Special thanks to WingedKnight for his great reviews! I don't own the game.

Chapter 14

Silence dominated the tall, white structure. No windows on the outside and no doors on any part of the smooth walls made this a very hard building to infiltrate.

"Why don't we blast it?" Said Number 12.

"This is a bloody stealth mission! We can't do that!"

"But Iridas…"

Whilst the other two were bitching, Shihio was hard at work trying to get inside.

"It's no use. We can't get in here…"

DING!

"What the hell was that?"

"I just had an idea." Came a mumbled reply from her backpack.

"Do you HAVE to have sound effects?"

Yes.

"According to Iridas, the insides are chrome, right?"

"Well, yes…I think I know where you're going."

"You do. I just read your mind."

She knew thanks to extensive reading of Oh, My Goddess! In the manga, the characters could transport through reflective surfaces, and chrome is reflective, and you should know what I'm talking about here.

"Stop doing the mind reading thing, it makes me uncomfortable."

"It's a reflex! I have to…"

"Just warp us inside."

"I'll need something that reflects…"

She had of course left her mirror at home.

"Crap. Wait…I have a shiny key chain. Will that work?"

"I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

Suddenly, a plot hole opened.

"Lucky break!"

INSIDE THE CORPORATE STRONGHOLD…

"Everything IS chrome in here!"

"The artificial light is blinding me, and I'm in a backpack!"

The clicking of heels could be heard down the intensely mirrored halls. Thinking quickly, she hid behind a chrome vending machine.

The person was a blonde with blue eyes. She was wearing nothing save for a silver thong bikini and also silver boots that nearly went up to her thong. She turned in Shihio's direction for a few seconds, and then moved on.

But that isn't the weird part. The moment she passed, seven other women who looked exactly like her passed by in a huge throng.

"Do you know what this means?" Queried Shihio.

"Yes. It means that bastard Melkior is a womanizer!"

"NO! I think they're cyborgs…"

"They must be the guards, then."

The first half of the trip up the building was easy. Following the map they found glued to the vending machine, she knew that Melkior's office was at the very top of the tower.

Fishing a stunner out of her backpack after much protesting from Ganon, she snuck behind one of the constructs and deactivated her with an electric charge. She fell to the floor, lifeless. Not that she was alive, anyways. I mean, it was a friggin robot for Nayru's sake. And I for one believe that-

"GET ON WITH THE STORY!"

Sorry, Author.

"I apologize for the Narrator's behavior. She tends to ramble…"

As I was saying, the robot fell to the ground. Staring at it, Shihio had a sudden flashback of Nana, and became quite pissed off at the provocative position the android landed in. She drew back and prepared to administer a kicking to the hindquarters of the thing when her chibified friend abruptly interrupted her.

"Don't do it! If the others find her here with her thong halfway up her ass, they'll know something's up."

Restraining herself, she looked at the door.

It wasn't very high-tech, just a door with a knob on it. Along with a sign that said:

WARNING!

"This does look dangerous…I may need a weapon of some sort."

"Um, duh."

Her backpack felt much heavier all of a sudden. She opened it to reveal a glaive much like the one she used in one of the earlier chapters.

"You must be a hit at parties. Let me ask you, can you turn into a PS2?"

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Replied the weapon.

She opened the door.

Wearing the armor of the Master Chief himself, Shihio began to shoot everything in the room with her two assault rifles. The Covenant scum ran in fear, and-

BACK TO REALITY!

She ran screaming with her eyes shut, slicing everything in her vicinity to pieces as she bolted to the door.

INTRUDER ALERT IN SECTOR 5! INTRUDER ALERT IN SECTOR 5!

"Nice going."

"Shut up."

There were no elevators in the building, so she had to use the stairs. When she finally reached the floor of the office, she was out of breath. Pausing for a moment despite the much similar protesting of her scythe, she then continued on. The auto lock doors opened to reveal…

…A very cozy looking room with a fireplace. Some classical piano music was playing on a fancy-shmancy stereo, and surprisingly, nothing in this room was chrome.

In a small lounge area by the fireplace was Melkior.

"How do you like my office? Oh, and be careful not to step on my fine Persian rug, it's VERY expensive."

"Cut the crap. Where's the antidote?"

Melkior's face broke into a sneer.

"There is no antidote. I lied."

"I knew that you lied, but no antidote? Why?"

"You see, I hadn't the time, so I decided not to bother. While you're here, would you like to know how my little chemical works?"

A chair knocked Shihio into it, and the weapon went flying.

"OW! SON OF A-"

"You see, this chemical is neurally oriented. It is designed to attack the brain and erode it until there is nothing left but the most primal of desires, rendering the victim nothing more than a beast."

"Why are you doing this?"

"So that you will go to Our side. We Gods simply cannot allow you, the Child of Destiny, to side up with mere Demons. If you did, then We would have no choice but to destroy you. You WILL be Our ultimate weapon against those foul creatures, and your 'friend' is in the way of Our objectives. Without any sort of intelligence, he will not be able to manipulate you."

