O Aijo Katsute O Aijo Itsumo des



By Sagitta



A/N: To all reviewers – I LOVE YOU ALL! *Sniff* You're all so wonderful. . .I can't believe I have twenty reviews! Yay! Erts's feelings were a bit clichédin the last chapter. (Duh, it's Erts!) This one will . . .um. . .conclude the Erts saga. Goddess, I have never been so hackneyed before. All Erts-lovers. . . beware. DEATH. Don't worry, Erts will be happy in heaven. . .!_!



1 Chapter Six: Zero's Angel



Losing those you love can be a blow,

Anguish and death go hand in hand, you know,

But when you've known them for so long,

Does that mean they're truly gone?



The room was dimly lit, a phosphorescent radiance exuding from the corners that permeated the six boys and the sparse equipment with an eerie glow. Three boys stood before headsets in the middle of the room, while two boys faced them. The second boy of the latter group turned to the first. "Are you sure of this?" His voice was hesitant, as if afraid to ask.

"We have to give it a try, though it's never been done before. It is possible the EX cannot be contained in the air as a substance –"

"No, I don't mean that. It's just that. . .before we left, you said you didn't want to make any more."

"I've changed my mind," the first said coldly and the second lowered his head before turning his gaze to focus on the three before them.

"Ready guys?"

There was a firm nod, a hesitant one, and a barely perceptible one. But they all stepped forward and put on the virtual headsets as the two edged closer together. The second looked to the first and there was warmth in the glance before his eyes closed. They clasped hands and a light, at first a subtle spark in the center between them, began growing.

It grew until it was a large orb suspended in the air, silver and gold lights tangled in each other's strands like a great mesh. The surface was like multiple waves, changing from silver to gold to silver again. Gasps filled the room.

"I can see it!"

"It's so bright. . ."

Three filaments of intercrossing lights slowly stretched from the center of the orb and reached out towards the three, melting into their bodies and defining their outlines with a steady flare. They shuddered slightly with the energy and a flickering flame in each began to spread throughout themselves. . .

Violet, Jade, and Turquoise blended with the silver and gold that was a catalyst to them, and strands began reaching from *their* bodies, forming spheres much like the first before them.

The four spheres levitated in the air, each their respective color. Static and unmoving, they waited for another to empty into.

The three took off their headsets shakily, and the two opened their eyes. There was only an awed silence for a moment as they all stared at their creations, and then met each other's glances in a mutual look.

"We did it," the second murmured softly. And that was all he said.



~*~



"What do you mean it'll take weeks?!" Hiead snapped at Clay as the boy typed on the keyboard with an exasperated look on his face. Clay sighed.

"Hiead, I'm building *four* Angels here and I'm not Superman, you know," he replied as the screen changed and a format grid of an Angel appeared. He clicked on a coordinate and typed hurriedly. "Saki, I need you to order four packets of those new MH-V 87 missiles and fifty sheets of metallic Gundanium."

"Aye aye, sir!" Saki winked as she saluted and disappeared from the doorway. Clay scowled as he tapped his finger impatiently on the mouse pad, brows furrowed.

"Sin of radius 97 times the cosine of four phi divided by the quad root of –"

"Alright, I'm leaving," Hiead muttered as he turned to depart. Damn, I'm glad I'm not a repairer. .

Zero's face suddenly appeared in the doorway, and, seeing Hiead, he snatched Hiead's sleeve before the boy could leave. "Hey Hiead, have you seen Erts? He's been avoiding me for some reason; and Azuma says we have a mission."

"Both of us?" Hiead asked quickly as they hurried through the hallway.

"Erts, you, and me." Zero peered through a room. "Where is he? I've been searching for him all day –"

"Here I am," a soft voice behind them murmured. Zero jumped slightly, startled. Hiead turned to see the fair-haired boy fiddling with a strand of hair almost nervously, eyes downcast.

"Erts! *There* you are!" Zero reached for the boy's hand but Erts swiftly avoided him and stepped right past. Zero blinked. "What's with him?"

