It's silent in the hospital room but for the distant sounds of the city far below, the night breeze riffling the curtains, the low beep of monitoring machinery, and the occasional footsteps of the night shift nurse. It was a long day, many worried people; Mei's family went home after visiting hours were over, and they'll no doubt be back in the morning. So many questions; they told her some high-schooler called it in and stayed with her until the ambulance got there, they probably told her parents more, but today involved a lot of sleeping.
That was today.
This is tonight, and it's quiet and still, and she's only temporarily in her own room -- there are two other beds, but they're currently not filled.
A shadow looms in the window, and the breeze brings the scents of roses, coffee, and chocolate as the curtains billow and blow. Tuxedo Kamen crouches in the frame, white-gloved hands braced at the edges. "Yo--" he whispers, "--are you awake, Mei-chan?"
It's been a long day. It really has. Mei's been passed out for most of it, and even with that, it's been long. One long parade of doctors, nurses, a policeman or two (trying to figure out just what happened), and, worst of all, her panicked family members.
Not that she was *un*happy to see them, of course. After thinking she was never going to see them again last night, giving Momo an (exceedingly gentle) hug was just about the most uplifting thing she could think of. It was just that -- for one moment, when she saw her figure in the doorway -- Mei thought her mother had somehow come back. Her little heart leapt--
And then her 'dad' followed her through, and she figured out what was really going on.
Roy and Biv are nice. She made them. She loves them. But they aren't family.
The whole thing was just exhausting, and the redhead found herself crying after they left, despite herself.
She's asleep now, it's true; however, she *is* a famously light sleeper who wakes up often in the night. (Not that teachers accept this excuse for her napping in class.) When the soft voice reaches her ears, Mei stirs, then blearily opens her eyes, blinking a few times as she stares at the silhouette in the window. It takes a second or two for the pieces to fall into place.
"Mr. Kamen?" she asks, seeing the cape billowing out just like the room's curtains. Still half-asleep, the girl mumbles the first thing that comes to her mind. "Did you...bring hot chocolate or something?"
Because *something* smells like chocolate.
"Just chocolate," the masked teenager says apologetically, "I didn't know if the window would be open, I'd need both hands to break in."
He really said that.
Dropping lightly to the floor, he takes his hat off and waves a hand over it theatrically, then reaches in-- and in-- and innnn--- and pulls out a little wrapped box of what's undoubtedly rich kid chocolate before stepping over and crouching by the bed. He presents the box to Mei. "Sorry to wake you. I wanted to see how you were doing, but I hate hospitals and didn't want to get stuck being asked questions, so I had to wait until night. Are you feeling any better?"
There are a few things that are universally, 100% guaranteed to improve Mei's mood. 1) School being cancelled for any reason, especially for a snow day. 2) A new line of magical girl action figures to add to her collection, especially Sailor V. 3) Sweets of any kind, especially--
"Chocolate!!" Mei exclaims, whisper-shouting like she does whenever she gets excited in a quiet place. Like a library.
Or a hospital at night, in this case. But eh, details.
The sleepiness is clearly gone as her eyes widen at the sight of his magic trick -- and at the fanciness of the chocolate that he pulls out of his hat. "Whoooaaa," she whispers as she takes the box. "How'd you do that?"
The expression of awe quickly drops into one of belated realization. Ah, right. Actual, literal magic. That's how. She shakes her head, a bit embarrassed to be so amazed at something like that after last night.
At his explanation, the girl leans back against her pillows, wincing as her ribs prickle and sting. "It's ok. I wake up a bunch anyway, and usually without snacks." The girl opens the box and tosses one of said snacks into her mouth, smiling brightly as she chews and swallows. Whoever Mr. Kamen is, he has really good taste in chocolate.
The next topic dims her cheeriness a bit. Her eyelids droop, and she looks down at the bandages that peak out from underneath her hospital gown. "I am feeling better...they gave me some pain medicine and stuff. I should be released pretty soon, I think." Unconsciously, her hand drifts up to the Chroma Crystal hanging from her neck.
"Did...did they hurt anyone else? Miss White and Mister Black? Or the...monster?"
