Chapter 23 Is It The End?
A/N: Oh my gosh, you ppl are probably going to hate me for this chappie, it's going to be very extreme, so I'm warning you guys now. I know the situation is pretty much like what happened in 'Teen Life', but trust me, the way this chappie is going to end, is going to be extreme and shocking, but once again I say that this fanfic will have a happy ending. So no worries! Happy reading!
"This can't be happening! Dearka's bound to be somewhere here! This is the only place where the waterfall ends!" exclaimed Cagalli, perking up from in-between Athrun's arms and getting up, before scanning the vicinity of the waterfall.
"Dearka? Dearka? Where are you? If you can hear us please… OH MY GOSH! YEEEEEEEK!" squealed Kyo, scurrying out from behind a nearby bush, and running to hide behind Yzak, muttering something about getting sore eyes after seeing something gross behind the bush.
Sure enough, a copper-tone skinned blonde young man, popped up from behind the bush, doing up his pants, and looking very red in the face.
Miriallia froze in her tracks, wondering if her eyes were tricking her of if her boyfriend was standing just several metres from her looking alive and perfectly healthy, except for the face that he was drenched, like the rest of them.
"Kyaaaaaa! Dearka!" screeched the auburn-haired girl, running toward the blonde young man, not caring about the bushes and shrubs she had carelessly trampled over just to get to the love of her life.
"DEARKA ELTHMAN, I WILL MURDER YOU PERSONALLY!" hollered Yzak, looking like an infuriated bull, and staring wide-eyed and madly at his blonde comrade, who was looking wary and cautious of his platinum blonde friend.
"Hell no…" squeaked Dearka, swallowing hard and looking at the young Jule, who looked ready to charge and pounce on him.
Kyo had been, like the others, looking for Dearka among the nearby bushes and forest terrain, when she stumbled upon him peeing behind a bush, and that was what had sent the red-headed girl scurrying back to where her platinum blonde boyfriend was.
"Yzak, cool it. It's my fault, naturally anyone would've relieved his or herself behind a bush in such a suburban place like this." Said Kyo calmly, keeping her arms around her fuming male companion, who was still glaring at his comrade and good friend.
"What? Kyo saw Dearka relieving himself behind a bush?" blurted out Kira, looking shocked and ready to laugh at Dearka, who was biting his lower lip and frowning pissed at his little revelation about his encounter with a female peeping-tom, who was none other than Kyo herself.
Kira burst out laughing along with Athrun, who had his face pressed into Cagalli's back, his shoulders shaking away in absolute hilarity. Miriallia, Kyo and Yzak were not looking very pleased at their friends' reactions, and could only stand pissed, and watch.
It was the blonde young mother who broke the endless sound of ringing laughter.
"Can we get going? It's not your baby that's missing, and maybe that's why you can still laugh so much." Hissed Cagalli, pinching Athrun hard on the ear and making the midnight blue-haired co-ordinator scrunch his face in a painful expression.
Nevertheless, Kira didn't get away with his laughing deed either. His blonde twin sister had aimed a rock at his right shin, and had hit him nicely as she had targeted.
"Sis, I'm the one leading the way, mind you. How are you going to find your way up there, if I'm down and no one else can actually lead the way?" asked Kira, sounding rather arrogant and annoying his sister.
"I can find my way up to Mount Fuji no problem with a strength that none of you can beat, determination." Snapped Cagalli heatedly, pushing past her brunette brother, Athrun trailing along behind, grinning at Kira who just pursed his lips.
It was already past three in the afternoon, it seemed that the bunch had taken longer time to get back on track from the treacherous waterfall than any of them had expected. With a pair of determined parents leading the way to find their kidnapped son, nothing seemed impossible.
"Gosh, whose stomach is that rumbling?" questioned Kyo feeling rather annoyed, by the constant rumbling sound that she had been hearing for the past several minutes.
One by one, each of the bunch shook their heads, indicating that none of them had the peace of mind or the appetite to eat anything. However, out of the blue, Athrun stopped them all from moving.
"That ain't someone's stomach rumbling, look over there." Athrun said softly, pointing at a moving shape among the nearby trees. A bit of orange and a black stripes… golly no… a tiger? Gosh, and not one, but three. A mother and her two cubs.
"This is just a dream, it can't be real. Someone just kill me now and spare me the pain of being eaten alive," muttered Dearka softly, feeling Miriallia's cold and trembling hand clutch on to his shirt.
Sure enough, three tigers emerged from a tree beside them.
"Don't run, they'll think you're scared and start chasing you," instructed Kira softly, hoping that everyone had heard him, but obviously, someone hadn't, and that someone lost control and started screeching and shouting running about madly too.
"Dearka no!" screamed Miriallia, seeing her blonde boyfriend, running around like a madman, making funny whacky noises, loud and piercing.
