Disclaimer: With the exception of Erik and some random soldiers, I don't
own any characters in this story.
Author's Note: Why am I writing this? I wanted to do something a little dark. And I wanted to create my own character. Since I rarely do it, I hope Erik's coming out okay. I know he doesn't exactly have good intentions towards Aki, but give him a chance!
METAMORPHOSIS
Chapter One
A Dream to End the Nightmare
The verdant plains were no less magnificent under the light of the huge, luminous moon and the scattering of unfamiliar stars. Aki found herself waist-deep in a field of grass gilded silver in the moonlight, and it rippled and whispered in the soft breeze.
Aki lightly brushed the plant tips with her fingers, then plucked a short length to examine. It looked like normal grass, though Aki noticed its veins were branched rather than parallel, and it curled in a helix. Alien, yet familiar.
She took a step forward, then another, feeling her way through the sea of plants towards the rusted hulks of the ships the Phantoms had deployed in battle. It was difficult to believe this had been the site of such a ferocious onslaught, but the twisted rock formations were the same. And underfoot, she heard the occasional crunch of a charred Phantom's corpse breaking underfoot, invisible under the grass.
Aki's meanderings brought her to the edge of the grassy plain to rockier ground, where the scattered bodies of Phantoms rested in the shadow of one of their ships. She knelt down and picked up one fragile skull, blackened by the heat that had destroyed their planet. A flower had been growing out of one eye socket, and Aki plucked it, gently placing it in her hair. She smiled, then tightened her grip on the skull, which crumbled to black dust. She wiped her hands on her silver uniform, then proceeded past the remains.
Around her, a low cry began to build, but Aki ignored it. After all, what did she have to fear from the Phantoms?
* * *
Lightning ripped across the sky, and thunder rattled the windows. Aki jolted awake, heart pounding. When she realized the weather had awoken her, she laughed quietly. And here she'd thought the rain would put her to sleep…
She lay on her bed, watching the flashes of lightning illuminating her pitch black room. As she watched, she wondered. What had her dream meant? It was a Phantom dream, like those that had haunted her for the past three years. But this one had felt different, somehow. Peaceful. Perhaps the glimpse of the alien's lush planet had given her hope for her own world.
One day, this world will live again… Aki climbed out of bed and crossed the room to her balcony. She pushed the doors open, and a torrent of rain instantly drenched her. The nightgown she wore clung to her body tightly, and she laughed at the unfamiliar sensation of standing in the rain.
If only Gray could see this… If she shut her eyes, she could imagine he was by her side, that his arm was around her shoulder, that the wind's fierce caress was Gray's touch… But no. Aki wouldn't do this to herself. Gray was in Central Park, buried with his squad. In another few days, all the bodies of the New York citizens would be gathered and cremated, their ashes spread over the same park that would become a memorial. Then the real reason for Aki's return, for this gathering of people, would begin: The restoration of New York City.
Aki wasn't certain she wanted to reclaim the dead city; there were so many bad memories here… But restoring the city to life would boost morale.
She didn't see how a storm would hasten the process. Aki folded her arms over the balcony's edge, her eyes on the flooded streets below her. The ground was almost rock solid and couldn't take in the water fast enough. They should have listened to Dr. Sid before playing God…
Aki turned around and went to grab a towel. I might as well try to grab some sleep. We have a busy day planned tomorrow.
* * *
Aki wasn't the only one who lay awake that night. Erik was sprawled across his bed, his ears assaulted by the snores of his two roommates. He wished he could have gotten his own room. Being stuck with strangers made him shy. And strangers tended to act as thought he weren't there. It was as if they thought no one with his battered body should exist.
Their silence suited him just fine. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, and he didn't want to drag anyone into what he had to do.
Lightning flashed, playing across the length of the dagger he held in his hand. The finely honed edge was briefly visible before being swallowed by shadows.
With this knife, he was going to end a life. The thought chilled him. He'd never killed anyone before, but he knew the reason for it, and had made a vow. But at times like this, he wondered if he would have the courage to take that life. After all, he'd failed to end his own.
"You want to die?" The voice asked neutrally.
