In Aeternum
By: Angelus Erreare
A/N: This is dedicated to the ever amazing ALPHIA fan, SMT:DDS firm supporter and a friend of mine, allmysensesfail.
NOTE: SPOILERS! Sera is unaffected by the Cuvier Syndrome. She is also not suffering from God's curse; the ageing curse, that is.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to ATLUS USA. I own the OCs Marty, Sandra and James.
WARNING: OOC, CRUDE LANGUAGE
Chapter 1: Caeca Invidia Est
She never saw him for who he really was. She always saw him as that cold, cruel and unfeeling person. She had always seen the way he would cuss. She had always seen the way he would growl and glare at everyone. But she never saw the way he held her to his chest gently when she passed out. She never saw how his hard cold red eyes would soften at the mere sight of her.
No.
She always saw him as someone else. That was why she had had branded him as her evil prince. The prince that stood in the way of her fantasy. The prince that stood in the way of her love. The prince that stood in the way of her and her good prince.
She would never see him.
No.
Because she could only see his silver hair…and his silver eyes. She could only see his meek smile…
'Sera…'
That was why Sera would never gaze her silver eyes at his red ones. No…it was because she loved another.
His heart ached. Couldn't she see how much he suffered? How much he was suffering now?
At the Junkland, it was her images, her face, her pure, innocent face that had roused his spirits and emotions within. It was she who had prompted him to strive and fight. It was all for her. And yet, all of his efforts had gone in vain.
She would never look at him.
He had protected her the best he could…but all she ever saw was how Serph had defeated the tribe leaders. He had taken her away from all the fighting…so that she may be safe…but all she saw was how far Serph was from her…and how endangered he was.
'Would she care…if I die?' was the question that floated in his head.
His heart stopped; he really didn't want to know. He feared the answer more than any monster waiting to devour him.
It was through her that he had realized what it meant to have comrades. It was because of her that he had come to know of feelings…of camaraderie…of friendship…of love. But of course, she would never notice him…She would never hear whatever it was that he had to say…
She would always have her arms and ears open for that man; that man who rarely spoke. That man who never uttered a word to her…that man whom they adhered as their leader. It had been confusing to Heat really. How could someone as stoic as Serph, have the unbreakable and irrefutable love of not one but two of his female comrades?
Sera's love for him was as blatant and obvious as the glaring sun. While the other one…his other comrade, Argilla's, was subversive. She hid behind a mask…masking her love for him as blind loyalty. But Heat knew better; he could see it in her pink eyes.
He scoffed at that. How could this man hold their hearts like this? Why did he get left behind? He remembered as Argilla had slapped him that day. He had told her to devour Jinana and she was offended. Her slap had stung his cheek, but it was after that, that he realized what her slap truly meant. He had been unfeeling and undeniably selfish…but after he saw her…and her compassion for them, the damned, he realized his shortcomings and attempted to make up for them.
But…he again found himself lacking in both motivation and dedication as he realized that no one will ever know of his efforts and deeds. No one. Her attention and affections belonged to his silent leader.
That had all been in the Junkland. Although the events that transpired there had only transpired in less than a fortnight past, they were still fresh within Heat's mind and heart. When they had ascended the gates to Nirvana, none of them had any idea what would have happened.
Heat was frightened back then.
Flashback
They were engulfed in soft white light. It was calm and did not hurt…but somewhere within Heat, he was scared. There were no doors, no paths, no windows…no nothing. It was a vast whiteness.
How sure were they that they would arrive at Nirvana? How sure were they that they would see one another again? First it had been Gale who disappeared…only to be followed by Cielo who seemed to have been sucked in at a completely different direction. Next, his pink-haired comrade followed suit.
He looked from left to right, up and down, not knowing which led where. He looked everywhere looking for his black-haired angel. An overwhelming force had gripped his heart painfully as he realized that he could not find her.
"Sera…!" he shouted, frantically looking for any glimpse of her.
