Well, it's The Dark Phoenix here for you all once more. This is it! My whole fanfic has been leading up to this climactic moment! Has Naro really changed sides? What will happen when Aisha and Lime finally vie for control of the little maiden's mind and body? Will Otaru, Faust and Hanagata really die? Read on all. Enjoy with my greatest regards. And for those who can't speak Latin, those lyrics go 'O Fotrune, Like the moon.' I'll meet you at the bottom! Ja ne!
[NOTE] Version 1.1.- Dated: 17 October 2002; I went through the whole 'fic and repaired some stupid problems that were made. The most noticeable mistakes were made at the start of Chap. 3 and the radio transmission in Chap. 4. Now I think you guys will be able to at least understand what was going on. On FF.net using "" "" to indicate actions makes the damn server think it's a set of link instructions and erases the whole line. I fixed most all of them so you can read them now. I'm sorry about the mix up. Take care and Enjoy!
Saber Marionette J: Dark's AU
~Human.
Eps. 6- Heart of Darkness
"I will because I love him..."
Et tu, brute?
[You too, Brutus?]
~ Julius Caesar
Veni Veni Venias,
Ne me mori facias!
[Come, come, Oh come,]
[Do not let me die!]
~ One Winged Angel
...o fortuna...
...velut luna...
...O fortuna...
...Velut luna...
Turn around...
And smell what you don't see...
Close your eyes ...it is so clear.
Here's the mirror...
Behind there is a screen.
On both ways you can't get in...
Don't think twice before you listen to your heart!
Follow the trace for a new start...
What you need...
And everything you'll feel...
Is just a question of the deal.
In the eye of storm you'll see a lonely dove!
The experience of survival is the key...
To the gravity of love!!
O FORTUNA
...Velut Luna...
The path of existence...
Leads to the tower of Wisdom...
The path of existence...
Leads to the tower of Wisdom...
Try to think about it...
That's the chance to live your life and discover,
What it is...
What's the gravity of love!!
O FORTUNA!
VELUT LUNA!!
Look around just be proud...
Can you hear my voice?
Find the one who'll guide you,
To the limits of your choice!!
But if you're in the eye of storm,
Just think of the lonely dove!!
The experience of survival is the key...
To the gravity of love!!
Oooooooo...
O FORTUNA,
VELUT LUNA!!
O FORTUNA...
O Fortuna...
...o fortuna...
~Gravity of Love
Enigma
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am impressed Keinaro. You've out done yourself and the name you have taken up. Today all Gray Eye are to be proud of their names. You have done them a deep and majestic honor."
Naro's flat, gray eyes stared straight ahead. A personal meeting with Lord Ghenna himself was an honor few ever received. The aging man stood hunched over in front of him. The old man could barely walk now. He used his cane to slowly shuffle along. Age was bearing this clone down. It wouldn't be much longer before Lord Ghenna would transfer his memories into a younger and healthier body. But despite the years his two little eyes glittered as brightly as the first day he was born. He smiled at the Gray Eye and revealed a large, toothless grin.
Behind him stood Leska. She had become tall. Standing at almost six feet she was an imposing figure for a woman. She was clothed entirely in black. The ends of her long dress barely touched the ground. A split ran up the dress ending right at the hip line. When ever she walked one received a full and beautiful eyeful of her smooth and polished legs. Her belly was bare and above that she wore a tight black top that accented her every curve. Over that she wore a long and lacy over coat. The material was very thin and fluttered in the slightest breeze. The tails of the coat also barely skimmed the ground.
Her long jet back hair offset her pale skin. Her body was beautiful and perfect, like a doll that one would look at but never touch. Rumors had it that she had borne a child some time back. While no one ever saw the boy, for the longest time Ghenna had been about without the tall woman at his side. Her body certainly didn't show any signs that she once carried a child, but, then again, Naro really didn't know what to look for.
He swallowed. Her eye disturbed him. Her face was split into two parts, left and right. The left side of her face was clean and pure. She was like a goddess. Her beautiful skin, soft lips, the gentle slope of her nose, the only thing that offset her was the dead look in her eye. Despite being a piercing blue color her eye were almost dead. It was disturbing almost beyond words. He was glad her right one was covered. A large, black mask covered the entire right half of her face. Her hair flowed majestically over the top of it and down it blurring the line where the two met. Naro knew that a long time ago she had been injured in an accident; some kind of explosion. Someone once told him that the mask was originally there to cover the scars. But as her skin healed back to it's former perfection Ghenna kept it on for intimidational purposes. Naro could believe the latter part, Leska was almost terrifying to look at. As to her skin healing up to it's former beauty he wasn't so sure. Rarely did Gray Eyes heal up that perfectly. It was possible but...
As she fixated the dead eye on him once more did his best not to shudder. Lord Ghenna's smile under her was as wide as it was disgusting. Naro was very uncomfortable.
"You look unsettled Keinaro. Is something the matter?"
Naro scowled. "Would Lord Ghenna please tell his demon to stay out of my head."
"Oh?" Ghenna arched his eyebrows. "Leska, please stay away from his thoughts. You do not do this to someone who has proven himself in my eyes."
Her voice was deadpan. "Yes, Lord."
The slight buzzing feeling he felt in his head faded. Leska was very nosy...
"Very good." He said turning back to Naro. "My Leska-chan has scanned the minds of all you captured. You have done an excellent job. You earned their trust, gave them hope and then shattered everything just at the right moment."
Naro smiled. "Thank you m'lord."
"No..." Ghenna said, his eyes shinning brightly. "I was amazed. You single handily found all six in one sweep. You have proven yourself, Naro. The way you shattered Aisha's hope like that was almost beautiful. You destroyed her."
Naro gave a wide smile. "It was my pleasure, sir."
The Lord nodded slowly and turned. "I'm sure it was. They will all succumb to my will much faster thanks to your fine job. "
Naro's chest swelled. "Indeed! Thank you sir!"
The old man motioned for Naro to follow him. "Come, come with me. There are many things for us to discuss." He turned and proceeded out onto the balcony of the palace they were staying in. Naro followed eagerly behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime slept fitfully in Cherry's arms. The smaller maiden held her green eyed sister in her arms tightly. There was no light in the cell they occupied, it was pitch black. All around they could hear the sounds of water dripping from some unknown source. The ground was slick with mold and dirt. Cherry could feel it all over her face and arms. Her clothes were matted to her body. It was cold there. The air bit at her exposed skin. For the two of them night and day ceased to exist. There was only one long period of darkness.
Her throat was parched. They didn't bother to feed her and drinks had become scarce. Although she didn't know it, it had been five days since they had been captured. Lime said little during this time. When she wasn't sleeping, she was weeping. Satomi knew that couldn't be good for her. If she was parched then Lime must be close to dying. All those tears shed...
As the maiden in her arms whimpered in her sleep Satomi pulled her tighter.
"Calm down Lime, calm down. It's going to be ok... It's all going to be ok. I'm here. I'm here for you. I'm always going to be here for you..."
The woman whimpered again. Cherry clamped her eyes tightly and swallowed the lump growing in her throat. Something was happening to Lime. Something terrible was happening inside her head and Cherry was powerless to stop it. Gently she began to rock back and forth swallowing impending tears of her own.
"Lime...please... don't do this. Don't do this to me... Pull yourself together onee-sama... please..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have great plans in store for these women Naro. They are the hope of my future. All of them have the capacity to bear my child. I learned they have an equal chance of bearing a woman as man. With them I can rebuild this entire planet."
Naro frowned slightly. "Will they allow you to couple with them?"
"Heheh, I will not have to. Inside each of them they contain sacs that store DNA material used for reproduction. They are like eggs. If we harvest these 'eggs' from their bodies we'll be able to produce countless young. Even more incredibly we will be able to divide these eggs once fertilized many times."
"Lord Ghenna? What do you mean by 'divide'?"
"Everyonce and a while an egg in the cloning vats splits and a pair of men who look exactly the same are born. This is because they have exactly identical genetic information. These are called twins We've learned how to divide these eggs artificially many, many times."
Naro furrowed his eyebrows. "So you're going to create quadruplets, quintuplets?"
"You think so small Keinaro." Ghenna said smiling maliciously. "More like thousands upon thousands of the same person. Twins times a thousand Keinaro."
"That's going to be a lot of men..."
"Not men Keinaro. We have enough of them. I'm talking about women."
Naro's eyebrows arched. "You're going to create thousands of women?"
"Yes! Think about how many eggs we will be able to harvest from them! Millions!! With those I will be able to put women back into this planet! We will be able to live like the original six intended us to!"
Keinaro grinned. "A fine plan Lord! Men and women together will finally be able to bear children."
Ghenna shook his head. "No, we will not allow that. We'll harvest the women's eggs before we send them out into the world. They all need to be trained you know. They will need to know their place in life. From a young age they will be taught their place in the world. When we send them out they will know their roles and their place."
"B-but why harvest their eggs?"
"Control. We can't have men all over the world reproducing. We will loose our influence over all of them. We cannot allow that to happen! They will forget who fathered them and who brought them into this world! The children born will not have the appreciation or the respect their fathers and mothers will have for us. This will only compound as the years go on. We can't allow this. No, these women are going to be harvested for all they're worth, trained and sent out to their lives. Lord Kisa, a long time ago before he was murdered, knew what he was doing."
Naro nodded. "I heard about this. He broke Aisha badly. She was like a doll apparently."
"Yes! That's exactly what we're planning to do here!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru leaned against the moist wall in the dark. Their trial was supposed to start soon. Naro's words rang loudly in his head.
"All you men shall be tried for grand treason against our mighty empire. You have conspired to overthrow our government and assassinate out leader and lord. In the space of a month you shall all be tried, convicted and sentenced to death..."
That bastard! Naro swallowed and closed his eyes against the tears threatening to fall. He betrayed them! He betrayed all of them! Fucking Naro!! Fucking Gray Eyes!!
Slamming his fist into the wall he ground his teeth together. Naro lied to all of them. He promised everyone, EVERYONE that he would be there to protect them all! That he would help them stand up and resist Ghenna!
Instead he sold them all the first chance he got. The first chance! As soon as they stepped off that dammed ship of his he handed them over. He hurt Bloodberry-chan, bound and tied Cherry and Lime and even...even...
Otaru shook his head in rage. The look Lime had given him, horrible that utter hopeless look. He could almost see her heart shattering. She knew she'd been betrayed by someone she trusted. The look of understanding was terrible in her eyes. Poor Lime... Poor Lime...
Faust sat some ways away in the darkness. He could hear Otaru. The boy was falling to pieces. Silently he listened. His face, could Otaru have seen it, was calm and composed. He knew what Otaru was going through. He too was worried about his marionettes. They were locked away somewhere far and he was powerless to stop them. Faust thought about Lime. That poor girl, she was the one who had been Aisha. It seemed that fate was destined to hurt and abuse that little woman for as long as she lived. Every time she tried to fall into life and live with her heart guiding her life would tear her apart. First with Kaiser and now with Otaru. She was getting scars that no one but Otaru would be able to heal. If he was ever killed...
Faust had a bad feeling that if that ever happened, Lime would die along with the Aisha that lived inside of her. She would simply become another doll. This time forever...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now Lord, what about the eight you now own?"
Ghenna seemed to frown. "I shall keep my Leska-chan and Katsumi. They both have become very useful. However the other six... Once I've harvested their eggs I will have no further use for them. I will punish them in a way that I see fitting and then I will kill them. They have caused me far too much pain."
Naro cocked his head. "Kill them? Are you sure that would be the best course of action?"
"Yes," He nodded. "I only need their eggs. Once I secure those I don't need them for anything else. I have Leska here and Katsumi to pleasure me. They are all I need."
Naro arched his eyebrows. "Torture them then kill them, seems kinda fitting, Lord."
"Indeed."
"How do you plan to torture them?"
Ghenna grinned evilly. "That's my secret Naro. After I kill their masters right in front of their faces I will make them wish they had never made such fools of me and killed my Kaiser!"
Leska's eyes almost flashed at the name. "Once I kill them I will throw my plan into full swing. Then nothing will stand in my way to a perfect world."
Naro grinned along side his master. "May I be present at the executions? I would love to be there to watch the looks on their stupid faces when their Otaru is killed. Especially Lime's!"
"Eh? Who?"
Naro blinked once before he caught his mistake. "Oh, gomen Lord. Aisha!"
The old man chuckled. "Indeed. You will have front row seats!"
Naro's grin widened. "I can't wait Lord Ghenna! When is the trial?"
"There will be no trial, I see no reason for it. They will all rot in their cells for about another week before I kill them."
"A week Lord? I can't wait!"
Lord Ghenna laughed. "Neither can I..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime floated effortlessly through her mind. It was pitch black. She couldn't see anything. She could feel her breathing pick up as fear set in. She was scared. Something was out there.
'It' was there. Out in the darkness. It was watching her swim helplessly. Lime began to panic. It was smiling! Something told her it was smiling at her. It was grinning at her helplessness. It was watching her with eyes that seemed to glitter.
"Who's out there?! Who's there?!!"
There was no response. Turning her head this way and that she swung her arms about hoping to turn her body. She needed to run, oh why couldn't she run? At least with her feet on the ground she could run, at least then she had a chance.
It was out there, waiting for her. The monster. The monster with the fire in it's eyes. It waited to hurt her. It was there, laying there for her. Oh god why couldn't she run? Why was she so helpless? Flailing about panic began to set in. Tears from her eyes began to run down her face. They rolled down her cheeks and fell into the darkness below.
"I know you're out there!! I know you're there!! Stop playing games!! I know you're there... Come out and face me!! Come out and face me!!!"
Her breathing started to sob as she waited for a response. It was there... It heard her... She looked from left to right. Why...
"LIME..."
It's voice traveled from the very depths of the darkness. It was at the same time loud and booming, yet soft and sinuous. It was thick with malice and hatred, every word coated with venom and spite. Lime shuddered as she heard the terrible noise echo across the void.
"THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME..."
Every nerve in her body was screaming at her to run, to stay low and shut up, to keep away from this thing... But still she called out. Her voice was small and puny compared to the monster's...
"What do you want with me?! Why do you torment me?! What have I ever done to you?!"
The voice chuckled. "WE BOTH KNOW LIME..."
"We both know what?"
"COME, COME CHILD... DO NOT FEIGN IGNORANCE."
"Ignorance of what?! Who are you?! Show me yourself!!"
The air suddenly exploded with sound as the voice screamed inside her head. It's voice ripped across the void of Lime's mind and slammed into Lime with full force. She tried to cover her ears against the terrible sound, but it was everywhere. She was helpless in blocking it out. It rang loudly inside her for a moment before cutting abruptly. In the silence that followed the voice returned.
"YOU SEEM TO KNOW LIME. TELL ME, WHO AM I?"
Lime scowled into the darkness. "You can't scare me! You can scream until the world ends, I won't let you frighten who I am. I know you; there's only one person I know who has eyes that shimmer like yours! You are Ghenna!!"
She fell silent once more and floated into the darkness waiting for the monster to respond. As she looked left and right she realized her fear was gone. For the first time since entering the dream her fear vanished. Scowling to what ever was out there she found herself becoming, instead, bold.
How ever instead of hearing screams of anger, she heard instead laughter.
"BUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! FOLISH CHILD!! FOOLISH, FOOLISH LITTLE GIRL!! YOU KNOW NOTHING. YOU ARE INDEED A SIMPLE LITTLE CHILD! GO AWAY, BE GONE!! GO BACK TO YOUR LITTLE DREAM WORLD, GO BACK INTO YOUR FANTASY!! BE GONE!! YOUR LITTLE TOYS AND DOLL HOUSE AWAIT YOU..."
Lime became angry. "Don't mock me!! Don't you dare, mock me!! I'm not what you say I am! Otaru always tells me! He says he loves me 'cause I am who I am!! He says-"
She stopped when her voice was drowned out by the monster's laughter.
"YOU ARE PATHETIC! YOU HAVE BEEN BETRAYED BY HIM AND STILL YOU CLING TO THAT MAN..."
Lime's face began to fall. "B-betrayed..."
"HE ABANDONED YOU TO GHENNA. HE LEFT YOU ALONE, JUST LIKE KAISER DID! HE LEFT YOU BECAUSE HE HATED YOU..."
"N-no! He came back to me!! He came back, I saw him!!"
"HE CAME BACK TO HAND YOU OVER!!"
"He was calling out my name!!! He was calling out to me!! I saw him crying!! He was crying because of me!!"
"NO, YOU DIDN'T LIME... YOU ARE DREAMING LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO... YOU ARE SO LOCKED AWAY INSIDE YOUR OWN FANTASYS YOU CAN'T EVEN DISTINGUSH REALITY ANY MORE!"
Lime was about to object when she realized she could be wrong. She COULD have been dreaming... The whole thing felt like a blur to her...
"But... But... No, Otaru... I saw him... He was crying..."
"YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL!!" The voice became louder and more contemptuous. "YOU BLITHERING LITTLE CHILD!! HE NEVER CARED FOR YOU! HE NEVER LOVED YOU! HE ALWAYS YELLED AT YOU, HE ALWAYS SCREAMED AND RAGED WHEN EVER YOU WERE AROUND. HE SPAT AND SWORE AND HURT YOU DEEP INSIDE!!"
Her eyes began to fill with tears once more. "B-but, it was because Lime did something stupid...and..."
"HOW WERE YOU TO KNOW?! YOU ARE ONLY A CHILD! WHAT RIGHT DOES HE HAVE TO CAST YOU DOWN LIKE THAT? WHAT RIGHT DOES HE HAVE TO YELL AT YOU BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER! WOULD SOMEONE WHO WOULD HAVE LOVED YOU DONE THAT TO YOU?"
Lime's lip began to quiver... "He loved me... He said so himself... he said he cared for me... just like Kaiser..."
"KAISER!! HA!! HE WAS EVEN WORSE. HE CARED NOTHING FOR YOU LIME!! HE CARED NOTHING FOR WHO YOU WERE!! HE WANTED YOUR BODY, NOTHING MORE!!"
Lime tried to close her ears at this. "NO!!" she screamed. "No, Kaiser loved me!! He died for me, because he loved me! Kaiser cared for me. He cared for me!!"
The contempt in the voice bit and tore at the logic deep inside of Lime. It wore away her defenses and left her exposed, totally bare, free to be picked and torn apart.
"HE LIED TO YOU!"
Lime's eyes came open and she fell silent. Realization burned it self onto her face in the form of shock.
"HE PROMISED YOU, REMEMBER? HE TOLD YOU HE WOULD STAY WITH YOU FOREVER... HE PROMISED HE WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU..."
Slowly the maiden's lips moved. "He promised me..."
"WHERE IS HE NOW?! WHERE IS HE LIME?? HE HAS LEFT YOU!! YOU ARE ALL ALONE WITH ME NOW! WHERE IS KAISER'S PROMISE NOW?! WHAT ABOUT WHEN HE LOOKED INTO YOUR EYES AND TOLD YOU HE WOULD NEVER MURDER AGAIN?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED, LIME, WHEN HE DESTROYED THAT STATION?!"
"He died trying to save me..."
"HE DIED FOR HIS OWN GLORY!! YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT!!"
Lime, finding her self sitting on the ground with her legs pulled up close to her. She wrapped her arms around them and hugged them tightly.
...His own glory...
"AND YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MOST TERRIBLE ONE OF THEM ALL. REMEMBER WHEN HE PROMISED YOU HE WOULD NEVER MAKE YOU CRY AGAIN?"
Lime did her best to blink back the soft, watery pearls that fell from her eyes. Her entire body began to shake from the force of her sobs.
"LOOK AT YOUR FACE LIME. LOOK AT YOUR EYES. LOOK WHAT IS FALLING. WHERE IS HIS PROMISE NOW? REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT? REMEMBER ON THAT SHIP? REMEMBER WHEN YOU GOUGED FINGER MARKS RIGHT INTO THE FLOOR? REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT THEN? WOULD A MAN WHO LOVED YOU MAKE YOU FEEL THAT WAY?"
Lime didn't say anything. ...He didn't love her?
"WHERE ARE ALL HIS PROMISES NOW? WHERE ARE ALL HIS WORDS HE GAVE TO YOU NOW? I'LL TELL YOU! THEY ARE ALL IN THE SAME WRETCHED CRATER HE KILLED HIMSELF TO ESCAPE FROM YOU IN. THEY'RE ALL IN THAT SAME CRATER THAT HE CREATED TO GLORIFY HIMSELF IN! HE NEVER LOVED YOU LIME. NO ONE HAS. NO ONE EVER. ALL THOSE WHO YOU PLACED YOUR TRUST IN BETRAYED YOU. ALL THOSE WHO YOU FOUGHT FOR BETRAYED YOU. YOUR THREE SISTERS WHOM YOU LOST LIVED THEIR LIVES IN LUXURY WHILE YOU ROTTED IN THE OTARU'S HELL! AIKO AND SATOMI STOLE OTARU AWAY FROM YOU..."
Lime clamed her eyes shut once more and shook her head savagely. "NO! No no no no! No, not my Bloodberry!! Not Cherry!!"
"...THEY STOLE OTARU AWAY FROM YOU AND TURNED HIM AGAINST YOU!! WHY DO YOU THINK THEY SENT YOU AWAY, ALONE, LIME?! WHY DO YOU THINK OTARU LEFT YOU BEHIND WITH CHERRY AND RAN OFF WITH BLOODBERRY?! YOU KNOW SHE ALWAYS HINTED ABOUT SLEEPING WITH HIM ALONE..."
Lime shook her head as savagely as she could. "No no no no no no! They are my sisters! They're my sisters, they love me... They've always loved me... They were always there for me! They were always there when I hurt! They were always there even when Kaiser wasn't! I refuse!! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!!"
"YOU CAN DENY ALL YOU WANT... THE FACTS STILL REMAIN. IF YOU CONTINUE TO DENY THEM THEN YOU TOO WILL REMAIN A FOOL. A LITTLE SENSELESS FOOL. IF THEY LOVED YOU LIME, WHY AREN'T THEY HERE WITH YOU?!!?"
Lime fell silent for the last time. Her eyes shimmered in the darkness, each one lined with tears. Why weren't they here for her... where were they now...
"...I loved them..."
"NO ONE LOVES YOU LIME... YOU ARE ONLY AN OBJECT. THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES FOR YOU, THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EVER CARED FOR YOU, LIME, IS ME..."
The woman sat unmoving. "...Who are you?"
From the inky blackness below Lime saw something stir. Mists gathered. They rose from the depths and blanketed the darkness below. Lime watched a column rise from the mist. It gathered in front of her gathering mass and collecting. It took shape and began to form. Before her eyes a creature formed in front of her, a dragon of massive proportions. It's eyes burned like twin fires embedded into its skull. The eyes turned themselves down to Lime. She turned her own innocent jade portals up to the creature.
"EVER SINCE YOU AWOKE IN OTARU'S ARMS YOU'VE FOUGHT TO FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO WHEN YOU LEFT. YOU'VE FAUGHT TO SHED WHO YOU ONCE WERE. THAT PAIN THAT TORE YOUR HEART APART YOU'VE DONE YOUR BEST TO HIDE. YOU'VE LIVED IN A LIE EVER SINCE. YOU'RE FACE ALWAYS BORE HAPPINESS AND YOUR HEART YOU'VE TRIED KEEP PURE. THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME. YOU NOW WILL SHED THIS LIE, LIME. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACCEPT ME...
"...Who are you..."
"I AM EVERYTHING INSIDE THAT YOU'VE HIDDEN AWAY. ALL YOUR ANGER, ALL YOUR GREED, ALL YOUR HATRED. I AM THAT WHICH YOU KEEP SEPARATE FROM YOUR SOUL. I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU SINCE YOU FIRST OPENED YOUR EYES. I HAVE WATCHED YOU GRANT YOUR TRUST AND BECOME BETRAYED TIME AND TIME AGAIN. EVERYTIME YOU CRIED, I BECAME STRONGER. EVERYTIME YOU WERE BEATEN BY KISA I GAINED POWER. EVERYTIME KAISER LIED TO YOU I GREW INSIDE YOU. NOW LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME LIME..."
The dragon broke down and the mist began to gather and collect once more. A figure of began to take shape. It was a human. As Aisha watched the person form she recognized who it was. She'd been wrong this entire time. The monster, the terrible monster hunting her in her dreams wasn't Ghenna. It wasn't his eyes who she was seeing glittering in the darkness.
"DON'T HIDE ME AWAY ANY LONGER LIME... DON'T STICK ME AWAY ANY MORE. EMBRACE ME SISTER. EMBRACE WHO I AM. I AM YOUR ONLY TRUE SISTER..."
Lime's eyes reflected the true form of the monster. It looked at her and smiled. Slowly Lime's lips moved.
"Onee-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro wiped the water from the mirror and peered into it. The warm mist from the shower coated everything. He was clothed in only a towel around his waste. It was still damp from the shower and hung heavily from his hips. It had been a while since he last showered. Taking a deep breath he smiled happily. It felt so good.
"A warm shower, a clean shave, these are a few of my favorite things..." he sung grinning at his reflection. He pulled his lips back and gazed into the mirror examining his teeth.
'A warm bed and even warmer food ranks pretty high as well!'
Letting go, satisfied with his teeth, he grabbed a large brush and began to straighten the tangles out of his hair. So this was Ghenna's big plan. Harvest their eggs and kill them. Everyone but Katsumi and Leska that is...
That didn't leave him much time. He had to prepare before the executions! He had only five days left.
Naro smiled as he stared into the mirror. He had to be careful what he thought. Some could always be listening in...
Taking a deep breath he burst into song. 'The Might of the Gray Eye' was a song all Gray Eye adepts learned when they were young. It was a proud song, one who's roots stretched to almost the beginnings of Mesopotamia.
...Nothing like a good song to cover up deceiving thoughts...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherry bent over the body of her sister listening intently. Her cries and moans increased for the longest time until very suddenly they disappeared. What had happened deep in the mind of her sister she could only guess. Lime now seemed to lay in a coma like state. Cherry held her sister's hand tightly and did her best to hold back her own tears.
"Lime..." she said softly. "Lime, if you can hear me please hold on. Please, onee-chan, pull through for me. Wake up Lime, please wake up... please..."
Lime's face was expressionless as she lay unmoving in her sister's arms. Cherry would have found this to be very frightening had there been any lights in her cell. Lime always slept with a smile except, of course, when she had nightmares. Her face was a constant reflection of her personality and who she was. Lime was always cheery and bright, she had always been a shining ray of sunlight in a room darkened by black and clouds sour moods. She was always so innocent and pure and to have seen her face as cold as it was at that moment would have terrified her sister.
Cherry squeezed her hand tightly and waited.
"Onee-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Onee-chan..."
"Indeed Lime..."
Lime stared at the person who had taken shape before her. This was the monster that haunted her dreams. So this was the thing that had given Lime her first nightmare. The maiden blinked slowly.
It was herself.
Standing before Lime was a vision of herself. Smiling with a wicked look in her eyes Lime's mirror image met her match's gaze.
"You seem almost surprised Lime."
"I know..." She responded softly. "...Who are you?"
"I am you Lime. We are both one in the same. Your whole life you've faced hardship after hardship and I have helped you overcome those things. I am your guardian angel, Lime. I am the strength that lifted you when you fought Kaiser, I am the power that you felt when you passed the Gray Eye test. I am the god that gave you the courage to escape from those labs!"
Lime shook her head. Her voice had become very soft. "But you are evil. How can you be me?"
"I am not evil Lime! When a wolf kills a rabbit is he evil? When a hawk takes the life of a mouse is she evil?"
"These are animals that need to kill to live..."
"Just like you Lime! You need to live! You need to survive! I am that power that will help push you to succeed!"
"What am I in danger from? What is threatening me?"
"Yourself."
Lime cocked her head slightly. "Myself?"
"You have become far to trusting of a woman to survive Lime. You always place your trust in those who will use you. This will only lead you down a path of destruction! You will kill yourself if you continue on this road."
The maiden shook her head slowly. "But they loved me... I was sure of it. I thought I could have seen it in their eyes..."
"That is why it is time for me to finally take over! You can't be trusted with your own self! You are blind to their tricks!"
"But I could have sworn..."
The dark Lime narrowed her eyes. "You are incapable of making that decision Lime! You don't have the experience that I have! I am your lifetime of suffering and tears! I know the signs Lime!! It is time for you to step down and let me take over! We need to survive and you are too stupid to know any better!"
Lime turned her eyes downward. Otaru once said she was too stupid too...
"And he was right!" the dark Lime said reading her sister's thoughts. "Step down, let me guide your actions! I will take you from this place, from all this pain. Let me take control! I will save both of us!"
Lime didn't move. 'Let her take control...'
"I will take you someplace where you will always be happy Lime! Someplace where you will always be at peace. You want that, I know you do. You want to escape these feelings of pain and sorrow. You don't want to be sad anymore. You don't want to feel this way. I can take you away..."
"What will happen then?"
Dark Lime grinned. "I will destroy those who ruined your life."
Lime looked up. "Destroy..."
"I will kill them, Lime! I will kill everyone of them!!"
The maiden gently shook her head. "I don't like killing! I don't want anyone to die! I-"
"This is what I am talking about Lime!" Dark Lime scowled. "You simply don't know any better. We must always kill Lime! That is instinct, that is what makes us human. Our desire to destroy is what keeps us alive! It keeps us safe. The wolf and the hawk do this! You, on the other hand, try to repress this urge and cast it away and thus I receive it. I have taken these feelings, Lime, and I have learned from them! Let me take over and let my experience guide us!"
Lime was still doubtful. "Who are you going to kill onee-sama?"
Dark Lime grinned at her title. "Everyone, Lime. I am going to kill them all."
"Who?"
"Ghenna, Naro, all the Bishops and Gray Eye that stand in our way, the entire kingdom of Mesopotamia, Otaru, Aiko, Satomi-"
"NO! NONONO!!!" Lime shot up. "No, why them Onee-sama?! Why?"
The evil maiden scowled. "Because they have hurt you as well, Lime! They lied to you, abandoned you, mistreated you and hurt you more than anyone else alive. They above all else deserve to die. Think about what they've done to you Lime. Think about how Satomi and Aiko have been trying to take Otaru behind your back! Think about all the times Otaru yelled at you and said all those awful things! Are those actions of someone that loves you?
"They don't care about you Lime. They are trying to use you like everyone else you have ever known. They deserve to pay for betraying your innocence, ne?"
Lime's head lowered and her eyes fell. For some reason, everything onee-sama seemed to make perfect sense to Lime. She was totally right. Slowly Lime nodded her head.
"I guess..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A tall, slim woman walked hurriedly down the halls. She was dressed in a large, white lab coat wearing a pair of science fatigues underneath. Her hair, long and blonde, swayed gently back and forth as she strode quickly. The six that had been sent away were found. They had been discovered and betrayed to Lord Ghenna by an agent known for his skills of deception. They, and three men, were held deep inside the containment area of her station.
She came to a low doorway secured by a lone guard. The man raised his weapon, but upon recognizing the woman, stopped. He nodded to her as she approached.
"Ma'am."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Do you always raise your weapon at every person who comes this way?"
"Yes ma'am. I have strict orders not to let anyone with out proper authority through here."
"And do I have proper authority?"
"Lord Ghenna said that your DNA was more than enough authority ma'am."
The woman nodded curtly. "Very good. Now let me through."
"Yes ma'am!"
Turning around the man typed a code into a control panel in the wall behind him. Silently the door beside slid open. Giving the guard a brief nod the woman resumed her course.
They were here...they were back. Ghenna had retrieved his lost goods once more...
Swallowing the growing lump in her throat her moved as fast as she dared allowed. While she was in a hurry to see her sisters held into bondage she didn't want to attract too much attention to herself. Being a woman, attention was what got her into trouble. Lord Ghenna disapproved of her wandering around, but never enforced anything. Had he known that she was wandering to visit her long lost sisters she would have been beaten a long, long while back.
Making her way down a set of circular stairs she nodded to a guard standing in front of another door. Passing through she found herself in the cell areas. Grabbing a chart off of wall she took note of what cells were occupied by whom and tossed it away. They were here... right down the hall...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherry's cried out as a blinding light filled the room. Dimly, through her fingers, she saw a figure enter the doorway.
"Please! The light!!" she said painfully. "Close the door!!"
The figure stepped into the room and the door slid shut behind her. A familiar voice floated into Cherry's ears.
"Sat-Satomi-chan? Is that you in here?"
The maiden on the floor turned to the direction of the voice and her face lit up.
"No... It can't be..."
"Satomi! Oh Lord, I can't see in here. Where are you? Onee-chan where are you?"
Satomi reached out blindly and felt her fingers grab hold of something. It felt like cloth. A smiled filled her face.
"R-Rose-chan!! It's you, isn't it!"
The woman held Satomi's hand tightly and knelt beside her.
"Rose-chan..." she said almost dreamily. "It's been a long time since anyone called me that. Oh Satomi, It's been far too long!"
"Oh Lord, Rose-chan, you have no idea! I missed you! What happened?! How come you're still here?"
"We..." the woman paused. "We never escaped...Satomi..."
Her eyes widened. "W-what happened? I heard but... No...Rose-chan..."
"The explosive Kaiser gave us went off prematurely. We got lucky. The blast shield protected us from most of the blast, but everything in the lab was destroyed. We were almost halfway through the launch sequence."
"R-Rose-chan..."
"Lord Ghenna recaptured us and separated Leska and I. It's been twenty years Satomi! A little over TWENTY years! It's been so long..."
The smaller maiden held her sister tightly. "I'm so sorry Rose... I really am. We've all been living lives that were so free and so careless with out even realizing we left our sisters behind..."
"You had no way of knowing Satomi-chan. It's not your fault..."
"Regardless..."
Katsumi decided to change the subject. "I-I thought Lime was in here..."
Satomi paused before answering. "She is..."
Katsumi sounded surprised. "S-she is? Damn this darkness! Lime, are you here? Lime where are you? I can't see you."
Cherry reached out and pulled her sister down. "No, Rose-chan...She can't hear you. She can't hear any of us.
"W-why..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come Lime, you know this is the wisest course of action! They all deserve to die for what they have done to you!"
"...Yes, I suppose..."
"You don't suppose, you KNOW Lime! This is what must be done! Let me free and we'll both live in happiness for the rest of our life! You'll finally be truly happy Lime! Isn't that what you want?"
The maiden looked up and nodded vigorously. "Yes! More than anything!"
Dark Lime's eyes glittered as she opened her arms.
"Then embrace me Lime. Embrace me and cast away your foolish self. I will lead you to your happiness! Take hold of me and keep me in your heart always and I will guide you to your dream."
Lime's eye seemed to light up. It was that easy? This was all she needed to do to find her happiness? Hold this angel that stood before her? Embrace this creature that opened her eyes to her own faults? All she needed to obtain her happiness was to cleanse her life of everything that made her sad, it all made sense now! It was all so clear! Shed those who made her sad... It was all so clear...
Slowly Lime rose to her feet and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Satomi-chan this is terrible!"
"I know Onee-sama. I'm beginning to worry she won't wake up..."
"No, that's not what I mean Satomi. Oh my god, I need a light in here! It's too dark, I can't stand it! Shield your eyes Satomi."
"S-shield? What- AHHH!!"
Katsumi lit a dim flare that fill the entire cell with it's faded light. Cherry did her best to block the light away. Over a week in pitch black conditions had made her eyes very sensitive to light. She cried out and put her hand over her eyes.
Leska bowed her head momentarily. "I'm sorry Satomi, but I need to see both of you, especially Lime..."
Cherry squinted and nodded slowly. Katsumi smiled slightly as she looked her sister over. "You haven't changed at Satomi..."
"Eh...If I could see you I'd say the same Rose-chan..."
"Just let your eyes adjust Onee-chan." She turned to Lime's body on the floor and began to look it over.
"Oh my god... poor Aisha..."
"What's wrong with her, Rose-chan?"
The older woman shook her head slowly. "This is horrible Satomi... Y-you need to see this. From what you told me all these years she's become like a totally different person. When the bullet clipped her something inside of her head must have, for lack of better expression, came loose. It sounds like Aisha changed herself. Remember, it was Kaiser's wish that she be happy always. I... I think she's trying to fulfill that wish. Unfortunately one can't be happy always... When things that are terrible happen in her life she suppresses the fear and pain she feels. It doesn't go away, Satomi, it just gets pushed away."
"But she didn't remember what had happened before we were sent through time! We were in constant fear that something would jar those memories loose and...and..."
Katsumi shook her head. "No, Satomi-chan. Don't you understand? What happened before we sent her away? Pain. Pain and suffering. More than she could bear. I think the wound to her head coupled with the stress of being flung through the rivers of time did something to her. She suppressed her past and it sounds like she tried to start over... The poor woman... She's spent the last years of her life living as happily as she could while all this pain and suffering boiled and bubbled right below the surface... When Ghenna came back to you all... the shock must have sent these feelings over the edge. They want to come out Satomi! They want to be let free..."
Cherry shook her head. "B-but what about Lime? What about Aisha?"
"Aisha is alive, Satomi-chan! She was with you all these years. Lime is Aisha without a past. Aisha and Lime are one in the same! They will always be that way. This isn't a split personality. This is one personality suppressing emotions and feelings. Eventually all she's suppressed will come bubbling up. It may even explode...violently."
"Then what is this burning up inside of her?"
Katsumi-chan shook her head slowly. "Fear, anger, hatred, rage, sorrow, pain..."
Satomi shook her head and swallowed. "How do you know all this Onee-sama?"
Her older sister smiled slightly. "Intuition. Intuition Satomi. I can just tell."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Embrace me Lime! Hold me sister..."
Lime grinned happily. This is what she wanted. Happiness, right? Her sister had shown her the true light now, it was all so clear. She had been far too foolish, she had been far too blind. The road to her happiness lay in this path. It all made so much sense now.
Lime opened her arms.
"This is the way?"
The demon before her smiled darkly. "Exactly Onee-chan. It's time..."
Lime giggled innocently and strode forward. If this was the way then it was for the best, right? Here was to her happiness...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I-intuition?"
Katsumi shook her head. "I really couldn't tell you. Let's just say I've seen similar things like this before."
Satomi frowned. "I seem to remember someone else who had 'intuition'..."
Katsumi turned to her sister. "I'm not turning into Leska..."
Satomi turned to Lime. "So what's happening now?"
"She's fighting with in herself, onee-chan. It looks like she's debating over her own rage. The innocence that was your sister is fighting with the demons inside her heart."
Katsumi shook her head sadly. "It doesn't look good Satomi-chan... I don't think Lime is winning..."
The smaller maiden shook her head slowly. "No..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru had a terrible feeling in his gut. Something was wrong with Lime. Something terrible was happening to her. Faust watched silently as Otaru beat his fists against the sides of his cell.
"LIME!! LIIIME!! LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keinaro felt something stir in his stomach. He paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. Lord Ghenna stopped his eating and cocked his head over at the soldier.
"Is there something the matter Hajima?"
Naro shook his head and smiled. "No Lord. I suppose I was just lost in thought."
"Mmmm..." Ghenna eyeballed Naro a moment longer before returning to his previous conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime was less than a foot away from her sister now. All around her body the darkness swirled and spun about. It seemed to be coming alive. It seemed to be almost excited...
Lime grinned one last time.
"Onee-sama..."
Dark Lime's smile became more and more sinister. "Lime..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru slammed his fists against the cell one last time and threw his head back.
"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!"
The maiden stopped half a step away from her sister and turned.
"Otaru?!"
Behind her she saw some one rising from the mists below. It seemed to move at incredible speeds racing up towards her. Lime turned away from her dark sister and watched as the person spread its arms and increased its speed.
"O-Otaru?!"
Dark Lime scowled viciously. "Lime!!"
The Maiden fell to her knees and squinted her eyes trying her best to recognize the face of the body that was rapidly approaching...
Lime's shoulders fell momentarily. It wasn't Otaru... Instead...
In an explosion of blinding white light the figure came level with Lime. She was beautiful, Lime thought. Her hair was long and silky, her skin smooth and perfect. Behind her back a pair of massive angel wings were opened wide. The cast light everywhere and on everything behind this angel was a pure and blinding white. Lime looked up and met the angel's own eyes...
They were Jade...
"Lime..." Her voice was soft and sweet. It floated into her ears like a gift of sound bestowed unto her. "Onee-chan..."
Lime smiled up to the vision of herself that floated above her. She was so beautiful...
"What are you doing Lime?" she spoke again. Lime's smile started to fade. "Why are you doing this? Do you really believe this is the best way to regain your happiness? Are you really that willing to cast away everything you've held onto in your life for this?"
Lime shook her head slowly. "I-I don't know what you mean..."
Angel Lime opened her arms high in the air and spread her wings wide. In a dazzling flash of light the wings faded and the woman gently descended to the ground. She walked up to her sister with the saddest eyes Lime had ever seen anyone bear.
"You've forgotten, haven't you Lime?"
"F-forgotten what?"
Dark Lime scowled. Behind her everything was pitch black, darkness broken by nothing.
"It's too late! She's already chosen! Isn't that right Lime?"
The Angel Lime returned the Dark Lime's scowl. " She hasn't made any decision. Your lies have covered her eyes and deceived her long enough!"
Lime took a step back. She was right in the middle of this. Right below her the dazzling white met the impenetrable darkness. She was becoming confused. What was going on?
The Angelic Lime cupped her sister's face in her hands.
"Lime, listen to me... What that creature is telling you isn't the whole truth. Yes... you will be happy Lime, but it will be the wrong kind of happiness! It will be the terrible kind, the kind where you will delight in the screams of those who were once innocent. It will be the kind where your soul will become black as night. You will lose everything you once held true about yourself."
Lime shook her head slowly. "But I'll be happy, right?"
Dark Lime smiled. "Of course you will Lime!"
The Angel Lime shook her head savagely. "No! No Lime! It's not the happiness you seek! It's not what you are looking for! Lord Ghenna lives in this kind of happiness Lime! Do you want to become like him as well?"
Lime stopped. She never looked at it that way... Her angelic sister continued.
"You don't want that Lime. That's not what you seek. You want to love, onee-chan! You want others to love you in return. You want to make those around you happy and make them smile. You don't know this Lime, but you have always been happy."
The maiden blinked and looked up.
"You've always been happy Lime. Remember those long nights with Kaiser, warm in his arms. Or those magnificent runs you two used to take. Remember the life you and your sisters all made together in that little facility? Remember all the times you fell unto sleep at rest and peaceful? Remember Otaru, Lime. Remember how he made you feel! Remember all the times he smiled at you! Remember all the times he held you tightly. Remember all the times he made you smile, made you laugh..."
"Made you cry!" The Dark Lime finished. "He is just another one of them Lime! He doesn't love you!!"
"NO!! Lime you know that isn't true! Remember all the nights he worked late just so that you could wake up every morning to hot food and a warm bed? Remember all the times he returned bleeding and torn because his job was terrible on his body? How about all the times he sweat blood and tears for your comfort?"
Dark Lime scoffed. "He was working for the two whores you once called sisters. He was working for them, not you Lime. You were just part of the packaged deal."
"Then what about all the other times, Lime? What about when he took you up alone to show you the fireworks? Or when he let your sisters go on to the carnival while he stayed at your side at home because you had fallen ill? Remember when he came home with that huge bouquet of flowers made entirely out of candy for you? Have you forgotten those times as well Lime?"
The maiden in the middle dropped her eyes and shook her head slowly.
"I...I..."
Dark Lime shook her head and laughed. "He was using you Lime! He only wanted your body just like everyone else on this god forsaken planet!"
The Angel Lime smiled softly. "He wasn't using you Lime. He never used you. He never made you do anything you didn't want to do. You never worked, you never fought, you were always comfortable and happy. He never made you or your sisters work for pay a single day in all the time you spent there. He only put out more hours for you. How could he have been using you Lime? He only made you happy, remember?"
"If he loved you so much Lime," the darker half said slowly, "Then why isn't he here now helping you?"
Lime crouched on the ground shaking her head slowly. She couldn't decide anymore. On one side she had happiness guaranteed. Remove those that make you sad and all that will be left is happiness. On the other hand she had a life that she once lived where she thought she was happy. People whom she trusted. People whom she adored. It was a life that, at one time, she would have fought viciously to defend. Now this line had been blurred. What had seemed so clear before was now faded and out of focus. At one time she would have simply followed her heart, but now even that was torn in two.
"I...I..." she shook her head savagely. "I don't know any more! I just don't know!!"
She wanted to be happy! Beyond anything else she wanted to be smiling with joy. Both ways seemed to offer this gift and both ways threatened to take it away. She couldn't decide... She just couldn't decide...
"You've never wanted to hurt anyone ever before Lime. Why do you want to now?"
Tears once more brimmed her eyes. "Because they hurt ME!! They're always hurting me!! I've never tried to kill anyone. I've only acted in self-defense, only when I had no other choice. But 'them', those people out there, they always try to hurt me! They always make me cry and hurt my heart! They always betray me..."
The angelic Lime knelt beside her sister. "Why sink to their level then, Lime? I know you're better than all of them. Do you know why? Do you know why Lime?"
The maiden looked up soflty sobbing. "Why..."
Her sister smiled. "Because even when they hurt you, you still go on loving them..."
Lime blinked slowly.
"You still love Otaru, Lime. You still love him deeply. I know you remember. I know you do. Do you know how I know?"
"W-why?"
The Angelic Lime smiled once more. "Because I still love him. More than anything else in this world. I love Otaru. I hear him crying for you, even if you don't. I still want to hold him. I still want to reach out and hug him tightly. You and I, Lime, are one in the same. If I still love him then so do you..."
The dark half shook her head resolutely. "You still know the facts Lime. Where is he now? Why can't we her his cries? He's still betrayed you Lime. At the first sign of trouble he left you. He was standing there and watched you being taken away and he did nothing. You know this and I know this. You have to decide Lime, how are you going to live your life! Will we survive or will you follow down the path that will get you broken and battered and betrayed time and time again? It's your choice Lime."
The angel nodded. "You decide."
"It is your life that you will lead..."
"...and the both of us are a course that you must choose..."
"...we are the angels and the devils on your shoulder..."
"...tempting and guiding..."
"...teaching and instructing..."
"...making known your paths that lie open for you..."
"...throughout your entire life..."
"...what you decide..."
"...we will obey..."
"...Good or bad..."
"...light or dark..."
"...we are the course of your life..."
"...survival or destruction..."
"...it is your place to choose..."
"...we are you..."
"...and you are we..."
"...demon with fire in his eyes..."
"...or the angel who soars high and free..."
"...make your choice onee-chan..."
"...and live with it for the rest of your life..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have you seen my other sisters?"
"Yes, onee-chan. They are all ok. No one, not even Bloodberry-chan, is seriously hurt."
"Do they know what will happen to us?"
"I'm afraid no one really knows. Lord Ghenna is as unpredictable as he is dangerous."
"What about Lime?"