Hiead hesitated. He doesn't know yet! "Zero, Erts –"

"Never mind; you can tell me later, after the mission!" Zero said cheerfully as he grabbed Hiead's hand. "Hey Erts, wait up!"

Hiead sighed. Later then. . .

Azuma was waiting for them in the hangar, leaning against the wall with his usual cigarette in his hand. Koritsu flanked his left and Ernn Laties and Luhma Klein were at his right. Zero felt a touch of warmth as he glanced up at Ernn Laties. Haven't seen you for a while. . .

Ernn Laties silently agreed.

Azuma cleared his throat, and Hiead almost did a double take when he realized that the instructor's left arm was heavily bandaged and his leg was in a cast. Azuma noticed his surprise. "Had to pilot with a mobile suit when I was on a colony in the middle of a siege," he said calmly. "My piloting skills just aren't what they used to be, I suppose." He gestured toward the bandages and cast.

Hiead flushed slightly, guilty for reminding him. "So what mission are we on?"

"There's a new base in the Keena-Lian galaxy, only a fraction of a lightyear away. It's the closest base to GOA so far." Azuma pressed a projector button that opened a screen. A small dot confirmed the location of the base, surrounded by swirls of stars and dark matter. "The base coordinates are already programmed in the Ingrids and Angel. Erts, you have to copy the main database info while Hiead and Zero act as diversions. Diversions, mind you, not destroyers."

"Why do we need the database information?" Erts, from the shadows.

"The Goddess-Slayer," Azuma said matter-of-factly. "We need to find out if he or she exists, and the base they're on; also, there's the question of where all the Victim Enforcers come from, and their weaknesses." He pushed the button again, and the galaxy map disappeared. A frown appeared on his face. "The Victim Enforcers or Victims haven't made an attack for a while. . ."

"The calm before the storm," Hiead said flatly. "Clay believes that they're gathering force at the bases, though he doesn't know where they're coming from." Azuma shrugged and gave a barely noticeable nod that proved he respected Clay's opinion.

"So we strike at the master-mind," Zero mused. "Right at the core. But will that be enough?"

"We won't know until we try," Azuma said calmly, and he looked each of them in the eye. Hiead saw a flash of fear in the instructor's eyes, and he felt a cold chill pass over him. "Good luck, pilots."

Erts turned to enter Luhma Klein, but as he did, he thought he saw a shadow flicker in the corner of his eye. He shook his head. Probably just my imagination. . .



~*~



They sighted the gigantic base far away and stopped for a quick briefing, while Erts scanned for Victims. He paused to peruse the information being loaded, and a frown slowly came to his face, which had been emotionless until then. "I don't understand. . .there doesn't seem to be many Victims, and no V-Es at all!"

"So?" Zero sounded quite pleased. "The less there are, the better. Hiead and I don't have to take much damage then."

"It might be a trap." Erts bit his lip. "I don't like this at all. . ."

"Oh come on, we can't just float around here and whine about some easy kill," Zero said impatiently, scowling. He started to move Ernn Laties closer. "Hiead, you're going to the fortress at the top while I attack the main station. Erts, you're going to –"

"The inner chamber, I know," Erts murmured. He felt a pang, and knew that his EX was sensing the disturbance in the surroundings. But if Zero wanted to do it. . .then he trusted him. Shifting his Ingrid into stealth mode, he saw that Hiead and Zero had done so also until the scanner didn't show them. There were no Victims in sight yet.

Nearing the colossal floating base, shaped like a disk with a giant fortress at the top, Erts stalled. No hints yet of activity; the base hadn't detected them. Then Koritsu and Ernn Laties came into view, and an explosion of lights, lasers, and missiles thundered on the base entrances. It was so bright that Erts had to shield his eyes for a moment as the entrances detonated, loosing EX sparks into space.