Astonishingly, the tigers moved backward and retreated. However, a mad Dearka was still running around, taking great strides as his whacky voice, which reminded Miriallia much of a hyena, echoed throughout the forest.
"Dearka Elthman quit it!" screeched Yzak heatedly, clearly getting much worked up about his comrade's very embarrassing behaviour. "How did I friggin' ever get you as a friend?"
The copper-tone skinned young man slowed down with each breath he took, and halted in front of Miriallia who was looking at him disappointedly.
"Actually, we all have him to thank," said Lacus sweetly, smiling widely at the blonde young man, who looked somewhat puzzled, as his auburn-haired girlfriend took out her handkerchief and began wiping all his sweat away.
"It was Dearka who warded off those beasts for us, all the whacky screechy noises he made frightened the tigers off." Announced Lacus intelligently. The pink-haired girl had always had a thing for animals, and she was pleased to announce Dearka's coincidental deed of letting out his fear and warding off several vicious tigers.
"You have got to be kidding me," said Athrun looking rather shocked and recovering from their little encounter with three tigers.
"No I'm not kidding any one of you," said Lacus grinning widely, and patting Dearka on the back.
"Can we get going? Things keep happening and we keep getting delayed." Said Kyo, reminding the others of their actual purpose for being in The Sinister Forest.
"Kyo's right, we don't have much time left," said Kira wisely, looking over at Cagalli, who was looking on the verge of tears. Clearly the blonde girl was very disturbed by the kidnapping of her baby, and certainly wanted him back in the safety of her arms.
"Relax, we'll get there," said Athrun, in an effort to comfort his blonde female companion. However, the midnight blue-haired co-ordinator looked just as worried as the mother of his son did.
"Yes, of course we'll get there, Athrun Zala! But the question is will we get there in time?" snapped Cagalli hotly, not actually meaning to snap so fiercely at her beloved, but the anxiety and worry she felt constantly was killing her.
Athrun shut up for the next hour as they trudged alongside pinetrees, avoiding mud puddles and slippery roots. Miriallia had already fallen once and grazed her knee, but being just as determined as Cagalli herself, the auburn-haired girl braced up and moved along just as quick-paced as the others.
"Well, well, you gits are here relatively early," said a voice from a tree above, which made the others tilt their head backwards to stare at the masculine man face to face. "Let me make a guess, you took a shortcut through the waterfall instead of going around it?"
"Kisaka," hissed Kyo ferociously, recognising Cagalli's former body-guard at once. "I knew it was the Chairman of PLANTs doing. Let me guess, you were sent by him to look out for us?"
"For a stupid ninja girl, you sure are smarter than I thought you to be, Kyo." Snarled Kisaka, jumping down from the tree branch above them, and landing expertly on the muddy and leafy ground of the forest.
"Kyo is certainly not stupid, unlike a dimwit like yourself, besides, you used to fancy Kyo yourself when you were still working for Lord Uzumi and serving as Cagalli's bodyguard." Retorted Miriallia defensively, her statement making an aggressive young Jule pull Kyo closer to him.
"True, true. But that was the past; besides, all of you are now hooked up with co-ordinators, aren't you?" Kisaka snapped, eyeing each and every one of them like a hawk eyeing its prey from the skies above. "Anyway, I know better than to lay a finger on Kyo now, since she's got something like a bulldog dressed like a human, for a boyfriend."
Yzak snapped the moment Kisaka ended his sentence. The young Jule hated nothing more than being called names that seemed to fit his aggressive personality, and Kisaka certainly didn't appeal well with the platinum blonde either. Yzak had always taken it personally, ever since he had heard from Mirre that Kisaka had always harboured a secret crush on Kyo.
Luckily, Kyo was well enough prepared to dart out in front of Yzak the moment the young Jule lunged forward, so that the redheaded girl was able to stop him from pouncing on Cagalli's former bodyguard. However, Yzak's true strength was revealed when Kyo's feet, which had trekking boots worn over them, still slid on the forest floor even after she had restrained him.
"Cut the crap all of you and let me get to the point. It's a tough decision, and I suggest you make a wise choice for your answer." Hissed Kisaka, circling the bunch, eyeing them closely, making sure none of them moved or even twitched a muscle.
"Fine then, speak." Barked Cagalli angrily, speaking for the first time in hours, since they had gotten back on track from the stream beneath the waterfall.
"The chairman wants me to tell you this. I'll take all the young ladies with me and my men," started off Kisaka, before about a dozen men appeared from behind bushes lunging at Miriallia, Cagalli, Lacus and Kyo.
Some of the armed men dragged the young men away from their beloveds, while the others took hold of all the girls. The young Jule received special attention, as he was tackled by four men instead of two, and the men seemed well-trained and had him in their firm grip in seconds.
Miriallia and Lacus were no match for the two men who tackled them both, and could only watch terrified as their two other girlfriends, Kyo and Cagalli desperately tried to fight their attackers off.
