[Re]velations

Voices drifted in and out of focus. Pale blue light shone through the veil of her closed eyelids. It felt as though she was floating. Her feet were numb. Exhaustion pulled every muscle tight and sent aggravating throbs across her skull.

“Sir, something is wrong… Miu, she was a good person. This can’t be right,” said the boy.

Taki.

It was Taki. After all these years. The boy who had been so cruel to them for so long. But his voice sounded calm, almost gentle.

“Please, just let me go talk to her.”

“...Fine. You can go speak with her while the others are finishing up their debrief.”

There was a click, and a vacuum-sealed door was undone. Miu’s eyes finally opened to reveal that she was in some manner of a containment room. Stale halogen lights blotted the darkened walls with icy white. An observation window was before her. Glyphs spun above and below her as she hung suspended in the air. Strange cuffs lined with small shards were clamped across both wrists.

Then Taki appeared in the light.

A whimper escaped Miu’s lips, and she didn’t know if it was a long-repressed gut-reaction or a new frustration with her current situation. Still, she pulled at the binds and growled in warning, but Taki still moved towards her. Once more, she noticed his eyes were sympathetic and almost kind. The Arcan jaw piece was once more active, and the small lines running from his chin into his mouth were glowing light blue.

“Miu. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s me. It’s Taki,” he said as he held up his hands.

“You’re military,” Miu snarled with condemnation.

“Just a lowly logistics lead. Not a heroic super-soldier,” Taki said with an honest smile.

“But you were there, attacking us,” Miu groaned as she blinked away the harsh spots that were blotting her vision.

“Our orders were to fire on the Arcans every day. I had no idea a human was there. I had no idea it was you…”

Miu glared at him.

“...Why… why were you there, Miu? What happened?” Taki asked in sincere concern.

“Everything happened,” Miu sighed.

Tears returned, and the blood appeared in her eye once again, causing her to flinch in pain and anger. Taki rose without meaning to. Miu pulled away in fear, but he simply held up a white handkerchief.

“Here,” he said as he extended it towards her bleeding eye.

Miu noticed a wedding band on his finger.

“You’re married?” she muttered as her brow pulled downward in pain.

Taki nodded.

“Three months ago,” he said.

“She’s a nurse. She patched me up after Sapporo, and well…” he chuckled as he fumbled with the ring.

“S-Sapporo?” Miu whimpered.

The words stabbed at her mind, and the blue flame flickered within her eye, but the cuffs shone red, and the fire was repressed. Taki noticed the crackle of rage, and his shoulders lowered.

He dared to ask his next question.

“You were there?” he asked.

Miu’s hateful glare was his answer.

“Your military destroyed our home. Our city. Everything. Then they dropped a nuke on us,” Miu choked through rage.

Taki looked away in disappointment.

“The Americans’ decision was… regrettable… I’m very sorry. I was just in Sapporo trying to coordinate evacuation logistics, I promise.”

Miu looked away in fatigued despair as more blood ran once more. Taki reached up again, but she pulled away.

“Don’t. Don’t,” she whispered.

Taki had one more question. His expression hinted that he already sensed the answer.

“Where is Yuki?” he asked softly.

That name. Miu’s eye crackled and threatened to rip through the restraints. Blood dripped down to the floor as sobs built in Miu’s chest. Taki had his answer.

Just as he began to apologize, the door opened once more. Miu looked up and let out a roar of anguish. I’ah was there with several Japanese and American commanders. Taki stood to attention as the cohort entered.

“You are excused, Major,” said one of the generals.

Taki saluted and then excused himself. Miu was left alone with I’ah and her new captors.

“You lied to me,” she said to I’ah.

“You manipulated me and used me. Why?!”

I’ah simply tilted some of its crystalline chunks in dismissive denial. Miu screamed and pulled at her restraints, but it was to no avail.

“I have honored my part of the agreement. This proves that your kind can hold symbiotic partnerships with actual Arcan stone and language. Not just your manufactured forms.”

The generals all nodded. A strange man stepped forward from the back of the group. He was a civilian, in casual clothes. Small flecks of Manu-Crystal shards were embedded around his shaved head like a crown, causing his eyes to emanate a dead, haunting blue. His very presence angered Miu.

“This is big,” he said.

“Think what this can mean. Instant payload delivery. Force scalability. Infinite resources. And we have the only known person in the world to study. This will give us a huge advantage over our enemies and competitors.”

All of their noise and speaking was tearing at the remaining sanity locked away in Miu’s mind. As they droned on, her rage was spreading. Was this the plan all along? Had she willingly walked into a trap, thinking it would give her fulfillment? Had they been tracking her through all of her trials and sorrows?

“How long have you been watching me?” she muttered.

All of them stopped and looked at her.

None of the military officials wanted to speak, but the civilian could not help himself.

“You were already in government databases due to being an orphan. Then the hospital tells us you get a shard melded to you during The Arrival, unlike anyone else in our countries. Then over the years you show signs of holding power beyond our Manu-devices… Think that gets ignored?...”

Everything was burning. It all made sense now. She had been too young and too distracted to dare to see it, but he was right. Every part of her existence had been in some sort of database up till then. Her connection to her eye had caused undeniable damage, like the restaurant fire. All of it was too much for prying eyes to ignore, and too easy to track. It was all a lie and an intentional story leading her down a path she had no control over. And he…

yukiwasinpieces

And he was...

yukiwasdead

And he had been...

hislastwordswerehername

“Yuki…” Miu gasped as she looked up at the room full of indifferent men.

“You killed him on purpose? Just to test me? Just to make sure I was alone?!” she cried.

The silence was more than enough of an answer. By now, the fire was roaring within Miu’s eye, threatening to consume her soul in purging blue.

“Why?! WHY?!! I’AH?!!!” Miu cried in rage.

But the silence remained.

“We can continue debriefing in the main room,” said one of the generals.

With that, they left her.

“I’ah! I’ah?! I’ah please?!” Miu cried as it drifted out of the enormous door.

But it didn’t look back at her. As the door sealed I’ah away from Miu, all it could hear were her wails of rage and sorrow as barely-restrained blue light filled the room.