Composed by deko
Translated by Yuki Neco
Three gigantic bodies appeared out of a gassy cloud in the space opposite side to the earth across the sun. The mysterious bodies are shaped like sharp pyramids, reflecting the sunlight glitteringly.
It was freezingly chilly in the fields near Mt. Souen despite of the sunny weather. In the freezing atmosphere, racoon dogs and serows, which were supposed to be in hibernation, was heading for the peak of the mountain as if they had planned to do.
In Advanced Communications Laboratory, the monitor in the control room showed the image sent from the space probe. Dr. Nakagawa lowered his head when Dr. Gnome shouted with questions, “Dr. Nakagawa, what the heck is that? You know something, don’t you.”
“The gravitational deviation caused by the body’s appearance distorts the trajectory of the space probe,” one of the staffs reported.
“That’s gigantic. It must have mass of tens of... no, hundreds of tons,” another scientist gasped in amazement.
“What’s that thing coming to this world for?” Misako mumbled in a puzzled look.
“For punishment,” Satoshi answered. His answer attracts all the interests of all the staffs in the room, but he faced the monitor communicating the African station and the Southern American station, in stead of continuing the explanation, “Dick and Elnan, please stand by out of your stations. We haven’t got much time. They don’t know hesitation!”
“No need of such a hurry, Satoshi. They’re two astromonical units—190 million miles away,” Elnan replied.
“He’s right,” Dick agreed with the scientist, “They’re too far away, even if they found us...”
“With their technologies, 190 million miles is equivalent to the breadth of hair! Hurry up! They sent that fortress there 18 minutes ago,” Satoshi shouted in excitement.
“Fortress?!” Elnan and Dick put on a puzzle look.
In the monitor in the control room, three batteries on the fortress came to the vision glittering with the sunlight.
The front door of Amamiya’s villa swang open, when the girl in a red dress ran out, “Hey, it’s freezing. But I must go.” Wei who came to see her off talked to her worriedly, “Are you all right, little girl?”
“Trust me! I do have enough magic powers.”
“Take care.”
The girl smacked the worrying old man on the cheek before she left. “See you later!” She rode on her staff, “Neo Fly!” The old man saw the seemingly 10-year-old girl soaring on the staff with anxiety feeling.
Syaoran arrived at the hall in the Advanced Communications Laboratory with Sakura on his back. Sakura was entirely worn out, but she slowly opened her eyes when he laid her on her floor.
“Thank you, Syaoran.”
“Don’t talk. You’re very tired,” Syaoran whispered.
Although the stain of blood had disappeared on the clothes, she had run out of most of her powers. It was the first time she was in such a lifeless state before his eyes.
“Where’s Rumi...?” Sakura asked in a weak voice.
“She must have used the Teleport Card. She cried and vanished,” Syaoran replied.
“We gotta look for her.”
Syaoran tried to hold her from getting up. But he nearly stepped back at the sight of her desperate look in agony, before warning her, “You idiot! You run out of your powers. You need a rest!”
“C’mon, Syaoran. She needs help, much more than I do...”
Sighing, the boy offered his back, “Hurry. She must be out there.”
Hanging onto Syaoran’s back, Sakura fainted as he sensed that from her breath. “I’ll always protect you in the rest of my life, Sakura,” he thought. At the same time, the alarm went off, echoing inside the laboratory.
The huge monitor in the control room showed the batteries on the fortress from the outer space that glittered stronger and stronger. However, all the staffs didn’t watch it but evacuated—leaving Satoshi, Gnome, and Misako. Satoshi was gazing at the monitor showing the antennas in African and in Andes Mountains.
“That’s the end. Everything is sure to be disappear,” Satoshi mumbled in depression.
At this moment, Dr. Gnome yelled in anger. During the data back-up, Misako looked up and saw the old scientist, despite his usual generous character, seized the director by the collar, “What are you saying?! You know you’ve got something to do.”
“Dr. Gnome...” Satoshi mumbled chokedly.
“You aren’t going to leave her alone, are you,” the old scientist lowered his tone, “I know what made you dedicate yourself to this research. Not for your ego. It was all for your daughter.”
“I’m pioneering the interstellar communications...” Satoshi muttered.
