Chapter 7: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Kira sat with his back propped up against the wall, holding a sleeping Miriallia comfortably in his arms. She was sound asleep finally, looking like an angel without wings. He was staring off into space until he noticed Athrun walking over, obviously trying to mute his boot steps. Looking at his brown-haired friend, Athrun motioned over to Commander Le Creuset with his head.

Nodding to show he understood, Kira slowly and gently laid Milly on a blanket and then covered her with his own. They walked silently, fearing what news Rau would have for them. It wasn't the best, but it could have been far worse. "Doctor Ryan was correct; we are dealing with an unknown race labeled as the Forsaken. According him, they are led by a single queen, and she is very powerful and very smart." Rau started with no preamble.

"We have precious little background information on them which puts us at a major disadvantage when it comes to dealing with them. For tonight we will start patrols over a small portion of the temple nearest to the Main Hall to ensure the safety of the students and staff. In the morning we'll try again at recovering the students now that we know we're not alone."

All of them nodded in agreement, it was a sound plan. "Delta Team will take the first patrol, then Charlie Team, then Alpha, and finally Beta. Report in immediately if you find anything suspicious. I want no repeats of last time."

"Due to the late hour of the night, patrols will be overlapping to some extent. Halfway through Delta's patrol, Charlie will start, and then halfway through Charlie's patrol, Alpha will leave and Delta will return, and so on." Rau continued. "Oh, and Matthew will be replacing Nichol's position, and Miguel has been pronounced fit for duty. Delta team, you may begin."

Athrun and Kira stood and strapped their combat vests on and departed without a word. "The rest of you may rest until your patrol starts." Rau said. The other three teams stood up and went their separate ways, Lacus started to follow, but Rau held her back. "Miss Clyne, I need a favor."

Yzak noticed that Dearka was wearing the same grin he had on their last patrol. He knew better this time than to ask just why he was smiling. 'It's probably because Kira's gone and Mer … Mira … damnit, what's her name? Oh well, because that girl is alone now.' Yzak thought to himself. His suspicions proved correct when Dearka meandered over to where she was currently sleeping. Groaning, he debated following and stopping him, but decided against it and checked his rifle and supplies again.

Miriallia awoke, hearing the faint call for Alpha team to prepare for patrol. She was alone, or at least Kira wasn't beside her. "Kira?" she spoke uncertainly, still half-asleep, with her recent memories of him running rampant. "He's on patrol." Dearka answered, making her jump.

He was sitting much like Kira was, his back against the wall, rifle leaning against him. Milly threw the blanket off of her and stood up, noticing Dearka was grinning like an idiot, as if the grin was never going to leave his face. "So … did you want something?" Miriallia asked, wondering why he was staring at her.

"You're a very pretty girl you know. Just my type, nice eyes, short soft hair, legs to die for." Dearka commented, slowly standing. "Looks good in just about everything, smart, funny and unprejudiced."

She backed away from him a step at a time, but Dearka grabbed one of her hands and threw her against the wall he was leaning on and then pinned her there. "Where are you going?" he asked her, the grin still on his face.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm and level. "I know you want someone better than him, someone with more gusto, more brains, than him. That's me baby, I'm all yours." He replied.

"What are you talking about?" Mir asked fearfully. "Don't play games with me, I saw you reject his advances earlier. Why else would you say no unless you were waiting for someone better?" Dearka said, his voice losing some of its playfulness. Miriallia felt her cheeks become red in embarrassment. He was watching her the entire time?

"So whaddya say babe? You and I go find a nice quiet corner and have some fun?" he leered at her. Milly was speechless, here was this boy she barely knew hitting on her and treating her like some slut. "No." she said, finally managing to find her voice.

Dearka wasn't surprised or slowed by her answer. He leaned in closer. "Let's make a deal, if your body says yes, then we follow your body, sound good?" Before she could answer, he felt two taps on his shoulder from something metal. "What?" he growled, turning his head to see Yzak standing there, looking very impatient.

Not getting a verbal response from his friend and teammate, Dearka turned his attention back to Miriallia still trapped against the wall, only to feel another two taps on his shoulder from the barrel of Yzak's rifle. "What!" he demanded, turning his head again. A third round of tapping answered him, so Dearka turned to face Yzak fully. Before the tanned boy could say another word, Yzak tossed his combat vest and rifle to him.

Deftly catching it, Dearka got the hint, and turned to finish up with Miriallia before he left. He found, however, that she didn't wait for him and instead used his distraction to her advantage and disappeared. "I hope you're happy Yzak, I didn't even get a kiss out of her." Dearka said grumpily. Yzak stayed silent.

