::chapter five - compassion for darkness::

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"I only wanted to see
What would happen to me
If I followed the road that leads to the palace we all seek.."

--The Tea Party, "Cathartik"

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--TREMOILLE INN, PARIS--

"...Jesus Christ."

Sol Badguy growled irritably at the pile of police reports, his rugged features drawn into an almost petulant scowl. If not for the smoldering annoyance in his dual-toned eyes, it might have been funny. "Who the hell makes these damned things so long-winded?"

"You've only been sitting there for an hour and a half," Anji pointed out. The younger man blinked in mild surprise at the pile to Sol's left, the files he'd already finished perusing. Sol was... very efficient at speed-reading. Either that, or he had superhumanly fast data-processing capabilities. But then again that was hardly implausible, not from what Mito had discovered about the bounty hunter during his stint with the World Court.

Though he could hardly just saunter up to a man who was twice his size and twice his stamina and remark, How's the weather? By the way, I hear around the grapevine that you're actually the Alpha Gear. That true, or just a silly rumor?

Anji wondered to himself if Baiken knew. If she did, it was a little surprising that she hadn't torn Sol's head off. But then again, they shared a lot of the same hobbies. He couldn't help but feel the smallest bit jealous. Every time he tried to convince Baiken that the world wasn't as gruesome a place as she seemed to think it was and that she'd be even prettier if she would just smile, she'd just give him this grim, unamused "if you don't shut up I'll remove all hope you might have of ever reproducing" expression.

But get Sol around her for a little while and she seemed completely different. She laughed at his jokes, no matter how vulgar... and his antipathy towards the world at large didn't even put her off. Moreover, she never seemed to get angry at Sol the way she did at him.

He couldn't help casting a sullen glare at the bounty hunter.

Sol, of course, sensed it. It wasn't like it was that difficult to read humans anyway, especially when one was sitting a mere few feet away from you and staring as if he was trying to burn holes through your head with his eyes alone. "...you got a problem?"

"Nothing. Forget it." Anji flopped backwards, staring at the ceiling without really looking at it at all. He loved his freedom, and the enforced confinement - however brief - was starting to grate on his nerves. Grumbling with the same petulance that had graced the older man's face, he released a long sigh. "And if Testament doesn't hurry up and get back, he's sleeping on the floor."

"I'd like to see you try and order him around."

Anji growled. "He'd be better company than you."

"You wanna come closer and say that?"

Mito grunted and rolled over to the far side of the bed, dark eyes flickering to the thin sliver of night sky visible between the partially drawn drapes. He had the bad habit of speaking before he thought about his words, and he knew it. Best to just shut his mouth, at least until he found a way to escape later.

The two men didn't have to wait very long. Anji watched Sol's chin tilt upwards and towards the door out of the corner of his eyes. Sure enough, the doorknob was twisting, hinges creaking softly.

The door itself opened to reveal a rather solemn, haggard-looking Testament. If anything, the troubled expression in his crimson eyes had increased exponentially and after a moment of staring intently at the Japanese man, he averted his eyes while slowly making his way towards a chair.

"Your wife here was wondering where you've been," Sol smirked, jerking a thumb at Anji - who merely glared at him. "Where did you run off to, anyway?"

"I sent Yoshino out to find someone for me. Which she did. A bit too well, at that."

A noncommittal grunt.

"And I found your bounty mark for you, if you're interested."

"Okay, that's nice, now let me get ba-- 'scuse me?" The file was quickly set down as Sol's piercing eyes studied the other Gear suspiciously. "Since when do you take an interest in bounty hunting?"

"Since the prey in question happens to be someone that should have been killed after the end of the Crusades."

"Right," the bounty hunter replied, the expression in his eyes turning grim and flat. "You trying to tell me that our serial murderer's a Gear?"

"One of the human-type Gears, to be precise. They became rather prevalent during the early half of this century. New research and all." He rubbed his brow in a display of weariness. "And would you mind keeping your voice down?"

"Okay, okay. Hold it." Sol set the rest of the file aside and unfolded himself from his sitting position on the floor, standing in favor of the bed. Hotel floors weren't all that comfortable - that hadn't changed in the 150-plus years he'd been around. "Run that by me again. I'm guessing you know the mystery chick Kiske's after."

"That would be correct."

"That's where you've been for the last two hours?"

Testament nodded and lifted his chin, gazing at Sol. "She went underground when Justice was sealed in his prison five years ago. I don't know how she did it, but she escaped the notice of any law enforcement, bounty hunters, what have you."

Anji coughed discreetly. "The company producing the Gears was fooling around with illegally obtained human test subjects right before and during the wars. That man in charge of the project had been intending to use the serum on humans in order to start modifying their genetic structure, but his prototype subject made himself scarce before he could start testing any of his theories. It's documented in the UN classified files - I have a connection in Geneva with a certain amount of top-secret clearance."