Erik could only nod wordlessly. His body lay swathed in bandages. Most of the wounds were already half-healed, but had healed wrong. Putting his body back together had cost a fortune, and even then he would never recover completely. There was so much pain…
"Fine. Go ahead. End your life." The speaker slammed a knife, one of the Deep Eyes regulation daggers, into the synthwood of the table beside Erik's bed. "When you can pull the dagger free, you can slit your wrists, your throat, whatever." There was anger in the tone now. "I don't care. But you're not the only one who's lost something." The speaker stormed from the room. Erik reached trembling fingers for the knife's hilt, and nearly sobbed as his weak tugging failed to free it. This was cruel! Why couldn't he just die? Why couldn't he have just let himself die when he had the chance?
Because then he'd still had hope his life could be restored to normal…
Erik's fingers clung to the knife. That had been six years ago. By the time he'd healed enough to pull the knife free, he'd lost the will to die.
Would he lose the will to kill as well? Erik shuddered. He'd never had the will to begin with. Why did he have to do this? His thoughts turned to Aki, who had splashed in the puddles with an almost childlike delight earlier that day. How could she be evil?
Erik replaced the knife – the same knife he'd been given all those years ago – in its hidden sheath inside his jacket.
He'd have to do it. He'd have to find a way to get her alone and end it all before it started. It could take days, but he would kill her.
It wouldn't matter what happened to him afterward.
* * *
Dawn came, revealing muddy, flooded streets clogged with debris from the dead city. Watermarks showed that the water was draining, though very slowly.
Aki sloshed through the water, eying the leaden sky. It was a dismal start to such an important occasion. She hoped the dreary weather didn't dampen people's spirits.
Speaking of which… Aki turned and went back to the main building, where a large breakfast was laid out for the waking people. One of the first awake, standing a little ways from the rest of the crowd, was the man she'd seen outside yesterday when everyone else had run away from the storm.
He stood awkwardly; crookedly, as if there was something not quite right with his limbs. He limped when he walked, and his grip on his breakfast tray seemed weak.
Someone knocked into him, and he dropped his tray. The man who'd bumped into him mumbled an apology and walked away. So much for the good feelings this is supposed to inspire…
"Let me help," Aki said, going over to the man and helping him pick up his dishes. The man gave her a grateful look, which froze when he saw who she was. Aki took the moment to study him.
He was about her age, she decided, though his infirmities made him seem older. He must have been this way because of an accident rather than birth, for she could see horrible scars on his hands and neck. His face, however, was a contrast to the rest of him; he was quite attractive, with a fine face framed by dark auburn hair. His eyes, behind a small pair of glasses, were a clear sky blue.
"Hello," Aki said, deciding the awkward silence had gone on long enough. She hoped he wasn't one of those who was awed by her. "I'm Dr. Aki Ross."
She received no response, except for a slight widening of his eyes. He backed away a step. Was he really that shy?
Her gaze went to his dark Zeus Station jacket; the name 'Erik' was stenciled on his chest. "So, you were aboard the Zeus before it fired, Erik?" she asked, hoping the use of his name would soothe him. Instead, he took another step back, muscles tense as if ready to spring.
Aki began to wonder if perhaps his injuries had been mental as well as physical. Perhaps he'd taken a damaging blow to his head, and had later been taken aboard the Zeus by a relative to be taken care of.
Pity… "Well," she said, placing a friendly hand on his arm, "I'm glad you are brave enough to help restore the city with us. We need all the help we can get."
Erik's reaction to her touch surprised her. He jerked away, as if struck. His eyes had gone wide, and his face was panicked. He nearly dropped his tray again in an effort to get away.
What was that all about?
* * *
Erik's heart was racing, and his legs quaked under him. He slumped against the wall as he struggled to compose himself. He placed a hand over the spot on his bare flesh where Aki had touched him.
It had hurt. The brush of her fingers had been like an electric current, passing through his whole body, tugging at his soul.
His eyes found Aki, and he watched her as she spoke to several other people and shook hands. None of them flinched away from her touch. What had he felt?