Then, he saw her. She was far away…
Her arm was outstretched. Her fingers were aching and were trembling. In front of her, with his arms outstretched as well, was his leader. He looked back at her and saw that she had a pained expression on her face.
His heart felt for her as well. He hated seeing her like that. But then, he was pulled by a powerful force and he felt himself being pulled farther and farther away from her.
"No…! Sera!" he shouted.
He gritted his teeth and his eyes watered as he outstretched his arm towards her in vain; she didn't even hear him.
He would find her again. Wherever she may be, he would find her.
End Flashback
He did find her. He had awoken on a barren desert. He looked around him and saw the all too familiar sun, glaring at him. But, it was different from the sun that he knew and remembered from the Junkland.
This sun, although it was shinning with malevolent force, was blocked by another object. Heat frowned as he looked elsewhere. Everywhere he looked, only barren land greeted him. Where was he?
He blinked; was this the Nirvana that they all fought and bled for?
He cursed. This was not what he had envisioned it to be. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a low moan nearby. He snapped alert. His eyes widened as he looked ahead. Not wasting any more time, he ran to the source of the voice.
It had been his angel…his princess.
She was asleep and was on the dusty ground like he was when he awoke. He pulled her to him, carefully. He set her head on his arm and leaned in closer, inspecting her body for physical trauma. He felt a wave of relief as he found none. He leaned in closer to her face, worry again resurfacing, "Sera…Sera…can you hear me?" he whispered.
She said nothing, her eyes still closed. He touched her shoulder lightly and then traced his fingers on her forehead brushing some of her ebony hair, "Sera…can you hear me?"
She moaned and moved closer to his chest but said nothing.
He inwardly cursed.
She stirred lightly and Heat felt his spirits lighten, "Sera…!"
She fluttered her eyes open and then closed them again, "Serph…?"
Heat couldn't breathe. She didn't recognize him. She thought that he was Serph. He felt a burning feeling within him as he remembered the name she uttered. It was probably the last thing she remembered before passing out.
'Why am I not surprised?' he asked, hurt. He cast his head down, looking away from her. She always hurts him. But…he also knew that no matter how much she hurts him, he would continue to persevere…
A part of him would often ask, as to the point of his blind loyalty. His other self would often reply…that it was for the sole reason that he loved her. He had tried before, time and time again for her to reciprocate his feelings and time and time again, he failed. And so, along the way, he began to lose hope.
Maybe she really wouldn't…ever reciprocate his feelings.
But, he also vowed to himself that he would continue to protect her, to love and cherish her without asking for anything in return.
'It just hurts…' he thought sadly.
The feeling that he was feeling was natural. Even if he had made this vow and was true to it, it would be impossible for him not to feel distraught at his current situation.
He shook his head; what about the others? Did they make it as well? He stood up, with Sera in his arms and started to look around. He saw a shaded area by the building. He strode towards it and set her down on the ground again. He didn't want to leave her but he had no choice.
He would return as soon as he can. He just wanted to scan the area first.
'Fuck…! I'm in a deserted place…Hm…it looks like an old city…with no one! Damn it! Where are those idiots?' he mentally asked in anger.
At the same time, he worried. Were his comrades alright? Did they make it? He could only hope so.
'But…if Sera and I made it…then…surely…they did too.' he said firmly.
He looked at the building before him. He mentally slapped himself. He ran back to Sera and scooped her in his arms again. He made his way towards the building's entrance and forcibly kicked the door down. He looked from left to right and saw an old sofa. He rushed towards it and carefully set her on it.
He looked at her for a moment or two before securing the room first. He made for his grenade launcher and cursed himself as he remembered that he possessed no weapons.
'Fuck!'
He went to all of the rooms on the same floor, securing each of their danger zones, before calling for a mental "Clear." signal.
Well, at least this place was uninhabited. But still, where were the people? What had happened here? He made his way back to Sera and saw that she was still fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile at that.
He remembered when they first found her. Granted, he wasn't all that interested in her, but something in him awoke that day. It had been small and insignificant so he paid it no heed, but then, what he didn't know was that, that small insignificant feeling was the seed of his love for her.
