Part Two: The Sound of Waves

Far away, a tall man dressed in glittering blackrobes was laughing.

"You've got to be kidding me. THE Andri Yoshimura? The one who's rumored to be on a suicide course? Feh. If it weren't Lord Rave paying for the room, I'd--"

"You'd nothing. If it were the boy himself, you'd let him have the Key if he had the money. You know it isn't about the 'who has it' or the 'what they are in real life'. It's like the internet. If they have the fee, they have the Key. Now leave me alone, Fray, and let me warn the Key. Andri should be here in just around six hours, give or take."

"Have fun, Freye, my sister, and tell him that the cleaners still haven't forgiven him for that swimming pool trick he pulled last month. Some of the drains are STILL clogged."

With a nod of her head to the black-clad laughing man, the woman draped in blue silk pulled an iron key from the chain around her wrist and fitted it to the placid wooden door before her. As usual, she took a moment to feel the finely carved designs--crabs and seashells twining around a mermaid. Predictable, certainly, but lovely nonetheless. The door swung open with barely a touch of her hand, and she stepped into the room.

The faint illusion of a seabreeze ruffled the covering over her face, and she adjusted it with a sigh. She glanced around for a moment, as if searching for the occupant, then called out, "Shudoshi! Show yourself! This is no time for games; you have a new Owner!"

A marine-blue curtain fluttered open, and a tall man walked out, zipping the fly of his jeans, and with his battered tee-shirt held between his teeth. When his hands were free again, he flicked his faintly wavy ponytail back over his shoulder, where it hovered in a slightly damp, tangled mess just above his waist.

"Wasn't playing, Sister. Just a case of time, tide, and Mama Nature waiting for no-one. How's it going?"

The woman smiled beneath the wave of sky-blue silk.

"Shudoshi...You have a new Owner."

"So you said. What's it to be this time? Old rich fag looking for a thrill? Some cute little girl with too much money and too little to do? Charity case?"

"Closest to the last, I think. I'm told that he's a rock sta-"

"Say no more. I want to hear him say it himself. But, eh...Got a picture? No, no, that would spoil the surprise...Erg...I feel torn. It's a matter of principle, you know? To know or not to know...to reveal all the secrets before the curtain has risen, or to wait, in blithe anticipation..."

Shudoshi was posing and fretting back and forth in front of the woman. It was entirely for his own benefit, for he knew perfectly well that she couldn't see him. The truth was that he was honestly a little worried. It had been a good sixteen months since his Key had last been chosen, likely due to that unfortunate incident with his last Owner. He wasn't worried about lacking anything, because he didn't--he was concerned about any rumors that might have spread in the meantime. No matter how often he was assured that it hadn't been his fault, well, Keys weren't supposed to harm their Owners, no matter what.

Freye was still smiling, perhaps a little sadly.

"Shudoshi, do you feel ready for this? You were specially requested, you know, but we can try to find someone else..."

"No, no, Sister! I'll be fine. When is he arriving?"

"Six hours, give or take a little. He sounds like a very nice person."

"Indeed. But aren't they all?"

"No. They aren't. But that's the price we pay. Or, rather, you Keys pay." She raised her head to him, and he could just begin to see her blinded eyes staring up at him. "You know that better than most."

Shudoshi grinned, pushed a few strands of hair out of his eyes, and nodded.

"You got it, Sister. I'll be waiting and ready for whatever you might bring me."

"Don't you want a photo? I think they gave me one..."

"No, I'll wait and see when he gets here. Thanks, Freye."

The woman smiled graciously, nodded, and swept out in a blur of fluttering silk and the scent of jasmine. As she shut the door, Shudoshi noticed a slip of paper drop from her sleeve and drift quietly to the floor.

"Eh? What's...Oh, dear..."

