➤The ✭ Perfect ✫ World ➧➧➤

[Hiddochi wolf]

He was in a round, dull conference room, surrounded by equally dull men. The fluorescent light flickered incessantly above his head, casting that sickly glow upon the wooden table. Raowan tapped his fingers impatiently while he waited for the sleeping man across the way to awaken.
"Something has happened," He started off lowly, volume rising with time, "an anomaly. They have gained access to guardian powers; a feat that should, in theory, be impossible. That can only mean one thing..."
The others began whispering and nodding around the room, until he again rose his voice, "This is the beginning of a total war. Not only have they managed to gain the technology to make this all possible, but they are appearing far more rapidly — a surefire sign that something near a full-scale rebellion is bound to occur any day. These most recent attacks are just mere bluffs; their attempts to undermine the guardians' confidence. But the next few days, I'm predicting, will be the turning point..."
"Indeed, but at this rate...is there truly nothing we can do?" Someone to the left called out.
Raowan thought for a brief moment, "No, we can still fight. But we'll need the Caretakers."  

[Okami Ameras]

I wandered over to Eva, and I dumped the clothes behind the couch and sat next to her, dripping water.

Perfect? What do you mean?

I tilted my head at her, ears perked. Does that imply a place that's... not perfect? I thought to myself.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva focused on Scarlet as best she could, though the tiredness in her eyes was evident, "I was a very nervous person when I was younger... The whole time I lived with my family, they always told me not to worry, and that this was a 'perfect' world. They promised that it was impossible for evil to exist here. Yet, that's obviously untrue now, with the Corrupted and all. I guess it was stupid to believe it in the first place..."
She yawned, "I suppose it's getting late. Did you need something?"  

[Okami Ameras]

I smiled at the sleepy woman before me. I was used to being a very light sleeper; it wouldn't take much to wake me in the middle of the night. Still, I pondered. Maybe I'm closer to what I'm seeking then I thought...

Just a place to wash my clothes.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva nodded lightly, "Alright. The laundry room is down that hall, to the left, across from the kitchen." She smiled as best she could, "Good night."
She stood up to leave, hobbling up the stairs after a moment's hesitation. By the time she got to the third floor, she realized Raowan was already asleep. Her steps were careful as she entered, trying not to disturb the exhausted guardian. She settled down in the recliner beside the sliding glass door, gazing out to the moonlit lake, then to the milky cosmos above. The stars were her source of comfort; always there, always safe and always the same. It was under that blanket of the universe that she eventually drifted off to sleep.

•   •   •

It was nearing 4AM when the three appeared, high upon the rooftops of skyscrapers, watching over the city with all-seeing eyes. Nemesis, the destroyer, tall and brooding and dark. Genesis, the creator, proud and human in appearance. Metamorphosis, the alteration, small and sleek and ever-changing. They were the Caretakers, come to correct the anomaly and protect the utopia. The coming days would decide it all.
Nemesis wordlessly veered off to the left, skimming over buildings with mighty leaps, and Meta ran parallel to her in the opposite direction. Genesis, however, remained watching...waiting.  

[Okami Ameras]

I collected my clothes from behind the couch and headed to the laundry room, where I quickly threw my clothes in the wash and started it up. I then headed upstairs to my guest room. I jumped on the bed and curled up, wrapping my tail around myself and falling asleep.

~ ~ ~

"Ah, my little FireCat." Said a gentle voice. I looked around; I was in a dark cave, and I seemed younger. A child? I'm a child? I looked up into the face of the large man before me; he looked kind of chubby, but instinct told me that there was more muscle under his skin then fat. My sharp eyes tried to take in his features, but I couldn't see it for some reason. I still had the ears and tail... but they were... Not there. Hard to explain.

"Today we will learn how to breathe. The breathing is one of the most important parts of our art."

Yes Daddy. I found myself saying attentively. He was serious I knew, but not... what's the word... mean.

He touched the area of my torso where my little tummy ended and my chest began. "To breathe in, breathe in from here with your nose. And when you breathe out..." He touched the center of my chest "from there out your mouth. Do you understand, Scarlet?"

Yes papa.

I looked up at him with big eyes and I breathed in low and breathed out high. I felt... I felt the air twisting in my lungs, and when I breathed out, it ruffled the man's hair, though he was sitting a few feet away.

What happens when you do it daddy?

He smiled, and I saw a hint of teeth in the gloom around his face. He drew in air deeply, far more deeply then one would expect, and then he breathed out. He continued this, and I felt my hair flutter in the brese when he breathed out.

