Chapter 19
"What the hell is going on?!"
Those were the first words out of Duo's mouth as he stared at the scene before him.
Geoffry was stoic, Giselle hysterical, and Jerry, well...
"Let me go! Let me GO!" he howled like a madman, thrashing about, straining
against Geoffry, whose smaller stature was putting him at a disadvantage. "I've...got...
to..."
"Idiot, you can't do anything for that bitch of my sister-"
"Don't call her that! Don't call her that!"
"And why not!" Geoffry exploded. "Her stupid and immature attitude cost us that
mission-"
"No it didn't, and you know it!"
"Well it could have!" Geoffry snarled, still struggling to hold the older boy
back. At fourteen, Geoffry had spent most of his life learning to constrain his
emotions, a habit that perplexed his mother to no end. Secretly, however, he was only a
boy who yearned to emulate his father. He had certainly read enough about the Lightning
Count in the history books, but having him as a father was completely different. Geoffry
admired his father's cool temper, his seemingly infinite self-control. As a result, he
had tried to lock his emotions in hope that perhaps, one day, he could be worthy of being
the son of such a great man. Unfortunately for him, his naivete due to his youth had
clouded over his original goal, and now he was angrily realizing that he had no control
over his emotions whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Giselle was sobbing. "I let her down...I let her DOWN!" she wailed, beating
her fists against the shuttle door. Frantically, she kept on going over everything that
had happened in her mind. "What did we do wrong?! And how could I possibly have not
realized that it wasn't Aelis, but Reena?"
"REENA?!" Duo jerked back when he heard that. His face pale, and turned around
and roared, "ZECHS! Where is Reena?!"
"What? Why?" Zechs demanded, running in and staring at the three teenagers.
"Duo, what is going on here?"
Unfortunately, Aelis chose that moment to stumble in. "DAD!!"
"What the-AELIS?!" Zechs said, shocked. "But, weren't you..."
"NO NO NO!" Aelis cried, looking around in terror. "That was REENA! She
knocked me out and took my place!"
Zechs froze. His already pale face drained of blood, then he turned and ran to Duo.
Grabbing the shorter man by the collar, he snarled through clenched teeth, "Explain...
NOW!"
Duo wrenched himself free. "Hell if I know!" he shot back, rubbing his neck, and he
turned and ran to the still frantic teenagers. "Jerry, okay, what happened?" he asked,
trying to be calm, but not quite succeeding. "Where is Reena?"
Unfortunately, Jerry was in no condition to talk. Still hysterical, he finally broke
free of Geoffry's hold and tried running back to Deathscythe. "I've...got to-UGH!"
As a last resort, Duo had tackled his own son; unfortunately, he also succeeded in
knocking him out. Looking grimly down at his unconscious son, he sighed and turned around.
"Okay...next shot. Geoffry?"
"Reena took Aelis' place, then got captured," Geoffry said as calmly as he could,
his muscles in his face twitching.
When he heard this, Duo turned grimly to look at Zechs to see how he reacted to the news.
Zechs' face had become a mask, though his fists were clenched. "Very well," he said with
feigned calmness. "Reena has been captured. And her mission?"
"She completed it," Giselle finally spoke up, handing over the disk. Sniffling,
she said, "We were doing fine and were about to leave, when the alarm went off. We were
forced to change into flight suits, because we figured our only chance of escape would be
to go into space. As we were being chased, Aelis, well, Reena, turned around and
distracted the enemy long enough for me to escape." she finally finished, then hiccupped.
During this time, Aelis had been standing frozen. But when she heard how her sister had
sacrificed herself, she let out a scream of grief and sank to her knees. "Reena, Reena,
Reena," she kept sobbing, wailing in agony. "This is all my fault! I know why you did
it now...No no NO!"
"Damn her!" Geoffry exploded. "Why'd she have to be so stupid! She risked the
entire mission, and for what, to prove a point! A damn fucking point!"
"Shut up, shut up!" Aelis shot back. "You couldn't possibly understand! You're
heart is COLD, Geoffry! I hardly know you now! What happened to my little brother? Who
is this monster in front of me?!"
