A/N: Hmm, I'm slowly feeling ignored. Ah well. Well, here we go. The one incident this entire fanfic has been leading up to, and it starts now. Are you ready to crumble? Hmm, I suppose not. Well, first, let's recap. Hikaru's now the only person teaching magic, Ruri became the second to finish her training, and Rumiko and Megumi finally gave into temptation, only to have Rumiko locked away in his own mind in the same fashion as Inez. The time is now. I know, I promised at the very beginning of the fic that I wouldn't order specific songs through this, but for this, I'm making an exception. One song. "Other World" from Final Fantasy X. That's all. Why? Because there is a specific feeling about this chapter. Note, that this isn't the end of the fanfic, but it's pretty damn close, and damn close is good enough for me. What do I see this time? Explanatory stuff, debate in action, and then it all goes to hell. So, I've held your attention long enough. I'll let you read now.
~*~
Weeks passed.
The April month matured and died, giving way to May, who also matured, and grasped for the remnants of its life before June came into it's place. Birthdays were not celebrated. Megumi was far too worried about those she nursed to acknowledge that she had turned nineteen. Akatsuki just didn't seem to care about anything anymore.
But the time had shown gradual events that seemed to be sudden, when they truly weren't.
The crew of the Nadesico itself seemed to separate into two different entities, with two very different opinions. Some of the crew was becoming restless with their prolonged residence on the distant planet. The war seemed to be over, hadn't that been proved by the slow disappearance of surges in the Jump computer? Why shouldn't they leave? They began longing for their families, everything they left behind for a greater cause when they were enlisted on the Nadesico. They dreamed of the day when the Captain would stand at the bridge and tell them to take off, now that they were physically capable. They argued that Inez did not have to be awake, and that medicine was more advanced on Earth, and they were more capable of healing her there, than on this medieval planet.
At the same time, some of the crew embraced the turn of events that was the spring of 2198. They fed their interest in the completely different culture, mingling with the townspeople, following Megumi's example of wearing Ninlan-style clothing. They didn't mind being far from home, and saw it as just another leg of the Nadesico's legacy. Who cared if the war was over? This place was untouched by it, and much more simple than Earth. They argued that Inez was a Martian, and that the crew essentially caused Rumiko's illness as well, and they should fess up to their responsibilities. And who's to say they wouldn't need all the Jumpers they could get to Jump them back to Earth? They didn't have the luxury of Akito and Yurika's love to get them home, and they'd have to rely on something else. Inez's illness was magical in nature, and what better place to investigate it than the magic capital of the solar system?
Some didn't care either way. The days on Ninlan were lazy and empty of duty; they had gained lots of time to kick back and relax. However, in recent days, this had not been the case. Uribatake had been ordered to take some of the mechanics and look for a good place to leave the Jump computer, since it was obvious that it would NOT be taken back to Earth, where it could be taken advantage of. What they had found was a fairly large, but isolated cave, in a small, abandoned mine near the edge of the forest, away from Somenolenthe. When they were to leave, they would leave the computer there, and it would create it's own distortion fields to protect it from onlookers and others who might use it immorally.
At this time, however, the computer still stood in the Nadesico's hangar bay. With Ruri not needing to worry so much about learning her magic, she returned to focusing on her job as a computer operator. She and Omoikane were assessing the computer in ways that, Ruri believed, were beyond even Inez's touch. Ruri herself wasn't able to connect well with the old piece of Martian culture and technology, but for some reason Omoikane was. So Ruri had been reduced to recording Omoikane's reports, but she didn't quite mind. Omoikane was as thorough as she would have been.
What did surprise them is when Omoikane had reported that the computer was very similar to himself, having emotions that were only found in humans. Omoikane had informed the silver-haired princess that the computer was restless, as it hadn't done anything truly productive in weeks. Ruri had taken this as a sign that the war on Earth was coming to a close, and had informed Yurika as such. The report had been a bright spot in a bleak-seeming situation.
Megumi had taken complete control over what was to happen to Inez and Rumiko, as the only person who had actually witnessed a trapping taking place. As time passed, they seemed to switch themselves into a state of self-sustenance, keeping themselves the same, no different, as if frozen in time. Having no need to feed them through their blood anymore, Megumi took them to a more comfortable area: Rumiko's home. There, she cared for the Martian and Ninlander, checking to see if either cage had deteriorated in anyway. Expectedly, they had not, but Megumi was able to probe the weak spots in ways that Rumiko could not. She had never been detected, nor had she been captured either. She assumed that this had to do with her having no connection to a God, whatsoever, and Igadosu, who had become a frequent visitor and advisor in the operation, agreed. However, despite Megumi's attempted, neither mage had shown signs of waking any time soon.
