Haru:
Tenth Moon
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Me back on another chappie~~~!!! WHEEE~~~!!! Uh....ahem. Anyway, the truth about Falcrest and Edelweiss...REVEALED~~~!!! Also, Geissler raises hell at Oblivion, Lilith becoming even more pissed off, some cameos from Team America (O.O;;), and...Asato Tsuzuki going sleepwalking HALF-NAKED in the esteemed hallways of the respectable hospital ward. I mean, he's only wearing THAT loose nagajuban. *o* *o* *o* R/R PLEASE~~~!!!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bey Blade, Sakura Taisen, and Asato Tsuzuki + his 12 original Shikigami. They're owned by their respective authors. I do own the OC's and some terminologies written herein, though, so NO SUING~~~!!!
"..." Dr. Mizuhara sighed. "It's only become so much WORSE."
"You're telling me, Judy. Now those -Seraphim- don't want us getting near the Relic from the end of this hallway." Daitenji-kacho had a helpless look on his face. "It may have sensed our arguments a while back, and now they've decided for themselves that we're evil humans."
"..." Kai looked over at Daitenji-kacho. "These -Seraphim- could sense THAT?"
"Oh yes, Kai, very much so." Dr. Mizuhara looked over at the other end of the hallway, where Edelweiss was located, protected by 7 spheres of floating different-colored light. "If I'd known better and learned of such a very sophisticated technology beforehand, I certainly wouldn't go and eat my hat. But now they're here, and the wonderful ostrich feathers I had eaten a while ago are giving my stomach a very enthusiastic revolution."
"Our Sigils...the ICDC Sigils, that is...were excavated alongside the original Relics that Team Axis had excavated from the Tomb of Metatron 14 years ago. It is not known for what exact purpose these Relics and Sigils were created, but...I've a pretty clear picture of what those 2 very different 'machines' mean to each other, and it surfaced 4 years ago." Daitenji-kacho nodded. "For what aether powers they have control over, those Relics, I mean...the original Sigils were a complete opposite. Your grandfather based the designs of your Sigils on our original models, and...suffice it to say, he was really brilliant. They've taken after the original Sigils in the aspects of both power and technology, although...he wasn't able to exactly copy those engines he saw on our Sigils. So that was why he had developed the steam engine instead."
"Yes...I remember quite clearly...Grandfather used to have those heated discussions with his group of scientists over the 'Nirvana Project', as he called it." Kai nodded. "Father...well, he didn't want anything to do with it after Mother went completely crazy...and...my older brother...passed away..."
"..." Dr. Mizuhara looked over at Kai. "Kai..."
"It's alright, Mizuhara-hakase. I'm fine." Kai bit his lip. "It's just so frustrating to think so...he disappeared, really, like the way Takao's father vanished after that meltdown. It's just safer to think of him as dead, when we really have no idea where he is right now."
"Yes, yes...I have wondered about it, as well." Daitenji-kacho took off his glasses and wiped them with his white handkerchief. "Although...thinking about what had actually happened during 'that' episode...let's just say it's safer just leaving it as it is. I'm sure...wherever those 2 are right now, they'd really appreciate it if we just leave them as they are."
"Quite right." Dr. Mizuhara sighed again. "But if only Masao were here, he'd give us a very good explanation of what those -Seraphim- could do aside from taking potshots at undesirable intruders."
"..." Daitenji-kacho got the thick brown folder from inside the small brown envelope Kai had given him a while ago. "Well...whatever their purpose is...I'm sure we wouldn't want to know. But then again...if the rest of the Relics are outfitted with such devices...I guess we might as well send these boys marching into their deaths without knowing what it WAS that hit them."
"Of course." Dr. Mizuhara opened her own folder she held in her hands. "It is safe to assume that those -Seraphim- are controlled by psionic waves...coming from deep within the -Eden- engine itself. As for its entirety...yes, everything's controlled psychically, if you call it. It's a pretty sophisticated Relic from any other Relics we've encountered before."
"Psychically..." Kai frowned. "Yes, now that you mention it, Mizuhara-hakase...she kept us pretty busy doing all of us in with those psychic bolts of hers...and she's not even doing a thing."
"It's specially made to utilize its pilot's innate aether and psionic powers directly. I guess being bound to the Wings increased the pilot's powers dramatically...torturing herself to gain more power. I've never seen anything quite like it." Daitenji-kacho nodded. "Its entire frame has been reduced for minimized weight...but, behind its seeming frailty lies the impressive technology of whatever civilization created it. That Relic is more suited for aether attacks rather than physical combat...plus, its minimized weight allows for more easy mobilization, if you get what I mean. The Wings inside the cockpit ensures an uninterrupted flow of both aether and psychic energy to the Relic, as it's directly connected to its -Eden- engine."