Or… had it been his imagination? His mission had him so tense that coming into contact with the woman he'd vowed to kill may have made him physically ill. After all, he'd never killed before… And why did he have to kill someone now? So what if he'd made a promise? Should a promise like this even be kept? And why Dr. Aki Ross, of all people? She seemed harmless…
Erik removed his hand from his arm, then stared in shock. The flesh, where it had come into contact with hers, was bubbling up, flushed an angry red where it wasn't blistering. The pain hadn't been imaginary.
There could be no doubt. You were right, Erik thought to the one he'd promised, the one who would never hear. She has to die. Oh, God…
But why had be been the only one affected? Was it because they were both Phantom touched?
Or did she known what he had planned?
* * *
The USMF went through the city, combing the debris for bodies before letting in the work crews to clear and area. Aki watched distractedly as the volunteers were put to work cleaning up the streets. It would be a long time before New York lived again, but she knew the sight of the willing workers, filmed by reporters whenever they weren't pitching in their own services, was inspiring to a people who had lived so long without hope.
Aki helped where she could, but being in a place where so much death and destruction had occurred left her feeling… strange. Empty, almost. There were no tears, even though she was one of the few people here who had survived New York's fall, and there was no joy in seeing so many people work together. There was… nothing.
She wandered away from the USMF crew she'd been checking in with, pausing once to shake hands with an enthusiastic female soldier. I must still be numb with shock, she realized. Why wouldn't I be? After what I've lived through… What Gray should have lived through…
She felt a sharp pang at the thought of Gray. So I'm not totally emotionless after all…
And yet, she wasn't as sad as she thought she should have been. Perhaps she was just too busy to think about his loss. Perhaps…
A low murmuring interrupted her reverie. She turned and saw Dr. Sid talking to a Council member and two soldiers. Their expressions were a mixture of concern and puzzlement. And a little fear…
"What's wrong?" Aki asked, searching her mentor's concerned face. Why did he look so upset?
"There's been a death," the Council member, a man by the name of Dickson, told her somberly.
"What happened?" Aki kept her voice low, not wanting to attract attention.
The two soldiers exchanged glances. "We don't know," the female soldier replied. "Private Garcia was working on the cleanup crew, and she walked off for a moment. When we found her, she was dead."
"She looked," the male soldier said softly, "as if she were killed by a Phantom."
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: Why am I writing this? I wanted to do something a little dark. And I wanted to create my own character. Since I rarely do it, I hope Erik's coming out okay. I know he doesn't exactly have good intentions towards Aki, but give him a chance!
METAMORPHOSIS
Chapter One
A Dream to End the Nightmare
The verdant plains were no less magnificent under the light of the huge, luminous moon and the scattering of unfamiliar stars. Aki found herself waist-deep in a field of grass gilded silver in the moonlight, and it rippled and whispered in the soft breeze.
Aki lightly brushed the plant tips with her fingers, then plucked a short length to examine. It looked like normal grass, though Aki noticed its veins were branched rather than parallel, and it curled in a helix. Alien, yet familiar.
She took a step forward, then another, feeling her way through the sea of plants towards the rusted hulks of the ships the Phantoms had deployed in battle. It was difficult to believe this had been the site of such a ferocious onslaught, but the twisted rock formations were the same. And underfoot, she heard the occasional crunch of a charred Phantom's corpse breaking underfoot, invisible under the grass.
Aki's meanderings brought her to the edge of the grassy plain to rockier ground, where the scattered bodies of Phantoms rested in the shadow of one of their ships. She knelt down and picked up one fragile skull, blackened by the heat that had destroyed their planet. A flower had been growing out of one eye socket, and Aki plucked it, gently placing it in her hair. She smiled, then tightened her grip on the skull, which crumbled to black dust. She wiped her hands on her silver uniform, then proceeded past the remains.
Around her, a low cry began to build, but Aki ignored it. After all, what did she have to fear from the Phantoms?
* * *
Lightning ripped across the sky, and thunder rattled the windows. Aki jolted awake, heart pounding. When she realized the weather had awoken her, she laughed quietly. And here she'd thought the rain would put her to sleep…
She lay on her bed, watching the flashes of lightning illuminating her pitch black room. As she watched, she wondered. What had her dream meant? It was a Phantom dream, like those that had haunted her for the past three years. But this one had felt different, somehow. Peaceful. Perhaps the glimpse of the alien's lush planet had given her hope for her own world.