After quietly dragging a visitor's chair over next to the bed, Tuxedo Kamen disappears his hat into his cape and has a seat, leaning forward to put his elbows on his knees, hands clasped lightly in front of him. The mask is a glimmering thing in the dimness, and his small smile is very wry at Mei's wonder.
When her face falls, his own expression's more serious; he listens. He wishes he knew how to help--
--another new, not entirely comfortable thing for him.
"The monster's dead, don't worry," he reassures the little girl immediately, "and the girl who was protecting us got hurt, but not very badly. She was already awake by the time I left with you. Ms. White was very badly injured, but I think she'll be all right. I don't think she's the real villain there, either way; she seems misled, but not evil. She tried to rob a bank the other week, but made sure no non-combatants were injured, and no one was killed."
He doesn't mention he also tried to rob the bank. After all, she tried to give him her crystal.
Mei can't help but smile when Tuxedo Kamen pulls a chair beside her bed. She'd sort of hoped he wasn't just dropping by on his way to other things. Fighting more monsters, or whatever. Despite the many, many people who'd wanted her waking attention today, she still felt profoundly lonely, all by herself in the hospital room. Most of her visitors just wanted to ask her things. Momo was too upset to really carry on a conversation about anything, and Roy and Biv -- well, they've only existed as real, breathing creatures for a few days now. After telling them what happened, they didn't really know what to say. Most conversations would have been force anyway.
But, even though Mr. Kamen seems sort of quiet, and even though him being here means she'll probably need to talk about What Happened some more, it's still nice to have real company.
The little girl breathes a sigh of relief when he says the monster is dead. "Good. I'm glad there were so many other magical girls there to fight it. Otherwise..." she trails off for a moment, looking out at the billowing curtains. Eventually, she turns and looks at him again. "Thanks for saving me, by the way. I'm sorry I rushed in like that. It was pretty stupid."
She smiles, half-joking, but there's still an air of melancholy that hangs around her.
Melancholy that turns into confusion as the masked man explains some things Miss White has done. Mei tilts her head to one side. "But...but that doesn't make any sense. Miss White's a bad guy. It's her job to hurt people. And it was my job to stop her." She wrings the blankets a bit, bundling them up around her chest despite the heat. "At least, that's what Roy told me."
Another sigh. "Oh, all of this is my fault, Mr. Kamen. Those two wouldn't even exist if it weren't for me."
Kind of quiet, kind of awkward. Seems he's perfectly willing to talk if it's "business", as it were; he even sounds a little like a teacher, or an older student, or someone's nice but somewhat officious big brother as he does so.
"You didn't know," Tuxedo Kamen tells Mei matter-of-factly, but not unkindly. "It turned out all right, didn't it? We were all very glad you weren't--"
Awkward stop. The teenager shifts uncomfortably, glancing at the door, then down at his hands. "It turned out okay."
It's not until Mei's last bit that he looks up sharply, white-gloved hands sliding to his knees as he sits up. "Mei-chan, that's not true. I'm not sure who Roy is or what they're telling you, but those two don't exist because of you. They were there trying to catch that monster and study it. Miss White actually threatened me with bodily harm if you were to be injured in that place, before she knew you were magical. She's an enemy, but she's not some evil that sprang into existence because of you."
He scowls deeply. "The guy's not your fault either."
Another awkward pause, because he's really not sure if 'the next time I see him I'm going to try to cave his face in' is really appropriate.
Mei winces as Tuxedo Kamen nearly says it, and her mind fills in the blank. 'Dead.' 'Killed.' All those ugly words that she herself believed to be true last night, as she lay sprawled out and defenseless in the crater of Mister Black's attack. It's why she was so weepy, so desperate for someone to take the Chroma Crystals in her place.
But it did turn out okay. Her ribs are a little worse for wear, but she is alive. Though...perhaps not quite the same as before.
As well meaning as Tuxedo Kamen is, she can tell he doesn't quite *get* it. Not that she blames him -- she can hardly believe her own story, and it's probably even more difficult to explain than it is to believe. He already knows who she is, though, so there's no harm in telling him...other than making him understand that the whole mess *is* pretty much her fault.
