To Tame a Beast
Hurricanes plus Florida equals evilness…
Ya anyways. Sorry for this loooong belay. Please forgive me… This chapter is by far.. the longest I've written I think.. Took me a while to figure out how to get so many things done getting to the end of things are sooooo hard..
Please forgive me.. I have not gone trough this yet for errors… I tried to do it as I wrote.. I promise to go back and re read it.. but I thought you guys waited long enough…
XoXoX - Dream
Chpt 16 The Silent Calm before the Storm
XoXoX
Glass pierced the flesh of her feet as she stumbled over them. How long has she been walking? The thought was never answered as she stumbled on towards the sobbing cries. Fresh blood lined the long blue shirt she wore, and strains of her hair fell over her eyes.
"I'm coming don't worry.." She words where no more then a rasp whisper. Having said them some many times now, she hoped that the one crying out in pain could hear her. Another piece of glass jabbed itself into her hell, causing her to fall down. Smaller pieces cut into her hands as she used them to stop her fall. How am I suppose to make it there if I keep falling! She slammed her hands down on the fragments of glass making them jump about. Closing her eyes, she allowed the first tears the grace her cheeks.
"Whatever you do, don't cry." Words made from her own voice but not from her own throat. Her eyes flew open to look down at a fragment of glass that had an moving image on it. Bewildered by this, she picked it up to look at the blurry moving figures.
(In the glass)
" "Don't cry?" What are you going to do, runt?" a boy asked as he slumped down against the wall. The steady beat of running water echoed in the cell. His silverish hair fell down over his face. It was long and unclean; his dark purple eyes looked almost like black pearls if it hadn't been for the small amount of light in the cell. There was another in the room, standing next to him. He was clearly younger, though his clear blue eyes told other wise. Ragged, unclean black hair had been pulled back to make his face noticeable. They were looking at a small white haired girl standing outside of the bars, holding a small torch. The light blue shirt she wore fell to her knees, ragged and lined in blood. Frowning at them, she looked about the dark halls before slipping in between the bars with little trouble.
"You can't cry out, they'll hear. I have to cut out the t-" she frowned for a moment while she tried to figure out the word, "trackers that they place on us. If I don't, they find you before you can even escape.."
"Cut them out?" The younger boy frowned at the word as the sapphire eyed girl pulled out a sharp surgical knife. Holding it into the flame of the torch she said nothing as the tow looked at her. "Do you know where they are? You're not going to just cut into us, are you?"
"Let the runt do it, kid… We don't want to go through this whole thing just to end up back here do we?" The one sitting down said as he stood back up and walked over to her. She ignored him for a moment longer as she held the knife in the fire until it was red hot. The sapphire pools looked at him before looking to the other. "I'll go first.."
"The wound may scar… I do not know how deep they are…" He shrugged at her as he sat down next to her. She pulled his left sleeve to leave his shoulder bare.
"Well I guess I can live with it. It can be your price for this, so that we remember…Right 003?"
"Yea... It works out…" The other boy shrugged. The little girl didn't say anything as she held the surgical knife in place. "Hey, 004…Don't scream…" "
It flickered and returned to the clear glass that it once was. Running her hand along the edges she studied a little longer before setting it down on the ground. Standing slowly, she turned her mind back to the sobbing cries. Stepping down on the ground, she ignored the pain of the glass stabbing her bare feet.
"I'm coming… I'll help you remember.."
XoXoX
It took her a while to realize that she was concusses, though once she did she wish she hadn't even bothered to wake up. Her insides felt like they had been turned inside out, and when though she felt like retching, at the same time it didn't seem her body would let her. From head to toe, her body throbbed in pain. Though, none of it seemed to compare to the massive throb in her skull. It felt like a dragon had been stepping on her head repeatedly, or well, her skull felt like it was about to split in half. Slowly as her mind over fought the pain; she became aware of her surroundings. Lying out on her side she felt the grassy ground. Her arms were bound behind her back, and her hands tied together. The rope also bit down on to her thighs and ankles. There was no clear memory on what happened for a while, though it took her twice as long from waking up to figure out she wasn't alone.
There were two voices, speaking a bit to low for her to understand, but they were there. She dare not move, and kept her eyes closed hoping they wont notice that she was wake. Remembering what had happen and where she was, was starting slowly coming around. She remember Kale, the rotten bastard that manage keep his head on for three years working with her. He had dragged her out on a 'camping trip' to get her off the Vione, and get out in the open to 'stretch her wings'. It was a blank from there for a while. She still couldn't understand what the voices were saying, but know she could detected that they were male. That and she was in a tent with a lot of boxes, or crates. Her stomach turned, and twisted making the sick feeling even worse. It felt horrible, though the amount of pain wasn't coming from there, but lower. It had almost been two months, and the pain here hadn't been this bad. Something was wrong with her, and she was too banged up and her mind was too screwed up to do a damn thing. One of her keepers moved, knocking something over and the other's voice took a different octave, more hostile. Maybe they were deciding which one of them should have the first go with her. One of the things she hated about being a prisoner of war, a female prisoner of war. Battles, and days in marching to battles make things hard on some male soldiers. Female company is a great way from some of them to relieve the stress. Though, those with a lot of it aren't above raping a female prisoner. Rape was also a good way to break down a female prisoner's will. If only she could get her hands free. But even if she could, the sharp pain going up her through her body would not make movement very easy for her. A sharp pain ran up her spine suddenly, as the voices behind her quieted down a bit. It was too sudden for her to hold her breath, so she breathed in short, causing her to go into a harsh coughing fit.
"Kaji!" One of the voices said, she could make out the young male voice now. Not that it did her any good. The coughing fit ran throughout her body magnified the pain that pulsed through her as well. Someone pulled her up into a sitting position, and pounded onto her back to get her to stop. Her sapphire eyes met a set of dark purple ones as another one knelt down before her. His mouth moved but she couldn't understand him. Silver hair fell over his eyes, jolting slightly the dream she had, but she could quiet grasp what it was. It fell too far behind the dissipating fog in her mind. The coughing fit finally stopped, and so did the pounding on her back. The one in front of her didn't look very happy.
