AN: Another short story by me. This fandom makes me write them; I have no idea why. D

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Elfen Lied, and I do not intend to make a profit with them. D

Sweet Lies

Everything was silent. The room was empty, as usual. Only one person was locked in the room--a young girl. Mariko opened her eyes, staring out at the wall of her cage, which was slightly lit. Her vectors hung around outside the cage, feeling around for any sign of a human being making their way into her chamber.

A sound--a soft sound. Mariko moved her head towards the sound, her restraints keeping her from moving her head more than a few inches. She made a soft sound under her breath, her vectors unable to find what had made the noise. It was a door--but the door was to the research facility; she couldn't reach that far with her vectors. She was sure that the human that walked in could see her vectors searching for them, so she just let them float.

"Mariko," a voice whispered--it didn't sound as if it was coming from the intercom; the voice was male, as well, unlike that woman Mariko called Mother inside her mind. She focused her vectors towards where she heard the voice.

"Mariko..." the voice was softer this time, sadder. Mariko stopped her vectors, pulling them back inside. Something about the voice soothed her--made her want to cry out for her real father and mother.

"Oh God, Mariko--I'm so sorry I put you through all of this," the man said softly. Mariko focused her attention towards the front of her cage. Her restraints seemed to loosen, but not enough for her to move towards the voice--not that she'd know how. Her legs, she knew, were unable to support her weight.

"Your mother wouldn't have wanted you to end up in here, in the facility... She would have rather die than see her little girl treated like nothing more than a monster," the man continued. Mariko listened, her eyes growing wide. She attempted to call out for the man--her voice only producing a small squeak. She hadn't learned how to talk, yet. Still she kept trying to form the words.

"She would have wanted you free," the man whispered. "I would have wanted you free. Mariko, if you are ever released--and I'm sure you will be--I want you to know that this wasn't what I wanted. But we can never see each other. The facility would never let me get close to you, even if I wanted to see you..."

Another sound. Retreated footsteps. Mariko struggled against her restraints--her cage. "Daddy!" she choked out. "Don't go, Daddy!" her voice wasn't loud enough; wasn't strong enough for her father to hear her.

"Kurama! You aren't supposed to be in here! You know its dangerous!"

"Kurama...her daddy's name was Kurama. Mariko tried to continue to show louder--to get her daddy to come back, to get him to free her.

Days passed. Her father never returned--her daddy left her there, to be experimented on, to be tortured. He never came back for her. He left her there. Left her there all alone with that woman that called herself Mommy. Now she knew--she knew that woman wasn't her mommy, that the woman had been lying to her all this time. The loneliness in Mariko's heart grew greater, slowly being replaced with anger.

That woman mocked her. That woman knew she wasn't Mariko's mother--and she knew her daddy too! She kept Mariko from her daddy! She'll kill the fake Mommy and find her daddy. She'll get out of this cage and have her revenge.

Her daddy never loved her, anyway, leaving her hear in this cage with no hope of being released. Her being here was all her daddy's fault! He might have said he was sorry, but deep down Mariko knew he was lying. All humans lied. All humans were filthy creatures. And she would be the one to rid the Earth of the lying humans and their broken promises.