The redhead goes gloomy again, idly toying with the chain necklace that holds her heart-shaped Crystal. "It's nice of you to say, but it really is my fault." She reaches behind her head -- slowly, since her ribcage tends to protest any move she makes -- and unhooks the silver chain, dangling it in front of Tuxedo Kamen so that it glitters and catches the moonlight. "Remember this thing? What I asked you to protect if I," she swallows, "didn't make it? Well..."
The girl pauses, then shuts her eyes and cups her hands in front of her. A light shimmers there, prismatic, colorful and colorless at the same time. It stays like that, for a second or two; then, slowly, individual balls of light split from it, lazily orbiting around Mei in a kind of circular rainbow. The Red Chroma Crystal, set aside for the moment, glows as well, its light swallowing up its original shape until it matches its brethren. It floats up to join the slow parade of colors, and when it does, all eight Chroma Crystals burst into existance. A Crystal each for every color of the rainbow, plus pink; all cut in the shape of a brilliant diamond, each about the size of a fist.
They continue to circle around Mei as she speaks. "These are called the Chroma Crystals. They're supposed to protect all the colors of the world. *I'm* supposed to protect them from the Grey Kingdom, who wants to turn the world grey and boring. But..."
She gives Tuxedo Kamen a rueful smile. "I'm the one who made it all up in the first place. Until a few days ago, none of this was real."
The rue is matched: Tuxedo Kamen glances down and spreads his arms wide. "*I'm* monochrome; did you make me up?"
His eyes are, in fact, sparkling and crinkled around the edges behind his mask.
Mei blinks a few times at Tuxedo Kamen's comment -- then giggles quietly, bringing her hand up to stifle the noise a bit. He likely doesn't know, but it's the first genuine, happy smile from her since that awful battle.
"No, silly! I didn't write about anybody named Tuxedo Kamen in my stories, so I know I didn't make you up," she says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, your cape is red. And you have medals. So you're plenty colorful."
Her stomach rumbles loudly, so she pops a few more chocolates into her mouth.
"But yeah, that's the thing. All of this -- the Chroma Crystals, the Grey Kingdom, my mascot buddies, the Prism Keepers -- it's all stuff I wrote about in a story," she muses, looking wistfully at the crystals circling her. "My friends and I all loved magical girls when we were little, so we played pretend. Most of them grew out of it, though...I guess it's kind of childish for a ten-year-old to still be so into that stuff."
Mei rolls her eyes. Stupid arbitrary maturity rules. Things don't stop being fun just because you get older.
"Anyway, *something* happened the other day, and now it's all real. I was so excited at first, but then my mom disappeared...and, well. You know. Last night."
The little girl hugs her knees to her chest, plopping her head on them as she looks up at Tuxedo Kamen. "I didn't know it was going to be like *that*."
He doesn't know, no, but he knows exactly how bad off she was last night, and how hard she was hit emotionally as well as physically-- and he knows what it's like being a kid alone in the hospital.
So the smile, the laugh-- they take a weight off Tuxedo Kamen's chest, and his shoulders relax fractionally. His own smile's warm. There's a distinct urge to ruffle her hair, but it's suppressed: that would probably be THE WORST. "You know," he muses, "it could be that when you were making it up, you were really seeing into another world, and whatever happened actually unlocked that world. You could have been dreaming the future, too-- sometimes dreams are real. Or," he says, sitting forward again, head tilting a little as he looks up at her, "you could have made it up, and then the magic found you and your dreams and made them real--"
He lifts one hand to poke gently at her shoulder with a white-gloved fingertip.
"--but if that's what happened, I think it's proof that the Miss White and Mr. Black from last night aren't the same ones. Just like I don't think the crystal you have is the same as the one I need to find to find the person I'm looking for. It's a really big world, Mei-chan. There are an awful lot of strange things in it, more than you or I could ever think up."
Shakespeare 101.
"Another world?" Mei says incredulously, mouth agape at the thought that her and her friends could have been seeing something like that -- or dreaming the future -- when they were just playing around in the school yard. In fact, that's not such a bad story idea itself, though given the consequences this particular story has had, the girl has been reluctant to put pen to paper in any kind of creative way. "That would be so awesome."
When he pokes her gently on the shoulder, she smirks, leaning exaggeratedly to one side before pushing gently back the other way. It's a game she used to play with her mother a lot. 'Meible wobbles, but she doesn't fall down!'
Childish. But comforting all the same.
