Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny, or Astray(Canard will be in this story).
Claimer: The names you do not recognize will most likely be mine.
Time: This takes place at the beginning of Destiny
Note: This story is strictly AU, will have OC, and some may be OOC.
Note 2: I haven't actually seen Destiny yet, but I have read descriptions, etc. on it.
Note 3: Some events that occur in Destiny will also occur in this story.
Note 4: The title of Part One may change.
Warning: Yaoi and Yuri alert.
Genre: Mystery/Romance/Angst/Action/Adventure
Gundam Seed
The Way of the Prayer
Part One
Discovering the Truth
Phase One
Friend
"Shinn," Rey called to him, "Hurry up!"
"What?" Shinn opened his door
"Commander Joule called a meeting, remember?"
"All we're supposed to do is go meet some new members of the crew. Why would I want to go?"
Rey stared at Shinn for a bit before Shinn sighed.
"Fine." Shinn followed Rey as they left towards the designated meet spot.
"Sir!" A soldier floated up to Yzak, "The new arrivals have, er, arrived."
"Fine, fine, you're dismissed." Yzak said.
Yzak stood from his chair and presently exited the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Yzak floated down the hall towards the boarding area, where the arrivals would probably be.
'So much has happened…' Yzak thought, 'What is going on? They didn't even bother to tell me who was coming aboard.'
Yzak was so engrossed with his thoughts that he hadn't heard Dearka calling to him, or noticed him floating beside himself for that matter. It wasn't until Dearka clapped him hard on the back did he notice."
"Hey! Yzak!" Dearka said.
"What do you want, you idiot!?" Yzak snapped
"What ya doing?" Dearka asked
"None of your business."
"Are you going to see the new recruits?"
"I told you, it's none of your business."
"So you are going to see the new recruits. Any idea who they are?"
"No."
"Aren't you even wondering?"
"Not really."
"Ah, com on Yzak, not even a little?"
"No, now will you quit bugging me!?"
For a moment the two floated in silence, before Dearka began again, "Can I come?"
Yzak sighed loudly, "Fine."
"Ah, Princess Cagalli." Gilbert Durandal said softly to her.
"Chairman Durandal." Cagalli said in return. Her bodyguard, and under the alias of Alex Dino, Athrun stood next to her.
Durandal's eyes shot to Athrun for a moment before turning back to Cagalli, "Please, follow me. Let us go somewhere more comfortable to talk."
Athrun and Cagalli walked with him. They entered an office like room with two couches opposite each other around a glass table. One wall was completely glass, over looking the military area below. There was also Durandal's desk.
"Have a seat." Durandal said, smiling.
Cagalli sat on one couch, Durandal opposite, and Athrun stood behind Cagalli's couch.
"Would you like some tea, Princess?" Durandal asked, "I can rein it in for you."
"Please don't call me princess." Cagalli said sternly.
"Ah, of course, Lady Cagalli."
"Let's cut the pleasantries." Cagalli said bluntly. "We are here not to chat, but to discuss ZAFT's rearmament."
As Cagalli and Durandal chatted, Athrun looked out across the military, watching soldiers walking across the busy military roads. It seemed so peaceful, and yet…It was a military, built for the dangers of war.
Rey walked down a hall in the research and hospital section of the military base. It was a lot quieter than outside, and currently his head was hurting from the noise. He'd dispatched from his friends earlier and told them they'd meet up later, in the meeting room where they'd been assigned to go by Commander Joule.
Rey sighed peacefully. It was wonderful. Rey turned a corner of the hall. It was empty, all except for a little girl at the end of the hall. She seemed to wander aimlessly, not even bothering to look at anything.
The girl was twelve. The girl's hair was golden blonde, her eyes a yellow gold as well. Her hair was long, almost reaching the floor, and slightly wavy. Her bangs were shorter, but not much, and sometimes fell in her eyes, like now, but she didn't seem to mind and didn't brush them away. She wore the blue white clothes of a patient, the back tied tight not to show anything. She was a patient here at the hospital, evidently, but didn't seem to be a patient.
The girl's eyes were a bit emotionless, but still carried a flicker of warmth, but an extremely small one. All in all, the girl seemed lonely and a bit forlorn.
