Chapter 14 – Simple Truths
The next day, Zero had set out on his own early in the morning, finding exactly the person he was looking for on the way to the workshop in the shed.
"Cerveau. We need to talk."
The Chief Engineer stopped in his tracks and looked at him.
A few minutes later, at Cerveau's modestly sized home…
"I'm still worried about Ciel." Zero said as Cerveau poured strong coffee into two mugs.
"About her burning her younger years away, doing the workload of two or three adults?" Cerveau asked, setting the mugs down on the table and taking a seat as well.
"Don't look at me like that." Cerveau said, noticing Zero's surprised reaction. "I have eyes. Between the general planning meetings, the work on X's new body, the occasional hand with Andrew's project and a million other things, there isn't enough coffee in the multiverse to keep her standing indefinitely."
Zero grabbed one of the mugs and hesitantly took a sip of the bitter drink, then set the mug back down.
"You don't like it any more than I do then."
Zero looked at Cerveau and elaborated further.
"She's not as bad as she was a few months ago, but there's only so much I can do. X and Axl have been helping, and so have the movie nights, but we need something more. As you said, she's too young for that lifestyle."
"Reploids could live forever, in theory." the Chief Engineer mused. "But she isn't one and it's not right for her to be doing this to herself. It's good that you three keep looking for ways to distract her, but we need a more permanent solution."
"I agree." Zero said with a nod. "She needs to learn to delegate. Unfortunately, she hates leaving work unfinished. I think work is her way of coping with all the crap she's been through. The answer then… is to find enough people with talent and experience… and getting the people we already have to step up to the plate."
"Another reason to get X back to full strength then." Cerveau pondered. "Getting him to agree to take some responsibilities, however..."
"No..." Zero said, shaking his head. "He spent centuries busting his ass and deserves a break, at least for now. We need someone else."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Cerveau rushed to answer and as he opened the door, Zero tried to take another sip of coffee… before glancing in the door's direction and freezing in place, nearly choking.
"Hello Cerveau." Lune said with a smile before noticing the guest. "And you must be Zero. I've heard a lot about you."
The resemblance to the woman in his memories was haunting, and it took him a moment to be able to say anything.
"Have we… met before?" he asked hesitantly.
"I don't think so." she said, still smiling. "But I must thank you for looking after my little girl."
"Your… little girl?" Zero asked, caught by surprise as realization set in. "Wait… I thought..."
As the door opened fully, Zero then saw another figure, the same height as Ciel and with the same general petite frame, though covered in a brown cloak and wearing what looked like a black air filtering mask with an opaque crimson visor.
"It'll take more than Ragnarok to get rid of me." Lune said with a grin, before her expression became downcast. "But from what I hear, it sounds like Ciel has been overdoing it again."
"I can understand where she's coming from." Zero said with a sigh, speaking from experience. "After everything that's happened, it must be difficult for her to stay still."
Feeling the intent gaze upon him, he then glanced at the petite figure.
"And you are?"
The figure said nothing.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" Zero remarked.
"She just has a lot on her mind." Lune said, patting the petite figure's back.
"Actually..." Zero realized. "What happened to the grump in a labcoat who was looking for you? Thaddeus, was it?"
"He's gone." Lune said with a sigh. "I don't know where he went or when he'll be back, but I hope he finds some peace for himself out there."
"Your timing is perfect, actually." Zero continued. "We managed to get Ciel to slow down a bit, but she does have this tendency to dive into work. I think few people would be as qualified to advise us as her own mother."
"As much as we all appreciate having a genius of her caliber around here..." Cerveau added. "We need to find a better way to share the load."
"It's a good thing we came back when we did then." Lune said.
"As for X..." Zero said. "I'll definitely have to think things over. He definitely deserves a break… but he does have experience as a leader. Experience that this place needs."
"Well, if there's anyone here who can talk him into it..." Cerveau pondered. "That would be you. I know I tried."
"As much as I dislike the idea of being in charge of anything again..." Zero added. "I'll probably have to think about my priorities too. I can't just keep wandering around or playing groundskeeper with Old Andrew while there's so much work to be done."
Aside from occasionally sneaking out to gather fresh fruit and berries for Ciel, helping her with the heavy lifting and plowing soil and going for his long walks, Zero had actually found enough time to try his hand at tending to plants. He wasn't quite ready to unveil the results of that little experiment, however. As for his patrols, they had turned into nothing more than additional walking, since there was nothing remotely dangerous to be on the lookout for. Even the wildlife seemed calmer in general once the aftershocks of Ragnarok had passed.
"By the way..." Zero remembered. "That stray Mechaniloid that came at us a while ago. Did you ever find out where it came from?"
"What's this about another Mechaniloid?" Lune asked, having heard of the attack on the old Resistance base.
"An old factory running autonomously." Cerveau explained. "That thing was an earlier model. Not as dangerous as the one you fought before, but definitely still a menace for most people. We think that place may have been cut off from the network or simply abandoned and forgotten in the confusion after you kicked down Neo Arcadia's door a couple of times."
"I'll have to go take a look at the place myself later." Lune said. "It should have plenty of useful materials and equipment."
"Yes..." Zero pondered. "But right now I think a certain girl needs her mother back more than anything else."
"This is the legend who was such a thorn on Neo Arcadia's side?" Cial thought as she silently took the measure of his character. She had only seen him before on surveillance footage and old records of the Maverick and Elf Wars, and was rather surprised at the way he was acting in person.
