Author's Rant: Wow… A review already? ALRIGHT! Thank you so much, Leviathan-san. That definitely made my day. Oh, and thank you for the clarification about the age. I really had no idea. You certainly know a lot about MMZ. I'm jealous. Haha… Oh, and for the purposes of this AU fic, I'll make Zero 18 (he would be a super-pedophile if he weren't). Heh. Thanks again, Leviathan-san. This chapter is dedicated to you.
Oh, yes… For anyone else reading this who likes Ciel, I'm really, REALLY sorry. Trust me, I have nothing against her, but for the purposes of this fic, I have to make her annoying. I am SO sorry. I couldn't think of any other way to pull this off. So, please don't eat me alive. I won't be able to keep up this story if you do.
Also (I'm terribly sorry… I just really need to clear some things up), I have not played MMZ3 yet, so even though I would love to use some of the characters, I can't. So, bear with me if I use some oldies. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own anybody in this fic (except for the master, I suppose). Hmm…
Chapter 1: Confusion
"Whoa… What in the world was that?" a calm, alto voice said, the person it came from halting his training in surprise. He almost felt a voice call out to him, like a quiet cry from a distance. Though, that was impossible; the training room was completely soundproof, extra measures taken to avoid disturbing those who were sleeping with the grunts and cries from those exercising and training themselves. There was no one else in the room at the moment, so the voice couldn't have come from inside. The young man who had heard the cry looked around to see if any microphones had been placed in the room; unlikely, for fear of inducing one of the warriors' rage, but there was a slim chance. That chance however, after a few minutes of inspecting, proved to be none. There were no microphones, no sound devices whatsoever in the training room. The young man stood still and ran his fingers through his hair, wondering what had just happened.
"That's weird… I could have sworn I heard someone call my name," he said in disbelief, hoping that he wasn't finally going mad. It would be about time he did, but he hoped that that wasn't the case. "Damn… I'd better just keep this to myself. Don't want anyone else afraid to death of me…"
The young man started to put his equipment away, sighing slightly to himself, deciding that he should take a rest. That strange voice had really rattled his nerves, and he didn't want anything else disturbing him further. Perhaps the voice was induced by his intense exercise, but he doubted it. He just needed some rest, and then he would be as good as new. Hopefully. As long as nobody unsettled him further, he should be fine, though there was no guarantee that this was going to happen. Unfortunately, just as he was thinking to himself that he would be fine, the door creaked slowly open. He looked at the door, puzzled, wondering who would be interrupting his lesson. He didn't remember ever telling anyone that he had decided to go practice in the training room, and he knew that no one had followed him. Then who…?
"Zero! Are you in here?" a distinctly feminine voice called out, the owner of which stepped in the room, looking around for the person she had called out for. The young man groaned slightly at the sight of her and the sound of her voice; she wasn't exactly the first person he had wanted to see after being sent that strange call. Wait… Maybe it was her, the young man called Zero thought to himself, trying to recall the sound of the cry. No, that voice was definitely not hers… It was much too low-pitched for it to come out of her mouth. As if to confirm his thoughts, the girl spotted him and ran over to him, her eyes lighting up a great deal.
"Zero! I've been looking for you all over the place. Where have you been?" she asked, her voice piercing Zero's thoughts almost instantly, making him lose focus slightly on the mental message. He didn't want to forget it, so he placed it in the back of his mind and turned to deal with the situation at hand.
"Is there something you need, Ciel?" he asked, avoiding her question, not wanting to drag out this conversation. He really wanted to get back to his room and rest a while, being both tired and confused. Ciel shifted her weight several times and looked up at him with her bright blue eyes, obviously wanting something from him. She started and stopped her sentence several times, taking her time with what she had to say, and so Zero, beginning to get rather annoyed, turned back to the equipment and continued putting his things away. He didn't want to seem rude, but he was still rather disconcerted. That voice that called his name kept ringing in his head, and he could start to sense the emotion in the tone. It sounded sad, desperate, and full of pain. It sounded like the person was crying… Like that person was almost calling to him for help. His eyes widened as the full emotion of the cry sunk it, and he bit his lip as the cry resonated in his head. God… What was that person going through? And, why did he call my name?
"-and so I was wondering if you wanted to. If you don't, that's perfectly fine, but you're the first person I thought of when I heard about this. So, what do you think? Zero?" Ciel's voice asked and penetrated his thoughts, bringing him back to reality with an unpleasant bump. He blinked and stared at Ciel, confused about what she had just asked him. It seemed that he had missed her entire speech, which was unusual for him. He ran his hand through his long hair again, sighing at his strange behavior. Though, it wasn't really all that unusual, seeing as how strange voices calling your name don't always make themselves heard all the time. Zero tried to gather all of his scattered thoughts and looked back at Ciel.
"I'm sorry… What were you saying? I'm not myself today…" he said quietly, hoping that what she was asking wasn't something that needed to be done immediately. He desperately needed some time to think. Ciel looked worried for a second at his behavior and then shrugged it off, leaping right back into her speech.
"Well, I was just asking you if you wanted to accompany me to the banquet next week. Like I said, Milan and the workers here at the mansion are preparing a banquet and ball. It's going to be really big, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," she said, batting her eyelashes in an attempt to make herself more desirable, and added as an afterthought, "You know… Like a date."