"Hey," Rey approached her quietly and calmly. She looked up at him and he smiled. "Are you lost?" The girl shook her head. "Are you a patient here?" She nodded. "Maybe we should get you back to your room. I'm sure your nurse is pretty worried about you." The girl's widened for a moment and looked as if she were going to protest, but the next second they were back to their normal size, all protest gone. Rey bent down, and she allowed him to gently pick her up.
"So, do you remember your room number?" Rey asked.
The girl simply looked at him.
"Well, I guess we'll have to walk around here for awhile. Tell me if you see something familiar, okay?"
Rey began to explore the facility with the girl in his arms, silent. They wandered for a long time, and it was mostly quiet. Rey spoke softly to the girl from time to time, but that was it.
"Orion!" A girl, also in a patient uniform, ran down the hall. Her hair was long and also almost down to the floor. She was twelve, her hair being gold blonde as well. Her eyes, however, were silver.
The girl in Rey's arms seemed to respond to this girl.
"Are you Orion?" Rey questioned. She nodded.
The other girl ran right past them, but hesitated in leaving, sensing something there. Rey found this as strange, seeing as Orion was in his arms.
"Um, miss," Rey said respectfully
The girl stopped and turned, looking straight ahead and not at Rey's face.
"I think I have Orion. She's right here in my arms."
"Thank you." The girl spoke, still not looking at Rey's face, but staring blankly ahead. "Thank you for finding her."
"Is she your sister?"
"Yes, she's my twin." The girl answered.
Rey was puzzled by the fact that the girl still wasn't looking at his face. Most people looked at your face when you were talking to them, unless you were shy or timid. This girl didn't seem to be shy or timid, and yet she still didn't look. Rey looked at her blank silvery eyes. They carried the same small flicker of warmth as Orion's did, but they also carried the same lonely and sad look as well. And yet, unlike Orion's when you spoke to her, weren't responsive at all. They simply stared blankly ahead. And then it struck him. Rey suddenly realized that this girl was blind.
"Um, excuse me," Rey said, kneeling in front of the girl and gently allowing Orion down, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you happen to be blind?"
"Oh, yes, I am." The girl answered, "My name is Lux, Lux Sinclair. You'll have to excuse Orion if you talked to her. She doesn't speak, not anymore at least. She's mute, now."
"Mute? Now?"
"You're probably wondering why she was wandering around alone here." Lux commented. "I'll tell you on the way back to out room. Our room is room 115, but it's not really in this building. It's in another building section, the one connected to that storage bay. Can you lead us back?"
"Yes, of course." Rey answered. Taking Lux's hand and Orion's hand, Rey began their walk back to the twin's room.
"My sister was diagnosed with the Wanders Disease seven years ago, when we were five." Lux began. "My parents began to notice the symptoms. Orion kept wandering away, and wouldn't return for hours. Once, she didn't even return for days. My parents brought us to the doctor, and they said she had the Wanders Disease."
"May I ask what exactly the Wanders Disease is?"
"It's not widely known, and Orion is only the fifth patient to be diagnosed too. The doctor had Orion transferred here for tests, research, and medication. The Wanders Disease…I don't know much about it, but it's supposedly caused by some sort of disorder, I don't really know which, in the mind. It causes the person who has it to wanderer around for a long time or whenever the person is found again. It's not really much of a disease if you ask me, but more a compulsion.
"Soon, my parents, I guess you could say, grew tired of her wandering, and the worry when they couldn't find her. They brought us both here and had me admitted as well. My parents thought that the disease might be contagious, and so that's why I was admitted, even though I didn't have it.
"We were admitted into the hospital. But our parents were supposed to come see us every now and then. They used to…But then, two months after our admittance, they suddenly didn't come anymore. We haven't seen them since." Lux silently sighed, "It was because they didn't come that Orion no longer speaks. For a long while she waited so patiently for them to come back, but she still couldn't stop her wandering; her treatment wasn't working out well. Anyway, she was so hopeful that she was traumatized when she finally realized our parents weren't coming back, and stopped speaking all together."
Rey looked shocked, "How could your parents just…Just abandon you like that!?"
Lux didn't answer, but remained silent.