The town itself had changed drastically as well. After the return of the traveling crew from Carmina, it had become apparent that the villagers had found out about the ship that was hidden in the forest. They slowly had become accustomed to the roaming robots around, as it had become obvious that, if they knew about the ship, the pilots could easily use the Aestis to travel back and forth. They were also very aware that many of the people that could control these robots were illegal Elemental mages, but a good portion of them had received pardon from Lord Mythos himself. However, many people still did not agree. They believed Igadosu a traitor of the Temple, and overthrew him as the Head Priest of their church. However, with no one to replace him, the church become an empty place in Somenolenthe, and among the villagers, the devout became sparse. It did not matter much to Igadosu, as he had been willing to rewrite his true beliefs since the arrival of the Nadesico, and he was often too busy helping Megumi indirectly to care.
With the town becoming increasingly accepting of the Nadesico crew, Hikaru no longer had to hide her classes in the ship. She seemed to change the scenery all the time; different rooms on the ship, the clearing outside the ship, somewhere between Somenolenthe and the forest, the inn, the abandoned church, everywhere. Many also came to see how well she was doing, and were quite surprised to find that an Earthling knew so much of their culture. With Megumi it was expected, as she had been living with Rumiko for some time. But Hikaru was an enigma within herself, claiming to have learned everything she knew from books, apparently written by Earthlings that seemed to have some sort of insight on how these things actually worked.
Ruri was also not the last to finish their learning. She had merely sparked the slew of completions. The class got smaller and smaller, until Hikaru had to call most of them back because, as many of them finished learning control under Inez and Rumiko, she was not sure about their grasp on it. She, for one, understood that it was important, therefore, took each control lesson to heart. The others didn't seem to have her dedication, and this frightened her. The last thing they needed was a mage out of control, especially with them possibly leaving the planet soon. Who knew what kind of conditions the Jump would need? Therefore, Hikaru began lecturing on control, telling them things that she had read, and basically scaring them out of their wits, and forcing them to focus and work, even if they were finished.
But of course, the issue on leaving was clear in everyone's minds. The entire trip to Carmina had a sole purpose: to get the Barrier keeping them from leaving lifted. But events such as Inez's sickness postponed their departure. However, with the mages, for the most part, having finished learning what they needed to know, the issue came up again.
Yurika, although afraid of what they may Jump to, especially with Inez out of commission, had been wanting to go home for ages. However, at the same time, she understood that they had basically been the cause of Rumiko falling ill, and therefore believed they should stay until he was better. With her indecision, and the crew seeming to demand answers, she called a meeting to find the better choice, to stay or go.
~*~
A good portion of the crew sat in the cafeteria, most of them sitting in their seats. Yurika, on the other hand, was sitting on the ordering counter. She was dressed in her casual clothing, as if to show her standing on the subject with her fashion. Everyone else in the room seemed to be doing the same, actually. Only a few were in street clothes, and most of everyone else were either wearing their uniforms or clothes they had bought in Somenolenthe. She waited for her crew to quiet down as she swung her legs, showing her impatience.
The talking toned down significantly, and Yurika began to speak. "Okay, I've noticed there's been a lot of controversy and straight-up fighting about whether or not we should go. Had this been two months ago, I would have said let's go, but things have happened since then, and we all know it. I understand that there are good points to both scenarios, so let's hear some of your arguments." The cafeteria erupted in everyone talking at once, once again. It was so sudden Yurika had to cover her ears. "ONE AT A TIME!" she shrieked, desperate to be heard over her desperate crew. A moment passed in silence before Ryoko stood from the pilot's table.
"Kanchou, I think we should get going. We're not going to do any better if we wait for Miss Fressange to get better, so we should just leave. We're capable of it, and I'm sure you and Tenkawa can Jump us back to earth, no problem." Some of the others dressed in their uniforms cheered, albeit softly, because they were under the scrutiny of Yurika. Yukina, seated at another table, crossed her arms and grumbled, "I can Jump too, you know…" Minato heard this, nodded, and stood. "And Yukina can Jump as well, but remember when Kanchou, Tenkawa-san, and Miss Fressange all tried to Jump us away, even with the computer on board? They couldn't. And with only CCs to help us Jump this time, I think we need everyone we can get to Jump us home."