"I...I can't really say Satomi-chan. This is something she has to work out within her own soul. It is all up to her now. We can only wait."
Cherry fell silent once more. Katsumi smiled slightly. "Onee-chan, If Lime is anything like she once was I know she will pull through for us..."
"...That's just the thing..." she said softly. "She isn't very much like she once was anymore..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't know, I DON'T KNOW!!" Lime cried out holding her head tightly. "I just don't know... I can't decide anymore... I need more time... Just some more time...."
Slowly the two opposites of Lime backed away from her.
"So be it Lime... We shall give you more time..."
"Choose wisely onee-chan. Your choice will guide you through the rest of your life be that long or short..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The executions in three days Satomi-chan. That's all the time you have left before your men die."
"We can't allow that to happen, especially not to Lime-chan. She would fall apart forever if we lost Otaru..."
"Don't worry then. I will do my best to either save your men or get you all out. I promise this..."
"What about Jade-chan?"
Katsumi averted her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I don't know about her anymore. I've learned long since to block her from reading my mind. The trick is to think of something else constantly. It puts up enough background noise to block her out. I usually do this chant that I was taught along time ago. I repeat it over and over to drown out all my other thoughts."
"Y-yes, I'm sure, but what ABOUT her though? She's still our sister!"
"I'm not so sure, Satomi-chan. Lord Ghenna broke her badly. He practically destroyed her. What Kisa did to Aisha was nothing compared to Lord Ghenna. He broke her, beat her, forced her to kill and maim others; she fell apart Satomi. All I could do was watch as she steadily grew worse and worse. They said that she even bore a child of Ghenna's. She was forced into becoming a mother."
Satomi shook her head slowly. "No..."
"I've never seen him and I don't know if the rumors are true or not, but still..."
She fell silent a moment. Satomi shook her head sadly. Things have all gone to hell since they've been away...
"Now that I think back upon it, it was almost eighteen years ago when he finally shattered her innocence and she became his follower. Now she obeys without question. She's too well trained to do otherwise. She will kill without asking why, she will torture because she is told to do so, she will shatter others lives without so much as a second thought any more. Jade-chan, as you called her Satomi, is dead. She died a long, long time ago...
"I'm afraid the only way we are going to be able free her is to kill Ghenna. Hopefully then we can break his spell. Hopefully then she'll open her eyes and return to normal. We have to kill that old man..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The psychic narrowed her eyes at Naro. She couldn't read his thoughts clearly at all. He was still singing that same damned chant. It was as if there was something for him to hide behind those words. He was so much like Katsumi. Leksa was sure of it, Naro had something to hide. Behind all his smiles and all his laughter and good cheer Naro was hiding something...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have to get going now Satomi. I've already spent far too much time here."
"No, wait, onee-sama! Please don't leave yet! There's so much more we need to talk about."
"I can't Satomi-chan. I really do need to go. I can't hang around her any longer."
"W-when will you be back?"
The older woman smiled. "I'm not to sure, but I'll be back definitely before the executions."
"And Lime?"
"You'll just have to wait Satomi-chan. Take care of her if she wakes up. She's in your hands now. All we can do is wait..."
With that Katsumi turned to leave. Satomi called after her one last time.
"Onee-sama?"
"Hmm?"
She smiled softly. "My name is Cherry now. Call me Cherry."
The woman in the lab coat smiled in return.
"Ja ne, Cherry-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only thing that kept Katsumi-chan in Ghenna's favor was that she was the leading scientist in Artificial Intelligence research. She was the head of the largest science team in all of Mesopotamia. It was Ghenna's goal to recreate the system that Lorelei once worked on before the destruction of the original mother ship.
It was Katsumi's mind that was leading the research. She was the one making the most advancements in the computer code. For some reason every time she looked at it she didn't see code. Instead she saw the yes' and the no's. She saw how the computer would think and react. She read the code like another person. Everything seemed to come together when she was the one working the controls behind the wheel.
Lord Ghenna was very much impressed with her research and after the completion of the project planned on putting her to work in several other areas where she would be of much importance. He was excited. Leska and Katsumi were two of his finest creations. They were the ones who were going to lead his army in the years to come. They were his hopes and dreams now.
Much to Katsumi's relief no one noticed when her missing upon her return to the labs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep inside Lime's heart she knelt upon the ground. Her head was cupped in her hands and she sobbed quietly. Everything had fallen black once more. A cold wind stirred her hair about her body. All the warmth had left her once more. Deep in the void the angels and the demons that once plagued her were gone. One more she was all alone. Her sobs echoed in the darkness reflecting seemingly off nothing and everything. Alone she wept unsure of the path on which to travel. No longer was it a matter of right or wrong. There was no 'right' or 'wrong'. All that remained was Life or Death. Survive in a future where killing was the only option, or follow an uncertain path embracing life and all its forms. Either way could break her. Either way could kill her.
She thought about Otaru. About the life she used to lead with him. About her sisters, Bloodberry and Cherry. She thought about her home in Japoness. About all the kind people there. About Otaru's boss. About old man Gennai. About the candyman.
She remembered all the times she got in trouble. About all the mistakes she ever made. All the times Otaru ever yelled at her. All the times she got into fights with Bloodberry. All the times she broke something expensive. All the times she broke down Otaru's door or put a hole in his wall. All the times the neighbors were mad at her.
She curled her body into a little ball and wept. She didn't know if she wanted to go back to all that. To go back to all those people. All their anger. All their faces. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to Otaru. All his words and all his anger; all his love and all his giving; all his moods and all his traits. She wasn't sure anymore...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And it's been awhile...
Since I could...
...hold my head up high.
And it's been awhile...
Since I first saw you.
And it's been awhile...
Since I could stand on my own two feet again.
And it's been awhile...
Since I could call you.
And everything I can't remember...
As fucked up as it all may seem;
The consequences that are rendered,
I've stretched myself beyond my means!!
And it's been awhile...
Since I could say...
...that I wasn't addicted. And...
It's been awhile...
Since I could say I loved myself as well. And...
It's been awhile...
Since I've gone and fucked things up just like I always do!!
And it's been awhile...
But all that shit seems to disappear when I'm with you!!
And everything I can't remember,
As fucked up as it all may seem;
The consequences that I've rendered,
I've gone and fucked things up again!!
Agaaaaain~
Why must I feel this waaaaaaay?!
Just make this go awaaaaaaay!!
Just one more peaceful daaaaaaaay!!!
And it's been awhile...
Since I could...
...look at myself straight...
And it's been awhile...
Since I said I'm sorry...
And it's been awhile...
Since I've seen the way the candle lights your face...
And it's been awhile...
But I can still remember just the way you taste!!
And everything I can't remember!!
As fucked up as it all may seem to be I know it's me!!
I cannot blame this on my father!
He did the best he could for me...
And it's been awhile...
Since I could...
...hold my head up high...
And it's been awhile...
Since I've said I'm sorry...
~Its Been A While
Staind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alone she wept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Two Days Later]
"You're the one who goes by Katsumi, correct?"
"Yes sir."
Naro nodded slowly. "Please come with me."
The woman blinked. "B-but I have business here to attend to. Who needs to see me?"
"I do. Now if you please."
Katsumi narrowed her eyes. "You're that Naro aren't you? Listen here. I'm busy at the moment. You'll just have to come back at some other-"
[SLAP]
Everyone in the lab stopped and turned. Katsumi held her hand up to her cheek her eyes wide in shock. Naro'd just slapped her.
"You need to learn your place woman! Now come with me right now or next time I won't restrain myself like this time!"
Grabbing her roughly by her arm he led her out of the labs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro took her to the star docks and onto the Spera. Within half an hour they were at cruising altitude and traveling swiftly away from The City. As the floating metropolis disappeared into the horizon Naro set the ship into autopilot.
"Come on, we're going up on deck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katsumi stood there with her hands folded. She gave Naro a dirty look as he came up the lift onto the main deck of the ship.
"So you are Katsumi, ne? You know Aisha and her bastard sisters?"
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Yes..."
"I've been told that you went to see them a few days ago. Is this true?"
She immediately came on guard. "W-what?"
"I asked you..." he said drawing close to her. "Did you go and see them several days ago?"
"What if I did?"
"You conspired with them about escaping, ne?"
Katsumi began to get nervous. "W-what are you talking about?"
Naro's eyes grew hard. "You conspired with them to escape. Don't lie to me."
"I have no idea what you are talking about-"
With a snarl Naro grabbed her by her arms and flung her over the rail of the ship. Below her lay nothing but air for thousands of feet. As she felt her body begin to fall she screamed. Suddenly she jerked to a stop. Looking up she saw Naro holding her by her large lab coat.
"Oh my god..."
"DON'T LIE TO ME ANYMORE!!" Naro's face was a mask of fury. Katsumi felt her stomach flip as the coat began to tear. "Now you will tell me RIGHT NOW if you conspired with those women! You'd better hurry up, this coat isn't going to last much longer woman! Then you will be dead and you won't be very much help to them then, ne?!"
As she dangled helplessly three miles into the air her resolve finally broke down.
"YES! Yes I did conspire with them! We're planning on getting out sometime before the executions!"
Upon hearing this Naro's face changed. In an instant it went from wild rage to a wide grin.
"Y' serious now?"
"Yes! Yes I'm serious!! Now please! Let me up!!"
Naro's smile widened. "No." And with that he let go.
With a scream Katsumi fell...
...about two feet before landing on an invisible safety shield just under the deck. Naro started to laugh.
"Sorry! Forgot to tell you about the safety net under there. My mistake!"
Katsumi stared at him with an incredulous expression mixed with shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Listen, I'm sorry I acted like an ass hole. I have an image I need to keep up infront of everyone else. Besides I needed to make sure you were really on my side!"
[SMACK]
Naro rubbed his cheek tenderly while Katsumi scowled at him.
"Eye for an eye Naro."
"Jesus..."
The woman turned away and walked over to the other side of the deck.
"What do you want Naro..."
"Same thing you want." He said walking over to her side. "To get the others free."
Katsumi's face was impassive. "Oh?"
"Oh?" Naro cocked an eyebrow. "Is that all you can say? Oh? We're both seeking the same thing here. Can't you think of a better response than 'Oh'?"
"How about I don't believe you."
"Oh, your killing me..."
She whirled on him. "Don't you try to pull this smooth guy shit on me Naro! I am not impressed. As far as I know you are out to get me captured or worse for treason against Ghenna. I'm not falling into your trap. Do you really expect me to believe you?! You're the one who sent them there in the first place and now you want to free them?! Do I look that stupid to you Keinaro?!"
"I'm not asking you to trust me on this, yet. All I'm asking is that you hear me out on this one."
"Oh please! Just talking about this is enough to warrant treason and you know it! I'm positive you have little listening devices set up all along this thing! The minute I say something I get arrested! I have no reason to believe you. You are the best deceiver in all of Ghenna's force."
Naro grinned. "Exactly! I've only deceived three since I've returned; You, Those that I took back with me and all of Mesopotamia."
Katsumi cocked an eye but continued her glare as Naro went on. "Besides Katsumi, you've already said enough for me to warrant an arrest for treason."
The blonde stared at the Gray Eye for a moment before crossing her arms.
"All right. I guess I'm knee deep in trouble already. Death is death in the end."
Naro nodded slowly. "You can trust me Katsumi."
"Like the others?"
The Gray Eye frowned. "I haven't lied to any of them."
"You betrayed them all to Ghenna!"
"It was the only way Katsumi-chan. This is part of the plan that was laid out."
"What plan?"
Naro leaned against the rail. "Why the plan to kill Lord Ghenna of course."
Katsumi only blinked at first. The weight of what Naro said didn't hit until a moment later.
"K-KILL Lord Ghenna?! Now, Naro, this isn't just treason any more. We're now talking about full blown High Treason! Do you have any idea the consequences your words alone have?!"
"Yes I do. Do you understand what I am saying Katsumi-chan? I am talking about organizing the full blown murder of the most powerful man in all the land. I'm talking about over throwing the biggest empire this land as ever seen. You're damn right I'm talking about high treason."
"N-Naro, why would we need to go so far?"
"Because even if we send all you away once more Ghenna will hunt you down again just like he did this time. I was sent out because there were traces of time scarring in that age that were unaccounted for by the science teams. Ghenna will only do the same once more."
"So you are going to kill him?"
The Gray Eye nodded slowly. "That's the plan."
Katsumi took a deep breath and shook her head slowly.
"What you're saying is suicide Naro. Have you forgotten about Leska? She will destroy you with out so much as a second thought."
"I understand. The trick is getting close to Ghenna. Y'see I'm taking after Kaiser now. Do you know why Kaiser succeeded in sending those women away?"
"Luck?"
Naro chuckled. "Yes, there was a healthy degree of that, but there was something else. Kaiser had Ghenna's trust. In the Lord's eyes Kaiser was someone totally and completely loyal to him. He was someone who could do no wrong. For that, not only was Kaiser able to get close to the man he was also able to move and act using his name. Kaiser got into the shot..."
"...Because he used Lord Ghenna's name as the reason. He practically forced his way in using that name as an excuse. The only one who stopped us was that one little guard."
"I can do almost the same now. You know how I am a national celebrity?"
Katsumi scowled. "Yeah, I couldn't go anywhere with out seeing your face."
"Exactly. I will use this to my advantage. The plan follows like this if you are interested. We throw open the cells and let the rest free. I'm sure one if us can bullshit an excuse. Then we lead them to the Spera down in the docks and before anyone notices you guys are all up and away. I, on the other hand, stay behind. I wait about fifteen minutes before heading back up and report to Lord Ghenna that the prisoners are gone. Then when his back is turned and I am close, I strike! With him out of the picture Mesopotamia will collapse shortly after."
"What happens after you kill him? You still haven't accounted for Leska. She'll read your mind long before you get close!"
"Once Ghenna is gone I can care less about what Leska does to me. Ghenna hasn't backed his mind up nor are there any clones of his body in production. His body is built exactly like yours and your sisters. Once the body dies the cells loose their DNA codes and that is that."
"That doesn't tell me how you're going to slip past Leska's eye."
Naro smiled. "The same way you've been doing it Katsumi-chan. I'll mask my memories with music."
The woman blinked a moment before shaking her head once more. "Naro... I don't think that will cover up totally what you are about to do. When the time comes that's going to overpower all your 'covers'. Leska will know."
"I know that, but the idea is she's not going to be certain of what she's seeing until it's too late! Once Ghenna dies, what ever happens, happens. I could care less."
Katsumi resumed her glare. "You're not going to follow Kaiser all the way to the end, Naro. Once Ghenna is gone you're going to escape with the rest of us."
"How are you going to pull that off?"
"I'll follow you to him-"
"Nope." Naro shook his head. "I need you to guide them all to the starport in The City. You're the only one that knows the way."
"Then wait for me Naro! After that I'll come back and we will go together. You're going to need someone at your side for this. Someone to make sure you don't die. If you're going to do this for us you'd better damn well survive!"
Naro leaned back against the rail and smiled. "Now why would you do something like this for me? I thought you didn't trust me."
Katsumi turned away and exhaled loudly. "I don't know, Naro. I guess it's just the right thing to do."
"The right thing to do? So you trust me now?"
She smiled thinly. "No, not really. But this is really the only plan anyone's come up with. It doesn't make it a good plan, but with less than three days left I guess it'll have to do."
"There's still a million things that could go wrong."
"That's true with any plan. The only reason I'm flying with you on this one is because either way I do things I'm dammed. If you've got my voice recorded it doesn't matter any more. Simply talking about this warrants death. It's too late for me."
Nodding slowly Naro met her eyes. 'They're pretty...' he thought.
"I'm on your side Katsumi. I've already made my decision. We're going to get everyone away from this place and we're going to kill Ghenna. We're in a nightmare. This is one dream that will follow us for the rest of our lives. If we don't go through with this you and your sisters will never wake up from it. It will only get worse. If you're not with me on this 100% then I can't guarantee you even living to see the end of this flight..."
"You're threatening me?!"
"You're damn right I am. I don't want this compromised. You know what I am going to do and if you are not with me then you are a threat. You could ruin this whole thing. Those women mean too much to me and if you aren't with me you are against me and, therefore, you must be taken care of."
Katsumi forrowed her eyebrows. "They're my SISTERS for God's sakes! Of course I want them to escape! Your problem is that no one can trust you! You've betrayed them, you're talking of betraying Lord Ghenna, you've lied to everyone on this entire planet and you want me to blindly follow you?! Have you forgotten WHY Ghenna sent you!? You're his best Gray Eye when it comes to deceiving people!"
"Then I guess all you can do in the end is trust me because either way you look at it this is the only way you're ever going to get them out of those cells. This isn't my plan, now. An old, old man far in the future recommended it to me. The only other person on this entire planet who knows what I am doing right now if Faust... The man inside that cell with Otaru."
Katsumi raised her eyebrows. "He knows about this?"
"Of course he does. He's the one who helped orchestrate it."
The woman narrowed her eyes once more and pointed her finger. "If I go back down and find that he knew nothing about this..."
"Then you're screwed anyway because I would have already turned in the tapes."
She shook her head slowly. "Catch 22..."
"Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't."
Finally shaking her head slowly she cracked a smile. "Don't get me wrong. I still hate you. What you did was terrible, I don't care about what ever 'plan' you had in mind. You may have hurt Lime very deeply. But, as it stands, it appears we're both going after the same goal. If you're lying to me then I am dammed already, nothing I do from here on out will change anything. I'll stand by you on this Naro. For the sake of my sisters I'll stand by your side."
The Gray Eye nodded. "All right then. It's settled. Two days from now..."
"Two days? Isn't that cutting it a bit close?"
"It's not like if we screw up we'll get another chance. Wait until the last minute to make sure everything is all ironed out."
"This plan is so full of holes..."
"I know it's not the best plan in the world, but it's all we have and it's all I've been holding onto since I turned them in. It's just the way it's going to have to be."
Katsumi's gaze fell to the deck and she sighed. "I don't like this at all... But for the sake of my sisters..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woman scientist walked briskly through the corridors of the science labs. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotion. There was so much that could have gone wrong. They had only one more day remaining before they were going to pull it off...
The hallway was crowded with science personnel leaving from and going to their posts. It was early morning and everyone was in a rush for their next shift. As the torrent of people rushed to and fro around the woman she calmly went on so lost in thought she didn't even notice them.
The plan was a terrible one. There were so many things that could throw the whole thing off. What happens if they're stopped by a Bishop? What happens if neither of them could get the woman free from their cells? What if this was really a trap set by Naro? He's been double faced before.
Katsumi cared deeply for her sisters. Despite the long twenty years that it had been since she had last seen them the love she had was still there. She wanted little more than to see them living their lives in happiness and comfort away from the devil and all his works. Now they were going to do the unthinkable. They weren't only just going to defy Satan himself, they were going to face off with him and destroy him and his mighty empire.
She shook her head slowly. Suicide. That was what best described what they were going to do. Just plain old suicide. Katsumi knew that something was going to go wrong. Plans like this rarely ever went smoothly. Naro said that an older Faust from the future planned this whole thing out. She had no idea what the hell he was thinking when he came up with this thing. It was so spotty and full of holes, it seemed so rushed [Author's Note: Much like this plot. :D].
But as it stood it was their only plan. It was the only chance they had. Naro seemed confident, but something inside her said that it was false. Some shade or vision told her that Naro wasn't really as confident as he made himself out to be. It was either fear in there, or it was deceit. Katsumi wasn't sure which one it was exactly. In the end she'd given in not because Naro convinced her about the plan. In the end it was that 'fear' she saw in him. She saw deep, deep into Naro's eyes. There was fear in there. That fear that lay hidden in the shadows of his soul. It meant that he could be trusted. Fear was a sign of worry, worry meant he knew about how bad the plan was. If he knew that he was sincere about everything he told her...
But then again, that could have been deceit, not fear...
Katsumi's thoughts came to a stop when she bumped into someone. Looking up her eyes widened. She was looking into the dead eye of Leska.
"O-Onee-sama! Y-you scared me! What are you doing down here?"
Leska said nothing. Nodding once she turned and walked past her sister down the hall. Katsumi watched her go with apprehension.
"StupidstupidstupidBAKAYERO!!!" she muttered under her breath. Did Leska hear her thoughts? Does she know about the plan?!
The tall, dark woman's face was deadpan as she moved slowly away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru leaned against the wall of his cell and stared blankly ahead. How ever many days since he first came into this cell were a mystery to him. He didn't care though. Lime was out there somewhere, somewhere close by. He could feel it. A few days ago he felt her. For a moment he was there standing right beside her. He had a feel of dread about himself. He could see her approaching another figure. This figure was dark and evil looking. Its hands were black and gnarled, its body radiated a terrible light, its eyes glittered savagely in the dark. Otaru felt something about this creature. It was evil. It was a demon of some sort. He watched as Lime slowly walked towards it with her arms extended and a large, blank smile on her face.
Otaru remembered calling out to her. He remembered screaming at her and wailing as loudly as he could. The next thing he knew was that he was standing there back in the dark of his cell pounding the walls furiously with the feeling of foreboding still resting very heavily on his shoulders. After that he said little and did little. Lime was in trouble and there was no way for Otaru to escape and help her. She was in danger and he was trapped unable to be at her side. All he could do was wait and pray Lime would last long enough for him to come to her aid, where ever she was...
Faust said nothing during these times. He was saving his energy. The time was to come where he would have to be ready to flee. Naro would arrive soon if he was truly on their side. The performance Faust saw was more than convincing. His entire personality changed. He went from being a kind, self-assured man to an evil and violent servant of Ghenna. Perhaps he was too convincing. He shattered Lime. Faust could still distinctly remember the broken look she gave him before she was carried away. That was betrayal he saw in her eyes. Faust could only hope that Naro hadn't done any permanent damage.
Hanagata slept beside Otaru fitfully. The little man had done his best to stay by his love's side at full attention and readiness, but after almost three days he finally gave in to the sleep. Physically he just wasn't up to it. He was worried almost sick. He didn't want any of Otaru's maidens to go through this. The women were in direct competition with him for Otaru's heart, but since hearing their tale his hatred toward them had vanished. They were more than just machines. They had hearts of their own, souls of their own, minds of their own and lives of their own. That didn't give them the right to steal his Otaru away from him, but he saw them in a whole new light now. They had hopes and dreams as well. They too felt pain and sorrow. They were human.
As much as he would have hated to admit it they were his kin. They were his brethren. They were humans as well on this rock that had once been devoid of life. The same hearts that beat in their chests beat in his. The same eyes that saw the world were in his head as well. The same hands that sought to hold Otaru in them were given to him as well. Hanagata was still at odds with the women, but he didn't seek their destruction any more. They had become almost family now. He found himself caring for what had happened in their past, and felt his heart break when Lime was betrayed by Naro. These women who could go through so much and still find it in their hearts to smile deserved much more than Hana had given them in the past.
Otaru cared deeply for those women. Almost his entire life was centered around them. Until a few days ago Hanagata saw this only as an obstruction. Now things were different. They had become a challenge now. They weren't an obstacle anymore. They were competitors. He was in a competition for Otaru's heart. If they died that competition would vanish, and what fun would running a race be if you were the only one sprinting along?
As the three men continued to lay where they were, a noise was heard on the other side of the door. Faust looked up and turned his head to the direction of the noise. It sounded like bolt being thrown. Suddenly the whole door started to rumble. With a hiss and an unlocking noise the door slowly swung opened up. Faust and Otaru quickly turned away from the blinding white light while Hanagata finally came awake.
"W-what the... Who's there?!" Otaru snarled into the light.
A figure filled the blinding opening and stood silhouetted against the light. A familiar chuckle entered the cell.
"Good! It's nice to see you three are all still alive!"
It was Keinaro.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As she threw the cell door open for Cherry and Lime Katsumi saw Naro enter the men's cell. A second later he came flying out. With a surprised cry he slammed against the far wall and fell to the floor. Otaru stepped out with a look of fury on his face. Naro eyeballed the young man while rubbing the back of his head.
"All right, I guess I deserved that..."
"Fuck you Keinaro!!" He snarled. "I'm going to turn you black and blue!"
"Nooonono! Wait! I can explain!" The Gray Eye said raising his arms.
Heedless, Otaru rushed forward and pounced on Naro and proceeded to lay the smack down onto the older warrior. As he did his best to beat away the angry young man Naro turned to Faust who had been standing calmly beside the cell door. Behind him Hanagata blinked curiously out.
"Faust! Faust you idiot! Give me a hand here! You know who's side I'm on!!"
The tall blonde man shook his head slowly. "No, after what you did to Lime I think you deserve this..."
"WHAT!?" Naro practically shrieked. As the rest exited their cells while Katsumi continued to open them they saw Otaru throttling Naro and decided to join the fray. Before long only Bloodberry, who was examining Lime's still unconscious form, Katsumi, Hanagata and Faust were the only ones standing by watching the fight ensue.
"Why you little shit! I'll teach you to betray us!!"
"Look what you did to Lime you stinking little..."
"Die, Naro!!"
"Where the hell are we, little piece of..."
"You betray us and you still have the balls to show your face, eh?"
"PLEASE!! Y'GOTTA LISTEN TO ME!! I SWEAR I'm on YOUR side!! I HAD to betray you!!"
"Shaadaap!!!"
[KAPOW]
Katsumi leaned over to Faust. "You understand, sir, that if he gets torn to pieces it's going to be a little hard to get past all the guards we're going to see along the way."
"Yes, I guess so. Bruises all over his body won't help convince the guards. We'd better step in..."
"No, no, wait. I didn't say we had to step in NOW. I just said at some point or another we would have to."
"Ahhh." Faust smiled and nodded slowly. He looked over to her and cocked his head slightly. She was a beautiful woman. Her appearances reminded him so much of Lorelei, except for the brown eyes that is. His smile deepened slightly. Yes, she did very much resemble his lost love...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro sat down along the wall nursing his injured body. He cast dirty looks to everyone sitting around him. He rubbed his bruising cheek and scowled.
"See if I help any of you again. Next time you all can just sit inside those cells..."
"Oh, shut up Naro. You deserved that." Katsumi said standing by anxiously. "The least you could have done was tell us."
"No, he couldn't have." Faust said calmly sitting beside Katsumi. "We were afraid Leska was going to scan all of your minds and figure out what we were planning on doing. That is why we had to have Naro betray you all. You all had to be so completely and utterly convinced that he was on Ghenna's side that Leska would be convinced of the same when she scanned your memories. He is the number one deceiver in all of Ghenna's forces. You all know that now. He almost had me convinced."
Otaru still scowled. "You didn't have to hurt Lime like that, Naro!"
The rest nodded.
"Geyaaa... All right, maybe I did go a little far there, but you all were convinced, right?"
Cherry sat and pulled her legs up. "Look at Lime now, Naro. That was the price of you 'convincing' us. Something inside her is fighting. Rose-sama said that all her anger and fear was fighting for control of her soul. You hurt her pretty badly."
The Gray Eye looked over tiredly. "I said I was sorry. What more do you want me to do? What's done is done. I can't change anything, you've all beaten the living shit out of me and as we speak we are running out of time. Screaming at me about this won't help anything!!"
"But it'll make me feel a whole lot better..." Otaru said softly.
Groaning Naro rose to his feet. "Regardless, I'm loosing my temper. I'm sorry about Lime, I'm sorry I over did it, but what's done is done. Right now the only thing I want to do is to get you all out of here. We're running out of time. If you all feel like destroying me wait until we are all breathing free air away from this place."
Faust rose. "For once Naro is correct. There will be time for this later, but until then we need to escape. Katsumi, do you know the way out of here?"
The woman nodded. "Yeah, so does Naro. We'll have to ride a tram from here to the space bay. Once there all we need to do is find the correct ship, board it and we're off. That's the easy part."
Tiger looked over to her sister. "What's the hard part?"
Naro groaned and shook his head slowly. "Your sister and I stay behind to kill Ghenna."
The rest shifted uncomfortably. Otaru finally looked up at Naro. "K-kill him? Are you two crazy? What about Leska? I heard she was his body guard."
Katsumi nodded. "She is. Naro and I hope to get close enough to him anyway in order to strike the old man down. One he's out of the way neither of us are really worried about Leska. What ever happens, happens."
Bloodberry rose. "No! Rose-chan, are you crazy? What if she kills you both?"
"Don't matter to us. We just want to get all of you out." Naro answered.
Luchs whirled on Naro. "Be quiet you! You have no right to make that decision for her!"
"Krysta, no." Katsumi rose and came up behind her. "He didn't make that choice for me, I did."
"What?"
"He wanted me to escape with the rest of you but I said no. If he's risking everything for us I want him to come back. He's not going to follow in Kaiser's footsteps until the very end. I'm going to make sure of that. I'm tired of loosing my saviors."
Bloodberry blinked. "B-but, Rose-chan..."
The blonde woman shook her head. "We have to kill that old man one way or another. This is how it must be done."
"Actually..." Faust stood and brushed himself off. "This was the part of the plan I felt the uneasiest about."
Naro exhaled and shook his head. "That makes two of us, man..."
"...So I've been thinking isn't there a better way to go about killing that man other than a direct confrontation?"
Katsumi shook her head. "A sniper wouldn't do the job, Leska would pick him out in an instant."
"No, not a sniper... I mean a more indirect way."
"Huh?" All nine of them cocked their heads. Faust cradled his chin in his fingers and narrowed his eyes pensively.
"Are we on a ship or something larger, Naro?"
"We're on the super city just out side of Petersburg."
Hanagata finally spoke up. "Super City? You mean that floating one? Uhh, where Gheddon was?"
"Yeah, we're right under that tower right now."
Faust's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, exactly! This is just the scale we will need!"
Cherry leaned forward. "What are you talking about Lord Faust?"
"Naro! Are we in the past or the present."
The Gray Eye smirked. "We're always in the present, but if you mean are we closer to 200 A.C. or 1029 A.C. we're near the latter. Lord Ghenna brought the city forward in time to re-assert his authority here. He's power hungry, like all totalitarian dictators. He want's all the times to worship him, not just his own. I think he's scouting the landscape or something. I'm not too sure, why?"
Faust grinned began to laugh. "It all becomes clear now. No wonder!"
"Faust-sama?" Tiger put her hand on his shoulder. The tall man turned to her and smiled.
"This is why we were never able to find any remnants of the great super city! This is why Mesopotamia fell!! We're in OUR time!"
Bloodberry frowned slightly. "You're loosing me..."
Faust grinned at her. "Don't you see? The reason why Mesopotamia suddenly disappeared and why we were never able to find any traces of it was because they haven't even existed yet! This is time playing around with us!"
Otaru turned to Hanagata. "He's getting even MORE vague..."
The grinning blonde whirled on him. "WE destroy Mesopotamia! This entire empire will fall, very soon in fact! The reason why we've never been able to find any real evidence of the kingdom or the super city was because the remains haven't even existed. It falls in THIS time period, not the past!"
Realization dawned on all their faces.
"So we win?"
"Yeah, It looks like it..."
"We'll get through this then!"
"Haha, then what have we got to worry about?"
Naro's expression hardened. "Everything. That doesn't mean we'll all live through this! We can all still die. Just because this place gets destroyed doesn't mean we all magically make it."
"No, but it's something to hope for, Naro." Cherry said softly. "And right now a little hope is what we need."
Everyone nodded slowly. After a moment Faust turned to the Gray Eye.
"Is there any way we could destroy this place?"
Naro almost double taked. "This whole place? Jesus! Well... Apart from the reactor complex I can't think of any REAL way to take this city down. She's like a fortress. Now, wait. Why are we going to destroy this place anyway?"
"Because Ghenna will go down in flames with it, as will most of the Gray Eye here!"
Naro shook his head. "No on a minute, there's a lot of people on board this thing..."
"It must be done. The reactor spaces you say? Yes... That will work perfectly! Take out the installation from the inside! Do you know how we would go about getting there?"
"Err... they would probably be on our way to the hangar, but listen here Faust! I-"
"Even better! Fate is with us today!"
"No it's not!" Naro snarled. "We're going to kill millions! Are you out of your mind?!"
"How else are we going to kill that man, Naro? You?! Do you really believe that you will be able to get past Leska? That you will even stand a chance? This is our only option."
"But..." Naro's face began to twist. "It's a better option than taking out this entire city! We're going to kill millions Faust! Millions of people! I'm not willing to accept that!"
"Naro, listen to me."
"No, Faust wait..." Katsumi said interceding. "Naro has a point. Killing everyone every one in this station to wipe out one man isn't something any of us are going to go through with. However-"
"I can't think of any better idea." The tall blonde said cutting her off.
"However-"
"Now wait a minute here!" Naro said folding his arms. "There's always a better idea."
"But do we have the time to figure one out? No!"
"However-"
"Now listen here Faust! Just because it's the only idea doesn't make it a good one!"
"HOWEVER-"
"Why are you defending this place Naro? Who's side are you really on? You might be double crossing us, THAT'S why you don't want to flatten this place!"
"Otaru!"
"Now wait a god-damn minute! I am too on your side! How dare you say that about me!!"
"Will you all SHUT UP!?!"
Everyone fell silent and turned to Katsumi. She was fuming...
"HOWEVER...If we knock out the coolant lines to the right reactors we could prolong the impending explosion. The entire station will be given a full alert. Everyone would have somewhere from 15 to 30 minutes before the melt down. This would give them time to evacuate."
Naro shook his head. "What about Ghenna? He would escape along with the rest in that time. It doesn't guarantee anything."
"No, but it will effectively kill him anyway. Where will he flee too? The surface? He's in your present now. He won't have any influence what so ever. What if he goes back to the past? His precious city is gone. He will have lost all of his power. A few stray Gray Eyes aren't going to rebuild his empire. He will be gone for good, effectively dead."
"She has a point Naro. We'll be giving all the men and children on this platform a chance. Now unless you have a death wish and seek to fall along with him you can still face off with the man..." Faust leaned over and met Naro's eyes. "But otherwise follow us and go through with this plan. You know it's a good plan. We've wasted enough time here arguing. Don't you agree?"
Naro took a deep breath and looked away. This plan was becoming worse and worse. However, Katsumi did have a point... He looked up and met the eyes of the rest of the women.
"What do you all say? Are you good with this plan?"
They exchanged glances briefly before answering.
"If it gives everyone in the city the chance to escape and live..."
"It's our best chance."
"It's a good plan. So long as we can escape in time..."
"Go for it Naro."
The Gray Eye's face fell to the floor once more. Slowly he shook his head.
"I don't like this. Not at all, but Faust is right. We've already spent far too much time here. We may have blown everything already. So... So I'll go with you on this call. Only because you women are for it as well. We'll ride the tram system all the way to the reactor spaces, blow coolant tubes three and four beyond recognition and then jet to the star port.
"Now you all are aware that we're going to run into resistance once we reach that port, right? They'll be on to us once they learn we are the ones who damaged the reactor spaces. We're going to meet some heavy flack going through there. We still want to go through with this? Despite the risk? You all still want to this?"
No one there, even Otaru, shook their head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lord Ghenna! Lord Ghenna!!"
The old man looked up from his chair to the young Gray Eye approaching him.
"What is it young one?"
The younger man knelt and bent his head fully conscious of Leska standing behind his Lord reading his mind.
"L-Lord! Someone's launched an attack on the reactor spaces!!"
Ghenna arched an eyebrow. "The reactors? This is unexpected..."
"Lord! You don't understand, they destroyed the coolant intakes and blew the emergency shut down slots! The reactors are going to melt down in less than 30 minutes!! The City is in DANGER!!"
The tyrant rose from his seat. "What?! Impossible! We'll have to eject the reactor cores!"
"No Lord! They-"
"They've destroyed those too as well, Lord Ghenna." Leska said calmly. "They've thought of almost everything. How ever we have more than thirty minutes. We have more akin to an hour, unless something else goes wrong. This entire platform is built better than that."
The young man looked up at the woman.
"Regardless Miss Leska, this is a blow that neither of us expected. We will loose the city!"
"No, we still have one thing on them. They've done no real harm to this station. Even if we do lose it, no major loss. Our space force is still fully intact. We will use those to re-insert our presence in our time."
Ghenna frowned
"But this will be a set back..."
"Have no fear Lord. We will be alright. Should we move to the escape vessels?"
"No..." The old man snarled. "We will stay here until I say so. I want all of them captured. Are they on their way to the star ports?"
"Yes, Lord." The young man nodded.
The old man turned back to Leska. "Leska, tell Nishan to get ready. Tell him they are on the way. I want them stopped."
"Hai, Lord."
Leska had heard Katsumi's thoughts...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woman in question leaned against the rail of the tram with her arms wrapped around her body. She was breathing slowly, saying nothing, eyes downcast. Her mind turned slowly in her head. They'd crossed the point of no return now. The reactor coolant valves lay in shambles behind them. She had been instrumental in their destruction. Katsumi WAS a machinist. She'd been down below and had worked on those reactors many times in the past. They were no stranger to her.
Now, she'd created a time bomb. In less than an hour they will explode and the entire city she spent the last twenty years of her life on would disappear. They'd blown all the safely locks and fused all the ejection cartridges. There was no way those 'bombs' were going to be prematurely launched. This city was doomed. It was a time bomb...
Faust looked up at her when he her snort softly. "Something wrong Rose?"
She shook her head slowly. "We've forgotten about Leska-chan..."
Bloodberry looked up. "She'll be fine, onee-chan. She's a survivor. I doubt she'll stay onboard this place once she learns it will fall down around her ears."
Naro looked up to her. "I wouldn't count on that Bloodberry. She's caught in a web. Her mind has been ensnared by Ghenna. If he so commands her she'll stay by his head to the very end. It's all we can do to pray and hope Ghenna allows her to leave either with him or without."
Katsumi looked up. "Since when do you care about what happens to her?"
The Gray Eye looked up and met the woman's eyes. "Since I learned that you and her sacrificed almost everything to send six women into an unknown future because you loved them. Since I learned that someone who had once been one of the most kind and wonderful person on the planet had been twisted and turned into a demon designed for only on purpose, to kill."
"You know, Naro-"
"Please! Katsumi! I don't care what you think of me anymore. All I'm trying to do now is get you all away from here. I'm tired of this. I'm trying to do the right thing here, I'm standing up for you and your sister. Why are you getting on my case, Katsumi? I thought you were on my side."
The woman smirked.
"You cut me off, Naro."
The Gray Eye cocked any eyebrow. "You were going to say something nice about me?"
Katsumi almost giggled. "Not a chance Gray Eye. But I will say this, If you pull this off and we all get out of here, I might be forced to change my opinion of you..."
"We'll see..." he said scowling slightly. He turned and looked out the window of the tram. Down the way he could see a platform approaching.
"There it is folks. Those are the star ports."
"What?" Katsumi said walking forward. "I thought they were further down..."
"Nope..." Naro said dryly. "Right there. They're right under the cap. ship platform."
"How far from here?" Otaru said hoisting Lime's body up into his arms. The woman stirred slightly in his arms.
"We've got maybe a hangar bay and a few garbage storage locks before we reach the Spera. It won't be too far. I think we should be more worried about..."
"...The resistance we'll meet along the way. Yes, for once I agree with you Naro. They know we're coming this way, but I doubt there will be very much standing in our way. The Gray Eye dorms are all the way on the other side of the city."
Naro looked up at her. "Reading my mind? Are you turning into Leska on us Katsumi?"
The woman smiled down at him through the corner of her eye. "What ever makes you say that?"
Faust rose and collected what little he had. "We're approaching the platform now..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doors slowly slid open and each of the passengers onboard the tram stepped off. Cherry walked forward a bit looking around. Hanagata came up close behind her. They were standing on a landing platform that opened into a massive, ship filled Hangar Bay. All along the ceiling they could see ships of all sorts and sizes hanging from massive locks high, high up. All along the ground ships dotted floor of the bay. Huge gasoline tankers and fuel lines were strewn about. Some ships still had the fuel lines attached to their hulls. Hanagata whistled. There wasn't a person in sight.
"Where did everyone go? I thought we were going to meet some resistance?"
There was crash of glass as Faust punched into a fire emergency box. Reaching in he pulled out a long, slender machete. He twirled it once experimentally before sliding it into his belt. Bloodberry strode ahead a few feet and looked up and around once more.
"You know I'm one who hates using generic lines and all... But I smell an ambush."
Otaru narrowed his eyes. "You're right. It shouldn't be this deserted... Mitsurugi, take the lead! See if you can sniff out any ambushes for us!"
"W-WHAT?!" Hana reeled back in shock. "O-Otaru-kun! Are you joking?!"
Katsumi began to walk ahead. "I'll go."
Naro frowned and followed behind her. "No you don't. I'll go."
"What? I can do this."
"No you're not. We can't risk losing you."
"I'm not a little girl Naro! I am going to scout ahead."
"Fine, but not alone you aren't. I'm coming with"
The woman whirled on him. "Will you stop acting like I'm totally helpless! I don't need your help!"
Naro's eyes went wide and he took a step back. "Whoa, whoa, I'm on your side! I'm just concerned about your safety, that's all!"
Faust groaned and shook his head. "I'll go first then. Tiger, Panta, Luchs, will you stay close behind?"
"You know we will, Faust-sama. You didn't even have to ask."
Taking the lead the leader of Gartlant strode forward quickly and quietly; his hand resting on the hilt of the fire machete he had acquired. Behind him his maidens followed closely. Naro and Katsumi were behind them followed up by Otaru and his maidens. Hanagata hugged closely behind Otaru as they made their way deeper into the empty hangar.
In his arms Lime stirred once more. Cherry looked over and softy stroked her sister's cheek.
"Something is happening again Otaru. It looks like she may wake up soon..."
"I hope so Cherry..." He said softly, looking at her face. "I pray she's going to be ok..."
As they made their way through the hangar they heard nothing and saw no one. The entire bay was almost eerily quiet. There was no one to be seen about the whole place. Finally they came upon the air lock on the far side. Taking full caution Faust opened the lock and stepped in. Everyone filed through and as Hanagata brought up the rear he remarked...
"Wow, I'm surprised! I was sure we were going to be ambushed in there..."
Naro grinned. "It's refreshing when something goes our way for once. Still, I wanna know where the crew inside of there went..."
They were all in a small room with two doors on each side, each with a large window in them. As the one they had just stepped through closed, there was a hissing noise as the air lock did its thing.
"Where have we got to go to next Naro?" Tiger asked.
"Some empty storage bays and a few more of these air locks and then we're home free."
Cherry smiled. "Sounds fine to me!"
"Indeed." Faust replied. "I don't think we have very much time left, do we Katsumi?"
The blonde woman shook her head slowly. "We're down to our last twenty minutes I'm guessing. Keep in mind I may be wrong now, but I'm sure we have at least twenty more minutes left."
Bloodberry yawned as she waited for the airlock. "Anyone mind if I put a question out here? If the reactors are in danger of going off, how come we haven't heard any alarms? We haven't heard anything what so ever."
"The reactors are still moderately cool. The alarms will go off when they rise above critical levels. That will be our ten minute warning."
The woman with the fiery hair narrowed her eyes. "Then why was last airlock we were in deserted? It looked like who ever was there left in a big hurry. If they didn't know the reactors were going to blow, what scared them off?"
Everyone exchanged glances slowly. She had a point...
Suddenly the other airlock door slid open. The bay ahead of them appeared seemingly abandoned as well...
Lime cried out softly and stirred once more in Otaru's arms. One by one they all filed into the storage bay...
"AMBUSH!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aisha stood once more in the darkness. One more, on each side of her stood good and evil. Life and death. Each side still promised her the happiness she desired. Each side still sought for control.
"...Lime..."
"...Aisha..."
The maiden looked up. "...Yes?"
Side by side the Angel and the Demon knelt. They spoke in unison. The fiery-eyed demon from her dreams and the angelic vision of herself spoke slowly and steadily.
"It is time Lime/Aisha. It is time for you to decide. Your future has arrived..."
Slowly the young maiden's mouth moved.
"...Future..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faust's machete clashed with the energy saber of a wild eyed Gray Eye. The little bugger was strength and was trying to overpower the blonde man. In a flash Faust pushed the Gray Eye back, grabbed him by his clothes and snapped him around giving him a solid blow to the head. Tossing the senseless soldier aside Faust turned to the newest threat.
They had been ambushed by a half a styre of infantry (approx. 12 men) and three Gray Eyes. Otaru, Hanagata and Katsumi stayed to the side and did their best to keep away from the fighting. None of them had any training near enough to that of the Gray Eyes and decided against leaping into the fray and running into one of them. Lime lay behind all of them in front of a huge scrap storage bin. Inside lay tons and tons of loose scrap metal that had been prepped to be recycled.
Naro did his best to keep the remaining two Gray Eye at bay, but was starting to become overwhelmed. They weren't Legionnaires, but they were Gray Eye and they were skilled. One was speed while the other was sensor. Slapping the quick one away with his drawn energy saber he swung around to meet the combat one. He swung and their blades clashed momentarily. Their Gray Eyes met briefly.
"...Damn...it..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Is it that time already?"
"Yes Lime. The time has come." They replied. "You are indecisive yet..."
"Open your eyes." The Angelic one said softly.
Slowly Lime did so.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru didn't notice when Lime's eyes slowly flickered open. He was engaged with one of the infantry men. His extended Jutte was locked up solid with the soldier's katana. Hanagata and Katsumi were preoccupied with problems of their own. Lime's head shifted slowly as she looked impassively up at her Otaru.
"See Lime," The Angel spoke. "He is fighting for you! Join him!"
"See Lime," The Demon spoke. "He is fighting for himself, not you. Joining him will mean suffering again..."
Lime blinked slowly on the floor. Her mouth slowly moved.
"...I loved him once...I really thought I did..."
The Angel's voice became much softer and more distant very suddenly. It was starting to fade. "You still do Lime! Look inside your heart! You still love him."
The Demon's voice became louder very suddenly. It was becoming overpowering. "He took advantage of that love! He took advantage of you!! See how he fights only for himself! He's fighting for his own safety, not yours. He doesn't care about you Lime!"
Slowly the maidens lips moved. "Yes...Aisha..."
The other voice (who ever that had been) was rapidly fading away. It was disappearing inside Lime's heart. "...Lime! You don't understand... Aisha isn't that evil creature... Aisha isn't that demon... Aisha loves... She's caring, Lime... You don't understand... Aisha is..."
The voice was all but gone now, drowned out by the fiery-eyed Demon.
"Look at him Lime! Look at him fight for himself. Look at the way he thinks and acts for his own safety. He's abandoned you! He left you Lime!"
Otaru's back was to the maiden and he didn't see her eyes begin to harden or her face fall into a scowl. A red haze began to fall over the maiden's eyes. She was tired of being betrayed. She was tired of having her heart abused time and time again. This time was the last time. She'd tried to be kind. She'd tried to be generous. She'd tried love and hope for love in return. But every time she tried someone took advantage of that love. Some one broke her heart and betrayed her... She was tired. She was at the breaking point. When the second man she'd ever loved turned his back on her, that was it.
The little voice had all but faded now. The demon that Lime had embraced held her tightly.