There was a crackle and a fizzing from a computer nearby. I peered over at it. I heard him chuckle. "Yes, my breathing did that."

I giggled madly.

That's so cool!  

[Hiddochi wolf]

((I'm skipping forward to the next morning just for my characters now. However, you guys may still take the time to catch up as you want to. ))


Eva awoke later than she'd intended, and in a different place than she'd first slept. She was alone in the king-sized bed, sheets tucked up tightly to her chin. Raowan probably carried her once he'd woken up. She smiled inwardly at the thought. However, her humor lasted not long, for a splitting headache rolled inside her skull. She sat up clutching her head, waited a moment in testing, then grabbed a small pill container out of the nightstand. She withdrew and swallowed two of the white capsules.
Her dreams had not been in relation to the grey world, as she had originally anticipated. She was grateful for that, at least. Eva dressed herself in jeans and a royal blue baby-doll tunic, then bounded downstairs for breakfast. She wondered silently if Scarlet was awake yet.

•   •   •

"Nemesis found and eradicated a few individuals last night, however none of them were a major threat to begin with. Just random, standalone Corrupted. Metamorphosis was on the trail of some terrorist type, but the man used his powers to fade at the last moment. I've instructed them not to initiate combat during the daylight hours unless otherwise provoked." Genesis, the male Caretaker, explained. His voice was robotically clear, yet full of that human tone. His facial features and hair were soft, with piercing, artificial grey eyes at the center of it all. He was currently seated at an outdoor table of a cafe downtown, speaking with Raowan.
The guardian nodded softly, "Very good. I'm disappointed that it's had to come down to this drastic of a measure, though..."
Genesis settled further back into his chair, half-closing his eyes as he spoke, "You need not worry, Raowan; I shall spare as many lives as I deem physically possible. Nemesis cannot slaughter without my communicated permit, and Meta already avoids conflict as best she can."
"I know, it's just..." Raowan trailed off, Genesis tilted his head at the pause, "It's just that I feel like I'm the obsolete one. Like I'm losing everything that I care for, and it's crumbling right before my eyes—"
"Please calm down." Genesis interrupted, now sitting perfectly upright again, "You know that we're just a temporary fix. None of this was anticipated in the original plan, and the anomaly has escalated beyond your control. No one is to blame but the Corrupted. We're here simply to correct the issue, then we shall leave, and life will continue as it had before."
"Alright, Genesis...I'm leaving this up to you. We all depend on the three of you." Raowan took the last sip of his beverage, then stood along with Genesis. "Just please...keep her and the rest of them safe."
For the first time, the Caretaker smiled; not an unreal one, but a genuine, humanly smile. He nodded, "As you wish."
The two of them parted ways just then, following different directions down the sidewalk.  

[Okami Ameras]

That morning I woke, snuggled with a pillow. I slowly uncurled, stretching and flexing each muscle in turn until I heard a satisfactory pop from each joint. Once that was done I climbed out of bed and once more put on the bathrobe, and I brushed my hair in the mirror before heading downstairs.

I headed for the laundry room, where I took the new clean but damp clothes and threw them in the dryer.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Eva heard the sound of movement down the hall, so she knew Scarlet was up. Her head still pounded miserably, waiting for the medicine's numbness to overcome it. She entered the kitchen, reaching into the high cabinet for a bowl. It was just out of reach. She focused harder, stretching her arm as far as it would go, and the object just kind of...rolled into her grasp. At first she was taken aback, but common sense told her that it was nothing. The same process happened with the cereal box atop the fridge. It wasn't until she turned around to find the milk carton already on the countertop that she let out an utterance of surprise and dropped her spoon. It hadn't been there the moment before.
She sat down at the table, examining each object closely with a dumbfounded expression. They all looked normal, felt normal, were normal. Eva cringed as a strong ache pounded through the back of her head again. She set down the carton, hearing as Scarlet closed the dryer door, then called out to her half-jokingly, "I think I'm magnetic this morning."  

[Okami Ameras]

I heard her and wandered into the kitchen, ears up and tail waving back and forth as I walked. I seemed to have gotten a sway as I walked, like I was on a boat.

Oh? What's up?  

