Disclaimer: I do not own the Xenosaga series. Or the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.
'Thoughts'
"Words"
Xenosaga: Es Lasst Sich Nicht Lesen
Chapter 10: Epilogue, End of Arc 1
by: Nim Maj
Albedo slowly woke up. Immediately sensing something off, he moved his hands to check his body. Feeling no different, he slowly opened his eyes to perceive a slightly larger world. "What happened?" he wondered out loud. 'I shouldn't feel this way. Something is off.' Trying to reach out to his powers, for some reason they felt sluggish, as if they weren't fully developed.
"We appear to have switched bodies, Albedo" came a voice from below him. Realizing he was in an infirmary bed, he sat up and look down to see his face, except with black hair.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Albedo demanded as he then took in the rest of the room. His gaze stopped on Jr./Rubedo and Nigredo. "What the hell happened and how did you block off my powers?!" he snarled.
"Calm yourself Albedo. We have a lot to talk about" Gaignun/Nigredo soothed. "First, when you attacked Katsu mentally, he won and somehow switched bodies with you. This is an entirely unprecedented event."
"I'll say," Rubedo interjected, "I didn't even know that could happen. Something through the link maybe?" he wondered.
Albedo growled in Katsu's direction. "This isn't over Katsu! I'll get you for this!" Katsu just rolled his eyes.
"I agree. As if being awakened 5000 years in the future wasn't bad enough, now I have to deal with an entirely new adult body. My equilibrium is shot. I've also begun to feel weird vibes in my head. The really weird stuff however is this nauseous feeling I'm feeling as if I'm gonna throw up. My entire body is acting up because you had to go and attack MOMO."
"That's another thing we have to talk about." Rubedo said as he glared at Albedo. "Why'd you go and attack MOMO for, huh? She's under our protection!"
"Oh please! Don't get all high and mighty with me! You know as well as I that she is the key to opening Old Miltia. It's stored inside her. And besides, you wouldn't be able to protect her from me anyway. You've gotten soft and weak over the years." Albedo said disdainfully.
"He's right you know? From what I can gather from Albedo's memories, he actually developed his powers. I didn't know URTV's could fly and throw energy bolts. That teleportation trick looks handy too."
"What!?" said a shocked Jr. while Gaignun looked on in interest and Albedo sat on the bed looking smug. "How the heck did you do that?!" Jr. asked angrily as he turned back to Albedo.
"Well, our powers actually vary. We have different specialties." Gaignun threw in with an amused look. "You used your power to halt your growth after all, didn't you?"
"Huh? I did?"
Rolling his eyes Albedo confirmed it." Of course. You didn't actually think that U-DO cursed you to stop growing did you? In reality, you probably just subconsciously wanted to stop growing. Your powers responded to that wish."
"What the heck would I do that for?!"
"Oh I don't know, perhaps the trauma of abandoning your brothers on Miltia to U-DO?" Albedo stated venomously.
"If I hadn't we would've all died! The explosion would've blown up the entire planet!"
"Still clinging to your perceived innocence?" Albedo spat. "At least we would've died together! You! Betrayed! Us!" he stopped heavily on each word. Katsu looked on as some memories surfaced and pieces of the puzzle slowly fit into place.
"There was nothing else I could do! Father used us as expendable weapons! U-DO was that powerful! We would've only prevented its' release for a while before someone else continued the research!"
"I bet you only thought of that now!"
"I did, but I was focused on saving our lives at the time!"
"Only you didn't! Instead you ruined them and left us to the predations of U-DO!" At this point their argument just looped back in circles for a while until Katsu stood up and walked over to them.
KLONK!
"Ow! Katsu! What the heck was that for?!" Jr. asked as he rubbed his forehead, Albedo doing the same.
After knocking their heads together, Katsu stepped back and explained. "To knock some sense into you. The two of you are both right and wrong. You just haven't reached the maturity to place yourselves in each others shoes and acknowledge that. Jr., you have not felt or experienced the betrayal that Albedo did when he thought you were betraying them. Albedo, you have not, up till now, considered the possibility that Jr. may have had reason to cut the link with U-DO, a reason that may have scared his young mind into irrationality. You both have reason to believe that you are wronged, but don't want to admit it."
"Like hell!" Jr. responded angrily. "I know that I betrayed them, but it was because I was trying to save our lives!"
"And that's exactly it." Katsu continued in a bored voice. "You have an inflated guilt complex. Others would say that you were loyal to the lives of your brothers since you tried to save them. You knew when you connected that U-DO would kill you all if you maintained the link. You had information that the others did not. It's called… enlightened loyalty I think."
