Chapter 21 – So It Begins

A/N: ENJOY!

Dearka awoke. His eyes were heavy and his vision was blurred. There was a steady thumping in his head that made him groan as he struggled to stand up. A hand pushed him down as he opened a closed violet eye. His vision cleared as the blurry figure started to become clearer. Cerulean eyes stared at him with a small glitter in them. Dearka knew who it was.

"Yzak." He muttered as he sat up. He wondered faintly about the glitter in them. Concern? Yzak? Nah… Dearka thought before an explosion occurred in his head.

"You're lucky we survived the bomb hurled at us. If I knew who the guy was, I'd kill him!" Yzak said agitatedly while shaking his fist.

"I think the enemy anticipated our ambush." Athrun spoke from his side. He was bleeding slightly from a cut on his arm but nonetheless alright.

"No what do we do?" Dearka asked while messaging the sore spot on his head.

"I think we should go in and warn the girls that we lost the element of surprise." Yzak said thoughtfully.

"It's obvious that we cannot afford to loose them." Yzak continued with a small hint lacing his words. He grinned when he spotted his companions blushing slightly when they understood the other meaning of his words.

"Let's go. I found the entrance the girls used." Athrun said breaking the silence and leading them to his finding.

Cagalli followed the woman leading her to somewhere unfamiliar. After all, this was the enemy's home grounds. Cagalli cursed. She was, after all, the one who insisted on being the one to kill this woman or perish along with her. Cagalli felt a sudden pull at her heart strings. There was so much of the world she had not been. Her work as a kunoichi never let her have any time to look and marvel at the beauty of the world. It never granted her the chance to enjoy the pleasures of life either. Cagalli was suddenly enlightened. Without Athrun, she would never have experienced love. Not friendship. But the love a man has for a woman. Without Athrun, she would never have felt the stabs of heart break either. Her thoughts ended when Marionette stopped. Her face turned to face her. With a sadistic smile plastered on her face, she lifted one finger at the pictures on the wall. Cagalli felt puzzled. Why would Marionette show her pictures of corpses lying in weird angles and obviously murdered brutally. One had half a head smashed by an axe lying beside the body in a pool of crimson while another had bloody holes for eyes.

"That's Emery by the way." Marionette added spitefully in a sweet voice. Cagalli was mortified. How could she murder her own mentor? Especially Emery! Emery always doted on her! Cagalli thought.

"I've always hated her beautiful eyes. No one but me can have such beautiful eyes." Marionette hissed like a scalded cat, glaring at the picture. Cagalli felt her insides twist in disgust and horror but never would she let Marionette have the pleasure of seeing her mouth her disgust. With her face stony, Cagalli forced herself to stay calm and clear-minded as she felt her anger rising. NO! Cagalli willed herself. She must never let her own emotions take over. It could mean her downfall. The new addition to her collection however, was the one that truly made her feel like puking.

"Is that --" Cagalli started.

"It is." Marionette answered nonchalantly.

Cagalli felt a wave of nausea hit her. The man in the picture was Master Yakashi. True, he deserved everything he did but still. He never had to die like this! And in the hands of his own daughter of all people! She could see the bloody holes of knife stabs and long lines of fresh wounds along his body. Whip marks. Cagalli thought. Her horrified eyes took in his badly severed neck. It was barely connected to his head; hanging by a bare muscle. She looked at his equally severed leg. My god! Are those bite marks? Cagalli asked in her head.

"He tried and failed. What makes you think you can win Cagalli?" Marionette asked as she circled Cagalli slowly eyeing her through predatory eyes. Cagalli refused to let Marionette intimidate her.

"Because I'm not a bitch?" she fired a scathing reply. A slap resounded in the room. Anger filled green eyes shot fire at her. Cagalli only let a familiar smirk slide onto her face.

"You'll regret that you ever said that to me Yula." Marionette hissed like a snake preparing to attack. Her green eyes had taken on a more ferocious and a slight psychotic look as Marionette grin her sadistic grin. It unnerved Cagalli a little but she would die than let Marionette know it.

"And so it begins my lovely lovely Cagalli." Marionette whispered as she let out a soft hiss which turned into a cruel laugh. This time, Cagalli felt a chill attaching to her being. What is this manic planning? World domination? Cagalli thought horrified.

"No way in hell woman."

"You have to… Unless you want her to slip away. Again. Permanently." The woman said before adding.

He wanted to scream. To yell at this woman. He wanted to snap her pretty neck into two. But before doing so, something clicked in place. Her words had a sudden world crashing impact on him. He froze. Hand in midair about to slap her. The woman only smirked before walking away. He had no choice. He promised himself didn't he?

He knows he was being watched. I can't see them damn it! He screamed in his head. He treaded slowly in the corridor. Conscious of his own loud breathing, he forced himself to calm down. He cannot afford to make any mistakes at this point of time. He ducked and watched a knife slice pass his face; missing by a few centimeters. He somehow predicted a punch and managed yet another dodge. He was being attacked by two women. Growling, he brought his fist up to the one attacking him. He never really matched up to his two friends in hand-to-hand combat. He was watching the other female approaching him with a knife in hand. Adrenaline rushed into his veins. He felt his fist connect to the first attacker and heard something crack and give way. Ignoring the groans of the first female, he turned his attention to the one trying to knife him. His hands caught the wrist of the hand holding the knife. Then, pain exploded in his gut. He glared at the smirking female. He somehow predicted another kick, this time aiming for his groin. He managed to slink away from the knee. With a growl, he raised his leg and kicked the female with all his might. Blood splattered onto the wall as the female lay unconscious. He cursed in his head. Now everyone will know what happened here. He stooped low and swept the first female off her feet. He had again, foreseen her attack. Without sparing her a second glance, he brought his hell down at her stomach which effectively made her unconscious. He gave a sigh of relief. He turned and ran to look for the kunoichi's weaponry storehouse. He remembered what Cagalli said.

"They probably stashed some bombs or something somewhere. So if any of you doesn't have anything to do, go for that. But I warn you. It will be heavily guarded." Cagalli said as she handed them some weapons.

A/N: Thank god I finished this chapter… R&R!