“Are you awake, Gallerian Marlon?”
The
young judge slowly opened his eyes, then he sat up. He looked around him,
puzzled – he seemed to be in a deep, deep, endless void.
Where is this?
Suddenly his
memory started to come back to him, bit by bit, very, very slowly. He could
recall…
My house was burned… by the masses. It was
because I proclaimed Ausdin innocent.
I
was with my ‘daughter’, talking about the theatre I built with Ma’s help…
I
told her to not worry as long as we’re together.
It
was bright, so bright, around
us, and…
And
now, this void…
“Do you know where is this?”
He looked up and
he could see a masked girl standing in front of him. Behind her was a gate,
leading to a seemingly endless darkness.
“You are now in
the gate to the netherworld. Will you be in hell or heaven? I, the master of
the hellish yard, will be the one to judge and decide for you. Do you know that
even the most evil person can be spared?”
“…How?”
“Don’t you know,
‘master of the court’? Money is the best lawyer even in hell.”
“…”
“Even the most
evil person can be spared, as long as he pays up.”
The young judge
smirked and stood up, then he leaned down to her ear and said…
“I’m not giving my money to the likes of
you.”
Suddenly he felt
his body so light, and in a few seconds he found himself falling into a deep,
deep abyss of void we know as hell…
That’s right.
Your charges are at my disrection.
At
the mercy of my judgement of corruption.
Therefore,
I will not allow anyone to judge my sins. I will not approve any judgement
against me.
That’s
right, one day I will once again gather the fragments of the sins.
And
by that time hell will be an utopia for me and my daughter…
~•~
Do you know about
the theatre in the forest?
It was built by
the collector, a while before his death.
A theatre, deep,
deep in the forest.
It only showed a
movie, about the ‘collector’s collectibles.
When it was
forgotten by everyone…
A ringing sound
came from it.
Looks like the
collectibles have started their own story…
~•~
The Clockwork
Lullaby…
When
he woke up, he found himself in a dark room.
He
was alone…
“Where am I?”
He looked around
the dark room, and it was easy to see a big spring in hole in the ceiling. As
if he was being trapped in big clockwork.
He
tried to reach for the spring, but something was holding him down, making him
feel his weight has doubled. He looked at his body and noticed that his hands
was in red handcuffs…
It
must be the colour of someone’s blood…
“Kill her! Kill her!”
There
were blue shackles, tying his feet…
“Why is this happening…”
It must be the
colour of someone’s tears.
Suddenly
he could hear a familiar ghastly voice…
"Boy's crimes are getting old. You’re far from me
forever.”
Suddenly he remembered all of those moments.
Naturally
repeating the sin over and over.
The
reason it all ended…
~•~
“Wait,
where is this?”
“I
don’t know, but with all these crosses and gravestones, this should be a
graveyard, right?”
“How
did we end here again?”
The
two men walked into the graveyard as they looked around, worried. Strange
things were often spotted in graveyards, say, a little girl in white, or men
floating around, or the so-called ‘guardian beasts’…
“Ho-ho-ho,
welcome to the evil’s forest…”
They
quickly turned to where the strange voice came from, and they saw a woman
wearing a red dress, a blusher, and she was holding an umbrella over her head
and a cup in the other hand.
What
a strange woman… It wasn’t raining, and why was she wearing such a dress?
“What
can I help you with? O-ho-ho…”
If you find yourself to be unfortunate
enough to be lost in the deserted graveyard before the theatre, deep in the
forest…
Then
you should worship that woman holding a cup in her hand.
Yes,
just praise her, and worship her.
For
she is the one who was once known as the evil food eater.
“Would you like
to be stewed, fried, cooked, or… perhaps, roasted?”
Just praise, praise and worship our great
master!
“After all,
you’ll all end up the same.
I’ll
eat you to the bone~ ª”
~•~
The girl who once had the pretentious
leading part…
Indulging
in selfishness as always, she is the incarnation of the whimsy and selfish
mirror…
“Do
you need anything, master?”
“No,
thank you,” the woman said as she put some sugar into her tea. “Or maybe you
can wash those plates.”
