Darkness, My Beloved

V. Lady Noin

"No…stop…NO!", Une rose up madly from her bed with a horrid scream which shook the darkened room she was in. The sweat running from her forehead was her own clear blood; all comfort in her was seeping out of her veins and through her pores. Her hand fumbled furiously for the bottle of her release; her only release. The plastic met her dry, quavering lips, however nothing but a wisp of dust and air ran down her throat.

"Is this what you want?", a whispery voice rang out beside her.

The woman squinted through the darkness to discern the presence of the same hooded figure from the night earlier. It was him. "All I want is you. Treize Khushranada…", she breathed. "Take me"

A sudden pain crashed through her like a blade tearing apart her bare flesh. Shutting her eyes, she let out a gasp. Pain was always her ecstasy…the maddening shocks of hell were something she cherished deeply for she knew no other form of delight. She could feel her own hot blood trickling down, and she let out a quick laugh.

"This is what you want?? Is it???", the voice, now strained and tensed, hissed, his hot breath burning in her ear.

Beaming back at him with an askew smile of irony, the lady fluttered her eyes. "So it is", she gasped. "Treize…"

The yellow moon hid shamefully behind the looming clouds, as a sudden scream broke the barrier of truth and purity. Its echoes reflected beyond the mirror of sin, but unto a world of extreme impiety. Une knew she was drowning into a sea of unrest. Each fervid vein running through her heart was filling with the intoxication of spurious bliss. But…what did such matter? Genuine or not, the high building within her helped her retain herself. Was that all that mattered for the time being???

Beside her, the hooded figure collapsed. "Now…", it breathed hard against her. "You are free to unveil me…"

The woman shut her eyes. "It is trust", she responded simply, and turned her head away from the direction of his voice, only opening her eyes for a moment to catch a glimpse of her blood stained bed sheets. "Trust"

~

"Zechs…", a voice called behind him as he closed the door.

"Good eve-", he stopped mid-way as his tattered looking eyes met those of Lucrezia Noin. "Noin…?"

With a slight smile, the woman wiped the tresses of platinum black hair away from her beautiful face. "So here…Zechs, last few days on Earth", she whispered, her voice quavering like leafs in the wind. "Hm"

The baron looked away with a sigh. "So it is…", he returned softly, bringing his hand to his forehead. "A shame I spend them in the dark rooms of the Preventors Headquarters"

"I…", she began warily, then thought better of her words and abruptly stopped herself. "Zechs"

An awkward silence suddenly impended over the room with stealth of darkness. Time was dripping away each moment; each second. Time couldn't be stopped; life could not be halted. She needed to tell him right then, or the horrors of remorse laced with an unbearable feeling of lamentation would come to eat away at her heart.

Noin suddenly looked up into the man's icy blue eyes as she ran her fingers down his wounded cheek. "Now what happened here…?", she asked, making a slight attempt to force a nervous smile.

Without speaking, Zechs bit his lip and looked away. "That…nothing"

"God dammit Zechs", she suddenly yelled, more to curse at the own confusion tangling up her in her mind. "Why is it so hard for me to…" She stopped, and cast her eyes to the floor.



"What is it"

"Zechs…I can't…"

She stopped and looked up at him once again. His eyes were filled with confusion, and yet his composure was still so well kept. He was still so calm. However…she knew there was no serenity in his soul. She could see through his skin and into his inner soul. There was nothing, but chaos in the spirit and utter havoc in the mind. He was fighting a battle with himself; a battle he would not win if she stayed with him.

"I can't return to Mars with you…", her voice trailed off, and she forced a light grunt. "I can't let a man do such a thing to himself…and that's the truth. I can't stay here with you…"

Swallowing hard, the man looked away. "Lucrezia"

"I'm sorry", she whispered in return, and quickly exited the room, leaving behind a lost soul alone in the malignity of sheer darkness.