Notes: This is a Sci-Fi, Fantasy story and should be read with a bit of an open mind.

Nevair

XoOoX

Chapter 1

The rain streaked window pane shuddered as the pounding continued. Fists capable of stealing a life with nothing but a thought fought uselessly against the glass and the room chilled, frost forming along the window's edge. A second scream tore out of heaving lungs, echoing out into the dead city beyond the thin barrier.

Solo... This will not go unpunished.

Rough hands came to smoothly surround the beating fists, grasping them and pulling the trembling figure into an embrace strengthened by the death of uncountable enemies. Soft strands of music fell from the embracer's lips, winding and spreading throughout the large living space; calming, soothing, promising. The notes tinged with a touch of vengeance succeeded in stilling the thrashing figure, lowering the rage burning behind violet eyes to a steady gleam and strengthening the splintered walls around the deadly power caged within that powerful mind.

"We will make them pay."

"Of course."

"I want them destroyed."

"Soon."

"This has to end."

A pause. Blond hair shifted as he embraced the figure tighter, unconsciously letting more soothing sounds into the air.

"The arrangements are being made. Soon, it will be over soon Seth."

Blue eyes gazed at the reflection in the watery glass, blurring their figures almost beyond recognition. The last month had literally been hell on earth, when the skies refused to stop their tears and it seemed the heavens themselves were against them. A poetic description but true nonetheless. He could almost imagine he saw himself as he used to be in that distorted reflection. All blond hair and blue eyes and the mind built to plan a war with the will to carry it out. A smirk flitted momentarily upon his lips. They didn't know what war was back then, when all the fighting was done in the safety of enormous mechanical suits and it was Person vs. Person, or at worst Man vs. Machine. They didn't know what it was like to fight a battle where your enemies were the very ground on which you stood, the air you breathed, your own mind.

The city lights looked almost beautiful, lit up like the centre of civilisation it was supposed to be. Offices that should have been full of late working business men and women, roads and airways that should have been packed with the late night commuters were dead and silent. The war had stolen so much; Lives, innocence, love, the world itself.

The vid screen on the far wall lit up briefly before flashing to the image of a young man with russet hair and emerald eyes driving on the back of a fast moving hover bike. The blond immediately steered his distraught companion towards the screen, battle weary mind already wondering what could have gone wrong to make their partner check in hours late.

"Mission status, Trowa?"

"Completed. The reactor was nothing but ash when we finished. We've bought ourselves some time on that end at least."

A relieved sigh escaped, though he knew that if that were all the news he was about to receive it would be a damn miracle. "What else?"

"We ran into a few Seekers out by Sector Nine. We remained unseen, but I'm worried that we had no notice they would be there." The green eyes were icy, flashing in the light of the remaining street lamps that whipped past the fast moving bike. A few lines of static crossed the screen every now and then, disturbing the crystal image. The driver focussed in on the two people visible in his view screen, slightly less in focus than the big screen inside the living complex. He could feel the pain emitting from the smaller, long haired figure. Something more had happened, besides the worrying oversight in their intelligence network. "What happened, Quatre?"

"A squadron caught Solo returning from Sector Four's industrial section, managed to run him down just past our perimeter. He didn't make it." Steel laced every word and even with the distance separating the three warriors he felt their power and promise. Both driver and speaker looked to the figure standing as a statue, eyes closed, in the middle of their dimly lit living room. This would change things. Their little prince was devoted and fierce without the added rage this would incite, and recklessness would not help their cause in any way at this point in their plans. They were so close...

"They took him from me, and I swear I will make every last one of them repay that loss a thousand times over before this ends." Violet burned bright with the light of all the stars in the heavens, the vengeance of an angel without wings. Countless metallic ornaments clicked together as the long hair swirled with the spinning figure, trailing behind him as he moved away from Quatre and out of sight of the view screen.

Blue eyes locked with green, and a silent message passed between them before both screens went black.

Keep him safe, I'll be there soon.

