Disclaimer: I don't own Weiss Kreuz or anything therein.
Chapter 25
Forgot but not Forgotten
There was silence then, after the doors slid shut and the staring eyes of the others were distinctly cut off from view. I closed my own eyes slowly, flexing my abused hand and breathing deeply through my nose to settle myself. I felt very isolated in this lift, nice and holed in. It felt safe, almost homely. Ha, as if anything really felt homely to me. However, I did of course associate this place with one of my greatest triumphs, one of my most successful ideas. The fact that I had not really thought about that when I decided to come here was a little disturbing, the fact that I had not remembered where I was going at all was just as bad. Not that I had ever known the name of this place when I was younger, but then that hadn't been the most important of things at the time. What was more important now was that my power had not sufficiently warned me of something like this happening.
The distinct click of a lighter forced me to open my eyes and watch the man sitting haphazardly against the papered interior of the lift, his sprawling legs rustling against the carpet as he repositioned himself and opened his own eyes lazily. His smirk was most infuriating, yet I had already known it was coming. Well, anyone who knew Schuldich as well as I did didn't actually need to be able to perceive the future to anticipate that expression creeping up onto his features, it was just a given.
"Well, well, well," he said slowly, relaxed, nursing the red mark on his chin, "haven't felt that in a lo-ong time. Well, what's it been? Nine years? I think that's about right."
"Ten years," I corrected him smoothly, my adrenaline high slowly receding even though I could still feel my eyes burning with the intensity of it.
"Right," he chuckled softly, pulling another long inhale from the disappearing cigarette and letting it out through his nose, "says the man who, how did you eloquently put it? "Forgot"?"
"Like I don't have better things to do than keep your tragic moments at the forefront of my mind," I smirked, giving him a cold glance and straitening out the wrinkles in my worse for wear cream suit.
There was silence then where I just watched the smoke drift before my eyes. Of course I had been distracted at the time, preoccupied when we got here and I most definitely did not think about Schuldich's worst memory every time I got the chance. Yet still, the much more worrying thing which had been creeping around my mind for some time now was that I had not seen this coming. My exclamation of forgetfulness had come out instinctually, not because it was the whole truth. I was startled that I had forgotten yes, yet only because I had not been notified of this by my power. It had only been as that fear, overriding fear, had tried desperately to invade my mind, immobilise my very thoughts and limbs with its intensity, that I had managed to grasp vainly at the future. It told me I had to jump for Schuldich before he did something rash, so I did.
Huh, my power. The only thing I have ever, even if only on occasion, obeyed blindly. A rare feat for a rare moment.
"It's automatic you know," he said, pulling me back to the real world to look down on him once more, "it's not as if I can help it. They programmed it in see?"
He tapped at his head with his free hand, his smirk still in place as his eyes sparkled with ironic humour. Irony for the fact that he knew that in this situation no one should be able to find anything funny and also, perhaps, for my own faltering thoughts. My own private scalding. Of course, nothing was private around Schuldich unless you hid it well. I wasn't hiding these thoughts with my usual efficiency, yet why this was I wasn't sure. Perhaps I just didn't care enough at this moment.
"Yeah, they made sure I couldn't come back here quite well don't you think? For a bunch of amateurs I mean," his eyelids drooped heavily as he stubbed the cigarette out into the carpet, grinding it into the plush red with lazy movements, "was able to dismantle most of their "brainwashing" within a month. Hopeless really."
"Obviously not quite hopeless enough to disable you when it mattered however," I said back with a derisive snort, "what is the trigger then? Smell? Sound..?"
"Sight," he bit out, my insult obviously scratching his veneer of arrogance, "if I see it, I am suddenly wonderfully transported right back to that one time in my memories, alright? Of course, if I had never felt that feeling that I had then, if it had never come down to that in the first place then they would never have had something to use against me. I never have felt fear like that since though…perhaps it is because of the way I paid them back, ne Crawford?"
His smirk was most defiantly full blown now, his eyes sparkling with the memory of what he had done to those Esset agents who had tried to, how did Schuldich put it? Tried to "steal his mind". In more common speak that is trying to brainwash him into forgetting everything, wiping the slate of his memories completely clean. How any of them couldn't have seen that he was much too powerful for that sort of procedure is beyond me. How the pre-cogs in the vicinity hadn't seen it coming was also a bit of a shock to me, well, that was before it became more of an eye opener. Something to show me just powerful I had become compared to my peers. Oh I had seen it coming alright, I had practically engineered the whole thing myself, for once in my life taking a slight risk in giving up the one I myself had brought to Rosenkreuz in the first place.
