Chapter Three:
Kind Enemy

Ciel stared blankly at a wall in her cell in Neo Arcadia's capital, as though her soul had been drained from her. She showed no emotion whatsoever, completely in shock. Her eyes were dull and void of light, though she was of course breathing. However, she showed none of her usual liveliness.

Fefnir watched the woman, shaking his head. "This is boring as hell…why am I stuck watching her?" Leviathan then walked up next to Fefnir, rolling her eyes as she spoke, "Remember when you were on guard duty and you sent a huge army after a little innocent monkey robot? And somehow managed to blast your troops to nothing while shooting at said monkey?"

Fefnir blushed in embarrassment, looking away. "That was different! I knew that monkey was hiding something!" Leviathan replied quickly, "Yes, it was. It was hiding a banana. Aren't you proud?" Fefnir then roared at the female reploid, "Shut up! It was a mistake! Anyone could have messed up like that!" Leviathan laughed, "Anyone named Fefnir, anyway!"

Ciel was absorbed in her own mind, thinking back to her times with Zero, when she first met him, the times he had protected her… All those times, she always found the strength to continue on, knowing Zero was at her side…It all felt so painful to see him sacrifice himself for her like that. Tears started to fall to the ground, as she thought about this over and over in her mind.
Harpuia looked at his fallen enemy, sighing in annoyance at the unmoving body of Zero. "You let yourself be defeated by Omega, Zero…I thought you were a lot stronger than that. And you left Ciel all alone in this world, too. She was in shock the whole way here, crying like mad every now and then…" Harpuia then let out a loud sigh, this time in more of a depressed fashion than anything else.

He always felt strangely attached to Ciel, even before she was forced out of Neo Arcadia. It was something he could never really explain, himself. He wondered secretly to himself if the reason he fought Zero so much was just to be with her. Harpuia was quick to push aside such thoughts, shaking his head. "Soldiers, we have no use for his remains here…please take him away and discard of him."

Harpuia started to walk off, thinking to himself, 'Zero…I can't believe this happened; you were our greatest challenger, it was always a rush to fight with you...Damn it, Zero!' Harpuia, though he would never admit it, was holding back some tears himself: to him, Zero was almost…a war buddy, so to speak. His body shook with grief and frustration, as he slumped down against a wall in his quarters, turning completely silent.

The soldiers, however, weren't as caring. The automated grunts simply took Zero out, throwing him down a scrap metal chute. They all quickly ran off to celebrate their luck.

After an hour, Fefnir talked into a communication link in his helmet. "Really, now? Meh, we had no use for it anyway, I guess. Still kind of disappointed that I wasn't the one to do all of this." Fefnir broke the communication, looking to Leviathan. "Well, they finally got rid of Zero. Took 'em long enough." Leviathan seemed disappointed, though for more that one reason.

Ciel's head immediately shot up, as she heard Fefnir. "No, you didn't get rid of Zero, did you?" Fefnir looked at Ciel. "What do you care?" Ciel pounded at the bars of the cell, tears spilling down her face. "How could you just get rid of him like that! I know you all could have saved him with your reploid technology! So, why!" Fefnir spit to the ground. "'Cuz he's an enemy of Neo Arcadia, and thus a Maverick. So shut up about it, 'cuz he ain't coming back, alright? We're keepin' you here until the rest of the Resistance comes, so we can wipe them all out!"

Ciel's eyes grew wide at Fefnir's words. "N-No! You heartless…" Fefnir smirked, speaking arrogantly, "Eh, stop whining. When it's all over, you'll be free to leave here and do whatever ya want." Ciel couldn't stop the tears coming from her eyes, yelling out in a mix of sorrow and frustration, "You monster! First I lose Zero…and as if that isn't bad enough, you're going to wipe out the resistance…You're such a horrible reploid…this is why I left Neo Arcadia in the first place!"

Fefnir rolled his eyes, laughing. "Master X's wishes will be carried out past the grave!" Ciel broke down into tears, running into a corner of her cell and crying bitterly. Leviathan looked at a clock on the wall. "Come on, Fefnir. It's getting late, and we need to stand the night watch." Fefnir grumbled angrily, walking out of the corridor, followed by Leviathan.

However, a shadowed figure watched the whole scene, silent. It then walked away, to attend to other matters.

Later that night, Ciel was sitting in a corner of her cell, refusing to sleep or anything else, her knees pressed to her chest. Her clothes were wet with tears, as she stared blankly at a cell wall, completely sapped of her usual strong spirit. Just then, she heard the hum of an energy weapon, as her head darted to a part of the wall, as she thought to herself, 'It can't be…Zero! You're alive!'

The wall was then cut by two energy blades, falling away after a few slashes. Ciel ran to the hole, to get a glimpse at her hero. She stopped dead in her tracks, seeing Harpuia hovering in front of the hole. "Lady Ciel, if you want to escape, please come with me." Ciel glared angrily at the green reploid. "Why should I come with you! You're a Neo Arcadian yourself, Harpuia…You were involved in getting rid of Zero, too!"

"Lady Ciel," Harpuia said, "I know it seems strange, but I feel I must help you at least…Please, even if this was a trick, I believe you would want to take any chance to save some lives…" Harpuia pulled the woman close, eliciting a blush from the girl. "Please, just trust me! I'll try to recover Zero later on, but we must escape while Fefnir and Leviathan aren't watching."

Harpuia then used his hover jets to fly as fast as he could away from the Neo Arcadian base, hearing alarms going off behind him. "Damn, they've found out already?" Harpuia dodged left and right as long range cannon fire flew at him. Harpuia was finally hit hard in the back, yelling out and skidding into a mountainous region, though holding Ciel tightly in his arms to prevent any harm to her.

Harpuia released the girl after he came to a halt, panting. "Lady Ciel, please, you need to escape…" Ciel stared at Harpuia, amazed that he was doing all of this for her. "Harpuia..." She got up, and then grabbed Harpuia by the legs, pulling him slowly into a dark cave.

Ciel crouched down in the shadows, keeping Harpuia hidden. Harpuia stared at the girl, thinking to himself, 'Why isn't she running away while she can?' Ciel watched some of the Neo Arcadian robots run by, searching the area. After a few hours, Ciel found it was safe, and grabbed up some wood, using a spark from Harpuia's energy blades to make a fire.

Harpuia stared at the woman in the light. "Lady Ciel…why are you doing this?" Ciel was getting to work on Harpuia's back, speaking to the reploid as she worked, "You saved my life…I need to return the favor, at the very least. I suppose Neo Arcadian or Resistance, I care for all reploids…" Harpuia felt a strong feeling about this girl, though didn't say anything, just watching her in awe as the night passed, watching the girl work herself to sleep.

Finally able to move, he sat up, grabbing the cloth that Ciel had placed him on, covering her with it. Harpuia then stood at the cave entrance, making sure to protect Ciel through the night. Like it or not, he was now labeled a Maverick. But…oddly, it seemed…almost worth it.