“…Yes,
of course…” Why
those plates stained with blood!
She
was the theatre’s waitress, but she wanted to do another job…
“Miss
waitress!” “Miss waitress!”
They
turned and saw a pair of kids running to them, smiling happily. They quickly
took the waitress’ hands and smiled brightly.
“Help
us with the dishes…” “Will you?”
“Um…”
These kids…
They
twins dragged away the waitress, leaving her with no choice, leaving the master
alone with her tea. She watched them left, then she continued to drink her tea.
“W…
wait.”
The
twins stopped and turned to her with an innocently puzzled face – they looked
exactly the same – perhaps the only difference was only their wardrobe and their
genders…
While showing on her face, just a little,
the sadness of losing her other half…
They
sure made her remember something…
Allen…
~•~
This spring-worked tower…
So
that the second hand doesn’t stop, it’s my duty to watch over it.
“Some tea, haguruma?”
(haguruma: gear)
He
turned and saw the blonde waitress standing behind him, holding a white teapot.
He silently sighed and turned to the gears in front of him again.
“If
you want to replace me, say it,” he said. “When offering someone, don’t forget
the cup.”
“Oh,
sorry,” the girl said as she turned away. “A minute, please…”
“I
don’t want tea,” the man cut. “Go offer ‘Ma’ or the two masters.”
“Oh,
I see then…”
“Careful
on the stairs.”
He
looked at the tower’s gears again as it rotated slowly. They were rusty and
old, but they could still work. All thanks to him…
If the gears of the tower stop, it signifies
the end of ‘her’…
My
heart is with the gears of the clocktower.
To
keep them turning, it is my duty to ‘watch’ it.
~•~
The lonely man who built the theatre before his death.
What he loved the most was a puppet doll who played as the director.
~•~
The
previous master is the incarnation of greed.
One
day, his sins would bring destruction upon himself.
Why
didn’t he realize it sooner?
Now
left of half of her body was the scars of an ugly burn…
A man entered the
theatre, panting heavily. He turned back to the door, where he could still the
the graveyard that brought death.
Just what… is that woman?
He
panted for a while, while thanking God for letting him escape alive, then he
started to look around.
He was in a dark
room, with tables and all kinds of furnitures. The full moon illuminated the
room as its shine got in from the two, big windows.
“And
where is this… now?”
If you go
through the forest, and past the graveyard…
You
will reach an old theatre, where you will be trialed.
In
the trial, you may be found guilty…
“Let’s start
today’s trial.”
That’s right, I
am the new master of the court…
And
the gates of the underworld are about to open.
“You’re guilty
for not respecting the master of the graveyard.”
The
man turned to the girl in blue dress, sitting on the judge’s chair, confused.
‘Master of the graveyard’? Is she talking
about that creepy woman?
“You
mean that woman with her umbrella? But she was going to eat me!”
“For
that, you’ll be charged with death sentence…”
The
man’s jaws dropped open, not believing what he just heard.
“What?
But…” He sighed and walked out of the ‘court’. “Fine, this is ridiculous!
Nobody’s going to be sentenced to…”
His
sentence stopped as he saw the ‘master of the graveyard’ standing before the
exit door, smiling wickedly. That was when he realized the situation he was in,
but…
My,
my, too bad, there was no escape…
~•~
“W…
wa… wait!”
“Thank
you, master!” the woman said with a wicked smile. “Today’s party will be a
blast…”
“Party!”
“Party!”
The
woman left with her twin servants, who were dragging the ‘guilty’ man away,
leaving the master of the court alone.
Tell me, ‘father’,
am I supposed to make such decisions?
She
stood up and walked away, but the sight of a man with blue hair quickly greeted
her. She smiled and walked to him.
“Hello,
Gear…”
“There’s
nothing beyond there,” he cut. “So how long are you going to keep this farce
on?”
“…”
Her
face quickly darkened, but she didn’t answer and walked past him. He looked at
her for a while, then he sighed and looked away.
Tell me,
‘father’. Am I right to make such choices?
She stopped and
looked back to the man, who was walking away from her. Her thoughts then took
over again as she walked away.
How is this
heartless me supposed to understand?
