Authors Note: Starting with the end of the month, I'll be starting a correspondence course along side of work and with the project I agreed to help on the wiki. I'm going to do my best to keep up the 6 day release cycles, but for sure I'm not going to let this work go to waste.

Red Antares
==========

I slept uneasily. Sure I know that taking a very short nap before a mission isn't the best thing, not with the whole nightmarish stuff still haunting me. Of course its not as devastating as before, but still causing more than simple unease. And very realistic dreams too.

I've relieved the previous ones that burned straight into my mind, the ones revolving around Kota's supposed death and then the voices of C mixed with it, followed by the haunting images of Alisa's past. Which I still can't understand how I've gathered those.

Then came again the burning, searing vivid image that haunts me, the purple and crimson planetoids. However for the first time I felt a sinking feeling, then something dripped into my face. There was a noise, but it was drowned out by the fear paralyzing me. I felt a jerk as something clasped onto my lower arm even harder, the dripping returned and I felt the same substance slowly creeping down my arm.

What... the?

"Wake the hell up, Dead Beat!" I finally heard clearly the voice of Soma and I've opened my eyes to see why is he yelling at me again, but something dripped into my eye yet again, forcing me to shut them.
"I swear if you're going to trash any more I'll fucking drop you."

Trash? Drop?

It was then I've managed to open my eyes and my surrounding finally registered. He was leaning half-way out of the helicopters door, grabbing the edge with one arm and with the other one mines. His right arm was bleeding, his blood was dripping onto my face and trickling down slowly on my arm. As for me... I've been hanging to my life only because he was holding onto my arm. Which, confused me how did I end up outside of the aircraft.

"This beats biting, but I swear..." The Dark skinned God Eater started as he managed to pull me in, his blood now all over us. I was staring at him, especially the right shoulder which was still bleeding profusely.
"Don't expect me to help you next time." I looked down at me, the blood clinging to my clothes and skin, then back at the God Eater who was busy removing his dark blue hoodie.
"Stop gawking and get the first aid kit, Dead Beat!" He ordered as he removed the tie from his neck.
"It's right beside you." Soma pointed at the wall as while the blood smeared yellow shirt was also taken off.

Hell?!

I just stared at the found that covered his right shoulder and even more, it was a complete and utter wound. Or at least I have assumed seeing the large bandage over it and as how the blood was seeping from every part of the gauze. He snarled at me and uttered a curse underneath his breath as he strolled over to the first aid box, leaving a trail of blood on the floor. Then he threw it to me, which I've dropped and clattered to the floor.

"Are you going to be this useless on the mission?" I heard him growl as he leaned down to pick it up and showing it this time into my hands. Hard.
"Get to work and help me clean the wounds." Soma ripped the bloody bandages and the sight made my stomach churn. I... don't want to describe it. I don't want to remember what I saw, but I didn't understand how could he stand the pain that was paired with such an injury.
"The spray." He said showing it into my hand.
"Use it on the wounds on my back." He added after turning.

God...

I've uttered in disbelief as I took the sight in, it was even more horrendous than the wound on the front. I could make out clearly the work of a couple row of teeth. He showed his elbow into my stomach to get me moving and despite the pain that caused, it did help to kick-start my motion. I looked at the spray in my hand and then did as instructed, using it to cover the wound in a spray of green mist.

Oracle Cells.

Seeing the composition of the cloud that was now seeping into the wounded skin, healing it rapidly I had to wonder. Just what could have done such a thing to him. I mean, I've never seen him ever damaged in a fight. Then, it came to me. He said before that he fought with the Deusphage designated as Izanagi, even if he did not tell of the wounds he received, it was impossible that he had come out of that unscathed.

But that was... almost a week ago...

I gasped at the realization as Soma threw over his shoulder a bundle of gauze in my face. I flinched, but managed to catch it. He held his right arm out to allow me to bandage it again, my arms trembled, but managed to get it around his shoulder. Soma then turned and glared at me for some reason.

