Grima Lowe Cathedral

something of a short story I wrote a while ago....



Grima Lowe Cathedral



The shock had been so strong that Serra had fallen with a thud in the cold stone pavement. How long did the fall last, she could not say. Was it days, hours, or only minutes? Her brain refused to tell, either. For all she knew, she was alive, and it seemed like a miracle. Her head dizzied by pain, she remained on her back, one of her wing lying askew on the floor. She extended her right arm, and her fingertips brushed past cold metal. The steel of her Blade, her faithful companion… But would she need it again? Around her, there was only silence, the one that announces defeat, she knew. But it was an eerie silence, too, and somehow she would have preferred an explosion of screams, or the Earth opening under her body… Anything but that silence…
She opened her eyes at last, and she repressed a cry of awe. Hundreds of colors were dancing in the space, sunshine streaming through unseen veils, making dust glow like golden sparks, and in the distance she could make out figures of ancient gods and demons….She blinked once or twice, then consciousness slowly drifted back. The battle without mercy and her foolish thinking about beating a Legendary Angel…trampled she got, yes, and with panache… Akroma hadn’t even hesitated once, she could even see her little smile before she attacked. “Fool, surrender now, you know you cannot do anything against me…”. Serra had said no, it was too late, she had to try and beat the odds. Then, there had been a tremendous shock, oh yes, and a noise like shattering glasses. Then…
She moves her right arm again, trying to at least sit down. A searing pain in her left shoulder pinned her back to the ground. Broken wing so it seemed. What a miracle to be still alive… But all in all, what was this strange place? Was it the antechamber of Hell already? She carefully tried to sit down again, grabbing the hilt of her sword and using it like a clutch. This done, she checked herself for any more damage. Glass shards had cut her skin in many places, but it seemed that her falling backward had prevented more severe wounds. Her Blade was broken, her Shield lost, as for her battle suit, it had suffered a lot too…
Her vision clearing up a bit, she then took a better look around her, and what she saw left her puzzled. The place looked like a room, but of dimensions she had never seen before. The arched ceiling was towering a good hundred meters above, sustained by slender pillars. Broken splinters were coming from what seemed like benches, all aligned from bottom to end, all looking in the same direction, facing a cross where a man suffered in silence. The walls were decorated with what looked like huge windows, made of millions and millions of colored glass, and Serra took another look at the images painted over there…Was it the places some humans went to praise their God? As she raised her head, she noticed a wide patch of light, right up above. The window she had crashed in, when landing here, she mused. It was nothing but a hole now, through which sunshine was flowing in.

“I guess angels are feminine then?”

Serra jumped up at the voice. Impossible. There was life in here? She squinted her eyes and made out the small figure of a man, sitting in the nearest , unbroken bench.

“You can say I am”, Serra smiled. “But now I look more like a fallen demon than anything angel, or even female”.

The man cautiously approached, but she couldn’t sense any fear or hatred, neither compassion nor sympathy, just a positive, inquisitive attitude. She relaxed a bit, but kept the hilt of her Blade not too far away. It felt useless though, the weapon having an funny fading, transparent aspect. The man stood up and approached her.

“Are you the resident evil of this place?”, she asked.

This time, the man smiled back this. “I am a priest”, he said. “Welcome to the Grima Lowe Catedral. Some may say I am a devil, but I never harmed anyone so far… May I ask you how you came crashing inside the House of my Lord?”

He stretched out a hand and Serra grabbed it, painfully standing up. The broken Blade felt with a soft thud, before vanishing completely…Soon, all her suit vanished, leaving only her white robes and cloak. And her wings, one of which now hung painfully, getting her off balance. She smiled tentatively, as the realization slowly made her way to her mind. Not only Akroma had trampled and beaten her down, but she had kicked her off the Magic World. She had landed in this human place, where people still believe in angels. How ironic, she thought, I am not even certain I am what they call angels anyway.

“Can your Lord offering some shelter to a fallen angel for a while then?” She asked.” Just the time for my wing to heal?”

The priest smiled again. “I think He wouldn’t mind”. He gently helped her toward the door.

