Hoshi no Sabaku - Talshas Night Ver1.5 by Funato Akari, original work by Yuuya Aoi ISBN 4-04-852889-0 translated by Janet Losey - http://moonreading.lunarpages.com Do not alter this document. ** indicate lines not spoken // indicate lines not spoken in the vernacular [] indicate lines in handwriting {} indicate translator notes () indicate descriptions (This text file is best downloaded so you can get some word wrap. This is also the more frequently updated version.) {As Hoshi no Sabaku is not a well-known title, and so much of it's story is conveyed by the characters' actions and expressions, I have attempted to describe the scenes to give the reader a better feel for what's happening in this story. It is, of course, my interpretation, and furthermore, I find I am poor at conveying the richness of the expressions of Funato's characters. She can put so much meaning into a single panel, a single face, that it's hard to look at other comics after her work. Hopefully, I can at least motivate readers to purchase this book so they can really appreciate its good qualities. I have found Hoshi no Sabaku to be completely worth the expense. (If you decide to purchase this book (and I definately reccomend it) the ISBN number with which to order it is listed above.) {There are things in this story that make it unusually difficult to follow as a script. First is the heavy reliance on imagery rather than text to tell the story as mentioned above, and also, as the story progesses, the readings of words start to differ from Chinese characters used to represent them. I've tried to mark these occasions, but for one they occur so frequently they distrupt the flow of the dialogue, and for another I'm not always diligent about it, so I'm sorry. Otherwise, the low number of cultural concerns in Hoshi no Sabaku are make it quite accessable.) Inside Front Cover: Funato Akari Profile Funato Akari. Real name likewise. From Nagoya in Aichi prefecture. Representitive previous works are 'Lunar' (published by Kadokawa Shoten) and the Sega Saturn game 'Chaos Seed'. Yuuya Aoi Profile Yuuya Aoi. Born November 17. Blood type A, Scorpio. From Fukushima in Fukushima prefecture. Received 2nd Sneaker Best New Author Award for 'Hana no Ishibumi' (The Flower Monument). P.3 Desert of Stars - Talshas Night by Funato Akari, original work by Yuuya Aoi P.4 (A girl dressed in a school uniform stands on the far end of a pier overlooking the ocean just after sunset. She is outside of the guardrails. A man in his twenties approaches behind her, with a mild smile and a blanket folded over his arm.) Hitoshi: If you fell, you'd die. P.5 Hitoshi: The ocean is cold in spring, [flap] and drowning in your school uniform on the very day of the school entrance ceremony is kind of dull. Mana: (Ducking under the rail) What wouldn't be dull? Hitoshi: Freezing to death counting the stars. [I suppose.] (The girl and the man lay on the outstretched blanket together. The girl has the man's coat draped over her. The man smokes a cigarette.) Hitoshi: Do you know Orion? That bright one on its left side is Procyon. And above that are Castor and Pollux, part of Gemini constellation, also called the third zodiac- Mana: (Suddenly sitting up) Kenji. Hitoshi: ?! P.6 Hitoshi: What? Mana: It's my little brother. Goodbye. Hitoshi: Where? There's no one... (A bike rushes up to the pier, handbrakes squeaking, as it's rider cancels his momentum with a kick to one of the rail posts. The bike's occupant is a somewhat annoyed looking boy.) [squeak] [thud] Kenji: Manaa!! Hitoshi: Amazing. How did you know? Mana: Because we're twins. P.7 Hitoshi: I'm Sawatari Hitoshi. Good night, Mana-chan. Mana: (Over her shoulder) Goodbye. Hitoshi: Twins, hm...? !! (Hitoshi lays back, taking a drag from his cigarette, when he suddenly reaches for his head with an intensely pained expression.) (There is a ring of lights in the night sky.) P.8 Kenji: Who were you talking to back there? Mana: A stranger. (The scenery flies past Kenji and Mana on the bike, when he suddenly does the same performance of handbrake and kick, though this time his victim is a tree. Mana hardly reacts to this at all.) [squeak] [thump] Mana: Kenji, have some sympathy for the tree. [Kenji: ...] Kenji: (Honestly upset) If he was a psycho, you would've gotten raped!! Mana: (Deadpan) It doesn't really matter. Kenji: You never think about these things, Mana...!! Kenji: ...... Kenji: ...I have to rely on you here, you know... So where did you go today? Mana: The ocean. Kenji: Since morning? All day?! Mana: Mm-hm. P.9 Kenji: Mana, don't go to the ocean anymore. Mana: Why? ...because I'll fall in again? [Mailbox: Kizaki Fumiko, Manami, Kenji] (At the Kizaki family's old-fashioned, slightly ill-kept looking house, Mana and Kenji's mother waits at the shoe well. Mana hardly acknowledges her presence.) Mother {Fumiko}: Your mother was so ashamed. What were you thinking, skipping the school entrance ceremony?! Mother: (Grabbing Mana's arm) Manami! P.10 (Kenji steps up from the entrance - loudly.) [Thump] Kenji: She had an anemia attack and was asleep. So, what's for dinner? (Later, their mother has finished sewing Kenji's name card onto his uniform.) Mother: There you go. Kenji: Ah, thanks! What about Mana's name card? Mother: She's a girl. She can do it herself. (Upstairs, Mana pokes herself with the needle in the process of attaching her card.) [Poke] P.11 Mana: ...... (Leaving her uniform jacket draped on her bed, Mana, laying on her side, reaches under her bed for a glass jar, and pours its contents, marbles, out over her. One of them seems to glow. At the bottom is an old family photo, which includes Mana and Kenji's father.) P.12 (At school the next day, Kenji crosses the finish line in a sprint trial.) Kawai: So fast! [Wow...] Classmate: Kenji! Just now, you got third place in the grade. Kenji: Awww, not first?! Kawai: Did you overeat!? [Nuggie nuggie nuggie] [Kenji: Wahahaha [ouch]] (Mana begins her trial.) Kawai: Kizaki-san is fast too, isn't she? Girls: Kizaki-san is good at everything, isn't she. It makes me feel so small. [You know?] P.13 Kenji(?): Why's that? Girls: We're not smart or pretty like she is. Girls: She's on such a different level, we can't even talk to her... (Kenji and his buddy overhear some older students talking about Mana.) Kenji: ...... Upperclassmen: Good lookin' freshmen this year. Like that long-haired one. Upperclassmen: Nice legs! I want a touch... Upperclassmen: Looks tight, like she's never been used... Upperclassmen: Moron, when you go out and say it, they end up being second-hand! Friend: ...Kenji? P.14 Kawai: !! Kenji! Stop!! Don't you know they're seniors?! Upperclassmen: Then, how about we get it on... (Kenji raps on one of the older boys' backs.) [Tap tap] Kenji: (Dead serious) If you're going to try any shit with her, you have to get through me. Upperclassmen: What's with this little punk?! Kenji: Ch... [Funato-sensei: 163 cm] Upperclassmen: Interesting. Why don't you tell us what you're gonna do? P.15 (...And Kenji does just that, in the form of a blisteringly forceful and sudden punch.) Kenji: ...!! Upperclassmen: ... Damn you...!! [Kenji: Hmph.] [Mana: ?] Teacher(?): Hey! You over there, what are you doing?! P.16 [shut] (After school, Mana shuts her locker, and faces Kenji and a pack of classmates.) Kenji: Mana! I have to go finish getting lectured in the faculty office, so wait a min... Mana: I can go home alone. (And in the process of doing so, she walks into an old-fashioned looking glass shop, staffed by the man she encountered by the ocean the previous night.) Shopkeeper {Hitoshi}: Welcome. P.17 Hitoshi: Oh? You're... Mana: (startled) ! [Ringg Ri-] (At home, Kenji is sprawled out on the floor with a shoe half on, one hand keeping the phone on its table, with the receiver sandwiched between his shoulder and ear.) Kenji: Hello, Kizaki residence!! Kenji: (Suddenly serious) ...okay. I'm on my way!! Kenji: (Looking in Mana's empty room) Mana!! Are you here?! Mother: Kenji, are you going out? Kenji: I don't need dinner-! ...I mean, I'm going over to the Kawais' house. P.18 Mother: (Fondly) It's as if he's a cannonball. [Ringgg R-] Mother: Kizaki Residence. Phone: This is Kawai. Is Kenji-kun... (Their mother's eyes widen with fear.) (At the glass shop...) Hitoshi: Is that so? You're Kizaki Asayuki's daughter...? [Box: Asayuki] Mana: Is my father famous? Hitoshi: Well... I'm only part-time, so I don't know all the details, but, I can see the appeal of the glassware Mr. Kizaki makes. Mana: (Picking up a lidded dish) This... it's my father's... Hitoshi: (Writing on a tag) It's a new piece that came in this morning. Do you like glass? P.19 (Mana holds the dish up to the light.) Mana: ...it looks like a star. Hitoshi: (Slightly surprised) A star? (Mana seems embarrassed, and Hitoshi takes the dish from her hands and slips a tag on the lid. Mana looks stricken.) Tag: Sold P.20 Tag (On the bottom, identifying the purchaser): Kizaki Mana-sama Mana: (Shocked) ! (Hitoshi slips a marble into a little bag and hands it to Mana.) Hitoshi: You can pay for it whenever it's most convenient. You should get home before the sun sets. [Clatter clatter] Hitoshi: (Back at work) Thank you very much. P.21 Mana: (On her way out) ...Thank you. Hitoshi: Good night, Mana-chan. Mana: Good night. (Hitoshi looks vaguely pensive and sad, when he is struck with another headache.) Hitoshi: ... {The kanji here means pain, but the reading used doesn't have any English equivalent. It signifies a sharp intake of breath.