_.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:.
New, what do you own the world?!
How do you own:
Disorder, disorder.
Now, somewhere between
The sacred silence,
The sacred silence and sleep.
Disorder, disorder, disorder.
_.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:.
The air, there was something about it that made him shiver. The shadow cast by his tall form danced across the dew-wet grass, while small drops of water rained from the skies. Zechs walked on, silently, with his eyes always forward, and his head held high. In truth, he did not know what was going to happen to him. He could not believe that after everything Suzuka was going to kill him.
Slowly, as he walked past the compound gates, the drizzle turned to rain, and the rain turned to a storm, as lightning split the great sky in a fury much like the fury he held safely locked within his heart. There was something strange about this night, something he could not place. It was as if, instead of the smell of his own death, he sensed that it would be someone else's. He could only hope that his senses - his instincts - were very wrong.
As Zechs moved away from the soldier outposts and into the brush, the rain slowed down, then stopped altogether. As for him, he was soaked to the very bone, with water droplets falling from his platinum-blonde hair. He did not really care, he only knew that he would use what strength he had to try and talk some sense into Suzuka. If not, he would be forced to fight her, although, he knew that it would be a short battle. He knew what the outcome would be.
The grass was green, and shining in the moonlight which had cast its shadows over the waning evening. Everything now had a silvery glow; it was refreshing, and peaceful to see the beauty amongst the turmoil.
As he neared an empty valley which was well-hidden amongst the brush, his ice-blue eyes darted from the left, and to the right. He saw nothing, although, he could not rely on his sense of hearing, as there was much movement due to the quick bout of rain. The storm clouds were flying overhead; a telltale sign that there would still be more rain to come.
Zechs stood to the far right side of the clearing. It had just struck the hour of 7:00.
It was his sign. Even amongst the smell of fresh rain, he could smell the faintness of cherry blossoms and juniper. She had come, directly on time. He was right. When he turned to look in front of him, there, standing on the full opposite of him, was Suzuka. Twilight Suzuka.
Suzuka bore her stare straight into his soul. She was here to test him, and nothing more. That was all her orders allowed. She was to see how true of a man he really was. Her plan was to rush at him full force, but stop, right before the blade were to come in contact with his side with precision and accuracy. If he would try to run like a coward, she would have the reason and means to kill him. If he were to stand with his weapon ready, she would simply leave, until her orders were to do else.
As much as Suzuka stared into him, he stared straight back. He was not about to let this woman see any fear that hid long asleep within his soul. He did not fear. He would not fear. It was as simple as that.
For five minutes, both of them stood there, sizing each other up. Suzuka stood perfectly still, with only the wind to move her clothing and her hair. Her right hand, where a ring on her middle finger attached to a red glove-like cloth, held her wooden katana, in which he never saw her without. The silence was broken, when Suzuka raised her sword up to the heavens, and then brought it down, so she held it out perfectly at her right side. Zechs drew his sword, and held it out to the side she would be attacking on to hopefully parry the blow that was about to happen.
The rain stopped totally, as a full silence engulfed the two. Zechs had decided not to try to talk to her, her mind was made up, as was his. He could feel the primordial blood flowing within him, the adrenaline rushing through his veins like lightning through water. It was invigorating, and somehow, horrifying. Was he turning into a heartless soldier that lived only for the thrill of the kill?
A single instant passed, and Suzuka's feet were quick. She began to run toward him, at a full speed, with her sword held out. Zechs' feet were hardly as quick, but he began to run for her as well, a mean look within his icy eyes. The space between them was running out, and neither of them faltered. Seven feet. Six feet. Five feet...
It happened quickly. A sound of slashing, a rush of blood. Warmth spread all over Zechs' body, and he saw red, for blood covered his eyes. He was disoriented, had he been hit? Was this his death?
He felt a limp body fall into his arms, and he felt his fingers brush against a fresh, gaping wound. Had he hurt Suzuka? How could this be?
He rubbed the blood away from his eyes, and almost screamed at what he saw. What he was holding was not Suzuka, for she stood a few feet away, her boken covered in blood and her expression horrified. He did not want to look down. He knew now who he held.
Noin lay gasping for breath within his arms. Suzuka had turned her sword upward, to hold it to his neck, but as she did, she slashed from Noin's navel to her neck. Zechs' eyes were wide, as he looked down to the bleeding victim in his arms.
"NOIN!!!" He was frantic. Her blood was all over him, it was covering the grass underneath them. He knelt in it, and was practically bathed in her life's fluid. It was then that the rain began to fall, there was now so much water, but it hit softly.
Noin looked up to him with half-lidded eyes. "I... couldn't let you die, Zechs..." She gasped for air, as more blood seeped from her open chest. Suzuka's sword had cut her lungs, and blood was slowly coming from Noin's mouth. "I... have always loved you.... I...." She gasped. "I... was destined... to love you.... Please... remember... that....and... forgive me..."
Suzuka watched the scene with a face of shock, as the rain slowly washed away the blood from her boken. She could stay no longer. She took one step backward, and then two, until the rain, like a curtain, covered her.
Zechs pulled her up, and held her to him, as his own tears mixed with the rain that kept falling, as if tears from Heaven. He rocked back and forth a few times, holding her as if she were nothing but a rag doll. "I'll save you... I promise, Noin... I promise..."
"I... love... you..." She whispered, before Zechs felt her go limp within his arms.
"No..." He released her somewhat, to look into her face. "No... Noin... No..." He shook her slightly, but he knew it would do no good. Noin's eyes were closed, as they would be forever. "Lucrezia..."
He pulled her to him again, holding her tightly, with possessiveness and protectiveness that he could never have known better. The rain fell hard now, covering both him and her, and cleaning away most of the blood, as the ground drank its fill. Zechs did not know how long he had kneeled there with her, holding her, but it was morning before the soldiers came. The rain was still falling, harder than ever. Zechs was soaked far more than just to the bone. But it was humid, and so the rain was not cold, but it felt like a thousand knives to him. The soldiers simply stood there, gaping at the sight they saw. Both of the two figures were matted with blood, but Noin was now stiff and cold to Zechs' touch. It did not run through the soldiers' mind that it could have been Zechs; they would have rather died then to think such a thought.
After a few moments, one of the soldiers finally stepped forward. "Sir."
This seemed to bring Zechs out of his trance, as he looked up with pained eyes to the soldier. However, he quickly fixed his expression, as he stood up very slowly, with Noin in his arms. The soldiers took a few steps back, all of them realizing that now was not the time to ask what had happened. "I... will go tell the compound leader, Sir." One of the soldiers said, before he jogged ahead of all of them at a brisk pace.
Zechs followed the soldiers that were walking toward the compound, with his head bowed, and his ice-blue eyes lost of spirit. His best friend had just... died. He had her blood all over him, and he held her lifeless body in his hands. Until now, he had not really thought of Suzuka, but now he thought of her with anger. Pure anger. Noin had taken the blow that was to be his; she had died with the death that was to be his own. She was trying to defend him, true, but he would have rather died a thousand deaths then to live through what had just happened again. And Suzuka had just left.
He supposed it was for the better, he did not know what he could have done to her had she stayed. But he knew that in all truth, Suzuka had done nothing wrong. Noin had interfered, and so had chosen her own fate by Suzuka's hand. However, to know that his best friend was killed by a woman... a woman he had once held in high regard... ate at his flesh like acid.
Upon reaching the compound, a group of formal-looking soldiers ran to meet him, and saluted him. He knew that it was time; Noin could not stay preserved forever, even if he held her that long. Slowly, he handed her cold body to four of the soldiers, who held her with the utmost care, as if holding a body made of spun sugar, which could fall apart at any moment. He watched, as they bowed their heads, and walked her into the compound, where she would be prepared for her own sending. As for him, he went to find something that he had always wanted to give her.
Hours upon hours had passed, and they were to make the funeral late in the evening instead of the next day, else she would not be in good condition. Zechs discussed with the soldiers about who would take her place, it was hard for him to talk of her as if she were dead. He was so lost, he felt as if his soul had been ripped from his body. He was not ready to join Noin, however, although he accepted death when it would come, it had not come for him yet, and so he stayed on the earth, among the pain, suffering, and hatred. So much hatred, too much pain for his weary soul to bear. It was almost as if he could hear his own clock, he could feel his own time running out, and it was as if death watched him closely now, waiting for its time to claim him. Soon. It would be soon. Until then, he would remain.
He showered, and dressed, in the same formal attire that he was to wear to meet Suzuka. His old clothes had been discarded; he did not even wish to look at him. Looking back on when she had been wounded, it made his stomach writhe. It was not the sight of the blood - it was the feel of it. Warm, sticky, and dark, it was not even red until it was lightly layered on his skin. The rest of it was almost black, so dark in crimson, and warm. It was her life that was poured on him, it was her life that the ground drank from her, and he had cried as he helplessly watched it leave her form and watched as his promise was broken. He had promised to save her, and that haunted him, how he did not. But there was nothing more that could be done, there was nothing more that he could do. He sighed.
All the soldiers in the compound were slowly walking out of their rooms, faces grim. Zechs would shed no more tears for her, what was done was done. But in his heart, he mourned, while in his hand, he held a single, white rose.
The funeral lasted long, but no one cared. The formality was beautiful, as the soldiers shot their rifles into the air to honor their fallen lieutenant. Zechs watched, the knowledge setting in that after Noin would be sent that he would be questioned on her death. He doubted that anyone would believe an assassin carrying a wooden sword would have come to kill her, and they would question his presence. They were inside at the moment, while the short gunfire was outside. Slowly, the soldiers shuffled out, some simply leaving, while some walked up to the open casket to pay their respects.
They had masked her wounds well, her uniform that she would wear to her grave showing no markings of her bloody death. After all the soldiers had left, and Zechs saw himself alone, he walked up to her casket, his boots sounding on the marble floor. They would come soon to take her and bury her exactly where he had told them, on the far right of the compound, on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. Since they had been moved to this compound, he had seen her sitting on it, overlooking the ocean with starry eyes. If she had a choice, this is where she would want it, and so this is where she would rest.
"I am sorry... I could not keep my promise to you." He gently lifted two of her fingers to place the thorn less rose in her grasp. "May you rest now, Noin, you have left the agony of this world, and have left your agony behind." He leaned down, and gently placed a kiss upon her cold forehead. "I will see you again someday, but not yet. Not yet."
Zechs stood there silently for a few more moments, before he shook his head, and walked out of the small building to join the other soldiers. As soon as he walked out, a figure stepped from the back shadows of the small room. Her eyes were like midnight fire, only dimmed. She had never seen such... compassion. He had held her body and... cried. She had killed those who interfered before, but, she had never had a reaction to it. She was an assassin, she had no remorse, and she had no regrets... But she had them now, as she walked up to the casket, with a silk, red ribbon in her hand.
Silently at first, she raised one of Noin's hands, wrapping the silk ribbon delicately amongst her fingers, before she placed her hand back on the rose. After doing this, she made a signal in her hands, and bowed. "... So that you may be received." Suzuka did not say that she was sorry, for it was not needed. In her heart, the apology was given, and the forgiveness as well. The regret now lifted from her body, she left out of the side door as silently as she had come.
"Death smiles on us all."
New, what do you own the world?!
How do you own:
Disorder, disorder.
Now, somewhere between
The sacred silence,
The sacred silence and sleep.
Disorder, disorder, disorder.
_.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:._.:.
The air, there was something about it that made him shiver. The shadow cast by his tall form danced across the dew-wet grass, while small drops of water rained from the skies. Zechs walked on, silently, with his eyes always forward, and his head held high. In truth, he did not know what was going to happen to him. He could not believe that after everything Suzuka was going to kill him.
Slowly, as he walked past the compound gates, the drizzle turned to rain, and the rain turned to a storm, as lightning split the great sky in a fury much like the fury he held safely locked within his heart. There was something strange about this night, something he could not place. It was as if, instead of the smell of his own death, he sensed that it would be someone else's. He could only hope that his senses - his instincts - were very wrong.
As Zechs moved away from the soldier outposts and into the brush, the rain slowed down, then stopped altogether. As for him, he was soaked to the very bone, with water droplets falling from his platinum-blonde hair. He did not really care, he only knew that he would use what strength he had to try and talk some sense into Suzuka. If not, he would be forced to fight her, although, he knew that it would be a short battle. He knew what the outcome would be.
The grass was green, and shining in the moonlight which had cast its shadows over the waning evening. Everything now had a silvery glow; it was refreshing, and peaceful to see the beauty amongst the turmoil.
As he neared an empty valley which was well-hidden amongst the brush, his ice-blue eyes darted from the left, and to the right. He saw nothing, although, he could not rely on his sense of hearing, as there was much movement due to the quick bout of rain. The storm clouds were flying overhead; a telltale sign that there would still be more rain to come.
Zechs stood to the far right side of the clearing. It had just struck the hour of 7:00.
It was his sign. Even amongst the smell of fresh rain, he could smell the faintness of cherry blossoms and juniper. She had come, directly on time. He was right. When he turned to look in front of him, there, standing on the full opposite of him, was Suzuka. Twilight Suzuka.
Suzuka bore her stare straight into his soul. She was here to test him, and nothing more. That was all her orders allowed. She was to see how true of a man he really was. Her plan was to rush at him full force, but stop, right before the blade were to come in contact with his side with precision and accuracy. If he would try to run like a coward, she would have the reason and means to kill him. If he were to stand with his weapon ready, she would simply leave, until her orders were to do else.
As much as Suzuka stared into him, he stared straight back. He was not about to let this woman see any fear that hid long asleep within his soul. He did not fear. He would not fear. It was as simple as that.
For five minutes, both of them stood there, sizing each other up. Suzuka stood perfectly still, with only the wind to move her clothing and her hair. Her right hand, where a ring on her middle finger attached to a red glove-like cloth, held her wooden katana, in which he never saw her without. The silence was broken, when Suzuka raised her sword up to the heavens, and then brought it down, so she held it out perfectly at her right side. Zechs drew his sword, and held it out to the side she would be attacking on to hopefully parry the blow that was about to happen.
The rain stopped totally, as a full silence engulfed the two. Zechs had decided not to try to talk to her, her mind was made up, as was his. He could feel the primordial blood flowing within him, the adrenaline rushing through his veins like lightning through water. It was invigorating, and somehow, horrifying. Was he turning into a heartless soldier that lived only for the thrill of the kill?
A single instant passed, and Suzuka's feet were quick. She began to run toward him, at a full speed, with her sword held out. Zechs' feet were hardly as quick, but he began to run for her as well, a mean look within his icy eyes. The space between them was running out, and neither of them faltered. Seven feet. Six feet. Five feet...
It happened quickly. A sound of slashing, a rush of blood. Warmth spread all over Zechs' body, and he saw red, for blood covered his eyes. He was disoriented, had he been hit? Was this his death?
He felt a limp body fall into his arms, and he felt his fingers brush against a fresh, gaping wound. Had he hurt Suzuka? How could this be?
He rubbed the blood away from his eyes, and almost screamed at what he saw. What he was holding was not Suzuka, for she stood a few feet away, her boken covered in blood and her expression horrified. He did not want to look down. He knew now who he held.
Noin lay gasping for breath within his arms. Suzuka had turned her sword upward, to hold it to his neck, but as she did, she slashed from Noin's navel to her neck. Zechs' eyes were wide, as he looked down to the bleeding victim in his arms.
"NOIN!!!" He was frantic. Her blood was all over him, it was covering the grass underneath them. He knelt in it, and was practically bathed in her life's fluid. It was then that the rain began to fall, there was now so much water, but it hit softly.
Noin looked up to him with half-lidded eyes. "I... couldn't let you die, Zechs..." She gasped for air, as more blood seeped from her open chest. Suzuka's sword had cut her lungs, and blood was slowly coming from Noin's mouth. "I... have always loved you.... I...." She gasped. "I... was destined... to love you.... Please... remember... that....and... forgive me..."
Suzuka watched the scene with a face of shock, as the rain slowly washed away the blood from her boken. She could stay no longer. She took one step backward, and then two, until the rain, like a curtain, covered her.
Zechs pulled her up, and held her to him, as his own tears mixed with the rain that kept falling, as if tears from Heaven. He rocked back and forth a few times, holding her as if she were nothing but a rag doll. "I'll save you... I promise, Noin... I promise..."
"I... love... you..." She whispered, before Zechs felt her go limp within his arms.
"No..." He released her somewhat, to look into her face. "No... Noin... No..." He shook her slightly, but he knew it would do no good. Noin's eyes were closed, as they would be forever. "Lucrezia..."
He pulled her to him again, holding her tightly, with possessiveness and protectiveness that he could never have known better. The rain fell hard now, covering both him and her, and cleaning away most of the blood, as the ground drank its fill. Zechs did not know how long he had kneeled there with her, holding her, but it was morning before the soldiers came. The rain was still falling, harder than ever. Zechs was soaked far more than just to the bone. But it was humid, and so the rain was not cold, but it felt like a thousand knives to him. The soldiers simply stood there, gaping at the sight they saw. Both of the two figures were matted with blood, but Noin was now stiff and cold to Zechs' touch. It did not run through the soldiers' mind that it could have been Zechs; they would have rather died then to think such a thought.
After a few moments, one of the soldiers finally stepped forward. "Sir."
This seemed to bring Zechs out of his trance, as he looked up with pained eyes to the soldier. However, he quickly fixed his expression, as he stood up very slowly, with Noin in his arms. The soldiers took a few steps back, all of them realizing that now was not the time to ask what had happened. "I... will go tell the compound leader, Sir." One of the soldiers said, before he jogged ahead of all of them at a brisk pace.
Zechs followed the soldiers that were walking toward the compound, with his head bowed, and his ice-blue eyes lost of spirit. His best friend had just... died. He had her blood all over him, and he held her lifeless body in his hands. Until now, he had not really thought of Suzuka, but now he thought of her with anger. Pure anger. Noin had taken the blow that was to be his; she had died with the death that was to be his own. She was trying to defend him, true, but he would have rather died a thousand deaths then to live through what had just happened again. And Suzuka had just left.
He supposed it was for the better, he did not know what he could have done to her had she stayed. But he knew that in all truth, Suzuka had done nothing wrong. Noin had interfered, and so had chosen her own fate by Suzuka's hand. However, to know that his best friend was killed by a woman... a woman he had once held in high regard... ate at his flesh like acid.
Upon reaching the compound, a group of formal-looking soldiers ran to meet him, and saluted him. He knew that it was time; Noin could not stay preserved forever, even if he held her that long. Slowly, he handed her cold body to four of the soldiers, who held her with the utmost care, as if holding a body made of spun sugar, which could fall apart at any moment. He watched, as they bowed their heads, and walked her into the compound, where she would be prepared for her own sending. As for him, he went to find something that he had always wanted to give her.
Hours upon hours had passed, and they were to make the funeral late in the evening instead of the next day, else she would not be in good condition. Zechs discussed with the soldiers about who would take her place, it was hard for him to talk of her as if she were dead. He was so lost, he felt as if his soul had been ripped from his body. He was not ready to join Noin, however, although he accepted death when it would come, it had not come for him yet, and so he stayed on the earth, among the pain, suffering, and hatred. So much hatred, too much pain for his weary soul to bear. It was almost as if he could hear his own clock, he could feel his own time running out, and it was as if death watched him closely now, waiting for its time to claim him. Soon. It would be soon. Until then, he would remain.
He showered, and dressed, in the same formal attire that he was to wear to meet Suzuka. His old clothes had been discarded; he did not even wish to look at him. Looking back on when she had been wounded, it made his stomach writhe. It was not the sight of the blood - it was the feel of it. Warm, sticky, and dark, it was not even red until it was lightly layered on his skin. The rest of it was almost black, so dark in crimson, and warm. It was her life that was poured on him, it was her life that the ground drank from her, and he had cried as he helplessly watched it leave her form and watched as his promise was broken. He had promised to save her, and that haunted him, how he did not. But there was nothing more that could be done, there was nothing more that he could do. He sighed.
All the soldiers in the compound were slowly walking out of their rooms, faces grim. Zechs would shed no more tears for her, what was done was done. But in his heart, he mourned, while in his hand, he held a single, white rose.
The funeral lasted long, but no one cared. The formality was beautiful, as the soldiers shot their rifles into the air to honor their fallen lieutenant. Zechs watched, the knowledge setting in that after Noin would be sent that he would be questioned on her death. He doubted that anyone would believe an assassin carrying a wooden sword would have come to kill her, and they would question his presence. They were inside at the moment, while the short gunfire was outside. Slowly, the soldiers shuffled out, some simply leaving, while some walked up to the open casket to pay their respects.
They had masked her wounds well, her uniform that she would wear to her grave showing no markings of her bloody death. After all the soldiers had left, and Zechs saw himself alone, he walked up to her casket, his boots sounding on the marble floor. They would come soon to take her and bury her exactly where he had told them, on the far right of the compound, on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. Since they had been moved to this compound, he had seen her sitting on it, overlooking the ocean with starry eyes. If she had a choice, this is where she would want it, and so this is where she would rest.
"I am sorry... I could not keep my promise to you." He gently lifted two of her fingers to place the thorn less rose in her grasp. "May you rest now, Noin, you have left the agony of this world, and have left your agony behind." He leaned down, and gently placed a kiss upon her cold forehead. "I will see you again someday, but not yet. Not yet."
Zechs stood there silently for a few more moments, before he shook his head, and walked out of the small building to join the other soldiers. As soon as he walked out, a figure stepped from the back shadows of the small room. Her eyes were like midnight fire, only dimmed. She had never seen such... compassion. He had held her body and... cried. She had killed those who interfered before, but, she had never had a reaction to it. She was an assassin, she had no remorse, and she had no regrets... But she had them now, as she walked up to the casket, with a silk, red ribbon in her hand.
Silently at first, she raised one of Noin's hands, wrapping the silk ribbon delicately amongst her fingers, before she placed her hand back on the rose. After doing this, she made a signal in her hands, and bowed. "... So that you may be received." Suzuka did not say that she was sorry, for it was not needed. In her heart, the apology was given, and the forgiveness as well. The regret now lifted from her body, she left out of the side door as silently as she had come.
"Death smiles on us all."
