Reverie and Nightmares

18

Despite not being part of this scene as it was likely a rewind from Saki (one of her tricks), he'd still felt as if he needed to hide from the startling of the door as it rambled hard, almost as if the person on the other side intended to break it down to the ground. Ryuga felt quicker as a spectator, too, as if he were half the weight and maybe even more than that. If he ever had an idea of what it was like to be up in space from what TV and media portrayed it, then this was it.

Any moment now and he would probably fly off from the ground, and because of his little experience of knowing how to keep himself on the floor when given this ability, he found himself blocking his mouth with his hands as the overweight woman came in, her dress long close to the ground and her hair a dirty blond. Still, she was dressed for a funeral, which he'd been able to piece together from the looks of things.

The large woman approached the smaller Mikan, resting her hand on her shoulders, and Mikan resisted all a little too bluntly. Mikan was not in such a good relationship with whoever this older woman was, and it showed by her tense body language. And if you couldn't tell the frown, that would still be enough.

"Mikan Alexander, what did I tell you about coming around here? You know this place isn't right for little girls like you. Why the hell are you here? Explain right now!"

Ryuga shook his head, thinking how grateful he was to take advanced English classes in high school and college. If he hadn't, he most likely would've not understood anything; using body language wouldn't even be enough to fill in the holes of miscommunication.

"I... I just wanted to see Dad again... One last time... I wanted him to see me wear his gift one last time... But-"

"But, what? What the fuck are you thinking about, girl? He's dead! The man is dead! Your dad, my fucking husband, is gone, Mikan." The lady said. She spelled out the word 'gone' in a way that you'd want to punch her in the face and make her bleed, and not just because she'd said it all while spitting on Mikan's face with her saliva, but because she was just clear vermin. "He's gone, and he's never coming back! He's never coming back! Face it! He will stay in that grave, and no digging will bring him back to life! Not even for a second! Face it! Fucking face it!"

Ryuga, whispering enough in hopes his voice wouldn't be overheard like some timely breaking ghost, cleared his throat, speaking to the demon Saki. He hadn't seen her yet, but he knew that if he'd been taken there, Saki surely was chaperoning somewhere.

"Is that Mikan's-"

"Yes... You're finally piecing things together, Ryuga. Yes, you're quite smart." A spectral version of Saki said. She didn't have to present herself completely for Ryuga to catch on, and all he needed was her snake-like voice that came out like a squeaking hiss. "That is Mikan when she was only eleven years old. You're just as old as Mikan here; take a good look at yourself."

"But why did you bring me here? When did I ask you to take me here? Why can't she hear us?"

"Because, hello? You interrupted me, Ryuga. You didn't let me finish, so I kept the rules of our chess game. I would've told you if you had just kept listening."

"Dammit. Ugh. Isn't there anything I can do to help her?"

"Change time as the world knows it? If you want to wish, I can grant that. But you know the risks that that brings to you mortals, don't you not? Should I re-explain?"

Ryuga couldn't say anything and returned to facing Mikan and her obese, graying mother. He noticed that the little girl held tighter onto the butterfly, almost as if she'd considered the piece at risk of tear. If she acted a little more rebellious, she'd lose the butterfly from her mother.