cbman's Note: I just finished playing Xenosaga Episode 2 not too long
ago, I just have to say that the ending wasn't that great, there's
still no conclusion to the story. Man, the second game just pales in
comparison to the first in terms of story, not to mention I hate most
of the new voice actors. I really hope Monolithsoft gets back the
voice actors from episode 1 for episode 3, the only exceptions being
Jin and chaos, the other new voice actors were just bad. In any case,
for this chapter we'll have a look into a few of the characters' pasts,
be aware that these flashbacks may be different from those seen in the
actual Xenosaga 2 video game. I should also note that this will
probably be the slowest chapter out of the entire fic, just thought I'd
warn you readers ahead of time. Well enough about my ranting for now,
let's get back to the story.
Memories' Past
(Miang's POV)
My entire reason for being, why was it that I was created? To act as
the savior of Mankind by destroying its enemies, or was it something
else? I never knew the reason for my existence in the few short
moments I was alive. No, I was never alive, there was not one moment
in which I had felt so. Pain, sorrow, depression, angst, these were
the only things I had ever come to know. Just when I thought I could
finally be free of these things, Fate had pushed me back into the realm
of consciousness once more.
"You're... alive, Miang?" my sister asks after a moment of silence.
"Alive?" I repeat, the word creating sorrow within me. "No Elly, I am
not alive, but at the same time, I am not a figment of your
imagination."
"How is it that you're standing before us now, Miang?" my mother is the
next to ask questions.
"...I can't explain myself," I answer. "All I know was that my
existence should have ended back there, and yet..."
I begin to tell them my tale, tell them how I was able to cheat death.
No, that's not right, a machine such as myself cannot die, we can only
deactivate. It began with my sister holding me after her aim and shot
met with my heart, I remember how everything around me began to blur.
My sister and mother's cries, the wetness of their tears, I remember
them all and how they all started to fade. Even the hold of my sister
began to dwindle from my body, her touch slowly melting away into the
ever-growing darkness. My eyes were open, and yet the darkness was
still consuming me. Everything around me was supposed to disappear, I
was supposed to disappear, but then...
"You cannot die yet," a voice had spoken to me, "you cannot die,
Miang."
The one who spoke to me, the voice was familiar, yet I didn't know who
it was. The next thing I remember was that the surrounding black began
to glow, the illumination slowly crossing into gray and then into
white. I found myself blinded, closing my eyes did nothing to shield
me from the light. When the light disappeared, I found myself staring
upward, staring into an unknown ceiling. My entire body was incapable
of moving, my arms and legs held down by some unknown force. The sound
of computers and other machinery began to fill my ears, it was then
that I concluded I was in some sort of lab. Footsteps began to echo
above the sound of the machines, and finally, a face that was draped in
red leaned down toward me.
"Welcome to the real world, Miang," he said.
I decide not to tell them the rest of my tale, that doing so may
jeopardize my mission and the identities of those who brought me into
the real world. My family stands there with blank looks on their
faces, as if the information I had just told them seemed too strange
to believe.
"I am in the debt to those who brought me into this plane," I try to
finish my tale. "Though I do not wish to resuscitate our feud with
one another, I request that you hand the boy, Abel, to me."
"Miang, I am glad that to see you again, but as I said before, I have
no intention of handing Abel over to you," my sister says.
"I see..., I'm sorry to hear that, Elly. I never wanted to hurt you
after everything I had done in the past, but I..."
"Then why, Miang?" my mother asks. "Why must you fight? Those people
who brought you into this plane are only using you. They had no right
to bring you into this world for such a selfish reason!"
"This is my duty," I tell her. "I am a machine, a weapon, and I will
forever be branded as such."
"No Miang, that's not right," she says. "You're not a weapon, you're
my daughter, and..."
"The brand on my forehead is enough evidence that I will forever be
branded as such, the mark that reads 'KOS-MOS,'" I continue. "What was
the reason for why you and Father created me? To restore order to this
universe, was it not? Is it not my duty to fulfill this wish, to
fulfill the reason why I was created?"
"Miang, I..."
"You have been nothing but kind to me, Mother," I interrupt once more,
"but I'm afraid that the debt I owe weighs more heavily than your
wishes. I can also see that my sister has no intention on backing down
either, so..."
The grip around my tonfa tightens as the wind begins to pick up. I
await for my sister to strike me once more, but she continues to stand
there with her blade pointed to the floor. There is a blank look on
her face, but I know what emotion is being felt behind it. She has no
intention of fighting anymore, she believes that there is no reason to
continue. She begins to slide her sword back into its sheath and
begins to speak.
"Miang, I know that neither of us has the intention of backing down,
but I also know that neither of us has the intention of fighting each
other," my sister says. "So let's both walk away this time, for both
of our sakes."
She begins to walk toward her ship, our mother tagging along close
behind her. I wish I could let her go, but I have my duty, I gave
'him' my word, I swore to 'him' that I would do anything and everything
to get the job done.
Before either my sister or mother can enter the ship, I manage to take
hold of my mother, wrapping my arm around her neck. My sister quickly
notices this, looking back at me the exact moment I point my pistol at
her temple. I begin to drag our mother away from the ship and my
sister closely follows. My finger is just a simple pull away from the
blast that may kill our mother, but I can't bring myself to pull it.
"Miang, what are you...?" my mother orders.
"Shut up!" I force myself to scream at her. "Just shut up!"
I try to hold the tears back after I say such hateful words, try not to
show any form of sadness or guilt. I find my arm already quivering
after giving those hateful orders, I can't seem to stop the shaking
though. Elly does not see this however and picks her blaster off the
ground, its barrel pointed at me once more. Her cerulean eyes narrow
for a second, but they immediately widen as she notices my body
quivering. We stand paralyzed by our emotions, the breeze causing
neither of us to move even an inch. Our mother does nothing but stand
still in the middle of our standoff, she does nothing to try and free
herself from my grasp. My teeth begin to bite down upon one another,
each of the crowns about ready to crack. A lump begins to build in my
throat and a fire begins to burn in my eyes. My nose begins to run and
my voice begins to crack; I want to just let my mother and sister go,
but I can't, I can't break my word to 'him.'
"What are you waiting for?!" I yell at my sister, my voice and heart
nearly broken. "Mother's life is in danger, are you just going to let
me end it like this?! Pull the trigger, Elly! Pull it! Please..."
She does nothing to act upon my words, my sister continues to stand
there with her blaster still pointed. Her entire body begins to shake
as well now, I can see the water in her eyes beginning to flood down
her cheeks. Her finger struggles to stay on her gun's trigger, it
continues slip away from that tiny switch which may bring me to the
next realm. The gun in my hand begins to press harder into my mother's
temple, the inferno in my pupils intensifying as I do so. My actions
cause the frown to disappear from Elly's face, replacing it with
narrowed eyes and bared teeth. Finally my sister acts, the blast from
her weapon meeting with my own. The pistol drops out of my hand and I
do nothing to pick it up, allowing my sister to rush toward me. I push
our mother away as this happens, pushing her out of harm's path.
Again I draw my tonfa, drawing in time to block the unsheathing of her
sword. A second swing follows after the first, this strike locking our
weapons in place. Both of us struggle to overpower the other, but
neither of us is able to do so. I know my body's strength can easily
overpower her own, but I am unable to use my strength to its full
potential, my power being held back by my breaking heart. The strength
in my arms slowly gives out, eventually letting my sister break away
from our lock. Her blade begins to swing downward on my open body and
I wait for the light that will bring me to the next realm.
The light never comes. The edge of my sister's sword has stopped a
hair-width away from my shoulder. I see her entire body struggling
with her emotions once again, the floods flowing from her cerulean
irises are falling as rapid as ever. Her arms lift up once more in
another attempt to slash downward, but just like the last time, the
blade stops before it could meet with my skin. A tiny whimper escapes
her lips, the whimper then turns into a cry. Elly returns her arms to
her side, the blade wrapped in her fingers slipping to the floor
shortly after. I put away my weapons as well upon seeing her like
this, my emotions finally taking over my obligation to fulfill my
duties.
'I can't do it,' I think to myself.
"Now!" I hear another voice echo in the area.
I turn back to the ship and find several armed Kukai Foundation
soldiers and the young director in the center of them all. They have
no intention of letting me escape, but I can't bring myself to fight
them with my sister and mother in their line of fire. I take a few
seconds to find a possible escape route, finding one almost directly
behind me. The hospital is abandoned now, I should be able to take
cover there.
"I'm sorry," I apologize to my mother and sister before making my
escape.
