Timeless
Part Two: Let Me Die





He could feel the power of the node before him, the metal fingers that caressed his marble flesh was leading him to a quintessence bath. The zoid that caressed him with motherly tenderness tromped into the liquid aquamarine goo, then her buster claw arm dunked down with Leon in tow. The white T-Rex zoid growled, her tail sloshing around in the goo, her senses were impaired somewhat. The buster claw opened, the statue sank for the bottom. Leon felt his body absorb the magic power, but he remained a statue made of marble.


//I do love you, Leon!! I did have faith in you!! I still do!!! But now I can't tell you how special a man you are to me because you finally got your wish for death!!! Gods, Leon!!! Come back to me, Leon!!! COME BACK!!!!!//

//You also need to realize when I casted the spell, I was still so very young. But that was over 10,000 years ago and I'm not so young and so weak anymore. Frankily, Karl, your lack of faith in me offends me. I thought YOU of all people knew what I'm all about. I guess my heart's been misplaced.//


Your tone was harsh. You knew all along that Karl had all faith and support in you.

Leon's eyes opened, he saw the aquamarine liquid swirl around him, then formed a female face.

Karl loved you, his tears were genuine.

"Karl.... I'm..... no. I finally got what I truly wanted--death."

The universe needs their defender but Karl needs his lover and Thomas needs his best friend. Death will not come to you easily, your mission is not yet fulfilled.

"No! I am dead! I want to stay that way!"

Do you want Karl to kill himself? Do you want Thomas to follow his lead? Your sacrifice only upset the Balance of Fate, it isn't your time. It isn't their time either. In fact, it wasn't even Hiltz's time. Your abuse of the Lord Ultimate is relevant to your emotional state. The gods are unpleased with it.

"Hiltz had to die!"

By killing yourself and Hiltz, you only ensured Zi's safety? You are wrong... you only prolonged the inevitable.

"What are you saying?"

Prozen is still alive and he's going to resurrect the Death Saurer again. Van and the Guardian Force doesn't have the will defeat him... Thomas Schubaltz is just as depressed as Karl. You were his best friend.

"Tommy.... I-i'm sorry."

They need you, they all do. Even Hermann. Even Camford.

"....Karl..."

Leon's marble skin became flesh again, his eyes returned to life and he absorbed the quintessence in for himself. Something dove into the quintessence pool and scooped him up with the claws of the Buster Claw arm. Leon opened his eyes to see that he was nose-to-nose with a Berserk Fury. He moaned softly, he was in pain.

Leon... this is your new familiar, Belle Starr.

"Belle.... such a pretty name... for a pretty lady." Leon smirked weakily, despite the fact that it felt like hot knives stabbing him all over. Belle simply growled protestingly to Leon's struggling to get out of the buster claws. She opened her cockpit's canopy and gently set Leon inside. Inside the cockpit, he could hear a female voice talking to him.

Now rest up nice and good, ya'ear? Ah'll take ya back to Karl.

Leon closed his eyes and leaned back into the seat, falling asleep almost immediately. Belle looked at the pool of quintessence as the woman inside the pond formed in front of her.

Take care of him, Belle.

Ah will, sugah. Belle stomped out into the sunlight.



"Manuevers, now!"

Karl's new specially-made Great Zabre moved to avoid the fire of the new Redlers. He was barely able to escape, he didn't seem to have anticipated their newly-augmented speed and power. Huffing, the handsome blonde colonel looked up to see the black redlers making another pass.

"Colonel Schubaltz, sir... you look pale, we can stop the exercises if you want to take a rest."

"I'm fine." Karl reminded himself, trying desperately hard to return to the mindframe he's always been. But lately, it's harder for him to get into it without Leon by his side. Karl's façade was faltering and his soldiers can see it, they know he needs Leon... not only career-wise but emotionally as well. Leon's always been Karl's all, and without him, Karl is nothing. His deteriorating emotional health greatly worries them all.

"Colonel Schubaltz isn't doing so good." Van remarked from the safety of the control tower.

"Thomas isn't exactly over Leon himself." Moonbay reminded him, folding her arms. "The first three days, all Thomas wanted to do is work on something. Remember the emotional and mental state he was in from the insomnia?"

"I remember, Moonbay. He almost attacked the Gustav and the Lightning Saix."

"But Karl was in the hospital because he decided to slit his wrists with his military knife." Irvine poked Van in the arm, then folded his arms like so. "His impulse to grieve almost cost him his life and the Empire their greatest asset."

"...true." Van looked at the testing ground, frowning sadly and looking very worried. "Colonel Schubaltz should at least try and talk to someone."

".... we been trying."

The Redlers fired their missiles, Karl went to dodge when something gave way from under him. The Great Zabre's left hind leg fell apart, causing the tiger-zoid to buckle to the side. Karl was broad-sided by the missiles, the Zabre went flying and tumbling. The cockpit flew open and Karl was torn from the seat and flew to the ground with such force that his body twisted in a funny angle. The Zabre was a pile of rubble only feet away, the pilots of the Redlers frantically landed their zoids.

"OHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMYGODS!!! IS HE OKAY!?"

"I'm too scared to move him! He might be paralyzed!"

"...or dead!"

"GET A MEDIC NOW!!!!!"



Thomas walked into the rehabilitation room, flowers in his hands. The old woman stood up, her nurse's outfit a little wrinkled. Karl was really struggling to stay standing, the pain and anguish on Karl's face was easily present. The blonde colonel slumped to his knees, covered in sweat and tired from the strain. The younger brother helped him from the floor and to the wheelchair, he tucked Karl in with the quilt that was handstitched and given to Karl by Fiona.

"Look up, Karl. Things will get better."

"...I hope so." Karl responded, his hands encupping around something.

Thomas saw that the item in Karl's hands was none other than a chibi-wizard plushie, given to Karl by Leon on the eve of an Imperial holiday. Karl's thumb played with the fluffy beard of the plushie, his lifeless green eyes closed.

"...I hate to see you lose hope like this, Karl." Thomas carted the wheelchair to the elevator. "I know you loved Leon so much, but Leon's finally able to find some peace now. Peace he long deserved."

"I don't want to sound so greedy, but I want to be with him in his Nirvana too! Why do you people keep me alive like this?? Why couldn't you have just left me dead in the bathtub!?" Karl gripped the plushie tightly, tears formed in his green eyes. "Why, Thomas!?"

"Stop it, Karl!" Thomas shouted, then ran to the front of the wheelchair. "You got to pull yourself together! Leon wouldn't like it if you fell into this amount of despair so fast!"

"Thomas!!! You don't get it, you NEVER will!! Leon died thinking I had no faith in him... that I didn't love him for who he was and he died not knowing what a special man he truly was!!! He died thinking I loved him because he was a magic-god and he could do anything he wanted!!!" Karl shouted, tears falling down his pale cheeks, he started to cry, his face buried in his hands.

"...Karl.... bruder." Thomas hugged his brother tightly, letting him cry on his shoulder.



Leon was sound asleep in the cockpit of the Berserk Fury he knows as Belle. The sunset shined in the cockpit, barely illuminating it. Belle continued to tromp toward Guygalos at a snail's pace, she decided that using her boosters or anything will only lessen the time it takes for Leon to recover fully from being dead and ressurected. She hummed a tune in the cockpit, keeping Leon in perfect comfort.



-Continued-