At the entrance of the Main Hall, Yzak and Dearka passed by Athrun and Kira, and Dearka intentionally shouldered Kira forcefully. "What's his problem?" Kira wondered. Athrun shrugged and stretched. "There's nothing important to report, so I'm going to hit the sack and catch some shut eye. There'll be a debriefing when Beta team gets back, but that won't be for a while, so I suggest you sleep as well Kira."

Kira nodded and quickly found the spot where he and Miriallia slept side by side. She was curled in a ball, sleeping by the looks of it, and shivering a bit. He knelt and put a blanket over her and then stroked her cheek softly. "You're too nice and pure to be in the middle of all this." He whispered to himself and then positioned himself against his usual patch of wall.

Milly wasn't actually asleep, but rather pretending to be in case it was Dearka returning and not Kira. She had intended to talk to him right away, but his words left her with an odd feeling. By the time she decided to ask about that and actually got up, Kira was asleep, looking like a boy inside his combat vest. As best as she could manage she draped the blanket over him, trying to cover as much as possible.

She smiled and then fell asleep on top of Kira's cloak. Kira, who was so used to having a warm body sleeping beside him, woke up an hour later, confused and disoriented. Seeing that nothing was out of place in the Main Hall, he finally turned his attention to Milly sleeping again without a blanket. His mind registered the fact that he had a blanket draped over him.

"That girl …" he muttered and stood. Taking off his vest, he set it aside and spread the blanket over her once again, but this time also took up a position right beside her sleeping form, settling in and feeling at ease. They both slept finally, uninterrupted, and thus missed seeing Dearka standing over them, looking very angry, his fists clenched tightly. "She will be mine." He vowed.

"and I'll give you the chance to make it so …" whispered the voice. Slowly but surely, Dearka's grin returned.

It was just a little after 7:30AM when Beta team reported back, and scant minutes later when the other three teams assembled again. "So in a fortunate turn of events, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Now we need to keep our fortune going and find the other students and Nichol." Rau announced.

Murmurings of consent were heard from all of them and Rau continued. "I want Alpha team paired up with Beta team, and Charlie team paired up with Delta team." That meant Yzak, Dearka, Rusty and Olor would be together, leaving Miguel, Matthew, Athrun and Kira. "We'll continue to hold the fort, and I want you eight to locate and rescue as many students as possible. Drag their corpses if you have to, but bring them back!"

Carl Ryan joined them. "Now I'm not sure where you have in mind to search first, but I'd check the prison first, and the room where Beta team found the first two students alive. Commander Rau is right; it'd mean a lot to us even if you brought back bodies to be buried at the least."

"As good of places as any to start with. Alpha and Beta will the take the room as Beta is familiar with it, Charlie and Delta will take the prison. Any questions?" there were none. "Good, then good luck." He dismissed them.

They formed into their groups and trotted off, leaving just as Miriallia woke. She noticed the blanket on her again and smiled sadly. "He's gone off to fight again." She said with a depressed air around her. "Not quite." A female voice put in. Mir looked up to see Lacus walking over. "They've all gone to rescue the other students." She corrected.

"I see. I'm Miriallia." Mir introduced herself, extending her hand out. "Lacus Clyne." Lacus shook Milly's hand gently. "Your friend Kira is getting along quite well with my husband."

"Husband? At your age?" that threw Miriallia for a loop. "Well, fiancé I suppose is the more accurate word. Athrun and I are engaged to be married in a few months from now." Lacus giggled. "May I offer my congratulations?" Milly asked.

"You may." She paused. "So how long have you and Kira been going out?" It was a good thing that Milly wasn't drinking anything, she might have choked on it. "I'm sorry, Kira and I?" she tried to get some clarification.

"Yes." Lacus nodded. "How long have you two been dating?" Mir pretended to look thoughtful. "Well, if you include today, then that would bring the total up to zero days." Lacus gasped. "Really? But he's soooooo cute, and you're quite pretty, I think you'd make a good couple."

Kira saw it, other people saw it, and so why was it such a surprise to Miriallia?

"This is it." Rusty announced, shining his flashlight through the doorway. Inside were the same four dead students still chained to the wall, and the previously unoccupied seventh set of shackles was now occupied by another dead student.

"Right, cut 'em down and bring 'em back." Yzak ordered. Olor stepped up and fired ten rounds, one round per chain. Five bodies fell to the stone floor. "Assuming I can count, there are five bodies and four of us." Dearka noticed.

"That's a big assumption Elsman." Yzak muttered. Shifting his rifle to the side, Olor picked up two of the bodies over his shoulders. "Shall we?" Grabbing a body each, the combined Alpha and Beta teams started back to the Main Hall with little joy, too many had died already, how many more would die before it was over?

On the way to the prison, Kira passed by the same hallway intersection which Kira had apparently explored. This time he gave it no thought, simply running by it with the rest of Charlie and Delta, and continuing onwards. He and Athrun had passed through the prison early yesterday in their attempt to rescue Flay, Sai and Simon.