‘Father’,
can I send them all to hell?
Is
this how we get to the utopia?
~•~
The defendant’s seat is empty.
And
the lawyer’s seat is empty.
Now, let’s start
this farce called judgement.
~•~
“Gammon, you
know you have the curse from your anchestor’s blood. I’ll tell you how to undo
it now… okay?”
The
man pushed away the bushes around him, creating free space for him to walk by.
He could see a small building a few yards in front of him, hidden by the bushes
and the big trees.
…Where is this?
He walked to the
building as he looked around, looking for, perhaps, something living around the
building. Humans are social creatures, so of course they seek for relation.
And
it was a building. There couldn’t be nobody there.
What’s this place…?
He walked closer
to the building and entered the backyard of the building. It looked a bit scary
and deserted, but he kept walking.
“He…llo?”
He
walked further in, stepping on the damp soil, then he saw a door in front of
him. It was a huge, black door, that looked cold, arrogant, and…
Unfriendly.
He
gulped as he could feel his heart raced, but he slowly moved forward his hand
to the door, going to push it open. His heart raced so quickly so that it
sounded like a long hum and not beats. His hand backed off in reflex, but then
he gulped again and pushed the door open.
Whatever.
The door opened
with a loud creak that echoed. He slowly stepped in, and he could really hear
his heartbeat as he walked in.
“Is
anybody here?” “Here?” “…Ere?”
His
voice echoed in the dark, big room. He looked around, worried, but then he could
see a silhouette sitting behind a table that looked like the kinds in the
courtroom.
“Are
you…” He walked forward to it, rushing his steps. “Are you the guardian of this
place?”
“The
trial will start now.”
“…Eh?”
He
backed off in fear, listening to the announcement. He looked around as he could
see more silhouette and glares around him – like the jurors watching the court.
“You
worthless, insolent man, attracted by the evil’s blood,” the master of the
court said. “I’m authorising you. Tell me why you’re here.”
“Why
I’m here?”
“I’ll tell you
how to undo it now… okay?”
“I carry this
fearsome curse upon my body,” the man testified. “In order to undo it…
“There’s a sword
left by your anchestors in the forest…”
“I came to find
the sword passed down from my anchestors…”
“They
dropped it in this forest for you to find,” a black-headed lady said. “How
cute.”
“Swords
should be kept in a gallery…” “Right, Miss Soceress?”
“You
see, even my servants are smarter than your anchestors.”
The
man felt like shouting to the four inhabitants insulting his anchestors, but
the master of the court wouldn’t let him do that. She knocked the hammer to the
round wooden once and sighed.
“Please,
please, everyone, no interruption.”
Everyone
quickly obeyed, not giving more unnecessary ‘interruption’s. The judge then
looked at the defendant, a black haired man, and knocked the hammer thrice and
smiled.
“Death
penalty~”
Tell
me, ‘father’. Am I right to make such choices?
‘Father’, can I
send them all to hell?
“That’s all for
today.”
The
defendant could only stand on his place, feeling as if the building has all
crashed down on him.
It
was his world, breaking apart…
~•~
“Need
any help?”
“No,”
the master of the graveyard answered shortly. “Or shut those kids, please.”
Suddenly
the two young servants appeared before her, smiling innocently. She looked at
them for a while with a forced smile, while cursing silently.
Fine. Why these
kids?
They took the
waitress’ hands and dragged her away, leaving her without a choice. She
couldn’t do anything but to go with them, even if she didn’t really want to.
“Come
on, miss waitress…” “Let’s go see someone!”
~•~
“Here?”
“Yes,
he’s here…” “In that cage!”
“And
soom our great master will eat him too!” “Isn’t our master sooo great?”
Gammon sighed
loudly and covered his ears, not willing to listen to the conversation. He then
turned away to face the walls, facing the darkness, as if he was preparing
himself to enter the darkness of the underworld.
Oh, great, please stop reminding me.
“This guy?”
“Yes,
miss waitress!” “There’s a visitor!”
He
didn’t turn and kept facing the walls. The waitress looked at him for a while
with an inspecting look, as if he was going to be used for an experiment…
Hm… nice build.
