Adventures In Parodyverse: Burning Down the House Part 1 (UT#284-285 tie-in)

Burning Down The House Part 1 (UT#284-285 tie-in)

    Liu Xi Xian strolled into the Lair Mansion study wearing slippers and a blanket carefully wrapped around herself. It felt chilly to her in the mansion but she wasn't sure if it was due to the rainy weather outside or if it was just herself. But as she entered the study she felt a little less unsure when she spotted the Psychic Samurai sitting cross-legged in a house kimono in front of a raging fireplace.

    Without speaking a word Liu Xi squatted next to her and re-wrapped the blanket around herself.

    "You've done some things and you're not sure you can live with it," Chiaki whispered a pretty accurate guess.

    Liu Xi frowned, and after a moment or two sighed. "I'm not even sure what I did," she said. "It's very...blurry to me now. I think I killed...but I'm not sure what I killed was alive. I may have destroyed a man, but I don't know if he was a man then."

    "Then you are fortunate," Chiaki told her. "Uncertainty is a curse...but it is also a blessing. Nothing haunts worse than certainty." Her voice sounded a little sad at the end of that sentence.

    The Chinese elementalist nodded silently in agreement. She knew Chiaki was referring to her own personal incident wiping out an entire platoon of Avawarriors. "So what do I...do? If I meet him again?"

    Chiaki was confused at first, but once glance into Liu Xi's eyes told the story and she needed no explanation. Liu Xi was quietly worried about Exu returning, as the Doomherald or not. "You watch, and you wait." Chiaki told her. "Never move first against an unknown opponent. Patience is key."

    Liu Xi nodded and looked down, before pausing a moment. "I'm still afraid," she whispered. "I feel that...I got away because of an accident."

    "The universe is made up of an uncountable number of accidents," the Psychic Samurai philosophized as she leaned back against a pillow she had with her. "But that is how it works best. A god knows how to take advantage of those accidents, to watch the flow of them and therefore expend very little effort to take action." She smiled at Liu Xi and let her fill in the rest.

    And it worked, as Liu Xi giggled at the reference. A powerful Samurai comparing her to a god, it was definitely amusing. "Thank you," Liu Xi whispered, "You cheered me up a little." Her smile faded as she replied, "I'm still afraid of what I might become, though."

    The Psychic Samurai gave her a powerful yet soft look out of the corner of her eye, without looking directly at her. "If I thought you were becoming something undesirable," she whispered, "Your presence would disrupt my quiet meditation and I would not allow it." She turned slightly and looked directly at Liu Xi. "As it is you are becoming strong, intelligent, and sensitive. Attributes that, I might add, Jay Boaz also finds attractive in a friend."

    The Chinese elementalist perked up at that, accepting it as a compliment.

    "But I also think you're intelligent enough to know all of that already," Chiaki continued as she settled back in to resume staring into the fire. "I suspect your self-confirmation is simply to gauge my mood so you can ask me much more complex questions. Feel free to ask what you wish."

    Liu Xi was amused again, this time at experiencing the reason why some people insisted Chiaki was psychic. "How can someone be the god of murder?" she asked honestly. "I thought murder was a...choice, like any other."

    "It's a choice which destroys entire stories," Chiaki explained. "When a person is murdered everyone they've ever touched is destroyed somehow. It's something nobody ever truly comes to terms with." She raised a hand and quickly added, "It's not the same as killing. A killing is fated. A murder goes against the path of everything that was and will be."

    "I see." Liu Xi shivered at that. Chiaki was always so deep and philisophical, it was almost chilling to hear her talk sometimes. "Then why did you mourn the deaths of those Avawarriors?"

    Chiaki frowned at first, almost seeming like she didn't want to answer. The experience was still raw in her mind. Nevertheless she decided to, if only because Liu Xi needed to hear it. "Because when you've been in the presence of death so long you feel the souls of those who die, and you are saddened by their story. Before those Avawarriors I had never been a...part of that story. As I now am...it saddens me even more."

    "So it's not doubt that saddens you?"

