Shadow of a Shadow
Feb. 3rd, 2008 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
contract_starTitle: Real/Unreal
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
quirkypeanutblu
Character/Fandom: Hei/Li Shengshun - Darker than BLACK
Prompt: (if any) 23. real
Word Count: 1,024
Summary: Hei still believes that the Astral Plane and the rest of it are all part of the Gate, somehow. So he brings Yin, Mao and Huang to the Twins' cottage, to see what will happen. Just something to get Hei into the story, and to introduce the other characters.
Author Notes/Warnings: None that I can think of.
The problem is that it reminds him too much of the Gate.
It’s been weeks since Hei was inside Hell’s Gate, weeks since Nick disappeared, weeks since that vision of Bai. He catches himself thinking about it, sometimes. Remembering. Mao would tell him that a Contractor shouldn’t dwell on such things, but Hei can’t help it. Even when there’s so much else to think about, his mind keeps returning to Bai, to her face splattered with blood. To Nick, who dreamed, when Contractors aren’t supposed to dream. To the stars Hei saw then. Not real, none of it, he understands that. The Gate itself is a lie. But still…
And that’s the problem. This new place, the Astral Plane. It’s just like the Gate. The Astral Plane shouldn’t be here either. The stars are there. People are there, walking around as if it’s nothing, not even caring about the millions of points of lights above their heads, people who claim to be from other worlds. It’s just the kind of lie the Gate would come up with, cruel and strange. Despite what those odd people there are telling him, despite the fact that when he steps off the Astral Plane he is nowhere near the Gate, he can’t help but wonder if it’s just another illusion.
Bai isn’t there, so what’s the point?
But those stars. He has to know for sure. He has to know if those stars, at least, are real.
“There’s something I need you to do for me,” he says when he arrives at the park. Mao is seated next to Yin, his purple eyes on Hei. Hei wonders, not for the first time, how much of Hei Mao can see; whether the cat can see through the Contractor façade. Yin can, Hei is sure of it. For someone blind, and a Doll at that, Yin probably sees more than any of them.
Huang is sitting on the other side of the big tree, not even deigning to look in Hei’s direction.
“I called you here for your next mission and you have the balls to give me orders?”
Hei wonders if apologizing to Huang would make the old man more agreeable. But Hei isn’t sure he knows how to apologize, not sincerely, anyway. Besides, how do you apologize for almost killing someone?
“It won’t take long,” Hei says. “I need something confirmed.”
“What is it, Hei?” Mao asks, getting to his feet. The bell on his collar jangles. “Has something happened at the apartment?”
Hei shakes his head. “Personal interest.” He reaches forward to take Yin gently by the wrist. “Come with me.”
Huang grumbles something to himself about Contractors, but the three of them get up to follow Hei. He leads them back in the direction of his apartment, past Yin’s smoke shop and through the winding streets of residential Tokyo.
And there it is again, the Twins’ shop, sitting between a convenience store and an apartment building, as if it was always there. A casual intruder. Hei stops before it, narrowing his eyes at the sound of machinery.
“This shop wasn’t here before,” Hei says. “It’s run by a pair of Twins. And if you go inside you end up inside the Gate.”
“What shop are you talking about?” Mao asks, peering out past Hei’s legs. “The convenience shop? It’s run by a Vietnamese family, not a pair of twins. This is your neighborhood, Hei, I would expect you to know that.”
Hei blinks, the only outward sign that he is agitated.
“Not that shop,” Hei says, and he points at the Twins’ cottage. “That one.”
The three of them are silent for awhile, then Huang starts laughing.
“I always knew you Contractors were psychopaths,” he growls, still chuckling. “Seeing things, are you, Hei? I’d wonder if you were joking, but a Contractor couldn’t joke if his life depended on it.”
“Hei, there is nothing there,” Mao says, his voice slow, as if he is talking to a very stupid child. “Only an empty lot.”
Hei closes his eyes to keep his face blank. They can’t see it. But what does that mean? That the cottage, the Twins, all of it—are all part of the Gate? Or that Hei really has finally lost his mind?
Either way, it’s not real. Those stars are a lie, just as Hei feared.
“A shadow,” Yin says all of a sudden. Hei looks at her, eyes widening. Yin is standing in a puddle of water, her unseeing eyes on some spot on the ground. “A shadow of a shadow. That’s all.”
She squeezes Hei’s hand. She’s worried about him. At least, as worried as a Doll can be.
A shadow of a shadow…
If I take her there, she’ll be able to see it. Like she could see the light from all the surveillance specters that night. I’d like her to see the stars again.
All it takes is a thought, a thought wedged through the right point in time and space, and Hei is back on the Astral Plane. But Yin is not with him.
Cursing inwardly, he goes back. His hand closes on Yin’s hand again. The three of them don’t react at all to Hei’s disappearance; as if it never happened.
Hei tries it again. No Yin, only the endless stars, galaxies, nebulae. He goes back, and there’s still no reaction.
He looks again at the cottage, the sound of machinery grinding at his ears and, seemingly, his mind.
They can’t see it. They’re not a part of it. It’s…just me.
This isn’t the Gate. Even the Gate doesn’t do that. The Gate is there whether you want it to be or not; you can’t ignore it.
Then this…all this…
Is it real?
Hei remembers the old days with Bai, before the Gates appeared. He can remember the stars then as if it were yesterday. The stars on the Astral Plane—they’re real. Somehow, they’re real.
But they’re only real for Hei. He’s alone.
“Never mind,” Hei says, and he starts to lead Yin away from the cottage and its machinery. “Tell me about the next mission.”
