General Signas and his dearest friend, Dr.Cain, were resting inside of his main office, casually holding a conversation about their emotions…and about their thoughts. As always, the professor was a calm, placid painting of playful days-Cain rarely ever became upset over anything, and that was a good thing for Signas to know. Having an optimistic friend had its downs, but there were also a lot of 'pros' that went with the 'cons'. There was a smile on the wise professor's face, and it held the beauty of never-ending Summer days…..warm….gentle….and peaceful. The general's office was filled with the sounds of computers….and filled with enormous amounts of documents….but it was as peaceful as Cain's smile. There was a beauty that had never been seen before in Signas' office….and it was a deep, rich beauty. Both of them were enjoying the beauty of the atmosphere with the greatest amount of happiness and relief…even though they were both acting like old friends sitting in a park.
"So, what's on your mind?"
Signas looked at the professor innocently, playfully denying the accusation. The general did have a few things on his mind, but he was willing to enjoy the beauty of serenity in silence. "I'm not thinking of anything, Cain."
"Huh. You should know me by now, General. I know you very well, and so I know you have a lot on your mind. Spill it."
"Well….if you would really like to know……I was just thinking of our three friends. You know….X…Zero….and our newest Hunter."
"You're making him a Hunter, eh?"
"Why WOULDN'T I? Would I hand you a glass of water if you were stranded in the middle of a desert? What kind of question was that?"
"Heh heh heh. I think he'll make a top-notch Hunter. I'm proud of the kid. He did a lot for X…..for Zero…for ALL of us. His creator must be VERY proud of him. He saved all of our lives. Because of Axl, we all have a future."
"One pebble caused the direction of the wave to change."
"Yep. Pretty deep, eh? Th' kid's amazing. He's one hell of a Reploid, if you ask me. Here's something else-I'm actually glad all of that happened."
The eyes of the Maverick Hunter general widened in surprise. A small, soft gasp left Signas' mouth, and his eyes began to shine like small candleflames in the sky.
"Cain, what are you saying? Are you telling me that everything that occurred, everything about the virus inside of Zero-"
"Yep. I'm glad all of it happened. Because of that nightmare, the bond between X and Zero increased greatly, and of course they picked up a new family member. We went through Hell, yeah, but we all came out with something special. Life isn't about picking daisies and eating strawberries, you know."
Signas gave himself time to digest his dearest friend's words, and then a small sigh left his heart. A warm, appreciative smile bloomed on his face….and his eyes became as warm as pearls resting in golden shores.
Everything his friend had said to him made sense.
The nightmare that had passed would be forever remembered as the worst nightmare of all time.
All of them had gone through excruciating pain. All of them had suffered.
But now…..all of them were happy.
Happy.
They had made it through the storm.
And it was all because of a single pebble.
"Alia, what's up? You've been working on these files for the last three hours. Is everything all right?"
"Yeah. No problem here. I thought I should finish up the reports I've been ignoring right now, since I don't have anything else to do."
"You don't? But what about-"
The ravishing Navigator for the Maverick Hunters looked back at her dear friend Douglas, who was standing in the doorway of her dormitory. Her eyes smiled at him, filled with a breathtaking amount of serenity…and happiness.
"They're fine. They don't need me right now. They're all good to go."
"They're heading off for Sigma's, aren't they?"
The Navigator's eyes became solid, heavenly jewels of purity…..and her heart fell into an ocean of endless sunlight. She waited for fear to rise within her, but not a slice of anxiety appeared.
There wasn't anything to worry about.
There wasn't anything to be afraid of.
Her friends were ready.
She was ready…..
To embrace the future.
"Yep. There isn't anything else to take care of. The members of Red Alert have been taken care of….with, of course, the exception of young Axl."
"Alia….you're as excited as I am, aren't you?"
Alia's eyes went right to a portrait of Mega Man X and Zero…..beaming with halcyon joy and relief. The two Hunters were standing next to each other, bearing the facial expressions of true soldiers….true, steadfast friends……locked within the chains of eternal friendship…..
A tiny chuckle left her lips. They were going to have to take a new picture now.
"Of course I am. Who isn't? We're getting pretty close to Sigma's demise, AND we're starting a new journey today. I'm excited, all right."
"But….is Sigma really going to vanish after all of this? Is he really going to be gone…in a few hours?"
"No. He'll return after our three friends take him out….but his next appearance….will be his last. Don't ask me how I know. I just know."
Silence returned to Alia's peaceful dormitory, soaring through her heart like a golden wind of a Spring morning. Crystallized starlight fell into her world in small rivers of rhapsody….causing her to fall into a dream…..a dream she had never known before. After a few minutes of silence, her eyes glued themselves to a picture of Mega Man X…..a picture he had taken by himself….
A picture he had taken during his first day as a Hunter.
Wow. That was eons ago.
A warm, child-like smile blossomed on her face.
"I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I feel…..soon."
There were many mysterious secrets scattered about the Earth….and many secrets were hidden within its chambers. Golden sunlight was also streaming through the undiscovered corners of the Earth…..and it was delivering a gentle, beauteous melody of profuse happiness to the hearts that dwelled within the secretive chambers. There were many places that held unknown memories…..but there was one special place…..a place…
That held the magic of distant memories.
Several Reploids dwelled inside of that place. All of them carried out their duties swiftly and silently….and they were completely aware of everything that was taking place. Every living being inside of the Maverick Hunter base had been given a new chance at life, and a new family had been formed between Mega Man X, Zero, and Axl. All three of them were mighty legends now…..and all of them were known by the Reploids that dwelled inside of their own secret base. They were all part of an underground network-their network was similar to the one Red Alert had formed…..all of them eliminated all possibilities of chaos and death, using determination and bravery as weapons. The Maverick Hunters needed held-they couldn't possibly watch over an entire planet by themselves. The chief of this underground organization knew that, and so that was why he decided to create his own force of 'justice defenders'.
The chieftain was resting inside of his own room, gazing out at the stars resting in the heavens. He had a companion at his side……and both of them were completely silent, but at the same time, they were lost in their own hectic world of thoughts. The face of the Chieftain was calm-the face of his companion was no different from the face of a hungry, excited wolf. The chief of the underground network noticed his companion's uneasiness and patted him on the head gently.
"Calm yourself, Treble. We'll find them….soon."
Hee hee. I'm pretty excited now. 'Strings of Fate' is almost at its end, but 'Until the End of Eternity' is on its way! Pieces of X's past will become a part of his future in the X8 adaptation-I am pretty psyched. I hope all of you will like 'Until the End of Eternity' too! Uzu-chan, you said you like to see an X6 fic-maybe I'll make one when I'm done with X8! I hope everyone will still be around by then….boohoo!
KOS-MOS of Xenosaga 1: If anyone is confused by the statements concering the history of Keiji Inafune's classic Mega Man series, please read the original history of Mega Man and make the facts clear to yourselves. Please do not confuse the original history with the statements made in 'Strings of Fate'. All questions will be answered soon. Alia will also make herself in the upcoming X8 adaptation. Thank you for your cooperation.
I wish I could add more, but it's time for me to jet-I've got to catch my ride home in a few minutes! Yep, I'm typing this in my school's library-class was cancelled today! I have to go, but thank you, everyone! I'll add more soon!
Sincerely,
Rue07 of the Dewprism
