AATS
Chapter 27
Wrath
The Last Nightmare

Anger is useful only to a certain point. After that, it becomes rage, and rage will make you careless.

-Lauren Oliver, Pandemonium

Something was wrong. Virgil turned away, eyes searching the surrounding crystal. He couldn't find anything. The area was completely empty. No lurking gnosis. No other Testaments. He was the only one there. He stepped protectively over the top of Albedo's looking-glass. His arms uncrossed as he searched again. Still, he couldn't find anything. He began to turn back to Albedo and Jr., a frustrated frown pulling at his lips, but when his eyes met the ground their image was gone. Virgil pulled his foot back, stomping the ground. He whipped back around, cape flying wildly in his haste.

This wasn't Albedo.

He looked back down, as if doing so would bring the image back to life, assuage his fears. It didn't.

"Don't fuck this up," Virgil said.

There was no one there to hear him. He sat down on Albedo's bench. He didn't know if he could send Albedo a message, didn't want to risk it if he could. So he sat, waiting with growing anxiety for the image to resurface or for Albedo to return. There was absolutely nothing he could do.

He leaned over, elbows on knees and the claw of a glove between his teeth.

"Don't fuck this up," he repeated.

He sat alone, hunched over as he hated everyone individually but no one more than himself.

Dirt. It gathered under his nails as he curled his fingers. He was on his stomach on dirt-covered ground. A nightmare, he thought as he pulled his arms inward and pushed off of the ground. He instantly started trying to dissect what had happened.

He had been at the beach house with Alby. Albedo had shown up. He couldn't remember falling asleep. It all melted together. Where was his body? Still at the beach house?

Didn't matter, he decided as he stood. No, in fact, this was perfect.

He had been prepared to pound against his link until he found Albedo but the bastard had fallen right into his lap instead. Albedo thought he was in control but he'd just trapped himself. Jr. was bringing him home.

He stood, rolled his shoulders and looked around. He couldn't see much. It was dark and cold, wet fog clung to him like a curtain.

Jr. needed a plan and he needed one fast.

Without any other options he started to walk, cautious of every step he took. He reached for his guns, thankful to find them in his back pockets. He paused and felt for his jacket. It was his long black coat, the one he'd worn the first time he'd fought Albedo. He looked down at his body and found all of his clothes were different than what he had worn to the beach house. He pulled on his shirt in confusion and it changed into his red sweater, the one he'd ruined on The Alviss. His red coat, his boots. By the time he reached for his coat it was the short black one chaos had bought him. His clothes were constantly changing from one moment to the next.

He's trying to disorient me, Jr. thought. I'm going to find him and he's going to start shouting about illusions or something. At least I have clothes on.

He took a step forward, eyes on his ever-changing shirt. There was nothing else to see and he was so distracted by his clothing that when he took a step and the ground gave way he almost fell with it. He jumped backward, lost his footing and landed squarely onto his backside. He strained into the blackness, searching for a cliff and when he did he noticed his boots. Blue uniform boots. His Institute uniform.

"Who among us is without sin?"

Albedo. Jr. was on his feet instantly. He couldn't see him, couldn't see anything. Calm down, he hissed to himself. Think. Do not lose control. This is your mind, your body. You're the link master. Act like it.

Jr. took a deep breath and searched their link. It was still locked, still guarded by that awful blockage. The contact seemed to be enough. The fog cleared, the darkness lightened and Jr. could finally see.

What he saw was pure madness.

Every nightmare Albedo had conjured for him had crashed together into one ill-constructed landmass. Jr. stood in the forest of the cemetery, in a dirt clearing that was separated from the rest of the insanity by a large gap in the ground. The long tea table bridged the gap, bidding Jr. to cross it into the chaos of the other side. Shattered pieces of china floated in the air and into the breathing, broken ribcage of his nightmare cathedral. The pillars were like bones pulled apart to outline the edges of a floating landmass. They moved slightly as if air still moved through them. A few yards from the edge of the table, seated like the king of the damned and surrounded by pillars filled with sleeping Kirschwassers, sat Albedo.