He seemed to be strong enough.
Maybe
those clothes are too big for him, but maybe it’s not. Let’s hope not.
“Oh, well…”
She
smiled and walked closer to the bars, then he put a hand inside and gestured
him to come. He didn’t answer it, though – he kept ignoring them.
“Name?”
“What
will you use it for?” I’m gonna die
anyway. And you must be another of the woman’s underling.
She sighed and
turned to the twins, who were still having the weird, innocent smiles on their
faces. She then took their hands and walked away together.
“You
know a little girl can’t really do everything alone,” she said. “Even you guys have
each other. I wish I have someone to help me…”
The
kids looked at each other, confused, then they looked up to the girl.
“Miss…”
“Waitress?”
“Ssh,
stop calling me that,” she whispered, soft enough so that Gammon couldn’t hear.
“Maybe this guy can be a waiter. I’ll ask your master.”
~•~
The
master of the graveyard was drinking some tea in a house built in the corner of
the graveyard. The two servants were playing with clockwork toys – a clockwork
cat and a clockwork mouse.
“Go,
go, go mouse! Don’t let the cat get you!”
“Come
on cat! Catch the mouse! You’re hungry aren’t you?”
She
sighed as she put down her cup. The servants were too noisy for a good teatime.
Perhaps some people see kids as innocent fellows who only know about having
fun, but they can be annoying sometimes aren’t they?
And
the master of the graveyard was annoyed.
“Go!
Go!”
“Come
on! Come on!”
creakkk…
“…”
They
noisy house was suddenly quiet after the loud creak. The master drank some tea
as the situation became so perfect for an eerie teatime… before the servants
ruined it again. This time, they walked to her, holding the broken mouse.
“Master…”
“Master…”
“Go
see Gear,” she said indifferently. “He made it, didn’t he?”
“Yes,
we know, but…” “The clocktower is scary…”
“So?”
“So…”
“Um…”
She
sighed silently as she looked at their innocent faces. They looked scared, and
they wouldn’t look at her in the eye – instead, they chose to look at the
ribbons on her skirt, or at each other.
Kids.
“Fine,” she said
as she put down her cup. “Just this time. Gear is a nice guy, so you guys
should really try to get along with him. Maybe that way he’ll make you guys more
toys.”
“Yes,
master…” “Thank you!”
The
kids waited for her to stand up, then they held her hand while the boy held the
mouse in the other hand. She looked at them, and silently sighed in her heart.
Despite being a
cool ‘master of the graveyard’, I’m not really good at these stuff, too…
Sheesh,
can’t I just eat them?
~•~
“Gear!”
The
man turned to the voice(s) and saw the twin servants walking to him, one of
them holding a clockwork mouse. Walking behind them was a woman wearing red,
who looked a bit irritated, but not like she could help herself.
“The
mouse is broken…”
He
looked at the kids, who were standing in front of them and smiling sheepishly.
The man looked at the clockwork toy – he once made it when the gears weren’t as
rusty as now.
“Fine,
I’ll fix it.”
He
was taking some tools out from a box very close to his hands when he felt the
area around him became darker. He looked up, wondering if a thick cloud was
upon the tower, but it turned out to be the lady with the umbrella. She looked
nearly like a giant that way, but he wasn’t scared at all. Instead, he opened
the box and started to work.
“Tell
me, master.”
“What?”
“You
know there’ll be nothing, even after all this,” he said. “You can really leave
easily, but why stay?”
“Me?
Oh, about that~”
She
gave an evil smile and looked away.
“Oh,
well, I know the end will eventually come, but let’s keep partying until that
time, shall we?”
She
then turned to the man and smiled.
“And
you?”
“…”
“Oh,”
the lady seemed to remember something nice, since she was smiling. “You can’t,
can you?”
“…”
~•~
The clocktower has stopped.
…
This
isn’t good. If this goes on, she’ll…
Fine,
I’ll decide it,
On
the left side of my chest…
I
am the second guardian of the tower.
And
to watch it is my duty.
To
keep the gears turning, it is my duty.
Even
if it costs my life…
~•~
“So,
to start with, I’ll tell you what to do.”
