Really, I have a good explanation for not updating in so long. My computer was having some problems posting on Fanfiction. Thank you to all those who reviewed! It really keeps me going. This is for you.
Edward Hideo came to a stand still and gazed up at the stormy gray sky. Rain fell in big droplets, splashing in puddles already over-sized. He put his hands in his pockets and went on his way again, a solemn smile upon his face. Lightning zigzagged across the enraged sky, putting and extra spring into Edward's stride. Rain was okay, but lightning meant a storm, and Ed didn't really want to be caught up in one. His clothes, water-sodden and weighed down, hung on his tall frame limply.
Pulling his jacket a little closer, he hurried down an unreputable street Oson city. He'd somehow managed to get himself lost when he'd gone investigate a case for his job on the outskirts of the slum-like inner city. Picking up his pace yet again, Edward cringed as thunder crashed directly above him.
Up ahead, Edward saw something white floating on top a puddle. Sprinting over to it, he knelt down and carefully picked up the object. It was a large, snow white feather. Ed didn't know any bird with wings large enough to have feathers that big. He turned it over in his hands again and than stuffed it in his pocket. Caal would like it. He'd always been into to nature things.
A soft caress on Ed's shoulder caused him to jump in surprise and spin around. No one was there. Putting a hand on his shoulder he found another feather, identical to the first. He examined this one too. There was no apparent difference; both must have come from the same animal. He slowly raised his eyes to the sky, scouring it for whatever had dropped them. Only the elements gazed somberly back at him.
With a sigh, Ed took a left at the next corner and repressed a shudder. A pair of gleaming blue eyes peeked out at him from under a ragged brown blanket. Nothing else could be seen of the person. Only the eyes. The beautiful, dangerous eyes.
A light-brown haired boy sat wearily in his desk, chin in hand, and pencil eraser tapping against the wood. He sighed for what must have been the hundredth time, wishing in vain that the last bell would ring. He'd hoped to play basketball with his brother, but it didn't look like it'd work out in this weather. What had happened to sun? Not twenty minutes ago it'd been beaming down like no tomorrow. A voice jarred him out of his thoughts.
"Mr. Hideo, for the seventh time, would you please answer number fourteen?" Caal blushed and grabbed his geometry book, skimming the page for the question he'd need to answer.
Riven stared in shock at the man who'd come around the corner. Someone dressed like him, obviously a college student, must know better than to explore in this part of town. His mood lightened a little, though, suddenly not feeling so alone.
"Excuse me…" Edward trailed off, his voice failing him.
The stranger stood, eyes never leaving Ed's. He began to walk over, not caring if the blanket dragged in the water. When he was no more than two feet away from Ed he lowered the blanket to expose his face. Ed starred in shock, and than joy.
"Riven! Where have you been? What are you doing here?" He smothered a surprised Riven in a bear hug, finally letting go to size him up.
"Man its good to see you. Where have you been this past year?" Ed's smile faded slowly when his friend began to back away, a confused look on his face.
"Hey, Riven, what's wrong? Caal will be glad to see you." The silver eyebrows turned down and a strange look crossed Riven's face.
"I'm sorry; I don't know who you are." Ed took a step back. Didn't know who he was? What was going on?
"Riven, I…" Riven sighed and looked down at the ground.
"I'm really sorry, but I have no idea who you are. In fact, I don't remember much of anything. I won't trouble you any longer." Ed watched as his friend turned and began to trudge away.
"Wait." Riven's head looked over his shoulder. "Would you, I mean, will you stay with me? You look like you need someplace to go." Riven seemed to consider this and than walked back to Ed.
"Thank you…" he trailed off, searching for a name.
"Ed, my name is Ed." Riven smiled. "Thank you, Ed. I'd be honored to stay with you." Ed nodded.
"But first, we need to find a way out of this dump, c'mon." When Riven didn't follow, Ed turned around and burst into laughter. Riven wore a very comical expression, one of disbelief and shock.
"You mean to tell me we're lost?"
"Alright, this is it." exclaimed a triumphant Ed. After wandering around for two hours Ed had finally consented to asking directions and here they were, at Ed's apartment. Riven craned his head to observe the ten story building. It looked a little too high-class for a college student. Ed walked through the glass double doors and Riven followed, still examining the place. A grandmotherly looking woman at a reception desk beamed at Ed as he walked in the door.
"Why, Edward, you're back! Whatever took you so long" Ed smiled back and gave the woman a hug.
"I got lost." he replied sheepishly. She tried to look reprimanding but couldn't hide the smile that peeked out.