"Here we are." Rey said, stopping them at their room. He led them inside.
"Will you stay with us for awhile?" Lux asked, "We…We don't get any visitors…Unless it's a nurse or a doctor…"
Rey smiled softly, "Sure."
Lux and Orion went to their beds, which were side by side but with a gap for a night table and a chair, and tucked themselves in. Rey sat in the chair between the two.
It suddenly occurred to Lux that she didn't know his name, "So…What's your name?"
"My name is Rey Za Burrel."
"Are you a soldier here?" Lux asked
"Yes, I am."
"Do you have many friends here in the military?"
"Well," Rey said, "I have friends, yes, but maybe not many."
"That's good. At least you have some; you should cherish that."
Rey paused for a moment, and hesitated before asking, "Do you and Orion have friends?"
Lux didn't answer a long time, but reluctantly answered, "We've no friends here in the hospital, in the military, or civilians. It's just us two."
Rey felt surprised, but knew he shouldn't be. "Then I'll be your friend. I'll be both of your friends."
"Really!?" Lux asked almost excitedly.
"Yeah, of course." Rey answered.
For a moment, the two were silent, and then Lux spoke again, "It gets kind of scary here. The war…It just past two years ago…I…I used to feel the world trembling when battles began. But I can't see them, and if could also feel Orion's fear during it too. We've no one here for us…"
"I promise both of you that I will protect you and Orion from now on. You don't have to worry anymore."
"So, did you have fun in the medicine facility?" Shinn inquired when Rey rejoined them.
"First of all, it's called a hospital and research facility, and second of all, yes, I had fun. It's a lot better than the noise out here. Can't they move those machines any softer?"
Lunamaria laughed at him, "You and your delicate head."
"Hey!" Rey protested.
A seventeen year old girl stood in front of a group of five other girls in the loading bay, waiting for the commander of the ship to come.
The seventeen year old girl had long, golden hair and serious purple eyes. She was beautiful, and her dress expressed it well. Seventeen year old Lysander wore a light green dress. The dress was extremely tight, and showed most of her skin. It was a halter top, and her back was completely bare. At her sides were two strips of cloth, one on either side, leading from the halter's top to the dress bottom. In the front, the halter dress was a v-neck, and the top was only enough to cover her petite chest. In the middle, starting from under her chest, was simply bare, showing off her extremely flat and toned stomach. And the dress was cut four inches above her knee. All in all, Lysander's dress could hardly be called a dress. Luckily, when in a military base, Lysander wore a tan trench coat that reached down to her ankles, but left it open.
Lysander also wore a pair of golden ring bracelets one each of her wrists. Each bracelet was studded with one purple garnet. Around each of her ankles was one anklet, made of sterling silver, studded with one dark blue sapphire. On her ears she wore, like her wrists, two pairs of earrings. One of them was of a white topaz drop set in silver, with a slightly larger emerald connected under it, also set in silver. The other was an accenting sapphire stud set in gold. Around her neck was a black choker necklace studded with one white topaz. Her long hair was tied with a cylinder ring around it, tying it into a ponytail. The golden cylinder was studded with white topazes, sapphires, and emeralds. Around her neck was a golden, engagement looking ring. Only, where the diamond was usually, there was a large purple garnet. At either side, there was a smaller circular emerald, and then a smaller white topaz, and still smaller a sapphire, in that respective order. The way Lysander was dressed, she seemed to be a vain girl that was very jewel oriented, but in reality she wasn't. The items she wore were special to her because her friends had given them to her, a while ago.
The next was also a seventeen year old. She was Ari, quiet and kind. Ari had golden hazel eyes and dark brown hair that extended below her shoulder. Ari wore a midnight blue tube dress. It was tight, but not overly tight. Her skin tone was normal and her chest was normal too.
The next oldest was sixteen year old Ria. Ria had silvery, extremely straight hair that was long, but didn't reach the small of her back. Her eyes were blue, fierce and fiery. Ria wore a blue tube top that rose high and showed off her flat midriff. She wore dark black jeans shorts. On her hands she wore blue black half fingered gloves. She also wore a black blue, limp cloth jacket that reached down to her knees. It was long sleeved, but she had those rolled up. She was very pale, and her chest size was normal for her age, if not a little smaller than average.
