xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter 4
Reasons
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"What event? What are you talking about?" questioned the confused princess who was running out of patience.
"The ceremony that will be held in your honor, my princess." Athrun smirked. "to celebrate your engagement to Yuna Roma Seiran."
Not believing her ears, the blond princess could hardly speak. It Must be a joke. Why would he force her to marry that purple haired jerk? Right. Since when ZAFT became a couple matching agency and started to offer matrimonial services? This HAS to be a joke.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to decline it" the girl sarcastically replied as she landed herself back in the pile of plushes. What an brainless idiot she was for wasting her few resting energy listening to his BS.
"Your reactions will always amuse me" laughed Athrun as he took out of his pocked the chip Shiho gave him previously and slid it through other side of the glass wall. "Take a look at this and you will understand."
Obviously uninterested, Cagalli decided not to move. She really can't understand what he was trying to do. Was he testing her to obtain information on Orb? It's not like she knows anything about it. "What do you REALLY want!" She could feel her vein pop.
Orb's princess really is stubborn, he sighed. "It contains interesting documentations concerning your family and Orb. Hopefully after reading it you'll understand your situation better."
As he was going to say something else, the speaker siding the automatic door went off. "Commander Zala. The Chairman would like to see you immediately in his office." A woman's voice manifested. At the end of the announcement, Athrun's face became rigid. Lost momentarily in his thoughts he suddenly walked close to the wall and whispered slowly. "You have to read this, do you understand? It is important and don't forget to destroy this chip after viewing it." With this said, he tidied his uniform and rushed to the door and left.
As the door closed behind him, Athrun noticed the guard who was still on his duty.
"Bring her some food." He ordered before walking away with a preoccupied face, totally unaware that he was being observed by a pair of discreet eyes, in a corner not far away.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What the hell? What's wrong with this moron? Cagalli finally sat up again on the bed glaring at the chip of the size of a thumb nail. Athrun's suspicious behavior in the end really aroused her curiosity. Was it worth her energy to fight her way down the bed through all these stuffed animals and move to the pc that was 3 meters away? She scratched her messy hair and sighed. What could she loose? No matter what sort of BS, she could at least entertain herself in order to try to forget her angry stomach that was up for a hunger manifestation in her tummy. Spreading her arm and hand lazily in the chip's direction without getting off of bed, she prayed that it doesn't contain any boring crap.
Placing the mini diskette in the computer, she slowly browsed through the files it contained: "Uzumi Nalah Attha report", "The Attha twins report", "EAF strategic report" etc.
Bunch of boring stuffs she thought, why would she want to read them? She knew more about her father and brother than anyone else, and the EAF strategic report? Hell no, that was of no interest to her.
As she was going to close the folder, Cagalli recalled Athrun mentioning her father's disappearance. Was he for real? With serious doubt she opened the file concerning her father, and after few glimpses on its content, her eyes widened with surprise and worry…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I'm Stellar Loussier" saluted the blond girl in pink uniform to the soldier guarding the cell. "Commander Zala requested our service." She continued as she handed him her ID card. After a strict examination of her pass, the guard derived his eyes onto the little bag that the young girl was carrying. "What's that" he asked.
"Those?" Stellar's light mauve eyes smiled. "The tools that read a girl's measurements."
Eying this gentle and sweet girl, the soldier freed himself from the entrance with a blush. "You know the rules. You'll have 1 hour maximum."
"That'll be more than enough." Thanking him with another smile, she entered the prestigious cell that was reserved for important "guests" of war.
Looking around, she was surprised by the luxury of this room, supposedly a cell. All the prisons she visited previously were more cold and obscure, not to mention the serious lack of necessities.
Among the variety of decorative that were present in the room, she discerned the traits of a blond girl facing the computer, back towards her, obviously busy reading something.
"Hello! I'm Stellar!" she greeted. "I was sent by Commander Zala to help you prepare for tomorrow's ceremony." She explained as she hesitantly entered the glass cell. Receiving no answer, she decided to approach closer to the girl who seemed to be absorbed by the computer.
"Hello?" she posed her hand onto the girl's shoulder. To her surprise, the girl jumped out of terror and with watery eyes, turned to face Stellar with a horrified face. "Who… are you!"