    The Psychic Samurai shook her head slowly. "It is that when I become a part of stories of death...then when do I begin to become death? It's something I would rather not consider."

    "I would rather not become death either," Liu Xi whispered sadly.

    Chiaki took Liu Xi's hand gently and squeezed it. "Then we band together as friends, with our other friends, and together we become the light that shows us the way to life, not death."

    "That's beautiful." Liu Xi nodded once and smiled. She sighed deeply as she looked into the fire. "I am going to do something I've been thinking about for a while. Give a gift I've been afraid to give."

    The Psychic Samurai gave her a serious look, seeming to know what Liu Xi was referring to. "Give from your heart," she said, "But don't rest your heart upon a gift. It may not be accepted as you predict." With that she finally stood, picking up her sword from in front of her as she did. "Good evening," she bade Liu Xi, bowing before she left.

    Liu Xi returned the bow and watched Chiaki leave and close the doors to the study behind her. At first the room seemed rather lonely - she was there alone among the books, crackling fire providing warmth even through the blanket she wore, eerie dim light coming through the high windows, and a gentle sound coming from the rain hitting the panes of glass.

    She turned around suddenly when she heard voices drifting down the halls of the Lair Mansion toward the study. She stood and shuffled into the hallway, listening for the source of the voices. They were happy, and seemed to be coming from the main hall. She headed toward them to investigate.

---

    Visionary was back from Fairie with his party. Hallie didn't seem amused, she just vanished into the darkness of the hallway intent on checking on all her familiar systems, and catching up on the internet. Flapjack slung a heavy sack over his shoulder and headed to the basement. Fleabot headed to the kitcken. Miiri stood next to Visionary looking exhausted.

    Visionary was tired too, but excitedly talking to Jay and Dream. Excited enough that Liu Xi couldn't help but smile as she watched him talk about what happened to him.

    And then there were two who were unfamiliar to Liu Xi, both kids. She gathered from Visionary's conversation that the girl with the weak arm and sickly complexion was Maggie, and he slipped once and called her Naari - which confused Liu Xi a little. The darker-looking boy was named Griffin.

    Liu Xi's heart went out to the girl immediately. She was scarred, and seemed ashamed of it as if she'd been hiding it somehow before and was forced to face it just now. She didn't share Visionary's enthusiasm, and seemed to want to run away and hide during the entire conversation.

    That's what led Liu Xi to say nothing as she stood in the darkened doorway and listened, partly to the conversation and partly to the rain hitting the skylight above her. Right up until Visionary noticed her standing there and waved at her. At first she waved back, but then she realized he was waving her over, not at her.

    She reluctantly peeled herself off of the doorway and headed over to the group, smiling at Hatman and then Dream as she stopped between them. "I missed you," she spoke softly Visionary. "Glad you are back." She thought about hugging him but stopped herself out of respect for Miiri. She knew the Caphan could be jealous sometimes.

    "I hear you had quite an adventure too," Visionary prodded.

    "Yes." Liu Xi bowed her head a little, giving a visual cue that she really didn't want to talk about that. She glanced at Maggie again. "What happened to--" She realized suddenly that as quiet as she was, she was speaking much too loudly to be discrete about her question, and lowered to a whisper. "What happened to Naari?"

    Visionary's smile disappeared, and his eyes seemed to become sunken and dark, burdened by a long a painful story he was not ready to relive yet. "Let's just say...time works differently in Fairie than it does here."

    Her mouth hung open for a moment as she glanced at Maggie. But it was only momentary surprise, and it didn't last long. After living with the Shoggoth for a while, anarchonisms meant little to her. Her train of thought changed, and instead she became worried. "How will you teach her...everything she needs for here?"

    "She's house trained, if that's what you mean," Visionary replied.

    "No, no, I mean...how to write, cultural things...you know."

    "Oh." Visionary frowned again. "I was kind of hoping you'd help," he mumbled sheepishly. "I mean, I'll try my best and Miiri will, as much as she knows the customs here."