"The bastard gave her too much, that has to be it." His voice was dark, and deep. He was studying her over, one of his hands pressed against her forehead. It was ice cold to her. "She's burning up one hell of a fever."
"There's nothing we can do, her system has to flush it out…" A lighter voice said; it belonged to the one holding her up. He moved and laid her back down on the ground. The two were now knelt around her, she could see them now. Voices had faces. The purple eyed one had silver colored hair that fell down to his shoulders. The other one looked to be the youngest. Clear blue eyes seemed very fitting for his innocent look; uneven black locks fell over his eyes. The kept talking about something, but she couldn't hear them. Their voices seemed so muffled together that it made her head hurt even more when trying to understand them. Closing her eyes to shut out the light of the tent, she tried to concentrate. It started to come back then, the bastard had given her something in the water. Zicor, a sleeping drug! He had sold her out, the dirty pig. And worse, he probably sold her out to the Celtic army. How had that damn dirty pig lived for so long anyways? There was nothing much she could do now anyways, except for think of a way to get out of here. But the like ability that she could any time soon didn't seem very good. The sharp pain in her stomach was getting worse and worse by the moment. The asshole had over dosed the water with too much of the damn drug. Its side effect wasn't a very pleasant one at this moment. The voices around her seemed to take on a different tone, as if the two were arguing about something. She shut her eyes tighter, hoping to shut out the sound of their voices but it didn't work. They flew open only a few seconds later as another coughing spasm started again. The two voices stopped as they went about turning their attention to her again. Someone was trying to get her to drink water while she was in between coughing spasms. It wasn't working very well.
XxXxXxXx
He stood in the open field, over looking the scene. How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have seen it? That this was bound to happen, for it always did. What he cared most for, without seeing it until it was too late, would be taken away from him. Though it wasn't his fault this time, no matter how watchful he could have been he would never have seen this coming. The evening breeze ran though his silver hair, making it fall over his red eyes. Folken had been a fool too, for allowing them to come out here without someone else too. But how could he have known either? That this man who had worked so well with her in the pasted would do this, betray his country for nothing more then a chest full of gold. Fools gold though, for it seemed he would never get the chance to life his life with it. His carcass lay out on the rocks, rioting out here in the sun. And that was where Dilandau was going to leave him. For the traitor was fit for nothing more then the buzzers that circled the sky above, and that was just what he was going to get.
Dilandau balled his hands into fist as he over looked the area. A fool, that what he was. He had been so angry with her for the pasted that he could not see the future. Always, he was left with the fear of being alone. A fear his 'sister' would leave him; his slayers might disband from him and leave him alone to the madoushi. That was why he always pushed everything away, so that if they did leave he would not be the one hurt in the end. Though it did not work very well, he was close to Celena, and he was close to his slayers. They were his family, his life and he would never let anything happen to them. But why then, did he fell this way? Like he had failed in something. Rei was the woman who had been a nuisance since she came here. Never following orders, and always a problem she was and yet. Here he was, feeling alone, lost. He had failed at something and he wasn't sure what it was. There was a feeling somewhere, that he was suppose to protect her, but from what? The she-demon had failed them; she had left them to those painful years with the madoushi. But, maybe it was just that he never thought about it before now.
In the pasted he always thought she had died trying to say them that she had done her best to try and help them. But when he found that she was alive, that the she-demon lived. He blamed her, for failing, for leaving them. But that wasn't true. She had done her best to help them, to save them. But that time, she was betrayed by someone she must have trusted. They were not alone in their pain, for in some other dark room in those godforsaken towers she was there too. Trapped inside her mind unable to escape. Zaibach had created the prefect fighting machine, a berserker with unlimited strength. She had kill eighty men on her own without a single wound. A massacre was to her something as easy as breathing. Death was an art that she had mastered, and the she-demon was not afraid of it. And there was so much more, so much more she could probably do that he did not know of. If Zaibach has starved to create something that would bring it enemies to their knees without killing to may of its own soldiers it had found it. But if only Zaibach could control it. Prefect she was, she had one flaw that madoushis wished Folken to correct. Though, the man had no time to do it, for the girl was gone, and Celtic had her. In the moment of heated rage, could the she-demon remember who her fellow men were or, was there a reason why the madoushi preferred her to work alone? He turned then to look upon the red giant behind him. The stealth clock fluttering in the wind, he would not allow that to happen. He would not allow the she-demon that kind of death. For it was time he paid back what little hope then she had given to him and his sister. A hope that had kept him going even now, though it was only when she was taken that he realized it. The blacken rose she had kept was the proof of the loyalty she once held.
He would not let her be abandoned to that fate.
XxXxXxXx
Massive chaos was about the words to describe the current situation aboard the Vione. In less then two hours had passed when Dilandau had returned from his little outing to find Rei. One that had not been cleared for him to take, two hours and the whole place was in an uproar. Fingers were at the moment being pointed for the problem, Dilandau for not keeping an eye on her, Skylar for removing command from Dilandau to do that to someone traitor, and lastly to him for allowing the late night camping trip. Folken growled inwardly as he made his way through the dark corridors of the ship, to a place at the moment he really didn't want to be going to. It was a good idea; her mood swings had taken a dramatic change. Quiet, shy, complete opposites from what she had been earlier. Though quiet and shy were normal traits to someone who held the same condition. None of this changed the problem, clarification had already came in (slightly on the late side though) that the "Special Force' commander was selling information to the Celtics. Through him information leaked out on Rei, and a price had gone for her head. This, unfortunately, was also another problem. Kale had also sold the "control" chemical used on her to keep her inline. Unless this man knew something that none of the madoushis did, there was no such drug. There were many drugs that created violent reactions, but they were not very long lasting given her immunity to them. At this moment, Celtic had a sleeping time bomb in their hands that was still mentally unstable.