"He is not performing."
The Base Commander before me frowned and rubbed his temples in agitation. This was the fourth time this week I had come to complain about my little redhead companion and I think it was taking its toll on his nerves. I stood my ground however, never one to be intimidated. Not that I was feeling intimidated at that moment however, I knew exactly what he was going to say before he said it himself.
"Must I remind you that this is your pet project Crawford? If something goes wrong with this one, then it will come down to your lack of skill to teach, your lack of skill to lead. Do you want to have your own field team by the time you graduate from here or not?"
"Must I remind you that it was you Commander who gave me permission to start this project? I'm not sure that lack of foresight is really something that would show up well on the track record of one of the bases finest pre-cogs."
He stiffened at that, anger flaring behind his eyes. He had seen it coming, of course, but still it did not fail to anger him, hearing the words coming from my mouth. It was strange, how visions and scraps of the future themselves were still, even though powerful, nothing compared to the real thing happening before your eyes. I stood straight and strong, my shoulders squared and my face completely relaxed. The outcome of this conversation would go my way and my way only. I would have what I wanted.
"Then what Crawford? You really want me to send him to Re-hab? That is, as I know you know, the only option left for him if he can't perform the way he should."
"I know," I said back with a look of feigned sympathy, "yet it seems the only choice for me; and for you of course."
"Don't threaten me boy," he said after a pause, his voice low and a smirk on his face.
"I don't threaten anyone," I said back with an ingratiating smile, "I don't need to."
He laughed at that, hard and long. I just sat and watched him, waiting for him to calm and give me the answer I knew he would. He looked back at me, his square jaw and blonde hair rather striking against the white, curving lines of his office. His grin was malicious as he watched me, even if that malice wasn't actually directed at me. I knew well fine that Schuldich annoyed the seven hells out of him.
"You'll do just fine Crawford, just fine," he smirked, snorting as he pulled open a drawer in his mahogany desk and rummaged through the paperwork inside it, "I can give you permission to release him to Re-hab and then I can find you a new student. I have high hopes for you Crawford, don't let me down by spoiling it."
"No sir," I said with an introspective glance down at the paper he was now scribbling on.
"Not that I'll be sad to see the little bastard go," he continued to smirk as he flourished his signature on the bottom of the cream coloured form, "more trouble than he's worth if you ask me. The uncontrollable ones are always the most ineffective in field work, no matter how strong their power itself is. You must learn to control if you wish to lead."
His last words stuck in my mind, as did the knowing twist to his smirk and the significant look he gave me as he handed me the completed form. I knew then that he knew, that he knew what I was up to and that he obviously agreed. But, of course he did. However, I had always been a favourite of his, and there was really nothing wrong with that in a lot of ways. Privileges came to those closer to the top.
"Thank you sir," I said with a nod as I took the paper in my steady grip and marvelled at the rich quality of its thickness and its texture, "am I to believe that I will be allowed to accompany him to Osaka for the treatment?"
"Yes I can arrange that; anyway I wouldn't have thought you would want to stay behind. I would rather that you went actually, it'll be good training for you," he said with a slightly far off look, "I'll look out someone else for you while you're away. You might even meet some influential characters while you're there, if you know what I mean."
"Yes sir," I said with a nod, waiting for his nod in return before I turned and strode out of the office, my mind alive with the thought of success.
"Well, I mean was I really that bad?" his eyes sparkled emerald and blue as he watched me, his face instinctually feigning disbelief.
"Oh, you were "that bad"," I smirked, walking to the other side of the elevator and sitting down on the carpet, settling against the wall much the same as he was doing opposite me, "only I made you even more bad."
"Hmm, I think you just weren't patient enough myself," he mused, watching the trapped remnants of the smoke swirl above him, "I'm sure I would have come into my own in time. I was only twelve at them time, incase you don't remember that either."
"Yes and I was seventeen, and I only had two years left until graduation. Your progress was not fast enough for Esset," I said back with a look that reminded him of what would have happened had I not done what I had done, "and not fast enough for me either."
