Pretty Guardian Sailor Lilith #12 – « Investigating »

‘Nakano-san, let me introduce you to doctor Harper.’

The man was pretty short and pale, but beneath his plain looks he had a strong presence to himself, as if he held they key to the mystery of life. Kasumi bowed to him, doing her best not to show the feeling of uneasiness that was rising in her.

‘Doctor Harper is from London, he is visiting us for a while,’ Murakami-sensei went on, ‘he’s going to perform the session we have been talking about.’

Kasumi nodded silently. They has been talking about hypnosis in the past weeks. Murakami-sensei had told her that specialists worldwide used hypnosis as a way to investigate the lost memories of amnesiac people. It was just as both him and Ami had told her – her memories were not erased, but rather locked away. Thus, in an alternate conscious state, it was possible to reach for them.

The girl had long hesitated before giving her consent for this experiment. She did not like the idea of being out of control, to trust her mind into someone else’s hands. But Murakami-sensei had insisted, explaining to her time and again that being under hypnosis did not mean to be unconscious. If she was hypnotized, she would lose neither her awareness of what’s going on nor her will to reject orders from the therapist. Rather, she would be in a sort of a sleepy state, like when you’re lying in your bed and your thoughts start to scatter. Kasumi had no reason to doubt the doctor’s words, but yet she had a bad feeling about this. She had opened up to Shinju, seeking her advice. The woman had calmly listened to her, and persuaded her to give it a try. ‘Not knowing makes you sick. If you pass this opportunity, you’ll regret it.’

So she had accepted, and the day had come. She couldn’t help but feel anxious, and the British scientist’s blank eyes hardly relieved any of her stress. As they walked to an isolated room, away from the hospital’s corridors, her heart began to race. Murakami-sensei bent to her and told her:

‘I’ll be right there all along. Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be just fine.’

‘Easy for you to say’, Kasumi muttered.

The room was narrow and dark. Only a dim light came from a spot in the ceiling. Kasumi was asked to sit in a cosy chair, to the therapist’s side. She felt as if she was at the dentist’s, and this thought brought a nervous grin to her lips.

‘We are going to start,’ Harper said. ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’

Kasumi nodded. The man had a rough accent, but his Japanese was somewhat refined. He began explaining what he was going to do, and what the girl was going to feel. She only half listened to him, gripping the chair’s arms like she feared to lose contact with reality. Actually, she felt like she was about to be thrown into water, while she couldn’t swim. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

‘Don’t close your eyes yet,’ the therapist gently ordered. ‘For the time being you’re just going to stare at this light on the ceiling. As time passes, your eyelids are going to grow heavier and heavier, then they will close on their own.’

Kasumi reopened her eyes wide.

‘Now, try and relax. You are here because you wish to be. You will not be harmed. Remember that the results of this session depend on whether you trust me to investigate your memory. So it is necessary to start with relaxing. As long as you’re nervous, nothing can possibly come out. Come on, release your limbs, they’re tense right now.’

The girl realized it was true. Even her head had not been leaning on the back of the chair until now.

Okay, girl, give yourself some credit now.

‘Good. You will now let yourself lie on the chair, as if your body was heavy, too heavy for you to stand... Breathe more slowly... Feel the air flowing inside you and making you heavier...’

Following Haper’s directions, Kasumi was starting to feel sleepy. Just as the man had predicted, her eyes could not stay open for long and a curtain of darkness fell over her vision. Yet she felt very present, the world around her still was full of sensations. It was not at all like going to sleep, but rather... like awakening to a different reality.

As time was passing, the therapist was speaking more and more softly. As her consciousness was slowly sinking, time seemed to stretch.

‘I’ll be counting from ten to zero, and on the count of zero you shall be completely asleep... ten... nine... eight...’

Kasumi anxiously waited for the timer to hit zero. She was wondering what she was going to feel when it would happen. She tried to bite her lips, but it seemed as if the command had lost its way somewhere in between.

‘Three... two... one... zero...’

Kasumi gave a slightly deeper breath than before. But aside from this, she did not notice any change. She did not feel anymore hypnotized than she was just a second before. And she was certainly not asleep. Her body felt heavy, but even so, she clearly knew that she would be able to get up anytime if she just felt like.

Suddenly something came in touch with her arm. Her heart leaped, and her eyes went wide open. There was a girl there, bending to her with a mischievous smile. Her image was a little blurry, but she couldn’t be mistaken about her identity. It was Sailor Lilith.

