A/N: so yea, back to this~
i'd highly suggest listening to 'One who Bares Fangs at God' the final battle music for Xenogears if you can, as that is basically what i've been binging while writing this... and its a good song... and soundtrack... its just all good period...
ENJOY!
Those who bare fangs at God…
… there was a sharp pain in her side. Looking down, raising a once pristine white glove, she saw crimson.
The wound the Torna woman inflicted in her side, it was bleeding…
The edges of her sight were being eaten away, turning black…
There was a rumble from the large forest behind her, a smirk rising past bloody lips on her face as she felt the tremble in the ground.
There was something said, and in the last instance she was momentarily saved by a large white beast.
He pulled her into a cramped space under the roots of a tree. She was there, tears streaming down her face, gold eyes fierce as she shouted something.
The pain in her side was fading, everything was going numb and the blackness was consuming her vision.
She just wanted to keep the Gormotti woman in sight, the last thing she would see…
A bloody smile.
"Take good care of her."
Those tears came harder, her beautiful face frozen in disbelief… then rage.
And the world went black and cold.
… there was fighting on some battlefield. Titan weapons and Blades all around them, all-out war…
She felt at her back, the beautiful Gormotti water Blade, using her scimitar to block attacks and heal her while Brighid's fire defended them both and lashed out at anyone that got too close.
There was some shelling, an attack, the world went sideways…
A cold clawed hand was touching her cheek when she came too, something slick about it seeming wrong…
"Morag…"
Her eyes shot open, wider than they'd ever been as the sound of battle all around them became a buzz in her head.
Nia… Nia was on top of her… a mass of weapons through her… her core crystal cracked…
And she was smiling. Smiling down at her, touching her face…
"Take care of them, hothead…"
Her eyes went wider, reaching out futilely, as the moment she made contact, that smile increased… and she dispersed into ether. A broken core crystal falling in her lap.
All she could see was red as an anguished scream drowned out everything else.
"Mom!" some movement, "Da! Can't you… ain't there anything you can… you can do?!"
"Ciara…"
"Please! Don't you even care-?!" there was the sound of a swift hit and the voice stopped, only a small whimper taking its place.
Her eyes were so heavy. Everything was so heavy. It took all her willpower to crack open her eyes, seeing only blurs; one dark, the other shorter and lighter…
She tried moving her hand, holding it out for… for something.
"Ey," a sweet soft voice was at her side, a warm hand on her own, another petting her head, "Don't move too much… save your strength, yea…"
"Nia…?" it was the light haired presence, even this close… her eyes couldn't make anything out decently. And she was so… so tired.
There was a sniffle, movement from the Gormotti woman as she presumably wiped her eyes, her thumb trailing along her face and wiping her own, "Won't… won't be long now…"
She tried to tighten her hand, tired to lean forward, wanting so badly to wipe away those tears, to touch her forehead with her own, to console her lifelong partner…
Nia seemed to read her desires, leaning forward, kissing her forehead then leaning her head on hers, trying to hum some soothing tune but only really managed a whimper…
There was a smile on her lips, "Don't forget me…"
"Never…" the Gormotti woman kissed her again… and it was the last thing she knew.
Morag woke up, gasping for air.
The dreams… nightmares? -What the hell were those?- they were too vivid, too real to simply be figments of her imagination…
Wide light brown eyes turned around, staring at the room around them. It was wide and circular, with lights under glass floors, and everything looked so technologically advanced compared to anything she knew back in Mor Ardain, like most of the technology inside the World Tree.
"N-Nia!" she scrambled across the floor, spotting the Gormotti Flesh-Eater closer to the center.
Her voice and heart caught in her throat. The last thing she remembered, aside from the dreams that seemed to taunt her, was that they had come down a long set of stairs underneath a church… in… in Elysium? -Or what was left of it…- a barren land underneath a dome looking out into the stars.
Looking at her… at her comrade, she could see the Gormotti woman was still alive. Still breathing, still had a pulse… but the pained look on her face, oscillating between scowling, pain and fury… she must have been dreaming too.