I begin to move now, running to the west to divert the enemies' fire as
far away from my family as possible. They begin to attack once I am
about three feet away from them, but none of their bullets have any
effect on me. Most of the projectiles fly past me, while the ones that
do strike rebound off my skin the moment it touches. Some of the
soldiers that notice this begin to switch weapons now, replacing their
automatic rifles with energy ones. Despite how well my body was built,
the circuitry inside will most likely overheat or short circuit if
struck several times with energy weapons. I push all of my weight into
my legs now and launch myself into the sky for a moment, allowing
myself to land back on the rooftop of the hospital building. None of
their weapons are able to reach me now, until my sensors pick up my
sister's cyborg companion who runs out of the ship with a missile
launcher type weapon on his arm. Several rockets escape the weapon
after; it wouldn't be a problem for me to shoot each of them down with
my R-CANNON or X-BUSTER, but the debris created from doing so would
most likely fall down on Elly and Mother. I decide to take the next
best course of action, jump down onto the next rooftop. My legs push
against the floor as hard as I can again, propelling myself forward
with all of my strength. My sensors read that the rockets are only
five feet away while the distance between my current locale and the
next roof is a distance of seventy feet. The projectiles are coming
closer and closer, my sensors now read two feet, I have no choice but
to try and act now.
I propel myself as much as I can into the sky once more, the explosion
of the rockets burning beneath the soles of my boots. Higher and
higher I go, the fire already melting off the material of my footwear.
The fire begins to envelop my ankles now, the protective metal beneath
my artificial skin starts to melt as well. My feet eventually emerge
from the inferno, but their function has ceased. I begin to plummet
toward the ground now, the air slicing my body as I fall to the
building below. A loud crash follows the moment my feet meet with the
surface, the impact forcing my entire body into the roof. Smoke from
the impact temporarily blinds me, but my sensors are still able to read
my surroundings. There is no sign of any potential threat, I am safe
for now.
I try to lift myself off the ground, but for some reason my feet are
unable to move. I look to my legs and find the wires and mechanical
pieces that composed my feet nearly severed from the rest of my legs,
with tiny crackles of electricity escaping from the broken parts. The
fall must have broken them off, they weren't in the best condition
after escaping the blast. I begin to drag myself to the closest wall
so that I may sit up and take a better look at the damage, but a red-
gloved hand appears before my face.
"Are you all right, Miang?" the one standing before me asks.
The fact that I had failed my mission begins to sink in now. I find
myself unable to look at the one who was responsible for bringing me
into this realm, unable to even stare at the mask that covers his face.
No words come to my mind about the events that happened, I know that my
excuse for not getting the job done isn't valid. I avert my eyes to
the ground, my breath barely cursing myself for my failure. His touch
falls upon my torso now, his arms beginning to lift me so that my
shoulders are evenly aligned with his.
"You needn't worry about what just happened, Miang," he tells me as he
keeps me balanced.
"I'm sorry, sir," I apologize, "I'm afraid there's no excuse for..."
"This was the expected result actually," he interrupts me. "Master
Wilhelm expected this to happen so you needn't worry."
"Then why was I sent here?"
"I'm afraid that is not for you to know at the moment. We will
disclose only the information you need to know before any mission, is
that understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Let's return to headquarters immediately, it's time for the main phase
of our plan to begin."
"The expected result," it's just like Mother said, I'm only being used,
I'm only a tool in all of this. This is the way it should be, this is
the purpose of a weapon. Free will, curiosity, desire, wishes, a
machine should not have any of these things, the only that should
matter to us is our objectives. Yet I do have them, and each of these
things means a great deal to me. I've been given a rare chance, a
second chance at life, yet here I am fulfilling my assigned duties as
if nothing else matters. Why is it that I can't say "no" to this man,
why can't I fulfill my own wishes and live my own life? Why? Why
can't I...?
"Is something the matter?" my master asks.
"No," I answer, trying my best to hide my emotions. "There's nothing
wrong with me, Father..."
Why can't I admit the truth?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(chaos's POV)
Once again I felt his presence, felt his will once more. I always
thought that one day I would no longer be able to hear his voice if I
had not interfered with him, but now it's like he's calling out to me.
I told him back then that I had no intention of following his wishes
any longer, but the way he responded, I can never forget it. A simple
smile is what he gave me when I told him I was leaving, that smile
forever haunting me as I left the door. There was a message beneath
that smile, something that told me that I can never run away, that I
will return no matter what someday. Perhaps that is what's happening
as of late, perhaps I am returning. Am I the one being drawn to him,
is it him that is being drawn to me, or are we being drawn together by
'her.'
'She' once told me that a tiny ripple may one day become a huge wave,
that each of us has the power to alter the destiny of the universe. Is
it not each man's duty to try and write his own fate, or must he rely
on the heavens for his guidance? Which must one follow if he is not of
Man nor the heavens? How much longer can I continue running, but to
where am I running? Is it my escape, or is it toward my destiny?
One thing is for certain though, Fate is catching up with me once more.
Earlier today, I felt it creeping up to me further, its icy breath
touching the back of my neck. Everything that's happened so far, it's
just as he planned it. Order has been broken, the two beliefs that
resulted from it are clashing with each other once more, creating chaos
in the process. The two halves struggle with their ideals yet again,
and just like the last, only one ideal will remain in the end, the
other half returning into the realm of disarray.
Everyone is in some sort of panic right now; the sudden attack by the
U-TIC Organization had caught all of us by surprise. Shion and KOS-MOS
have been feeling unsettled with the sudden return of the Archetype
KOS-MOS, their emotions struggling once again now that the lost member
of their family has suddenly returned. Shion herself seems more
worried though, not just about the Archetype, but over her brother.
Jin has not awakened yet, but the doctors assure us he's just resting
and that the nanotherapy is working fine. MOMO has been feeling unwell
ever since we left, the fact that her mother, Juli Mizrahi didn't seem
to care as she laid in the hospital for a day has brought sadness upon
the young realian once more. Ziggy is as silent as ever, the last
current events have not affected the cybernetic man. No one knows how
Jr. is doing though, he's been avoiding everyone since we launched, I
can't help but worry about him.
After taking a moment to reflect, I find Jr. sitting on the other side
of the park now, his eyes staring into the dark, never-ending abyss
that is space. He is locked in thought, his body entirely still.
Something is bothering him, so I take it upon myself to see what's
wrong.
"Hello Jr.," I greet the boy.
"Hey chaos," the boy says with a fake smile on his lips, "what's up?"
"I should be the one to ask you that," I take the seat next to him.
"It looks like you have a lot on your mind right now, is something the
matter?"
"A lot's been happening this last month or so, don't you think?" he
answers. "What with the whole Proto Merkabah thing, the incident with
the Archetype KOS-MOS, and just now..."
"I can tell that's not what's been bothering you," I interrupt. "It's
about MOMO, isn't it?"
"...yeah, it is," he responds after a moment of hesitation.
"What's wrong? Is it the incident that happened between her and Albedo
that's bothering you again, or is it because of her relationship with
Ziggy?"
"How do you know these things?"
"Your argument with him yesterday was a dead giveaway."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. You see the thing is, I made a promise to
Sakura when she was still alive; I promised her that I would take care
of her sister if anything happened. I want to keep that promise, but
that cyborg...," he begins to raise his voice.
"So you feel threatened because Ziggy is the one taking care of MOMO
instead of you?"
"It might be, but then... MOMO reminds me a lot about Sakura, every
time I see her face, I see Sakura's. The way she smiles, laughs, her
mannerisms, everything, they remind me of Sakura. I was... never able
to tell Sakura how I really felt back then, so I..."
"You're plagued by the emotions you could never tell her?"
"Maybe, but at the same time, I also know that MOMO and Sakura are
different people. I don't know what I'm feeling now, really. This
emotion, I can't tell if it really is my feelings for Sakura that I
couldn't say or if these emotions are entirely different."
"Emotions are a peculiar thing," I tell him. "Sometimes they are easy
to understand, such as happiness after one has enjoyed a good meal, but
in other times, they can be complicated just as what you're feeling
now. If life and all of its obstacles were so easily laid out, then
life itself would have no excitement, at least that's what I believe.
Jr., why don't you find out for yourself if what your feeling for MOMO
truly is your own feelings for her and not for Sakura. Be with her,
regardless of Ziggy's presence. At least in that way, you can watch
over her like you promised."
"Yeah, perhaps you're right," Jr. tells me, getting out of seat.
"Thanks chaos, you're always there to help everyone out. You're always
so positive, like you've never had any problems in the world."
The young man leaves after that, leaving me alone once more. His last
words continue to echo in my head, the words "like you've never had any
problems in the world." I'm sorry Jr., but I do have problems, no one
can solve them but myself. The Hedgehog's Dilemma: the closer one
hedgehog grows to another, they have an even greater risk of hurting
each other, yet if the hedgehog makes no attempt to do so, he will
doomed to walk the earth alone. Perhaps this is my dilemma; there's so
much I can't tell no matter how much I wish to say. At times I wish I
can just scream everything out, release the truth that I've kept hidden
for so long, but I... I don't want to hurt anyone, even if it means I
must walk down the path of life alone once more.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Allen's POV)
The chief hasn't left her room since we got back on the Durandal. I
can tell she's really shaken up by the fact that the Archetype KOS-MOS
has come back. I want to go in there and tell her everything is okay,
but I can't. I mean I know what I want to say to her, know what to do
to comfort her, but there's something else that's holding me back. My
nervousness, the little voice in the back of my head that tells me
"Don't do it, you're going to make a fool of yourself." Why do I
always listen to it. Still, even when I do ignore it, the chief
ignores me.
