Difference between revisions of "Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi Volume 2 Prologue"
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| + | Down the mountain, one could see a vast, barren wilderness. |
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| + | The dry winds blew across, nary the sight of spring to be found. The plants had forgotten to grow upright due to the thousand years of scorching winds. The insects consisted of two varieties, the ones who evolved to become harder and heavier, the other becoming smaller and numerous. Both sought to survive in their own ways, and only the lizards basked in the sun languidly, living blissful days. |
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| − | From the top of the mountain to its roots, there was to be seen only a featureless, barren wilderness. |
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| + | The only other things left were sand and rock. |
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| − | An arid wind gusted across it; nowhere was there to be found even the smallest puff of spring air. Under a thousand years of assault from the scorching wind, the plants had ceased to remember to grow upright. The insects here came in two varieties: one having evolved to being more hard, more heavy, and the other having become more small, more in number, each by its own means eking out a living in this harsh landscape. Only the lizards could bask languidly in the sun and continue to pass days of happiness. |
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| + | A car was parked there. |
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| − | Besides these, there was only sand and rock. |
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| + | The car was a pretty sky blue, resembling a dragonfly's face, remaining forlorn as its drooping headlights faced the west. |
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| − | A car had been left here. |
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| + | There were two humans standing at where it looked. |
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| − | This box-shaped vehicle was the color of the blue of the skies and was as iridescent as a dragonfly. Having been abandoned here, it faced its headlamps to the west, corners drooping down just like eyes holding back tears. |
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| + | “It's a car.” |
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| − | In its line of sight stood two humans. |
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| + | The young Ai said while pointing at a car. |
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| − | “It’s a car.” |
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| + | “It is.” |
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| − | Ai, small and young, pointed at the car and thus spoke. |
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| + | The taller, older Julie nodded. |
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| − | “Yes, it is.” |
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| + | Ai wiped the windscreen with her outstretched finger, marveling and sighing, |
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| − | Yuri, tall and older, nodded his head. |
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| + | “I only know of pretty rocks or fruits you can pick on the mountain sometimes, but I never thought you can pick up a car like this.” |
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| − | With an outstretched finger, Ai wiped a line across the windscreen and, sighing admiringly, said: |
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| + | “No, it's not that easy to pick up a car...” |
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| − | “I only knew that you could sometimes pick up pretty rocks or fruits on mountains, but never imagined that, out here in the wilderness, you could actually pick up a car.” |
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| + | Julie opened the bonnet, answering as he checked through. Like a kid who loved to get in the way of an adult's work, Ai leaned in. She smelled metal, oil, and sourness, but naturally, she did not understand what she saw. |
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| − | “No, nor that it’d be as good as this...” |
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| − | |||
| − | Yuri opened up the bonnet and answered as he appraised the contents. Ai, just like a child who liked getting in the way of adults’ work, peered at what he was doing from the side. She smelled metal, oil, and sourness, but of course did not understand a thing she saw. |
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“Will it move?” |
“Will it move?” |
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| − | + | “It's been modified in many ways, but a neat job—looks like even the keys are here.” |
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| + | |||
| + | Ai exhaled, and knelt down before the headlight. |
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| + | |||
| + | “Are you abandoned?” |
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| + | |||
| + | The car remained silent, seemingly unhappy. |
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| + | |||
| + | “…Where did its owner go?” |
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| + | |||
| + | Since the car refused to answer, Ai could only get up and ask, and a female voice answered, |
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| + | |||
| + | “These two here, it seems?” |
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| + | |||
| + | Ai went around the car, and found Scar standing there, her shovel stabbed into the ground. There was a damp area on the ground, seemingly dug hours ago, along with rocks placed like headstones. |
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| + | They exchanged looks, and quietly prayed. |
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| − | Ai exhaled with her nose and kneeled before the headlamps. |
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| + | … |
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| − | “Were you abandoned?” |
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| + | “How mysterious.” |
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| − | The car kept silent as if deeply unhappy. |
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| + | “Yes.” |
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| − | “...Where did the owner of this car go?” |
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| + | Ai raised her finger, saying, |
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| − | The car refused to respond, and so Ai got up and asked the question again. It was a woman’s voice who replied: |
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| − | + | “Who buried these two?” |
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| + | “A gravekeeper, of course.” |
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| − | Ai looked around the other side of the car and found Scar standing here, pointing at the ground with her shovel. There was a patch of earth there that was moister than the rest and looked to have been turned only hours ago, and two large pieces of rock had even been placed there like headstones. |