They
walked together until a place separated from the graveyard with a row of
fences. There was a vast land ahead, and it looked kind of… unkempt.
“Girls
don’t do labour work,” she said as she pointed to a corner of the fence. “There
the gardening tools are. As a gardener, you should take care of the land.”
Gammon
looked at the vast land in front of him, imagining having to water it, plow it,
and so on…
“All
these?”
“There’ll
be more fences out there,” she said. “That’s the limit.”
His
jaws dropped. He couldn’t see any fence from his spot – all he saw was empty
land waiting to be plowed. He wanted to complain, but something inside him said
‘don’t’.
She saved your
life. You should repay her, Gammon!
His mind slowly flashed back
to the few minutes ago, when the cage was opened.
“Heeey, so what’s your name?”
Gammon
turned to the blonde girl in military clothes standing behind him, and sighed.
She had been bugging him for at least half an hour, and he was pissed.
“Why
would you need it? That woman is going to eat me after all.”
“Ah,
sheesh, how stubborn! But whatever!”
The
girl gave out a hand, along with a smile.
“Just tell me, alright, mister?”
“…”
Not like that will be useful… “Gammon. Gammon Octo.”
“Then, Mr. Octopus, come on out!”
The
girl pulled his long hair and dragged him out, making him scream in pain. He
turned to her, then he sighed silently as he looked down.
It’s
finally my turn… to be eaten?
“Come on, Octopus-san!” the girl shouted
happily. “You’ve
got work to do!”
“O…kay.”
“You
can start now.”
“…”
He
sighed silently and took the shovel. He then walked out, entering the vast
land, and started to plow.
So painful…
“Suit yourself.”
How?!
But…
she did this all the time?
He looked up to
the little girl. She looked so weak, and just doing a few millisquares already
tired him. Her suffering must be kind of unimaginable.
“Why are you with them, miss…”
“Just
‘Waitress’.”
“Why
are you with them, miss waitress, while they’re making you do all these?”
“…Why?”
She
looked away, thinking, while looking at her rough hands. She then smiled and
turned to the man.
“Because
it’s interesting,” she said. “From everyone here, who’ll be laughing at the
end?”
~•~
“Finally
I debut on stage…”
“I’m
searching because of orders from God,” the master of the court said. “Do you
know where the last vessel is? If you do, do tell me.”
The
black haired lady, the sorceress of time, smiled discreetly and chuckled.
“My
bad, my bad,” she answered. “I don’t know. But I fear it would be in her
hands…”
“Then
search, search…” “Up there, down there…” “On your right, on your left…”
The
master of the graveyard could only sigh upon the behaviour of the kids.
“Search
for the master of the hellish yard!”
How long will
you keep this farce on?
The man was sitting in the
corner, working on a clockwork mouse in his hands.
After it ends,
there’ll be nothing after all.
~•~
“Ru
ri ra ru ri ra…”
Who seems to be
singing this lullaby…
Suddenly I
hear…
A
singing voice to heal me…
One
day I notice…
That
the song has a real meaning.
And
now it's my lullaby.
New
words are added to it everyday…
~•~
“Ru
ri ra ru ri ra…”
Sleep now, to
the sound of this lullaby…
The blue haired girl smiled
lovingly and patted her belly.
“My
dear ‘irregular’, your task is just about to begin…”
~•~
Friendship,
trauma, justice, illusions, hope, ruin, dreams, greed, love, death…
All
melt and turns eternally in the clockwork lullaby.
~•~
When
all songs are recited, it is believe that utopia will be achieved.
From sword blooms a beautiful flower and
From seed blooms a beautiful glass
When it was polished on the night of the full moon, the stone
became four mirrors
Shining brightly along with a small bottle
A blade was wrongly dipped into the spring, a spring the colour
of blood
The
color of blood that was sought out
The doll moving in the invisible wind
Scoops up with a spoon invisible dirt
Finally
they return, return to the forest
Along with an uncontainable amount of anger
The
lonely man who built the theatre before his death…
The
utopia he was wishing for will be completed one day, right?
~•~
Now,
let’s play our part in this farce called life.
And now the one with the leading part is…