"Monster?! How can you talk?! YOU drove her to this! Who's the monster now, huh,
you or me?! And look at you! You're a mess! Your hair's messed up, you're sobbing your
heart out, you're completely defeated! You're WEAK, that's what you are! You and Reena
are the same! Both weak, both pathetic, both-"
Geoffry's rant was abruptly cut off as a slap echoed through the room. Zechs had stepped
up and delivered a blow so hard that Geoffry was thrown off balance. Holding his face,
Geoffry looked up at his father with fury and pain.
Zechs looked down as his son's expression. "Never," he said coldly, "insult ANYBODY like
that, especially not your own family. Do so again, and I will make sure that you NEVER
forget it. Understood?"
Geoffry returned his father's glare with one just as fierce. Fighting to regain control
over his voice, he said icily, "You know, I admired you, you know that?" Ignoring his
father's surprised look, he continued. "I wanted to be worthy of being your son, I wanted
to be just like you. That's why I'm what I am now, I LIVED to be like you! And now...
now, I realize just how stupid I was. You're a nothing...you're an ancient relic, a
storybook hero romanticized by myths! Well, you know what?" he said, his voice becoming
a high and hysterical pitch, "well, now I see that I don't need you! I never needed you!
You're just like the rest!" he finished, spitting in his father's face. Smirking at the
horror on Zechs' face, and turned and ran out of the room.
The room was silent after the confrontation. Up in the balcony, where everyone else had
gathered, Noin uttered a choked sob, and Relena put her arms around her. As the two
women comforted each other, everyone else turned to study the scene below.
Zechs' mask had slipped. Each word that his son had hurled had been like a dagger to his
heart. Fighting the regain his composure, he turned and leaned against the railing,
breathing heavily. Duo got up from his position by his son's prone body and put a hand
on Zechs' shoulder, trying to comfort him. Then he sighed and, with one arm supporting
Jerry and the other around the shoulder of Giselle, he left to join the others, leaving
Zechs to himself.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Those were the first words out of Duo's mouth as he stared at the scene before him.
Geoffry was stoic, Giselle hysterical, and Jerry, well...
"Let me go! Let me GO!" he howled like a madman, thrashing about, straining
against Geoffry, whose smaller stature was putting him at a disadvantage. "I've...got...
to..."
"Idiot, you can't do anything for that bitch of my sister-"
"Don't call her that! Don't call her that!"
"And why not!" Geoffry exploded. "Her stupid and immature attitude cost us that
mission-"
"No it didn't, and you know it!"
"Well it could have!" Geoffry snarled, still struggling to hold the older boy
back. At fourteen, Geoffry had spent most of his life learning to constrain his
emotions, a habit that perplexed his mother to no end. Secretly, however, he was only a
boy who yearned to emulate his father. He had certainly read enough about the Lightning
Count in the history books, but having him as a father was completely different. Geoffry
admired his father's cool temper, his seemingly infinite self-control. As a result, he
had tried to lock his emotions in hope that perhaps, one day, he could be worthy of being
the son of such a great man. Unfortunately for him, his naivete due to his youth had
clouded over his original goal, and now he was angrily realizing that he had no control
over his emotions whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Giselle was sobbing. "I let her down...I let her DOWN!" she wailed, beating
her fists against the shuttle door. Frantically, she kept on going over everything that
had happened in her mind. "What did we do wrong?! And how could I possibly have not
realized that it wasn't Aelis, but Reena?"
"REENA?!" Duo jerked back when he heard that. His face pale, and turned around
and roared, "ZECHS! Where is Reena?!"
"What? Why?" Zechs demanded, running in and staring at the three teenagers.
"Duo, what is going on here?"
Unfortunately, Aelis chose that moment to stumble in. "DAD!!"
"What the-AELIS?!" Zechs said, shocked. "But, weren't you..."
"NO NO NO!" Aelis cried, looking around in terror. "That was REENA! She
knocked me out and took my place!"
