Subject Zero: CONFIDENTIAL (Short Stories)

Don't Look Away (6)

Part Six: Long Company

November 1, 1981
Somewhere in the Woods
Mirror World

Third Person's POV
A man was hanging from a tree, kicking his legs and flailing his arms in the air as he was hung from his neck by a thin string. The man had cuts all over him and was wearing a mask that was cut in half from the nose down.

Trying to gasp for air, the man managed to say, "Believe me, I don't know where your god damn diamond is! Let me down! I don't know where it is! PLEASE!"

The tall, slender Jester standing in front of him shook his head. The thin string around the man's neck was connected to the tip of the Jester's right index finger.

The string tightened around the man's neck until it cut through the skin, completely cutting through his neck. The man's severed head fell onto the ground, and a bit of blood spattered onto the Jester. The string detached from the Jester's index finger and he put his glove back on.

He was about to walk away, until he saw a roll of bandages fall out of the man's pocket when the body fell to the ground.

The Jester knelt down quickly and grabbed the bandages before standing up and calmly walking away.

[ 30 Minutes Later ]

The masked girl with long lilac hair was running around the cleaned up building she was in, and Eiji was chasing her.

"Stop! No! You can't go outside!" Eiji yelled as he chased the girl.

As the girl is running over to the door, it opens, and she bumps into the Jester, stumbles back, and falls onto the floor. The Jester only looked down at her, curious about what had been going on. Eiji was panting in exhaustion.

"I'm so sorry," Eiji says between breaths, "she's been- looking all over- for you... She wouldn't even eat!"

The Jester stares at the girl for a moment as she's looking up at him, then he holds out his hand to help her up.

Moments later, the girl was sitting at a table, holding her arms out as the Jester wrapped them with the bandages he found.

"How long will the burns hurt?" asked Eiji, but didn't get a response. "Will they heal and simply leave scars?"

The Jester slightly nodded his head.

Eiji's facial expression grew curious, then he asks the Jester, "Have you ever gotten a burn?"

The Jester finished wrapping the girl's arms and hands with the bandages, then stood up, not replying to Eiji's question in any way.

     "Did you find what you were looking for, sir?"

He straightened up his top-hat, pat the girl on her head twice, then stood up.

Eiji looked at the girl, who was looking at her arms. "The Jester and I will protect you, miss. You don't have to worry about being taken away or being forced to serve for others. You are safe to make your own choices now."

The girl looked at him, with a blank expression plastered on her face. The Jester had stepped away, taking a few objects out of his pockets and placing them on a small table. The objects seemed extremely valuable; there were necklaces, gemstones, pearls, brooches, pendulums, pendants, and even peculiarly shaped buttons. The girl saw those objects, and reached into her pocket, checking to see if she still had the pair of rings, which she did.

Eiji gazed at the girl. "Miss, do you wish to speak?"

The masked girl paused and looked down at him.

"I am willing to teach you how to speak and read, if you're interested in learning. If so, you should also learn to write, but obviously I cannot teach you, since I myself can't write."

The Jester looked at them, and Eiji looked at him then at the girl.

"Do you have a name, if you can remember? We know others have been calling you by nicknames such as Arachnid, but do you remember if you were born with any name?"

The girl shook her head as a response. Eiji turned back to the Jester. The Jester hesitated before stepping over to the girl, and held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. As soon as she does, he walks her to one of the windows and looks up. The girl stared at him, then looked out of the window, seeing the moon.

As she was dazing at the moon, the Jester went over to get a pen and paper, and wrote something on it, then showed it to the girl. She didn't know how to respond, she couldn't read it. But Eiji stepped over to them and looked at the paper.

Eiji read off of it, "'Mizuki - beautiful moon.'" He looked up at the girl. "Why, this name does suit her."

The Jester was looking down at the masked girl, who had been looking back and forth at them.

"Mizuki is the name you will be known as from now on."

November 10
"Calm Path"
Mirror World

Over a bit of time, Eiji had taught Mizuki a few words and the Jester taught her how to spell and write them. But it was still only little words. If one were to have a conversation with her, they would only get simple answers, like "yes," "no," "maybe," "okay," "good," "bad," and more.

The three of them were in public. Eiji was buying a few food items while Mizuki was with the Jester as he showed a few children simple card tricks.

     "Ooh, this is my card!" one of the little kids said. "That's so cool!"

Marshes, Araneidans, and Puppets were wandering the area. There were no Shades in this area, and even if a Hidebehind were here, not many people would be told or would know about it. Hidebehinds are sneaky creatures.

Mizuki was staying close to the Jester, since she knew she might recognize a Marsh or two in this area.

She watched as the Jester pulled a piece of candy from behind a little Puppet's ear. The Puppet's expression filled with joy as he took the candy.

     "Heheh, I hope I can learn magic like you someday!" said the Puppet.

When Mizuki heard the word "magic", she had remembered being told a meaning of the word: mysterious tricks, such as making things disappear and appear again, performed as entertainment.

She looked at the Jester, thinking the word almost perfectly suited him.

     "...M-Magic..." Mizuki's soft voice muttered.

The Jester looked at her after hearing her speak. Her voice was softer than he expected it to be.

     "...Magic-..Man...!"

He stood up straight as she softly smiled up at him, proud of herself. He stared down at her, and gently pat her head as if she were a delicate flower.

{ End of Part VI }

"Would it be okay if I gave you a name then?"