"You." she finally said, the breathing mask suitably distorting her voice. "What exactly do you want from all of this?"
"So you do speak." Zero retorted. "I'm afraid you'll have to be a little more specific though."
"There are no more wars to fight here." Cial insisted. "No more enemies to eliminate. Yet you still linger. Why?"
Lune winced ever-so-slightly. Cial had never been one to mince words, and her way of cutting straight to the point without much tact could put some people off.
"I'm not just a fighting machine." Zero said, rather annoyed to find himself so bluntly questioned by someone he didn't even know. "In the end, maybe I just want the same as everyone else. Peace of mind and something to look forward to. The former is a work in progress. The latter I have right here."
"A very human way of thinking." Cial pondered bitterly, reflecting once again upon her mistakes. "I guess fighting prowess would not be enough to explain why Ciel and the others placed so much faith in him."
"And what exactly are you… looking forward to?" she pushed further.
"Something new." Zero said resolutely. "Something better."
Even the former Head Administrator of Neo Arcadia couldn't help feeling impressed by the intensity of his presence, though she refused to show any sign of that.
"You want to keep Ciel from falling into her old habits, then?" Cial said evenly. "Perhaps we can be of assistance."
"And who exactly are you?" Zero asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A story for another time." Cial retorted before turning around and walking back outside.
As she was about to cross the threshold, she glanced over her shoulder.
"We will be in touch."
"Just what exactly is going on here?" Zero asked, staring at Lune. "Where have you been anyway?"
"I can't tell you all the details now." Lune said, straightening her glasses with a frown. "But there was something I had to take care of. Something that couldn't wait. Now then… where is Ciel?"
A few minutes later, as the scientist and the legend stood in front of the modestly sized yet comfortable looking abode…
"All of this in a matter of months." Lune said appreciatively, examining the sturdy metal sheet walls. "She always knew how to get things done."
"I'll say this much." Zero said, cracking a faint smile as he tried not to make the full extent of his feelings too obvious. "She has this way of drawing people to her and giving them something to believe in."
Cial watched from a distance, her outfit concealing her features but not her anxiety. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then watched as Zero knocked on the door and her twin came out… soon followed by Alouette.
"Just what has she been up to while I was gone?!" she thought, utterly baffled as she watched the way Ciel's entire body language shifted in Zero's presence.
Then, she watched Zero pick up the small Reploid girl and as Ciel stepped closer and wrapped an arm around him, her eyes twitched under the breathing mask.
"Looks like she has developed… other interests as well..."
For her part, Lune simply watched, soothed by the joy on open display, just as she thought of some very pointed questions to ask Zero later. She then waited for Ciel's momentary bout of tunnel vision to fade and for the petite genius to realize the show she was putting up in front of her own mother.
"I leave for a while to sort some things out, and come back to find you already with a little girl of your own?" she teased with a grin, leaving both Ciel and Zero looking like a pair of deer caught in headlights.
Standing at a distance, but still close enough to overhear them, Cial rolled her eyes.
"Really, Mother?"
Ciel looked at Lune as if she had been struck by lightning.
"Mother!" she gasped. "You're…!"
"Yes, alive. I've been getting that a lot lately." Lune said with an earnest smile as one of the brightest minds in three hundred years reverted to a tearful girl clinging to her mother's chest. For her part, Lune just gave her a tight hug and let her pour out her relief and longing.
"Perhaps she has not changed that much after all..." Cial pondered, still keeping herself far enough away to avoid their notice.
She then sensed a presence behind her and looked over her shoulder with a start… only to find Axl grinning at her like an idiot.
"And you are?" he asked, though by the tone and the smug look on his face it was likely that he already knew.
"Do you not have anything better to do?" she hissed in annoyance.
"Oh, you know..." Axl retorted with a shameless grin. "Just keeping an eye out for unsavory characters, possibly of the masked variety."
"If it is unsavory characters you are looking for, perhaps you should look in a mirror." she hissed.
"Good to see you too, Ice Queen." Axl said without missing a beat. "I thought you'd come around."
"Well played..." she grumbled, still surprised at his ability to disconcert and infuriate her.
"You know, there aren't exactly that many people out here with that exact body type and size." Axl pointed out, looking even more smug if such a thing were possible.
"What do you want?" she grumbled.
"Just looking out for my friends, that's all." Axl said with a shrug. "Don't worry. I won't spoil the surprise."
"With a rogue like you lingering around my sister, that is the least of my concerns."
"She's cute, I'll admit." Axl said, again without a hint of shame. "But I'm too old for her and she only has eyes for my long haired bro over there. Maybe I should try growing mine out. But what about you? Anyone stolen that ice block in your chest yet?"
"I really don't need this right now..." Cial thought, fighting off an imminent headache.
She then glanced in Ciel's direction and sighed.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Axl asked.
"I don't have to tell you everything." Cial grumbled. "In fact, I don't have to tell you anything."
"Let me guess…" Axl said, crossing his arms. "After coming all the way here, you don't know what to say and don't want a repeat of last time."
She didn't reply at all, hating the fact that he was right.
"I know what it's like." Axl added, some of the playfulness vanishing from his tone and expression. "It wasn't easy for me to approach X and Zero again after all those years, so I kept putting it off."
And then he went right back to his clown act.
"Do you need me to hold your hand and walk you there?"