Hikaru stood now, pulling on her pale yellow skirts, as she had been the second of the Nadesico's crew to switch to Ninlandish clothing. "That isn't the only case, here. We have to take responsibility for our actions, and make sure everything is back to normal before leaving. Rumiko's just as sick as Miss Fressange, and Igadosu's lost his Temple because of us. The Barrier's been taken down, and who knows what kind of turmoil's' been raised in Carmina. You don't go to a campsite and leave candy wrappers everywhere, so we shouldn't leave this planet in pieces, when we're the ones who broke it."
Mr. Prospector couldn't help but make a comment. "Ninlan would have been found by the Earth Alliance soon enough anyway. It was just a matter of time. If it wasn't us, do you truly believe that the results would have been much better?"
"But the only people capable of Boson Jumping are myself, Yurika, Miss Fressange, and the Jovian Alliance. Not to mention we arrived here by chance…" argued Akito.
"Not really, Akito. Rumiko once told me that Ninlan is just beyond Pluto. We would have found it eventually, as Mr. Prospector said. But I don't think the point is how long it would have been for Ninlan to have contact with Earth, ne, Kanchou?" Megumi turned to Yurika, who nodded. This whole discussion seemed to be going in the wrong direction.
"Meg's right, you guys. We're trying to figure out if we should stay or go, not whether Ninlan would have just floated peacefully in space or not." She sighed. "This is obviously not going in the right direction at all. Look, I know we all want to go home. We want to see our families. Hell, we want to see if we did the right thing and ended the war. But I also know that we've been here for quite sometime. A lot of us are used to Ninlan now, ne? And once we go home, things won't be the same, ever. But this all is focused on one question. Stay or go. Go or stay. We won't be staying forever, just until everything's fixed itself, but if we decide to go, it will be some time before we can truly leave. I'm asking you when we leave, sooner or later, not whether we take up permanent residence." She stopped. "All for staying until Miss Fressange wakes up?"
Comparing how many people in the room to how many hands were up, not many were keen on the idea of staying longer than needed. Yurika nodded slowly, knowing what the answer was, but she had to ask. "All for leaving as soon as possible?" The difference in number was not astronomical, but it was great. Yurika smiled softly. "All right. It's Monday now. Friday we leave to go home, back to Earth. You have till the end of the week to set your Ninlan affairs in order, or to make the decision of whether you're staying or not. Dismissed!"
~*~
Megumi was not happy with the turnout of the vote. She had never felt a great love for any place, but Ninlan was different. It was everything she ever wanted. And now she had to leave for Earth at the end of the week, possibly to never see Rumiko again. In all this time, she had feared him never waking again, as Izumi had at first about Inez before she stopped caring about life in general again. Now, even if he were to wake before Friday, as unlikely as it was, Megumi would have to tell him goodbye.
After the meeting, she had gone straight home. She didn't go to her dorm room on the ship, as she didn't see it as much of anything but a room anymore. Sure, it had her things in it, but she hadn't slept there in months. It would be different sleeping in that bed when for the past weeks she had been sleeping in Rumiko's. Her home was no longer on the ship, as much as she was crew as the rest. Her home seemed to be Rumiko's house, the dingy, small, outdated little shack that Megumi had come to love.
She had collapsed into Rumiko's bed, upset that it now smelled like her, and wrapped the blanket she had claimed months ago around her shoulders. A while ago, she was sleeping in her chair, while Inez slept on a cot, and Rumiko slept in his own bed. But she soon put him on a cot as well, and slept in his bed. This was after one lonely night when she had felt he would never wake again. She needed that smell of Rumiko to lull her to sleep. To comfort her. She needed that smell now, to tell her there was hope, but it was not there. There was no hope.
Now, it was late at night, far past midnight. She had long since eaten, and now she had willed herself to check Inez and Rumiko again. She put her hands on the Martian woman's head, and closed her eyes. She let the darkness give way to the anatomy of Inez's mind, as she had many times before. She traveled her own path through the green mass that was Inez's magic, to reach the colorless and colorful area with the horrible bright silver box in it. One thing that was odd was that the green mass seemed smaller than normal. Megumi ignored this as she entered the main chamber of Inez's mind. She dimmed the lights on the box, attempting see where there were spots, imperfections in the cage, and was surprised with what she saw. Normally, there were dark, bruise-like spots on the box, changing in size and shape.
This time, however, there seemed to be a lot of dark green spots. Megumi opened her physical eyes, a little confused at this development. "The only people with that kind of magic are Akatsuki and Miss Fressange, and Miss Fressange is trapped away…" She stood and stepped over to Rumiko's cot, placing her clammy hands on his forehead next. Just like Inez's, there were big spots in the box. His cage had never had any spots, so this seemed like a bigger leap than it initially had.