} P.22 (Mana comes home, and walks upstairs without a word of acknowledgement to the rest of her family.) [Thud thud thud thud] Mother: Manami? Have you come home? Mother: That's...? (Their mother catches Mana dropping the new marble into her glass jar, which she beholds with an numb, heartbroken expression. Mana hides the jar behind her back, and her mother grows angry.) Mother: If you feel guilty, you shouldn't have done it, should you? Sneaking around, hiding from your mother... P.23 (Her mother grabs her by the wrist as she tries to pull away.) Mother: You've always been like this! What are you thinking?! What makes you so unhappy with me?! (Mana's mother lifts the jar high...) Kenji: (Trying to stop her) Mom!! (...and it dashes against the floor. Both it and it's contents shatter.) P.24 (Mana sits before the bits of broken glass. In the hall, their mother's expression is drawn, and tears roll down her face.) Mother: ...I'm going to bed... I have work early tomorrow... Kenji: Mom... Kenji: Mom, I'm going to apologize. Mom! Kenji: (Picking up the glass) Mana, I'm sorry... Mom's in a bad mood. Mana: ...why are you apologizing? Kenji: Just now, mom found out that I went to see dad without telling her. P.25 Mana: (Intensely) You saw father? When?! Kenji: Tonight. Mana, you weren't here, right? I looked for you. Kenji: (Afraid her feelings are hurt) ...Mana, you can see him next time. Mana: When is next time? Mana: (Crying) Why? Why just Kenji? (Amidst the broken glass, there is one marble, different from the others, undamaged.) P.26 (Early the next morning, their mother leaves Kenji some instructions before leaving for work.) Mother: Warm up last night's soup, okay? And turn off the range. Kenji: (Half-asleep) Huh? Mother: And could you lock the front door for me too? Kenji: (Still half-asleep) Yeah... (Shutting Kenji's door, she puts her hand on the knob of Mana's bedroom door with a worried expression.) Mother: ...... (She walks away.) [Slide] (Mana slides open the front door and leaves.) Kenji: !! Mana, breakfast!! ...she's skipping, I guess... [It's not my fault if you pass out.] P.27 (In her classes, Mana looks ill and distracted.) Mana: ...? [Student: You can take a break.] Teacher: Kizaki-san, if you really don't feel well, you can go to the infirmary. (But rather than go to the infirmary, Mana sits on a bench by the schoolyard fence. She fishes in her pocket, and withdraws the last marble.) [Birdsong?] [Rustle, rustle] Kenji: (Suddenly beside Mana) That's is the only one that wasn't smashed? Kenji: It's the one that we found together, right? Kenji: What is it? Mana: (Suddenly overwhelmingly ill) !? P.28 Kenji: What's wrong? (Mana staggers, grasping the fence for support.) Kenji: This's because you skipped breakfast, stupid!! Can you stand by yourself? Mana? (On the opposite side of the fence, directly in front of Mana, is man, dressed wholly in black. His expression is empty of purpose, but menacing. Mana throws herself back from the fence, terrified.) Mana(?): !? Kenji: Mana!? P.29 Mana: (Shocked and exhausted)...I'm... going to leave early... (As Mana starts home, Kenji rests his head on his desk. He looks feverish.) Friend: What's wrong, Kenji? Kenji: I dunno... I just kinda... feel bad... (Mana's heart is pounding as she walks.) [Thump thump thump] (She freezes and looks behind her...) P.30 (...And sees the man in black from the schoolyard.) [Click] (He turns and approaches her with loud footsteps. Mana is rooted to the spot.) [Click click, click click] (As the black man reaches a hand out above her, she runs.) P.31 (The black man simply stands there as Mana runs, but she doesn't go far before she stops in fear and confusion. There is another black man waiting at the corner. She shrinks away from it's outstretched hands, runs, and pushes open a door...) P.32 (...and finds herself in the glass shop again.) [Thump] Owner {Ooya-san}: Welcome! Have you come on an errand? Mana: (Exhausted) ...... Hitoshi: Miss? (Mana whirls around to find herself face to face (well, face to chest) with Hitoshi.) Hitoshi: Ah... Welcome. P.33 Hitoshi: Ooya-san, how about mackerel miso tonight? And we have the ginger from last night... (As Hitoshi shows the groceries to his boss, Mana drops to her knees in the doorway.) Mana: ...I said I'm fine. Hitoshi: (Crouching beside her, concerned) What about you looks fine? Hitoshi: (Draping his coat over her) Put this on. Where's your house? (And the next thing we know, Hitoshi's walking Mana home.) Mana: ...I'm sorry. P.34 (From a distance, one of the black-clad men watch the pair. Mana is shaking, and draws Hitoshi's coat tight around her. Hitoshi's eyes narrow as the shadowy figure walks past them.) [Squeeze] Mana: (Bowing at her front door.) ...Thank you very much. P.35 (Hitoshi looks up at Mana's house worriedly.) (Mana starts up the stairs.) [Clatter] [Thud thud thud] Mana: Who's there...? [Click] (Mana opens her door to find a black man standing in her room. Some of the drawers under her bed have been pulled out.) P.36 (Upset and angry, Mana backs away from the man. As she lunges down the stairs, the black man melts, and tendrils of its substance wrap around her.) [Whoosh] P.37 Hitoshi: (entering the stairwell) Mana-chan! (Hitoshi takes a battle-ready expression, and from near him comes a sound like electricity. The black tendrils break.) [Zz-zz-zz-ztt crack] P.38 (Outside the house, there is a brilliant flash of light, and the house bursts into flames. Kenji is near the outside wall, and looks up in shock and disbelief. The neighbors are in a panic.) [Roar] [Kyaa-!] Kenji: Mana...! P.39 (Kenji is confronted with a gout of smoke when he opens the front door, but checks the shoe well for signs of occupants.) [Slide] [Cough cough, cough] Kenji: Mana's shoes... Who's are these!? 29 centimeters!? ...Dad's...? No way. [Roar] Kenji: Manaa--! Answer me if you're here! MANAA! [Roar] (Kenji sees a figure appear behind the curtain of flame and smoke consuming the stairs.) Kenji: Mana-...!? P.40 (It is a little boy, walking barefoot on the burning stairs as if there was nothing dangerous going on at all.) [Thud thud] [Roar] Kenji: ...! (The boy regards Kenji.) Kenji: (As if he's seeing a ghost) What ARE you!? P.41 Boy: (Leaning close, smiling) ...Say, haven't you seen a yellow jewel... about this size? (The boy frames one eye with his hands to estimate the size of the object of his search. His eyes are abnormally bright and reflective.) Kenji: What, you're talking like you're half asleep! Get outta the way!! I don't have time for this! Boy: (With hands on Kenji's shoulders) But I finally found a reaction. It ought to be here. Kenji: (Breaking away) I don't know!! P.42 Boy: (Oddly disappointed) ...Are you lying? (Suddenly, a liquid substance rips across Kenji's chest. He doubles over, blood dripping on the floor.) [Drip drip drip] Kenji: ...!! Danm you-! Boy: (Smiling brightly again) Don't try to hide it, bring it out. P.43 Boy: Give me the Talshas!! (The boy attacks again, leaving Kenji collapsed in a pool of blood, covered with wounds.) P.44 (On a winter day, a roughly 5-year-old Mana brings a fever-flushed and heavily bundled up Kenji a little rabbit made of snow. He smiles, and Mana laughs happily. Then their mother bursts in, upset, and checks Kenji's temperature. Mana is made to leave, and crouches outside of Kenji's room crying as the snow bunny melts. A hand pats sad little Mana on the head.) P.45 (A still teary little Mana rides on her father's back, as he hands her the jar that she once kept the marbles in.) (Mana awakes to find herself being carried piggyback on Hitoshi's back.) Hitoshi: Mana-chan? Are you alright? P.46 (Hitoshi carries Mana to a local shop, where he negotiates for some shoes. Mana notices the pillar of smoke over the rooftops, and runs back to the house.) Hitoshi: Suddenly that black man burst into flames... and had my hands full trying to get you out... P.47 (Between the dark shapes of the crowd gathered around the house, Mana spots a body on a stretcher. Kenji's.) Hitoshi: (Holding Mana back) Mana-chan. Mana-chan! With a disturbance like this, the police are bound to come. Hitoshi: How should I explain it to them? Do you think they'll believe us? (At a phone booth, Hitoshi checks the hospitals for news of Kenji's admission. Both wear sandals.) Hitoshi: He's in the Prefectural Hospital, room 338. Mana-chan? Mana: The picture of father burned up... P.48 (At the hospital, Hitoshi sits with his head in his hand wearing a weary expression.) [Beep. be-beep. be-] [Sign: Kizaki Kenji] Mana: Mother, Mother: (With her hands over her face) He was collapsed in the middle of the fire... his whole body covered in cuts-- Mana: Moth-- Mother: They said the wounds on his legs are too deep - even if they heal, he may never be able to walk... Mana: Mother, Kenji looks like he's dead. [Shut] P.49 Mother: (Hysterical) Why do you act this way, even at a time like this?! (Mana crouches outside of the door, head down, with a credit card in hand. Hitoshi pats her on the head.) Hitoshi: Will you be staying at a hotel tonight? Hitoshi: ...Mana-chan, will you be alright by yourself? Are you okay? Aren't you lonely? Mana: ...Lonely? What are you talking about? Hitoshi: But you just...?! (Mana looks up at him, dry eyed. There is a bruised spot on her cheek.) Mana: ? I'm just like I always am. P.50 (Hitoshi takes her by the hand. They go to the glass shop, and Ooya-san gives her dinner.) Hitoshi: Is it good? [Ooya-san: You can have seconds too.] (Mana and Hitoshi, with bedclothes draped over his arm, watch a shooting star pass a window.) Mana: Ah... I messed up the wish... Mana: (Studying her father's dish) ...They said Kenji can't run anymore. Is the one who did that to Kenji... that darkened man? Hitoshi: It was someone else. When the man caught on fire there was no one in the house. Your brother was probably injured after that. P.51 (Hitoshi is shaking a can of... something. Mana looks up at him, suddenly intent.) Mana: Will that black man come again? Hitoshi: He's gone now. You should forget about it. Mana: But-- Mana: There were a lot of them, all with the same face and the same clothes. ...Were they human? They couldn't be, could they? You saw them. What were they? (Hitoshi freezes. His hands clamp down on the can, trembling.) Mana: And besides, if something happened to Kenji-- if he died-- Mana: What would I do...? I'd lose half of myself... (Hitoshi seems to wish there was something he could say.) P.52 (Mana is asleep, with the last marble in the glass dish her father made. She wakes up, alone and scared.) Mana: ...... Sawatari-san. Sawatari-san? (Hitoshi opens the door, and Mana plops on the floor.) Hitoshi: (Rather puzzled)...What is it? Hitoshi: After we have lunch I thought we'd go shopp... (He sees the marble in the glass dish...) P.53 (...and turns white as a sheet, his face full of dread.) Hitoshi: ...Why did you do this? Mana: Should I have not put it in there? Hitoshi: It's not that-- Hitoshi: (Leaning over the dish on all fours) ...such a pretty green... Mana: My brother and I drowned once. Just when everyone had given up, we washed up onto the beach together. When that happened, this was in between our linked hands. Father said it was 'a good luck charm', and to treasure it-- Mana: When father... left the house, he left it to me. I was 5 years old then. (Again, something about Mana's story startles Hitoshi terribly.) P.54 (Hitoshi takes Mana shoe shopping...) Hitoshi: That happened... 