"To say that we are is to deceive ourselves."

His voice was loud and clear despite their distance. His throne sat on bodies, innumerable amounts of bodies. All of them in uniforms, most of them the very same uniform that Jr. couldn't shake. Albedo leaned forward, beckoning Jr.

"Would you cast the first stone, Rubedo?"

Jr. dashed forward, knowing it was a trap, completely uncaring. The tea table creaked under his urgency. He was still in his old uniform. He didn't have his guns but he'd already decided that he couldn't use them. They wouldn't be enough. If he wanted to drag Albedo home he'd have to use raw power.

It was risky, especially considering that he had no idea where his body was. He'd have to use fine outputs; small bursts just large enough to keep Albedo down but not enough to kill him. Direct contact. It would take Albedo longer to regenerate. He'd rip Albedo apart with his bare hands.

Once Jr. made it across the table it snapped in half, broke apart and fell in large wooden chunks into the darkness below. Jr. didn't have time to think about it because Albedo was on him within his first two steps onto the landmass.

Jr. and Gaignun had spent their whole lives trying to bury their past. They used their powers rarely and only when absolutely necessary. They had never tried to hone their skills. They had never tried to grow them into something useful and terrifying. Gaignun used that powerful voice of his sometimes when negotiations weren't in their favor. He'd tried it on Jr. once, tried to make him believe a lie just by speaking it. There had been no link manipulation, just a simple pitch drop and a disarming smile. It had worked somewhat and Jr. believed, at the time, that if they weren't telepathic it would have worked perfectly. It had disturbed Gaignun too much and he never tried it on Jr. again. At least not to Jr.'s knowledge.

Jr. hid behind conduits; anything with a barrel, anything with a cannon. He didn't trust his body, hated the way it felt when power left his skin. He'd always felt it was too dangerous a thing to control, too risky to even try.

Albedo had lived on his power, had mastered it completely. He used it full force, no restraints and whenever he liked on whomever he liked. He was always combat ready, fighting-form and Jr. understood that this would be one of the most dangerous things he'd ever tried. If he lost control again it wouldn't just be a hospital room he destroyed.

When Albedo grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, forced him up off the ground and opened his mouth to say something insane, Jr. didn't wait. He pressed both hands against Albedo's chest and released two small bursts. Jr.'s power ripped through Albedo completely; muscle, tissue, organs and bone. Jr. had destroyed it all.

Surprise flashed across his face and Albedo dropped him reflexively. Jr. took two steps back, felt his guns in his pockets and his long black coat.

Albedo laughed, that maddening, crazed laughter that always iced over Jr.'s blood. The hole in his chest was already healing. Jr counted the seconds.

"How cruel," Albedo said in his laughter. He ran his fingers over the closing hole in his chest, smearing new blood across his white leathers. "This heart beats only for you but I will suffer it. Give me that rage, that pain, I want it all!"

Jr. didn't hear a word he said. He was too busy counting the seconds. Three minutes, forty-five seconds.

"Devour me whole, my dragon!"

"Then shut up," Jr. said, eyes trained on that wound until it was finally closed. Five minutes. Not long enough. "And make it worth my time."

Albedo's eyes flashed with absolute excitement. Jr. lunged for him but Albedo was faster. He grabbed Jr. and threw him into the mound of bodies under his throne. Jr. immediately tried pulling out of them but to his horror he felt hands on him. They grasped hungrily for him, wrapping around his shoulders, around his waist and his thighs. They pulled him in deeper and deeper until there was no hope of clawing his way out.

"Rubedo."

One of the bodies lifted its head and Jr. tried to stop his sinking heart. It was Albedo. Every single one of them was a young Albedo, each a pale and rotting corpse.