Author:
quirkypeanutbluCharacter/Fandom: Hei/Li Shengshun - Darker than BLACK
Prompt: (if any) 23. real
Word Count: 1,024
Summary: Hei still believes that the Astral Plane and the rest of it are all part of the Gate, somehow. So he brings Yin, Mao and Huang to the Twins' cottage, to see what will happen. Just something to get Hei into the story, and to introduce the other characters.
Author Notes/Warnings: None that I can think of.
The problem is that it reminds him too much of the Gate.
It’s been weeks since Hei was inside Hell’s Gate, weeks since Nick disappeared, weeks since that vision of Bai. He catches himself thinking about it, sometimes. Remembering. Mao would tell him that a Contractor shouldn’t dwell on such things, but Hei can’t help it. Even when there’s so much else to think about, his mind keeps returning to Bai, to her face splattered with blood. To Nick, who dreamed, when Contractors aren’t supposed to dream. To the stars Hei saw then. Not real, none of it, he understands that. The Gate itself is a lie. But still…
And that’s the problem. This new place, the Astral Plane. It’s just like the Gate. The Astral Plane shouldn’t be here either. The stars are there. People are there, walking around as if it’s nothing, not even caring about the millions of points of lights above their heads, people who claim to be from other worlds. It’s just the kind of lie the Gate would come up with, cruel and strange. Despite what those odd people there are telling him, despite the fact that when he steps off the Astral Plane he is nowhere near the Gate, he can’t help but wonder if it’s just another illusion.
Bai isn’t there, so what’s the point?
But those stars. He has to know for sure. He has to know if those stars, at least, are real.
“There’s something I need you to do for me,” he says when he arrives at the park. Mao is seated next to Yin, his purple eyes on Hei. Hei wonders, not for the first time, how much of Hei Mao can see; whether the cat can see through the Contractor façade. Yin can, Hei is sure of it. For someone blind, and a Doll at that, Yin probably sees more than any of them.
Huang is sitting on the other side of the big tree, not even deigning to look in Hei’s direction.
“I called you here for your next mission and you have the balls to give me orders?”
Hei wonders if apologizing to Huang would make the old man more agreeable. But Hei isn’t sure he knows how to apologize, not sincerely, anyway. Besides, how do you apologize for almost killing someone?
“It won’t take long,” Hei says. “I need something confirmed.”
“What is it, Hei?” Mao asks, getting to his feet. The bell on his collar jangles. “Has something happened at the apartment?”
Hei shakes his head. “Personal interest.” He reaches forward to take Yin gently by the wrist. “Come with me.”
Huang grumbles something to himself about Contractors, but the three of them get up to follow Hei. He leads them back in the direction of his apartment, past Yin’s smoke shop and through the winding streets of residential Tokyo.
And there it is again, the Twins’ shop, sitting between a convenience store and an apartment building, as if it was always there. A casual intruder. Hei stops before it, narrowing his eyes at the sound of machinery.
“This shop wasn’t here before,” Hei says. “It’s run by a pair of Twins. And if you go inside you end up inside the Gate.”
“What shop are you talking about?” Mao asks, peering out past Hei’s legs. “The convenience shop? It’s run by a Vietnamese family, not a pair of twins. This is your neighborhood, Hei, I would expect you to know that.”
Hei blinks, the only outward sign that he is agitated.
“Not that shop,” Hei says, and he points at the Twins’ cottage. “That one.”
The three of them are silent for awhile, then Huang starts laughing.
“I always knew you Contractors were psychopaths,” he growls, still chuckling. “Seeing things, are you, Hei? I’d wonder if you were joking, but a Contractor couldn’t joke if his life depended on it.”
“Hei, there is nothing there,” Mao says, his voice slow, as if he is talking to a very stupid child. “Only an empty lot.”
Hei closes his eyes to keep his face blank. They can’t see it. But what does that mean? That the cottage, the Twins, all of it—are all part of the Gate? Or that Hei really has finally lost his mind?
Either way, it’s not real. Those stars are a lie, just as Hei feared.
“A shadow,” Yin says all of a sudden. Hei looks at her, eyes widening. Yin is standing in a puddle of water, her unseeing eyes on some spot on the ground. “A shadow of a shadow. That’s all.”
She squeezes Hei’s hand. She’s worried about him. At least, as worried as a Doll can be.
A shadow of a shadow…
If I take her there, she’ll be able to see it. Like she could see the light from all the surveillance specters that night. I’d like her to see the stars again.
All it takes is a thought, a thought wedged through the right point in time and space, and Hei is back on the Astral Plane. But Yin is not with him.
Cursing inwardly, he goes back. His hand closes on Yin’s hand again. The three of them don’t react at all to Hei’s disappearance; as if it never happened.
Hei tries it again. No Yin, only the endless stars, galaxies, nebulae. He goes back, and there’s still no reaction.
He looks again at the cottage, the sound of machinery grinding at his ears and, seemingly, his mind.
They can’t see it. They’re not a part of it. It’s…just me.
This isn’t the Gate. Even the Gate doesn’t do that. The Gate is there whether you want it to be or not; you can’t ignore it.
Then this…all this…
Is it real?
Hei remembers the old days with Bai, before the Gates appeared. He can remember the stars then as if it were yesterday. The stars on the Astral Plane—they’re real. Somehow, they’re real.
But they’re only real for Hei. He’s alone.
“Never mind,” Hei says, and he starts to lead Yin away from the cottage and its machinery. “Tell me about the next mission.”