-Where are we?- unconsciously Morag pulled Nia into her lap, holding her, just to know she was still alive, and defending her should something appear. -What happened to us…?- those light brown eyes narrowed, looking around the room. Their Blades were nearby, unconscious, same with the others…
What the hell was going on…
"Ah, I see, you are the first to awaken, how curious."
A voice called out from the center of the room, and Morag turned with fury, hand immediately going for a weapon at her hip… only there was nothing there?
"Please," the voice called, her eyes following it up, "I only wish to speak with you, Mortal."
Morag's eyes went wide, staring at what was in front of her.
It looked like a man, and impossibly old man, with long unkempt hair, grey with age, and a body that looked to be sustained only by the tubes buried in his weak and feeble seeming flesh, floating in the air in the center of the room…
And the left half of his body seemed to be consumed by some black vortex.
Light brown eyes could only blink, "Y-you… what…. What are you?"
The half of his face that still existed seemed to smile gently, "I am… what you, children of Alrest, call the Architect."
Morag could only stare. How did one respond to that? Respond to someone, someTHING, claiming it was the creator of the world.
But how he looked, that… that half of his body missing… the age in his eye… there was really no reason to doubt… but… but still…
"Please," he lightly waved his hand, "Put her down, let her rest and come here child…"
That voice was something else, two toned like something else was speaking through this being. And Morag felt compelled to do as told. Looking down at Nia, face fraught with some misfortune in her mind, she didn't want to abandon her… but…
There was a two-toned chuckle, "She will be fine, no harm will come to her for now…"
Immediately those light brown eyes glared and her grip on the unconscious woman in her arms was tighter. But the Architect only seemed amused and Morag felt guilty. Glancing around, the others were fine… it was inappropriate of her to… to single Nia out like this…
Against every desire in her body she laid the Gormotti Flesh-Eater down on the glass ground. Looking at her face she seemed more upset, Morag put her hand through her hair, petting her ears, only as a comfort to the woman… and a chance to stall and steel herself.
"You truly care for her?" the Architect seemed to sigh, watching as the mortal woman stood, "Despite what she is? An abo-!"
"Don't say that word!" her jaw hurt from how hard it was clinching, ripping the low words through grit teeth.
There was a funny smile on the Architect's half formed face, and she realized what right did she have to bare her fangs at God.
"Please, don't lower your head," his fingers moved again in a gesture, forcing her to raise her gaze back to his face, "You have every right to question my choice of words." His gaze fell to the woman on the ground, "Such a poor creature, taken from the cycle due to an error I had not anticipated. I merely wished to express my condolences," his eye returned to Morag, something otherworldly about it as the emotion held was unreadable, "Such a thing was not intended and I have seen the folly of humanity, their actions towards such things…" the barest of edges of his lips rose, "But you… you do not see what she is, do you?"
The only response Morag had was a tight frown.
"Ah, then there is that too," the Architect nodded, closing his eye as if tired, "You are aware of her true feelings… yet this does not dissuade you, why?"
"Gah," Morag felt compelled to look away, a hand reaching up to grip the area around her heart, "Why would the Architect care about the folly of my weak human heart…"
That odd kind smile again, "Because it is not folly, and it is not weakness that plagues you…" he closed his eyes again and around him floating screens appeared. Each one had something different, a first person view, some familiar, some not, but there was always one thing constantly in each one…
"Nia?!" Morag stared at what was in front of her. She knew these views, knew what they were because they were hers, her own memories, her own experiences and some of them… "My dreams?"
"Possibilities," the Architect held out his hand, bringing one down as if plucking a fruit from a tree. He smiled, watching as a young Gormotti woman with black hair seemed to be getting in a fight with Nia, "Some of these are rather interesting," he chuckled, sending it away.
"What…" stiffly, Morag took a step forward, then another, and another… her eyes didn't know where to look, everything around her was familiar yet most were so different from the world she knew, "What is all this?"
"I took all the data from your mind," the Architect spoke casually, flipping through a few screens, many ending in black screens, "And I constructed the most likely outcomes; all possibilities, all things that could have happened or have happened, just not here, or yet."