Megumi stood again, unable to contain her happiness. She was just depressed about Rumiko only a few hours ago. Now it seemed like they were both on the verge of waking. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow. She sat down at Rumiko's desk to write down exactly what she saw before bed, before she forgot, so she could tell both Yurika and Igadosu. The desk was next Inez's cot, and Rumiko's was closer to the center table. Megumi had to make sure she didn't trip to reach the chair and slip into it.
As she placed the quill back in the inkwell after finishing her description, she tried to stretch her legs without standing. Her skirt refused to move. Frowning, Megumi bent down to see what had restricted her sleeping legs to regain blood.
Inez's hand gripped Megumi's pale green, almost white skirts. Megumi let out a small gasp. Inez was wide-awake, it seemed. Well, her eyes were open, very open. But there was something wrong with them. It took Megumi a minute to realize that Inez's normally gray-blue eyes were glowing with a cold golden quality that would frighten children. Her pale, chapped lips parted, and she let out a ragged breath before speaking, "The time has come."
Remembering that Rumiko had spots in his cage as well, she glanced at his cot. He was now sitting up, glaring at her with eyes identical to Inez's. If you weren't close to the Ninlandish man, the difference wouldn't have been noticed much. But Megumi knew him far too well, and noticed the difference immediately. He smirked at her, as if her fright was amusing to him. "The prophecy has begun."
A moment passed, and then the two of them shuddered, wrapped arms around themselves and closing their eyes tightly, as if undergoing a great pain or it was very cold in the room, which it wasn't. It was nearly June, and the spring had been almost unbearably hot around Somenolenthe.
Megumi was still too shaken up to move. She slowly pulled herself from the chair and sat down next the closest cot, Inez's. "Are… are you two all right?" she asked, trying to keep her clear, bell-like voice steady and calm. Inez took a deep breath, and sat up, stroking her chin. "That was Magus, no doubt about it." Rumiko was still breathing heavy. "Are you certain, Lady Ai?"
The Martian woman nodded. "Absolutely. No one else is capable of trapping someone's mind off in that fashion, except for a very strong Possession mage, and frankly, we haven't come into contact with any. Even Mythos was kind of weak." She got off the cot and began to pace. "Megumi, I know we said something before we got a hold of ourselves, what did we say?" Megumi bit her lip, and quoted it as best she could. "'The time has come,' and 'the prophecy has begun.' Why, Miss Fressange?"
Inez smirked; she had it already figured out. "What is the prophecy, Rumiko?" Rumiko's jaw dropped as he realized it too. Nonetheless, he answered Inez's question. "'And the prophecies state that the younger priest would imagine the woman, and the comet would fall, bringing an end to Magus and, in affect, our world.' Lady Ai, Magus will-"
"-Strike as soon as possible, I'm afraid." Inez nodded. "As soon as tomorrow, I believe." Megumi couldn't believe this. "If he's to attack the others, why would He set you free?"
"To regain some of His strength. He's been using it constantly to send the Elemental Gods off, and He's also been using it to keep us from finding the truth, and from getting in His way, and to scare the others."
Rumiko stood immediately, but swooned. He had been out of action for weeks now, after all. "We have to warn them, Lady!" Inez shook her head. "No. Remember, we don't know how Magus will strike, Rumiko. We had discussed the possibility of a host, but who knows if there is one, and if so, who? We would just caused chaos and mistrust, when they need to band together the best they can for this."
Megumi's jaw dropped. "So, are you saying you're letting them go blind, Miss Fressange?" Inez glanced at the petite girl. "In all seriousness, yes, Megumi. But it's not unlike them ever going into battle before. And this time calls for blindness. In fact, the only people who know this will happen are the three of us, remember? And the two of us," she glanced at Rumiko, who seemed dead serious about the subject, "will probably be entering the battle as well."
Megumi couldn't believe it. She had never truly liked the pilots, especially after losing interest in Akito and Akatsuki, but they were people too. People that could easily die in battle. They weren't immortal, though one could have wonders about Gai. Could Inez be so cold as to let them go, and possibly die against a God? "But something might happen…"
Inez put her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders. "Megumi, this is the way it's supposed to go. The events will unfold themselves as they need to. Believe me, this is for the best."