Sol shrugged, his expression unreadable. Still, there was a prolonged silence until Testament cleared his throat. "I surmise it would be safe to assume that Kira was once human herself. In fact, she is one of the few human-type Gears I've seen that has the mark on her forehead." Most humans-turned Gears weren't marked because they hadn't initially belonged to the company. "I can only wonder how she came by it."

"Good question." Badguy eyed him shrewdly. "Tell me something, Testament. Why're you suddenly being so helpful? I thought you had ethical issues over killing your own kind."

"I still don't approve of your bloodthirstiness, Sol," he replied stiffly, "but that's beside the point. She is completely insane. Her mind is filled with nothing but shadows. Justice is dead and he shouldn't exist for any of us anymore, but he does for her. She claims that he speaks to her."

"Like, hearing voices and all that crap?"

"I'd imagine so. She's following what she thinks is some sort of divine calling."

"Divine calling." Anji scratched his head. "She thinks she's on a mission from God?"

"Insofar as Gears consider any religious obligations, I suppose you could say that. The bad news is what she's trying to do... I doubt you're going to like this, Sol."

"Spill it." The bounty hunter's voice was as devoid of affect as his face.

"Do the two words 'Justice's resurrection' strike any particular feeling in you?"

The bounty hunter's chin snapped up sharply. "She wants to resurrect Justice?" Jesus, not this shit again...

Testament nodded.

"You better not be shitting me."

"I'm not."

"Justice is deader than a doornail. No way in hell is he coming back."

"She said that even though his body was dead, his spirit was still alive. I suppose that's quite possible, when you consider the fact that out of all of us he was the only one who managed to be fully self-aware."

Testament's quiet reply caused a moment of profound silence. Gears weren't supposed to have souls, but Gears weren't supposed to be self-aware either.

"Christ. She believes she can resurrect him?"

"Apparently so."

"This crazy bitch got a name?"

"Kira. I forget her last name, but I seem to remember she was someone of note at the beginning of the twenty-second century before her transformation."

"That's all you can tell me?"

"I have a fair amount of gaps in my memory, Sol," Testament replied bluntly. "There isn't much I can recall about the Crusades, other than scant images and a few fragments of my childhood. A name or a face, here and there. Kira I remember vividly for various reasons, but I couldn't tell you what her last name was because she never told me. I'm not really certain that she remembers anything."

Sol raised a brow. "'Various reasons,' huh? You've got some kind of history with her?"

"You could say that."

A pause, and then a malicious grin split the bounty hunter's features. "You were screwing her, weren't you?"

Testament's usual calm elegance deserted him as he sputtered in shock and outrage, his face turning a flagrant shade of red, but he made no move to deny the vulgar accusation Sol had leveled towards him. "What!? I did no such thing! And even if I.. it doesn't matter, that - that's none of your business!" Not to mention, completely uncalled for...

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Sol, when your name is Testament, then and only then will you have full access to the lurid details of my personal information." He had regained most of his composure, evident in the clipped, icy tones of his voice - although his face was still slightly crimson. "Until that day comes, kindly keep your damned mouth shut."

The hunter smirked.

With a great deal of effort the Second Lord Gear refrained from attempting to rearrange the hotel furniture in an effort to rip Sol's face from his skull. It was counterproductive, and he knew that the prototype was just trying to goad him into a fight. He wasn't going to let himself fall for it this time. "As I was about to say, the intelligence division of the United Nations would probably have a file on her. They kept extensive records during the Crusades on Justice and his upper-level entourage."

"Heh, good point." A pause followed the grudging admission. "Hm. I wonder if Kiske has access to UN files."

"Wouldn't someone there have recognized her from the composite drawing?" Anji argued, silently thankful for the abrupt change of subject. He was the only human in the room, and it made him feel distinctly like a field mouse stuck between two alley tomcats.

"Maybe, maybe not. Governments have this nasty habit of compiling files and then tucking them out of sight and out of mind. If Boy Wonder can get someone in Geneva to go looking for her I'm willing to bet she's listed in the archives somewhere."

"Are you going to go to the police station and antagonize him at this hour of the evening?"

"Why not? It ain't that late, and police stations're supposed to be open twenty-four hours. Might as well call the station and tell 'em to expect me." His voice was sardonic. "I'm sure Kiske'll be overcome with joy to see my face after so long, anyway."

Anji sighed ruefully - he'd been tired, too. Well, there went the idea of sleeping...

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--LOCATION UNDISCLOSED--

Kira glared sullenly at the door, feeling the slow-banked heat of anger kindling in her veins as she growled various invectives under her breath.

Nothing had gone right. Nothing had worked out the way she'd hoped it would. She'd spent all this time working behind the scenes... five years in hiding, in fear of the humans and in a dreamy sort of panic when Master Justice had been murdered in the Lexicon by that prissy little bastard knight... then plotting, plotting... hoping to restore him and finish what he'd started.

