old right now! We were supposed to spend with each other as long as possible--"

     The father turned around, staring at his wife in the eyes. "You guys... really are monsters."

     At that, Mary froze in place from shock. Then, she sat down and began to weep. Her mother was right! Humans thought they were monsters! And now, even her own dad was against them! Such a harsh, cruel, world! It made her cry more and more.

     Shion, however, held her ground. "What do you mean? I thought you accepted us!"

     "I let Mary outside for a few minutes so she could have some fresh air. And she was playing with a baby bird. And you know what she did? That poor bird froze!"

     "Only temporarily!"

   "What about you? You can actually turn people to stone and temporarily freeze people at eye contact!"

     Shion shook her head, ignoring him. "You lied. You said you would accept me on the day of your proposal!"

     The father glared at her eyes--er, or rather, forehead. "I was blind then. I didn't realize that being around you guys could be at the cost of my own life." He muttered, and walked out the door... forever. And now, as Mary hushed her sobbing, it was Shion's turn to weep. Rain began to pour outside.

     "Your father... I hope he doesn't rat us out. If he gives the people false rumors about us... they'll surely want to kill us in an angry mob." Mary's mother whispered with shuddering breath. She held Mary close to her, who was presently exhausted from crying and decided to nap. Then, the half Medusae turned to the window, streaked with the raindrops from the gray clouds. Perhaps this is similar to what her mother, Azami, went through? Except the only difference was that Azami's husband  loved her all the way through until the end of his life. Shion, on the other hand, felt utterly betrayed. She had hated her father for dying, and hated herself for giving her youthful Mary such a hard life. "Sleep well, my dear Mary. Don't look humans in the eyes."

~[***]~

Mary took another sip of her tea, this time putting the former book back and taking out a book titled All About Flowers! She smiled, looking through at the marvelous pictures of roses, lilies, daisies, carnations, and so much more. They all looked so pretty!

     As Mary put her cup of tea down onto the table, for she heard a knock, knock, knock on her door. It startled her so much, she jumped up, spilling her drink all over her furniture. However, she wasn't interested in her table getting ruined--she was more focused on the person who knocked on the door. Who was it? An ambusher? A thief? A ruffian? What did it want? Money? She had none! She could offer it some flowers or tea leaves she was growing, but she didn't want to part with that! Oh! Relax, Mary, it's probably a deer who's scratching its antlers on my door.

     And then there was a voice.

     "Uh... hello?"It was clearly a male's, and it couldn't possibly be a Medusae. It was a human! "I'm... um... hello? Anyone in here?"

     And Mary knelt on the floor, burying her face in her hands, beginning to cry.

Kallik's note: I was checking my overview thing... oh my gosh! The blog had 5(?) pageviews! Thank you so much, strangers! And on top of that, Souzou Forest - I had 2 pageviews! Thank you, thank you! Oh, also, I'm pretty sure Souzou Forest (the song) never mentioned the father, so I'm kinda making up what happened. Then again, what can you expect? This is my interpretation! Also, I guess the flashbacks could actually be known as Gunjou Rain. But, oh well.

The story about seeing eye-to-eye.

Souzou Forest - I

Everything was peaceful. The birds chirped. The soft, forest sunlight gathered in pools on the ground. The nearby stream was bubbling a watery lullaby. The breeze made the green leaves dance.

     "Mary, the outside world is a dangerous place."

     The words were from a woman named Shion Kozakura, whose eyes were as crimson as the setting sun, and long hair as white as the rising moon. She indeed had evidence of youth in her fair complexion, but in reality, she was perhaps 1000 years old or so. Perhaps even older. But one thing was certain for this woman: she was a Medusae, a race that came in only one line of family: they could freeze people's eyes at eye contact. So far, there were only three generations. The first one was from Azami, the one and only Medusa herself. She was Shion's mother. Then, came Shion herself, who was only half Medusae. She could freeze someone upon meeting eyes, but it would take a great strain upon herself. Then, Shion had Mary, a beautiful daughter who had cream-colored hair and the same traditional scarlet eyes. Mary was only a quarter of Medusae. She could only freeze someone temporarily at eye contact. But Azami, Shion, Mary... they were all considered "monsters", and monsters are to be feared.