~*~
Hikaru's lecture the next day took place early that morning, just outside the forest, which had been unnamed until the Nadesico's resting place was common knowledge among the residents of Somenolenthe. It was now called the Forest of Femininity, to the amusement of the majority of the crew. She sat on one of the stumps that marked where farmland reached the forest, book pile on the ground next to her and notes in her lap. Everyone else either sat on similar stumps, on the ground, or stood around.
Hikaru glanced at her notes, but sighed and folded them back up and set them on her books. They never followed her lesson plans anyway. "Okay, anyone want to know something? We'll just base the lesson off that." It was always the same people that raised their hands. Akito, Jun, Izumi, and Yurika seemed to be the only ones with questions. But today, another hand graced the air, Akatsuki's. Hikaru was surprised, and completely ignored everyone else. "Akatsuki-san?"
Akatsuki didn't look at her, but stayed leaning against the tree. This was his usual position, but he seemed a bit more cocky than usual. But that was Akatsuki for you. "Yeah, I got a question. Magus sealed away the Doctor and Rumiko-san so they wouldn't use magic, right? How would one try to put a restraint on someone with, say, Magus's Rage, do you think?"
Hikaru thought this was a very obvious question. Everyone already knew that Inez and Rumiko were trapped in boxes, or cages. "Well, you'd block it off, like Magus did. With a box, or a cage, an empty room… something that they wouldn't be able to break from, I suppose. Why?"
Akatsuki didn't answer her question. "Could you block it off the same way you'd block air out of someone's throat, if you were strangling them?" Hikaru's eyebrows knit in confusion. She knew Akatsuki was morbid and heartless, but the description was so cold, it worried her. And why did he want to know this anyway? "Yes… I suppose even in the physical world that could work. Akatsuki, why did you ask that?" Akatsuki finally met eye contact with the wind mage, who gasped when she saw his eyes. They were glowing golden.
"Good answer, Amano-san." With that said, Akatsuki lunged at Yurika, his rough hands wrapping around her neck, his thumbs pushing down on her air passage. For the first three seconds, everyone was just stunned. That was certainly something no one expected, was for Akatsuki to attack his former lover, much less with the sole intent on killing.
Jun was the first to overcome the shock, as pure anger ran through his veins. "NO! You won't hurt her!" he screamed, opening his hands and letting his anger fuel the fire in his heart, the one that burned for Yurika, and let it burn for Yurika. He shot it straight at the gravity mage, not using his better judgment in the least bit. Hikaru took a bit longer to recuperate, but she also realized that was going on here. Akito reached for the fire mage to stop him from killing Akatsuki, though Jun wasn't anywhere near that goal. Hikaru shook her head. "No, Akito! Let him…" She looked and saw that the fires weren't doing much good. "Fuck!"
Akatsuki let go of the Captain's throat long enough to see the source of the sudden surge of magic, and smiled a vicious, feral grin that Itsuki could never have hoped to beat. He pushed Yurika to the ground and pushed Jun down with his magic, face-first. He then stood and ground his foot into the Executive Officer's back. A blast of quick, rotating wind hit him, pushing him off Jun and onto the ground. With Hikaru's magic to stop the CEO of Nergal, Akito felt a large icicle form in his hand, and pushed his glasses up, as if to aim. Izumi laid a hand on the Martian man's shoulder. "Akito, you can't-"
"He can!" interrupted Hikaru, frowning in concentration. "That's not Akatsuki, it's Magus!" It took Izumi a few seconds to see what Hikaru meant. But when she did, she couldn't argue. Those weren't the dark brown eyes of the Akatsuki family line. Those were golden eyes that glowed with hate for all that were among them. The longhaired pilot didn't like them very much, but he didn't HATE them. Not truly. Izumi's pale hand slipped from Akito's shoulder. She covered her eyes with one hand as she gathered a ball of water in the other.
And all hell broke loose.
~*~
TBC…
~*~
A/N: Bahahahahaaa, I know, I'm rude crude and you all hate me. Get in line. Well, I started the climax, didn't I? I did as promised. ^^ More details on this fight in the next chapter. ^^ Well, how'd it go? I admit, the recapping was a bit harsh, but did you really want all those slow details to work themselves out? Hell no. It seemed better to just give them to you. And the debate has been going on inwardly for the majority of the fic, you just haven't seen it much, have you? Yeah. Told you, lots of stuff. Now, what do I see for the next chapter? Hmm. Well, more fighting stuff. And if all goes well, it will be the end of the fighting bit as well, but if not, the last turning point in it. Yeah. I told you, this is the freakin' climax. Didn't believe me? Losers. Anyway, till next time, reviews rule my world! Bye~!