“Communicate with Yoshiko’s home planet—you wish to take her back to the normal life,” Dr. Gnome continued, “But you have involved so many people... including your precious daughter.”
Satoshi Nakagawa took the old man’s hand off when sinking in the seat, “It’s that I hate her.”
“That’s just an excuse to stay away from her. OK, that’s that. But now that everything is ending up in failure; if something ever happened to you, Rumi would have to live all by alone without anyone to depend on,” Dr. Gnome tried to persuade.
“I asked Mr. Amamiya to take care of her in case of emergency.”
“That sweet young girl is not her mother after all.
Nobody can play the same role as her precious parents. There’s no
way for orphans to figure out the meaning of their own lives.
Such lives are nothing but death.
Humans live in their own style, as much as you have lived for
your wife and daughter. Rumi need her father and mother, even
though you insit you hate her.”
Misako stepped and put the disks on the desk, “Dr. Gnome, the data backup has been completed. Director... Satoshi, I beg you to see Rumi right now. I know how sad you were when you had to ask Mr. Amamiya to take care of her.” She took a GPS tracker out of her pocket, showing the blinking marker not moving on the display. “By the indication, she should be at the parabolic antenna out the laboratory,” she said.
“It’s freezing out there, you gotta go,” Dr. Gnome followed.
“Yes,” the father rushed out, relieved from his respnsibility as the scientist. The remaining two people are watching the impending threat. “Gr. Gnome, the batteries!” Misako uttered in exclamation. In the monitor, the batteries—the weapon was glittering in more than a half of its entire body.
The front gate of the laboratory was in chaos of evacuating staffs. Police cars are standing by with their lamps blinking. Stepping out of the car, old Amamiya was stunned at the chaos.
“Mr. Amamiya, stay away from the lab. Evacuation is ordered,” a police man walked up and said.
“What’s this siren for?” Sonimi pouted.
“Granddad! Here’s Dr. Nakagawa,” Tomoyo’s father said.
The scientist in a white coat found the old man and ran closer, “Mr. Amamiya, keep away from the laboratory.”
“What’s going on? Something to do with your study?” the old man asked in suspicion.
“I’ll talk about it later,” he replied, “if I could see you again.” Not a word followed. Everyone knew there was no time.
The 100-feet-tall parabolic antenna was covered with snow carried by the wind from the northwest. In the middle of the white body, in halfway of the ladder up to the focal point of the antenna, there was something pink. It was Rumi. “Aunt Ben...” she groaned. Her hands are frozen on the freezing-cold handrail; her knees were bleeding remaining red dots on the snow.
Rumi was walking under the sunlight in the spring, when she found a mother and a baby bears. “Oh my Gosh!” Getting upset, when she stepped backward, another baby bear was beside her. “Stray bear...” Cradling the baby bear, she walked unsteadily to the mother and baby bears. Minutes passed... as she was sleeping peacefully with the baby bears under the mother bear’s protection.Snow and wind stopped. The sunlight steamed through clouds, showing the glittering ice crystals floating all around—so-called dimaond dusts. “It’s... freezing... Mother...”
Two glows were floating in the mausoleum. The extraterrestrials that didn’t have their own bodies were upset. “Captain, I can’t take it any more,” Rabbita said impatiently.
“It’s no good, if you go out...” Lull tried to hold him.
The woman in the tank slowly opened her eyes, and whispered in telepathy, “Wait. Patience rules our destiny!”
It was too late. Impatiently, two of the subordinates left there before Yoshiko completed the sentence. She who had been the captain felt sadness that she had no powers to keep them under control, “O Senior of our Planet, please have mercy on us... please...”
Rumi was almost overwhelmed by sleepy feelings in the brilliant diamond dusts that floated silently. She is dying, losing her sense of pain in her hands and feet.
“Rumi!!” Sakura and Syaoran shouted when they found her up in the sky. They called her name desperately when they were descending.
“No, Dad and Mom, stay back!” the little girl warned, “An awful light will come and strike soon! Run!”
“You run with us!” Sakura shouted.
Rumi brushed Sakura’s hand away, then the two teenagers soared hanging onto the sealing wand leaving the little girl.
