Disclaimer: Do I look like someone who owns Gundam Wing? That's right, I don't. If I did, I wouldn't be here writing this story.
Dedication: To JennJenn-san aka Michiko84, Steh-san, and Lau.
When light dies
Chapter 1
When light dies, shadows fear darkness,
Darkness despises night, night falls alone.
When light dies, violets clothe in black,
Roses cry in tears of blood, blood stains alone.
When light dies, bells ring mute,
glass shatters in silence, silence sings alone.
When light dies,
he is lost.
A.C. 175.
"...the colonies should not initiate violence against the earth. We are all the same; after all, we colonists came from Earth; we have our roots extending all the way to that beautiful planet. Let us embrace this peace we have now and never seek to destroy it. Please remember that peace is not a principle, but the hope of mankind in this universe. No one can live without hope, and wars shatter that hope, that light which guides us toward peace. For those of you out there who are determined to protect this peace, please do not be impulsive on your actions. In order to achieve total pacifism, one must possess the right means, the right actions. It is possible that the end will not justify..."
Total pacifism? A naive old fool. I positioned my body flatly on top of the cement roof as I lowered my weapon of choice toward the speaker on the podium. Target in sight. I focused my right eye through the shooting range making sure that the one bullet would land on the man's upper left body, penetrating his heart at once. Good. An easy job after all. I pressed the trigger with skill knowing that I have accomplished the mission with success. Screams of fear and sorrow engulfed the crowd from below, but I walked away silently not caring, not wanting to care like every time I complete the job in public. The noises would eventually die away, and the blood would eventually be cleaned off as if nothing ever happened.
I did not care about the means, only the end mattered to me. It didn't matter if the end justified the means as long as it brought food to me. Food was what kept me alive, not righteous means.
Time for my pay check.
A.C. 180.
" For the last time, I will not take this job. I have stopped taking jobs like this years ago." I shot a glare at the man who dressed in an expensive black suit and spat disgustingly at the floor, removing the dirt from my mouth. He didn't back down easily with that smirk plastered on his disgusting face.
" Mr. Lowe." He paused glancing through the vid-phone as if trying to see the inside of my gloomy apartment. " I can tell that you need some money to remodel that shack of yours. Am I right? This would be a perfect opportunity for you to get some extra change, don't you think?"
That smirk of his, that stupid cocky smirk of his. I wished it were him that I was supposed to kill.
" All you have to do, Mr. Lowe, is to finish this guy for me. You can have all the money you want with just the press of a trigger." He brought up an empty check. " See this, you get to fill that out when the job is finished."
" No." Money no longer had its lure on me. I have stopped being a victim.
" But you'll be doing a good deed too." The man changed his tactics. " Your target is the leader of a local rebel group on Colony L1-X17001. What do you say about that one? You'll be getting rid of a person who threatens peace between the colonies and Earth, you know. It'll be a chance for you to become a hero. A killer to a hero. Quite the difference? Think about it, Mr. Lowe."
" No." I terminated the link and spat once more at the floor. Killing the leader of a rebel group? Right. These rebels had been the protectors of the colonies. They were our last defense against Earth. And Me, a hero? I stared at my reflection from the darkened empty vid-screen. A man with ebony hair and deep void blue eyes stared right back at me. No, it was a monster, a demon, not a man. The man died a long time ago, only a fiend was left to laugh at my pathetic existence. A hero. I killed the only hero we had or will have.
No time to waste on my sinned past, I was certain that Hell had a seat waiting for me. Until then, I had to keep on living in my personal Hell. Which means that I have to make my escape as soon as possible. First rule of an assassin: never stay at one place too long, especially after refusing a job opportunity. One becomes the target of another if one refuses the job offered. Running away is the key to stay alive. I'm a coward, so what?
I gathered the dirty clothes piled upon the carpet-bare floor and shoved them into my aged duffel bag, something I caught myself doing more frequently these days ever since the United Colonies broke apart after the death of their president. Earth, taking this advantage advanced its military presence into space. They secretly formed alliances with certain colonies, the ones that would benefit them the most of course, thus shattering the unity within the space inhabitants. Many people were enraged by this act simply because their home colony wasn't the one receiving the profit by conducting business with Earth. They were angry because of their greed and nothing else. Then there came the rebel groups. These groups were found based on the desire for self-sufficiency, self-rule. These were the people who saw Earth's furtive plot and determined to reveal them to the masses. They knew that too much dependence on Earth would cause the Earth to take over eventually and establish dictator control in space.