The photograph was obviously clipped from a magazine--there was an ad for perfume on the back--and showed a thin, waif-like boy standing tall on six? eight? inch platform boots. He held the microphone tightly in his left hand, and his right was outflung, rings glittering, beseeching his phantom audience. He was wearing a long blued-violet velvet tailcoat that wrapped around his legs as he stood there, entranced, lips parted, eyes closed. His hair reminded Shudoshi just a bit of a white and purple hedgehog, but that was permissible, because he was otherwise lovely. There was, perhaps, a bit of Asian ancestry in his bloodline? Much refined through European influence to give him that sharp nose and high forehead, but still there in the long, slightly slanted eyes and profound cheekbones. The caption read: "Andri Yoshimura, singing up a storm at The Nocturne last Friday".

"If this is him...ah, well. This may well be troublesome, but I think I'm going to enjoy it."

"I hope."

Elsewhere...

Andri had been bundled into a coat, handed a bag containing a few clothes and a book or two, and effectively tossed into a limousine. He was still feeling faintly ill, even though he had been given another pill for it, so he simply lay there, head in Clematis' lap. She stroked his hair gently, almost affectionately. This surprised him a great deal, for she didn't liked to touch people, and hadn't since he had met her. She seemed to be humming something tunelessly under her breath, and otherwise did not speak. Mandarin and Rave sat across from them, Rave smirking like a cat with a canary, and Mandarin smiling with a touch of weariness in his violet eyes. Andri hadn't the foggiest idea where they were going, or of the significance of the Key, or even why people seemed to say the word as though it were capitalized.

"It's just a little key," he thought, "but I wonder what it opens? They said it was some kind of gift, but then...where are we going? They won't tell me...and my head still aches. I hope we get there soon."

The smell of Clem's perfume hovered aruond her, just a gentle reminder of her femininity. Andri contemplated her, somehow feeling as though he were about to give her a farewell. Something about her attitude gave him the idea that she was feeling much like Christ at the Last Supper. He amused himself for a while by imagining her with a crown of thorns, dressed in cheap burlap, carrying a cross...and then he fell deeply asleep, smiling, just a little, as he drifted off.

He was jostled awake, some two hours later, by the limo bouncing over gravel. He sat up, nearly knocking Clematis on the chin, and tried to look outside for some idea of where they were. The darkened glass combined with the fact that it was, after all, somewhere in the realm of one in the morning, gave him little enough clue. The headlights illuminated only a few trees and a concrete building or two. Andri glanced around the car. Mandarin was snoozing lightly, eyes fluttering madly, against Rave's shoulder; Rave was still smiling, smoking a cigarette, and seemed to be staring at Clematis. Clematis... Andri had never seen her look so worn. She had somehow had developed dark circles below her eyes, and was gazing blankly as though out into eternity. His near-miss had not fazed her in the slightest. But for her the stressed look, she could have been a statue.

The limo pulled to a stop in front of one of the buildings. It seemed a bit like a bunker, square nd steely. A flickering fluorescent light lit a circular area just in front of a large metal door. The driver opened the door, and Andri all but tumbled out. His calves cramped up immediately, and the sound of Rave's exotic laughter rippled through the air at the sight of him doubled over on the dusty ground, velvet coat and all.

"Wait a moment while I check to see if the transportation is ready. Mandy, be a dear and fix the broken one, won't you?"

Rave then walked to the door, knocked in some sort of sequence, and was allowed inside, still chortling.

Feeling just a touch of humiliation, Andri sat on the hood and allowed his cousin to rub out the knots in his legs.

"This is just like when I was a child...I remember this exact thing happening. That summer when I was six...Do you remember, Mandarin?"

A gentle smile flickered over his cousin's lips.

"Of course I do, darling. It was a good thing that you didn't actually fall off the dock when it happened. You'd have drowned for certain."

Andri blushed and looked away.

"It wasn't so bad," he said, brushing off his coat sleeves. "I just had been curled up napping for a little too long...Thanks."

"You have such a tiny little body, Andri. I feel like a horse in comparison..."