10 years ago? Mana: How old were you then, Sawatari-san? Hitoshi: Me? 14. Mana: What were you doing then? Hitoshi: My father had died, and it was very hard for me. (Mana covers her mouth in apology.) Hitoshi: (Ruffling Mana's hair) But that was 10 years ago, right? Hitoshi: Mana-chan, you like glass because it looks like stars, right? [Hitoshi: ....] [Mana: I don't need any meat. And I don't like kuwai.] Hitoshi: Is it the same for that 'charm'? Is it a star to you? Hitoshi: What do you want to come true? P.55 Mana: (Startled) ...I've never... thought about that... (Suddenly Mana's expression grows firmer, and she jumps from her chair.) [Clatter] Mana: I have to go. Hitoshi: Where? Mana: The hospital...! I feel like Kenji is searching for me. Hitoshi: (With hands on her shoulders) Mana-chan! P.56 (Kenji is walking down the street, looking like nothing ever happened. Mana can't comprehend it, and Hitoshi is just floored.) Mana: Kenji!! Kenji, your legs?! What happened to your legs? Kenji: (Suspicious) Mana, who is this guy? Kenji: (Still suspicious) Mana. Who is he. Mana: Kenji! Kenji: ...They healed. Mana: No way! But... Kenji: At any rate, I woke up this morning and tried taking off the bandages 'cause I itched so much all over I couldn't stand it. P.57 Kenji: (Jumping as proof) And see? Nothing. Mana: But yesterday... mother was crying... Why...? How? Kenji: How should I know? I got better. Mom talked them into letting me out of the hospital. [Look.] Kenji: (Grinning broadly) They must not've been very bad cuts after all, huh? Maybe you all dreamed it up. Kenji: So, who is he, Mana? [Sign: Glass Shop] (Kenji examines the shop's sign, and a piece of glasswork marked 'Asayuki', and looks wonderingly to Mana, who is looking elsewhere.) P.58 (The group heads to the residence part of the glass shop.) Kenji: (Sitting in the shoe well) You work here? Hitoshi: Since last week. I room here and work part-time. Well, come in. Kenji: (Noticing Hitoshi's shoes) ! 29 centimeters! Kenji: So, what are you to Mana? Since when have you been together? Hitoshi: (With a friendly smile) I am Sawatari Hitoshi. Hello. Kenji: Did you come to our house yesterday? Hitoshi: (Serving tea) ...Yes. Mana: Yesterday he saved me from frightening people. I was... so afraid, and when I went home, they were in our house. Kenji: A little blond kid? Mana: Dyed black men. ...Kenji, who hurt you? (Kenji drinks his tea, pensive and confused.) Kenji: ...... A little blond foreigner. He acted like he was looking for something. I think-- yeah, it was a yellow jewel... P.59 Kenji: Talshas, he said. Kenji: Hey, what's the reason our house burnt down? Explain it to me. Mana: I don't know. Kenji: Mana! Mana: I didn't see it myself. When I regained consciousness, it was already... ...Sawatari-san? Kenji: (Looking at Hitoshi suspiciously) You know something, don't you? Hitoshi: No one will believe a story like this. It's better if you forgot about this quickly. Kenji: (Slamming his palm on the table) Don't shit me! Kenji: Mana is scared, I was seriously injured, and our house burned down! We have a right to know! Hitoshi: ...The Talshas is here. P.60 Hitoshi: In the dish... Mana: ...that's only a glass ball, isn't it? Kenji: What're you talking about? This is green. Hitoshi: (A bit lost in reverie) ...That's right. Hitoshi: My deceased father was always telling me-- in the language of a distant world, Talshas is written 'stone of wind and gods'. He said it is a crystal that falls in love with a single life once every several years. Mana: A distant world? Love? Kenji: If you think you're dealing with kids and playing a trick on us... Hitoshi: My father... P.61 Hitoshi: Was born on another planet. Hitoshi: It's a story of someone who's dead now. There's no proof, either to believe or disbelieve by... (Hitoshi's hand on his tea cup is shaking badly. Kenji notes this with surprise.) [Shake shake shake] Hitoshi: I guess I should stop after all. No one would... Kenji: Keep going. I'm listening. Hitoshi: ...On my father's home planet, the Talshas's love is called the Taliya, and can become a god-like being. Which is why it was stolen by agents from a colony world. P.62 Hitoshi: My father was able to recover it somehow, but he fell to Earth. Since then, the Talshas's whereabouts has been unknown. Hitoshi: The group that attacked you two yesterday are exactly like the pseudo-life forms created from Saitia {the kanji reads - variable material} from my father's story... If you believe this, there is probably a connection. Kenji: ...So, me and Mana weren't being threatened personally, right? Hitoshi: (Looking rather sad) I'm sorry I kept quiet about it. Mana: (Concerned for Hitoshi) You don't have to... After all, you saved me. Hitoshi: I thought it would be in your best interest to go on without knowing this, if I could manage it. P.63 Kenji: ...... (Kenji sees the boy's eyes in his mind. He looks with concern to Mana, and imagines their mother, distraught in the hospital. He abruptly stands up, and pulls Mana up by the arm.) Kenji: If that marble is a memento of your dad's, you can have it. So don't involve us. P.64 (Kenji looks distrustfully at Hitoshi, who seems to be a little startled, amused and impressed all at once.) Hitoshi: ...... Kenji: We're going home, Mana. Mana: To where...!? Kenji: The apartment! We moved in today. Mana: (Looking back at Hitoshi) I still haven't thanked you... Hitoshi: I don't need any. You should forget about it. Kenji: Thanks for helping Mana. But we're not interested in any more attention from you. We'll leave your story at that. It has nothing to do with us. Kenji: 'Bye! Hitoshi: Goodbye. Mana: Good night. (Hitoshi briefly appears lost for how to respond.) P.65 Hitoshi: (Smiling) Goodbye. (Their mother opens a door in a cramped apartment building that's in need of maintenance.) Mother: Kenji! Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your body? Kenji: I said it's fine. If there was anything, I'd be sure to say so, and go to the hospital. Mother: Is that so? Then... that's fine, but-- (Mana peers into the shoe well, nonplussed and out of her element.) P.66 Mother: (Smiling warmly to Kenji) Dinner tonight is delivery. Let's eat something good, at any rate. Kenji: Eh, really? I get ya, mom. [I'll get the best!] Mother: (To Mana) ...What are you doing? Hurry and come in. Mana: ...uh, mm-hm. Um, Mothe-- Mother: Kenji? I called in to school today... (Back at the glass shop, Hitoshi is sitting wearily (reflectively?), cigarette in hand.) Hitoshi: ...10 years... (And grimaces at the onset of another of his headaches.) P.67 (Lunchtime at school the next day...) Ootani: (Holding out a boxed lunch) Ken--ji-kun! I made an extra bento. Well? Are you grateful? Kenji: Ah...! WOW! Takahashi: Hey, where's _Kizaki-san_? Kenji: If you mean Mana, she went to the store to buy bread. (Ootani pulls the lunch away from Kenji.) [Kenji: Ah-] Ootani: ...Who do you think I made it for?! [You're twins, aren't you!?] [Takahashi: You're our excuse.] Kenji: EH?! Mana: ......... (Mana stands stuck behind a crush of students. She is about to turn around, when a hand drops on her shoulder, surprising her.) [Squeeze] [Shock] P.68 (The hand belongs to a cheery and generous girl, who is smiling brightly.) Satou: Vegetable sandwiches, sugar bread, and two milks! Here you go! Satou: (Eating with Mana) Can I call you Mana?! Say! Your house burned down, didn't it? Where are you staying now? Mana: An apartment in Sakashita.... [Tag: Satou] Satou: I know that place! It's on my way home. Why don't we walk home together?!! Okay?! (Kenji sees Mana and Satou-san together, and smiles approvingly.) P.69 (Mana does indeed walk home with Satou-san, and on the way they encounter the crude upperclassmen from the previous day.) Upperclassmen: ...Hey. Upperclassmen: Ki--zaki-san! Just hanging with girls must be lonely. Let us play too. [Buhaha] (Mana looks upset and guarded, while Satou-san leans protectively on her shoulder and regards them with an unimpressed, oddly imperious expression.) Satou: What idiots! Let's go. Satou: Hey, Mana! Let's be friends! I know we'll get along! It's true, I can tell! It's intuition! Satou: See you tomorrow!! (Satou-san waves very energetically on her way off, leaving Mana at the entrance to her building.) P.70 (Mana stands at the foot of the stairs to her landing and remembers an unwelcoming expression on her mother's face. She goes to the glass shop, only to find no sign of Hitoshi.) Mana: ...Hello. Mana: ......... Um... Ooya-san: Ahh... Welcome... From what I heard from Sawatari-kun, you were free to go up. Well, not that I ever minded at all. (Mana walks up the stairs and slides open the door to Hitoshi's room.) [Thud thud thud] [Slide] P.71 (And finds it empty, save the dish containing the marble, and an envelope. Mana reads the note.) Mana: "As long as the Talshas's light is within the glass, none can perceive it. Under no circumstances open the lid"? Mana: ...... (She remembers walking into an empty room as a little girl...) P.72 Ooya-san: (Hearing Mana run past) The station, he went to the station... (Mana finds Hitoshi in the process of buying a ticket. Though tired and disheveled from running, she addresses him as if everything was normal. Hitoshi's face shows that Mana was the last person he expected to run into.) Mana: ...Today, someone said, let's be friends to me. Her name is Satou-san. Hitoshi: (Smiling warmly) ...I see. That's good. I hope you get along. (Mana suddenly pulls Hitoshi's bag from his arm and runs from the station. Hitoshi finds her on the top of a hill.) Mana: (Hugging Hitoshi's bag) Where will you go? ...What will I do if the scary people come again? P.73 Hitoshi: Kenji-kun will protect you. He won't... Mana: What? Hitoshi: Go home. The sun is going down. Mana: (Upset) Where should I go home to, when my house has burned down?! Mana: (On the verge of tears) Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me empty. P.74 (Hitoshi hugs Mana.) (Elsewhere, the pigtailed figure of Satou-san walks towards at a western-style mansion.) Boy: /...I've lost one of my pawns./ (The strange boy who attacked Kenji speaks with an inhuman figure using an unknown language.) Boy: /The problem is that there is someone on this planet who can disassemble Saitia, you see./ Figure: /Do you wish for reinforcements?/ Boy: /I don't need those incompetents!/ P.75 Boy: /Would you keep the Valunans from having enough time to interfere with Earth instead? Those incompetent millitary types should just drop dead./ Figure: /......... Who was it that was defeated by the first priest 30 years ago?/ Figure: /The theft of the Talshas failed, Jui nearly destroyed.../ (An image of two figures that resemble the strange boy melting under the force of a dark-haired man's attack.) Figure: /Who was it that ran back here, missing most of your bodies?/ Boy: /That man was the descendant of a Taliya. There was not a word about that in the data!/ Figure: /To be defeated by a mere descendant.../ Boy: (Vehemently) /Next time I will win. I swear I'll kill him!/ P.76 Figure: /Do not give up the Talshas to the Valunans./ {The kanji for the reading of Talshas here is treasure. Likewise, Valuna = mother world.