"The future?" sharply Morag turned on the decrepit being, glaring at him, "Why… why would torment me with… with these impossibilities!" she faced him fully, wishing she had some weapon in her hand, "Is this some kind of hell? ANSWER ME!"
"Dying a thousand deaths, watching her die a thousand times, the two of you always winding back up in one another's arms again," his otherworldly eye turned on her, the gravity of its gaze unbearable, "Does that sound like hell to you?"
Morag's jaw and hands clinched.
His gaze turned back to the screens, "I wanted to see what lay within a mortal's heart," he flipped through the screens as if unseeing, "You are the only one here I cannot read easily as you have no link to a core crystal nor are you a simple minded creature that gained sentience from another world…"
Dark brows furrowed, turning back to the man, "What?"
"Here, you have a unique perspective," he seemed to 'pull out' one of the screens, a memory and showed it to Morag.
It was their conversation back in Fonsett, about how she expressed, guiltily, how she was the only one that didn't have some part of her a Blade. How Brighid nearly offered herself but she quickly declined…
"You were offered immortality, yet you turned it down without a second thought," that odd smile came back to the Architect, "It surprised me, to be honest."
Morag's grip tightened as she looked at the man hard, "What's the point of gaining something precious like that at the cost of another's suffering…"
That small smile seemed to grow the tiniest bit, "What indeed?" he waved his hand, pushing the memory aside, bringing out another one, from when they fell into Morytha, "And here? You were offered everything you wanted… yet you turned it down as well?" he tilted his half-face as much as it could go, "You seem quite ready to deny gifts given in earnest…"
This time her hands were shaking, swallowing hard and glancing at the glowing ground…
Her eyes of course trailed down to Nia, unconscious and seeming to still be in pain.
"Its not my choice," a stern light brown gaze rose, glaring directly at the Architect, "Its not my choice to make…" -Its hers- "And it's not something that should be made callously just because either of us could die…" -Especially if we're about to die…-
The Architect continued to silently stare at her for a relatively long while, then he flicked his wrist and the screen went back with the rest. "For a mortal, you function more as a Blade," he wasn't looking at her when those light brown eyes rose to glare at him, his own vast gaze simply looking through the screens as he sifted through them, "Time and time again, you are more inclined to sacrifice yourself, your limited mortal flesh, for those that are more than capable of taking far more damage than you ever could…"
Tight gloved fists shook at Morag's side.
"So it is curious, especially given how humanity tends to act," a small smirk may have lifted the edge of the Architect's lips, as he brought out another screen.
It was when they returned to Fonsett, when Nia teased Rex about the children asking him a certain question… how her answer, as true and false as it was, hurt Nia enough to confront her… and Morag told her the truth, told her everything.
"That you are more than willing to give, to sacrifice yourself and your own happiness," his gaze fell upon her, like the weight of a universe on her shoulders, "Yet… when offered, when given freely, you refuse to take… why?"
Her eyes trailed the ground, finding Nia again unconscious, unable to keep them from going right back to her. Her hands hurt as they shook at her side, a weight in her chest becoming almost unbearable and she had to chock back the emotions wanting to well up in her throat.
"Its not mine to take…"
Solemnly those light brown eyes rose, facing God.
"My choice was made a long time ago," her hands finally relaxed, "I have seen… I have witnessed horrible things my people have done. History shows what our… our Pride has brought to the world, same with Urayan envy, Indol's complacence, Nopon greed…" her frown spread, "I heard 'they have too much' and that was reason enough to take, because we could…" she looked back at the Architect, "Its… its not in my nature to follow such…" her eyes fell back to the woman at her feet, "I want to do better… for her…"
"At the cost of your own desire," that half-head tilted the other way, "Seems, strangely inhuman, to me…"
Morag's shoulder's hiked up and she faced the Architect again, "What do you want me to say?"
"The truth, nothing more," he turned back to the screens, to the dreams his calculations had determined, "It is strange, how the two of you respond." He pulled one down, it was unfamiliar to Morag, especially given that Nia was wearing what looked to be a modified Ardainian uniform and appeared to be yelling in her face about something, "Given an opportunity without obstacles such as they are, you develop closer, more securely, yet there is some hesitance, still some resistance, perhaps it is simply your nature to doubt…"
"I don't doubt her…" it was flat and out of Morag's mouth before she realized it.