"Oh violent dragon," one whispered. "How my every nerve screams for your fire."

"Then tell me where you are, Albedo!" Jr. said, shaking as he felt a cold hand on his neck. "I know you're alive. Let me bring you home!"

He felt two cold hands under his shirt. His long coat had disappeared again. Albedo's hands were so cold it took the breath from him.

"To the dragon's den."

They were pulling away, opening up, but they kept their tight hold on him. Their bodies opened onto a figure.

"We lie there already."

The sky was a bright pink and Jr. was blinded by it for a moment. When his eyes adjusted and the bodies had fallen away he found the U-TIC soldier. The one from the Alviss.

"In that monstrous heart."

Jr. let out an angry scream. He burned the hands holding him back and leaped for the soldier. His hand hit the helmet and the force of his jump knocked the soldier onto their back.

"I'm tired of your games!" Jr. screamed.

The pressure from his grip caused deep cracks in the helmet. The soldier's hands grabbed Jr. around the waist and threatened to flip them over but he burned them away the moment he felt them.

"No!"

The helmet was splintered, spiderweb cracks multiplying with every second.

"This is my mind! You're my brother!"

Jr.'s eyes flashed red, he was heating up too fast. He needed to calm down.

"I am the leader!"

The helmet exploded, fell away into dust.

"You're coming home!"

Jr. was dragged backwards by his coat - which one he didn't know, couldn't keep up with it -and slammed on his back. The impact stabilized him. He twisted around and found Albedo at the other end of his red coat. Jr. didn't hesitate, didn't want to hear what was going to come out of his mouth. He reached for his coat and burned through it. He grabbed a gun and shot Albedo's legs. He put extra force into it and Albedo stumbled. It was just enough time for Jr. to shorten the distance.

Albedo reached for him but Jr. shot again, ruining his right hand. Jr. grabbed a strap on Albedo's chest and swung around, under his arm until he was on his back. He grabbed Albedo's shoulder and blasted power through it. Jr. tossed his gun and wrapped his hands around any part of Albedo he could grab hold of, obliterating whole body parts until Albedo was barely more than a skeleton with a head.

Albedo laughed the entire time. Jr. tried his best to block it out. He had to stay focused, had to keep his power in check, had to get Albedo down, onto his knees, had to make him stay down. He had to bring him home.

Jr. was a few seconds off. Albedo's right arm had grown back. He spun on Jr. just as his hands had wrapped around the back of Albedo's throat. Jr. lost his balance and Albedo grabbed his shirt, pulled him away from his back and slammed him onto the ground.

The ground sank the moment Jr.'s back hit it. It swallowed him up, devoured him, dragged him down and away from Albedo and his collage of nightmares. He was falling in darkness but he could still feel Albedo, could hear him.

"And where is home, Rubedo?"

The darkness brightened onto the halls of the Durandal.

"The bowels of your dreadnaught?"

The Durandal faded away and the inside of the beach house took its place.

"Sterile nostalgia?"

He heard screaming and the walls changed again into Miltia and watched as the standard URTVs were infected, one by one.

Jr. struck his hands out, searching for any kind of purchase, a wall he could dig his fingers into. His hands met dirt and he used his power to burst through, creating a spot just big enough for his hand. He slammed against the dirt-covered wall.

"Enough!"

Miltia crumbled. The darkness disappeared and Jr. was back with Albedo on his floating landmass.

"You're not winning this time. You're not getting away."

He caught the surprise in Albedo expression again. It was momentary and fleeting but it was a victory. Jr.'s blood boiled.

"You're mine!"

A hard shiver ran through Albedo and he laughed, spread his arms as wide as they could go.

"Oh now that, mon Rubedo, that was never a question."

They collided.

It was absolute chaos. Jr. grabbed at any body part within his reach, shot the ones he couldn't when he was lucky enough to find a gun in his pocket or holster. His body was rife with anger, with slow-building rage.