} Figure: /If a Taliya {kanji = god} is born, we of E'dua {= colony world} will be eternally unable to achieve independence./ (The inhuman figure starts to break up. The boy appears pouty and put-out at the re-iteration of his orders.) Figure: /We are the only ones who can repair Jui's systems. Simply execute our orders: "Kill Taliya {= god} candidates."/ Figure & boy: /"Steal the Talshas."/ P.77 (At the Kizaki's apartment, Kenji eats dinner with thier mother.) Kenji: After dinner, I'll go pick Mana up. Mother: Kenji... Kenji: I said, you don't have to worry about me. Mother: Will you... go to your father's place with Manami? Mother: I haven't treated you to anything in a while, and then the house... Kenji: [Sip] I don't know dad's contact address. Mother: ...What?! Kenji: Do you, mom? Mother: I wouldn't know that... It was in the house... Ah... Mother: (Looking very tired) ...We really have lost everything, haven't we.... Kenji: But me and Mana are here. Isn't that enough? P.78 (Mana and Hitoshi are walking along the beach under the stars.) Hitoshi: Pitch dark. Hitoshi: Do you like the ocean? Mana: (Walking barefoot in the shallows) Do you, Sawatari-san? Hitoshi: I can't stand it. (Mana looks at him skeptically.) P.79 Hitoshi: When you go to the sea you probably get a feeling of being filled. Hitoshi: (Laughing) It's all an illusion. There's actually not any such determination to anything. (They make drawings in the sand, and eventually Mana falls asleep, leaning against him.) Hitoshi: Even if you feel filled, underneath it there is a vast desert. (Kenji walks up to them.) P.80 Hitoshi: (to Kenji) ...You always know. Kenji: Well, we're twins. Kenji: I hate the ocean. We drowned when we were little kids. Kenji: After that, I kept getting sick. Mom was tired from nursing me, and would always fight with dad. One morning when I woke up, dad's room was empty... (Kenji recalls seeing Mana crying in the empty room.) Kenji: Only bad things happen when you go to the ocean. Kenji: I said can't stand you, so why is Mana sleeping like that? Hitoshi: ...I apologize. [I really wonder why] Kenji: I don't believe this. Pisses me off... P.81 (Kenji walks home through the darkened city with Hitoshi, who carries the still sleeping Mana on his back.) Kenji: So you quit the glass shop? Hitoshi: I'd been thinking I'd go to my parents' house, but... Kenji: _Still_ worrying over memento of your dad's? Hitoshi: ...In the next 10 years, when you two have reached the same age as I am, you mustn't be the same as me. Hitoshi: So don't... !! Kenji: ? Hey... (Hitoshi grimaces as another headache strikes. Kenji leans in, concerned, and his hand brushes against Hitoshi's.) P.82 (At the contact, Kenji imagines a hand forcing his head to the floor, and a foot holding it there, before a robed, enthroned figure.) (While Kenji is still baffled by the images, Mana wakes up.) Mana: ...Sawatari-san? What's wrong, do you have a headache? Hitoshi: ...It's nothing. I'm fine. P.83 (At the apartment, Mana breezes past her mother again.) Mother: ...You should at least call when you're going to be late. Mana: ......... Mother: Manami! Kenji: Mom, I'm hungry. Mother: You just ate, didn't you...? (And Mana and Kenji are back at the glass shop, where Kenji looks in dismay at Mana, asleep and content in Hitoshi's room. Hitoshi is apologetic.) Kenji: ...Pisses me off that she's at your place once I think you're finally gone! Didn't you say you had quit? Hitoshi: But there was no one to fill the position. As for Mana-chan, I'm just taking responsibility to escort her home. Kenji: I'm more worried about leaving her alone with you. Hitoshi: ...I'm not interested in minors, though... Kenji: Shuddup, you self-styled alien. P.84 (At school...) Satou: (Cheery, as usual) Mana, will you come to my house today? Mana: (Shaking her head) ......... Satou: What a shame! But you promise next time, right? [Sign: Glass Shop] Hitoshi: (Wrapping fast asleep Mana in a blanket) ...Mana-chan sleeps for most of the time she's here. Kenji: Hey, question 2. Hitoshi: a. a. b. c. a. I wonder why? Kenji: I dunno. Kenji: Maybe because the apartment's too small. (There is an image of Mana in her futon, right next to her mother. She is wide awake.) (And at school again, on a rainy day...) Satou: Where's Mana? Kenji: (Puzzled) ? I thought she was with you the whole time...... P.85 Kawai: Hey, Kenji! Kenji: Sorry! I'm going ahead! (Kenji rushes for the door, and turning a corner in the rainy afternoon, sees Mana obliviously walking toward the crude upperclassmen.) Kenji: !! This's bad... MANA! [Kenji: ch-] (The older boys notice Kenji, and he tenses up. A hand drops onto Mana's shoulder.) P.86 (It's Hitoshi, sporting umbrella and cigarette. He looks at the boy that Kenji punched earlier with little interest. The older boy, however, looks intimidated.) Upperclassman: ! [Hitoshi: ?] [190 cm vs 181cm] Upperclassman: ...... [Kenji: What the hell...?] (The upperclassmen turn and walk away.) Kenji: ...... [I don't get it.] Hitoshi: What? Kenji: Nothing... Hitoshi: Come to the shop. I'll lend you towels and an umbrella. Kenji: (Sore) Crap, it's just 'cause you're big. {Or according to the kanji, tall.} Hitoshi: What? (At she shop, Mana daydreams while looking at the glass dish containing the marble, then notices Kenji crouching near the door.) Kenji: Sawatari? Another one? P.87 (Hitoshi sits against the other side of the door with his head in one hand.) Hitoshi: ...It's nothing serious. Really, it's nothing... (Mana and Kenji enter the shop on a clear day to return the umbrella.) [Rattle rattle] Mana: (Leaning against Hitoshi, making a cat's cradle) When we went to the ocean, I had a dream. I only heard a voice. "I give you freedom", and "There is a condition", it said. (Hitoshi's eyes, trained on a book, go wide.) Mana: ...What do you think it was about? Hitoshi: (Patting Mana's head) It was nothing but a dream. It should forget about it. P.88 (At school, Mana eats lunch with Satou-san.) Satou: (Rather astonished) Your bento are always amazing, huh, Mana. [Do you make them yourself?] [Ootani: Wow...] Mana: ......... [Sawatari-san...] (After school, Hitoshi fixes Mana and Hitoshi a meal at the glass shop.) [Sizzle] Mana: Tomorrow, I'm going to Satou-san's house... She said it's in Sakaue. Hitoshi: Sakaue's by the mountain, isn't it? Kenji: (Looking annoyed) ......Mana. [Clink] Kenji: Why do you only babble on like this in front of Hitoshi? Hitoshi: (Shocked) ......This is babbling on?! [Mana: Chew chew] [Kenji: Pisses me off somehow.] Kenji: It's like you're forcing yourself on him. Hitoshi: (Shocked some more) ?! Hitoshi: (Doing the dishes) ......? [Why am I always doing this?] Hitoshi: Ah, It's 9 o'clock. You should be going... P.89 (Hitoshi leaves the kitchen and finds the twins fast asleep. Mana has Kenji's jacket over her shoulders.) Hitoshi: ...like this. {I don't get this line. Gomen.} (Kenji talks with Hitoshi as he carries Mana through the dark streets.) Kenji: Maybe it was a delusion after all? Hitoshi: Hm? Kenji: Your dad was psycho. Hitoshi: ...and the fire and the black men? Kenji: ...they may have really been a dream. P.90 Hitoshi: ...Mm-hm. Kenji: Hitoshi. This time you're going to the hospital. Hitoshi: (Setting a sleepy-eyed Mana down) Why? Kenji: (Pointing to his head) 'The headaches'. Hitoshi: Oh... I haven't had any lately. I wonder why? Kenji: Just go. Hitoshi: ......... Hitoshi: (With his warmest smile) ...Alright. Kenji: I hope he gets it... ! (Kenji digs through his pocket, and pulls out a folded paper.) Kenji: What's this... Did Hitoshi do this? [Paper: Kizaki Asayuki Kujira Glass Studio 0864 - 22 - 0] P.91 (Their mother appears, and Kenji jumps and quickly hides the paper.) Mother: Oh, are you home? Kenji: We went over for dinner... at the Dachi's house. Mother: Is that so? Today was payday, you know. I went out an bought some cake. Mother: Come on, hurry in and have some. Kenji: (At the lockers after school) Mana, you're going over to Satou's house today, right? If you run late, give me a call. I'll be coming to pick you up. P.92 (Kenji goes to a phone booth and imagines how the call he's about to make will go.) Kenji: "This is Kizaki Kenji. May I speak with Kizaki Asayuki?" "Kizaki speaking." "Dad, our house is gone." Kind of abrupt... Kenji: Oh well...! (Somewhere in town, Satou-san is smiling to Mana as they walk to her house.) Satou: My house is so big, and there's no one in it. I'm so happy you're coming, Mana! (Mana looks a bit overwhelmed but neutral as usual, when she suddenly stiffens.) P.93 (There is a black man right behind the oblivious Satou-san.) Satou: ...What's wrong? Mana? (Elsewhere, Kenji and Hitoshi sense that something is happening. The marble in the dish gleams behind Hitoshi.) Satou: ?! Ew, What is it?! (The black man's face is melting. Mana moves to shield Satou-san from it.) Satou: What is that, Mana?! Kenji: (His book bag strikes the black man) Mana-!! P.94 Kenji: (Brandishing a bottle) Get out of here, Mana! Don't get Satou involved in this too!! [Whap] (Kenji's bottle smashes against the black man. Mana grabs Satou-san's hand and runs...) Mana: ......... ...Sawatari-san... (...Until she is headed off by a gang of crude upperclassmen boys.) Upperclassmen: Well, if it isn't Kizaki-san. P.95 (Kenji's bottle is absorbed by the black man, who's body becomes tendrils which surround Kenji.) Kenji: !! Kenji: Wh... at is this thing-- How do you beat... (There is a burst of electricity...) [Zzzt] P.96 (...And Kenji regains consciousness, draped over Hitoshi's arm.) Hitoshi: Kenji... Kenji! [Kenji: Cough cough] Hitoshi: Kenji! Where is Mana-chan?! Kenji: !! (Mana, Satou-san and the older boys are in an isolated-looking wooded area. As the ringleader, still sporting a bandage thanks to Kenji, approaches, Satou-san clings to Mana's shoulder in fear. Mana's eyes are dark.) [Crunch] P.97 Upperclassman: (Gesturing to the bandage) You see this? It's the work of that Kizaki Kenji. Upperclassman: That was pretty cruel, don't you think? Upperclassman: It hurts, right here. Upperclassman: And throbs every night. Upperclassman: (Leaning close to Mana) And that we were against a kid makes it worse. The main part is a matter of feelings, right? So if his kid sister did a little... Mana: I'm the elder sister. Upperclassman: (Annoyed) What? Upperclassman: Who cares what you are? We're telling you to give us an apology. Starting with your attitude! Satou: NO! Mana: !! (One of the boys grabs Satou-san's wrist, and Mana steps between them.) Mana: ......You are weak. Upperclassman: Huh? P.98 Mana: (Smiling grimly) You lost to the likes of Kenji. (The boy slaps Mana, then kicks her in the stomach.) [Whap] [Thud] (Mana is thrown to the ground by the force of the kick, but looks up at the boys defiantly.) Upperclassman: ...You BITCH!! (Satou-san stands forgotten, and looks rather lost. Something in her eyes begins to change...) P.99 (Satou-san's braids stream from her head as sharp as