Floralia
Chapter Prologue :: One :: Two :: Three :: Four :: Five :: Six :: Seven :: Epilogue
The scent of sweet flowers lingered in the air, fragrant and exotic. They drifted up from pale petals scattered from their mother bud and moved easily amongst sheer drapery hung from unseen supports above. The flimsy material shrouded a circular bed swathed in white bedding and the flower petals. It provided the barest semblance of a sheltering haven for the sleeping woman wrapped in white sheets.
A hand found the edge of a curtain and parted them, allowing him entrance to the soft space. Resting upon the edge of the bed, he bent over the sleeping woman and pressed a loving kiss to her brow. As he brushed her long, pale hair from her face, he looked sadly upon the shade of the woman who had once been his vibrant and gentle wife, now in a deep slumber worse than death. It robbed her of the color in her cheeks that was so like the flowers she adored.
At first, she had merely been weak with a chronic illness, but as time went on she rapidly faded and sleep stole into her until she could barely life her head from the pillow. Not knowing what to do, her husband despaired deeply and wept to the heavens for mercy though he knew no answer to his pleas would be given. Then he resigned himself to her side, tending her bed and adorning her with the most beloved of her flowers.
And something happened, which only those like he and his sleeping wife could feel. A ripple passed through the very fabric of existence, and his heart and blood sang with joy at the hope it promised. There was a person, finally after so long, touched by the gods and blessed with the cure to his wife's sleep.
A wavering in time itself confirmed his suspicions. Today would be the last that he sat at her beside with only despair, and left her to the care of a servant whilst he prepared to enter the world and collect the source of the ripples.
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It had been over a year since Jun was erased from existence, and since then life went on surprisingly well. Of course it had been hard to accept at first. For many months all traces that the model ever existed was wiped away like sand in the tide, but things got better over time when he was brought back by some twist of fate. At the same time his existence had been restored so had knowledge of him, but even that took some getting used to as it was not entirely reliable. Like today.
Because of past mishaps, the model learned it was best to present himself downstairs in the morning fully dressed and ready for the day. Sometimes there were little signs that things would be awkward and difficult for a while, but others there was no warning at all.
Like when Jun walked into the kitchen and his mother paused and turned, and they stared at each other for a few moments. "Can I help you with something?" she asked pleasantly, smiling.
"I'm so sorry, I must have the wrong house," Jun said quickly, bowing deeply to his mother as he feigned embarrassment. "Is this 524?"
"No, dear, that's across the street," Mariko explained gently. "It's quite all right, would you like me to-"
"No thank you ma'am, I'm really terribly sorry," Jun cut in as he bowed again and left as quickly as was polite, snatching up the backpack he began leaving in the front hallway on his way out the door.
At first Jun wondered if he should be worried that his mother took the unannounced appearance of a strange young man in her home so well, even if it was just her son she didn't remember. However, it was quickly becoming one of those things Jun took in stride and decided that it was best to not worry too long upon.
Arbitrarily toying with the strings of existence was not without consequences, and it was becoming very common for Jun to have a similar conversation with everyone else he knew. There seemed to be lapses in whatever magic was at work, and for varying spans of time Jun's existence disappeared in the memories of others and the world.
Understandably the model was quite distressed when that first happened and continued to occur with alarming frequency and duration. The need to adapt was pressing and Jun found that he did so with efficiency and speed, now never far from a supply of money and clothing.
Lately the trend had been slackening and the lapses between nonexistence wider, leading Jun to believe that perhaps the last of the ripples from the original erasure and reemergence were close to stopping. Now it was just a waiting game, one that had been incorporated into an almost casual monotony.
One thing that made Jun so grateful and helped him get through the potential crisis of existence was Domani. For some unknown reason, the Italian had been the only person to retain his memories of Jun after the battle on Themis, and continued to do so during the periods when no one else did. The two frequently exchanged emails and phone calls, especially when Jun rented a cheap hotel room to wait out the latest lapse of his existence.
The reunion between the two men had been unexpected and somewhat of an irony, given the place that it happened. "At least this time it did not end in hospitalization," Domani joked at one point during their long conversation afterwards, spending hours in the cafe of Domani's hotel over coffee.
The Italian had been moved to tears and embraced his friend warmly, overjoyed that the young man had been restored by means they could only surmise as some divine intervention. Jun held no memory of the months he did not exist, the last of his recollection before waking in his home being the approach of the afflicted god Saturn and falling under her.
Between exchanging theories and ideas about the reasons for Jun's return, their absence of powers, and inability to visit Void Time or Themis, Domani went at great lengths talking about what happened in the world and the private lives of their loved ones.
They parted company at some late hour, though the Tokyo streets were still alight with the activity of the nighttime population. Jun declined the offer to rest in Domani's room but accepted an escort back home.
In the morning Domani awoke to the persistent ringing of his cell phone and only just opened it when Jun's frantic voice cut through the tiny speaker. It took a few moments to speak over the model and ask him to slow down and explain what was wrong.
"My parents don't know who I am!"
At first this did not made any sense and even Jun seemed bewildered. After a brief explanation of what happened – the model went down to greet his parents and neither recognized their son – Domani told Jun to come to the hotel lest things turn for the worse, and they could figure out what was going on. They did not make much headway in the matter, and Jun became more upset when they had contacted his coworkers and discovered the same situation.
At this time Domani offered his living space to Jun while they did the only thing that they could do; wait. Jun hesitated, not wanting to impose, but Domani would not take no for an answer. Of course the model had not forgotten the confession of feelings from his host, but in the few days they shared the spacious hotel suite Domani gave no indication of them and it was never brought up.
Soon after Jun returned home Domani needed to leave for Italy, and the model found that he was saddened that his friend now lived so far away. Since then the two had not seen each other in person, though they would occasionally exchange pictures, and Domani would request magazines that the model appeared in. Not once were hints of romantic feelings made by the Italian even though he was still expressively affection, and a close friendship formed easily between them through the correspondence.
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Stepping onto one of the major streets, Jun joined the swell of bodies that made up the morning commuters on their way to busy day jobs. As he stepped into the middle of the wide cross walk with the crowd, a warm breeze lifted fine strands of his long hair and the scent of sweet flowers drifted by.
Walking towards Jun, a tall man appearing in his late twenties seemed to jump out from the crowd and take all of the eye's attention. His appearance was not particularly striking, mid length blond hair styled and swept over one of his pale blue eyes, and having a distinctively Western build and complexion. These alone were enough to set him apart from the darker Japanese around him, but that was not what pulled Jun's attention. The blond fixed his gaze steadily onto Jun's, the slight breeze ruffling his hair and clothes.
It took a moment for Jun to realize that no one else seemed to feel or be affected by the breeze, and that he himself had stopped walking in the middle of the crosswalk while the other man moved towards him. He did not slow or stop and their arms brushed briefly as he passed Jun. The touch was minimal, but it sent a frighteningly familiar shock through Jun's blood, the smell of flowers nearly overpowering.
As quickly as it had come, the breeze, scent, and sensation were gone, and the world resumed its typical function once more. Unable to bring himself to look back, the scent of flowers and the tingling in his blood remained in traces, and Jun suddenly felt cold. Whoever the blond man was, he was the same as Jun, except much more powerful.
He began to shake with what he could only describe as fear.