"Its uniqueness doesn't end there. What surprises me even more is that it NEVER uses fuel in order to mobilize. All it needs is the pilot's aether and psychic energy to be able to move." Dr. Mizuhara pointed to the Edelweiss. "See those weird looking double skirts at its sides? They act as stabilizers whenever the Relic has to move at a hair's breadth to attack, in the middle of dashing towards an opponent to attack, for instance. The hovering capabilities are quite superb. And...those 'skirts' hide its most dangerous weapons of all...the Pulse Rods. One hit by a spread Pulse Rods attack, our Sigils won't stand a chance. It's like being bombarded by Max's Aether Cannons at a rate of ten shots a second. It's a good thing she never was able to use it...I shudder to think what could've happened after that."
"Its main weapons for offense include those Pulse Rods, those -Seraphim-, its devastating aether capabilities, and those psychic bolts," Daitenji-kacho continued. "Other than THAT, we have ABSOLUTELY nothing to worry about."
"..." Kai looked over at Daitenji-kacho. "So...if the Relics come pouring into the imperial capital to attack...I guess we all have to run?"
"I'm hoping that won't happen, Kai. That's why I had Yuri get this other information for us." Daitenji-kacho frowned. "And it's pretty terrible. That Relic never WAS excavated during that Axis plunder of the Tomb of Metatron 14 years ago."
"!" Dr. Mizuhara was surprised. "You mean to say....?!"
"Yes, it was excavated the same time Falcrest was excavated 10 years ago...up in that Oblivion. You see, those 2 mechs have a lot more in common than they have with the other Relics and Sigils. The nature of their true powers are still asleep within them...although, Asato Tsuzuki gave us a pretty clear picture of what Falcrest was capable of during meltdown 4 years ago." Daitenji-kacho closed his eyes. "Just imagine it. If Falcrest's true powers include releasing ALL Asato's -Shikigami- and that includes his OTHER still untapped devastating ones...what more if Edelweiss forces its pilot to release all her -Dynes-...? And they were forced to fight?"
"Wait a minute, Daitenji-kacho...you mean to say that those 2 are the 'Limiters' my grandfather had been telling me about?" Kai asked the grandfatherly old man.
"Yes, Kai. Your grandfather was a very avid supporter of the archaeological digs Takao's father and I did in China, before we got called into Imperial Capital Defense duty. He had those hundreds of notes about the nature and origin of these strange monuments we've unearthed...monuments to a civilization that was unfortunately lost to the ravages of time. He stumbled upon the book of a 17th century German doctor named Dr. Hans Kyrieans, the man who was responsible for our understanding of the relationship between the anima and the animus, and its reaction to certain people who were gifted with controlling a given amount of aether power directly related to their relation to either that of the anima or the animus...what we know as the Kyrieans Barrier, Kyrieans Effect, the Mahannon Crystals of the Relics and the Nirvana Crystals of the Sigils of today. He also made notes of a tale from a member of the Rosicrucian Society about a very old but sophisticated civilization which made these mechs and had them sealed in for all eternity. Across these notes, your grandfather discovered about 2 mechs which were responsible with the balance of the entire world and its governing aether...the 'Limiters' Falcrest and Edelweiss. Team Axis had been so foolish enough as to unearth the Edelweiss from its resting place, thereby upsetting the balance and awakening Oblivion. We had no choice but to unearth the Falcrest in order to restore balance and hopefully...return Oblivion to its slumber."
"Oblivion...?" Kai blinked.
"To the Team Axis and its group of Knights...they call it -Eden-. To us in the Imperial Capital Defense...we call it -Nirvana-. Asato Tsuzuki had already sent out a warning beacon to the Oblivion by means of Falcrest unsealing his true powers. It's only a matter of time before Althaea Whitaker should send out her own warning beacon...and if that happens...everything would be reduced to nothing." Dr. Mizuhara looked over to where Edelweiss was, the 7 spheres of different colored light bobbing about it like huge floating fireflies. "In order to prevent that from happening...it's a must that we keep both 'Limiters' and prevent them from fighting each other...whether the Edelweiss' arrival is a boon or bane, a fluke or a complete stroke of genius, would be revealed in the coming days ahead."
"..." Kai was quiet. "Then, darker days are ahead. It is what grandfather has feared, ever since the day my father had turned back on his duties and his loyalty to the Imperial Capital Defense to work under those lackeys...the day when Oblivion was almost upon us. Where will we find solace...?"