blades, and dismember one hand from each of the boys.) [Whack] (Satou-san looks serene as her braids dissolve and her hair color changes from dark to light.) Satou: (Imperiously) Worthless humans should live inconspicuously, like vermin. [Slice slice] (Mana looks on in blank horror.) [Upperclassmen: ...ee... Uwa--!] P.100 [Upperclassman: Gyaaaa!] (The little blond boy from the house fire stands where Satou-san had been.) Boy: (Jeering) ...You're late, Kenji. Kenji: !! You... You're the one from... Mana: (Shaking like a leaf) Blond... You-- Mana: You did those horrible things to Kenji...?! You burnt down our house?! Boy: (Petulant) It was because he lied. I'll ask one more time; after this I'll kill you. Where is the Talshas? P.101 Kenji: I told you, it's not here!! Hitoshi(?): Kenji! Kenji: All that was at the house was a green marble! Boy: Green...?! ...I see, green... Boy: ! Who... Arc? No, not him... I see now. (The boy examines Hitoshi, who looks rather alarmed.) Boy: (Eyes bright with understanding) So it was you. Hitoshi: Mana-chan, come here! (Mana runs in Hitoshi's direction...) P.102 [Roar] (The ground in the clearing turns to liquid, and a wave of black springs up in Mana's path.) Mana: !! (The black substance swirls around the boy's confident form, carrying him high above the scene. Mana is suddenly born up on a swell of the stuff, and Kenji looks up at her from several feet below.) Kenji: Manaa! (The boy appears to have aged, and is now dressed in a black coat.) Juou: (Smiling, to Hitoshi) My name is Juou of E'dyua! I'm pleased to meet you... the poor "bound one" of Valuna. P.103 Kenji: What does he mean, bound...? Hitoshi? Hitoshi: (Watching Juou) ......... Juou: What's wrong? Why don't you tell them about your chosen land? Hitoshi: (Subdued) ...... If you are caught by E'dyua, they will use you as a soldier until you die. Juou: (Very amused) If you go with Sawatari, you'll be a doll for the amusement of the old men in the name of god. They'll use you forever as a symbol! Mana: What are you talking about... Juou: You really don't know? Then look. (The black material beneath Kenji becomes a one of dyed black men, who's distorted arms wrap around him.) Hitoshi: Kenji!! P.104 [Glop] [Zz-zz-zz-zz] (Hitoshi pulls Kenji free of the black goo, and before Kenji's amazed eyes his hand begins to glow with electricity. Hitoshi slams it into the oncoming wall of black men, and forces it back with a great wave of electric current.) [Crash] Juou: Is that what an ordinary Earthling looks like? That's being unfair, Mana. Why do you side with him? P.105 Juou: (Pensive) Even though he is the same as me, except that we're from different worlds? Mana: ?! Hitoshi: (Desperately) Don't say it--! Juou: Even though he is a Valuna agent for the retrieval of the Talshas? P.106 Mana: ...Sawatari-san. That was all a lie, wasn't it...? Wasn't it? Kenji: (Grabbing Hitoshi's collar) Say something... Deny it! Hitoshi--! Mana: Sawatari-san! Hitoshi: (Holding out his hands) Mana-chan, come here. P.107 (Mana shrinks away from the edge, afraid and hurt. Hitoshi is stricken; Juou looks _very_ smug.) Kenji: Mana! Juou: (With an arm around Mana's neck) I'll take this girl in place of the Talshas. P.108 (The black mass grows distant, and vanishes into the sky.) Kenji: MANAAAA---! (Kenji looks up at where it had been with loss written on his face plain as day. Hitoshi looks in the same general direction, expressionless.) Hitoshi: ......... Kenji: (Through gritted teeth) Hitoshi--! Bastard, how dare you... How dare you hurt Mana?! P.109 Hitoshi: (With his usual smile) You mean yourself, don't you? Kenji: !! (Kenji goes rigid as Hitoshi electrocutes him. He wears an expression empty of all but weariness. Kenji falls backwards, unconscious.) Hitoshi: ...Good night, Kenji. (There is a ring of lights in the sky above Hitoshi's head.) P.110 (10 years ago. Hitoshi is 14. IOW, flashback.) Hitoshi: Mother, I have to go. Hitoshi's Mother: Hitoshi?! Hitoshi: Someone is calling me. (Hitoshi, dressed in his school uniform, looks towards a ring of lights in the sky that suggest the form of a spacecraft. He remembers what his father had told him.) Arc: Hitoshi, your father was born on another world. (And then, he finds himself faced with the reality of his father's words before a group of not quite human beings, who regard him with unfriendly sidelong glances. In the midst of them is a wizened figure who sits on a throne.) (A hand forces his head to the floor, and a foot holds him there.) P.111 (The enthroned elder places a gnarled hand on an orb of the throne, and pain tears through Hitoshi's head in response.) [Creak] (A kindly, female-looking alien explains something to Hitoshi using a cross-section image of the human head. There is a small black object in the model's gray matter.) (Hitoshi lays unconscious. His hand is stained with blood, and there is what appears to be a weapon in his grasp.) {I suspect this line is female doctor, but it's too obscured to translate. It does suggest concern for Hitoshi's welfare, however.} Elder(?): /Half-breed though he may be, he remains the descendant of a Taliya. The child must repair the sins of the father./ (Blood courses down Hitoshi's face, and electricity flashes in his blank eyes. The sound of sparks can be heard.) Arc: (In Hitoshi's memory) I fought to return the stolen Talshas to the mother world, Valunan: /He took the Talshas and ran, without delivering the final blow to Juou./ Arc: (In Hitoshi's memory) ...and fell to earth. Hitoshi(?): /You ran away!/ P.112 (Hitoshi sits on a stool-like object in an empty cell staring blankly. Two armed figures enter the cell.) Guard: /It's time. Go to the practice floor./ Guard: /Even the child of Arc has become this docile./ Guard: /Given a year./ Guard: /He must've finally come to realize his place: the son of the traitor---/ (Hitoshi's expressionless eyes flash with electricity again.) (Hitoshi strikes, and the second guard's blood splatters. All that remains of the first is a slumped body and a violent dark stain on the white wall.) [Splatter] P.113 (Carnage - bloodstains on the walls, impaled bodies on the floor. All Hitoshi's work?) Elder: /Do you want to return to Earth? Very well, we give you freedom, child of Arc. (The elder touches the orb again, and Hitoshi doubles over, clutching his head.) Elder: /However, there is a condition./ Elder: /Search out the Talshas, still lost by your father's theft, and present it to us. In that event, we shall consider removing the 'spike' from your brain./ P.114 (Mana is laying on a bed of pillows, and awakes to the sound of Juou (looking about 12) arguing with the projection of the inhuman figure from before.) Juou: /--You can't even keep your promises...!!/ Figure: /Jui will awaken any time now./ Juou: /You people tell nothing but lies! I hate you!!/ Figure: /Juou, your orders--/ Juou: /I already have what I wanted. I'm not going to listen to you anymore!/ (Juou holds a broken peice of the device that had created the projection, as it crumbles and leaks fluids.) Juou: /I hate them.../ (The black substance swirls about Juou as he turns to face Mana. By the time the motion is complete, he appears about 6 years older, and wears a black jacket and a dark expression.) Mana: (Pulling away fearfully) ! P.115 (Mana runs away down a hallway with elaborately molded vaulting.) Juou: (Calmly leaning against a wall) No one's going to come rescue you, Mana. Kenji doesn't have the means, and if Sawatari just gets his hands on the Talshas, he has no more use for you! (Mana looks pained by his words, and covers her ears. She halts near some open columns that look outside, and sees sand stretching as far as the eyes can see.) Mana: !! Where... is this?! P.116 (In a spacecraft in Earth's orbit, Hitoshi consults an alien techie.) Valunan: /He has not yet left Earth's atmosphere. It seems he has only moved to another continent./ Hitoshi: /Please check it against the surface data from one hour before. The foreign substance of the ship.../ Intercom: /Child of Arc! The Elder summons you./ (The female doctor from Hitoshi's memories waits for him before the entrance to the council room. She speaks to him in Japanese.) Doctor: ...That smoke is not good for your body. Hitoshi: (Smoking, unsurprisingly) /Quit the wife act./ Doctor: I wonder why the general populace is given an addictive poison on Earth? Hitoshi: /Quiet, alien./ Doctor: /......The child of Arc, entering with physician./ P.117 (To one side of the council room, Kenji kicks at the spiral cage in which he is contained. In the center is an elaborately decorated screen displaying the enthroned elder, who appears to be a different person than either one from Hitoshi's memories.) Kenji: LEMME OUTTA HERE! DAMMIT! Council member: /...this vulgar, inferior creature is the Taliya {= god}...?/ Doctor: /The genetic alterations and special abilities characteristic of the Taliya {= god} are yet to be confirmed./ Hitoshi: (Taking a drag on his cigarette) /...You desire proof?/ (Hitoshi disarms an unsuspecting council member of a large knife, pulls Kenji from the cage, and sinks the blade in Kenji's forearm in one easy motion.) P.118 (Hitoshi holds Kenji's bleeding arm aloft with a businesslike expression.) Kenji: Ah... Ugh! (The gash spontaneously closes.) Council member: /...Even if this boy is the Taliya {= god}, there should still be some time until the change is complete./ (Kenji stares at his healed arm in feverish disbelief.) Council member: /I cannot believe an Earthling was chosen as the Taliya {= god}.../ Elder: /Very well. After implanting the 'spike', complete his education within 48 hours./ Doctor: (Upset) /It took a year for even the child of Arc. I have a fear that it will destroy his personality!/ P.119 Elder: (Immovable) /I do not care. All the people want is a 'god'./ Hitoshi: /Elder. The Talshas is in the possession of the Taliya's sister, who was abducted by Juou./ Council member: /Juou? The gold child, you mean?/ Hitoshi: /Please permit me to eliminate Juou and retrieve the Talshas./ Council member: (Looking suspiciously at Hitoshi) /And? What guarantee is there that you won't betray us, as Arc {= your father} did?/ Hitoshi: (Smiling caustically) /If you're that concerned, why don't you go? It is, of course, a matter of whether you have the confidence to face Juou or not./ Council member: (Insulted, grabbing Hitoshi's collar) /You...!!/ Elder: /That's enough!/ P.120 Elder: /Right now the only one who carries the blood of the Taliya {= god}, and the only one that possesses the electrolysis technique is the child of Arc. I grant you permission. Be certain to return with it./ {It = Talshas.} Hitoshi: (deadpan, reaching for his cigarettes) /......... Why are you in such a hurry?