Chapter Three: Obsession

Albedo Piasora clutched at his silver-white hair, malice glittering in his purple eyes. Laughter tore itself from his throat, the sound depraved and foul.

"Mizarhi, you bastard!" He chuckled with glee, his fingers clenching and unclenching the silky locks. "You thought you were smart to hide it there, didn't you?! You thought that robot could protect her, didn't you?!" He covered his face with one hand, his shoulders still quaking. "Oh, the irony of it all!" Even now, the memory of his discovery still packed a powerful emotional punch, one that had taken him by surprise and so he had to laugh at the clever twist Fate had thrown in... His laughter faded however, as a memory of her arose, green eyes so full of innocence yet slightly darkened by anger and fear as she looked up at him. And then... Albedo's eyes narrowed and he smashed a fist against the side console.

Why couldn't I look at her?! Looking into those eyes, he had felt...unworthy. Unclean. He had felt ashamed of himself, and had wanted to hide in the shadows, away from those gentle eyes...so unlike the cold red ones of the android, the naivety of MOMO's...

He hadn't thought of her much, only thinking of her as the android's creator, a minor obstacle that could easily be overcome without much difficulty. He suppressed a laugh at that thought; it seemed he had fallen for Mizrahi's trick quite easily, but he wouldn't do so again. She was only a woman, after all. A cruel smile played across his face.

It seems I've found a new toy to play with, brother...though it surprises me that Nigredo hasn't made his move yet! I'm sure he's already sensed by now your new friend is not what she seems... A cackle escaped from his lips. Why not test your powers on her, little brother? You should stay prepared after all...that marvelous ability our "father" gave you shouldn't be going to waste... But once again, the memory of those green eyes surfaced, causing him to curse violently and pull at his hair as the feelings shot through him once more.

"Damn her!" His eyes narrowed into amethyst slits. Damn her for bringing up these unwanted feelings...she couldn't be as innocent as she looked! She just couldn't! And yet there she was in his thoughts, looking like a Madonna, those green eyes piercing through his defenses and to his very soul... He closed his eyes against the memory, snarling.

Damn it...what is it about her?! Why do I feel this way around her?! His eyes opened, the purple orbs tormented. She is only a weak woman...clueless and naïve to her true power; it would take little effort on my part to kill her! So then...why?! A soft beep sounded from the computer console, Simeon had picked up the radar signal of two E.S. series mecha nearby. Relieved for the distraction, the U.R.T.V. activated the monitor, bringing up a picture of E.S. Asher and E.S. Dinah.

Pity...I can't sense Rubedo. He could, however, sense the one called chaos...as he started to activate the hyperspace program to exit the area, awareness flashed into his mind...she was here! Albedo's hands stilled on Simeon's controls. He shouldn't...he should jump into hyperspace and leave... instead he reached out with his mind, making sure that chaos couldn't sense him, he just had to see this...to see her...

----

"Are you feeling okay, Ziggy?"

"I'm fine. It feels rather odd though, I've never been inside a mecha before, much less being the co-pilot of one." The cyborg answered, looking up at chaos, who smiled and brought up a screen in front of him.

"Shion? Jin? Everything alright over there?"

"Everything's fine. Dinah's not picking up anything on radar, you?" Albedo inhaled sharply at the sound of her voice, watching as she looked over a screen in front of her...

"Nothing here." chaos answered.

"I'm surprised we got all the way out here without you getting into an accident." At this, Shion's eyes narrowed, and Albedo saw her lift a brown-clad foot and plant it sharply between the blades of an older man, dressed in a black kimono.

"Urusai!" She snarled, her green eyes bright with irritation. The man yelped in pain before turning his head around to look at Shion.

"Nani?!" He exclaimed before reverting back to English, even though Albedo could understand Japanese very well. "Such cruelty to your brother!" The foot lashed out again, and Albedo had to hold back a crack of laughter as the man yelped again, and Shion launched into a verbal barrage of Japanese.

"Um, could you mind speaking in English for those who don't know Japanese?" Ziggy requested from Asher. "I only know a few words..." Shion fell silent, staring daggers at her brother.

"Baka." She muttered. Albedo found himself captivated by the look on her face, the glint in her eyes...what was going on inside that female brain of hers? She was a mystery, doing one thing when you expected her to do something else...she had accepted his brothers without question, not even caring for their unnatural abilities, she treated Realians as if they were real human beings, she would even willingly help strangers out at the risk of her own life, the Gnosis invasion of the Kukai Foundation had shown him that...every time he tried to fit her in a slot, she jumped right back out and changed shape.

"Mattaku..." Shion leaned over her console, snapping something at her brother, who just grinned up at her. Apparently this only made her even angrier, as her next kick was directed towards the back of his head. Albedo pulled back and away from the group, his fingers tightening on Simeon's controls. It would be so easy to swoop in and grab her...perhaps then he could finally, finally, finally discover the reason why she haunted him so much...why he was so fascinated by her. What were her secrets? Why was it when she looked at him he wished to hide himself from her, that he felt ashamed? Why did she care for the Realians, who were nothing more than worthless constructs of flesh and machine? What she had within her didn't matter to him; he had already gotten what he had wanted. But still...

She fascinates me. Simeon beeped again, a warning that they were drawing closer. Without a second thought, Albedo activated the hyperspace program, glancing back at the graceful purple/white figure that was E.S. Dinah.

I will discover your secrets, Shion. A smile spread across his face, much like how a child would smile upon seeing presents underneath the tree on Christmas Day. And I shall have fun unlocking every puzzling part of you...

Then, and only then, could he be free of this obsession.

Translations:

Urusai shut up!

Nani what?

Baka idiot, fool, (but in this case, Shion's calling Jin an idiot)

Mattaku Good grief