True, she could just be left there, let them try to use her against them and have it back fire. But there was something unsettling about this. A "control" was not impossible; half of Kane's project journal was still missing. The telling whether or not he had really created a control drug was unknown. For the years that she was operational she had no outbursts. It wasn't until the Ionia incident that she did become uncontrollable. Though the trigger of this was still unknown, but one of the first people to be killed was the project assistant, Axiom and Kane himself. The idea had floated around for sometime that the incident had been planned; the whole massacre of the Ionia was to cover up his death. It was killed among the madoushi, though and was left just as it is known now. To the world it was a surprise attack, but to those who knew who really did it, it was an outburst a backfire on what were Kane had been using. None of this really mattered anymore, what did was the fact Celtic had 009, and was going to use her. Turning about the corner he came to the destination he had hoped that he wouldn't have to come to for a time. The steel claw lightly taped in the code for the door, which slide slowly open to reveal the dark room which lay on the other side. Folken walked forward into it, knowing this room well enough that he had not to fear walking into something. The door closed again, secluding him into an almost total darkness. Before him, a small screen gave off some light. Enough now that he could see the small pillars that lay in a triangle.
He slowly pressed down the small triangles that sat upon them, in a certain pattern. Hopefully she would be there; it was coming to be late evening there now given that it was midmorning here. Maybe she was expecting him to call, with luck that would be the case, and she would already know what he was going to ask. The tracking device had been removed, and left out in the woods. That was how Dilandau had found the little camp site. Not only was she taken, but now there was no way to tell were she was taken to. No hope to retrieve her now if there was anything that could be down. The screen lightened up more, becoming slightly statically. Then again she could also be asleep or out with her daughter. The static continued for a while, in a moment he was going to have to give up and try again later. A message could not be received if none was there to turn on the thing. The screen flickered again, and began to gain color. Folken sighed slightly, someone was in that damn office of hers. And since none one but her was ever allowed in there… The screen came into focus, but the face that appeared on it was by face to young to be the person he had wanted. Red hair cut short, barely touching her neck, a pair of velvet eyes looked off to the side on the small screen that sat in the office. For a moment, his good memory had failed him the name of this little girl or well this NOW young woman didn't come. The velvet eyes came back to the screen, now satisfied with what were she had been trying to fix. May, how she had grown to look so much like her mother.
"Hello? Um.. Sorry but Aurora is.. err.. Not in the condition to talk to anyone." The girl seemed sort of lost in what she was doing. "I'll take a message if this is an urgent call. But you will have to-"
"Kath, what are you doing in your mother's office?" Her name had finally come back to him, while she was trying to talk. She stopped for a moment, surprised by his voice, and squinted at the screen.
"Folkie?" Another inward groan, Aurora had passed on her childish nickname to her daughter. "I'm sorry, didn't know it was you. Mom broke this thing a year ago and hasn't gotten it fixed. All I see is a funky purple and green color. Very gross may I add.."
"A year ago?"
"Don't ask me…" She shrugged slightly, and looked to the side of the screen at something. "Anyways, I'm in the office hiding. I hate funerals, all of his family members are here, and mom is hiding in her room at the moment." Folken frowned, that was why she was in such a rush to leave here. At least she could have told him, instead of attacking like it was nothing.
"Kath, wh-"
"Hold on a second, I think I found the control. I'll transfer the call up to her. I think that thing in her room still works..." Her hand moved off to the side of the screen, blocking some of it. He could hear the static sound the flooded the room as she messed with whatever her hand was touching. She could have told him, Folken wasn't paying attention to Kath at the moment as his mind trailed off onto something. Or had she planned this little incident? "Yay! What do you know, it still works. Ok Folkie…"
"Um?" He looked back at the screen of the young redhead girl, as she turned her own attention back to him. "Wait, Kath if-"
"Talk to you later, Folkie." She was ignoring him as she waved slightly. At the moment the clear trait of mother to daughter was very noticeable. "Make her smile please; this mood of hers is becoming such a downer." The screen blacked out again, returning to the gray static it was before, until a new image started up. Well, there went that, Folken groaned inwardly. This wasn't going to make the day any better. The room came in fuzzy slightly; it was to dark to really see anything. The most likely thing to happen at the moment would be that she wouldn't want to talk to him. A white ball flew out of nowhere and struck the screen, making the colors change slightly.
"What the hell's the matter with her? What part of "I will not-" did she not understand?" The grumpy sounding voice came. That wasn't something he was excepting, the idea she was crying was what Kath had started. Was Aurora just up set over something? A fuzzy form of red and black plopped down in front of the screen, it would take the woman a few minutes to clear up the image, given that the machine she used there was almost four times his age. Squinting at the screen, she frowned now that he could see her better. The red strains of hair were in a mess, falling over what looked like tear stricken, tired blue eyes. What he could see of her was in dark clothing, or more over her old madoushi cloak. "A, the meaning of my misery has finally called. "
"Aurora, why didn't you just tell me?"
"What, that the jackass had a heart attack? That he dead while screwing some street whore? Na didn't think it was very appealing…" She just shrugged, and wiped her eyes with a tissue. "It was gonna happen, I told him to loose weight, but no… He went doing something he loved doing. Happy for the guy, he's out of my life. Though, he did scare the hell out of that girl..." The woman laughed slightly before looking at him. "But that it's the reason for this sour mood. O, no, it has to deal with all the fucking, suicidal Madoushi!" Fists slammed down on the desk, shaking the image of her.
"Wha-"
"Folken, haven't I ever told you to keep your mouth shut when your elder is talking? Um, good then use that knowledge I passed down to you and shut up for a moment…." Aurora glared at him, as she rested her head on one of her hands. "When you told me that Kane was from the Mystic Moon, I did some searching around. Unfortunately, you had to call me to the Vione when Rei went missing, so I couldn't do much looking into it. Well, when I got back here, total driven crazy by mourners for that 'husband' of mine, I went to the Black Towers to do some more looking around. I found the boxes with all those notes and stuff from the Ionia. Ya, whoever was supposed to look through that damn stuff did a horrible job."
"Auro-"
"Folken, don't make me repeat myself…." She glared at him again, one of her hands moved out to the side out of the field of vision for the machine. "Remember when we first met? You were coming into the towers; I was supposed to be your 'tutor' until you got the hang of being there? I took your to a project testing that I couldn't get out of, it was the first time you were introduced kind of to Rei."
