2. Family Ties
Sanguine walked down the hospital corridor a little ways and stopped in one doorway. She knocked on the door and peered inside. When she heard no reply, she pushed the slightly ajar door open and stepped inside. She walked over to the bed and stood at its foot, surveying the patient.
The patient stirred and then opened his eyes slowly. Sanguine pushed her sunglasses onto her forehead and smiled. "Duke Red, sir-you're awake."
Duke Red glared at her in surprise. "I-I...Who are you?"
"My name is Sanguine, and I'm the one that pulled you from the wreckage of the Ziggurat," she replied as she pointed to herself loftily.
Duke Red tried to push himself up, but fell back down again. Sanguine rushed to his side. "Watch out, sir! Don't try to get up just yet-doctor's orders."
He stared straight ahead at the wall where Sanguine had been standing before. "Th-the Ziggurat! What happened to it?"
"It was destroyed and took almost all of Metropolis with it. Your son- "
"I don't have a son!" Duke Red interjected.
"Sorry, sir...I mean Rock-he caused the explosion. It was him that pressed the self-destruct button, but you realize that it was to save your life, sir, I-"
"This is called saving my life? Putting me in the hospital?!"
"If he hadn't pushed that button, you would most definitely be dead. What do you think those robots would have done to you if he hadn't distracted them? You may be in a critical condition, but is it not better to be alive and hurt than dead?"
Duke Red narrowed his eyes and sank back down into the pillow. "I suppose..."
"If you don't mind me saying, sir, I'd like to speak on behalf of Rock. This is just my point of view-he may think differently, but...I don't think that you treated him very well. He did everything in the line of duty to protect you and you only repay him with the occasional mention and the respect of a servant. When you found out of Tima's existence, you hit Rock and told him that he didn't repay your kindness towards him. May I ask what kindness it was that you had been giving him, sir? And all for-"
"Shut up."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said shut up," Duke Red repeated. "I know what you're going to say. That I did all this for the sake of a mere robot."
Sanguine drew back. "Yes, sir...that's right. Tima was not worth your actions, not just towards Rock, but everyone else. She wasn't your real daughter and she can be rebuilt-humans cannot."
Duke Red closed his eyes as if to think for a moment as both were silent. Then he chuckled. "You sound just like him. But what I'd like to know is how you, a young girl, could know all of this?"
"I've been watching the goings-on of Metropolis for some time, now."
Duke Red paused again before answering. "What happened to Tima?"
Sanguine closed her eyes and looked to the window. "She's been destroyed. She took a huge fall into many explosions and hard pavement below from the top of the Ziggurat."
"What about Rock? Is he still alive?"
Sanguine turned back to the duke with a sly smile. "I thought you couldn't care less about him."
"I have thought about what you've said and I believe that I should apologize to him," Duke Red replied with slight annoyance in his voice.
"He's alive-I pulled him from the wreckage, too. He's in one of the rooms down the hall," she answered with a nod of her head in that direction. "He's in better condition than you and should recover quickly. It's just a fortunate coincidence that the both of you awoke from your comas on the same day. Should I bring your apology to him?"
"That won't be necessary. I'd like to give it to him personally. Say, um...what was your name again?"
"Sanguine."
"Ah, yes...Sanguine...How would you like to be the new Marduk leader? As a replacement for Rock?"
"Euh...I'd...I'd be deeply honoured to carry that position, Duke Red, sir, but won't Rock want it?"
"He won't be able to in his condition."
"I suppose you're right...Okay, then. Sure! I'd love to be the new Marduk leader!" she cried in a jubilant tone. "Is that all, sir? If it is, you should get some more rest."
"Yes, but one more thing; you'll need a Marduk uniform. Is my mansion still intact?"
"I believe so. If it is, there are some things that need repairing..."
"Right, then. Go there and talk to the maid called Enmy. Tell the guards that I sent you. If they ask you for proof, say, 'Tiamat'. Tell them I order the mansion to have repairs done immediately. Did the doctors say when I could leave the hospital?"