I remember after diving into KOS-MOS's encephalon, I finally got the
courage to ask the chief out to lunch, but she rejected me. It didn't
surprise me to be honest, she would always reject me in the past. Even
after all these times she's said no to me, I still try. I'm such a
fool. It's just like Miyuki says, I don't make much of an impact on
people. It was always like that, even when I first met the chief three
years ago.
I had gotten into Vector's First R & D Division after working in the
Third Division for two years prior. Computer Networking was my
specialty, it took a while for the upper divisions to notice me. I got
lucky when I applied for the First Division, they originally made me
the head developer of the original Archetype KOS-MOS's encephalon. I
remember the first day, when I first ran into the chief. I was on my
break in the lounge standing next to the water dispenser, I found
myself tired after four straight hours of typing. The coffee machine
was out of coffee, so I had to settle for a glass of water. My ten
minute break was just about over and I started to head back to my
console. My head must've still been up into the clouds, but that's
when I bumped into her, literally.
"Ouch!" my shoulder accidentally bumped into another person, knocking
them to the ground.
"Whoops, I'm sorry," I apologized to the young woman I bumped into.
"Are you all right, Miss?" I offered her my hand.
"I'm fine, thanks," she answered, not taking my hand to help her.
The young woman I bumped into, there was something different about her,
something that set her apart from the other women who worked at Vector.
It wasn't the uniform, though the purple lining wasn't as common as the
red one which most of the female employees wore. Was it the way she
tied the braid in her hair? Was it her emerald green eyes? Her fair
skin? I can go on and on about her, but there was just something about
her that made me feel different, that made me feel happy in a way.
"I didn't mean to bump into you, Miss," I apologized again, scratching
a sudden itch in the back of my neck. "My head must've been somewhere
else."
"Oh don't worry about it," she said with a smile, "I'm perfectly fine,
and there's no harm done. By the way, I've never seen you here before,
are you new?"
"Er, yeah," I answered, nervously, "I'm Allen Ridgeley."
"And my name is Shion Uzuki," she said as she shook my hand.
"You're the assistant chief of the KOS-MOS Project?" I finally realize
who I'm talking to. "I'm sorry, I had no idea who you really were,
Miss Uzuki."
"Please, just call me 'Shion,'" she told me, "I don't like have having
titles of any sort. Well I have to get back to work now, see ya."
She just left after that, she didn't even bother to look back as she
went on. I found out shortly after that that she was seeing the chief
of the KOS-MOS Project of the time, Kevin Winnicott. I admit that I
was jealous at the time, but there was nothing I could do about it.
But then Kevin died a year after that. The chief was in so much pain
at the time, I should've been there when she needed somebody. For the
longest time she's bottled up her emotions about the incident, every
time I looked into her eyes, I swear I could see the tears ready to
fall.
"Hey Allen, what's wrong?" Miyuki snaps me out of my thoughts.
"Nothing," I tell her as I begin to turn away from the chief's room.
"Nothing's wrong."
'God I'm an idiot!' I mentally kick myself.
"Nothing's going to happen if you continue to wait," Miyuki suddenly
speaks. "The only way anything's going to happen is if you act on it."
"Miyuki, what are you talking about?" I ask, confused.
"Gosh, you're so dense sometimes," Miyuki sighs and walks away after.
The only way anything's going to happen is if you act on it, perhaps
she's right. Yeah, I wasn't there for her in the past, but I can be
now. That's right, now it's time to finally get my act together.
I get ready to go to the door of the chief's room, but the little voice
in my head that says not to begins to speak again. I feel my entire
body beginning to shut down on itself again as it listens to its words,
but Miyuki's words come to my mind again and renew my energy. That's
right, nothing's going to stop me from helping the chief this time,
this time I'll...
"Oh, Allen, did you want something?" KOS-MOS opens the door before I
could knock.
"I'm sorry, but is the chief all right?" I ask.
"If it's not a problem, she wants to be alone right now," she answers.
"I'm sorry."
"No, that's fine," I answer.
KOS-MOS walks out of the room now and makes her way out of the area.
Just when I was good and ready to go, the chief wants to be alone.
Unfortunately I can't do anything about this one, so I'm afraid I'll
have to get my chance another time. Yeah, nothing else will hold back
Allen Ridgeley from expressing the emotions in his heart.
"Are you still here, Allen?" Miyuki's voice interrupts my thoughts
again. "Come on, why don't you take me to lunch right now?" Miyuki
invites.
"Well, all right," I answer.
"Really, you'll buy lunch for me, that's so great!" Miyuki exclaims.
"Hey wait, I thought you asked...?!"
"Come on, I know this great restaurant on the Foundation," she takes my
arm, "it's a bit expensive for vegetarian, but the fat free salad
dressing is so..."
Oh man, so much for nothing else holding me back...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Jin's POV)
None of us saw it coming, no one could have foreseen the events that
have unfolded. The sudden realian outbreak that's spreading across all
of Miltia, I never thought I would see a day like this in my entire
life. The violence is only worsening by the second, but my intuition
tells me there's something else going on. This disk that Captain Hyuga
and I have acquired from a U-TIC officer is said to have some sort of
great importance, but it can't be what this is outbreak about, can it?
"Captain Hyuga, may I ask what exactly is the importance of this
so-called 'Y-Data?'" I ask my fellow comrade.
"First of all, Jin, we're the same rank, you don't have to call me
'captain,'" she tells me, "second, we've known each other since what,
pre-school, and third, just call me 'Yui' like you did when we were
kids."
"I'll keep that in mind, Cap...," I stop, remembering her previous
order, "I mean, Miss Yui."
"Don't call me 'Miss' either, Jin, just call me by my name."
"Yes, Miss Yui."
"Never mind... In any case, about the Y-Data, Lt. General Helmer said
that this data contains the identity of the one who started this whole
mess, along with other classified information currently unknown to the
Galaxy Federation. The Lt. General didn't say much else about it
except that this is supposed to be the pinnacle of Dr. Joachim
Mizrahi's work, only two copies of the data were made; one being the
disk in your very hands right now and the other in a prototype realian.
You should already know all of this, weren't you paying attention
during the mission briefing?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Yui, but my mind was fixated on other matters at that
time," I apologize.
"That's just not like you, Jin."
We begin to leave the premises now, the area that was once a shopping
center. Glass is broken, cars toppled over, and fire grazing most of
the structure. The bodies of U-TIC soldiers and some of my comrades
lie in that fire, but I suppose it was Miss Yui's and my fault why
things ended up like this. We had gotten an order to achieve the
so-called 'Y-Data,' the last known location of a copy was in the hands
of a U-TIC officer last seen in this vicinity. My squad just happened
to be within the vicinity, and so, we were given the order to acquire
it. We fought for nearly an hour, unfortunately Miss Yui and I were
the only survivors of the battle. Unfortunately this is only the first
part of our mission, the next part is to break into the U-TIC
Organization's HQ, Labyrinthos, and analyze the data there. If I had a
choice in the matter, I would not go, there are other things I've been
worrying about.
"Hey Jin, are you all right?" Miss Yui asks me as we enter our
individual A.M.W.S. units. "You seem a bit out of it today."
"No, I'm all right," I answer via the radio the moment we board.
"You're worried about your parents, right?" she continues. "If I
remember correctly, your mom's currently residing in the Mizrahi
Neurosis Facility."
"Yes, that's right," I answer. "My mother's been in the same room for
nearly eight years now, she hasn't been the same ever since she gave
birth to my sister. The doctors don't know what's wrong with her
exactly; her mind blanks out every once and a while, but she remembers
everything a few hours later. In any case, we have a mission to
complete, now is not the time to talk about my family affairs."
"You're right, but after we're done, do you want to check up on your
mother and see if she's all right?"
"I'd like that."
"If I remember correctly, Labyrinthos is north of here," Miss Yui
returns to the mission, "if we take Highway 86 North, we should make it
in no time. The U.R.T.V. units are also stationed there, so we should
be able to receive some reinforcements from them as well."
We begin to follow the highway shortly after, giving us safe passage as
we witness even more of the chaos of this realian outbreak if we turn
to our sides. Labyrinthos' trademark tower grows closer and closer,
but it suddenly is cut off from our view. Several U-TIC A.M.W.S. units
suddenly appear before us now, blocking off the path in front of us.
We try to turn around, but several more jump down from nearby rooftops.
We're surrounded and outnumbered, but that doesn't mean we're not going
to go down without a fight.