"Oh, no, not her…" he seemed amused, watching this alternate view as it played out, before his otherworldly eye flicked back to her, "Yourself."
Morag had no response to that.
"You say you made your choice long ago, that you are willing to suffer the pain of loss, even surmounting it yourself before it has been incurred," he set the screen aside, letting it drift with the others, "Deciding, quite cowardly, that you know the choice she will make, thus making it yourself and punishing yourself before it has even occurred." That gaze fell on her again, "Is that fair?"
Ashamed, she couldn't help but look away, "It is the most likely outcome, there is nothing… nothing wrong with preparing for the worst…"
"And if that worst were to never come?" there was a raised brow on the Architect's face, truly curious.
Morag just frowned, she doubted that possibility, doubted it so much she wasn't even willing to entertain the thought.
"Hope is one of the hardest things for mortals to endure," the Architect sighed, "isn't it?"
Her lips pressed into a line, face feeling tight as she tried to keep her emotions off of it, not that it mattered much here. All she could do was nod to his question.
It sounded like the Architect sighed, shaking his head lightly, "I would never wish to put you through any kind of hell, you harm yourself enough already as it is."
Teeth and hands clinched, her whole body shook, "So even in the face of God… I'm just a coward."
That placid otherworldly gaze set on the troubled mortal, kindness returning to his wizen face, "You take the harder path, face pain and dangers other would avoid out of weakness, laziness or temptation." He gave a sigh, "If anything, your fault is an overabundance of compassion, a willingness to give yourself yet unwillingness to take from others, even when it is offered freely," that two-toned voice grew louder, rattling in her mind, "given freely."
When Morag turned to the Architect it was like the whole world got sucked into black…
In an instant the round glowing room was gone, instead she was somewhere else, a place with buildings she didn't quite recognize as they were out of focus and the world was dim. There were fires, the ground shook, and she recognized the sounds of Ardainian troops landing ready for battle…
Swiftly she turned around towards the sound, to halt the troops, to end whatever madness had come about…
Instead she saw Nia, standing under a burning archway that she swore was in Torigoth.
"Why…" the Gormotti woman had her head down.
"Nia?" cautiously Morag approached. There were still the sounds of gunfire, screams and warfare all around them… but all she could see was Nia standing there, not even looking at her.
"Why?!" the sound of her voice broke Morag's heart, as the Gormotti woman raised her head, gold eyes in tears as there appeared to be a cut on her face, blood splatter here and there on her outfit and hands, "Why are you leaving me! Why does everyone leave me?!"
"N-Nia I…" her gloved hand raised, trying to reach out to her...
Only there was a gun in her hand, and she was aiming it at Nia.
"W-wait, no… please… please stop," Morag begged, pleaded, staring at her shaky hand to the woman in front of her, "No… please don't make me…"
Nia staggered a step forward, holding a wound on her chest, "First my Driver, then my Da, then Jin, and Rex and now you too? Why Morag? Why of all people YOU?!"
Frantic light brown eyes turned from Nia to the gun in her hand. Why did she have gun in her hand? And why was she aiming it at Nia!
"Is it ME?!" those blood splattered Gormotti ears went down, her gold eyes shimmering wide, "Is it something I did? Something I said? Please just tell me!" she took another step closer, like she didn't even see the danger or didn't care, "Please Morag, why?!"
Light brown eyes raised, trying… trying so hard to take in that face feeling like she betrayed her without knowing what she'd done.
"It's what I am, isn't it?" tears started to fall harder, Nia had to bring up her arm to try and wipe them away or at least cover them, smearing the blood already on her face, "AM I THAT MUCH OF AN ABOMINATION?! SOMETHING TO JUST BE THROWN AWAY?! ABANDONED?!"