Victims, small ones with spiky armor and sharp incisors, began pouring out of release sites and attacking the Ingrid and Angel ferociously again and again. They were terribly easy targets, and Erts shuddered as their pain wracked his own body. He clutched his forehead in his hands before drawing himself up. He had to do his mission. Had to.

Still in stealth mode, he sent Luhma Klein toward a release site, where they dove into the emptied tunnels. The channels were streaked with fluorescent colors that often flashed perilously as the EX core was being damaged by Hiead's and Zero's attacks. Erts guided Luhma Klein through with the map, avoiding the Victims. He had not come there to kill.

Halfway through penetrating the base, he felt a jolt pass through his body, triggering his EX; there was something *very* wrong. "Zero? Hiead?"

Zero's voice came through the intercom. "What's up?" He was panting slightly with exhilaration, and Erts heard a holler as he felt the base quake.

"Zero, my EX is telling me that there's something wrong," Erts said quickly. "Do you see anything? Any strategy changes? Victim Enforcers?"

"No, there isn't anything wrong," Zero said, sounding slightly confused. "At the pace we're going, we could destroy the base!"

Erts sighed. "Alright then. Maybe it's just me." He reached forward to switch off the intercom, but on second thought, activated the scanner. Gradually increasing radius lengths scrutinized the base surroundings; then there was a beep. "Th-there's something coming, Zero! Be on the alert!" He shouted the last few words as the scanner beeped multiple times, and was met with silence. "Zero?"

"Goddess, they're not here anymore," Zero muttered. "They retreated back into the base. Erts, be careful. They might have sensed our com link."

"Zero, did you hear me?! I said that something very large is coming this way!" Erts snapped. "It. . .it looks like a score. . .no, several scores. . ."

"We can handle it." Hiead's icy voice came in.

"What if it's Victim Enforcers?" Erts demanded. "You're already out of ammunition!"

"Hey, it'll be fine" was Zero's answer.

The com link went out. Erts frantically pushed the button again and again, but the

link was broken on the other side. He shakily clutched the panel and buried his face in his hands. Zero, be careful out there. . ."Oh Zero, what's happening?" he murmured softly out loud. The scanner beeped again, revealing that a multitude of Victims were coming down the tunnel, right to where Erts was.

Erts sped up Luhma Klein's pace, though he desperately wanted *out*. He already knew what he had to do – go in, copy as fast as possible, get out as soon as possible to help Zero and Hiead. The plan sounded a bit hasty to him, but it was the most he could do. Soon Luhma Klein was zipping so fast that he could barely make out the tunnels. He mentally thanked the Goddess that the Ingrid was on Autopilot.

The streaks of EX flickered, and then died as the EX core failed. All was dark, and Erts clicked on a faint light to guide his way. They were nearing the inner chamber.

A hundred meters. . . .

Seventy-five meters. . .

Fifty meters. . .

The scanner beeped for a third time, and Erts saw that there was yet another group of Victims coming from an adjacent channel to intercept him. So they had spotted him. "Shoot," he muttered. It would be hard getting out.

He finally reached one of the entrances to the inner chamber, double doors glowing with EX veins running through the surfaces. Erts set a bomb and stepped back as the bomb began to run down, eyes constantly glancing down at the scanner. Victims were all congregating at the entrance he was at; already he could hear the metallic clicks as they neared. "Come on. . ."

There was a gigantic explosion as the bomb detonated, and Erts fell back, shielding his eyes. The smoke worsened Luhma Klein's already poor vision, and he was forced to peer through the rubble. There should be EX glowing in there. . .

Two pinpricks of light flickered in the darkness, and they were not EX. . .

Erts found himself face-to-face with a creature from hell.



~*~



Zero was having an effortless time, slashing at the Victims that kept coming at him in droves and swarms. He was in a good mood, frequently practicing dives and showing off in his entirely laidback manner as Hiead destroyed like Hiead always destroyed; simply.

Then Erts's anxious voice suddenly came on the com, and Zero found the Victims retreating. Not that Erts really cared; he was a bit more interested in whatever-was-coming. Zero rolled his eyes; Erts was getting paranoid.