"Yes... I remember that..." Folken frowned, he defiantly didn't like were this was going. Anything that had to deal with those days of his pasted would not be pretty.
"It was actually the last testing day, to see if the drug would work. It was Kane's first good attempted at a control. It worked pretty well in training sessions; she never got too out of hand. But that day, what you saw was the final out come of the testing…"
"And from what I remember of it then, if that was supposed to be a control it felled miserably..."
"It did… but they weren't testing her then for a control. It was already known that the drug wouldn't do that… Then, they were using it as a trigger, it was during a time period the madoushi wanted her to used as something else, but Dornkirk over ruled it, so Kane turned his attention back to creating a control….."
"Aurora what does this have to do-"
"Folken do you remember reading about the "Doom's Day" compound? It was something I showed you once..."
"Yes... it was made to be a trigger appointed for a weapon that was going to be used. It's injected into a specimen, which is then released. It was very violent reactions to it that then cause very violent behavior." She held up a small bottle, an etched in sigma was carved into the small glass container.
"I found it, with his things... There were only two bottles of this thing ever made, Dornkirk put a banned on letting others be made. Kane was given one of them… I also found a letter addressed to Rei crammed into one of the books. Thought you'd want to hear it..." There was a ruffle of paper.
Rei
May you, in sometime or anything forgive me child. I had no right; I came here for some reason for a long time I hoped it wasn't because of a madman's dream. What I did I can not undo. You were too young to fight back; now that you can I think it is time to right a wrong before it happens. They don't remember, but I do. I won't let them do it. You are to happy, the shadow of your once self has finally started to come about. It works, barely. But, they will never know, they can not.
For give me but it must be done. They wish to use you in that way, so I must remind them. What it is that is your true nature. You'll hate me, I know. The cost is great to you. But once it's done, you're free. Take flight with your broken wings, don't turn back to them. You're free to walk on your own, choose your own destiny. But remember, what you are…
The paper folded back up, the silence fell between them. Calculations started to run through his mind as he started at her. This brought on something new, the journal he had did not speak much on this, and there was no mention in it about the Doom's Day. The book ended only a little after she was put into the coma state. If what she was saying was true, not only did this bring light to some of the metal changes in Rei's appearance after the Ionia incident but it also-
"The control Kale sold to Celtic….."
"…was Doom's Day."
xXxXxXxXx
Dilandau stood in the room, waiting silently. The meeting had not been called by him, no at the moment he would rather be in his room. At least there he could find some solitude from the world to work things out in his own mind. So many things were wavering in his mind that he couldn't sort out. But he couldn't hide; there was a need for him here. There were only three others in the room, well four at the moment. Jyle was slumped down in one of the chairs of the room, staring at nothing particular on the table. Deamor was a crossed from him. A rifted had created sometime between these two, who were normally a part in any crime acted against Dilandau, but for some reason it seemed that this one was finally stepping out of the shadow of his once longtime friend. Then there was Skylar, the caller of this meeting. At the moment she was speaking to Folken, though the man did not seem intent on staying. Paper work was tucked under the blond boys arm as he nodded at what ever the Strategoes was saying. Then was a silent agreement from whatever it was they were talking about. Dilandau pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the table were the other two sat to claim one of the lasts seats for himself. With hope this meeting would be over with soon, there was soon many things he did not want to deal with, and two of them were these two commanders. The door shut somewhat loudly, indicating that Folken had left. There were foot steps that echoed slightly as Skylar walked up to the table.
"It's about time you started this…" Jyle growled lightly. The Silver commander just ignored him as he set his papers down on the table.
"At this moment, most of us in this room are not really friends. For a good part we hate each, well hate isn't the right word to describe it but for the sake it's as close as I'm going to get." He sighed. "The only out right reason we haven't killed each other is because we serve a common country, we fight for a common idea. At this moment this ideal, this empire is in danger. Seventeen hours ago, the madoushi project 009, nicknamed Rei, was capture by the Celtic, her whereabouts are still unknown. Most of us here have the idea of what she is, but what you all know is far from the exact truth. Yes, 009 is a designed Berserker, a deadly one but the purpose and use of her now was not what she was originally designed for." Papers were being to be handed around to the three of them. Dilandau, not very happy that this meeting was on a topic he was still himself trying to figure out, leaned forward to study the papers he was handed. Numbers, formulas were written across the papers. These were things that he knew well, whether the two others did, he didn't care. These were a madoushis notes, several different madoushi, each with different notes but all on the same formula.
"What the fuck is all of this?" Deamor growled as he looked through the papers, to quickly to really be reading any of it. Jyle on the other hand was looking over them more slowly, deliberately. Looks like Dilandau was finally found out which one of the two really held the brains.
"They're notes moron if you read them…" Dilandau sighed as he set them down. He didn't want to read them all, whatever it was Skylar was going to tell them. The blond looked sad about something for a moment while he studied his face. The boy's hazel eyes could not hold his red watch eyes.
"I don't care how you got your information, or how reliable your resources are. Before you are the real things, this are what was really done during the project 009. What we've seen her do so far is only the beginning. Her original purpose, what she was meant for was out shadowed when the issue she was created to solve didn't exist anymore. So they changed it into what we see today." He ran his hand though his hair trying to find the right words. "But, that is why there are so many problems with her. Her original purpose still conflicts with her new purpose. The Special Force commander not only sold her out to Celtic, but along with the only copy of drug that the form you hold in your hands creates. Its called Doom's Day and it does exactly what you think. Protect 009 was a doom's day creation, injected with that compound she would be sat in the middle of our enemies midst's. In less then four hours, she can annihilate a large city. It was predicted in forty-eight hours, she could wipe out a kingdom as large as a third of the Empire. She is dangers now, with the Celtic it is unknown what they plan to do with her. But it is clear, if they use her, she will not be able to tell the different between her enemy and those who she serves."
"Then she must be retrieved at all costs…" Deamor growled as he through his papers down. "If we had her before, why didn't we just use her to end this war already!"