Kyo, who was naturally tomboyish like Cagalli, had been abandoned and found by one of the handmaidens at Orb, and was taken in and raised in Orb itself. Therefore, she had grown up alongside Cagalli. When the duo was about the age of four, Lord Uzumi had both of them trained in Judo. However, since the blonde girl had always been encouraged to be feminine, she never really practiced her moves.
Kyo on the other hand, practiced every single day, meditating, even getting herself two hand-swords, which she used to develop her own unique method of sword-fighting. Therefore, during her stay at Orb, she was nicknamed, 'Ninja Tigress'.
Athrun and the others were tackling their own attackers themselves, however, lost to them in a matter of less than a minute. Cagalli herself, who was worn out and exhausted, finally gave up and gave in to her attacker.
Kyo however, continued her feisty and well-designed moves on her attacker, and used the energy stimulated by her blows to create another blow, something which she had learned herself.
"Struggle and fight more, Kyo, and the baby dies," said Kisaka heatedly, watching as Kyo fought ferociously, looking rejuvenated and tireless.
The redheaded girl froze at Kisaka's recent statement, and gave in to her attacker, eyeing Kisaka closely before scanning the area around them for any sign of little Aaron.
"It's either you follow my instructions, and separate the males from the females, or the baby dies. That is Chairman Zala's instruction, and I will not hesitate to give him a tinkle to let him know that you people are not cooperating." Warned Kisaka, speaking every one of his words with perfect diction and clarity.
The swarm of men slowly dragged Miriallia, Kyo, Lacus and Cagalli away from Kira and the others, who were struggling once more, though not as violently as before.
Yzak however, had managed to break free from his attackers, and had run over to Kyo, who was shaking her head at him.
"Yzak don't start this over, I'll be ok, I promise. Don't make things difficult, baby, I'll be ok," said Kyo, stretching a little further and as far as the rope that bound her would allow her to, and attempting to plant a kiss on Yzak's cheek, only to find that her attacker wrenched her away just as her lips brushed against his cheek.
Kyo, who was clearly annoyed by her attacker's action, gave him a hard backward kick in the shin, causing him to double over before reclaiming his control over her.
The guys were dragged away in another direction, and they could be heard shouting words to their partners till they were barely audible to the girls.
It seemed as though Miriallia, Kyo, Lacus and Cagalli had been dragging their feet along for hours, the dread and apprehension nearly killing them. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity they arrived at the foot of a cave.
Cagalli's eyes perked up when she caught sight of a whimpering Aaron lying, still in his pyjamas, in a fruit basket. Her poor baby looked so hungry, that she felt just guilt not being able to give him any milk.
However, the blonde girl was a little relieved when her attacker untied her and let her attend to her baby, who had started bawling the moment he caught sight of his mother.
Miriallia, Lacus and Kyo were dragged away several metres before being chained to the rocky cavern wall behind them. To their surprise, they were given some water to drink, and though the water didn't look exactly purified and clean, the three girls still gulped it down gratefully.
Within minutes of being tied up, the girls spotted their beloved male companions being tied to the rocky wall opposite them, and the distance between the guys and the girls seemed like 15 odd feet.
They began shouting across to each other, and even Aaron who had been suckling on Cagalli looked on the verge of tears seeing his father being tied up so far away from him and his mother.
However, silence returned the moment the figure of Chairman Zala appeared from behind a rock along with a Mia Campbell, who looked rather shabby and abused. Of course, she had been abused, by Chairman Zala that is.
He had been hitting her and forcing her to do his bidding, not to mention, he even raped her when he felt like it.
"Nice to see you again, my son," hissed the senior Zala, smirking maliciously, at an angry Athrun, who had been bound feet and hands to the rock wall behind him.
"In fact, it's a pleasure to be meeting all those who are new here. Like Cagalli Yula Athha, Miriallia Haww, Kira Yamato and Kyo Yamajika." Said Patrick Zala, stressing on Kyo's name, as he walked up to the redheaded girl personally, and lifted her chin roughly.
"Don't touch her!" hollered Yzak from a good 15 feet away, struggling madly against the strong and sturdy ropes that kept his limbs bound to the rocky cavern wall.
The young Jule was struggling so much the friction his arms had caused against the ropes had made markings on his arms.
Kyo looked over at Yzak, an expression of pure serenity in her frozen blue eyes. She didn't look scared at all, of course, she wasn't scared at all. Chairman Zala could kill her for all she cared, just as long as he didn't touch Yzak or harm any of her other friends.
"You're a feisty young lady, aren't you? Fancy glaring at me so ferociously, even after knowing that you're helpless against me if I were to hurt you." Commented Patrick Zala, letting go of Kyo's face, as she wrenched her chin away from his grasp.
