An Eternal Wish (ch2)

Oh man, after reading all of your in-depth comments to chapter 1, I think I realized I made a huge mistake... All I did was copy the anime, I didn't really write anything original or special... it's just Mayakuro instead of Hikaren. That's all ;~; I hope you can still enjoy it anyway, even if it might not meet your expectations...

Just kind of assume that Maya sensed something was off with the revues and decided she needed to 'betray' Claudine in order to save her... That she somehow knew that winning was going to be a bad thing and so she made a snap decision.

For this chapter, I followed episode 11 as best I could and tried to figure out a good pace.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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														Chapter 2. Vacancy

Those strange underground revues have always been just odd enough to border the lines of fantasy and reality.

Claudine had never truthfully been sure if they were really happening, or if it was all just a collective dream somehow.

After all, how could a giraffe speak? How could students be allowed to handle weapons and fight one another beneath the school? It was ridiculous. Outlandish. Impossible. Unheard of.

It had to have all been a dream…

But in the days that follow, Claudine wakes in her room to an empty bed, and an even hollower emptiness in her heart.

She ventures to Maya's room to find it completely barren; no sheets on the mattress, no books on the shelves, no personal belongings anywhere. Not a trace left of her.

It's as if she'd never been there in the first place. As if she'd never even existed at all.

The only real proof Claudine has is an unspeakable ache in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe.

That, and the blue ribbon she'd woken with in her hand on that very first morning without her.

She has no idea how it had come into her possession, but she never lets go of it. She takes that ribbon with her wherever she goes, and the same pain follows her, constantly clawing away at her from the inside, tearing her apart piece by piece.

When she asks the others about Maya's whereabouts, all they can do is shake their heads and sigh, having already searched all they could.

Claudine tries calling her, but always receives the message that the other number is no longer available.

She restlessly scours the entire property of Seishou for any sort of clue. But she doesn't find a single thing. Every desk and locker and space that had used to be Maya's are now vacant.

She even goes so far as to contact the school authorities to demand answers, showing them Maya's ribbon in hopes to jog some memories. But all they tell her is that there had been a transfer request put in for the former student known as Tendo Maya.

The way they word it makes it sound as though the request had been put in for her, not by her.

When Claudine inquires about details, the officials reveal they can't disclose such private information.

But Claudine manages to glimpse one of the papers herself. Any information about Maya's intended or supposed current location has been blacked out, unreadable.

It's clear to her the adults aren't going to help her with this. Or rather, they can't.

So Claudine strikes out on her own with her search, diligently attending all of her classes by day and searching for answers by night. She can't sleep without her anyway.

She asks everyone in the school, and after a week has passed and she still has no concrete answers, she begins to go around town asking people.

But it's always the same answer. They don't know anything about the whereabouts of Tendo Maya.

Another week passes.

.

And then a month.

.

Then two months.

.

And three.

.

And in all that time, not hers nor anyone else's cell phone ring with that familiar jingle.

They aren't made to attend any more secret auditions or revues. They aren't made to fight for the position of Top Star anymore. Maya's sacrifice had spared them. Somehow, they all know it now.

In the few miserable hours Claudine retreats to her own room at night, she curls up in her bed and weeps, clutching at the ribbon and the gaping emptiness inside her chest. Some nights she goes to Maya's barren room and sits on the floor or bed and just remembers her. How infuriating she'd been, how stubborn, how beautiful…

She remembers the look in her eyes when Maya had pushed her off the stage, having come to some dreaded realization about those revues that the rest of them hadn't understood until it had been far too late.

It's a look Claudine will never forget.

That calm, terrified smile, those forsaken eyes…

Wherever she'd gone, it hadn't been anyplace good, and it hadn't been for any good reasons. Of that, Claudine is certain.

There's no doubt in her mind that Maya had saved Claudine by pushing her away that day, that she'd sensed some unimaginable danger in that victory and accepted it for herself to keep Claudine safe.

Maya had chosen her sentence. For her sake. Claudine knows it. That tiara is a crown no one should have to wear.

Claudine won't stop until she finds her - until she gets her Maya back.

. . .

When she is four months in of her arduous search for answers, Claudine begins to wear Maya's blue ribbon herself, in the same spot in the back of her hair.