Albedo was full of tricks. Jr. tried to keep an eye on their link, tried to find Albedo in it when the pink sky turned vicious red and when the ground started to split beneath them. Jr. wouldn't give him the upper hand. He pushed away any extra hands, stopped any attempts by the ground to swallow him. When that didn't work Albedo tried manipulating the gravity. Jr. took the opportunity to grab a broken candlestick out of the air and come back down, pulling gravity down with him, to spear it straight through Albedo's chest, right into his heart.

Albedo staggered for a moment, hands around the offensive item. He grinned, blood seeping from his lips as he ripped it out. He swung it around to strike Jr. against the chest but the boy was ready, too ready and burned through it as if it was absolutely nothing - it and Albedo's arm.

They danced around each other; desperate, ferocious. Neither of them was gaining any ground. Jr. was covered in Albedo's blood. His own was swirling from the combat, feeding off of his anger, threatening him with its power. Keeping control of his power and his mind was exhausting but he wasn't going to give up. He was finally on equal ground with Albedo. He couldn't stop. He'd fight him for the rest of his life. He'd let his body wither up and die before he'd stop. Albedo wasn't getting away.

They pulled back. Jr. spit Albedo's blood onto the ground. His breathing was heavy and he was bone-tired. Albedo could probably fight for eternity. They had been fighting for what felt like hours now and Albedo hadn't slowed, not even a little. He was regenerating too fast for Jr. to overpower him. He was a hydra; for every limb Jr. destroyed there was another in its place.

He needed more power. His body responded instantly, eagerly filling his pounding heart with more.

This time when Albedo charged him, Jr. ducked and blew out his left leg. Albedo fell and Jr. shot the other one. He was on top of him before Albedo could respond, destroying all of his limbs as soon as they returned, using a fraction more of power each time until finally Albedo was nothing but a torso. Jr. destroyed everything below his chest, hoping that much regeneration would buy him more time.

His guns reappeared and he grabbed one, pressed it into Albedo's right eye.

"Now," Jr. said, his voice tired and angry. "Tell me where you are."

Albedo laughed, but it was a ghost of his usual, powerful madness.

"Or, what Rubedo, you'll destroy me?"

Jr. flinched.

"Is my return so offensive? A sin against order, God himself! Then let me die at the hands of the Devil."

He pushed up into Jr.'s gun.

"You idiot!" Jr. shouted, shaking. "I don't want you dead! I want you home! What don't you understand? How many times do I have to say it?! What the hell do I have to do to prove it to you?!"

Jr.'s clothes were still changing rapidly from one set to the next. It made him feel unstable. He felt Albedo regenerating and blew off his newly formed shoulder.

"Was dying so much fun the first time that you're back for another round or did I just not do a good enough job?"

Jr. destroyed Albedo's stomach. Albedo's left thigh.

"Come home," Jr.'s voice was soft despite his rage. "Please."

Something in Albedo changed. It was split-second, just as his surprise had been but Jr. saw it, felt empowered by it. He was winning. He could do this.

"Let me fix this. Let me make things right."

Albedo's arm. Albedo's legs.

"I'm sorry. Please. I don't want to hurt you any more. We don't have to keep fighting. You can come home. That's what you really want isn't it?"

Albedo laughed, completely destroying the hope building in Jr.'s chest.

"Where would you keep me, Rubedo? A beast bound and chained? Would you release me onto your home, those far more precious than I?"

"More precious? Albedo there's no one-"

"Lies from those sweet lips, give me your teeth!"

Albedo's left shoulder. His waist.

"What are you saying?" Jr. screamed. "Do you have any idea what your death did to me? Does to me?! What this does to me?!"

All of his earlier softness was gone, evaporated in his rising anger.

"You show up out of nowhere, drive me crazy, send me to the infirmary more than once. Do you have any idea what I've done trying to find you? Are you so crazy that you think I would do that for just anyone? Anyone but you? Albedo I - I..."