"Nia, please, just run!" every time she tried to move her hand it just seemed to raise, aiming right at her core crystal hidden in her chest, "Please… I-I don't… I don't want to hurt you…"
"YOU'RE ALREADY DOING IT!" there was a fierce wind of ether from her yell as bits and pieces of Nia's Driver form started to disintegrate, jagged altered versions of her Blade form taking its place. Now both arms were covering her eyes, tears of crimson clearly falling as her core crystal was exposed…
"Nia…"
There was a shot. The warped Gormotti Blade lowered her arms, eyes going wide with shock…
Red was spreading on that pristine uniform. At the last second, just as Morag could feel her finger moving to pull the trigger, she had grabbed the gun with her other hand and spun it around in her hand, resulting in the trigger being pulled whether her hand was going to do it or not. The result was a bullet in the chest.
"Mo… Morag…" horrified, Nia watched as the proud Ardainian woman dropped to her knees, the gun disappearing from her hand and she fell face first onto the ground seemingly lifeless.
"MORAG!" immediately Nia was on the ground, in her Blade form with all trace of corruption gone, as she quickly flipped the woman over, bringing her into her lap, "Morag! Morag!" franticly she tried to shake her, move her, something that would get a response, all the while shouting her name.
Her gold eyes saw the wound, the blood oozing out and spreading, changing the white from of the proud woman's uniform crimson far too quickly.
Nia tried to use her ether powers, tried to stem the bleeding just by putting her hand over the wound, something, anything that would make it STOP!
She cried, sobbed, begged as placed her cheek on Morag's forehead, "Don't do this, don't do this, please Morag! Don't do this to me!"
She didn't want to be alone, she didn't want to be abandoned, she didn't want this to happen, not now, not again… already she'd seen it enough times, why now?! Why again?! Why was it every time… every Architect damn TIME Morag had to go and do something like this and she just couldn't bloody HELP HER!
Nia was rocking, shaking, as she held onto the mortal woman's body, "Please, don't leave me again… please…"
A bloody glove rose, touching Nia's cheek and causing her gold eyes to open…
Those tired light brown eyes were staring at her…
"I… don't want… to hurt you…" tears were forming at the edges of those light brown eyes.
Nia was already bawling, holding Morag's hand to her cheek, clinching her jaw and shaking, "You are… you are!" collapsing in tears and anguish she held as much of Morag as she could tightly, not caring for the blood, "You're leaving me again!"
"I'm… sorry…"
Gold eyes shot open as Nia pushed herself up off the ground, hyperventilating as she frantically looked around the room.
Morag was on the floor just a few feet away, collapsed on her side.
"M-Morag…" Nia's voice shook, tears in her eyes as she desperately scrambled to the Ardainian woman, turning her over and pulling her into her lap, nuzzling and holding her as close as she could and not caring that she looked a mess or was bawling her eyes out, "MORAG!"
"Shh, be quiet child," a chiding, grandfatherly voice called from not far ahead, "the mortal is uninjured…"
Wide gold eyes frantically stared up at whatever it was that was speaking to her…
She did not expect to see a withered old man halfway in this world while his other half was consumed by a void spiral.
Panicked, Nia pulled the unconscious Ardainian woman closer, trying to be protective but in all honesty far too terrified to properly respond.
"My, you terrify quite easily, abominable child." This 'person' didn't seem to have any malice in his voice, simply stating observations.
Those cream colored grey Gormotti ears went back and Nia glared at him, baring her fangs and holding onto the body of the woman in her arms tightly, growling, "Shut it."
The brow above his sole eye rose, "You would tell the closest thing to God in this domain to 'shut it'? whatever for?"
Those gold eyes narrowed, her brows furrowing in rage as her fangs became more obvious, "You're the one a step away from calling me an 'Abomination' and this woman in my arms was bleeding to death a moment ago, so yea, I'll bloody well tell whatever the hell you are to 'shut it' and kindly piss off at the very least!"
"So aggressive," his voice was passive, not really suggesting he felt one way or the other about her words. He raised his skeletal hand and gestured her forward, "Come here."
