AN: Since uploading will be down from Sunday to Tuesday, I'll (hopefully) have Chapter 8 up tomorrow.
Chapter Seven: Nightmare
His breath came out in short pants, pain lacing through his side as he continued running down the street, Above and around him, the sounds of gunfire and explosions echoed...bringing back a set of all-too familiar memories...
Rubedo! Rubedo! Where are you?!
Sick at heart, praying desperately that he wouldn't have to do what he dreaded doing, the Song of Nephilim a bitter requiem in his ears, yet not affecting him for some odd reason...But instead of the bodies of his siblings, the bodies of the outcast humans and Realians who had made the Kukai Foundation their home lay around him, here and there piles of a white chunky substance, the remains of those who had been attacked by the Gnosis...
No...NO! The world twisted and warped, and he was on the bridge of the Durandal, the small forms of the 100-Series Realians that manned her bridge scattered and flung about...to him and Rubedo, they'd all been like cute little sisters or even daughters...A broken sound came from Gaignun's throat as he approached two female forms, one with blond hair and one with purple hair, lying so still...
"No..." Shelley's arms were wrapped around her younger sister, protecting her in death as she had done so in life, blood staining her lavender hair. Mary lay curled up in her older sister's arms, blood trickling from her mouth to the floor, staining her golden locks and ocean-blue of her outfit...
Gai...gnun... The raven-haired U.R.T.V.'s head whipped up at the weak mental whisper, recognizing it instantly...
RUBEDO! Leaving the nightmarish scene behind, he tore for the lift, only to fall down into darkness where another nightmare awaited, reaching up eagerly to hook him with pain-tipped claws...
A reversal of when he had first awoken on Miltia, after U-DO's attack, pain screaming through every fiber of his body to find himself in Rubedo's arms, while tears fell from his older brother's eyes, baptizing his face....but now it was him weeping, clutching the small red-haired form to his chest, begging for him to open his eyes.
"Rubedo...no! Please, don't..." His brother's eyes opened, the blue he knew all too well now starting to darken, the light within fading... "Rubedo!" A small smile and a hand reaching up to try and touch his cheek...only to drop lifelessly as the eyes closed, the unyielding spirit now giving up, allowing itself to be drawn towards eternity. Terror iced through Gaignun, now he was all alone... A scream of denial tore itself from his throat as he clutched at his older brother's body, which was fast turning cold. Green eyes full of sorrow, he lifted his head, looking around...Ziggy lay not too far away, propped up against the wall, his eyes glazed over in death. In his arms was MOMO, her small face pressed into his clothing, blood streaming from several holes in her back, pooling about her and her "father"...KOS-MOS lay scattered about in several pieces, her red eyes open and unseeing, blooded angel feathers marked the place where chaos lay, unmoving, Jin alongside him, a sword impaling him to the ground through his back. But as Gaignun desperately looked about, he did not see a head of beloved brown hair lying amongst the carnage...
"Too late, brother." The voice had the younger U.R.T.V. whip around, rising to his feet. "They've all come and gone..." Rage coursed through Gaignun, clouding his vision, turning his eyes into green fire.
"Albedo, you...you BASTARD!" He roared, his powers surging through him. Damn his vow never to use them, his brother and friends needed to be avenged! The sickening maniacal laugh bounced off the walls surrounding them, and the older U.R.T.V. started to emerge from the shadows.
"I thought..."
Step.
"you might..."
Step.
"want to..."
Step.
"Say good-bye?" He offered, holding out his arms. Gaignun's heart, already battered and bleeding from the deaths of his loved ones, seemed to stop beating for several seconds, time itself seeming to freeze over. Then everything came crashing down in front of him, a strange roaring filling his ears, indescribable pain knifing through him...
NOOOOO! Lying in his older brother's outstretched arms...like a sacrifice upon a pagan altar, was Shion. Blood was all over her...dripping from her back to run down Albedo's arms, marring her clothing and his, her beautiful green eyes cold and empty...her skin bloodless, her body limp. Death had not been gentle... Gaignun fell to his knees; the remains of his heart dying along with his soul as Albedo threw back his head and laughed, throwing Shion's broken body towards him...