"Weren't you paying attention, Deamor?" Dilandau said calmly, as he pushed aside his own papers, no longer needing them. It was all coming slightly clear now. Missing pieces for so long coming together, they were never going to escape the madoushi when they were younger because the madoushi couldn't let her go. She was a danger, not only to herself but those around. She helped them, knowing the rest of what she was, and he had hated her. How was he better then the next fool, better then Jyle or Deamor? If he had known it then, would he have decided to use her in the same way? They were all weapons created for on purpose. He, a perfect soldier, not born but created, her, the untamed beast who would be able to being kings to their knees. His red eyes settled on the brown haired general. " If we did use her like that, because we couldn't control her. That's why they've been trying for so long. Isn't that right?"
"Yes…."
"What does the Empire Dornkirk want us to do?" Jyle, finally stepping into the conversation, placed his papers down.
"In twenty-three hours we are leading an all out attack against the remaining army of Celtic. At all cost, we are to capture their king, and order their total surrender."
"What about Rei?" Skylar turned his head towards Dilandau, barely able to keep his glaze.
"If project 009 original purpose has been activated, she will become priority, and must be…" There seemed to be an eternity before he finished. Dilandau knew what his friend was going to say, but some part of him wished it would not be true. The madoushi did not give up on something that was theirs too easily. "…annihilated."
xXxXxXx
Zaibach count down: Twenty-one hours, fifty-eight minutes until final attack
"A weapon! You promised me a weapon, Vickie, something I could use against Zaibach to bring her to her knees!" The old king yelled as he paced about the tent. The dim afternoon light came into the room; it had been raining for a good part of the morning. Dreariness seemed to fit the mood so far, though the man was now starting to get on her nerves. Soon it would be over; soon this insolent man would no longer exist. "Instead you bring this... this WOMAN!" He stooped suddenly and turned to face her. "How the hell is she going to help us!"
"My lord… if you would please calm down..." She sighed; the pale blue bangs fell over her eyes. Where were those two morons at? Strength was not a thing she had a lot left at the moment. "She is like us, a project created by Zaibach Madoushi. Her power is far greater then the three of ours.."
"And yet, why does it not surprise me that you still will no allow me to see that for myself?" He growled angrily as he continued to pace about, if this man keep up with this stress he would die an early death. Though, it wasn't as if she cared, but at the moment he was better to deal with then his generals.
"She is unstable…"
"I have yet to see that.. If she is so 'unstable' then how can I trust that she will be usable before Zaibach attacks? I have less then half my army!" Whose fault was that now? Was the retort she would have liked to use, but the only reason she was the one ever talking directly to him was because she knew how to even out ruffled feathers. Along with some….other things.
"My lord… She will be ready, don't worry... Though you should be preparing your men, they should have discovered her missing several hours ago. There is no telling when they may attack.." The old man nodded slightly as he started for the flap of the door.
"Yes... yes, I must see to that," Thank the goddess the madoushi gave her something of a useful talent after they had ruined her body. Once he was gone, she was left alone in the solitude of the tent for sometime before something moved to her right. She did not need to turn her head to see who it was; she could since the mind.
"Well, Will?"
"She…. Is not very stable. There is no way we can use it at this time without it breaking her mind." The black haired boy knelt down next to her, blue eyes turned away to study the map upon the table before her.
"And Kaji?"
"I think, that he may become a problem if we tell him… He wishes to see Dilandau fall upon her hands." There was a silence between them as she looked to the only silver piece on the map.
"Then, if it comes to it…. For the purpose of our mission, I will terminate him."
xXxXxXxXx
Zaibach Count down: Nineteen hours, seventeen minutes.
She folded the armor jacket out on the bed, to numb to really be thinking on what she was doing. May the gods forgive them for this, may her brother forgive himself if it comes to it. Here was no way she could get out of it, there was no way she would let him face her on his own if he had to. He maybe insensitive, unknowing of his own feelings but she could see it. True, she was the 'damaged' one, but in some ways so was he. The madoushi were fools if they thought they could create something that only lived with the emotions of lust, and anger. Sometimes, Celena wondered if the other slayers saw it too. These passed few weeks, no, since they found out. Back when they were little, she didn't understand his admiration for her. She was a beast, a monster with teeth that were well hidden beneath rosy lips that could bit out at any moment it chose. But never one did she bit at them. A rose that was what she remembered the most, a gifted Dilandau hard to try for weeks to get a hold of. When she was unconscious in this room, Aurora had put a box into her hand. A box that held the petals of a dried rose. Admiration then, but now it was different, but dare she to call it that? Was in that since he cared for her, as she did for someone else? Odd, if it was true would Dilandau have the strength, where she did not, to tell her how he felt? There was a whine behind her, Celena turned slowly to look at the still wounded wolf upon the other bed in the room that had laid empty for a little too long. The poor think looked lonely, sighing she walked over to Mayonaka and sat down on the bed next to him.
"I know boy... You miss her don't ya…?" She ran her hair though his white fur, his grey eyes looked to the door unwavering. "Me too..." She sat like that for a little while longer. Petting him, she didn't really want to get ready right now. There was so much that had to been done, so little time. But right now, she just felt like crying, though she wouldn't get the chance to do that. There came a knock then, on the door, light but enough for her to hear. Mayonaka did not move his head, just continued to stare at the door. "Yes?"
"Celena... Can I come it in?" Folken, her heart seemed to skip a beat for the wrong reasons she knew, but still.
"Ya!" The door slide open, to reveal a tired looking man. He had left his cloak somewhere; he was also not dressed in his uniform. This wasn't a first time she had seen him like, this; it was only on rare occasions that he was out of it. She liked him best like this, black slacks and the light blue shirt. He must have been working on something in his lab again. Most of the time this was how he dressed when he worked with chemicals, the only time anyone saw him like this outside of his lab was if he was getting something. "Something I can do for you?"
