A/N: Hey guys, glad you like what I have so far. Anyway, first off, to clear up some confusion. Yes, there is another character in the GX section that also has the name Antaria. No, they are not related in any way save for the name, and no, I did not name my Antaria off of Syrus Fanatic 4-Ever's Antaria. I got the name a video game (War of Genesis), and the two Antarias don't share appearances or personalities. Antaria belongs to Syrus Fanatic 4-Ever and Antaria Schiller belongs to me, end of story. Now, let's start.
Chapter 1: Readyfuels
"Friends and comrades, please, gather around. It's nearly midnight and the moment you've all been waiting for is nearly here." A tall male figure, appearing to be in his late twenties, stood on a table in a well-lit warehouse, surrounded by his comrades, all young adults ranging from early teens to early twenties. "As you know, tonight is when the Empire will be preparing to celebrate Liberation Day. We've been planning and preparing since the year began, going through practice runs, and now, it's about to pay off. Please listen closely to Johan Andersen as he goes through the instructions one last time." With this, the man handed the stage to an aqua-haired, emerald-eyed teen.
"Thank you. I know we've already gone over these many times already, so I'll make things short and simple. We only have two objectives tonight: One, prevent the supplies from reaching their destination, and two, don't get caught. Each member will follow specific orders from their squad leader. And remember, we do this not for our own purposes, but for the good of the country." A loud cheer rose from the crowd as Johan stepped down, and the various leaders started getting their groups together.
"Wow. You sure know how to command a crowd, don't you Andersen?" A lanky brunette with orange highlights in his hair fell in step next to Johan.
"I suppose. I can't say I try too hard though. Perhaps it's just natural charisma? In any case, you're ready, right? Your group knows the plan?"
"Inside and out. Hell, I think Jun might just throttle me if I give him one more piece of advice." Judai laughed and shook his head. "But still, shouldn't you be a little more concerned? After all, you and Antaria've got the riskiest job…and speak of the devil…"
As if on cue, a petite (compared to Johan anyway) girl with ash-colored hair and cobalt eyes seemed to appear suddenly from the crowd and automatically latched herself onto Johan's left arm.
"Hey there, Antaria. You've got our things ready, I presume?" Johan asked as he bent down for a quick kiss.
"Double and triple checked. Fuel, lighters, guns, ammunition, and whatever miscellaneous items you can come up with. We can leave whenever you're ready." She replied, affectionately nuzzling his neck.
"All right. Time to get this show on the road, then."
"You know, I'm glad Daichi had the foresight to get the cars ready beforehand. This way we don't have to worry about engine troubles or whatnot." Antaria commented as she and Johan loaded their supplies into the backseat.
"Yeah. You know, there is a reason he is the tactical commander. It seems like he's always about ten steps ahead of everyone else." With a final check, Johan shut the back doors and took the driver's seat, Antaria in the passenger side.
"You know, for someone who's about to commit treason against the Empire, you're dressed unusually nice." Antaria teased lightly, glancing over her lover's form. "If looks could kill, I think half the female comrades would be dead already."
"Well, what can I say? I thought a disguise might help in the unlikely event we got caught. It pays to be prepared." He replied lightly, not taking his eyes off the road.
"And who are you supposed to be? Some celebrity?"
He shrugged. "I guess. Just not a working class orphan, and that'll be good enough."
"Well, you should've told me about this sooner, so I could've looked the part too." Antaria pouted slightly, her brows furrowing.
"Don't worry about it. There's no way I'm going to let them take you. But if it makes you feel better, I'm sure we can pick up an outfit for you along the way." Johan smiled, glancing at Antaria, who seemed satisfied with his response.
The car became silent once again, and this time, Antaria's thoughts turned toward a darker side, of things she didn't want to reveal to Johan, things such as doubt, fear, even a little guilt. Were they truly doing the right thing? Sure, the Empire made the lives of the lower class miserable, but was it worth harming potentially thousands of innocent victims just to prove a point? And suppose something happened—she could never forgive herself if she lost Johan. And yet, it was for Johan that she was doing all this…not for the rebellion, not to prove some worthy cause. He had found her when everyone else left her to die in the streets, had taken care of her, loved her, even though he was an orphan himself.
