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Chapter Three:
Idiots, Gods, Mentors, and Mothers
Why do Gods feel the need to embrace clichés? Requiem wondered as she trudged to the front door of the house she shared with her mother and pack of dogs.
The Greeks had it right when they showed the Gods as spoiled, petulant brats that whined when they did not get their way. They were idiotic and vengeful. The place the Gods’ Council appeared to be almost exactly like how a child’s movie called Hercules, depicted Mount Olympus, the fabled home of the Greek Gods. They were as selfish as the Greeks said most gods could be and full of vengeance when their "Divine Will" did not get their way. They only seemed concerned with making sure they had a new consort that night.
The Gods were also stupid beyond reason. They could not understand why she had survived the destruction she had wrought when she was fifteen. "By all rights", they claimed, ”She should be dead from freeing the Kata'ka'aryin."
Requiem's response had been simple, "I survived because I was the one who unleashed the destruction." She did not comment on the Kata'ka'aryin. Though her curiosity tingled with its' mention.
Requiem shook her head to clear it of it’s' fuzziness and fury. Having to deal with the Council always drained Requiem to the dregs of her energy and she could only take so much of their bull crap before she decided to destroy them all. They were ridiculously spoiled, and Requiem believed that the God of Dimension spoiled them for a reason, though Requiem still had yet to figure it out.
"Ka-san, I'm home”, she yelled as she entered the small, neat living room inside of her house. She lived in a somewhat large cottage outside of a small suburb in the rolling hills of Missouri. Requiem and her mother together with a pack of ten dogs, all of them rescued dog-wolf hybrids or pure wolves, most of them grown in painful captivity. Then again, Requiem's mother had always had a soft spot for anything of the canine breed.
Requiem smiled tiredly as she heard her mother come up from the basement of the cottage where her 'other' hobbies were stored. The two women were smack in the middle of Bible country, and if anyone caught wind of their true natures, the mother and daughter would have to move again, and neither of them wanted that.
"Hello, koibito. How did the meeting go?" Requiem’s mother asked in a soft accented soprano voice. Out of habit, the mother and daughter often mixed Japanese and English when they spoke with each other.
Arashi Sakura, her mother, was of pure Japanese origin. Long jet-black hair and gorgeous chocolate almond-shaped eyes were set into a classically lovely Japanese face, with full lips and pale, fair skin. Requiem often felt ugly standing next to her delicate and beautiful mother.
Requiem, tall and slim, built with lean, whipcord muscles after training for years in martial arts like Kendo, Karate, Judo, and Tai Kwon Do. Her eyes were like her mother’s, almond-shaped. Instead of a soulful brown, Requiem’s eyes were a bright, hard yellow. Her face was not classically delicate, but it was strong and distinctive. Exotic, though Requiem did not feel that way. She often felt like a freak of nature standing next to her petite mother.
Sakura was a witch, and a powerful one at that, and while Requiem had the potential to be a witch, Requiem used her gifts for killing scumbags. Sakura would not ever understand why her only daughter chose to be an Angel of Death, when she could be one of the most powerful and good witches in existence. It hurt Sakura; knowing that she would not ever be able to understand the path her daughter had chosen, and knowing that she could not share the beauty of her Craft fully with her only child. However, Sakura was a strong woman and she could deal with things as they came.
"It was difficult, okasan. They still don't listen to sense. Baka, “Requiem muttered while she shook her head in disgust, "But I didn't expect that to change anyway."
Requiem had moved into the living room fully and set her purse down on the table. Her long crimson hair still hung loose, reaching to her knees, so Sakura came behind her tall daughter and stroked her hair, binding it into a loose braid. Requiem turned and hugged her mother around her shoulders, and Arashi Sakura returned the embrace fiercely. It had been a week since they last saw each other, and the mother and daughter loved each other and missed each other.
Sakura moved back and held her tall child at arms length, looking up at the woman she had become. Sakura knew that Requiem would have to leave home soon, for eighteen was the age of adulthood. Because Sakura knew, of all people, how cruel the gods could be. She smiled at her daughter and released her, turned and went into the small, open kitchen to the left of the living room.
"Did they actually feed you?" Sakura asked Requiem, her voice slightly annoyed,” You're like a yurei; you're so thin and pale."
Requiem laughed with amusement and shook her head," Nai, okasan, you know they never feed me when I'm there. As for the paleness, you know that's just my heritage coming out." She teased her mother, playfully, unaware of Sakura's true somberness hiding beneath the irritation.
Requiem flopped down on the couch, kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on the small padded stool, serving as a footrest. Requiem sat still as a bunch of thoughts drifted across her mind. It is unlikely that she will ever understand what I am. She tries to accept it, but it hurts her. Requiem sighed and pillowed her head on her arms, laying her head on the armrest of the sofa.
Ten minutes later, Sakura had the tea ready and a small tray of ramen noodles for the two of them to share. “Koibito, what is troubling you?" she asked when she saw that Requiem was only picking at her food. Usually when she came back from the Council, she was not only ravenous; she was exhausted. This was not the longest she had been in the Other Realm, the realm of the Gods, but she certainly never had come back so tired that she could not eat.
Requiem smiled for her mother, but she still looked troubled. "Nanimo nai, okasan. I'm just dwelling on the past. It's nothing urgent, or bad. I'm just sad, for some reason. Do you mind if I use your workroom today, as soon as I’ve finished eating us out of house and home?”Requiem smiled, and this time it was not feigned.
Sakura looked at her daughter, considering. Requiem would not ask unless she had a reason to use her workroom. Sakura pursed her lips for a moment, then she said,” Hai. But only if you finish your ramen and tea.”
Requiem grinned impishly, slurped down the rest of her ramen and gulped down her tea. “Okay, I’m done, ka-san!” She got up, cleared the tray that she had eaten on and bounded down the staircase, pausing only to take the pot of tea with her, and a book of herbs. Requiem’s voice drifted up the stairs saying ,”Arigoto, okasan. I love you!”
Sakura sighed and resigned herself to a long night filled with explosions and small fires with a small shake of her head and a soft smile.
 crypticxguide · Mon Feb 26, 2007 @ 07:03pm · 0 Comments |
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