"I'd rather stay where I am, thank you." It wasn't even snide, just a deep growl and scowling look on Nia's face. When the man frowned and repeated his request, her hackles rose and she held onto Morag tighter. She wasn't going to let her go… she'd already had to let her go enough…
Looking down, Nia brushed stray black hairs out of her face. She looked so peaceful, just sleeping…
"Why, damnit…" a clawed thumb rubbed under her eye, "Why couldn't I heal you… why did you keep having to die, in my arms, going so far out of my reach…" leaning down, Nia put her cheek to the Ardainian woman's forehead, "I can't follow you if you leave like that…"
"An error of your construction," the raspy voice of the old man drew her attention again. His sole eye seemed to be staring at her, with what emotion she wasn't sure, "A Blade is meant to cease functions when its Driver dies, to be reborn anew to service another, memories wiped clean to save them the pain of those that which they lost…"
"So what about me, ey?" furious gold eyes rose, staring right back at the man that claimed he was God or something, "Why is it… in every one of those damn things I had to see… I just… I just had to stand there and watch as they died, leaving me behind…"
"It is the most likely outcome," closing his eyes he seemed to sigh, "Your construct was never considered, I had never intended human data to be mingled with that of the Blades," his head rose again, that eye staring at her, "And to think, it would result in a being such as you… not just a Flesh-Eater, but one that could restore to such an unparalleled degree," he looked down at the woman in her arms, "You couldn't die if you wanted to, given time."
Nia's arms crossed over Morag again, pulling her tighter and refusing to believe this man, "There are plenty of Flesh-Eaters that've died…" Patroka, Akhos, and Jin… they sacrificed themselves to they could get here. If they could die then so could she. Even old man Cole, he was aging at this point, he could live for another hundred years but his human side would clearly die by then.
His gaze was flat on her, "Is that what you wish?"
Looking down at Morag's placid face, running her hand along her cheek again, just knowing she was alive right now… Nia's ears drooped, "It'd just be a matter of time, find something that could get rid of me, should the time come…" raising her head, sorrowful gold eyes looked at the half man, "But what about her? Why couldn't I… if my ability is so world shattering, why couldn't I save her?"
"Mortals die, that is inevitable," was his flat response, vacant eye just staring at the mortal woman, "Your ability can cheat death but eventually she will die… it is simply part of life…"
Tears fell out of her eyes, as she drew Morag up and just held on to her tightly, nuzzling wherever she could. This wasn't fair… this just wasn't bloody fair…
"I do have a question," the voice called again, "Why do you care so much?"
"Why do you bloody think?" Nia just growled at him, not caring what he was or what he could do.
"Hmm…" bringing his decrepit finger to his chin, the Architect seemed to ponder her response. He glanced around, pulling out the floating screens and new data started to emerge. The views clearly different, swapped one might say, as instead of the Gormotti Flesh-Eater being the focus, now it was the Ardainian woman. He flipped through the possibilities, through the worlds that could have been and will be, "You and she do have a certain kind of bond don't you," the data in the screen he was seeing frazzled, becoming corrupted and skipping. A frown made it to his face, "It is unfortunate your core crystal is corrupted, it makes reading its data somewhat inconsistent…"
Gold eyes finally rose to glare at the man. Instead her eyes caught on what was floating around him, the things on the screens, the fuzzy data that seemed both familiar and not, "Ey, what is all this?"
"Possibilities," the barest of grins rose on his half lips as he watched one of the screens, "Friend or lover, you stick by her one way or another more often than not… drifting through the sea of others, you find your way back to her eventually…" he flicked his hand, the screen enlarging to show what he was looking at.
It was from Nia's point of view, she seemed to be running, towards someone with greyed hair, and as she hugged the person Nia could see their face, and could instantly tell it was Morag, just… older, much older. She looked happy to see her, but there was a weariness to her eyes, tired and… and she didn't want to think about it.
Her ears flattened against her head, ashamed.
"It seems, no matter what, she will accept you on your terms… however you want this to be," he flicked the screen away, flipping through them again.
"Why…" Nia's feeble voice called out, "Why… why is this…" her head rose, looking at the half-man, "Why can't I just… figure this out?" she looked down, sad for the mortal woman, "Why can't she just hate me or be angry with me for my wavering emotions, why can't she just push me away or get rid of me if I hurt her so much," that clawed hand ran through her black hair, bringing it down slowly, framing her face as she always knew it to be, "Why does she… endure so much, but never just… just…" the emotion in her chest became too much, tears spilling down her face as she looked at the woman in her arms.