"You'll be seeing my hand a lot closer than you'd like if you keep pursuing that line of inquiry." Cial hissed, raising her open hand. Before he could make another of his usual remarks, she turned and walked away.
"That's right." Axl thought, grinning like an idiot again. "As long as you do what you need to do, I don't care how mad you get at me."
As he watched her go, however, another thought took form in his mind.
"That girl really needs a good laugh. Her and Levi both."
"And stop frowning so much!" he shouted as a parting shot. "You've going to get wrinkles!"
He was lucky that there were no rocks lying around, or she might have thrown one or two at him. Instead she grumbled something under her breath. If he had an inkling of what was going on, Zero might have warned him that he was playing with fire, but the saber wielding Hunter was too busy dealing with his own issues… and Axl would most likely have ignored him anyway.
A few weeks later, in the wilderness…
"I made a complete fool of myself back there..." Leviathan thought indignantly. "What was I thinking?!"
She then turned her attention to her green clad sibling, who was standing in front of her in a fighting stance.
"Come on!" Leviathan growled, brandishing her spear. "Bring it!"
"I think that's quite enough." Harpuia said, deactivating the purple energy blades mounted on his armlets.
"Ditto." Fefnir added from her flank, putting down his massive hand cannons.
Furious at her moment of weakness and the ensuing display, Leviathan had been straining herself for days, first in the old facility the Guardians were using and then, at Phantom's insistence, outside where she wouldn't accidentally damage anything important. Still, it was not enough.
"Fine." she huffed, before surveying her surroundings.
Targets sturdy enough for her to practice on were scarce in that area, right at the edge of a thick jungle, but she found the dry, dead remains of an old tree. She took a running start and rose her fist, then punched with all her might, smashing through the wood in a shower of splinters. She then surveyed her handiwork and sighed in frustration.
"What am I?!" she thought, furious at herself. "Some adolescent twit?"
Though her body could not feel fatigue, her mind was quite capable of it, and so she eventually found herself sitting down at the edge of a pond, absently staring at the small fish swimming within.
A few more weeks passed, during which Phantom made the occasional trip back to the settlement to confer with X and check up on things. Slowly, the inexorable passage of time began to turn the leaves in nearby trees a golden brown and the days began to grow shorter.
One day, as he arrived yet again, he found someone unexpected waiting for him.
"You're late." Alouette said with a smile.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know better than to be out alone at this hour."
"I heard you were coming again." she said with a shrug. "Thought I'd come and wait for you here."
"Strange girl..." Phantom muttered to himself.
"What?" she retorted with a cheeky smile. "I told you before, didn't I? I'm not afraid of you."
"Not that long ago I was an enemy of your people." Phantom pointed out, still baffled by how bold she had become over time.
"I've been around Zero long enough to know when someone is hiding something." she said, looking rather amused at his reaction. "You're not so different from him."
"What do you mean?"
"You try to act like nothing gets to you." Alouette said, still smiling. "In front of most people, at least. But you slip here and there. Especially last time."
"I thought Ciel didn't want to speak of… that again." Phantom recalled, noticeably uncomfortable to be reminded of the incident with Leviathan.
"She doesn't." Alouette said, suddenly frowning. "But I'm not gonna lie. The whole thing bothered me. Especially seeing Ciel so furious… and your sister in such a state."
"Why do you care?" Phantom asked, scowling as if he had just tasted a lemon.
"I still don't understand everything." Alouette admitted. "Zero says I still think like a child in some ways. But I understand that even you four have hearts. How is she?"
"Did Ciel put you up to this?" Phantom asked suspiciously.
"You know she'd just ask you if she wanted to know." Alouette retorted, shaking her head. "Well?"
"Furious at herself, if you must know." Phantom said with a sigh.
"I'm not too happy about what she did." Alouette admitted. "She didn't have the right. But you grown ups are complicated and X says I shouldn't be too quick to judge, so I try not to."
"I suppose we are." Phantom mused. "And sometimes, we can end up doing things without even understanding why."
With that, he looked at the shorter girl. He hesitated for a moment, then, unsure why he even cared if anyone saw, looked around to make sure nobody else was watching. Satisfied, he patted her head.
"Come on." he finally said. "Let's get you home before someone gets worried."
Just around the corner, leaning with his back against the wall of a house, Axl grinned like an idiot.
"She's right, you know." he thought, trying not to laugh. "You and Zero aren't that different. You should try being a little more honest."
A few minutes later, as the odd pair reached Ciel's house, the petite scientist peeked out the window. Upon spotting them, she dashed outside.
"There you are." she said with a smile, before picking up Alouette and lifting her off her feet.
"Quite a smart one, isn't she?" Phantom remarked. "I'll have to watch myself around her."
"What do you mean?" Ciel asked, a little confused.
"From the mouths of babes and fools the truth comes out, as the saying goes." Phantom said.
"So you admit it then." Alouette said with a smug grin.
"I admit nothing, child." Phantom retorted, trying to maintain his usual facade in front of Ciel… and failing. "You can't prove anything."
"What are you talking about?" Ciel asked, a little suspicious of his choice of words.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Phantom corrected. "She simply got it in her head that I share some traits with your so-called savior. I don't know why."
"Back to the act again now that someone else is watching, are we?" Alouette teased. "Suit yourself."
"You really do have quite a mouth on you, child." Phantom said, rolling his eyes.
"So they say." Alouette retorted, her grin even wider.
"Must you always have the last word?" Phantom asked, a little irritated. She silently retorted by sticking her tongue out at him.
