Birth of a New Demon Finale!
AnimeCat: My gift to you! Posting the last chapter, even thought I just posted chapter 11. *cracks knuckles* Now on to those new romances I've been working on…oops, did I say that out loud? ^_~ Okay, okay, I admit it…I'm only posting this now so I can start new projects….*hangs head*
Ok, maybe I could have done better when I originally wrote this but I like this ending a helluva lot more than Demons.
Please? If you read the last chapter will everyone who stuck with this saga please review? There's only like ten of you.
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The Epyon looked almost, breathtaking in the vastness of space, looking all as intimidating as it should.
"Well, Solo, I guess you got the email." Zeke said.
"Yeah. And now I've got a little more training on the beam saber."
"That won't help you much."
"Let's find out, okay?"
"Ready when you are." Zeke said challengingly. Solo had lied; he actually hadn't had any more training with the saber. He looked at the keypad and typed in the command.
Z E R O
Now all I can do is pray that I can handle this…
All at once, he felt something very, very wrong. His vision was slowly slacking off. He blinked, again, and again, and his sight would momentarily return to normal before becoming fuzzy again seconds later.
Zeke sped to him. Solo lifted the beam Gatling and fired. The beam rebounded off of Epyon, doing no damage. His vision was getting worse…things were getting black…
He shook his head to clear it and kept going. Then his sight went out like a light. He gasped-- drawing breath in so quickly his chest made a frightening whistling sound. All around was blackness. Solo could hear-- oh yes, he could hear. He could hear everything. The sound of Wings' gears grinding together…the sound of Zeke's labored breathing, and his comm. Link wasn't on.
Breathe, Solo…just breathe… He told himself over and over again. And despite the fact that he couldn't see, he found himself still firing the beam Gatling and firing the Vulcan guns at Zeke, and he could hear it when he missed and when he made a direct hit.
Then he could see without really seeing. It started slowly, as a gray spot in the blackness that surrounded him. Then soft yellow, then finally it hit him as warm sunlight, with Harmony standing there in front of him. He breathed lightly, and reached out to touch her as a beam shot through her, tearing the apparition to pieces. He could even hear her scream…
The Wing trembled violently as Zeke's heat rod hit him and pulled the Gatling from him. He swore harshly for a moment. Then, out of the blackness, Zeke appeared, and he, too, was torn by the beam. He began to see everyone slowly, one by one. People he had never even met before flashed in front of his eyes. Then familiar faces returned. Sarra…Harmony…Daye…his entire family soon followed.
Solo saw the last one, and realized it was two people, two elderly women. One, with short white-blue hair and wide blue eyes, and the other with straight, shoulder-length, pale blond hair and dead, infinite eyes of cold steel. The beam tore only through the blue-eyed woman. The other reached her hand out toward Solo with bony hands and sharp fingernails.
"I took everything she taught me…" She rasped to him as he desperately tried to escape her touch, "…and I used it. Do you understand, boy? I used it…I used it well. All for my colony…I no longer cared about Daye…she was my best friend until she left me alone with Madame L for that damn Gundam pilot… Oh yes, she was more than a best friend…she was my sister, boy…do you understand? My sister…she thought I was weak…so she took care of me until your stupid grandfather took her from me…she was the weak one, not I… I hate her, now… Do you understand, boy? I could care less about you all…I don't care that you're my great-nephew… Nissa and Daye Likino…she never realized it…she never realized that Aseka, Mother, was watching her as she grew in the orphanage…watching her closely. They both left me after a while…and I'm having my revenge now… I am Lady F…but my name wasn't always Nissa Fontanel, once upon a time it was Nissa Likino…"
"Oh my God…" Solo choked as the apparition backed away. She had hurt the beam…it represented those who had been hurt by Lady F. All in some way. Directly-- Harmony, Zeke and Luna, and indirectly, himself and all his cousins, his sister, and all his relatives. Madame L, apparently his great grandmother, had directly hurt Daye. That last one to get torn by the beam…that had to be Hilde Schbeiker. Solo grew enraged at the apparition of the pale haired woman, and he lifted up his beam saber and tore her in half.
The saber hit something. A pained scream echoed in his ears. As his vision restored, he realized that he'd hit Zeke head-on with the saber, rendering the Epyon completely useless. Solo could see bits of jagged metal floating from the Epyon.
"ZEKE!" He screamed. Over his Comm. Link, he heard a faint cough.
"I'm okay, Solo. I…I'm not in any danger." He sounded sick.
"The war is over, Zeke, accept it, my friend." Solo said softly. "I know it won't be easy…your pride is even greater than mine…but Cedric's girlfriend Sarra is going to be leader of the colonies, now. You can talk to her, as chief rep of L3…and fix something out…okay?"
Zeke coughed again. Then Solo could practically hear Zeke nod.
"Okay." He admitted faintly. "Now…just take me to Luna…let me see Luna…that's all I want…"
Solo smiled. "Sure thing, Zeke."
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Duo linked hands with Daye as they walked to the abandoned building.
"This brings back memories, doesn't it?" Duo asked cheerfully. Daye whistled.
"Sure does." She sighed. They pried open the door and went in happily, to pick up the remaining bits of information on the computers. The Gundams would stay in the base until, God forbid, they were needed again.
"It's great to have the war over, isn't it?" Daye asked, looking at DeathsWings as Duo hacked into the computers. "Kiane moves to earth today …God…I can't believe we just found her seven months ago… And Solo's going with her…" She said wistfully.
"To be precise…he's going with Harmony to Rouen, but since she's going to reside in Sanq…" He smiled. "At least Cedric and Sarra are staying up here."