"Two more weeks, I think it was."
"Very well. Is shall get a headstart and get my rest, then. Good-day, Sanguine, the new Marduk leader."
Sanguine headed for the door and made a small bow. "Fare thee, well, Duke Red, sir. Get well soon." With that, she slipped out the door and into the corridor.
*
Rock tried to sit up for the second time in one long day. He propped himself up with his left, undamaged arm, but still winced from the pain of moving his right arm even slightly. His reason for getting up was something he heard coming from the hall; footsteps that came closer to the door. He eyed the half-closed door eagerly, hoping for it to be that girl.
As the door swung open, he foolishly threw himself back down on the bed, trying to make it look as if he hadn't got up in the first place. The figure swung itself inside and stared in confusion as he cringed and groaned in pain. He bit his lip, only causing more malaise.
He heard an amused giggle from the figure as they closed the door behind them. "There's no use trying to hide it, Rock. You were waiting for me and your determination to hide it only came back to hurt you."
There it was-the comforting and familiar voice. Rock turned his head warily. "You're back..."
Sanguine strode over to the bed and sat at the edge again. "That's right. I believe you wanted me to do so."
Rock nodded his head as he gazed longingly into her green eyes.
"Now, what was it you wanted to ask me about?"
Rock looked away from her and to his broken arm. "I want to know about you, and...why you were spying on me."
"I wasn't spying on you, but simply 'observing'."
"Okay then, why were you 'observing'?"
Sanguine turned her head to the floor and took her sunglasses off her head. She began to polish them with her jacket. "Well, I had nothing much else to do, I suppose. Thought I might as well just lie low and watch what happened in the city."
"Why were you in Metropolis?"
"Metropolis isn't my hometown. I actually live in another country, but I just came here because my parents thought I could use the experience. They said that although our city was pretty advanced, Metropolis was even more so, and so they sent me here to live for a couple of years. It was to make me see what I took for granted back home."
"Where did you live before?"
"Somewhere."
"Rock eyed her suspiciously. "Where is this 'Somewhere'?"
Sanguine looked to him, green eyes penetrating the blue, like grass reaching the sky. She smiled. "Why would you want to know? You're just like my father, always wanting to know everything about what's happened to me."
"Well, I can imagine him having good reason to. You should be grateful that he cares so much for you." Rock paused. "Father..." he then whispered. "What it would be to have a father that loves and cares for me..."
Sanguine's eyes widened immediately. "Oh, I'm sorry, Rock, I forgot-"
"That's okay, don't worry about it. I can get over minor things like that. How else am I just like your father?"
"Well, you look like him. He has the same brown hair and blue eyes as you. Your solemn personalities are the same, but you can be humorous when you feel like it. The only difference I think is that you are more way more ruthless and he has a beard," she said with a small laugh.
Rock smiled and waited for her to look back to him. "You know, that's funny, because you remind me of my mother-from what little I can remember."
"So that's why you called me mother... Tell me about her."
Rock viewed his left hand as he clenched and unclenched it torpidly. "She had green eyes and brown hair about the same length as yours. She liked to tie her hair back near the end of the ponytail low on her head with a red ribbon. It trailed just down past her shoulderblades. Your voices are even alike. They sound the same to me, at least. Your personalities are the same in almost every aspect, except that you're more elusive.
"I watched her death right before my eyes. One of my Father's Marduks shot her with his rifle. I was in her arms when it went right through her head. Once that happened, she fell on top of me, blood staining me even more from when my Father died in my arms. He was killed by a robot."
Sanguine's eyes reflected horror and empathy. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Rock... Let alone be in such close quarters at the time... That's terrible...And done by Duke Red and his Marduks, you say?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you loyal to them?"
"I didn't know that at the time. I thought that Duke Red was my father, since they looked so much alike. Seeing that robot, though, that was one of the things that made me realize I was being loyal to the wrong person."
"And that's where your hatred for robots came from? From the one that killed your father?"
"Yeah...you just can't trust them, mother."
Sanguine ogled him questionably.