Zechs froze. His already pale face drained of blood, then he turned and ran to Duo.
Grabbing the shorter man by the collar, he snarled through clenched teeth, "Explain...
NOW!"
Duo wrenched himself free. "Hell if I know!" he shot back, rubbing his neck, and he
turned and ran to the still frantic teenagers. "Jerry, okay, what happened?" he asked,
trying to be calm, but not quite succeeding. "Where is Reena?"
Unfortunately, Jerry was in no condition to talk. Still hysterical, he finally broke
free of Geoffry's hold and tried running back to Deathscythe. "I've...got to-UGH!"
As a last resort, Duo had tackled his own son; unfortunately, he also succeeded in
knocking him out. Looking grimly down at his unconscious son, he sighed and turned around.
"Okay...next shot. Geoffry?"
"Reena took Aelis' place, then got captured," Geoffry said as calmly as he could,
his muscles in his face twitching.
When he heard this, Duo turned grimly to look at Zechs to see how he reacted to the news.
Zechs' face had become a mask, though his fists were clenched. "Very well," he said with
feigned calmness. "Reena has been captured. And her mission?"
"She completed it," Giselle finally spoke up, handing over the disk. Sniffling,
she said, "We were doing fine and were about to leave, when the alarm went off. We were
forced to change into flight suits, because we figured our only chance of escape would be
to go into space. As we were being chased, Aelis, well, Reena, turned around and
distracted the enemy long enough for me to escape." she finally finished, then hiccupped.
During this time, Aelis had been standing frozen. But when she heard how her sister had
sacrificed herself, she let out a scream of grief and sank to her knees. "Reena, Reena,
Reena," she kept sobbing, wailing in agony. "This is all my fault! I know why you did
it now...No no NO!"
"Damn her!" Geoffry exploded. "Why'd she have to be so stupid! She risked the
entire mission, and for what, to prove a point! A damn fucking point!"
"Shut up, shut up!" Aelis shot back. "You couldn't possibly understand! You're
heart is COLD, Geoffry! I hardly know you now! What happened to my little brother? Who
is this monster in front of me?!"
"Monster?! How can you talk?! YOU drove her to this! Who's the monster now, huh,
you or me?! And look at you! You're a mess! Your hair's messed up, you're sobbing your
heart out, you're completely defeated! You're WEAK, that's what you are! You and Reena
are the same! Both weak, both pathetic, both-"
Geoffry's rant was abruptly cut off as a slap echoed through the room. Zechs had stepped
up and delivered a blow so hard that Geoffry was thrown off balance. Holding his face,
Geoffry looked up at his father with fury and pain.
Zechs looked down as his son's expression. "Never," he said coldly, "insult ANYBODY like
that, especially not your own family. Do so again, and I will make sure that you NEVER
forget it. Understood?"
Geoffry returned his father's glare with one just as fierce. Fighting to regain control
over his voice, he said icily, "You know, I admired you, you know that?" Ignoring his
father's surprised look, he continued. "I wanted to be worthy of being your son, I wanted
to be just like you. That's why I'm what I am now, I LIVED to be like you! And now...
now, I realize just how stupid I was. You're a nothing...you're an ancient relic, a
storybook hero romanticized by myths! Well, you know what?" he said, his voice becoming
a high and hysterical pitch, "well, now I see that I don't need you! I never needed you!
You're just like the rest!" he finished, spitting in his father's face. Smirking at the
horror on Zechs' face, and turned and ran out of the room.
The room was silent after the confrontation. Up in the balcony, where everyone else had
gathered, Noin uttered a choked sob, and Relena put her arms around her. As the two
women comforted each other, everyone else turned to study the scene below.
Zechs' mask had slipped. Each word that his son had hurled had been like a dagger to his
heart. Fighting the regain his composure, he turned and leaned against the railing,
breathing heavily. Duo got up from his position by his son's prone body and put a hand
on Zechs' shoulder, trying to comfort him. Then he sighed and, with one arm supporting
Jerry and the other around the shoulder of Giselle, he left to join the others, leaving
Zechs to himself.