He walked over to her and touched her cheek. She was so innocent; he just had to protect her. She was vulnerable…She needed him.
He looked out the window and noticed the sun had set. Why did it set so fast?
'I must've awoken sometime during the afternoon…'
He went back out and looked around. Suddenly he heard a noise. He grumbled. It wasn't noise; or should he say, it wasn't just any noise. It was the sound of his stomach talking. He was hungry.
But, if he was hungry, Sera must be as well.
He blinked; but what did this mean? Would this mean that the same rules in the Junkland applied? Did he have to kill and devour others to sustain himself?
'But…there's no one around…' he thought.
He stiffened as he felt others' presences. He pressed himself against the wall and remained perfectly still. He narrowed his eyes; it could be his comrades…or it could be hostiles. After living a lifetime at the Junkland, one learned to be overly skeptic and overly cautious.
The footsteps were getting closer.
He narrowed his eyes into slits and his breathing quickened. He worried for Sera. What if they found her?
'Simple. I'd tear their guts and entrails out and devour them; then, I'll take her back.'
He estimated it to be…seven people. The footsteps were light…while the others were heavier. 'Hm, probably…children being chased…' he blinked; how should he know what children looked like? After all, he had never seen one…This world was definitely absurd and bizarre. What he should have said was, 'Probably underdeveloped life forms being chased by more developed ones…'
But he really didn't have the time to ponder over it as the aforesaid footsteps were getting closer.
He clenched his hands into fists; damn. He didn't have any weapon. He looked at his arm, yes, his savior was still there; his atma.
He stiffened and pressed himself harder against the wall, hidden in the shadows as the owners of the footsteps showed themselves to him.
He had been right; on both counts. There were in fact seven people; two children and five adults. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer view of the adult's apparel. They were all in white…and what was that?
His eyes widened; it was the Karma Temple's insignia.
'What the hell is going on?' he wondered, displeased and confused.
Why were they chasing children around for?
The aforesaid children fell on the dirty ground. Heat watched the event unfold before him. The adults were laughing, "What? Did you both really think that you could get away with that?"
The children said nothing and cowered in fear.
Heat's eyes widened as he saw the adults transform. 'They could transform too? This is…this is…'
They had all transformed into their atma; their demons. One of them, a huge scorpion creature with the head of a man, lunged for the child. Heat let the burning feeling within overwhelm him.
'Transform damn it!'
No sooner than he thought it, his body began to change. He smirked. With lightning speed, he got in between the children and the demons, not before killing the one who had first lunged for the children.
Heat smirked, "Feeding time."
xxxxx
He allowed his body to change back; he felt invigorated. He felt refreshed. The children before him trembled, "W-what…are you going to do to us?" one of them said.
Heat looked at them. They were a boy and a girl. The boy had dirty blonde hair and had green eyes while the girl had brown hair and blue eyes. Heat blinked; how did these kids have eyes and hair colors that were not matched? In the Junkland, it was simply unheard of.
'But then again, many impossible things happened…' he trailed off.
The girl held on to the boy. He looked at the boy again and noticed blood trickle on his leg. He was wounded; that was probably the reason why the children were running slower.
"Nothing." Heat replied coldly.
He knelt in front of them, "Tell me, are you children?"
The two looked at each other, were they hearing this right? Did this person just ask them if they were children?
"Yes; we are! Du'h! What did you think we were? Midgets?" the boy snorted.
Heat felt his anger rise but forced himself to remain calm, "Midgets?"
The girl looked at him seriously while the boy laughed, "You…aren't you with them?"
Heat blinked; at least the girl wasn't a complete idiot.
"With whom?"
She pointed to the mangled bodies behind him. He followed her trembling finger, "No. I'm not. I don't even know where this is. Why were those people chasing you?"
Heat then remembered Sera, "Scratch that. Come on. We can't stay out here."
Rolling his eyes and sighing, he scooped the two children in his arms and carried them back to where Sera was.
xxxxx