As if on cue, Zero returned from one of his strolls, wearing the green uniform he had become so accustomed to.
"What did I miss?" Zero asked, noticing the satisfied look on Alouette's face.
"Just a certain someone being stubborn." Alouette said, cheeky as ever.
"Where's the Ma… X anyway?" Phantom asked. Though he'd had his fun being contrarian and irreverently reverent, that joke had run its course and he did not wish to make too much of a nuisance of himself.
"Just going over the design notes for his new body… and yours." Ciel said. "Something to look forward to, but it's still going to take some time."
"That's not why I'm here." Phantom clarified. "I do believe there was some data you were interested in."
"Go on..." Ciel said, already running projections in her mind.
"There was a small disruption in weather patterns when the cannon fired… as you predicted." Phantom said. "But it will only be temporary and should not affect your plans. In short, for now you can keep using traditional farming techniques and keep up the expansion timetable instead of shifting manpower and resources to set up hydroponic greenhouses."
"That's good to know." Ciel said. "And the weather monitoring stations?"
"While Weil had absolutely no interest in anything outside the city walls unless it involved destruction..." Phantom elaborated. "The equipment is still mostly intact."
"So we just need to get some people there to do maintenance and..." Ciel mused.
"There is no need." Phantom said.
"What do you mean?" Zero asked.
"It's already been taken care of." Phantom explained.
As he felt Ciel and Zero's surprised gazes upon him, Phantom shrugged.
"You are not the only one who uses manual labor as therapy, Ciel. It can be… a pleasant change of pace."
"In that case, thank you." Ciel said appreciatively. "I'll have to figure out how to lay down some cabling to let us collect data directly from the equipment but there's no time for that now."
"Why not use wireless transmitters instead?" Zero pointed out.
"Because we don't have enough of those." Ciel explained. "And because the time and parts that go into assembling one wireless data transmitter from scratch could be better spent on two personal radio communicators or five luminescent cells. It's just not practical right now."
"I think I remember seeing some old wireless relays stored in the outpost we're using." Phantom pondered. "I could be mistaken, but I will confirm and let you know. The amount of useful equipment that was abandoned or misplaced when certain people decided the outside world was not worth settling in was borderline criminal."
"Then I am in your debt once again." Ciel said appreciatively.
"You owe me nothing." Phantom retorted. "I am simply fulfilling my original purpose… and making up for my mistakes."
And with that, he left.
Things had been a bit awkward between Zero and the Guardians since Leviathan's outburst, and she had made a point to stay away from the settlement and avoid any contact with him. However, it was only a matter of time until their paths crossed again.
Such was the case one afternoon, as a certain boyish Resistance captain went out for a stroll, having offered to do some survey work with the settlement's future expansion in mind. It was also a perfect excuse to stretch his legs and enjoy the outdoors.
"No wonder Zero loves his walks so much." he pondered as he approached a small hill overlooking a tiny stream.
Atop the hill, Leviathan was gazing into the distance after another bout of training, still trying to discern her new purpose in life. Hearing a faint rustling in the grass, she abruptly snapped to attention.
"Hey there, sea dragon." Axl said with his usual cheeky grin as he stepped out of nowhere. "Come here often?"
Ignoring her annoyed glare, he stepped closer, flashing the biggest smile he could muster.
"This view is too nice to enjoy alone. Care for some company?"
"Not on your life kid." Leviathan retorted, shooting down his blatant flirting attempt.
"Maybe if I grow my hair a bit and start hitching rides on missiles..." Axl mused, still smiling as he leered at her.
"Do you see this hand?" Leviathan snapped, showing her open palm and outstretched fingers.
"Yes, it's very nice." he said with his usual shamelessness. "Looks soft too."
"You're just a little pest, aren't you?" she grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Maybe you really do need a good spanking."
"If that's what you're into..." Axl retorted. "I try to keep an open mind."
"Don't push it." she hissed, glaring daggers at the impudent gunslinger before whacking him over the top of the head with the flat side of her spear and walking away, rolling her eyes.
A moment later there was another rustling in the grass behind him.
"Do you really have to push her buttons like that?" Zero, having caught up with Axl, asked once she was out of earshot.
"I'm just trying to get a good laugh out of her." Axl said with a shrug. "If there's anyone who needs it, it would be her and the Ice Queen."
"Ice Queen?" Zero thought, a little confused.
"That's… one way of looking at it." Zero conceded. "But I don't think that's going to work. The only times I've ever seen her laugh were when she was fighting me and… let's not go there."
"You know pal..." Axl teased. "With your looks and charisma, you probably get half the Resistance hot and bothered just standing there."
"Your point?" Zero asked, clearly not liking where the conversation was going.
"Well..." Axl said, grinning again. "If you were a less serious guy, you could probably have all the ladies eating off your hand. Between the Doc, the Ice Queen, Miss Sea Dragon over there, the lovely ladies at Mission Control. Hell, even your future mother-in-law looks-"
"Of course a shameless flirt like you would say that." Zero grumbled, rolling his eyes. It did not occur to Zero to ask how he even knew of Lune.
"I know. I'm terrible." Axl said without a hint of shame.
"When did you start making up dumb nicknames for everyone around you anyway?"
"Hey, a guy needs his hobbies." Axl said with a shrug.
"Your hobbies are going to get you punched in the face one of these days." Zero grumbled. "And when that happens, I'm not bailing you out."