"You don't like your handy work?" I stared back in surprise, I mean I did the best of my limited knowledge.
"Maybe I should have said teeth work?" That left me completely dumbfounded.
"Clean yourself up, you look like crap." He offered me a towel and sprayed it with another can in his hand.

I saw him use that on his clothes and the blood clinging to them was dissolving slowly and surely, then he redirected it to the floor and removed the pile of blood from there too. He then waited until I removed the blood that dripped onto my face with the towel and sprayed my clothes to clean it too.

"Next time if you decide to perform suicide, I'm not going to stop you." Soma glared at me offensively, before picking up his clothes and putting them on. He didn't care that they were wet from the substance that removed the blood, although mines did annoy me a bit.

-Soma.- I found the tablet where I had fallen asleep, before falling out.
-Thanks.- He didn't reply, but I had to know.
-You aren't in your best condition, why are you pushing yourself so hard?-

"Because someone has to kick your butt into shape." He didn't even take the effort to turn to face me.
"Otherwise you'd just wallop in stupid despair or something like that." Soma scoffed then.
"Or just run off to your dea...th." He stopped as he recalled a certain conversation, much similar to this.

This is just the same thing Lindow said to him, isn't it?

-You were injured when fighting the Izanagi?- I asked, but just gotten a snarl. Which I've taken as a yes.
-I'm sorry for that.-

"For what, Dead Beat?"

-You had to face Izanagi on your own, having Sakuya and me must have really hindered your fighting capability.- I sighed, disappointed how useless I had been.
-You wouldn't have gotten such a grievous injury otherwise.-

"Is that what you really think?" Soma turned around, glaring at me.
"I still can't figure out what that greedy Bastard wants with you."

-C?- The mention of the girl caused a slight headache to me.
-What's with her?-

"I can't believe she pulled you into this mess and is keeping you in the dark." The God Eater growled and stood up, looking more than menacing in the process, making me shiver involuntary.
"Let's talk when we get on the ground."

-Sure?- I blinked at him in surprise, but then I noticed the scenery going past around us. Namely the city, that is currently off limits. More than that, the heli was starting to slow down.
-Uhm, Soma?- To my question he simply gave a glare that could have been 'What?'.
-Where are we going?- I threw another glance at the city below us.
-Isn't that area, you know... Off-limits?-

"It is, but the the entrance to the Subways that we have to take starts there." Soma then frowned, seeing me freeze up.
"We drop off, and quickly get underground. The sweeps didn't pick up the Izanagi so far, we should be alright."

-What if, its underground?- I asked the worst possible question in this situation.
-And if we run into it?-

"I'll just throw you in as a distraction and cut it with a Charge Crush in half." Soma replied, visibly irritated.
"Along with you Dead Beat if you ask any more foolish questions."

-What... are we going to do in the Subway?- To that question I've gotten a death worthy glare in response.

"You remember the Fallen Ogretails?" He asked to which I've tilted my head in confusion.
"The ones in the mountain area near the temples?" He asked and it still didn't click.
"Blue, resistant to the cold."

-Ah!- My eyes brightened instantly.
-Yeah, those I remember.-

"Apparently the Cocoon Maidens are changing too in the Subways, we're here to determine how this Fallen species have adapted."

-Fallen species?- I asked, but immediately regretted seeing the glare in return.

"Their official designation, considered a sub-species of an existing one. For now only the Small ones are changing, but this is only the beginning." Soma frowned, as the heli started to descend slowly above a half collapsed subway entrance.
"Soon the others will follow and we have to get ready for that." He turned to me and grabbed his God Arc.
"Waste no time and jump."

With that he was gone, dropped from over a few dozen meters. As for me, I waited until the aircraft hovered only a few meters above ground and made the jump carefully. I landed on my feet and looked up to see the helicopter raise up and fly away in haste.

"I said don't waste time." Some growled, scanning the surroundings.
"Now I'm sure that Aragami had noticed the chopper and will be coming for us. So get your move on."