    "Okay." Liu Xi nodded once. She glanced at Maggie for a moment, noting that the girl was looking up at the skylight watching the rain just as Liu Xi had been doing. She couldn't help but smile at that momentarily. "But it is up to you to teach her to be confident about herself."

    "Of course--"

    "I mean it," Liu Xi nearly scolded Visionary, leaving him surprised. "She will be teased and hurt. She's not strong like Kerry, you can't let it go."

    Visionary and Liu Xi both looked at Maggie at the same time. He smiled as he watched the girl staring up at the skylight still. "I wonder what she's thinking?"

    "She's trying not to," Liu Xi whispered. "That's why she is watching the rain. Same as when I do." A smile creeped onto her face as she watched the girl. "I have an idea," she whispered.

    Liu Xi walked over to Maggie and hovered behind her. "You can watch all night and never get wet," she whispered.

    Maggie turned around, looking a little nervous and not speaking. Her brother watched her from across the room, unsure about the intentions of the older Chinese girl talking to his sister.

    "I have this room on the top floor," Liu Xi continued, ignoring the stare from Griffin. "It's small but it has lots of windows so you see everything outside. The city...the rain. Storms. I go there to relax and calm myself. You may use it...if you need a place to hide."

    "Where?" Maggie finally whispered.

    "You want to see?" Liu Xi looked at Griffin, as if to extend him the same invitation. And then Visionary too.

    Maggie followed suit, looking at Visionary, asking permission without speaking a word.

    "I trust Liu Xi," Visionary said. "But I'll go too if you're nervous."

    "Please do," Liu Xi told Visionary. "I want Maggie to feel at ease."

---

    Liu Xi's hidden tower room seemed like a wonderland to Maggie. As soon as she entered she headed straight to the large windows and looked out, becoming hypnotized by the view. Liu Xi guessed that was the highest up Maggie had ever been. She also noticed that Maggie didn't flinch when she saw flashes of lightning, as if it were something natural for her.

    Maggie finally noticed that there was a thick pillow on the windowsill. At first she didn't understand, but she realized that Liu Xi put it there purposely so she could sit in the deep sill and watch what was going on outside. Only she was disappointed when she realized she wasn't strong enough in both arms to climb up there.

    "I will add a footstool there." Liu Xi noted Maggie's attempt to reach the window. "For when you visit. And you know...Visionary's home is a light house. The top floor is all glass, you can go up there and see the whole city."

    "Yes, you can go up there," Visionary told Maggie with a smile when the girl gave him the expected pleading look.

    Liu Xi smiled at Maggie as she watched the girl lean against the windowsill, watching the outside silently. She turned to Visionary. "I suppose you want to take your children home for a good night's sleep."

    "I do but the lighthouse hasn't returned yet," he replied with a shrug. "Besides, it's raining pretty hard."

    "Doesn't matter," Liu Xi said calmly, blinking once as she spoke. She walked over to a narrow closet next to the entrance door and held the knob. "You know what I'm going to do," she whispered with a smile.

    "You don't really have to do that for us--" Visionary attempted.

    By then, however, Liu Xi already opened the door, exposing a route to the upstairs hallway - near the bedrooms - in the lighthouse. "You also now have enough rooms for the new guests," Liu Xi answered Visionary's next question before he asked it.

    "Uh...thanks," Visionary mumbled. He looked at Maggie and noted that she seemed frightened of the doorway.

    Liu Xi also noticed, and stepped through the doorway first, anticipating Maggie's fear. She guessed that the girl recognized unfamiliar magic and was afraid of it being a trap of some kind.

    Once Liu Xi and Visionary walked through, Maggie and Griffin followed carefully.

    "Get some good sleep," Liu Xi suggested to them all. "I will see you tomorrow."


TO BE CONTINUED

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Liu Xi Xian, Yuki Shiro, Lara Night, Chiaki Bushido (Psychic Samurai) (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, all rights reserved
-- All other characters property of their respective owners

Post By Anime Jason Fri Sep 08, 2006 at 04:46:33 pm EDT	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Burning Down the House Part 1 (UT#284-285 tie-in)

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