XoOoX

The city spread beneath him, a veritable maze of skyscrapers and twisting, winding roads both in the air and on the ground far below. The chill wind almost felt refreshing after the conditions in which he had spent the vast majority of the last days. If not for the scent of death he swore would forever linger in their atmosphere. The rain soaked him through the uniform black armour, his hair uncomfortably dripping the icy substance down the back of his collar.

The mission was finally completed. Another reactor destroyed, a few more days of fighting bought. The never-ending cycle that had been in motion for the past sixty years continued along its indestructible path. An audible growl sounded, carried away by the wind in seconds. He never failed to work himself into a complete rage every time he thought of how this had started, how his life had been turned from, if not normal, at least peaceful to an endless age of battle as he had never known before. As mankind had never known before.

Legs dangling precariously off the roof's edge, he pulled a small leather-bound notebook and pen from his cache. Old-fashioned, maybe, but some things were worth holding onto. Even if it was a silly reminder of the days aeons past when his father and grandfather would read him stories from the diaries of their father and grandfather. A quick flick of his head to rid himself off excess water, no matter that more continuously fell, and an air pocket to protect the paper pages and he began his daily ritual.

F.E 063: July 17

Another successful mission later and we may have bought ourselves enough time to actually pull of this crazed plan of Quatre's. The war has reached a plateau, it feels as though we've been going through the same motions for ages now, and something needs to be done to change the pattern. This war will not be won in a stalemate, none of us could live with that. We've fought too hard and for too long now.

We lost three when the reactor went up; they could not escape them fast enough to get away from the flames. Though I feel as if there was a loss greater than that this day, Seth radiates pain through our link, and more than the usual need for revenge. I pray the loss will not precede our downfall. The Empath's power is perceivable even at this distance and I imagine the anger my Prince feels will be all consuming for the immediate future. He never did like us trying to shield him from his own emotions, no matter how damaging they may be.

Our next step will have to wait until our members are fully gathered, which means the next few days will involve nothing but regrouping and re-arming. Funerals for the lost, as well. If this plan works, it will be nothing less than a miracle. My heart is far too jaded to even hope for success, but my soul seems lighter with every day that brings us closer to this last, desperate choice. Ancestor's protect me from fools who lose their lives based on nothing but faith...even if I am the fool.

Sixty years of fighting, and it all began with the 'dawn of a new era'. Mankind's greatest achievement and crowning glory, a true gift from Heaven, or if you wanted to be politically correct, the scientific find of the century. We spent five years with the entire world thinking it was on the peak of civilisation, that nothing could ever top or match the society we'd built for ourselves. Five years of peace leading to the worst wars our species had ever fought or even dreamt of in their darkest nightmares. How aptly named our new generation was; Final Era. One event, one small, insignificant moment in time spawned the brightest future and the darkest end. We have sworn to fight until our last breath, until this enemy is defeated, and no matter what the price we will keep that promise.

No matter the price. Even if that price is returning to the past, to that one moment in time, to prevent this from ever happening. We were too late to stop them now, there's no chance that even with their defeat we would be able to rebuild and continue on. This is our last hope, and should it fail the world and every member of the human race will have been eradicated and lost to this all consuming darkness. I am willing to do whatever it takes, even return to a time I thought long behind me. A time with different places and names and people. When peace was a novel new concept and wars were much less frightening than I know them to be now.

A time I once called myself Chang, Wufei.

The journal was shut and tucked away again, air pocket dissipating without need for it any longer. He shifted to settle the numerous armour and weapon pieces into place. A quick glance down revealed a familiar figure on the back of a speeding hover bike, the light of a view screen just barely visible from that distance. With the knowledge that Trowa had informed the others of the mission's completion, he waited until the speeding figure had passed the next building before stepping off the ledge he had been perched on and allowing the cold, dead wind to carry him down. The currents were strong, leaving no doubt he would make it back in the same time as his partner. He wanted to be there to calm his dear friend, his little prince of darkness, and learn what had happened to upset him so in the first place. The Dragon in him roared; no one caused his family harm and survived the next dawn.

This Final Era will not be the end, not so long as we have the means to change it, and the ability to still draw breath. This is our promise, and by all that has been lost we will do everything in our power to see that it is kept.