----
He pulled himself out of the daze he was in, the madness releasing its hold on him. Warmth suffused his arms and legs, his chest, but he couldn't open his eyes to see what it was, his body was not under his full control as yet. He was sitting down, holding something...his fingers flexed to feel warm flesh, yet as he did so liquid trickled over them, warm and...sticky? Purple eyes narrowed. It felt as if he was holding something...a Kirshwasser perhaps? No, this felt larger than one of his toys, yet just as slender and frail...
Thump.
The sound of a heartbeat drew his attention, whatever it was he was holding; it was still alive. However, there was something horribly wrong...it felt like the small organ was straining, struggling to push blood in and out, to maintain the life that was so dependant on it. Albedo had the image of a small candle, burned completely down to a nub, the flame struggling to survive.
Thump.
The time between heartbeats was getting shorter and shorter, the heart now laboring to do its job. The skin beneath his fingers was getting colder and colder, the breaths coming from his burden shallower and shallower. As sensation returned to him, he could feel incredible pain from what he held...a warrior of a battle, yet now torn to shreds, utterly defenseless. Whatever had attacked, it had fought back bravely...but the body had been too frail for the power released, the assailant misjudging the fragile line between it and life in its prey, and so the mortal flesh was giving out, unable to bear the strain...
Thump.
Pity washed through the U.R.T.V., something he hadn't felt in a long time. Whatever had attacked hadn't had the decency to give his poor burden a quick death; instead it had retreated, leaving its victim to suffer. Flexing his fingers once more, he moved his right hand to lock around a slender neck, feeling the flutter of a weak pulse as his fingers closed around soft skin. They relaxed for a moment, and then tightened.
Crack!
The body in his arms tensed, and then went limp, the incredible pain emanating from it fading away into nothingness. Silence met his ears, the heart had stopped beating and the skin beneath his fingers was now turning icy. Strangely exhausted, Albedo pulled the body closer to him, sensing something familiar and comforting about it. His eyes fluttered closed, and he slept...
But not for long. His fast-healing body and mind revitalized themselves, and he awoke later on, feeling oddly forlorn. Shifting position, his gaze fell to the body he held in his arms now completely cold, the soul having fled long ago. And then...horror speared through his heart, the pupils of his eyes widening, ice digging it's freezing cold claws into his very spirit.
"No..." He whispered. In his arms, the brown-haired angel that had haunted his thoughts, dreams, the newest target of his obsessions lay, her eyes closed forever in death. Cuts, bruises and horrible wounds marred her clothing, the perfection of her body marred. Lifting a trembling hand to her face, he gently stroked the cold skin. "What...what happened?" Clutching her frame close to his, his eyes scanned the room wildly, searching for answers. Not too far from where he was seated, Shion's M.W.S. lay discarded, blood staining the cream-colored paint...
She was on her hands and knees before him, blood dripping from her body and onto the cold floor beneath her. He was pleased; she had fought him with everything she had...
"Bastard!" She hissed, lifting her head to glare at him. Delight washed through him; despite her wounds she still had fight left in her.
"Now now, mon ange..." He crooned, reaching down and wrapping his fingers in her hair. "For thy undaunted mettle should compose..." His fingers tightened, a small cry of pain had his eyes gleaming. "Such a strong spirit for a body so frail." He pulled her towards him, body tense with anticipation. Finally he would have answers to the questions that haunted him; he would know everything about her...She struggled, trying to break his grip.
"No!" Albedo's fingers moved through her hair, his amethyst eyes staring into her green ones. A cruel smile crossed his lips as his fingers tightened, and something dark and oily rose up on the mental plane, hurling itself at her. In reply, something within her broke, tearing away its bonds, lunging forward in retaliation...
A sob tore from his throat. Shaking his head violently in denial, he clutched at the cold body in his arms, pressing it tightly against his, trying to transfer some of his warmth to her in the vain hopes that it would call her soul back.
No, no, no...The madness rose up in him again as his fingers clutched and re-clutched at her hair, he hadn't been able to get any of his questions answered, damn her, how dare she escape his clutches! Another part of him however screamed in silent agony, begging for her forgiveness, for God's forgiveness, she hadn't deserved to die like this; he hadn't wanted her to die...
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Sweat poured down as two bodies flung themselves out of sleep, eyes still gleaming from nightmares, one set amethyst, one set green.