     No, Mary, you are not ready yet to meet their "eyes". Shion thought. Perhaps later... later... when you are ready. I love you, Mary.

~[***]~

Mary was 500 years old now, and yet, she looked 15. She cracked a window open, letting the gentle wind play with her hair, and then turned to the array of bookshelves she had. Of course, she read all of them, and then reread them maybe 1000 times, and they never got old. Each book was a wonderful adventure to be on, and it told of this outside world she longed to meet. She began to wonder if such things like sleeping princesses and knights in shining armor really did exist.

     The quarter Medusae cracked open a book, flipping to a page by random, admiring the beautiful illustration of a garden. She absolutely adored flowers, and making flower crowns was something she did in her spare time. Unfortunately, they all seemed to die pretty quickly a couple of hours later.

     "I'll go make myself some tea!" Mary murmured to herself--something she was used to doing--and excused herself from the wooden, small table for two. She rushed over to the small kitchen set her Dad had gotten her. It was nothing more than a stove and a cupboard, but Mary cherished it forever, no matter how disgusted she was at her Dad. She turned the stove on with a yelp (she always was caught by surprise from the flame suddenly appearing), then obtained a porcelain teakettle from the cupboard. She walked outside (something that she found rather daring), and approached the stream gingerly, her anxious red eyes always flickering from side to side, hoping no one found her. With a swift motion, Mary scooped up water into the teakettle, closing the lid. She stood up, looking around one more time, then walked back into her house, locking the door quickly.

     "Another fortunate day of no traces of any person." She sighed to herself, and set the teakettle on the table, putting in herbal tea leaves. Shaking it up a tad bit, she placed it onto the flame.

     While waiting for the tea to boil, she looked at the book, the pages turning by itself from the breeze. When the wind stopped, Mary stared at the picture with a frown.

~[***]~

Shion bent down to the littler Mary (who was 5 years old), brushing her tears away gingerly with her thumb. "My dear daughter, you mustn't go outside yet."

     "Why, Mommy?"

     Shion sighed. "You are dangerous and a monster. You are feared. We are only a rumor; a myth. And yet, everyone is afraid to go into this forest. Do not go to the outside world, where the people thrive. You will learn later on."

     Mary's tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She wanted to go out of the forest more than ever, and that passion would not extinguish as quickly as that. "I'm not a monster, Mommy!"

     The mother sighed, and showed her daughter a handheld mirror. She focused the reflection onto one of Mary's crimson eyes--it was the reflection of a supposed monster. "Don't look them in the eyes!" Shion told her. "Or they'll turn to stone." It was a lie, but it was needed for Mary's protection. "When they turn to stone, they die. And I'm sure you don't want to be the cause of a death, right? So please, don't meet the humans. They're afraid of us; they're afraid of you."

     "...is that so, Mommy?" Mary asked, a sadness in her eyes. She seemed so mature all of a sudden, which is saying something for a 5 year old.

     "...Yes."

     Mary gripped the handheld mirror, watching herself blink in the reflection. Didn't mirrors lie? No, that was just a silly thing made up by those who couldn't handle the truth. But she didn't want to believe this truth! She didn't want to be called a monster! Just the very thought made Mary weep even more. She was now tired of this mirror, and raising the object, she threw it onto the floor, the fragments scratching the wooden floor.

~[***]~

The picture on the book was in fact, a supposed illustration of a woman with long black hair, scaly cheeks, and scarlet eyes, raising her arms up in a ceremoniously way, snakes surrounding her in a spiral. She was none other than her grandmother, Azami. Is that what she looked like? Where was she, anyway? But curiosity killed the cat! Mary shouldn't try asking any more questions.

     "Mom..." She whispered under her breath, shutting the book closed. "I miss you..."

     And that was when she realized the teakittle was screeching its whistle.

Kallik's note: Yay! Kagerou Project! So... I'll post new chapters when I feel like writing something Kagerou Project related, so, don't expect a new chapter every single day... which is probably how it'll be in the first few days. Anyway, I hope you think my writing is improving! By the way, the story might not necessarily go in order, which is why it's called "Souzou Forest - I", meaning that more chapters related to this will come. Confusing, I know, but it might make sense later on.

The Story about seeing eye-to-eye.