Unfinished, untitled Xenogears fanfic by Youji.
written 2000, edited '05
One-shot, unfinished fanfic
Warnings: None, other than plot thick?
Spoilers: None really. xx
Prologue
"Hyuuga?"
"Yes Young Master?"
The figure in the doorway sighs.
"He's here to talk to you."
"Who is?"
"Krelian, again."
"Really? What is it this time?"
"How should I know? Sig's got me cramming on my Algebra and I seem to be the last one to find these things out lately... even being who I am," he rubs the back of his neck and glares.
The man staring out the window, turns and smiles at the younger.
"You know so little now, you'll be in over your head before you know it, enjoy it while you can. Send Krelian in then." He grins and walks out of the room. A while later a younger man enters, his hair a purplish blue. He steps inside in silence. Hyuuga faces the large crystalline window staring outside in particular to the garden and at the roses winding up the side of the gate across to the sides of the Palace walls closest to the windows. He loved to look at the roses, the sort of senses they roused in him. They were very special.
"Are you gonna face me Hyuuga or are you hiding something from me?" the sturdy face showed no sign of anything as he neared the solemn man. Hyuuga suddenly swung around.
"What do you want? What do you want with me! You have been pestering me, us for a long time and I am demanding to know what you-"
The glare Krelian gave him next hushed his voice and someone outside the hall circled to a stop. They looked towards the area and snuck a little closer to listen.
"You know what she is planning to do, Hyuuga..."
He stayed silent with a constant glare.
"I also know you very well and there is no reason for you to tell me this, unless you are planning to distract me..."
"Hyuuga, listen, I am no intention of harming you now, but she is gone..."
"Who is gone?"
"And Sigurd, he will leave soon as well, and then you'll be stuck."
Dark eyes gazed at him fiercely, and he raised his brow.
"What are you saying..."
He grinned and smiled turning around.
"You have been warned."
With that he turned his back to the elder and left the hall and Citan turned as well, his face plastered with worry, and looked out the window, the same expression as before, thoughtful and distant.
"She's gone! She's gone!" a man yelled down the palace corridors. A guard poked his head out of his chamber. He watched the man scream and run further, until he reached the end of the corridor where he was met with a calmer man, arms tossing up in the air, flashing him a distressed expression.
"Help me sir, help me! I- she's gone!"
"Who is gone?"
"She- she is!"
"I can not help you sir unless you inform me of what the situation is. Who are you and what are you doing in the Aveh palace? Are you of council here?"
"No, but I- I can explain- I..."
"Are you a spy?" the calm man cocked his brow at him thoughtfully. The other looked in fear at him, and obviously paused too briefly because before he could answer the calm-headed man raised his arm and called to a guard. "Take this man and throw him in a cell, he is a spy and not a very good one, I might add. He's possibly a lunatic - maybe a distraction of some sorts. Nevertheless. Take him away!"
"Wait- you don't understand, there's been a mistake! You, I- wait!" he cried desperately as two hefty, heavily armored guards came and started dragging him back down the hallway.
"If you had anything to tell me before, you would have. I gave you ample chance, but obviously you are not of right mind-"
"Sir! Please!" he continued to call, practically whimpering. Suddenly he face faulted. "No, Hyuuga..." he managed to choke out before he was taken around the corner and instructed he would be staying in the basement tied in chains.
A younger man approached the calm elder.
"Was that all really appropriate?"
"Why, yes. You can't trust anyone these days, especially with the anti-ethos war. There's been more killing sprees since all this craziness started."
"You don't really believe in that Doc, do you?"
"Young man, I believe in anything that has actually taken place in my time. And I believe what I've seen with my eyes, and those men, those "monsters" are killers and should definitely be put to a stop. But now that someone greater has joined up with them, its just best to stay out of the way and... observe, so to speak."