As their steps echoed in the huge walls of the Cathedral, Serra could have sworn she had heard a faint music. Not entirely heavenly, not exactly human, it seemed to bathe the whole place with peace of mind... Even the shattered glass seemed to vanish, the wooden benches to mend, the hole-window filling again with images and legends, as if worked by magic…

Even her wing seemed to heal, as she and the priest made their way to the huge entrance door. Maybe, outside, a new beginning was waiting for her. Where there wouldn’t be no Akroma and no fights anymore.

Could this be the Heaven of Angels?


By Ichiban, 21st, June, 2007

Penelope Jolicoeur

The Wheel of Time

Twice and Twice shall he be marked
Twice to live and twice to die
Once the Heron to set his Path
Twice the Heron to name him true
Once the Dragon for remembrance lost
Twice the Dragon for the price he must pay

LOL

seems like i am still alive and that this place is not dead yet....


am i still willing to blog? i wonder...




have a nice day everyone!

Insomnia

I am a paranoid, insomniac, stressaholic person.

If you drop at my place by night, you will certainly find me into deep reading by moonlight, sipping a cup of warm cinnamon tea, or wondering in the darkness about possible and terrifying evil plan set against my person by Fate itself than happy sleeping, cuddled under the blankets with a baby-like smile on my face?

I plead guilty, I am a bad sleeper to the bones.

It all may have started by a fair night of summer, when grasshoppers were far more common around my house than concrete or houses. I lived days of bliss after days of bliss, and night of reading after night of reading. I was a child, maybe 8 years old, and had no other worries than living day after day. Night and its peaceful darkness were like a comfortable chair I enjoyed to cuddles in, with a lamp torch as faithful companion. Came a day when I decided to assist to a “white night” as we say in French. That’s what you call insomnia in my place. I never seen white sky of course, maybe one or two stars, before giving up, exhausted, around midnight.

Teenagers day came too fast. We moved from countryside to suburbia. Hopefully music appeared and soothed that clumsiness in me. Hopefully again, books hadn’t deserted, on the contrary, they started invade my territory, one by one. One night I decided not to sleep at all. This was going to be my particularity. From The-girl-who-wears-ugly-glasses, I was going to be The-girl-who-never-sleeps-more-than-6 hours. I was a scorched poet, my soul was filled with Poe’s and Baudelaire’s paradises. I could swear I sensed their distress more than anyone else, and without Absynth. A last, I could control a part of my life, well, my night. No one could ever take that away from me, never.

It went ok until college days. I was top ranking in every single classes but mathematics (they never agreed on my theories that’s why). But college…The love of darkness turned into the hatred of the alarm clock. I used to give up, exhausted, at 3 am, to wake up 4 hours later even more tired than the previous days. I was a zombie, and as soon as night was falling upon the city which now provided my nights with tramways clattering instead of silence. Orange lights were burning my windows, and I started at their neverending shadows with ghostly eyes. Night had betrayed me, and for the first time I had to take medicine against its powers.

Came working days. And a better sleep, due to cold and physical exhaustion. Then came illness, which transformed even day into sleepy times.

Worst was yet to arrive. It roughly started around October, to be at its highest in February. My life at a standstill was gonna change, dragging old habits into new ones, leaving old friends and meeting new ones. I dreaded rejection, a feeling of loneliness despite being bathed in love 24/24h by my fiancé. Insomnia had became synonym of emotional stress, countless questions about would-I-fit-in and what-do-they-think, and too many tears alike. Learning to let go again. Becoming the little child always smiling in the pictures, who could have become friends with a marble statue and have it laugh if she wanted to. Where has that little girl gone to? As I take potions after potions to ease the beating of my heart, and the panic crises that got me down about once or twice, I wish she could hold my hand again, and soothe all my fears away.
I wish she could transform the nightmares into peaceful dreams again.

So that insomnia becomes nothing but a memory….

2 years !

HAPPY 2 YEARS ANNIVERSARY 
TO US MAHAL KO !!!!!!!! 

Mahal kita
I love you
Je t'aime
Aishiteru yo !
 

 I miss my friends so much, i miss my loved one so much...and it hurts so much....

I even miss the new ones , how I'd wish to be closer, a bit more part of their world... It's hard staying stranded here, with no one around...


So let's complain a bit here, there is so much sadness in me right now I have to let it go away a bit...
So don't blame me for the tears that are falling now... It gonna pass I know... tomorrow is another day so they say...


please God help me be strong....

Wanted !!!

 

The way it all begun ^*^

From there...