[Hiddochi wolf]

She made an exaggerated gesture of cluelessness, "I couldn't reach the bowl or the box, and both of them ended up flying into my hand as I tried to reach. Then the milk appeared out of nowhere."
Eva finally resolved to using the products, albeit with caution. She half expected each individual corn flake to suddenly jump up and stick to her skin. They didn't, of course.
The phone rang loud and clear. She got up and answered, "Hello?"
Instead of a person responding, it was one of those automated messages, "Hello! This is your local health clinic reminding EVA ANNALYSE of their appointment today. Please press one to hear the details, press two if you are not the patient specified, press three if—"
Eva pounded the first button with disgust. The computer's voice was worsening her headache.
"Searching records for EVA ANNALYSE..." The voice changed drastically as it read the name, then cut off into irritating music as it put her on hold. "Testing scheduled for 3:30PM, on August 23rd, 2072."
She hung up on the phone-robot then, sighed.
"Well, looks like Raowan signed me up for more blood tests today. Great. Wish he would've at least told me ahead of time..." Her annoyance was evident as she sat back down to finish her cereal.  

[Okami Ameras]

Seems to me you're a bit tired of this place.

I noted the observation, and wandered over to the frying pan rack, where I reached up to grab one of the pans. My tail flicked back and forth-- I wasn't tall enough t reach it-- until the one I was reaching for fell from the rack. Instead of landing in my hand tho, the edge of it hit me between the ears with a loud CLANG, and bounced, landing on the stove and wobbling some.

I was knocked onto my a**, my hands between my catlike ears as each drooped to the side.

Ow.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

~~~

Eva, if she paid attention, would noticed a change slowly creep over little Scarlet. Initially, she started to shrink, her form getting lank and slightly more dangly in proportions, and her endowments faded some. (now Scarlet looked her real age; 12 years old) But there was something else about the girl that changed. She seemed to have a noticeable aura of strangeness now, that was kind of alien and slightly dangerous. However... it was more like this girl could be dangerous, and at the moment, she was choosing not to be...

~~~

I opened my eyes a little, and shook my head. I looked around, my peridot green eyes wide now.

Where... where am I? Papa? Mama? Odessa?  

[Hiddochi wolf]

"Perhaps I am..." Eva replied to Scarlet's initial statement. She only watched as the cat-woman reached for a pan, but heard the actual occurrence. She stood up as Scarlet fell out of sight behind the counter, concern welling up inside. "Scarlet?" She asked once, then saw as the transformation began. There now sat a young girl in her kitchen. A child; something physically impossible in this existence. She first took a step back, then approached with caution, kneeling down near the girl but not directly next to her. Her next words came in a panic, "Scarlet? Are you...alright?"

•   •   •

They could sense it. Another anomaly, a warp in the system. In essence, however, it did not seem malicious. All three Caretakers paused in their patrols, taking a moment to decide their plan of action.
Nemesis: Disturbance located. Northbound, coordinates; 004 595 1025...
Metamorphosis: Type unknown. Intent unknown. Rift has opened between alpha and delta matrices...
Nemesis: Security breach, level 3. Extent of damage unknown. Permission to eliminate?
Genesis: Request denied. Do not initiate combat. Meta; locate and patch the rift.
Meta: Affirmative. Locating rift source...
Genesis: Continue routine scouting, Nemesis. If distress signal is sent, report immediately to anomaly source and seek to correct.

With their conclusion, Meta sunk down into the pavement, fading like a ghost. Nemesis resumed patrolling her assigned route. Genesis was the one to track down the source, heading off in the direction of the guardian manor. He delayed a moment, leaning forward as if to sprint, then disappeared into a rift of his own.  

[Okami Ameras]

I blinked and looked around, then up at Eva. I tilted my head, thinking for a moment. Everything had flowed back when I had been hit on the head. My mother... my father... my sister... up until the attack on our home...

Oh... right... Mommy and Daddy and sissy aren't here... Um...

I looked down at myself. I now had the lanky, slightly awkward body of a 12 year old girl. Oddly... It seemed far more... natural to me then the form I had before. I rubbed my head, and the pain ebbed away, but I still felt the damage. A bad bump... but a lucky one. It had brought back my memory.

Um, um, I think I'm allright.

I looked up at her, before getting to my feet. I swayed slightly, before righting myself against the stove.

~~~

Odessa had been flying over the city, like a beautiful golden winged seraph. But she felt something. She didn't feel it like the Caretakers did-- instead she felt something warm next to her heart, like a kindred had finally awoken.

Scarlet. I'm coming, Scarlet!

Calling upon her Guardian powers, Odessa vanished into a rift of her own...