Andri hadn't the foggiest idea how to respond to that, and so simply hopped off the car and wandered towards the building, kicking stones. His shoes were just slim leather boots, with no heel to speak of, and he was felt very small. Clematis was just climbing out of the car, and he stood next to her to make himself feel better. By his estimation, she couldn't be more than five feet tall, and that put her at least four inches shorter than he was. By contrast, Mandarin was a slender five eleven flat-footed. And yet, in their family, Andri was the fluke. Annoyingly so.

Rave walked back out of the building just in time to save him from brooding.

"All right, my little pet. From here on out you are on your own. No more babysitting. Last chance, Andri, if you want to save your soul."

Utterly confused, he just stood there, yet somehow, he felt that it was the beginning of some sort of adventure, some exciting new chapter in his life. He stuck his hand in his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the Key.

"I don't know what the hell you're up to, or what you mean by all of this, Rave. You are one twisted man. I just..."

"You nothing, sweetbean. You've been following along happily, albeit slightly druggedly, so don't try to say no now. Just walk through that door, and enter a whole new world."

"Why would I want to?"

"Oh, get off of your horse, little prince. You've been on a severe downward slide for months. You have a new album due out within a year or you get kicked off your label, which is, I might mention, MY label. You need a change. I'm offering you one. You've already accepted it. So go. Now."

Andri was beginning to feel a little insulted, but he couldn't really argue with the charges.

"Fine then. Come on, Clematis."

"Oh, no...." Rave dragged the sylabble out painfully. "Didn't you hear? I said you are on your own. No more Clematis. No more being walked through it all."

"But-"

"You heard me."

Andri was startled by the sudden grip of a tiny, cold hand in his. Clematis met his lavender eyes with something like pain. She whispered, only for his ears:

"Just go, Andri. You'll be fine without me."

Rave grinned delightedly. "You see? All is well. Now hurry up, or your horse will leave without you."

He wanted to growl at him, but instead, he did as he was told. Shouldering his bag, he let go of Clematis' hand, and began to walk slowly towards the door. His boots shuffled in the dust. Halfway there, he turned back to wave to his cousin, and suddenly, no warning at all, found himself with an armful of Clematis. Thin tears fell from her eyes as she embraced him, clinging for dear life, much like the vine she was named for. This shocked him so, that when she released him, he could do nothing but blink at her. Rudely, Rave pulled her away from him, and shoved him towards the door.

"Forget about her. You've already given her up. Go on. Through those doors."

Andri stood for a moment, wondering at Clematis.

"She...looks like a woman, suddenly. I could...I could have loved her if she'd always been like that..." He thought, turning towards the door. "Too late, I suppose, but...Clematis..."

As he reached the door, Mandarin spoke up.

"In six months you will receive notice that it's time for you to leave. You will be informed of the transportation plans at that time. Don't worry about it until then. Have fun, little cousin."

"...In whatever this happens to be, I'll try. I'll see you in six months, Clem."

A sob was his only response. He opened the metal door, straining slightly with the weight. As it began to swing closed behind him, he heard Rave say:

"No, no, you won't. Her time with you is over. Say goodbye, little Weed."

An inchoate wail was all that he heard before the door clanged shut.

Andri allowed his heart to suddenly empty and became hollow. Suddenly he didn't care at all what became of him, and walked on into the building. A light ahead of him beckoned, and he stepped into a large warehouse, where several small cars waited, each with a driver sitting or leaning on the side.

A man dressed in a tuxedo bowed before him.

"Sir. We are at your service, and will take you to your Key now."

"Sure...Key...The one I've got in my pocket?"

"...Yes, Sir. Here, this car will take you to your connecting flight, and from there, you will be taken to the Palace, where your Key is waiting."

"...okay."

His bag was taken and tossed in the trunk, and he slipped into the back.

As they started off, going an entirely different direction than he was expecting, he asked, "Have you got anything to drink, driver?"

"Yes, Sir." He was handed a small bottle of vodka, which he drained, and then promptly passed out.