"I wanted to try and open Rei's chest…" Folken smiled lightly as he walked in to the room and crossed the floor towards her. O, how she felt like such an idiot sometimes. He knelt down in front of the chest that had sat in this room for some long, unopened that Celena barely noticed its existence sometimes. It was a blood lock chest, so Celena had never been able to pick it to see what was inside.
"How are you going to do that?" She slide off the bed and sat on the floor next to him as he opened a small tube of red liquid. "What's that?"
"A sample of her blood... I hope it's not too old..." Folken said lightly as he poured some of it onto the small energests chamber that locked the chest. There was a silence for a while as he waited, Celena inched closer to him. The chamber glow a faint pink and the sounds of small gears moving cut the silence of the room. The lid popped open.
"It worked…."
"Yes… Now, let's see if it's in here..." Celena frowned as he started pulling this out of it. What could Folken be looking for? Most of the things he pulled out didn't make much since, pieces of tattered cloth, a ripped blue shirt covered with years of dirt and misuse. There were small weapons here and there, daggers mostly. There were some old books, and a sketch pad. Though the last things he pulled out seemed to be what he was looking for. Part of a tattered back half of a golden book come out of the chest, that he studied for a moment, clear this was what he was looking for.
"Folken…?" He looked away from it to her, maroon eyes looking sort of sad.
"It's the rest of her record..." He answered, not needing to know what she was going to ask.
"What good is it now?"
"Maybe..." He turned a few pages." I can find if he did create a control… That way, you won't-"
"Have to kill her?"
"Yes..." He smiled lightly at her, before pulling out the last two things, a small bottle, half empty and a needle. There was a frown on his face as he studied them for a second.
"And those…"
"I won't know... Until I read this." He placed the other things back into the chest and closed it. Celena stood up with him, hand lightly on his shoulder as he study one page. Her heart fluttered in her chest, why couldn't she just come out and say it, now would be the perfect time yet….
"Alright.. Sorry for disturbing you Celena…" He closed the havened book and looked down at her. He had a small smile on his face.
"It's ok…" She stepped away from him as he turned to leave. She wouldn't have another chance again. The battle might put an end to her life; there was no knowing what tomorrow held... And yet. "Folken?"
"Ya?" He stopped and turned towards her.
"Nothing... never mind…." She still couldn't tell him.
xXxXxXxXx
Zaibach Count down: Eighteen hours, four minutes
Evening was setting now; soon darkness would set on the world. Everything would be sleeping as they wait for the morrow's morning to rise. Dilandau was doing the last checks on his Alseides still too lost in though to think of going to bed at the moment. Tomorrow would be a very early start to the day, they would have to leave the Vione and arrive at the bottle in their guymelefs. The feeling in his stomach was unsettling. Would he be able to do it? Could he? The questions whirled so much in his mind, consuming his thought that he did not hear his sister walk up the steps and stand on the platform watching him. His hands moved over controls to check their movement, as his mind swirled in possibilities that tomorrow would bring. Would they use her? Or would they hesitate. She would attack them to, not just Zaibach. A beast like that completely wild would not care. If she could kill eighty men on her own by a different drug, this one would be more deadly.
"You know, sleep is better then checks on your guymelef, brother... You can only check something so many times." He tilted his head up to see his sister leaning against the opening on the cockpit. She was dressed in black slacks and her undershirt. The light blue cloth fluttered in the wind. She must be walking around to, unable to sleep. He had tried to convince her to stay behind, but it did not work. She would not let him fight this battle on his own. Leaning back in the cock pit he stared up at the black interior. Tomorrow would be a living hell; would he be able to make it through? He owned her a lot, was in justified for him to pay her back by giving her death?
"I know…" And her… was it justified for him to summit his sister to it? Did she to understand what was going to happen tomorrow? Probably, that would be a reason she wouldn't let him go out on his own. The Dragonslayers wouldn't even let him, if given the choice whether or not to fight tomorrow those boys would be the first ones out here in the morning. Though, would his sister have any regrets? Dilandau did not have many, only this one at the moment he could think of. He was sure that there were more, but this one seemed to stand out the most in his mind. Sitting up again, Dilandau looked at Celena. She was looking out away from him into the now night sky. The loose locks of hair that had slipped out of her braid fell about her face. Yes, there would be one regret if she were to die tomorrow. But was it his place? If she did not have the strength now to say it, was it his place? Of course it was, he's approval of it may be enough for her to say it, but he would have never given it. Though, things are different now, they were both in the same boat some how… "Cel….."
"Um?" She didn't look at him.
"I don't want you…. To walk out here with anything you regret not doing tomorrow. None of us know what is going to happen, if we are going to even come back…But... if it helps any..." Her head looked at him now, blue eyes studying his face as he spoke. Would it even matter if he said it, he would never be able to clear his own consciousness. Though, she deserved it, after all they had been through. "I approve of him…"
xXxXxXx
Zaibach count down: fifteen hours thirty minutes
The darkness had set in the room now, the sun light finally faded off behind the distant mountains. The light of the cursed moon barely light the night sky, the stars did not seem to have the will to shine through the darkness. They were foreshadowing, if was as if they knew what tomorrow would bring. The small light of the candle in the room was the only thing that seemed to be the only thing willing to fight the darkness, giving only enough light for him to be able to read the pages of the tattered book. He didn't have to translate it all now, for the most part he had figured out the language. Though after a while it went from Alantian to Gaian making it easier on him to read. The documentation in Gaian, though, was not very detailed. It was still a showing of the dead man's entrust of those he worked with. The detail descriptions though of reactions were, mood swings noted, and several other things. After awhile it began to look like a parent's journal on an infant. This was the stage Folken knew; this is what he had seen when he took part in her experimentation. Though, when he found what he was looking for, the detail descriptions were stomach turning. Zaibach had no right to this; the madoushi should have never created something like this. The only event of this he ever witnessed played in his mind as he read over each account.