Even by the fifth month, Claudine doesn't stop, or even slow down. She continues attending her classes, asking people about Maya, scouring the town, all while suffering alone through every sleepless night.

She can only take so much. The exhaustion consumes her, and her desperation drains her. Her friends begin to worry more about her than Maya.

Claudine hates it. She doesn't want them to forget Maya. She won't let them.

But even if every other person on the planet is to forget about Maya, Claudine will never stop searching. Even if it means dedicating her entire life to it.

Her phone screen is constantly clogged with countless unanswered messages to Maya, things like "Where are you?" "You'd better answer me, Tendo Maya." "This isn't funny…" "Please say something…" "I'm still waiting..."

The days grow shorter, and the nights longer. Meaning there is less daylight for her to search by, and more of the darker hours she must spend alone in her torment.

The only thing that ever allows her a wink of sleep is to hold that blue ribbon delicately in her hands, to kiss it sweetly and hold it against her heart, praying beyond hope that wherever she is, Maya can feel her.

Maya.

Maya.

Her Maya.

Who had sacrificed herself all so she wouldn't have to take away Claudine's radiance, her shine.

"Where are you…?"

Claudine breathes out a helpless whisper into the night.

But there is no response.

Nearly six months without Maya have passed now, and Claudine hasn't been the same since.

She isn't as lively, isn't as personable, isn't as present as she'd used to be. Not even around her friends.

And she never smiles anymore.

Not when they bring her to movie night.

Not when they save her favorite pudding or make her favorite snacks.

Not when they praise her for her outstanding performances, songs, and dances.

The end of the year is approaching quickly now that time doesn't matter to her anymore. Their next performance of Starlight will come soon, and they'll have to begin auditions and practice rehearsals.

Everyone says Claudine should audition for the part of Flora or Claire, that she'll get whichever one she wants.

But she doesn't intend to audition for either. She refuses to play either of those roles if Maya can't be her counterpart. It's selfish of her, and she knows that.

She takes no pride whatsoever in becoming Seishou's top student now that Maya is gone. She'd never wanted to achieve the throne like this.

She just wants her back. More than anything…

. . .

It's another sleepless evening alone in her room, with that blue ribbon cradled in her hands, when Claudine considers something that hadn't dawned on her in the past half-year.

At this hour, she hasn't even changed out of her school uniform yet, since she hasn't managed to find the energy for such a task. She's curled up in bed in her skirt and blazer, vision blurring. The agony hasn't faded with time. It's still as poignant as it had been that first night.

As she strokes her thumb over the worn fabrics of the ribbon, a certain book catches her eye. It's the book of Starlight, of Flora and Claire, given to her by Nana so many moons ago.

Claudine isn't quite sure what it is that compels her to reach for it. But the ends of the ribbon have guided her vision to it. Of that she's certain.

So she takes the book from her desk and opens it beneath the lamplight to slowly begin reading.

She's read it no fewer than a hundred times before, and essentially knows the story and play by heart now. Reading of Flora and Claire's plight hits too close to home, and before she knows it tears are spilling down onto the pages, smearing the text. As pitiful as her voice sounds, wobbling and choked, Claudine unknowingly begins to read a portion out loud.

"Flora, whose eyes had been scorched by the Star's shine, fell from the Tower... Left alone, Claire was imprisoned in the Tower of Starlight Gathering. She became the new prisoner to atone for the sins of the goddesses she had freed…"

A pang. Just a tiny twinge like a shooting star goes through her heart in that instant.

"Imprisoned…"

Claudine shakes her head and wipes her eyes. In all of the "Starlights" they've known until now, Flora had fallen from the Tower, and she and Claire had been separated for eternity. She doesn't remember Claire being made into a prisoner. The script and directing she'd always known had been slightly different.

Imprisoned.

She can't seem to take her eyes off of that word in particular. The red spires of the tower from their final duet revue flash in her mind.

The tower.

"No…"

Claudine's voice slips out. Her hand closes - shaking - around the ribbon.

The tower.

The tiara.

That scared, lonely smile-

"It can't be…"

Imprisoned.

Claudine throws herself out of bed so quickly she nearly collapses. It's the fastest and sharpest she's moved in weeks, and with the most energy. Suddenly, all of the hollow ache inside of her is numbed as the adrenaline burns her into motion.

