(Sigh) finals next week and papers due this week…ugh…lol. So I decided to update this instead to get away from that for awhile…XD. (besides, I'm sure the readers have been patiently waiting for an update…lol) But enough of that…
Angel of Dreams- In regards to Dearka and Miriallia, well…you'll see.
Eternal Affinity- Well, I guess it could be funny, and I don't really take any offense with that comment, but you should watch out for the other readers! XD lol…And as for D and M, like I stated above, you'll see…
prettynutter- ok, here's the list, but it's a really short one, and I'm not going to go into their characteristics or anything:
Arabella- Princess of Icedale, main OC, basically the one in charge of everything.
Elise- (Natural) Arabella's best friend (well, best is very subjective)
Nora- (Natural) Hm…I don't know exactly how to describe her, but she's basically the head advisor without an official title/station. And oh yes, Elise's grandmother.
Ray- (Coordinator) Arabella's "fiancée".
Lucia- (Coordinator) Ray's annoying sister.
Yea, and I'm sure you could figure out the rest of the stuff by reading…XD
Servant of GOD- Yay! Kira's in character! Lol…And in top five? Thank you!
And thanks also to Dark Fusion, Prayer Reverie, Kagome 1992, Prince Takeru, AnimeSiren, AsuranXKagari-Forever, M.S Arashi Sumeragi, harpies ladies, Sakura Kuonji, cherri-chan, Cherry-Blossum, and Kaori.
And I was trying not to take very long…lol…sorry…
Oh, and I'm going to try something new at the very last section. It's basically going to be two scenes happening at once, so the conversation with italics will be between Arabella and ?, the regular font will the one with everyone else. Oh, and the italics in the first section is something completely different…Hope it doesn't get too confusing…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ch. 20: Haunting
Darkness, everywhere. Only silhouettes, surrounding her, spinning…Fear and pain, fear and pain, over and over again. Tears spilt, again and again, not just from one person as well. And they relished every moment of it. What they enjoyed even more…
"You piece of filth!" Another kick was delivered to her abdomen, causing her to crumble on the floor once again. He proceeded to crush her fingers, stepping on them, causing blood to seep out of the fragile little hand. She yelled every second the foot grinded into her hand, at the same time trying to free herself and get away.
"Don't you dare hurt her!" A strained, yet powerful voice yelled not too far away. The figures chuckled, glaring straight at the interrupter.
"I wouldn't do that, your highness." The figure sneered in amusement. "Besides, you should worry more about yourself." With that, he motioned for the other men to proceed, causing screams to echo throughout the room, making the men laugh even harder. And yes, she knew they were men. Their voices gave that much away, not to mention what they were doing to her mother.
"No, please stop! Don't do that to mother! Please!" She pleaded, ignoring the slaps coming her way.
"Enjoying the view?" The man addressed a third person, who was chained to the wall, unable to move an inch.
"Bastard." He spat, his boiling anger very apparent.
The man raised an eyebrow. "I think that word applies better to that trash on the floor, even though she may be legitimate."
"Don't you dare call my daughter a…" Four shots were heard, cutting him off.
"Father!" She started crawling towards him, stopped by a man yanking at her hair.
"Oh, no no, we can't have you doing that." The man smirked. "But I would love to have you continue watching, little princess." With that, he forcefully lifted her chin, causing her to get a clear view of both her parents, at least clear enough to see her parents' states. "Wouldn't you love to take me apart limb for limb right now?" He teased, seeing tears fall from her eyes again. "Too bad you can't see us clearly enough to recognize us later on, even if by some miracle you manage to get out of here alive." Suddenly, he dragged her to a chair, motioning for the others to tie her down. "You see," the man continued, motioning towards her father, "we wouldn't have been so hard on your father, even the traitor to the Coordinators that he is. But then he had to create such an adomination." He gave her a hard slap on her face. "You."
"It's because of you that he's going to die a very painful and slow death." He proceeded to collect blood dripping from her father and mother, and then he approached her once again. "Did you think the beatings were all you were going to get? Well, I have something else for you too."