I lead the attack with my A.M.W.S., Heimdal, swinging its blade so that
I may strike down two enemy units in front of me. The first enemy
craft is sliced in half with a horizontal chop of my machine's sword,
the halves falling off the sides of the highway after. The second
A.M.W.S. charges forward with a blade of its own, the weapon trying to
impale my cockpit. Without even thinking my body reacts, forcing
Heimdal's sword into the path of my enemy's weapon. The two swords are
locked in an angle, neither my opponent nor myself are gaining the
upper hand. Tired of this predicament, I force Heimdal's right leg
forward, planting its foot into the enemy unit's chest. I take
advantage of this situation now, thrusting my A.M.W.S.'s blade with all
my might, plunging the blade directly into the enemy cockpit. This
last action has left me wide open to an enemy attack, an opportunity
three enemy craft have noticed. Before I can be struck down by the
three, Miss Yui's A.M.W.S. suddenly runs in front me, her machine's
sword quickly slashing across the opposition. There is no time for a
break unfortunately as a hail of bullets begins to rain down on us,
several of the projectiles meeting with the limbs of my machine. I
rush forward as fast as Heimdal can take me, bringing me close enough
to slice one of them down. The rest simply jump away from Heimdal's
range, but two fail to notice Miss Yui's craft as it charges forward
with its blade taking the lead. Our last actions were of little use
though as more enemy units appear from the sky, blocking our path once
more. At this rate we won't make it to Labyrinthos.
"Jin, get out of here!" Miss Yui suddenly orders over the radio. "Take
the Y-Data and finish the mission."
"But Miss Yui...!"
"You've got somewhere else to be, right? Then get out of here, I can
handle this by myself."
I take a moment to contemplate while maneuvering Heimdal around, and
finally come up with the decision to follow Miss Yui's advice. Her
machine suddenly runs past me afterward, running directly into the line
of fire that falls upon us. With one swing she disposes of the enemy
units that blocks my path. Without wasting another second and without
looking back, I run through the opening, leaving Miss Yui to what may
be her death.
* * *
I can't help but wonder what happened to Miss Yui after I left.
Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to leave her alone like that. No, she
won't die that easily, she was ranked the top swordsman in our academy,
both outside and inside an A.M.W.S. unit. I suppose she's okay, so I
shouldn't assume the worse.
A column of light suddenly flashes in the direction of Labyrinthos now,
the light blinding me for a second. My craft begins to pick up several
IFF signals as the light blinds me, but most of those signals
disappear. Ally units appear in front of me now, but something is
strange, their weapons are pointed toward me. I try to broadcast my
own IFF signal but to no avail, each of them begins attacking without
warning. Out of instinct I strike back, cleaving through one and then
another. I turn my attention back in the direction of my destination
after and find another machine, this one different from the others.
Dark blue, almost purple, and two large guns on its back, along with
one arm shot off. I look into my machine's screen after and realize
that that machine is the only one still broadcasting an IFF signal.
One of the other former ally units begins to walk toward the craft and
I again I charge forward, bringing my blade down on it before it could
attack who may be my ally.
"Attention unknown craft," I begin a transmission to it, "I notice
you're the only one broadcasting an IFF signal, are you an ally?"
"You seem to be the only craft unaffected by the song," a voice on the
other line answers. "If it's all right with you, we would like your
assistance in this matter."
"Roger that," I tell the pilots of the unknown machine. "Allow me to
assist you."
I count only three enemies in the immediate vicinity, two long range
units, one on another part of the highway, another on a rooftop, and
one melee unit directly behind me. Heimdal is already low on fuel,
there's no way I can reach the two long range units. With the last of
my craft's fuel, I swing its blade one last time, slicing the enemy in
half. The warning signal in my machine goes off now, I'm being
targeted by one of the enemy's rifles. I wait for the shots but they
never come, the source of the fire suddenly exploding. I turn back to
the unknown craft and find it moving with extraordinary speed, whatever
that machine is, it's no ordinary A.M.W.S. The machine then leaps up
into the air for a moment, it's remaining arm firing several shots from
the gun attached to it as it reaches the peak of its jump. Each of the
bullets finds its mark on the last enemy, the enemy craft exploding
soon after. The unknown A.M.W.S. drops onto its knees after landing,
its pilots jumping out of the cockpit the moment after. I begin to
crawl out of Heimdal as well at this moment, but another warning alert
rings on my screen. There is one more A.M.W.S. unit, its directly
behind me. I see the enemy as it appears in the reflection of my
helmet's visor, but instead of rushing at me with its weapon, it slowly
reaches for me. I simply observe the machine as it attempts to catch
me, doing nothing as it does so. Its fingers begin to close in on me,
but it is now that I act. My hands quickly take hold of the katana at
my side, my left pulling down on the sheath while my right frees the
blade from its oak restraint. The moment the blade meets with the body
of the enemy A.M.W.S., it slices in half, sending the debris in
multiple directions.
"Impressive, that pilot is as skilled out of his craft as he is in it,"
the orange-haired pilot of the unknown machine says as I make my way
towards them.
"I am Captain Jin Uzuki of the Miltian Military's 452nd A.M.W.S.
Division," I introduce myself to the two individuals, "and you two
are...?"
"I am chaos," the white-haired pilot introduces himself, "and this is
Canaan. We're from the Galaxy Federation's 160th Military Division."
"Are you?" I ask, aware that their identities are a false one. "I'm
sorry, but I've known several individuals from the 160th Military
Division and I know for a fact that the 160th division doesn't permit
the use of prototype A.M.W.S. craft such as yours. Tell me, who are
you really?"
"You're quite observant, Captain," the one named 'chaos' continues.
"If that's the case, we're really agents of Lt. General Helmer sent in
to assist in the rescue the U.R.T.V. units as well as assist in the
retrieval of the Y-Data," he now presents me with a U.M.N. plug-in with
his orders.
"I see," I say after taking a moment to read over their orders, "then
my job is virtually done."
"It would probably be best if we all continued onward from here,"
Canaan recommends.
The three of us begin to make our way into Labyrinthos itself. The
interior is already greatly damaged; nearly all of the windows are
shattered, the walls filled with cracks, litter scattered across the
entire floor, bodies of soldiers from different factions lying on the
ground or hanging off bars, nothing has been left in good condition.
The smell of fresh blood grows more apparent in my nose as we venture
further, as well as the faint sound of young voices.
"Rubedo, I'm scared," one of the voices says.
"Concentrate Albedo," another speaks, "it's just like in training."
"That must be them," chaos says after the voices, "it sounds like
they're a few floors below our current locale."
"I can't let you go any further," another voice enters the vicinity
now.
"Colonel?!" I immediately recognize the voice.
The sound of footsteps begins to echo above the voices now, the figure
of a man slowly appearing from within the darkness. Dark violet eyes
and nearly shaved hair come into view now, a simper stretched across
the lips of its owner. His navy blue uniform appears soon after, the
clothing painted with random patches of blood. In his hand is a saber,
the sword's blade entirely covered with crimson. He walks closer now,
spots of red falling from his sword to the floor, a larger dot falling
to the ground after every step. He stops severely feet in front of us,
his simper stretching further when he sees my face.
"I didn't think I'd run into you so soon, Uzuki," the man speaks.
"Colonel Margulis, what are you doing here?" I ask.
"I thought you were smarter than this, Uzuki," the colonel continues.
"But no matter, I'll make this brief, return the data you stole to me
right now. This is an order, Captain."
"And if I am to refuse that order?" I ask.
"Same old Uzuki, stubborn as always. Very well, I'll have to pry that
disk out of your hands myself then."
The colonel suddenly charges toward us at this very moment, his sword
slicing the air as it dives toward my shoulder. I push myself back to
avoid the blow, drawing my katana out in the same moment to block the
second. Canaan draws a pistol from his belt now and opens fire at the
colonel's feet. The colonel immediately notices this, jumping out of
the way to avoid the shots. Canaan continues to fire, adjusting his
aim higher now that I'm no longer in range. Somehow the colonel is
able to deflect or dodge each of the bullets, but he is unable to avoid
chaos as he attacks from behind with a jump kick. The colonel staggers
after chaos's sudden attack, but quickly counters with a swing of his
sword. chaos is barely able to avoid the slash, the blade barely
grazing his clothing. I try to attack as well now, aiming for the
colonel's back as well. He avoids the attack by bending his back
backward in a method that would easily snap an ordinary man's spine in
half. Pain begins to paint itself across my chest now, the colonel's
saber has lightly slashed across the upper part of my body. chaos
tries to attack the colonel's legs at this moment as he attempts to go
for a kick to the ankle, but the colonel is able to evade the kick by
flipping backward and jumping behind me at the same time. I swing my
blade behind me after in another attempt to attack, but my sword is
caught by his. I pull my katana away after, quickly swinging it to his
side after only to meet with his blade again. The two blades continue
to crash against each other, each of the swings failing to meet their
mark.
chaos tries to join in the attack again, trying for the same tactic as
the last time, but this time the colonel is able to avoid it, the kick
planting itself on me instead. The kick knocks me onto the ground, but
the pain from my wound prevents me from returning to my feet. I look
back to where chaos and the colonel are fighting, only to find chaos
now falling to one of the colonel's attacks. The colonel's blade meets
with chaos's arm, slicing the area around his upper arm. Canaan tries
to open fire once more, only this time the colonel notices this and
leaps toward him. Canaan tries to block the strike with his gun, only
to have the weapon broken in two with a single swing of the colonel's
sword. The pain from my wound begins to reside a little now, allowing
me to return to my feet and into the fray.