"You're right, though. Even with all the other stuff my friends and I dreamed up, there was never a Miss White or Mister Black. I mean, I know they're out there because Roy -- oh, Roy's my grumpy cardinal mascot --" she interrupts herself to explain, "he told me that there's a 'Monochrome Duo' out there, and they have those names. I don't know why something I didn't write about came to life, buuuuut..."
She looks at the ceiling contemplatively. "I guess I don't know a lot of things."
When Tuxedo Kamen mentions the person he's looking for, Mei turns on her side, lying down now but propped up by pillows. "Who is she? The person you're looking for, I mean?" The Crystals surrounding her begin to fade back into prismatic balls of light that drift back into her chest -- all except the red one, which returns to her bedside table as the necklace. "Maybe I've seen her."
The masked teenager nods emphatically, sitting back and smiling crookedly. "Scio me nihil scire. 'I know that I know nothing'. In Western philosophy, that's attributed to a man considered one of the greatest thinkers of all time, so: the more you realize you have to learn yet, the wiser you are. We're both in good company."
Yeah, Tuxedo Kamen, the boy who wears a white tie and tails for fun in the afternoon at an outdoor rock show, and who plays mysterious phantom gentleman thief in the dead of night looking for a mythical crystal at the behest of a princess he dreams about, and who just performed a technical B&E on a hospital window X number of stories up, is discussing Western philosophy with an injured ten year old magical girl.
"So just keep an open mind, and get help for things even if you're sure you can handle them, unless you have no choice. You're a Prism Keeper, and that's very important. I don't think there's any room in a grey world for dreams and hopes, and a world without those doesn't live for very long." His manner and tone are serious and earnest, he means every word of his encouragement and caution. It's in his gestures, his face, his physical reserve.
When Mei turns to look at him, to ask him about the person he's looking for-- he's quiet for a moment, watching as the lights sink back into her.
It's a long moment. Almost long enough that he might not answer. When he finally does, his voice is almost too quiet to hear. "I don't know," he confesses, looking down at his hands. "She's a princess. She needs me to find her crystal, and when I've found it, I'll be able to find her and give it to her. That's when I'll know everything I've forgotten."
Mei listens, perplexed, as the older boy rattles off those funny Western words that don't sound much like any language she's ever heard. "Shi...Shio..." she tries to repeat, then makes a face and groans. "It's easier to remember in Japanese. You must be really smart."
Yeah, perhaps the finer points of the philosophy go over her head a little. The finer points of long division also go over her head. Thankfully, she doesn't have to fight anyone with math and Latin.
When Tuxedo Kamen is silent for so long, the girl reddens a bit, thinking she's overstepped her bounds with that question. She's taking in a breath to stammer out an apology when he finally speaks -- and what he has to say astounds her. Like scarlet saucers, her eyes widen, fascinated...but a bit melancholy as well. Putting aside empathy, the story itself sounds like a kind of sad fairy tale.
"I haven't seen any princesses. Except that one at the monster fight. You must have seen her too, though, so she must not be the one you're looking for," Mei rambles, trying to fill the silence. Not being able to help people in need makes her do this sometimes: talk endlessly until a solution magically appears. "I can try and help you find her, if you want. And her crystal. I might not be very good in a fight, but -- but I can fly! I can try and find her from the sky. Or something." It's a little less impressive than she wanted it to sound. "I owe you for protecting me, so I want to help however I can, Mr. Kamen!"
Sounds like--? Mei is, in fact, in the room with the embodiment of a sad fairy tale. It's just that it might not be over, and it could certainly get happier before it does. Given the way things went at the fight, that might not be a foregone conclusion, but it's still a possibility.
Tuxedo Kamen looks up at Mei and gives her a lopsided little smile. "No, I'm pretty sure the princess at the monster fight isn't my princess. But you can help me look. Just-- just don't spread it around, all right? It's a secret. You're the only person I've told, and it's because you're looking for someone, too. I don't want someone else to find her first-- I think something bad would happen."
Okay. So no canvassing the city with 'Lost Princess' posters. Got it.
