The glowing blue wings on the angel's back carried him to the outskirts of Luin, deep within the forest where no one would see him. He shook his head at Mithos's deranged plan and thought to himself, How long did I let myself believe this madness? He sighed and walked on, thoughtful about the recent turn of events, wondering how Yuan would take the news. Then he laughed to himself. No, Yuan wouldn't care. After Martel, though Yuan had become one of the four seraphim, he was simply never there, not his heart nor a completely sane mind. He stopped caring long ago.
He turned at the sound of a twig cracking and was ready to draw his sword, but he was too late. Kratos was pinned to ground and felt an oddly wet sensation. Opening his eyes, he saw the huge, massive head of an obviously delighted protozoan just a few inches from his face. The protozoan stared intently into his eyes with happiness and continued licking Kratos.
"Noishe!" Kratos smiled at the sight of his old friend but sighed heavily as he attempted to stand. "Must you do that every time you see me? Off, Noishe." But still, Kratos was pleased with his new company and Noishe stepped steadily off Kratos. He laughed as the protozoan shoved his massive head under Kratos's hand and together they walked for quite some time in the peaceful silence of the woods.
Suddenly, he froze. What on earth was he doing here? Kratos found himself before the Asgard Ranch, staring intently at the place he so despised. For years he allowed this ridiculous, pointless suffering but he could turn his back to neither humanity nor his old friend. Caught in-between. He clenched his teeth. All of a sudden, he heard a whip crack in the air and he cringed in surprise, quickly turning his head in the direction from which it came. Then he tilted his head quizzically at what he heard next. A laugh, a woman's laugh ringing clearly through the air.
Dirtied and bloodied, hardened through the years of grueling work, she looked fatigued but her eyes glinted with determined energy. There were two Desians, each holding one of her emaciated hands. A third took the whip and continued to whip, but she never cried out, only clenched her teeth and took the pain in silence, though she occasionally flinched. She laughed again, grinning like a madman, "Is that all you've got?"
Kratos sighed and shook his head with disapproval at this obviously mad woman but his head snapped up to see that the woman apparently heard him and stared intently into the forest. The Desians let go of her after whipping her once more; this time she fell, and they scoffed in triumph at the fallen rebel, scattering the onlookers. But what they didn't see was her secret smile as she looked softly to the woods with longing. Despite her wounds and thin frame, she was beautiful. Kratos ducked his head quickly but felt his face flush...with worry, nervousness. It was only natural, he decided. He could not be caught here.
Anna saw something in the woods, and for the first time hope fluttered in her chest and she couldn't help but smile. A flash of dull red and pair of eyes watching on: that was what she saw. That was what she felt. Help was coming, and it left her wondering, what would her "knight in shining armor" be like? She stood steadily and knew that she needed to return to working before they turned their attention back on her, but she couldn't stop thinking about what or who she saw in the woods earlier. She sighed, eyes full of hope. She wanted to turn to someone, to tell them all she'd seen but as she looked from one to another, all she saw was disdain, fear, annoyance, and even pity. No one wanted to be seen interacting with her. No one wanted to be involved with K'var's most important and dangerous experiment: the Angelus Project.
Anna in particular was kept alive for this one sole reason. if she hadn't been a match for K'var's experiment, it's likely they would have killed her already rather than putting up with her trouble from day to day. For hours on, she worked and for hours she thought only of her imaginary rescuer. She laughed softly to herself and saw the Desians look up curiously at her, but she only ducked her head and continue working. Smiling, she decided that her hero would be graceful and dashing, quick to laugh and smile. He would stop to help anyone in need. Swift and fierce but gentle, he would fight in the name of justice but be also merciful, forgiving and sympathetic. His eyes would be warm.
Suddenly she looked up as she heard the glaring buzz. She sighed. Work was finally over and the prisoners would be back in their cells in no time. Gracefully, she lifted her heavy hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her train of thought dashed, all she could think about now was her hunger. Anna thought about this morning when she gave her bowl of food, no matter how disgusting, to the little girl whose own dish was savagely stolen by another prisoner. The girl smiled and that alone made Anna smile back as well, until a glaring older woman came along and uncomfortably shifted the little girl as far away from Anna as possible. It hurt, to be rejected by her own people.
"A012. Get moving." said a voice stiffly. Anna awoke from her daydream and made the tiresome effort to move her heavy feet once more. But she knew that voice and it was hard not to smile at it, but she controlled herself and only cleared her throat and followed the given orders. A Desian, no doubt, that voice belonged to, Anna knew that, but strangely he was her only friend. They rarely interacted, but from time to time, he would give her extra food and call her by her human name. He never did though around the other Desians. Once, he smiled at her softly and explained; he admired how she would never give in. That was the extent of their conversation.
Today was one of those days. Other prisoners passed out from exhaustion barely paid notice and today he had a short shift as the guard. Outside her cell, she noticed a small shadow. "Anna." He whispered. "I brought you some food. I know you didn't eat this morning" He smiled at her, his eyes soft and features oddly innocent for a Desian. How odd that Anna just noticed. How old was he? Perhaps 14, she thought to herself. So young. She couldn't help but wonder. Still, she smiled at him and thanked him in reply. Just as he passed an apple to her, Anna was splashed with a sickeningly warm liquid. She stood in shock at the sight of her wide-eyed friend staring down at his chest where the sword protruded. Fighting the hot tears that threatened, she shouted, "Damn you!" and lunged at her cell knowing well that she would not break it. As she fell to the floor, she lifted her gaze to the killer's fast and relentlessly trying to strip him bare with her glare.
He coolly responded unrepenting, "This is no place for traitors or human-lovers." He spat at the dying Desian. "Do you not remember who killed her? Who killed our sister?" He shouted angrily, his hands shaking as he pulled the blade out. "I brought you here to be protected from that-" He squinted his eyes at Anna, "-and instead you help them! You're weak. You don't belong here and you don't understand that they're all the same!" Anna was crying now and saw her friend lift his gaze to her.
As he gasped for life, he responded, "You're...wrong." He flinched from the pain but continued, "She's so...much like her, like our sister Anna." His eyes brimmed with both pain at the wound and joy at the sound of her name.
"So that's why." The other scoffed. "But you forgot. This thing is not Anna! It's just another experiment. It's just A012" He grimaced mechanically. "I didn't want to have to kill my own brother, but you would have helped her escape!" He snapped. "You would have betrayed K'var. He's more my brother than you ever were."
Anna's friend's eyes were filled with sadness when she saw them glaze over. But she thought he looked at her and saw the fire kindled with warmth once more. He was gone. She snapped at the other immediately, whispering angrily, "How could you kill your brother?"
He replied, "It's your fault! If it wasn't for you, he'd be alive." He lunged at her with his whip, mercilessly attacking her. Her eyes were going blurry before she realized that it stopped and she was faintly aware of someone carrying her. She cried fiercely and punched whoever was carrying her before she blacked out, catching a glimpse of a beautiful blue light.