The colonel notices my return, his attention reverting to me so that he
may block my attack. I continue to swing my sword in rapid fashions,
but the power behind each attack grows slower and weaker than the last.
Fatigue is getting the best of me once more, enough so that the colonel
is able to push me away with a single hand. I meet with the floor once
again, but I quickly recover as chaos and Canaan rush to my aid.
"Is this all you and your friends can do, Uzuki?" the colonel taunts.
"You always were below me, even when that old man was still teaching
us."
"Don't you dare talk about my grandfather like that!" I spit.
At this rate, there's no way Canaan, chaos, and myself can defeat the
colonel. I regret putting off my training now, if only I had trained
as much as I did when I was younger, I wouldn't be losing to the
colonel so easily. Screams begin to echo from the lower levels of the
base, the voices of the screams are the same ones that spoke earlier.
The U.R.T.V. units are in danger, but there's no way any of us can
reach them with the colonel in our way. The three of us won't be able
to complete our mission if this keeps up, the only thing is to...
"chaos, Canaan, take this," I hand them the disk that contains the
Y-Data, "this is one of your mission objectives, is it not?"
"Captain, what are you...?" chaos tries to ask.
"If you continue to dawdle here, you won't be able to complete any of
your objectives," I explain. "I'll do by best to deal with the
colonel, so you and Canaan should hurry to the lower regions of this
place and finish your other mission objective."
"But you're injured!"
"If you'll pardon the cliche, it's just a scratch," I say, trying to
put on my best smile. "Now go, I don't know how much longer I can hold
him."
"All right, let's go, chaos," Canaan begins to leave.
"Captain, I'm sorry, but...," chaos tries to apologize.
"Don't worry, this isn't the end," I assure him. "I'm sure the three
of us will meet again, I just hope the conditions won't be a grueling
as this."
"I understand, take care."
The two exit the area now and run into the darkness behind me. Their
figures disappear quickly from my sight, leaving me with the colonel
right in front of me. Even the colonel's figure begins to fade now,
the sound of his voice beginning to grow mute. My eyelids grow heavy
as well, my body is barely able to support itself. I can't let myself
die here, not until I can at least see if my family is all right.
"You're not doing a very good job of holding me," the colonel taunts,
"at this rate, I can just walk right past you and you wouldn't be able
to do a thing about it."
After hearing those words, all of my energy returns, my right arm
forcing my sword upward with all my strength. The colonel fails to see
this attack in time, the edge of my sword meeting with the right side
of his face, slicing upward past his lip and eye. The slash forces the
colonel to stagger back for a moment, but unfortunately all of the
energy in my body begins to fade after that attack. Before my head can
fall to the ground, the colonel's hand wraps around my neck, the blood
from his wound dripping down his chin and onto my face.
"Just for that, I'll make sure you have a slow and painful death!" the
colonel yells at the top of his voice. "DIE, UZUKI!!!!!!!!"
The edge of the colonel's sword begins to fall onto me once more, but
the moment it's supposed to meet with my body, it stops. Another river
of blood begins to fall onto my body now, but I realize it is not my
own. I look to the source of the crimson flood to find another blade,
this one protruding through the colonel's chest. A palm reaches onto
the colonel's face from behind after, prying him away and forcing him
onto the floor. Another person stands before me; cinnamon brown hair,
aqua-colored pupils, and fair white skin, these are features of a
person I've known for a very long time.
"I leave you alone for a second and this is what happens," the
individual sighs.
"Miss Yui?" I quickly recognize the person.
The entire structure begins to shake violently now, the upper floor
beginning to rain down upon us. Miss Yui begins to administer a medica
ether, one that will at least allow me to walk. We begin to make our
way out of the building, avoiding every piece of rubble that tries to
block our path. The closer we get to the exit, the more fierce the
building shakes and more rubble falls from the upper floors. My
intuition tells me that this isn't the worst of things, that there is
an even bigger problem standing behind us. Looking back, we find the
colonel on his feet once more, one hand clutching the wound Miss Yui
had inflicted on him, while the other dragging his sword on the ground.
His clothing is nearly covered with the red fluid escaping his wounds,
his body ready to collapse at any moment. Despite his condition, he
readies his saber at us once more with renewed energy.
"HYUGA!!!!!!! UZUKI!!!!!!!" he screams our names.
He charges once more, faster than earlier. Every step buries his feet
deeper and deeper into the ground, the cracks left by his steps quickly
fill with the blood that drips down his face and body. The swing of
his sword is a wide one, one that is also so fast that my eyes barely
register it. The two of us barely have enough time to block, but the
strike is somehow able to push the two of us to the ground. He
concentrates his attacks on my comrade now, lunging his blade at her
with both of his hands. Miss Yui is barely able to react to this on
time, her katana barely catching the colonel's sword before it touches
the hair on her head. She tries to kick him away while their blades
are clashed, but he manages to jump away, swinging his sword downward
during his escape. A streak of crimson suddenly paints itself over
Miss Yui's abdomen after, the colonel's blade was able to strike her
during his retreat. Miss Yui does her best to return to her feet so
that she may try and counter the colonel's next attack, but the
strength she needs to hold her sword has already dwindled. After only
standing for three seconds, her katana slips from her fingers, her
hands then turning inward so that they may clutch the wound that was
recently inflicted.
"You're pathetic, Hyuga," the colonel taunts as Miss Yui grasps her
wound, "you rely on the same underhanded tactics over and over again
when it comes to singles combat. You and Uzuki really are worthless,
neither of you can stand after one tiny scratch like this. Don't
worry, I'll put you both out of your misery soon."
"Miss Yui!" I scream as I blindly charge into the fight.
I'm barely able to keep my balance now, the building's structure feels
like its diving in and out of the ground continuously. Several pieces
of concrete begin to fall in front of me now, each one trying to block
my path. Without wanting to waste any time, I dive forward, emerging
through the debris's path before it can touch the floor. The moment I
recover from my dive though, a sharp pain suddenly jolts through my
leg. The colonel has already begun his attack, continuing it
immediately after by slashing my other leg. My knees plummet to the
ground after, my body is already succumbing to the pain. He begins to
approach me now, his sword once again treading against the shaking
floor. I try to swing my blade at him when he comes within my weapon's
range, but he is easily able to deflect the attack with a tap of his
saber. The tap becomes a full swing after, slashing to my left. I'm
unable to dodge the slash, however the cut that was produced is meager,
only a tiny welt created by the tip of the blade. He tries to take a
slash at me again after, but this time something stops him. A rock is
thrown at the back of the colonel's head, averting his attention away
from me for a moment.
"Must you continue to get in my way, Hyuga?!" the colonel screams.
With his back now turned toward me, I decide that I must it end it here
in one swift attack. The wrap around my sword tightens with all of my
strength now, the muscles in my arms burning as if they were caught in
a blaze. My arms begin to lift my katana upward now, slicing in the
direction of the north and west. To my surprise, the colonel notices
my attack, and tries to counter with a strike of his own. The impact
of the blows knocks me further into the ground, my entire body now
lying against its surface. The blood on the colonel's face begins to
trickle down onto my own just as more crimson rivers open from his skin
as the pieces of the ceiling rain down on us. Neither of us has the
advantage over the other, but then I notice as small crack in the
colonel's sword. Seconds pass, and the crack grows. The edge of my
own sword slowly begins to travel into the blade of the colonel's. By
the time he notices this, my katana is more than half way through. He
tries to pull his sword away at this moment, but before he can fully
retreat, the rest of the steel slab snaps off, the edge of my sword
quickly traveling across his chest. Another ruby geyser erupts from
his body as I extract the sword from him, his entire body growing limp
and finally succumbing to the pain.
Miss Yui hurries to my aid now, pulling me back to my feet and wrapping
my arm around her shoulder. The shaking of Labyrinthos has
intensified, Miss Yui is barely able to keep the two of us balanced.
Larger pieces of the ceiling begin to fall down now, falling in unison
in the direction opposite of the building's exit. Miss Yui moves us
toward the exit with all her strength, the two of us ready to collapse
at any moment. The battle is over, all that's left is to escape, at
least that's what I want to believe. I look back for a moment and find
the colonel trying to stand once more.
"Damn you, Uzuki!" he screams.
Before he can do anything else, the rain of debris begins to fall down
on him. A giant piece of concrete is the first to meet with his
shoulder, leaving a large gash on it. It does little to slow him down
as he begins to walk toward us now. Miss Yui begins to pick up the
pace at this moment, but she is barely able to go any faster than how
we are now. Another piece of the building meets with the colonel,
crushing his left foot, but again this doesn't stop him. With a quick
brush of his left hand, he is able to toss the rock away. More debris
falls on him, but none of it seems to have an effect on him. The exit
is nearly within reach now, but so is the colonel. The rain of the
ceiling is just above our heads now as well, there is only one chance
to make it out of here alive.