It was only when Rock looked up that he realized what he had said. "Oh, sorry...there I go again...it's just so hard..."
"That's okay." Sanguine replied as she reached her hand out. Rock watched vigilantly as it came closer to his face and hovered above his forehead. He glimpsed her brush away his bangs that covered the eyepatch and analyze it.
Her eyes narrowed and displayed her compassion as she gave a small sigh. She traced her index finger along a scar on his forehead that had been concealed by his hair. After closing his eye momentarily, Rock's single eye cast its gaze back from Sanguine's hand to her face. Sanguine then took her hand away, letting the brown strands of hair fall back into place.
Rock's cheeks suddenly felt warm, too warm for comfort. "What is it?"
Sanguine's expression softened. "I was just taking a look at your eyepatch and wound. The doctor says that you'll regain your vision once you're out of the hospital. I'm worried that won't be the case, though."
"Hey, I proved you wrong before, and why should you be worried about me? I should be concerned, not you." Rock's cheeks now felt even warmer-he felt that they were surely on fire. 'She cares this much and she's only just met me? No one's ever been this sympathetic towards me...' "Besides, if I do die, no one will care."
Sanguine reached out again, this time for his broken right arm. She ran her hand down it slowly, making Rock flinch slightly. "Don't say that, Rock. There's someone for everyone, even though they may not know it."
The pain in his arm stopped as her hand reached his bandaged one. He lifted his head to see her hand grasped tightly around his. "I-I..." he stammered.
Her hand tightened around his. He swallowed and wandered into her eyes. Her wanful gaze was vacant as she stared at his eye. "S-sanguine?" he called softly.
Sanguine blinked and came back to her seemingly conscious self. "Eh? Oh...yes, get better soon, Rock." With that, she drew her hand away quickly, as if disgusted and left the room.
Rock stared at the door, her having closed it swiftly behind her as if nothing had happened. He could feel his eyes welling up with tears as he tried hard to hold them back. He lay back on the pillow and turned his head to the ceiling, blinking away the tears and letting them run down his bloodstained cheek.
Sanguine walked down the hospital corridor a little ways and stopped in one doorway. She knocked on the door and peered inside. When she heard no reply, she pushed the slightly ajar door open and stepped inside. She walked over to the bed and stood at its foot, surveying the patient.
The patient stirred and then opened his eyes slowly. Sanguine pushed her sunglasses onto her forehead and smiled. "Duke Red, sir-you're awake."
Duke Red glared at her in surprise. "I-I...Who are you?"
"My name is Sanguine, and I'm the one that pulled you from the wreckage of the Ziggurat," she replied as she pointed to herself loftily.
Duke Red tried to push himself up, but fell back down again. Sanguine rushed to his side. "Watch out, sir! Don't try to get up just yet-doctor's orders."
He stared straight ahead at the wall where Sanguine had been standing before. "Th-the Ziggurat! What happened to it?"
"It was destroyed and took almost all of Metropolis with it. Your son- "
"I don't have a son!" Duke Red interjected.
"Sorry, sir...I mean Rock-he caused the explosion. It was him that pressed the self-destruct button, but you realize that it was to save your life, sir, I-"
"This is called saving my life? Putting me in the hospital?!"
"If he hadn't pushed that button, you would most definitely be dead. What do you think those robots would have done to you if he hadn't distracted them? You may be in a critical condition, but is it not better to be alive and hurt than dead?"
Duke Red narrowed his eyes and sank back down into the pillow. "I suppose..."
"If you don't mind me saying, sir, I'd like to speak on behalf of Rock. This is just my point of view-he may think differently, but...I don't think that you treated him very well. He did everything in the line of duty to protect you and you only repay him with the occasional mention and the respect of a servant. When you found out of Tima's existence, you hit Rock and told him that he didn't repay your kindness towards him. May I ask what kindness it was that you had been giving him, sir? And all for-"
"Shut up."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said shut up," Duke Red repeated. "I know what you're going to say. That I did all this for the sake of a mere robot."
