Once again I am here to bring you a story of new. This one is set in the Xenosaga universe: being that is my current obsession right now.
And I will say write now that 85 percent of this fic is complete fictional speculation; based on in tiny factor repeated over and over in the game. 10 is actual fact and the last 5 percent are would-be spoilers. Depends on how much about Episode II you know of.
Warnings: This fic has many elements of violence (to human and non-human, and some child neglect) and romance. It's threatening and romantic. It's Threatmantic! w Yay Violence! XD lmao
Sydney: sighs She needs to stop quoting that cartoon
Leon: No shit. Oh, uhm, swearing is in it too. As you can see...
Sydney: Yes, quite. . . and we all do not own Xenosaga, as it is owned by a much more powerful entity... well, maybe not as powerful as me
Leon: Get off it man, go play with that Ashley guy you talk about all the time...
Sydney: Insolent fool.. swipes his iron like claw gloves at Leon
Leon: ACK, We don't own this and it's all for fun, so start this damn fic already! dodges
Xenosaga
In the Shadows of a Lie
Running was all he ever did now. Run away, and don't look back. If you don't look back, she won't find you. They won't find you. Run as fast and as far...
His legs buckled under the stress and couldn't take anymore pressure. The boy slide on the ground, scuffing into the dirt and grass below him. Taking a moment to look around, he realized where he had come to. It was his little sanctuary.
Not that it was all that special, but it was beautiful. A clear lake; seemingly untouched, was a few feet before him. All around him where giant trees and foliage, all the most minty green one could think of. There was a light fog masking around the area, but other than that one could think this place was surreal.
This was his secret place. No one else ever came here - mostly because it was quite a ways away from the main part of the city, and because it seemed no one cared for such beauty. However, to a young boy as himself, it was a gift from the heavens. A place only he could go and only he could make known if he wished. His own private piece of paradise. Getting up, he walked over to the lake shore, and fell to his knees, looking at his reflection. There was a fast forming under his right eye, and a visible hand print along the side of his neck where he had been grabbed. He couldn't see them, but he could feel the rest of the bruises and tender skin along his back and upper arms.
He hated being so week. He hated being only eight. If he were older, he could do something more. He also hated being. . .
Different.
Years ago, humanity had made an advancement in creating a breed of 'human' like people called realiens. Realiens were different, and because of that, they were shunned by society - and even still now. He shook his head, thinking that no matter how much things changed, there will always be prejudice amongst humanity. He didn't think Realiens where anything to fear. If anything, he envied them, for they could do things he couldn't. But still they too were different, like himself, and right now, different meant. . .
Disgusting.
He plunged his hands into the water and brought it to his face. There was a small cut he had missed that stung for a quick second as the water washed over it. A little of it seeped out, and he wiped it off. Looking back at his reflection, a morbid thought crossed him: would his hair ever be this tainted red, matted by his own sticky substance? Washing it off, he mental smacked himself. He would not sink like that, no; he had to escape first. He had to get out of here first and find a place of peace. However, that option didn't exist for him. He was only eight, and trying to get onto a shuttle by himself was ludicrous at best.
' Where is your mother and father?' they would ask him.
And of course he would search frantically for someone - anyone - with some remote type of orange reddish hair. And of course, being that was uncommon among his luck, he'd be escorted off and taken to a room; and an hour later, he'd be taken away by her. She was the cause of his pain; his suffering. He couldn't understand why she hurt him, why she would seek out to do him physical harm. Was he just not worth living? Was it because he was different?
Something caught his attention and he felt fear seize him. He could feel someone's gaze catch his figure, could hear them coming up towards him fast. He didn't want to turn around. It was her and he knew it. She had found his private sanctuary and it was going to be destroyed. She would take it away from him. Before he could react, a hand grabbed his shoulder and roughly turned him. Dark grayish-green eyes pierced through him with some kind of blind hate. The dark brownish auburn hair fall behind her as it settled, all save a long strand left dangling in front of her right ear.
Before he could open his mouth, the all to familiar throbbing pain spread through his face, and he felt himself fall once again to the earthen floor. At one time, the throbbing was accompanied by a stinging sensation; but not anymore. He was far to use to her strikes that it was now nothing more than a dull throb. However she knew this, and that's why she had begun to do more that strike him. He went to get up, and that was his mistake. He felt a sharp kick to his side, and he cried out.
No. No no no... why did he cry out! Why?! NO!
Again another kick and a cry.
Again.
Again.
He whimpered and bit his lip. The blood taste was a bit soothing to him. Somewhere in his mind his conscience was relaying the words being shouted at him, but he neither heard them or their meaning. All he knew is that he had to get her to stop. He flexed his muscles tight and laid stiff, daring not to make a sound. He focused his breathing so his body wouldn't rise. After a few moments, the kicking stopped. The pain was throbbing, but ebbing away. He heard the footfalls step back a bit. He heard her speaking again and this time the words didn't fall upon deaf ears.
" . . .And if you ever, EVER, say my name again, I will make it hurt more. You understand me?! You will respect me, you little freak."
Something in him at that moment force him to be bold. He hated being called that; hated being reminded he was different. Pushing past the pain, his body sub-consciously picked itself up and he turned to face her in an angry heat. He shouted at her a forceful 'No!' and waved his arm in an arch. Something not completely unseen cause the girl to be shoved back, and fall onto the ground. She looked up at the boy from her spot and saw a few tendrils of red light circle around him lazily. Instead of causing her fear, which is what he hoped for, it fueled her anger even more. She got up fast and lunged at him a punch to the left side of his face, and a kick to his ribs in his fall. He fell into the muddy bank of the river. The light vanquished quickly, and his bright eyes dimmed slightly.