Mei rests her chin on her hands, deep in thought. "Yeah. If there's anything I've learned from video games, it's that princesses get kidnapped by bad guys a lot. So we'll definitely have to find her first and make sure she's okay," she agrees, though she already knows that keeping such an exciting secret is going to be a real test of her willpower. She's barely restrained herself from telling all her friends that she's a magical girl...but it'll probably be easier after last night's battle. The meaning of being a warrior of justice has become a bit more clear, to say the least.
"Do you know what she looks like?" the girl asks. 'Princess' is something to go on -- crowns, ball gowns, etc. -- but if there's more than one running around the city, then she might have to narrow the choices down a bit. "I hope she doesn't live in a castle in Europe, or something like that. I don't think I'd have the money to go there."
Belatedly, her eyes light up. "Oh! And, uh, how will I let you know if I find something? Do you have...a magical cell phone?" She blushes, realizing how dumb the question sounds. "I'm still pretty new, so I don't know how these things work."
"She might be okay," the teenager says slowly, "just hiding. Maybe even in plain sight." He slouches into the chair thoughtfully, managing to make even slouching look classy in that getup, and props his elbow on the arm of the chair, and his chin on his fist.
Tuxedo Mask's voice is exceptionally quiet and far away when he finally continues. "When I see her, I can't see her face-- but her hair is very, very long, and looks like it's made of spun moonlight. She's very graceful, and very sad, and her tears are silver-- I can see them shining. I can't remember her ever being happy, but I know she was, once. I think she's very brave, and I think she breathes magic like you or I breathe air..."
He breathes out, himself, and then reaches up a gloved hand to rub at the bridge of his nose under his mask. Then he laughs a little. "But I probably need to find her crystal before I can find her. She always asks me to bring it to her." Then he looks up again, and his smile is crooked indeed. "I hope you don't think I'm crazy. Sometimes I do."
Then he pats his pockets, shakes his head, and stands up-- starts scouting around for paper and a pen. There's a little notepad! And a stubby pencil. "Give me your number? I'll text you. I don't have a magic cellphone but I have a burner, I just don't remember the number offhand."
Not very mysterious.
Mei doesn't think Tuxedo Kamen's crazy at all. She *lives* for stuff like this: fantasy, passionate devotion, dreams, romance. It's so very different from what she gets to experience as a gangly little kid, bickering with boys on the playground because one of them stole her bow. And now it's all *real* -- not for her, obviously, but for someone. Someone that she's able to help.
She makes it plain that she's eaten up every word of his description, nodding emphatically when he's done. "Got it! I'll start looking as soon as I'm out of the hospital." The enthused girl makes a face when she suggests he's crazy. "Oh, you're not crazy. Magic's real, nothing's crazy to me anymore." She pauses, considers. "Well...except for that monster we fought. That was crazy. I hope *those* aren't the monsters from my story. I don't want to fight anything like that ever again."
Honestly, she's pretty lukewarm about the idea of fighting in general, but she's not going to let on in front of her Magical Senpai. It might ruin his opinion of her.
There's a question mark in Mei's eyes for several seconds after he mentions a 'burner'. "A, uh, burner...? Oh!" Realization comes over her, replacing her hazy mental image of some kind of fire phone. "Like a phone you can throw away, right? That's smart. Maybe I should get one too -- even though all those people know who I am now. 'Cause I transformed and stuff."
Sweatdrop.
Mei rattles off her number to the masked man, then sombers a bit again. "Hey...you don't think the bad guys saw me, did you?"
"Those definitely aren't the monsters from your story," Tuxedo Mask reassures the girl in the hospital bed. "That was a Witch. Not a storybook witch or a practitioner of Wicca, either. They're made of despair, and they drag people in with them and kill them with it, and the only way out once you're in is to destroy it. Nobody can really take them on alone, so if you find one, get help right away."
He pockets the piece of paper with Mei's number on it, then puts the pen back where it was, and glances at her sidelong with a little smile. "It's probably a good idea to get one, yes. You can call it the Prismphone."
A beat.
"And you kind of transformed in front of God and everyone, so they probably saw you, but you're not their target. So I wouldn't worry about it too much. You can call me or text me if you run into trouble, though." He glances out the window, then looks back and gives Mei a crooked grin. "I'll send you my number when I get home. Good-night, Mei-chan. Dream well."
With a rustling of silk, he's gone out the window.