"What is Mr. Slate going to do with you." she sighed in mock exasperation. Riven was still admiring the marble interior when she addressed Ed again.
"Well, who have you brought with you" she exclaimed and bustled over to a surprised Riven.
"Mrs. Mason, may I introduce to a long lost friend, Riven Edge. I met him accidentally on my way back here." She enfolded Riven in a hug.
"You poor thing. I'm sure Edward can help clean you up a bit." she said with a hinting look a t Ed.
"Thank you, ma'am." Riven replied, trying to be polite.
"Why, what a polite child! You make sure he's treated well, Edward." Edward smiled.
"I will, Mrs. Mason. C'mon, Riven, my apartments' on the fourth floor." Edward began to walk off and Riven hurried to catch up with him.
"I thought you were in college. How can you afford this place" he questioned as they boarded an elevator.
"I never said I was in college. How'd you know" asked a suspicious Ed.
"Just a guess." shrugged Riven.
"Well, it was a good one. Anyway, I'm an intern a Slate Law Firm. They require every employee to live in this building." Riven whistled.
"Lucky. Was the Mr. Slate Mrs. Mason was talking about the owner"
"Yep, he's also the state attorney, so he's not really around much but he's kind of taken me under his wing. This building holds the law offices too, that's why there was a receptionist. Well, here we are." The elevator doors opened to reveal long hallway. Ed led them to a door labeled 219 and he slid a key card through the reader. The green light flashed on and Ed opened a door.
He lived in a spacious two bedroom apartment, with all the basics and then some. Ed walked in and dropped the key on the kitchen counter.
"Come on in. You can clean up in the bathroom over there" he nodded towards a door"I'll make some supper. When you're done you can borrow some of Caal's clothes. His rooms' the one on the left." Riven nodded and started to walk towards the bathroom, than suddenly stopped.
"Caal's your brother than" he addressed Ed. "Yep, he's at school though. He'll be home at five." Riven turned around and continued towards the bathroom.
A cream towel wiped away the steam that had clouded on the mirror. Riven set it down and stared at the reflection of himself. His silver-white hair hung shone oddly with the light of the bathroom. Wondering blue eyes probed the face in front of them, questioning, searching. Prominent cheekbones ran smoothly into a sleek but strong jaw. It was a handsome face, something many would envy, but to Riven, it was nothing more than his face. His arms and chest were muscular but not bulky, the kind of build that comes from athletics.
Reaching over to the doorknob he grabbed a white, long sleeve shirt. He pulled it over his shoulders, adjusted the collar, and did up the buttons. Laying the shirt neatly over his jeans he was wearing, Riven flicked the bathroom light off and walked out of the bathroom. Ed was waiting with a plate of spaghetti and motioned for Riven to join him at the dining table. Riven pulled out the cherry wood chair and sat down.
"I hope you like spaghetti." sang Ed cheerfully. For the first time in a long while, Riven genuinely smiled. It felt good.
"I do." Ed smiled back and began to eat. Riven followed suit. The two young men made friendly conversation for a while until Ed asked a painfully simple question.
"So, you used to have brown hair. Why the change? What dye did you use" he shoveled another forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. Riven froze and turned his head down. A blush crept across his face.
"I didn't." A few moments of silence passed until Ed coughed and looked at his watch.
"Well, its 4:45. I'd better go pick up Caal." Riven nodded and was about to get up when a question popped into his mind.
"Is there somewhere I can lay down? I've had a…long day." Ed scooped his keys from the counter and replied,
"Sure, you can sleep in Caal's room. He won't mind. I'll be back in twenty minutes." Riven murmured assent and stood up as the door closed behind Ed. He made his way to Caal's room and stepped inside, not bothering to turn on the lights. It was very tidy; everything was in its place.
A neatly made bed was positioned across the room from the door. Riven walked over to it and pulled back the covers. A picture caught the corner of his eye and he picked it up from Caal's desk. Two little boys with arms around each other smiled and waved to the camera. What appeared to be an amusement park bustled on behind them. Riven moved his thumb across the one on the right. He was a little brown-headed kid beaming into the photo.
Without warning, a tear slid across Riven's cheek and fell onto the glass of the frame. He was looking at a younger version of himself. A few vague memories of that trip floated in his head. He and the other little boy had begged his friend's brother, probably Ed, Riven mused, to take them on all the roller coasters and Ed had gotten sick. They'd bought cotton candy and rode the Ferris wheel at the end of the day. The whole park had been lit up like a fireworks display.
Riven smiled as he remembered. Setting the picture down, he undressed and pulled on a pair of pajama pants. He settled himself under the covers and soon his breathing slowed. For the first time in a long while, Riven felt hope.