"Par for the course, old buddy. Par for the course."
"What, don't tell me all these years turned you into a masochist on top of everything else." Zero remarked. "How many women actually fall for your clown act anyway?"
"More than you'd think." Axl retorted with a grin.
"Then why haven't I seen any of them around you?"
"Ah, buddy..." Axl said with a sigh. "You got me there. I suppose you're not the only one who lost the taste for it after one too many bad days."
"You?!" Zero asked incredulously.
"Would you believe me if I told you that there was a time when I was this close to quitting my antics for good?" Axl asked in turn, making a squeezing motion with his thumb and index finger.
"I suppose stranger things have happened..." Zero mused. "Such as the three of us being reunited like this after all these years."
At dusk, as Ciel once again continued her work on X's new body, she heard the workshop door opening. She looked over her shoulder, putting down the precision tools for a moment, and saw Lune stepping inside.
"I figured you'd be here." she said, eyeing her daughter's handiwork.
The skeletal structure was nearly finished and the synthetic musculature was already partially installed, but there was still some work to be done. Ciel had painstakingly attempted to make the new form as similar to the old one as possible, but, taking heavy inspiration from Zero's design – whose second body had been in turn based on X's original – she had managed to make some improvements to the original design, improving its durability in hopes of preventing another replacement from ever being needed. Her experiences building the Four Guardians and a certain copy had also helped refine her skills… but she tried not to dwell too much on that part of her life.
"Nothing but the best will do for such a hero..." Ciel said. "And such a dear friend. It's funny, you know. Just how much he reminds me of myself sometimes."
"When you were small enough to carry with one arm, I'd hoped that you would get to meet him eventually." Lune said. "Not under the circumstances it happened, but I'm still glad you did meet. Just remember. Your body can't be so easily replaced, so take good care of your health."
"Did you know him already?" Ciel asked.
"No. By the time I started getting serious about science, he was already gone."
Lune then leered at her daughter with a mischievous look on her face.
"Of course a certain someone in the family did get to cross paths with him and your beau. Great-grandaunt Estelle, I believe. It's almost like Zero is some kind of… family heirloom."
"M-Mother!" Ciel protested, feeling a rush of heat to her cheeks, but making no attempt to deny her feelings.
"As long as he's a gentleman and gives you time to grow up first, I won't object." Lune said, with a brief flash of steel in her eyes. "But if he breaks your heart or makes an ass of himself… well..."
"You're… surprisingly calm about this..." Ciel said hesitantly.
"He's been around for centuries, that's true… but I'd be doing a disservice to you by treating you like a child." Lune said with a sigh. "You have a better head on your shoulders than some people three times your age. In fact… maybe both of you were born a little too gifted for your own good."
"Both of us..." Ciel echoed, staring right at her. "Are you talking about..."
"Yes dear." Lune said with a nod.
"I wonder what exactly she's up to anyway." Ciel pondered. "She's been way too quiet since I left Neo Arcadia. Unless..."
Sensing her unease, Lune reassured her with a smile.
"No dear… she's still very much alive."
"Are you sure?" Ciel asked, still uneasy.
"I have it on very good authority." Lune confirmed, nodding again.
An ambivalent expression appeared on the young scientist's face as she struggled with her unresolved feelings. The decision to leave Neo Arcadia once and for all had been a difficult one, after months losing her faith in herself and her creations… and the disagreements between the twins escalating.
"Despite our differences..." Ciel said with a sigh. "I'm glad she's made it out."
"You do realize that she's at least partially responsible for some of the Resistance's successes, right?" Lune pointed out. "Those information leaks, those patrol routes and the locations of supply stores and prisoners. Many of them came from the tower."
"I had my suspicions..." Ciel pondered. "Some of those data packages were far too detailed. Too neat. She definitely had the access privileges… and was always a bit neurotic about things being clean and orderly."
"She was always a little too focused on order for her own good." Lune conceded. "The way she kept her clothes, her room, her school supplies. It was unnatural, just like her need to be in complete control of herself at all times. But that doesn't matter right now."
Ciel looked at her mother quizzically, sensing that she had not brought up the subject of Cial simply to reminisce.
"What would you say to her..." Lune asked. "If you saw her again?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Would you want to?"
"Of course." Ciel retorted, stung by the question. "Who do you take me for?"
"That… can be arranged." Lune said before giving her another hug. "On another note, joking aside, I do think you made the right choice about Alouette."
"Another surprise life threw at me." Ciel said with a smile. "She's a beam of sunshine in everyone's lives around here."
"As long as she isn't just a replacement for… him." Lune said with a frown.
"Don't even kid about it, Mother." Ciel said, shaking her head. "She was too young to remember some of the things he did… and I still don't quite know how I'm going to tell her that the monster who uprooted her life was created by my hands."
"Make no mistake though." Ciel added, perking up. "I didn't bond with her just out of guilt for his actions. I'm too young to be thinking about having children of my own, but a little sister… that, I can manage."
"You've done a fine job from what I've seen so far." Lune said appreciatively. "She absolutely adores you and your friends."
"I just wonder how Cial is going to react when she finds out that she has another sister." Lune mused with an amused grin. "Then again, maybe Alouette will be a good influence on her."
"I don't see Cial changing overnight..." Ciel pondered. "But it sounds like she has changed already while I wasn't looking."
"Or maybe she's simply started being a little more honest with herself."