"To that question, I don't know, Kai." Daitenji-kacho nodded. "I am hoping that it would not come to that."
"BASTARDS~~~!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE~~~?! WHY~~~?!"
"It's as easy as pie, Geissler. She was quite getting on our nerves," one of the dark robed men muttered in a thick Austrian accent. "It's been enough that we have to put up with your petulant whims for the last 9 years. And it had been enough."
"IT IS NEVER ENOUGH~~~!!! NO~~~!!! SOPHIA MUST NOT BE TAINTED BY THOSE HEATHENS~~~"
"Why you are SO adamant about protecting 'Sophia' is way beyond me." Herrault smiled angelically. "Or is it that you're just being cruel to her...? What if she's not the 'Vessel'?"
"SHE IS THE VESSEL~~~!!!" Geissler was short of flinging the men holding him back, his face twisted in rage. "HAVE YOU ANY DOUBTS ABOUT HER HERITAGE~~~"
"Calm down, Geissler," Bauer said nervously. "She's suffered enough, 9 years bound to those wretched Wings...what more could you probably ask of her? And she's awakened Edelweiss much earlier than we had all hoped for. I never thought that she would be able to align with her -Seraph- that easily...not for another 200 years."
"100 years...5,000 years...it makes no DIFFERENCE~~~!!! SHE-WASN'T-SUPPOSED-TO-BE-UNBOUND~~~!!!"
"She WILL eventually. Have you forgotten Falcrest has already made its call? It's just a matter of time before her -Dynes- would awaken. Although...it was an abysmally foolish idea to send her in ahead to those idiots. Now they both have the Keys they need to awaken every single -Animus- locked deep within them." The man with the Sicilian accent glared at Geissler, who was still struggling. "So don't put all your blame on us. If it was her choice that she be unbound, then even you would have no power whatsoever in refusing it."
"HOW COULD SHE REFUSE?! SHE WAS TAKEN FROM HER TOMB~~~"
"Enough." Lilith glared at Geissler. "I'm sorry, but you are causing us great embarrassment, Anton. If you don't stop this childish act right now, we will be forced to report this to the Magi."
"And please, could you pick a better word other than 'tomb'? We keep forgetting that the person involved here is STILL alive and not yet dead," Herrault added.
Geissler glared right back at Lilith. "You have NO right whatsoever in sending her OFF to those HEATHENS, Lilith. I'm warning you, if any of those beasts touch her, I SWEAR I'll kill THEM ALL~~~!!!"
"For the love of God, Geissler, would you PLEASE be reasonable?" Still another of the Knights sighed. "You have no right in blaming Lilith, or any of us for that matter. The Magi was the one who directed us to do it. Even the Kaiser bows to the Magi."
"And what good would it do if you kill all those brats straightaway...? You'll take out all the fun in this sorry existence of ours, and probably we'll all get so bored that we'd want to kill ourselves. I don't think they would like that." Herrault blinked. "And I daresay, I still want to remain alive for my Maman's 97th birthday."
"I don't CARE about your stupid MAMAN~~~!!!" Geissler was very furious. "If they should harm her...you'll ALL regret it, mark my WORDS~~~!!!"
"Fool." Lilith's eyes flashed. "Your words mean NOTHING~~~!!!"
"I have waited for her for the past 300 years, and I certainly wouldn't let all those years of waiting go WASTED. I had been searching for her ever since I realized who I was. It wasn't easy looking for her...I've waited...I thought everything I did was in vain....and the moment I looked into her eyes I knew I finally found her. If it weren't for ME you wouldn't have found HER, and that 'Limiter', and pretty much everything ELSE~~~!!! It took years to persuade my father in excavating that Tomb and unsealing the Relics...and now you've all taken the only person who mattered most to ME." Geissler's eyes were pained. "Isn't my suffering enough...? Why are you still so selfish as to take my Sophia away?"
"For a scholarly simpleton, you amaze even me, and that's saying something." The man with the Sicilian accent stood up from his chair. "But this isn't about ANY affair of the heart, Geissler, it's what we stand for as the Temple Knights and Team Axis as a whole. If you're hindering us, then we would all be forced to put you in your place. Or have you forgotten because of your precious little apple tart Sophia?"
Geissler made a furious move towards him, his eyes flashing with rage. "You do NOT insult her by such LOW names!"
"Enough."
The whole room quieted, just as a tall man covered in a full dark red coat come in. His face was covered by a cowl. "Now what seems to be the problem?"
"I...it's...nothing, Sir Balthasar, sir..." Bauer replied, kneeling down quickly on one knee. The rest of them did the same, with the exception of Geissler.
The man was quiet for a few seconds before turning to face Geissler.