With all of my strength, I force Miss Yui and myself through the glass
of the door, sending us outside in an instant. I look back to find
the colonel just a step outside to where we are, but it is then that
the entire floor above him falls. A large cloud of dust falls the
moment it meets with his body and pushes him into the ground, the dust
filling our lungs and eyes for a moment. It parts shortly, and
finally, to my relief, the colonel no longer stands, but lies crushed
by the debris.
"Are you okay?" I ask my comrade.
"I've been better," she answers with her best smile.
The worst is not over though, now the entire surface shakes. We look
back to Labyrinthos and find the entire structure above the first
floor beginning to give away. Without wasting any more time, Miss Yui
and I hurry toward her A.M.W.S. unit which is parked not too far away
from the building. Miss Yui jumps inside the cockpit while I'm placed
in the craft's free hand. An explosion suddenly goes off on the top
floor of Labyrinthos now, the entire building begins to topple over.
The upper half of the building begins to fall forward, it's shadow
beginning to paint over us. Darker and darker the shadow becomes, but
for some reason, we're not moving.
"Miss Yui, hurry!" I order.
"I'm trying!" she yells back at me. "Great, I must have used most of
my fuel fighting those guys earlier, if I hadn't taken so long, this
wouldn't be a problem!"
Glass from the windows begins to rain down on us now, the shards
beginning to cut at my uniform and face. The structure itself is only
inches away from us, I fear that this is the end.
The engine of Miss Yui's A.M.W.S. begins to roar now, the boosters on
its back begin to light up. Before I know it, the wind begins to cut
across my face, Miss Yui was somehow able to start up the engine before
Labyrinthos could crush us. The craft is only able to move for three
more seconds though, and breaks down a few feet away from the remains
of the building. The two of us climb out of the now useless machine,
the pain from our wounds engulfing our bodies once more. Regardless,
we still have enough energy to see the results of our last mission.
"I guess this mission's a failure, huh?" Miss Yui asks as she glances
at the destroyed structure. "Hey Jin, are you all right?" she asks me
a moment later.
"There were two others," I speak. "There were two others who were in
there with me. Two operatives working directly for Lt. General Helmer.
chaos and Canaan, I wonder if they were able to get out of there all
right."
"Strange, I didn't see anyone else in there," Miss Yui explains. "But
if they were in the basement regions of Labyrinthos, they should be
okay."
"I hope so."
"In any case, the mission's over, do you want to check up on your
mother now?" Miss Yui changes the subject.
"I'd like that."
It is now that I wake up, an unknown ceiling greeting me as I awaken
from my slumber. My entire body feels sore, many bandages wrapped
around my limbs and torso. How was it that I ended up like this?
Wait, now I remember, I was returning home from the orphanage when I...
"Finally up, huh?" I'm greeted by a familiar voice.
"Miss Yui?" I find my old comrade standing in the room's doorway.
"You're always getting into trouble whenever I'm not around, it's so
typical of you," she sighs as she takes the chair next to my bed.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," I apologize. "By the way, why aren't you
at the orphanage, is it not your shift today?"
"I'm sorry, Jin," her eyes avert toward the floor, "but the orphanage
was..."
"I should have figured as much," I say. "So they've already...?"
"No, Abel is still with us," Miss Yui answers before I can finish.
"It's strange, I thought their objective was to capture him. When they
went after the orphanage last night, they didn't attempt any capture,
they simply destroyed the building. They even gave us more than enough
time to escape as well."
"That certainly is strange. Not only that, I encountered Pellegri as
well," I explain. "She told me 'there can be no more delay,' but that
contradicts what you just told me. Not only that, Pellegri also
mentioned a 'Margulis' last night as well, and if it's the Margulis we
know, then..."
"Colonel Margulis is alive?!" Miss Yui exclaims. "Impossible, the two
of us saw Labyrinthos crush him fourteen years ago, there's no way..."
"I thought so too, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he
survived," I answer. "I'm not sure what the circumstances are, but I
can say that it wasn't the devil's luck that kept him alive, there's
some other force at work. Whatever that force is, I know it's the one
that's going after Abel and Shion."
"Someone's going after Abel and Shion, Colonel Margulis is alive, and
now suddenly Vector and the Federation Government has taken great
interest in the orphanage's attack. Just what is going on exactly?"
"I don't know myself, but I have a fairly good idea that someone close
to us does..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Shion's POV)
I can't sleep, my thoughts continue to return to the events that
happened earlier today. Miang, my first daughter, she has returned to
my life unexpectedly yet again, and just like the last time, she has
pushed away my love for her. She called herself a machine, a weapon,
ruled by the brand of "KOS-MOS" on her forehead, but deep down inside,
I knew that wasn't what she was feeling. I want to help her, but I
don't know how. I was able to save Elly from the same problem with my
heart, but I don't know if I can do the same for Miang. How I love
both my daughters is different; Elly is my lover and Miang is simply my
daughter, but I still want to do what's right for the both of them,
neither is more important than the other.
I look at the clock at the end of the room now and look at the time.
It's 2:30 A.M., Elly still hasn't returned from the orphanage's shelter
yet. She said she would help look after the kids in Miss Yui's place
since Jin is recovering, but I didn't think she would take this long.
To be honest, I never liked being alone, I've never been able to sleep
without any sedatives if no one was around to comfort me. It's the
void that prevents me from sleeping, the void of loneliness. I always
feel like that one day that void may one day sweep me away from
everyone else before the morning comes. When I'm with Elly though, I
don't have to worry because if I were sucked into that void, I know
that she will be with me.
My thoughts continue to pick at my brain without giving me a moment of
rest. It doesn't look like Elly will be coming back any time soon
unfortunately, so I guess I have to take some sedatives to get some
rest. I look through my bag and find one left, I probably used most of
them up during the course of last month's events. I inject the
chemical into my arm shortly, waiting a few seconds for the drug to
take effect. Slowly but surely the room grows even darker, even the
faint green light of the clock across the room becomes blind to me.
"Is something the matter, Shion?" Kevin snaps me out of my daze.
"Huh?"
"Are you all right, you seem a bit out of it today."
"I... I'm sorry, I just... I just..."
Water begins to crawl from my eyes, the rivers rapidly flowing down the
sides of my face. My voice suddenly cracks and my nose begins to run.
I bury my palms into my eyes now, trying my best to block the floods
from my irises, but to no avail. I know the rest of my fellow
employees are watching me now, but I don't care. Why should I care,
why should after what I learned today at the doctor's office?
"Let's go somewhere else for now, Shion," Kevin tells me as he helps me
out of my seat, "the rest of you, get back to work."
Kevin helps me walk outside after, his arm never leaving my side as he
guides us out of the building. We walk for several minutes, but I pay
no mind to where we go, but attention stuck on what I had learned
today. Finally we come to a stop, finding a seat on a bench.
"Here, dry your tears," my lover hands me a handkerchief. "What's
wrong, Shion?"
I take a moment to wipe away the tears away from my face, but my voice
is still broken. I take a moment to calm down, speaking shortly after
I regain as much composure as I can.
"You know I had appointment at the doctor's office today, right?" I ask
him.
"Yeah," he nods.
"You also know how much I enjoy children too. Well today I had my
physical, and in the past I've never had any problems, but now..."
"But now?"
"The doctor told me that I can never have children," I begin to break
down once more. "He said that my body isn't developing any eggs and
that it can't support a fetus at all."
"Isn't there any kind of surgery we can get to..."
"The doctor said that the problem is based on the genetic scale," I
continue, the streams crawling down my face as rapid as ever. "There
is no way to fix the problem. I know how much you wanted to have kids
after we got married, but now..."
"It's okay, it's okay," he tries to assure me as he wraps his arms
around my shoulders. "I know that's what I said, but you know, life
isn't about just having kids, just having you in my life is enough."
"I know, but I still... I still want a child of our own," I tell him,
burying my face into his chest. "I want to pass on a legacy, I want to
raise a member of the next generation, I want... I just want to be a
mother!"
I succumb to the tears once more, my emotions getting the best of my
words. His wrap around me tightens as the cries grow louder, the
caress of his hands for once doing nothing to soothe me.
"Shion," he speaks after several moments of listening to my weeping,
"you know that you are already going to be a mother."
"What?"
"That's right," he continues, "in a few months, our daughter will be
born."
"Our daughter? Kevin, what are you talking about?"
"I know it may sound strange, maybe even ridiculous, but the fruits of
our efforts and the legacy you wish to pass on, they all reside in
KOS-MOS. If that's true, then doesn't that make her our daughter?"
"KOS-MOS is... our daughter?"
"Is it too strange, or...?"