Zero sighed and broke the link since, knowing Erts, the boy would stay and whine when he should have been copying the database info before all the Victims swarmed on him. He glanced around impatiently. Now there was nothing to do, since all the Victims were gone. "Hey Hiead? Do you want to go in to help Erts?"

"I thought he said something was coming here."

"Yeah, well, you know Erts. . .he gets worried over every little thing," Zero muttered. He scoped around on Ernn Laties's scanner. "I don't see anything. And there shouldn't be anything, since we're doing a surprise attack."

"My scanner says nothing either, but my EX is reacting strangely." Hiead's voice sounded distant. "I think. . .on the perimeters. . .I *feel* something. . ."

"Goddess, you're getting paranoid too," Zero said with annoyance. "There's nothing here."

"Perhaps not." Hiead agreed reluctantly. "There's no bases nearby so –"

Slam! Koritsu suddenly crashed onto the base, static sparks flying everywhere; a blur of cobalt swooshed over her, and the saber flew out. "Hiead!" Zero shouted desperately as he turned Ernn Laties around. Several vague forms rushed at him, and he let loose with a barrage of missiles. They retreated, lingering just barely beyond his range. "Hiead, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but Koritsu's damaged," Hiead's voice was pained, belying his response. "My saber's gone, but I have a spare."

Zero punched the scanner button several times before he realized it wasn't working. "What the f***?!" He opened the control panel; the green wire was cut. "Someone sabotaged Ernn Laties!"

Another Victim, larger than the rest, charged at him; he swung his saber and sliced off the tentacles, momentarily stalling the charge, but an EX attack rammed into him from behind. "I'm being double-teamed!" He reinforced the shields that were steadily weakening.

Hiead directed an arrow of EX energy at the V-E that was attacking him, shoving it back from Ernn Laties. But then a swarm of Victims funneled towards him, and Zero had to fend for himself. He enlarged the visual screen and realized that there were more Victims and Victim Enforcers coming their way. Where did they all come from?! He was attacked again by the Victim, and the shield went down; his saber countered the assault and vanquished the screeching Victim in a lightning-fast thrust.

The Victim Enforcer was more wary now, and snarling, it circled Ernn Laties. A small group of minuscule Victims clouded his vision, and Zero had to clutch the panel as his Ingrid was besieged, shaking the cockpit. Everything was failing – the arms, the missiles, the shields. . . He saw a steady plethora of more enemies approaching, and a bitter realization shuddered through him. "Goddess, it was a trap! They were waiting for us!"

Hiead's voice was thick with pain. "We have to pull out *now*!"

"Erts – he's still in there!" Zero directed Ernn Laties into a gaping hole in the base shields. "I've got to find him!" Goddess, it's all my fault; I should have listened to him! He swiftly restored the com link. "Erts? Erts!"

There was no answer; only static.

A horde of Victims suddenly breached him, and he slashed blindly in the darkness. He didn't care if Ernn Laties was damaged; all he could think of was Erts, trapped in the inner chamber. . . "This is too slow," he whispered. "She can't go fast enough." I'll be too slow to save Erts. . . His hands gripped the controls. "Please, Ernn Laties, just this once. . ."

His hair transformed to an electric blue. . .

Ernn Laties shone a golden sheen, and, as if revived, rushed through the channels at an almost frightening velocity. Zero stared in wonder at his flashing EX, burning through the switches and buttons and wires, and lighting the cockpit in an eerie blaze. But then Ernn Laties halted, and he took in a sharp breath.

There was a smoking piece of debris lying on the floor. But it wasn't the debris that had caught his attention; no, it was the strands of blond hair from underneath a smoldering metal sheet. . . "Erts. . ." His voice came out choked. "Erts; Erts, are you there?"

But before he could see any signs of movement, his EX reacted before his senses did and the saber swung out, scoring a hit that lit up the gloom. Zero's eyes widened when he saw the creature that had destroyed Luhma Klein. . .