"Are you serious" Caal exclaimed in surprise. He came to a halt in front of Renee and grabbed her shoulders.
"Did they really start fighting" Renee nodded and murmured a mmhm. Caal took his hands off his friend and they started walking again.
"The Oso Corps mobile suits couldn't lay a finger on the other one." Renee informed Caal. He let out a low whistle.
"So, what happened" he questioned.
"Well, the other suit just kept out of their reach. After a bit it took both of them out no sweat. I'm no expert, if you want to know more, watch the news."
"Sure thing" he replied enthusiastically. "There's Ed. I'll see ya later" Caal ran off to his brother's car, leaving Renee to muse by herself. Just what was that mobile suit anyway? And why did the Oso Corps suits engage it?
"You mean to tell me that he has no idea who we are" Caal blurted. Today was just shock after shock.
"Yep, I don't think he really knows who he is. When I called to him in the alley, he recognized his name, but I haven't questioned him further." Ed said, keeping his eyes on the road.
"And you just left him at the apartment? Alone" Ed turned to his worried little brother.
"Caal, he's lost his memory, not his wits. Besides, from what I observed, he's more capable now then ever to take care of himself. He said he was going to bed." Caal calmed down a little and folded his arms across his chest.
"I'll take your word. Did he look alright? Was he hurt" Ed laughed.
"Slow down with the questions. He looked fine, a little confused maybe. He's taller than you are now, and he died his hair. It's been two years, though, what can you expect." Caal sighed.
"Did he mention his new foster parents" A frown crossed the older sibling's face.
"No, he didn't. I can't help but wonder what happened to him. It didn't seem like the time to push it, so I left him alone. We just talked about everyday things. By the way, I found something you might like." Ed removed the two feathers from his coat pocket and handed them to his brother.
Caal's face brightened as he eagerly took the feathers and began to examine them. "Wow! These are huge! Did you see what kind of bird they were from" Caal questioned excitedly.
"I'm not so sure it was a bird." Ed answered.
"What do you mean by that" Before Ed could answer they pulled into the parking ramp.
"I'll tell you later. Don't wake up Riven, he's had a long day."
A fat manila folder smacked down onto the wooden desktop. The man behind the desk pried his eyes off his computer screen and looked up to the gentlemen who'd brought him another case.
"Morrison, we've got another case from the government." Morrison folded his arms non-chalantly.
"I'm listening." he replied. The other man cleared his throat and opened the folder.
"This one's from pretty far up the line, so you'd better do as they say. Apparently the government was about to get its hands on a top-secret weapon built by a barely legal weapons manufacturer. The manufacturer is a company called Oso Corps. Outside they deal in new inventions and such, but inside…well, you know how it goes. Any who, the scientists at Oso Corps lost the weapon and the government wants it back ASAP. Nobody's suppose to know they were dealing with an illegal manufacturer an Oso's got its own rep to keep up. Both want this done as quickly and quietly as possible, but they'll endorse pretty much anything as long as we get the weapon back to them. Now, here comes the hard part. The weapons' a seventeen year old boy."
Morrison's eyebrows knit together as his partner flipped to a photo.
"So, Ford, they want us to get this kid back for them before anybody finds out what's going on." Ford nodded.
"However, the government's got a reason to be worried. This kid is a one of a kind break through in biological weaponry. It seems Oso Corps went all the way with this one. They infused his blood with liquid Metatron. It should have killed him. It didn't." Morrison held up a hand for Ford to stop.
"You're telling me they dumped the strongest, most dangerous metal known to man into some kid's bloodstream? And he lived" Ford nodded.
"There's more. They took the Metatron off an orbital frame. We have reason to believe that he's got some kind of 'connection' with the frame." Morrison was leaning forward and intently studying the pictures and information in the manila folder.
"So" he whispered"Just exactly what were they trying to accomplish here" Ford bent down lower and in a strained voice replied,
"I don't know what they were initially trying to do, but they succeeded in making the human equivalent of an orbital frame. They created the strongest being on earth and we have absolutely no idea where he is. Or, more importantly, what he plans to do." A bead of sweat trickled down Morrison's face.
"When do we start" he asked. "Right now. We have some background information on the kid, who he used to be and such." Ford flipped to a page with two pictures.
"Our biggest lead right now is two brothers living in the vicinity. They used to know the kid pretty well. We should start with them. We'll have to pull the younger one, Caal, out of school though." His partner nodded.
"Whatever it takes. The most advanced weapon known to man is running around unhindered. At this point, I'm willing to do just about anything to get him back."