Our daughter... The Project that Kevin and I have been working on this
past year is supposed to be our daughter. How can that be? KOS-MOS is
a machine, she was created by Kevin and my hands; her functions and
algorithms were programmed by us, her body was constructed by metal and
circuitry, everything about her was created by us in an unnatural
matter, and yet... Kevin's words don't sound strange. Real children
are also created by their parents in a way, biologically and through
the use of psychology. Mothers give birth to their children, but as
children grow, parents teach their children how to act and be a member
of society, shaping the person they will become. KOS-MOS isn't that
different, if anything her "birth" is the same. She may be just a
weapon, but to me, she can be more. She can be our daughter.
"No it doesn't sound strange," I find myself beginning to calm down.
"She may not be born into this world in a natural way, she may not be
of flesh and blood, but she is still our child. That's right, KOS-MOS
will be our daughter, our legacy. Thank you, Kevin."
I wake up now, the faint green light of the clock from the other side
of the room greeting me when I open my eyes. The numbers on the clock
now read 2:34 A.M., I didn't even get five minutes of sleep. Elly
still hasn't returned either, the spot next to me on the bed is still
empty. I try to get back to sleep, but I find my body only tossing and
turning continuously instead. I look back to the clock and the time
now says 2:48 A.M. With a sigh, I decide not to try and go back to
sleep, instead I decide to try and go out for a walk to clear my head
and possibly stop by the pharmacy to pick up some more sedatives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Elly's POV)
It's almost three in the morning and I still don't know what to say to
Shion. We were supposed to run away together yesterday morning and
start a new life, but things have changed now. Running away won't do
anybody any good, eventually they will come for the two of us. No,
they probably don't have any more use for me now that they're in
control of Miang again, they would only be after Shion. Just how am I
supposed to tell her that we can't run away anymore, how am I supposed
to tell her about what was planned behind Mankind's backs for so long?
"Oh, Miss KOS-MOS, you're still here?" a voice interrupts my thoughts.
"Good evening, Miss Yui," I greet the children's caretaker. "How is
Jin doing?"
"He just woke up actually," she answers as she places her coat in the
closet. "How are the children?"
"I put them to bed at eight just as you asked, although..."
The sound of laughter escapes from the room next door before I can
finish. Miss Yui leaves the room after while I stay in my seat and
continue to ponder on how I'm going to explain everything to Shion.
Unfortunately I can think of nothing, I can only think about what Miss
Yui might say to me for letting the child in the next room stay up.
"You let Abel stay up I see," Miss Yui returns.
"I'm sorry, but..."
"Don't worry, it's all right," Miss Yui assures me. "To tell you the
truth, I wouldn't have minded if you let all the children stay up,
especially after what happened last night. So how do you like your
coffee?" she asks as she heads into the kitchen.
"I've never had coffee before actually," I admit.
"Here, try it, add as much sugar or cream as needed," she says as she
places two mugs and cups of sugar and cream on the table.
"By the way, Miss Yui, why did you get involved with the orphanage?" I
ask. "You and Jin used to be in the Miltian Military, right?"
"How did you know that?" she asks before sipping her drink.
"Oh... Um... Shion mentioned it once, that's all," I answer.
That's not the truth, data on Jin and Miss Yui were uploaded into my
system without Shion's knowledge. They aren't the only ones I've had
data on for a while, in fact, everyone we've encountered so far has had
something outlined in my data banks.
"Well like any war, children are always the most likely to suffer,"
Miss Yui begins. "After the Miltian Conflict, there were a lot of
orphans left behind, and then there was Jin and I, who were recently
discharged from the military. Seeing those children on the streets
made us realize that perhaps our actions weren't for the best, that we
were partly responsible for why those kids no longer have families. I
guess you can say Jin and I got involved with the orphanage out of
guilt at first, but now that fourteen years have passed, most of those
children left behind in the conflict have grown up or have new
families. We grew attached to the kids, with each one that comes into
the orphanage. That's why we decided to help the orphanage, but I have
another reason too; I think that I'll never have kids."
"Why?" I ask, finally taking a sip of the bland drink.
"It's not that I have a medical condition or anything, but...," she
pauses for a moment. "There is someone I'd like to have a family with.
He can be such a dunce at times, he gets into a lot of trouble when I'm
not around, he's a bit reckless, but still, he's a nice guy. It's just
that, I don't think he knows how I feel, that's all."
"You're talking about Jin, aren't you?" I ask.
"...yeah," she nods. "We grew up together as kids, we used to be next
door neighbors. Jin was always a trouble maker back then, he was
always doing some kind of mischief. He wouldn't do anything like that
whenever I was around, I had a tendency to punch him in the stomach now
and then just to show him who was the boss," Miss Yui giggles. "I
think it was when he was fourteen that he stopped acting up, that was
when Shion was born and when their mother...," she begins to hesitate.
"In any case, Jin joined the military after high school, he thought he
would make his family proud if he did. I didn't want him to get into
any more trouble back then, so I joined too. We were put in the same
squad out of sheer luck, and on our very first mission, I was nearly
killed. I had been targeted by an enemy A.M.W.S. craft, and before the
bullets could hit me, Jin's mech jumped in front of mine and took the
damage. He was hospitalized for several days after, and not once did I
leave his side. Receiving that act of heroism and being reminded of it
every time I saw his face while he was in his coma, I think that's when
I started to fall in love with him. It's silly, isn't it?" Miss Yui
sighs. "It's just like something you'd hear out of a fairy tale, huh?"
"No, I don't think so," I shake my head. "Fairy tale or not, what Jin
for you that day was truly courageous, there aren't that many people
who would take the fall for someone they care about these days."
"Thank you, Miss KOS-MOS," Miss Yui says.
"Well it's getting late," I begin to take my leave. "I hope you have a
pleasant evening."
I start to make my way out of the orphanage's shelter, taking one last
look at the next room to find Abel still occupied by the television
set. Laughter escapes his lips as giant objects continue to fall on a
cartoon cat, his body nearly falling to the floor, unable to sustain
his balance. To think that this boy was frightened to death earlier
today, brought out of his fear by a single promise I made. I can't
help but smile I as I watch the boy and I can't help but sigh before I
walk out the door.
The streets of the Foundation are empty at this hour, as they should
be. The only lights that are on are the streetlights, none of the
houses are kept illuminated. Nothing but silence can be heard as I
walk down the streets, there isn't even a soft breeze. My thoughts
return to the words I might say to Shion, about the truth that I've
been hiding from her this entire time. My mind begins to drift
elsewhere after thinking that, drifting back toward the boy back in the
orphanage. The ones I once worked for, they want Abel too. I can't
allow either of them to be taken by 'them,' I can't allow 'them' to
take anyone else I care about. My head begins to hurt from these
thoughts now; the fact that I've already let Miang fall into their
hands is something my mind refuses to comprehend. The two of us have
already done so much to hurt each other, I can't bear to face my sister
once again, I can't...
"Hello, my darling," a whisper breathes down my neck.
"Miang?" I realize the headache was not from my thoughts.
I feel her fingers beginning to crawl up my arm, the cold yet silky
feel of her skin makes my body tense. Her body begins to press against
my back now, the tension in my knees feels like it could break the
bones with another touch. Her hand continues to glide upwards,
traveling up my shoulder and neck. My breath becomes short as it moves
across my cheek, finally stopping at the base of my chin. A slight
push of her hand moves my face toward hers, my eyes meeting with her
ocean blue pupils. My vision slips downward after gazing into her
irises for a few moments.
A dark blue ribbon wraps around her neck as well as a necklace similar
to Shion's. She wears a tube top with a zipper running down the middle
of the same color, one that's small enough to only cover her breasts.
The top also has a black collar-like piece that bends outward, the
material highlighting the roundness of her bust. She wears matching
long sleeves that run down from the biceps of her arms and stop at her
wrist, but her fingers are free from any rings or gloves. The matching
skirt she wears is a bit longer than her top, but only by an inch, but
there is some fabric that hangs down the sides that dangles close to
her knees. The boots that go with her outfit look like leg warmers at
first, but the buttons on the front give it away. My eyes turn back to
her face, finding the dull blue hair on her forehead parted and the
mark of "KOS-MOS" still labeled there.
"The glasses are a nice touch," she compliments my accessory. "You
truly do grow more and more like our mother everyday."
It is then that I move myself away from her, reminded of what she tried
to do earlier. The grip of my left hand tightens around the sheath of
my sword now, my right hand ready to draw it at any moment. Like
earlier however, I find myself unable to attack; this feeling of not
wanting to harm her despite what she's done has returned. Just looking
further into her eyes loosens the grip on my weapon, we both know I
can't bring myself to do it under these circumstances.
"I can't blame you for your reaction," my sister speaks. "I haven't
been the best big sister, I've put you and Mother through hell because
of my selfish actions."
"What about your actions now, Miang?" I ask. "Are they your own?"
"As I said before, I owe a debt to the one who brought me into this
plane," she speaks. "We all have things we are obligated to do in
life, do we not, Elly?" she continues. "As a weapon, I must follow
the orders given to me by my superiors."