Jr. stuttered angrily as Katsu's explanation finally made it to his logic centers, but Albedo wasn't done. "Who are you calling immature!? I've grown plenty as you can see." he scoffed angrily.
Katsu only rolled his eyes at Albedo's tone. "Height does not imply mental maturity. I would have considered you mentally mature if you had realized by now that Jr. had his reasons for his perceived betrayal. Unfortunately, you fixated yourself on the belief that he really did betray you and held on to that belief for the rest of your life. However, U-DO's interference cannot be ruled out as it does seem to cause insanity. So you cannot be entirely blamed for your lack of logical reasoning."
As the room quieted, Katsu quietly considered the past events while waiting for more questions. One finally came.
"So, I realized we are still alive. What has happened since I was out?" Albedo asked.
"Vector's Dammerung came by and helped us discover where you hid the Song of Nephilim." answered Jr., "Then we just bombarded it from afar using the Durandal's main guns. There wasn't anything important in there was there? We kind of got caught up in the heat of the moment especially with the Gnosis still appearing" he ended a bit uncertainly and with a bit of an embarrassed chuckle.
"Not really. Have you seen my Connection Gear?"
"This thing?" Katsu said as he pulled it out.
"Yeah thanks." He mumbled out as he reached for it.
"Sure, here you go, if its okay with the Little Master?"
"Yeah, we already took out anything important."
"What! Even my E.S.!?"
"Yup!" Jr. grinned smugly. It's real cool!"
"This is an invasion of privacy! You can't do that!"
"'Course we can't, we already did. We're taking it apart nice and slow. The guys at the Robot Academy really want to find out what makes it tick." Jr. added sadistically, grinning all the while. "Besides, we're family remember? No secrets from the head!"
"Well, anyway, I'll let the two of you catch up." Gaignun said. "I'll just talk to Katsu first."
"Fine." growled Albedo.
"Seeya." said a grinning Jr. as he continued ribbing his incapacitated and underpowered sibling.
As they left the infirmary Gaignun motioned for Katsu to walk with him. "I'm glad that those two can finally just talk and air their grievances. You've finally said what I've been thinking for a while. Unfortunately being the younger brother does tend to cause them to look down on any advice I give, especially concerning each other."
"I apologize if I came across as too presumptive Master Gaignun. But I saw that they could still get along. I don't think that they would have listened if Albedo couldn't have been forced to do so."
"Oh don't be so modest. You only said what needed to be said, and what I couldn't say. I think that this could finally be the start of the healing. Its past time they tried to bury the hatchet. I'm glad that my family can finally be together."
"So you are thinking of putting Albedo up as a long lost brother?"
"Something like that. On another note, now that you may become a URTV, I think that you should be given a position here. We certainly could use the help. And we do owe you for inadvertently reuniting us. Something more influential than Jr.'s personal secretary." he added with a laugh.
"Thank you sir. I do accept. I don't have anyone else to turn to anyway. Hmmm, the Little Master and the Young Master... It will need some work but it can be done."
"I like the sound of that." Gaignun said with a grin tugging on his lips. "It'll all be official soon. For now, get some rest. I have to catch up with my brothers. If you'll excuse me." He said with finality, stopping next to some vending machines. Katsu bowed slightly before heading off, noticing that Master Gaignun had turned his attention to the machines.
Musing quietly to himself as he tried to remember some of Albedo's memories, he thought, 'Hmmm, if the Little Master is URTV 666, Albedo is URTV 667, and Master Gaignun is URTV 669, does that make me URTV 667b?'
A/N
And done! Woohoo! This is the end of Arc 1. Arc 2, which covers Xenosaga 2 will begin next chapter! Also, I redid some of the previous chapters because I didn't like the format. Just combined them really. Go ahead and check them out!
Okay, now for some character explanations:
Katsu is beginning to show some URTV abilities based on Albedo. He turned his hair black from white. That's all for now though. Around Xenosaga 3 he will show more fully developed powers. This is because he is in a mature body that is affecting his soul. It is making it into a URTV's soul.
Albedo is stuck in Katsu's body so his development is slower as his soul has to change Katsu's body. Plus he just woke up. He will eventually develop his skill but not until the 12 months, and late at that. Arc 3 covers Xenosaga 3. Some might think Albedo is out of character, but this is because his powers are all gone except unconscious ones like regeneration. Everything he knew has been turned upside down and he is feeling quite inferior at the moment. His power exists only in his soul right now until his new body adjusts and becomes a URTV too. He could hurry the process by ripping off his arms and other body parts and regenerating them, but he doesn't know that and it wouldn't stop the pain. Other reasons include the fact that he has to deal with puberty all over again. Katsu is 16 and his body is still maturing.
That's all for now! Thanks for reading!
