Author's notes:

"Mahoutsukai Tai!" and all related characters are (c) Tammy Ohta, and 
any number of other people, none of them myself. This story, 
"Aftermath", is mine, (c) Nae, 1999. 

This contains spoilers of any number of little details that take
place over the 6-part OAV. It takes place at an obscure time after
the end of the series.

I would love to hear your comments, or questions. Please don't 
hesitate to e-mail me at divine_wisdom@yahoo.com

Enjoy.

@-}--Nae
divine_wisdom@yahoo.com

-----------------------

AFTERMATH


"For thought-reading magic..."

Aikawa Akane's shut eyes tightened, trying to contain the fleeing 
wisps of peaceful sleep.

"...if the synchronization is too strong..."

Pale, delicate fingers clenched the light blanket. They pulled it 
closer, to deflect the night.

"...it's hard to break the connection..."

The girl sat up, gulps or air plunging down her throat as fast as
she could draw them in. 

"...Aikawa and the Bell must have had a rather strong 
synchronization... I think."

@-}-{-@

Again. Again, the words pulsed through her dreams. Again, they kept 
her from rest, seizing her energy and swallowing it under a cloak 
of confused restlessness. 

Would they never end?

Her friends asked her if she was all right, and was there anything 
they could do? Her answers were yes and no, respectively. 

Days... Weeks. . .

Her smiles came less easily, and they were tight, cautious
reflections of mirth. Her eyes sparkled with tears more frequently 
than with good humour.

She didn't withdraw from society. She didn't abandon her friends, 
her loves - though these were increasingly fewer and farther 
between. She attended her club meetings when it suited her. She 
kept her freshly strengthened ties with the Magic Club. 

But. . . 

Sometimes. . . 

They would talk of the days when they, THEY were responsible for 
the freeing of humanity. THEY had fixed it. THEY were heroes.

And Akane found herself drowning in her own painful silence.

How could she speak of her pain, when she knew no good would come 
of such an act? How could she take away their joy, their pride? 

How could she tell them it wasn't over?

Her mind watched the stages of observation which were so familiar 
to her.

Her thoughts felt emotionless, cold eyes of technology oversee the 
death of cultures, races.

@-}-{-@

Again.

Her mind drifted free of the ties to the waking world, and sleep 
was hers. A short, blissful surrender to the wilderness of her 
thoughts, under the mask of slumber.

Again, the words pulsed through her dreams.

"Target selected."

"Analysis. Question of appropriate target."

"Analysis."

"Analysis."

"Decided to be appropriate target."

"Question of resistance of target."

"Analysis."

"Analysis."

"Target decided to have minimal resistance."

"Question of efficiency of destruction."

"Analysis."

"Analysis."

"Destruction decided to be efficient."

"Question of immediate destruction."

"Analysis."

"Analysis."

"Immediate destruction decided."

Only then would the words cease, and the screaming begin.

Akane awoke, cries ripping from her own throat. She clung to her 
blankets and wailed.

She grieved the loss of an entire world she never knew.

As she would every night.

Again.

-----------------------

@-}--Nae
divine_wisdom@yahoo.com