A towering, massive Victim Enforcer stood before him, the mother of all V- Es. At least a hundred feet long, with three tails that whipped over its head, its body was lined with scales and spikes and ridges. Instead of delicate wings, it had bony structures tipped with claws. A horn glowed with EX at the snout.

Goddess, how am I supposed to stand a chance against that thing?! Zero thought desperately; Ernn Laties was already severely damaged. It reared its ugly head up and roared, the sound vibrating throughout the tunnels and shaking the ground beneath the Ingrid's feet.

For being so large, it moved fast. It dove with claws extended, wicked metal tips designed to tear even Gundanium. Zero was forced to dodge, struggling to find an open spot as the wings fanned open to cover the body, a tough shield to penetrate. He thrust with the saber, but the hide deflected it. "Damn it!" he cursed.

One of the tails suddenly slammed him against the wall, pinning Ernn Laties to the EX-thrumming wall in a flurry of static sparks. In the haze, he could barely see that the V-E was slanted slightly sideways, revealing a pale underbelly; he shot one of his last missiles at the underside, hoping that it, like most V-Es, had a vulnerable stomach.

Luck came through for him, and it snarled in pain, dropping him. Zero hovered as far above as possible, right below the ceiling. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face; he was winded. I can't do this. . .Ernn Laties is barely functioning. . .

The V-E hunched back on haunches, eyes starting to become unfocused; it was preparing an EX attack. Zero glanced at his shields; they were gone, and he didn't have enough room to dodge quickly, not with the Ingrid's fuel supply so low. He felt an icy wave tide over his body, and then his mind turned blank. "I'm sorry, Erts. I failed. . ."

The EX surged upwards toward him, a dark phantom of death –

"Zero!"

Erts! Zero's face snapped up, and caught a glimpse of the boy's face, soot-smeared with rivulets of blood running down the bruised skin, in the dim haze. Erts was dead, almost dead, should have died. . .but he couldn't, hanging on with the last of his strength for a final goodbye. . .Ze. .ro. . .

Their eyes met for a split second, separated only by Ernn Laties's screen. Zero shook his head, but Erts's mouth only tightened in determination, and he weakly raised a shimmering hand. . .

A trickle of cerulean light countered the obsidian current, driving it back for a moment; the V-E was taken by surprise, but the light was not enough, and dissipated into the air. In rage, it slammed Erts's body against the wall like a broken doll, shredded pieces of azure cloth, remnants of the boy's pilot suit, tearing in the midst of a shower of crimson. Zero's scream was lost in his choked sobs as the image burned in his mind. . .

*Flash*

White light.

That was all Zero could see around him; a soothing white light, not painfully intense, but gentle. Looking down at his body, he saw that a golden radiance surrounded his hands and arms, all the way around his profile. He tried to walk and couldn't, suspended in the air with no force to walk on. The sound of hollow footsteps emerging from behind him, in a place with nothing to walk on, made him turn around. No, it was not footsteps, but a remote memory of them. . .or perhaps a memory still to come. . .

Erts smiled at him, Erts as Zero had seen him before they left for the mission; there was no blood on his pale skin, and his azure pilot suit was intact. Erts looked like an angel without the robes or wings, the perfect angel. Zero's angel. His heart fluttered. "Erts!"

"Zero. . .I have to leave now. . .But before I go, I want to tell you to go on with life," Erts's voice echoed in the expanse, surrounding Zero from all directions as if there were ten of Erts, not one. "The others need you."

Zero looked down. "Erts, how can I go on if you're not there?"

"Go to him," Erts urged.

"Who, Erts?"

Erts smiled sadly. "Listen to your heart, and you will know. ." He turned, but Zero grabbed his arm.

"Please, Erts, don't leave me –"

"Oh, Zero. . ." Erts's voice and image were fading, gradually receding as the light grew brighter. "Who said I'd ever leave you. . .?"