"KILL HIM LIME! DESTROY HIM!! MAKE HIM FEEL THE PAIN HE FORCED UPON YOU!!"
Slowly the maiden's mouth moved.
"Yes..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"NARO!!" The Legionnaire turned. A fourth Gray Eye coming from seemingly no where had Katsumi cornered between the scrap bin and outer door of the storage bay. Swatting her feeble blows aside the Gray Eye connected a short, powerful jab to her head. With a shirt cry she collapsed to his feet.
"Katsumi!!!" Naro, turned and started to run toward the woman when he felt something grab him by the back of his collar. He was pulled backwards and lost his balance falling to the floor hard. He looked up, slightly dazed, to see the Gray Eye he had been battling sneering down onto him.
"Where are you going, Oh Keinaro?"
With a shriek the other Gray Eye hoisted Katsumi up onto his shoulders. He turned and headed for the airlock not five feet away. As Naro tried to scramble onto his feet the Gray Eyes that had been fighting him moments before pinned the man to the floor.
"Do you want her back, Naro?" the second Gray Eye jeered.
With a snarl Tiger leaped in front of he Gray Eye holding Katsumi. With an almost careless swipe of his hand he knocked the poor maiden aside like a rag doll.
"Take her back from us Naro!" The first one said dropping a key card attached to a chain onto the Gray Eye. "Lord Ghenna saw all of this. He saw through your lies. Now he sits in wait for you. Follow us if you want her. Use the vacuum tubes. We'll see you in his Lord's chambers!"
With a sinuous laughter the two Gray Eye leaped up and away from Naro, joining their friend in the waiting airlock. Katsumi began to yell.
"Get them away from here Naro!! Just take them all and go!! I-I'll be all right, just run!! Please, everyone!!"
The big Gray Eye smiled to Naro. "That's right, run. Run away. If you value your life you will run. If you value hers, we'll be in Lord Ghenna's chambers..."
And with that the Airlock slammed shut. Naro barely had time to react as a soldier came up from behind and tried to attack the Gray Eye.
'Katsumi.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"RISE NOW, LIME. RISE AND TAKE BACK THAT WHICH HE STOLE FROM YOU!"
"Yes..."
The maiden slowly stirred. Suddenly a noise came from above. She slowly looked up and saw a figure perched on top of the storage bin. It seemed to blend in with the darkness above. It's eyes were the only thing that made it stand out. They were gray and cold.
Otaru finally dispatched the soldier with a solid blow to his head. He turned just in time to see the airlock with Katsumi in it close.
"Shit! Katsumi!!" He cried out, but it was too late. She was already gone. He cursed below his breath. Katsumi! They'd lost her!! The first real fight they get into and the enemy captures her...
He would have continued swearing had he not heard the same noise Lime did from up above. He raised his head and peered into the darkness. Some one was up there, he could barely see their eyes... and they were gray!!
With a sudden flash the person ignited an every saber and leaped into the air. The nimble man twisted himself in the air and plunged his blade downwards... right for Lime's prone body.
The maiden's eyes shot wide open. The mist that had clouded her vision parted as she realized something. Deep inside of her heart the Demon that she embraced realized the same thing...
...He was striking for her! She was going to die!
It was all she could do to watch the Gray Eye's blade fall closer and closer to her prone body. Her body was slowly coming alive once more but it was not fast enough... Feebly, she shook her head.
"N-no...please..."
Bloodberry finished off one of the last guards only to turn and see the Gray Eye falling towards Lime. She barely had any time to react.
"L-LIME!!!"
The maiden with the blue hair and the jade eyes closed them and did her best to turn away. This was it... She never did get that happiness she so sought...
There was a heavy rush of wind and the terrible sound of flesh and bone being pierced followed by a terrible scream.
When Lime opened her eyes, she realized it wasn't she who had been screaming...
Bloodberry paled...
"No..."
Kneeling over her body, Otaru smiled weakly to his maiden. Out of his shoulder the crimson energy blade protruded stopping only inches from Lime's belly. In his left hand he gripped the blade preventing it from descending any further.
"L-Lime..." The young man said slowly. His face, while in great pain, softened. "You're awake."
The maiden blinked numbly for a second. Otaru had saved her. He leaped in between the Gray Eye's blade and her body. He stopped the blade with his own body.
Something wet began to drip onto her exposed belly. She looked down and saw tiny beads of crimson collecting themselves on her. Further up, she could see similar beads, only these were clear, being absorbed into the fabric of her clothing.
Otaru did his best to smile through his tears. "You're all right Lime... You're all right..."
With a scream Bloodberry charged. The Gray Eye saw her come and wordlessly pulled the blade free from Otaru's body. The young man audibly grunted and his blood began to run free onto the maiden below. Lunging at the fiery haired woman the Gray Eye and Bloodberry clashed.
Finally Otaru collapsed onto Lime's body. His breathing was heavy and there was blood spilling everywhere. As the maiden sat up she could feel Otaru's arms wrapping themselves around her.
"Lime..." He said slowly. "Oh, Lime... I was so scared... I tried to come back to you... I tried to help you... but I couldn't..."
The last of the maidens dispatched with the soldiers and turned to Bloodberry's battle with the Gray Eye. Faust discarded his machete and picked up on of the knives the Gray Eyes that had previously been here discarded. He pressed the small button and the energy saber formed up. Naro stepped back unaware of Otaru and Lime. Hanagata was all the way on the other side of the room and couldn't get back over...
"...I'm sorry Lime... I'm sorry for everything... All the times I yelled at you... All the times threatened you... All the times I made you feel sad... I had no right Lime... I had no right..."
Lime could feel Otaru's body shake and convulse as he began to sob against her.
"I don't ever want you to go away Lime... I've never want to be without you... I was so scared... I thought I'd lost you... I thought I'd let you go with out... with out ever..."
Slowly Lime reached up and brushed her master's hair aside. He swallowed painfully and groaned against the wound in his shoulder.
"I never told you I loved you... I've never told you I love you Lime..."
He blinked slowly and reached up with his good arm. His hand traced along her cheek softly and he smiled once more. His deep blue eyes met those vast jade ones and once again he saw the marionette he'd once found so long ago. Once again he found the innocent woman who'd become everything to him. Leaning forward he kissed her gently on the cheek.
"I love you Lime."
Cherry dove by Lime's side and picked up her master right out of her sister's arms.
"Otaru-sama!! Otaru-sama, you've been hurt!!"
Naro turned upon hearing Cherry's cries and saw Otaru laying there in Cherry's arms.
"Otaru!!"
He ran over and knelt by the woman's side.
"Cherry, where..."
"Oh, Lord! There's blood everywhere! Where..."
"What is wrong with Otaru?"
"Faust-sama!! Otaru's been stabbed!!"
"What?? Where?!"
With a painful groan Bloodberry toppled. The Gray Eye regarded her cooly and waited for her to rise once more.
Hanagata and the other three maidens ran back and forth across the other end of the cargo bay. They couldn't cross over because of Bloodberry's fight with the Gray Eye.
"Oh no..." Hanagata whimpered. "Otaru... Hold on Otaru!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime gently reached up and touched her cheek where Otaru had gently stroked her. It was wet... Her lower lip began to quiver and her eyes began to fill once more. She traced her fingers along her cheek and pulled away looking at them. Her fingertips were red. They were colored in Otaru's blood.
'Blood he shed for you...'
Suddenly the Angel that had faded away was suddenly back, her voice becoming louder and louder. This time she was not alone though. Someone else's voice now rang alongside her's...
'You gotta remember your love for him Lime...'
'You gotta remember your feelings you feel for him right now.'
It was Naro's. So far distant in her past that moment seemed. That night she returned carrying the maiden's heart...
'He loves you, Lime.'
'That boy loves you deeply.'
'Just remember that he'll always love you, no matter where you are, and that he'll do everything in his power to keep you safe and by his side. Where ever you may go he will follow. Do you understand, Lime? ...Remember to always remember him. Keep him close to your heart and you'll pull through.'
'Promise?'
Lime blinked back the impending tears and did her best to wipe her eyes dry. She'd promised him. She promised that she would always remember that love. She gave him her word... And she'd broken it. At the first sign of trouble she'd broken it.
Pulling her hands away she saw more of Otaru's blood on them. He'd bled to save her. Otaru'd bled to keep Lime alive... And Lime had, not seconds before, been planning on murdering him...
Shame fell onto the maiden's shoulders. Shame and guilt. No one there noticed when Lime began to sob. Otaru was gritting his teeth against the pain as Faust and Naro did their best to stop his bleeding which wasn't nearly as bad as it first looked. Cherry was preoccupied with Otaru. Tiger, Panta, and Luchs were on the other side of the storage lock and Bloodberry had her hands full with the Gray Eye. No one noticed her.
No one except that little Angel deep inside herself.
"Lime! Understand Lime! You are not something totally separate from Aisha. You and Aisha are not two separate and distinct individuals! You cannot live with out her and she cannot live with out you any more. You are both one in the same Lime. You are Aisha! You are Lime! You two never split. She just changed. She just evolved. You are still Aisha, Lime! You are still that woman who fought so long ago to find her happiness!! Don't let that place in your heart where you put all your bad feelings and emotions take over your true self! Don't let it destroy what you have gained."
The demon began to yell now, but it's voice was fast becoming faded.
"No! You are damming her! Lime! You will die with out me! You cannot survive..."
The Angel in her heart seemed to spread its wings and finally over powered the other voice.
"Don't let it fool you Lime! Choose to remember, now everything you pushed away! Remember Kaiser! Remember Satomi! Remember Aiko! Remember Katsumi and Leska!! Remember everyone and everything Lime!! Open your mind!! Aisha fought to find her happiness and she did!! Look at him, Lime! Look at Otaru! He is the happiness you sought to find!! He is what you've fought so hard to live for. He is what Kaiser died for.
"Remember Lime! You are a Gray Eye as well! You can fight! Go out there, now! Fight for your happiness! Don't let anyone or anything hurt him anymore!! Defend him, Lime! This is your chance!! Dammed be to your own safety! Go!!!"
The maiden's eyes hardened and her tears dried. Looking up she saw the Gray Eye laying waste to Bloodberry. He was the same one who stabbed Otaru, the blood was still all over the hilt of the energy weapon. Suddenly the red mists that had clouded her vision once before rose once more. Her eyes seemed to alight with fire. Reaching out she grabbed Otaru's fallen Jutte. Slowly she stood and locked on to the Gray Eye standing over her sister.
"You hurt my Otaru..." she said slowly. Everyone and everything seemed to stop. The Gray Eye turned and faced Lime. Naro, Faust, Otaru and all her sisters looked up at her. Pressing the button on the hilt of her weapon the Jutte extended outward.
"You hurt my OTARU!!" She began to scream. Memories from deep within her mind began to surface. She knew how to fight. She knew how to run. She knew how to kill...
"No one hurts him... NO ONE!!"
With a scream and a charge Lime engaged the Gray Eye. Her eyes, like two jade embers burned brightly in their sockets. He'd hurt her happiness. He wounded her joy. Now he will pay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime moved like lightning across the storage area. Never in his entire life did Faust ever see a single soul move that quickly. She was like a blur. In and out, up and around, Lime hit and slammed the Gray Eye with everything she had moving as fast as her body would take her. Hanagata took a step back and shook his head slowly. He'd never seen Lime angry before... This was almost terrible...
"YEEEEAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
Sparks flew as the Gray Eye moved just as swiftly as Lime to block and parry her blows. It was almost as if the two were dancing. Lime would come in and swing around and in a shower of sparks the two would twirl and strike and parry and lunge and then they would break apart once more. The Gray Eye Lime was fighting was based upon speed, and he had trained his system well. Lime found this no easy fight. The man was able to match her lighting fast speed with his lightning fast reflexes. Every time Lime would strike he would be there with his blade drawn and in the path of her blow.
The Gray Eye found this to be no easy fight as well. Unlike her inept sisters, Lime was a match for his skill. While he had the greater reflexes and was naturally stronger, Lime had the heart and spirit. These two things made up the difference between the two fighters. He could tell things were going to get very ugly...
Otaru did his best to sit up. Lime... She was fighting... Naro did his best to hold Otaru down. They were almost done patching him up. He was going to be ok.
"Shit!" Naro cursed over to Faust. "Why doesn't someone get in there and help her?!"
Faust shook his head slowly. "We can't Naro. This is her fight. None of us have the right to interfere. This is a matter of pride and vengeance."
Otaru shook his head... "Lime..."
Energy met hardened steel time and again. Swinging around, slicing up, cleaving the air, the combatants fought ferociously. Neither side was willing to give in to the other. Neither side was willing to lose. Lime, like a bolt of lighting shooting across the room, and the Gray Eye, standing solid like a rock defiantly against the elements, danced and moved all around the cargo bay.
The Gray Eye struck down and Lime jumped out of the way leaving the Gray Eye to scar the storage container that had been behind her. Lime lashed out with the Jutte and the Gray Eye parried with a solid return blow. Round and round they went. Their wicked dance contorted and spun wildly around and about the scattered containers. Everyone did their best to stay out of the way of the combatants. Lime did her best to keep the warrior away from Otaru.
After some time both combatants began to show signs of fatigue. It became obvious her anger and fear of losing Otaru were fueling Lime. It became obvious that only his skill and his loyalty to his Lord fueled the Gray Eye.
Lime was ashamed. Every once and a while someone saw a small shard of crystal run from her eye. It always caught the light as it fell and splashed against the ground. The Gray Eye caught every one that poured forth. Lime was deeply ashamed.
Her Otaru. She'd very nearly killed her own Otaru. The black little thought had been in her head. She'd embraced the idea. She had been only seconds away from murdering him. Seconds away from heading down that path. Seconds away from losing her one and true.
Lime made a promise to Naro. He asked her that no matter what would happen she would remember the love she felt for him at that very moment. It had been overpowering. Every thought, every word, every action had been for him. He'd been the focal point of her entire life. Her world needed only Otaru and everything would have been happy. When he was by her side warm feelings rose from the depths of herself. When he smiled to her, she almost went dizzy from joy. When he held her hand, or made her feel special in that way, it brought tears to her eyes that rose from the depths of her heart.
But she'd done something terrible. An impure thought, a darkness from deep within her soul, something she never knew even existed within herself tempted her and almost took her over. It was so evil. It was so black. It scared her so badly.
She had been wrong. From almost the start she had been wrong. The demon of her dreams, that fiery eyed creature, the dark being that she had long since feared hadn't been Ghenna. Ghenna wasn't the source of all her fear and dread. It wasn't Kisa either. The fat little man hadn't been the devil seeking her destruction.
No...The demon had been herself. It had been her own heart, her own soul. Everything dark and monstrous she'd ever thought of, ever conceived, ever done came from that little dark corner. It had been there since the beginning seeking release. It wanted, from the very moment she'd opened her eyes, to be let out. Aisha had lived a happy joyous life and this little creature dwelled in her trapped with no way out. It began to grow, ever so slowly. Every time Aisha had been annoyed, or angry or sad in those first months it grew.
Then Kaiser came
Kaiser... He'd been the source of all her pain and suffering in the beginning. When Aisha had received the warning in her dream she saw Kaiser and she saw the demon. The demon stopped when Kaiser was there. It seemed to hold off and wait while the Arch-Bishop had been around. Kaiser told her that it would be please if she defeated him and later on Aisha had thought he had alluded to Ghenna.
But the creature that had been satisfied had been the demon living in Aisha's heart. It had grown and upon release in Aisha's pain and suffering at the hands of Kaiser in that duel it became happy and crawled back into its cave deep in her heart. If it hadn't had this release, it would have grown to the point of consuming Aisha whole. It would have exploded outwards violently, more than likely killing all her sisters.
However that never came to pass. After the fight Aisha became happy once more. Her life soared from that point. Kaiser took care of her and made her smile with him. The demon grew little in this time. Aisha's bliss had been pure. It had nothing too feed off of.
But then her world came to an end. Sold to Kisa, the monster began to grow once more, this time with tremendous and terrible speed. Every time it rose from the depths to influence her actions and guide her mind she did her best to suppress it. She tried to hold back those feelings of exploding or of giving in to Kisa. Finally, one long and terrible day, she listened to the dark little voice in her ear. So broken and battered, the little monster had grown so large that Aisha's will fell to it. It had told her to succumb to Kisa. To allow him to break her. Wasn't that what she really wanted?
Once more the monster, pleased at its work, crawled back into Aisha's heart. The little demon had guided Aisha in the direction it wanted her to go and she followed. It sustained it's release and fell into pleasure once more.
Then Kisa died...Then Kaiser.
Aisha's world all but died. The monster almost exploded inside her. But instead of given a chance to mourn properly and to let the evils of her heart roll their way down her cheeks as tears, she was shot and knocked out. The time travel was what really did the most damage to Lime. The shock and pain of being tossed to and fro through the rivers and currents of time suppressed the demon, despite it's size, and locked it away. Lime pushed the bad memories away from her thoughts. She wanted to be happy, and they were making her sad. She denied knowing anything about the past. She denied knowing anything about her origins. Eventually, she came to believe her own lie. With the pain pushed back and the creature locked tightly away Lime started live and act and became what she most sought.
Happy.
But the demon didn't just go away. It grew. As Aisha bore the pain and sadness of Otaru's anger she swallowed it and fed it to the little creature staying deep inside her. It sat in her heart and grew to terrible proportions. When Naro betrayed her, the lock that time had placed on the demon's cell broke and out free came the evil.
This time it was greater than her innocence. It grew larger than her innocence, it grew larger than her happiness. The fiery-eyed demon that she feared had almost consumed her.
All Lime wanted ever was happiness, and in this quest she'd forgotten her love for Otaru and almost allowed the evil that she had deep within herself to take that man away from her forever. She was ashamed. She loved Otaru. Her heart had told her that. The angel on her shoulder told her that. Lime loved Otaru with near every fiber in her being and she was ashamed because of that. The man she loved she'd almost destroyed. She'd allowed the devil to make her forget that love she bore for him.
Otaru nearly killed himself for her. He'd nearly lost his life protecting the jade-eyed woman. He'd leapt between a blade of fire and her body. He'd bled onto her, she tears onto her, poured his heart onto her...
'...I'm sorry Lime... I'm sorry for everything...'
'I don't ever want you to go away Lime... I've never want to be without you... I was so scared... I thought I'd lost you... I thought I'd let you go with out...'
'...I love you Lime...'
The maiden's eyes hardened.
'...I love you Lime...'
The tears began to drip more and more freely. Her face became fierce. Softly she began speak...
"...He loves me. Otaru loves me. My Otaru cares for me. Even if I forgot, he still loves me. He loves me... He smiled for me, he laughed for me, he frowned for me, he cried for me, he bled for me! I forgot and he bled for me..."
She grit her teeth and her attacks began to grow in their ferocity. With a snarl she struck out savagely at the Gray Eye that had caused her heart to bleed. The weapons began to sing against one another once more. The Gray Eye found himself being pushed back. The woman had gotten some second wind or something. She was muttering something to herself, something he couldn't hear.
"He bled and I wanted to kill him. He bled for me even when I wanted to kill him..."
Suddenly she became fast and furoious. The Gray Eye was caught completely off guard at Lime's sudden out burst. She began to yell...
"He loves me! Despite myself, he still loves me!! He loves Lime!! I almost did something terrible and he Still Loves Me!!"
Rain drop as a numerous as a typhoon's and as bitter as the oceans fell from Lime's Eyes in that moment. She was facing the demon inside her. She was beginning to face her past.
"I'm only a MACHINE!! A lousy MACHINE!!" She screamed savagely at the warrior before her. "And he almost DIED for me!! He almost died for a machine!! He almost died! He almost died! He almost DIIIEED!!!"
With a powerful uppercut she snapped the energy blade out of the hands of the Gray Eyes and into the air. Pinning him against the wall she held the point of the jutte only centimeters from his throat. The warrior's eyes were in shock. How the hell?!
Lime quivered visibly. Her entire body shook as she sobbed. Her hard eyes burned into the gray ones of her enemy. The soldier raised his hands and let his shoulders drop. She'd won. It was her will now. Calmly he met her eyes and nodded once. If this was woman, then quite indeed did man make a suitable partner...
Otaru groaned as he sat up slowly. Lime had won! She was still alive! But...
He narrowed his eyes. But there was something wrong... Lime was quivering. He could see her eyes. They radiated hatred. Otaru's mind began to turn. She was going to kill that man!
The Gray Eye closed his eyes and waited. She was going to kill him...
Lime's hateful eyes burned. The jutte inched closer and closer to the man who'd hurt the most precious thing in her life. She was going to kill him...
She stopped when a voice drifted softly to her ears.
"Lime..." Otaru said softly. "Don't... Let it go..."
Sniffing she turned her head.
"Otaru..."
"Don't kill him Lime. You've done enough. Please..."
The warrior opened his gray eyes when he heard the sound of metal bouncing against metal. Looking down he saw the jutte dropped on the cargo room floor. Lime was holding Otaru, her face was buried in his clothes.
"I love you Otaru!" She cried out against her tears. "I love you! I love you..."
The young man smiled and pulled the woman free from his clothes. Cupping her soft face in his hands he smiled.
"You were wrong Lime. I don't love a machine. I've never loved a machine. I loved a woman. I always have, and now I always will..."
Despite her best Lime fell apart right then and there. She gripped Otaru tightly and became undone right in his arms. Slowly Bloodberry and Cherry knelt at Otaru's side. He looked up and read their faces. Smiling he chuckled.
"You three misunderstand. I've never loved machines you know. I've loved women, since the first day I saw you all, I've loved women. Three sweet and tender ones."
The two maiden's broke out into smiles and leaped onto Otaru, holding him as tightly as Lime was.
"Otaru... Otaru..."
"Otaru-sama! Thank you!"
Naro found himself smiling slightly. This really was sweet. Beside himself Hanagata was scowling, but holding himself back anyway. This was their moment... Panta, Tiger and Luchs all smiled and Faust nodded once. It was the leader of Gartlant that ended up breaking that moment.
"We need to go. Those reactors will go up any time now. We need to escape."
Fingering the key card Naro shook his head.
"You all will, but I wont."
"What?" Hana snapped. "What do you mean by that?"
The Gray Eye turned and started to walk back to the air lock door.
"I need to go. Katsumi was taken away."
"Shit!" Tiger swore and turned away. That was right! They'd frigging forgot about their own sister!
"Dammit!" Otaru said shaking his head slowly. "W-where'd they take her?"
The Gray Eye paused before answering. "Ghenna's chambers... They want me to follow."
Faust blinked. "His chambers? W-why..."
"He has a master control room up there. He can control the whole station from that place."
"It's at the top of Gheddon! How do you plan on getting all the way there before the reactors blow?"
Naro raised the key card. "The vacuum tubes."
Bloodberry looked up from Otaru. "The what?"
"Vacuum tubes. They're a high speed transport system. I'll be able to travel from the tram dock to Ghenna's chambers in less than five minutes."
"Oh..." Hanagata said slowly. "Well... If they're so fast... How come we didn't use those in the first place to get to the hangars!?"
"You need a key card." Naro raised the little plastic piece up. "You can't access them without this. Besides, it's one person at a time on those things. With our numbers it was faster to use the tram."
Satomi stood up and shook her head. "No no, now wait a second. You're not going to go off and pull one of those 'hero' stunts are you?! We need you here Naro! You need to lead us out!"
"Nah... Faust can do that for you. Two more airlocks down and there will sit the Spera. Ride her out and away before the blast."
"What about yourself?!"
Naro gave her a thin grin. "We'll find a way out, don't worry."
"Who's going to pilot the Spera?"
"Faust can. If not him, it think between Cherry and Luchs they'll have that thing figured out in no time."
"No! Nononononono!" Bloodberry scowled as she rose. "You can't just walk away like this!! You're leaving us alone in this place!!"
"I need to get Katsumi back!"
"Are you an IDIOT!!" she began to yell. "Naro, look who has her!! Leska!! Now if she's as powerful as you say she is, then you don't stand a chance!"
"I'm not being a hero, Bloodberry-"
"You're lying Naro! We need you with us. I want Katsumi to be at our sides right now as well but she isn't. I'm not being cold or cruel, I'm being reasonable! We don't have the time left anymore. If you go off you risk dying when those reactors blow! You need to stay by our side. Katsumi knew that. That's why she told you to go on without her."
"That's why I'm not going. You can take care of yourselves from here on out. Our great plan has been reduced to the original. Do you believe in fate? I do. I think mother fate is telling me something. I've got to go one step above what Kaiser did. I'm not only going to free you all, but I am going to kill he that will pursue you when I do. I'm not going to gamble that Ghenna will fall out of power when this station collapses.
"I'm going now. Through those airlocks and a few more storage rooms lies the Spera. Board her, open the outer door and leave. Just be careful to make sure you've sealed the ship tightly before you unseal the doors. You'll get sucked out into space. We're in a very high orbit around Terra II, the atmosphere is down below us. Don't open the outer doors on any of the storage rooms either. Take my word for it, space is as cold as it is lonely."
Bloodberry watched him walk off and scowled. "You're trying to be a hero."
Naro smiled. "Maybe I am... I'm trusting in fate on this one. I am not going to leave anyone behind, and I'm going to kill the devil..."
Lime sniffed. "What do we do about the Gray Eye?"
"What Gray Eye?" he said slowly.
Turning where the warrior Gray Eye once stood everyone saw. He wasn't there anymore. He was no where to be seen.
Naro opened the airlock and turned giving everyone a cocky smile.
"Sayonara."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the door locked shut Tiger turned to Faust. "Lord... Why didn't you try and stop him? He's committing suicide."
The blonde man shook his head and helped Otaru onto his feet.
"I believe in fate as well."
"Otaru?"
The wounded man smiled as he leaned against his maidens for support. Lime held him tightly up.
"He's a fool and an idiot, but if I wasn't hurt like this I would be doing the exact same thing he is doing. I guess that makes us both fools and idiots but I have this belief; You never leave someone behind. You always gotta try and save everyone. That's what I believe anyway... Let's get to the Spera."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro sat silently in the tram. It was carrying him further down the track to the station at the end of the rail. From there he would be able to use the vacuum system to reach Ghenna's chambers and, hopefully, kill him before the reactors blow.
He leaned back and thought about what Bloodberry said. Impossible odds, certain death, it sounded like a typical hero's predicament cliché. Naro didn't want to be a hero though. He didn't want to become a savior for the land. It just wasn't something he desired to be.
"Then what the hell am I doing here?" he asked himself. "Saving Katsumi?"
He didn't really even like her that much. She was as pretty as the others (even more so in some areas) but her personality turned Naro off. He wasn't sure what exactly about it that it was, but there was something subtle in there that made Naro turn away whenever he spoke with her. Maybe it was her tone of voice...
"If I don't like her... Why am I doing this? Why am I going back?"
The answer escaped him all the way to the tram station and into the vacuum tubes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faust cried out in pain and dropped to one knee.
"Dammit!" he cursed silently. One more airlock and they would be at the Spera. One more and they would have been home free.
Tiger and her sisters ran to Faust and dropped to his side.
"Faust-sama!!"
"Lord!!"
"Faust!!"
The blonde man groaned and held his side. There was a deep and burnt groove running along his rib.
"Energy fire..." he said slowly. "I'll be fine." He looked up and raised his voice. Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry circled around Otaru and raised their fists.
"Who's there?! Who's out there?! Come out now!!"
At first there was silence. Only the slow rumble of the engines could be heard. Lime suddenly gasped. There, standing half hidden in the shadows, was the biggest Gray Eye she had ever seen. He looked like a match even for Kaiser. He dropped the rifle he was holding and strode boldly into the light and smiled. Lime's eyes went wide with fear. She could recognize the insignia on his collar. Bloodberry, Cherry, Panta, Luchs and the others all saw the same thing and became pale.
He was a Bishop. He went by the name Nishan.
"So close..." Faust said slowly. "Can you six kill him? I'm out of the game as is Otaru."
Lime's expression began to harden. The bishop was standing in the way of her happiness. It wasn't going to take six to kill him. She reached for her belt and felt around for Otaru's jutte. She looked down with shock as she felt nothing.
"What?" she said to herself. Cherry looked over.
"Onee-chan? What's the matter?"
Lime swallowed slowly. "I left Otaru's weapon on the floor of the other room. I never picked it up."
Bloodberry strode forward and smiled. "I guess I'm in for a challenge. You're the last thing between the ship and us, ne?"
The Bishop laughed. "You were ripped up by that puny little Gray Eye. Look at yourself, bloody and bruised. Your body has become a punching bag and you still challenge me?"
The cocky woman spat onto the ground. "You idiots all talk the same. Same goddammed thing every time we converse. A challenge strung into a question. I'm getting tired of it."
Smiling the Bishop strode forward. "You're mocking me? Hahaha!! You are stupid woman. You are nothing compared to me. I will destroy you and-"
Tiger, Luchs and Panta strode forward. "She's right. Will you just shut up! You're such a cliché and we're tired of it. Raise your fists, we're attacking!"
The Bishop was speechless for the last moment he had before the six women closed in on him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro stepped onto the platform leading into Ghenna's chambers and slowly made his way forward. This was it. He smiled. This was it and he still didn't know why he was here...
The door into the chambers opened. They depicted an angel falling from the skies locked tightly onto a demon. It looked like the demon was winning...
The first thing that greeted Naro's eyes Ghenna sitting in his control room. Behind him stood Leksa. In front, chained tightly up, knelt Katsumi. The Gray Eyes were no where to be seen. Leksa's only visible eye burned itself into Naro. It glittered almost as brightly as Ghenna's own two. His were shinning like diamonds. They were bright and terrible. Naro became slightly unsettled. This was it. Too late to go back now.
Silently he strode forward and came to a stop ten feet from the Tyrant's chair. Katsumi looked up from the floor and saw him for the first time. Her expression of pain seemed to deepen. Naro did his best to avoid her gaze. She didn't think he stood a chance... Another wasted life...
Finally the old man spoke.
"Keinaro... My poor Judas..."
Naro said nothing. The old man continued.
"You won't even greet me any more? What kind of son do you think you are?"
Naro continued his silence. His hand trailed up to his belt and he placed it on the hilt of his knife.
"You're going to kill me Naro?" The old one said bemused. He began to point. "Look at him Leska. He's going to kill me! Look Katsumi. Your hero has come. He's come to save the day!"
Ghenna began to laugh uproariously. Naro could feel Leska's eye on him. She was burrowing into his thoughts. She was trying to read his mind... The Gray Eye did his best to hide himself from her roving eye, his thoughts were going to betray him. Naro began to chant softly to himself. He had to hide his thoughts. For Katsumi's sake if anything, he had to hide his thoughts.
Ghenna finished his laughter and knelt forward. "Go on Naro. Strike me down. Let's see what you are truly made of. I want to see what kind of assassin I have raised."
Naro gripped the handle of his knife tightly and glared at Ghenna. One shot? Was he being given one shot? His eyes narrowed. He was going to make this one shot count.
"Come on Naro. Kill me."
There was a long pause. Naro stood unmoving. His thoughts he masked as tightly as he could. He was afraid of Leska. If only it wasn't for Leska...
After a minute Ghenna frowned. "What is this Naro? You won't even strike me down? What kind of-"
Faster than either Katsumi or Ghenna could follow Naro snapped his knife out and activated the energy saber. He brought the whole thing down upon Ghenna's head with as much force as he could put behind it. Both the old man and the captive woman were caught totally by surprise. The whole attack lasted less than a quarter of a second- a testimony to Naro's speed training.
How ever instead of hitting soft flesh he came in contact with something hard. Naro had been fast, probably the fastest he'd ever been in his whole life, but Leska had been faster. She'd followed his body signs and had caught glimpses of his thoughts through the confusion Naro had set up in his mind. Instead of hitting her master, Naro struck an energy barrier. His blade was less than a centimeter from Ghenna's forehead. Throwing her arms out she caught Naro up and flung him away. With a cry he sailed across the room and landed hard. Ghenna laughed.
"You can't out shine my blessed Leska Naro. Don't even try. Her psychic powers have evolved so much in the last twenty years. Energy barriers and flinging things across rooms are so basic to her now."
Katsumi began to quiver. Naro... He was a dead man...
The Gray Eye swore as he climbed to his feet. He missed his chance. So much for the heroic bit now... Leska's eye burned into him once more...
He was done for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly Lime pulled her body up from the floor. This bishop was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was stronger, faster and smarter than any thing she ever saw in the past. All around her, her sisters rose slowly from the floor themselves. This was not working. Even as they worked together they were still not match for this... this creature!
"...Shit..." she whined out softly. "Shit...Otaru..."
The bishop laughed. "I have to admit, to have come this far you all impressed me. But here is where I now draw the line. None of you will be able to get out of here alive!"
Otaru held on to Hanagata tightly. "Bloodberry, Cherry, Lime..."
Slowly all six were on their feet once more and rushing in for the attack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro screamed in pain as he felt another blow strike his body. Leska didn't even need to use her hands to inflict pain. Naro was being struck about by the painful energy flashes the woman's mind generated. There was a snap, then a quick flash and Naro was once more rolling about in pain.
"Shit!!" he screamed between his teeth. It hurt worse than anything else he ever felt. It was like lightning up and down his body.
[snap][BAM]
"GAAAH!!"
[snap][BAM]
"God Daaaha!!"
[snap][BAM]
Katsumi did her best to shield her eyes.
"No, no! Lord! Please have pity! Don't kill him, please!! Leska-chan! Don't stoppit please. Just stop it!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime was almost to her breaking point. Her body was sore and aching at every joint, muscle and ligament she could imagine.
"Oh god why..." she groaned. They were so close...
Otaru gritted his teeth and shook his head. It was obvious the women had the spirit but all the spirit in the world wasn't enough to match the pure skill of this Bishop. He had to have been on of Ghenna's best. One of his elite. Lime rose to her hands and knees and gazed forward dizzily. She blinked at the Bishop standing before her. Dammed man... dammed, dammed man... Why...
Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes focused on something else...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katsumi began to shake and scream against her chains. The flashes and snaps were becoming so numerous now it was like one giant, constant glow. Naro screamed shrilly as the pain coursed its way up and through his body. Ghenna laughed.
"Not very heroic Keinaro. Not very heroic at all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bloodberry landed close to her sister with a grunt. Lime turned to her and propped her up. An idea had found its way into Lime's head.
"Onee-chan, Onee-chan! Look! Get up onee-chan!"
Bloodberry groaned and sat up. "Ooog... Lime, what is it?"
"Look!" the blue haired maiden said pointing.
Bloodberry focused her eyes.
"What... what are you..."
"There!" she said almost excitedly. "There! Right there. The biggest thing in this entire room!!"
"W-what, you mean the..." The bigger woman furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "W-what the hell do we do with that Lime..."
Lime smiled as realization dawned on her sister's face. "Lime... Lime you don't mean..."
"Yes Bloodberry-chan. That's the only way."
"But, but what about Otaru?! What about ourselves?!"
"We get Otaru and Hana and Faust to the lock. Maybe even get the others in there. We lock it and throw it. I don't care about myself. I want Otaru to be safe! That's all I want."
Bloodberry swallowed. "Lime..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro hung in the air breathing heavily. Leska's mind held him there. His arms were tightly pinned to his sides and his legs also appeared bound. Lord Ghenna rose smiling.
"I do believe this is it Naro. This ends now. You are a traitor to Mesopotamia and to myself. Now you will pay the price."
Katsumi struggled against her bonds savagely. "Lord no! Please Lord Ghenna!! Don't kill him! Please don't! It was my fault! It was all my fault!!"
"Shut up!" the old man snapped bitterly at her. "My Leska-chan found out about this plan from your own thoughts. The saw everything that happened. You and Keinaro are both guilty of treason. I am just taking care of Mr. Hajima first. I have something special planned for you later on..."
Katsumi quivered terribly. "...Lord..."
Despite the pain Naro smiled weakly.
"Stupid shit..."
Ghenna turned. "What did you say?"
Naro started to chuckle. "You are an idiot. There will be no later, Ghenna. We destroyed the coolant lines to the reactors! This entire place will destroy itself in a matter of minutes. This city and everyone on it will be destroyed as will your dreams of conquest!"
Naro began to laugh. "Who has the last laugh now?"
He stopped when he heard Ghenna laughing along side with him. Wait a second... he wasn't supposed to find this funny...
"Naro you IDIOT!!" The tyrant was roaring in laughter. "Do you really think it would be so easy to destroy this city? I have to admit you were clever in taking out the coolant valves but you, in no way, stopped the flow of coolant into the reactors. The piping for that run up through the reactors, not on the outside. You destroyed a few safety valves, nothing more. Why do you think there haven't been any alarms going off since?"
The faces of both the captives fell. This couldn't be true, could it? Katsumi shook her head slowly. She was sure those were the main valves... she was sure of it...
"No, no my dears, the controls all reside up here. You guys haven't done nothing. All of this has been in vain! You stupid, stupid people!" The old man leaned back and almost exploded with laughter. Naro collapsed against the psychic restraints that held him up. Shit...
Katsumi shook her head. "I... I was so sure those were the right ones..."
"Heh, you and everyone else onboard this station. You all were supposed to think that for this very reason. Now why don't we just keep this little secret to ourselves, ne?" He broke out laughing once more. Naro was getting sick of that laugh...
"Leska..." The Gray Eye said softly allowing her full access to his mind. "You don't have to do this Leska. I want to help you. We want to help you. Your sisters are here fighting to escape. They wanted you to come with them. It's not too late. You can still be happy..."
The woman stared at Naro impassively with her dead eye.
Ghenna's chuckles subsided and his face became grim once more.
"It's time Naro. Now you will die."
Katsumi jerked up and began to scream.
"No! No no, Lord! Please, Stop! Have mercy, I beg of you! Please Lord Ghenna!! Please, oh god all mighty please!"
The old man ignored the woman. "Kill him Leska."
In a flat deadpan voice she responded. "Hai."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherry, Tiger, Luchs, and Panta nodded slowly. That was the plan. Slowly it circulated around the women. As one group kept the Bishop busy the others circulated the plan. The Saber dolls would escape with their master and Otaru just in case they met resistance in the next room where the Spera was situated. Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry would stick together. It became clear that this was the only way.
The Bishop wasn't stupid. He knew that they were planning something. They were keeping him busy. What ever it was didn't have him worried. What could they possibly do to him? He's a Bishop, and one of the best Lord Ghenna had to offer. There was nothing they could possibly do to kill him.
Otaru sat on the sideline with Faust.
"What, what are they talking about Faust?"
The taller man shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just hope that what ever it is, it will work."
Otaru nodded slowly. "Me too..."
Hanagata watched the maidens fight and joined Otaru's nod. "Me three."
Lime stood up to her full height and rose her arm. "Ok! Let's do it! Everyone go!!"
Suddenly all six of the woman began to circle the Bishop. They moved quickly and quickly had him surrounded.
"The hell is this?" He said raising his fists. Lime swung in behind him and swatted him on the back of the head. With a roar he spun around and swung but found himself hitting nothing but air. Suddenly he felt another slap against the back of his head. He reached around and spun his body once more. Bloodberry made a face and pulled away from his body as he continued running around him. Suddenly there was a solid push at the Bishop's back and he stumbled forward. He screamed as he regained his balance and spun.
"What the hell is this?!" He spat.
[Smack]
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
[smack]
"Stop this now!!"
[smack]
"Graaaaagh!!!"
Otaru shook his head. "What are they doing? He'd just getting more and more angry!"
Faust narrowed his eyes. "They're herding him. Look. They're moving him across bay."
"Herding him where?"
Faust cocked his head slightly. "It's not to the airlock, they're pushing him away from both of them..."
Otaru sat up. "...But toward the outside door! Faust! You don't think they're going to-"
"They just might Otaru! Oh Lord..."
Lime figured that the Bishop was close enough to the door. It was time to finish this damn thing up.
"Everyone, NOW!"
Bloodberry came around and gave the Bishop a solid kick in his back sending him flying. His combat system was going crazy. Six targets and three were almost always behind his back. It was difficult to keep up and alert.
The Saber dolls broke away from the Bishop and sped towards Otaru, Hanagata and Faust.
"Let's go!" Panta said reaching them first.
Otaru felt himself being hoisted up. "W-what? Were are we going?"
"Safety." Was all Tiger told him. A moment later they were all making their way for the airlock.
"Wait! What about Lime and-"
Luchs pushed Otaru faster. "Go now Otaru! They'll be fine, move!!"
The Bishop got back up to his feet and turned. His back was to the massive outer door of the station. In front of him Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry stood resolutely. Their fists were raised in fighting stances. Behind them he could see the others...
His eyes went wide. They were escaping!! With a roar he lunged forward but found himself held back by the maidens before him. Cherry stepped to the side and tried her best to trip the man up while Bloodberry charged forward. Lime grabbed the man's legs and tried to hold him down.
"No! You're not going anywhere!" She cried out.
The Bishop lost his balance and toppled over. The three maidens were over him in a moment.
"Stay down!"
"You're staying here!"
The tall man looked up to see the others reaching the airlock. That's what it was. The three here were sacrificing themselves so that the rest would be able to escape.
"No!" he grunted. In a surge of strength he rose and sent the maidens on him flying. Digging his hands into the ground the man surge forward and onto his feet.
Tiger turned and saw the huge Bishop charge. Grabbing Hanagata roughly she tossed him into the airlock.
"In you go!" stepping in herself she hit the lock on the door. Moments before the huge monster reached the airlock but he was too late. The door had just closed. With a scream he slammed his fists against the reinforced metal. Tiger watched him through the glass of the window and made a face.
"Sucker~"
Otaru groaned and shifted on the floor where he'd been deposited. His wound was open once more.
"Lime! Bloodberry! Cherry! Where are they?!"
Luchs turned to him. "They're taking care of that monstrosity. They'll join us after he's dead."
"What?" The young man rose and looked out the window.
The Bishop scowled. Fine... He turned to the control panel on the door.
"If that's the way you bitches want it then this is how it's going to be." He said calling over his shoulder. He clenched his fist and slammed it into the control panel. With a shower of sparks and a small explosion the he destroyed the panel. Cherry rose.
"No!"
Whirling on them he pointed his finger. "This is how you wanted it! Now it's just you three and I." His eyes shone brightly. "You can't leave here alive now! You're trapped!"
Bloodberry shook her head. "No... No way!"
Lime scowled. "Liar. Then you would be trapped as well. You have something..."
"Clever girl..." The Bishop said smiling slightly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card. "This will work that last door you came through and allow you access to the hangar. From there you can steal one of those ships and escape."
"Y-you locked that last airlock!?" Bloodberry say incredulously.
The Bishop placed the card on the ground and smiled. "Come and take it."
Lime slowly backed up. "No..." She said softly. "Sisters... You know what to do, ne?"
Swallowing both Cherry and Bloodberry nodded.
"If we lose that key?"
Cherry raised her fist. "It won't matter. We'll die for Otaru then." Her face hardened and her eyes narrowed. "I am willing, for Otaru's sake."
Bloodberry turned to her sisters. They both were willing to sacrifice themselves for Otaru. If this was the only way to kill this Bishop and allow him to escape...
Bloodberry nodded. "Let's go then. For Otaru. Let's get rid of this asshole."
"I pray fate is with us..."
Cherry smiled. "If she loves us then we'll hold Otaru again some day..."
The Bishop shook his head. "What..." He said softly.
Lime backed her self up against the wall. "Hang on." She told the Bishop with a slight smile.
"What?" He said with a puzzled look on his face. Lime stepped aside and revealed a large lever on the wall behind her. Realization dawned like the morning sun the face of the Bishop. She was going to vent the entire cargo hold to space! She was opening the main door!!
"NOO!!!"
Lime reached up and pulled the lever down. Suddenly the lights in the room turned read and all the klaxons went off. Slowly the outer doors began to open. Lime bolted away from the door and grabbed onto some loose piping. Cherry and Bloodberry broke up and did the same. The massive blast doors slid open quickly. The only thing that separated the compartment from the cold of space was an energy barrier.
The City was in ultra high orbit around Terra II. It was taking photos of the planet's surface and taking readouts of the atmosphere. All that there was outside the energy barrier was open space. Lime looked out and shuddered. It looked so cold and lifeless... As the Bishop scrambled for something to hold onto the energy barrier faded. In an instant the entire chamber turned into a giant vacuum. The escaping air pulled and grabbed at everything in the chamber. Lime closed her eyes and held her breath. This was it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leska looked into Naro's eyes. Her one eye burned into his thoughts. She began to talk to him. Her voice was massive and overpowering.
'HAJIMA, KEINARO...'
'Leska-chan...' he returned.
'WHO ARE YOU?'
'Who am I? Hope maybe. At least that's what I'd liked to have been.'
'HOPE? FOR WHO?'
Naro smiled. 'Everyone. I remember telling your sisters I wasn't trying to be a hero... I suppose I was lying. Suddenly I want to feel like one.'
'A HERO? A HERO NEVER DIES.'
'No. That's not true. I've been told of one hero who helped saved six lives at the expense of hers. She became trapped because she put those others before her. She died.'
Leska became silent.
'Do you know what her name was Leska? That woman went by Jade."
Leska stared at him for a moment before tightening her grip around him. Naro groaned as he felt himself being squeezed. 'INDEED SHE DIED. SHE HAD BEEN A FOOL.'
'Her sisters still love her, you know. They still love that woman.'
Leska fell silent once more.
'They want her back someday. They want to hold her and see her one day..."
Leska narrowed her eye.
'TELL ME ONE MORE THING NARO...'
'Yeah?'
Leska cocked her head. The overpowering feeling the voice had faded slightly.
'Why did you come here? Why did you return? Surely not for my sister..."
Naro swallowed and found himself smiling. As he met eyes with Katsumi his lips moved and the answer flowed freely forth. Naro suddenly realized why he really was here. He spoke aloud.
"Because it was the right thing to do..."
Leska narrowed her eye and said no more. Instead a bolt of energy began to form in front of her. It was bright and shimmered blue. It was a psychic lance- a bolt of pure psychic energy. Naro watched as it gained in size and length. Katsumi began to scream. What Naro said dawned on the woman. It was the reason she promised to stay with him until he defeated Ghenna before their plans changed. She began to thrash against her bonds violently and scream with everything she had inside herself.
Naro swallowed as his breathing picked up. He was going to die... This was it. He came back to save Katsumi, now who was going to save him? Leska's singular eye burned into Naro for the last time. The psychic bolt was at full size. The woman positioned Naro in the path of the bolt and readied it.
"Goodbye Naro." Ghenna said smiling. "You could have been great. Oh well, no regrets, eh?" He turned to his slave maiden. "Kill him."
Leska nodded once. "Hai."
Almost faster than Naro could follow the bolt shot forward headed right for his body. Katsumi threw her head back and screamed.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lime!!" Bloodberry yelled over the din. "LIIME!! The Keycard!"
The blue haired maiden looked to the direction her sister was pointing. There it was. The string it was attached to had caught itself on some scrap metal in the piping just above Lime's head.
"I got it!" she yelled back to her sister. Lime reached up against the pull of the escaping air and reached out for the key card. It was slowly slipping away. If she didn't get it they would stay trapped in that airlock once the door closes. They would die in there when The City explodes.
Lime turned just in time to avoid a loose piece of scrap metal that whizzed by her head.
"Lime!!" Cherry cried out.
"I'm fine!!" The plucky maiden reached up and for the key card once more. It was slowly slipping off the scrap. She reached out with her fingers as far as they would go.
"Almost..." she said straining against the pull of the air. "Almost..."
With a snap and a flutter the key card broke free of the piece of scrap...
...and went straight into Lime's outstretched palms. Grinning she held the card out triumphantly.
"Got it!"
As the wind whipped through Bloodberry's hair she smiled.
"All right! Now how do we close this door?!"
"Where's all the air coming from?!" Cherry screamed.
"We left the service vents open!" Lime called out over the din. "We're venting the entire station!!"
"Close the door! Close that door then!!"
"How?!" Bloodberry called out. If they stayed like this much longer they would freeze.
"It's on a timer!! We'll just have to wait this out! "
Otaru was glued to the airlock window. The lock itself was sealed away from the vacuum of the storage room. He banged his fists against the window.
"LIME!! CHERRY!! BLOODBERRY!!"
Lime was about to respond to her sister when she felt something suddenly grab onto her. Looking down her eyes widened. It was the Bishop. He screamed at her and began to crawl his way up her legs.
"LIME!!" Bloodberry screamed out to her. Lime closed her eyes and screamed. Kicking her feet about savagely she tried to shake the man off of her. It was no good. The Bishop held her even more tightly than before. Her hands were like vices.
"NO!!" If the doors closed and he was still inside he would kill them all. Lime seriously doubted the airlock doors that Otaru was hiding behind would hold the powerful Bishop back for long...
Her thoughts were cut short by a final piece of scrap metal. With a slam it crashed against her fingers holding her tightly to the piping of the bay. Lime screamed in pain. The heavy scrap had crushed her fingers nearly flat. In her agony her grip in the keycard loosened. With a terrible snap the card whipped away from Lime and out the bay doors...
"NO!!!" Bloodberry screamed. That had been their only chance! They were stuck in the cargo bay...
Otaru fist slammed once more against the glass window of the airlock.
"No! Lime..."
With only her good hand holding her to the pipe Lime looked at her broken one. It was smashed completely. She couldn't even move her fingers. With a snarl the Bishop grabbed hold of Lime's belt and pulled himself up.
"Lime!" Bloodberry screamed. The green eyed maiden looked up at her sister. Bloodberry looked so sad...
Lime remembered what the angel and devil had promised her... One gave her happiness and survival... The other gave her pure joy and love... one promised life, the other love...
Lime swallowed. She'd chosen love...not life... She turned her head downwards to the vast field of stars...
From deep down the angel that had guided her called out to her once more.
'...your choice is obvious...'
Lime looked back up to her sisters. As Cherry held to the pipes tightly she saw Lime smiling up at her... Her mouth moved slowly. Bloodberry's eyes shot wide open. No... She wasn't going to really...
Cherry didn't understand what Lime was telling her. It... It almost looked like a...
Bloodberry screamed out.
"LIME!! NO!!"
Letting her hand relax Lime slipped free from the piping. Spreading her arms wide she let the wind carry her.
It almost looked like a... goodbye...
With a sudden rush Bloodberry and Cherry watched Lime, the Bishop still attached to her, fly out past the bay doors and into the vast void of the stars.
"NOO! LIIIIIIME!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A moment. It was only a moment. A heart beat, maybe two. A blink of the eye. That was all it was, but for Otaru the moment stretched into two, then three, then five. Time slowed. Time stopped. In his chest his heart seemed to stop. His stomach seemed to twist violently. He didn't notice when he broke and bent his nails back when his hands dug into the wall. He didn't notice the fire in his shoulder anymore.
"L..."
Tiger stood dumbfounded. Panata took two steps back and collapsed in shock. Luchs covered her mouth and turned away. Faust closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. Hanagata lowered his and silently dug his hands into the hard metal of the wall.
"Li..."
Otaru's face twisted. It suddenly filled with pain. The blood drained and his color paled. His eyes twisted and screwed while his mouth turned into a savage grimace. His face looked as if someone had just torn his very heart from his body...
"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally the bay door timed out and the energy shield rose once more. Bloodberry and Cherry felt their bodies settle as the strong blast of wind vanished. Silently the huge bay doors closed and the lights returned. The bay was quiet once more.
Cherry stirred first. Slowly she rose to her hands and knees. She opened her eyes and shook her head slowly. The warmth was returning to her body. Her endoskeleton was quickly repairing any damage the severe cold did her body. She was dizzy...
Groaning she slowly rose to her feet.
"O-onee-sama?" Where was Bloodberry?
Looking around she saw no one.
Cherry's voice grew scared. "Onee-sama?! Bloodberry! Bloodberry-chan, where are you?!"
She almost thought her sister had joined Lime out among the stars when she saw a flash of red by a piping structure next to a container that had been bolted down. Cherry stumbled over as best she could; her muscles and joints were still very frigid. Bloodberry was lying face down on the deck unmoving.
"Onee-sama!!"
Cherry dropped to her sister's side.
"Onee-sama! Onee-sama!!"
Slowly her sister stirred. Cherry nearly collapsed with relief.
"Onee-sama... You're all right."
Bloodberry said nothing. Her arms were pulled close and her hands clenched.
Cherry furrowed her eyebrows. "Onee-sama..."
She reached out and slowly rolled her sister over. Bloodberry was weeping. Her eyes slowly rolled up and met her sister's. Cherry's expression suddenly fell. As the tears started to form along her deep eyes and her lip began to quiver she reached down and pulled her sister close.
"Onee-sama..." She said weakly before joining Bloodberry.
The high ceiling and large empty floor made the chamber seem much more vast, empty and hollow than it really was. Their sobs, however, still echoed and reverberated loudly and lonely against the walls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime was well clear of the pressure shielding. She could feel her body trying to swell and burst. Space was a cruel and terrible place. Without an atmosphere no air pressure could exist. Her body was as pressurized as The City had been. When the pressurized storage lock vented to space the air escaped and tried to equilibrate the pressure inside the chamber and outside the lock. Out in space her body was trying to do the same thing, only she didn't have any means for the pressure to release itself. So her body was trying expand and blow up to in order to release the pressure inside of her. The only thing that held her together was the endo-system inside her body. The net held everything back. It gave her warmth against the freezing cold and did its best to filter the co2 out of her body.
How ever even that skeleton was no match for the bitterness of space. It was slowly failing. Lime was dying. The woman curled her body up tightly. It was so cold...
Lime was shivering almost violently. She felt the trails of the tears that she had shed earlier freeze on her cheeks. Her lungs burned. They told her to inhale. To take a deep breath, but every time she tried they would not inflate. In her ears and her temples her heart beat. She could feel every pump her little, powerful muscle beat for her. Even that, however, seemed to be slowly fading away.
She was blind. The fluids in her eyes had long since frozen solid. Her hearing was next. The hand that had been flattened by the loose piece of scrap was numb. She shouldn't feel anything in it. Her other hand was quickly joining its partner. She floated free out in the vast cold, the only thing saving her from the terrible heat and fire of the sun was the shade of The City. The up there, the sun would have burned her into a cinder in little to no time.
Despite all that; the blindness, the numbing cold working its way up her hands and feet consuming her, the lungs that burned deep inside her, the pain of her body trying to adjust to the sudden pressure change, she was smiling. Eyes half lidded and pupils white matching the color of her skin her mouth wore a soft smile. She curled her self a little tighter and let the small smile spread.
She'd defeated the Bishop. She spread her arms instead of clenching her fists and she'd won. Lime tried to swallow, but found that the fluids in her throat had frozen it closed. Oh well... I didn't matter any more anyway.
Her sisters were going to be all right, she was sure of it. Otaru was going to be all right...
Her smiled widened. Otaru...
He was going to be sad, Lime knew he was, but she also knew that someday he would smile once more. Her precious Otaru...
The Angel had been correct. Never in her entire life had Lime been happier. She'd finally found the bliss and the happiness she always sought before. She was saving everyone she loved. She was dying for everyone she cared about. Lime was no longer ashamed anymore. She'd let go for everyone. Now she was going to die for Otaru. There was no reason for her to be ashamed anymore. This was the greatest thing she could have done for him. This was the greatest act of love she could have shown him. She loved Otaru...
Her arms and legs had frozen solid. Lime's heartbeat was slowing. Her core temperature was dropping. Lime didn't have much longer to go. Her mind slowly began to slow down along with the rest of her body. Her thoughts became simpler and more generalized as her mind began to die. The feeling of happiness that had flooded her was almost overwhelming...
Otaru...
Everytime she saw his face in her mind's eye she would feel a warmth pass through her.
Her Otaru...
She wasn't afraid. She wasn't ashamed. Her entire life hadn't been wasted. While she lived she made a single man happier than he had ever been in his entire life. She'd touched a heart and opened its' eyes. She'd shared her happiness and shared it from others in return.
Otaru...
Otaru...
Otaru...
She closed her eyes one last time. Her shivering had all but stopped. The muscles were frozen solid. Her smile still softy etched on her face...
Lime had only one regret. She would have loved to live longer with Otaru. She would have loved to become a mother.
A mother...
Lime would have loved to bear a child of her own and raise it with her Otaru... That would have made her very happy...
Otaru...
Otaru...
Otaru...
Her heart finally stopped. Her mind was fast becoming numb. The last she ever saw in her thoughts was Otaru's face. The sun was shining and Lime could tell it was warm outside. Behind him fields of rice waved green and shimmered in the afternoon light. He had his large rice hat cocked back and was rubbing his arm across his forehead wiping the sweat away. His face was lit up in a warm, happy smile. He was smiling at her...
Aishiteru, Otaru...
A single tear lay frozen along her eye. In the zero gravity it had frozen itself away from her face rather than down her cheek. It stayed there like a tiny, misshapen icicle reaching out from her eyes to the stars, to the warmth that lay beyond, to her Otaru...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canta per me ne addio
quel dolce suono
de' passati giorni
mi sempre rammenta
La vita dell'amore
dilette del cor mio
O felice, tu anima mia
canta addagio...
Tempra la cetra e canta
il inno di morte
a noi si schiude il ciel
volano al raggio
La vita dell'amore
dilette del cor mio
O felice, tu anima mia
canta addio...
La vita dell'amore...
O dilette del cor mio...
[translation]
Sing for me, Farewell.
Those sweet sounds
Of the past days
Will always remember me
The life of the love,
Beloved's of my heart,
Oh happy you, mine soul,
Sing slowly...
Strengthen your lyre and sing
The hymn of death.
As the sky opens to us
They fly away into the rays of the sun.
The life of the love,
Beloved's of my heart,
Oh happy you, mine soul,
Sing farewell...
The life of the love,
Oh Beloved's of my heart...
~Canta Per Me
[Sing For Me]
Noir
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Softly, in the cold and the silence of space, Lime died.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With one light on in one room,
I know you're up when I get home.
With one small step upon the stair,
I know your look when I get there.
If you were a king up there on your throne
would you be wise enough to let me go?
For this queen you think you own
wants to be...
A hunter again!
I want to see the world.
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life, again.
So let me go!
The unread book and painful look.
The TV's on, the sound is down.
One long pause, then you begin.
Oh look what the cat's brought in!
If you were a king up there on your throne
would you be wise enough to let me go
for this queen you think you own
Wants to be...
A hunter again!
I want to see the world
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life again,
So let me go!
Let me leave!
For the crown you've placed upon my head feels too heavy now!
and I don't know what to say to you but I'll smile anyhow...
And all the time I'm thinking, thinking!
I want to be a hunter again
want to see the world
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life again!
So let me go!
I want to be a hunter again
want to see the world
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life again
So let me go!
Let me leave!
Let me go!
~Hunter
Dido
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro cringed. His time had come. He waited for the bolt of the energy. It would come swiftly...
...But it never arrived. Behind his closed eyelids he could see a bright source of light. It stayed in front of him and didn't move. Deciding to risk a glance he opened one eye. There, in front of him, he saw the most beautiful thing he ever saw in his life.
The blue energy bolt that Leksa had fired hovered inches from Naro's face. Its iridescent blue energy swirled and spun about as it held its spot there in space. Circling it was a pure white coil of energy. It seemed to wrap itself like a snake around Leska's bolt holding it tightly in its place. It was holding the bolt meant to kill Naro back. The Gray Eye swallowed. What in god's name was that!?
For the first time in almost twenty years Leska's face was a mask of shock. Something had wrapped itself around her bolt and was holding it back! The pale woman took a step back and furrowed the eyebrow that could be seen. What was this?!
Ghenna limped forward, his face grave. Something was countering his Leska's own power! What on all of Terra II was that?!
A noise to their left cause all three to turn.
Katsumi knelt there wrapped in her chains. Her once soft eyes were now hard. Her expression was a mix of sorrow and rage. From her forehead lightning and a bright white light seemed to flow forth. She stared at the blue bolt Leska had made glared hatefully. It took Leska, Naro and Ghenna half a second to all come to the same conclusion. The Gray Eye shook his head slowly.
"Kat... Katsumi's a..."
Ghenna stepped forward and smiled wickedly. "She's a psycic!"
Leska shook her head. It really couldn't be true! Katsumi NEVER showed ANY signs of having this latent psychic she was seeing now. She had always been normal. A tad unusually smart, but otherwise perfectly normal! There wasn't any way...
But as she looked over to her bold suspended in front of Otaru she shook her head. It... It had to be true... As contrived as it seemed, the evidence was obvious. Katsumi had been, all these years, a sleeper. She'd been one with powerful powers unknown to even herself.
The blonde woman shook her head savagely and closed her eyes tightly shut.
"I didn't want this!!" she yelled loudly. "I didn't want all this hatred! I didn't want all this death! We used to be so happy, Leska! You remember! I know you do. I see it in your eyes! I see it every time you look at me..."
Naro clamped his eyes shut and shook his head. In an explosion of light and energy the psychic bold was crushed by Katsumi's own energy. A ring began to sound in the air. It was a high pitched whine that seemed to be emanating from Katsumi on the floor. Naro grimaced and shook his head. The damn nose seemed to echo through his head.
Suddenly he felt Leska's grip on his body loosen. He looked up and over at her.
"I want us to be happy again! I want all of us to be happy, Leska!! I love you Onee-chan! I still love you despite everything!! That's why I just want this to stop! I just want all of this to stop!!"
Naro listened as the ringing became louder and watched Leska fall to the floor. Her hands where tightly clamped around her ears as if she was trying to block out the sound. He could feel Leska's grip in him loosen. Katsumi was using some sort of psychic feedback. It was tearing Leska's head apart!
"Just make this all stop!! Just please! I want it to go away!! All of this!!"
The consoles and the control panels that Ghenna used to control the entire station, one by one, started to explode. In a showers of sparks and glass the sensitive electrical equipment were overloaded and burst. Katsumi was overloading everything!! Ghenna turned and moved behind Leska. He put the pale woman in between himself and the consoles to his left.
"Get up!" He shouted to her. "Get up now! Protect your master, your life depends on it!!"
But instead of rising as he commanded Leska sunk even lower. Katsumi's feedback was becoming unbearable. She opened her mouth and a scream flowed out.
Katsumi threw her head back and let go. "Make it STOOOP!!!"
Her body suddenly exploded and began to burn with cool, white flames. Leska's scream increased in volume and pitch. Her voice became almost as shrill as the whine that echoed through out the chamber. Just as the controls for the reactor coolant valves blew into a million pieces Leska's grip on Naro failed. Landing hard the Gray Eye hit the floor with a grunt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down in the reactor spaces the coolant valves received broken command from the control console telling them to remove every ounce of coolant from the main cores. With a mechanical whir the coolant control valves did what they had been told. With in minutes every ounce of coolant had been pulled from the reactors. Where Naro and Katsumi's plan left some coolant inside the tubes to slow the eventual meltdown this drained the reactors entirely. With the main control panels in Ghenna's chambers un-overridible, The City had just entered its last 10 minutes of life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally the ringing went away. Katsumi, who hadn't moved an inch since the start fell back. She was exhausted. Her first trip into her previously unknown psychic powers exhausted her. She's spent more than she could handle. Leska's hands left her ears as she too knelt where she was on the ground breathing heavily...
Naro watched her a moment before realizing what he had to do. She was the biggest threat to Katsumi and himself. There was a reason behind that. Scowling he redrew his knife and readied it. Now was his only chance. She was weak...
Scowling the Gray Eye leaped up and charged forward.
"YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
The energy saber shot out from the knife hilt. Charging while screaming from the top of his lungs he brought the powered blade to bear. Leska looked up at the last moment. Naro was charging straight for her. Her eye went wide. She was still too weak to do anything to him. Katsumi had hurt her bad. The psychic feedback used Leska's own power against her.
Naro met Leska's eye one last time as he came close. He pulled the blade down and back and prepared for a stabbing lunge. For the first time in his life Naro saw fear in the eyes of Leska. She was spread out wide open for him to attack and to kill and there was nothing she could have done about it. She pulled back as best she could and covered her head. Naro dived and with a fearsome yell struck forward.
"Oh no..."
The energy blade came into solid contact with flesh and bone and pierced all the way through. Blood splattered all over the wall as Naro drove his weapon into it pinning his victim onto it like a butterfly to a collector's board. A second later it was over. Naro let go as the blood ran down the length of his weapon. There was a dry sucking sound as the lung that the blade pierced tried to breathe in air. A choke and a gasp followed the shocked expression on the face of Naro's kill. Naro had firmly nailed the former Lord of all of Mesopotamia to the wall. Lord Ghenna gave a strangled sob as he looked at the saber hilt sticking out of his gut. He leaned in close and scowled.
"You're through. Your reign ends here...lord..." He reached out and grabbed the tyrant by his throat and pulled his head up and pointed it towards the pale maiden on the floor gawking at the terrible scene that was unfolding behind her.
"Look at her Ghenna... Look at the woman whose life you tore apart. Look at the life you tried to shatter. Look at her. I want you to know, that from this moment on, she's free. She's free 'lord'... She'll never be a slave again. Her life is her own..."
Naro leaned forward and whispered harshly in the dying man's ear.
"Her life is her own..."
Naro turned and left the wicked man there pinned to the wall. He wanted nothing more to do with him. I was all over now... It was finished. Naro walked slowly over to Leska and knelt by her side. She blinked at him and stared with a confused expression stamped onto her features. She wasn't sure what to do anymore... She failed Ghenna, she should be sad but, for some reason or another, she wasn't. She was scared of Naro.
When the Gray Eye charged, instead of striking her down he leapt clear over her body and plunged his blade into Ghenna who'd been kneeling right behind her. If he was able to slip past her and kill the man from which all the fear in her life was derived then he too must be terrible...
Yet... when he looked at her she didn't see anger. She didn't see the spite she was so used to seeing in the eyes of other men. His Gray Eyes had become soft. She swore she could almost see...
...love? ...In them. He reached his hand out to her and she shrank away. What was this? He... The only other man in her entire life to look at her that way was Kaiser, but Kaiser was dead! This man wasn't Kaiser! Why was he looking at her like that? What, what was he doing?!
For the first time in Leska's life she couldn't see into another man's mind. It was almost as if she had forgotten to do so...
When Naro saw her pull away from his hand he frowned. Cocking his head slightly he met her eyes. She was scared... When he spoke his voice was soft. There was no sting or sharp order to it like what the pale woman was so used to.
"You're scared of me? It wasn't too long ago I was terrified of you. Heh, I guess the tables have turned, huh? It doesn't matter any more Leska. I'm not going to hurt you. I can't say I've never wanted to hurt you, but from this point on you're safe from me. I am on your side. I'm following in the footsteps of Kaiser. Remember him? He tried to save you and now I will as well." Naro rose and started to turn away.
"You are free Jade. Your life is your own. Live it now."
Katsumi knelt in the same spot Naro sad seen her in when he first walked into these black chambers. Her eyes were closed and her head moved up and down with her breathing. Hearing footsteps she opened them and turned up wards. Seeing Naro she smiled softly. The Gray Eye returned the smile and knelt beside her.
"Naro..." She said softly. "You came back for me."
"A whole lotta good I did. You're the hero Katsumi. You saved us all."
The maiden smiled and leaned against Naro's body.
"No... It was you in the end. You're the one who saved us."
Naro shook his head. "I took advantage of the moment. I saw Leska down and realized that was my chance."
"You don't understand Naro..." She said warming up to the man. "You don't know what you've just done for us... You see we could never kill him because-"
She was cut off as the overhead alarms went off. The lights in the room went red and a voice spoke over the loud speaker.
Cherry and Bloodberry stopped when the overhead lights went red once more. Fearing the blast door was about to open once more they shot up to their feet. They paused when they heard the voice.
Faust took Otaru's shoulder. The young man looked up slowly between the sobs that wracked his body.
"Listen!"
There wasn't a single person on board The City that didn't hear the warning being called.
"ATTENTION TO ALL, ATTENTION TO ALL. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY REACTORS HAVE REACHED CRITICAL POINTS. CORE MELTDOWNS ARE IMMINENT. ESTIMATED FIVE MINUTES REMAINING. WARNING: ALL PERSONS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE TO THEIR CLOSEST AVAILABLE ESCAPE SHIP. ESTIMATED FIVE MINUTES AND COUNTING BEFORE CORE DETONATION. ALL PERSONS ARE ADVISED TO ESCAPE NOW. ATTENTION TO AL, ATTENTION TO ALL..."
The message repeated it self over and over again. Bloodberry and Cherry turned to one another and rose swiftly.
"Onee-sama, how are we going to escape?"
"I...I..." Bloodberry turned to her sister shaking her head slowly. "I don't know..."
They both turned and made their way to the airlock door. Cherry looked through glass while Bloodberry examined the smashed panel. Tiger saw her sister peering through the glass and shot up.
"Cherry!!"
The purple haired maiden saw her sister rise and she smiled. She did her best to shout through the glass.
"Tiger! Tiger are you all ok?"
Luchs and Panta made their way forward as well.
"Onee-sama!"
"Cherry! Cherry we're all Ok! Everyone's safe."
The woman smiled and turned to Bloodberry.
"Onee-sama, they're safe. They made it!"
Bloodberry reeled back as she shocked herself on the control panel. Her face became grave.
"Cherry, I- I don't think we're going to be able to... Cherry I think... Che..."
Cherry's smile faded. "Bloodberry..."
"Cherry... we're not going to be able to follow them... We're trapped in here."
The women on the other side of the door saw the expression of their sister fall. Their excitement quickly dissipated as they watched Cherry become grave. Their sister turned back to them through the glass.
"S-Sisters..."
Hanagata rose and walked over to the door. "What's going on? H-Hey! Cherry! Bloodberry! What the hell are you two doing out there. Hurry up and get in here! We're running out of time!"
Cherry said nothing and simply gazed at Hanagata through the glass. A second later Bloodberry appeared. Her face wore the same expression as her sister's.
Hanagata blinked. Why were they just staring at him. "H-hoi! What are you two doing? Stop standing there looking sorry for yourselves and get in here!"
Panta took a step back and shook her head.
"I...I don't think they can, Hanagata...I think they're trapped on that side."
Otaru's eyes shot wide open. Spinning up from the other side of the airlock he rushed the door.
"What?! WHAT?! N-NO!!! Cherry! Bloodberry!!! Get in here!! Get in here NOW!!"
Both the maidens stood there silently. Otaru shook his head once more.
"No NO!! Get in here NOW!!" He reached up and slammed his fist against the window. "NOW!! God dammit!! I'm your master!! I'm your master!!!"
Cherry averted her eyes and turned away. "Bloodberry... are you sure there's no way?"
The maiden with the fiery hair shook her head. "This door is sealed shut. We don't have the keycard, so the other one's useless. The only other door that will open is that outer door."
Otaru was screaming now. He beat his fists on the glass. His wound didn't seem to bother him anymore. He was becoming hysterical.
"Bloodberry..." Cherry said quietly.
Otaru finally paused and planted his palm flat on the glass.
"CHERRY!! BLOODBERRY!!! Bloodberry!! I don't... I don't..."
"Otaru..." Cherry stepped up to the glass. Gazing at her master in the eyes she planted her palm over his on the other side of the glass. Pressing up against it she shook her head slowly. Bloodberry, following in suit, did the same. Otaru brought his other palm up and pressed it against the glass trying to press all the way through to Bloodberry.
"No... No... I've lost Lime...I've lost Lime forever..." His tears ran freely all the way down his face. "I don't want to lose you two! I don't want to loose you!!"
Overhead the alarm went off once more. Four minutes. Softly Faust spoke.
"Otaru... we need to go."
The young man whirled on him. "N-no! NO!! I won't leave them! I'm not going to leave them!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro turned to Katsumi. "Come on. We'll have to talk about this some other time. We need to escape!"
The woman shook her head slowly. "I'm so tired, Naro. I can't go anywhere."
The Gray Eye scowled and rose up. "Come on, we don't have a choice. We need to go. This entire place is about to blow."
Katsumi closed her eyes. "What happened? I thought what we did to the reactors didn't do anything? Why are they over heating?"
The man wrapped his arms under and around Katsumi's body.
"I don't know. Must have been something that Ghenna over looked. We need to go now Katsumi."
The woman groaned and turned. She was exhausted both physically and mentally.
"Onee, Onee-chan. Leska-chan..."
Turning up her eyes met her sisters. Leska was staring at both of them. Confusion and fear was still stamped into her single eye. Katsumi smiled weakly. Naro bent down to her side.
"Katsumi..."
Slowly the woman extended her hand out. Opening her palm she reached for her sister.
"Onee-chan... Come with us, please."
The pale woman drew back from her sister's hand. Distrust was also becoming strong her eyes reflecting off the fear.
"Onee-chan, please. Come with us. I don't care about before. I don't care about what happened to us. We can start over. We can still start over. Time is still with us."
Leska blinked slowly.
"Leska-chan, we're sisters. We're still blood. Nothing's changed. All these years haven't changed anything. I still love you. I've always loved you."
The woman still lay cringing in the corner. Katsumi could still see the fear in her eyes. The blonde woman had never seen her sister this terrified before. She couldn't figure out why she was so afraid. They'd finished their job and now they wanted to take her along with them. They wanted to take the woman away from this place. Why was she so afraid. They didn't mean her harm... Didn't she still love her sister?
"Leska." Naro said softly. "Come with us, please. Follow us. We don't want to hurt you. I didn't want to kill you, Leska. You've been innocent in this entire ordeal. You've got a home now. A place to live. I-I know a guy who'll gladly take you in. No one cares about what you've done, or who you did things to. We want you to come with us. We want you to be happy. Come with us. Don't stay here and die. Don't end your life like this."
Slowly, Leska narrowed her eye. Naro could feel that familiar buzz inside of his head. Her fear was fading; she was reading his thoughts, she'd suddenly remembered. Sitting up in Naro's arms Katsumi stretched out her arm as far as it would go.
"I'm not leaving here without you Onee-chan. I'm not leaving here with out you by my side. We made a promise we would go together. Hand in hand we would leave this place. I almost broke it today, but now that you're here I won't, I can't. Either I'm going to die with you in my arms or we're going to escape this place together. There's no other way about it."
Naro turned to her in shock but said nothing. She was serious. He could see it in her tired eyes. She wasn't going to leave her sister. Nothing he could say would change that. He turned to Leska.
'Come with us Jade...Let's get out of here...'
The pale woman stared at her sister's hand a moment longer. Then, very slowly, she rose to her feet. Katsumi's face broke into a smile.
"Jade-chan..."
Slowly and unsure Leska took a step forward. Naro was sincere, his thoughts were pure. He believed in her sister. Leska still remembered back in their first years. She remembered how both of them had been. One had been kind and heart warming, one who would bend over backwards for any of her sisters. The other had been small and shy. Reserved and held back.
Even thought the years had added a few inches to their heights they had borne their souls lower and lower. They changed. The small shy woman that Katsumi had once been faded. The pure and kind woman that had once been Leska died. There were no illusions in Leska's mind. She knew that the woman she had once been was dead and would never come back. The woman that Katsumi had once been was gone as well.
Ghenna had torn them apart. He'd destroyed them. But now even he was dead and with him the woman that Leska had once been was also dying. She needed that man in order to survive. She fed off of his hatred and rage. She needed his rage and ambition. As Leska slowly made her way forward she could feel things starting to change. She going to change once more. Her fear was fading away, her distrust was slowly moving out of her body. Her sister and this Gray Eye had just opened a door for her. For the first time in a long time she could see light coming through this door. She could see hope at the end of her tunnel.
She didn't want to die. She didn't want to go to her grave yet. She wanted to live. Leska and this man were there for her. Maybe... just maybe...
Slowly Leska reached out for her sister's hand. Katsumi smiled.
"You can make yourself Onee-chan. We can start over."
Slowly their hands came closer and closer together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I won't leave them Faust! I'm not going to let them slip away again!"
Whirling back to the glass Otaru pursed his lips and did his best to blink back the tears.
"I'm not leaving you!! I'm not leaving alone!"
Bloodberry shook her head.
"Get out Otaru! Just get out of here! Run, you don't have much time left! We don't have any time left! Just go!!"
"I'm not leaving you!!" He screamed back.
Cherry shook her head. "Go! Otaru leave! Lime wanted you to be safe, WE want you to leave. Get out of here!"
"Why aren't you listening to me?! I said I AM NOT LEAVING YOU!!!"
Bloodberry closed her eyes.
"Go Otaru..." her voice became soft. "Please. You're the only one who'll remember all these years. Please go."
Cherry pressed her forehead on the glass. Her eyes had fallen. "We'll always be with you Otaru. We'll never leave you. You're going to carry us with you forever. We'll always be in your heart..."
Smashing his fist against the glass Otaru screamed.
Both of the maidens leaned forward. They spoke together one last time to their master, their love. Their voices rang out in unison, their eyes reflected the same sadness, their hearts beat at the same tempo, the same rhythm...
"Aishiteru, Otaru..."
The hysterical young man didn't feel it when Faust brought his fist down onto the back of his neck. His screams cut off abruptly as he passed into unconsciousness. His body, already pushed well beyond its limits, succumbed gratefully to the darkness.
Bloodberry and her sister watched their master fall. Turning away they could almost hear his body strike the floor. Turning back they saw Hanagata pick up his love from the deck of the lock. Once more Cherry placed her hand against the glass. Hanagata looked up and met her eyes.
"Take care of him Hanagata. It looks like you won..."
The little man swallowed. Blinking back tears he pressed his palm against the glass to hers. He shook his head.
"I will..."
Slowly Cherry smiled. Bloodberry nodded.
"Keep him happy Hanagata, otherwise my ghost will come back and kick your ass."
Wiping his eyes dry he smiled. Faust slowly turned and opened the lock behind them. There, sitting proudly on the deck, sat the Spera. The leader of Gartlant turned and nodded to the maidens behind the glass. Each of the saber dolls went up to the glass.
"Sayonara...Bloodberry-chan...Cherry-chan..."
"I'm going to miss you all...I'm going to miss all of you..."
"Thank you...Thank you for everything... Onee-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as the two hands were about to come together Leska turned her head to the darkness at the other end of the room. There was a sudden crack in the air. Suddenly, Katsumi's hand disappeared in a shower of blood. Screaming in pain the maiden pulled what was left of her hand back. Naro spun and turned to Katsumi's hand. It was gone. She was cradling a bleeding stump.
"What- What the hell?!" He turned to scream at Leska. What the hell was she doing?! Why was she hurting her own sister?! There was another crack and something struck the control consoles above Naro's head. He covered himself just in time to shield against the rain of sparks that fell.
"The hell?!"
Leska's face became grave as she rose to her full height. Staring into the shadows she shook her head slowly. It couldn't be...
A figure detached itself from the shadows and slowly strode forward. Naro looked up and his eyes went wide. It was Ghenna... but then he was young... And he looked like Leska...
"What on..."
It was a young man. He looked only to be a tad younger than Otaru. He wore a wicked grin on his face. He looked like a cross between Leska and Ghenna. In his hands he held a high caliber pistol.
Naro slowly rose up. "What the fuck is this?"
The pale woman became even whiter as she saw the boy walk towards them. He turned down to Katsumi with scorn on his face.
"Stupid, whimpering bitch!" he spat. "I guess that's what you get."
Leska shook her head. "L-Lucien..."
"Shut up!" He turned and pointed the gun at the woman. "Just shut up you worthless little whore. A fine job you did protecting father!"
Naro blinked. "F-father!? Who the hell are you?!"
The kid grinned and spread his arms. "I'm the first naturally born child on this planet, thank you very much."
The Gray Eye shook his head. "N-naturally born?"
The boy narrowed his eyes. "Unlike you test tube freaks, I'm the only one who has a father AND a mother. Born and bred, pure and natural."
The Gray Eye knelt beside Katsumi who was whimpering softly cradling her bleeding arm.
"I don't believe it. Who, who's your mother, eh? Who's your father?!"
The boy hefted the gun once more. "You don't listen do you? That man you pinned to the wall was my father. And my mother? Huh! This sick and pale creature here carries that name." He pointed to Leska.
Leska's face hardened. "Lucien..."
"Shut up woman. You have no right to talk to a man." Naro saw her wilt away from her son. He turned to Lucien and scowled. The rumors that had been floating around had been true... Ghenna did carry a child with Leska...
"Pity you aren't a man, little boy!"
The boy scowled. "Oh, real funny Gray Eye. You're a real joker. I can't believe a piece of shit like you killed Ghenna."
"Just doing what the women helped me to."
"Ha!" the boy began to chuckle. "I'm surprised they aren't dead yet. Ghenna's maiden chips must be broken or something."
Naro narrowed his eyes. "Maiden chips? What the hell do they have to do with anything?"
"They never told you, did they?" Lucien smiled. "If any of the women kills Ghenna every woman on Terra II who has a maiden chip dies. The chipsets explode."
"What..."
"Why don't you think my worthless mother killed Ghenna the first chance she had? Ghenna had a device inside of his body that was meant to detonate all the maiden chips with in it's range when a carrier of one killed him. She would have killed not only herself, but her sister as well. Poor little Katsumi...Poor, poor little girl. They were all lucky you stabbed the old bastard. You don't have a chipset to activate that device he had."
The boy broke out laughing. Naro scowled. This was what Katsumi had been trying to tell him...
"You little shit! This isn't funny!"
"On the contrary, Gray Eye, this is hilarious. My father is dead. Now it is my turn to rise into his place. I will make this kingdom shine once more. And you, the man who so graciously killed him, will be shot for treason. Then I will create more women of my own. I will move, grow and conquer. I will put my pitiful father to shame! I'll kill anyone that gets in my way."
"I still don't see what was so funny."
The boy grinned maliciously. "You, who thought everything was finally over and who thought things were going to be Ok will now die at my very hands. How's that for luck?"
Slowly Katsumi looked up at the boy. Her face wore a terrible scowl.
"You terrible, terrible little brat! You disgust me. You're a spoiled rotten."
The boy raised the gun and pointed it at Katsumi. "Regardless, right now I have the power to decide who lives and who dies now. No one can stop me anymore. I am God."
"You are nothing..." The blonde woman said weakly.
Lucien grinned like a gargoyle. "You are dead woman. Goodbye."
The sound of gun fire filled the room once more. Lucien's aim was true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone filed out of the airlock one at a time. Silently they proceeded out hearts heavy at what they were leaving behind. Hanagata, carrying Otaru, out went last. He turned and met the eyes of the women one last time. He locked gazes with Cherry, then Bloodberry for one final moment. Softly, Bloodberry nodded. Hana gave a slow one in return.
"Sayonara."
And with that the airlock door slammed shut. He was the last person to ever see the two women alive. Looking away and biting back the tears he turned and headed to the ship. Naro must have been right. He could see Faust working the controls inside the ship. The engines were powering up.
"WARNING: ESTIMATED TWO MINUTES UNTIL STATION DESTRUCTION."
Swallowing heavily he turned and walked to the starship. ...He won? It was an empty victory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"KATSUMI!!"
Naro screamed and pulled the woman to him hoping to move her out of the way of the bullet. Unfortunately Lucien's aim was perfect. There was nothing Naro could have done to move the woman out of the way of the bullet. He was too late.
Katsumi's eyes went wide as she saw the bullet approach. Time seemed to slow down. She could see the spinning point of lead slowly making its way to her body. She watched helplessly as the bullet came closer and closer. The closer it came the slower it seemed to travel...
Suddenly it struck her- The bullet really was slowing down.
She blinked as the spinning lead tip came to a stop about a foot from her chest. She turned to Naro and saw the look of shock on his face. He was seeing the same thing. The bullet hovered only a foot from Katsumi's heart spinning rapidly. It had been stopped. Lucien gaped in shock. What the hell was this!? Katsumi blinked almost dumbly. She didn't stop the bullet...
A sound to his their left cause Katsumi and Naro to turn. There, laying on the floor, was the mask that Leska had been forced to wear. She dropped it. The pale woman walked forward, away from the vile thing. For the first time in his entire life Naro saw both of the dead eyes the woman was famous for. Her face was perfect. There wasn't a scar or blemish on the entire surface- it was a testimony to the endoskeleton she bore. It had healed her to perfection.
Katsumi gasped. Her face was whole once more. The long, jet-black hair was a startling contrast to her pale features. The woman's shining blue eyes came alive. A scowl filled her face. Naro could see fire burning inside her.
The bullet, that had held its place in front of Katsumi for so long, began to dissolve into dust. The woman watched it fall and break apart into nothing right in front of her.
"You may be my child..." Leska spoke slowly. A ringing began to fill the air. "But you will never be my son!"
Lucien began to blink and shake his head.
"What the hell? Cut that out! Stop that now! Know who you're talking to!!"
As Leska walked past a console the entire unit exploded. It wasn't just the screen, or a few key boards like before. The entire console unit exploded shooting metallic shards and glass everywhere. None of the shards came close to Naro or Katsumi.
"I know who I'm talking to!" She spat back. "I'm talking to a heartless and cruel little boy. I'm talking to an uncaring little wretch!"
"Don't you call me a wretch, bitch!!"
"Shut up!!" Another console exploded into a plume of fire. "You have no right to speak! You have no right to say any more!! I've put up with you my entire life! I've watched you grow up, I've seen your heart sour! I've had enough! I'm sick of it!"
The ringing became louder and the boy began to shake his head left and right.
"I said shut the hell up woman!!"
He began to fire the pistol at the woman. Naro watched as the bullets all came to a stop in front of the psychic. She slowly waved her hand and each one of them exploded into dust.
"Put that down!!"
The ringing became intense and Lucien began to scream. A moment later the arm holding the gun exploded in a shower blood.
"GAAAAAAAAAH!!!" The boy screamed and held what was left of his arm up at the joint. He slipped and fell hard. Katsumi turned away. The spoiled young man's blood was pooling on the floor.
"I am doing this because it is the right thing to do. You are a blemish, Lucien! You are the last thing here holding me down. You are the last part of my past that I need to cleanse."
The boy moaned agony and pushed himself away from the demoness approaching him.
"You're black. You tried to do the one thing I would never have allowed myself to do no matter what Lord Ghenna would have sent me."
Lucien felt himself back up against the wall. His mother stood over the young man and pointed her palm at him.
"You tried to kill my sister." Lucien looked up at the angry face of the woman above him and saw something he'd never seen before. Two crystal clear pearls ran their way down her face. She was crying...
"Tell your father when you see him that I am going to live free for the first time in my entire life. Sayonara Lucien."
The ringing became louder and louder. Lucien gripped his head and began to scream.
"No! no, mother! Please! Don't!! NO!! GAH- AAAA-"
There was a sudden snap in the air and Lucien fell silent. The young man fell over, his pupils contracted, his body limp. Leska had killed him. The last of Ghenna's legacy had just died. Katsumi turned to Naro and buried her face into his clothing.
"Naro..."
The Gray Eye turned to the woman.
"Katsumi... your arm..."
The woman looked down at her broken appendage. The bleeding had already stopped.
"I... I think it's going to be all right..."
"There's blood everywhere... It's all over you, all over your clothes..."
The woman turned to Gray Eye and smiled. "Naro... I'll be fine."
He looked at her and frowned a moment. Nodding his head he bent down and gently lifted her up.
"As you say... May I ask you something?"
"Mmm?" As the adrenaline she slowly fell back into exhaustion.
"Why did you start warming up to me all of a sudden?"
The woman smiled. "You came back for me. You almost died for me..."
Leska slowly walked back to the rest.
"It's done..." she said slowly. Naro nodded slowly.
"Then let us get out of here..."
Overhead the Alarm went off for the last time.
"WARNING. CORE MELTDOWN IS IMMENENT. ALL PERSONEL EVACUATE. CORE MELT DOWN IS IMMINENT. WARNING."
Leska's eyes went wide. "We don't have time! The nearest pod is too far away!"
Naro turned to Katsumi but found her to be asleep. The exhaustion had finally gotten the better of her.
"Leska!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly the Spera pulled away from the massive floating city. Hanagata buckled Naro into one of the seats and took an adjoining one.
"Faust? How do you know how to fly this thing?"
The blonde man smiled slightly. "Memories. I've piloted more ships than I can even remember"
Out side the cockpit window Hanagata watched as fire began to bubble out from the central part of the city.
"When that thing crashes into the planet..."
"It won't." Faust said calmly. "Those reactors will pretty much evaporate the entire city."
Hanagata strapped himself in and braced himself. He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
"Women...God dammed women..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leska pulled Naro and her sister close.
"Hang on Hajima. Hang on tightly. Don't let my sister go."
The Gray Eye, becoming confused, nodded slowly.
"Hai..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gently Bloodberry and her sister Cherry held one another. The entire lock was starting to tremble and shake. They knew the reactors were just about to blow. This was it.
"Time to visit Lime..." Bloodberry said softly. Cherry buried her face into her sister's bosom and sniffed back tears as best she could.
"Otaru..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leska closed her eyes and brought her hands together. A light began to emanate from her body. Naro watched as a globe of energy spread from the light and encompassed himself and Katsumi.
"What..."
The only ones witness to this was the dead boy against the far wall and Ghenna, still pinned to the wall. His eyes, once famous for their glitter and shine were now flat. Never again would they catch the light and sparkle. They were dead, now and forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a flash the reactor space exploded. The fires traveled up the piping and through the entire station. Bloodberry and Cherry held each other tightly one last time before the flames enveloped the entire chamber. Piece by piece the entire city that had once been the pride and joy of the Mesopotamian kingdom exploded. The fires ran their way up Gheddon, Ghenna's once terrible tower, the truest sign of his power, and exploded. Suddenly everything in the station seemed to dim. Then, in one powerful blast, the station exploded to dust in one powerful blast of light and energy.
Faust had been correct. When the station exploded the fires consumed almost everything. Nothing really survived. In Japoness it was nighttime. The old man who ran the shop Otaru used to look at stepped out side to see a rain of comets fall from the sky. The terrible satellite that had just been up there had blown up. The old man smiled and watched the beautiful firestorm decorating the sky. Countless little fireballs streaked across the night sky.
The man who sold candy to all the children looked up and grinned. The Black Omen that had hovered in the sky was gone. Emperor Leyasu had told all the people of Japoness to try and ignore the giant floating city in the sky; to go about their lives and normally as they could. He said they would try their best to get rid of it, what ever it was. People did do their best to go on as best they could, but the massive thing turned the entire city form a happy and thriving place to a place full of fear and foreboding. Over a week ago strange people with guns tore through the city while massive, terrifying sky-ships prowled above searching the ground for something.
The candy man smiled. He was glad the evil thing was finally gone. Leyasu had been true to his word. Watching the sky smiling he saw something peculiar. An orb, a bright, shimmering, sky-blue orb was descending from the sky. It seemed to float down like a feather from the stars. Walking out into the street he watched the shining blue ball gently fall closer and closer. The other people on the street turned and pointed to it as well. What was that?
The man took a step back as the orb came closer and closer. It looked like it was going to settle on his street! Everyone stepped back and watched the brightly shining orb hover down to the ground. The entire street lit up as the sphere settled. The man took another step back and shielded his eyes. The orb was getting brighter!
In a flash and a shimmer the entire thing exploded in light and then suddenly disappeared. Everyone on the street turned away to protect their eyes from the blinding light. When they turned back, they saw the last thing they'd expected. A marionette stood on the ground. She was gorgeous. Her skin was pale, eyes a shimmering blue, her hair, raven. She wore all black clothing that caught the wind and waved gently in the breeze.
Beside her knelt a man holding a second marionette that seemed to be...
...be bleeding...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hanagata sat silently in the cockpit of the ship. That was it. It was all over. They were dead... He leaned back and looked over to Otaru. Even while out cold the young man looked saddened. It was as if he knew exactly what had just happened...
Hanagata closed his eyes. All the women that he had hated not too long ago were now dead. The women who had threatened to take his love away were gone forever. Not too long ago he would have prayed and hoped for this moment. Not to long ago he would have hoped for this very moment. They were gone, Otaru was his. He would never see those blasted women ever again...
He opened his eyes once more and stared out the window. Funny... all those feelings felt like he'd felt them so long ago. They seemed so foreign... He would have done just about anything right then and there to see those women, to have had them there with him. They'd changed him. Their love changed Hanagata Mitsurugi. Shaking his head he looked out the window one last time.
It was such an empty victory... Such an empty and cold victory...
"Goodbye Cherry, Bloodberry... Lime..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ship who's name had been Latin for hopes slowly re-entered the atmosphere of Terra II. The mighty kingdom of Mesopotamia had fallen. Ghenna, lord of it all, was dead. Three maidens who had sacrificed their lives for the one man they loved more than anything else in the world were gone. For some, the nightmare had finally ended. The sun would rise and they would find that it was all over. They could finally wake up to the morning. But one small, little man who had done nothing but fight with everything in his body to save the three women he loved more than his own life would wake up to find that his nightmare was just beginning...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am so high, I can hear heaven!
I am so high, I can hear heaven!
Whoa but heaven...
...No heaven don't hear me.
And they say that A HERO can save us!
I'm not gonna stand here and wait!
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles!
Watch as they all fly away...
Someone told me love will all save us...
But how can that be? Look what love gave us!
A world full of killing... and blood-spilling,
That world never came!
And they say that A HERO can save us!
I'm not gonna stand here and wait!
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles,
Watch as they all fly away!!
Now that the world isn't ending, its love that I'm sending to you...
It isn't the love of a hero, and that's why I fear it won't do...
And they say that A HERO can save us,
I'm not gonna stand here and wait!!
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles!!
Watch as they all fly away!!
And they're watching us!
(Watching us)
They're watching us!
(Watching us!)
As they all fly away.
And they're watching us!
(Watching us)
They're watching us!
(Watching us!)
As we all fly away.
And they're watching us!
(Watching Us)
They're watching us!
(Watching us!)
As they all fly away.
Whooaaaa whoooaa...
~Hero
Nickleback, Feat. Josey Scott
Spider-Man Soundtrack
Contact at The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
[NOTE] Version 1.1.- Dated: 17 October 2002; I went through the whole 'fic and repaired some stupid problems that were made. The most noticeable mistakes were made at the start of Chap. 3 and the radio transmission in Chap. 4. Now I think you guys will be able to at least understand what was going on. On FF.net using "" "" to indicate actions makes the damn server think it's a set of link instructions and erases the whole line. I fixed most all of them so you can read them now. I'm sorry about the mix up. Take care and Enjoy!
Saber Marionette J: Dark's AU
~Human.
Eps. 6- Heart of Darkness
"I will because I love him..."
Et tu, brute?
[You too, Brutus?]
~ Julius Caesar
Veni Veni Venias,
Ne me mori facias!
[Come, come, Oh come,]
[Do not let me die!]
~ One Winged Angel
...o fortuna...
...velut luna...
...O fortuna...
...Velut luna...
Turn around...
And smell what you don't see...
Close your eyes ...it is so clear.
Here's the mirror...
Behind there is a screen.
On both ways you can't get in...
Don't think twice before you listen to your heart!
Follow the trace for a new start...
What you need...
And everything you'll feel...
Is just a question of the deal.
In the eye of storm you'll see a lonely dove!
The experience of survival is the key...
To the gravity of love!!
O FORTUNA
...Velut Luna...
The path of existence...
Leads to the tower of Wisdom...
The path of existence...
Leads to the tower of Wisdom...
Try to think about it...
That's the chance to live your life and discover,
What it is...
What's the gravity of love!!
O FORTUNA!
VELUT LUNA!!
Look around just be proud...
Can you hear my voice?
Find the one who'll guide you,
To the limits of your choice!!
But if you're in the eye of storm,
Just think of the lonely dove!!
The experience of survival is the key...
To the gravity of love!!
Oooooooo...
O FORTUNA,
VELUT LUNA!!
O FORTUNA...
O Fortuna...
...o fortuna...
~Gravity of Love
Enigma
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am impressed Keinaro. You've out done yourself and the name you have taken up. Today all Gray Eye are to be proud of their names. You have done them a deep and majestic honor."
Naro's flat, gray eyes stared straight ahead. A personal meeting with Lord Ghenna himself was an honor few ever received. The aging man stood hunched over in front of him. The old man could barely walk now. He used his cane to slowly shuffle along. Age was bearing this clone down. It wouldn't be much longer before Lord Ghenna would transfer his memories into a younger and healthier body. But despite the years his two little eyes glittered as brightly as the first day he was born. He smiled at the Gray Eye and revealed a large, toothless grin.
Behind him stood Leska. She had become tall. Standing at almost six feet she was an imposing figure for a woman. She was clothed entirely in black. The ends of her long dress barely touched the ground. A split ran up the dress ending right at the hip line. When ever she walked one received a full and beautiful eyeful of her smooth and polished legs. Her belly was bare and above that she wore a tight black top that accented her every curve. Over that she wore a long and lacy over coat. The material was very thin and fluttered in the slightest breeze. The tails of the coat also barely skimmed the ground.
Her long jet back hair offset her pale skin. Her body was beautiful and perfect, like a doll that one would look at but never touch. Rumors had it that she had borne a child some time back. While no one ever saw the boy, for the longest time Ghenna had been about without the tall woman at his side. Her body certainly didn't show any signs that she once carried a child, but, then again, Naro really didn't know what to look for.
He swallowed. Her eye disturbed him. Her face was split into two parts, left and right. The left side of her face was clean and pure. She was like a goddess. Her beautiful skin, soft lips, the gentle slope of her nose, the only thing that offset her was the dead look in her eye. Despite being a piercing blue color her eye were almost dead. It was disturbing almost beyond words. He was glad her right one was covered. A large, black mask covered the entire right half of her face. Her hair flowed majestically over the top of it and down it blurring the line where the two met. Naro knew that a long time ago she had been injured in an accident; some kind of explosion. Someone once told him that the mask was originally there to cover the scars. But as her skin healed back to it's former perfection Ghenna kept it on for intimidational purposes. Naro could believe the latter part, Leska was almost terrifying to look at. As to her skin healing up to it's former beauty he wasn't so sure. Rarely did Gray Eyes heal up that perfectly. It was possible but...
As she fixated the dead eye on him once more did his best not to shudder. Lord Ghenna's smile under her was as wide as it was disgusting. Naro was very uncomfortable.
"You look unsettled Keinaro. Is something the matter?"
Naro scowled. "Would Lord Ghenna please tell his demon to stay out of my head."
"Oh?" Ghenna arched his eyebrows. "Leska, please stay away from his thoughts. You do not do this to someone who has proven himself in my eyes."
Her voice was deadpan. "Yes, Lord."
The slight buzzing feeling he felt in his head faded. Leska was very nosy...
"Very good." He said turning back to Naro. "My Leska-chan has scanned the minds of all you captured. You have done an excellent job. You earned their trust, gave them hope and then shattered everything just at the right moment."
Naro smiled. "Thank you m'lord."
"No..." Ghenna said, his eyes shinning brightly. "I was amazed. You single handily found all six in one sweep. You have proven yourself, Naro. The way you shattered Aisha's hope like that was almost beautiful. You destroyed her."
Naro gave a wide smile. "It was my pleasure, sir."
The Lord nodded slowly and turned. "I'm sure it was. They will all succumb to my will much faster thanks to your fine job. "
Naro's chest swelled. "Indeed! Thank you sir!"
The old man motioned for Naro to follow him. "Come, come with me. There are many things for us to discuss." He turned and proceeded out onto the balcony of the palace they were staying in. Naro followed eagerly behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime slept fitfully in Cherry's arms. The smaller maiden held her green eyed sister in her arms tightly. There was no light in the cell they occupied, it was pitch black. All around they could hear the sounds of water dripping from some unknown source. The ground was slick with mold and dirt. Cherry could feel it all over her face and arms. Her clothes were matted to her body. It was cold there. The air bit at her exposed skin. For the two of them night and day ceased to exist. There was only one long period of darkness.
Her throat was parched. They didn't bother to feed her and drinks had become scarce. Although she didn't know it, it had been five days since they had been captured. Lime said little during this time. When she wasn't sleeping, she was weeping. Satomi knew that couldn't be good for her. If she was parched then Lime must be close to dying. All those tears shed...
As the maiden in her arms whimpered in her sleep Satomi pulled her tighter.
"Calm down Lime, calm down. It's going to be ok... It's all going to be ok. I'm here. I'm here for you. I'm always going to be here for you..."
The woman whimpered again. Cherry clamped her eyes tightly and swallowed the lump growing in her throat. Something was happening to Lime. Something terrible was happening inside her head and Cherry was powerless to stop it. Gently she began to rock back and forth swallowing impending tears of her own.
"Lime...please... don't do this. Don't do this to me... Pull yourself together onee-sama... please..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have great plans in store for these women Naro. They are the hope of my future. All of them have the capacity to bear my child. I learned they have an equal chance of bearing a woman as man. With them I can rebuild this entire planet."
Naro frowned slightly. "Will they allow you to couple with them?"
"Heheh, I will not have to. Inside each of them they contain sacs that store DNA material used for reproduction. They are like eggs. If we harvest these 'eggs' from their bodies we'll be able to produce countless young. Even more incredibly we will be able to divide these eggs once fertilized many times."
"Lord Ghenna? What do you mean by 'divide'?"
"Everyonce and a while an egg in the cloning vats splits and a pair of men who look exactly the same are born. This is because they have exactly identical genetic information. These are called twins We've learned how to divide these eggs artificially many, many times."
Naro furrowed his eyebrows. "So you're going to create quadruplets, quintuplets?"
"You think so small Keinaro." Ghenna said smiling maliciously. "More like thousands upon thousands of the same person. Twins times a thousand Keinaro."
"That's going to be a lot of men..."
"Not men Keinaro. We have enough of them. I'm talking about women."
Naro's eyebrows arched. "You're going to create thousands of women?"
"Yes! Think about how many eggs we will be able to harvest from them! Millions!! With those I will be able to put women back into this planet! We will be able to live like the original six intended us to!"
Keinaro grinned. "A fine plan Lord! Men and women together will finally be able to bear children."
Ghenna shook his head. "No, we will not allow that. We'll harvest the women's eggs before we send them out into the world. They all need to be trained you know. They will need to know their place in life. From a young age they will be taught their place in the world. When we send them out they will know their roles and their place."
"B-but why harvest their eggs?"
"Control. We can't have men all over the world reproducing. We will loose our influence over all of them. We cannot allow that to happen! They will forget who fathered them and who brought them into this world! The children born will not have the appreciation or the respect their fathers and mothers will have for us. This will only compound as the years go on. We can't allow this. No, these women are going to be harvested for all they're worth, trained and sent out to their lives. Lord Kisa, a long time ago before he was murdered, knew what he was doing."
Naro nodded. "I heard about this. He broke Aisha badly. She was like a doll apparently."
"Yes! That's exactly what we're planning to do here!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru leaned against the moist wall in the dark. Their trial was supposed to start soon. Naro's words rang loudly in his head.
"All you men shall be tried for grand treason against our mighty empire. You have conspired to overthrow our government and assassinate out leader and lord. In the space of a month you shall all be tried, convicted and sentenced to death..."
That bastard! Naro swallowed and closed his eyes against the tears threatening to fall. He betrayed them! He betrayed all of them! Fucking Naro!! Fucking Gray Eyes!!
Slamming his fist into the wall he ground his teeth together. Naro lied to all of them. He promised everyone, EVERYONE that he would be there to protect them all! That he would help them stand up and resist Ghenna!
Instead he sold them all the first chance he got. The first chance! As soon as they stepped off that dammed ship of his he handed them over. He hurt Bloodberry-chan, bound and tied Cherry and Lime and even...even...
Otaru shook his head in rage. The look Lime had given him, horrible that utter hopeless look. He could almost see her heart shattering. She knew she'd been betrayed by someone she trusted. The look of understanding was terrible in her eyes. Poor Lime... Poor Lime...
Faust sat some ways away in the darkness. He could hear Otaru. The boy was falling to pieces. Silently he listened. His face, could Otaru have seen it, was calm and composed. He knew what Otaru was going through. He too was worried about his marionettes. They were locked away somewhere far and he was powerless to stop them. Faust thought about Lime. That poor girl, she was the one who had been Aisha. It seemed that fate was destined to hurt and abuse that little woman for as long as she lived. Every time she tried to fall into life and live with her heart guiding her life would tear her apart. First with Kaiser and now with Otaru. She was getting scars that no one but Otaru would be able to heal. If he was ever killed...
Faust had a bad feeling that if that ever happened, Lime would die along with the Aisha that lived inside of her. She would simply become another doll. This time forever...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now Lord, what about the eight you now own?"
Ghenna seemed to frown. "I shall keep my Leska-chan and Katsumi. They both have become very useful. However the other six... Once I've harvested their eggs I will have no further use for them. I will punish them in a way that I see fitting and then I will kill them. They have caused me far too much pain."
Naro cocked his head. "Kill them? Are you sure that would be the best course of action?"
"Yes," He nodded. "I only need their eggs. Once I secure those I don't need them for anything else. I have Leska here and Katsumi to pleasure me. They are all I need."
Naro arched his eyebrows. "Torture them then kill them, seems kinda fitting, Lord."
"Indeed."
"How do you plan to torture them?"
Ghenna grinned evilly. "That's my secret Naro. After I kill their masters right in front of their faces I will make them wish they had never made such fools of me and killed my Kaiser!"
Leska's eyes almost flashed at the name. "Once I kill them I will throw my plan into full swing. Then nothing will stand in my way to a perfect world."
Naro grinned along side his master. "May I be present at the executions? I would love to be there to watch the looks on their stupid faces when their Otaru is killed. Especially Lime's!"
"Eh? Who?"
Naro blinked once before he caught his mistake. "Oh, gomen Lord. Aisha!"
The old man chuckled. "Indeed. You will have front row seats!"
Naro's grin widened. "I can't wait Lord Ghenna! When is the trial?"
"There will be no trial, I see no reason for it. They will all rot in their cells for about another week before I kill them."
"A week Lord? I can't wait!"
Lord Ghenna laughed. "Neither can I..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime floated effortlessly through her mind. It was pitch black. She couldn't see anything. She could feel her breathing pick up as fear set in. She was scared. Something was out there.
'It' was there. Out in the darkness. It was watching her swim helplessly. Lime began to panic. It was smiling! Something told her it was smiling at her. It was grinning at her helplessness. It was watching her with eyes that seemed to glitter.
"Who's out there?! Who's there?!!"
There was no response. Turning her head this way and that she swung her arms about hoping to turn her body. She needed to run, oh why couldn't she run? At least with her feet on the ground she could run, at least then she had a chance.
It was out there, waiting for her. The monster. The monster with the fire in it's eyes. It waited to hurt her. It was there, laying there for her. Oh god why couldn't she run? Why was she so helpless? Flailing about panic began to set in. Tears from her eyes began to run down her face. They rolled down her cheeks and fell into the darkness below.
"I know you're out there!! I know you're there!! Stop playing games!! I know you're there... Come out and face me!! Come out and face me!!!"
Her breathing started to sob as she waited for a response. It was there... It heard her... She looked from left to right. Why...
"LIME..."
It's voice traveled from the very depths of the darkness. It was at the same time loud and booming, yet soft and sinuous. It was thick with malice and hatred, every word coated with venom and spite. Lime shuddered as she heard the terrible noise echo across the void.
"THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME..."
Every nerve in her body was screaming at her to run, to stay low and shut up, to keep away from this thing... But still she called out. Her voice was small and puny compared to the monster's...
"What do you want with me?! Why do you torment me?! What have I ever done to you?!"
The voice chuckled. "WE BOTH KNOW LIME..."
"We both know what?"
"COME, COME CHILD... DO NOT FEIGN IGNORANCE."
"Ignorance of what?! Who are you?! Show me yourself!!"
The air suddenly exploded with sound as the voice screamed inside her head. It's voice ripped across the void of Lime's mind and slammed into Lime with full force. She tried to cover her ears against the terrible sound, but it was everywhere. She was helpless in blocking it out. It rang loudly inside her for a moment before cutting abruptly. In the silence that followed the voice returned.
"YOU SEEM TO KNOW LIME. TELL ME, WHO AM I?"
Lime scowled into the darkness. "You can't scare me! You can scream until the world ends, I won't let you frighten who I am. I know you; there's only one person I know who has eyes that shimmer like yours! You are Ghenna!!"
She fell silent once more and floated into the darkness waiting for the monster to respond. As she looked left and right she realized her fear was gone. For the first time since entering the dream her fear vanished. Scowling to what ever was out there she found herself becoming, instead, bold.
How ever instead of hearing screams of anger, she heard instead laughter.
"BUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! FOLISH CHILD!! FOOLISH, FOOLISH LITTLE GIRL!! YOU KNOW NOTHING. YOU ARE INDEED A SIMPLE LITTLE CHILD! GO AWAY, BE GONE!! GO BACK TO YOUR LITTLE DREAM WORLD, GO BACK INTO YOUR FANTASY!! BE GONE!! YOUR LITTLE TOYS AND DOLL HOUSE AWAIT YOU..."
Lime became angry. "Don't mock me!! Don't you dare, mock me!! I'm not what you say I am! Otaru always tells me! He says he loves me 'cause I am who I am!! He says-"
She stopped when her voice was drowned out by the monster's laughter.
"YOU ARE PATHETIC! YOU HAVE BEEN BETRAYED BY HIM AND STILL YOU CLING TO THAT MAN..."
Lime's face began to fall. "B-betrayed..."
"HE ABANDONED YOU TO GHENNA. HE LEFT YOU ALONE, JUST LIKE KAISER DID! HE LEFT YOU BECAUSE HE HATED YOU..."
"N-no! He came back to me!! He came back, I saw him!!"
"HE CAME BACK TO HAND YOU OVER!!"
"He was calling out my name!!! He was calling out to me!! I saw him crying!! He was crying because of me!!"
"NO, YOU DIDN'T LIME... YOU ARE DREAMING LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO... YOU ARE SO LOCKED AWAY INSIDE YOUR OWN FANTASYS YOU CAN'T EVEN DISTINGUSH REALITY ANY MORE!"
Lime was about to object when she realized she could be wrong. She COULD have been dreaming... The whole thing felt like a blur to her...
"But... But... No, Otaru... I saw him... He was crying..."
"YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL!!" The voice became louder and more contemptuous. "YOU BLITHERING LITTLE CHILD!! HE NEVER CARED FOR YOU! HE NEVER LOVED YOU! HE ALWAYS YELLED AT YOU, HE ALWAYS SCREAMED AND RAGED WHEN EVER YOU WERE AROUND. HE SPAT AND SWORE AND HURT YOU DEEP INSIDE!!"
Her eyes began to fill with tears once more. "B-but, it was because Lime did something stupid...and..."
"HOW WERE YOU TO KNOW?! YOU ARE ONLY A CHILD! WHAT RIGHT DOES HE HAVE TO CAST YOU DOWN LIKE THAT? WHAT RIGHT DOES HE HAVE TO YELL AT YOU BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER! WOULD SOMEONE WHO WOULD HAVE LOVED YOU DONE THAT TO YOU?"
Lime's lip began to quiver... "He loved me... He said so himself... he said he cared for me... just like Kaiser..."
"KAISER!! HA!! HE WAS EVEN WORSE. HE CARED NOTHING FOR YOU LIME!! HE CARED NOTHING FOR WHO YOU WERE!! HE WANTED YOUR BODY, NOTHING MORE!!"
Lime tried to close her ears at this. "NO!!" she screamed. "No, Kaiser loved me!! He died for me, because he loved me! Kaiser cared for me. He cared for me!!"
The contempt in the voice bit and tore at the logic deep inside of Lime. It wore away her defenses and left her exposed, totally bare, free to be picked and torn apart.
"HE LIED TO YOU!"
Lime's eyes came open and she fell silent. Realization burned it self onto her face in the form of shock.
"HE PROMISED YOU, REMEMBER? HE TOLD YOU HE WOULD STAY WITH YOU FOREVER... HE PROMISED HE WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU..."
Slowly the maiden's lips moved. "He promised me..."
"WHERE IS HE NOW?! WHERE IS HE LIME?? HE HAS LEFT YOU!! YOU ARE ALL ALONE WITH ME NOW! WHERE IS KAISER'S PROMISE NOW?! WHAT ABOUT WHEN HE LOOKED INTO YOUR EYES AND TOLD YOU HE WOULD NEVER MURDER AGAIN?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED, LIME, WHEN HE DESTROYED THAT STATION?!"
"He died trying to save me..."
"HE DIED FOR HIS OWN GLORY!! YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT!!"
Lime, finding her self sitting on the ground with her legs pulled up close to her. She wrapped her arms around them and hugged them tightly.
...His own glory...
"AND YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE MOST TERRIBLE ONE OF THEM ALL. REMEMBER WHEN HE PROMISED YOU HE WOULD NEVER MAKE YOU CRY AGAIN?"
Lime did her best to blink back the soft, watery pearls that fell from her eyes. Her entire body began to shake from the force of her sobs.
"LOOK AT YOUR FACE LIME. LOOK AT YOUR EYES. LOOK WHAT IS FALLING. WHERE IS HIS PROMISE NOW? REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT? REMEMBER ON THAT SHIP? REMEMBER WHEN YOU GOUGED FINGER MARKS RIGHT INTO THE FLOOR? REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT THEN? WOULD A MAN WHO LOVED YOU MAKE YOU FEEL THAT WAY?"
Lime didn't say anything. ...He didn't love her?
"WHERE ARE ALL HIS PROMISES NOW? WHERE ARE ALL HIS WORDS HE GAVE TO YOU NOW? I'LL TELL YOU! THEY ARE ALL IN THE SAME WRETCHED CRATER HE KILLED HIMSELF TO ESCAPE FROM YOU IN. THEY'RE ALL IN THAT SAME CRATER THAT HE CREATED TO GLORIFY HIMSELF IN! HE NEVER LOVED YOU LIME. NO ONE HAS. NO ONE EVER. ALL THOSE WHO YOU PLACED YOUR TRUST IN BETRAYED YOU. ALL THOSE WHO YOU FOUGHT FOR BETRAYED YOU. YOUR THREE SISTERS WHOM YOU LOST LIVED THEIR LIVES IN LUXURY WHILE YOU ROTTED IN THE OTARU'S HELL! AIKO AND SATOMI STOLE OTARU AWAY FROM YOU..."
Lime clamed her eyes shut once more and shook her head savagely. "NO! No no no no! No, not my Bloodberry!! Not Cherry!!"
"...THEY STOLE OTARU AWAY FROM YOU AND TURNED HIM AGAINST YOU!! WHY DO YOU THINK THEY SENT YOU AWAY, ALONE, LIME?! WHY DO YOU THINK OTARU LEFT YOU BEHIND WITH CHERRY AND RAN OFF WITH BLOODBERRY?! YOU KNOW SHE ALWAYS HINTED ABOUT SLEEPING WITH HIM ALONE..."
Lime shook her head as savagely as she could. "No no no no no no! They are my sisters! They're my sisters, they love me... They've always loved me... They were always there for me! They were always there when I hurt! They were always there even when Kaiser wasn't! I refuse!! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!!"
"YOU CAN DENY ALL YOU WANT... THE FACTS STILL REMAIN. IF YOU CONTINUE TO DENY THEM THEN YOU TOO WILL REMAIN A FOOL. A LITTLE SENSELESS FOOL. IF THEY LOVED YOU LIME, WHY AREN'T THEY HERE WITH YOU?!!?"
Lime fell silent for the last time. Her eyes shimmered in the darkness, each one lined with tears. Why weren't they here for her... where were they now...
"...I loved them..."
"NO ONE LOVES YOU LIME... YOU ARE ONLY AN OBJECT. THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES FOR YOU, THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EVER CARED FOR YOU, LIME, IS ME..."
The woman sat unmoving. "...Who are you?"
From the inky blackness below Lime saw something stir. Mists gathered. They rose from the depths and blanketed the darkness below. Lime watched a column rise from the mist. It gathered in front of her gathering mass and collecting. It took shape and began to form. Before her eyes a creature formed in front of her, a dragon of massive proportions. It's eyes burned like twin fires embedded into its skull. The eyes turned themselves down to Lime. She turned her own innocent jade portals up to the creature.
"EVER SINCE YOU AWOKE IN OTARU'S ARMS YOU'VE FOUGHT TO FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO WHEN YOU LEFT. YOU'VE FAUGHT TO SHED WHO YOU ONCE WERE. THAT PAIN THAT TORE YOUR HEART APART YOU'VE DONE YOUR BEST TO HIDE. YOU'VE LIVED IN A LIE EVER SINCE. YOU'RE FACE ALWAYS BORE HAPPINESS AND YOUR HEART YOU'VE TRIED KEEP PURE. THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME. YOU NOW WILL SHED THIS LIE, LIME. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ACCEPT ME...
"...Who are you..."
"I AM EVERYTHING INSIDE THAT YOU'VE HIDDEN AWAY. ALL YOUR ANGER, ALL YOUR GREED, ALL YOUR HATRED. I AM THAT WHICH YOU KEEP SEPARATE FROM YOUR SOUL. I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU SINCE YOU FIRST OPENED YOUR EYES. I HAVE WATCHED YOU GRANT YOUR TRUST AND BECOME BETRAYED TIME AND TIME AGAIN. EVERYTIME YOU CRIED, I BECAME STRONGER. EVERYTIME YOU WERE BEATEN BY KISA I GAINED POWER. EVERYTIME KAISER LIED TO YOU I GREW INSIDE YOU. NOW LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME LIME..."
The dragon broke down and the mist began to gather and collect once more. A figure of began to take shape. It was a human. As Aisha watched the person form she recognized who it was. She'd been wrong this entire time. The monster, the terrible monster hunting her in her dreams wasn't Ghenna. It wasn't his eyes who she was seeing glittering in the darkness.
"DON'T HIDE ME AWAY ANY LONGER LIME... DON'T STICK ME AWAY ANY MORE. EMBRACE ME SISTER. EMBRACE WHO I AM. I AM YOUR ONLY TRUE SISTER..."
Lime's eyes reflected the true form of the monster. It looked at her and smiled. Slowly Lime's lips moved.
"Onee-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro wiped the water from the mirror and peered into it. The warm mist from the shower coated everything. He was clothed in only a towel around his waste. It was still damp from the shower and hung heavily from his hips. It had been a while since he last showered. Taking a deep breath he smiled happily. It felt so good.
"A warm shower, a clean shave, these are a few of my favorite things..." he sung grinning at his reflection. He pulled his lips back and gazed into the mirror examining his teeth.
'A warm bed and even warmer food ranks pretty high as well!'
Letting go, satisfied with his teeth, he grabbed a large brush and began to straighten the tangles out of his hair. So this was Ghenna's big plan. Harvest their eggs and kill them. Everyone but Katsumi and Leska that is...
That didn't leave him much time. He had to prepare before the executions! He had only five days left.
Naro smiled as he stared into the mirror. He had to be careful what he thought. Some could always be listening in...
Taking a deep breath he burst into song. 'The Might of the Gray Eye' was a song all Gray Eye adepts learned when they were young. It was a proud song, one who's roots stretched to almost the beginnings of Mesopotamia.
...Nothing like a good song to cover up deceiving thoughts...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherry bent over the body of her sister listening intently. Her cries and moans increased for the longest time until very suddenly they disappeared. What had happened deep in the mind of her sister she could only guess. Lime now seemed to lay in a coma like state. Cherry held her sister's hand tightly and did her best to hold back her own tears.
"Lime..." she said softly. "Lime, if you can hear me please hold on. Please, onee-chan, pull through for me. Wake up Lime, please wake up... please..."
Lime's face was expressionless as she lay unmoving in her sister's arms. Cherry would have found this to be very frightening had there been any lights in her cell. Lime always slept with a smile except, of course, when she had nightmares. Her face was a constant reflection of her personality and who she was. Lime was always cheery and bright, she had always been a shining ray of sunlight in a room darkened by black and clouds sour moods. She was always so innocent and pure and to have seen her face as cold as it was at that moment would have terrified her sister.
Cherry squeezed her hand tightly and waited.
"Onee-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Onee-chan..."
"Indeed Lime..."
Lime stared at the person who had taken shape before her. This was the monster that haunted her dreams. So this was the thing that had given Lime her first nightmare. The maiden blinked slowly.
It was herself.
Standing before Lime was a vision of herself. Smiling with a wicked look in her eyes Lime's mirror image met her match's gaze.
"You seem almost surprised Lime."
"I know..." She responded softly. "...Who are you?"
"I am you Lime. We are both one in the same. Your whole life you've faced hardship after hardship and I have helped you overcome those things. I am your guardian angel, Lime. I am the strength that lifted you when you fought Kaiser, I am the power that you felt when you passed the Gray Eye test. I am the god that gave you the courage to escape from those labs!"
Lime shook her head. Her voice had become very soft. "But you are evil. How can you be me?"
"I am not evil Lime! When a wolf kills a rabbit is he evil? When a hawk takes the life of a mouse is she evil?"
"These are animals that need to kill to live..."
"Just like you Lime! You need to live! You need to survive! I am that power that will help push you to succeed!"
"What am I in danger from? What is threatening me?"
"Yourself."
Lime cocked her head slightly. "Myself?"
"You have become far to trusting of a woman to survive Lime. You always place your trust in those who will use you. This will only lead you down a path of destruction! You will kill yourself if you continue on this road."
The maiden shook her head slowly. "But they loved me... I was sure of it. I thought I could have seen it in their eyes..."
"That is why it is time for me to finally take over! You can't be trusted with your own self! You are blind to their tricks!"
"But I could have sworn..."
The dark Lime narrowed her eyes. "You are incapable of making that decision Lime! You don't have the experience that I have! I am your lifetime of suffering and tears! I know the signs Lime!! It is time for you to step down and let me take over! We need to survive and you are too stupid to know any better!"
Lime turned her eyes downward. Otaru once said she was too stupid too...
"And he was right!" the dark Lime said reading her sister's thoughts. "Step down, let me guide your actions! I will take you from this place, from all this pain. Let me take control! I will save both of us!"
Lime didn't move. 'Let her take control...'
"I will take you someplace where you will always be happy Lime! Someplace where you will always be at peace. You want that, I know you do. You want to escape these feelings of pain and sorrow. You don't want to be sad anymore. You don't want to feel this way. I can take you away..."
"What will happen then?"
Dark Lime grinned. "I will destroy those who ruined your life."
Lime looked up. "Destroy..."
"I will kill them, Lime! I will kill everyone of them!!"
The maiden gently shook her head. "I don't like killing! I don't want anyone to die! I-"
"This is what I am talking about Lime!" Dark Lime scowled. "You simply don't know any better. We must always kill Lime! That is instinct, that is what makes us human. Our desire to destroy is what keeps us alive! It keeps us safe. The wolf and the hawk do this! You, on the other hand, try to repress this urge and cast it away and thus I receive it. I have taken these feelings, Lime, and I have learned from them! Let me take over and let my experience guide us!"
Lime was still doubtful. "Who are you going to kill onee-sama?"
Dark Lime grinned at her title. "Everyone, Lime. I am going to kill them all."
"Who?"
"Ghenna, Naro, all the Bishops and Gray Eye that stand in our way, the entire kingdom of Mesopotamia, Otaru, Aiko, Satomi-"
"NO! NONONO!!!" Lime shot up. "No, why them Onee-sama?! Why?"
The evil maiden scowled. "Because they have hurt you as well, Lime! They lied to you, abandoned you, mistreated you and hurt you more than anyone else alive. They above all else deserve to die. Think about what they've done to you Lime. Think about how Satomi and Aiko have been trying to take Otaru behind your back! Think about all the times Otaru yelled at you and said all those awful things! Are those actions of someone that loves you?
"They don't care about you Lime. They are trying to use you like everyone else you have ever known. They deserve to pay for betraying your innocence, ne?"
Lime's head lowered and her eyes fell. For some reason, everything onee-sama seemed to make perfect sense to Lime. She was totally right. Slowly Lime nodded her head.
"I guess..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A tall, slim woman walked hurriedly down the halls. She was dressed in a large, white lab coat wearing a pair of science fatigues underneath. Her hair, long and blonde, swayed gently back and forth as she strode quickly. The six that had been sent away were found. They had been discovered and betrayed to Lord Ghenna by an agent known for his skills of deception. They, and three men, were held deep inside the containment area of her station.
She came to a low doorway secured by a lone guard. The man raised his weapon, but upon recognizing the woman, stopped. He nodded to her as she approached.
"Ma'am."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Do you always raise your weapon at every person who comes this way?"
"Yes ma'am. I have strict orders not to let anyone with out proper authority through here."
"And do I have proper authority?"
"Lord Ghenna said that your DNA was more than enough authority ma'am."
The woman nodded curtly. "Very good. Now let me through."
"Yes ma'am!"
Turning around the man typed a code into a control panel in the wall behind him. Silently the door beside slid open. Giving the guard a brief nod the woman resumed her course.
They were here...they were back. Ghenna had retrieved his lost goods once more...
Swallowing the growing lump in her throat her moved as fast as she dared allowed. While she was in a hurry to see her sisters held into bondage she didn't want to attract too much attention to herself. Being a woman, attention was what got her into trouble. Lord Ghenna disapproved of her wandering around, but never enforced anything. Had he known that she was wandering to visit her long lost sisters she would have been beaten a long, long while back.
Making her way down a set of circular stairs she nodded to a guard standing in front of another door. Passing through she found herself in the cell areas. Grabbing a chart off of wall she took note of what cells were occupied by whom and tossed it away. They were here... right down the hall...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherry's cried out as a blinding light filled the room. Dimly, through her fingers, she saw a figure enter the doorway.
"Please! The light!!" she said painfully. "Close the door!!"
The figure stepped into the room and the door slid shut behind her. A familiar voice floated into Cherry's ears.
"Sat-Satomi-chan? Is that you in here?"
The maiden on the floor turned to the direction of the voice and her face lit up.
"No... It can't be..."
"Satomi! Oh Lord, I can't see in here. Where are you? Onee-chan where are you?"
Satomi reached out blindly and felt her fingers grab hold of something. It felt like cloth. A smiled filled her face.
"R-Rose-chan!! It's you, isn't it!"
The woman held Satomi's hand tightly and knelt beside her.
"Rose-chan..." she said almost dreamily. "It's been a long time since anyone called me that. Oh Satomi, It's been far too long!"
"Oh Lord, Rose-chan, you have no idea! I missed you! What happened?! How come you're still here?"
"We..." the woman paused. "We never escaped...Satomi..."
Her eyes widened. "W-what happened? I heard but... No...Rose-chan..."
"The explosive Kaiser gave us went off prematurely. We got lucky. The blast shield protected us from most of the blast, but everything in the lab was destroyed. We were almost halfway through the launch sequence."
"R-Rose-chan..."
"Lord Ghenna recaptured us and separated Leska and I. It's been twenty years Satomi! A little over TWENTY years! It's been so long..."
The smaller maiden held her sister tightly. "I'm so sorry Rose... I really am. We've all been living lives that were so free and so careless with out even realizing we left our sisters behind..."
"You had no way of knowing Satomi-chan. It's not your fault..."
"Regardless..."
Katsumi decided to change the subject. "I-I thought Lime was in here..."
Satomi paused before answering. "She is..."
Katsumi sounded surprised. "S-she is? Damn this darkness! Lime, are you here? Lime where are you? I can't see you."
Cherry reached out and pulled her sister down. "No, Rose-chan...She can't hear you. She can't hear any of us.
"W-why..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come Lime, you know this is the wisest course of action! They all deserve to die for what they have done to you!"
"...Yes, I suppose..."
"You don't suppose, you KNOW Lime! This is what must be done! Let me free and we'll both live in happiness for the rest of our life! You'll finally be truly happy Lime! Isn't that what you want?"
The maiden looked up and nodded vigorously. "Yes! More than anything!"
Dark Lime's eyes glittered as she opened her arms.
"Then embrace me Lime. Embrace me and cast away your foolish self. I will lead you to your happiness! Take hold of me and keep me in your heart always and I will guide you to your dream."
Lime's eye seemed to light up. It was that easy? This was all she needed to do to find her happiness? Hold this angel that stood before her? Embrace this creature that opened her eyes to her own faults? All she needed to obtain her happiness was to cleanse her life of everything that made her sad, it all made sense now! It was all so clear! Shed those who made her sad... It was all so clear...
Slowly Lime rose to her feet and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Satomi-chan this is terrible!"
"I know Onee-sama. I'm beginning to worry she won't wake up..."
"No, that's not what I mean Satomi. Oh my god, I need a light in here! It's too dark, I can't stand it! Shield your eyes Satomi."
"S-shield? What- AHHH!!"
Katsumi lit a dim flare that fill the entire cell with it's faded light. Cherry did her best to block the light away. Over a week in pitch black conditions had made her eyes very sensitive to light. She cried out and put her hand over her eyes.
Leska bowed her head momentarily. "I'm sorry Satomi, but I need to see both of you, especially Lime..."
Cherry squinted and nodded slowly. Katsumi smiled slightly as she looked her sister over. "You haven't changed at Satomi..."
"Eh...If I could see you I'd say the same Rose-chan..."
"Just let your eyes adjust Onee-chan." She turned to Lime's body on the floor and began to look it over.
"Oh my god... poor Aisha..."
"What's wrong with her, Rose-chan?"
The older woman shook her head slowly. "This is horrible Satomi... Y-you need to see this. From what you told me all these years she's become like a totally different person. When the bullet clipped her something inside of her head must have, for lack of better expression, came loose. It sounds like Aisha changed herself. Remember, it was Kaiser's wish that she be happy always. I... I think she's trying to fulfill that wish. Unfortunately one can't be happy always... When things that are terrible happen in her life she suppresses the fear and pain she feels. It doesn't go away, Satomi, it just gets pushed away."
"But she didn't remember what had happened before we were sent through time! We were in constant fear that something would jar those memories loose and...and..."
Katsumi shook her head. "No, Satomi-chan. Don't you understand? What happened before we sent her away? Pain. Pain and suffering. More than she could bear. I think the wound to her head coupled with the stress of being flung through the rivers of time did something to her. She suppressed her past and it sounds like she tried to start over... The poor woman... She's spent the last years of her life living as happily as she could while all this pain and suffering boiled and bubbled right below the surface... When Ghenna came back to you all... the shock must have sent these feelings over the edge. They want to come out Satomi! They want to be let free..."
Cherry shook her head. "B-but what about Lime? What about Aisha?"
"Aisha is alive, Satomi-chan! She was with you all these years. Lime is Aisha without a past. Aisha and Lime are one in the same! They will always be that way. This isn't a split personality. This is one personality suppressing emotions and feelings. Eventually all she's suppressed will come bubbling up. It may even explode...violently."
"Then what is this burning up inside of her?"
Katsumi-chan shook her head slowly. "Fear, anger, hatred, rage, sorrow, pain..."
Satomi shook her head and swallowed. "How do you know all this Onee-sama?"
Her older sister smiled slightly. "Intuition. Intuition Satomi. I can just tell."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Embrace me Lime! Hold me sister..."
Lime grinned happily. This is what she wanted. Happiness, right? Her sister had shown her the true light now, it was all so clear. She had been far too foolish, she had been far too blind. The road to her happiness lay in this path. It all made so much sense now.
Lime opened her arms.
"This is the way?"
The demon before her smiled darkly. "Exactly Onee-chan. It's time..."
Lime giggled innocently and strode forward. If this was the way then it was for the best, right? Here was to her happiness...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I-intuition?"
Katsumi shook her head. "I really couldn't tell you. Let's just say I've seen similar things like this before."
Satomi frowned. "I seem to remember someone else who had 'intuition'..."
Katsumi turned to her sister. "I'm not turning into Leska..."
Satomi turned to Lime. "So what's happening now?"
"She's fighting with in herself, onee-chan. It looks like she's debating over her own rage. The innocence that was your sister is fighting with the demons inside her heart."
Katsumi shook her head sadly. "It doesn't look good Satomi-chan... I don't think Lime is winning..."
The smaller maiden shook her head slowly. "No..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru had a terrible feeling in his gut. Something was wrong with Lime. Something terrible was happening to her. Faust watched silently as Otaru beat his fists against the sides of his cell.
"LIME!! LIIIME!! LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keinaro felt something stir in his stomach. He paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. Lord Ghenna stopped his eating and cocked his head over at the soldier.
"Is there something the matter Hajima?"
Naro shook his head and smiled. "No Lord. I suppose I was just lost in thought."
"Mmmm..." Ghenna eyeballed Naro a moment longer before returning to his previous conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime was less than a foot away from her sister now. All around her body the darkness swirled and spun about. It seemed to be coming alive. It seemed to be almost excited...
Lime grinned one last time.
"Onee-sama..."
Dark Lime's smile became more and more sinister. "Lime..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru slammed his fists against the cell one last time and threw his head back.
"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!"
The maiden stopped half a step away from her sister and turned.
"Otaru?!"
Behind her she saw some one rising from the mists below. It seemed to move at incredible speeds racing up towards her. Lime turned away from her dark sister and watched as the person spread its arms and increased its speed.
"O-Otaru?!"
Dark Lime scowled viciously. "Lime!!"
The Maiden fell to her knees and squinted her eyes trying her best to recognize the face of the body that was rapidly approaching...
Lime's shoulders fell momentarily. It wasn't Otaru... Instead...
In an explosion of blinding white light the figure came level with Lime. She was beautiful, Lime thought. Her hair was long and silky, her skin smooth and perfect. Behind her back a pair of massive angel wings were opened wide. The cast light everywhere and on everything behind this angel was a pure and blinding white. Lime looked up and met the angel's own eyes...
They were Jade...
"Lime..." Her voice was soft and sweet. It floated into her ears like a gift of sound bestowed unto her. "Onee-chan..."
Lime smiled up to the vision of herself that floated above her. She was so beautiful...
"What are you doing Lime?" she spoke again. Lime's smile started to fade. "Why are you doing this? Do you really believe this is the best way to regain your happiness? Are you really that willing to cast away everything you've held onto in your life for this?"
Lime shook her head slowly. "I-I don't know what you mean..."
Angel Lime opened her arms high in the air and spread her wings wide. In a dazzling flash of light the wings faded and the woman gently descended to the ground. She walked up to her sister with the saddest eyes Lime had ever seen anyone bear.
"You've forgotten, haven't you Lime?"
"F-forgotten what?"
Dark Lime scowled. Behind her everything was pitch black, darkness broken by nothing.
"It's too late! She's already chosen! Isn't that right Lime?"
The Angel Lime returned the Dark Lime's scowl. " She hasn't made any decision. Your lies have covered her eyes and deceived her long enough!"
Lime took a step back. She was right in the middle of this. Right below her the dazzling white met the impenetrable darkness. She was becoming confused. What was going on?
The Angelic Lime cupped her sister's face in her hands.
"Lime, listen to me... What that creature is telling you isn't the whole truth. Yes... you will be happy Lime, but it will be the wrong kind of happiness! It will be the terrible kind, the kind where you will delight in the screams of those who were once innocent. It will be the kind where your soul will become black as night. You will lose everything you once held true about yourself."
Lime shook her head slowly. "But I'll be happy, right?"
Dark Lime smiled. "Of course you will Lime!"
The Angel Lime shook her head savagely. "No! No Lime! It's not the happiness you seek! It's not what you are looking for! Lord Ghenna lives in this kind of happiness Lime! Do you want to become like him as well?"
Lime stopped. She never looked at it that way... Her angelic sister continued.
"You don't want that Lime. That's not what you seek. You want to love, onee-chan! You want others to love you in return. You want to make those around you happy and make them smile. You don't know this Lime, but you have always been happy."
The maiden blinked and looked up.
"You've always been happy Lime. Remember those long nights with Kaiser, warm in his arms. Or those magnificent runs you two used to take. Remember the life you and your sisters all made together in that little facility? Remember all the times you fell unto sleep at rest and peaceful? Remember Otaru, Lime. Remember how he made you feel! Remember all the times he smiled at you! Remember all the times he held you tightly. Remember all the times he made you smile, made you laugh..."
"Made you cry!" The Dark Lime finished. "He is just another one of them Lime! He doesn't love you!!"
"NO!! Lime you know that isn't true! Remember all the nights he worked late just so that you could wake up every morning to hot food and a warm bed? Remember all the times he returned bleeding and torn because his job was terrible on his body? How about all the times he sweat blood and tears for your comfort?"
Dark Lime scoffed. "He was working for the two whores you once called sisters. He was working for them, not you Lime. You were just part of the packaged deal."
"Then what about all the other times, Lime? What about when he took you up alone to show you the fireworks? Or when he let your sisters go on to the carnival while he stayed at your side at home because you had fallen ill? Remember when he came home with that huge bouquet of flowers made entirely out of candy for you? Have you forgotten those times as well Lime?"
The maiden in the middle dropped her eyes and shook her head slowly.
"I...I..."
Dark Lime shook her head and laughed. "He was using you Lime! He only wanted your body just like everyone else on this god forsaken planet!"
The Angel Lime smiled softly. "He wasn't using you Lime. He never used you. He never made you do anything you didn't want to do. You never worked, you never fought, you were always comfortable and happy. He never made you or your sisters work for pay a single day in all the time you spent there. He only put out more hours for you. How could he have been using you Lime? He only made you happy, remember?"
"If he loved you so much Lime," the darker half said slowly, "Then why isn't he here now helping you?"
Lime crouched on the ground shaking her head slowly. She couldn't decide anymore. On one side she had happiness guaranteed. Remove those that make you sad and all that will be left is happiness. On the other hand she had a life that she once lived where she thought she was happy. People whom she trusted. People whom she adored. It was a life that, at one time, she would have fought viciously to defend. Now this line had been blurred. What had seemed so clear before was now faded and out of focus. At one time she would have simply followed her heart, but now even that was torn in two.
"I...I..." she shook her head savagely. "I don't know any more! I just don't know!!"
She wanted to be happy! Beyond anything else she wanted to be smiling with joy. Both ways seemed to offer this gift and both ways threatened to take it away. She couldn't decide... She just couldn't decide...
"You've never wanted to hurt anyone ever before Lime. Why do you want to now?"
Tears once more brimmed her eyes. "Because they hurt ME!! They're always hurting me!! I've never tried to kill anyone. I've only acted in self-defense, only when I had no other choice. But 'them', those people out there, they always try to hurt me! They always make me cry and hurt my heart! They always betray me..."
The angelic Lime knelt beside her sister. "Why sink to their level then, Lime? I know you're better than all of them. Do you know why? Do you know why Lime?"
The maiden looked up soflty sobbing. "Why..."
Her sister smiled. "Because even when they hurt you, you still go on loving them..."
Lime blinked slowly.
"You still love Otaru, Lime. You still love him deeply. I know you remember. I know you do. Do you know how I know?"
"W-why?"
The Angelic Lime smiled once more. "Because I still love him. More than anything else in this world. I love Otaru. I hear him crying for you, even if you don't. I still want to hold him. I still want to reach out and hug him tightly. You and I, Lime, are one in the same. If I still love him then so do you..."
The dark half shook her head resolutely. "You still know the facts Lime. Where is he now? Why can't we her his cries? He's still betrayed you Lime. At the first sign of trouble he left you. He was standing there and watched you being taken away and he did nothing. You know this and I know this. You have to decide Lime, how are you going to live your life! Will we survive or will you follow down the path that will get you broken and battered and betrayed time and time again? It's your choice Lime."
The angel nodded. "You decide."
"It is your life that you will lead..."
"...and the both of us are a course that you must choose..."
"...we are the angels and the devils on your shoulder..."
"...tempting and guiding..."
"...teaching and instructing..."
"...making known your paths that lie open for you..."
"...throughout your entire life..."
"...what you decide..."
"...we will obey..."
"...Good or bad..."
"...light or dark..."
"...we are the course of your life..."
"...survival or destruction..."
"...it is your place to choose..."
"...we are you..."
"...and you are we..."
"...demon with fire in his eyes..."
"...or the angel who soars high and free..."
"...make your choice onee-chan..."
"...and live with it for the rest of your life..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have you seen my other sisters?"
"Yes, onee-chan. They are all ok. No one, not even Bloodberry-chan, is seriously hurt."
"Do they know what will happen to us?"
"I'm afraid no one really knows. Lord Ghenna is as unpredictable as he is dangerous."
"What about Lime?"
"I...I can't really say Satomi-chan. This is something she has to work out within her own soul. It is all up to her now. We can only wait."
Cherry fell silent once more. Katsumi smiled slightly. "Onee-chan, If Lime is anything like she once was I know she will pull through for us..."
"...That's just the thing..." she said softly. "She isn't very much like she once was anymore..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't know, I DON'T KNOW!!" Lime cried out holding her head tightly. "I just don't know... I can't decide anymore... I need more time... Just some more time...."
Slowly the two opposites of Lime backed away from her.
"So be it Lime... We shall give you more time..."
"Choose wisely onee-chan. Your choice will guide you through the rest of your life be that long or short..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The executions in three days Satomi-chan. That's all the time you have left before your men die."
"We can't allow that to happen, especially not to Lime-chan. She would fall apart forever if we lost Otaru..."
"Don't worry then. I will do my best to either save your men or get you all out. I promise this..."
"What about Jade-chan?"
Katsumi averted her eyes and shook her head slowly. "I don't know about her anymore. I've learned long since to block her from reading my mind. The trick is to think of something else constantly. It puts up enough background noise to block her out. I usually do this chant that I was taught along time ago. I repeat it over and over to drown out all my other thoughts."
"Y-yes, I'm sure, but what ABOUT her though? She's still our sister!"
"I'm not so sure, Satomi-chan. Lord Ghenna broke her badly. He practically destroyed her. What Kisa did to Aisha was nothing compared to Lord Ghenna. He broke her, beat her, forced her to kill and maim others; she fell apart Satomi. All I could do was watch as she steadily grew worse and worse. They said that she even bore a child of Ghenna's. She was forced into becoming a mother."
Satomi shook her head slowly. "No..."
"I've never seen him and I don't know if the rumors are true or not, but still..."
She fell silent a moment. Satomi shook her head sadly. Things have all gone to hell since they've been away...
"Now that I think back upon it, it was almost eighteen years ago when he finally shattered her innocence and she became his follower. Now she obeys without question. She's too well trained to do otherwise. She will kill without asking why, she will torture because she is told to do so, she will shatter others lives without so much as a second thought any more. Jade-chan, as you called her Satomi, is dead. She died a long, long time ago...
"I'm afraid the only way we are going to be able free her is to kill Ghenna. Hopefully then we can break his spell. Hopefully then she'll open her eyes and return to normal. We have to kill that old man..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The psychic narrowed her eyes at Naro. She couldn't read his thoughts clearly at all. He was still singing that same damned chant. It was as if there was something for him to hide behind those words. He was so much like Katsumi. Leksa was sure of it, Naro had something to hide. Behind all his smiles and all his laughter and good cheer Naro was hiding something...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have to get going now Satomi. I've already spent far too much time here."
"No, wait, onee-sama! Please don't leave yet! There's so much more we need to talk about."
"I can't Satomi-chan. I really do need to go. I can't hang around her any longer."
"W-when will you be back?"
The older woman smiled. "I'm not to sure, but I'll be back definitely before the executions."
"And Lime?"
"You'll just have to wait Satomi-chan. Take care of her if she wakes up. She's in your hands now. All we can do is wait..."
With that Katsumi turned to leave. Satomi called after her one last time.
"Onee-sama?"
"Hmm?"
She smiled softly. "My name is Cherry now. Call me Cherry."
The woman in the lab coat smiled in return.
"Ja ne, Cherry-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only thing that kept Katsumi-chan in Ghenna's favor was that she was the leading scientist in Artificial Intelligence research. She was the head of the largest science team in all of Mesopotamia. It was Ghenna's goal to recreate the system that Lorelei once worked on before the destruction of the original mother ship.
It was Katsumi's mind that was leading the research. She was the one making the most advancements in the computer code. For some reason every time she looked at it she didn't see code. Instead she saw the yes' and the no's. She saw how the computer would think and react. She read the code like another person. Everything seemed to come together when she was the one working the controls behind the wheel.
Lord Ghenna was very much impressed with her research and after the completion of the project planned on putting her to work in several other areas where she would be of much importance. He was excited. Leska and Katsumi were two of his finest creations. They were the ones who were going to lead his army in the years to come. They were his hopes and dreams now.
Much to Katsumi's relief no one noticed when her missing upon her return to the labs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deep inside Lime's heart she knelt upon the ground. Her head was cupped in her hands and she sobbed quietly. Everything had fallen black once more. A cold wind stirred her hair about her body. All the warmth had left her once more. Deep in the void the angels and the demons that once plagued her were gone. One more she was all alone. Her sobs echoed in the darkness reflecting seemingly off nothing and everything. Alone she wept unsure of the path on which to travel. No longer was it a matter of right or wrong. There was no 'right' or 'wrong'. All that remained was Life or Death. Survive in a future where killing was the only option, or follow an uncertain path embracing life and all its forms. Either way could break her. Either way could kill her.
She thought about Otaru. About the life she used to lead with him. About her sisters, Bloodberry and Cherry. She thought about her home in Japoness. About all the kind people there. About Otaru's boss. About old man Gennai. About the candyman.
She remembered all the times she got in trouble. About all the mistakes she ever made. All the times Otaru ever yelled at her. All the times she got into fights with Bloodberry. All the times she broke something expensive. All the times she broke down Otaru's door or put a hole in his wall. All the times the neighbors were mad at her.
She curled her body into a little ball and wept. She didn't know if she wanted to go back to all that. To go back to all those people. All their anger. All their faces. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to Otaru. All his words and all his anger; all his love and all his giving; all his moods and all his traits. She wasn't sure anymore...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And it's been awhile...
Since I could...
...hold my head up high.
And it's been awhile...
Since I first saw you.
And it's been awhile...
Since I could stand on my own two feet again.
And it's been awhile...
Since I could call you.
And everything I can't remember...
As fucked up as it all may seem;
The consequences that are rendered,
I've stretched myself beyond my means!!
And it's been awhile...
Since I could say...
...that I wasn't addicted. And...
It's been awhile...
Since I could say I loved myself as well. And...
It's been awhile...
Since I've gone and fucked things up just like I always do!!
And it's been awhile...
But all that shit seems to disappear when I'm with you!!
And everything I can't remember,
As fucked up as it all may seem;
The consequences that I've rendered,
I've gone and fucked things up again!!
Agaaaaain~
Why must I feel this waaaaaaay?!
Just make this go awaaaaaaay!!
Just one more peaceful daaaaaaaay!!!
And it's been awhile...
Since I could...
...look at myself straight...
And it's been awhile...
Since I said I'm sorry...
And it's been awhile...
Since I've seen the way the candle lights your face...
And it's been awhile...
But I can still remember just the way you taste!!
And everything I can't remember!!
As fucked up as it all may seem to be I know it's me!!
I cannot blame this on my father!
He did the best he could for me...
And it's been awhile...
Since I could...
...hold my head up high...
And it's been awhile...
Since I've said I'm sorry...
~Its Been A While
Staind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alone she wept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Two Days Later]
"You're the one who goes by Katsumi, correct?"
"Yes sir."
Naro nodded slowly. "Please come with me."
The woman blinked. "B-but I have business here to attend to. Who needs to see me?"
"I do. Now if you please."
Katsumi narrowed her eyes. "You're that Naro aren't you? Listen here. I'm busy at the moment. You'll just have to come back at some other-"
[SLAP]
Everyone in the lab stopped and turned. Katsumi held her hand up to her cheek her eyes wide in shock. Naro'd just slapped her.
"You need to learn your place woman! Now come with me right now or next time I won't restrain myself like this time!"
Grabbing her roughly by her arm he led her out of the labs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro took her to the star docks and onto the Spera. Within half an hour they were at cruising altitude and traveling swiftly away from The City. As the floating metropolis disappeared into the horizon Naro set the ship into autopilot.
"Come on, we're going up on deck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katsumi stood there with her hands folded. She gave Naro a dirty look as he came up the lift onto the main deck of the ship.
"So you are Katsumi, ne? You know Aisha and her bastard sisters?"
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Yes..."
"I've been told that you went to see them a few days ago. Is this true?"
She immediately came on guard. "W-what?"
"I asked you..." he said drawing close to her. "Did you go and see them several days ago?"
"What if I did?"
"You conspired with them about escaping, ne?"
Katsumi began to get nervous. "W-what are you talking about?"
Naro's eyes grew hard. "You conspired with them to escape. Don't lie to me."
"I have no idea what you are talking about-"
With a snarl Naro grabbed her by her arms and flung her over the rail of the ship. Below her lay nothing but air for thousands of feet. As she felt her body begin to fall she screamed. Suddenly she jerked to a stop. Looking up she saw Naro holding her by her large lab coat.
"Oh my god..."
"DON'T LIE TO ME ANYMORE!!" Naro's face was a mask of fury. Katsumi felt her stomach flip as the coat began to tear. "Now you will tell me RIGHT NOW if you conspired with those women! You'd better hurry up, this coat isn't going to last much longer woman! Then you will be dead and you won't be very much help to them then, ne?!"
As she dangled helplessly three miles into the air her resolve finally broke down.
"YES! Yes I did conspire with them! We're planning on getting out sometime before the executions!"
Upon hearing this Naro's face changed. In an instant it went from wild rage to a wide grin.
"Y' serious now?"
"Yes! Yes I'm serious!! Now please! Let me up!!"
Naro's smile widened. "No." And with that he let go.
With a scream Katsumi fell...
...about two feet before landing on an invisible safety shield just under the deck. Naro started to laugh.
"Sorry! Forgot to tell you about the safety net under there. My mistake!"
Katsumi stared at him with an incredulous expression mixed with shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Listen, I'm sorry I acted like an ass hole. I have an image I need to keep up infront of everyone else. Besides I needed to make sure you were really on my side!"
[SMACK]
Naro rubbed his cheek tenderly while Katsumi scowled at him.
"Eye for an eye Naro."
"Jesus..."
The woman turned away and walked over to the other side of the deck.
"What do you want Naro..."
"Same thing you want." He said walking over to her side. "To get the others free."
Katsumi's face was impassive. "Oh?"
"Oh?" Naro cocked an eyebrow. "Is that all you can say? Oh? We're both seeking the same thing here. Can't you think of a better response than 'Oh'?"
"How about I don't believe you."
"Oh, your killing me..."
She whirled on him. "Don't you try to pull this smooth guy shit on me Naro! I am not impressed. As far as I know you are out to get me captured or worse for treason against Ghenna. I'm not falling into your trap. Do you really expect me to believe you?! You're the one who sent them there in the first place and now you want to free them?! Do I look that stupid to you Keinaro?!"
"I'm not asking you to trust me on this, yet. All I'm asking is that you hear me out on this one."
"Oh please! Just talking about this is enough to warrant treason and you know it! I'm positive you have little listening devices set up all along this thing! The minute I say something I get arrested! I have no reason to believe you. You are the best deceiver in all of Ghenna's force."
Naro grinned. "Exactly! I've only deceived three since I've returned; You, Those that I took back with me and all of Mesopotamia."
Katsumi cocked an eye but continued her glare as Naro went on. "Besides Katsumi, you've already said enough for me to warrant an arrest for treason."
The blonde stared at the Gray Eye for a moment before crossing her arms.
"All right. I guess I'm knee deep in trouble already. Death is death in the end."
Naro nodded slowly. "You can trust me Katsumi."
"Like the others?"
The Gray Eye frowned. "I haven't lied to any of them."
"You betrayed them all to Ghenna!"
"It was the only way Katsumi-chan. This is part of the plan that was laid out."
"What plan?"
Naro leaned against the rail. "Why the plan to kill Lord Ghenna of course."
Katsumi only blinked at first. The weight of what Naro said didn't hit until a moment later.
"K-KILL Lord Ghenna?! Now, Naro, this isn't just treason any more. We're now talking about full blown High Treason! Do you have any idea the consequences your words alone have?!"
"Yes I do. Do you understand what I am saying Katsumi-chan? I am talking about organizing the full blown murder of the most powerful man in all the land. I'm talking about over throwing the biggest empire this land as ever seen. You're damn right I'm talking about high treason."
"N-Naro, why would we need to go so far?"
"Because even if we send all you away once more Ghenna will hunt you down again just like he did this time. I was sent out because there were traces of time scarring in that age that were unaccounted for by the science teams. Ghenna will only do the same once more."
"So you are going to kill him?"
The Gray Eye nodded slowly. "That's the plan."
Katsumi took a deep breath and shook her head slowly.
"What you're saying is suicide Naro. Have you forgotten about Leska? She will destroy you with out so much as a second thought."
"I understand. The trick is getting close to Ghenna. Y'see I'm taking after Kaiser now. Do you know why Kaiser succeeded in sending those women away?"
"Luck?"
Naro chuckled. "Yes, there was a healthy degree of that, but there was something else. Kaiser had Ghenna's trust. In the Lord's eyes Kaiser was someone totally and completely loyal to him. He was someone who could do no wrong. For that, not only was Kaiser able to get close to the man he was also able to move and act using his name. Kaiser got into the shot..."
"...Because he used Lord Ghenna's name as the reason. He practically forced his way in using that name as an excuse. The only one who stopped us was that one little guard."
"I can do almost the same now. You know how I am a national celebrity?"
Katsumi scowled. "Yeah, I couldn't go anywhere with out seeing your face."
"Exactly. I will use this to my advantage. The plan follows like this if you are interested. We throw open the cells and let the rest free. I'm sure one if us can bullshit an excuse. Then we lead them to the Spera down in the docks and before anyone notices you guys are all up and away. I, on the other hand, stay behind. I wait about fifteen minutes before heading back up and report to Lord Ghenna that the prisoners are gone. Then when his back is turned and I am close, I strike! With him out of the picture Mesopotamia will collapse shortly after."
"What happens after you kill him? You still haven't accounted for Leska. She'll read your mind long before you get close!"
"Once Ghenna is gone I can care less about what Leska does to me. Ghenna hasn't backed his mind up nor are there any clones of his body in production. His body is built exactly like yours and your sisters. Once the body dies the cells loose their DNA codes and that is that."
"That doesn't tell me how you're going to slip past Leska's eye."
Naro smiled. "The same way you've been doing it Katsumi-chan. I'll mask my memories with music."
The woman blinked a moment before shaking her head once more. "Naro... I don't think that will cover up totally what you are about to do. When the time comes that's going to overpower all your 'covers'. Leska will know."
"I know that, but the idea is she's not going to be certain of what she's seeing until it's too late! Once Ghenna dies, what ever happens, happens. I could care less."
Katsumi resumed her glare. "You're not going to follow Kaiser all the way to the end, Naro. Once Ghenna is gone you're going to escape with the rest of us."
"How are you going to pull that off?"
"I'll follow you to him-"
"Nope." Naro shook his head. "I need you to guide them all to the starport in The City. You're the only one that knows the way."
"Then wait for me Naro! After that I'll come back and we will go together. You're going to need someone at your side for this. Someone to make sure you don't die. If you're going to do this for us you'd better damn well survive!"
Naro leaned back against the rail and smiled. "Now why would you do something like this for me? I thought you didn't trust me."
Katsumi turned away and exhaled loudly. "I don't know, Naro. I guess it's just the right thing to do."
"The right thing to do? So you trust me now?"
She smiled thinly. "No, not really. But this is really the only plan anyone's come up with. It doesn't make it a good plan, but with less than three days left I guess it'll have to do."
"There's still a million things that could go wrong."
"That's true with any plan. The only reason I'm flying with you on this one is because either way I do things I'm dammed. If you've got my voice recorded it doesn't matter any more. Simply talking about this warrants death. It's too late for me."
Nodding slowly Naro met her eyes. 'They're pretty...' he thought.
"I'm on your side Katsumi. I've already made my decision. We're going to get everyone away from this place and we're going to kill Ghenna. We're in a nightmare. This is one dream that will follow us for the rest of our lives. If we don't go through with this you and your sisters will never wake up from it. It will only get worse. If you're not with me on this 100% then I can't guarantee you even living to see the end of this flight..."
"You're threatening me?!"
"You're damn right I am. I don't want this compromised. You know what I am going to do and if you are not with me then you are a threat. You could ruin this whole thing. Those women mean too much to me and if you aren't with me you are against me and, therefore, you must be taken care of."
Katsumi forrowed her eyebrows. "They're my SISTERS for God's sakes! Of course I want them to escape! Your problem is that no one can trust you! You've betrayed them, you're talking of betraying Lord Ghenna, you've lied to everyone on this entire planet and you want me to blindly follow you?! Have you forgotten WHY Ghenna sent you!? You're his best Gray Eye when it comes to deceiving people!"
"Then I guess all you can do in the end is trust me because either way you look at it this is the only way you're ever going to get them out of those cells. This isn't my plan, now. An old, old man far in the future recommended it to me. The only other person on this entire planet who knows what I am doing right now if Faust... The man inside that cell with Otaru."
Katsumi raised her eyebrows. "He knows about this?"
"Of course he does. He's the one who helped orchestrate it."
The woman narrowed her eyes once more and pointed her finger. "If I go back down and find that he knew nothing about this..."
"Then you're screwed anyway because I would have already turned in the tapes."
She shook her head slowly. "Catch 22..."
"Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't."
Finally shaking her head slowly she cracked a smile. "Don't get me wrong. I still hate you. What you did was terrible, I don't care about what ever 'plan' you had in mind. You may have hurt Lime very deeply. But, as it stands, it appears we're both going after the same goal. If you're lying to me then I am dammed already, nothing I do from here on out will change anything. I'll stand by you on this Naro. For the sake of my sisters I'll stand by your side."
The Gray Eye nodded. "All right then. It's settled. Two days from now..."
"Two days? Isn't that cutting it a bit close?"
"It's not like if we screw up we'll get another chance. Wait until the last minute to make sure everything is all ironed out."
"This plan is so full of holes..."
"I know it's not the best plan in the world, but it's all we have and it's all I've been holding onto since I turned them in. It's just the way it's going to have to be."
Katsumi's gaze fell to the deck and she sighed. "I don't like this at all... But for the sake of my sisters..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woman scientist walked briskly through the corridors of the science labs. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotion. There was so much that could have gone wrong. They had only one more day remaining before they were going to pull it off...
The hallway was crowded with science personnel leaving from and going to their posts. It was early morning and everyone was in a rush for their next shift. As the torrent of people rushed to and fro around the woman she calmly went on so lost in thought she didn't even notice them.
The plan was a terrible one. There were so many things that could throw the whole thing off. What happens if they're stopped by a Bishop? What happens if neither of them could get the woman free from their cells? What if this was really a trap set by Naro? He's been double faced before.
Katsumi cared deeply for her sisters. Despite the long twenty years that it had been since she had last seen them the love she had was still there. She wanted little more than to see them living their lives in happiness and comfort away from the devil and all his works. Now they were going to do the unthinkable. They weren't only just going to defy Satan himself, they were going to face off with him and destroy him and his mighty empire.
She shook her head slowly. Suicide. That was what best described what they were going to do. Just plain old suicide. Katsumi knew that something was going to go wrong. Plans like this rarely ever went smoothly. Naro said that an older Faust from the future planned this whole thing out. She had no idea what the hell he was thinking when he came up with this thing. It was so spotty and full of holes, it seemed so rushed [Author's Note: Much like this plot. :D].
But as it stood it was their only plan. It was the only chance they had. Naro seemed confident, but something inside her said that it was false. Some shade or vision told her that Naro wasn't really as confident as he made himself out to be. It was either fear in there, or it was deceit. Katsumi wasn't sure which one it was exactly. In the end she'd given in not because Naro convinced her about the plan. In the end it was that 'fear' she saw in him. She saw deep, deep into Naro's eyes. There was fear in there. That fear that lay hidden in the shadows of his soul. It meant that he could be trusted. Fear was a sign of worry, worry meant he knew about how bad the plan was. If he knew that he was sincere about everything he told her...
But then again, that could have been deceit, not fear...
Katsumi's thoughts came to a stop when she bumped into someone. Looking up her eyes widened. She was looking into the dead eye of Leska.
"O-Onee-sama! Y-you scared me! What are you doing down here?"
Leska said nothing. Nodding once she turned and walked past her sister down the hall. Katsumi watched her go with apprehension.
"StupidstupidstupidBAKAYERO!!!" she muttered under her breath. Did Leska hear her thoughts? Does she know about the plan?!
The tall, dark woman's face was deadpan as she moved slowly away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru leaned against the wall of his cell and stared blankly ahead. How ever many days since he first came into this cell were a mystery to him. He didn't care though. Lime was out there somewhere, somewhere close by. He could feel it. A few days ago he felt her. For a moment he was there standing right beside her. He had a feel of dread about himself. He could see her approaching another figure. This figure was dark and evil looking. Its hands were black and gnarled, its body radiated a terrible light, its eyes glittered savagely in the dark. Otaru felt something about this creature. It was evil. It was a demon of some sort. He watched as Lime slowly walked towards it with her arms extended and a large, blank smile on her face.
Otaru remembered calling out to her. He remembered screaming at her and wailing as loudly as he could. The next thing he knew was that he was standing there back in the dark of his cell pounding the walls furiously with the feeling of foreboding still resting very heavily on his shoulders. After that he said little and did little. Lime was in trouble and there was no way for Otaru to escape and help her. She was in danger and he was trapped unable to be at her side. All he could do was wait and pray Lime would last long enough for him to come to her aid, where ever she was...
Faust said nothing during these times. He was saving his energy. The time was to come where he would have to be ready to flee. Naro would arrive soon if he was truly on their side. The performance Faust saw was more than convincing. His entire personality changed. He went from being a kind, self-assured man to an evil and violent servant of Ghenna. Perhaps he was too convincing. He shattered Lime. Faust could still distinctly remember the broken look she gave him before she was carried away. That was betrayal he saw in her eyes. Faust could only hope that Naro hadn't done any permanent damage.
Hanagata slept beside Otaru fitfully. The little man had done his best to stay by his love's side at full attention and readiness, but after almost three days he finally gave in to the sleep. Physically he just wasn't up to it. He was worried almost sick. He didn't want any of Otaru's maidens to go through this. The women were in direct competition with him for Otaru's heart, but since hearing their tale his hatred toward them had vanished. They were more than just machines. They had hearts of their own, souls of their own, minds of their own and lives of their own. That didn't give them the right to steal his Otaru away from him, but he saw them in a whole new light now. They had hopes and dreams as well. They too felt pain and sorrow. They were human.
As much as he would have hated to admit it they were his kin. They were his brethren. They were humans as well on this rock that had once been devoid of life. The same hearts that beat in their chests beat in his. The same eyes that saw the world were in his head as well. The same hands that sought to hold Otaru in them were given to him as well. Hanagata was still at odds with the women, but he didn't seek their destruction any more. They had become almost family now. He found himself caring for what had happened in their past, and felt his heart break when Lime was betrayed by Naro. These women who could go through so much and still find it in their hearts to smile deserved much more than Hana had given them in the past.
Otaru cared deeply for those women. Almost his entire life was centered around them. Until a few days ago Hanagata saw this only as an obstruction. Now things were different. They had become a challenge now. They weren't an obstacle anymore. They were competitors. He was in a competition for Otaru's heart. If they died that competition would vanish, and what fun would running a race be if you were the only one sprinting along?
As the three men continued to lay where they were, a noise was heard on the other side of the door. Faust looked up and turned his head to the direction of the noise. It sounded like bolt being thrown. Suddenly the whole door started to rumble. With a hiss and an unlocking noise the door slowly swung opened up. Faust and Otaru quickly turned away from the blinding white light while Hanagata finally came awake.
"W-what the... Who's there?!" Otaru snarled into the light.
A figure filled the blinding opening and stood silhouetted against the light. A familiar chuckle entered the cell.
"Good! It's nice to see you three are all still alive!"
It was Keinaro.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As she threw the cell door open for Cherry and Lime Katsumi saw Naro enter the men's cell. A second later he came flying out. With a surprised cry he slammed against the far wall and fell to the floor. Otaru stepped out with a look of fury on his face. Naro eyeballed the young man while rubbing the back of his head.
"All right, I guess I deserved that..."
"Fuck you Keinaro!!" He snarled. "I'm going to turn you black and blue!"
"Nooonono! Wait! I can explain!" The Gray Eye said raising his arms.
Heedless, Otaru rushed forward and pounced on Naro and proceeded to lay the smack down onto the older warrior. As he did his best to beat away the angry young man Naro turned to Faust who had been standing calmly beside the cell door. Behind him Hanagata blinked curiously out.
"Faust! Faust you idiot! Give me a hand here! You know who's side I'm on!!"
The tall blonde man shook his head slowly. "No, after what you did to Lime I think you deserve this..."
"WHAT!?" Naro practically shrieked. As the rest exited their cells while Katsumi continued to open them they saw Otaru throttling Naro and decided to join the fray. Before long only Bloodberry, who was examining Lime's still unconscious form, Katsumi, Hanagata and Faust were the only ones standing by watching the fight ensue.
"Why you little shit! I'll teach you to betray us!!"
"Look what you did to Lime you stinking little..."
"Die, Naro!!"
"Where the hell are we, little piece of..."
"You betray us and you still have the balls to show your face, eh?"
"PLEASE!! Y'GOTTA LISTEN TO ME!! I SWEAR I'm on YOUR side!! I HAD to betray you!!"
"Shaadaap!!!"
[KAPOW]
Katsumi leaned over to Faust. "You understand, sir, that if he gets torn to pieces it's going to be a little hard to get past all the guards we're going to see along the way."
"Yes, I guess so. Bruises all over his body won't help convince the guards. We'd better step in..."
"No, no, wait. I didn't say we had to step in NOW. I just said at some point or another we would have to."
"Ahhh." Faust smiled and nodded slowly. He looked over to her and cocked his head slightly. She was a beautiful woman. Her appearances reminded him so much of Lorelei, except for the brown eyes that is. His smile deepened slightly. Yes, she did very much resemble his lost love...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro sat down along the wall nursing his injured body. He cast dirty looks to everyone sitting around him. He rubbed his bruising cheek and scowled.
"See if I help any of you again. Next time you all can just sit inside those cells..."
"Oh, shut up Naro. You deserved that." Katsumi said standing by anxiously. "The least you could have done was tell us."
"No, he couldn't have." Faust said calmly sitting beside Katsumi. "We were afraid Leska was going to scan all of your minds and figure out what we were planning on doing. That is why we had to have Naro betray you all. You all had to be so completely and utterly convinced that he was on Ghenna's side that Leska would be convinced of the same when she scanned your memories. He is the number one deceiver in all of Ghenna's forces. You all know that now. He almost had me convinced."
Otaru still scowled. "You didn't have to hurt Lime like that, Naro!"
The rest nodded.
"Geyaaa... All right, maybe I did go a little far there, but you all were convinced, right?"
Cherry sat and pulled her legs up. "Look at Lime now, Naro. That was the price of you 'convincing' us. Something inside her is fighting. Rose-sama said that all her anger and fear was fighting for control of her soul. You hurt her pretty badly."
The Gray Eye looked over tiredly. "I said I was sorry. What more do you want me to do? What's done is done. I can't change anything, you've all beaten the living shit out of me and as we speak we are running out of time. Screaming at me about this won't help anything!!"
"But it'll make me feel a whole lot better..." Otaru said softly.
Groaning Naro rose to his feet. "Regardless, I'm loosing my temper. I'm sorry about Lime, I'm sorry I over did it, but what's done is done. Right now the only thing I want to do is to get you all out of here. We're running out of time. If you all feel like destroying me wait until we are all breathing free air away from this place."
Faust rose. "For once Naro is correct. There will be time for this later, but until then we need to escape. Katsumi, do you know the way out of here?"
The woman nodded. "Yeah, so does Naro. We'll have to ride a tram from here to the space bay. Once there all we need to do is find the correct ship, board it and we're off. That's the easy part."
Tiger looked over to her sister. "What's the hard part?"
Naro groaned and shook his head slowly. "Your sister and I stay behind to kill Ghenna."
The rest shifted uncomfortably. Otaru finally looked up at Naro. "K-kill him? Are you two crazy? What about Leska? I heard she was his body guard."
Katsumi nodded. "She is. Naro and I hope to get close enough to him anyway in order to strike the old man down. One he's out of the way neither of us are really worried about Leska. What ever happens, happens."
Bloodberry rose. "No! Rose-chan, are you crazy? What if she kills you both?"
"Don't matter to us. We just want to get all of you out." Naro answered.
Luchs whirled on Naro. "Be quiet you! You have no right to make that decision for her!"
"Krysta, no." Katsumi rose and came up behind her. "He didn't make that choice for me, I did."
"What?"
"He wanted me to escape with the rest of you but I said no. If he's risking everything for us I want him to come back. He's not going to follow in Kaiser's footsteps until the very end. I'm going to make sure of that. I'm tired of loosing my saviors."
Bloodberry blinked. "B-but, Rose-chan..."
The blonde woman shook her head. "We have to kill that old man one way or another. This is how it must be done."
"Actually..." Faust stood and brushed himself off. "This was the part of the plan I felt the uneasiest about."
Naro exhaled and shook his head. "That makes two of us, man..."
"...So I've been thinking isn't there a better way to go about killing that man other than a direct confrontation?"
Katsumi shook her head. "A sniper wouldn't do the job, Leska would pick him out in an instant."
"No, not a sniper... I mean a more indirect way."
"Huh?" All nine of them cocked their heads. Faust cradled his chin in his fingers and narrowed his eyes pensively.
"Are we on a ship or something larger, Naro?"
"We're on the super city just out side of Petersburg."
Hanagata finally spoke up. "Super City? You mean that floating one? Uhh, where Gheddon was?"
"Yeah, we're right under that tower right now."
Faust's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, exactly! This is just the scale we will need!"
Cherry leaned forward. "What are you talking about Lord Faust?"
"Naro! Are we in the past or the present."
The Gray Eye smirked. "We're always in the present, but if you mean are we closer to 200 A.C. or 1029 A.C. we're near the latter. Lord Ghenna brought the city forward in time to re-assert his authority here. He's power hungry, like all totalitarian dictators. He want's all the times to worship him, not just his own. I think he's scouting the landscape or something. I'm not too sure, why?"
Faust grinned began to laugh. "It all becomes clear now. No wonder!"
"Faust-sama?" Tiger put her hand on his shoulder. The tall man turned to her and smiled.
"This is why we were never able to find any remnants of the great super city! This is why Mesopotamia fell!! We're in OUR time!"
Bloodberry frowned slightly. "You're loosing me..."
Faust grinned at her. "Don't you see? The reason why Mesopotamia suddenly disappeared and why we were never able to find any traces of it was because they haven't even existed yet! This is time playing around with us!"
Otaru turned to Hanagata. "He's getting even MORE vague..."
The grinning blonde whirled on him. "WE destroy Mesopotamia! This entire empire will fall, very soon in fact! The reason why we've never been able to find any real evidence of the kingdom or the super city was because the remains haven't even existed. It falls in THIS time period, not the past!"
Realization dawned on all their faces.
"So we win?"
"Yeah, It looks like it..."
"We'll get through this then!"
"Haha, then what have we got to worry about?"
Naro's expression hardened. "Everything. That doesn't mean we'll all live through this! We can all still die. Just because this place gets destroyed doesn't mean we all magically make it."
"No, but it's something to hope for, Naro." Cherry said softly. "And right now a little hope is what we need."
Everyone nodded slowly. After a moment Faust turned to the Gray Eye.
"Is there any way we could destroy this place?"
Naro almost double taked. "This whole place? Jesus! Well... Apart from the reactor complex I can't think of any REAL way to take this city down. She's like a fortress. Now, wait. Why are we going to destroy this place anyway?"
"Because Ghenna will go down in flames with it, as will most of the Gray Eye here!"
Naro shook his head. "No on a minute, there's a lot of people on board this thing..."
"It must be done. The reactor spaces you say? Yes... That will work perfectly! Take out the installation from the inside! Do you know how we would go about getting there?"
"Err... they would probably be on our way to the hangar, but listen here Faust! I-"
"Even better! Fate is with us today!"
"No it's not!" Naro snarled. "We're going to kill millions! Are you out of your mind?!"
"How else are we going to kill that man, Naro? You?! Do you really believe that you will be able to get past Leska? That you will even stand a chance? This is our only option."
"But..." Naro's face began to twist. "It's a better option than taking out this entire city! We're going to kill millions Faust! Millions of people! I'm not willing to accept that!"
"Naro, listen to me."
"No, Faust wait..." Katsumi said interceding. "Naro has a point. Killing everyone every one in this station to wipe out one man isn't something any of us are going to go through with. However-"
"I can't think of any better idea." The tall blonde said cutting her off.
"However-"
"Now wait a minute here!" Naro said folding his arms. "There's always a better idea."
"But do we have the time to figure one out? No!"
"However-"
"Now listen here Faust! Just because it's the only idea doesn't make it a good one!"
"HOWEVER-"
"Why are you defending this place Naro? Who's side are you really on? You might be double crossing us, THAT'S why you don't want to flatten this place!"
"Otaru!"
"Now wait a god-damn minute! I am too on your side! How dare you say that about me!!"
"Will you all SHUT UP!?!"
Everyone fell silent and turned to Katsumi. She was fuming...
"HOWEVER...If we knock out the coolant lines to the right reactors we could prolong the impending explosion. The entire station will be given a full alert. Everyone would have somewhere from 15 to 30 minutes before the melt down. This would give them time to evacuate."
Naro shook his head. "What about Ghenna? He would escape along with the rest in that time. It doesn't guarantee anything."
"No, but it will effectively kill him anyway. Where will he flee too? The surface? He's in your present now. He won't have any influence what so ever. What if he goes back to the past? His precious city is gone. He will have lost all of his power. A few stray Gray Eyes aren't going to rebuild his empire. He will be gone for good, effectively dead."
"She has a point Naro. We'll be giving all the men and children on this platform a chance. Now unless you have a death wish and seek to fall along with him you can still face off with the man..." Faust leaned over and met Naro's eyes. "But otherwise follow us and go through with this plan. You know it's a good plan. We've wasted enough time here arguing. Don't you agree?"
Naro took a deep breath and looked away. This plan was becoming worse and worse. However, Katsumi did have a point... He looked up and met the eyes of the rest of the women.
"What do you all say? Are you good with this plan?"
They exchanged glances briefly before answering.
"If it gives everyone in the city the chance to escape and live..."
"It's our best chance."
"It's a good plan. So long as we can escape in time..."
"Go for it Naro."
The Gray Eye's face fell to the floor once more. Slowly he shook his head.
"I don't like this. Not at all, but Faust is right. We've already spent far too much time here. We may have blown everything already. So... So I'll go with you on this call. Only because you women are for it as well. We'll ride the tram system all the way to the reactor spaces, blow coolant tubes three and four beyond recognition and then jet to the star port.
"Now you all are aware that we're going to run into resistance once we reach that port, right? They'll be on to us once they learn we are the ones who damaged the reactor spaces. We're going to meet some heavy flack going through there. We still want to go through with this? Despite the risk? You all still want to this?"
No one there, even Otaru, shook their head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lord Ghenna! Lord Ghenna!!"
The old man looked up from his chair to the young Gray Eye approaching him.
"What is it young one?"
The younger man knelt and bent his head fully conscious of Leska standing behind his Lord reading his mind.
"L-Lord! Someone's launched an attack on the reactor spaces!!"
Ghenna arched an eyebrow. "The reactors? This is unexpected..."
"Lord! You don't understand, they destroyed the coolant intakes and blew the emergency shut down slots! The reactors are going to melt down in less than 30 minutes!! The City is in DANGER!!"
The tyrant rose from his seat. "What?! Impossible! We'll have to eject the reactor cores!"
"No Lord! They-"
"They've destroyed those too as well, Lord Ghenna." Leska said calmly. "They've thought of almost everything. How ever we have more than thirty minutes. We have more akin to an hour, unless something else goes wrong. This entire platform is built better than that."
The young man looked up at the woman.
"Regardless Miss Leska, this is a blow that neither of us expected. We will loose the city!"
"No, we still have one thing on them. They've done no real harm to this station. Even if we do lose it, no major loss. Our space force is still fully intact. We will use those to re-insert our presence in our time."
Ghenna frowned
"But this will be a set back..."
"Have no fear Lord. We will be alright. Should we move to the escape vessels?"
"No..." The old man snarled. "We will stay here until I say so. I want all of them captured. Are they on their way to the star ports?"
"Yes, Lord." The young man nodded.
The old man turned back to Leska. "Leska, tell Nishan to get ready. Tell him they are on the way. I want them stopped."
"Hai, Lord."
Leska had heard Katsumi's thoughts...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The woman in question leaned against the rail of the tram with her arms wrapped around her body. She was breathing slowly, saying nothing, eyes downcast. Her mind turned slowly in her head. They'd crossed the point of no return now. The reactor coolant valves lay in shambles behind them. She had been instrumental in their destruction. Katsumi WAS a machinist. She'd been down below and had worked on those reactors many times in the past. They were no stranger to her.
Now, she'd created a time bomb. In less than an hour they will explode and the entire city she spent the last twenty years of her life on would disappear. They'd blown all the safely locks and fused all the ejection cartridges. There was no way those 'bombs' were going to be prematurely launched. This city was doomed. It was a time bomb...
Faust looked up at her when he her snort softly. "Something wrong Rose?"
She shook her head slowly. "We've forgotten about Leska-chan..."
Bloodberry looked up. "She'll be fine, onee-chan. She's a survivor. I doubt she'll stay onboard this place once she learns it will fall down around her ears."
Naro looked up to her. "I wouldn't count on that Bloodberry. She's caught in a web. Her mind has been ensnared by Ghenna. If he so commands her she'll stay by his head to the very end. It's all we can do to pray and hope Ghenna allows her to leave either with him or without."
Katsumi looked up. "Since when do you care about what happens to her?"
The Gray Eye looked up and met the woman's eyes. "Since I learned that you and her sacrificed almost everything to send six women into an unknown future because you loved them. Since I learned that someone who had once been one of the most kind and wonderful person on the planet had been twisted and turned into a demon designed for only on purpose, to kill."
"You know, Naro-"
"Please! Katsumi! I don't care what you think of me anymore. All I'm trying to do now is get you all away from here. I'm tired of this. I'm trying to do the right thing here, I'm standing up for you and your sister. Why are you getting on my case, Katsumi? I thought you were on my side."
The woman smirked.
"You cut me off, Naro."
The Gray Eye cocked any eyebrow. "You were going to say something nice about me?"
Katsumi almost giggled. "Not a chance Gray Eye. But I will say this, If you pull this off and we all get out of here, I might be forced to change my opinion of you..."
"We'll see..." he said scowling slightly. He turned and looked out the window of the tram. Down the way he could see a platform approaching.
"There it is folks. Those are the star ports."
"What?" Katsumi said walking forward. "I thought they were further down..."
"Nope..." Naro said dryly. "Right there. They're right under the cap. ship platform."
"How far from here?" Otaru said hoisting Lime's body up into his arms. The woman stirred slightly in his arms.
"We've got maybe a hangar bay and a few garbage storage locks before we reach the Spera. It won't be too far. I think we should be more worried about..."
"...The resistance we'll meet along the way. Yes, for once I agree with you Naro. They know we're coming this way, but I doubt there will be very much standing in our way. The Gray Eye dorms are all the way on the other side of the city."
Naro looked up at her. "Reading my mind? Are you turning into Leska on us Katsumi?"
The woman smiled down at him through the corner of her eye. "What ever makes you say that?"
Faust rose and collected what little he had. "We're approaching the platform now..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The doors slowly slid open and each of the passengers onboard the tram stepped off. Cherry walked forward a bit looking around. Hanagata came up close behind her. They were standing on a landing platform that opened into a massive, ship filled Hangar Bay. All along the ceiling they could see ships of all sorts and sizes hanging from massive locks high, high up. All along the ground ships dotted floor of the bay. Huge gasoline tankers and fuel lines were strewn about. Some ships still had the fuel lines attached to their hulls. Hanagata whistled. There wasn't a person in sight.
"Where did everyone go? I thought we were going to meet some resistance?"
There was crash of glass as Faust punched into a fire emergency box. Reaching in he pulled out a long, slender machete. He twirled it once experimentally before sliding it into his belt. Bloodberry strode ahead a few feet and looked up and around once more.
"You know I'm one who hates using generic lines and all... But I smell an ambush."
Otaru narrowed his eyes. "You're right. It shouldn't be this deserted... Mitsurugi, take the lead! See if you can sniff out any ambushes for us!"
"W-WHAT?!" Hana reeled back in shock. "O-Otaru-kun! Are you joking?!"
Katsumi began to walk ahead. "I'll go."
Naro frowned and followed behind her. "No you don't. I'll go."
"What? I can do this."
"No you're not. We can't risk losing you."
"I'm not a little girl Naro! I am going to scout ahead."
"Fine, but not alone you aren't. I'm coming with"
The woman whirled on him. "Will you stop acting like I'm totally helpless! I don't need your help!"
Naro's eyes went wide and he took a step back. "Whoa, whoa, I'm on your side! I'm just concerned about your safety, that's all!"
Faust groaned and shook his head. "I'll go first then. Tiger, Panta, Luchs, will you stay close behind?"
"You know we will, Faust-sama. You didn't even have to ask."
Taking the lead the leader of Gartlant strode forward quickly and quietly; his hand resting on the hilt of the fire machete he had acquired. Behind him his maidens followed closely. Naro and Katsumi were behind them followed up by Otaru and his maidens. Hanagata hugged closely behind Otaru as they made their way deeper into the empty hangar.
In his arms Lime stirred once more. Cherry looked over and softy stroked her sister's cheek.
"Something is happening again Otaru. It looks like she may wake up soon..."
"I hope so Cherry..." He said softly, looking at her face. "I pray she's going to be ok..."
As they made their way through the hangar they heard nothing and saw no one. The entire bay was almost eerily quiet. There was no one to be seen about the whole place. Finally they came upon the air lock on the far side. Taking full caution Faust opened the lock and stepped in. Everyone filed through and as Hanagata brought up the rear he remarked...
"Wow, I'm surprised! I was sure we were going to be ambushed in there..."
Naro grinned. "It's refreshing when something goes our way for once. Still, I wanna know where the crew inside of there went..."
They were all in a small room with two doors on each side, each with a large window in them. As the one they had just stepped through closed, there was a hissing noise as the air lock did its thing.
"Where have we got to go to next Naro?" Tiger asked.
"Some empty storage bays and a few more of these air locks and then we're home free."
Cherry smiled. "Sounds fine to me!"
"Indeed." Faust replied. "I don't think we have very much time left, do we Katsumi?"
The blonde woman shook her head slowly. "We're down to our last twenty minutes I'm guessing. Keep in mind I may be wrong now, but I'm sure we have at least twenty more minutes left."
Bloodberry yawned as she waited for the airlock. "Anyone mind if I put a question out here? If the reactors are in danger of going off, how come we haven't heard any alarms? We haven't heard anything what so ever."
"The reactors are still moderately cool. The alarms will go off when they rise above critical levels. That will be our ten minute warning."
The woman with the fiery hair narrowed her eyes. "Then why was last airlock we were in deserted? It looked like who ever was there left in a big hurry. If they didn't know the reactors were going to blow, what scared them off?"
Everyone exchanged glances slowly. She had a point...
Suddenly the other airlock door slid open. The bay ahead of them appeared seemingly abandoned as well...
Lime cried out softly and stirred once more in Otaru's arms. One by one they all filed into the storage bay...
"AMBUSH!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aisha stood once more in the darkness. One more, on each side of her stood good and evil. Life and death. Each side still promised her the happiness she desired. Each side still sought for control.
"...Lime..."
"...Aisha..."
The maiden looked up. "...Yes?"
Side by side the Angel and the Demon knelt. They spoke in unison. The fiery-eyed demon from her dreams and the angelic vision of herself spoke slowly and steadily.
"It is time Lime/Aisha. It is time for you to decide. Your future has arrived..."
Slowly the young maiden's mouth moved.
"...Future..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faust's machete clashed with the energy saber of a wild eyed Gray Eye. The little bugger was strength and was trying to overpower the blonde man. In a flash Faust pushed the Gray Eye back, grabbed him by his clothes and snapped him around giving him a solid blow to the head. Tossing the senseless soldier aside Faust turned to the newest threat.
They had been ambushed by a half a styre of infantry (approx. 12 men) and three Gray Eyes. Otaru, Hanagata and Katsumi stayed to the side and did their best to keep away from the fighting. None of them had any training near enough to that of the Gray Eyes and decided against leaping into the fray and running into one of them. Lime lay behind all of them in front of a huge scrap storage bin. Inside lay tons and tons of loose scrap metal that had been prepped to be recycled.
Naro did his best to keep the remaining two Gray Eye at bay, but was starting to become overwhelmed. They weren't Legionnaires, but they were Gray Eye and they were skilled. One was speed while the other was sensor. Slapping the quick one away with his drawn energy saber he swung around to meet the combat one. He swung and their blades clashed momentarily. Their Gray Eyes met briefly.
"...Damn...it..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Is it that time already?"
"Yes Lime. The time has come." They replied. "You are indecisive yet..."
"Open your eyes." The Angelic one said softly.
Slowly Lime did so.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otaru didn't notice when Lime's eyes slowly flickered open. He was engaged with one of the infantry men. His extended Jutte was locked up solid with the soldier's katana. Hanagata and Katsumi were preoccupied with problems of their own. Lime's head shifted slowly as she looked impassively up at her Otaru.
"See Lime," The Angel spoke. "He is fighting for you! Join him!"
"See Lime," The Demon spoke. "He is fighting for himself, not you. Joining him will mean suffering again..."
Lime blinked slowly on the floor. Her mouth slowly moved.
"...I loved him once...I really thought I did..."
The Angel's voice became much softer and more distant very suddenly. It was starting to fade. "You still do Lime! Look inside your heart! You still love him."
The Demon's voice became louder very suddenly. It was becoming overpowering. "He took advantage of that love! He took advantage of you!! See how he fights only for himself! He's fighting for his own safety, not yours. He doesn't care about you Lime!"
Slowly the maidens lips moved. "Yes...Aisha..."
The other voice (who ever that had been) was rapidly fading away. It was disappearing inside Lime's heart. "...Lime! You don't understand... Aisha isn't that evil creature... Aisha isn't that demon... Aisha loves... She's caring, Lime... You don't understand... Aisha is..."
The voice was all but gone now, drowned out by the fiery-eyed Demon.
"Look at him Lime! Look at him fight for himself. Look at the way he thinks and acts for his own safety. He's abandoned you! He left you Lime!"
Otaru's back was to the maiden and he didn't see her eyes begin to harden or her face fall into a scowl. A red haze began to fall over the maiden's eyes. She was tired of being betrayed. She was tired of having her heart abused time and time again. This time was the last time. She'd tried to be kind. She'd tried to be generous. She'd tried love and hope for love in return. But every time she tried someone took advantage of that love. Some one broke her heart and betrayed her... She was tired. She was at the breaking point. When the second man she'd ever loved turned his back on her, that was it.
The little voice had all but faded now. The demon that Lime had embraced held her tightly.
"KILL HIM LIME! DESTROY HIM!! MAKE HIM FEEL THE PAIN HE FORCED UPON YOU!!"
Slowly the maiden's mouth moved.
"Yes..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"NARO!!" The Legionnaire turned. A fourth Gray Eye coming from seemingly no where had Katsumi cornered between the scrap bin and outer door of the storage bay. Swatting her feeble blows aside the Gray Eye connected a short, powerful jab to her head. With a shirt cry she collapsed to his feet.
"Katsumi!!!" Naro, turned and started to run toward the woman when he felt something grab him by the back of his collar. He was pulled backwards and lost his balance falling to the floor hard. He looked up, slightly dazed, to see the Gray Eye he had been battling sneering down onto him.
"Where are you going, Oh Keinaro?"
With a shriek the other Gray Eye hoisted Katsumi up onto his shoulders. He turned and headed for the airlock not five feet away. As Naro tried to scramble onto his feet the Gray Eyes that had been fighting him moments before pinned the man to the floor.
"Do you want her back, Naro?" the second Gray Eye jeered.
With a snarl Tiger leaped in front of he Gray Eye holding Katsumi. With an almost careless swipe of his hand he knocked the poor maiden aside like a rag doll.
"Take her back from us Naro!" The first one said dropping a key card attached to a chain onto the Gray Eye. "Lord Ghenna saw all of this. He saw through your lies. Now he sits in wait for you. Follow us if you want her. Use the vacuum tubes. We'll see you in his Lord's chambers!"
With a sinuous laughter the two Gray Eye leaped up and away from Naro, joining their friend in the waiting airlock. Katsumi began to yell.
"Get them away from here Naro!! Just take them all and go!! I-I'll be all right, just run!! Please, everyone!!"
The big Gray Eye smiled to Naro. "That's right, run. Run away. If you value your life you will run. If you value hers, we'll be in Lord Ghenna's chambers..."
And with that the Airlock slammed shut. Naro barely had time to react as a soldier came up from behind and tried to attack the Gray Eye.
'Katsumi.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"RISE NOW, LIME. RISE AND TAKE BACK THAT WHICH HE STOLE FROM YOU!"
"Yes..."
The maiden slowly stirred. Suddenly a noise came from above. She slowly looked up and saw a figure perched on top of the storage bin. It seemed to blend in with the darkness above. It's eyes were the only thing that made it stand out. They were gray and cold.
Otaru finally dispatched the soldier with a solid blow to his head. He turned just in time to see the airlock with Katsumi in it close.
"Shit! Katsumi!!" He cried out, but it was too late. She was already gone. He cursed below his breath. Katsumi! They'd lost her!! The first real fight they get into and the enemy captures her...
He would have continued swearing had he not heard the same noise Lime did from up above. He raised his head and peered into the darkness. Some one was up there, he could barely see their eyes... and they were gray!!
With a sudden flash the person ignited an every saber and leaped into the air. The nimble man twisted himself in the air and plunged his blade downwards... right for Lime's prone body.
The maiden's eyes shot wide open. The mist that had clouded her vision parted as she realized something. Deep inside of her heart the Demon that she embraced realized the same thing...
...He was striking for her! She was going to die!
It was all she could do to watch the Gray Eye's blade fall closer and closer to her prone body. Her body was slowly coming alive once more but it was not fast enough... Feebly, she shook her head.
"N-no...please..."
Bloodberry finished off one of the last guards only to turn and see the Gray Eye falling towards Lime. She barely had any time to react.
"L-LIME!!!"
The maiden with the blue hair and the jade eyes closed them and did her best to turn away. This was it... She never did get that happiness she so sought...
There was a heavy rush of wind and the terrible sound of flesh and bone being pierced followed by a terrible scream.
When Lime opened her eyes, she realized it wasn't she who had been screaming...
Bloodberry paled...
"No..."
Kneeling over her body, Otaru smiled weakly to his maiden. Out of his shoulder the crimson energy blade protruded stopping only inches from Lime's belly. In his left hand he gripped the blade preventing it from descending any further.
"L-Lime..." The young man said slowly. His face, while in great pain, softened. "You're awake."
The maiden blinked numbly for a second. Otaru had saved her. He leaped in between the Gray Eye's blade and her body. He stopped the blade with his own body.
Something wet began to drip onto her exposed belly. She looked down and saw tiny beads of crimson collecting themselves on her. Further up, she could see similar beads, only these were clear, being absorbed into the fabric of her clothing.
Otaru did his best to smile through his tears. "You're all right Lime... You're all right..."
With a scream Bloodberry charged. The Gray Eye saw her come and wordlessly pulled the blade free from Otaru's body. The young man audibly grunted and his blood began to run free onto the maiden below. Lunging at the fiery haired woman the Gray Eye and Bloodberry clashed.
Finally Otaru collapsed onto Lime's body. His breathing was heavy and there was blood spilling everywhere. As the maiden sat up she could feel Otaru's arms wrapping themselves around her.
"Lime..." He said slowly. "Oh, Lime... I was so scared... I tried to come back to you... I tried to help you... but I couldn't..."
The last of the maidens dispatched with the soldiers and turned to Bloodberry's battle with the Gray Eye. Faust discarded his machete and picked up on of the knives the Gray Eyes that had previously been here discarded. He pressed the small button and the energy saber formed up. Naro stepped back unaware of Otaru and Lime. Hanagata was all the way on the other side of the room and couldn't get back over...
"...I'm sorry Lime... I'm sorry for everything... All the times I yelled at you... All the times threatened you... All the times I made you feel sad... I had no right Lime... I had no right..."
Lime could feel Otaru's body shake and convulse as he began to sob against her.
"I don't ever want you to go away Lime... I've never want to be without you... I was so scared... I thought I'd lost you... I thought I'd let you go with out... with out ever..."
Slowly Lime reached up and brushed her master's hair aside. He swallowed painfully and groaned against the wound in his shoulder.
"I never told you I loved you... I've never told you I love you Lime..."
He blinked slowly and reached up with his good arm. His hand traced along her cheek softly and he smiled once more. His deep blue eyes met those vast jade ones and once again he saw the marionette he'd once found so long ago. Once again he found the innocent woman who'd become everything to him. Leaning forward he kissed her gently on the cheek.
"I love you Lime."
Cherry dove by Lime's side and picked up her master right out of her sister's arms.
"Otaru-sama!! Otaru-sama, you've been hurt!!"
Naro turned upon hearing Cherry's cries and saw Otaru laying there in Cherry's arms.
"Otaru!!"
He ran over and knelt by the woman's side.
"Cherry, where..."
"Oh, Lord! There's blood everywhere! Where..."
"What is wrong with Otaru?"
"Faust-sama!! Otaru's been stabbed!!"
"What?? Where?!"
With a painful groan Bloodberry toppled. The Gray Eye regarded her cooly and waited for her to rise once more.
Hanagata and the other three maidens ran back and forth across the other end of the cargo bay. They couldn't cross over because of Bloodberry's fight with the Gray Eye.
"Oh no..." Hanagata whimpered. "Otaru... Hold on Otaru!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime gently reached up and touched her cheek where Otaru had gently stroked her. It was wet... Her lower lip began to quiver and her eyes began to fill once more. She traced her fingers along her cheek and pulled away looking at them. Her fingertips were red. They were colored in Otaru's blood.
'Blood he shed for you...'
Suddenly the Angel that had faded away was suddenly back, her voice becoming louder and louder. This time she was not alone though. Someone else's voice now rang alongside her's...
'You gotta remember your love for him Lime...'
'You gotta remember your feelings you feel for him right now.'
It was Naro's. So far distant in her past that moment seemed. That night she returned carrying the maiden's heart...
'He loves you, Lime.'
'That boy loves you deeply.'
'Just remember that he'll always love you, no matter where you are, and that he'll do everything in his power to keep you safe and by his side. Where ever you may go he will follow. Do you understand, Lime? ...Remember to always remember him. Keep him close to your heart and you'll pull through.'
'Promise?'
Lime blinked back the impending tears and did her best to wipe her eyes dry. She'd promised him. She promised that she would always remember that love. She gave him her word... And she'd broken it. At the first sign of trouble she'd broken it.
Pulling her hands away she saw more of Otaru's blood on them. He'd bled to save her. Otaru'd bled to keep Lime alive... And Lime had, not seconds before, been planning on murdering him...
Shame fell onto the maiden's shoulders. Shame and guilt. No one there noticed when Lime began to sob. Otaru was gritting his teeth against the pain as Faust and Naro did their best to stop his bleeding which wasn't nearly as bad as it first looked. Cherry was preoccupied with Otaru. Tiger, Panta, and Luchs were on the other side of the storage lock and Bloodberry had her hands full with the Gray Eye. No one noticed her.
No one except that little Angel deep inside herself.
"Lime! Understand Lime! You are not something totally separate from Aisha. You and Aisha are not two separate and distinct individuals! You cannot live with out her and she cannot live with out you any more. You are both one in the same Lime. You are Aisha! You are Lime! You two never split. She just changed. She just evolved. You are still Aisha, Lime! You are still that woman who fought so long ago to find her happiness!! Don't let that place in your heart where you put all your bad feelings and emotions take over your true self! Don't let it destroy what you have gained."
The demon began to yell now, but it's voice was fast becoming faded.
"No! You are damming her! Lime! You will die with out me! You cannot survive..."
The Angel in her heart seemed to spread its wings and finally over powered the other voice.
"Don't let it fool you Lime! Choose to remember, now everything you pushed away! Remember Kaiser! Remember Satomi! Remember Aiko! Remember Katsumi and Leska!! Remember everyone and everything Lime!! Open your mind!! Aisha fought to find her happiness and she did!! Look at him, Lime! Look at Otaru! He is the happiness you sought to find!! He is what you've fought so hard to live for. He is what Kaiser died for.
"Remember Lime! You are a Gray Eye as well! You can fight! Go out there, now! Fight for your happiness! Don't let anyone or anything hurt him anymore!! Defend him, Lime! This is your chance!! Dammed be to your own safety! Go!!!"
The maiden's eyes hardened and her tears dried. Looking up she saw the Gray Eye laying waste to Bloodberry. He was the same one who stabbed Otaru, the blood was still all over the hilt of the energy weapon. Suddenly the red mists that had clouded her vision once before rose once more. Her eyes seemed to alight with fire. Reaching out she grabbed Otaru's fallen Jutte. Slowly she stood and locked on to the Gray Eye standing over her sister.
"You hurt my Otaru..." she said slowly. Everyone and everything seemed to stop. The Gray Eye turned and faced Lime. Naro, Faust, Otaru and all her sisters looked up at her. Pressing the button on the hilt of her weapon the Jutte extended outward.
"You hurt my OTARU!!" She began to scream. Memories from deep within her mind began to surface. She knew how to fight. She knew how to run. She knew how to kill...
"No one hurts him... NO ONE!!"
With a scream and a charge Lime engaged the Gray Eye. Her eyes, like two jade embers burned brightly in their sockets. He'd hurt her happiness. He wounded her joy. Now he will pay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime moved like lightning across the storage area. Never in his entire life did Faust ever see a single soul move that quickly. She was like a blur. In and out, up and around, Lime hit and slammed the Gray Eye with everything she had moving as fast as her body would take her. Hanagata took a step back and shook his head slowly. He'd never seen Lime angry before... This was almost terrible...
"YEEEEAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
Sparks flew as the Gray Eye moved just as swiftly as Lime to block and parry her blows. It was almost as if the two were dancing. Lime would come in and swing around and in a shower of sparks the two would twirl and strike and parry and lunge and then they would break apart once more. The Gray Eye Lime was fighting was based upon speed, and he had trained his system well. Lime found this no easy fight. The man was able to match her lighting fast speed with his lightning fast reflexes. Every time Lime would strike he would be there with his blade drawn and in the path of her blow.
The Gray Eye found this to be no easy fight as well. Unlike her inept sisters, Lime was a match for his skill. While he had the greater reflexes and was naturally stronger, Lime had the heart and spirit. These two things made up the difference between the two fighters. He could tell things were going to get very ugly...
Otaru did his best to sit up. Lime... She was fighting... Naro did his best to hold Otaru down. They were almost done patching him up. He was going to be ok.
"Shit!" Naro cursed over to Faust. "Why doesn't someone get in there and help her?!"
Faust shook his head slowly. "We can't Naro. This is her fight. None of us have the right to interfere. This is a matter of pride and vengeance."
Otaru shook his head... "Lime..."
Energy met hardened steel time and again. Swinging around, slicing up, cleaving the air, the combatants fought ferociously. Neither side was willing to give in to the other. Neither side was willing to lose. Lime, like a bolt of lighting shooting across the room, and the Gray Eye, standing solid like a rock defiantly against the elements, danced and moved all around the cargo bay.
The Gray Eye struck down and Lime jumped out of the way leaving the Gray Eye to scar the storage container that had been behind her. Lime lashed out with the Jutte and the Gray Eye parried with a solid return blow. Round and round they went. Their wicked dance contorted and spun wildly around and about the scattered containers. Everyone did their best to stay out of the way of the combatants. Lime did her best to keep the warrior away from Otaru.
After some time both combatants began to show signs of fatigue. It became obvious her anger and fear of losing Otaru were fueling Lime. It became obvious that only his skill and his loyalty to his Lord fueled the Gray Eye.
Lime was ashamed. Every once and a while someone saw a small shard of crystal run from her eye. It always caught the light as it fell and splashed against the ground. The Gray Eye caught every one that poured forth. Lime was deeply ashamed.
Her Otaru. She'd very nearly killed her own Otaru. The black little thought had been in her head. She'd embraced the idea. She had been only seconds away from murdering him. Seconds away from heading down that path. Seconds away from losing her one and true.
Lime made a promise to Naro. He asked her that no matter what would happen she would remember the love she felt for him at that very moment. It had been overpowering. Every thought, every word, every action had been for him. He'd been the focal point of her entire life. Her world needed only Otaru and everything would have been happy. When he was by her side warm feelings rose from the depths of herself. When he smiled to her, she almost went dizzy from joy. When he held her hand, or made her feel special in that way, it brought tears to her eyes that rose from the depths of her heart.
But she'd done something terrible. An impure thought, a darkness from deep within her soul, something she never knew even existed within herself tempted her and almost took her over. It was so evil. It was so black. It scared her so badly.
She had been wrong. From almost the start she had been wrong. The demon of her dreams, that fiery eyed creature, the dark being that she had long since feared hadn't been Ghenna. Ghenna wasn't the source of all her fear and dread. It wasn't Kisa either. The fat little man hadn't been the devil seeking her destruction.
No...The demon had been herself. It had been her own heart, her own soul. Everything dark and monstrous she'd ever thought of, ever conceived, ever done came from that little dark corner. It had been there since the beginning seeking release. It wanted, from the very moment she'd opened her eyes, to be let out. Aisha had lived a happy joyous life and this little creature dwelled in her trapped with no way out. It began to grow, ever so slowly. Every time Aisha had been annoyed, or angry or sad in those first months it grew.
Then Kaiser came
Kaiser... He'd been the source of all her pain and suffering in the beginning. When Aisha had received the warning in her dream she saw Kaiser and she saw the demon. The demon stopped when Kaiser was there. It seemed to hold off and wait while the Arch-Bishop had been around. Kaiser told her that it would be please if she defeated him and later on Aisha had thought he had alluded to Ghenna.
But the creature that had been satisfied had been the demon living in Aisha's heart. It had grown and upon release in Aisha's pain and suffering at the hands of Kaiser in that duel it became happy and crawled back into its cave deep in her heart. If it hadn't had this release, it would have grown to the point of consuming Aisha whole. It would have exploded outwards violently, more than likely killing all her sisters.
However that never came to pass. After the fight Aisha became happy once more. Her life soared from that point. Kaiser took care of her and made her smile with him. The demon grew little in this time. Aisha's bliss had been pure. It had nothing too feed off of.
But then her world came to an end. Sold to Kisa, the monster began to grow once more, this time with tremendous and terrible speed. Every time it rose from the depths to influence her actions and guide her mind she did her best to suppress it. She tried to hold back those feelings of exploding or of giving in to Kisa. Finally, one long and terrible day, she listened to the dark little voice in her ear. So broken and battered, the little monster had grown so large that Aisha's will fell to it. It had told her to succumb to Kisa. To allow him to break her. Wasn't that what she really wanted?
Once more the monster, pleased at its work, crawled back into Aisha's heart. The little demon had guided Aisha in the direction it wanted her to go and she followed. It sustained it's release and fell into pleasure once more.
Then Kisa died...Then Kaiser.
Aisha's world all but died. The monster almost exploded inside her. But instead of given a chance to mourn properly and to let the evils of her heart roll their way down her cheeks as tears, she was shot and knocked out. The time travel was what really did the most damage to Lime. The shock and pain of being tossed to and fro through the rivers and currents of time suppressed the demon, despite it's size, and locked it away. Lime pushed the bad memories away from her thoughts. She wanted to be happy, and they were making her sad. She denied knowing anything about the past. She denied knowing anything about her origins. Eventually, she came to believe her own lie. With the pain pushed back and the creature locked tightly away Lime started live and act and became what she most sought.
Happy.
But the demon didn't just go away. It grew. As Aisha bore the pain and sadness of Otaru's anger she swallowed it and fed it to the little creature staying deep inside her. It sat in her heart and grew to terrible proportions. When Naro betrayed her, the lock that time had placed on the demon's cell broke and out free came the evil.
This time it was greater than her innocence. It grew larger than her innocence, it grew larger than her happiness. The fiery-eyed demon that she feared had almost consumed her.
All Lime wanted ever was happiness, and in this quest she'd forgotten her love for Otaru and almost allowed the evil that she had deep within herself to take that man away from her forever. She was ashamed. She loved Otaru. Her heart had told her that. The angel on her shoulder told her that. Lime loved Otaru with near every fiber in her being and she was ashamed because of that. The man she loved she'd almost destroyed. She'd allowed the devil to make her forget that love she bore for him.
Otaru nearly killed himself for her. He'd nearly lost his life protecting the jade-eyed woman. He'd leapt between a blade of fire and her body. He'd bled onto her, she tears onto her, poured his heart onto her...
'...I'm sorry Lime... I'm sorry for everything...'
'I don't ever want you to go away Lime... I've never want to be without you... I was so scared... I thought I'd lost you... I thought I'd let you go with out...'
'...I love you Lime...'
The maiden's eyes hardened.
'...I love you Lime...'
The tears began to drip more and more freely. Her face became fierce. Softly she began speak...
"...He loves me. Otaru loves me. My Otaru cares for me. Even if I forgot, he still loves me. He loves me... He smiled for me, he laughed for me, he frowned for me, he cried for me, he bled for me! I forgot and he bled for me..."
She grit her teeth and her attacks began to grow in their ferocity. With a snarl she struck out savagely at the Gray Eye that had caused her heart to bleed. The weapons began to sing against one another once more. The Gray Eye found himself being pushed back. The woman had gotten some second wind or something. She was muttering something to herself, something he couldn't hear.
"He bled and I wanted to kill him. He bled for me even when I wanted to kill him..."
Suddenly she became fast and furoious. The Gray Eye was caught completely off guard at Lime's sudden out burst. She began to yell...
"He loves me! Despite myself, he still loves me!! He loves Lime!! I almost did something terrible and he Still Loves Me!!"
Rain drop as a numerous as a typhoon's and as bitter as the oceans fell from Lime's Eyes in that moment. She was facing the demon inside her. She was beginning to face her past.
"I'm only a MACHINE!! A lousy MACHINE!!" She screamed savagely at the warrior before her. "And he almost DIED for me!! He almost died for a machine!! He almost died! He almost died! He almost DIIIEED!!!"
With a powerful uppercut she snapped the energy blade out of the hands of the Gray Eyes and into the air. Pinning him against the wall she held the point of the jutte only centimeters from his throat. The warrior's eyes were in shock. How the hell?!
Lime quivered visibly. Her entire body shook as she sobbed. Her hard eyes burned into the gray ones of her enemy. The soldier raised his hands and let his shoulders drop. She'd won. It was her will now. Calmly he met her eyes and nodded once. If this was woman, then quite indeed did man make a suitable partner...
Otaru groaned as he sat up slowly. Lime had won! She was still alive! But...
He narrowed his eyes. But there was something wrong... Lime was quivering. He could see her eyes. They radiated hatred. Otaru's mind began to turn. She was going to kill that man!
The Gray Eye closed his eyes and waited. She was going to kill him...
Lime's hateful eyes burned. The jutte inched closer and closer to the man who'd hurt the most precious thing in her life. She was going to kill him...
She stopped when a voice drifted softly to her ears.
"Lime..." Otaru said softly. "Don't... Let it go..."
Sniffing she turned her head.
"Otaru..."
"Don't kill him Lime. You've done enough. Please..."
The warrior opened his gray eyes when he heard the sound of metal bouncing against metal. Looking down he saw the jutte dropped on the cargo room floor. Lime was holding Otaru, her face was buried in his clothes.
"I love you Otaru!" She cried out against her tears. "I love you! I love you..."
The young man smiled and pulled the woman free from his clothes. Cupping her soft face in his hands he smiled.
"You were wrong Lime. I don't love a machine. I've never loved a machine. I loved a woman. I always have, and now I always will..."
Despite her best Lime fell apart right then and there. She gripped Otaru tightly and became undone right in his arms. Slowly Bloodberry and Cherry knelt at Otaru's side. He looked up and read their faces. Smiling he chuckled.
"You three misunderstand. I've never loved machines you know. I've loved women, since the first day I saw you all, I've loved women. Three sweet and tender ones."
The two maiden's broke out into smiles and leaped onto Otaru, holding him as tightly as Lime was.
"Otaru... Otaru..."
"Otaru-sama! Thank you!"
Naro found himself smiling slightly. This really was sweet. Beside himself Hanagata was scowling, but holding himself back anyway. This was their moment... Panta, Tiger and Luchs all smiled and Faust nodded once. It was the leader of Gartlant that ended up breaking that moment.
"We need to go. Those reactors will go up any time now. We need to escape."
Fingering the key card Naro shook his head.
"You all will, but I wont."
"What?" Hana snapped. "What do you mean by that?"
The Gray Eye turned and started to walk back to the air lock door.
"I need to go. Katsumi was taken away."
"Shit!" Tiger swore and turned away. That was right! They'd frigging forgot about their own sister!
"Dammit!" Otaru said shaking his head slowly. "W-where'd they take her?"
The Gray Eye paused before answering. "Ghenna's chambers... They want me to follow."
Faust blinked. "His chambers? W-why..."
"He has a master control room up there. He can control the whole station from that place."
"It's at the top of Gheddon! How do you plan on getting all the way there before the reactors blow?"
Naro raised the key card. "The vacuum tubes."
Bloodberry looked up from Otaru. "The what?"
"Vacuum tubes. They're a high speed transport system. I'll be able to travel from the tram dock to Ghenna's chambers in less than five minutes."
"Oh..." Hanagata said slowly. "Well... If they're so fast... How come we didn't use those in the first place to get to the hangars!?"
"You need a key card." Naro raised the little plastic piece up. "You can't access them without this. Besides, it's one person at a time on those things. With our numbers it was faster to use the tram."
Satomi stood up and shook her head. "No no, now wait a second. You're not going to go off and pull one of those 'hero' stunts are you?! We need you here Naro! You need to lead us out!"
"Nah... Faust can do that for you. Two more airlocks down and there will sit the Spera. Ride her out and away before the blast."
"What about yourself?!"
Naro gave her a thin grin. "We'll find a way out, don't worry."
"Who's going to pilot the Spera?"
"Faust can. If not him, it think between Cherry and Luchs they'll have that thing figured out in no time."
"No! Nononononono!" Bloodberry scowled as she rose. "You can't just walk away like this!! You're leaving us alone in this place!!"
"I need to get Katsumi back!"
"Are you an IDIOT!!" she began to yell. "Naro, look who has her!! Leska!! Now if she's as powerful as you say she is, then you don't stand a chance!"
"I'm not being a hero, Bloodberry-"
"You're lying Naro! We need you with us. I want Katsumi to be at our sides right now as well but she isn't. I'm not being cold or cruel, I'm being reasonable! We don't have the time left anymore. If you go off you risk dying when those reactors blow! You need to stay by our side. Katsumi knew that. That's why she told you to go on without her."
"That's why I'm not going. You can take care of yourselves from here on out. Our great plan has been reduced to the original. Do you believe in fate? I do. I think mother fate is telling me something. I've got to go one step above what Kaiser did. I'm not only going to free you all, but I am going to kill he that will pursue you when I do. I'm not going to gamble that Ghenna will fall out of power when this station collapses.
"I'm going now. Through those airlocks and a few more storage rooms lies the Spera. Board her, open the outer door and leave. Just be careful to make sure you've sealed the ship tightly before you unseal the doors. You'll get sucked out into space. We're in a very high orbit around Terra II, the atmosphere is down below us. Don't open the outer doors on any of the storage rooms either. Take my word for it, space is as cold as it is lonely."
Bloodberry watched him walk off and scowled. "You're trying to be a hero."
Naro smiled. "Maybe I am... I'm trusting in fate on this one. I am not going to leave anyone behind, and I'm going to kill the devil..."
Lime sniffed. "What do we do about the Gray Eye?"
"What Gray Eye?" he said slowly.
Turning where the warrior Gray Eye once stood everyone saw. He wasn't there anymore. He was no where to be seen.
Naro opened the airlock and turned giving everyone a cocky smile.
"Sayonara."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the door locked shut Tiger turned to Faust. "Lord... Why didn't you try and stop him? He's committing suicide."
The blonde man shook his head and helped Otaru onto his feet.
"I believe in fate as well."
"Otaru?"
The wounded man smiled as he leaned against his maidens for support. Lime held him tightly up.
"He's a fool and an idiot, but if I wasn't hurt like this I would be doing the exact same thing he is doing. I guess that makes us both fools and idiots but I have this belief; You never leave someone behind. You always gotta try and save everyone. That's what I believe anyway... Let's get to the Spera."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro sat silently in the tram. It was carrying him further down the track to the station at the end of the rail. From there he would be able to use the vacuum system to reach Ghenna's chambers and, hopefully, kill him before the reactors blow.
He leaned back and thought about what Bloodberry said. Impossible odds, certain death, it sounded like a typical hero's predicament cliché. Naro didn't want to be a hero though. He didn't want to become a savior for the land. It just wasn't something he desired to be.
"Then what the hell am I doing here?" he asked himself. "Saving Katsumi?"
He didn't really even like her that much. She was as pretty as the others (even more so in some areas) but her personality turned Naro off. He wasn't sure what exactly about it that it was, but there was something subtle in there that made Naro turn away whenever he spoke with her. Maybe it was her tone of voice...
"If I don't like her... Why am I doing this? Why am I going back?"
The answer escaped him all the way to the tram station and into the vacuum tubes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faust cried out in pain and dropped to one knee.
"Dammit!" he cursed silently. One more airlock and they would be at the Spera. One more and they would have been home free.
Tiger and her sisters ran to Faust and dropped to his side.
"Faust-sama!!"
"Lord!!"
"Faust!!"
The blonde man groaned and held his side. There was a deep and burnt groove running along his rib.
"Energy fire..." he said slowly. "I'll be fine." He looked up and raised his voice. Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry circled around Otaru and raised their fists.
"Who's there?! Who's out there?! Come out now!!"
At first there was silence. Only the slow rumble of the engines could be heard. Lime suddenly gasped. There, standing half hidden in the shadows, was the biggest Gray Eye she had ever seen. He looked like a match even for Kaiser. He dropped the rifle he was holding and strode boldly into the light and smiled. Lime's eyes went wide with fear. She could recognize the insignia on his collar. Bloodberry, Cherry, Panta, Luchs and the others all saw the same thing and became pale.
He was a Bishop. He went by the name Nishan.
"So close..." Faust said slowly. "Can you six kill him? I'm out of the game as is Otaru."
Lime's expression began to harden. The bishop was standing in the way of her happiness. It wasn't going to take six to kill him. She reached for her belt and felt around for Otaru's jutte. She looked down with shock as she felt nothing.
"What?" she said to herself. Cherry looked over.
"Onee-chan? What's the matter?"
Lime swallowed slowly. "I left Otaru's weapon on the floor of the other room. I never picked it up."
Bloodberry strode forward and smiled. "I guess I'm in for a challenge. You're the last thing between the ship and us, ne?"
The Bishop laughed. "You were ripped up by that puny little Gray Eye. Look at yourself, bloody and bruised. Your body has become a punching bag and you still challenge me?"
The cocky woman spat onto the ground. "You idiots all talk the same. Same goddammed thing every time we converse. A challenge strung into a question. I'm getting tired of it."
Smiling the Bishop strode forward. "You're mocking me? Hahaha!! You are stupid woman. You are nothing compared to me. I will destroy you and-"
Tiger, Luchs and Panta strode forward. "She's right. Will you just shut up! You're such a cliché and we're tired of it. Raise your fists, we're attacking!"
The Bishop was speechless for the last moment he had before the six women closed in on him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro stepped onto the platform leading into Ghenna's chambers and slowly made his way forward. This was it. He smiled. This was it and he still didn't know why he was here...
The door into the chambers opened. They depicted an angel falling from the skies locked tightly onto a demon. It looked like the demon was winning...
The first thing that greeted Naro's eyes Ghenna sitting in his control room. Behind him stood Leksa. In front, chained tightly up, knelt Katsumi. The Gray Eyes were no where to be seen. Leksa's only visible eye burned itself into Naro. It glittered almost as brightly as Ghenna's own two. His were shinning like diamonds. They were bright and terrible. Naro became slightly unsettled. This was it. Too late to go back now.
Silently he strode forward and came to a stop ten feet from the Tyrant's chair. Katsumi looked up from the floor and saw him for the first time. Her expression of pain seemed to deepen. Naro did his best to avoid her gaze. She didn't think he stood a chance... Another wasted life...
Finally the old man spoke.
"Keinaro... My poor Judas..."
Naro said nothing. The old man continued.
"You won't even greet me any more? What kind of son do you think you are?"
Naro continued his silence. His hand trailed up to his belt and he placed it on the hilt of his knife.
"You're going to kill me Naro?" The old one said bemused. He began to point. "Look at him Leska. He's going to kill me! Look Katsumi. Your hero has come. He's come to save the day!"
Ghenna began to laugh uproariously. Naro could feel Leska's eye on him. She was burrowing into his thoughts. She was trying to read his mind... The Gray Eye did his best to hide himself from her roving eye, his thoughts were going to betray him. Naro began to chant softly to himself. He had to hide his thoughts. For Katsumi's sake if anything, he had to hide his thoughts.
Ghenna finished his laughter and knelt forward. "Go on Naro. Strike me down. Let's see what you are truly made of. I want to see what kind of assassin I have raised."
Naro gripped the handle of his knife tightly and glared at Ghenna. One shot? Was he being given one shot? His eyes narrowed. He was going to make this one shot count.
"Come on Naro. Kill me."
There was a long pause. Naro stood unmoving. His thoughts he masked as tightly as he could. He was afraid of Leska. If only it wasn't for Leska...
After a minute Ghenna frowned. "What is this Naro? You won't even strike me down? What kind of-"
Faster than either Katsumi or Ghenna could follow Naro snapped his knife out and activated the energy saber. He brought the whole thing down upon Ghenna's head with as much force as he could put behind it. Both the old man and the captive woman were caught totally by surprise. The whole attack lasted less than a quarter of a second- a testimony to Naro's speed training.
How ever instead of hitting soft flesh he came in contact with something hard. Naro had been fast, probably the fastest he'd ever been in his whole life, but Leska had been faster. She'd followed his body signs and had caught glimpses of his thoughts through the confusion Naro had set up in his mind. Instead of hitting her master, Naro struck an energy barrier. His blade was less than a centimeter from Ghenna's forehead. Throwing her arms out she caught Naro up and flung him away. With a cry he sailed across the room and landed hard. Ghenna laughed.
"You can't out shine my blessed Leska Naro. Don't even try. Her psychic powers have evolved so much in the last twenty years. Energy barriers and flinging things across rooms are so basic to her now."
Katsumi began to quiver. Naro... He was a dead man...
The Gray Eye swore as he climbed to his feet. He missed his chance. So much for the heroic bit now... Leska's eye burned into him once more...
He was done for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly Lime pulled her body up from the floor. This bishop was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was stronger, faster and smarter than any thing she ever saw in the past. All around her, her sisters rose slowly from the floor themselves. This was not working. Even as they worked together they were still not match for this... this creature!
"...Shit..." she whined out softly. "Shit...Otaru..."
The bishop laughed. "I have to admit, to have come this far you all impressed me. But here is where I now draw the line. None of you will be able to get out of here alive!"
Otaru held on to Hanagata tightly. "Bloodberry, Cherry, Lime..."
Slowly all six were on their feet once more and rushing in for the attack.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro screamed in pain as he felt another blow strike his body. Leska didn't even need to use her hands to inflict pain. Naro was being struck about by the painful energy flashes the woman's mind generated. There was a snap, then a quick flash and Naro was once more rolling about in pain.
"Shit!!" he screamed between his teeth. It hurt worse than anything else he ever felt. It was like lightning up and down his body.
[snap][BAM]
"GAAAH!!"
[snap][BAM]
"God Daaaha!!"
[snap][BAM]
Katsumi did her best to shield her eyes.
"No, no! Lord! Please have pity! Don't kill him, please!! Leska-chan! Don't stoppit please. Just stop it!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime was almost to her breaking point. Her body was sore and aching at every joint, muscle and ligament she could imagine.
"Oh god why..." she groaned. They were so close...
Otaru gritted his teeth and shook his head. It was obvious the women had the spirit but all the spirit in the world wasn't enough to match the pure skill of this Bishop. He had to have been on of Ghenna's best. One of his elite. Lime rose to her hands and knees and gazed forward dizzily. She blinked at the Bishop standing before her. Dammed man... dammed, dammed man... Why...
Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes focused on something else...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katsumi began to shake and scream against her chains. The flashes and snaps were becoming so numerous now it was like one giant, constant glow. Naro screamed shrilly as the pain coursed its way up and through his body. Ghenna laughed.
"Not very heroic Keinaro. Not very heroic at all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bloodberry landed close to her sister with a grunt. Lime turned to her and propped her up. An idea had found its way into Lime's head.
"Onee-chan, Onee-chan! Look! Get up onee-chan!"
Bloodberry groaned and sat up. "Ooog... Lime, what is it?"
"Look!" the blue haired maiden said pointing.
Bloodberry focused her eyes.
"What... what are you..."
"There!" she said almost excitedly. "There! Right there. The biggest thing in this entire room!!"
"W-what, you mean the..." The bigger woman furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "W-what the hell do we do with that Lime..."
Lime smiled as realization dawned on her sister's face. "Lime... Lime you don't mean..."
"Yes Bloodberry-chan. That's the only way."
"But, but what about Otaru?! What about ourselves?!"
"We get Otaru and Hana and Faust to the lock. Maybe even get the others in there. We lock it and throw it. I don't care about myself. I want Otaru to be safe! That's all I want."
Bloodberry swallowed. "Lime..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro hung in the air breathing heavily. Leska's mind held him there. His arms were tightly pinned to his sides and his legs also appeared bound. Lord Ghenna rose smiling.
"I do believe this is it Naro. This ends now. You are a traitor to Mesopotamia and to myself. Now you will pay the price."
Katsumi struggled against her bonds savagely. "Lord no! Please Lord Ghenna!! Don't kill him! Please don't! It was my fault! It was all my fault!!"
"Shut up!" the old man snapped bitterly at her. "My Leska-chan found out about this plan from your own thoughts. The saw everything that happened. You and Keinaro are both guilty of treason. I am just taking care of Mr. Hajima first. I have something special planned for you later on..."
Katsumi quivered terribly. "...Lord..."
Despite the pain Naro smiled weakly.
"Stupid shit..."
Ghenna turned. "What did you say?"
Naro started to chuckle. "You are an idiot. There will be no later, Ghenna. We destroyed the coolant lines to the reactors! This entire place will destroy itself in a matter of minutes. This city and everyone on it will be destroyed as will your dreams of conquest!"
Naro began to laugh. "Who has the last laugh now?"
He stopped when he heard Ghenna laughing along side with him. Wait a second... he wasn't supposed to find this funny...
"Naro you IDIOT!!" The tyrant was roaring in laughter. "Do you really think it would be so easy to destroy this city? I have to admit you were clever in taking out the coolant valves but you, in no way, stopped the flow of coolant into the reactors. The piping for that run up through the reactors, not on the outside. You destroyed a few safety valves, nothing more. Why do you think there haven't been any alarms going off since?"
The faces of both the captives fell. This couldn't be true, could it? Katsumi shook her head slowly. She was sure those were the main valves... she was sure of it...
"No, no my dears, the controls all reside up here. You guys haven't done nothing. All of this has been in vain! You stupid, stupid people!" The old man leaned back and almost exploded with laughter. Naro collapsed against the psychic restraints that held him up. Shit...
Katsumi shook her head. "I... I was so sure those were the right ones..."
"Heh, you and everyone else onboard this station. You all were supposed to think that for this very reason. Now why don't we just keep this little secret to ourselves, ne?" He broke out laughing once more. Naro was getting sick of that laugh...
"Leska..." The Gray Eye said softly allowing her full access to his mind. "You don't have to do this Leska. I want to help you. We want to help you. Your sisters are here fighting to escape. They wanted you to come with them. It's not too late. You can still be happy..."
The woman stared at Naro impassively with her dead eye.
Ghenna's chuckles subsided and his face became grim once more.
"It's time Naro. Now you will die."
Katsumi jerked up and began to scream.
"No! No no, Lord! Please, Stop! Have mercy, I beg of you! Please Lord Ghenna!! Please, oh god all mighty please!"
The old man ignored the woman. "Kill him Leska."
In a flat deadpan voice she responded. "Hai."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cherry, Tiger, Luchs, and Panta nodded slowly. That was the plan. Slowly it circulated around the women. As one group kept the Bishop busy the others circulated the plan. The Saber dolls would escape with their master and Otaru just in case they met resistance in the next room where the Spera was situated. Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry would stick together. It became clear that this was the only way.
The Bishop wasn't stupid. He knew that they were planning something. They were keeping him busy. What ever it was didn't have him worried. What could they possibly do to him? He's a Bishop, and one of the best Lord Ghenna had to offer. There was nothing they could possibly do to kill him.
Otaru sat on the sideline with Faust.
"What, what are they talking about Faust?"
The taller man shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just hope that what ever it is, it will work."
Otaru nodded slowly. "Me too..."
Hanagata watched the maidens fight and joined Otaru's nod. "Me three."
Lime stood up to her full height and rose her arm. "Ok! Let's do it! Everyone go!!"
Suddenly all six of the woman began to circle the Bishop. They moved quickly and quickly had him surrounded.
"The hell is this?" He said raising his fists. Lime swung in behind him and swatted him on the back of the head. With a roar he spun around and swung but found himself hitting nothing but air. Suddenly he felt another slap against the back of his head. He reached around and spun his body once more. Bloodberry made a face and pulled away from his body as he continued running around him. Suddenly there was a solid push at the Bishop's back and he stumbled forward. He screamed as he regained his balance and spun.
"What the hell is this?!" He spat.
[Smack]
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
[smack]
"Stop this now!!"
[smack]
"Graaaaagh!!!"
Otaru shook his head. "What are they doing? He'd just getting more and more angry!"
Faust narrowed his eyes. "They're herding him. Look. They're moving him across bay."
"Herding him where?"
Faust cocked his head slightly. "It's not to the airlock, they're pushing him away from both of them..."
Otaru sat up. "...But toward the outside door! Faust! You don't think they're going to-"
"They just might Otaru! Oh Lord..."
Lime figured that the Bishop was close enough to the door. It was time to finish this damn thing up.
"Everyone, NOW!"
Bloodberry came around and gave the Bishop a solid kick in his back sending him flying. His combat system was going crazy. Six targets and three were almost always behind his back. It was difficult to keep up and alert.
The Saber dolls broke away from the Bishop and sped towards Otaru, Hanagata and Faust.
"Let's go!" Panta said reaching them first.
Otaru felt himself being hoisted up. "W-what? Were are we going?"
"Safety." Was all Tiger told him. A moment later they were all making their way for the airlock.
"Wait! What about Lime and-"
Luchs pushed Otaru faster. "Go now Otaru! They'll be fine, move!!"
The Bishop got back up to his feet and turned. His back was to the massive outer door of the station. In front of him Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry stood resolutely. Their fists were raised in fighting stances. Behind them he could see the others...
His eyes went wide. They were escaping!! With a roar he lunged forward but found himself held back by the maidens before him. Cherry stepped to the side and tried her best to trip the man up while Bloodberry charged forward. Lime grabbed the man's legs and tried to hold him down.
"No! You're not going anywhere!" She cried out.
The Bishop lost his balance and toppled over. The three maidens were over him in a moment.
"Stay down!"
"You're staying here!"
The tall man looked up to see the others reaching the airlock. That's what it was. The three here were sacrificing themselves so that the rest would be able to escape.
"No!" he grunted. In a surge of strength he rose and sent the maidens on him flying. Digging his hands into the ground the man surge forward and onto his feet.
Tiger turned and saw the huge Bishop charge. Grabbing Hanagata roughly she tossed him into the airlock.
"In you go!" stepping in herself she hit the lock on the door. Moments before the huge monster reached the airlock but he was too late. The door had just closed. With a scream he slammed his fists against the reinforced metal. Tiger watched him through the glass of the window and made a face.
"Sucker~"
Otaru groaned and shifted on the floor where he'd been deposited. His wound was open once more.
"Lime! Bloodberry! Cherry! Where are they?!"
Luchs turned to him. "They're taking care of that monstrosity. They'll join us after he's dead."
"What?" The young man rose and looked out the window.
The Bishop scowled. Fine... He turned to the control panel on the door.
"If that's the way you bitches want it then this is how it's going to be." He said calling over his shoulder. He clenched his fist and slammed it into the control panel. With a shower of sparks and a small explosion the he destroyed the panel. Cherry rose.
"No!"
Whirling on them he pointed his finger. "This is how you wanted it! Now it's just you three and I." His eyes shone brightly. "You can't leave here alive now! You're trapped!"
Bloodberry shook her head. "No... No way!"
Lime scowled. "Liar. Then you would be trapped as well. You have something..."
"Clever girl..." The Bishop said smiling slightly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card. "This will work that last door you came through and allow you access to the hangar. From there you can steal one of those ships and escape."
"Y-you locked that last airlock!?" Bloodberry say incredulously.
The Bishop placed the card on the ground and smiled. "Come and take it."
Lime slowly backed up. "No..." She said softly. "Sisters... You know what to do, ne?"
Swallowing both Cherry and Bloodberry nodded.
"If we lose that key?"
Cherry raised her fist. "It won't matter. We'll die for Otaru then." Her face hardened and her eyes narrowed. "I am willing, for Otaru's sake."
Bloodberry turned to her sisters. They both were willing to sacrifice themselves for Otaru. If this was the only way to kill this Bishop and allow him to escape...
Bloodberry nodded. "Let's go then. For Otaru. Let's get rid of this asshole."
"I pray fate is with us..."
Cherry smiled. "If she loves us then we'll hold Otaru again some day..."
The Bishop shook his head. "What..." He said softly.
Lime backed her self up against the wall. "Hang on." She told the Bishop with a slight smile.
"What?" He said with a puzzled look on his face. Lime stepped aside and revealed a large lever on the wall behind her. Realization dawned like the morning sun the face of the Bishop. She was going to vent the entire cargo hold to space! She was opening the main door!!
"NOO!!!"
Lime reached up and pulled the lever down. Suddenly the lights in the room turned read and all the klaxons went off. Slowly the outer doors began to open. Lime bolted away from the door and grabbed onto some loose piping. Cherry and Bloodberry broke up and did the same. The massive blast doors slid open quickly. The only thing that separated the compartment from the cold of space was an energy barrier.
The City was in ultra high orbit around Terra II. It was taking photos of the planet's surface and taking readouts of the atmosphere. All that there was outside the energy barrier was open space. Lime looked out and shuddered. It looked so cold and lifeless... As the Bishop scrambled for something to hold onto the energy barrier faded. In an instant the entire chamber turned into a giant vacuum. The escaping air pulled and grabbed at everything in the chamber. Lime closed her eyes and held her breath. This was it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leska looked into Naro's eyes. Her one eye burned into his thoughts. She began to talk to him. Her voice was massive and overpowering.
'HAJIMA, KEINARO...'
'Leska-chan...' he returned.
'WHO ARE YOU?'
'Who am I? Hope maybe. At least that's what I'd liked to have been.'
'HOPE? FOR WHO?'
Naro smiled. 'Everyone. I remember telling your sisters I wasn't trying to be a hero... I suppose I was lying. Suddenly I want to feel like one.'
'A HERO? A HERO NEVER DIES.'
'No. That's not true. I've been told of one hero who helped saved six lives at the expense of hers. She became trapped because she put those others before her. She died.'
Leska became silent.
'Do you know what her name was Leska? That woman went by Jade."
Leska stared at him for a moment before tightening her grip around him. Naro groaned as he felt himself being squeezed. 'INDEED SHE DIED. SHE HAD BEEN A FOOL.'
'Her sisters still love her, you know. They still love that woman.'
Leska fell silent once more.
'They want her back someday. They want to hold her and see her one day..."
Leska narrowed her eye.
'TELL ME ONE MORE THING NARO...'
'Yeah?'
Leska cocked her head. The overpowering feeling the voice had faded slightly.
'Why did you come here? Why did you return? Surely not for my sister..."
Naro swallowed and found himself smiling. As he met eyes with Katsumi his lips moved and the answer flowed freely forth. Naro suddenly realized why he really was here. He spoke aloud.
"Because it was the right thing to do..."
Leska narrowed her eye and said no more. Instead a bolt of energy began to form in front of her. It was bright and shimmered blue. It was a psychic lance- a bolt of pure psychic energy. Naro watched as it gained in size and length. Katsumi began to scream. What Naro said dawned on the woman. It was the reason she promised to stay with him until he defeated Ghenna before their plans changed. She began to thrash against her bonds violently and scream with everything she had inside herself.
Naro swallowed as his breathing picked up. He was going to die... This was it. He came back to save Katsumi, now who was going to save him? Leska's singular eye burned into Naro for the last time. The psychic bolt was at full size. The woman positioned Naro in the path of the bolt and readied it.
"Goodbye Naro." Ghenna said smiling. "You could have been great. Oh well, no regrets, eh?" He turned to his slave maiden. "Kill him."
Leska nodded once. "Hai."
Almost faster than Naro could follow the bolt shot forward headed right for his body. Katsumi threw her head back and screamed.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lime!!" Bloodberry yelled over the din. "LIIME!! The Keycard!"
The blue haired maiden looked to the direction her sister was pointing. There it was. The string it was attached to had caught itself on some scrap metal in the piping just above Lime's head.
"I got it!" she yelled back to her sister. Lime reached up against the pull of the escaping air and reached out for the key card. It was slowly slipping away. If she didn't get it they would stay trapped in that airlock once the door closes. They would die in there when The City explodes.
Lime turned just in time to avoid a loose piece of scrap metal that whizzed by her head.
"Lime!!" Cherry cried out.
"I'm fine!!" The plucky maiden reached up and for the key card once more. It was slowly slipping off the scrap. She reached out with her fingers as far as they would go.
"Almost..." she said straining against the pull of the air. "Almost..."
With a snap and a flutter the key card broke free of the piece of scrap...
...and went straight into Lime's outstretched palms. Grinning she held the card out triumphantly.
"Got it!"
As the wind whipped through Bloodberry's hair she smiled.
"All right! Now how do we close this door?!"
"Where's all the air coming from?!" Cherry screamed.
"We left the service vents open!" Lime called out over the din. "We're venting the entire station!!"
"Close the door! Close that door then!!"
"How?!" Bloodberry called out. If they stayed like this much longer they would freeze.
"It's on a timer!! We'll just have to wait this out! "
Otaru was glued to the airlock window. The lock itself was sealed away from the vacuum of the storage room. He banged his fists against the window.
"LIME!! CHERRY!! BLOODBERRY!!"
Lime was about to respond to her sister when she felt something suddenly grab onto her. Looking down her eyes widened. It was the Bishop. He screamed at her and began to crawl his way up her legs.
"LIME!!" Bloodberry screamed out to her. Lime closed her eyes and screamed. Kicking her feet about savagely she tried to shake the man off of her. It was no good. The Bishop held her even more tightly than before. Her hands were like vices.
"NO!!" If the doors closed and he was still inside he would kill them all. Lime seriously doubted the airlock doors that Otaru was hiding behind would hold the powerful Bishop back for long...
Her thoughts were cut short by a final piece of scrap metal. With a slam it crashed against her fingers holding her tightly to the piping of the bay. Lime screamed in pain. The heavy scrap had crushed her fingers nearly flat. In her agony her grip in the keycard loosened. With a terrible snap the card whipped away from Lime and out the bay doors...
"NO!!!" Bloodberry screamed. That had been their only chance! They were stuck in the cargo bay...
Otaru fist slammed once more against the glass window of the airlock.
"No! Lime..."
With only her good hand holding her to the pipe Lime looked at her broken one. It was smashed completely. She couldn't even move her fingers. With a snarl the Bishop grabbed hold of Lime's belt and pulled himself up.
"Lime!" Bloodberry screamed. The green eyed maiden looked up at her sister. Bloodberry looked so sad...
Lime remembered what the angel and devil had promised her... One gave her happiness and survival... The other gave her pure joy and love... one promised life, the other love...
Lime swallowed. She'd chosen love...not life... She turned her head downwards to the vast field of stars...
From deep down the angel that had guided her called out to her once more.
'...your choice is obvious...'
Lime looked back up to her sisters. As Cherry held to the pipes tightly she saw Lime smiling up at her... Her mouth moved slowly. Bloodberry's eyes shot wide open. No... She wasn't going to really...
Cherry didn't understand what Lime was telling her. It... It almost looked like a...
Bloodberry screamed out.
"LIME!! NO!!"
Letting her hand relax Lime slipped free from the piping. Spreading her arms wide she let the wind carry her.
It almost looked like a... goodbye...
With a sudden rush Bloodberry and Cherry watched Lime, the Bishop still attached to her, fly out past the bay doors and into the vast void of the stars.
"NOO! LIIIIIIME!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A moment. It was only a moment. A heart beat, maybe two. A blink of the eye. That was all it was, but for Otaru the moment stretched into two, then three, then five. Time slowed. Time stopped. In his chest his heart seemed to stop. His stomach seemed to twist violently. He didn't notice when he broke and bent his nails back when his hands dug into the wall. He didn't notice the fire in his shoulder anymore.
"L..."
Tiger stood dumbfounded. Panata took two steps back and collapsed in shock. Luchs covered her mouth and turned away. Faust closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. Hanagata lowered his and silently dug his hands into the hard metal of the wall.
"Li..."
Otaru's face twisted. It suddenly filled with pain. The blood drained and his color paled. His eyes twisted and screwed while his mouth turned into a savage grimace. His face looked as if someone had just torn his very heart from his body...
"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally the bay door timed out and the energy shield rose once more. Bloodberry and Cherry felt their bodies settle as the strong blast of wind vanished. Silently the huge bay doors closed and the lights returned. The bay was quiet once more.
Cherry stirred first. Slowly she rose to her hands and knees. She opened her eyes and shook her head slowly. The warmth was returning to her body. Her endoskeleton was quickly repairing any damage the severe cold did her body. She was dizzy...
Groaning she slowly rose to her feet.
"O-onee-sama?" Where was Bloodberry?
Looking around she saw no one.
Cherry's voice grew scared. "Onee-sama?! Bloodberry! Bloodberry-chan, where are you?!"
She almost thought her sister had joined Lime out among the stars when she saw a flash of red by a piping structure next to a container that had been bolted down. Cherry stumbled over as best she could; her muscles and joints were still very frigid. Bloodberry was lying face down on the deck unmoving.
"Onee-sama!!"
Cherry dropped to her sister's side.
"Onee-sama! Onee-sama!!"
Slowly her sister stirred. Cherry nearly collapsed with relief.
"Onee-sama... You're all right."
Bloodberry said nothing. Her arms were pulled close and her hands clenched.
Cherry furrowed her eyebrows. "Onee-sama..."
She reached out and slowly rolled her sister over. Bloodberry was weeping. Her eyes slowly rolled up and met her sister's. Cherry's expression suddenly fell. As the tears started to form along her deep eyes and her lip began to quiver she reached down and pulled her sister close.
"Onee-sama..." She said weakly before joining Bloodberry.
The high ceiling and large empty floor made the chamber seem much more vast, empty and hollow than it really was. Their sobs, however, still echoed and reverberated loudly and lonely against the walls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lime was well clear of the pressure shielding. She could feel her body trying to swell and burst. Space was a cruel and terrible place. Without an atmosphere no air pressure could exist. Her body was as pressurized as The City had been. When the pressurized storage lock vented to space the air escaped and tried to equilibrate the pressure inside the chamber and outside the lock. Out in space her body was trying to do the same thing, only she didn't have any means for the pressure to release itself. So her body was trying expand and blow up to in order to release the pressure inside of her. The only thing that held her together was the endo-system inside her body. The net held everything back. It gave her warmth against the freezing cold and did its best to filter the co2 out of her body.
How ever even that skeleton was no match for the bitterness of space. It was slowly failing. Lime was dying. The woman curled her body up tightly. It was so cold...
Lime was shivering almost violently. She felt the trails of the tears that she had shed earlier freeze on her cheeks. Her lungs burned. They told her to inhale. To take a deep breath, but every time she tried they would not inflate. In her ears and her temples her heart beat. She could feel every pump her little, powerful muscle beat for her. Even that, however, seemed to be slowly fading away.
She was blind. The fluids in her eyes had long since frozen solid. Her hearing was next. The hand that had been flattened by the loose piece of scrap was numb. She shouldn't feel anything in it. Her other hand was quickly joining its partner. She floated free out in the vast cold, the only thing saving her from the terrible heat and fire of the sun was the shade of The City. The up there, the sun would have burned her into a cinder in little to no time.
Despite all that; the blindness, the numbing cold working its way up her hands and feet consuming her, the lungs that burned deep inside her, the pain of her body trying to adjust to the sudden pressure change, she was smiling. Eyes half lidded and pupils white matching the color of her skin her mouth wore a soft smile. She curled her self a little tighter and let the small smile spread.
She'd defeated the Bishop. She spread her arms instead of clenching her fists and she'd won. Lime tried to swallow, but found that the fluids in her throat had frozen it closed. Oh well... I didn't matter any more anyway.
Her sisters were going to be all right, she was sure of it. Otaru was going to be all right...
Her smiled widened. Otaru...
He was going to be sad, Lime knew he was, but she also knew that someday he would smile once more. Her precious Otaru...
The Angel had been correct. Never in her entire life had Lime been happier. She'd finally found the bliss and the happiness she always sought before. She was saving everyone she loved. She was dying for everyone she cared about. Lime was no longer ashamed anymore. She'd let go for everyone. Now she was going to die for Otaru. There was no reason for her to be ashamed anymore. This was the greatest thing she could have done for him. This was the greatest act of love she could have shown him. She loved Otaru...
Her arms and legs had frozen solid. Lime's heartbeat was slowing. Her core temperature was dropping. Lime didn't have much longer to go. Her mind slowly began to slow down along with the rest of her body. Her thoughts became simpler and more generalized as her mind began to die. The feeling of happiness that had flooded her was almost overwhelming...
Otaru...
Everytime she saw his face in her mind's eye she would feel a warmth pass through her.
Her Otaru...
She wasn't afraid. She wasn't ashamed. Her entire life hadn't been wasted. While she lived she made a single man happier than he had ever been in his entire life. She'd touched a heart and opened its' eyes. She'd shared her happiness and shared it from others in return.
Otaru...
Otaru...
Otaru...
She closed her eyes one last time. Her shivering had all but stopped. The muscles were frozen solid. Her smile still softy etched on her face...
Lime had only one regret. She would have loved to live longer with Otaru. She would have loved to become a mother.
A mother...
Lime would have loved to bear a child of her own and raise it with her Otaru... That would have made her very happy...
Otaru...
Otaru...
Otaru...
Her heart finally stopped. Her mind was fast becoming numb. The last she ever saw in her thoughts was Otaru's face. The sun was shining and Lime could tell it was warm outside. Behind him fields of rice waved green and shimmered in the afternoon light. He had his large rice hat cocked back and was rubbing his arm across his forehead wiping the sweat away. His face was lit up in a warm, happy smile. He was smiling at her...
Aishiteru, Otaru...
A single tear lay frozen along her eye. In the zero gravity it had frozen itself away from her face rather than down her cheek. It stayed there like a tiny, misshapen icicle reaching out from her eyes to the stars, to the warmth that lay beyond, to her Otaru...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Canta per me ne addio
quel dolce suono
de' passati giorni
mi sempre rammenta
La vita dell'amore
dilette del cor mio
O felice, tu anima mia
canta addagio...
Tempra la cetra e canta
il inno di morte
a noi si schiude il ciel
volano al raggio
La vita dell'amore
dilette del cor mio
O felice, tu anima mia
canta addio...
La vita dell'amore...
O dilette del cor mio...
[translation]
Sing for me, Farewell.
Those sweet sounds
Of the past days
Will always remember me
The life of the love,
Beloved's of my heart,
Oh happy you, mine soul,
Sing slowly...
Strengthen your lyre and sing
The hymn of death.
As the sky opens to us
They fly away into the rays of the sun.
The life of the love,
Beloved's of my heart,
Oh happy you, mine soul,
Sing farewell...
The life of the love,
Oh Beloved's of my heart...
~Canta Per Me
[Sing For Me]
Noir
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Softly, in the cold and the silence of space, Lime died.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With one light on in one room,
I know you're up when I get home.
With one small step upon the stair,
I know your look when I get there.
If you were a king up there on your throne
would you be wise enough to let me go?
For this queen you think you own
wants to be...
A hunter again!
I want to see the world.
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life, again.
So let me go!
The unread book and painful look.
The TV's on, the sound is down.
One long pause, then you begin.
Oh look what the cat's brought in!
If you were a king up there on your throne
would you be wise enough to let me go
for this queen you think you own
Wants to be...
A hunter again!
I want to see the world
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life again,
So let me go!
Let me leave!
For the crown you've placed upon my head feels too heavy now!
and I don't know what to say to you but I'll smile anyhow...
And all the time I'm thinking, thinking!
I want to be a hunter again
want to see the world
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life again!
So let me go!
I want to be a hunter again
want to see the world
Alone. Again.
To take a chance on life again
So let me go!
Let me leave!
Let me go!
~Hunter
Dido
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro cringed. His time had come. He waited for the bolt of the energy. It would come swiftly...
...But it never arrived. Behind his closed eyelids he could see a bright source of light. It stayed in front of him and didn't move. Deciding to risk a glance he opened one eye. There, in front of him, he saw the most beautiful thing he ever saw in his life.
The blue energy bolt that Leksa had fired hovered inches from Naro's face. Its iridescent blue energy swirled and spun about as it held its spot there in space. Circling it was a pure white coil of energy. It seemed to wrap itself like a snake around Leska's bolt holding it tightly in its place. It was holding the bolt meant to kill Naro back. The Gray Eye swallowed. What in god's name was that!?
For the first time in almost twenty years Leska's face was a mask of shock. Something had wrapped itself around her bolt and was holding it back! The pale woman took a step back and furrowed the eyebrow that could be seen. What was this?!
Ghenna limped forward, his face grave. Something was countering his Leska's own power! What on all of Terra II was that?!
A noise to their left cause all three to turn.
Katsumi knelt there wrapped in her chains. Her once soft eyes were now hard. Her expression was a mix of sorrow and rage. From her forehead lightning and a bright white light seemed to flow forth. She stared at the blue bolt Leska had made glared hatefully. It took Leska, Naro and Ghenna half a second to all come to the same conclusion. The Gray Eye shook his head slowly.
"Kat... Katsumi's a..."
Ghenna stepped forward and smiled wickedly. "She's a psycic!"
Leska shook her head. It really couldn't be true! Katsumi NEVER showed ANY signs of having this latent psychic she was seeing now. She had always been normal. A tad unusually smart, but otherwise perfectly normal! There wasn't any way...
But as she looked over to her bold suspended in front of Otaru she shook her head. It... It had to be true... As contrived as it seemed, the evidence was obvious. Katsumi had been, all these years, a sleeper. She'd been one with powerful powers unknown to even herself.
The blonde woman shook her head savagely and closed her eyes tightly shut.
"I didn't want this!!" she yelled loudly. "I didn't want all this hatred! I didn't want all this death! We used to be so happy, Leska! You remember! I know you do. I see it in your eyes! I see it every time you look at me..."
Naro clamped his eyes shut and shook his head. In an explosion of light and energy the psychic bold was crushed by Katsumi's own energy. A ring began to sound in the air. It was a high pitched whine that seemed to be emanating from Katsumi on the floor. Naro grimaced and shook his head. The damn nose seemed to echo through his head.
Suddenly he felt Leska's grip on his body loosen. He looked up and over at her.
"I want us to be happy again! I want all of us to be happy, Leska!! I love you Onee-chan! I still love you despite everything!! That's why I just want this to stop! I just want all of this to stop!!"
Naro listened as the ringing became louder and watched Leska fall to the floor. Her hands where tightly clamped around her ears as if she was trying to block out the sound. He could feel Leska's grip in him loosen. Katsumi was using some sort of psychic feedback. It was tearing Leska's head apart!
"Just make this all stop!! Just please! I want it to go away!! All of this!!"
The consoles and the control panels that Ghenna used to control the entire station, one by one, started to explode. In a showers of sparks and glass the sensitive electrical equipment were overloaded and burst. Katsumi was overloading everything!! Ghenna turned and moved behind Leska. He put the pale woman in between himself and the consoles to his left.
"Get up!" He shouted to her. "Get up now! Protect your master, your life depends on it!!"
But instead of rising as he commanded Leska sunk even lower. Katsumi's feedback was becoming unbearable. She opened her mouth and a scream flowed out.
Katsumi threw her head back and let go. "Make it STOOOP!!!"
Her body suddenly exploded and began to burn with cool, white flames. Leska's scream increased in volume and pitch. Her voice became almost as shrill as the whine that echoed through out the chamber. Just as the controls for the reactor coolant valves blew into a million pieces Leska's grip on Naro failed. Landing hard the Gray Eye hit the floor with a grunt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down in the reactor spaces the coolant valves received broken command from the control console telling them to remove every ounce of coolant from the main cores. With a mechanical whir the coolant control valves did what they had been told. With in minutes every ounce of coolant had been pulled from the reactors. Where Naro and Katsumi's plan left some coolant inside the tubes to slow the eventual meltdown this drained the reactors entirely. With the main control panels in Ghenna's chambers un-overridible, The City had just entered its last 10 minutes of life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally the ringing went away. Katsumi, who hadn't moved an inch since the start fell back. She was exhausted. Her first trip into her previously unknown psychic powers exhausted her. She's spent more than she could handle. Leska's hands left her ears as she too knelt where she was on the ground breathing heavily...
Naro watched her a moment before realizing what he had to do. She was the biggest threat to Katsumi and himself. There was a reason behind that. Scowling he redrew his knife and readied it. Now was his only chance. She was weak...
Scowling the Gray Eye leaped up and charged forward.
"YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
The energy saber shot out from the knife hilt. Charging while screaming from the top of his lungs he brought the powered blade to bear. Leska looked up at the last moment. Naro was charging straight for her. Her eye went wide. She was still too weak to do anything to him. Katsumi had hurt her bad. The psychic feedback used Leska's own power against her.
Naro met Leska's eye one last time as he came close. He pulled the blade down and back and prepared for a stabbing lunge. For the first time in his life Naro saw fear in the eyes of Leska. She was spread out wide open for him to attack and to kill and there was nothing she could have done about it. She pulled back as best she could and covered her head. Naro dived and with a fearsome yell struck forward.
"Oh no..."
The energy blade came into solid contact with flesh and bone and pierced all the way through. Blood splattered all over the wall as Naro drove his weapon into it pinning his victim onto it like a butterfly to a collector's board. A second later it was over. Naro let go as the blood ran down the length of his weapon. There was a dry sucking sound as the lung that the blade pierced tried to breathe in air. A choke and a gasp followed the shocked expression on the face of Naro's kill. Naro had firmly nailed the former Lord of all of Mesopotamia to the wall. Lord Ghenna gave a strangled sob as he looked at the saber hilt sticking out of his gut. He leaned in close and scowled.
"You're through. Your reign ends here...lord..." He reached out and grabbed the tyrant by his throat and pulled his head up and pointed it towards the pale maiden on the floor gawking at the terrible scene that was unfolding behind her.
"Look at her Ghenna... Look at the woman whose life you tore apart. Look at the life you tried to shatter. Look at her. I want you to know, that from this moment on, she's free. She's free 'lord'... She'll never be a slave again. Her life is her own..."
Naro leaned forward and whispered harshly in the dying man's ear.
"Her life is her own..."
Naro turned and left the wicked man there pinned to the wall. He wanted nothing more to do with him. I was all over now... It was finished. Naro walked slowly over to Leska and knelt by her side. She blinked at him and stared with a confused expression stamped onto her features. She wasn't sure what to do anymore... She failed Ghenna, she should be sad but, for some reason or another, she wasn't. She was scared of Naro.
When the Gray Eye charged, instead of striking her down he leapt clear over her body and plunged his blade into Ghenna who'd been kneeling right behind her. If he was able to slip past her and kill the man from which all the fear in her life was derived then he too must be terrible...
Yet... when he looked at her she didn't see anger. She didn't see the spite she was so used to seeing in the eyes of other men. His Gray Eyes had become soft. She swore she could almost see...
...love? ...In them. He reached his hand out to her and she shrank away. What was this? He... The only other man in her entire life to look at her that way was Kaiser, but Kaiser was dead! This man wasn't Kaiser! Why was he looking at her like that? What, what was he doing?!
For the first time in Leska's life she couldn't see into another man's mind. It was almost as if she had forgotten to do so...
When Naro saw her pull away from his hand he frowned. Cocking his head slightly he met her eyes. She was scared... When he spoke his voice was soft. There was no sting or sharp order to it like what the pale woman was so used to.
"You're scared of me? It wasn't too long ago I was terrified of you. Heh, I guess the tables have turned, huh? It doesn't matter any more Leska. I'm not going to hurt you. I can't say I've never wanted to hurt you, but from this point on you're safe from me. I am on your side. I'm following in the footsteps of Kaiser. Remember him? He tried to save you and now I will as well." Naro rose and started to turn away.
"You are free Jade. Your life is your own. Live it now."
Katsumi knelt in the same spot Naro sad seen her in when he first walked into these black chambers. Her eyes were closed and her head moved up and down with her breathing. Hearing footsteps she opened them and turned up wards. Seeing Naro she smiled softly. The Gray Eye returned the smile and knelt beside her.
"Naro..." She said softly. "You came back for me."
"A whole lotta good I did. You're the hero Katsumi. You saved us all."
The maiden smiled and leaned against Naro's body.
"No... It was you in the end. You're the one who saved us."
Naro shook his head. "I took advantage of the moment. I saw Leska down and realized that was my chance."
"You don't understand Naro..." She said warming up to the man. "You don't know what you've just done for us... You see we could never kill him because-"
She was cut off as the overhead alarms went off. The lights in the room went red and a voice spoke over the loud speaker.
Cherry and Bloodberry stopped when the overhead lights went red once more. Fearing the blast door was about to open once more they shot up to their feet. They paused when they heard the voice.
Faust took Otaru's shoulder. The young man looked up slowly between the sobs that wracked his body.
"Listen!"
There wasn't a single person on board The City that didn't hear the warning being called.
"ATTENTION TO ALL, ATTENTION TO ALL. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY REACTORS HAVE REACHED CRITICAL POINTS. CORE MELTDOWNS ARE IMMINENT. ESTIMATED FIVE MINUTES REMAINING. WARNING: ALL PERSONS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE TO THEIR CLOSEST AVAILABLE ESCAPE SHIP. ESTIMATED FIVE MINUTES AND COUNTING BEFORE CORE DETONATION. ALL PERSONS ARE ADVISED TO ESCAPE NOW. ATTENTION TO AL, ATTENTION TO ALL..."
The message repeated it self over and over again. Bloodberry and Cherry turned to one another and rose swiftly.
"Onee-sama, how are we going to escape?"
"I...I..." Bloodberry turned to her sister shaking her head slowly. "I don't know..."
They both turned and made their way to the airlock door. Cherry looked through glass while Bloodberry examined the smashed panel. Tiger saw her sister peering through the glass and shot up.
"Cherry!!"
The purple haired maiden saw her sister rise and she smiled. She did her best to shout through the glass.
"Tiger! Tiger are you all ok?"
Luchs and Panta made their way forward as well.
"Onee-sama!"
"Cherry! Cherry we're all Ok! Everyone's safe."
The woman smiled and turned to Bloodberry.
"Onee-sama, they're safe. They made it!"
Bloodberry reeled back as she shocked herself on the control panel. Her face became grave.
"Cherry, I- I don't think we're going to be able to... Cherry I think... Che..."
Cherry's smile faded. "Bloodberry..."
"Cherry... we're not going to be able to follow them... We're trapped in here."
The women on the other side of the door saw the expression of their sister fall. Their excitement quickly dissipated as they watched Cherry become grave. Their sister turned back to them through the glass.
"S-Sisters..."
Hanagata rose and walked over to the door. "What's going on? H-Hey! Cherry! Bloodberry! What the hell are you two doing out there. Hurry up and get in here! We're running out of time!"
Cherry said nothing and simply gazed at Hanagata through the glass. A second later Bloodberry appeared. Her face wore the same expression as her sister's.
Hanagata blinked. Why were they just staring at him. "H-hoi! What are you two doing? Stop standing there looking sorry for yourselves and get in here!"
Panta took a step back and shook her head.
"I...I don't think they can, Hanagata...I think they're trapped on that side."
Otaru's eyes shot wide open. Spinning up from the other side of the airlock he rushed the door.
"What?! WHAT?! N-NO!!! Cherry! Bloodberry!!! Get in here!! Get in here NOW!!"
Both the maidens stood there silently. Otaru shook his head once more.
"No NO!! Get in here NOW!!" He reached up and slammed his fist against the window. "NOW!! God dammit!! I'm your master!! I'm your master!!!"
Cherry averted her eyes and turned away. "Bloodberry... are you sure there's no way?"
The maiden with the fiery hair shook her head. "This door is sealed shut. We don't have the keycard, so the other one's useless. The only other door that will open is that outer door."
Otaru was screaming now. He beat his fists on the glass. His wound didn't seem to bother him anymore. He was becoming hysterical.
"Bloodberry..." Cherry said quietly.
Otaru finally paused and planted his palm flat on the glass.
"CHERRY!! BLOODBERRY!!! Bloodberry!! I don't... I don't..."
"Otaru..." Cherry stepped up to the glass. Gazing at her master in the eyes she planted her palm over his on the other side of the glass. Pressing up against it she shook her head slowly. Bloodberry, following in suit, did the same. Otaru brought his other palm up and pressed it against the glass trying to press all the way through to Bloodberry.
"No... No... I've lost Lime...I've lost Lime forever..." His tears ran freely all the way down his face. "I don't want to lose you two! I don't want to loose you!!"
Overhead the alarm went off once more. Four minutes. Softly Faust spoke.
"Otaru... we need to go."
The young man whirled on him. "N-no! NO!! I won't leave them! I'm not going to leave them!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naro turned to Katsumi. "Come on. We'll have to talk about this some other time. We need to escape!"
The woman shook her head slowly. "I'm so tired, Naro. I can't go anywhere."
The Gray Eye scowled and rose up. "Come on, we don't have a choice. We need to go. This entire place is about to blow."
Katsumi closed her eyes. "What happened? I thought what we did to the reactors didn't do anything? Why are they over heating?"
The man wrapped his arms under and around Katsumi's body.
"I don't know. Must have been something that Ghenna over looked. We need to go now Katsumi."
The woman groaned and turned. She was exhausted both physically and mentally.
"Onee, Onee-chan. Leska-chan..."
Turning up her eyes met her sisters. Leska was staring at both of them. Confusion and fear was still stamped into her single eye. Katsumi smiled weakly. Naro bent down to her side.
"Katsumi..."
Slowly the woman extended her hand out. Opening her palm she reached for her sister.
"Onee-chan... Come with us, please."
The pale woman drew back from her sister's hand. Distrust was also becoming strong her eyes reflecting off the fear.
"Onee-chan, please. Come with us. I don't care about before. I don't care about what happened to us. We can start over. We can still start over. Time is still with us."
Leska blinked slowly.
"Leska-chan, we're sisters. We're still blood. Nothing's changed. All these years haven't changed anything. I still love you. I've always loved you."
The woman still lay cringing in the corner. Katsumi could still see the fear in her eyes. The blonde woman had never seen her sister this terrified before. She couldn't figure out why she was so afraid. They'd finished their job and now they wanted to take her along with them. They wanted to take the woman away from this place. Why was she so afraid. They didn't mean her harm... Didn't she still love her sister?
"Leska." Naro said softly. "Come with us, please. Follow us. We don't want to hurt you. I didn't want to kill you, Leska. You've been innocent in this entire ordeal. You've got a home now. A place to live. I-I know a guy who'll gladly take you in. No one cares about what you've done, or who you did things to. We want you to come with us. We want you to be happy. Come with us. Don't stay here and die. Don't end your life like this."
Slowly, Leska narrowed her eye. Naro could feel that familiar buzz inside of his head. Her fear was fading; she was reading his thoughts, she'd suddenly remembered. Sitting up in Naro's arms Katsumi stretched out her arm as far as it would go.
"I'm not leaving here without you Onee-chan. I'm not leaving here with out you by my side. We made a promise we would go together. Hand in hand we would leave this place. I almost broke it today, but now that you're here I won't, I can't. Either I'm going to die with you in my arms or we're going to escape this place together. There's no other way about it."
Naro turned to her in shock but said nothing. She was serious. He could see it in her tired eyes. She wasn't going to leave her sister. Nothing he could say would change that. He turned to Leska.
'Come with us Jade...Let's get out of here...'
The pale woman stared at her sister's hand a moment longer. Then, very slowly, she rose to her feet. Katsumi's face broke into a smile.
"Jade-chan..."
Slowly and unsure Leska took a step forward. Naro was sincere, his thoughts were pure. He believed in her sister. Leska still remembered back in their first years. She remembered how both of them had been. One had been kind and heart warming, one who would bend over backwards for any of her sisters. The other had been small and shy. Reserved and held back.
Even thought the years had added a few inches to their heights they had borne their souls lower and lower. They changed. The small shy woman that Katsumi had once been faded. The pure and kind woman that had once been Leska died. There were no illusions in Leska's mind. She knew that the woman she had once been was dead and would never come back. The woman that Katsumi had once been was gone as well.
Ghenna had torn them apart. He'd destroyed them. But now even he was dead and with him the woman that Leska had once been was also dying. She needed that man in order to survive. She fed off of his hatred and rage. She needed his rage and ambition. As Leska slowly made her way forward she could feel things starting to change. She going to change once more. Her fear was fading away, her distrust was slowly moving out of her body. Her sister and this Gray Eye had just opened a door for her. For the first time in a long time she could see light coming through this door. She could see hope at the end of her tunnel.
She didn't want to die. She didn't want to go to her grave yet. She wanted to live. Leska and this man were there for her. Maybe... just maybe...
Slowly Leska reached out for her sister's hand. Katsumi smiled.
"You can make yourself Onee-chan. We can start over."
Slowly their hands came closer and closer together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I won't leave them Faust! I'm not going to let them slip away again!"
Whirling back to the glass Otaru pursed his lips and did his best to blink back the tears.
"I'm not leaving you!! I'm not leaving alone!"
Bloodberry shook her head.
"Get out Otaru! Just get out of here! Run, you don't have much time left! We don't have any time left! Just go!!"
"I'm not leaving you!!" He screamed back.
Cherry shook her head. "Go! Otaru leave! Lime wanted you to be safe, WE want you to leave. Get out of here!"
"Why aren't you listening to me?! I said I AM NOT LEAVING YOU!!!"
Bloodberry closed her eyes.
"Go Otaru..." her voice became soft. "Please. You're the only one who'll remember all these years. Please go."
Cherry pressed her forehead on the glass. Her eyes had fallen. "We'll always be with you Otaru. We'll never leave you. You're going to carry us with you forever. We'll always be in your heart..."
Smashing his fist against the glass Otaru screamed.
Both of the maidens leaned forward. They spoke together one last time to their master, their love. Their voices rang out in unison, their eyes reflected the same sadness, their hearts beat at the same tempo, the same rhythm...
"Aishiteru, Otaru..."
The hysterical young man didn't feel it when Faust brought his fist down onto the back of his neck. His screams cut off abruptly as he passed into unconsciousness. His body, already pushed well beyond its limits, succumbed gratefully to the darkness.
Bloodberry and her sister watched their master fall. Turning away they could almost hear his body strike the floor. Turning back they saw Hanagata pick up his love from the deck of the lock. Once more Cherry placed her hand against the glass. Hanagata looked up and met her eyes.
"Take care of him Hanagata. It looks like you won..."
The little man swallowed. Blinking back tears he pressed his palm against the glass to hers. He shook his head.
"I will..."
Slowly Cherry smiled. Bloodberry nodded.
"Keep him happy Hanagata, otherwise my ghost will come back and kick your ass."
Wiping his eyes dry he smiled. Faust slowly turned and opened the lock behind them. There, sitting proudly on the deck, sat the Spera. The leader of Gartlant turned and nodded to the maidens behind the glass. Each of the saber dolls went up to the glass.
"Sayonara...Bloodberry-chan...Cherry-chan..."
"I'm going to miss you all...I'm going to miss all of you..."
"Thank you...Thank you for everything... Onee-chan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as the two hands were about to come together Leska turned her head to the darkness at the other end of the room. There was a sudden crack in the air. Suddenly, Katsumi's hand disappeared in a shower of blood. Screaming in pain the maiden pulled what was left of her hand back. Naro spun and turned to Katsumi's hand. It was gone. She was cradling a bleeding stump.
"What- What the hell?!" He turned to scream at Leska. What the hell was she doing?! Why was she hurting her own sister?! There was another crack and something struck the control consoles above Naro's head. He covered himself just in time to shield against the rain of sparks that fell.
"The hell?!"
Leska's face became grave as she rose to her full height. Staring into the shadows she shook her head slowly. It couldn't be...
A figure detached itself from the shadows and slowly strode forward. Naro looked up and his eyes went wide. It was Ghenna... but then he was young... And he looked like Leska...
"What on..."
It was a young man. He looked only to be a tad younger than Otaru. He wore a wicked grin on his face. He looked like a cross between Leska and Ghenna. In his hands he held a high caliber pistol.
Naro slowly rose up. "What the fuck is this?"
The pale woman became even whiter as she saw the boy walk towards them. He turned down to Katsumi with scorn on his face.
"Stupid, whimpering bitch!" he spat. "I guess that's what you get."
Leska shook her head. "L-Lucien..."
"Shut up!" He turned and pointed the gun at the woman. "Just shut up you worthless little whore. A fine job you did protecting father!"
Naro blinked. "F-father!? Who the hell are you?!"
The kid grinned and spread his arms. "I'm the first naturally born child on this planet, thank you very much."
The Gray Eye shook his head. "N-naturally born?"
The boy narrowed his eyes. "Unlike you test tube freaks, I'm the only one who has a father AND a mother. Born and bred, pure and natural."
The Gray Eye knelt beside Katsumi who was whimpering softly cradling her bleeding arm.
"I don't believe it. Who, who's your mother, eh? Who's your father?!"
The boy hefted the gun once more. "You don't listen do you? That man you pinned to the wall was my father. And my mother? Huh! This sick and pale creature here carries that name." He pointed to Leska.
Leska's face hardened. "Lucien..."
"Shut up woman. You have no right to talk to a man." Naro saw her wilt away from her son. He turned to Lucien and scowled. The rumors that had been floating around had been true... Ghenna did carry a child with Leska...
"Pity you aren't a man, little boy!"
The boy scowled. "Oh, real funny Gray Eye. You're a real joker. I can't believe a piece of shit like you killed Ghenna."
"Just doing what the women helped me to."
"Ha!" the boy began to chuckle. "I'm surprised they aren't dead yet. Ghenna's maiden chips must be broken or something."
Naro narrowed his eyes. "Maiden chips? What the hell do they have to do with anything?"
"They never told you, did they?" Lucien smiled. "If any of the women kills Ghenna every woman on Terra II who has a maiden chip dies. The chipsets explode."
"What..."
"Why don't you think my worthless mother killed Ghenna the first chance she had? Ghenna had a device inside of his body that was meant to detonate all the maiden chips with in it's range when a carrier of one killed him. She would have killed not only herself, but her sister as well. Poor little Katsumi...Poor, poor little girl. They were all lucky you stabbed the old bastard. You don't have a chipset to activate that device he had."
The boy broke out laughing. Naro scowled. This was what Katsumi had been trying to tell him...
"You little shit! This isn't funny!"
"On the contrary, Gray Eye, this is hilarious. My father is dead. Now it is my turn to rise into his place. I will make this kingdom shine once more. And you, the man who so graciously killed him, will be shot for treason. Then I will create more women of my own. I will move, grow and conquer. I will put my pitiful father to shame! I'll kill anyone that gets in my way."
"I still don't see what was so funny."
The boy grinned maliciously. "You, who thought everything was finally over and who thought things were going to be Ok will now die at my very hands. How's that for luck?"
Slowly Katsumi looked up at the boy. Her face wore a terrible scowl.
"You terrible, terrible little brat! You disgust me. You're a spoiled rotten."
The boy raised the gun and pointed it at Katsumi. "Regardless, right now I have the power to decide who lives and who dies now. No one can stop me anymore. I am God."
"You are nothing..." The blonde woman said weakly.
Lucien grinned like a gargoyle. "You are dead woman. Goodbye."
The sound of gun fire filled the room once more. Lucien's aim was true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone filed out of the airlock one at a time. Silently they proceeded out hearts heavy at what they were leaving behind. Hanagata, carrying Otaru, out went last. He turned and met the eyes of the women one last time. He locked gazes with Cherry, then Bloodberry for one final moment. Softly, Bloodberry nodded. Hana gave a slow one in return.
"Sayonara."
And with that the airlock door slammed shut. He was the last person to ever see the two women alive. Looking away and biting back the tears he turned and headed to the ship. Naro must have been right. He could see Faust working the controls inside the ship. The engines were powering up.
"WARNING: ESTIMATED TWO MINUTES UNTIL STATION DESTRUCTION."
Swallowing heavily he turned and walked to the starship. ...He won? It was an empty victory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"KATSUMI!!"
Naro screamed and pulled the woman to him hoping to move her out of the way of the bullet. Unfortunately Lucien's aim was perfect. There was nothing Naro could have done to move the woman out of the way of the bullet. He was too late.
Katsumi's eyes went wide as she saw the bullet approach. Time seemed to slow down. She could see the spinning point of lead slowly making its way to her body. She watched helplessly as the bullet came closer and closer. The closer it came the slower it seemed to travel...
Suddenly it struck her- The bullet really was slowing down.
She blinked as the spinning lead tip came to a stop about a foot from her chest. She turned to Naro and saw the look of shock on his face. He was seeing the same thing. The bullet hovered only a foot from Katsumi's heart spinning rapidly. It had been stopped. Lucien gaped in shock. What the hell was this!? Katsumi blinked almost dumbly. She didn't stop the bullet...
A sound to his their left cause Katsumi and Naro to turn. There, laying on the floor, was the mask that Leska had been forced to wear. She dropped it. The pale woman walked forward, away from the vile thing. For the first time in his entire life Naro saw both of the dead eyes the woman was famous for. Her face was perfect. There wasn't a scar or blemish on the entire surface- it was a testimony to the endoskeleton she bore. It had healed her to perfection.
Katsumi gasped. Her face was whole once more. The long, jet-black hair was a startling contrast to her pale features. The woman's shining blue eyes came alive. A scowl filled her face. Naro could see fire burning inside her.
The bullet, that had held its place in front of Katsumi for so long, began to dissolve into dust. The woman watched it fall and break apart into nothing right in front of her.
"You may be my child..." Leska spoke slowly. A ringing began to fill the air. "But you will never be my son!"
Lucien began to blink and shake his head.
"What the hell? Cut that out! Stop that now! Know who you're talking to!!"
As Leska walked past a console the entire unit exploded. It wasn't just the screen, or a few key boards like before. The entire console unit exploded shooting metallic shards and glass everywhere. None of the shards came close to Naro or Katsumi.
"I know who I'm talking to!" She spat back. "I'm talking to a heartless and cruel little boy. I'm talking to an uncaring little wretch!"
"Don't you call me a wretch, bitch!!"
"Shut up!!" Another console exploded into a plume of fire. "You have no right to speak! You have no right to say any more!! I've put up with you my entire life! I've watched you grow up, I've seen your heart sour! I've had enough! I'm sick of it!"
The ringing became louder and the boy began to shake his head left and right.
"I said shut the hell up woman!!"
He began to fire the pistol at the woman. Naro watched as the bullets all came to a stop in front of the psychic. She slowly waved her hand and each one of them exploded into dust.
"Put that down!!"
The ringing became intense and Lucien began to scream. A moment later the arm holding the gun exploded in a shower blood.
"GAAAAAAAAAH!!!" The boy screamed and held what was left of his arm up at the joint. He slipped and fell hard. Katsumi turned away. The spoiled young man's blood was pooling on the floor.
"I am doing this because it is the right thing to do. You are a blemish, Lucien! You are the last thing here holding me down. You are the last part of my past that I need to cleanse."
The boy moaned agony and pushed himself away from the demoness approaching him.
"You're black. You tried to do the one thing I would never have allowed myself to do no matter what Lord Ghenna would have sent me."
Lucien felt himself back up against the wall. His mother stood over the young man and pointed her palm at him.
"You tried to kill my sister." Lucien looked up at the angry face of the woman above him and saw something he'd never seen before. Two crystal clear pearls ran their way down her face. She was crying...
"Tell your father when you see him that I am going to live free for the first time in my entire life. Sayonara Lucien."
The ringing became louder and louder. Lucien gripped his head and began to scream.
"No! no, mother! Please! Don't!! NO!! GAH- AAAA-"
There was a sudden snap in the air and Lucien fell silent. The young man fell over, his pupils contracted, his body limp. Leska had killed him. The last of Ghenna's legacy had just died. Katsumi turned to Naro and buried her face into his clothing.
"Naro..."
The Gray Eye turned to the woman.
"Katsumi... your arm..."
The woman looked down at her broken appendage. The bleeding had already stopped.
"I... I think it's going to be all right..."
"There's blood everywhere... It's all over you, all over your clothes..."
The woman turned to Gray Eye and smiled. "Naro... I'll be fine."
He looked at her and frowned a moment. Nodding his head he bent down and gently lifted her up.
"As you say... May I ask you something?"
"Mmm?" As the adrenaline she slowly fell back into exhaustion.
"Why did you start warming up to me all of a sudden?"
The woman smiled. "You came back for me. You almost died for me..."
Leska slowly walked back to the rest.
"It's done..." she said slowly. Naro nodded slowly.
"Then let us get out of here..."
Overhead the Alarm went off for the last time.
"WARNING. CORE MELTDOWN IS IMMENENT. ALL PERSONEL EVACUATE. CORE MELT DOWN IS IMMINENT. WARNING."
Leska's eyes went wide. "We don't have time! The nearest pod is too far away!"
Naro turned to Katsumi but found her to be asleep. The exhaustion had finally gotten the better of her.
"Leska!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly the Spera pulled away from the massive floating city. Hanagata buckled Naro into one of the seats and took an adjoining one.
"Faust? How do you know how to fly this thing?"
The blonde man smiled slightly. "Memories. I've piloted more ships than I can even remember"
Out side the cockpit window Hanagata watched as fire began to bubble out from the central part of the city.
"When that thing crashes into the planet..."
"It won't." Faust said calmly. "Those reactors will pretty much evaporate the entire city."
Hanagata strapped himself in and braced himself. He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
"Women...God dammed women..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leska pulled Naro and her sister close.
"Hang on Hajima. Hang on tightly. Don't let my sister go."
The Gray Eye, becoming confused, nodded slowly.
"Hai..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gently Bloodberry and her sister Cherry held one another. The entire lock was starting to tremble and shake. They knew the reactors were just about to blow. This was it.
"Time to visit Lime..." Bloodberry said softly. Cherry buried her face into her sister's bosom and sniffed back tears as best she could.
"Otaru..."
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Leska closed her eyes and brought her hands together. A light began to emanate from her body. Naro watched as a globe of energy spread from the light and encompassed himself and Katsumi.
"What..."
The only ones witness to this was the dead boy against the far wall and Ghenna, still pinned to the wall. His eyes, once famous for their glitter and shine were now flat. Never again would they catch the light and sparkle. They were dead, now and forever.
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In a flash the reactor space exploded. The fires traveled up the piping and through the entire station. Bloodberry and Cherry held each other tightly one last time before the flames enveloped the entire chamber. Piece by piece the entire city that had once been the pride and joy of the Mesopotamian kingdom exploded. The fires ran their way up Gheddon, Ghenna's once terrible tower, the truest sign of his power, and exploded. Suddenly everything in the station seemed to dim. Then, in one powerful blast, the station exploded to dust in one powerful blast of light and energy.
Faust had been correct. When the station exploded the fires consumed almost everything. Nothing really survived. In Japoness it was nighttime. The old man who ran the shop Otaru used to look at stepped out side to see a rain of comets fall from the sky. The terrible satellite that had just been up there had blown up. The old man smiled and watched the beautiful firestorm decorating the sky. Countless little fireballs streaked across the night sky.
The man who sold candy to all the children looked up and grinned. The Black Omen that had hovered in the sky was gone. Emperor Leyasu had told all the people of Japoness to try and ignore the giant floating city in the sky; to go about their lives and normally as they could. He said they would try their best to get rid of it, what ever it was. People did do their best to go on as best they could, but the massive thing turned the entire city form a happy and thriving place to a place full of fear and foreboding. Over a week ago strange people with guns tore through the city while massive, terrifying sky-ships prowled above searching the ground for something.
The candy man smiled. He was glad the evil thing was finally gone. Leyasu had been true to his word. Watching the sky smiling he saw something peculiar. An orb, a bright, shimmering, sky-blue orb was descending from the sky. It seemed to float down like a feather from the stars. Walking out into the street he watched the shining blue ball gently fall closer and closer. The other people on the street turned and pointed to it as well. What was that?
The man took a step back as the orb came closer and closer. It looked like it was going to settle on his street! Everyone stepped back and watched the brightly shining orb hover down to the ground. The entire street lit up as the sphere settled. The man took another step back and shielded his eyes. The orb was getting brighter!
In a flash and a shimmer the entire thing exploded in light and then suddenly disappeared. Everyone on the street turned away to protect their eyes from the blinding light. When they turned back, they saw the last thing they'd expected. A marionette stood on the ground. She was gorgeous. Her skin was pale, eyes a shimmering blue, her hair, raven. She wore all black clothing that caught the wind and waved gently in the breeze.
Beside her knelt a man holding a second marionette that seemed to be...
...be bleeding...
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Hanagata sat silently in the cockpit of the ship. That was it. It was all over. They were dead... He leaned back and looked over to Otaru. Even while out cold the young man looked saddened. It was as if he knew exactly what had just happened...
Hanagata closed his eyes. All the women that he had hated not too long ago were now dead. The women who had threatened to take his love away were gone forever. Not too long ago he would have prayed and hoped for this moment. Not to long ago he would have hoped for this very moment. They were gone, Otaru was his. He would never see those blasted women ever again...
He opened his eyes once more and stared out the window. Funny... all those feelings felt like he'd felt them so long ago. They seemed so foreign... He would have done just about anything right then and there to see those women, to have had them there with him. They'd changed him. Their love changed Hanagata Mitsurugi. Shaking his head he looked out the window one last time.
It was such an empty victory... Such an empty and cold victory...
"Goodbye Cherry, Bloodberry... Lime..."
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The ship who's name had been Latin for hopes slowly re-entered the atmosphere of Terra II. The mighty kingdom of Mesopotamia had fallen. Ghenna, lord of it all, was dead. Three maidens who had sacrificed their lives for the one man they loved more than anything else in the world were gone. For some, the nightmare had finally ended. The sun would rise and they would find that it was all over. They could finally wake up to the morning. But one small, little man who had done nothing but fight with everything in his body to save the three women he loved more than his own life would wake up to find that his nightmare was just beginning...
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I am so high, I can hear heaven!
I am so high, I can hear heaven!
Whoa but heaven...
...No heaven don't hear me.
And they say that A HERO can save us!
I'm not gonna stand here and wait!
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles!
Watch as they all fly away...
Someone told me love will all save us...
But how can that be? Look what love gave us!
A world full of killing... and blood-spilling,
That world never came!
And they say that A HERO can save us!
I'm not gonna stand here and wait!
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles,
Watch as they all fly away!!
Now that the world isn't ending, its love that I'm sending to you...
It isn't the love of a hero, and that's why I fear it won't do...
And they say that A HERO can save us,
I'm not gonna stand here and wait!!
I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles!!
Watch as they all fly away!!
And they're watching us!
(Watching us)
They're watching us!
(Watching us!)
As they all fly away.
And they're watching us!
(Watching us)
They're watching us!
(Watching us!)
As we all fly away.
And they're watching us!
(Watching Us)
They're watching us!
(Watching us!)
As they all fly away.
Whooaaaa whoooaa...
~Hero
Nickleback, Feat. Josey Scott
Spider-Man Soundtrack
Contact at The_Dark_Phoenix@hotmail.com