Lit was next, being fifteen years old. Lit had blue black hair that just barely reached past her shoulders. It was straight, except her long bangs that almost seemed to curve over her face. Her eyes were dark green, serious, stern, and almost angry. Lit wore an almost tight red, long sleeved shirt. The sleeves around her arms were extremely tight, almost like a second skin, unlike the rest of it. From the sleeves, a red strap went around each of her middle fingers. Lit also wore a dark blue, almost black, skirt that rose two inches above her knee.
Rio was thirteen, and you could say a bit of a tom boy, but not much, mainly just in the style of her clothing. Rio wore baggy-ish, long tan pants, but weren't overly baggy and didn't fall down, with many pockets, much like those a lot of boys wore. Her shirt, however, was as tight as a second skin, black, and short sleeved. The shirt slightly rose higher than pants, and showed some skin. Rio's eyes changed between a dark, red brown, and light brown. Her hair rose above her shoulder and was curly and dark black, streaked with green.
Era was a naïve and by far the youngest girl in their group. She was eleven, with innocent, yet some how, deep and understanding purple eyes. Her hair was a brownish blonde, and very wavy, almost curly. Her hair extended just below her shoulder. Era was extremely slim, but not too thin to be sickly. She wore a pure white, tight tank top and stylish dark grey jeans shorts rising three inches above her knees.
"Alright, I expect you to behave today." Lysander told the girls in front of her. "Era and Rio, you two are younger than usual to be in the military, so don't take it offensively if they're shocked at your age. And Ria, please be more accepting of the soldiers. Don't attack anyone today, alright?"
"Fine." Ria replied.
"Most importantly, try to get along with the other soldiers. They may not accept you at first, but try." Lysander said.
"Whose ship are we boarding today?" Era asked.
Lysander sighed, "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that…The truth is, I don't know. I don't know what the higher ups are thinking, but they assigned our unit to a ship without bother to tell me whose ship we were assigned to. We'll just have to wait for them to come meet us, I suppose."
"Are you the new recruits!?" A voice questioned impatiently behind Lysander.
Lysander's eyes shot wide open and turned quickly, "Yzak!? Dearka!?"
They looked surprised as well and said in unison. "Lysander!"
"Oh my god!" Lysander said, floating up to them, leaving the five other girls puzzled, "I can't believe it!"
The three suddenly embraced, startling everyone.
"I can't believe it's been like four years." Lysander said, "I haven't seen you two since graduation!"
"Four years?" Dearka questioned, "Hm…It felt longer than that…"
"So you're the new recruit?" Yzak raised an eyebrow at her.
Lysander smiled, "Me, and my unit." Lysander beckoned to the five, who saluted. "This is Ari, Ria, Lit, Rio, and Era."
And then warning signals went off.
Athrun furrowed his brows as he watched down below. It looked somewhat chaotic, but overly. And still…A bad feeling was coming over him, like something was going wrong.
Athrun turned to Cagalli, "We need to leave."
"What?" Cagalli said, turning from Durandal to him.
"Something's wrong. Look, down there."
Durandal and Cagalli rose and looked down below.
"We're under attack." Durandal stated, "We must leave."
Cagalli and Athrun followed swiftly after Durandal. An explosion sounded, and the building creaked.
"The building's falling!" Athrun shouted, "MOVE!!"
Athrun swiftly grabbed Cagalli's hand and ran for the building exit, closely followed by Durandal.
"What's going on?" Lux sat up upon hearing the sirens go off. "That means…To evacuate…Evacuate!? Orion, we've got to move! Hurry!"
Lux threw her covers off and stumbled over to Orion, who had also stood.
"Orion, be my eyes. Lead us out!"
Lux felt Orion take her hand and the two of them ran out of their room together. In the hall, part of the roof had fallen and blocked one side, it was smoky, and fire was blazing about.
Picking through the area, Orion brought Lux through the halls, looking for
any exit, any exit. But all were blockaded.
"Orion, where are we?" Lux asked, coughing lightly from the smoke.