January, 07, 2005

Inuchan

where are all the Stovinu threads gone.....

DAI's Apprentice
maybe deleted :dunno: you miss him?

Inuchan
nope some still exist in the kitkatjam..
kinda... it was always a challenge, because he knew how to outsmart me...

DAI's Apprentice
i see... so the hanyou can be outsmarted :rolling:

Inuchan
wanna play? :grin:


DAI's Apprentice
anou... :eyesroll: nahh.. :wave:

Inuchan
:wiggle:

















(thanks)

DAI's Apprentice
thanks :confused: for what? :grin:

Inuchan
i am not in a playing mood, today... :eyesroll:

DAI's Apprentice
hmm... dun worry i won't , never

Inuchan
honto ni?

DAI's Apprentice
well yeah... unless you want to? :dunno:

(later)

DAI's Apprentice
btw isn't french the language of love and flirting? :naughty:

Inuchan
that's what they say.... :grin: want me to teach you? ^______^

DAI's Apprentice
sure... onegai :bowdown: :bunlove:

Inuchan
what do you want to know? :grin:

DAI's Apprentice
errr... something like... "your eyes are beautiful" or "Your smile makes my day" :bigthumb:

Inuchan
let's go:
your eyes are beautiful: tes yeux sont magnifiques
your smile makes my day: ton sourire illumine ma journee (hmm...i took some liberty in the translation in here "your smile brightens my day" )
hee, ready to pimpin' around? :wink:

DAI's Apprentice

*takes note* :bunlove:
haha i agree on your translation... "makes my day" sounded a bit too... pimpy :rolling:
how about...
would you go out with me?
I love you, [name]... would you marry me?
no... pimpin's not my game... i'm just a harmless guy ya know :happy:

Inuchan
you smooth talker.... :wink:
aaaaaaanyway....
French talk, part 2
would you go out with me : "tu voudrais sortir avec moi ?" (this one is pretty familiar...what about "pourrait-on se revoir" (could we meet again), granted that it's not with an intention of staring at each other )
i love you(...) would you marry me : Je t'aime (....) Veux-tu m'épouser? (more assertive in French, but the asking is the same)
:wave:

DAI's Apprentice
hold on... let me absorb those you posted inu, kinda hard pronouncin for me :eyesroll: :buncry:

Je t'aime (....) Veux-tu m'épouser? :bunlove: coool :bunlove:

Inuchan
@Apprentice: :bunpom:

DAI's Apprentice
I'm doing good, ne? :bunpom:
Je t'aime .... Veux-tu m'épouser? Je t'aime!!! Veux-tu m'épouser!? Je t'aime??? Veux-tu m'épouser!!!111 :bigthumb:

Inuchan
:rolling: :rolling: :rolling:
---where's the "stop" button? :rolling:

(later)

Btw, Apprentice...
How's the pronunciation job's doin'? :bigthumb:

DAI's Apprentice
terrible :buncry: Maybe I'm too asian for French language :buncry:

Inuchan
nani yo?
won't you teach me some Filipino (or whatever the accurate name is :blush: ), then? so that we'll be even? :bunspark:

DAI's Apprentice
Filipino Language is very easy to learn coz it doesn't have much pronounciations it's kinda like katakana and hiragana e.g. Bahala, halata, mahal, katorpehan, hiya, etc... :bigthumb:
still... i shall have the French tongue... maybe probably by French kiss? :rolling:

Inuchan
French kiss eh? that old joke again :rolling: :rolling:
does it resemble to Indonesian language?
can you teach me some? :bunspark:

DAI's Apprentice
Hmmm... yeah... what would you like? :bigthumb:
I LOVE YOU = MAHAL KITA <---Just pronounce like Katakana except for the "L" e.g. ma-, ha-, ki-,ta- :bigthumb:

Inuchan

:bunlove:
"maha' kita" no deshou?
so everything pronounce as in Japanese, but for the "L" sound that is never spoken?
what about:
i'm hungry (^ ^)
hello/goodbye
nice to meet you

DAI's Apprentice
ahaha no, what i meant was in Japanese when they say "Hat" it's pronounced as "hat-o" coz they don't have a single "T" whereas in Filipino language is quite similar to the way we pronounce english such as "Reprisal" is to "Mahal" :bigthumb:
I'm hungry := nagugutum(present tense of feeling hungry) ako(me)
Hello := (well, there's no direct translation or formal greeting here such as konnichiwa so anything from hi to hello will do)
Goodbye := Paalam(farewell)
Nice to meet you := Kinagagalak(being glad) kitang(the person you're talking to) makilala (to meet)
:bigthumb:

Inuchan
O.o
wow sounds completely new for me. Interests me a LOT !!! And how do you call that language? Filipino?
Is it the main language?
(erhm....could you record it for me? so that I get that "L" thingy right? Onegai? :bunspark: )
"kinagagalak kitang makilala", eh? reminds me of "selamat datang", in Bahasa Indonesia... but yours is far more complicated....^ ^

DAI's Apprentice
yes very similar to Indonesian language. Well it's called Filipino/Tagalog(which is the old fashioned version which i hate also coz it's difficult to grasp )
yeah gonna record for you :bigthumb:
Well it isn't entirely the main language here... usually it's a mixture of both Filipino and English. In the corporate world here, English is the medium as with other countries as it is the world's standard language. But of course among friends we speak Filipino with a bit of English or the other way around. :bigthumb:
wanna play? :naughty: hehe kidding :grin

Inuchan
yay! :bunlove: i can record some French, if you want, for the pronunciation? ^ ^
i see... and is filipino your mothertongue, or both english and filipino?
wait 'till i grab some filipino textbook, and i'm your partner! :naughty: :rolling: (but for saying "hi", i won't be of no use, lol)

DAI's Apprentice
hai! do that! :bunpom: record! :bunpom:

"After Dark" by Murakami Haruki

To all of you Murakami lovers, rejoice !!! His new novel, "After Dark", will be available this May on Amazon.com...

And for those luckily speaking French, you can already get it from Amazon.fr, its title being "LE Passage de la nuit".


Isn't life wonderful?


French edition here

English edition there


and a picture of the French cover ^^

Counting Sheep

“We can, if we so choose, wander aimlessly over the continent of the arbitrary. Rootless as some winged seeds blown about on a serendipitous spring breeze.

Nonetheless, we can in the same breath deny that there is any such thing as coincidence. What’s done is done, what’s yet to be is clearly yet to be, and so on. In other words, sandwiched as we are between the “eerythign” that is behind us, and the “zero” that is beyond us, ours is a ephemeral existence in which there is neither coincidence nor possibility.

In actual practice, however, distinctions between the two interpretations amount to precious little. A state of affair (as with most face-offs between interpretations) not unlike calling the same food by two different names.”

Murakami Haruki, “A Wild sheep chase”

[Quoted by ...]

"Every blog is useless"

maybe but it feels so good reading...

Eh?

1) Why was 2006 a good year ? i am lucky having a family, and someone who loves me. Laugh it away if you want, but it is reall important to me.

2) What was the best moment this year ? my three weeks at Monmon's place *0*

3) The worst ? hmmmm....end of february, and october/november, even worse

4) Where were you, when 2006 began ? at home

5) With whom ? folks and friends

6) Where will you be next year ? you tell me

7) With whom ? i wannabe with him

8) will you have good resolutions for 2007 ? be a better person. a more positive one, too.

9) Have you followed your last year's good resolutions? Nope , since i didn't take any for 2006

10) Did you fall in love this year ? not this year but in the end of 2004, yes

11)If yes, who is he ? Monmon

12) Does he know it ? lol yes

13) Regrets ? lol no

14) And him ? hihi nope

15) Did you break up with someone this year ? no

16) Did you make new friends this year ? .... i guess?i hope...

17) who is your new best friend ? no "new best one".

18) what's your favorite month ? June. and June

19) Did you travel oversea this year ? yes dear !

20) How many countries ? three : the Philippines, France, and Germany

21) Did you lose something this year ? my job

22) Did you lose someone this year ? i felt like i had lost my best friend. she married this year, and don't get me wrong i am happy for her. but it was hard not feeling sad. i miss her, you see?

23) Best movie in 2006 ? The Myth, and Mon' knows why!

24) favorite song this year ? "Iris" amongst others, but this one has the strongest memories tied up with. and Saint Seya too ^_~

25) Which was your favorite Cd in 2006 ? Barbie Almalbis, Nina, Paolo Santos...

26) How many concerts have you been ? none. And i missed Bamboo's.