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| + | Scar replied. |
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| − | The two looked one another in the eyes and, mutely, prayed for the dead. |
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| + | Ai raised another finger, |
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| − | ... |
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| + | “But why here? Why leave the car here?” |
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| − | “It really is mysterious.” |
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| + | “Who knows? i am not in charge of human thoughts" |
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| − | “Yeah.” |
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| + | Scar's words in evading the topic at hand was truly befitting a gravekeeper, and Ai sighed before turning to the hulking man next to her. |
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| − | Ai raised her index finger and spoke. |
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| + | “Probably had some purpose." |
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| − | “Who was it that buried these two?” |
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| + | Julie said, and got into the driver seat without hesitation. Ai too tentative got into the passenger seat. |
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| − | “A Grave Keeper, of course.” |
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| + | It was her first time riding on a car. |
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| − | So Scar said. |
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| + | “They probably have a motive coming here, but never could, and that's why they lie in rest here." |
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| − | Ai raised a second finger. |
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| + | The engine roared. |
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| − | “But, why here, in this sort of place? Why just put the car here and leave it?” |
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| + | “So the reason why they left the car as it is…" |
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| − | “Who can tell? I am not in charge of organizing the thoughts of humanity.” |
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| + | The engine finally started with an earth-shattering rumble, startling Ai greatly as she clung onto the seat. |
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| − | The lines Scar used to avoid questions exemplified the manner of Grave Keepers, and made Ai sigh and turn to glance up at the man beside her. |
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| + | “Because they don't need it now, I think" |
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| − | “I think there has to be some purpose to it.” |
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| + | The while car started vrooming in rhythm. |
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| − | With that, Yuri climbed without hesitation into the driver’s seat. Ai, seeing this, carefully raised herself into the seat beside his. |
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| + | After some thought, Julie grabbed the wheel, and went silent. |
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| − | This was her first time riding in a car. |
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| + | "……Are you thinking of stealing this car?" |
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| − | “They probably came here with a purpose as well, but having not achieved it after all, ended up to rest the way they are now.” |
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| + | Ai frowned unhappily. |
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| − | Coughs and splutters issued from the engine as Yuri started up the car. |
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| + | “And I thought you would have some common sense…" |
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| − | “The reason why they just left behind this car...” |
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| + | “I usually don't do this, just that I have a different thought...my car should have been parked here." |
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| − | The engine started up amid a thundering noise that seemed fit to shake the earth. The vibrations made Ai jump in shock and then cling to her seat. |
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| + | Vroom, vroom. |
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| − | “Should be because they didn’t need it any more.” |
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| + | “I drove that car for a long time, kept it in nice condition. I was about to get up the mountain from here, so I left the car without removing my keys. You know why?" |
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| − | The entire car began to vibrate regularly. |
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| + | Ai knew the reason, but did not say so because she did not want to. |
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| − | As if deep in thought, Yuri folded his arms around the steering wheel and didn’t speak. |
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| + | “I wanted to die. So, when I thought this, I thought about what would happen after my death. It's a strange thought. That car's my only belonging left, but I couldn't send it along to the afterlife. I hoped that at the very least, someone else could use it." |
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| − | “…You’re not thinking of stealing it, are you?” |
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| + | That's why I left the car here. So the hulking man with blue eyes quipped. |
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| − | Ai creased her forehead, displeased. |
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| + | “Tire pressure checked. Ready to depart anytime." |
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| − | “And I thought you’d have more common sense than this…” |
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| + | Scar took the back seat. There were rugs, teapots, bottles and the like, a bunch of random items stuffed in a chaotically orderly manner. |
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| − | “Well, normally I wouldn’t do this sort of thing. It’s just that this time... You know, my car was originally meant to be parked on this stretch too.” |
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| + | “…Who knows what those two wished for when they're alive." |
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| − | The car vibrated some more. |
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| + | Ai looked back, but could not see the graves due to the angle. |
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| − | “I’d driven that car for a long time and had kept it maintained well. When I got here and prepared to ascend the mountain, I abandoned the car without even removing the keys. Do you know why I did that?” |
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| + | “Who knows…maybe they want to save the world" |