Sanguine drew back. "Yes, sir...that's right. Tima was not worth your actions, not just towards Rock, but everyone else. She wasn't your real daughter and she can be rebuilt-humans cannot."
Duke Red closed his eyes as if to think for a moment as both were silent. Then he chuckled. "You sound just like him. But what I'd like to know is how you, a young girl, could know all of this?"
"I've been watching the goings-on of Metropolis for some time, now."
Duke Red paused again before answering. "What happened to Tima?"
Sanguine closed her eyes and looked to the window. "She's been destroyed. She took a huge fall into many explosions and hard pavement below from the top of the Ziggurat."
"What about Rock? Is he still alive?"
Sanguine turned back to the duke with a sly smile. "I thought you couldn't care less about him."
"I have thought about what you've said and I believe that I should apologize to him," Duke Red replied with slight annoyance in his voice.
"He's alive-I pulled him from the wreckage, too. He's in one of the rooms down the hall," she answered with a nod of her head in that direction. "He's in better condition than you and should recover quickly. It's just a fortunate coincidence that the both of you awoke from your comas on the same day. Should I bring your apology to him?"
"That won't be necessary. I'd like to give it to him personally. Say, um...what was your name again?"
"Sanguine."
"Ah, yes...Sanguine...How would you like to be the new Marduk leader? As a replacement for Rock?"
"Euh...I'd...I'd be deeply honoured to carry that position, Duke Red, sir, but won't Rock want it?"
"He won't be able to in his condition."
"I suppose you're right...Okay, then. Sure! I'd love to be the new Marduk leader!" she cried in a jubilant tone. "Is that all, sir? If it is, you should get some more rest."
"Yes, but one more thing; you'll need a Marduk uniform. Is my mansion still intact?"
"I believe so. If it is, there are some things that need repairing..."
"Right, then. Go there and talk to the maid called Enmy. Tell the guards that I sent you. If they ask you for proof, say, 'Tiamat'. Tell them I order the mansion to have repairs done immediately. Did the doctors say when I could leave the hospital?"
"Two more weeks, I think it was."
"Very well. Is shall get a headstart and get my rest, then. Good-day, Sanguine, the new Marduk leader."
Sanguine headed for the door and made a small bow. "Fare thee, well, Duke Red, sir. Get well soon." With that, she slipped out the door and into the corridor.
*
Rock tried to sit up for the second time in one long day. He propped himself up with his left, undamaged arm, but still winced from the pain of moving his right arm even slightly. His reason for getting up was something he heard coming from the hall; footsteps that came closer to the door. He eyed the half-closed door eagerly, hoping for it to be that girl.
As the door swung open, he foolishly threw himself back down on the bed, trying to make it look as if he hadn't got up in the first place. The figure swung itself inside and stared in confusion as he cringed and groaned in pain. He bit his lip, only causing more malaise.
He heard an amused giggle from the figure as they closed the door behind them. "There's no use trying to hide it, Rock. You were waiting for me and your determination to hide it only came back to hurt you."
There it was-the comforting and familiar voice. Rock turned his head warily. "You're back..."
Sanguine strode over to the bed and sat at the edge again. "That's right. I believe you wanted me to do so."
Rock nodded his head as he gazed longingly into her green eyes.
"Now, what was it you wanted to ask me about?"
Rock looked away from her and to his broken arm. "I want to know about you, and...why you were spying on me."
"I wasn't spying on you, but simply 'observing'."
"Okay then, why were you 'observing'?"
Sanguine turned her head to the floor and took her sunglasses off her head. She began to polish them with her jacket. "Well, I had nothing much else to do, I suppose. Thought I might as well just lie low and watch what happened in the city."
"Why were you in Metropolis?"
"Metropolis isn't my hometown. I actually live in another country, but I just came here because my parents thought I could use the experience. They said that although our city was pretty advanced, Metropolis was even more so, and so they sent me here to live for a couple of years. It was to make me see what I took for granted back home."
"Where did you live before?"
"Somewhere."
"Rock eyed her suspiciously. "Where is this 'Somewhere'?"