"Damn it! Late… We are late…" The petit red haired woman walked quickly in front of him, looking half ready to run down the long dark corridor. He tried to keep up with her fasted pasted, but it was becoming harder. The throbbing pain in his right side was starting to get worse. It was only his third day in this place, and already was it a living hell. The cloak fluttered about below his feet. Lord, there was a slight fear in the back on his mind stepping on the edge, and tripping over it, the things were so long. The woman in front of him had pushed them off her shoulders so it hung behind her. The black uniform below it seemed to mix in with there surroundings, if it wasn't for the red lining, it would look like she hadn't a body. If it wasn't for the clawed arm he had, he would have done the same, but… "We are sooooooo freaking late!"
"I don't think repeating that over and over again is going to help us, Lady Aurora…" A blue eye flashed at him for a moment, an annoyance was clear in them.
"Boy, how many times have I told you? I am not a LADY. Let me go through this again, for the third time, there are no lords or ladies in this damn towers. There are creeps, mad jackasses, morons, and the projects. Aurora is just fine." It was the twentieth time she had said it actually, every time she looked at him like that he felt she was going to knock him on the head. She had been set in charge of him until he got the hang of this place, though at to him it looked like she took this as a baby sitting job.
"Sorry.."
"Folkie, sweety, stop being so polite, ok? Here it's not a useful skill; people will use it to trample all over you. Trusted me, I know…" The rounded a corner that ended quiet quickly. Lots of the halls did that in this place, Folken was sure he was going to get lost here if she wasn't here. Her hand fell on something in the shadows that he couldn't see the beeping noise of the small control. She hadn't told him what they were doing; she just pulled him out of bed, the clock reading three (in the morning) cursing about "We are late". Didn't these people know the meaning of sleep? Or were they all Aurora, taking five minute naps with some chemical burning while it's left on the burners. The 'invisible' door slide open to reveal a bright white room. The light hurt his eyes, after half running in the dark corridors of these towers. That was one of the things he didn't understand about this place, everything was in the dark, you worked in dark places but then there were rooms like this one. There was a man in the room, he looked to be a little under Folken's height, gray hairs filled his dark hair. He lacked the dark clock that most of the madoushis wore, though his uniform was the same, black with a blue lining. There was a large set of glass the separated the room from another. A small child in a tattered large blue shirt sat curled up on the floor, hand in its mouth. The white hair cut to short to make it easy to guess its sex. Something become unsettled in his stomach, when what was probably happening came to mind. He was here to witness another project testing. How many more children were here? Yesterday, he had meet two, twins, which he would be in charge of handling. Well, he had thought they were twins Until Aurora had informed him that one, the boy, was a 'copy' created from a personality that had been created in his 'sister's' mind. The red-eyed boy didn't take much of a liking to him, actually boy seemed angry. The girl had been crying. Blood began to pour down from the hand the child was biting on.
"You're half an hour late…"
"Sorry, Kane I got side tracked in the lab.."
"I started without you."
"Noticed… Self inflicting pain? How long has it been doing that?" The two talked as if he wasn't there. Aurora stood next to the man, writing something down on the clip board she had been carrying here, Kane had one of his own.
"For a little while now, I had Axiom go have them set the dragon in sooner. I don't want her biting her hand off.." Folken walked closer tot eh glass, watching the child.
"Dragon?" He asked lightly, they weren't planning on putting a dragon in that room?
"Is he your charge, Aurora?" The man did not answer he question.
"Ya, thought seeing this would be good for him. He already met 005, and 006." Aurora said, the scribbling of pens seemed to become very fast. "Sweety, not to close to that glass ok? A raging dragon can't break it but she has been able to a few times. We had to be close enough to the door to get out of here if that happens..." He stepped back again; clearly they were not going to pay him much mind. Best he could do was sit here and watch. There was silence in the room again, all except the sound of pens. The metallic door far in the other, larger room opened after a while. A starved looking land dragon came slowly into the large room. He took a same step back; a hidden fear of them was still in the back of his mind. Aurora looked at him for a moment before looking back at the same girl in the room. "Pay attention to what happens, alright Folken? Her adjective is to kill it."
"How is something so small, with out any weapons going to do that…?"
"You'll see…" Kane said, his pen no longer writing things down. Both madoushis' attention was on the small girl as she slowly, carelessly got to her feet. Her hand still remained in her mouth. There was a roar from the dragon that seemed to shake the glass slightly. The child did not move nor did she flitch. The beast scanned the room, looking for something to eat not doubtfully. The smell of blood from the girl seemed to catch its attention, as it turned to her. It roared again, the sound hurting his ears as it charged forward at her. The girl did not move when it came closer, the dragon didn't seemed to waste its time in crewing, the creature slammed its mouth over her, swallowing the child whole. Pens started writing again; neither of the two seemed to notice that the child had just been eaten alive by the thing.
"Shes-"
"Keep watching Folken. It's not over yet…"
"What do you mean? She was just-" There was a hacking noise, which brought his attention back to the dragon. It was choking; the sounds were going from it. The middle of its neck, in one spot, seemed to be growing, expanding as something in side pushed against it. The child couldn't have? The sickening noises didn't last long for the muscles of the neck gave way to what was pushing against it, the head of the dragon fell as its neck busted open. The blood drenched child took to the air. White wings covered in blood, though her eyes were what seemed to embed themselves in his mind. Solid red eyes, angry, hungry for something looked around before focusing on the dragon again. She dove for it, tearing at it with her hands. Blood splattered about.
"Her reaction time is up..."Was all the man said as they watched the child, destroying the already dead dragon with her hands, pulling up the heavily scaled skin. Something slammed into the glass, cracking it slightly. The red dragon energests shimmered lightly as it remained embedded in the glass.
There was a slightly shudder in him as he closed the small door. None of them knew what they could possible face tomorrow. Something so destructive, that if left alone who knew what could happen. Even in the state of mind he first knew her in, she was very strong willed. Even know she was. Standing up, Folken walked over to the open balcony to look at the passing forest below. So many things hanged on a thread now. Zaibach had made a mistake, Dornkirk had made an error. And now, it seemed this generation of the world might have to pay for it. There was never a test, to see how long the symptoms of this drug would last. Days, weeks, months, any of it was possible. So many things could go wrong. He sighed as he leaned against the railing back to the world, looking into his study. He really need some sleep if he was going to stay a wake tomorrow. But the thought of it wasn't very appealing. Looking down at the book in his hand, he flipped to the last set of pages. Not really knowing or caring at this point what was written. It wasn't going to tell him anything knew. There was more recording, this was done on the Ionia. Her moods were different then what was recorded in the being part of this segment. More 'gentle', and shy, there was also some record of her getting along with others. This was different from what he had seen; Rei and Dilandau had had a hard time. He flipped through until the last page. Here what was written was again in Alantian, a change from the Gaian he had been writing in. Frowning, Folken paused to read it.