"He doesn't manipulate me!"

"Yeah! What she said!"

Laughing, the God said, "You are so naive. To him, you are no more than a mere pawn in his quest to dominate all life."


"Is…this true?"

No answer.

"HA! You see? He cannot deny it! YOU ARE JUST A PUPPET!"

Suddenly, the Author popped out of nowhere.

"SEPHIROTH QUOTE! SEPHIROTH QUOTE!"

She disappeared, leaving everyone in the room confused.

"There is one way to help him… You must use your power to drive the chemical from his brain, but you don't HAVE to help him…"

She turned towards the glaive on the ground, then back to Melkior.

"You have a choice. You can either join Us, and live a peaceful, prosperous life once the war is over, or you can stay with him and be doomed to a life of misery and deceit."

"…I…"

"What will you do?"

"…I want…"

"Yes?"

"I want to…"

"SAY IT!"

"I want to stay with my friends, and as far as possible from YOU!"

She made to grab the weapon, only to find herself in the arms of Melkior. As the energy of an attack spell began to pulsate through her, she screamed.

"That was a very unwise decision you have made, Child of Destiny. If you will not go with the almighty Gods, then I shall make you."

"Agh…uah…"

"YOU ARE POWERLESS TO STOP ME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The wall was torn open, and the familiar figure of Number 12 could be seen through the smoke.

"EEK! MY HAIR!"

"MY LADY! HURRY!"

Shihio grabbed the scythe and jumped onto 12, who then teleported back to the Fortress.

"DAMN YOU, HALFLING!" Melkior roared as the smoke cleared.

"My lady! You are safe!"

"Thank you, Twelve."

Blushing, he replied, "It was nothing. I was just doing my job."

Shihio was back in her room with the bed that had black curtains. The moonlight gleaming in the windows, she felt something. It was a feeling of…what? She could not describe it, but it gave her confidence. It was a feeling of peace, yet she was anxious. An emotion of being in between that she felt in her dreams. She somehow knew what she had to do.

"My lady?" Asked 12.

It was as though large black wings were beating behind her eyes, beckoning her.

"Master, what is wrong with lady Shihio?"

"Her power is awakening…but so soon?"

They said something else, but their voices were fading. She was descending into darkness.

She awoke in a black room with no doors or windows. Words written in chalk drifted in the walls. The words ranged from random sentences to confessions of all sorts.

A woman was in the room. She had a white dress on, and was incredibly beautiful. The unsettling part was, it was Shihio. Only her skin was browner, and her eyes were a baby blue.

The other woman was the same, only her eyes were narrower. She looked like she had sucked on a lemon.

"We are your two mortal sides. Light and Dark."

"Shut up, Light. Tell the brat why she's here already!"

"You mustn't give in. We are here to council you to the side of the mortals."

"I don't want to be a mortal."

"What about your family?"

"They're horrible to me. I can't go back!"

Images flashed through her mind, every one of them bringing back some sort of painful memory.

"It's not so bad, is it?" Light's voice repeated over and over again.

She saw it. Her being beaten by her mother, Nana making fun of her, Sisi pulling her hair, Marin never leaving her alone.

It's not so bad, is it? Not so bad, is it? Not so bad is it?

Her father leaving her because of false accusations from her mother, and her sisters believed her lies. It was HER! She was the one who beat me! Please don't go, don't leave me alone!

It's not so bad, is it?

"YES!" She screamed. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Silence. Nothing more. The words were gone, and there was nothing more than the darkness.

Would you like to talk to me, then?

The voice, soft like velvet, echoed about her. Two red dots appeared in front of her.

"Who are you?"

I am your Demon self.

The person stepped forward.

She wasn't a woman. Just the same age as Shihio. She was wearing a black shirt and pants. Her hair was cut short. She also looked almost exactly like Shihio, but her eyes, they were different.

Her pupils glowed a deep red, and the area surrounding them was black. The way she looked at her was somewhat unsettling.

You want revenge upon the mortals, who have wronged you so.

"Yes…"

You desire…power? Power to make your own decisions? Power to make you dominant? Power to save your friend?

"I do…I want it. But nobody lets me know what it is. They keep calling me the Child of whatever, and I don't know what it means. Why does everyone want me to be on their side?"

Because your choice to become a God, Mortal or Demon will change the world as you know it. Whomever you side with will win the war, a war that has gone on for as long as time existed. You are more powerful than anyone can comprehend. You can do anything. With it, you are unstoppable. No man or God can defeat you.

"Can I use this power to save someone?"

Yes.

"May I use it now?"

Of course you can. That is what I just SAID. By the way, you can leave now.

"There is one more thing I want to ask you."

Her demon side was getting impatient.

What?

"This person, can I trust him?"

Yes. He is not using you as a weapon. You are not a puppet to be toyed with. Now get away from me before I give you seizures.

"Thank you so much!"

And with that, she vanished.

I hope she never comes to this part of her brain again, the little bitch.

THE CHAPTER HAS ENDED! GO HOME!!!