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| − | Ai already knew the reason for it but didn’t want to say it out loud, and so didn’t speak. |
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| + | The adult sarcastically retorted. |
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| − | “It’s because I was about to go meet my death. Whenever I thought of this place, I’d also wind up thinking about what to do with what I owned after dying. That was quite strange, really. That car was the only thing left that I owned, but I had no way of getting it back onto the road, and had hoped at least to leave it for others to use.” |
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| + | “I guess so—then I'll." |
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| − | And that’s why I left my car behind, the blue-eyed man added. |
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| + | The child nodded solemnly. |
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| − | “It passes the tire check, and can leave at any time.” |
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| + | "I'll continue on from there." |
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| − | Scar sat at the back. With her were rugs, teapots, kettles and the like, a whole pile of baffling objects stuffed together, by some baffling means, in an orderly chaos. |
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| + | She said, grabbing the shovel firmly. |
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| − | “...I wonder what wishes those two had when they were still alive.” |
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| + | “Really?" |
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| − | Ai tilted her head back to look and found the headstones to be out of her range of vision. |
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| − | |||
| − | “Who knows...maybe they wanted to save the world.” |
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| + | “Yes. So, well, I guess we can be considered inheritors of this car." |
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| − | The adult thus mocked. |
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| + | “Never thought you'll be this adaptable." |
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| − | “Maybe. Then, as for me…” |
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| + | Julie slowly stepped on the pedal to check on the car, moving it forward. The tires caused the pebbles to flicker aside, and the car moved along the road that could barely be determined to be once a road. |
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| − | The child nodded with complete seriousness. |
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| + | They were headed West. |
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| − | “I will continue on their dream.” |
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| + | From the passenger seat window, Ai stared out towards the North. |
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| − | And gripped her shovel tightly as she spoke. |
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| + | There was a mountain to the North, which once had a village. It had her house, her parents, and the villagers she loved. Everything in her past were located towards the north. |
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| − | “Oh?” |
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| + | Two graves were lined side by side at the new place she first arrived. |
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| − | “Yes. So, oh, we can probably count as the rightful inheritors of this car.” |
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| + | "I'm leaving." |
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| − | “I didn’t think you could be this flexible too.” |
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| + | Ai bowed deeply in that direction. |
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| − | Yuri, wanting to get accustomed to the car first, slowly pushed the accelerator down and drove the car forward. Tires sending pebbles flying, the car found its way onto a structure that could just be seen as having once been a road. |
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| + | “Shall we go?" |
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| − | West-bound, they advanced. |
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| + | Scar said, beaming. |
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| − | Ai looked northwards from her side seat. |
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| + | Julie said nothing, and stepped on the pedal. |
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| − | Up in the north, there was a mountain. On the mountain, there was a village. In the village were her home, her parents, and all the villagers she once adored. All of her past lay in that direction, north. |
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| + | A human man, a human child, and a female gravekeeper. |
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| − | The two graves rested in the place that she had only just arrived at. |
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| + | The trio began her journey. |
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| − | “Goodbye.” |
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| − | Ai lowered her head for a long moment in that direction. |
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| − | “Let’s go.” |
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| − | Said Scar, smiling gently. |
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| − | Yuri said nothing, and just stepped on the accelerator. |
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| − | The man, the child, and the female Grave Keeper. |
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| + | “Oh yes. What do we do about the boy here?" |
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| − | The three thus began their journey. |
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| + | " "Huh?"" |
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| − | “Oh, right, what about this youth here?” |
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| + | An emergency brake. |
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| − | “Huh?!” |
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| − | Emergency brake. |
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| − | + | There were four. |
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<noinclude> |
<noinclude> |
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Latest revision as of 15:16, 24 March 2020
Prologue[edit]
Those eyes were the eyes of death.
Those words were the words of death.
That body was brimming with death.
No living thing could escape.
None shall escape the Idol of Murder.
Down the mountain, one could see a vast, barren wilderness.
The dry winds blew across, nary the sight of spring to be found. The plants had forgotten to grow upright due to the thousand years of scorching winds. The insects consisted of two varieties, the ones who evolved to become harder and heavier, the other becoming smaller and numerous. Both sought to survive in their own ways, and only the lizards basked in the sun languidly, living blissful days.