Earth cannot be granted too much power, it they do, war is inevitable. Colonists are people, they are not properties for the earth to utilize in anyway they wish. I closed the door to my apartment and proceeded down the stairs. They would come soon to claim my life, but I knew better. I marched out of the building without turning around to take one last look back. It was after all another falling apart shack for people without money, yet I had to admit that the people here were kind to me. They shared the little food they had with me when I couldn't find a proper job; they nurtured me back to health when I was sick; they provided a family to me when I was alone. It was a shame to leave, but attachment meant death. I can't afford to die, not just yet.
My calculation was correct to the second as the dust-covered ground shook violently in agony, causing the glass to shatter in an earsplitting shriek, overriding the sudden cries from the inhabitants inside. Then there was absolute silence for a fleeting second as time itself mourned for the broken souls.
The explosion coming from my old apartment building caused me to lose my balance; the pressure knocked me down to my knees. I ducked out of instinct and covered up my head with my duffel bag. They finally caught on to me. I thought trying to get up. I dusted my clothes and checked for any injuries. None but a few scratches. They were just a little late. I smiled inwardly knowing that I had won. You would have had me if I were twenty feet closer. I stared at the blazing smokes coming out of the wreckage in the black night feeling nothing in particular. Too bad it had caused the lives of those kind people. I shook my head and went to a nearby alley. It was still important for me to hide, for they would come to look for the body eventually. I spent the night staring at the fire, the dead bodies being carried out by the rescue team; hearing the cries of children, of mothers, of fathers, of nearby strangers. It was only another fifty lives on my hands. There was nothing out of the ordinary. People are dead that's all. I'm sure they are at a place that's a whole lot better than they have been.
This place had finally come to look like a graveyard after last night. I peeked out of the dark alley searching for my enemies. Founding none in sight, I decided it was safe to make my getaway now. I passed by the rubbles of my old home not wanting to stay one more second at this dead place. Daylight embraced the stillness of the dead. The remains of my damned soul froze my movement forcing me to look at the deaths I caused. It was only blood spilt on the white washed ground. It would be cleaned tomorrow.
Sorry.
As I walked away a stifled cry caught my ears. Usually I would just ignore it, but this time I felt obligated to seek the source of that sound. I found it under a pile of wooden boards stacking upon one another. The cries came from underneath; it seemed to me that there was an air pocket inside. I lifted up the rubbles outside and pried open the wooden blockage. There I came face to face with a crying infant boy wrapped in an old blue rag. The stifled cry became louder as I surfaced the child out of the little cave and brought him to the light. Judging from his features, he was only about two months old. I see that you have made a deal with god to live, kid. But you should also know that living is not easy. Life is hell, kid. You'll one day find that out on your own. I held him and jumped out of the wreckage. I didn't need a kid to add more burden on my shoulders, but it was I who found him and brought him to this hell. He would live because of me. He would suffer because of me. He would keep the remains of my soul.
You are a lucky kid to be alive. Not everyone can experience the cruelty of this world as you will with me, but you lived for a reason. Maybe there is a purpose for you after all. Think it as a privilege that you are allowed to suffer.
He stopped crying and stared me with his intense deep blue orbs. Those eyes, they were so sad. I chuckled at the sight of them. The kid probably didn't even know what sadness is. He was just another nameless kid, a nobody, an innocent nobody. I didn't feel that I had the right to give him a name. I have already tainted his very soul by keeping him alive, I will never taint his identity too. That's for him to decide. If he grows up strong, he should be able to give himself an identity. Only if he were strong enough.
I walked off into the morning light with the kid in my arms.
You will survive, kid. I'll teach you how.
Author's note: This is a glimpse at something I shall be working on next year. Yea, a new project. Finally, a change for me. It's about time for me to write something serious rather than my normal comedies. Hope you'll like it. The story is inspired by Episode Zero.