/ Doctor: (Scowling) /The temple is in a bad way. The anti-establishment.../ Council member: (Abruptly) /You needn't ask any more questions./ Council member: /And the physician should hold her tongue. All you need do is care for the underlings and insert 'spikes'./ Kenji: ! (The staffs of two guards' weapons streak past Kenji's face. His arms are bound behind him.) Kenji: ...What's going to happen to me? Hitoshi: Ordinarily, a 'spike' chip will be buried in your brain. It relays your current position or fact of your death, and additionally causes artificial headaches. Kenji: ...Traitor. Hitoshi: (Smiling mirthlessly) Such a dull line. P.121 (Mana is sitting alone in the desert, when Juou (about 13?) approaches.) Juou: ...Mana, you should hate Sawatari. He's trying to deceive you and he told you lies the whole time. Mana: You pretended to be 'Satou-san'. Juou: (Sitting down next to Mana) But I wanted to try going to school, and I wanted to be your friend. Juou: (Turning his hand into a claw) They said I was created only to kill Valunan Taliyas {= gods}! (Juou turns to Mana as if expecting her to comiserate with him. She flinches, but he looks unfazed.) Juou: And yet, I've never met a Taliya {= god} before. All this time I've been empty! Can you believe that?! Juou: (Musing, with closed eyes) I've thought about the Taliya {= god} a lot the past few hundred years. I've been waiting so long, I got tired of waiting. But... P.122 Juou: At last the Talshas {= treasure} has turned green! It has fallen in love with a single life on this world so far removed from Valuna {= it's origin}! Juou: (Lifting Mana up into the air (16?)) Valuna {= the mother world} or E'dyua {= the colony world} or the war don't matter anymore! For the first time since I was born, I've met someone who is my equal! Juou: (Smiling joyously at Mana) That's right, Mana! I've been anxiously waiting for the Taliya {= lover}, just like the Talshas {= treasure}-- so I can tell! You are the Taliya {= lover}! I've wanted to meet you for so long! Mana: (Confused) ...It's not me... Juou: (Not listening) What do you like, Mana? My ship is made of Saitia, so I can change it's appearance at will. P.123 Juou: An ivory tower? A moon ship? Since it's the desert, I guess it should be a castle. Mana: I'm not the Taliya! Juou! Juou: (Taking Mana's hand) Come, your highness! I hear the nights are very cold. Mana: ......... (Juou pulls a very uncertain looking Mana into a close (and full size) replica of St. Basil's Cathedral.) Juou: (Watching the sunset with Mana) Deserts are always lands of beginning. Where the lion of flame awakes, and where there star prince sleeps... Mana: ......? The smell of the ocean... P.124 (Mana looks down a corridor lined with doors as Juou leads her through the castle.) Juou: You can use any room you like, there's nobody here. Mana: But, the black people... Juou: The 'black' isn't a person. It doesn't have a brain. (Mana starts as part of the wall next to her takes the familiar form of the black men.) Juou: It's just a collection of figures, same as a desk or a chair. Juou: (Gesturing to his head) The only ones with real human minds are Jui and me. That's why I'm made from 'gold' Saitia of the highest purity. Juou: (Changing into 'Satou-san') We don't have any fixed form, so we take whatever shape is most comfortable. So even 'Satou-san' isn't a lie! P.125 Juou: (Enthusiatically) Oh, yes! Mana, do you want to see what Jui looks like? Do you? (Juou takes Mana's hand and pulls her off to some new place. Mana looks at him, and imagines herself with Hitoshi on the beach, with her looking into his face and gesturing to the water. They arrive at a library.) Juou: This is Jui. In person, he's handsome, with silver hair... My little brother, who should have been repaired in exchange for the Talshas. Mana: (Shocked) !! Juou: (With a happy smile) It's alright. I'm not alone anymore. I have you now, Mana. P.126 (On the Valuna ship, the female doctor finds Hitoshi studying a recording of his father's battle with Juou and Jui.) Doctor: (In Japanese) You're watching _that_ again? Hitoshi: /When he fought my father, Juou wasn't wearing black./ Doctor: (Looking sore) /No matter how much you investigate the battle recordings, no gold child other than Juou will appear. And black and silver as well./ [And here I was finally speaking in Japanese...] Hitoshi: /Why don't they mass produce the gold child, if that is all they can use it for?/ Doctor: /What about the cost? That military state probably values its money./ Hitoshi: /What if it was a accidental variant?/ Hitoshi: /The accidental product, gold Saitia, can't be be made again. It's unlikely that they can replenish the parts of Juou's body that my father disassembled./ Doctor: (Worried) /Hitoshi, you should go chose someone as a guard./ P.127 Hitoshi: /Who would help the son of the traitor?/ Doctor: / No, Hitoshi, the fact is.../ Hitoshi: But what about the reality? Hitoshi: Having lost the trump card they call the Talshas, Valuna {= mother world} has lost the balance of power with E'dyua {= colony world} and is on the verge of collapse. This is probably the outcome my father intended! Doctor: You have served us well! Why do you attack yourself?! Hitoshi: (Smiling bitterly) At this point, all that I have done wouldn't change the name on my back. (In a stark cell elsewhere in the ship, a haggard Kenji recalls his last sight of Mana - with Juou's arm about her neck.) Kenji: ...Mana. P.128 (Mana is asleep in a decadent bed in an equally decadent darkened room. She stirs and rubs her eyes.) Mana: ...... Sa... Mana: (Looking ashamed, with a hand over her mouth) !! (Mana flings a pillow across the room, and, looking like she's about to cry, leaves the room and begins wandering the halls of Juou's ship.) P.129 (Juou, looking 4 or 5, sits on the edge of part of the roof. As Mana approaches, she brushes a wine glass sitting near the edge, and it falls (a long way) to the sand below.) Mana: ! Mana: (Worried and puzzled) ...... If you fell, you'd die... Juou: (Smiling) Are you worried about me? You're so kind, Mana. Mana: The glass... Juou: Glass is the only thing that can't be made from Saitia. If it's not the real thing, it won't glitter like a star. P.130 Juou: (8? Taking Mana's hands) Mana? Stay with me. Let's be together. Mana: I... Juou: (13?, and looking into Mana's eyes) Let's always be together... Always... Mana: ...If I were here, would you be happy? Mana: ...alright. (On the Valuna ship...) Valunan: /Juou's ship, located! Five minutes to arrival./ Valunan: /Very well. Where is the child of Arc?/ P.131 (The female doctor is about to begin the procedure to insert the chip in Kenji's brain. He lays unconscious on a table.) Assistant: /It's general anesthetic. He won't wake for twenty hours./ Doctor: /Is twenty hours for a normal person three for a Taliya?/ Doctor: /Let's complete this procedure efficiently. Is the sterilized room ready----/ (Kenji springs up and kicks one of the assistants.) [Wham] P.132 (Kenji grabs a surgical implement and holds it to the doctor's neck, grim and angry.) Doctor: /Kya!/ (Hitoshi leans against a wall, smoking and watching as the guards rush past.) Intercom: /The Taliya is presently escaping from the medical block./ Guard: /The hostage is.../ Intercom: /All blocks security units are.../ (Kenji runs, pulling the doctor along behind him. He pulls up suddenly, looking startled.) Kenji: ! (Hitoshi, brandishing a Valunan scythe, is in the corridor ahead of them.) P.133 Guard: /There he is! Over here!/ (Kenji turns to find a guard closing in behind him, and by then, Hitoshi is right in front of him.) [Woosh] (Hitoshi swings, and Kenji flinches. The attack connects against the approaching guard, and from Hitoshi's unmoved expression, this is exactly what he intended.) Kenji: !! P.134 (Kenji and the doctor turn toward the body in surprise. Hitoshi is already busy using his electricity to overload some wiring behind a wall panel.) Doctor: (Astonished and afraid for Hitoshi) /Hitoshi... What about the reparations for your father...?! These past ten years.../ (A nearby shutter door slams down right in front of the bulk of the approaching guards.) Doctor: /Where is the value in throwing them away?!/ Guard: (Kicking at the door) /The Elder's granddaughter, of all people--/ Guard: /The Taliya {= god} is also with them./ Guard: /So father and son both are traitors!/ Kenji: (Looking at Hitoshi wearily) ...Why did you save me? [Click] Hitoshi: (Busily tapping at console) You couldn't make it through this ship's... !! (Hitoshi is struck with a _massive_ headache.) P.135 Hitoshi: (Crouching in front of the console) ...AH! Kenji: Hitoshi?! Hitoshi: Don't touch me! Doctor: (With syringe in hand) It's only a pain killer. Shut up and take it!! (She injects Hitoshi, and takes his place at the console.) Doctor: You're getting this boy out of here, right? Give me 2 minutes to clear the password. Doctor: (Tossing a knife to Hitoshi's feet) Once the hatch is open, stab me without hitting any vitals. I don't want it known that I aided you. Doctor: /...I would've preferred to wait a half day, at least./ [Click click click click] Hitoshi: (Slightly surprised) What...? P.136 (In the desert...) Juou: You'll... come with me?! Mana: If I were really the Taliya. Mana: But I don't have... anything... Juou: (Hugging her tight) Mana! (Mana thinks of when Hitoshi hugged her, and her eyes widen.) Juou: Mana? Mana: ...It's not me. Mana: Sawatari-san was going to go away and leave the Talshas with me, and because of my selfishness, I stopped him. And still... Mana: (About to cry, covering her mouth with her hands) I've done something terrible. I didn't trust him, and I hurt him... It wouldn't chose someone as... empty as me! P.137 {The next six pages jump around a lot, and I didn't want to break up the flow (which is important here) to tell you who is where. It should be pretty easy to figure it out, since everyone's been in the same places for the last 20 pages.