"Heh, well I have to admit things were a lot more fun after that," he let his head fall back against the wall, his eyes falling shut once more, "not really sure what was holding me back before it happened."
"Snapped you out of it though," I said taking off my glasses and polishing them on my sleeve, "whatever it was."
"Yeah," he snorted, "guess I have to thank the poor bastards for that eh? But then, I think my thank you back then was much more fitting."
I just nodded, letting my mind drift as I remembered the past once more. It was as if I couldn't help myself, as if my mind was once more being drawn to that time, those distinct yet deeply buried moments in time. As I said before I did not feel it necessary to think of them often, but the situation now seemed to call for remembrance of all details. It washed over me, the memory, blanking out the sound of Schuldich's voice as he spoke quietly, the soft light of the elevator and even the smell of the smoke in the air.
The plane was small and narrow inside, two rows of twin seats lining either side of the thin metal hull. The small windows were dark in comparison to the bright lighting inside the plane itself. The sun had set an hour ago, just after we had stopped over in Shanghai to pick up another two passengers. It wouldn't be long before we arrived in Osaka. Schuldich was seated beside the window, next to myself, in the fifth seat back on the right hand side. Our guests were on the right only two seats back. Yet, even at this distance apart, Schuldich could not seem to keep himself to himself. He did however find it extremely easy to become bored.
"Crawford, would you mind controlling your pet a little more until we arrive?"
One of the two that had boarded at Shanghai was a man named Genere, I had known him from Rosenkreuz. He was a tall man, about six feet two, dark hair, in his mid thirties; he was also a pyrokinetic, a powerful one. He had been transferred three months ago to the Shanghai base, but we had worked in training together. He knew me well enough to call me by my name.
"Quit it you little freak!"
The other was obviously his subordinate, en route to the same destination and the same fate as my little red haired companion. He was visibly shaken and couldn't seem to take his eyes from the humoured emerald ones staring at him from across the cabin. He was small, about fifteen by the looks of things, and nervous. I didn't know his power but it didn't seem that strong to me.
"Stop it Schuldich," I said absently, looking at the small boy to my left, his face the perfect mask of humorous cruelty.
He looked up at me from his haven in the large flight chair, its bulky plush arm rests and elongated back dwarfing him. His hair was down to his shoulders, his clothes the same blue as my own; t-shirt, jacket thrown carelessly over the chair back, light coloured jeans. Civilian wear as we liked to call it. He shrugged casually, his eyes twinkling, before turning his head to look out of the window. He rested his head on his small hand and hummed annoyingly. I sighed, hearing a twin sigh from across the cabin. Genere's little pet was looking a lot less strained, his eyes scrunched tight with the remnants of the headache I was sure Schuldich had been giving him. Genere himself only nodded to me, a knowing smile on his lips. I looked back down to my work and tried my best to ignore the world in general.
"I won't do it you know," he said suddenly, muffled against his palm, "you know no one can make me do what I don't want to. Not even you Crawford."
"Oh I know that," I said coolly, inspecting some reports and files of other hopefuls in Rosenkreuz that the Base Commander had brought me before I left, "I don't expect you to. You'll do this of your own free will, believe me."
Silence.
"So you're taking me to be dealt with hmm?" he said after a moment more.
"Take that information from his mind while you were torturing him did you?" I said with feigned interest, nodding to the one he'd been tormenting as I scanned down a long list of statistics; I already knew the answer.
"Naturally," he said with another shrug, kicking the chair in front of him with a rhythmical motion, "why didn't you say so before?"
"It wasn't a secret," I said with a raise of one eyebrow, looking over to him out of the corner of my eye, "I just didn't think it necessary to inform you."
"Oh, lovely, thanks," he drawled sarcastically, "and here I was thinking you were just taking me on holiday."
I snorted a half laugh. Of course I could control him, there was no doubt about that. He seemed to obey me on a whim of his own, making it look like he didn't want to while he was doing what I asked, and all at the same time. He was an anomaly, that's why I liked him; that and the reason that he was extremely powerful, even if he didn't utilise that power to its full extent. I could sort that however.
I put down the reports on the fold out table in front of me, taking a drink of the bottled water which sat solidly in its holder before settling back into my chair. He continued to hum to himself, some old folk tune that he seemed quite fond of; one of the few things consistent in him since we'd met, that tune and his sarcasm. It wasn't long after I realised this that I fell asleep.