The only other things left were sand and rock.
A car was parked there.
The car was a pretty sky blue, resembling a dragonfly's face, remaining forlorn as its drooping headlights faced the west.
There were two humans standing at where it looked.
“It's a car.”
The young Ai said while pointing at a car.
“It is.”
The taller, older Julie nodded.
Ai wiped the windscreen with her outstretched finger, marveling and sighing,
“I only know of pretty rocks or fruits you can pick on the mountain sometimes, but I never thought you can pick up a car like this.”
“No, it's not that easy to pick up a car...”
Julie opened the bonnet, answering as he checked through. Like a kid who loved to get in the way of an adult's work, Ai leaned in. She smelled metal, oil, and sourness, but naturally, she did not understand what she saw.
“Will it move?”
“It's been modified in many ways, but a neat job—looks like even the keys are here.”
Ai exhaled, and knelt down before the headlight.
“Are you abandoned?”
The car remained silent, seemingly unhappy.
“…Where did its owner go?”
Since the car refused to answer, Ai could only get up and ask, and a female voice answered,
“These two here, it seems?”
Ai went around the car, and found Scar standing there, her shovel stabbed into the ground. There was a damp area on the ground, seemingly dug hours ago, along with rocks placed like headstones.
They exchanged looks, and quietly prayed.
…
“How mysterious.”
“Yes.”
Ai raised her finger, saying,
“Who buried these two?”
“A gravekeeper, of course.”
Scar replied.
Ai raised another finger,
“But why here? Why leave the car here?”
“Who knows? i am not in charge of human thoughts"
Scar's words in evading the topic at hand was truly befitting a gravekeeper, and Ai sighed before turning to the hulking man next to her.
“Probably had some purpose."
Julie said, and got into the driver seat without hesitation. Ai too tentative got into the passenger seat.
It was her first time riding on a car.
“They probably have a motive coming here, but never could, and that's why they lie in rest here."
The engine roared.
“So the reason why they left the car as it is…"
The engine finally started with an earth-shattering rumble, startling Ai greatly as she clung onto the seat.
“Because they don't need it now, I think"
The while car started vrooming in rhythm.
After some thought, Julie grabbed the wheel, and went silent.
"……Are you thinking of stealing this car?"
Ai frowned unhappily.
“And I thought you would have some common sense…"
“I usually don't do this, just that I have a different thought...my car should have been parked here."
Vroom, vroom.
“I drove that car for a long time, kept it in nice condition. I was about to get up the mountain from here, so I left the car without removing my keys. You know why?"
Ai knew the reason, but did not say so because she did not want to.
“I wanted to die. So, when I thought this, I thought about what would happen after my death. It's a strange thought. That car's my only belonging left, but I couldn't send it along to the afterlife. I hoped that at the very least, someone else could use it."
That's why I left the car here. So the hulking man with blue eyes quipped.
“Tire pressure checked. Ready to depart anytime."
Scar took the back seat. There were rugs, teapots, bottles and the like, a bunch of random items stuffed in a chaotically orderly manner.
“…Who knows what those two wished for when they're alive."
Ai looked back, but could not see the graves due to the angle.
“Who knows…maybe they want to save the world"
The adult sarcastically retorted.
“I guess so—then I'll."
The child nodded solemnly.
"I'll continue on from there."
She said, grabbing the shovel firmly.
“Really?"
“Yes. So, well, I guess we can be considered inheritors of this car."
“Never thought you'll be this adaptable."
Julie slowly stepped on the pedal to check on the car, moving it forward. The tires caused the pebbles to flicker aside, and the car moved along the road that could barely be determined to be once a road.
They were headed West.
From the passenger seat window, Ai stared out towards the North.
There was a mountain to the North, which once had a village. It had her house, her parents, and the villagers she loved. Everything in her past were located towards the north.
Two graves were lined side by side at the new place she first arrived.
"I'm leaving."
Ai bowed deeply in that direction.
“Shall we go?"
Scar said, beaming.
Julie said nothing, and stepped on the pedal.
A human man, a human child, and a female gravekeeper.
The trio began her journey.
“Oh yes. What do we do about the boy here?"
" "Huh?""
An emergency brake.
There were four.
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