She steps into her shoes and runs for the door, throwing it open, tying the ribbon into her hair, and never stopping all the while.

She runs.

The hallways are empty at this hour of the night. She runs as quickly and as hard as she can. Faster than she's moved in these past six months combined. Faster than she should be able to.

All of the hurt and hunger and exhaustion is forgotten now as she follows the first and only lead she's discovered in all this time.

She stumbles and nearly falls several times, but she doesn't stop.

She runs straight out of the dorms and all the way back to the school building, past the security guard who doesn't dare try to stop her.

She runs through the doors and never stops. Down flights of stairs, around corners, all along the corridors - she runs.

Until she reaches that elevator, the one that would take them to their revues.

It has been out of commission since Maya's disappearance. There is a wall covering it now, as if the elevator itself never existed. The light doesn't come on, not even in her presence.

She can't catch her breath quickly enough, and a terrible throbbing fills her body, stemming from her very core. It pounds in her veins - burning.

But that doesn't stop her. Nothing will.

Maya had chosen a stage where her own sacrifice would mean the others could be free. She had chosen her sin, and how to atone for it.

But Claudine can't accept that.

She finds a crowbar in an open closet and thrusts it against the wall where she knows the elevator to be beneath, scraping the metal and creating a dent. But it isn't enough.

Claudine strikes it again. And again. Hacking away at the entrance concealing that prison.

"Like hell…" she pants, slamming the wall once again. "Like hell-! I'm ever going to accept such a performance!"

Her voice echoes in anguish down the deserted hallway as she continues to slam against the wall. The sounds of her strikes fill the whole building - the sounds of desperation, fueled by an unbridled, furious, devastated passion.

"A stage…" she grunts. "-where you are the sacrifice-"

She rams the crowbar again. And again. Her hands are dirtied with rust and several small cuts now. Blood smears across her palms, making her grasp slip, but she doesn't stop. She rams the wall again, widening the dent.

"That- may have been the stage… you chose-"

Again.

Again.

The dent splits apart.

"But that isn't our stage-! Tendo Maya!"

The crowbar begins to splinter, and droplets of blood fall to the floor.

"That isn't our "Starlight!""

She raises her arms high above her head, preparing to pour the very last shreds of her strength into one final blow.

And then the red light flickers on.

All of the bulbs in the building flash, and when Claudine next blinks, the wall blocking the elevator has vanished.

With a frantic cry, Claudine brings down her weapon, lodging the end of it right between the two doors. She pushes, struggling to maintain her grip past the wetness of sweat and blood. She drives all of her strength into it, all of her weight, all of her being.

She will get to her. Nothing can stop her.

And finally the elevator doors scrape open. The crowbar snaps in her hands as she falls forward with a gasp, feeling the metal cut deeper into her skin. Claudine staggers inside, slumping against the wall, frazzled and wheezing for air.

But what lies before her aren't the empty four walls of an elevator. This time it's different.

Stairs.

A seemingly endless path of stairs stretches out before her into a dark basement, as if leading down to hell itself. If her theory of where Maya is right now is true, "hell" wouldn't be too far-fetched of a description.

Claudine pauses just for a second to catch her breath, wiping her hands onto her skirt.

She isn't scared. Not one bit. Not of the unknown path before her, anyway. The only thing she's scared of right now is the possibility of never seeing Maya again.

Something pushes at her back and pulls at her from the front, as if begging her to go. Claudine inhales one last time before straightening up.

"I know. I'm coming."

She takes a step forward onto that first stair.

"I'm sorry it took me this long."

She stands at the top now, gazing down into the darkness.

"Don't worry. I'm here now."

The doors begin to creak behind her. Claudine doesn't look back.

"I'm coming for you now… Tendo Maya!"

And she takes off running down those stairs with that blue ribbon at her back.

The doors slam closed behind her.

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A/N: It was a fun little challenge to record the events of the episode that originally centered around Karen and turn it into Claudine instead. As you can imagine, there were quite a few things that needed to change, but I really enjoyed it! And since Karen had the photo of Hikari and her hair pin to remember her by, I wanted to give Claudine something from Maya, hence the ribbon.

Again, I know it's probably not as unique as you guys were hoping for... I might've screwed this one up. I probably should've taken it one step further...