2nd place - rr_rebirth's Moon Children
MIRROR.
Lately, I’ve been having strange dreams…
“- Where is he?” I asked, holding the neck of a bloodstained and completely terrified man.
“- But…. What are you talking about? I don’t understand!!” he yelled petrified.
2010 MALLEPA.
My name is Gackt, I’m 30 and I live in Japan in Mallepa, a peaceful town. Or so I thought until what happened recently. I keep having this dream in which I’m killing this man and starting out of my sleep at that moment… Like every day, I’m heading for the Lu:na Dojo to give a Kendo lesson to my students, still having in mind this more and more frequent and disturbing dream.
My students are probably already there, eagerly awaiting my arrival. Ju-Ken, Jun-ji, Chachamaru and You, my talented students, will probably ask me once again to teach them the supreme Arcanum of this Dojo: “Hokuto Shinken”. I swore myself never to reveal its secret that only I know for the threat it holds. Strangely, I’ve been improving this technique since my youth, instinctively and effortlessly, as if it was innate.
I open the dojo’s gate. My students greet me aloud while I’m taking place in front them to start the meditation session which will awaken their minds. The serenity brought by the silence could be felt in the whole room until shiver travelled my entire body.
I can feel the heavy and deadly atmosphere, which ruins this peaceful moment. I look round for where it can come from. I distinctly saw two eyes in the half-opened door, not ordinary eyes but white eyes…
I rashly and harshly shouted:
“- who are you!?”
At that moment, I could clearly see his eyes turn to red. I had the feeling I was stabbed through. In a deafening din, the door exploded to pieces. I shouted to my student to head for shelter and opposed myself drawing my sword.
In the dust of the blasted door, the face of the person was finally unveiled... I remained enthralled. I froze myself not believing what was standing before my eyes. It was me! ... or at least my face.
As a speed master, taking advantage of my inattention, he launched a powerful attack that I could barely deal with my sword. Despite his speed, his attack wasn’t as accurate as mine, his moves looked like those of an android from another world, from the future.
Suddenly, I instinctively held myself in an attacking pose and did my Hokuto Shinken as if it was obvious. He immediately collapsed under the shock of the offensive inexorably saying: “Death Wish Code…”
I picked up a paper that was in his pocket. It was a list of names: Jesus, Ash, Rain, Storm, Kei, Noah, Kagetora, some were crossed… This didn’t have any sense, but it had to have a logical explanation. I was too exhausted by the struggle with the android, so I returned home to think about it and to rest.
Tsuki no Uta.
When I arrived near my house, a solitary child was standing on the threshold singing sadly.
“- It’s a nice song, and it seems very familiar.
- It’s called Tsuki no Uta, the Moon’s song… my father thought it too me.
- What are you doing here, alone, at this time?
- I was expecting you.
- Why? I don’t even know you.
- I saw you fighting against the android, we need to talk, follow me.”
Without thinking I followed the child, who brought me to a house that seemed to have been in flames.
“- The android came here too. This mizérable killed my father” he said sadly.
He grabbed my hand and dragged me inside the house. I immediately had this flash, this was familiar... I was exactly at the place of my perpetual dream…
“- Sorry, but I don’t know what I’m doing here…
- My name is Kei, I’m a Moon Child, just like you. They want to kill us.
- Like me? They? Us?
- I see, unlike the others, you forgot everything about your previous life… I’ll tell you everything I know. A long time ago, a war broke out between the people from the Moon, the Darkside inhabitants, and those from Mars, the androids. For the survival of our nation, the Darkside inhabitants sent us on Gaia, but today, they got wind of our existence and now they want to kill all of us.
- But why?
- Because only royal entities know about the Hokuto Shinken, the ultimate attack that can destroy them.
- I understand now but why did he look so much like me?
- You’re Emperor Uesugi Kenshin’s son. They cloned you so that we think of an imperial betrayal for us to kill one another.
- How do you know all this?
- My father, Ash, was a great scientist, he told me everything. The androids forced him to work for them and to conduct an etude about you. He created the Death Wish Code and those androids which look like you. This is the destruction of the Darkside inhabitant’s plan.
- Just a while ago, I had a flashback. I have often made a dream that occurred in this same place in which I kill your father… It probably was some kind of vision… Do you know anything about it?
- These androids were probably created thanks to your DNA, in order to look like you much as possible. This may explain the bond with them. I think this could be very useful, if somehow you could learn to use them.
- Of course, what can we do if those androids come from Mars to kill us? We can’t go on this planet.
- Unfortunately, they don’t live on mars anymore… they’re on earth… Our people and this entire planet are in danger. It’s necessary to find the last survivors of from the moon before it’s too late… we must share our knowledge to the Darkside inhabitants who, like you, have forgotten all of their past before being all enslaved by the androids.
- How can we recognize them? Are they all made at my image?
- No, not all of them. It would be too easy. Thanks to my father I know how to recognize them, they have a tattoo, on the back of the neck, “GHOST” is written out of the strait.
- And how can we recognize the moon inhabitants?
- We were sent on earth with Darts necklace, the Nerthus. Its black stone shine like a soleil when you’re in presence of a moonchild. Mine shined just before, thus I could come to see you.
- So that is the jewel’s utility. I kept it at home for I was afraid to lose it. Now, I’ll always wear it.
- It’s far from being its only use. For those who can’t master the Hokuto Shinken, this “jewel” as you so called it, is very useful. That’s why the android couldn’t kill me at that time. I recommend you to take a look at the documents my father had in his capsule at his arrival on earth, you’ll learn more from it.”
After all these explanations, I suggested to Kei to live at my place as he was now an orphan with nowhere to live.
I was tired by all these events, but my mind was elsewhere. I then started to read Kei’s father’s documents.
“Requiem et Réminiscence - TOP SECRET”
Everything the little Kei had explained to me today was detailed in this very precious folder. It begins with the war which happened years ago, and then by the way they sent the Moon’s hopes. There was a coded list that I was surprisingly able to read. It was composed by name among which appeared those from the android’s list. They mustn’t know the identity of all the miraculous of the moon… unless, the others have already been killed.
The soft light of the moon attracted me to the window. I couldn’t resist singing Tsuki no Uta.
“On sleepless nights and on mornings when you have to sigh. There's your beloved song of the moon.”
A picture fell out of the folder. I picked it up and established that it was a photo of me as a kid. I turned it over and at the back was scribbled “Uesugi Kagetora, son of the emperor Uesugi Kenshin” My real name was Uesugi Kagetora?
STORM
I joined Kei who fell asleep on the sofa. I brought him to my bed and opened the drawer of my bedside table to take out the much-talked necklace which was given to me when I was sent here. It was really shining as I was at Kei’s side.
We can’t just stand here and look at the Moon children being killed one by one. Therefore, I decided to travel the world starting tomorrow to find my ones and face this terrible android threat. The long list of names allowed me to foresee that we’ll be able to unit an offensive big enough to annihilate them. Even if this can take a while, the existence of the necklace gives me hope for success.
Orenji no Taiyou began to rise. I had not slept a wink all night to prepare our “Journey through our uncertain memories”. I slowly woke up Kei and whispered to him:
“- Good morning Kei, are you ready for a great journey?
- Where are we going?
- I don’t even know myself… I can’t assure you that it’s going to be easy, but I swear that we’ll save our people along with the earth.
- Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
Kei held my hand and we went southwards, as motivated as ever to change our destiny.
Requiem et Réminiscence Report.
Survivor Uesugi Kagetora & Kei