She began to scream as the crimson liquid started to be poured all over her. Again and again, until she started to choke, as the liquid started to be shoved down her throat…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"No! Stop! No more!"
"Arabella!"
"No, please just end this! I can't take it anymore!"
"Bella! Wake up!"
She suddenly opened her eyes widely, hearing the familiar voice. Her silver hair spilled over her eyes, causing her to realize that her appearance turned back to normal, and that she was in a bed, Yzak watching over her…
"Yzak?" She sat up, surprised that he bothered to sit next to her, waiting. But then again, he was the last thing she saw before she passed out.
"We're back at your place." Yzak explained, seeing confusion in her eyes. "Lie back down." He ordered, helping her, causing her to blush slightly. "Luckily it's only a shoulder wound. You probably passed out because of shock rather than because of the pain. And I thought you were stronger than that." He added at the end with a smirk.
"Well, I guess it's all thanks to you that I made it back safely." She gave him a wink. "Besides, only someone like you would be smart enough to realize that taking me to a hospital would cause quite a commotion."
Yzak laughed. "Playing with my vanity huh? You think you have the leisure to be humorous in the current situation?"
Arabella smirked. "I would like to ask you the same question."
Both laughed, until Arabella started to cough. "Wait here, I'll get you a glass of water." Yzak offered, and stepped out of the room before Arabella could protest.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Do you think she's alright?" Cagalli asked, as she picked off the bloody shirt that Athrun had discarded previously. Yzak and Athrun had been the ones carrying Arabella, with Cagalli supporting, since they were the ones closest to the scene. They met the others one the other way back, who were equally shocked at what happened. Since then, she had to inform Nora to secretly call in a doctor. After that, she had been held back by Elise, who had been terrified, pestering Cagalli with questions until she was allowed to see how her best friend was doing herself. So she hadn't been able to see Athrun again until now.
"She should be, it's only a shoulder wound after all." Athrun replied.
"How can you be so cruel! First you agree with Yzak to not take her to a hospital, and now you…" She was cut off as Athrun laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down Cagalli, everything's alright." He tried to reassure her.
"I…I know…" She suddenly burst out crying, propping down on the bed.
Athrun sat down next to her, putting his arms around her, trying to comfort her. He knew just how vulnerable Cagalli really was, regardless of the tomboy exterior she put on. And he still loved her for it. But she had been a lot more emotional lately, and that had begun to worry him. "I'm sorry Cagalli…I just wanted to keep you from worrying."
"I could take the truth you know." Cagalli stated flatly, although she seemed to have calmed down a bit.
"But technically that is the truth. With the way the situation is going, I don't think anyone has time to mope around wasting time." Athrun answered, trying to sound truthful yet not hurting her at the same time. Luckily, Cagalli resigned.
"I…I guess you're right. Sorry for not realizing it earlier."
"You don't need to apologize. At least, never to me." He said softly, while leading her to her room. "Come on, you need some rest."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"They look so good together, don't they?" Miriallia commented, looking in at Yzak and Arabella from outside the display window. The two inside were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.
"Yea." Dearka replied, almost longingly. And he thought that Yzak was the one that had women problems…
"And to think that this happened…so much must be going through his head…"
"It was only a shoulder wound." Dearka wanted to say, but shut his mouth before the words came out. He understood. After all, if Miriallia ever got hurt, even just a scratch, he would go ballistic.
"Why do people have to go on hating? Why can people ever forgive and just accept?" Miriallia suddenly burst out. "It would only result in more deaths. Deaths of loved ones…" She stared far off.
She was thinking of Tolle again. Dearka knew right away. The way she stammered showed all. She's never going to forget him, is she? But then again, asking her to do that might be a bit selfish. Asking a person to forget about something like that…was just asking too much. But Dearka had another approach. He was going to beat Tolle. To beyond Miriallia's expectations. He was going to make a bigger impact on Miriallia than Tolle ever did. This was the only way for her to ever consider loving him. Even if he had to just be friends with her for now. Besides, it seemed to be working quite well. Now that he thought about it, Miriallia hadn't really mentioned Tolle for a quiet awhile until just right at the moment. And another thing…Tolle ended up making her sad. He was going to make her laugh…
"Come on Miriallia, cheer up. Sure, there will always be stubborn people, but there are people like us that are willing to fight back." He started, attempting to make her feel better.