"Miang I can understand what it is you're going through, but at the
same time, I must say this!" I begin to raise my voice. "The only one
who can truly make a decision in your life is you, yourself! Look at
me, Miang, was it someone else's decision that made me cry for you?
No, it was my own! Was it someone else who ordered me to care for
Shion and the others? No, I chose to! Miang, the only one who can
keep you bound to this duty you supposedly have to fulfill is yourself!
So please, Miang, stop lying to yourself that you can't make a
decision, every individual has the power to do so."
"That idealistic attitude, it was brought upon you by her, wasn't it?"
an unfamiliar voice begins to echo in the facility.
A bright light begins to shine in the sky now, the illumination
blinding me. The light begins to ascend toward the ground, a figure
slowly forming as it floats to Miang's side. The moment the figure's
feet meet with the floor, the light begins to disappear. A hooded and
masked individual stands in front of me now. I have never seen this
individual before, but his appearance, it is exactly the same as that
individual we encountered in the Song of Nephilim after Albedo escaped,
except that the color of his clothes are different. Again I prepare to
draw my sword, intuition tells me that this person is one of the ones
responsible for making Miang the way she is right now.
"So we finally meet in person, Elly," the man in red addresses me by my
name.
"How do you know my name?" I demand, my thoughts still focused on
cutting this man apart. "Who are you?"
"Who? I am one that lies between the planes of life and death," his
answer leaves me puzzled. "Or do you need a name to describe me? How
do I know your name you ask? One vital to our existence is very well
known."
"You're a Testament!" I draw my sword, realizing his identity.
"Elly, don't...," my sister tries to order, only to be silenced with a
brush of the cloaked man's hand.
"Is this the reason for your existence?" the man questions. "If it is
so, show me the will that propels you, show me how you live."
My instincts take over the moment he finishes speaking, my body not
giving him a single break after his speech. My legs propel me forward
with all my strength, the wind screaming as the edge of my blade slices
through it. The image of my opponent draws closer and closer, more and
more of my strength focusing into my arms as his mask comes clearer in
view. Finally I swing my blade upward with every ounce of vigor in my
body, the titanium edge tearing through the air once more. The tip of
the sword begins to meet with the material of his cloak, but before I
can push the weapon any deeper, the blade is knocked back by an
invisible force. I am baffled at this sudden deflection for a mere
second, my arms instinctively going for another swing shortly after.
The result is exactly the same, so I try a third and then fourth
strike, each one also ending in failure. I follow with a final slash,
this one an overhead swing that slashes downward. The blade stops an
inch directly above his head after I swing, but unlike the previous
attempts, my arms are unable to move my sword away despite how much I
pull. Before I know it, I feel a strong gust suddenly pressing against
my abdomen and my entire self being pushed against the nearest wall. A
jolt of pain passes through my entire body the moment my back meets
with the surface, my body aching further the moment it meets with the
ground after.
'What was that?' I think to myself. 'How can he deflect all of my
attacks without even lifting a finger?'
The sound of crackling begins to faintly enter my ears, the smell of
smoke enter my nose shortly after. My gaze returns to my opponent to
find a flame emitting in his palm, the small fire burning brighter and
brighter with every second that passes. He raises his entire arm in
the air then bringing it toward the ground in a swift fashion. The
fire frees itself from his hand now, causing a blast the moment it
meets the surface. I push all of my weight to my side upon
witnessing the sudden attack, barely rolling out of harm's way as I do
so. I return to my feet shortly after to find him readying another
blast. Again it crawls through the pavement in a rapid fashion but
this time I prepare to counter the attack.
"La so lu te ve ta!" I counter with an ether spell of my own with my
free hand.
The two energies quickly collide with each other in the center of their
paths. The flame and the aura ether I had cast wrestle with one
another, neither gaining the advantage over the other. Slowly my ether
begins to push forward, the flame that was cast beginning to slowly
push back. More and more my enemy's attack falls backward and faster
and faster it returns to him. Finally the force of my attack breaks
through, hurling toward my enemy with incredible speed. Before my
attack can meet with my opponent however, another enters the fray.
"La so lu te ve ta!" my sister counters with the same attack.
"Miang?!"
Her attack has caught me off guard, but that is the least of my
worries. Her ether blast is more powerful than mine, it's already
pushed our attacks to the center once more. My strength is
beginning to drain already, I don't know the reason for why her power
is much stronger than my own, we're supposed to be equals in ether.
"Is this all you can do?" the man in red taunts. "Is this the pinnacle
of your existence? You disappoint me, Elly. This can't be all of your
power, can it?"
He's right, I'm holding back, but only because I don't want to cause
any damage in the vicinity. The time I saved the Elsa and the Durandal
from the legions of Gnosis, do I have to draw that power once again to
save my own life. My sister, I see the sadness in her eyes once again,
how the tears start to fall from them. She tries to lock away those
emotions, shutting her eyes to prevent the floods from falling further,
but they are of little use. Seeing her like this causes me to break
down as well, but I have no intention of backing down either. For the
sake of Shion, Abel, and my other friends, I can't lose!
"La so lu te ve ta!" I scream once more, unleashing even more of my
power.
The two blasts grow once more, the streams growing as large as the
structures that surround us. The air around us begins to grow very
violent, the gusts of wind starting to cut our skin. The pavement
below our feet begins to crack, the uneven surface beginning to break
through the material of my shoes. The people in the buildings around
us awaken now, each of them quickly leaving their homes in their
pajamas without any of their other belongings. Their voices and
screams begin to echo above the sound of our attacks, the image of
these people panicking not once leaving my eyes. The sound of the
Foundation's alarm echoes above everything now as the civilians brush
past us, but neither my sister, the red-cloaked man, nor myself move.
Something's not right, my intuition is telling me I did something wrong
in all of this, and not morally wrong for that matter. The tides of
ether begin to break away from the stream that holds them; two streams
blast off into two different directions, each one blasting a large hole
in a different apartment complex. Within seconds the upper halves of
the complexes give way, toppling onto the streets below. It is now
that I have realized my mistake. The moment either of us give out in
our attack, the blast will break through the one that loses and destroy
a large portion of the Kukai Foundation with it. The only way to stop
this scenario from happening is for the two of us to stop using our
power at the same time, but at the rate Miang is going, she won't...
I'm sorry, Shion, I wanted to have a future for just the two of us,
but now, it doesn't look like either of us, or anyone living here, can
have a future...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Wilhelm's POV)
The two halves of order are fighting once again. Miang and Elly, the
ones born with the mark of "KOS-MOS," the ones who have the power of
determining the fate of this universe. Theirs is a cruel destiny; the
path to salvation rests in their hands, but only one of them will be
strong enough to lead the people down this path.
"Two external sources have hacked into the Quarantine Hangar!" the
image of the compass changes to the bridge of the Durandal and its
crew. "Unable to cut off the link between the hackers and the
Emulators!"
"Cut off the main lines to the hangar, make sure neither of the sources
can hack in through a secondary line!" the young captain orders his
crew.
"Nothing happened, the unknown sources are still able to make requests
to the Zohars. Whatever's causing this it can't be stopped!" one of
the young realians panics.
"Little Master, Sectors twenty-six and twenty-seven of the Foundation
are currently in a state of panic," the violet-haired woman at the hair
reports, "a battle has broken out on Main Street."
"The Gnosis now, that can't be!" the U.R.T.V. exclaims.
"It's not the Gnosis," another realian says, "I'll put it on the
monitor."
"KOS-MOS?"
"We've located the hackers, their located in Sector twenty six of the
Foundation."
"Zohar power levels are no longer able to be suppressed, at this rate,
their energy will destroy the Quarantine Hangar within five minutes,
the rest of the ship within thirty."
The Kukai Foundation, they were a valuable part of helping me create my
industry into what it is today, however, I'm afraid I have no more use
for them. All of them have played their role perfectly, but now it's
time for their final act. Do not worry though, your sacrifice shall
not be in vain, yours will be another step to the salvation of your
species. Isn't that right, KOS-MOS?
"Show me," the vision of the two halves appear on the compass once
more, "show me the reason for which you were created. Show me your
soul, show me the fruits of what we've been longing for this past
eternity, show me how you live. Show me... Show me your true
awakening!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
cbman's Note: Phew, that was really hard to do. Sorry about the
chapter being slow, I hope it gave some new insights on the characters
(at least for this fic) and helped show you where they were coming
from, along with introducing a few new mysteries to the story. In any
case, there's one thing I keep forgetting to talk about for those who
haven't played Xenogears; the topic of who Miss Yui is exactly. In
Xenogears, Yui was the wife of Citan Uzuki (not related to the Uzuki
siblings of Xenosaga, though Jin does bear a striking resemblance of
him). Basically, the Yui in this fic is an homage to her, as well as
her last name, Hyuga (Hyuga is the real first name of Citan Uzuki, his
full real name being Hyuga Ricadeau). Many things about Yui is an
homage to the character from Xenogears. Aside from that, I hope you
all enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are appreciated, but the team and I
hate flames as you know. Well I hope you guys look forward to the next
chapter, see ya!
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