Zero closed his eyes and sighed softly. She really was trying too hard to get his attention, and she should have known by now that it is all in vain. He didn't want to have anything to do with her, really; he only stayed here with her in the mansion because he had nowhere else to go. He hated being so dependent, but he had to do it in order to survive. Ciel had taken his gratitude way too far and had blown it out of proportion. She was almost always trying to get his attention and spend more time with him, and she often bragged to the other girls of the household that she was the one that he wanted. It grated on his nerves a bit, but he tolerated it in order to keep the peace of the mansion. Enemies were the last things that he needed. He thought about Ciel's offer but decided that he had better do his best not to upset her.
"I'll… I'll think about it. We'll see," he said softly, knowing that his initial answer would be to decline the offer. He, however, didn't want to deal with any hurt feelings at this point in time, and he prayed that this would keep her sedated for a while. He expected no such thing, but perhaps his expectations were a bit pessimistic. He looked at her to see her reaction and could have sworn he saw her pride swell up. He sighed inwardly at the hard days he was going to have ahead of him.
"Okay," Ciel replied in an overly cheerful voice. "Let me know when you've decided, Zero. I'll be waiting!" She winked slightly and turned around to leave Zero to be by himself once again. Zero let out his breath in relief as she skipped her way out of the training room. As soon as she was out of eyesight, he sat down on one of the benches and put his head in his hands. He was glad to be rid of her, though he dreaded the coming days. For now though, he had peace. Finally.
He rubbed his temples slightly, trying to wake himself up a little, and turned to gather his clothes that he didn't use. Unfortunately, he was ending his routine training session rather early, but he didn't think he had the mental capacity to keep going. If there was anything he needed more right now, it was a nap. He set his clothes in his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder, walking briskly out of the room, anxious to get to the comfort of his bed. That voice… It just wouldn't leave him alone.
Several people walked by him and looked at him strangely as he furrowed his brows in deep thought. He didn't stop to talk to anyone and if someone stopped to ask him something, he merely ignored them and walked right past, leaving some people quite confused at his behavior. He was always so polite, always willing to help someone and answer his or her questions if he was needed. Those that he left in a daze quickly replaced their confusion with self-assurances that he must be sick or have gotten less sleep than usual, for he was definitely not in his right mind at the moment.
The corridors and hallways passed Zero by quickly as he wasted no time in getting to his room. He didn't really pay attention to where he was going; he just let his feet take him where they may, trusting that they would stay true to him and lead him to the right place. They had memorized the path to his room a while ago, so there should be no trouble, as long as someone didn't decide to reassemble the corridors in the past week. Obviously they didn't, as the path became quite familiar, even though Zero's mind was not quite all there. He looked up and knew that his sanctuary was not too far away, and quickened his pace a bit.
Zero sighed in relief as he reached his room, the trek to reach it seemingly taking less time than it usually did, probably because he usually stopped and helped people along the way. This time, however, he wasn't thinking about if someone needed his help in lifting something or his aid in finding a certain person. The only thing that occupied his thoughts at the moment were of that voice; the voice that called his name. As soon as he was fully in his room and the door was shut, he dropped his bag on the floor and pulled out some clean clothes from his closet. He quickly changed into them, flung his dirty clothes into a corner, not really caring about hygiene at the moment, and collapsed onto his bed, his blond hair fanning out as he landed. He was finally free to think and gather his emotions that had been jumbled when he heard the voice. He closed his eyes and calmed his frantic thoughts, slowing his breathing in order to allow him to focus more easily.
"Damn it… Why am I so disturbed by that voice?" he said softly to himself, calming himself by listening to the sound of his own voice and thus enabling him to bring back that call and probe it slightly. "It's just a voice. Maybe I've just been working too hard and I'm hallucinating, or something. But then… why does it sound like that person needs my help?" Zero replayed the voice over and over in his head and became slightly more perturbed each time. The voice sounded in so much pain... "Why is he so sad...?"
Zero turned over on his side and stared at the wall, wondering what sort of horrible things the voice's owner was going through. He wanted to help the boy that called him, but he had no idea what he could do. He didn't even know where the voice came from let alone whom it belonged to. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack… Impossible.
Zero sighed sadly as he felt sleep washing over him, making him forget a bit about the voice and the emotion it invoked in him. He desperately wanted to know who the person was. Who would even want to call out to him like that? He couldn't think of anyone, and his search didn't seem to be getting any easier. He decided that he would give up for the night and get some sleep, and perhaps he would feel better in the morning; more in a mood for thinking. He sighed softly as sweet unconsciousness caressed him and led him off, his breathing falling into a slow, calm pace and his eyes closed slowly, cutting him off from the world. The last thing he heard before he became lost was that sad, painful voice echoing in his mind, almost causing a tear to slip past Zero's eyelids. The voice was so sad…
"Zero…"mansion: This is the place that Zero, Ciel and many other "orphans" are staying. Takes place of the Resistance Base.
Author's Note: Alright, I was seriously considering adding another event after this one (to make this chapter longer), but I figured that would have completely butchered the moment. So… Here's the second chapter. That was really quick… Umm, anyways. I don't have much to say right now (I think I did, but I can't remember), so I'll just stop talking.
Oh, and I'll probably edit this story (as I am prone to do), because I'm a perfectionist on my stories and I keep re-reading them and re-writing them. It's a bad habit, but I can't help it. But, that's enough of that. Hopefully, if my inspiration hasn't left me yet, the next chapter should be forth coming, probably by next week. Thanks.