Blue moon, 8th
It is odd to think it, but today was the first time I've very hurt her really laugh. The young Ionia captain must have said something, or done something to send in her into such a fit. Her personality seems to be coming about well know, Rei is no longer tense around people, or well the Ionia crew anymore. Though, I fear if she remembers what happened so long ago now. That it will change. The compound seems to be working well; she doesn't have too many episodes. The number of berserked fits has come down; the most on average she may suffer is one ever other week. This is very good; Rei is even administering the drug herself. She has a habit of putting it her chest now, to keep Axiom from it. She still does not trust the man, with good reason. Instincts she developed then are still evident now. I am glad that she is slowly recovering from that time period, but with the passed news from the towers I fear this bliss of hers must come to an end.
They have sent in a request to the head branch, that the original purpose of 009 be reactivated. With the problem of Celtic becoming more of an issue they want the change to see what if all the record data on her is true. This younger madoushi seem not to be very observant. The old madoushi still in the towers that were there during that time have sent in a counter requested, but it is unlikely to be heeded. There is much support behind the original use. I know the control will not counteract Doom's Day…nothing can be can. This younger generation doesn't understand what would happen; they weren't there during that time. They can read the records but never truly understand them. I think its time, I reminded them. I hope she will forgive me, but it maybe the only way.
He closed the book, not caring to read the rest. Ionia and the towers were examples of its power. What she could do in a limited amount of time. If the towers were her target after the she killed the Ionia's crew, who know what would happen if Celtic tried to use her. There was a noise in the study that pulled his attention away form his trail of thought. Celena was standing there, still dressed in black slacks and the light purple tank top.
"Celena?"
"Sorry the door was unlocked, and you didn't answer when I knocked." She seemed nervous about something. She walked slowly out onto the balcony.
"Are you alright? It's late Celena, you going to have to get up early in the morn-"
"Folken be quiet ok? I'm only got the strength to say this once." She said suddenly, as she stood a few feet in front of him. Velvet eyes studying him for a moment as she searched for words to talk with. Why was it woman had the habit of saying that to him when they were going to tell him something? Aurora did it all the time; the woman had rubbed off on to Celena. "I couldn't ever find the right words, or even the right time. Dilly use to call me a chicken all the time, cause I'm always to scared to say what I really thought." Her hands balled into fists. "Aurora said the same thing too; she said if I wanted any body to really notice me that I had to speak up. I listen all the time to her tell me stories about you, and I wonder sometimes why you aren't like that. I know she only told single moments, but only a few times have I ever seen you like that. I…I… want to see you like that, to see you smile or hear you laugh. You never seem happy at all. Sometimes it seems like it, but always a part of you regrets it. You fell sorry for us, for what they put us through. I don't want you to anymore; it's not your fault. I never understood why me, and I don't can anymore. You can't change the past, it's done, and it's over with. All you can do is looked to the future and create something better so that you don't have to look and remember the passed. Folken, I….I…."
"Celena…" He stared to say, as she started to stumble over her words. Tears slipped down her checks as she looked down at the ground. For a moment it look helpless to her, she couldn't say it, not even with she would fact death tomorrow. She shook her head, no she wasn't going to give up know, not when she came this far. Celena looked up at him, ignoring the tears that lightly ran down the sides on her face.
"Folken Fanel, I...I…" No words, she couldn't find the words to say it, to tell him what she wanted to for so long. Actions are sometimes better then words, they could express more then one could ever say even with all the words in the world. Aurora had said that once to her, maybe it was time to use the wisdom the woman had given her. The movement was sudden even to her, as she tossed her arms around his neck. Folken had always been taller then her, the blue haired baka always made it hard for her to do this. The kiss was ruff, but what could anyone expect? She had never done this before; she had always dreamed it the other way around. Someone kissing her, but this why was going to have to work, it was the only thing she could do. It was short, even though she liked it, the feel of her arms around his neck, the tasted of his lips. But he was tense, not only was she pushing him against the railing, but she had probably just scared the crap out of him. Letting go on him, she slid back down to the rock floor of the balcony, taking a few steps back from him. Now here was the question that always scared her, why she could never do this; how was he going to react? He was few startled, the look on his face was clear. Had he not expected her feelings for him? Na, Folken could never be that dense.
There was a sudden ping in her chest, a tightening felling. Her passed guess wasn't right was it? He didn't have feeling for the redhead madoushi? He blinked a few times now coming out of his shock, but Celena was too lost in her own thought to even see that. What was she to do now? The only thing she could, turn around and walk out of this room, away from him. She had done her damage; she didn't need to hear the rejection. Celena turned away from him slowly, part of her now really willing to believe it. She was barely was able to walk two steps away from him, when she heard the book in his hand drop to the floor. His hand grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back to him.
"Celena…." That was all he said, before he kissed her.
Problems in writing this last part, take one:
GA1: gak Problem!
Sister: What now?
Friend: o great
GA1: Celena's confessed her love! What should I have Folken do!
Sister: Have her walk out and then he tells her in some intense moment during the next chapter.
Friend: No, a girl needs to know now! Have him grab her hand and kiss her back!
GA1: ACK! Their both good ideas.. Need third vote! Help Help!
Other Friends BF: What?
GA1: Vote! A or B!
OFbf: umm… they are both such good ideas… ummm….
As you can see which one he voted for.. all of that happened in the afternoon on aim….
Next chapter may take a while, it is the last chapter before the epilogue. So ya.. going to take a lot.. I have evil school which is being a butt this semester. So please hang with me here. R&R