The younger man stood quiet for a while and then nodded in supposed agreement. Feeling quite humiliated for contradicting Dr. Uzuki of all people, he turned on his way and went quickly down the hall. He had only started to sprint when he nearly ran into a frantic looking man, tied and bound and laying on the middle of a table which looked like a very uncomfortable version of one of the beds in sickbay.
"Help me! Help me! Sir... You- please! You can help me, right?"
The younger stared at him for a little bit and then turned towards the door, quite deliberately ignoring him, a sturdy frown on his face.
/Everyone's gone mad in this palace, that's for sure. Was he right in what he said about the leader? I haven't spoke to him yet, but that would be too obvious, and this man... this doctor, he is wise beyond his years, but not too much so. He'll never see past my plan, and he certainly hasn't discovered me yet. I suppose a human's inane sensitivity to other worldly paranoia will be his downfall like the others. How pleasant./ He chuckled smugly under his breath. /No one will discover me, I am far too good for them all./
Part I:
Occurrences
Bart lay comfortably strung out over a sofa in the ever popular lounge. It was on the second floor of the palace, located near one of the largest banquet halls, the one that Bart hated. It was a large room with a small kitchen in back for snacks and drinks, and many large sofa's and chairs for most of the elders and advisors to do their talking, thinking and plotting. But for Bart, he mostly loved the oversized plush sofa's and the large spanning window view outside of the desert and the city. He ran his hand through golden blonde hair in exasperation, trying to move once again to find a comfortable position. It didn't work. With all the tyranny of the day, and the simple fact that Bart Fatima just couldn't concentrate on homework, there was just no way he could get comfortable anymore. He was about to turn eighteen, and soon he wouldn't have to put up with school work, which he was relieved about, but instead he'd get piles more of responsibility and official tasks, such as running his own city and country. After all the whining he had done in his years - and procrastinating, he didn't want it to end. And more than anything he had a fear the size of the palace building inside of his throat, and his thoughts were pressing in on him enough to drive him crazy. Soon he'd be crowned and it'd be over. Any chance of breaking free, roaming free and wandering the deserts on a ship were gone. He had barely felt a taste of childhood and already he could feel himself twitching at all the Kingly garments and gowns he'd be settled into every morning. Oh, but he had a few days yet, and this stupid book to read. Deciding that laying on his back was best, Bart strung his leg over the side of the sofa and situated his "Creation of the Earth by the way of Alpha Omega", and tried his hardest to concentrate.
Things had gotten hard since after the war. Many of Aveh's good men were lost and many of his friends had wandered. He noticed that things had gotten rough since Fei and Emeralda and Billy had left. He sometimes lay awake wishing they hadn't left him to his own fate, but what's done is done. Fei had gone off to visit Margie in Nisan, and he been gone since before the war had started. Bart wasn't sure that Fei even knew what was going on. Billy had gone off to school in Daazil, finally deciding to keep to his studies as a Priest and Etone, but also he wanted to improve on his work in Trigonometry. He had gone to a special school for people with higher talents and knowledge, and supposedly some other world renowned Ethos and Math Scientist had attended the same school. He had hoped to finish all eight years there, but Bart had an uncanny feeling that his friend's education would run short.
Emeralda went with Fei in the beginning, but she ran into a group of Nanomachines looking for a past, and she became friends with them, she wrote to Elly about it for a while, but for about three weeks now, it seemed all communication had come to a stop. There were no letters and no news from Fei either, it seemed no one knew about her whereabouts, but everyone assumed she was probably in good hands rather than in trouble.
Ever since everyone had left after the war, the Ethos started to diminish, slowly at first, almost too slow to catch, but Citan seemed to notice. Citan stayed with all the other Palace residences in Aveh, along with Sigurd, Elly and Rico, and many others. Elly was almost reluctant to let Fei travel, but she stood her ground, agreeing she needed time to grow and this was a perfect time as ever to work on her "gearing" skills more. While things had slowly settled to a calm passing, a strange unperceived thing occurred. Krelian, was reborn.