“Leave me alone! My mother doesn’t come to me. I hate her! I hate everyone!” she cried.
“Don’t you understand? Your mother is calling you,” Syaoran shouted.
Rumi stood up and cried desperately, “Then why don’t you bring my mother!”
“Rumi!” Sakura shouted.
“My mother is not here anymore. She must have gone back to the planet
leaving me alone. That’s it. There’s no place I belong to.
I don’t hear the voice of my friends in the forest any more. All I can hear
is annoying hiss of grown-ups,” Rumi cried shaking her head.
“That means you are growning,” a man’s voice came across.
Rumi, Sakura, and Syaoran looked down on the ladder in surprise. Dr. Nakagawa was climbing the ladder, not waiting for the two teenaged wizards could step on the parabolic antenna; freezing atmosphere had made icicles hanging on his hair. He explained, “Rumi, you are the one who rejects your mother’s voice unconciously. You can’t hear your friends in the forest because you don’t need them.”
“That can’t be! You liar!” Rumi stepped backward to get out of her father’s reach. “Remember when you enjoyed your times with your friends in the forest,” Satoshi said to her daughter.
The parabolic antenna was rotating slowly at the low angle of elevation for tracking the sun at the winter solistice, around which the open scenery was seen. Sakura managed to get onto the parabola with the help of Syaoran. However, the teenagers didn’t know what to speak to the girl who is facing her own father. Rumi stepping backward glanced at Syaoran and Sakura as if she needed helping words. Despite her expectation, her temporary parents couldn’t be her help.
All of a sudden, there was nothing against her back. She just arrived at the focal point of the parabola. At this time, a spirit emerged singing in a beautiful voice.
“That’s the Song Card,” Syaoran widened his eyes.
“Rumi, remember. Everybody loves you,” Sakura talked to the little girl while the Song Card was singing. The spirit sang time and again, translating the master’s true feelings and affection to the little girl into the form of humming sound.
“I... I...” Rumi looked the other way when she felt something in her eyes, as she found a number of animal looking at her in line along the ridge of mountains. “Everyone... is supposed to sleeping in the winter,” she gasped.
Sakura and Syaoran hugged each other with a sigh of relief, but the dreadful circumstance was not evaded. Satoshi answered the call from the control room. “Director, the batteries on the fortress are still in operation,” Misako reported. “What? It’s not Rumi’s order, is it?!” Satoshi raised his voice in disbelief. “We haven’t got time! We gotta get out of here! According to Tsubame’s data, those three batteries are pointing at us!” Rumi was looking at the man caught in desperity and fear.
The two guardians Yue and Kerberus expanded their wings and soared from the rooftop of the laboratory. Tomoyo cradled by Yue almost dropped her camcorder.
“Hurry up! Our power can’t even match with this power!” Kerberus shouted.
“But Sakura and Syaoran are still there!” Tomoyo cautioned.
“Our master won’t escape whatever happens,” Yue said calmly.
“That’s right. All we have to do is to trust those two and the Sakura Cards,” the Guradian Beast took a deep breath. Tomoyo couldn’t do anything but nod without a word. She too trusted her best friend as deeply as the gurdians did—that she would be back for sure.
Sakura, Syaoran, and Satoshi Nakagawa were still glancing at the little broken-hearted girl, as they didn’t know the best words to say.
“Everybody lies to me...” she stood in fury. The moment she took her hands off the handrail, blood came out from the scratch of skin, however, she looked frantic with anger. Sakura didn’t know how to soothe her. Rumi was lonely, as she herself declared, Sakura thought.
“Rumi, he’s your father,” Sakura said, “Without him, you were not to be here!”
“Don’t be like that!!” she barked.
At this time, the antenna began to decline. It had been tracking the sun, but now it was changing its direction to the opposite—down to the ground. Rumi fell of the antenna.
The three batteies seen in the monitor in the control room was glowing white.
“Looks like it’s filled with energy entirely, Dr. Gnome,” Misako said to the old man.
“That’s no good. Let’s get out of here! They’re attacking us!”
Next minute, lightning appeared from the tip of the battery. As soon as the beams of light emitted fromt the three batteries flashed with a blinding flux of light, the monitor lost its vision.