} Mana: I have to apologize... Juou, I can't go with you. Juou: Why? You said 'alright'. Are you lying? Mana: I'm not the Taliya! The Taliya is-- Kenji: ...It's not me! Hitoshi: (Still holding his head) Then what about your injuries? How do you explain that? Kenji: What if Mana was the Taliya and she wished for my recovery? (The doctor is still tapping away.) [Click click click click] Juou: (13?, disbelieving) But you healed Kenji, didn't you? Mana: Me...? I don't know anything about that?! Hitoshi: The Talshas loves a _single_ life. P.138 (Juou changes to a 5-6 year old form, and what had been his black Saitia jacket swirls around him as he throws a temper tantrum.) Juou: You _are_ the Taliya {= lover}! I've been waiting so long. I know I didn't make a mistake! Mana: (Looking pained) But it's not me! Juou: Mana... (Kenji jumps as cracks form in the door.) Kenji: !! Hitoshi: It's coolant. They'll probably break through the wall. ...Kenji. Hitoshi: (With his hand over his eyes) You get out of here. I'll stay behind. [Click click click click] [Click] P.139 (Next to the console, a hatch through which the Earth can be seen opens. Hitoshi takes up the knife and drives it into the doctor's torso with out hesitation or emotion. At the other side of the chamber, the door begins to give way.) Juou: (8? With his jacket re-forming) ...You'd come with me if you were the Taliya, wouldn't you? P.140 (Mana stands between Juou, now about 18, and the edge of the roof. He is holding her hands again.) Mana: Juou-- Juou: I'll prove it to you. Juou: (Smiling) The Taliya won't die. Hitoshi: If you're the Taliya, you can jump!! Kenji: (Crouching next to the opening) Th... That's insane!! Hitoshi: She's somewhere in this desert. You know where, don't you?! (Hitoshi pulls out a shining object and presses it into Kenji's hand.) [Squeeze] P.141 Kenji: ......... The Talshas?! (Juou's hands cradle Mana's face as she looks up at his face uncertainly.) Mana: Ju... (The door behind Hitoshi and Kenji shatters. Hitoshi kicks Kenji out of the hatch.) (Juou pushes Mana out from the ledge.) P.142 (Kenji falls headlong toward the Earth far below.) Kenji: Wa... aaAH! (As Mana's footing begins to fail her, Juou (13?) turns his jacket into a fencing foil, smiling unconcernedly.) P.143 (Mana stares in shock as the foil jab shatters the uniform name card right above her heart, drawing a dangerous amount of blood. Her hair streams past her face as she begins her descent.) Mana: *Kenji...* [Roar] (The desert is in sight below Kenji when he begins to slow down in the grip of some kind of force which sets him down, upright, on the sand.) Kenji: (Disbelieving) ...I was flying... P.144 (Kenji notices Mana's figure falling from Juou's ship. Her body is caught by the same force that slowed Kenji's fall, and comes to rest gently on the sand. Her eyes are blank and glassy.) P.145 (Kenji's eyes grow wide with shock as he puts an ear to Mana's chest. He picks her up, blood streaming from the stab wound, and slides her eyelids closed. Juou looks on, stunned, as Kenji hugs her limp body.) P.146 Kenji: (Standing beside Mana, with his jacket off) I won't forgive this... I'll tear you apart. You will pay for this by your death... (Juou looks at Mana's body as if he would cry.) Kenji: (Enraged) JUOU!! P.147 (Kenji releases a wave of force, which cleanly slices through a corner of Juou's ship.) [Slash] Juou: .........!! (It also cleanly slices through Juou's torso and arm.) P.148 (Juou's severed arm and leg become a puddle on the sand as the bulk of his body struggles to re-form. He grimaces, bearing fangs and claws on his remaining arm.) Juou: Ugh... (He manages to avoid another attack from Kenji still lacking an arm and pools on the ground near Kenji.) Juou: (Mirthless) Hah...haha, hahaha! I think I understand the E'dyuans impatience to act while there isn't a Taliya. P.149 Juou: (Sliding towards a pool of black Saitia) The Taliya is certainly strong... Kenji: Cut the babble... Get up! (The black Saitia forms around Juou, and he rises from the sand.) Juou: (Smiling sadly) ...It would've been better if it was Mana. Even if she killed me, it would've been better if it was her. Kenji: _I'm_ going to kill you. (Juou now has great black wings. He smiles with sad eyes.) Juou: I don't want to if it's you. P.150 (On an E'dyuan spacecraft, an alien who bares a strong resemblance to the one that gave orders to Juou oversees a number of officers.) E'dyuan: /It's a Taliya {= god} response!/ Leader: /Valuna { = the mother world} still shouldn't have their hands on the Talshas {= treasure}. There's no way that a Taliya {= god} has.../ E'dyuan: /No response on a second communique to Juou's ship!/ (A globe of what appears to Saitia appears on the leader's console.) Leader: /What is it?/ Figure: /The silver child has awakened./ Leader: /......... Send him down. We can't allow the Taliya {= god} to fall into Valunan { = the mother world's} hands./ (Hitoshi is falling, in the grip of another headache.) Hitoshi: Gah...! P.151 (On the Valunan ship, the council is losing reception with the Elder.) Elder: /The situation is not the same as it was nine years ago. Consider yourselves lucky to be alive./ (The screen dissolves into static.) Council Member: /! Elder?/ Elder: (With no visual) /...Worry not. None can challenge the temple once it possesses a Taliya {= god}./ (Hitoshi is falling, clutching his head.) Elder: /I give you a final chance, child of Arc. Return to us with both the Talshas {= treasure} and the Taliya {= god}. Wherever you run, our voices will reach your brain. Do not forget that./ P.152 (In a landing capsule, Hitoshi tests his powers.) [Zzt-zzt] (He remembers Mana shrinking back from him, terrified, and runs a hand through his hair with a tired and uncertain expression. The capsule comes to rest on the sand, and he steps out.) P.153 (The wind howls as Hitoshi looks up at Juou's 'castle'. There are two hazes of light above it - Kenji and Juou locked in an aerial battle.) Hitoshi: He must have a taste for the flashy... ! Kenji... and-- Hitoshi: Mana-cha... (Hitoshi runs to Mana, and stops just short of the pool of blood.) Hitoshi: (Hands on her shoulders, _very_ afraid) Mana-chan!! Mana... P.154 [Tick tick tick tick tick tick] (At the apartment in Fukushima, Mana and Kenji's mother sits, looking very distraught, as the clock ticks very prominently. She jumps up at the sight of a figure on the other side of the front door.) Mother: !! (The twins' mother opens the door as fast as she can. On the other side is Kizaki Asayuki, startled enough that his cigarette falls from his mouth.) Father: I got a call from Kenji. I don't mind. Hurry and come home... Fumiko? Mother: ...... Asayuki-sa... Mother: (Falling to her knees) The children still haven't come home... I... I...! P.155 (Tear well up in Hitoshi's eyes as he hugs Mana's body.) Hitoshi: I...... What have I been... Kenji: Uwaaa!! (Above, another of Kenji's force attacks cuts a deep gash in Juou's face.) Juou: This is... the power of the Taliya. Kenji: How dare you hurt Mana!! (At the apartment, Asayuki offers his sobbing wife a handkerchief.) Mother: If something's happened to the _both_ of them, what am I to do...?! Mana: *_Both_?* (An apparition of Mana appears behind them, and her mother reacts...) Mother: ?! (...but turns to see nothing out of the ordinary.) Mother: Just now...? P.156 (Mana's bloody body rises from Hitoshi's arms in a corona of light, and the hole in her uniform, (and chest, assumably,) close. Hitoshi looks down at her hopefully, and her eyes open slowly.) Mana: ...... ...Sa... P.157 (Mana looks slightly bashful as Hitoshi gives her a _big_ hug.) Mana: Sawatari-san, you're hurting me. Mana: Say... Mana: *Say! Mother, I understand now.* (Mana sees the ocean in her mind's eye, and herself and Kenji washed up on the shore as children. Their mother holds them tight, with tears streaming down her face.) Mana: *Do you understand? Ah... That's good. That's good.* Mana: ...I thought that even if something happened to me, no one would be sad. Hitoshi: That's not true. Mana: ...But that's what I thought... P.158 (Hitoshi and Mana turn toward a burst of light in the sky as Juou deals a glancing blow to Kenji. Hitoshi rises from his place next to Mana, his expression growing cold.) Mana: ! Are you going to kill Juou?! Mana: (Running after Hitoshi) Stop... don't! Sawatari-san. Sawatari-san! DON'T!! (Hitoshi is thrown off balance by a force blast that sends sand high into the air.) P.159 (Juou and Kenji both look down at the column of sand.) Kenji: Mana...? Hitoshi: (Looking at Mana, unsure) ......... There are two Taliyas...? (Mana can hardly fathom what she has just done.) Kenji: Mana!! [Squeeze] (Kenji gives Mana another _big_ hug.) P.160 Kenji: (Holding Mana with tears welling in his eyes) What a relief-- I... thought I'd lost half of myself... Hitoshi: That's it...! Juou: (Glad) The Talshas loves a single life. You promised, Mana. Let's go together. (Kenji steps in front of Mana, and Hitoshi charges his hand with electricity.) Kenji: I won't let you have her!! Mana: (Tugging on Hitoshi's sleeve) Don't... Mana: Juou, I can't go with you. Juou: (Angry) Are you lying?! P.161 Mana: (With a welcoming smile (!!)) So... Come here. Be with me. (Juou doesn't know what to say. Kenji and Hitoshi are both puzzled by the fact that _Mana_ is _smiling_ to _Juou_.) Kenji: Mana... Hitoshi: Mana-chan? (A beam of light comes down from the sky, and within it is a shadowed figure.) P.162 (The figure looks to Juou with a boyish face and gentle smile.) Jui: /...Juou./ Juou: (Astonished and happy) _Jui_?! (Mana seems to be about to follow Juou over to where Jui stands, but Hitoshi puts a hand on her shoulder.) Mana: Juou! Hitoshi: Wait. For Jui {= the successor} to come to Juou during a mission is... (Still wearing the same gentle smile, Jui greets his brother with two large claws that shred one of his hands and threaten to do the same to his head. Juou hasn't reached the point of comprehension yet.) Jui: /"Death of Juou."/ P.163 Jui: (Looking at Mana) /"Death of the Taliya."/ (Juou won't take _that_ sitting down, and draws up a hand become a collection of huge blades while fighting Jui's hand from his face. Juou is in shock.) Mana: Make them stop!! Hitoshi: (Leaning towards her, confused) What did Juou do to you? Do you know? Mana: (Desperate) But... That's his little brother! They're siblings!! (At this, Kenji moves into action.) Hitoshi: Kenji?! Mana: (Tugging at Hitoshi's coat) Please...! (A shadow of the brothers locked in combat, with one pierced by several blades through head and chest is cast on the sand.) P.164 (Juou's face is dark with rage as he pushes toward Jui, who stares at him coolly. Tendrils of displaced silver Saitia twist around Juou's black blades. Juou's brows contract suddenly with shock.) Juou: !! Juou: (Raking several hands through Jui's torso) His mind is gone! Jui's mind isn't here! P.165 Kenji: (In warning) Juou! (There is a huge silver claw ready to fall into the back of Juou's head. Jui watches emotionlessly as 3 of his claws drive through Juou's head and chest.) [Rip] [Whoosh] (Kenji lets loose a wave of force...) P.166 (...Which neatly the divides the entangled brothers in two halves. Jui starts re-forming himself instantly, while Juou falls head (such as it is) first to the sand and struggles to right himself.) Hitoshi: ...How is your composition system? Juou: (Grimacing, only torso and above) ...I'm alive. P.167 Hitoshi: (Standing in front of Mana and Juou) Mana-chan, take him to the ship. We don't need a burden. Juou: (Insulted?) I can still fight! Hitoshi: With the 'gold' at sixty percent? Juou: (Flinching) ! [Squeeze] (Mana takes hold of Juou's arm and pulls him away. Meanwhile, Jui is re-formed, and swings his arms out like thorny whips. Hitoshi is at the ready.) [Zzt] P.168 (The boys fend off Jui's attacks as Mana drags the half resolved Juou across the sand. By the time she reaches the foot of the ship, Juou has switched to a 5-6 year old form.) Juou: Mana? Do you think even I can live here? Mana: (Watching Juou anxiously) ...You can. After all, that's something I can do. I know you can! So... P.169 (Juou, back in his black jacket and roughly 17 year old fighting form, only smiles a sad, sweet smile at her.) Mana: (Worried, but unsure why) ...Juou? Jui: /"Death of the Taliya."