Citan had been in the city market when he found him. He was laying there, on the cold asphalt, desolate and alone, covered in bits of shrapnel and blood. It took Citan a long while, mostly courage and a decent amount of thinking, before he brought Krelian in. At first he assumed his quick decision to be rash, and everyone was alarmed when he carried the curled up man into the palace. Citan had hoped he wasn't making a mistake, but after doing various blood tests and other doctoral procedures, he found he gave reason for everyone to be relieved. Krelian had a certain situation, Citan discovered. He no longer had his powers. Somehow he was plainly human, no more harmless than a child. He was also just as lost and hopeless as one. Asking the local merchants he found out that apparently he had sold himself to rich Aveh placeholders. He had wanted to find a place for himself, and in doing so had given up all his rights and ways. After a while living in the palace, Citan found it hard to keep track of him. He kept wandering the streets of course, and often Citan and the other advisors found it hard to keep him out of trouble. It was more than a few times that they had been forced to lock him away, just until he calmed down of course. As the weeks thickened, Krelian became suspicious and Citan convinced him to make a proposal of sorts. He was free to wander the city and accompanying townships, if only he was to return back to the guarded palace walls by night. Apparently the deal had click, for he was now living with them, and sadly, stayed only away for his own purposes. No one feared too much because he was said to be determined human now, and Citan's tests proved it so. He was but another face in the crowd.
Another strange thing had struck Aveh and some of the surrounding cities, especially Solaris. A group of "Anti-Ethos" had started to grow and produce riot. Citan assumed they were plainly the reason for the disappearing Ethos. But in Bart's mind it seemed much more complicated than that. It seemed far too simple to be that obvious. Bart knew the disappearances were linked with something else, but he just couldn't figure it out. Krelian's rebirth might have something to do with it, as it was definitely not a normal occurrence. There was no telling though, as the purple haired man never really talked to the others and was gone for long periods of time, so no one even knew what had originally happened to him.
Recently Bart and Rico had visited Aquavy to search for some lost books of value to Citan, and were caught up in what seemed to be a riot on site. There were fires and thieves and screaming children all over town. Anti-Ethos swarmed the place. Oh, what Billy would have done if he'd seen his home town in such upheaval. The troop had wanted to interfere, but they hung low and watched in the distance. What had really disturbed them both was that that they had the Ethos lined up, one after another, leaning against all the buildings and walls. As though there was some special meaning to this. Bart assumed it was something cultish, like they were going to perform some kind of special ceremony. They were lined up entering a large tent, but never returned on the other side and it seemed as if the fires had a certain indistinct air to them. Bart assumed the worst. By the time they had gotten back to the palace, and backup teams were compiled, they reached the site, deserted and empty and all of the residents hadn't heard a thing.
Bart was determined to figure the mystery out and so he had followed a group of Ethos and found a small field where the group was seemingly hiding. They were well organized and he knew that meant they were up to something. Thick heavy tufts of smoke trailed up the sides of the tents and stations, followed by an almost -Wels- smell that hung in the air like a night before rain. The anti-ethos had a leader, he was sure of it, someone strong and commanding, yet was well known for keeping his identity hidden. The cult group was growing stronger and more powerful every day and the risk of being taken in was more than what Bart would risk, without knowing a little more. The sneaky prince had almost lost his neck after wandering too close into one of their camps, and even in disguise he was sure they wouldn't have paused to tear him to pieces. His position and authority to them, mattered very little.
Blonde hair fell over a deep blue eye, fingers folded over the crumpled page of a book as Bart's mind started to wander. He no longer cared a thing about his Biology and Science lesson, and there was no point in trying to read the chapter over. Slowly he let himself sink back further into the sofa, lidding his eye softly, thinking maybe no one would notice the sleeping Prince in the corner. He might be able to catch a few minutes of nap before he would be rudely roused into consciousness and probably lectured at for falling asleep.