"This way." Kira said, taking a right. Yesterday the prison had been as barren as the day they had explored it, nearly losing Lacus in the process were it not for Kira's quick reflexes. Rather than approach it from the front, Charlie and Delta were going in through a side route.

When they got there, they saw a much different room. Four students were inside, two on the large slab tables, one hanging over the pit, chained to the bar and one shackled to the wall. The one on the wall had several large needles pushed through his stomach; both of the students on the tables had at least one portion of their body opened, as if they were being dissected. The one hanging had no visible marring. The four Coordinators stared in shock, and then sprang into action, working quickly to free the students.

Miguel was un-strapping the student from the stone slab table when he realized it was Nichol. Quickly, he checked for a pulse and was relieved when he found one, albeit a weak one. The other three students were freed with little hassle, and just as they were ready to leave two of the Forsaken warriors walked, well more of marched, in, stopping as they noticed the apparent rescue attempt.

Kira tossed his student to Athrun. "Go, I'll hold off dumb and dumber." He said, sliding the bolt on his rifle into place. The sounds of rapidly fading footsteps told him that the other three team members were thankfully following his orders. He smirked, and then opened fire.

The impromptu medics certainly had a busy day. Nine students had been recovered, leaving only Sai and Simon unaccounted for. Of the nine that had been brought back, five were pronounced dead while the last four were alive. All of them, Nichol included, had scales that looked like they had been grafted on, some on the arms, or legs, or torso, or even the face.

Not even Doctor Ryan knew what they were for; perhaps it was the Forsaken's way of marking their captives and slaves. When questioned about Kira, Athrun replied he would be along in a few minutes, and that he had held off some of their warriors.

"C- command- er …" Nichol stuttered, struggling to sit up. "Woah, easy there soldier, you've had a rough time." Yzak said, halting Nichol's upward progress temporarily. "Yzak is correct Nichol, you need your rest. Debriefing can wait for now." Rau said generously.

"Fools …" he whispered. Yzak frowned. "What?" Faster than he thought possible, Nichol unhooked Yzak's rifle and slammed it in his face, sending the silver-haired boy backwards. Standing up to his full height, he trained the weapon on Rau, only to have it kicked out of his hands. Nichol brought his own rifle up. "I wouldn't advise that Commander …" he warned.

"Nichol, what the hell are you doing?" Rau demanded, but as he turned his head, he noticed that the other recovered students were acting much in the same way, attacking those with weapons, namely the soldiers under his command. Even the students pronounced dead were attacking, making it an uneven nine soldiers against ten of the seemingly brainwashed and undead students.

"I honestly expected better from you Commander, after all, you were the top graduate at the Academy. I suppose old age has its price, but apparently cunning is your ally. So answer me this: who is going to save you now?" he taunted, never letting Rau leave his sights.

"Me." The answer came from behind. Nichol swung around as everyone's heads and eyes trained on the owner of the voice. It was Kira, his rifle at the ready and looking extremely pissed off. "You!" Nichol cursed.

Kira fired three bullets at Nichol, all three ripping through his combat vest and dropping the young boy to the floor. Rau dived to the floor yelling "take cover!" Those who weren't already on the floor similarly hit the dirt. Kira opened fire again, methodically killing and re-killing the possessed students, mowing them down with no mercy or compassion.

His smoking barrel lowered as the last student fell. "Kira!" Miriallia yelled happily, jumping up and running at her friend. She had tears and a fiery look in her eyes as she threw her arms around him. Without thinking about, without planning it and without who saw it or what they might think, he kissed her.

It lasted for a few minutes, and when they finished, utter silence greeted them. Miriallia immediately blushed a bright crimson as Kira looked around nervously. Finally, a strained laugh broke the silence. It came from Nichol, his chest heaving irregularly. "You haven't won, not by a long shot." He uttered, coughing as he spoke.

Kira bent over Nichol's bleeding form. "You're tricks won't work Icess, I want you to know that I'm going to kill you." He said. Nichol smiled evilly, making Kira pause, and then with his last remaining strength, Nichol swung his rifle up with one hand and placed the barrel right against Kira's chest.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Milly screamed "no!" as Nichol pulled the trigger, firing a shotgun slug into Kira's chest. He flew backwards, propelled by the powerful shot and hit the floor with a dull thud, his limbs flailing before succumbing to gravity and hitting the floor as well.

All at once, the scene replayed itself in real time in Miriallia's mind. "KIRAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sorry for the wait, but between hectic and large work loads, pulling my shoulder and general writer's block, I've been busy. And never in the right way either. Oh well. Side note: anyone going to PAX, drop me a line. Until the next update, please do a writer a favor and leave a Review.

Many thanks, Prayer