Orion looked wildly around, searching for an entrance, an opening, anything that would allow them freedom from this place. The raging fire, the hazy smoke, and especially not the blaring sirens of the warning were not helping the situation.
Orion pulled Lux forward, daring the two to run through a haze of smoke. Luckily, instead of landing in fire, the two landed on the tiled floor of the hospital. The only problem was that they were now standing right in front of a siren, Orion being the closest.
Inside the walls, where the power was coming from, a flame burned through a wire, it and electricity flailing everywhere, hitting the line connected directly to the sirens.
Immediately, from the extra charge, the sirens went high pitched, high enough that the glass of windows shattered.
Lux clutched her ears, screaming, falling to her knees from the pain of the sound. Orion was also on her knees, screaming a silent scream, but kneeling straight up, the pain much worse for her. She suddenly heard an extremely loud pop, and blood oozed from her ears. Orion fell to her side, fainted.
Upon hearing her sister collapse, Lux shouted, "Orion! Orion, where are you!?!"
"Damn it." Lysander looked up at the sirens in the Minerva. "What's going on!?"
"Commander Joule!" A soldier ran up to him, "The military base is under attack! The Mobile Suits, they've been stolen! The thieves are prompting to destroy the base!"
"Where the hell are Rey, Shinn, and Lunamaria!?" Yzak shouted angrily.
"They're probably coming." Dearka turned to Lysander, "Are your Mobile Suits ready!?"
Lysander winced, "No, they're not. They haven't been assembled yet."
"Then we'll have to make due. Yzak, I'll go. You've gotta command the ship; you may have to launch her."
"But the Minerva's not ready to be launched yet!" Lysander stated.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Yzak asked, moving off towards the commanding bay as Dearka moved to the changing room.
"Can we do nothing!?" Ria questioned angrily.
"Cool it, Ria." Lysander stated, "Let's get out of the way!"
"Come, the Minerva is much safer." Durandal stated as they ran across the already destroyed military field.
Suddenly, the earth shook as a Gundam landed on the ground. It was mostly white, but with blue, red, and yellow too. The Gundam was then promptly joined by a white Zaku Phantom and a red Gunner Zaku Warrior.
They were facing three other mobile suits. The first was black, with red and yellow bands. The second was a green one, the middle body part being a greenish bluish black. The last was easily a blue Mobile Suit. The arms were a light blue, while the middle a darker blue.
"What on earth!?" Cagalli shouted, looking at them.
"Hurry, on board!" Durandal commanded.
"Shinn Asuka, in the Impulse." Shinn voiced over the intercom, "I've got Rey Za Burrel in a Zaku Phantom, and Lunamaria Hawke in a Gunner Zaku Warrior."
"Excellent." A voice on the intercom told him, "Now retake those Mobile Suits!"
"Yes sir!" The three shouted.
The three, armed and ready, clashed with the destructive Gaia, piloted by Stellar, the Chaos, piloted by Sting, and the Abyss, piloted by Auel.
Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss had already destroyed most of the colony, up heaving the paved earth, destroying buildings, killing soldiers.
Gaia prompted to stepping into another building, using a sword to destroy the rest of it. Chaos, using a gun, shot down at the soldiers of the military, while the Abyss simply stomped down on top of everything.
Shinn, Rey, and Lunamaria launched into battle. Shinn raised his sword to Gaia, ready to attack, when Gaia blocked with a sword of her own. Lunamaria attacked the Chaos, which prompted into another block attack, and Sting tried a punch under the attack, but Lunamaria caught the fist with her Mobile Suit's hand. Auel wasted no time in beginning to attack, raising a gun of his own, shooting wherever he pleased. Rey sprang forward, slashing at him with a beam axe.
Suddenly, Rey felt a strange feeling overcome him. Instead of paying attention to the present battle, Rey began to search, looking for something he himself didn't know.
Auel, seizing his chance, blasted at Rey. Rey dodged, but just barely. It was then that he felt himself being fired from behind, moving to the right and turning to face who else had attacked. It was a purple and white mobile armor with many guns.
"Get back to the ship!" The man inside commanded Auel, Stellar, and Sting.
"Yes sir!" They answered, changing into defense mode, and blasting off from the area.