He grit his teeth against his power, refusing to let it escape him.

"And you have the gall to sit here now, a literal basket-case, and tell me how I feel about you? You tell me how badly you want me but in the end you only care about yourself. You don't want to come home. You don't want anything to do with me. So if you won't tell me where the fuck you are then I'll find you myself. And when I do..."

Albedo's legs. Albedo's right shoulder.

"I'll make you eat every goddamn insane thing you've ever said to me."

He wasn't fast enough. Albedo's left arm shot up. His hand grabbed the back of Jr.'s head and pulled him down into a vicious kiss. Jr.'s heart ached. It hammered against his chest, set his whole body aflame. His gun fell away and he leaned into Albedo, kissed him back. He felt Albedo's body reforming and he didn't care. He didn't understand what he was doing or why he was letting Albedo kiss him. He didn't allow himself to think too much about it. He was tired of thinking. He fisted his hands into Albedo's uniform and kissed him until he was breathless.

"I won't stop," Jr. said against Albedo's mouth. "I'm going to find you. Wherever you are, whatever you are. I'm bringing you home."

"You are my home," was Albedo's reply.

He pulled Jr. down again and Jr. couldn't control himself, couldn't calm down. The raging anger had refocused into something completely new and different, something Jr. had no way of controlling.

Albedo's regeneration was almost complete and the last corner of Jr.'s mind that wasn't currently clouded by Albedo's lips - his tongue, his teeth - was shouting alarms. Jr. ignored them. Every. Single. One.

That was a huge mistake.

Virgil jumped up as soon as felt Albedo's presence. Relief rushed through him. He was shaking with it when he stood but he covered it well enough.

"Hey! Welcome back."

Albedo hadn't returned to his original spot but Virgil assumed it was because he had taken the entire bench. He'd been so anxious that he hadn't been able to sit still and kept alternating between sitting and lying stretched out on Albedo's bench. He hadn't been able to leave that spot. He kept hoping that the nightmare would resurface.

"What? Too steamy to talk about?"

He walked towards Albedo, rubbing his right shoulder. Michtam's crystals didn't make the best beds. Albedo's back was turned to him. He was as silent as ever. Virgil kept bothering him. He wanted the details, wanted to make sure that it went well.

"Is that why you shut me out?"

Virgil's teasing ended abruptly. He'd made it to Albedo, around his shoulder so that he could more effectively antagonize him. Virgil had worse things that he wanted to say and he wanted to say them to his face. When Virgil came around him he saw the reason for Albedo's silence.

Albedo's right arm was completely covered from its clawed tips all the way to his elbow in blood. Fresh, wet blood. Virgil's stomach sank and he looked from the arm to Albedo. His face was covered by his mask.

"Addict."

His voice trembled. His whole body did. Virgil watched as the trembling grew worse. Albedo's whole body was vibrating uncontrollably.

"Addict," Albedo said again, breathless.

It was a cry for help. Virgil had no idea what to do. Albedo had never returned with blood on his clothes. What happened to the kid?

"Addict."

A/N: Gonna start leaving these at the bottom so that if you want to skip them they're easier to skip. No scrolling past all my nonsense.

Do any of you listen to music while you read these? I can't write without music but I hate listening to music when I read. I just realized that I should start naming the music I use if for no other reason than to promote artists I love.

I used Wilted by Besomorph & Biometrix and Turn Left by WiDE AWAKE & Snavs.

Is there any music that reminds you of this story or Xenosaga in general? I've got a million.

Just wanted to say before I go that I didn't plan the kiss. Totally out of left field but I went with it. I've been wanting to write this chapter almost since the beginning of this fic and now I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's nowhere near what I had originally planned. A lot of this fic has turned out that way. It writes itself, goes where it wants. The kiss though - completely unplanned. I hope I made some good choices. If I didn't I hope I can make it up in future chapters. I hope to see you on the other side of this cliffhanger.