Adventures in Parodyverse: The Mysteries of Faite Part 2


    Lara Night shook her head sadly as she stared at a crystalline black structure hundreds of feet high.  It was both solid and translucent, but there was nothing beyond it.  Waves of light and energy passed over it like a reflection, revealing words and symbols in a language Lara couldn’t read or understand.  It was very familiar to her...Dark Thugos showed it to her, too.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I...I can’t be here!”  Lara panicked a little.

    Faite laughed.  She surprised herself...being solitary before, laughing didn’t used to be her first instinct.  “You’re not ‘here’,”  she explained.  “You see the Wonderwall, but you’re not in its presence.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’ve seen this before.”  Lara commented.  “This was when it called to me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’ve been in its presence.”  Faite told Lara.  “It was centuries ago, before it gained so much influence.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What can you tell me about it?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You passed through it dozens of times, you know.”  Faite continued.  “Every time you enter or leave this universe.  It’s filled with your energy, your thoughts, your memories.  If you’re someday in its presence, you’ll feel like you’re looking in a mirror, at first.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“At first?”

    There was the slightest of nods from Faite.  “Then you will see the other memories, the other thoughts.  You will feel the presence of all of this universe.  All of it.  That presence will forever be your companion.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So that’s how it will change me?”  Lara asked.  “Dark Thugos said it would change me, at least.  He said it would change me so I could no longer leave this universe.”

    Faite sighed - she could feel Lara’s worries.  Her time as a teenager among normal people taught her a lot about people’s fears.  Powerful as she might be, Lara was no exception - she feared being alienated and unable to return home, of being torn away from her friends, of being alone.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Lara, it’s nothing for you to fear.”  She tried to her best to quell those worries.  “I can’t tell you much about the Wonderwall without changing its purpose for you.  But I can tell you...if the Wonderwall meant to change you so drastically, it would have changed you the dozens of times you passed through it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“As energy.”  Lara noted.  “With no conscious perception of it.  Dark Thugos said I had to look upon the wall.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Or touch it.”  Faite countered.  “You have already touched the Wonderwall.  But you haven’t let it into your heart.  If you do...Dark Thugos is right, it will change you.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And then I won’t be able to go home ever again.”  Lara sighed.

    Faite echoed the sigh, sounding a little frustrated at what little she could safely tell Lara.  “Have you ever heard of the expression, ‘You can never go home again’?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  Lara nodded.  “It means once you leave home to explore the world beyond your own, it changes you.  So that when you return, you won’t be the same person anymore.  And the people at home will seem to have changed too.”

    Then Faite began to smile happily.  “Now you’re getting it, Lara.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Really?”  Lara asked.  “That’s it?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“More or less.  There’s nothing more I can say that would make it clearer.  It’s time to go back now.” 

    As Faite finished talking, the main hall of the Lair Mansion reappeared, much to the surprised of Flapjack and Chiaki, who saw them appear out of nowhere.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I feel better now.”  Lara told Faite, ignoring the confused looks from the others.  “I’m still scared of facing the Wonderwall, but I’m not terrified anymore.  You helped me a lot. ”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Someone had to.”  Faite shrugged.  She looked at Chiaki.  “Just as someone had to help me.”

    Lara looked at Chiaki too.  For the first time she could remember, the Samurai looked a little embarrassed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And possibly again.”  Chiaki chimed in.  “Since I arrived here, I heard that the new Lair Legion leader is promoting an open enrollment policy.”

    Faite lost her smile, and shook her head quickly.  “That’s one invitation I can’t accept.”

    Chiaki prodded further.  “You said you were separated from humanity for so long you craved feeling its pulse again.  With your sort of power, you may as well contribute something, too.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You know what my power is, don’t you?”  Faite asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“She can make changes to current reality.”  Lara spoke up.  “But not the past, like the Hooded Hood.  So probably she feels like it wouldn’t be fair to choose sides with a power like that.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I definitely feel that way.”  Faite responded.  “Imagine how the Lair Legion would feel if I needed to do something not in its favor.  I mean, wouldn’t you be angry?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Only if you get me killed.”  Lara joked.

    Chiaki laughed briefly, and then said, “Likewise.”

    Faite contemplated their answers for a moment.  She nodded, and then smiled.  “Perhaps, then, I could offer the Lair Legion my help on occasion.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You sound exactly like Lara.”  Chiaki joked.  “That’s the same thing she said after turning down formal membership.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I did not!”  the blonde protested.  Then she relented, “Okay, maybe I said something similar.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I guess there’s a slight difference.”  Faite noted quietly.  “You see, I already know the Lair Legion will need my help.”  She looked at Chiaki and quickly added, “Not because of a gift like yours, but because so many of the possibilities point to it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Big deal, anyone can do that.”  Lara pointed out.

    Faite smiled, and nearly laughed.  “Meanwhile...I have a family to return home to.  My newly adopted parents will be worried about me.  They only know me as a schoolgirl named Destiny.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“She’ll kind of have to tell them the truth at some point, won’t she?”  Lara asked Chiaki.  Then she said to Faite, “If you do tell them, I’d go with you for support.  So they won’t freak out or be scared.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Faite replied with a sigh.  “That’s something I have to do myself.  And it’s about time I got around to it.”


TO BE CONTINUED


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin