Chapter 7 – A broken wing.
A/N: The mother of all chapters…heh.
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Nobody noticed it, but only because I tried to mend it with a little Scotch-tape and Super-Glue. Just kidding. I had created an illusion that it was good as new, but this takes a lot of energy. My face is starting to show the toll it has taken on my spirit.
"You look positively pallid. What's wrong?" Quistis' Angel enquired again. He seemed so fond of asking me what's wrong, when he knows perfectly well that I would have answered nothing.
"Nothing." Hahaha.
"Well, I can see you're lying again. I would have thought that you lie more than you speak the truth! Spit it out, or you will be forced to!" He started tickling me at the side.
But I had become immune to his tickling attacks. Hey, I've had more than ten years to perfect my defence of such repetitive attacks.
"It doesn't work, you idiot. Now don't distract me. You know how intense my job is.
"There goes your 'No one can help me, only I can know" attitude again! What would it take for you to just let on a little clue?" He still refuses to give it up! Stubborn pain-in-the-neck!
"Okay! I'm having PMS! Are you happy now?" I made a face at him. Usually this kind of stuff would make guys turn into a tomato, so it might be worth a try.
"Hah! Thought you had me fooled, did you? How can Angels suffer from PMS?"
"Darn it! Go away! I'm just in a bad mood, and that's that!" I shouted and sealed myself up again.
He shook his head at me. But he didn't lose his concentration like before because my wings were still intact, or so he thought. Quistis wasn't an easy target for manipulation anyway.
The wings of an Angel are crucially important to her/him. It reflects the health, spiritually and physically, of its owner.
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"Hey Zell! Yuri! Over here!" A high-pitched female voice shouted out my name. I turned towards that direction only to see Selphie jumping up and down, waving her hand high up in the air.
Always so full of energy, just like me! I thought with a grin as I advanced towards them with Yuri walking beside me. Yuri who? She's my new girlfriend… you know… the library girl with a pigtail. The one who gave me the third Combat King magazine?
Setting down my laden tray of hotdogs and soda, I sat down beside Quistis, while Yuri sat on my left.
"Hi Zell. We were just talking about what a close call it was, that last battle with Ultimecia." Quistis smiled at me, and then at Yuri, filling us in about the conversation they were having. "Isn't that right, Squall?"
Squall only nodded silently. At least he didn't say "Whatever….." I thought to myself in amusement, and let out a small chuckle.
Damn I'm so funny…
And someone beside me seemed to laugh too.
"What? Did I say that out loud?" I asked in shock and glanced around the gang, only to be rewarded with puzzled glances and a blank face from Squall.
"What's the matter, Zell? Are you alright?" Yuri asked, leaning towards me and feeling my forehead with the back of her hand.
"Yeah. I'm okay." I grinned at her, catching her hand and holding it in mine.
"Anyway… about that battle! You're right, Quisty. I thought we would be singing the K.O. song when Ultemicia attacked us with Apocalypse right after Hell's Judgement! It was a miracle I came out of it surviving, while you two guys fell down dead! I wonder what happened?" I scratched my head, thinking about what had happened a week ago. This had been on my mind for a while, but I was too busy to linger over it. Lately, stuff like the repair of Trabia Garden and helping Timber with its liberalisation had kept us working overtime every day.
"Well, as long as we're all safe, nothing else matters. Let's just attribute it to the Grace of Hyne!" Rinoa exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her as she said a prayer of thanks.
"Thank the Lord!!' The rest of us chorused. Yeah, including Squall.
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Nightfall. Again, I am gazing at my Master while he sleeps. This time, he is not alone.
My heart aches upon seeing them so close. Like it was being slashed repeatedly by a gunblade.
Kneeling softly by the side of his bed, I did something that I had wanted to for as long as I could remember.
I caressed his face with my fingers, lingering especially long on his tattoo, his nose, and his lips. My touch is light, so light that it could not possibly feel like anything more than a tiny breath of wind.
A teardrop falls from my eye onto his cheek, but disappears the moment it comes into contact with his skin.
I let go of the illusion I had performed over my wing. In its prime, it gleamed in its pristine whiteness. Now, half of the feathers were stained with dark red.
Unable to bear the sorry sight, I couldn't help but resume the illusion, even though no one else was there to see it.
"Farewell, my good Master." I whispered. Then I stood up, turned, and prepared to leave the room.
"Hold on." A voice called out softly. But even so… it still struck a chord of fear in my heart.
Is this for real? Or do my ears fool me? I turned around gingerly to confirm my fears.
"I've seen you somewhere before." My Master stares at my face, appearing to try very hard at recalling the reason I had seemed so familiar to him.
"No… I don't think so. I just stumbled into your room by mistake. I'm leaving now, sorry to have disturbed you."
"You don't honestly think that I would be deceived by that lame line, do you? How were you supposed to stumble in with the door locked?" His voice was starting to increase volume.
I glanced at his girlfriend furtively, scared that she would wake up and see another girl in the room.
"Don't worry about her. She sleeps like a log. Now would you care to explain yourself?" Zell holds my gaze, and softens his voice a tad.
"It's kind of hard. Just let me go, okay?" I said with a pained expression.
"No. I want to know if what I had been guessing all along was right. Do you have any idea how weird I was feeling? There was always some presence wherever I am, or whatever I do. You were there at the SeeD Graduation Ball. Someone was laughing at my song; I just knew it. But when I turned around, nobody! And then, this afternoon at the cafeteria, someone was laughing at my inner joke too! Were you able to read my mind, I wonder? Anyway… there were countless incidents like these! I kept thinking that it was my mind playing tricks on me, but apparently it isn't!"
Yeah, I could read his thoughts, if they were strong enough. I seldom do it though, for I value his privacy greatly. But sharing a joke or two was okay, I guess.
He looked at me in anticipation of my answer, his gaze honest and direct.
Still silent, I shook my head. Meanwhile, I was starting to shiver, but imperceptibly, such that he did not notice it.
"…… " He appeared to think for a second, cocking his head to one side, then looking at me, then cocking his head again… you get the picture.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, finally recalling something. "You're… what's that alphabet… A! you're A, aren't you?"
"WHAT?" I shouted, shocked at his ability to remember something that happened so far back.
"The look on your face tells me as much!" He grinned at me.
Oh. That grin. It was the grin that had melted my heart for all this time I was with him. I could always count on it to cheer me up, and boost my morale whenever I was down.
"Boy, am I glad that it wasn't a hallucination! Did you know how much the other kids teased me, especially Seifer, when I ran around telling everyone about a friend with wings? They all called me 'Daydreaming Zell", even though it wasn't used as much as the other nickname!"
I looked at him, shocked again. I had thought that junctioning of GFs would have caused loss of memory… but not all of it? Otherwise how could he have remembered?
Seeming to read my mind, a curiosity in itself, he answered my unvoiced question.
"I suppose that it was too unique a memory to be forgotten completely, even with GFs being junctioned. I mean, most people thought that Angels were non-existent creatures of fairytales and such… and there I was, meeting one of them!" He explained.
"Right, very good…" I started answering back …then suddenly fell to the ground. My will could no longer support my body into standing, however determined I was
"Hey, you alright over there? Here, let me get you to the couch." Zell rushed over to my side. A wondrous, yet bittersweet feeling started spreading through my whole being.
"No, I'm fine. I need to stay still for a little while, that's all." I smiled listlessly at him.
"Gasp! Your wing is bleeding! You must get help! Do you know how to?" He tried to support me in his arms, but I refused to comply.
"It's too late now." I shook my head and clutched at his hand.
"Don't tell me… you had taken that Apocalypse attack for me, hadn't you? I had guessed as much, too! Or I couldn't have survived it!" His amazingly beautiful eyes were filled with regret.
"Don't be silly. I just happened to be in the way. I was too pissed off at Ultimecia for harming my friend, and for smirking at me. Plus she was such an ugly hag I couldn't resist marring her plans." I said, laughing quietly at my own words while trying hard to ignore the pain that started at the wing and spread through the whole body. Heck, it was tearing me apart, and I was helpless to stop it.
"You're funny. But nope, I'm not fooled. You must tell me what I can do to help you! You mustn't give up hope yet!" He wiped at my brow, which was drenched in cold sweat as my lips turned white from lack of blood.
I shake my head for the yet another time (how many times already, I'm tired of recalling) and stared at the ceiling with glazed eyes.
"This is the way I want it. Now that you have found someone to take care of you, and now that you have grown into a fine young man capable of protecting himself from evil influences, my assignment is soon to reach the end. But I doubt that I will be able to protect other Masters the way I did with you. So… just let me go, okay?" I stroked his golden hair lovingly, enjoying the silken feel for the first and most definitely, final time.
Those words I had said to him… they were probably true, even if I weren't in this dying state. I simply couldn't stand to see him with another girl any longer without going crazy. Perhaps… this was the best way it could ever have ended.
Tears started falling from his eyes. My brow creased. I do not want to see him unhappy. I wipe them away with my fingers.
"I have gotten so used to, and so comfortable with your presence! Even if we never did get to meet or talk, I still thought that there was always someone there who protects me. I felt loved. Don't go!" No matter how much I wipe, they still kept falling.
"But there's someone else now. I can't stay with you forever. I know she will take good care of you… which is why I am contented to leave you in her hands."
I acutely felt the draining of my life force. Time to say goodbye.
"Farewell, my Master."
"No! Wait!"
"Take care. And take good care of her too." My hand reached up to take his hand. He clutched it hard to his chest.
"I l…ove y…ou…" I barely managed to whisper these out, and then all turned cold and black.
I have finished my story. I have to go now. Farewell to you too.
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A thin, hairline crack appears suddenly on my Lady's mirror. The sound was small, but I caught it, nevertheless.
A sense of great loss comes over me. It is puzzling, for I could not make out the source for it.
A few of my silvery feathers started falling to the ground.
Something's really weird today.
Suspecting the worse, I immediately call out Zell's Angel in my mind.
No answer. Could it be…?
Desperate, I quickly flew to the window of Zells' room. To my unimaginable horror, I saw him sobbing and holding what looked like his Angel's body, which was slowly and surely breaking down into glittery particles.
Finally, it all crystallised into a small midnight-blue sapphire, oddly looking like the shape of a teardrop.
Zell clutched it tightly in his palm, as if his life depended on it.
Behind him, his girlfriend groaned, opened her eye a little and sat up in his bed.
"Zell, what's wrong? Why are you sobbing like that?"
"Uh…n…nothing. Yuri. Just a bad dream." He wiped at his eyes while stealthily slipping the sapphire into the pocket of his shorts.
"Okay… let me hold you then. It wouldn't be so bad." His girl smiled, beckoning him to her side. They fell asleep closely entwined in each other's embrace, Zell still sniffling a little.
My mind turns blank.
I want to scream, but no voice belongs to me. Mine seemed to have abandoned me.
Whywhywhywhywhy? I wanted to ask.
No answer.
Nothing at all.
Not a single warning of this happening. Was I really so difficult to trust?
She will never know of my feelings for her. NEVER! Hyne… why did you do this to me?!! I have been a rule-abiding, kind-hearted Angel all my life. And this is the result I get? Why should I work for you anymore?
Behind him, the silvery wings start to darken, feather by feather…
A Dark Angel was born.
Who will it be at the receiving end of his wrath?
Only Hyne knows.
THE END
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Author's Notes: I can't believe it myself… I actually uploaded four freakin' chapters at one go? Praise me for being a good lily, someone! And yes, there will be a sequel. In fact, there is the first chapter staring you in the eye!
Another thing, the following are some people I would like to thank very sincerely.
Cherry6124
leelee
Jasin
Thank you for your wonderful reviews. It will etch a deep impression in my mind as the first few reviews I've had in my life as fanfic writer (providing I'm good enough to be called one :-/ )…