The mobile armor, meanwhile, kept the attacks up, probably to give the Mobile Suits time to escape.
"Asuka, Hawke, Za Burrel," They heard Yzak on the intercom, now taking command, "Return to the Minerva. It's futile to attack now. We will give chase to them. This area has become highly dangerous, and may go under any moment."
"Right." Shinn and Lunamaria said.
"What about the people?" Rey asked.
"They think they've safely evacuated this area of the colony."
"And the research and hospital facilities? Have they searched there!? Is everyone safe from there!?"
"I've no time for such trivialities!" Yzak said, his temper rising once more, "Get back to the ship; that's an order!"
Shinn, Lunamaria, and Rey got ready to leave, leaving the mobile armor to wreak its havoc. But then Rey stopped.
"I'll be both of your friends………I promise both of you that I will protect you and Orion from now on. You don't have to worry anymore."
Sighing, mentally preparing himself, Rey turned back around, flying down to the ground again.
"Rey!" Lunamaria shouted to him.
"What're you doing?" Shinn questioned.
"I'm going to find some people!" He answered.
"But you heard Commander Joule!" Lunamaria argued, "They've already evacuated everyone!"
"But they didn't make sure. You return to the ship; I'll come as soon as I'm sure."
"But –" Lunamaria protested.
"Come on," Shinn said, "Let's go."
"But Rey…"
"He'll be fine; he's not an idiot."
Nodding to him, Shinn and Lunamaria flew back to the Minerva, while Rey flew in the other direction. By now, the mobile armor had backed down, but things were beginning to explode, further shaking the colony.
Rey landed his Phantom Zaku inside the hospital section he knew Orion and Lux lived in, where the roof had fallen in. He opened the cockpit and was instantly flooded with the stench of smoke. He could see fire blazing about, the occasional spark of a broken electric wire.
Coughing lightly, Rey shouted, "Lux! Orion! Where are you!?"
Rey traveled further inside the oven hot hall, looking wildly around, stepping on the broken debris left in the Mobile Suits' wake.
Coughing and shouting in vain, Rey couldn't find Lux or Orion. 'Maybe they really have evacuated…' He thought to himself. But he had a feeling that they hadn't. But he couldn't see or hear either of them, and the building was slowly burning down.
Above him, he heard a creak, and the roof came crashing down upon him. The only place to go, Rey leaped forwards into burning flame, landing on his chest, on tiled floor. Sighing in relief that he weren't in hot embers, he looked up, to find Lux's innocent face looking at him in worry.
"Rey!" She cried, pulling him further away from the ring of fire that encased them.
"Lux!" Rey said, holding the small child. "Where's Orion!?" Looking ahead, near the middle of the small area they had, he saw her. She was fainted, blood coming from scratches, some severe burns, and her ears on her skin and patient dress.
Lux herself had not come unscathed either. She wasn't in much better condition than her sister, only her ears weren't bleeding, and she had soot all over her, as if she'd tried to hold the flames back.
"How did you find us?" Lux questioned as the two sat next to Orion.
"We can figure that out later." Rey stated, "For now, we need to leave. We need to get out of here."
"How?" Lux asked, "We're surrounded in flame!"
"You have to trust me, and jump through it." Rey told her. "On the other side of that flame wall, I've got a Zaku we can squeeze into. The whole colony's collapsing. We need to get out of here now."
Lux frowned momentarily before nodding. Picking up Orion, Rey said, "On the count of three, we'll jump together. One…" Rey took Lux's hand and she readied herself to jump. "Two…Three! Jump, NOW!"
Running forward, the two jumped the wall of flames, the embers licking at their feet, but coming out untouched.
"Come on! Just a little further!" Rey told Lux.
"How did this happen!?" Lux said, running with Rey towards where his Zaku was. "How could this happen!? I thought the war was over!"
"It is, or rather, was over. We got attacked! Some people came and stole our Mobile Suits!"
Lux turned to Rey, troubled.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Rey said.
Finally, they reached the Zaku. Getting in, Rey immediately launched the Zaku, flying out of the burning building. He flew towards the Minerva, landing inside its docks.
The gates behind them closed, and the ship lifted upwards, leaving the Army One Colony behind.
To Be Continued…