Elsewhere, as night continued to fall…
"You've been avoiding me, X." Milan said as he finally caught up with X, who was in the process of adjusting Ciel's telescope atop the watchtower.
"It was not my intention." X said, stopping to look at him face to face. "I simply have been doing a lot of thinking."
"About what?"
"The future." X said. "The future and this strange power."
"So you still don't know where it comes from?" Milan asked, looking a little disappointed.
"I had… an interesting encounter a while ago that helped me understand it a little better." X said. "But I don't think that's the end of it. As far as I can tell, all living things have the potential for it to an extent. This light… is the essence of life itself."
"Then why can't all of us use it like you do?"
"I don't know. There's still too much I don't know. But I'm sure of one thing."
"What's that?"
"Back then, in that buried lab..." X recalled. "While Zero was fighting off the Pantheon's onslaught and I stumbled upon you, bleeding and broken… I sensed something else."
"What do you mean?"
"There was… someone else there." X said. "Someone else wielding the same power. I'm sure of it now. A few levels above us, probably trying to keep some of the enemy busy."
"Who?"
"I have no idea. Until very recently I wondered if I was the only one. Nobody else I know had manifested it."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"At the time I was too focused on taking down that copy and making things right. After that, I almost gave into the temptation of just running off and letting myself fade away."
"Why?" Milan asked, completely at a loss.
"I suppose I was tired of it all… and maybe feeling guilty and depressed about my failures. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking."
"So what changed your mind?"
"Believe it or not, it was Phantom who talked me out of it."
"I... definitely did not see that coming." the Resistance operative admitted. "I don't know what's going on with the Guardians, but they feel… different after all of this."
Milan paused for a moment to think, then voiced the question in his mind.
"But what's next? For you, I mean."
"Now that my head is back in the game, I'm just biding my time… until I'm back to full strength with the body Ciel is building for me… and until I have enough information to take care of another bit of unfinished business."
"You mean those lost siblings you mentioned before?"
"Someone else, too. Someone… who means the world to me. I can only hope she somehow made it and is still out there."
"You're just full of surprises." Milan said with a smile. "Ciel is right. Most of us saw you and Zero as legends, but at the end of the day you're people like us."
"Disappointed?"
"On the contrary. When I set out to help Ciel find Zero, I'd never imagined I'd end up being able to talk to you like this. I'm glad my time on Earth didn't end in that crumbling half-flooded basement."
"It does feel refreshing to have others treat me like a person." X said with a nod. "One of the reasons why I tried to conceal this power was because I did not want people treating me like some sort of messiah. My so-called legend was already out of control."
"I guess there are things far more important to you than keeping a low profile though. Which is good."
"That said, I have to be careful." X said, looking at his open hand. "I feel much stronger now that I have a physical form again and my heart and mind are on the mend, but this temporary body is too fragile. I don't know what might happen if I overuse this power while still in it."
A couple of hours later, with nightfall having fully set in, X made his way back to Ciel's house.
"Come on!" she said with a smile as she ushered him in.
Inside he found Zero, Axl and Alouette already sitting in the living room couch in front of the screen, with the latter two already going through the popcorn before the session had even started.
"You two..." X said with a chuckle.
"Don't worry." Zero said. "We made enough to last through the whole thing this time."
The screening sessions had become a semi-regular event for the small group, as a way of getting Ciel to unwind while indulging in the Maverick Hunters' nostalgia for the old world and helping her understand the past a little better. The previous session they had watched an old, emotional romantic comedy, but at Axl and especially Alouette's behest, they had switched back to the giant robot shows of old. The way her eyes lit up at such ludicrous heroics made Zero proud, though he had been careful to screen out anything that might upset her at such an age.
"Hey Ciel!" Zero called out, looking almost as giddy as Axl and Alouette. "After you're done with X's new body, do you think maybe..."
"Absolutely not." Ciel cut him off. "I'm not building you a giant robot."
"Aw!" Zero whined in a way that definitely resembled Axl. "Why not? It would be awesome!"
"First of all, it would be a waste of time and materials." Ciel said, wagging her finger as if scolding a mischievous child. "Secondly, if I built you one, then Axl would want one too, and then you two might flatten the settlement with your horseplay. Not to mention there's a good chance Fefnir would hear about this and want to join in. You two can be almost as bad as him sometimes."
The way Ciel completely shut down his old partner's flight of fancy surprised and amused X in equal measure, and he was unable to suppress a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Zero asked, pouting like a little boy.
"But Zero..." Alouette pondered. "You may person sized, but after all the stuff you, X and Axl did, wouldn't it be fair to call you Super Robots?"
"Huh..." Axl interjected with an amused smile. "That's one way of looking at it."
"But..." Alouette added, staring at Ciel intently. "If you're not building him a giant robot…Would you build me a suit of armor?"
"Hell no!" Ciel and Zero protested in unison, turning to her at the exact same time.
"Already acting like doting parents, huh?" Axl teased with a grin.
"Quiet you." Ciel retorted, lightly bonking him on the head with her knuckles even as her face turned a slight shade of crimson.
"But why not?" Alouette asked with a pleading look on her face.
"I never want to see you wear something like that." Zero said, his expression absolutely serious.
"Alouette..." Ciel added with a frown, patting the small girl's head. "Listen. I don't know how long I'll be staying on this Earth… but I hope that before my time is done it'll be a place where nobody ever needs to fight again."
