Lifesong: The Prelude
In the outskirts of Tokyo there sat a small brick building that housed a corner café. It was quite popular as a meeting place for business men and women. The café offered a variety of services ranging from tea, coffee, and internet access to less legal services like hit men for hire and the like. A young woman looking to be in her early twenties with short chestnut brown hair sat at a table outside the building. In her hand was a cup of tea that she sipped at while apparently waiting for someone. Her low-cut blouse and short skirt drew the attention of the other patrons, both male and female, to herself. She stared out in to traffic with a piercing look, squinting every now and then as the sun shown off the passing cars. It was a lazy spring morning, but despite that she seemed to have an air of impatience.
“Can I,” squeaked the young waiter. Suddenly blushing furiously he cleared his throat and started again, “Can I get you anything else, Miss Megumi?” he finished in a suave voice. The woman turned toward him and with a coy smile replied, “No, not at this time, but I’ll let you know.” “Damn, you sure are a flirt, Megumi!” said a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens as she approached the table. The girl wore blue denim overalls and wore a man’s dress shirt unbuttoned over them. Her posture was of one looking for a fight, and her waist length silver hair had been pulled into a hasty braid. Her blood red eyes were narrow and her voice was like a razor-edged knife. As she dropped a computer disk on the table, she grabbed a chair and spun it around, sat astride it, facing the back. “Always picking up men only to drop them when you are done with them; as if they were disposable tissues.”
Megumi turned to face her abruptly. As her copper eyes flashed she retorted, “Keep your nose out of MY business, Mai. Who I do or don’t do is none of your concern. Just because you don’t let anyone close doesn’t mean I can’t.” The young waiter promptly dropped the menus as he grabbed his nose and made a hasty exit.
“Whatever, old hag. There’s the manuscript, I finished it last night. Use the same alias as last time, um... Kage Rei wasn’t it,” Mai said as she picked up the menu the waiter had dropped.
“I forgot how volatile you get after working for a week straight,” Megumi responded with an exasperated sigh, as she reached over to pick up the disk. “I’ll overlook it this time, however, considering that it only took you a week to write this entire manuscript.” After holding the disk up to make her point, she dropped it into her purse and snapped it closed. “Nothin’ looks good in here,” the girl sighed as she tossed the menu on the table. “Well, I’ll see ya. I’m going to check the turf today, and I’m going ‘dancing’ for the D.J.s tonight, so don’t bother looking for me till tomorrow.” Mai said as she got up to leave. “Oh... and call school and tell them I’m sick, will ya? Ciao.” With that, Mai stepped out into the busy street and vanished.
Jeez, she is such a pain when she’s like that! Oh well, time to go to work, I guess, she thought as she stood and picked up her clutch purse. Turning to the waiter that approached she said with a smile, “Waiter, put that on my tab, will you?”
“Certainly, miss Megumi. Thank you for coming to DJ’s nest,” the waiter said with a bow as Megumi stepped to the curb and instantly was greeted by a cab driver.
“Good day, Miss. Where to??” The driver asked with a pervy grin. “Tokyo General,” Megumi said with a seductive smile. As they headed for the hospital, Megumi took out a compact, checked her make up, and put the compact away. She then spent the remainder of the trip staring outside with a far away look on her face. When they arrived, Megumi paid the driver and headed into the building. Going to the employee’s elevator, she stepped in when the doors opened, and pressed the fourth floor button. After stepping off the elevator, she started down the hall towards her office. As she passed the nurses station, she grabbed a couple charts and looked them over as she continued down the hall. Stepping into her assistant’s room, she closed the last chart. Then, with a satisfactory nod she handed them to her assistant as she passed her desk.
“Tell them to keep up the good work. I’ll be busy with other work today, so don’t bother me unless it’s an major emergency. Okay, Kyoko?” “Yes, Miss Director,” the dark haired woman responded as she sat down at the desk.
As Megumi shut the door and locked it, she pulled out the disk. “So what have you written this time, Mai? Hopefully not another one of your sappy love stories, your love must be getting tired of those.”
With a small smile Megumi walked to the kotetsu she used as a desk and sat upon the tatami mat. After inserting the disk into the laptop, she opened the files and began to read the prologue:
“When the Daemon Lord Ragna appeared sixty-one years ago, the world was thrown into utter and total chaos. Following close on his trail were the elemental masters of hell, lead by Mesuinu, the Mistress of Wind. They conquered the world for their dark lord.
“Among the humans arose one with a pure heart and spirit with enough strength to combat these monstrosities. The people called her Kyusashia, The Mistress of the Holy Flame and other names to show her rank as their champion. Ragna and Kyusashia battled for 40 years until the fateful day, twenty-one years ago, when all creation on all planes in all dimensions became entwined with the Unmei of these two. On that night they shed their mortal forms and saw each other as they truly were.
“Also on that night 'The Storm' ravaged Sakura. The residents of Sakura found two young children the next day and believed the children to have been birthed in the storm. The residents named the boy Ryu and the girl Keiko. The two children grew up feeling that they did not belong to this world T'hera, for their abilities with magic far exceeded those of the humans living there. Their power could only almost be attained by humans only by using the most powerful of all the magic amplifiers that were ever created. Also adding to their suspicions of their ancestry were the dreams they could never quite remember upon awakening; dreams of heaven.....and of Hell."
In a stunned silence Megumi sat back. She paged Kyoko on the intercom and again requested to not be disturbed and ordered lunch. “This should be good,” Megumi muttered to her self as she rummaged through the cabinet that held various snacks. Got to start eating breakfast before I get to work, she thought as went to the small fridge in the corner and got out a bottle of ramune before continuing reading the story.
jully 22 2007, Edited for corrections and addition of the title.