“They fired a shot, Dr. Gnome. It destroyed Tsubame,” Misako uttered in terror.
“Hurry up! Their attack travels at the speed of light. I guess they aren’t so cruel as to destroy this planet, though...” the old scientist warned.
The two people literally rushed out of the control room, and ran in the hallway. All they want to do is to survive.
“Strange. Not yet? Their attack travels slower than the speed of light? Exterrestrials sympathize the stupid human beings,” Dr. Gnome thought.
Misako was mumbling “Satoshi... Rumi...” with her eyes closed.
Syaoran jumped onto the handrail holding Sakura by one arm. At this moment, a massive lump of snow slided down off the antenna which drooped its parabolic surface. Nearly overwhelm by the snow thudding on him, Dr. Nakagawa leaned over the handraid and grabbed his precious daughter by the ankle. Rumi hung upside down by the ankle cried to her father, “You liar!”
“You may be right. I’m such a wertch that I’ve fooled someone I love,” he replied.
“You liar!!”
“I have involved a number of people for the sake of my fame.”
“You liar!!”
“I have abandoned my precious daughter, avoiding the care about her.”
The antenna was leaning down too quickly for Sakura and Syaoran to give the father and daughter a helping hand.
“Actually... I hate you, because your mother took care of you in stead of considering herself. She decided to dedicate herself to you in stead of spending her time with me,” Satoshi said in a deep voice with tears.
“Dad... you’re stupid!” Rumi cried. Tears were running from Rumi’s eyes endlessly. She was hurt by her father’s confession rather than the pain on the hands and feet. There came white glows—the spirts of two aliens: Rabbita and Lull.
“What have you done, Rumi?!” Lull yelled in telepathy, “The beam is nearly here!”
“Oh, no,” Rabbita shouted, “Captain was waiting for the timing. Too late! The destructing beam is to reach here not being disturbed by the solar gravitational field.”
“Make a run, everyone! I’m sorry... run...” Rumi cried.
When the beam got into the earth’s atmosphere, they looked to everyone as the golden beam swelling to hide the shining sun. At the very moment, a witch girl on a magic staff came fly straight at an amazing velocity, who shouted, “Here it comes! Force field!! Neo Windy!”
A huge magic circle glowed around the witch girl, as a spirit dressed in an illuminating outfit.
“Windy Card?” Sakura gasped and widened her eyes in astonishment.
The spirit flew inside the beam that just came from the outer space. The light coming out of the spirit slowed down the beams of destruction from shooting down. The spirit scooped Sakura, Syaoran, Satoshi, and Rumi tenderly with its feeler, then Sakura was watching something taking place just the same way she saw in her dreams. Encircling the antenna, the beam tore everything apart in the blink of an eye.
When the beam disappeared before the eyes of people who had just evaculated, metal wreckages were all over the place.
“Punishment by the extraterrestrials...” Misako mumbled looking around in astonishment.
“They possess technologies much more advanced than we do, with much more knowledge about the principle of the universe. Really impressive,” Dr. Gnome commented, when an engineering staff ran up to Misako, handing her a cell phone. It was from an observer, who reported, “The antenna in the Andes vanished five minutes ago being struck by the beam. The antenna in the Kalahari just vanished, they reported.”
“What’s going to happen?” Misako sighed with a question.
“Don’t know,” Dr. Gnome shook his head, “All I can say is humans don’t stand any existence superior to themselves, except God.”
“Oh, Mrs. Nakagawa, please don’t yell at Rumi,” Misako joined her hands.
The sun is shining in the clear blue sky.
The mother and daughter were having a reunion in the mausoleum. Rumi was staring at her mother sleeping in the liquid medicine, with tears on her cheeks.
“I will hold Mom in my arms someday,” the little girl said to herself. Not a moment did she take a glance at her father beside her. Satoshi Nakagawa knew he deserved the ignorance. Although the two of precious people were around, Yoshiko didn’t say a word.
Far away in the outer space, a space probe loaded with solar cells
reflecting the sunight, which had ended its operation, was sucked into
the center of the swirling gas. When the gas disappeared in a while,
there was a beautiful planet—water planet without lands.
Floating around it were a number of sharp pyramid shaped bodies.
Fin.