I followed him hastily underground via the entrance. There wasn't much working lighting and everything was shrouded into an obscuring twilight. I could barely make out anything and had bumped into things more than I would have liked to, sometimes really hard. However Soma wasn't even showing signs of slowing or minding the almost pitch darkness and kept the speed up, much to my chagrin.

-Soma.- I cursed myself as I bumped into something hard with my head when typing, holding my Chupacabra under one of my armpit. In the next moment the air from my lungs left as my weapon stuck and my chest crashed into the makeshift barricade.
-What did you want to tell me?-

"You're a dense piece of work." He answered, ticking me off instantly as I put the tablet away for now and grabbed my weapon properly, so that I won't get stuck.
"Do you have really no clue what is going on with you?" Soma asked, which made me cringe.

-No, you're just as secretive as C is!- I stopped, not wanting to get into any more accident and typed my answer.
-Can't you be straight for once?-

"Straight?" I heard the God Eater stop as well, then turn and walk in front of me. The dim lighting covered his form only the silhouette was present even from almost point blank.
"Truth?" He laughed shortly.
"Why do you think that greedy bastard doesn't tell you anything?"

-I don't know! Why don't you?- I was getting angry, I know he doesn't want to push my buttons, be he was on a damn fine way to do so.
-Is it that hard to tell it to me simply in 25 words or less?-

"You're a monster unknown to the world." The answer wasn't what I was expecting it to be, neither the follow-up.
"Just like that bastard."

-What?- I couldn't see clearly his features, but I think they looked pretty grim.
-What are you talking about?-

"She is not human, you must have figured that one out." He said and then I realized he is right, there were way too many thing to be explained about her.
"Neither are you apparently."

-I?- That claim shocked me.
-Of course I'm human!- I glared at him, annoyed. What right does he have to say that.
-I'm just as human as you!-

"ME?" Soma then reared his head and started laughing. A menacing one at that which sent shivers done my spine.
"Human." He scoffed, as his eyes glittered with something that surprised me. He looked for a moment, sad.
"I'm no human either."

-But you're.- I stopped there, not really knowing what to say.
-What do you mean?-

"Forget it." He snarled simply.
"In the end it doesn't change a thing that you harbor a monster deep inside of you." There was an edge in his voice that frightened me.
"And if it weren't for that damn Dead Weight, I would have lobbed your head off already."

-Kota?- I managed to ask, but the blood in my veins was all but frozen. I didn't really understand what Soma was aiming, but he wasn't making a good job at explaining.
-You're just confusing me, say it already!-

"Izanagi." He said the one word and nothing more. I didn't know what to say for that, but he broke the silence a few minutes later.
"When I found the Dead Weight, he asked me about you first." He stopped for a moment and I didn't mind, I saw that he was having some troubles with finding the words.
"That brat was more than worried for you."

-Yeah.- I admitted, recalling the event in the infirmary.
-He told me not to be worried about him.-

"He saw you lose it when you thought that he died." The God Eater said, making me recall the moment and press my lips together into a hard line.
"Also saw you going literally mad, ripping the Yaksha into pieces with your bare hands and even teeth, before passing out."

-I... did?- I blinked in surprise, that wasn't something that I was recalling.
-What's a Yaksha?- I asked then, intrigued by the name.

"A new type of Aragami, that you two managed to encounter first." Soma then frowned slightly.
"We run into a Ravana. Go check the NORN later, they might have updated it by the time we get back."

-What does this have to do with the Izanagi?- There was a knot in my stomach and it was starting to expand and unfold, only to tighten and unnerve me even more.
-What has this to do with me?-

"After the brat had fainted, he woke up in the arms of what he first thought was an Aragami." Soma then said ignoring my question.
"One with blazing Violet eyes, a golden-red mane, arms and legs covered in pitch-black scales, the body and head stark white with a swirling vortex at the center of the chest, colored black, white, golden-red and violet." As he explained the color from my face started to drain. I was sure of that. It wasn't exactly the same as in the meeting that was described, but that might not have been exactly accurate... as it was just a sketch, a sketch of...
"Izanagi." Soma finished my thought and I swallowed hard.