"Just make the decision for you?"
At the man's placid words Nia's eyes shot up to him, desperate for something, anything that could explain or fix this pain in her chest.
There was a long drawn out sigh from the half-man, "Human emotions are hard, complicated and difficult to deal with," his eye dropped, "This is why I had not intended beings such as you to exist." He looked behind her, to where the others were laying about unconscious, "A human can adapt and handle the power of a core crystal if done properly, adaptation is an advantage they have always possessed," his gaze fell back to the Flesh-Eater, "no matter what, humans always survive in some form, but those like you," he raised his hand, pointing directly at her, "You cannot handle or comprehend the power of the human heart…"
A hurt frown passed Nia's face, she had known that, figured it out long ago. Lowering her head, she just couldn't look at the man right now, "I figured that's what it was… why all the other members of Torna, why I… why we just… couldn't handle anything… why I was such a coward."
"Fear is a powerful emotion," his voice was placid, seeming to coax her gaze without actually calling her, "And being a coward isn't something to be ashamed of…" his sole eye looked below her, to the woman in her arms, "She believes she is a coward, unable to take what she wants, even if it is right in front of her, offered freely…" that eye rose, meeting those sad gold eyes, "And you, you are terrified of making a decision, or hurting anyone, even if you already know the answer to both paths, wishing someone else would simply choose for you…" a sad, almost pitying smile bent his lips, "Perhaps that part is the Blade in you, but your desire, your emotion towards this woman… that is the human in you."
"Y-you mean…?" she looked up at the man, both terrified and full of hope.
His placid gaze did not change, "Blades feel emotions, they are just simpler, easier, and geared towards their Drivers, as it is their duty to interact with and, in their benefit, to protect them," he looked down to the woman in her arms, "It is humans that have the hardest time expressing their far deeper and far more complicated emotions. What can seem so simple, like saying a few simple words," this time when his eye faced Nia, it pierced right through her, "can be a harder task than defying the entire world."
Those gold eyes went wide, terror and guilt running across her face. He truly could see right through her, to her feelings, to her shame and confusion.
She looked down at the woman in her arms, her hand running along her cheek again as her eyebrows furrowed and her ears went back…
Morag was going cold, so very, very cold… something that just didn't make sense for an Ardainian since they always were so warm compared to the other humans.
Suddenly the world was dark again, and Nia could hear the sounds of battle and fires raging around them. The altered color of the world, the screams with no people behind them.
That didn't truly matter, as in front of her was Morag again, bleeding again, going cold in her arms…
"I'm sorry."
This time she was the one saying it, leaning down to hold the woman as tightly as she could, not caring for the bullet wound or the blood staining everything. Just needing to hold her close even if she was slipping away again.
"I'm so… so sorry, Morag…" tears were streaming down her face, heartache, sorrow and loss etched into every word as she nuzzled her the best she could, "I don't… I don't know why… I don't understand what this is… why I keep seeing it… why you of all people have to suffer for my mistakes…"
Weakly, a hand came up, gloved and covered in blood, reaching for the Gormotti Flesh-Eater's own on her blood covered chest, "N-Nia…"
It just drew out a pained whimper from the Gormotti woman, pulling the Ardainian woman closer, burying her head in her hair.
Morag gripped her hand, both of them shaking, either from weakness or trying to hold on too tight. It brought a smile to her bloody lips. It didn't matter, none of it mattered… because at least this way, if just for this moment… she got to have Nia, all to herself quite selfishly.
Maybe that's what the Architect was trying to tell her, maybe even tell them both if he spoke to Nia the same way he spoke to her.
Time was short, whatever time they had. As a mortal she could die any moment and Nia, as a Flesh-Eater, she would just disappear if her core crystal was damaged.
They didn't have time to doubt, to be afraid, to let things simply fall as they did… now required action, something, anything to just… just know this was real.