‘Are you okay?’ Harper called.

Kasumi’s answer stopped halfway in her throat. Sailor Lilith slowly brought her finger on her lips.

‘Get up,’ she softly whispered. ‘I’ll take it from here.’

The girl hesitated. She was supposed to trust the therapist, so that he could investigate her memory... So switching places with a decoy would be pointless... Yet curiosity arose from the depths of her mind.

It’s the first time Sailor Lilith has come in contact with me.

Carefully watching doctor Harper, Kasumi slowly stood up and stepped away. Sailor Lilith winced at her and sat down on the chair, cross-legged, like she was going to have a job interview rather than a hypnosis session. The therapist, who didn’t seem like he had noticed anything, calmly spoke again.

‘Nakano-san... can you hear me?’

‘Yeah, ol’ man,’ Sailor Lilith boldly answered. ‘Loud and clear.’

‘Who are you?’

‘Whaddya mean?’

‘What is your name?’

‘My name ain’t important.’

‘How am I supposed to call you, if I don’t know your name?’

Sailor Lilith chuckled.

‘You ain’t supposed to call me in first place.’

‘So, why did you show up?’

‘Well, ‘cause it gets... kinda lonely, y’know. I like a good conversation from time to time.’

‘Why are you lonely?’

Sailor Lilith gave a hint of uneasiness.

‘Why d’you ask me all those questions, ol’ man?’ she fired back.

Harper pondered his answer for a bit.

‘I just want to get to know you. Do you mind?’

‘Ha ha, it’s been ages since I’ve been given a nice line like that. Ya sure a smooth talker.’

‘You said you enjoyed a good conversation. What is it you want to talk about?’

‘Dunno... I’ve kinda lost it, I guess.’

‘If who you are isn’t important, then what is?’

‘My mission, of course.’

‘Can you tell me more about this mission?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t.’

Kasumi’s hopes shattered once again. Just when the conversation was starting to feel interesting, her alter ego would give obscure answers once again. There was a moment of silence, then Sailor Lilith went on.

‘Well, I wish I could, y’know, since ya bein’ nice to me and all. But I can’t get caught.’

‘Get caught? By whom?’

‘By those Sailor Guardians, y’know. Those little pests, they can’t help but get in my way.’

‘They’re disturbing your mission?’

‘Yeah, sorta. They really stubborn, ya see... they don’t even know what they doin’, fightin’ those damn creatures...’

‘Why mustn’t they find about you?’

‘Ah... well, they might stand up for Serenity-sama.’

‘What if they do?’

‘Mission failed. Game over.’

Sailor Lilith hummed a little tune which reminded Kasumi of a video game jingle, when you lose a life. She then giggled at her own pun.

‘This Serenity... Is she a master of yours?’

‘Name goes Neo Queen Serenity... Yeah, she was. Once.’

‘What happened?’

‘Why, the gal’s been up to some very, very naughty stuff, y’see... So, I just gotta find her and... punish her... properly.’

‘So, what are you going to do?’

Sailor Lilith raised her eyes to the ceiling, staring into space as if looking for inspiration.

‘I’m gonna kill her.’

Her lips stretched into an ugly grin, which gave Kasumi the creeps.

Whoever this Serenity girl may be, she’s up to some serious trouble.

The therapist fell silent. Then, Sailor Lilith suddenly stood up and casually walked away. Kasumi tried and follow her, but she just remembered how heavy her body still was, and fell to the ground. She went completely dizzy and barely had the strength to reach for the chair and pull herself back onto it, while Harper’s low voice was counting back to ten. She did not know how she actually managed to get back in time.

Kasumi woke up. Her eyelids felt heavy. She hardly suppressed a yawn. It was exactly as if she had been taking a good nap. Though dim, the light from the ceiling kept her eyes closed for some time.

‘Are you feeling well?’ Harper asked.

‘Yes, I am,’ Kasumi sleepily answered. ‘How did it go?’

There was a second of hesitation in the therapist’s voice. It was enough for the girl to realize that something was wrong. She hastily searched her recent memories.

What the hell...?

Kasumi went fully awake in a matter of seconds. She shivered as she realized she was missing everything that had happened during the hypnosis session. The bastard had been giving her instructions to forget everything as soon as she would awaken.

Talk about a cure for amnesia.