One day, this world will live again… Aki climbed out of bed and crossed the room to her balcony. She pushed the doors open, and a torrent of rain instantly drenched her. The nightgown she wore clung to her body tightly, and she laughed at the unfamiliar sensation of standing in the rain.
If only Gray could see this… If she shut her eyes, she could imagine he was by her side, that his arm was around her shoulder, that the wind's fierce caress was Gray's touch… But no. Aki wouldn't do this to herself. Gray was in Central Park, buried with his squad. In another few days, all the bodies of the New York citizens would be gathered and cremated, their ashes spread over the same park that would become a memorial. Then the real reason for Aki's return, for this gathering of people, would begin: The restoration of New York City.
Aki wasn't certain she wanted to reclaim the dead city; there were so many bad memories here… But restoring the city to life would boost morale.
She didn't see how a storm would hasten the process. Aki folded her arms over the balcony's edge, her eyes on the flooded streets below her. The ground was almost rock solid and couldn't take in the water fast enough. They should have listened to Dr. Sid before playing God…
Aki turned around and went to grab a towel. I might as well try to grab some sleep. We have a busy day planned tomorrow.
* * *
Aki wasn't the only one who lay awake that night. Erik was sprawled across his bed, his ears assaulted by the snores of his two roommates. He wished he could have gotten his own room. Being stuck with strangers made him shy. And strangers tended to act as thought he weren't there. It was as if they thought no one with his battered body should exist.
Their silence suited him just fine. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, and he didn't want to drag anyone into what he had to do.
Lightning flashed, playing across the length of the dagger he held in his hand. The finely honed edge was briefly visible before being swallowed by shadows.
With this knife, he was going to end a life. The thought chilled him. He'd never killed anyone before, but he knew the reason for it, and had made a vow. But at times like this, he wondered if he would have the courage to take that life. After all, he'd failed to end his own.
"You want to die?" The voice asked neutrally.
Erik could only nod wordlessly. His body lay swathed in bandages. Most of the wounds were already half-healed, but had healed wrong. Putting his body back together had cost a fortune, and even then he would never recover completely. There was so much pain…
"Fine. Go ahead. End your life." The speaker slammed a knife, one of the Deep Eyes regulation daggers, into the synthwood of the table beside Erik's bed. "When you can pull the dagger free, you can slit your wrists, your throat, whatever." There was anger in the tone now. "I don't care. But you're not the only one who's lost something." The speaker stormed from the room. Erik reached trembling fingers for the knife's hilt, and nearly sobbed as his weak tugging failed to free it. This was cruel! Why couldn't he just die? Why couldn't he have just let himself die when he had the chance?
Because then he'd still had hope his life could be restored to normal…
Erik's fingers clung to the knife. That had been six years ago. By the time he'd healed enough to pull the knife free, he'd lost the will to die.
Would he lose the will to kill as well? Erik shuddered. He'd never had the will to begin with. Why did he have to do this? His thoughts turned to Aki, who had splashed in the puddles with an almost childlike delight earlier that day. How could she be evil?
Erik replaced the knife – the same knife he'd been given all those years ago – in its hidden sheath inside his jacket.
He'd have to do it. He'd have to find a way to get her alone and end it all before it started. It could take days, but he would kill her.
It wouldn't matter what happened to him afterward.
* * *
Dawn came, revealing muddy, flooded streets clogged with debris from the dead city. Watermarks showed that the water was draining, though very slowly.
Aki sloshed through the water, eying the leaden sky. It was a dismal start to such an important occasion. She hoped the dreary weather didn't dampen people's spirits.
Speaking of which… Aki turned and went back to the main building, where a large breakfast was laid out for the waking people. One of the first awake, standing a little ways from the rest of the crowd, was the man she'd seen outside yesterday when everyone else had run away from the storm.
He stood awkwardly; crookedly, as if there was something not quite right with his limbs. He limped when he walked, and his grip on his breakfast tray seemed weak.
Someone knocked into him, and he dropped his tray. The man who'd bumped into him mumbled an apology and walked away. So much for the good feelings this is supposed to inspire…
"Let me help," Aki said, going over to the man and helping him pick up his dishes. The man gave her a grateful look, which froze when he saw who she was. Aki took the moment to study him.