"Geissler...I've expected more from you." The cloaked and cowled man they called Sir Balthasar sighed. "I guess your memories...and your feelings for Sophia are still hindering you as well as they did 300 years ago. Have you forgotten? She had given her heart away, and unfortunately, it wasn't you who received it."
There was a sudden flashback. A young girl with very long wavy (Tomoyo Daidouji-like) hair with the brilliance of faded autumn was looking shyly from behind a brilliant trellis of huge pink roses (O.o;; climbing rose bushes, anyone?!), watching a group of young men talking to a venerable-looking old nun that was unmistakably a Mother Superior of the stone edifice she was in (a convent). One of them blinked, then turned to gaze upon the young girl, who blushed furiously and tried hiding herself behind the roses. The young man's clear amethyst eyes looked worried.
"How could she, a very respectable Lady, bestow her heart upon such a very unworthy candidate? She was more suited to manor life, and yet she decides to pick a wind-fallen fruit on the ground rather than the sun-kissed one on the tree. It was for this reason she chose the quiet life of a nun...so that she could spare the both of them the pain. But in fact...the pain only became so much worse." There was a shot of Sir Balthasar's lower portion of his face, and his lips were curled in a languid smile. "You weren't able to do anything, protect her when she needed anyone most...and yes, the circle goes on."
"..."
"Remember...Ewin?"
"What..." Geissler's eyes went wide. "He's not...he cannot have..."
"Why did she choose Oblivion? Simple. It was because she would be closest to him." Sir Balthasar started walking towards Geissler. "Poor Rosenkreuz was so devastated about his younger sister's death, that he had built that elaborate Tomb, before he died himself. Where was Sophia? She had herself sealed in Oblivion, the very heart of the Tomb where her brother had 'sealed' her in, to protect her innocence and purity from the evil world she was unfortunate to have been born into. And in Oblivion, there was also he. He wanted it that way so that he cold continue watching over her even in death. Touching, isn't it...?"
"No..."
"Why did she seal herself inside that Tomb with him...? Does it boggle your mind...? She crashed Edelweiss into Oblivion because it was threatening to eat the world again as it did thousands of years ago. Either way, protecting the world and protecting him." Sir Baltahasar's smile became even wider. "Theirs is a mystery that only they could understand...and we're just helping them to finish what Oblivion had started ever since -Eden- arose thousands of years ago. As the keys start up a a string of notes to make a melody...all the Keys are coming in place. And once Edelweiss awakens...we would be able to use Oblivion as we see fit."
Geissler fell down to his knees, his eyes wide and unseeing. Sir Balthasar turned on his heel and walked away.
"Make sure this mess be cleaned up as soonest. We do not tolerate sloppiness."
"Yes, Sir Balthasar."
The door closed, and one by one the Knights all stood up to leave the room, eager to right the wrong they did right away (O.o;; redundant...). Lilith clenched her fists as she looked at Geissler, still looking so hopelessly lost and confused at what he as forced to remember all over again.
***How could he forget her, he was there when she died right in front of him and he wasn't able to do a THING!*** Lilith turned and walked away, seething. ***Still a fool. When would he ever learn that he wouldn't be able to win against a ghost?! Your eyes are wide open but are blind. She would never ever return your feelings because she had given it away to someone else. When would you be able to figure it OUT?!***
Still seething, Lilith went out the door, leaving Geissler to his very own thoughts.
He closed his eyes.
***Sophia...when would you ever 'SEE' me?!***
"A direct order from HQ?"
"Seems like it. We have to stop Axis before it could completely have the entire world in the palms of their grubby hands." Michael Patterson was frowning as he made his way down the bright hallways of the Eagles Headquarters, a division of the United States Ministry of Defense. "Intelligence files say they're quite on the move again, in order to unseal Oblivion faster than we could say 'splat'."
"That's odd." Emily Watson was thoughtful. "They had been relatively quiet for a long while now, why did they choose to strike at this particular time? Have they unlocked the -Anima- already?"
"To that we could only guess, Emily. Right now, I have to do my thing in Germany. I'll meet you in Japan as soonest." Michael blinked. "Oh, before I forget...please don't forget to deliver that black box to Dr. Mizuhara. It's VERY important."
"I know, Michael, you don't have to tell me twice."
The accordion gate (O.o;; you know, the ones you see in lifts inside some studio type apartment buildings...) slid open, and the 2 cadets got on the lift, Michael still frowning, Emily still thoughtful.
"I hear the Kagekidan's out to stage A Midsummer Night's Dream. Be sure to get a ticket, I hear it's going to be VERY good."
"...?" Emily blinked. "Huh...? Were you saying something, Michael?"