"Just like in the old days, with King Peacecraft and Heero Yuy. One on earth, the other in space. Relena must be in her element right about now."
"Didn't Quatrine decide to go with Kiane?" Duo asked, looking up at her.
"Yeah. Remember, Kiane is about as clueless with pacifism as we are. Quatrine is going to help her. Marin is going, too."
"Why?" He asked quickly.
"She want's to help Kiane. And of course Jake is going…" Daye smiled.
"What did Jay have to say about his daughter partaking in pacifism?" Duo laughed.
"He's a little too busy with his son now, remember, old timer?" Daye put her hand on his shoulder.
"How could I forget? There's finally another Maxwell to keep up with the Maxwell legacy." Duo said happily. "Alec Kattra Maxwell."
"Almost done?" She asked, looking at the computer. "We have a flight to catch. We have to make it to Kiane's first speech."
"Yeah…" He said as he finished with the last program. He shut down the computer and left the room, shutting off the lights and looking at the Gundams for the last time before walking out the door, sighing.
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Across the street, in a high rise building, two old women watched them exit the base.
"Ready, Ms. Schbeiker?" Lady F asked, pulling the remote from her pocket.
"What?" Hilde asked, startled, torn from her sight of her best friends. She hadn't seen them in so long… Then she saw was Lady F was doing. "What are you doing?" She demanded shrilly.
"There's a wire that will trigger an explosion here, and it will carry it to their base."
"But…you'd kill Duo and Daye!" Hilde protested.
"If the fools move a little quicker, maybe they'll only be in a coma for about a week." Lady F said coldly. "We have to get out of here, or the explosion will catch us."
"No! I won't let you!" Hilde shouted defiantly.
"It's the only way, Ms. Schbeiker. If we get rid of the Gundams now, we can attack again in a few years."
She looked down at the box of explosives and set the timer.
"No! That's…oh God, that's Duo! No, Lady F, its over…we lost…" Hilde continued. "I won't let you hurt them!"
"Hilde…" The woman growled harshly. "Do you want to die along with them?"
Hilde, full of rage, reached to her gun and instantly fired at Lady F. The woman screamed in pain and tightly held her shoulder. She backed up and slid against the wall.
"Well," Lady F said coldly. "I see I have my answer." And she slowly limped out. "Have fun with the explosion, my friend." She called as she moved down the hall.
Hilde turned to the box and desperately tried to shut the timer off. But the only thing she could see that could be done was isolate the explosion, so it wouldn't touch the other building. She looked out the window, and saw that Duo and Daye still stood there, staring up at the building, thinking of the past, and undoubtedly, her at some point. Why they hadn't heard from her in so long. Why the godmother of their children had lost touch. Hilde held back her tears.
"It's the only way…" She said softly. She knew there wasn't enough time to get out of the building. She nodded and made sure the explosion would be isolated. She was ready to die for Duo once and she was ready to die for him again. She sat down slowly, now violently sick and listened for the beeping of the timer.
10…9…8…7…6…5…4…Good bye, my friends…1…
Duo and Daye both turned around as the top six floors of the building behind them exploded. They covered their eyes and stood their ground.
Inside Daye's head, she felt the slightest bit of her old psychic ability make itself known. She died for you, you know. She shook her head to clear the thought, because though she didn't consciously know what it meant, deep in the subconscious of her brain, she was crying.
"God--" Duo started swearing heavily. "We'd better get out of here. Terrorists-- I swear to God…" He muttered icily. He took her hand and led her back to the car, neither of them seeing the old woman with pale hair and cold eyes walk away with the bullet hole in her arm.
~~~~~~~
"Are you nervous, Kiane?"
"We're proud of you, hon."
"Go get 'em, sis."
"I know you can do it, Kian."
"It's easy, Kiane, all you have to do is start by saying
"Hello." She said confidently. "My name is Kiane Yuy. I was raised in a church by the name of Kian Zachary, and now I will come to you as Kiane Peacecraft. Like my grandmother, the princess before me, I believe that true peace is the only way that one can live." The crowd began to applaud, and she continued. "However--" And they instantly stopped. "I believe that battle is necessary all the same."
She paused, avoiding their gaze and their reproach for her words.
"Without battle, one cannot see how harsh it is, and one cannot compare it to peace and know that peace is the right. If one has suffered in a war, they will know peace is the way they want to live. But those who have not suffered do not know why there should be peace, because to them, what's the difference? Peace or war-- what does it matter? They have not endured the pains of war. And that is why there must be battle. And also why there must be peace. So that people can decide for themselves. We are not here to brainwash or to preach, we are here to guide…to teach…to live by our own teachings. Now…I leave it to you to decide if I am fit to lead the Sanq Kingdom."
She glanced up at her family, who were all smiling brightly, lost for words. Some of them--her grandfather and uncle included-- were rolling their eyes but still smiling proudly. Harmony, in full princess garb, appeared to be taking notes.
In the silent room, one person applauded…then two…then suddenly, she almost had to cover her ears as what she had said took affect. In the applause, she could distinguish her uncles' "You go, girl!" very easily. He's loud, she thought happily.
And Kiane became queen of the Sanq Kingdom on that day.
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AnimeCat: To reduce confusion, a friend of mine will be hosting Daye's original fic in a few weeks on her site. If you wanna read it, email me (AnimeCatARA@aol.com) and I'll link you…but remember to sign her guestbook!!
There is a sequel to this fic! Incomplete at the moment, but eventually I will finish it. HOWEVER, it won't be posted in chapters on Fanfiction.Net, rather, my website which I just started. Again, write me and I'll link you.
Thanks for sticking with me, people! Please? A review from each of you?