*Flash*

Zero's head snapped up, and he felt Ernn Laties crumble under the pressure of a tail battering her metal bulk. He clutched the controls. "Erts. . ." Erts's face came back to him, distant and lonely, and it was all he could see for a moment as tears ran down his face and misted his vision.

But Ernn Laties's pain finally woke him, and he lifted his head slowly, with a dull aching pain in his heart that wasn't from the bruises. His body was weary, so very weary that he would've collapsed had not *something* kept him awake; he was fighting with only his heart and Erts's memory. He didn't die for nothing. . .Erts, I promise you. . .Even if I must die. . . A cold rage came over him. I *will* take it down. . .For you. . .

His hands tightened over the controls, and his eyes cleared to a frightening clarity, burning with a vengeful blaze. He was a foreigner to such rage, but he did not care, did not feel anything but that empty pain that took up so much of his heart. . .

The creature stepped back, confused and sensing the change. . .

Ernn Laties rose up, and she was Ernn Laties no more, but an Ingrid possessed with the wrath of the Goddess. Zero's golden light spread from the Ingrid to the chambers and then to the darkness of space with a luminosity so bright, all space felt his pain. . .

Outside, Hiead saw the base outlined in growing light, and those that had been overwhelming him shrieked in pain and fled. . .

The V-E retreated back, afraid. Zero stepped forward, and there was no mercy in his eyes, only the image Erts's body being slammed against the wall like a torn doll while he screamed. "You. . .killed him. . ." His voice was a hoarse whisper, filled with so much anguish and hurt that outside, Hiead curled up in pain. Ernn Laties, shining like the angel of vengeance, raised her blazing saber, ready for the final strike –

I did not kill him. . . The voice whispered in his mind, settling like a soft blanket, numbing his fury. . .

"Yes, you did," Zero snapped angrily. There were tears flowing down his face as he spoke. "You killed Erts. . ." But Ernn Laties did not strike, hovering on the brink.

You killed him. You killed him with your foolishness, human. . .

"No, I didn't!" Zero shook his head frantically. He took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. "Though maybe if I had listened to him. . ." Ernn Laties lowered her saber.

The V-E's horn was glowing. It's all your fault; don't deny the truth. . .

Zero felt a black cloud descend over him, seeping through his light like venom. "Goddess, I didn't mean it. . ."

It stepped forward. No, but he still died, did he not? He's still dead. . .and all your excuses cannot hide reality. . . The horn lowered.

"No. . no, they can't," Zero admitted softly, eyes wide and empty as if in a trance. "It was my fault. He's still dead. . .he's not coming back. . ." The light diminished.

Yes, you killed him. . . The horn began to gather energy, sucking in EX like a whirlpool. Zero did not lift his eyes. YOU KILLED YOUR OWN FRIEND!! The roar thundered throughout the base, penetrating through every bone of Zero's body.

"NO!" Zero screamed, clutching his head. "No. . .it can't be. ."

And now, you must pay for your –

A flash of silver! The horn fell to the ground a lifeless chunk of ivory; Koritsu slammed the glowing saber down into the body, and with a shriek, the V-E collapsed onto the floor.

Zero slowly lifted his eyes. "Hiead?" his voice had a pained undertone.

Koritsu turned to Ernn Laties. "Yes?" Hiead's voice came in from the com.

"Do you. . hate me?"

"What?! No, of course –"

Ernn Laties fell to her knees, and then to the ground. The com link broke, but Hiead felt an emptiness inside and knew that Zero had blacked out. He struggled to lift Ernn Laties's heavy bulk. Wait. . .where's Erts?

Hiead looked around on Koritsu's vision, and saw only smoke and rubble. "Erts. . .Erts, are you there?"

There was only static in the com link. Hiead frowned.

A flutter. . . .

Hiead's eyes turned to the sound as a shredded piece of azure cloth drifted to the ground in the midst of a pool of blood. It turned crimson. He felt something clinch tightly inside of him, and knew that Erts was dead.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head. There was only silence.

The sound of a friend mourning a friend.