"I owe him that much. No matter what, I will follow him to the end. Even if that means giving up the principles that I bel—no, used to believe in."
"Johan, do you ever feel that you know for sure you're doing the right thing?"
The question was unexpected, but Johan didn't let his surprise show.
"Are you beginning to have doubts about this?"
"…Well, I-I…" She couldn't answer, couldn't ask him to tell her, that yes, it was right, that everything would turn out okay. It was so much simpler when people told you things, and you just followed. Actually thinking things through always gave her a headache, which was why she tended to avoid it.
He stared right into her eyes, intense emerald on deep cobalt, even though he was still driving. "I know you, Antaria. I know that this isn't something you really approve of, and I know that you wish for things to be different. But they aren't, and I'm not God, just a man; I can't just think of a perfect solution to change things, and so I'm asking you to trust me, like I trust you." With that, he turned his eyes back on the road, muttering to himself as they neared their destination.
This car turned over without a key or gasoline
tonight
Feel everything
on fire and I'm dressed to kill killing for your dress goodnight
Help me to
wait on you, hesitate on through, cause I'm alone
Feel so jaded, contemplative, waiting for you
"Well, looks like we're all here." Johan gazed around at the small group that stood in front of the largest warehouse in the city, or, as it was more commonly called, "The Crypt", for it was rumored that before the city was built the building was used to house corpses for an embalmer that lived there. While their squad members were unloading the supplies, Johan and Ryo "Kaiser" Marufuji were deep in discussion.
"As we mentioned earlier, you'll take your squad and the rest of my squad members, save Antaria, to secure the building and its perimeter. Once that's done, head over to the waterfront bridge stay there until you see the signal, then return to base. Antaria and I will rendezvous with everyone else once we've finished." Ryo nodded his head in confirmation.
"Still…maybe it's not my place to say, but are you sure you two can handle it? I or one of my squad members could easily stay behind for back up." Ryo didn't flinch or show any outward emotion when Johan gave him a slight glare, although, inside he knew he'd probably stepped out of line with that comment.
"Like I've emphasized, the two of us will be enough. The strategy here is to have as little involvement as possible in this kind of situation. You know first hand how difficult it can be to control and keep track of a large group. I'll concentrate better when I'm not trying to keep tabs on five other individuals. Besides," he added in a quieter voice, "if worse comes to worst, this should help keep casualties to a minimum."
"Johan—!"
" I know. But it's still an option we have to consider. Now, are set?" Emerald eyes faced turquoise ones.
"Yes."
With that, Ryo disappeared like a shadow, taking most of the squad members with him. Johan and Antaria prepared themselves, shedding their bulky jackets and arming themselves with silenced pistols for long-range and knives for close-range combat. Johan had just tucked three rounds of bullets into his vest when he heard a faint cry, only to be quickly cut off, followed by a light 'thump'. His chest felt a bit lighter now that the first part of the plan was preceding as planned; Ryo was, after all, a master of swordplay, hence the reason he carried a sword rather than a gun. Johan himself preferred an arm blade to firearms, but his situation called for long-range, so gun it was.
After a few minutes had gone by, Johan saw squad members slowly trickling through the shadows, some fine, others wounded, but there seemed to be no casualties. When at last Ryo came out of the dark, Johan knew it would be just him and Antaria afterwards.
"Good luck."
"Same to you."
As Ryo's face disappeared, he and Antaria proceeded to do what they had been planning for months.
We're running
We're running
hot tonight and it feels so good
Your arm in
mine here near midnight and it feels so right
Girls and the
boys chase down running hot tonight
As soon as the last barrel had been emptied, Johan took a match from his pocket, lit it, and set it near the gasoline trail. Then both of them took off without a second thought, running as fast as they could on foot, since even the car's gas had been contributed.
For a second, Antaria was tempted to just let it all go and shout and cheer; after all, their plan couldn't have gone smoother, but her logical side knew if they didn't put enough distance between themselves and the building, they'd be blown up along with The Crypt.
They had just reached the outer boundaries of the park when the explosion happened. While they were a safe distance away, the sound and sight was still impressive. A massive, flaming ball of orange and yellow rose into the sky, followed by smaller flames and a vast cloud of dense smoke. Johan pulled himself and Antaria into a nearby tree to observe after he heard voices closing in.