27) What was your favorite concert ? n/a

28) Did you drink a lot of alcoohol this year ? no

29) any drugs ? no

30) Slept how many times at someone else's house ? three weeks at Monmon's house. A few days in France and at Clairobsc's

31) Did you do something you're ashamed of, this year ? well, yes always. silly things i wish i never said...to my folks, to my loved ones... the usual bickering that ruin a good day...

33) Did you tell lies ? i lie to myself

34) Did you do something bad to someone this year ? i cried at my best friend's wedding. it was to be her best day in her life and i ruined it all by crying. i will never forget myself.

35) Did someone did something bad to you this year ? errr no i don't think so?you would tell me if you'd know right? right?

36) How much did you spend this year ? next question please? but definitely not enough on my loved ones.

37) What's the moment you're the most proud of? when i see a happy look in my folk's eyes. Or in my beloved's ones.

38) What was the most embarassing moment? Hmm i cannot tell you here. =p

39) If you could turn back time, what would you change ? Nothing. I never have regrets, I try to live on with the lesson i get from it all. Hey, no one said it was easy....

40) What's your plan for 2007 ? Get a job. And build a family. That I really want....

We don’t belong to ourselves. All what we got is love for each other, sharing feelings, and be happy for the ones we love. All what we are, all what we posess, big cars, huge bank accounts, will get lost when we die. All what we keep is the image of a man who died for humanity, and even if this would be just a nice story, it is still worth believing. Hatred leads to hatred, selfishness leads to the drying out of the heart. There are things we do not accept in our self-centered life, but want it or not, we do not belong to anyone, not even ourselves. We can love people, and be loved in return. Be faithful and honest, and always fair to the one we love. If we demand respect, we have to give it back in return. And if we don’t, there is no point in claiming we are better than others. And accept what life got for us, and find our way out of it.

Happy new year.

PeAcE.

Funny facts

What after two years of intermittent blogging here?

I read more than I write. Or comment. I wish I could be a professionnal reader sometimes.

No kidding.

I feel more at ease talking truely about myself on a forum, or here, than in real life. I still like better listen to other people's stories.

It prevents people from asking questions I am not willing to answer.

The reason I am disclosing (parts of) my life to strangers over the internet is still mysterious. I thought first I was a writer. Two years and a half of writer's block lead me to think better of it. Maybe the very reason is that I can complain and whine away without bothering anyone. As for the people chosing to comment, it means they really care. Up to me to answer. Or not. I think it is a fair solution. And no one really knows where truth ends, where fiction begins.

And it prevents me from thinking and brewing too many dark thoughts.






See ya all in 2007 !

Les Bienveillantes

Okay...

I started to read that monster of a Goncourt prize...I knew it was gonna talk about war, about a nazi's confessions, so nothing to do with Harry Potter fighting the evil wizard Tom Jedusor...

Guess it is toooo tooo early to give something of an opinion, let's say I like the fact that this book really have you wondering about what you believe in. Especially the innuendos about "don't blame me, were you at my place, you would have done the same".

Guess everyone around here, even I, would say NO WAY !! But I also remember a well known experiment, the Milgram one.

I hope I can finish the book, and see what the author's purpose was meant to be.


* * *

Reading a post by a fellow blogger I have a bad feeling... Don't tell me it is C or G who closed their his blog?

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

Or the title-to-be of the last Harry Potter book !!


more infos here

Christmas loot

Murakami Haruki : "Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world"
Murakami Haruki: " Dance dance dance"
Murakami Haruki :" Blind willow, sleeping woman"

I missed the job again...


Ah...well...


but there are anther perspective so wait and see !!... ^*^

The weather is fairly damp, and the city looks a bit sad, but hey it's almost Christmas, and everyone should be happy happy... Ah maybe the people at FNAC shop do not react alike, to them 15 minute's queing that's far too much, even if they hold what could be someone's favourite Christmas present. I take a book out my bag, and start reading, pacing slowly toward the cashier. I got three Murakami's for Xmas, but I am supersticious and do not wanna open them before Santa's officially visited my place.

There is too much people around for me too feel allright though, but it's ok, I cope with it. I slither amongst the crowd in St Catherine's palce, I like it better last year anyway... Everything, even the new light show on the Grand Place feels like déjà vu, maybe i'd like better more Santa's and less void.