His World
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Characters from the Guilty Gear series are the rightful property of Arc System Works.
:xXx:
The airship soars. In route to the floating continent of Zepp for an audience between High King Ky Kiske of Illuryia, and President Gabriel of Zepp. It was necessary after the whole debacle of declared war by one Ramlethal Valentine on the rest of Humanity. A certain man found himself peeking out at the sea of clouds from the railing of the upper deck, mulling his situation. Sol Badguy, the man responsible for aiding in taking Ramlethal down, wasn't feeling in the best of moods. His wild brunette hair swayed with the rush of the wind around him. His headpiece kept most of his hair free of obscuring his vision. Gripped in his left hand was a wide blade of similar crimson color to many of the items of clothing he wore.
'What a bunch of bull…digging around where things should stay buried.' Sol thought to himself. A golden shelled bullet peeked from slightly parted lips, the tip shooting small gouts of flame into the air at random intervals where the wind soon dispersed it among vapor. His stubborn apprentice Bounty Hunter, Sin, was befriending Ramlethal while she was in captivity and also her sister, Elphelt. The latter had helped in stopping Ramlethal before practically suicide bombing herself and taking Sol with her.
What irritated Sol about this was that Sin was forgetting what happened to him during what was now the "Baptima XIII" incident, where the first generation Valentine was able to enslave Sin so easily and turn him against Sol. Ramlethal and Elphelt must have had similar capabilities. It was all a ruse, Sol was certain of that, because he had to be the voice of reason since Sin took things at face value like when Elphelt confirmed she wouldn't betray them. But his mind went to other things.
"My world…small?" He muttered. Sin had spoken that to him, and it awoke the now unpleasant memories Sol held. Of Frederick, His past self, and his relationship with Aria and That Man. That Man had admonished Frederick, who time and again would find ways to indirectly pull away from everyone, even Aria who he cared for most. In most ways, Frederick was the kind of man who made the sum total of his world one where only he could be and no others could reach. A shell of protection from harm.
Then there was Ky himself, Sin's father and High King, as well as an old comrade during the Crusades when he and Sol both were a part of the Sacred Order of Holy Knights. Ky was prone to asking the question of why Sol would aid him, but threw in a few angles that Sol found himself aggravated by. Ky was aware of Sol's main mission, the only thing he seemed to truly hold any passion for, terminate the Gears still in existence and terminate That Man for his involvement with the Gears and their creation. Then Ky had to throw in his wife, Dizzy, into the equation along with Sin.
"Why did you let them live, Sol?" That was what Ky wanted to know, for Dizzy had been the daughter of Justice, Herald of Destruction and the first sentient Command Gear, then his Halfling son, Sin. Why not kill them in cold blood as he had other Gears? Sol didn't stick around long after that. Heck, he was keeping Dr. Paradigm and the Gears of Ganymede alive and in check now as well. A far-cry from the kind of person Sol truly was. Maybe he was a hypocrite with a bleeding heart after all. Nearly 200 years of living had made him shun all but that one desire: Kill the Gears, Kill the Gear Maker. Okay, so maybe a hypocrite to the former, but not to the latter eventually, he hoped. Ky knew he didn't have to bring up that Sin looked to Sol as more his father figure then Ky himself. Ky was concerned because Sol would eschew the relationships made and hide from the world as if he were not a thinking and breathing emotional being, but a force of nature that had no free will to do whatever he chose and share it with others.
No, instead he was that hurricane that pelted down all in his path with no sense of feeling. Ky was visibly gladden that Sin did not follow in those lonesome footsteps Sol often tread. Before Sol had retreated to his solitude, Ky had even told him that after things were settled he should "come home", to people who cared for him. To Illuryia, to Ky himself, to Dizzy, to Sin, and even Dr. Paradigm too. In many years, Sol had found few who he could call friends. Was this still the part of him that made him Frederick? The man whose world was so lonely and small? So long Sol believed that Frederick was dead, but traces of the Human he once was still lingered in both the physical world and the emotional world. Footsteps daintily sounded on the deck and brought Sol out of reverie.