-Kota saw Izanagi?- I managed to ask, but then another thing struck me. The way Soma had described it was... scarily familiar. Something that when combined with what had I heard from Soma made me shiver. And then things that C said previously came back in the very same manner.

'It's all your fault.'

'You are becoming so much more than an Aragami, much more than a Human.'

'You tried to bite my face off.'

'Something like me.'

'You're a monster unknown to the world.'

'Something that the world is not ready yet.'

The voices of Soma and C swirling in my head, completing each other, filling in the blanks, revolving round and round, making my head ache with vehement fervor.

"You're Izanagi." Soma cemented my fears, then everything started to confuse me. It doesn't made sense.
"I'm not finished yet." This made my attention snap back to him, to anything that makes sense out of this mess. A mess that my mind wasn't able to handle alone at all.
"What he saw was... Unlike any known Aragami."

-What did he see?- I grasped at that straw, anything that can makes sense.
-Tell me Soma!-

"It was crying." He answered reluctantly.
"Izanagi was holding his body tightly and crying, more than that..." Soma took a deep breath, giving a small exhale.
"It even seemed relieved when the Dead Weight turned out to be alive."

-Really?-

"Not to mention it was tearing Aragami apart in order to protect him from harm."

-Izanagi?-

"Yes, you." He said ominously.

-But, I'm.- I stopped there, instead waiting for the explanation and it came.

"When Sakuya and I arrived. Izanagi was finishing the last of the Aragami, a Kongou. The bodies of numerous others were scattered around in a rough circle, but we didn't make anything out of that first. We just saw as an unknown monster was feeding off the corpse of the slain beasts." He scoffed, taking a glare at me again.
"Then it noticed us and jumped at me, trying to bite my head off that I almost managed to block with my God Arc. I've gotten this rather nasty wound on my shoulder, but Sakuya wasn't as lucky she was struck by the tail and electrocuted. She lost consciously instantly as the battle started and I suffered a very major wound." I couldn't even react and just stared ahead.
"I used my Evil One as a leverage and peeled the beast from my shoulder before it ripped it out in one piece and the damn Izanagi- You - chomped down on it happily. I had to send a Charge Crush into the mouth of it to let go." The God Eater then sighed, I saw him resisting the urge to raise his arm to his shoulder. The wounded one.
"Only for it to jump back at me, but this time I was ready and showed my God Arc down the throat, coated with another Charge Crash and sent it much deeper inside the body. Which then dissolved and you were left there." The information was too much and my mind couldn't handle everything that was coming from his mouth. Bits and pieces came through, but most of it didn't register to me.
"You were like a rabid beast, using your nails and teeth whenever you had the chance. Even biting down on my God Arc and honestly I had given up on you. So, I proceeded to end your life."

-You mean.- That last one snapped me out of it. The severity of the words stung me.
-To.- I couldn't say, but he did it for me.

"Kill you and spare from whatever was happening to you." Soma grunted, clenching his fists and smashing it into the nearby wall. A small quake signaled that he didn't spare strength for that one strike.
"So I've powered up Evil One once more, and slammed you head first into the ground and released the charge."

-And then?- I asked in surprise, which... wasn't making sense. None of this was making any sense at all.

"You woke up, badly injured, yet still alive. Before passing out and collected by the extraction team."

-Are you going to finish your work then?- I asked as the possibilities run through my head.
-That's why you brought me here.-

"Dumbass." He smacked me hard on the head, with Evil Ones flat side nonetheless.
"If I wanted you dead, you would have been executed."

-Then why?!-

"I said it already. First, C has plans with you, that I would like to foil." He grunted, taking the heavy weapon on his shoulder and starting to walk.
"Second, in the First Squad only you and me are combat ready currently. So let's get to work, shall we?"