"Chairman Zala has a great deal to tell you people. In my opinion, you all should just take it as a malicious fairytale in wonderland." Advocated Kisaka grandly, though none of the bunch would consider any part of this occasion, grand.
"What d'you want with us, freak? Why'd you kidnap Aaron?" snarled Dearka, not bothering to struggle against the ropes like his platinum blonde comrade.
"Watch your mouth, Elthman. You may be a fairly trained soldier of ZAFT, but other than that, you're utterly useless." Stated the senior Zala, shooting the young blonde copper-tone skinned man an insolent glare of fury.
"Firstly, we kidnapped the friggin' baby to get the whole lot of you here. But that's not the only reason why we kidnapped the baby." Said Kisaka, jumping down from a rock he was sitting on. "We also did some tests, and the tests show that the baby is an entirely new human breed, and so, the baby has to die."
"No! I won't let you kill Aaron, you'll have to come through me first!" shouted Cagalli, clutching her baby close to her chest, as the baby Zala whimpered slightly, his tiny frame shaking from the low temperature of the cavern.
"Oh don't worry, we'll have to kill you as well, and maybe Athrun too. He's become to shallow to be considered my son now," continued the senior Zala, moving back a few steps and taking two sharp bladed sword from Mia.
"Now you see, all of you are pathetic wimps. I have to thank Kisaka for his very kind help throughout my entire plan. At the end of the day, if everything goes well, the entire Zala family will be wiped off clean from the face of the earth!" laughed Patrick cruelly, sharpening the blade of his swords.
"Athrun, Cagalli and their pathetic son will be vanquished!" exclaimed Patrick madly, making many of the others wonder if he was indeed, a maniac. "And so will Kyo Zala,"
"Kyo? What's this got to do with Kyo? And why the hell did you call her 'Kyo Zala'?" yelled Yzak, obviously demanding an explanation, and a full and detailed one too.
"Now this is where the interesting part comes in," said Patrick, settling himself on a nearby rock and continuing his explanation. "Kyo was abandoned at Orb, and was found and raised by an Orb handmaiden, Haruka Takahashi, am I right?"
"Yeah so? What's Haruka got to do with you?" hissed Kyo heatedly, kicking nearby rocks further away from her.
"God question, you see, Kyo. You are the daughter of my elder brother, Leon Zala, who is now deceased, thanks to me. I killed him reason being, he was the current heir of our family fortune. Coming back to now, I want to kill you, because you, Kyo Zala, daughter of Leon Zala, are the next and rightful heir of that family fortune." Explained the senior Zala.
"So you see, even you, Kyo, have a connection with Chairman Zala, and that is the reason he wants you here, and for all those who do not bear the Zala family name, you're just hear for fun and as to serve as an audience, to what you're about to witness." Added Kisaka knowingly.
"You're sick in the mind, father! Ever since mother passed on you've become so manipulative and hard-hearted, mother would never have wanted you to become this way!" bellowed Athrun ferociously.
"Don't you dare talk to me about your mother like that! Kisaka, release him!" yelled Patrick Zala, slipping the two swords between his hands.
Kisaka did as he was told and released Athrun, who quickly darted toward Cagalli.
"Goodbye Zalas!" yelled Patrick Zala, throwing the swords at Cagalli and Athrun.
Athrun darted in front of Cagalli, the sword hitting him hard and fast in the back, the sword aimed at him missing him and flying right past Cagalli.
However, Kisaka rushed out from behind, picking up the sword thrusting it through the blonde mother, who felt nothing but pain and nothing else but a screech from her baby.
Cagalli looked down, her eyes tearing madly form the pain and heartbreak. The sword had pierced right through her and it had gone through Aaron too. Athrun was lying on her lap, still breathing eyes closed, with the sword sticking out of his back.
Aaron's breathing had ceased all of a sudden, and so had Athrun's. Realising it was the end, she closed her eyes and fell backwards, before seeing nothing but black.
"NO!" yelled Kyo, and she heard a gunshot, thinking she had been killed she quickly scanned her body for any bullet marks, however, all she saw was the senior Zala falling to the ground in front of her.
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Cagalli's eyes fluttered open, but she jerked them back shut when she was greeted by a burst of light.
"Where am I? Why's everything so bright? Where's Aaron? Where's Athrun? Am I dead? Or am I somewhere else?" the blonde girl questioned herself, as in front of her she saw people, people with halos on their heads, some with white wings, some with grey ones.
Where was she?
A/N: KiraTatashi! How could you? You killed the happy family? But praise yourself for killing the mad freak, Patrick. But still? How could you kill, Athrun, Cagalli and Aaron? Curse you KiraTatashi! Sorry for the heartbreaking chapter! Pls review!
In the next chappie: Is Cagalli dead or alive? Where is she? She also meets a woman, a woman who reminds her awfully of Athrun… Who is she?