"..." Michael had a goofy look on his face. "Never mind. Hey, once you get out of that uniform, would you do me a favor and rest? You've been working your ass off for the last couple of weeks, it's a miracle that you're still standing up when Eddie and I reckoned you'd be dropping down in a week."
"I'm alright, Michael. Besides, it's been a pleasure...I've been working on those files for weeks, I hope Dr. Mizuhara would find it very useful." Emily nodded. "I've been doing some research on those archaeological digs Axis was involved in 14 years ago, and the Japanese government's digs in China, considering it was new hostile territory...anyway, there were a LOT of interesting facts I unearthed...oh, pun intended."
"Really?" Michael turned to look at her. "Tell me something I don't know."
"Well, apparently, whoever made these mechs were in a really big war among themselves thousands of years ago. I mean, I checked the blueprints of all the original Sigils and Relics unsealed in those great digs 14 years ago and they were made completely antagonistic to one another. And...for the fact that they were using technology quite unheard of...those aether engines were really one neat piece of work, I wish I could invent something better someday. And there's this weird diagram...looking like a tree of some sort...I checked it out in the main library and found out that the diagram was a representation of the Cabbalistic -Path of Sephiroth- of some sort. You know, 10 -Holy Sefira- on the left side of God, and 10 -Unholy Sefira- on his right...or is it the other way around...? And guess what? The Sigils and Relics were related in THAT way."
"Oh yeah."
"And the handwriting was SO strange, it wouldn't be farfetched to say that it's the handwriting of some alien race." Emily blinked. "I haven't really figured out what the writings mean on each 'tree branch', but I've a guess they correspond to each of the -Sefira- mentioned in the Cabbala."
"Uh-huh."
"I've made technical blueprints of each original Sigil and Relic, plus a couple of other things I translated in Dr. Kyrieans' journal, and his theories involving aether and its resonance according to one person's closeness to either -Anima- or -Animus-. It's an absorbing read, really...oh! I've also included the diagram of the Tomb of Metatron, up to scale. And...his notes on Oblivion."
"OK."
The accordion gate opened, and the 2 cadets walked out of it. Emily was still thoughtful. "I've put everything into those files...you know, Michael, I shudder to think what could happen if somebody other than they or other members of the Alliance should get hold of this..."
"You know, Emily, you've already DONE a lot of thinking." Michael smiled at her as he pushed the door of their mess hall open. "Coffee or tea?"
The nurses were all gossiping, they didn't realize that a young man had already shambled past them in an unsteady walk.
"..."
Asato didn't know what was making him do this, but there was a reason...or else, he wouldn't be able to pull all those wires off of him at his own free will.
There was somebody calling him. It was the only thing that mattered in his mind at the moment, and for one strange second, he felt his mind miraculously clear.
He had to walk on and on and on.
Where was his feet taking him anyway?
He stopped right in front of an open hospital room, and saw the girl lying on it, sleeping.
He reached out and held the door for support, to which his knees buckled and his legs gave way, and for one frightening but oddly gratifying moment (what a CONTRADICTION!), Asato thought that he was already dying.
***Promise me...you'll always be beside me...even as I close my eyes now...***
A flashback of a young girl slumped in a cockpit of some sort, blood all splattered about it. She was growing weak, and her heart was going faint. Her silver eyes looked strangely peaceful even as she lay there dying.
***...I promise. I won't leave you no matter what happens...I'm always here...always...***
A flashback of a young man with his forehead leaning against the window of his own cockpit, tears streaming and fogging the glass with his ragged breathing, his eyes closed, his fine jet black eyebrows drawn in a pained gesture, his jet black hair coming loose from its low ponytail.
There was a crash, and a scream, as one of the nurses who went to check in on Asato to deliver his rose ration found his bed empty and splattered with blood from the many wires he pulled off of him.
Who was calling him...?
What was he seeing...?
Was he making a promise to a ghost of his past...?
Did he even HAVE a past, to begin with...?
What was making him do THIS?!
The nurses followed the trail of blood from Asato's room to the new charge's, and found him crying.
Asato slowly lifted his tremulous hands to his face, and felt the tears as they coursed down his cheeks.
Tears...?
He just saw the young girl fall in a void of swirling white feathers and everything suddenly came back to him.
Pain.
Unbelievable pain...
He was...
He has...
He can't be...?!
***SOPHIA~~~!!!***
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AUTHOR'S NOTES: O.o;; The plot becomes even more convoluted. A love triangle?! Who was that mysterious young man whom Sophia had loved?! Are THEY or AREN'T they?! +________+ Somebody give me Advil, QUICK~~~!!!