"Earth to Crawford," the voice seemed even slightly annoyed, completely different to the one in my memories, "quit re-living over there and listen to me."
"It was all necessary," I said softly, wondering why I was justifying my actions, and whether it was really Schuldich I was justifying them to; I opened my eyes and pulled myself back to reality, "and like you said, it wasn't as if it was all that bad anyway; well, the end result that is."
"Yeah, whatever, can we go now?" he said in surly tones, pushing himself up against the wall and wincing ever so slightly as he noticed the bruises that were probably starting to form right about now, "Hell Crawford, was this all really necessary? Shit you would have thought I was trying to kill you or something. And by the way, did you really feel it was essential that you crack your fist into my face?"
"You might have done something…rash," I smirked, "and since when do you think you have the right to start questioning me?"
"Since you said "I forgot" actually," he said moving towards the control panel but still hesitating before pushing the button to open the doors.
"Well don't bother doing it again," I said as I too stood, smoothing out my suit once more and pushing my glasses back onto my face, "How exactly do you propose we get through this alive then? You can't go in there and I won't leave you in the elevator alone."
"Gosh Brad I never knew you cared," he said, batting his eyelashes and making me scowl.
"Don't call me Brad, Schuldich," I warned as I walked towards the unopened doors, "I don't really care how we do it. I can strap you down to one of those tables if that's what it takes, but I'm not leaving you in here on your own."
"On my…own, wait," he said with a thoughtful look, his brown furrowing, "is this to do with your vision? Or have you seen something else? It doesn't sound like your doing this out of caring for my health."
Another reason I had always liked Schuldich, he's extremely astute. Although, even though it was a good thing, it could crop up at the most inconvenient of times.
"It's something to do with not being alone isn't it, about us not being alone?" he ventured with a look of deep thought, "Is that why you let them come with us, those strangers?"
"I have seen something else yes," I decided to confide, knowing he'd never leave me alone if I didn't, "but it was very brief. All I learned from it is that we can't be separated, can't be too far apart; exactly who being separated from whom I am not sure of, so I'm keeping us all together. I don't want anything unexpected happening."
"Unexpected," he grunted with a smirk, "didn't know that word was in your vocabulary Crawford."
"There is no time for speculation," I said, ignoring his comment, "how are we going to control this?"
"Well that one's easy," he said leaning back against the wall once more, arms folded arrogantly, "I've already managed to disable almost all of the "brainwashing" or whatever they liked to call it, and the only thing I've had difficulty with is the optic reaction. It's different from the other traps, done by someone much more professional than the others. Don't know who though, and considering it has never been a necessity to get rid of it I haven't been focusing on it lately. It's kind of a project if you get me, you now how much I hate to have others booby traps in my mind."
"Yes I know," I said with a sigh, "but you still haven't explained yourself."
"Oh come on Crawford it isn't that hard to figure out," he grinned to himself, enjoying my offended frown, "I keep my eyes closed till we're somewhere that doesn't trigger anything."
"What?" I scoffed, "That's your plan?"
"Oh come on, you have a better one?" he flared, "Look, I have it narrowed down to a small area just around the laboratory. If I can get somewhere else in the building I'll be fine. I mean you didn't see me go crazy in the basement did you? Don't underestimate me Crawford, it's insulting."
"Fine," I sighed, ignoring him for a moment as I thought of how to work this, "Fine, you keep your eyes closed and we'll lead you through the building until you can tell when it's not affecting you anymore. Agreed?"
"Agreed," he said with a nod, pushing the door button finally and closing his eyes tightly, "just don't let anyone trip me up."
AN: Woops, forgot to tell you what actually happened back there…but then that's just my vindictive streak running into my writing again, sorry. I'll let you know later, don't worry about it. And sorry if it seems like I'm slipping off the RanKen side of things, I'll get there!
PS: Thanks again to my reviewers! You lovely people! Thanks to Heather R for the support, hope that the little snippet of RanKen in the last chapter was enough to satisfy you for now! I'll give you more soon, promise!
And to Kazz, yes computers are a bitch, I wholly agree. But I'm glad you like it, as for the grammar well, I'm both a fast writer and I'm lazy. My bad, but I try, really!