Sanguine looked to him, green eyes penetrating the blue, like grass reaching the sky. She smiled. "Why would you want to know? You're just like my father, always wanting to know everything about what's happened to me."
"Well, I can imagine him having good reason to. You should be grateful that he cares so much for you." Rock paused. "Father..." he then whispered. "What it would be to have a father that loves and cares for me..."
Sanguine's eyes widened immediately. "Oh, I'm sorry, Rock, I forgot-"
"That's okay, don't worry about it. I can get over minor things like that. How else am I just like your father?"
"Well, you look like him. He has the same brown hair and blue eyes as you. Your solemn personalities are the same, but you can be humorous when you feel like it. The only difference I think is that you are more way more ruthless and he has a beard," she said with a small laugh.
Rock smiled and waited for her to look back to him. "You know, that's funny, because you remind me of my mother-from what little I can remember."
"So that's why you called me mother... Tell me about her."
Rock viewed his left hand as he clenched and unclenched it torpidly. "She had green eyes and brown hair about the same length as yours. She liked to tie her hair back near the end of the ponytail low on her head with a red ribbon. It trailed just down past her shoulderblades. Your voices are even alike. They sound the same to me, at least. Your personalities are the same in almost every aspect, except that you're more elusive.
"I watched her death right before my eyes. One of my Father's Marduks shot her with his rifle. I was in her arms when it went right through her head. Once that happened, she fell on top of me, blood staining me even more from when my Father died in my arms. He was killed by a robot."
Sanguine's eyes reflected horror and empathy. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Rock... Let alone be in such close quarters at the time... That's terrible...And done by Duke Red and his Marduks, you say?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you loyal to them?"
"I didn't know that at the time. I thought that Duke Red was my father, since they looked so much alike. Seeing that robot, though, that was one of the things that made me realize I was being loyal to the wrong person."
"And that's where your hatred for robots came from? From the one that killed your father?"
"Yeah...you just can't trust them, mother."
Sanguine ogled him questionably.
It was only when Rock looked up that he realized what he had said. "Oh, sorry...there I go again...it's just so hard..."
"That's okay." Sanguine replied as she reached her hand out. Rock watched vigilantly as it came closer to his face and hovered above his forehead. He glimpsed her brush away his bangs that covered the eyepatch and analyze it.
Her eyes narrowed and displayed her compassion as she gave a small sigh. She traced her index finger along a scar on his forehead that had been concealed by his hair. After closing his eye momentarily, Rock's single eye cast its gaze back from Sanguine's hand to her face. Sanguine then took her hand away, letting the brown strands of hair fall back into place.
Rock's cheeks suddenly felt warm, too warm for comfort. "What is it?"
Sanguine's expression softened. "I was just taking a look at your eyepatch and wound. The doctor says that you'll regain your vision once you're out of the hospital. I'm worried that won't be the case, though."
"Hey, I proved you wrong before, and why should you be worried about me? I should be concerned, not you." Rock's cheeks now felt even warmer-he felt that they were surely on fire. 'She cares this much and she's only just met me? No one's ever been this sympathetic towards me...' "Besides, if I do die, no one will care."
Sanguine reached out again, this time for his broken right arm. She ran her hand down it slowly, making Rock flinch slightly. "Don't say that, Rock. There's someone for everyone, even though they may not know it."
The pain in his arm stopped as her hand reached his bandaged one. He lifted his head to see her hand grasped tightly around his. "I-I..." he stammered.
Her hand tightened around his. He swallowed and wandered into her eyes. Her wanful gaze was vacant as she stared at his eye. "S-sanguine?" he called softly.
Sanguine blinked and came back to her seemingly conscious self. "Eh? Oh...yes, get better soon, Rock." With that, she drew her hand away quickly, as if disgusted and left the room.
Rock stared at the door, her having closed it swiftly behind her as if nothing had happened. He could feel his eyes welling up with tears as he tried hard to hold them back. He lay back on the pillow and turned his head to the ceiling, blinking away the tears and letting them run down his bloodstained cheek.