"What's that? The Crypt?"
"Is it an attack on the government?"
"Probably terrorists; and this being the eve of Liberation Day too!"
The frantic chatter of the wealthy meant nothing to Johan; they had brought this upon themselves, forcibly oppressing the lower class while still finding ways to live even more luxuriously than ever. He forced himself to tune out their jabbering and focused on the destruction. It was almost hypnotizing, he vaguely realized, with the swirling flames of red-red-orange to orange, yellow highlights streaked in between…
"—rd orphanage right across also…"
His mind snapped back to reality with that comment.
"Antaria. What did those women say about an orphanage?"
Antaria looked at him, a bit startled at his sudden demand. "Well, I didn't hear all of it, but I think they mentioned that some orphanage that was around The Crypt was also caught in the explosion and…they don't think there were many, if at all, survivors. Johan? Is something wrong?" she worriedly glanced at him, his eyes having seemed to glaze over for the moment. "Johan?"
"The orphanage. The orphanage where I spent most of my childhood after my parents died. Where Ms. Tome and Mr. Samejima took us off the streets and looked after us. The orphanage." His mind swirled with a confusion of emotions and past memories as he repeated the phrase over and over in his head. So engrossed he was that he didn't quite catch what Antaria was trying to tell him.
"—got them! Johan! Snap out of it!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him lightly, as not to attract the attention of the crowd.
"Wha—is something happening?" He focused his gaze on her stoic face.
"Haven't you been listening? What's wrong with you, you're usually more attentive than this." She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the orphanage being destroyed, would it?"
"I—"
She sighed. "Look, you don't have to say anything. I can see it in your eyes. That place…it meant something to you, didn't it?"
He nodded. God, just what had he done? Maybe she was right after all. Maybe there really wasn't a way to justify the deaths of innocent victims. Still, this wasn't the time to angst. There would be time for brooding later.
"So, what was it that was important?"
At this, Antaria suddenly shifted and avoided his eyes. "Oh Johan, I…I wished it wouldn't come down to this, but, I heard some of the people say…say…"
"Say what, Antaria? Come on, you have to pull yourself together. If you can't tell me what's wrong, I can't fix it." He pulled her close and ran his fingers through her hair.
"O-oh God…I think some our members got captured…" She sunk into his chest, as if trying to make herself disappear.
"They what?! Oh shit…" He cursed at himself for thinking everything would go off without a hitch. All his experience had taught him that large-scale operations rarely went off without trouble. So why was he still sitting here in a tree, listening to passerby yammering away?
"Come on, we've got to help." In one moment, he jumped down from the tree, Antaria landing silently next to him. "If this just happened, then we still have a chance. And if everyone followed the instructions that were given, then hopefully they're still around the bridge. Let's move!" With that they weaved their way through the crowd, not even bothering to apologize when they pushed people aside or stepped on a foot.
"Please…please don't let me be too late!"
Running down
the ready fuels
It's finally
over, just get over
Time will
tell if all turns out ok
Help me to
realize my dream is dying
Redefine despair I turned away
So look the
other way tonight
Despair. Desperation. He thought he knew the meanings of these words the night his parents died and he was alone on the streets, with only those emotions keeping him alive. But no. The emotions he felt now…they were much more intense than it had been in the past. His chest heaved, not just from the running but also from fear, the fear that was slowly clawing at the back of his mind and threatening to spill over.
"No. You can't give into panic, Johan. If you do, then it's all over. It's not too late; if you can get there, you still have a chance to help. So keep a cool head and just focus on one goal at a time."With that thought he pushed ahead, and both of them managed to arrive at the bridge just as the chaos appeared to be starting.
People were running around, yelling and fighting; in the dark it was nearly impossible to make out who were the police and who were his comrades, but generally his friends seemed to be holding all right, with many of the officers already out cold or otherwise incapacitated.
"It looks like they're doing all right!" Antaria shouted, as she shot out the back tires of a police car, while Johan was shouting commands for immediate withdraw back to base.