He was about her age, she decided, though his infirmities made him seem older. He must have been this way because of an accident rather than birth, for she could see horrible scars on his hands and neck. His face, however, was a contrast to the rest of him; he was quite attractive, with a fine face framed by dark auburn hair. His eyes, behind a small pair of glasses, were a clear sky blue.
"Hello," Aki said, deciding the awkward silence had gone on long enough. She hoped he wasn't one of those who was awed by her. "I'm Dr. Aki Ross."
She received no response, except for a slight widening of his eyes. He backed away a step. Was he really that shy?
Her gaze went to his dark Zeus Station jacket; the name 'Erik' was stenciled on his chest. "So, you were aboard the Zeus before it fired, Erik?" she asked, hoping the use of his name would soothe him. Instead, he took another step back, muscles tense as if ready to spring.
Aki began to wonder if perhaps his injuries had been mental as well as physical. Perhaps he'd taken a damaging blow to his head, and had later been taken aboard the Zeus by a relative to be taken care of.
Pity… "Well," she said, placing a friendly hand on his arm, "I'm glad you are brave enough to help restore the city with us. We need all the help we can get."
Erik's reaction to her touch surprised her. He jerked away, as if struck. His eyes had gone wide, and his face was panicked. He nearly dropped his tray again in an effort to get away.
What was that all about?
* * *
Erik's heart was racing, and his legs quaked under him. He slumped against the wall as he struggled to compose himself. He placed a hand over the spot on his bare flesh where Aki had touched him.
It had hurt. The brush of her fingers had been like an electric current, passing through his whole body, tugging at his soul.
His eyes found Aki, and he watched her as she spoke to several other people and shook hands. None of them flinched away from her touch. What had he felt?
Or… had it been his imagination? His mission had him so tense that coming into contact with the woman he'd vowed to kill may have made him physically ill. After all, he'd never killed before… And why did he have to kill someone now? So what if he'd made a promise? Should a promise like this even be kept? And why Dr. Aki Ross, of all people? She seemed harmless…
Erik removed his hand from his arm, then stared in shock. The flesh, where it had come into contact with hers, was bubbling up, flushed an angry red where it wasn't blistering. The pain hadn't been imaginary.
There could be no doubt. You were right, Erik thought to the one he'd promised, the one who would never hear. She has to die. Oh, God…
But why had be been the only one affected? Was it because they were both Phantom touched?
Or did she known what he had planned?
* * *
The USMF went through the city, combing the debris for bodies before letting in the work crews to clear and area. Aki watched distractedly as the volunteers were put to work cleaning up the streets. It would be a long time before New York lived again, but she knew the sight of the willing workers, filmed by reporters whenever they weren't pitching in their own services, was inspiring to a people who had lived so long without hope.
Aki helped where she could, but being in a place where so much death and destruction had occurred left her feeling… strange. Empty, almost. There were no tears, even though she was one of the few people here who had survived New York's fall, and there was no joy in seeing so many people work together. There was… nothing.
She wandered away from the USMF crew she'd been checking in with, pausing once to shake hands with an enthusiastic female soldier. I must still be numb with shock, she realized. Why wouldn't I be? After what I've lived through… What Gray should have lived through…
She felt a sharp pang at the thought of Gray. So I'm not totally emotionless after all…
And yet, she wasn't as sad as she thought she should have been. Perhaps she was just too busy to think about his loss. Perhaps…
A low murmuring interrupted her reverie. She turned and saw Dr. Sid talking to a Council member and two soldiers. Their expressions were a mixture of concern and puzzlement. And a little fear…
"What's wrong?" Aki asked, searching her mentor's concerned face. Why did he look so upset?
"There's been a death," the Council member, a man by the name of Dickson, told her somberly.
"What happened?" Aki kept her voice low, not wanting to attract attention.
The two soldiers exchanged glances. "We don't know," the female soldier replied. "Private Garcia was working on the cleanup crew, and she walked off for a moment. When we found her, she was dead."
"She looked," the male soldier said softly, "as if she were killed by a Phantom."
To Be Continued…