"What Ciel said." Zero added. "I can understand being in love with the idea of playing hero at your age, but don't mistake the shenanigans on the screen for reality. I've lost enough people I cared about and I don't want to see you hurt."
"My maker dreamed of everlasting peace." X chimed in. "I don't know if that will ever come true, but for once in our lives we don't have to fight anymore. Let's try to keep things that way."
"I just thought it would be cool, that's all." Alouette said, surprised by their reactions. "I know if anything bad happens my Big Brothers will save the day again."
Her sweet, earnest smile was as disarming as always, and not even Ciel was immune to it despite having one of her own.
"Clever girl." Zero remarked with a smile, before patting her head as well.
"But wait." Axl said with a grin. "If Ciel adopted her as a sister… and now she calls you brother too..."
Zero rolled his eyes, anticipating another smartass remark.
"B-But!" Axl said in a high pitched girly voice, holding both his cheeks with his mouth wide open in mock shock. "That's forbidden l-"
"Quiet you." Zero interrupted, lightly bonking him over the head with his knuckles.
Once the banter eventually died down, they finally turned their attention back to what had gathered them for the evening. Once again, they returned to the same show that had introduced Ciel to the genre, and once again she found herself caught in the mood. The protagonist's resemblance to Zero definitely fed her imagination once again, but she did her best not to embarrass herself.
A couple of hours later, Cial made her way through the empty streets, still clad in her disguise. After much hesitation on her part and some prodding from her mother, she had finally gathered the courage to step forward while Lune watched from a distance. The streets were silent, and she could hear the sounds of nocturnal life in the distance – including the insects she dreaded, but which she did her best to ignore. The peaceful mood even elicited a smile from her, though hidden by the breathing mask.
Then, about a block away, she heard a loud shout, coming from the direction of Ciel's home. Startled, she suddenly broke into a sprint.
"What the hell was that?!" she thought in alarm as the shouting continued.
As if chased by a devil, she did not stop until she was standing outside one of the living room windows. Peeking inside, she saw the origin of the commotion… and was utterly dumbfounded.
Caught in the mood, Zero was holding Alouette up in the air with both hands while she struck a pose as if flying. Meanwhile, a particularly flashy scene of the over the top show they were watching continued playing on the screen, with a theme song playing in the background.
"Here it comes!" Alouette shouted excitedly. "Let's go!"
"One… two..." Zero counted.
"BECOME THE LIGHT!" they both shouted together.
When Cial had finally made the decision to see her estranged sister again, she had expected many things. Anger. Rejection. Perhaps even reconciliation. She had definitely not expected to see her watching a silly ancient animated show with three living legends and a girl small and adorable enough to pass for a third sister. She also had most definitely not expected to see one of the aforementioned living legends acting like an excitable teenage boy.
"What… the hell?!" Cial thought incredulously, her eyes wide as dinner plates under the mask.
She stood there for a while longer, frozen in place.
"The Ancient God of Destruction who brought Neo Arcadia to its knees… is a childlike goofball?"
Maybe she was simply tired, as she was not accustomed to staying up so late anymore. Maybe it was the shock of seeing a different side of such larger than life heroes. Whatever the reason was, the former Head Administrator couldn't find the heart to interrupt, and instead just stood there watching. After an indeterminate amount of time, however, Axl quietly excused himself and stepped outside.
Spotting him, Cial cast him a withering glare from underneath the mask, but he was undeterred as he stared her down.
"I came here to laugh at you." Axl said with a deadpan expression. "Is that what you want me to say?"
Before she could retort or take a swing at him like she was tempted to, he circled around her and lightly shoved her from behind towards the door.
"Come on!" he said excitedly. "You're going to miss the best part!"
"Don't touch me." she hissed in annoyance.
Watching Axl's antics through the corner of his eye, Zero grabbed the remote control and paused the video. As Alouette gave him a quizzical look, wondering if they were being too loud, he patted her head again.
"Sorry." he said. "We'll get back to this in a bit."
Hearing the grumbling once the admittedly loud noise from the show was gone, Ciel turned her attention to the door, and as she spotted the petite figure she stood up with an unreadable expression.
"What's going on?" Alouette asked, seeing the shift in Ciel's mood.
The two petite young women stared at each other silently and the whole living room went completely quiet. Each of the twin sisters tensed up, unsure how the other would react.
"Well?" Axl asked expectantly. "You finally came all the way here and now you're just going to sand there staring? Come on."
Before Cial could retort, he scooted over and promptly removed her breathing mask, eliciting a surprised gasp from Alouette as she saw the identical face with shorter hair and a considerably less friendly expression, paler than Ciel due to lack of exposure to sunlight.
"If there were not a child in the room, I would slap you." Cial growled, glaring daggers at Axl. "I told you not to touch me!"
"So that's why..." Zero pondered silently as he watched things unfold. "The only reason a proper mother would leave her child alone so abruptly would be… if another of her children needed help."
He'd had his suspicions that something was amiss since the first visit, but he did not know what to think of it at the time.
"Sorry, but I'm not a fan of dramatic standoffs." Axl retorted, the humor gone from his face. "Besides, this is no way for family to act. I'd know. I was forced to take down my first one."
While the events surrounding Axl's younger days with the Red Alert Syndicate were long gone, and he had managed to heal from the experience, the memories would likely stay with him for the rest of his days.
"Come on, Ice Queen." Axl insisted. "Or should I call you Head Administrator? Give it a rest already."