Leaning back as much as she could, her light brown eyes gazed into her terrified gold ones. Weakly her bloody hand trailed to Nia's cheek, wiping away tears, "Nia… I…"
"I know," her ears drooped and her face looked pained, yet still some smirk seemed to pull at her lips, "I know you damn fool," she leaned down, putting her forehead to Morag's, speaking to her closely, "I'm sorry… I'm such a coward…"
Morag's hand just gripped tightly, grabbing the side of her head, her hair and ear, and just drew her in, "I know… so am I…"
And they both kissed each other, roughly, passionately, gently, desperately, needy… every which way two people could, thinking this would be their last chance…
The rest of the team was left staring as to the side as two of their number seemed to be kissing each other like their lives depended on it.
"Should we…" Pyra nervously leaned over to Brighid, "Should we stop them? Or something?"
The keen eyed Blade just lightly shook her head, "I think we should just let them get it out…"
"But if they start…" the fire type Aegis' words trailed off as a crimson blush flew across her face. Her eyes darting from the two, to her Driver who was still unconcious, the floor, and back to Brighid, "What if they…"
"Then we'll stop them," somehow it seemed like her seemingly closed eyes narrowed, it was quite scary.
"Avert your gaze Poppi!" Tora had his ear-wings over Poppi's eyes… same as she had her hands over his.
"So embarrassing Masterpon!" the young Artificial Blade just buried her face in her Masterpon's fur, holding him up to make sure.
Pandoria simply pushed up her glasses, a smug glare falling over them, "Hehe…" next to her Zeke was turned away, hand over the lower half of his face, "Something wrong my Prince?"
"No, no, nothing's wrong Pandy…" there was a clear strain in his voice, his eye looking distinctly away and the hand not moving on his face.
Pandoria pushed up her glasses again, spotting red underneath his hand, "Are you blushing my Prince~"
"I am not blushing!" suddenly he turned to his Blade, 'fury' in his eyes as he stood strong and faced her.
"Oh really?" the pointy eared electric Blade just giggled behind her hand, seeing the red on her Driver's cheeks… and blood coming out of his nose.
"Gah!" and Zeke just turned back around, trying to hide his 'totally-not-blushing' face.
And Dromarch, poor, poor Dromarch… he had a paw covering his face, just embarrassed. He was happy for his Driver, having no idea what she and Lady Morag must have been subjected to mentally to be… well… so publicly…it must have truly been something dire. "But must they do this now…"
Brighid sympathetically pat his head, watching their Drivers and prepared to break it up should it go too far…
"By the way…" Pyra cut in, walking towards the Architect with an obvious blush on her face and clearly trying to ignore what they'd all just seen, "Um, Father?" she looked at him questioningly as his gaze shifted back to her, "Why is… why is my Driver still… unconscious?"
The Architect's gaze went to the lowest grade version of Pneuma, then back to the two that were… well, getting somewhere after his interference, to the boy Driver still unconscious on the floor, and back to the other two, "He is still facing his trials… you needn't worry."
Pyra was not oblivious to the fact the Architect was still staring at Nia and Morag essentially making out… her eyes grew flat, accusingly, "You're not keeping him occupied for any particular reason… are you?"
He looked at her, then back at them… no words to say.
A/N: so God is a pervert and clearly approves of Yuri... what's not to love :D
and i know, that was really silly to just... take a left turn into crack!town, but so much heartwrenching angst! even i have my limits! as much as i love it i do like swinging back to something funny... and well its my headcanon everyone KNOWS they're together and ships them but the two dorks don't realize that... even God ships them XD (though clearly for not so altruistic reasons)
but yea, those first bits are snagged from pieces i'm working on, also PROJECT NOAH for the 'Ciara' reference, and i've just been curious if the other party members had to basically face other things like Rex did and not just have them as 'part' of HIS dream sequence, i rather like the idea that those projections were more Rex's own making, his own preceptions of his own failings towards his friends and how, in essence, he sees them... not simply God taking away their filter so they can bitch at him about their problems... cause there's way more to each of them than that, especially Zeke and Tora who got the least say here...
so i figure they were all dealing with their own stuff... not just Rex's baggage...
and yes, i know, its all just an excuse to pull out the Yuri!Shipping!Goggles and go to town... tomato tamato...
would love to hear what you guys think!
till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!
-Ikasury