" Pull that shit again, and you'll wish you never had."
The boy laid there in the muddy waters, the rippling calm soothing his ache. The footfalls registered to him that she was leaving his private paradise. He was all to happy. This was his place, not hers. His place, and his only. No one else could have it. He lifted his head for a moment. No, he would find someone he could share it with. He'd always been told that sharing made people happy. But could he risk it? What if he did and then they turned on him? No, he didn't want to think about it. He wanted to drift, to feel weightless.
Moving up slowly, he crawled into the lake until he could no longer feel the bottom. He turning and faced the sky, drifting across the top of the lake. The sky looked so peaceful. And at night, the stars were so bright and pristine from here. Right now, though, he could just make out a few of the brighter stars and the nearest planet. Moving his arm, he reached up with his hand and made as if to touch the stars.
" I want to be there. I want to be out there." His eyes, which mirrored the blue of the water he drifted into, began to form tears that spilt over and added to the lake. He briefly wondered how much of this lake was his own tears, before dropping his hand with a small splash, and letting the tears come openly. Time for him was still a this moment. That moment belong to himself and his tears, until he felt empty and refreshed.
It lasted until the sky was dark, and full of new stars for him to see. He gazed mystified at them all. The expression on his face was one of blank yearning. Somehow he had come to the conclusion, long before, that place above him among the stars, was where he needed to go. To be. Yet he knew the picture was a false one. There were many thing out there far more lethal there than here. But here, there was only this place to hide. Out there, he knew, was limitless.
His expression grew subtly into fear. What if they found out he was different? What if they rejected him like they do the Realiens? What if they saw him as some sort of. . of. .
Freak.
His heart pulsed faster and he pushed himself under the lake's surface, letting out a muffled scream, and wrapping around himself. He was not going to have his new place taken from him! Never!
' I want to be normal. I want to be normal. I want to be normal. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be like this!'
He ran the same thoughts over and over in his mind, screaming it sometimes at points. His lungs betrayed him and he kicked to the surface, inhaling the air, and unintentionally shouting out:
" I WANT TO BE NORMAL!"
His words echoed around him. The last one repeating softy, over and over, as if mocking him. He sunk back down until the water met his chin. He sobbed softly to himself. Fresh tears brimmed his closed eyes.
" Someone. . .please save me. Take me away. . .take me away."
" It will take time. "
He turned quickly towards the voice. His heart pulse wildly. Who had betrayed his private sanctuary? He looked to the shore along the small wooden dock. There was a young girl sitting on the very edge, her legs dangling over. She seemed to be giving off her own light. The girl watched him as the boy swam near her.
" Who-Who are you? "
" Someone passing by, whom heard your cry."
He looked at her intently. She was very pretty - but in the simplest way. Her long bright orange hair fell behind her neatly and her eyes - which seemed just a tiny darker than his own blue - seemed so full of a greater knowledge; he knew she must have been something special.
" Are you different, like me? "
" Yes, but in more than one way."
"Oh."
He waded up to the shore and removed himself from the water. Looking briefly at his body, he was reminded of an old saying, something about a thing called a 'prune'. Taking off his shirt and ringing it out, he walked slowly onto the small dock, and stood before the girl.
" Can I. . .sit here?"
" Yes."
He sat down quickly. He knew he was showing this girl the part of himself that no one else got to see; mostly because we was always on guard and afraid. He looked up and debated inside himself whether to be bold or wait.
" I know what you're thinking."
" But how. . ?" His eyes widened.
She smiled, but answered him with his previous unspoken question.
" You will be saved, but it will take some time. You will be saved a few times, each time more different than the last. You mustn't give up hope, no matter how hard you struggle."
The boy nodded and was about to ask something else, but the girl smiled again and replied before him.
" Do you really wish to be normal, Llean?"
His eyes widened. She HAD to be something special. She had called him by named, which he had not given.
" Yes. I want to be. I don't want to be like this anymore. I don't want to be treated like a freak."
" Do you realize what you have, makes you special; even unique?"
" It's a burden and I don't want to be special! Not if it's like this. . ."
A moment of silence past by. Llean didn't know what to expect from the girl at this point.
" I can't rid you of your burden, but, I can make it go away; for a very long time."
Llean's eyes grew bright, and his face contorted into a goofy hopeful smile. He hadn't felt this good in months.
" Yes, I would like that! I would be happy. It's more than anything I could have thought!"
" Alright, but I will require from you a favor."
" Anything, I promise. You're being so good to me; I'll try hard to do anything for you."
" That won't be necessary. It is quite simple really."
" Yes?"
" That you listen to me sing?"
His eyes lit up brightly and he jumped up, taking the girls hands into his.
" I promise! You can sing as much as you want, and I promise I will listen!"
The girl smiled, and closed her eyes. Llean waited to hear her sing, but instead felt a rush run through him. He felt as if something inside him was being pulled into a small recess of his chest, and as quickly as it had spread through him, he felt a small clasp like prick in his chest. The girl opened her eyes and smiled to him, letting go of his hands and stepping backwards.
Llean sat in awe as the girl began to sing.