"Head… Administrator?" Zero thought, tensing up. "Her?"
He had heard rumors about an elusive figure in Neo Arcadia of equal or higher standing than the Guardians, but he had never expected Ciel to have a twin sister.
"Axl, why didn't you tell me?" he hissed under his breath.
"Because I didn't want you scaring the girl off." Axl whispered. "She's not as bad as she may seem, just stubborn as all hell."
"Before you ask, no, I didn't know." X whispered. "But it does explain a lot of things."
"Why didn't you tell me, Ciel?" Zero thought, feeling more than a little hurt. "No, this isn't the time to point fingers. We're all damaged goods here."
"I..." Cial tried to say as she stared hesitantly at her twin.
"I know." Ciel interrupted, snatching her in a sudden hug. "We both messed up. Time to let go and move on."
Cial had thought that after the surprise of being reunited with her mother she had poured everything out. As her eyes betrayed her and a torrent poured out from them, she knew she had been wrong.
Zero let out a silent sigh of relief, seeing that things seemed to be on the right track, while X simply smiled softly.
Axl, seeing that his antics had been successful, stayed quiet and simply let things play out, feeling something warm in his chest.
"See?" he thought, getting a little misty eyed himself. "It's simpler than you think, as long as you have the will to try."
Zero felt a few conflicting emotions, but he knew he had to say something eventually. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he stepped forward.
"Until two minutes ago I didn't even know you existed." he said, measuring his words carefully to avoid ruining the moment. "But if I could make peace with the Four Guardians, then it would only be right to give Ciel's sister a proper welcome."
"So I've heard..." Cial said hesitantly. "I did not mean to deceive you earlier, but I had no idea how you or most people would react. X is right. Ciel is right. Neo Arcadia was an abject failure. I just want to forget all that and get on with my life."
"So where have you been all this time?" Zero asked.
"Hiding in a cave like a savage, pondering if I should give up on technology altogether." Cial said with a scowl, looking incredibly tired all of a sudden. "But despite everything that happened, I couldn't forget about my remaining family."
"See?" Lune thought with a smile as she watched from the open doorway. "What did I tell you?"
While everyone else was distracted, Axl snuck outside.
"Thank you for indulging a foolish woman." Lune said as she saw him come closer.
"Lady, you aren't even on my top twenty list of biggest fools." Axl said, smiling at her. "Life is just too short to be wasted on pointless drama, don't you think?"
"It is." Lune said with a nod.
Then her expression hardened and her eyes took on a steely, almost dangerous gleam.
"That said..." she added. "If you make any inappropriate insinuations about myself or my little girls, there may be a little more drama in your future."
Axl laughed nervously.
"I know I run my mouth sometimes but you know it's for a good cause." he said, feeling a slight chill down his spine.
"You are absolutely terrible." she said, her expression reverting to normal before flicking the tip of his nose.
"I know." Axl admitted plainly. "But sometimes the only way some people do what's best for them is if someone riles them up enough."
He then sighed.
"I meant what I said back then, by the way. About you and them being good people. I do want to see this bunch happy."
"You know, your life would probably be a bit easier if you could be a little more serious." Lune pointed out.
"Maybe." Axl conceded. "But sometimes a good laugh helps deflect life's blows. You know I wasn't always a sad clown, but I lost a few pieces of my heart along the way too."
"Didn't we all?" Lune mused.
She sighed and gave Axl a rather sad look.
"I remember another boy… almost like a smaller version of X, minus the copy's psychotic tendencies."
"What happened to him?"
"He went down in a blaze of glory to protect his classmates." Lune said. "The hole he left in those around him had consequences though… even to this day."
"I think I've heard that story before." Axl recalled. "That project that got fifty of the brightest children of Neo Arcadia together to prepare them for leadership roles, right?"
"Right. And the last real Maverick attack in recorded history. Not the bullshit that copy made up as a justification for his actions later."
Lune then sighed again.
"I don't know what he was thinking when he cooked up those explosives in the chemistry lab… or when he rushed the bastards and collapsed the entrance of the building while the others escaped through the tunnels."
"Sometimes people think there's only one way out of a situation." Axl mused. "I've seen it too often. A lot of times it ends with someone doing something rash."
"I still wonder..." Lune pondered. "If he hadn't done what he did, would we still have had a Copy X? Would that bastard Weil still have taken over? Would Ragnarok still have happened? I don't know. What I do know is that his father was never the same… and I do miss that boy myself."
"Who knows?" Axl replied with a shrug. "If not the copy, someone else might have used the energy shortage as an excuse to target Reploids. That shit has happened before. All I know is we can't change what has already happened, only look forward. Now then… are you joining us inside?"
"It's been far too long since all three of us were last together." Lune said, perking up slightly. "Besides, Alouette is so precious! She reminds me of those two when they were her size."
"I can't say I got to see them in their younger days, but Alouette is cute enough to turn people into incoherent blobs." Axl said with a smile. "If there were three of her running around, I think people might start having heart attacks."
"Yourself included?"
"Lady, look at Zero. Even a badass like him can't stay serious around her for long."
"I noticed. But you look quite good with children from what I've seen."
"Zero would probably say I never grew past that mental age." Axl scoffed. "Who knows? I see those bright eyes full of curiosity and hope…"
"Reminds you of your early days?"
"I guess it's my way of paying it forward. I probably wouldn't be here today if some people hadn't believed in me. The least I can do is make sure those kids grow up in peace."