She remembered everything Testament had taught her - the rest of the blood rituals were those she had gained herself through painstaking research. Five years, forced to repress her instincts living among stinking, filthy humans, all to wait for him. And then killing to draw him out and bring him to her, once she'd heard he hadn't died in the tournament fiasco after all.

And after all her effort... all that grueling work... the bastard had gone soft.

With that so-called "innocent Gear." You dare shove me aside for her... that pathetic little coward of a halfling...

She couldn't stand it anymore. With a howl of animal rage the Gear snatched up the untouched sherry sitting on the table and hurled it at the wall. The crystal glass shattered against the solid surface as she screamed at it.

"You son of a bitch!!"

That wasn't enough to quell her blind rage. Not even close. Kira lunged for the table, upending it onto its face as she grabbed the other glass and literally slammed it into the underbelly of the wood. Gibbering and snarling the woman ground her fist - and then her open palm, when that failed to satisfy her - into the broken glass and the sharp splinters, slamming her now-mangled digits into the unrelenting surface over and over again.

Turning against me... against your master, your own people ...you BETRAYED us...!!

She howled once more. The jagged edges were slicing into her flesh and her blood, a dark crimson, combined with the lighter and thinner red of the liquid from Kira's now-crushed glass. The spilt sherry coursed in rivulets over the wood and pooled on the nearby floor.

Her chest heaved erratically as the first slivers of pain made themselves known. Though the injury itself was nothing to her - Gears had amazingly high pain thresholds - for some reason, the stinging of her broken flesh calmed her back into some semblance of sanity.

Kira recalled that brief glimpse into Testament's thoughts. She hadn't dared linger overlong; furthermore, she hadn't seen all that much. The Second Lord Gear had his own ways of concealing his true thoughts from those who attempted to plunder his mind, although those who used magic of a similar "wavelength" - certain types of Gear magic, for example - could occasionally break past. And he knew about her little specialties... probably he would have expected her to be reading him from the moment he walked in.

But he'd dropped his guard with that kiss. Long enough for her to see his companions, anyway.

An interesting pair of humans traveled with him - one was a tall man in tight white jeans, sporting a head of thick dark hair bound behind a metal headpiece of some kind. It was similar to what she wore when among humans. Another one who intended to harry her race into extinction... but something about his mind was a little odd. She didn't think he was exactly what he seemed, but it was impossible to tell for sure. Kira didn't care for capricious humans - the weak-minded and foolish ones were so much easier to prey upon.

Best to leave him be, for now. I may have to deal with him at a later time.

She was more interested in the other one. He was an athletic though rather foppish young man with an Asian look about him. Nothing special about him otherwise; he was just another human and probably had a mind about like what she would expect. Humans were absurdly easy to bend, once you figured out what motivated them - that was the irritating part, as no one human was motivated by exactly the same thing.

Maybe...

From what she could gather he was probably pliant enough. Reckless, too: one of those sorts who didn't always look before he leapt. And, he was searching for the creator of the Gears... driven by it, though not as much as the enigmatic one with the headband...

Her bruised and bleeding hand curled absently about the shards of glass as she knelt by the ruined piece of furniture, now lost in thought. It was worth investigating. Very much so.

Hm... he might be more useful to me than Testament. How ironic...

Kira always had a contingency plan when things went wrong.

She could probably pull off what she was beginning to have in mind - all of it was just a matter of pushing all the right buttons. And half the fun was figuring out just what she could push.

The best part was, no one would see it coming.

A feral smile tinged her lips.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ack! X_x As you can see, I am not dead. However, I have been rather ill. Anemia = huge, huge levels of SUCK. Try writing when you have no energy to do it. So this chapter is utterly craptastic, and for that I apologize.

In more cheerful news: I'm getting my preordered copy of GGXX soon, so that cures all ills ^^ Now if only I could get the money to fix my PS2... -_-

Random crap. Whee.

- The title of this chapter comes from the translation of the kanji used to write Anji Mito's name.

- *MINOR SPOILER* Anji does know that Sol is a Gear. In one of his Guilty Gear X-Plus endings for Story Mode he confesses knowing the truth to Sol, who threatens to kill him if he tells anyone. And in an interlude with Ky he says "Do you really think that he's human?" Interesting. Makes me wonder just how he came by that information...

- I should note that it's extremely difficult to write an original character into a major role involving a world one didn't invent. Some people consider it something of a taboo in fanfiction, as a matter of fact. Obviously I have no problem with it as long as the author doesn't cross the line into (a) warping canonized facts beyond recognition or (b) creating a Mary Sue. Kira obviously is a figment of my overactive imagination, and yes, I love taking creative license muchly. BUT. I am merely following personal theories of mine on humans who received Gear augmentation in order to characterize her. None of it is intended to be taken as irrefutable fact. So for God's sake don't go to the GameFAQs forums and post any of this as such. ~.~

- I talk too damn much, in addition to being a detail whore. Go me. x_x