"Well, if you put it that way…"
"By the way, do you really want to know what I used to sleep with?" Dearka continued, seeing that it was working, although in an afterthought he wanted to smack himself for bringing it up.
"What did you sleep with?" Miriallia asked, suddenly curious.
"Well, you see…" Dearka stammered, suddenly getting nervous. "Um…I…I used to clutch my pink baby blanket with little teddy bears, every time I went to bed." He stayed silent to hear Miriallia's reaction. Miriallia's face remained expressionless for a few seconds, and then, not being able to hold it anymore, she burst into laughter.
"Oh. My. Goodness!" She couldn't stop laughing, much to Dearka's discomfort. "A teddy bear blanket. A pink teddy bear blanket…"
"Well…when my mother went to buy a blanket they ran out of other colors…" Dearka tried to justify himself.
"Sure they did." Miriallia teased.
"Hey!"
"I was just joking."
"Well, at least Athrun's pajamas beat all." Both started snickering, the previous depressing mood forgotten.
"By the way, didn't Yzak have some secret too?" Miriallia asked.
"Uh…yea…But don't expect me to tell you that one, because he's going to murder me if I say anything. You'll have to get him to say it himself."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Was I being too hard on Kira?" Lacus asked herself. She took at glance that Kira, who happened to be in the lounge with her, although standing far away, not paying attention to her. Or seemingly so. She knew he was watching her. And he knew she was watching him. Yet neither said a word to one another.
"This game has to end." Both thought. Yet neither bothered to directly approach the other.
Lacus let out a sigh. Maybe she was just being stubborn. Kira did need his time and space to recuperate, and she was more than willing to give him that. The problem was that he wasn't recuperating. If anything, he seemed to get worse. In a sense he was the one being stubborn, not her.
She told herself not to blame Fllay. Yet sometimes she just wanted to scream, "What the heck did you do to my Kira, you…" She managed to restrain herself at the last minute. There was no point in blaming the dead. After all, they were, dead. Yet sometimes the bitterness surfaced, and yes, even a bit of jealousy. Why did that girl affect him so much? It was almost as if her spirit possessed him.
Mostly it was because she felt so helpless. She didn't seem to be giving him anything helpful. Maybe she was making him feel even guiltier? That might be it. Then maybe it was a good thing that she was staying away. Yes, that was it. Let Kira decide what he wants to do.
But what if he does decide to leave her? She shuddered at the speculation. Yes, what if he never changes? What would she do then? It was a frightful perspective, yet at this present situation, a very possible one.
She looked at him once again, and a decision came to mind. Yes, she would love him. Even if he didn't return it, she would love him. Silently if she must. Her heart and mind would not change. So how their relationship would end up will depend on…
"Well Mr. Yamato, it's all up to you."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yzak balanced the water jug and the cup on the tray easily as he proceeded to where Arabella stayed. Why was he doing this? Usually he would just scoff at being so caring. That reminded him, since when did he stop cringing when he thought about the word care? He really needed to get a better hold of himself…The next minute he barely missed crashing into Athrun.
"Watch it Zala!" He yelled angrily.
"You should watch where you're going too." Athrun retorted back.
"Hm." Yzak walked past, not wanting to deal with this right now. He had enough things to worry about right now.
"By the way Yzak, could you ask why and how she was in a disguise?" Athrun asked. Yzak stopped in his tracks. Indeed, why was she in a disguise? He started to picture her once again. Golden hair instead of silver. Jade instead of cobalt…He suddenly turned around, startling Athrun.
"Give this to Arabella for me." With that, he handed the befuddled Athrun the tray, and hurried towards the communication room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"But Yzak, I don't know where that could be." Ezaria told Yzak.
"I don't know either mother, but please try to find it and send it to me." Yzak asked.
"Are you sure you don't have any idea where you put it?" Ezaria asked her son once again.
"No, I'm sorry mother. You're going to have to search for it." Yzak smirked.