They were going to make it. The city's defenses were no match for a couple of well-trained teens who had bones to pick with the government. Gradually the guards fell back, and for second it seemed they had won—
"WATCH OUT! They brought the heavy-duty stu—" Johan barely heard the warning when a literal fireball came hurtling through the air, landing a mere foot or so on his right. The heat was so intense that even though it hadn't been a direct hit, he could feel his clothes scorching.
"Everyone! Scatter, now!" he yelled as loud as he could before he dodged his way from bullets, fireballs, and people to find Antaria.
If the panic hadn't set in earlier, then it certainly had now. Everyone knew the empire only brought out the Flammekanonen during serious situations, such as warfare. To use it on a mere rebellion…apparently they weren't willing to take any chances. A part of Johan grew sick with worry, of what the casualties might be; another part of him was, ironically, a bit proud to realize that they had become more than just a thorn in the empire's side, that they were now a potentially serious threat.
"Which won't happen if you're dead. So find Antaria, and get going already!" The adrenaline flowing through his system sharpened his senses, focused his mind; never mind the bullets and whatnot, he only focused on her…and she had already seen him and was running towards him. Together, hand in hand, they were fleeing away from the bridge, towards the only place they had been able to call home for all these years."What about the others?" She barely choked out as they jumped a fallen barrel and dodged into a narrow, trash-filled alley.
"They can handle themselves." He bit back, although, deep in his mind, he knew not of them would make it…especially not the new recruits, oh God…had to stop thinking about that. "Save the guilt-trips for later." He griped to himself, and forced the thought out of his mind.
We're running
We're running
hot tonight and it feels so good
Your arm in
mine here near midnight and it feels so right
Girls and the boys chase down running hot tonight
Past streetlamps, past sleeping apartments and slightly bewildered night-owls that stared at the young couple being gunned down by the empire's elite foot soldiers. They were so close…just a few more blocks, then a sharp turn to the right and through a nearly-invisible passageway…
"Ugh!" Antaria cried out and nearly tripped when she felt a bullet rip through her waist, but she held her bearings and continued running, albeit slower. Johan heard her cry and felt her spasm, and he knew she had been shot. He pulled her down behind a bush, and, before she could protest, hauled her onto his back and took off again.
"Before you say anything, no, I am not letting you down so you can forget about that." He muttered in her ear as he continued his pace towards the base.
Antaria nodded weakly. She wasn't planning to, anyway; the shot must've done more damage than she had initially calculated, for she was starting to feel strangely lightheaded. And weak…why was it taking so much more effort than usual to hold on…?
"Antaria! Stay with me!" Panic was starting to edge into Johan's voice as he realized she was starting lose conscious. "Well of course, considering how much she's bleeding onto you." his cynical side sneered. More bullets blew past, grazing his shoulder and leg, but he grit his teeth and didn't even bother to change course. It didn't matter what happened to him at this point, for the only thing that mattered was she.
Can you wait for me a little, little longer?
Can you wait
for me a little, little stronger?
"If there is a God somewhere, then please, don't let me fail…let me save her…"
And so he continued to run through the darkness of the city's shadows.
We're running
We're running
hot tonight and it feels so good
Your arm in
mine here near midnight and it feels so right
Girls and the
boys chase down running hot tonight
Can you wait
for me a little longer
We're running
We're running
hot tonight and it feels so good
Your arm in
mine here near midnight and it feels so right
Girls and the boys chase down
running hot tonight
A/N: This chapter turned out longer than I expected, but that's not a bad thing, is it? I hope the lyrics fit well into this plot (or more like, the plot fit with the lyrics) and that it wasn't too cheesy. Oh, and sorry if the pseudo-communism/socialism theme makes anyone uncomfortable—it's just that I thought it would be a good background for the situation, and plus I'm learning about socialist Germany in my class right now so it just kind of worked itself in. And yes, this story is basically the AU dream Johan had in the prologue—so if you were curious as to what he dreamed, that was it. BTW, if anyone is interested in seeing what Antaria looks like, I have a brief bio and pic of her on my DA account (link is on my profile). And lastly, if you're here for the Judai/Asuka shots, no worries, the next song is "Foreign Language"…hmm, if you know the song then you'd probably know why they'd fit.