"Mr. Badguy?" It was Elphelt Valentine. The younger sister of the two Valentines apparently. Sol spared only a fleeting glance at her. Of the two, Elphelt seemed to resemble the first generation Valentine more than Ramlethal, what with her light red hair and similar face. Her fair body was garbed in some brand of wedding dress like contraption Sol was unfamiliar with. But even worse was her personality. Ramlethal seemed to have a small capacity for emotions, which the first generation lacked until her final demise at Sol's hands, but seemed to act quite as aloof as that Valentine did. On the other hand, Elphelt seemed to be bursting with emotion, and the more Sol saw her personality the more it made him remember Aria.
'Those eyes…like her's…Aria's…' Her eyes had been different from the wine color of the first Valentine, instead like the aquamarine of Aria's own. There was a source of aggravation and anger coiling about within him. Because of those old regrets and empty promises, of a romance that should have lasted longer and more intimately. Instead dashed to dust and scattered to the wind as if it never happened or just a figment of imagination. Sol had to remind himself that time does that to all things. As a Gear and a freak of nature to others, he as not held under those same rules of time.
"What?" He spoke bluntly.
"I saved some food for you from the mess hall, since Sin nearly took all of it when we ate lunch with Ram…here, I hope you like it!" She held out the packaged dish for him, a shy but hopeful smile on her face. Sol shrugged his massive shoulders. Though seeming bored, his muscles went from relaxed to alert.
"Ain't hungry." He said and her smile got smaller. His thoughts strayed to darker territory. This was the first time Elphelt was away from both Ky and Sin. How easy would it be to destroy her and then destroy her sister? The two were useless to him since they provided no relevant answers to the Cradle or the Conclave. Why not be done with it? That was the essence of his Gear nature rattling deep in his spirit. The Dragon…Sol envisioned it snarling in anticipation of the bloodshed to come.
"Are you sure? It's really tasty, though!" She smiled that same hopeful smile again. Sol bit down hard with his teeth, the bullet zipping into the air in a twirling fashion. He raised up his wide blade, Junkyard Dog Mk-III, which had the outer red shell split open to let the bullet fall in place of a revolver like chamber created within an inner blade construct before closing fully again. The sword held the cores of two Outrage weapons, Fire Seal and Flashing Tooth, making it one of the most awesomely powerful weapons Sol held. The blade went to his side once more. It was tempting to obliterate her with a shot of St. Oratorio power from Junkyard Dog Mk-III…but perhaps Ky was correct. Between Sol, Ky, and Sin, none were true interrogators after all. They needed some solid info that perhaps only the Valentines could provide with the right motivations. His muscles relaxed as he saw Elphelt's gaze at him uncertainly, eyes flitting between looking at his face then to his blade and back again. Her smile had disappeared and her expression became pensive and nervous.
"Go away." He said curtly. Elphelt got the message clear enough and took a few steps back.
"Ok…I'll leave it in the mess hall for you then! Sin may just eat it all up if you're not quick though!" Despite her cheery voice there was that obvious look of sadness in her eyes. Sol's hard gaze stayed steady as she left. Then he turned to face the clouds and his gaze softens ever so slightly.
"Heavy…" he muttered. Again Aria seemed to flood his thoughts. Sol had been observing Elphelt from the shadows often enough. Too many similarities to Aria, even among all the things that made her different: A desire to have friends and not end up alone. Aria had told Frederick after he learned of her incurable disease that her world had been so small and lonesome until she met Frederick and That Man. They helped her to have friends and end her loneliness. Then Elphelt mentioned to Sin that she wanted to find true love. Perhaps Frederick's own views and his world had attracted an initial kindred spirit to himself, which had then blossomed to Aria falling for him. Sol growled, a low and deep feral sound reverberating from his throat. He had to stop these stray thoughts, reminding himself that both Valentines were not the same emotional creatures like Humans. They were like the Gears first created to be like war machines, and so long as they may pose a threat to the world, Sol would be that weapon that ended their existences. Except for all his power, the future was uncertain, and someday he would look back in disbelief that his views on the Valentines would change vastly.
His world…it would start to grow exponentially from their previous confines and restraints. Sol just didn't know it yet.
:FIN:
Note: Just want to let readers know that my old laptop kicked the bucket and I finally got a new one. Whatever happened to the old one though was worse than I imagined, because it didn't allow me to recovery backups of any older writing material. I'm writing this short piece(more of a drawl or drabble maybe?) mainly to test how my new laptop's Word program and format will look on the site.