"Through your messy room and closet? This is going to take awhile…" She smirked back.
"You're the only one that could take on the job." Yzak joked.
"All right, I'll find it, if it's so important to you. But just out of curiosity, why are you looking for it now?"
"Just a feeling mother, just a feeling."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Feeling satisfied, he proceeded to head to his original destination. He stopped, seeing that the lounge door was slightly ajar, and people were talking. He poked his head in to see the people inside, and found everyone except Arabella and Athrun. He was about to say something when…
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Thank you Yzak…" Arabella stopped, surprised at finding Athrun instead.
"Yzak suddenly remembered something to do, so he asked me to bring this to you instead." Athrun explained.
"Well, if he was busy, he needn't have bothered…"
"You know that he's going to be bothered if he wants to. Besides, what could he possible be busy with at this time?" Athrun smiled, pouring her a glass and handing it to Arabella.
"I guess so." Arabella reasoned, taking a sip of water.
"By the way Arabella, if you don't mind asking, how did you manage to put on that disguise?"
"Well, if humans could manipulate genes, it's not that hard to believe that very natural looking disguises could be made." Nora, who also happened to be in the lounge answered. Then she looked towards the door. "Yzak, you've been standing behind that door long enough. Do come in." Seeing that he had been caught, Yzak entered, trying not to show that he was embarrassed about getting caught.
"So how did she do it?" Cagalli asked.
"Some color contacts, hair-color altering spray…you get the point." Arabella answered.
"But she wasn't able to change her voice." Yzak remarked, surprising everyone. "That's when I started putting things together. Although I wasn't completely certain until I got closer to her."
"Very perceptive." Nora acknowledged.
"I knew something seemed familiar." Athrun confessed.
"Well, most people don't notice anything." Arabella explained. "Even Elise probably had no clue about it until now. And I did bump into her quite many times in disguise before."
"I see, but why a disguise in the first place?"
"Well, as you noticed, it would have been very controversial if Arabella voiced her opinions so openly as herself. So she once in awhile she puts in a disguise to go and state her thoughts openly without having to but the state in jeopardy. It's one of her outlets to release pressure building up inside her.
"But is that just it, there seems to be more to it." Athrun prodded, not satisfied with the answer. He knew there was another reason behind it.
"Well, actually…" Arabella hesitated. "It was because I wanted to see my cousin…"
"Cousin?" Everyone's eyes went wide, with the exception of Nora and Yzaks'.
"Elise, you never told us Arabella had a cousin." Miriallia and Lacus reproached.
"I…well…I didn't know either!" Elise stammered, surprised herself.
"And you're supposed to be her best friend." Yzak and Dearka added dryly.
"Don't blame Elise too much." Nora started to explain. "No one except Arabella, her parents, her father's direct relatives, and I ever knew about her cousin, or who he is."
"I knew about her cousin." Yzak stated.
"So Yzak knew about your cousin? Does he know who it is too?"
Yzak hesitated before answering. "No…I don't." He waited until everyone's attention diverted away from him. "At least not yet…"
"I see, so you don't really want to tell me much right?"
"I'm sorry Athrun." Arabella said sincerely. "But you know that I can't…"
"It's fine." Athrun reassured her with a smile. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." With that, he headed for the door. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing. You need your rest and I kept pestering you with questions."
"Oh, not at all." She smiled. "Thank you Athrun."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter done…
Hm…what can I say…
Was Yzak being a bit too nice? XD and I got the feeling that some of the characters were being a bit OOC. The ending didn't seem to be that great either…And the nightmare scene, was it a bit too much? Also dealing with that, a lot of stuff that happened were very obvious, but some stuff were implied. I'm not sure if I implied everything correctly, or if anyone caught everything…Tell me what you think!
Up next, the girls try to do something about the Kira and Lacus situation, while the boys talk about their suspicions. And what is this that Elise stumbles onto?
Hm...and it seems that my laptop something wrong with my laptop at the moment and it doesn't seem to allow the horizontal lines...sorry...i'll just have to use the "x"s instead...lol
And of course, thanks for reading!