"eh… I'm Stellar… sent by Commander Zala…I greeted you before entering but you didn't hear me…"
Wiping her tears embarrassedly, Cagalli stood up all of a sudden and walked toward the bathroom. "Give me a moment please, I need to take a shower…"
"Ah… Yah... please go ahead, but don't take too long because I…" responded hesitantly Stellar to the girl who, without letting her finishing her sentence, closed the bathroom door in a hurry.
Wondering if one hour will really suffice, Stellar sighed. Slowly observing around her, she directed her eyes onto the computer screen that Cagalli forgot to shut down. Eyes wide open by what she was reading, she scrolled down the rest of the document.
"EAF… the representative of Orb… missing…" she mumbled as she browsed through the other documents.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Facing the Chairman's office' door, Athrun was feeling a bit uneasy. The method his father uses never really pleased him. Patrick Zala, was a strict military man who didn't know how to show affection without some traces of disciplines. His harsh personality never allowed himself to show any type of emotions towards his family, and Athrun who was definitely brilliant but grew up under his father's pressures to succeed never really received any compliments. Every time his father asked for him, Athrun knew something was wrong. Just like today.
Preparing himself mentally for the worse, he entered his father's office, more formal than any soldier. Staring at the man standing in front of the window, back facing him, he saluted. "You called for me father?"
The man who was around his 50s slowly turned back. Despite his grayish hair, his character was still very impressive. His strict face that was emotionless a minute ago, was now full of anger and impatience. "Athrun! How many times I told you not to call me like that!"
Loud like a thunder, his imposing voice made the young commander even more nervous. "I'm sorry. Did you call for me Chairman?" he corrected.
Slowly appeasing himself, Patrick Zala reached for his seat behind the office desk. Posing one arm on the table he asked. "Tell me what you count on doing with the princess of Orb."
Athrun that was prepared for the worse, still gasped at the fragility of the issue. Formulating well his sentences, he decided to give a shot. "Well, I was thinking that she would be useful to ZAFT. Considering that Lord Uzumi Nalah Attha is now missing, we should be prepared for the worst."
"Ridiculous! We have no use of her. With this kind of situation in Orb, we can easily take control of it with the Seirans. You should take this opportunity to exterminate the Atthas under EAF's name" Imposed the man with a face that was more rigid than ever.
Sweating from the unbearable pressure the Chairman was creating, Athrun hoped to convince him. "Chairman. It'll be more prudent if we could obtain Orb's citizen's trust. We should convince them that they will be better under the Seiran's lead. The Atthas over centuries, have been the preferred leader for them, hence I'm afraid that simply asking Seirans to reign won't suffice."
Admitting some logics in his son's judgment, Patrick Zala was starting to get interested in what this young commander was to offer. "And how do you plan to achieve that?" he questioned the tense Athrun.
"We'll have the princess of Orb, Cagalli Yula Attha marry Yuna Roma Seiran. In this situation, the citizen of Orb will not doubt further about the Seiran's succession of power."
Athrun who was looking at the floor the whole time, slowly lifted his head to see if the chairman was convinced by his suggestion. The old man, narrowing his eyes, seemed to be skeptic and glaring at his young commander from head to toe, he finally said. "I'll take your suggestions into consideration"
As if he could finally breath properly, Athrun felt his chest released from the huge burden that accumulated since the beginning of the discussion. Straightening his back, he gave a final salute and directed himself to the door.
"Athrun. I hope you're not doing this because of your personal emotions towards the Atthas." Suddenly voiced the Chairman whose eyes never left Athrun's back.
With such a sudden statement, the young commander's body became rigid. Frozen to the floor, he urged himself to reply fast but the Chairman continued. "Being a soldier of ZAFT, you should not mix your personal feelings with the duty toward your party. You do understand that Athrun?"
Feeling his father's cold stare in his back, the blue haired coordinator calmed his mind and replied as distinctly as he could. "… Of course, Chairman" and without turning back, he walked out of the office with an indescribable pain in his chest…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So, how was it? Were the events too confusing? Ask me if there's something you don't understand, and tell me if there's any loopholes thx!
I was going to post few links about asucaga fan made manga that are pretty funny, however it didn't work. If anyone knows how to do it pls let me know! otherelse I'll be glad to email them to you if youre interested! (only 2, not big)