/ (Jui swings a large claw at Kenji, who falls back holding his chest. The sand is stained dark where he falls.) Hitoshi: Kenji! Kenji: The Taliya won't die, right...? P.170 (Jui strikes, but Hitoshi dissolves the claw with electricity. He goes and helps Kenji up.) Hitoshi: Saitia is a synthetic substance similar to seawater. Electricity can disassemble it. Kenji: What?! How am I supposed to... (With no further explanation, Hitoshi charges his hand, which is holding Kenji's shoulder.) Kenji: OW! Kenji: !! (Kenji now carries a much more potent-looking charge than Hitoshi's.) (Jui attacks Hitoshi again, still wearing an utterly neutral expression. Hitoshi dodges Jui's claws and reaches toward Jui's head with a charged hand, which Jui throws himself backward to avoid.) P.171 (Hitoshi dodges one swing only to find himself facing another, when something moves behind Jui. Dark claws sink into Jui's head and shoulder.) P.172 (Juou, wearing a determined expression, rakes large claws through Jui's body, slicing him into pieces. Jui finally shows emotion - anger. Fanged and dark-eyed with rage, Jui buries a near severed arm deep into Juou's back.) P.173 (A cold-faced Jui drags a clawed hand through Juou's head, and drags a crescent shaped object out on the other side. Juou's face goes blank, and he starts to disolve.) Mana: (Horrified) Juou!! (Hitoshi dissolves the hand holding Juou's core. Juou falls forward, with the required unit assumably reabsorbed.) P.174 (Hitoshi locates a similar object in Jui by disassembling part of his back.) Hitoshi: Is this it?! [Zzt] (Jui looks down fearful and surprised, and nails Hitoshi in the head with his elbow.) Kenji: (Through clenched teeth) Hitoshi! You... (Now Kenji steps up, with electricity 10 times as potent as Hitoshi's. Jui wheels around, looking overwhelmed...) P.175 (...And Juou holds him from behind as Kenji applies the current. Jui's Saitia body writhes, and he thrashes about with a feral expression. Juou barely manages to avoid having his head pierced as Jui throws a wickedly clawed hand in his direction, but leaves his shoulder open in the process. The bladelike claws pierce his chest, and find his core again.) Jui: /"Death of Juou."/ P.176 (The claws crack Juou's core.) Juou: (With a sinking heart) Mana... Mana: NOO! (A tremendous lightening bolt strikes Jui.) Mana: (Kneeling over the melting Juou) Juou! Mana: (To Hitoshi) Should I take him to the ship? Will he heal that way? Hitoshi: Mana-chan. P.177 Hitoshi: He lost forty percent of his body when he fought my father. Until now he only managed to support himself with 'black', but there is nothing that can replace 'gold'. If his system weakens, there's nothing... Hitoshi: !! (The sky fills with light, and afterward, the outlines of Valunan and E'dyuan ships can be seen in the sky overhead.) Hitoshi: ...Seems my luck has run out. Hitoshi: Kenji. If I die... Kenji: Shut up, Hitoshi! P.178 (Elsewhere in space, in the E'dyuan leader's ship...) Intercom: /Silver child, destroyed./ Leader: /Impossible... Retrieve him, even if it's only as data! He is our only means of opposing Valuna {= the mother world}!/ Leader: /What's wrong, hurry!/ (And in the council room of the Valunan ship, the female doctor (looking quite healthy) addresses the Elder's blank screen.) Elder: /So the Talshas {= treasure} and Taliya {= god} still are not returned.../ Doctor: /_Grandfather_./ Doctor: /The ones that started the war are not even in this world any longer. Who do we hate that causes us to continue doing these things?/ (On the mother world (I assume,) a number of armed figures approach the Elder.) Elder: /What are you doing here... Where are the guards?!/ P.179 Doctor: (Looking away sadly) /The temple's achievements are great. It is a wonderful thing to have united a world. But we have grown tired of domination and fear./ (On the E'dyuan ship, the leader is cornered by a number of his cohorts, who have blasters trained on him.) Doctor: /A new age is coming./ (The Elder's throne is vacant and stained with blood.) P.180 (The doctor and an E'dyuan female (likely the recently deceased leader's descendant) appear side by side in the desert.) Doctor: (Smiling softly) Hitoshi, the war is over. E'dyuan: A peace agreement has been extended between Valuna and E'dyua. The only ones who wanted war were the military and the temple. Doctor: Having lost the Talshas, we were finally able to create a new order with no need of gods. Just as your father wished. P.181 Doctor: And your 'spike' can be removed! Hitoshi: ...But what about Juou? E'dyuan: (Looking coolly down at Juou) For 600 years he served us well. His life has reached it's end. Mana: (Upset) Don't talk about him like that! Juou: ...It's alright. (Kenji takes Juou's hand and drops the Talshas (back in marble form) into it.) Kenji: Juou, you can have this. So... Juou: (Holding the Talshas to the light) ...So pretty. It's like a star. Juou: Even if I fade away, and only my mind is left, don't look away. I'll be hidden in the sand. Juou: Mana, I'll become one of those stars. {There is a connotation here that all stars are like little hand-sized marbles.} P.182 Juou: I'll become one of the five hundred thousand bells. {The nature or origin of this expression is lost on me.} Juou: (Becoming transparent) And I'll make your wishes come true. Mana: Ah...! (Mana looks down in horror as Juou seeps through her arms. She catches his outstretched hand.) Juou: (With a glad smile) When you look to the night sky, smile to me... P.183 (Juou's hand dissolves in Mana's grasp, and she tries to gather up his head as it seeps into the sand.) Mana: Ju... No, Juou! (The last of the gold Saitia drips onto the sand, and all that remains is the Talshas.) Mana: ......... Where is his mind...? E'dyuan: Can a human mind endure six hundred years of life? Juou's mind died in its eleventh year. What just disappeared was a copy of Juou's mind. P.184 (Tears fall from Mana's lowered face.) Mana: We had always searched, Juou and and I... for someone who would listen to us... That was all we wanted! Mana: I don't need this! I don't need any of it! (A tear falls on the Talshas. It cracks and shatters.) P.185 Mana: (Tearful, shouting) Give Juou back!! Mana: Give him back... (Mana cries in Kenji's arms.) P.186 (The sun is high, and Mana's school uniform is drying on a clothesline. The twins' father comes up with a melon in tow, and finds Mana and Kenji by the front door.) Father: What is it, you two? Mother: They said they were going to Kamakura. Father: When are you coming back? [Mother: Look, it's time.] Kenji: (Grinning) When summer break is over. P.187 Kenji: There'll a room free, and you're coming and going all the time. It's out of your way, so what if you lived here, dad? I'd kinda like to have a little brother. Father: (Blushing) Idiot! Mana: ......... Mana: (Nervously) ......... I'll see you later. {lit. I will go and return.} Mother: Come back safely. Kenji, take care of Manami. Kenji: Yeah! (Mana blushes.) P.188 (During the train ride, Kenji studies a class photo.) Kenji: The one with glasses is Ootani, the short one is Takahashi. That's Kawai. ...Why can't you match the names and faces of people in our class? Mana: ...That's not true. I remember. Kenji: Look, Mana! Out of the house and in the country! (They arrive at a cluster of traditional buildings next to a sloping mountain. As the approach the entrance, the phone rings inside.) [Ringgg] Hitoshi's mother: Sawatari residence. Ah, Professor Masaki. P.189 Hitoshi's mother: Hitoshi? It's the graduate school... (Mana and Kenji open the door.) Hitoshi's mother: I think he went to the back yard. I'm sorry. Kenji: Phone call, phone call... (The twins find Hitoshi standing amid a field of sunflowers, looking down at someone below the tops of the flowers.) Kenji: Oh-- Hitoshi! Boy: I _told_ you to keep me a secret until I get big! Hitoshi: After five years, I'm going to let them know. Alright? Boy: No! Hitoshi: Well, even if you refuse... Kenji: Wha---?!! P.190 Kenji: [Bwahahahaha!] Who's this little squirt?!! Boy: Stop it!! (Kenji puts his hands up in a well-meaning gesture as Hitoshi looks warmly at the child.) Hitoshi: When they _reconstructed_ his memories and genetic data that was left on the spacecrafts, he became a human boy. (It is a little boy with blond hair, clutching at Hitoshi's shirt.) P.191 (Mana smiles sweetly to him.) Mana: Juou! Desert of Stars - END P.193 From the Original Creator Excitement, affection, shock, relief... I love to have my heart shaken by these feelings, whether by a comic, or a novel, or a drama, or a movie. Attempting to nock at the hearts of others in this way, I started trying to make a story. In the beginning I thought I would write a children's story, but while I was carrying on with, Juou isn't beautiful enough...... or, then I should put in a spaceship here...... at some point, I realized that Talshas Night (novel version original title) was a shoujo manga rather than a children's story. In a rather good mood, I saw in 'The Sneaker Special Issue' I had bought wanting to read the 'Shoujo Manga Pursuit' feature that they were accepting submissions for novels, and resolutely sent out my work. That, to my good fortune, remains in the final screening for the 'Sneaker Prize', and somehow became a comic which was serialized in 'Fantasy DX'. And to me, finally receiving it in a compiled book a wonderful as this truly feels like my birthday and Christmas and New Years and Valentines Day all came at once. Funato Akari-san, with her amazingly beautiful art, drew me Mana just as I imagined her. Thank you very, very much. Again, to all those who assisted in making this story into a comic, you have my heartfelt gratitude. Thank you very, very much. Yuuya Aoi Back Cover: The Talshas- a yellow gem which has the meaning 'stone of wind and gods' in the language of a foreign world. The twins Mana and Kenji come to be targeted by envoys from two planets concerning the power that was hidden in this stone...?! An interstellar fantasy describing a single 'meeting', awakened amidst endless years.